Supernatural: Something Wicked

A/N: Hello to all my fans, for I am back with a new story! Please enjoy and, as always, post reviews to let me know what you think.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or from Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.


CHAPTER ONE: SICK CHILDREN

Fitchburg, Wisconsin…

A young girl, Bethany Tarnower, was praying at her bedside, and her father, Miles, was watching from the doorway.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep," she said. "My angels watch me through the night, and keep me safe 'til morning light. Amen."

"Amen," Miles repeated as Bethany climbed into bed, and he came over to tuck her in. "'Night, monkeypuss," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Daddy, is Mommy coming home?" Bethany asked.

Miles sadly glanced at a framed photo of himself, his wife, and his two daughters. "No, honey," he answered. "She's spending the night at the hospital with your sister. Hey, you sleep tight now." And she slid under the covers; he shut off the light in the bedroom and closed the door behind him.


Later that same night, there was a strong wind outside, and the trees were tapping against the window. Bethany was sitting up in her bed, unable to fall asleep; after a few seconds, she got up and shut the curtains, and then went back to bed, burying herself under the covers.

A moment later, the shadow of a long, bony hand could be seen through the window, and the hand unlocked the window; Bethany could hear all of this, and she was scared. The shadow of a tall figure walked to her bed, and the hand pulled down the comforter. Bethany turned and saw a hooded creature hovering over her; the creature took a deep breath and its mouth filled with a white light, and she screamed.


The next day, a familiar Impala roared down the road.


Inside the car, the Winchesters were talking about a case that their dad, John, had just alerted them to.

"Yeah, you probably missed somethin', that's why," Dean told Sam.

"Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers - I couldn't find a single red flag," Sam retorted. "Are you sure you got the coordinates right?"

"Yeah, I double-checked," Dean confirmed. "It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Look, Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important, Sammy."

"Well, I'm tellin' you, I looked, and all I could find was a big, steaming pile of nothin'," Sam stated. "If Dad's sending us hunting for something, I don't know what."

"Well, maybe he's gonna meet us there," Liz suggested from the backseat.

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, 'cause he's been so easy to find up to this point."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You're a real smartass, you know that? Don't worry, I'm sure there's somethin' in Fitchburg worth killin'."

"Yeah? What makes you so sure?" Sam asked, skeptical.

Dean shrugged. "Well, because I'm the oldest, which means I'm always right."

"No, it doesn't," Sam and Liz both protested.

"Yeah, it totally does," Dean retorted, grinning as they drove past a sign that read, "Fitchburg. Population 20,501."


Now in the town, Sam was leaning against the car and staring at something in the distance, when both Dean and Liz left a nearby coffee shop and came up to him; Dean was carrying two cups of coffee, and he handed one to their little brother.

"Well, the waitress thinks that the local freemasons are up to somethin' sneaky, but, uh, other than that, nobody's heard about anything weird goin' on," Dean reported.

"At least not our kind of weird," Liz added, slipping her coffee.

Sam was still staring at something and didn't seem to be listening. "Dean, you got the time?" he asked suddenly.

Dean checked his watch. "Ten after four. Why?" he asked.

Sam nodded at what he was staring at. "What's wrong with this picture?"

Both Dean and Liz looked at where Sam was looking; across the street, there was a playground, and it was almost deserted, with the exception of a young girl playing. Her mother was watching her from a nearby bench.

"School's out, isn't it?" Dean asked, exchanging a confused look with Liz. What was going on?

Sam nodded. "Yeah. So, where is everybody?" he wondered. "This place should be crawlin' with kids right now."

Carrying his coffee, Dean crossed the street and walked up to the girl's mother.

"It sure is quiet out here," he remarked causally.

The woman nodded, not taking her eyes from her book. "Yeah, it's a shame."

"Why is that?" Dean asked.

The woman sighed and looked up, checking on her daughter. "You know, kids getting sick," she answered. "It's a terrible thing."

Dean didn't like the sound of this, which was sounding familiar somehow. "How many?"

"Just five or six, but serious, hospital serious," the woman answered. "A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching."

Dean nodded thoughtfully as a vague memory began to stir. "Hm." And he watched the woman's daughter on the monkey bars. 'I wonder…'


An hour later, Dean, Liz, and Sam entered the building, dressed in suits; well, Liz was also wearing a skirt and heels, which she wasn't too thrilled about.

"Dude, dude, I am not using this ID," Sam protested, examining the fake id that Dean had just handed to him.

"Why not?" Dean asked as they headed toward the front desk.

"Because it says "bikini inspector" on it," Sam pointed out and Dean laughed.

"Don't worry, she won't look that close," he said reassuringly. "Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence, Sam." And he turned Sam to face the front desk while both he and Liz moved off to the side.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Kaplan, Center for Disease Control," Sam said, quickly pocketing the ID card.

"Can I see some ID?" the receptionist requested.

Both Dean, who was watching a few feet away, and Liz tried not to laugh, and Sam glared at them.

"Yeah, of course," he said with a forced smile, took the ID out of his jacket and quickly showed it to her, and then put it away. "Now, could you direct me to the pediatrics ward, please?" he requested.

The receptionist nodded. "Okay, just go down that hall, turn left, and up the stairs." Sam smiled at her, and then turned to Dean and Liz, and glared at them again.

"See? I told you it'd work," Dean said cheerfully while Liz snickered.

Sam shook his head, exasperated, "Follow me," he said quietly. "It's upstairs." And they walked away.


Soon the Winchesters were walking down a corridor on the second floor, and they passed a room whose door was open. Curious, Dean stopped and looked inside; an old woman was sitting in a wheelchair, and she turned to look at him with cold, steely eyes. Dean noticed an inverted cross on her wall, and the woman turned away from him.

"Dean," Sam called out, getting his attention.

Dean looked at him, and Sam nodded his head towards the end of the hallway and they started walking again.


It wasn't long before Dean, Liz, and Sam were talking with Dr. Hydecker, who was the head doctor on the ward.

"Well, thanks for seein' us, Dr. Hydecker," Dean said politely.

"Oh, I'm glad you guys are here," Dr. Hydecker told them while checking his pager, which was beeping. "I was just about to call the CDC myself. How'd you find out, anyway?"

"Oh, some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta, and, uh, must have beat you to the punch," Dean said, lying skillfully.

"So, you say you got six cases so far?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, in five weeks," Dr. Hydecker answered while nodding to a young boy, who was very pale with shadows under his eyes, and was in a coma. "At first, we thought it was garden-variety bacterial pneumonia - not that newsworthy. But now…" he trailed off, sighing.

"Now what?" Liz asked.

"The kids aren't responding to antibiotics," Dr. Hydecker explained. "Their white cell counts keep goin' down. Their immune systems just aren't doin' their job. It's like their bodies are wearing out."

Just then, a nurse named Betty walked up to them. "Excuse me, Dr. Hydecker."

"You ever see anything like this before?" Sam asked.

Dr. Hydecker shook his head. "Never this severe."

The nurse handed him a clipboard, which he signed. "The way it spreads - that's a new one for me," she remarked.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"It works its way through families, but only the children, one sibling after another," Betty answered.

Dean and Liz exchanged a look, something about this was familiar…and not in a good way.

"Do you mind if we interview a few of the kids?" Dean asked.

Betty shook her head. "They're not conscious."

"None of them?" Liz asked.

Betty nodded. "No."

"Can we, uh…can we talk to the parents?" Dean inquired.

Dr. Hydecker nodded. "If you think it'll help."

Dean nodded since it would help a lot. "Yeah. Who was your most recent admission?"


Ten minutes later, the Winchesters were speaking with Miles Tarnower, who looked as if he hadn't gotten any sleep in the last few days.

"I should get back to my girls," he said reluctantly.

"We understand that, and we really appreciate you talkin' to us," Sam said politely. "Now, you say Mary's the oldest?"

Miles nodded. "Thirteen."

"Okay. And she came down with it first, right?" Sam asked. "And then…"

"Bethany the next night," Miles answered.

"Within twenty-four hours?" Liz asked.

Miles shrugged. "I guess. Look, I already went through all this with the doctor."

"All right, now, just a few more questions, if you don't mind," Dean requested. "How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold, anything like that?"

Miles shook his head. "No, we think it was an open window."

"Both times?" Dean asked.

"The first time, I don't really remember," Miles admitted. "But the second time, for sure. I know I closed it before I put Bethany to bed."

"So, you think she opened it?" Liz asked.

"It's a second-story window with a ledge," Miles explained. "No one else could have."


After talking a bit more with Miles, the Winchesters were walking back down the hallway.

"You know, this might not be anything supernatural," Sam suggested thoughtfully. "It might just be pneumonia."

"Maybe. Or maybe somethin' opened that window," Dean retorted. "I don't know, man, look, Dad sent us down here for a reason. I think we might be barkin' up the right tree."

"I'm with Dean," Liz agreed. "It's rare for pneumonia to put someone in a coma, and that those kids are all in comas is suspicious."

Sam nodded; they both had a good point. "I'll tell you one thing."

"What?" Dean and Liz both asked.

"That guy we just talked to? I'm bettin' it'll be a while before he goes home," Sam stated; the siblings exchanged a knowing look and left the hospital.


After quickly changing their clothes, it wasn't long before the Winchesters were searching the room with different equipment.

"You got anything over there?" Sam asked while running a ultra violet light over the doorframe.

"No, nothin'," Dean answered, his eyes fixed on the EMF device. "Liz?"

"Zip," Liz answered, having just checked under the bed.

"Yeah, me neither," Sam sighed and went to search by the window and noticed something. "Hey, Dean? Liz?"

"Yeah?" Dean and Liz both asked.

Sam opened the window. "You were right. It's not pneumonia." And his older siblings went over to look at the window; on the window ledge was a long, black handprint. "It's rotted. What the hell leaves a handprint like that?"

Both Dean and Liz stared intently at the handprint, recognizing it instantly.


`"'Both young Dean and young Liz were looking at photos of the same handprint; John entered the room with a rifle and a bag full of weapons.'

"All right," he said, getting their attention as he placed the rifle near the doorframe. "You both know the drill, Dean, Liz. If anybody calls, you don't pick up. If it's me, I'll ring once and then call back. You got that?'

`"'Both Dean and Liz nodded. "Mmhmm. Don't answer the phone unless it rings once first.'

`"'Come on, dude, look alive," John said seriously. "This stuff's important.'

`"'I know, it's just…" Dean sighed, "we've gone over it, like, a million times, and you know we're not stupid.'

`"'I know you're not," John agreed. "But it only takes one mistake, you got that?" and the twins nodded. "All right, if I'm not back Sunday night?'

`"'Call Pastor Jim," Dean and Liz both answered, reciting from memory.'

`"'John nodded. "Lock the doors and windows, close the shades, and most important-'

`"'Watch out for Sammy," Dean said, finishing the sentence, and both he and Liz looked over at Sam, who was watching television. "We know.'

`"'All right, if somethin' tries to bust in?" John asked.'

`"'Shoot first, ask questions later," both Dean and Liz answered together.'

`"'John put a hand on his son's shoulder. "That's my man," he said before ruffling Liz's hair and left the motel room. Dean shut the door behind him and locked it, and then they continued to watch Sam.'"`


"I know why Dad sent us here," Dean said as the memory faded. "He's faced this thing before." And straightened up while Sam was confused, and he exchanged a look with Liz before they both looked at him. "He wants us to finish the job."


A/N: Looks like the past is coming back to haunt Dean and Liz. R&R everyone!