June 8th, 2006
Greendale, Oregon
10:13 PM
"This is officially the stupidest thing we've ever done."
A camera lens zoomed around and faced the girl who had just spoken a sour look on her face as she took in the house before the group. The once white house looked horribly forgotten in the dark night, shadowed by the full moon in the sky. The front porch was caved in on the left side, and many of the windows had been broken out over the years by random kids. Alice shook her head at the sight of the supposedly haunted house that she had been dragged to. It was the night before her last day of school, ever, and Jonathon had decided she wasn't allowed to graduate from high school without doing something illegal.
Why they had to break into a house in the middle of godfreaking nowhere, she had no idea.
The wielder of the camcorder, a young girl of fifteen, gave Alice a cheerful look. "This can't be any worse than the time Michael thought he could fly off his house."
The memory of then twelve year old Mikey deciding to take paper sheets, make wings out of them, and then jump off his two story house's roof sprang into Alice's mind with a wince. That had been an interesting day that resulted with everyone in the hospital waiting room being reprimanded by a horde of parents for the four hours it took for Michael to get his leg set and put into a cast. It really had seemed like a good idea at the time.
Alice just shrugged, "This isn't a whole lot smarter."
"But a whole hell of a lot more fun," Jonathon cut in, smirking. He pulled a few things out of his mom's red Isuzu Trooper before slamming the back door shut. "Seriously Ali, its not gonna be that bad. Just go in, let Jane tape the place, do some Ouija Board, and then leave."
"Don't be a sissy," Coltin called, nearly jumping up and down in front of the house as he waited for the others to join him. "Not like the place is really haunted."
According to the local stories, the Acavery Mansion truly was haunted. Some fifty years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Acavery had been found murdered in their bed and their only daughter, Margaret was found drowned in the bathtub. No one knew who had killed the Acaverys, but three weeks later the mansion was boarded up and left to rot. It didn't take more than a few months before people would drive past the white house and hear screams coming from within, echoing over the empty acres that had once belonged to the deceased. Over the years it had become a popular place for the young, daring one another to enter the haunted house of the dead.
It was even said that in the eighties, a group of seven teenagers had gone to spend the night in the house, only none of them were ever seen again. Of course, there had never been any proof or evidence found by the police that pointed that any of the teens had actually disappeared in the mansion. But none the less, it was enough to scare many away from the mansion.
Including Jane, but she wasn't about to voice her fright to any of the others. She may be the youngest of the group, but she wasn't a baby. The sound of a car door made the girl jump and swirl around, focusing the camera onto Michael's car and Jane let out a sigh. It was going to be a long night.
Mikey switched on his flashlight and closed his car door, walking over to join where the others had exited from the Trooper. "I convinced my mom to drop curfew for the night," he announced with a grin.
"Wish my mom was cool like yours," Jane stated with a half depressed look, lowering her camera for a second. "I need to be home by midnight or she'll send the cops out after us."
"I'll switch you," Michael said, completely serious.
Coltin gave her a sympathetic look and patted her on the shoulder. "It's only because you're the baby." He ducked to avoid the hand coming to smack him in the face and backed away with his arms raised. "Sorry!"
The others watched in amusement for a few minutes before Jon stepped forward and stopped Jane from attempted to kill the older boy, who was laughing his head off. "Let's just go, yeah?"
With a huff, Jane followed behind the others, filming as they one by one stepped cautiously onto the front porch, inching around the collapsed center. Flipped around the camera away from the others, Jane pointed it to herself and began to talk. "This is Jane Marion reporting from the deserted Acavery Mansion. With me are Alice Larson, Michael LeDel, Coltin Name, and Jonathon Samuels. If you find this, we're dead and I'm sorry."
She gave a satisfied nod at her dramatic entry and quickly followed after the others, being sure to scan her camera at the collapsed porch and the broken front door. Upon entering the house, Jane flipped on the night vision, taking in the destroyed living room through her lens. It looked like a tornado had flown through the house, uplifting all the furniture and flinging it everywhere. It seemed like every single piece had been broken in some form or another. Jane connected eyes with Coltin, who shrugged and kept walking between the furniture pieces.
Jonathon looked back from leading the others through the front room to make sure that everyone was following. Alice looked around the house uninterested while the others took every in of the house in with gross infatuation. They continued through the family room and walked into what looked like had been the dining room with pictures still hung on the walls. Michael walked past them all, stopping in front of a family portrait of the late Acavery's. He leaned forward, dusting off the faces of a happy looking family. A daughter with her two proud parents standing behind her, each with a hand on her shoulder.
They look so.. normal.
"Guys," Mikey called, waving a hand at the others. "Come look at this."
"One sec."
Jon's voice came from the room over and Mikey shrugged, leaning away from the portrait. He didn't turn around at the sight of a tall figure in the reflection of the glass and motioned Coltin over.
"Dude, they look so normal," Mikey voiced, peering closer to the picture and took in the happy faces of those imprint on the page. "Who would want to kill a family like theirs?" Coltin gave no answer and Mikey frowned, turning around. "You okay, man?"
A mumble came from the dark shape of the younger boy and Mikey leaned forward slightly. "What the hell are you talking about?" Coltin took a step closer just as the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
"Love."
The word echoed around the empty room, bouncing off the walls and hitting Michael full force from every side. He took a step back a bit nervously. "Seriously, Colt, cut it out man."
Heavy footsteps sounded from the room next to Mikey, making him turn away from Coltin and froze when he saw Coltin appear in the doorway, flashlight in hand. "Hurry up dude, we're waiting on you."
Mikey looked between the Coltin in the doorway and the dark shape in front of him, fear overcoming his face instantly. His head whipped between the two of them quickly and he let out a whimper. The shadow took another step closer, now less than five feet away from the shaking teen and he caught a glimpse of a young woman's face before suddenly, he was face to face with a woman not more than three years his senior.
Coltin watched in confusion when Mikey started to point between himself and something in the dark before him. "What the hell are you doing Mikey?" Behind him, Jane appeared, camera in hand, a frown on her face as she looked at the screen and back to the dark room. Her eyes widened and suddenly, the camera fell from her hands and hit the floor with a dull thud.
"Beautiful."
Mikey screamed.
Eight hundred miles away, Sam Winchester awoke with a jolt, breathing heavily.
--
June 9th, 2006
Mellow Meadows, Montana
9:18 AM
Dean watched his younger brother closely while he finished off the remnants of his doughnut cautiously. The two of them were seated in a small diner booth, eating the last of their breakfast before heading back on the road for Greendale, Oregon.
Once again Sam had awoken from a nightmare in the middle of the night, proceeding to ramble about some kid named Mikey. Apparently a group of kids had been stupid and decided to check out a local haunted mansion and one of the boys had gone missing, resulting in Sam's nightmare vision.. thing.
(Note: When people say a place is haunted, it probably is.)
It had taken Dean around thirty seconds to wake up and another two to realize that Sam was crazy. By the time that Dean actually stood up from the bed, Sam had already packed not only his things, but Dean's as well into the Impala and was yelling for the older Winchester to hurry up. Fourty-five minutes later found Dean at the wheel of his baby while Sam attempted to find information on the Acavery Mansion where "Mikey" had gone missing. The small town of Greendale, Oregon was around eight hundred miles from the town of their last gig, in North Dakota, and Sam figured that if Dean broke a couple dozen laws, they could make it by about one or two in the afternoon.
The fact that Sam actually encouraged Dean to break a few laws was just another red flag in his mind. He leaned back in his seat and swirled around his coffee while heaving a huge sigh. Sam rolled his eyes and looked up from his empty plate as Dean let out a low sigh and stretched dramatically.
"What?" he asked.
Dean instantly straightened up, leaning forward over the table slightly. "How's it going Sammy?"
Sam gave him a look and shook his head slowly. "I'm fine."
"Never said you weren't," Dean defended. "I'm not worried."
"Good."
Nodding in agreement, Dean flashed a grin. "Good." He looked down at his empty plate and smiled to the waitress when she set down their ticket. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
Leaving the money for the meal with extra to tip, the two Winchesters headed out of the diner and back to the Impala. Dean unlocked his door and dropped into his seat as Sam climbed in his side. They drove out of the sunny town of Mellow Meadows in silence and headed for Greendale. After almost fifty miles of complete silence other than the car's engine, Dean reached forward and switched on the player. Radar Love blasted out as he started drumming on the steering wheel.
"It's half past four and I'm shifting gear," Dean belted out the lyrics as Sam threw him an annoyed look and shook his head. "When she's lonely and the longing g- Sammy, what the hell!" The music stopped and Sam leaned back in his seat, looking out the window. Dean let out a sigh, grumbling, but didn't turn the music back on.
"What if we're too late?"
The question was expected after another half hour of silence and took Dean slightly off guard. Covering it instantly, he shrugged. "We won't be."
"But what if we are?" Sam closed his eyes for a brief moment and turned to look at his older brother.
Dean looked away from the road and gave him a hard look. "We won't be."
Shaking his head, Sam didn't look convinced. "You said it yourself Dean, we can't save everyone."
"We can sure as hell try," Dean retorted, becoming slightly annoyed by his brother's outlook. He gave Sam an intense look before focusing back onto the road. "I need your head in this if we're going to figure out what happened to that kid, Sam. Stop seeing dead people and start doing your geek squad thing and find out more about the house. Deaths, history of the place, missing persons, the whole shebang. I wanna know anything and everything about that house before we even step foot in that town. You got that?"
Sam looked ready to say something, but one glance at Dean's face gave him no room to argue. He let out a heavy breath and almost laughed, looking out the front window for a moment before nodding his head. "Alright. Geek squad at your service."
"Thank you."
He pulled out his laptop and booted it up while Dean increased their speed slightly.
"We won't be too late, Sammy. I promise."
It was a quiet reassurance, but all that Sam needed to hear. He paused in his typing for a moment but thought against speaking. With a deep breath, Sam cracked his knuckles and pulled up his internet browser. It was time to get down to business.
The next four hundred miles went in silence with the exception of the clicking keyboard.
--
Greendale, Oregon
12:34 PM
"Alright, the Acavery Mansion has been deserted since the fifties when the family was found murdered," Sam announced some four hours later as Dean brought their few bags in from the Impala and dumped them on the motel room's floor. "Parents were found in their bed, husband strangled and wife shot through the head. Their daughter," Sam refiled through a pile of print offs grabbing one while Dean dropped into one of the chairs beside him, "Margaret, seventeen, was found drowned in the bathtub. There was no sign of forced entry and the murder weapon was never found."
"Makes for some good angry spirits," Dean agreed. "Anything else fit our gig?"
"No," Sam shook his head. "The Acavery's built the mansion in the thirties and everything about the lot checks out. No burial grounds, cemeteries, battle sites, nothing. It's clean." He looked over at Dean, who was staring off at the wall. "Only thing is that seven kids went missing in the house back in the seventies. None of the bodies were ever recovered but the police records stated that they were all runaways."
Dean frowned, "Seven runaways? How likely is that?"
"Not very," Sam muttered. "But I have an address for one of the kid's parents who still lives in town." Dean nodded and pointed to another window at the bottom of the screen.
"What about the kids? Find anything on them?"
Sam turned back to the computer and clicked open another window. "Not much. Mikey has a younger sister, Jane, who was there when he disappeared along with three others. They called the police after booking it out of the house but by the time the cops arrived, there was no sign of Mikey anywhere in the house. Police are ruling it as a missing persons, but since the last people to see him alive are convinced he was taken by a ghost, they have no leads." Sam looked back at Dean for a second before turning off the computer and putting it back into its case. Dean let out a sigh and walked over to the two beds, grabbing random odds and ends on his way.
"So, we go ask around town about the kids you.. saw, and then check out our mansion." Dean paused slightly at the mention of Sam's visions, but his brother didn't seem to notice.
"Maybe we should check out the house first," Sam countered, standing up from the kitchen table as Dean started gathering things up. "See if we can find this Mikey kid."
Dean didn't hesitate a second. "No."
"Why the hell not?" Sam scoffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and giving him an incredulous look. "We could just pack anything up with rock salt if we see 'em and grab the kid. Ask questions and burn the bones later."
"I'm not letting us walk into that house blind, Sam," Dean said, looking down the barrel of a shotgun and snapped it shut. "We interview the kids, figure out what we're dealing with, and then go in guns blazing."
"Mikey could be dead by then," Sam said, suddenly quiet.
Dean looked at him for a second and turned back to the guns lain out on his twin sized bed. "Mikey could be dead now for all we know. But that doesn't mean that those other kids aren't in danger." He grabbed a few more guns, reaching back and stuffed a .45 in the back of his jeans and covered it with his shirt and glanced up at Sam briefly. "We gotta make sure than nothing followed them back from the house, and find out what exactly they saw there. Then we save the other kid. Okay? Okay."
Sam scoffed again quietly and watched as Dean strode from the room, keys in hand. He heard the car door groan open and shook his head.
"Get your ass moving little brother," Dean yelled, starting up the Impala.
With a sigh, Sam walked out of the room and climbed into the car and barely closed the door before Dean started out of the parking lot.
"You have the addresses?" Dean questioned, coming to a stop at the edge of the parking lot, unsure which way to turn. Right or left.
"Yeah," Sam muttered, looking from a print off to a map of Greendale he'd taken from the motel's front desk. "Mikey's parents and Jane live on 324 Fourth Street. One of Mikey's friends, Alice, lives on Maple. It's just a couple blocks from here."
"Right or left?"
Sam checked the map one last time before answering. "Left."
--
1:45 PM
"Remember: I'm Colin, you're Fin," Dean muttered as Sam rang the doorbell to the house. Sam nodded and took in the exterior of the nice looking home. White siding with green trim, it looked rather colonial which was odd for Oregon. It did however have the homey feel to it, something that he hadn't exactly had growing up in however many different motels.
It didn't take long for someone to answer the door and at the same moment, both Winchesters plastered smiles on their faces. A young woman, who they assumed to be Alice, answered the door looking at them with confusion.
"Can I help you?" she asked in a soft voice. Dean noticed her eyes were red and puffy and she looked to still be in her pajamas.
"Are you Alice Larson?" Sam asked in the voice that had cracked many before. He added a soft smile when she nodded, still confused. "My name is Fin, and this is my friend Colin. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about your missing friend, Mikey?"
"You from the newspaper or something?" Alice asked, leaning against the door.
"The Portland Tribune," Dean supplied, offering her a boyish smile when she turned to him. "It'll really only take a second."
Alice glanced back into the house for a second and turned back to them, nodding her head. "I only have a few minutes."
"That's all we need," Sam said, sitting beside her on the porch steps. "What can you tell us about Mikey's disappearance?"
"Not much," Alice shrugged. "I wasn't even in the same room as him when it happened. I just heard him scream and by the time I got there, he was gone."
"So you didn't actually see what took him?" Dean clarified, leaning against the porch rail above them.
Alice shook her head. "No, like I said, I was in the next room over."
"Did you notice anything strange about the house?" Sam asked. "Flickering lights, cold draft, moving furniture?"
"Power was out at the place, and it was only like fifty degrees last night," Alice said, giving Sam an odd look. "Why?"
He laughed and shrugged. "Oh, no reason."
"So that was a big pile of unhelpful," Dean said ten minutes later, climbing into the Impala and starting the engine as Sam got in. Alice had turned out to have no helpful information other that Mikey was a good kid that she was obviously in love with. Not all that useful.
Sam sighed and took a look at the local map. "The parents of one of the seventies kids lives just a few streets over, or we can go see Mikey's parents and sister."
"Let's check out the hippie parents then go for the other set."
Listing off the directions, Sam wondered how Mikey was doing.
Half an hour later found the boys exiting from a house, Dean waving a hand in front of his face. "Jesus Christ, how do they have brains?"
Sam shrugged with a small, almost giddy smile and turned to his brother. Dean gave him a look and he coughed, sobering instantly. "So, that was a bust."
"Clearly," Dean said, giving his brother a weird look. "Remind me to never let your smoke pot. You'd act like a hyperactive four year old with eight cups of coffee."
"MMmm, coffee.."
Dean just laughed at that and helped Sam into the car and headed back to the motel. If neither of the two people they'd interviewed had been able to help, Dean doubted that any of the others tomorrow would be able to either. It was time to go back to the motel, do more recon, and get a couple hours worth of sleep. The mansion could wait to be stormed for another couple of hours. He glanced over at Sammy as he pulled into the motel parking lot and found him asleep already.
Maybe more than a few hours.
--
June 10th, 2006
Greendale, Oregon
10:34 AM
"You need to tell us the truth."
Jane looked at her step dad and mom in frustration. They were seated in the living room of her mom's house and for the millionth time that hour, they had repeated the same question. Again. At the moment she hated her dad for leaving her with the two of them while he went to work. How he could work while his only son was missing, Jane had no idea. But the fact that he left her alone with the psychotic mother and step dad, that was almost worse.
"I am telling you the truth, you idiots!" Jane yelled, letting out a watery sigh as she fell against the priceless (and uncomfortable) antique chair she had been forced to sit in for around the last hour. She wanted to beat the two adults in front of her with a heavy pot or maybe even a brick. "We went to the Acavery Mansion last night, yes Mark, we lied to you about that," she cut off her step dad quickly, "we met up with Alice, Coltin, and Jon. I had my camera and was filming while they all went into the house. I followed behind them and by the time I made it to the dining room, it was already there. It said something and Mikey screamed, and then he was gone."
Her parents looked at each other with unbelieving looks. Ellen was about to open her mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. She looked at Mark and huffed about unwelcome guests before delicately walking out of the room. Jane watched her go with a look of contempt before turning back to a disgruntled looking Mark.
"I'm not crazy, you know," she announced. "I know what I saw in that house. I know that Mikey's still back there, probably in pain, while you sit here on your great big ass, doing nothing. I am not crazy."
"That has yet to be determined," Mark said, giving Jane a harsh look.
She really did not like this man.
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Jane's mother, two young men trailing behind her. Mark took one look at the two men, both who looked to be in their twenties, and stood up quickly.
"Who the hell are you?" He questioned, not a lick of hospitality in his voice. Ellen looked away almost embarrassed and Jane shook her head.
Ass.
The shorter of the two men took that as a cue and motioned to himself. "Uhm, I'm Eric Bloom from The Portland Tribune and this is my partner Jules Radino." Eric held out his hand, as did Jules but both retracted them when Mark simply stared at them. "We were wondering if we could talk with your daughter, Jane. About your son's disappearance?"
"We promise not to take long," Jules added, giving both Mark and Ellen quick smiles.
Mark turned slowly and looked at Jane, who had been watching on with an odd look. She stood up from her chair and walked past her step dad, nodding her head. "And he's not my dad."
Ellen quickly jumped in, taking in the look of anger on her husband's face, "Why don't you go upstairs and talk in your room, Honey."
"Sure thing Ellen," Jane agreed, motioning the two reporters to follow her up the stairs. They paused to nod at her parents and followed her quickly, sharing a look between them. Jane led them to the end of the hallway and opened up the last door on the left, closing it after the reporters. She walked over and sat down at her desk, assuming the other two would find seats as she clicked open an internet browser on her computer. "So, who are you guys?"
Sam and Dean shared a look before sitting down, Sam on the bed and Dean at the girl's window seat. "I'm Jules, and that's my partner-"
"Eric, I heard," Jane said, effectively cutting Sam off. "You play drums, Jules?"
Dean shook his head as he caught sight of a poster pinned to the back of her door. "You gotta be joking."
Jane swung around from her computer with a small grin. "You're lucky my step dad's a Beethoven man."
"You actually listen to the Blue Oyster Cult?" Sam asked, taken off guard. She didn't seem the type, more of a Chris Brown or Natasha Bedingfield fan than anything. Definitely not a rock type.
Jane shrugged. "My dad and brother are into the oldies. Rubs off on you." She turned back to her computer, "So, since you guys aren't reporters, who are you?"
Dean was a bit taken aback by the young girl's lack off reaction to their false identities. She didn't seem all that phased at learning that they weren't who they said they were, and were currently alone with her in her bedroom. It wasn't normal for a teenage girl to be that calm. Shouldn't she be screaming and threatening to call the cops?
"I'm Sam, and that's my brother, Dean. We're here to ask about your brother's disappearance. We want to help try to find him."
"How'd you know about Mikey?" Jane questioned, typing away at her computer and not bothering to turn around. "He only disappeared last night."
Dean frowned at Sam and shook his head violently. No way were they going into that here and now. Sam looked at him a bit confused but nodded. "Uh, word travels fast."
"Light speed apparently." She sighed and clicked a few more buttons on the screen with the mouse before twirling around in her seat to face the brothers. "What do you want to know?"
"How old are you?" Dean asked, cutting Sam off before he could say anything.
"Sixteen in six weeks," Jane answered, looking caught off guard. "Why, what's that have to do with Mikey?"
"You're pretty calm for being locked in a room with two strangers after your brother just disappeared," Dean noted casually.
Jane shrugged and let out a small laugh, leaning forward in her seat. "I watched my brother be taken by some thing in the middle of the night at some freaking haunted house. That stuff isn't supposed to be real, but apparently, it is. You guys seem normal. Whatever lives in the Acavery Mansion and has Mikey right now scares me a shitload more than you scare me."
"Huh," Dean muttered, nodding his head and mumbled a few things to himself.
"What exactly was it that you saw?" Sam asked, giving Dean an odd look before turning back to Jane.
"That's just it," Jane said, turning back to her computer and clicked open a window. "I don't know what it was I saw. And I don't even have my camera to look at it again," she muttered to herself.
Dean perked up instantly. "Camera?"
"Yeah, I was filming when Mikey got taken only I dropped the stupid thing. It's still there."
"You planning go back at get it?" Sam asked slowly.
"Possibly."
Sam's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Maybe that's not such a good idea Jane. Whatever could've taken your brother could still be there."
Jane spun slightly and gave him a DUH look before looking back to the screen. "I don't plan on going back by myself, if that's what you're thinking. But I need my camera back, thing cost a fortune."
"Maybe you should wait until Mikey shows up again to go back," Sam suggested, almost desperately.
"Yeah, like Mikey's gonna just walk in the front door anytime soon," Jane scoffed. "I'm not stupid Sam, Mikey's probably dead or dying in that place and there's nothing that you or I can do about it. Not when the police think me and the others are crazy and refuse just to torch the place."
"You want to burn the Acavery Mansion?" Dean asked, surprised. "Why?"
"Dozens of kids go to that place every year for kicks. They go in, run out screaming, come to school the next day all proud of themselves for just going in. Mikey isn't the first kid to go missing, and he's not going to the last," Jane took a deep breath. "If they had just tore the damn thing down years ago like they'd planned, none of this would have happened."
Sam nodded, it made sense but he also knew it wouldn't completely solve the problem and definitely wouldn't save Mikey.
"What is that?" Dean asked abruptly as he stood up from the window seat and walked over to Jane and her computer, pointing to her screen. A video stream was playing over and over on mute while she zoomed and looked to be messing with different angles and lighting. "I thought you said the camera was at the mansion?"
The video did look like the exterior of the Acavery Mansion from the pictures that Sam had seen and he looked at the screen in confusion. Jane continued to play the video, stopping every once in awhile to zoom or brighten some aspect of the feed.
"It is," she said, forwarding through the video as she talked into the camera. "I had it hooked up to a live feed that sent to my house and was automatically saved to the hard drive. I sent it to myself online so that I could look at it here. I can still look at the video, but it starts getting crappier when I actually enter the house until I completely lose the picture to gray. I'm trying to clean the feed up and see if I missed anything."
Sam looked at the fifteen year old in surprise. "How'd you manage that?"
"I like computers."
Dean snorted. "Obviously."
Sam and Jane both glared at the oldest Winchester, who raised his hands in surrender as a response. Nerds.
After another half hour of trying to clear up Jane's video, the brothers decided that it was time to leave. Sam wrote down both their cell numbers and made the girl promise to call the moment anything happened. Jane had agreed with the exchange of her number and told them not unkindly to let themselves out before turning back to her computer screen.
On the way out, Sam caught sight of a picture sitting on her bedside table and picked it up. It was Jane and Mikey with an older man and woman all huddled together in a park, hot dog stand in the background. "Is this your aunt and uncle?" He asked Jane, motioning to the two adults with her and Mikey. Dean stopped in the doorway and watched as the girl turned and frowned at the picture.
"Uh, no. That's my dad and step mom."
"Oh," Sam chuckled a bit nervously. "My bad, sorry."
She smiled and shrugged. "No biggie. Later guys."
Sam waved and walked out of the room and headed for the stairs while Dean looked back into the room for a second before following after him. Jane waited for ten minutes after she heard the front door close before she snuck out the window and climbed down the drainpipe.
--
Acavery Mansion
5:23 PM
"Man, why the hell do these houses have to look so creepy in the daylight? There should be a law that only lets 'em be creepy at night."
It was still daylight out, but what Coltin said was true. The mansion looked just as horror movie stage set in the light as it did in the dark. Jane noticed that all but only a few of the windows had been knocked out and that the front door was on it's hinges. She frowned, trying to remember if it had been the night before. Shaking her head, she cast the thoughts out of her mind. Of course it had been, she just hadn't noticed.
"You don't have to come in," Jane told Coltin, standing beside him as they stared at the empty Acavery Mansion. "I just needed a ride."
LIIEEESSSS.
Jane was praying with every fiber of her being that Coltin wouldn't wimp out on her and leave her to go find the camera on her own. Both of them knew what was in the house, what had taken Mikey, but Jane needed to get the camera back. It was the only way she knew to see what had really taken her older brother. The live feed may have been distorted, but it could have simply been the connection and the film on the camera could be fine. There was really only one way to find out.
Coltin snorted and looked down at the younger girl. "Do you know how hard Mikey would kick my ass if I let you go in there alone? No way kid, I'm going with you." He took a deep breath and shot her an encouraging grin.
"Good, because this place scares the shit out of me," Jane mumbled, grasping the crowbar she'd nicked from the garage tightly. He shrugged his shoulders in response but thought better than to agree with her.
"Let's blow this popsicle stand."
--
5:35 PM
Dean parked the Impala at the end of the dirt road leading to the Acavery Mansion and frowned. A dark blue Honda Accord was sitting in front of the mansion, devoid of passengers. Sam stared at the car for a second before turning to Dean with a confused frown. They had just seen that exact same car only an hour before, interviewing one of Mikey's friends.
"Isn't that car-?"
"Yeah, that kid Coltin's," Dean said, pushing open his door and walking quickly to the trunk and popped it open. "Going to the movies my ass. Stupid kid came back here instead."
Sam got out of the car and came around to the trunk, grabbing a gun with rock salt bullets along with a few other weapons. Dean looked over at the house and slammed the trunk shut. He loaded a round of rock salt into his gun and headed for the house, Sam following close behind, gun at the ready. They walked cautiously onto the porch, going around the large hole in the center and Dean nodded his head towards the door. Just as Sam was about to enter through the front doorframe, a crash sounded from within closely followed by a scream.
"Go!" Dean yelled and followed Sam into the house, guns both cocked and ready. At the sounds of footsteps, Dean whirled around and nearly shot Jane in the face.
"Don't shoot!" she screamed, throwing her hands into the air and protecting her face. Sam looked at her with wide eyes as Dean let out a breath of relief and lowered his gun.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean demanded, gesturing to the house as Jane panted and attempted to get her breath back, resting her hands on her knees and lowering her head. "I thought you weren't stupid?"
Jane looked up at him through a curtain of brown hair before glancing nervously around the house, jumping at the sound of a thump. "I need my camera. I couldn't fix the feed, so I called Coltin and told him I needed a ride here. I was just going to get my camera, I swear to God! And then those.. things showed up and started throwing shit everywhere!" She took a deep breath and suppressed a wave of tears. "I don't even know where Coltin is now."
Sam took a small step forward. "What was throwing everything Jane?"
A crash sounded above them and Dean instantly raised his gun as Jane answered him. "There was a girl and this guy, they were throwing everything at an older lady. She never fought back, just watched as it all passed through her." Jane shuddered and looked around the room.
"An old man and a younger girl?" Dean asked, scanning the room while half listening to her talk. "You're sure?"
"Yeah man, they were right in front of us," Jane said, shuddering again. "It was horrible. The older woman was shot through the head."
Sam looked over at Dean as a light bulb went off in his mind. "It was Mrs. Acavery."
Another crash sounded, this time closer in the next room over. Dean pointed his gun at the doorway and risked a confused glance at his brother. "What?"
"Mrs. Acavery killed her husband and daughter," Sam walked closer to Dean with an almost happy look. "They aren't trying to kill anyone Dean, they're trying to kill her."
Dean didn't look convinced. "You sure about that, Sammy? Eight kids have gone missing in this house."
Jane looked between the two brothers in confusion and let out a scream as a broken lamp came flying through the air towards Sam. He dropped to the floor in time for it to pass overhead and Dean tackled Jane to the floor as a chair was sent flying towards her. Covering her head, she followed behind Dean as he crawled across the floor to where Sam was hidden behind an overturned couch.
"Not trying to kill anyone, huh?" Dean yelled, just as a picture crashed behind them and a dresser was thrown onto its side. Jane screamed as vase came at her from the side and ducked seconds before it would have smashed into her head. Sam grabbed her arm and sat her between the brothers protectively.
"We need a plan!" He yelled, covering his head as the window in front of them shattered, breaking the last of the panes.
"I know! I know!" Dean yelled back. Jane looked at them both, cringing whenever something else crashed to the floor. After a few more seconds of silence from the brothers, she started humming Mary Had A Little Lamb quietly to herself, eyes closed. Dean looked down at the frightened teen and then to Sam. "We need to get her out of here."
Just as Sam was about to agree, the sounds stopped and the house was suddenly quiet. Jane ceased her humming and looked at both the brothers, who shared a look. They both nodded and stood up in unison, guns up and ready. They were met by thin air with no sign of movement. Dean scanned the room quickly and looked down at Jane, who had stayed seated and motioned to her.
"C'mon, we're getting you out of here."
Jane nodded her head in over zealous agreement and stood up between them and observed the chaos. If there had been anything left in the house in one piece when she had arrived, there wasn't anymore.
"Let's go," Dean ordered, walking cautiously through the debris, Sam bringing up the rear with Jane walking between them. They were almost to the door when she saw it.
"My camera!" Jane shouted, leaping forward and reaching out her hand for the camera as Dean and Sam shouted to her. She fell to her knees and picked up the piece of technology and waved it in the air. "Got it!"
"Jane!" Dean yelled, pulling out his .45 and taking aim at the man standing behind her. She screamed and pointed behind the brothers and Sam turned around to come face to face with a young girl, her hair soaked and dripping onto the carpet. She cocked her head at him before suddenly flying forward, her nose almost touching Sam's. Her breath was cold on his face, like ice and smelled like standing water.
"Love."
Dean shot three times at the man behind Jane before whipping around at shot at the girl in front of his baby brother, hitting her straight in the face. She screamed, making the three humans in the room to cringe in pain, before disappearing in a burst of water which rained on to the hardwood floor. Seeing that Sammy was fine, Dean turned back to see Jane trembling a few feet away, camera in hand and looking alive. He let out a heavy sigh and lowered his gun.
"God, I hate this gig."
Sam left out a deep chuckle and grinned at him before turning to Jane. "You alright?"
She nodded and looked around the room with a frightened air. "I'm never going to be able to sleep again in my life."
Dean laughed and nodded his head to her. "Let's get you out of here."
Jane frowned. "What about Mikey and Coltin? They're still in here somewhere with those.. things!"
"I know that, smart one," Dean announced as he walked to her and grabbed hold of her arm. "But the saving is our job, so you need to get out and wait in the car."
"Your job?" Jane looked at him incredulously, "This is what you do for a living? Hunt weird things that go bump?"
Sam thought about it for a second and nodded his head. "Pretty much."
"I think I got some new heroes," she said with a grin, heading for the door. "I'll go wait in the car now." Dean nodded his head in approval. Jane made it onto the porch just before every single door and window in the mansion slammed shut and locked.
Jane looked back at the door with unease but kept walking and got into Coltin's car, locking the door and started humming to herself.
"That was unexpected," Dean said, looking at the locked door. Sam just shrugged in agreement and pulled his gun back out as Dean started towards another of the rooms. "Any ideas on how to kill these guys, Sammy?"
He was quiet for a second. "Unless the bodies are buried in the basement, salt and burn is out of the question."
Dean nodded and grinned back at him. "So, I say we go with Jane's idea. Find these two guys, get em out, burn this thing to the ground."
"Not really seeing a third option either," Sam said, whirling around at a creaking sound. Dean looked back at him and continued through the house, looking for signs of the boys. They made it through the entire second floor without interruption from the ghosties and Dean paused in front of a door off the side of the kitchen that looked like it led to the basement. He jerked his head to the door and Sam came around, slowly twisting the handle and flung it open. Dean stepped forward, gun trained on the darkness and moved over for Sam when he turned on the flashlight.
Basement, it was not. Root cellar, it was. And sitting at the bottom of the stairs were two teenage boys, looking up at the light with wincing faces. Dean and Sam shared a look of relief and motioned to them.
"Mikey and Coltin?" Sam called down as Dean kept guard behind them.
The two boys nodded their heads and slowly stood up. It took them a few seconds to adjust to the light and they quickly climbed up the stairs with looks of pure relief. Coltin gave Sam a look of surprise, "Father John?"
Sam grinned and shut the door behind them. "Long time, huh Coltin?"
"Yeah, how was that movie?" Dean asked, gun still pointed into the kitchen, waiting.
Mikey looked at his friend in confusion. "Do I even want to know?"
"Probably not," Coltin said, ears a light red. Suddenly, realizing that Jane wasn't with Sam and Dean, a look of panic flashed over his face. "Where's Jane?"
"You brought my kid sister!" Mikey yelled, smacking his friend on the back of the head. "I'm gonna kick your ass Colt."
"She's hiding out in your car," Sam supplied, pushing the two teens after Dean who was making a beeline for the front door after hearing a creak in the floorboards. The made it to the front door with no interruptions from the Acaverys and Dean was currently running through all the ways they could get out of the house. None of his ideas were very good.
A squeak in the floorboard behind the four guys made them all freeze, and they each turned slowly, Dean and Sam gun in hand, cocked and ready. The old man stood behind them, his daughter at his side. Dean held up his gun and was about to shoot when another sound came from behind him and he felt something around his ankle. He looked down and shot at the hand, nicking it but not forcing it to release his leg.
"Sa-" The old woman pulled Dean to the ground forcefully, knocking the gun out of his hand and proceeded to pull him across the floor. He was bashed into a broken dresser and heard Sam call out his name and the other two boys start yelling in panic. The woman released Dean, allowing him to crash into the wall painfully. He let out a gasp of pain and watched a vase came flying out of nowhere, smashing into the woman and knocking her off her feet. Dean looked up to see the old man and daughter a few feet in front of him and looked past them to see that Sam and the other two were fine and watching in confusion.
The daughter sped forward, coming face to face with her mother and looked her in the eye curiously. Dean noticed how the mother suddenly looked fearful as the father joined the other two and corner the mother against the wall. The daughter reached out a wet hand slowly, bringing up to touch her mother's face, who screamed in agony at the contact. As his daughter curled her hands into her mother's hair, bringing the woman down in the pain, the old man turned and looked at Dean and then to Sam and the others. The front door swung open as the old woman disappeared along with her daughter in flash of light, and the father gave the boys a last look before walking forward into it.
"Holy shit," Coltin muttered as Sam ran forward and helped Dean get to his feet.
"That was awesome," Mikey agreed.
Dean and Sam looked at one another before turning to look at the other two boys with odd looks.
Coltin threw his hands into the air and looked at Mikey, "Dude! That was a real life GHOST man! A fucking ghost! God, no one at school is gonna believe this!"
Mikey let out a string of laughter before turning to the Winchesters. "You guys just made us Gods."
Dean shook his head and headed slowly to the front door. "Nerds."
--
June 11th, 2008
Greendale, Oregon
9:12 AM
"That the last of it?"
"Yeah," Sam answered, throwing two more bags into the back of the Impala as Dean watched on, reading the newspaper from the motel porch. Mikey was on the front page, headlines stating he was found safely a few miles away from the Acavery Mansion, which had also mysterious burned during the night. "You ready to go?"
Dean nodded his head and set down the paper on the small outdoor table and stood up. "Let's hit it."
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