Hello! This is a sequel to Broken. You should be able to follow the story okay without reading Broken first, but it wouldn't hurt to go check it out!
Enjoy.
They were eating lunch when Dean's phone rang. In retrospect, everything that was about to happen to them could have been avoided if Dean had just ignored that phone call, but he didn't know. If he had, he would have thrown the phone in the trash on his way out of the restaurant and changed their numbers before leaving town. Instead, he looked at the unknown number and answered the call with a push of a button, bringing the phone to his ear without a second thought.
"Yeah?" He asked through a bite of bacon cheeseburger. Sam shot him an unimpressed look from across the booth and then went back to his lettuce, or whatever the hell he was eating.
"Is this Dean Winchester?" An unfamiliar voice asked from the other end of the line.
Dean swallowed and frowned at the table. "Who's asking?"
"I knew your dad." The man said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "John. He was a good man. Sorry to hear about his death."
Dean remained quiet as he waited for the caller to get to the point.
"I, uh, my name is Jack Hooper. John helped me out a few years ago. My wife and I recently moved to a new house and we kinda have a problem. You know, your kind of problem. I was hoping maybe you could come..."
His voice trailed off. The man sounded nervous, maybe a little bit embarrassed to be asking for help. Dean smiled and popped a fry into his mouth. "Sure, Jack. Why don't you tell me a bit more about this problem."
"Sounds like a poltergeist, the way the guy described it." Dean said to Sam as they turned off the exit toward Donovan, Illinois. "Simple enough. Should be an in-and-out job."
"Maybe. Poltergeists can be tricky." Sam said, paging through their dad's journal. It didn't mention anything about a Jack Hooper. Nothing that they had found, anyway. But that didn't mean they shouldn't check it out.
Dean shrugged and turned down the music as they entered the small town. It was a run down, blink-and-you-miss-it kind of place. Most of the shops were boarded up and the houses looked like something he and Sam would investigate on a hunt. If it weren't for the few vehicles parked along the street, Dean would have thought that everybody had packed up and left town years ago. They came to a stoplight that glowed red and waited for a whole four minutes without seeing a single car before Dean decided, screw it, and drove through anyway.
A couple blocks later they saw their first sign of life. A man stood outside a gas station smoking a cigarette. Dean raised a hand in a friendly wave as they passed, but the man just frowned in response and took another drag of his cigarette as he watched them pass with narrowed eyes.
"Friendly place." Dean commented.
Jack lived outside of town, and Dean was pleasantly surprised when they pulled into the driveway of an old, but well kept farm place. The outside of the house was in great shape, and even the outbuildings looked like they had plenty of good years ahead of them. The whole place had a rustic feel, and Dean nodded in approval as he and Sam stepped out of the car and made their way onto the wooden deck that led to the front door.
Jack's wife, Kay, was very welcoming, offering them coffee and banana bread as they sat in the kitchen and talked about the ghost problem. Jack was working in the field until dinner time, so Sam and Dean were left chatting with Kay for the majority of the afternoon. She offered them a room, insisting that the ghost only came out at night and that they stay; and then left them to settle in and go over things in private while she prepared dinner.
Their room wasn't very big, but it was a lot cozier than most of the hotels they frequented, so Dean wasn't going to complain. A green rocking chair sat under a window on the far side of the room. Heavy curtains were tied back to allow a view outside. On the adjacent wall was an antique looking dresser with black and white photos sitting in frames on top. A basket full of what looked like hand-knit blankets sat on the floor next to the dresser. Other than that, the only other things in the room were the two twin size beds which sat so close together, Dean wasn't sure he could even walk between them. He dropped his bag onto one of the beds and sauntered over to the window, peering out at the yard below. Behind him, he heard a mattress squeak loudly and he turned to find Sam sitting on the other bed with a frown on his face.
"What do you think, Sammy?" Dean asked, indicating the room with a wave of his hand.
"Sure." Sam said with a half-hearted smile. "It's nice. The beds are a little small–"
"And squeaky." Dean interrupted, falling back on his bed and grimacing as the rusty springs protested.
"It's good, though." Sam said. "In and out, remember?"
"I don't know. Poltergeists can be tricky." Dean replied with a smirk, sitting up and turning to face Sam.
Jack wasn't going to be home for a couple hours, so Sam and Dean decided to look around for EMF. Dean was a little bit surprised when nothing registered on the meter, but he decided to give the Hoopers the benefit of the doubt and at least hang out until morning to make sure nothing was going to turn up later. Besides, he was pretty sure there wasn't a motel in town, and he didn't know how far they might have to drive to find a town with some accommodations. They went outside and checked around the barn and other buildings just to be thorough. Then, with nothing else to do until dinner, went back up to their room to wait for Jack.
Dean heard the low rumble of the truck engine before anything else, and he got up from where he had been laying on the bed and went to the window. He watched as a rusted Ford pickup truck drove into the yard and parked by the barn. A man with jet black hair stepped out of the truck and headed toward the house.
"I bet that's Jack." Dean commented, and Sam stood to join him at the window.
They headed downstairs to meet the man.
"Ah, you must be Sam and Dean." Jack said with a nod and a somber expression. He held out his hand to Dean. "I'm Jack. I take it you've met my wife Kay."
Dean took Jack's hand and grunted his agreement. "Good to meet you, Jack." He said politely. "Hopefully we can help you with this poltergeist problem."
Jack turned to shake Sam's hand and frowned. "Poltergeist, huh? If you say so. All I know is that something weird is going on."
Sam nodded and shook Jack's hand. "We'll figure it out."
Jack scratched the back of his neck and studied Sam and Dean like he was trying to decide weather or not they were good for the job. "Well, I sure hope you boys are hungry." He said after a moment. "I know I am. Kay makes the best pot roast."
Dean's stomach grumbled as Jack said the words. It had been ages since either of them had eaten anything except fast food and undercooked cafe meals. "That sounds great." He said.
Jack's serious expression finally broke into a smile. "We got pie for desert."
Dean leaned back in his chair and yawned, placing a hand over his full stomach. At this rate, he wasn't going to be able to stay awake until this poltergeist showed up. Jack wasn't kidding when he said that Kay made the best pot roast. He thought maybe they would try and squeeze in breakfast and lunch tomorrow before they left. They never really got paid for what they did, but a free, home cooked meal was just as good as money.
"Thanks, Kay, that was delicious." Sam said politely as she gathered their dishes.
"It's the least I could do." Kay replied, running a hand over Jack's shoulders as she reached for his plate. "I hope you saved room for pie."
Dean grinned. He always had room for pie.
Kay brought them each a slice of warm peach pie with a scoop of ice cream on the side. Dean ate his happily and had to resist licking the plate when he was done.
"That's the best pie I've ever had." He said, and he didn't think he was exaggerating.
Sam nodded in agreement. "Now, about this poltergeist, you say it only shows up at night?"
Right, they were here for a reason other than a free meal. Dean leaned forward and tried to pay attention as Jack explained the situation. His eyelids were so heavy, though. He had already been a bit tired to begin with. That meal must have just pushed him over the edge. He yawned, blinked, and tried to focus.
"Yep. The past week or so." Jack answered. "Shows up around midnight each night, throws things around the house, makes a bunch of noise."
"And you've... uh... you've never... seen it?" Sam asked. His speech was slow, words slurred, and Dean blinked at him in confusion. Sam's figure blurred in and out of focus. Okay, this was more than just being tired. Something was wrong.
"Nope. Never seen it." Jack said, or at least Dean thought that's what he said. The words were loud and somehow didn't seem real.
Kay was gathering their dishes again. "It sure makes a mess, though." She added, but her voice sounded distorted and weird.
Dean stood clumsily, knocking over the chair as he did so. "Sam..." He tried to warn his brother, but couldn't really remember what he was supposed to say. He was just so tired. That was it, he shouldn't be this tired. Something was wrong. "Sam." He tried again. "Something's... wrong."
Sam didn't answer, and Dean shook his head and tried to get a better view of his brother. Sam was hunched over, head resting on the table, eyes closed. When the hell did that happen? The light suddenly seemed too bright, and Dean's eyelids were so heavy.
"What'd you do?" He demanded, even as the room started to spin around him.
He managed to lock his eyes onto Jack's. Jack was smiling. And then the floor was rushing up to meet him, and everything went black.