Dean flopped down on the uncomfortable motel bed, sighing. The springs didn't seem too happy about it either. They groaned under his weight. Sam was already hard at work putting up the mixed-up map of evidence, pages of dad's journal, newspaper clippings, and anything else that could possibly prove useful in their case. A couple missing persons, and now a corpse. It was strange to think this was "all in a day's work" for them, even if it was all they'd ever done.
Dean leaned forward and grabbed the remote off the table and clicking on the TV. The colors were horribly faded and the quality was crap, but Dean never really minded. He wasn't looking for HD, he was looking for a distraction.
Sam looked unamused. "You could be helping..."
"I could be," Dean said flatly, staring blankly at the screen. "Hey, bring me a beer, would you?"
Sam rolled his eyes, but obeyed his older brother, suddenly desiring a drink too. He grabbed two bottles from the fridge and tossed one of them to Dean, who continued to stare at the television.
Dean was obviously very grateful.
The TV flickered to static, and then changed channels completely. Not just to the next channel or anything predictable, something completely random. Degrassi reruns, it looks like.
"What the hell..." Dean moaned half-heartedly. Fuck. Fuck TV, fuck technology, fuck fucking fuck. He changed it back, hoping it wouldn't happen again.
Lo and behold, it did. This time, a football game.
Dean rolled his eyes, deciding to just stick with the game for now.
Of course, as soon as he was comfortable, it switched again.
To god damn Dora the Explorer.
"Having fun?" Sam chuckles, obviously enjoying Dean's frustration.
Dean huffs bitterly, turns off the TV and stands up. "Fine, you win, I'll help."
They only got a minute's peace before the silence was broken. Static.
The TV was... back on. Some shitty reality show. Neither of them had ever heard of before.
The brothers exchange glances. That's not good.
The Winchesters jump into action, doing what they do best. EMFs are pulled out, salt is retrieved, journals are rifled through.
Dean's phone buzzes in his pocket. New message.
Cool your jets, big bro.
"What the hell-" Obviously, his first thought was Sam, but that didn't make sense. Sam was right there. Sam's phone was on the counter on the other side of the room.
"What is it?" Sam asked, worried. He glanced over his brother's shoulder to get a look. "Big bro? Dean, that wasn't..."
Dean didn't respond, only continued to study the text. It made no sense.
"Must be a wrong number..." Dean said, trying to rationalize it. It was a long shot, but really, big bro? This ghost must be seriously confused.
"Dean!" Sam yelped instinctively. There was no need to shout, Dean saw it too. When they exited the text message screen, Dean's phone background was not it's usual default blue. It was a picture. It didn't even stay on the screen for a full second, but they both saw it, clear as day.
"I think we found our ghost..." Dean said slowly. Ghosts usually don't reveal themselves so... quickly...
"I've seen that picture..." Sam said, darting back to his laptop.
"Where?"
Sam didn't respond, only furiously typed. In under a minute, he had found what he was looking for. He turned the screen so Dean could see.
A facebook page?
The profile picture was indeed the one they had seen on Dean's phone, but that wasn't what made their stomachs churn.
The face was familiar, the name was recognised.
Adam Milligan
"Big bro," The brothers said in unison.
"I knew I knew that face..." Dean said, shaking his head.
"But he's in The Cage!" Sam said, scrolling through the deceased boy's profile. It was full of sappy "I miss you" messages from friends and classmates. Some "Ellie Chase" left a lot of little hearts. Didn't Adam mention a girlfriend? "He can't get out!"
Sam scrolled back up, only to find their half-brother decided to update his status.
Well, I am a Winchester.
Dean resisted the urge to put his fist through the screen. There was something about this that wasn't sitting right with him.
"So what?" he spat. "Hell has wi-fi now?!"
The lights flickered, and went out. The entire room was pitch black, and even Sam's laptop had shut down.
"Punkass BRAT!"
