The Innkeeper

Dean had been driving throughout the night. A few days ago they had received a voice mail on their dad's cell phone from Marge Brenner, a friend of their dads, saying that she needed his help. They had called her back informing her that their dad wasn't around right now and whether they could be of any help. She accepted their offer. Dean remembered Marge from when he was young, and knew she was a medium and psychic, Sam had been too young to remember her. All she had told them was that she was asked to help clean a house of spirits and knowing the line of work their dad was in thought he could be of help. Dean was tired, normally he would have woken Sam up to take over the driving so he could get some rest but so far he hadn't. Sam, who always had trouble sleeping, had fallen into what Dean thought was finally a peaceful sleep which he knew his brother badly needed. But as Dean looked over at Sam his face wrinkled with worry when he heard his brother begin to moan in pain. Dean winced when he saw the trickle of blood begin to run out of Sam's nose. Not again he thought as he reached over and shook Sam awake. For the last few months Sam had been having his usual nightmares, which weren't unusual for him, but now with each nightmare his nose would start to bleed. It would start slowly at first but if he didn't wake up it would begin to increase. More then once Dean had woken up to find Sam's pillow saturated with blood.

"Huh?...What?..." Sam said as he was jerked out of his sleep.

"You're bleeding again."

"Oh." Sam wiped the blood away with the back of his hand.

Dean handed him a tissue.

"Thanks." Sam said as he dapped at his nose.

"Sam….something is obviously wrong. I still think you need to see a doctor."

They had had this conversation a million times before and Sam had always refused which is what he did now.

"I'm fine."

"Fine! Who the hell else do you know that bleeds every time they have a nightmare? Give me one name and I won't bother you about it again."

"Dean, I'm fine. Just let it rest."

"Sam…you could be bleeding in your brain or something."

"Well at least you finally admit I have a brain." Sam grinned over at his brother.

"It's not funny Sammy."

"Look Dean…it's probably just a sinus infection."

"A sinus infection! When does a sinus infection last for months?"

"Well did you ever have one?"

"No."

"Well then how do you know how long they last?"

Dean shook his head and looked out the side window.

"You're impossible." He mumbled.

"Hey, I feel fine. Don't worry about it okay?" Sam lied. The truth was he wasn't feeling fine. In fact a lot of the time he felt lousy. He didn't want Dean to know, he knew he'd get all protective of him and make him go to the hospital and the truth was he was scared of what they might find.

"You know Sam we're going into an active haunted house, poltergeists and spirits, the whole nine yards….If you're not feeling one hundred percent…"

"Just drive." Sam interrupted him.

Dean shook his head and looked out the side window. He was worried about Sam but he knew it was hopeless to keep arguing with him. He decided all he could do was try and keep an eye on him and if he got worse he'd make him go to the doctors even if he had to knock him out to get him there.

The House

They pulled up at an old house that had once been an inn many years ago. The house sat back off an old country road and down a long path, barely visible at the end of it. Marge came out to greet them as they got out of the car. She immediately ran over to Dean and pulled him into a hug.

"Dean, look at you!" She pulled back and put her hands on each of his shoulders looking him over. "You look so handsome."

"Oh…thanks." Dean blushed. "Nice to see you again Marge." He nodded his head toward Sam. "You remember Sam don't you?"

She turned to Sam.

"Yes I remember Sammy, why you were just a little guy when I saw you last." She hugged him then pulled away, a worried look on her face. "Oh my Sammy, you're so pale and so cold. What's the matter honey aren't you feeling well?"

Sam glanced over at Dean hoping he hadn't heard her but he had. Dean looked back at him angry that he hadn't admitted to him how he was really feeling. He was just about to tell Marge about Sam's nosebleeds when Sam gave him a quick shake of the head telling him not to. At first he was going to ignore him and tell her anyway, but then decided against getting his brother pissed off at him. If the nosebleeds continued, or if Sam looked or acted sick, he would tell her on the side when he wasn't around.

"I'm fine." Sam quickly said.

She looked at him suspiciously, she knew he was lying.

"So Marge how have you been?" Dean asked.

"I've been fine… But you boys….I can tell you have so many questions…" She looked at them sensing their turmoil but not quite sure why.

"That we do, but we can get to that later. Could you give us a little background on the house?" Dean looked up at the old house which sat off a narrow path, no neighbors in sight. It had to be over a hundred years old he thought.

Marge grabbed each of their hands as she led them toward the house.

"A family moved in here about six months ago, a man, his wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. They immediately began having trouble; you know lights flickering, televisions sets turning off and on, strange knocks on the walls….the usual poltergeist activity. They just assumed it was the house settling. But the daughter who is twelve swore she saw a man standing over her bed one night, she said she screamed and he disappeared and the boy, who is fourteen, has been attacked more then once. He has numerous bruises and scratch marks over his body. The family didn't know what to do and a mutual friend had them contact me."

"Where are they now?" Sam asked.

"I had them leave for a few days. I figured that was best."

"Do you know the history of the house?" Dean asked.

"The local legend says it used to be an inn which catered to travelers passing between the two closest towns which are about sixteen miles apart. The legend says the owner was a madman who would rob then kill his guests. It was said he was a cannibal and would then cook and eat the bodies."

"Sounds like a nice guy." Dean grinned over at Sam.

"Did you research the legend?" Sam asked as they entered the house.

"I checked out the local library's microfilm and I discovered that yes it had been used as an inn at one time and that there were indeed reports of missing travelers in the area."

"So we could be dealing with more then one spirit, the innkeeper, and the ones who died here." Dean stated.

"That's the feeling I'm getting."

"Did you try having the house blessed by a priest to see if that would help?"

"I tried that and it helped for a few days but the activity in the house returned." She said as she led them around the first floor. A large mixed breed dog came out of the kitchen and Sam knelt down next to it.

"This is Jake." Marge smiled; she always traveled with her dog.

"Hey boy." He scratched its neck then looked up at Marge. "Has the dog been acting strange?"

"The usual things when a spirit is present. Growling at things that aren't there, and a few times he ran and hid under the table scared to death."

"Have you sensed anything?" Dean asked as he too knelt down and scratched the dog.

"I've sensed a very evil spirit who seems to be holding the other spirits here, they seem almost trapped here because of it." She then led them upstairs and into the girl's room. "I'm having a few friends stop by tonight for a séance. I'm hoping we can draw the spirit out and find out what it wants."

TBC