"Find anything?" Dean asks his brother as they sit at a diner booth having lunch. Sam is currently on his laptop searching for a case.
"Just one. Possible haunting in Versailes Indiana. Strange things have apparently been happening around this place for years. Lights flickering, strange noises, electrical anomalies."
"Ok, I'm not changing the channel. You thinking a ghost?"
"I was. Except for two facts. One these events are affecting the entire town. And two: a few days ago, every tree within 100 yards of the town suddenly fell over from the roots. And a house on the outskirts of town seems to be the epicenter; as all the trees fell in direction away from this house." Sam says as he turns the laptop around to show Dean the photo shows the trees down pointing out from the house. "I don't know of any ghost that has that type of fire power. There's no body count yet, so whatever this thing is: I think it's just getting warmed up."
"Worth checking it out."
When the brothers arrived in Versailes, it is too late to do much more than get a motel room and start planning on where to start investigating in the morning. After their customary four hours sleep the two brothers hit the local library to begin searching the town newspapers for any background information on the case.
Strange incidents had been happening around this area since 1987; with occurrences slowly increasing over the years. Locals had reported things such as televisions suddenly losing reception, electricity surges, and piercing sounds that would sometimes shatter any glass object in range.
The brothers decide to check the house out that evening, when most of the activity was known to occur. They go through the house systematically, and find nothing out of the ordinary at first. Then, Sam finds a door that is boarded shut. Looking around Dean finds a pry bar not far from the door. Dean pry's the door open to reveal stairs leading down to a basement.
Together, the brothers descend the stairs. Once the brothers get to the bottom of the stairs, Dean says: "You go that way, Sam. I'll check the other end."
As Dean searches his end of the basement his flashlight catches something that nearly makes his heart stop.
Hanging from chains suspended from the ceiling is a girl, her toes barely able to touch the ground. Long, dark hair covers most of her face, so Dean can't see what her face looks like. She doesn't have any clothing on, and her body is pale from the cold air of the basement.
"Sonovabitch!" Dean swore as he realized what he was seeing was real. He quickly moves over to the girl; all the while wondering if he is walking into a trap. Dean moves some of the blood and sweat socked hair out of her face, Dean winces in sympathy of the nasty looking bruises to the girls face. In all it looked like someone had used this girl as a punching bag. Under the bruises, the girl's face is a delicate pale that almost makes her look like she looks a porcelain doll. She's really a young woman, Dean thinks as she looks to be just a few years younger than himself; possibly Sam's age. Maybe that is the reason why Dean's protective nature flares up and he wants nothing more than to protect this girl.
Reaching out, Dean checks her neck for a pulse. Finding a pulse, Dean breathes a sigh of relief. As Dean touches her neck, the girl seems to regain some consciousness, as she shifts and opens her eyes. Dean is struck at how blue her eyes are; he had never seen such blue eyes before. They are like gleaming sapphires, alight by fear and unshed tears. Her breathing comes as painful gasps around the gag in her mouth. She also tries to get away, but all that does is cause her reopen some of the wounds on her wrists. Dean notices the fresh blood running down her arms and knows that he need to calm the girl down so she doesn't injure them or herself more; as she is fighting like a trapped animal.
"Hey. You're gonna be ok. You just need to calm down or you're gonna hurt yourself." The girl seems to calm down as she quits struggling to get free. However, her eyes still contain barely controlled panic; not that Dean can blame the poor girl for it. Their eyes met and in that moment, Dean feels like lightning has struck him as the girl stares into his eyes as if trying to read his soul. After a few seconds, the girl calms down; and while she continues to watch Dean closely, it isn't as intense of a stare as it was before.
Dean knows he is going to need Sam's help in getting the girl free and out of the basement. Turning his head in the direction Sam had gone, Dean calls out his brother's name. Soon Dean can hear Sam running towards him. The girl seems to hear it too, and the question is clear in her eyes. "My brother is going to help get you outta here."
"Oh shit." Sam says as he sees the girl.
"We gotta get her outta here, Sam." Dean says, barely turning towards Sam; before turning his attention back to the girl.
Without a second thought, Dean reaches up and unbuckles the straps to the gag. He eases the straps down, the girl's jaw makes a painful sounding pop as she opens her mouth wider to let Dean remove the ball wedged behind her teeth. When the gag is removed, a sting of pleas leave the girl's mouth in a language that neither brother has ever heard before.
"It's ok. We're gonna get you outta here." Dean said. "Do you understand?" He worries that the girl might not understand English.
"I-I understand." Came the small, uncertain reply.
"Awesome." Turning to Sam, Dean says: "Sam, help me get her down."
Dean puts his gun in the back of his jeans and as gently as he could, Dean wraps his arms around the girl's waist and lifts her up, taking the weight off her wrists and the collar around her neck; allowing Sam to pick the locks of the restraints. After a few moments, Dean hears the soft clicks of the locks as Sam releases the girl from her bindings: first the collar, then the manacles. Dean lets the girl down and helps her get her footing before moving back slightly to give the girl a chance to walk on her own. The girl takes a very shaky step before her legs give out and she stumbles and falls. She quickly gets herself in a crouched position. The girl curls in on herself, with her arms crossed over her chest; as if in effort to cover the fact that she didn't have any clothing on. Dean removes his flannel shirt and wraps it around the girl's shoulders.
"Put your arms around my neck." Dean says as adjusts his shirt so that it will cover her. The girl looks at Dean as if she didn't immediately understand what he told her; But then the feeling passes and she tentatively does as Dean instructed as he slides one arm under her knees and the other cradling her back as he lifts her up to carry her bridal style. The girl is almost skin and bones making her very easy for Dean to carry.
"Let's get out of here, before whatever did this to her comes back." Sam says as he watches Dean picks the girl up in his arms.
"Lead the way." Dean says as he allows Sam to cover him as they leave the basement and make their way back to the impala.
When they reach the car, Dean tells Sam to open the back door so he can put the girl in the back seat. The girl huddles deeper into Dean's shirt, looking impossibly small and lost. Dean gets the spare blanket out of the trunk and gives it to the girl. She just stares at the blanket like she doesn't know what to do with it. Dean takes the blanket and tucks it around the girl's legs.
As Dean shuts the back door, he locks eyes with Sam across the car.
"Get in the car, Sam."
"Where we headed?" Sam asks as they get into the impala.
"Back to the motel. She's too bad to take to the hospital without a billion questions being asked."
"But she could have some serious injuries." Sam argues.
"Look, we go back to the motel; let her get cleaned up and we'll see if there's any injuries we need to take care of. You heard how she talks when we removed the gag; I don't think putting her in the hospital is going to help her."
"We don't even know her name! How are we gonna help her?"
"Castielle." Come a quiet response from the back seat. Both brothers turned to see sitting up in the back seat; her blue eyes bright and alert.
"Did you say something?" Sam asks. It had been so quiet, that at first they wasn't sure they heard anything.
"I said my name is Castielle." Her voice small and uncertain.