Summary: Blaire left with her father to go and find whatever killed her mother twenty-two years ago, leaving her older brother, Dean behind. When they're reunited, they discover dark secrets about their family. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters. I only own Blaire Winchester. I don't own some of the lines used either.
The Paths We Tread
Chapter Two
Blaire bit her lip as she tried to suppress a laugh, watching her cheeky older brother as he popped a spoon in Sam's mouth, keeping his eye on the road while taking a photo of the sleeping giant who snored in the front seat of the Impala. Dean turned up the volume of the speakers and both he and Blaire started singing.
"A fire of unknown origin took my baby away!"
Sam shot out of sleep and spat the spoon out, Dean drumming on the steering wheel while Blaire burst into a huge fit of laughter on the backseat. Sam turned down the volume and looked at his siblings.
"Haha, very funny." He said with a sigh.
"Sorry. Not a lot of scenery here in east Texas," Dean chuckled, "You kinda gotta make your own."
Sam huffed, Blaire trying to stop laughing.
"Man, we're not kids anymore, Dean." Sam breathed, "We're not gonna start that crap up again."
"Start what up?" Dean asked, he and Blaire sharing confused looks in the rear-view mirror.
"That prank stuff…it's stupid," Sam said, "And it always escalates."
"Oh, what's the matter, Sammy, you afraid you're gonna get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?" Dean asked, Blaire almost spitting her whiskey out.
"Alright. Just remember, you started it." Sam warned, Blaire sitting back in her seat and chuckling.
She loved this. She loved seeing her brothers messing around, pranking each other, having fun and just…she loved being with them. It was like home for her, but she still missed her father.
"Oh, bring it on, Baldy." Dean laughed, Blaire smiling at her older brother.
Her smile faded as she thought of her dad and if he was okay or what he was doing.
"You okay?"
Dean's voice snapped her out of her trance and she shook her head, smiling and nodding in response.
"Few hours outside of Richardson." Dean replied, "Give us the lowdown again."
Blaire sat forward in her seat, ready to listen to the details of the case as Sam picked up a piece of paper from the dashboard. Seeing his father again seemed to have unleashed a new emotion in Sam, and Blaire could see it there, she just didn't know what it was.
"Alright, about a month or two ago, this group of kids goes poking around in this local haunted house." Sam explained.
"Haunted by what?" Blaire asked.
"Apparently, a pretty misogynistic spirit." Sam began, Blaire and Dean raising eyebrows in response, "Legend goes, it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. Anyway, this group of kids see this dead girl hanging in the cellar."
"Anybody ID the corpse?" Blaire asked before Dean could, chuckling at the playful pout and warning finger she got in the rear-view mirror.
"Well, that's the thing. By the time the cops got there, the body was gone." Sam said, both Dean and Blaire looking completely confused, "So, cops are saying the kids were just yanking chains."
"Well, maybe the cops are right." Dean replied.
"Maybe, but I read a couple of the kids' firsthand accounts." Sam said with a grimace, "They seem pretty sincere."
"Where'd you read these accounts?" Dean asked, both him and his sister noticing Sam's hesitation made both Dean and Blaire a little wary.
"Well, I knew we were gonna be passing through Texas. So, uh, last night I searched some local….paranormal websites." The youngest Winchester began, Dean rolling his eyes in response, "And I found one."
"And what's it called?" Dean asked, Sam being reluctant to respond.
"Hell Hound's Lair dot com." He answered, Dean sighing at the reply.
"Let me guess, streaming live out of Mom's basement." He said, Sam laughing at the remark.
"Yeah, probably."
"Yeah, most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit 'em in the persqueeter." Dean said with a soft chuckle, Blaire laughing too.
"Look, we let Dad take off, which was a mistake, by the way." Sam began, "And now, we don't know where the hell he is, so, in the meantime, we've got to find ourselves something to hunt. There's no harm checking this thing out."
Dean looked sceptical but Blaire piped up.
"Sam's right," She said softly, "Look we don't know what's going on with dad so let's just keep going…this sounds like it could be promising."
"Alright. So, where do we find these kids?" Dean asked.
"Same place you always find kids in a town like this." Sam replied.
The group had listened to the teens' accounts and they were given a name. Craig Thurston. Entering a record store, they were met by who they presumed was Craig.
"Gentlemen, can I help you with anything?" He asked, spotting Blaire and giving her the eye, "And lady?"
Sam hated it when people checked out is sister, she wasn't a piece of meat.
"Yeah, are you Craig Thurston?" He asked, trying not to sound pissed.
"I am." Craig replied, confused as to who these people were.
"Well, we're reporters with the Dallas Morning News. I'm Dean, this is Sam." Dean began, "And this is Blaire. She's a trainee."
"No way. Yeah, I'm a writer, too." Craig said excitedly, "I write for my school's lit magazine."
"Oh, good for you, Morrison." Dean chuckled.
"We're doing an article on local hauntings, and rumour has it you might know about one." Blaire said, Craig nodding in response.
"You mean the Hell House?" He asked.
"That's the one." Dean replied.
"I didn't think there was anything to the story." Craig breathed.
"Why don't you tell us the story?" Sam asked, Craig nodding and taking a deep breath.
"Well, supposedly, back in the thirties, this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, used to live in the house with his six daughters. It was during the Depression." Craig explained, "His crops were failing. He didn't have enough money to even feed his own children. So, I guess that's when he went off the deep end."
"How?" Blaire breathed.
"Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick rather than starve to death, so he attacked them. They screamed, begged for him to stop, but he just strung them up, one after another." Craig continued, "And then, when he was all finished, he turned around and hung himself. Now, they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl who goes inside."
"But where'd you hear all this?" Dean asked, brow furrowing in confusion.
"My cousin, Dana, told me. I don't know where she heard it from." Craig replied, "You've gotta realize I didn't believe this for a second."
"But now you do?" Sam asked.
"I don't know what the hell to think, man. Guys, I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real, and she was dead." Craig said worriedly, "This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again, okay?"
Dean and Sam shared a look and Blaire looked concerned for the poor guy.
"Thanks." She said softly, tapping Dean's arm to signal their departure.
Climbing in the Impala, Dean watched his sister and shared a concerned look with Sam as they saw her take a swig of whiskey. Blaire never used to drink whiskey. It was always beer, soda or water…never whiskey. Both he and Sam wondered if she'd just changed her tastes or if this was something worse. No…she'd just changed her tastes…yeah, that was it…right?
"You alright, Blaire?" He asked as Blaire rubbed her head and the bridge of her nose.
"Huh?" She asked, "Yeah, thanks, Sam. Just tired."
Sam smiled softly at his sister and she smiled back, taking another drink of whiskey and sighing.
"It doesn't help, y'know." Sam said softly, Blaire huffing out a laugh and putting the hipflask away.
"God, you're more like Dad than I remember," She said sweetly, leaning forward and hugging her brothers, "I love you guys."
Sam chuckled while Dean raised an eyebrow with a soft smile on his face.
"Okay, c'mon," Dean laughed, "This ain't Oprah. Let's get going, shall we, ladies?"
Next stop: Hell House. Wonderful.
-TBC-
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