The next evening Maggie and Sam stood at the gates of the school, waiting for Matt to appear to let them in through the tradesmen entrance. Dean was wandering around a few meters away, talking on his mobile phone,
"…right, okay. Well, head down here when you've burnt the bones and give me a call when you get here, alright? Yeah…I know. You too. Alright. Yeah. Bye." He slid his phone shut and turned back to his siblings,
"Is Lola going to be okay by herself?" Maggie asked cautiously,
"Oh yeah…she loves hanging around in crypts." Dean dismissed, waving a hand in the air. At that moment, Matt appeared, looking confused,
"Who does?"
"Lola." Maggie and Sam answered together,
"Right…well whatever gets her motor running…" He said, eyebrows raised and a tiny shake of his head,
"That and a surly demeanor." Maggie joked,
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Dean frowned,
"Nothing…"
"Are we going…?" Sam asked impatiently, as Matt opened the gate for them. Maggie took Matt's keys and stood, looking at him expectantly,
"What?" He asked,
"You need to get out of here." She said seriously, "Get yourself somewhere safe and stay there until I call you. It's important that you stay away."
"I'm worried about you."
"Don't be. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Call me as soon as."
Dean rolled his eyes,
"God…this is almost unbearable…will you just kiss her so we can get on with this?"
Matt and Maggie fidgeted awkwardly,
"I…uh…I'll speak to you later." He said, giving her a quick hug before walking off into the darkness. Maggie whirled around to glare at Dean,
"Considering that comment came from you…" She began, "Probably the worst person I've ever met for dancing around intimacy in my entire life!"
Sam pursed his lips together so as not to laugh, listening to his siblings talking to one another the way they were as he followed them up to the English building.
The trio walked attentively up the stairs, stopping on the fourth floor, the last place the spirit was seen. They each took arrow of seats, Sam to the far right, Dean to the left and Maggie walking down the middle row.
Shinning their flashlights over the room, looking up in the rafters, the siblings found the silence unsettling.
"You guys see anything yet?" Dean looked over to Maggie, who blinked as he shone the light in her eyes.
"Nope…nothing." She answered with a frown.
"How bout you Sammy?.…Sam…"
Maggie turned her head to the right, disturbed to see that Sam was no longer there.
"Damn it!" Dean exclaimed, turning on his heals he raced up and put of the large lecture theatre. As he blasted through the doors he froze in his tracks what he saw chilled him, a sickening feeling filled the pit of his stomach as he saw his brother hanging down the center of the stair well.
"No." He breathed through gritted teeth as Maggie came bounding out of the room.
"Oh my god!"
Dean rushed down the steps so that he was within reach of Sam's legs, Maggie followed and the too struggled to pull him in and relieve the tension of the noose that was wrapped around Sam's neck.
As the colour began to drain from his face, Sam clawed at the rope, chocking for breath. Dean looked up, beads of sweat collecting on his forehead, as he did so he spotted the nun floating at the top of the stairs, a cold smile on her pale face. He frowned, anger swelling from inside and without warning let go of Sam's legs and chased after the spirit.
"Dean what are you doing!? Maggie yelled, suddenly being left with the full weight of her brother.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Dean pulled out his shot gun and aimed it at the spirits head,
"No…wait I cant hold him!" Maggie called as she saw Dean about to blow the spirit away, but it was too late, with a bang and a clink of an empty shot gun shell, Sam plummeted through her grip, grabbing frantically for anything Maggie caught the rope that was still wound round Sam's neck, causing him to choke again.
"Dean, grab his legs…!" She ordered, panic and fear echoing in her voice, "….pull him in!"
Jumping down the stairs, Dean reached out for his brother and pulled him, Maggie let go of the rope, her hands red raw with the struggle and weight. She looked down over the banister breathlessly. "Is he okay?"
"He's okay." Dean called back, relief in his voice.
Maggie slumped back against the wall in exhaustion, sitting for a moment's rest before pulling herself up and joining her brother's on the lower floor.
"Come on…lets find Lola and find out why the hell she didn't burn the bones." Dean suggested, holding up his brother as they carefully made their way down the steps and out of the building.
As the three got to the gates, they were surprised to see Lola sitting waiting for them on the bonnet of her truck. She spotted them slipping her phone back into her pocket as she hopped down onto the road, frowning as she rushed to the boys' sides, helping Dean with Sam,
"Sam! What happened…?" She asked, looking at his swollen neck in horror,
"It's a bit…of a long story…" He croaked,
"What the hell happened to you?!" Dean demanded, "Why didn't you burn the bones?"
Lola frowned, looking between the three of them in confusion,
"I…did…" She answered carefully, "Why? Is it still in there?!"
Dean laughed bitterly,
"I think it's a safe bet to say yes." He remarked, "That psycho bitch almost killed Sam!"
"Hmmm…"
"Are you sure you burnt the right corpse?"
Lola sent Dean a withering look,
"Do I look like an amateur? Yes I burnt the right corpse! I didn't exactly have much to choose from!" She snapped, "There must be something else keeping it here. An object…"
Matt approached nervously,
"How'd it go?" He asked casually,
"Uh…" Maggie trailed off, "Not so good." She sighed, "Looks like burning the bones didn't work."
"Is there an object that might be related to the spirit?" Sam asked, rubbing at his neck,
"What do you mean? Like the noose she used?"
"Yeah…do you know where it is?"
"It's on display in the town's museum."
"Okay…pretty gruesome…" Dean observed, tilting his head slightly, "We need to burn that then."
"Can you show us where the museum is?" Maggie asked Matt,
"What,
now?"
"Yes now." Dean answered,
"But…it's closed."
"…yes…and?"
"Do
you mean break in?!"
"Well we can't smash a display case and
burn a piece of the town's history in broad daylight." Lola said
simply, "It'll have to be now before anyone else gets hurt."
"Okay. Good point." Matt agreed, "Let's go."
Lola moved around and clambered up into her truck whilst Dean helped Sam back to the Impala, leaving Maggie and Matt standing awkwardly,
"Uhm…thanks for helping, by the way…" She mumbled,
"That's okay." He said with a shrug, "Makes a change from my usual nights in."
Lola leant out of her window,
"Are you two coming? Get in. I'm tired." She smirked. Maggie rolled her eyes, motioning for Matt to get into the truck as the Impala pulled up alongside of the truck, it's engine quietly rumbling in anticipation.
Dean stood in front of the large glass display case with a look of disgust. He shook his head,
"It amazes me that people would actually want to look at this…" He mumbled as he pulled out a small metal pick, moving to fiddle with the lock on the door. Maggie raised her eyes to the ceiling before raising her arm and slamming her elbow down into the glass, shattering the cabinet inwards. She turned to see Matt staring at her in disbelief. She grinned sheepishly,
"What? It saves time…" She cringed. He cracked a smile and nodded in slow agreement.
Sam lit a match as Dean covered the thick rope in lighter fluid. Sam dropped the match and the entire cabinet went up in flame,
"Is anyone else thinking that perhaps we should've just taken the noose out of the cabinet…?" Lola asked as the museums sprinkler system suddenly kicked in. Dean blew at the water trickling down his face before dropping his head,
"Maybe that would've been a good idea." Sam agreed as his shaggy hair flopped in the water, plastering to his face,
"That'll teach you to get a hair cut." Maggie joked.
"So now what?" Matt asked as they left the museum,
"We head back to the school to check." Sam said simply, wiping at his hair as it fell into his eyes, "See if she's still floating around up there."
"And if she is?" Matt asked.
The three hunters stared back at him in silence,
"We re-group." Lola said with an affirmative nod as they headed back to their vehicles to return to the school,
"You should go home." Maggie told Matt gently. He shook his head,
"I've come this far, and judging on your last two experiences, I think you could use my help."
Maggie sighed,
"You're not going to stay away, huh?"
"Nope."
Maggie smiled weakly,
"Thank you."
At this point, Dean returned, his arms out stretched questionably,
"Oh for the love of…" He muttered, "If you're coming, come!" He snapped, "It's almost daylight."
Matt nodded as he followed Maggie to the waiting car, Dean slamming his door impatiently as he climbed in, rolling his eyes at the sickening display of awkwardness that was going on between Maggie and Matt.
"Hello…?" Dean called out as he trod carefully through the corridor of the top floor, "Here nunny nunny…" He continued in a monotone, "Come and get me…I'm thinking impure thoughts…"
"I dread to think…" Sam remarked from behind him, peering around the darkened corners, "Do you think that we're in the clear?"
"I think so."