"What are you doing?" Jess screamed when the car jumped forward. "You wanna kill us?"
The house was right in front of them, big and scary and damn solid in the light of the headlights.
And then they smashed through the wall. Wood scratched over metal. The impact threw Jess through the front seat and half into the dashboard. She closed her eyes to fight off the dizziness and then tried to find a position without being stuck in car parts.
"After this I'll sleep for a week." She muttered while she waited for the world to stop spinning. Suddenly Dean was at her window yelling his brother's name.
"Sam! You okay?"
Breathing heavily Sam needed a moment to answer. "I think ..." Not reassuring at all. Constance had her fingers in his chest not even a minute ago. Jess felt her own heart aching at that thought.
"Can you move?" Dean asked and came real close to her now.
"Yeah. Help me?" Sam answered and leaned through the window to give him a hand. That was when Jess hurried to get out of the way. Maybe she had gotten somewhat used to being some kind of ghost but people moving through her? That was where she drew the line.
Standing outside of the car Jess was the only one who noticed Constance. The ghost picked up a framed photograph and her expression softened for a second when she ran her fingertips over the dusty glass of the frame.
"Um … guys?" Jess tried to get the brothers' attention. "She's back."
Behind her the car door closed and Constance looked up. Ignoring Jess for once her eyes were fixated on the brothers.
With sudden callousness she dropped the photograph and stepped aside. The bureau behind her came to life and crashed into the brothers pinning them effectively to the car.
Jess had seen Constance driving the car only with her mind but this was somehow a new level of wrong. Sam and Dean fought against the furniture but it didn't budge an inch. They only could wait for Constance's next move. Jess on the other hand …
She made an unsteady step in Constance's direction. Searching for something to hold on to Jess dropped to her knees. Whatever she had done back in the car it had drained her completely. On hands and knees she tried to catch her breath and to somehow gather the strength to stand up.
"Stay away from them." She spat the words out between harsh breaths. It was an empty threat. Jess knew it and Constance knew it, too.
Damn, why did she feel so weak? C'mon, Jess. Get up.
The lights flickered and Jess looked up to find out what the ghost was up to now. From the upper floor water ran down the stairs and for a second Jess wondered why this place still had water and electricity running.
Constance went over to the base of the stairs focused on something on the top.
"You've come home to us, Mommy." Two voices whispered like one. Children, Jess guessed. She couldn't see who was on the top of the stairs and she had no idea why they were here. Kids playing in the abandoned house? But why did they call Constance mommy? It didn't make sense.
Constance, however, had a clear line of sight to whoever was up there. Judging by her horrified expression she didn't like what she saw.
Suddenly two kids – a boy and a girl, both wet and apparently dead – appeared behind the ghost. Without hesitation the children caught Constance – their mother? – in a tight embrace.
And Constance screamed. She threw her head back and screamed. In a surge of energy all three of them melted into a puddle on the floor. It flickered for a second longer and then it was gone.
When she heard a scratching sound behind her Jess turned her head. Sam and Dean now shoved the bureau away with ease.
"So this is where she drowned her kids." Dean said while Sam got closer to investigate the spot. Jess needed a moment to remember the story about Constance drowning her kids in the bathtub.
"That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them." Sam's voice washed over her and she could barely make out the words. Slowly she stood up.
When Dean slapped Sam on the chest right where the holes were burned into his shirt – and the skin beneath – she winced in sympathy but Sam laughed through the pain.
"Can we go home now?" She asked but was still ignored.
"What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?" Sam shook his head.
"Hey. Saved your ass." Dean turned to inspect the damage on his car. "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car?" Over his shoulder he looked at Sam a grin on his face. "I'll kill you."
Dean inspected his car closely for possible damage. Beside one busted headlight, a tiny dent and a few scratches he didn't find any. An old battle ship like the Impala was pretty much indestructible, Jess guessed.
"Okay." Dean closed the hood. "Let's get her back on the road before the Sheriff catches up on us."
Jess sat on the dusty floor – as far as possible from the spot where the ghost had vanished – and watched them working on getting the car out of the living room. It took them a while but Jess didn't mind. She still felt like she had just ran a marathon.
"Watch out." Dean shouted wincing at every scratching noise from wood over metal.
When they got the car on the road again – Jess hurried to get in the backseat – they didn't head back into town. So maybe, just maybe, they would get outa here without seeing the Sheriff or one of his deputies again.
They drove in silence for a while which was odd. Jess had expected enthusiastic chatter, a recap of the events, a "Oh my god, I can't believe we are still alive!". Once again it became clear that the Winchesters weren't like other people. Sam wasn't like other people. Other people didn't just survive a ghost attack and then shrug it off like it was daily business. She squinted at Dean. Maybe it was daily business, at least for him.
"It shouldn't have worked." Dean broke the silence.
"What?" Sam sat up straighter coming back from his own thoughts.
"When I shot her." Dean explained. "When I shot Constance it shouldn't have worked."
"Thought you had iron rounds." Sam frowned.
Dean shot his brother a glance. "I stole the gun from the Sheriff's department. Doubt they use iron rounds."
"Oh." Was all Sam managed to say. "You shot a spirit with normal bullets? Are you insane?"
"Had no time to get to the trunk." Dean muttered and then grinned. "Hey, it worked."
Sam sucked in his cheeks, thinking. Jess hold her breath and silently prayed that he would figure out that there had to be something else. Someone else. In only a few hours Brady would come by to … do this … and eventually kill her. He had said so. So she needed Sam to figure it out.
But instead he said: "Maybe it was some kind of reflex. You know, she heard the shot and thought it would effect her."
"Or it was something different." Jess yelled at him but he ignored her. "C'mon Sam, you are the smart guy."
"Maybe." Dean didn't sound convinced and Jess got her hope up.
"What?" Sam asked again and Dean shifted uncomfortable in his seat.
"I …" He started. "After you called. I thought you'd crashed or something. I ran."
"You ran?" Sam turned to face his brother. "You ran out there? That's miles."
"I think I ran." He shook his head as if he wanted to clear it. "It's a little dizzy, maybe I panicked a little?" He grinned sheepishly. "But I was there in time."
"Yeah, you were." Sam's voice was thick with emotions and Jess had to swallow hard.
Did she do that? Bring Dean there in time? If so she had no idea how to repeat it. Or to do anything else.
"Here." Dean tossed a leather-bound journal at Sam. "Check out those coordinates, would you?"
After a few minutes Sam looked up from the map illuminated by a flashlight. "Okay, here's where Dad went." He tapped his finger on the spot. "It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado."
Dean kept his eyes on the road but nodded. "Sounds charming. How far?"
"About six hundred miles."
"Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning."
Jess wanted to protest but hesitated looking at Sam. This was his decision. He could come home to her and rock the interview and pretend this little adventures was nothing more, just a little adventure. Or he could go with Dean searching for their father. And maybe kill a ghost or two along the way.
"Please, Sam." She whispered. Before this time loop had started he had been on his way home, however, she wasn't sure if it would play out the same this time. Maybe she had changed too much.
"I'm doomed if you don't come home." She still pleaded while Sam hesitated.
"Dean, I, um …" He finally said.
Dean glanced at him. "You're not going."
"The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there."
Dean nodded and the darkness inside the car couldn't hide the disappointment clearly written all over his face. For the first time Jess really felt sorry for him. Sam would come home to her and his friends and his life but their father was still incommunicado which left Dean alone.
What had he said when Sam had pointed out that Dean could do this trip on his own? Jess could still hear his "Yeah, well, I don't want to." and she silently promised Dean that Sam would stay in contact with him this time. Even if she had to force him.
To her surprise Dean didn't argue. "I'll take you home."