Reviewer Responses
Manhattan SVU- Wow! I am glad to hear that you're enjoying this series so much. Thanks for the wonderful review and the comliments.
Yttan- Thanks for the review, I am glad that you liked the blending between the episodes and the addition that I did by bringing in the girls.
LorGilFan- Thanks for all of the help. I really appreciate you betaing for me and catching my errors. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much.
Spuffyshipper- Thanks for the review.
Alachai- I am glad to find that you enjoyed the chapter so much and that you enjoyed the way I'm writing Cassie's character. Thanks for the compliments.
Ghostwriter- Thanks for the reivew.
The Kiss of Death- Thanks for the great review. And I have to admit that the flashback to previous pranks was just some divine insperation on my part.
CHAPTER 9
"Well that was a bust," Dean commented later as they walked out to the Impala after they had interviewed three of the kids who had been at the 'hell house'.
The others could do nothing but nod in agreement. The only things in common their stories had were that a girl had been hanging from the rafters of the basement and then high-tailed it from the house. The description of the girl varied. One said she was blonde, another said she was redheaded, and another said she was a brunette. None of their descriptions matched. So now they were all piling into the Impala and heading to the record story where the witnesses said they would be able to find Craig Thurston, the person who had told them about and taken them to the 'Hell house'.
"Do you think we'll be able to get more from this Craig character?" Cassie wondered a loud as she sat down in the back seat.
"He might," came the response from Dean. "We won't know until we get there."
"Oh God," Jessica said as she secured the baby seat for Ian. "Why do I get the feeling that you're going to do something…"
"Incredibly smart?" Dean suggested with an innocent look.
"I think she means you're going to go in half-cocked," Sam replied with smug grin. He nearly laughed at the indignant look that rose on Dean's face. It was so easy to set Dean up when Jess gave him an opening like that.
"I don't go off half-cocked," Dean snarked back. He sat back in the driver's seat, sulking like a little kid who had his favorite toy taken away.
Cassie, remembering how the boys had gone after the spirit of that guy in the truck, and the times she and Dean had gone out for dinner and dancing years earlier and he had gone after a couple of guys who were harassing them, rolled her eyes. "Jess has a point sweetie. You do tend to let your anger get the better of you. Remember how you went after those two idiots dumb enough to try and hurt me?"
Dean chuckled nervously, "I guess you're right, but you have to admit they did deserve it."
Cassie rolled her eyes, sometimes Dean could be such a little kid. "I'm not saying they didn't, but you didn't have to beat them up so badly that they were sent to the hospital."
Sam and Jessica exchanged a look that clearly said 'same old Dean'. They both knew that Dean tended to overreact and be overprotective when it came to people whom he claimed as friends, family, or innocents were being hurt, or if someone was trying to hurt his car. Sam was about to add something to the conversation when Dean said, "We're here. Let's see what the kid has to say."
The four adults, plus baby, exited the car and entered the record, which, in Sam and Jessica's opinion, was made for Dean. The place was filled to the brim with his "mullet rock" on LPs and, of course band, and concert t-shirts and other memorabilia. As the Winchesters walked in, a guy about 18 greeted them.
"Gentlemen, Ladies, and baby," he greeted cheerily, "Can I help you with anything?"
Dean, who had been thumbing through the albums, was elbowed by Cassie to pay attention so looked over at the kid and grinned, "Yeah, my brother Sam and I are reporters with the Dallas Morning News, and these are our," he paused seeing the raised eyebrows being given to him by his fiancée and his sister-in-law.
"Significant others," Sam cut in, earning him a smile from his wife, "we're doing an article on local hauntings and we're looking for Craig Thurston."
The kid looked surprised for a moment, before he answered, "Well you found him, how can I help you?"
Before Dean could stick his foot in his mouth, Cassie spoke up, "Well, we heard through the grapevine that you're the one who brought the other kids to the 'Hell House'. Do you think you could tell us about it?"
Craig looked at Cassie then Jessica, before glancing at Dean and Sam, who were clearly giving off the testosterone-filled vibe of "my mate, stay away". He shrugged and said, "I thought it was just a story, you know; something to scare the tourists and locals away from the abandoned building. I didn't think there was anything to it."
"Well, why don't you tell us the story," Jessica urged as she balanced the sleepy baby in her arms. While she enjoyed hunting, it was no picnic with a seven-month-old baby.
She had a new respect for her father-in-law for doing his best to balance hunting that fucking Demon down and caring for two children, especially when Sam was nothing but a toddler.
Jessica, who had been lost in her thoughts shook them off hear the rest of the story that Craig was telling.
"……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. Then, when he was all finished, he hung himself. Now, they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringin' up any other girl who goes inside," Craig finished, looking up at the quintet.
The two couples shared a look before turning back to the kid. "So, how'd you hear about this so-called-haunted-house?" Sam asked as he leaned against the wall and pulled Jessica with Ian into his arms. "I mean, did you always know about the place since you grew up around here?"
Craig shook his head. These people weren't acting like any reporters he'd ever seen, but then again that didn't mean anything. The only people he'd known to be reporters were the other kids who worked on the school newspaper with him. He'd never worked for a "real" paper or even a news station. So it stood to reason, for him anyway, that real reporters would act differently while they were researching their story and that they would also have different interviewing techniques.
As he blinked his eyes to clear his thoughts, Craig answered Sam's question, "Um, no I didn't know about the house. Not until my cousin Dana told me about it."
Dean shot a look to the rest of his family and nodded before turning to Craig to ask, "Can you tell us where the house is?" Dean wrapped an arm around Cassie's waist while he waited for Craig to give them directions.
After getting the directions…, which basically just told them to follow the main street out of town make a right turn at the first street they could turn right on after leaving the city, the group headed back to the car to get to the hotel and get some sleep.
As they walked out of the store, Cassie voiced the question that had been burning on everybody's mind, "So, do you think he's telling the truth?"
Dean, who pulled the keys out of his pocket as they approached the Impala, turned to look at the others as he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, he sounded sincere, but it did seem a little rehearsed…"
"Still, Dean and I should check it out while you two do the library research," Sam finished as he pulled his wife and son close, completely ignorant of the incredulous look that Jessica gave him.
When Jessica heard Sam say what she and Cassie were supposed to do, she couldn't believe it. He knew that she could fight, as well as hunt; after all, he was the one who had taught her how to hunt, at her own insistence and his urge to make sure she knew how to take care of herself.
"Sam," she said in an overly sweet voice, one she knew would catch his attention it meant that either she wanted something or she was seriously pissed off with him and was about to call him on said stupidity.
Sam internally winced when he heard her overly sweet voice. He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down at his beautiful wife. "Now Jess, sweetheart, before you get angry, you have to remember, this spirit is only going after women, Dean and I just don't want either of you to get hurt, besides, we were just going to do some recon, no actual hunting," he then looked up over at Dean with a look that said, 'help me out here bro'.
Dean, who had moved to lean against the Impala, nodded, he knew exactly what Sam was doing…calm her down, appease her, then while they are stuck researching, they would salt and torch the fucker. "Sam's telling the truth," he said as he pulled Cassie closer. "Neither of us would know what we would do if we lost you ladies. You're the ones who keep us sane," he gave a little grin at the last bit. "Can you please do as we ask?"
"Of course honey," Cassie replied sweetly, giving Dean an innocent 'who me?' look. Dean narrowed his eyes at her innocent tone, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, even if she did try something, it is not as if she wouldn't have anyone to back her up. Jessica would be there.
Jessica, who had been watching the exchange, sighed and said, "Fine, we'll stick with the research, but I hope you know this is under duress."
Sam chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her exposed neck. "I know sweetheart," stealing a glance at his son, Sam noticed the kid was out like a light. "I think it's time we get to back to the hotel. Ian is out cold," he announced with a chuckle, to lightened mood.
As soon as Ian was strapped securely into his car seat, Dean backed out of his parking spot and drove off. None had a clue as to what awaited them the next morning.
The Next Morning……
The light streamed through the hotel window, which awoke the still sleeping Jessica. As
she groaned and stretched out, she was shocked to find her husband no longer lay next to her ,neither was he sleeping nor reading dad's journal. As she sat up, she noticed he wasn't in the hotel room at all.
As she rose from the bed and walked over to check on Ian, she grabbed her cell to dial Cassie. "Cassie's it's Jess, pleased tell me that Dean and Sam are over there. Sam's not here and he didn't leave a note," she said quickly after the other woman picked up the phone on the second ring.
"No, neither of them are here," Cassie replied in realization. "You don't think…"
Jessica propped the phone up to her ear as she used her shoulder as she picked Ian up, before she replied, "I don't think, I know that they left without waking us up to telling us where they were going."
"I wonder if they left one of the cars," Cassie commented unexpectedly as both women silently fumed.
Jessica walked over to the mini kitchen and pulled out a pre-prepared bottle to heat up for Ian, before she walked over to the window and looked out. In the parking lot, she was able to see the Camero and sighed. "Yeah, they left mine and Sam's. Luckily I hid my set of keys," she grinned. "Think you can be ready in fifteen minutes?"
"Yeah, why?" Cassie asked warily.
"Good, just be ready and then we'll leave to give our guys a wake up call about leaving us high and dry," Jess told her as she hung up. Looking down at the baby in her arms, Jessica sighed and asked, "What am I going to do about your daddy, hmmmm?"
Ian looked up at Jessica, his eyes wide and curious. Jessica smiled at the little one and kissed his chubby cheek, causing him to gurgle happily. After putting the bottle in the portable bottle warmer, Jessica grabbed the diaper bag and began to change Ian's diaper.
As she finished, the microwave 'dinged', signaling the bottle was ready. Jessica set the freshly changed and clean Ian back into his portable crib and after testing she tested the heat of the bottle, gave the bottle to Ian as she began to get dressed, she thanked the deities that she had decided to shower the night before.
Ten minutes later, she was ready wearing hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt and one of Sam's hoodies with her hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She grabbed her purse, the diaper bag then picked Ian up as she walked out of the door.
"Jess," Jessica turned around at the sound of her name and saw Cassie walking towards her.
"Ready?" Jessica questioned as she locked the door.
"Let's go make sure the boys don't get themselves into trouble like they did with my mom's ex-boyfriend's ghost," Cassie grinned. She should've known that Dean was going to pull something like this. He was extremely protective of his family.
The two women, after placing Ian in his child safety seat, climbed into the Camero and drove off towards the hell house, where they were sure that they'd be able to find their boys. The drive wasn't as long as they'd thought it'd be, considering the place was supposed to be on an old abandoned farm. As they drove up the stretch of dirt road, Jessica noticed the boys up ahead, just parking the Impala.
"They must've gone for coffee and breakfast," Cassie said a little bewildered at the fact that they had caught up with the guys so quickly.
Jess laughed. "Either that or they got lost and did not stop for directions for a while," she suggested with a grin before looking up at the house. As she looked, she sighed. "Once, just once why couldn't we have a hunt in a nice place like the museum where Sam and I had or first hunt together," she said aloud as she and Cassie got out of the car and she went into the back to get Ian.
Cassie, who had taken the car keys and was getting the rock salt and holy water, raised an eyebrow at her friend's comment. "What do you mean? Weren't all your hunts in places like this?" she asked curiously, as she leaned against the trunk of the car.
Jessica held Ian securely to her and as she locked the doors replied, "Well, on our first hunt together, Sam and I got rid of this poltergeist in this museum in California. The place was nice. It was a Victorian Mansion back in the day and they fully restored it to its natural glory…"
Jessica was about to answer when the sound of two slightly angry male voices filled the air. Jessica noticed the look on Cassie's face, one that said 'uh-oh' and with a raised eyebrow, turned and faced her husband and brother-in-law. "What are you two doing here? And with Ian?" Sam questioned, the tone of his voice showing his worry and anger.
"As for Ian, I don't know anyone who could baby-sit in this town and I sure as hell wasn't going to leave him with Joanne, the inn keeper whom I've only met for all of five minutes," Jessica retorted as she leaned against the Camero. "Besides, when we both woke up to find that you had left, before we woke up, and left no note, we knew that you came out here."
Sam and Dean looked at one another and groaned. "I thought you left them the note Sammy?!" Dean said a little angrily.
"Me?! I thought you did," Sam shot back with an incredulous look.
Jessica shot Cassie a smile and mouthed 'well at least their not chewing us out'. Cassie bit back a laugh at the comment. It was true; sometimes deflection was the best tactic to get out of an argument. Other times, well it takes a little bit more….finesse. Besides, it was funny watching Sam and Dean go at it like little kids.
"Guys!" Cassie's voice rang out in the clearing, shocking everyone. "Shouldn't we be checking out the house?"
Sam and Dean looked from their girls to one another, and then back. "This isn't over," they said in unison. "We're going to be talking about this later," Dean added, a hint of promise in his voice, and not the good kind either.
Both girls rolled their eyes and stayed at the car as Dean pulled out his EMF detector. When it went up a bit, but not too much, Dean looked around and groaned as he noticed the power lines and the transformer. "Looks like that thing might have some juice still left in it," he said shortly.
Cassie looked at everyone and asked, "Well? What does that mean?"
Dean then explained about EMF, how it related to what they needed to do, and that it meant they actually had to go inside and do some initial investigating. As soon as he finished, he put the EMF away and led the way into the creepy late 1800's/early 1900's farmhouse.
As they walked in, both Dean and Sam pulled out their camera phone and began taking pictures of the symbols that were painted on the interior walls of the house. Jessica, Sam and Dean all recognized a few of the symbols. There was a sigil of Sulfur, an inverted cross, and some other symbols which they would need to research. However, one symbol had Dean transfixed.
"Man, I know I've seen that symbol somewhere before," he muttered as the others walked over to join him and Sam snapped a quick picture.
As he looked at the symbol, Sam reached up and touched it, only to find that the paint was freshly dried. "Huh, still fresh," he said as Jessica handed him a wipe to clean his hand off. "Thanks sweetheart."
Jessica moved closer and wrapped her free arm around his waist. "No problem honey," she turned towards Dean and then asked, "are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
Dean and Sam both nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind…" Dean started, but was interrupted when Jess added with a cheeky grin, "Except Cassie, me and dad.". Dean narrowed his eyes and playfully shook his fist. He was about to comment when the sound of falling pots filled the air.
The quartet glanced at one another, and in a moment, Sam and Dean had pushed the girls behind them and burst through the kitchen door, only to find two geeky looking guys carrying flashlights and video equipment.
"Cut! Just a couple humans. What are you guys doing here?" the one with glasses questioned, his voice just a tad angry.
"What are we doing here," Dean and Sam looked at the two guys incredulously. "What the hell are you doin' here?" Dean shot back.
The one with glasses raised and eyebrow and replied, "Uh, we belong here. We're professionals."
Dean looked disbelieving. These idiots didn't think that they were… nahhhh! That's just too weird to run into another couple hunters. However, he took the bait and asked, "Professional what?"
"Paranormal investigators," said the guy Dean had nicked-named 'geek 1' as he took out two business cards and handed them to Sam and Dean. "There ya go. Take a look at that, boys."
As he reads the card, Dean fights back a laugh. "Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me," he turned his head and called out, "Cass, Jess it's cool, come on in before ol' Mordechai shows up."
The two geeks watch in shock as Jessica and Cassie walk in, with Ian smiling, calm and alert in Jessica's arms. If you had asked them, they would say that they had never seen women so gorgeous. At first, they thought that the girls were the sisters or just friends of the guys who had walked in to horn in on their investigation, well at least that's what Harry and Ed thought.
"What is it hun?" Cassie asked as Dean pulled her into his arms. Dean had seen the looks of appreciation on the faces of the two other guys, and fought the grin trying to make its way to his face as he handed her the card, then kissed her.
Sam felt the same possessiveness for Jessica that Dean did for Cassie and as Jessica walked over to join him, he pulled her close and pressed a kiss to his lips before letting her settle into his arms and handing her the card. "Ed Zedmore and Harry Spangler. Hell Hound's Lair dot com," she read aloud, then looked up at the two guys. "You're the guys run that website?"
"Yeah," Ed, the one with glasses, replied, still in shock at seeing such beautiful girls with the two guys who burst in and ruined their filming.
Dean nodded his head and in a slightly bored voice replied, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, we're huge fans," as he moved to another area of the room and began nonchalantly checking things out.
Cassie noting the tone in his voice stifled a laugh, like Sam and Jessica she knew that Dean was a lot more that he portrayed to the outside world and when he acted as he was doing right now, he was in hunting/con mode. However, as Ed spoke up, she felt the knot in her stomach start tightening.
"And, uh, we know who you guys are, too," Ed exclaimed, causing the two couples to glance at one another in shock then back to the boys nervously.
Sam swallowed the lump in his throat and slightly tightened his hold on Jessica and Ian as he replied, "Oh, yeah?"
"Amateurs," Ed snorted in disgust, neither he nor Harry noticed the looks of amusement and relief on the Winchesters faces. "Lookin' for ghosts, cheap thrills, and trying to get women."
Jessica was about to comment when Harry spoke up and said, "Yeah. So, if you guys don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here." To which Ed murmured his agreement. After all, they were nothing if not friends right?
Dean and Sam both raised an eyebrow at the comment. Neither of them were could believe these two idiots. While they and the girls knew that everything considered supernatural was real, these idiots were just trying to prove it instead of getting rid of it. And if the looks on Jessica and Cassie's faces and in their eyes were enough to go by, they were getting pretty po'd at the condescending tone the Hellhounds lair boys were using, as well as their comments.
They could also tell that both Jessica and Cassie had their jaw clenched and that look they get in their eyes when they get angry. Luckily, for the Hellhound's Lair idiots, Dean and Sam knew how to calm their women down; otherwise there would be two very, very hurt men heading to the hospital.
Dean squeezed Cassie's shoulder to prevent her from blowing their cover. She sighed and after calming down slightly she tried to make her voice sound interested and asked, "Yeah? What do you got so far?"
"Uh, Harry, why don't you tell 'em about EMF?" Ed suggested with a wave of his hand, as he attempted to be magnanimous by as he allowed his friend to do some 'Intro to Ghost Hunting 101' teaching.
Jessica, after a warning glance from Sam, mentally rolled her eyes as they asked in unison, in a pretense of curiosity, "EMF?"
"The electromagnetic field," Harry stated matter-of-factly as he walked over to his bag and removed a professional EMF meter. "Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector, like this bad boy right here," he turned on the EMF detector and it began to buzz. "Whoa, whoa. That's 2.8 MG."
"Two point eight," Ed asked, his voice slightly higher pitched in his excitement.
Harry nodded. "It's hot in here."
Sam, Jessica and Dean all shared a look. They'd been in places where the EMF was more than nine point zero MG. That little bit they picked up was most likely traces from the transformer they had seen inside. But to avoid blowing their cover, Sam whistled and said, "Wow."
Cassie, who was both annoyed and curious to find out how amateurish the two idiots were, asked, "So, have you guys ever really seen a ghost before, or—?"
"Once. We were, uh—we were investigating this old house, and we saw a vase fall right off the table," Ed told them. They tried to keep themselves from sniggering at the tone of his voice. Though it was hard, being as the guy was acting like it was the world's biggest secret.
But, when Harry added, "By itself," they nearly had to cover their mouths.
Ed continued the narration adding, "Well, we didn't actually see it, but we heard it. And something like that, it, uh—it changes you."
The whole Winchester and Robinson crew looked at one another and shared a looked that said, 'Oh we know, more than you could possibly understand'. Harry and Ed, while they could be accused of being idiots when it came to street smarts, were book smart and while they didn't really talk to all that many people, even they could see something was being said silently between the two couples.
Before they could mention anything, Dean broke the tension by replying, "Yeah. I think I get the picture. We should go—let them get back to work."
"Yeah, you should," Harry, who had been trying to figure out what the people who had burst in on their investigation were up to, answered.
Dean and Cassie, who joined Sam, Jessica, and the now sleeping Ian looked at the other couple and said, "Sam? Jess?"
Both Sam and Jessica nodded as they followed the other couple out of the hell house to the cars. When they walked out, no one expected to hear the next words out of Jessica's mouth as she angrily said, "I cannot believe those two…idiots!? What right did they have assuming that about us?! Ooooo they are going to pay."
Dean, Sam and Cassie looked at the blonde in shock. After all, they had seen her mad, but this, this was beyond mad. No, she was supremely pissed off and out for blood. Jessica grinned evilly and looked up at her family. "You know, I'm feeling in the mood for some payback for their stupid assumptions," she announced as she adjusted the sleeping infant in her arms. "How would you guys feel about pranking the daylights out of these two amateurs?"