i have been so busy lately, i usually spend a week re-reading and re-editing, so i hope this chapter is OK
i would also like to thank mandalynn23 without your reviews this story would still be locked away in my computer
The loud impatient banging on the front door, echoed offensively though the house, "wait here, I'll go see who it is," Lorraine said as she got up to answer it, she was half way down the stairs when the banging started again, "ok, ok I'm coming," she called out, sighing heavily wondering who it could be, the banging started again, she opened the door, and before she could insult the rude visitor Dean barged in, Lorraine had to move back quickly to avoid being knocked over Sam walked in after him, his head down and an apologetic smile on his face, "you told him," she said to Sam, he shook his head "but, let me guess he knows,"
"You knew," Dean yelled at Sam, of course Sam knew he had asked about Mary to Joanne back at the hotel, but that was when he thought that it was Joanne's kid,
"Only recently" Sam answered defensively, Dean felt his blood boil, he wanted to hit someone,
"How long," Dean demanded,
"About 4 months, last time we were here," Sam told him,
"Dean, please, I tried to tell you –"He glared at Lorraine severely, he had been itching for a hunt for a long time, wanted to kill something, hit something, anything really to vent his anger out on, he wasn't about to hit Lorraine so instead his fist flew out connecting with Sam's check, it knock Sam backwards causing him to trip on the rug that lay on the floor and fall to the ground with a grunt
"what the hell, Dean," Lorraine yelled, helping Sam up, then led him in to the kitchen, pulling an ice pack out of the freezer and handing it to him, Dean followed
"Everything alright," Dale asked as he came in, looking at each of them "I heard yelling,"
"Who the hell is that," Dean yelled, Dale puffed his chest up making him to appear bigger than Dean, Lorraine would have laughed, if she hadn't been so livid, Dale was slightly taller than Dean, but also smaller built, Lorraine actually wondered for a moment who would win in a fight,
"Why don't we step outside, and you can find out for yourself," he replied to the hostility that choked the room,
"Oh, listen to boy wonder over here," he scoffed looking him up and down, "isn't your nap time about now,"
"Aren't you due back at the retirement village," Dale replied, Dean let out a feeble laugh then stepped towards the boy, finally finding something he could take his anger out on, his fist clenched and raised ready to hit its target, Dale also took a couple of steps forward, pushing his chest out again ready for whatever Dean had to offer, Lorraine managed to get in between the two of them, one hand each on both their chests, holding them back at arm's length, she knew that she wasn't strong enough to hold them back, and so did they, but luckily they had to decided to halt their battle of testosterone, for the moment,
"Dean, please," Lorraine groaned, ready to kick all three of them out of the house, well at least Sam had stayed at the table nursing his black eye, "this is Dale," she nodded her head towards the new hunter, "Dale, Sam and Dean, who I'm guessing are the hunters Bobby sent" she nodded towards both of them accordingly, Dean still glared at the young man, Sam gave a polite nod
"Bobby was right he does look like a moron," Dean spat harshly, Lorraine had to push Dale back forcefully again
"Just go back upstairs, I'll be in there in a minute," Lorraine said calmly to Dale, "I'll be fine" she answered his questioning look, Dale threw another glance at Dean's direction, then pivoted and headed back up to the study
"So is he gay too," Dean said contemptuously,
"Oh, grow up," Lorraine snapped, as she pushed Dean slightly then walked over to Sam, to inspect the bruise that had formed grandly on his check "He showed up last night, his mother was killed by a ghost,"
"And what about Mary," He asked his voice was hard,
"She's 15 months old, I don't think she has a preference," Lorraine replied, her curse of nervousness took over before she could respond without the sarcasm, Dean continued to frown at her with indignation, Lorraine sighed and sat down at the table, she rested her elbows on the table and started massaging her temples,
"Is she mine," Lorraine couldn't help but laugh, it wasn't like the question was a practically funny one, but how many movies had she seen when the guy asked that question, upon learning his parental status, "Well, is she."
"Yes, ok, she is," Lorraine whispered, still staring at the table
"And what you couldn't find time in the last 15 months or so to pick up the phone and tell me I have a daughter," Dean said his voice rising again,
"Sam," Lorraine looked up at the younger brother who still held the ice pack over his left eye, "would you mind giving Dale a hand," Sam looked from Dean to Lorraine then back to Dean, unsure whether to leave them without a referee or not, Dean nodded dismissively, so Sam stood up flinging the ice pack down on the table and walked out of the room, "up the stairs room on the left at the end of the hallway," she called after him, Lorraine took her time getting up from the table and walking back into the kitchen, still avoiding looking at Dean. She refilled the kettle and took another two cups out of the cupboard, the two she had prepared for her and Dale earlier still sat on the bench untouched, she wiped the bench, then the top of the kettle, all the while she could feel Deans eyes on her, but she still refused to look at him, she was trying to hold her composure before confronting him, the last thing she wanted was to break down into tears in front of him, she looked at the stove, she had been meaning to clean the oven and wondered just how long she could get away with avoiding this confrontation, not long apparently, Dean finally broke the silence,
"Well," with just that one word Lorraine had to take a deep breath to stop herself from falling apart, she turned around and looked at him, realizing to late that it was big mistake on her part, he stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame his arms folded in front of him, the way he looked caught Lorraine by surprise, she was mixed between talking this out and dragging him to her bedroom, she shook her head, took one more deep breath
"I'm sorry," she replied quietly
"Come on, Lorraine, you run off in the middle or the night,"
"That's a bit off an exaggeration," Lorraine rolled her eyes,
"without so much as a see ya later," he continued, "I think I deserve a bit more than an 'I'm sorry,'" he said, uncrossing his arms, and shoving his hands into his jean pockets, Lorraine sighed as she ran through, in her mind, as many explanations as she could, so many times she had played out this moment in her head, but right now, she didn't know what to say, she wanted to keep him calm, she wanted to him to know how many times she had tried to pick up the phone and call him, how much she loved him, and how scared she was that he would have left her broken hearted,
"I was scared," she finally told him,
"Of what," he asked, "of me," it was taking a lot to keep his voice at a reasonable level, he had put his hands in his pockets to keep from hitting the door, that stood next to him, when he had met his daughter in the park, he was filled with so many emotions he didn't know which one to deal with first, but anger seemed the easiest, anger was always the easiest,
"Yes," She replied, Dean threw his hands in the air with exasperation; bringing them back down quickly, one of his fist hitting the bench purposefully with a loud crack,
"Why the hell would you be afraid of me," his voice raised slightly,
"Gee, your right Dean, why? Look at the way you're acting now,"
"Damn right," he walked over to her, covering the space between them in just two long strides, his face inches from hers, his voice low and filled with wrath "I just found out I have a daughter, and you expect me to be calm about it," Lorraine tried to take a step backwards, but discovered that she was already standing against the bench
"I walked out-" Lorraine started
"that's right, YOU, walked out," Dean cut in
"because that's what I do, if something gets to hard I walk away," she pushed past him, and stood safely on the other side of the kitchen, "it wasn't meant to be like this, remember, no strings,"
"That was your rule," he yelled frustratingly
"And she is a pretty big string don't you think," Lorraine yelled over him, they continued yelling incoherently at each other for awhile, neither one understanding what the other was saying, then, once the shouting had stopped Lorraine sighed loudly "the last thing you needed was to be tied down with the responsibilities of a child,"
"And that wasn't you decision to make," Dean replied
"Yes, it was, Dean, I was the one who was going to end up hurt again," Lorraine cried, "I didn't want this kind of life for my daughter, or me"
"What kind of life,"
"yours, you and Sam fighting these demons, and things, roaming from one place to the next, or, or waiting at home for you to return, or not at all, I just couldn't stand the thought of it, ok, and it's not like you would of given it all up for us" Lorraine had pretty much backed up what Dean had told Sam in the hotel, he knew she was right, but it still hurt that she had kept this secret from him, if he had know maybe things would have been different, he wanted to believe that he would have done the right thing and taken responsibility of the child, his child, and Lorraine, but there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that told him otherwise, and that Lorraine was right to have protected herself from that hurt, he looked at Lorraine who was staring back at him, arms folded in front of her, a dark stubborn look in her eyes that he had come to know well in the short time that they had been together, they stared at each other, each trying to intimidate the other, neither one of them knowing what to add to the argument, Dean had been thrown back by Lorraine's sudden publicity of her feelings and Lorraine was waiting, daring him even, to argue with what she had just said, Lorraine was the first to break contact as she looked at the clock then let out a sigh of frustration, "look," she said calmly, taking in a deep breath "Matt will be bringing Mary back soon, and we still need to find out who this ghost is, I think it would be best if we just both calm down, then we can talk about this a bit more rationally,"
"Fine," Dean snapped not knowing what else to say, then headed upstairs, Lorraine watched him from the doorway a look of shock on her face, she was hoping that he would leave to calm down, but by the time she re-entered the study he had seemed to have already made himself comfortable on the small lounge chair, Lorraine scoffed inwardly and went over to the computer,
"Any luck," she asked, Sam and Dale glanced at her and then at Dean, who sat arms folded stubbornly,
"I don't think it's a Jikininki," Sam said, "anyone that sees them ends up paralyzed, If it did in fact, uh, eat your mum, then I think what where working with is a ghoul,"
"We'll I don't think it was trying to give her CPR," Dale replied "beside ghouls can't be real"
"Either can demons and Werewolves" Dean sneered, Lorraine and Sam shoot him a glare of annoyance
"Just ignore him," she said placing a hand on Dale's shoulder, "you believed it was a jikininki, so why not a ghoul," Lorraine asked
"It's just Ghoul, sounds cartoon-ish," Dale replied making Lorraine laugh quietly,
"This is amazing research, Lorraine," Sam told her, as he looked though the files she had found
"Well, I learnt from the best," she smiled at Sam, "Alright so ghosts, ghouls, evil spirits, same old same old right," Lorraine asked
"Yeah," Sam replied "all born in the same way, all killed the same way"
"What do you mean 'born'," Dale asked, Dean scoffed earning him another stern glare,
"When someone dies from a violent death, or suicide, it's like they become trapped in this world, you've seen Casper, haven't you" Dale seemed amused by the question, but nodded, "so the whole unfinished business thing, sort of applies here" Sam explained to Dale who stared back with astonishment, "most of the time there after revenge, usually salting and burning their remains or whatever it is that is keeping them here, puts them to rest,"
"So why salting and burning?"
"Bloody amateur," Dean scoffed
"Oh, and that's right you were born an expert on this weren't you," Lorraine finally snapped
"The kid doesn't know what he's doing, he should leave it to the people who do," Dean snapped back,
"Oh, I'm sorry, he watches his mother get eaten alive, and silly kid should have called Ghostbusters," Lorraine replied mockingly,
"Look, guys, me and Dale can finish this, you two can finish, whatever it is that you have to sort out," Sam said, he had felt the tension between them the minute they walked into the room,
"no," Lorraine replied stubbornly, "that thing was in my house last night I want to know why," Lorraine realized that by the look on both Sam and Deans face she had forgotten to share that information, ignoring the looks she continued "ok, so we know that the link is woman with young children, maybe he has some kind of issues with his mother," Lorraine suggested,
"That thing was in this house," Dean asked, concern back in his voice, Lorraine ignored him,
"Check the files for-"she said ignoring the question from Dean and the look from Sam,
"That thing was in this house," Dean repeated more loudly and harshly
"Yes, ok, Dale shot it and it went away, so can we please figure this out, before it comes back," Lorraine didn't catch the haughty smile Dale had thrown at Dean
"So why didn't you call us," Dean asked, biting down a feeling that washed over him at the thought of this boy, who was getting closer and closer to being thrown out the window, spending the night with Lorraine
"I tried, you didn't answer," Lorraine told them inattentively "now please I want this figured out before Mary gets back," Lorraine looked at Dean sternly, "why don't you go find a hotel or do something constructive,"
"Not bloody likely, not when that thing has you set up for a target," Dean responded,
"Where staying here," Sam added
"There's not enough room," Lorraine retorted she knew it was useless argument, but tried it anyway
"We'll sleep on the floor," Sam said
"Great just like one big happy family," Lorraine said wryly,
"Ok so we figured it was going after woman with young children," Dale told Sam, his back turned slightly to Dean, in an obvious manner
"What about the affairs maybe it's going after cheating woman,"
"Pat and jess, definitely weren't having affairs, and even if they were, I'm definitely not, so why was it here last night" Lorraine argued
Sam turned back to the computer his fingers flying over the computer key board,
"here we go, 16 years ago, Mrs. Compton suspected of killing her 12 month old, she was released on bail then disappears, three weeks later police investigate a smell coming from the house," Sam told them, Dean, Dale and Lorraine all listened attentively, "they find Mr. Compton, shoot himself in the head, then the woman buried in the backyard,"
"Oh, no, It was this house wasn't it," Lorraine groaned, Sam smiled "It was, wasn't it"
"No, it wasn't, it was just down the road," Sam assured her, Lorraine let out a sigh of relief, "but they suspect that he murdered her,"
"And let me guess it was around this time," Dean asked
"Three days ago was the 16th anniversary,"
"Ok, case closed, does it say where they were buried?" she asked
"How do you know for sure that this is the one?" Dean asked, now he knew the danger that Lorraine was in he was finally taking an interest
"There is another file, a possibility, a man took a nose dive after her found his wife in bed with a guy, there weren't any kids involved, but this one was in this house, Sorry Lorraine" Sam told them
"Uh, we've already taken care of that one," Lorraine replied sheepishly, Sam let out a chuckle, "poor bloke was just lost, kept jumping out the window, scared the shit out of Joanne, she changed rooms"
"We'll it's not that one then," he replied eliminating the file,
"So we'll just have to try this one and hope for the best,"
"And if it's not," Dale asked,
"Then its back to square one," Lorraine told him, "so does it mention where they were buried"
"Yeah, there was no known next of kin, so the police arranged for a burial at Chapel Hill Gardens cemetery," Sam told them,
"We got about 4 hours until it gets dark" Dean said standing up "you ready for your next lesson, kid" he added to Dale, he wasn't pleased with the idea, but if they took him with them then at least it would keep him away from Lorraine, he had noticed the way the younger male had looked at Lorraine, and Dean felt the jealously in the pit of his stomach
"Me and Dale can handle this one, Dean, you stay here with Lorraine, if that thing shows up again tonight-"
"I can look after myself," Lorraine defended herself, Dean found that plan even better than his
"I'll feel better if you had someone here," Sam placed a hand on Lorraine's shoulder, and used his big brother tone,
"Fine," Lorraine sulked, and Dean smiled victoriously, she left the room and walked back into the kitchen the four cups still sat on the bench waiting to be used, she flicked the switch on the kettle and waited for it boil for the fourth time that day.
Hope you enjoyed