Chapter 20

Sarah and Sam are sitting outside on a low wall. "What are your brother and sister exactly looking for in this building?" She asks him.

"Speaking of… Sarah, there is a little something I need to confess…" Sam slowly comes.

"What now?..." She looks suddenly worried, expecting another weird revelation from him.

"Dean is my brother… But, Eli is not really my sister…"

"Oh… And who is she then?..."

"A friend…" He just explains her.

"Okay… So, what are they looking for?..."

"Searching through the County death certificates, trying to find where the father is?"

"And how will they manage to get that kind of information?... It's an official premise, not for public…"

"Lies, subterfuges and some boldness…" Sam smiles.

"Sam… Can I ask you something else?" She continues, after having a quick look at the glass entry door to be sure they were not coming back yet.

"Yeah, sure…"

"I don't want sounding too much coming forward, but is there something here between us? Or am I delusional?" She shyly looks down.

Sam suddenly takes a serious look. "You're not delusional!... But…" He sighs. "I don't think this would be a good idea."

"Can I ask why?"

"Cause I like you…"

"Excuse-me?"

"It's hard to explain… It's just when people are around me… I don't know… They get hurt… I mean… Physically hurt…"

"But, Dean and Eli are around you…"

"It's not the same… We are doing the same job… Sarah… I had a girlfriend… And she died… My mom died too… It's like I'm cursed or something… Death just following me around…"

"So, you think that if you let yourself have feelings for anybody… You're scared they'd get hurt too… This is very sweet, Sam!... A little old fashioned, but sweet!... You know, I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions… Tomorrow I can get hit by a bus… That's what life is… Life and death… And nobody knows when their time comes… So, I decided to live everything through… With the pains and joys that go with it."

.

At the entrance of the building, Dean and Eli are finally coming out. She sees the two others talking on the low wall. "Dean, wait… Let they have a moment." She says, taking him by the sleeve.

"Why?... Come on, we have no time for that right now… We will give them all the space they need when we get rid of that thing…" He walks towards them.

"Dean!... You!..." She grumbles, but he starts to whistle a tune from a distance to make them notices their presence.

"So, what did you find?" Sam asks.

"Well, here's the story… The surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah; they didn't want him with his wife and kids… So, they handed him over to the county, which gave him the minimal funeral… Turns out he wasn't cremated, but buried!" Dean shows the copy of the paper they got from the officials.

"We have some bones to burn, after all!" Eli finishes.

"You know where?" Eli and Dean smirk at each other over so less faith coming from the youngest.

.

Midnight, in a graveyard, the two brothers are digging a tomb while the two women are holding flashlights. Sarah is not feeling very at ease. "You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this." She expresses to Eli.

"Well, let say it's not the first grave they've dug." She replies as casually as possible.

"You sure have a fun life with those two!"

"Entertaining would be a better word…" She gently laughs.

Dean's shovel suddenly hits the coffin. Sam goes out of the hole. Eli and Sarah approaches to light it up. The elder pierces the cover to reveal Isaiah's skeleton. He drags himself out too, sprays salt and gasoline over it, lights some matches and throws them in the coffin.

.

Dean is driving back to Evelyn's house. "I thought we had finished with this?" Sarah asks, as the car stops on the front porch.

"Better safe than sorry… I prefer also burn that painting…" Sam replies

"I'll go with you…" Already opening the car door.

"You're sure?"

She steps out. "Yep…"

When Dean wants to exit too, Eli puts a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to sit. "We are going to stay here, while you both go get the painting…" Eli softly smiles to Sam and giving a side look to Dean.

"Oh…" He whispers, suddenly catching it.

.

Sam and Sarah enter the house and when they arrive in front of the painting they freeze.

"Sam, you're the expert on all this ghost stuff… Is that painting supposes to look like that now?... Where is the little girl?" She asks him anxiously.

"And the razor?..." He adds.

They hear the echo of a little laughter and wind blowing around them. The front door suddenly slams shut, making them both jump in surprise. Dean rushes out of the car and up the stairs. He tries to open the door, but it seems blocked. "Sam!..." He yells.

"Dean?... Dean?..." Sam screams from the other side, but the sound deadens by the thickness of it. He takes his phone and calls his brother. "It's the little girl!..."

"Girl?... What girl?..."

"She's out of the painting…"

"What?... So, that's maybe why the father was looking at her… He was trying to warn us…"

Eli notices that Dean is still trying to force the door and goes out of the car. "Stay in the car!..." He commands her.

"What's wrong?..." She asks.

"Dean?.. Get us out of here, please?..." Sam pleads still on the phone.

"I'm trying… But it seems the lock is melted in… I can't even put my hook in there!..."

"Well… Break it down, then!"

"Yeah, sure!... Oh, wait… I forgot my battering ram home, genius!" Dean says ironically.

"Dean!... That damn thing is coming, man!..." Sam panics more and more.

"Guess you will have to hold it up until I figure something… Get salt and iron…"

Sam grabs Sarah by the hand and they withdraw to the main room. They search through all the drawers. He runs to the kitchen, but comes back empty handed. "What kind of person does not have any salt?..."

"Dean?... What can I do?..." Eli says worried.

"Stay in the car, ready to fly!…" Dean tells her, making the round of the house to find another way in. But, everything seems to be sealed.

Suddenly in the house, the sliding doors between the hallway, the kitchen and the main room are slamming too. The shutters of all the windows close, keeping Dean from breaking one of them. A swirling wind takes over the main room, papers blowing everywhere. The little girl approaches, dragging behind her the doll by a foot and holding the razor in her other hand. Sam and Sarah are backing up near the fireplace. He hits the rack with iron tools. He takes one of the firebrands and swings it through the little girl. She disappears and the wind suddenly stops.

"Iron?" Sarah asks, out of breath.

"Yeah!..."

"Sammy?... Sammy?... Are you okay?... Answer me!..." A metallic voice comes out from Sam's pocket.