Chapter 24: Bloody Mary (Part Two)

Not wanting to waste anytime we went straight over to the Shoemaker house. When we walked into the house there were people in black all around. We stood in the doorway for a second while Dean looked at the people around us.

"Feel like we're underdressed," he commented as we continued to walk. I looked around for a few seconds before my gaze fell on a man standing by the back door. I walked over, feeling Sam and Dean staring at my back. I waved them forward with my hand as I continued.

"Excuse me. Sir," I said, getting the man's attention. "Could you please show me and my friends where Steven's daughters are? We wanted to say our condolences."

The man nodded and walked us out the back door before pointing us in the direction of a group of teenagers.

"Nice thinking," Dean said as we made our way through the yard. I nodded stiffly as we arrived in front of Donna Shoemaker.

I stifled the urge to roll my eyes as the blonde girl's, who was examining her nails, jaw dropped as she looked at Sam and Dean. Did everybody look like that when they saw Sam and Dean? Better question, did I look like that when I looked at Dean? That dumbfounded and awestruck? I gave a pondering glance at Dean. God, I hoped I didn't look like that. I mentally berated myself for letting my mind drift as Dean spoke. "You must be Donna right?"

The brunette in the middle sitting next to a younger girl answered, "Yeah."

"Hi, uh- we're really sorry," Sam said apologetically.

Donna nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm Sam, this is Dean and Emi. We worked with your dad."

Donna glanced at her friend next to her before looking back at us. "You did?"

"Yeah, this whole thing," Dean said as he shook his head sadly. "I mean, a stroke."

The girl next to her spoke. "I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now."

"It's okay. I'm okay," Donna assured her friend.

"Were there ever any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" Dean asked her.

"No," Donna answered. The young girl next to her spun around.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke," she stated emphatically.

"Lily, don't say that," Donna told the girl.

"What?" Sam asked Lily.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset," Donna told us.

"No, it happened because of me," Lily argued.

"Sweetie, it didn't," Donna said in a quiet voice.

"Lily," Sam said getting down to eye-level with her. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Right before he died, I said it," Lily explained.

"You said what?" Sam asked.

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror," Lily confessed sadly.

Nobody said anything for a moment and I could see Dean processing the information.

"She took his eyes, that's what she does," Lily continued.

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault," Donna assured her sister.

"I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" Dean asked.

"No, I don't think so," Lily answered quietly.

"There you go," I commented. "So it is not your fault."

Lily nodded reluctantly.

"Well, again, were sorry for your loss," I stated and as the two girls nodded in thanks we walked back toward the door and into the house.

We walked up the stairs to the bathroom trying to look as insignificant as possible.

"The Bloody Mary legend… Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked as we stood in the doorway of the bathroom staring in as if Bloody Mary would actually appear right before our very eyes.

"Not that I know of," Dean answered before walking into the bathroom, gazing at the room.

Sam bent down and touched the tile floor. "I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody dies from it," He said as he stood up and walked into the room. I stayed in the doorway. Not that I would admit it but the Bloody Mary legend was one of the only things that had freaked me out as a kid. I mean, Vampires, pretty cool, Ghosts, also pretty cool, Werewolves, pretty freakin' cool! But a woman who appears after you say her name and claws your eyes out?

"Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's actually happening," Dean responded still looking around the room.

"The place where the legend began?" Sam questioned.

Dean shrugged, opening the medicine cabinet.

"But according to the legend, the person who says B—,"Sam's voice cut off as he looked into the mirror on the medicine cabinet in front of him before closing it. "The person who says you know what gets it. But here—"

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah," Dean finished for him.

"Right," Sam confirmed.

"Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out," Dean stated.

"It's worth checking into," Sam agreed.

"Guys," I said to get their attention as I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Sam and Dean stepped out into the hallway with me as Donna's friend walked over.

"What are you doing up here?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"We-," Dean started, shooting Sam a look as he thought of an excuse. "We had to go to the bathroom."

"Who are you?" the girl asked obviously not buying Dean's fake excuse.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad," Dean explained.

"He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself," she said clearly waiting for us to explain.

"No, I know, I meant-," Dean started to say but she cut him off. "And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming."

"What would scream about exactly?" I asked curiously.

"Alright, alright. We think something happened to Donna's dad," Sam said trying to keep me from saying something stupid.

"Yeah, a stroke," she replied in a 'duh' voice.

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else," Sam told her seriously.

"Like what?" she asked.

Let me just point out how hard it was to curb the impulse to say, "monsters" in a really creepy demonic voice. But I knew Sam would handle it better so I stayed quiet.

"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth," Sam told her quietly.

"So, if you're gonna scream, go right ahead," Dean told her.

She contemplated that for a minute before asking, "Who are you, cops?"

Dean, Sam, and I shared a look before Dean answered, "Something like that."

"I'll tell you what. Here," Sam said as he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and started writing his number down. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary...just give us a call."

He handed it to her as we walked down the hall. I breathed out a sigh of relief as we stepped out of the house.

"You ok?" Dean asked me with worried eyes as we walked to the Impala.

"Yeah, fine," I answered swiftly, nodding my head. I could handle this. I had taken down many a monster and this dumb Bloody Mary was not going to get the best of me.

Dean nodded, looking like he didn't quite believe me.

"So, I guess the next step is research," Sam pointed out.

I let out a mock 'Whoo!' as Dean gave a groan. "Ok, I take it back now," I argued. "I'm not ok. I think I feel a headache coming on. Maybe I have a concussion. Shouldn't read anything."

Sam fixed me with a I think may have been created just for me, the sarcastic "Yeah right," look. I sighed and my shoulders slumped. This would be soooo boring.

AN: Ok, so I know it's been a few weeks but with school just starting up again I've been kind of swamped. Not so much with the work but more with the schedule. So I'll try to update more regularly. Any comments are appreciated.