Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. Just my OC.
A/n: Here's another chapter! So, I kinda worded Mel's statement wrong by accident in the last chapter about her current situation to Ellen and the boys. I was kind of tired when I wrote it so I probably should've just finished it today, but alas, I fixed it. Sorry guys! Enjoy the update!
Chapter 24: No Exit
"I am your mother, I don't have to be reasonable!" Ellen shouted at the top of her lungs.
I grimaced, attempting to clean a glass that was dirty, while Ellen and Jo tried to open the saloon for the day. Somewhere during the morning, they'd gotten into a fight, and I opted to stay out of it. Ash and Jason were hiding in their rooms respectively and I kind of wished that I called in sick. I looked over to see Sam and Dean enter the roadhouse, and I strained a tight smile, giving them a small wave from behind the bar as the mother/daughter scene unfolded before our eyes. I had my fair share of arguments with my mother, like any daughter would, but none like this.
"You can't keep me here!" Jo yelled right back.
"Oh, don't you bet on that, sweetie," Ellen glared at her, taking another chair down from the table to put it down on the floor.
"What are you going to do, are you going to chain me up in the basement?" Jo demanded.
I cringed, bad thing to say.
"You know what, you've had worse ideas than that recently," Ellen said. "Hey you don't want to stay, go back to school."
"I don't belong there!" Jo cried. "I was a freak with a knife collection."
"Yeah, and getting killed on some dusty back road, that's where you belong?" Ellen asked hotly.
I cringed. That was always a place I never wanted to be. Always freaked me out, but I guess Jo was at it again, wanting to go hunting down the supernatural.
She turned to finally notice Sam and Dean. "Guys, bad time."
"Yes, ma'am," Sam said retreating from the main area of the saloon.
"Yeah, we rarely drink before ten anyway," Dean smirked and started to leave.
"Wait," Jo said, going back to grab something from behind the bar. I watched her curiously grab a hefty file that had a stack of papers in it. "I want to see what they think about this."
"I don't care what they think!" Ellen yelled.
A family soon walked in, all had bright yellow shirts on, "Nebraska is for Lovers," that stopped the Harvelle's fights.
"Are you guys open?" The father asked hesitantly.
"Yes!"
"No!"
They said in sync, turning to the family. I cringed, unsure myself.
"We'll just check out the Arby's down the road," the dad said and took his family, hitting the road.
Probably a good idea.
As soon as they left the phone rang, and I answered it, "Harvelle's," I greeted and nodded. "Yeah, Preacher. I'll hand you to Ellen." I looked up to see Ellen had already joined my side. I handed her the receiver and she answered it, eyeing her daughter as she walked over to Sam and Dean. I crawled out from underneath the cord of the phone and walked over to join them.
"Hey Sam," I greeted and pulled him in for a hug.
"Hey Mel, you doing okay?" Sam asked, reaching around me to hug me too. I couldn't help but smile, and I nodded.
"Despite the annual Harvelle fight? Yeah," I nodded. "I'm okay. You?"
Sam nodded slowly after he let go of me and I smiled, placing my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.
"Three weeks ago a young girl disappears from her apartment a Philadelphia apartment," Jo said, holding her folder to Dean. Dean glanced at it like the plague. "Take it, it won't bite."
"No, but your mom might," he said.
Jo pressed her lips forward, not backing down. Fighting an eyeroll, he took the fold her from her and started to thumb through it. Newspaper clippings and highlights were all over the place.
"Who put this together, Ash?" Dean asked.
"I did it myself," she said.
"Hmm," he nodded, a little bit impressed that she was able to put this kind of folder together for a supernatural case.
"I gotta admit. We hit the road for a lot less," Sam whispered to Dean, also looking at the folder.
Ellen slammed the phone on the hook, "Good. You like it so much you take it."
"Mom!" Jo narrowed her eyes at her mother.
"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough," Ellen glared at her, and then her face softened a bit as a thought flickered across her motherly features. "And I won't loose you too. I just won't."
Sam and Dean looked at one another before they took off, leaving Jo and I behind once more. Jo sighed, and walked back to her room, leaving me and Ellen to finish opening the bar for the day.
~*SPN*~
There was a knock on my door, while I was flipping through an OK magazine at the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood ladies in their gowns.
"What?" I asked. The door opened up to reveal
Jo with a bag all packed and ready to go. "Pack a bag sunshine, we're going to Vegas."
I pressed my lips to the side, and leaned up from my position and gave her a dry look.
"Vegas?" I asked skeptically. "All of a sudden you want to go to Vegas?"
"Yeah. It'll be fun. We can play some craps, meet a few guys…" Jo smiled brightly, walking over to my dresser to rummage through my things. "Ugh, maybe get a new wardrobe."
"It's about the case isn't it?" I asked.
Jo spun around on her heel, and frowned. "Please, Mel? You've been on plenty of hunts before haven't you? You remember what it's like to save someone's life, that, that rush feeling you get?"
"I don't know, that was different. I was a ghost. Didn't have to worry about dying. Sides, last hunt I went on, I saw someone get hit by a bus," I said, frowning, wondering if I should go into more detail of that case. I decided not to.
"And you still ended up helping someone else's life, didn't you?" Jo asked.
I chewed my bottom lip curiously before I looked at her.
"That missing girl could die if we don't do anything about it," Jo said.
"But Sam and Dean are already on it, and I'm really not sure how much help I can be. I'm only human," I said, shaking my head.
"You'll be my assistant. Kinda like Sam. Come on, Mel. Please? Please help me be backup?"
I cringed, scrunching my nose up at the idea of backup again. The last time I was backup my mind was being controlled by a mind-controlling psycho. Needless to say? I was better off here, but for some reason Jo's puppy-eyed dog look tugged at my heart, and I wasn't going to let her go off alone.
"Fine," I gave in.
Jo's face brightened. "Yay! I promise you won't regret it."
I gulped. Why did I have a feeling that I would later?
~*SPN*~
Philadelphia
"It's so convenient," Jo said as we walked down the hallway with the landlord in the apartment complex building.
"Yeah, it's a great building," he said. "Fixed it up, real nice. All the apartments come furnished too."
"It's so spacious. You know, my friend," Jo pulled my arm in a hook, indicating that I was her friend. "Here. She told me that I absolutely had to check it out, and I have to admit she was right. You did a really good job with the place."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked, coming around the corner. I widened my eyes and forced a smile.
"There you are honey," Jo said, walking over to Dean. She grabbed Dean around his waist, pulling him in. "This is my boyfriend Dean, his buddy Sam who lives with his girlfriend, my best friend, right here," Jo said, indicating me and I felt my cheeks blush. "She lives just across the street from this building," Jo said to the landlord, who's name was Ed.
I shared a wide-eyed look with Sam and saw that he was also trying not to blush at the mention of us being together. Not awkward at all. What the hell are you doing to me, Jo? I gave her a look and she just smiled at me.
"Good to meetchya. Quite a gal you got there," Ed said with a nod of his head.
Dean chuckled, gritting his teeth together, "Oh yeah, she's a pistol," he smacked her on her ass. Jo widened her eyes, but grinned just the same, keeping up the façade.
"So, did you already check out the apartment?" Jo asked, turning to Dean. "The one for rent."
"Yeah. Yes. Loved it. Great flow," Dean said.
"How'd you get in?" Ed asked.
"It was open," Dean said.
"Now, Ed, um when did the last tenant move out?" Jo asked.
"Oh, about a month ago. Cut, and run too. Stick me for the rent," he said.
"Well. Her loss, our gain! 'Cause if Dean-o loves it, it's good enough for me," she said cheekily.
"Oh, sweetie," Dean's smile tightened and he smacked her again. Jo tightened her grin.
Sam and I shared a curious look at the two and raised our eyebrows at them.
"We'll take it," she said, pulling out a handful of cash folded up in her hand. She handed it to Ed.
My mouth dropped at the money that Jo had made. I was working days and nights on the weekends, and I didn't even make that.
~*SPN*~
"I'll flip you for the sofa," Jo said to Dean.
I looked over at Sam. I was seated at the table with the blue prints in front of us. He shrugged at me. Guess that meant we were sleeping on the floor.
"Does your mother even know you're here?" Dean asked.
"Told her we were going to Vegas," Jo said.
"You think she's gonna buy that?" Dean asked.
Jo rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot. I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos."
"You know you shouldn't lie to your mom," Dean said. "Shouldn't be here either."
"Well, I am so untwist your boxers and deal with it," she said.
"Where'd you get all that money anyways?" Sam asked.
"Working, at the roadhouse," she replied.
"Hunters don't tip that well," Dean said.
"Well, they aren't good at playing poker either," Jo said.
Dean's cell rang. He took it out of his pocket and held it up to his ear. "Yeah," Dean said.
"Is she with you?" Ellen asked.
"Oh, hi Ellen," Dean said, glaring at Jo. Jo closed her mouth and eyed him to not tell him about her.
"She left a note saying she was in Vegas with Melinda. I don't believe it for a second," she said.
Dean placed a hand over his phone and looked at Jo. "I'm telling her," he whispered.
"No," Jo whispered, getting up in his face and she protested against it, fighting to stay here with tooth and nail.
"Dean?"
"I haven't seen her," Dean said.
"You sure about that?" Ellen asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Dean replied, shaking his head at Jo.
"Well, please. If she shows up, you'll drag her butt right back here, won't you?"
"Absolutely," Dean said with a glare at Jo.
"Okay. Thanks honey," Ellen said and Dean hung up. Jo just grinned.
After that bit, we got settled and started to go over everything that Jo had out for us. I sat beside Sam, going over the obituaries and the possible deaths in the apartment complex building. Jo was going over the blueprints, and twirling a knife in her hand, while Dean paced back and forth.
"This place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago," Jo said.
"Yeah? What was here before 1924?" Dean asked her.
Jo pressed her lips to the side, glancing at her old photos. "Nothing. Empty field."
"So, most likely scenario, someone died bloody in the building, and now he's back raising hell," Sam said.
I leaned forward in my seat, "You know, I died bloody, and didn't raise hell… that much."
"That's cause you had us," Dean said.
"True," I leaned back in my seat and folded my arm over my chest.
Jo shook her head. "I already checked. In the past eighty-two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor."
I grimaced at the horrible scenario. Poor janitor.
"Would you sit down please?" Jo demanded, glancing back at Dean's pacing. He looked at her crazily and sat down across from her.
"So have you checked the police reports, county death records…"
Jo nodded. "Obituaries, mortuary reports, and seven other sources. I know what I'm doing."
"I think the jury's still out on that one. Could you put the knife down please?" Dean asked, glancing at her knife twirling.
Jo looked at it and carefully slid it underneath her hand, keeping it close.
"Okay!" Sam chimed in between them, "So, uh, it's something else then. Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought a spirit with it."
"Well, we've got to scan the whole building," Jo said. "Everywhere we can get to right?" Jo looked over at Dean questionably.
"Right," Dean said, standing up. "So, you and me, we'll take the top two floors."
"We'd move faster if we split up," Jo said, getting up to face him. She stood close to him and he looked down at her.
All Sam and I could do was just kind of watch out of curiosity.
"Oh, this isn't negotiable," Dean said with a smirk on his face.
~*SPN*~
Sam and I took the bottom floors, shining our lights down the hallway. Sam had his EMF meter out. It was silent save for our footsteps and shuffling soles on the floor beneath us, so far finding nothing on the middle floor.
"So, um," I began to derail the nervous tension I felt. "About what Jo said, don't mind her, she was just…"
"Playing a part?" Sam asked, turning toward me a bit.
"Yeah," I said, blushing slightly.
"No, I get it," Sam nodded.
"You just don't get why I'm here," I said, sensing his hesitation. Sam nodded.
"Pretty much," he said.
I bit back a smile. "I didn't want Jo out here alone. I'm hoping Ellen'll forgive me for that. She actually tried to con me into going to Vegas, but I caught her on her wild goose chase of the supernatural a mile away," I sighed. "I don't know what goes on in that girl's head, Sam. This is not a life I would've chosen to have."
"Really?" Sam asked, a bit impressed by that.
I nodded. "Really. I mean can you really see me chasing demons?" I asked in all honesty and Sam gave me a smile before he laughed heartedly.
"Yeah, no I can't actually," Sam said. He leaned into me with a whisper, "Maybe if you were Lucy Lawless."
I smiled and laughed. "Lucy Lawless?"
"Yeah, Xena Warrior Princess," Sam said.
"I know who she played as. That was my era after all," I nodded, smiling at him unable to help it. "I even watched Relic Hunter, and the Lost World TV show. God, Malone was hot," I said, remembering those old fun TV adventures. "And of course X-files, I mean it's all about David Duchovny."
"You know it's a good thing you're not blonde," Sam said.
"It is?" I asked, wondering what that meant.
"Yeah, otherwise, the spirit might take you away from me. 'Cause then I wouldn't have anyone to talk to about Xena, Warrior Princess."
I blushed immensely after that. Sam's phone rang and I was so thankful for that, unsure of what else to say.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Meet you there," Sam said, closing up his cell phone. I looked at him and he had a serious look on his face. "Dean and Jo just found a couple of a souvenirs. They're back at the apartment. Come on."
"Ewe…" I wrinkled my nose in disgust. That does not sound good.
~*SPN*~
I woke up off the floor and looked over at Dean sleeping on his stomach on the couch. I groggily picked myself up from my pillow and blanket, yawning. Sam was slowly starting to stir awake. I tilted my head from side to side, feeling the aches and the stiff neck. I groaned.
"How'd you sleep?" Sam asked, lifting his head up from his pillow to look at me curiously, covers half on him covering his gray shirt. I looked at his tousled hair and sleepy eyes.
"Okay I guess. I definitely don't miss the aching joints, God…" I muttered, making him chuckle a bit. He got up off the floor, and looked over at his brother, still sleeping like a baby.
"I'm gonna take a shower," I said.
"Okay, I'll go get us some coffee while the prince and princess are sleeping," Sam said.
I giggled and dashed off to the bathroom to take my shower.
~*SPN*~
I got out of the shower, towel drying my hair, into my regular clothes. "Ugh, took you long enough," Jo said. "Geez, there might not be any hot water left."
"There's plenty of hot water left," I said, giving her a look as I came to see that Dean was finally awake. "Morning. Sam's not back yet?" I asked. He shook his head.
Sam then whipped open the door and walked inside, not carrying any coffee. I frowned, having my heart set on it. I always had coffee.
"Where's the coffee?" Dean asked.
"There are cops outside," Sam explained. "Another girl disappeared."
I frowned.
I pulled my hair into a loose pony tail, and went to go place the towel over the shower rim. Meanwhile, Sam and Jo got out more notes, looking over what they might've missed. Dean went to investigate the victim. I came out of the room, and sat down beside Jo.
Dean returned, door closing behind him.
"Teresa Ellis. Apartment 2F. Boyfriend reported her missing around dawn," he announced.
"And her apartment?" Jo asked.
"Cracks all over plaster, walls, ceiling. There was ectoplasm too," Dean nodded, glancing at Sam warily.
"Well, between that and the tuft of hair, I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls," Sam said.
Dean frowned. "But who is it? Building history's totally clean."
"Well, maybe we're looking in the wrong place. Mel, hand me that photo?" Jo said, and I pushed the photo of the black and white one of two buildings. "Thanks," She picked it up and showed it to Sam and Dean.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked her.
"Check this out," Jo said.
Sam raised his eyebrows skeptically. "An empty field?"
"It's where this building was built," Jo said. "Take a look at the one next door. The windows."
"Bars," Sam realized.
"We're next door to a prison?" Dean asked.
Jo nodded, and pulled out her cell phone to call Ash for more information. Sam pulled out his laptop. I finally went out to get coffee and bring it back for all of us in a Styrofoam cup holder. I handed one to Dean. He smiled his thanks at me and then put one by Sam's laptop. Sam also nodded his thank you for his coffee. I took out Jo's and placed it by her empty seat, as she was just finishing up on the phone with Ash.
"Thanks Ash. And if you breathe a word of this to my mother," Jo threatened the poor genius. "That's right. With pliers." She said, and I arched a worried brow, taking a sip of my caramel latte.
She hung up and walked over to us. "Okay. Moyamensing Prison. Built in 1835, torn down in 1963. And get this. They used to execute people by hanging them in the empty field next door."
I shivered. "Ugh," I frowned.
Jo took her coffee from her spot and raised it in the air to me before taking a sip.
"Well, then we need a list. All of the people executed there," Sam said.
"Ash is already on it," Jo said.
Sam went to his laptop and clicked on his email that Ash sent him. The list of names from the prison. He scrolled down it.
"A hundred fifty seven names?" Sam asked.
"We've got to narrow that down," Dean said.
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"Or else we're gonna be digging up a hell of a lot of stiffs," Dean said.
"Herman Webster Mudgett?" Sam asked, clicking on a name that sounded familiar to him.
"Yeah?" Jo asked.
"Wasn't that H. H. Holmes' real name?" Sam asked.
"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Dean groaned. My jaw dropped. Sam dropped the browser and opened up another window, searching for the history of this guy. A lot of information came up on America's first serial killer. I shivered.
"Yep. Holmes was executed at Moyamensing, May 7, 1896."
Sam looked at his brother. "H. H. Holmes himself. Come on, I mean, what are the odds?"
"Who is this guy?" Jo asked.
"The term "multi-murderer." They coined it to describe Holmes. He was America's first serial killer, before anybody knew what a serial killer was," Dean said.
"Yeah, he confessed to twenty seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred," Sam added.
"And his victim flavor of choice? Pretty petite blondes. He, uh, he used chloroform to kill 'em," Dean said, then paused, as I shred a wary look with Jo, twisting my face in a frown. She shrugged innocently at me.
"Which is what I smelled in the hallway last night. At his place, cops found human remains, bone fragments, and long locks of bloody blonde hair," He turned toward Jo. "Boy, you sure know how to pick 'em."
"Well, we just find the bones, salt 'em and burn 'em, right?" Jo asked.
"Well, it's not that easy," Sam said, shaking his head as he continued to read on his website. "His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete."
"What? Why?" Jo asked.
"The story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse. 'Cause, you know, that's what he used to do," Dean said.
"You know somethin'. We might have an even bigger problem than that," Sam said in dreaded realization.
"How does this get bigger?" Jo and I asked in sync. We looked at one another and then at Sam.
"Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago. He called it the Murder Castle. The whole place was a death factory, they had, uh, trapdoors, acid vats, quick line pits... he built these secret chambers inside the walls. He'd lock his victims in, keep them alive for days. Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death."
"So Teresa could still be alive. She could be inside these walls," Jo said.
"We need sledgehammers, crowbars. We've got to smash these walls, anywhere thick enough to hide a girl."
~*SPN*~
"Find anything?" Sam asked me through the tight space inside the wall. I shined my light down and gasped slightly when I heard a fury creature inside the walls. I groaned. "No. Just a rat," I frowned, lifting my boot up. I got out of there as fast as I could.
"Now what?" I asked, giving him my flashlight so I could dust my hands off from the dust and the cobwebs that'd gotten everywhere on me.
Sam looked worried, and pulled out his cell. We started walking down the hallway.
"Nothing here, Jo," Sam said. "We're gonna check out the southeast wall. We'll let you know if we find anything."
Sam sighed, and closed up his phone.
"H.H Holmes, wow…I mean you only hear about these guys in the history books, never in like real life, well not real life, I mean not flesh anyway. He's a ghost. A killer ghost," I wrinkled my nose at that as we turned the corner to the Southeast wall.
"Yeah. This is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Sam said with a frown. "I really hope Jo and Dean find something soon."
"Me too," I nodded.
"So, um, how are you holding up?" Sam asked.
I looked up at him as we continued walking, searching, finding nothing. I shrugged. "Fine I guess. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary if you count catching Ash with no pants on every now and then. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing considering the demon brought me back."
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
"You still don't know why do you?" I asked.
Sam looked down into my eyes for a brief moment before he shifted uneasily. "I wish I could tell you, Melinda. I wish I knew what he wanted, but I've got jack. I'm sorry."
I nodded. "Hey, a dead girl brought back to life by necromancy can try right?" I gave him a bright smile and he chuckled, we ended up chuckling together and ran into a panicked Dean. I frowned. "Dean?" He'd nearly bumped into Sam.
"Whoa!" Sam exclaimed, circling his brother holding him at arm's length to steady him.
Dean looked up worriedly. "He's got Jo."
"What? How'd that happen?" Sam asked. My eyes narrowed in concern.
"I wasn't with her; I left her alone. Dammit!" Dean exclaimed.
"Hey, hey, look, we'll find her, all right?" Sam asked, trying to calm him down.
"Where?"
I pointed to the walls, and Sam looked at them. "Inside the walls," Sam said.
"We've been inside the walls all night. None of the other girls were there, she won't be either," Dean panicked.
~*SPN*~
We went back to the apartment to try and retrace our steps, looking over everything that Jo pulled, and the prison building across the street.
"She's gotta be somewhere. This guy's a serial killer. He's going to keep his victims alive for awhile, as bad as it sounds, right?" I said, looking up at Sam. Sam nodded.
"Look. We've just gotta take a beat and think about this. Maybe we got Holmes' M.O. wrong."
"Yeah, well, we'd better friggin' think fast," Dean said, running a hand over his mouth, trying to calm himself down. His cell phone rang and he picked it up.
"Yeah."
"You lied to me. She's there."
"Ellen," Dean said, looking at us. Sam and I shared a worried look.
"No - Ash told me everything. Man's a genius, but he folds like a cheap suit. Now you put my damn daughter on the phone."
"She's gonna have to call you back, she's taking care of, uh, feminine business," Dean white-lied.
"Yeah, right. Where is she? Where is she?!"
"Look, we'll get her back," Dean promised.
"Get her back? Back from what?"
"The spirit we're hunting, it took her."
I heard the sadness in Dean's voice and my heart went out to him.
"Oh my god."
"She'll be okay, I promise."
"You promise," Ellen scoffed. "That is not the first time I've heard that from a Winchester. "
"What?" Dean furrowed his brows questionably.
"If anything happens to her..."
"It won't. I won't let it. Ellen, I'm sorry, I really am," Dean said sincerely.
"I'm taking the first flight out. I'll be there in a few hours."
"Damnit!" Dean shouted, slamming his cell closed. He placed his hand over is forehead.
"Don't beat yourself up, Dean. There's nothing you could have done," Sam said.
"Tell me you've got something." Dean looked at him desperately.
"Uh, maybe. Look. You look at the layout of the Holmes murder castle, there's all the torture chambers inside the walls, right?"
"Right." Dean nodded.
"But there's one we haven't considered yet. The one in this basement," Sam said.
"This building doesn't have a basement," Dean said.
"You're right, it doesn't. But I just noticed this. Beneath the foundation, it looks like part of an old sewer system that hasn't been used for —"
"Let's go," Dean grabbed his jacket and the books. Sam and I looked at one another and followed him out the door.
~*SPN*~
Sam and I both had metal detectors in our hands. Dean carried a few shovels as we searched down the streets and onto the field of grass in hopes that we could find it. Sam paused at his beeping metal detector and we walked over to it as it beeped loudly.
"Here," He said. We dropped everything and Dean handed me a shovel. I didn't have to think twice on what he wanted me to do with it. Dean started to dig, and then Sam and I continued to furiously dig afterwards under the hot sun. It was literally killing my back, pushing the shovel in the ground, but we needed to find Jo. We dropped the shovels and started to dig with our hands, dirt getting in my fingernails. Again I couldn't worry about it getting deep into the crevices of my nails because all that mattered right now was getting Jo out of there. We finally uncovered a trap door. Dean pulled it open and we looked at it. I was sitting on my knees, hands on my thighs, out of breath.
Dean pulled out a shotgun from the duffle bag we brought with us, and then handed me one. I looked at him worriedly and he just looked at me with hardened eyes. I swallowed hard. We started to go down the stairs with our items in hand ready to find Jo and Teresa.
"If you see anything that moves fast, shoot it," Sam said. "You pull the trig-"
"I know. I took a writing class in college, and we had to know these things for mystery novels," I said.
"Right," Sam said as we crept inside the dark sewer, shining our flashlights down the corridor in front of us. It was even creepier than I originally thought. I didn't like this at all.
I jumped at the sound of screaming and hid beside Sam's tall shoulder, cramped behind Dean. "Hey!" Dean yelled and shot at Home's ghost form that was standing in front of Jo's concrete crate. The loud shotgun made Teresa cry out in terror. Holmes' disappeared in dust.
"Jo?" Dean asked.
"I'm here!" Jo yelled through the small view window of her concrete crate.
Sam and I looked at the other compartments. I gasped and then groaned, turning my head away from the body parts that were stuffed inside, until I heard movement beside me. Then a terrified gasp.
"Teresa?" I asked.
She nodded worriedly, eyes wide. Sam leaned forward. "We're going to get you out okay?"
"Sam!" Dean yelled at his brother. Sam turned and got the crowbar from him, then started to break down Jo's compartment crate open before Holmes' could come back, pulling Jo into his arms and out of her prison. Sam finished breaking Teresa's prison and held her in his arms as she clinged against him in terror. I did not blame the girl at all.
I stood back, keeping an eye watch on Holmes's, my shotgun aimed in front of me.
"You all right?" Dean asked.
"Been better," Jo said. "Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back."
"Actually," Dean said, glancing at her. "I don't think you're leaving just yet."
"What?" Jo asked.
"Remember when I said you being bait was a bad plan?" Dean asked. Jo nodded. "Now it's kind of the only plan we got."
"All right. I think it'd be best if you take Teresa home to her boyfriend, we'll take care of the rest," Sam said.
I nodded. "Good plan." I said, not wanting to hold onto the shotgun anymore. I handed it to Dean, giving him a strained and rueful smirk.
I followed him out the sewer corridor. He gently set her down, and she started to climb up the front. I turned around and smiled at Sam. "Good luck," I said, before following Teresa up the ladder.
~*SPN*~
"So? This job as glamorous as you thought it would be?"
"Well, except for all the pee-your-pants terror, yeah. Sure. But that Teresa girl's gonna live a life because of us. It's worth it, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Yeah it is," Sam nodded.
I walked back to the sewers where Sam and Jo were standing, and placed my hands in the back of my jean pockets.
"Teresa make it back to her boyfriend okay?" Jo asked.
I smiled, holding my hand over my forehead as a visor to hide the rays of the sunlight. "Yeah, she'll be fine. Sweet couple. You did good Jo."
Jo smiled brightly and then turned to Sam. "Hey, what if somebody finds that sewer down there, or a storm washes the salt away?"
"Both very fine points," Sam said. "Which is why we're waiting here."
"For what?" Jo asked. A truck backed up to the sewers. Sam smiled broadly and turned toward it as it stopped backing up on the field.
"For that," Sam said, and then waved at his brother driving the truck. "Whoa!"
Dean got out of the truck and hopped down. Sam joined him to start the cement pour over the entrance.
"You ripped off a cement truck?" Jo asked.
Dean shrugged. "I'll give it back"
The cement began pouring down there and we watched. I leaned close to Dean. "Show off," I whispered, making him chuckle.
"Yeah whatever you say hippie."
"I'm a flower child now," I frowned.
Dean smirked. "Well, that oughta keep him down there till hell freezes over."
~*SPN*~
Ellen really did show up at the apartment building with a pissed off look at her face. Then we all packed our bags in silence and headed to the impala, going back home to the roadhouse. I sat in the middle between Sam and Jo in the backseat. Ellen sat in the front seat, while Dean drove us all back. The car ride was very intense and very uncomfortable.
"Boy, you, you really weren't kidding about flying out, were you?" Dean asked.
Ellen was still, completely silent, but hard brooding. Sam, Jo, and I looked at one another.
"How about we listen to some music?" Dean leaned forward and turned the dial on his radio.
"You're as cold as ice..." the beats of the instruments played through the speakers. I cringed at the dreadful song. Bad timing. Ellen leaned forward and turned it off.
We looked at one another again. I gulped.
"This is gonna be a long drive," Dean shifted uneasily in his seat.
Uh-huh…
~*SPN*~
I was exhausted, physically, and emotionally exhausted from the digging, and the feeling frightened on facing Holmes's ghost. I was ready for a shower and a good night's sleep. But I had a feeling that was going to wait a bit because Ellen dragged her daughter inside the roadhouse. We reluctantly followed them.
"Ellen? This is my fault. Okay? I lied to you and I'm sorry. But Jo did good out there, I think her dad would be proud," Dean tried to apologize as he walked forward. Sam and I stayed put.
"Don't you dare say that. Not you. I need a moment with my daughter. Alone," she said, eyeing Sam and Dean, even me.
I nodded at her, but then turned to face Ellen. "I just wanted to let you know that I only agreed to go with her because I didn't want to see her get hurt. And she's not hurt." I said, and walked out of the saloon.
I joined the boys by the impala. "Well, so much for a quick shower and sleep." I said, folding my arms across my chest. "Hunting with you was definitely easier as a ghost," I said, glancing at Sam.
Sam tightened his lips.
We waited outside for a few minutes. I leaned against the impala of the car, trying not to fall asleep until Jo stormed out of the roadhouse in her red leather jacket. She looked over at us and at Dean specifically before she stormed away, leaving Sam and I alone, to watch their exchange.
"That bad, huh?" Dean asked.
"Not right now," she said, walking away from him.
Dean followed by her. "What happened? Hey, talk to me."
"Get off me!" Jo yelled at him, shoving him back. Dean stumbled a bit, taken aback by her outburst.
"Sorry," he said. "See you around."
"Dean," Jo said, making him stop in his trek. "It turns out my dad had a partner on his last hunt. Funny, usually he worked alone; this guy did too, but…I guess my father figured he could trust him. Mistake. Guy screwed up, got my dad killed."
"What does this have to do with-"
"It was your father, Dean," Jo cut him off, pressing her lips to the side.
Sam and I exchanged a worried look.
"What?" Dean asked, perplexed.
"Why do you think John never came back? Never told you about us? Because he couldn't look my mom in the eye after that, that's why," she said, trying to hold it together.
"Jo…" Dean began.
She shook her head. "Just…just get out of here. Please just leave."
She walked away, and I bit my bottom lip. Well, that ended badly.
~*SPN*~
A/n: Hey guys! Another episode done! Thank you all for following, favoriting, and reviewing! It means a lot to me, and hope you liked the bit between Sam and Mel. :D More updates soon!