D.S.

~One Month Later~

The Impala was parked on an out of the way road in front of a gate that clearly hadn't been opened in several years. Sam and Courtney were once again shoved into the back, Sam sprawled out with Courtney laying on his chest, making use of the space they were given. Charlie was sitting shotgun, having won a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Sam, slumped over against the window with her feet rested in Dean's lap. The older Winchester himself was sitting behind the wheel, flashlight in hand as he looked over several papers.

Sam's eyes cracked open when Courtney once again changed her position on top of him. He pushed himself up a little higher, moving slow enough not to wake Courtney and looked around him, a frown pulling at his lips when he found his brother awake. "What are you doing?" he asked, keeping his voice low enough so he didn't wake the two sleeping girls.

Dean kept his eyes on the papers in front of him as he spoke. "What's it look like I'm doing?" he questioned back.

"Like you're looking for a job," Sam answered, his tone tired.

"Yahtzee," Dean said a little too perky for it being so late.

Sam let out a long sigh as he raised a hand to rub at his eyes. "We just finished a job, like, two hours ago," he stated.

"Adrenaline's still pumping, I guess," Dean stated before looking back at his brother. "So, what do you think? Cedar Rapids, Tulsa, or China Town?"

Sam let out another tired sigh. "I am all for working. I really am but you've got us chasing cases nonstop for like a month now. We need sleep."

"We can sleep when we're dead," Dean said, looking back to the papers.

"You're exhausted, Dean."

"I'm good," Dean stressed a little louder.

"No, you're not. You're running on fumes, and you can't run forever," Sam told him, his tone a little accusing.

Dean paused for a moment before throwing his arm over the back seat to look at his brother. "What am I running from?" he demanded.

Sam looked to his brother with a tired annoyance. "From what you told me."

Dean stared at his brother blankly.

"Or are we pretending that never happened?"

Dean shot a glance down at the sleeping Charlie, remembering how he had promised her to think of option 2 and how when he had actually told Sammy about Hell a little part of him felt better, but other part of him was screaming at him to keep his little brother in the dark, to keep him from what had happened in The Pit. He decided to listen to the screaming part and looked back to the papers once again. "Stratton, Nebraska. Farm Town. Man gets hacked to death in a locked room inside a locked house, No signs of forced entry."

Sam, tired of arguing with Dean went along with his avoidance. "Sounds like a ghost," he stated.

"Yes, it does," Dean stated.

Sam groaned quietly before letting himself slump back, pulling Courtney a little closer to him.

Dean looked at his brother in the rear view mirror before letting his eyes close as he swallowed hard. His head snapped over to look at Charlie when her feet pulled out of his lap. He found her sitting up, her eyes blinking slowly as she looked out the windshield. "You okay?" he asked.

Charlie smacked her lips together before looking over at him with blurry eyes. She let out a small groan before lowering herself back onto the seat, this time her head in his lap with her feet by the window.

Dean looked down at her with mild surprise. Ever since the hunt with Anna she had been acting kinder towards him, more personable. She often slept on him whenever she rode shot gun and she didn't bitch about sharing a bed with him when the motel they stay at only has one room available. He often found her in his shadow whenever they were on hunts, always there to have his back when things got dicey. He wasn't really sure why she was acting this way but he wasn't going to question her, slightly afraid of her repercussion.


C.C.

Dean guided the Impala up the drive, the farm house looming at them from a let go yard. They crawled out of their seats and headed up to the front of the house.

Courtney raised her head to look at the house, a frown pulling at her lips. "I don't like houses like these," she stated.

Sam looked over at her, his brow puckered. "Why?"

"Acres of land around you, no neighbors for miles so if you screamed no one would hear you," she explained, her tone slightly monotone.

"You're really not a morning person, are you?" Dean asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Not when I'm woken at the ass crack of dawn," she answered, pushing her sunglasses higher up the bridge of her nose.

"It's 9 in the morning," Sam reminded her, glancing down at his watch.

She flipped the overly tall man off before following her sister and Dean up the front steps.

Dean pulled out his lock pick set and went to work on the lock, getting it open surprisingly fast and ushering the others in.

They walked through the empty house, their eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Boy, three bedrooms, two baths, one homicide," Dean said as they stepped into the living room. "This place is gonna sell like hotcakes."

Charlie let out a soft chuckle as she shook her head. "You'd be surprised how much people will overlook if the price is right," she said before making her way towards the kitchen. "It's a farm house with fertile land, it'll go faster than you think," she said before pausing as a shiver went up her spine. She spun around to look behind her but only found Courtney, who seemed to be in the same state as her.

Courtney narrowed her eyes as she scanned the room, trying to see if she could get anything off the room, anything Supernatural. She looked back to Charlie and shook her head, telling her that she got nothing.

Charlie pursed her lips and followed behind Dean and Sam.

The kitchen was a pale yellow with a cracked floor. They were searching through the cupboards when Dean found a patch over job on the wall.

"Hey, check this out," he said, tapping his knuckles against the plaster. "Huh."

"It's probably a dumbwaiter. All these old houses had them," Sam stated, dismissing it quickly.

Dean frowned as he watched his brother walk away. "Know-it-all," he muttered after him.

"What?" Sam asked, looking back at him.

"What?" Dean shot back, faking innocence.

"You said…" Sam trailed off, clearly a little confused.

"What?" Dean asked again.

Sam watched him for a moment before dismissing it again. "Never mind."

They continued through the house, Sam pulling out his EMF as they ended up in the last room.

"No blood stains, fresh coat of paint. It's a bunch of bubkes," Dean stated, looking the room over.

"Needle's all over the place," Sam stated, not wanting to dismiss a case.

Dean squinted out the window. "You got power lines," he said, pointing to the towers.

Sam let out a frustrated sigh and shoved his EMF back into his pocket. "Great. That's useless."

Charlie stepped passed him and went to the closet, grabbing the handle and opening it. Her eyes scanned it before she looked to the floor before a small scream left her as she jumped back.

All three of them rushed over to her but stopped when they found the decrepit dolls head sitting on the hard wood floor.

"Ugh," Sam said, his nose scrunching up in disgust.

Dean looked down at the head as Charlie moved behind him, putting distance between her and the head. "Well, that's super disturbing," he stated, although slightly amused by Charlie's reaction.

"Think it got left behind?" Sam asked, watching with suspicion as Courtney crouched down in front of it to get a better look at it.

"By who?" Dean asked back, his eyebrows shot up. "Unless Bill Gibson likes to play with doll heads."

Sam let out a humorless laugh.

"Courtney, don't touch it!" Charlie snapped over Dean's shoulder as she watched her sister reach out towards the head. "Sam, stop her," she said, nudging Sam's arm.

Sam rolled his eyes as he stepped forward and pull Courtney back up to her feet. He opened his mouth to comment but paused when he heard the sound of a car engine outside the house.

They all moved over to the window and found a Jeep Rangler and a moving van making their way up the drive.

"Uh-oh," Sam breathed.

"I thought you said this place was still for sell?" Dean asked.

"Apparently it's not," Sam answered, getting a glare from his brother.

Charlie shook her head. "I told you people overlook things."

Dean shot her his own glare before heading out of the room.

They all jogged back down the stairs as the family pulled themselves out of the car.

Courtney grabbed her sister's arm and stopped her from going out the front door. "We're going to wait in the Impala," she stated, getting the boys to pause. "It'll look weird if there's four of us."

Sam nodded, seeing her logic. "Okay, we'll take care of this," he said before leading his brother out of the house.

Courtney pulled her sister out of the house and to the Impala, practically pushing her into the car before slamming the door behind her. "Why did it feel like we were being watched the entire time we were in that house?" she demanded.

Charlie looked out the window to the house, narrowing her eyes at it. "It could possibly be the ghost," she suggested, although she had a feeling it wasn't a ghost at all.

Courtney shook her head. "No, I don't think it's a ghost," she stated, also switching her gaze to the house. "I didn't feel anything from the house, nothing. I usually get a tingle or a cold spot when it's a ghost but I got nothing," she stated.

Charlie couldn't help but nod. "I usually see a slight fog," she agreed.

"What the hell do you think it is?"

She shrugged. "A serial killer with rather impressive lock skills?"

Courtney rolled her eyes at her. "And then there's that," she muttered, leaning back into her seat, her hand going to her eyes as she rubbed at them tiredly. "I really don't understand why Dean's pushing us so hard."

"Yes you do," Charlie said, her tone slightly accusing.

Courtney let out a long sigh. "Yeah, yeah I do," she said, letting her head roll over to the side. "You've talked to him, right?"

Charlie nodded and slumped down in the seat. "Yeah, but I don't think I got to him," she said.

"He's a Winchester," she said as if that was the answer to everything.

A small groan escaped Charlie as she thought of the night she had spent on the porch with Dean at Bobby's. She had thought that she had convinced Dean to talk to his brother but it seemed that she was wrong and Dean was going to stay quiet.

"Maybe you can get him to talk to you instead of Sam," Courtney suggested.

Charlie chuckled humorlessly. "He doesn't want to talk to me," she stated. "I'm the bitch that threatened to put a bullet between his eyes."

"No, you're the bitch that's been watching his ass for little over a month now."

Charlie rolled her eyes but perked up when she spotted Sam and Dean walking towards the car. "What did you tell them?" she asked as Courtney pulled herself out to climb into the back with Sam as Dean got behind the wheel.

"That we were code enforcement and that there was Asbestos and a gas leak," he answered. "We got them to stay in a motel for the night."

Charlie blinked lazily at him. "The same motel that we were going to stay at?" she asked.

Dean paused in his movements, his mind working through it. "Crap."

She let out a groan. "Please tell me we're not going to have to sleep in the Impala again," she pleaded, her hands moving to grab his arm as she shook it a little.

Dean glared at her and pushed her hands off of him. "I'm sure there's more than one motel in town," he told her.

She glared at him as he started up the Impala. "There better be," she threatened.


True to his words there was another motel in town although the quality was far from 4 stars. Charlie had bitched a little but shut up when she found the Wi-Fi.

"Do you have the case file?" Dean asked as he and Sam pulled on their ties.

"Right here," she answered, pulling the file up on her laptop. "What do you want?"

"The person who found the bodies," he answered, leaning over her as he struggled to tie his tie.

Charlie squinted as she read through the file. "A Mrs. Curry found the bodies. She's the house keeper," she answered, looking over her shoulder before letting out a sigh when she saw him struggling. She spun around in her chair and shooed his hands away as she tied the tie for him.

Sam and Courtney watched the exchange with silent amusement. They knew something was up between the two but they weren't going to question it in case they decided to stop.

"Alright, so, me and Sammy are going to go talk to, uh, Mrs. Curry while you and Courtney do some research about the house," he said, leaning up once Charlie had finished his tie.

She nodded as she turned back to the file, her hands reaching for the notepad and pen. "Here's her address," she said as she wrote it down and held it up to him. "Call me when you're done with the interview."

Dean looked down at her with a raised eyebrow but didn't argue, not wanting to start another bitch fit with her. "Will do," he answered before gesturing for Sam to head out.

Courtney watched as the brothers left before she flopped back onto the bed she had claimed as her and Sam's. "This is a little bullshit," she stated. "There's something in that house and neither of us know what the hell it is," she said, her tone clearly bitter.

Charlie nodded in complete agreement. "This happened the last time we hunted without Roy," she muttered, typing away on her laptop in slight anger. "What the hell is in that house?!" she snapped. "I know something was watching us."

Courtney nodded. "Something was defiantly watching us, I got that much."

A growl escaped Charlie as she looked through Mr. Gibson's file, reading anything she could.

Courtney closed her eyes and ran through the layout of the house from memory. "Did you see a cellar door anywhere?"

Charlie paused and looked off to the side as she thought of the layout herself. She shook her head after a moment. "No, I didn't. And he had sealed off the dumbwaiter too."

"Maybe the things in the basement?" Courtney suggested.

"And Mr. Gibson had to have known about it to cover up the dumbwaiter," Charlie concluded, turning in her chair to look at her sister. "But what the hell is it?"

Courtney let out a sigh as she shook her head. "The hell is if know," she answered before pushing herself up to her feet. "I'm going to get a shower while I can," she stated before heading into the bathroom.

Charlie watched the door for a moment before also pushing herself to her feet and heading towards the other bed. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and tossed it on Dean's side of the bed as she took her own spot. She rolled onto her stomach, turned her head to right and closed her eyes, hoping that she would actually get some sleep.


Cold, late night so long ago

When I was not so strong, you know

A pretty many came to me

I never seen eyes so blue

You know, I could not run away it seemed

We'd seen each in a dream

Seemed like he knew me

He looked right through me…yeah

Charlie's eyes cracked open as her hand snaked across the bed to grab her phone. "Yeah?" she asked, her voice a little thick from sleep.

"Alright, so Mrs. Curry said that although she's been working for Mr. Gibson for 5 years she really didn't know that much about him. What she did know, however, is that his wife died in child birth and then his daughter hung herself 20 years later."

Charlie perked up at that. "Then it could be the wife's or the daughter's ghost?" she asked.

"Nope. Both the wife and daughter were cremated," Dean answered.

"Let's not rule it out," Charlie told him, knowing for a fact that just because you're cremated didn't mean there wasn't a piece of you somewhere to cling onto. "That's our strongest bet at the moment."

"She did say that she heard rustling inside the walls."

"That's a poltergeist sign," Charlie stated. "They usually don't kill that messy though."

"She also said that things didn't move and there were no flickering lights."

Charlie sighed and let her head fall back onto her pillow. "We've really got nothing going for us on this case, do we?" she asked, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"We're had less and still come out on top," he tried to reassure her.

She just groaned into the phone.

"Listen, we're coming back to get you two so we can go look at the house again," he told her as the sound of the engine became the background noise. "Make sure you're ready when we get there."

Charlie pushed herself up onto her elbows, liking the idea of a second look at the house. "Okay, Courtney and me had some questions about that place. We'll be ready."

"See you in a few minutes."

She tossed her phone away from her when he hung up and looked to the other bed to find her sister sprawled out on the mattress. She grabbed one of her pillows and threw it at Courtney's head, making the poor girl jump out of her skin.

"What?!" she yelped, suddenly on high alert.

"The boys are coming back to get us so we can go back to the house," Charlie explained as she got up and walked over to her bag to pull out a fresh pair of clothes. "I want to check out that cellar theory of yours," she told her before she started to strip.


They rolled to a stop just before the drive way, all four heads looking to the well-lit house with the two familiar cars parked in front.

Dean let out a frustrated sigh. "Crap," he grunted, letting his hands fall down to his lap. "So, what now?"

"We could tell them the truth," Sam suggested.

Dean looked over to him with a surprised look. "Really?"

"No. Not really," Sam answered with a rather monotone voice.

"What is the truth?" Charlie asked, leaning over the front seat. "We literally have no idea what's in that house."

Dean let out another frustrated sigh. "Well, what was your and Courtney's idea? The one you mentioned."

Charlie looked over her shoulder to her sister who had been lightly dozing in the seat next to her. With a sharp elbow jab to the ribs she was awake and ready for anything.

Courtney blinked a few times as she pulled herself from her sleepy state. "Uh, I noticed that there wasn't a cellar door," she explained, letting her chin rest on the seat. "And the fact that Mr. Gibson closed off the dumbwaiter was a little suspicious. Kind of makes you wonder what's down there."

Sam shrugged. "Well, maybe he didn't need the cellar anymore?"

Courtney rolled her eyes. "He lived on a farm, believe me, he needed the cellar."

"How would you know?" Dean demanded, looking over his shoulder at her.

A sigh escaped the girl. "Because we needed the cellar," she answered.

Confusion pulled at his face. "Who's we?"

Courtney hesitated for a moment before answering. "I grew up in a house like that," she explained, gesturing to the house. "We even had the farm," she muttered the last part, glaring slightly at the empty fields.

"Seriously?" Sam asked, not being able to see Courtney on a farm.

She nodded. "It was as fun as you think," she stated before looking to Dean. "Are we just going to wait out here till they fall asleep or something?"

Charlie let out a snort. "Then what? Break into their house and sneak around? The only good that'll come from that is the chance of Dean getting shot."

"Hey!" Dean snapped, looking back at her with a hard glare.

She smiled kindly at him before pinching his nose and jerking it side to side.

Dean pulled away from her, his hand going to his nose.

Sam rolled his eyes at them. "I don't think breaking into their house is a good idea," he stated, looking to Courtney. "We should come back tomorrow morning and get them to leave again."

She thought for a moment before looking back to the house. "But something is in that house. Something that we know nothing about. We could come back in the morning and find them all dead."

Sam winced at that. "I know but we don't have much of a choice."

"We should try-"

A series of screams cut her off as she began to argue. They all jumped out of the Impala and ran to the house, Dean banging on the front door which was answered.

"We heard screams. What's going on?" Dean demanded, pushing through the door and heading into the house, Sam following behind him.

The girls stood on the porch, having seen that the family was fine and glared openly at the Dean and Sam who had shown no manners in entering the house.

The father turned to the boys. "Oh, you two. Did you touch my daughter?" he demanded.

That pulled Dean up short. "What? No."

"Who are you guys?" he asked, clearly not comfortable with the men in his house.

"Relax, please," Sam pleaded, trying to keep the tension down.

Courtney looked behind her when a whimper reached her ears. A Border Collie stood on the porch a few feet away from her, staring off.

"You have a ghost," Sam told them.

"A ghost?" the dad demanded.

The daughter pulled away from her mother and stepped forward. "I told you!" she yelled.

"It's the girl," the son defended, joining his sister.

The father turned around and grabbed both his children by the shoulders. "Both of you, relax," he told them before addressing Dean and Sam again. "What are you guys playing at?"

"Your family is in danger. You need to get out of the house now," Dean told him, his voice taking its Winchester Authority.

Charlie let out a small groan when the lights flickered before going out. "Really?" she demanded, looking up the ceiling.

"What the hell?" the father asked.

"Nobody move!" Dean barked.

Courtney jumped when the dog suddenly tore off of the porch and towards the back of the house. Her heart almost broke when she heard the painful whimpering and yelps.

"Buster!" the son yelled before taking off upstairs, the sister following him.

Courtney grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her to the edge of the porch, almost scared to look any farther from the noises the dog was making.

"Buster!" the father shouted, stepping out the house and standing near the girls. "Buster!" he shouted.

Dean and Sam followed the father and his brother out of the house, hearing the dog.

With a louder yelp of pain Courtney was off the porch, dragging her sister around to the garage.

"What the hell?" the father asked when he spotted the trail of blood on the grass.

All eyes followed the red trail to the words that were smeared on the side of the moving trailer. 'Too late.'

"That's sick," Charlie muttered, understanding her sister's uneasiness.

"Buster!"

They all looked up and found the wife, daughter, and son standing on the porch, a few feet away.

"Go back inside. Go," the father said, wanting to keep his children from seeing the mutilated corps of their dog.

The wife gathered up her kids and ushered them back inside.

Dean took the chance to speak. "We are not the bad guys, but you're in danger," he told them.

Sam didn't give them a chance to argue. "First things first, you gotta get your family out of here."

The father looked to his brother before back to the bloody writing, seeming to make up his mind that there was a defiant danger.

"Head to the motel I was talking about. You'll be safe there," Dean said as they all headed towards the cars. He paused however when he saw that the Impala's tires had been slashed. "On no," he groaned, moving forward to look at the damage. "Oh, come on."

Sam moved around to the trunk and popped it open only to find that all of their weapons were gone. "Dude, the guns are gone. So's the-" he broke off with a frustrated sigh before slamming the trunk. "Basically everything is gone," he told him.

"The truck's no good. Both tires are slashed," the dad said as he walked back over to his family.

Dean glared openly at the house. "What kind of ghost messes with a man's wheels?!" he yelled at it.

"What's going on?" the daughter asked before letting out an ear splitting scream. "She's there! She's there!" she shouted, looking to the bushes around the house.

"Where?" the wife asked.

"She was right there in the woods!" she shouted as Charlie and Dean moved forward, both with flashlights in hand as they looked at the tree line.

"What's a ghost doing outside?" Dean asked, keeping his voice low enough so the family didn't hear.

Charlie shook her head. "First time for everything," she said before turning back to the family. "We're going to go back inside, okay?" she asked, putting a small smile on her face as she looked to the kids.

"Are you crazy?" the brother asked, looking to her with wide eyes. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Charlie went to speak but Dean cut her off.

"In what? This ghost is hunting us!" he yelled back, stepping forward to stand between the brother and Charlie. "Everybody back inside now. Move!" he barked.

Charlie pushed the family forward, her sister soon joining her side as they went back inside the house. "Go into the living room," Charlie told them, pushing them in that direction.

"What the hell is going on?" the mom demanded, holding onto her kids in a death grip.

Charlie glanced at her sister before taking in a deep breath. "I'm Charlie and this is my sister Courtney , the loud guy is Dean, and the tall guy is his brother Sam," she introduced.

The wife looked over to her husband before back to the girls. "I'm Susan," she said, her voice a little weak.

"Brian," the dad said, giving them a guy nod.

The brother gave a small nod. "Ted."

The daughter swallowed hard. "My names Kate."

"I'm Danny," the son said.

Charlie nodded and gave them another smile. "Nice to meet you."

Ted let out a snort. "Yeah, it's a real pleasure."

"Yes," Charlie said, pointing to him. "Sarcasm, that's what this situation needs."

He glared at her.

"Alright, we got salt," Dean said, walking back into the room with Sam on his heels. He crouched down and started to make the salt ring around the family. "Whatever's outside, it can't get in this circle," he explained. "As long as the salt line is unbroken, this is the safest place to be."

"Safe from ghosts?" Brian asked, his voice skeptical.

Dean looked over his shoulder at him, a rather annoyed look on his face. "Yes, as a matter of fact."

Brian watched him for a moment before shaking his head. "Okay, I'm not listening to this anymore. Come on," he said, moving to his family. "I gotta get my family out. Let's go."

Dean stood up, his annoyance growing bigger. "Nobody's going until we kill this thing."

Sam backed his brother up, moving in front of the man as he started to lead them away. "Sir, please, this is what we do. Just trust us."

"You hunt ghosts?" Danny questioned, his tone a little hopeful.

Courtney, hearing the hopefulness stepped forward and kneeled in front of him. "Yes we do," she answered, a smile pulling at her lips.

He smiled back. "Like Scooby-Doo?"

Courtney chuckled. "Yep, I'm Velma, Charlie's Daphne, Dean's Fred, and Sam's Shaggy ," she said, chuckling lightly.

Dean shot her a glare but kept quiet, knowing that it had cheered the kid up.

Sam cleared his throat and walked over to Kate. "You saw her outside, right?"

Kate nodded, still looking a little scared.

"Okay, does she look like either one of these girls?" he asked, pulling out two photos from his jacket.

Kate looked them over before pointing to the picture of the daughter. "Her. She was paler and a lot dirtier, but that was her," she told him, her tone strong.

Danny stepped forward, glancing at photo. "That's the girl in the walls," he stated.

Sam glanced back at Dean. "So it's the daughter?" he asked, seeming a little confused.

Susan struggled for a moment. "That girl in the picture, she's-she's dead?" she asked, pointing to the faded picture.

Sam hesitated before answered. "She killed herself inside this house."

Susan's mouth dropped open as she looked to her husband in blatant surprise that he had let them stay in the house.

Charlie shook her head. "I told you people over look things for the right price," she said before Dean pulled her over with him and Sam, Courtney following.

"So, what, the maid got her story wrong. Rebecca wasn't cremated?" Dean asked.

"Unless her spirit's attached to something inside the house," Sam explained.

Charlie nodded. "She hung herself so the rope she used would have skin cells on it, maybe enough to attach herself to," she said, looking to her sister for confirmation.

Courtney nodded. "There would be enough skin on it," she agreed.

Dean jumped at the idea. "She hung herself in the attic, right?" he asked.

"You wanna babysit and I'll check it out?" Sam asked before Ted walked over.

"Look, I don't care who hung themselves where. Maybe something is going on, but-"

"It's a spirit, man," Dean tried but Ted ignored him.

"It's a some hillbilly bitch, and I'm not about to sit around here waiting for her to go Deliverance on my ass," he stated.

Dean shook his head. "No, nobody's leaving the house."

"Stop me," he said before moving away.

Dean moved to do something but was beat by Charlie.

She grabbed his arm and twisted it around to his back, locking it into place while her other hand went to his shoulder, squeezing it tightly as she rested her chin on his other shoulder. "Listen, Ted," she said, her voice an eerie calm and quiet. "I have gun hidden in a very clever place, and if you refuse to step into that circle, I will not regret giving you a third hole," she said.

There was a tense moment of silence before Ted gave a short nod. Charlie let him go and he walked back into the salt circle. Charlie watched him for a moment before walking back to the others.

"You don't have a gun," Sam stated.

Charlie smirked. "No, but I have a knife and I'm going to try my hardest to make sure no one else dies in this house."

The others looked at her for a moment.

Sam cleared his throat. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She twitched a little. "I like dogs," she stated before jerking her head towards the stairs. "Go, we'll watch the family," she told him.

Courtney perked up a little. "I'll go with you. I want to see if there's a cellar door," she explained before walking off with him.

With a sigh Dean turned back to the family, looking them all over before he started to pace.

Charlie walked over and took a seat in one of the armchairs, watching the impatient man move.

Ted crouched down and poked at the salt line. "Hey, Fonzie. Question for you."

Dean shot Charlie a glare she snickered.

"This indestructible force field made out of salt," he said, standing to look at him. "Does it have to be kosher stuff or what?"

"Knock it off, Ted," Susan said, glaring at the her brother.

Charlie let out a long sigh, catching their attention. "The practice of putting down an enclosing ring of salt for protection came from a lore that said a vampire or demon cannot cross the line without counting each grain. The impossibility of this task thus prevents the demon from crossing the ring, and thus a thicker line is used where the threat is greater. According to Christian demonology, demons and the Devil in particular hate salt. Salt is used as a talisman against evil, sometimes wearing rock salt around their necks, preemptive defensive magic, to dispel enchantment, and is used in a variety of spells both ancient and modern. The popularity of salt could be related to the fact that salt is a natural preservative and antiseptic that has long been used as a purifying agent in folk magic. In some Christian rituals of baptism, especially in Catholicism, salt is put on the lips of the child during the ceremony of the baptism as a symbol of wisdom."

The Carter family and Dean watched Charlie with bland expression.

"You sound like my History teacher," Kate stated, her voice soft.

"Does your History teacher own assholes who don't understand the concept of manners?" Charlie questioned, her eyes still on Ted.

Kate went to answer but paused when a creak close by echoed through the room. "What was that?"

Both hunters looked around the room before they spotted the closet door across the room slowly start to open.

Charlie's hand hovered open at her side, waiting for an excuse to pull her surgical steel knife out. Her eyes widened when she saw the pale arm pushing the door open, followed by an equally pale body.

Dean reached over and grabbed a fire place poker, holding it defensively in front of him. "Everybody stay calm. She's a ghost. She can't come in the circle."

They all watched with fear and panic as the girl stepped closer and closer till she reached the edge of the salt ring. The fear and panic raised in level when the girl placed her foot on the other side of the salt.

"I thought you said ghosts couldn't cross the circle?" Kate demanded as she clung to her mother's side.

"They can't. She's not a ghost," Dean answered as the girl raised her hand which was clutching a knife.

Ted reached out and grabbed Charlie's shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Shoot her!" he shouted.

Charlie winced at that. "Yeah, I lied to you," she started. "Dean, get them out of here," she ordered.

Dean went to argue when the girl screamed and lunged forward, swinging the knife wildly.

Charlie lunged in front of Dean, her right leg coming up in front of him, the girls knife embedding in Charlie's thigh instead of Dean's torso, a yell of pain coming from her when the knife was pulled out.

Dean pushed Charlie away from him, not wanting her to get hurt further than she already had by the girl's wild swings. Having no weapon himself he did his best to guard but before he knew it the girl had advanced and he found himself on the floor with her on top of him, slashing with her knife.

"Hey!"

Dean looked over to find Sam standing in the doorway, flashlight aimed at the girl's face.

The girl let out a scream of pain and ran back to the closet she had come from, leaving a bleeding Charlie and a slightly shocked Dean.

Sam ran to the closet and opened the doors, finding that the girl was gone. He looked back over to his brother, checking him over to see if he was okay. "You alright?" he asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered.

"Well, now that we've assessed that the Winchester brothers are okay, how about we look at the bleeding Valentine girl?" the rather angry, pained filled voice of Charlie asked from her spot on the floor.

Sam turned his flashlight on her and ran to her when he saw the puddle of blood around her leg. "Jesus, did she do that?" he asked, crouching over her leg as he looked over the damage.

"No, the Muffin Man did it," Charlie answered, her voice thick with sarcasm.

Sam couldn't help but smile at that as he put pressure on the wound. "I thought you two were in a committed relationship?" he asked, playing along with her to keep her mind off the pain.

"Oh, I found out he was cheating on me. He'd been baking in some others girl's oven," she said, giving him a forced smile.

"I told you nothing good would come from dating him."

Charlie's head dropped to the side when Courtney's voice reached her, finding her calmly walking into the room. She glared at her sister's calm demeanor. "Shut up and help me, bitch," she said, the pain starting to annoy her.

Courtney chuckled and kneeled next to her, pulling Sam's hand away as she looked at the wound. "Well, she missed any major arteries, so you're not going to bleed to death," she told her before putting pressure on her femur, "she also missed the bone so we don't have to worry about cracks or fractures. As long as we keep it wrapped, cleaned, and I can treat it after this, you'll be fine," she said, smiling brightly at her sister.

Charlie stared at her sister in mild contempt. "I fucking hate you," she stated before pushing herself up into a sitting position. "This was one of my favorite shirts," she stated as she pulled the black and gray flannel off.

"We'll get you a new one," Courtney promised before looking to the brothers. "Go check on the family," she told them as she tore Charlie's shirt into strips.

The brothers nodded and left them in the room.

"So, how did this happen?" Courtney asked as she wrapped Charlie's shirt around her injured leg.

Charlie chuckled humorlessly. "Girl took a stab at Dean so I got in her way. Figured a wounded leg was better than a disemboweled Winchester."

Courtney shook her head as she tied the makeshift bandage off. "Well, you've managed to-" she cut off when screams for 'Danny.' "They managed to lose a child," she said.

"Shit," Charlie growled, pushing herself to her feet. She grunted lightly as she moved to the porch, Courtney right behind her. She made it to the railing and braced herself against it, watching Brian reassure Susan that they would get their son back as she continued to yell. Already annoyed with the family she let out a whistle that her mother had taught her, successfully ending all forms of talking. "I hate to take sides but Susan is right," she informed them. "The safest place for you at the moment, until we get your son back, is the shed around back."

Kate shook her head in defiance. "I am not going in there either," she stated.

Charlie shook her head. "It's not up for discussion. At the moment it's the best defense. There's only one entrance, the windows have been boarded up, and I'm more than sure that there are more than enough tools in there that can used as a weapon. That's your best chance at survival."

Brian thought about that for a moment before nodding and turning to his wife and daughter. "Suse, Kate, go," he said before pushing them towards the direction. "Go."

"Charlie, you should go with them," Sam said, looking up at her.

She glared at him. "I'm wounded, not cripple," she stated. "The more eyes you have out here the better," she stated, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Sam shook his head. "They need someone in there with them and you're the only one with a real weapon," he told her, giving her his puppy dog eyes.

Courtney looked between Sam and her sister before leaning in to whisper to her. "Do you honestly want to put up with Ted and a bleeding leg?"

Another growl left Charlie as she nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll babysit the hysterical females," she grumbled before limping down the stairs and towards the shed. "I'll scream if I need you," she said. The trek to the shed took longer than Charlie would have liked and when she reached it she gave a sharp rap on the door.

"W-Who is it?!" Susan yelled from inside.

Charlie let out a sigh. "It's Charlie."

The sound of things being moved filled the air before the door opened, Susan peeking around the edge.

Charlie flashed her a smile before stepping inside. "So, there any board games in here?"

Susan looked to her with wide eyes as Kate continued to put the barricade back up. "Do you think this is funny?" she asked, her voice harsh.

Charlie glanced at Kate, who seemed paler that before, and shook her head. "Will you slap me if I say yes?" she asked.

Susan stepped forward, her hands clenching.

Charlie stood her ground. "It's funny because I'm actually scared of a Human," she stated.

Susan stopped short. "What?"

"Everything we said about ghosts was real," she started, walking over to the wall and lowering herself to the floor slowly. "We hunt ghosts and other supernatural creatures for a living, well, not a living cause no one ever pays you, but we do this every day of our lives," she explained, looking up to Susan. "We face nightmares every day with a smile on our faces but you throw a Human at us and we're more than willing to run," she said, chuckling humorlessly.

Kate scooted a little closer to Charlie, curiosity on her face. "So, you've done something like this before?"

Charlie nodded. "Not exactly like this but we've done Human before," she answered before letting out a sigh. "Me and my sister were following what we thought was a Shapeshifter. We followed the trail of bodies from Florida all the way to Utah till we finally caught up with it. We go down into the sewers where it had made its lair, silver bullets and all, only to find out it's a Human," she said, shaking her head. "A serial killer that adapted to his victims lives, becoming his victims."

"That's not uncommon though," Susan said, shaking her head.

"This man's body count was in the hundreds, and that's just what we knew of," Charlie told her. "Not even a Shapeshifter would burn through bodies that fast. At least Shapeshifters have a reason behind killing, this man did it for the fun," she paused to shake her head. "Monsters I get, Humans are just crazy."

There was a silence in the shed as the woman took in what Charlie had just told them.

Kate was the first to react, moving closer to Charlie and sitting next to her, her eyes on Charlie's leg wound. "So, you fight monsters?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Charlie nodded. "Yep."

"There's enough for you to actually, like, hunt?"

A chuckle escaped the hunter. "Trust me, you don't want to know the population count," she told her.

Kate swallowed hard. "What are the most common?"

Charlie glared up at the ceiling as she thought. "I would have to say ghosts," she answered, nodding to herself. "They're everywhere."

"Seriously?"

"You just gotta know how to look," Charlie told her, letting her head drop to the side so she could look at the girl. "It's easy enough, most people have seen a ghost or two in their lives."

"What about demons?"

Charlie nodded. "The easiest way to check and not get in trouble if they're not a demon is to say Cristo."

Kate's face scrunched up. "Cristo?"

"It's Latin for God. They're eyes will turn all black. Now, it's a great way to check if they don't turn out to be a demon, but if they do then they pretty much know that you know and you'll probably end up dead. If you manage to get away from them then you put a non-broken line of salt at every window and door, then I would suggest praying, cause unless you know how to draw a Devil's Trap you're dead."

Kate nodded slowly and continued to ask her questions, Charlie answering them the best she could before she was cut off by a rapping on the shed door, Susan and Kate screaming as Charlie winced.

"It's us, open up," Sam's voice said from outside the door.

Susan rushed over and moved everything to the side, letting Brian, Sam and Courtney into the little shed.

"Ran the perimeter twice, she has to be inside the house," Courtney said, looking down at her sister with a slightly annoyed tone. "How much do you want to bet she's in the cellar?" she asked, as Brian and Sam blocked the door again.

"Vodka," she answered, smiling up at her. "I bet you a Costco sized bottle of vodka."

Courtney chuckled and nodded her head. "Alright, but does it have to be from Costco?"

Charlie nodded. "It has a certain taste to it," she answered.

Brian shook his head and stepped in front of Sam. "Look, why are we just standing here? Let's go in. Let's check the house," he said, clearly inpatient.

Sam kept himself calm. "We have to wait for those guys to get back, okay?"

A loud knocking on the door made the family jump.

"Sam, it's me."

"Help me out," Sam ordered as they moved the things from the door.

Dean rushed into the shed, closing the door behind him.

"Did you get Danny?" Susan asked, her voice desperate.

Dean looked to Sam before answered. "No," he said, his voice almost inaudible.

Susan shook her head. "No? Well, where's Ted?"

"He's outside," Dean answered, his voice a little higher.

Confusion crossed her face. "Well, why doesn't he come inside?"

Dean glanced at the ground before looking her in the eye. "Because I had to carry him out," he answered. "I'm sorry."

Susan still refused to understand. "You're…" she trailed off weakly, glancing at her husband before looking back to Dean. "What does that mean? What does that mean, you're sorry?"

"Are you saying that he's dead?" Brian asked, getting Kate to look rather distraught from her spot next to Charlie.

Susan shook her head, still in denial. "No. No, he's not saying that he's dead. You're not saying that, are you?" she asked, her voice rising.

Dean kept his voice even. "We were in the walls, and she attacked. And I couldn't get to him in time," he explained.

Susan broke down at that point and buried herself in Brian's chest as he hugged her tightly.

Kate looked wide eyes at Charlie. "Is this what you meant?" she asked, getting everyone's attention. "About people getting caught in the crossfire?"

Charlie watched the young girl for a moment before nodding.

"I shouldn't have left him alone," Dean said before pulling open the door open. "I'm very sorry," he said before stepping outside.

Charlie let out a sigh and pushed herself to her feet, grimacing when she put weight on her injured leg. She gave a pointed look to both Sam and Courtney before following him out. She knew where his mind was and it was going to do no good for anyone. She found him standing in front of the house, looking rather broodingly at the erringly quiet house. She limped next to him, her arms going around her as she watched the house. "Dean-"

"Charlie, please, just don't," he said, his voice a quiet pleading.

She waited for a moment before speaking softly. "Have you seen that black journal I keep in my duffle bag?"

Dean nodded mutely.

"Out of the 100 pages 43 of them are filled with the pictures and names of the people I couldn't save," she said. "Whenever someone dies on my watch I put their picture, name, when they died and where. It's my way of coping and making sure they'll be remembered but it doesn't change the fact that they're blood is on my hands."

"How do you do it?" Dean asked, his voice a whisper.

A small smile touched her lips. "Courtney has a red journal with a heart on it. Inside the journal are pictures of every person we've saved. She gets a new one every year. There's a whole draw of them back at Bobbie's," she explained before turning towards Dean. "We save more people than we let die and she reminds me of that every chance she gets. Hunters aren't perfect, Dean. You said so yourself."

He twitched at that and turned his head away from her.

Charlie reached up and placed her hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Do you remember what you told me about the Djinn? About how you got your dream life but everybody you had saved was dead? I want you to remember that, how that felt. I'm not going to tell you to not blame yourself because you won't, I just want you to remember all the good you've done."

Dean watched her for a moment before swallowing hard. "The things I did in Hell-"

"Don't define you," she cut off, her other hand coming up to his cheek. "I've told you this before; if you weren't Human you wouldn't feel bad about Ted's death."

Dean shook his head and lowered his eyes to the ground. "How's your leg?" he asked, trying his hardest to change the subject.

Charlie hesitated for a moment before deciding that it wasn't her place to make him talk. She shifted her stance, noticing that she had put almost all her weight onto the now pulsing leg. "I've had worse," she answered, letting her hands drop to his shoulders. "Courtney's going to take care of it when we get back to the motel."

"I still can't believe you did that," he said, a small chuckle in his voice.

"It was either my leg or you intestines. I get a limp and you get to live another day," she joked, smiling lightly.

He chuckled again. "Then I guess I owe you a thank you," he said, raising his head to look at her.

Charlie nodded. "I guess you do," she answered.

He bit his lips as his eyes drifted down to her lips. He thought back to the kiss they had shared about a month ago and couldn't find it in himself to say that he hated it. He also took it as a good sign that Charlie hadn't bit his tongue off. He decided to take the chance again and leaned in.

Charlie knew what he was doing and just like a month ago she found herself allowing it. She leaned in and closed the space between them.

Dean's hands came up to her waist, pulling her a little closer as he leaned into her.

To Charlie's surprise Dean didn't push for an invading kiss and pulled away, his eyes hooded. She took in a deep breath, her eyes opening slowly. "You are very welcome," she said, not being able to keep a smile from her lips.

He put on his trade mark smirk. "Well, if that's how I get to say thank you than I might be more inclined to have manners," he said, his fingers flexing against her hips.

She raised an eyebrow at that. "A Winchester with manners? I never thought I'd see the day."

"Well, you're not exactly the nicest person, Sweetheart," he told her

Charlie let out a gasp as fake shock crossed her face. "I've been more than nice to you," she stated. "Do you want me to go back to threats and insulting words?"

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, no, I like this," he said, gripping her hips tighter. "You just stopped complaining about sleeping with me."

"Don't go there," she told him, giving him a stern look.

"Okay, okay," he agreed, nodding his head quickly.

Charlie watched him for a moment before bringing her hands to the sides of his neck. "Are you going to be okay?"

Dean chuckled humorlessly. "No. I'm not."

She smiled softly. "I'd be more worried if you said yes," she told him before leaning up and kissing his cheek. "You'll feel better once the bitch is dead."

He nodded and let out a sigh.

"Come on, let's go back inside," she said, reached down and grabbing his hands. She stepped back, pulling him back towards the shed.

With another sigh he allowed her to pull him forward and into the shed.


This wasn't one of my favorite episodes but I thought the girls fit in well. Let me know what you think with a review, a favorite, or an alert. Thank you for reading.

See you in the dark,

Alya Kihaku +Shiri Mizuki O.o