one have one sneaky minute to get this chapter posted so BloodForInk, Blondie 20000 and Vrskaandrea...thanks for your reviews. x

CHAPTER 40

"Dean I don't like this." Sam glanced over at the girls who were standing mid way between the Impala and the house.

"I don't either but this is the only way to ensure they don't just sneak in here and get themselves killed." Dean threw the last of the required weapons in the duffle and zipped it. She handed Sam a shotgun and stood, closing the Impalas trunk. "Come on, let's get this over with."

She hefted the bag over her shoulder and marched into the house.

•

The house was old and large. There were signs of restoration from the last family that tried to live there. Dean walked into what she guessed was a living room and dropped her bag in front of an old large fireplace. She scanned the room and found a small pile of wood. After a quickly building a fire, she and Sam dragged two chairs in front of it.

"What do you want us to do?" Marnie asked, both excited and nervous.

"You two." Sam said, pointing at the girls. "Are going to sit in these chairs and not move."

"What? No, we want to help!" Marnie argued.

"You will be helping. You will be keeping this fire going." Dean said as she bodily dragged Megan to one of the chairs and forcing her down into the seat. Sam followed with Marnie.

Once the sisters were seated Sam drew a thick salt ring around them.

"What are you doing?" Marnie asked with interest.

"It's salt. Ghosts can't cross it. You should be safe if you stay in here."

"So tell us about this place. Why is it haunted?" Megan asked.

"The woman that originally lived here died in 'suspicious circumstances'. We think she was murdered and sometimes that causes the spirit to stick to the place where they died." Dean said digging through the duffle.

"The longer a spirit is stuck on earth the angrier and more dangerous it gets. She hasn't been able to cross for over 100 years so now she's gone mad and hurting people. We have to stop that from happening again." Sam finished.

"Poor woman." Megan said. "Are all ghost people who have been murdered?"

"No, some choose to stay but they all end up the same in the end." Dean said. She checked her flashlight and pocketed the EMF metre.

"So besides sitting here and keeping the fire going, what else can we do?" Marnie asked.

"That's it, that's all. We can't do our jobs if we're worried about trying to keep you safe. So stay in this circle and wait for us." Sam said

"What if the ghost appears here when you are gone?" She asked.

"She won't be able to cross the salt but just in case, use this." He said, handing her the fire poker. "It's iron and ghosts hate iron. Just swing and hit."

Marnie took the poker and nodded slowly. Suddenly with Dean and Sam leaving them alone it was beginning to get scary. She and her sister had gone to 'haunted houses' before but actually having someone tell them ghost actually exist and go off to kill them made it all seem a bit too real.

"Keep the fire going. We'll be back in no time." Sam said as he placed a finger under Marnies chin and tilted her face so he could kiss her lips quickly.

Dean looked at her brother.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

Sam stepped from the salt circle and headed to the stairs. Megan reached out and grabbed Deans shirt.

"Dana?"

"Yeah?" She asked looking at Megan.

"Stay safe, okay? Come back to me." She looked at Dean with wide eyes.

Dean didn't know how to feel about that. No one had ever told her to stay safe and come back before, in all her life, with exception of Sam of course.

"'Course I will." Dean leaned down and gave Megan a lingering kiss. "Stay in this circle." She said sternly and then was gone to catch Sam.

•

"So...five times, huh? I'm impressed!" Dean asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Shut up!" Sam had hoped that as Dean hadn't said anything until now it had been forgotten and he would get away without any crap from his older sibling. Not so lucky it seems.

"No, really. That's an effort."

"Well, it's been a while." Sam said shining his flashlight in the first door. "This looks like the kids room."

Dean peered around her brother.

"Yep." She stepped back and moved to the next door, Sam following. "I miss my dick." She said suddenly. "Bathroom."

"What?" Sam asked a bit taken back by Deans announcement.

"This room is the bathroom."

"No, what did you say before?"

"Oh, I miss my dick." She said.

"You didn't have a good time last night?" Sam asked.

"Sure I did, well it wasn't a five times, good time." Sam rolled his eye. "But it was pretty awesome...it's just I know more tricks as a man." Dean shrugged. "It's just different, is all."

"Okay, I get it. Better the devil you know, kinda thing?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey I think this was the master suite." Sam said stepping into a large room at the end of the hall.

Dean followed and they stood in the middle of the room looking around. The room had been stripped of nearly all the furniture so there weren't many hiding places to look for anything that might be tying the ghost to the house. Slowly they made their way around the room looking in every nook and cranny before moving into the walk in robe

"I don't think we are going to find anything." Sam said scanning some shelves.

Dean stood in the middle of the small room thinking. She moved to one of the walls and started looking at all the joins and corners.

"Do you remember that haunting in Louisiana?" She asked. She kicked the skirting board with her toe and noticed it moved slightly. "I think I've got something."

Crouching down she wriggled her fingers behind the timber and pulled. It came away from the wall quite easily revealing a small hollow in the frame work. Carefully Dean reached in and brought out a piece of folded red cloth.

"Sam." She said as she unwrapped the object in her hand. "Does this look familiar to you?"

Sam shone his light at the piece lying on the material.

"That's the pendant the wife was wearing in all the pictures."

Suddenly the air got cold and their lights began to flicker. Dean didn't even need to pull out her EMF metre to know they had disturbed the ghost. She shoved the necklace into Sams hands and grabbed her gun.

"Go! Run!"
She pushed him in the direction of the door and followed just as the ghost materialised in front of them. Dean was quick with the gun and fired off a shot before either of them could be attacked. Sam sprinted for the door then the stairs with Dean not far behind.

•

"This is boring." Megan said as she crouched before the fire and poked at it.

"They've been gone all of ten minutes." Marnie said, lightly shoving her sister with her foot.

"Fuck off!" Megan swatted Marnies foot away and stood. She walked to the edge of the salt ring and looked around.

"This place is gorgeous. I wish I had've done architecture. Dammit! I know I should have studied architecture!"

"What are you doing?" Marnie asked as Megan stepped from the circle. "They told us to stay here."

"It's okay. I just want to look closer, beside I've got the stick." Megan said holding up the fire poker.

Suddenly a smokey form appeared before Megan. Her eyes widened and she took a step back in fright. The figure changed into a corporal form and shoved Megan back. She collided with the wall and slumped to the ground, dropping the iron poker.

"Megan!" Marnie called.
She ran across the room and picked up the poker swinging it through the ghosts lower legs. It disappeared in a swirl of mist.

"Megan?" She shook her sister but got no response.

Looking around she saw the canister of salt and quickly retrieved it, drawing a thin line around her sister. She stood over her, one foot on either side and shouldered the poker like a baseball player ready for the pitch. She heard her sister groan and try to move.

"Stay down Megan. I got you covered."

After years of being protected by Megan, it was Marnies turn to repay the favour. She heard a shotgun blast from upstairs. Turning her head in that direction she saw Sam come running down the stairs. Her view was obstructed when the ghost reappeared in front of her. It's face distorted into a sneer of hate.

"Stay away from her you bitch!" Marnie screamed as she swung the poker, again disintegrating the spectre.

•

Sam raced down the stairs, skidding to a stop just inside the door when her heard Marnie yell. He watched her swing the iron poker through the ghost.

"Wow! That was hot." He mumbled to himself as Dean collided with his back.

"Sure was." She agreed then she looked over to the fireplace. "Fuck the fire!"

Dean raced off to stoke the fire that was slowly dying as the temperature of the room dropped rapidly, skidding through the salt to put more timber on the glowing embers.

"Marnie! Stay there!" Sam shouted when it looked as if she was going to leave the sanctuary of the salt. "Dean!"

He threw the pendant towards Dean but it stopped mid way as the ghost materialised and caught it. Her face broke into an evil grin. Sam raised his shot gun and fired, dispersing the spirit once again. Dean scramble to retrieve the fallen jewellery but was unable to drop it in the fire when the murdered woman appeared and wrapped a hand around Deans throat, seizing her entire body.

"Dean!" Sam called.
The ghost threw her hand out behind her and Sam was thrown against the wall, dropping his gun. He struggled but was unable to break the unseen force holding him in place.

Dean choked and struggled to breathe as the ghost tightened her grip. She could feel her hand heating from the flames burning underneath and smell the flesh beginning to burn.

"They deserve to die. They all deserve to die. I gave him everything!" She hissed as she bent towards Deans face. "I gave him my heart, my soul, my fortune and he throws me away for that moral-less quim!"

Tears streamed down Deans face as she gasped for air. Her vision began to blur around the edges and her lungs burned like fire.

Megan pushed herself up onto one elbow to watch what was happening in the room. The sisters watched in horror as the spirit appeared then appeared again only this time with a hand around Deans throat.

"Marnie we have to help them." Megan said climbing to her knees.

"How?" Marnies voice wavered.

Megan reached out and grabbed the dropped container of salt.

"Here, throw some of this." She said holding it up.

Marnie grabbed the container and ripped the top open. She poured as much in her hand as she could hold and threw it with all her might at the ghost. A small amount landed on the ghost. Not enough to make it disappear but enough to weaken its hold. Deans hand opened enough to allow the pendant to fall into the flames and the ghost burned away in a column of smoke, flame and ash.

Sam dropped to the ground and ran straight to where Dean was on her hands and knees gasping for breath.

"Are okay?" He asked, putting his arms around Deans shoulders, helping her to sit. She coughed a few times and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine Sammy." She said, inspecting her hand.

"Oh my God!" Megan exclaimed as she and Marnie rushed to the hunters sides. "Are you okay? Is it over?"

"Yeah it's over." Sam said. "Hey what happened in here? Why were you over there?"

"It's my fault. I wanted to look at the house a bit better and the ghost threw me into the wall." Megan said rubbing the back of her head. "Marnie saved me."

"I saw that." Sam said, looking at Marnie.

Dean began to struggle to her feet so Sam held out a hand and helped her up.

"We told you to stay in the salt ring." She said, voice rough but clearly pissed.

"I'm sorry I got bored." Megan explained.

"You could have been killed! Next time someone tells you to stay in the salt, you stay in the damn salt!" Dean yelled. She reached out and put her hand on the back of Megan's head, feeling for a lump. "You're damn lucky that lump is all you got away with."

She pulled Megan close and hugged her tightly.

"Are you really okay?" Megan asked.

"Yeah I am. Well, let's clean this shit up and go back to the motel." Dean said holding her burned hand to her chest.

•

They picked up the weapons and swept away the salt before heading out the door. Megan and Dean were already out side when Sam put a hand on Marnies arm. She stopped and looked at him.

"That was really intense in there." She said.

"Yeah, but you were amazing. Did I tell you, when you swung that poker, you looked really hot!"

He pulled her close and kissed her deeply and she could tell just how 'hot' he thought it was.

"Sammy! Move it or lose it!" Dean screamed from the Impala.

They broke their kiss and laughed.
"Come on we'd better go before they drive off and leave us here." Sam chuckled.