AUTHOR'S NOTE: fanclaire, tamilyn313, Tumblr-Tidbits, Claire, wandamarie, Stormysea-breaks, Ponygirlrunner25, Lexie Lou, frankannestein (GREAT name, BTW!), Luvreading67, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, MariaKata, sueturpen, guest, BBfanfiction, and NanaTerri, thank you so much for the reviews! Charlie is starting to feel a little better and getting her sass back- there is a spanking in this chapter! Enjoy!

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I reached the bottom of the stairs just as Daddy was letting Pamela into the living room. Grandpa John was coming into the room from the hallway. She had come over to see if she could "look inside" my mind and figure out why I couldn't remember the accident, and see if she could help me remember anything.

"Hey, Pamela, how's things?" Daddy was asking.

"I've been all right." Pamela saw Grandpa John, and her aura got very bright for a moment. "Hey, hot stuff, how's it going?" She went up to him and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. She put one arm around his shoulder and the other around his waist and reached around to squeeze his butt with one hand!

I made a noise in the back of my throat and she broke away from him and looked over at me with a big grin. Daddy looked like he was trying not to smile.

Grandpa John's face went red. He cleared his throat. "We've been working on some research, Bobby said he told you about it. We can talk about it later."

Pamela nodded. "Right, right, after I help this kiddo out. How have you been holdin' up, Little Miss Shining?"

"Little Miss Shining?" I asked.

"There's a book about a psychic kid called "The Shining", one of the characters refers to the power as "shine"." Pamela explained.

"Are you saying that I'm Jack Torrance?" Daddy raised his eyebrow at Pamela.

"Oh, geez, no." Grandpa John said.

"All work and no play makes Dean a dull boy." She said in a funny voice, and they all laughed.

"She's been spending a lot of time in her room, it helps with the headaches." Daddy said.

"Yeah, I get that. Being alone is also good when you're sensitive to things like auras or picking up on emotions, because it can get tiring when it's too 'people-y'." She made a face, and I laughed.

"I like that, too 'people-y'." I thought back to when I was younger and we'd spend time around a lot of people, how tired and grumpy I'd feel when we went home- it was always worse if I had touched someone and 'seen' something about them.

"Well, should we get started?" Pamela asked.

Daddy looked over at me. "Sure, where do you want to do this?"

"Wherever Charlie is the most comfortable." Pamela said. "You want to be in here, or go to your room?"

"Uh-what are you gonna do?" I asked nervously.

"I'll just have you sit quietly and relax. Maybe your room would be better, and we can talk after?"

"Okay."

"Do you want us there, or what?" Daddy asked.

"You can be there, long as you're quiet and don't distract us." Pamela said. "Lead the way, kiddo."

I led her upstairs to my room. My Hello Kitty figurines were spread out on the floor near the dollhouse. I had set up some makeshift houses using my books.

"What have we got going on here?" Pamela asked.

"I built a little town." I told her. "When my mom was getting her treatments, I had to stay in the waiting area. They had a big bookshelf and I used to take the books off and make rooms for my figurines."

"That's great that you were able to find stuff to do." She said.

Daddy came to the door. "Charlie, I thought I told you to clean up your toys."

"But Daddy, it's a town for my figurines, and I don't want to have to rebuild it every time I play!" I protested.

He started to say something, but Pamela said, "Now, Dean, I said you can't distract us, and you're already making her agitated. I need her to be relaxed, so hush your mouth." She walked over and sat down on the end of my bed. "C'mere and sit down in front of me."

I sat down and she turned me so that I was facing away. "I'm going to put my hands on your head, all right? I want you to take a couple of deep breaths and close your eyes. Relax your shoulders."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in and then out. I tried to relax like she said.

"All right." She said again, after a long moment of quiet. I felt her fingertips on the sides of my head, stroking my temples, and then she placed one palm on my forehead and one at the back of my head. I heard her take a slow, deep breath. "Relax, kiddo." She murmured. She moved the position of her hands so that they were above my ears. Then she sighed.

She removed her hands, and said, "You can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyes and turned to look at her.

Daddy was leaning against the door jamb, his arms crossed. He raised his eyebrows.

"As far as I can tell, there's nothing emotional blocking her memories, it's all tied up in the brain injury, and there's nothing I can do about that." Pamela said regretfully. "The only thing for that is rest, as you know. And there's nothing that says she may ever get those memories back."

Daddy nodded. "So, she can't really give any sort of meaningful testimony if there were to be any sort of legal proceedings."

"Right. Children's memories are usually suspect anyway, but if she's got a brain injury with memory loss on top of it, well, that's not going to count in her favor."

"Jim's not gonna be happy about that," Daddy muttered to himself.

"What's that?" Pamela asked.

"The parents of the other little girl who got hurt are trying to bring a lawsuit against the boy who caused the accident, and they want Charlie to be involved. And it looks like she's not going to be able to help out." Daddy explained.

"I mean, I could try and do some digging in Charlie's mind, but I'm telling you, that brain injury is what's causing the symptoms, and that's not something you can magic away with a spell or anything."

"Do you think that that's why I'm seeing auras too?" I asked.

Pamela looked at me. "You're still seeing auras?"

"Yeah. Although if I wear sunglasses, it kinda blocks me from seeing them."

"Huh." She put her hand up and tapped her lip with her fingertips. "I have heard of a couple of similar instances, there was a man in the 1970s who was in a bad car accident, he had a head injury and came out of it seeing auras around animals as well as people. And there've been other people who have had things happen that awakened psychic abilities. My Granny was friends with a woman who'd had rheumatic fever when she was a kid, and she developed the ability to see illnesses in people. She helped me out when my powers were showing up."

"Do you think it's part of my powers, or is it just from me hitting my head?"

She ran her hand through her hair. "Time will tell, kiddo. You should keep track of what you're seeing, and try to notice if things are changing."

"Is there a way to stop seeing the auras?"

She chuckled. "Now that's a new one, usually people want to have that ability! I haven't really heard of that, there are ways to block the input of people's emotions and whatnot-didn't Missouri teach you a little of that?"

"Yeah, but...I haven't practiced in a while." I felt a little embarrassed to be admitting it to her.

She patted my arm. "We gotta get you back into that." She turned to look over at Daddy. "You want to share what you guys have been working on?"

Daddy straightened up. "Sure."

"You stay up here for a little bit while I talk to your Dad and Grandpa." Pamela said. She chuckled and shook her head. "Still can't believe he's a grandfather, mm-mm-mm." She murmured as she stood up.

They left the room, and I sat on the floor to play with my figurines.

I got bored after a while and went downstairs. I heard voices in the kitchen. Daddy was saying, "-so damn thorough with his research, I've always hated it, and they hold me to the same standard as Sam. Honestly, I think I'd rather let him do the research and I'll just take care of Charlie. You want another beer, or something stronger?"

"Beer's fine." Pamela replied. "I gotta tell ya, Dean-" she whistled. "Channeling, psychometry, retrocognition, astral projection, and now seeing auras- this kid's a powerhouse. I've never heard of a kid this young with so many abilities. And when someone has a psychic ability it only gets stronger as they get older. If she can do all this now, what's she gonna be like in 10 years?"

"I hadn't thought about that." Daddy said. "I figured if we got someone to teach her how to manage things, that would be all she needed." I heard the sound of bottles being opened.

She scoffed. "Yeah, Missouri said you'd had trouble dealing with it."

"What does that mean?" Daddy sounded offended.

"She said you wanted Charlie to have a normal life and were having trouble with the idea that she's always going to have one foot in the supernatural world."

"Yeah, well, I grew up a hunter. Having a kid with abilities is a bit of a mind bender when you've been trained to see people like that as- as not to be trusted." He exhaled heavily. "I've gotten used to it, I think, and I've always been supportive of her. She's my kid, I just want to protect her and make sure she has a good life."

"She can have a good life as a psychic."

Now Daddy scoffed. "I don't know about that."

"Well, she ain't gonna be a normal kid no matter how much you try and ignore her powers. Yeah, you do." She said in response to Daddy starting to say "I don't ignore-"

"You don't want her to risk her life hunting, I get that. But she can live with her psychic abilities and maybe make something out of them. You just gotta make sure you're getting her the help and guidance that she needs."

"That's why you're here."

"Touché, Winchester." I heard a clink.

Just then I realized that if Daddy came out and saw me, I'd be in trouble, and I didn't want to get into any sort of trouble in front of Pamela! I hurried back up to my room and sat down on my bed, trying to calm my heartbeat. After I had calmed down, I decided to put all my books back on the shelves and clean up.

I was arranging my figurines when there was a knock on the door jamb. Pamela came into the room. "I'm getting ready to head out, wanted to come say goodbye." She came over to me and leaned down. "I know you came downstairs and were listening in." She said in a quiet voice. "Your Dad get on your case about it in the past?"

I looked up at her nervously. "Um, yeah. Are you-are you gonna tell him?"

She straightened up. "No, but you know it's not a good thing to be doing, right? You can hear things you're not meant to hear, and that can be just as bad as sneaking around in someone's head or spying."

I looked down, feeling ashamed. "I know." Then I looked up at her. "Pamela, did you mean what you said about me being a-a powerhouse?"

"Yeah, I did. You've got a lot of different abilities, and that's a rare thing in a kid."

"I just-I never heard of anyone talking like it's-like it's a good thing." I squirmed with embarrassment, remembering how bad I'd feel when I had blurted out what I'd seen and my mom had yelled at me.

"C'mere, Lil' Shine." She put her hand on my arm and led me over to the bed, where we sat down. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and looked me in the eyes. "You've been told all your life that your powers are a bad thing, something to hide, something to be ashamed of. Well, I'm here to tell you that you don't need to be embarrassed by them, and they're not a bad thing. Now, you don't want to go around announcing it to the world, because some people won't understand and they'll call you crazy or whatever, so you gotta use your best judgement. But you need to stop feeling bad about it, all right? Having psychic powers doesn't mean that something's wrong with you. There's a reason Missouri calls it a gift, right? And you need to embrace that. Let go of that old shame and be proud of what you can do. I mean, you've already helped people before, right? Think of what you'll be able to do in the future."

"But-Daddy said he wants me to have a normal life and not hunt ever and go to college and all."

"I didn't say anything about hunting." She sat up and shook her head. "Hunters are so single-minded, there's more to life than taking out supernatural creatures. You can work with your abilities and utilize them while you're still having a "normal life", a lot of people do that- they hold down a regular job and then do readings on the weekends or whatever. There's a lot of options for the future. I just don't want you to continue to feel bad. Your powers are part of what makes you, you, and I want you to be proud of that. Understand?"

My eyes filled with tears. I realized that I had never felt proud of my powers, only ashamed. And the only other time anyone had said anything positive was when I was with Missouri.

"Oh, c'mere, I didn't mean to make you cry." She hugged me. I put my arms around her and leaned into her chest. She held me for a moment and then patted my back and let me go. "We can work on helping you feel better, all right?"

"Yeah." I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "Thanks."

"If you need to talk, you can call me, okay?"

"Okay."

She stood up. "Let me know if there's any major changes in seeing auras, too."

"Okay, I will."

She smiled at me. "I'll see ya around, Lil' Miss Shining." As she walked down the stairs I heard her call, "John, you ready to go, so I can whoop your tail at the pool table?"

Daddy came up to my room. "How are you feeling? How's your head?"

"It doesn't really hurt. I just-I feel frustrated that I can't remember the accident!"

"I know. Your memories may come back, but you can't try and force them or anything. It's about time for you to take a bath and get ready for bed."

"Okay, Daddy."

He tilted his head, looking at me, a little smile playing across his face. "You know, I'm proud of you, for how you deal with everything. You-you have a good head on your shoulders and you- take everything in stride. And those are good qualities to have."

I felt warm inside. "Thanks." I ran over to him and threw my arms around him, and he hugged me back.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

The next couple of days were busy- a couple of homeless people had been found dead in the area. Uncle Sam came over every day and Daddy and Grandpa John spent a lot of time reading through old books and looking at printed documents. Sheriff Jody came over one night and Daddy shooed me to my room while she was there. The next day Daddy told me that we were going over to Uncle Bobby's to meet up with some hunters who had come into town. We stopped at the grocery store on the way there to buy a container of pasta salad and some bags of chips and stuff. I had my backpack with touchpad, drawing stuff, and some toys to play with while the men were talking.

Uncle Bobby's salvage yard was as full of broken down cars as it ever was. There was a giant red and white truck parked out front.

When we went in the kitchen, there were two men standing at the table.

"Well, lemme do some introductions," Uncle Bobby said. "Virgil Hackett and Phil Thompson, this is John Winchester and his son Dean, and Deans' daughter, Charlie."

The men stepped forward, their hands extended. "So this is the great John Winchester, heard a lot about you, man." Mr. Thompson said as they shook.

Mr. Hackett laughed as he shook hands. "John, it's been what, close to a decade since I seent you, and look at ya with ya kid all grown up with his own kid now! You're a grandfather, did ya ever think to see that?" He cackled.

Grandpa John got a little smile on his face. "No, I didn't, but I'm grateful that I'm here for it."

Mr. Hackett nodded. "I hear ya." He turned his attention to me. "Well, Dean, looky here, you got yourself a spittin' image! She's got your eyes and all."

Daddy put his hand on my shoulder. "She's my girl, all right."

"You learnin' how to hunt, missy? You made your first sawed-off yet?" Mr. Hackett asked me. "Geez, John, you'll be three generations of Winchesters hunting together, how 'bout that?" He chuckled. "Winchester, Winchester, and Winchester!"

I wasn't sure how to answer that. What would they think about Daddy not wanting me to hunt? Were all hunter's kids supposed to become hunters? "Uh-"

Daddy squeezed my shoulder. "No, Charlie's not going to hunt, she's going to have a normal life."

Mr Hackett looked over at Mr. Thompson and then at all the other adults, and they broke out in laughter. "Oh, son, that's rich." Mr. Hackett slapped his thigh. "Don't you know by now that there ain't no such thing as normal? She's a hunter's kid, she ain't gonna have a normal life no matter how you slice it. And you want her to know enough to defend herself from anything that she comes up against."

Daddy rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. "Well, we'll get to that eventually."

I looked up at Daddy with surprise. Did he really mean that? Usually he was so against me learning anything about hunting! Why hadn't he said anything about teaching me to defend myself before?

Uncle Bobby stepped forward. "Lemme take those bags, the grill should be ready and I can start cooking." He set the food on the counter next to other containers that were already open. Then he got a couple of packages out of the fridge.

"Need any help with the grill?" Mr. Hackett asked.

"No, but I've got a cooler of beer outside next to it that needs drinking." Uncle Bobby replied.

Mr. Hackett laughed. "Well I can do that! Lead the way, Singer."

The hunters followed Uncle Bobby outside. Daddy looked at Grandpa John. "That Hackett guy sure likes to laugh it up."

"He's easier to deal with than the ones who are serious all the time." Grandpa John said. "I guess we should go join them."

"Do you want to go into the library until the food is ready?" Daddy asked me.

"Daddy, I don't wanna be alone in here!" I whined. I wanted to be where the hunters were and listen to them talking. Maybe I could figure out a way to help them with this hunt. Maybe they could talk Daddy into letting me help out with hunts in the future.

He sighed. "All right, come on."

We went outside to join the others. The grill was set up in the big open space in front of the garage, and there were some folding chairs nearby and a large cooler.

"I grabbed some soda for the rugrat." Uncle Bobby told Daddy.

Daddy got a can of Coke out for me and a beer for himself, handing me the can.

"Thanks, Uncle Bobby." I said. Daddy led me over to the chairs and I sat down in one. He stood close by with a bottle of beer.

Mr. Hackett chuckled. "Uncle Bobby, ain't that sweet."

Mr. Thompson came over to Grandpa John. "I'd love to hear about the time that you two interrogated that group of demons, pick your brain about your techniques." He took a swig of beer. "'Cause it seems like no matter what I try, they're stubborn bastards, and I need to know what kind of pain they respond to the best-"

"Uh, Phil, that ain't something we should talk about here, ya know, little pitchers and big ears and all that-" Uncle Bobby interrupted him, tipping his head at me. I tried to hide the shock I felt- did that mean that Daddy and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam hurt demons sometimes? Did they do those kinds of things?

Mr. Thompson looked over at me and then slapped his forehead. "Geez, what'm I thinking? Sorry 'bout that." He took another swig of beer. "We can talk later."

"Either of you heard from Caleb lately?" Mr. Hackett asked. "What's he been up to?"

Uncle Bobby flipped the burgers on the grill, causing flames and smoke to rise up. "Last I heard he put down roots in the Pacific Northwest, he's been doing a lot of investigating of indigenous lore of that area."

"Interesting." Mr. Hackett said. "That could be hard if ya don't know the right people."

"Well, he was always able to charm everyone into giving him information, so I don't think he'd have a problem." Uncle Bobby said.

Mr. Hackett snapped his fingers. "Speakin' of charm, don't you got another son, Winchester? He 'us always real good at gettin' people to talk to him, what was his name, Shawn-?"

"Sam." Grandpa John said. "He's doing well."

I wanted to giggle at the idea of Uncle Sam's name being Shawn. I glanced over at Daddy and he had a funny little half-frown on his face.

"Right, right." Mr. Hackett nodded. "He still huntin' too?"

"We've kindof-taken a hiatus from hunting for a while, because of-well, Charlie came into our lives a few months ago and we've been trying to keep things on an even keel for her." Grandpa John said. "Things got a little-wild-for a while." He caught my eye and smiled at me.

Mr. Hackett raised his eyebrow. "That business with the changeling?"

"Yeah." Grandpa John's voice was cool, and his aura darkened a little.

I felt surprised again. How did Mr. Hackett know about that? Did Grandpa John or Daddy tell people about it? Did hunters just talk about all the hunts they did? Mommy had told me that people loved to gossip about others, was it that kind of thing? I had thought we weren't supposed to talk about hunting with anyone, ever! I was full of so many questions!

Uncle Bobby turned to us, holding a large platter full of cooked hotdogs and hamburgers. "All right, first batch is done, let's go inside and eat! Virgil, can you grab a few beers?"

We went back to the kitchen and the men stood to the side and gestured at me. "Ladies first."

I looked around at them awkwardly. Daddy took a paper plate. "I'll help you get some food." He said. "What would you like?"

I felt embarrassed that I was getting my food before everyone else. "Um, a hamburger with ketchup and mustard and lettuce please. And some potato salad and chips and salsa. Please."

He filled my plate and handed it to me. "Go sit down at the table."

The other men got their food and stood around the kitchen holding their plates. Daddy sat next to me at the table.

"This is a great burger." Mr. Thompson said after a few minutes.

"Thanks, I get the meat from a local butcher, he's a friend of mine ever since I- helped him out with something." Uncle Bobby said.

"Funny how we get all these contacts doin' jobs." Mr. Hackett said. "I got a couple people like that, one 'a mine always has a good supply of holy artifacts and whatnot."

Mr. Thompson stepped over to the counter and grabbed another handful of chips, then turned around. "Did ya all hear about that case recently where there was that traveling preacher, people who went to see him kept dyin' and they figured out he was a witch, he had a psychic with him who would target people who were terminally ill and get their money?" He shook his head. "God, I hate witches and psychics, they all should just-burn."

His words were like a punch to my stomach. Did he mean all psychics? Should Missouri burn? And Pamela? Even-even me?

I saw Grandpa John glance around. "Psychics aren't all bad-"

"Naw, you can't trust 'em, just like witches- nobody knows where their powers come from or if they're even telling the truth, most of 'em are just grifters-" Mr. Thompson's voice was bitter.

Uncle Bobby quickly turned and grabbed something out of a cabinet. "Look what I got for an after-dinner drink." He held up a bottle.

Mr. Thompson looked interested. "Cragganmore? What's that?"

"It's a whisky from Scotland." Uncle Bobby explained.

Mr. Thompson took the bottle and examined the label. "Well, it's whiskey, don't care where it's from. Sounds good, Singer!" He handed back the bottle.

My stomach felt all twisted up in knots now. I set my burger down and looked at Daddy. "Can I be done?" I asked quietly.

Daddy looked at me, frowning a little. He leaned close to me. "Is your head bothering you?"

I shook my head. "No."

His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. I let my eyes wander over to the other hunters, and Daddy seemed to understand. He sat up and said, "Yeah, you can be done."

Uncle Bobby walked over to the fridge and took down a white cardboard box. "You got room for dessert, kid? Stopped at a bakery in town and got some cupcakes." He came over to the table and set the box down, flipping the lid open.

"Can I have a chocolate one in a little bit?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's fine." Daddy said. I took a chocolate cupcake out of the box and set it on a napkin nearby.

Everyone else was finishing eating, throwing away their plates and wiping their hands. Uncle Bobby poured out drinks for everyone and they went into the library.

Daddy threw our plates away and then came back to the table. "You can set up in here." He told me. "Unless you'd be more comfortable in the bedroom?"

I didn't like the idea of being so far away from Daddy with those other men here. "No, I'll be okay here."

He pulled out my touchpad. "We're gonna be talking hunting stuff, and they've got some new information on what we've been working on, so I don't want you interrupting anything unless you're not feeling well, all right? You can get more food if you want or another cupcake, without asking."

"Okay, Daddy." I looked up at him and put my hand on his arm. "That one man was so-he really hates witches and psychics." I still felt his hatred, it felt like it was hanging in the air around me and making my skin prickly. "How come he hates them so much?"

Daddy put his hand on my head, smoothing my hair back from my face. "Some hunters feel that way about all supernatural creatures."

"But- I'm not a supernatural creature, I'm a girl who's psychic. Would they hate me?"

"No, they-" he stopped and sighed. "I don't know, kiddo. But we're not going to tell them anything about that, all right? I'd rather keep your abilities under wraps for now. Understand?"

"Yeah." His reply didn't really make me feel better.

He leaned down to drop a kiss on top of my head. "Enjoy your movie. I'll be in to check on you later."

"Wait, Daddy-" I had so many things I wanted to say, so many questions. "How did they know about the changeling, I thought we weren't supposed to talk about it? Do they know about Castiel? Did you really mean it when you said you were gonna teach me how to defend myself someday? How come you never told me that? What do you do when you question demons, why do you have to hurt them? If you're going to teach me how to defend myself, then why can't I-" The words tumbled out of me before I could help myself.

Daddy held his hands up, palms out. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, kiddo, slow down!"

"But Daddy-what if I can help?"

His face got hard. "We are not gonna talk about that. All the other stuff, we'll talk about later."

"Do you really mean that?" I asked. He had that same look on his face that my mom used to get when she was promising me something "later" and it really meant she was trying to put it off so that I'd forget about it.

"Yes, I do. Look, I've got to get in there." He patted my shoulder and left the room.

I still didn't feel very satisfied. My tummy was still tight and I was so curious about everything. And I felt uncomfortable about how the hunters had lumped me in with witches. Would they think I needed to be killed if they met me somewhere else and didn't know I was related to Daddy?

I turned on the touchpad and then found the movie app. Uncle Sam had downloaded The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the first Harry Potter movies for me. I watched most of the Harry Potter movie, eating the cupcake and getting myself some potato chips. Eventually I needed to use the restroom, so I paused the movie and got up. Once I was done, I crept down the hall toward the library. The door was only mostly closed, so I could hear the men's voices clearly. One of the hunters was saying, "-possibly related to a wraith or a ghoul. There's some overlap with both a' those, as well as differences, there ain't a feeding spike like wraiths have-"

I was curious- what was a feeding spike? I had heard the word ghoul before, once a lady at Mommy's work had asked for jewelry at a dead relative's funeral and Mommy said she was a ghoul, did that mean that Mommy's co-worker was a supernatural monster?

Suddenly the door was opened all the way and Daddy stood there. He looked at me for a moment, sizing me up, and then his face turned angry. He took my arm and pulled me down the hall into the kitchen.

"There is no reason for you to be in the hall outside the door other than you were eavesdropping!" He hissed, giving my arm a little shake. "What did I tell you was going to happen the next time I caught you?" He closed my touchpad and loaded it into my bag, shoving it at me.

"But Daddyyyy-" I whined.

He turned and looked over his shoulder. "I don't have time to deal with you right now, I need to get back in there. You are to go up to the bedroom and stay there, and I mean it. I grew up in this house, so I know every creaky floorboard, and I'll be able to hear if you're trying to sneak around. And when we get home, you're getting a spanking." He turned me towards the stairs and swatted my bottom. "Go."

I covered my butt with my hands and hurried up the stairs, tears burning my eyes.

The bedroom I had stayed in had a couple of cardboard boxes piled in the corner. There were clean sheets on the bed and the bed was made, with a knitted afghan folded across the foot. The books that I had read in the past were stacked on the shelf on the wall opposite the bed. It made me think of when I had spent time here before, and how different things were then. Then I remembered trying to do the spell, and how much trouble I'd gotten in, and the terrible spanking I'd gotten from Daddy. He had seemed really mad downstairs- I knew he was going to give me a spanking, but I hoped it wasn't a big one.

I took out the touchpad, but I wasn't in the mood to watch anything anymore. I walked over to the stack of boxes- one of them had a label that said "Property of Augustana University Anthropology Dept." Another one had the words "Myths and Folklore" scrawled on the side. They were all taped shut, and too heavy for me to move. I took one of the Hardy Boys books off of the shelf and sat on the bed to read it.

A while later, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and I sat up and looked at the door.

Daddy appeared in the doorway. "It's time for us to get you home, c'mon."

"Okay." I shouldered my bag and followed him downstairs.

The men were in the kitchen, standing around eating.

Uncle Bobby handed Daddy a tupperware container. "Here's a couple of cupcakes for you, and I'll send any leftovers home with John." Daddy shook hands with the other men.

I looked over at Grandpa John. "You're not coming?"

"I'm gonna stay here and keep talking." He told me. I went over and hugged him. "How are you gonna get home?"

He hugged me back, chuckling. "One of these guys can give me a ride. Good night, darlin'." He dropped a kiss on top of my head.

"Good night, Grandpa John." He patted my back and let me go.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, kid." Mr. Hackett said.

"Um, you too." I said, although I didn't feel very friendly toward either of them, knowing how they felt about psychics.

"Bye, Uncle Bobby, thanks for the cupcakes!" I said. Daddy took my hand as he said his goodbyes, and we walked out to the car.

I was quiet as I buckled my seatbelt.

Daddy turned the car around and then began to drive down the driveway. He caught my eyes in the rear view mirror. "When we got home, put your pajamas on and brush your teeth, and then wait for me in your room."

I gave him puppy dog eyes, hoping to change his mind about spanking me. "But Daddy, I was good the whole rest of the night!" I whined.

He shook his head. "I've had to talk to you about eavesdropping more than once, and I'm tired of it."

"Not fair!" I kicked the back of the seat.

"Hey! Do I need to pull over and give you a preview of what's gonna happen? Do not kick my seat!"

I crossed my arms and pouted, turning to look out the window.

When we pulled into the driveway, I left the car door open and began to walk over to the house.

"Charlie!" Daddy called. "You gonna get your bag and close the door?"

"You do it." I grumbled.

"Get back here." His voice was like stone.

I stomped over and yanked my backpack out of the car, then slammed the door.

"Watch it!" He snapped. "Boy, you are pushing it, little girl!"

He unlocked the front door, and as I walked in front of him, he smacked my butt. "No more attitude." He told me. "Go get ready for bed."

I tossed my backpack on the sofa and dragged my feet as I walked up the stairs. I found some fleece pajamas at the back of my drawer and changed into them. They were thicker than my regular ones, maybe they'd protect my butt a little from the spanking? I took my time in the bathroom and startled when he knocked on the door.

"You've been in there long enough, stop stalling."

I opened the door and looked up at him. "Daddyyyy-"

"Uh-uh. Let's go." He motioned to my room with his head.

He sat down on the end of my bed and pointed at the floor next to him. I walked over and stood there, putting my hands behind my back.

"Well, there's not much to say. You know eavesdropping is wrong, and you've been told not to do it more than once, and yet you did. So now you deal with the consequences of that. C'mere." He took my arm and pulled me forward, guiding me over his thighs. My upper body was laying on the bed and my legs dangled off.

"Why are you wearing these thick winter pjs, you haven't worn them in a while. Oh-" it dawned on him. "Well, you let me know how well it protects your butt." He put one hand on my lower back, and then his other hand swatted me.

"Oww, Daddy!" I whined as the first few spanks landed. I kicked my feet and squirmed, trying to get away from his falling palm. I still felt dissatisfied, an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, annoyance that he wouldn't talk to me about anything or let me help-

"That's enough of that!" Daddy moved his leg over mine, preventing me from kicking.

"It's not fair!" I burst out.

"Let me tell you what's not fair. What's not fair is that I've told you more than once that you're not going to be involved in any hunts, yet you still keep insisting on trying to be." He swatted me hard, right in the middle of my bottom. "What's not fair is that I've told you not to eavesdrop, and yet I still catch you doing it." His hand fell, once on each side, and I whimpered. "What's not fair is that I have a kid who thinks that the rules I make don't apply to her, and she can keep doing what she wants." Another couple of spanks landed on the lowest part of my rear end. "And it's going to stop, RIGHT. NOW." The last two words were punctuated with hard smacks, and then he started spanking again, his hand falling all over my bottom. I couldn't squirm anymore and started to cry as the pain became too much. "Owww I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I wailed, burying my head in the blanket.

He spanked me a few more times. "No more eavesdropping, little girl, or it'll be the paddle if there's a next time. You got me?"

"Y-yes, Daddy." I sobbed.

"All right, it's done." He rubbed my back as I cried, and then when I had calmed a little, he lifted me up to sit in his lap. He put his arms around me as I snuggled into his chest. We sat there for a while and I enjoyed how safe and cared for I felt in his arms.

Finally, he shifted me a little, and said, "You need to remember to follow the rules, Charlie, all the time. Not just when you feel like it."

"I will." I sniffled. I looked up at him. "Are we really gonna talk about all the stuff that the hunters were talking about?"

He looked wary. "Uh...yeah, we can talk tomorrow."

I put my arms around him. "Thanks, Daddy."

He gave me a squeeze. "You may not like all my answers, but I'll try to answer your questions, all right?" He patted my back. "Let's get you into bed now."

I climbed off of his lap and he pulled my covers down. I scooted under my blankets and laid on my side. He pulled the covers up and tucked me in, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "Good night, kiddo, I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."