A/N: Warning, some dark subject matter at the end and mentions of suicide.

Dean screamed as he was pulled down the long upstairs hallway, his feet sliding along the floor uselessly. A door to his right opened and he was roughly steered into it, falling to the floor as he was released with a grunt. "Oof!" Dazed, he looked up at the door immediately where the little ghost girl was looking at him. He backed up along the floor in terror, and his back connected with something. Things scattered all over the floor.

He turned around to see that he had bumped into a small table in the middle of the room with two chairs. On the table had been a chess board, and chess pieces had gone scattering all over the floor. "I... what?"

The ghost girl giggled. "You're so cute," she said, shaking her head. Her eyes flashed blue like Vera's and the pieces floated up from the floor and back onto the board in their rightful place. She then entered the room, the door closing behind her. "Play with me," she repeated, floating past Dean and taking her seat at the table.

Dean stood up, and then turned, making a beeline for the door. The ghost girl rolled her eyes and watched in amusement as Dean tried to pull the door open to no avail. She waited patiently until he gave up, trying to catch his breath as he slowly turned around to face her.

"I'm Samantha," the girl chirped. "What's your name?"

"D-Dean," he spoke through heavy breaths. "Wh-what is this?"

"Chess," she said simply. "I'm bored and want someone to play with me."

Dean raised an eyebrow, finally starting to calm down. He scanned the girl's appearance as his heartbeat started to settle. She was wearing a black tank top with a band he didn't recognize on it, and a black knee length skirt with a purple-and-black checkered belt. She had definitely not been dead for as long as Vera or her sisters had. She had probably died in the early 2010s or late 2000s.

"So... do you often kidnap people to play board games with you?"

"People don't come here," Samantha whispered, absentmindedly playing with a queen piece. "I can't leave this house and it's been abandoned. And when someone does come, they just run away from me. Like you were just trying to do. So I kidnapped you." She smiled innocently. "It was the only way."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "You know, if you hadn't dragged me through the house, I wouldn't have tried to run. I literally live with five ghosts right now, and three of them are a lot scarier than you are, to be bluntly honest."

"Well... I didn't know that."

"You didn't exactly stop and ask first."

"Okay, okay, I might have overdone it." The ghost girl shrugged guiltily, hugging her knees up to her chest and looking away from Dean. "I was just scared I'd end up alone again. It's been a year since I've seen anyone. I didn't want to miss this chance to talk to someone. I'm sorry."

The door clicked behind Dean and slowly swung open.

"There, you're free to go," Samantha whimpered, resting her chin on her knees and looking at the corner of the room.

Dean watched her for a moment and let out a deep sigh, shaking his head and gently closing the door. Samantha looked up, her face breaking into a fragile smile as he walked over to the table and took a seat in front of her. "It's okay. I've been learning a lot lately about ghosts and what happens to them when they get tied to this world, especially if they have to do it alone. It's not a pleasant thing. For the last few years, I always felt kind of isolated from other people, but I honestly can't even imagine that kind of loneliness."

"It's not fun," she said softly.

He looked around the room for a moment. "So the barrier is down and everything?"

"Yup. I'm not keeping you here anymore if you don't want to stay."

"Well, Lena's not rushing in, so I'm guessing she's gone off to find Vera. Probably be back soon enough."

"So... you'll stay for a bit?" She asked hopefully.

Dean smiled at her and moved a pawn two squares forward. "Let's see how good you are."

Lena rushed towards the manor as fast as she could possibly fly. She phased through the walls and then immediately darted downwards towards the lab, yelling Vera's name. Sure enough, Vera and her father were still in the lab, looking up at her as she neared them.

"Lena, what is it?!" Vera asked.

"Dean's in trouble!"

"What?!"

"These assholes from his school were bullying him and they dragged him into this house to lock him in. I was going to mess them up and then free Dean, but I couldn't get into the house. It was like some invisible wall was stopping me. But something else attacked those boys and scared them off. Last thing I saw was some little ghost girl appear behind Dean right before the doors shut and I heard Dean scream inside!" Lena paused for a second to gather her racing thoughts. "So... I think we can-"

There was a deep rumbling as Vera's eyes flashed blue. A sudden wind picked up out of nowhere, and the pool of sea water started to churn in waves.

Lena gasped as an invisible force pushed her back and Vera was immediately in her face, grabbing the front of her blouse and shaking her violently. "You let those boys attack him?!"

"Vera!" William said in protest, but she didn't listen.

"V-Vera! H-he told me not to do anything," Lena protested, struggling against her younger sister's grip. "We don't need people finding out about us..."

"That's never stopped you before!" Vera roared, her voice echoing with force. "How many times have you gone out there to torture people?!"

"That's different!" Lena cried, tears running down her cheeks at seeing her little sister with so much rage and pain in her face. "Vera, please! Those people never knew where we were from! And we weren't trying to protect someone from unwanted attention! If I did something, it would draw attention to Dean! I just needed to wait and then I was going to get them back and save him. I didn't know there was a goddamned ghost in that house!"

"Let her go right now, Vera!" William yelled.

Vera seemed to snap out of it, releasing Lena immediately as she sobbed softly. Vera clenched her fists in frustration. "Damn it!" she cursed, slapping herself in the face. "I'm so stupid! I shouldn't have left him alone. I should have gone with him..."

"He would have wanted the same thing, Vera," William consoled her. "Dean is smart. He knows what happens if people who have it out for him get an inkling of the truth. They'll tell everybody, and that could lead to more problems."

Vera shook her head and let out a frustrated groan. She glared at Lena. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

Lena spoke carefully, as if afraid to rile her up again. Vera's guilt started to rise up in her chest. She'd never seen Lena look so timid and afraid. And it was because of her. "I... I was thinking if the two of us went, we might just have a chance of breaking through that psychic barrier. When I tried to push through, I could feel it weaken a little, but I just couldn't do it alone. Together, we just might be able to. You're much stronger than me or Bertha or Stella..."

"I'm stronger here at home," Vera said, shaking her head. "Because of my connection to this place. I'm not gonna be as strong in that other house." There was a moment of silence and Vera's eyes narrowed in determination. "But I'm going anyway. And I'm going to kick that ghost bitch's ass until she lets Dean go."

Another moment of silence. "Um... sorry, daddy."

William smirked. "Actually, I concur. Nobody hurts my daughter's boyfriend."

"Dad!"

"Checkmate!" Samantha declared as Dean groaned, putting his face into the chessboard. "Three times in a row! You're not letting me win, are you?"

"No, you're pretty much owning me," Dean said with a laugh. He was actually having fun. "It's been a while since I played chess. Forgot how fun it could be."

"It's one of the few things I remember enjoying," Samantha said. "There's so little I can remember about my life."

"Well, you were an emo girl, we know that much," Dean pointed out, motioning to her clothing with a grin.

She giggled. "Sure, but that doesn't help very much. If I try really hard, I can kind of remember the music I liked, but it's so faint. It's like I'm hearing it across a big field."

"What about this place? Was this your house?"

"No," she said quickly. "That's one thing I definitely know. This wasn't my house. But... I don't know why I'm stuck here. I don't know why this place is so important to me."

"You know, you'd probably have more of an enlightening conversation with another ghost. Well, maybe when Lena gets back with the others. Unless she's just up and abandoned me."

"I'm gonna have some explaining to do, huh?" Samantha said, looking at the floor.

Dean grinned. "Don't worry about it, Sam. I'll vouch for you, okay?"

She looked up with a grin. "Okay, first of all, never stop calling me Sam. I love that. Second, thank you." She blew a kiss at him in gratitude, giggling as he looked away, his cheeks turning a bit pink. "To be honest, I'm still not sure what I did to keep this friend of yours out."

"Really?" Dean looked confused. "Well, she couldn't get in. It was like something was stopping her."

Samantha was in thought for a moment. "Hmm... well, when I helped you out and freed you and you were planning to leave, my powers just kind of... erupted. In that moment, I just pictured a wall or something around the house to keep you here and keep anyone else out. In that moment, I wasn't really focused on anything else. I didn't even notice this other ghost girl. I mean, you're the first person to actually see me. That was all I was focused on."

Dean nodded, thinking of what they'd learned of Vera's powers. He figured that Samantha had been here long enough that she'd started developing powers central to this house like Vera did. The rest of Samantha's words registered with him and he stopped his train of thought. "Wait, did you say I'm the first person to see you?!"

She nodded. "All I've ever been able to do is move things around to try and get people's attention whenever someone would actually come here. That's why they ran from me. But for some reason, I just... appeared when I saw you. Or, well... when I saw those boys hurting you. I suddenly just got so angry. I needed to make them pay and before I knew it... I could do anything I wanted to them. Before today, I probably would just be able to rattle some doors or maybe throw a cup at them if I was having a really good day."

"You broke out of the limbo," Dean realized.

"The what?"

"It's like this..." Dean explained the concepts he'd learned from William, as well as how William had broken out of his own limbo. "that's just how it works for ghosts who get left behind in this world," he finished. "They're trapped in this limbo until some powerful emotional connection allows them to break out."

Samantha was staring at him in complete awe. "So that's how it works. But then what was the strong connection? We don't know each other, do we?"

"Nah, I'm a newcomer to this town. We've never met before. No... I'm betting it was the bullying."

"The bullying?"

"Think back to your past as hard as you can," Dean instructed. "Close your eyes and try to visualize it, maybe there was something having to do with bullying that you're not remembering."

Samantha closed her eyes. "Bullying..." she whispered. "Bullying... I think... I think I'm..."

The door suddenly flung open, making Dean jump a mile. Samantha's eyes opened as Lena, Vera and William flew into the room!

Vera's eyes flashed and Samantha was sent flying backwards with a cry. It wasn't a strong blast, but it distracted her.

"Let's go!" William yelled. "Quickly!"

"V-Vera, wait! Ahh!" Dean yelped as he was lifted up into the air by Vera, now being carried into her arms as she flew out of the doorway. "Vera, hold-agh!" Dean's head was accidentally bonked on the doorway, cutting him off and knocking him silly as Vera continued to "rescue" him. "Wai... she... ahh..." he babbled in a daze.

The front doors slammed shut before they could make their escape. "Damn it," Lena swore, trying to force them open with her own powers as William helped her, but they were no match for Samantha's in this space.

"Wait!" Samantha cried out from the top of the staircase. "Let me explain!"

Vera was about to retort angrily when Dean spoke up. "Listen to her, guys..." She and Lena looked at him in confusion. "Vera... please put me down..."

"Oh, sorry," Vera said, quickly setting Dean on his feet as he rubbed his head.

"Ow... look, Samantha here isn't a bad ghost. She just... jumped the gun a little. We've been talking." He looked up the stairs. "Sam, come on down. Explain it to them, please. My head's spinning."

She giggled, flying down and guiding him to a nearby sofa. "There you go." She turned around to face the two sisters. "So... where to start, huh?"

Katherine practically skipped to her car after her shift at work was over. She couldn't wait to see Dustin. As she sat in the car, Bertha spoke up while invisible.

"Ready for your date, doc?"

"I'm nervous as hell, but also really excited to see him. That's a good sign, right?"

"Very good. So, where to first?"

"Um... well, I was gonna go get ready at home, and..."

"Oh, no you don't. First date in years? You're not wearing any of that crap you got at home!"

"Hey!"

Bertha chuckled. "We gotta get you a nice new outfit."

"It's really not necessary, dear. I don't think Dustin will- haa!" Katherine jolted as she felt a cold sensation, and then her arms were moving on their own. "Hey! B-Bertha!" Within seconds, she was driving without control of her own hands. "I don't consent to this!"

"You'll thank me later," Bertha's voice came from Katherine's mouth with a giggle.

"Berthaaaa!"

Meanwhile, Dustin was facing his own ordeal back at the apartment. He'd gotten a text message from Katherine letting him know when and where they would meet. As he arrived home to get ready, he had found Stella waiting for him.

"Where did you even get these clothes?" He asked as he walked out of his room, wearing a new set of very nice clothes he had been told to model, or else have an apartment full of terrible breath.

"That's a secret," Stella said with a giggle. "Egh... nah! Try the other one!" She winked and blew a strong gust of wind at him, sending him stumbling back into the room with a yelp.

She laughed as she heard him grumbling in the room, changing into a new pair of clothes.

"You stole them, didn't you?" He called out to her.

"Hey, I paid for them, thank you very much! We just scared a lot of people out of the store first."

"And where did you get that money?"

Stella chuckled, flipping one of Katherine's credit cards in her hands. "None of your business."

He came out again, and she gasped, floating around him to inspect as Dustin sighed, feeling uncomfortable. "Okay, this suits you perfectly! You'll really knock out the doc with this look!"

"I don't want to come off like I'm trying to be too fancy," he protested.

"Something tells me you won't have to worry about that..." She smirked.

As Samantha finished her story, Vera felt the guilt rising again as she stared at the floor. She'd been so ready to hurt this girl who had already been dealt a bad enough hand by the cruelty of the afterlife. The same hand she had been dealt.

"So yeah, I totally get why you guys assumed the worst," the young ghost girl said with a nervous smile. "That's okay. I deserved it. Hopefully we can move on from this."

"Dean's fine, so I'm fine," Vera said with a nod to Samantha. Dean stared at Vera for a moment, his expression unreadable.

"Well," Lena said, floating over to shake Samantha's hand. "Nice to meet you, little one. I gotta say, you have a lot of potential."

"Potential?"

"Don't recruit her, Lena," Vera muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Whaaat?" Lena asked with a smirk. "I don't see the issue. She's in need of a good mentor."

"Okay, why don't you come over here?" Dean said, taking Samantha's hand and pulling her over to the sofa away from Lena as she giggled.

"Maybe we should head home, Lena," William said suddenly.

Lena's smile faded. "Why?" she asked, a bit of coldness in her voice.

"I'm sure Dean and Vera have some things to talk about," he said pleasantly. "As do we."

"No, we don't."

"Lena Abigail Eckland," William said warningly. "I'm not gonna say it again."

Lena looked defiant for a moment, but wilted under her father's gaze. "Fine, whatever. See you guys at home."

"Lena!" Dean called. She turned around and he smiled. "Thanks. Everything turned out to be okay, but... thanks for bringing the cavalry to save me anyway."

She smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, well... what can I say? You're a charmer, Robison." She floated out of the house, followed by William.

A moment of silence passed and Dean looked at Vera. "Abigail?"

She giggled. "I didn't even know that was her middle name. I didn't know she had a middle name. Or... maybe I did, and I just forgot."

As their shared laughs died down, leading to an awkward silence, Samantha looked between the two of them and then cleared her throat. "Okay, well, you guys have whatever talk you're supposed to have, and I'll be up in the room for whenever you're done."

"Thanks, Sam," Dean called to her as she casually waved at him, making her way upstairs. He turned back to Vera. "So..."

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry," they said together. "No, I am. No, I..." They stopped, realizing what they were doing, and burst into giggles.

"Me first," Dean said, holding up a hand. "I was wrong, Vera. I said a lot of stupid crap that I didn't mean and I'm so sorry for that. I don't blame you for anything, especially not for anything involving my dad. I just... I had my dad on the mind all day after talking to my mom about him, and I guess it just came out. But honestly, none of that really matters to me. I got so mad because... I really, really don't want to lose you. And it took me a good wakeup call to realize it."

"Really?"

"Yeah... you were my first real close friend in years. You changed everything for me, Vera. You changed my life. And I guess I always took it for granted that nothing could hurt you and you'd always be there for me. And I realize now that I was just thinking about myself. I know that now. It's not my choice. It's yours. But at the time, hearing about the risk and that I could possibly lose my best friend and how everyone was just okay with it... I just got protective. Really stupidly overprotective. And I just wanted to convince you not to go through with it."

"You're such a boy," Vera teased.

His face broke into a smile. "Yeah, I know. Please forgive me for that."

"Hmm... I don't know..." Vera said teasingly, crossing her arms.

"Vera..."

She giggled, throwing her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. "I forgive you for saying all the other stuff. But you don't need to ask forgiveness for being protective. That just means you care about me, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. You were my first real friend too, Dean. I didn't even try to understand your viewpoint. I just got angry that you weren't supporting me like everyone else. I didn't even consider how lonely you had been before we met."

"Yeah, but what I went through is nothing compared to what you did."

"Let's not compare," Vera said, gently brushing some hair out of Dean's eyes. "We both had it rough. I was alone, but I was able to focus on myself that whole time and avoiding my sisters who weren't being very helpful. You had to deal with losing your father and old friends back home, and Katherine, bless her heart, wasn't doing the best job at recognizing what you needed."

"Yeah... that's a tough truth I've needed to recognize for a while now," Dean said softly. "But I don't hold it against her. I didn't speak much about it and just went along for the ride. Mom was just... dealing with things her own way, too."

"She understands things better now. That's what matters. And so do I." The light in her eyes faded a little. "My dad found two more of those potions from long ago. We'll be able to use the machine twice. He's chosen to take the first test. And if it doesn't work, then I don't go through."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I tried to change his mind, but he wouldn't have it. So, yeah... I've had to come to terms with your position a lot more personally since our talk. I understand it better now." She held him close. "I hope it helps knowing that I'm not leaving you no matter what now. Whichever way the test goes, I'll still be here for you."

"I'm happy about that, at least. But, your dad..."

"I know."

"I'll be there for you, Vera. No matter how it goes."

"Thank you, Dean."

Dean nodded. "So... we're good?"

"We were always gonna be," Vera said happily.

They hugged again. When they separated, Dean nodded to the staircase, and Vera nodded. They made their way up and towards Samantha's room.

Katherine sighed as she exited her car at the restaurant at nearly 7:30 PM. "I wish you'd have let me see Dean first."

"Don't worry about him, we're all keeping an eye on him," Bertha said with a smirk. "Focus on yourself for tonight, and your new man!"

Katherine blushed as she walked towards the front entrance of the place she had chosen, and quickly saw him waiting for her. Dustin turned to see her as well, his eyes widening at the sight of her.

She was wearing a beautiful black V-neck evening dress of a silky material that ended slight above her knees, while she walked in dark red heels. She'd also been given a very extensive makeover courtesy of Bertha, despite her protests, giving her a glowing look.

For Dustin's part, he was wearing a long-sleeve, white button-up dress shirt underneath a black blazer, and they were tucked into light gray dress pants, complete with a black belt and black polished shoes. His hair was neatly combed back and his face was cleanly shaven. Stella had taken it upon herself to wash his face, help him shave, and fix his hair. Whenever he protested, he got a face full of bad breath, resulting in needing to get splashed with soap and water again.

She's absolutely gorgeous... Dustin thought to himself, his eyes traveling down. Her legs are incredible...

Oof, those pants bring out his butt so well! Katherine thought to herself, trying not to fan herself. What a gorgeous man.

They walked up to each other, shyly smiling at each other.

"You look amazing," Dustin told her.

"So do you," she replied. "Shall we?"

He smiled and nodded, taking her arm as they made their way into the restaurant. Bertha and Stella, still invisible, gave each other high fives and cheered for them.

Meanwhile, up in the air and also invisible, Desmond Kress watched...

As they walked in, Dean greeted the ghost girl, but she didn't respond. She was turned away from them, looking at something in her hands.

"Sam?"

She turned around slowly. She had some kind of crumpled up note in her hands. "I was thinking really hard up here about what we were talking about, Dean. About my past. And... I found something." Her hands were shaking violently and the paper fell to the floor. She made no attempt to pick it up. Tears rolled down her cheeks, splashing on the floor beside the note.

Dean picked it up and took a look at it. A bunch of messy messages were scribbled all over the paper. It looked like it had been ripped out of a student notebook for taking notes in class. He read the messages with Vera reading over his shoulder. Dean's eyes widened in shock and then in anger as Vera covered her mouth with one hand.

No one wants you here

Just kill yourself

Go away

Stupid slut

We all hate you

Go cut yourself

Emo bitch

Annoying whore

Kill yourself

just kill yourself