AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, here we are at the 100th chapter! 451,185 words so far, not counting this chapter- it's amazing! Thanks to everyone who has given me ideas in the past and helped me out- it helps my writing when I can bounce ideas off of someone else. I'm thrilled that there are so many who are still with me on Charlie's journey, and I hope to keep writing about her for as long as I can! Since this is the 100th chapter I decided to do something special and write it from Dean's point of view- I hope I got his voice down well enough!

Thanks to edge_of_clairvoyance and alexofthegarden for beta-ing.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I never in my life would have thought I'd be a dad of a little girl, coming home from my 9 to 5 job, to find my little brother in the kitchen with a whisk in his hand attempting to make gravy from scratch and my father sitting at the table with a mug of coffee and a newspaper.

"Turn the heat down a little, and keep stirring," Dad advised.

"I'm following the instructions of a food blogger," Sam said peevishly.

"What's that awesome smell?" I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer. "And where's Charlie?"

"That's the pot roast, it needs time to rest. She's playing outside, I said she could go over to the park." Sam stirred the concoction in the pot.

"'Time to rest'?" I asked with a smirk.

"That's what The Homestyle Chef recommended!" Sam said defensively.

"The Homestyle Chef? Sammy, you're turning into a house husband!" I grinned, and Dad smirked as well.

"I'm just trying to learn how to cook better, so shut it, jerk."

"Yeah, make me, bitch," I flicked the bottle top at him and took a drink of my beer.

It was a couple of weeks after Charlie's birthday, and we had relaxed the restrictions on her playing with the Williams girls. We still weren't allowing her to go to their house, but she could play with them outside. From what she had told us, their behavior had improved slightly, and she was mostly staying away from the older one.

After Charlie's birthday party she'd gotten closer to some of the other kids in the neighborhood, and I had decided to allow her to go to the little park that was a couple blocks away, as long as she was with a group.

Since turning 9, Charlie had started acting a little more mature and taking more responsibility for her actions. I had taken her training wheels off of her bike last week and she was now riding it just fine, which had given her a big boost in confidence. I was really proud of her and satisfied with the way things had been going.

There was a knock on the front door and I felt surprise and then a rush of adrenaline when I answered it. A woman in a brown uniform stood there- she had short dark hair, and her badge said, "Sioux Falls Law Enforcement". Her name plate said "Sheriff Jody Mills."

Standing next to her was my daughter, with Aubrey and Addison. Shit, this was not how I wanted to end my day, talking to police about my kid. What the hell-?

"Are you Dean Winchester, sir?" The sheriff asked formally.

"Yes, I am, what's-?"

"Sheriff Jody Mills," she offered her hand, and I shook it. "This your daughter?"

I nodded, opening the door wide to let them in. The sheriff ushered the girls in first and followed them.

"Charlie, what's going on?" I asked, giving her a stern look. She and Addison both looked scared. I noticed that they were both a little dirty, and Charlie had drying mud across the front of her jacket.

"I received a call about a noise disturbance, and discovered some kids were trespassing on private property." Sheriff Mills told me.

"It's not private property if no one lives there anymore!" Aubrey said in a snotty tone. That kid rubs me the wrong way, no two ways about it. I know her parents had started using spanking with the girls, but in my opinion Aubrey's attitude would be greatly helped with an application of a paddle or even a dose of the belt.

Sheriff Mills gave a dry chuckle. "Uh, that's where you're wrong, kiddo. It's still private property, and didn't you see the 'No Trespassing' signs on the perimeter? It's dangerous for people to be wandering around the property with the house in that condition."

"Which house? What condition?" I asked, confused.

My dad and brother appeared in the doorway, and Dad came over with his hand extended. "Sheriff," he nodded and smiled like they were old pals.

"How ya doin', John?" She asked as they shook hands.

I looked back and forth between them. "You know her?"

Dad seemed a little embarrassed. "She's a friend of Bobby's."

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day when John Winchester was friends with law enforcement," I joked. From the look on his face I could tell he was thinking about the same thing I was- the times that I'd run afoul of the cops when I was younger. Got collared for trying to hotwire a car, trying to buy beer with a fake ID, and playing pool underage at a bar- they just seemed to think I was trouble from looking at me. By the time I was well into my teens I knew to walk the other way when I saw a cop, and my ass had become well acquainted with John Winchester's belt because of my run-ins.

I shook myself out of my reverie as Sheriff Mills explained, "There's a house a couple blocks over that burnt down several months ago, and nothing's been done with it. Some issues with the insurance, so it's just a burnt-out husk sitting there. In the meantime we have to field the occasional call about kids who decide to go hang out there or look around the property. As you can imagine, it's plenty dangerous."

I gave Charlie another stern look. "What were you doing there, little girl?" I deepened my voice just enough that she'd know I was just this side of being angry with her.

Charlie and Addison both dropped their eyes like they felt guilty about something. So whatever they were doing there, they knew it was wrong. Good; it was always harder to deal with Charlie when she felt like she hadn't done anything to get into the trouble she was in.

"We, uh-" Addison took the hem of her jacket in her hands and twisted it. She glanced at Charlie and then at her sister, who glared at her and shook her head the tiniest bit.

Sheriff Mills folded her arms across her chest. "Someone want to start talking here?"

And then suddenly Charlie was swaying and her face was ashen. Worried, I stepped up to her as she stumbled forward, and Addison burst into tears. "We didn't mean for anything to happen, honest! We didn't know, that she'd- she'd-"

I picked my daughter up and carried her over to the sofa, setting her down gently. "Charlie, you okay?" I made my voice calm. And then I slapped myself upside the head mentally- her face had that slack look that she usually got when she had seen something.

I had discovered in the course of my hunting career that when people are being ridden by a demon or a spirit, their facial muscles relax. The being that's wearing the human doesn't know all the micro-expressions and muscular movements that a person does, and that's one reason that talking to a possessed person can be so creepy, because they can look like they're wearing an expressionless mask. The same thing happened with Charlie when she'd had one of her visions or whatever you want to call it, especially if it was real strong or she'd channeled like she had at Missouri's place.

Charlie's eyes had become unfocused, and I knew that she was in the grips of whatever she'd seen before.

She looked up at me, eyes filled with tears, and reached for me. Her hand gripped mine tightly as she spoke, "The f-fire-it was right there, it was so hot, it h-hurt, and sh-she didn't kn-know-" She dissolved into tears, and brought her other hand up to wipe her face.

I saw that her sleeve was torn from wrist to elbow and there was blood on the edge of the tear. I took her wrist and turned her arm towards me. "What is this? What happened?" My concern and fear at seeing her blood made my voice louder than I intended.

She flinched at my loud voice and blinked rapidly, then started crying harder.

"She fell, she grabbed the door knob but it was like she got- stuck and couldn't let go so I tried to pull her away an' she, an' she fell and scraped her arm- there was all kindsa nails stickin' outta the walls!" Addison wailed.

I turned to look at her and her sister. "Wait, why was Charlie holding a doorknob? You're telling me she went into this house?"

I saw the tiniest bit of a smirk cross over Aubrey's face, and I wanted to smack her right then and there.

"She started saying all this weird stuff, she's-" Aubrey held her hand up next to her ear and moved her finger in a circle.

I let go of Charlie and stood up, turning around all the way, and stalked over to Aubrey. "You, sit down and shut your da- your mouth." I snapped my fingers and pointed at the armchair.

She gaped up at me, her mouth hanging open, and I loomed over her. "Move!" I boomed, and she sat.

I looked over. "Sam, call their parents and get 'em over here."

"Thank you, that's one thing I was going to ask. That one refused to talk or answer any questions, and she told the younger one not to say anything either." Sheriff Mills motioned to Aubrey with her head.

Dad was kneeling next to Charlie now, taking off her jacket. I had to bite back a gasp when I saw her forearm with an uneven gash that was over an inch long. The blood had run down the side of her wrist and dried there.

Dad was examining the edges of the cut. "This is from a nail?" He asked, looking at Charlie and then over at Addison.

"Y-yeah," Addison sniffled, nodding.

Dad stood up, his face serious. "I'd like to get her to the hospital for this, do you know when her last tetanus booster was?"

I raked my hand through my hair. "Geez, I have no idea, I know I've got her vaccination records somewhere, probably with all the paperwork from, before, you know?" I didn't want to mention Charlie's mother and risk getting her even more upset.

Charlie looked up at Dad. "Wh-what? No, I don't w-wanna go to the h-hospital! Don't make me go!" She implored, clutching at his leg.

I squatted down in front of her. "Baby, that's the best thing for it, to have you seen by a doctor."

She sniffled. "C-can't Uncle Sam jus' p-put a big b-bandage on it an' it'll be oh-okay?"

Dad chuckled. "Well, he could, but I want you to be seen by professionals, darlin'. Let's try to get this cleaned up right now, come with me." He held his hand out to her, and she stood up and took it.

Then she stopped, staring at her arm. She started to cry again. "My bracelet!" She wailed, "Muh-my ch-charm bra—bracelet that I got for m-my b-birthday, it's guh-gone!" She let go of Dad's hand and turned to her jacket, shaking it and pulling the sleeves inside out. She looked up at me, her eyes full of hurt. "It's missing!" She sobbed.

I leaned down to her. "We'll look for it, okay, honey? You tell us exactly where you went and we'll re-trace your steps and find it."

Sheriff Mills said, "Well, I can't advise that it's a good idea for you to go looking around the house, but if you give me a description of it, I can go look for it."

I looked at Charlie. "See, Sheriff Mills will help too, and I'll bet one of us will be able to find it."

She nodded and sniffled, and Dad took her hand again. "Come on, little one." He led her back to his room, where he kept a first aid kit.

Sam came back into the room holding his phone. "Jim just walked in from work, he and Darlene are on their way here."

"Those are the parents?" Sheriff Mills asked.

I stood up again. "Yeah, The Williamses, they live down the street." I looked at Addison. "I thought you all were supposed to be playing at the park."

Addison colored slightly and darted another glance at her sister. "W-we were."

I folded my arms and focused on her. "Uh-huh, and-?"

Addison began to fiddle with the hem of her jacket again, and glance around. Something was off with this kid, there was something she wasn't saying.

"We, uh, we decided to go...for a walk. And we just...ended up there."

"Oh, really?" I laced my voice with sarcasm, and Addison looked up at me. When she saw me watching her, she blushed a deeper shade of red and squirmed. Damn, no wonder she and my kid got along so well, her reactions were practically a carbon copy of Charlie's, when Charlie wasn't telling the truth.

Sheriff Mills stepped closer to Addison. "Kid, you need to start talkin', I don't have all day, here."

"Um-" Addison gulped audibly.

The doorbell rang, and I walked over to let Jim and Darlene in. I shook Jim's hand and introduced them to the Sheriff.

"What is going on?" Jim looked back and forth between his girls.

"The Stillson house, you know it?" Sheriff Mills asked, and Jim and Darlene nodded. "Well, I responded to a call about noise, and kids possibly hangin' out there, and when I arrived at the scene, there was a group of 'em, most of 'em scattered, and the only ones left were your girls and his girl," Sheriff Mills nodded at me. "This one was helping the other one up off the ground by the back door of the dwelling," she motioned to Addison with her head, "and when I tried to talk to them and question them, this one told them to keep quiet." She pointed at Aubrey, who sat up straight and tried to look innocent.

"That's something I'm not understanding," Sam said, looking at the girls, "You see, Charlie had a...bad experience in an abandoned house a while ago, so I really don't think that she'd go into another one on her own. So...I'd like to know what really happened." He caught Addison's eye and raised his eyebrows.

"Wait, Sheriff, you said that there was a group of kids—did you happen to see any of the others, who ran off?" Darlene asked.

"Well, it looked like a mix of boys and girls, but- there did seem to be more boys, and they looked to be mostly teens, closer to her age." She gestured to Aubrey.

Darlene rounded on her daughter. "Dammit, Aubrey, were you with the Maddox kids again?" She was practically yelling.

Aubrey looked defiant. "I—I can't help it if- well, they just showed up, y'know, what was I s'posed to do, tell them that we had to go home? Like Addi and her little friend would've listened to me." She gave Addison a look of pure disdain.

Darlene folded her arms. "You most certainly can help it, young lady. We've told you more than once that you are not to be hanging out with that crew! And you continue to defy us!"

Aubrey glared.

"The Maddox kids. Well, I can't give you any details, but let's just say... some of my co-workers are...well-acquainted with a couple of them." Sheriff Mills put her hand on her hip.

"Right, the whole lot of them is bad news, and Aubrey here has taken it upon herself to try and befriend some of them. There's a group that like to dare each other to do dangerous things, and we told her that she wasn't to spend any more time with them. I had thought that we'd made it clear." Jim folded his arms too, and gave Aubrey a 'stern dad' look.

"But Dad, like I said, they just showed up outta nowhere! And there were other kids there, ya know?" Aubrey appealed to him.

"Stop it!" Addison shouted, her face crimson. Tears began to pour down her face, and she clenched her hands and stomped her foot. "Stop lying!" She glared at Aubrey, who looked taken aback.

We were all a little shocked at her outburst, and I glanced at Sam to see he looked just as surprised as I felt.

"Addi, what-" Darlene started.

"Mommy, I'm tired of it! She—she's always lyin', you think she's bein' good but she's not! And I can't-" she sobbed aloud.

"What is she lying about, sweetie?" Jim asked gently.

Addison swiped her sleeve across her face. "She- she was planning-"

"Addi! Don't—you—say-it!" Aubrey snapped, sitting up straight and glaring daggers at her sister.

"Aubrey! Shut it! Not another word outta you!" Jim snapped at her.

"No, I heard you! I heard all'a you!" Addison shrieked at Aubrey. She looked up at her parents. "They were talkin' about findin' a- a place that was haunted, an' I heard Timmy say that maybe there was a ghost in the burned house, since that old lady died in there! An' then, then Aubrey said-" Addison's eyes filled with tears again, "she said she wanted to play a trick on someone, and she wanted the boys to put them in the house an' run away! That it would be a funny joke! But I—I didn't know that she meant Charlie! I didn't know that they were gonna shove her in there!" Addison dissolved into loud sobs, and Darlene picked her up and hugged her.

"Thank you for telling us the truth." She stroked Addison's hair back from her face. "Did you get hurt?"

Addison shook her head. "Uh-uh. It was scary goin' in the house an' trying to get Charlie, an' I didn't understand why she was actin' all funny-"

"How was she acting?" Jim asked.

Addison looked at me. "She was cryin' an' talking about the hot fire, and she said she was dizzy. She had ahold of the doorknob an' she couldn't let go, I hadda help her let go of the doorknob an' she fell against the doorframe an' that's when she got scratched! An' then the police car came drivin' up and all the boys were yelling and ran away! I got more scared, I thought we were gonna be arrested!"

I looked over at Sam, and knew that he was thinking the same thing that I was: Charlie had seen something about the fire that had happened in that house, and possibly the woman that died there. Damn, that was not going to be a pleasant conversation to have with her.

Darlene glared at Aubrey. "Is this true, young lady?"

"They-I didn't-it's not my fault that Charlie got hurt, Addi's just saying all that to get me in more trouble!" Aubrey snapped.

"I am not!" Addison flared, "You told those boys to grab Charlie, I heard you, an' you didn't do nothin' when they pulled her into the house!"

I turned to Aubrey, the anger that had been building boiling over. "You told some older boys to grab my daughter and take her into an abandoned, burned building, and shut her in a room? As a- a freaking joke? Do you know how unsafe that is, for one thing, and how downright cruel that is, for another?!"

"And she got injured," Sam reminded everyone, "We're going to take Charlie to the hospital as soon as we're done here and have her arm looked at. She may need stitches, and she definitely needs a tetanus booster."

"Oh, we're done here," Jim said tightly, stalking over to Aubrey. He pulled her up to a standing position. "I've had it with you, young lady. You and I are going to have a long talk when we get home."

I had heard the same phrases coming out of my own father's mouth when I was a kid, and I was pretty sure I knew what kind of 'talk' Jim meant.

"Daaad-" Aubrey whined, her face getting red.

"Not another word. Let's go." Jim pulled her towards the door.

"Dean, I'm so sorry about this," Darlene said.

"Well, I may need to talk to you some more, if he decides he wants to press assault charges on the kids that pulled Charlie into the building," Sheriff Mills said.

Jim shook Aubrey. "Did you hear that? Assault charges! And you could be part of that!" He yelled.

Darlene gave the sheriff her phone number and address, and they left.

I scrubbed my hand over my face. "Jesus, Sam, I really was not expecting all that drama."

He shook his head. "I know...that kid's a piece of work. I feel sorry for the younger one."

I walked over to the hallway and called, "Hey, Dad, the Williams' are gone, you wanna get going?"

Dad came walking down the hall, carrying Charlie in his arms. He held a file folder in one hand. "Got her vaccination paperwork out of the safe, so we can go." His face was grim.

Charlie looked pale and worn out, but her eyes were red and swollen like she'd been crying hard. She was leaning her head on Dad's shoulder.

Sheriff Mills glanced at me and then looked at Charlie. "Well, kiddo, the other girls told us what really-"

Charlie interrupted her and burst into tears. "M'sorry! M' I in trouble?" She wailed.

She leaned off of Dad's hip and reached for me, and I took her and set her on my hip. She curled into my chest and clung to my shoulder.

"No, you're not." Sheriff Mills's voice was kind. "You weren't at fault, you're not in any kind of trouble with the police, okay? But I am gonna need to hear about everything, from your perspective."

"She's got finger marks on one of her arms, I'd like to know what the hell happened," Dad rumbled, "I couldn't get much out of her." He had that determined, serious look on his face that he got right before he started an interrogation.

"Is it all right if we take her to the hospital now, and then we can have her talk to you later?" Sam asked the sheriff, and she nodded.

"I can call the ER and let them know you're on your way, that way they'll take you back quicker. Then I'll stop by in a couple of hours, how's that sound?"

"Sounds good, thank you," Dad reached out to shake her hand. She handed me one of her cards, and we gave her our cell phone numbers.

The four of us piled into the Impala, me sitting in the back with Charlie. She held my hand tightly and leaned against me. I moved my arm up and she tucked herself into my side, and I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Daddy, m'scared," she said quietly.

I stroked her hair back from her forehead. There was some dirt stuck in the ends of her hair. "I know, babygirl. It'll be okay, we'll all be with you." I tried to comfort her, but I knew she was going to stay nervous. No kid likes the hospital, and Charlie had more than enough reason to hate going there, what with her experiences with her mother and then the aftermath of the changeling.

TO BE CONTINUED...