Chapter 31

Jessie parked her car in front of Daniel Blake's house, glancing around while she approached the front door. After unlocking the door, she closed it behind her, walking through the hallway and into the livingroom, where his body had been found.

There were no marks on the floor where he'd been found, except a few boot marks left by the police. No blood, no fluids, nothing.

She began looking around at the art hanging on the walls as well as the shelves and the mantle. Being in the art auction business, he'd managed to collect quite a few pieces of art himself. Some of it she could appreciate, but some of it she found downright strange. However, there was one piece she was strangely drawn to, even though she found it kind of hideous looking.

She was about to touch the strange wooden figure when her instincts told her not to. There was something unusual with it, but she wasn't sure what. She felt it would be safer not to touch it. Instead, she took a picture of it with her phone and sent it to Bobby, just in case.

She decided to take out her EMF meter before she continued to look around, making sure to pass it by the wooden figure. It gave off a slight reading, but nothing that suggested it was a cursed object. However, she wasn't going to let it slip her mind, just in case.

She continued to search the house while checking the meter, but found only a trace of ghost activity. She was almost certain that a ghost was responsible, but she'd already researched the background of the house and the area and it seemed clean. Her mind went back to the strange figure.

She was about to examine the figure more closely when her phone went off, it was Dean.

"Hey, you find anything?" he asked.

"I don't know yet. What about you?"

"Uh, well, it's probably a good thing you didn't see the body. What a freak show."

"Can you meet me back at the auction house, Dean? I need to ask Sarah a few questions."

"Yeah, sure," he replied hesitantly.

"Hey. Why didn't Sam call me?"

There was a short pause before he answered.

"I thought it would be best if we put the case ahead of—the personal issues."

"I can be professional, Dean. But thank you," she replied as she disconnected the call. She was relieved she wasn't forced to talk to Sam at that moment.

She did another quick once over of the house before she locked it up and drove back to the auction house.

She didn't see the Impala when she arrived at the auction house, but she wasn't in the mood to wait. She climbed out of her car, walking into the auction house with trepidation. Her impatience winning out over her reluctance to talk to the woman who so obviously shared something with Sam in the past. Reminding herself that it was in the past should have helped, but somehow it didn't.

She found Sarah speaking with a group people, so she hung back until they left before approaching her.

"Hello again, Jessie," Sarah said as she turned towards her.

"I have a few questions for you if that's okay?"

She nodded.

"Did your father buy anything here at the auction recently?"

She paused to think for a moment before responding.

"Yes, actually he did. Why?"

"Would you happen to know what he purchased?"

"Uh, let me go find the receipt for it and I can tell you exactly what it was."

Jessie nodded in response.

Sarah left the room for a few minutes before returning with a couple of papers.

"I hope these will be useful," she said handing them to her.

Jessie began to flip through the receipts looking for the most recent one. It had a black and white image accompanying it, but she couldn't remember seeing this particular piece amongst his belongings. The others were familiar, she remembered seeing those. However, the wooden figure wasn't pictured in any of the receipts.

She gazed up from the papers to ask Sarah a question, to find her staring right at her.

"Is these something you'd like to ask me, Sarah?"

She looked surprised for a moment. "I was just wondering if I should ask you about Sam?"

She was slightly surprised, but not at all shocked.

"What about Sam?" she asked, trying to keep an even tone.

"I know it's not my place, but I was just wondering if—you and Sam were an item?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why would you think that?"

"I saw how we was looking at you when you left earlier."

She raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Yeah, I suppose you could say we are. But I'd like to get back to my job."

"Of course," she replied with disappointment. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

She turned around when she heard footsteps, spying Sam and Dean, before turning back to Sarah.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about the old wooden box that your father purchased a few days back."

"What would you like to know?"

"Do you happen to know where it is?"

She shook her head looking confused. "It should be in his house with the rest of his stuff."

"And what about the wooden figure he has on his mantle? Where did that come from?"

"What wooden figure? What does it look like?"

"It looks like the figure of a man without arms, just the body and head with no defining features. It's made of wood and looks really old."

She seemed to ponder the question for a moment looking confused.

"I can't say I remember him owning anything like that."

"Do you have a better photo of the box than this?" Jessie asked as she shook the papers. "Preferably one with some color."

"No. I don't think so."

"I guess it'll have to do," she replied before turning to the Winchesters. "I'll meet you at my car," she said, immediately leaving the room.

Everyone stood in awkward silence for a few moments after she left.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," Sarah said regretfully. "If I had known that you and Jessie were together..."

"It's okay, Sarah, you didn't know," he replied. "I should have warned her before we got here."

"You didn't tell her? Why would you do that, Sam?"

"I was asking him the same thing," Dean said.

He shot his brother an irritated glance.

"I don't know why I didn't," he replied.

There was another moment of awkward silence before Sarah once again broke the tension.

"I really need to get back to work now. If there's anything else you need just let me know."

The boys nodded, watching her leave.

"Two good women, but not sure what either of them see in you, Sammy."

"Knock it off, Dean."

"No, I don't think I will."

"Fine. You were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

He laughed teasingly. "No, but thank you for confirming what I already know."

Sam rolled his eyes heavily, walking out of the room in a huff, his brother following close behind still chuckling.

When the brothers walked outside they noticed Jessie digging around in the trunk of her car. Curious, they both walked over to stand behind her to watch.

She pulled out a long, rectangular case that looked similar to a laptop, before turning around.

"Where's the nearest motel?" she asked.

"You can follow us," Dean replied reaching into his pocket for his keys.

"Yeah, fine," she said as she placed the object in her hands into the backseat then hopped into the driver's side to wait for Dean.

She followed the Impala to the nearest motel and checked out a room before retrieving her belongings from her car. She carried everything into her room setting it on the table, before plugging her laptop into the wall—the battery was almost dead—and plugged another wire into it from the object she'd pulled from her trunk.

"What is that?" Dean asked as he and his brother walked into the room.

She turned around with a strange look on her face.

"It's a scanner, Dean," she replied, plugging the power cord into the wall and sitting down at the table.

"Should I even ask what you're doing?"

She took the paper that Sarah had given her, placed it on the scanner, opening a program on her computer. Using it, she scanned the image from the paper.

"Well, if you must know, Dean. I'm trying to improve the quality of this image so I can read what's on the box in this picture."

"I don't understand the significance of the box?"

She turned around, slightly irritated, but she had to remember Dean had no idea what she'd found while she was at Daniel Blake's house.

"The box is the last thing that Daniel bought at auction, but I didn't find it at his house. However, I did find a wooden figure that gave off a slight reading on my EMF meter. And, Sarah said she doesn't remember her father owning the wooden figure."

"So you think they're connected?"

She was going to reply with a smartass remark, but she decided not to. She wasn't angry with Dean and he didn't deserve her hostility.

"Yes."

She did what she could to enlarge the image, sharpening it without loosing too much clarity. When she was happy with it, she emailed a copy of it to Bobby, hoping he would know what language it was.

"All we can do now is wait," she said as she stood up from the table.

"Good," Dean said quickly. "I'm starving so I'm gonna go grab something to eat. You want anything?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Just a sandwich, thank you," she replied handing him some money from her pocket.

He hesitated before taking the money, knowing she would protest if he didn't take it.

"Back soon," he said with a nod, leaving as quickly as possible.

Jessie stood gazing at Sam after Dean had left. She didn't know what to say to him but she could tell he wanted to talk. She was trying her best to stay calm and reasonable, despite her anger. She sat on the couch hoping he would follow her.

Sam followed her to the couch but he didn't sit, he couldn't. He felt it would be easier to speak if he wasn't so close to her.

"I'm sorry, Jessie," he began quietly. "I should have told you about Sarah before we got here."

She was quiet for a moment before saying anything.

"You're right, you should have. But the question is, why didn't you, Sam? Why couldn't you come out and be honest with me? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Is that what you were hoping for?"

"No, not at all," he stammered. "It was stupid of me not to say anything, I was just hoping...never mind."

She abruptly stood up from the couch to stand in front of him.

"What were you hoping? That Sarah wouldn't let the cat out of the bag?"

"No, I just—" he stopped to sigh loudly. "I just wanted to have a little more time with you without one more thing getting in the way."

She shook her head with dismay. "That's the thing, Sam. It didn't have to get in the way, if you'd just been honest with me. What? Did you think that I would be jealous or freak out or something?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Jessie. You're so difficult to figure out sometimes, I wasn't sure how you'd react."

She laughed once in disbelief. "So you're going to blame me for not being honest, is that it?"

"No, that's not what I meant," he replied with exasperation. "But it's not like you're always entirely honest with me."

She opened her mouth to respond then closed it abruptly. She wasn't sure how to respond to what he'd said, other than agree with him. She hadn't always been entirely honest with him, but it wasn't exactly the same thing, or even a similar motive.

"You're right, Sam," she replied in a calm voice. "But I also promised to be honest from now on, and I have been.

He stepped closer, grasping her by the arms. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

She knew by the look in his eyes that he was sorry and she believed him. She wasn't even really angry, at least not with him. She was angry with herself. She knew she could be difficult, but as far as she knew she wasn't any different from the person he first met the night he saved her from a werewolf. Then suddenly she realized that was the problem. She hadn't really changed. She wanted things to be the way they always were, yet different. She couldn't have it both ways, not if she wanted things to work between her and Sam.

"I'm sorry, too," she said quietly. "I'm trying, really."

He pulled her into a tight embrace and held her tightly, neither of them speaking. It was several moments before Sam pulled away slightly, gazing into her eyes.

"I know you're trying, and so am I," he said while brushing a stray hair from her face. "If you stop trying, then I'll worry."

"Do you really think I'm gonna let you get away with this so easily?" she asked with a grin.

He smiled, leaned down and kissed her lightly. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Well, if Dean asks, tell him I gave you what for," she replied with a smirk.

As Sam leaned down to kiss her again, Dean burst into the room carrying two bags full of food.

"Oops, did I interrupt?" he said. "That's okay 'cause I don't care."

He placed the bags of food on the table, sat down and began to eat a burger.

Jessie laughed, slapped Sam playfully then sat at the table to eat her sandwich, while she continued to check her email.

She was finished half of her sandwich when she received an email about the case from Bobby.

"Damn," she said suddenly. "This is not good."

"What?" Sam asked.

"The writing on the box is Rigvedic Sanskrit."

"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Dean mumbled with a mouthful of food.

She made a face of annoyance at his bad manners.

"It's a very old version of Sanskrit. So old it's almost impossible to translate."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

She rolled her eyes and turned to Sam.

"He says he thinks he's found someone to translate it, but it might take some time. He suggested that in the meantime, we stay out of Daniel's house and make sure everyone else does as well."

He nodded. "Okay. I better call Sarah and let her know."

She nodded keeping an even face, although she was bothered by how easily he'd volunteered to call her. She didn't want it to bother her, but it did.

She began surfing the internet looking for information while she finished the other half of her sandwich. By accident, she came across an image that looked very similar to the wooden figure on the dead man's mantle.

"No one could find Sarah so I got her cell number and she's not answering it," Sam said with agitation.

"We have worse problems than that, Sam," Jessie replied looking up from her computer screen. "If this thing is what I think it is, we're in big trouble."

"What is it?"

"I'll explain in the car. We better get to Daniel's house," she said jumping up from the table. "You're driving, Dean, let's go."

The three of them jumped into the Impala, heading to Daniel Blake's house as fast as Dean could drive. On the way, Jessie explained what she'd learned about the wooden figure, then called Bobby to let him know he would need to contact her by phone.

"How the hell are we gonna stop this thing?" Dean said as he pulled into Daniel's driveway.

"I don't know, Dean," Jessie replied as she double checked her gun was loaded. "It's a spirit so salt should work, but it's not gonna stop it."

"How the hell do we stop it?"

"We can't. Not until we get that translation," she replied, climbing out of the car quickly.

Dean and Sam followed closely behind her, walking past Sarah's car and up the drive when they heard a scream from inside.

Jessie was the first through the door, her gun held in front of her. She ran into the livingroom in time to see a shadowy spirit standing above Sarah who was lying on the ground. She squeezed off a few rounds into the spirit making it disappear for the moment.

"Did you touch the wooden figure, Sarah?" Jessie asked as she helped her to her feet.

"No."

Jessie turned to the Winchesters. "Let's get outta here."

Both of the boys nodded following behind the ladies, but before they could get to the door it slammed closed, locking them in.

"It doesn't want us to leave," Sam said glancing around.

"This feels like deja vu," Sarah said quietly.

"Yeah."

Jessie rolled her eyes, which Dean noticed, shooting her an understanding look in return.

"So, what's the plan?" Sarah asked fearfully.

The three hunters traded looks of confusion, until Jessie's phone rang.

"Whatcha got, Bobby?" she asked as she switched her phone to speaker.

"The spirit is bound to that wooden figure. It can't stray far from it and it won't stop until it kills anyone who touches it."

"Okay, that's great, Bobby, but how the hell do we get rid of it?"

"You gotta find that box, then read the inscription. Once you do that, you stick the damn figure back in the box and close it tight."

"That's fine and dandy, Bobby, but even if I knew where the box was, how the hell am I gonna read what it says?"

She heard him sigh loudly.

"I'll help you with that, just find that damn box!"

She looked at the boys. "What're you waiting for?"

They shot each other a knowing look, one that didn't escape Jessie.

"I'll look after, Sarah. Go!"

The boys ran off into the house, their guns raised ahead of them, their eyes sweeping the entire room while they searched.

"Sarah. Do you have any idea where your dad might have left that box?"

"I don't know. I checked his safe but it wasn't there."

She was about to ask her another question when the spirit appeared behind Sarah.

She pushed her out of the way, raised her gun quickly, pulling off two rounds in quick succession, both of which hit their target. The ghost disappeared as quickly as it had shown up.

She nudged Sarah forward, directing her upstairs. They frantically searched her father's bedroom first, finding nothing.

"I think I know where it might be," she said, leading Jessie out of her father's bedroom and into another room. "This is my dad's office. Sometimes he locks stuff up in his desk."

Sarah tried to open the desk drawer but it was locked. She began frantically searching the desk for the key, until Jessie told her to step out of the way, shooting the lock.

"Sorry, we don't have time for that," she said as she wrenched the large desk drawer open.

"There it is!" Sarah said as Jessie pulled it out of the drawer.

"Let's get our asses back downstairs," she said directing Sarah to walk ahead of her.

The ladies managed to run downstairs without a reappearance of the spirit. Instead, it appeared in the threshhold between the hallway and the livingroom, where the wooden figure was, obviously trying to stop them. Jessie aimed her gun, but the spirit disappeared before she could take a shot.

Moments later, she noticed Sam and Dean running towards them their guns raised. She only had enough time to grab a hold of Sarah and pull her to the ground, barely avoiding the grasp of the spirit. She heard two gunshots ring out then the angry wail of the spirit as it disappeared once again.

"Damn, that thing is quick," Dean said as he helped Sarah to her feet.

Sam reached out to help Jessie but she'd already managed to stand up. She shot him a thankful smile before shoving her gun into her belt and retrieving her phone from her pocket.

"I'm ready, Bobby," she yelled as she placed the phone up to her ear, walking into the livingroom.

As she approached the wooden figure, the spirit began to reappear and disappear around the room rapidly. The Winchesters directed Sarah to get down on the floor while they continued trying to keep the spirit from Jessie. All that could be heard were gunshots, the wail of the ancient spirit when it was hit and Jessie's recitation of the writing on the box, as told to her over the phone from Bobby.

As she finished reciting the spell on the box, the spirit managed to get close enough to her to touch her for only a moment, before Dean managed to shoot it. The pain that coursed through her body from that single touch was intense, making her lose her grip on the box. It dropped to the ground, rolling away from her.

"Grab it," she said through clenched teeth.

Sam scooped the box off of the ground while Dean covered him, holding the box out for Jessie. As she reached for the wooden figure, the spirit began reappearing and disappearing much more rapidly, making it difficult to shoot at safely. It dashed straight at Jessie and Sam making Dean hesitate before shooting, not wanting to hit either of them. The bullets missed their target, but they did happen to ricochet off the wall and graze both Sam and Jessie.

Regardless of the pain, Jessie managed to grab the wooden figure, reciting the last few words of the spell. Suddenly there was a bright light emitted from the figure and a force that pushed outwards, knocking each of them backwards slightly. It was almost enough to cause her to lose grip on the figure and the box, but she managed to keep a tight grip on both. With one fluid movement, she threw the figure into the box and closed it tightly.

"Is it over?" Sarah asked apprehensively as she stood up.

"Yeah, I think so," Dean replied breathlessly.

Sam moved closer to Jessie placing his arm around her.

"You okay?" he asked quietly while leaning close to her.

She looked up into his eyes nodding her head. "I'm fine."

He looked down, noticing the blood on her leg. "Are you sure?"

She glanced down at her leg, moving it from side to side.

"Yeah, just grazed," she replied glancing at him. "What about you?"

"Same."

"Now that we've established everyone's okay, let's get the hell outta here. I need a drink," Dean said as he tucked his gun into his pants.

"Let me take you all out for dinner and drinks," Sarah offered. "It's the least I can do."

Both Sam and Dean glanced over at Jessie as if they were waiting for her response.

"That would be great, Sarah," she replied with a weak smile. "Just let us go back to our motel and get changed."

"Okay."

After some uncomfortable 'see you laters', The Winchesters and Jessie drove back to their motel room.

A/N: Do you think Jessie is past the lie or not? It seems like she took it pretty well, but will it come to bite them in the ass later?

Thanks for reading!