A/N Italic: music
Normal
Bold: Singing
Bold Italic: Letters
Outside of the Winchester House – Night
Lawrence, Kansas
22 years ago
2 Nov 1983
Crickets chirp. A large deciduous tree with no leaves stands outside one of several suburban homes.
Inside the Nursery – Night
A woman, Mary Winchester, wearing a white nightgown, carries a small child, her son Dean, into a dark room.
"Come on, let's say good night to your brother." Mary says.
Mary turns on the lights: it's the nursery of a baby, Sam, who is lying in his crib and looking over at Mary and Dean. Mary sets Dean down. Dean leans over the side of the crib and kisses Sam on the forehead.
"'Night, Sam." Dean says.
Mary leans over Sam as well.
"Good night, love." Mary tells Sam.
Mary brushes Sam's hair back and kisses his forehead.
"Hey, Dean." Dean hears the male voice from behind him.
Dean turns. The man in the doorway wearing a USMC T-shirt is John. Dean rushes over to him.
"Daddy!" Dean says, excited.
"Hey, buddy." John says and John scoops Dean up. "So, what do you think? You think Sammy's ready to toss around a football yet?" John asks.
Dean shakes his head, laughing.
"No, Daddy." Dean says.
John laughs. "No." John says.
Mary passes John and Dean on the way out of the room.
"You got him?" Mary asks.
"I got him." John says.
John hugs Dean closer.
"Sweet dreams, Sam." John tells Sam.
John carries Dean out of the room, flipping off the lights. Sam watches them go, gurgling, then tries to reach his toes.
The baseball-themed mobile above Sam's crib begins to spin on its own while Sam watches. The transportation-themed clock on the wall ticks, ticks, stops. The moon-shaped nightlight flickers.
Lights flicker on a baby monitor sitting on a nightstand next to a photo of Mary and John. Strange noises come through the monitor. Mary, asleep in bed, stirs. She turns on the light on the nightstand.
"John?" Mary calls out.
Mary turns: she's alone. She gets up.
Mary walks down the hall to Sam's nursery. John, seen only in silhouette, stands over Sam's crib.
"John? Is he hungry?" Mary asks.
John turns his head.
"Shhh." the male responds
"All right." Mary says.
Mary heads back down the hallway. The light by the stairs is flickering. Mary frowns and goes to tap at it till the light steadies.
"Hm." Mary says.
More flickering light is coming from downstairs: Mary investigates. A war movie is on TV and John has fallen asleep watching it. If John is here, Mary realizes, then the man upstairs cannot be John and must be a danger. She runs back upstairs.
"Sammy! Sammy!" Mary calls out.
Mary enters Sam's nursery and stops short.
Upstairs, Mary screams. John wakes up. "Mary?" John calls out.
John scrambles out of the chair. "Mary!" John yells. John runs upstairs.
John bursts through the closed door of the nursery. "Mary." John calls out.
The room is quiet and appears empty except for Sam awake in his crib and John. John glances around and pushes down the side of Sam's crib.
"Hey, Sammy. You, okay?" John asks Sam.
Something dark drips next to Sam. John touches it. Two more drops land on the back of John's hand. It looks like blood. John looks up. Mary is sprawled across the ceiling, the stomach of her nightgown red with blood, staring at John and struggling to breathe. John collapses onto the floor, staring at Mary.
"No! Mary!" John screams.
Mary bursts into flame. The fire spreads over the ceiling. John stares, frozen. Sam wails. John, reminded he's not alone, gets up and scoops Sam out of his crib and rushes out of the room.
Dean is awake and coming to investigate. "Daddy!" Dean says.
John shoves Sam at Dean.
"Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now, Dean, go!"
Dean turns and runs. John turns back to the nursery.
"Mary!" John calls. The entire room is on fire. Mary herself can barely be seen. "No!" John says.
Dean runs outside, holding Sam.
"It's okay, Sammy." Dean says
Dean turns to look up at Sam's window, which is lit with gold. John runs outside, scoops up Dean and Sam, and carries them both away.
"I gotcha." John says.
Fire explodes out of Sam's nursery window.
The Lawrence fire department has arrived. A Firefighter gets out of a fire truck and takes over at the gauges for another firefighter.
"I got it. You go hold the line up." the first firefighter says.
The second firefighter goes to the back of the truck and takes a hose from a third firefighter. That firefighter takes the hose towards the house where a fourth firefighter is spraying through Sam's nursery window. A paramedic opens the back of an ambulance. A Police Officer waves some neighbors back.
"Stay back. You have to stay back." The Cop said.
Across the street from the house, John and Dean sit on the hood of John's Impala, John holding Sam. John looks up at the remnants of the fire.
Six Years Later
Decenmber 24th 1989
Maternal Unit, Hospital
Two couples this day were giving birth two sets of twins. John had remarried to a woman, Angel Gianna Winchester nee Williams (Mary look alike) for a short time and then Bobby Singer and his wife, Karen were there, John was expecting girls, Bobby and Karen, sons.
John's wife of two years delivered the twins but she was a tiny thing and didn't survive the birth. John named his daughters Laila Melek Winchester (Willow Shields FC) and Lorelai Freyja Winchester (Sierra McCormick FC). Bobby's wife, Karen Singer had sons they named Hadraniel Seraphiel Singer (Timothee Chalamet FC) and Raziel Harahel Singer (Nick Jonas FC). They would grow and learn to hunt with their brothers for the Winchester sisters and with Ellen and Jo for the Singer boys' years after their mom die.
But these four were not ordinary twins. Laila Melek Winchester was the Angel of Life, Rabia reborn, an Archangel at that, while her twin, Lorelai Freyja Winchester was Azrael, the Archangel of Death.
Hadraniel Seraphiel Singer was Remiel the Archangel of War reborn, while his twin Raziel Harahel Singer was Raguel, the Archangel of Peace reborn.
Stanford University
Present Day
Laila POV
It is 31 Oct 2005.
"Gasoline" by Ginger begins to play.
"Sam!" a young woman calls in their apartment bedroom.
The young woman, Jess, comes around a corner, her baby bump showing, with a one-year-old baby boy, his name is Henry Gabriel Winchester. She is wearing a sexy-nurse costume and adjusting her hat. The photo of Mary and dad from earlier is on the dresser.
"Get a move on, would you?" she asks Sam.
I've been shot from a cannon
"We were supposed to be there like fifteen minutes ago." Jess says.
Jess walks off.
"Sam!" Jess yells.
I'm a human cannonball
"You coming or what?" Jess asks.
A young man pokes his head around the corner; this is Sam. He's wearing jeans and three shirts, not a costume.
"Do I have to?" Sam asks his wittle girlfriend while I'm on the couch. I may have told Dean We, me and Lorelai were at Bobby's with Harry and Razzie. And yeah... Lore's here too.
"Yes!" Jess, Lorelai, and I speak.
I'm gonna fly high
"It'll be fun." Jess says.
"I'll be able to listen to my kind of music." Lorelai says, holding Primrose Anne Winchester, twin to Henry.
"And I'll be able to read after we get Henry and Prim to sleep." I speak.
Sam comes into the room.
"And where's your costume?" Jess asks.
I'm gonna fall fall fall
Sam laughs and ducks his head. "You know how I feel about Halloween." Sam says.
At the Party
Sam POV
Classic's "What Cha Gonna Do" begins to play.
Show me whatcha gonna do
Yeah, whatcha gonna do
Are you trying to get in
Yeah, whatcha gonna do
The bar is decorated for Halloween (including a gargoyle with cobwebs and a baseball hat that says "GET NAKED"). Someone pours someone else a shot. Everyone is in costume.
Are you gonna ride
Jess raises a glass of water as a young man in a ghoul costume, Luis, comes up to the table where Jess and I are. I am still not in costume.
"So, here's to Sam—" Jess says.
Baby
"—and his awesome LSAT victory." Jess continues.
"All right, all right, it's not that big a deal." I speak.
Jess, Luis, and I clink glasses.
"Yeah, he acts all humble." Jess says. "But he scored a one seventy-four." she says.
Luis drinks his shot and so do I.
"Is that good?" Luis asks.
"Scary good." Jess says. Jess drinks.
"So, there you go. You are a first-round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want!" Luis says. Luis sits next to me.
"Actually, I got an interview here. Monday. If it goes okay, I think I got a shot at a full ride next year." I speak.
"Hey. It's gonna go great." Jess says.
"It better." I speak.
"How does it feel to be the golden boy of your family?" Luis asks.
"Ah, they don't know. Except the twins." I speak.
"Oh, no, I would be gloating! Why not?" Luis asks.
"Because we're not exactly the Brady's." I speak.
"And I'm not exactly the Huxtables. More shots?" Luis asks.
Jess and Sam speak in chorus. "No. No." Jess says. "No." I say at the same time as Jess.
Luis goes up to the bar anyway.
"No, seriously. I'm proud of you. And you're gonna knock 'em dead on Monday—" Jess says. "—and you're gonna get that full ride. I know it." Jess finishes.
"What would I do without you?" I ask Jess.
"Crash and burn." Jess says.
Jess smiles and pulls me in for a kiss.
Are you trying to get in
Yeah, whatcha gonna do
Lorelai POV
Are you gonna ride baby
Sam and Jess lie in bed, asleep back-to-back. Jess shifts position. I just got up from the couch next to my twin, thanks bro to get a drink when I hear... A sound outside the room, like a window opening. I see Sam open his eyes.
Sam leaves the bedroom and looks around the apartment.
A window is open; earlier it must have been closed. Footsteps. A man walks past the strings of beads at the far end of the hall. Sam moves to another part of the apartment and waits. The man enters the room. Sam lunges forward and grabs the Man at the shoulder. The man knocks Sam's arm away and aims a strike at Sam, who ducks. The man grabs Sam's arm, swings him around, and shoves him back. Sam kicks and is blocked, then pushed back into another room. If the man hadn't seen Sam's face before, he sees it now; Sam gets his first glimpse of the man. The man elbows Sam in the face; Sam kicks at his head. The man ducks and swings and Sam blocks. The man knocks Sam down and pins him to the floor, one hand at Sam's neck and the other holding Sam's wrist.
"Whoa, easy, tiger." the man says.
Sam breathes hard. "Dean?" Sam asks and I know Laila and I are in deep well horse dung.
Dean laughs.
"You scared the crap out of me!" Sam says and I see Laila going to sneak up on Dean with her long knife.
"That's 'cause you're out of practice." Dean says.
Sam grabs Dean's hand and yanks, slamming his heel into Dean's back and Dean to the floor.
"Or not." Dean says and then gets a surprise with a blade to his throat.
"You should know better than to sneak up on people big brother." Laila says.
Sam taps Dean twice where Sam is holding him.
"Get off of me." Dean says, giving Laila the I'm so disappointed glare. "Where's Lorelai?"
"I have no idea. Do you Sam?" Laila asks.
"Here brother dearest. Besides, did you and dad really want us to become teen moms?" I ask, knowing what our hormones would cause.
Sam rolls to his feet and pulls Dean up.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asks.
"Well, I was looking for a beer." Dean says. Dean puts his hands on Sam's shoulders, shakes once, and let's go.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asks.
"Okay. All right. We gotta talk." Dean says.
"Uh, the phone?" Sam points out.
"If I'd 'a called, would you have picked up?" Dean asks.
Jess turns the light on. She is wearing very short shorts and a cropped Smurfs shirt.
"Sam?" Jess asks.
Sam and Dean turn their heads in unison.
"Jess. Hey. Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica." Sam says
Dean looks at her appreciatively.
"Wait, your brother Dean?" Jess asks. Jess smiles. Sam nods and Dean grins at her and moves closer.
"Oh, I love the Smurfs. You know, I gotta tell you. You are completely out of my brother's league." Dean says.
"Just let me put something on." Jess says. Jess turns to go but Dean's voice stops her.
"No, no, no, I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously." Dean says.
Dean goes back over to Sam without taking his eyes off of Jess. Sam watches him, his expression stony.
"Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business." Dean says. "But, uh, nice meeting you." Dean says.
"No." Sam says.
Sam goes over to Jess and puts an arm around her.
"No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her." Sam says.
"Okay." Dean says. Dean turns to look at all of them both straight on. "Um. Dad hasn't been home in a few days." Dean says.
"So, he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Sam says.
"Or drunk..." Laila says.
"Or creating another Winchester." I speak.
Dean ducks his head and looks back up. "Dads on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days." Dean says.
Sam's expression doesn't change while he takes this in. Jess glances up at him.
"Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside." Sam says as we Winchesters head out of the apartment.
Sam, Laila, Dean and I head downstairs. Sam has put on jeans and a hoodie.
"I mean, come on. You can't just break in, middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you." Sam says.
"That is rude of you, Dean." Laila says.
"Exactly, you need to ask." I spoke.
"You're not hearing me, Sammy. Dad's missing. I need you to help me find him." Dean says.
"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine." Sam points out.
"He has a point. I spoke.
"She's right. He does have a point." Laila says.
Dean stops and turns around and then Sam stops too, making us stop.
"Not for this long. Now are you three gonna come with me or not?" Dean asks, and Laila and I sigh, knowing we'll be going.
"I'm not." Sam says.
"I will" Laila says.
"I will." I say."
"Why not Sam?" Dean asks, happy that we were at least helping.
"I swore I was done hunting. For good." Sam said.
"Come on Sam. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad." Dean says.
Dean starts downstairs again and Sam follows with us behind them.
"Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45." Sam said.
Dean stops at the door to the outside. "Well, what was he supposed to do?" Dean asks.
"I was nine years old! He was supposed to say, don't be afraid of the dark." Sam said.
"Don't be afraid of the dark? Are you kidding me? Of course, you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there." Dean says.
"Yeah, I know, but still. The way we grew up, after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her." Sam says.
Dean glances outside.
"But we still haven't found the damn thing. So, we kill everything we can find." Sam says
"We save a lot of people doing it, too." Dean said. "We saved our stepmother doing it, getting Lorelai and Laila."
A pause.
"You think Mom would have wanted this for us?" Sam asks.
Dean rolls his eyes and slams the door open.
There's a short flight of stairs from the door to the parking lot. Dean and Sam climb it.
"The weapon training, and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors. So were Laila and Lorelai, their mother wouldn't want this either." Sam says and I am mad that he brought mom up.
The fact he knew mom for two years while I never got a chance... I want to punch him.
They cross the parking lot to the Impala from the prologue.
"So, what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it?" Dean asks.
"No. Not normal. Safe." Sam says.
"And that's why you ran away." Dean says, taking Sam going to College hard and Dean looks away.
"I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing." Sam spoke.
"Yeah, well, Dad's in real trouble right now. If he's not dead already. I can feel it." Dean says.
Sam is silent.
"I can't do this without you." Dean says.
"Yes, you can." Sam says.
Dean looks down. "Yeah, well, I don't want to." Dean says.
Sam sighs and looks down, thinking, then up. "What was he hunting?" Sam asks.
Dean opens the trunk of the Impala, then the spare-tire compartment. It's an arsenal. He props the compartment open with a shotgun and digs through the clutter.
"All right, let's see, where the hell did I put that thing?" Dean says, mumbling to himself.
"So, when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asks.
"I was working my own gig. This, uh, voodoo thing, down in New Orleans." Dean says.
"And you didn't invite me or Lorelai? You know we like the Popeyes' chicken!" Laila says.
"Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Sam interrupted me from complaining.
Dean looks over at Sam.
"I'm twenty-six, dude." Dean says. Dean pulls some papers out of a folder.
"All right, here we go. So, Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy."
Dean hands one of the papers to Sam. "They found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA." Dean says.
The paper is a printout of an article from the Jericho Herald, headlined "Centennial Highway Disappearance" and dated Sept. 19th 2005; it has a man's picture, captioned "Andrew Carey MISSING". SAM reads it and glances up.
"So maybe he was kidnapped." Sam says.
"Yeah. Well, here's another one in April." Dean says. Dean tosses down another Jericho Herald article for each date he mentions.
"Another one in December 'oh-four, 'oh-three, 'ninety-eight, 'ninety-two, ten of them over the past twenty years." Dean says.
Dean takes the article back from Sam and picks up the rest of the stack, putting them back in the folder.
"All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road." Dean says. Dean pulls a bag out of another part of the arsenal.
"It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough." Dean says.
Dean grabs a handheld tape recorder. "Then I get this voicemail yesterday." Dean said. He presses play. The recording is staticky and the signal was clearly breaking up.
"Dean...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may... Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger. Protect Sam and your sisters." John voice says. Dean presses stop.
"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam says/asks.
"Not bad, Sammy. Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?" Dean asks.
Sam shakes his head.
"All right. I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got." Dean says. He presses play again.
"I can never go home..." a woman's voice says.
Dean presses stop.
"Never go home." Sam says.
Dean drops the recorder, puts down the shotgun, stands straight, and shuts the trunk, then leans on it. "You know, in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing." Dean says.
Sam looks away and sighs, then looks back. "All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him." Sam says.
Dean nods.
"But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here." Sam says. As Sam turns to go back to the apartment, he turns back when Dean speaks.
"What's first thing Monday?" Dean asks.
"I have this...I have an interview." Sam says.
"What, a job interview? Skip it." Dean says.
"It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate." Sam says.
"It's important." Laila says.
"He needs this." I spoke.
"Law school?" Dean asks. Dean smirks.
"So, we got a deal or not?" Sam asks.
Dean says nothing.
Sam is packing a duffel bag while we girls already have our stuff packed. He pulls out a large hook-shaped knife and slides it inside. Jess comes into the room.
"Wait, you're taking off?" Jess asks.
Sam looks up.
"Is this about your dad? Is he all right?" Jess asks.
"Yeah. You know, just a little family drama." Sam says. Sam goes over to the dresser and turns on the lamp atop it.
"Your brother said he was on some kind of hunting trip." Jess says.
Jess sits on the bed. Sam rummages in one of the drawers and comes out with a couple shirts, which go in the duffel.
"Oh, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin, he's probably got Jim, Jack, and José along with him. I'm just going to go bring him back." Sam says.
"What about the interview?" Jess asks.
"I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple days." Sam says
Sam goes around the bed. Jess gets up and follows.
"Sam, I mean, please." Jess says.
Sam stops and turns.
"Just stop for a second. You sure you're, okay?" Jess asks.
Sam laughs a little. "I'm fine." Sam says.
"It's just...you won't even talk about your family. And now you're taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them? And with Monday coming up, which is kind of a huge deal." Jess says.
"Hey. Everything's going to be okay. I will be back in time, I promise." Sam says. He kisses her on the cheek and leaves.
"At least tell me where you're going." Jess says.
3rd Person POV
Sylvania Bridge
Jericho, California
The Eagles of Death Metal's "Speaking in Tongues" plays. a young man, Troy, is driving down the highway, talking on his cell phone.
"Amy, I can't come over tonight. Because I've got work in the morning, that's why. ...Yeah, okay, I miss it and my dad's gonna have my ass." Troy says.
A high-pitched whine. Troy looks over and sees a woman in a white dress on the side of the road. She's moving as though dancing; she flickers, and for a moment she's gone.
"Hey, ah, Amy, let me call you back?" Troy says.
I got this feeling and it's deep in my bah-tay
It gives me wiggles and it makes my rump shake
I said ho!
Troy tries several times to turn off the radio, which is flickering. Nothing happens.
If I should touch you
Might be electrocuted
I said ho!
Deep in your body
Troy pulls up next to the woman, whose dress is torn in several places, and stops, leaning across the shotgun seat.
"Car trouble or something?" Troy asks.
A long pause.
"Take me home?" the woman asks.
The voice is the same one from the altered voicemail. Troy opens the passenger door.
"Sure, get in." Troy says.
The woman, who is barefoot, climbs in and closes the door.
"So, where do you live?" Troy asks.
"At the end of Breckenridge Road." the woman says.
Troy nods. "You coming from a Halloween party or something?" Troy asks.
The woman's dress is very low-cut. Troy notices, stares, and looks away, laughing nervously.
"You know, a girl like you really shouldn't be alone out here." Troy says
She looks at him mournfully, seductively, and pulls her skirt up over her thigh.
"I'm with you." the woman says.
Troy looks away. The woman takes Troy 's chin and turns his face towards her.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" the woman asks.
Troy nods, eyes stuck on her cleavage. "Uh...huh." Troy says.
"Will you come home with me?" the woman asks.
"Um. Hell yeah." Troy says and he drives off.
They pull up to an old abandoned house at the end of a road. The woman stares at it sadly.
"Come on. You don't live here." Troy says.
"I can never go home." the woman says.
"What are you talking about? Nobody even lives here. Where do you live?" Troy asks.
He turns, and she's gone. He checks the back seat, also empty, and gets out of the car, nervous.
"That's good. Joke's over, okay? You want me to leave?" Troy asks.
Troy looks around: no signs of life except crickets. He walks towards the house.
"Hello? Hello?" Troy asks.
There's a picture of the woman and two children inside the house; the picture is covered in dust.
Troy peers through the hole in the screen door. A bird flies at his face, scaring him into falling over. He yells, leaps to his feet, and runs back to the car. He gets in and drives off.
Troy looks behind him—no one's there—then in the rearview mirror. The woman is in the back seat. Troy yells again and drives straight through a "Bridge Closed" sign, stopping about halfway across the bridge. He screams. Blood spatters the windows.
Lorelai POV
It is 1 Nov 2005.
The Impala is parked in front of a pump. "Ramblin' Man" by the Allman Brothers plays.
Lord, I was born a ramblin' man
Dean comes out of the convenience mart carrying junk food.
Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can
Sam is sitting in the shotgun seat with the door open, rifling through a box of tapes.
"Hey!" Dean says.
Sam leans out and looks at him.
"You want breakfast?" Dean asks.
"No, thanks." Sam says.
"Pancakes" Laila says.
"Waffles." I speak.
And when it's time for leavin'
"So, how'd you pay for that stuff?" Sam asks.
I hope you'll understand
"You and Dad still running credit card scams?" Sam asks.
That I was born a ramblin' man
"Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career." Dean says.
Dean puts the nozzle back on the pump.
"Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards." Dean says.
"Yeah? And what names did you write on the application this time?" Sam asks.
Sam swings his legs back inside the car and closes the door.
"Uh, Burt Aframian." Dean says.
Dean gets into the driver seat and puts his soda and chips down.
"And his son Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal." Dean says. Dean closes the door.
"That sounds about right. I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection." Sam says, rolling his eyes.
I see Laila reading her Anne Rice series, her Dark Hunter series still in her luggage with the Harry Potter series and Game of Thrones plus the Dark Jewels series, our bibles, which we love but with all the extra books she's toting around, I'll have to dig for them... yeah. Did I leave anything out? If I did oh well.
There are at least a dozen cassettes in the box on Sam's lap; some have album art, others are hand-labeled.
"Why?" Dean asks.
"Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two." Sam says and holds up a tape for every band he names. "Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?" He asks.
Dean takes the box labeled Metallica from Sam.
"It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." Sam says.
"Well, house rules, Sammy." Dean says and pops the tape in the player.
"Driver picks the music; shotgun shuts his cakehole." Dean says.
Knowing Dean would do this, I got my iPod out and put in the earphones before starting the music.
I can see
When you stay low nothing happens
Does it feel right?
Late at night
Things I thought I put behind me
Haunt my mind
I just know there's no escape
Now once it sets its eyes on you
But I won't run,
Have to stare it in the eye
[Chorus:]
Stand my ground, I won't give in
No more denying, I've got to face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground
It's all around
Getting stronger, coming closer
Into my world
I can feel
That it's time for me to face it
Can I take it?
Though this might just be the ending
Of the life I held so dear
But I won't run,
There's no turning back from here
[Chorus]
All I know for sure is I'm trying
I will always stand my ground
Stand my ground, I won't give in (I won't give in)
I won't give up (I won't give up)
no more denying, I got to face it
won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
if I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground, I won't give in
no more denying, I got to face it
won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
if I don't make it, someone else will
stand my ground
Laila Melek Winchester POV
Dean drops the Metallica box back in the box of tapes and starts the engine.
"You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old." Sam says.
AC/DC's "Back in Black" begins to play.
"It's Sam, okay?" Sam says.
"Sorry, I can't hear you, the music's too loud." Dean shouts and like my twin, I get my iPod out but leave one earphone out.
Okay (Ahh)
Yeah (Ahh)
Oh, we about to get it just a little hot and sweaty in this– (Ooh, baby)
Ladies, let's go (Uhh)
Soldiers, let's go (Dolls)
Let me talk to y'all and just, you know, give you a little situation
Listen (Fellas)
You see a chick get hot
Everytime I come thru
When I step up in the spot
(Are you ready?)
Make the place sizzle
Like a summertime cookout
Prawl for the best chick
Yes, I wanna look out
(Let's dance)
So, bangin' shorty like a belly dancer wit it
Smell good
Pretty skin
So gansta wit it
(Ooh, baby)
No chicks only diamonds in my sleeve
Give me yo number
But make sure
You call before you leave
(Aah!)
I know you like me (I know you like me)
I know you do (I know you do)
That's why whenever I come around
She's all over you
And I know you want it (and I know you want it)
It's easy to see (it's easy to see)
And in the back of your mind
I know you should be on with me
(Ooh baby)
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me
(don't cha, don't cha)
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me
(don't cha, don't cha)
Fight the feeling (fight the feeling)
Leave it alone (leave it alone)
Cause if it ain't love
It just ain't enough to leave a happy home
Let's keep it friendly (let's keep it friendly)
You have to play fair (you have to play fair)
See I don't care (see I don't care)
But I know she ain't gon' wanna share
(ooh)
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me
(don't cha, don't cha)
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me
(don't cha, don't cha)
I see how it's goin' down
Seem shorty wanna little menage
To pop for or sumthin'
Let's Go (Let's Go)
Well, lemme get straight to it
A girl just watch when I come thru this
It's the God Almighty lookin' all brand newish
Shorty wanna jump in my Ashtray Vanguish
Lookin' at me all like she really wanna do it
Tryin' to put it on me 'til my balls are black and bluish
You wanna play with a playa
Gurl then play on
Trip out the Chanel and leave yo lingerie on
Watch me and I'm gonna watch you
At the same time
Lookin' like you wanna break my back
I gotta good idea for ya'll
I know she loves you (I know she loves you)
So, I understand (so I understand)
I'd probably be just as crazy, bout ya
If you were my own man
Maybe next lifetime (maybe next lifetime)
Possibly (possibly)
Until then no friend
Would you make of me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me
(don't cha, don't cha)
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me
(don't cha, don't cha)
All the while reading my book.
Dean drives off.
Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long
I'm glad to be back
Yes, I'm let loose
They drive past a sign that says "JERICHO 7".
From the noose
That's kept me hanging about
Sam is talking on his cell phone.
"Thank you." Sam says. Sam closes his phone.
Lookin' at the sky
'Cause it's gettin' me high
"All right. So, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue." Sam said.
Forget the hearse 'cause I'll never die
"So that's something, I guess." Sam says.
Dean glances over at Sam, then back at the road. At a bridge ahead of them, there are two police cars and several officers.
I got nine lives
Cat's eyes
Abusin' every one of them and running wild
"Check it out." Dean says.
Just then I get a text from Hadraniel, my love, saying he's doing a case in Jericho with Razzie. I nudge Lorelai and show her the text and smirk. Prank time.
Sam leans forward for a closer look.
'Cause I'm back
Yes, I'm back
Dean pulls over. They take a long look before Dean turns off the engine. Kid Gloves Music's "My Cheatin' Ways" begins to play. Dean opens the glove compartment and pulls out a box full of ID cards with his and John's faces: visible ones include FBI and DEA. He picks one out and grins at Sam, who stares.
"Let's go." Dean says and I get out of the car, so does Lorelai.
Dean gets out of the car.
On the bridge, the lead Deputy, Deputy Jaffe, leans over the railing to yell down to two men in wetsuits who were poking around the river.
"You guys find anything?" Deputy Jaffe asks.
"No! Nothing!" a man says.
Jaffe turns back to the car in the middle of the bridge. It's familiar: it's Troy's, the blood gone. Another Deputy, Deputy Hein, is at the driver's side looking around inside the car.
"No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean." Deputy Hein says.
Dean and Sam walk into the crime scene like they belong there.
"So, this kid Troy. He's dating your daughter, isn't he?" Deputy Jaffe asks.
"Yeah." Deputy Hein says.
"How's Amy doing?" Deputy Jaffe asks
"She's putting up missing posters downtown." Deputy Hein says.
"You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" Dean asks.
Jaffe looks up when Dean starts talking and straightens up to talk to him.
"And who are you?" Jaffe asks.
Dean flashes his badge.
"Federal marshals." Dean says.
"You two are a little young for marshals, aren't you?" Jaffe asks.
Dean laughs. "Thanks, that's awfully kind of you." Dean says.
Dean goes over to the car. "You did have another one just like this, correct?" Dean asks.
"Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road. There've been others before that." Deputy Jaffe says.
"So, this victim, you knew him?" Sam asks.
Jaffe nods.
"Town like this, everybody knows everybody." Deputy Jaffe says.
Dean POV
I circle the car, looking around.
"Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?" I ask.
"No. Not so far as we can tell." Jaffe says.
"So, what's the theory?" Sammy asks.
Sammy comes over by me and then the twins follow.
"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?" Jaffe says.
"Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." I speak.
Sam stomps on my foot, Laila smacks me on the head and Lorelai smacks me in the gut.
"Thank you for your time." Sam starts to walk away, and I follow.
"Gentlemen." Sam says.
Jaffe watches us go. I smack Sam on the head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Sam asks.
"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" I asked him.
"Why do you have to talk to the police like that?" Sam asked me
I look at Sam and move in front of him, forcing Sam to stop walking.
"Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad, we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves." I say.
Sam clears his throat and I look over my shoulder. I turn. It's Sheriff Pierce and two FBI Agents.
"Can I help you boys?" Sheriff Pierce asks.
"No, sir, we were just leaving." I speak.
As the FBI Agents walk past me, I nod at each of them.
"Agent Mulder. Agent Scully." I say.
Sam and I head past the Sheriff, who turns to watch us go.
The marquee on the Highland Movie Theater reads:
EMERGENCY TOWN HALL MEETING
SUNDAY 8 PM
BE SAFE OUT THERE
A young woman is tacking up posters with Troy's face and the caption "MISSING TROY SQUIRE". Sam and I approach.
"I'll bet you that's her." I tell Sammy.
"Yeah." Sam says, agreeing.
"You must be Amy." I speak.
"Yeah." Amy says.
"Yeah, Troy told us about you. We're his uncles and cousins. I'm Dean, this is Sammy, Lorelai, and Laila." I speak.
Sam, Lorelai, Laila and I walk up to the young woman.
"He never mentioned you to me." Amy says.
Amy walks away. We walk with her.
"Well, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto." I speak.
"So, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around." Sam says.
"And we're really sorry for bothering you through this time." Laila says.
"We're just so worried." Lorelai says.
Another young woman, Rachel, comes up to Amy and puts a hand on her arm.
"Hey, are you okay?" Rachel asks, two guys following after her, the guys being Harry and Razzie.
"Harry." Laila says, jumping on Hadraniel.
"Razzie." Lorelai says jumping on Raziel.
"Yeah." Amy tells Rachel.
"You mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sam asks.
Another poster that says MISSING TROY SQUIRE flaps in the breeze
Sam Winchester POV
Diner
The eight of us are sitting in a booth, Dean, Laila, Lorelai, Harry, Razzie and I are opposite of Amy and Rachel.
"I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and... he never did." Amy says.
"He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" I ask
Amy shakes her head.
"No. Nothing, I can remember." Amy replies.
"I like your necklace." I tell Amy.
Amy holds the pendant she's wearing, a pentagram in a circle, and looks down at it.
"Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents—" Amy says. Amy laughs. "—with all that devil stuff." Amy says.
I laugh a little and looks down, then up. Dean looks over.
"Actually, it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing." I say.
"Okay. Thank you, Unsolved Mysteries." Dean says.
Dean takes his arm off the back of my seat and leans forward.
"Here's the deal, ladies. The way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So, if you've heard anything..." Dean says.
Amy and Rachel look at each other.
"What is it?" Dean asks.
"Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk." Rachel says.
Dean and I speak in chorus.
"What do they talk about?" Dean and I ask.
"It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago." Rachel says.
Dean looks at me, and I watch Rachel attentively, nodding.
"Well, supposedly she's still out there." Rachel says.
I nod.
"She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever." Rachel says.
Dean and I look at each other.
Hadraniel Singer POV
Library
A web browser is open to the archive search page for the Jericho Herald. The words "Female Murder Hitchhiking" are typed into the search box. Dean clicks GO; the screen tells him there are "(0) Result". Dean replaces "Hitchhiking" with "Centennial Highway" with the same response. Sam is sitting next to him, watching.
"Let me try." Sam says.
Dean smacks Sam's hand.
"I got it." Dean says and I roll my eyes.
Sam shoves Dean's chair out of the way and takes over.
"Dude!" Dean says.
Dean hits Sam in the shoulder.
"You're such a control freak." Dean says as Laila and Lorelai are also searching as well.
"So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" Sam asks.
"Yeah." Dean, Razzie, Laila, Lorelai, and I say.
"Well, maybe it's not murder." Sam points out.
Sam replaces "Murder" with "Suicide" and finds an article entitled "Suicide on Centennial". Dean glances at Sam. Sam opens the article, dated April 25, 1981.
"You're a genius big brother!" Lore and Lei say.
A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night.
Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several minutes. She reported that their complexion was blue.
What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time."
At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager.
"Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew," said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. "She just doted on those children."
"This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river." Sam says
There's a picture of Constance; it's the woman who killed Troy. I don't know how I know that.
"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asks.
"Yeah." Sam says.
"What?" Dean asks.
"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die." Sam says and Lei looks at Sam like she's put something together but he never listens to her.
Dean raises his eyebrows.
"Hm." Dean says.
The article has a picture of Joseph next to a picture of Sylvania Bridge; it's the place Troy died.
"'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch." Sam says as he quotes the husband.
"The bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asks.
Laila Melek Winchester POV
Bridge
Dean, Harry, Razzie, Sam, Lore, and I walk along the bridge, then stop to lean on the railing and look down at the river.
"So, this is where Constance took the swan dive." Dean says.
"Dean!" Lorelai reprimands him as she smacks him on the head.
"So, you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asks us, mainly Dean.
Sam looks over at Dean.
"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Dean says.
"Yep." Lore says.
"Yeah." I say.
Dean continues walking and Sam follows.
"Okay, so now what?" Sam asks.
"Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." Dean says.
Sam stops at that. "Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday—" Sam says
Dean turns around. "Monday. Right. The interview." Dean says.
"Yeah." Sam says.
"Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asks Sammy.
"Maybe. Why not?" Sammy asks Dean.
"Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" Dean asks Sam, while their doing that, we're messing with Baby.
Sam steps closer.
"No, and she's not ever going to know." Sam says.
"Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are." Dean says.
Dean turns around and keeps walking. Sam follows.
"And who's that?" Sam asks Dean
"You're one of us." Dean tells Sammy
Sam hurries to get in front of Dean.
"No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life." Sam tells Dean.
"You have a responsibility to—" Dean starts to say
"To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back." Sam says
Dean grabs Sam by the collar and shoves him up against the railing of the bridge. A long pause.
"Don't talk about her like that." Dean tells Sammy
Dean releases Sam and walks away. He sees Constance standing at the edge of the bridge.
"Sam." Dean says,
Sam comes to stand next to Dean. Constance looks over at them, then steps forward off the edge. Sam and Dean run to the railing and look over.
"Where'd she go?" Dean asks, and personally they were too busy fighting to notice anything.
"I don't know." Sam tells Dean.
Behind them, the Impala's engine starts and its headlights come on. Dean, Harry, Razzie and Sam turn to look.
"What the—" Dean starts to say
"Who's driving your car?" Sam asks Dean.
Dean pulls the keys out of his pocket and jingles them. Sam glances at them. The car jerks into motion, heading straight for them. They turn and run.
"Dean? Go! Go!" Sam tells, practically yells at Dean.
The car is moving faster than they are; when it gets too close, Sammy, Razzie, Harry and Dean dive over the railing. The car comes to a halt, while we hold onto the seats.
Lorelai POV
Sam, Harry, and Razzie has caught themselves on the edge of the bridge and are hanging on. They pulls themselves up onto the bridge and look around.
"Dean? Dean!" Sam calls out.
"Laila? Laila!" Harry calls out to Lei.
"Lore? My lovely Lore!" Razzie calls for me.
Below, a filthy and annoyed Dean crawls out of the water and onto the mud, panting.
"What?" Dean asks, annoyed.
"We're fine. Just in the car!" Lei says, calling out to Harry.
"Hey! Are you all right?" Sam asks Dean.
Dean holds up one hand in an A-OK sign.
"I'm super." Dean says.
Sam laughs, relieved, and scoots away from the edge.
Dean shuts the hood of his car and leans on it.
"Your car all right?" Sam asks Dean.
"Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a bitch!" Dean says and me and Lei clear our throats.
"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure. So, where's the job go from here, genius?" Sam asks Dean.
Sam settles on the hood next to Dean. Dean throws up his arms in frustration, then flicks mud off his hands. Sam sniffs, then looks at Dean.
"You smell like a toilet." Sam tells Dean and Laila and I laugh at that.
Dean looks down.
Motel
It is 2 Nov 2005.
A Versa Bank MasterCard in the name of Hector Aframian lands on a handwritten guest ledger.
"Three rooms, please." Dean says to the clerk.
Dean is standing at the motel check-in desk, still filthy, with Sam right behind him. The Clerk picks up the card and looks at it.
"You guys having a reunion or something?" the clerk asks.
"What do you mean?" Sam asks the clerk.
"I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month." the clerk says.
Dean looks back at Sam.
Dad's Motel Room
The motel door swings open. Sam is on the other side, having just picked the lock. Sam hides the picks and stands up. Dean is just outside, playing lookout with Laila, until Sam reaches out of the room to grab his shoulder and yank him inside. Sam closes the door behind them. They look around—every vertical surface has papers pinned to it: maps, newspaper clippings, pictures, notes. There are books on the desk and assorted junk on the floor and bed, including something with a hazardous-materials symbol.
"Whoa." Sam says.
Dean turns on a light by the bed and picks up a half-eaten hamburger sitting there. Sam steps over a line of salt on the floor. Dean sniffs the burger and recoils.
"I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least." Dean tells us.
Sam fingers the salt on the floor and looks up.
"Salt, cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in." Sam says.
Dean looks at the papers covering one wall.
"What have you got here?" Sam asks.
"Centennial Highway victims." Dean tells us.
"Great, you figure it out, I'll get a shower." Laila states.
Sam nods. The victims seen on the wall include Mark somebody, William Durrell, Scott Nifong who disappeared in 1987 at age 25, and somebody Parks. Mark, Durrell, and Nifong are all white males, judging by the photos.
"I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs—" Dean says.
Sam crosses the room.
"—ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?" Dean asks.
"Cheaters." I mumble.
While Dean talks, Sam looks at the papers taped to the other walls. There's something about the Bell Witch, two people being burned alive, a skeletal person blowing a horn at several scared people with the note "MORTIS DANSE", a column about "Devils + Demons", another about "Sirens, Witches, the possessed", a wooden pentacle, and a note that says "Woman in White" above a printout of the Jericho Herald article on Constance's suicide.
Sam turns on another lamp.
"Dad figured it out." Sam tells Dean as I sneak into the bathroom to put purple dye in the shampoo. It'll wear off in three days.
Dean turns to look. "What do you mean?" Dean asks Sammy
"He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white." Sam tells Deano.
Dean looks at the photos of Constance's victims.
"You sly dogs." Dean says.
Dean turns back to Sammy.
"All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it." Dean-o says.
"She might have another weakness." Sam says.
"Well, Dad would want to make sure." Deano says, Laila is setting up Sammy's pranks.
Dean crosses to Sam.
"He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?" Dean asks.
"No, not that I can tell. If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband." Sam says.
Sam taps the picture of Joseph Welch. The caption says he's thirty; the article dates to 1981, so he must be sixty-four.
"If he's still alive." Sam says. Sam goes to look at something else. Dean looks at the picture below the Herald article, of a woman in a white dress.
"All right. Why don't you, uh, see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up." Dean tells us and unknown to him, I smirk as he'll come out with purple hair.
Dean starts to walk away. Sam turns.
"Hey, Dean?" Sam says.
Dean stops and turns back.
"What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry." Sam says.
Dean holds up a hand. "No chick-flick moments." Dean says.
Sam laughs and nods. "All right. Jerk." Sam tells Deano
"Bitch." Dean calls Sam.
Sam laughs again. Dean disappears, presumably into the bathroom. Sam notices something, his smile disappearing, and crosses over for a closer look. A rosary hangs in front of a large mirror and stuck into the mirror frame is a photo of John sitting on the hood of the Impala, next to a boy in a baseball cap who is presumably Dean and with a younger boy, presumably Sam, on John's lap. Sam takes the photo off the mirror and holds it, smiling sadly.
Then there's a photo with a ten-year-old Dean, six-year-old Sam, and Laila and I are a few months old in the picture.
Before that photo, there are two photos one of my momma, and one of Mary, Dean and Sam's mom, they are almost identical except my mom has a bit of blue in her green eyes, her hair isn't the same color, it's copper red. (Katherine Mcnamera.).
Sam paces, holding his phone, and sits down on the bed. A voicemail message is playing.
"Hey, it's me, it's about ten-twenty Saturday night— make sure not to get to get pranked by the twins." Jess says.
Dean, clean again, comes out of the bathroom and grabs his jacket. He shrugs it on one shoulder as he crosses the room.
"Hey, guys. I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?" Dean asks us.
"Salad." I tell Dean.
"Burger." Laila tells Dean.
"Veggie burger." Razzie tells Dean.
"Cheese burger." Harry tells Dean.
"No." Sam tells Dean.
"Aframian's buying." Dean says.
Sam shakes his head. "Mm-mm." Sam says.
Dean and I leave the motel room. He gets the jacket the rest of the way on as he crosses the lot. He looks over and sees a police car, where the motel clerk is talking to Deputy Jaffe and Deputy Hein. The clerk points at Dean and I, who we turn away and Dean pulls out his cell phone.
Laila POV
Motel Room
Sam is sitting on the bed, still listening to the message.
"So, come home soon, okay? I love you." Jess says to Sammy.
The phone beeps. Sam looks at it and presses a button, then puts it back to his ear.
"What?" Sam asks Dean.
With Dean
Outside, the Deputies are approaching Dean.
"Dude, five-oh, take off." Dean tells Sammy.
With Sammy
Sam stands up.
"What about you?" Sammy asks Dean.
With Dean
"Uh, they kinda spotted me. Go find Dad." Dean tells Sammy.
Dean hangs up the phone as the Deputies approach. He turns and grins at them.
"Problem, officers?" Dean asks.
"Anything I can do for you while I wait on getting me breakfast and snuggling with my boyfriend?" I practically growl.
"Where's your partner?" Jaffe asks as he winces at my tone.
"Partner? What, what partner? Just my baby sister here." Dean says.
Jaffe glances over his shoulder and jerks his thumb towards the motel room. Hein heads over there and Dean fidgets.
With Sammy
Sam sees Hein approaching and darts away from the window, with Razzie, Harry, and Lei in tow. He was glad the babes were with their mother.
With Dean
"So. Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?" Jaffe asks Dean.
"My boobs." Dean tells him and I slap him upside the head.
Dean grins.
Hein slams Dean over the hood of the cop car.
"You have the right to remain silent—" Jaffe says.
Sheriff's Office
Lorelai POV
Sheriff Pierce enters the room, carrying a box. He sets the box on the table at which Dean and I sit and goes around the table to face Dean and I across from it.
"So, you want to give us your real name?" Pierce asks.
"I told you, it's Nugent. Ted Nugent." Dean says.
"Angel Nugent." I tell him.
"I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here." Pierce says.
"We talkin', like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or, uh, squeal like a pig trouble?" Dean asks.
"You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall." Pierce says.
Dean looks away.
"Along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbos. Boy, you are officially a suspect." Pierce says.
"That makes sense. Because when the first one went missing in '82 I was three." Dean says.
"I was born in '89." I speak.
"I know you've got partners. One of 'em's an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So tell me. Dean, Lorelai." Pierce says
The Sheriff tosses a brown leather-covered journal on the table.
"This his?" Pierce asks.
Dean stares at it. The Sheriff sits on the edge of the table. He flips through the journal: it's filled with newspaper clippings, notes, and pictures, just like what's on the walls of dad's motel room.
"I thought that might be your name. See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out—I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy." Pierce says and I glare at him.
Dean leans forward for a closer look.
"But I found this, too." Pierce says
He opens the journal to a page that reads "DEAN 35-111", circled, with nothing else on that page.
"Now. You're stayin' right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means."
Dean stares down at the page, then looks up.
"You're outta luck buddy." I say.
Welch House
Laila POV
Daytime
Sam, seen through the chain-link covering a grimy glass window, knocks on the door the window is in. An old man opens it: it's recognizably Joseph Welch.
"Hi. Are you Joseph Welch?" Sam asks him and I roll my eyes, in the middle of Harry and Razzie, wanting to stay by Harry and Razi wants Lorelai.
"Yeah." Joseph says.
Sam, Joseph, Harry, Razi and I are walking down the junk-filled driveway, Joseph was holding the photo Sam found on John's motel room mirror.
"Yeah, he was older, but that's him." Joseph says.
Joseph hands the photo back to Sam.
"He came by three or four days ago. Said he was a reporter." Joseph says.
"That's right. We're working on a story together." Sam tells Joseph.
"Well, I don't know what the hell kinda story you're working on. The questions he asked me?" Joseph says.
"About your wife Constance?" Sam asks Joseph.
"He asked me where she was buried." Joseph tells us
"I am so sorry." I tell Joseph and he gives me a kind smile.
"And where is that again?" Sam asks Joseph and I slap the back of his head for Joe's benefit.
"What, I gotta go through this twice?" Joseph asks.
"It's fact-checking. If you don't mind." Sam tells Joseph.
"In a plot. Behind my old place over on Breckenridge." Joseph tells Sam.
"And why did you move?" Sam asks Joseph and I glare at Sam.
"I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died." Joseph says.
Sam stops walking. Joseph stops too.
"Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?" Sam asks Joseph.
"No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known." Joseph tells Sam.
"So you had a happy marriage?" Sam asks Joseph.
Joseph hesitates. "Definitely." Joseph says.
"Well, that should do it. Thanks for your time." Sam tells Joseph
Sam turns toward the Impala. Joseph walks away. Sam waits a moment, then looks back up at Joseph.
"Mr. Welch, did you ever hear of a woman in white?" Sam asks Joseph.
Joseph turns around. "A what?" Joseph asks Sam.
"A woman in white. Or sometimes weeping woman?" Sam tries to tell Joseph, but I step on his foot.
Joseph just looks.
"It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really." Sam tells Joseph. I facepalm. Sam starts back toward Joseph.
"Um, they're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona, Indiana. All these are different women." Sam tells Joseph. Sam stops in front of Joseph.
"You understand. But all share the same story." Sam tells Joseph.
"Boy, I don't care much for nonsense." Joseph tells Sam. Joseph walks away but Sam follows.
"See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them." Sam says.
"Sam!" I hiss at Sam.
Joseph stops.
"And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children." Sam says.
Joseph turns around.
"Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again." Sam tells Joseph.
"You think...you think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartass!" Joseph growls.
"You tell me." Sam says.
"I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!" Joseph tells Sam but tells me that I am always welcome. Apparently, I look and seem how his daughter would be and when I tell him I have a twin, he knows,, he says the twin will be like his son.
Joseph's face shakes, whether from anger or grief it's impossible to tell. After a long moment, he turns away. Sam sighs.
Lorelai POV
Sheriff's Office
Night
"I don't know how many times I gotta tell you. It's my high school locker combo." Dean says as I file my nails, tired of the police already.
Sheriff Pierce is still interrogating Dean over the "DEAN 35-111" page.
"We gonna do this all night long?" Pierce asks.
"Can I get a pad?" I ask, to make him uncomfortable.
A Deputy leans into the room.
"We just got a 911, shots fired over at Whiteford Road." the Deputy says.
"PMS over here!" I say, making all the males shift.
'Right, someone buy her new underwear and pads!" Pierce says.
"You have to go to the bathroom?" Pierce asks.
"Yes." I say.
"No." Dean says.
"Good." Pierce says.
The Sheriff handcuffs Dean and I to the table and leaves. Dean sees a paper clip poking out of the journal, pulls it out, and looks at it. Moments later, as the Sheriff and Deputy are gearing up to leave, we are out of the cuffs. Dean and I watch through the window in the door, ducks out of sight as the Deputy approaches the door, and wait.
Dean and I climb down the fire escape, carrying dad's journal.
Laila POV
Highway, Inside the Impala
Night
Sam is driving the Impala when his phone rings. He pulls it out and answers it. Dean is in a phone booth; apparently his phone was confiscated and he didn't take the time to steal it back.
"Fake 911 phone call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal." Dean teases Sammy.
"You're welcome." Sammy says as he grins.
"Listen, we gotta talk." Dean tells Sammy and instantly I know it's important, I wish Razi hadn't taken his motorcycle.
"Tell me about it. So, the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop." Sam tells Dean.
"Sammy, would you shut up for a second?" Dean asks Sammy.
"I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet." Sammy tells Dean.
"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone. Dad left Jericho." Dean says.
"What? How do you know?" Sam asks Dean while I kick up a storm.
"I've got his journal." Dean tells Sammy.
"He doesn't go anywhere without that thing." Sammy says.
"Yeah, well, he did this time." Dean tells us.
"What's it say?" Sam asks.
"Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going." Dean tells Sammy and me.
"Coordinates. Where to?" Sam asks and I roll my eyes. Does it matter?
"I'm not sure yet." Dean says.
"You okay Lei?" Lore asks.
"I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?" Sam asks.
Sam looks up and slams the brake, dropping the phone: Constance appeared on the road in front of him. The car goes right through her as Sam brings it to a halt.
"Sam? Sam! Lei! Laila!" Dean and Lore call over the phone.
Inside the car, Sam breathes hard. Constance is sitting in the back seat.
"Take me home." Constance demands. "Take me home!" Constance again demands.
"No." Sam tells Constance
Constance glares and the doors lock themselves. Sam and I struggle to reopen them. The gas pedal presses down, and the car begins to drive itself. Sam tries to steer, but Constance is doing that too. Sam and I continues to try to get a door open. In the back seat, Constance flickers.
Abandoned House
Night
The car pulls up in front of Constance's house and stops. The engine shuts off and so do the lights.
"Don't do this." Sam tells Constance.
Constance flickers. Her voice is sad. "I can never go home." Constance says.
"Yes you can. Just face it." I say.
"You're scared to go home." Sam tells Constance.
Sam looks back and Constance isn't there. He glances around and back and sees her in the shotgun seat. She climbs into his lap, shoving him back against the seat hard enough to recline the seat. Sam struggles.
"Hold me. I'm so cold." Constance says.
"You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful. I've never been!" Sam tells Constance.
"You will be. Just hold me." Constance tells Sam.
Constance kisses Sam as he continues to struggle, reaching for the keys. She pulls back and disappears, a flash of something horrible behind her face as she vanishes. Sam looks around for a moment, then yells in pain and yanks his hoodie open. There are five new holes burned through the fabric, matching to Constance's fingers: she flickers in front of him, her hand reaching into his chest. A gunshot goes off, shattering the window and startling Constance. Dean and Lore approach, still firing at her. She glares at them and vanishes, then reappears, and Dean and Laila keep firing until she disappears again. Sam manages to sit up and start the car.
"I'm taking you home." Sam says.
Sam drives forward. Dean stares after the car. Sam smashes through the side of the house. Dean and Lore hurry through the wreckage to the passenger side of the car.
"Sam! Sam! Lei! You okay?" Dean and Lei ask.
"I think..." Sam says.
"Yeah, just a little cut." I say.
"Can you guys move?" Dean and Lei ask.
"Yeah. Help me?" Sam asks.
"Yep. Just...you know what, it's nothing to worry about." I say.
Dean leans through the window to give Sam a hand.
Constance picks up a large framed photograph seen when she brought Troy here: the woman is Constance and the children are presumably hers.
Dean helps Sam out of the car and Lorelai helps me out of the car.
"There you go." Dean tells Sam.
Dean closes the car door. They look around and see Constance; she looks up. She glares at them and throws the picture down. A bureau scoots towards Sam, Laila Dean, and I, pinning us against the car. The lights flicker; Constance looks around, scared. Water begins to pour down the staircase. She goes over. At the top are the boy and girl from the photograph. They hold hands and speak in chorus.
"You've come home to us, Mommy." the children say.
Constance looks at them, distraught. Suddenly they are behind her; they embrace her tightly and she screams, her image flickering. In a surge of energy, still screaming, Constance and the two children melt into a puddle in the floor. Sam, Dean, Laila, and I shove the bureau over and go look at the spot where Constance and her children vanished.
"So, this is where she drowned her kids." Dean says.
Sam nods.
"That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them." Sam tells Dean.
"You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy." Dean tells Sammy.
He slaps Sam on the chest where he's been injured and walks away. Sam laughs through the pain.
"Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?" Sam asks Dean.
"Hey. Saved your ass." Dean tells Sam and Lore and I roll our eyes.
"Highway to Hell" by AC/DC begins to play.
Dean leans over to look at the car. "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car?" Dean says, and he twists around to look at Sam. "I'll kill you." Dean says.
Sam laughs.
Highway
Night
Lorelai POV
The Impala tears down the road; the right headlight is out.
Living easy, loving free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Sam has the journal open to "DEAN 35-111" and a map open on his lap and is finding coordinates with a ruler, a flashlight tucked between chin and shoulder.
Asking nothing
"Okay, here's where Dad went." Sam tells us.
Leave me be
"It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado." Sam says.
Taking everythin' in my stride
Dean nods. "Sounds charming. How far?" He asks Sammy.
Don't need reason
"About six hundred miles." Sam says.
Don't need rhyme
"Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning" Dean tells us, he's right..
Ain't nothing I would rather do
Sam looks at him, hesitating.
"Dean, I, um..." Sam hesitates.
Going down
Dean glances at the road and back.
Party time
"You're not going." Dean says.
My friends are gonna be there too
"The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there." Sam says
Dean nods, disappointed, and returns his attention to the road.
"Yeah. Yeah, whatever." Dean says. Dean glances at Sam. "I'll take you home." Dean says.
Sam turns the flashlight off. They drive on.
Highway to hell
Sam's Apartment
Sam POV
Night
I'm on the highway to hell
They pull up in front of the apartment, Dean still frowning. Sam gets out and leans over to look through the window.
"Call me if you find him?" I ask Dean.
Dean nods.
"And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?" I ask the others.
"Yeah, all right." Dean says.
I pat the car door twice and turns away. Dean leans toward the passenger door, one arm going over the back of the seat.
"Sam?" Dean asks.
I turn back.
"You know, we made a hell of a team back there." Dean tells me.
"Yeah." I speak.
Dean drives off. I watch him go and sigh.
I let myself into my apartment. Everything is dark and quiet except for Henry and Prim crying. I go to Henry and Prim to see she's had the baby, a girl, the birth certificate shows she was she was just born, but not given a name yet.
"Jess?" I call out.
I close the door.
"You home?" I ask.
I notices a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table, with a note that reads "Missed you! Love you!", next to a National Geographic. I picks one up and eats it as I sneak into the bedroom, smiling. The shower is audibly running. I sit on the bed, shut my eyes, and flop onto my back.
Blood drips onto my forehead, one drop, then another; I flinch and open my eyes. I gasp in horror: Jess is pinned to the ceiling, staring down at me and bleeding from the belly.
"No!" I cry out.
Jess bursts into flame; the fire spreads across the ceiling.
Dean kicks the front door open.
"Sam!" Dean calls out for me, Laila and Lorelai with him.
I raise one arm to shield his face.
"Jess!" I call out.
Dean comes running into the bedroom.
"Sam! Sam!" Dean calls for me.
Dean looks up and sees Jess.
"No! No!" I call out.
I grab Henry, Prim, and the baby on the way out, her birth certificate not forgotten as I get everything.
Dean grabs me off the bed and bodily shoves me out the door, I am struggling all the way.
"Jess! Jess! No!" I scream.
Flames engulf the apartment.
Laila POV
After the Fire
Outside of Sam's Apartment – Night
In a scene much like the end of the flashback, a fire truck is parked outside the building, firemen and police keeping back gawkers. Dean looks on, then turns and walks back to his car. Sam is standing behind the open trunk, loading a shotgun. Dean looks at the trunk, then at Sam, whose face is set in a mask of desperate anger. Sam looks up, then sighs, nods, and tosses the shotgun into the trunk.
"We got work to do." Sam says.
Sam shuts the trunk.
A/N Henry and Prim birthday - December 11, 2004