Chapter 7
A/N: I don't own Sam, Dean, any Chevy Impala (though I used to have a Nova) or anything related to the show Supernatural. Also, this Cheesequake Park bears no resemblance to the real one in NJ and the surrounding town and things discovered in this fic are entirely a product of my strange imagination (except amber is real).
A/N 2: I meant to update last Tuesday when the show was off but got caught up with a new job so I apologize for the delay. I have been able to read and enjoy other people's work here however-I have no idea how so many of you can update so regularly-you ought to bottle it and sell it to Supernatural fans :) This chapter is a little short-I'm still working on more of it and my other story (hangs head), but Beautiful Ally mentioned me and this story in her author notes so I felt I had to post-she has a great new story up called GoodNight Sammy-you can go read that and her other stories too, they're good :)
After breakfast, the brothers decided to give the local library a try for more information before they headed out, and expanded their search to the field next to the park. The library was modern and two stories, with self service computers and microfilm machines. Sam happily delved into the research while Dean unobtrusively checked out the female library workers. To his disappointment, most were too young.
"Pages." Sam told him.
"Huh?" he replied.
"Most libraries hire young pages to do the shelving and stuff. It gives them extra credit and counts for community service." Sam expanded.
Dean stared at him. "And you know this because…"
Sam flushed and muttered under his breath as he turned back to the microfilm machine.
Dean crowded next to his brother. "I didn't get that."
"I said I spent a lot of time when I was younger and not allowed on hunts yet in the library. Remember when we needed extra research done and I always had a book with the information about what we needed ready? Where do you think I got the books from?" Sam asked him.
"Uh, a bookstore that you swiped it from?" Even as he answered Dean was remembering that a lot of the books had seemed well-worn, as though they had been in a library and used by a lot of people.
Sam sighed. "No, I never liked doing that. And when some of the copies got damaged and destroyed, I did some work in the library to pay it off."
Dean stared at him in amazement. "Is that why you were so freaked when the werewolf tore that book of yours up? I thought you were just sulking for three weeks afterward. You mean you were working in the library all that time?"
His brother shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. And I got to see a whole lot of different books-any time one seemed like it might have to do with our kind of thing I made a note of it. That's how I always had just the right books ready for research when you and Dad were going on a hunt. I felt I was kinda doing my part." Sam ducked his head.
"Oh." Was all Dean could come up with.
Sam had turned back to read the displayed information. "Got it."
Dean looked at the article Sam brought up. "Bodies discovered in abandoned field."
Sam continued. "The article says that three bodies from the early 1800's were discovered when the field was being surveyed for development. The bodies were so well preserved a superstitious worker thought they were mummies, from the stuff all over them. It turns out that it was dried resin."
"Resin?" Dean raised an eyebrow.
Sam nodded. "The bodies were covered in tree resin-it stopped the natural decay process. You know it better as amber-that's fossilized tree resin millions of years old. Apparently New Jersey has a lot of amber and resin-producing trees."
"And how did these bodies get covered, and who were they? There's too much coincidence for them not to be involved with the missing hikers." Dean stated.
Sam turned back to the article but frowned. "They were able to date the bodies, two boys and a girl from clothing and personal effects, but nothing on the bodies said who they were. The experts were able to ascertain that the three died of exposure, and were then covered by tree resin. Damaged trees produce the resin for protection-the bodies probably died by a damaged tree and the resin spread over them. Apparently the field was actually part of the forest at that time; it was cleared later in the 1900s for progress. Someone did have to bury the bodies though-probably a good samaritan that happened by, as there was no marker of any kind found with them. That's all that this article has-apparently no one was able to find out who the three were or to claim them, so the museum decided to make them part of an exhibit to draw crowds."
Dean shook his head. "That's just wrong. They should be given a decent burial, after they're salted and burned, of course. Wait, you said two boys and a girl?"
"Yes" his brother sighed. "The article just says they were young. They probably weren't the first kids to get lost in a forest and die, and won't be the last."
"Yeah, but this particular forest is making hikers disappear. I think we found our connection-maybe the spirits want company or something. We have to get a look at those bodies."
"We can go tomorrow when the display is open to the public. Maybe Josh and Marie will be back by then-the hikers after seven days just appear at the entrance to the Park with no memory of how they got there, or the time they were gone. Seven days…" Sam trailed off.
"Yeah, that sounded suspicious to me too. Unless-you think it took seven days for those kids to die?" Dean asked.
"It's possible. If so, the hikers are lucky that they return alive-in most of our cases the victims of things like this ended up dead. Unless by sending the lost hikers back alive the ghosts think they're somehow saving themselves?" Sam mused. "If it is the three kids' ghosts that we're dealing with."
"Why? What else would it be? You still think it's the bear that's snatching the hikers?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I still feel like we're missing something."
"Well, you can think about it while we visit that field. We'll see what our equipment picks up." Dean said.
"If it is the ghosts of the three kids, how are we going to set them to rest? We can't exactly waltz into the museum and burn their exhibit down."
Dean smirked at his brother, a certain look in his eyes. Sam noticed the look and just shook his head, following his brother out of the library.
Ghostwriter, thanks, and I'll catch your stories when you post again :), Nate and Jake, new episode this week! Here's more, sorry it took awhile, Applegrape8910, I love learning about ancient Egypt and mummies, and I hope the rest of this story lives up to yourthoughts of it :), Lu 14, I'm still writing, just the slowest updater in the East, lol, Beautiful Ally, thanks so much for reviewing! Glad you like this, I'll try to update it more regularly.