Chapter 15

"So, what is so special about this place beside it's supposedly haunted?" Dean asked as they walked toward the huge cemetery that covered six city blocks and was made up of seven small cemeteries.

"It's over 200 years old and the tour book says that in some places that bodies are three layers deep. Can you imagine having a loved one covered with another casket and not know it? All kinds of people from murderers to politicians have been entombed here. What better place to find a real ghost," Storm explained as they walked to one of the many entrances to the place.

The sun was setting, and dusk was falling across the cemetery casing long shadows from the many different shaped tombstones. They walked slowly through the place, following a path that took them deeper into the site. Mausoleums were scattered throughout the area, some with simple designs and others more complex in nature.

Storm would pause to check out the more elaborate stones and read the chiseled name and dates on them. The further they roamed the older the dates of death got. Dean pulled out a small flashlight to help them see, now that the sun was no longer of any use.

None of the other three noticed that Sam wandered away as they were talking about one of the tombstones until Breeze asked him a question and realized he wasn't there.

"Sam?" she called into the fading light. "Sam, where are you?"

"Damn, how can we lose someone his size?" Dean complained as he took a few steps back the way they came. "Sammy, you better not be pranking us dude, or I'll lay a hurting on you."

"You don't think something happened to him, do you?" Storm questioned as she clutched Breeze's arm and looked at Dean.

"Look, I want you girls to stay right here, don't move. I'll go find my dumbass brother." Dean started walking through the stones, moving the flashlight back and forth trying to catch sight of Sam. He swore under his breath when he didn't find him. He was holding the panic down but was starting to get worried when Sam stepped around a large tombstone and almost ran into him. "What the hell Sammy!" Dean fussed. "Where did you go man? The girls were worried about you."

"Dean, there's a spirit here and it's lost. It's a little boy," Sam told him in a calm, quiet voice. "Don't scare him, okay?"

"You're kidding me? You mean you actually found a ghost?"

"Yeah, we need to help him."

Dean let his light play over the stones, so he'd recognize the place before speaking again to his brother.

"Wait here and let me get the girls so they won't freak out any more than they already are. Don't move!" he ordered his brother.

"Alright," Sam pulled his own light out and turned it on shining it in the direction Dean had come from. "Maybe this will help."

"I'll be right back." Dean turned to leave and tried to judge how far he had walked from the girls. He stayed in a straight line and finally heard them talking before seeing them.

"Where's Sam? Did you find him?" Storm asked in a fearful voice.

"Yeah, you're not going to believe this, but he found a ghost," Dean replied.

"Honestly? A real live ghost?"

"Well, he's not alive, but yeah, that's what he said. Come on, I'll take you to him, but stay close so you don't get lost."

Storm grabbed his arm and turned to take Breeze's hand as they followed Dean back through the darkness toward Sam. Breeze saw the flashlight beam first and broke free from Storm to hurry to Sam and throw her arms around his neck.

"Don't do that to me again," she cried out half mad, half relived he was okay. "I thought something had happened to you." Before Sam could say anything, she punched him in the arm.

"Ouch!" Sam grunted thinking she could pack a punch.

"That's for scaring the crap out of me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare anyone," Sam told them rubbing his arm.

"You can't go wandering off like that," Storm scolded him as she hugged him.

"I heard someone crying and went to check it out. It's the spirit of a little boy that can't seem to find his way to Heaven."

"Oh, that poor child. Where is he?" Storm asked looking around for the spirit.

"Matthew," Sam called softly as he cast his light back behind him and on the ground. "These are my friends that I told you about. They'll help me help you. You don't have to be afraid."

Everyone waited to see if the spirit would come or not. Storm and Breeze shivered as the air around them suddenly got cold and watched in surprise as a young boy around seven or eight slowly began to take form in front of Sam. When he became corporal, they could tell he was frightened as he gazed at them with a wary look and stayed far away from them. He looked at Sam with soulful eyes.

"Matthew, this is Dean, my brother, and that's Storm and Breeze, our girlfriends."

"Hi there," Storm greeted the child in a soft voice. She squatted down so she wouldn't be so scary to him.

"Hi," Matthew replied in a timid, soft voice. He shifted from foot to foot not sure what to make of these strangers. The tall one was nice and seemed to want to help him, but he was still unsure. "I don't like it here, there are bad things," he said looking over his shoulder into the dark.

"Dean, we have to help him," Storm told him looking up at him. "He's just a frightened child."

"What do we know Sammy?" Dean asked. He watched Storm ease closer to the spirit and hold out her hand to him.

"His name is Matthew Parson and he lived around here with his mother and father before he died. That's about all I got before you found me."

"It's okay honey," Storm whispered to the boy when he took her hand. She shivered slightly with his touch but smiled sweetly to him as he stepped closer. "We're going to help you," she mumbled as she put her arms around the small body to hug him knowing any child needed to be shown love.

"Alright, everyone, after we get some information from the kid, we'll head back to the house and do some research," Dean told them. "Matthew, when were you born and what were your parent's names?" he asked the child only to have him hide his face.

"Honey, can you tell us your birthday?" Storm asked the boy when he didn't answer Dean but hid his face by pressing it into Storm's neck.

"April 8, 1936," he whispered to her.

"What were your Mom and Dad's names?"

"Daniel and Grace Pearson."

"Did you hear Dean?"

"Yeah, you got that Sammy?"

"Got it," Sam nodded as he typed the info on his cell.

"Sam has this child been here in this cemetery all this time?" Breeze asked as she studied the child and could see how pale he looked.

"Yes, afraid so. Something has stopped him from crossing over, so he's been trapped here since his death."

"How awful for the child."

"Matthew, can you find a safe place to hide while we go see what we can find out to help you?" Dean asked.

"I guess," his small voice answered. "Will you come back? Promise?"

"Can't he come with us?" Storm asked.

"Afraid not. Usually, a spirit can't leave the place they haunt."

"I promise we'll come back Matthew," Storm told the boy. "Those guys are hunters and are good at what they do. They'll find a way to release you so you can go be with your parents."

"Matthew, if we're not back tonight, we'll be back tomorrow, but we will be back," Sam tried to assure him. "Now go on and find a safe place to stay. We will come back here to this tombstone to find you."

"Alright. Please come back." Matthew stepped back from Storm and looked at them with hope and despair, mixed together.

"Come on guys, let's get back to the house so we can do some research," Dean told them.

Storm looked back over his shoulder as they made their way to the entrance they came through and saw the small boy watching them for a moment before fading away. Her heart was heavy, and she hoped they would be able to help.

spn

"Okay, Sammy, you and Breeze take the boy and Stormy and me will check out the parents," Dean instructed as they strolled into the house. "You brought your laptop, didn't you?"

"Yes, I'll go get it," Storm replied heading for their bedroom.

"I'll get my laptop," Sam told Breeze before heading to their bedroom. He came back with it, and they took a seat at the table. He opened it and booted the system, waiting for it come up. "We'll start with a simple search of the boy's name," Sam explained to Breeze who squeezed in close to watch what he was doing. He went through several search engines but didn't find anything.

"Would it help if you could get into the county death records for that period and look for a death certificate?"

"Yeah, but I don't…"

"May I?" Breeze asked before pulling the laptop her way so she could quickly type on the keyboard.

Sam watched in surprise as she hacked into the county's data base and did a search of the name and date of birth.

"How did you do that?"

"There are things you don't know about me," Breeze shrugged. "I learned a few tricks while in service, I just don't advertise it."

"You are full of surprises and I like that about you."

"Look, here it is," said Breeze in an excited voice. She enlarged the page and they leaned forward to try and decipher the handwriting. Sam used a pad and took notes on it.

"Do you think you could get into the Broadway Cemetery records and find out where the boy is buried? And maybe his parents? I'm thinking they are probably there too."

"Let me see…" Breeze caught her lower lip between her teeth as she concentrated on the screen while typing at a fast pace.

Sam tried to follow what she was doing but lost her halfway through it. He was going to have her show him a few things to help on their hunts. He wondered what else he didn't know about Breeze and couldn't wait to find out what they might be.

Dena and Storm were in the living room with her laptop trying to research the parents. Storm slapped at Dean's fingers as he tried to help her type and scolded him to let her do it. She told him to take notes on what they found to be useful. About an hour later, they got together to compare notes.

"Daniel and Grace Pearson were married on August 21, 1934, and Grace grave birth to a son on April 8. 1936. It was a difficult birth and Grace never fully recovered from it," Storm read. "They lived in a house on the east side of the island. Daniel Pearson's family was one of the first to settle here. They never had any other children and when Matthew was six, he got sick and eventually died. Grace was devastated and from what we found I think she went a little crazy. She had a baby crafted by a voodoo priest and used hair from Matthew so she would always have a part of him with her. Daniel, her husband, was beside himself and didn't know what to do for Grace. She named the baby Matthew and treated it like it was alive."

"Now we know why Matthew couldn't move on. She was so grief stricken, she couldn't let him go," Sam commented. "She was holding him here without knowing it. That baby having Matthew's hair, I bet that's the object that has him stuck here."

"We found the death certificate for Matthew," Breeze told them. "He died of scarlet fever. Seems it swept through the town back then. It was a lingering illness and many of the townsfolks died of it. Matthew was entombed in a family crypt somewhere around where Sam found him. It holds most of the Pearson family."

"I also found this article that tells of Grace's death. A year after Matthew died, a massive storm swept through, and Grace thought that Matthew was outside and ran out to save him. Daniel tried find her, but by the time he got outside she was gone. They never found her body. Daniel took the baby she had made and entombed it in the crypt in her place." Storm looked up from her reading to Dean and Sam.

"Well, at least we don't have to dig up a grave," Dean huffed.

"What?" Breeze asked not sure she heard right. "You guys actually dig up graves? So, what I read about that is true?"

"That's the only way to salt and burn the bones," Sam offered. "At least we don't have to search for the baby, we know where it's at too."

"Okay kiddies, it's too late to go back to the cemetery now. Why don't we get a few hours of sleep and go back in the morning and find the crypt? I'm sure the parents are probably buried there too."

"Can Matthew come out during the day?" Storm asked. "It doesn't have to be dark?"

"If he can't come, we could maybe do a séance and summon him," Sam suggested. "But he might be able to return to the mausoleum where he is buried."

"I think we have a plan," Dean announced standing up. "Okay, it's bedtime. C'mon Stormy. See you guys in the morning."

"Night," Storm said. She got up and followed Dean to their bedroom.

"I can't believe we are actually helping a ghost," Breeze told Sam as they headed for their bedroom. "I guess this is not your usual dealings with them."

"Afraid not. Most of the ones we come across are vengeful spirits out to hurt or kill someone. I'm glad your first encounter was a friendly one. You can have the bathroom first Bree," Sam told her going to the bed and turning down the covers.

"Alright, I won't be long." Breeze went into the bathroom to do her routine and came out letting Sam have his turn. She undressed and slipped between the cool sheets to wait on him. Her mind was still on the spirit of the small child, Matthew, and hoped they could help him. She sighed softly when Sam came back into the room and slipped into the bed to snuggle with her. She loved the feel of his strong arms around her body and to feel the warmth of his skin against hers. They spooned and Sam kissed her neck and ear, hearing her sigh softly with pleasure.

"Sweet dreams," Sam mumbled into her ear, kissing her again.

"You too, Stud Muffin," Breeze giggled making Sam grunt his disgust. "If you don't like that, you'll have to help me come up with another nickname."

"Anything is better than that," Sam mumbled.

"Anything?"

"Within reason," Sam added quickly thinking of much worse names.

"We'll work on that…"

Breeze cuddled into Sam's body and hummed softly thinking this felt so right. Something was different with Sam. She has never felt this way about any of the other guys that she dated. She knew he was complicated, private, and had so many layers to peel back to get to know the real Sam Winchester. Breeze just hoped she got that chance.

A/N: They couldn't pass up helping a child find his way to Heaven. I thought it would be nice to have a friendly spirit for the girls' first encounter with the guys' world. Thanks for taking this journey with me. Only one more chapter left, and we will be done with this story. I hope I have entertained you. I do like reviews/comments. NC