Ragdoll
By, BROXA
Disclaimer: Again, everything you don't recognize is mine.
Author's Note: For those who don't know, Braille is the raised writing used for blind people. It's a system of raised dots. Oh, and the mutilated ghost-thing in the first chapter is Audrey Tine. Just thought I'd say.
Summary: It should've been a run of the mill hunt: pissed off, revenge seeking spirit. But when the tables are turned, and Sam finds himself the target of a deranged ghost, things take a far more sinister turn...
.xxx.
November 30th, 2004
No matter how long Dean spent scrubbing the Impala, the blood didn't come off. On the contrary, the message seemed to sink deeper into the paint, until it gave the illusion of being under the paintjob, somehow shining through the black exterior of the car.
As it was, the message shimmered ominously, a sinister reminder of…what? What was the ghost, or whatever had written it, trying to tell them? 'Seven days'…what could it mean?
Glaring at the words, Dean grumbled something incoherent under his breath, threw the sponge he'd been using into the rusty bucket that the owner of the local Sunoco had leant him. The bucket tipped over, spreading water all over the pavement, and alerting the station owner. Through the window, Dean could see the man's head jerk up from the magazine (Dean suspected it was Playboy, given the slightly glazed look in the man's eyes) he was reading. After glaring suspiciously around for a few minutes, the man hauled himself out of his chair and ambled over to Dean.
"You crazy kids and your detailin'…" the pudgy man muttered, shaking his head. Ignoring Dean's soundless protests, he moved closer to the car and bent his head over the writing. "'Seven days'? What are you, some kinda The Ring freak?"
"No! Some psycho wrote it on my car! Why would someone put graffiti on their own car?" He asked scathingly, absentmindedly rubbing a finger across the grotesque writing. It wasn't even wet anymore, but it seemed to be raised up, like some sort of sadistic Braille.
The man eyed Dean for a long, uncomfortable moment, before turning around. He seemed to be talking to himself; Dean disregarded this until he heard the name Audrey mentioned among the sea of unintelligible mutterings.
"Wait a minute! Did you say Audrey? As in, Audrey Tine?" Dean asked quickly, taking several steps towards the man, who winced and turned around reluctantly.
"Yes. Yes, I did. The Ring was my Audrey's favorite movie…nice kid, she was. But that boyfriend of hers…he was horrible. Wore a pentagram, and when he blew his brains out…oh, Jesus, when they performed an autopsy, they found a rabbit head in one of his pockets, and dog entrails in the other one! Awful kid," the man added, his eyebrows knitted. When Dean failed to produce an answer, he turned around and slouched back into the small convenience store, still muttering about how awful Talon had been.
Rabbit heads and dog guts…it was a familiar combination; he knew he'd heard John mention it before. But Sam was the more likely one to remember it, so he got back into the defiled Impala and hurried back to the hotel Sam was waiting at.
.xxx.
"Rabbit heads and dog guts?" Sam repeated skeptically, opening up the laptop.
"Yeah. They found 'em in his pockets during the autopsy. Maybe it's some sorta spell? Sara said he was a Pagan, right?" Dean answered, leaning over Sam as he tapped away on the laptop.
A few tense, silent moments passed, before Sam grinned triumphantly. "Got it. The stuff they found in his pockets were ingredients for some sort of Satanic return spell. As in, return to life," Sam said with satisfaction. "There's only one other ingredient…ground up blue topaz."
"So, Talon killed his girlfriend, then himself, but did some freaky Pagan shit so he could come back? But that made Audrey mad, so now she's killing people?" Dean asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
Sam opened his mouth to answer, but a knock on their hotel door prevented him from doing so. Looking at Dean, who shrugged, he closed the laptop, walked over to the door, and opened it.
For a split second, he only stared at the mutilated girl hovering in the doorway. Then he gave a loud yell and stumbled back, as the ghost of Audrey Tine drifted into the hotel room. The room, which had been full of daylight, was being sucked of any and all light, until it was darker than a full solar eclipse. All of the light was sucked into Audrey's horribly disfigured body, until she glowed with an unearthly light that forced Sam and Dean to squint so not to be blinded.
As the light grew still brighter, Sam realized that the ghost was holding something: two eyeballs. She dropped them on the floor, where they rolled across the stained carpet, and stopped, one at Sam's feet, the other at Dean's.
"You need to see what is right before you. Your theory is wrong. Talon—"
But exactly what she was going to say about Talon, they never knew.
With a crash, the motel window exploded, showering Sam and Dean with broken glass. A shadow, even blacker than the darkness in the room, hurtled into the room, and threw itself at Sam. For a minute, it hovered in front of him, then dove into his chest…just like in the dream.
It was like he was being possessed by Ellicott all over again. Foreign thoughts and memories flooded his subconscious: being shouted at by a pudgy man in a Sunoco uniform…killing and dismembering Audrey…sewing back together her body a month later, but leaving out some parts that were too rotten to be saved…working the return spell, and crumbling the blue topaz over her…killing himself, but not before putting the spell over himself…and, most predominately, charming Audrey to kill the girls.
Talon seemed to have only one thought: COLLECT THE PARTS AND POSSESS THE BOY. REUNITED AT LAST.
Vaguely, Sam heard Dean shouting, and Audrey's ghost crying, but Talon crushed all of his attempts to throw out the foreign entity. Talon turned Sam's head in Dean's direction, and spoke in an awful, deep voice.
"Seven days until Samuel Winchester is obliterated. Seven days until the ragdoll is sewn together. Seven days until we are reunited at last," Talon intoned, while Sam struggled to regain control of his own body.
As quickly as he came, Talon leapt out of Sam's body, and hurtled out of the window. Helplessly, Audrey stared at Dean, who was on his feet, holding a rock salt gun, then at Sam, who was sprawled across the floor.
"Look beyond the exterior. I am not the villain," she murmured, then vanished with a loud pop, seconds before Dean pulled the trigger. Salt blasted into the wall behind Audrey, and, as if on cue, light flooded back into the room, and the door blew shut. Fighting an urge to throw an arm across his smarting eyes, Dean dropped the gun, and hurried over to Sam, who, to his relief, was stirring.
"Hey, Sammy? You awake?" Dean asked quietly, squatting next to Sam.
"Yeah," came the reply, quiet and weak.
"That's the second time, little bro. You have a helluva knack for getting psychos to possess you," he cracked, trying not to show Sam how frightened he'd been. God, his heart was still racing…
"Dean, it isn't Audrey. It's Talon. He's making her do it," Sam said, dodging Dean's weak joke and sitting up against the bed.
"You getting some more ' the Shining' shit, or did Talon show you that?" Dean inquired, eyebrows knitting.
"Talon did. I don't think he meant to, though. I saw his memories when he possessed me…killing Audrey, sewing her back together, killing himself, then putting a spell on her so she killed the girls. But there was one memory that didn't fit. The first one, it was of Talon getting yelled at by a fat guy in a Sunoco uniform," Sam finished, watching Dean, whose eyes were getting bigger and bigger.
"Dude, I think I met that guy today!"
"You serious?" Sam said quickly, straightening up more.
"Yeah! Y'know, he said something weird…'my Audrey'. Like he was her dad or something," he answered, almost to himself.
For a minute, both brothers were silent, thinking. Then Sam began talking slowly.
"I bet he was…I've got a theory, Dean. I think that Mr. Sunoco didn't like Talon being with his little girl. So, Talon killed her, then himself…" he trailed off, and was cut off by Dean.
"Know what I think, Sammy? I think Talon wants to possess you in seven days, and use your corporeal form to sew together that ragdoll he mentioned!" Dean said, with the excited air of one who has just figured out a puzzle.
"That's why they're collecting body parts!" Sam finished triumphantly. "He wants to get Audrey a new body!"
The two brothers stared at each other, until the door started banging raucously. This time, it was Dean who opened the door.
A man with coarse brown hair and a pendulous belly leaned against the doorway, huffing and puffing—the motel owner. He took one look around the room, with its shattered window and rock salt craters (not to mention the eyeballs Audrey had left on the floor), and jabbed a finger at Dean's chest.
"You can get the fuck outta my motel!" He said angrily, words punctuated by wheezes: it seemed that the owner didn't get much exercise.
"Okay, sir...your security sucks ass, by the way. It let a ghost in," Dean added pleasantly, quirking an eyebrow as he picked up their duffel bags, stuffing the rock salt gun into it as he went. He helped Sam up, and together they squeezed past the glaring motel owner.
The man stumped behind them for three flights of stairs, puffing like a whale. No one spoke, except for a quick, muttered 'you okay?' on Dean's part, after Sam stumbled.
Predictably, the owner made it his business to escort them to the Impala. Throwing the bags into the backseat, Dean slid into the drivers' seat, and Sam into the passenger's seat.
As the Impala roared off, the owner shook a fist in the air and shouted after it, "You're payin' for that window, crazy bastard!"
He had to strain to hear it, but Dean's response came sharp and quick: "Yeah, whatever, tubby!"
.xxx.
Kee…I like this chapter.
Review responses:
Sweetie420: Hey, thanks! I really hope you like this one too…I had writers block. Again. Ugh!
Sparks Diamond: Sorry the wait was so long…a whole week! Hope this one's worth it!
WinchestersGirl: Can't be done without the gruesomeness, eh? Yeah, I like detail…I think it's really important to a story! I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job with it! And a joy to r/r? Whoa, thanks!
As usual, I'll post the next chapter on Sunday, unless I get a burst of inspiration!