Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters. I and am not making any money on this…I'm just having fun filling in the time until September!

Ghost Hollow

Chapter 7 – Finding Marie

Dean gently turned his brother over and sighed as he saw the blood dripping from Sam's nose. "Aw Sammy…ok lets get you back to the car before these nice people notice!" Dean was glad that most of the people had either left or were on the other side of the cemetery getting ready to leave. Luckily they had parked away from the other guests, so Dean was able to carry Sam to the car and get him in the passenger seat without having to explain his brother's sudden loss of consciousness. He just hoped that Sam would wake up soon and without the pain that was still evident on his brother's face. "Hold on Sammy…I'll have you back to the motel in no time."

Dean had been driving for only a few moments, when he heard his brother moan in the seat beside him. "Sammy?" Dean asked quietly, not wanting to ask anything that would cause his brother more pain.

Sam slowly opened his eyes, his headache was still pretty bad, but no worse than what he normally experienced after one of his visions. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he finally noticed that they were in the car. "What? Where are we going?" Sam finally managed as he realized that they were heading back towards town.

"Well, I was going to head back to the motel, but since you've rejoined the living…how do you feel about a trip to county records and the library?" Dean watched to make sure that Sam's pain didn't increase. But his brother just nodded his head in agreement.

"Don't worry Dean, a few pain killers and I'll be good to go. We need to find out more about the local legend…why don't you drop me off at the library while you go to the county records building."

"I don't think so Sammy, until this is over with…I'm sticking to you like glue." Dean saw his brother's shoulders stiffen. "Look Sam, I know you hate being hovered over…but we don't know exactly what kind of hold this spirit has on you. Obviously, it can draw you to Ghost Hollow and make you jump off bridges, so for my piece of mind…just go with it for now ok?"

Sam sighed, he knew that his brother was right. "Ok Dean, I get it…I just hate this…I'm useless once again." Sam turned to stare out the window, Dean was never going to treat him as an equal partner if these kinds of things kept happening. Sam was tired of Dean always having to look out for him…he was an adult now and was supposed to be able to take care of himself. After all he had done it for the 2 years he was at Stanford.

Dean saw his brother withdrawing and he thought he understood the reason, but unfortunately he couldn't come up with a solution. "Look Sammy…I know you can take care of yourself and I know that you hate it when I pull the big brother card out, but you have to understand…it's my job to take care of you and even if it wasn't, I'd still take care of you…you have enough to deal with trying to stay below the radar with the demon…just let me do this for you ok?"

Sam looked at his brother, understanding that it had taken Dean a lot to say what he had. "Dean, I understand ok, and I really appreciate you always being there for me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there…I just wish that I could take care of you once in a while you know? I mean, that's what families do…they take of each other. It just seems like you're always taking care of me and that's not fair."

"Sammy boy, tell me one thing about our freakin life that could be called fair! Now as much as I'm loving this warm and fuzzy moment we seem to be having, it's not getting us much closer to the spirit that apparently has her sights set on your ass….so are we good?"

Sam smiled, he should have known his brother could only take so much. "Sure, so library or county records first?"

It only took them a short time at the county records building to find out that Marie Gonzales was from one of the original French colonist families who had settled the area. Unfortunately, that meant it would be almost impossible to find out where she was buried because the records from back then weren't complete and the land itself had changed. "Great…only you would get a woman from the 1800's yearning for you…you and those damn puppy dog eyes of yours Sam!"

Sam just rolled his eyes. "You're just pissed because she didn't respond to the old Dean Winchester charm…but anytime you want to step in, just let me know…I'd be happy to step aside!"

"Sorry, I like my women a little younger there Sammy. So, looks like we need to see if we can find out more about the legend to figure out how to get rid of her." Dean was getting worried, this was turning out to be more than just a simple salt and burn and he didn't like it.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and the library will tell us where she's buried, were you able to find out where her old homestead was?" Sam knew that back then, they normally buried their family members on the property, maybe if they could find where she lived, they could locate her grave.

"No, the land records were not real helpful this time. Let's hope we have more luck here." Dean said as he pulled up to the library.

Sam was searching through some of the older books on the town's history while Dean continued to review the older newspaper clippings, hoping that someone would have written about what really happened to Marie Gonzales. Dean sat back and rubbed his tired eyes, he knew there was a reason he always left this up to Sam. He looked over at his younger brother and smiled as Sam continued to make notes in his journal. Just give his brother a few books and a mystery and he was happy as a clam…he probably would have made a great lawyer. Maybe some day…but Dean knew that Sam's dreams had been crushed the day the demon told him that he wanted Sam for his powers. "So, geek boy…have you found anything yet?"

Sam looked up from what he was reading. "Actually, yes I have…here in this book there is a history of the earliest families from the region. There is even a map of the old homestead, it looks like it was located along the White River, not far from Ghost Hollow I'm guessing, but we'll have to compare it to a current map to see if we can figure out exactly where it was."

"That's my geek boy…anything on the legend?" No, not really but I'm thinking that the internet may be able to give us more information on that…I have a few sites bookmarked that I will check when we get back to the motel."

"That sounds like a good exit line…lets stop and get some dinner and then head back to the motel. It's getting late and I want to get a good night sleep if we are going to be tramping through those woods tomorrow."

Sam nodded, as he closed the book he had been reading. He just hoped that they could find more from the internet…he couldn't help but feel like they were missing something…something important.

Sam and Dean had eaten a quick meal at Cal's diner…once again, the man had insisted on them not paying for their meal. Sam felt uncomfortable, but Dean took it in stride as he placed his order. Shortly after returning to the motel, a full stomach and lack of sleep seemed to catch up with Dean as he fell asleep. Sam smiled as he looked at the sleeping form of his brother. Dean looked so boyish in his sleep, like all the responsibility he carried during the day had melted away with sleep. He only wished Dean could be like this all the time.

Sam decided to search the internet before going to bed…he wanted to have something for Dean in the morning. The first thing Sam did was to compare the map from the book in the library to a more recent map of the area. "Well I'll be damned" Sam said quietly as he realized that the old homestead had been located near Ghost Hollow. Shirley had been right, it looked like back then, the hollow had actually been a small river leading from the White River. But over time it had dried up and been renamed Ghost Hollow by the locals. Sam quickly marked the location of the old homestead on the map and put it aside.

Next Sam began searching the internet for local folk stories. After a couple of hours, he finally found what he was looking for. He quickly book marked the page and printed the article. It looked like Marie had fallen in love with a local Englishman. But her father forbid the marriage and instead arranged a marriage between her and one of the French noblemen in the area. Marie was devastated and refused to marry a man twice her age. But in the end, her father won and a wedding date was set. The night before her marriage, Marie disappeared. Her body was later found on the banks of the White River…they believed that she had taken her own life rather than marry a man she didn't love. The legend went on to say that to this day, Marie searched for her missing lover hoping that he could join her. The rest of the legend seemed to track with what Shirley had told them.

Sam sighed, he knew how she felt. Sometimes he wished that he could join Jess. He still mourned her even after all this time. But for some reason, this latest hunt was making him miss her even more. Yet, as he thought about the legend, something just didn't seem to add up. According to Dean, both men and women had gone missing or been killed. If Marie was looking to replace her lost love…wouldn't it only be men?

Sam stood and decided to try to get some sleep. As he walked by the window, he took a look outside and shivered. He could hear distant sobbing on the wind, it was calling to him. Sam took a step back towards Dean…he had to wake Dean. But before he could reach his brother, the sobbing became louder, drowning out everything but his need to comfort whoever was crying. Sam quietly opened the door and walked out into the night, his steps heading towards the source of the crying.

TBC

Raven524: Poor Dean is never going to sleep again I think (LOL). Hope you all like the newest installment! Remember to hit the little button on the bottom of the screen to let me know what you think!