Warning: This chapter gets really dark, so if anyone wants to skip this one, it's totally fine, since it contains references to past experiences of abuse and mental illness. For anyone who does skip this chapter, the characters will fill in the gaps for you later, without going into much detail, so you won't miss a whole lot. For those of you who decide to read through the whole thing, I hope you like it.

With all that being said, it's almost time to wrap this up. There are just a couple chapters left after this.

Chapter 7

Harriet's Revenge

As Sam and Dean approached the private road that led up to the mansion, they saw a blue blur again and Clark suddenly appeared to the left of the Impala.

"Holy crap!" Dean hit the brakes, and the tires slid across the wet slush on the road as the car came to a stop.

Then he pulled over to the shoulder and Clark quickly got in the back and pulled the door shut behind him. "Guys, I found something. Victoria must've left it behind when she went to the hotel."

Clark reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a heart-shaped locket that was attached to a golden necklace. He stuck his arm between the front seats and held it out to Sam and Dean so they could get a good look at it.

Dean took it from him and opened it so he and Sam could see what was inside. "Son of a bitch."

Sam raised an eyebrow when he saw the picture of two teenage girls smiling for the camera inside of it. "Who are those girls?"

Dean looked at his brother and then glanced over his shoulder at Clark. "The younger one is definitely our ghost. I don't know who the other girl is, but I'm guessing it's Lex's girlfriend, when she was younger."

Clark leaned forward so that his head passed between the front seats and nodded, "Yeah, that's definitely her. My guess is they were either close friends or sisters."

Sam glanced back at Clark and asked, "Do you know which hotel she went to?"

Clark shook his head and sat back in his seat. "Not really, but I can only assume she went to one of the nicer hotels in Granville. I only know of two that might be her style, so it shouldn't be hard to find her."

Dean stuck the locket into a pocket in his jacket and smirked at Clark over his shoulder. "How did you get inside without anyone seeing you?"

"Very carefully," was Clark's answer.

Then Dean put the car back into drive and checked his left blind spot, to make sure no other drivers were getting ready to pass him. "Okay, let's see if we can track her down."

Then Dean did a U-turn and headed in the direction of Granville. All they needed to do now was find Victoria and get her to tell them everything, so they could finally wrap up this case and put the ghost to rest.

Victoria remained barricaded in her hotel room after Lex returned to the mansion. She kept the door locked and a chair wedged in between the floor and the doorknob at an angle, to keep anyone from getting in. Her suitcase lay open on the bed and a can of salt rested on top of her clothes.

Her purse was on one of the bedside tables with her cellphone inside of it, which started ringing suddenly. Nearly jumping out of her skin again, she slowly went over and pulled it out. When she looked to see who was calling, she discovered that it was her father.

Victoria answered with a shaky voice. "He-hello?"

"Victoria, where have you been? You were supposed to bring me those files yesterday! What's gotten into you, Girl?!"

"But Father, she's," Victoria whispered. "She's back."

"Who's back?" Sir Harry asked. "Please tell me you're not thinking of backing out now!"

"Harriet's back!" Victoria cried. "She tried to communicate, but I didn't listen, and now…"

Sir Harry sighed. "Victoria, I know you still feel terrible about what happened to your sister, but I've told you this a thousand times. What happened to her was not your fault."

"But Father, I pushed her away when she needed me! Now she's coming after me!"

Sir Harry sighed again, but then his sigh turned into an angry groan. "I should have known this was a terrible idea! I thought you could handle yourself around the Luthors, but now I see that I was mistaken! I'm calling Belle Reeve. I know a specialist who can help you."

"Father, I'm not going crazy!" Victoria cried. "She tried to kill Lex last night! Now she's coming after me! I can't…"

Then Harriet's ghost suddenly appeared by the door leading out into the hall, and it seemed like her spirit flickered in and out a few times, before turning completely visible. "Father, she's here!"

Suddenly, the phone flew out of Victoria's hand and smashed against the wall. She put up her hands and tried to back away slowly, but Harriet glanced over at the large, wall-mounted plasma TV and pulled it off the wall.

"No!" Victoria cried.

The large television came flying at her and she barely dodged it in time, before it hit the wall and fell to the floor with a loud crash. She grabbed the can of salt that was in the suitcase and her hands trembled as she fumbled with the tab on the lid.

Harriet's face contorted into a snarl, and she sent her sister flying through the air, straight into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut behind her. Victoria dropped the can of salt along the way, so it spilled out onto the carpet, just before she landed on the floor tiles in the bathroom and hit her head on the edge of the bathtub. Victoria rolled onto her stomach and tried to crawl away from the door, with blood running down the side of her face from her bruised temple.

When she looked back, she saw her sister's spirit walk right through the door like it wasn't even there. "Harriet, please, I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Tears started streaming down Victoria's cheeks, but Harriet ignored her pleas and teleported over to her. Then the angry ghost glanced at the sink, where a hair dryer was resting beside the faucet. The cord came unplugged from the wall and the entire thing floated up in the air.

Victoria rolled onto her back and sat up, as she tried begging for her life again. "Harriet, it doesn't have to be like this! We can talk about this! Please!"

Harriet ignored her as the hair dryer flew across the room. Victoria caught it in her hands, hoping to stop the attack, but then the cord slithered around her neck like a serpent, and she knew there was nothing more she could do. Her life was over.

After checking two different hotels and failing to find Victoria, the boys were clueless about where to go, but they soon found a third hotel that Clark thought she might like, and they went inside and hurried up to the front desk.

The desk clerk smiled when he looked up and saw them heading his way. "Good afternoon, guys! Are you here to book a couple rooms?"

His smile faded when he saw the worried looks on their faces and Clark said, "We're looking for someone named Victoria Hardwick. Do you know if she's staying here?"

The clerk gave them a worried look, "Are you friends of hers?"

"Yes, and she's in danger," Sam answered.

The clerk looked through the list of booked rooms on his computer, until he found her name. As soon as he gave them the room number, all three of them made a run for it. They took the stairs up to the third floor and made a beeline for her room. Concerned guests were hanging around the area after hearing loud crashes and screams, so the boys had to push past them. On the way there, Clark used his x-ray vision and he saw Victoria being picked up by the electrical cord of a hair dryer in the bathroom. Her feet were up off the floor, but she was still struggling with the cord around her neck, as it appeared to tighten its grip.

Clark took a step back and kicked the door open when he got to it, busting the door jam, and destroying the chair that held it shut, while Sam and Dean pushed the crowd of curious people away from the entrance. After Clark entered the room, he spotted the can of salt and used his super speed to retrieve it and force his way into the bathroom. As soon as the door flew open, he finally saw the ghost for the first time, and she scowled at him when she realized he was there.

"Victoria, hang on!" Clark flung a huge cloud of salt at the ghost, sending her away, and then he ran over to Victoria and caught her in his arms as she fell.

After she came down, the cord loosened its grip and the hair dryer clattered onto the floor tiles. Sam and Dean followed Clark into the bathroom, while Victoria gasped for air and coughed, with their own small boxes of salt in hand.

"Victoria, it's okay," Clark reassured her, as he knelt down and carefully removed the cord from her neck. "She's gone now."

Victoria put her arms around him, and he looked up at Sam and Dean, who were breathing heavily and looking down at them. Then Clark helped her up and brought her back out into the main section of the hotel room, where they noticed the people in the hall peering in through the open doorway.

"Hey, there's nothing to see here!" Dean angrily slammed the door shut, but the latch was busted, so it partially reopened after making contact with the door frame.

Victoria sat down on the bed with Clark, so Dean brought out the locket and showed her the picture. "Victoria, we need to know who this girl is. It's very important."

At first, she hesitated to say anything, so Sam added, "You have a pissed off spirit coming after you. We can help, but you have to tell us everything."

Victoria looked up at Sam, then glanced at Dean, and finally, she looked at Clark, with tears still streaming down the sides of her face. "That was Harriet, my sister. When I was sixteen, she… She killed herself and it was all my fault!"

Then she buried her face in her hands and Clark put an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, you can tell us what happened. We won't judge you."

When she looked up again, Sam handed her a box of tissues so she could clean herself up a bit. After Victoria took the tissues from him and calmed herself down a little, she was finally able to continue her story. "The last day I saw her, those other girls at the prep school treated her like crap. When she tried to talk to our father about it, he said she's a Hardwick, so she needs to act like it, and then he hit her. When she came to me, we got in a fight and then…"

The tears in her eyes started to well up again and she paused for a moment, before continuing. "Then she disappeared. We thought she ran away at first, but I found her in the closet…"

"Is that why she has the dark circle around her neck?" Clark asked.

Victoria nodded. "Yeah. For the longest time, I… I tried to forget what I saw. I thought that if I kept busy and made my father proud, I could put it behind me. I told myself Harriet was weak and that it was her fault somehow, but now… Now I know I was wrong."

Since the guys needed more information, Sam took it upon himself to ask the hardest question of all. "I know this will be difficult, but can you tell us if she was buried? We need to stop her before this gets worse."

"She was cremated," Victoria mumbled.

Dean looked down at the locket in his hand and smirked. "That's good, actually. Now all we gotta do is burn this damn thing and it'll be over."

Victoria looked up at him. "Burn it? How… How will that help?"

"We think Harriet's spirit is attached to it," Sam explained. "She probably attacked you the moment we got here, so if we salt and burn it, she can be at peace."

"Now we just need to find a place to do it," Dean said. "Anybody got some ideas?"

"There's a tent camping ground near here," Clark told him. "I went there with Pete and his dad a couple times. It's closed for the winter, so there shouldn't be anyone there."

Sam nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Now that the boys had their answers, Dean shoved the locket inside of his jacket, but Clark remained by Victoria's side and held her until the Granville police showed up. After they were all questioned, the officers took her to the hospital, so she could receive medical attention for her head injury, as well as a psychiatric evaluation.

It was late-afternoon when the three guys left the hotel, so they didn't waste any more time heading to the campground. Clark and Sam felt horrible for Victoria, knowing that she might end up in a psych ward for the things that happened, but Dean figured she probably needed it anyway, after all the trauma she experienced.

"Do you think her dad covered it up?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged but kept his eyes on the road. "Probably."

Clark remained silent in the back seat, so Dean decided to crank up the music, to take their minds off the sad history of the Hardwick family. He started singing along to It's a Long Way to the Top by ACDC. Though it didn't help his passengers all that much, it definitely helped him.

Dean's facial expressions were exaggerated, and his voice was over the top as he sang, "Ridin' down the highway! Goin' to a show!"

Sam smirked at his brother, before looking out the side window at the passing shops and businesses, as they made their way out of town. Clark had his hands folded on his lap, still looking visibly disturbed by everything they found out, while Dean continued to sing along with Bon Scott.

Then Dean's phone rang, and he turned the volume down so Sam could answer it. "Hey, Dad."

On the other end, John asked, "Sam, how's the hunt in Smallville going?"

"We're going after a vengeful spirit," Sam replied. "She was cremated, so we're gonna burn the locket she's attached to."

"That's good. Is Clark with you?"

Sam glanced back at Clark. "Yes, Sir. He's in the back right now."

John chuckled. "Good. If you guys hadn't brought him along, I was gonna tear ya a new one over the phone."

Sam smiled. "I think we figured out why he was so helpful the last time you were here."

Hearing this made Clark smile a little, but he remained silent. Sam looked ahead at the road and listened as his father said, "Let me know when this is all over. I want to meet up with you boys so you can tell me everything."

"Yes, Sir," Sam said. "It's been a crazy couple of days, but we'll do that. Okay, bye."

He hung up the phone and Dean looked over at him. "What did he say?"

"He wants us to fill him in on this hunt when we get the chance," Sam answered.

Dean smiled and reached for the volume control. "Cool."

Then he cranked up the volume again and went back to singing along. Clark leaned back in his seat with a smirk and Sam looked out the window with an amused grin on his face, while he listened to the concert going on next to him. Somehow, hearing from John raised all their spirits, and it helped to remind them that this was a hunt like any other. This allowed Clark to let go of his worries for a short time, so he could focus on the task at hand, and he listened to the sound of bagpipes and wild guitar play blasting out of the speakers while the Impala flew down the road.