Author's note: There are some exciting things coming up in future chapters! I love this episode so I'm excited to fit Emily into it. Thanks for all the love guys! Please keep reading and reviewing! Reviews fill me with joy and push me to write more and more!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Emily.
The last three weeks have dragged. When I woke up that morning after the prom I woke up 2 states away. Dean drove all night to get me as far away as possible. I love him sometimes. But it didn't feel far enough. When I woke I also found 3 missed calls and a dozen texts from Luke. Begging me to call him back, asking to come see me… then another saying he went to the motel and couldn't find us. Every word I read hurt a little more than the word before it. I wanted to call him, to make Dean drive us back, to tell him how sorry I was. To explain to him why we can't make this work.
The boys watched me like a hawk day in and day out. Tip toeing around me, knowing that any little thing could set me off. I hated it.
The calls came every day… Every time the phone rang my heart sank again. I missed Luke. It was getting harder and harder to deny myself the chance to hear his voice. One time I went to actually answer it but Dean took my phone, when I woke up the next morning I had a new one. Part of me was angry at him for taking away my only chance to talk to Luke again, but the other part was thankful that he loved me enough to do what I couldn't do. Cut me off.
We've been running case to case, just stopping to sleep in between. It feels good to be busy, to hunt, to focus on something else. But every time we go to pack the car and I see the dress I feel everything all over again. I can't keep it. It's just a reminder of what I could never have. Eventually I asked the boys to get rid of it. Sam was hesitant, but didn't argue. Instead he and Dean spent every night trying to keep my mind on other things, we've watched every single one of my favorite movies twice by now. The boys even sat through chick flicks without complaining. They brought me cheesecake every night for a week. Those sweet brothers of mine know how to heal a broken heart.
"Ash better not be naked this time." I mused outloud as we drove down the road towards the Roadhouse.
"Yeah. You're telling me." Sam agreed.
"So. I think I may have found us a case." Dean said changing topics.
"Oh yeah where?" I asked as we pulled into the parking lot.
"Los Angeles, California." Dean said as we all climbed out of the impala.
"What's in L.A.?" Sam asked.
"Young girl's been kidnapped by an evil cult."
"Yeah? Girl got a name?" I asked.
"Katie Holmes." Dean said with a grin.
"That's funny. And for you, so bitchy." Sam laughed. I too chucked. But soon our attention was averted to the sound of breaking glass and shouting coming from inside the Roadhouse.
"Of course, on the other hand — catfight." Dean said excitedly.
"Dean. Maybe we should just come back later…" I suggested. He ignored me.
When we walked in Ellen and Joe were in a screaming match, slamming things around.
"What are you going to do, are you going to chain me up in the basement?" Jo yelled.
"You know what, you've had worse ideas than that recently. Hey, you don't wanna stay, don't stay. Go back to school." Ellen said back.
"I didn't belong there! I was a freak with a knife collection." Man. Don't I know the feeling.
"Yeah, and getting yourself killed on some dusty back road, that's where you belong?!" Ellen yelled. Then they both suddenly realized we were there. Uh oh.
"Guys, bad time." Ellen said turning back around to Jo.
"Yes, ma'am." Sam said.
"Yeah, we rarely drink before ten anyway." Dean said as we all turned to leave.
"Wait. I wanna know what they think about this." Jo said suddenly stopping us.
Suddenly the phone begins to ring. Ellen and Jo stare each other down. It was Ellen who caved and went to answer the phone, Jo walked over to us holding a case folder.
They leave. The phone rings. JO glares at it, then at ELLEN, who stalks over to answer it.
"Three weeks ago a young girls disappears from a Philadelphia apartment." She said shoving it towards Dean, he didn't reach for it.
"Take it, it won't bite." She snarked.
"No, but your mom might." Dean said cautiously looking over to Ellen. Jo rolled her eyes and Dean reluctantly took the folder.
"And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young blondes. Only happens every decade or two so cops never eyeball the pattern. So we're either dealing with one very old serial killer, or —" Jo started but was interrupted.
"Who put this together? Ash?" Dean asked.
"I did it myself." Jo said proudly.
"Hmm." Dean mused impressed. Not gonna lie. She did a damn good job.
"I gotta admit. We hit the road for a lot less." Sam said looking at it over Dean's shoulder.
"Good. You like the case so much, you take it." Ellen said sharply.
"Mom!" Jo yelled.
"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. And I won't lose you too. I just won't." Ellen said with finality, leaving the room. We apologized to Jo and took the file and hit the road.
"I feel kind of bad, snaking Jo's case." I said as we walked around the apartment with the EMF readers.
"Yeah, maybe she put together a good file. But could you see her out here working one of these things? I don't think so." Dean said.
"You getting anything?" Sam asked us.
"No, not yet." I said. But suddenly Sam's starts to make noise, we lean over and look at the light switch on the wall.
"What's that?" I asked.
"What?" Dean asked coming over to stand with us.
"Holy crap." Sam said touching the black goop. Dean reached out and touched it. I can assure you I will not be touching whatever the hell this is. Have at it boys.
"That's ectoplasm. Well, I think I know what we're dealing with here. It's the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man." Dean said jokingly. I laughed out loud.
"Dean, I've only seen this stuff, like, twice. I mean, to make this stuff you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit." Sam said rolling his eyes at us.
"All right, let's find this badass before he snags any more girls." Dean said, we went to leave the apartment but heard a familiar voice coming around the corner, Jo?
"It's so convenient." She said talking to the landlord.
"Yeah, it's a great building, fixed it up real nice. All the apartments come furnished, too."
"It is so spacious. You know, my friend told me I absolutely have to come check it out, and I have to admit, she was right. You did a really good job with this place."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean said stepping out into their view.
"There you are, honey." Jo said wrapping an arm around Dean's waist. "This is my boyfriend Dean, that's his buddy Sam and his girlfriend Emily." OH COME ON! Really Jo? Fucking bitch… In order not to blow us all I too swung my arm around Sam's waist.
"Good to meetcha. Quite a gal you've got here." The landlord said to Dean.
"Oh yeah, she's a pistol." Dean said smacking her ass.
"So, did you already check out that apartment? The one for rent." Jo asked Dean.
"Yeah. Yes. Loved it. Heh. Great flow." Dean lied.
"How'd you get in?" The landlord asked confused.
"It was open." I said smiling sweetly.
"Now, Ed, um, when did the last tenant move out?" Jo asked him.
"Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stuck me for the rent."
"Well. Her loss, our gain! 'Cause if Dean-o loves it, it's good enough for me." She said smiling and pinching his cheeks.
"Oh, sweetie." Dean mused with tight eyes, smacking her ass a little harder.
"We'll take it." Jo said pulling out a wad of cash. The landlord took it and left, we all went back into the apartment.
"I'll flip you for the sofa." Jo turned and said laying down her bags.
"Does your mother even know you're here?" I asked. Still pissy about having to pretend my brother was my boyfriend.
"Told her I was going to Vegas."
"You think she's gonna buy that?"
"I'm not an idiot. I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos."
I rolled my eyes.
"Next time don't try and force me into incest, I don't appreciate it." I said walking away.
"Sorry, had to sell it." She said unapologetically.
"You know, you shouldn't lie to your mom. Shouldn't be here either." Dean said picking up where I left off.
"Well, I am. So untwist your boxers and deal with it."
"Where'd you get all that money from, anyways?" Sam asked her.
"Working, at the Roadhouse."
"Hunters don't tip that well." I added.
"Well, they aren't that good at poker, either." Jo replied with a grin. Deans phone begins to ring, he answered it.
"Yeah. Oh, hi Ellen." Dean said. Jo turned towards him.
"I'm telling her." Dean said to Jo covering the speaker on the phone, they muttered angrily at each other for a long minute.
"I haven't seen her." Dean said suddenly lying. What the fuck?!
"Yeah, I'm sure." Dean said as Jo began to grin widely.
"Absolutely." Dean said into the phone before hanging it up.
"Lets just get this thing over with please…" I mumbled. Jo pulled out blue prints and we all sat at the table.
"This place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago." Jo said.
"Yeah? What was here before 1924." S asked.
"Nothing. Empty field."
"So, most likely scenario, someone died bloody in the building, and now he's back and raising hell." Sam suggested.
"Already checked. In the past eighty two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor…. Would you sit down, please?" Jo said to Dean as he paced across the room.
"So, have you checked police reports, county death records..." Dean asked sitting down.
"Obituaries, mortuary reports and seven other sources. I know what I'm doing." Damn. She's good. Not that I would say it out loud at the moment. I'm still pissed.
"I think the jury's still out on that one. Could you put the knife down?" Dean asked. She put down the knife she had been twirling in her hand.
"Okay. So, uh, it's something else, then. Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought a spirit with it." I suggested.
"Well, we've got to scan the whole building. Everywhere we can get to, right?" Jo asked.
"Right. So. You and me, we'll take the top two floors. Sam and Em you two take the basement and the first floor." Dean said.
"We'd move faster if we split up." Jo said. HA! Yeah right Jo. My brothers don't let me go anywhere alone, and they're not gonna let you go alone either.
"Oh, this isn't negotiable." Dean said harshly getting up from the table.
Jo shook her head at him and sighed, then she looked to me.
"So do they babysit you like this on every case?" She asked me.
"Pretty much." I said with eyebrows raised.
We split and Sam and I went for the basement. We each pulled out an EMF reader and began to walk from one end of the floor to the other.
"So how you holding up kiddo?" Sam asked me.
"I'm fine Sammy… really." I replied sincerely.
"Its just… Emily. We could go somewhere else. We could try something else. You don't have to go to highschool. You've got the GED. You could start college, we could pick whatever town you want."
"Sam. Don't. I'm not meant to live that life… I know you got to get away from all this for a while but no offense. It didn't exactly work out for you. When Jess died you were shattered… I mean come on Sam you're still picking up the pieces. We all are." I said honestly. He looked down sadly.
"Sam Its enough for me… this life. I'm fine with it. I've got you. I've got Dean. We save peoples lives everyday. I'm fine with that. So please… be fine with me being fine with that."
Sam looked back up at me and half smiled.
"Okay Kiddo."
We finished sweeping at went back to the room to meet with Dean and Jo. Turns out the hit the creepy jackpot. Bastards coming out of the walls.
That night I offered to share a bed with Jo, Sam took the other one and Dean got stuck on the couch. It was weird sleeping in different rooms. Usually we're all in one. Jo and I laid there in the dark but neither of us were asleep.
"Hey Jo…"
"Yeah?"
"Why can't we fit in anywhere that doesn't have ghosts and silver bullets."
She chuckled.
"I don't know. Would you want to though? Honestly?" She asked me.
"I guess not… Jo. You ever had a stable relationship in this life?"
She sat for a second before answering.
"No. I guess I haven't. But it doesn't mean it couldn't happen. We have couples that hunt. They come through the bar all the time."
"Jo. I'm fixing to ask you a question… answer me honestly and I swear to you nothing we say will leave this room… What do you even like about Dean… I mean he's an ass 90% of the time. He stinks most days, and its only by the grace of God he hasn't picked up an STD yet."
"Wow Emily. You sure know how to sell em."
We both laughed.
"Come on… I'm serious."
"Well. Even though you don't see it, he's hott. He's a hell of a hunter. He's just… I don't know. He's funny. He's kinda mysterious. Someone who I feel like I could live this life with. I wouldn't have to give up who I am to be with him. Or him to be with me. It makes sense." She explained.
"Yeah." I mumbled. I could see what she meant about them making sense. A hunter with a hunter.
"Em. What's it like? Living on the road. Always getting to hunt?" She asked me after a few minutes of silence.
"Um. Well. It's awesome. And it sucks. I love that we get to save people. We make a difference in someone's life. Its kinda fun sometimes getting to go place to place, I've seen so many things. Its not often that we actually stop to take a break, but when we do. Its always a good time. But. On the other hand. Its hard. You don't get to keep relationships. You don't get to make friends. Just acquaintances. You watch people die… sometimes its your fault. Then you have to find a way to sleep at night. You're constantly fighting for your life. Or for someone else's. It almost gives me a heart attack every time one of the boys gets hurt, I'd die to protect them. And them me. It sucks worst when you lose people you love… people you never thought you'd lose. You know. Recently I got to see a glimpse of what it was like to be normal… and all I could think about was what my dad would think of me. Would he be proud. Would he be mad if I wanted to stay…"
"I'm sorry Emily. I was real young when my dad died… I don't remember much. I can't imagine how you must feel. But you should know, you'll always have at least one friend."
I smiled sadly.
"Thanks Jo. You too."
Jo and I drifted off to sleep. I was the first one up in the morning, it was still dark outside. Just after 4. I walked in the living room and found poor Dean crunched in half on the couch. He's gonna have a killer krick in his neck. I went back and took my pillow off the bed, then I walked over to him and gently shook him awake.
"De… De."
"Hmm.. Em. You okay?"
"I'm good, but you're not." I laughed. It was then he attempted to turn his head and groaned at the stiffness.
"Here. Lift up." I sat down in the corner of the couch and laid the pillow across my lap. Then I motioned for Dean to lay back down. His feet stayed propped up over the edge since he was too damn tall. But at least now he could sleep a little more comfortably.
"Thanks Kiddo." He smiled before falling asleep and softly snoring. I drifted back off to sleep while twisting my fingers through his short hair, leaning my head against my propped up arm.
(DEAN'S POV)
The noise of someone moving around woke me up, I opened my eyes and found poor Em dozed off sitting above me. I smiled and sat up slowly, then I reached around and laid her down on the couch before covering her up with the blanket. If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't be able to move my neck right about now. I stood up straight and popped my back before turning to find Jo sitting at the table.
"Morning, princess." She said.
"Where's Sam?" I asked looking over and noticing his room was empty.
"Went to get coffee."
"Ugh. How'd you sleep on that big soft bed?" I asked her sarcastically as I popped my back a second time.
"I didn't really. A lot of dozing off and waking up. I see Emily couldn't sleep either." She said nodding over to the couch.
"Yeah. She gets like that sometimes. I try and let her stay crashed when I can."
I looked back up and saw Jo fiddling with the same little knife from yesterday. I walked up and pulled my bowie knife out of the bag and the sheath, then I handed it over to her.
"Here."
"What's this for?" She asked confused.
"Work a hell of a lot better than that little pig-sticker you're twirling around." She took the knife then handed me hers. I noticed 3 letters on the blade. W.A.H.
"William Anthony Harvelle." She said softly.
"I'm sorry. My mistake." I said handing it back and taking mine, sheathing it again.
"What do you.. what do you remember about your dad? I mean, what's the first thing that pops into your head?"
I shook my head, then sat down across from her. "I was just a kid, and uh, he took me shooting for the first time. You know, bottles on a fence, that kind of thing. I bulls-eyed every one of 'em. He gave me this smile, like... I don't know."
"He must have been proud." Jo said.
"What about your dad?" I asked her.
"I was still in pigtails when my dad died, but I remember him coming home from a hunt. He'd burst through that door like, like Steve McQueen or something. And he'd sweep me up in his arms, and I'd breathe in that old leather jacket of his. And my mom, who was sour and pissed from the minute he left, she started smiling again. And we were... we were a family. You wanna know why I want to do the job? For him. It's my way of being close to him. Now tell me what's wrong with that."
"Nothing." I answered honestly. Suddenly Sam bursts through the front door.
"Where's the coffee?" I asked noticing his empty hands.
"There are cops outside. Another girl disappeared." He said solemnly.
"Shit. Alright. I'll wake up Em."
After getting her up and Sam for coffee I went down and talked to the cops, when I came back up everyone was waiting for an update.
"Teresa Ellis, Apartment 2F. Boyfriend reported her missing around dawn." I announced coming in the door.
"And her apartment?" Jo asked.
"Cracks all over the plaster, walls, ceiling. There was ectoplasm, too." I replied.
"Well, between that and that tuft of hair I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls." Em said.
"But who is it? Building's history is totally clean." Sam asked.
"Well, maybe we're looking in the wrong place." Jo said picking up a photo off the table. Em went and sat with her.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Check this out." Em said. Sam and I went over to stand behind them.
"An empty field?" Sam asked looking at the photo.
"It's where this building was built. Take a look at the one next door. The windows." Jo said.
"Bars." Sam said.
"We're next door to a prison?" I asked surprised.
"Looks like it." Em said.
Jo got on the phone and called Ash. Got him to do some quick digging, then threatened him if he spilled a word of it to Ellen.
"Okay. Moyamensing prison. Built in 1835, torn down in 1963. And get this. They used to execute people by hanging them in the empty field next door." She said hanging up the phone.
"Well, then, we need a list. All the people executed there." Sam said.
"Ash is already on it." She smiled.
"A hundred fifty seven names?" Em said a few minutes later when the list came through.
"We've gotta narrow that down." Sam said.
"Yeah. Or else we're gonna be digging up a hell of a lot of stiffs." I added.
"Herman Webster Mudgett?" Sam said suddenly as Em scrolled through them.
"Yeah?" Jo asked.
"Wasn't that H. H. Holmes' real name?" Sam asked.
"You've gotta be kiddin' me." Em said.
"Yep. Holmes was executed at Moyamensing, May 7, 1896." I said confirming Sam's thought.
"H. H. Holmes himself. Come on, I mean, what are the odds?" Sam said shocked.
"Who is this guy?" Jo asked clueless.
"The term "multi-murderer." They coined it to describe Holmes. He was America's first serial killer, before anybody knew what a serial killer was." I explained.
"Yeah, he confessed to twenty seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred." Sam added.
"And his victim flavor of choice? Pretty petite blondes. He, uh, he used chloroform to kill 'em." Emily added. Then something clicked in my head.
"Which is what I smelled in the hallway last night. At his place, cops found human remains, bone fragments, and long locks of bloody blonde hair. Boy, you sure know how to pick 'em." I said to Jo.
"Well, we just find the bones, salt 'em and burn 'em, right?" Jo asked.
"Well, it's not that easy. His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete." Sam said.
"What? Why?" She asked.
"The story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse. 'Cause, you know, that's what he used to do." I said.
"You know somethin'. We might have an even bigger problem than that." Emily said.
"How does this get bigger?" Jo asked.
"Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago. He called it the Murder Castle. The whole place was a death factory, they had, uh, trap doors, acid vats, quick line pits... he built these secret chambers inside the walls. He'd lock his victims in, keep them alive for days. Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death." Emily said grimacing.
"So Teresa could still be alive. She could be inside these walls." Jo said putting it all together.
"We need sledgehammers, crowbars. We've got to smash these walls, anywhere thick enough to hide a girl." I said. We only had two hammers. I sent Sam with one, and I took Em and Jo with me and the other one. No way is Jo leaving my sight, and neither is Em. She may be a brunette, but I'm not taking any chances.
We had been all the way through one floor and we're now on the one below it, slipping in through a crawl space, but when it narrowed I had to stop.
"It's too narrow. Can't go any further." I said turning to Emily and Jo.
"Let me see." Jo said pushing past me.
"What are you-" I tried as she squeezed past me.
"Ugh. Shoulda cleaned the pipes." I mumbled.
"What?" She asked.
"I, uh, I wish the pipes were cleaner." I said instead. I looked up to Em who caught the whole thing and just shook her head at me.
"Shut up. I can fit in there." Jo said
"You're not going in there by yourself." I told her grabbing her arm.
"Fine. I'll go with her, move. Cause I'm not rubbing against your pipes." Emily said shining her light right in my eyes.
"Dammit. Em. NO. I'm not letting you two out of my sight."
"Dean. Just move. We're fine. I promise. We'll stay on the phone with you the whole time."
"Dammit… " I mumbled moving so Em could get in with Jo.
"You two better bail if things get even the slightest bit hairy in there."
"Sir yes sir." Em mocked, Jo laughed. Dammit this is such a bad idea! But its our only choice. If I can't fit, Sam definitely isn't fitting back there.
"Where are you?" I asked as the phone rang and the two were out of my sight.
"On the north wall." Jo said.
"We're heading down some kind of air duct." Em yelled.
"No, no, no, no, stay up here." I told them.
"Look, we've gotta find this girl, don't we? I'm okay. Emily is okay. Just let us do the job."
"All right. I'm heading to you." I told them.
It was silent for a second, then I heard Jo's voice softly.
"Oh god." She whispered.
"What is it? Jo? Em!"
"Dean… It's here." Emily said frantically.
"Get out now!" I yelled to them panicked. Shit shit shit! I never should have let them go in there.
I heard screams, not Em's.
"Jo!" I yelled. Then I could hear Emily calling out Jo's name.
"Emily! Em!" I screamed.
"De! She's gone! I-" But then Em screamed as well.
"No! Dammit! Emily!" I yelled but there was no answer. I ran to where I knew they were last and slammed the sledge hammer into the wall. When I finally squeezed in all I found was Jo's phone. FUCK!
I took off down the hall in the direction of Sam, but ended up turning a corner and slamming right into him.
"Whoa." Sam said.
"He's got Jo and Em."
"What? How'd that happen?!"
"I wasn't with em; I left em alone. Dammit!" I screamed and punched the wall out of frustration. Its bad enough I let Jo go in and get taken, but I can't fucking believe I let Emily go in with her. Why did he even want to take her, shes not blonde. She doesn't fit the pattern. She should have been safe.
"Hey, hey, look, we'll find em, all right?" Sam said reassuringly but I could see the underlying panic.
"Where?"
"Inside the walls."
"We've been inside the walls all night. None of the other girls were there, they won't be either."
"Look. We've just gotta take a beat and think about this. Maybe we got Holmes' M.O. wrong. I mean. Em's not even blonde. Maybe he just took her cause she was already in the wall, maybe he doesn't even want her, maybe she can help Jo. Okay. Just. We gotta figure out where else they might be."
"Yeah, well, we'd better friggin' think fast."
(Emily's POV)
*Drip*
*Drip*
*Drip*
My head… it hurts. Its feels like my heart is pounding against my skull. I could finally feel my heavy eyelids start to open. Fuck. I looked up and saw 4 wooden boxes in the room around me. I went to go to them but was quickly yanked back by the shackles around my feet. Then I remembered the last time I was shackled to the walls… the blood. The cold rough concrete beneath me. Oh god.. No.. no no. Please. I don't wanna go back! Please! I don't want to! I pulled and pulled and pulled against the shackles frantically. Dean's coming… Dean. He got me last time. He'll get me again. The thought was the only thing keeping me from a full blown panic attack.
"Dammit!" I muttered as my hands were cut against the sharp edge on one of the chains.
"Emily… Is that you?" I heard Jo's voice. Coming from one of the boxes. Bringing me back out of the panic… its not her. She's not back. She doesn't have me again…
"Jo! Jo are you okay?!"
"Yeah. Yeah… I'm fine. But. I think I'm in a coffin." She said shakily.
"No. Jo. Its not. Its just a lock box. Okay. A really big lock box. I'm gonna get you out." I told her reassuringly as I began to pull less frantically at the shackles around my ankles, they were heavy and made of thick old rusted metal.
"Are you in a box too?" She asked me.
"No. I'm chained up out here."
"Where are we?"
"I don't know… It smells like we're somewhere in the sewers or something. Maybe an underground tunnel system?" I guessed.
I pulled and pulled at the shackles, bloodying my fingers and successfully bruising my ankles.
"Shit.. Jo I can't get out. Does the box budge?"
I heard Jo moving around in the box, kicking against the side of it.
"That's a negative." She said a few minutes later.
"Its okay…. Its okay. Dean and Sam. They'll find us.
Not even a second after finishing my sentence I heard something. Oh fuck…
"Jo… he's coming." I whispered.
"Oh god…" Jo whimpered.
"Just be quiet, I'm gonna play possum." I said as I laid back down and shut my eyes.
I could barely hear the swoosh of the air as Holmes appeared in the room. I cracked my eyes open to see him facing away from me. Staring at the box Jo was laying in. He slowly crept forward towards her, she was silent. But as he reached inside I could hear moving around, probably trying to avoid his touch. He was moaning to himself. Whispering how pretty she was. Then he suddenly screamed out and disappeared.
"How do you like that?! Pure iron you creepy son of a bitch!" Jo yelled.
I sat up and smiled.
"Damn Jo. You're a woman after my own heart." I said grinning. Jo chuckled.
"Probably won't be long before he's back." She said.
"Yeah. I know. We just gotta hope the boys are faster, cause I'm pretty sure we're stuck at the moment." I mumbled back examining the shackles again.
"Yeah." Jo agreed.
We sat for a few hours, then without notice Holmes appeared again in the middle of the room. I froze. My eyes glued to the back of his body, he was again facing away from me and walked towards Jo.
"Emily… Is that you?" She asked hearing him.
"No…" I mumbled. But Holmes ignored me and kept walking towards her. He reached in and I could hear her struggle. Well he knows I'm here so I might as well put myself to use.
"Hey! Get the fuck away from her!" I yelled. He stopped and turned to me. He looked me up and down like he was disgusted. Then he began to walk towards me. I scrambled backwards but had nowhere to go, even if I could get around him I'm chained up.
He reached down and picked me up by my hair. I groaned out in pain. I could hear Jo screaming for me but I was focused on the gross man hoisting me up in the air, I barely kept my feet on the ground. He used his other hand and ran it through my long hair that he had in his grip. I watched him carefully. He looked at it as if he was touching something disease ridden. Then he looked up to me and dropped me back to the ground. He reached down and held me against the wall, then he pulled out a knife.
"Jo! JO!" I yelled. She began kicking the box but it did not good.
He reached down with the knife and I cringed with my eyes closed, I could hear the blade, but couldn't feel the pain. I opened my eyes to see a handful of hair fall to the ground and catch fire. No! Not my hair! My long beautiful hair. I screamed and reached back grabbing onto the hair I still had, he reached towards me to cut off more and I laid on my back and began kicking at him. The smell of burnt hair fueling my fight. I'm not letting this bastard take any more of my hair just because prefers blondes! What a dick! I could still hear Jo yelling for me to respond but I was too busy trying to fight this bastard off to respond.
"Hey!" A deep loud voice yelled out. Dean! Next I heard the ringing of gunshot in my ears. Holmes disappeared. The shot echoed and hurt my already pounding head. I laid over clutching it.
"Dean!" Jo yelled.
"Jo?!" Dean called out going box to box looking for her, Sam ran over to me.
"Emily… Em." Sam said picking me up and leaning me against the wall.
"Sammy. My hair…" I whimpered and whined. Sam lifted where he had grabbed and cut a chunk of it to where it sits just below my shoulder instead of more than halfway down my back. I looked down at it teary eyed. Then to Sam. He ran his fingers through my hair and tried to disguise it by blending it in with the rest.
"Sam… go find Theresa…" I whispered. He left me and went to search the other boxes just as Dean unlocked Jo's box and freed her. Then Dean ran to me. He looked down to the shackles and I could tell by the look on his face he too was remembering the last time he found me shackled.
"De…" I whispered shakily.
"I know babygirl… I know. I promise. She's not here. I'm gonna get you out of these okay? I promise." He said grabbing my head and leaning out foreheads together. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. Reminding me I'm safe. I slowly shook my head as I heard him cut the shackles. He got one loose, then another. He helped me to stand and flipped over my hands, examining the scrapes and cuts.
"I tried to get out. I just. Panicked." I mumbled looking down at them as well. He pulled into him and swayed us back and forth for a moment.
"Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back." Jo said. I looked up and she was standing beside Sam, who was carrying an unconscious but alive Theresa.
"Actually, I don't think you're leaving here just yet." Dean said to her.
"What?" She asked shocked.
"Remember when I said you being bait was a bad plan? Now it's kind of the only one we got." Dean admitted.
Sam carried out Theresa while Dean Jo and I set up the tunnel. We left Jo to sit in the middle of the floor.
It didn't take long for him to come back and appear right behind Jo. She waited for her cue and when Dean yelled she ducked and ran towards us as we shot down the strings holding the salt from the gaps we left spaced around the open area so that Holmes could enter it. He screamed out in a panic as he turned and realized he was trapped.
"Scream all you want you dick but there's no way you're stepping over that salt!" Jo yelled back.
Dean quickly led us back to the surface. Every knotch on the climb back up sent pain waves through my hands. But I didn't care. I wanted out of there. When we got to the top I stopped and sat on the ground. Sam was waiting for us, he came over and crouched down next to me.
"Em. You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just glad this ones over." I whispered back. Unable to tell him how terrified I really was, or why for that matter. It was the first time I wished he knew. It was the first time I wanted to tell him. But instead I just sat there.
"You three wait here, I'll be right back." Dean said as he ran down the alley.
"So? This job as glamorous as you thought it would be?" Sam asked Jo as he went to stand by her, looking down the open access tunnel.
"Well, except for all the pee-your-pants terror, yeah. Sure. But that Theresa girl's gonna live a life because of us. It's worth it, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Yeah it is." I added.
"Hey, what if somebody finds that sewer down there, or a storm washes the salt away?" Jo asked.
"Both very fine points. Which is why we're waiting here." Sam said with a grin.
"For what?" Jo asked. But the loud beeping of a large truck suddenly caught all of our attention. So I stood up next to them and shook my head laughing. Oh De. I do love you.
"For that." Sam said.
"Whoa." Sam hollered to Dean to let him know he had backed up far enough. He jumped out and he and Sam let down the latch to pour the cement down the tunnel.
"You ripped off a cement truck?" Jo asked smiling.
"I'll give it back." Dean said with a wink. I watched as Jo's face lit up. She really was into him.
"Well, that oughta keep him down there till hell freezes over." I mused as we all watched it pour in.
After the truck was emptied Dean drove it back and we all walked back to the apartment. When we got there Dean stopped me in the hallway before walking in.
"Em. I'm so sorry… I swore. I swore I'd never let anything take you away from me again. I shouldn't have let you go. I just figured since you weren't blonde you'd be safe." He said with a face full of guilt.
"Dean its not your fault. I would have forced myself back there with Jo. I wasn't taking no for an answer. This ones on me De. Not you. Besides you aren't the only one who thought I was safe since I wasn't blonde." I said sadly looking down at my hair again. Dean noticed and ran his hand through it, catching the knots as he went, but he stopped where the large chunk was cut.
"It could be worse kiddo. We'll just have to cut the rest of it to match." He said sympathetically.
"Deeeeeee." I whined. He chuckled.
"Come on, lets get you patched up. Those hands look rough." He said as he led me in. I sat at the table and let Sam clean and disinfect them before bandaging them up. Then he examined where I was hit in the back of the head. He said it wasn't a concussion after doing a quick check of my vision and tossed me a pain pill. I sighed knowing what was next. I looked up to Jo.
"Ever cut hair before?" I asked her.
"Nope." She said with pursed lips.
I walked in the bathroom and locked the door behind me.
I grabbed the scissors and a section of hair and it literally hurt to make the cut. But I did. Then another, and another. Now my long dark hair was a solid 6 inches or more shorter. It sits just below my shoulders, wavy and dirty at the moment. It hurt my heart to gather it all and throw it away. I walked back out and looked at the boys and Jo.
"I might seriously drill my way down past all of that cement so that I can kill him with my bare hands." I said flatly.
"Actually it looks pretty good Em. I know this isn't exactly the way it should have gone down, but. It looks good, besides. It was getting really long." Sam said supportively.
"Look who's talking." I said back crossing my arms. He looked down quickly.
"He's right though kiddo. It looks good." Dean said as he walked by and planted a kiss on the top of my head.
"Okay so I say we shower and then hit the road in the morning?" Jo suggested. We were all fixing to agree when a familiar voice stopped us all dead in our tracks.
"No. Get your asses in the car now…" Ellen said viciously from the doorway. Holy fuck. I didn't even hear her come in. We all stood frozen. Just staring at her.
"Now!" She yelled making us all jump. We all scrambled to get our bags and walked down to the impala, Ellen in the front with Dean, and me, Sammy, and Jo in the back. I sat squished between Sam and Jo, sitting in the awkward silence.
"Boy, you, you really weren't kidding about flying out, were you?" Dean said lightheartedly to Ellen but she gave no reaction.
"How about we listen to some music?" Dean asks flipping on the radio. The song "Cold as Ice" was on. How fitting. Ellen quickly reached forward and turned the radio back off. Dean glanced in the backseat but we all just stared forward.
"This is gonna be a long drive." Dean sighed.
The next morning we had finally made it back. We all got out and followed Ellen as she dragged Jo in by the elbow.
"Ellen? This is my fault. Okay? I lied to you and I'm sorry. But Jo did good out there, I think her dad would be proud." Dean said as soon as we were all in.
"Don't you dare say that. Not you. I need a moment with my daughter. Alone." Ellen said forcefully with her voice cracking in the middle. There's something more to this… she couldn't possibly be this upset that Jo snuck off to do a case. We're missing something.
"Sure." I said and me and the boys walked back to the car.
"Dean. This was a bad idea…" I said as we all leaned against the hood, waiting for a sign that the ass chewing was over. It wasn't long after that Jo came busting through the door. She stopped and looked at us but kept walking. Dean got up to go after her.
"That bad, huh?" Dean asked.
"Not right now." She said still walking.
"What happened? Hey, talk to me." Dean said grabbing her arm.
"Get off me!" She turned and yelled. Dean looked shocked. I took a few steps forward.
"Sorry. See you around." He said shortly and turned to leave.
"Dean. It turns out my dad had a partner on his last hunt. Funny, he usually worked alone; this guy did too, but... I guess my father figured he could trust him. Mistake. Guy screwed up, got my dad killed."
"What does this have to do with—"
"It was your father, Dean." Now it all makes sense…
"What?" Dean asked.
"Why do you think John never came back? Never told you about us? Because he couldn't look my mom in the eye after that, that's why."
"Jo." I said walking up, trying to think of what to say to calm her down.
"Just... just get out of here. Please, just leave." She said before walking away. I looked to Dean who looked defeated. We all climbed into the impala and drove away in silence.
We stopped at a motel that night and all showered. I blew dry my hair and frowned at it in the mirror. It wasn't THAT bad, but I loved my long hair. Guess it'll grow. I walked out and climbed in bed next to Dean. Sam was already asleep.
"The hair cut really is cute kiddo. Makes you look older." He said grinning at me while he ruffled it. I pushed his hand away and curled myself into the blankets facing him.
"I thought she had me again Dean." I whispered to him as I looked down. "I just woke up, saw the shackles, and I just knew I was back there. I knew it."
"Emily. I swear to you. She's dead. She can NEVER hurt you again. I made damn sure of that." He said softly as he pulled my chin up so he could look me straight in the eyes.
"Dean… its not fair to Sammy. He should know."
"Then tell him Em."
"I can't… I physically can't get the words past my mouth without feeling like I'm there again. Feeling trapped. Hopeless."
"I can tell him… but he's going to ask questions. He's gonna want to talk to you about it."
"I know… just. Next time he asks. Tell him. Without me. Please. I'll just handle the rest afterwards the best I can."
"Okay kiddo… " He said giving me a smile.
"What?" I asked.
"You're growing up. This is a big step, letting Sam in. I know its hard. But it's the right choice… and you made it on your own. I'm proud of you."
"Oh whatever." I said rolling my eyes and playfully pushing him. He pushed me back and dangled me off the side of the bed.
"De! No! Pull me up!" I whisper yelled between giggles trying not to wake up Sam.
"Oh. Can't… Your. Slipping." He said pretending to drop me further and further before finally pulling me back up, I punched him square in the breadbox and he laughed as he regained his breath.
"Goodnight asshole." I said trying to hide my smile as I rolled over away from him.
"Night kiddo." He laughed.