January 7th - January 9th, 2010
After everything that happened with Nate, I hadn't heard from him in a while. Even when I tried to text or call him, he would just ignore me. All I really wanted was to know how he was doing, but without hearing from him, I just worried. So, I tried to just refocus on solving cases.
An old friend of Dad's named Martin got a hold of Dean. He was claiming that patients in a mental facility were being killed mysteriously. The only problem being, Martin was a patient. Dean wasn't really buying it, just brushing it off as some of Martin's delusions, but Sam felt otherwise.
Eventually, he convinced Dean that we should at least go check it out, but the easiest way to run the investigation would be to admit ourselves to the facility. So, we planned on doing just that.
The three of us sat in front of Dr. Fuller, the head doctor at the facility, at his desk while he flipped through a folder and took notes.
"You were referred to me by a Dr. Babar in Chicago," Dr. Fuller read.
Dean nodded. "That's right."
Dr. Fuller furrowed his brow. "Isn't there a children's book about an elephant named Babar?"
Dean shrugged, even though he knew that to be true. "I don't know. I don't have any elephant books. Look, Doctor, I— I— I think the doc was in over his head with this one." He pointed to Sam. "'Cause our brother is..." He circled his finger at the side of his head and whistled.
Dr. Fuller raised his hand. "Okay, fine, thank you. That's— That's really not necessary." He turned his attention to Sam. "Why don't you tell me how you're feeling, Alex?"
Sam sighed. "I'm fine. I mean, okay, a little depressed, I guess."
Dr. Fuller nodded and took a few notes. "Okay. Any idea why?"
Sam shrugged. "Probably because I started the apocalypse."
Dr. Fuller looked up at Sam, a little startled. "The apocalypse?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, that's right."
Dr. Fuller glanced at Dean and me and then back at Sam. "And you think you started it?"
"Well, yeah, I mean..." Sam sighed. "I killed this demon, Lilith, and I accidentally freed Lucifer from Hell. So now, he's topside, and we're trying to stop him."
"Who is?" Dr. Fuller asked.
"Me," Sam said and nodded. "Well, the three of us and— and this one angel."
Dr. Fuller nodded. "Oh, you mean, like a— like an angel on your shoulder."
Sam shook his head. "No, no. His name's Castiel. He wears a trench coat."
Dr. Fuller nodded and went back to taking notes.
"See what I mean, Doc?" Dean asked. "The kid's been beating himself up about this for months." He sighed and shook his head. "The apocalypse wasn't his fault."
Dr. Fuller looked up at Dean, stunned. "It's not?"
Dean shook his head. "No. There was this other demon, Ruby."
I nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty messed up. She got him addicted to demon blood..." I shook my head. "By the time everything with Lilith went down, he was practically chugging the stuff."
Dr. Fuller looked at all of us with shock on his face and then started quickly jotting down notes.
"Our brother's not evil. He was just... high... yeah? So, could you fix him up so we can get back to traveling around the country and hunting monsters?" Dean asked.
Dr. Fuller put up a finger for us to wait, then he picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Erma... cancel my lunch."
A little bit later, the doctor called a nurse, Nurse Foreman, to escort us down the hall.
Nurse Foreman kept smiling back at us as we walked down the hall. "Dr. Fuller would like to keep all three of you under observation for a couple of days."
"All three?" Dean asked and indicated to himself and me. "Us, too?"
Nurse Foreman nodded and smiled at Dean. "Yes, sugar. The doctor thinks that would be best."
When she turned, the three of us gave each other victorious smiles. She escorted us each into a different check-up room, and I waited there for a half-hour or so for someone to come in. I walked around the room, picking things up and checking them out while I waited.
Then there was a knock on my door, and Nurse Foreman walked in a moment later, with a huge smile on her face. "Hi, would you mind sitting on the bed for me?"
I shrugged. "Sure." Then I took off my jacket and sat on the bed.
She wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my right arm. "All right, I'm just gonna give you a little check-up."
I looked around the room as I waited for her to finish up and remove the cold stethoscope from my arm.
"Okie-dokie." She smiled and released the air from the cuff. "Nice and healthy."
I smiled at her awkwardly and nodded.
She smiled back. "All right, you can go ahead and take off your pants."
I furrowed my brow. "I'm sorry, what? For what?"
Nurse Foreman snapped a blue rubber glove on and smiled at me while she waited.
"Did you do this to my brothers too?" I asked.
She smiled and nodded. "Yup, I did."
I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. "All right."
After I finished taking a very long, hot shower while Nurse Foreman kept watch, I got dressed in white scrubs, slippers, and a blue robe. She escorted me into a lounge area, where several other people dressed like me, either talking to themselves, playing with toys, or talking erratically to other patients. I spotted Sam and Dean sitting on a couch together, and I hurried over to them.
"How was your Silkwood shower?" Dean asked.
I rolled my eyes as I sat down next to him. "Oh, it was great. I loved it."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, good water pressure."
"I heard you guys got rubber-gloved too." I smirked.
Dean nodded. "She was very thorough."
Sam nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah. Yeah, good. Good. Yeah."
We were quiet for a bit as we looked around the room at all the other patients.
Dean shook his head. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
"Hey, it's the least we could do. Martin saved Dad's ass more times than we can count. He's a great hunter," Sam said.
Dean nodded. "Was. Until Albuquerque."
Sam shrugged. "Besides, I just figure it's best we keep busy. That's all."
Dean shook his head. "Better than what?"
Sam shook his head. "Nothing."
Dean motioned for Sam to explain.
Sam sighed and nodded. "Okay. Look... um... last few weeks, you've kind of been worrying me."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Sam. Stop. Look, just because we're in the loony bin doesn't give you the right to head-shrink me."
Sam sighed. "Dean—"
Dean shook his head. "Ellen and Jo dying... yeah, it was a friggin' tragedy, okay?"
I nodded. Just thinking about it brought back all the emotions.
Dean shrugged. "But I'm not gonna wallow in it."
"Dean, you always do this. You can't just keep this crap in," Sam said.
Dean chuckled. "Watch me." He turned his head, and something caught his eye. "Oh, there he is."
I looked over, and Martin was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the room, staring out of a window. So, the three of us walked over to him.
Sam cleared his throat.
Martin jumped, looked up, and then smiled. "Sam, Dean, wow." He stood up and aggressively shook Sam's hand. "Wow, you boys got big. You look good."
Sam smiled and nodded. "Thanks. You do, too, Martin."
Martin looked down at me. "And who's this?"
Sam put his hand on my shoulder. "This is Maddison."
Martin smiled at me. "No..." He laughed. "There's no way..." He laughed again. "The last time I saw you, you were just a tot."
Dean nodded. "Yeah, well, that adds up, 'cause the last time we saw you was about twelve years ago."
Martin shook his head and smiled at me. "Wow, how time flies." He stared at me for a slightly awkward amount of time and then nodded at Sam and Dean. "Uh... well, thanks for coming." He motioned for us to sit down, so we did. "In the old days, I could've taken care of this thing with both hands tied behind my back... but, well... now..." He sighed.
"What do you think it is that we're hunting?" Sam asked.
Martin shook his head. "I don't know yet. A ghost, demon, monster... animal, vegetable, mineral." He chuckled. "Hospital's had five deaths in the last four months. Doctors keep calling it suicides, but they're wrong."
"So, you've seen this thing?" Sam asked.
Martin shook his head.
"Has anyone seen this thing?" Dean asked.
Martin shrugged. "Well, a couple patients have, uh... had glimpses, but there's not a lot to go on."
"Are they reliable?" Dean asked.
Martin nodded. "Oh, sure, why wouldn't they be?"
Dean looked around the room toward a female patient, who was dancing and humming to herself. Then he shrugged and looked back at Martin. "Gee, I don't know."
"I know you boys think I'm a bag of loose screws." Martin shrugged. "Now, you wouldn't be wrong. But I wouldn't have called you unless there was something here. I can feel it in my gut."
Sam and Dean exchanged a look.
"We believe you," Sam said, looking back at Martin. "Have you checked any of the bodies? Found signs of an attack?"
"Well, uh, no... I don't go around dead b— b— b— bodies anymore." Martin flinched.
"Alex, Eddie, and Sammy," Dr. Fuller said from behind us, we turned to look at him, and he smiled. "Well, I'm glad to see you're making friends. Why don't you and, uh, Mr. Creaser join us for group? Please. Right, this way." He gestured to the door. The four of us stood up and started walking, but he put his hand out to stop Dean. "Actually, I'm gonna be putting you in the afternoon group."
"What? Why?" Dean asked.
"Well, to be frank, uh, the relationship that you have with your brother seems dangerously codependent. I think a little time apart will do you both good," Dr. Fuller said and walked away.
Sam and I looked at Dean and shrugged. Dean sighed and watched as we walked after Dr. Fuller.
Dr. Fuller had me, Sam, and Martin sit in a circle with him and five other patients.
"All right, so... who would like to start us off?" Dr. Fuller asked.
One of the patients raised his hand eagerly.
"Anyone else?" Dr. Fuller asked.
The man raised his hand a little higher and frantically shook it.
Dr. Fuller sighed. "All right, Ted. Calm down."
Ted lowered his hand. "I am calm. And I'd very calmly like to talk about the monster that's hunting us."
Dr. Fuller shook his head and sighed. "Ted, we're not going to have that discussion again."
Sam and I exchanged a look, intrigued.
Dr. Fuller shook his head. "It's not good for group."
Ted nodded. "I agree. Ya know what else isn't good for group? A monster eating all our faces off."
Dr. Fuller sighed. "All right, fine, thank you. Now, anyone else?"
"I saw it... when it killed Susan," Ted said.
Another patient raised her hand. "I did, too. It had big lobster claws."
Ted shook his head, angrily. "No, it didn't."
The other patient nodded. "Yeah, and it was an alien, like on X-Files."
"Stop it. Stop helping. Listen to me. We're all dead!" Ted yelled.
"That's enough." Dr. Fuller leaned forward and took his glasses off. "There is no monster." He sat back. "Now, Ted, do you need me to call the orderlies..."
Ted shook his head frantically.
"Or can you behave?" Dr. Fuller asked.
Ted nodded. "Behave."
After Sam and I got out of group, we searched the halls for Dean. Eventually, we found him slinking sadly through the hallway with his hands in his pockets.
"Dean, hey," Sam said as we reached him.
"You okay?" I asked him, knowing that something was definitely off with him.
Dean sighed. "I just got thraped." He shook his head. "So, no, I am not okay. Tell me you found something."
Sam nodded. "Yeah. A guy says he saw the creature. We should talk to him. You wanna meet here in an hour?"
Dean nodded. "Yeah, sooner we take care of this thing, sooner we can get gone. This place gives me the creeps."
He turned, and a pretty blonde woman wearing patient garb was standing behind him. She put her hand on the back of his head and kissed him. Sam and I exchanged an awkward look, just waiting for the kiss to end. She pulled away and smiled up at him while biting her lip.
"Hi," she said seductively.
"Hi." Dean smiled.
"I'm Wendy," she said.
Dean nodded, looking her up and down. "Uh-huh."
Wendy walked past us and down the hallway after patting Dean on the butt.
Dean smirked as he watched her walk away. "Maybe this place isn't so bad, after all."
"Dude... you. Cannot. Hit that," Sam said.
Dean continued to watch her. "Oh, so torn."
I hit him on the back of the head. "Dude... nasty."
Dean and I waited outside of Sam's room for him to emerge, holding a lock-pick in his hand.
"Well, it's about time. Nurses are on their rounds. We got, like, fifteen, twenty minutes. So, where is this guy?" Dean asked.
Sam sighed. "Room 306." Then he pointed down the hall.
As we walked, a man started screaming. We looked at each other and then started sprinting.
Sure enough, the screams were coming from Ted's room. Sam knelt and quickly began picking the lock. Then Ted's feet were slammed into the door window, which cracked.
"Hurry up! Come on, hurry up!" Dean yelled.
Sam looked up at Dean, frustrated. "Back off, Dean!" He yelled and then returned to picking the lock.
It finally clicked open, but Ted was hanging from a pipe in his ceiling by his bedsheet when we lunged in.
The next day, the three of us snuck into the morgue to check Ted. We pulled Ted's drawer open, and Sam pulled the sheet away from his body. While Sam checked his head, Dean and I checked his legs and torso.
"Hey, I think I found something," Sam said.
"What do you got?" Dean asked, and we both stood by Sam.
"Right here." Sam pointed to a hole behind Ted's ear.
He grabbed a long Q-tip off of the table next to us and stuck it into the hole. It went so far in that almost the whole Q-tip was inserted.
"This hole goes all the way through to his brain," Sam said.
"What does that mean?" Dean asked.
Sam spotted a bone saw on the table. "Let's find out."
"Seriously?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged. "You might want to keep watch."
Dean held his hands up and backed away to the door.
Sam nodded at me to follow. "You might not want to see this."
I shrugged. "I'll be fine. Let's do this."
Sam nodded and smirked. "All right."
We both put gloves on, and then Sam started sawing through Ted's skull. Finally, he broke through and pulled the top of his skull off. When he did, we could see that his brain was about the third of the size it was supposed to be.
"Holy crap." I stepped forward and pulled the brain out, which easily disconnected because of how dry and brittle it was.
Dean ran back in. "Dude."
Sam pointed to the brain in my hands. "Look, his brain's been sucked dry."
"That's fascinating," Dean said sarcastically. "Somebody's coming."
I quickly shoved the shriveled brain back into the open cavity, and Sam put Ted's skull back on. Dean and I hurried to clean up as Sam covered Ted and shoved him back into the drawer. Just as Nurse Foreman walked in, Sam tossed his bloody gloves into the trash.
She smiled at us. "What are you doing in here?"
The three of us looked at each other, not really knowing how to lie ourselves out of this one.
Then Dean shrugged and pulled down his pants. "Pudding!" he yelled.
I quickly tucked my face into Sam's back, so I wouldn't see anything.
The nurse laughed. "All right, come on, you three."
I pulled away from Sam as Dean pulled up his pants.
Dean turned to us and whispered with a smirk. "Crazy works."
Nurse Foreman held the door open for us with a smile. She chuckled as she followed us out and down the hall.
In the patient lounge, we met up with Martin right next to a bulletin board filled with creepy clown paintings.
"Are those original Gacy's?" Dean laughed as he pointed to the paintings.
"I painted those," Martin said, looking a bit hurt.
Dean's smile dropped, and he nodded. "They're uh— They're good..."
Martin nodded, still looking sad.
"Back on point, please," Sam said, "Um... so, whatever this thing is... it Slurpees your brain... sucks you dry."
Dean nodded. "Yeah, then it makes the deaths look like suicides. Any ideas?"
Martin nodded. "Yeah. A bad one." He pulled out his journal and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. It was a drawing of a grotesque creature.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Well, I bet you a chicken dinner. It's what we're up against... a wraith. They crack open skulls and feed on brain juice," Martin said.
"You ever tangle with one before?" Sam asked.
Martin shook his head. "Never. Never wanted to, neither."
"So, how do we kill it?" Dean asked.
"Silver. You so much as touch a wraith with the stuff, and the skin will crackle. Now, that's the good news. The bad news is... they can pass as humans," Martin explained.
All of us looked around the room as people continued to pass by us.
"It could be any Peter, Paul, and Mary in the joint," Martin said.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Fantastic. So, how do we find it?"
"A mirror. Lore says a wraith will show its true form in a mirror," Martin said.
Dean nodded. "Okay, well, we just gotta spot check every patient and every staff member."
Sam nodded. "Okay. Yeah. But... I mean, what's it doing in a mental hospital?"
"A nuthouse?" Dean asked and shrugged. "It's— It's— It's a perfect captive victim pool."
I nodded. "No one is going to believe them if they cry, monster."
"Sure." Martin nodded. "It's the perfect hunting ground."
We all took a corner of the room in the lounge, each keeping watch on a different surveillance mirror. I watched uneventfully until Dean waved us over to him. Apparently, in his mirror, he spotted that Dr. Fuller was the wraith.
Martin, Dean, and I waited in the hallway for Sam to return from his little mission to gather something silver.
"All right..." Sam said as he walked up to us. "I had to raid three nurses' stations to get these." He handed Dean a letter opener. "They're only silver-plated, but they should work." Then he gave one to Martin and me.
"Oh, no, no, no. Not today, sweetheart," Dean said.
I turned to see Wendy walking straight toward our group with the same look she had given Dean right before kissing him.
Dean shook his head as she got closer. "Come on, keep walking. I—"
Wendy walked straight toward me, but I moved out of the way.
"Uh, no, thank you," I said.
Then she turned her attention to Sam, pushed him up against the wall, and started kissing him. Sam didn't kiss her back and just waited for her to finish.
"I want him now," she said as she pulled away and looked at Dean. "He's larger."
The four of us watched Wendy walk away.
"Hmm." Dean shrugged at Sam. "You've had worse."
Sam rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fuller is on call tonight, so we'll have to hit him after lights out. All four of us."
"What?" Martin shook his head. "No."
"Martin, we gotta get past security, past the orderlies, and then cut the boss-man's throat, okay? It's gonna suck start to finish, but we could use the backup," Dean said.
Martin shook his head, frantically. "Oh, I can't. I can't." Then he started to walk away.
"We know what happened in Albuquerque," Sam said.
Martin stopped dead in his tracks. "You don't know the half of it." He turned to us. "God, I used to be just like you. I used to think I was invincible, and then... well, I found out I'm not."
"Martin, you're still a hunter," Dean said.
Martin shook his head. "No. I'm not. I'm useless. Why do you think I checked myself into the Hotel California? I'd give anything to help you... I would. But I— I can't. I'm sorry. I can't." Then he turned and continued walking away.
After sneaking past security, the three of us snuck into Dr. Fuller's office. Unfortunately, he wasn't inside.
Dean picked up Dr. Fuller's car keys off of his desk and held them up.
"He's still in the building. You take the west wing." He nodded at Sam and then looked at me. "We'll take the east."
He set the keys back down on the desk, and then we left.
We walked around the halls for a while but couldn't find Dr. Fuller.
After about twenty minutes or so, Martin came running up to us. He explained that Dr. Fuller wasn't the wraith because Sam had attacked him and slashed his arm with the silver blade, but his skin didn't react to it.
He had to stop Sam from killing Dr. Fuller. Then orderlies tackled Sam immediately after, which was when Martin made a run for it.
After parting ways with Martin, Dean and I went to check on Sam. When we opened the door, Sam was slumped up against the wall on his bed, looking completely out of it.
"You okay?" I asked as we approached the bed.
"No. No, I'm not okay..." Sam slurred and then smiled goofily at us. "I— I am... awesome..."
Dean and I exchanged a look.
"They give you something?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded and smiled. "Oh, yeah. They gave me... everything. It's spectacu-lacular." He giggled.
Dean smirked and shook his head. "You always were a happy drunk."
Sam's face turned serious, and he grabbed Dean's arm, pulling him down to eye level. "Dean... the doctor... wasn't a wraith."
Dean nodded. "I know."
Sam looked comically stunned that Dean knew this.
Dean shook his head. "I don't understand it. I mean, I saw it in the mirror. It wasn't human."
Sam shrugged. "Or you're seeing things. Maybe— Maybe— Maybe you're going crazy." His eyes widened.
Dean shook his head. "I'm not crazy."
"Well... come on. I mean, you've been at least... half crazy for a long time, and since you got back from Hell, or since before that, even. I mean, we're in a— we're in a mental hospital." Sam laughed. "Maybe— Maybe you finally cracked! Ya know, maybe now you are really... for real... crazy..."
Dean shook his head. "I made a mistake, that's all. I'll find the thing."
Sam nodded. "Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I know." He put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's okay. Hey, hey. Look at me." He patted Dean's shoulder. "It's okay... because you're my brother... and I still love ya." He smiled and poked Dean's nose. "Boop!"
Dean stood up, and we gave each other a look as Sam went back to his drugged-out happy place.
When we walked out of Sam's room, I grabbed Dean's arm.
"Hey, before we go, I really have to tell you something..." I said.
He turned to me. "What? What is it?"
I put on a very serious face. "Everything's gonna be okay..." I smirked. "Because you're my brother... and I still love ya."
Dean rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Let's go."
After a couple minutes, Dean looked extremely annoyed as we walked down the hall.
"A little busy," he said.
"What?" I asked.
"People are dying," Dean snapped, looking at something that wasn't beside him.
"Dean?" I asked, feeling concerned.
Dean looked down at me. "It's okay, Maddi, she's leaving."
I furrowed my brow, and then he looked back at whatever I couldn't see.
"Look, lady, why don't you just let us do our job, maybe save your life." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, my g—" he said, exasperated, and then shook his head. "I am fine, okay?" he snapped. "I'm fine."
I grabbed his arm. "Uh, Dean?"
Dean didn't look at me. "What did you say?" He started to look nervous and afraid. "Who are you?" he asked, beginning to raise his voice, "How do you know that stuff?!"
"Hey, settle down," an orderly demanded from down the hall.
"Tell me!" Dean shouted.
"Dean?" I asked nervously. "We should go."
The orderly started walking down the hall toward us. "I said, settle down."
"Who are you?" Dean whispered to nothing.
He backed away from whatever he was looking at and then looked at the orderly and pointed to nothing.
"Who is she?" he asked.
The orderly furrowed his brow. "Who?"
"What are you, blind?" Dean pointed at nothing again. "Her!"
The orderly rolled his eyes. "Pal, there's nobody there."
Dean furrowed his brow and looked at me for help, but I shrugged and shook my head, looking at him with worry in my eyes.
"Dean... there's no one," I said.
He looked back over at nothing and then looked up and down the hallway and back at the orderly.
"Just leave me alone," he said angrily.
He stalked off down the hall, and I quickly chased after him. He turned into the patient's lounge. He was looking around, completely freaked out. He sat down in a chair by the window and started rocking while he looked around nervously.
I ran up to him and put my hands on his shoulders. "Dean? What's going on?"
He looked up at me, terror all over his face. "Get away from me!"
"What?" I asked, "What's wrong?"
"Go!" he shouted and covered his eyes.
"He wants you to go," a woman whispered in my ear.
"What?" I turned and looked at her.
She was another patient. "He wants nothing to do with you." She smiled.
"I'm sorry?" I asked, taken aback.
"You should probably leave..." She looked at Dean. "I mean, he's obviously better off without you."
"She's right, you know," a man said from behind my other shoulder. He was also wearing patient garb.
"What?"
He shrugged. "All you do is bring them down."
"Yeah, you should've been the one gutted, not Jo," the woman said.
I started backing away from them. "You're not real."
They both smiled, and the woman nodded. "Oh, we are real."
"No, no, no." I shook my head and backed up to the wall.
"You should've been the one trying to save Dean, not Jo," the man said.
"You can't just sit around and let other people take action," the woman said.
"Nate would still have his family if you had stepped in!" the man shouted.
I grabbed my head. "Shut up!" I screamed.
"Hey! Quiet down!" an orderly yelled at me.
"You'll never be a good enough hunter." The woman glared at me.
"You should just get it over with and say yes to Lucifer. At least that way, you'll just be a disappointment instead of being a burden too," the man said.
"Shut up." I cried and slid down the wall.
"You know they would be better off without you. If you're too much of a coward to say yes, just run and never look back," the woman said.
"Stop!" I yelled, clutching my head and rocking back and forth with my knees to my chest as I listened to them pull my insecurities out.
I looked up through tear-blurred eyes to see Sam punching and swinging at nothing around him. An orderly came up and grabbed him.
"Leave me alone!" Sam yelled and hit the orderly, and then two other orderlies came up and grabbed hold of him. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" He screamed as they dragged him away. "No! Stop it! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! I didn't do it! Get off of me!"
The man and woman started cackling obnoxiously.
"Go away!" I yelled as I clutched my hands to my ears, trying to drown them out.
Dean ran up to me and scooped me up. "Come on," he said and ran out of the lounge.
He set me down outside of the door. Then he grabbed my hand, dragging me down the hall after him to Martin's room.
Martin immediately sat up from his bed, holding the silver letter opener in his hand when we opened the door.
"Martin, Martin, it's me. It's us," Dean whispered as we approached the bed.
"Oh, sorry," Martin said and lowered the blade, but then he got a good look at us. "You— You two look like hell."
Dean nodded. "I— I feel like it, too."
"Where's Sam?" Martin asked.
"Lockdown! He went crazy!" Dean shouted. "Thank god."
Martin furrowed his brow. "What?"
"We're going crazy, too. Seeing things. Hearing things. I mean, we all are. Crazy is the clue." Dean nodded and smiled.
I looked around the room, paranoid, waiting for my stalkers to show up.
Martin shook his head. "What do you mean?"
Dean nodded and then hesitated and stared across the room. I twirled my hair in my fingers nervously, waiting for something to happen.
Martin snapped his fingers. "Dean!"
Dean jumped and looked back at Martin. "Crazy is the clue."
Martin nodded. "You said that. What?"
Dean shrugged. "I mean, the things that we've done, the stuff that we've seen, we're gonna end up going guano eventually. Probably end up like a couple of drooling nut bags." He cringed at Martin. "No offense."
Martin shrugged. "None taken."
"But the three of us, freaking out on the same day?" Dean asked. "I mean, it's gotta be—"
Martin nodded. "The monster..."
Dean looked around the room. "What? Where? Where?" He ducked down at the side of the bed, and I joined him, my heart pounding.
"No, it's not— No, there's nothing there," Martin said.
Dean took a deep breath. "Okay. What if this thing doesn't just feed on the insane? What if it... makes people insane?" He widened his eyes. "Is it possible? Does that seem real?"
Martin shrugged. "Well, I'm not the most reliable source on what is real, but it sounds... it makes sense."
Dean nodded. "Okay. Okay. So— So we got infected. You know, something shot us up with crazy. Ya know, something—" Realization crossed his face. "Maybe— Maybe it's the ghost of my dad—"
Martin shook his head. "No. Focus on the wraith, Dean. Focus."
Dean nodded frantically. "Right, the wraith, the wraith." He stood up. "Okay. So, the wraith— the wraith, it— it poisoned us. It— Yeah. Maybe with venom, ya know? By— By touch... or— or venom, or saliva." He hesitated and gasped. "Wendy."
Martin furrowed his brow. "Wendy?"
Dean nodded. "Wendy. Wendy slobbered all over me and Sam! That's how we got infected!"
Martin stepped out of bed. "Then let's go."
When Dean moved to the side, my worst fear was realized. Sitting in the corner of the room, staring at me with a smirk on his face, was Lucifer.
"Hi, Maddi," he said.
I backed up against the wall frantically, covered my eyes, and started rocking. "No, no, no..."
"What's wrong?!" Dean yelled urgently and grabbed my face.
I looked up at him, terrified, and there stood Lucifer, peering over his shoulder.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Lucifer asked.
"No!" I cried. "Leave me alone!" I screamed at him.
Dean jumped up, terrified, and turned to see what was behind him, but he couldn't see it. "What?!"
Martin knelt and spoke quietly to me. "Hey, hey, listen... I know this is scary, but whatever you're seeing, it's not real..."
I shook my head frantically, still staring at Lucifer. "No, no, no..."
Martin lightly put his hands on my face and turned my head, ensuring that I would only look at him. "Just close your eyes and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth..."
I quickly squeezed my eyes shut tight and started breathing like he said.
"Good, but slow your breathing, okay?" he asked calmly.
I nodded and slowed my breathing until I was relaxed.
"Good... good, now open your eyes. Whatever you were seeing should be gone now..." Martin said.
I slowly opened my eyes and peered around Martin. I realized he was right, Lucifer was gone, and relief washed over my body. I took a deep breath.
"See?" Martin smiled.
I nodded and smiled at him before he wiped a tear from my cheek and helped me up.
As we walked through the hall, Dean and I were still paranoid as we kept checking over our shoulders at every little noise we heard.
I noticed that Martin kept watching Dean with concern on his face. I looked down and realized Dean was taking specific steps on the tiles, so I started doing the same because, of course, he was being cautious for a reason.
Martin peered over his shoulder and spotted me and then turned back to Dean. "Dean?" He stopped walking, and so did we.
"I— I can't step on the cracks," Dean said sheepishly.
Suddenly, there was a scream down the hallway, and we ran off toward it. When we stopped at the door the screams were coming from, Dean started trying to kick it in.
When it finally broke open, Wendy was lying on her bed with her wrists slit, and sitting on the bed over Wendy was Nurse Foreman with a smile. Dean and I glanced at a mirror in the corner of the room and realized the nurse's face was twisted like Martin's drawing of a wraith.
"Is this real?" Dean asked.
Nurse Foreman withdrew her hand from Wendy's head, but a skewer-like stick was poking out from her wrist. She brought the stick up to her mouth and licked it with a smile before drawing it back into her wrist.
"Oh, it is, sugar. It's very real." She smiled and threw Dean and me against the wall.
Martin lunged forward and started attacking her with the silver blade, but she grabbed him and threw him into the hallway.
Then the wraith dove toward Dean, pinned him against the wall by his throat and then started punching him.
I caved into myself, terrified to do anything, and just started rocking as I watched her attack, Dean. I couldn't bring myself to do anything. I just felt frozen in fear.
Then Martin ran back into the room, holding the knife. The wraith turned to Martin and put her arm out to shield herself, but he cut her hand, and she immediately screamed in pain and let Dean go. He slid to the floor, and we watched her cut burn and crackle. Then she ran out and slammed the door shut behind her.
Martin ran over to Wendy and checked her. "She's still alive." He looked over at us after he realized neither of us were moving. "Hey! Can you hear me?" he asked. "You've gotta get out there and kill that thing. I'll take care of her." He gestured to Wendy.
Dean shook his head frantically. "I can't."
"You have to. You have no choice, son," Martin said, and then two orderlies charged in and grabbed him. He started fighting back and then turned to us. "Go. Run! Run!"
Dean struggled to his feet and then grabbed my arm, dragging me down the hall after him.
"Dean... Dean..." I shook my head. "How could I— I be so stupid?"
He stopped running and turned to me. "What?" he asked, blinking uncontrollably.
"Wendy..." I shook my head, frustrated with myself. "Wendy... she— she, uh, she never kissed me... I should've known..." I grabbed my head. "How did I not think of it?"
Dean grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands down to my sides. "Try to get out of your head." He pointed to the floor. "You see that, too, right?"
I looked at the ground and realized he was pointing to blood droplets that led down the hallway. I blinked multiple times to make sure they were really there and then nodded at him.
He grabbed my hand. "Okay, let's go," he said.
Then we followed the blood down the hall, which disappeared behind a door. Dean rammed his shoulder into it, and the door flung open.
Inside was a padded room with Sam strapped to a table and the wraith about to shove her skewer into his head.
Dean pointed at her. "You get away from him."
The wraith stood to face us. "Do you really think this is gonna end well for you?"
"No," Dean said and pulled out his silver blade. "But I'm crazy..." He smiled crazily and shrugged. "So, what the hell."
The wraith chuckled and raised her hand, causing her skewer to go back into her arm. Dean swung his blade at her, but she ducked and then shoved both of us against different walls.
I watched in fear as she pulled Dean up off of the ground and started throwing him around.
"Enjoying the show?" a sinister voice asked from beside me.
I looked over my shoulder and gasped at Lucifer, who was just leaning up against the wall next to me.
"I find it amusing too." He laughed as the wraith continued to beat up Dean.
"You just gonna let someone else you love die again?" he asked tauntingly.
I glared at him and felt rage build inside me, and I stood up. "No."
The wraith pushed Dean up against the wall, and her skewer started coming out through her wrist. Dean tried to push her hand away as she put it closer to the back of his neck.
I pulled out my blade and stepped closer to her. I grabbed hold of her skewer and snapped it off, causing blood to squirt out of it. She screamed and let go of Dean and looked at me with fear in her eyes before anger came over her.
I glared at her, still feeling the fury inside of me before plunging my blade into her heart. As her chest burned with the blade in it, she fell to the ground. Once she closed her eyes, all the fears and anxiety before and most importantly, Lucifer, disappeared.
"You still crazy?" Sam asked us.
I shook my head. "I think I'm good."
Dean nodded. "Not any more than usual."
We both walked over to Sam and started to unstrap him from the bed.
"We gotta get out of here," Dean said.
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
We all jumped when alarm bells started ringing. We quickly hurried to unstrap Sam and then ran down the hallway.
We rounded the corner to a secure door and waited for security guards to burst through the door. As they ran by without noticing us, Dean slipped his foot in the door frame to catch the door from closing. We hurried out, found an exit, and burst through it to the outside.
We gave the hospital one last look and then ran to the woods in the direction of the Impala.
A few minutes later, we reached the car, and Dean sighed. "Well, looks like Tom Cruise was right. Shrinks suck."
Dean and I walked up to our doors, ready to get in, but we realized Sam was standing by the trunk, looking upset about something.
"What are you doing? Sam? You okay?" Dean asked.
Sam shook his head. "No. No. The wraith..."
Dean furrowed his brow. "What about her?"
Sam shrugged. "She was right."
"No, she wasn't. She's dead, okay?" Dean gestured to the Impala. "Let's hit the road. I need a drink or twelve."
Sam shook his head. "Most of the time, I can hide it, but... I am angry. I'm mad at everything. I used to be mad at you and Dad, then Lilith, now it's Lucifer, and I make excuses. I blame Ruby or the demon blood, but it's not their fault." He shook his head tearfully. "It's not them. It's me. It's inside me. I'm mad... all the time... and I don't know why."
Dean shook his head and stepped toward Sam. "Stop. Stop it. So what if you are? What are you gonna do? You gonna take a leave of absence? You gonna say yes to Lucifer? What?"
Sam shook his head. "No, of course not. I—"
Dean nodded. "Exactly. And that's exactly what you're gonna do. You're gonna take all that crap, and you're gonna bury it. You're gonna forget about it because that's how we keep going! That's how we don't end up like Martin! Are you with me?"
Sam didn't answer.
"Come on, man. Are you with me?" Dean asked again.
Sam nodded. "I'm with you."
Dean nodded. "Good. Let's get the hell out of here."
