"Sila," a voice called out from behind her.

She turned around and blinked in surprise "Sam? What are you guys doing here?"

Dean narrowed his eyes suspiciously "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was here to meet with someone. They had some information for me," Sila shrugged, waving her hand through the air "It's not that important. I take it you're here for the… was it the Morton House? There have been interesting stories floating around here. I was actually going to check it out before leaving town."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look "Why would you do that?"

Sila shrugged "I did some research and wanted to check it out. Loki – Well, Loki decided since my life is one huge crapstorm, I have to learn how to hunt properly. I have been dealing with demons and werewolves to an extent but… Well, it didn't always go as planned, so we decided I should at least try and get some experience."

"Demons?" Dean raised his eyebrow "You aren't a hunter and yet you dealt with demons?"

Sila smiled lightly "I used to call it my power of Google-Fu but I really was just lucky. I only really learned about demons when – when I got possessed. I was barely seventeen back then. And it wasn't the last time I had to deal with demons." She looked up at the brothers, causing them to cringe at the haunted look "I never want to be that weak again."

Dean felt a twinge of pity for the girl. She was so young, maybe a little younger than Sam and she already had that haunted look that seasoned hunters had. He might have been hunting earlier but for them, it had been their father. She was just thrown into the life and from the looks of it, it screwed with her more often than not "I can appreciate that," he admitted lowly and hesitated "I have just one question. Why Loki? He is a trickster. He killed people – A lot of people."

"So have you," Sila shrugged, not really concerned with the hostile tone. They had nothing on Gerard "I won't sit here, trying to tell you why I am with Loki, but I will tell you this. He helped me a lot. There is so much going on and I don't think I would have dealt with it if not for him. He's been amazing." She chewed on her lip and peaked up at Sam through her eyelashes "I really am sorry about what he did to you, you know. I know how it feels like to lose someone important."

"You don't have to apologise," Sam told her "I probably won't be cool with Loki anytime soon, but I don't think you had that much to do with it."

Sila grinned sheepishly "I might have given Loki a couple of ideas because I do see where he is coming from but what he did at the end… Sam, I just want you to know that you can come to me. We don't know each other, and I don't trust you – I'm sure you don't trust me either, but I am putting out this offer to you. I am willing to share my story with you if it will help. Loki has been trying to get me to talk about my past more, but he just doesn't really understand. He's trying and it's helping a bit but sometimes I just need someone to actually understand me, you know? According to him if I'm to learn from actual hunters, you're the people go ask. He doesn't like you and you don't like him but something you did made him respect you at least a little."

"He's a dick," Sam pointed out.

Dean nodded "Major dick."

Sila let out a laugh "I won't be arguing with you. But he does like you to an extent. You 'killed' him once. If you were any other hunter, he would have just stayed away. He didn't."

"I wish he had," Dean grumbled.

"Sorry," Sila shrugged in amusement.


Over the next couple of hours, Sam and Sila had been exchanging information about the Morton House while Dean kept complaining about them having their noses buries in books, news articles and the missing persons reports.

"So, what do you think is going on?" Sila asked, leaning back in her chair. She caught the bag of food Dean had thrown at her, digging in hungrily.

The two brothers watched her in surprised amusement "For a girl, you sure know how to eat," Dean snorted.

Sila shrugged "Honestly, I won't gain any weight. Why should I be watching what I eat when it doesn't do anything anyway. Plus, I'm starving. Haven't had the chance to eat in a while." She had been meeting with several witches of the same coven over the last week and a half. Being away from Gabriel had made her nightmares start up again which in turn caused her to avoid sleeping like the plague. It was bad enough that she couldn't stop thinking about all the friends she lost, she didn't have to see them die over and over again.

Tia, the leader of the local witch coven was on her way to meet the girl that Loki had sent their way. Why the trickster was interested in a human witch, she didn't know but she would be lying if she wasn't at least curious. What kind of witch did the girl have to be to draw Loki's attention? "Hey, you're Sila, right?" Tia asked, seeing a young girl looking around a little uncomfortable.

Sila looked up "Er, yeah. You must be…?"

"Tia," the witch introduced herself "Loki told me that you were coming." She looked at the counter "Do you want some food before we go to meet the coven or…?"

"Let's go now," Sila murmured, tugging at her sleeves "I'm not too hungry."

Tia smiled at the nervous girl before guiding her out of the diner and to her car "So, tell me a bit about yourself, Sila."

"I – I'm 24 and have known about my magic about eight years," Sila explained, looking out of the passenger side window "There was a druid in the town I grew up in and… Well, I tried to go to him for help but he is a cryptic asshole."

"Ah, that's the way of a druid, I'm afraid," Tia snorted "Don't worry. We won't be keeping anything from you without a good reason. According to Loki, it's important that you learn as much as you can."

Sila bit her lip "Yeah. I apparently have a 'destiny'," she added the last word with as much sarcasm as she could muster "It's a bit complicated and I'm… I don't really know how to explain."

"That's alright, Sila," Tia told her patting her shoulder reassuringly "We can go over what you know and what we're going to do a little later after you had a bit of a rest, alright?"

"I can agree to that," Sila agreed, hiding a yawn behind her hand.

It had been amusing to watch the coven react to some of the things she had told them. Apparently, neither of them held Deaton in any sort of high regard after this. They weren't the biggest fans of druids to begin with but according to them, Deaton had broken enough of the Council's rules – the fact that Deaton had been the Hales' Emissary had made everything so much worse.

"How are you with weapons?" Dean asked, looking up from the rest of his food. It was already getting dark outside, so they would have to get ready to move out soon.

Sila licked her lips "I'm a pretty good shot and decent with a knife. My dad was a Sheriff. He made sure that I was trained."

"And what do you know about the Supernatural?" Sam questioned "How did you find out? How much do you know?"

"What is this – twenty questions?" Sila rolled her eyes "Look, I told you about me getting possessed. It wasn't the first incident. When I was in High School things started happening. My… My best friend was bitten by a werewolf and that was only the start of our troubles. Werewolves, Kanimas, Alphas, Witches, Druids, demons… The list goes on. I don't know everything – I'd say I'm not even close to knowing enough but I'm not helpless."

"I didn't say that," Sam pointed out, looking over at Dean "Look, Sila. Hunting isn't glamorous. But with everything you've mentioned so far, I'd say it's better to train you more than to just let you run in blind."

Sila gritted her teeth. She jumped up, pacing up and down the room "Don't you think I know that? I wouldn't have asked to come along – for you to help me – if I thought that my life would get easier. I lost so many people. I don't want to lose any more if I can avoid it." She tugged at her hair in frustration "I have nightmares almost every night and they just won't go away. I lost everything once. I'm not going to let it happen again."

The brothers were quiet for a moment before Dean's eyes widened "Did you say you dealt with a Kanima?"

"Yes," Sila nodded before frowning "Why?"

Sam shook his head and leaned over to grab his father's journal from his bag "They're rare. I don't think even our dad even saw one. Is it true that they are werewolves?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Sila sighed and sank down on the bed across from Dean "The Kanima… A Kanima is a shapeshifter similar to a werewolf. Actually, they are werewolves whose transformation just went… wrong. They're a sort of a mutation, I guess. Really similar and yet so different. Werewolves want packs, a Kanima wants a master. They can be controlled and will attack everyone they're told. We never really found out why the transformation went wrong. There were assumptions but nothing that was ever proven."

"Did you kill it?" Dean asked, leaning forward curiously.

Sila's lips twitched "Well, we certainly tried. But no, he didn't die."

"But it killed people," Dean pointed out "Why wouldn't you kill it?"

"He didn't have a choice, did he?" Sila murmured "Look, something you need to understand. I am a big fan of live and let live. I am not going to be judging anyone simply because they aren't human. I have met so many good people who just happened to be a werewolf or a witch or simply not quite human. If you have a problem with that, just tell me now and I'm gone."

Dean tilted his head. Part of him was sure that Sila was just being naïve. They hadn't really met many supernatural creatures who didn't deserve to die. There had been a few but their father had taught them that if it's not human, it's evil. John had certainly never cared whether they had been a threat or not… "Why would you consort with witches? They are in league with demons."

"You're thinking about the wrong kind of witch. There's more than just your classic demon witch. Wicca, Witch, Druid, Darach, Spark… To only name a few," Sila sighed "I understand that you're probably not going to change your ways and I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking that you try to understand. There is so much more to the world than black and white. If I'm being totally honest, the worst people I met were nothing but human. Did you never think why some people turned evil? Werewolves protect themselves from hunters. They protect their packs. There might always be a reason behind what you think you know. But that's not my point. I have met evil… I have seen evil and they're not always supernatural. In fact, most of the time, they are human."

Sam and Dean glanced at each other before looking back at Sila "So… What are you trying to say here?"

Sila shot them an annoyed look "I'm trying to make you see that not everyone deserves to be killed. You protect those who can't protect themselves, right?"

"Yes," Sam nodded "That's close, enough, I guess."

"Then really do protect those. You're protecting humans who can't protect themselves. What about the supernatural who can't protect themselves? I knew a hunting family once… They accepted the fact that not every supernatural was evil." Sila sighed, running a hand through her hair "I'm just trying to get you to think. You don't have to accept what I say but please think about it? I definitely would tell you my story but I need your word that you won't go around killing. There are some… rough parts and…" She broke off, shaking her head "You know what? Forget it. Is it almost time to go?"

"Sila…" Sam spoke up.

Sila raised her hand to stop him "Just forget I said anything."

"Kind of hard to do when you throw this stuff at us," Dean pointed out gruffly "I'm not saying that I believe you or anything will come of this but as one hunter to a fledgeling hunter. You can talk to us." He paused for a moment before a grimace flashed across his face "Enough of the mushy stuff now. Let's blow this popsicle stand."


"Are you sure you can handle this?" Dean asked, holding out a gun for Sila to take.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed it, effectively checking it over quickly "My dad was a Sheriff. I'd say I know how to handle a gun."

"That's good," Dean hummed "At least you won't die too quickly."

"Wow," Sila snorted "Such confidence."

Dean smirked "Well, I haven't seen you in action before, have I?"

"Point," Sila mumbled before turning to the house. When they had driven up, they could see the light through the windows. Someone was already in there and they had to deal with it one way or another "So, what's the story?"

"Police," Sam explained "Just stay back and let us handle it for now, alright?"

Sila sighed "That's the best I'm going to get, aren't I?"

"Sorry, sweetheart," Dean shrugged "You're going to have to prove yourself first."

"How am I supposed to prove myself if I'm not allowed to do anything?" Sila shot back.

Dean sighed "Just do it, would you? You're going to get your chance sooner or later."

"I'm not happy about this," Sila proclaimed, pointing at Dean "Let it be known."

Sam's lips twitched "Come on, Sila. The sooner we're in, the sooner you can do something."

"Yay," she cheered sarcastically "Fine. Let's go." Sila followed the two hunters into the house, making sure to stay back a little. Despite knowing her way around the supernatural, this part was still a bit new. Vampire, werewolves, fairies, chimaeras, wendigos and demons she could deal with but from what she had seen, it wasn't any of those. Spirits and that niche of creatures, she hadn't really given much of a thought to before.

"Freeze," Dean shouted, coming face to face with two of the people who were in here "Police officers! Don't move."

"Alright. Alright. Alright," Sam continued when they started panicking "Take it easy, take it easy."

Dean looked at the two guys "Let's see some identification."

"Come on," Sam hurried "Let's see some ID."

The younger of the two looked at Sam and Dean nervously, not even noticing Sila lingering close to the wall behind the doorway "What… Are we under – under arrest?"

"We are unarmed," the other guy pointed out, his hands still up.

"Oh, god. Oh, god," the younger man mumbled, trying not to panic any more than he already was.

Dean raised his eyebrow at them before glancing down at the ID "Want to explain that weirdo outfit, Mr… uh, Corbett?"

"I know you," the other guy said, staring at Sam and Dean with a hint of recognition.

Dean smiled sarcastically "Yeah, sure you do. Give me some identification."

The guy nodded "Yeah, ho… Woah, hold on a second. I know the both of you guys. Yeah."

Corbett frowned "What?"

"Yeah, huh…"

Sam's eyes widened "Holy shit," he breathed, causing Sila to walk up next to him.

"What?" Dean demanded, not understanding the reaction.

"Uh, West Texas," Sam said "The… the tulpa we had to take out. Those two goofballs that almost got us killed… The hellhounds or something."

Dean blinked before he turned back to study the other man "Fuck me," he groaned.

"Yeah, we're not the hellhounds anymore, okay?" the guy huffed "It didn't test that well."

"Ed, what's going on?" Corbett asked, totally confused by now.

Ed patted his shoulder "They're not cops, buddy. No, not at all."

Sila was still turning around a fact over in her head "You dealt with a tulpa? Dude, that's awesome. You have to tell me about that. I read about them ages ago in the Bestiary."

"You have a bestiary?" Dean asked her, turning away from the two clowns in front of him.

Sila scratched the back of her head "I stole one, yeah. Took me ages to translate."

"Whose did you steal?" Sam asked, trying to hold back the laughter. It didn't surprise him at all that Sila would do something like that. He might not know her that much but from just talking to her, she liked to know about what they were dealing with and if there was one way of finding out, it was a hunter's bestiary. Each family had their own and while each of them were unique, they had the same base.

"Argent," she mumbled before a grimace stole its way across her face. It hadn't been good when Gerard had found out where their copy of the bestiary had gone. Thankfully, Chris took most of his displeasure but it came up more than once while she was in his clutches that night after the Lacrosse game "I paid for it in the end but at least I learned Archaic Latin, I guess."

Sam's eyebrows shot up "Theirs is actually still in Latin?"

"Yeah," Sila shrugged "They are sort of very old fashioned."

Dean listened to their conversation while keeping an eye on the hellhounds – or whatever they were calling themselves now. That reminded him of something "Ed, Ed, you had a partner, too, didn't you? A different guy? Harry or something."

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Ed nodded, pulling his eyes away from Sila and Sam's discussion. He understood about half of what they were saying and nothing made sense. At the moment, they were talking about some bed of a Chevy or something?

"Is he around here somewhere?" Dean asked, trying to find out how many amateurs they were dealing with here.

Ed shrugged "He's running around, chasing ghosts."

Dean closed his eyes for a moment "Okay, well, listen, you and Rambo need to get your girlfriends and get out of here."

"Alright. Listen here, chisel chest, okay?" Ed snapped, really annoyed at the two assholes who had already messed things up for them once before "We were here first. We've already set up base camp. We beat you."

Dean smirked at Sam before catching Sila trying not to laugh at them "They were here first," he said.

"Mm-hm," Ed nodded smugly. Dean reached out, grabbing his collar roughly "Oh, god."

"Ed…"

Ed swallowed at the tone "Yeah?"

"… Where's your partner?" Just as he asked that there was a huge crash above them, causing Sila to flinch in surprise. Dean just stared at Ed with a deadpan stare "What are you doing in the Morton House, Ed – on a leap year – what are you thinking?"

Ed puffed up, trying to look more important than he was "We're here to spend the night, okay? It's for our TV show."

"What?" Sam frowned before glancing at the equipment and the cameras, pulling a grimace "Great. Perfect."

Corbett nodded in agreement with Ed "Yeah, nobody's ever spent the night before."

"Ah, yes, they did," Sila spoke up "Tons of people. Every leap year. They just never come back out the next morning."

"Oh, come on, who are you?" Ed demanded, narrowing his eyes on Sila "I don't believe you."

Sam pulled a stack of papers out of his duffle bag "Look." He put them onto the table whenever he mentioned a name "Mission persons reports going back almost half a century. John Graham stayed on a dare – gone. Julie Wilkerson – gone. There are tons more. All of them came to just stay the night through, always on a leap year. The only body they ever found was the last owner, Freeman Daggett."

Ed eyes the papers nervously "These look legit."

"They are legit," Sam snapped "Look, Ed, we ain't got much time here, buddy. Starting at midnight, your friends are going to die."

Sila jumped to the side, closer to Dean when what sounded like a herd of elephant came stomping down the stairs towards them. A group of three burst into the living room "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Guys! Guys! Oh, my God. Oh, my God. We got one. Corbett. Corbett, we saw one. We saw one."

"Get out of here," Ed waved off, not believing the dark-haired guy. Harry if Sila heard the name right earlier.

"It was a full apparition," he exclaimed, gesturing excitedly "It was like a class four. It was a spectral illumination. It…"

The girl cut in, a dreamy expression on her face "It was amazing."

Harry stopped, blinking at Sam and Dean before he grimaced "Hey, aren't those the assholes from Texas?"

"Yes," Ed nodded.

Dean rolled his eyes at them "Alright, let's have this reunion across the street, guys."

"Crap," the other guy cursed "What are you guys doing here?"

"Come on, come on." Dean tried to usher them out of the room "We'll get you ice cream – our treat. What do you say? Let's go."

"Yeah, I say no."

The girl went over to the screen, messing with it "Look at this. Look, look. Ed, Ed. No. No. Look at this. Okay, honest-to-god proof, alright?" She showed them all the footage on the laptop.

"Are you kidding me?" Ed breathed, walking closer to study the image more intently.

"Yeah. No, not kidding," Harry grinned.

"What kind of reading did we get?" the guy with the camera asked.

Harry looked down at his device "Uh, it was a 10.9."

"10.9?" Ed exclaimed.

Harry hummed "Yeah, it was 10.9. It was almost 11. I came out and I was like 'What's going on?' And I was like – wait, watch this. Oh! He got blasted. It was crazy."

Sam and Dean walked away from the group, pulling Sila along. She barely reacted, staring at the group of idiots incredulously "What the hell are they trying to do?" she asked the brothers quietly "Are they trying to get everyone killed?"

"Most likely," Dean grumbled "They think they know everything there is to know about this kind of stuff. You should have seen them when we met the last time."

Sila raised her eyebrows "Sounds like a story you're definitely going to tell me."

"We'll see," Sam told her, snorting at her exaggerated pout "This is more important now, Sila. Work now, fun stories later."

"Alright, alright," she grumbled, crossing her arms. She understood where Sam was coming from. She really did but if there was one thing that she hadn't changed it was her curiosity. The curiosity that had almost gotten her killed on more than one occasion.

Sam leaned closer to the other two "Hey, think we're off on this? I mean, that was just a death echo, right?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded "But what's it doing here? Did anybody get shot here?"

"No, not that I could find," Sam admitted.

"What's a death echo?" the still unnamed guy spoke up, startling the group of hunters into twitching towards their guns. They hadn't realised that he had gotten quite this close and especially not with a camera in his hands.

Sam ran a hand through his hair "Look, we got a problem here. That ghost ain't it."

"Yeah, that's real," Harry exclaimed, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement "Like, that happened."

"What's a death echo?" the guy with the camera asked again.

Dean ran a hand down his face, trying not to sound too frustrated "Echoes are trapped in a loop, okay? They keep replaying how they died over and over and over again, usually in the place where they were ganked. It's about as dangerous as a scary movie."

Sam turned to face the group that was now paying attention to them "So maybe the echo's not dangerous but maybe something else is."

"You're right," Dean agreed and clapped his hands "Alright, we need to get out of here, guys. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Pack it up."

Sila narrowed her eyes, seeing one of the clowns – Corbett sneak out of the room, a camera clutched in his hands. He glanced around, making sure no one realised what he was doing before disappearing through the door. Sila checked to see if anyone noticed him leaving before she passed her hand over her gun, letting out an annoyed sigh. Why couldn't people just listen to more experienced people for once? It didn't make any sense to her. Walking into a situation when they barely knew anything. They had no weapons, no idea what was going on her. She crept after Corbett, making sure to stay out of his way.

"I wish to communicate with the restless spirits here," she heard the guy whisper. He stopped suddenly when the lights turned off "Uh, lights out? Oh, I think I got night vision here."

Sila shivered when the feeling of getting watched passed over her. She pulled out the gun, jumping forward "Get behind me," she hissed, pushing Corbett to the side "Look around. There is something here. Where is it?" Corbett was frozen, not reacting to anything she was saying, so Sila narrowed her eyes, trying to make them adjust to the darkness faster "Shit." She ducked out of the way, raising her gun to shoot the ghost. Before she could pull the trigger, the spirit charged at her, throwing her against the wall. Sila let out a pained groan, landing on the ground with a dull thump "Run," she rasped, snapping Corbett out of his shock.

Daggett crouched down next to the girl, studying her for a moment before he grabbed her, disappearing further into the house. She would do nicely, he was sure. He never had a girl at his party. This would be fun.


"Corbett," Ed exclaimed, as the younger man skidding to a stop in front of him "Are you okay? What happened?"

Sam looked around "Where's Sila?"

When Corbett looked down, Dean grabbed a hold of his weird outfit, pulling him closer "Where is Sila?"

"He took her," Corbett breathed "There was this guy. This thing and it took her."

"And you just ran?" Dean snapped.

Sam grabbed his brother's arm "Dean, calm down. It's not his fault, you know that."

"Dammit, Sam. We're responsible for her," Dean gestured, pacing up and down "What the hell are we going to tell… him if we lose her, huh?"

"Ah," Sam grimaced. He turned to Ed "You have cameras up everywhere, right? Check them."

Harry looked at them for a moment before he nodded "Let's go through all the cameras… Although, Corbett, do you know where you were?"

"N-No," Corbett shook his head "Somewhere on the second floor…"

"Okay," Harry mumbled, going through the footage.

Sam turned to Dean "It's 12:04 now, Dean. 'Let's go to the Morton house,' you said 'It's our Grand Canyon.'"

Dean glared at him "Sam, I don't want to hear this. Not now, not while Sila is still missing."

"You got two months left, Dean," Sam sighed "Instead, we're most likely all going to die tonight." He picked up a chair, smashing it against the sealed front door.

"Woah," Spruce gasped "What the hell is going on, guys?"

Sam whirled around to face them "I'll tell you what's going on," he snapped "Every door, every window… I'm guessing every exit out of this house – they're all sealed."

Maggie paled "But w-why are they sealed?"

"It's a supernatural lockdown, okay?" Dean explained "Whatever took Sila doesn't want us to leave and it's no death echo. This is a bad one and it wants us scared."

"Or it just wants us," Maggie whispered.

All of a sudden, the EMF detectors started going off and the cameras fritzed "Uh, guys?" Spruce called out "The camera's fritzing again."

"Whoa," Ed exclaimed "Guys, the EMF's starting to spike. This is a big one."

"Everybody, stay close," Sam ordered "There's something coming."

An apparition appeared in front of them, causing everyone to cry out. Dean narrowed his eyes on the echo "Is this the same echo you guys saw earlier?"

"No," Harry shook his head "It's a different guy."

"Multiple echoes?" Dean frowned incredulously "What the hell's going on?"

Sam shrugged in confusion "Beats me."

"Okay," Dean sighed "Alright. Alright." He stalked forward, starting to yell at the apparition "Uh, hey, buddy. Hey. Wake up. You're dead. Hello."

Harry raised his eyebrows "What's he doing? What's he doing?"

Sam turned to the Ghostfacers, getting sort of tired of explaining everything to them "It's rare but sometimes you can shock an echo out of its loop if you can talk to the part of the ghost that's still human. Usually, you have to have some kind of connection to the deceased."

"Come on," Dean yelled "Wake up. Be dead."

The apparition flickered and turned around, his eyes widening. Harry looked around nervously "You guys hear that?"

"What's that sound?" Ed questioned.

"You guys hear that?"

"Snap out of it, buddy, huh?" Dean huffed "Come on, what are you waiting for? You're gonzo. You're dead."

A bright light shone on the apparition and the sound of a car horn echoed through the room. All of a sudden, the apparition flew backwards as if hit by an invisible vehicle. Dean jumped back, his eyes following the ghost until it disappeared.

"Where the hell did it go?" Harry gasped, stepping into the spot the death echo had been in just a few seconds ago.


"Dude, there's no record of any of this here," Dean huffed, shaking his head. He ignored the group that was following him and Sam through the house like duckling "No one got shot here. Obviously, no one got run over by a freaking train."

Sam turned to the group "Stay close."

"Did the echoes take your friend?" Maggie whispered.

Dean nodded "Yes. No. I don't know… We don't know what's doing on here. That's what we're trying to figure out, okay?"

"I think Sila knew," Sam murmured, frowning as he thought over their conversation.

Dean blinked "What gives you that idea?"

Sam ran a hand through his hair "Think about it. She has been in town for a while and apparently, the coven she was with told her a lot about the Morton House. I think she at least had more of an idea than us."

"I still don't like the fact that there is a coven in town," Dean grumbled "I…"

"Dean, maybe Sila was right," Sam pointed out "I'm not saying to trust her but all the things happening around here comes from this house. There was not one death that we can associate with the coven. If she's right, then there is a lot more magic users than we thought."

Dean sighed "I don't like this, Sam."

"What is a coven?" Corbett asked "Not like… vampire coven, is it?"

"No," Sam shook his head, looking over his shoulder "Not in this case. There's a witch coven in this town."

Maggie tilted her head "And your friend is with them?"

"Yes. No," Dean said before he groaned "We don't really know. Sila… We only met her once before which I just realised now, by the way."

"That doesn't matter," Sam explained "She is a hunter and has seen at least as much as we have. I don't care that she could be dangerous. She hasn't harmed us and actually managed to get Loki to leave us alone. That's good enough for now, isn't it?"

Harry closed his mouth with a snap "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't worry about it," Dean waved him off "We should be focussing on getting Sila back. I don't fancy being killed by Loki… Again."

"I… sense a story here," Spruce mumbled.

Dean shot him a sarcastic grin "You have no idea."

"Anyway, Dean is right," Sam spoke up "So what do we know? Death echoes are ghosts… Okay? Now, ghosts – usually they haunt places where they lived or where they died."

"Except these mooks didn't live or die here," Dean added.

Maggie blinked in confusion "So, what are they doing here?"

"Hey, give the lady a cigar," Dean cheered sarcastically before he turned to them again and stopped "Alright, seriously, does looking at this nightmare through that camera make you feel better or something? I mean…"

Maggie put the camera down for a moment before looking through it again "Um… I… uh… Well, yeah. Uh, yeah. I think so."

"Right," he mumbled, shaking his head. Having those two clowns around the first time was bad enough but it seemed like the more members they gathered, the worse they got.

When they reached a room full of stuffed animal heads and file cabinets, Sam started to root through them. He held up a broken framed certificate "Freeman Daggett, house's last owner, officially commended for twenty years of fine service at the Gamble General Hospital."

Dean's eyebrows shot up "He was a doctor?"

"Janitor," Sam corrected.

Dean shrugged "This looks like his den. When'd you say he died? '64?"

Sam hummed "Yeah, heart attack."

Maggie pulled stuff out of the cupboards and grimaced "What are these, c-rations?"

"Yeah," Dean agreed "Army-issued, three squares – like a lifetime supply."

Maggie gagged "God, is that all he ate?"

Dean grinned, waggling his eyebrows "One-stop shopping." He tried the safe to the side before he whistled "Hello… locked."

"Oh, come on, guys," Ed rolled his eyes "Shouldn't we try to get out of here?"

"Not without Sila we won't," Sam pointed out, snorting when he found a dusty pamphlet "Huh. 'Survival Under Atomic Attack' An optimist." He flinched when Dean pried the safe open with a loud bang.

"Crap," Dean cursed, leafing through the file box "Crap. Taxidermy. Okay." He froze, his mouth opening before he shivered violently "You said Daggett was a hospital janitor?"

Sam nodded "Yeah."

Dean gave another full-body shudder "Ew. Got three toe tags here. One, death by gunshot, train accident and suicide."

"Eww," Sam groaned, exchanging a look of disgust with his older brother.

Harry looked from one to the other in confusion "What?"

"Well, that explains why all the death echoes are here," Sam gestured "They're here because their bodies are here… somewhere in the house?"

When they still didn't understand Dean threw down the tags "Daggett brought the remains home from the morgue. To 'play'."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Ed and Harry turned to look at each other "Ewwww," they chorused "Ugh."

Spruce looked a little green around the nose "That's nasty, dude."

"Right," Sam mumbled, trying very hard not to think about what he just learned.

Dean looked around, realising that someone was missing. Why couldn't those idiots just stay together for once? "Wait a minute." He rolled his eyes, stalking out of the room. It was easy to find the girl, she wasn't necessarily being quiet and if Daggett had cared to actually kill them, he already would have had enough chances. That meant that either he was taking his time or something – or someone – was distracting him. Whatever it was, it could only spell trouble "Closer to the herd, okay?" Dean said as if he hadn't almost given the girl a heart attack. It wasn't his problem if they wander of… Was it?

"Maggie? Maggie?" Harry shouted from down the corridor.

Dean rolled his eyes. They couldn't just stay put for once "She's fine."

Ed hurried up to them from behind, EMF meter in his hand "Harry. Harry, I got an 8.6 and climbing fast. Something huge is coming. Look. Something big is coming."

"It's past 11, you guys."

"What?" Dean demanded, pulling out his gun "Nobody move. Hold on. Hold on. Stay quiet." He was looking around nervously when the room got colder, not noticing Sam disappearing until his flashlight hit the ground.

"It's really cold in here," Ed complained.

Maggie looked around, fear in her eyes "Harry?"

"Sam?"

Ed was still looking down at the EMF that had gone back to normal "Some kind of surge."

"Sam?"

"Where did he go?" Spruce asked, looking around in confusion. He had been right next to him… And now he was gone.

Maggie clutched Harry's hand "Oh, no."

Dean crouched down, picking up Sam's dropped flashlight before letting his eyes drift across the room one more time "Sam!"


Sila let out a low groan when she came to. Everything was hurting and she was second-guessing mouthing off to a mentally unstable ghost. Then again, whatever happened didn't really have the same intensity as Gerard's punishment had had. Funny that a geriatric had more imagination than a ghost that had tortured and killed a ton of people over the past decades. Then again, Gerard always knew what he was doing. He always had a plan and more than once, Sila had been on the receiving end.

"Sila," Sam called out, trying to get the girl to look at him. She was looking pretty banged up but thankfully she was alive "Sila. Hey. Come on."

"Sam?" Sila groaned, trying to move her hand to touch her head.

Sam let out a noise "Don't touch that," he warned a moment too late when Sila let out a hiss "Can you talk to me, Sila? I'm right here, okay? We're getting out of this."

"Don't listen," Daggett warned her, moving around the table to pick up a knife.

Sila let out a huff "Sorry, Sam. Casper the fugly ghost gets dibs."

"Shh," Daggett hushed, trying to sound soothing as he positioned himself behind Sila "It stops hurting, so don't worry."

Sam pulled on his restraints frantically "Sila, no! Stay with me, okay? Don't… I'm right here. Don't…"

"Sam," Sila whispered, raising her head to look at the hunter across from her. She could feel the cold steel of the blade against the back of her neck, digging in deeper and deeper "I'm sorry." She swallowed, feeling her spark react to the threat behind her. So far, she had managed to reign it in but she didn't want to die… Couldn't die yet "Please don't hate me?"

"Sila, what?"

Just as the blade entered the back of her neck, a wave of magic burst from Sila's chest, hitting Daggett who immediately dropped the dagger "No," he shouted, clutching at his face in pain. It felt like he was burning from the inside "No." He let out a loud scream as Sila slumped against the rope holding her to the chair. Daggett glared at Sam before the apparition almost seemed to burn up, disappearing into thin air.

Sam strained against the rope, struggling to get free "Sila? Sila, can you hear me?" He had no idea what just happened apart from the fact that Daggett seemed to be gone. Maybe Dean had found a way to get rid of him? But how? Judging by his research, Daggett's body hadn't even been in the house which meant something else had to have happened. Why had Sila apologised to him? It made very little sense to him at the moment but he hoped the girl across from him would be able to shed some light on the situation soon.

"Sam," Dean cried out, seeing his brother tied to a chair just by the door of the bunker "Are you alright?"

Sam nodded "Yeah, Dean. I'm fine. But Sila…"

Spruce who had been filming the whole birthday table with party guests or old corpses, froze when he reached the girl he had only just met today "Oh, God. Is she…?"

Dean hurried over after untying Sam, pressing his fingers to her neck "She's fine. Unconscious but she'll be fine. What happened, Sammy?"

"I don't know. Daggett was about to… to kill her and then nothing. It was like he burnt up or something," Sam explained "There was this wave of light coming from Sila."

Dean's eyes narrowed, studying the girl intently. He would get his answers but after everything, he thought she deserved at least a little bit of a break, so he would listen to her explanation and then make up his mind. It helped that Dean had gotten disillusioned with John and his practices, rather taking on Bobby as a role model instead. Bobby, while a good hunter, didn't kill everything in sight. Maybe it would be worth calling him and checking Sila's stories about other magic users "We'll talk about that later. With Daggett gone, let's get out of here. It's almost morning anyway." He stepped closer to Sila, lifting her into his arms with a frown at how light she was "Damn… We should really feed her. She barely weighs a thing."

As they made their way through the house, Spruce turned to look at Sam "What was this Daggett guy's problem anyway?"

Sam shrugged "I'm honestly not really sure. He didn't talk to me apart from trying to wind me up."

"How?"

"He used Sila," Sam grimaced "Honestly, whatever she said to him before I got there… It wasn't good."

Dean's lips twitched despite the situation "What the hell? Why do I feel like it's going to be a theme with Sila? She seems to ramble or mouth off. At least, I got that impression."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, looking at the girl in his brother's arms. He was glad that she was alright but he couldn't deny that he was confused and a bit hurt. Although if Sila had magic – any sort of magic – then it would explain why she had been with the coven. He shook his head. Speculating wasn't going to do him any good "Probably."

"Oh, my God," Maggie breathed, seeing the others walking towards them "You found them?"

Dean huffed "Obviously. You can get out of the salt now. Daggett is gone."

"Is… Is she alright?" Corbett asked quietly, biting his lip at the sight of the unconscious girl. She had saved him. He didn't even want to know what would have happened if she hadn't been there. The fact that she was hurt was making him feel guilty though. After all, it was his fault for wandering off.

Dean's head snapped down when Sila let out a small noise "Sila?" he sank to the ground, propping her up against his chest "Come on."

"D'n?" Sila mumbled, her head turning to the side. She let out a pained hiss when the motion pulled at the incision on the back of her neck "Sam… kay?"

"I'm good, Sila," Sam told her, kneeling down in front of her "You're the one hurt."

"'M fine," she whispered, raising her hand to the back of her neck weakly. Her head snapped up when she remembered what she did, staring at Sam with wide, frightened eyes.

He held up his hand, heart pulling at how scared she looked "We'll talk about it later, alright? Just rest now."

"I'm sorry," Sila swallowed "I couldn't… I'm still…"

"Sila," Dean spoke up "Later, okay?"

Sila bit her lip but nodded, turning to hide deeper in Dean's warmth. It felt like she was frozen and she hated being cold. She absolutely hated it. Thankfully, she usually had Fen – Loki's puppy or Gabriel to cuddle with when she couldn't get warm with the help of blankets alone "Cold," she mumbled, tugging at Dean's arms.

Dean raised his eyebrows before he let out a sigh, pulling Sila closer to his chest. He flinched when her cold nose brushed against the exposed skin of his neck "Ew, cold," he complained "How the hell are you freezing this badly? You're wearing – what? – six layers?"

"Later," Sila told him, glancing at the Ghostfacers from the corner of her eye.


"So…" Sila dropped down on one of the two beds in the motel room, looking over at the two brothers unsurely.

"You have magic," Sam stated.

Sila shifted on the bed "That wasn't a question, was it?"

"Why didn't you say so?" the younger of the brothers demanded.

"We've met each other once. I know about you from several sources and to be honest, I was scared. Dean is known to be just like your father. Shoot first, ask questions later," Sila explained, clutching at the blankets "Magic… I don't know. I have had magic for a couple of years now and with how I awoke the potential… I really wish I hadn't."

Dean's hand twitched before he threw himself down on the other bed. This was going against everything his father had taught him but he wasn't sure what to do. Sila looked as if she couldn't harm a fly and considering that she had looked pretty sickly the last time they met… He would give her a chance. He let those vampires go, so why shouldn't he also give someone else a chance? "I think you should explain. You've been dangling information in front of us for a while now but haven't really said anything specific."

"That's because it's hard," Sila exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration "Okay, okay… Do you know Gerard and Kate Argent?"

Sam chewed on his lip "I've heard the names before, yeah. They are pretty well known."

Sila grimaced "Yeah… They are. Okay… Okay. I – It really all started with Kate. She did some things that… She eradicated several packs of werewolves – peaceful packs. She killed humans and wolves alike, set fire to their homes after seducing an underage member of the packs."

"How do you…?"

"It's the way it started. Kate – She killed the Hale pack a couple of years ago and that's how I got involved. I won't tell you too much about that but Kate came to town and then Gerard. I… Gerard kidnapped part of my pack and tortured them for information. When they didn't tell him anything…" She looked down at her fingers, fidgeting with the shirt she was wearing. Since hers was full of blood, she had one of Dean's plaid shirts since they didn't look quite as big on her as Sam's "They took me. I was human and they wanted to make me an example." Her face screwed up and she closed her eyes tightly "I can't even remember how long it was… I remember hurting a lot and Gerard mocking me. I was sixteen. A child. That… I think that was the moment my magic really woke up and it only got worse after that."

Sam and Dean were quiet, just listening to Sila's story "Sila…"

"Don't," she shook her head "If I stop now, I won't finish. The next part is… hard for me. It was seven years ago but sometimes it's as if he's still there." She shivered, pulling a blanket around her shoulders "The cold brings him back."

Sam hesitated for a moment before he walked over to sit down next to Sila "Bring who back?"

"The Nogitsune," she whispered "The demon that possessed me… The Nogitsune took over my body and he hurt so many people. Killed my friends and I couldn't do anything."

"Shit," Dean cursed quietly "And I thought our lives were crappy."

Sila's lips twitched sadly "They are. No offence but if I had found out about all this crap when I was as young as you were… I don't know what I would have done."

They were silent for a moment before Dean spoke up again "So… How did you deal with Daggett?"

"Urgh," Sila groaned "I was trying to forget Casper the Fugly Ghost."

"He was rather fugly, wasn't he?" Dean agreed.

"Definitely," Sila coughed "I honestly can't tell you what happened. I goaded him a bit at the beginning which was my bad. I don't think he appreciated being called fugly to his face… Anyway, he was the ultimate definition of lonely. Would be kinda sad if he wasn't a psycho."

Sam raised his eyebrows "The bodies?"

"Yeah," Sila nodded "He lifted them because he wanted to throw himself a birthday party. Why he thought they would be good company is beyond me but hey. To each their own, right?"

"He told you that?" Sam frowned, looking at Sila in confusion. Daggett hadn't really said anything to him at all.

Sila shrugged, inching closer to Sam's warmth "Apparently he liked me. Which is all kinds of wrong. Just saying."

"Yeah… Wrong," Dean mumbled with a shudder "So he was basically Norman Bates, kidnapped some corpses because no one would come to his party and then what? He died?"

"OD'd, yeah," Sila nodded "At midnight or something. That's why he only really started his whole spiel at midnight."

Sam shook his head in disgust "Wow. That's…"

"I know."


Sila was curled up on the chair, a bandage wrapped around her throat with a compress on the back of her neck. Her magic was still wonky and pretty drained from killing the ghost that it was easier to wait for Gabriel to heal it. She was staring at the screen with a raised eyebrow, unsure of what she was seeing. It was flattering to hear what Sam and Dean were saying about her but all in all, she didn't really like her being on camera.

"So, guys, what do you think?" Ed asked, gesturing to the screen as soon as the credits rolled "Are you alright?"

Dean leaned on the back of Sila's chair, a hand resting on her shoulder "You know," he started, lips twitching when he caught Sila's knowing look "I kind of think it was half-awesome."

Maggie's eyes lit up "Half-awesome? That – That's full-on good, right?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded "Um, I mean it's bizarre how you all are grossly exploiting the fact that you all almost died. Well done."

Dean slipped something into Sila's hand who in turn pretended to massage her leg as if it was hurting her. She subtly placed the battery in the bag on the ground while Dean pulled the attention to himself "Yeah. It's a real tight rope you guys are walking there."

Ed shrugged, pleased with the reaction he had gotten "Nah, that's reality, man. Yeah, we almost died searching for the truth but it's our job over here to share it with the world."

"Right," Sam drawled "Well, um, our experience, you know what you get when you show the world the truth?"

"A straight jacket," Dean replied before anyone else could "Or a punch in the face."

"Really?" Sila frowned "In my experience, it's both."

Dean inclined his head "Sometimes both."

Harry huffed out a laugh "Oh come on, guys, don't be 'facer haters just because we happen to have gotten the footage of the century."

"Oh yeah," Ed nodded in agreement.

Dean let out a sigh, surrendering. He really didn't feel like spending any more time in here. If he ever saw them again, it would be too soon "You got us there. Well, we'll see you around."

Spruce waved "Peace out."

"Come on, Sila," Dean gestured, holding out his hand.

"Since when are you a gentleman, Dean?" Sila teased, letting him pull her from the chair.

Dean paused for a moment "We'll never speak of this again, clear?"

Sila and Sam exchanged an amused look "Crystal," they chorused before making their way to the door.

Just before they could leave, Corbett stepped forward "Erm… Sila?"

"Hm?" Sila blinked, looking over her shoulder.

"Thank you," Corbett whispered "Without you…"

Sila held up her hand "Don't think about it, would you? The more you think about it, the worse it gets. You're alright. I'm alright and we're all alive. That's all that matters. Just do me a favour and keep out of haunted houses from now on. A TV show isn't worth your lives. Although…" She glared at Ed and Harry "You two are idiots. Do you care about anything but yourselves? Hunting isn't fun, it isn't a joke. Hooray, you might get famous or you might not but you're going to get people killed eventually. Not even experienced hunters can guarantee that everyone survives. We all lost people. You're dense to think that you can go in without weapons, having no fucking idea and survive. Going in without doing enough research is deadly."

"Sila, let them," Sam sighed, pulling at her arm "They can make their own decisions. We already tried."

"They are going to die, Sam," Sila gestured "The least I need to do is to warn them." She turned narrowed eyes back on the Ghostfacers "You do what you think is right but don't come running when you lose people and it gets too much. Hell, you still have a chance of getting out. I wish I never found out about this sometimes but it's too late now." She took a deep breath before walking out the door.