*glares*

*glares* Sooo… what happened?

Crowley. You do know that I have a life, right?

Could have fooled me.

You know what, Smokey, screw you!

Still haven't answered me, Spider.

Scorpion, Jackass, and I've been busy. I had a few rough patches at school and I'm trying to straighten them out, so excuse me, princess, if I've been a bit distracted!

Excuses, excuses. If it's so bad, I could help you put a few more brain cells in that spacious cranium of yours. All for the low, low, price of-

An asskicking, Crowley? Because I would be more than happy to deliver one if you finish that sentence.

...Rude.

Besides, it's not like I haven't done anything. I just had to slow down. I can't give you a full chapter today, but I can give you what I do have. The chapter was getting long anyway.

Don't tell me your…

Splitting up a chapter, yeah. It was either that or waiting even longer for a chapter that would be twice as long as the others. Take your pick, Crowley.

*Rubs bridge of nose* Okay, fine. But that means that you will finish the chapter by the end of the week, or I start doing damage, understood?

Would you like a back rub and a pipe while you making demands?

Actually…

Don't even. *Inhales* Chapter 5… uh, Part 1...

Crossroads

After an hour worth of bike riding, Coraline began to regret leaving home. Wyborn failed to mention, either by accident or on purpose, that Alexis's house was on the other side of town. Coraline has only lived in Ashland for a year, and no one in the family ever needed to go that far from home since the move. So to say that she was a peeved about having to go THAT far was an understatement.

"You know, if my parents found out that I went through the city without their permission, I going to be grounded for year, right?"

"Only a year," Wyborn came back, "If my grandma finds out, I'll be grounded for life. And I won't be able to sit for a year."

Coraline opened her mouth to tell him off, but kept silent. Wyborn was taking a risk taking her this far out, and not just the risk of the looming fury of his grandmother. Yet, he was willing to follow her on what she hoped was just a wild goose chase. Heaven help them both if she was right in her suspicions.

Coraline took a breath and relented. " You're right. You didn't have to help me on this."

"Don't worry about it, Jonsey, " Wyborn checked his GPS and turned right into a neighborhood that looked as run down as the Pink Palace, Coraline following suit. "It's not like I was going to let you handle this yourself. Besides, I was getting bored."

Things were silence for the rest of the ride, so Coraline took note of the surrounding area. The neighborhood wasn't so much run down as it was old. Many of the houses looked to be either abandoned or neglected in upkeeping. Paint on the sides were peeling, shingles were either falling off or missing, and wooden porches were falling apart from either winter weather or termites. Trees were either overgrown or barren, and the same went with some of the lawns and bushes. Despite the occupation of some of the houses, the area seemed devoid of life. Even the cool autumn air felt ominous. The children felt a chill both outside and in as they quietly continued down the street.

Wyborn stopped and checked the GPS on his phone, lifting his head to check the street signs before pocketing the phone. "O-okay, so once we turned down this corner, Alexis's house should be a two houses down." He tried to keep his nerves from showing, but didn't have much luck.

"Good, cause this seat was beginning to chafe," she adjusted herself in her bicycle seat, the continued around the corner to their destination.

They weren't really expecting much when they arrived at the DuPree home. It looked like an ordinary house from an outsider's perspective. It was an average home with a large front lawn and an old oak tree in front, the last of its remaining leaves arranged with shades of oranges, reds and browns. The lawn was was patchy, but was still trimmed for the winter season. They also saw a swinging bench hanging on the porch, hanging from one chain, rusted by time. The darkening sky somewhat muted the colors, making it as dull as the other houses.

'This whole place feels empty for some reason. Why? The Pink Palace is about as old, but something here feels... missing.'

The two tempered their expectations as they walked towards the house. As they approached the house, Coraline began to feel uneasy. She didn't know why , but her breath began to quicken. Her hands and knees began to stiffen and shake. She took her first step on the front steps, her heart pounding in her ears.

"Jonesy?"

Her world began spinning around her, with the door seemingly getting closer and further at the same time. She looked away from the door to the bench. The paint that was peeling, and the exposed wood was warped and rotting away.

"Jonesy?"

She couldn't see it, but she felt the blood drained from her face. Cold chills raced up and down her spine. Within the quagmire of racing thoughts, she tried to command her body to move. Forward. Backwards. Anywhere. Her body wasn't heeding the commands.

"Yo! Jonesy!"

Why am I even here? I must be insane! A thought screamed from the deepest recesses of her mind. I shouldn't be here. I almost died last time. I can't do this again! Memories of her first encounter began to resurface. Her parents vanishing, the Other Mother's twisted form, the game, the mangled and mutated residents, the buttons, and the fear.

"Jonesy, wake up!"

" Huh, what?" Coraline shook her head, silencing her fears. When the haze settled, she noticed Wyborn's hands on her shoulders, placed there to shake her out of her stupor. She also noticed his worried face in clear violation of her personal space.

"You alright, Jonesy? You had me worried for a moment there," he said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah! I'm fine," huffed Coraline, quickly brushing off Wyborn's hands and moving passed him. The fear tried to intervene again, but she forced it down with her building annoyance.

Wyborn was many things, as Coraline had the tendency of reminding him, but he wasn't blind to his friends discomfort. "You know, if you're having second thoughts, we can always go back home. You don't have to force yourself through this, especially if you are, well, nervous. "

"Look, I'm fine!" She made no attempt to hide the edge in her tone as she approached the door. "I didn't just ride a bike this far for nothing. Let's just get this over with and go home. This neighborhood is giving me the creeps."

She knocked on the door, admittedly with slightly more force then need. She didn't care. The fear she had was been washed down with frustration and determination. Now, she was going to see this though, and prove that she wasn't "nervous."

After a second set of knocks, this time with less frustration, the door opened, revealing a middle-aged man on the other side. He looked like he came from worked as Coraline noticed the button down shirt is unbuttoned halfway and his tie undone around his neck. Bloodshot eyes, baggy eyelids and matted hair only prove to contradict her theory. 'Did he really spend the whole evening in his work clothes?'

The moment of silence was interrupted by a nervous chuckle coming from Wyborn, wearing a wide grin that would make anyone suspicious of their intentions. "H-hello! Hi, my name is Wyborn Lovat, and this is my friend Coraline Jones. You're probably wondering why we are he-"

"Whatever you are trying to push, I'm not interested." Coraline and Wyborn winced at the smell of alcohol, but avoided reacting to it. "I already have a church, and I've already brought seasonal goods from my daughter's school. Goodbye." He backed away from the doorway and tried to close the door.

"Actually, we came to see Alexis. She invited us here, " Coraline quickly stated before the door completed the swing.

The door reopened and the tired Mr. DuPree simply stared at the two strange kids. He made no attempt to hide the skepticism from his tired face. "Alexis never invites anyone."

"Yeah, our parents were concerned about the hour long ride to get here," she pointed out the bikes laying on the porch arm rail, "but since we have an important test coming up, on top of us learning more responsible, they allowed us to come here as long as we get back before sundown."

Coraline was surprised at how quickly she constructed that lie. Probably because it was mostly true. Mel and Charlie Jones did allow Coraline to go far from home when the occasion called for it. Never this far, though, and she was never gone for too long. Mostly to keep from repeating history then fear of punishment for lateness. 'I should probably call them soon. Just to be sure nothing happened.'

Mr. DuPree looked at them for a moment, not looking convinced. "Oh, a study session, huh?" His eyes shifted to a tight glare, boring down on them. "For which class?"

'Geez! What's with the third degree?' Coraline thought to herself as she tried to think of a way out. Fortunately, Wyborn picked up the slack, "American History. Alexis and I have the same teacher, so we figured we'd compare notes. And Coraline here is a walking encyclopedia on the subject, so she came to help."

Mr. DuPree, now rubbing the bridge of his nose, let out a grunt of submission. Despite his drunkenness, he knew that something about their story was off, but the dizziness prevented him from putting it together. "Alright, fine. Just keep it down. I am busy in the den and I don't want to be disturbed, Understood?"

The two gave their most honest nods. DuPree simply stepped aside, letting the strange children inside. As soon as they stepped through the threshold, Coraline began to take notice of the decor, her old explorer instinct kicking in on full blast. The house as she saw it was surprisingly well kept on the inside compared to the front lawn. In the entranceway, a table stood across from the door, decorated with a vase of faux red and white roses, and a number of pictures. The biggest one in the center was of a red-haired man in a formal military dress, though it wasn't Mr. Dupree. He had a big grin on his face, showing his chipped tooth.

To either side, there were pictures of a family, with Mr. Dupree was in both. On one side, there was Mr. Dupree with a much younger man, sitting at a table in a local restaurant. The younger man looked like a younger version of the one in the military uniform, but in a grey sweatshirt and jeans. On the other picture, there was the two men and, this time a beautiful redhead female. She stood in between the two men as they rested their hands over her clearly protruding stomach. From the look of the picture, the two kids have noticed, she was late into her pregnancy. The biggest thing that Coraline noticed were the faces. They were people that were used to smiling, to being happy, a far cry from the man who let them in to see his daughter.

They walked through the hall towards the stairs, getting a glimpse of the living room as they passed. Everything was clean, in order, and ordinary. The room had all of the basics for a living room; a black leather couch and recliner, a oval glass table with iron legs, tan carpeting and a large widescreen tv on the opposite end. On one wall, there were paintings of flowers and a large sun set as the center piece. On the opposing wall, a doorway next to an unlit fireplace leading to the kitchen, surrounded by more paintings and an ornament that hung over the entryway.

What stood out, however, was the glass cup on the edge of the table and an ornate glass bottle that stood next to it. From the brownish color of the bottle's contents, and Mr. Dupree's disheveled appearance and behavior at the door, Coraline guessed that it was something that she wasn't old enough to ask for or about.

She finally took a glance at the tv screen before making her way up the stairs. The woman, still pregnant, from the photo was lying on a wooden swinging bench, the same one that was in disarray outside. She sat with her back on the armrest and her feet laying on a more energetic and far less annoyed Mr. DuPree, who was giving her feet a massage. With a quick twirl of the camera, the younger man also appeared, smiling and laughing as well. Coraline couldn't hear anything from the tv, but she could tell that those were happy times.

They made their way up the stairs, Mr. Dupree instructing them to Alexis's room from the foot of the stairs. They passed more pictures along the way. Some were just stock images, others were of Mr. Dupree, the young man, or what was probably Mrs. Dupree if the video and photos were of any indication. As they reached the stairs, they made the turn to the end of the hall opposite from the master bedroom towards Alexis Dupree's bedroom, passing a bathroom and a room with another closed door. Coraline still felt that something was missing as they approached the door. Or more specifically, something felt hollow. She just couldn't figure out what.

'In fact,' Coraline thought, 'where was Alexis in those pictures?'

"That went a lot better than expected," Wyborn whispered into Coraline's ear. "If this whole 'Private Investigator' thing goes south, we could make good actors."

"Don't quit your day job," Coraline and Wyborn stopped at the door, and she gave a soft knock. "'American History?' Since when am I such an expert?"

"Hehe. Better at it then I am, definately. Besides, it was either that or Biology." They both gave a small cringe before falling silent. After a minute of waiting, Coraline knocked again, this time just loud enough to cause an echo inside. Another minute passed before she became visibly irked and knocked harder.

One more minute passed, and Coraline turned to her companion with a glower on her face, "Are you sure she was expecting us? You did tell Alexis that we were coming, right?"

Wyborn's eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed over his chest, "No, it must have completely slipped my mind when I was practically begging Alexis to let us come over!"

"From now on, let me do the sarcasm thing," Coraline said, priming her fist to bang on the door. Her hand was caught in mid swing by the boy, looking at her with an inquisitive expression.

"You know, Jonesy, instead of beating on a helpless door, we could just try-" Wyborn let go of Coraline's fist and grabbed the door handle. With a twist, the door came ajar from the frame. "- that."

An eyebrow rose on the girl's face, "And what if she was getting dressed or something?"

Wyborn took a moment and thought about the implications. After which, he lowered his head slightly and gestured his hand towards the opened door. "After you."

"Smooth," Coraline said with a chuckle and slowly entered the room.

000000

The Challenger sped down the road back to the hotel as the Winchesters sat in silence, reflecting on what they learned as the sun went down. The information that they have gathered from the hospital was considerable to their investigation, but in the grand scheme, it didn't seem to add up. The nurse that help Sam managed to obtain the names of families that she worked with, though it did involve calling in a few favors and some subtlety. Thankfully, no one caught on to what she was doing as she retrieved them. Luckier still, no one recognized the Winchesters, even when Sam found Dean standing in the lobby with one of the nurses (judging from the blush on her face, they weren't talking about the case). Shortly after leaving, the brothers cross-examined the names with the families that have 'moved out of town' and he found that those names matched a number of what the nurse gave them. There was something else that bothered Sam, too.

"That's a lot of names that we gathered, Sammy," Dean said, eyes still on the road, "You think we'll be able to find anything?"

"I think I just did," Sam laid their paper of names along side the patient list, both marked with highlighter, and flicked the car light on. "One, all the names on our list can be found in the patient list, which means they have all been to that same hospital at one point or another within the past year." Dean gestured with his hand to move on, knowing this information already. "Two, they all involved children getting hurt in some way, and they mostly involved trouble at home. Three," Sam thought about how to word this, since he knew that this was a sensitive topic, but decided to just be blunt, "for most, it's the parents or family member doing the hurting."

A flash of anger shown in Deans face and the grip on the steering wheel tightened, causing the old leather cover to protest. However, he quickly took a deep breath and relaxed, "Okay. So, apparently, whatever this thing is, it is targeting families that are not all that stable."

Sam couldn't blame Dean for his anger and sympathized. Dean has always had a bit of a soft spot for kids. When they hunt, he puts a lot of effort into the job. Between the wisecracks and the flirting with every skimpy skirt he crosses, he takes the work seriously enough. The only time he really bends over backwards is when either Sam's life and soul is involved, or when a kid is caught in the middle.

It was made worse by the fact that family life wasn't easy on their childhood either. Their father, John Winchester, was tough on them after their mother was killed by a demon. In the end, they knew his intentions were good, but their relationship was strained. Sam got out the minute he was able and, at the time, he never had a shred of regret. Now, knowing what Dean went though, he would give anything to have stayed, or at least tried harder to take his brother. John and Dean were driven by revenge, so any attempt to make things better only ended with arguments and eventually with Sam being disowned. Of course, knowing now how both Hell and Heaven had plans for them, staying wouldn't have changed much.

As Sam thought about his brother, Dean expression changed from anger to contemplation. He wrestled with the thought in his head as if he was working a complicated math problem. When that visibly failed, he broke the moments silence, "Wait, if the goal is to take the whole clan, then why take the children first?"

The sudden question through Sam out of his head. "M-maybe the thing wanted to separate them. Makes them easier to control or easier to grab."

"But then why wait? These kids were missing for at least a week before the rest of the family vanished." Dean stopped just as they came to an intersection as the light turned red. "What's the point of waiting that long?"

It was Sam's turn to wrangle with possible answers, all of which came up to nothing. "I don't know," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Well," Dean started as the light turned green, "while you work that out, I've found something on the deaths at the hospital. I spoke with a doctor, and she-"

Sam cocked an eyebrow. "She?"

Dean returned the gesture, "Yes, 'she' and no, nothing happened. Wiseass."

"I bet," Lucifer whispered sarcastically from the back seat, annoying Sam.

"Look, point is," Dean forced out, "I looked into the seemingly random deaths, and guess what I learned. Aside from the deaths, the hospital was built over an old house that was built at the height of the Prohibition. The house was burned down in the mid 30's, and the hospital was commissioned on that same spot in the late 50's. And...," Dean paused for dramatic effect, "there was, allegedly, a man in the building during the fire."

"Really?" Sam shifted in his seat and grabbed a notebook from under it. "Do you have a name or anything I can look up."

Dean let out a breath of defeat, "No. No one really knows what exactly happened to cause the fire, and the name was lost in the records. Some say the guy was smoking in his bed, some say he was hit by bootleggers, and some say he committed suicide. Nothing is definitive, and medical examination wasn't what it is now, since, you know, 30's. Hell, they didn't even find a body. So, for all we know, he might have been in Florida and some stupid kid was playing with matches. If there was any man at all, that is."

Sam put the pieces together, " But if there was and he was in the building during the fire, he could have died and became a ghost," Dean merely shrugged. "Okay, let's say it's a ghost or something along those lines. Why does it need all these souls? And why not just continue hunting at the hospital? And why wait to take the parents?"

"Hell if I knew," Dean answered. "But it's more than what we had earlier."

The younger Winchester sighed. They did have more than they started with, but it was all jumbled and seemed to be missing important pieces. A possible ghost allegedly taking souls from a hospital, but then moves to hunting broken or struggling families. It starts with the children, waits, then goes for the remaining family. It's style is completely all over the place, going from indiscriminate and isolated to picking and choosing families all over Ashland. Monsters (both the human and non-human kind) normally have some kind of pattern that they stick to to find prey easily. Even those creatures that were savage and mindless at least had a single comfort zone to narrow down the search. This habitual quirk has help the brothers both identify and kill most of the things that they hunted. This thing, however, didn't seem to have anything concrete that they can identify.

So much for cracking this quickly and salvaging the rest of their day off.

"Back to square one, I guess," Sam relented as he opened his notes back to the names on the patient's list and read through them again, hoping that something would pop out and fill in the blanks. When that didn't happen, he stared at the setting sun. "Maybe we could visit some of these families on the list."

"And what exactly do you think that will accomplish?" Dean asked.

"Well, I don't know, Dean. I'd rather get a head of this thing than risk another family disappearing," Sam flip the pages of his notebook until he found what he needed. With some extra research before leaving the hospital, he manage to look up the address of some of the families that have yet to be reported missing. He took one of the addresses in the book and plugged it in his GPS, "Maybe we can at least start with this house and work from there. I don't want to go back empty handed, man."

Dean looked at the location with a sigh. This address was out of the way, but it was close enough to not be too much of a hassle. He mulled it over for a moment. "Sure, why not? It's not like I have pie waiting on me or anything."

Sam just laid back in his seat in silence, smirking as he did. It's not often that he gets to call the shots without argument, so success is saviored for all it's worth. The car continued to zoom down the road with a new purpose. Hopefully, their trip will be a little more fruitful.

"Let's go see what the Dupree's know."

*Confused* That's it?

I told you, that's all I had for the time being. I have more, but it needs to be completed. I will give you the rest of the chapter soon, so get off by back!

I… will hold you up to that promise, Spider. And keep in mind, I have really big boots, and I'm not afraid to get them dirty. *disappears*

THAT'S SCORPION, DOUCHEBAG! *deep breath* What's up, everyone! Scorpion, here! Yeah, I'm still alive. I am sorry that you had to wait so long for an update from me, I have be having trouble at school and that required my attention. Not entirely out of the woods yet, but I'm getting there. I just had the energy sucked right out of me, you know. I can't exactly say that I'm back, but I have a bit more free time, so I going to try to get you some more content while my head is above water.

Yeah, this chapter was getting long and just looking at the length was sucking out my inspiration. But as soon as I have the chapter completed, I will update this chapter to its full size. I should have it done by the end of this week… not that I have a choice in the matter. Anyways. thanks for your patience and understanding. I promise that I will do better, both at school and this story.

This is the Scorpion, signing off.