CH 16

"I thought High School sucked the first time around…" Dean groaned as he and Sam finally settled into their motel room. Sam grunted in response. He was quiet and withdrawn, still thinking about 'Dirk the Jerk' and his friend Barry. Barry, who had committed suicide and Dirk, who had died of a drug overdose and become a vengeful spirit. Being back at Truman high, even for just a few short days had brought back a lot of memories for the younger Winchester. "You want to get something to eat, maybe grab a few drinks?" Dean asked shrugging out of his jacket.

"Nah. I think I just want to shower and hit the hay." Dean nodded and flopped onto his bed, kicking his boots off in the process. He flipped on the television and channel surfed for a few minutes before settling on "The Golden Girls". He felt an empty pang in his stomach when he recognized the episode as one of River's favorites. It had been nearly three months since she'd walked out of his life and rightly so; the betrayal and hurt etched on her face when she stormed out were seared into his memory.

Sam exited the bathroom a while later and climbed silently into his own bed, murmuring a quick 'Goodnight' and falling asleep almost instantly. Dean stifled a laugh as his younger brother began snoring. The episode ended and Dean couldn't find anything else worth watching so he turned the TV off. He got off the bed and dug around in his duffle bag for a moment before pulling River's laptop out. She had left it in the backseat of the car the night she had left and Dean had started using it as his own since Sam kept yelling at him about infecting his with viruses. Dean settled back onto his bed and was trying to decide between 'Busty Asian Beauties' or 'Very Voluptuous Vixens', the cursor hovered over the bookmark tabs on the web browser before settling on a different page.

The page loaded and Dean instantly regretted his choice. The 'Ghostfacers" theme song blared over the laptop speakers and Sam mumbled in his sleep. "Sorry, sorry!" Dean said hurrying to turn down the volume. He scrolled through the website, he had seen most of the episodes having watched them with River. She never missed a new episode and had even started following them on different social media, much to her chagrin after Dean found out and teased her incessantly for days when he saw her responding to the official "Ghostfacers" twitter. He was about to go back to his porn when he noticed a flashing icon that indicated a new epsiode; "Ainsworth Murder House" with special guest investigator! "What the hell," Dean thought to himself and clicked on the episode.

"Welcome loyal viewers! Be warned the following footage contains paranormal violence, adult language and situations and content that may be disturbing to some."

Pre-Investigation Debriefing

"Do I look ok? You like the shirt? You think she'll like the shirt?" Ed Zeddmore came into focus as the episode started, he was straightening a red and black flannel shirt and adjusting his glasses. Harry Spangler turned the camera towards himself and fiddled with the lens, the zoom moving back and forth before finding the right setting. Ed and Harry sat at a chipped wood booth in a half full diner; stacks of paper and a battered laptop covered most of the table.

"Yeah, man. You look great. Relax." Harry turned the camera towards himself.

"She's thirty minutes late. She's not coming…wait that's probably her." The camera panned from Ed's face to the dirt parking lot where a dusty Camaro skidded to a stop. The driver door opened and a figure stepped out onto the gravel. Harry tried focusing the camera through the dirty windows and followed the driver as they walked into the diner.

"Hey baby." Dean muttered as the figure on the computer screen came into focus.

River walked up to Ed and Harry smiling nervously at the camera, her long red hair hung loose down her back, she had her normal uniform of band shirt, flannel, hoodie and jeans on. "Hi, guys sorry I'm late."

"Hi! You look great! Have you lost weight? Not that you need to lose weight…" Ed said as River slid into the booth next to him.

"Thanks. Yeah, I lost 190 pounds of flannel wearing, emotionally impotent, cheating asshole." River answered smiling sarcastically. "Nice shirt, Ed."

Ed turned his own camera on and pointed it at himself, "To our viewers at home, this is River,"

"I'm fucking starving, how 'bout you guys?" River ignored the camera and flagged down the waitress. The video stopped abruptly and restarted apparently several minutes later, empty plates were stacked at the end of the table and River was quietly sifting through papers.

"So lets go over the case: we will be investigating the Ainsworth house. Reported to be severely haunted. Originally owned by Mr. Michael Ainsworth who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1997. The home was repossessed by the bank and went through several owners over the course of the next fifteen years. Each of the former owners never staying for more than a few months, reporting the house to be unlivable due to spirit activity such as phantom smells, shadows, and poltergeists. The house has now sat empty for several years."

River gave a half smile, "Is that all you got?"

Ed and Harry stared at her, "What else is there?"

She pulled her backpack onto the table and pulled out a notebook, "Mr. Michael Ainsworth was suspect number one in a string of disappearances of about a dozen women back in the 90's. Local law was working on building a case against him when he disappeared." She handed Harry a photo, "Take a good look at that. That's Ainsworth a few months before he disappeared." The photo showed a clean cut, pale middle aged man with a long nose, strong jaw and sandy blonde hair. " Since then several more women have been reported missing from or near the home since his disappearance. This is Joan Wallace her and her husband bought the home after it foreclosed. She went to bed with her husband one night a few weeks after moving in and was reported missing the next morning. No sign of foul play and never seen again." River held up several more photos to the cameras and gave a brief report of each. "And uh…can I borrow your laptop. I lost mine somewhere…" She pulled Ed's laptop towards her and started typing. "This video was uploaded last week to a message board. A group of teens decided to break into the home and go ghost hunting…" Harry focused his camera on the laptop screen, a grainy video showed several people sitting in front of a Ouija board. Candles flickered and then were blown out, the people sitting around the board suddenly started screaming as furniture was thrown around the room. The shaky footage showed a looming figure grab one of the screaming women by her hair and drag her away from her group of friends. River paused the film, giving Ed and Harry and the viewers at home a clear shot of the assailants face. "That's Ainsworth. The girl is Sandra Johnson, her friends heard her screaming as she was taken away. She has't been found…"

Investigation of Ainsworth House

"Alright, so we're gonna go in tight and professional. No one goes anywhere alone." The episode restarted after a montage of Ed and Harry checking their equipment. The camera panned to River as she pulled supplies and weapons out of the trunk of her Camaro. She tucked several bottles of salt into her backpack, checked the magazine in her pistol before putting it in the holster on her side and grabbed her shotgun before slamming the trunk closed.

"Alright, Annie Oakley…" Harry muttered at her arsenal. River led them up the wood steps to the front door, yellow police tape covered the door and she tore it down before trying the knob, it was locked. "Here, back up. I'll kick it in." Harry swung his arm out and moved River to the side. She stood back and rested her hands on her hips watching as Harry took position in front of the door. Ed turned the camera towards River as she watched Harry with a bemused smirk as he kicked the door. "I think it's made out of steel or something."

River rolled her eyes, "Good try, Chuck Norris." She pulled a small flashlight out of her pocket and squatted in front of the door. "Ed, hold this." She handed him the flashlight and pulled out a small cloth pack from her jacket pocket. Dean smiled, recognizing it as the lock pick kit he had given her. She got to work picking the lock.

"So, River how about you tell our home viewers a little bit about yourself?" Ed focused his camera tight on River's face as she concentrated on the lock.

"I'm a Capricorn. I like bad movies, good books and stiff drinks. My taste in music is borderline schizophrenic. I have enough emotional baggage and trust issues to fill a 1967 Chevy Impala …did you hear something?" River stopped fiddling with the lock and looked into the empty field beyond the house. "Guess I'm a little paranoid. Freaking demon cornered my at a Gas 'n' Sip this morning. Douche is yammering on about having a message for 'the Winchesters and their Angel friend', like I'm their fucking answering machine or something…I'm done being Bella. I'm freaking Hermione." She ranted at the locked door.

"Wh-"

"Bella, you know bland boring female who does everything in her fucking power to keep her boyfriend happy; Oh, Dean's having a bad day? A blowjob would probably make him happy. No wonder he fucked around on me…Hermione wouldn't put up with that noise. She's strong, smart, stands up for herself, lives her own life. Be a Hermione never be a Bella." She angrily jabbed the pick in the lock again and smiled when the tumblers finally lined up. "Never mind. I probably shouldn't mix my antidepressants with energy drinks… Let's do this," she opened the front door and stepped inside the dark house. Ed and Harry followed, slowly swinging their cameras around the entryway. The large living room was littered with broken furniture, beer cans, and the discarded Ouija board from the teenagers. A giant stone fireplace was built into the far wall and the kitchen lay beyond.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Ed asked as River pulled a small square object out of her backpack.

"It's an EMF detector." She held it up for the camera.

"Looks like an old walkman," Harry said.

"It looks like a walkman because that's what Dean made it out of…he's a freaking genius I swear. The stuff he comes up with…stupid, cheating jerk face," she added under her breath. She turned the EMF on, the light immediately went to orange indicating a moderate reading. "And we got a winner." She turned away from Ed and Harry and continued into the house.

She walked down the closest hallway, opening doors and peering inside each room. More broken furniture, dust and the occasional dead rat were all that greeted her yet the EMF detector continued at a steady high reading. River came to a door at the end of the hall that wouldn't open. She cursed under her breath pulling at the doorknob. She stepped back and with one strong kick the door swung open. Her EMF detector started beeping loudly as she stepped into the room. Ed and Harry peered in through the doorway, they were in the master bedroom. The room was empty. River shrugged her shoulders and turned back towards Ed and Harry. "You feel that? It just got real cold…" She shivered visibly and let out a breath of frigid air.

"Behind you!" Ed yelled too late. A tall figure appeared behind her and the door was slammed shut in the mens faces. A heavy thump caused the door to shake and a muffled yell came from the room along with the sounds of a struggle.

"Shit, shit, shit." Dean sat forward on the bed staring at the screen. "You chickenshits get in there and help her!" he muttered angrily. A shotgun blasted from within the room and a moment later River pulled the door open and rushed into the hallway. Her lip was bloody and shirt torn.

She took several deep breaths and leaned against the wall opposite the door. "It's on Casper!" she yelled into the empty room. Ed and Harry's frightened faces appeared on the screen as they swept their cameras back and forth, taking in shaky frames of the hallway and River as she flicked her shotgun open and threw out the spent shells. She flicked the shotgun closed and wiped blood off her lips. "He wants to add me to his collection, whatever the hell that means. Isn't that sweet? His body has to be here in the house somewhere, he's too strong and if we don't find it he's gonna keep hurting people….we're missing something."

"Maybe theres a bomb shelter," Ed piped up.

River stopped her trek down the hallway and smiled, "Yeah, maybe- shh. You hear that?" She stopped talking and cocked her head, Dean leaned closer to the laptop speakers afraid to turn the volume up and disturb his brother again. The faint sounds of a woman sobbing could be heard. River turned away from the men and hurried back to the main room, the camera toting men close on her heels. They skidded to a halt and the cameras struggled to focus on a figure standing in the middle of the room. The woman had her back turned towards the camera, her nightgown soiled and torn, her blonde hair caked in blood.

"Please…please someone help me," the figure cried quietly, her shoulders shaking with each sob.

"We can help you, it's ok. It'll be ok," River took a cautious step towards the figure. The woman shuffled her feet, the movement obviously causing her intense pain. River took a deep breath in as the woman faced her, her eyes were swollen and bruised, her lips cracked and dark, purple welts around her neck. "Joan…Joan Wallace. I know who you are, I am so sorry for whatever happened to you but I want to help you…" The cameras zoomed in on River and the spirit. "Tell me where he is…" The woman opened her mouth and screamed. Thick, black ooze bubbled out of her mouth and dribbled down her chin and onto her nightgown. Another figure appeared before them, this woman appeared to be much younger but like the first spirit she was also badly beaten, clothes torn and a chain padlocked around her neck.

"Thats Sandra Johnson. River, get the away from them!" Ed yelled.

River ignored him and tried reaching out towards the spirits, "I can help you!" The ghosts stopped screaming and stared at River, "Wait…wait. Don't-" The spirit of Sandra Johnson ran at River, disappearing as it slammed into her. River let go of her shotgun and it clattered to floor. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she started twitching before she collapsed onto the floor next to her gun. The Ghostfacers screamed causing Sam to stir again on the bed across from Dean.

"Dean, damn it…do you have to watch that shit right next to me." He grumbled, pulling his pillow over his head trying to muffle the sound.

"It's not porn. It's River," Dean answered not looking up from the glowing laptop screen.

Sam sat up on his elbow and cocked his head, "What?"

"Riv's hunting with those idiot Ghostfacers." Dean watched on the screen as River finally stood back up and faced the camera, black ooze leaked from her eye and the corner of her mouth. "And she's just been possessed by a ghost. Great." Sam got off his bed and sat next to his brother to watch the rest of the episode. On the screen, Ed and Harry were yelling jumbled questions at River, who ignored them and walked to the giant stone fireplace at the far end of the room. Her body twitched every few seconds as she knelt down and started running her hands along the fireplace.

"River what the hell are you do-" Harry yelled, his voice high pitched and panicky. River found the stone she had been searching for and pulled it out. She dropped the stone on the floor and reached into the hole it had left pulling out a rusted key ring that she gripped tightly. Ed and Harry continued yelling at her but River brushed past them and walked back down the long hallway towards the master bedroom. Ed and Harry ran behind her, their cameras shaking and swaying. They stopped abruptly and let out a terrified yell when another ghost appeared right in front of them. Like the previous ghosts, this woman was covered in bruises and dried blood, black ooze dripped out of her open mouth and she sobbed, "Help me, help me". The Ghostfacers inched around the spirit, careful not to touch her or let themselves be touched and rushed after River.

They found her on her hands and knees on the wood floor in the center of the master bedroom. She was pulling at one of the boards, her finger tips growing bloody from the effort. "River, can you hear us?" Ed yelled. River gave one final jerk on the board and it broke free from the floor. The cameras crowded around her, zooming in and revealing a hidden keyhole. River chose a key from the ring and placed it in the lock, this in turn freed a mechanism under the floor and a trap door swung up on rusted hinges revealing steep, narrow steps leading into darkness. "What's that smell?….I'm not going down there," Harry muttered as River climbed silently down, her red hair quickly being swallowed by the blackness.

"Come on man, do it for the viewers," Ed told him. They high-fived each other and followed the hunter. The stairs ended on a dirt floor, a hidden basement roughly the same area as the house upstairs. The camera panned on the twitchy, retreating form of River as she walked further into the darkness near the back of the house. "Ughh, it smells down here." Ed muttered. The cameras switched to night vision, Ed and Harry were lit up in an eerie green light as they scanned the hidden cellar for River.

"River!" Ed hissed.

"He-Here," River yelled from the darkness. She started coughing and retching in the darkness. Ed and Harry ran in the darkness towards her voice. A flashlight clicked on and it was nearly blinding in the pitch black. River sat on the dirt ground in front of another hidden room, wiping black sludge off her mouth and waiving her flashlight. "Where's my gun?" she asked as Ed and Harry approached her.

Harry held out her shotgun, "What is that stuff?" he pointed to the black liquid River had vomited up.

"Ectoplasm. Got hijacked by a ghost." She stood on shaky legs and double checked that her shotgun was still loaded. "So…I'm gonna unlock this big scary door and see whats on the other side." She twirled the rusted ring of keys around her finger before turning towards the metal door.

The door screeched loudly in the silent basement as River pulled it open. The familiar stench of death washed over them in a thick wave causing Ed and Harry to gag. River stepped inside the room, swinging her flashlight and shotgun from left to right. The walls were covered in some sort of thick foam, a cord hung down from the ceiling and River pulled it.

One bare lightbulb flicked to life and illuminated Michael Ainsworth's torture chamber. "Oh fuck…" River breathed. Thick plastic sheeting separated parts of the room. One panel of of the plastic had dark brown stains splattered on it, stacks of large plastic totes lined one wall, dozens of Polaroid pictures were stuck to another wall and in the middle of the room was a bloated body; a chain leading from its neck to a post stuck in the dirt floor. "Don't film her!" River yelled as Harry crept closer to the body. The cameras immediately backed off and followed the redhead around the room instead. Ed and Harry were babbling over one another, the cameras shaking as they filmed the scene in front of them. River walked to the stack of plastic totes and opened one of them, a decayed broken body had been shoved inside. "He's save them. His collection…" The camera zoomed in on River's wide blue eyes.

The lightbulb flickered and then went out, the cameras instantly transitioning back to night vision. The grainy footage showed River pulling supplies out of her backpack and barking orders at Ed and Harry, "Salt circle now!" Several spirits flickered into the frame, all women, all bloody and broken watching the Ghostfacers and the hunter silently.

"God damn it, Princess. Get the hell out of there," Dean muttered at the laptop. Michael Ainsworth appeared in the darkness, his angular features exaggerated by the Ghostfacers night vision cameras. He swatted one the men into the foam padded walls, the camera tumbling to the floor. The video used creative editing at this point and showed two different views, one from the discarded camera and the other from the still standing Ghostfacer. River went flying in the next frame and slammed into the stack of plastic totes with a muffled "Oomph". Ainsworth stalked towards her and pulled her out of the mess of broken plastic and bodies by her hair.

"You'll be a nice addition to my collection," he seethed at her.

"You sure you want me? I'm no where near mint condition," she smiled up at the spirit. He picked her up and threw her across the room where she flew through the thick plastic sheets and into darkness beyond the range of the camera.

"Hey! Leave her alone," Ed yelled, Harry's camera panned wildly before finding his friend. Ed pointed Rivers shotgun at the murderous spirit and fired, breaking it apart in a cloud of yellowish smoke.

"I found Ainsworth!" River's voice called out. The men scrambled for their cameras and rushed towards her voice. They pushed through the plastic sheet and found River sprinkling a body with salt. Ainsworth's body was sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall, his own shotgun still propped between his feet, the back of his head gone and his dried brain matter painting the walls.

"What's that symbol mean?" Harry pointed his camera at the ground, a strange symbol had been painted on to the ground and Ainsworth sat within it.

"Binding sigil. He used himself as a blood sacrifice, tied his spirit to the house and bound all his victims. None of them can escape; he can keep hurting them forever….Ed, he's back!" Dean and Sam watched as Ainsworth attacked again, The Ghostfacers flying in one direction and River in the opposite. Ainsworth went after the men this time, swinging huge fists into Ed's face, Rivers shotgun lost somewhere in the darkness. River struggled to her feet, pulling a knife out of her boot and ran back to the sigil painted on the floor. They watched as she used the blade to scratch through the sigil breaking Ainsworth's binding.

"Hey asshole!" she yelled. The spirit stopped his assault on Ed and turned towards the woman. She held a lit book of matches and a bottle of lighter fluid. "Enjoy Hell!" The spirit screamed and erupted into flames. "You guys ok?" River helped the Ghostfacers stand and gave them a reassuring smile. "You did good…. Lets get the hell outta here." The three limped out of the murder room and straight into a crowd of at least 30 spirits. Ainsworth's victims stared silently, their faces bruised, clothes bloody.

"What do we do?" Harry whispered frantically.

"Nothing. There's too many," River stepped towards the silent ghosts. " We helped you. You're free, he can't hurt you anymore." The first spirit stepped forward, it was Sandra Johnson the young woman still chained to the floor in the room behind them. She held out her hand towards River. The hunter mimicked the movement and their hands barely brushed before the ghost turned into a swirling blue light and zoomed up through the ceiling. One by one the remaining spirits touched Rivers hand before disappearing.

"Holy shit dude," Sam whispered.

"Where did-where did they go?" Ed asked. River turned away from the camera and wiped her face.

"Heaven…I need some fresh air." River walked abruptly away from the cameras and back up the steep staircase.

Post Investigation

"What the hell…this is gonna make us famous!" Harry and Ed high fived each other again at the top of the stairs. "Where the hell did River go?" They walked slowly back through the house, cameras peering into empty rooms but River was in none of them.

"-You made that decision!…-I have a heaven?" River voice echoed from somewhere deeper in the house.

Ed and Harry's faces appeared on screen again. "Maybe she's still ghost possessed?"

"—you brought me back….—-made me stay here…-have nothing here!…De-…hate you."

"River?" Ed called out.

River walked out of the dark kitchen, "Get that fucking camera out of my face." She pushed the camera away.

"Who are you talking to?"

"No one. I'm leaving. Here's a phone, call the cops. There's a lot families that deserve answers." She walked quickly towards the front door.

"Are you ok?" Ed called after her.

"No," she yelled over her shoulder. The video showed her climbing back into her Camaro and speeding down the dirt road.

Dean stopped the video and stared at the screen for a few minutes. "You think I should call her?" he asked his younger brother, "Make sure she's ok?"

Sam shrugged, "I don't know man." Dean pulled out his phone after a moment of indecisiveness and called River. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail; This is River's phone. You're probably trying to reach Dean or Sam. Leave your name, number and nightmare and I'll try and make sure they get the message. Dean ended the call without leaving a message, "Forget it. Let's get some sleep, it's a long drive to Louisiana."