Tessa had her nose buried in the dusty records for what seemed like hours. The only sounds were the occasionally sneezes and coughs, along with a few mutterings.
Nothing even remotely relating to Tessa's family or house had shown up, which was very discouraging. Between Dean, Sam, and Tessa, they'd managed to go through eleven boxes in five hours. As the clocked ticked nearer to evening, Tessa began growing more and more panicked. They were running out of time; her father would be heading home soon, oblivious to the danger lurking in the house.
"I found something!" Dean said loudly. He grabbed Tessa's shoulder roughly, causing her to slightly wince. Nevertheless, she turned around and directed her attention to Dean.
"Have you ever heard of a," Dean paused, glancing down at the file. "Rose Wilson?" The two brothers were staring at Tessa expectantly, as if they thought she would jump up and start rattling off facts about this woman.
She racked her brains. Somehow, the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. "I'm not sure. What all does the article say about her?"
Dean flipped to the next page and began reading. "Tragically, Rose Evelyn Wilson has passed away at the age of 21 on today, November 14, 1989. We are asking for prayers for the Wilson family during this tragic time," After he finished, he set the file down and stared at Tessa.
"Rose Wilson... Rose Wilson..." Tessa muttered, praying a switch in her brain would flip on and enlighten her. Then, she remembered. "Oh my god! She was mine and Tyler's babysitter. She died, though, a few months before Mom," Tessa exchanged a look with Dean and gasped. "You don't think the ghost, or whatever, of Rose would be hurting us?"
Sam drew in a deep breath before responding. "It's possible, Tessa. We need to find out more on her, though, before we're sure. Where she lived, how she died, any big scandals or problems..." He began listing off information needed.
Tessa, however, was completely absorbed in her thoughts. Even though she had been young, she had adored Rose. The girl would always play dress up with her, sit through endless hours of Disney movies... How could she do this? Dead or not, Rose must have some sort of control over herself.
Tessa was filled with a white-hot rage. How dare she take her mother, her brother! Tessa knew that she would take a vicious pleasure in ending Rose's spirit. If ghosts could feel pain, Tessa hoped that Rose would.
Tessa began looking through the files again, now focusing on anything from 1989. Taxes... Wedding announcements... Obituaries... Gossip columns...
"Oh my god," Tessa gasped. With shaking hands, she smoothed out the yellowing paper and scanned the article from The O'Brien Times.
ALLEGED SCANDAL CAUSES CONTROVERSY IN O'BRIEN
A big-time scandal has rocked this small-time town. Daniel Lynn, (27) has been married to Hannah Merrit Lynn (27) for nine years happily, or so we thought. Rumors have been circulating over the past few weeks about the state of this couples marriage. Sources say that Mr. Lynn had been engaging in an affair with Rose Wilson (21), the babysitter of his two children, until her apparent suicide three days ago. No word yet on how his wife is taking this news.
"Dean, Sam, read this," Tessa's throat was tight. The words she read, they couldn't be true, could they? Her father had always been such an upstanding man, he wasn't capable of this affair. Every story she'd ever heard about her parents marriage had been tales of happiness and love.
"It has to be her. A vengeful mistress, how original. So now we need to figure out if she was buried or cremated," Dean was speaking, but the words just fell limply through the air in Tessa's mind.
"Do you remember going to a funeral Tess?" Sam broke through the haze, snapping Tessa out of her thoughts. She opened and closed her mouth several times before speaking.
"I was five years old, Sam. Of course I wasn't at a funeral. I'm pretty sure, though, that my parents went. There was a big fight afterwards, I remember that much. Dad actually left for a few days," Tessa's voice came out monotonous and low. She still couldn't wrap her head around this utterly ridiculous idea.
"How many cemeteries are there in this town?" Sam interrupted Tessa's thoughts. She silently counted them up in her mind.
"Three. One, though, is a private cemetery, so I doubt Rose is buried there. The other two are O'Brien Baptist Cemetery and Pleasant Hill Cemetery," she swallowed hard. Both Tessa's mother and brother were buried at Pleasant Hill, their graves side-by-side.
"Okay, great. We'll split up. Sammy, you take Baptist and Tess and I will handle Pleasant Hill. If we find anything, we'll call," Dean said. Sam nodded, already beginning to gather his things.
Tessa let out a small noise of agreement, her face already paling. She shakily got to her feet, her heart filling with dread. On their way out the library's double doors, Dean shot her a concerned look.
"Are you- Shit, Tess," Realization dawned on Dean. He proceeded to open and close his mouth a few times before laying an uncomfortable hand on Tessa's arm. "I'm sorry. We can go to Baptist if you want-"
"No, no. I want to go," Tessa smiled weakly, glancing down at the comforting, albeit awkward, hand on her arm. Dean seemed to snap out of his mood and quickly withdrew his hand.
"Okay. Let's go," he got into his beloved car, motioning for Tessa to hurry and climb into the backseat.