A ragged looking Mitch Halloway stood from the bench outside his stepson's hospital room, a surprised smile sweeping across his face, when he saw Sam and Dean approaching him. Karen warily joined her husband and waited for an introduction. "Dean, it's good to see you again, and Sam, it's been years! What brings you boys out to Michigan?"
"I called them actually," Shelly said stepping in to give her father a hug. "I thought maybe they could help us with Jeremy."
Mitch's smile faded and his eyes darted curiously back and forth between Sam and Dean. "You boys really think there's something going on here. Something like…" Mitch glanced at his wife, "Well, something up your ally?"
Sam and Dean exchanged awkward glances and Sam's hand subconsciously found it's way to the scratches hidden beneath his shirt. "I think there's a pretty good chance." He said slowly.
"Do you know what it is?"
"Know what, what is? Mitch? What's going on here?"
"I'm sorry hun." Mitch said pulling his wife to his side. "These boys are old friends of mine."
Sam smiled softly at the tired woman and gently took her hand in his. "Mrs. Halloway my name is Sam, and this is my brother Dean. We're here to help."
Karen's eyes glossed over again as she shook Sam's hand. "That's really kind of you, but how can you help my son? Are you doctors?"
"Not exactly."
Sam and Dean both looked to Mitch for direction and he in turn smiled at his wife. "They're ghost hunters."
Sam and Dean were shocked to hear the truth come out of Mitch's mouth and their eyes grew as wide as they physically could. "Don't worry guys," Mitch laughed when he watched their faces go pale. "Karen understands a little about this stuff. In fact that's probably why we hit it off so well." He explained, "After what happened with my first wife and her first husband, we had something in common."
Karen offered the boys a weak shrug and Sam and Dean returned the stare with awkward smiles. Mitch slipped his arm around her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he continued to smile at his visitors. "These boys and their dad helped me when Barb died." Mitch explained to his wife, "They stopped the haunting; helped put her soul to rest. We've been good friends ever since." Mitch's manner changed suddenly and he looked at the boys with sad eyes. "I was sorry to hear about John, he was a good man. You know if you boys ever need anything, you're always welcome."
Sam and Dean nodded gratefully and suddenly didn't know how to break the awkward silence. Karen decided to be the brave one and smiled at both Sam and Dean. "It's very nice of you to want to help," she said, "But why do you think any of that has to do with Jeremy?"
"Ma'am," Dean said calmly, "We think your son saw what happened to his brother. He might be able to help us figure out what happened to Brent."
"You think something happened to Brent? You think some evil spirit took my son?"
Dean shrugged helplessly, not wanting to tell her that it was worse, he thought some evil spirit killed her son. Mrs. Halloway clasped her hand over her mouth and more tears fell from her cheeks. "We don't know anything for sure right now." Sam cut in, helping Karen take a seat on the bench and propping himself right beside her. "That's what we're here to find out."
"And in order to do so, I really need to talk to Jeremy."
Karen looked up at Dean with lifeless eyes and then glanced at the door to Jeremy's room. Mitch took a seat on the other side of Karen and nodded his approval to Dean. "I don't think it will do you much good, but you can try."
Dean nodded to Sam and then he and Shelly disappeared into Jeremy's room. Karen watched them until the door was shut and then looked back into Sam's sympathetic eyes. "Mrs. Halloway," Sam said softly, "Shelly mentioned something about a curse, what can you tell me about it?"
"You'll just think I'm crazy."
"Try me." Sam replied with a hint of a laugh.
"I am cursed. First it took my husband, and now look what it's done to my boys."
Karen broke into sobs and Mitch wrapped his arms around her. Sam could feel his own eyes starting to burn and tried to stay focused. "Mrs. Halloway," He whispered, "I believe you.
Mrs. Halloway took comfort in the sincerity of Sam's voice and her body eased up just a little. "Believe it or not I know what it feels like to lose everyone you love." Sam now fought his own emotions, "I know it's hard, but if you want to find out what happened and help Jeremy get better, then I need you to tell me everything you know about this curse."
Karen got her sobs under control and released a heavy sigh as her mind filtered through its memory. "I always thought it was just a story that my grandmother used to tell me when I was a kid." She wiped away the rest of her tears as she fell into the story. "I grew up in London, but my grandmother owned this estate in Northern England. It'd been in the family for generations and I spent most of my summers there as a kid. My granny would always tell me how the house was cursed with bad luck."
Karen smiled briefly at the memories and Sam found himself smiling along with her. "Go on." He urged softly.
"The house was huge, and old, you know? A lot of strange things used to happen there."
"What kind of strange things?"
"Weird noises mostly, a lot of strange sounds, and things would go missing. We'd find them days later in the most random places as if someone was hiding them on purpose. Things broke a lot. The garden never grew no matter how much time Grammy spent taking care of it, and the animals would act up sometimes for no reason."
"Act up how?"
"We'll they'd be spooked. The dogs would bark at nothing. The chickens would stop laying eggs for days at a time, and the horses would be tired in the morning as if someone had been riding them all night long."
"So, if it was just the house that was cursed, then what happened to your husband?"
"Well when Grammy died, my parents didn't want to have anything to do with the house, it creeped them out too much. And I, of course, didn't believe in a silly curse, so Peter and I moved in. He was a contractor, so were gonna fix up the place and then sell it. We were only there about six months."
"How did he die?"
"He was patching holes in the roof, and someone had moved the ladder."
"What do you mean someone moved it?"
"I mean one minute it was leaning against the side of the house where he'd climbed up it, and the next it was clear on the other side of the house stacked on top pf the highest chimney."
"The chimney?"
Karen shrugged helplessly. "It's never made any sense to me. The kids we at school and I was in the garden. There wasn't anybody else there that could have moved it, and it was just out of David's reach. Anyway, he tried to get it down and slipped. Doctor's said the fall broke his neck.
Karen's eyes glossed over once again and she squeezed her husband's hand tightly. Sam felt awful for her, but was intrigued by her story. The more he heard, the more he was knew everything was connected, he just wasn't sure how yet. He offered a small smile and gave her a minute to cry before asking more questions, but he need to know more.
Dean and Shelly slowly entered Jeremy's room, surprised to find the little boy awake. He lied there very still and only his eyes moved towards them when they approached. Shelly saw the hint of recognition spark in his eyes but she wasn't greeted with the same enthusiastic hug she normally got, she didn't even get a smile. She tried her best not to get emotional, fearing that would only make the boy feel worse and she pulled up a chair next to his bedside. "Hey squirt." She whispered with a soft smile. "Did ya miss me?"
Dean watched the boy closely, studying his every move. He could tell the boy wanted to talk. He seemed happy to see Shelly, but just to afraid to let himself relax. It was awful to see him so traumatized and Dean felt a sudden new urge to kill the nasty son of a bitch that did this as quickly as he could. "Hi Jeremy."
The boy flinched at the sound of Dean's voice and seemed to scream to Shelly for help with his eyes. "It's ok, you don't have to be scared." She assured him, "This is Dean. He's a really good friend of mine."
Jeremy's eyes drifted to the stranger again and Dean offered him a sincere smile. He waited until he seemed to have a little of Jeremy's trust before pulling up a chair next to Shelly. Jeremy watched him sit down and then reached out for Shelly's hand. Both Shelly and Dean were relieved by the action. Even as insignificant as it may seem, if the boy was willing to interact with them at all, then he may be of some use in solving the mystery. "I'm Dean." Dean began again when the boy was feeling a little more relaxed, "I want to make it so that you don't have to be afraid anymore, but in order to do that I need your help."
Jeremy was surprised by Dean and Dean looked into his curious little eyes with a smile. "Do you feel like talking to me?"
Jeremy's eyes grew wide and then he quickly pinched them shut and shook his head. "That's ok." Dean said, "You don't have to say any words, maybe you could just nod your head yes or no. Think you could do that for me?"
Jeremy slowly opened his eyes again and looked to Shelly for help. "It's ok sweetie." She said brushing the hair from his face with her free hand.
Jeremy looked back to Dean and cautiously nodded a yes. "That's good. It's really brave of you."
Dean was thrilled when Jeremy hinted at a proud smile. The smile nearly made Shelly's eyes fill with tears and she was amazed at the magic touch Dean had with the boy. "You're brother didn't run away from home like they said, did he?"
Jeremy pinched his eyes shut again at the mention of his brother and tears began to fall from them as he tightened his grip on Shelly's hand. "It's ok to be scared Jeremy," Dean continued, "Monsters are pretty scary guys."
Jeremy's eyes popped open again and Dean suddenly had his full attention. "That's right." Dean nodded, "I know about all about the monster in your closet. I bet the nurses here tell you there's no such thing as monsters, don't they?"
Dean smiled when Jeremy nodded his head curiously. "But they're wrong, aren't they?"
Jeremy was shocked that this strange adult was on his side, and even though he was talking about monsters being real, the fact that he knew it made it not quite as scary as it had been just moments before and he nodded his head again. "Did you see what happened to your brother?" Jeremy swallowed hard and then slowly shook his head. "But you know what took him?"
Jeremy nodded his head yes and Dean and Shelly glanced nervously at one another. Dean fished through his pocket and pulled out a small chain. "I've got something for you." He said holding the necklace out to the boy.
Jeremy looked at the chain but didn't reach out for it. Dean held it up so that Jeremy could see the small horseshoe charm that hung on the end of it. "Do you know what this is?" Dean said, "It's a lucky horseshoe. And I happen to know that your monster is as afraid of this as you are of it."
Jeremy looked at the chain and then to Dean again with hope in his eyes. Dean held the chain closer to the boy, urging him to grab it. "Go ahead. I brought it especially for you. I promise it will keep you safe. You know how I know that?"
The boy shook his head, desperate to hear the answer. "I know it works because last night your monster tried to get my baby brother, just like it went after your brother, but Sammy is really smart and he used one of these to scare the monster away before it could get him. If you wear this, then I promise whatever it is you saw, won't be able to hurt you."
Jeremy watched Dean intently and finally held his hand out. Dean placed the necklace in his hand and then closed the little boys fingers over the charm. "Now Jeremy," He said calmly, "I need you to be really brave and tell me about the thing that took your brother so that I can find it and stop it before it hurts anyone else. I can make it go away forever, but not if I don't know what it is."
Jeremy lied there for a moment darting his eyes back and forth between Shelly and Dean and then slipped the necklace into Shelly's hand. "No sweetheart, that's for you so that you'll be safe."
"He won't hurt me." Jeremy whispered so faintly that neither Shelly nor Dean actually understood him.
Both were amazed to hear anything come from the boy at all and after doing a double take, Dean turned back to Jeremy. "What was that?"
"I want Shelly to have it." Jeremy said, a tiny bit louder this time, "He won't hurt me."
"Why won't he hurt you?"
"Because he said I'm his friend. He didn't used to be so mean. We played lots of fun games together but Brent said he wasn't real and he didn't like it. I told Brent to be nice to me or it would make him mad, but he wouldn't listen."
Shelly was no longer able to hold back her tears and she got up from her chair so that Jeremy wouldn't see how scared she was. Dean took a moment to pull himself together on the inside. He put the chain over Jeremy's head and said, "Don't you worry about Shelly, I'll make sure nothing happens to her, but you hang on to this just incase. Now, can you tell me about your friend?"
Jeremy shook his head forcefully and pulled his covers back up to his chin. "He said he doesn't like it when I tell people about him. I don't want to make him mad again."
Dean sat back in his chair not knowing where to go from here. The boy was right about not wanting to make whatever the hell it was mad again. Dean had no idea what would happen if he did and he feared it might try to go after Jeremy next. Lucky horseshoe or not, Dean didn't want to risk it. "Ok," he said, "You're right, we don't want to make him mad again."
Jeremy watched Dean with terror in his eyes as he and Shelly headed for the door. "Where are you going?"
Dean stopped dead in his tracks. Part of him didn't want to leave the frightened boy, but he couldn't stay. "We're going to go find your friend and make sure that he never comes back, ever again. You sit tight and keep that horseshoe close."
"Please don't leave me alone." The boy pleaded, tears filling his eyes again.
Shelly rushed to his bedside and gave him a comforting hug. "You're not alone." She said spilling tears of her own, "Your mom and my dad are right outside. I'll send them in ok?"
Jeremy hugged Shelly tightly and nodded his head one last time. Dean smiled at the kid before leaving the room, "You be brave now, and I'll be back soon. In the mean time, you'd better start talking to you mom. I bet she'd really like that."
Dean and Shelly said quick goodbyes to Mitch and Karen before sending them in to see Jeremy. Once they were gone, Sam and Dean turned to one another and in unison said, "We need to talk."