The Winchesters stepped out of the Impala, walking towards the house in trepidation. It was a nice sprawling home, with a large front yard and a small pool in the back. Luckily, the houses in the neighborhood were situated far apart so there was little danger of being detected.
Castiel was waiting for them in front.
Sam and Dean released the safety catch of their guns.
"Anything in there?" Dean asked.
Castiel shook his head. "I can't tell."
Dean nodded and moved in slowly. He tested the door knob and found it was unlocked. Usually not a good sign, but this was a small town in Michigan. People didn't really bother to lock their doors here.
The three stepped indoors. The place had the look and feel of being empty. Sam crouched, touching the yellow dust in a corner. Sulfur.
The two put away their guns. Whatever demon that was in the house was long gone.
"Your mommy did a naughty, naughty thing," the demon continued. She clearly loved the sound of her own voice.
Nathalie remained silent.
The demon paused. "Oh come now. Don't pretend you're not dying to know," she giggled.
Nathalie looked away. The demon frowned and slapped her hard. Nathalie yelped.
"That's much better," the demon said.
"You wanna know why it's so hard to find you?"
"Do tell," Nathalie said through clenched teeth.
"Simple, silly. Your mommy hid you. She gave you up."
"Let me be the first to say it; we're royally screwed," Dean growled.
Sam didn't respond. It did seem hopeless.
Dean found the answering machine; there was only one message on it. He played it.
"Hey, mom. It's Nat," Nathalie's voice sounded, clear as a bell. "Two guys are gonna come to your place tomorrow. They're post-graduate students doing a genealogy study. The pretty one isn't too bright though, so be nice. Use small words. Anyway, I'll try to see you later tomorrow. Love you."
Sam stifled a laugh. Dean glowered.
"If she doesn't die tonight, I'm gonna kill her myself," he said.
"She must have called her mother last night to make sure she'd help us out," Sam said, looking around the room.
It was an inviting, homey living room. On one end, an old-fashioned fireplace, with the requisite knick knacks and photos lining the mantle. Above it, a huge gilt-edged mirror, catching and reflecting the sunshine into the room.
On the opposite side of the fireplace, glass doors gave access to a small patio and a modest pool. It was a nice spot to barbecue and hang out on summer evenings, Sam thought.
His eyes went to the other inhabitants of the room: a fluffy couch, love seat, coffee-table, bookcases and a huge worn carpet.
Narrowing his eyes, he realized the messiness of the room was not habitual. Not that it was in complete disarray. Rather, it was the sort of messiness associated with someone looking for something she had kept stored for years.
"Fat lot of good that did. We don't have either," Dean commented.
Ignoring his brother, Sam took out a big dusty album from the bottom of a bookcase. It had "Baby's First Album" emblazoned on it. He leafed through it, images of infant Nathalie grinning toothily back at him.
"Cute kid," he said. Dean grunted; cute kid, hot chick, total pain in the ass.
A piece of yellowed paper fell out. Sam picked it up.
"What is it?" Dean asked.
"Nathalie's birth certificate," Sam said. "Mother's name: Hannah Merrill. Hannah Merrill, Hannah Merrill, now where …?" He patted his pockets, pulling out a bunch of papers.
He went through them. "Yahtzee!" he shouted. Dean and Cas looked at him.
Sam showed them a printout of a birth certificate. It was the other baby's, the one they had torched.
Dean looked blankly at Sam. "Is this supposed to mean something?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "Look at the signature on it."
Dean read it. He looked up, understanding dawning.
Sam nodded. "Hannah Merrill, Nathalie's mom, was the midwife."
"I wasn't adopted," Nathalie said.
The demon tsked, tsked. "Of course you were. For some strange reason, your mommy was afraid your daddy was gonna go all "Shining" on you. I don't know why, I had only been whispering in his ear for months," she said.
The demon in Hannah's body sat down.
"Anyway, I must have been sloppy and your mommy got scared. When she gave birth to you and your sister, she asked this one to take you," she added, pointing to the body she was occupying.
"And it worked. She took you and two weeks later, daddy went psycho and killed your whole family. I overdid it a bit, I think. He wasn't supposed to go crazy so soon, you guys were supposed to have a few years.
"But no harm, no foul. I still got what I wanted, albeit a bit differently. One kid survived the slaughter. Doesn't matter what road you take; what matters is that you get there, right?" the demon asked brightly.
Nathalie's mind was reeling. In a strangled voice, she asked: "Why me?"
The demon shrugged. "Why not? I was already in town, playing with the Weis family. I thought, might as well kill two birds with one stone. Travelling is a bitch – it's not as if I get air miles going from one end of the country to the other."
"So Nathalie is a twin? And this Hannah took her?" Dean asked.
"Looks that way," Sam said.
"Why'd she do it? Nathalie's mother didn't want her?"
Sam shook his head, puzzled.
Castiel came over with a book. "I believe the answer may be in here."
Sam took the book from Cas. It was Hannah Merrill's midwife journal from 1980. Sam read the notes on the page Cas had opened the book to.
"'Nell was hysterical. She begged me to take one of the babies. She was convinced her husband would hurt them'," Sam read. "Nell must be Nathalie's real mother."
"OK, so now we know how Nathalie became a seal. Still don't know how to save her," Dean said.
"Maybe it's a spell, like the Raising of the Witnesses."
"No," Castiel said. "There is no mark."
Sam and Dean digested the point.
"We should call Bobby," they said in unison.
"OK, you're on speakerphone," Dean said. He and Sam sat huddled by the phone, Castiel standing apart, looking at the dying sun through the glass door. He felt impatient but he quelled it. Angels do not know the meaning of impatience, he told himself.
"Cas is right. It's not the same spell," Bobby's gruff voice came through.
"So how are we supposed to stop the ghost? Torching obviously doesn't work. That Sara girl's family was cremated and another guy's family burned to death when Daddy decided to play with matches," Dean said.
"Well, maybe we can wake the ghost up, stop her from killing," Sam suggested.
Dean looked skeptical.
Sam forged ahead. "We know sometimes we can wake ghosts up, break them out of a loop …"
"Yeah, well, this ghost isn't a death echo. And she's thirsting for blood."
"But that's it, she shouldn't be," Sam said.
Dean looked skeptical.
"I'm just saying, maybe we got this all wrong."
"Meaning?" Dean asked.
"We've focused on the victims, the thing linking them is that they survived a family-cide," Sam said.
Dean raised an eyebrow. "Is that even a word?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "Point is they all survived because a family member loved them so much that they tried to rescue them, even if they died in the process."
"Yeah, like Sara's mom screaming, warning Sara to run," Dean agreed.
"And the father shooting Andrea Yates's clone to stop drowning the children. He thought he was too late but he managed to save a kid," Sam added.
"So it's … what? Love?" Dean asked. Castiel turned to them, intrigued.
"Love that only a parent can feel for a child," Sam said. "The demon who bound the spirits twisted their love, their sacrifice, and made them kill so they could be together."
"Maybe we can remind Nathalie's mother of that love and get to protect her, not to kill her," Sam said, his voice trailing off. His ears heard the words coming out of his mouth, and thought they sounded lame. He looked appealingly at his brother.
Dean sighed. "All right. So what's the game plan? We summon the spirit and try to break the spell?"
"Yeah."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Sounds a bit iffy, Sam."
Bobby chimed in. "I dunno, Dean. It sounds like the best theory you have."
"You mean the only theory," Dean pointed out.
"Don't get smart with me, young man," Bobby huffed. "There's no harm in trying. What do you have to lose? Only the girl's life, another seal broken and the end of the world if you fail."