The Man in Black
BLB- Sorry I haven't updated in a few days it has been busy at home. I do not own Supernatural. This is set in season one. Strictly Au, since I am not following the order of event in season one. Thanks for reading this.
Chapter five
"We need to talk," Dean stated pulling out the chair in front of him loudly and sitting down.
Sam followed his lead taking the seat next to Dean and staring at the couple before them intently. The couple shared a look, before staring at Sam and Dean looking like they were being observed under a microscope.
"We told the cops everything we know," the woman told them desperately clasping her man's hand tightly on the tabletop.
"Some say that being arrested usually puts a strain on a relationship, but for people that killed two children and then ratted each other out you two seem close," Dean quipped. "So either you guys are psychopaths or there is something you didn't tell the police."
The woman shook her head vigorously. "We told the cops," she paused to change her position nervously and take in a shaky breath, "everything."
"You and I both know that isn't the truth," Dean responded pointing out her blatant lie.
"And we aren't leaving here without the truth," Sam interjected changing his position so that he was above both of the convicts that were handcuffed to the table in front of them.
"Well then you may be here for awhile because there is nothing to tell," the man stated crossing his arms and leaning back as far as he could in the chair.
That was when Dean finally noticed that his nerves had gone down; that the feeling of being watched was gone and that freaked him out. "Sam, it stopped. The feeling stopped, I think Michelle is in trouble, We have to go," Dean whispered to his brother, but the couple heard parts of what he said.
"Dean, even if we leave we will just have to come back here," Sam muttered back and Dean crossed his arms.
"What's wrong?" The woman asked sounding concerned.
"What's wrong is that while you two sit here and hide a freaking secret, there are children out there being murdered. We are trying to stop it, but we can't do that unless you come clean." Dean was obviously frustrated with these people and most likely worried about Michelle who was at the mercy of the doctor.
"What the hell are you talking about?" The man asked getting defensive.
"You know about the doctor's ghost. That is the reason you two turned yourselves in right? 'Cause you couldn't handle the doctor watching you! Meanwhile we left our niece in the hotel room to wait for us, the kid saw the ghost in the hospital and it attached itself to her. She's going to die unless you two can tell us where the doctor's children are, we need to know the truth," Dean explained, pleading with the people.
Usually if people didn't know about or believed in the supernatural they would stare at Sam and Dean like they were crazy, but these two just looked at them with a look of knowing. They knew about the doctor's spirit or felt it at some point at least.
"You ever feel like someone is watching you or following you?" Sam asked being as calm as he could.
"After the doctor died, I felt like there was always something there in the shadows," the woman began receiving an irritated hiss from her husband. "Harold, we've lied for so long it is time the truth came out. These young men want to stop this, let them try."
"I'll ask you again, what happened to Arthur Wedsworthe's children?" Sam asked calmly.
"They were in bad shape when the police handed them over to us. The poor things wouldn't eat anything I made for them. Even when I asked them what they wanted and they would just stare at me, like I never said anything to them. We were going to take them to the hospital the morning we found them dead," the woman explained.
"The kids were coping with everything all at once, their mother's suicide and then getting taken away from their father it was just too much for the children to handle all at once," the man muttered under his breath.
"So what after you found the children dead, what did you do?" Sam asked trying to speed this up, because Dean was becoming impatient.
"Oh we know what they did," Dean stated. "They hid the bodies and reported the children missing. So the doctor could take the fall for you guys?"
"We didn't kill them," the woman said. "Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"
"No, we want to know where the children are," Dean answered. "Where did you hide the bodies?"
"Fine, I'll tell you." Harold sighed loudly. "We took them back to their old house and buried them under the willow tree under the cover of night. We knew that if the cops found them there that they would blame Arthur immediately."
"You were framing the guy? Letting him take the fall for what you two let happen?" Dean just kept going.
"It was wrong okay, none of this should have happened," the woman cried. "Arthur if you can hear me, I'm so sorry... For everything."
"Is that all you needed from us?" Harold asked.
"Yeah, that is it. We are done here," Sam muttered touching Dean's shoulder and pulling him towards the door. "Come on, we gotta check on Michelle."
"Yeah I know," Dean responded, before he booked it back out to the Impala. The engine was purring almost instantly and they were on the road faster than normal. They just hoped that Michelle would still be there when they got back."
Michelle only knew she had fallen asleep, because the demon's face flashed to her and he was feeling chatty once again. This time he wasn't smiling and he actually looked concerned in his own way.
"You've gotten yourself into trouble now, you're going to feel a needle in your arm. I don't have a lot of time, I wish I could have kept you from this but you chose life instead of me. The saddest part of this is your soul is at risk and if the ghost takes it I'll lose you," the demon said sounding utterly disappointed. "Survive for me pet and whatever you do just remember it isn't real."
"What do you mean?" Michelle managed to scream before she was sucked from the demon and into that all to familiar room at the inn.
She just took in a deep breath and tried to relax, but the panic was sinking in from the memory it was like it was happening all over again. Only now there was a voice in her head, screaming above the commotion around her. Besides the hiding and the smell of death settling around her stung bringing tears to her eyes. The shadows under the nightstand were staring at her and the feeling never let up no matter how small she made herself.
"This is where you died. You never made it out, just like the rest of your family," a man's voice whispered from behind her in the corner.
"I'm not dead, this isn't real," Michelle responded remembering what her demon coach had told her before she was brought here. "I killed the demon, sent his sorry ass back to hell. That is where you are going to go once I am done with you."
That is when the demon's hand reached under the nightstand causing Michelle to try and press herself farther into the corner. "Does he look dead to you? You never killed him."
"This is a memory. You are using my memories against me you sick bastard, Dean and Sam will get you. They will find you, or some way to stop you," Michelle growled back at the voice.
"Dean and Sam? Oh you mean the hunters that you imagined? The ones that you knew years ago and you imagined coming to your rescue to avoid moving on? Face it, they don't even know you exist. I'm only here to help you," the voice pleaded with her. "You're dead Michelle. I'm the angel of death sent to try and take you to the place where you belong. Your family are waiting for you, especially your mother and Nick."
"Don't. Talk. About. MY FAMILY!" Michelle screamed and the ghost realized he had hit a nerve. "And you aren't the angel of death, you are the man in black. A sick freaking doctor that my friends will put into place and maybe on the slight chance you go to heaven I hope my family gives you hell for eternity, but I doubt you have the chance to meet the Lord."
"Why did I think you would listen to me? You haven't and I have been trying to get you to move on for ten years. You just keep reliving the same day over and over again, you are trapped and I am just trying to help you," the voice began, "Don't you want help Michelle?"
"Not the kind of help you have in mind. I haven't moved on yet because I'M NOT DEAD. This isn't real. The only thing that is trapping me is you," Michelle hissed and that was when the connection was severed and she fell into darkness again.
Arthur was getting really tired of her stubbornness. One thing he knew was that this wasn't a child, whoever this Michelle girl was she was a twenty year old trapped in a little girls body. That is what made this all the more difficult, she would never believe him and even if she did he doubted he could subdue her soul even after it was separated from her body. If he couldn't convince her during this last round Arthur would just pull her out of her body forcefully if he had to and then he could sell her body to a demon that needed a knew vessel. One thing that he knew for sure was that Michelle had to be disposed of before the hunters got here or it would end horribly for him and his children.
The doctor had been at this for hours but yet Michelle still hadn't cracked. He needed a new approach, so he decided to change up the memory a little. He put her back there towards the beginning hoping that maybe a little talk with her brother would open her up to him.
Michelle was brought back from the darkness and in the inn room once again. No one was there except for her and Nick; her big brother. The voice was still there, but it was quieter like she hadn't "died" yet. Her brother towered over her from where she was standing before him. His eyes were vacant until they seemed to come back just to stare at her. The hand nearest to her rubbed a finger along her back trying to reassure her or comfort her in some way. A second voice spoke into her mind louder than the other to remind her that, "it's not real."
Michelle laughed. "Nice try my brother died as soon as he entered the room. You aren't going to win this fight, you can't trick me."
"Chelle, I'm not tricking you. It's me, it's Nicky," the fake Nick muttered trying to reach for her again, but this time she backed away from him slowly.
"No, this is not real. You aren't my brother," Michelle muttered.
"I protected you Michelle. I tried to keep you safe, but I failed. You died with us, I need you to trust me. Let me help you move on," the impostor tried to convince her, but Michelle wasn't budging. She wasn't buying into this twisted version of her memory.
Michelle clapped for the ghost's efforts, before sassing him more, "Nice try, it would be very sweet of you Nick but I AM NOT DEAD!"
Her "brother's" composure changed before he stated coolly, "You aren't now, but you will be." That was before she was snatched up in his iron grip. The whole scene changed and she was standing in front of the ghost once again, but his hand was in her forehead, picking at her brain before he saw her standing there in little else than a grey sheet wrapped around her. Her body was pale and an I.V. dripping black liquid into her arm hung by the metal slab that her lifeless form was cast upon.
"Welcome, now you see I'm done playing games with you. I wouldn't have had to do this that way if you would have just cooperated," the doctor mused as his hand appeared from her forehead and the dark aura around him began to wrap itself around her, pulling her towards him.
"Am-Am I dead?" Michelle choked out as she was being pulled into the space under the doctor's black coat. All she could see was darkness in front of her.
"No, but soon your soul will move on even though your body is still alive, it'll make a perfect vessel for someone," the doctor stated, "you'll only be tortured forever and it will be so sweet when a demon tags along with Sam and Dean, they won't even see it coming when you stab them in the back and kill them literally and you won't be able to do a damn thing about it because you serve me now."
"I serve... no one," Michelle choked out weakly, before a light enveloped her where the darkness once was. When the blinding light subsided and there was a woman standing in front of her protectively. The woman looked similar to her in a few ways, they had the same brown eyes and blonde hair but this girl was prettier than her or at least that was what Michelle thought.
"There has been a slight change of plans Arthur," the woman said slowly. She sounded gentle, like a mother would when correcting a child. "In life I am protecting this girl and in death my husband, well what's left of him at least will get her soul. Michelle ended the cycle that I started years ago, so you can't have her."
"You are a ghost Jane, I could take you in place of her," the ghost paused to think, "But I think it will be more fun to have Michelle around for awhile at least long enough to see me torture the hunters." The doctor smirked, before he put his hand back into her forehead. "You won't be able to return to your body until you are broken free from the nightmare, or at least you won't be able to wake yourself up. You can go now."
"Go where?" Michelle asked. Where the hell did he think she was going to go? Michelle sure as hell wasn't moving on; she would be sent straight to hell back to her demon and she wasn't going into the doctor because that not only sounded wrong, but an eternity of torture was about the same as going to hell.
"Back to your hunters. Try and make contact with them," the doctor commanded and she felt compelled to do it. "Maybe you will realize how they treat things that are not human, now that you are basically a ghost."
"I'm not-"
The doctor shook his head. "No, you aren't dead. Your heart is still beating and your brain is still alive, but you are in a coma and I am the only one that can wake you up." He sounded so smug it hurt, that is when she was whisked away back to the hotel room that the boys had rented.
Dean and Sam had made it back to the room only to find it empty. The salt circle was broken and from the way it looked she was dragged out of it and across the room. Dean was pissed from the way he looked he was about to punch a hole in the rooms wall. Sam just stared at him while the whole thing set in.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean screamed as he paced back and forth.
"Relax. Dean, you freaking out is not going to help her or us," Sam said attempting to stop his brother from going on a rampage.
"Sam, the girl is the size of a child. She couldn't fight one of us off, let alone a ghost. So don't tell me to relax," Dean argued, "We need to go to that damn willow tree, dig up the doc's dead kids douse them in salt and gas then set them ablaze and then set the tree on fire for good measure." Dean was ready to march out the door when Sam got in his way.
"We can't do that until we find where he took Michelle. That and this thing seems to thrive in the dark. He is a shadow Dean," Sam declared. "What we are going to do is outline this room to keep the doctor out and get some sleep then first thing in the morning we are going to find Michelle and end this thing."
"Who died and made you the boss?" Dean asked as Sam began scattering salt around the perimeter of the room.
"Your judgement Dean," Sam responded. "You aren't thinking clearly. Now do whatever you have to do to get to sleep tonight, I promise we will find Michelle in the morning."
Dean couldn't explain it but as Sam was almost finished with the salt he felt a presence. "Stop." He put up a hand and Sam stopped to stare at him waiting for an argument but he didn't have one.
"What, Dean?" Sam asked.
"Something is in here. I can feel it. Actually finish the circle and trap it in here with us," Dean said pulling out his E.M.F. which beeped letting him know there was something there and Sam did as he said. "At least if the doctor is stuck in here with us he won't be torturing Michelle. You hear that! You can't hurt her, try me on for size tough guy. Wait, you pick on children 'cause they can't fend you off, I hope Michelle gave you hell."
What Dean didn't know was that one the salt couldn't keep out the doctor since he was the darkness and two the ghost he was screaming at was Michelle. She hated the feeling of being trapped, but she was at least happy that she was trapped inside the room instead of outside of it. This way she could stop the doctor if he came for Dean and Sam.
She chuckled knowing that they couldn't hear her. "I did Dean. The man can't convince me I'm dead. I'm surprised he can actually convince the children to trust him." When she spoke the lights flickered, something that never happened when the doctor entered.
"When I find you, I will kill you for what ever you did to Michelle," Dean growled. "The girl has been through enough. You'll be sent straight to hell, maybe you'll get a nice suntan."
Michelle slowly walked towards Dean until she stood in front of him, just looking into his eyes that glared blankly at the wall. Her hand brushed his unconsciously and that made Dean tense.
"You want to give me a check up doc?" Dean taunted. Michelle wanted him to know it wasn't the doctor so she dared to let her lips brush his cheek. "A little frisky are we doc?"
While Dean had his little one-sided taunt-fest with Michelle, Sam had formed rock salt barriers around both beds and was just about to lay down when he noticed Michelle's notebook laying forgotten in the center of the broken circle. Sam picked it up and decided to leaf through it before laying down on the bed. Dean showered quickly while Sam read and Michelle just watched. The salt kept the girl in a very confined space in the room and when she would try to cross it, her body would burn like she was on fire. That is why she stayed back and didn't say or attempt to do anything.
Shortly after that the boys turned out the lights and went to sleep. As time passed slowly around Michelle she had began to feel the darkness swell around her once again. The doctor entered the room over the rock salt and looked at her with a smirk.
"How did you do that?" Michelle asked, baffled as to he crossed over the salt barriers without any difficulty.
"The salt doesn't affect me like it does others. The salt while it may repel trapped souls and spirits it cannot keep out the dark, that is what I am darkness," the doctor explained. "But you on the other hand are affected by salt. You are not only trapped, but I bet this will hurt." The doctor picked her up by the throat and pressed her against the wall burning her entire body. "I'm going to enjoy killing the hunters or at least playing with their fears until they become a trapped soul like you."
"NO!" Michelle screamed and the light in between the beds flipped on dispelling the ghost from the room. The light was his weakness as long as the light was on she couldn't come back from the shadows. The hope of keeping him out was shattered when Dean sat up and flipped the light back off. The doctor was forming in the room again as the light faded and it was nothing but darkness again. "Don't hurt them, I'll do anything."
"That's what I like to hear," the doctor said before he picked her up and held her against the wall again savoring the scream that escaped her as he held her there. The only thing Michelle could feel was burning and growth as her body continued to grow without her.
The place where Sam's nightmares usually took him was replaced with the darkness of the hotel room. What struck him as weird was that he was looking at him and Dean sleeping, was he looking through the doctor's eyes? A shadow appeared in front of him and pressed him against the wall. Immediately he was filled with a burning as his form was pressed against the "wall". The shadow was talking but it was quiet muffled under Sam's mind protesting the pain.
"NO!" He choked out, but it wasn't his voice. It was Michelle's. As the scream resonated through the room the lights flipped on and the shadow was gone. That was when Dean grumbled something about him turning on the light, before quickly turning it off. The shadow began to reform in front of him and Sam felt himself speaking once again, "Don't hurt them, I'll do anything."
"That is what I like to hear." That is when the burning resumed and he shot up in his bed waking up from the nightmare.
The first thing he did was turn on the light, hoping that it would get rid of the doctor once again. When Dean sat up to turn on the light again Sam smacked his hand out of the way. "Dean, don't do that. Wake up."
"Where did the night go?" Dean mumbled opening his eyes and glancing at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand by the lamp. "It's still here. What's wrong Sam?" He paused to yawn. "Another nightmare?"
Sam shook his head. "A vision or at least it seemed like one. It seems crazy, even for us."
"Start talking then," Dean commanded. "We are burning nightlight. I know we can work around sleep deprivation but sleep sounds really good right now."
"Michelle is in the room with us," Sam began and Dean looked at him like he had sprouted a second head. "No, I'm serious. I was seeing what she was seeing and feeling it too. She is the spirit we trapped in the room with us."
"How do you know that Sam?" Dean asked.
"Well she was being attacked by a dark shadow, it pressed her against the wall. Michelle is the one that turned on the lights I believe it is what sent the doc packing. At least we know the salt works the stuff packs a serious burn," Sam explained.
"But how does that make whatever it is Michelle?" Dean asked not believing Sam.
"When I was in the vision as her I spoke in her voice. If I was looking through the doctor's eyes I would've saw Michelle instead of the shadow," Sam stated and Dean nodded.
"Break the salt circles and then we turn the lights out and get some shut eye," Dean responded before getting out of the bed and breaking the circles around the beds while Sam did the one around the perimeter.
"Michelle, are you there?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Michelle answered and the lights flickered. Dean sat on the edge of the bed his E.M.F. going off quietly sensing her presence in the room.
"If you are right Sam and it is Michelle, she is still here. Now that she can leave if she needs to, we are going back to sleep," Dean grumbled. "Michelle, if you aren't dead I will save you. I promise." He yawned, before laying back down and getting ready to turn off the light.
"What if the doctor comes back?" Sam asked.
"I want him to come back, I want him to take me. If he takes me tonight then you can track me using my cellphone and then we can find Michelle as well," Dean answered.
"You want to use yourself as bait?" Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing, his brother couldn't be serious.
Dean merely nodded. "How else do you expect to find where he takes the children? Let him take me. First light of day tomorrow track my cellphone and come after me. I'm sure with our friend on the other side playing protector, I'll be fine."
After that Dean turned off the light and he went back to sleep. His breathing slowed back into a peaceful slumber as his brother worried and Michelle stood watch. Sam felt the cool of Michelle's hand brush his forehead trying to comfort him and help him go back to sleep. Whatever she did helped as his eyelids fluttered shut and Sam fell into a light slumber but his dreams consisted of Michelle's vision once more.