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The Hamilton Inn

Chapter seven

They spent the next day walking around town trying to find anyone who might have known the Hamiltons or had been around the first time the inn had burned down. They found a few people who still lived in the town but they were of little help. All they could remember was that the inn had burned down but that was it. Finally they found a man who had actually been standing outside the inn the night of the first fire. He had been ten years old at the time and could remember the horror of that night as if it had only happened yesterday.

"Yes sir, I was there." Ken Brown said proudly. "That damn fire lit up the sky for miles. The whole thing just burst into flames."

"Do you remember the Hamiltons?" Dean asked.

"Yep, they were an odd couple."

"How so?"

The brothers hoped the man could shed some light on whether or not Hamilton actually killed his wife, and if he did where he might have buried her. Her spirit seemed to want them to believe her body had been thrown into the sea, but what if that wasn't true. What if she just wanted them to think it had? What if she didn't want them to find her grave? If Hamilton had really buried her, it would be a simple task of digging her up and burning her bones and the vengeful spirit would then be put to rest.

"Well they both were really into their religion….unfortunately it wasn't the same religion." Brown laughed as he remembered. "He was all into witchy things, Halloween and things like that, but she wouldn't even let him decorate for Halloween…..she said it was the devil's holiday. She was a mean one….always bitching at him constantly. I don't blame him one bit for killing her."

Dean and Sam glanced at each other.

"So he really did kill her?" Sam asked.

"I'm ninety nine percent sure he did."

"Why?"

"I saw them arguing the night she disappeared. I heard her screaming and yelling at him ….then silence. An hour or two later I saw him leave the house with a big burlap bag……Never saw his wife again."

"Do you have any idea what he might have done with the body?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Brown looked at them suspiciously. "You going to dig her up?"

"Us? Of course not….. why do you ask?"

"Just wondering is all."

"Why would you think we'd want to dig her up?"

"A lot of strange things went on in this town back then. Bodies were always being dug up. Some said Hamilton used them in his ceremonies."

"His ceremonies?"

"Yeah….. Some in town said Hamilton was into some kind of devil worship. They said he dug up bodies and used them in his rituals." Brown gave a little smile as if he was enjoying reliving the past. "Then I heard later on he went after live folk instead....My daddy said it made the rituals more powerful."

"Your daddy?"

"Yeah, he knew about Hamilton and what went on up there. He used to tell me about it. He said they used to gather in the basement of the inn and have their secret meetings." Brown laughed. "Only they weren't so secret….more then half the town knew about them."

"The town knew about it and no one tried to stop him from killing people?"

"No one knew for sure it was true. Most people thought it was just a way for parents to scare their kids into staying home at night. … Plus the sheriff at the time was believed to be one of his followers and just swept the whole thing under the rug if anyone brought it up."

"Did you ever hear anything about Mrs. Hamilton's spirit returning to the inn?"

"Sure did…..I saw her at the second fire."

"You did?" Sam glanced at Dean.

"Yep,I saw her walking around the outside of the building right before the fire started, next thing I knew the whole place was ablaze. …And during the fire I saw her too; she was looking out from one of the windows…. She had this real sad look on her face."

"Anyone else see her that you know of?"

"A couple of people did. Most of them are dead now or have moved out of the town. She was a psycho, that's what she was. She burned the whole place down around her husband and his followers and then just stood there and watched."

"What about the first fire? Did anyone see her then?"

"No….I don't think so. The first fire was definitely arson and murder though. Someone bolted all the doors from the outside so those people couldn't get out. … Someone wanted them all dead."

"Any idea who?"

"Some people said it was the father of one of his victims, but know one knows for sure. Hamilton's wife definitely burned the inn down the second time…..and I have a feeling she might have been involved in the first fire as well….. She's a mean one and I'm sure someday she'll be back."

TBC