Supernatural: Provenance

A/N: I return with the next chapter! I really hope everyone has been enjoying the story, especially with Dean and Liz teasing Sam about his crush on Sarah.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or from Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

CHAPTER THREE: TWO EVIL SPIRITS?

That night, Evelyn, an older woman, was sitting in her living room, reading a book; above her fireplace the painting of the Merchant family was hanging. While she was reading, Isaiah's head moved very slightly; unaware of this, Evelyn set her book down, took off her reading glasses, and picked up a cup of tea.

While she was drinking, a shadow moved across the room, razor in hand, in the reflection of Evelyn's glasses. Evelyn set her cup down and sat in silence for a moment; she felt someone next to her, she looked up and screamed.

It wasn't long before the Winchesters pulled up and got out of the car; Sarah was already there, standing by her own car.

"Sam, what's happening?" she asked.

"I told you, you shouldn't have come," Sam said as they ran up the front steps.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Dean called out, banging on the front door, which was locked.

"You said Evelyn might be in danger," Sarah stated. "What kind of danger?"

Dean tested the door and growled. "I can't knock this sucker down. I gotta pick it." And he began picking the lock. Confused by all of this, Sarah walked over to Sam and Liz, who were trying unsuccessfully to open the windows.

"What are you guys, burglars?" she asked.

"I wish it was that simple," Sam muttered, just as Dean got the door open. "Look, you really should wait in the car, it's for your own good," he suggested as he, Liz and Dean entered the house.

Sarah scowled. "The hell I will, Evelyn's a friend." And she followed them inside.

The four of them entered the living room.

"Evelyn?"

"Evelyn?"

"Hello?"

Soon, they saw Evelyn seated in her chair and move cautiously toward her; the painting over her fireplace had resumed its usual position, and Isaiah was now looking down at his daughter again.

"Evelyn? Evelyn?" Sarah asked as they moved closer to the chair. "It's Sarah Blake. Are you all right?" and she put her hand on Evelyn's shoulder.

"Sarah, don't. Sarah!" Sam protested, but it was too late.

Evelyn's head tilted back, revealing her slashed throat. Sarah screamed and looked at the painting, where Isaiah was now looking straight ahead, and even Liz screamed, having seen his head move.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Sarah cried as Sam took her out of the room, and Dean shoved Liz after them.

The sun was rising outside and Dean was sitting at the laptop with Liz sitting next to him, and looking only half-awake while Sam was pacing. There was a knock at the door and he answered it.

"Hey," he said, letting Sarah into the room. "You all right?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, actually. I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn's alone and found her like that."

Sam was relieved. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Sarah snapped. "I'm about to call 'em right back if you don't tell me what the hell is going on. Who's killing these people?"

Sam, Liz, and Dean exchanged a look.

"What," Sam said.

Sarah didn't understand. "What?"

"It's not who, it's what is killing these people," Sam explained while Sarah shook her head, obviously confused. "Sarah, you saw that painting move."

"No. No, I was seeing things," Sarah protested. "It's impossible."

"I wish," Liz moaned.

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, well, welcome to our world."

Sam sighed. "Sarah, I know this sounds crazy, but we think that the painting is haunted."

"You're joking," Sarah said, tears forming in her eyes, but when Sam didn't say anything, she gulped. "You're not joking. God, the guys I go out with," she moaned.

"Sarah, think about it - Evelyn, the Telescas," Sam said. "They both had the painting, and there have been others before that. Wherever this thing goes, people die, and we're just tryin' to stop it. And that's the truth."

Sarah sighed. "Well, then, I guess you better show me. I'm coming with you."

Sam panicked. "What? No. Sarah, no, you should just go home. This stuff can get dangerous, and-" he paused, even though it was obvious to both Liz and Dean why he was acting like this "-and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Look, you guys are probably crazy, but if you're right about this - well, me and my dad sold that painting, we might have gotten these people killed," Sarah stated. "I'm not saying I'm not scared, 'cause I am scared as hell, but I'm not gonna run and hide, either." And she walked to the door. "So, are we going or what?" she asked before leaving.

Dean and Liz exchanged a bemused look; okay, they were seriously impressed with Sarah.

"Sam?" Dean said, leading Sam, who'd been gaping at the door, to look at him. "Marry that girl," he ordered, making Liz laugh and Sam rolled his eyes.

Returning to the crime scene, Sarah waited as the Winchesters got the front door open.

"Uh, isn't this a crime scene?" she asked uncertainly.

"Well, you've already lied to the cops. What's another infraction?" Dean joked as he broke the police seal on the door with his knife.

Sam took the painting down from the wall and leaned it against a chair; he, Liz, and Dean began examining it.

"Aren't you worried that it's gonna, you know, kill us?" Sarah asked, keeping her distance from the painting.

"No, it seems to do its thing at night," Sam said reassuringly. "I think we're all right in daylight."

Meanwhile, Dean and Liz were comparing the real painting with the photo from the library book.

"Sam, check it out," he said, noticing something and he handed the photo to their little brother. "The razor - it's closed in this one, but it's open in that one." And indicated the painting.

"What are you guys looking for?" Sarah asked.

"Well, if the spirit's changing aspects of the painting, maybe it's doing so for a reason," Dean explained.

Sam looked between the painting and the photo, finding something else that was different. "Hey, look at this - the painting in the painting."

In the photo from the library book, Isaiah was standing in front of a painting of mountains, while in the real painting, he was standing in front of a picture of a building.

Liz squinted at the painting. "Looks like a crypt or a mausoleum or something."

Dean grabbed an ashtray from a nearby table and held it up to the painting; inscribed on the building in the painting was a name. "Merchant."

Several hours later, the four of them were walking around, looking for the Merchant mausoleum.

"That's the third bone yard we've checked," Dean complained. "I think this ghost is jerkin' us around."

"So, this is what you guys do for a living?" Sarah asked.

Sam chuckled. "Not exactly. We don't get paid."

Sarah could believe that. "Well, Mazel Tov."

Just then, Dean spotted the building. "Over there." And they walked over to the mausoleum.

Dean, Liz, Sam, and Sarah entered the cobweb-covered chamber; the walls were lined with urns, and Sarah walked over to a glass case preserving a doll.

"Okay, that right there is the creepiest thing I've ever seen," she stated.

"It was sort of a tradition at the time," Sam explained. "Whenever a child died, sometimes they'd preserve the kid's favorite toy in a glass case right next to the headstone in a crypt."

Both Dean and Liz were examining the urns and noticed that something was off about the scene. "You notice anything strange here?"

Sarah scoffed as she looked around. "Uh, where do I start?"

"No, that's not what I mean," Dean said. "Look at the urns."

Sam examined the urns. "Yeah, there are only four."

"Yeah, Mom and the three kids," Dean agreed. "Daddy Dearest isn't here."

"So, where is he?" Sam wondered.

After returning to the town, Sarah and Sam were waiting outside the local police station for Dean and Liz, who were inside.

"So, what exactly is your brother and sister doing in there?" Sarah asked.

"Searching county death certificates, trying to find out what happened to Isaiah's body," Sam answered.

Sarah frowned. "How'd they even get in the door?"

"Lying and subterfuge, mostly," Sam responded and they laughed. "You have a, um - you have an eyelash on your…" he gestured and she touched her eye. "No, uh, no." and they laughed again. "Do you mind if I…?"

Sarah shook her head. "No."

Sam smiled nervously. "Okay." He gently removed the eyelash from her eye and held it out on his finger. "Make a wish."

Sarah smiled and blew the eyelash off his finger. "Sam, can I ask you something?" she asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"I don't mean to be forward, but a girl can wait here forever," Sarah stated and they laughed. "Is there something here, between us, or am I delusional?" she asked.

Sam sighed, he'd been dreading that she would ask him a question like that. "You're not delusional."

Sarah gave him an inquiring look. "But, there's a "but" coming."

"But…" Sam confirmed. "I don't think this would be a good idea."

Sarah didn't understand. "Can I ask why?"

"'Cause I like you," Sam answered.

Sarah shook her head, confused. "Wait…you lost me." And she laughed.

Sam sighed, wondering how he was going to explain. "Look it's hard to explain…it's just that when people are around me…I don't know, they get hurt."

"What do you mean?" Sarah inquired.

"I mean, like, physically hurt. With what my brother, my sister and I do, it's-" Sam stopped, having trouble with the words "-Sarah…I had a girlfriend," he said finally and she nodded. "And she died," he continued. "And my mom died, too. I don't know, it's like…it's like I'm cursed or something - like death just follows me around. Look, I'm not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody-"

"You're scared they'd get hurt, too," Sarah finished and Sam nodded. "That's very sweet. And very archaic."

"Sorry?" Sam asked.

Sarah chuckled. "Look, I'm a big girl, Sam," she explained. "It's not your job to make decisions for me. There's always a chance of getting hurt."

"I'm not talkin' about a broken heart and a tub of Haagen-Dazs," Sam protested. "I'm talkin' about life and death."

"And tomorrow, I could get hit by a bus," Sarah stated. "That's what life is. Look, I know losing somebody you love - it's terrible. You shut yourself off, believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else, too."

Sam shook his head, not liking where this was going. "Look, Sarah, you don't understand. The pain that I went through - I can't go through it again. I can't." And they shared a long look, soon interrupted by Dean and Liz.

"Are we interrupting something?" he asked.

Sam shook his head. "No."

"Not at all," Sarah agreed.

"Apparently," Dean remarked, wincing when Liz elbowed him.

"So, what'd you get?" Sam asked.

"Pay dirt," Dean answered and he read from a few papers in his hand. "Apparently, the surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah that they didn't want him interred with the rest of the family. So, they handed him over to the county. The county gave him a pauper's funeral - economy-style. Turns out he wasn't cremated, he was buried in a pine box."

Sam knew what this meant. "So, there are bones to burn?"

Both Dean and Liz nodded. "There are bones to burn."

"Tell me you know where," Sam said and the twins smiled at them. They knew where to go.

That night, they returned to the cemetery, found the grave, and soon, Dean, Liz, and Sam were digging up Isaiah's grave while Sarah held a flashlight; as they got closer, Sam climbed out of the dirt and stood next to her.

"You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this," Sarah remarked.

"Yeah, well, this isn't exactly the first grave we've dug. Still think I'm a catch?" Sam asked, smiling.

"I think we got somethin'," Dean announced, and Sarah held the flashlight over them so that they could see; they used the shovels to break open Isaiah's tomb, where Isaiah's bones were lying.

Soon the Winchesters poured rock salt and gasoline over the bones.

"You've been a real pain in the ass, Isaiah," Dean stated as he lighted a match. "Good riddance." He threw the match into the grave, and the four of them watched the bones go up in flames.

A few hours later, the Winchesters and Sarah pulled up outside the house.

"Keep the motor running," Sam told Dean.

Sarah didn't understand why they had returned to the mansion. "I thought the painting was harmless now."

"Better safe than sorry," Sam told her. "We're gonna bury the sucker." And he got out.

"I wanna come with you," Sarah said.

"You sure?" Sam asked, surprised.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah." And she got out of the car as well.

"Hey, hey, hey. We'll stay here, you go make your move," Dean whispered and Sam scoffed. "Sam, I'm serious."

Rolling his eyes, Sam shut the car door, and both he and Sarah walked up the front steps of the building. Dean turned on the radio, playing a love song, which made Liz snickered, and Sam glared at him; Dean shrugged, and Sam motioned for him to stop the music. Sighing, Dean reluctantly shut it off, and both Sarah and Sam went inside.

Entering the room, both Sam and Sarah stared at the painting, confused.

"Uh, Sam? You're the expert on all this ghost stuff. Is that painting supposed to look like that?" she asked; although Isaiah was now facing forward, his daughter had vanished from the painting. "Where's the little girl?"

But that wasn't the only thing missing, the straight razor was also gone.

"And the razor?" Sam added, equally confused.

From somewhere in the house, they could hear a little girl laughing; they looked around frantically, and the front door slammed shut.

A/N: I now curse you all with an evil cliffy! MWAHAHAHAHA! R&R everyone!