After a phone call to Mary Worthington's brother, Dean discovered that the mirror was now in possession of a local Toledo antique store. Sam had theorized that it was possible for spirits to get trapped in mirrors, referencing the funerary custom of covering up mirrors after someone had passed away to prevent this very thing from happening.
Rachel listened to the Winchesters banter back and forth, aware of Puck's bulk beside her. Charlie had turned up at Rachel's motel room a few hours ago, distraught after apparently seeing Bloody Mary during her chemistry class. The teenager had told them about her boyfriend, who had apparently killed himself after Charlie had broken up with him. After calming her down, the four hunters had left Charlie in the motel – with the mirrors covered – to track down the Worthington mirror and smash it to pieces.
The Winchesters had had some kind of argument before they had left, and Rachel couldn't help but pick up on the tension simmering between Dean and Sam.
'You okay?' Puck's low murmur made Rachel flash her eyes towards him, the hazel eyes flickering over her face.
'I'm fine,' Rachel whispered back, too quickly.
'Look…I'm sorry about yesterday,' Puck rushed out, staring at the back of Dean's head. 'It was a douche move and-'
Rachel let out a short laugh, shaking her head as Santana's words filtered through her head. 'Noah, you don't have to apologize. I overreacted a bit.'
'Still. I, like, respect you. You know that right?' Puck pressed, eyes jumping back and forth as if he were nervous. Deciding to let her actions speak louder than words, Rachel reached over and squeezed his hand. Puck stiffened before relaxing, making no move to shrug her off. Rachel was thankful, the nerves inside her stomach quieting at the contact.
'Dean how many people do you think are gonna die if I don't do this? I'm not letting that happen. So suck it up,' Sam's angry tone sliced through the air as Estate Antiques came into view. The streetlights made the store look old and haunted, and Rachel felt her teeth grind together.
'Jessica isn't a secret Sam. I know-'
'You don't,' Sam interrupted. 'I haven't told you everything.'
'What the hell are you talking about?' Dean demanded, cutting the engine. Sam gave a tight smile before getting out of the car, Puck and Rachel doing the same. The warmth of Puck's touch left her and Rachel wiped her hands down her jeans.
'I can draw this thing out and finish it. Just trust me,' Sam said before stalking towards the locked door, drawing out a slim leather pouch. Rachel followed the lanky man, watched closely as Sam inserted two thin picks into the lock.
'Dude, seriously,' Puck rolled his eyes, gently nudging Sam aside. Puck pulled out what looked like a credit card and jammed it into the sliver of space between door and frame.
'Sammy-'
'Dean,' Sam shot back meaningfully, sounding tired.
'Both of you shut the fuck up,' Puck hissed out. 'Let's just go in and break anything that fucking moves. If Sam says he can do this, let him do it.' The last part was directed towards Dean, who sent Puck a mutinous glare. Rachel tugged on Dean's sleeve, motioning for him to grab the crowbars they had brought along.
'Found it,' Sam breathed out a few minutes later. Rachel dug out the picture of Mary Worhtington's mirror she had printed off, held it up against the frame to confirm that they had gotten the right one.
'Well…here goes,' Sam told them, voice shaky. 'Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary…Bloody Mary.'
A flash of light catches their eye.
'Fuck,' Puck mumbled. 'You two stay here. We'll be right back.' Rachel took the crowbar Puck had in his grip, stood next to Sam as Dean followed her partner out the entrance.
Something heavy, almost like a pant, echoed through the empty room. Sam spun on his heel and raised his crowbar, bringing it up so he could strike. Rachel held her breath, eyes wide. Another pant reaches her ears and Rachel doesn't hesitate, hefting the crowbar to bring it against the mirror to her left. Sam does the same to the one on his right and the deafening crash of broken glass fills the air before once again facing the mirror Mary had marked before she died.
'Come on, come into this one,' Sam muttered desperately.
You killed them. You killed them both.
The voice slithered into her and Rachel felt her heart constrict, her eyes burning. It felt like someone had stuck a needle into her tear ducts. Sam collapsed next to her, the crowbar slipping to crash against the floor.
'Sa…Sam,' Rachel gasped out, feeling her throat close up. Sam was clutching his chest and Rachel saw something trickle out of his eye.
Why didn't you tell your fathers that you saw them die? You saw them die days before it happened. Those nightmares you thought were nothing…you brushed them aside like they didn't matter. Why Rachel? Did you not love them enough? Didn't they matter to you? And Blaine…you knew something would happen to him. You heard him scream as that creature ripped him to pieces. But you ignored it again. How could you let your family die like that, knowing you could have stopped it?
'No!' Rachel screamed out, scrabbling at her face. Puck dropped the guard he had knocked unconscious onto the pavement at the sound, skidding to a stop at Rachel's side a second before Dean does the same at Sam's.
'Shit,' Puck choked out, seeing the blood leaking from Rachel's eyes. 'Rachel. Rach,' Puck said, gently tapping the side of her face. Déjà vu crept over him, except this time Rachel didn't stir. Sweeping her into his arms like a bride, Puck didn't wait for Sam and Dean to follow.
A noise made them turn and they saw Mary, hair lank and skin grey, crawl out of the mirror like that chick from The Ring. The air around him got too thin and Puck rasped in a breath as his knees turned weak, cradled Rachel into his chest as he fell to the ground.
'Let…her…see herself,' Rachel's voice was weak but enough. Dean grabbed the cloth covering a large ornate frame and Mary stopped at her reflection.
'You killed them! You killed all those people!' Mary shrieked out before blood started coming out of her mouth. Puck watched disgusted as Bloody Mary choked before dripping, like metling wax, into a puddle on the floor. A flare of light and she was gone, Dean shoving the frame with his foot before it broke against the floor into pieces.
'That's gotta be a fuck lot of bad luck we just scored,' Puck wheezed out, earning him a chuckle from Dean. Rachel groaned, arms pushing against his hold weakly. The blood on her face was smeared across her cheek and her eyes fluttered rapidly, as if she was trying to clear her vision.
'You good Sammy?' Dean asked his brother, who grunted.
'Noah?' Rachel whispered. Puck didn't reply, using the cuff of his sleeve to scrape away the blood marring her skin. Rachel tried to pull away but Puck cradled the back of her head, made sure she was still enough for him to do so.
'Now that this is all over, want to tell me what the secret is?' Dean got out, slowly picking himself off the floor.
'You're my brother and I'd die for you,' Puck heard Sam reply. 'But there are some things I would rather keep to myself.'
Rachel knocked his hand away at Sam's words, pulled herself upright. Puck saw her pull her legs up to her chest, wrap her arms around herself protectively.
Puck wanted to ask the same question Dean had, but taking in Rachel's trembling lips, decided against it. He held his tongue as they got ready for bed, the Winchesters taking Charlie home. Rachel seemed to be moving in a daze and Puck waited until she had spent an hour in the shower before broaching the subject.
'What happened?'
His question startled Rachel and her normally expressive eyes dulled.
'There are some things I would rather keep to myself,' she repeated Sam's words mirthlessly. Puck drifted off to sleep listening to her uneven breaths only to jolt awake a few hours later to see Rachel looking out the window, a glass of water in her hand.
He studied the reverent, almost frantic, way she sipped at the water, as if the action itself would help her find some kind of center. Puck watched her, he didn't know for how long, in the darkness. Rachel touched her face almost repetitively; tracing the path the blood had taken down earlier.
The urge to take her into his arms grew stronger.
It didn't diminish the increasing urge to know what secrets Rachel Berry was hiding from him. In fact the determination to understand every facet of her skyrocketed.
You're a hunter. You're not supposed to get attached.
For some reason it was Abigail Puckerman's voice that answered.
Sorry Noah, I think its already too late.