Many hours, books, and web sites later, Dean was falling asleep in John Winchester's journal, Jo was trying to find the least destructive method of breaking the devil's trap, and Sam was starting to get excited. This was what he did, after all. All at once, he caused everyone in the room to jump when he called out, "I found it!"

"Hmm?" Dean said, shaking his head to clear it as he came fully awake. "You did?"

"I assume that's why you call him 'Geek Boy,' Dean," Jo said with a smirk.

The older Winchester could only glare at her. "Well, Sammy, tell us what it is."

"It's called a manaia," Sam said. "It's a Maori symbol of a spirit guardian or messenger of the gods."

"Maori?" Jo repeated dumbly. "I don't get it."

"Maori people are indigenous to New Zealand," Sam replied patiently. "But I have no idea what in the world it means or why it's been drawn on the ceiling next to a devil's trap."

"Well, it sounds like a good thing," Dean observed. "I mean, spirit guardian? That's not very ominous."

"Yeah. Add it to the list of other things we're confused about."

"We know you have this spider-sense thing going, which sets you apart from everyone else. And you use it to help people. Maybe this symbol turned the devil's trap into some sort of 'special child with shining powers' trap," Dean offered, shrugging. "I mean, stranger things have happened."

"That's ridiculous," Sam retorted. "Why would the holy water have affected me? Maybe you should perform the exorcism and get it over with."

"I think Dean's idea is good," Jo said. "It kind of makes sense . . . in a weird, twisted, hunter sort of way."

"Yeah, thanks for that," the younger brother said sarcastically. There was a pause as everyone pondered the implications of what Dean had suggested. "If you're right," Sam said abruptly, "then when you destroy the manaia, I should be able to walk out of here, devil's trap or not."

Dean nodded. "It's worth a try. Let's do it and figure out exactly what it means later." He grabbed a pot from the kitchen, got up on the couch and glanced down. "Want me to get you out of here, little brother?" he asked, grinning.

"If you wouldn't mind," Sam shot back playfully, without looking up. "Just don't touch the devil's trap itself yet or we won't know for sure if it's the manaia."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" came the response as Dean took a hard swing at the far end of the symbol. The ceiling cracked, and Dean jumped down. "Come on."

Sam got up, tensing himself for the worst, and was surprised to find that h could exit the trap easily. Cocking his head in curiosity, he bent down and picked up the discarded bottle of holy water, dumping a few drops on his outstretched arm.

Nothing.

"That is totally disturbing," Dean muttered from his position behind the couch. "Man, you really are a freak."

"I'm glad we got that out of the way," Sam grumbled back.

"I love it when a plan comes together," the elder brother continued as he turned to leave. "Now, come on. Let's have a celebration dinner."

"Must you always think about food?" Jo asked, starting to follow him. "We haven't finished this hunt yet."

"What are you talking about? He's free, isn't he?"

"Dean, she's right," Sam said slowly, not having moved from where he'd been standing before. "Someone or something drew this symbol on the ceiling, knowing it would trap me here. Whoever or whatever it was is still out there."

In spite of wanting to pretend for a few minutes that it was over, Dean's big-brother sense kicked in again and he suddenly felt a strong desire to inflict violence on anything that looked in Sam's general vicinity.

"We have to figure out who would have known about a manaia or what to do with it. We need to find out who or what wants me so bad. We've got to do some research --"

Sam was interrupted by his brother. "Stop; just stop! Sam, we've been doing research for hours and I can't take it any more. You've been stuck on that couch for like a day and I just want to have dinner. Can't we eat?"

Jo wisely chose this moment to remain silent, swiveling her head back to look at the younger Winchester for his answer.

Finally, Sam smiled. "Sure, Dean. Let's just be really careful."

"You know me, Sammy -- careful is what I do best."

Sam snorted. "You've never been careful a day in your life," he said, following Dean out the door as they began their normal facetious banter. Jo smiled as she watched their interactions, then went after them. She failed to notice the woman in the hall, whose lifeless black eyes lit up in a gruesome way at the sight of the brothers. She missed the woman's evil grin and her ethereal form stepping into the recently abandoned living room. And she missed the woman standing under the broken symbol, looking up and softly saying, "It worked. I knew it would."

Jo missed all of that. Instead, she followed Sam and Dean Winchester out to the trusty Chevy Impala, climbing in and heading off to enjoy a few short hours of pleasure. But the woman was waiting for them.

And the ghostly woman was ready.

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Note: I hope you're all still with me, folks! I know, this chapter is too short and a bit slow, but everything is set up for some exciting action soon! I wanted to say that I spent quite a bit of time in New Zealand and while the symbol I chose is real, it doesn't have any legends or anything attached to it. So I made all that up. Sorry. I had writer's block and couldn't think of any other way to get Sam and Dean out of one bit of trouble and into another. But please keep reviewing!