Chapter Four

"So what're you guys doing at the church?" Brett asked as they drove along the narrow country roads,

"We're going to look at the architecture." Sam answered, "For our project."

"Sounds cool." Brett said with a nod, "So where are you all from?"

"All over." Lola answered,

"You said you all attend the University of Michigan, did you all grow up in Michigan?"

"No…actually, we come from Kansas." Dean remarked,

"Ahh…like Dorothy."

"…something like that." Dean muttered,

"You from Kansas too, Lola?"

"No. I'm from California."

"Ahh…where all the hot girls are from."

Lola chose not to answer as Dean spluttered a laugh. She shifted awkwardly in her seat before the car fell into silence. Brett cleared his throat before starting up again,

"Your necklace…" He began, "it's very nice."

Lola lifted her hand and gently touched the white gold angel wings around her neck with her fingertips,

"Thanks. My father gave it to me."

"Awh. Are you his angel?"

"I was." She replied quietly, making a point of turning to look out of the window to end the conversation.

- - -

The trio stood in the shadow of the church, staring up at the round stained glass window,

"Well the rumour about the church facing the wrong direction was accurate." Sam sighed,

"Yeah…creepy…" Dean murmured as he moved towards the boarded up door, the wood rotten and flaking under the elements. He reached out and gripped one of the boards, ripping it off of the frame. It was only a few seconds before Sam and Lola were at his sides, helping him to get to the door.

With a pile of wood at their feet, Dean motioned for the other two to step back before he lifted a foot and brought it down roughly against the old door that buckled under his strength. Sam flicked on his flashlight and entered tentatively, coughing on the dust and mould that had exploded in a cloud as the door had fallen off of it's hinges. Lola wrapped her arms tightly around herself as she followed Sam in, shining her own flashlight around to peer up into the rafters,

"We need to find those children…perhaps we should interview their parents…?" Lola suggested,

"I think they've probably had enough of talking…it's almost Christmas and their kids are missing…I know we need to get as much information as possible, but I think we should leave that as a last resort." Sam answered. Lola nodded,

"You're right."

Dean held out his walkman turned EMP detector ahead of him, the red lights remaining dull,

"Well as creepy as this church is…I'm not getting anything on here."

"Unless it only takes place at night?" Sam asked. Dean shrugged,

"Looks like we'll be hanging around for awhile then huh?"

"Let's check out the bone yard…" Lola murmured, turning back to the doorway. As she did, the dull sunlight from outside was blocked by the silhouette of a figure. Lola jumped backwards slightly, grabbing Sam's arm tightly,

"Man…you guys sure are desperate to check out this architecture, huh?"

"Brett…" Lola breathed, placing a hand to her forehead in relief,

"We uh…found the door kicked in so we figured we'd take a look inside." Sam called out,

"Really? Funny I could've sworn that I saw Dean doing the kicking."

"You were watching us?" Lola asked, raising an eyebrow as she stalked up to him irritably,

"Woah! Hold it right there little lady!" Brett laughed as he pulled a small silver hand gun out on the American, "Let's not get carried away here…"

Lola placed her hands in the air half heartedly,

"You shouldn't pull a gun on a lady…it's very rude."

"Yeah," Dean agreed as he appeared from the shadows beside Brett, his own gun to the side of Brett's head, "especially she's not alone."

Lola snatched the gun from Brett and motioned for him to lead them back through the open door.

- - -

"You wanna tell us why you were spying on us?" Dean asked as the three surrounded Brett. Brett simply smirked,

"Because it's my job."

"What are you? Some lame ass caretaker?"

"No." Brett snapped, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us." Lola said simply,

"I'm a ghost hunter."

"You're a hunter?" Lola asked,

"Yes…" Brett answered carefully, "You're taking this…pretty well, considering."

Dean lowered his gun to his side while raising his eyes to the sky with exasperation,

"Great…just what we need…" He muttered,

"I'm here investigating the disappearance of some children in the local area."

"Yeah…us too." Sam finally spoke,

"You three are hunters."

"Yep." Lola nodded with a smile, "So I guess we're all on the same side."

"Does that mean I can have my gun back now?"

Lola looked down at Brett's gun in her hand and sighed heavily,

"Sorry about that…" She cringed,

"No problem just uh…no more guns to my head, alright Dean?"

"…whatever…"

"He's quite the grumpy one, huh?"

"Yes." Lola replied icily, "He's definitely got an attitude problem."

"I'm standing right here. Do you think you could at least wait until I disappear?" Dean fumed, "I'm going over here…you three…continue to talk about me!"

Sam rolled his eyes,

"Don't be a jerk…" He muttered as he followed after Dean, leaving Lola and Brett standing awkwardly,

"What brought three yanks all the way here? Didn't you think we could handle it?"

"It was more of a personal interest on my part." Lola admitted, "I asked the two of them to come with."

"Bet you're regretting that decision." Brett laughed,

"Oh you have no idea…" She sighed, shaking her head as she followed the direction Sam and Dean had wandered off in. They were standing amongst a large gathering of gravestones,

"I guess these are the children that died. All fifteen of them from 1810." Sam said as he scanned the stone's surfaces seriously, "We need to find out if anyone saw anything when the other children went missing."

"You haven't even researched witness accounts? What the hell do you yanks do in your own country?" Brett laughed which caused Lola to scowl. She crossed her arms over her chest,

"We only arrived yesterday."

"Well thank heavens…us backward English folk can't survive without you Americans coming in on your white horses, guns pointed at everyone, to save the day."

"Man…I should've just shot him." Dean muttered to Sam who chuckled, "Shoot first…ask questions later…"

"I think Lola will save you the trouble." Sam answered as Lola's scowl deepened. Her back straitened as she dug her hands into her back pockets,

"Well…did you check the witness reports?"

"I did…as a matter of fact."

"…" Lola waited for a reply. She blinked, "Well?"

"Doors and windows were unlocked from the inside, bedrooms were undisturbed. It was like the children had let themselves out."

Lola frowned,

"That's…a little worrying." She sighed,

"Always at night…in the middle of the night and it was always houses that back onto, or were near large wooden areas. Now, they've searched all the surrounding forest areas and there's not a trace…all except in one case."

"What did they find?" Sam asked,

"Footprints. Lots of them in a clearing."

"Lots of footprints." Dean repeated, "They could be anyone's."

"Lots of children's footprints. Too many to be made by any of the local children. There aren't that many children living in these villages because of schools and the like."

"What do you think?" Lola asked Dean,

"From that, I think it's safe to say we're dealing with some spirits."

Lola went very pale,

"I guess we'll be burning the bones tonight." She said sadly,

"We don't have a choice."

"What about the children?" Lola asked Brett, "The five missing children."

Brett sighed,

"If death had been caused by a spirit…then surely bodies would've been found. Spirits don't tend to hide the corpses of people they've killed."

"Exactly." Lola agreed, "So they must be somewhere that was integral to the deaths of the children two hundred years ago."

"Like what?" Dean asked, "I thought you said that they died of an illness."

"People at the time said it was a satanic curse." Brett said knowledgably, "Linked to the church." He said, pointing behind him to the large stone building that towered above them, "If we're going to burn the bones…we should get started…we've got a lot of bodies to unearth."

"Why don't two of us start digging and the other two check the church again. Those children have got to be in there somewhere." Sam suggested. Lola shot her arm up quickly,

"I volunteer for the creepy, backwards hell house!" She said with a grin, "I'm not big on…rotten corpses of…children…" She mumbled, a little ashamed. Dean rolled his eyes,

"And with those arms we'd be here all week anyway. I'll do the digging. Sammy, you go with Lola."

"I'll help you." Brett told Dean,

"You can keep watch."

"But it'll take you hours to dig all those holes alone."

"I'll survive."

Sam and Lola exchanged exasperated looks before trudging back into the church,

"Sooooo…" Sam began casually, "he's cute."

"I hadn't noticed." Lola mumbled, shining her light around the old, rotten church, "I honestly haven't…why'd you bring that up?"

"I…don't actually know…though now I see where Dean gets off having so much fun in winding me up."

Lola smirked,

"Well you might as well pack it in now…there's nothing that I could possibly…" She trailed off, "I hate to sound cliché…but did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Sam asked with a frown,

"I thought I heard…children laughing…" She mumbled as she heard the sound again, closer this time, "I'm a little…freaked out by this, Sam."

Sam nodded,

"I agree with you." He said, pulling the shot gun out from under his arm, steadying it, he shined his flashlight around cautiously as the front door to the church slammed shut. The duo exchanged concerned looks as they moved slowly back towards it, to find that it had somehow sealed itself,

"Great…now what…?" Lola breathed as the giggling voice grew louder and closer.

- - -

Brett returned from his car, carrying two spades. He extended one to Dean who snatched it from him grumpily before beginning to dig at the first grave. Brett was slightly taken aback but shrugged it off, joining Dean in the digging. The American looked up at him and huffed, shaking his head,

"I told you to keep an eye out."

"We're in the grave yard of a church that has been abandoned for two hundred years, that's a mile outside of a village with a population of two dozen…who exactly do you think I'd be looking out for?" Brett snapped back. Dean rolled his eyes,

"You never know…"

"Dude…what is your problem?!"
"You would not believe how many times I hear that…" Dean muttered, throwing himself back into the digging,

"Oh…I bet I would…" Brett replied, "Seriously though," He continued, "Whatever you've got wedged up your behind, pull it out because you're acting like a spoilt child rather than a hunter and you could get the rest of us killed with an attitude that stinks like yours does. I mean, I know you don't give a damn about me but I'm sure you don't want to endanger the life of your brother or Lola."

Dean chose not to reply. Instead he kept digging until the tip of his spade hit the top of the first coffin,

"Okay…I got one…" He said, hopping out of the hole, moving on to the next grave, "Fourteen to go…" He muttered,

"I want to ask you something," Brett began, straitening his back,

"What?" Dean snapped,

"This might sound a little forward, but is there anything going on between you and Lola?"

"…" Dean shrugged, "There may be." He answered carefully,

"Oh…I just, was wondering because she's a really lovely girl…but I don't want to move in on another guys territory…if you know what I mean."

Dean turned his back on Brett and grit his teeth in irritation,

"Yeah…I get you…" He replied, beginning to dig, "Do whatever you want."

"So you and her…you're not."

"Do whatever you want." Dean repeated, louder and slower to symbolise that he wanted to end the conversation now. Brett reached the coffin of his grave and jumped out, placing one hand on the grass, jumping out of the hole with stealth and grace,

"I think I will." He remarked smugly as he wandered passed Dean, dragging his spade behind him, "I mean…" Brett continued with a smirk, "It's not very often a girl like her walks into your life, eh? I mean…a hunter…and a hot one at that…" He continued to ramble on, more for the fact that he could see it was rubbing Dean up the wrong way,

"Yeah…well…" Dean grumbled,

"I'm sure I can convince her to come out with me tonight…what kind of food do you think she likes?"

"I honestly couldn't care…" Dean mumbled, rolling his eyes. Brett smirked, watching Dean become more and more flustered.

- - -

Sam grabbed Lola's hand and lead her through the dark and dusty church towards the alter,

"I think it's time to leave." He said sternly to the younger girl as she squeezed his hand,

"This is probably a little late in the day to be telling you this…but I'm kinda scared of the dark." Lola admitted quietly,

"You're a demon hunter and you're afraid of the dark?" Sam asked, arching an eyebrow. Lola nodded,

"Yes. Yes I am." She replied with a weak smile. Sam rolled his eyes, "Oh my God! You looked just like Dean when you did that!" She joked, though Sam was more worried about getting out of the church from hell. She cleared her throat as they headed through the back of the church which had remained untouched for centuries, the giggling voice following them as they did,

"Lola…" Called out a soft, low voice, "Lola…come play with us…"

Lola spun around, her eyes scanning the darkness in vain,

"Sam…" She mumbled, shaking Sam's jacket sleeve, "Did you hear that…?"

"No." Sam replied with a frown, "What was it?"

"Lola…" Called the voice again followed by a giggle,

"Voices…"

"Come play with us Lola! We're so bored here all by ourselves…so lonely…come play with us Lola!"

Lola let go of Sam, shining her flashlight around the rafters of the church as she stepped cautiously out into the main church hall,

"Lola…I think I feel a breeze…" Sam mumbled, glancing over his shoulder to tell her to follow him, "Lola?" He asked, flashing his torch around the darkness, "Lola!" He called again but to no answer.