**So sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! This one was the second hardest one to write so far (behind Route 666). Thank you so much to the people that stayed with this story! You are all truly amazing! Love you guys! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please PM me or review! I really love reading them and it inspires me to write faster and better! Once again, thank you so much to all my fans! Hope you like it!**
No Exit
"We're going to Los Angeles, California," I announced, glancing down at the newspaper article in my hands as Dean threw our stuff into the trunk. We were parked right outside the Roadhouse where we'd stopped for the night to see if Ash had found anything regarding the demon. He had nothing new for us, but we decided to spend the night in one of Ellen's spare rooms anyway.
"What's in L.A.?" Sam questioned, and I glanced sideways at him from where I was standing in front of the passenger's door.
"A young girl disappeared from her room - doors and windows were locked - police don't know how the intruder could have entered - no signs of a struggle," I read off the article that I had circled. I'd found it last night while I was sifting through news articles on Sam's computer; I hadn't been able to sleep.
"Sounds like just another kidnapping," Dean pointed out dubiously, and I just shrugged with a heavy sigh.
"It was all I could find," My eyes flicked to him as he pulled out his keys to open the driver's door. "You got something better?" As if on cue, there was an angry clatter from inside, making me focus my hearing on inside the Roadhouse.
"I'm going!" Jo's voice sounded, full of teenage like defiance.
"Over my dead body!" Her mother snapped back.
"You're flipping out over nothing!" She yelled furiously.
"Catfight?" Dean phrased it like a suggestion, and we walked over to the door to see what was happening.
"I am your mother! I don't have to be reasonable!" Ellen was shouting as we shut the door behind us quietly.
"You can't keep me here!" Jo argued.
"Oh, don't you bet on that, Sweetie!" Ellen stalked down the steps with Jo following hotly behind her.
"What are you gonna do? You gonna chain me up in the basement?" My gaze slid past them for a moment and rested on Max who was standing with his arms folded at the base of the stairs leading up to the bedrooms.
"You've had worse ideas than that recently!" Ellen threw down the chair she'd been fixing, and it fell with a bang. "Hey, you don't want to stay! Don't stay - go back to school!"
"I didn't belong there!" I understood where Jo was coming from there. The only one of us who had felt as though he belonged in school was Sam. "I was a freak with a knife collection!"
"Yeah, but getting yourself killed on some dusty back road-"
"Ellen!" Max's sharp warning made her cut off mid sentence and turn to glare at him. The harsh glare only lasted a moment before she followed his gaze to us.
"Guys, bad time," Was all the greeting we got.
"Yes, ma'am," Sam agreed respectfully.
"Yeah, we rarely drink before ten anyway," Dean attempted to lighten the mood, but it failed miserably.
"Wait," Jo's command made me pause, my hand still on the door knob. "I want to know what they think about this," She stormed towards us, her dark eyes stormy with stubbornness.
"I don't care what they think!" Ellen exclaimed in exasperation just as a family walked in with matching yellow t-shirts. Wonderful. The wife was pregnant and each parent was carrying a child under the age of five on their hip. They were what Dean would call a 'normal, apple-pie family'.
"Are you guys open?" The father asked with clear hesitation wavering in his voice.
"Yes!" Ellen yelled at the same time Jo snapped, "No!" The mother turned to look at the man with an expression of shock tinged with fear, making the husband chuckle nervously.
"There's an Arby's just down the road," Max spoke up in a calm, reasonable voice, not moving from his place by the stairs. The parents regarded him for a moment before hurrying back through the door. Before anyone could break the uncomfortable silence, the landline began ringing. Jo turned to give her mother a very pointed look, and Ellen rolled her eyes and huffed before walking around the counter to pick up the phone.
"Harvelle's?" I didn't intrude on her conversation for fear of being killed. "Yeah, Preacher," Jo whipped around to face us and held out a creme colored file.
"Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment," Neither Sam nor Dean nor I made any move to take the file from her. "Take it. It won't bite," She shoved it at us, her eyes fixing on Dean.
"No, but your mom might," Dean pointed out, and she turned a glare on me. I glanced past her at Max who'd come to lean back against the counter behind her. Finally, I took the file from her hands, ignoring her hard, accusing eyes, and flipped it open.
"And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished, all from the same building, all young blondes," She explained to us as I studied the photo of the smiling blonde woman.
"It only happens every decade or two, so the cops never got interested," Max added, purposefully overlooking Jo's glare. "Either it's the world's oldest serial killer, or it's a hunt,"
"You put this together?" Dean asked, his eyes flicking up from where they were studying the file over my shoulder, to Max.
"Jo did," He answered with something close to pride in his voice.
"I got to admit, we hit the road for a lot less," Sam made a valid point.
"Good. If you like the case so much, you take it," Ellen told us, making me highly uncomfortable.
"Mom!" Jo started protesting, and Max opened his mouth, but whether to help her or calm her no one would ever no for the look Ellen shot him made him snap his mouth shut so fast I could hear the click of his teeth.
"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. I won't loose you, too. I just won't," Ellen stated with an air of finality that let us know we should probably get going now.
"I'll go with you," For the second time in the past five minutes I froze with my hand on the door knob, but this time when I turned back it was Max who I faced with raised eyebrows. "I helped Jo put the file together. It's my case, too,"
"Sure," To my surprise it was Sam who answered before any of us could. He turned back to face the door to see Dean glaring at him. "We could use him," Sam's reasoning wasn't wrong, and I had been about to agree as well anyway. "You're sitting in the back," Sam's words made me sigh in annoyance, but I couldn't argue. There was no way Sam and Max would fit in the back no matter how smushed it got. I risked a glance at Dean to see him still glaring, this time at Max as he passed us and headed up the stairs. When I looked back at Jo, she was glowering at me with a mixture of betrayal, which I knew must be directed at Max, anger, and hatred. I turned back to Dean just in time to see him stalk out the door, his jaw tight and his muscles tensed. This should be fun. Note the sarcasm.
We waited outside the car for a minute as Max grabbed his already packed duffel; he always kept one ready just in case a hunt popped up or he needed to make a quick escape. He threw his stuff into the trunk before sliding in the back next to me. I met Dean's eyes in the rearview and attempted a smile before turning my attention out the window as we pulled away from the Roadhouse.
Max's scream pierced the silence of the night and made my head snap up, my eyes immediately finding him. The young woman had him by the ankle and was dragging him backwards through the apartment, leaving a trail of blood after him. I tried to yell his name, but the words were muffled by the cloth that was tied through my mouth. I struggled against my restraints, but it was no use; she really knew how to tie a knot.
"Listen to him, Honey," The woman turned to me, her once hazel eyes now a milky blue. She grabbed Max by the throat and lifted him without so much as batting an eyelash at the unnerving amount of strength she was exerting. He choked and struggled, but couldn't fight back for his hands and feet were bound. "Isn't he handsome?" I let out another muffled yell and shook my head wildly as his face began turning purple. She threw him down at my feet, and he inhaled greedily, spluttering and coughing.
Dean, Sam, and John should be here soon. They had to be on their way. We'd been here for a good six hours; they knew where we'd gone. Hell, John was the one that had sent us. Usually, I'd be paired with Dean or Sam, but seeing as Dean and I weren't really getting along all that well anymore and Sam still had school, I got Max. I didn't really mind him all that much; I was actually starting to like him somewhat. When you got passed all the flirting and the arrogant, douchebag attitude, he wasn't so bad.
"Well, aren't you going to comfort him?" She asked me, grinning widely. I glared back at her furiously. I needed to get this gag off. I was the only one that could stop her, or more specifically the thing possessing her, but I needed to get this gag off. "He did almost die, you know," My eyes found the flask that lay discarded by her feet, and I swallowed hard. How was I going to get that flask, get the gag off, and say her true name before she killed Max or myself.
"People are coming for us," My eyes flicked to Max as he spoke up in a rough, hoarse voice. "Other hunters," He continued, in between coughs and pants. "And they won't be as nice as us. They won't try to exorcise you," Her response to his threats was a swift kick to the ribs, which made him moan, and I stiffened at the pain in his voice as he continued. "They'll just put a bullet in your brain and be done with it," Another kick sent him back into the wall.
"You know, this girl," She tapped herself on the chest. "She's quite the romantic. All she wants is that one man who loves her so much he couldn't live without her. A man that would do anything for her," She glanced at me and then back at Max before grabbing his face between her thumb and finger and jerking it around to look at me. "Is that him for you?" A pang went through my heart as a face flashed through my mind, but it wasn't Max's face.
We had had a fight right before I'd left with Max about whether to kill this thing or not. It would be a lot more work to exorcise her, and there was no guarantee it would work. We'd managed to become friends again my dad… but that had been nearly two years ago. Lately our friendship had been strained to say the least. Our whole family had been strained. Sammy and John were always fighting. Max was constantly hunting with us, which pissed Dean off. The two really did not get along. I ended up being caught in the crossfires more than I cared. When I'd argued with Dean about coming here to try to get information out of her, Max had backed me up, and John had finally relented. We hadn't known she knew we were hunters, but she'd slipped up. After she gagged me, she whispered her true name into my ear to toy with me.
"Do you love her? Hmm…?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by her coy whispers to Max, who, for once, had no snappy comeback. "Tell you what," She stood from where she'd crouched down next to him, and she picked the silver revolver off the table, cocking it. "I'll let you feel her one last time," She turned to me, leveling the gun with Max's head. "You try to take the gag off, I'll kill him," She dragged Max over to me by his hair, making him groan in pain. I tried to say his name, but it came out distorted and unrecognizable. She deposited Max in front of me, and cut my bonds. I immediately flipped Max over so he was lying face up, and I checked his ribs to make sure nothing was broken before I cradled his face between my hands. This was the only chance we were going to have to find a way to get rid of her.
Dean, Sam, and Max stood behind me as I unlocked the door with my lock picking set. I managed to get it unlocked within thirty seconds, and it swung open without further protest.
"I feel kind of bad snaking Jo's case," Sammy confessed, and I couldn't help but agree with him. It must be pretty infuriating to her that she worked on putting this together and then we swoop in and steal it from her.
"Yeah, she's probably bloody furious," Max's voice sounded regretful.
"Don't worry. I'm sure your girlfriend will forgive you, and, who knows, maybe she put together a good case," Dean went on before Max could say the choice words that were flashing across his eyes.
"She did," Max spoke with assurance and a hint of defensiveness.
"Maybe, but could you see her out here working one of these things?" Dean went on, throwing a pointed look over at Max, who glared back. "I don't think so," He answered his own rhetorical question.
"I could," I took the EMF from Dean's hands as I spoke, tired of the two boys acting like assholes to each other. "Jo would make a good hunter," I added honestly. Her dad was a hunter, and I could see she had inherited a lot from him. She reminded me of Jez a little bit.
"Yeah, she would," Max agreed with me without hesitation.
"You getting anything?" Dean questioned, and I fought a smile.
"No, not much…" I trailed off as the EMF began beeping erratically. "Sam, come here," I crouched down beside the broken switch, which was now just a hole in the wall. Cautiously, I reached out to light touch the black goo that was leaking from the hole. "Is that…?" I let the question hang, already knowing the answer.
"Holy crap," His whisper was enough confirmation to know I wasn't going crazy.
"That's ectoplasm," Dean sounded as confused and surprised as I felt. "Well, guys, I think I know what we're dealing with here. It's the stay-puft marshmallow man," I couldn't help the completely inappropriate laugh that escaped my lips. I had no idea how Sam had the self control to give us both a chiding look.
"Guys, I've only seen this stuff like twice," I'd seen it three times. With difficulty, I managed to stifle the urge to look at Dean.
"This spirit has to be majorly pissed off at something," Max noted, and I nodded, still not even glancing Dean's direction.
"Let's find this badass before he snags any more girls," Dean grew slightly more serious. That's when I heard a voice from the corridor. A very familiar voice.
"Crap," I muttered, making the boys look at me questioningly. Without saying a word, I walked into the hallway and rounded the corner.
"It is so spacious. You know, my friend told me that I absolutely have to come check it out, and I have to admit that she was right. You did a really good job with this place," Jo Harvelle.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Max's voice held an array of emotions that struck me as oddly familiar somehow.
"There you are, honey," She strode right up to Max and looped her arm through his, smiling broadly at him. "This is my boyfriend, Max, and his buddies, Sam, Dean, and Melody,"
"Good to meet you," The landlord spoke amicably to Max, who shook his hand. "Quite a gal you got here,"
"Oh, believe me, I know," Max's smile was slightly strained. "She's quite the pistol," Jo jumped a little as Max smacked her ass, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
"So, did you already check out the apartment?" Silence for a moment. "The one for rent," Jo clarified letting out a high pitched giggle.
"Yeah, absolutely. It's perfect, love," Max then turned to the man in front of us. "Very open," He added, at a loss for other words.
"How'd you get in?" The man asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at us.
"The door was unlocked," Max told him, and the man looked as though he were about to argue.
"Now, Ed, when did the last tenant move out?" Jo saved Max by asking the question abruptly.
"Uh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stiffed me for the rent," His face drew together in anger as he spoke about the last tenant.
"Well, her loss, our gain," I nearly physically winced at Jo's use of the word 'her'. She shouldn't know the tenant was a girl. "'Cause if Maxy loves it, it's good enough for me,"
"Oh, you're the best, love," Max spoke in an overly sugary voice.
"We'll take it," Jo held up a wad of cash in front of the man's nose, and my eyes widened slightly at how much money that was. Part of me - a big part - was praying she hadn't raided Ellen's cash register.
"Okay," The man agreed, taking the cash from her and counting it out. Jo helped Max, Dean, Sam, and I take some equipment out of the car in black duffels and set it down in the apartment Jo had just bought.
"Flip you for the sofa," Jo offered, fixing her eyes on Max with a grin.
"Tell me something, Ellen know you're here?" I paused to glance at Jo before going back to checking the gun in my hands.
"I told her I was going to Vegas," Jo explained with a shrug, unfolding a map of the apartment building.
"There's no bloody way she's going to believe that," Max stated without a shadow of doubt in his voice.
"I'm not an idiot," Jo told him, annoyance creeping into her voice. "I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos," I had to hand it to her, that had been smart. Still, I doubted that would curb Ellen's suspicions.
"You shouldn't lie to her," Max cocked the gun in his hands as he spoke without looking at Jo.
"You shouldn't be here, either," Dean added, causing Jo to turn a cold glare on him.
"Well, I am, so untwist your boxers and deal with it," My eyebrows rose at her sharp remark. At least she had the 'no bullshit' attitude of a hunter. That was a start.
"So, where'd the money come from?" I asked her, and her eyes grew even colder as she turned to regard me.
"Working at the Roadhouse," She answered curtly, causing me to narrow my eyes slightly. What was her problem with me?
"Hunters don't tip that well," Dean pointed out, disbelief lining his voice.
"They aren't that good at poker, either," She replied without missing a beat, making me grin. Just then, Max's cell went off, and he flipped it open pressing the speaker to his ear.
Is she with you? My head snapped up at the sound of Ellen's voice.
"Hello to you too, Ellen," Jo's eyes widened slightly as Max gave her a look before walking away from the table slightly.
She left a note she's in Vegas. I don't believe it for a second, Jo stormed over to stand in front of Max, who tightened his jaw, his eyes torn.
"Don't you tell her-" Jo began as Max talked over her, saying, "I'm telling her," They fired rapid arguments at each other in low voices for a moment before Ellen's voice came back over the line.
Max?
"Haven't seen her." Max spoke into the phone, never breaking eye contact with Jo.
You sure about that? Ellen sounded genuinely surprised at his response.
"Yeah, I'm sure she just needed some time to cool off," Max's light tone didn't match the anger and annoyance that burned in his eyes.
Well, please, if she shows up you'll drag her butt right back here, won't you? You of all people know how much she means to me. Max swallowed hard.
"Of course. Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be back in a few days," Max reassured Ellen, all the while staring at Jo.
Okay. Thanks, honey. Max ended the call. Jo smiled broadly at him before sitting back down.
"This place was built in 1924," She began, looking down at the blueprints that she'd spread across the table. "It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago,"
"Yeah? What about before 1924?" Max questioned from where he was pacing back and forth.
"Nothing. There was just an empty field," I answered, leaning back in my chair, for I'd already memorized the information. "Which means that someone probably died bloody and is now back seeking revenge," I summed up.
"I already checked that. In the past eighty-two years, zero violent deaths, unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor," Jo shot down my theory. "Could you sit down, please?" She stopped toying with her knife and pointed it over her shoulder at where Max was still walking back and forth restlessly.
"So, have you checked the police reports, county death records?" Dean asked as Max took a seat next to Jo.
"Obituaries, mortuary reports, and seven other sources," She listed, looking pointedly at Dean and I. "I know what I'm doing,"
"I think the jury's still out on that one," Dean muttered.
"She's fine," Max defended her, earning a grateful and slightly surprised glance from Jo. "And put that down," He snatched the knife that she had been flicking back and forth between her fingers and set it down on the table.
"Okay," Sam broke the uneasy silence. "So, uh, it's something else, then. Maybe some kind of cursed object. That brought a spirit with it," I bit the inside of my cheek and frowned. That didn't feel right, but better safe than sorry.
"We should scan the whole building," I concluded logically. "Dean, you take the top floor. Sam, the third. I'll take the second. Max and Jo will get the ground,"
"I have a better idea," My eyes flicked to Max questioningly as I grabbed an EMF. Dean and Sam were already out the door. "Jo can go with you on the second floor. I'll take the ground floor alone. Give you two a chance to bond," Before I could argue he was already out the door. I turned to Jo, who was glaring at me. Wonderful. This day just kept getting better and better. We started down the hallway in a heavy silence that I could've cut with a knife.
"We'd cover more ground if we split up," Jo pointed out, making me laugh slightly.
"If you think I'm letting you out of my sight you're crazy," I informed her, giving her no room for arguments. "In case you hadn't noticed, you kind of fit the profile," I gestured to her blonde hair.
"Exactly," She spoke in a 'duh' voice, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"You want to get kidnapped?" I checked, and she nodded.
"Quickest way to draw it out," She had a point, but maybe Dean had a point. Maybe she was a bit too inexperienced. "And you know it," She added, seeing my expression.
"Max'll never go for it," I stated confidently.
"Well, you'd know, wouldn't you?" I stopped walking abruptly, furrowing my eyebrows at the back of Jo's head as she continued down the hallway.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jo whirled to face me, her eyes growing defensive.
"He told me you were engaged," I almost laughed aloud, but managed to hold it in.
"That was three years ago," I told her, trying to be reassuring. "Believe me, there is nothing going on between us,"
"I never said there was," She argued, and I held up my hands in surrender. There was silence for a few moments before she spoke up again. "So there's really nothing going on?" I smiled slightly.
"No, nothing," I glanced at her to find she wasn't next to me anymore but was kneeling beside a grate in the wall. The EMF was going crazy. I knelt next to her and frowned, sniffing the air. Something smelled weird. "Do you smell that?"
"No, but the EMF is going crazy. It's inside the vent," She deduced, and I reluctantly shook off whatever feeling I had and turned to the vent, fishing out a nail clipper from my pocket.
"Congratulations. You found your first ghost," I used the edge of the metal as a screwdriver to unscrew the nails. Dean was the one that carried around a screwdriver in case this happened. It happened more than one would think. I stuck my head into the hole in the wall and looked around with my flashlight. "I think there's something in here," It felt a little damp and stringy, making me cringe slightly as I brought it out into the light of the hallway. A clump of blonde hair with part of the scalp still attached. "It's keeping souvenirs," I realized. This ghost reminded me a bit of a serial killer.
My eyes fluttered open, and I found myself looking up at the plain, white ceiling. I turned my head to the right to find Dean's peacefully sleeping face, which made me smile slightly. We were asleep in our clothes from the previous day on the still made bed. We'd been so exhausted we'd just passed out without bothering to do anything. Reluctantly, I pushed myself into sitting position, ignoring a protesting moan from Dean. I went into the bathroom to take a quick shower, brush my teeth, and change. When I walked out, Dean still lying in bed unmoving.
"Dean," I nudged him, earning another groan that made me laugh and kiss his cheek. "You need to get up eventually," I reminded him before going out into the main room. Jo was sitting in the same place we'd left her, mulling over the missing persons and the blueprints. "Did you sleep at all last night?" She shook her head, making me sigh heavily.
"I've just been going over everything," She gestured to the papers in front of her.
"Where's Sam and Max?" Was my next question.
"They went to get coffee," They better bring me back some.
"Thank god," I answered, earning a laugh from Jo. "You know, I think that might be the first time I've heard you laugh," I pointed out truthfully, making her look down at the knife she kept twirling around.
"Can I ask you something?" I sat down across from her, nodding while I began studying the blueprints. "What's Dean's problem with me?" I glanced up at her, surprised at her bluntness.
"You've got options, Jo," She raised her eyebrows, but I kept my eyes glued to the blueprints. "You could be anything. You've got a mother that cares about you. You could have a life. A good one. Dean and I and even Sam - we didn't have a choice," She seemed to accept my response because she didn't press the matter further. A couple moments had passed when Dean came out of the bedroom and sat beside me. At that moment, a panting Sam and Max burst through the door. "What happened to the coffee?"
"There are cops outside," Sam told us breathlessly.
"Another girl's vanished," Max explained.
"You three stay here. We'll go check it out," Dean and I were out the door almost before he was done speaking. We descended the stairs and made our way out of the building, stopping at the first cop we saw.
"Excuse me, sir. What happened here?" I asked breathlessly, acting flustered. The man turned to study me, his eyes flicking to Dean briefly before landing on me again.
"Theresa Ellis," He spoke solemnly, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Such a shame. She was a nice girl. Young, too. It happened right there," He pointed to the corner apartment on the second floor. "Apartment 2-F. We wouldn't have even known if it wasn't for her boyfriend,"
"He reported her missing?" Dean checked, and the police man nodded, sighing heavily.
"It happened around dawn. You should've seen her apartment, too. Cracks all over the walls, ceiling…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "The place is a mess. We found this black goo oozing from the vent, too. Can't even imagine what that is," He made a face as he spoke about it. Ectoplasm. We thanked him before running back up the stairs to our apartment, and going inside.
"Theresa Ellis in apartment 2-F. She was reported missing around dawn by her boyfriend," I spoke as I walked in, taking a seat beside Sam as Dean sat next to me.
"And her apartment?" Jo questioned brusquely.
"Cracks all over the plaster - walls, ceiling. There's ectoplasm, too," Dean filled them in.
"And between that and that tuft of hair, I'd say the sucker's coming from the walls," Sam summed up what we'd gotten so far.
"Yeah, but the question isn't how, it's who," I pointed out. "We checked all the records of this building, there were no suspicious deaths, no violent crimes, burial sites,"
"Maybe we're looking in the wrong place," Jo stated, sounding distracted. I glanced at her, and then my eyes dropped to the black and white picture in her hands.
"Did you find something?" Max questioned, looking over her shoulder at the picture, a confused frown etched in his features.
"Maybe," She told him, pointing to something in the photo, and his eyes widened slightly before she turned the photo to face us.
"An empty field?" Sam asked, uncomprehendingly.
"That's where this building was built, but what's special about it?" I didn't get it either.
"Take a look at the building next door," My confusion cleared in a heartbeat as I understood what she was getting at.
"The windows are bared," I realized.
"We're next to a prison?" Dean inquired incredulously, glancing up at Jo, who had pulled out her phone and was already dialing a number. "Who's she calling?"
"Ash," Max answered, taking the photo from Jo as she moved a little ways off to speak to him privately. "Still think she doesn't have the makings of a hunter?" Dean didn't reply.
"Thanks, Ash, and if you breathe a word of this to my mom - " She paused for a moment to listen to whatever Ash was saying. "That's right. I will. With pliers," She walked quickly over to us again, snatching the picture from Max before facing us, holding it up. "Okay, Moyamensing Prison. Built in 1835, torn down in 1963, and get this, they used to execute people by hanging them in the empty field next door,"
"Well, then, we need a list of all the people executed there," Sam stated, glancing pointedly at Dean.
"Ash is already on it," Jo nodded to Sam's laptop that was sitting on the table. "I had him email it to you," Sam opened his email and pulled up the list, scrolling through the names.
"157 names?" I couldn't help but feel a bit dejected by that.
"We need to narrow it down," Max's voice reflected my mood. "Or we'll be digging up a lot of corpses,"
"Wait," Sam's fingers froze on the keypad at my command. I pointed to one of the names that sounded oddly familiar. "Herman Webster Mudgett," I frowned as Sam highlighted the name with the mouse. "That was H.H. Holmes' real name,"
"You got to be kidding me," Dean sounded irritated and incredulous all at once. I leaned over Sammy to type something into the search bar and clicked on the first link.
"Yeah, here. He was executed on May 7, 1896 at Moyamensing," I read off the newspaper article before glancing at Sam, who had a smile on his face.
"H.H. Holmes himself. Come on. I mean, what are the odds?" Well, right now, I'd say the odds were pretty good considering his M.O was young, blonde women.
"Who is this guy?" Jo questioned, annoyed at being out of the loop.
"You know the term 'multi-murderer'?" Jo nodded, and Max continued. "Well, they invented it to describe Holmes, America's first serial killer. He was killing people before people even knew what a serial killer was,"
"He only confessed to twenty-seven murders, but he might've killed over a hundred," I added, trying to make her see how dumb her original plan of using herself as bait really was.
"And his victim flavor of choice - pretty, petite blondes. He, uh, used chloroform to kill them," Something clicked into place as Dean said that.
"That was what I smelled in the hallway last night," I remembered, causing Dean and Sam to glance at me.
"Human remains were found at his house: bone fragments and locks of blonde hair," Maxwell chimed in, scanning the article. "Well, you sure have the eye of a hunter,"
"We just find the bones, salt them, and burn them, right?" Jo told us, sounding as though she were a bit shaken.
"It's not that easy. His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete," Sam informed her.
"What? Why?" She asked in annoyance.
"According to the legend, he didn't want anyone to mutilate his body, like he did with those women," I responded, remembering from when I studied psychology in high school.
"Guys, I think we may have a bigger problem," All of us turned to Max incredulously.
"Bigger than not being able to kill him?" I questioned.
"He had an apartment in Chicago, right? The one he built. It was called Murder Castle. The building was basically a death factory. Trapdoors, acid vats. He had these chambers inside the walls, and his victims would be locked up for days. Some would be suffocated, some would starve,"
"So Teresa could still be alive. She could be inside these walls," Jo asked him, her eyes wide with horror.
"We need a sledgehammer and crowbars. We need to smash these walls anywhere thick enough to hide a girl,"
An hour and a half later I was walking silently behind Dean with a flashlight in one hand an EMF in the other. Jo was behind me on the phone with Max. I knew he was worried about her safety, but I also knew he trusted me to make sure she didn't get herself killed.
"Okay. Call us after you check the southeast wall, and, Max, be careful," She paused for a moment. "Shut up," I could almost feel her rolling her eyes. "I just want to make sure someone has my back when I go back to my mom," She laughed briefly, and then, "Yeah, okay," She snapped the phone shut. "Sam and Max are almost done with the first floor. They haven't found jack squat, either," Dean stopped, shining his flashlight farther into the hallway. "What is it?" Jo asked as I looked around Dean.
"It's too narrow. We can't go any further," Dean told us, and before I could say anything, Jo was pushing passed us.
"Let me see," Dean groaned as his back was pressed painfully into the uneven rocks of the wall. "We can fit in there," Jo turned back to look at me as she spoke.
"You two aren't going in there by yourself," Dean protested as I pressed my back along the wall and slid past him to stand next to Jo in the cramped hallway.
"We'll be fine," I reassured him. "Do you have a better idea?" I raised my eyebrow at him.
"The-" He began before stopping, at a loss for words. I smiled slightly despite everything and turned to follow Jo down the hallway. "Mel," I turned back as Dean grabbed my arm. "Be careful," I pressed my lips to his briefly in answer before I headed down the dark corridor after Jo.
"Where are you?" I heard Dean's voice come through my phone.
"The North Wall," I answered him, glancing at Jo, who seemed to have found something. "Jo, what're you doing?" I hissed as she started descending into a hole in the ground. No answer. Great. I followed her, pressing the phone against my ear and shoulder. "We're heading down an air duct, I think,"
"No, no, no, stay up here," Dean objected, and I smiled again at the concern in his voice.
"I'm fine. So is Jo. We have to find this girl before it's too late," I reminded him. "Isn't there an alternate route or something on the map?"
"Yeah, I'm heading to you," Dean told me, and somehow, that made me feel a lot better about descending into a pit of unknown darkness. Jo tried to get through another hallway, but it narrowed even more, making it impossible.
"Damn it," She muttered, and I heard an odd gurgling sound. I shined the flashlight to my right to find black goo oozing from a crack in the wall.
"Shit," I swore, making Jo turn her attention to the ectoplasm as well. "Jo, get behind me," I pulled her into the bigger hallway, never having felt so helpless in my life. My EMF was spiking like crazy, and the flashlight was beginning to flicker.
"Mel, what is it? Me-" Dean's voice transformed into static and eerie whispering. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I tensed, slowly turning to my left to meet a gruesome, decrepit looking spirit. Jo screamed.
"Mel," Max began, pausing for a moment in surprise as I began tapping and pressing my pinky against his ear. Press. Tap. Press. Tap. Pause. Tap. Press. "You're different from any girl I've ever met, and believe me, I've met a lot," I let out a small laugh, very aware that the woman was watching us, hands folded over her chest. "You're smart. You can fight. You've saved my arse more times than I can count," He chuckled, wincing in pain as he did. Press. Tap. Press. Press. Casey. I prayed he got the message as I started on her last name. Tap. Tap. Tap. "You care about saving people… about helping the people that we rescue. You're easy to talk to. I know I can trust you no matter what's happening,""She was right," I found myself gazing down into his dark eyes as I finished the string of morse code. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Nothing more. Casey Smith. That was her real name before she became the Dybbuk. "I love you,"
"Well, isn't that sweet," Her mocking voice broke in, and I looked up at her. She was done for as long as Max could get to the flask. "Unfortunately, he'll never get to see you say it back," I moved forward as she came towards us, but all that got me was a painful kick and a slap across the face, opening a gash on my cheek from her roughly cut diamond ring. The sharp pain was enough to weaken my concentration and let in the one thought that I'd been trying to suppress. I'd called him an asshole. The last time I'd seen Dean, I'd called him a pigheaded asshole right before storming off. Max's yelp brought me back into reality as the woman grabbed his hair again and dragged him backwards. They were just passing the flask when he made his move. In one quick motion his whole body spasmed, and he grabbed the container firmly in his two hands.
"Casey Smith," He spoke with confidence, and the spirit let out a strangled grunt. "Quod ego præcipio tibi corpus relinquere," He spoke the words quickly and fluently. A red powder seemed to seep through the girls pores and into the flask. Max waited until the flask glowed red to shut the lid quickly. I undid my gag and my feet and crawled over to him to untie his restraints as well. I pulled him to the wall and leaned his back against it, so he was sitting up.
"You're welcome," I told him, sitting next to him. We both leaned our heads against the wall in exhaustion; we must've looked pretty beat up. After all, we had spent the last six hours trapped in an apartment getting the crap kicked out of us by a possessed twenty-four year old girl. I glanced at her limp form on the ground. She should be waking up soon. My eyes moved to the glowing red flask that lay between Max and I.
"I don't remember thanking you. In fact, I think it's you who owes me gratitude," I let out a small laugh that hurt my stomach. Nothing was seriously injured, but I was going to have a hell of a bruise.
"I was the one who gave you the name," I argued halfheartedly, making him chuckle.
"Some scientist gave Captain America his powers, but no one thanks that guy," He pointed out, causing me to give another painful laugh.
"Did you just compare yourself to Captain America?" I asked, the incredulity in my voice weaker than I would've liked. "Aren't you British?"
"Alright. Who do you think I am, then?" He turned the question on me, and I didn't even have to think about it.
"Loki," I told him; I'd read enough of Sam's comic books to know the basics.
"Now you're just being mean," I tried to stifle the laugh due to my sore stomach. "Is that any way to thank someone for saving your life?" Before I could respond, the door banged open and John Winchester stood there. We just sat there staring at him, and he blinked in surprise at us, not moving for a moment. "The cavalry is a little bit late," Max commented.
"It worked," I intervened before another fight could start, gesturing to the glowing flask between Max and I.
"Mel?" Dean appeared behind his father, his eyes widening as they took in my appearance. He moved around John to kneel beside me. "You look like crap,"
"Thanks," I managed a small smile, and his lips twitched up into a brief smile in return. "I'm okay," I answered the question that I knew he wanted to ask.
"Can you walk?" Dean questioned, and I nodded, trying to ignore the pain that shot through my stomach as I moved. I nodded to John, and he nodded back before grabbing the flask and then going to check on the unconscious woman on the floor. Sam came in after, and his eyes widened as he took in Max and my appearances.
"Help Max. He's worse than I am," I ordered both boys, but Dean ignored me as Sam went to help Max. Dean helped me to the elevator and hit the first floor button. "Dean, you're not an asshole," Dean turned his attention to me in surprise. "Earlier today…" Understanding dawned on him.
"I know. I'm sorry, too," I smiled and rested my back on the cool metal of the elevator. "Mel," I turned to him, frowning at the urgency in his voice. "Mel!"
"Melody!" I blinked awake and was greeted with a pounding in my head, making me groan in pain. "Mels," I looked up to see Dean's worried face hovering above me. I blinked again, trying to get my vision to stop blurring. Suddenly, I bolted upright.
"Jo. He's got her. I tried to fight him off, but I didn't have any weapons," I began hurriedly, only to be cut off by his lips pressed against mine.
"Don't scare me like that again," He spoke gruffly before standing and helping me up. "Now let's go find Jo," I followed him out of the wall and down the hallway towards the stairs. We ran into Sam and Max, who were running the opposite way we were. "He's got Jo," Dean informed them before I could say a word.
"What?" Max snapped, grabbing Dean's collar and slamming him into the wall behind them. "What the hell happened?"
"Relax, man. We're going to get your girlfriend back," Dean snapped back, shoving Max off of him. Max's jaw tightened, and he looked as though he was about to swing at Dean when I stepped in front of him.
"Hey, none of this is helping her. Okay? If we want to find her, we have to keep a clear head," I pushed Dean in front of me down the hallway towards our room. Just as we walked in, Max's cell went off.
"What?" He answered, sounding irritated and concerned at once.
You lied to me. She's there.
"Ellen, listen-" He began.
Ash told me everything. The man's a genius, but he folds like a cheap suit. Now, you put my damn daughter on the phone. Ellen demanded, and Max winced, running a hand through his hair.
"She'll have to call you back. She's in the shower," He made up.
Yeah, right. Where is she? Behind all the toughness, I could hear the terror and concern in her voice. Where is she?!
"Look, I promise we'll save her," Max tried.
Save her? Save her from what?
"The spirit we were hunting kidnapped her,"
Oh, my God.
"She'll be alright. I promise," Max began only to be cut off by a furious Ellen.
You promise? Mockery lined her voice. That is not the first time I've heard that from a hunter working with a Winchester.
"What?" Max asked in surprise.
If anything happens to her- Ellen started, her voice cracking.
"Nothing will happen. I'm going to find her and bring her back to you. I'll make sure she's safe," Max spoke, confidence lining his words.
I'm taking the first flight out. I'll be there in a few hours. The line went, and Max swore before turning to face us. I turned to the map in front of us, racking my brain to find the answer.
"Hey, I think I've got something," Max was by my side in an instant. "In the Holmes Murder Castle there's all these torture chambers inside the walls. We've searched the walls and found nothing, but we never searched the basement," I moved the blueprint, so I could double check that I was right.
"There is no basement to this building," Max told me, and I could tell just by the sound of his voice that he was barely holding it together.
"Yeah, but check this out. Under the foundation there's a sewer system, or rather part of a sewer system. From the looks of it it's been abandoned for-"
"Let's go," Max was already heading out the door, leaving Sam, Dean, and me no choice but to run after him.
30 Minutes Later
Sam held a metal detector while Dean and Max carried shovels over their shoulder, and I held a black duffel bag. Sam's detector led us to an abandoned field where Max and Dean began digging for the entrance into the sewers. Ten minutes later we were dusting off the last of the dirt from the handle and pulling it open. I looked down the dark hole, seeing that the only semblance of a ladder was what looked like metal horseshoes jutting out from the wall. I grabbed a shotgun from inside the duffel bag and swung my feet over the edge of the hole without hesitation.
After we all got down the hole into the sewers, we had to crawl using our elbows through a narrow sewer pipe, which was had a steady stream of water that we got to trudge through. At least, I hope it was water. That was when I heard the scream. Jo's scream. I pulled myself out of the pipe and sprinted towards the gated door, kneeling beside it to pick the lock while Max positioned the shotgun to shoot through the iron at the ghost that was standing by one of the metal boxes.
"Oi!" Max yelled, causing the ghost to whirl around to face us before getting a face full of rock salt. I got the door open, and he sprinted inside the room. "Jo!"
"I'm here!" She yelled from the box the ghost had been standing over. Max began prying open the box while I went to another one, and peered through the slit.
"Hey, we're gonna get you out. Don't worry," I tried to comfort the blonde woman as Sam knelt next to me.
"Mel!" I glanced back in time to catch the iron rod Dean tossed to me, and I pried open the other box with Sam's help.
"You alright?" Max asked her.
"I've been better," She replied breathlessly, causing me to let out a small laugh. "Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back,"
"Actually, I don't think you're leaving here just yet," Dean told her, and Jo looked at him with wide eyes.
"What?"
"Remember when I told you that you being bait was a horrible plan?" I asked her, making her turn to me with horror. "Now it's kind of our only option,"
It took us the better part of fifteen minutes to set up the trap with the bags filled with salt, and it took another two for Max to reassure Jo that we wouldn't let anything happen to her. She took a seat in the middle of the room, and we all waited for the spirit to show. It took surprisingly longer than I'd originally thought. I'd estimated four or five minutes, but it took almost ten until the spirit finally appeared behind her. I waited until it was almost upon her to shoot the bag and let the salt fall in a circle around the spirit. Jo ran towards us, and Max quickly pulled her out of the circle.
"No! No!" The ghost began screaming desperately, spinning in circles.
"Scream all you want, you dick, but there's no way you're stepping over that salt!" Jo yelled at him.
"So, is this job as glamorous as you thought it would be?" Sam asked Jo as they waited with Max and I for Dean to come back.
"Well, except for all the pee-your-pants terror, yeah," I wish I could've told her it gets easier. "But that Theresa girl's gonna live a live cause of us. It's worth it, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah, it is,"
"Hey, what if somebody finds that sewer down there or a storm washes the salt away?" Jo asked, for we hadn't told where Dean had went.
"Both fine points, which is why we're here," Max told her with a grin on his face as a beeping filled the air. Jo looked confused until we turned around to see where the beeping was coming from. Dean was backing up the cement truck towards the hole in the ground.
"Ho!" Sam called, and Dean stopped the truck, getting out as Sam, Max, and I unhooked the chute.
"You ripped off a cement truck?" Jo questioned incredulously with a hint of admiration in her voice as Dean came around the truck to stand next to me and slip an arm around my waist.
"I'll give it back," Dean answered, grinning. The cement began to pour into the hole, sealing the spirit in it forever.
"Well, that ought to hold him till hell freezes over," Max announced, looking pleased at how the whole thing turned out.
Awkward. I sat between Jo and Sam in the back with Max to Jo's left while Ellen sat in the passenger's seat next to Dean. In one word: Awkward. We'd been driving for half an hour already in complete silence. There wasn't even any music.
"Well, you really weren't kidding about flying out, were you?" Dean attempted. No one responded. He glanced into the rearview, and I met his eyes helplessly before glancing briefly at Jo, who was looking at Max with a slightly guilty expression. Max's eyes were trained out the window, and his jaw was tight. When Ellen had first come, she had calmly spoke to Max while we were loading up the car. None of us knew what was said.
"How about some music?" I suggested, and Dean nodded in agreement. He flipped on the music, and Cold as Ice began playing loudly. Ellen shut it off without so much as blinking. I met his eyes again and swallowed hard.
"This is gonna be a long drive," It was. There were two more hours of complete silence. It felt like twelve. Finally, Dean pulled into the Roadhouse parking lot, and Ellen began dragging Jo into the bar by her arm.
"Ellen," Max spoke from the doorway. "It was my fault, alright? I lied to you, and I'm sorry. I never meant for Jo to be in danger," He tried to reason with her, but her face remained impassive. "That been said, she was brilliant out there,"
"He's right," I tried to help him out. "I think her dad would've been proud,"
"Don't you dare say that- not you," My eyes widened fractionally at her venomous tone before I frowned in confusion. "I need a moment with my daughter - alone," She turned to fix Max with her stoic gaze. "I want you out by tonight," He just nodded, moving passed Jo and Ellen to head upstairs and pack his things.
"Mom-" Jo's protest was cut off by the withering look Ellen sent her daughter. Dean, Sam, and I left them alone to work out their issues. We waited by the car for Max to come back down, for we'd agreed to give him a lift to the nearest bar. He'd hijack a car and take it from there. Suddenly, there was a bang of the screen door slamming out as Jo stormed towards us, fury in her eyes. She fixed Dean, Sam, and me with a glare before stalking off.
"What happened?" Jo didn't answer me and instead just kept walking. "Hey, Jo," I grabbed her arm, and she whirled on me, pushing my hand away from her.
"Don't touch me!" She snapped, and I took a step back in surprise. I thought we were passed all of that. Truth be told, I'd been starting to like Jo. It reminded me of when I'd hunted with my sister.
"Sorry," I held up my hands in surrender. "I'll see you later then," I began walking back to the Impala.
"Mel," I glanced back to see she'd followed me, so we were both beside the Impala. "Turns out my dad had two partners on his last hunt. Funny, he usually worked alone. Those two guys did, too, but I guess my father figured he could trust them. A mistake. One of the guys screwed up, and the other had to make a choice… about who to save. My dad got killed," A sinking feeling in my gut told me that these weren't just two random guys. "It was your father, Mel… and theirs," She jerked her head back at Dean and Sam.
"What?" I whispered the word.
"Why do you think John and Jimmy never came back, never told you about us? 'Cause neither of them could look my mom in the eye after that - that's why," She took a deep, shaky breath, and I tried to think of something to say but my mind drew blank. "John chose to save your dad over mine,"
"Jo-" Dean tried from behind me, but she just fixed him with a glare as well.
"Just leave," She moved her glare back to me. "Please, just leave," And we did.