The next morning while Dean went to Lily's school, she and Sam searched through a few stacks of newspaper; Sam was trying to show her the signs of a hunt.
"I don't get it, what makes you think it's a hunt? All it says is a sudden death."
"That's usually a good sign. It's also fairly close, it's only about a ten hour drive and with the way Dean drives, we'll make it in eight or nine. Once there we can dig a little deeper and if it's nothing, we didn't really waste any time."
Lily nodded and watched as Sam did a little more digging. But all they could really find was that a daughter had found her father dead, his eyes bleeding.
Lily sat shotgun while Sam slept in the backseat. It was just a little before midnight but Lily didn't feel like sleeping. She'd never been good at sleeping in the car; it was probably something she was going to have to get use to though.
Sam jerked awake in the backseat, and Lily gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew what he was going through. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Logan…
"I take it I was having a nightmare." Dean commented.
"Yeah, another one." Sam said.
Suddenly Lily felt sorry for Dean, having to deal with Sam's nightmares and hers. It was a wonder how he got any sleep at night.
"Hey, at least I got some sleep." Sam said, shrugging.
"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this." Dean said, and although he was talking to Sam, Lily knew he was also referring to her.
"Are we here?" Sam asked.
"Yup. Welcome to Toledo, Ohio." Dean said.
Lily sat in the Impala outside of the morgue. She'd wanted to go in with them but Dean had refused to let her, saying she didn't need to see a dead body.
After a while Dean and Sam walked out and Lily climbed into the backseat.
"So, what he'd say?" Lily asked.
"His eyes weren't just bleeding, they practically liquefied." Sam said. "There was no sign of a struggle and he was all alone. They have no official cause of death yet, but they're thinking a massive stroke or an aneurysm."
"So what does it mean? Is it a just a medical thing? What kind of monster does that?"
"It doesn't have to be a monster, maybe a spirit." Sam said.
"Let's go talk to the daughter." Dean said.
The three of them walked into the Shoemaker home. Apparently they were having a funeral, and everyone was wearing black suits or black dresses, except for Sam, Dean and Lily.
"Feel like we're underdressed." Dean commented, as they walked towards the back of the house. Outside they saw a group of girls in their teens, and someone a little younger, about Lily's age.
"You must be Donna, right?" Dean asked.
"Yeah."
"Hi, uh – we're really sorry." Sam said.
"Thank you." Donna said.
"I'm Dean and this is Lily, and that's Sam. We worked with your Dad."
"You did?" Donna asked.
"Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke."
"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now." Charlie said.
"Dean, I have to go to the bathroom." Lily said.
"Uh, um, where's your bathroom?"
"Lily, why don't you show her?" Donna asked.
Lily Shoemaker nodded and got up and showed Lily to the downstairs bathroom.
"I'm sorry about your Dad." Lily said.
"It's all my fault." Lily Shoemaker said, shrugging sadly.
"How?" Lily asked.
"I said Bloody Mary."
"What do you mean?"
"I had friends over and we played Bloody Mary, she came and clawed his eyes out."
"It's not your fault, it's not even real. Besides, your dad didn't say it, did he?" Lily asked.
"I don't think so."
"So it couldn't be that." Lily said.
When Lily was finished with the bathroom, they left shortly after.
"I don't know if it's important or not but I have some information." Lily said.
"What?" Dean asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror.
"Lily said that her dad died because she said Bloody Mary, I mean I know it's not how the story goes but maybe she did do it."
"The Blood Mary legend…Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked Dean.
"Not that I know of." Dean said.
"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody ever died from it." Sam said.
"Maybe everywhere else it's just a story, but here it's actually happening, maybe it's the place where the legend began." Lily suggested.
"But according to the legend, the person who says B –." Sam paused, glancing at the rearview mirror. "The person who says you know what gets it, but here –."
"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean said. "Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out."
"It's worth checking in to." Sam said.
Sam, Dean and Lily walked into the library later that day.
"All right, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gotta be some sort of proof – Like a local woman who died nasty."
"Yeah but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like fifty versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." Sam said.
"All right so what are we supposed to be looking for?" Dean asked.
"Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspaper – public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill."
"Well that sounds annoying." Dean said.
"No it won't be so bad as long as we…" Sam stopped as he saw the computers which all had "Out of Order" signs on them. "I take it back." Sam said, chuckling. "This will be very annoying."
Sam showed Lily what to look for in the newspapers. It was tedious work but it wasn't hard. After a while she got sleepy and the words seemed to blur together.
When Dean noticed she was asleep he picked her up from the table and laid her down on one of the couches, covering her up with his jacket.