Chapter 2
By the time we had gotten back to the bridge it was dark. The road block was gone and somebody had towed away Troy's car. I walked over to the edge and looked down at the river. It gave me goose bumps as I thought about when we had gone after the mermaid. I moved away from the railing but stayed close to Dean as he looked over.
"So this is where Constance took the swan dive." He said. Sam looked over and then glanced at Dean.
"You think Dad would have been here?" He asked. Dean shrugged and started walking back to the Impala. He rested his hand on the small of my back as he led me with him.
"Well, he was chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Sam turned to face us, watching us walk away.
"So now what?" Sam asked.
"Now," I said, "we keep digging until we find something that tells us what we're dealing with here."
"It might take a while," Dean said.
"A while?" Sam asked incredulously. "I don't have a while. I have to be back,"
"By Monday," Dean interrupted, turning back around to face him. I stayed back, watching the two. I had a feeling they'd start a fight. I hated to admit that I had kind of been looking forward to it. "Right, the interview. You're really serious about this, aren't you?"
I didn't get why Dean was pushing the topic of the interview so hard. I sighed and looked away. Maybe I hadn't been looking forward to this fight.
"You think you can just be some lawyer? Marry your girl?" I winced a little when Dean said that. I had kinda hoped one day we'd be able to get married. Nothing fancy, just a little detour if we were ever near Reno or Vegas. Hell, a drive-thru elopement would do perfectly. It would incorporate the Impala, too. Wouldn't Dean get a kick out of that?
"Yeah, maybe," Sam said.
"Does Jess know the truth about you Sam?" Dean asked. "Does she know some of the things you've done? Does she know what Rose, Dad and I do for a living?"
"No and she's not ever going to know." He said, taking a step forward. Dean nodded.
"Well, that's healthy." He said sarcastically. "You can pretend all you want Sammy, but sooner or later you're gonna have to face up to who you really are."
Dean turned back around and we started walking back to the car again. Sam wasn't done.
"And who's that?" Sam asked, following after us.
"One of us," Dean said with a smirk. Sam walked in front of us and we stopped.
"No," he said. "I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life."
I scoffed and glared at Sam. "You know, I've never felt more horrible about myself than right now and when you left."
I took a step back.
"Maybe you should just go back to Stanford now. Call your amazingly normal, safe girlfriend and have her pick you up." I turned away from him to face Dean. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. He looked softly down at me. "We don't need him Dean. We haven't needed him for years and we certainly don't need him now."
He shook his head. "No," he looked up at Sam. "You have a responsibility."
"To dad?" Sam asked, ignoring what I had said. "And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what mom looks like."
I could tell Dean was getting really upset. I backed away from them.
"And what difference does it make?" Sam asked, trying to be empathetic. "Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone. She's never coming back."
He didn't know what it felt like. He had never known his mom. Dean grabbed him by his jacket and pushed him up against the bridge. His jaw and neck were tense and he was trying not to hurt Sam. I looked down the length of the bridge and my eyes opened wide at what I saw.
"Don't talk about her like that," Dean said. He let him go and turned towards me. "Let's go,"
I shook my head and pointed behind him. They turned and saw Constance, standing on the edge of the bridge. She turned to look at us before she fell off the side. Sam and Dean ran forward to look over the edge.
"Where'd she go?" Dean asked. Sam shrugged and I quickly turned when I heard the Impala start up. The lights turned on.
"What the," Dean said. I sighed in exasperation and knew it had to be the spirit.
"Who's driving your car?" Sam asked. Dean didn't say anything but he pulled out his keys out of his pocket. It started speeding towards us and we took off.
"Come on!" I yelled, diving off the side but catching on to the railing. Sam and Dean followed after and Sam held on to the side as well but when I looked to my other side Dean wasn't there. I looked down at the river below.
"Dean!" I called.
"Dean!" Sam yelled after. I saw a body walking out of the river onto the bank and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was Dean. I started climbing back over.
"What?" Dean yelled up. I laughed when I saw him caked with mud.
"Are you all right?" Sam asked. Dean gave us the okay sign.
"I'm super." I ran to the end of the bridge and started climbing down to where Dean was. He just stood up and I ran into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "It's okay, I'm fine." He murmured, kissing the top of my head.
It was dark out so I wasn't worried if Sam saw or not. Plus he was checking out the car.
"Hold onto the side next time," I said as I pulled away and crinkled my nose in disgust when I finally registered how horrible he smelled. I groaned as I looked down at the river mess all over my favorite sweatshirt. I was just glad that Dean hadn't been wearing his leather jacket, it would have been ruined.
Dean and I went back up to the bridge and saw Sam waiting by the Impala.
"The car's all right," he said when we stopped. Dean checked under the hood and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, whatever she did to it, it seems all right now." He said, turning around to where the spirit had been. "That Constance chick, what a bitch!"
"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure." Sam said. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.
"Do they ever?" I asked sarcastically. Dean and Sam sat against the hood of the car and Sam couldn't help but crinkle his nose. He turned to Dean.
"You smell like a toilet," he told him. I laughed as I took off my sweatshirt and pulled out a new one from my duffel.
"Time to check into a motel," I said, getting into the front seat, not caring how tall Sam was. He could suffer in the back for a little while.
...
Dean handed the motel manager his credit card and the man looked at it.
"You guys having a reunion or something?" He asked. Dean and I glanced at each other.
"Why?" I asked.
"That other guy, Burt Aframian, he came in and bought out a room for a whole month." He said. We all exchanged another glance.
We got our room and then we went to break into John's room. Dean and Sam stood watch while I picked the lock. It was always my specialty. I got it open and Sam followed me in, grabbing Dean and pulling him in.
"Holy crap," I said, looking around. John had posted up all kinds of weird articles and pictures, all over the walls. It looked like it had been lived in a little too much. Dean turned on a light while Sam closed the door.
Dean found a half-eaten burger near the lamp and picked it up to smell it. I smacked the back of his head.
"No," I told him sternly, sounding like I was lecturing a dog. He dropped it and turned around to look at the room. There were lines of salt everywhere and other charms and things used for protection.
"Salt," Sam said, looking up at us, "cats eyes. Dad was worried."
"He was trying to keep something from coming in," I agreed. Dean started reading some of the stuff that was on the walls.
"What do you got here?" Sam asked, moving behind him.
"The Centennial Highway victims." Dean said. "I don't get it. They were all completely different men."
I was looking at the stuff John had taped to the opposite wall. Sam glanced over and walked closer to see what I was looking at. He was standing just a little too close but I tried to not move away.
"So what do they have in common?" I asked. Sam looked to the wall to the left and walked closer.
"Dad figured it out." He said. Dean and I both turned to look at him. "He found the same article about Constance. She's a woman in white."
It hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course she was a woman in white. I should have noticed what she was wearing when she jumped off the bridge the other night, but it had happened too quickly and with Dean and Sam arguing and then the car there was a lot of other stuff on my mind.
"You sly dogs," Dean said looking at the wall of victims.
"If John had figured out she was a woman in white he would have burned her corpse." I said.
"She might have another weakness." Sam said.
"Dad would want to make sure." Dean said, walking over to Sam and reading the article. "Does it say where she was buried?"
"No," Sam said.
"Well," I said, "We should talk to her husband."
"If he's still alive," Sam said. "It's what Dad would do."
Dean nodded. "All right, why don't you see if you can find an address. I'm gonna go get cleaned up."
I sighed in relief. He really was starting to reek to the point where it was hard to be around him. I loved him, but I couldn't stand that smell. I missed his usual smell of leather, cologne and nutmeg.
"Hey Dean," Sam said. "I'm sorry about what I said, about mom and dad."
Dean held his hand up and shook his head. "No chick flick moments."
Sam chuckled but nodded. "All right. Jerk."
"Bitch," Dean said. I almost smiled. They were acting like normal. Dean went into the bathroom and I kept looking around the room to see if maybe John had any more clues or the husband's address.
Sam walked over to where Dean had been and picked something off the wall. I turned to him.
"What did you find?" I asked. He turned and held up an old photo of the three Winchesters, before they had taken me in. I smiled softly and turned back to the wall.
"You know," he said. I kept my back to him, not really wanting to talk to him about anything other than this case. I had definitely learned how to build walls like Dean. "I should really apologize to you too."
"I'm not really into chick flick moments either," I told him, hoping he'd drop the subject. He scoffed.
"Since when?" He asked. "You're the one who always wanted to go to prom and be more involved in the places we stayed."
"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago." I told him. "I'm a lot different now."
"No, you're completely different." He said. I turned to him finally. He was staring at me like I had three heads. "What happened to you?"
I laughed bitterly. "Really? You really want to get into this?"
"Yeah. I do." He said, nodding. He put his hands into his pockets. "Tell me."
I stared at him, trying to see if he was serious. Luckily Dean came out of the bathroom, all cleaned and in new clothes.
"Hey, I'm starving. I'm gonna go get something at the diner across the street." He said, grabbing his jacket. "You guys want anything?"
I shook my head and Sam declined as he pulled out his cell phone. Probably to check his messages. Dean left and I sat down on the bed, still looking around.
My cell beeped and I pulled it out and answered it.
"What's up?" I asked.
"5-0," Dean said. My heart jumped as I peeked out of the curtains to see if he was joking. He wasn't. It was the same cops from the bridge. "Get out of there."
I motioned Sam to look out the window.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"They all ready saw me." He said.
"Dean," I said quietly. We were definitely in trouble.
"I'll be fine. Just, you and Sam get out of there and find the husband." He hung up and I saw the officer stop Dean to talk. I quickly looked around the room and found a piece of paper with an address marked on it. I quickly grabbed it.
"We have to get out of here," I said. I rushed through the back of the motel and saw a window in the bathroom. I opened it and crawled out, Sam following soon after. We ran like hell away from the motel and didn't stop until we were both completely out of breath.
"What do we do now?" Sam asked, bending over to catch his breath. I pulled out the paper I had grabbed.
"We go visit Constance's husband." I said.
...
Sam knocked on the door and I couldn't help but worry about Dean. I couldn't believe he had gotten caught that easily. We hadn't ever had trouble with cops before and I had to keep myself from blaming Sam. It wasn't his fault. Something was telling me that there was a lot more to John's disappearance than we had originally thought.
An old man opened the door and looked at us through the screen.
"Are you Joseph Welch?" I asked. He nodded.
"Can we ask you some questions?" Sam asked. He pulled out the old picture and showed it to him. "Has this man come to talk to you?"
Joe led us through his yard as he looked at the picture.
"Yeah, he came to talk to me four days ago. He said he was a reporter." He handed the picture back to Sam.
"That's right, we're working on a story together," Sam said.
"I don't know what kind of story you lot are working on, especially with the questions he was asking." Joe said.
"Did he ask you questions about your wife, Constance?" I asked.
"Yeah, he asked me where she was buried." He said.
"Right, and where was that?" Sam asked. I rolled my eyes. Stupid idiot.
"You're gonna make me go through this again?"
"It's just fact checking." I told him.
"On the plot of land we owned, where we used to live." he said.
"Why did you move?" Sam asked.
"I wasn't going to live in the same house my children died in."
"Did you ever get remarried?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"No way, Constance was the love of my life." I smiled when he said that, even though he had been lying.
"I bet you guys had a really happy marriage." I said. Joe paused but then nodded.
"Yeah," he said.
"Well, that should be all," Sam said, "thanks for your time."
We headed back to the Impala. We had gone back to the motel after making sure all the cops were gone, thankful that Dean had left me the car keys before he went to the diner.
"One more thing," Sam said, turning around. "Have you ever heard of a woman in white?"
Joe shook his head.
"They also go by a weeping woman," I said. "It's a ghost story."
"Well," Sam chuckled, walking back towards Joe. I stayed by the car. "It's more of a phenomenon really. They're spirits. They've been sighted for centuries all over the world. These are all different woman but they all share the same story."
I walked up behind Sam.
"I don't care much for your story," Joe said, turning back around to his house.
"When they were alive their husbands were unfaithful to them," I said. "These woman would go temporarily insane and murder their children."
Joe turned around and stared at us in horror.
"When they realized what they had done, they'd take their own lives." Sam said. "So now their spirits were cursed. They'd roam the back roads and waterways. If they found an unfaithful man, they'd kill him."
"They'd never see him again." I added.
"You think this has something to do with Constance?" Joe asked, his lips trembling.
"You tell us," I said. He glared at us.
"I may have done some stupid things in the past, but Constance would never have killed her own children." He said. "Now get out of here."
I grabbed Sam's arm. "Come on,"
Joe turned around and went back inside his house and Sam and I got back in the Impala.
"Now what?" Sam asked, starting the car. I pulled out my phone and dialed 9-1-1.
"911, how may I direct your call?" The operator asked.
"I need the police," I said, making my voice tremble. I looked up at the street we just passed. "I heard gun shots on Whiteford Rd."
"What's your name ma'am?" Sam glanced at me with a smirk, realizing what I was doing.
"Oh, my name?" I asked. I hung up the phone and laughed as I put it in my pocket. "Hopefully that'll give Dean enough time to sneak out."
A few minutes later Sam's phone rang. He answered it and I knew it was Dean. I was glad he got out, but I wondered how deep of shit we were in.
"Tell me about it," Sam chuckled at whatever Dean had said. "It was Rose's doing. I am going to be a lawyer."
I rolled my eyes.
"So Constance's husband was cheating on her and we are dealing with a woman in white." He said. "She was buried behind her old house, I just can't figure out why dad didn't burn her corpse all ready."
Dean said something and Sam got really serious.
"What?" I asked. Sam glanced at me.
"Dad never goes anywhere without that thing." Dean said something else and they continued to talk. I didn't understand what they were talking about but I knew it was definitely bad. I looked away from Sam and out the front window. "Why would he skip out of town before he finished a job?"
Something flickered up ahead on the road.
"Sam," I said.
"What the hell is going on?" It was Constance.
"Sam!" I yelled. We went through her and Sam quickly slammed on the brakes.
I looked all around but didn't see her. My door opened on its own and a strong force threw me out of the car.
"Rose!" Sam yelled, unbuckling his seat belt as the door slammed shut again. I sat up and saw Constance in the back seat. I stood up and tried to open the door but she locked them all.
"Take me home," I heard her say. Sam tried to unlock the doors but they wouldn't.
"No," He said.
"Take me home." She demanded. The car lurched forward and drove off with Sam stuck inside.
"Sam!" I yelled after. I started to run after them but they were going too fast and I couldn't keep up. I knew where they were headed and kept running towards Constance's old home. My phone started ringing and I pulled it out to answer while I kept running.
"Yeah?" I answered, out of breath.
"What's going on?" Dean asked. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I panted, "Constance showed up in the car, threw me out, took Sam."
"What?" Dean asked. I couldn't stop to explain in detail.
"Constance took Sam." I yelled.
"Where are they going?" He asked. I gave him the address and quickly hung up as I continued running as fast as I could. I shouldn't have given up running in my free time, but since Dean and I had been on our own we didn't really have much free time.
I finally made it to her old house and saw the Impala parked and the engine was off. I bent over, wheezing and trying to catch my breath. I looked up and saw Sam in the driver's seat still, with Constance climbing over him. She was trying to make him unfaithful so she could kill him. I started going over to the car to help him out but I realized my Smith and Wesson was in the car and I stopped.
Dean showed up out of nowhere and he held up his hand to tell me to stay where I was. I nodded and bent back over, keeping my head up to watch. He was holding a holster and he pulled out a gun from it. Constance disappeared and then a second later Sam was screaming in pain.
"Dean," I said. He started shooting as soon as Constance appeared on top of Sam again. The car started up and I heard Sam say something before he drove the car into the house.
"Sam!" I yelled, running in after him. Dean pulled me behind him and I obliged seeing as he had the gun.
"Sam," Dean called. I looked around for Constance but didn't see her. While Dean helped Sam out of the car I saw Constance appear and pick up a picture of her family. She turned to look at me and I felt myself get pushed into a closet that was behind me. The door slammed and I was enveloped in darkness.
"Rose!" Dean yelled. I heard something heavy scrape across the floor but I was starting to feel dizzy. I was remembering when I had been locked in the storage box in Chicago. I tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge and my throat started to constrict. I was getting nauseous and dizzy. I banged on the door.
"Dean!" I cried. "Dean, get me out of here!"
"Stay calm Rose, it's okay!" He called. I couldn't stay calm. It felt like the walls were closing in on me. I heard children speak something and then Constance was screaming.
"Dean!" I yelled. Light was flickering under the door and I banged harder. I could see black spots invade the little vision I had from the lights seeping in and I collapsed on the floor as the sound of screaming died away.
...
"Rosie," I heard Dean say urgently, "Rose, wake up."
"What's wrong with her?" Sam asked. "Since when is she claustrophobic?"
"Long story," I murmured. I opened my eyes and saw that Dean was holding me on the floor. I must have passed out. Dean wrapped his arms tightly around me and kissed the top of my head.
"You're okay," he said softly. "I promised you I'd take care of you."
"I know," I whispered, wrapping my arms around his and burying my face in his neck. "I know."
Dean laid me in the back of the car as Sam got into the front. He checked to make sure Sam wasn't looking and he leaned down to kiss my lips softly before pulling away.
"Just try to get some sleep, okay? I'll put on Journey for you." He said. Journey helped me sleep. He took off his leather jacket and put it over me and I closed my eyes as he shut the door.
"Just be glad you didn't ruin my car, Sammy," Dean said. "I would have killed you."
Sam laughed and I fell asleep as Dean backed out of the house.
I woke up a little while later and we were still driving. I stayed lying down when I realized they were talking. Yes, I still liked to eavesdrop.
"He went to Blackwater Ridge." Sam said.
"Sounds charming." Dean said. I heard the Journey cassette stop and listened as Dean took it out and flipped it onto the other side. I smiled at that. Even though he thought I was still sleeping he kept Journey playing. I really loved him and I felt deliriously happy knowing how much he loved me too. "How far?"
"About 600 miles," Sam said.
"If we shag ass we could make it there by morning," Dean said. It was quiet.
"I can't," Sam said awkwardly. "I've got my,"
"Right, your interview. I forgot about that." Dean sighed. "You could skip it, stay with us."
"I can't, it's in ten hours and I have to be back." One of them exhaled loudly.
"Sure, of course," Dean said. It was quiet again and I closed my eyes to go back to sleep.
"What's going on with Rose?" He asked. I opened my eyes again. I was definitely staying up for this.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked protectively.
"She's completely different." Sam said. "She's a complete hard-ass now who's got scars all over her and she's claustrophobic. What happened to her?"
"You left, Sammy," Dean said.
"That doesn't mean I stopped caring for her, for you guys." Dean chuckled sarcastically.
"You sure had a funny way of showing it."
"But seriously," Sam continued. "What was so horrible that made Rose change?"
"Truthfully, she's only been like this since we picked you up," Dean said finally.
"So, what? Does she hate me now?" He asked. My throat started to constrict a little. Did I hate him? He definitely wasn't my favorite person in the world like he used to be, but I didn't know if my feelings for him ran so far to be described as hate.
"Like I said, you left, Sam." Dean said. He paused and turned up the stereo a little bit. He did it so that I wouldn't wake up because of them, but I could still hear them. "Dad left us right after you did. It was just the two of us for a while. We didn't know if Dad was coming back and we had no clue where you went."
"I went to Stanford, you did know that." Sam said defensively.
"You were her best friend and you walked away from her." Dean told him. "We know why you did it, but it didn't stop from hurting. She called you at least once a week for at least a year, that I know of, and you never answered. You know that you were the only one she could really open up to."
"I didn't know," Sam said. "So I guess you replaced me then."
"You could say that, I guess," Dean said after a beat. "But, whatever. I'll take you home."
I stayed awake for the rest of the drive. They didn't talk anymore and we all just let Journey fill our minds. The car finally stopped and I guessed that meant we were at his apartment. I sat up and saw Dean glance at me in the rearview mirror. Sam jumped when he noticed me.
"When did you wake up?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Just now," I lied. I looked out the window. "Guess you're leaving."
He nodded and got out of the car, grabbing his bag. He shut the door and leaned down into the open window.
"Call me when you find him?" Sam said. Dean nodded. "And uh, maybe we can meet up sometime."
"Yeah," Dean said. Sam nodded and started walking up to the apartment. I climbed over the seat and plopped down next to Dean. "Don't ruin my seats."
I rolled my eyes and looked over at Sam. Dean leaned forward.
"Hey, Sam," He turned around. "You know, we made one hell of a team back there."
Sam just nodded. I sighed and turned to Dean.
"Let's just go." I said. I looked back at Sam and saw that he had heard me. I felt a little guilty, but I didn't let it show. Dean nodded and drove away.
We got about a block away and Dean stopped at a stop sign. I couldn't help but feel like something was way off.
"Hey Rose," Dean said. I turned to look at him and I saw that he could feel it too.
"Go back," I told him. He nodded and quickly pulled a u-turn and sped back down the street. I jumped out of the car before he could turn the engine off and I was running up to Sam's apartment.
Dean was right behind me and I tried to open the door. Dean moved me aside and rammed his shoulder into the door twice before it finally broke open.
"Jess!" Sam yelled from his bedroom. I could see him lying on his back staring up at the ceiling in horror.
"Sam!" I yelled. Dean ran in and looked up at the ceiling. I looked up too and saw Jess's dead body stuck as flames enveloped her body and the rest of the roof. Dean grabbed Sam and we pulled him out of the apartment.
I called the fire department and watched as Dean held Sam back from trying to go back inside. His look of heartbreak and anguish broke my own heart and I couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like if it had been Dean.
And that was how their mother had died, too.
Once the fire trucks showed up, Sam stopped fighting against Dean and he started rummaging through the trunk, messing with things. Dean came over to me as I watched the firemen put out the fire.
I grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. Dean looked down at me and gave me a small smile, trying to be comforting. It wasn't me who needed to be comforted. We looked back at Sam and I let go of Dean and walked over. Sam was holding the sawed-off we had gotten for Dean all those years ago and he dropped it back in place.
He looked up at the two of us and all I saw on his face was revenge. When he opened his mouth to talk I knew it was true.
"We've got work to do."
...
...
Here's the second chapter! I hope you guys liked it. I'm sorry that it took me a week longer to update than I had said. After I finish with school work I get so crazy side-tracked. So I'm gonna upload the third chapter right after this one comes up, I promise. Please, please review! I'll love ya forever if you do!
-Erin