Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Y'all are so great! I really do appreciate the reviews. Here's a longer chapter as a thank you.
Bela4evr3: The reunion between Sam and Dean is really, REALLY soon :)
Soulless666: I know, right? I address their selective hearing in the next chapter.
emelie0204: Thank you! Like I said to Bela4evr3, you won't have to wait long for Sam and Dean to meet.
Sam stopped walking and pointed to a nearby house. "Do you see that?"
Casey looked at the pumpkin sitting on the porch. "The pumpkin? "
"Yeah. Do you know Cinderella? With the pumpkin that turns into a coach and the mice that turn into horses?"
Casey shook her head. "It could be a coincidence."
Sam gave her a look. "Or it could be the next murder scene. C'mon."
The door opened with a creak. Looking around, Sam heard a noise from deeper within the house. Pulling his gun out, he motioned for Casey to shut the door as he crept towards the sound. A girl's voice could be heard from the kitchen.
"Help! Help, I'm in here!"
Sam turned the corner and saw a blonde girl handcuffed to a kitchen drawer, bruises covering her arms and face.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, we're here; we've got you." Sam consoled and he pulled out his lock pick set.
"You have to help me. She's a lunatic." The girl gasped.
"What happened?" Casey asked, eyes darting around the room.
"My stepmom. She just freaked out, screamed at me, beat me, chained me up." The girl's breathing stuttered.
"Where is she?" Sam asked softly.
"I-I don't know." The girl cried.
Casey pushed Sam's arm. "Sam. Look."
Sam followed Casey gaze to see a little girl fitting their description standing in the hallway. She abruptly turned and walked into an adjoining room. Casey got up to follow as Sam finished getting the blonde girl free.
"Stay here, okay? I'm going to go help my partner look for your stepmother, okay?" Sam stood up and went off to find Casey.
He turned the corner in time to see the girl flash out of existence, leaving only an apple in her place.
"At least we know what the next murder will be based off of." Casey joked. Seeing Sam's glared, she asked, "Not funny? Okay."
Suddenly, Sam's features shifted. "Maybe it's not the next murder. Maybe it's a clue as to whom the dark haired girl is!"
Casey tilted her head to the side. "What?"
"Sorry. We don't have any comatose little girls here." The nurse told Sam.
He internally sighed. "You sure?"
The nurse nodded. "Totally. It's mostly old guys, and, well, Callie. She's been around since before I started here."
"Callie?" Casey asked.
"Yeah, it's so sad. And poor Dr. Garrison won't give up on her. Callie's his daughter."
Sam asked the nurse where he could find Callie, thanked the nurse, and then led the way.
When Sam and Casey made it to Callie's room, they saw Dr. Garrison reading the Brothers Grimm book to a dark haired coma patient. His daughter.
"The huntsman stepped inside, and in the bed laid the wolf, so the huntsman took a pair of scissors and cut open the wolf's belly." Looking up, Dr. Garrison saw the two standing in the doorway. He put the bookmark in and walked over to them. "Detectives. May I help you?"
"We just heard that Callie is your daughter, and, uh, we just wanted to say how sorry we are." Sam replied.
The doctor nodded. "Thank you. If you'll excuse me-"
Casey fell in step next to Dr. Garrison. "We were headed this way, anyways. We'll go with you. So, how long has Callie been comatose?"
Sam glared over Dr. Garrison's head at Casey, and then apologized. "We don't mean to intrude; we have no idea how hard it must be to see her like that."
"It's, it's not easy. She's, uh, she's been here since she was eight years old." Dr. Garrison looked at the ground.
"That was when she was poisoned?" Sam asked.
"Yes. She swallowed bleach. I could never figure out how she got her hands on the bottle." The doctor sighed. "My wife found her, brought her to the ER. I was on call."
Casey raised her eyebrows. "Was your wife Callie's stepmother?"
Dr. Garrison stopped walking. "Actually, yes. How'd you know that?"
"I had a stepmother, so I had a feeling Callie did, too." Casey lied.
"Julia was the only mother Callie ever knew. My wife passed away last year, and it's just me and my daughter now. She's all I got left." A silence falls between the three. "Um, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work."
After Dr. Garrison left, Casey turned to Sam. "There is no way Callie was poisoned on accident. My only question is, why only start killing people now?"
"Well," Sam began, "I'm guessing Callie has been suffering over all these years in silence because nobody knows the truth, getting angrier and angrier, until finally her spirit starts lashing out in frustration."
"Meanwhile, her dad is reading her the messed up fairytales. That would drive me crazy having to listen to those over and over again." Casey shuddered.
Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "We can't exactly burn the bones. Callie's body is being preserved in the hospital. How do we stop this?"
A gurney passes Sam and Casey quickly.
"Seventy-two year old female. She looks like she was mauled by a mad dog, maybe a wolf? She's critical. BP is 80 over 40 and falling." The EMP told the nurse.
"Sam, what was the last fairytale Dr. Garrison was reading?"
Sam grimaced. "Little Red Riding Hood." He approached the EMP and flashed his bag. "Excuse me; was the old woman the only one attacked?"
The EMP shrugged. "She was found on the side of the road barely alive."
"What about her next of kin?" Sam asked.
The EMP nodded. "She has a granddaughter.
"Do you have an address?"
Casey sighed. Somehow she was supposed to convince Dr. Garrison his beloved daughter was poisoned by her stepmother and reading stories to her provoked her to play them out in real life. Simple.
Seeing the doctor in question, Casey rushed down the hall.
"Dr. Garrison! I need to speak with you!"
Dr. Garrison turned around. "Detective. What can I do for you?"
Casey took a deep breath. "Well, uh, it's about Callie."
"M-my daughter? What about her?" Casey could tell Dr. Garrison was already getting defensive, and she hadn't even started accusing his wife yet. This was going to be rough.
Looking around to make sure no one was listening, Casey asked, "Could we sit down for a moment? Maybe somewhere more private?"
"No. What about her?" Dr. Garrison was growing more agitated by the second.
Casey sighed. Pleasantries were over, it seemed. "Okay. Dr. Garrison, what happened to Callie was not an accident."
Dr. Garrison took a step back. "Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry, but it's true." Casey wasn't sorry, but it seemed like an empathetic human response.
"You have no idea what happened to my daughter." Dr. Garrison refused to listen to reason, and it was pissing Casey off.
Dr. Garrison started to walk away, so Casey followed. "There are things you don't know, doctor! Things about your wife."
"My wife?"
Casey ran to meet up with the doctor, grabbing his arm and stopping him. "Yeah, your wife. She's the one who poisoned Callie."
Dr. Garrison's face twisted in grief and pain. "Why would you say something so horrible to me?!"
Casey withheld the urge to sigh. Softening her tone, Casey replied, "Because you ignoring this fact is causing a lot of people pain, including your daughter. I need your help to stop these murders from happening."
"You stay away from me, and stay away from Callie." Dr. Garrison walked into Callie's room and shut the door.
Casey let out a sigh of exasperation. Why was he being so freaking difficult?! Casey would love to beat some sense into him, but that wouldn't help her with Sam. Being nice was so difficult!
Casey looked around the hall. No one was there. Perfect. She took hold of the door handle and walked into Callie's room. Dr. Garrison stepped in front of Callie.
"I'm calling security."
Casey shut the door. "Like hell you are. Listen, I don't have time to try being nice anymore. My partner is out there right now trying to stop another death, and you're here risking his life because you refuse to listen! Do you want more people to die? No? If we don't do something now, Callie is going to do some serious damage."
Dr. Garrison looked at his daughter. "What the hell are you talking about? Callie hasn't been conscious in years."
"She may not be talking, but she's somehow projecting her spirit and killing people out of frustration because you don't know she was poisoned by her stepmother. Notice the fairytale trend of these deaths? It's because you're reading Callie that fairytale book and she associates her tragedy to Snow White."
The doctor was quiet, staring at Callie, and then he sat down on her bed and held her hand. He looked up at Casey with grief in his eyes. "So you've seen her, too."
It wasn't a question; it was a statement. Dr. Garrison had seen Callie's spirit before.
Sam slammed the front door open, gun drawn, intent on finding 'Little Red Riding Hood' before she was the next casualty. He did a quick sweep of the foyer, but didn't see any movement. Shutting the door behind him, Sam crept to the living room.
A small girl in a red cloak was hiding behind a coffee table, red slash marks across her left cheek. Sam surveyed the room, and then approached her once he saw it was clear.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked, his gun pointed at the floor.
The little girl nodded. "Yeah, I- AAAHHHHH!"
Sam turned around, raising his gun, when the 'wolf' disarmed him. The other man was about Sam's height, muscular, and... growling?!
Sam's punch was blocked, and then the 'wolf' delivered Sam a punch of his own. Sam ducked, feeling the wind above his head, before he socked the 'wolf' across the face. The blow didn't even slow him down as the 'wolf' grabbed the front of Sam's shirt. Sam delivered blow after blow, but it was ineffective. The 'wolf' continued to push Sam backwards until he threw Sam into the kitchen table.
Sam sat up just in time to see the 'wolf' charge at him. With inhuman strength, Sam was thrown into a china cabinet, where he fell to the ground.
"I sensed her, I felt Callie's presence. I even thought I saw here standing at the foot of my bed, but I never thought it was real. I thought I was dreaming." Dr. Garrison was gazing thoughtfully at Callie's still form.
"This isn't some dream, Dr. Garrison. Callie's spirit still looks like her when she was eight: white dress, red ribbon in her hair. She's been trying to talk to you for a long time." Casey was so sick of humans. Just accept the fact your wife poisoned your daughter!
Dr. Garrison looked at Casey. "You're not a cop, are you?"
For the love of all that is unholy, this man was slow! "No, I'm not. I'm just someone who knows about this kind of thing."
Still, the doctor was in denial. "What you said about my wife poisoning Callie, that's-"
"Doctor, Callie told me and my partner. She saw us at one of the crime scenes and left behind an apple. I'd really like to think maybe it was a clue about the next murder, but we've already seen it's Little Red Riding Hood! My partner is trying to save a little girl right now, and your thick-headedness is endangering both of them!" Casey was all but screaming. She was so done with this man. Lives were at stake!
"My wife loved Callie, so how, how is that possible?" Dr. Garrison looked close to tears. Casey almost had him.
"I don't know, but it is. Look, Callie is killing people. She is angry and desperate because no one will listen to her. You have to listen to her. You've got to give it a try. Listen to your daughter." Casey was running out of time. Who knows what Sam could be going through right now?
Sam went spiraling backwards as the 'wolf' slammed his fist into Sam's cheek. The shelf behind him cracked under Sam's weight. Standing back up, Sam kicked the 'wolf' backwards, but it didn't buy him much time. The 'wolf' was back on him in seconds, throwing him yet again across the room. Sam landed in the middle of the living room floor with a hard thud.
Seeing a knitting basket next to him, Sam reached in and grabbed the scissors. As the 'wolf' approached, Sam swung the scissors, trying keeping the 'wolf' at bay.
"Callie? Callie, it's me, dad." Dr. Garrison spoke softly. "Is it true? Did mommy do that to you? I-I know I wasn't listening before, but I'm listening now. Is there any way you could tell me?"
Eight-year-old Callie appeared by the window.
"Doctor." pointed to Callie's spirit.
Dr. Garrison moved as if to grab Callie's hand, but thought better of it. "Is it true?"
Eight-year-old Callie nodded solemnly.
Dr. Garrison sighed sadly. "Oh, I'm so sorry, baby, but you've got to stop what you're doing, okay? You're hurting people." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I know everything now; I know the truth. It's time for you to let go. It's time for me to let you go."
Garrison turned to grown-up Callie and gave her a kiss goodbye. Callie's heart monitor let out one long beep as her heart stopped.
Sam gasped as the 'wolf' tackled him to the ground. His hands pinned, Sam's only line of defense was his feet pushing against the 'wolf's' chest, holding him back. Suddenly, the pressure relaxed and the 'wolf' went flying backwards. Sam leapt to his feet to see the very confused expression of the former wolf.
"W-where am I? What's going on?" The man asked, his voice shaking.
Sam and Casey were standing next to Dr. Garrison in the hospital lobby, telling him goodbye.
"The little girl's okay?" The doctor asked Sam.
Sam nodded.
Dr. Garrison looked at the floor. "So, it's really over."
"Yeah, all thanks to you." Sam put his hand on Dr. Garrison's shoulder.
Casey stiffened ever so slightly.
"Callie was the most important thing in my life, but I should've let her go a long time ago."
Casey muttered under her breath, "Yeah, that would've helped us out."
"See you around, doctor." Sam said as Dr. Garrison moved to leave.
With a breathy laugh, Dr. Garrison replied, "I sure hope not."
As soon as the doctor was out of sight, Sam turned to Casey. "What the hell, Casey? 'That would've helped us out?' Could you be any more insensitive?!"
Casey's features hardened. "What?! You're going to get mad at me?! I got through his thick head that his wife killed his precious daughter to save your sorry ass! You could've told me a thank you, but no! You told the stethoscope with feelings he was the sole reason no one else died today. So I'm so sorry that I was slightly sarcastic towards the person who caused this mess!"
With that, Casey turned on her heels and stormed out of the hospital.
Sam rubbed the back of his neck. What he needed right now was time to himself, away from any drama.
It was time to head back to the asylum.