Winchester and Cain

by smeewrites

Remember when Sam and Dean were driving in the Impala on that deserted highway in that pilot episode? You're probably gonna have to think a little bit to remember. They're driving and they almost hit a mysterious girl dressed all in black, standing in the middle of the road - like she has no idea where she is, 'girl in black' sounds like a beloved book character we all know, right?

17. Chapter 17

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 17 – Hell House

Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the extremely late updates – they've been pretty sparodic lately. Also, my laptop is seriously breaking at the moment and I spent the about five hours last night trying to figure out how to upload it. I sent it to my phone and because it was like 15'000 words my phone wouldn't upload it to the document thingy. I know you guys are waiting for Darquesse and don't worry – I've got loads of ideas written down for Valkyrie.

Valkyrie's P.O.V

"Texas is boring." I sighed as I looked out the window of the car as nothing but trees and fields passed by us. Sam was asleep, his huge frame slumped awkwardly in the passenger seat next to Dean. Fire of Unknown Origin by Blue Oyster Cult was playing on the radio, it was loud enough for me to hear every word, but Dean had turned it down to let Sam sleep.

"Mmm," Dean agreed, concentrating on driving the car at his ridiculous speed, "Hey, Steph, pass me the takeout box from last night."

"Why?" I asked, handing him the empty pie carton Dean ate last night. Dean opened it with one hand and took the white plastic spoon. He glanced at the road and then turned to his brother, carefully he slipped the spoon into Sam's open mouth and wedged it between his teeth. Sam shifted in his sleep a little but he didn't awaken, Dean looked back at me and I couldn't help but share his grin. Dean flipped open the phone and gave it to me, I clicked the camera and took a picture of Sam, then I turned the phone and posed with the sleeping Winchester.

I handed Dean the phone back and he turned up the radio, "Fire of unknown origin took my baby away!" He sung along to the lyrics loudly, Sam jerked awake and spat the spoon out in disgust, Dean drummed along in time to the music, bashing an imaginary symbol above his head.

I laughed from the back seat as Sam leant forward and turned down the radio, he turned and gave Dean and I a sour look, "Ha ha, very funny." He drawled sarcastically.

"Heh heh, sorry, not a lot of scenery here in East Texas," Dean chortled, "You kinda gotta make your own."

Sam sighed, "Come on guys. We're not kids. And Dean, we're not going to start that crap up again?"

"Start what up?" Dean asked, whilst I leant forward curiously.

"That prank stuff. It's stupid, and it always escalates." Sam snapped.

"What prank stuff?" I asked.

Sam sighed, "When Dean and I were younger, we pulled a few tricks on eachother. It started out with silly, mindless jokes," Sam shot a glare at his brother, "And then it got way outta hand."

Dean smirked, "Aww, what's the matter, Sammy – scared you're going to get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?"

"You really did that?" I widened my eyes at the older Winchester.

"Alright, just remember you started it." Sam warned.

Dean brushed his brother off with a chuckle, "Ah ha, bring it on, Baldy."

Sam scoffed and glanced out of the window, "Where are we anyway?"

"A few hours outside of Richardson," Dean replied, "Hey Steph, give me the lowdown again?"

I picked up the newspaper and flipped it open to the article, "Umm, lets see... About a month ago some kids went snooping inside this local haunted house." I gave the boys the cliff notes.

"Haunted by what exactly?" Sam asked.

"Apparently, a pretty misogynistic ghost. According to this legend, it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters... the paper says that these kids went in this house and find this dead girl hanging up in the cellar." I replied.

"Nice," Dean sent me a grimace in the rear view mirror, "Anyone ID the corpse?"

"Hang on a sec," I scanned the article, "By the time the kids had called the police and they got there the body was gone. So the authorities are saying the kids were just kidding around."

Dean shrugged optimistically, "Maybe the cops are right."

"Maybe, but Sam and I read a few of the eyewitness accounts last night, they seemed fairly sincere." I responded, glancing out the window again.

"Uh-huh, and where did you two read these accounts?"

Sam and I shared a glance, "Well, I knew we were going to be passing through Texas. So, umm, last night, me and Steph surfed some local... paranormal websites. And we found one." Sam said quickly, too embarrassed to meet his brother's gaze.

Dean sighed and shook his head, "And what's it called?"

" ." Sam muttered.

The older Winchester scoffed, "Let me guess, streaming live out of Mum's basement?"

Sam grinned, "Yeah, probably." He snickered.

"You know, most of these websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit them in the ass." Dean pointed out.

"Look," Sam glanced at his brother seriously, "We let Dad take off – which was a mistake, by the way. And now we don't know where the hell he is, so in the meantime we've got to find ourselves something to hunt, and there's no harm in checking this thing out."

Dean glanced as his brother, unconvinced, "Alright. So where do we find these kids?"

"Same place you always find kids in a town like this." Sam shrugged.

T

It was night time by the time we reached the town, Dean drove straight through it to the fast food outlet called RODEO DRIVE, "Ok," Dean said as he parked the car, "We're gonna split up and interview the kids, see what they've gotta say about their, uh, hell house experience. We'll meet back here in a bit, ok?"

I sat directly opposite a pretty blonde girl with pink glossed lips and curled blonde hair, "So what can you tell me about that night you and your friends went to that old house, Sophie?"

The girl threw her hands on the tabletop dramatically, "Oh my God – it was the scariest thing I ever saw in my life, I swear to God," The blonde said with wide, sky blue eyes. I opened my mouth to compose a question but she was gone, "The walls in the house they were painted in red," Sophie glanced around then she leaned in closer to me, "I think it was blood." She whispered.

I stared at her for a long, drawn out moment, "Right. Was the, uh, blood painted into anything, like words or-"

"Yeah, totally! Symbols, like..." Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, "All these freaky symbols, pentagons, crosses and stars." She tossed her curls over her shoulder, "Whatever – I had my eyes closed the whole time."

"Wait, what?" I frowned in confusion.

"But I can tell you this, no matter what anybody else says... that poor girl, with the red hair. Just hanging there," I raised an eyebrow and she looked deep into my eyes, "She was real, I swear." She said earnestly.

I nodded slowly, "Ok, just one more thing. How did you find out about this place?"

"Craig took us." Sophie replied.

"Craig who?"

"Thurston. He works down at the local record store, like four minutes from here." The girl's phone beeped and she whipped it out and began pressing on the button pad frantically.

I smiled thinly, "Thank you for your time, Stacey."

"Sophie." The girl corrected without looking up.

"Right, sure."

T

"That was probably the most annoying conversation I've ever had in my life." I rolled my eyes as I met up with the boys outside, they were both leaning against the car, Dean was holding a take-away drink cup.

"Yeah, looks like these kids are either faking, or-"

"Or something's actually going on in that house." Sam cut Dean off with a nod.

"The boy who told them about it, Craig Thurston – he works at the local record store in town." I offered helpfully.

Dean nodded, "Sweet. We'll hit the store in the morning. I saw a motel when we drove into town, I say we go get a room and start again in the morning."

T

We entered the record store quietly, The Jack by AC/DC was playing in the background, aisles upon aisles of records and CDs were stacked neatly in alphabet order, on the wall were T-Shirts and posters of some bands I recognised, some bands I didn't. "Hey guys," A boy from behind the counter greeted us cheerily, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, actually. Are you Craig Thurston?" Sam asked.

The boy nodded, "I am."

"We're reporters with the Dallas Morning News," Dean lied smoothly, "I'm Dean, this is Sam and

that's Stephanie."

"No way," Craig grinned enthusiastically, "I'm a writer too, I write for my school's magazine."

"Well, good for you, Morissey." Dean muttered, I grinned at The Smiths reference as I scanned the nearest record aisle.

Craig frowned at Dean and opened his mouth, but I distracted him quickly, "We're doing an article on local hauntings and rumour has it you might know of one."

The boy forgot Dean and smiled, "You mean the Hell House."

I nodded, "That's the one."

Craig shrugged coolly, "I didn't think there was anything to the story."

"Well, why don't you tell us the story?" Sam suggested.

Craig shrugged again, "Supposedly back in the '30s this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, used to live in this house with his six daughters. It was during the Depression, his crops were failing. He didn't have enough money to feed his own children, so I guess that's when he went off the deep end."

I frowned and tilted my head, "How?"

The boy scratched the back of his neck as he concentrated, "Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick, rather than starve to death. So he attacked them, they screamed, begged for him to stop but he just strung them up, one after the other, and when he was all finished he just turned around and hung himself. Now, they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl that goes inside."

"And where'd you hear all this?" Dean's brow furrowed.

"My cousin Dana told me, I don't know where she heard it from," Craig switched his gaze from the boys to me, "You've gotta realise, I – I didn't believe this for a second."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "But now you do."

The boy sighed tiredly, "I don't know what the hell to think, man. Look, I – I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, ok? That girl – she was real, and she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God. I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again, ok?"

I nodded slowly, "Ok, well," My gaze flickered to Sam and then back to Craig, "Thank you for your time, you've been a, uh, a great help."

T

Later that day, the three of us clung onto eachother as we battled through thick, sludgy mud and unkempt bracken to get to the infamous 'Hell House', the house itself was barely a house, it was in near ruin, made entirely of rotting wood, barely maintaining it's structure. "Well, I can't say I blame the kid. I don't think if I had the choice I'd want to go near this house again." Sam sighed as we neared the decaying porch.

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "So much for curb appeal."

"Mmm," I nodded, "Who's got the EMF meter?" I asked.

Dean dug around in his jacket pockets until his hand emerged gripping his home-made meter, Sam pulled out a torch and he nodded to me, "Alright, we'll stick together and comb through the house, check out what this Mordechai is really hiding up in his rafters." He said.

"Sounds good." Dean murmured as we climbed the porch steps and tried the tired door handle, the aged door creaked and groaned as it eased itself open slowly.

"Very cliché." I rolled my eyes as we stepped through into the house. Sam clicked on his torch whilst I clicked my fingers, Dean's EMF reader buzzed neutrally as he waved it around the room.

"You got something?" Sam asked his brother hopefully as I squinted at the peeling paint and festering mould creeping on the floorboards and parts if the ceiling.

"Nah. The EMF's no good." Dean sighed and pocketed the device.

"Why?" I frowned at the older Winchester, tearing my eyes away from an unsavoury stain marking the wall.

Dean pointed out the window at the overhead powerlines outside the ramshackled house, "It's the powerlines. The electricity in them's screwing with all the readings." He explained.

Sam joined us at the window and nodded, "Yeah, that'd do it."

"Yeah..." Dean let out a low whistle, "Come on, let's move."

We moved into the next room and were greeted with several symbols, painted in black, not red like Sophie had claimed. "Seems like Mordechai was a sort of art enthusiast in his time." I observed quietly, the orange glow from the flame in my hand warming the room.

"And after his time too," Sam pointed to a symbol on the wall, "That reverse cross has been used for centuries," His finger moved and pointed to another, "But this sigil of sulphur didn't show up in San Francisco until the 1960s."

"And that, Sammy, is exactly why you never get laid." Dean drawled, a smile edged on my mouth as I tried not to laugh, something caught Dean's eye and he crossed the room and looked at a certain symbol on the wall, "Hey, what about this one? Have you seen this one before?" It was a cross with a dot in the middle of it, the bottom part of the cross looked like an upside down question mark.

Sam and I came over to inspect the symbol further, "No." The younger Winchester shook his head.

"I have... somewhere." Dean murmured.

"Huh, it does look a little familiar I guess." I said softly, narrowing my eyes and tilting my head curiously.

Sam reached out with his huge hands and rubbed the symbol, "It's paint. Seems pretty fresh too."

"Ah, guys," Dean sighed and looked at Sam and I, "You know I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind, but... the cops may be right about this one."

Sam and I exchanged a look and Sam shrugged, "Yeah, maybe."

A banging noise on the other side of the door made us all jump, the three of us split off and moved to either side of the door, Sam positioned himself in front of me as I moved my other palm out and read the air carefully, "Someone's coming." I whispered. The doors burst open but I couldn't see anything past Sam, the floor and walls were suddenly lit up by a brilliant white light and the boys groaned and hid their eyes from the sudden intense white.

"Oh, cut, cut. It's just a few humans." One of the guys said, upon recognising a person I quickly snuffed out the flame in my palm.

There was a pause and then a click, the beams that had illuminated the walls and floor suddenly vanished and I peered around Sam to make out two male figures in the gloom. One of them was holding an expensive looking video camera whilst the other was holding some lights that looked like they belonged on a film set or a truck.

"What are you guys doing here?" The same guy asked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean countered.

"Err, heh," The same guy replied sarcastically, "We belong here, we're professionals." He stated plainly, as if it was obvious that he and his friend were meant to be here.

"Professional what?" Dean asked, his tone suggesting his patience was running out, I stepped out from behind Sam and the two strangers froze.

"Ed there's a girl here." The man with dark hair looked at his friend, suddenly nervous.

"I know that, Harry." His friend, Ed, replied.

"Ed, she's — she's hot." Harry spluttered, I nodded and rolled my eyes at the boys.

"I'm sorry – just who the hell are you people?" Dean snapped.

The man with glasses – Ed, sighed and pulled out three business cards and gave them to us, "Paranormal Investigators, here you go. Take a look at that then, huh." He said proudly.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Dean frowned as we read the cards.

"Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler?" Sam looked up at them.

" ," I read and glanced up at the two 'paranormal investigators', "You guys run that website."

Ed puffed out his chest as he looked at me, "So, you know about us." He eyed me for a longer time than normal.

Dean stepped over to me and stood beside me. It was a protective stance, but it wasn't overbearingly protective, "Oh yeah, we're huge fans." He drawled sarcastically.

"And we know who you three are too." Ed replied.

The three of us stiffened simultaneously, "Oh yeah?" Sam scoffed, looking at Harry and Ed sharply.

"Amateurs," Ed answered, Dean immediately lost interest next to me, "Looking for ghosts and cheap thrills."

Harry nodded beside him, "Yep. So if you three don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here."

"Yeah, what have you got so far?" Dean challenged.

Ed turned to his partner, "Harry, why don't you tell 'em about EMF?" He prompted.

Harry took a sharp intake of breath as he mulled it over, "Well..."

I glanced at the brothers and fought down a smile as I played dumb, "EMF?" I echoed, feigning confusion.

"Electromagnetic field, Sweetie. Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector," He held up a black device with two LED bulbs on the end of it, "Like this bad boy right here." He turned it on for emphasis, and I smirked up at Sam beside me as the two strangers peered down at their contraption. "Woah, woah – it's 2.8mg!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.

"2.8? It's hot in here." Ed smirked up at me and my eyes narrowed a fraction.

"Wow, that's... that's real interesting." Sam looked at me and I nodded in agreement whilst Dean gave a low whistle in admiration.

"Huh," The older Winchester said, "So you guys ever really seen a ghost before, or..."

"Once," Ed nodded eagerly, "We were, uh – we were investigating this old house and we saw a vase fall right off the table."

"By itself." Harry finished in a serious tone.

"Uh-huh." I stared at them both dubiously.

"Well, we, we – we didn't actually see it, we heard it. And something like that..." Ed paused for effect, "It changes you."

"Yeah," Dean nodded slowly, "I think I get the picture," He glanced at us, "We should go, let them get back to work."

"You should." Ed nodded professionally.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, "Steph. Sam." He prompted.

I shot Dean a glance as we turned to leave, "You're kidding me." I breathed in his ear as he walked over to me. Dean shrugged and we left quickly, passing those two morons as we exited the room.

"Yeah, work." Harry muttered.

"Hey dude, that pot we smoked earlier was wild." Ed suddenly giggled, Sam raised his eyebrows at us as we left the so called professionals to it.

"So... what to we do now?" I asked as we walked back out of the house and went down the creaky porch steps.

"Hit the books, try and see if we can find any proof that there was actually a Mordechai Murdoch who lived in this town." Sam replied.

I nodded, "Great." I said unenthusiastically, mustering up a smile.

"I think I'm gonna hit up the police station, try and see if I can get a proper identification on the girl who those kids saw," Dean stretched and looked at us, "What do you think? Sam hits the library whilst me and Steph go to the station?" Sam shrugged.

"And leave Sam with all that research by himself?" I frowned, "No, I'll go with Sam for a change, help him out in the library."

Sam tilted his head, "Steph, you don't have to-."

"It's not fair otherwise," I insisted, "Why? You scared of being alone with me, Sammy?" I cracked a smile.

Sam stared at me for a long time, "No, of course not." He smiled back and shook his head quickly.

Dean shrugged, "Ok, I'll drop you two off at the library and hit the station."

T

An hour had passed since Sam and I had sat down at the table with a pile of books surrounding the town in the 1930s. I was halfway through reading one of the books when I felt someone's eyes lingering on me, I looked up and saw Sam staring at me. "What?" I asked, tilting my head slightly and narrowing my eyes, a smile played at the corners of my mouth.

Sam's gaze dropped down to the book he was supposed to be studying, "Nothing, nothing." He muttered.

I raised an eyebrow and turned my attention back to the book, I counted the seconds in my head. One, two, three, fo-

"Hey, Steph?" Sam finally broke the silence.

I smiled to myself and looked up at him, "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

I narrowed my eyes teasingly at Sam, "You wanna try to get to know me again, Winchester?"

Sam grinned down at his book, his cheeks flushing a little, "No, no... not unless you're uncomfortable with it..." He trailed off and looked out the window awkwardly.

I stared at the guy for a long time before I set the book down with a sigh, "Ok," I shifted the chair round until I was next to him, "What do you want to know?"

"Alright umm, tell me if it gets a little personal, ok?" Sam's dark eyes looked deep into mine, "When Meg was saying all that stuff in that warehouse when we were all tied up, was that all true?" I nodded honestly, "Even that stuff about Darquesse?" I froze.

Oooh, busted.

The seconds dragged by as I bit my lip, ignoring that damn voice in my head. "Is – is that a yes?" Sam peered at me.

I exhaled deeply, "Oh, Sam.. This... other person inside my head – I'm doing ok with her." I said, picking my words carefully.

"And by doing ok, you mean..."

It means that you're being lied to, Sam.

I forced a smile on my face, "I mean that there's nothing for you to worry about, Sam."

Liar liar...

Sam leant on his hand as he studied my poker face, "Steph, you know Dean and I can help you if you, uh, feel yourself slipping, ok?" He said softly.

I nodded, not trusting my mouth.

T

Not forty minutes later were Sam and I closing the library doors and walking over to where Dean was leaning against his car. "Hey. What you got?" Sam greeted as we approached.

"There's no matching missing persons on that dead girl that those kids found, it's like she never existed. What about you two?" Dean replied, looking at Sam and I.

"Well, Steph and I couldn't find a Mordechai but we did find a Martin Murdoch who lived in that house in the '30s. He did have children but only two of them, both boys. Also, there's no evidence that he ever killed anyone." Sam shrugged.

"Huh," Dean ran a hand through his hair, "Come on, guys. We've done our digging, let's just admit that this one's a bust. I mean – for all we know those Hell-Hounds-Lair boys made up the whole thing."

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

Dean shrugged, a smirk creeping onto his face, "I say we find ourself a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals." He suggested, he turned and opened the door to the driver's seat, I moved to get in the back, but Sam held his arm out and stopped me.

"Wait, wait, wait." Sam muttered to me, keeping his eyes on his brother.

"Sam, what are you doing?" I frowned.

"Just wait for it, ok?" He said, leaning down until he was eye-level with me. I followed his lead and watched as Dean turned on the ignition and instead of the usual classic rock playing through the radio, an odd latino pop music sounded through the speakers – and it wasn't at quiet background level either. I started laughing as people stopped and turned in the direction of the noise, Dean frantically tried to shut it off, but only managed to turn on the windscreen wipers instead.

"Whoa! What the fuck?" Dean exclaimed as he finally turned everything off, Sam and I got into the car laughing. Sam licked his finger and put it in the air like a 'one', then he pointed to himself and grinned at his brother.

Dean shot his brother a dirty look, "That's all you got?" He challenged, "Weak. That is bush league." He scoffed and the car pulled away.

T

The next morning found the three of us packing up the car outside the motel we'd been staying at, I was outside packing Sam's stuff into the car whilst Dean had popped off to the comedy shop around the corner, saying he 'needed supplies'. Sam suddenly came outside, "Hey, where'd Dean go?" He asked.

"Find some aspirin for his hangover." I lied as I shut the trunk.

"Right, right." Sam nodded. Multiple sirens suddenly sounded and Sam and I turned to see a load of emergency vehicles race past.

"That doesn't look good." I mused as they rounded a corner urgently.

"Yeah... where do you think it's heading to?" Sam asked.

I sighed, "With our luck? Mordechai House." The younger Winchester nodded in agreement and I glanced at him, "Should we go get our stuff out the car and go check it out?"

Sam shrugged, "Might as well while we're here. Could be something important, you know?"

T

By the time we had arrived the paramedics were loading a body bag into the back of an ambulance, officers were swarming the area, I even spotted a crime scene photographer lingering by the house. Donned in our FBI outfits, the three of us approached one of the police officers, "Good morning, officer, I'm Agent Joplin and these are my partners Agents Gurley and Albin," I lied smoothly as we flashed our fake badges, "Can you tell us what happened here?"

The cop yawned, "We got a call saying a girl had hung herself inside the house." He replied lazily.

"Suicide?" Sam prompted.

"Yeah," The officer sighed sadly, "She was a straight A student, with a full ride to UT too. It just doesn't make sense." He shook his head and walked away.

I clicked my tongue and looked at the boys, "What do you think?"

"I think maybe we missed something." Dean replied as he watched the paramedics shut the ambulance doors.

"We should come back later when everyone's gone, get a better look at this house without all these officials crawling all over the place." Sam suggested.

I visibly drooped, "You mean we have to go back to the motel?"

T

Once night fell we drove back to the house, all of us in mutual agreement that we get through the house quickly and get out of town. We had all had enough of this small Texas town and were eager to leave it in Dean's rearview mirror. "Oh, God dammit." Dean cursed when he saw the police car parked at the bottom of the drive leading up to the house.

"I guess the cops don't want anyone else screwing around in here." Sam shrugged as we parked away from the other vehicle and got out as quietly as possible.

"Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed, Sam, if we want to leave this stupid town we've gotta get in that house." I sighed and ran a hand through my dark hair as we walked up towards the house. We crouched behind some bushes and watched as the officers walked by us chatting animatedly about something. The air brushed up under my palms and I looked at the boys in the dark, "Something's out there." I murmured.

Instantly the boys tensed, "Where?" Dean whispered.

I raised my palms and checked the readings in the air, the cops were off somewhere to the right, and to the left... "Over there." I pointed.

We all squinted to where I'd pointed and Dean sighed, "I don't believe it." He muttered, moving over so Sam and I could get a better look. In the moonlight, I made out two silhouettes walking towards the car. As they neared I recognised the 'paranormal investigators' that we ran into the other day – Ed Zedd-something and Harry what's-his-name, they were whispering excitedly to eachother and I strained to hear it.

"...Maybe this'll land us a sweet deal with some producer, and you know what comes with sweet movie deals? Chicks." Harry whispered.

"Hot chicks?" Ed asked.

"Uh-huh, like that dark haired girl we met the other day. What was her name again?" Harry muttered.

Ed sighed, "I don't know man, but man she was hot."

I bit my lip and glanced at Dean as his jaw clenched in the dark, "I got an idea." He said darkly, rising slightly and turning towards the police officers and cupping his mouth with his hands, "Who you gonna call?" He sung in a loud voice, he crouched back down as the two officers ran back over, torch beams moving wildly as they searched for the sound.

"Hey! You!" One of the cops shouted as they found Ed and Harry.

There was a shuffling sound and I watched as the two professionals ran back down the path, the officers giving chase, "Freeze. Get back here!"

Dean gave a Sam and I a smug grin and we made a break for the house, ducking under the yellow police tape and dashing for the porch. We reached inside safely and shutting the door behind us, taking care to do it quietly. As soon as we were in I clicked y fingers and summoned a flame so we could see, Sam shut the curtains and Dean opened the duffel bag and handed out the shotguns, once everyone was armed he turned and looked at that symbol he'd spotted before. "Where have I seen that symbol before? It's killing me." He sighed and shook his head in frustration.

"Dean come on, we don't have much time." Sam said.

We moved through the house quickly, Sam leading us down to the basement – which was somehow colder than the ground floor of the wooden shack. Once we got downstairs we were instantly met with a shelf filled with gross looking jars, Dean curiously stepped over and picked on of the jars up for a closer look, the orange glow of the flame in my hand picked up the pale red liquid sloshing around inside it. "Hey, Sam," Dean grinned mischieviously at us, "I dare you to take a swig of this." He challenged.

Sam and I exchanged a look and frowned at the older Winchester, "And what the hell would I do that for?" Sam scoffed.

Dean paused, "... I double dare you."

I shook my head and turned away, my gaze finding a weird painting hung on the wall. A thumping noise drew our attention, Sam tracked the noise to a dusty cabinet and we crowded around it, at Dean's nod Sam opened the door. Rats squeaked and jumped out, running away from the torchlight and disappearing into the shadows. Dean instantly recoiled and lifted his foot, "Arrghhh! I hate rats." He shuddered.

I shot him an amused glance, "You'd rather it was a ghost?"

Dean looked at me seriously, no hint of a joke on his features, "Yes."

I rolled my eyes and pecked him on the cheek lightly before backing away, "Aww don't worry, I'll protect you from all those big bad rats." I teased.

The air suddenly shifted behind me and I whirled, a huge towering man in an old farmer's outfit stood close to us, hefting a large, wicked looking axe in his two-handed grip, in the orange firelight I could see his pale face, it was actually cracked in some places, something dark on the man's wrists caught my eyes and I frowned when I saw deep gashes on both wrists. He took a step and crossed the distance between us, he raised the axe and Sam shot him twice. I expected him to explode, or vanish or at the very least stumble, but he didn't even blink. I pushed at the air and Mordechai was forced back, crashing into the wall, destroying the cabinet in the process. With a deep, rumbling growl, Mordechai got back on his feet and faced us, the axe swung wildly in the shadows. I glanced at the boys and they looked back at me, shocked. With a shrug, I threw the flame in my hand at the enemy. The flame hit the target and Mordechai's arm was instantly enveloped in a flame, but all he did was pat out the flames with one of his huge, burly hands.

"Hmmm..." I tilted my head and looked at the boys, "Run?" I shrugged.

"Sounds good." Sam nodded. The three of us made a break for the stairs, Mordechai suddenly appeared and swung the axe at our heads, we all instinctively ducked and the shelves with the jars was sent crashing to the floor, glass smashing and wood snapped and broke on the hard concrete, the edge of the shelf clipped Dean on the shoulder and he was sent straight to the ground. I skidded to a halt and reached down to help him up, the air shifted but I ignored the fact that Mordechair was standing above us.

"Come on, Dean!" I screamed, suddenly starting to feel the danger.

"Steph, move!" Sam cried and barrelled into me, sending us both sprawling to the floor. He scrambled up to his feet and face off the enemy, opting the hard and physical approach. "Go! Get outta here!" He yelled as Mordechai raised the axe again. Dean was suddenly by my side and hauling me to my feet. I turned just in time to see Sam lunge out of the way of Mordechai's axe, it hit the electrical box and sparks flew everywhere, Sam was suddenly by our side and together, the three of us bolted back up the stairs without a second glance.

"What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" Dean yelled as we ran through the household.

"You really wanna stop and ask?" I shouted back as we ran through the living room, passing the symbol that was bugging Dean, yanking open the front door and sprawling over the emergency tape, we rolled on the ground and sprang back up. Ed and Harry were standing outside with their mouths open, camera trained on us, as we ran towards them Harry turned and focused the camera on me. "What the hell? Get that damn thing outta my face before I break it!" I snapped, shoving Harry as we sprinted past.

"Go go go!" Sam shouted, warning the two bystanders as we left them outside and raced down the path.

"Not that way." Dean hissed and pointed at the two cops from earlier, we quickly changed courses and ran down the hill. The dew on the grass had made the trek slippery, I suddenly lost my footing and slipped to the ground, taking Sam with me. We rolled down the hill, the world tumbled and spun as we sped down the hill, the adrenaline pumping through me was enough to put a grin on my face, despite everything that had just happened.

"Oh, man," I giggled as we sprawled at the bottom, Sam landing on top of me and the world spinning around us, "That was wild."

Sam laughed too and brushed the hair out of my face, his eyes met mine and I saw something there I hadn't ever seen before. My lips parted and I looked away, Sam cleared his throat and climbed off of me as Dean caught up with us. The younger brother stepped away as Dean pulled me to my feet, I clung onto his jacket as I waited for the world to stop spinning. "Well, that looked wild." Dean sent me a charming grin.

I laughed, "Right?" Our lips met and I melted into him, closing my eyes as the adrenaline continued to ebb through me.

Sam cleared his throat and we parted, I caught Sam's eyes for a second and looked away, whilst Dean fished in his jacket for his keys. "Back there I thought for sure we were done for." He said.

Oh Stephanie, what are you doing with the younger brother hmmm?

I winced at the comment from Darquesse and hopped in the car quickly, taking my jacket off and using it as a blanket in the back.

T

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Sam tapping away on his laptop and Dean idly humming the opening guitar riff from Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused, "Morning, Steph." I looked over to Dean and saw he was busy drawing something onto a notepad. I looked around and recognised the motel room we had been staying in and made a face. I got out of the bed and walked over to where Dean was sitting, he was busy drawing the symbol from the house. He sighed and put down the notebook when I sat next to him, "Man, what the hell is this symbol?" He sighed and pulled me closer to him, "It's bugging the hell out of me. This whole damn job's bugging me – like, I thought the legend said Mordechai only goes after chicks." He sighed.

I shrugged and leant my head on his shoulder, picking up the notebook and tapping the symbol he had drawn thoughtfully, it did seem familiar – as if I'd seen it in a book or something. "It does." Sam replied from across the room.

"Well that explains why he went after you and Steph, but why me?" Dean responded.

I rolled my eyes at Dean whilst I hid my smile away from Sam into his shoulder, across the room he scoffed at his brother's remark, "Hilarious," He drawled.

I suddenly thought about something and looked over at Sam, "Doesn't the legend also say that he hung himself? I swear I saw his wrists were slit."

Sam nodded, "Yeah."

"So what's with that?" I wondered.

The younger Winchester tilted his head, a slight frown creasing his features as he concentrated, "Not to mention the axe too. I mean, ghosts are usually pretty strict, right? Following the same patterns over and over?"

Dean shrugged, "But this mook keeps changing."

Sam sighed deeply and began clicking away at his laptop frantically, "Exactly, but I'm telling you, the way this story goes..." He suddenly frowned at his screen, "Wait a minute."

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Someone added a new post to the Hell Hound site. Listen to this: 'They say Mordechai Murdoch was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an axe before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity'." He read aloud to us. Next to me, Dean suddenly sat up and grabbed the notebook, I frowned at him in confusion as he looked at me triumphantly, "Where the hell is this going?" Sam continued.

"I don't know, but I think I might have just figured out where it all started." Dean replied, tapping his drawing.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I got up with Dean.

Dean smirked, his green eyes sparkling, "We're gonna go get ourselves an album."

T

Dean entered the record store excitedly, heading straight to the racks and flicking through them, "Hey Craig," I greeted him with a dazzling smile, "Remember us?"

Craig sighed, "Guys, look I'm really not in the mood to answer any of your questions, ok?"

I nodded innocently and took off my jacket, draping it over my arm as I casually leant against the counter, "Oh no, don't worry. We're just here to buy an album, that's all." Craig eyed me for a moment before nodding slowly and running his hand through his hair self-consciously.

Dean finally approached the counter and laid an album on the desk and pushed it over to Craig, "You know," He looked at Sam and I, "I couldn't figure out what that symbol was and then I realised that it doesn't mean anything. It's the logo for the Blue Oyster Cult." I noticed it was BOC's On Flame With Rock and Roll album, the logo alight with flame in the centre of the album, "Tell me Craig, you, uh, you into a bit of BOC? Or just scaring the hell out of people? Now why don't you tell us about that house?" He asked.

"The truth this time, Craig." I added with a smile.

Craig's face fell and he sighed, "Alright," He caved, "Um... my cousin Dana was on a break from TCU. I guess we just got bored and we were looking for something to do. So I showed her the abandoned dump on the edge of town, we thought it would be funny if we made it look like it was haunted," He looked up at me and quickly dropped his gaze, "So we, umm, we painted symbols on the walls, some from some albums and some from Dana's theology textbooks. Then we found out this guy Murdoch used to live there so we..." He paused and grinned at us guiltily, "We made up some story to go along with it. So we both told people, and they told people, who then told other people. And then these two guys put it on their website and everything sorta took a life of its own. I mean I – I thought it was funny at first but now that girl's dead," The teenager made a face, "It was just a joke, you know? I mean, none of it was read; we made the whole thing up. I swear!" He confessed, his eyes shining sadly.

There was a moment, then Sam nodded slowly, "Alright." He nodded in understanding.

The three of us turned and left the boy in a state, once we were outside I glanced at the boys, "So if none of it was real how the hell do you explain Mordechai?"

T

Sam was in the shower, leaving Dean and I half an hour alone in the room, Dean was busy kissing the crook of my neck that he knew I liked so much when the shower in the bathroom suddenly cut off. Dean sat up from the couch and I moaned as he moved towards Sam's bed, "What are you doing?" I hissed as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a packet, he tore it open and began sprinkling the powder onto Sam's discarded clothes. Once Dean had finished he joined me back on the sofa and he showed me the packet, "Itching powder." I read aloud and grinned at him, leaning up and lightly kissing up his neck to his jaw.

"Hey, Dean?" Sam called from the bathroom.

"Yeah?" Dean answered before he captured my lips.

"So I think I have a theory about what's going on."

"Uh-huh." Dean replied half-interestedly as he skillfully unclasped my bra and threw it down next to my discarded trousers, top and jacket.

"What if Mordechai is a Tulpa?" Sam suggested.

"Tulpa?" Dean asked as began kissing me again.

The bathroom lock suddenly clicked and I pushed Dean back a little and snapped my palm out, one of Dean's shirts rushed into my palm and I quickly put it on and struggled to do up the buttons as the bathroom door opened and Sam emerged.

"Yeah, a Tibetan thought form." Sam responded. I abandoned the top two buttons and glanced up at Sam nonchalantly, then my mouth dropped open as Sam stood there, the white towel hung around only his waist – giving me full view of his amazingly well toned chest.

"Oh yeah, I remember what a Tulpa is," Dean nodded, "Look, you get dressed and Steph and I'll go for a shower – I mean, Steph's gonna shower whilst I study up on the Tibetan Tulpa." Dean said quickly, I tore my eyes away from Sam's torso and gave him a small smile before Dean grabbed my hand and led me to the bathroom.

T

After an all-too-enjoyably long shower with Dean we all went to the nearby restaurant for some coffee, the three of us were sat in a table a little way away from everyone else with our drinks. Sam kept grimacing and adjusting his jeans, and it took every ounce of willpower I had to keep a straight face from my seat opposite the younger Winchester. "Dude, what's your problem?" Dean eventually asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Sam replied.

"Yeah?" His brother raised a doubtful brow.

"Yeah." Sam insisted.

"Alright keep going, Sam," I said, trying to maintain an innocent face, "Tell me more about these Tulpas."

"Ok," Sam cleared his throat and fidgeted slightly in his seat, "So, there was this incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualised a golem in their head. They meditated on it so hard they bought the thing to life. Like, out of thin air." He explained to me.

"Uh-huh," I nodded as Sam shifted again, "Then what?"

"Well, that was only twenty monks. Think about what ten thousand web surfers could do. I mean, Craig starts this story about Mordechai, then it spreads, goes online. Now there are countless people believing in the bastard." The younger Winchester continued.

"So you're saying that just because people believe in Mordechai, he's real?" I replied as I took a sip of my coffee.

Sam shrugged, but he had an uncomfortable expression on his face, "I dunno, maybe."

Dean held up a hand, "People believe in Santa Claus – how come I'm not getting hooked up every Christmas?" He pointed out.

"Because I'm pretty sure that the amount of times you do it with Steph makes you a bad person," Sam sniped, "And because of this..." Sam turned his laptop around so it face Dean and I. The two of us peered at the website at an enlarged photo Sam had bought up. "That's a Tibetan spirit sigil. See, on the wall of that house, Craig said that they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet they painted this, not even knowing what it was. This sigil has been used for centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So people are on the Hell-Hounds website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai... I mean, I don't know – but it might be enough to bring a Tulpa to life." The younger Winchester spun his laptop back around to him and ran a hand through his hair as he shifted again.

Dean leant back in his seat and I stared at my coffee and silently begged my facial muscles not to smile, "Yeah it would explain why he keeps changing." The older Winchester nodded.

Sam grimaced and adjusted himself in his seat for what seemed like the millionth time, "Right, as the legend changes, people think different things, so Mordechai himself changes. Like a game of Chinese Whispers."

"And that would explain like the rock salt didn't work." I snapped my fingers and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah – because Mordechai isn't a traditional spirit." Dean nodded.

"Mmm." Sam agreed.

"Ok so we'll just get rid of this sigil thing off the wall of the Mordechai house and take it off the website?" I suggested hopefully.

"Well, it's not that simple, Steph. You see, once Tulpas are created they take on a life of their own." Sam shook his head.

"Great," Dean sighed, "So if he really is a thought form how the hell are we supposed to kill a freaking idea?"

Sam shook himself again, "Well it's not gonna be that easy with these guys, uh, 'helping' us. Check out their home page." He clicked something on his laptop and showed us.

"What the hell? Get that damn thing outta my face before I break it!" My eyes widened as I watched myself as I shoved the camera holder roughly whilst the three of us sprinted past away from the house. The camera shuffled as it straightened up and zoomed in to focus on the towering man in the doorway of the Hell House.

"Since they've posted this video their number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone." Sam explained.

Dean rolled his eyes dismissively, "Hmmph. I've got an idea, come on." He said as he took my hand.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked.

"We've gotta find a copy store." Dean replied.

Sam got up and followed us, only to pause and start itching himself wildly, "Man, I think I'm allergic to our soap or something." He muttered.

I caught Dean's eye and we shared a well earned laugh as we walked away. "You did this?" Sam asked.

"Don't look at me, it was Dean!" I protested, a guilty smile sneaking back onto my face whilst Dean walked away laughing.

"You're a frggin' jerk!" Sam shouted out to his brother.

"Oh yeah!" Dean called back smugly.

T

"I don't get it," I said as Dean and I followed Sam through the trailer park on the west part of town, "How did you even know they were here?"

"Their latest website said they were staying in a mobile home on the edge of the town they were investigating. Said they called it the 'Eagle's Nest'." Sam replied.

It only took a few minutes until we found the right trailer, the three of us put our heads to the door and listened intently, "This stuff here... it's our ticket to the big time right here: fame, money sex... with girls. Ok? Be brave, Harry. WWBD. What would Buffy do, huh?"

"What would Buffy do," A voice repeated, "You know, I think we've found our real life, ass kicking Buffy twin, Ed."

"Oh yeah, the, uh, hot dark brunette chick with those two morons?" The first voice, Ed replied.

"Morons?" Dean frowned and mouthed to us, I shrugged and Dean pounded on the caravan door.

There was a sudden scuffle from within the mobile home, "Who is it?" A voice called out.

"Come on out here, guys. We can hear you in there." Dean replied.

"It's them!"

We waited outside politely for a moment, "Should we kick the door down?" I murmured impatiently, the boys shrugged as they considered the option. The door suddenly opened and the professionals stuck their heads out the door.

"Guys, we need to talk." Sam said, skipping pleasantries.

"Yeah, um, sorry guys," Ed scratched the back of his neck and sucked the air between his teeth, "We're ahhh, a little busy right now."

"Ok well we'll make it real quick. We need you to shut down your website." Dean gave a friendly smile.

Ed laughed and glanced at his colleague, "You know, these three got us busted last night. We spent the night in a holding cell."

"I had to pee in that cell urinal. In front of people... and I get stage fright." Harry protested.

"Why should we trust you guys?" Ed narrowed his eyes.

Sam sighed and leant up against the caravan, his towering height giving him that intimidating edge, "Look guys, we all know what you saw last night – we all know what's really in that house. But now thanks to your website there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai."

I nodded and stepped closer too, "That's right," I agreed, "Which means that people are going to keep showing up at the Hell House, running into him in person, somebody could get hurt."

Ed frowned, "Yeah, yeah..."

His friend, Harry, looked up at his friend, "Ed, maybe the hot girl's got a point, maybe-"

"Nope." Ed cut him off with a quick shake to the head.

"No." Harry shrugged and nodded along.

"Sorry, hot-girl-"

"I have a name." I muttered.

"It's just, we have an obligation to our fans – to the truth." Ed shrugged.

"Well, I have an obligation to kick both your little asses right now." Dean smiled threateningly, his tone promising violence.

"Dean – Dean, just forget it, alright?" Sam cautioned his brother, trying to keep the peace, "We could probably tell them something about Mordechai... but they're still not gonna help us," Sam exaggerated a sigh and backed away from the caravan, "But they're still not gonna help us. Let's just go."

Ed and Harry exchanged a look, "Wait... what?"

I nodded in sad agreement with Sam, "Yeah, you're right."

The three of us backed off and walked away, "What did you say about?"

"Hang on a second here!"

What thing about Mordechai you guys?" They called after us.

The three of us halted and I gave Sam a hedged look, "Don't tell them, Sam." I warned.

"But if they agree to shut the website down, Steph." Sam shrugged.

"Sam," Dean said, "They're not going to do it, you said so yourself."

"No wait," Ed called behind us, "Wait. Don't listen to Harry, ok? We'll do it. We'll do it."

"It's a secret, Sam." I advised as we turned back around to face the investigators.

"Look, it's a really big deal, alright? And it wasn't easy to dig up. So only if we have your word that you'll shut everything down." Sam said seriously.

"Totally." Ed agreed immediately before Harry could get a word in edgeways.

"Alright." I nodded whilst Dean handed them some paperwork we had forged at the copy store just half an hour earlier.

"It's a death certificate. From the 1930s, we got it at a library. Now, according to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Sam pointed to different parts on the paper to the boys.

"That's right," Dean said, "He didn't hang or cut himself."

"He shot himself?" Ed glanced up at us.

I nodded, "Yep. With a .45 pistol. To this day they say he's terrified of them." I lied informatively.

"As a matter of fact they say if you shoot him with a gun loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds it'll kill the son of a bitch." Dean said matter-of-factly.

The nerd duo snickered to eachother and turned away from us, all but running back to their caravan. Once the door shut I smiled to the boys, "It's scary how good I can lie these days." I shrugged.

T

We stopped by at the nearest internet café and waited for Sam to confirm on his laptop that Ed and Harry had uploaded the news. The three of us were sat in a booth, I was next to Dean and we were sat opposite Sam with his laptop. Above Dean on the wall was an odd wooden fisherman hefting a big fish in his arms and wearing red and white stripes from head to toe, he even had a quirky eye-patch and a gold tooth. If you pulled the cord hanging from the wooden ornament the man's mouth would move up and down and a horrible laugh would play. Needless to say, it was extremely annoying, and sure: it may be a fun joke for any kids, but luckily we were all adults here.

Well, except Dean.

The older Winchester pulled on the cord for the sixth time since we'd sat down in the booth three minutes ago, Sam had had enough and without taking his eyes off of his laptop he grabbed the cord of of Dean to stop the annoying laugh. Once he'd stopped the fisherman Sam's hazel eyes looked up at his brother's, "If you pull that string one more time, I'm gonna kill you." Sam threatened as he let go of the string.

Dean gave his younger brother a deadpan stare and pulled the cord again, Sam stopped typing on his laptop and I rolled my eyes as they stared eachother down. Dean quickly snickered and dismissed his brother's death glare, "Come on, man. You need more laughter in your life, you know? You're way too tense." I glanced at Dean and shook my head at him, he sighed and relented, "They post it yet?" He asked.

Sam glanced at Dean and handed me the laptop to read, "'We've learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdoch has a fatal fear of firearms.' Reputable. That's cute." I smirked and handed Sam his beloved device back.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Dean wondered, glancing up at the wooden ornament.

"Long enough for the new story to spread, and the legend to change," Sam shrugged, "I figured by nightfall iron rounds will work on our good friend Mordechai." Sam held out his beer and the three of us tapped our drinks to it.

"Sweet." Dean grinned and took a long drink, I set my water down and noticed a cheeky grin beginning to form on Sam's face, Dean went to put the bottle down but it was glued to his hand, the older Winchester stared at it in confusion whilst Sam and I laughed.

"So that's what you were doing when Dean and I went outside to check the car was locked." I laughed.

"Oh, you didn't." Dean glared at his sibling.

Sam laughed and victoriously held up the tube of super glue, "Oh, I did!" He said gleefully, he reached up and pulled the string on the fisherman triumphantly and I shook my head, still smiling.

"I'll go out and get some nail polish remover." I touched Dean's shoulder lightly and stood up, "I'll be back soon."

T

We entered the Mordechai House just before 10pm, after leaving a ruse for the police to find and be distracted with, we snuck into the house as quickly and quietly as we had before. We entered the house with our guns drawn, I let Dean and Sam carry torches this time and focuses more on keeping my gun in a two-handed gun grip like Skulduggery had taught me.

We searched each room methodically, taking extra care to check if anything was lurking in the shadows for us, once we had cleared two rooms, however, Dean had started to adjust his gun hand and sighing. After he did it a fourth time I turned and looked at him, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I barely have any skin left on my palm." Dean replied, aiming his snarky tone at Sam.

Sam scoffed, "I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole." The older Winchester glared at his response and shone his torch beam in Sam's eyes until he winced and turned away. With a hmph, Dean stalked into the next room, leaving Sam and I to follow. Before I exited the room the air brushed beneath my palms, I stopped and tilted my head, refusing to turn around.

Sam stopped with me, "What's wrong?" He asked.

I frowned as Sam shone his torch at me, "I don't know, I just... I thought I felt something. Like an air reading, you know?"

Sam was quiet, "No. Actually I don't, funnily enough." Sam smirked and I laughed and nodded.

"Right, right It's probably nothing, maybe one of those rats we set free last time we were here, you know?" I shrugged. Sam nodded and we crossed into the next room to find Dean shining his torch on a painting hanging above a dusty mantle.

"So do you think Mordechai's home?" He asked as he heard us enter the room.

Sam and I exchanged a glance and shared a shrug, "I don't know."

"Me either." A voice from behind us sounded. The three of us whirled, our guns immediately targeting the source of the noise. I resisted the urge to free one of my hands and click my fingers as Dean and Sam's torch beams found the faces of Ed and Harry.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Ed cried and threw his hands up in surrender.

I sighed annoyedly and tilted my head at them, "What are you trying to do – get yourselves killed?" I snapped and shook my head.

"We're just trying to get a book and movie deal, ok?" Ed replied, fear wavering his tone.

I lost interest in them and glared at the camera that was pointed at me, "I wasn't lying when I said I would break that camera." I warned as I brushed a hand through my hair, discreetly reading the air for anything else. Something heavy shifted beneath my palm and I gripped my gun in two hands again, "Something's coming." I glanced at the boys, they nodded and everyone fell silent. From somewhere else in the house, I could hear the sound of someone sharpening something – like the blade of an axe, perhaps.

"Oh, crap."Ed whispered as he heard the noise too. Sam, Dean and I crept through the house as a tactical triangle, moving back through the house like shadows towards the noise. We came to a door and stopped, I tried the handle tentatively but it was locked. Suddenly someone bumped into me and I instinctively lashed out with my right elbow and jabbed my assailant in the gut. There was an oof as someone stumbled back, Sam's torchlight showed me it was Harry, he breathed awkward, uneven breaths and sent me a glare.

"Don't touch me – I could've shot you, or worse." I snapped under my breath and turned back to the boys, "The doors locked. I'd break it down using my, uh," I glanced at Ed holding the camera at me, "My thing but we've got bystanders."

Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to formulate a plan, "Ah guys," Ed said from behind us, "You wanna... you wanna open that door for us?" He asked.

Dean turned and narrowed his eyes, "Why don't you?"

The air shifted wildly, promising violence and bloodshed. I grabbed stepped back, my left hand reaching out and yanking Dean and Sam with me, keeping them clear of the door as Mordechai burst through, his newly sharpened axe gleaming wickedly and his voice deep and bellowing. "For fuck's sake." I hissed and grabbed Ed and shoved him beside me, "Get behind me." I ordered as the boys and I emptied our guns into the ghost's ugly face. Once Mordechai's huge form disappeared I reached in my pocket and loaded the pistol whilst Sam and Dean branched out to check the other rooms, leaving my to babysit.

"Did you get him?" Harry rushed over to his friend in all his geeky excitement.

"Yeah," Ed breathed, looking at the space where Mordechai has dissipated, "They got him," He then glanced at me, "You – you saved me." He breathed.

I winced at his expression, reminding me all too much of Fletcher Renn, and moved away, "Yeah, guess so." I muttered, wiping my eyes as tears sprang into them.

Crying. Really? You're seriously crying over Fletcher Renn? Oh my God, I need to fix your attitude.

"No, no, no," Harry was saying, "On camera, did you get him on camera?"

Ed faltered and I glanced back at them as they fumbled with their camera. Harry finally snatched it in his hands as I walked back over to them, "Let me see it, let me see it." He muttered as he flipped it open. Mordechai appeared again, swinging his axe at Harry.

I lunged and shoved him out of the way, kicking the axe as I did so, Mordechai missed his mark by inches and I tried the gun again. When the first two shots that failed I caught him with a roundhouse kick which connected fiercely with his chin. Anything, anything else would've gone down. But Mordechai stayed standing. I braced for his attack but relaxed a little when he disappeared again. "Nothing's working." I muttered as Harry steadied himself. Dean ran in, hearing the commotion from the next room, "Nothing's working, Dean." I repeated to him.

Dean turned to Harry and Ed, "Didn't you guys post that bullshit story we fed you?" He asked, shining the torch in both of their faces.

"Of course we did." Ed snapped.

Sam suddenly entered, his gun cocked and ready, Harry glanced at his entrance before turning back to us, "But then our server crashed." Harry said, pushing his spectacles up his nose.

Everyone was silent as we processed the information, "So the entry didn't take?" I guessed.

"Mmmhmm." Ed and Harry nodded.

"So these," Dean shook his pistol in the noob-duo's face, "These guns don't work."

"Yeah." Ed muttered.

"Great," I nodded and faked a big smile, "Sam, any ideas?"

"We are getting out of here." Harry suddenly said.

"Yeah, good idea, Harry." Ed nodded at his partner and they ran past Dean and into the other room.

"I'm actually relieved. It's not a bad idea that they're leaving." I sighed honestly. My sudden mood improvement was cut short when we heard screaming from Harry and Ed, I made a noise of frustration and started towards the room.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sam sprinted past me, "Guys, let's just burn the freaking thing to the ground. Then there'll be nowhere for Mordechai to haunt, right?" He didn't wait for an answer and rushed out to Ed and Harry's aid.

I looked at Dean and shrugged, "It's not the worst idea."

"Alright, alright. I've got my can of lighter fluid, all I need you to do is light it up, ok?" Dean asked, I nodded and he started spraying the walls and floor with the kerosene, the crashing noises coming from the other room weren't exactly the most comforting noises on Earth, but...

"Dean! Steph!" Sam gasped from the other room, I left Dean and ran into the room to find Sam pinned by Mordechai's axe to the wall, the burly farmer was so strong he was actually holding Sam up off of the ground.

Come on, we can take this schmuck – he's like a failed Of Mice and Men character.

I stalked towards Mordechai, the shadows curled around me as I gathered my magic, I sent them all whipping towards Mordechai, careful not to hit Sam. Mordechai staggered and let go of Sam, turning and looking at me. I tried not to let his creepy silence unnerve me as I held a hand out, my other putting my gun in my jacket pocket. "Come and get it, you ugly bastard." I taunted, feeling the fight in my veins. Mordechai charged like a bull, I dodged and rolled out the way, coming up gracefully and carefully circling back around to lead Mordechai away from Sam. I tried air again, sending a great column slamming into him. He was thrown off his feet and sent crashing into the wall, several paintings fell and smashed from the mighty impact.

Oh dude, that was awesome! Hit him some more!

I whipped the shadows again as I sprinted over to him, switching my tactics to a close and physical combat. I dodged the first meaty fist but the second caught me square on the cheek, Mordechai hit me so hair I saw cute little stars dancing around my vision. I groaned and realised I'd been sent to the floor with one vicious punch, "Steph, you need to move now!" Sam cried, I looked up and glimpsed a huge boot coming down to stomp me, I gasped and rolled out of the way, getting to my feet.

Careful, that boot would've been the end to our good looks.

"Anytime today, Dean." I called through gritted teeth, my right cheek throbbing. I ran over and feigned left and shot right, kicking the huge opponents knee and hopefully shattering the kneecap if I was lucky, Mordechai fell to his knees and I started driving punches down. He surprised me by lunging and grabbing me like a ragdoll, pinning my arms to my sides and holding me out as he slowly got to his feet. I sent Sam a terrified glance and kicked my legs out uselessly as Mordechai appraised me with his cold, dead eyes. Then he threw me, I flew through the air and slid across the floor at a terrific speed, my back slamming against the sideboard I think I actually rebounded a little. If it weren't for the jacket I was wearing I think I would've shattered like one of those jars downstairs, I took a moment to struggle to my feet, breathing heavily and leaning against the wall, I'd accidentally bitten my lip on my flight, and blood dripped steadily down my chin and in my mouth, I spat some out and pushed myself from the wall.

Hey, if you need little old me to step in, I'm right here.

"Ok, that was a cheap shot." I drawled and fixed my hair, "How long, Dean?" I shouted, stress and pain seeping into my tone.

"Like, two seconds!" He called back.

"Two seconds, ok." I muttered and held out my hand, using the last dregs of concentration to have the axe rushing into my palm. Mordechai began to move towards me and I raised an eyebrow and lobbed it as hard as I could, quickly snapping my palms out to propel the axe and give it that little bit more speed. It hit Mordechai straight in the chest and forced him to go down to floor. "Dude!" I looked up at Sam, who'd finally managed to stand and was still massaging his throat for breath, "Did you see that shot? Oh my god – it's official. I'm the best!" I laughed at the floored Mordechai gleefully.

"Steph, light it up!" Dean suddenly called, I ran over, ignoring the searing pain in my back as I met with Dean at the doorway, the smell of kerosene was almost overwhelming and stung my nostrils as I clicked my finger and dropped a flame onto the floor, I made sure it caught and we both ran out of the room, Dean grabbed Sam's arm as we passed him. "Go go go!" We ran through the living room, I dropped a little behind when my back began to scream at me to slow down.

You know who can heal that up nice and easy for you?

My jaw clenched when the pounding in my head started and I slowed to a stop immediately, clutching my head as I could feel her trying to wrench free of the confines of my mind, I glanced up and saw Sam and Dean had made it out of the house. The pain in my head intensified and I actually cried out a little at the sheer pain of it, I dropped to my knees and clutched my head. Suddenly, slow, heavy footsteps sounded and I cracked my eyes open to see Mordechai approach me, a gaping hole in his chest and the bloodied axe dripping onto the dusty floor.

T

Sam's P.O.V

I watched in horror as Mordechai, forced to his knees by Stephanie's brutal fighting moves suddenly lunged and snatched her off the floor like she was nothing. He held her out like a toy as he slowly and silently got to his feet. I knew that strength, I'd felt it when the bastard was cutting off my air supply with that axe. I took in short shallow breaths as my throat tried to cope with the extreme pressure it had been put under. Stephanie's legs kicked out uselessly in the air as Mordechai rose to his towering height, she sent me a fearful look a second before he launched her into the air. She landed and actually slid across the floor with great momentum, hitting the end wall with a very loud and dreadful crack.

Oh shit, I thought when Stephanie didn't move, I glanced up at Mordecai: he seemed to just be watching her, checking to see if that hit had finally silenced his fierce challenger. The Stephanie got to her feet, I couldn't believe it. Blood was running from her freshly cut lip and she was leaning heavily against the wall with her breathing laboured – but she'd survived. Her face was tense with pain, I guessed from her back from the way she was slightly bent, her usual perfect posture for her impeccable balance was gone, and it showed when she finally pushed herself off from the wall and staggered a little in the process.

"Ok," She droned and began fixing her hair, of all things, "That was a cheap shot. How long, Dean?" With her voice a little more raised I could detect the pain and stress she must've been feeling, Mordechai had chipped a little away from her rock and it was showing.

"Like, two seconds!" My brother's voice drifted through the doorway.

"Two seconds," The girl echoed and nodded to herself, "Ok." She raised her hand and the axe that lay abandoned next to me suddenly drifted towards her and into her waiting hand. Mordechai began to approach her again, I couldn't get over how he dwarfed her form. I narrowed my eyes as I went through all the possibilities she could do with that huge axe, to take precaution, I sucked in a few needed breaths and heaved myself up and out of the way of her firing range, just in case she missed. I grinned a little when I saw Stephanie arch an eyebrow at Mordecai and suddenly throw the axe, her hand following through with the manoeuvre and snapping out her palm. The air shimmered and the axe was pushed further, speeding towards Mordecai and hitting home, I didn't see where it had hit him from where I was stood, but from Stephanie's triumphant expression it must have been on target. Mordecai fell backwards, the axe impaled deep within his chest. I carefully massaged my throat as I glanced at the axe.

"Dude!" The girl looked at me, her pretty dark eyes shining, "Did you see that shot? Oh my god – it's official. I'm the best!" Her gleeful smile grew wide and she laughed as victory danced in her eyes.

"Steph! Light it up!" Dean yelled out, Stephanie suddenly ran towards Dean and I concentrated on breathing again. Not a moment later did my brother Stephanie suddenly rush out of the room, Dean grabbed my arm as they passed, yanking me along with them. I glanced back and saw the orange roaring flames and sent Dean a wide eyed stare. "Go, go, go!" Dean merely shouted as we ran back through the house, I was dimly aware that Stephanie had slowed up a little, the damage her back had suffered clearly taking more toll on her than she'd wanted. I wanted to stop and help her, but I couldn't breathe. My throat felt like it had been crushed and I longed for the fresh air. Dean and I made it through the house and didn't stop running until we were near the bushes where we had hidden just the other night. "Whew," Dean grinned and placed his hands on his needs as he sucked in lungfuls of air, "Maybe we were cutting it a little fine there, huh?" I ignored him and concentrated on my respiration. "Hang on – where's Steph?" Dean asked, frantically looking around us.

"She was behind us." I rasped, my throat feeling a little better.

We looked back at the house, the room Dean and Stephanie had set alight was burning merrily, great orange flames waved at us cheerily as the windows smashed, "Holy shit, Sammy," Dean looked at me with wide, panic-stricken eyes, "Steph is still in there." We both sprinted back towards the house, we made it to the doorway, to see the dark haired girl, all in black, laying slightly curled up before Mordechai.

"Steph!" I shouted weakly, Stephanie looked at us just as Mordechai bought the axe down, it went straight through her chest and hit the pump guarded by her ribcage, she screamed and her back arched off the ground painfully. White hot terror raced through me and I knew Dean shared the same look, we went to take a step into the house but Stephanie suddenly raised her hand and waved it at us, I thought she was trying to shoo us away until a wave of solid air hit us and we were forced off of our feet, we both shot out the door and sprawled onto the grass outside.

T

Valkyrie's P.O.V

"Steph!" A feeble shout from the doorway of the house drove my attention from Mordechai's lifeless face, I probably shouldn't have done it, maybe then I could've somehow dodged and avoided the wicked blade, evaded Death's beckon once more. But this time was different, the pounding in my head actually seemed to hold off a little as the blade pierced through my chest and plunged into my heart, it was as if the person behind the pounding had stopped and wanted to observe carefully. I heard my scream but I didn't remember my mouth opening to do it, my back arched painfully off the ground as Mordechai withdrew his weapon, I glanced at the boys as they took a step into the house, I raised my hand and waved it, trying to concentrate for just one second further... A wave of air crashed into them and they were thrown back outside onto the field surrounding the house.

How noble. I'm ready to come out now.

I could feel it, the clock was making it's final steady seconds before it would fall silent forever. But I wasn't quite ready for all that death business just yet.

And who can blame you? No one likes having choices taken away from them – why should death be any different?

I rolled my eyes at her comment and let myself slip back into the dark, recede under the covers and let the nightmare take hold.

T

Darquesse's P.O.V

I blinked and scowled at the broken body Valkyrie – or Stephanie or whatever she called herself these days, had left me to tend with. I sighed and ignored the heat of the flames that had begun to lick at the doorway and focused on the healing process. I went to work on my poor punctured little heart and mended the ribs that had been damaged by the axe as it entered. When I breathed air instead of blood I sat up and worked on my cheek, fixing the damaged and taking down the swelling and the bruising. I stood up as my back shifted and realigned itself, happy to be back to my normal self. The ceiling creaked dangerously above me and I sighed in annoyance, dimly aware that my lungs would be getting damaged from all this smoke in the house. I walked over to the window and punched open with shadows, climbing out of it daintily, fixing any damage the smoke may have done to my lungs as I did so.

When I took another breath it was clean and fresh. Brand new air, I mused as I gazed at my surroundings. "Hmmm," I said to myself as I gazed at the huge, untouched forest before me, then turned on my heel and turned my sights on the small, oblivious little town, "So many things to do." I sighed. I suddenly felt something in my head, I narrowed my eyes and concentrated, then burst out laughing when I realised what it was. "Oh, Valkyrie!" I clapped my hands, "I didn't think you'd be able to manage that."

Well, you know me. Full of surprises.

"Indeed..." I murmured, walking back around to the front of the house, if you could call a burning structure a house at all. The boys were on the lawn, Dean didn't seem to be moving, whilst Sam's chest rose and fell as he struggled for air. I walked over to them silently, tilting my head curiously as I approached them.

Dean was frozen, shocked into reliving the moment of Stephanie being stabbed in front of him, and her scream of agony as it happened, his brain trying to comprehend everything he'd just seen.

Oh, shut up.

Sam, however, was struggling to comprehend life altogether. Curiously, I moved my palm out and concentrated, grasping a loose hold of his vitals.

Well that's a new thing.

I ignored Valkyrie's voice and crouched down next to Sam, he was a strange character, I had watched from behind the scenes on how Valkyrie had formed a bond that differed to the one she had with Dean. Although now Valkyrie wasn't so sure about how she felt about Sam, I loved teasing her when she caught herself sharing lingering stares with her boyfriends brother. I'd watch her cheat on Fletcher, and now I get to watch her cheat on Dean.

With a sly smile curling the corners of my mouth, I gently pressed my hands on the sides of Sam's hair, my fingers gently tangled in his hair as I concentrated, depositing my healing powers into the younger Winchester brother. The angry purple bruising around his neck vanished and Sam's breathing evened out. Eventually, his eyes opened and he sat up, his brown eyes blinking in shock as he looked at me. I reached out and brushed one of my hands gently through his hair, my fingers traced down to his left cheek and rested there for a moment, then I stood up and walked away, looking up as the dark grey smoke billowed up into the night sky.

"It's you, isn't it?" Sam said from behind me, I turned slowly an eyebrow arching delicately – a trait I had stolen from China Sorrows, "You're the one inside Stephanie's head that she never talks about."

"Never talks about," I said softly, "But she's always thinking about me. We have our little private chats..." I sent him a hint of a smile, "Sometimes about you, sometimes about Dean," I walked over to him and placed a finger on his jaw, running my finger smoothly down to his neck where his injuries had stuck out not two minutes before, "She's confused, you know. Valkyrie." I muttered, taking my hand away, "She thought she loved Dean, but now she's not so sure... we enjoyed the view when you came out the shower earlier by the way." I winked and gazed back up at the sky.

"Why are you telling me this?" Sam asked,

"Because," I turned back to him, "Believe it or not I'm not as bad as everyone thinks... I'm depicted as Valkyrie's 'bad mood', but I'm actually not," I tilted my head and sighed, "I don't expect you to understand, Sam, you don't know me. And Valkyrie doesn't want you to know me, either." The house behind us finally succumbed to the overwhelming instability of the crumbling structure, it crashed to the ground in a cloud of bright range ash and smoke.

"So, you came out and healed Steph when that Mordechai stabbed her in the chest?" Sam asked.

I nodded, "We're like two sides to a coin, we are. She was dying, her life, meaning my life, was ebbing slowly away and she needed me to help her," I shrugged, "So I helped her."

"But how come you're out instead of Stephanie?"

I looked deeply into hazel eyes, "Because saving Stephanie means I get to come out and stretch my legs for a while, Stephanie is still here," I tapped my forehead, "She's just where I normally am right now." I explained.

"Inside her head? I can't imagine what that's like." Sam shuddered and offered me a smile.

I grinned, showing teeth, "Stephanie's head?" I took a step towards him, "Oh Sam, Stephanie's head is a dark and awful place. It's not fun to be in there for such a long time, it can turn anyone insane." I loped my arms around his neck, Sam narrowed his eyes a little and stiffened, but he soon relaxed, "And here we are Sam, you and me..." I trailed off in a delicate tone and looked at his lips. The seconds dragged by until suddenly Sam and I were kissing, our lips moulded together and I let Sam push me to the ground, we parted and I put a finger to my lips, drifting away back into my head and letting Stephanie surface once more.

T

Valkyrie's P.O.V

I gasped and stiffened when I realised where I was, on a field outside the ruins of the Mordechai house kissing my boyfriend's brother. "Sam!" I hissed and shoved him off of me, standing up and rubbing a hand through my hair.

Sam scrambled to his feet, "Steph, oh my God!" He stuttered, his cheeks turning red.

"Just promise me that we won't ever talk about this, ok?" I snapped and ran over to where Dean was, he was still laying in an unresponsive stupor. I lightly began hitting his face, "Oh come on, Dean – snap out of it!" I murmured as I shook him. Dean suddenly coughed and I wrapped him in a tight hug, "I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, really hoping he'd start hugging me back.

"Steph – you're, you're alive. But we saw Mordechai, and that axe – it went straight through you!" Dean spluttered, looked down at my top, my hands went down to my tunic and I failed to hold back the sigh of dismay when I saw the slit in my top from where the axe went in. I showed him my healed skin and gave him a small smile.

"It's ok, I'm ok. I'm just, just fine. All healed, no injuries to worry about, just a burnt down house." I Iaughed and Dean sighed in relief and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Don't do that again, ok? Ever." He said, a peculiar anger taking over his tone, but I knew he meant well. After he was finished hugging me we stood up and made our way over to Sam, he was staring at the dying remnants of the Mordechai house, now nothing but a pile of charred wood and broken, unidentifiable objects.

"Well, at least nobody will go in anymore," I shrugged as we stood next to Sam, "I mean, look: Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt, can he?"

Dean nodded, his arm slinking around my waist, "Yup. It's fast and dirty, but it works."

"What if the legend changes again and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?" Sam wondered.

"Well, then we'll just have to come back." Dean answered. The three of us slipped into an eerie silence as we watching the flames consume themselves into smoke.

"Huh," Sam scoffed and looked at us, "It kinda makes you wonder: of all the things we've hunted, how many existed just because people believed in them?"

Nobody wanted to answer that one.

T

The next morning, the three of us were in the caravan park at a picnic table, Sam and I were filling Dean with the details last night. "And you should've seen this throw I landed with the axe!" I explained excitedly, my hands moving animatedly as I told Dean, "I lobbed Mordechai's axe and then used the air... my throw was so on target," I sighed as I relived the moment, "...And then like three minutes later he stabbed me in the chest, so that was payback I guess." I laughed awkwardly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Steph, come on, you've gotta tell us – how did you learn to fight like that?" Sam asked, leaning on the bench as he looked at me.

I shrugged, "I've been doing this since I was eleven, you know? And you've got to be able to defend yourself in this."

"I was thinking that Mordechai had a really super high attack bonus, you know Ed?" The three of us turned to see Harry and Ed carrying brown bags filled with shopping.

"Mmhmm," Ed muttered distractedly, "Man, have I got the munchies right now." He breathed.

The boys stopped when they saw us, "Hey guys." Harry greeted.

Sam smiled, "Hey guys."

Harry turned to his friend, "Should we tell them?" He asked.

"Harry, we might as well, you know, they're going to read about it in the trades." Ed replied.

Harry nodded, an excited grin overtook his face as he turned to us, "So, this morning we got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer." He boasted.

"Oh yeah," I pretended to look impressed, "Was it a wrong number?"

"No. No, no," Ed forced a laugh, "He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to give the option of the motion picture rights – maybe even have us write it." He explained.

The paranormal investigators began loading their groceries into an already over-filled car, "And create the RPG." Harry added, shooting a smug glance at us over his shoulder.

"The what?" Dean voiced our silent question.

Ed sighed and crossed his arms, "Role playing game."

I nodded, "Right... That's, that sure is useful to know." I muttered.

"Yeah, well, a little lingo for you, Buffy." Ed smiled.

I scowled, "That's not my name."

"Anywho," Ed continued ignoring my glare, "If you, err, excuse us – we're off to la-la land."

"Well congratulations, guys. That sounds really great." Sam smiled warmly.

"Uh-huh, totally cool, I can't wait to see it." I added.

"Yeah, that's awesome. Best of luck to you." Dean nodded.

"Oh yeah, luck," Harry glanced at Ed, "That has nothing to do with it. It's all about the talent. Sheer... unabashed talent." The two partners nodded at eachother, pleased with themselves.

Ed made the gesture for live long and prosper from Star Trek and I had to physically restrain myself from rolling my eyes and scoffing. "Later." He said as he and his partner both got into their car.

They started to pull away until Harry leant out the window, "Oh, hey Buffy?" He called, I gave Sam and Dean an unamused look and turned to Harry, "So there's no chance you can give me your number?" He asked.

I smirked at the boys, inspiration suddenly hitting me, "Sure," I shrugged, "Why not?" I stepped over and Harry gave me, with shaking, sweaty hands, a notepad and pen. I smoothly wrote down the number and handed him back the notepad.

"Thanks." Ed said, I flashed them a smile and the investigators drove off.

I scoffed as I walked back to the boys, "Wow..."

"I have a confession to make." Sam blurted, I stiffened and gave Sam a wide-eyed, fearful look.

"What's that?" Dean asked, oblivious to my silent protests.

"I, uh... I was the one that called them and told them I was a producer." Sam smiled down at his shoes.

Dean laughed, "Yeah, well I'm the one who the dead fish in their back seat."

The three of us laughed and Sam's phone beeped, he flipped it open and frowned at the screen, "What the hell?" Sam scoffed, I gave Dean a mischievous smirk.

"Something wrong, Sam?" I asked, keeping my tone innocent.

"Yeah... I just got some crazy text from some unknown number asking for -," Sam's gaze snapped up to me, "Hey Steph? When you gave Ed and Harry your, uh, number... did you give them mine by any chance?" He asked.

I couldn't keep it up, I burst out laughing and nodded, Dean chuckled and Sam shook his head and grinned, despite himself.

"Truce?" Sam offered.

I nodded, "Yeah, we'll call it a truce."

"At least for the next hundred miles..." Dean winked and we walked back through the caravan park towards Dean's car.

Author's Note: Yay! Early(ish) update! On this day, 24th July (2014) I uploaded the first Chapter of this story - how crazy, right?! I've started a role play account on twitter itsStephEdgley so you guys can keep up with Val in the Impala with the boys and be kept updated on news about this story and upcoming chapters! I follow back and if you have anything you want to talk to me concerning this story.

Thank You all for you support over this past year! I love you all and I'll see you at the next installment, expect it to be finished soon!

- Blue-Eyed AngelGirl