Chapter 7

The playroom was in full swing with kids playing with the various toys or with their own toys. It was just like any old kid place that Jesse got dropped off at when his mom did her thing with her Christian group. Ever since she and his dad divorced, she had been clinging to her church and her faith and had been forever trying to get him to see God and Jesus and all that hoopla. He sort of resented it since she had never cared about it before.

Now he was just amusing himself with his Nintendo DS while she was doing this Christian Mothers thing. It was pretty much a glorified PTA session. He sighed as he made his character win the level as he eyeballed the other kids playing. He knew pretty much all of them and he thought them to be brats except one kid and he was waltzing right up to him now.

"Hey Jesse. You came!"

Jesse looked at the kid staring at him with bright blue eyes. He gave a slight smile and replied, "Yeah. How are ya Petey?"

The kid's name was actually Peter but Jesse called him Petey. At first the kid's mom threw a fit and his mom said that he had to ask permission. Petey didn't care. In fact Jesse was the only one that paid attention to him in Junior Bible and he looked after him when the other kids decided to pick on him. Jesse liked the kid and kind of saw him like a little brother and looked forward to seeing him at church functions.

Petey smiled big and replied, "Doing good. I'm glad that you're here. I thought that I was going to be alone. Mom said that your mom was coming but she didn't say anything about you."

Jesse paused his game to look at Petey. The kid was eight and a little on the small side. He once told him that when he hit his growth spurt, he was going to be taller than the whole bunch and then he would be able to take care of himself. Petey though said that he would rather stick together with his best friend. Jesse wouldn't say it out loud but it made him feel better about the whole thing. He replied, "Yeah well your mom doesn't like me. Besides my mom doesn't go to any church function without dragging me along because she wants me to see what I've been missing."

"Don't you want to know about God and Jesus?" Petey gave a frown at Jesse, not sure why his friend was so resistant to this.

"I don't know Petey. I just have trouble buying it but that's why I have you around. You can talk to me about it," Jesse replied as he smiled at Petey. "Well we're both stuck here in kiddy-ville so you wanna do something?"

Petey gave a slight smile. Jesse always found them something to do when they were waiting for their parents. "Can we get out of here?"

Jesse glanced around. He could see two adults, one male and one female checking on the other kids. They probably wouldn't be able get out of the room. They were supposed to stay there for the two hours before lunch. He glanced around and saw a door. He pointed at it and said, "How about we start there? Maybe we'll find something and on the way, see if we could sneak out?"

Petey knew that he was supposed to stay there but he was bored too and Jesse never let anything bad happen to him. He watched over him and made sure that he didn't get into trouble. He smiled, "Let's see if we can explore."

Jesse grinned back. He turned off his game and put it in the pocket of his jacket. He motioned for Petey to follow him. At the moment the two adults were busy with a slight mishap. Some of the kids puked and they were trying to clean it up and take care of the kids. That left the way out of the room free of distraction. Jesse trip trotted towards the door and looked out.

"Hey. You two."

Jesse made a slight face. They were caught and not going anywhere. He turned and put on the charm, "Yes?"

"You two are supposed to stay in here until your parents pick you up," the supervisor said. "Come on."

Jesse looked at Petey and muttered, "Busted." He then led the way back into the room after giving a slight tug on Petey's jacket. They would just have to find something else. At least the supervisor left them alone since there were probably twenty other brats to worry about. He turned to look at the open door and he saw someone walk by.

It was a woman, tall and pretty. That was saying something since he was at the age that to think a girl pretty was gross. She looked a little agitated about something or surprised. It was funny because even in that state she was very pretty. She was followed by a tall guy. He looked like a giant to Jesse. The guy was trying to get her to stop. Jesse lost interest and looked around for something to do. It was then he spotted the door from earlier. The biddy said that they weren't to leave the room. That door was still in the room so they could check it out. He said, "Come on Petey. Let's check out that door."

Petey looked at the door that Jesse pointed at. Well they couldn't go exploring but maybe they could find out something to do. He nodded, "Okay Jesse."

Jesse led the way to the door. The first thing he did was try the door handle. It jiggled but the door didn't open. He tugged and found that it didn't want to budge. He frowned slightly and then said, "Looks like it might be locked."

"Then maybe we should leave it alone," Petey said as he looked around. The staff wasn't paying attention at all. They were busy with the other kids.

Jesse looked at Petey. "Come on Petey. Aren't you just the least bit curious?"

Petey looked around before looking back at Jesse and then on the door. He nodded, "Okay. How are we going to get in?"

Jesse examined the door. He ran his fingers along the door. His fingers touched a piece of ornamental work and they felt strange. He peered closer and found something interesting. His dad was a locksmith before his parents split. He used to hang out in the shop and learned a few things about locks. He grinned as he found it. "Cool beans."

Petey asked, "What?"

Jesse smiled and showed Petey. "Hidden lock. Very cleverly done." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of lock picks.

"You're going to pick the lock?"

"Yeah. Dad showed me how before he and my mom split." Jesse selected a pick and stuck it into the hole for the key. "Watch my back Petey. Let me know if someone is coming."

Petey nodded and watched. He only turned when the lock clicked and Jesse opened the door. It led to another room and he followed Jesse in. It was pretty spacious and there were some interesting things in there. One thing stood out. It was a horse and it was big enough for him to sit on. Petey was curious. It looked so real and he had to touch it. He walked towards it and had his hand out to touch it. He had to touch it.

It had been nearly a hundred years. A hundred years and they escaped his grasp. He had been banished and by that same stupid boy that freed him in the first place. For a hundred years he had been imprisoned from following and within that bloody horse. Well he was able to leak through. The stupid boy was still going strong but he managed to leak out.

It was the smell of fresh blood that woke him up. The noise being made in the playroom where that horse had been locked up. It woke him up. Something was happening. He could sense it. He could hear it.

He heard the stupid boy talking but it wasn't to the old man. It was someone else. The old man was gone. Changes were being made. At least that was what the new one said but it looked like the new one was going to do what the stupid boy wants. He had to buy his time. The chance came when the two boys started poking around.

He saw the two of them. They were not related but they acted like they were close. That would work perfectly. It took a close relationship, a bond of brothers to bind him. They weren't brothers but they had a bond like brothers. That could be enough to free him, if not completely. The stupid boy used a combination of spells to lock him up.

The key was the horse. The replica of the pet the stupid boy loved. It took extreme devotion and great love for the boy to bind him to the horse like he did. That was one thing he respected the boy for. He played on the boy's eagerness to learn things to set him free from his last place. Then he had some fun and the stupid boy tried to stop him. So he taught him a lesson and it had deadly consequences.

Who knew that the brat would come back from the dead and stop him? As long as the boy was at the house and property, he couldn't leave and have fun. For a hundred years he was under the boy's thumb. Even when the boy started degenerating as they all do, he was still going strong and made sure no one touched the damned horse.

The stupid boy knew that it took a bond of brothers or a close bond to break one of the locks to the spells. Yet he was playing it safe and keeping every single person away from the damn thing. At least today he gave the stupid boy a scare. Since he was degenerating, he couldn't watch everything and some things leaked by. It certainly was fun and there were quite a few people there to have fun with, especially the kids.

The younger boy was good. The elder was too smart. Still they were a team. They would do. He noticed them heading towards the door. He couldn't let them leave. Even if it would drain him for a time, he had to get them back. So he sent the suggestion to the nearest adult and they brought them back.

He was weakened but it worked. They were now heading towards the closet. This was going to work… Then he felt something that was like a chill. He hadn't felt that since… The boys were working the lock. He could take a look so he wandered into the hall and looked. There were voices but he couldn't see anything and he had to get back to the boys.

The older one had picked the lock and opened the door. The younger one followed. Now was the time to influence him. He put emphasis on the horse. He watched as the younger one's eyes lighted on the horse. He gave just enough to make touching it irresistible.

It was so easy. It was like Sleeping Beauty in how the girl was tricked into touching the point of the needle of the spinning wheel. He watched as the boy inched closer and closer. Yes just touch it and make sure your friend touched it too. Both needed to touch and the younger could convince the other to touch the horse.

The younger one touched it and he felt the first part come undone. He watched as the boy looked at the horse. The boy then said, "Jesse, look at this."

The older one called Jesse stopped what he was doing and came over to look. He asked, "What did ya find Petey?"

"Just a horse."

The older one looked at it. Come on, touch it. The older one said, "Looks neat Petey. I wonder why it was hidden in here."

The older one was kneeling by the horse. He looked at it and then turned to look out the open door of the closet. He lost his balance and put a hand on the horse. There it was. He felt the spell break. Now he was free. Well not completely free but he could have the fun that he longed to have. He watched as the boys looked around as they felt the shudder. He looked up at the ceiling of the room and called out, "Oh Tommy. I'm back and I want to have some fun."

"So you like the place Angie?" Dean looked at Angela as the three of them walked towards the main house.

After he got a picture of the look on Sam's face in the bungalow, he dialed Haley again. He found that she was already there. He told her that they were there and that Angela didn't suspect anything and that they were heading to the room. He watched as Angela looked around the place. She looked like she was just going for a stroll.

Angela took in the sights and the scents. She could smell the minerals from the springs. They were the good kind. It was the kind of formulation that those health spas were in constant competition to acquire. It reminded her of some time down south with limestone sinkholes and water. She looked at the house. It was like the old planter houses from the days of the old South. "I like it."

Sam watched as she looked around. He watched as she sniffed the air and looked around. He wondered if she was really playing up going on vacation since she seemed to accept everything and pointed out how nice everything was but he was sure that she was using to hide. Still he wasn't going to badger her but play along. "That's good Angie. We would hate for you not to like it and…"

"Oh any place would have done. I was surprised that you found natural mineral springs." Angela looked back at the brothers. She tapped her nose and said, "I can smell them. The best combination and spas would kill for the formula but the best ones are natural made."

"You plan on swimming?" Dean asked the question in a suggestive tone.

"Maybe," Angela replied as she sniffed the air again, "Mineral springs are just the thing for tense muscles and the like."

"Okay."

Angela turned around and continued to walk towards the house where they were going to grab a bite. She had to admit that it was a surprise that the boys were able to get the bungalow. A place like this cost some serious money and she knew they didn't have that kind of cash. Then she figured by the way they were acting, that somebody else paid and they were supposed to surprise her. It made the most sense since Dean was being too nice on some things and Sam looked guilty, like he did something wrong. It was like reading an open book. So she decided to play along since it allowed her to not think about what was really bothering her.

Crowley was an ass for handing her that job. He knew that it would drive the point home in that inevitably Chasers tended to go crazy. She could admit that she did have her bouts of crazy and that usually came about when it pertained to the case she was working on.

It also didn't help that it was that time of year again. She had made plans to take off for a few days but she scratched them since she figured it would be hard to explain that one to the boys without lying about it. Plus there were a few things that she did during that time. It was a purge of sorts. Every year it was the same, almost like a biological or psychosomatic tick. She got depressed and then she did her plans and it was purged. However recent events seemed to have started it early this year.

Being in this place lifted her mood a little. Maybe some good would come out of this trip. Maybe she shouldn't delve too deeply into it. Still that didn't mean she was really a hundred percent. Hell she bought an orchid and for somewhat morbid reasons besides the beauty of the flower. She looked at the house as she approached the main house. "You know, these old planter houses have some hidden secrets. What are the odds that management hasn't found them all?"

"Uh…" Sam looked at Dean who shrugged his shoulders. "Not very high… maybe?"

Angela turned to look at the boys. She had an idea. Maybe it might work out everything and was just what she needed to jumpstart again. "I think it would be fun to look around. Sort of like working a case."

"Hey, no working a case," Dean pointed out. "This is supposed to be a vacation."

"It is," Angela insisted, "Besides I said like working a case; meaning the usual sneaking and poking into places only staff are allowed into. We might even find something related to the Underground Railroad."

"Here in Arkansas?"

"Hey, it wasn't just north they were heading to. Some went west," Angela replied shrugging.

"Can we at least get a bite? I know that I'm starving," Dean interjected. Now that Angela explained it, her little excursion might be relaxing. They wouldn't be looking for anything related to the supernatural. Hell the idea reminded him of the time he would set up scavenger hunts for Sam when they were little. "Then maybe we could hit the place on a search."

Angela grinned. "Cool beans." She then turned in and walked inside the house.

"Cool beans?" Sam looked at Dean.

"Just go with it Sam," Dean replied as he started up the stairs. When Sam didn't follow he turned and looked at him. "Sam, she's not crazy. It's vacation so she suggested something to do. Sort of like what I did to amuse you when we were little."

Sam remembered those. It started one Christmas they were staying at Bobby's and since then whenever he brought up the question of where Dad was, Dean created a new one. Maybe Dean did have a point; he probably was making too much out of this. It just sounded weird to hear her say something like that. "I'll buy that Dean it's just even that phrase was a little way off for her."

"Sam," Dean couldn't help but give a laugh, "Just…" He gave a slight whatever gesture with his hand before turning around and headed inside. His brother being a worrywart over something she said. Granted some of the things she said lately were something to worry over but stuff like a phrase a twelve year old would say… that was nothing.

Meanwhile Angela was waiting for them by inspecting some of the pictures hanging on the wall. None of them were recent since they all had that black and white look and the subject matter indicated something older than the 21st century. Yet they all had some sort of appeal to them.

There was nothing special about them since they were taken of the various buildings around the Wilkerson House. She could recognize the bungalows except in the picture there were three but the actual property had two. Angela figured that maybe it was destroyed or the property was sold or something. It was no big deal since that happened quite a bit during post- Civil War aka Reconstruction. She moved on to a series of photos that had a young man astride a horse in riding gear.

The boy looked roughly eighteen in the picture. He was dressed in that competitive gear or what the gentleman used to ride in horse races. She guessed it was the latter since she saw one picture that had the boy sitting on the horse in the winner's circle. In fact there were two of the same pose. One in the winner's circle and the other in front of that missing bungalow and both looked identical and the product of a really good photo shop.

Suddenly she heard something. It wasn't English but she recognized it but couldn't place it. It was like a whisper or something. Angela narrowed her eyes and looked around. Near her was a maid and she asked, "Did you hear something?"

"Hear what Miss?"

Angela looked around and gave a slight shake of her head. Maybe her memories were playing tricks on her again. She replied, "Never mind. Thank you."

At that moment Dean came in saying, "Oh good you waited."

Angela smiled and replied, "Well I wasn't going to let your starving ass loose. You might clear the whole place out."

Dean grinned knowing that she was teasing. He replied, "I would be more worried about you. I rarely get your appetite."

"Touché."

Sam came in and the three of them headed up the stairs to what was once the upstairs parlor. It certainly was a surprise to Angela what she saw in the room. Haley was there as well as Austin, Akira and Christian. They greeted her and reveal what appeared to be a cake.

It was no ordinary cake. The design was evident to what it was for. Angela stared at it for the longest time wondering if she was in hell again. She looked up and gave a smile and said, "Excuse me." She then turned and walked out of the room, leaving behind a very confused group.

Sam took off after her while Dean said, "I didn't expect that. Sorry you were disappointed Hale."

Haley frowned at Dean, "What are you talking about? You should be the one disappointed."

"I would think so too," Christian added, thinking that the response was unusual for Angela.

"I didn't plan this," Dean replied wondering what was going on. "All that happened was that I received a message from you Hale. It said that you were planning a surprise party. Sam and I were thinking about a vacation anyway."

"Dean, I didn't send anything," Haley replied. "I received something from you saying that you were planning this."

"Same here," Akira said.

"I didn't send anything," Dean replied.

It then occurred to Dean that someone was deliberately screwing them or worse. Perhaps it was a setup to some trap. Hell it was easy to get them assembled all into one place. Dean talked it through, "Well if you didn't send anything and I didn't send anything, then who did?"

"Someone who obvious knew that we would come. I think the connection is Angie," Austin put forth.

"And that list is quite a long one," Dean countered. "However I want to know what it was that had Angie react that way."

Before anyone could form an answer, there was a low rumble. Then the house began to shake as if there were an earthquake. It felt like there were ripples under their feet from a shockwave. Dean gripped the bar and looked around. The wall hangings were rattling. In the corner his eye caught something.

It was an all too familiar thing. It was in the adjacent room linked to that one. He walked through the room as it was shaking to get through it. As soon as he was through the door, it slammed shut. It sent his senses up and Dean whirled to try to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge. He kept jingling the handle. "Sonofabitch," was all that he could say. He kept trying to jingle the handle and get it open, not wanting to resort to breaking windows and being stuck with a hefty bill. He cursed for being tricked into here without anything to back him up or any weapons and by a frigging spirit. He knew it was too good to be true for this to be a vacation. Then again since when was anything a break for the Winchesters?

A/N: Looks like the 'fun' is just beginning. Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter of 'Trick'steen Candles...