Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.
Chapter 27 is up!
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On with it, shall we?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN- HYSTERIA
We cautiously moved into the next room, as Sam flicked on his flashlight.
I could clearly see a blonde head peeking over the rusty metal bed in the corner.
Bracing himself, Dean flipped over the cot, to be confronted by a terrified, gasping teenager.
"Easy, easy," Dean held up his hands. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Dean, this is Sam and Odette. What's your name?"
"Katherine," the blonde girl whispered. "Kat."
"What are you doing here?" Sam exclaimed, surprised.
She blinked at him. "Um, my boyfriend, Gavin. He thought it would be cool to check this place out." She rolled her eyes.
"I don't know where he is now," she added, visibly upset.
"Okay, Kat. I want you to go home and we'll find your boyfriend for you, all right?"
"What? No!" Kat shook her head vigorously.
"I'm not leaving until I find him!"
Dean and Sam judged her expression, and gave up. "Fine, you come with me," Dean told Kat.
"We'd better find your boyfriend," he sighed.
"Come on, Odette," Sam said, pulling me along.
~Supernatural~
"Gavin!" Sam yelled, and I followed suit.
"Gavin, you there?"
"Gavin!"
I stumbled against something warm and fleshy, and bit back my scream.
"Sam!"
"What?" He shone his flashlight in my direction.
He looked down.
A dark-haired boy was unconscious on the floor.
We crouched down at once.
I shook him gently, and nearly got punched as a result.
"Whoa, whoa there," Sam said as the boy scrambled to his feet.
"Are you Gavin?"
"Yeah, yeah I am," Gavin panted. "Who are you?"
"We're investigating," Sam supplied unhelpfully. "Kat's looking for you,"
Gavin instantly set off after us.
"So how'd you fall?" I asked him.
"I don't really know," he answered. "I think I was running."
"From what?" Sam's voice sharpened.
"There was…..there was this girl. Her face. It was all messed up."
"Ok, listen, did this girl try and hurt you?"
Sam was focused on Gavin.
"What? No…she uh," Gavin's cheeks turned red.
"She what?" Sam demanded.
"She…kissed me." Gavin looked down at his shoes.
Sam floundered for a second. "Uh…um, but she didn't hurt you, physically?"
Gavin glared at him. "Dude! She kissed me. I'm scarred for life!"
Sam hid his laughter. "Trust me, it could've been worse. Now, do you remember anything else?"
"She uh…..actually, she tried to whisper something in my ear."
"What? Sam and I said at the same time.
Gavin stared at us, clearly fed up. "I don't know! I ran like hell!"
~Supernatural~
Then we heard Kat scream.
Gavin overtook even Sam in his haste to get to his girlfriend.
We ran down the hall to see Dean struggling with a metal door, smashing it with a pipe.
"What's going on?" Sam pushed at the door.
"She's inside with one of them!" Dean banged at the door, the ringing of metal on metal resounding in my ears.
"Help me!" Kat shrieked.
"Kat, it's not going to hurt you. Listen to me," Sam deliberately kept his voice calm. "You've got to face it, you've got to calm down."
Dean turned to Sam, astonished. "She's gotta what?"
"I have to what!" Kat shouted.
"These spirits, they're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to communicate. You gotta face it. You gotta listen to it."
"You face it!" Kat was fast turning hysterical.
"No!" I said. "It's the only way to get out of there."
"No!" Kat's voice was shaking, badly.
"Look at it, come on," I urged. "You can do it."
There was dead silence, and I could feel the tension mounting in the air.
"Kat?" Gavin was getting frantic.
"Man, I hope you're right about this," Dean watched the door warily.
"Yeah, me too," Sam exhaled heavily.
The lock clicked and the door slowly opened.
Kat stood in the doorway.
"Oh, Kat," Gavin hugged her tightly.
The old ache in my chest reappeared.
How long had it been since I'd been comforted in that way?
Sam went inside the room to check for the ghost.
He came back soon, shaking his head at Dean.
"One thirty-seven." Kat was pale and shivering.
"Sorry?" Dean raised an eyebrow.
"It whispered in my ear. One thirty-seven."
Dean and Sam spoke at the same time.
"Room number."
"Huh." Dean looked surprised. "Get them outta here," he told Sam.
"I'll go find room one-thirty-seven."
I turned on my heel, unsure whom to follow.
"Sam's gonna have his hands full with them," Dean jerked his head at their retreating backs.
"Mind coming with me?"
"Uh, no," I replied.
I don't think I fooled him.
~Supernatural~
Dean moved down a hallway, and shone his flashlight on room one thirty-seven. We'd found it.
He pushed against the door, using his weight to push aside the broken furniture blocking it.
The room was a mess, filing cabinets pushed over, papers strewing the floor, walls stained and damp.
I stepped in hesitantly.
Dean flicked through some folders laying in a cabinet, and kept looking.
He found a loose panel and pried it off. Behind it was a satchel full of papers.
"This is why I get paid the big bucks," he snickered.
It was hard not to smile at that.
I looked carefully at it, and then pulled on Dean's sleeve timidly.
"What?"
"It's a journal. Dr. Ellicott's journal."
Dean flipped through the pages, raising his eyebrow at the hand drawn copies of medical instruments.
"Well, all work and no play makes Dr. Ellicott a very dull boy."
A noise made us look up quickly.
~Supernatural~
We came around the corner to see Kat, just as she pulled the trigger of her gun.
Dean pushed me into the corner just in time, narrowly escaping the bullet himself.
He crouched down by the wall, making sure I did the same.
"Damn it, damn it, don't shoot! It's me!"
Kat's hand flew to her mouth. "Sorry!"
"Son of a…" He looked at the marks on the wall.
"What are you still doing here?" I asked.
"Where's Sam?" Dean demanded.
Gavin stared at him. "He went to the basement. You called him."
"I didn't call anybody."
~Supernatural~
We searched the basement.
"Sammy? Sam, you down here?"
"Sam!" I called.
As we turned, we saw Sam standing right in front of us.
Dean jumped back, automatically raising his shotgun.
"Man, answer me when I'm calling you! You alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam's reply was terse.
A flicker of unease went through me.
There was something…..different about him. Something hostile.
"You know it wasn't me who called you, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Sam nodded. "I think something lured me down here."
"I think I know who." Dean looked pleased. "Dr. Ellicott. That's what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you?"
"No. How do you know it was him?"
I shot a look at Sam.
There was something…..off about his voice.
I shook off my disquiet.
This was Sam. He'd saved my life, I had to trust him.
"'Coz I found his logbook," Dean said. "Apparently he was experimenting on his patients, awful stuff. Makes lobotomies look like a coupla aspirin."
"But it was the patients who rioted," Sam objected.
"Yeah, they were rioting against Dr. Ellicott. Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, extreme rage therapy. He thought that if he could get his patients to vent their anger they would be cured of it. Instead, it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier. I guess his spirit's doing the same with all the victims…. Come on, we gotta find his bones and torch 'em."
"How?" Sam was uncharacteristically abrupt. "The police never found his body."
"The log book said he had some sort of hidden procedure room down here somewhere where he'd work on his patients, so. If I was a patient I'd drag his ass down here, do a little work on it myself."
"I don't know, it sounds kinda…"
"Crazy?" Dean grinned.
"Yeah."
"Yeah. Exactly."
~Supernatural~
Dean opened another door, looked inside and gestured for us to follow.
I grew more nervous as I saw Sam give Dean a calculating look.
We entered the room.
"I told you. I looked everywhere. I didn't find a hidden room."
"Well, that's why they call it hidden." Dean snidely told him. "You hear that?"
"What?"
Dean looked around, crouching and holding his hand out. "There's a door here."
Sam pointed his gun at Dean. A trickle of blood ran from his nose. "Step back from the door."
I moved forward to reason with him, but he caught me by the arm, pressing until it hurt.
I struggled futilely, wincing as the pressure increased.
Dean rose to his feet, eyes going from the gun to Sam's face. "Put the gun down, Sam, and let Odette go."
Dean's voice was strangely level.
"Is that an order?" Sam's tone was tight.
"Nah, it's more of a friendly request," Dean's eyes swiveled from me to the gun.
Sam raised his gun to Dean's chest.
"Coz I'm getting pretty tired of taking your orders," he added conversationally.
"I knew it," Dean said. "Ellicott did something to you."
"Kid, stop moving," he ordered as I wriggled in Sam's iron grip.
I did as he asked.
"For once in your life just shut your mouth," Sam snapped.
"Sam, please-" I opened my mouth, and then I heard a gunshot.
I was blasted through the wall, gasping as my stomach flared in pain.
I dimly heard Dean curse as I tried to get to my feet unsuccessfully.
"What are you going to do, Sam?" I heard him say. "Gun's filled with rock salt. It's not gonna kill me."
"No. But it will hurt like hell," was Sam's calm reply.
I agreed with that, flinching as my stomach throbbed.
There was the sound of another gunshot.
I crawled forward, back into the room, still not able to stand.
Dean was lying on the floor, gasping, just like I was, for breath.
Sam stood over him.
"Sam, we gotta burn Ellicott's bones and all this will be over, and you'll be back to normal."
"I am normal," Sam's eyes were cold. "I'm just telling the truth for the first time. I mean, why are we even here? Coz you're following Dad's orders like a good little soldier? Because you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?"
"This isn't you talking, Sam," Dean said through gritted teeth.
I had my breath back, now.
I raised myself an inch off the ground.
Sam didn't notice. "That's the difference between you and me. I have a mind, of my own. I'm not pathetic, like you."
Dean's eyes narrowed. "So what're you gonna do, huh? Are you gonna kill me?"
I raised myself higher.
"You know what, I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. We're no closer to finding Dad today than we were six months ago!"
It was at this time I launched myself off the ground and collided against Sam.
There was a brief second when Sam froze, surprised.
And then he punched me. In my stomach.
The breath whooshed out of me as I thudded to the floor.
"You know, I understand Dr. Ellicott worked his thing on you, but hitting a girl? Seriously? I taught you better than that, Sammy."
Sam stared blankly at him.
"You know what? Here," he held out his Smith and Wesson. "Come on, take it. Real bullets are gonna do much more good than salt rounds."
Sam hesitated, and I struggled to get off the ground.
But I couldn't. Not this time.
Dean caught my eye, and inexplicably, winked. My mouth popped open.
Stay down, he mouthed.
Even if I'd wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to stand.
Sam pointed the gun at Dean's face.
"You hate me that much?" Dean blanched. "You think you can kill your own brother? Then go ahead. Do it!"
My eyes widened.
Sam pulled the trigger.
The chamber was empty. He squeezed it again.
Twice. Thrice.
Dean was up in an instant, punching Sam in the jaw. "Man, I'm not about to give you a loaded pistol!"
He punched him again; hard enough that Sam lost consciousness.
"Sorry, Sammy." He patted his shoulder.
Dean moved forward, helping me up, careful not to aggravate my injuries.
"You alright, kid?"
I looked at him, still unable to talk.
He mistook my silence. "Right, right, stupid question. Rock salt and a punch to the stomach. Bad combo."
He pulled me along.
Dean began looking around the room, tossing aside ragged curtains with his pistol.
We saw a tuft of something, maybe hair, poking out of a dilapidated cupboard.
He opened the door to find a mummified corpse.
I reeled, gagging at the stench.
"Oh, that's just gross," Dean twisted up his face in disgust.
He briskly salted the body. "Soak it up, Doc."
He dropped the container, and I handed him the tin of kerosene.
He squirted it over the corpse.
Out of nowhere, a gurney flew across the room, pinning us against the wall.
The ghost of Dr. Ellicott appeared, fixing his hands on either side of my face.
I fought against his hold as his hands lit up.
"Don't be afraid. I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you all better."
I thrashed against the wall, as the white-hot pain spiked through my head, kicking against the spirit.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean rummaging in his bag, finally throwing his lighter at the mummified body.
Dr. Ellicott stood stock-still.
Dean pulled me away from him.
The ghost turned black, and I leant against Dean as the doctor crumbled to dust.
~Supernatural~
Sam flexed his jaw painfully.
"You're not going to try and kill me, are ya?" Dean stared at him.
"No." Sam fingered his jaw carefully.
"Good. Because that would be awkward."
~Supernatural~
"Thanks, guys," Kat smiled at us.
"Yeah, thanks," Gavin added hastily.
"No more haunted asylums, OK?" Dean eyed them meaningfully.
We watched as Gavin and Kat walked to their car.
"Hey, Dean, Odette?"
Dean and I turned to Sam.
"I'm sorry, man. I said some awful things back there."
"You remember all that?" Dean asked.
"Yeah," Sam passed a hand over his face. "It's like I couldn't control it. But I didn't mean it, any of it."
"You too, Odette," Sam looked at me reproachfully. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hit you. Or shoot you."
"S'ok, Sam," I smiled at him. "Wasn't really you."
"You didn't mean it, huh?" Dean re-entered our conversation.
"No, of course not!" Sam's voice climbed in pitch. "Do we need to talk about this?"
Dean moved to get into the Impala. "Nah. I'm not really in the sharing and caring kinda mood. I just wanna get some sleep.
~Supernatural~
The persistent ringing of Dean's phone brought me out to the room he shared with Sam.
"Dean."
He did not move.
"Sam?" I called.
Both brothers were fast asleep.
I glanced at them. They both needed their sleep.
I picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
It nearly fell from my hand.
"John Winchester?"