Viva la Vida: Coldplay
He drove two hours in the Impala, music blaring, and felt much better. Castlewood, South Dakota was the essence of suburban simplicity. Standing outside the uninhabited house, Dean was stunned that the lawn was still immaculate.
"You looking into buying?" Asked the scorchingly Georgian accent.
Dean put on his best smile before turning around, "I was thinking about it."
The middle aged woman smiled back at him. She shook his hand, "I'm Madison Barnes, I've lived across the street for the last twenty three years."
"Oh, than you must know the family who owned this last. I mean for more than a month." Dean said, trying to get information from the nosey neighbor.
The woman winced, "Yes, I do. Poor Ronnie."
"Ronnie?" Dean asked.
Madison looked up at the empty house, "Veronica and Joseph Hastings were my friends. We all called her Ronnie." She pursed her lips, "You're not really looking to buy the house, are you?"
"Well,...no...not really. How did you know?" Dean asked, astounded.
She smiled, "After all these years, I have a sense for those who come poking around Joseph's death. Are you a reporter?"
"No, Mam, I'm a writer, researching modern hauntings for my next book." Dean said, flashing her one of his fake drivers licenses.
"Well, I'm not sure the house is haunted, but you might as well hear the story. Come across the street and I'll make some coffee. You look dead on your feet. We can talk." She gave a weak smile, and Dean could tell that she was still unsettled by whatever had happened in that house.
He agreed, and she took him into her house and Dean met her husband, Frank, who was headed out to play golf. They set in her living room surrounded by pictures of her family. Madison picked one up and handed it to Dean, "I had that framed the week before...you know. It was their daughter's fifth birthday. I was going to give it to Ronnie for her birthday."
A young Mr & Mrs Barnes with three children that looked just like them were posed with the man, woman and boy from the newspaper clip Bobby had shown Dean, in addition to a little blond haired girl, sitting on her father's knee. "Cute kids." He murmured.
The woman beamed, "My three, and Ronnie and Joseph's Daniel and Isabel. Things were like a dream back then. We would all go camping every other weekend or so."
"What was different that weekend?" Dean asked her.
She took the picture back and sighed heavily, "We were all supposed to go camping that weekend, but Daniel got a cold. Ronnie was going to stay with him, but Joe insisted that she come with us and let him stay. He said it was because he had just gotten home from one of his hunting trips and that she had stayed home the last time when Isabel was sick, but I always got the feeling that he knew what was going to happen. He wouldn't let her and Isabel stay."
"Wow, that must have been hard. She probably thought she should have been the one to stay." Dean said, remembering how scary it was to have an expiration date.
Mrs. Barnes nodded, "Drove poor Ronnie nearly over the edge afterwards. If it weren't for those kids, I think she might have taken a dive off the bridge. And after what they saw, it's amazing how well adjusted they are. While Joseph was being murdered, Daniel was in the hall closet, just feet from it all. And Isabel was the first one to walk into the house. She caught a fish out of the lake and wanted to show it to her dad."
She shook her head and wiped her eyes, "What that poor girl saw... It's just luck that she was too young to remember. And Daniel...I'm nearly certain he's a sociopath. After that, the only people he would talk to were his mother and sister. It was eerie. Daniel doesn't come around too often any more."
"Do they know who killed Joseph? Is that why no one will keep the house?" Dean asked, ready to get on to where he could go destroy something.
"The police said it was a serial killer, but no human I've every met could have done that kind of damage. He was simply slaughtered. It was like an animal attack. They spent two days pulling parts of him off the ceiling and out of the carpet." She winced, "I could see the mess during the day from the front living room. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, but no, that's not why people won't stay...I think."
"Well what do they say?" Dean asked.
She shrugged, "I'm the realtor, and I can tell you that they never really stick around long enough for me to ask why. They just come out white as sheets the morning of the twenty first, and hand me back the keys after they have their stuff packed up. If it wasn't bizarre to say so, I'd think it was haunted."
"Haunted? Do they always leave the morning of the twenty-first?" Dean said, coming to the conclusion of a death echo.
"Yes, always the twenty-first."
"That's tomorrow, mind if I spent the night in the house?" Dean gave her his most charming smile.
She looked indecisive but sighed, "Sure, Ronnie still pays the utilities. Just this one night though, I can't have you messing it up."
Dean chuckled, "Nah, it should be fine." If it was just an echo and not an angry ghost of course. "Thanks. Where do they live now anyway?" He might be able to use them to jolt Joseph out of his loop.
"Ronnie and Daniel live out in the country about three hours away, but Isabel..." The woman smiled, "She moved back just over a year ago, after her accident." She frowned and her head jerked up to pin Dean with a harsh matronly look, "Don't you dare go harass that girl. She's had a hard time of life and she's finally happy. These last three months are the happiest she's had in years."
"What makes you think that?" Dean asked, ignoring the rest of what the woman had said before.
"Well, her boyfriend moved in then. He's made a load of difference. He works in the library with Isabel's aunt. He's such a nice boy, real polite, always got one of his law books in his hands, real smart. They're so in love. It's the sweetest thing to see." She said airily.
"He sounds just like my brother." Dean commented, "Thank you for your time, I'll be heading out there now. If I could just have the key?"
"Of course!" The woman said, fumbling with a keychain before handing him an old key. "Please, try not to cause too much trouble." She warned and Dean gave her his best smile.
"Trouble? Nah, I won't be any trouble at all." She looked convinced and Dean practically ran across the street, "I guess that's what they call Southern Hospitality." He muttered to himself as he opened the door.
The instant he closed the door behind him, he heard a voice and noise on the stairs, "Daddy!" The blond girl from the picture, five year old Isabel, was running down the stairs towards him, "You're back!" The kid ran right through him and into the arms of the ghost of Joseph Hastings. Yeah, he was dealing with a death echo, but apparently it began hours before the actual death.
"Hey Izzy! I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye this morning. How's my little princess?" Joseph said, his voice booming and happy.
The little girl nuzzled into him, "I'm good! Are you coming camping?"
The ghost laughed, "No, I'm going to stay with Danny."
She pouted, and Dean felt for her. "But daddy, I want you to go with me!"
He shook his head, "No, Izzy, you and Mommy are going to have a girl's weekend!"
"You were going to teach me fishing though!" She said, and Dean got the idea that she was very much a daddy's girl.
"Isabel, I can teach you." A soft voice said from across the entry way. Veronica Hastings was a knockout. Her red hair was falling in perfect curls down past her shoulders, but her face was worried, "Hello darling. Danny's still upstairs."
Joseph went to his wife, cupping her face in his hands, "Don't frown so, Ronnie. He's going to be fine. Little boys get colds, it makes them stronger."
She sighed and kissed his cheek, "I know, you're right, but it doesn't make me worry any less about him. I've never had a kid this sick before. It makes me nervous."
Joseph laughed, picking up his daughter in one arm, "Well let's go check on him then. But after that, you two need to get on the road!" He carried his little girl up the stairs, disappearing with his arm around his wife.
Dean went up the stairs after them, but found nothing, the three apparitions had disappeared. He went back downstairs and sat himself up in the kitchen, rolling out a sleeping bag. When the noises started back up, Dean went up the stairs, stopping when Veronica and Joseph appeared at the top.
"Joe, I don't feel right about this." She said, her hands on Joseph's chest.
He kissed her gently, "Ronnie, please, Danny and I will have a blast, and so will you and Izzy. Nothing bad is going to happen."
"I know, but it's a feeling I just can't shake." She shook her head, "Never mind. Forget I said anything. What were you hunting this time?"
He shrugged, "This time it was a wolf. It was rabid and it nearly got me. My new friend John took care of it before it could though." Dean's heart jumped into his chest. His dad had gone on a hunt with Joseph Hastings? It was strange, he didn't remember ever hearing the name before.
She looked angry, "You could have been killed."
"Ronnie, I wasn't alone, John had my back."
"And this John, he has super powers?" She asked sarcastically.
Joseph pulled away from her and walked down the stairs, passing Dean, "Ronnie, don't start this. Please, I beg you, don't. You don't have to worry so much about me."
"You're my husband, Joe, it's my job to worry about you. And I can't protect you if I don't know where you are." She said.
He groaned, "Ronnie, I'm sorry, please, don't be angry."
"I'm not, I'm just worried." She shook her head and called up the stairs, "Isabel! Go get your bag, it's time to leave!" Veronica sat down, "So tell me about John."
Joseph smiled at her, "He's a good man. He actually has two sons, his oldest is about Danny's age and his younger one is just older than Izzy."
Veronica laughed softly, "You two traded kid stories?"
He nodded, "Yeah, I guess we did." Little Isabel tripped to the end of the stairs, "And now it looks like the princess is ready to go!" He scooped her up and kissed her face, "You're going to be good, right?" She nodded, "I love you, Izzy. Don't you forget it."
The girl slung her arms around his neck, "I won't daddy! I love you!"
He passed her back to her mother, who looked strangely unaffected by the weight of her gangly daughter. They kissed one last time, "I love you, Joe, but if Danny gets any worse, call."
He kissed the top of Isabel's head, "I will, Ronnie, and I love you too."
Veronica headed to the door, stepping over a salt line, and the three of them faded away.
Joe made the motion to open the front door and a little girl was standing there with a stick in her hand. She smiled up at him, "Hi Uncle Joe, can Danny or Isabel come play?"
Joe frowned, "Not that I'm not happy to see my only niece, but Macy, what are you doing here?"
She giggled, "I came to play! Can they play, or do you want to play with me Uncle Joe?"
"Aunt Ronnie and Isabel left yesterday night. They'll be back tomorrow though. It's late, Macy. You should go home. Your mother must be worried sick." He said, going to close the door.
The girl giggled again, "You don't understand, Uncle Joe. I'm not going to leave unless someone plays with me." Her eyes flashed black and Joe tried to slam the door closed. She stopped it with her hand, and Joseph stared in horror at the salt line she had ruined with her little stick. "It's time to play, Uncle Joe, and you can't stop me."
Joseph pulled the trigger on the pistol he had retrieved from his bag, shooting the demon in the shoulder. Suddenly everything went dark, and Dean stood stock still when he heard the sound of Hell Hounds.
"Danny, run!" The ghost screamed as he went down.
What must have been the little boy standing on the stairs, but he didn't look right to Dean. Daniel Hastings was alive, he had lived, but the boy on the stairs looked just as ghostly as his father. And then he was down too, the Hell Hounds after him as well. Dean wasn't sure he would ever get those sounds out of his head.
When it was all over, Lilith stood over the little dead boy, looking upset, "Well that didn't go as planned. We needed him." She said to the other demons as she stooped down, looking at the boy. "Impossible." She backed up, and the boy's eyes jerked open and his insides started making their way back into his body.
"Return to Hell, demon." He said, holding out a bloody hand towards her. The boy looked impassive as he touched his cousin's face. "You killed my vessel." Lilith fled the little girl on her own.
And Dean knew why, stretched out from the boy's back were the shadowy black fingers of angel wings. The wings faded away and the angel went to the closet under the stairs before everything around Dean faded to black.
He jerked awake and found Joseph's ghost standing over him, his son asleep in his arms, "I'm sorry about that last part, I could have skipped the hounds."
"You made me dream that?" Dean asked, pissed that the ghost had used him like that.
Joseph winced, "Yes, thank you for coming by the way. I'd hoped if I scared enough people off that your father would come looking, but I guess I'll have to settle for you. You have to protect Isabel. If they kill her, than the apocalypse cannot be stopped."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"Your brother was immune to the Croatoan virus, but Isabel's blood can reverse the effects of it. If she dies, there will be no way to stop it once it has been spread, and then everyone will be lost." Joseph said, forcing Dean to look him in the face.
"Why is her blood so special?" Dean asked.
"You've heard of the angel Veronica, haven't you? That angel and my wife are one in the same. She is one of the only angels powerful enough to procreate with humans. That makes Isabel very, very special." He said, putting his ghostly son down, "The angel Daniel has watched over her in my son Daniel's body, but soon, when her blood changes, the demons are going to figure all of this out. He won't be able to save her."
"And you think I can do it?"
Joseph shook his head, "Not just you, but your brother too."
Dean's temper went through the roof, "Listen, Casper, I don't know what you've been smoking, but my brother is dead, he is in the pit with Lucifer. How about you tell me where you're buried so I can salt and burn your ass."
Joseph looked taken aback, "You really don't know, do you? Dean, your brother is alive. He's back. Right now, he's two blocks over in Isabel's house. He's been there with her for months." Dean didn't hear the rest of what the ghost said before he grabbed his stuff up and ran through the front door to the Impala.
He went to the address the lady had told him Isabel lived at and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, she answered the door, "Hello?"
Dean looked her over, she looked like Veronica, only blond, and looked thoroughly fucked. "You're Isabel?" He asked, breathless. She nodded, pulling on her robe, looking nervous, and Dean got the feeling that she knew who he was. On some level, Dean thought she looked familiar too.
"Isabel, who is it?" He heard Sam say from just behind her. His brother put his arms around her before looking up and seeing him. Sam's face fell in shock, "Dean?"
Nothing big changed in this chapter from what it was previously, but the writing should be clearer and a little more polished!
Review please!
-Jenn
Viva La Vida: Coldplay
"It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field"