July 18, 2012
Some run-down motel off of the beaten path
"Yeah, okay. Thanks Garth," Sam said as he closed his cellphone with a bitter taste of disappointment.
Dean walked out of the bathroom in the run-down hotel that they found off of the beaten path in San Francisco before he said, "Let me guess."
"No luck," Sam said as he leaned back in his chair. "The only thing that both he could think of was a haunting. But, I already ran that course and came back negative on my findings."
"No deaths?"
"Nope. Only Mariah's. Plus, you said that there wasn't any EMF readings, right?"
Dean nodded as he buried his face in a towel. "Yup. No EMF. Asked around while you were on the phone and there has been no unexplained noises, no opening and closing of any doors. Lights are all functioning properly and nothing has gone missing without explanations. No shadows, animals acting all wacky... Hell, people don't even feel like they are being watched by anyone. That campus is as normal as any college campus can be."
Sam looked at his brother with a puzzled look as he asked, "Nothing? Not even cold spots?"
"Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing out of the 'ordinary.' Why?"
Sam's brow furrowed as he went deep into thought. That can't be. That's impossible. Even campuses that have no records of death (which is rare to find, needless to say) have reports of cold spots. It's just the way it is. College is the time when emotions run ramped and without check, especially when you just graduated from high school. It is the time when negative energy is attracted to individuals and paranormal activities are reported more so than not.
And when I was living in that dorm, there were definite sings of a haunting. So why not now? Sam asked himself.
"Sam?" Dean asked. "Hello? Anyone home?"
"Sorry," Sam said. "I just remembered something. Back when first started in Stanford, I lived in the dorm that Mariah lived in. I tried not to notice, but when I was living there, there were definite signs of a haunting. I did research and concluded that it wasn't anything to worry about: Just old energies from students that were as mischievous in death as they were in life. But, you said that there weren't any signs now?"
Dean shook his head and said, "No. Nothing. Not even the oddly placed cold spot."
"Damn," Sam said after a few moments of silence. "This case is just getting odder by the moment, isn't it?"
"Yeah, no kidding. I'm no expert on college life, but shouldn't there be something there?"
"Yeah. Something. An odd smell, hearing music... There should be something. College campuses are like a buffet table for spirits. All of that angst and negative energy bundled up into one place? It's something that a lot of spirits feed off of when they feel like they are starving. Sure, they may not stay for a true haunting, but there should still be signs that they were there at some point."
Dean nodded as he said, "And there hasn't been anything like that since Mariah's death."
Running his hand through his hair, Sam sighed. "God, I've never heard anything like this, Dean. It's almost like Mariah's death made the ground at Stanford holy or something."
"Yeah..." Dean said. "Makes me wish Bobby was here. He'd know what was going on."
Several minutes went by before either Winchester made a move. This case was one of the most unique cases they had in a while that didn't involve the end of the world as we know it. Mariah's death seemed to purify the grounds of Stanford, which is unlike anything Dean had ever heard of. Sure, he remembered John telling him of some cases in which the ground was purified. For instance, when a saint died they (more often than not) purified the grounds on which they stood moments before their death. But, that was only a fairytale as far as Dean was concerned. There has to be another reason for what they were encountering at Stanford. It's the only logical explanation.
"You call Frank yet?" Dean finally asked.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, he's doing research into it."
"What about Ku Ku Kachu and his psychopathic of a wife?"
"Oh, come on now," a new voice said with a slight British accent. "That's not a nice way to talk about the missus."
Hopping up to their feet as quickly as gravity would allow, the Winchester brothers aimed and steadied their guns at the new arrival. Standing in front of Sam and Dean, in all of his glory, was none other than Don Stark. And, to be perfectly honest, he looked pretty pleased with himself.
"Stark," Dean said as he gritted his teeth. "What are you doing here? Better yet, how the hell did you find us?"
"Oh, calm down, boy," Stark said as if he was addressing an over-enthusiastic dog. "I came here only because Sammy-boy over their asked for my help."
"I asked for your help," Sam said as he tightened his grip on his pistol. "But, I didn't ask you to pop in out of nowhere without warning us ahead of time. Hell, I think I even said to just call, not come by and say hi."
"True," Stark said as he smiled. "But where would the fun be in that? Come on, boys. Why don't you get your knickers out of the seemingly permanent twist they are in and calm down. I just came by because I wanted to see my two favorite Winchester brothers. Not here to cause any trouble."
Sam and Dean glanced at each other before they lowered their guns slowly. Sam decided that it would be the best idea to put his sidearm away completely. After all, Stark is a very powerful (and very old) witch that you don't really want to get on the bad side of. Dean, however, kept his gun right at his side like the loyal companion it was. The youngest Winchester rolled his eyes slightly before he asked, "So? Take it you know something? Or are you just out for a leisurely stroll and decided it would be a great idea to find us to say hi?"
"A bit of both," Stark said with a grin.
"How did you find us, anyway?" Dean asked.
Stark scoffed before he said, "Honestly, do you really think that those little hex bags of yours can stop me from finding you? If you truly think that, Dean, you are dumber than I thought."
Dean scowled at Stark but said nothing.
Stark chuckled before he said, "Alright. Down to business. I did manage to find something. Actually, I figured it out while I was out on my 'leisurely stroll.' This Mariah... her death isn't unique."
"It isn't?" Sam asked.
"No. As a matter of fact, the events, or lack thereof, that followed her death are not new to me. Around four hundred years ago, I was asked to advise on a case by a friend of mine that is similar to the one you are working on now. However, just like you, I couldn't figure out what was going on or why the lack of deaths were happening. After that singular death, it seemed that there were no more cases such as that one. However, around 75 years later, another case like the first one I mentioned happened. And, that was just the start. Every century I participated in a case like this but had no luck figuring out what was happening."
"So, this is something that has been happening for several hundred years?" Dean asked as he set his gun down on the table.
"Yes," Stark said. "And it is something that concerns me to this day."
Dean and Sam looked at each other with a puzzled, yet concerned, look on their face. Of course, it stands to reason that Frank and Garth wouldn't know about cases such as the one they were working on (at least, not right away). After all, the circumstances that surround Mariah's death aren't truly odd (at least, not to the general public). However, if this is something that has been happening for four hundred years, and possibly longer, the likelihood of this being a unique case is slim. And, if Stark doesn't know what is going on after being directly involved in cases such as this... that would make any hunter uneasy.
"Oh, just wait," Stark said. "It gets better."
"Great... how could it possibly get any better?" Sam asked as Dean groaned.
"The focal point of the cases I did work on? How the case zeros died? Each and every one of them killed themselves."