AN: Sorry for the long update wait and the relatively short chapter. Real action will pick up again in chapter 4. As always, feedback is welcome :)

CHAPTER 3

Jenna Wood offered us her couch to sit on, and chose an armchair opposite us for herself. An incredibly old dachshund wobbled his way to her feet where he lay down. She briefly bent down to pet his head. Then she looked at us expectantly.

"Well, boys, what can I do for you?"

Dean exchanged a brief glance with his brother. "Well, Mrs. Naysmith, as my brother already said, we're writing an article about haunted houses in the area and since there was this", Dean actually paused, his eyes flickering to Sam and myself, "... this incident at your family's estate, we thought..."

Dean finally trailed off, seeing that the old woman was glaring at him, eyes practically shooting daggers in his direction. I couldn't blame him. That old goose was creepy. I for one wouldn't be upset if we could leave about right about now.

"We heard about the accident your brother Jeremy had," Sam picked up, clearly unfazed by the old woman's posture. "We were wondering if you could tell us what really happened to him. Did he... was his falling down the stairs to his death also a ghost related incident?" Leave it to Sam to be blatantly blunt.

Jenna Naysmith had kept her dagger eyes on Dean even when Sam had taken over the talking. At the mention of a ghost, her head snapped around to face Sam and even the old dog half lifted an ear in attention. I fully expected her to kick us out, screaming at us never to return. Instead, she started to laugh.

The three of us looked at each other, neither of us sure what to make of her reaction. Eventually she calmed down. "You must forgive me, boys," she explained with a smile, "I didn't mean to be so harsh, but I expected you to blame me for my brother's death. And the deaths of those poor boys the other day. The rumors have been following me ever since Jeremy died. But since you just want to know about the ghosts," she laughed again, somehow sounding relieved and mirthful.

"So, what happened when Jeremy died?" Dean asked quickly.

"Tyler Edwards happened," she replied harshly, the mirth gone from her voice instantly. "No accident, no ghost. Only Tyler. But of course the police and our parents believed him over me. Who would believe a schizophrenic, a 'notorious liar'?"

Bitterness colored her voice and silence took over the tense atmosphere. Sam, Dean and I exchanged a glance. Schizophrenic? I knew many people used the word schizophrenic loosely, including many shades of mental disabilities, ranging from paranoia to multiple personalities. Apparently Mrs. Naysmith was suffering from some form of psychological problems which led to her not being taken seriously by others.

"Now, we would be very interested in your version of what really happened that day, Mrs. Naysmith," Dean said soothingly, flashing a brief smile. For all his upfront gruffness and toughness he could display an amazing amount of gentleness and empathy. By the looks of it, it did the trick.

"Oh, I will, my boy," Mrs. Naysmith replied sweetly, the appalled frustration in her voice from moments earlier gone. She smiled back at Dean, which gave me sort of he creeps. "There's not much to tell, though. Jeremy and Tyler were friends. Best friends. But Tyler has always been somewhat envious of Jeremy. You know, his family didn't have the financial background like we did. To Jeremy it didn't matter. He didn't think any less of his friend. But Tyler," she paused, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

"Tyler didn't want to feel like the recipient of charity," Sam finished her sentence. Jenna Naysmith nodded.

"There was this girl, Susan, whom Tyler had a crush on. She seemed to return his advances and I know Tyler wanted to propose. Jeremy thought he'd be doing him a favor, giving him some money to buy her a ring."

"But Tyler didn't see it that way, did he?" I asked. Jenna looked at me for the first time and nodded.

"We were standing on top of the staircase. Tyler and Jeremy had gotten into a shouting match and I tried to calm them down. I don't know what it was, but Tyler was... like possessed." I noticed Sam and Dean exchanging a meaningful glance which went unnoticed by Jenna. "He shoved Jeremy. Jeremy stumbled back and..." Jenna stopped midsentence.

"And fell down the stairs," Sam finished for her. Jenna nodded.

"He wasn't moving, so we both ran to him. I think he died instantly. I panicked and shouted for my parents, ran to look for them. Tyler, he must have bolted and run off. Our parents never knew Tyler had been there, and the police only questioned him because I insisted it was his fault. Tyler denied he had been present at all. Of course they believed him and not me, so they assumed I had pushed my brother." She sighed. "They didn't want a scandal so they declared it an accident. The officer who was there was friends with my parents and they all didn't want to bring any more focus on the family just because the crazy sister messed up." The bitterness in her voice was evident as she forced the words out between clenched teeth.

"Did Tyler ever say anything to you about it?" Dean wanted to know.

Jenna huffed. "I never saw him again. It was like he disappeared from the face of the earth. As well as Jeremy's necklace."

I noticed Sam and Dean exchanging meaningful glances yet again. Well, meaningful to them at any rate because I certainly had no clue what they were communicating.

"So nobody knows what happened to Tyler?" asked Dean.

Jenna shook her head. "As I said, I never saw him again. He didn't show up for the funeral, nor anytime else."

"And what about the missing necklace?"

Jenna got up and shuffelled over to the fireplace mantle where she grabbed a framed picture. Her dog lifted his head long enough to watch her before resting it on his paws again. Walking back, Jenna handed the picture to Sam.

"This is Jeremy. The picture was taken about a year before his death. You can see the necklace with the pendant. It's identical to one I have. My parents had them made for us, merging our initials together."

I moved closer to Sam to inspect the picture. The necklace consisted of an artfully interwoven J and W. Next to Jeremy was a young Jenna, sporting the same necklace.

"You wouldn't have a picture of Tyler, Mrs. Naysmith?" Sam asked out of the blue. The old lady closed her eyes, thinking.

"I believe so. Let me go check." She got to her feet again and waddled off into the next room.

"Dude," Dean said softly, regarding his brother. "There was no necklace on the bones I burnt."

"Of course not," Sam replied. "Jenna said the necklace went missing. But it could be what ties Jeremy to this place."

"Which means the necklace must be somewhere on the premises still," Dean mused and stared into the distance. His brother watched him a moment and then verbally nudged him.

"Dean?"

"Hmm?"

"I can feel you think. Care to share with the class?"

Despite myself, I snorted, which earned me a reproachful double Winchester stare. I lifted my hands in silent surrender. Dean scowled and opened his mouth to say something but he didn't get far.

"I think...," he managed before trailing off as Jenna returned, a worn looking, and yellow edged photo in her hands. She dropped it on the table in front of Sam.

"My brother on the left, Tyler on the right," she supplied unnecessarily as even I recognized Jeremy Wood from having just seen him in the framed picture. Sam grabbed the picture and squinted in an effort to identify something in detail. His eyebrows climbed up his forehead and without a word he handed the picture to Dean who treated it in a similar manner.

Then the brothers shared a brief, inconspicuous look that I would have missed if I hadn't been watching Dean closely. I suspected that both of them had noticed something that would warrant a pow-wow later on, but I had no clue what it was.

Clearing his throat, Dean addressed Jenna again. "Would it be alright if we borrowed this picture for a while, Mrs. Naysmith?"

Surprised, she looked up, her eyes narrowing with a hint of suspicion on her features, scrutinizing the elder brother. Dean noticed her expression, too, and did what he did best. He flashed her a big smile and all of a sudden looked about as threatening as a little boy asking for a cookie.

"But I need it back," Jenna Naysmith said as way of consent.

"Most definitely, Mrs. Naysmith," Dean said and it wouldn't have surprised me one bit if he had thrown in a salute as well. Saying our good-byes we got up and made our way out the front door. As soon as we were all seated in the Impala, doors closed, Sam showed me the picture.

"Dude on the right, Tyler... he's our second ghost," he declared. I studied the face as best I could and was just about to ask whether they were sure when Dean stunned Sam and myself into momentary silence.

"Tyler's ghost is wearing the necklace."

TBC...