Demonic Possession and Bloody Mary
Amanda's smile dropped and vanished, now staring at them worriedly. "Who are you three?" Amanda demanded.
"We're just here to help." Chris answered, busy pulling up her hair tightly with the ponytail on her wrist. Last thing she needed was to be blinded by dirty blonde hair falling in face.
"We've spoken to some of the other survivors." Sam clarified. "We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure." Damn right it wasn't a problem with the mechanics of the plane.
"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now." Dean said. And they lost her.
Amanda shook her head. "I'm sorry. I...I'm very busy. I have to go back." She stuttered awkwardly.
Chris stepped in front of her before she could leave. "Come on, we just need help with this one small thing. Then you can call us crazy all you like." Wouldn't be the worst or first time she'd heard it.
Amanda shook her head. "I can't help you." She insisted, trying to leave again. This time, Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she could go out the curtain.
Dean quickly held up his hands when he saw Amanda look like she was about to start panicking and screaming for help. Not like they could make a quick escape or get away on a crowded plane in the middle of flight. "Wait a second, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? But listen to me, uh..." He couldn't figure out a way to break it to her easy so he said it bluntly. "The pilot in two four eighty five, Chuck Lambert. He's dead."
Amanda stalled and looked up clearly surprised. "Wait, what? Chuck is dead?"
"He died in a plane crash. Now that's two plane crashes in two months." Which was rarer than rarer. Like that one in ten million chance of ever happening. "That doesn't strike you as strange." Amanda stuttered helplessly.
"Amanda, just like that other flight, the exact same thing is about to happen." Chris said, looking at her watch. Ten minutes left.
"Maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't." Sam cut in.
Dean begged. "Amanda, you have to believe us."
Amanda looked hesitant before finally explaining what she knew. "On...on two four eighty five, here was this man. He had...these eyes." She could still remember how confused she was, how could anyone have eyes like that. Dark eyes sure, but not eyes like that.
"Yes!" Sam jolted. "That's exactly what we're talking about."
"His eyes, they were solid black, weren't they?" Chris asked.
Amanda slowly nodded, "I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?"
"Anything that'll help us keep this plane in the air until we can land normally...without crashing." Chris explained.
"What we need you to do is bring the copilot back here," Dean explained, leading her tithe curtain.
Amanda protested like any civilian would. "Why, what does he have to do with me?"
"Amanda." Chris grabbed her attention. "Right now, you are probably the only person on this plane that will...somewhat believe us. And only because you saw those eyes."
"All we need to do is talk to him." Dean skillfully lied.
Amanda stopped in the doorway of the curtain and looked back at the three Winchester's desperately. "How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the copilot?" She asked.
Sam said, "Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit."
Amanda made one last protest attempt. "Do you know that I could lose my job if you..." She stopped.
"Trust me, there are worst things coming." Chris said. Eight more minutes.
"And you'll be losing a lot more than a job if you don't help us out." Dean said. Meaning her life and every other life on this plane would end not even ten minutes from now. And there was like a hundred people here.
Andrea hesitated for a moment before consenting. Dean, Chris, and Sam watched peeking out from between the curtain as Amanda on shaky legs walked to the cabin. She knocked on the door. Only when the copilot emerged did they duck back in. Chris took the holy water Sam pulled out while Dean passed dad's journal to Sam. He flipped it open, looking for the right page easily.
The copilot wore an easy going smile as he came in. Now if only he wasn't a black eyed demonic son of a butch. "Yeah, what's the problem?" He asked cheerfully enough. Dean answered by giving him a sharp punch to the face. He pulled tape over the man's mouth as he was temporarily down for the count. Chris couldn't spare a glimpse to see if anyone had heard him fall and was coming to check on what was going on.
Amanda was starting to panic, breaking hard. "What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him!"
"Believe me, we're talking to him." Chris said, opening the bottle of holy water. The copilot screamed in agonizing pain as it ate away at his skin. Holy water to demons were like acid to humans.
"Oh my god, what's wrong with him?" Amanda looked to be on the verge of passing out.
Sam pulled her away, trying to distract her from seeing Dean holding him down while Chris sprayed him. "Look, we need you to calm down. We need you outside the curtain."
"I'm running out of water here!" Chris warned, the bottle under half full now. Dean looked like he was struggling harder than before to keep him down.
"Don't let anybody in, okay?" Sam practically shoved Amanda out through the curtain. He grabbed the journal and started the ritual. Speaking in Latino, "Terrar cantata deo psallite domino-" Chris was barely able to sprinkle the water now. With a roar of anger, the demon broke free. The demon rammed his elbow in Dean's face. Chris cried out as she was shoved when he flew into her legs. Everything blurred as she banged her head against the side of the table, rocking the drinks on it. The demon went after Sam but Dean grabbed him from behind, jerking him back to the floor. Shaking off the pain, Chris crawled over to the demon, using her weight to pin it's legs down as he thrashed. The demon thrashed as Sam continued on with the Latin. The demon managed to wiggle an arm free, yanking the tape off his mouth.
Eyes were now pure black and vibrant with anger, he snarled, "I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now she's burning!" Sam froze in horror. Dean hit the demon hard while Chris struggled keeping his legs down and forcing the free arm to the floor.
"Sam!" Dean screamed. Sam snapped out of it and started reading again. He tried helping by pinning the demon's free leg that was kicking madly, trying to buck Chris off stretched across his body. But all it did was kick the book out of Sam's hand. But by that point, Sam had finished uttering the last word. The copilot screaming as black smoke spilled from his mouth, disappearing into the vent above them. The body went limp, the man unconscious. He wouldn't be an issue now. Half relieved did Chris roll off, putting a hand to the side of her head where she hit. Shit, she couldn't deal with bruised wounds right now with a demon loose in the air vents of a plane in flight.
"Where's it go?" Sam asked, breathing hard. Chris struggled to her feet.
"It's in the plane, we got to finish it." Dean said. Chris stumbled out through the curtain. She bent over to grab the book that slid almost completely underneath. But the plane suddenly jerked violently, falling several feet. Chris cried out as she nearly flipped head over feet, crashing to the floor. She clutched at the seat beside her, hearing the people's screams vibrating in her ears. She clenched her jaw, nearly biting through her lip to prevent screaming. Sam was struggling to reach the book that slid fully under the seat. Dean had fallen against the wall, scream mixing with all the other. 'This was it. This was how she was going to die,' Chris thought desperately. She never met her father. She got so little time with her brothers. She'd barely finished that thought when an electrical charge seemed to go throughout the plane. Chris gasped as the plane leveled out. Everyone stopped screaming, looking around worriedly. Amanda sighed in relief. Dean came out behind the curtain. Chris jumped as Sam knelt over her, putting hands under her arms and helping pull her up. Chris shook off her sudden dizziness, head pounding.
Everyone filed out of the plane as soon as possible when they landed back at the airport they came from. "Never going on a plane again." Chris cursed, holding a stray napkin over the cut on her head she just noticed when blood startled sliding into he corner of her eye.
"I'm with you there." Dean said, as they lanes against the wall near the exit. Amanda was being talked to by the police. She mouthed a 'thank you' they're way. The three Winchester siblings nodded her way. "Let's get out of here." They headed out the door.
"...It knew about Jessica." Sam said quietly.
"Sammy, these demons...all they do is lie." Chris insisted. She pulled the napkin from her would and tested it with her fingers to see if it stopped bleeding. Sam slowly nodded, thoughts still whirling about the demon and Jessica. They climbed into the car, another case completed and survived with no more casualties.
The next day after getting whatever rest they could, the Winchester's found themselves walking with Jerry. "Nobody know what you three did but I do. A lot of people could have been killed." Jerry shook Chris' hand before doing the same to Sam and Dean. "You're dads gonna be real proud."
"Oh...I'm sure." Chris said awkwardly. What father would be proud of a daughter they abandoned years ago, even if they did unknowingly join the 'family business' years ago.
"We'll see you around Jerry." Sam said. They probably never would. You never go back to a town you've hunted in. Most often than not you'd be arrested the second you're seen in town.
Dean stopped them before they could leave. "You know I've been meaning to ask you Jerry. How did you get my cell phone number, I've only have it for like six months." Longer than most hunters had a phone.
"You're dad gave it to me?" Jerry said like it should be obvious. Chris felt her eyes widen in surprise.
"When did you talk to him?" Dean asked quickly. They were all desperate to know. How long ago did Jerry talk to their dad. It would be their newest lead since finding dad's journal and being directed to Blackwater Ridge.
Jerry shook his head before explaining. "I didn't exactly talk to him but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, guys." Jerry left them to their thoughts.
"I thought his number was disconnected?" Chris asked, looking up at her elder brother.
"...it was." Dean said equally confused.
Outside, Chris sat on the hood of the impala. She felt slightly better now that she had her weapons back where they go. She played with the sleeves of her jacket, feeling a small two inch knife in the lining of her sleeve. Dean and Sam stood in front of her. Dean was holding onto his cell phone. "This doesn't make any sense. I've called dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service."
"Well let's try again. If it's changed then that at least means he's still out there and ok if he has time to change his voice box. Dean typed in the familiar number of dad's phone and turned it on speaker.
THIS IS JOHN WINCHESTER. I CAN'T BE REACHED. IF THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, CALL MY SON, DEAN. 785-555-0179. HE CAN HELP.
Chris frowned. That still wouldn't help tell where he was. But at least they knew he was still alive. Chris jumped off the hood. In silence, all three Winchester's climbed into the car in their usual spots. Chris leaned against the window and watch the town fly by as they drove to wherever their next case would take them.
Miles away, another case was starting to form in a small town called Toledo, Ohio. It begun one night with three girls about thirteen having a sleepover. They surrounded a small table with candles being their only source of light. One of the girl's with bright blonde hair grinned excitedly, facing the brown haired little girl that lived in the house. "Okay, your turn, truth or dare?"
"Truth." Lily, the brunette decided.
The blonde grinned teasingly, "Do you want to make out with Benji Swartz?" The black haired girl across the table burst into giggles.
Lily blushed and refused to answer. "Dare," she decided. It had to be better then revealing her secret crush on the most popular boy in they're grade.
"Okay, lame." The blonde scoffed. "You have to..." She thought for a minute before grinning. She remembered a story her older sister told her a year ago to scare her because she was pissed mom made her stay home from a party to baby sit. "Say Bloody Mary in the bathroom."
Lily had heard of the legend as well from scary stories told around the campfire last time she went to summer camp when she was ten. Lily scoffed, clearly not afraid of an old legend. "Is that the best you can come up with."
The third girl had been sheltered by her parents and never heard the legend before. "Who's Bloody Mary?" This was actually the first time she'd been over to a friends house before due to her parents over protectiveness.
"She's a witch." The blonde grinned nastily, or so her sister had told her.
But Lily had heard a different version. "I heard she was a lady killed in a car crash."
The blonde huffed annoyed, wanting to get on with the prank forming in her mind. "It doesn't matter who she is. Point is, if you say her name three times in the bathroom mirror she appears," she stopped and grinned, her friends hanging onto her every word. "And scratches your eyes out!" She finished loudly.
Both girls jumped, looking panicked for a moment before calming down. "So why would anyone say it?" The dark haired girl asked confused. She didn't understand that some people used fear from movies and games such as this for a thrill.
"Because it isn't real." Lily said boldly, standing up.
The blonde handed her a candle. It would be scarier during candlelight instead of just pure darkness. "No turning on the lights and remember, three times."
Lily nodded before heading to the bathroom down the hall. She had put on a front for her friends but each step she took became slower. Her heart was pounding n her chest as she closed the bathroom door behind her and set the candle on the counter. Lily put her hands on the sink and tried, "Bloody Mary," she paused and tried again. "This is so stupid. Bloody Mary." She paused as her candle flickered. Lily hesitated for a long time before forcing herself to say it one last time. "Bloody Mary." For a moment, nothing happened. Then there was a loud bang on the door. Lily shrieked terrified before hearing the sounds of her friends laughing. They celebrated having successfully scaring their best friend.
Lily walked out to her friends looking proud of themselves. "Scared ya." The blonde smirked.
Lily shook her head with a forceful smile, heart rate slowing down. "You guys are jerks."
"Lily," her father, Steven Shoemaker called down from the top of the stairs. "Do you mind keeping it down?"
"Sorry daddy," Lily replied with a sheepish look. Her friends follow suit. Steven smiled and headed to the bathroom. If he had stopped to look in one of the several mirrors he passed, he would have seen something...peculiar. A woman in a tattered black dress with bare feet. Her dark hair was dirty and matted to her face, hanging so you couldn't see her features.
In the bathroom, Steven took several pills before closing the medicine cabinet. He looked away but stopped and turned back to the mirror on the cabinet. Were those...scratches? Under his eyes.
In the living room, the girls were surrounding the candlelit table and giggling again. "You so like him." The black haired girl giggled.
That was when Donna, Lily's older almost eighteen year old sister came strolling through the front door. She stopped halfway up the stairs and leaned over the railing grinding. "Hey geek, you guys having fun?"
"You're out past curfew." Lily accused. An hour late actually.
"Thanks dad." Donna mocked giggling and heading upstairs. It was dark and silent but Donna continued on unconcerned towards her room. She suddenly froze halfway down the hall when she came across something. It looked like a deep red puddle emerging from beneath the bathroom door and growing in size. Feeling dread, Donna forced herself to walk till she could push open the bathroom door. What was in there would scar her for the rest of her life.
Downstairs, Lily and her two friends looked up startled as they heard Donna screaming.
Chris hit Sam with her travel pillow and he jolted awake. He had been squirming like he was having a nightmare and making a weird whining sound. Sam stared confused before realizing they were parked outside a fairly large building. "I take it I was having a nightmare. It wasn't a question but a statement. It hadn't been the first time Chris had pillow hit him awake. It had been over four months since the Winchester siblings reunited.
"Yeah, another one." Dean sighed. This was starting to get old.
"...hey, at least I got some sleep." Sam said like it was okay to have nightmares every time.
"Not nearly enough or restful." Chris quipped from the backseat.
Dean turned off the car. "We will be talking about this soon you know."
Sam looked out the window, "Are we here?"
"Welcome to Toledo, Ohio." Dean said, leaning back in his seat.
"Or the coroner office of yet another small town." Chris commented. She watched from the window as people passed. It looked like every other small town they've come across. Everyone else was completely unaware of just what was happening in their town or they could be the next victim.
"Hand me that newspaper." Sam said, half turning to Chris in his seat.
"Now where did I put that thing?" She opened a small bag on the floor and took several long seconds before she pulled out the local newspaper. It was flipped open to the obituary of local Steven Shoemaker. She handed it over, zipping up the bag.
Sam read through it for the zillionth time. "So what do you think really happened to this guy?" Steven apparently had his eyeballs exploded or melted and there was no medical way to explain what happened.
"That's what we're going to find out." Dean said, opening the car door.
"Might as well go now, not like we're getting any younger." Chris muttered, slamming her door shut. Dean, Sam, and herself wakes up the stairs and entered the morgue of the local hospital. Everything looked normal like you would expect in a morgue. Even including the tired looking balding man in his forties.
The morgue technician looked up as he noticed the three strangers entering. The town was small but not so small that everybody knew everybody. "Hey." He said bored. "Can I help you?"
What was their lie going to be this time? Dean in his typical big brother ways took charge. "Yeah, we're the uh...med students?" Med students? She could try to work with that but she didn't know anything about medicine. Not anything more than fixing herself up that most doctors would insist as old or barbaric ways. Like using dental floss as stitches.
"Sorry?" The tech asked. Clearly he had no idea med students were coming. Good, that meant others wouldn't be expected so they wouldn't become known as frauds and have to make a quick escape before the police showed up...again.
"Doctor..." He stopped for a second, stumbling over the name from the nameplate on the empty desk. "Figlavitch, didn't tell you. We talked to him over the phone."
"He was expecting us, we do have the time right." Chris made a show of checking her watch.
Dean kept explaining their lie, "We're from Ohio State. He was supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper."
The tech looked like he wasn't getting up anytime soon. "Well I'm sorry, he's at lunch."
"Really?" Chris faked surprise. Even better. "He couldn't have forgotten, we talked again just last night."
"Well hey, what about you? You don't mind showing us the body, do you?" Dean pressured.
The man smirked unconcerned. "Sorry, I can't." He clearly didn't care. "Doc will be back in an hour. You can't wait for him if you want."
"An hour?" Chris pouted, leaning on the desk. "But we have to head back to Columbus by then." She saw him glance down at her chest and she resisted the urge to hit him like she probably would have. "Are you sure you can't help us out?" Sam looked disgusted and Dean looked pissed as they realized their sister was flirting they're way in.
"I'm gonna hit him in the face I swear." Dean muttered to Sam, clenching his fists as he saw where the man's eyes were wandering.
The man smiled, more energetic now, "Follow me." He headed to the back door.
"What was that?" Dean leaned over to hiss in her ear.
"Sometimes, a female hunter has to bring out the big guns. Guys go weak around women like that." Chris said, not concerned. Wasn't the first time she flirted to get her way.
"Well I think we can all agree to never wanting to see that again." Sam muttered as they headed into the back where the body was stored. Chris rolled her eyes, 'wimps' she thought smirking. "Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding."
The man pulled back the sheet covered Steven's face. His eyes were completely gone, dried blood left in their place. More than that. They practically liquefied." Chris let out a low whistle at the sight. How many things did she know that attacked eyeballs?
"Any sign of a struggle?" Dean asked, half standing in front of Chris. Last thing he needed was to see his sister being an adult. Damn his dad, Dean missed out on the chance to wail on any potential boyfriends during the teenage years. Might as well catch up now. Not that Chris was actually interested in the guy. She just wanted to get them in. "Maybe somebody did it to him?"
"Nope." The man said, making a popping sound on the P of he word. "Besides the daughter, he was all alone." So maybe they should check out the daughter, see if there's any anger towards daddy dearest.
"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asked. What did they label a guy whose eyeballs exploded.
"Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure."
Chris glanced up, "What's that mean?" The guy's empty eye sockets were freaking her out.
"Intense cerebral bleeding." He explained. "The guy has more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen."
"The eyes and mash, what would cause something like that?" Transferring his gaze from the guy on the slab to the morgue technician.
The morgue technician shrugged. "Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims."
"A stroke?" Chris snorted. What people come up with to explain the supernatural.
"You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean scowled.
The tech shook his head. "That's a first for me but hey, I'm not the doctor." he grinned. Chris subtly glanced at the cheap watch on her wrist. That had half an hour to get out before the doctor was due back and have no idea about mad students.
"Hey, think we could take a look at that police report?" Dean asked with a charming grin. "You know, for uh, our paper." Chris rolled her eyes, real believable with the stuttering.
The tech looked hesitant. "I'm not really supposed to show you that." He looked at Chris. Sam stepped in front of her and pulled out his wallet, handing him two twenties.
"Dude, that's my money." Dean whined as he left to get the report.
"You won it in a poker match." Sam snapped. Chris hid a grin. It was kinda nice having protective brothers.
After looking through police reports and all, the Winchester's found themselves heading down the stairs in front. "'Might not be one of ours. Might just be some freak medical thing." Sam suggested.
"What's the harm in sticking around and resting for a few days even if it's not." Chris said, bouncing on the toes of her boots as she reached the bottom first.
"Hold up guys." Dean stopped them. "You're talking like this case is already over. How many times has it ever actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?"
"Almost never." Sam admitted.
"Exactly." Dean smirked.
Chris ran a hand through her mess of hair. "If this is truly a case, I guess the next thing we should do is go talk to the daughter."
The Shoemaker house was having a wake at the house so when they got there, the Winchester's just strolled right on in. Chris shifted awkwardly on her feet when she noticed how every one was dressed. In they're fancy Sunday best clothing. "Feels like we're underdressed." Dean muttered. All the men wore black suits and the women wore black dresses. And here they were in faded jeans, leather jackets, and simple shirts.
"...They'll get over it." Chris said as they made their way into the house.
"So how are we supposed to find the daughter? We don't even know what she looks like." Sam said. The family of three stuck close together.
Chris smirked, "By using a little trick I know." She stopped an elderly man walking past. "Excuse me, I'm looking for the daughter of Mr. Shoemaker. You wouldn't happen to know where she is?"
"Donna?" The man said in that old man tone. "She's out back, follow me." It took forever with his slow walk before they reached outside. From there he pointed out a teenager with short black hair surrounded by friends and a little girl beside her. Chris looked at her brothers and they made they're way through the heavy crowd before reaching Donna Shoemaker.
"You must be Donna, right?" Dean grabbed her attention. She looked up startled but nodded.
"We just wanted to say how sorry we were about everything that happened." Chris explained, trying to show empathy. It was hard when they were always seemingly to be around grieving people.
Sam's turn, "I'm Sam. This is Dean and Chris. We worked with your dad."
Donna looked at one of her friends confused and then back to them. "You did."
"Of course...you're dad was a good man." Chris said, having no idea since she never actually met the guy.
"This whole thing man, a stroke." Dean said.
"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now." Her blonde friend Charlie interrupted, being a protective friend.
Chris glanced at her, "Of course, understandable."
Donna shook her head. "It's okay, I'm okay."
Dean continued on with their 'investigation', "We're there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" Knowing that may help narrow it down to whatever creature could have done it.
Donna shook her head but the little girl sitting on the same bench turned around looking sorrowful. "That's because it wasn't a stroke." The little girl insisted, sounding like she'd done try to explain this time and time again. Chris turned her attention on the younger girl. Sometimes kids were a lot more...insightful than the adults.
"Lily, don't say that." Donna said firmly, sounding like she'd said the same thing before. Obviously something was going on with the two sisters. Chris looked back and forth.
"What?" Sam was the one to ask, using that puppy dog look to his advantage.
Donna shook her head not wanting to divulge information to complete strangers. "I'm sorry. She's just upset."
Chris shook her head sounding sympathetic, "There's nothing to be sorry for."
"It happened because of me." Lily wailed again. Donna and her friends looked at her with clear pity in their eyes. Chris was startled. This girl was just a small distraught child, what could have possibly happen to make her think it was their fault.
"Sweetie, it didn't." Donna insisted again. But Lily didn't believe her.
"Lily." Sam knelt down to get to eye level of the little girl. "Why would you say something like that?"
Chris leaned over Sam's shoulder to hear better as Lily hesitated. "Right before he died, I said it."
Chris shared a look with Sam, "Said what?" He asked.
Lily swallowed hard, "Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror." Chris' slowly straightened up. Bloody Mary? Of course she's heard of the legend but...never thought it was more than something to scare kids, even after she learned what really went bump in the night. "She took his eyes, that's what she does." Well she was right about that fact.
"That's not why dad died." Donna protested. "This isn't your fault."
Dean said, "I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" It always amazed Chris how good Dean was with kids.
"No, I don't think so." Lily said softly. Chris glanced around the crowd, awkwardly crossing her arms. She never knew what to do when it came to kids. That seemed to be the end of the conversation.
"Let's sneak up to where the body was found." Chris muttered and they headed up the stairs. It wasn't long after that to find the right bathroom. There was faded red bloodstains on the tiles. Chris cautiously stepped over the bloodstains.
"The Bloody Mary legend...dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked, hovering in the doorway.
"Not that I heard of." Dean said, following Chris into the bathroom.
"So we're really thinking this legend that's worldwide is the reason this guy is dead?" Chris asked. She couldn't find anything that made sense. No sulfur left behind.
"Everywhere all over the country kids are playing Bloody Mary and as far as we know, nobody's died from it." Sam gingerly touched the dried up blood puddle.
"Even I've done it." Chris said distracted, going through the medicine cabinet. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Dean looked at her like she was an idiot, "You have?"
Chris shrugged sheepishly, putting up the sleeping medicine. "It was before I knew that things that go bump in the night existed outside my nightmares."
"Guys, maybe this is happening because the legend begin here." Sam suggested, straightening up. Good theory. "But according to the legend, the person who says B," he stopped when he realized his face was in the medicine cabinet mirror. "...The person who says you know what gets it."
"But Shoemaker gets it instead." Dean said.
Chris shook her head, "How does that make any sense?"
"Well the guy died right in front of the mirror." Dean said, looking at his reflection. "The daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out."
Sam glanced at his reflection and quickly looked away as if Bloody Mary was going to jump out. "It's worth checking out."
"I say we grab a few laptops, start checking out any local deaths." Chris declared, mind already going through all information she had on ghosts. Ghosts were probably the easiest and most common out of the supernatural species.
Stepping in the hallway, Chris pulled to a sudden stop as her brothers complained when they nearly ran into her. Charlie was walking onto the landing from the stairs scowling at them. "What are you doing up here?" Charlie demanded scowling. Clearly upstairs wasn't being allowed outside of certain people.
"We-we had to go to the bathroom." Dean clearly lied. Chris resisted the urge to bang her head against something. Damn, she loved her big brother but he could be a fool sometimes.
"Who are you?" Charlie demanded.
Chris smiled innocently, "Didn't you hear my friend earlier when we were downstairs? We worked...with Donna's dad."
Charlie scoffed, "He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself." Chris' smile froze and they were caught in their lie. Maybe they should have done more research on the guy before showing up. Charlie continued, "And al those weird questions, what was that? So tell me what's going on or I start screaming."
The Winchester's looked at the others and seemed to have their own silent conversation that only lasted seconds. "Alright, alright." Sam said quickly when Charlie opened her mouth to scream. "We think something happened to Donna's dad."
"Yeah, a stroke." Charlie said like it was obvious.
Chris snorted, "I've never seen or heard of a stroke like that. It has to be something else."
Charlie looked curious, "Like what?"
"Honestly?" Sam shrugged, hands deep in his jacket pockets. "We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth."
"Which is the only reason we're here." Chris muttered, awkwardly running her fingers throughout her hair.
"So if you're gonna scream, go right ahead." Dean said. Wouldn't be the first time they've been chased out or had the cops called on them.
Charlie didn't scream. Instead she asked, "Who are you, cops?"
The Winchester's shared another look. "Something like that." Dean said with a forced grin.
"Close enough." Chris muttered. Protect the people and all, they just didn't do it by following the law book.
"I'll tell you what, here." Chris had her weapons but Sam pulled out a piece of scrap paper and a pencil. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary...just give us a call." Sam handed her the piece of paper and the three siblings were quick to leave after that.
Their next stop was the library for research. "How is small town libraries always seem so dark." Chris asked scowling. They're weren't enough windows and everything seemed to have a layer of dust.
"No clue, but we better get started." Dean said as they walked down a row to the computers. "There has to be a local woman around here who died nasty."
"But a legend this widespread, it hard. I mean, here's like fifty versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride. There's a lot more."
"Mmmmm," Chris stopped, looking at Sam. "I was raised on the one with the mutilated bride."
"So what are we supposed to be looking for?" Dean asked as they rounded the corner.
"The one thing they all have in common." Chris said, hand inside her pocket fiddling with her phone.
"The commons is its always about a woman named Mary and she always dies right in front of a mirror." Sam recited. The Bloody Mary legend was so told and widespread that the basics were practically common knowledge. So we've gotta search local newspapers—public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill."
"Well that sounds annoying." Dean grumbled in a true Winchester fashion.
"Extremely, but some things we just have to do." Chris picked at her nails. She didn't detest research like Dean did but she wasn't good at it like Sam.
"It won't be so bad." Sam said, being the only Winchester that loved research. "As long as we," he stopped in front of them and chuckled. "I take it back. This will be very annoying." The computers all had 'out of order' taped to them.
Late that night, Charlie was driving home from Donna's. She had her cell pressed against her ear and was talking to their friend Jill. "I'm not sure. They were cops or detectives or something." Charlie said, explaining her encounter with the Winchester's to Jill.
Jill was in her room having left earlier and live closer to Donna, pulling off her sweater. "Didn't you think they were cute, whoever they were? I mean, even the chick was hot. A head turner if I had been born a guy or gay."
Charlie rolled her eyes, "Yeah ok, they were cute." She sounded annoyed. She called Jill for something important, not to talk about how hot someone was. "Do you think something happened to Donna's dad?"
Jill shrugged, closing her bedroom door. She was home alone but it still felt creepy stripping as if anybody could walk in on you. "Maybe Lily was right. Maybe Bloody Mary got him." Jill said with a smirk in her voice.
"Haha, very funny." Charlie said grinning weakly.
Jill looked away from her bedroom wall mirror where she was looking at herself. "Wait, I'm sorry. Was that fear I hear in your voice?" She started to grin as Charlie denied it. "Charlie, I'm walking to the bathroom mirror right now."
Charlie scoffed, "Jill, quit it."
Jill reached the bathroom mirror still playing around. "Oh no, I can't help myself. I'm gonna say it." And getting stronger to the point of near screaming, she said Bloody Mary three times in the bathroom mirror. There was absolute silence for several long seconds before Jill let out a blood curdling scream. Charlie panicked, crying out for her friend who wasn't answering. Then Jill started to laugh. "You're such a freak, I'll call you tomorrow." And hung up, perfectly fine. Charlie was left to calm her racing heart alone.
She would never get that tomorrow phone call.
Jill now alone walked over to her closet where she took off her pants and hung them back up. She didn't notice a figure of a pale girl with matted hair and torn black dress standing behind her in the mirror that hung on the inside of her closet door. She was gone when Jill turned back and sat at her desk in just her shirt and underwear. She took off her earrings, not noticing the reflection of Bloody Mary in her computer screen. Jill washed her makeup covered face in her bathroom sink. It was when she looked up that she finally realized. In her reflection, the corners of her eyes were starting to bleed. Feeling like ice was in her chest, Jill shakily reached up and touched the blood dripping down her face. Then her bathroom mirror reflection started to speak on its own. "You did it, you killed that boy." Jill felt her throat close up as if she was being chocked to death. Jill felt forward as blood oozed from under her body. She would be there until discovered by her mother the next morning coming to wake her for school.
The next morning, Sam jolted awake as a travel pillow hit his head with deadly accuracy. He woke up from his nightmare about Jess spread across the motel bed. Dean was sitting at the computer doing research and Chris was cleaning one of their guns. She didn't even look up as she had thrown her pillow. "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Sam asked dazed, sitting up
"Cause I'm an awesome brother." Dean set his research aside for a moment. "So what did you dream about?"
"Lollipops and candy canes." Sam muttered. If only that could be true.
"That dream can come true." Chris said innocently, pulling out a lollipop from seemingly nowheres. It was a candy fetish she was having.
Sam shook his head. He didn't feel like eating anything right now, even a piece of candy. Chris' forced smile dimmed a little but she covered it up by sticking it in her mouth. "Did you find anything?"
"Nothing besides a whole new level of frustration." Dean said exhausted, massaging his forehead. "I've looked at everything. A few local woman, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave but no Mary."
"...At least our possible needed weapons are prepared." Chris said, finishing putting the last gun back together.
Sam groaned, falling back on his bed. "Maybe we just haven't found it yet."
"Or else this really was a freaky medical thing." Chris suggested, resting her chin in the palm of her head.
Dean shook his head in denial, "I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know...eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary."
"Another ghost that for whichever reason targeted Shoemaker and it was coincidence the girls were playing Bloody Mary." Chris suggested.
"Chris." Dean hissed, glancing around nervously.
"What?" Chris jumped. "It only happens if you say it in front of a mirror three times. I'm sure I'm safe." The siblings quieted as Sam's phone rung. When he answered it, his face quickly changed from confusion to concern and worry.
The caller turned out to be Charlie. They found her sitting on a park bench crying her eyes out. Don't ask her how but Chris somehow found herself being that shoulder to cry on. Maybe it was because she was another girl but Charlie was clinging to her tightly, crying into her shoulder. "They found her on the bathroom floor." Charlie was chocking as she explained what they told her of her friend. "And her eyes...they were gone."
"I'm sorry." Sam said quietly, kneeling in front of the bench.
Charlie raise her head a little. "And she said it." Chris narrowed her eyes. "I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?" It couldn't be a coincidence for two people to say Bloody Mary and two people in the house dying not minutes later.
"No, you're not insane." Dean tried comforting.
But Dean wasn't the best at comforting those that need to grove. Charlie wailed instead. "Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse."
Chris awkwardly patted her back. "Don't worry, it's not going to get you."
"This...whatever it is." Sam said. Bloody Mary. "We think it's something that can't be explained."
Dean said, "And we're gonna stop it but we could use your help." Chris hated bring civilians into a hunt but sometimes...sometimes it was necessary.
About an hour later, "You next." Dean hooked his fingers together. The Winchester's were hidden by the fence in the backyard. Chris put a foot into the hands since she was much shorter and let Sam who was already on the roof grab her hand. Dean groaned under her from her weight as she pulled a leg up, climbing to the window of Jill's bedroom. She usually had to grab a chair or climb up a pole to ease herself up when by herself. It was harder but she still managed to get up if she had to. Chris wasn't short compared to other people but her brothers weren't exactly small so she was small in comparison. Dean jumped, grabbing the edge of the roof, groaning in complaint as he pulled his own weight up.
Chris peeked into the window of Jill's room, withdrawing when the door opened. Charlie walked in and locked the door before opening there window. Chris climbed through, easing herself in and popping her back as soon as she could. She felt sorry for her brother's and their much larger frames as they squeezed through the window. It was tight for her, it must have been nearly impossible for them but nothing got between a Winchester and a case. "What did you tell Jill's mom?" Sam asked as Chris opened the duffle bag they brought with them.
Charlie shook her head, "Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things." Chris handed the video camera to Sam as Dean pulled the curtains shut. "I hate lying to her."
"Trust us, this is for the greater good." Dean said, putting the bag aside for now.
"Think, lying could evidently end up saving her life." Chris said, turning off the bedroom light.
"What are you guys looking for?" Charlie asked, awkwardly glancing around and crossing her arms as if she didn't know what to do with herself.
"We'll let you know as soon as we find it." Dean said as Sam tried figuring out the video camera.
"Jill died in their room so there has to be something, something the police wouldn't notice but something we wound." Chris said, examining corners. Dean finally had to help Sam turn on the night vision.
"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean grinned cockily into the camera.
Chris snorted, her back to him. "You wish you could look like Paris Hilton."
Dean scowled, "No, I wish I could 'do' Paris Hilton. There's a difference." He corrected.
Chris shivered in disgust. "This may be difficult to understand but there is some things as your sister, I do not need to know."
Sam chuckled, "She has a point." Sam checked out the closet with the video camera on night vision. "But back to the issue...I don't get it. The first victim didn't summon Mary but the second one did. How's she choosing them."
"Beats me?" Dean shrugged, watching Sam close the door. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place."
Charlie shrugged helplessly. "It was just a joke."
"Yeah, well no one's laughing now." Chris said as Sam opened the bathroom door.
"It's just a matter of time before someone ends up saying it again." Dean said.
"Hey." Sam called, looking at the bathroom mirror. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?" Dean had to sneak back to the car and back up the window while Sam lugged the heavy mirror down the the bed. Chris pulled off the brown paper on the back while Dean shined the black light on it.
"Gary Bryman?" Charlie asked. On the back only under the light of a black light was a handprint with the words 'Gary Bryman'.
The Winchester's looked up. "You know who that is?" But Charlie denied it with a shake of her head.
Outside the library, "About time!" Chris exclaimed surprisingly loud as she sat up. Sam was heading out the library, explaining what he had found. It sometimes wasn't safe for all three siblings to be seen together during certain moments, make it look like they weren't working together. That was why they'd been waiting outside. "So who was he?"
"Gary Bryman was an eight year old boy. Two years ago, he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver." Charlie suddenly gasped horrified.
Chris looked at her over her shoulder, "I'm guessing that means something to you?"
Charlie looked at them really pale, "Jill drove that car." The Winchester siblings three connected eyes and came to the same conclusion. If Jill had a secret where someone died, then maybe Shoemaker wasn't so squeaky clean either.
Dean turned to Charlie and said firmly without leaving into room for questions, "We need to get back to your friend Donna's house."
After sneaking upstairs, Sam pried the window down, Chris tore off the paper, and Dean used the black light. It was the same thing, only with the handprint had another name under it. Linda Shoemaker.
At the foot of the stairs, "Why are you asking me this?" Donna demanded, when they pretty much demanded her to tell them just who Linda Shoemaker was.
"We understand how hard this must be." Chris tried to get the information they needed. "But we need to know who Linda Shoemaker was." Whoever she was, she had to be dead or Bloody Mary wouldn't care to write her name on the back of that mirror.
Donna scowled, "Linda was my mom. She overdosed on sleeping pills. It was an accident and that's it." But the firmness and way she said it made Chris think that Donna had different suspicions of what happened. "I think you should leave."
"Now Donna, just listen," Dean tried to calm her.
"Get out of my house!" Donna shouted, running as fast as she could upstairs and to her room.
Charlie looked horrified and scandalous, "Oh my God. Do you really think her dad could've killed her mom." You'd be surprised by how many people would kill their partners.
"Maybe." Sam answered.
"Maybe I should stay here with Donna for a bit." Charlie suggested, looking upstairs worriedly.
"Alright." Dean started to warn her. "Whatever you do, don't,"
Charlie interrupted quickly with a nervous wide eyed expression. "Believe me, I won't say it." And Chris believed her. Why say it after two people died seconds after somebody said it with trashed eyes.
In the motel room, Chris felt the stainless steel under the palm of her hand and fingertips as she sharpened her iron knife. It was due for a sharpening, Dean sat at the laptop while Sam was looking at the printouts he pinned to the wall. "Wait, you're doing a nationwide search?" Sam asked after Dean said what he was doing.
"Yep," Dean said, eyes trained and not moving from the light of the laptop screen. "The NCIC, the FBI database—at this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me."
Chris blew off the pieces that clung to her hands from sharpening as she set down her tools, "Makes sense. Only so much can happen to a little town barely on the map."
Sam shook his head and started to pace. "But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town."
"I'm telling you there's nothing local." Dean said, sounding exasperated. "So unless you have a better idea."
"How many Mary's could have died in the country alone? At least one of them has to have died in front of a mirror." Chris said, carefully sliding her knife back into the side of her boot. Most girls did their nails, she did her weapons.
"It seems like a pattern, the way Mary is choosing her victims." Sam said, looking at the victim picture's he hacked from the police files and printed, their information nearly pinned under the picture.
"I was thinking the same thing." Dean said, looking up from the computer rubbing his eyes. There was only so long a guy could stare at a screen without finding anything before going nuts.
"Shoemaker probably killed his wife." Chris said, biting at her lip. "And we know Jill did a hit and run with that little boy."
Dean leaned over, putting elbows on his knees. "Both had secrets where people died."
"Right." Sam started to pace again. "I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors, that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets. That they're a true reflection of your soul which is why it's bad luck to break them."
"Which according to some people, equals seven straight years of bad luck. Sucks for them." Chris said. She'd broken a mirror a few times in her life and she seemed to be getting along fine. Would bad luck really bring her back to the family she never knew she had, a family that actually wanted her for more than target practice or a punching bag? Maybe she wouldn't question bad luck if she knew what fights her and her family would be drawn through for the next decade and more. But right now she didn't. Right now she was just a girl trying to solve the case of Bloody Mary with her brothers.
"Maybe it's a secret, if you have a really nasty one and somebody died." Dean suggested, connected the dots of how a victim was chosen. "Mary sees it through the mirror and punishes you for it."