Dinner for one. It's an odd change this time. It's always an adjustment when company leaves, but it's harder now. Mai stares down at her chicken tacos disinterestedly. Her hands are folded on her lap and she's not very hungry. She forced herself to cook dinner, knowing that she has to eat something. Her appetite seems to have left with Jett and isn't back yet.

No note, no call, no text message, nothing; he just up and left in the middle of the night. He hands in some cold speech about how he's not going to destroy her with his hunting and she wakes up to an empty house in the morning. She doesn't want to be hurt in this situation, but a proper 'good bye' wouldn't have killed him.

Did I do something? She can't help but think.

He's not answering her phone calls or responding to her texts. She's worried about him, and hurt, and angry, and disappointed, and sad, and understanding that she can't have all the time in the world with him. He has places to go, hunting to do; he has a job. She tries to convince herself that he found a hunt and he's being a safe driver and not using his phone on the road, but it's aggravating that he won't communicate with her.

Is he trying to walk away from this? He can't spend all this time, focusing on befriending me just to throw me aside after we sort it out. We're friends now, he can't leave me hanging! Is he trying to protect me maybe? That's why he couldn't say good bye? That's a completely shitty reason to leave in the middle of the night. What the hell is this?

She begins to regret fixing his broken nose that first night. It's beginning to feel like a huge mistake. Cleary he's not on the same page as what he was preaching before. He seems more and more like a flight risk as the hours tick by. This stunt doesn't calm her flared nerves.

Asks me to trust him and then runs off…

She can't eat anything on her plate. It's repulsive to her currently. After having people to cook for the past three weeks, it feels horrible sitting alone in the brilliantly white kitchen. She cleans up her plate and tosses the leftover food in the refrigerator.

But what does she do now? A glance out to the barn reassures her that now is not the time to work on her truck. There's laundry to be done, and the shower needs scrubbed, and she has a ton of books on her To Read list, but none of that really works for her right now. Instead, she walks out back.

The backyard is overgrown with weeds that Mai doesn't do anything about and a lawn that no one mows. The patio pavers are muddy and faded, the treehouse is abandon and sad, everything is abandon and sad actually. Mai wonders how she can call herself the lady of the house and leave the outside in such disarray. She figures there is no one to impress and she's never outside anyway, why bother? Most of the inside housework she does is to make the space livable; they are things that simply need to be done. She's not doing them to keep up a "perfect home", she's only doing enough to get by.

Over all being outside is depressing her. Going inside is unsettling her. Working on the truck wouldn't go over very well. She can't go see Walter since he left for band camp. Dean and Sam won't be home for another week or two. Jett is gone. She groans with frustration, unsure of what to do with herself. It's as if her home is rejecting her, but there's nowhere else to go.

The quite kills her. It's a lonely silence. It's the silence of a creaking house and the sound of your own breath, and only your thoughts to fill the noiseless air.

"You're alone again…" She says out loud, "they all left. I know some are coming back, but come on Mai, you are right back at square one again. No family, no friends, sitting in this big empty house trying to find something to keep your mind off how SILENT YOUR HOME IS!" She shouts out at the world.

"I can't take it! I had my turn! I had a whole year to myself! I had a whole year of dinner for one and busying myself, of distracting myself from how much I can't stand being on my own. I don't need more of this! I don't need to be here by myself! I need people. DO YOU HEAR ME! I NEED PEOPLE! PLEASE JUST SEND ME PEOPLE!" She is on her knees nearly in tears, barking at nothing in particular.

"…I need someone…" She says just above a whisper.

The first tear gathers from watery eyes. Within a moment it slides down her face and falls onto the faded pavers. She takes a breath to collect herself. The second tear falls in the same pattern. Mai takes another controlling breath. She needs to get a grip; the situation isn't going to get better with panic. Suddenly the entire day wears down on her and she can't bother to function. She retires to bed early.

"Excuse me,"

The middle aged man doesn't respond to her call.

"Who are you?" She asks him.

"…No one." His voice is gravely.

"Okay…"

She stands in her living room. Dean in sitting in one of the plush chairs, Sam's voice is heard from outside. He's currently building her a tree house. The other man is gone. Not that he's important.

He's no one.

"Hello Dean" She smiles at him.

He doesn't give her attention. Mai takes a step towards her uncle who acts as if he sees right through her.

"Dean?" She bids. Nothing happens, "Dean!" she tries again, "DEAN!"

"WHAT?!" He roars at her. It takes her a minute to collect herself from the shock.

"Where is Jett?" She whispers.

"Who is Jett?"

"Jett… you know-"

"He left you." He states with a cold smirk.

"I'm here." Jett approaches from behind her.

She doesn't know how long he's been here, but it already feels safer beside him. He puts his arm around her shoulder defensively.

"We're going to be okay." He announces, his hand sliding down to her waist.

Dean glares at him and takes a step towards the kids, "Step away from her. We don't know you, I don't want you here."

Grabbing her wrist, Jett leads her down the highway. They run as fast as their legs and lungs will let them, but it's becoming difficult to breathe for Mai. The terror of having Dean gain on them strikes through her body. She quivers and tries to move but her body is being dragged to the ground. Suddenly Dean is standing above her as she tries to crawl away.

Jett is gone again. Dean squats down to talk to her, Sam walks up from behind him to listen.

"You and I are not okay."

Then Dean is gone.

Jett slips his fingers under her shirt. The space is dark; it takes her a second to identify it as her own room. Dean and Sam have slipped away and it's very cold. The windows are open. She shivers and Rhone leans in to hold onto her. Contact make her tingle all over. Then in a slip second, Jett is brushing his lips against her ear, whispering things she isn't bothering to listen to. This is nice.

But the phone rings.

Go away.

It rings again. Jett begins to slip away. It rings a third time and she's woken up feeling incredibly awkward.

She shakes herself as she picks up the landline. The images of Jett holding onto her wrist, the feeling in her body when his lips brush her ear, it all replays in her brain.

Stop it!

"Hello?" She answers the phone.

"Mai? It's Garth."

Garth Fitzgerald IV, the most happy-go-lucky hunter you will ever meet.

"Oh, hi Garth."

"Hey I'm around on a multiple ghost thing a couple miles north of you guys, are your uncles around by any chance?"

"Oh, no sorry they've been gone for over a week now."

"Darn it! Okay well… Is there any way I can ask a favor?"

"Sure go for it."

"Can I come in?"

"What?" She walks to the front window to see him sitting in his car waving at her, "Garth, you don't have to call first, you can just knock."

"Nope, my mother raised me to call before visiting."

Mai rolls his eyes as he steps out of the car and walks up the porch.

"You can hang up now." She says swinging the door open.

He hangs up and greets her with open arms ready for a hug. She gives a tight smile and reluctantly joins his embrace. After what feels like an eternity of hugging, he steps into the house.

"Can I use you facilities? Long car ride, one too many Dr. Peppers." He points down the hall.

"Yeah go ahead." She offers. He starts towards the bathroom, but stops himself.

"Sorry, you have a no shoe rule right?" He unlaces his converse and sets them beside the door.

Garth Fitzgerald IV, the only human in existence to remember to take his shoes off.

She makes a pot of coffee while her company is otherwise engaged. When he walks into the kitchen she hands him a warm mug and offers him a chair.

"Oh, no thank you! I have been sitting for hours. I'll stand." He leans against the counter.

Mai takes a seat at the table, "So what's this multiple ghost thing?" She starts.

Garth sighs and scratches the back of his head.

"It's… I think it's a family? I don't know what to call this because the hauntings were in different locations and they don't even share the same attack style."

"Attack style?" She interrupts him.

"You know, how they go after someone. Uh, burning them, heart attack, ghost position-"

"You can be possessed by a ghost?" She jumps.

Garth nods his head, "Oh yeah, although it's pretty rare. I've heard about a few cases like that."

"So how are these five ghosts attacking their victims?"

"Well the first got pushed into a wood chipper… Poor guy, there wasn't much body left to identify him with. Then there were clawed out eyes, deep scratches on the front door and the vic 'hung' himself… Two of them actually matched up! They both "tripped" down the steps."

Mai nods, "So how do you know they are all connected, or even a ghost?"

Garth snaps his fingers, "Ectoplasm, and off the charts EMF at the sights. I did some digging and found a family that died together at the beginning of the twenties, but it's far from a violent death. It was a bad break out of the flu. They died in a cabin due to dehydration."

Mai twirls a lock of hair between her fingers as she sips her coffee, "So you needed history? Lore or info on this family?" Maybe she can help.

"Well yeah," he starts, "But mostly help getting all the grave salted and burned. If it is the family they are buried together at the cemetery outside of town. Ganking them is going to be a pain, they aren't going down without a fight."

There is a pause in the conversation as Mai mulls this over. Maybe she can still be of assistance? The earlier silence in the house drives her to put it out there.

"If you need help… I could come with you. Help dig graves, man the shotgun. I know how to shoot!"

Garth's eyes cannot bulge out of his head any farther. He stares at her as if she's crazy, muttering "no, no, no, no, no, no, no," under his breath. He takes a seat and takes her hands in his. His dopey sympathetic eyes make her fairly uncomfortable.

"Look sweetheart…" he begins, she looks down at the table, his hands feel warm and kind of sweaty, "You know Dean and Sam would have my butt if I took you out on a hunt. And I know that you would never want to join in on a hunt in a million years. So what is this about?"

A lump forms in her throat. Garth is nice and all, but he's not the person to blab her issues to.

"Nothing, never mind…" she pulls back her hands and gives herself a small shake.

Garth tilts his head looks at her softly, like a puppy who knows your upset and is trying to cheer you up. "You sure about that?" he checks.

"I was just trying to be helpful, but you're right. Sam and Dean would have your ass." She swallows a gulp of coffee that barely makes it down her throat, "But… I can call Bobby. He might know someone around that would be more assistive." She gives a tight, fake smile.

She can feel Gath isn't buying it completely, but he drops it.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I couldn't get ahold of him earlier." He smiles at her.

With a few calls to Bobby they get Garth set up to meet with a set of hunters in Maryland. Mai works on some lore for him in the study, but comes up empty handed. After a few more hugs and a last trip to the bathroom, she watches him roll away in his Ford Ranchero.

Her last shot to get a breath of fresh air drives away. The nagging reality of being stuck at home falls down on her harder than before. It was as if Garth's visit turned down the water pressure, but now she's being knocked over by the force of a fire hose. As the same pre-nap frustrations bubble up she feels her back pocket vibrate.

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Jett Rhone (11:46 P.M.): Hello.

A/N: Hi guys... I'm not dead... I know it's been three weeks since I posted. So her goes the list of reasons...

1. My laptop caught on fire. Yes, fire. Smoke, flames, the whole nine yard. I will be getting a new one soon for the start of school, but until then I am borrowing one from family when they aren't using it.

2. My muse has been dry. I know where the story needs to move and what's coming next but I am just not feeling the writing process recently.

3. Busy. I have cosplays to finish and chain-male to build for the Ren Faire, not to mention school starts in two weeks. I just signed up for classes this morning, but I will try to get this story out there and finished for you all. I am rather excited to have to read it, (if ever I can get in on paper)

4. TUMBLR. I have a tumblr now... if you want to check me out I have links on my profile. One blog is for my creative nerdy side and the other is for my reblogging and such. It's not a good reason to avoid writing, but it has taken me some time to sort out everything. Tumblr can be so confusing at times.

Thank you though for sticking with me up till now. All of your favorites and likes are much appreciated and reviews make my day because I don't really see this little story as anything special. It's far down on the totem poll of things I am proud of in my life, so I'm really glad people out there can enjoy this. I will try to make the rest of it wonderful for you guys, because you have been so wonderful to me!