Philadelphia - Night
September 19, 2006
Third Person POV
The night was crisp in Philadelphia. The city was silent save for the occasional distant honk of a car and the wind rustling the evergreen trees. The city was blanketed in darkness so absolute it almost seemed like a living thing, breathing across the night sky and curling around the skyscrapers and apartment buildings.
One particular apartment building stood out in the darkness, an old brick building with lights flickering in one of its upper windows.
Apartment
Katie paced the floor of her new apartment, talking on the phone. Annoyance evident in her voice. "I checked the fuses. They're fine. It's the wiring. Look, you promised the place would be ready when I moved in. No. You come up now! Please. Thank you." She hangs up and grimaces at something on the table. She stretches out her finger, touching a thick black goo.
"Gross." She said out loud.
More goo drips down onto her shoulder. She looks up, getting scared. Suddenly she noticed the light switch on the wall, from which the goo was oozing out of.
"What the hell?" She said out loud and stepped closer to the switch, peering inside.
To her horror, a pair of bloodshot eyes appeared from inside the switch, darting around before disappearing again. Katie screamed.
Outside Harvelle's Roadhouse - Day
September 20, 2006
Harry Singer POV
I stood in front of the roadhouse and took in the scene before me. Sam and Dean were getting out of the Impala, the car they had driven here from Casa Erotica. Dean was shaking his head.
"Los Angeles, California." he said, his voice low.
"What's in L.A.?" Sam asked, stepping out of the car.
"Young girl's been kidnapped by an evil cult." Dean replied.
"Yeah? Girl got a name?" Sam asked, voice low.
"Katie Holmes." Dean said with a smirk.
Sam laughed.
"That's funny. And for you, so bitchy." he said.
And then, from inside the roadhouse, came the sound of breaking glass and shouting voices. Dean turned away from the car and towards the door.
"Of course, on the other hand – catfight." he said.
With that, the two brothers entered the roadhouse, I follow close behind. I was nervous about what lay ahead, but I knew we had a job to do. I just prayed that we were ready for it.
Roadhouse
Laila POV
Lorelai and I watched as our elder brothers, Sam and Dean, enter the roadhouse cautiously. The upper levels were full of chaotic noise. Ellen and Jo were shouting while the six young toddlers and one kid were eating. We were swallowed up in a sea of confusion that was only heightened by our pregnancies.
Ellen shouted, "I am your mother, I don't have to be reasonable!"
Jo yelled back, "You can't keep me here!"
"Oh, don't you bet on that, sweetie." Ellen retorted.
"What are you going to do, are you going to chain me up in the basement?" Jo heckled.
"You know what, you've had worse ideas than that recently. Hey, you don't wanna stay, don't stay. Go back to school." Ellen retorted.
"I didn't belong there! I was a freak with a knife collection." Jo cried, desperately trying to escape.
Suddenly, their argument was interrupted by a family of four, wearing bright yellow t-shirts with the phrase, "Nebraska is for Lovers".
The father asked, "Are you guys open?"
Jo was quick to answer, "No!"
But Ellen quickly contradicted her, "Yes!"
The family quickly backed out, "We'll just check out the Arby's down the road."
The phone rang. Jo glares at it, then at Ellen who stalks over to answer it.
"Harvelle's. Yeah Preacher." Ellen answers.
"Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment." Jo says, as she pushes a file folder towards Dean as she begins to explain the situation. "Take it, it won't bite." Jo says to Dean.
Dean stared at the folder for a moment before reluctantly accepting it. "No, but your mom might." he jokingly replied.
Jo sighed. "And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young blondes. Only happens every decade or two so cops never eyeball the pattern. So we're either dealing with one very old serial killer, or—" she trailed off.
"Who put this together? Ash?" Dean asked.
"I did it myself." Jo answered.
Dean raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hmm."
"Be safe big brother." I spoke. Lorelai and I had to stay behind due to our pregnancies.
"I gotta admit." Sam said. "We hit the road for a lot less."
Ellen glanced between them before speaking. "Good. You like the case so much, you take it."
"Mom!" Jo protested.
"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. And I won't lose you too. I just won't. And neither will your father." Ellen said firmly.
Lorelai and I exchanged a look of understanding and fear as we watched our family head off into the unknown.
Philadelphia
Sam POV
The Impala roars into town, rising above the urban din of the city. Dean and I park in front of a tall, aging apartment building. We climb out the Impala and make way to the front entrance.
Close shot to a doorknob. It slowly opens and my face can be seen, illuminated by the light of the hallway. I am followed by my brother, Dean. We make our way inside.
Apartment Building
Rhia POV
My 12-year-old eyes took in the dimly lit apartment building. My dad, Dean, and my Uncle Sam had been scouring old, abandoned buildings like this one for the past few weeks.
Today, they were trying to solve the case Jo put together.
"I feel kind of bad, snaking Jo's case." Uncle Sam said, with a hint of remorse in his voice.
My dad shook his head. "Yeah, maybe she put together a good file. But could you see her out here working one of these things? I don't think so."
Both pulled out EMF readers and began to walk around the room.
"You getting anything?" Dean asked Sam.
Sam shook his head. "No, not yet."
Suddenly, Sam gasped, freezing in his tracks. "What's that?"
My dad ran over to him and peered over his shoulder. There, on the light switch, was a strange, gel-like substance.
"What?" he said, his eyes narrowing as he examined the goo.
"Holy crap." Sam said, as he touched the goo, a shocked look on his face.
"That's ectoplasm." my dad breathed, also touching the goo. "Well, Sam, I think I know what we're dealing with here. It's the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man." he said sarcastically.
My uncle rolled his eyes. "Dean, I've only seen this stuff, like, twice. I mean, to make this stuff you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit."
My dad, Dean and Sam shared a knowing look, and I knew we had discovered something far greater than a petty ghost. We'd stumbled into a far more dangerous and thrilling world.
"All right, let's find this badass before he snags any more girls." Dean said, his face an impenetrable mask of concentration.
I followed my dad and uncle out into the hallway, and we immediately froze at the sound of a woman's voice in the distance. My dad, Dean, frowned when he recognized the voice as that of his friend Jo.
Jo said cheerfully, "It's so convenient. I mean, my friend told me I absolutely have to come check it out, and I have to admit, she was right. You did a really good job with this place."
Dean stepped out of his hiding spot, his voice stern as he addressed Jo. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"There you are honey." Jo said, reaching out to grab Dean around the waist. "This is my boyfriend Dean, his daughter Rhia, and his buddy Sam."
The landlord, Ed, nodded his head in greeting, clearly impressed with Jo's choice of man. "Good to meetcha. Quite a gal you've got here."
Dean smirked and gave Jo a light smack on the ass. 'Oh yeah, she's a pistol.'
Jo laughed and then went back to business, asking the landlord, "So, did you already check out that apartment? The one for rent?"
Dean nodded quickly, obviously eager to get out of this situation. "Yeah. Yes. Loved it. Heh. Great flow."
The landlord seemed suspicious. "How'd you get in?"
"It was open." Dean said quickly.
Jo nodded enthusiastically as she said "Now, Ed, um, when did the last tenant move out?"
Ed replied, "Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stuck me for the rent."
Jo smiled devilishly as she speaks. "Well. Her loss, our gain! 'Cause if Dean-o loves it, it's good enough for me."
Dad chuckled and smacked her ass again. "Oh, sweetie."
"We'll take it." Jo said confidently, pulled out a wad of cash from her pocket, handing the cash to Ed.
Apartment
Jo POV
I sighed in frustration as I looked around the tiny apartment. It was the only place I could go for the investigation, but it only had one bed and one sofa. "I'll flip you for the sofa." I said, as I looked at Dean.
Dean raised an eyebrow. "Does your mother even know you're here?"
I shrugged. "Told her I was going to Vegas."
Dean raised an eyebrow. "You think she's gonna buy that?"
"I'm not an idiot. I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos." I explained.
Dean shook his head. "You know, you shouldn't lie to your mom. Shouldn't be here either."
"Well, I am. So, untwist your boxers and deal with it." I said, rolling her eyes.
At that moment, Dean's cell phone rang. It was Jo's mother, Ellen.
"Is she with you?" Ellen asked, her voice tight.
Dean looked at me. "I'm telling her." He said, reluctantly.
He put the phone on speaker, and I heard Ellen's voice. "She left a note she's in Vegas. I don't believe it for a second."
Dean shook his head. "I haven't seen her." he said.
Ellen sighed into the phone. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Dean said.
"Well, please. If she shows up, you'll drag her butt right back here, won't you?" Ellen said, somewhat hopefully.
"Absolutely." Dean replied.
After Dean hung up, Jo let out a relieved sigh. "Good thing she bought it. Now what were we talking about before…"
I went to the table where blueprints of the apartment building were spread out and started flipping a small knife around. "This place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago." I started to say, before Dean cut me off. "Yeah? What was here before 1924?"
"Nothing. Empty field." I said.
Sam suggested, "Most likely scenario, someone died bloody in the building and now he's back raising hell."
I shook my head and replied, "I already checked. In the past eighty-two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor, who slipped on a wet floor."
"Would you sit down, please?" I asked Dean, making very clear I needed him to stay in one place.
He sighed, sat down, and asked me to check police reports, county death records, obituaries, and several other sources.
'I know what I'm doing." I said trying to bite back a sarcastic comment.
"I think the jury's still out on that one. Could you put the knife down?" he asked, pointing to the knife in my hand.
I put the knife down and sighed.
"Okay! So, uh, it's something else, then. Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought the spirit with it." Sam suggested.
"Well, we've got to scan the whole building. Everywhere we can get to, right?" I suggest, ready to do my part.
Dean nodded and replied, "Right. So. You and me, we'll take the top two floors."
"We'd move faster if we split up." I said, wanting to finish the job quickly and move on.
Dean shook his head and said firmly, "Oh, this isn't negotiable."
Apartment Building
Harry Singer POV
Jo, Dean, and I rushed through the dimly lit hallway of the apartment building. The EMF readers we held were silent, indicating no presence of the supernatural. We were silent, the seriousness of the mission in front of us weighing heavy on our minds.
Suddenly, Jo sighed, and Dean and I stopped. "So. You gonna buy me dinner?"
Dean looked at her incredulously. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just if you're gonna ride me this close, it's only decent that you buy me dinner." Jo said with a smirk.
Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, that's hilarious. You know, it's bad enough I lied to your mom, but if you think I'm letting you out of my sight . . . I don't know if you've noticed, but you are kind of the Spirit's type."
"Exactly." Jo said matter-of-factly.
"You wanna be bait?" Dean asked.
"Quickest way to draw it out and you know it." Jo replied.
Dean sighed, and said, "Oh. I'm so regretting this."
"You know, I've had it up to here with your crap." Jo said, her voice laced with challenge.
I walk through the abandoned apartment building, Dean following close behind. As we near a grating near the floor, I hear Dean ask, "Excuse me?"
"Your chauvinist crap. You think women can't do the job." she snaps.
"Sweetheart, this ain't gender studies". Dean snaps back. "Women can do the job fine, my sisters, Laila and Lorelei do it fine when they can as right now, they can't as they are pregnant. Amateurs can't. You have no experience. What you do have is a bunch of half-baked romantic notions that some barflies put in your head."
"Now you sound like my mother." she responds.
"Oh, and that's a bad thing? Because let me tell you..." Dean starts to rant.
"What?" Jo asks.
Dean looks away and shakes his head. "Forget it."
"No, you started this." she says, her voice raised.
"Jo, you've got options. No one in their right mind chooses this life. My dad started me in this when I was so young... I wish I could do something else." Dean says, his voice raised.
"You love the job." she says quietly.
"Yeah, but I'm a little twisted." he responds.
"You don't think I'm a little twisted too?" Jo asks quietly.
Dean looks at her, his expression softening. "Jo, you've got a mother that worries about you. Who wants something more for you. Those are good things. You don't throw things like that away. Might be hard to find later."
We head closer and I see they are standing in front of the grating. Jo stands in front of it, a dark hand slides through the holes towards her legs. She turns around, gasping.
"What?" Dean asks.
"I'm not sure." she says, her voice squeaky.
"You smell that?" Dean asks Jo.
"What is that a gas leak?" Jo mutters, sniffing the air.
"No. Something else. I know it. I just can't put my finger on it." Dean responds.
Jo crouches by the grating; her EMF reader purrs.
"Mazel Tov. You just found your first spirit." he says.
"It's inside the vent." she says, her eyes widening.
Dean crouches beside her, shining his flashlight. He hands it to her.
"Here." he murmurs. He pulls out a screwdriver and unscrews the grating, pulling it off the wall.
"There's something in there." he says, reaching his arm inside, feeling around. He pulls his hand out, holding a clump of blond hair.
"Somebody's keeping souvenirs." he concludes, his expression a mix of disgust and curiosity.
I meet up with them again after taking a call from Laila and Lorelai, informing me they were in a Singer safe house with the kids with Razzie instead of at the Roadhouse. Something about a fight with Ellen.
Another Apartment - Night
Third Person POV
September 22, 2006
It had been a long day for Teresa Ellis. She just wanted to get home to her quiet apartment and relax. She arrived at her building, mail in hand, and plodded up the rickety stairs.
Making her way inside her home she went to the kitchen to put her mail away. As she opened one of the letters, a thick, slimy goo ran down from the ceiling and covered the paper. "This building, I swear to God." she murmured under her breath as she threw the paper in the bin.
Suddenly, the whole apartment shook and the lights flickered. To her horror, a gaping crack started to spread across the ceiling. Knowing how dangerous this was, Teresa tried to call for help, but could barely make out the static when she picked up the phone.
"Screw it, I'm out of here." she shouted as she made her way to the door. But when she tried to open it, the door wouldn't move. She looked down at the grating near the floor and noticed a movement - slimy hands were reaching out, grabbing her legs and pulling her to the floor. Teresa screamed in terror.
Apartment - Morning
September 23, 2006
Rhiannon POV
Rhiannon looked up at her dad, Dean, who was twisted up in a very awkward sleep-position on the leather sofa. It was deep in the morning and the sound of sirens echoed in the distance. Dean groaned as he slowly woke up. Across the room, Jo was sitting at the table, twirling her knife and studying notes and blueprints.
"Morning, princess." Jo said to me.
"Where's Sam?" Dean asked groggily.
"Went to get coffee." Jo replied.
Dad slowly got up from the sofa, grimacing as he did so.
"Ugh. My back. How'd you sleep on that big soft bed?" Dad asked Jo.
"I didn't. Just been going over everything." she said.
Dad looked down at her, considering for a moment. He placed a bag on the table and pulled out a Bowie knife, unsnapping it from the sheath and handing it to her, hilt-first.
"Here." he said simply.
"What's this for?" Jo asked.
"Work a hell of a lot better than that little pigsticker you're twirling around." He replied.
Jo took the knife and handed him hers. He studied it, and saw engraved on the blade: W.A.H. He looked up at Jo, getting it.
"William Anthony Harvelle." She said.
"I'm sorry. My mistake." Dad said, taking the knife back and sheathing it.
"What do you... what do you remember about your dad? I mean, what's the first thing that pops into your head?" Jo asked.
Dad shook his head before speaking.
"I was six or seven, and uh, he took me shooting for the first time. You know, bottles on a fence, that kind of thing. I bulls-eyed every one of 'em. He gave me this smile, like... I don't know." He said.
"He must have been proud." Jo said.
"Yeah. I think he was." Dad replied.
He then slipped something out of his pocket, a tarnished keepsake - a thin silver cross - and handed it to me.
"He gave this to me that day." Dean said softly.
I took the cross, and a tear spilled out the corner of my eye. Dad and Jo looked at each other, both understanding what was happening in the silence.
"What about your dad?" Dad asked Jo from across the room. Jo, a tough and intimidating girl, suddenly softened at the mention of her father.
"I was still in pigtails when my dad died, but I remember him coming home from a hunt. He'd burst through that door like, like Steve McQueen or something. And he'd sweep me up in his arms, and I'd breathe in that old leather jacket of his. And my mom, who was sour and pissed from the minute he left, she started smiling again. And we were... we were a family. You wanna know why I want to do the job? For him. It's my way of being close to him. Now tell me what's wrong with that?" Jo said.
Dean shook his head in understanding. "Nothing." he replied.
But their conversation was interrupted by a frantic Sam, who burst into the room like, well... Steve McQueen.
"Where's the coffee?" Dean said urgently.
"There are cops outside. Another girl disappeared." Uncle Sam spoke hurriedly.
Now Jo, Uncle Sam and I were studying notes a little more urgently than before. Dad had information: "Teresa Ellis, Apartment 2F. Boyfriend reported her missing around dawn.'
"And her apartment?" Jo asked.
"Cracks all over the plaster, walls, ceiling. There was ectoplasm, too." Dad responded.
Sam looked up from the papers and said, "Well, between that and that tuft of hair I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls."
The next morning, I heard my father, Dean, talking to our friend Jo in the kitchen. Dad was saying something about the building being totally clean... but Jo wasn't convinced.
'Well, maybe we're looking in the wrong place,' she said, picking up a photograph. 'Check this out.'
Intrigued, I stepped closer and saw it was an empty field. My dad and I exchanged glances and considered what it might mean.
"It's where this building was built. Take a look at the one next door." Jo said. "The windows."
Dad and I stepped out on the balcony, and we saw what she meant - the apartment next door had bars on the windows.
My dad gulped. "We're next door to a prison?"
I shivered inside. All those stories I heard around the neighborhood suddenly made sense. Was it possible this apartment, the one we now called home until the hunt was done with, used to be part of a prison?
We all stood in stunned silence for a moment before Jo broke it.
"Thanks, Ash." she said, completing a phone conversation, "And if you breathe a word of this to my mom... That's right. I will. With pliers."
She hung up and filled us in. "Okay. Moyamensing prison. Built in 1835, torn down in 1963. And get this. They used to execute people by hanging them in the empty field next door."
Uncle Sam immediately sprang into action. "Well, then, we need a list. All the people executed there." he said, already typing away on his laptop.
After some research, we had a list of 157 possible names. SAM scrolled down to the bottom and clicked on one. "Herman Webster Mudgett? Wasn't that H. H. Holmes' real name?"
Dad's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me,' he said. 'Yep. Holmes was executed at Moyamensing, May 7, 1896."
"H. H. Holmes himself." Uncle Sam said incredulously. "What are the odds?"
"Who is this guy?" Jo asked.
Dad put it bluntly. "The term 'multi-murderer.' They coined it to describe Holmes. He was America's first serial killer, before anybody knew what a serial killer was."
"He confessed to twenty-seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred." Uncle Sam added, eyes wide.
"And his victim flavor of choice? Pretty petite blondes. He, uh, he used chloroform to kill 'em." Dad said, gravely.
My eyes widened in horror. That was the same smell I had noticed in the hall last night. At his place, cops found human remains, bone fragments, and long locks of bloody blonde hair.
Jo looked a bit pale, too. "Well." she said hesitantly. "We just find the bones, salt 'em and burn 'em, right?"
Uncle Sam shook his head sadly. "Well, it's not that easy. His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete. The only way to stop him would be to find out where he's buried, and... do something to that."
"What? Why?" Jo asks dad and Sammy, head tilted.
Dad responds with a snort. "The story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse. 'Cause, you know, that's what he used to do."
Uncle Sam turned to us with a horrified expression. "You know somethin'. We might have an even bigger problem than that." he said.
"How does this get bigger?" exclaimed Jo.
"Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago." Uncle Sam began. "He called it the Murder Castle. The whole place was a death factory, they had, uh, trap doors, acid vats, quick line pits ... he built these secret chambers inside the walls. He'd lock his victims in, keep them alive for days. Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death."
The thought of anyone trapped inside these walls made my stomach churn. I had to fight back tears as I wrapped my arms around myself.
"So, Teresa could still be alive. She could be inside these walls." Jo said.
Dad nodded grimly. "We need sledgehammers, crowbars. We've got to smash these walls, anywhere thick enough to hide a girl." The determination was clear on his face as he started to quickly search for the tools we needed.
My heart pounded as I was filled with hope. Teresa was somewhere inside these walls. I wanted to run in and help them search, but my legs were shaking too much. So, I just silently stood there and prayed that we would find her alive.
Apartment Building Walls
Jo and I were on a mission to find a missing girl somewhere inside a sprawling apartment complex. After a fruitless search on the first floor, Jo and I decided to look inside the walls. It was a decision we would soon regret.
We squirmed through narrow crawlspaces, almost bumping into each other as we went. Jo was on the phone, her words echoing inside the cramped space.
"Okay. Call us after you check the southeast wall." she said before hanging up. "Sam's almost done with the first floor. Hasn't found jack squat either."
At the words, I stopped.
"What is it?" Jo asked, peering around my shoulder.
"It's too narrow." I replied, my movements restricted. "Can't go any further."
Jo squirmed around me and took a look.
"Let me see." I said.
"What are you—" I began, but Jo was already squeezing past me.
"Ugh. Shoulda cleaned the pipes." I said with a grimace.
"What?" Jo asked.
"I, uh, I wish the pipes were cleaner." I replied embarrassingly.
"Shut up," Jo said. "I can fit in there."
"You're not going in there by yourself." I shot back.
Jo gave me a look. "You got a better idea?"
I opened my mouth but closed it again. Jo disappeared down the path, barely visible in the tight space. I pulled out my phone, anxious.
"Where are you?" I asked her.
"On the north wall." Jo replied. "I'm heading down some kind of air duct."
"No, no, no, no." I said. "Stay up here."
"Look, we've gotta find this girl, don't we?" she said, her voice coming out a little weaker. "I'm okay."
I looked at the blueprints he had on hand.
"All right." he said. "I'm heading to you."
Jo pushed on, entering a similar area on a lower level. Suddenly, something gooey started pouring out from the wall cracks.
"Oh god." Jo said with a gasp.
"What is it?" I called into the phone frantically. "Jo? Jo!"
But all I heard was a scream. I ran to the lower level, desperate to locate her.
"Jo!" I yelled.
I looked around, my eyes wide. Then, I took out the sledgehammer I was carrying and smashed a large hole into the wall. I pulled my head out and found her cell phone lying on the floor. She was gone.
I raced back up the hallway, fear and desperation etched on my face. Suddenly, I ran full speed into Sam.
"Whoa!" Sam shouted, struggling to keep his balance.
"He's got Jo." I said through gritted teeth.
"What? How'd that happen?" Sam asked, worry on his face.
"I wasn't with her; I left her alone. Dammit!" I said, punching the wall.
"Hey, hey, look, we'll find her, alright?" Sam said, trying to calm me down.
"Where?" I asked, turning to face Sam.
"Inside the walls." Sam said, hoping he wasn't wrong.
I shook my head. "We've been inside the walls all night. None of the other girls were there, she won't be either."
Apartment - Night
Rhiannon POV
The tense silence in the apartment was thick with worry and fear. I had seen a lot in my young life. I knew my dad and uncle were dealing with something extraordinary, perhaps even supernatural. Even at my young age, I was brave enough to venture into such realms, so I had to do something.
My dad's cell phone rang again, breaking our silence. He answered, bracing himself for what was coming. On the other end of the line was my aunt, something that was becoming more and more common during our more recent adventures.
"You lied to me. Jo's there." her voice said with a frantic urgency.
"Ellen." my dad replied, hesitantly.
"No - Ash told me everything. Man's a genius, but he folds like a cheap suit. Now you put my damn daughter on the phone." Ellen told dad.
That was when I knew what was really going on. Ash had told my aunt. My dad adjusted his collar and gestured for me to come closer. "She's gonna have to call you back, she's taking care of, uh, feminine business."
My aunt was silent for a moment before replying. "Yeah, right. Where is she? Where is she?!"
My dad took a deep breath and responded. "Look, we'll get her back."
"Get her back? Back from what?" Ellen asks.
He cursed under his breath and looked to my Uncle Sam for strength. Uncle Sam nodded.
"The spirit we're hunting, it took her." Dad tells Ellen, trying to hide his emotions.
My aunt gasped in horror. "Oh my god."
My dad spoke up again, trying to comfort her. "She'll be okay, I promise."
"You promise. That is not the first time I've heard that from a Winchester." she replied cynically.
"What?" My dad asked, surprised.
"If anything happens to her..." Ellen starts to say.
My dad cut her off. "It won't. I won't let it. Ellen, I'm sorry, I really am."
She paused again before saying her last words. "I'm taking the first flight out. I'll be there in a few hours."
Then, she hung up before he could say anything else.
"Damnit!" Dad said, punching one wall of the apartment in frustration.
"Don't beat yourself up, Dean." Uncle Sam said. "There's nothing you could have done."
"Tell me you've got something." Dean said.
Sam nodded, pointing to a map he had spread across the room. "Uh, maybe. Look. You look at the layout of the Holmes murder castle, there's all the torture chambers inside the walls, right?"
Dad nodded. "Right."
"But there's one we haven't considered yet. The one in this basement." Uncle Sam said.
"This building doesn't have a basement." Dad said.
"You're right, it doesn't. But I just noticed this. Beneath the foundation, it looks like part of an old sewer system that hasn't been used for—" Uncle Sam tells Dad.
"Let's go." Dad said, and before I could blink, he was grabbing his coat and keys and moving out the door. Sam followed behind him, and I stayed rooted to her spot in the corner, watching them go with fear.
My dad and Uncle were chasing after some dangerous things, and she had no idea if they would ever come back.
Creepy Sewer
September 24, 2006
Jo POV
I awoke in a small, dark place, lying on my back. I was still disorientated and disoriented, but a faint glimmer of hope shone in the darkness. I still had my flashlight; I shone it around the area to reveal my surroundings. I was in a cramped compartment in a sewer, the walls were covered in long scratch marks, as though someone had tried to claw their way out. My heart sank - I was trapped.
Suddenly, there was a noise. I jumped, my heart racing.
"Hello?" I called out nervously.
"Is - is anybody there?" came a faint voice from another compartment.
"Your name's Teresa?" I asked.
"Yes." replied Teresa.
"This won't make you feel better, but I'm here to rescue you." I said reassuringly.
"Oh god. He's out there, he's gonna kill us!" Teresa cried.
"No, he won't." I said firmly. "We're getting out. My friends are looking for us, they'll find us."
Quiet footsteps fall nearby: the spirit approaches.
"Oh god, he's here!" Teresa cried, afraid.
"Shh! Just be quiet!" I said, firmly.
All is very quiet. Then the Creepy Hand bursts through into my prison and grabs me by the head. I scream as it rips off a chunk of my hair.
Street - Day
September 25, 2006
Dean and I had been tracking a ghost for days. We had finally narrowed it down to a small parcel of land not far from Philadelphia. It was our only hope of uncovering the truth.
I was leading the way with the metal detector, my intuition guiding me. I took careful measured steps, the device in my hand whirring as it picked up various bits of metal.
Suddenly, I stopped, and the device quieted. I looked up. Dean had stopped right next to me, evaluating my expression.
"Here." I said, pointing at the ground.
Dean dropped his bag and went straight for the shovel. He started digging furiously. After some time, we had to switch to our hands. What we found beneath our fingertips puzzled the siblings.
It was a metal trap door.
Dean handed me a shotgun and took one himself, then grabbed a flashlight before cautiously descending into the unknown. I followed.
Creepy Sewer Prison
Jo POV
I was kicking steadily and furiously at the wall of my cell, trying to break through it. I knew I needed to get out of this creepy sewer prison before it was too late. I let out an exhausted sigh and stepped back, gasping for air.
Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from the entrance. A small, scraggly-bearded face peeked through the opening. "You're so pretty. So beautiful." the voice said.
I felt a wave of revulsion wash over me. I clenched my fists and yelled back, "Go to hell!"
He reached his Creepy Hand through the opening and started to fondle me. I was so disgusted and horrified that I gasped in horror. Then, in a fury, I grabbed my knife and stabbed into the hand. The spirit screamed in pain and fled.
I yelled after him, "How do you like that? Pure iron, you creepy-ass son of a bitch!" I hoped he never came back.
Sewers
Sam POV
Dean and I crawl along on elbows and knees through the narrow sewer tunnels.
Creepy Sewer Prison
It was eerily silent in the prison and I lay very still, listening intently for any sound. Suddenly, a voice broke the silence.
"Is he gone?" Teresa said in a quivering voice.
I opened my mouth to answer but before I could make a sound, he was back. Holmes had grabbed my arm again and clamped his hand over my mouth.
"Shhh." he commanded.
Just then, a gunshot rang out. My eyes widened in surprise and Holmes let go of me as he was sent flying backwards out of sight.
"Jo?!" a voice shouted.
"I'm here!" I answered, my voice trembling with fear.
It was Dean. He had found an iron bar and had started to pry open the prison door. Sam had already found Teresa in another compartment and was reassuring her.
"We're gonna get you out of here, all right?" Sam said as he helped her out.
A moment later the two men were in front of her cell, removing the lock from the door. Sam handed a bar to Dean, who quickly opened the compartment and let Jo out.
"You alright?" Dean asked.
"Been better." she replied. "Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back."
Dean sighed and shook his head. "Actually, I don't think you're leaving here just yet."
"What?" Jo asked, her face filled with confusion.
"Remember when I said you being bait was a bad plan? Now it's kind of the only one we got," he said, his voice filled with regret.
Dean turned to Sam who had an armful of terrified Teresa. He shrugs.
Later
I sat in the middle of the chamber, my arms wrapped around my knees, trembling with fear. Suddenly, Holmes appeared behind me, and she shrunk back in terror. I felt someone grab me from behind and realized it was Dean, pulling me to safety. The next moment, I heard the sound of shots being fired and several bags unrolled, spilling salt in a perfect circle around Holmes. He was trapped and screamed in terror.
Sam, Dean and I exchanged a triumphant glance. We had done it. The danger was finally over, and I glanced at Holmes with a smug smile on her face.
"Scream all you want, you dick, but there's no way you're stepping over that salt!" I said triumphantly.
A grate slammed shut, sealing off the room.
Street
Jo and I were standing on the street, looking down at the entrance to the sewers.
"So? Is this job as glamorous as you thought it would be?" I asked Jo.
Jo shrugged. "Except for all the pee-your-pants terror, yeah. Sure. But that Teresa girl's gonna live a life because of us. It's worth it, isn't it?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."
Suddenly, Jo turned to Sam and asked, "What if somebody finds that sewer down there, or a storm washes the salt away?"
I smiled and pointed behind them. "Both very fine points. Which is why we're waiting here."
Jo glanced over her shoulder and saw a large cement truck backing up into a nearby field, stopping just over the sewer entrance. Dean was driving.
"For that." I said, waving at Dean to stop the truck.
Dean got out of the cab and he and I set up the cement mixer right over the entrance.
"You ripped off a cement truck?" Jo asked.
"I'll give it back." Dean said and the cement mixer roared as it poured cement down the sewer entrance. When it was done, Dean stepped back and announced, "Well, that oughta keep him down there till hell freezes over."
Highway - Night
Rhiannon POV
The long night stretched on as the Impala zoomed down the highway. Dean drove, trying to stave off the uncomfortable silence. He glanced nervously to his right, hoping to see anything that will ease the growing tension, but all he saw was Ellen's cold, unyielding expression. He quickly looked away, his throat tightening with anxiety.
Dean cleared his throat, the sound loud and uncomfortable in the heavy atmosphere. "Boy, you weren't kidding about flying out, were you?"
Ellen gave no reaction, and Dean noticed a subtle exchange between Jo, Uncle Sam and I. He sighed a soft, helpless sigh. "How about we listen to some music?" His voice was practically a whisper as he reached for the radio.
The static of the radio filled the car, but it seemed much too loud in the oppressive atmosphere. Dean was about to turn it off when a song filled the air.
"You're as cold as ice..."
Before he could continue Dean felt a sudden gust of air as Ellen suddenly reached forward to flick the radio off. He glanced back at Jo, Uncle Sam and I, desperate for help, but we only returned with equally hopeless expressions. Dean sighed again and his head dropped slightly. "This is gonna be a long drive." he muttered, convinced that the tension and uncomfortable silence would continue for the entire journey.
Roadhouse
As Ellen stormed in, dragging Jo by her elbow, Dean, Sam, and I followed closely behind. Dean had the nerve to speak up, knowing exactly how angry Ellen was with the situation. "Ellen? This is my fault. Okay? I lied to you and I'm sorry. But Jo did good out there, I think her dad would be proud."
Ellen's gaze flickered to Dean with a sharpness that had never been there before. "Don't you dare say that. Not you." she said firmly. Looking back to Jo, she pointed to the door. "I need a moment with my daughter. Alone."
Sam and Dean nervously shuffled past and stepped outside.
Jo looked up at her mom. "You're angry. I understand." she murmured cautiously.
Ellen shook her head slowly. Angered tears welled up in her eyes. "Angry? Angry doesn't begin to touch it."
Jo looked away, hesitating. "Let's just think about this. Everything's okay, I'm alive." she reasoned, trying to talk her mother out of her wrath.
But it was no use. Ellen's temper had been brewing since the second Dean had broken the news of what Jo had done. "Not after I'm through with you." she said, her voice as icy as the north wind.
"Is this about me hunting, or something else?" Jo asked, confusion written across her face.
Ellen sighed and uncrossed her arms. "You let those boys use you as bait." she said.
"They were right there, backing me up the whole time!" Jo protested.
"That is why you do not have the sense to do this job, you're trusting your life to them." Ellen spat at her.
"What are you talking about?" Jo asked, confusion washing over her face.
"Like father, like sons, that is what I'm talking about." Ellen sighed.
Jo was taken aback by the implication of Ellen's words. "John? I thought you and John were friends?" she asked.
Ellen hesitated and her demeanor softened. "Yeah, we were." she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." She sighed and shook her head.
"Mom? What aren't you telling me?" Jo asked, confusion written across her face.
Roadhouse
Dean and Sam are leaning against the Impala as Jo storms out. She glares at Dean and keeps walking, so he follows.
"That bad, huh?" Dean asks her, trying to gauge the situation.
"Not right now." Jo responds curtly.
"What happened? Hey, talk to me." he implores her.
Jo turns around and snaps, "Get off me!"
Dean holds his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Sorry. See you around." he says before turning to leave.
"Dean." Jo says before he can get too far. He turns back to see her standing there, her face etched with sadness. "It turns out my dad had a partner on his last hunt. Funny, he usually worked alone, but this guy did too. I guess my dad figured he could trust him. Big mistake. He got my dad killed."
Dean's stomach churns. He can hardly form the words, "What does this have to do with—"
"It was your father, Dean." Jo interrupts.
Dean takes a step back, his heart pounding in his chest. "What?" he manages to ask, although he's already beginning to fear the answer.
Jo's voice breaks as she continues, "Why do you think John never came back? Never told you about us? Because he couldn't look my mom in the eye after that, that's why."
Dean just stands there, his mouth open in shock.
"Just... just get out of here. Please, just leave." Jo pleads before rushing away.