Chapter Thirty-Five: Roadkill
He chuckled as Alec sat down to get his tattoo. He and Sam had already gotten theirs, but Alec was beaming as he took off his shirt. Sam was watching the tattoo artist like a hawk, definitely the most nervous about all this. He hadn't been nervous about getting his own tattoo, but he didn't like Alec getting a tattoo. But he was the oldest, and Alec needed the anti-possession tattoo more than either him or Sam. Alec getting possessed wasn't an option.
Alec had wanted to get the tattoo soon after he thought of it, but he had wanted to wait until Alec was completely healed before they went anywhere. His little brother still had a scar from getting shot, but even he had to admit that he was back to his normal self again. He wasn't hurting anymore, and the only thing that he needed more time with was getting back into shape. Although, he was still stronger than him and Sam, he got winded if he ran for too long.
He would've still tried to sit him out of this hunt, but after Sam had zip tied him on the last hunt, Alec had informed him that he wasn't going to sit out again. Sam had quickly made it up to Alec as soon as they'd gotten back to Bobby's house. He'd been expecting Alec and Sam to come back loaded down with anything Alec could possibly want, books mainly, but his brothers hadn't come back with anything. He'd asked Sam what the trick was to get Alec to stop being pissed at him. The weird thing was, Sam's trick to get Alec to stop being mad at him was to just hang out with him. Alec was very much their little brother. He just enjoyed hanging out with them.
"Can we get something to eat after this?" Alec asked, totally unconcerned about getting a tattoo. Alec had watched impatiently as he'd gotten his tattoo, and then Sam had gotten his. He should've gotten Alec something to eat before they'd stopped for tattoos.
"Yeah, we can get something to eat," he said. "Then we've gotta hit the road."
As soon as Alec's tattoo was finished, matching his and Sam's perfectly, he paid the guy before they went down the road to the closest diner.
"Don't scratch at it," Alec said suddenly, hitting Sam's hand away from his chest.
"It itches," Sam complained.
"Don't scratch at it," Alec repeated. Sam glared, but that just made Alec smile. "Look, the guy gave me a flyer on how to take care of them the first few weeks." The guy had given him one too, but he'd immediately tossed it since he didn't really care about reading it. He knew Sam or Alec would grab one and figure it out. Sam looked like he was still trying to be annoyed, but he couldn't help but smile. Alec's smile was contagious. "Do you think they'll really stop a demon from possessing us?" Alec asked.
"They should," he said. He opened the door to the diner to let his brothers in.
Alec and Sam chatted while they ate, going over everything on how to take care of tattoos. He smiled to himself since he'd never thought Sammy would've gotten a tattoo. He just wished he would've come up with this idea sooner, before Sam had gotten possessed. He hated that Sam had to go through all that, but hopefully it would never happen again. At least if the tattoos worked, then he wouldn't have to worry about his brothers being possessed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Alright, tell me about Highway 41," Dean said as he drove down the highway.
Sam had a folder open on his lap, looking over everything they'd found for this hunt. "12 accidents over 15 years," Sam said, using the flashlight to read through his notes. "Five of them fatal, all of them happening on the same night." He and Sam had done most of the research, mainly because he had wanted to hunt and Dean hadn't wanted him to do anything.
Luckily, Sam was happy to help him look up a hunt. He figured Sam was still trying to make up for keeping him out of the last hunt, but he wasn't mad at him anymore. He'd had a fun day when Sam had hung out with him. He'd been surprised that Sam wanted to hang out with him. He felt like Sam was his brother, but they'd never really hung out before. But it was a lot of fun.
"So, what are we looking at…Interstate dead zone? Phantom hitchhiker? What?" Dean asked.
"Not quite," Sam said, glancing back at him. He knew Sam wanted him to jump in since this hunt had sort of been his idea in the first place, but he didn't say anything. He was comfortable around his brothers, but he was still just a soldier. He followed orders; he didn't give them unless he had to. He knew this wasn't the same, but he couldn't shake his training. "Year after year, witnesses said the same thing made them crash. A woman appearing in the middle of the road, being chased by a man covered in blood."
"Two spooks?" Dean asked, surprised.
"We think so…" Sam said.
"We still need to look some stuff up," he said. "We didn't get where either of them were buried, so it might be nothing."
"Do you think it's a hunt?" Dean asked, meeting his gaze in the rearview mirror.
"Yes," he replied.
"Then we'll check it out," Dean said with a nod.
He was glad that he was finally getting to hunt again. He just hoped it wouldn't backfire.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He decided not to go into David's house with Sam and Dean. They'd gone to the library and found the article about the accident, which led them to a guy named David, who had been married to Molly, the female in the crash. They were hoping to find out from David where Molly was buried. He knew it was going to be a difficult conversation, so he didn't want to go inside.
They didn't know exactly where the guy, Jonah, was buried but they were thinking his wife had buried him at their house. They didn't know that for sure, but there was a good chance.
Sam and Dean didn't look happy once they left the house, which meant this hunt had just gotten a lot more complicated.
"What's wrong?" he asked once his brothers were back in the car.
"She was cremated," Sam said.
"So much for burning her bones," Dean muttered, starting the car.
"Then what's keeping her here?" he asked.
"Good question," Sam said.
"What's the plan then?" he asked.
"Well, we don't really have a plan," Dean said. "Not a great one anyway…"
"What is it?"
Sam turned in the front seat to look at him, "We need to find out what's keeping Molly here, so we need to talk to her. She's only around for one night, so we need to go out on the highway and see if we can find her."
"But isn't the other ghost supposed to be chasing her?" he asked.
"Yeah…makes it a little more complicated," Dean said.
"So, we're going out onto the haunted highway to talk to a ghost girl to figure out why she's hanging around, crashing people's cars, while another ghost chases her all night. And we only have one night to figure this out," he said just to make sure he understood the 'plan'.
"That's about it, yeah," Dean said with a nod.
Sam shrugged in agreement before he turned around again. He wasn't a big fan of winging it anymore since it almost always turned out bad, but they didn't have a lot of choices here. Only having one night to figure this all out might be a problem, not to mention having a ghost on their ass all night. And that was if the ghost girl was even willing to talk to them.
But he trusted his brothers. Even after some pretty bad hunts, he trusted them to watch his back. They were the only reason he was still alive, so this would be fine.
"Hey, on the plus side, we're pretty sure you'll be able to see her and talk to her," Sam said, knowing he didn't like winging it. "You could see that little girl and talk to her at that haunted hotel."
"Yeah, we're really counting on your heightened senses on this one, kiddo," Dean said.
"Guess that means you can't bench me," he said happily.
Sam and Dean shared a look, but he knew they couldn't keep him out of this one.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"How many times do you think we're gonna drive back and forth down this road before the ghost appears?" Alec asked, sounding incredibly bored.
"Well, maybe this time it'll work," he muttered. In all honesty, he was just as bored as his little brother.
"What's plan B if she doesn't show?" Sam asked.
"I don't-"
"Dean, look out!" Alec yelled.
"Stop!" a blonde woman yelled, running into the middle of the road, throwing her arms out like she could force him to stop.
"Holy shit!" he shouted, slamming on the brakes.
Alec braced himself on the bench seat, which made Sam frown. "Alec, why aren't you wearing a seatbelt?!"
"I don't need it," Alec replied.
"Yes you do!" Sam said, losing it.
"You've got to help me," Molly said breathlessly. She didn't look very dead for a ghost. She did match the picture from the newspaper, but it was weird that he and Sam could see her. Usually, Alec was the only one who could interact with ghosts when they weren't trying to kill them.
"Alec, you have to wear a seatbelt," Sam said, refusing to drop this. "You've nearly died in a car accident. You-"
"Ok, ok," Alec cut off impatiently. "I'll agree to wear the stupid thing if it'll get you to shut up."
He had to hide his smile so Sam wouldn't get pissed at him.
Molly ran around to Sam's window once she realized they weren't going to drive off right away. She pounded on Sam's window until he finally rolled it down. "Please!" Molly said frantically.
"Alright, alright," Sam placated. "Calm down. Tell us what happened."
He parked on the side of the road and got out, so Molly wouldn't feel weird talking to them through the window. Alec got out too, which was good since he'd interacted with ghosts before, so he probably wouldn't be weirded out by all this.
"I-I swerved, and…we crashed," Molly said once they were all out of the car. "And when I came to, the car was wrecked and my husband was missing. I went looking for him, but that's when the man from the road, he…he started chasing me."
"Did he look like he lost a fight with a lawn mower?" he asked.
"How did you know that?" Molly asked with a frown.
"Lucky guess," he muttered. At least they'd finally found one of the ghosts.
"Ma'am, what's your name?" Sam gently asked.
"Molly. Molly Mcnamara," she said. He shared a look with Sam, glad that they actually had confirmation that this was the right ghost.
"I think maybe you should come with us," Sam said. "We'll take you back into town."
"I can't. I have to find David," Molly said. "He might have gone back to the car…"
"We should get you somewhere safe first," Sam said. They'd agreed on the way over that maybe if they could just get Molly away from the guy she'd killed with her car, that would get her to disappear or whatever. "Then we'll come back. We'll look for your husband."
"No," Molly said, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving here without him. Would you just take me back to my car, please?"
He and Sam shared another look before Sam nodded, "Of course. Come on."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"My name's Alec," he introduced once they were back in the car. Molly was sitting next to him in the backseat, looking really freaked out. "That's Dean, and that's Sam. They're my older brothers."
"Nice to meet you," Molly said, looking at him briefly before she started looking out the window again.
"We were driving around, looking for a place to eat," he said. "Pretty sure we got lost since we've been driving around forever."
"I know the feeling," Molly said with a sad smile.
He watched Molly for a few seconds, waiting to see if she would flicker or something. She didn't look like a ghost, but apparently, he had a problem with knowing when he was talking to a ghost. At least Sam and Dean could see this ghost and talk to her.
They finally parked when Molly recognized where she'd run off the road. Molly got out, so he followed her into the woods. "It's right over there," Molly said to him. He didn't see any signs of a crash. There were no skid marks or broken branches or anything. Molly looked at him in shock when she stopped by a tree, where he was guessing her car had crashed. "I don't understand. I'm sure this is where it was. W-we hit that tree right there. This…this doesn't make any sense."
"Dean, we got to get out of here," Sam whispered. His brothers were far enough back that Molly wouldn't be able to hear them, but he could still hear what they were saying. "Greeley could show up at any second."
"What are you gonna tell her?" Dean whispered back.
"The truth?" Sam asked.
"She's gonna take off running the other direction," Dean muttered.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I crashed into that tree," Molly said. "I don't know who could've taken it. It was totaled. Please. You have to believe me."
"I believe you," he reassured.
"Molly, listen, we do believe you," Sam added. "But that's why we want to get you out of here."
"What about David? Something must have happened," Molly said. "I have to get to the cops."
"Cops," Dean said with a nod. "That's a great idea. We'll take you down to the station ourselves. So, just come with us. It's the best way we can help you and your husband."
Molly looked over at him for a moment before she finally nodded, "Ok."
He walked back up the hill after Molly, looking around to try to find the other ghost. He stopped when he through he saw a flash of color dart behind a tree. He waited to see if anything would appear, but nothing happened. He wanted to write it off as his mind playing tricks on him, but he'd seen too many ghosts now to really believe that's what it was.
"Alec, c'mon kiddo," Dean said with a nod from the road. He hurried to catch up again, shaking his head no to his brother. Dean frowned and looked out into the dark woods, but he was guessing he didn't see anything either. It felt like someone was watching them though. Dean put his hand on his shoulder and gently nudged him toward the car. Maybe they could get out of here with Molly before the other guy showed up and tried to kill her. Or…torture her? Whatever the ghost guy did to the ghost girl.
They all got back in the car, and Molly sat in the back with him again as Dean drove away from where Molly had wrecked.
"We're supposed to be in lake Tahoe," Molly said.
"You and David?" Sam asked, turning to look back at her.
"It's our five-year anniversary," Molly said.
"Hell of an anniversary," Dean muttered.
"Right before, we were having the dumbest fight…" Molly sighed, "It was the only time we really argued…when we were stuck in the car."
Sam chuckled, "Yeah. I know how that goes." Dean shot a quick scowl over at Sam. He just laughed to himself.
"You know the last thing I said to him? I called him a jerk," Molly said. "Oh, God…What if that's the last thing I said to him?"
"Molly…we're gonna figure out what happened to your husband," Sam said. "I promise."
"He knows you didn't mean it," he said softly.
Molly looked over at him, but the radio suddenly switched stations and got louder, playing 'House of the Rising Sun'.
Dean frowned and looked over at Sam again, "Did you…"
"No," Sam replied.
"I was afraid you'd say that…" Dean muttered.
"This song…" Molly said, looking from the radio, and then to him. He was guessing that she really hoped they weren't thinking she was crazy. Would it freak her out more or less if they told her about ghosts? She knew something weird was going on, but it wouldn't help if she took off. They had to figure out why she was sticking around.
"What?" Dean asked.
"It was playing when we crashed," Molly said.
The radio crackled, and then a man's voice growled, "She's mine. She's mine. She's mine."
"What is that?" Molly asked, a tremor of fear in her voice.
A man suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. He definitely did not look good. There was blood all over his clothes and he was pretty sure he could see some of his intestines spilling from a deep cut across his abdomen.
"Dean," he said with a nod to the front. He really hoped his brothers could see this guy. Molly gasped when she caught sight of Greeley. He expected Dean to slow down, but instead, he pressed on the gas, heading straight for the guy.
"Hold on," Dean said.
"What are you doing?!" Molly cried out in alarm. Dean drove straight through Greeley, who disappeared as soon as they hit him. Molly turned to look out the back window, trying to find the body of the guy they just drove through. "What the…what the hell just happened?"
"Don't worry, Molly," Sam tried to soothe. "Everything's gonna be alright." He scowled at his brother since that wasn't a good thing to say.
In the next second it seemed like the world actually agreed with him since the Impala began to slow down before it sputtered to a stop. Maybe that would teach Sam not to say something like that.
"Spoke a little too soon, Sammy," Dean said. Dean twisted the key to try to get the Impala started again, but nothing happened. "I don't think he's gonna let her leave."
"Well that's ominous," he mumbled. He looked around to try to see if the Greeley guy was still around, but he didn't see him anywhere.
They all got out, but Molly was in full freak-out mode now. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to drive through the guy. "This can't be happening…" She was walking around, her hand against her forehead, probably trying to figure out if she was hallucinating.
"Well, trust me. It's happening," Dean said. His brother walked around to the trunk and opened it, getting into the hidden compartment. Dean grabbed his shotgun and tossed it to him. He easily caught it, but he realized a little too late that this probably didn't look good. Molly was looking at him in shock. Her gaze slid over to the open trunk where all of Dean's wonderful weapons were on display.
"Well…ok…" Molly said as she slowly backed away from them. "Thanks for helping, but I think I got it covered from here."
She turned and quickly walked away from them. Sam ran after her, which seemed like a bad idea to him, but what did he know. "Wait. Molly, Molly, wait a minute," Sam said, reaching for her.
"Just leave me alone," Molly said.
"No, no, no. Please. You have to listen to me," Sam said. Dean looked over at him and nodded for him to go help. He shot Dean a glare, silently telling him no.
"Just stay away," Molly said.
"It wasn't a coincidence that we found you, alright?" Sam said. He sighed and shook his head. He didn't think this was a great idea, but what other option did they have?
Molly stopped and turned slightly. "What are you talking about?"
"We weren't just cruising for chicks when we ran into you, sister," Dean said bluntly. This maybe wasn't the best way to go about it, but whatever. "We were already out here. Hunting."
"Hunting for what?" Molly asked.
"Ghosts," Dean stated.
Sam sighed and looked at Dean like he couldn't believe he'd said it like that. He wasn't sure why Sam was surprised…it wasn't like this was the first time Dean had acted like this. "Don't…sugarcoat it for her," Sam breathed.
"You're nuts," Molly said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Really? About as nuts as a vanishing guy with his guts spilling out. You know what you saw," Dean said.
"His name's Jonah Greeley," he said. "He was a local farmer that died 15 years ago on this highway." Molly looked like she still didn't believe him, but she was going to have to get over it, or at least play along. "One night a year, on the anniversary of his death, he haunts this road. That's why we're here…to try and stop him."
"Now, I suppose this…ghost…made my car disappear too," Molly said.
"Crazier things have happened, huh?" Dean said.
"You know what? I'm all filled up on crazy. I'm gonna get the cops myself," Molly said.
"I don't mean to be harsh, but I don't think you're gonna get too far," Dean said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Molly snapped.
"Great way to make it sound like we're gonna kidnap her," he muttered under his breath. Sam chuckled, but Dean shot him a look.
"Means that plan A was trying to get you out of here," Dean said. "Obviously that didn't go over too well with, uh, Farmer Roadkill."
"Molly, we're telling the truth," Sam said. "Greeley's not gonna let you leave this highway."
Molly still stared at them, "You're…you're serious about this, aren't you?"
"Deadly," Dean said.
"Poor word choice," he said. Dean tried to look annoyed, but he could tell he was trying not to smile.
"Every year, Greeley finds someone to punish for what happened to him," Sam said, shooting him and Dean a look to shut up. "Tonight that person is you."
"Why me? I didn't do anything," Molly said. Ok, so she clearly had no clue that she was the one who had killed Greeley.
"Doesn't matter," Sam said. He was probably worried that he or Dean would say something insensitive. "Some spirits only see what they want."
"So, you're saying this…Greeley, he took my husband?" Molly asked. "Oh, God…"
"Molly, look, we're gonna help, alright? But first, you gotta help us," Sam said.
"Help you? How?" Molly asked in confusion.
"We need to know where you first saw the guy who chased you," Dean said.
Molly didn't look so sure, but she agreed to take them to where she saw Greeley. They stocked up on weapons and shovels, and then left the Impala and started hiking through the woods. Molly led the way, but she kept looking back at them as they followed. He wasn't sure if she was disappointed that they kept following her or relieved that she wasn't alone.
Sam and Dean had to get out their flashlights, but he and Molly kept going without them. Molly didn't seem to notice that it was strange that she didn't need a flashlight to walk through the dark woods. She really didn't seem to realize that she was dead. It was strange. But he felt bad for her. She just kept reliving this year after year, and she had no idea what had happened to her husband.
"This is it. This is where I saw him," Molly said.
They were at a cabin, which looked a little rundown. Well, more than a little. He didn't really want to go in since it looked like it was about to fall down. But it was even worse once they were inside. There were tools hanging on the walls, some of them with dried blood still on them. And there was a table, which had even more blood on it.
"Must have been his hunting cabin," Dean said as he looked around. "Huh. Seemed like a real sweet guy."
Sam walked around the small cabin, looking out the grimy windows. "No markers or headstones outside," Sam said, walking back over to them.
"You're looking for Greeley's grave?" Molly asked.
"Yeah," Sam said with a nod.
"Why?" she asked.
"So we can dig up the corpse and salt and burn it," Dean said.
"Oh. Sure, naturally," Molly said sarcastically. He chuckled, which made her smile slightly.
"It's a way to get rid of a spirit," Sam patiently explained.
"And that'll save David?" Molly asked. He looked over at Dean, but his brother shook his head no. He didn't like lying to Molly. It was cruel to pretend like they were really helping her find David.
"Well, this is what'll help both of you, provided there's a corpse to be found," Sam said.
"So, how do we find it?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," Sam admitted. "After Greeley died, his wife claimed the body. And that was the last anyone saw of her. So, good guess she brought him back here. But they had a thousand acres. He could be buried anywhere on 'em."
"So this is really what you guys do? You're like Ghostbusters?" Molly asked.
"Exactly like Ghostbusters," he said happily. He loved that movie.
"Minus the jumpsuits," Dean threw in, shooting him another look. He could tell Dean was tired of this conversation. It was funny, Dean was always really patient with him, and he always answered any question he had, but he seemed like he was tired of talking to Molly. "This is a fascinating conversation and all, but this highway is only haunted once a year, and we got till sun-up to wrap this thing up. What do you say we move it along, ok? Great."
Dean immediately left the cabin without waiting. He tried to smile reassuringly at Molly when she looked over at him, but she still looked freaked out.
"What are we looking for?" Molly asked him once they were outside again.
"Greeley's house," he said. "He might be buried there. Look for roads or paths or something but stay close."
"Yeah. Ok," Molly agreed. He thought she might like to have something to focus on. Sam looked back at him to make sure he was ok walking with Molly. He shrugged back to his brother since it didn't seem all that weird to him. She didn't look like a ghost, and she wasn't trying to kill them, so to him, she seemed real. And he felt bad for him. Dean didn't want him to feel bad for ghosts anymore, but he couldn't help it. She had to relive this night every year, and she never knew what happened to her husband. He wanted to just tell her right now that her husband was fine, but she wouldn't believe him.
He frowned when he looked over and didn't see Molly next to him anymore. "Dean," he said to get his brother to stop walking. When in doubt, Dean would know what to do. "She disappeared…" he said when Dean looked back at him.
"Dammit," Dean muttered before he took off running. A moment later, Molly screamed. He and Sam took off after Dean, and they got there just in time to see Dean shoot Greeley in the head, making him disappear.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Sam asked, running over to Molly.
Molly was shaking as she looked around, "What has that son of a bitch done with my husband?"
"Just take it easy, alright? You're gonna see David again. You will," Sam reassured.
"Hey," Dean said to get their attention before he nodded over to the side, "Follow the creepy brick road."
Sam motioned for him to walk with Molly again, following after Dean, while he walked behind him. "That thing shoots rock salt?" Molly asked him.
"Uh-huh," he said with a nod. He wondered how she knew that, but he didn't ask her.
"And plain salt keeps away spirits?" she asked.
"Simple remedies are always the best," Sam said when he didn't immediately answer. "In most cultures, salt's a symbol of purity, so it repels impure and unnatural things. Same reason you throw it over your shoulder."
They rounded a bend in the path, finally finding a very creepy-looking house. "You know, just once I'd like to round the corner and see a nice house," Dean grumbled.
"Maybe it was nice a long time ago…" he said. Sam went inside, holding the door open for Molly to go inside as well. He stayed outside with Dean so he could watch out for Greeley while they checked around outside. "You don't really like her," he said, unable to stay quiet for long.
"She's a ghost," Dean said, glancing back at the house.
"She seems ok to me," he said.
"Alec," Dean sighed.
"She is," he stressed. "And she's worried about her husband. She doesn't have any idea what's going on…"
"She's still causing accidents," Dean said. He looked down since he couldn't argue with that. Dean sighed again before he reached over and messed up his hair. "We're gonna help her if we can."
They walked into the house after they checked around outside since they hadn't found anything. "Any headstones outside?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, right," Dean grumbled. "Is it ever that easy?"
"I guess not," Sam agreed.
"You two check upstairs. See if you can find any notes or records telling us where he's buried. I just check down here," Dean said to Sam and Molly, leaving it up to him to decide where he wanted to go. He hesitated since he wanted to see what was upstairs, but he didn't want to leave Dean alone down here. "Go on," Dean said with a nod after Sam and Molly had already left. "I know you wanna take a look upstairs. I'll be up in a minute."
He leaned his shovel against the wall, and then ran upstairs to find a mess of papers everywhere. It was probably good he was up here to help go through all this. They didn't have a lot of time to really look through everything. Sam was already going through some papers on the other side of the room, while Molly was over by a window, looking at something. He wasn't really sure where to even start.
Molly looked over at him and said, "Look at this." She was looking at an old book as she walked over to a bed and sat down on the edge. Sam beat him over there and sat next to her, so he just moved a little closer so he could see. It looked like a book with old pictures in it. He could see Greeley and a woman standing in front of the house in one of the pictures. "It's Greeley and his wife," Molly said. Sam reached over to turn the page, looking over at him to see if he wanted to come closer. Molly ran her fingers over the page, which was covered in a cursive script. "It's a love letter he wrote her…My god, it's beautiful. I don't understand how a guy like this can turn into that monster."
"Um…Spirits like Greeley are, uh…like wounded animals. Lost. In so much pain that…they last out," Sam tried to explain.
"Why? Why are they here?" she asked. He really wanted to tell her what was going on. Molly looked up at him, and he realized he wasn't really hiding what he was feeling right then, so he quickly looked away.
"Well, there's some part of them that…that's keeping them here. Like their remains or, um…unfinished business," Sam said.
"Unfinished business?" she asked.
"Yeah. Uh, it could be revenge. Could be love. Or hate. Whatever it is, they just hold on too tight. Can't let go. So, they're trapped. Caught in the same loops. Replaying the same tragedies over and over," Sam said.
"You sound almost sorry for them," Molly said.
"Well, they weren't evil people, you know? A lot of them were good. Just…Something happened to them. Something they couldn't control," Sam said.
"Some of them don't even know they're dead," he said. Sam shot him a look, telling him to watch it.
"Sammy's always getting a little J. Love Hewitt when it comes to things like this," Dean said from the doorway, making Sam and Molly jump slightly. "And Alec here can usually seem 'em and talk to 'em, so he usually feels bad for 'em. Me, I don't like 'em. And I sure as hell ain't making apologies for 'em." Dean looked around at all the paper strewn across the room. "There's nothing downstairs. You find anything?"
"Uh, just about every piece of mail or receipt they ever had," Sam said. "Looked through a couple, but nothing about a grave so far." Dean walked over to the wall while Sam spoke, looking behind a cabinet. "What?" Sam asked.
"There's something behind here," Dean said. He tossed his flashlight over to Sam before he pushed the cabinet to the side, revealing a hidden door to a crawlspace. Dean pushed at the door, but it didn't budge. "It's locked from the inside," Dean muttered. He turned around and kicked back at the door, but it didn't budge. He chuckled when Dean looked back in surprise. Dean shot him a look this time as he turned around again and kicked at the door harder, busting the door in. Sam tossed Dean's flashlight back to him before he knelt down to check out the crawlspace. Dean sighed before he went through, knocking cobwebs away as he went. He quickly followed, mainly because finding a hidden crawlspace was awesome no matter how difficult it was to get to or how many cobwebs blocked the way. "It smells like old lady in here," Dean grumbled as he stood up.
His brother helped him up once he was through. "That must be the wife," he said, pointing to the hanging corpse.
"That explains the smell," Dean said. "Well, now we know why nobody ever saw her again."
"She didn't want to live without him," Molly said, brushing away cobwebs as she stood up.
Sam came through last, but looked around the room for a moment before he went over to a wooden chair and picked it up. He carried it over to the corpse and put it down, glancing over at Dean. "Dean, give me a hand," Sam said. He was grateful Sam hadn't asked him to help. He would've if he'd asked, but he really didn't want to. It was good to be the youngest sometimes.
"Really?" Dean asked back.
"What are you gonna do?" Molly asked.
"We can't leave her like this," Sam said.
"Why not?" Dean asked, looking over at him for help. He took a step back, refusing to get into it on this one. Dean glared at him, but he just smiled back.
"She deserves to be put to rest, Dean," Sam said like it was obvious.
Dean sighed, but then he reluctantly walked over to help. Sam stood up on the chair to cut through the rope, while Dean held onto the corpse. "Son of a…" Dean grumbled.
He went back through the crawlspace and headed downstairs, so he could get started on digging the grave. He grabbed his shovel and headed outside, leaving his brothers to deal with getting the corpse through the house.
He found a nice spot outside and started digging. He was about halfway done by the time Sam, Dean, and Molly came outside. Dean looked impressed at the progress he'd made, which made him feel good.
"So…so, if you manage to put Greeley to rest, too…What happens to them?" Molly asked.
"Lady, that answer is way beyond our paygrade," Dean said.
"You hunt these things, but you don't know what happens to them?" Molly asked.
"Well, they never come back. That's all that matters," Dean said with a shrug.
Molly definitely didn't like that answer. "After they let go of whatever's keeping them here, they…they just go," Sam said, also seeing that Molly didn't really like what Dean said. "I hope someplace better, but we don't know. No one does."
"But most of 'em weren't killers when they were alive," he said. "It's probably better to move on than to keep killing people. That wasn't who they were."
"What happens when you burn their bones?" she asked.
"Umm…Well, my Dad used to say that was like death for ghosts, you know? But…The truth is, we still don't know. Not for sure." Sam looked over at him and Dean for a moment before he continued, "Guess that's why we all hold on to life so hard. Even the dead. We're all just scared of the unknown."
"The only thing I'm scared of is losing David. I have to see him again," Molly said. "I have to."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Alec stood in the doorway, watching Molly as she paced in the other room while she looked through a photo album. Sam stood over by the window, looking out to make sure Greeley didn't suddenly show up. He was sitting by the other window, keeping watch on the other side.
Sam sighed, "I think we should tell her about her husband," Sam whispered.
"We can't," he replied.
"Dean, it's cruel, letting her pine for him like this. I don't like keeping her in the dark," Sam said. "And Alec doesn't either."
"Leave me out of this," Alec muttered without looking over at them.
"It's for her own good," he said as he stood up. "Man, I know you feel guilty, alright? And I know Alec does too. But let's just stick to the plan. Let's get her out of here, then we'll tell her."
"Tell me what?" Molly asked, walking into the room. He shot Alec a look since he was supposed to be watching her, but Alec just ignored him. "What aren't you telling me?" Molly asked when he didn't reply. "It's about David. You know what happened to him."
"Molly," Sam started.
"Sam, don't," he quickly cut off before Sam could screw things up.
"Don't what? Don't tell me because I'll mess up your hunt?" she challenged. "You don't care about me or my husband."
"That's not true," Sam said.
"Really? Then whatever it is, tell me, please," Molly begged. He knew his brothers were about to tell her everything, so he was relieved when music suddenly started to play. It was 'House of the Rising Sun' again, which had to mean Greeley was on his way. "He's coming," Molly said in fear, looking over at Alec.
"Stay with her," he said to Sam. He slowly walked over to an ancient radio in the corner that looked like it hadn't been turned on in years. He crouched down and pulled up the frayed cord that wasn't even plugged in. Freakin' ghosts.
"Dean," Alec said to get his attention. He stood up again and looked over at the window that Alec was already looking at. The glass suddenly frosted over, and then letter by letter appeared 'SHE'S MINE'.
He waited to see if the ghost would come through the door, or even the window, but he didn't. Instead, he heard glass breaking, and then Molly screamed. He ran into the other room with Alec right behind him.
"He's got Molly!" Sam yelled just as he went through the broken window. He and Alec followed and ran after Greeley through the woods. He grabbed Alec's arm to keep him from taking off without him and Sam, and then slowed down once they lost sight of Greeley.
"This guy is persistent," he grumbled, walking back into the house with his brothers.
"We gotta find Molly," Sam said.
"We gotta find Greeley's bones," he corrected. "And, uh, no pressure or anything, but we got less than two hours before sunrise." Alec picked up the photo album Molly had been looking through, drawing Sam's attention. Sam nodded over to him before he pointed out one of the pictures to Alec. "What d'you got?"
"February 6, 1992," Sam said, reading the caption underneath the picture of Greeley and his wife standing in front of a building.
"That was like two weeks before the accident, wasn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah. I mean, it looks like the hunting cabin, but…I swear there's a tree right where they're standing…" Sam muttered.
"There is," Alec said with a nod.
"I should've thought of it," Sam said, looking over at him.
"What?" he asked.
"It's an old country custom, Dean," Sam said. "Planting a tree as a grave marker."
He looked at Sam for a few seconds before he said, "You're like a walking encyclopedia of weirdness."
Alec snorted out a laugh, while Sam huffed and said, "Yeah. I know."
They went outside, grabbing their shovels again, before they headed to the hunting cabin. Alec kept trying to run ahead, but Sam kept pulling him back each time he started to outpace them. His youngest brother just got too attached, especially to things he shouldn't. He also had a habit of trying to save everyone, even ghosts.
Alec looked over at him pleadingly when Molly suddenly screamed in pain. Alec didn't want to get in trouble for taking off again. "Dig fast," he said to Sam and Alec. They didn't know exactly where Greeley was buried around the tree, if he was even buried there to begin with, so it was smarter for the two of them to stay outside. Besides, Molly was already dead, so as heartless as it seemed, he wasn't all that concerned about the guy torturing her.
He ran into the cabin to see Molly dangling from the ceiling, blood running down her cheek and a slash across her stomach. Greeley stalked towards her, so he quickly took aim and shot the guy in the head, making him disappear.
"Oh, thank god," Molly breathed when she saw him.
He smirked, "Yeah, call me Dean." He suddenly felt a presence behind him, so he slowly turned to find Greeley. He cried out at the sudden burning in his cheek as Greeley slashed at him. "This guy's really pissing me off," he growled. Greeley waved his hand and his stomach dropped as he was thrown off his feet. His breath left him suddenly, hitting the wall hard. "Hurry up, Sam!" he yelled, struggling to get back to his feet.
A knife flew into Greeley's outstretched hand, his cold eyes locked on him. He shouldn't have been surprised when Alec burst into the cabin. He shouldn't have yelled for Sam to hurry. Greeley turned and threw his knife at Alec. His breath caught, afraid that Alec wasn't going to move in time, but his little brother snagged the knife out of thin air like it was child's play and smiled. Greeley roared, storming at Alec in a rage, but his little brother just stood his ground. He scrambled to get his shotgun again, but he was clumsy in his haste to try to help.
Greeley was inches from Alec when he burst into flames and disappeared.
He leaned his head back against the cabin and sighed. "That was too close."
"I knew Sam was about to burn the bones," Alec said as he walked over to Molly and gently cut her down, holding her up when her legs nearly gave out. It was disconcerting to see Alec holding up a ghost. But Alec let go of her once she was steady, and then helped him up.
"You ok?" Sam asked breathlessly, running into the cabin.
He and Alec shared a look, and then shrugged. It had been a weird hunt, and it wasn't even over yet. They still had to figure out how to get Molly to move on.
"Any ideas?" Sam whispered to him as they walked back to the Impala. Alec and Molly were walking ahead of them, but they were being quiet enough that only Alec would be able to hear them.
"Not really," he muttered back.
"Maybe we should just tell her," Sam said. It wasn't like they had a lot of options. He still didn't think it would work, but they were running out of time.
He smiled and ran his hand over the Impala once they finally got to the car again. "Oh, baby, it's been a long night." He opened the trunk and threw his bag in, while Sam opened the backdoor for Molly.
"Alright, let's get you out of here," Sam said.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened to my husband," Molly stated.
"Molly…" Sam started.
"All this time…" Moly cut in. "I've been looking for him, and you knew that…You knew that Greeley killed him, didn't you? He's dead."
Sam shook his head, "No, Molly. David's alive."
"What? You're sure?" Molly asked, looking over at Alec. His little brother nodded, and even though he looked sad, Molly slowly smiled.
"I'm sure. We'll take you to him," Sam said. "Come on."
She got into the backseat, and he waited for Alec to get in, but his little brother clearly didn't like their plan. "Alec, c'mon kiddo," he said. "She's gotta see it to believe it."
"I still don't like it," Alec muttered, but he did get in the car.
He glanced at Molly periodically while he drove to David's house. The further away from the crash they drove, the more confused she looked. He pulled up to the house and parked. The lights were on, so he was guessing David was up.
"He's in that house, right there," Sam said with a nod.
"I don't understand," Molly said with a frown.
"You will," Sam said.
"We'll explain," Alec said gently.
He and Sam stayed back a little, but Alec walked closer to the house with her, so she could see inside. "That's…not…" Molly looked from the window to Alec. He didn't like his little brother so close to the ghost. She could go nuclear any second if she didn't like something. "It can't be…" He saw David's wife walk over and kiss David on the lips. "What's happening? Who is that?"
"That's David's wife," Sam said, keeping his voice soothing. Sam didn't like Alec in danger any more than he did.
"I'm sorry, Molly," Alec whispered.
"I don't understand," she said.
"15 years ago, you and your husband hit Jonah Greeley with your car. David survived," Alec explained.
"What are you saying?" Molly asked.
"We're saying there isn't just one spirit haunting Highway 41," he said. "There are two. Jonah Greeley…and you." Molly looked at them in shock, tears filling her eyes. "For the past 15 years, one night a year, you've been appearing on that highway."
"No, that's not possible," Molly said, silently pleading for them to tell her was really going on. "It was our anniversary…February 22nd-"
"1992," Sam cut in.
"Yes," Molly said.
"Molly, it's 2007," Alec said softly.
"Oh, god," Molly breathed. She looked like she was trying to figure things out…maybe even remembering some of the things they had said on the hunt. Alec and Sam had been dropping hints, especially since they'd wanted to tell her the truth to begin with. "And Greeley?" she finally asked, looking at them again.
"Each year he punishes somebody for his death," Sam said. "Chasing them. Torturing them. And each year, that somebody is you."
"But I don't remember any of it," Molly tried.
"Because you couldn't see the truth, Molly," Sam said.
"So, that's why he won't let me off the highway…Because…I killed him. I killed us both," Molly breathed. Alec reached out and gently put his hand on her arm to try to comfort her. Molly looked up at Alec, and then asked, "Why didn't you tell me when you first saw me? Why wait until now?"
"You wouldn't have believed us," he said.
Molly looked over at him and accused, "And you need me for bait."
"Well…we needed you," Sam said.
Molly's gaze drifted back to the window, watching her husband. "David…" she whispered with longing, tears streaking down her cheeks.
"Molly, we brought you here so you could move on," Sam said.
"I have to tell him…"
"Tell him what?" Sam asked. "That you love him? That you're sorry? He already knows that." Sam shook his head, "Look, if you want to go in there, we're not gonna stop you."
"Yeah, but you are gonna freak him right out. For life," he quickly added on. He really hoped she wouldn't go in there.
"Molly, David's moved on," Alec said. "Now it's your turn. He's alive. You said that you just wanted to know that he was ok, and he is."
"What am I supposed to do?" Molly asked.
"Just…let go," Sam said. "Of David. Of everything. You do that…we think you'll move on."
Molly looked away for a moment as the tears fell faster down her cheeks. "But you don't know where."
"It's gotta be better than reliving the same night over and over," Alec said.
"Haven't you suffered long enough?" Sam asked. "It's time. It's time to go."
Molly nodded after a moment, and then slowly stepped away from the house. She looked over as the sun rose over the rooftops and the clouds parted to let the rays through. He squinted slightly as the light went over her, and she seemed to become part of the light and disappeared.
"I guess she wasn't so bad…for a ghost," he said once she was gone. "You think she's really going to a better place?"
"I hope so," Sam said.
They slowly walked away from the house, back over to the Impala. "I guess we'll never know," he said. "Not until we take the plunge ourselves, huh?"
"Doesn't really matter, Dean. Hope's kind of the whole point," Sam said.
"Alright, Haley Joel," he said. He hit Sam's shoulder, and then looked around for Alec. His little brother was trailing behind them, looking down at the ground. He looped his arm over Alec's shoulders, while Sam reached over and messed up Alec's hair. "Let's hit the road."