"I've got good news and bad news," Sam tells the others as he hangs up the phone. "Bad news is that Mary's brother sold the mirror a week ago, said he couldn't have it around anymore 'cause his daughter swore she could see her aunt in it. Good news is that the place he sold it to, Estate Antiques, is here in Toledo."
"Okay, so Mary goes with the mirror, it's what she's clingin' to. Well, I guess it does lend credibility to that old mirrors capture spirits myth and it makes sense considering Mary died in front of the mirror, but how's she moving from mirror to mirror to gank people?"
"All mirrors are basically the same," Elizabeth says without looking up from her magazine. "I mean, sure, their frames are different, but they all serve the same purpose. Maybe there's some kind of link that mirrors share that allows her to jump around."
"Y'all think smashing her mirror would put an end to it?"
"We can always hope," Sam replies, though he didn't sound convinced. Elizabeth isn't convinced in this whole mirror thing either, but it's worth a shot. After all, Mary's blood was on the glass of her mirror and Elizabeth's sure the pool of it soaked into the massive wooden frame, so maybe Mary's part of it now and smashing it will mean severing her connection to the world. Sam's phone ringing snaps Elizabeth out of her thoughts, further distracting her from an article about eyeliner. "Yeah? Charlie?" That perks her interest, magazine forgotten as she leans forward to try and listen in. "Okay, meet us at the motel, we'll be there in five minutes."
"What is it," Dean asks," what's wrong?"
"Mary's after Charlie and she's freaking out."
"Who wouldn't freak out about a murderous ghost huntin' them all over town?" Sam gives him a dry look and Dean waves it off. "I mean besides us."
"Would you just shut up and floor it? I'd like to get to Charlie before her eyes start bleeding." Dean frowns and does as Sam demanded, speeding through town and straight to the motel without hesitation. Charlie is waiting for them outside, pacing nervously and flinching when she sees the reflective surface of the windshield. "It's gonna be okay," Sammy assures her as they get out, acting as a shield between her and the car as Dean unlocks the door to the motel room.
"She's everywhere," Charlie sobs against his chest. "It's not just mirrors, it's anything that's shiny." Dean and Elizabeth share a look, leading the way inside and immediately setting to Mary-proofing the entire room; sheets duck taped over the mirrors, pictures face-down on the dresser, coat over the TV, and curtains drawn. Hell, they even tape a paper bag over the lightbulb before they allow Charlie and Sam to come inside.
"It's okay, I've got you. Here, sit on the bed, alright?" He guides her to the bed since she had her eyes covered by her sweater, helping her to sit and keeping an arm around her shoulders. "You can open your eyes now, there's no way she can get you." Shoulders tense and her entire body trembling, Charlie slowly lowers her sweater and glances around nervously. "As long as you don't look at anything that causes a reflection, then she can't get you."
"I can't keep that up all my life, that's impossible." Tell that to the old lady in Mary: The Summoning. Elizabeth shakes the thought away, those books no longer as fun as they were before this case. "Eventually, she's going to get me."
"That's not true because the three of us are going to protect you." Dean seats himself on the edge of the bed, resting one hand on her ankle and giving it a comforting squeeze while Elizabeth goes about taping paper around the door handles.
"Can you tell us what happened," Dean asks softly.
"Donna didn't believe me," she murmurs, tears leaving marks as they slide down her cheeks. "She was angry at me and she said the words."
"Charlie, you know what I meant." There's a moment of quiet as Elizabeth moves to sit on the other side of Charlie, patting her knee. Charlie knows exactly what Dean is asking about and it's going to be hard for her to talk about it, so they give her the time she needs.
"I had this boyfriend when I was younger, I loved him and was scared of him at the same time. There was something off about him and he got mad so easily..." She takes a moment, rocking back and forth ever so slightly with her knees drawn up to her chest. "We had this fight one night and I finally broke up with him, but he said he'd kill himself if I really left him. I told him to go ahead and do it, then I walked out and I never saw him again. Does that make me a horrible person? I caused him to do that to himself."
"It's not your fault, honey," Elizabeth promises, rubbing her back soothingly. "People like your ex usually have some kind of illness and them saying things like that mean they've already been thinking about it for a while. Even if you hadn't broken up with him, he probably would've killed himself."
"Liza's right, Charlie, there was nothing you could've done about it," Sam says. "Just stay here and we'll do our jobs." Charlie's hand shoots out and she grasps Sam's wrist tightly when he moves to get up, her eyes wide in fear.
"Where are you going," she asks, voice as shaky as the rest of her.
"We're gonna go kill a ghost and make it safe for you to look in a mirror again. Charlie, I promise we're going to fix this. Liza, how 'bout you get her something to take the edge off."
"Right," Elizabeth nods, moving over to her duffle and digging through it until she finds what she's looking for, bringing it back over to the bed Charlie's on. "Okay, so I've got Xanax and Harry Potter." Dean raises his brow, giving her a what the hell look. "Don't judge, Winchester." After a moment, Charlie takes one of the pills and the book, dry swallowing before Elizabeth can get her some water. "Alright, we'll be back as soon as we can, so just sit tight."
"And when we get back, you won't have any ghost problems," Dean adds with a reassuring pat to her shoulder. After one last check to make sure all the shiny things are covered, they lock Charlie inside and make a run for the Impala, none of them talking again for a little while until Dean breaks the tense silence. "Anybody gonna say what's on all of our minds?"
"The way I figure it, we've all got at least two pressing things we're thinkin' about right now, so you'll have to be specific." She catches his eye in the rearview mirror, raising her brows. "Well, you're either meaning the fact that Charlie wasn't directly responsible for her boo's death or you mean we've all got enough secrets to have Mary kill us ten times over."
"The first one, Liza."
"In that case," Sam pipes up from the passenger's seat," you should already know why. Spirits see the world in black and white, guilty and not guilty, happy and sad. They're kind of like a certain three year old I know of." Elizabeth gives him a dry smile, the similarities between ghosts and toddlers not lost on her. "I've been thinking."
"Always a scary thought."
"Shut it, Dean." Dean raises a hand from the steering wheel in a gesture of surrender, but the grim smile stays in place. "I've been thinking that we might need to summon Mary to her mirror and then destroy it."
"To keep her from playing hopscotch," she asks, resting her arms on the back of their seat. At Sam's nod, she gives a shrug. "It's not a bad idea, destroy her while she's in her mirror and she might go bye-bye forever."
"And if she doesn't," Dean asks," if she's just released into the real world?"
"Then we do everything we can to take the bitch down."
"While we're on the subject, who's gonna summon her?"
"I will," Sam states after a second. Dean looks about as pleased as Elizabeth does at the idea, pulling the car off to the side of the road and putting it in park so he can face his brother. "Don't give me that look, I was the one to come up with the plan and I'll be the one to summon her."
"I'm not letting you try to sacrifice yourself just because you're feeling guilty about Jessica. You're my baby brother and I refuse, refuse, to let you commit suicide like this because you think it's all your fault. Well, I'll tell you something, Sammy, there was nothing you could've done to save her. You really want to blame someone for this? Blame the goddamn demon that took everything from us, but don't let your guilt eat you alive like this. Hell, I'll even let you take a free swing at me since I'm the one that convinced you to leave her behind."
"Dean, it's not your fault. I should've warned her before I left."
"Warned her about what, Sam? About some demon that killed our mother twenty-two years ago that has a vendetta against hunters? About staying away from yellow-eyed douchebags that nails women to the ceiling? There's no way you could've done that without ruining your relationship. Besides, this guilt trip you're on isn't anywhere close to being a secret."
"He's right," Elizabeth agrees," we know all about it, Sammy."
"But you don't," Sam argues in a resigned tone," neither of you know everything and you probably never will."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"If I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret."
"You know what? I will hog-tie your ass and lock you in the fucking trunk if you keep talking like this. If anyone's going to call a ghost out on their bullshit, then it's going to be me."
"And why exactly would I let you sacrifice yourself if I wouldn't let Sammy do it," Dean snaps. "Both of you need to knock off the happy martyr acts, pull your heads out of your asses, and start thinking like rational people!"
"Then what do you want to do? All three of us stand in front of the mirror and give her whiplash?" He pauses, lips parted as he processes that.
"That's actually not a bad idea."
"Say what now?"
"No, you see, we'll keep her confused since, like you said earlier, we've all got secrets. While she's playing Eeny Meeny Miney Mo, we'll destroy her."
"What if she just goes for the person closest to her?"
"I don't know, I'm making it up as I go along."