#01.09

Your first stop was the garage that the boys claimed your dad used to work at when they were babies and for a short time after Mary died. Right before he disappeared to start hunting all the thing that you now hunt. You were pretending to be in the police force, investigating the disappearance to get as much information as you could from the old guy.

He was almost bald, missing a few teeth and dirty from all the grease. “You and John Winchester? You used to own this garage together?” Dean asked as you followed the man into the actual garage part where they held all the cars.

“Yeah, we used to. A long time ago,” he answered. “Matter of fact, must be 20 years since John disappeared, so why are the cops interested all of the sudden?”

“Oh, we’re reopening some of our unsolved cases and the Winchester disappearance is one of them,” Sam explained. The man nodded and leaned up against one of the cars that another mechanic was working on from the inside.

“Uh-huh. Well, what do you want to know about him?”

“Whatever you remember,” Dean said. You had to start from basically square one and gather as much information you could whether it be about the spirit that was residing currently, the one that killed Mary or anything John may have said that he never told the boys.

“Well. He was a stubborn bastard. I remember that. And, oh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, ya know? It was the whole marine thing, But, uh, he sure loved Mary and he doted on those kids. ”  The man went on, smiling at the memory of John and you could see the pure joy in Dean’s eyes as he talked but he tried not to let it show too much.

“But that was before the fire?” Sam said. “Did he ever talk about that night?”

“No, not at first.” He shook his head and rubbed his chin with his hand in thought. “I think he was in shock.”

“But, eventually. What did he say about it?”

“Oh, he wasn’t thinking straight. He said something caused that fire and killed Mary,” he brushed off the question as if it wasn’t important and whatever John may have said about it was crazy. He shook his head and let out a sigh.

“Did he ever say what it was?” You asked, tapping a pen on the notepad you were holding in your hands for added effect. It was completely blank.

“Nothing did it. It was an accident. An electrical short in the ceiling or walls or something,” he snorted out a laugh. His face took a serious turn and he pursed out his lips. “I begged him to get some help, but,” he hesitated, “it just got worse and worse. He started reading these strange old books and going to see this palm reader in town.”

“Palm reader? Do you have a name?” You asked, getting prepared to take down a name and number if he had it. Any information. The man scoffed, furrowed his brows, and shook his head which left you guys no choice but to look up every palm reader in Lawrence.

The phone booth outside of the shop had a phone book sitting on top of it so Sam grabbed it, flipping through the pages to find ads and numbers.

“There’s a few psychics and palm readers in town. There’s, uh, someone named El Divino. There’s the Mysterious Mr. Fortinsky,’  Sam laughed as he read off the list of insane names that people give themselves. You were perched up on the hood of the car with Dean standing next to you, listening for anything that may sound familiar. You didn’t really know what kind of clues you were looking for, but you figured once it was there you would catch it. “Uh, Missouri Moseley, some dude-”

“Wait, wait, wait. Missouri Moseley?” Dean cut his brother off, pushing off the car.

“You know him?” You asked, looking over at him but Dean was pointing at the book and looking at his brother.

“He’s a psychic?” He asked.

Sam looked down at the book and reread the name to himself, “uh, yeah. I guess so.”

Dean popped the trunk of the car and started rummaging for something. He came out with John’s journal and flipped open to a page that he seemed to know by heart. “Come here, look at this,” he said. You and Sam both walked over to him and Dean turned the book over so the words were facing you.“First page, first sentence. Read it,” he ordered.

Sam took the book and sighed, reading what the page said. “I went to Missouri and I learned the truth.” He shrugged and handed Dean the book back.

“I always thought he meant the state,” Dean said, trying to prompt a reaction out of Sam but you got the connection. It took Sam a minute to get there but when he did, he smiled and opened the car door.

Missouri Moseley’s office was pretty much the exact opposite of what you’d expect a psychic’s office to look like. Instead of beaded curtains on the windows and doorways and crystals hanging off the ceiling, there were regular curtains and embroidered signs on the walls like your grandma’s house. “Your wife is crazy about you!” A woman chuckled as she walked a man out of the room you assumed to be where the readings happened. “Whew - poor bastard. His woman cold-banging’ the gardener,” the woman said as she shut the door behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Dean asked, an amused smile on his face.

“People don’t come here for the truth. They come for good news,” she pointed at the boys. You all just stared at her in awe of her honesty instead of answering. “Well? Sam, Dean, Y/n. Come on already, I ain’t got all day!” She gestured you into her room. You followed her and ah, there are the beaded curtains.

“Well, let me look at you!” She laughed as you walked into the room. With her hands on her hips, she looked at the boys. “You boys grew up handsome. And didn’t do too bad for yourselves, who’s girlfriend is this? Dean?” She asked, eyeing you up and winking at the older boy. Dean chuckled uncomfortably and shuffled on his feet while you cleared your throat. He didn’t deny anything.

“Actually-” you started but she cut you off.

“Dean you used to be one goofy looking kid!” She joked, pointing at him and laughing. You chuckled under your breath as Dean looked at you. She waved her hand in the air and moved on to Sam, grabbing his hand. “Oh, honey,” she whispered, “I’m sorry about your girlfriend. And your father, he’s missing?” How did she know that?

“How’d you know all that?” Sam asked, reading your mind exactly.

“Well, you were just thinking it, just now,” she said, furrowing her brows as if that was completely obvious. Was he thinking about John or Jess? Or both? Was he always thinking of her? It was selfish and unfair of you to be jealous of the fact but you were anyway.

“Well, where is he? Is he okay?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, sadness in her voice.

“You don’t know? You’re supposed to be a psychic, right?” Dean asked. You pinched the back of his arm for being so rude but he ignored you.

“Boy, you see me sawing some bony tramp in half? You think I’m a magician?” She snapped at him and you tried to stifle a smile. “I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can’t just pull facts out of thin air,” she ranted. “Which, by the way, I know she ain’t your girlfriend so I don’t know why you tried to lie to me, boy.” Sam was laughing at Dean, who just looked really uncomfortable and embarrassed. Maybe for what he said but probably for the reaction he got.

She invited you to sit down, so you did. She took the big armchair and the three of you sat on the couch, you smack dab in the middle of the two boys. If she could read thoughts and energies, then maybe she could sense how nervous you felt sitting so close to Sam. Maybe she could sense how your heart rate picked up at his knee touching yours. “Boy, you put your foot up on my coffee table and I’m gonna wack you with a spoon,” she scolded Dean who had yet to put his foot on the coffee table but he was for sure thinking about it.

“I didn’t do anything,” Dean defended.

“Well, you were thinking about it.”

“I like her,” you whispered to Sam, who was laughing at his brother again. He nodded at you and then looked at Missouri Moseley.

“Okay, so. Our dad. When did you first meet him?” Sam asked, getting to the point. He was leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hands folded together. Gosh, he was so cute.

“He came for a reading a few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say, I drew back the curtains for him,” he said. Her voice was suddenly soft and sweet and careful. A drastic difference from the way she was just talking to Dean but this was a bigger topic and the weight of it was suddenly overwhelmingly obvious to you.

“What about the fire? Do you know what killed our mom?” Dean asked.

“A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echos, the fingerprints, of this thing. I-” she stuttered, hesitating to continue. You could see the pain of remembrance on her face.

“What was it?” Sam pushed. Missouri Moseley hesitated for a long while. Looking at the boys, studying them, deciding if she should dive in and actually say what she was thinking. After all, she was the only one who could read minds in the room so she was the only one with secrets. She must have heard you begging her in your mind.

“I don’t know. But,” she sucked in a deep breath, “it was evil.” That caught you by surprise and you looked over at Sam. He glanced at you before going into the entire story about why you were here and why you were trying to find out information about the fire. She listened intently to Sam’s story, nodding frequently but her eyes kept glancing to you like she was studying you but didn’t want to make it obvious. It made you shift in your seat. “You think something’s back in that house?” She asked after the story was finished.

“Definitely,” Sam said with certainty.

“I don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head and sitting back down. The story made her get up and start pacing back and forth. “I haven’t been back inside but I’ve been keeping an eye on the place and it’s been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it acting up now?”

“I don’t know, but dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house. All happening at once. It just feels like something’s starting,” Sam admitted.

“That’s a comforting thought,” Dean droned, shaking his head. It wasn’t a comforting thought and it made your skin crawl. What could possibly starting? What does that even mean and how the hell are you going to fight it? Missouri Moseley suggested that she could come back to the house, check it out and see if she feels the same presence that she felt when she went with John and you took her up on the offer. When you got to the house and Jenny opened the door, she looked anything but pleased to see you.

“Guys, what are you doing here?” She asked. Richie was propped up on her hip, his juice in hand, and her eyes landed right on Missouri.

“This is our friend, Missouri,” Sam introduced. Missouri Moseley waved at Jenny, a soft smile on her face. You wondered if she was just as nervous as you were about what you could possibly find here. Again, she was the only one that could have any secrets.

“We were wondering, if it’s not too much trouble if we could show her the house. For old time’s sake,” Dean said, his charming smile plastered on his face.

“You know, this isn’t a good time. I’m kind of busy,” she said. She did look busy and frantic and it gave you a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. She went to close the door in your face but Dean stepped closer, hoping to stop her.

“Listen, Jenny, it’s important -” he started but Missouri smacked him in the head causing Dean to yell out. “Ow.” He rubbed the back of his head and you laughed at him.

“Give the poor girl a break. Can’t you see she’s upset?” She said, stepping between the two boys and closer to Jenny. “Forgive this boy, he means well. He’s just not the sharpest tool in the shed, but hear me out,” she said, soft again like in her office. You were just glad there was finally someone else who could defend Dean’s stupidity other than you.

“About what?” Jenny asked.

“About this house,” Missouri told her.

“What are you talking about?” Jenny asked suspiciously, shaking her head slightly but she was intrigued by what Missouri was telling her.

“I think you know what I’m talking about,” she said knowingly. She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You think there’s something in this house. Something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?”

“Who are you?”

“People who can help. People who can stop this thing but you’re gonna have to trust us. Just a little,” she offered. She was good. She was good at convincing people of things and she was good at making you feel a little less crazy than you probably were.

Jenny let you in her house, Richie still attached to her hip. Missouri led the way, walking in the living room and kitchen and then upstairs. You followed her around and she was quiet for a really long time until she reached one room in particular.

“If there’s dark energy around here, this room should be the center of it,” she said.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“This used to be your nursery, Sam,” Missouri said a small smile on her lips. You could see it. Baby Sam in a crib under the window and a mobile swinging above him. Now, it was a child’s room. A twin sized bed pushed up against the purple wall, toys scattered throughout. “This is where it all happened.” Now, you were still picturing Sam in his crib but also Mary, burning on the ceiling.

You felt the hair on the boys’ arms stand up at the thought of their mom dying in that room and you couldn’t comfort them both so you didn’t comfort either of them.

Missouri walked through the room, touching items here and there while Dean pulled out an EMF reader and turned it on. Missouri mocked his use of one and he rolled his eyes. There was an old telephone on the bedside table and notebooks covered in stickers on the desk. Missouri walked the entire room until she got to the closet.

“I don’t know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain’t the thing that took your mom,” she informed you. You were relieved even if the boys weren’t. That fact took an entire factor out of the equation. A factor that made this case harder to work than the others and a factor that was keeping Dean awake at night, tossing and turning.

“Are you sure?” Sam asked and Missouri nodded her head. “How do you know?”

“This isn’t the same energy I felt the last time I was here,” she said, shaking her head and still looking around. “It’s something different.”

“What is it?” You inquired.

Missouri swung open the closet door, revealing little girl’s clothes and shoes. “Not it,” she said, stepping inside, “them. There’s more than one spirit in this place.”

“What are they doing here?” You asked.

“They’re here because of what happened to your family. You see, all those years ago, real evil

came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes wounds get infected,” she explained, leaving the closet and walking towards the three of you. Her voice was sending shivers down your spine. The thought of evil touching your boys and their family. The idea that evil is what you and the boys have been chasing for years, chilled you.

“I don’t understand,” Sam mumbled.

“This place is a magnet for paranormal energy. It’s attracted a poltergeist. A nasty one. And it won’t rest until Jenny and her babies are dead,” she told you.

“You said there was more than one,” Sam said, not fully understanding what she was saying.

“There is,” she said, going back to the closet. “I just can’t make out the second one.”

“Well, one thing’s for damn sure. Nobody’s dying in this house ever again,” Dean announced. “So whatever it is here, how do we stop it?” Missouri took Dean’s question and brought you back to her house, where she had an assortment of different voodoo things that you didn’t understand.

She set out a bunch of jars and wraps and ordered the three of you to start stuffing the wraps with all the ingredients. She told you it was a mix of Angelica Root, Van Van oil and Crossroad dirt with some extra stuff added in. She claimed that this will help sage the house and get the spirits out but it had to be a quick process.

After an hour or so of rolling, a long-winded conversation about the plan in motion and Dean taste-testing a few of the ingredients, you went back to the house. Jenny took her kids to the movies, you and Sam took one floor and Dean and Missouri took the other two. The plan was simple - stuff the sage bags in the walls but you had to move fast because once the spirits catch on, they’ll start to retaliate.

Sam walked into the master bedroom, swinging the hammer around in his hands. “Over there,” you pointed to the corner of the house you needed to bust a hole in. It was the last one on your floor and things were going fairly smoothly. He kneeled down on the ground, tapped the wall to find the hollow spot and made the first dent. “Sam,” you whispered to him but there was no answer. The lamp on the dresser was moving slowly, inch by inch.

“Sam,” you said a little bit louder but there was so much pounding on the walls he could barely hear you. The cord slithered across the floor and you started smacking his bicep, causing him to stop banging on the wall and look at you. “Look.”

He turned his head and before he could see what you saw, the cord shot off the ground and wrapped itself around Sam’s neck. “SAM!” You called out, grabbing the cord and trying to pry it from his neck but it was too strong. It was being tightened by whatever spirit was haunting this house and he was wheezing.

He pointed to the sage bag, wanting you to finish the job but you couldn’t leave him on the floor like that, wheezing and dying. You called for Dean but he didn’t answer and you kept pulling on the cord. You called again and this time, you heard footsteps running up the stairs. Knowing Dean was coming, you grabbed the bag and kicked the wall where the hole was already started. Dean ran to Sam’s side, pulling at the cord the same way you did but Sam was still wheezing and it wouldn’t stop.

You threw the bag in the wall and thunder crashed from outside even though it was raining and all the weight that you didn’t know was in the house, lifted. Dean pulled Sam up and you ran back to his side as Dean unwrapped the cord from his neck. “Are you okay?” You asked, inspecting his neck and seeing red lines going all the way around. You knew he couldn’t answer you but you didn’t care.

He was breathing heavily and he was weak, falling over into Dean’s arms. You pet his hair down with your hand as Dean held him. Eventually, he got his barrings back and could breathe again. When he was strong enough to stand up on his own, you smashed your body into his and hugged him. A groan escaped his lips, but he hugged back.

The house was a mess. Knifes stabbed into the kitchen table, fruit all over the floor and the lights were all burnt out. “Are you sure this is all over?” Sam asked.

“I’m sure, why?” Missouri answered after walking the entire house, taking in all its energy. “Why do you ask?” She asked, looking at the expression on Sam’s face. He was weary and hesitant but he brushed her off. She was just about to push for more information when Jenny called from the foyer, announcing their return.

“What happened?” She asked, appalled at the mess in her house.

“We’re sorry, we will pay for all of this,” Sam offered, knowing full well you guys did not have the money to pay for that but you let him play the hero and you let Dean play the bad cop, giving Sam a glare.

“Don’t you worry, Dean will clean all this up,” Missouri offered, getting another glare from Dean. You were going to miss her. It was exhausting keeping up with Dean’s antics and you enjoyed having someone around that would put him in his place. You enjoyed the look on his face when she called him out. When Dean didn’t move, she turned to him. “What are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop. And don’t cuss at me,” she called out, again reading his mind.

You liked sitting back with Sam and Missouri while you watched Dean clean up the house by himself, groaning and cursing under his breath. Sam played with Richie on the floor, smiling at him as he babbled on about something you didn’t understand. When the house was clean, you left the house and drove Missouri home, but Sam insisted you go back and stake the house out for the night.

“What are we still doing here?” You groaned from the backseat. It was late and you were exhausted. The boys said you could sleep, but you wanted to be awake in case there was any action. How could you miss that?

“I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling,” Sam said, watching the house closely.

“Why? Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing. The house should be clean. This should be over,” Dean said, standing by your stance of going to the hell to a hotel and sleeping.

“I just wanna make sure, okay?” Sam insisted. You let out a sigh and settled into the backseat, pulling the sleeves of your sweater over your hands because you were cold. Dean refused to keep the car running and waste gas, so you always sat in the silence and in the cold.

“The problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now,” Dean mumbled under his breath.

“I second that,” you stated, throwing your hand up in the air. Sam was sick of your shit and rolled his eyes at you briefly before looking back at the house. Dean’s eyes were closed so he didn’t see the look on Sam’s face when he did. “What is it?” You asked.

“Jenny,” he said, smacking Dean in the arm and the three of you shot out of the Impala and began running towards the house. Dean went straight to Jenny’s room and you could hear as he banged on the door and then a crash as he kicked it in. You and Sam headed towards the kid’s room. You went for Richie and Sam went for Sari. Richie was crying, banging his crib against the wall at all the noise. When you picked him up, he stopped.

Sam was carrying Sari out of her room as you passed and the four of you flew down the stairs. “You three go outside, now. Fast as you can,” Sam ordered as he put Sari down on the ground. You grabbed her hand and Sam looked at you.

“What?” You asked, frantic. You wanted to get out. Needed to get out and he was going to hang back? Sam put his hand on your shoulder, kissed your cheek and whispered in your ear.

“Go.” Just as his lips left your ear, his body slammed to the ground and he was pulled down the hallway by nothing. The spirit. Sari screamed and you squeezed her hand, bringing her and Richie outside. She ran to her mom and Jenny hugged her and took Richie into her arms.

“Where’s Sam?” Dean asked you as you tried to catch your breath.

“The spirit got him. He’s inside, we gotta go,” you told him. Dean nodded and you were prepared to run back in that house and save him at whatever cost but the front door that just opened slammed shut with Sam inside it.

You went to the door and tried kicking it in but you weren’t strong enough. Dean hauled ass to the Impala to grab any kind of weapons that would possibly help and he returned with an ax and started hacking the door down. One panel fell. “Sam!” He called into the house but the only answer was a groan. The second panel fell and it was enough room for you to crawl through.

You found Sam pinned to the wall, groaning in pain and struggling against the force that was holding him there. You looked straight across from him and the figure on fire that Sari was talking about was right in your face. Dean wasn’t very far behind you and by the time the thought that this is why Sam stayed back crossed your mind, Dean was pointing a gun to it and Sam was screaming for him to stop. “I know who it is,” Sam admitted. “I can see her now.”

Dean didn’t put the gun down, but he didn’t shoot either. The fire figure manifested into a beautiful woman in a white nightgown, blond hair just past her shoulders. The fire disappeared and when she was fully manifested, Dean put the gun down. “Mom,” he whispered.

The ghost of Mary stepped closer to the boys and looked at her sons lovingly and in awe. You couldn’t imagine how you would feel if you ever saw your mom again, whether she was a ghost or not so when Sam started crying, you weren’t surprised.

“I’m sorry,” Mary said.

“For what?” Sam asked. He was still pinned to the wall and shaking. Mary smiled at him and

didn’t answer. Instead, she turned around and faced the rest of the house.

“You, get out of my house and let go of my son,” she ordered the poltergeist. She was the other spirit. The one Missouri couldn’t make out earlier today and Mary burst into flames again before disappearing. Sam’s body fell from the wall and he let out a big breath he was holding.

Your hands instinctually went to help hold him up and his arm went around your waist. Dean whispered for his mom to come back. It was faint, but you heard it. He wasn’t crying like Sam was but he looked just as sad. “Now, it’s over,” Sam announced.

Dean didn’t want to leave the house. He was frozen in the one spot where he last saw his mom. Sam gave up a few minutes ago, going outside to make sure Jenny and the kids were okay but you hung back with him. You stood there in silence until he finally spoke up. “She was just as beautiful as I remember,” he said. A few more minutes of silence and then he let you take him back outside.

The next morning, which was really only a few hours later, you called Missouri to double check the house. You waited on the porch steps with Sam, your knees barely touching but you kept bumping them back and forth. She came outside, confirming that they were all gone.

“My mom too?” Sam asked as she sat down on the steps next to you.

“Yeah,” she said.

“What happened?” You asked her. Sam was looking off to the street, where Dean and Jenny were talking but you were looking at Missouri.

“Mary and the poltergeists’ energy, they canceled each other out. Your mom destroyed herself going after the thing.”

“Why would she do that?” Sam asked, snapping his head to look at her. He looked sad and angry but mostly sad.

“To protect her boys, of course.” Missouri smiled at him softly and you wrapped your arm around Sam’s. He looked down at you with tears in his eyes knowing his mom was gone for good.

“What’s happening to me?” Sam asked. You knew it was in reference to his dreams and the fact that he sensed she was there even when Missouri couldn’t. She just shrugged her shoulder, telling him that she may not have all the answers. You wondered, too, if there was some big secret as to why you had your vision but you thought it best not to ask.

Dean called out from the street for the two of you. Sam stood up, untangling himself from you and headed towards his brother. You stayed back with Missouri. “Thanks for your help,” you said.

“Of course,” she said. “I know I may not have all the answers, but I do have a few of them,” she told you, hinting at something but you didn’t know what. “The easy one is that I know you’re in love with that boy but he’s still grieving. I know you’ve been giving him time and he needs that but he also really needs you.” You sucked in a breath, your heart pounding at her words.

“And the hard one?”

“Well, it’s more of an inclining than actual answers but I know what happened last week. You’ve been thinking about it nonstop. It’s a gift, you just need to listen to it,” she ordered.