The Family Business [Supernatural] {1}

17.1 Hell House

I woke up after sleeping for what? Two or three hours? I glanced around and saw we were still driving. I sighed, looking at Dean and he turned to see me awake. He smiled and then turned back around. I looked at Sam and saw he was sleeping with his mouth open.

Dean looked at Sam too and then back at the road as he felt around then pulled out a plastic spoon. I raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?" I asked. He smirked, "Shh, Shorty," He said and I rolled my eyes. He gently placed the plastic spoon in Sam's mouth and I bit my lower lip from not laughing.

Dean grinned, he flipped open his phone and took a photo, then turned the music up loud. "Fire . . . of unknown origins . . . took my baby away!" Dean sang loudly.

Sam jerked up, realizing something was in his mouth, panicking and waved his arms as he spit it out. I air drummed along to the song and Dean saw me through the rearview mirror and pointed at it, "Oh, yeah, way to go, Scar!" He said, laughing.

I giggled and Dean looked at Sam, grinning as Sam wiped his mouth and turned down the music. "Ha ha, very funny," Sam said.

Dean laughed, "Sorry, not a lot of scenery here in East Texas, kinda gotta make your own."

"Man, we're not kids anymore, Dean. We're not going to start that crap up again," Sam said. "Start what up?" Dean asked. "That prank stuff. It's stupid, and it always escalates," Sam said.

"Aw, what's the matter, Sammy, scared you're going to get a little Nair in your shampoo again huh?" Dean teased and I gave a small chuckle but quickly put my hand on my mouth when Sam glared at me.

"All right, just remember you started it," Sam said to Dean. "Ah ha, bring it on baldy," Dean said. "Where are we?" I asked as I lent forward. "A few hours outside of Richardson," Dean replied. "Gimme the lowdown again?"

Sam grabbed the newspaper from the dashboard, "All right, about a month or two ago this group of kids goes poking around in this local haunted house," He read.

"Haunted by what?" Dean asked. "Apparently, a pretty misogynistic spirit. Legend goes, it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. Anyway this group of kids see this dead girl hanging in the cellar," Sam explained.

"Anybody ID the corpse?" I asked. "Well, that's the thing. By the time the cops got there the body was gone. So cops are saying the kids were just yanking chains," Sam explained.

"Yeah, well, you know us; The teenagers," I said, giving my brothers a fake smile. "Well, you turned out not so bad," Sam said, smirking. I gave a fake chuckle, "Ha ha ha, you so funny," I said and he laughed.

"Hey, maybe the cops are right about the kids," Dean said. "Maybe, but I read a couple of the kids firsthand accounts. They seemed pretty sincere," Sam said.

"Really? Where'd you read these accounts?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Sam gave a small laugh, looking a little embarrased, "Well, I knew we were going to be passing through Texas. So, umm, last night, I surfed some local . . . paranormal websites. And I found one."

"And what's it called?" Dean asked. "HellHoundsLair.com," Sam replied. "Pfft. Lemme guess, streaming live out of Mom's basement," Dean joked and I giggled. Sam grinned, "Yeah, probably."

"Yeah. Most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit 'em in the persqueeter," Dean said. "Look. We let Dad take off. Which was a mistake, by the way. And now we don't know where the hell he is, so meantime we gotta find ourselves something to hunt. There's no harm checking this thing out," Sam said.

"All right. So where do we find these kids, Sammy?" I asked, sighing. "Same place you always find kids in a town like this," Sam replied.

We pulled up to the fast food, Rodeo Drive. We talked to the people who were at the Hell House, two dudes and a chick, but none of them had the same stories; One said the girl had a blonde hair, then it was black and then red. It started to sound less and less convincing.

"And kinda hot. Well you know in a dead sort of way," The boy who worked at the place said. "Okay!" Dean said and looked at me and Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"And . . . how'd you find out about this place anyway?" Sam asked, looking at the three who sat opposite us. "Craig," The three of them replied, simultaneously.

We found out that Craig worked at the local music store so we went there. We walked in and I grinned; it was filled with old records, posters were scattered across the walls, and rock music was blasting through the entire room.

I glanced at Dean and knew he like it here just as much I did. "I like it," I said to him and he smirked and he and Sam moved on.

"Fellas," A guy started as he came out from behind the counter. I walked up and stood between my brothers, "And ma'am," He corrected himself. His eyes moved to my body and I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms. "Can I help you with anything?" The guy asked.

"Yeah, are you Craig Thurston?" Sam asked. "I am," He replied. "Well, we're reporters with the Dallas Morning News. I'm Dean, this is Sam and Scarlett," Dean introduced.

"No way. Well, I'm writer too. I write for my school's lit magazine," Craig said. "Well, good for you Morrissey," Dean comment.

"Umm. We're doing an article on local hauntings and rumor has it you might know of one," I said. "You mean the Hell House?" Craig asked.

"That's the one," Dean replied. "I didn't think there was anything to the story," Craig said, shaking his head slightly. "Why don't you tell us the story?" Sam asked.

"Well, supposedly back in the '30s this farmer, Mordachai Murdoch, used to live in this house with his six daughters," Craig started as he moved to the other side of the store and Sam and I followed him while Dean stayed. "It was during the Depression." Craig stopped and looked at me and Sam. "His crops were failing, he didn't have enough money to feed his own children. So I guess that's when he went off the deep end."

"How?" Sam asked as Dean came over. "Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick, rather than starve to death. So he attacked them. They screamed, begged for him to stop but he just strung 'em up, one after the other. And when he was all finished he just turned around and hung himself. Now they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl that goes inside," Craig explained.

"Where'd you hear all this?" Dean asked. "My cousin Dana told me. I don't know where she heard it from. Ya gotta realize, I -- I didn't believe this for a second," Craig said.

"But now you do," I said. "I don't know what the hell to think, man. You guys, I -- I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, ok? That girl was real. And she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again, okay?" Craig said. "Thanks," Dean said and the three of us left.