~*****~

I trailed around the hallways after breaking away from Dean so we could cover more ground. A few times, I'd hear rambunctious giggling behind me, and when I did turn around, I'd spot Tyler ducking behind a corner with the other girl from earlier. It turned into a game of hide and seek as I explored each nook and cranny. I found myself laughing hysterically with the little girls as I chased them down the hallways. And just as I find their hiding space, I hear Susan calling for Tyler's bed time.

"Good night, Miss!" Tyler smiled happily and lead Maggie down the hallway. I smile good naturedly before making my way back to our room.

"Hey, I didn't find anything- what was the commotion down stairs?" I ask curiously as I push the door open.

"Some guy just hung himself in his room," Dean explained. "We gotta figure this out, and fast." Dean opens his bag roughly as I take a seat besides Sam. "What did you find out about Granny?"

"You're bossy," Sam huffs, and I try not to laugh.

"What?" Dean asks in confusion.

"You're bossy," Sam repeats. "You're short." Sam starts giggling.

"Oh, God- are you drunk?" I snort.

"Yeah. So?" Sam says as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "Stupid." Sam huffs as I stand up and make my way to the empty bottles and glasses.

"What are you thinking, Sammy?" I ask curiously. "We're working a case."

"That guy. Who hung himself--" Sam starts slowly. "I couldn't save him."

"What are you talking about?" Dean mutters softly. My heart starts wrenching as I sit down in front of Sam again.

"You couldn't have done anything, Sam."

"That's an excuse, Lottie." Sam snapped as tears burned in his eyes. "I should have found a way to save him. I should have saved Ava, too."

"Yeah, well you can't save everyone. Even you said that," Dean mentions.

"No, Dean! You don't understand!" Sam snaps as he kicks the table. "All right? The more people I save, the more I can change."

"Change what--"

"My destiny, you guys!" Sam urges.

I let out a soft breath and stand up. "It's time for bed, Sammy." I lean down and gesture Dean to help.

"I need you two to watch out for me." Sam huffs.

"Yeah, we know." Dean retorts.

"No! No, no, no-- You have to watch out for me.... all right?" Sam explains slowly. "And if I ever turn into something that I'm not.... You have to kill me."

"Sam-"

"Dean! Dad told you to do it. You have to." Sam snapped.

"Yeah, well, Dad's an ass." Dean retorted in agitation. "He never should have said anything. You don't do that, you don't lay that kinda crap on your kids-"

"No, he was right to say it." Sam interrupts him. "Who knows what I might become? Even now, everyone around me dies!"

"Well, we're not dying, okay?" Dean snapped as he gestured to me. "And neither are you. Come on, sit down." He pushes him onto his bed.

"No, Dean! Please! You're the only one who can do it!" Sam pleaded desperately. "Promise me!"

"Don't ask me that," Dean pleaded softly.

"Dean, please. You have to promise me." Sam urged again. Tears were rushing down my cheeks as I moved away from them to pour myself a drink.

"I promise," I hear Dean murmur.

"Thanks," Sam breaths. "Thank you!" He grasps at Dean's face, but he just pushes the drunk man down. Sam immediately settles to sleep.

I step over hesitantly, and gesture a glass of bourbon to him. He loops his arm around my hips and rests his face against the plane of my belly. "I'm going to watch after him. How about you go look around some more, okay?" I hum softly.

Dean remained silent for a few seconds before breathing out a reluctant sigh. "Yeah," He chugs his glass down, and stands up swiftly. I press a soft kiss to his lips before wrapping my arms around his waist. "I won't be long, but you don't have to wait up for me."

"I don't mind." I mutter and release him slowly. He kisses me again before leaving the room. I sigh out gently and start pulling the covers over Sam's shoulders, and tucking him in. I open the bathroom door just in case he has to vomit come morning time.

~*****~

The next morning, Dean came into the room with coffee, and just smirked at Sam's hunched over figure by the toilet. "How you feeling, Sammy?" Dean asked with a laugh.

"He's been dry heaving for thirty minutes," I mention as Dean hands me a coffee.

"I guess mixin' whiskey and Jaeger wasn't such a gang buster idea, was it?" Dean snorted to Sam. "I'll bet you don't remember a thing from last night, do you."

"No, I can still taste the tequila..." Sam groaned.

"You know, there's a really good hangover remedy. It's, uh, It's a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray." Dean teased.

Sam groaned in distaste. "I hate you." He moaned.

"I know," Dean chuckled. I rolled my eyes and rooted through my bag for some Advil. "Hey, turns our Grandma Rose was a tyke, she had a creole nanny who wore a Hoodoo Necklace." Dean explains as I start rubbing at Sam's back.

"So you think she taught Rose Hoodoo?" I ask curiously as I peer up at Dean.

"Yes, I do."

Sam nodded a couple of times before standing up slowly. "All right. I think it's time we talk to Rose, then." Sam breathed out. My nose scrunched up as that disgusting smell of vomit wafted out.

"Brush your teeth first, Sammy." I mention dryly as I push passed him. "Advil's on the sink for you."

~*****~

After Sam finally freshened up, we headed over to Susan's room. He knocked on the door as I stood behind him with a pocket knife digging under my nails. "Hello-- Susan?" He was silent for a moment. "Clear." Sam mentioned and let me mosey in besides him to start picking the lock.

The door slowly slid open, and we stepped in. Once again, I start to cringe at the amount of the creepy dolls. The stairs are off to the side, and I can't help but feel a bit off about this whole thing. I rubbed at my arm slightly as I trailed up the stairs with Sam and Dean behind me. I gently push the door at the top open. A woman is sitting in her wheelchair in the middle of the room. "Mrs. Thompson?" I say softly. "Mrs. Thompson-" I repeat as I move around her. She looks confused, and frightened. "Rose?" I kneel down slowly and gaze up at her. "Hi, Mrs. Thompson. We're not here to hurt you." I smile, and when she struggles to respond, I cock my head in confusion. "Rose? Oh, honey--" I gasp. "Sam, Dean-" I gesture them to the side. "She's had a stroke." I explain with a lowered voice.

"Yeah, but hoo-doo's hands on," I let out a breathless sigh as I agreed with Dean. "You gotta mix herbs and chant, build an alter."

"So, it can't be Rose. Heck, maybe it's not even Hoodoo." Sam mentioned.

"Or she could be faking." Dean added.

"What do you want to do, poke her with a stick?" Sam snapped.

Dean hummed and started nodding. "Dean Winchester- Poke her with a stick, and it'll be the last thing you do." I threaten.

"What the hell? What are you doing in here?!" The three of us snap our heads towards Susan. She looks livid as she walks in.

"We just wanted to talk to Rose." Sam and Dean explained pathetically.

"Look at her, she's scared out of her wits--" Susan snapped as she checked over the old woman. "I want you out of my hotel in two minutes, or I'm calling the cops."

"Come on," I urge softly and tug the two away. We quickly grabbed our bags and jumped into the Impala in record time. I peered out the window as we left the driveway. "That could not have been more awkward." I mention softly. Dean scoffed slightly.

"You're telling me. We're not that threatening." Dean mentioned. Sam and I send him a look of loathing.

~*****~

Trusting our gut, we turned back towards the Inn and got back just in time. Susan was about to be crushed by her car. Sam ran towards her and tackled her out of the way from being hurt. "You okay?" I ask as I run up to them and offer Susan my hand.

"I think so-" She gasped softly.

"Come on. Come on. Let's get inside, let's go!" Dean urged us.

We ran into the Inn and the first word out of Susan's mouth is reassuring. "Whiskey." She panted heavily.

"Sure. I know the feeling." Sam huffed.

"What the hell happened out there?" Susan asked wildly.

"You want the truth?" Dean asked.

"Of course!" Susan shot back.

"At first, we thought it was a hoo-doo curse, but that out there--" He gestured to the window. "That was definitely a spirit."

Sam offered Susan her class of whiskey. "You're insane." Susan mentioned to Dean.

"Yeah, that's been said." I mention as I go grab the bottle of whiskey and take a sip. "Look, we're sorry, Susan. We don't exactly have time to ease you into this, but, we need to know when your mother had the stroke."

"Wh-What does that have to do--"

"Just answer the question." I stopped her.

"About a month ago." Susan explained.

"Right before the killings began. You see? So, what if Rose was working Hoo-Doo, but not to hurt anyone, to protect them?" Sam asked me.

"She was using the five spot to ward off the spirit." I explain softly.

"Right! Until she had a stroke, and couldn't anymore." Sam finished.

"I don't believe this." Susan gasped unhappily.

"Okay, listen. That car didn't try to run to run you down by itself, okay?" I snap.

"I mean, it technically did," Dean mentioned.

"Now's not the time, Dean." I snapped.

"Believe what you want, but you and your family are in danger," Sam urged. "So, you need to clear everybody out of here-- your employees, your mother, your daughters, everyone."

"Um... I only have one daughter." Susan explained softly.

"I saw the other little girl with Tyler. Her name was Maggie." I mention.

"Maggie's imaginary." Susan retorted.

"Where's Tyler?" Sam asks as we all share looks.

"Upstairs!" Susan gasped. All five of us bound up the stairs. The room with the creepy dolls was suddenly trashed. Broken dolls were all over the ground. "Oh, my god. Tyler!" Susan cried. She called her daughters name out again as we searched through the room for the little girl. "She's not here!"

"Susan, tell us what you know about Maggie." I urged.

"Not much, uh, Tyler's been talking about her since Mom got sick." Susan breathed uneasily.

"Okay, did you ever know anyone by that name?" I ask. She shakes her head wildly. "Think, somebody that could have lived here, might've passed away."

"My god-- my mom had a sister named Margaret. She barely spoke about her." Susan recollected.

"Did Margaret die here when she was a kid?" Sam asked urgently.

"Yeah, she drowned in the pool." Susan explained.

"Come on," Dean ordered. We run out of the Inn and towards the pool house.

"Tyler!" Susan cried as we spot her daughter over the railing. Sam and Dean try to break the door down.

"Move!" I bark at them as the girl falls. My foot slams against the doors. The glass cracks from the pressure of my kick. "Find another entrance, Sam and I will work on this one!" I order. "Come on, Sammy! Harder!" Lifting our legs, we kick again. "Last one!" I growl, and just as my foot slams against the doors, it breaks open with such force, it rattles the entire structure. I don't waste time pondering, I leap over the railing and into the water. I wrap my arms around the little girl and swim upwards. A hand braces against my head and pushes down.

I lift the girl upwards to breathe as I kick off the bottom and break the surface. I keep the girl up as my vision distorts. I sink after I know the girl is safe on the solid ground. The sight of Sam comes into sight as I just barely lose consciousness.

I splutter violently as Sam lugs me out of the water. My throat burns as I spit out the water trapped in my throat. "Tyler," I croak as I lift onto the edge of the pool as Susan holds her daughter. "Do you see Maggie anywhere?" I ask.

She looks around and breathes out a sigh. "No, she's gone." She mutters.

"Why do you have to put yourself in danger like that?" Dean asks as he pulls me into his arms while we walk towards the Inn.

"Because I can't die." I mention dryly. "Anyway, did Maggie just stop?" I ask curiously.

"Seems like it." Sam answered once we're back in the house.

"Where the hell did she go?" Dean asks loudly. We hear Susan's shriek upstairs. The three of us bolt for the stairs. At the top, Rose is dead. Seemingly from old age.

~*****~

The paramedics arrived rather quickly, and loaded the poor woman into the coroners van. "Paramedics said it was another stroke..." Susan mentioned softly. "Do you think..." She hesitates. "Margaret could have something to do with it?"

"We don't know," Dean huffed.

"It's possible, yeah." Sam added. "Susan, I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. You've given me everything." Susan turned towards the Inn where Tyler was emerging. "You ready, kiddo?"

"Yeah," Tyler hummed.

"You're sure Maggie's not around anymore?" I inquire.

"I'm sure. I'd see her." Tyler explained.

Susan and her daughter started towards the taxi waiting for them. "Looks like whatever's been going on over here is over." Dean mentioned.

"You take care of yourselves, all right?" Sam hums as he helps them into the taxi. Susan turned to me and wrapped me up in a hug.

"Thank you..." She whispered. "The three of you."

The taxi leaves and we start towards the Impala. "You coulda hooked up some milf action there, babe." Dean mentions. "I'm serious, I think she liked you."

"Pft, yeah- that's all she needs. A girl covered head to toe in tattoos who also can't die." I explain bluntly.

"Well, you saved the woman's daughter. I mean, I thought she'd be into Sammy, here, but uh- I think you took the cake." Dean chuckles. "Course I coulda saved them myself, but I didn't want you two to feel useless."

"Uh huh?" Sam and I chuckled. "I appreciate that, Dean-o."

"Feels good to get back in the saddle, doesn't it?" Dean laughs.

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Yeah, it does. But it doesn't change what we talked about last night, Dean."

"We talked about a lot of things last night." Dean mentioned.

"You know what I mean." Sam pressed.

"You were wasted," Dean tried.

"You weren't... And you promised." Sam stated. The three of us got into the Impala, and rode in silence.

We arrived at the motel and immediately settled down for bed. With Sam fast asleep, Dean and I stepped outside to share a beer before bed. "You think he's going to be okay?" I inquire softly.

"Who, Sam? He'll be fine, Lottie," Dean mentions roughly. "Stop worrying so much."

"I have to," I hum as I brush my fingers over Dean's head. He gave me a soft smile and pulled me to his side. "Otherwise, you would probably be lost with out me."

Dean threw back his head and laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right." Dean finished his beer and leaned back on his hands. "Hey, seriously. It'll be fine." Dean breathes softly.

I offered Dean a smile before kissing him slowly. "I love you, Dean." I sigh.

"I love you too. We should probably get some sleep." Dean mentioned as he stood up, his hand extended as an offer to help. With my hand slipping into his, I stood up and followed him inside for some sleep.