CHAPTER SEVEN

"Hey, did I hear something about a job?" Nyx asks as she walks into the boys' room, and Dean nods as he looks over at her.

"Yeah, Ellen told Sam about one. You up for it?" He asks, and she nods.

"I think so, yeah."

"Alright, let's go." He says.

The trio quickly packs up their stuff from the two rooms and then they hit the road. The next day, the hunters get to a hotel and it looks nice enough from the outside. Old, very classic — like it's from a different era.

"This is sweet." Dean says as they climb out of the Impala. "I never get to work jobs like this."

"Like what?" Nycole asks.

"Old-school haunted houses. You know — fog, secret passageways, sissy British accents."

"That's a hard no on the British accents." She says, and he looks at her.

"Right." He smirks. "We might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside. Daphne, love her." He says, and his brother and Nyx both laugh.

"Hey, wait a sec." Sam says as they're climbing the front steps, and they turn to look at him. "I'm not so sure haunted's the problem."

"What do you mean?" Dean asks as they walk over to him.

"You see this pattern here?" He points it out to them. "It's a quincunx. It's a five-spot."

"Oh, Sammy. I love all the strange information that's floating around inside your head." Nyx says, and he looks down at her with an amused smile.

"Five-spot." Dean repeats.

"Yeah." Sam says.

"That's for hoodoo spell work, isn't it?"

"You fill this thing with bloodweed, you got a charm to ward off enemies."

"Except I don't see any bloodweed." He says as he looks around. "Don't you think this place is a little too, uh, white-meat for hoodoo?"

"Maybe." Sam shrugs, and the boys go inside, but Nyx gets stuck at the door.

"May I help you?" A woman asks when she sees the brothers.

"Hi. Yeah, I'd like a room for a couple nights please." Dean says, not realizing that Nyx can't get into the hotel. She purses her lips and leans against the doorframe, wondering how long it'll take the boys to figure it out.

A little girl runs through and almost slams right into Sam. "Hey!" Her mom yells. "Sorry about that." She says.

"No problem." Sam shakes his head.

"Yeah, we should probably get used to that." Dean says, and the woman looks back at him. "We have two little ones back home. Twins." He tells her.

"That's sweet." She smiles. "Well, congratulations. You could be some of our final guests."

"Well, that sounds vaguely ominous."

"No, I'm sorry. I mean, we're closing at the end of the month." She tells the boys. "Let me guess, you guys are​ here antiquing?"

The brothers look at each other awkwardly​, and Nyx suppresses a laugh as she looks at the floor near her feet. "How'd you know?" Dean asks, and she smiles.

"You just look the type." She says as she turns to get a key. "So, a king-sized bed?"

"What? No. No, no." Sam says awkwardly. "We're— No, uh... Two singles. We're just brothers."

"Yeah, uh..." Dean quickly turns around to look for Nycole. "We have the twins back home." He motions to his ex in the doorway, and she waves at the woman, wiggling her fingers with a smile on her face. "What are you..." He trails off.

She raises her eyebrows as she looks at him, and his eyes widen, finally realizing why she's all the way over there. The woman and her family must have a permanent residency within the hotel, so Nyx has to be invited in.

"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see her standing​ over there." The owner says with an awkward smile. "Please, come on in, I'll get you three all set up."

Nycole walks in and glares at the brothers before smiling at the owner when she looks back up at them.

"What did you mean that we looked the type?" Dean asks as he looks back at the owner as he reaches for Nycole. It's an instinct, for his hand to find hers.

Nyx steps away from Dean, forcing their arms to stretch, but she doesn't let go of his hand. She likes the warmth radiating off of him, and she misses the physical contact between them. She wants to be able to hold his hand, or have his arm wrapped around her. She misses when she could rest her head on his shoulder while they watched tv, or on his chest while they were laying together in bed. Even though they're always together, she misses him.

"You know, speaking of antiques, you have a really interesting urn on the front porch." Sam says, changing the subject after Dean's question. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, I have no idea. It's been there forever." She says before giving Dean his credit card. "Here you go, Mr. Mahogoff." She rings the bell on her desk. "You three will be staying in room two-thirty-seven. Sherwin, could you show them to their room?" She says as a man walks up behind Dean.

"Let me guess, antiquers?" He asks, and the older boy immediately looks annoyed again.

"Nyx, baby, where'd you go?" Dean pulls her forward so his broad frame is no longer blocking the bellhop's view of the woman holding his hand.

Nyx offers him a small smile and then turns her head away from the two men. Dean notices that she seems to be holding her breath in order to stay at his side, so he lets go of her hand.

"N— I..." She sighs as her hand falls back to her side.

Dean walks away from her then, following the bellhop, Sherwin, up the staircase. Sam sees the almost ashamed look on her face and the tears in her eyes before she walks after the other two men.

Sherwin's dragging Dean's duffle up the stairs. "I can give you a hand with that bag." Dean tells him.

"I got it." He says.

"So, the hotel's closing up, huh?" Sam asks as Nyx lets herself fall behind him as well.

"Yep. Miss Susan tried to make a go of it, but the guests just don't come like they used to." Sherwin tells them. "Still, it's a damn shame."

"Oh, yeah?"

"It may not look it anymore, but this place was a palace. Two different vice-presidents laid their heads on our pillows." Sherwin tells them as they walk down a hallway. "My parents worked here. I practically grew up here. I'm gonna miss it... Here's your room." He says as he comes to a stop.

He unlocks the door and then gives the key to Sam. They go inside, and Nyx then sets what she's carrying down on one of the beds. She cracks the window and then helps Sam start doing research. Dean laughs at a dress that's hung up on the wall.

"What?" Sam asks.

"That's normal." He says sarcastically as he points at it. "Why the hell would anyone stay here? I'm amazed they kept in business this long."

"Alright, victim number one," He starts, ignoring his brother's commentary. "Joan Edison, forty-three years old, a realtor handling the sale of the motel. And victim number two was Larry Williams, moving some stuff out to Goodwill."

"There's a connection." Nyx says as she looks at him. "They're both tied up in shutting the place down."

"Maybe someone here doesn't want to leave, and they're using hoodoo to fight back." He suggests.

"Well, who do you think our witch doctor is — that Susan lady?" Dean asks.

"Doesn't seem likely. She's the one selling." Sam says.

"So, what, then, Sherwin?"

"I don't know."

"Of course, the most troubling question is, why do these people assume we're gay?" He asks as Nyx stands up from her seat.

"Well, you are kinda butch. Probably think you're overcompensating." His brother tells him, and she heads toward the window, it offers more the illusion of aid than anything else.

Dean gives his brother a sarcastic look and then turns to Nycole. "Hey, why couldn't​ you get in earlier?" He asks her. "We haven't had that problem before."

"Uh... I don't really know." She shrugs. "Damon says that hotels are a bit of a gray area." She tells him. "Susan must live here as well as own the place."

"Damon, huh?" He clears his throat. "You've been talking​ to him a lot lately."

"Yeah, well, he's been a vampire for almost a hundred and forty-three years. He's got answers that I need, so..." She shrugs again as she checks her messages, looking for anything from either Meredith or Elena.

"Well, what about Stefan? Hasn't he been a vampire just as long?"

"Yes, but unlike Stefan, I don't want to throttle Damon." She says as she glances up at him.

"That's new." He says as Sam looks between the two of them, picking up on more from their conversation than Nycole is. She's hoping to hear more about how Jeremy's been doing lately, so she doesn't notice the tension rising in Dean.

"Yeah, well, things change." She says, and he nods as he looks down.

"So, what'd Stefan do to make you so angry with him?" Sam asks, hoping that there's a logical explanation for her sudden preference for Damon that'll ease his brother's mind.

She shakes her head. "Doesn't matter. Point is, I don't trust him like I used to." She says as she puts her phone back into her jeans pocket. "Anyway, we've got a case to work." She looks over at them as Dean shakes his head with his eyes closed.

"Then let's get to it." Dean says as he stands up and walks out of the room.

Nyx looks at Sam. "What did I do wrong now?" She asks, confused, and he just shakes his head before following after his brother. "Wha..." She sighs, feeling the guilt and shame come rushing back. She chokes back her tears and then walks out of the room.

Sam gets their attention as they're walking down the hallway, and they all stop. "Look at that — more hoodoo." He says as they look at a marking inside an old vase.

The three hunters walk over to a room that has private written on the door, and Susan answers after Dean quickly knocks. "Hi, there." He greets.

"Hi." Susan smiles. "Everything​ okay with your room?" She asks them.

"Yeah, everything's​ great." Sam says.

"Well, I was just in the middle of packing."

"Hey, are those antique dolls?" Dean asks when he sees a bunch of old dolls behind her in her room. "'Cause this one here, he's got a major doll collection​ back home. Don't you?" He asks his brother

Normally, Nyx would be trying not to laugh at Sam's obvious discomfort, but she's still trying to figure out what happened in their room not sixty seconds ago. It feels like no matter what she says or does, it somehow ends up hurting Dean, which is the one thing that she's been trying to avoid.

"Big time." Sam reluctantly plays into his brother's lie.

"Big time." Dean repeats. "You think we could come in and take a look?"

"I don't know." Susan hesitates.

"Please. I mean, he loves them. He's not gonna tell you this, but he's always dressing them up in little outfits. You'd make his day." He says. "She would, huh? Huh?"

"Okay, come on in." She moves to stand beside the door, and the three of them walk inside.

"Wow. This is a lot of dolls. They're nice, you know. They're not super creepy at all." Dean says, and Nyx looks over at him. He purposely avoids her gaze, and she looks down as she turns away.

Nyx can't help thinking that any progress they'd made has now completely gone out the window, and she opts for looking around at more of the porcelain dolls. As uncomfortable as they make her, at least they're not looking at her like they don't recognize her.

"I suppose they are a little creepy." Susan agrees. "But they've been in the family forever. A lot of sentimental value."

"What is this?" Sam asks, and Nyx turns to see an oversized doll house. "The hotel?"

"Yeah, that's right. Exact replica, custom built." She tells him.

He leans over and picks up a doll that's inside. "His head got twisted around." He says. "How'd this happen?"

"Tyler, probably." She says.

"Mommy." The little blonde girl that ran into Sam earlier walks into the room. "Maggie's being mean."

"Tyler, tell her I said to be nice, okay?"

"Hey, Tyler." Sam says. "I see you broke your doll. You want me to fix it?"

"I didn't break it. I found it like that." Tyler tells him as she walks a few steps closer to him.

"Oh. Well, maybe Maggie did it."

"No, neither of us did it. Grandma would get mad if we broke him."

"Tyler, she wouldn't get mad." Susan says.

"Grandma?" Dean asks.

"Grandma Rose. These were all her toys." Tyler says.

"Oh, really?" He nods as he looks around. "Where's Grandma Rose now?"

"Up in her room."

"You know, I'd really love to talk to Rose about her incredible doll—" Sam starts.

"No." Susan cuts him off. "I mean, I'm afraid that's impossible. My mother's very sick, and she's not taking any visitors."

The hunters leave the room after that, and Sam closes the door behind the three of them. "What do you think?" He asks as he and the exes start walking down the hallway toward their room.

"Dolls, hoodoo, mysterious shut-in grandma?" Dean looks up at him.

"Well, dolls are used in all kinds of voodoo and hoodoo, like curses and binding spells."

"Yeah, maybe we found a witch doctor. We'll go see what we can dig up on granny. You get online, check old obits, freak accidents. See if she's wacked anybody before." He tells him, and then he and Nyx start walking away from Sam. She's surprised that he even wants her to go with him. "Don't go searching for porn. That's not the kind of whacking I mean."

—

Dean and Nyx are standing on the porch as a man in a body bag is put into the back of a dark-colored van marked coroner. "What happened?" He asks as Susan walks up the porch.

"The maid went in to turn down the sheets, and he was just hanging there." She tells them.

"That's awful." Nyx says. "He was a guest?"

She nods. "He worked for the company that bought the place." She tells them. "I don't understand."

"What?"

"We've had a lot of bad luck around here. Look, if you'd like to check out, I'll give you a full refund." She says, and Dean and Nyx look at each other.

"No, thanks." He says as they look back at her. "We don't scare that easy." He tells her, and they go upstairs to their room.

"There's been another one. Some guy just hung himself in his room." Nyx tells Sam.

"Yeah, I saw." Sam says.

"We got to figure this out and fast." Dean says as she looks at his brother. "What did you find out about Granny?"

"Uh, Dean?" She gets his attention, and he looks at her.

"You're bossy." Sam says suddenly, and Dean turns to his younger brother. He's slumped over in a chair.

"What?" He asks.

"You're bossy." He repeats, then starts laughing. "You're short."

"Are you drunk?" Nyx asks him.

"Yeah." He shrugs. "So?"

"I've never seen him like this before."

"Dude, what were you thinking? We're working a case." Dean says.

"That guy who hung himself... I couldn't save him." Sam says with tears in his eyes.

"What are you talking about? You couldn't have done anything."

"That's an excuse, Dean. I should've found a way to save him." He argues. "I should have saved Ava too."

"Well, you can't save everyone." Dean tells him. "Even you said that."

He slams his hand down on the table next to him. "No, Dean, you don't understand, alright? The more people I save, the more I can change." He says as Dean walks over to stand beside Nyx as they look down at Sam.

"Change what?"

"My destiny."

"Alright, time for bed. Come on, Sasquatch." Dean says as he helps him up.

"I need you to watch out for me." Sam looks at them. "Both of you."

"Yeah, we always do." He tells him.

"No. No, no, no. I need you to watch out for me... Alright?" He says as he looks between the two of them. "And if I ever turn into something that I'm not... You have to kill me."

"Sam..." He takes a step toward the bed.

"Dean, Dad told you to do it. You have to." Sam says, and Nyx grinds her teeth.

"Yeah, well, Dad's an ass. He never should have said anything. You don't do that, you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids." He argues.

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

"Well, I'm not dying, okay? And neither is Nyx. Not again." He says. "And neither are you. Come on, sit down." He makes him sit on the bed.

"No, please, Dean, Nycole, you're the only ones who can do it."

"Don't ask that of us."

"Please. You have to promise me." He begs and he looks scared.

"I promise." Dean says after a moment of hesitation.

"Thanks." Sam says. "Thank you."

Dean then makes his brother lay down, and Sam turns onto his stomach and buries his face in the pillow. Dean stands up straight and looks at Nycole, who seems nervous and worried.