CHAPTER TWELVE

The hunters head to a trailer park in town, and the oldest knocks on the door to the wannabe Ghostbusters trailer. "Who is it?" One of them asks his friend, trying to be quiet inside.

"The ghost of Christmas past." Nyx mumbles, annoyed.

"Come on out here, guys. We hear you in there." Dean says, and the pair reluctantly open the door to look at the hunters. "Look at that." He says, a small smile on his face. "Action figures in their original packaging, what a shocker."

"Guys, we need to talk." Sam says.

"Yeah, um, sorry, guys. We're a little busy right now." Cameraman says.

"Okay, well, we'll make it quick." Dean says. "We need you to shut down your website."

"You know, these guys got us busted last night. We spent the night in a holding cell." Cameraman says to Sidekick.

"I had to pee in front of​ people and I get stage fright." Sidekick complains.

"Why should we trust you guys?"

"Look, we all know what we saw last night — what's in that house." Sam says as Nyx shakes her head, mentally calling them Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. "But now, thanks to your website, there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai."

"Which means people are gonna keep showing up and running into him. Somebody could get hurt." Nycole tells them.

"Ed, maybe she's got a point." Sidekick glances at his friend.

"Nope." Cameraman says, and Sidekick immediately agrees with him. Hence Nyx's nickname for him. "We have an obligation to our fans, to the truth."

"And I have an obligation to kick both of your—" She starts, but Sam cuts her off as Dean rests his hand on her shoulder to keep her at his side.

"Nyx, hey, hey. Just forget it, alright?" He says. "These guys— You probably could bitch-slap them both. I could probably even tell them that thing about Mordechai." He says, and Dean quickly shakes his head. "But they're still not gonna help us. So, let's just go."

"Yeah, you're right." She nods, and they start walking away from them.

"What did you say about— Hold on a second here." Sidekick says as they follow behind the hunters.

"Yeah, what thing about Mordechai, you guys?" Cameraman asks.

"Don't tell them, Sam." Dean says as they keep walking.

"But if they agree to shut their website down—" Sam starts.

"They're not gonna do it. You said so yourself."

"No, wait, wait. Don't listen to him, okay?" Cameraman says. "We'll do it."

"It's a secret, Sam." Dean says as they get to the Impala.

"Look, it's a pretty big deal, alright." Sam says as he turns back to the other two. "And it wasn't easy to dig up, so only if we have your word that you'll shut everything down."

"Totally." Cameraman — very obviously — lies through his teeth.

"Alright." He says, and Dean pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. "It's a death certificate from the thirties." Sam tells them. "We got it at the library."

"According to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Nyx tells them.

"She's right. He didn't hang or cut himself." Dean says.

"He shot himself​?" Sidekick asks.

"Yep. With a .45 pistol." Sam says. "To this day, they say he's terrified of them."

"They say if you shoot him with a .45 loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds, you'd kill the son of a bitch." Dean tells them, and they turn around and take off running for their trailer.

"What idiots." Nyx shakes her head as she turns toward the car, and the hunters decide to get something to eat after that.

There's a wall ornament hanging above their table between the two boys, and Dean finds the thing highly amusing. You pull the string hanging from the bottom, and it starts laughing a very mechanical, creepy sound.

The oldest pulls the string again, and it starts laughing, effectively getting on his brother's last nerve. Sam pulls the string to make it stop as he looks at Dean across the table.

"If you pull that string one more time, I'm gonna kill you." He tells his older brother.

Dean reaches for the string and pulls it again. It laughs once before Sam pulls it to make the annoying thing shut the hell up like he did before.

Nyx places her hand on Dean's leg, the action gaining his attention, and he then looks down at her. "Baby, knock it off. Before I kick your ass." She tells him, and he smiles.

"You're cute when you're mad." He leans down and kisses her, causing her to roll her eyes at him, but he sees the smile that she's trying to fight.

"Did they post it yet?" Nyx asks Sam; he has his laptop open in front of him​.

He turns it for them to see.

"We have learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdoch has a fatal fear of firearms." Dean reads.

"So, how long do we wait?" She asks.

"Long enough for the new story to spread and the legend to change." Sam says. "I figure by nightfall, iron rounds will work on the sucker."

He picks up his beer and holds it toward his brother. Dean takes his own bottle and taps it against Sam's before taking a drink. The younger boy starts laughing as he looks at him, and Nycole sighs.

Dean tries to set his beer down, but he can't. "You didn't." He says accusingly.

"Oh, I did." Sam says before holding up a tube of superglue. He then pulls the chain on the laughing ornament as Dean tries to get his hand off of the bottle.

"I'm done." Nycole turns to get up from the table.

"Nope." Dean wraps his arm around her waist and easily pulls her right back to his side so that her back is pressed into him. "You're not leaving until this thing is off of me." He tells her, and she sighs.

Nyx turns her head and sees a waitress walking by their table. "Excuse me." She gets her attention, and she stops to look at them. "My boyfriend and his brother seem to think that they're twelve. Would you happen to have anything I could use to get his bottle unglued from his hand?" She asks her, and the waitress looks at Dean with wide eyes.

"I have some makeup remover in my bag. You could try that." She says, and Nyx nods.

"That'd be great. Thanks." She says, and the waitress goes to the back to get it. The brunette then points at Sam, and he raises his eyebrows. "You're leaving her a big tip when you pay this dinner bill." She tells him, and he shrugs.

She gets back to the table and hands it to Nyx, who's still stuck to Dean because he really won't let her go until he has full function of both hands. Dean then puts his other arm in front of her so she can see his glued hand. She grabs a napkin and tries to use the makeup remover to remove the bottle from the palm of his hand.

"Oooooow!" Dean complains behind her, and she sighs as Sam continues to laugh.

"Any luck?" The waitress asks as she walks back over to them.

"No. This one is trying to crush my ribs," Nyx motions to Dean. "And that one is still acting like a child." She points at Sam.

"Sorry." Dean mumbles as he loosens his hold around her torso and leans his forehead into her hair. Sam keeps laughing at his brother's discomfort.

"I can try pulling it off." The waitress mouths to Nyx, and she looks at his hand. She actually thought about doing it herself, but there's no way that he'd let her. She looks back up at the waitress with a quirked brow. "Distract him." She mouths, and Nyx nods once before turning​ around to face her boyfriend.

Sam's watching the whole scene play out intently.

"Hey, babe, I need you to remember something." Nyx says, and Dean looks at her.

"Remember what?" He asks.

"Sam did it, I had no knowledge." She tells him. "And I want no part of this prank war."

"What are you—" He's cut off when she leans forward and presses her lips against his, resting her hands on either side of his face.

Kissing her back is second nature to him at this point, and he doesn't think anything of the odd timing. But then he suddenly groans in pain and his arm tightens around her again as he pulls back. His head dips down to her shoulder, and he buries his face in her jacket.

"Sorry." The waitress quickly apologizes to Dean as Nyx turns her head to look back up at her. She then sticks a napkin around the bottle so that it covers the glue. "We definitely don't want that happening again." She muses, and the brunette chuckles as she rubs her boyfriend's arm.

"Thank you. I'll try to get them to refrain from hurting each other." Nyx tells her, and she nods.

"I'll bring some ice to the table for his hand." She tells them before grabbing her makeup remover and walking off.

"Are you okay?" Nycole asks as she turns her attention back to Dean.

He lifts his head so that he can see her face. "Why did you conspire with a woman you don't even know to hurt me?" Dean asks, and she looks at him.

"Aw, you're cute when you're mad." She pecks his lips, and he squeezes her as he leans back in his seat, keeping her with him. He's careful not to hurt his hand.

—

It's finally dark enough for the hunters to go back to the house in the middle of the woods. The three of them go inside and immediately start looking around with their flashlights.

"I barely have any skin left on my palm." Dean complains.

"I'm not touching that line with a ten foot pole." Sam says, and Nyx purses her lips and tries not to laugh as Dean shines​ his flashlight in his younger brother's face.

They walk into another room, all of them with their guns out. They hear something coming from the next room.

"Well, you think old Mordechai's home?" Dean asks.

"Honestly. I kinda hope not." Nycole mumbles as they aim their guns at the door.

"I don't know." Sam says.

"Me neither." A male voice says behind them, and the three hunters all spin around to face the newcomer. "Whoa! Whoa."

"Hey, whoa." It's Cameraman and his trusty Sidekick.

"What the hell are you trying to do, get yourselves killed?" Sam questions as they point their guns away from them.

"We're just trying​ to get a book and movie deal, okay?" Cameraman says and — true to his nickname — he has a camera in his hand.

They hear noises coming from that same room again, and the five of them all immediately turn back to it. Nyx, Sam, and Dean aim their guns at the door.

"Uh, guys, you want to open that door for us?" Cameraman asks.

"Why don't you?" Dean counters.

The door suddenly bursts open, and Mordechai comes barreling through with his axe. He starts swinging as the three hunters fire off shots trying to kill him.

"Nyx, babysit the Ghostbusters, and don't hit them." Dean tells her as he and his brother go to check for Mordechai.

"Wait, is he gone?" Cameraman asks Nycole. "Oh, he's gone."

"Shut up." She says as she looks around.

"Did you get him?" Sidekick asks.

"Yeah, they got him." Cameraman says.

"No, on camera. Did you get him on camera?"

"Will you two shut the hell up?" Nyx says as she moves to the other side of the room.

Sidekick falls to the floor, dropping the camera, and she whirls around just in time to see Mordechai disappear.

"Dean, he's still here!" She yells, and he and Sam rush back into the room.

"Hey, didn't you guys post that BS story we gave you?" Dean asks them.

"Of course we did." Cameraman says.

"Yeah, but then our server crashed." Sidekick adds.

"So, it didn't take?" Dean asks.

"No." Cameraman says.

"So, these guns don't work." Nyx says, annoyed, and she and Dean look at each other. "Great."

"Sam, any ideas?" Dean asks.

"We are getting out of here." Sidekick says and starts to leave. "Come on, Ed."

They leave the room, and Nyx looks between the two brothers. They hear the Wonder Dorks start screaming, and she quickly runs off to find them.

"Nycole!" Dean calls after her, but she ignores him and goes to find the others.

"Hey!" Nycole yells when she finds Mordechai about to swing his axe at Cameraman and Sidekick. "Come and get it, you ugly son of a bitch!" She says after he turns around to face her.

He swings the axe at her, and she ducks down. It gets stuck in the wall, but he gets it out fairly quickly. He swings again, and Sam suddenly gets in front of her and grabs the wooden handle of the axe. Mordechai pins him against the wall, and he looks at Ed and Harry.

"Get out of here now!" He yells.

"Move!" Nyx orders, and they quickly run toward her.

Once they're past her, she quickly raises her gun and shoots Mordechai in the head. He's trying to choke Sam with the handle of the axe, and her shooting him isn't doing anything but wasting bullets.

"Dean!" She yells, and he runs in next to her.

Dean quickly uses fire to get Mordechai away from Sam, then the youngest of the Winchester men runs in their direction. Nyx grabs his arm and pulls him to a different part of the house.

"If Mordechai can't leave the house and we can't kill him, we improvise." Dean says as he follows behind them. He flicks on a lighter, then sets the living room on fire​.

"Works for me." Nyx says, and they run out of the house. Ed and Harry are already long gone, the only one left inside the abandoned house is Mordechai.

"That's your solution?" Sam questions once they're out of the house. "Burn the whole damn place to the ground?"

"No one will go in anymore." Dean tries to reason. "Look, Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt. It's fast and dirty, but it works."

"What if the legend changes again, and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?"

"Well, then, we'll just have to come back."

"It's the best that we've got for right now, Sam." Nyx reasons, and he looks between them.

"Kinda makes you wonder — of all the things we hunted, how many existed just 'cause people believed in them?" Sam says, and she sighs as they look back at the flame-filled house.

The next night, the hunters head back to the trailer park, and they see Ed and Harry walking toward them to get to their car. "Gentlemen. Violent one." Ed greets as he walks past them, and Nyx smiles.

"Hi, guys." Sam says.

"Should we tell them?" Harry asks.

"You might as well, you know." Ed says as they continue toward their car. "They're just gonna read about in the trades."

"We got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer." Harry tells the hunters.

"Oh, yeah? Wrong number?" Dean asks.

"No, smartass." Ed shoots him a dirty look. "He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to auction the motion-picture rights, maybe even have us write it."

"And create the RPG." Harry adds.

"The what?" Nyx questions.

"Role-playing game."

"Right." She looks at Dean, and he shakes his head.

"It's a little lingo for ya." Ed says, and they look back at him. "Anyhoo, excuse us. We're off to La La Land."

"I told you that's the planet they're from." She says, and Dean laughs as he drapes his arm around her shoulders.

"What?" Ed asks as he looks at them.

"Nothing." Dean shakes his head.

"Congratulations, guys. That sounds really great." Sam says.

"Yeah, that's awesome. Best of luck to you."

"Oh, yeah, luck. Luck's got nothing to do with it." Ed says. "It's about talent, you know. Sheer, unabashed talent. Later."

"Hey, do me a favor." Nyx says, and they look at her. "Stay away from haunted houses. I'm not having another axe swung at my head to save your asses."

"We didn't need your help."

"Really? Because when I got there, you were screaming — and I believe your exact words were — the power of Christ compels you." She says, and Dean starts laughing again.

"I'll be sure your character is turned into a man." He says, and she nods.

"As long as he's still dating Dean's character, that's fine by me." She says with a smile as she wraps her arms around her boyfriend. "It wasn't a pleasure, Cameraman. Sidekick."

"I don't like you." Harry says as he gets into the car, and she just waves.

"See you around." Ed says as he starts driving away.

"I seriously hope not." She mutters.

"Wow." Dean says as they start walking back to the Impala.

"I have a confession to make." Sam says.

"What's that?"

"I was the one who called them and told them I was a producer." He says, and the other two both laugh.

"Well, I'm the one who put the dead fish in their backseat." Dean says as they get to the car.

"Yeah, those are my boys." Nyx says, and they all laugh.

"Truce?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, truce." Dean agrees as she opens the back door. "At least for the next hundred miles." He says with a smile, and Nyx laughs a little harder.