⌜ chapter fifteen ⌟

Isla groans when Sam jumps onto the bed next to her, startling her awake. "Go away." She tries to push him away from her, but he locks his arm around her waist. "Stop it, Sasquatch!"

"You're lazy, you know that?"

"If you must know what my problem is, I think I'm gonna be starting my period soon." The blonde says, giving up on pushing him. "I'm tired, and I have cramps."

"Does that mean you don't wanna come with us to check out the haunted house?" He asks, and she opens one eye to look at him.

"I said the word period and you didn't flip out. Are you not normal?"

"You forget that I lived with my girlfriend for many months." He says, and she closes her eyes again. "She used to say that sometimes getting up and moving around would help. Or going for a run."

"Let me stab you in the stomach and see if you wanna run." She grumbles, and he seems amused. "Do we have any Aleve?"

"Didn't you buy some last week because of your arm?" He asks as he gets up and walks over to her bag to look for the pain killers. "Try laying on your back. Jess would lay on the bed or on the floor with her spine straight, and she said that helped a lot."

"Straightening my spine?" The blonde questions as she rolls over. "I mean, I'm desperate, so I'll try it, but that sounds like a crock of shit."

"I don't know, that's just what she said."

"What's going on in here?" Dean asks as he leans in the doorway. "I thought we were leaving."

"Hang on." Sam glances over at him. "Can you get a glass of water or something?"

"It's not fair." Isla complains as Sam walks over to her. "Women feel like they're dying once a month for years just so they can have kids. What do guys have to deal with?"

"Women." He ducks when she chucks a pillow at him. "I was kidding!"

"I'm not afraid to hurt you."

"Why do I have a glass of water?" Dean asks as he walks over to them, and Sam takes it to then hand to Isla.

"Take these." The younger boy says as he gives her the pills and the water. "Will you forgive me if I buy you chocolate?"

"No, my face will break out." The blonde says as she sits up to swallow the pills. "What'd you guys find?"

"I told you that the kids we talked to last night had all different descriptions of both the house and the girl?" He asks as she nods as she lays back down — her legs are out straight, she doesn't have a pillow under her head, and her fingers are laced over her stomach. "Well, we talked to the kid who took them to the house, and he told us a bit about it. His cousin is the one who told him the story about the house and the ghost who's supposed to haunt the place, said that he killed his six daughters during the Great Depression before killing himself. The kid didn't give us a description of the girl, but he was adamant that she was there, and he says it freaked him out so bad that he'll never go back."

"So, we think that they really did see a dead girl?"

"Until or unless we prove otherwise, I would say so." He says, and she nods.

"Can I just point out that this hunt that you found involves a ghost that even you described as misogynistic? I mean, if you're trying to kill me, there has to be easier ways than this."

"Could you tell me one of those easier ways? 'Cause none of my attempts have worked yet."

"Are you trying to get your ass kicked?" The blonde questions, and Dean chuckles from where he sat down at the table a few feet away from them. "When did you become the mean one?"

"What are you doing?" Sam asks when she gets up.

"Well, for starters, I'm dying." She says as she grabs her shoes.

"That's what you get for falling asleep in jeans."

"It's called a nap. Shut up, Sam." She grumbles as she ties her Vans, and he starts laughing.

The three of them drive out to the abandoned house in the middle of nowhere so that they can get a look around during the day. The hunters prefer to scope out the place when any spirits should be less active, that way they don't walk in blind later on. They eventually get to a point where driving is difficult, and they have to walk the rest of the way up the muddy road.

"Can't say I blame the kid." Sam says as they approach the small, run down house.

"Yeah. So much for curb appeal." Dean agrees.

"What curb?" Isla mutters as the mud squishes under their feet.

They start looking around, and the electrical lines nearby are screwing with the E.M.F. that Dean brought, so there's really no way to tell if there's any supernatural activity without going inside the possibly haunted house. Isla looks up at the overcast sky before following the boys up the rickety steps of the front porch.

Dean whistles as he looks around. "Looks like old man Murdoch was a bit of a tagger during his time." He says as he looks at all of the symbols that are spray-painted on the walls.

"And after his time too." Sam adds when one in particular catches his attention. "The reverse cross has been used by Satanists for centuries, but the sigil of sulfur didn't show up in San Francisco until the '60s." He says, and Isla and Dean both turn to look at him.

"That is exactly why you never get laid." His brother says before turning away from him.

The blonde rolls her eyes as she walks into the kitchen, wanting to get away from his commentary about anything that has to do with sex. The kitchen looks just as empty as what she's seen of the house so far, but there's another door across from the one that she walked in through. She glances behind her, and then decides that she's perfectly capable of working without her father-figure appointed babysitters.

The door creaks as she opens it, and she sees that it leads down into a basement — the location of where the teenagers claimed to have seen the dead girl. She pulls out the small flashlight that she carries on her when she's working before making her way down into the dark basement. The blonde hears what sounds like hushed talking as she shines the light around, and then she hears someone yell.

"My eyes!"

"Ed, what happened?"

"Someone shined a flashlight at my night-vision goggles."

"It wasn't me."

"No, it was me." Isla says as she looks around the mostly empty room, and the two men scream again, but they both seem to be trying to keep their voices down.

"Oh, it's just a girl."

"I take it you rarely see them?" The blonde asks as she looks at the jars filled with weird liquids on shelves in the middle of the room.

"We've seen plenty."

"Porn sites?" She muses.

"No."

"Sometimes."

"Harry!"

She chuckles as she aims the flashlight at the ceiling. The beams look like they could be strong enough to support the weight of a body, but there don't appear to be any marks from ropes. She definitely doesn't see any ropes themselves hanging from any of them.

"What are you doing here?"

Isla turns and shines the light on them, making them both squint as they look down. "Cruising for hot guys. You seen any?" She asks, not bothering to cover any bit of her sarcasm, and he smiles as he holds his hand out toward her.

"Ed Zeddmore." He introduces himself, and she looks at the camera in his other hand.

"Watch where you point that thing, Ed. I'd hate to have to break it." She says, and he looks down to find that his lens is pointed at her chest.

"You didn't come here alone, did you?" The guy that she assumes is Harry asks as his friend fumbles with the camera.

"And if I did?"

"You should be careful. The spirit here can be pretty nasty to women." He tells her.

"I can take care of myself." She says as she turns away from him.

"She seems like a bitch." Ed whispers to his friend.

"So do you." The blonde says just as quietly, and he laughs awkwardly as he looks back at her.

"Isla?!" Sam calls from the kitchen, and she heads back up the stairs. "You find anything?"

"Ghostbusters."

"What?" He questions, and both boys' eyebrows furrow as they look at the blonde, but then Ed and Harry stumble through the doorway that she just came through.

"Keep an eye on the scruffy one. He likes to point that camera in places that'd get him punched if I were more of a bitch." Isla says as she starts out of the room, and Ed looks nervous when he sees Dean turn his attention to him.

After looking around upstairs, the blonde makes her way back toward the kitchen and leans in the doorway behind Sam. She glances over at Dean as he leans against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest; he's standing on the other side of the room, and Ed's back is to him.

"Hey, doll face, you should ask them what they know about E.M.F." Dean says, and Isla shakes her head as she looks back at him.

"I'll pass on that one. I already learned enough from these two during our brief meeting in the basement." She tells him, and the men all look at her.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Well, for starters, that most of their interactions with women are through PornHub." Isla says, and the Winchester brothers both start laughing.

"That was Harry who said that." Ed tells the boys, and his friend shoots him a dirty look.

"Yeah, he's right." She nods. "He's just the one who filmed my chest before calling me a bitch."

"What was that first one?" Dean questions as he stands up straight, and Ed ducks behind Harry.

"Simmer down, he's harmless." Isla says as she stands up straight, then she reaches out and lightly smacks Sam's arm. "Let's get outta here. There's nothing worth looking into."

—

"Because you're a nerd." Isla smiles as she jogs after Sam, trying to keep up with his long strides as they walk out of the Collin County Public Library.

"Did you know that you're annoying?" He asks, and she nods.

"Mhm. I'm pretty sure that's why my family doesn't like me." She tells him, and he glances back to find that she's watching her feet as she walks down the front steps.

"Hey."

"Hey." Dean looks at his younger brother as he falls into step with them while they walk down the sidewalk. "What do you got?"

Sam grunts when Isla jumps on his back and he stumbles forward a few steps. "A pest."

"Love you too, Sasquatch." The blonde says as she adjusts her arms around his neck, and he grabs her legs to keep her stable.

"We couldn't find a Mordechai, but we did turn up a Martin Murdoch who lived in that house in the '30s." The youngest says as they continue toward the Impala. "He did have children, but only two of them — both boys. And there's no record he ever killed anyone." He tells his brother.

"Huh."

"What about you?"

"Uh, well, those kids didn't give a clear description of the dead girl, but I did hit up the police station. No matching missing persons — it's like she never existed." Dean says.

"I told you, there was nothing in that basement." Isla says. "No strain marks in the wood, no blood, no sign of a struggle. I think this one's a dud."

"I'm with her on this." The older boy agrees as he steps off the sidewalk and rounds the car to the driver's side. "We did our digging. This one's a bust. Alright, for all we know — those hellhound boys made up the whole thing."

"Harry and his creepy friend?" Isla asks as she jumps off Sam's back.

"Yeah. They run the website that I found this case on." The youngest tells her.

"I say we find ourselves a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals." Dean says as he unlocks the car.

"Hey, can we play darts?" The blonde asks as she looks up at Sam, and he holds up a finger as he leans down to look at his brother who just ducked into the Impala. "What are you—"

Both Isla and Dean jump when he starts up the car and the opening instrumental of Bidi Bidi Bom Bom blasts through the speaker. "What the..." He's annoyed as he tries to turn down the music and shut off the windshield wipers, but Sam laughs as he gets into the passenger seat of the car.

The oldest is annoyed as Sam taps the tip of his index finger to his tongue and then draws an imaginary tally mark in the air. "One — me." He mouths as he looks at his brother; Isla shuts the back door after climbing in behind him.

"That's all you got?" Dean questions. "That's weak. That is bush-league."

"Um, excuse me." The blonde leans between the two of them and looks at Sam. "Who said you could steal my CD's, and when did you break into my truck?" She raises her eyebrows.

"It's just one CD." He defends. "I was gonna put it back where I got it."

"This collection holds some of the few memories that I still enjoy looking back on from my childhood." She tells him. "You mess up my CD's, and there will be nowhere you can hide that I won't find you."

"I know where to buy more. It's not like she isn't still popular."

"These CD's were my dad's, Sasquatch — they never leave my car." She says. "He gave them to me on my fifteenth birthday."

"I'm sorry, Isla." Sam says as he looks at her. "I didn't realize what they meant to you."

The blonde leans forward, holding herself up by placing her palm flat on the bench as she controls the radio. Dean doesn't say anything as he watches her, seeing that whatever's going on in her head is obviously important to her. She skips all the way to the end of the album before starting it over, knowing exactly which song she's looking for. She then sits back as the melody of Fotos y Recuerdos comes through the speakers, and she rests her chin on her forearm.

"S'okay." She finally says. "It's not your fault, you couldn't have known."

"Are you okay?" He asks, and the right side of her mouth lifts into a sad half-smile.

"Yeah."

"So, beers?" Dean asks, clearing his throat as he pulls away from the curb.

Isla reaches over and pokes Sam's arm. "Play darts with me?" She asks, and he shrugs as he glances at her.

"I'm always up for winning a game." The younger boy says, and she scoffs.

They're at the bar later, and Sam and Isla have spent most of their time over at the dart board while Dean flirts with the pretty raven-haired bartender. The youngest of the hunters is slightly annoyed because Isla keeps winning, much to her amusement.

"Alright, that's enough." Sam walks up behind her and wraps his arm around her waist, lifting her up so that he can carry her over to a table.

"But I was winning!" The blonde yells, and Dean looks over when he hears her voice.

"And now we're sitting." He says, and his brother walks over a couple minutes later with a few beers — one for each of them.

"Hey, so, I gotta talk to you guys about something." Isla says as they all settle in at the table, and both boys look at her. "Probably in the morning, I'm gonna head off on my own for a couple of weeks or so, but I'll be back."

"Well, what's going on? We can come with you." Sam says, and she shakes her head.

"No, uh... I mean, I really appreciate that, but... This is something I gotta do on my own." She tells them. "But I'll call when I'm done, drive out to wherever you end up. It won't take too long."

"And I'm assuming this is one of those things you don't wanna talk about?" He asks, and she shakes her head. "But it's something that you'd tell our dad if he were here."

"Sam..." She sighs as she lays her head on her arms.

"What is it that you're comfortable telling him that you're not with us? I mean, what, you don't trust us?"

"It's not about trust." She shakes her head as she looks at him. "I wouldn't be working jobs with you guys if I didn't trust you."

"Then what?" He questions. He wants to help her with whatever's obviously bothering her, but he doesn't know how when she keeps them at arm's length all the time.

"Look, I don't do the whole...soul-baring, in-touch-with-my-feelings thing, alright? I just... I have something that I need to do, and there's no way you could help even if I told you what was going on. It's not that kind of..." She takes a deep breath. "It's personal."

"She'll be fine, Sam." Dean says, surprising the blonde sitting next to him. "Dad taught her how to take care of herself. She'll be alright until she gets back."

"Thank you." Isla says as she looks up at him, not hiding the mild shock in her voice.

"After watching you take on that entire family that kidnapped all of us, I'm pretty convinced that we need your help more than you need ours." He says, glancing down at her. "We were totally screwed. You saved our asses back there." He tells her, and a small smile tugs at her lips as she looks down at the table.