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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤

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The next morning, Delaney found herself outside of the asylum with her brothers. She placed her hands on her hips as she stared up at the chain-link fence. "You know, I've done more climbing with you guys than I have during gym class. I don't know how to feel about that."

Sam shrugged as he also stared up at the looming chain-link fence in front of them. "It makes sense. Gym class in school is just placed there to both give you an easy A and to also make it seem like you're getting in shape somehow."

Delaney silently agreed with her brother before she followed both Dean and Sam over the fence and up the steps to the abandoned asylum. She pushed open the old wooden door and it creaked loudly as it opened inwards. The inside seriously showed the lack of activity going on inside as the walls peeled all around the three siblings, there was graffiti all over the doors and walls and there was trash and broken parts all across the floors and table tops.

"So," Sam began and shut the door behind him. "Apparently, the cops chased the kids here... into the south wing." He pointed to the door to his right where an old wooden sign above double doors read SOUTH WING in block letters.

"South wing, huh?" Dean echoed as he looked around the room they stood in. He examined the South Wing's doors and he fumbled in his pocket for their dad's journal. He opened it and flipped through the pages quickly until he landed on the page he was in search of. "1972- three kids broke into the south wing. Only one survived."

Delaney crossed her arms and fought against the chill going down her spine. "Well, that's morbid."

Dean nodded and continued to read from the article that was taped to the page of the journal, "The way he tells it, one of them went nuts and just started lighting up the place."

"So, whatever's going on, South Wing seems like the heart of it," Sam concluded after a brief moment of silence.

Delaney chewed on her lip as a million thoughts danced across her mind at warp speed. "Yeah, but if kids are breaking into the asylum and screwing around in here, why aren't there a ton more deaths? Aren't haunted places - especially asylums with possibly messed up shit going on - more prone to that kind of thing?"

Sam walked closer to the doors and inspected them. He fiddled with the chain around one of the door handles, a lock unhinged in one of the chain links. "Seems like the doors are usually chained. Could have been chained up for years."

"Yeah, to keep people out," Dean agreed as he also moved closer to the door.

Delaney stood in between her two brothers and examined the door now that she was closer. Normally if you wanted to keep people out you'd just lock the doors and put a padlock or something as an extra precaution. However, usually with chain-links that's next level protection and that's when something clicked in Delaney's head. "Or to keep something in."

Sam pushed the door open and then faced his siblings. "Shall we?"

Delaney took a slow breath out before she womaned back up and followed after her brothers through the open door. The corridors of the South Wing looked exactly like the lobby had - old, peeling walls and things strewn around all over the place as if a bomb had gone off.

"Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel," Dean teased once Delaney caught up to the two mid-way down the corridor.

Delaney glared at Dean, not in the mood for his antics right now. This place was rubbing her the wrong way and she didn't need him adding on to the nerves already going on inside her. "Shut up, Dean."

"I'm serious, Della. These ghosts seem to be attracted to this E.S.P thing you got going on right now," Dean stated as he continued to look down at the EMF meter in his right hand.

Delaney huffed and stuffed her hands into her jacket, the cold feeling growing the deeper they moved into the wing. "It's not E.S.P, Dean. I just have weird dreams and vibes sometimes that's all. No big deal."

Dean scoffed, clearly not believing a word she said. Typical of him, of course, because whenever something happened that usually didn't, Dean took it to the extreme until it stopped and everything went back to how he planned for it to be. "Whatever you say. Don't ask, don't tell."

"Dean, do you have any readings on that yet?" Sam cut in, immediately putting an end to the argument between the youngest and eldest siblings. He knew Delaney hated talking about whatever was going on with her and Dean's teasing was not helping any of them right now.

Though the meter continued to make small noises here and there, the meter had yet to start blinking and emitting any loud alerts. "Not yet, but that doesn't mean no one is home."

"Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day," Sam noted as the three continued down the corridor.

"So the creeps all come out at night when it's dark," Delaney concluded and received a nod of confirmation from both boys. "Great."

"Hey, who do you think is a hotter psychic - Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt or you?"

Delaney didn't even respond to Dean's question and opted for punching him in the shoulder. She lead the way into what seemed to be a torture room. There was a chair in the middle of the room with straps on the arms and legs of the chair and a medical table to the left of it with medical tools. Back then it was probably called an operation room or something along those lines, but Delaney would definitely classify this as a torture room instead.

Dean stuffed the now useless EMF meter into his jacket pocket and looked around the room. "Wow. Electroshock, lobotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people, kind of like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest." He grinned widely at Delaney who visibly shuddered at the memories of Dean forcing her to sit down with him and watch it every Halloween. Bed time on those nights usually were in either Sam or Dean's beds because the dark and any sound just about sent Delaney into a panic attack. "So, what do you guys think? Ghosts are possessing people?"

"I think so? Maybe?" Delaney assumed as she continued to investigate the room they were in. "Seems most likely to me. Angry spirits would usually be in places like this, right?"

"It could be like Amityville or the Smurl Haunting," Sam suggested.

Dean nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, spirits driving them insane... kind of like my man Jack in The Shining."

"Are we ever going to bring up the fact that Dad isn't here?" Delaney questioned as she walked back over to her brothers. "I mean, that's the main reason why you took me out of school in the first place."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Delaney, shocked she was even caring about it at all. "I thought you left to find the thing that killed Will."

"I did," Delaney agreed and crossed her arms across her chest. "However, Dad was the first reason why I left school, even before Will died. We may not have that good of a relationship and I don't know how I feel about seeing him again just yet, but he is still my dad - our dad. I do care... somewhat."

"Well, I'm not talking about it ever... so," Dean replied and turned to walk to another part of the room.

Delaney sighed and grabbed Dean's wrist, turning him back to face her and Sam. "I'm being serious, Dean. Come on."

Dean glanced at Sam who also looked like he kind of wanted to talk about what was going on with their dad. "I'm being serious too, Della, okay? He sent us here. Dad obviously wants us here for some good reason. We'll just pick up the search later."

"What does it matter what he wants? Dean, do you ever think about the cases he sends us on and wonder why he is doing it? Or if we can even do this on our own? I barely even know what I'm doing half the time because I'm so new to this whole hunting ordeal. I'm just kind of guessing right now and doing what I can to help if I even can. What if Dad is seriously hurt or something?" Delaney ranted, slapping her hands to her sides. "Do you even care?"

Dean humorlessly chuckled and shook his head. "See, that attitude right there, that is why Sammy and I always got the extra cookie."

Sam decided to jump in because it looked like Delaney wanted to jump at Dean and strangle him. "Look, Delaney does have a point, Dean. What if Dad is hurt or something? We should be looking for him, not whatever is going on here... if there even is. We deserve some answers after all."

"I understand that, guys, I do. However, Dad has given us an order," Dean argued.

"You see, that's the real problem here. He orders us like we're his freaking drill sergeants or something. We're his kids, not his army. Why do we always have to follow his orders?" Delaney countered and gave him a look that basically told him to try and counter her argument.

Dean merely ignored her after and walked over to a nearby table, picking up a sign that laid on top. He flipped it over and it read CHIEF OF STAFF - STANFORD ELLICOTT. Dean showed the two behind him the sign and gave them a look. "You know what we have to do now, right?"

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"You sure I can go up there alone and do this?" Delaney anxiously glanced up at the tall, white building of the psychiatrist that the three had found that was linked to Stanford Ellicott from the asylum. They were lucky to even get an apartment so last minute with Dr. Ellicott. It must have been a slow day in his office today if he was able to fit her in.

"You'll do fine, Delly, seriously," Sam assured her with a small smile. "I think you're ready to ask questions and get to the bottom of what happened."

Delaney glanced over at Dean who also seemed to think she could do this. Muttering a quiet okay, Delaney turned on her heel and walked into the building and took the elevator up to Dr. Ellicott's floor. She greeted the receptionist warmly and she was guided to the seating area where she would wait for Dr. Ellicott, who was in the middle of a phone call. Delaney looked around the office and could see why he had so many great reviews on his website she had gone on to look for a phone number. His office just seemed like a place where you'd feel comforted. There were bright paintings along the walls and a floor to ceiling window that looked out to the busy city outside behind the brown leather couch she sat on.

"Delaney Winchester?" Dr. Ellicott popped his head out of the office to Delaney's right. He was a middle aged man with brown hair and friendly brown eyes. He had the kind of look to him that made you want to trust him. "You can come in."

Delaney politely smiled at him and walked into his office, sitting down on the couch across from Dr. Ellicott's desk. She looked around the office that looked about the same as his waiting room had and her eyes landed on Dr. Ellicott's doctoriate that was hung on the wall. She decided that this would be a good segway to asking about the asylum.

"Dr. Ellicott?" Delaney spoke up after she convinced herself to talk normally and not like a nervous, bumbling idiot like she felt on the inside. "Wasn't there a Dr. Sanford Ellicott? He was a chief psychiatrist somewhere."

Dr. Ellicott looked impressed that Delaney had known that and turned his chair so he was fully facing her, a pad and pen in his lap. "My father was chief of staff at the old Roosevelt Asylum. How did you know?"

Delaney relaxed back on the couch and smiled as best she could. "Well, I'm sort of a local-history buff, sir. Hey, wasn't there an incident or something in the - in the hospital, I guess - in the South Wing, right?"

"We're on your dollar, Delaney," Dr. Ellicott reminded and he suddenly turned serious. "We're here to talk about you."

"Oh, um... yeah sure," Delaney awkwardly chuckled and chewed on her lip. "What about?"

"Anything you want. How are things?" Dr. Ellicott questioned.

Delaney scratched her cheek and shrugged nonchalantly. "Um... you know... things are good. Just been up to the same old stuff. I've been on a road trip with my two older brothers. Getting some bonding time in and all that."

"How did that go? Did you enjoy it?" Dr. Ellicott inquired and it took Delaney by surprise for a second that he actually seemed like he cared. She wasn't sure if that was just an act to get her to open up about whatever he thought he wanted to hear or what, but it was oddly... calming?

"Uh.... loads, I guess, yeah. We met loads of... interesting people. Did a lot of interesting things together. I'm in college and they've already graduated so I haven't been able to see them much. Decided to take a semester off and hang out with them for a bit. Get my mind settled back down before I go back. You know how college can be draining, of course," Delaney explained and she prayed that she was as convincing as she thought she sounded. However, she wanted to get this whole thing over with and get out of the situation she had let herself get into.

"I do have a question, however, because I am curious. What was it exactly that happened in the South Wing at the asylum? I forget -" Delaney was cut off by Dr. Ellicott.

"- Look, if you're a local-history buff, then you know all about the Roosevelt Riot," Dr. Ellicott stated.

Delaney blinked for a second and tried to gather herself back up to her local-history buff character state. "Yes, exactly, the riot. I'm just curious -"

Dr. Ellicott cut Delaney off yet again, "Delaney, let's cut the bull, shall we?" He placed the pad and pen back on his desk behind him and leaned closer towards Delaney. "You're avoiding the subject."

"What subject?"

"You," Dr. Ellicott clarified. "Now, I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all about the Roosevelt Riot if you tell me something honest about yourself... like, uh, these two brothers you're road-tripping with. How do you feel about them?"

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About twenty minutes later, Delaney said good-bye to Dr. Ellicott and rushed out of the office dying to tell her brothers what she had found out. She pushed out of the glass doors that lead outside and was immediately flagged by her brothers.

"Della, you were in there forever!" Dean groaned as he started to push her towards the Impala. "What took you so long?"

"Just the hospital, you know," Delaney responded and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, so, the South Wing is where they housed the real hard cases - the psychotics, the criminally insane."

"Sounds like a fun time in there," Sam remarked.

Delaney nodded and leaned against the front of the Impala once the three arrived at the car. "Yeah, and one night in '64, they all rioted - attacked the staff, attacked each other."

Dean waved his hands in front of him for Delaney to stop talking. "Wait, so the patients, like, took over the asylum? Any deaths?"

"I mean, obviously. Most were patients and some were staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never even recovered, including our Chief of Staff, Ellicott."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Never recovered?"

"I don't know. Cops scoured every inch of the place, but I want to assume the patients must have... stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden."

"That's grim," Dean commented and his two younger siblings silently agreed with him.

"So they transferred all the surviving patients and shut down the hospital for good," Delaney finished.

Dean grinned and wrapped an arm around Delaney's shoulders, hugging her into his side. "Good work up there, kiddo. I knew you could do it. However, now that we've got a bunch of deaths and unrecovered bodies."

"Which means we are dealing with a bunch of angry spirits," Sam noted with a sigh. "Wonderful."

"Well, I guess I know what we're doing tonight."

authors note

hey hi hello. 

I finally got this chapter written and out. Google Docs was not my friend tonight and it took me twice as long to write this chapter because I had to keep refreshing the page since it kept freezing or crashing on me any time I wrote more than three paragraphs. So this chapter is out a whole two or three hours later than I wanted it to be and it's lowkey annoying me, but it's out now.

We have just twelve (12) episodes after this one before move on to Book 2 and Season 2, which I am really excited about not even going to lie to you. This means that all the drama is slowly starting to build up (as if there wasn't already but YOU KNOW) as you can see by the topic of John coming up YET AGAIN because Delaney is so over this whole thing and just wants to find her Dad. I advise you all to buckle up because after this chapter... the rollercoaster is only going to hit max height before everything just comes speeding back down towards the three siblings. SO GET READY FOR THIS RIDE CAUSE WOOOWWWW IT'S GONNA BE WILD

ANYWAYS, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT YOUR THOUGHTS. I LOVE HEARING WHAT YOU GUYS THINK!

EDITED ON: FEBRUARY 1ST, 2020