— 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝟐, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟏𝟐 —

THEY'D BEEN RIDING IN THE CAR FOR SEVERAL HOURS NOW, AND TESS HAD YET TO INFORM LILA WHERE EXACTLY THEY WERE GOING. It's not that she didn't trust her sister, the elder trusted the younger with more than her life. No, she just didn't want to give her any information before she determined if the tip she'd gotten from a call she'd received a couple hundred miles back was accurate. The fear of disappointment—and living up to some invisible expectations—was still stronger than her desire to share every secret.

"I think... I'm going to name him Harrison," Lila broke the silence that had been ongoing for the last hour. The radio might have been quietly playing a tune or two, but the conversation between them had died down ages ago.

Tess raised her brow in confusion. Lila had a small habit of having one side of the conversation in her head and the other spoken verbally. Usually Tess was able to understand from the context of the situation, but here she was at a complete loss. "What?"

"The car," Lila explained. "I'm going to name him Harrison."

"Harrison?" Tess questioned, and the corners of her lips tugged into an amused smile. "How do you even know the car's a he?"

Lila chuckled. "You weren't exactly subtle when that elderly couple cut you off getting on the interstate. So once I heard the deep sound of the horn, I knew."

"Okay," Tess chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully at her sister's logic. "Then why Harrison?"

"It's a Ford." Lila shrugged.

Tess laughed as she finally understood. "Did you really just name the car Harrison Ford?"

"Obviously." Lila nodded.

Tess's laughter died down into a gentle chuckle. "Alright, Harrison it is."

A few minutes of silence passed before Lila looked over at Tess expectantly. "Sooo... where are we headed?"

Although Tess was hesitant to share anything, she did grant her sister knowledge of their final destination, "Sandusky, Ohio."

"Sandusky, Ohio?" Lila's nose wrinkled. "I mean nothing against Ohio or anything, but it seems like a little in the middle of nowhere."

"I received an anonymous tip from one of my more unsightly sources..." Tess admitted. "But the signs and sightings matched indications of the unsubs."

"A hunting source or a credible source," Lila asked, unconvinced.

"Twitch can be a reliable source," Tess contradicted as if defending herself, but as Lila remained unconvinced, she amended her statement, "Sometimes."

"His name is 'Twitch'," Lila retorted.

"His intel is good this time," Tess practically promised, "He sent me the papers and I did a bit of research for myself. You trust me, right?"

Lila sighed, but nodded her head. "Of course, I trust you."

Once more, a lull of silence filled the car. Lila attempted to mess with the radio, but unable to find anything she liked, she turned, propped her head against her hand, and stared out the window. There were a few interesting signs, but after miles of open road, the ones pointing toward food were what held her attention. She could feel her stomach rumbling as her mind tried to remember the last time she'd eaten. It was just so easy to get preoccupied with work and hunting that everything else sort of fell to the wayside.

"Could we stop for lunch?" Lila broke the silence, turning back toward her sister. "I'm starving."

As if to emphasize her point, Lila's stomach growled. A small smile formed on Tess's face as she nodded her head. "Yeah, I think I saw a sign a little while back that said we were coming up on something in about a half mile. I'll pull off and we can pick something up."

"Awesome," Lila exclaimed with relief, "I'm not sure I'd be able to last another mile without food."

Tess chuckled and nodded her head. "Agreed."

She flipped on her blinker, checked her mirrors, then changed lanes as she prepared to pull off at the next exit. Just off the exit an old fashioned diner could be found. There wasn't a second of hesitation before the decision was made and they had pulled into the parking lot. Next-thing's-next, they were seated in a vinyl booth and waiting to be served after each ordering the greasiest burger they could find on the menu. As the waitress returned and slid their plates across the table, Tess offered a two-fingered salute as thanks while Lila dug in.

"So," Lila wiped her mouth between bites then dipped a few fries in ketchup, "what's with the Winchester case? I mean I understand why Henriksen is cracking since Groves is riding his rear, but you?"

"It doesn't make much sense to me either," Tess shrugged, "I guess I'm just looking to one-up Henriksen and prove he's not all that he claims."

"Bull."

"What do you mean, 'bull'?" Tess questioned, insulted as if her honor was impugned by the fact that her sister even thought to question her sincerity.

"I call bull," Lila repeated, chomped on her fries, then continued, "This isn't about your stupid little competition with Henriksen. I saw the way you looked at the second vic. The second we realized we were dealing with a shifter, your whole demeanor changed. This is about Eric, isn't it?"

The last thing Tess wanted was to be reminded of a past relationship that didn't work out, but she couldn't deny the truth of the matter. She held a special place of hatred for shifters specifically. The relationship was a point in time where she'd tried to leave hunting behind and settle down to live a normal life, like every independent nineteen year-old wants to do. Except the supernatural crawled it's way back into her life as it killed her significant other and took his place for the next six months. It was only by a pure luck touch of silver that the truth was revealed leading her to the discovery of her boyfriend discarded dead in a ditch. Without dragging back all the painful memories, she shrugged but averted her gaze.

"I knew it," Lila whispered under her breath before finishing off the last bite of her burger. She licked her fingers clean then snatched a few fries from her sister's plate. "I'd hate the suckers too if they tried to pull something like that with me, so I get why you want to gank this one so badly, but the Winchesters got to it first... unless—you think the Winchesters are monsters, don't you?"

"They're either monsters or serial killers," Tess replied, finally turning to look back at her sister with a darker look, "which pretty much means the same thing in our line of work. I've read the files Henriksen gave us cover to cover. Death follows these guys like they're reapers."

"Except we don't kill reapers," Lila reminded her. "Can't really."

"Then it's a good thing these guys are made of flesh and blood." Tess lightly slapped her sister's hand as she tried to steal a few more fries. "Hands off."

"So then what do you propose we do when we find them?" Lila asked. "Deal with 'em like hunters or the FBI?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it," Tess replied just as the waitress returned with the bill. Absentmindedly continuing the conversation, Tess pulled out some cash from her wallet and paid. "I mean it's not the first time we've dealt with this sort of thing..."

Lila raised her brow curiously as her sister's voice tapered off. "What?"

Tess rolled her eyes before flipping the receipt around to reveal an additional set of digits toward the bottom. "How is it that I pick up more chicks than dudes?"

Lila chuckled. "I think it's the combination of leather and flannel."

Tess's lips twisted. "Touché... I'm not complaining though."

"Tess." Lila's smile flipped upside-down. "Now's not the time."

"Fine, fine," Tess raised her hands defensively as she walked toward the exit. "I was only messing around anyway."

Lila playfully rolled her eyes as she followed her sister out of the restaurant and back to the car. As she slid into her seat, she released a sigh of relief. "Only a few more hours before sleep, and those monsters won't know what hit 'em when the Singer Sisters arrive in town."

"You know that's right," Tess agreed, fist bumping her sister before pulling out of the parking lot and merging back onto the interstate.

Although Sandusky was still several hours away, the ride felt quite short. Before they knew it, the sisters were checking in to their hotel. There were some benefits to working a full time job on top of hunting, and well-earned cash was one of them. Which ultimately resulted in the ability to sleep in a warm bed within a Holiday Inn as opposed to staying in the one-star motel down the street.

As soon as Tess unlocked the room, Lila sprinted forward and flopped down on one of the beds, claiming it as her own. She released a contented sigh. "Road trips are great and all, but man do they exhaust me to no end."

Tess stifled her laughter as her sister tried to become one with the mattress; however, seconds later she was trying to do the same.

"Amen, little sister," Tess's voice was muffled as she spoke through her pillow, "I'm pretty sure I could crash and only wake up once the week is over."

"Mm-hmm," Lila sighed in agreement. The silence that followed was short-lived as Lila immediately perked up with excitement. "Now that we're kind of settled in, wanna share the deets?"

"And ruin the surprise?" Tess jokingly asked, still face-down in her pillow.

"I mean I'd prefer that over going in blind." Lila shrugged.

"Just wait until we get to the site," Tess requested, "I'll share Twitch's info then, but I'm exhausted from the drive and frankly I think I'd mix up some of the important details."

"Alright," Lila sighed, sinking back down into the bed. "Night, Tess."

"Night, Lil," Tess yawned, leaned over to switch off the light then drifted off into sweet unconsciousness.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

Dreams were meant to be a sweet release from reality.

It rarely worked that way for Tess anymore.

So she wasn't surprised that when she succumbed to the darkness, darkness was all that could be seen for miles. For the past week, she'd been reliving the moment her family had been dragged into the life of hunters. Even though the memory was fragmented, those shards had imbedded themselves into her mind and surfaced every once in a while. Normally she could repress it or keep it hidden away, but the week she'd been given the Winchester file, that all changed. For what reason, she didn't know, but she'd sure as hell like to. It was annoying to toss and turn all night without any gratifying rest.

So the instant she 'woke up' in the apartment she'd rashly decided to rent just a couple months after turning nineteen, well she knew she was screwed. Even though she was lying down, safe in a hotel room on the outskirts of Sandusky, Ohio, her knees felt weak and her heart pounded against her ribcage as Eric entered the room and flashed a smile she knew all too well.

In a matter of hours, she had relived every second of their relationship up to the point where she found his cold dead body rotting in the woods. There were times where she genuinely wished she never went searching for answers to scratch the itch of discomfort after seeing her faux beau flinch at the touch of silver, but it was even worse when she had to go crawling back home and confront the family she'd tried to leave behind.

A split-second decision was made the instant she saw the look in her sister's eyes. She'd never again turn her back on her family. Unfortunately, this meant blocking off all other chances at relationships in her mind. The world was cruel and dangerous, and she could only count on family to have her back which meant she needed to give them everything she had too. She'd seen firsthand where love had gotten those cursed to hold the Singer name: first her mother, then her own serious relationship. Which also explained why none of her brothers before her had really been involved in an intimate relationship.

So what was the point in trying?

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

THE NIGHT FELT TOO SHORT, BUT MORNING COULDN'T COME QUICK ENOUGH. As the alarm went off, Tess groaned and groggily rubbed her eyes, refusing to show any signs of weakness before her sister woke. Once she was sure she'd rubbed away the noticeable bags under her eyes, Tess tossed a pillow across the room onto the other bed to wake her sister.

Lila groaned as the pillow hit her across the face then rolled over to face away from Tess as she tried to burrow herself deeper under the covers. Although still half-asleep, she did manage to mumble a few coherent words, "What time is it? Too early..."

"Early bird gets the worm... and yada, yada, yada," Tess said between yawns as she slowly pulled herself out of bed.

"Well this bird don't need no worms," Lila retorted lazily as she started to drift back to sleep.

Tess threw another pillow, harder than the first. "Get up."

Without waiting to see if her sister actually got up, Tess entered the bathroom to clean herself up and start the day fresh as opposed to trapped in the thoughts that her mind tried to force her to relive and face head on.

Lila groaned, but slowly sat up and began to get ready for the day. She managed to get half-dressed before yelling from the other room. "Hey what's the game-plan for today? I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb wherever we're going."

"You should be fine in the ushe," Tess replied. "I don't see the need for anything more than casual dress."

"Alright, you keep up your mystery schtick, but I'm gonna figure it out one way or another," Lila retorted as she began to pack a bag of their gear.

"Sure you will," Tess teased.

"I will," Lila agreed as she pulled out one of her guns from the bag to check her ammunitions level before stowing it away. She then turned toward Tess. "You ready?"

"Yep, locked and loaded," Tess said as she stowed her badge and gun safely away.

"Then let's go gank some monster butt!" Lila excitedly exclaimed as she opened the door of their room. Tess laughed as she followed her sister from the room, locking the door behind them. And then they were back on the road.

The secret of the final destination didn't stay that way for long as they drove another twenty minutes to reach the theme park, passing a sign that declared 'CEDAR POINT' in bright, bold text.

Tess immediately noticed that Lila began to bounce in her seat with excitement the second they passed the sign. "I can't believe we're going to an amusement park. A bit of a weird first since we're hunting, but I'm not complaining."

"I mean the two just happened to coincide," Tess shrugged, but still smiled at how excited her sister had grown. "All that's left is to walk around, flash our badges, and find the Winchesters. I assume that'll take maybe half an hour. Once we call it in to Henriksen we can actually enjoy the rest of our vacation days."

"Not a bad plan," Lila nodded in agreement. "You're just forgetting one thing: what if they're actually monsters?"

"Some silver, iron, salt, and a cleverly concocted trap should fix that problem," Tess said as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"If you say so..." Lila remained skeptical. "I just don't want to see anyone get hurt."

"I know," Tess agreed, completely understanding, "but you know how careful we are. It's not like you're partnered up with Drew or Nate who either have no preservation for others or themselves."

Lila laughted. "That's fair. I'd probably be dead by now if I was hunting with either of those two."

"There's no doubt about it..." Tess agreed as she pulled into the parking lot. "And then they'd be dead because I'd hunt them down and kill them myself."

"Yeah... that sounds about right." Lila nodded her head as Tess finally found a spot to park.

Working for the FBI had some nice perks aside from a steady paycheck. Access to classified information, some of the best up-and-coming technology, and restricted spaces were just a few that Tess could list off the top of her head. So entering the theme park was a piece of cake. All that was required was a quick flash of their badges and a short explanation about some vague details of a case and they were welcomed inside without as much as an inconvenienced look.

Unfortunately, Tess could see that she'd immediately lost her sister as soon as they stepped foot inside the park. It was tempting for herself to get lost in the sights, smells, and sounds of a childhood she'd never gotten to have, but she didn't have that luxury.

"Ohmygosh, Tess they have a carousel!" Lila squealed pulling on her sister's arm as she tried to run off in a dozen different directions.

Tess laughed and playfully rolled her eyes at her sister's immortal childlike wonder. Even after everything they'd been through, Tess had tried to shelter her younger siblings from the horrors of the world so that they wouldn't have to grow up as quickly as she did. Despite being the fourth child, she'd always felt like she'd had to step up into the role of mother as the eldest daughter. So it was only natural for her to be cynical and protective.

"Work first, play later," Tess gently reminded Lila, allowing a soft smile to remain on her face. "The sooner we find the Winchesters, the sooner we can ride some coasters."

"And the carousel?" Lila asked with a hopeful look.

"And the carousel," Tess confirmed. A beat of silence passed as Tess looked around at the crowd. It took a moment but she formulated the start of a plan, passing Lila a pair of photos of the unsubs. "Start asking around. Find out what you can. Someone's got to know something about either the Winchesters or the odd series of events that Twitch mentioned."

It took little over two hours of asking the same questions for Tess to realize that Twitch might not have been as reliable as she thought. She'd shown over twenty people the Winchesters' mug shots and yet no one had even heard of them. It was beginning to look like they'd never been to Sandusky, Ohio at all.

Tess sighed as she pulled out the photos to show the elderly couple she'd been interviewing. "Have you seen either of these men?"

The elderly lady shook her head. "I'm sorry, dear, I'm afraid I've never seen these two gentlemen." She paused, eyeing them a bit longer. "I sure would like to though."

Tess was caught entirely off guard and stuttered with disbelief, "You do remember that I said they were serial killers, right, ma'am?"

The elderly woman shrugged and waved away her concern. "You're looking in the wrong direction anyway, dear."

Tess raised her brow in confusion. She was beginning to get the idea that Twitch wasn't as insightful as a source as she had originally believed.

The elderly woman chuckled at the clueless look she received while judging her husband who offered a gruff nod in agreement, hardly looking up from the park map in his hands as if he had no desire to join the conversation. The elderly woman was either used to talking or just didn't care that her husband didn't have much to add as she leaned closer and whispered the rumored tale in Tess's ear.

"I've been coming to this park for years now," the elderly woman explained, "My husband and I would take our kids to the park for a family vacation. Now the park is nice and all, but a lot has changed too. You see, there used to be a carousel in Frontiertown that was said to be haunted. I can remember seeing things sometimes myself..."

"What happened to the carousel?" Tess asked curiously.

The elderly woman was immediately delighted that her story wasn't dismissed as fiction. "The carousel was shutdown in '94 and moved to another park, but one of the horses is still kept on display in the ol' museum in frontier town."

Tess sighed, realizing that they weren't dealing with a shifter at all, then faked a pleasant smile. "Thank you for your help, ma'am. You've been incredibly helpful."

The elderly couple waved as they returned to their day of vacation while Tess reorganized her priorities, putting her own vacation plans on hold. She then pulled out her phone and dialed her sister's number without delay.

"Yellow?" Lila answered.

"Turns out you might have been right about Twitch," Tess admitted, "I think we might be dealing with a ghost. Meet me at Frontiertown in front of the museum."

"They have a museum in their park?" Lila asked, genuinely amazed.

"From the sound of things, it's more like a display room," Tess shrugged even though the action wouldn't be seen. "See you soon."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

THE DISPLAY WAS LESS IMPRESSIVE THAN TESS HAD THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE. Lila clearly shared her sentiments as she tilted her head and brushed a few fallen strands of hair behind her ear.

Her nose wrinkled. "This is it?"

Tess nodded her head, equally as unamused. "Looks like it."

"A rusty carousel horse in a run-down display room?" Lila questioned a second time as if the answer might change.

"Yep." Tess nodded her head again. "You got the EMF meter?"

Lila nodded her head and coyly slipped the device from her pocket before waving it around the display case. The high-pitch beeping that echoed around them drew a few stares from the few individuals that had visited the attraction, but otherwise they were ignored.

Tess sighed. "Damn it."

"Guess we're dealing with a ghost," Lila voiced what they were both thinking.

"Which means we're back to square one with the Winchesters," Tess added.

"After we deal with the ghost," Lila clarified as if to remind her sister that they still had a job to do even if it wasn't the one they had anticipated.

"After we deal with the ghost," Tess sighed as she agreed. She opened her mouth to add to the conversation, but as an ear-curdling scream filled the air, twin looks of alarm flashed across the sisters' faces.

Without a spoken word between them, they sprinted in the direction of the source. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones with that thought in mind. A decent sized crowd had formed and a few of the park's security officers were trying to console the teenage girl at the center of the group.

"Can you try to explain what happened, miss?" one of the security officers requested, trying to provide the girl enough space to stop hyperventilating.

The girl's eyes were wide with horror and her breathing was shallow enough to make her pass out if she didn't start taking deeper breaths soon. Although Tess was tempted to push her way through the crowd and flash her badge, one look from Lila was enough to know the health of the kid was more important than immediate answers.

The girl's chest heaved between sobs as she tried to speak. "It—it took him. We were—were just—just trying to get in line and it came out of nowhere and attacked us. It took him."

"How many vengeful spirits do you know that strike during the day?" Lila leaned closer to her sister and whispered her question.

Tess turned toward Lila, recognizing a similar look of confusion before coming to a conclusion of her own. "Maybe we're dealing with the Winchesters after all."

"I think it's time to conduct a little research of our own," Lila suggested. To her surprise, rather than insist that Twitch had given them everything they needed, Tess nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah," Tess continued to nod, stalling for time as her mind worked up a new plan. "I'll continue the interview process here while you head back to the car where we left the laptop."

"How come you get to stay?" Lila crossed her arms.

"Because you've been eyeing that funnel cake stand for the last half-hour," Tess explained. "There's a lot going on and you're distracted. I need you to clear your head."

"Fine," Lila muttered, looking toward the ground in disappointment; however, a sly look crossed her face as she met her sister's eyes, "but I'm taking that funnel cake to go then."

Tess rolled her eyes, but nodded her head to signify that was fine. "Just meet back at the display room in a couple of hours."

Lila nodded her head in agreement before entering the line to order her funnel cake. Tess chuckled under her breath, shaking her head at the childlike wonder her sister had maintained over the years despite everything they'd seen and been through. However, she didn't let the brief flash of memory lane distract her from her goal.

After two hours, she'd gotten no closer to answers than before and any leads she'd acquired had all ended up dead ends. She was frustrated and growing tired, and added on top of everything, her own hunger didn't help either. With a quick text, she changed the rendezvous spot to the closest restaurant in the vicinity, which Lila had no complaints about. After another half-hour, they were both seated at a table enjoying some walking tacos.

"Alright," Tess started the debriefing as she finished her meal, "I've honestly got nothing new, so what'd you find."

"So listen to this," Lila eagerly pulled out a notebook from the backpack she'd brought with her into the park. She quickly flipped through a few pages before finding what she was looking for. "According to legends, a ghostly woman could sometimes be seen riding a military horse on the carousel located in Frontiertown before it was removed. Rumors claim that the woman was the wife of the man who carved the horses for the carousel."

Tess's brow knit in confusion. "So what's tethering her spirit to this world? What's her vendetta?"

"I'm getting there," Lila continued, "According to the legend, he discovered she was cheating on him with a jockey from the local horse track. Supposedly, he shot and killed both his wife and the jockey upon discovering their affair. Some versions of the legend claim that the builder hid his wife's remains inside the carousel horse and that she returns to ride the horse at midnight during each full moon."

"Alright, I guess we're dealing with a ghost after all," Tess sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before taking a breath for clarity. "So when's the next full moon?"

"Tomorrow, I think," Lila replied while closing the notebook and returning it to her bag.

"Alright," Tess nodded her head, slowly formulating a plan. "We'll stick around tonight, set up some traps, check out that horse in the display room, and see if we can catch this ghost before it takes anyone else."

"Sounds like a plan," Lila nodded in agreement.

There was a brief lull of silence, and as Tess looked up, breaking her individual train of thought, she recognized the look of her sister biting her tongue while puffing out her cheek. Tess rolled her eyes and nodded her head. "Yes, I'm going to find a new informant when all of this is over."

"Thank you," Lila breathed a sigh of relief. "Twitch is literally the worst."

"Yeah, but he's cheap," Tess showed no hesitation in her reply as she nudged her sister's shoulder playfully before rising from her seat and tossing her scraps into the trash. Lila soon after followed her example then joined her side, stepping through the exit of the restaurant just a second later.

Although things hadn't followed the initial plan, they'd been able to improvise and adapt fairly well. It was something they truly prided themselves on; however, they rarely stepped into a situation without understanding at least seventy percent of the problem. What they failed to recognize was that they'd only discovered about ten percent of the solution. The other ninety was just waiting to bite them in the ass.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"THIS PLACE IS LIKE UBER CREEPY AT NIGHT," Lila hissed in a whisper as she crept behind her sister, shining a flashlight over Tess's shoulder. The small beam of light did little good as most of the park remained concealed in the dark of night.

A shiver shot down Tess's spine, but she shrugged away the feeling. Although she agreed with her sister, one of them had to keep a brave face to maintain their wits. She slowly reached a protective hand out and gently pulled her sister by the wrist. "Just stay close."

Tess didn't need to turn around to know that her sister would listen. She kept her eyes trained forward, directing the beam of the flashlight to guide her line of sight. While Frontierland was packed during the day, it was a literal ghost town during the night. Well... the literal aspect was still up for debate as she was still waiting on some sign of physical proof that there was indeed a ghost. Just because the symptoms aligned didn't mean they'd diagnosed the right disease.

"Let me know if you see anything, Lil. Yeah?" Tess asked. The reply that followed was a soft shuffle. Tess's brow furrowed in confusion, but a familiar feeling gripped her heart. It was an instinct that perhaps only a mother might understand, like a piece of her was missing. She didn't spend another second trying to understand the feeling; instead, she whirled around and froze.

Lila's light was gone, and unless the batteries on her flashlight had died, Tess was alone in the dark. Tess wasn't panicking yet, they'd been in situations like this before. Getting separated was sometimes part of the job, both of their jobs really.

"Keep a level head," Tess muttered under her breath, aloud and to herself. "She probably just got excited about something she found and forgot to let me know..."

The chills returned as the temperature around her dropped several degrees. She winced and closed her eyes for a solid ten seconds as if she'd jinxed herself. "Dammit."

She whirled around in a circle, pulling out her firearm from her side while still holding her flashlight. Her eyes made a quick scan before a more thorough sweep. A quiet hiss behind her left ear forced her to turn in that direction, but her light failed to reveal the source of her torment. "Alright, you bastard, enough games! Where's my sister?!"

Her answer was another shuffle, this time behind her to the right. She was more hesitant to turn than before, but relief flooded her eyes when the light revealed Lila walking toward her. She audibly sighed and released a nervous laugh, bending over to still her beating heart as she holstered her gun. "Alright, you got me. Good one. Now never do it again, please."

Lila didn't say anything. She simply kept walking closer. Her slow pace was odd and a bit jarring as her right leg almost staggered with every step. Tess's brow knit together in confusion, but lifted with shock and horror as her sister drew her knife and then lunged. Tess barely managed to sidestep and avoid the blade, earning a shallow scratch in the leather of her jacket.

"Lil, it's me," Tess hissed, turning the flashlight toward her own face for a brief second, giving her sister the benefit of the doubt. However, as she turned it back toward the ginger, the green substance oozing around her was enough of a noticeable contrast to know something was wrong.

Lila lunged again, not nearly as disciplined as she might have had she been in control of her actions, but it was quick and powered by a rage that contradicted the cool temperature still lingering in the air. After a third jab, Tess maneuvered herself around her sister, snapping her arm with enough pressure to force the knife to drop without breaking a single bone.

"Okay," Tess muttered to herself, eyeing the gun at her sister's side, hoping she wouldn't need to withdraw her own weapon. "We're dealing with more than a ghost... it's a damn specter."

Suddenly, the lights of the attractions around her flickered for a moment before turning on as music blared over the speakers. Only, the lights still occasionally flickered and the music was being played at far too slow of a tempo. The air grew colder and another pair of footsteps echoed behind her.

Tess risked a look behind her shoulder and there stood a gangly teenage boy with a blank expression on his face that instantly twisted with rage. The same green ectoplasm oozed from the boy. Without much prompting, Tess presumed this was the boyfriend of the girl she'd seen in hysterics earlier that afternoon. And if that wasn't enough another stranger joined the group: the very man that Twitch had included in his case file of the park's latest victim.

"Woah, woah, woah," Tess extended her hands defensively, slowly turning so that all three would enter her line of sight despite being caught in the middle. "No one told me I'd be facing the unholy trinity."

It was bizarre to see the interaction between the three strangers as if they'd known one another their entire lives. The first victim's gaze narrowed as he looked between Lila and the teenage boy. "I see your low standards haven't changed, Helen."

"Oh please, it was your devotion to your craft that drove me away, Daniel," Lila hissed in a voice that was not her own as she stepped closer to the boy, taking his hand in hers. "Henry simply had a heart to offer in the absence of yours."

Daniel, possessing the body of the first victim, seethed. His borrowed face turned a crimson hue and his shoulders tense as his posture stiffened. "It looks like we're prepared ahead of schedule. What do you say we finish this early?"

Helen, possessing Lila, whipped out the firearm at her side, aiming it at Daniel's head with a sadistic grin. "I think it's about time that we flipped the coin, darling. How would you like this one? I'm personally fond of a little reenactment. Are you feeling the deja vu yet, Daniel?"

The crowbar at Daniel's side seemed pointless in a battle with a handgun, but he didn't shy away from lifting it up as if it were a baseball bat. Although quiet in his possessed form, Henry lifted a knife to show that he too would be participating in the evening's activities.

"Wait a minute, hang on," Tess called for their attention, immediately regretting the decision as a moment of weakness since her sister was involved. "Is this a battle reenactment? You guys just show up every year, possess a new host, and then take turns killing each other? And here I was thinking you were more sophisticated than other ghosts I'd met. Nope, you're still a bunch of twisted—"

Tess's statement was interrupted as Henry threw his knife in her direction. It clattered several feet away, but it did remind her to focus on the life-threatening situation... still a quip did emerge every now and then. "So obviously you're the jockey because only a man that uncoordinated would choose to be a horse-girl."

Then came the crow bar, skittering toward her ankles. She managed to jump over the object and shoot the first victim a look that asked 'really?'.

"And although closer, the artist's observation skills aren't strong enough either," Tess retorted and her gaze slowly turned to her sister, "and that means you must be the dirty little cheater... I knew there was no way you were that good at battleship, Lil."

Unfortunately, the joke was under-appreciated as what might've been a warning shot from Lila shattered the bulb of the light post to her left. Tess knew she'd only missed because (1) the ghost controlling her had no experience with the weapon and quite possibly (2) Lila was fighting whatever hold the specter had over her.

Tess's jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. Jokes aside, that was her little sister this specter was possessing and it failed to understand how much its poor decision would cost. Tess has adopted the mantle "mother hen" early in her life and those learned virtues influenced her to do whatever it took to keep her siblings safe from the dangers of both the mortal and supernatural world.

"You chose the wrong person to piss off." It wasn't a warning or a threat, but a promise that Tess extended. A promise that justice would be served: only this was the hunter's definition of justice, not the trained federal agent.

She was willing to burn down the entire amusement park if it meant protecting Lila. Fortunately, she remembered enough of her sister's history lesson from earlier to know she only needed to discard the hidden remains on the premises. They may have only been rumored, but every other aspect of the legend had proven true, why would it start diverging now?

After another long pause, Tess bolted toward the Frontierland display room. Of course the decision didn't quite pan out like she'd hoped. She was immediately flanked by the ghosts and their hosts on each of her sides as if someone had fired the gun to start the world's deadliest race.

As her goal was to destroy the ghosts, but preserve the hosts, she didn't have many options of defense, and even less to attack. Although her main concern was usually just getting the job done, no matter the cost, Lila had a way of influencing one's morals to better themself. Now hardly seemed like the time for maintaining moral standards, but she knew Lila would be livid if she woke up to a scene of "innocent" bloodshed, which was a whole other thing to deal with.

Tess reached for the handle of the door and pulled, but it refused to budge. She swore under her breath and tried again even though she knew nothing would change. Releasing her pent up frustration, she fervently shook the handle while releasing a lengthy, but creative slur of curses.

She only stopped when she realized that no one had bothered to interrupt her. She slowly turned and raised an eyebrow as the three ghosts stood in a confused stupor, cocking their heads to the side in unison.

"It has been a very long day," Tess defended herself, but stopped mid-sentence. "Wait, I don't need to explain myself to you—"

Tess was thrown back through the doors, breaking them from their hinges. She slid several feet toward the center of the room, then groaned as she sat up onto her elbows.

"You talk too much," Daniel said then stepped over the threshold.

"Well jokes on you, Buddy," Tess retorted with a pained laugh, "because I'm exactly where I want to be."

She quickly pulled herself back onto her feet and lifted her arms into a readied fighting stance. Although ghosts weren't corporeal, the human host he currently occupied certainly was. A fact that was proven as the man's arm was cleaved from his shoulder and thumped onto the ground. Daniel released a wail and collapsed, clutching where his host's arm once was. As he fell, Lila's face twisted into an unnatural grin as she allowed the axe in her hands to rest on her shoulder.

Tess quickly had to remind herself that Lila wasn't quite herself at the moment as she lunged toward Tess, lifting the axe over her head. She barely had time to catch the axe by its handle as the blade stopped a mere inches from her face, although not without scratching her.

"Where the hell did you get this?" Tess incredulously asked and grunted as she tried to force possessed Lila off of her.

"Why won't you die already?" Helen hissed, applying more pressure to force the blade back down.

"You wouldn't be the first to ask that, and you're not going to be the last either," Tess retorted, finally freeing herself by twisting the axe sideways. Unbalanced, Helen was forced onto the ground while Tess took advantage of the moment of freedom to return to her feet. She drew her gun, but she hesitated as Helen turned her head. It was impossible to see past the eyes of her little sister.

Helen's accomplice, Henry, returned and knocked the gun from Tess's hands. The odds of three against one were never fair, and Tess was certainly starting to feel the fatigue of being outnumbered; however... it did help that the three were also trying to kill one another at the same time.

As Henry wrapped his hands around Tess's throat and began to tighten his grip around her wind pipe, the echo of a gunshot stopped everything. Henry gasped, then choked and gurgled as blood began to run from his lips and pool onto the ground. His eyes rolled up inside his head and he slumped onto the ground. As Tess coughed and air filled her lungs, she noticed that Daniel had retrieved her fallen weapon and turned it on the man that had stolen his wife.

A cry of anguish escaped Helen's borrowed lips as she dropped to her twice-dead lover's side. Tess's brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to understand the emotional distress exhibited. As far as she understood, Henry would simply return to his intangible state. It's not as if he was gone forever, not yet anyway.

A blaze entered Lila's eyes as Helen turned her attention toward Daniel. Without a word between them, the ex-lovers lunged toward one another, clawing at the other's corporeal host. Providing Tess with the perfect opportunity to finish her hunt. Without a care for the public property of the amusement park, she saturated the horse in lighter fluid then lit a single match. Flames erupted as the fluid instantly ignited.  Simultaneously, Helen and Daniel screamed. Steam rose from their hosts' bodies as the rumored remains within the horse were destroyed.

Both Lila and the other man collapsed onto the ground, but only one of them would survive the encounter. Tess rushed to her sister's side, gently shaking her awake. After a minute of utter silence, Lila gasped and coughed, quickly pressing a hand against her head to relieve the pounding pressure.

"Thank, God!" Tess exclaimed with relief, pulling her sister close into a tight hug. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"What happened?" Lila groaned, still a bit discombobulated.

"A specter took a joyride in your body," Tess explained without much specific detail. "All that matters is you're okay now."

"It's over?" Lila asked in confusion. As far as she knew, only a few minutes had passed since she'd briefly split up from Tess to check on a noise she'd heard.

Tess nodded her head, gesturing vaguely toward the burnt carousel horse over her shoulder. "Remains are burned and ghosts are gone."

Lila was quiet. Slowly, she nodded her head. "Can we get out of here then?"

Tess cracked a small smile. "I thought you wanted to ride the carousel before we left?"

Lila shuddered. "I've think we've dealt with enough carousels in one night for the rest of my life."

Tess nodded, rose to her feet, then extended a hand to her sister before looking over her shoulder at the mess around them. "We should probably cover our trails before we get out of dodge..."

Lila sighed. "Oh great, I miss the hunt but I wake up just in time for clean-up duty."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

ALTHOUGH IT TOOK AWHILE, THE SISTERS MANAGED TO CLEAN THEIR TRACKS: burning the remains of the two victims, repairing what they could of the property damage, and erasing the security tapes that had captured the entire fight. As mentioned before, belonging to the FBI certainly had its perks because a simple badge flash was enough to get them past security in their way out of the park. However, only once they were on the car did they take a breath of relief.

Unfortunately, the moment of relaxation was interrupted as Tess's phone rang. She and Lila both glanced at the caller ID, and the ginger immediately frowned.

Tess was equally displeased as she held up a finger and answered the call. "You've got a lot of nerve, Twitch. Do you even realize the trouble you've just put us through?"

"No, I don't want your empty apologies," Tess practically shouted, being both interrupted and then interrupting her informant in return, "I don't care if you're 'sorry,' I'm done listening to you. Your tips are more trouble than they're worth."

Lila smiled and offered her support, but slowly frowned as Tess grew quiet. The blonde's face was stoic and it was clear that Twitch had offered something substantial. Tess pulled the phone back from her ear after hanging up then turned the device to face her sister.

"He found 'em."

Lila's frown deepened. The image that Tess showed her certainly was the Winchester brothers, but that didn't change her distrust of the informant. However, she knew that Tess was set on the case and nothing would change her mind, even after the disaster they'd just been through. She sighed. "Where are we headed?"

"Providence," Tess replied, "Rhode Island."

With a flick of her wrist, Tess turned on the radio. And there they were, just a pair of sisters cruising down the highway while chasing dead ends.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

AUTHOR'S NOTE| This chapter was genuinely inspired by actual urban legends surrounding Cedar Point. Although some of the facts have been modified to fit the plot, the aforementioned ghost story's basic premise was kept true to the tale of research I conducted. Hopefully y'all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. It was a lot of fun to establish the working dynamic between the sisters and give a feel for their character before introducing the Winchesters. Don't worry though, the boys are coming back in soon.