╭-°—✞——✞—°-╮

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡

𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴

╰-°—✞——✞—°-╯

Delaney ran a hand down her face as Ellen continued to apologize about not finding anything on Ava anywhere, the light from Sam's laptop illuminating her face and she winced at the bags under her eyes. She wasn't upset because Ellen and Ash both did their best, not their fault nothing popped up. "It's fine, Ellen, seriously."

"Just keep calm, hunny, okay? Don't let it consume you, we'll find her."

"Thanks, El. I'll talk to you later," Delaney said, hanging up the phone just as her brothers walked back into the motel room, coffee in both their hands and a brown paper bag filled with pastries.

"Hey, little one," Sam greeted, kissing the side of her head as he placed the coffee in front of her with a coffee roll. "You okay?"

Delaney sighed and took a long and much needed sip from the coffee. She hadn't slept much since Ava went missing and she was beginning to feel the effects from it. This was one of the few times she wished her psychic abilities would jump in and she'd see where Yellow Eyes took her new friend. "If I said yes would either one of you believe me?"

Dean chuckled and shook his head. "No, you're a terrible liar, Della. Did Ellen and Ash find anything?"

"Nope neither one found anything," Delaney replied with a deep frown, leaning back in her seat. "Me, I've been checking every database I can think of — federal, state, and local. No one's heard anything about Ava, she just . . . into thin air, you know? What about you guys?"

"We found nothing either. Sorry, sweetheart," Dean informed, feeling sorry for his sister because he could see how worried the girl was about Ava. She had only known the girl for less than a day and Delaney was still fighting to find her as if the two were best friends their whole life. It was just the type of person Delaney was and it made it hard to believe that there was a possibility that Delaney could go dark side thanks to the yellow eyed demon.

Delaney nodded and gave her brothers a reassuring smile, proving she wasn't upset with either of them just like she wasn't upset with Ellen nor Ash. "I mean... she did have one thing. A hotel in Cornwall, Connecticut - two freak accidents in the past three weeks."

"What does that have to do with Ava?"

"I mean... it's a job at least. A lady drowned in the bathtub, then a few days ago, a guy falls down the stairs with his head turned a complete one-eighty, which isn't exactly normal."

Dean and Sam quietly nodded as they shrugged off their jackets and sat on their own respective beds that were situated behind the desk Delaney sat at.

"Okay, I know those looks," Delaney placed her coffee cup down and faced her brothers. "I'm not crazy. It could be nothing, but I told Ellen we'd think about checking it out."

Dean seemed surprised as his eyebrows raised, taking a sip from his coffee. "You did? I thought since your friend was missing you'd be moping around like an angsty teen."

Sam nudged his brother to be more considerate and ignored the look he was given after.

"Look, I'm the one that told Ava to go back home. Now her fiance's dead, and some psychotic demon has taken her off to God knows where, you know?" Delaney slid off her chair and walked over to her brothers, sitting on the bed next to Dean with a sigh. "It's just... we've been looking for a month now and we got nothing. So I'm not giving up on her, but I'm not gonna let other people die, either. We got to save as many people as we can, right?"

"Wow, that attitude is just way too healthy for me and I'm uncomfortable now. Thanks, brat," Dean teased, pushing his sister's head who laughed along with Sam. "Okay, fine, you can Ellen back and tell her we will take it, Della."

"And just like that, Delaney gets her way again," Sam chuckled.

Delaney flashed her brothers an innocent grin before walking outside to call Ellen and let her know to send whatever info her and Ash had.

-°—✞——✞—°-

The next day the boys and Delaney stood outside of the inn that Ellen told them about. It was a large structure with brown paneling and white windows with flowers and bushes surrounding the outside of the inn with vines hanging from the protruding windows on the bottom floor. It was actually really nice looking. It reminded Delaney of the late 1800 and early 1900 era style of housing. It was almost aesthetically pleasing to her.

"This is sweet!" Dean cheered, staring at the inn with awe struck eyes. "I never got to work a job like this."

"Like what?" Delaney asked, glancing to her brother who looked like a kid on Christmas.

"Old-school haunted houses, you know? Fog," Dean paused to gesture around them at the fog covering the area around them. It had rained earlier so the surrounding area still shined and glistened with fresh rain. "Secret passageways, sissy British accents. Might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside."

Delaney scoffed lightly, following her brothers towards the entrance to the inn. "Don't ruin Scooby-Doo for me. That show was a bonding moment for Sammy and I."

Dean turned to his sister with a mischievous smirk. "Mmm Daphne - love her."

Delaney shoved Dean's shoulder as she laughed at her expense, shoving her lightly back. Just so she wouldn't tumble backwards down the stairs.

"I'm not so sure haunted's the problem."

Delaney and Dean stopped their childish banter to look at the middle Winchester. "Huh?"

Sam motioned for his siblings to follow him to the side of the steps where a large, black plotter stood on the elevated part of the steps. "You see this mark? That's Quincunx, it's a five-spot. It's used for hoodoo spell work. You fill this thing with blood weed, you got a charm to ward off enemies."

Dean scanned the area of plants and flowers, but it seemed he didn't notice anything strange. "Except I don't see any blood weed. Don't you think this place is a little too white-meat for hoodoo?"

"Maybe."

After exchanging a look, the trio made their way inside the inn which was oddly quiet inside. They were greeted by a middle-aged woman with her brown hair pinned back and brown eyes warm and welcoming.

"Hi. Yeah, we'd like a room for a couple of nights," Dean greeted the front desk woman politely.

Delaney was pulled back when a young girl rushed by, giggling to herself. 

"Watch it!" the front desk woman called after the girl and gave the siblings a sheepish smile. "So sorry about that."

"No, no, it's totally fine. Love kids," Delaney assured the woman who seemed to be that little girl's mom.

"Well, congratulations. You three might be some of our last guests."

Dean chuckled and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. "Well, that sounds vaguely ominous."

"No, I'm sorry. I just mean that we are closing at the end of the month. Let me guess - you guys are here antiquing?"

"How'd you know?" Sam asked, sharing a why the hell not look with his siblings.

"You just look the type," the woman replied. "So would you like two separate rooms? I'm sure someone doesn't want to be a third wheel."

Dean choked on his laugh as the woman's eyes landed on Delaney and Sam, insinuating she thought they were together.

Delaney fought down the bile that rose in her throat at the mere thought of being in a relationship with her brother. "Um... we're siblings."

The woman seemed to pale as her cheeks dusted light pink in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"What do you mean we look the type?" Dean asked, clearly not liking how he was pinned as an antique person.

"You know, speaking of antiques, you have a really interesting pot on the front porch. Where'd you get it?" Sam questioned, cutting off his brother as the woman began to write up the info and set them up with their room.

"I have no idea. That's been there forever," the woman replied and handed Dean over the key to their room. "Here you go, Mr. Mahogoff. You'll be in room two-thirty-seven."

Dean took the key with a small smile. "Thanks."

"Sherwin, could you show these three to their room please?" the woman asked the older butler politely.

The older man nodded and turned to the three. "Let me guess - antiquers?" He grabbed Dean's duffle who had a sour look on his face when he was asked about antiques again. The man lead them over to the grand staircase and up the stairs, dragging the duffle the behind him. The weapons inside clanking against each other and Delaney hoped Dean remembered to put the safety on the guns inside.

"I can help you with that bag, you know," Dean offered, not liking that his weapons were getting ruined by this random dude dragging his bag without a care in the world.

"No, I got it," the butler assured Dean.

"So, you guys are closing the hotel soon?" Delaney questioned the butler, deciding to get some answers if they could.

The butler frowned, seemingly sad that the place he grown to know was closing its doors soon. "Yep - Miss Susan tried to make a go of it, but the guests just don't come like they used to. Still, it's a damn shame. It may not look it anymore, but this place was a palace. Two different vice presidents laid their heads on our pillows. My parents worked here. I practically grew up here. I'm gonna miss it."

Delaney chewed on the inside of her lip, not getting much out of that statement besides the poor butler losing a place that was practically home to him. No information that could lead them to what was going on around the place. 

Once the three were settled into the room, Delaney and Sam sat on the small chairs in the room and started to look over the files Ellen emailed them. Dean took the liberty to look around their room, which was slightly bigger than the motel rooms they usually stayed in. 

"Why the Hell would anyone stay here?" Dean rhetorically spoke into the quietness, staring up at the antique white wedding dress hung on the wall behind Sam and Delaney. "I'm amazed they kept in business this long."

Delaney gave Dean a look to get serious before scanning the paper in her hand. "Okay, well, the first victim: Joan Edison, forty-one years old, a realtor handling the sale of the hotel. Then victim number two: Larry Williams, moving some stuff out to goodwill."

"Well, there's a connection. They are both tied up in shutting the place down."

"Yeah, maybe someone doesn't want to leave and is using hoodoo to fight back," Sam suggested.

"Who do you think our witch doctor is - that Susan lady?"

Delaney exhaled heavily and tossed the papers in her hand onto the coffee table in front of her and Sam. "Nah, it doesn't seem likely. She's the one selling it after all."

"So what, then that Sherwin guy?"

Sam scratched behind his neck, a contemplating look on his face. "I don't know."

"I just want to know why she thought Sam and I were together," Delaney said, shuttering at the thought.

Dean shrugged and leaned his elbows on his knees where he sat on the squeaky, old bed. "You both give off that i like to take control over everything vibe. So maybe she just thought you two were compatible."

Delaney chucked a throw pillow at Dean's head, but he effortlessly dodged with a chuckle. "Bite me."

-°—✞——✞—°-

A bit later, the siblings decided to poke about the hallways to see if they could find anything that could lead them to what was going on. There were a bunch of antiques around the hotel so Delaney didn't know if they would be able to find much.

"Guys, check it out," Sam called his siblings who quickly backed up and looked over his shoulder at the urn in his hand. The same symbols on the plot outside were engraved to the inner rim of the urn. "Look at that - more hoodoo."

Dean noticed a door off to their right with the word PRIVATE across it in gold lettering and approached it, knocking lightly on the door. When the door opened to reveal the woman Susan, Dean flashed her a small smile. "Hi there."

"Hi," Susan greeted softly. "Everything okay with your room?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, everything's great," the two boys chorused together and Delaney slapped her hand to her face with a disappointed sigh.

Dean feigned interest when he glanced over Susan's shoulder into her room to see a collection of antique dolls. "Hey, are those antique dolls? Cause this one here," he motioned to Delaney who her hand from her face when attention was brought to her. "She has got a major doll collection back home in her room. Don't you, sweetheart?"

Delaney sent her brother a sharp, scolding gaze. Why did he always throw her under the bus for this stuff? When he gave her a look back that said to go along with it or suffer the consequences later, she mentally strangled him and turned back to Susan. "Uh... big time, yeah."

"Big time," Dean repeated with a soft chuckle. "You think she could... we could come in and take a look?"

Susan made a face and glanced over her shoulder at the room. "I don't know..."

"Please?" Dean begged and used his charming smile to try and swindle Susan into letting them in the room. "She loves them. She's not gonna tell you this, but she is always dressing them up in little outfits to match with hers for the day if she could do it. You'd make his day." He turned back to Delaney. "She would, huh?"

"It's true..." Delaney flashed the woman a fake smile, the mental image of her strangling Dean only turning into strangling both her brothers when she heard Sam quietly laughing to himself behind her.

"Okay, come in," Susan relented with a smile and stepped aside for the siblings to step in.

The siblings entered the room, Delaney making sure Susan had her back turned to shoot Dean a death glare while running her thumb across her throat to signify that he was dead after this. They looked around the bright blue room, dolls littering the couch, shelves and window seat in Susan's room. 

"Wow. This is a lot of dolls. I mean, they're nice, you know. Not super creepy at all," Dean commented.

Susan stayed by the fireplace in the room that was next to the door. She laughed softly, her own eyes scanning the multitude of dolls in the room. "Yeah, I supposed they are a little creepy, but they have been in the family forever. They have a lot of sentimental value."

Delaney slowly circled a large scale replica of the hotel. "Wow, is this the hotel?"

"Yeah, exact replica. It was custom built."

Sam paused next to his sister when both of their gazes fell on the male doll that laid on its stomach with its head twisted around so it faced its back instead of its front. It was laid right at the foot of the stairs, the sight not going unseen by either of the younger Winchesters. He picked up the doll and showed it to Susan and Dean. "His head got twisted around. What happened to it?"

"Tyler, probably," Susan replied, shrugging as if it didn't phase her at all.

"Mommy!" the young girl, Tyler, whined as she walked into the room dressed in a white collared shirt and black school dress over it. "Maggie's being mean."

"Tyler, tell her I said to be nice, okay?" Susan said to her daughter as if Maggie were real.

Delaney smiled softly at the girl and took the doll from Sam to show it to the young girl. "Hey, Tyler, I see you broke your doll. Would you like me to fix it for you?"

Tyler stepped further into the room. "I didn't do that. I found it like that."

"Maybe Maggie did it?" Delaney suggested, even though she knew it was an imaginary friend most likely since there had been no other child in the hotel besides Tyler. She knew some kids blamed the bad things they did on their imaginary friends as if it would keep them out being in trouble. Hell, she had even done it once when she had accidentally broke Dean's favorite army man. He was definitely not happy when she tried to blame it on her imaginary friend Jordan. Needless to say, Delaney didn't get to watch Scooby-Doo with Sam that night or for three nights after that for lying.

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

Susan ran a hand over Tyler's hair comfortingly. "She wouldn't get mad, honey."

"Grandma?" Dean asked.

"Grandma Rose. There were all her toys," Tyler explained, gesturing to the various dolls and hotel that were in the room."

"Oh, really?" Dean asked, glancing to his siblings who both didn't know what to make of it either. "Where's Grandma Rose now?"

"Up in her room."

Delaney allowed Tyler to take the small doll from her hand and stood back to her full height from where she was crouched in front of the young girl. "You know, I would love to talk to Grandma Rose about her incredible doll - "

"No," Susan quickly cut Delaney off. "I mean, I'm afraid that is impossible. My mother's been very sick and she's not taking any visitors."

After a minute of awkward and tense silence, the three siblings politely saw their way out of the room to allow Susan to finish whatever she had been packing before they showed up.

Delaney shut the door quietly behind her and jogged to catch up with her brothers who were halfway down the hall already. "Okay, what do you think? Dolls, hoodoo, mysterious grandma?"

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

"Yeah, maybe we found our witch doctor," Dean offered and stopped by the steps that lead down to the lobby. "All right, Sam and I will see what we can go dig up on boomin' Granny. Della, go get online, check old obits, freak accidents, that sort of thing, see if she's whacked anybody before."

Delaney mockingly saluted her older brother. "Yes, sir."

-°—✞——✞—°-

Delaney slouched in the chair in the dark hotel room. She hiccuped a few times, the alcohol in her system finally settling in along with the dark thoughts clouding her head. Another guy died because she couldn't save him. Watched from the room's window as they placed the body bag into the back of an ambulance. Why was she such a failure?

"There's been another one. Some guy just hung himself in his room," Dean announced as he and Sam rushed into the room, shutting the door behind them.

Delaney's eyes didn't move from where they stared blankly at the wall across from her. "Yeah, I saw."

"We've gotta figure this out, and fast. What'd you find out about Granny?" Sam asked while he and Dean dug through the duffle bag in search of something.

Delaney's glassy, bright red eyes from both crying and the alcohol shifted to her brothers. "You guys are so bossy." She giggled to herself and leaned her head against the back of the chair. "You're bossy and you're both way too tall to be normal, especially Sammy. I have to like... like climb a ladder to even be eye to eye with him."

Both boys froze whatever they were doing and glanced over to Delaney with equally confused expressions. It was not something Delaney would ever say to either brother and the giggling was a little off as well. Sam's eyes landed on the empty bottle next to Delaney and nudged Dean to look where he was. 

Delaney was not a drinker and to their knowledge, had never been drunk a day in her life. She had been twenty-one for a while now and could legally drink, but never typically did. Dean would reluctantly let her have a beer now and then. However, the girl never got drunk because she hated not being in control of herself and her words.

"Della, are you drunk?"

Delaney giggled sloppily and shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

Dean eyed his sister worriedly. "Della, you don't like to get drunk and, plus, we're working a case. What are you doing?"

Delaney's eyes instantly sprouted with tears and her bottom lip trembled, the thought of why she drank so much in the first place hitting her full force again. "The guy that hung himself. I couldn't save him."

"Delly, what are you talking about? You didn't even know the guy was here to save him," Sam reminded his sister, his heart breaking at how broken she looked.

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

Dean shook his head and walked closer to his sister with Sam by his side. "You can't save everyone, baby girl."

"No, Dean, you don't understand, all right? The more people I save, the more I can change!" Delaney stressed.

"Change what?"

"My destiny!" Delaney said in a duh tone as if it should have been obvious to both of her brothers.

"Alright, time for bed. Come on, little one," Sam sighed, going to grab Delaney to put her in the bed. 

Delaney pushed out of Sam's arms and gave a desperate look to both of her brothers. "I need you to watch out for me."

"We always do," Dean reminded his sister, hating seeing her like this.

Delaney frantically shook her head which she would probably regret in the morning when she had a killer headache. "No, no, no, no. I mean, watch out for me, okay? If i ever turn into something I'm not... you have to kill me."

Dean's face hardened, the topic he chose to wish didn't exist coming up and it was the last thing he wanted to hear out of his baby sister's mouth. "Della..."

"Dad told you to do it, you have to."

"Yeah, well Dad's an ass!" Dean barked at his sister, even though she had no idea what she was saying it, it still sat on his heart heavily. "He never should have said anything. I mean, you don't do that, you don't... you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids."

"Well, he was right to say it!" Delaney cried, throwing her hands in the air. "Who knows what I might become? Everyone around me dies."

If Delaney was sober right now, none of this would be coming out of her mouth. This was the kind of stuff that Delaney pushed way to the furthest corners of her mind and kept it there. Her brothers already suffered enough grief over something awful happening to Delaney so she never spoke her mind about the matter. It seemed alcohol was good way to push out all your feelings, especially when you wouldn't remember saying them.

"We're not dying, little one," Sam assured his sister gently. "Neither are you, okay?"

Delaney was gently pushed down onto the bed to sit and she grabbed onto the front of Dean's jacket, startling him slightly. "Dee, you have to promise me."

"You can't ask that of me, baby girl. You can't."

Delaney stared up at him with big, green eyes that matched his own and he swore his stomach reached his feet at the vulnerability on her face. If looks could cause someone to combust, he might have at that moment. "Please promise me."

Dean glanced over his shoulder at Sam who looked like he wanted to burst into tears. He merely shrugged, not knowing what to do about the situation either. "I promise, Della."

Delaney relaxed and let Dean lay her down on the bed, placing the comforter over her small frame. Her eyes had closed and she was already asleep by the time it took for her two brothers to place a kiss on her head, giving her matching looks of worry.

-°—✞——✞—°-

The next morning, Delaney hugged the porcelain toilet in the bathroom and it had quickly become her best friend. She had dumped almost of the contents of her stomach into it and she swore her vision migraines were nowhere near as bad as the pounding headache the alcohol from last night gave to her. She didn't even remember much except the copious amounts of drinking she did. Probably not the smartest thing she had ever done and she was sure that Dean would ground her when he came back. Even though she was technically of legal age, they were still on a case and there was no way it was allowed. 

The door to the room opened and the two boys walked inside, quietly conversing with each other.

Dean's chuckle could be heard as he tossed his jacket onto the back of the chair. "How you doin', Della? Bet you don't even remember last night," He smirked when Delaney merely groaned in response, wishing she had a few more minutes before her brothers came back. "Now you see what happens when you get drunk. Not fun is it? But there is a good remedy for hangovers. You know, there's a really good hangover remedy -- it's a... it's a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray."

"I hate you," Delaney mumbled into the toilet seat.

"I love you too, Della," Dean called, mockingly blowing her a kiss even though she couldn't see it since her face was pressed into the edge of the toilet. 

Sam walked into the bathroom and soothingly rubbed his baby sister's back, offering her the water he got from downstairs and she gratefully took it, taking slow and small sips. "So, turns out that when Grandma Rose was a tyke, she had a Creole nanny who wore a hoodoo necklace."

Delaney leant against Sam's chest as he continued to rub her back to help her calm down and rubbed the sweat from her forehead. "So you think this woman taught her hoodoo or something?"

"Yes, we do," Dean replied, grimacing slightly at the putrid smell in the bathroom.

"Alright," Delaney sighed and stumbled to her feet, Sam holding her arm to keep her steady as the room spun. "I guess it's time we talk to Grandma Rose."

Dean scrunched up his face as Delaney's vomit breath his nostrils. "Can you brush your teeth first, Del?"

After Delaney brushed her teeth and threw on Will's old football hoodie with his name and number on the back, leggings and her converses, the three siblings made their way back over to Susan's room who didn't seem to be there at the time. Which was good for them because Sam was able to pick the lock and the three quietly entered, closing the door behind them. They go to the door in the back which is cracked open and they go through to find a dimly lit staircase. The siblings crept upstairs and to the end of another hallway, into a small room whose door is ajar. 

Dean slowly pushed opened the door to reveal Rose being sat in her wheelchair, facing the rainy window, her back to the siblings. The three nod to each other before quietly walk into the room so they wouldn't scare the poor old woman. "Mrs. Thompson?"

Delaney slowly walked to the front of Rose and bent down so she was eye level with the old woman whose brown eyes darted back and forth, seemingly staring at nothing. Her wrinkled old face sunken in around her eyes, making her look frail and if she hadn't eaten in years. "Hi, Rose. We are not here to hurt you. It's okay. We..." She trailed off when Rose began to tremble more than she had before. "Boys?"

Dean and Sam followed Delaney over to the side of the room so they could talk quietly.

"This poor woman's had a stroke."

Dean glanced to the room, deflating slightly. "Yeah, but hoodoo's hands-on.  I mean, you've got to mix herbs, and chant, build an altar."

"So it can't be Rose. Heck, maybe it's not even hoodoo," Sam noted, running a hand through his hair.

"She could be faking."

Delaney narrowed her eyes at Dean as if he had gone crazy. She swore she was making her headache worse than it already was. "Yeah and what would you do, Dean? Poke the woman with a stick?" He seemed to like the idea and Delaney punched his shoulder. "Dean Winchester, you are not poking this woman with a stick!"

"What the Hell?" Susan's angry tone came from the open doorway. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh we just wanted to talk to Rose..."

"The door was open, so..."

Delaney shot both of her brothers an are you honestly kidding me right now? look. It was a wonder how the two of them were the older ones sometimes.

Susan rushed over to her mother and made sure she was okay. "Look at her. She's scared out of her wits. I want you out of my hotel in two minutes, or I'm calling the cops."

-°—✞——✞—°-

After leaving the inn, Delaney felt the usual bad feeling settle into her gut and she begged Dean to turn back around just to make sure Susan was okay along with Rose and Tyler. Thankfully the three turned back because just as they pulled back up near the hotel, a car was sent speeding towards Susan. Delaney was quick to scramble out of the car and push Susan out of the way just in time for the car to crash into the tree behind Susan.

The siblings took a shaking and scared Susan back into the hotel and sat her down at a table in the small bar off to the right of the lobby. "Whiskey."

"Sure. I know the feeling," Delaney sighed and walked over to the bar to pour the woman a glass of whiskey while the boys sat down at the table with her, both shooting Delaney a secret look that she didn't catch. The two were still worried about her after the night prior.

"What the hell happened out there?" Susan asked, staring at the three wide eyed as Delaney placed the glass in front of her.

Dean was quiet for a moment as he took in Susan's state, not really knowing how the truth would go. "You really want the truth?"

"Of course."

Dean seemed to just take her word for it and leaned his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together. "Well, at first we thought it was a hoodoo curse, but that out there - that was definitely a spirit."

Susan swung back the whiskey and the three siblings rose their eyebrows. "You're insane."

"Yeah, tell us something we haven't heard already," Dean grumbled, earning him an elbow to the ribs from both Sam and Delaney. He rubbed his sore sides with a pout.

"Look, I'm sorry, Susan. We don't exactly have time to ease you into this, but we need to know when your mother had the stroke," Sam explained.

"What does that have to do with - "

"Just answer the question," Dean cut the woman off, not wanting to waste any more time on the matter.

Susan placed her glass down as she thought for a moment. "Um... about a month ago."

"Right before the killings," Sam noted and turned to his siblings. "See? So what if Rose was working hoodoo, but not to hurt anyone. To protect them."

Delaney sat up straight when she realized where Sam was going with the theory. "That's why she used the symbols. To ward off the spirits."

"Right, until she had a stroke and couldn't do it anymore," Sam concluded.

Susan laughed incredulously, shaking her head. "I don't believe this."

"Listen, sister, that car didn't try to run you down by itself, okay? I mean, I guess it did technically, but with a spirit -"

"Believe what you want," Sam said to Susan, cutting off the rest of Dean's sentence. "But you and your family are in danger. So you need to clear everybody out of here - your employees, your mother, your daughters, everyone."

Delaney glanced to her brothers. "Wait... Tyler is her only daughter. I figured Maggie was an imaginary friend since I only saw the one girl when we were here.... but I didn't - " She cut herself off, dread flooding her brother as she abruptly turned to Susan. "Susan, where is Tyler right now?"

The four were quick to rush out of the bar and up to Susan's room where Susan burst into the room yelling for her daughter. They all froze when they saw the pile of dolls that were either broken, missing a limb or missing random articles of clothing. Susan gasped and rushed out of the room to one of the back ones to see if Tyler was there while the siblings checked the closets and under furniture in the room.

"Dammit, Della, why didn't you say anything?" Dean snapped, slamming the closet door closed once he noticed it was empty.

"I didn't know!" Delaney argued back, pushing herself back to her feet after checking under Susan's bed. "How was I supposed to know this was a spirit? Every kid has an imaginary friend, Dean!"

"Well, not every kid has an imaginary friend that kills!"

Susan rushed back into the room, cutting off the argument between the youngest and eldest Winchester. "She's not here!"

"Susan, what do you know about Maggie?" Delaney questioned as the three Winchesters stood around Susan.

"Uh, not much. Tyler's been talking about her since Mom got sick."

"Did you know anyone by that name?" Sam asked next. "Anyone that lived here that could have passed away?"

Susan's eyes widened in horror as a gasp escaped her lips. "Oh my God. My mom had a sister named Margaret. She barely spoke about her. She drowned in the pool when she was a little girl."

"Come on!"

Susan, Delaney, Sam and Dean ran through the gardens to get to the pool house. They reached the door and pounded on it, but it didn't budge since someone had locked it. Sam and Dean began to slam their shoulder against the glass to try and bust the glass open so they can get inside.

"Tyler!"

"Mommy!" Tyler yelled back in fear before she suddenly flew off the top railing as if someone pushed her, plunging to the pool below.

"Is there another entrance?" Dean asked.

"Around back."

Dean and Sam rushed around the other side with Susan, while Dean yelled for Delaney to stay put and try to get that one open. She spotted a potted plant and grabbed the pot before she tossed it at the glass and it shattered on impact. She ducked through the broken glass and jumped into the pool without giving it a second thought.

The pool cover surrounded her and she kicked and pushed at it until she came to the surface. Tyler could be seen floating face down in the pool a few feet away and Delaney swam over to her, lifting the girl into her arms and rushing out of the pool. She placed the girl down onto the tiled ground just as the boys and Susan ran in from the other entrance.

Tyler coughed up water and was helped to sit up by Delaney, the young girl being pulled into her mother's chest. "Mommy?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm here," Susan cried, cradling her daughter into her more.

Delaney brushed the wet strands out of her face and placed a gentle hand on Tyler's shoulder. "Tyler, do you see Maggie anywhere?"

Tyler looked around the pool house and she slumped back against her mother. "No, she's gone."

Delaney relaxed and slumped back onto her heels. Thank God that nightmare was over.

The boys and Delaney stopped in Susan's room as she left them to go with Tyler up to her mother's room to grab her so the three could leave. 

"I don't get it. Did Maggie just stop?"

"Seems like it," Delaney replied with a small shrug, not really getting it either.

"Well, where the Hell did she go?"

Susan's screams halted their conversation and the three scrambled up the back steps to where Rose's room was. They rushed into the room to see Rose slumped over in her wheelchair, dead.

Delaney sighed and dropped her head, feeling exhausted and drained. This hunt was just way too much.

-°—✞——✞—°-

A bit later the medics and coroner showed up to take Rose's body back to the morgue, Susan and Tyler were going to follow once they were done. Delaney was finally out of her wet clothes and into new ones, her hair now in a bun since she was too lazy to bother drying it.

"Paramedics said it was another stroke. Do you think... Maggie had something to do with this?" Susan asked the siblings.

"We don't know," Dean responded honestly.

Delaney gave Susan a pitying smile. "It could be possible though. Susan, we are so sorry."

Susan shook her head and gave the three a kind smile. "You three have nothing to apologize for. You gave me everything."

Tyler exited the hotel changed into new clothes and now dry from her trip in the pool. "I'm ready to go, mommy."

"Tyler, you're sure Maggie isn't around anymore?" Sam inquired.

Tyler nodded and allowed her mom to hug her into her side. "I'm sure. I'd see her."

Tyler and Susan said their goodbyes to the siblings before getting into the taxi that waited for them. The siblings waited for the taxi to pull away to make sure the girls got away safe. 

"At least whatever is going on is over," Dean said, making his way towards the Impala with Sam and Delaney. "Feels good to save people and ride that saddle, huh?"

Delaney licked her lips and nodded, the conversation from last night floating through her head. It had all come back to her while she got redressed in the bathroom after saving Tyler from Maggie. Definitely never would have any of that without the liquid courage. Part of her regretted all of it. "It doesn't change what we talked about last night."

Dean stopped by the driver's side door while Sam and Delaney stood by their respective doors. "Talked about a lot of stuff last night."

"You know what I mean."

"You were wasted."

Delaney's eyes bounced between her brothers who wore the same pale and concerned expressions. She knew it was something one should never ask their siblings to do. Hell, if Delaney could have it any other way, she would. However, the Winchesters were known to not have any luck whatsoever, so the boys were stuck doing it. "Yeah, and you were both sober. Dee, you promised."

Dean didn't say anything as he got into the car along with Sam.

Delaney closed her eyes and leaned her head on her hands, feeling another headache coming on. When did her life get this complicated?

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

Welp, that was a heavy chapter, huh? Our girl Delaney is just so fragile and broken right now and it breaks my heart so badly. I'm just gonna go be emo in the corner now bye.