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4.1 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

"Come on, guys, I'm begging you. This is stupid." Dean whined for about the thousands time. "How is this stupid?" I asked fixing Salem's collar, who was laying on my stomach.

"Going to visit Mom's grave?" Dean asked. "She doesn't even have a grave─there, there was no body left after the fire."

"She has a headstone," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, put up by her uncle, a man we've never even met. So you wanna, go pay your respects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger?" Dean asked.

"Dean, that's not the point," Sam said.

"Well then, enlightened me, Sam," Dean said, glancing at him before back at the road. "It's not about a body, or, or a casket. It's about her memory, okay?" Sam said, getting only a small nod and an eye roll. "And after Dad it just...just feels like the right thing to do."

"It's irrational, is what it is," Dean said. "Look, man. No one asked you to come, and Carmen's curious." Sam pointed out.

"Why don't we swing by the roadhouse instead? I mean, we haven't heard anything on the demon lately. We should be hunting that son of a bitch down," Dean said.

"That's the best idea you've had," I agreed sitting up propping myself up with the back of the front seat. "Just drop me and Sammy, and Salme of course, we'll hitch a ride, and meet you here tomorrow." Sam smirked, clearly thinking the same.

"Right," Dean said and let out a huff, "Stuck- stuck with those people, making awkward small talk until you show up? No thanks."

"Then, stop your damn whining and sped the hell up, dude," I whined hitting the back of his head, making Sam laugh. Dean had scoffed, "Yes, ma'am," He muttered.

💽

After an hour or something, I fell asleep, we finally made it to the Graveyard where Mary was buried. 

We climbed out of the Impala and Sam and I made our way to the headstone while Dean walked off somewhere, clearly not wanting to see it. I stared at Mary's headstone for a moment;

Mary Winchester

1954─1983

In loving memory

Sam kneeled down before it and started digging into the ground with his knife while I watched, fumbling with Salem's collar. He looked up at me, "Can I have them?" He asked. I nodded slowly taking Dad's old dog tags from my back pocket.

I handed them to him, "Thanks," He said and let out a sigh when he looked back at the headstone. "I think, um...I think Dad would have wanted you to have these," He said softly, holding the tags up.

Then slowly placing the dog tags into the hole and covered them. He looked back at the headstone, "I love you, Mom."

I stared as he got up and turned around, seeing tears in his eyes and he was fighting them from falling. I wrapped and arm around his neck, standing on my tiptoes, I felt him wrapping his arms tightly around, hugging me back.

He let out a small sigh, licking his lips before unwrapping one arm, "Come on, let's get you two back to the Impala," He said referring to me and Salem. I nodded before we walked away from Mary's headstone.

"Guys!" Dean called, making us look up ahead to see him waving over towards us.

We walked over to him and saw him standing near a dying tree. "Look around that gravestone," He said, pointing to the gravestone. 

I frowned but looked over at it and looked around with Sam noticing the dead grass around it. "A circle of dead grass," I pointed out raising a brow.

"Now look at the flowers; they're dead too," Dean stated.

"Dean…" Sam started, sighing.

"I'll be right back," Dean said before heading off somewhere.

I turned back to Sam, "You think something is wrong?" I asked. He sighed but shrugged. Soon, Dean came back with a man wearing a suit. Sam and I walked to the side to let them talk and after that he walked over to us with a card and we started walking back to the Impala.

"Angela Mason. She was a student at the local college; funeral was three days ago," Dean informed.

Sam shrugged, "And?" he asked. "And? You guys saw her grave. Everything dead around it, in a perfect circle? You don't think that's a little weird?" Dean asked.

"Maybe the groundskeeper went a little agro with the pesticides," Sam suggested. "No, I asked him, I asked him. No pesticide, no chemicals," Dean said.

"So, no one can explain it," I said.

"Yep,"

"Okay, so what are you thinking?" Sam asked. "Don't think too hard, you might break something." I tried hiding my smile, chuckling just a tied bit. "I dunno. Unholy ground, maybe?" Dean suggested. "Un-" Sam stopped, speechless, staring at our older brother.

Dean and I stopped as well and he turned to Sam, "What? If something evil happened there, it could easily poison the ground. Remember the, the farm outside of Cedar Rapids?"

"Yeah, b─"

"Couple be the sign of a demonic presence," Dean cut him off. 

"Or the, the Angela girl's spirit, if it's powerful enough." I frowned, staring at him while Sam nodded, turning away from him before we continued to walk to the car. "Well, don't get too excited, you might pull something."

"It's just...stumbling onto a hunt? Here, of all places?" Sam asked.

"So?"

"Your sure that this about a hunt, and not about I don't know...something else?" I asked, frowning as we reached the car. "What else would it be about?" Dean asked looking between me and Sam.

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. "You know, just forget about it," He said, opening the passenger door.

"You believe what you want, guys, but─I let you drag my ass out here, the least we could do is check this out," Dean said. "Yeah. Fine," Sam agreed. "Girl's dad works in town. He's a professor at the school," Dean informed before climbing into the driver's seat.

I glanced at Salem and then at Sam but he was staring at the passenger door before climbing into the seat. I climbed into the back seat, setting Salem onto the floor board, staring between my brothers. "What?" Dean asked, looking at me in the mirror. I shrugged, "Nothing."

💽

We drove to the school and decided I could join in. We got out of the car and headed to the office. I knocked on the door and after a few seconds, an old man opened the door. "Dr. Mason?" Dean asked.

"Yes," The man conformed.

"I'm Sam. This is Dean and this is Carmen. We were friends of Angela's. We...we wanted to offer our condolences," Sam spoke softly. Dr. Mason gave us a small smile before stepping aside, "Please come in."

We walked inside closing the door after. Sam and I sat down with him as he showed us a photo album. "She was..beautiful," I said with a soft smile.

"Yes, she was," Dr. Mason agreed.

"This is an unusual book," Dean spoke from his spot at the corner near a bookshelf, showing us an old book; Greek letters and a triangular symbol was carved into it. "It's ancient Greek; I teach a course," Dr. Mason informed.

"So a car accident, that's, that's horrible," Dean said as I got up. "Angie was only a mile away from home when, uh…" Dr. Mason trailed off.

I looked down, touching my lips lightly, "Yeah, it's gotta be hard," I said. "Losing someone like that." Dean nodded, "Sometimes it's like they're...still around. Almost like you can still sense their presence." I squinted my eyes at him, frowning. "You ever feel anything like that?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," Dr. Mason conformed.

"That's perfectly normal, Dr. Mason," Sam spoke, staring at our older brother. "Especially with what you're going through."

"You know, I still call her," He confessed. "And the phone's ringing before I remember that, uh...Family's everything, you know? Angie was the most important thing in my life. And now I, I, I'm just lost without her."

I shifted crossing my arms across my chest, feeling uncomfortable as my eyes wandered around the floor. Sam looked at me and then at Dean as he spoke, "We're very sorry."

💽

We found a motel got room by night time. I was laying on one of the beds while Dean was looking through a book and Sam was in the bathroom, washing his face. "I'm telling you, there's something going on here. We just haven't found it yet," Dean said.

"Dean, so far you've got a patch of dead grass and nothing," Sam said.

"Well, something turned that grave into unholy ground," Dean insisted. Sam walked out of the bathroom. "There's no reason for it to be unholy ground. Angela Mason was a nice girl who died in a car crash. That's not exactly vengeful spirit material. You heard his father," He said.

"Maybe Daddy Dearest doesn't know everything there is to know about his little angel?" I spoke up.

Dean pointed at me, "See?" He said. Sam let out a sigh, placing his hands on his hips, "You know what? We never should have bothered that poor man. We shouldn't even be here anymore."

"So what, Sam? What, we just bail? Without even figuring out what's going on?" Dean asked. "I think I know what's going on here," Sam said. "It's the only reason I went along with you this far."

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. "This is about Mom's grave," Sam said. Dean scoffed, shaking his head, "That's got nothing to do with it."

"You wouldn't step within a hundred yards of it. Look. Maybe you're imagining a hunt where there isn't one so you don't have to think about Mom. Or Dad," Sam said, making Dean to sent him a glare.

Sam let out a sigh, "You wanna take a swing? Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better."

Dean shook his head, cleaning his jaw tightly. "I don't need this crap," He said, grabbing his jacket and keys before walking to the door. "The hell are you going?" I asked.

"I'm going to go get a drink," He replied and walked out. I got up from bed and grabbed my jacket, "I'll go talk to him, or slap him upside the head...whichever comes first." I said to Sam before rushing out of the room.

"Tweety!" I called rushing to him as he climbed into the driver's seat. "What?" He asked.

"Where are you going, really?" I asked, climbing into the passenger seat. He gave me a look, "To a bar. And you're not coming with," He said. "Is that so?" I challenged, raising a brow. 

"Yes,"

"Well, we both know how this is going to end," I said, giving him a look. "I want to go alone, Carm." He said. "Since I became apart of this family I have never gotten a bit of alone time," I remarked. "Besides, I know you're upset,"

"I'm not,"

"But if you go to a bar alone, your probably gunna do something stupid and I don't want to be awaken at six in the morning to bale your ass out of jail." I said, ignoring his disagreement.

He stared at me for a long moment before letting out a groan, looking away. "I really hate it when you're right," He muttered before starting the engines. I smirked lightly as he pulled out of the parking lot. 

We soon found a bar and parked in the front. We climbed out and walked into the bar. "Let's go," Dean said and we headed to the bar.

"Hey, two beers, please," Dean said to a female bartenders as we sat down. 

"Right away," A blonde woman said, giving my brother a smile before getting the beers. I raised an eyebrow, "Dean," I started as I looked at him. He was smirking at the woman before looking at me, "Yeah?" He asked. I gave him a look, "Forgetting I'm 15," I reminded him. He frowned as in 'yeah, so?'

"Don't you think I may be to young,"

"When I was your age I started drinking beer. And hey, you're gonna be 16 soon anyway so?" He said said. 

I stared at him in shock, "Daf let you drink? At my age?" I asked in disbelief. "Yep," He conformed and the woman came back with the beers, "Here you go," she said towards Dean with a smile. "Thanks," He said, smirking and then the woman turned to me. She slightly frowned, "How old are you?"

"She's okay," Dean quickly said. "Just a fun night with my sister." I looked between the to before smiling a bit. The woman nodded and walked away. 

Dean held his beer and I grabbed my beer before lightly clicking them together. I placed the beer to my lips taking a sip as he started drinking his own. I pulled the beer away from my lips, tightly closing my eyes and made a face. Dean pulled his beer away and gave a small laugh, "You'll get used to it," he said. "That's disgusting," I muttered and he patted my back.

"By the way," He started. "Don't tell Sammy."

I giggled lightly, "Dean Winchester scared by our brother," I teased and he huffed, shaking his head while rolling his eyes. He took a drink from his beer before looking back at me. "I'm not scared, I don't want him to give me a lecture on how you are to young to drink stuff like that, or give me his damn bitch face again."

"Scaredy cat," I mumbled loud enough for him to hear. He rolled his eyes, placing the beer to his lips again, "Shut up," I laughed lightly before drinking my beer, maybe I could get use to it.

💽

When morning came, Dean and I decided to go to Angela's house after finding out where she lived. I unlocked the door and smirked before quietly opening the door.

Dean and I walked inside and started to look around. He grabbed a framed picture and I walked over to him, seeing the picture of Angela. Suddenly, there was a figure of a woman wearing pjs in the reflection just before she saw us, "Who the hell are you?" She asked as we turned around.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on!" Dean said before she turned and shut herself in a room as Dean and I rushed to the door. "I'm calling 9-1-1!" She called.

"Wait, we are Angela's cousins!" I quickly lied.

"What?"

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "Her Dad sent us over to, uh, pick up her stuff. Our names' Alan and Peyton? Alan and Peyton Stanwick?"

She slowly opened the door, looking between us, "Her Dad didn't say that you were coming," She said. "Well, I mean," Dean started, letting out a small laugh and pulled out a set of keys. "How else would we have the key to your place?"

The woman, Lindsey, got dressed and meet us back out in the living room. She sat on the couch and started crying as she told us how she heard about Angel's death. I handed her a tissue and Dean slightly looked uncomfortable while we both sat in front of her on the chairs.

"So. I'm sure you got a view of Angela that none of the family got to see. Tell us, what, what was she like? I mean, what was she really like?" Dean asked.

She smiled through the tears, "She was great. Just great. I mean, she was so...so.."

"Great," Dean finished. "Yeah. Yeah," She sobbed. I handed her another tissue, "Here, so, you two must have been really close, huh?"

"We were. But it's not just her, it's Matt," She informed. 

"Who?" Dean I asked at the same time. "Angela's boyfriend," She replied. "Right, Matt," Dean said, nodding. "What about him?"

"He killed himself last night," She informed and Dean and I exchanged a shocking look. "He cut his own throat. Who does that?" We looked back at her, "That's─ terrible," Dean said.

"He was taking Angel's death pretty hard, and I guess...I mean, he'd been messed up about it for days," She informed. "Messed up how?" I asked. "He kept saying that he saw her everywhere," 

"Well, I'm, I'm sure that's normal, I mean with everything that he was going through," Dean said.

"No, he said that he saw her. As in, an acid trip or something," She said. "Were Angela and Matt a happy couple? I mean, is there any reason that Angela would be angry with him?" I asked. "What? No, of course not, why do you ask?" She asked.

"Just asking," I said shrugging.

"Hey, where did Matt live?" Dean asked and she told us. We thanked her before walking out and drove to Matt's house. I got the door open and we walked inside, looking around. There were plants, but all of them were dead. Dean and I shared a look before walking into the living room.

There was a aquarium sitting on a table but as I walked closer to it, I saw a dead goldfish floating at the top of the water. I whistled getting Dean to come over, looking at the goldfish. "What the hell is going on?" I muttered before looking at him.

After that, we went back to the motel room. Dean unlocked the door and we walked inside as Sam, who was sitting on the edge of one of the bed watching Tv, shutting the Tv off and tossed the remote to the bed. "Hey."

I frowned and looked at Dean, who glanced between the television and Sam. "What?" Sam asked. Dean and I looked at each other, "Awkward," We both said at the same time before I walked to one of the beds that had my bag on it. "Where in the hell were you two all night? I was worried,"

"Working my imaginary case, which Scarlett gladly came along and helped," Dean informed. "And?" Sam asked.

"You were right, we didn't find much," I said noticing Salem jumping out of my bag.

"Yeah," Dean said. "Except Angela's boyfriend died last night. Slit his own throat. But, you know, that's normal. Uh, let's see, what else. Oh, he was seeing Angels everywhere before he died. But you know, I'm sure that's just me transferring my own feelings."

Sam cracked a small smile, "Okay, I get it," He said. "I'm gunna take a shower," I stated before picking Salem up and bag and walked to the bathroom. I swiftly kicked the door shut with my foot. I placed Salem on the counter and grabbed a shower before stepping into the shower.

"Had a fun time?" I heard Salem ask as I poured shampoo into my hands. "Yeah he, uh, actually let me drink my first beer."

"That's good...happy to hear you haven't thought about what happened with…" I nodded massaging the shampoo through my hair. "Doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about my mother," I said as I finished my shower. I slipped new clothes own, brushed my teeth, and walked out to see Dean holding up the dairy that I "borrowed" from Angel's room. 

Sam looked at me, "You stole a dead girl's diary?" I shot Dean a look and he shrugged, "He thought I did," He said.

Sam let out a sigh, "You get any named about the friends?" He asked. "Dude, are you kidding me?" I asked, grabbing the diary from Dean before turning back to Sam with a smirk. "We have her best friend in the whole wide world."