17 | Hell House

The more you hide

your feelings for someone,

the more you fall

for them

Interstate 35

Sam was sleeping in the front seat with his head tilted. The sound of his soft snores reached you even though Dean was playing music in the Impala. You guys were having a silent and nice drive to your next case but you guessed that maybe Dean got too bored.

Dean turns back and puts a finger on his lip to indicate for you to be quiet. You raise your eyebrows but a small smile appears on your face when he puts a white plastic spoon in Sam's open mouth. You try not to chuckle loudly.

You take your camera and turn it around so you can take a picture of Sam. You stick your thumb up and smile as you take it. Dean chuckles as you look down at the picture printed.

He increases the volume of the music playing in the car and you smile as you await Sam's reaction.

Sam's head rolls up when he wakes up because of the blaring music. He scrunches his face as he brings his hand up to slap the spoon from his mouth. You and Dean chuckle when you see the disgusted glare on Sam's face. He turns down the music before looking at the two of you.

"Haha. Very funny," he says while making his bitch face. Dean's face lights up and he starts drumming his hands on the steering wheel.

Dean laughs before answering. "Sorry. Not a lot of scenery here in East Texas. Kinda got to make your own."

"Man, we're not kids anymore, Dean! We're not gonna start that crap up again."

"Start what up?" Dean asks

obliviously and you lean forward to know what he was talking about.

"That prank stuff. It's stupid, and it always escalates!"

"Oh, what's the matter Sammy, afraid you're gonna get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?"

"Seriously?" You ask with raised eyebrows and an amused expression. You bite your lip to keep yourself from laughing.

"Yeah! He actually did that," Sam tells with a small pout. You feel the breath being knocked out of you when he does.

Gah! He was so adorable!

"Just remember you started it," he says to Dean and turns to look outside.

"Oh, ho, bring it on badly, " Dean taunts Sam and you chuckle.

"You guys better not include me in your prank war," you warn and Dean turns back and smirks at you. You frown a bit.

"Where are we anyway?" Sam asks as he squints and looks at the scenery outside the car.

"A few hours out of Richardson," Dean replies before speaking again. "Give me the lowdown again."

The previous night, you and Sam researched the case. Sam opens up the dashboard and takes out the newspaper clippings of the murder that took place.

"Alright, around a month or two ago a group of kids go poking around this local haunted house," Sam says as he recalls the facts of the case.

"Haunted by what?" Dean interrupts Sam.

"By a pretty misogynist spirit," you say coldly. "Legend goes it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. The kids saw this dead girl hanging in the cellar."

"Anybody ID the corpse?" Dean asks and you wait for Sam to answer.

"Well, that's the thing. By the time the cops got there, the body was gone. So the cops were saying that the kids were just yanking chains."

"Maybe the cops are right," Dean says as he shrugs.

"Maybe but Y/n and I read a couple of the kids firsthand accounts. They seemed pretty sincere, right?" He turns around to look at you and you nod.

"Where'd you read these accounts?" Dean asks with a small smile.

"Well, we knew that we were going to be passin' through Texas so last night we surfed some local paranormal websites and found one," you shrug slightly as you say it.

"And what's it called?" Dean asks as he narrows his eyes at the two of you before turning back to the road.

Sam chuckles a bit and looks at you. You shake your head. He sighs a bit before turning ahead and answering the elder Winchester.

You weren't going to tell that site's name and make a fool of yourself.

"Hellhoundslair.com," Sam says and you feel yourself cringe.

"Let me guess. Streaming live out of mom's basement," Dean jokes and you chuckle awkwardly.

"Yeah, probably," Sam chuckles and looks outside the window.

"Yeah. Most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit 'em in the persqueeter," Dean says again to make his point.

"Look, we let Dad take off which was a mistake, by the way, and now we don't know where he is. Meantime, we got to find something to hunt. There's no harm in checking this thing out."

"Alright," Dean says after a pause. "So, where do we find these kids?"

"Same place you would always find kids in a town like this."

~~

Rodeo Drive-In, Richardson, Texas

"And kinda hot, " the teenage boy says and you raise your eyebrows at him. "Well you know, in a dead sort of way."

You try understanding what he just said and scrunch up your face.

Well, that's disturbing.

"Okay..." Dean says with an awkward smile on his face.

You guys share a look that screamed out 'what-the-hell' before Sam asks the boy another question.

"And how did you find out about this place anyway?"

"Craig," the three kids say together.

~~

The bell above the door chimes as the three of you enter the record shop. Rock music was being played on the store's speakers. The shelves were filled with them and an urge to buy some for your dad filled your body. He was a huge rock fan and blasted his music in the mornings to wake you up.

You frown when you think about your dad. You still didn't know why your parents acted so... weird when you mentioned John.

How would they know him? And even if they knew him, why would they become so hostile at the mention of his name?

You hadn't called them and they didn't either. Whatever was going on with them, they ought to sort it out themselves.

They were hiding something. You didn't want to come to that conclusion but they were. Something involving John Winchester.

A freaking hunter!

You snap out of the conspiracy theory bubbling in your mind when a boy addresses you and the guys.

"Lady and Gentlemen," he says and you cringe slightly. "Help you with anything?"

"Craig Thursten?" You ask the boy.

"Yeah, that's me."

"We're reporters for the Dallas morning news. Sam, Dean, and my name is Y/n," you say as you gesture to the boys.

"No way. I'm a writer too," he says as his eye sparkles a bit and he smiles."I write for my school's lit magazine."

Dean mutters something under his breath but you ignore it.

"We're doing an article on local hauntings, and rumor has it you might know about one," Sam says as the three of you follow the boy. He starts stacking records in their place as he looks at you guys.

"You mean the Hell House?"

"That's the one," Dean says with a small smile.

"I didn't think there was anything to the story," the boy answers warily.

"Why don't you tell us the story?" Sam asks and nudges you a bit.

You nod and take out a small book from your bag and a pen. Honestly, your bag was a plethora of random stuff. You wouldn't be surprised if you found a pair of batteries or a pine cone in there.

"Well, supposedly back in the thirties, this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, used to live in the house with his six daughters," he leans forward a bit to see what you were writing but you hide your work. And by work, you meant doodling. If you were getting information, you might as well have fun getting it. You draw a huge burly man and six girls in front of him.

"It was during the Depression, his crops were failing, he didn't have enough money to even feed his own family. So I guess that's when he went off the deep end," he looks at three of you gravely. You draw dead plants and make the man's eyes pointy to make him look evil.

"How?" Sam asks and nudges you again. You irritatedly look up at him to see what his problem was. He was staring daggers at your doodling. You smile cheekily when he looks at you with wide eyes before turning back at Craig.

"Well, he figured, it was best if his girls died quick, rather than starve to death. So he attacked them. And they screamed, and begged for him to stop, but, he just strung 'em up. One after another. And then when he was all finished, he turned around and hung himself. Now they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever," he pauses before looking at you. "Stringing up any other girl that goes inside."

You cough awkwardly and Dean raises his eyebrows slightly.

"And where'd you hear all this?" He asks Craig.

"My cousin Dana told me. I don't know where she heard it from. You gotta realize, I didn't believe this for a second..." He trails off as his face pales a bit.

"But now you do," Sam says and stares at the boy for his answer.

"I don't know what the hell to think, man. Guys, I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real. And she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't wanna go anywhere near that house, ever again, okay?"

You nod a bit before smiling at the boy a bit. "Thanks"

~~

You guys walk up the hill that led to the Hell House. The path was gravelly and you tried not to stray away from the guys because the forest around the path made shivers run up and down your spine.

Just looking at the house made your breath catch. It looked minutes away from falling down in a pile of rotten wood and old broken glass. The windows were boarded up with cracked window panes.

"Can't say that I blame the kid," Sam says as you guys stop a few feet away from the house.

"Yeah, so much for curb appeal," Dean says.

After examining the outside of the house with Sam, you guys make your way back to Dean.

"You got something?" Sam asks and Dean frowns.

"EMF's no good."

"Why?" You ask as you stuff your hands in your jacket pockets.

He tilts his head at an electric pole. "I think that things still got juice in it. Messing up with all the readings."

"Yeah, that'd do it," Sam says as he sighs a bit and looks around.

"Yeah," Dean says and puts his EMF in his pocket. "Come on. Let's go."

You turn to follow him but Sam makes you stay in place by holding your shoulder. "Uh, you're not going."

"Wait, what? Why?" You say, whining a bit as you look up at him.

"If there really is a ghost in there that strings up girls, we're not going to risk it," he says as he takes his hand back and narrows his eyes at you.

"But, if there is, then we'll get to know if I go in," you try negotiating. "Besides, I have two hunters with me."

Sam frowns as he considers it. "Yeah, you're not coming."

You scoff and look behind him to see if Dean was there. When you don't see him you sigh.

"Well?" Sam raises his eyebrows and looks at you questioningly.

You scowl at him. "Okay, Dad."

Sam snorts and leaves you alone outside the creepy house. You turn back to the house. Even if you wanted to go, you were honestly too scared to go in alone. You look back at the forest surrounding the house.

The forest could be dangerous! There are bears and wolves and-

You stop when you hear rustling. You whip your head around and see someone disappearing behind the house.

Your mouth hangs open as you contemplate what to do next.

You could stand there and wait for Sam and Dean to come out.

Or, you could investigate the potential threat that could attack the boys.

You look around one final time before making your way to the back of the house. Your wimpy side curses your brave side as you walk cautiously.

As you inch closer, you hear some muttering. You quietly take out your Swiss Army knife from your bag and open up the blade.

You take a final breath before jumping in front of the muttering people.

There was a man with glasses who looked about thirty and another one. They were kneeling on the ground in front of a duffel bag. As far as you could hear, the glasses guy was reading out items and the other man said whether if it was there or not.

You stand there for about five seconds, waiting for them to notice you. When they don't, you just awkwardly put your knife away. They looked harmless.

"Hello?" You ask timidly as you straighten your hair a bit.

"SWEET LORD OF THE RINGS!" The man with glasses shouts as he falls back. The other one just stares at you with widened eyes.

You giggle a bit at the man's reaction as he gets up and straightens his clothing.

"I'm sorry," you say as you bite your lip from laughing more. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Scare us? You didn't scare us," the other man says as he gets up too. He extends his hand forward with a small smirk and you raise your eyebrows a bit. "Harry Spengler."

You extend your hand and shake his with a small smile. "Y/n Y/l/n."

"Ed Zeddmore," the other guy says awkwardly. He hands you a card with their names and a blog that they own.

"Wait, don't you guys run that blog? Hellshounds.com?" You ask them, surprised.

"Yes! We do," Harry says excitedly.

"Wow! I'm a," you pause slightly, "huge fan."

"We have many fans, babe," Harry says as he looks at you lazily. He leans back, hoping to catch the house's wall, but misses and almost falls.

You scrunch up your face a bit at what he called you but stop when he awkwardly recovers from what happened.

"Have you guys ever seen a ghost before?" You ask wide-eyed, trying to check whether their blog was legit or not.

"It was an old house we were investigating," Ed says gravely. "And a vase fell off the table."

"On its own," Harry says in a serious face.

"We didn't actually see it, but we heard it," Ed says as he looks at Harry.

If you hadn't actually seen ghosts, you would find that to be even more creepy than it actually was.

"Wow!" You smile a bit. "You guys are so brave!"

They smile at each other, a bit surprised.

"Listen, I was really hoping that I could see the Hell House but I'm too scared to go inside. But now that I've met," you gagged a bit when you said it, "professional paranormal investigators, I think I'll be safe."

Harry and Ed share a look.

~

The door out of the kitchen flies open. Two tall men stick their hands out because of the bright light being flashed at them.

"God! Woah, uh, CUT!" Ed shouts in frustration as he looks at Harry.

"Just a couple of humans. What're you guys doing here?" Harry asks in a deep voice while stealing glances at you. You smile a bit at how he was trying to impress you.

Sam and Dean blink their eyes several times before they look at the three of you in surprise. Or mainly, Dean looked at Harry and Ed in surprise, and Sam stared daggers at you. You smile awkwardly at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam says and you knew that the question was meant for you.

"Uh, we belong here. We're professionals," Ed says as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Profesional what?" Dean asks in confusion.

"Sam, Dean, they're paranormal investigators," you say as you raise your eyebrows slightly.

Ed hands Sam and Dean the same business cards they handed you. "Here ya go. Take a look at that, boys."

"You gotta be kidding me," Dean says as he looks up at them again.

"Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler. Hellhoundslair.com. You guys run that website," Sam says as he scoffs a bit.

"Yeah," Ed answers.

"Yeah, yeah. We're huge fans," Dean says.

"Wow, meeting a lot of fans today. Y/n here is a fan. Right, babe?" Harry asks and your jaw hangs open a bit.

Sam looks between the two of you with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, uh, stop calling me that," you say.

"Yeah, right, sorry," Harry says as he looks down and nods his head a bit.

"And we know who you guys are too," Ed says after raising his eyebrows at the awkward silence. You try not to look at Sam.

You were leaning against the counter and Dean had come there to fiddle with something on the slab.

"So, you feel less scared when you're with these dweebs?" Dean whispers as he looks at you.

"Who told you that?" You ask as you frown. You were scared but you would prefer the Winchesters over the paranormal investigators.

"Sam said that you were too scared to come in," He whispers again as he tilts his head back.

You raise your eyebrows and catch Sam looking at you and Dean.

You widen your eye as if asking him 'what'. He just shakes his head slightly and turns to Ed and Harry who were talking about EMF and stuff.

~

After leaving the house, much to Ed and Harry's dismay, you guys decided to further investigate to see whether the case was there or not.

You didn't know if it was too dark in the house, but you swore you saw the shadow of someone standing at the end of the corridor when you guys were leaving.

You told Sam and Dean who brushed it off when they saw that no one was there.

Now, Sam was acting as an official and pulling up records of the people who lived in the Hell House.

When the receptionist of the library Sam was talking to turns around to get the files, you make your way to him.

"So?" You ask.

"She's finding out," he pauses as he smirks, "babe."

It takes you a second to understand that he was mocking Harry. You roll your eyes and groan.

"Seriously?"

"What?" He looks at you obliviously.

"Are you ready going to make a big deal about it?" You ask as you frown at him.

"It's just nice to see you getting along with the...locals," he says as he shrugs and you scoff.

"Okay," you nod a bit. "Why did you tell Dean that I was scared to enter the house?"

"Because he would insist that you join us too," he shrugs again.

"You could've used me as bait!"

Sam looks at you, surprised. He opens his mouth but is interrupted by the receptionist. She shows him the owner's name and details while Sam writes it down in his diary. You flare your nostrils while looking at the 6'4 foot man.

He turns around and starts walking. "You want to be used as bait? Willingly?" Sam asks as you rush to keep up with his long strides.

"Yeah, so?"

He scoffs. "Forget it, Y/n. If anything happens to you..."

"What?"

He looks at you with a frown.

"Nothing," he sighs and you guys make your way outside.

After Sam explains that the man who lived there had sons and not daughters, Dean suggests that the case is a bust and you guys ought to leave the next day. That is after spending the night at a bar.

Sam pulls you back from getting in the Impala and bends down to see Dean inside. You frown until you hear the loud Spanish music being blasted from the car speakers and the windshield's wipers whirring into life.

You and Sam chuckle as you get into the car. Dean glares at Sam as he puts his finger up and mouths out 'one, me'.

"That's all you got? That's weak! That's bush league!" Dean says in anger as he drives to the bar.

~~

"So, he just started calling you babe after like ten seconds?" Sam asks and you roll your eyes.

"Yes, he did. And I honestly didn't mind," you smirk as you say it.

You loved it when Sam flared his nose and narrowed his eyes because of something you said.

And that's exactly what he did. He leans forward across the table. "What does that mean?" He hisses.

You chuckle and make your way to the bar. He swears and packs his stuff up to follow you.

You take a sip of your beer as he settles beside you. "What does that mean?"

You sigh and turn to him. "How about...drink seven beers and I'll tell you," you smile.

Sam never drank that much. Even at parties. You smirk because you knew that you had won.

He clenches his jaw before looking at the bartender. He calls over the women and asks for a beer.

Your mouth hangs open. "Wait, Sam. You don't actually have to do it."

He turns to you and tips the bottle to his lips.

Your mouth hangs open as you chuckle. He smiles a bit. You look around to see where Dean was. And obviously, he was talking to some girl on the opposite side of the bar.

You look back at Sam who was half done with his bottle.

"Oh my god. Sam!" You squeal as you chuckle.

~

"So, what does that mean?" Sam asks in a slurry voice. He leans forward and you chuckle as you place your hand on his chest and push him back because of the smell of the beer wafting from his mouth.

"You get that you wasted that much of money just to know what I meant," you raise your eyebrows as you look at him.

He turns the corner of his lips down and looks at the empty bottle on the counter. "I guess."

You chuckle a bit. "Okay," you say as you sigh. "I, uh, I don't know. I have a soft spot for nerds, I guess," you frown. You were making this up as you went. "And he looked good," you add in to see how easily drunk Sam got angry.

He looks at you as if you just confessed to something extremely scandalous. "You're kidding, right? That guy looks so...mousy," he makes a face as he says it. "And I'm a nerd, too!"

Because of how drunk you were, you didn't understand what Sam meant when he said that. You chuckle instead. "Yeah, you are a massive nerd!"

He stares at you. You didn't realize how close you guys were until now. The smile gets wiped off your face as you gaze into his eyes. They flick to your lips and you hold your breath. It was as if an invisible force was pushing you two towards each other...

"Hey! Come on! This place's a bust, too," you hear Dean say and you pull back. You chuckle a bit before looking at the elder Winchester standing before you guys.

"You get rejected or something?" You ask with a smirk.

"Dean got rejected!" Sam says with an amused look.

Dean knits his eyebrows together as he looks at Sam. "He's drunk, isn't he?"

"Super," you say as you raise your eyebrows. You shrug when Dean gives you an exasperated look.

After Dean leaves with Sam, you pay for the drinks. It was your stupid idea, so you ought to pay for it.

Your parents were going to be so mad!

You wince as you think of them. Would that give them a reason to call you?

...That was a problem for later.

~~~

The next day, you guys made your way to the Hell House again to check if you missed something, only to find that you indeed did miss something.

And because of that something, a girl was dead. Found hanging in the cellar.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dean says as you guys crouch behind the bushes.

The house was being watched over by cops to make sure that no one got in.

You turn to where Dean was looking to see Ed and Harry.

You chuckle a bit at how relentless those two were.

"Wait, I've got an idea," Dean mumbles before standing up a bit.

Sam shrugs when you look at him questioningly.

"WHO YA GONNA CALL?" Dean says and crouches again. You chuckle at his reference. The cops spot Ed and Harry and chase them.

"Come on!" Sam tells you and you get up from your crouch. You almost trip because of your asleep feet but you quickly regain the feeling in them and you follow the boys into the house.

You breathe heavily once you get inside and the guys shut the door.

You swear slightly as you guys make your way to the basement. Dean talks about a symbol on the wall but you weren't paying attention because of the wrong sigil on the wall.

"Didn't the sigil of sulfur show up in San Francisco until the '60s?" You had asked the guys.

Dean just rolled his eyes and Sam had looked pointedly at him as if proving a point.

As you descend the stairs leading to the basement, you take out your S.A knife. It was the only thing the guys trusted you with. You made a mental note that you ought to learn how to use a gun.

"Hey, Sam. I dare you to take a swig of this," Dean says with an amused voice. You turn to see him holding a jar filled with a pinkish liquid.

"What the hell would I do that for?" Sam asks.

Dean pauses before speaking again with a smile on his face. "I double dare you."

Sam gives Dean a look.

"Y/n?" Dean asks with hope in his eyes.

"Only if you take one too," you challenge Dean. You raise your eyebrows and walk towards him holding the jar, trying to see what was in it.

"Eww," you groan when you see a pink blob in there. "What do you think it is?"

All of Dean's attention is on the jar, trying to figure out what was in it.

"Give me a break," Sam tells you guys when he turns back and sees the two of you staring in confusion at the jar like kids. "No one's drinking anything in a creepy haunted house. That's like rule number one."

"I'm pretty sure that's not rule number one," you mumble, looking at Dean. He nods.

"Yeah, Sammy, that's like in the thirties. Rule number one is to never turn down a double dare. If you do, and I don't make up the rules- but that means you're a pus-"

The three of you hear creaking in the other room. Your eyes widen.

It's the girl-killing ghost. You're going to die. You're going to die! A voice in your mind shouts and you try calming down.

Sam and Dean proceed to the room where the sound came. You start walking behind them but Sam turns back and mouths 'stay' to you.

You honestly didn't mind. The adrenaline that seemed to fill your body in situations like this had gone AWOL.

Your heart beats heavily in your chest as you lose sight of the boys.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

You hear a gunshot and swear.

Let 'calming yourself down' go to hell!

Sam and Dean come out of the room. A huge man holding an ax starts swinging it around. You swear, trying to figure out what to do. All you had was a small knife and Mordechai had a freaking ax!

"Y/n, run!" Sam shouts as he shoots his rock salt bullets at the ghost.

Nothing happened to Mordechai and you gasp. He wasn't a ghost.

"Y/n!" Sam shouts again and you oblige to his command.

You run up the stairs frantically. By the pair of footfalls behind you, you guessed that the guys were behind you. But you didn't turn back to look.

You quickly reach the back door and turn back to see who was actually behind you.

You gasp when Sam crashes into you.

It all happened so fast, the door flying open and Sam falling on you. You swear when his heavy body crushes you under him. He quickly recovers from his fall because of his pillow and helps you up. He holds your hand as you guys run ahead. But you crash into someone else. The hellhoundslair guys. You groan.

If you crashed into anyone else...

Dean shouts something at those guys and the three of you run faster when you see the cops coming back.

~~

"What the hell is this symbol? It's buggin' the hell outta me. This whole damn job's buggin' me. I thought the legend said Mordechai only goes after chicks," Dean sighs as he looks down at a sketch he made.

"It does," Sam sighs as he looks at his computer screen.

You were sitting opposite him and looking at the hellhoundslair website.

"All right. Well I mean that explains why he went after you and Y/n, but why me?" He asks.

You chuckle a bit and Sam rolls his eyes at you.

"Hilarious," he pauses before continuing. "Legend also says that he hung himself but did you see those slit wrists?"

"Yeah," Dean answers, and you frown. You weren't that close to see that.

"What's up with that?" Sam asks. "And the ax too. Ghosts are usually pretty strict, right? Following the same patterns over and over."

"His moods keep changing," Dean says as he understands.

You look back down at your screen and frown. "Guys, they added a new posting to the website."

"What website?" Dean asks.

"Hellhoundslair. They say that he was a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an ax before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity."

"Where the hell is this going?" Sam asks as he scrunches his face in confusion.

"I might have figured out where it all started," Dean states and gets off the bed.

"Are you talking about the symbol?" You ask as you take the paper from him. "Oh! Isn't this the BOC logo?" You ask with a small smile.

Dean stares at you with his mouth open and eyebrows raised. "You're kidding, right?"

You frown. "What?"

"That...damn symbol has been buggin' me for two days," he puts two fingers up, "and you figure it out in a second?!"

You open your mouth to defend yourself but Dean puts his hand up.

"It doesn't even matter. Let's go."

You raise your eyebrow at Sam who just shrugs in response.

~~

After your talk with Craig, who, with his cousin sister had made up the whole story about Mordechai, you guys returned to the motel.

You walk out of your room to the boys'. When you walk in, you see Dean sprinkling something on someone's clothes on the bed.

Someone's...underwear?

"What're you doing?" You ask as you look around for Sam.

He chuckles mischievously and grins at you. He puts the packet up and you gasp.

"Itching powder!?" You ask, surprised.

"Dean?!" You hear Sam shout. You realize that his voice came from the bathroom and you raise your eyebrows at Dean.

"Yeah, it's me," he says as he puts his finger on his lip and looks at you. You scoff and roll your eyes.

"Where were you?!" Sam's muffled voice asks again.

"I, uh, just went out," he says and you smile a bit, thinking what Sam's reaction would be like.

"I was thinking, what if Mordechai was a tulpa?" He says and you hear the bathroom door open.

You raise your eyebrows at his exposed chest, slick with steam. A towel was loosely wrapped around his waist. Your heart races when he looks at you and his jaw hangs in surprise.

"Oh, hey," Sam says awkwardly. He walks towards his clothes on the bed. "Yeah, um." You feel warmth blooming in your cheeks.

"Okay, I'll meet you guys in 20," you ask, already moving to walk out of their room. Sam had gotten way more built in the last few months. A small pocket of heat builds in your lower abdomen after taking one last look at Sam's back as he walked into the bathroom to wear his clothes. You give a small wave to Dean who had an amused look on his face and walked out their room.

~~

"Okay, so there was this incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualise a golem in their heads. They meditate on it so hard they bring the thing to life, out of thin air," Sam says as you sip on your coffee.

You guys were in a small cafe and you could see Sam trying to itch at his underwear discreetly. The discomfort was evident on his face.

"So?" Dean asked.

Sam grins. "That was 20 monks. imagine what 10,000 web servers would do. I mean Craig started the story off Mordechai and it spreads online. Now there are countless people who believe in the bastard," Sam says as he scrunches up his face in discomfort. You try not to chuckle in order to keep the prank going.

"So, you're tryna tell me that because people believe in Mordechai, he's real?"

"I don't know, maybe," Sam answers.

"People believe in Santa Claus. How am I not getting hooked up every Christmas?" Dean asks Sam and you chuckle.

"Because you're a bad person and cause of this," he turns his laptop to you and Dean.

There's a weird symbol on the screen and you wait for Sam to continue with the explanation.

"It's a Tibetan spirit sigil on the wall of the house. Craig said that they were painting symbols from a theology book. I bet they painted this not even knowing what it was. That sigil has been used for centuries; concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So people are on the hellhounds website staring at the symbol thinking of Mordechai. I mean it might be enough to bring a tulpa to life," he explains and you nod.

"That's why he keeps changing," you sigh in realization.

"Right," Sam looks at you. "As the legend changes, people think different things. So, Mordechai himself changes like a game of telephone. That would also explain why the rock salt didn't work."

"Yeah, 'cause he's not a traditional spirit per se. So why don't we just get the spirit sigil thingy off the wall and off the website?" Dean asks and you side nod as you agree.

"Once tulpas are created they take a life of their own," Sam shrugs.

"Great. Alright, so if he is a thought form, how the hell are we supposed to kill an idea?"

"Well, it's not gonna be easy with these guys helping us," Sam says as he turns the laptop to face you and Dean. "Check out their home page. Since they posted the video, the number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone."

"I got an idea. Come on," Dean says and gets up.

"Where are we going?" You ask as you put your backpack on your shoulders and pull your hair back.

"Gotta find a copy store," Dean answers and you frown.

"Man, I think I'm allergic to our soap or something," Sam says as he itches his crotch. He looks embarrassed when he sees you looking at him. You and Dean chuckle.

"You guys did this?!"

You shake your head but continue chuckling as you follow Dean out.

"You guys are jerks!"

~~~

After lying to Ed and Harry about Mordechai, saying that he was scared of .45 handguns, you guys decided to eat at a nearby diner and wait for the new story to reach loads of people.

"If you pull that string one more time I'm going to kill you," Sam says and you look up from your laptop.

In front of you, Dean was pulling on the string of a wooden toy that was hung beside your table. It made a creepy cackling sound when the string was pulled.

Dean pulls it once again and chuckles along with it.

"Come on, man. You need more laughter in your life. You're way too tense," Dean says jokingly and looks at you. You shrug.

"Did they post it yet?" Dean asks after a pause.

"Yep, it's up and running," you say and turn your laptop around so that Dean could see.

"Alright. How long do we wait?" He asks again.

"Long enough for the story to spread and the legend to change. I figure by nightfall, iron rounds will work on the sucker," Sam answers.

You pick up your beer and take a sip.

"You didn't," Dean says and you look up from your laptop again.

His mouth was hanging and he stared at Sam with surprise. Sam starts laughing beside you and you turn to him. He lifts up a tube of superglue and your jaw falls.

"Oh, I did," he continues laughing.

You quickly keep your bottle on the table, sighing in relief when you find that it isn't glued onto your hand.

Sam reaches over to pull the toy's string; the cackling not irritating him anymore.

~

"What is your problem?!" You whine when Sam once again stopped you from entering the house.

"My problem is that you don't have a gun and neither do you know how to use one," Sam answers calmly. "I'm keeping you safe."

"Safe? We're in a freakin' forest! What if a- a bear comes and attacks me?"

"That's not gonna happen," he replies calmly and you grit your teeth.

"Dean?" You turn around to see Dean awkwardly standing there and listening to the two of you squabble.

"Huh? Uh, Sammy, she can come," he says as he shrugs.

Sam turns away and you presumed that he gave Dean his bitch face because of how Dean nodded his head awkwardly.

"Yeah, uh, you should stay out here," he says and you swear.

"I swear to God, once I learn how to use a gun, you're the first person I'm going to shoot, Sam," you hiss and you look up at him.

He chuckles and ruffles your hair a bit. "Yeah, sure."

You just grumble and turn around as you fold your arms over your chest.

After they leave, you get your flashlight out and hold it so that it flashes against the door of the Hell House.

~

"What the hell," you mumble as you get off the ground.

The house was emitting a soft orange light from between the cracks in the wall and windows.

When you see the smoke, you swear.

You consider going in there to see why there was a fire but stop when you see Sam and Dean come out.

Sam immediately looks around and sighs in relief when he spots you.

You were safe. You were safe, he chanted in his head.

"Why is the house on fire?" You ask as you approach the guys. "And what took you so long?"

"He didn't change," Dean says gruffly and your eyes widen.

"That's your solution?" Sam asks Dean, pointing at the house in anger. "Burn the whole damn place to the ground?"

"Well, no one will go in anymore," Dean replies, explaining why he did it. "I mean look, Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt. It's fast and dirty, but it works."

"I think it's genius, Dean," you say, as you finally understand what happened.

"What if the legend changes again and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?" Sam questions his brother, unable to see past the flaws of Dean's plans.

"Then we come back," Dean says as he clenches his jaw and looks at you. He glances at the burning house.

"Oh my god? Is that Mordechai?" You ask as you see a shadow in the doorway with red lights for eyes.

Sam looks down at you and nods a bit.

"Kinda makes you wonder. Of all the things we've hunted, how many existed just because people believed in them?"

~~

"What's wrong?" Sam asks as he walks to you.

You were sitting on the bed, overthinking.

"Nothing. It's just," you sigh. "That girl... The one who was a straight-A student."

Sam nods.

"I can't help feeling guilty."

"Why?" Sam asks calmly as he cautiously sits beside you on the bed. He looks at you but you don't have the guts to look back at him.

"Maybe if I followed that shadow I saw, we could've realized that the case wasn't a bust and, I don't know, saved the girl."

"You're overthinking it," Sam says as he gives you a small smile.

"Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Y/n Overthinker Y/l/n."

Sam chuckles at what you say. His laugh brings a small smile on your face.

Sam bites his lip as he gazes at the wooden floor. "Do you know what's it being a hunter?"

"What do you mean?" You ask, frowning.

"It's not just the hunting," he says and you chuckle wearily. "It's about the guilt we carry on our shoulders."

You look at his wistful expression that held...pain.

"The guilt of the people we couldn't save."

"I don't want to be a hunter, then," you say quietly and he looks up at you.

"I know," he mumbles as he pulls you into a hug. "But in the end," he whispers into your ear, "all that matters is the people we save."

~~

"You know what?"

"What?" Sam asks as he turns back to look at you.

You gaze out at the forest you guys were passing through the window.

"What if," you pause, "we put the Tibetan sigil on a website like Ed and Harry did and make it all about," you pause again and look at Sam with a cheeky grin, "UNICORNS!"

"Unicorns?" Dean asks as he cringes slightly.

Sam makes a 'psht' sound as he turns front.

"Y/n," he says exasperated and you await his witty comeback. "Unicorns are real," he says in a plain tone.

"What the f-"

[End of Episode 17 | Hell House]

A/n: Hope you guys liked the chapter.

I was thinking that I may skip the next chapter because, as unprofessional as it may sound, I'm excited about the ending!

So, I'll go straight to the nineteenth episode.

Have a wonderful day and SHINE!

Stay safe!

XOXOXO