Bless the Broken Road

82. I Believe the Children Are Our Future

"But we were wrong." The doctor picked up a plastic bag from the slab and showed it to Dean, Zach and Sam.

"Is that a—" Sam began.

"It's a press-on nail," the doctor said. "We found it in her temporal lobe."

"Is that even possible?"

"Wait, are you—you saying that she did this to herself?" Dean asked.

"Uh-huh. She scratched her brains out," the doctor told them. "It'd take hours, and it'd hurt like hell, but sure—it's possible."

"How?"

"Pick your acronym—OCD, PCP. It all spells crazy."

Sam pulled back the sheet a little further. Amber's right hand had four press-on nails still attached; the middle finger has nothing.

The doctor continued. "My guess, some kind of phantom itch. I mean, an extreme case, but..."

"Phantom itch?" Sam and Zach repeated.

"Yup." The doctor covered Amber's head and slid the slab back into the freezer, closing the door. "All it takes is someone talking about an itch—or thinking about one, even—and suddenly you can't stop scratching."

"Thanks, doc."

Sam scratched under his collar, Zach scratched his nose, and Dean scratched his ear.

INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY

Sam was sitting in the armchair in Jimmy's family's living room, holding a notebook and pen, and Jimmy's father and Francine were sitting on the sofa. Dean and Zach were wandering around behind them.

"Okay," Sam said. "Okay, now, some of these questions might seem a bit odd, but please just bear with me. Have you noticed any cold spots in the house?"

"Uh... no," Jimmy's father replied.

"Okay, uh, what about strange smells?"

Dean and Zach looked around a corner. Jimmy was there.

"Whatcha two lookin' for?" Jimmy asked.

"Don't know yet," Dean and Zach replied as they walked up to Jimmy.

"It's, uh, Jimmy, right?" Dean questioned and Jimmy nodded. "So, Amber was your babysitter?"

"Yes, sir," Jimmy replied.

"Yeah, most of my babysitters sucked. Especially Ms. Chancey. She only cared about two things. Dynasty and bedtime." He chuckled.

Zach gave Jimmy a look and asked, "Did you see anything strange that night?"

"No, sir."

"You sure about that?"

"I—I would tell you two if I knew something." Dean and Zach looked at him. "I promise. One hundred percent. Cross my heart."

Dean and Zach looked back over their shoulder, then back at Jimmy before the former said, "Well, Jimmy, he and I, uh... We happen to know you're lying."

"I'm not."

Dean leaned down and put a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "We gonna start talking truth, or are you, me and him gonna have to take a little trip downtown?"

EXT. HOUSE – DAY

Dean, Zach and Sam were leaving. Dean held up a packet of itching powder and said, "Kid said he put this on the babysitter's hairbrush."

Sam frowned. "Dean, there's no way—itching powder made that girl scratch her brains out. It's just ground-up maple seeds."

"If you have any other theories, Zach and I are open to 'em."