In the Light

Chapter Sixty: Apartment

"I want to punch my immune system in the face," Ruby said.

"You know that makes no sense, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. I know." She readjusted herself in the wheelchair that was mostly for show, but partly out of necessity.

The landlord came out from a back room. "I found the key. It was under some papers. Are you ready to see the place?"

"Yep," Ruby said.

"Good," he said. He led them down the hall to a room. "So, what brings you here? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well, uh," Sam started, awkwardly.

Ruby reached back and put her hand on his which was resting on the wheelchair handle. "It's okay, Sam. We lived in a small apartment. It became inconvenient for us when I got sick. We're moving in here with Sam's brother, Dean, and his girlfriend since we can't afford it on our own. They should be up soon." She could tell he was curious but didn't want to pry. "What I have isn't terminal or contagious. I'm getting treatment."

They'd gone into the apartment by then. "That's good," the landlord said, smiling. Ruby liked him. "Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me. Here's your keys." He set them down on the counter. "Have a nice day." He left.

Dean and Julissa passed him on the way in. They set the stuff on the floor. They didn't need to go back to the car for anything. None of them had much stuff. Ruby picked one of the bags off the floor and put it in her lap. She wheeled herself into the bedroom.

"Hey, let me-" Sam said, then sighed. He followed her into the bedroom. She was standing in front of the bed. She'd put all the clothes there and was folding them. They'd gotten bunched up in the bags.

Her thoughts were going a mile a minute, but her hands folded the clothes slowly. She wanted so badly to leave, to just drive pointlessly or go swimming in a lake. Her mind presented her with so many different options, but in her state, it was all she could do to stand up and fold clothes. Then, something terrible and, in hindsight, probably untrue occurred to her. "You're happy about this." She sat down on the bed and ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"About what?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I was okay when this all started. Then I was stupid enough to stop taking my meds. I started them again, but by the time I was almost back to normal, I freaking got pregnant. Then I had to go off my meds again, and now the trials. It's all one giant mess, but now it's different. I'm so damn weak from these trials. It must be a relief. The risk of me hurting myself went down because of how sick I am. Then there's the guarantee that me and the baby will be alright after all of this. This must all be a load off your back."

Sam looked into Ruby's panicked and angry eyes. "Yeah, it's a huge mess. I'm not going to deny that. The thing is: I'm watching every move you make. No matter what. This weight on my shoulders won't be gone until the gates of Hell are closed and everyone I love is safe and healthy. I never expected that your mental illness would be replaced by this physical one."

"I'm such a shitty person. How is it that I ended up with you?" She smiled a bit.

"You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to."

"Sirius Black said that," Ruby observed. "The problem is, I don't even know who I am anymore. More than that. Who I am, what I do, doesn't matter. No matter how much good I do in the world, I'll still feel worthless. I'll still want to hurt myself. I know it might not be like that in the future, but it's all I can think about now."

Sam started to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Yeah," Sam said.

Dean opened the door. He held up his hand. There was black goo on his fingers. "Ectoplasm."

"That only comes from a seriously pissed off spirit," Sam said.

"Yahtzee. I'm thinking someone died bloody in the building. The place was built about ninety years ago, so we've got a lot of research to do."

• • •

"Dammit," Julissa said. "No one has died in this building except a janitor who slipped and fell. That doesn't sound like vengeful spirit material to me."

"Nope," Dean said. "So far, I've got zip on suspicious deaths from the county police."

"Still checking the obits," Ruby said.

"I'm done cleaning the weapons," Sam said from the couch. "Since you're done researching, maybe we should check for EMF in the building," he said to Julissa. "Could be a cursed object that brought a spirit with it."

Sometimes after they left, Dean said casually, "I heard some of what you said to Sam. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too."

Sam and Julissa came in soon after that. "Did you guys find anything?" Sam asked.

"Nope," Ruby said. She shut the laptop closed. "You?"

"You could say that. We found a strand of red hair. It, uh, looked like it had been ripped off a girl's head."

"I feel a little less comfortable with being bait now." Ruby tucked her red hair behind her ear. The spirit only went after red heads. It's the only reason they brought her on the case. No one liked it, but it was necessary.

"We're thinking it's in the walls," Julissa said.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. I think I've got something," Dean said. Julissa pulled up a chair next to Dean. "This place was just an empty lot before the apartments were built. Next to the empty lot? A prison." After looking a little more, Dean said, "It was torn down in 1963. Get this. They used to hang people in the empty field next door."

Ten minutes later, Sam found it. "H.H. Holmes. America's very first serial killer. Executed here on May 7, 1896." Ruby shivered. "He killed young red headed women, using chloroform. He'd keep them in the walls of his house. The girl that disappeared from this room. She might still be alive."

• • •

The crying woke Ruby up. At first, she didn't understand what was going on, then she remembered. Dean and Julissa had gone to look for the girl in the walls. Ruby wanted to go, but Sam made her stay. He stayed with her, to protect her. It didn't work. The ghost had knocked Sam unconscious and taken her.

"Theresa? Is that you?" The crying continued. Ruby found her flashlight and turned it on. She was in a small box shaped like a coffin with slots on the side so she could see out. "People have been looking for you. There's three other people looking for us right now. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he hasn't hurt me yet. Oh God, he's gonna kill us!" Ruby heard footsteps. "That's him!" Theresa cried. Ruby shushed her.

She heard the footsteps approaching her. She held her breath, struggling to find her knife. It was iron, so if the ghost tried to hurt her, she could hurt it back. She saw a dirty hand reach through the slot. She still hadn't found her knife. The fingers almost touched her cheek when a shotgun fired. Holmes disappeared.

"Ruby?" Sam yelled.

"Over here!" Sam ran over and got her out. He helped her up. She gripped his sleeve and leaned against him. Dean and Julissa were getting Theresa out across the room. Ruby's eyelids drooped. Then, she heard the whoosh of angel wings. "Cas?" Sam said. She looked up at him. "Where've you been? We called you over an hour ago."

"I've been searching the tunnels. The symbols I carved on your ribs keep you hidden from all angels. You said the body of the ghost is buried in cement somewhere nearby? Can you show me?"

"Yeah, just get Ruby and Theresa out of here first," Sam said. Ruby didn't argue for once.