Sam got into the car, he was talking to a girl who killed her classmate. Who claims she was possessed.
Dean said" So?"
Sam said" I think she's telling the truth. I mean, the way she talked about being there mentally but not physically- kind of sounds like demonic possession to me."
" Kind of?"
" She didn't see any black smoke or smell sulfur."
" Maybe it's not a demon. I mean, kids can be vicious."
" Well, I mean, we're already here. Might as well check out the school."
" Right. The school."
" What?"
" Truman High, home of the bombers." I looked between them,
" What's your point?"
" I don't know. I mean, we went there, like... for a month, a million years ago. Why are you so jazzed to go back?"
" I'm not. I just think it's worth looking into."
" All right, well, what's our cover? FBI? Homeland security? Swedish exchange students?"
" Don't worry. I got an idea." He smiled, I know that smile! That's the smile when he has an idea that usually tricks me! It's how he got me to eat... ugh, broccoli!
" Okay."
I said" That's the broccoli smile, Dean! Don't trust him!" They both chuckled, I pouted," Fine, it's your problem anyways!"
" You know, I don't think he'll ever forget that."
Sam said" Definitely not. I take a play out of your book and just bribe him."
" So, what are we gonna do with hot shot back there?"
" Cartoons and pizza?" He looked at me, I pouted,
I said" You guys suck."
Dean said" Yeah, yeah, get it all out."
" I don't wanna stay alone! Wanna stay with you!"
" It'll be fine, Riv."
" What-What if it's not?!"
" It will be." Sam reached back and ruffled my hair,
Sam said" Riv, you gotta work with us, okay?"
I said" No! Wanna stay with you! I'll-I'll stay in the car! I'll-I'll stay quiet! I'll be good!" I reached up and gripped onto their jackets." I-I'll be good! I swear!"
" It's not about that, buddy. You can't stay in the car for that long, especially in a high school parking lot."
Dean said" It's serious child neglect, for one."
I said" Dean..."
" Shut up. I know what I said."
Sam said" It'll be okay, River. If it'll make you feel better, we'll line the room, okay? Lock the door from the inside, come on, just work with us, okay?"
I mumbled" Okay, Sammy."
——
I was pacing, Sammy and De were gone, I was staring at the salt line, I whimpered, and looked at the tv.
I mumbled" Stupid big brothers, stupid rules, stupid Sammy, stupid De..." I dropped my head then flopped onto the bed, I stared at the ceiling. I wiped my eyes, I saw blood, I wiped my eyes again and it was back to normal. I gulped, then got up, I walked to the bathroom and turned on the sink. I wet my face, I rubbed my sleeve over my face, gotta stay awake, gotta stay awake. I walked back to the bed and crawled to the middle, I stared at the tv, it wasn't even a good show! I pouted, staring the tv, mindlessly.
I screamed as fire traveled up my body, I could feel every piece of my skin being burnt. I struggled against the restraints, wanting out, needing to get out, but it was no use! They were bolted me onto the bars this time! I screamed and cried out as Alastair came in, I stabbed a demon with one of the torture devices, I'm in really, really big trouble. He slid a blade down my chin,
I screamed" I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
He said" No, you're not, River!"
" I am! I am! I am! I swear! I swear!"
" Swearing is bad for the soul... didn't your brothers teach you that?"
" I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
" Too late!" He sliced open my chin, I screamed in pain, I jolted, trying to get free as it healed.
" I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll be good! I'll be good! I'll be good!"
" Will you, River?"
" Yes, yes, yes! I'll be good! I'll be good!" I screamed in pain as my chest engulfed in flames," I'll be good! I'll be good!"
" Mm, I believe you." He snapped his fingers and the flames disappeared, I breathed heavily," For now." I stared at him,
I whimpered" I'll be good, I'll be good." He tore my wrists from the bolts, I screamed in pain, dropping to the ground, I curled up, whimpering. He kicked me, I yelped,
" Go!" I tried to get up but my body couldn't take it anymore, I was too tired, too lost." Thought you were gonna be good, River."
" Can't move... too tired..."
" Mm, guess we'll have to electrify that energy back up."
" No, no, no, no! Please! No!" He grabbed my shirt, and slammed me onto the bars again, my wrists got bound with barbed wire. I screamed in pain, a demon came in, she put her hand on my chest, electricity flew through me, I screamed louder, seizing, my eyes rolling-
I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder, I opened my eyes and launched at whoever shook my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around Dean's neck, tears flooded down my face, I was shaking like crazy.
Dean said" Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, you're all right, you're all right." He wrapped my legs around his stomach and stood up, holding me to him.
Sam said" River, buddy... he okay?"
" No." Dean rubbed my back, shushing me gently," Come on, buddy, you're okay, everything's okay. Just a nightmare, nightmares can't hurt you. Unless Fre- Uh, yeah, nightmares can't hurt you, River. Hey, look at me..." I didn't move my face from his neck," Come on, look at me, River." I looked up and at him, I sniffled, still shaking, I noticed the ground shaking too." Buddy, you've gotta calm down, we're right here, not gonna let anything bad happen to you. You trust me, right?" I nodded," You trust Sammy?" I nodded again," Then you should know that we're here to protect you. Now, you've gotta calm down before you get sick, okay? Can you do that for me?" I nodded, breathing slowly," Ata, boy. You're okay."
They burned bones, we were driving away from the cemetery, Sam knew the ghost when it was alive.
Dean said" You all right?"
Sam said" Barry was my friend. I just burned his bones."
" Well, he's at peace now, Sam."
" I mean, if dad had let us stay just a little while longer, maybe I could have helped the kid, you know?"
" You read the coroner's report same as me. Barry was on every anxiety drug and antidepressant known to man. School was hell for that kid. His parents had split up. He just wanted out. It was tragic, but it's not your fault. To tell you the truth, I'm glad we got out of that town. I hated that school."
" It wasn't all bad."
" How can you say that after what happened to you?" I dropped my head onto the seat, I was sleepy, but I don't want to have another nightmare... no, no, no.
It was really late, I was using a flashlight to look at a comic book Sam bought me, it was Captain America. The flashlight was snatched out of my hand,
Dean said" Go to sleep, River." The flashlight turned off, I heard it's thud as Dean dropped it onto the floor.
I said" No."
" First words you speak for about half the day to me, and it's no? Come on, what's wrong?"
" No more nightmares... no sleep, no nightmares."
" You know I can't let you stay up all the time."
" Yeah, you can." He chuckled and took the comic book away," Noo, Dean! Give it back!"
" Shh, you'll wake Sam."
Sam said" Dude, you chucked the flashlight onto the ground, I'm already awake. River, you've gotta sleep, buddy."
I said" Don't!"
" Do. Because.. uh, if you're not sharp, who's gonna take care of us? I mean, we're kinda okay at taking care of ourselves, but you're the best."
" You're giants!"
" True, but you're fury pint-sized, way tougher than us."
" But the nightmares are scary..."
Dean said" Wanna tell us why this one's got you especially freaked?"
" I was set on fire... they chained me to a bar... well, sometimes chains, or barbed wire... but then sometimes, they'd stab something through my wrists... especially if I was bad."
" If you were bad?"
" I stabbed a demon... with one of the torture thingies, and... they weren't happy. I was set on fire, then I didn't listen again! I couldn't get up! I-I was too-too tired! My body couldn't take it anymore, I tried! I tried so hard to get up but I couldn't!" I started crying,
" Whoa, whoa, whoa, shh, shh, it's okay, no more talking about it. You need sleep." He stood up and lifted me into his arms, I wrapped my arms around his neck, I yawned.
Sam said" See, you are really tired." Dean started humming, I closed my eyes, he started rubbing my back." You're okay, Riv, we've got you." I yawned again, falling asleep.
———
It's morning, we were at the school, Sam wanted to go see an old teacher.
Dean said" We came back here so you could talk to a teacher?"
Sam said" He's a good guy."
" Well, whatever. Go have your Robin Williams O Captain! My Captain moment. Just make it quick." Sam got out, I looked at Dean, Dean looked in the rear view mirror at me." What?" I continued to stare at him," What? What're you staring at me for?"
I said" How old is Elmo?" Dean sighed, then his eyes widened,
" Well, he's... uh, uh... wha- ehh... I'll give you 5 bucks to never ask me that again."
" Deal." He handed me 5 bucks, I smiled and pulled out my wallet, well, it's not a wallet, it's a piece of old jeans stapled together." When do I get a fake ID like you?"
" Uh, when you're old enough to pull off a fake ID, so... a few years."
" Okay."
Sam got hurt, the ghost was still around, which is weird.
Dean said" Trust me. This will help." Sam took the alcohol from him," That ghost is dead. I'm gonna rip its lungs out! Well, you know what I mean."
Sam said" It knew my name, Dean. My real name. We burned Barry's bones. What the hell?"
" Well, maybe it wasn't Barry. Maybe we missed something. We just got to go back." Dean looked at the file," No way. How did we not see this before?"
" What?"
" Check it out." He handed Sam the file, I walked to them," Look, Martha Dumptruck, Revenge of the nerds, and Hello Kitty- they all rode the same bus."
" Okay, so maybe the bus is haunted."
" Well, that would explain why there's no EMF at the school, but not the attacks. I mean, ghosts are tied to the places that they haunt. They can't just bail."
" Unless this one can. Dean, there's lore about spirits possessing people and riding them for miles. Then whenever they leave the body, they're bunged back to their usual haunt. But until then, the ghosts can go wherever they want."
" So a spook just grabs a kid on the bus and walks right into Truman?"
" It's possible."
" Ghosts getting creative- well, that's super." Dean grabbed a beer from the cooler, I sat on the ground at Sam's feet.
We were on the bus,
Sam said" Definitely ain't clean." The EMF was going off,
Dean said" Here, ghosty, ghosty, ghosty!" He hit the ceiling with his shotgun," Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
" Man, I don't get it. No one ever died on this bus, and it's not like there's a body hidden in here."
" Yeah, but a flap of skin, a hair, I mean, hell, a hangnail, something's got to be tying the ghost to this place. We just got to find it." They're gonna ask me to crawl under the seats.
" Yeah."
" Hey, Riv, wanna do us a favor?"
I said" If anything gross gets into my hair, you're washing it." Dean and Sam looked at each other, Sam shrugged.
" Fine." I crawled under the seats and looked at the seats, gross. I heard Dean walk away." Got a new driving permit. Issued two weeks ago." I crawled out from under the seats, I ran up to Sam and Dean.
Sam said" Just before the first attack."
" Yeah. Name of the bus driver is Dirk McGregor Sr. 39 North Central Avenue."
" McGregor?"
" Yeah. Why?"
" I knew his son."
" Did you know everybody at this school?"
They talked to the bus driver, they knew where the remains were, now they have a plan to get it.
It's nighttime, they left me alone to go stop the ghost. I sighed, and watched cartoons, I munched on some goldfish Dean bought me.
I was starting to get sleepy, I shook my head and widened my eyes, stay awake! Stay awake! My head flopped, and I laid on my side, holding the bag of goldfish, I stared at the tv.
I woke up a little when I heard shuffling, I whined,
Sam whispered" Shh, shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay, go back to sleep." I felt someone grab the goldfish bag, I was lifted up, my head was on Sam's shoulder. I felt someone take off my shoes, then I was put down, I felt a cover being pulled over me, I rolled over and grabbed a pillow, digging my head under it.
I heard Dean whispered" Sweet dreams, River. Hopefully."
——
Sam was inside the school, Dean was throwing m&ms at my mouth. I was failing at catching any.
He said" Sleep okay, buddy?"
I said" Yeah."
" That's good, right?"
" Mmhmm. Throw another, I've almost got it." He threw another and I finally caught one," Yes!"
" Good job! Wanna go for two in a row?"
" Uh-huh!" He threw another, I caught it in my mouth again," Yay!"
" Triple threat?" I nodded," Wanna place some money on the table?"
" You'll cheat!"
" I'd never!" He threw an m&m and caught it in his mouth," How dare you think I'd cheat! Come on, a dollar. You've got a dollar, and if you win, you'll get another dollar."
" Fine! But don't cheat."
" I won't, I won't." I got ready, then he threw at least half a handful at me, I squeaked and covered my face.
" Cheater!"
" Sorry, I had to." I pouted, and picked some off the ground, throwing them at him. He chuckled and got another handful, uh-oh.
" No, Dean!" I ran after the other side of the car, crouching down, I moved as he moved to come after me. Then I saw Sam, I ran to him, hiding behind him,
Sam said" What's wrong, River?"
" Dean's a big dummy and waisting deli-deli-"
" Delicious what?"
" M&m's!" I peeked out at Dean, Sam lifted me up, and carried me over to Dean. I pouted,
" He cheated again, didn't he?" Dean smiled,
" Yeah!"
" Okay, okay, hand 'em over." Dean huffed but handed the pack of m&ms over to Sam, Sam threw some at him. I giggled, as Dean rolled his eyes," Happy now, Riv?" I nodded," Let's go." He put me down, opening my door, I got in, he closed my door. He got in, Dean walked around the car and got in, I smiled and leaned back, giggling.