[Of Grave Importance]
EXT. DESERTED STREET – NIGHT
Sam was leaning against the hood of a car. Francesca sat on the hood. Dean carried a tray of take-out food and said, "All right, here we go."
Dean sat between Sam and Francesca and put the tray down on the hood between them. "You know... even though the world is going to crap, there's one thing that I can always count on – these things tasting the same in every drive-through in every state in our great nation." He took a bite of a taco. "Mmm."
A phone rang. Sam and Francesca patted their pockets and Dean took out his cell. "Annie."
"Hey, Dean."
"A nice surprise. How you been?"
CAR – NIGHT
Annie, who appeared to be in her late 30s, was driving.
CAR - NIGHT / DESERTED STREET - NIGHT
"Oh, I'm still kicking," Annie said. "So, good, I guess. Heard about Bobby. I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Dean replied. "Us too. What's up?"
"Well, I got some of his old books. I thought maybe you'd want 'em."
"Yeah. Sure. Where you at?"
"Bodega Bay. Crow's Nest Inn."
"You working?"
"Always. You guys anywhere nearby?"
"Near enough."
"Cool. Why don't we meet at the Pier Front Restaurant – lunch?"
"One o'clock?"
"Yeah. Bye."
EXT. HOUSE – NIGHT
INT. HOUSE – NIGHT
Two teenagers were kissing on a sofa. The room was lit by candles.
"We shouldn't be here," the girl said.
"Yeah. I know," the boy replied.
CAR – NIGHT
Annie was driving. She pulled up to the house.
INT. HOUSE – NIGHT
The girl sat up at the sound of Annie's vehicle. "Cops?"
Annie's car door slammed. The teenagers grabbed flashlights and got up from the sofa.
EXT. HOUSE – NIGHT
Annie walked towards the front door, shining a flashlight.
INT. HOUSE – NIGHT
The teenagers hurried through the house. Their flashlights flickered and went out. A large man was standing in the doorway.
"You shouldn't have come here," the man told the teenagers as he ran towards them.
Annie entered the house, shining a flashlight. She discovered the teenagers' bodies on the floor. There was blood on their faces and blood pooled underneath them. Annie's flashlight flickered and went out. The front door slammed.
INT. PIER FRONT RESTAURANT – DAY
Sam, Francesca and Dean were sitting at a table overlooking the pier. Sam and Francesca were looking at the menu and Dean was reading a newspaper.
"Hey, get this," Dean said. "Dick Roman is funding another archaeological dig. Guy moves more dirt than "The Drudge Report.""
"Well, any – anything on what he's digging for?" Sam questioned.
"Don't you think I would have led with that?"
Sam sighed and looked at his watch. "Annie's not usually this late, is she?"
"No, never. She's totally compulsive. I'll try her cell."
"You know, uh, you know she and Bobby had a thing, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I knew that. Really?"
"Yeah. Kind of a foxhole thing – very Hemingway."
"Huh. She and I kind of went Hemingway this one time, too."
"All right, well... that happens." He made a face.
"What, you too?"
"Look, it was a while back. We ended up on the same case. She was stressed. I-I-I... I didn't... have a soul."
"That's a lot of foxholes. She's not answering. Well, here's to ghosts that aren't there." He poured some whiskey from his flask into his coffee mug.
"You sound kind of disappointed. Frankie, you're awfully quiet."
Francesca looked between them. "I just- I... What if something happened to Annie?"
"Ah, it's better this way," Dean said as he took Francesca's hand. "I mean, even though I wish we could see him again doesn't mean that we should."
They clinked their coffee mugs together and drank.
"Ahh. Are we being stood up?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, let's hope that's all this is," Sam replied.
The flask rocked slightly on the table. Neither Dean nor Sam noticed. Francesca frowned and tilted her head as she watched it waver.
EXT. PIER FRONT RESTAURANT – DAY
Sam, Francesca and Dean were walking towards their car. Dean was holding his phone to his ear.
"Nothing?" Sam and Francesca asked.
"Straight to voicemail," Dean replied. "Something's not right."
"What's she doing on Bodega Bay?" Sam wondered.
"She's working some kind of job. She didn't really say." He took out his flask, unscrewed the lid and tipped it upside down – it was empty. "I got to get a refill."
"You know what, man? Why don't you, uh, just pack it away for a while? All it does is remind us of him, you know?"
"Yeah, I thought about that, but, uh... not yet."
Dean walked around the car to the driver's side. Bobby was sitting in the back seat of the car, but Sam, Francesca and Dean didn't seem to see him.
"Let's go check out Annie's hotel room," Dean said.
INT. MOTEL – DAY
Dean and Francesca were sitting on the bed looking at some of Annie's research.
"These go back years – disappearances never solved," Sam told them as he sat at the table. "They stop a few decades back, then pick up again just recently. All teenagers."
"Looks like Annie found a spot a lot of them liked to poke around just before they went missing," Dean noted.
"Yeah?"
Francesca nodded. "Yeah. Old Van Ness house." She and Dean got up to show the information about the house to Sam. Bobby was now sitting at the table across from Sam, but Sam, Francesca and Dean didn't appear to see him.
"It's, uh, cheery," Dean commented.
"Well, the police combed the place," Sam said. "They always come up dry."
The curtain next to Sam moved, but Sam, Francesca and Dean were each looking in the other direction.
Francesca let out a light scoff. "Yeah, local law. Always on the ball."
"Guys..." Bobby called.
Sam, Francesca and Dean didn't hear him.
"So, built in 1862 by the Van Ness family..." Sam began.
"I just made that curtain shimmy," Bobby said.
"...who lost it in the early 1900s."
"Could you look in the right place at the right time?"
"Put up for sale a few years back. No takers."
"Probably 'cause it creeps their queso," Dean stated.
"Balls, this is exhausting," Bobby muttered.
"It's just been sitting there, boarded up, for ages," Sam said. "Oh. Get this. I guess a couple months back, someone put it on one of those, uh, "most haunted houses in America" lists."
Francesca glanced at him. "Let me guess – that's when the, uh, teenagers started to go missing."
"Yep."
"Okay. Now let's get rolling," Bobby told them.
"Ah, I say we get rolling," Dean said.
Sam, Francesca and Dean left the room. Bobby stood and looked at the closed door as he muttered, "Idjits."
Dean's jacket, with the flask in the pocket, was hanging over a chair. The door opened and Dean reached in to get his jacket.
"Thank you," Bobby said before flickering and disappearing.
INT. DESERTED HOUSE – DAY
Dean, Francesca and Sam entered the house, shining flashlights. Bobby was behind them.
"Honey, I'm home," Dean called, earning a small chuckle from Francesca.
"Geez," Bobby commented. "My people."
Bobby could see other ghosts in the room, which were not visible to Dean, Francesca and Sam.
"All right, let's go."
Dean, Francesca and Sam went upstairs.
"Hi. I'm Bobby, and I'm a ghost. Hoping for a little ghost orientation here. Je m'appelle Bobby." None of the ghosts responded. "Chilly."
---
Dean, Francesca and Sam entered an upstairs room.
"Annie?" Dean and Francesca called as the former dialed a number and held his phone to his ear.
Sam was holding an EMF reader, which was flashing and making noise. "There's a whole lot of something going on."
A phone rang somewhere nearby. Dean, Francesca and Sam walked in the direction of the sound and found a phone on the floor.
---
Bobby was watching the teenagers walk slowly past him. On the stairs, a man in a suit was admonishing the large man who ran towards the teenagers.
"I know what you did last night, and you know it was forbidden!" the man in a suit said. "I don't brook that sort of thing in my home. Don't do it again, Dexter, or there will be consequences."
---
Dean, Francesca and Sam were walking through the house. They went up the stairs as Bobby watched.
"The call to me was the last one she made," Dean said. "So where the hell is she?"
"Bobby?" Annie called.
"Annie!" Bobby exclaimed. "We've been looking for you."
"I can't believe you're here."
"Yeah. I'm a doornail. Bad news here. If you can see me, you are, too."
INT. DESERTED HOUSE – NIGHT
Annie and Bobby were sitting on a sofa.
"Wow," Annie said. "Dead. Ghost. Me. Three words you never want to use in a sentence. I feel like I was drugged."
"I get it," Bobby replied. "I figure it was a month before I even knew I was still here. You're doing well."
"Terrific."
"So, uh... So, you duck your reaper, too?"
"What? No. I never even saw one. You – Bobby. You ran away from your reaper? On purpose? That's why you're still here? You stupid, crazy old–"
"Hey. I remember a time when you liked how crazy I was."
"Oh, shut up! I can't believe you. You know what? As a regular ghost with no choice in the matter, screw you."
"Hey. I got unfinished business here, same as you."
"Uh-huh. And there's my unfinished business right now." The teenagers were walking slowly through the room. "Kids! Hello? You're dead."
"Well, they're not the brightest bulbs on the string."
"I came in, they were roadkill. Then this big guy charges me. And now I'm... Crap. Is there a fun aspect to this?"
"Not really. And so far, I can't crack the code on any of it. I mean, I've seen poltergeists bench a piano as a warm-up. I tried to help the boys and Frankie out once by knocking a book off the table and blacked out for two weeks."
"So, Sam, Frankie and Dean don't even know you're here? Wow. That is messed up."
---
Dean, Francesca and Sam were walking through the house. Dean was listening to Annie's phone messages. Sam's EMF reader was flashing and making noises.
A woman on Annie's voicemail said, "Hey, Annie, I'm e-mailing you those news clippings that you asked for. I..."
"We're redlining all over the place," Sam informed. "Assume the worst?"
"Yeah, I always do," Dean and Francesca replied, the latter in a softer tone.
"Okay. Vengeful spirit, maybe lots of them. Killing kids. Look around. No blood. No anything. Certainly no bodies."
"Well, if evil is partying here, it's got a hell of a cleanup crew," Dean noted. "Wait, wait, wait."
"What?" Sam and Francesca asked.
"Here's something." He pushed buttons on Annie's phone. "From earlier this week."
"Okay."
A woman said on Annie's voicemail, "Free me. Free me."
"Where'd that come from?" Sam wondered.
The display on the phone read "(...)...-...."
"You two ever seen a phone number look like that?" Dean asked.
---
Annie and Bobby were sitting on the sofa. A ghost, Haskel Crane, materialized through a wall in front of them and moved a chair closer to a bar.
"All right, that's cool," Annie said.
"Excuse me. Hey! Boss!" Bobby called.
Haskel ignored them. He sat down and opened a book.
"Dick," Annie muttered.
"Yeah, well... Ghosts ain't the most sociable type to come down the pike," Bobby told her. "But if he can do it..." He tried to move the table in front of him, but fell through it onto the floor. Haskel laughed. "Balls."
"Graceful."
"Novices," Haskel commented. "You all make the same mistakes."
Bobby and Annie walked over to Haskel.
"I suppose you know all about it," Bobby said.
"Well, I've been at it 80 years."
"Yo, uh, fresh meat here," Annie stated. "Not even sure what happened."
"Really?"
"I got shot right in the melon, never felt a thing," Bobby said. "You?"
"I was stabbed, brutally, right here at this bar, April 17, 1932."
"Who done ya?"
"I'm really very busy."
"How come there's so many dead folk in this place, anyway? You know anything about that?"
"I guess we're not supposed to talk about that," Annie said as Haskel started to stand. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Haskel sat back in his chair. "Uh, my friend is a little nosy, mister...?"
"Crane – Haskel Crane," Haskel replied.
"Haskel... you're right. We are novices, so, could you do me a solid and show me how to move that chair? It's one stupid chair."
"Baby steps, gorgeous. Try this first." Haskel pushed a candle across the bar towards Annie. She tried to grab it, but her hand passed straight through. Bobby tried and the same thing happened. "You're angsting at it. You know what getting frustrated will get you?" He chuckled. "Nothing. You've got two ways to move things. What I did – which you obviously must – is calm yourself."
"You're saying we should move crap with the power of Zen," Bobby said.
"I'm telling you to let go of all that. Calmly tell the thing what to do." Bobby reached a hand towards the candle. "You're getting tense."
"You're not helpful." Bobby tried to grab the candle, but his hand passed through it again. "What's option two? You said there were two ways."
"Oh, you could use explosive anger and pure, red-hot rage, but that's impossible to manufacture. Sorry."
"Makes sense," Annie noted. "Like poltergeists – vengeful spirits."
"I am vengeful," Bobby said. "You think I don't have red-hot rage?"
"I think you're a sad excuse for one of us, and I'm unsurprised that you're failing," Haskel told him. "Take my help or don't, but if you want to move a flea, surrender."
"For the record, I hated that Swayze flick – romantic bullcrap."
Bobby reached a hand towards the candle again. A woman screamed. Bobby and Annie turn and see that the screaming was coming from one of the ghosts in the room. The ghost then rushed towards them, before turning into dust and vanishing.
"What in cold hell was that?" Bobby asked.
"That's you one day," Haskel replied. "That's all of us. We deteriorate at different rates – some sooner, some later. And eventually all... like that." He looked towards a female ghost with gray hair and a partly decomposing face. "Nothing left at all."
"Ghost Alzheimer's."
"I'm liking this less," Annie stated.
Dean, Francesca and Sam walked into the room and the former said, "Well, that is every square inch of this place. No bodies, no pieces of bodies – no Annie. A whole lot of sizzle and no steak."
"Well, maybe no news is good news," Sam guessed.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning maybe she's just not here. Maybe she's still okay."
Francesca glanced at him and asked, "Yeah, and what does your gut say?"
"Let's just see if there's anything else in her research."
"Sam! Dean! Frankie!" Annie called.
"Honey, don't you think I've tried that?" Bobby said. "I shouted myself hoarse."
"But I'm right here!"
"Well, now you know how all the ghosts who have ever tried to talk to us feel. You just have to wait until they find you."
"But I don't even know where I'm at. And I've searched every room five times. No wonder they're walking away."
"Is it me, or am I being checked out?"
A female ghost in a red dress was looking at Bobby and Annie.
"No, stud. I'm being checked out." Annie and Bobby walked over to the ghost. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Victoria," the ghost replied.
"Annie."
"I saw you here the other day. I know the kind of work you do. Did."
"Hey, I'm still doing it. I mean, other-dimensionally speaking."
"Atta girl," Bobby said.
"Wait. Your voice. You're the one on my phone."
Victoria nodded. "When you were here, I was able to call out to you that way."
"Ah, spectral voice transference."
"Right," Bobby noted. "Ghost juju."
"Sure. So... W-what exactly did you mean when you said, "free me"? Victoria, free you from what?" Bobby vanished and Victoria gasped. "Bobby!"
CAR – NIGHT
Dean, Francesca and Sam were sitting in the car outside the deserted house.
"Where'd Annie get her intel? Do we know?" Dean asked as he drank from the flask. Bobby was in the back seat.
"Stupid flask," Bobby muttered.
"Bodega Bay Heritage Society," Sam said as he held up a Bodega Bay Heritage Society booklet.
"Boys, Frankie, come on. All the action's back in the pool. Let's go!" Dean started the engine. "Damn it."
INT. BODEGA BAY HERITAGE SOCIETY – NIGHT
There was a large black-and-white photograph of the Van Ness house and information about early residents of Bodega Bay.
The historian said, "The house dates back to the mid-19th century. Miles Van Ness made his fortune in the gold rush, eventually settling his family in Bodega Bay."
"Anything... unusual ever happen in the house?" Sam asked.
"Oh, over the course of a century, things are going to happen in a house."
Bobby was looking at a hanging lamp. ""Tell it what to do.""
"Some locals swear it's haunted."
Bobby took a deep breath and tried to touch the lamp with a finger. "Move." His finger passed right through the lamp.
"Every village has its idiots."
"We only want the real scoop, of course," Dean said.
"Balls!" Bobby cried.
"Whitman Van Ness," the historian stated. "Son and heir. Handsome, charming, dogged by tragedy all his life. He lost the family fortune, then the house. It became a bordello. He lived in isolation till his death at age 40."
"He's still there."
"Who's the, uh, the bruiser there?" Dean asked.
The historian pointed to a photograph of Dexter standing next to Van Ness as he said, "Dexter O'Connell. A convict. An extremely violent man."
"He's there, too," Bobby commented.
"Mr. Van Ness was socially progressive and took pity on him. He worked as grounds keeper. Dexter was convicted for murdering Whitman's fiancée on the eve of their wedding. Another calamitous event in the poor man's life."
"Hmm," Sam and Francesca hummed.
"Well, thank you," Dean said.
"The house is popular this week," the historian told them.
"What do you mean?" Francesca asked.
"A lady came by the other day asking all sorts of questions."
"Uh, 30s, red hair, good-looking?" Dean asked, earning a glare from Francesca. "Sorry, honey."
"Mm. I gave her the same advice I'll give to you. Stay away from the place. It's extremely unsafe."
Sam, Francesca and Dean nodded and left.
Bobby was trying unsuccessfully to move coins on a table.
INT. MOTEL – NIGHT
Bobby looked exasperated.
"So, besides Whitman's fiancée..." Sam began as he read a photocopy of a newspaper near the open bathroom door as the shower ran, "...Dexter O'Connell was also convicted of killing a bunch of hookers who worked at the brothel." The newspaper headline read 'Woman slain on eve of wedding was fiancée of Whitman Van Ness.'. "He escaped before they could hang him. But then he returned to the house, where he was found shot to death. Why would he escape and then go right back to the house where he got arrested?"
Bobby tried again to move a coin.
Dean said from the shower, "I don't know. Add that to a list of things don't know."
"So what's the next move?" Francesca asked.
"You know, if I could, I'd be getting old waiting on you three to figure this out," Bobby said.
Dean partly opened the shower curtain and grabbed a towel, then closed the curtain again.
Bobby was looking at the steamed-up bathroom mirror as he spoke to himself. "All right, now. I can kill werewolves, fix a Pinto, and bake cornbread. I will be damned if I can't get Zen."
EXT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Two teenage boys were standing outside the house. One held a video camera and was recording himself.
"We're posting this video as a warning about..." teenage boy one began.
"Or possibly a memorial to..." teenage boy two added.
"Our friends Debbie Tellen and Dudley Scott, last known whereabouts..."
"The Van Ness house..."
"Since the cops haven't done crap..."
"In what may be the final moments of their love story."
"They've been together since like eighth grade."
"Yeah. They entered this house and texted us."
"We're going in."
"Ooh-ooh-ooh."
INT. MOTEL – NIGHT
Dean ran his hands through his wet hair. He looked at the mirror and called, "Sam? Frankie?"
"What?" Sam and Francesca asked.
"Tell me either of you wrote that."
"Annie trapped in house" was written in the condensation on the mirror.
"Uh... No. No, I didn't," Sam replied.
Francesca shook her head. "I didn't either."
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
The teenage boys entered the house.
"They came into the house..." one teenage boy began.
Annie watched them.
"Well, then, who's there?" Dean asked.
INT. MOTEL – NIGHT
"I said, who's there?!" Dean yelled.
The hot water faucet on the sink turned and steam rose. An invisible Bobby wrote "B" and then "o" on the mirror.
"Bobby?"
Francesca gasped and blinked several times.
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
"They walked through... these halls..." teenage boy one began.
"Seeking a grotto of love," teenage boy two finished.
"Seriously?"
"What?"
The front door slammed and the teenage boys jumped.
INT. MOTEL – NIGHT
"Bobby?" Dean said.
"Bobby" was now written in full on the mirror. Bobby was standing next to the mirror.
"Yes," Bobby confirmed.
Dean, Francesca and Sam couldn't hear him.
"This whole time, we've been trying to talk ourselves out of it, he's been – what's he doing here?"
Sam picked up the flask and held it out to Dean. "Dude."
"We don't have time for this!" Bobby told them. "Get your asses back to that house!"
Francesca looked between the brothers. "We got to get back to that house, stat. Vamos."
(Let's go.)
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
"What happened?" teenage boy two asked.
Dexter was standing in the next room.
"Hello?" teenage boy one called.
Dexter walked purposefully towards the teenage boys. "You shouldn't have come here!"
The teenage boys started to run from Dexter, but stopped as Van Ness was now in front of them.
"Dexter. I expressly forbid you!" Van Ness yelled. "Enough!"
"Thank you," teenage boy one said.
Van Ness plunged a hand into both the teenage boys' chests. They gurgled blood as Annie watched. Van Ness withdrew his hands and the teenage boys fell to the floor.
"Dexter, you tried to warn them away."
"You have enough of us," Dexter told him. "They're just children, Whitman. I can't watch this happen all over again."
Dexter turned to leave, but Van Ness appeared in front of him and plunged a hand into his chest. White light flared as Annie watched.
"Shut up."
Dexter appeared to burn up in white light, which also appeared in Van Ness' eyes. Dexter disappeared and the light was absorbed into Van Ness' hand. Annie pressed her back against the wall.
---
Annie walked over to the teenage boys' bodies and tried to take the camera from teenage boy one, but her hand passed right through it. She stood and gasped: Victoria was standing right next to her.
"Ah, Victoria. Grab the camera," Annie said.
"No," Victoria replied. "I can't. We don't meddle in Whitman's affairs."
"Hold it. Let's get real. You sent me the S.O.S., and now I'm here. So, give me a hand."
"But now he can get you, too."
"Get me how? I'm already dead. Okay, you want to help me understand? Exactly what did he do to Dexter?"
"Punished him. He was trying to warn them. He tried to warn you, too. He drained him."
"Drained? What does that mean?"
"That's why he's so strong and why you should stay out of sight. We're merely food to him – food and perverse entertainment."
"So, when he does that, what happens? Just... poof?"
"Forever."
"See, I thought that Whitman was some poor guy, and Dexter killed his fiancée."
"No. Whitman framed him. Whitman killed all of us. When this house was a brothel, I worked here as a fancy lady. He slit my throat."
""Fancy lady"? A hooker?"
"Please. And now, even in death, every soul he traps here makes him stronger."
"Okay, so, where does he keep the bodies?"
"I don't know."
"Victoria, you've been here forever."
"You don't follow him around."
"Listen, we are going to pull the plug on this bastard. Now grab the damn camera."
"Oh, dear." She took the camera from teenage boy one's hand and gasped. "It's him!"
Victoria and Annie hid as Van Ness dragged the teenage boys' bodies away. He pulled a lever and a bookcase opened, revealing a hidden door. He dragged the bodies into the concealed room.
EXT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Dean, Francesca and Sam were taking guns out of the trunk.
"We combed the crap out of this place. If Annie's in there and we didn't find her..." Francesca trailed.
"It's 'cause something didn't want us to," Sam finished.
"Awesome," Dean said. "Well, let's walk right into that."
They went inside the house.
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Dean, Francesca and Sam looked around using flashlights. Bobby was behind them.
"All right, I'll check upstairs," Sam said.
"Yeah," Dean and Francesca replied.
Bobby took the flask out of Dean's jacket pocket.
"Annie?" Dean and Francesca called.
"Sorry, boys. Sorry, Frankie," Bobby apologized. "I'm leaving the pack."
"Annie!" Dean yelled. "It's Dean! And Sam and Frankie."
Sam called in the distance, "Annie?"
The camera fell to the ground at Dean and Francesca's feet.
"That's not odd," Dean commented as Francesca frowned.
Dean picked up the camera. Bobby put the flask in a drawer.
"Sam, get back down here!" Francesca shouted. "Annie?"
Sam came down the stairs. Annie and Victoria were standing behind Dean and Francesca.
"Slimer?" Dean said.
"What?" Sam asked.
"Check it out." He played the recording on the video camera.
"The final moments of their love story," teenage boy two said.
"They've been together since like eighth grade," teenage boy one informed.
"Yeah. They entered this house and texted us."
"Oh, I hate these indie films," Dean said. "Nothing ever happens."
"They came into the house," teenage boy one said. "They walked through these halls."
"Wait, wait," Sam told his brother. "Pause it. Frame back a little bit. Stop."
Annie was visible on the recording.
"She's here, and not in a good way," Francesca said.
Bobby was now standing next to Annie and Victoria as he stated, "Give them a moment. They've got a little slower since I left."
"Annie?" Dean called.
"Got to let them know that I'm here," Annie said.
"Anything?" Sam and Francesca asked.
Annie spoke to Victoria. "You have to do it."
"Annie!"
"We can't."
"Annie!" Dean said.
"It's too dangerous," Victoria told her.
"These guys and girl can help," Annie explained. "They just need to know that we're here."
"Annie!" Sam called.
Victoria appeared behind Sam, Francesca and Dean. They turned, saw her and raised their guns.
"Whoa!" Sam cried.
"Please," Victoria said. "I'm Victoria – Victoria Dodd."
"Where'd you come from?" Francesca asked.
"Here. I was a fancy lady."
"A hooker?" Dean said, earning looks.
"Uh, is Annie here?" Sam questioned.
"Yes," Victoria replied. "You can't see her. No, you're not standing on her."
"You want to just tell them?" Annie said.
"I will. In my day, we believed in polite conversation. Annie's in terrible danger. We all are."
"From?" Sam pressed.
"Whitman Van Ness."
Van Ness was watching from upstairs.
"But he's dead," Dean pointed out.
"I thought you said they were good."
"Hey, I'm just processing, okay, lady? He's dead. You're dead." Van Ness flickered and disappeared. "Define "terrible danger.""
"Whitman has great power over all of us in the house. He killed Annie. She says you can free us. Please, you must–" She screamed and burned up in flames.
"Victoria?" Sam and Francesca called.
"I'm gonna say she was telling the truth, considering that she just... got ghost-killed," Dean said.
"So, what?" Sam asked. "Whitman Van Ness?"
"Now we know whose bones to salt and burn," Francesca stated. "Let's go."
Dean and Sam walked away. Francesca adjusted her gun. Van Ness slipped a key into Francesca's pocket. Francesca then followed Dean and Sam and Van Ness disappeared.
EXT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Dean, Francesca and Sam got into their car. Bobby and Annie watched from the window. Van Ness was in the back seat.
"Aw, hell no," Bobby muttered.
Dean, Sam, Francesca and Van Ness drove away.
EXT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Bobby and Annie were walking up the stairs as the former said, "If I hadn't stashed that flask here, I'd still be glued to Sam, Frankie and Dean. Real clever."
"Actually was," Annie agreed.
"Son of a bitch. I figured our one ace was that bastard Whitman couldn't leave the house either."
"Must have pulled a number like you and the flask. Probably planted something on the boys and girl."
"Terrific."
"Hey, listen, sweetie – you could beat yourself up all day about this, or we could take advantage of the fact that Whitman's gone, do what we're supposed to do. Let's go figure this out. Coming, Robert?"
Annie and Bobby walked down a hallway and stood in front of a door.
"Well, we searched everywhere else," Bobby said.
"I'm telling you, Whitman guards his room like Fort Knox," Annie told him as she and Bobby walked through the door into a sitting room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace.
"Last time I checked, ghosts didn't get cold."
A skeleton and the remains of a red dress were in the fire.
"Yeah. That's Victoria," Annie confirmed. "That is how he took her out. But where did he get her corpse?"
"Well, you said he dragged those two dead kids away. Where'd he take them?"
"Yeah, I don't know. I couldn't risk following him."
"What else did you say this place was, other than a whorehouse?"
"It was a lot of things. It was a boarding house, a school... a speakeasy."
"Yeah, well, thing about speakeasies – hell of a lot to hide."
Bobby and Annie searched the room. Bobby pulled the lever that Van Ness used to open the bookcase, and it swung open.
"I still got it," Bobby said.
Bobby and Annie entered the room behind the bookcase. It contained skeletons and corpses in various stages of decomposition, Annie's body and the teenage boys' bodies. Annie looked stricken upon seeing her body.
"Well, this pretty much tells the story, don't it?" Bobby stated. "You know, you and me – we burned our fair share of bones, sent a lot of ghosts packing."
"It's a little different when you're on the receiving end," Annie replied. "So, uh... what do you think happens to 'em – Heaven, Hell, or... none of the above?"
"I don't know. Just... gone, most likely."
"Yeah, that's what I think, too. That's what I want. I want a hunter's funeral. Oh, come on. It's better than this – stuck to this house, somewhere between existing and not. No, I'm... ready for some peace. Wasn't much of a life. It was lonely, what we do."
"Yeah, well, the life I had is the one I picked."
"Yeah, but you had the boys and Frankie. All I had was work. It's gone now."
"Yeah, well, I ain't done."
"Okay, fine, but I am. You're stronger than I am now, Bobby, so, uh, you got to do this for me."
CAR – NIGHT
Dean was driving while Sam was online and Francesca was in the back.
"All right," Sam said. "Here we go – cemetery, edge of town. The Van Ness family has its own mausoleum."
"All right, we light up the bastard and finish him off," Dean said.
The car accelerated from about 50 miles an hour to about 80.
"Take it easy. We'll get there."
"Uh, that's not me."
Dean struggled to hold onto the steering wheel as it moved. Van Ness appeared next to Dean and tried to turn the wheel, causing the car to swerve. Dean managed to bring the car to a stop and he, Francesca and Sam got out.
EXT. STREET – NIGHT
"Why's he with us?!" Sam and Francesca yelled.
"I don't know," Dean replied. "There's got to be something on us!"
Dean, Francesca and Sam patted down their clothing.
"Hey, hey," Francesca said as she took out the key that Van Ness put in her jacket pocket. Van Ness appeared behind Francesca and plunged a hand into her back. "Ugh!"
"Frankie!" Sam and Dean called.
Dean grabbed the key from Francesca, tossed it onto the ground and shot it. Van Ness vanished in a cloud of dust. Francesca gasped and Dean put out a hand to steady her.
"Did that do it?" Francesca asked. "Did that get rid of him?"
"I don't know," Dean admitted. "I got a bad idea we just snapped him back to his favorite house. You okay, hon?"
Francesca nodded. "I'm okay."
"Where Annie's a sitting duck," Sam said.
"We got to find those bones," Dean told them. "Come on."
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
"Let's build up the fire," Bobby suggested. "We can put some of these poor bastards to rest, at least."
EXT. CEMETERY – NIGHT
Dean, Francesca and Sam were walking through the cemetery with flashlights. They found the Van Ness mausoleum.
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Van Ness ran up the stairs. Bobby and Annie were standing in front of the fireplace in Van Ness' room.
"Well, let's get to cremating," Bobby said. "We ain't got all day."
Van Ness strode down the hallway and walked through the door to his room. Bobby and Annie were hiding around a corner. When Van Ness looked around the corner, they were gone.
INT. VAN NESS MAUSOLEUM – NIGHT
Dean used a hammer and chisel on a plaque that read "Whitman Van Ness – October 16th 1895 - November 14th 1935".
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Bobby and Annie hurried down the stairs to the ground floor.
Van Ness appeared in front of them and said, "Enjoy the view from my room? Planning to thin out the population? Is this how you repay my hospitality?!"
Van Ness plunged a hand into Bobby's chest. Bobby started to burn up in white light, which also appeared in Van Ness' eyes.
INT. VAN NESS MAUSOLEUM – NIGHT
Dean lit a match and threw it into Van Ness' coffin.
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Van Ness jumped and the white light retreated from Bobby. Flames started to appear on Van Ness' clothing.
"No!" Van Ness yelled. "I will not be taken!
Flames engulfed Van Ness and he vanished. Bobby fell to the ground with a thud.
INT. VAN NESS MAUSOLEUM – NIGHT
Sam, Francesca and Dean watched Van Ness' skeleton burn.
INT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Annie was kneeling next to Bobby, who was unconscious on the floor in the entryway of the house.
"How long was I out?" Bobby asked.
"A while," Annie replied. "Are you okay?"
"Sure." He sat up. "I mean... I'm dead, I'm a ghost... but, basically, swell."
Dean, Francesca and Sam entered the house. Annie was no longer visible next to Bobby.
"Hi, boys. Hi, Frankie," Bobby greeted.
Dean, Francesca and Sam stared at Bobby.
"Bobby?" Dean and Francesca said.
"Wait. You can see me?" Bobby questioned.
Dean, Francesca and Sam continued to stare at Bobby, who was now standing.
"You're staring, you know," Bobby told them. " Annie's here, too, by the way."
"Hi, Annie," Dean and Francesca greeted.
"H-hi, Annie," Sam stammered.
Annie was now visible again, standing behind Bobby as she said, "Hi, guys."
Bobby pointed a thumb in Annie's direction. Sam, Francesca and Dean looked around, but couldn't see her.
"She says you boys look uglier than she remembered," Bobby said. "She says you'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that, Frankie."
Annie hit Bobby lightly on the back, still not visible to Sam, Dean and Francesca.
"Bobby, h-how'd you stay here?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, well, uh..." Bobby began as he walked to the drawer and took out the flask. He tossed it to Dean. "Suck on that, Swayze."
"That's why you never answered me. I tried calling you – the, uh, talking board, the works – but I was always alone. Dean always had that thing in his pocket. Frankie sometimes had it. That's why the EMF only went off half the time. We thought we were going crazy."
"S-so, what happened?" Dean wondered. "Did you get stuck or – or what?"
"I wanted to stay," Bobby replied.
Francesca frowned. "Bobby."
"I need to help."
"Not if it means you have to... be this," Sam told him.
"Well, life wasn't comfy. Why should death be? Now, come on." Annie was visible behind Bobby again. "Annie and I found all the bodies. Let's put 'em to rest. And keep my damn flask away from the fire... obviously." Bobby headed for the stairs. Annie was no longer visible. "Well, you coming?"
EXT. VAN NESS HOUSE – NIGHT
Dean, Francesca and Sam were putting their things in the trunk of the car. Bobby looked at the front door of the house, then walked over to them and said, "I'll miss her."
"Me too," Dean and Francesca replied.
"Yeah," Sam agreed.
"Well, you didn't know her like I did," Bobby told them.
Dean laughed briefly and Sam cleared his throat. Francesca looked between the three men with an awkward expression.
"Well, uh..." Dean began as he took out the flask. "Here's to Annie. She got the hunter's funeral she wanted." He took a drink. "Kind of like the one we thought we gave you."
"Dean," Sam called.
"What were you thinking, Bobby? You could be in Heaven right now, drinking beer at Harvelle's, not – not stuck..."
"Stuck here with you?" Bobby finished. "We still have work to do. I just thought that was kind of important, Dean."
"It's not right, and you know that."
"Sorry. You're right. What was I thinking?" Bobby vanished. Dean and Sam looked at each other and the former tossed the flask into the trunk.
Francesca shot Dean a look and got into the car, slamming her door.
CAR – NIGHT
"So, what do you think we should do?" Sam asked.
"We did what we should do," Dean replied. "Now I don't know."
"I mean, do you think it's possible we could – I don't know – make it all work somehow?"
"I have no idea. Maybe. I've never heard of it. But you know what I do know? It ain't the natural order of things. Everything is supposed to end. You know, he was supposed... And now... What are the odds this ends well?" Bobby was in the back seat next to Francesca who didn't see him. "What are the odds?" He turned back to Francesca. "I'm sorry, Frankie. But you know what he's doing isn't right."
Francesca glared at him. "You think I don't know that? But Bobby is here, in a way, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. Wouldn't you feel the same if it was your folks?"
Dean nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess. I'm sorry, Frankie. Really."
"Just don't be a jackass like that again."
"I'll try not to. But you know it's kind of a given."
She let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. And I still love you."
He smiled lightly. "I love you too, Frankie."