Alison held onto deans hand as they walked up to the front door of the house. Sam started picking the lock.
"Uh...isn't this a crime scene?" Sarah asked.
"You already lied to the cops. Whats another infraction?" Dean asked making Alison giggle.
Sam finally got the door and pushed it open. They went in and Sam pulled the painting down, setting in in front of them.
Sam looked very closely at the painting, mainly up by the frame.
"Aren't you worried that it's gonna, you know, kill us?" Sarah asked.
"No, it seems to do its thing at night." Sam said. "I think we're all right in daylight."
Alison shifted her head as she held onto deans hand, dean was looking at the copy of the painting.
He noticed on the table in the copy, there was a razor blade. He looked up at the painting, and it was there. But I'm the copy, it was closed, in the painting, it was open.
"Sam, check it out." Dean spoke up. "The razor— it's closed in this one, but it's open in that one." He handed the paper to Sam.
"What are you guys looking for?" Sarah asked them.
"Well, if the spirits changing aspects of the painting, maybe it's doing so for a reason." Dean said as he ran his fingers through Alisons hair.
"Hey, hey, look at this— the painting in the painting." Sam spoke up.
Dean furrowed his brows as he picked Alison up, and moved to his brother to look at the paper.
He looked closely, seeing as the painting in the painting was of mountains, he looked at the painting in front of them, it was of a mausoleum in a graveyard.
"It looks like a crypt or a mausoleum or something." Dean said.
A mauso what?" Alison asked, scrunching her nose up.
"A mausoleum." Dean said. "You'll learn when you're older." He told her.
Dean looked around, then picked up a glass bowl on the table. He got close to the painting, and used the bowl as a magnifying glass to see the name on the mausoleum.
"Merchant." He read.
~~~
Alison played with the collar of Sams jacket as they walked through the graveyard.
"This is the third boneyard we've checked." Dean sighed. "This ghost is jerking us around."
"So, this is what you guys do for a living?" Sarah asked.
"Yep." Alison nodded.
"You don't do anything." Sam stated, raising his brows at her.
"I help!" Alison crossed her arms. "Sometimes." She added.
Sam chuckled and shook his head.
"We don't get paid, so it's not exactly for a living." Sam said to Sarah.
"Well, mazel tov." She said.
Alison furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Over there." Dean spoke up as he saw the mausoleum.
They all started towards it.
Dean got the door open and coughed at the smell that came out of it. Alison scrunched her nose up.
Dean pushed through the cob webs, into the small room. There was cases full of things from the merchant family. The urns sat in front of every item.
"Okay, that right there is the creepiest thing I've ever seen." Sarah spoke.
The Winchesters looked up at her to see her looking at a doll in one of the cases.
"It was sort of a tradition at the time." Sam said. "Whenever a child died, sometimes they'd preserve the kids favorite toy in a glass case, put it next to the headstone in the crypt." He explained.
Alison looked up at dean.
"Daddy, you know I love my teddy bear, but please don't do that." Alison told him.
"You have nothing to worry about, because you're not dying any time soon." Dean said as Sam passed her over to him.
"Promise?" Alison asked him, holding up her pinky.
"I promise." Dean linked his pinky to hers.
Alison smiled as Dean kissed her cheek. Sarah and Sam smiled at them. Dean looked around.
"You guys notice anything strange here?" He asked.
"Uh, where do I start?" Sarah questioned.
"No, that's not what I mean." Dean said as Sam smiled at Sarah. "Look at the urns."
Sam and Sarah looked at them.
"Yeah, there are only four." Sam said.
"Yeah, mom and the three kids. Daddy's dearest isn't here." Dean stated, adjusting Alison in his arms.
"So where is he?" Alison asked. "I'm not playing hide and seek with no ghost." She crossed her arms.
"You aren't gonna have anything to do with this ghost, you understand me?" Dean told her.
Alison huffed.
~~~
"So, what exactly is your brother doing in there?" Sarah asked Sam as Alison and Dean had gone into the building.
"Searching county death certificates." Sam told her. "Trying to find out what happened to Isaiahs body."
"How's he even get in the door?" Sarah asked.
"Lying a subterfuge, mostly." Sam chuckled. "You have a, um— you have an eyelash on your..." Sam trailed off.
Sarah reached up to get it off, but she missed.
"You have it right— no. Uh, you know what?" Sam laughed as Sarah giggled. "Do you mind if I—"
"No."
"Okay." Sam reached up to remove the eyelash. "Okay, I got it. Make a wish." He held it up.
Sarah chuckled before blowing the eyelash off of Sams finger.
Sam smiled lightly.
"Sam, can I ask you something?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, sure." Sam nodded.
"I don't mean to be forward, but a girl could wait here forever. Is there something here between us, or am I delusional?" Sarah asked him.
"You're not delusional." Sam told her.
"But there's a but coming." Sarah stated.
"But..." Sam started. "I don't think this would be a good idea." He said.
"Can I ask why?" Sarah asked.
"'Cause I like you." Sam said.
"Wait. You lost me." Sarah told him.
They both chuckled.
"Look, it's hard to explain." Sam said. "It's just that when people are around me...I don't know, they get hurt."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.
"I mean, like, physically hurt. With what my brother and I do, it's..." Sam sighed. "Sarah...I had a girlfriend. And she died. And my mom died, too. I don't know, it's like...it's like I'm cursed or something...like death just followed me around. Look, I'm not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody—"
"You're scared they might get hurt, too." Sarah finished for him. "That's very sweet and very archaic." She told him.
"Sorry?" Sam asked.
"Look, I'm a big girl, sam. It's not your job to make decisions for me. There's always a chance of getting hurt."
"I'm not talking about a broken heart and a tub of Haagen-dazs. I'm talking about life and death."
"And tomorrow, I could get hit by a bus. That's what life is." Sarah stated. "Look, I know losing somebody you love— it's terrible. You shut yourself off. Believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain...you shut out everything else, too." Sarah said.
"Sarah, you don't understand. The pain that I went through...I can't go through it again. I can't." Sam shook his head.
"Are we interrupting something?" Dean asked as he approached them.
"Daddy, why would you do that? They were gonna kiss!" Alison huffed.
"We weren't going to kiss, Alison." Sam told her.
"It's not good to lie, uncle Sammy." Alison raised her brows at him.
"I'm not— you know what, nevermind." Sam shook his head. "What did you find out?" He asked his brother.
"Pay dirt. Apparently, the surviving relatives of the merchant family were so shamed of Isaiah that they didn't want him interred with the rest of the family, so they handed him over to the county. The county have him a paupers funeral, economy-style." Dean explained. "Turns out he wasn't cremated. He was buried in a pine box."
"So there are bones to burn." Sam said.
"There are bones to burn." Dean confirmed.
"Tell me you know where."
Dean smiled.
~~~
Alison stood next to Sarah as sam and Dean dug up Isaiahs grave. Alison looked up at Sarah, and gently grabbed onto her hand.
Sarah smiled at her.
Sam tossed his shovel up onto the high ground, then climbed up out of the hole.
"You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this." Sarah stated.
"Well...this isn't exactly the first grave we dug." Sam told her. "Still think I'm a catch?"
Alison looked up at them.
"Okay, I think I got something." Dean called out.
Sarah shone her flashlight down into the hole where Dean was digging up a little more dirt. He then started beating on something with his shovel, breaking the wood to Isaiahs coffin.
Then they saw the skull.
Dean climbed up out of the hole and started salting the bones as sam poured gasoline over them. Sarah's grip on Alisons hand tightened slightly.
"You been a real pain in the ass, Isaiah." Dean said as he lit a match. "Good riddance." He spoke just before throwing the match into the grave, the fire immediately spreading, and rising.
Alison sighed lightly.
~~~
"Dean, keep the motor running." Sam told his brother as he opened the door.
"I thought the painting was harmless now." Sarah said.
"Better safe than sorry. We're gonna bury the sucker." Sam told her.
"I want to come with you." Sarah said, opening her door.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey, hey, hey." Dean stopped Sam. "We'll stay here. You go make your move." He told him.
Sam scoffed, walking away.
"S-s-sam, I'm serious!" Dean told him.
Alison giggled making Dean turn to look at her.
"Is that funny to you?" He asked her.
Alison laughed.
"I'll show you something funny!" Dean unbuckled himself, and pounced over the seat.
"No!" Alison laughed as Dean started tickling her. "Daddy! Stop it!" She laughed.
"I don't wanna stop!" Dean told her.
"Daddy!" She laughed, pushing his hands away.
Dean laughed as he stopped tickling the girl.
"I love you, very much." He told her.
"I love you very much, daddy." Alison smiled.
Dean smiled back at her.
"Can you tell me how much?" Dean asked her.
"Nope." Alison shook her head.
"Why not?" Dean furrowed his brows.
"'Cause no words or numbers can explain it." Alison shrugged lightly.
Dean smiled, his eyes watering slightly.
Alison furrowed her brows, looking out her window as she heard a noise coming from inside the house.
"Daddy?" She asked as Dean heard it too.
The front door of the house slammed. Dean cursed under his breath as quickly got out of the car and rushed up to the door.
"Dean!" He heard from the other side. "Hey, is that you?!"
"Sammy, you all right?!" Dean asked.
Sam got out his phone and called his brother so he could hear him more clearly. Dean quickly answered it.
"Tell me you slammed the front door." Dean said.
"No, it wasn't me. I think it was the little girl." Sam told him.
"Girl? What girl?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, she's out of the painting. I think it might have been her all along." Sam said.
"Wasn't the dad looking down at her?" Dean asked him. "Maybe he was trying to warn us." He said as he tried picking the lock to the door.
"Hey, let's recap later. Just get us out of here." Sam told him.
"Well, I'm trying to pick the lock, and the door won't budge."
"Break it down." Sam said.
"Okay, genius, let me grab my battering ram!" Dean spoke sarcastically.
"Dean, the damn things coming!" Sam yelled.
"Well, you're gonna have to hold it off until I figure something out. Get some salt or iron." Dean told him.
Alison shut the car door and ran up to the house to Dean.
"Daddy, are they okay?" She asked him.
"Get back in the car." Dean told her.
"No, I can help!" Alison said.
"Alison, I said no. Now, please, get back in the car." Dean said.
"Stop underestimating me!"
"That's a big word for a four year old, and I'm not underestimating you, Alison! I just don't want you to get hurt!" Dean told her. "Please, just go get back in the car."
Alison sighed, then ran back to the car.
"What kind of house doesn't have salt? Low sodium freaks." Dean heard Sam on the other end of the phone.
He said a few other things.
"Uh, dean, give me a sec. Don't go anywhere." Sam told him.
Alison watched as Dean tried running into the door, but nothing was working.
She played with her fingers nervously, she was scared.
She watched Dean walked around the house.
"Sam, are you okay?" Dean asked his little brother.
"Yeah, for now."
"How we gonna waste her?" Dean asked.
"I don't know, she was already cremated." Sam stated. "There's nothing left to burn."
"Well, then, how's she still around?" Dean questioned.
"There must be something else."
There was silence on the phone for a moment.
"Dean? Sarah says the doll might have the girls hair." Sam told his brother. "Human remains— same as bones."
"The mausoleum." They both spoke in unison.
Dean rushed to the impala, making Alison look up.
"What are you doing? We can't leave them!" Alison said as Dean got in.
"Buckle up." He told her.
Alison was confused, but she didn't question her father, she just did as told.
~~~
Dean sped through the gates of the graveyard and drove down to the mausoleum.
"Stay in the car!" Dean told his daughter as he opened his door.
"No way!" Alison unbuckled herself.
"Alison."
"Daddy."
Dean cursed under his breath. Sometimes, he wished she didn't get his stubbornness.
They both got out, and Alison took deans hand. She ran alongside him to the doors of the mausoleum. They rushed inside.
They went to the case containing the doll, and deans began beating on it with his fist.
Dean got out his gun, and began beating the case with the butt of it.
Alison looked at dean like he was dumb.
"Daddy." She spoke making Dean look down at her.
Alison reached up to deans arms, pulling his hand down. She grabbed the handle of the gun, and flipped it around.
"Get it together, man." She pat his back.
Dean sighed lightly and ruffled her hair.
"Thank you."
"Told you I could help. I may be little, but I got a brain." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Dean let his eyes linger on her before he gently pulled her back behind him. Dean covered his face with one arm, and shot the case with the other, shattering it.
He used his gun, to break down the glass that don't fall, then he grabbed the doll out of the case. Dean dug his lighter out of his pocket, and lit it.
He brought the lighter down under the dolls hair, setting it to flames. Alison coughed a little as smoke filled the air. Dean threw the doll down.
Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed Sam, who picked up after the second ring.
"Sam, you good?" Dean asked.
"Not bad." Sam hesitantly spoke up.
Dean let out a huge breath of relief as he took Alisons hand, leading her out of the mausoleum.
~~~
"This was archived in the county records." Dean said as he walked to Sam, Sarah, and Alison. "The merchants adopted daughter, Melanie. Know why she was up for adoption? 'Cause her real family was murdered in their beds." Dean told them.
"She killed them?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, who would suspect her? A sweet little girl." Dean asked. "So then she kills Isaiah and his family. The old man takes the blame. His spirits been trying to warn people ever since."
"Where's this one go?" One of the men packing up the painting asked.
"Take it out back and burn it." Sarah told him.
The guys stared at her for a moment.
"I'm serious, guys. Thanks." She told them.
The two men nodded and started carrying the box out back.
"So, why'd the girl do it?" Sarah asked.
"Killing others, killing herself— some people are just born tortured." Sam said. "So when they die, their spirits are just as dark."
"Maybe. I don't really care. It's over." Dean said as Sam handed Alison to him. "We move on."
"Uh..." Sarah sighed heavily. "I guess this means you're leaving."
Sam exhaled deeply.
Alison and dean looked at each other, then Sam and Sarah.
"We'll go wait in the car. See you, sarah." Dean said.
"Bye, Sarah!" Ali waved with a smile as Dean walked away.
"I'm the one who burned the doll and destroyed the spirit, but don't thank me or anything." Dean said as he adjusted Alison his hip.
"Thank you, daddy. You're a hero." Alison told him, and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you very much, babygirl." Dean smiled at her.
"You're very welcome." Alison smiled back.
Dean sighed as they approached the impala. He set Alison on the roof making Alison look at him in confusion.
"Alison, I'm sorry." He told her, putting his hand on each side of her, leaning towards her a little.
"For what?" Alison asked him, tilting her head a little.
"What you said, back at the mausoleum. It got me thinking." He told her. "You're right, Alison. You are little, but you are not stupid. You are the smartest four year old I know, and yes, I'm still scared of letting you help, because you might get hurt. And I can't see my little girl hurt." Dean gently pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "But I guess I don't realize, you can help and still have a chance of not getting hurt." He told her.
"Really?" Alison asked him with a smile.
"Really. Look, you can start helping me and Sammy, not with a gun, or anything. But with that brain of yours. Just not on the super dangerous hunts, alright? We got a deal?" He held his hand out to her.
"Deal." Alison smiled, shaking his hand.
Alison looked over behind dean and her smile widened. Dean turned to see Sam coming out, Sarah closed the door.
Dean picked Alison up and opened her car door.
"Sammy, did you kiss her goodbye?" Alison asked her uncle.
"No, Alison. I didn't." Sam chuckled lightly.
"Okay, wait a minute. You need to make that a yes, march your butt back in there!" Alison told him.
Sam stared at her with a small smile for a moment, before turning and going back up to the front door of the auction house.
Alisons eyes widened as her smile did the same, dean smiled.
Sam knocked on the door and it opened. As soon as it did, Sam kissed Sarah, in which she returned it.
"Yes!" Alison pumped her fist in the air.
"That's my boy." Dean chuckled.
"I wanna be the flower girl!" Alison cheered happily.
Dean chuckled again.
"Now you're getting a little ahead of yourself." Dean told her as he kissed her temple, before looking back to Sam and Sarah, who were still kissing.
Alison giggled, laying her head on deans shoulder.
(I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!)
Thank you so much for reading!