CHAPTER TEN — TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY
phantom traveler — part two
"It's take your daughter to work day." — dean winchester
SURPRISED WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT TO SAY THAT WAS HOW SHE FELT AFTER BEING TOLD SHE WAS ALLOWED TO JOIN HER DAD AND UNCLE AS THEY LIED THEIR WAY INTO THE WAREHOUSE. To be completely honest, she was expecting to be dumped in the Impala, like she always was, and let the car be her babysitter. But it seemed they were curious to see what Grace could sense from the wreckage and whether it could tell them anything about what they were hunting. So Grace kept close to her Dad's side as they entered the building.
The headband upon her head kept her curls out of her face and made her look less of the wild and messy child that she was. She still kept on her worn in boots and her jacket remained over her flannel shirt. It seemed her hair was the only different thing about her current style.
Grace pulled at her sleeves anxiously as she wasn't sure how this would play out. After sensing her nerves, Dean reached down and grabbed Grace's hand which he gripped tightly as they walked inside.
The two adult Winchesters raised their badges to the security guard who nodded in acknowledgment before turning to raise his eyebrow at the child. "It's take your daughter to work day." Lied Dean with a simple shrug and small smirk. Grace just waved awkwardly at the guard.
"Don't worry," Sam spoke up, bringing the guard's attention to him. "we'll make sure she doesn't touch anything." With that reassurance, the guard let them pass whilst still staring at Grace with a suspicious look. The girl then held her Dad's hand tighter.
Upon entering the warehouse, they were greeted with what was left of the plane. The NTSB has tried to reassemble the plane with what pieces they had by placing them down into the outline they had drawn across the floor. Seats were scattered about the room and wires were hung upon metal fences. Considering how big the plane was, it saddened Grace to see how little had survived. Just like the passengers.
There was a strange atmosphere in the room, like the wreckage itself was emitting it. Dean let go of his daughter's hand to reach into his pocket so Grace immediately latched onto her Uncle. She didn't like the eerie feeling in the room, not one bit.
"What is that?" Sam inquired as he watched his brother pull out a small device from his pocket and plug in some earphones. The sight of the device made Grace smile slightly.
"It's an EMF meter." Dean stated as Grace slowly pulled away from her Uncle to step closer to the wreckage. "Reads electromagnetic frequencies." The eldest Winchesters said rather patronisingly to his brother.
Sam sighed and responded blankly. "Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is, but why does that one look like a busted-up Walkman?"
"'Cause that's what I made it out of." Dean proudly grinned as he glanced down at the device in his hand. "It's homemade."
A small hand immediately shot up onto the air and Grace too grinned. "I helped make it." She announced.
Smiling, Dean reached over to high-five his daughter's raised hand. "You sure did, Pumpkin." Grace's grin widened beyond what Sam thought possible at Dean's words.
Soon after that, Dean started to slowly make his way through the warehouse as he scanned everything he passed with his homemade EMF meter. Both him and Sam kept glancing at Grace who was timidly stepping forwards with an uneasy look on her face. Whatever she could feel from the annihilated plane, she didn't like it in the slightest.
Waving the EMF over the debris, Dean found nothing in particular that would indicate a supernatural presence. Grace, having felt something in her mind and gut, picked up her pace and hurried towards a particular area in the warehouse. She stood in front of the emergency door, the very thing Max Jaffey claimed to have caused the crash, and tilted her head as she studied it. Dean, having noticed his daughter drift away realised she had had another one of her 'Gracie-sense' moments. Then, he made his way over to where she was and joined her by the crushed door.
A loud beep came from the EMF meter as the readings spiked in the presence of the emergency door. Grace instinctively reached out for the metal, and then she suddenly felt cold and it wasn't just from the material beneath her fingers. She shivered involuntarily at contact with the door, like something had crept up her spine. Behind her eyes there was a shadow lurking and Grace could feel it there, trying to hide from her gaze, but she could see it anyway. And just the sight of the darkness hiding away made her feel ill.
"Check out the emergency door handle." Dean called out to his brother as he reached over to touch it. Because right there, stuck to the handle, was a strange yellow substance. It smelt gross. "What is this stuff?"
Black eyes? Strange powder? A darkness that sent a chill up her spine? Grace hoped to God it wasn't what thought it was.
Sam shrugged, also having no idea what they were looking at. "One way to find out." He proclaimed as he withdrew his knife and started scraping some of the yellow dust into a small bag.
With her 'Gracie-sense' kicking back into gear, the nine-year-old looked up in alarm. She then turned to her Dad and Uncle, as she finally let go of the emergency door, before announcing. "We have to go."
By this point they had both learnt not to question Grace and quickly made a dash for the exit. And just in time too as they soon heard footsteps echoing down the corridor.
Dean pushed open the fire exit and then the trio rushed out of the warehouse as fast as they could. But they couldn't stop because they knew the security guards were not that far behind them. Realising he still had the small pouch in his hand, Sam quickly slipped it into his pocket where it would safe for later. They came to an abrupt halt at the end of the building before they carefully peered around the corner and started to stroll casually towards the exit as if nothing had happened.
Sadly, that didn't last long.
An alarm blared and rippled throughout the compound, alerting everyone to their break-in. Not that it was much of a break-in. The trio picked up the pace yet again as they sprinted towards a tall gate which separated them from getting out of there. Dean pulled off his jacket and threw it on top of the barbed wire which crowned the fence.
Before Grace could even make a start on climbing the rather large gate, her Dad grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up as far as he could. Her small fingers instantly grasped the metal and she quickly began to climb over the top. Fortunately, her hair was kept from her face by her new headband so none of it got randomly captured in the wire. Her Father and Uncle both jumped up the gate and pulled themselves over the other side with ease. Grace, meanwhile, had just managed to clamber over the wire by the time both Winchester boys were on the ground.
Dean reached up and grabbed Grace by her waist again, but this time to lower her to the ground to save her the time of climbing. Then, his hand went back up, for his jacket this time and whipped it from where it was covering the barbed wire. "Well, these monkey suits do come in handy." He admitted as he panted for breath.
"And they still look great." Smiled Grace before they all took off in the direction of the Impala. Because now that they had seen what was left of the plane, they had even more work to do.
NOW BACK IN THE SAFETY OF JERRY'S OFFICE, THE WINCHESTERS STARTED TO LOOK INTO THE STRANGE POWDER THEY FOUND AT THE WRECKAGE. Grace had a bad feeling about what it actually was and hoped that the tests they were running would disprove her theory. Oh how she hoped she was wrong. She currently sat on a swivel chair and the fact that she wasn't currently making herself dizzy from spinning was enough for Dean to notice how worried she was. As she fiddled with her hands apprehensively, Grace kept her gaze on Jerry was staring down the eyepieces of a microscope.
"Huh." He stated in surprise. "This stuff is covered in sulfur."
Grace felt her blood grow cold and breath hitch in her throat at the announcement. She was right, she probably shouldn't have been surprised, but she had truly hoped her gut was wrong on this one. They weren't just facing any old spirit or corporeal creature — she knew what that word meant now — they were fighting a demon. And that wasn't good.
Raising his eyebrow doubtfully, Sam asked. "You're sure?"
"Take a look for yourself." Jerry told him and gestured to the microscope on the table in front of him. Suddenly, there were loud banging sounds coming from the hangar as well as a choice of curse words. Jerry let out an exasperated sigh. "If you kids will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire."
After Jerry had left the room, Dean made his way over to the microscope and glanced at Grace whose face was blanketed with fear and concern. "Hey, Gracie. Wanna look in the microscope?" He inquired and at her name, the small girl looked up. In response, she nodded sheepishly before hopping down from her seat and walking over to her Dad's side. The man lifted her up so she could stare down the microscope at a magnified sample of sulfur whilst looking over at his brother. "You know, there's not too many things that behind a sulfuric residue." He reminded Sam.
"Demonic possession."
As his arms started to grow tired, Dean put down Grace next to him before continuing his train of thought. "It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch." The eldest of the three pointed out.
"If this guy was possessed, it's possible." Sam agreed with a small nod.
Dean frowned in confusion and then glanced at Grace who too was trying to wrap her head around it all. Sure, she knew they were up against a demon, but that didn't mean she understood the rest of it. "This goes beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?"
A little bit of terror crept onto Sam's face and Grace couldn't blame him. "You ever heard of something like this before?"
Dean shook his head in response. "Never."
"But whatever this is, it's powerful." Grace spoke up as she stuffed her small hands into her oversized pockets. "I felt it." Her dark eyes redirected to the floor as she declared rather timidly.
"It looks like we have some books to read." Stated Dean with a sarcastic smirk, glancing between his family. But he was right though, research did sound like a good idea.
So, the Winchesters hopped back into Baby and travelled back to the motel where they quickly submerged themselves in lore and research. Pictures and articles blanketed the room and those that weren't taped to the walls laid strewn beside Grace on the bed. The psychic sat on the mattress, reading through an article, as she munched on her collection of pretzels absentmindedly. Sam was staring at his computer screen whilst Dean was next to Grace on the duvet as he too scanned a sheet of paper with his eyes.
"So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean, Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it." Sam spoke up, bringing the other two Winchesters from the papers they were reading.
Dean frowned in thought before protesting. "But none of them describe anything like this."
"Well, that's not exactly true." Corrected Sam with a small, triumphant grin. "You see, according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." He informed them.
Grace swallowed the pretzel in her mouth and then queried. "So this demon likes crashing planes?"
Pushing himself onto his feet, Dean moved over to Sam as he thought aloud. "All right, so, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?" The eldest Winchester questioned.
Sam nodded, confirming his theory. "Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Well, that wasn't a comforting thought. Grace's Dad just scoffed in amusement causing the other two in the room to turn to him. "What?"
"I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig." And by 'normal' he meant ghosts and the occasional creature. Reaching up, he started scratching his head anxiously as he continued, still partially in disbelief. "I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This big. And I wish Dad was here."
Sam let out a sigh. "Me too."
"At least he would know what to do." Grace admitted as she thought about her missing Grandfather. Sure, she missed him. He had been in her life almost constantly for the past two years and now he suddenly wasn't. But she wasn't sure how he would react when they found him and she didn't the team up between her, her Dad and her Uncle to end.
Both Uncle and niece whipped their heads in the direction of Dean as his phone started to ring. Just like before, it was Jerry Panowski on the other end of the line. And yet again he had bad news to share. Chuck Lambert, the surviving pilot of the crash they were investigating, was dead. Plane crash. It appeared the demon was knocking off survivors of flight 2485 — finishing the job.
Sam stared up at his brother as he hung up the phone. "Where?"
"Nazareth." Answered Dean and then it was to Nazareth the Winchesters went. They managed to get to the crash before the NTSB arrived to take it away and went on a hunt for sulfur. Grace could feel it, it was most certainly the same thing as before, the same darkness. And it was that very feeling that led her to a collection of sulfur stuck to the steering wheel. The demon had struck again.
THEY HAD BEEN IN JERRY'S OFFICE THREE TIMES NOW AND GRACE WAS GROWING USED TO IT. After taking a sample from Chuck's crash, they returned to Jerry to confirm whether it was actually sulfur and if the demon was the one to kill Chuck instead of just a simple accident. Grace had removed the headband and was currently running her fingers along it nervously as she awaited the results. However, she didn't know why she was anxious, after all, she already knew what it was.
"Sulfur?" Dean inquired and Jerry nodded in confirmation. The demon had definitely taken Chuck, just like it had taken the rest of his plane. "Well, that's great." Added Dean sarcastically, throwing up his arms in exasperation. Then, he continued. "All right, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. The demon sounds like it was after him."
Grace shook her head as that didn't sound right to her. "With all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the good news." He announced with a small wince.
"What's the bad news?"
"Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight." Sam replied and momentarily paused for what Grace later realised was effect. "And get this, so did flight 2485." He dropped the bomb.
Grace's eyes widened slightly because despite her being only nine and not that experienced when it came to hunting, even she knew the significance of the number. However, not one to read lore, Jerry didn't. "Forty minutes? What does that mean?"
"It's biblical numerology." Grace wasn't sure she could even pronounce the word her Dad had just stated. Then, he continued to explain. "You know Noah's Ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death."
Then Sam cut in, continuing their theory. "I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in." It appeared this demon had a pattern.
Grace looked to her Uncle and inquired sadly. "There weren't any survivors, were there?"
With a small shake of his head, Sam replied. "No." He then proceeded as he turned to his family. "Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason." Dumb luck? None of the Winchesters knew that reason and they doubted they ever would. "On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP said?"
"'No survivors'." Grace recalled without a moments hesitation.
Glancing at his daughter, Dean then turned to his brother with concern written like a poem across his face. "Grace was right." When wasn't she? She thought her Dad had learnt that by now. "It's going after who's left. It's trying to finish the job." He finished with a solemn nod.
The demon was claiming the lives of the people it had failed to kill on the 2485, starting with Chuck. But, as they all quickly realised, Chuck wasn't the only survivor so there were a lot more people on that demon's hit list.
BACK IN THE IMPALA, THE WINCHESTERS SPED DOWN THE HIGHWAY AS HER UNCLE SAM RUNG UP AS MANY SURVIVORS ON THE LIST AS HE COULD. They had to make sure none were going to fly, not at least until they got rid of the demon that had put targets on their backs. Grace leant forwards between the driver and passenger seats as Sam pretended to be the airline company in order to talk to the survivors. She hoped they could stop the demon in time to save all those left. Her mind was blank as her powers had gone on silent for the time being, so Grace had no clue as to what was going to happen and if they could stop it.
Sam hung up his call and then lowered the phone from his ear. "All right. That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon." He announced as he crossed the names off his list. Well, that was certainly good news.
"So our only wildcard is the flight attendant Amanda Walker." Dean spoke up in realisation.
Nodding his head, Sam then told them. "Right. Her sister, Karen, said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job."
"What a way to welcome her back." Grace commented with a frown.
"That sounds like just our luck." Added Dean sarcastically and Grace couldn't help but agree with him. After all, the Winchesters weren't known for having good fortune in their lives.
Sam sighed before turning to his brother. "Dean, this is a five-hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel." The way he said those words made it sound impossible and if there was one thing the Winchesters liked doing (apart from driving in the Impala, kicking ass, saving people... and a lot of other stuff) it was disproving the impossible. And they had a knack for it.
"Call Amanda's cellphone again," He suggested as Grace twiddled with one of her many loose curls. "see if we can't head her off at the pass."
In response, Sam replied as he turned his gaze to the dark open road as if he was trying to make out the shapes in the distance despite the night blanketing everything their eyes touched. "I already left her three voice messages. She must have turned her cellphone off." Eyes widening in fear, Sam glanced to his brother. "God, we're never gonna make it."
Gripping the steering wheel even tighter, Dean glared at the open road before stating with determination. "We'll make it."
Grace instinctively reached out for her seatbelt as the Impala suddenly lunged forwards as it sped up. Not caring about the speed-limit, Dean raced Baby across the tarmac towards Indianapolis to try and save Amanda Walker before it was too late. The small psychic grinned brightly. "We'll make it."
Chapter ten! We're in double-digits, people! Woohoo!!!
Grace and Dean already have their team rhythm which is nice to see and I love the one that is already starting to form between Grace and Sam.
Okay, so this chapter is pretty small compared to all my other ones. And heads up, so will the next one. I could have put them both together like I did with Dead in the Water but the main reason I did that was because I couldn't find a good place to split it, but I have that here.
Grace being the first one to figure out they're dealing with demons >>>
She's a smart cookie. I love how Grace, whenever she has the chance, starts eating pretzels. That girl could never grow old of them. They are her favourite.
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Hopefully, I'll see you in the next chapter.
Sincerely Rosie aka Winter326