A man drove down the street, into his garage and turned off the engine. His license plate was from Michigan. The garage door began winding down by itself and he looked at it, confused. His car doors self-locked. He struggled but couldn't open them. The ignition key turned by itself and the engine started. Exhaust smoke began filling the garage. The man struggled to turn off the engine to no avail. The radio flicked on and the man began to cough.
"Help," the man said. "Somebody help me!"
The smoke grew thicker and he keeled over, unconscious.
MOTEL ROOM
Sam started up from his bed, suddenly wide awake. He looked across to where Dean was sleeping peacefully. Sam sat a moment, then moved into action, flipping on the light switch and shook his brother. "Dean. Dean."
The door flung open and a disheveled Tasie stood on the other side.
The moment he stirred, Sam rose and started gathering his things.
Dean rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing man, it's the middle of the night." He raised himself on his elbows.
"We have to go," Sam and Tasie told him.
"What's happening?"
"We have to go. Right now," Sam said as he grabbed his bag and walked out.
"Levi and Ethan are ready to go," Tasie stated.
---
They got in the Impala. Dean was driving, Sam was on the phone, and Ethan cuddled into his mother.
Sam read from a Michigan State Police ID. "McReady. Detective McReady. Badge number 158. I've got a signal 480 in progress, I need the registered owner of a two-door sedan Michigan license plate Mary-Frank-six-zero-three-seven. Yeah, okay, just hurry."
"Sammy, relax," Dean said. "I'm sure it's just a nightmare."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"I mean it. Y'know, a normal, everyday, naked-in-class, nightmare. This license plate, it won't check out. You'll see."
"It felt different, Dean. Real. Like when Tasie and I dreamt about our old house. And Jessica."
"Yeah, that makes sense. You're dreaming about our house, your girlfriend. This guy in your dream, you ever seen him before?"
"No."
"No," Levi repeated. "Why would you two have premonitions about some random guy in Michigan?"
"I don't know," Sam and Tasie said.
"Me neither," Dean replied.
Sam spoke into his phone. "Yes, I'm here." He listened, glared at his brother, then picked up his pen. "Jim Miller. Saginaw, Michigan. You have a street address? Got it. Thanks."
Sam hung up the phone. "Checks out. How far are we?"
"From Saginaw?" Dean asked. "Coupla hours."
"Drive faster."
They reached Jim Miller's house and saw emergency vehicles and someone on a stretcher being zipped into a body bag. They turned to each other in the car, Dean and Levi concerned, Sam and Tasie upset. Ethan was sleeping in his car seat.
Dean and Levi approached the watching crowd at Jim's house and asked a woman, "What happened?"
"Suicide," the woman replied. "Can't believe it."
Sam and Tasie came up behind and stood on the woman's other side and Sam asked, "Did you know them?"
"Saw him every Sunday at St. Augustine's. He always seems... seemed, so normal. I guess you never know what's going on behind closed doors."
Dean and Levi stared straight ahead.
"How did... ahh," Sam began. "How are they saying it happened?"
"I heard they found him in the garage, locked inside his car with the engine running," the woman replied.
"Do you know about what time they found him?" Tasie asked.
"Oh it just happened about an hour or two ago. His poor family. I can't even imagine what they're going through."
A woman stood on the front step of the house, crying and leaning against a middle-aged man. A young man stood behind them, looking distraught.
Sam and Tasie watched with a grimace and turned to walk away. Dean and Levi noticed and followed them back to lean against the hood of the Impala.
"Sam, Tase, we got here as fast as we could," Dean reassured.
"Not fast enough," Sam replied. "It doesn't make any sense, man. Why would Tasie and I even have these premonitions if there wasn't a chance we could stop them from happening?"
"I dunno."
Tasie shook her head and sighed. "So what do you two think killed him?"
Levi thought a moment. "Maybe the guy killed himself? Maybe there's nothing supernatural going on at all."
Sam shook his head. "I'm telling you two, I watched it happen. It sounds like Tasie did too. He was murdered by something, Dean, Levi. I watched it trap him in the garage."
"What was it, a spirit, poltergeist, what?" Dean asked.
Sam started getting worked up. "I don't know what it was. I don't know why Tasie and I. Re having these dreams, I don't know what the hell is happening, Dean, Levi."
Dean stared at Sam for a long moment and he frowned. "What."
Dean shrugged. "Nothing. I'm just, I'm just worried about you and Tasie, man."
"Well, don't look at us like that!"
Dean looked away. "We're not looking at you like anything." He glanced back. "Though I gotta say, you do look like crap."
"Nice. Thanks."
Dean moved to open the car door. "Come on, let's just pick this up in the morning. We'll check out the house, talk to the family."
"Dean, you saw them, they're devastated. They're not going to want to talk to us."
Dean took a moment to think. "Yeah, you're right. But I think I know who they will talk to."
"Who?"
Dean simply smirked.
---
The next day, they made their way to the Miller house.
Dean reached out to ring the doorbell. Sam and Levi's hair was slicked back and Tasie was wearing a long black dress. Ethan was wearing a little suit of his own, fussing about wearing it.
Sam sighed. "This has gotta be a whole new low for us."
Dean turned to smirk at Sam, Levi and Tasie, then looked back at the door.
The man comforting Ms. Miller on the step the night before opened the door. Sam, Levi and Dean were dressed as priests and Tasie was dressed as a young nun.
The man gave a nod to the five and Dean entered, saying, "Thanks."
"We're very sorry for your loss," Sam said.
"It's in difficult times like these when the Lord's guidance is most needed."
The man frowned. "Look, you wanna pitch your whole 'Lord has a plan' thing? Fine. Just don't pitch it to me. My brother's dead."
Ms. Miller appeared. "Roger. Please!"
Roger moved away. "Excuse me."
"I'm sorry about my brother-in-law. He's... he's just so upset about Jim's death. Would you like some coffee?"
"That would be great," Dean and Levi replied.
---
They entered the lounge room.
Dean was on the lounge, Tasie and Levi sat on the couch, Ethan was on his father's lap, Sam in an armchair. Ms. Miller poured coffee and handed it around.
"It was wonderful of you to stop by," Ms. Miller said. "The support of the church means so much right now."
"Of course," Dean replied. "After all, we are all God's children."
She walked away and Dean took more cocktail sausages from the coffee table. As he chewed, he looked at Sam, Tasie and Levi who were shaking their heads.
"What?" Dean asked.
"Just... tone it down a little bit, Father," Sam answered.
"So Ms. Miller, did your husband have a history of depression?"
"Nothing like that," Mrs. Miller replied as she grew upset. "We had our ups and downs like everyone but we were happy." She broke down. "I just don't understand... how Jim could do something like this."
"Do you mind if maybe the Sister and I go talk to him?" Sam asked.
"Oh, thank you, Father."
"Stay here," Tasie told her son.
Sam and Tasie approached Max in the other room and Sam said, "Max? Hey, I'm Sam and this is Tasie."
Dean and Levi were still with the grieving woman. Ethan was still on his father's lap. "Ms. Miller, you have a lovely home. How long have you lived here?"
"We moved in about five years ago," Ms. Miller replied.
"The only problem with these old houses. I bet you have all kind of headaches."
"Like what?"
"Well, weird leaks, electrical shortages, odd settling noises at night. That kind of thing."
"No, nothing like that. It's been perfect."
"Huh. May I use your restroom?"
"Oh, sure, it's just up the stairs."
Dean and Levi rose, the former taking another cocktail sausage.
"So what was your dad like?" Sam asked.
"Just a normal dad," Max replied, staring at Tasie.
"Yeah. You live at home now?"
"Yeah. Trying to save up for school, but it's heard."
"So when you found your dad..." Tasie began.
"I woke up, I heard the engine running." He paused. "I don't know why he did it."
"She and I know it's rough, losing a parent," Sam said gently. "Especially when you don't have all the answers."
Dean and Levi made their way upstairs and entered the hallway, the latter still holding his son. They made sure the coast was clear and Dean pulled an infrared scanner from his pocket and turned it on, shining it into the rooms as soon as he, Levi and Ethan passed. As they reached the end of the hall, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs and he hastily hid the scanner.
Sam and Tasie appeared and asked "Anything?"
"Zip," Dean replied.
The five of them moved down the stairs together.
INT. MOTEL ROOM
Dean and Levi were cleaning their weapons and Sam and Tasie entered. Ethan was napping.
"What do you have?" Dean asked.
"A whole lotta nothing," Sam replied as he sank onto his bed. "Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built."
"Hey man, I told you and Tasie, Levi, Ethan and I searched that house up and down. No cold spots, sulfur scent. Nada."
"And the family said everything was normal?" Sam asked.
"Well, if there was a demon or a poltergeist win there you think somebody would have noticed something? I used infrared thermal scanner, man, Tase, and there was nothing."
"So what, you think Jim Miller killed himself and my dream was just some sorta freakish coincidence?" Sam asked.
"I dunno. I'm pretty sure there's nothing supernatural about that house."
Sam rubbed his temples. "Yeah. Well, maybe it has nothing to do with the house." He took a deep breath, holding his head. "Maybe it's just... Gosh," he held his hand to his forehead, "maybe it's connected to Jim in some other way?"
"What's wrong with you?" He noticed Tasie doing the same thing. "Tase?"
"Sammy? Tasie?" Levi called, walking over to them.
Sam and Tasie made anguished noses and sank from the bed to crouch on the floor. "Ahh. My head."
Dean left his bed. "Sam? Tasie?" He crouched and grabbed Sam's arms. "Hey! What's going on? Talk to us."
Levi cupped his wife's face. "Talk to us, honey."
Sam and Tasie stared at their brother and brother-in-law/husband. Suddenly, Sam and Tasie flashed out of the motel room and was a fly on the wall, watching Roger enter his kitchen with groceries. He noticed the window was open and closed and locked it. When he returned to unpack, the lock moved by itself and the window slid open again. Roger looked at it, confused. He attempted to close it, but it stuck. He leaned out, twisting to look up at the top of the window. The window slid closed, decapitating him. Blood gushed up over the window.
Sam and Tasie focused back on their brother and brother-in-law/husband in the motel room. "It's happening again. Something's gonna kill Roger Miller."
Dean drove the Impala.
Sam spoke slowly into his phone, holding his head. "Roger Miller. Ah, no, no, just the address please. Okay, thanks." He glanced to Dean. "450 West Grove, Apartment 1120."
"You okay?" Dean and Levi asked.
"Yeah."
"If you or Tasie are gonna hurl, I'll pull the car over you know, 'cause the upholstery..." Dean trailed.
"I'm fine. Tasie seems fine."
"All right."
"Just drive." Sam looked at Dean and Levi, sighed heavily, and looked away. "Dean, I'm scared, man, dude. These nightmares weren't bad enough, now I'm seeing things when I'm awake? And these, visions or whatever, they're getting more intense. And painful."
"Come on, man, you'll be all right. It'll be fine."
"What is it about the Millers?" Tasie asked. "Why are Sam and I connected to them, why are we watching them die? Why the hell is this happening to us?"
"I don't know, Tasie, but we'll figure it out. We've faced the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing."
"No. It's never been us. It's never been in the family like this. Tell the truth, you can't tell me or Sam this doesn't freak you two out."
Dean stared ahead for a long moment. "This doesn't freak me out."
Levi glanced between Sam and Tasie. "This doesn't freak me out." He glanced down at a sleeping Ethan.
Sam and Tasie glanced at Levi before staring at Dean and turned away.
The Impala pulled up as Roger approached the entrance with a bag of groceries.
Sam and Tasie called out the window, "Hey, Roger."
"What are you guys, missionaries?" Roger asked. "Leave me alone."
"Please!"
Roger had already left. Dean gunned the engine and jumped the curb as he hurriedly parked.
Sam got out and ran. "Hey. Roger. We're trying to help."
"Please!" Sam begged. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Sam ran up to the entrance just as Roger closed the door behind him.
"I don't want your help," Roger said, walking away.
Sam called after him, "We're not priests or a nun, you gotta listen to us!"
"Roger, you're in danger!" Levi warned.
Dean looked around. "Come on. Come on. Come on, come on."
Sam, Dean, Levi and Tasie ran around the corner to a back entrance to find it securely locked. Dean quickly looked around and kicked it open. They jumped to the first level of the fire escape then ran up the stairs. When they were one floor from Roger's house, they heard the window slide down and a wet squelching noise. Dean sprinted past his brother, brother-in-law and sister and grabbed the railing. Roger's head laid in the flower bed under the window, his blood all over the kitchen window. Sam, Levi and Tasie joined him. After a long pause, Dean pulled a cloth from his pocket and threw one to Sam and Tasie before starting to wipe down the railing.
"Start wiping down your fingerprints, we don't want the cops to know we're here," Dean said. "Come on, come on!"
Dean used his rag to push up the window leading out to the fire escape. "I'm gonna take a look inside."
Sam and Tasie continued wiping down the railing.
They eventually all gathered together and Dean said, "I'm telling you three there was nothing in there. No signs either, just like the Miller's house."
"Tasie and I saw something," Sam replied. "In the vision. Like a dark shape. Something was... something was stalking Roger."
Levi frowned. "Whatever it was, are you sure it's not connected to their house?"
"No, it's connected to the family themselves," Tasie said. "So what do you two think, like a vengeful spirit?"
"Well, yeah, there's a few that have been known to latch onto families, follow them for years," Dean replied.
"Angiak. Banshees."
"Basically like a curse. So maybe Roger and Jim Miller got involved in something heavy, something curse worthy."
"And now the something is out for revenge. And the men in their family are dying."
After a moment, Sam asked, "Hey, you two think Max is in danger?"
Levi glanced at him. "Let's figure it out before he is."
"Well, Tasie and I know one thing we have in common with these people."
"What's that?" Dean and Levi questioned.
"Both our families are cursed."
Dean huffed. "Our family's not cursed! We just... had our dark spots."
"Our dark spots are... pretty dark."
"You're... dark."
They made their way back to the Miller house and Max let the five in. Once again, they were wearing their priest and nun outfits.
"My mom's resting," Max told them, "she's pretty wracked."
"Of course," Dean replied.
"All these people kept coming with like, casseroles? I finally had to tell them all to go away. You know, 'cause nothing says I'm sorry like a tuna casserole."
Sam and Tasie smiled and Max smiled back.
Max gestured to the lounge and all five sat. Ethan was on his mother's lap.
After a moment's silence, Sam asked softly, "How you holding up?"
"Okay," Max answered.
"Your dad and your uncle were close."
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when I was little."
"But not lately much?"
"No, it's not that. It's just... we used to be neighbors when I was a kid, and we lived across town in this house. Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time."
"Right. So how was it in that house when you were a kid?"
"It was fine. Why?"
"All good memories?" Dean asked. "Do you remember anything unusual? Something involving your father and your uncle maybe?"
Max shook his head. "What do ya... Why do you ask?"
"Just a question."
"No, there was nothing. We were totally normal. Happy."
"Good. That's good," Levi said. "Well, you must be exhausted. We should be off."
Sam and Tasie said, "Right." They turned to Max. "Thanks."
"Yeah," Max agreed.
Sam, Dean, Tasie and Levi, who had taken Ethan, walked down the drive to stand beside the Impala.
"No one's family is totally normal and happy," Dean said. "See when he was talking about his old house?"
"He sounded scared," Sam and Tasie noted.
"Yeah, Max isn't telling us everything. I say we go find the old neighborhood, find out what life was really like for the Millers."
---
They made their way to another suburb and the adults stood on the sidewalk, talking to a man in his front yard. Ethan remained in the car.
"Have you lived in the neighborhood very long?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, almost 20 years now," the man replied. "It's nice and quiet. Why, are you looking to buy?"
"No, no, actually, we were wondering if you might recall a family that used to live right across the street I believe."
"Yeah, the Millers," Dean clarified. "They had a little boy called Max."
"Right," Sam and Tasie agreed.
"I remember," the man said. "The brother had the place next door. So uh, what's this about, is that poor kid okay?"
Levi's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Well, in my life, I've never seen a child treated like that. I mean, I'd hear Mr. Miller yelling and throwing things clear across the street; he was a mean drunk. He used to beat the tar outta Max. Bruises. Broke his arm two times that I know of."
"This was going on regularly?" Sam questioned.
"Practically every day. In fact, that thug brother of his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy but the worst part was the stepmother. She'd just stand there, checked out, not lifting a finger to protect him. I must have called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good."
"Now, you said stepmother," Dean noted.
"I think his real mother died. Some sorta... accident. Car accident I think." He noticed Sam and Tasie holding their head and grimacing. "Are you okay there?"
Sam and Tasie winced. "Uh, yeah."
Dean and Levi held an arm out towards Sam and Tasie. "Thanks for your time."
Sam and Tasie lifted their hands to their heads. "Yeah, thank you."
They turned to go, Dean and Levi supporting Sam and Tasie.
"God," Sam and Tasie muttered, looking up as the world spun.
Sam and Tasie were suddenly in the Millers' kitchen. Ms. Miller was chopping vegetables with a large knife.
Ms. Miller laid the knife down. "I don't know what you mean by that. You know I never did anything!"
"That's right," Max said. "You didn't do anything." The knife started to rattle on the chopping board. "You didn't stop them, not once." The knife lifted into the air.
Ms. Miller backed up against the wall. "How did you..." The knife moved forward to hold her against the wall. "Max! Please!"
The knife twisted in front of her face, coming close enough to her eyeball to pierce the tear so it ran down her cheek and she gasped.
Max, with tears in his eyes, said, "For every time you stood there and watched. Pretending it wasn't happening."
"I'm sorry," Ms. Miller apologized.
"No you're not. You just don't wanna die."
Ms. Miller gasped and cried. The knife sliced right through her eye and out the back of her head.
The five drove off in the Impala.
"Max is doing it," Sam said. "Everything Tasie and I've been seeing."
"You sure about this?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, we saw him."
"How's he pulling it off?" Levi wondered.
"I don't know, telekinesis?"
Dean frowned. "What so he's psychic, a spoon bender?"
"Sam and I didn't even realize it, but this whole time he was there," Tasie said. "He was outside the garage when his dad died, outside the apartment when his uncle died. These visions, this whole time. Sam and I weren't connecting to the Millers, we were connecting to Max! The thing is I don't get why, man, Levi. I guess because we're so alike?"
"What are you talking about? The guy's nothing like you or your brother," Levi said.
"Well. We each have psychic abilities, we each..."
"Each what?" Dean interrupted. "Tasie, Max is a monster, he's already killed two people, now he's gunning for a third."
"Well, with with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people?" Sam said in a questioning tone. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't sound insane."
"Yeah, but it doesn't justify murdering your entire family!"
"Dean..."
Dean pulled over at Max's house. "He's no different from anything else we've hunted, all right? We gotta end him."
"We're not going to kill Max."
"Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say, 'Lock him up officer, he kills with the power of his mind'."
"No way. Forget it."
Dean turned off the engine. "Sam..."
"Dean. He's a person. We can talk to him. Hey, promise me you'll follow Tasie's and my lead on this one. You too, Levi. You gotta listen."
Levi nodded. "Yeah. You and Tasie call the shots, Sam. We'll leave Ethan in the car."
After a long pause, Dean replied, "All right fine. But I'm not letting him hurt anybody else."
They made their way into the kitchen to hear Max say, "That's right. You didn't do anything. You didn't stop them, not once!"
Sam, Dean, Tasie and Levi burst through the front door.
"Fathers? Sister?" Ms. Miller asked.
"What are you doing here?" Max wondered.
"Ahh, sorry to interrupt," Dean said.
"Max, can we talk to you outside for just one second?" Sam questioned.
"About what?" Max asked suspiciously.
"It's... it's private. We wouldn't want to bother your mother with it."
Levi gave Ms. Miller a light smile. "We won't be long, I promise."
Max looked at his stepmother, then back. "Okay."
"Great," Sam and Tasie replied.
Dean, Sam, Tasie and Levi turned for the door, Max followed. As Dean grabbed the doorknob, he turned back to smile at Max. Max saw the butt of the pistol in Dean's waistband in the hall mirror. The knob was pulled from Dean's hand and the door slammed shut, as did the wooden window blinds all around the room.
Max backed up. "You're not priests. She's not a nun."
Dean drew his gun, but Max used his power to pull it away, sliding it across the floor to where he could pick it up. He held it on the trio.
"Max, what's happening?" Ms. Miller asked.
"Shut up," Max ordered.
"What are you doing?"
Using his power, Max flung Ms. Miller backwards. She hit her head on the kitchen bench and fell to the ground, unconscious. "I said shut up!"
"Max, calm down," Sam and Tasie said gently.
"Who are you?"
"We just wanna talk," Tasie told him.
"Yeah right, that's why you brought this!" He indicated the gun.
"That was a mistake, all right? So we were lying about who we were. But no more lying, Max, okay? Just please, hear me and my brother out."
"About what?"
"He and I saw you do it. He and I saw you kill your dad and your uncle before it happened."
"What?"
"She and I are having visions, Max," Sam told him. "About you."
"You're crazy."
"So what, you weren't gonna launch a knife at your stepmom?" Sam tapped his eye. "Right here? Is it that hard to believe Max, look what you can do. Max, she and I were drawn here, all right? I think we're here to help you."
Max began crying. "No one can help me."
"Let me and her try, we'll talk, me, Tasie and you. We'll get Dean, Levi and Alice out of here."
"Uh-uh," Dean and Levi protested. "No way."
Sam, Dean, Levi and Tasie looked up as the chandelier began to shake.
"Nobody leaves this house!" Max yelled.
"And nobody has to, all right?" Sam replied. "They'll just... they'll just go upstairs."
"Sam, we're not leaving you and Tasie alone with him," Dean said.
"Yes you two are. Look, Max. You're in charge here, all right, we all know that. No one's going to do anything you don't want to do, but I'm talking five minutes here, man."
"Sam!" Dean and Levi called.
Max looked back at his stepmother. "Five minutes?" The chandelier stopped shaking. "Go."
Dean moved to pick up Ms. Miller and Levi led them upstairs.
Sam, Tasie and Max sat in the lounge. Max stared at a letter opener and it raised on its point and began twirling slowly.
"Look, she and I can't begin to understand what you went through," Sam said.
"That's right, you can't," Max replied.
"Max, this has to stop."
"It will, after my stepmother..."
"No," Tasie interrupted. "You need to let her go."
"Why?"
"Did she beat you?"
"No, but she never tried to save me, she's a part of it too."
"What they did to you, what they all did to you growing up, they deserve to be punished..."
"Growing up? Try last week." He got up and lifted his shirt to reveal a mass of bruises on his chest and side. "My dad still hit me. Just in places people wouldn't see it. Old habits die hard I guess."
"I'm sorry," Sam and Tasie said softly.
"When I first found out I could move things, it was a gift. My whole life I was helpless, but now I had this. So last week, Dad gets drunk. The first time in a long time. And he beats me to hell, first time in a long time. And then I knew what I had to do."
"Why didn't you just leave?" Sam asked.
"It wasn't about getting away. Just knowing they would still be out there. It was about... not being afraid. When my dad used to look at me, there was hate in his eyes. Do you two know what that feels like?"
"No."
"He blamed me for everything. For his job, for his life, for my mom's death."
"Why would he blame you for your mom's death?" Tasie wondered.
"Because she died in my nursery, while I was asleep in my crib. As if that makes it my fault."
A shocked look crossed Sam and Tasie's faces. "She died in your nursery?"
"There was a fire. And he'd get drunk and babble on like she died in some insane way. He said that she burned up. Pinned to the ceiling!"
Sam was still in shock. "Listen to me, Max. What your dad said, about what happened to your mom. It's real."
"What?"
"It happened to our mom, too, exactly the same. Our nursery, our cribs, our dad saw her on the ceiling."
"Your dad must have been as drunk as mine."
"No, no," Tasie said. "It's the same thing, Max. The same thing killed our mothers."
"That's impossible."
"This must be why he and I are having visions during the day. Why they're getting more intense. 'Cause you, him and I must be connected in some way. Your abilities, they started six-seven months ago right, out of the blue?"
"How'd you know that?"
"'Cause that's when out abilities started, Max. Yours seem to be much further along, but still, this has to mean something, right? I mean, for some reason, you, him and I... you, him and I were chosen."
"For what?"
"I don't know," Sam admitted. "But Dean, Levi, Ethan, Tasie and I, my brother, Tasie's husband and son, my sister and I, we're hunting for your mom's killer. We can find answers, answers that can help us each. But you gotta let us go, Max. You gotta let your stepmother go."
Max thought for a moment and shook his head. "No. What they did to me. I still have the nightmares. I'm so scared all the time, like I'm just waiting for that next beating. I'm so sick of being scared all the time, I just want this to be over!"
"It won't. Don't you get it? The nightmares won't end, Max. Not like this. It's just, more pain. And it makes you as bad as them. Max, you don't have to go through all this by yourself."
"I'm sorry."
Max used his powers to fling Sam and Tasie backwards into the hall closet and slammed the door. He looked across and a tall, heavy, hallway bookshelf slid in front of the doors, blocking them.
Sam and Tasie banged on the doors. "No. Max!"
UPSTAIRS BEDROOM
Ms. Miller sat on the bed. Dean crouched beside her, holding a facecloth to her bleeding forehead. Levi was sitting next to Ms. Miller. The door creaked open on its own and Max walked in. Dean rose and moved purposefully towards Max as the door closed behind him. Max sent Dean flying and he crashed into the wall.
"Max!" Ms. Miller cried.
"Dean!" Levi shouted.
Max raised Dean's pistol, his hand shaking.
"Son of a..." Dean and Levi began.
Dean and Levi rose, freezing when they saw the gun, then began walking towards Max. They stopped when Max let go of the gun, leaving it floating in midair. It cocked, then turned to point at Ms. Miller. Dean and Levi stepped in its way.
"Stay back," Max warned. "This is not about you two."
"You wanna kill her, you gotta go through us first," Dean said.
"Okay."
The gun fired twice. Blood spattered over the wall. Dean and Levi both had a bullet hole in the middle of their foreheads, their eyes blank. They wavered and crashed heavily to the ground. Ms. Miller looked at the scene, shocked. Dean and Levi were sprawled on the ground, eyes open, dead.
DOWNSTAIRS CLOSET
Sam and Tasie came back to themselves, gasping and holding their heads.
They panicked. "No. NOOO!"
The bookcase in front of the closet doors slid away. Sam and Tasie froze, shared a look, then pushed the door with their hands and it swung open.
UPSTAIRS BEDROOM
The gun, midair, turned to point at Ms. Miller.
"Max. No," Ms. Miller said.
Dean and Levi stepped in front of her and the gun turned to point at them.
"Stay back," Max warned. "It's not about you two."
"You're going to kill her, you gotta go through us first," Dean said.
"Okay."
The door burst open and Sam and Tasie entered.
"No, don't!" Sam cried. "Don't! Please. Please. Max. Max. We can help you. All right. But this, what you're doing. It's not the solution. It's not going to fix anything."
Max was shaking, sweating, and in tears. He stared at Sam and Tasie, anguished. Suddenly, he relaxed a little and his face cleared. "You're right."
Sam and Tasie smiled at him, but Max swung away from them to the gun and the gun swung to point at Max. He shot himself in the head.
"No!" Sam and Tasie cried.
They made their way to the downstairs lounge and Ms. Miller sat on the couch, in shock. "Max attacked me. He threatened me with a gun."
The cop indicated to the four. "And these four?"
"They're... family friends. I called them as soon as Max arrived, I was scared. They tried to stop him. They fought for the gun."
"Where did Max get the gun?"
Sam, Dean, Tasie and Levi exchanged a look.
Ms. Miller began to cry and looked at the ceiling. "I don't know. He showed up with it and..." She broke down.
"It's all right, Ms. Miller," the cop reassured.
Ms. Miller sobbed. "I've lost everyone."
The cop turned to the four. "We'll give you a call if we have any further questions."
"Thanks officer," Dean said, patting Sam and Tasie's arms. "Come on."
The four left the house and walked down the path.
"If Tasie and I'd just said something else," Sam muttered. "Gotten through to him somehow."
"Ah, don't do that," Dean told him.
"Do what?"
"Torture yourselves. It wouldn't have mattered what you said, Max was too far gone."
"When Sam and I think about how he looked at us, dude, right before," Tasie said. "We shoulda done something."
"Come on, Tase, you risked your life. I mean, yeah, maybe if we had gotten there 20 years earlier."
They moved to either side of the Impala.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had Dad," Sam said.
Dean looked astounded and pleased. "Well, that's not something I ever thought I'd hear you say."
"Well, it coulda gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting, and we coulda had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him."
Dean and Levi turned back to look at Max's house. "All things considered."
They made their way back to their motel room and Sam placed a bag in the trunk of the Impala, which was backed up to the door, and returned inside.
"Dean, Levi, Tasie and I've been thinking," Sam said.
"Well, that's never a good thing," Dean replied.
"I'm serious. We've been thinking, whatever it is. Why would it kill Mom, and Jessica, and Max's mother, you know? What does it want?"
Levi shrugged as he packed Ethan's diaper bag. "No idea."
"Well, you two think, maybe, it was after us?" Tasie asked. "After Max, Sam and me?"
"Why would you think that?" Dean asked.
"I mean, either telekinesis or premonitions, we each had abilities, you know? Maybe he was after us for some reason."
"Sam. Tasie. If it had wanted you, it would've just taken you. Okay? This is not your fault, it's not about you."
"Then what is it about?"
"It's about this damn thing that did this to our family. This thing, we're gonna find and kill. And that's all."
Tasie's eyes flicked to her twin and said, "Actually, there's uh... something else too."
"Ah, jeez what."
"When Max left me and Sam in that closet, with that big cabinet against the door... We moved it."
"Huh. You and Sam got a little more upper body strength than Levi and I gave you credit for."
"No, man, we moved it," Sam fold him. "Like, Max."
Dean paused his gathering of clothes and stood still. "Oh." He fell silent and said softly after a moment, "Right."
"Yeah."
He picked up a spoon. "Bend this."
Sam frowned at him. "Tasie and I can't just turn it on and off, Dean."
He set the spoon down as Levi asked, "Well, how'd you two do it?"
"I don't know, we can't control it. We just... We saw you two die and it just came out of us, like a punch. You know, like... a freak adrenaline thing."
"Yeah, well, I'm sure it won't happen again," Dean said.
"Yeah, maybe. Aren't you worried man, dude? Are you two worried Tasie and I could turn into Max or something?"
"Nope. No way. You know why?"
"No. Why?"
"'Cause you two got one advantage Max didn't have."
"Dad?" Tasie guessed. "Because Dad's not here, Dean."
"No. Me." He smirked. "As long as I'm around, nothing bad is gonna happen to either of you." Sam and Tasie did their puppy dog look and Levi stared and Ethan smiled as Dean slung the bag over his shoulder and moved towards Sam and Tasie. "Now, then. I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go."
"Where?" Sam and Tasie asked.
"Vegas," Dean deadpanned.
Levi frowned. "And what are we doing about Ethan?"
Dean grinned at Sam and Tasie who tilted their heads, looked away, looked back, did their bitchface and walked out the door to the car, joined by Levi and Ethan.
"What?" Dean asked. "Come on, man, Tase. Craps tables. We'd clean up! Levi, we'll figure something out for Ethan."
Dean followed Sam, Tasie, Levi and Ethan to the door and paused on the threshold. He considered Sam and Tasie, looking thoughtful, then turned to pull the door closed.