EXT. PIERPONT INN - NIGHT
A slow wind blew, creaking in an ancient sign that read "Pierpont Inn, Est. 1930". There was a beautiful mansion/hotel and the large van pulling up in front of it.
INT. PIERPONT INN - NIGHT
A large, friendly man followed a young woman, Susan, down the dim hallway inside and up a set of stairs.
"Most of the stuff is up here," Susan said.
"I still can't believe you're closing this house," the man told her. "You know my parents got engaged here? My grandparents, too."
"Yeah, a lot of people did." They reached the top of the stairs. "The boxes are at the end of the hall. Need any help?"
"Oh, no ma'am, I've got it."
Two little girls — Tyler and Maggie — in old-fashioned schoolgirl outfits were sitting in the railing that overlooks the entryway.
"He's gonna take our toys?" Tyler asked.
"Only the ones you don't play with anymore," Susan replied. "It's not like you don't have enough already."
Maggie said quietly, "Son of a bitch."
"Son of a bitch," Tyler repeated.
Susan said to Tyler, "Watch your mouth!"
"Maggie said it first!"
Susan, long-suffering, added, "Watch your mouth too, Maggie."
INT. PLAYROOM - NIGHT
Tyler went into a large room filled with rather creepy dolls and a large dollhouse - an exact replica of the hotel. She began placing dolls into their beds.
"Good night, Tabitha," Tyler said.
She looked over, confused, when a doll wasn't where she had just placed it. She leaned over and saw it lying on the floor of the dollhouse, body facedown but head twisted up. She picked it up slowly. Below, her mother screamed.
Susan spoke on the phone. "Oh God. Yes, yes, are you there? Oh, you have to send someone right now, right now!" She began babbling. "I don't know, he-"
On the floor at her feet was the man, lying in a pool of blood and contorted like the doll. As Tyler came to the railing, Susan saw her and gasped.
"Tyler, don't look!" Susan cried. "Don't look!"
She continued babbling into the phone as Tyler looked down calmly; the man's eyes were staring, his mouth still pulsing in a horrifying gape.
INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY
PEORIA, ILLINOIS
Blues music played on the radio. The motel room walls were covered in maps, hand-written notes, and a MISSING poster showed Ava's face.
Sam spoke on the phone. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Ellen."
Dean, entering, asked, "What'd she have to say?"
"Oh, she's got nothing. Lana and me, we've been checking every database we can think of — federal, state, and local. No one's heard anything about Ava, she just... into thin air, you know?"
"Huh." He handed over one of the three cups of coffee he was carrying to Sam and another to Lucie.
"What about you?"
"No, same as before. Sorry, man."
"Ellen did have one thing."
"Hmm?"
"A hotel in Cornwall, Connecticut. Two freak accidents in the past three weeks."
"Yeah? What's that have to do with Ava?"
"It's a job. I mean, a lady drowned in the bathtub; then a few days ago a guy falls down the stairs, head turns a complete one-eighty. Which isn't exactly normal, you know? Look, I don't know, Dean, it might be nothing, but I told Ellen we'd think about checking it out."
"You did?" Dean and Lucie asked.
"Yeah. You two seem surprised."
"Well yeah, it's just, you know. not the, uh, patented Sam Winchester way, is it?" Dean reasoned.
Sam, mildly challenging, shot back, "What way is that?"
"I just figured after Ava there'd be, uh, you know, more angst and droopy music and staring out the rainy windows, and-" Sam gave him a look, "yeah, I'll shut up now."
"Look. I'm the one who told her to go back home. Now her fiancé's dead and some demon has taken her off to God knows where. You know? But we've been looking for a month now, and we've got nothing. So we're not giving up on her, but we're not going to let other people die either. We've got to save as many people as we can."
"Wow. That attitude is just way too healthy for me, and I'm officially uncomfortable now. Thank you."
Sam ducked his head and laughed.
"All right, call Ellen. Tell her we'll take it."
Harriet and Cadence ran up and the former said, "Is there hot cocoa?"
Lucie smiled as she handed her the hot cocoa. "What's the rule, sweetie?"
"Two hands and slow sipping. Thank you, Mama."
"That's right. You're welcome." She gave Cadence a cup of chocolate milk and the little girl squealed gleefully.
EXT. PIERPONT INN - DAY
It wasn't raining, but the roads were wet and the air misty as Sam, Lucie, Harriet, Cadence and Dean parked the Impala in front of the inn. Dean got out of the driver's side.
"Dude, this is sweet," Dean said. "I never get to work jobs like this."
"Like what?" Sam and Lucie asked.
"Old school haunted houses, you know? Fog, and secret passageways ...sissy British accents. Might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside." He closed his eyes briefly. "Mmm, Daphne. Love her."
"Is Mommy your Daphne?" Harriet asked.
Dean nodded. "Yes she is."
"Even better her hair's red."
"That's right; it is even better."
Lucie smiled at his words.
As they went up the steps, Sam and Lucie noticed an urn on the side of the porch.
"Hey, wait a sec," Sam called as he and Lucie inspected it more closely. "She and I aren't so sure haunted's the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"You see this pattern here?" He tapped a five-point symbol engraved in the urn. "That's a quincunx, that's a five-spot."
"Five-spot."
Lucie nodded. "Yeah."
"That's used for hoodoo spellwork, isn't it?"
"Right, yeah. You fill this thing with bloodweed and you've got a powerful charm to ward off enemies."
"Yeah, except I don't see any bloodweed. Don't you think this place is a little too, uh, whitemeat for hoodoo?"
Sam shrugged and replied, "Maybe."
INT. PIERPONT INN - DAY
As they entered, looking around at the quiet interior, Susan entered briskly.
"May I help you?" Susan asked.
"Hi, yeah, I'd like a room for a couple of nights," Dean said, holding his youngest daughter.
As Sam and Lucie, holding Harriet's hand, moved in, Tyler darted in front of their legs, chased by Maggie, who ran behind them.
"Hey!" Susan called, turning to Sam and Lucie. "Sorry about that."
"No problem," Sam and Lucie told her.
"Well, um, congratulations, you could be some of our final guests."
"Well. Sounds vaguely ominous," Dean commented.
"No, I'm sorry, I mean we're closing at the end of the month." She appraised them. "Well, let me guess. You guys are here antiquing?"
Dean shared a 'why not?' look with Sam and Lucie. "How'd you know?"
"Oh, you just look the type."
Dean looked vaguely uncomfortable and Lucie looked amused. Cadence looked confused as she slipped down and began looking around. Harriet joined her and took her hand.
"So, uh, king-sized bed?"
"What? No, uh, no, we're, we're... two singles," Sam corrected. "And a couch. We're just brothers. The woman and little girls are my sister-in-law and nieces."
"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry."
"What'd you mean that we look the type?" Dean wondered.
Susan had trouble articulating an answer.
"You know, speaking of antiques, you have a really, really interesting urn on the front porch. Where did you get that?" Sam asked.
"Oh, I have no idea, it's been there forever," Susan answered, handing Dean a key. "Here you go, Mr. Mahagov."
"Thanks," Dean said.
Susan dinged the bell. "You'll be staying in room 237. Sherwin, could you show these gentlemen and ladies to their rooms?"
As she spoke, Dean turned to see an old, balding man in a black blazer shuffling up behind him.
"Let me guess. Antiquers?" Sherwin said.
Sherwin dragged Dean's clunking duffel bag behind him, up the steps, as the four followed.
Dean offered, "I could give you a hand with that bag."
"I got it," Sherwin told him.
"Okay."
"So the hotel's closing up, huh?" Sam questioned.
"Yep. Miss Susan tried to make a go of it, but the guests just don't come like they used to. Still, it's a damn shame."
"Oh yeah?"
"It may not look it anymore, but this place was a palace. Two different vice-presidents laid their heads on our pillows. My parents worked here, I practically grew up here. Gonna miss it. Here's your room."
He slipped the key in the lock and opened the door, handing the key to Sam as he brushed past. Dean turned to shut the door and Sherwin was standing there, hand extended expectantly.
"You're not gonna... cheap out on me, are you, boy?"
Dean shrugged and looked annoyed as he pulled out his wallet.
LATER
Sam and Lucie were sitting, sifting through papers, and Dean was pacing. Harriet and Cadence were sitting with their coloring books. He chuckled as he approached what appeared to be an antique wedding dress displayed on a wall like a ghost.
"What the—" Dean began.
"What?" Sam and Lucie asked.
"That's normal." He gestured to the dress. "Why the hell would anyone stay here? I'm amazed they kept in business this long."
"All right," Sam said. "Victim number one: Joan Edison, forty three years old, a realtor handling the sale of the hotel; and victim number two was Larry Williams, moving some stuff out to Goodwill."
"Well, there's a connection: they're both tied up in shutting the place down."
"Yeah. Maybe somebody here doesn't want to leave, and they're using hoodoo to fight back," Lucie guessed.
"Who do you two think our witch doctor is, that Susan lady?"
"No, doesn't seem likely. I mean, she is the one selling," Sam pointed out.
"So what then, Sherwin?"
"I don't know," Lucie admitted. "Nor does he."
"Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we're gay?"
"Well, you are kinda butch," Sam told him. "Probably think you're overcompensating."
Dean mocked a laugh. "Right."
Lucie laughed softly. "I would say he's wrong, but..."
"Maybe I need to show more PDA to you, baby."
"And make people feel awkward and cause our daughters to ask questions they aren't ready for? I think I'll take the privacy of being alone."
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
Sam, Lucie, holding Harriet and Cadence's hands, and Dean poked around the hallways, Sam and Lucie saw another urn and he picked it up. It too, had a quincunx inscribed.
"Hey," Sam called. "Look at that. More hoodoo."
They approached a door marked "PRIVATE" and Dean knocked. Susan opened the door.
"Hi there," Dean greeted.
"Hi. Everything okay with your room?" Susan asked.
Dean, Lucie and Sam talked over each other. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah, everything's great. Yeah."
"Well, I was, I was just in the middle of packing."
"Hey!" Dean called, looking past her. "Are those antique dolls? Because this one," he looked at Sam, "this one here, he's got a major doll collection back home. Dontcha? Huh?"
Sam, after shooting Dean a look muttered, "Big time."
"Big time. You think he could come — or we could come in and take a look?"
"I don't know..." Susan trailed.
"Please? I mean, he loves them. He's not gonna tell you this, but he's, he's always dressing 'em up in these little tiny outfits and, um, you'd make his day. You — she would, huh? Huh?"
Sam looked sick as he said, "It's true."
"Okay. Come on in."
"All right. All right!" Dean exclaimed, slapping Sam on the back and followed him in; Sam shot him a death glare and Lucie laughed while Harriet and Cadence buried their faces in their mother's legs. Lucie picked up Cadence and Dean picked up Harriet. "Wow. This is a lot of dolls. I mean, they're nice, you know. Not super creepy at all."
"Yeah, I suppose they are a little creepy. But they've been in the family forever. A lot of sentimental value."
"What is this?" Sam asked. "The hotel?"
"Yeah, that's right. Exact replica, custom built."
Sam leaned down and picked up the broken doll from earlier. He frowned. "His head got twisted around. What happened to it?"
"Tyler, probably."
Tyler ran in and tattled, "Mommy! Maggie's being mean."
"Tyler, tell her I said to be nice, okay?"
"Hey Tyler," Sam greeted. "I see you broke your doll. You want me to fix it?"
"I didn't break it," Tyler argued. "I found it like that."
"Oh. Well, uh, maybe Maggie did it."
"No, neither of us did it. Grandma would get mad if we broke 'em."
"Tyler, she wouldn't get mad," Susan told her.
"Grandma?" Dean and Lucie questioned.
"Grandma Rose," Tyler clarified. "These were all her toys."
"Oh. Really. Where's Grandma Rose now?" Dean wondered.
"Up in her room."
"You know, I'd, I'd uh, I'd really love to talk to Rose about her incredible doll—" Sam was cut off.
Susan cut him off suddenly. "No. I mean, I'm afraid that's impossible. My mother's been very sick and she's not taking any visitors."
Harriet whispered to her mother, "Can we go? The dolls are scary."
Lucie nodded. "We can go, sweetie."
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Sam, Lucie, holding Cadence, and Dean, holing Harriet, left the room, talking in hushed voices.
"Well, what do you two think?" Dean asked. "Dolls, hoodoo, mysterious shut-in grandma?"
"Well, dolls are used in all kinds of voodoo and hoodoo, like curses, and binding spells, and..." Sam fell silent.
"Yeah, maybe we've found our witch doctor. All right, Lucie and I'll see what we can go dig up on boomin' Granny. You go get online, check old obits, freak accidents, that sort of thing, see if she's whacked anybody before."
"Right."
"Don't go surfing porn -- that's not the kind of whacking I mean."
Sam rolled his eyes and turned back to the room as Dean and Lucie left.
INT. LOBBY - DAY
Susan signed a wordy legal document with the word "AGREEMENT" at the top. A weak-chinned lawyer stood nearby.
"I've been meaning to ask. What sort of renovations are you planning?" Susan asked.
"They never told you?" the lawyer replied.
"Told me what?"
"Uh, Ms. Thompson, we plan on demolishing the hotel."
"Oh. I see. Excuse me."
INT. PLAYROOM - NIGHT
Tyler hummed to herself as she played a tea party with several dolls.
In an upper room of the dollhouse, a dark-suited figure sat at the edge of a bed. Upstairs, in the parallel room of the real hotel, the lawyer sat at the edge of his bed.
The door behind doll-lawyer creaked open. The door behind real-lawyer creaked open.
Tyler hummed and poured tea. She heard a creak and went over to the dollhouse.
Doll-lawyer was hanging by the neck from the ceiling fan. Upstairs, Real-lawyer was hanging from the neck from the ceiling fan, twitching.
EXT. PIERPONT INN - NIGHT
Sam stared through a lace-curtained window as droopy music played. He watched the coroner cart away the lawyer's body; Dean, holding a dozing Harriet, and Lucie, holding a sleeping Cadence, were outside, and met Susan as she came back towards the inn.
"What happened?" Dean and Lucie asked.
"Oh, the maid went in to turn down the sheets and he was just... hanging there," Susan replied.
"That's awful," Dean said as Lucie nodded. "He was a guest?"
"He worked for the company that bought the place."
"Hmm."
"I don't understand."
"What?"
"Had a lot of bad luck around here. Look, if you'd like to check out I'll give you a full refund."
Lucie shook her head. "No thanks. We don't scare that easy."
INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
Sam was sitting alone in the dark, framed by the half-open door with the key askew in the lock. Dean and Lucie entered and shut the door behind them, all business-mode. The parents laid their sleeping daughters down on one of the beds.
"There's been another one," Dean informed. "Some guy just hung himself in his room."
Sam said darkly, "Yeah. I saw."
"We've gotta figure this out, and fast. What'd you find out about Granny?"
"You're the boss. Lucie's your sidekick."
Dean and Lucie, looking around in surprise, asked, "What?"
"You're bossy. And short. Lucie's tiny. Hattie and Cady are tinier." He laughed sloppily.
"Are you drunk? She's not that short. Hattie and Cady are kids. They're gonna be small."
"Yeah." He laughed. "So? Stupid."
Dean and Lucie looked around and saw several empty bottles and the former questioned, "Dude, what are you thinking? We're working a case."
Sam, tearful, staring at nothing, replied, "That guy who hung himself. I couldn't save him."
"What are you talking about? You didn't know, you couldn't have done anything."
Sam shifted his gaze to Dean. "That's an excuse, Dean. I should have found a way to save him. I should have saved Ava too."
Dean approached Sam. "Yeah, well, you can't save everyone. Even you said that."
Sam slammed the table. "No, Dean, you don't understand, all right? You don't either, Lucie. The more people I save, the more I can change!"
"Change what?" Dean and Lucie asked.
Sam, leaning forward, hands to chest, yelled, "My destiny, Dean, Lucie!"
"All right. Time for bed. Come on, Sasquatch," Dean told his brother as he leaned over and hauled Sam up by the shoulders. "Come on."
"I need you to watch out for me. And for her."
"Yeah. I always do."
"No! No, no, no. You have to watch out for me, all right? And if I ever... turn into something that I'm not..." he paused a beat, "you have to kill me."
Dean, dismissive, called, "Sam."
Sam shoved Dean to face him. "Dean! Dad told you to do it, you have to."
"Yeah, well, Dad's an ass." Sam frowned in confusion. "He never should have said anything. I mean, you don't do that, you don't, you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids."
"No. He was right to say it! Who knows what I might become? Even now, everyone around me dies!"
"Yeah, well, I'm not dying, okay? And neither are you. Come on. Sam."
He pushed Sam onto the bed, but Sam stayed seated, reaching up and clutching Dean's jacket. Dean's right hand curled in the fabric at Sam's shoulder. Lucie, who remained silent, watched the interaction.
"No, please!" Sam cried. "Dean, you're the only one who can do it. Promise."
"Don't ask that of me," Dean said.
"Dean, please. You have to promise me."
Dean, after a beat, replied, "I promise."
"Thanks." He reached up and grabbed Dean's face with both hands.
"Thank you. You are..." He turned to Lucie. "And you are..."
"All right. Come on."
Dean batted Sam's hands away and shoved him back on the bed. Sam fell back, then turned over on his stomach to plant his face in the pillow, hugging it with both arms. Dean rubbed a hand over his face. He glanced at Lucie and nodded slowly. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he placed his hand over hers.
INT. DOWNSTAIRS - NIGHT
Dean and Lucie went down to the antique, empty bar. Sherwin was behind the bar, and Dean and Lucie sat.
"Find any good antiques?" Sherwin asked.
Dean, remembering, replied, "Um, no! No, we got distracted."
"Have a drink."
"Yeah, thanks." Sherwin poured two drinks. "So, poor guy, huh? Killing himself?"
"That kind of thing seems to be going around lately."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard about the other ones. It's almost like this hotel is, uh, cursed or something."
"Every hotel has its spilled blood. If people only knew what's gone on in some of those rooms they've checked into."
"You know a lot about the place, don't you?" Lucie asked.
"Down to the last nail."
"She and I'd love to hear some stories," Dean told him.
"Boy, you should never say that to an old man."
INT. ENTRANCEWAY - NIGHT
Sherwin led Dean and Lucie up the wide staircase, showing them old framed photographs on the walls.
"This is little Miss Susan, and her mother Rose," Sherwin said. "Happier days."
"They're not happy now?" Dean asked.
"Well, would you be, leaving the only home you ever knew?"
"I don't know. I never really knew one."
"Well, this is Rose's home. It's been in the family over a century. Used to be the family estate. And now she gets to live in some senior living graveyard, and they tear this place down."
"Yeah, that's too bad," Lucie said as they started down the stairs. "I hear Rose isn't feeling well, either."
"No, she isn't."
"What's wrong with her?" Dean asked.
"It's not my business to say."
"Oh." He nodded as he and Lucie looked at another photo of two little toddlers. "Who's this?"
Sherwin picked up a yellowing photograph of a girl sitting on a chair with young black woman; the woman had a quincunx necklace.
"That's Rose, when she was a little girl," Sherwin told them.
"Who's that with her?"
"That's her nanny, Marie. She looked after Rose more than her own mother."
Dean and Lucie frowned in concern as Sherwin replaced the photo.
INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
Sam was kneeling miserably in front of the toilet, his hair hanging in his face. Dean and Lucie entered and the former grinned at the sight.
Harriet was sitting on the floor, putting her shoes on the wrong feet. Cadence was singing to herself as she banged her shoes on the ground.
"Mama?" Cadence called.
Lucie helped Cadence put her shoes on.
"How you feeling, Sammy?" Dean asked loudly. Sam groaned again. "I guess mixing whisky and Jäger wasn't such a gangbuster idea, was it?" He added hopefully, "I'll bet you don't remember a thing from last night, do you?"
Sam groaned. "Ohh, I can still taste the tequila." Dean smiled in relief, as did Lucie, but it was clear she was more hesitant.
"You know, there's a really good hangover remedy -- it's a, it's a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray."
Sam, heaving, retorted, "Oh, I hate you."
"I know you do. Hey, turns out when Grandma Rose was a tyke, she had a Creole nanny who wore a hoodoo necklace. Whoo."
"So you think she taught Rose hoodoo?"
"Yes we do," Lucie replied.
"All right." He stood painfully. "I think it's time we talked to Rose, then."
Dean, grimacing, said, "Oh. You can brush your teeth first." He turned to his older daughter, seeing her shoes. "How about we fix your shoes?"
Harriet shook her head. "No, Daddy. I like it."
"You sure, silly girl?"
Harriet nodded. "I'm sure."
He picked her up and dipped her, causing her to laugh. "Okay, kiddo."
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
Sam, Lucie, holding Cadence, and Dean, holding Harriet's hand, approached the door marked "PRIVATE" and knocked.
"Hello? Susan?" Sam called as Dean and Lucie looked around furtively. "Clear?"
"Mm-hmm," Dean and Lucie hummed.
Sam knelt before the door and picked the lock.
INT. PLAYROOM - DAY
Sam, Lucie, Harriet, Cadence and Dean entered the creepy doll room and went to the door in the back; it was open, and they went through to find a dimly lit staircase. They crept upstairs and to the end of another hallway, into a small room whose door was ajar. Rose was seated in a wheelchair facing the rainy window, her back to them. They approached cautiously.
"Mrs. Thompson?" Sam called. "Mrs. Thompson?" She was trembling, staring at nothing. "Rose? Hi, Mrs. Thompson, we're not here to hurt you, it's okay—" She didn't respond, just trembled harder. "Rose?" He spoke quietly. "Dean. Lucie." He drew them over to the side. "This woman's had a stroke."
"Yeah, but hoodoo's hands-on, I mean, you've got to mix herbs, and chant, and build an altar."
"Yeah. So it can't be Rose," Lucie reasoned. "Hey, maybe it's not even hoodoo."
"Or she could be faking."
"Yeah, what are you gonna do, poke her with a stick?" Sam shot back and Dean frowned, nodding. "Dude! You're not gonna poke her with a stick!"
Susan entered and cried, "What the hell?! What are you doing in here?"
Sam and Lucie, overlapping, replied, "Oh, we just wanted to talk to Rose..."
Dean also overlapping, added, "Well, the door was open..."
Harriet nodded, frowning at her father.
"Look at her, she is scared out of her wits," Susan told them. "I want you out of my hotel in two minutes or I'm calling the cops."
They left without hesitation.
EXT. PIERPONT INN - DAY
The Impala rumbled out of the hotel parking lot.
INT. BALCONY - DAY
Tyler and Maggie were playing jacks.
"Your turn," Maggie said. "Eightsies."
"Have you started packing yet?" Susan asked.
"No," Tyler replied.
"Why not?"
"I don't wanna move."
"Yes, I know, but we have to."
"But Maggie says we're not allowed to move."
"Yeah," Maggie agreed.
"Tyler, enough," Susan told her. "Maggie is imaginary. You're too old to have an imaginary friend and I am done pretending."
Maggie said in a sinister tone, "I don't like her."
EXT. INN - DAY
Susan walked outside and placed a box in the trunk of a small red car parked outside.
Sherwin pulled up in a red pickup truck and said, "I can lug those boxes for you."
"I got it, Sherwin, thanks," Susan told him.
"Okay then. See you later." He drove off.
INT. PLAYROOM - DAY
Tyler wound up a toy and watched it go back and forth. The miniature swing set beside her started moving on its own. She stared at it.
EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY
A creepy wind blew, and Susan stared as the full-sized swing set also began moving on its own. She approached the playground cautiously; all the play sets were moving, and the car started behind her. She laid a hand on the teeter-totter to stop it. Everything started moving faster, and suddenly the car revved its engine and came straight at her. At the last moment, Sam and Lucie appeared, tackling her out of the way.
"Are you okay?" Sam and Lucie asked.
"I think so," Susan replied.
"Come on, come on," Dean said. "Let's get inside, let's go."
They helped her into the inn and Harriet and Cadence ran after them.
INT. INN - DAY
Sam, Lucie and Dean guided Susan into the bar and to a table.
"Whisky," Susan said.
"Sure. I know the feeling," Sam told her.
"What the hell happened out there?"
"You want the truth?" Dean asked.
"Of course."
"Well, at first we thought it was some sort of hoodoo curse, but that out there?" Lucie said in a questioning tone. "That was definitely a spirit."
Sam handed Susan a glass of whisky. "Here."
"You're insane," Susan retorted.
"Yeah, it's been said," Dean muttered.
"Look, I'm sorry, Susan," Sam apologized. "We don't exactly have time to ease you into this, but we need to know when your mother had the stroke."
"What does that have to do with any—" Susan was cut off.
"Just answer the question."
"About a month ago."
"Right before the killings began." He said to Dean and Lucie, "See? So what if Rose was working hoodoo, but not to hurt anyone. To protect them."
"She was using the five spot urns to ward off the spirit."
Lucie nodded. "Right, until she had a stroke and she couldn't anymore."
"I don't believe this," Susan muttered.
Dean looked at Susan. "Listen, sister, that car didn't try to run you down by itself, okay? I mean, I guess it did, technically, but, but the spirit can — forget it."
Sam interrupted his brother. "Look, believe what you want. But the fact is you and your family are in danger, all right? So you need to clear everybody out of here: your employees, your mother, your daughters, everyone."
"Um, I only have one daughter."
"One?" Sam and Lucie repeated.
"I thought Tyler had a sister named Maggie," Dean said.
"Maggie's imaginary," Susan told them.
"Where's Tyler?" Sam and Lucie asked.
Lucie looked around with a frown. "Where are my daughters? Hattie? Cady? Hattie! Cady!"
INT. ROSE'S ROOM - DAY
Maggie was standing in front of a terrified Rose and said, "She's going to stay here with me. And so are those little girls. And you can't stop me. There's nothing you can do about it."
Tyler entered, followed by Harriet and Cadence who wanted to play, and cried, "Maggie, don't! You're not supposed to bother Grandma."
"I know. Come on. Let's play."
"Can we have a tea party?"
"We can have lots of tea parties. Forever and ever and ever."
INT. PLAYROOM - DAY
Susan led Sam, Lucie and Dean up to the playroom.
"Tyler!" Susan called.
"Hattie! Cady!" Dean and Lucie said.
They went into the room; the floor was littered with broken dolls. Susan started to panic as she said, "Oh my god. Tyler." She ran out of the room. "Tyler!" She returned. "She's not here!"
"Susan. Tell us what you know about Maggie," Sam said.
"Uh, not much. Um, Tyler's been talking about her since Mom got sick."
"Okay, did you ever know anyone by that name?" Lucie asked.
"Uh, no..."
"Think, think, I mean, somebody that could have lived here, might have passed away?" Dean questioned.
"Oh my god. My mom. My mom had a sister named Margaret. She barely spoke about her."
"Did Margaret happen to die here when she was a kid?" Sam asked.
"She drowned in the pool."
"Come on," Dean and Lucie said.
Lucie sucked in a breath, fearing the worst for her and Dean's daughters.
INT. POOL - DAY
Maggie and Tyler were hanging on the ledge above the pool.
"I don't like it up here," Tyler said. "I'm scared."
"It's okay," Maggie told her. "All you have to do is jump."
"I can't swim."
Harriet shook her head. "Me too. I don't like this."
"Sissy?" Cadence called with a whimper.
"It'll be okay, Cady."
"I know," Maggie said. "But it won't hurt. I promise. And then we can be together -- forever. And no one will bother us."
"Why don't you just come with me and Mommy?" Tyler asked.
"Because I can't leave here. And you can't leave me. Please. I don't want to be alone."
EXT. INN - DAY
Susan, Sam, Lucie and Dean ran through the gardens to the pool house. They reached the door and pounded on it. It was locked tight, and Sam, Lucie and Dean started pounding at the glass to break it.
"Tyler!" Susan called as more pounding sounded. "Tyler!"
"Mommy!" Tyler yelled.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Harriet shouted.
"Mama! Dada!" Cadence screamed.
Maggie grabbed Tyler and Cadence's wrists and pulled them forward; they fell into the pool with a scream. Harriet managed to hang on and began climbing over the railing.
"Is there another entrance?" Dean asked, desperate to save his daughters.
"Around back," Susan told them.
"All right, let's go." He turned to Sam and Lucie. "Keep working."
As they ran around the building, Sam and Lucie continued to pounding at the door; they looked back and saw a large potted plant. He pulled the plant out, picked up the heavy pot, and started pounding the door with it.
Inside, Tyler and Cadence floundered in the water, coming up for a second; Maggie pushed their heads down.
"Bad ghost!" Harriet yelled. "Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Sammy, hurry!"
Dean approached the back door and held Susan aside.
"Stand back," Dean ordered, front-kicking the door, twice, but it hardly budged. "Son of a bitch! Hattie, can you open the door?!"
Harriet ran to the door and tried reaching the handle. "I can't reach, Daddy. Cady's gonna die!"
"Honey, no, she won't."
As Maggie held Tyler and Cadence's heads under the water, a wavering voice called her from above.
"Margaret," Rose called. "Margaret!"
Sam and Lucie finally broke through the glass and wriggled through the opening. Without hesitation, they leapt over the railing and into the pool. They pushed past the plastic covering the pool to reach Tyler; Sam lifted Tyler in his arms. Lucie lifted Cadence. Both girls were unconscious.
Dean broke through the back door and he and Susan rushed in to meet Sam as he exited the pool. After a tense moment, Tyler coughed and woke up.
"Thank god!" Susan cried. "Thank god, thank god."
"Mommy!" Tyler called.
"Yeah, baby, I'm here."
"Tyler, do you see Maggie anywhere?" Sam asked.
"No, she's gone. Mommy."
Lucie shook Cadence, who didn't seem to be stirring. "Cady! Baby, you gotta wake up!" She checked her daughter's pulse and felt one.
After a few tense moments, Cadence coughed and began crying.
Lucie pulled her daughter close. "Oh, baby, you're okay. Mama's here."
Harriet ran up and asked, "Is Cady gonna be okay?"
Dean nodded. "Just like I told you, Hattie." He kissed his daughters' heads and dried their tears. "You're safe, Cady."
Cadence moved to her father's lap and he held her as she cuddled into him. Harriet took her sister's hand with a smile.
INT. ROSE'S ROOM - DAY
"You'd really do that for me?" Maggie asked, pausing. "Yes. If you did, I'd let them go. But I don't understand. You kept me away for so long. I thought you didn't love me anymore." She paused a beat. "Okay, little sister." She reached forward and caressed Rose's cheek.
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
Susan held Tyler close to her as they went up towards Rose's room.
"Don't worry, honey, we're leaving in two minutes, we've just got to get Grandma," Susan told her daughter.
"I don't get it, did Maggie just stop?" Dean, holding Cadence, asked.
"Seems like it," Sam and Lucie, holding Harriet's hand, replied.
"Well, where the hell did she go?"
Upstairs, Susan screamed. They went running up to Rose's room to find her slumped in her wheelchair, dead.
EXT. INN - DAY
"Paramedics said it was another stroke," Susan told the hunters. "Do you think... Margaret could have had something to do with it?"
"We don't know," Dean admitted.
"But it's possible, yeah," Sam said, pausing a beat. "Susan, I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for," Susan said. "You've given me everything. I'm glad Cadence and Harriet are okay." She turned to Tyler, as she came out. "Ready to go, kiddo?"
"Yeah," Tyler replied.
"Us too. Now Tyler, you're sure Maggie's not around anymore?" Dean asked.
"I'm sure. I'd see her."
"I guess whatever's going on must be over."
Sam held the taxi door for Susan and said, "You two take care of yourselves, all right?"
Before getting in the taxi, she turned and gave Sam a full-body hug. Dean smirked, Harriet and Cadence waved, and Lucie smiled lightly.
"Thank you," Susan replied. "Each of you."
Sam shut the door behind her.
"Think you could have hooked up some MILF action there, bud," Dean told his brother. "I'm serious, I think she liked you."
"Yeah, that's all she needs," Sam shot back.
"Well, you saved the mom, you saved the girl. Not a bad day. 'Course you know, I could have saved 'em myself, but I didn't want you to feel useless."
"All right, I appreciate it."
"Feels good getting back in the saddle, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does. But it doesn't change what we talked about last night, Dean, Lucie."
"We talked about a lot of things last night."
"You know what I mean."
"You were wasted."
"But you weren't. And you promised."
They got into the car. Sam in a full-on brood, Dean and Lucie flicking their eyes towards Sam in worry or anxiety. Lucie made sure Cadence and Harriet were buckled into their car seats properly. They pulled away from the inn.
INT. ROSE'S ROOM - DAY
Maggie and Rose, now appearing about Tyler's age, were skipping rope and counting.