On the drive over to the church I showed Dean and Sam the drawing I had done earlier of a the five crosses on a medallion. We knew that my drawing probably had something to do with this case, but we just didn't know what that something was yet. My brothers reassured me that we'd figure this out just like we always do. As we drove up to the big white church I looked out my window and noticed a dark figure by the entrance. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things and when I looked back it was gone. I shrugged and thought it was probably nothing. At least that's what I hoped.
After Dean parked the car we entered the church through the back entrance. There was a mass going on and we could hear Reverend Sorensen say,"Our hearts go out to the family of a young man who perished, and my personal prayers of thanks go out as well, because I believe he died trying to protect my daughter.....and now as time heals all our wounds, we should reflect on what this tragedy means."
Then Dean slammed the door closed causing everyone to turn around. I hid behind my big brothers not wanting to be seen by all the people awkwardly staring at us.
I peaked out from behind Sam and saw everyone turn back to the Reverend as he began to say,"To us as a church, a community and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings."
We walked towards an empty pew in the back and sat down quietly not wanting to draw anymore attention to ourselves. I felt like someone was watching me, so I looked around and that's when I noticed a girl in the front row staring, but she wasn't staring at me, she was staring at Sam.
I leaned towards him and whispered in a teasing tone,"I think she likes you Sammy."
"Ella shush, quit it."Sam whispered while looking forward. I couldn't help, but smirk when I noticed that the girl kept staring at him.
"So, please let us pray, for peace, for guidance and for the power to protect our children."Reverend Sorensen said as he closed his eyes and bowed his head. Everyone else bowed their heads and began to pray too.
I bowed my head and closed my eyes, then I heard Sam move in his seat. I opened one of my eyes and peaked over to see Sam elbow Dean, because he wasn't bowing his head. I smirked then closed my eyes as I continued to pray. This kinda reminded me of the many times Dad would drop my brothers and I off at Pastor Jim's when we were little. I would get really worried about Dad wondering if he was gonna be okay, while he was out hunting. Pastor Jim taught me how to pray for his safety. Later when Sam and Dean were old enough to go with Dad. I would be left at Pastor Jim's and I would pray for Dad, Sam and Dean. It kind of stuck with me and had a way of calming me down when ever I was worried about them. I started to think about Dad and said a little prayer for him.
Then the mass ended and all the people started to head outside.
Dean, Sam and I exited the church along with everyone else. As we walked down the front steps I had a strong feeling that someone was watching me. At the corner of my eye I could see some sort of dark figure. I turned quickly to glance at it, but there was nothing there. I couldn't shake the horrible feeling that something was lurking around, watching almost like it was waiting to do something. It was seriously starting to creep me out, so I made sure to stay close to my brothers as we walked towards the girl from earlier who kept staring at Sam. The closer we got to her, the colder I felt.
"Are you Lori?"Sam asked as we approached the girl who kept staring at him in church.
"Yeah."She replied while looking at him.
"My name is Sam, this is my brother Dean and my sister Ella."Sam said introducing us to her.
"Hi."Dean said with a smile.
"Hi Lori."I said with a smile and a small wave.
"Hello."She said with a nod while looking at all three of us.
Then Sam cleared his throat and said,"Dean and I just transferred here to the university."
Lori looked at me and asked, "Did you transfer too?"
I smiled and shook my head while replying,"No, not yet...I...uh..still need to graduate high school. I'm only here to get a sneak peak at where I'll be going in the future."
"Oh, so are you part of the visiting student program?" She asked while looking at me.
"Yup, that right."I said with a big smirk while nodding like a bobble head.
Before Lori could ask anymore questions Sam said, "We don't wanna bother you, we just heard about what happened and...."
"We wanted to say how sorry we were."Dean said finishing Sam's sentence.
"I kind of know what you're going through. I...I saw someone...get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Sam said with a sympathetic look on his face. Dean and I glanced at each other knowing exactly what he was talking about. It was a painful reminder of the night Sam lost Jessica.
Lori nodded while looking down.
Then Reverend Sorensen approached us and Lori introduced us to him by saying, "Dad um... this is Sam, and Dean. They're new students, and this is Ella their sister."
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon."Dean said with a giant smile on his face.
The Reverend smiled and replied,"Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message."
Dean chuckled, then said,"Listen, uh..we're new in town, actually."
Then Dean motioned for me to follow him and Reverend Sorensen, so Lori and Sam could talk alone. I nodded and followed behind Dean and the Reverend. As I trailed behind them I kinda zoned out of their conversation which was about Dean looking to join a church group. I knew Dean was only trying to buy Sam time, so he could talk to Lori. I was hoping she would open up to Sammy and provide us with at least something that could help in figuring out what killed Rich. I kept looking down at the ground, kicking small rocks, so I wouldn't get bored while following Dean's shadow.
I rubbed my arms trying to get warm. Even thought the sun was out it still felt really cold. With each step I took it felt like it was getting colder. Then I was hit with an icy cold chill and I knew what that meant. I looked up and took in my surroundings.
I didn't realized how far ahead Dean and Reverend Sorensen had walked. They were almost standing by the Impala while I was standing by the entrance to the church. I scratched my head wondering how I got here. I though I was right behind Dean following his shadow this entire time, so how could I possibly end up way over here?
My questions were answered when I looked down and saw Dean's shadow, but how could it be here when he's with the Reverend right now. That's when I came to the scary realization that I wasn't following Dean's shadow earlier I was actually following whatever this thing was, no wonder my human EMF senses were going off. I was wondering what this thing could be and if it was connected to what killed Rich.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I seen the shadow move across the ground, go up the stairs and into the church. What's creepy is that the door actually opened as it entered the church and remained open as if it was waiting for me to follow it in.
"What is this like Peter Pan's shadow thingy?" I whispered to myself as I stared at the open door debating whether I should go in or not. I knew if Dean and Sam found out what I was about to do they would freak out and lock me up in the Impala. I mean I was always taught to never go into situations like this without back up, but my curiosity was getting best of me. I looked over at my brothers and seen that they were both preoccupied with talking to Reverend Sorensen and his daughter Lori. I decided to go in and check it out, but I wasn't going in unarmed. I pulled out my iron knife from my pocket and cautiously walked up the steps. I entered the church and looked around to find out where the shadow had gone.
Suddenly the door slammed shut behind me and I jumped while gripping on tightly to my knife. I turned around, but there was nothing there. I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. I was now regretting coming in here all alone.
Then I was hit with an icy cold chill from behind. I reluctantly turned around towards the front and saw someone sitting in the first pew near the altar. Which was weird, because when I walked in it was completely empty. I was wondering where in the hell did they come from?
I could feel the temperature drop with each step I took towards them. When I was right behind them they flickered and appeared right next to me. I quickly jumped back as my eyes opened wide in shock, because they were completely drenched in blood. I looked at their face and realized that I've seen them somewhere before.
Then it clicked and I knew exactly who this was as I said,"Rich."
"Yeah, I need help....."He said while looking at me with a sad expression on his face.
"Help with what?"I asked while looking at him as he flickered.
"Something I couldn't see...killed me.... and it needs to be stopped...."He replied while staring at me.
"Okay, but in order for me to help I need you to tell me about the night you were killed. I know it's hard, but if you remember anything.... anything at all that could help me figure out what this is please tell me now, so my brothers and I can stop it."I said while looking at him hoping he could give me some insight on what killed him.
"Even though I couldn't see it... I could hear it....it sounded like metal being scratched...it left a giant scratch mark on my car door before.... this happened." He explained while pointing to his bloody wounds.
Then the lights flickered and the temperature dropped even lower. I could hear the loud sound of metal scratching which was kinda like nails on a chalk board.
"It's...It's here..." Rich anxiously said while looking at me with his eyes wide open.
"What?"I asked while looking around frantically. I was trying to figure out where the scratching sound was coming from.
When I looked back at where Rich was standing he wasn't around anymore. All of the lights went out and I was in the dark. Suddenly I could see a tall, creepy, dark figure standing right in front of the altar.
"Great and that's my cue to leave." I whispered to myself while holding on tight to my iron knife.
I didn't want to take any chances, so I ran as fast as I could towards the exit.
When I opened the door I slammed face first into something hard. It felt like a freaking wall.
"Oww, my face."I mumbled in pain while rubbing my nose with my hand.
"See El, this is where your helmet would've came in handy."I heard Dean's voice say. I opened my eyes and a slight smile spread across my face, because I felt so much better knowing that Dean was here with me.
"No, I'm not wearing that thing"I replied hoping he wouldn't see how freaked out I was about what just happened.
"Where the hell have you been?"Dean asked sounding really angry. I knew he was glaring at me so I looked anywhere, but his face.
"Well Scooby, I was trying to solve a mystery, now let's go find Shaggy and hop into the mystery machine."I answered sarcastically while walking quickly towards the Impala trying my best to avoid his question. I knew if I told him what really had happened he would be furious and go into crazy overprotective brother mode.
Right when I was about to reach the Impala Dean grabbed my arm and turned me around so I could face him.
"Don't change the subject or answer me with loads of sarcasm, I know when somethings wrong. Now tell me what happened?"Dean said while glaring at me. I hate that his glare works every freaking time he uses it on me.
"Fine, I....uhh.... may have had an encounter with something tall, dark and creepy."I replied nervously wondering how he was gonna react.
"It was that drunk guy from earlier wasn't it? Where is he? I'll kill em." Dean said through gritted teeth while looking around.
I shook my head and quietly replied so only he could hear,"No, it wasn't that guy. It was something...not human."
"Like what?"Dean asked while furrowing his brow.
"I think it's a ghost... or some sort of shadow thingy. It didn't do anything to me, but I felt like it was just trying to scare me away. Maybe it's the thing that killed Rich cause his ghost seemed really scared of it."I nervously replied.
"You spoke to Rich's ghost?"Dean asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, briefly before he pulled a Houdini and magically disappeared."I said while looking at Dean.
"Did he tell you what killed him?"Dean asked while looking at me with his brow furrowed.
I tilted my head and replied,"Well, he said he couldn't see it, but he could hear metal being scratched before he....uhh..."
"Kicked the bucket."Dean said finishing what I was gonna say with an eye brow raised.
"Yup, pretty much."I said while nodding.
"All right, at least we have something to go on. Looks like Sammy is still talkin' with Lori, let's go wait in the car. Then we can fill him in on your whole Ghost Whisperer experience."Dean said with a smirk.
"Ha-ha, that's so not funny."I said while glaring at him.
"Don't think I didn't forget about you wander off and not telling Sam or me where you were going, so I'm putting you on weapons cleaning duty for a month."Dean said while looking down at me.
"But cleaning weapons it's so boring...."I whined while pouting hoping he would change his mind.
Dean shook his head and said,"You should of thought about that before you followed a ghost all alone without any back up, and pouting is not gonna work this time."
"But Dee.."I said while doing my pout with the puppy dog eyes.
"Neither are the puppy dog eyes. No matter how cute you try to make your face look you're still being punished."Dean said while glaring at me.
"A month really? Dee this sucks. Can't we negotiate something to lessen my sentence?"I pleaded with him.
"No, but go ahead keep complaining and whining El, I could always make it two months."He said while walking towards the Impala.
I shook my head and replied, "No! That's okay, I learned my lesson, I promise no running off and following ghosts without any backup."
"Good that's what I like to hear. Next time you sense or see anything and have the urge to follow it, do me a favor; tell Sam or me right away, okay. I don't like you wandering off by yourself especially after a ghost.... Listen, I'm not trying to be a hard-ass here, I'm just trying to keep you safe. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt, okay?"Dean said while looking at me with concern.
"Okay, I understand Dee and thanks for watching out for me."I said with a smile while giving him a hug.
He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. Then he smiled and said, "I'm your big brother it's my job to watch out for my annoying little sister."
I pulled out of our hug and stuck my tongue at him.
"You're such a brat."He said with a chuckle.
"I learned from the best."I said with a giant smirk while pointing at him.
Then I heard someone let out a chuckle from behind me. I looked back and smiled when I seen that it was Sam.
"Sammy."I said while going over and giving him a hug. He hugged me back then ruffled my hair.
"Hey, you messed up my hair, I hate it when you do that."I said while glaring at him.
Sam and Dean chuckled while I tried to fix my hair. I glared at them and stuck out my tongue which only made them laugh even more. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest as we walked up to the car.
Once we piled into the Impala Sam began to tell us what Lori told him. He said that Lori feels guilty for Rich's death and that the police don't have a lot to go on due to her short testimony. She also told him that she felt like she was seeing things. I was wondering if she saw the same creepy dark figure I had seen in the church.
Dean and I filled Sammy in on my run-in with Rich's ghost and the creepy dark figure. Sam looked at me with concern and was worried about me just like Dean. No matter how much I tried to reassure them by saying that I was okay, they both had worried expressions on their faces. I knew they just didn't want anything bad to happen to me.
Then Dean started the engine and drove to the library, so we could do some research.