On the long drive to our old home I showed Sam & Dean my drawing of a fire with the three letters J, S and R written in the center. I told them I had no idea what it meant, but they reassured me just like they always do by saying that we'd figure it out. After Sam handed me back my journal I kept myself busy by continuing to work on the new drawing I started back in the motel room.
When we finally arrived Dean parked across the street from the house. I set down my journal on the seat next to me and stared out the window with my eyes opened wide in shock, because it was the exact same house from my nightmare. I bit my lip nervously and continued to stare at the house like a deer in headlights.
I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of Sam and Dean getting out of the car. I got out and stood next them by the front of the Impala.
"You all right Ella?"Sam asked with concern while leaning towards me.
"I guess..."I replied anxiously while biting my nails.
"El, you can stay in the car if you want, you don't have to go."Dean said while staring at me.
I stopped biting my nails and shook my head while saying,"No, I wanna go, I need to."
"You gonna be all right man?"Sam asked while glancing over at Dean with a worried expression on his face.
"Let me get back to you on that."Dean responded as he looked over at the house.
Then we crossed the street and made our way up the front steps. I was getting nervous with each step we took towards the front door. I just didn't want to relive the creepy experience from my nightmare.
I stood in between my brothers as Sam knocked on the door. A couple seconds later a woman with blonde hair opened the door, "Yes?"
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal..."Dean began to say, but was interrupted by Sam.
"I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my sister Ella and my brother Dean, we used to live here. You know we were just drivin' by and were wondering if we could come see the old place."Sam said with a smile.
"Nice to meet all of you, I'm Jenny.....wait you said Winchester right?"She asked while looking over at Sam.
"Yeah."Sam replied with a nod.
"That's so funny, you know, I think I found some of your photos the other night."Jenny said with a slight grin.
"You did?"Dean and I asked in unison while staring at her.
"Come on in."She said with a smile while opening the door even wider, so we could enter.
Sam went in first followed by me and Dean. Then Jenny closed the door and led us into the kitchen. She walked to the refrigerator while my brothers and I stood by the table where there was a little girl coloring. We watched as Jenny pulled out a sippy cup from the fridge and closed it, making sure the door was secure with a child proof lock.
"Juice, juice, juice!"A little boy said on the left side of the kitchen while jumping up and down in his playpen.
"That's Richie, he's kind of a juice junkie, but at least he won't get scurvy."Jenny said while walking over to Richie and handing him a sippy cup full of orange juice.
Then she walked over to the little girl at the table and stood behind her. She pointed over at my brothers and I while saying,"Sari, this is Sam, Dean and Ella, they used to live here."
Sari looked over at us and smiled while saying,"Hi."
"Hi."Dean said while waving at her.
"Hey, Sari."Sam said with a grin.
"Hi, nice to meet you Sari."I said with a smile while looking at her.
"So you just moved in?"Dean asked while glancing over at Jenny.
"Yeah, from Wichita."She replied while looking at Dean.
"You got family here, or...?"Dean asked.
"No, I just, uh...needed a fresh start, that's all, so new town, new job...I mean as soon as I find one, new house."
"So, how you liking it so far?"Sam asked
"Well, uh....all due respect to your childhood home...I mean, I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here, but this place has it's issues."Jenny replied while looking at us.
"What do you mean?"I asked with my eyebrow raised.
"Well, it's just gettin' old, like the wiring, you know...we've got flickering lights almost hourly."Jenny answered while looking at Sam, Dean and I.
"Oh that's too bad, what else?"Dean asked with his eyebrow furrowed.
"Um...sink's backed up, there's rats in the basement. I'm sorry, I don't mean to complain."Jenny responded while looking at Dean.
"No.."Dean said while shaking his head to let her know that it was okay.
"Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"Dean asked her.
"It's just scratching, actually."Jenny replied with her brow furrowed.
"Mom?"Sari asked while turning towards her mother.
"Yeah Sari."Jenny responded while looking down at Sari with a slight smile.
"Can I show Ella the monkey?"Sari asked while glancing over at me.
"You have a monkey? I wanna see."I said with a grin on my face.
"El."Dean whispered with a serious expression on his face.
"What, they have a monkey."I said with a smirk while looking over at him.
"It's not a real monkey, it's just a toy that looks really old, kinda came with the house, Sari found it yesterday in one of the drawers, it's in the living room."Jenny explained.
Then Sari got up front her seat and walked over to me.
"Come on Ella."She said while grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the hallway.
I looked back and saw that Sam and Dean were staring at me with nervous smiles on their faces. I knew they were just worried about me being in the other room away from them. I smiled and waved at them as an attempt at trying to ease their minds, but by the way they were looking at me, I knew it wasn't working.
Sari pulled my arm and quickly led me down the hall. She turned left and we entered the living room. We stopped in front of the coffee table and that's when I saw it. Right in the center of the table was a creepy looking monkey toy, which kinda reminded me of the one from, 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.'
"Is that the monkey?"I asked with an eyebrow raised while pointing to the toy.
"Yeah."She replied while nodding her head.
"He looks kinda..."I said while staring at the monkey toy
"Creepy."Sari said completing what I was about to say.
"Yeah, you took the word right out of my mouth. Why'd you wanna show me this...toy?"I said while looking over at Sari.
"I tried to show my Mom, but she doesn't believe me."She replied with her brow furrowed while looking up at me.
"Believe what?"I asked with a confused expression on my face wondering what she was talking about.
"That it moves by itself."She answered while looking at me.
All of a sudden I felt an icy cold breeze past right by me. Then the monkey toy started to clash the cymbals together all by itself.
"Look it's moving."Sari said while staring at it.
"Yeah, can I check it out?"I asked while pointing to the toy.
"Okay."She replied with a nod.
Right when I reached out for the monkey toy it stopped moving. I picked it up and turned it around, so I could check the batteries. I opened up the battery compartment and saw that it was completely empty.
"Well that's weird, what's going on here?" I mumbled to myself while placing the toy back on the table.
Then the temperature in the room dropped to below freezing causing me to shiver. I could see something dark move at the corner of my eye. I quickly glanced over and didn't see anything there.
"Go..."I heard a voice whisper from right next to me and I thought maybe it was Sari.
"Sari, did you say something?"I asked Sari wondering if it was her that just spoke.
"No."She replied while shaking her head.
"Great I'm hearing things."I sarcastically mumbled under my breath.
Suddenly the monkey toy started to move all by itself again and some black smoke appeared on the other side of the room. I glanced over at Sari and she didn't even realized that the smoke was there. She just kept staring at the toy. Then the black smoke started to move towards us and the closer it got the more it smelt like something was burning. Something about this thing didn't feel right and everything within me was telling me to run.
"Let's go back to the kitchen, now."I said with a nervous smile while looking over at Sari. I was desperately trying to cover up how freaked out I was with a smile, because I didn't want to scare her.
"Okay."She said with a nod.
As we made our way back to the kitchen I could feel something watching us from behind. I wanted to turn around to see what was there, but right when I was about to a voice whispered in my ear,"Don't...it's not safe."
I listened to the voice and kept walking towards the kitchen right behind Sari.
When Sari and I walked back into the kitchen I couldn't shake the creepy feeling that something was still behind us just watching. I stood very close to Sam and Dean, while Sari walked back over to her mother on the other side of the table.
Then an icy cold chill went down my spine and a creepy deep voice whispered in my ear,"Come..."
I quickly grabbed onto Sam's arm and tried to keep myself calm, because it sounded exactly like the thing from my creepy nightmare. It seriously felt as if there was more than one thing in this house. One that felt dangerous like it wanted to cause harm, while the other one wanted to warn me about the other thing. Then I thought what if it was just one thing with multiple personalities, I wasn't sure on what exactly we were dealing with here and that really bothered the heck out of me.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by Sam looking at me with a worried expression on his face while quietly asking if I was okay.
I shook my head while whispering, so only he could hear,"My spidey senses are tingling."
"What?"He quietly asked with concern plastered on his face.
"You were right, something's here..."I whispered anxiously.
Before Sam could ask another question Sari said,"Mom, did you ask them if it was here when they lived here?"
"What Sari?"Jenny asked with her eyebrow raised.
"The thing in my closet."Sari responded with her brow furrowed.
"Oh no baby, there was nothing in their closets. Right?"Jenny said while glancing over at my brothers and I.
"Right, no of course not."Dean answered with a slight smile, as he tried to reassure Sari.
"She had a nightmare the other night."Jenny began to explain.
Sari shook her head while saying,"I wasn't dreaming, it came into my bedroom....and it was on fire."
After hearing what Sari had said I held on tightly to Sam's arm. He looked down at me with concern and grabbed onto my hand as he tried to silently reassure me. I've been on many scary cases before, but this one literally hits way too close to home. I mean right now I'm standing in the very house were my Mom died with me still in her belly. I was doing my best to stay calm, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I started biting my nails frantically, which instantly caught the attention of Sam.
"Well, I think it's time for us to head out."Sam said while looking over at Jenny.
"Thanks for letting us in to see the old place."Dean said with a smile.
"You're welcome."Jenny said with a grin while looking at my brothers and I.
Then Jenny led us to the front door. Sam held on tight to my hand as we walked towards the door with Dean following right behind us.
"Bye."Jenny said with a grin while opening the door so we could leave.
"Bye Jenny."I said with concern, because I was really worried about leaving Jenny and her kids in this house with something that could possibly harm them.
"Bye Ella."Jenny said with a smile while waving at me.
"Bye and thank you."Sam said with a smile.
Then Sam practically dragged me out the door, let's just say overprotective brother mode was activated. When I looked up at his face I could tell that he had a million more questions for me about what I sensed in the house. I knew I was gonna have a problem answering his questions, because I felt confused by what I had sensed. The only thing I knew for sure was that there was something in this house, something that felt very dangerous.
"Bye."Dean said to Jenny as he exited the house. Then Jenny closed the front door.
We walked down the stairs and started to head back to the car.
"You guys hear that? A figure on fire...."Sam said while continuing to hold on to my hand as we walked towards the Impala.
"Yeah, creepy."I said nervously while biting my nails.
"Ella..."Sam said while turning to look at me as we continued to walk towards the car.
"What?"I asked while glancing at him.
"You said that you sensed something in there."Sam said with his brow furrowed.
I nodded my head and replied,"Something creepy..."
Dean looked at me with his eyebrow raised and asked,"You did?"
"Yeah, I did...and let's just say my spidey senses were definitely going off in there, especially when Sari took me to go check out the creepy looking monkey toy, which by the way looks exactly like the one from Close encounters of the third kind... anyway, the toy kinda moved by itself...without batteries. Maybe it's a ghost or..."I anxiously said while averting my eyes away from my brothers gaze.
"Or what?"Dean asked in a serious tone.
I looked at him and shook my head while saying,"I don't know, this thing, it seems different somehow..."
"Different how?"Sam asked while staring at me waiting for my answer.
"I don't know, cause whatever is in that house, completely confused the hell out of me."I said in frustration with my brow furrowed.
"Don't worry El, we'll figure it out all right?"Dean said while looking at me in the eyes. He always had a way of reassuring me ever since we were little.
I sighed then replied while nodding my head, "All right Dee."
"Good."Dean said with a slight smile while looking at me.
Then he looked over at Sam and asked, "That woman, Jenny, was she the same woman from in your dreams?"
"Yeah, and you guys heard what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights, both signs of a malevolent spirit."Sam said while staring at Dean and I.
"Hey, don't forget the creepy monkey toy that moved all by itself."I added while staring at my brothers.
"Yeah, and I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are comin' true Sammy."Dean said while looking over at Sam.
"Well, forget about that for a minute, the thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Jessica, Mom and..."Sam said while looking over at me.
"I don't know!"Dean yelled before Sam could say my name.
"Well, I mean, has it come back? Or has it been here the whole time?"Sam asked with his brow furrowed.
"Or maybe it's something else entirely..."I suggested while looking at them.
"We don't know yet."Dean said while shaking his head.
"Well, those people are in danger, Dean."Sam while pointing to the house.
"Yeah, something is definitely in there, something creepy."I said while biting my nails again.
Then Sam let go of my hand and stood in front of Dean while saying, "We have to get them out of that house."
"And we will."Dean responded while looking right at Sam.
Sam shook his head while saying,"No, we have to get them out now."
"And how you gonna do that Sam, huh? You got a story that she's gonna believe?"Dean said really sounding frustrated.
"Then what are we supposed to do?"Sam asked while shrugging his shoulders.
"Get in the car and I'll tell ya."Dean responded while walking over to the Impala. He opening the driver side door and got in.
Then Sam and I piled into the car while Dean put the key into the ignition. As I buckled myself in I felt the temperature drop, so I zipped up my jacket to get warm. I could feel something watching me, so I quickly looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
All of a sudden an icy cold chill go down my back and a voice whispered in my ear,"Help them...."
"Help who?"I whispered while looking around.
Suddenly my journal that was on the seat next to me opened up all by itself and stopped on the page of my last drawing. I stared at the letters I had written in the center of the fire J, S and R.
"Jenny, Sari and Richie, help them...."The voice responded.
I glanced over at my brothers in the front seat and it didn't appear as if they had heard any of this. They just kept looking out the front window like nothing happened as we drove down the block.
"Great, I'm the only one that's hearing this, lucky me."I mumbled sarcastically under my breath.
Then my journal closed shut by itself and the temperature returned to normal. The feeling of being watched went away and I knew that meant it was gone for now.
Dean pulled into a gas station and parked next to the gas pump on the right side, so he could fuel up his Baby. He got out and went inside to pay. When he came back to the car Sam got out and headed straight for Dean by the trunk. I grabbed my journal and got out of the car.
"Uh guys.."I said while walking over to Sam and Dean by the back of the Impala.
"What?"Sam and Dean said in unison while looking over at me.
"The letters in my drawing J, S and R.... I know what they mean now."I said while holding up my journal.
"What do they mean?"Sam asked sounding really eager to know what the letters meant.
"J, S, and R stand for Jenny, Sari and Richie."I answered while showing them my drawing with the letters written in the center of the fire.
"Which means they're in danger."Sam said with concern while staring at my drawing.
"Yup, and we've gotta help them before something bad happens to them."I said with a worried expression on my face.
"Hey, we're gonna help them, but we just gotta chill out, that's all. You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?"Dean said while looking over at Sam and I.
"We'd try to figure out what we were dealin' with."I replied while looking at him.
Sam sighed in frustration, then said, "Yeah, we'd dig into the history of the house."
"Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened."Dean said with his brow furrowed.
"Yeah, but how much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?"Sam asked while glancing over at Dean with his eyebrow raised.
"About that night, you mean?"Dean asked while glancing over at Sam.
"Yeah."Sam replied with a nod.
"Not much, I remember the fire...the heat......and then I carried you out the front door."Dean explained while staring at Sam and I.
"You did?"Sam asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, what you never knew that?"Dean said while looking over at Sammy.
"No."Sam said while shaking his head.
"Me either."I added with a shock expression on my face.
"Well, you guys know Dad's story as well as I do, Mom was....on the ceiling, and whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her."Dean said with a sad expression on his face.
"He never had a theory about what did it?"I asked anxiously with my eyebrow raised.
"If he did, he kept it to himself, God knows we asked him enough times."Dean responded while sitting on the trunk of the Impala.
"Okay, so, if we're gonna figure out what's goin' on now...we have to figure out what happened back then and see if it's the same thing."Sam said while sitting on the trunk next to Dean.
I stood in front of my brothers while asking,"So, how we gonna do that?"
"Well, we'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time."Dean answered while looking at me.
"Does this feel like just another job to you two?"Sam asked while looking over at Dean and I.
Dean averted his eyes and said, "I'll be right back, I gotta go to the bathroom."
Then he walked over to the side of the gas station store where the bathroom was.
"I'll be back Sammy, I'm gonna go get a snack..."I said with a smirk while pointing over at the gas station store.
"What kind of snack?"Sam asked with an eyebrow raised.
"A super healthy one."I replied with a slight grin as I put my journal in the backseat of the Impala.
"Yeah right, you and I both know that's a lie."He said with an unamused look on his face.
"Yeah, I know, who am I kidding...I really need some chocolate."I said with a pout while closing the back door of the car and walking over to him.
"Wait, what happened to the big bag of Hershey kisses Matt gave you the other day?"He asked with his eyebrow raised.
"Dean happened."I replied with a sad expression on my face.
"What'd he do?"Sam asked with an eyebrow raised.
"He ate them all, so I'm gonna go inside and get something chocolatey, do you want anything?"I said while looking up at him.
"No thanks, I'm fine, but can you at least try to be careful with how much sugar you eat Ella."Sam said with a look of concern on his face.
"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."I replied with a chuckle.
Sam smiled and shook his head while watching me wave at him as I walked towards the gas station store.
I entered the store and rubbed my arms, because of how cold it felt in here. I figured they had the AC cranked on full blast. I walked over to the candy aisle with a smile on my face. I stopped in front of the Hershey's section as a big smirk went across my face. I picked up a king size milk chocolate Hershey bar and started to walk towards the counter to pay.
"Excuse me."I said with a smile while walking around an elderly woman that was standing near the magazine stand.
"You can see me?"She said sounding shocked from right behind me.
I turned around and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"I said with chuckle while looking at her.
Then she flickered and the smile on my face went away as I said, "You're...."
"Dead."She said finishing what I was about to say.
"Yeah..."I said with a nod.
"Where are my manners I'm Ruth."She said with a big smile on her face.
"I'm Ella."I introduced myself with a slight smile.
"Listen Ella, since you're the only one that can see me... I need your help, please."She pleaded with a sad expression on her face.
"Okay, with what?"I asked while wondering what she needed help with.
"You see that boy over there?"She said while pointing over to a boy that was nervously looking for something around the check out counter.
"Yeah."I replied while nodding my head.
"Well, he's my grandson, Zackery he simply misplaced the keys to the store and if his father finds out my poor little Zackery will be grounded."She explained with a worried expression on her face.
"Okay? So what exactly do you want me to do?"I asked sounding confused.
"I want you give him the keys."She answered with a grin.
"Okay? But I don't know where there are..."I said with my eyebrow raised.
"Well I do, so follow me."She said while walking towards the back of the store.
"Okay?"I mumbled to myself as I followed her.
She went through the back exit and I stopped in my tracks while staring at the door. I set down my delicious chocolate candy bar on a near by shelf that was full of different types of cereal. I looked around to make sure no one could see me as I went through the back exit. When the coast was clear I went out the back door and saw Ruth standing next to a dumpster. I didn't see anyone back here and felt relieved that I could talk to Ruth's ghost without looking like a crazy person.
I walked over to Ruth while asking, "How'd the keys get out here?"
"Zackery loves to skateboard and..."Ruth began to say and I already pieced together what had happened in my head.
"Let me guess the keys went flying out of his pocket?"I said with slight smile.
"Yes, and they landed under this dumpster."Ruth responded while pointing to the big dumpster. Which by the way smelt extremely disgusting. Like a mixture of fish and stinky feet.
"Great, this is gonna be gross."I sarcastically said with a grin on my face.
"Ella I just want to say thank you for your help, you're such a sweet girl for taking the time out of your day to help me and my Zackery."She said with a smile on her face.
"Sure no problem."I said while looking over at her with a smile.
"Okay, here I go..."I said as I reluctantly got down on my hands and knees. Then I reach underneath the stinky dumpster.
Suddenly I felt something slimy and made a disgusted face while saying, "There's something...really slimy down here."
I quickly moved my hand further down away from the slimy stuff not wanting to know what it was. Then my eyes opened wide in shock when my hand brushed up against something small that felt like it was made of metal.
"Wait, I think I got something."I said while grabbing on to it and pulling it out.
"What is it?"Ruth asked enthusiastically.
"Check it out, ta-da!"I said with a big grin while holding up the keys in my hand.
"You're an amazing young lady, can you please give them back to Zackery?"She said while staring at me.
"I'm on it."I said while saluting her. Which caused her to smile.
I got up and brushing off my jeans with my hands. Then I walked back into the store through the back door. I saw a sink in the back and quickly washed my hands of the grossness I touched under the dumpster. When I was done I grabbed the chocolate bar I had left on the shelf full of different cereals and walked over to the counter where Zack was.
"Hey, Zack."I said with a smile while looking at him.
"Yeah, wait, how do you know my name?"He asked sounding confused while staring at me with his eyebrow raised.
I couldn't tell him the truth about how his dead grandmother told me. He'd think I was completely nuts, so I quickly looked around trying to find anything to help me explain how I knew his name. I couldn't help, but smirk when my eyes landed on his name tag he had pinned to his shirt.
"Name tag." I said with a big smile while pointing to his name tag.
"I've never seen you in here before, I would've remembered someone as hot as you."He said with a flirty smile. Then he bit his lip while looking me up and down. Seriously he was looking at me the way Dean looks at pie. If Sam and Dean were here this kid wouldn't stand a chance.
Suddenly Ruth appeared right next to Zack and glared at him while smacking him hard on the back of his head.
"Owww!"Zack said while rubbing the back of his head. Then he looked around frantically to see if anything was behind him, but of course only I could see Ruth's ghost.
"I taught you to treat all girls with respect you know better than that Zackery."Ruth said while shaking her head in disappointment.
I couldn't help, but chuckle while biting my lip.
"You okay Zack?"I asked while trying to hold back my laugh.
"Yeah, it's weird it felt like something hit my head."He said while rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, that's really weird."I said with a smile while glancing over at Ruth.
Then I looked back at him and held up the keys in my right hand while saying, "Are these yours? I kinda found them outside."
His eyes lit up and a really big smile went across his face while replying,"Yeah, Wow you just saved my life, with out these I'd be grounded forever."
"So glad I could help."I said while handing him the keys and giving Ruth a smile.
"Anyway, besides the keys I just wanted to buy this."I said while putting a king size milk chocolate bar on the counter.
"You don't have to pay."Zack said with a toothy grin while handing me the candy bar.
"But..."I began to say while holding up the money in my hand, but Zack shook his head.
"Just take this as my way of saying thank you."Zack said with a big smile.
"That's the good boy I remember."Ruth said with a smile while staring at Zack like she was so proud of him.
"Please, just accept it Ella."Ruth encouraged with a smile on her face.
"Okay, thanks."I replied while looking at Ruth and her grandson Zack.
"Thank you."Zack said while holding up his keys with a grateful smile.
"All right, bye."I said while waving at both him and his grandmother.
"Bye."They said in unison.
I turned around and walked towards the exit.
"Owww!"I heard Zack yell from behind.
I glanced back and saw him rubbing the back of his head. I smirked while staring at Ruth who was glaring at Zack while saying, "Don't you dare look at her like that, you be respectful towards girls just like I taught you when you were little."
Ruth looked over at me and smiled while waving. I smiled and waved back. Then she flickered and disappeared. The store no longer felt cold and I knew that meant she was gone.
I glanced over at Zack and smiled while waving goodbye to him as I walked towards the exit. A big smile went across his face as he waved back. He just kept staring at me with a goofy smile as I exited the store.
I couldn't help, but chuckle as I walked up to Sam who was waiting by the Impala.
"What's so funny?"Sam asked while staring at me with a confused expression on his face.
"Uh...just something funny I saw in the store."I said with a smirk.
I realized Dean wasn't around so I asked, "Is Dean still in the bathroom?"
"Yeah, so what'd you get?"Sam said with an eyebrow raised.
"This super awesome king size milk chocolatey goodness."I said with a big smile while showing Sam my king size milk chocolate Hershey's bar.
"I still think you should've got some fruit."Sam said while looking at me with a serious expression.
"Yeah, but what fun would that have been. I hate to break it to you, but fruit is boring if it's not in pie form."I said while looking up at him with a smile.
"She's got you there Sammy."I heard Dean say from behind me. I turned around and smiled at him. He looked down at me and smiled back.
Then I turned back to Sam with a big smirk on my face while saying, "See even Dee agrees."
"You two are so much alike it's scary."Sam said while looking at Dean and I.
"Aww, thanks Sammy, I'll take that as a compliment."I said with a big grin while placing a hand over my heart. Which caused Dean to laugh.
"Whatever."Sam said with a slight grin while shaking his head.
"All right let's go."Dean said while motioning for us to get into the car.
We all piled into the Impala and drove off to an auto repair shop where Dad used to work. We figured the shop owner could probably give us some helpful information that we didn't already know.