||PROLOGUE // STEPPING UP||
When they got back downstairs, Dean placed Dakota on the ground while him and Sam started to check for a way out. The Ghostfacers freaked out, trying to find out what happened to Corbett. Dakota placed her back against the wall and sat the end of the stairs, beside where her uncle was. She watched the team frantically search for their lost member before she dragged her eyes back to her dad. She always made sure that him and Sam were in her line of view, it made her calmer to know that they're okay.
"We'll, it's 12:04, Dean, you happy?" Sam snapped, annoyance and anger lacing his voice. Dakota looked up at him, before glancing at her dad who looked her way before answering.
"Yeah, I am happy." He retorted hotly back. Dakota stood up and stepped beside them as they faced each other, both sporting glares.
"'Let's go hunt the Morton house,' you said." Sam mocked. "'It's our grand canyon.'"
Dean cautiously glanced at his daughter, knowing where Sam was edging toward. "Sam, I don't want to hear it."
"You got two months left, Dean." Sam said softly, Dakota turned away sadly, her eyes welled up at the thought of her dad dying so soon. Sam wasn't done yet, his voice raised and anger flared up again. "Instead, we're gonna die tonight!" Dakota flinched away as he slammed a chair into the front door, she yelped as she shattered everywhere.
"Whoa! What the hell is going on!" Spruce shouted as everyone looked up from their search.
Sam launched into a rant. "I'll tell you what's going on!" He spat, looking into Spruce's camera angrily. "Every door, every window, I'm guessing every exit out of this house is--they're all sealed." He huffed as Dean rubbed a hand over his mouth. Dakota's small hand slipped into his larger one, clinging to it tightly.
"What? Why are they sealed?" Maggie, the only other girl, freaked out.
"It's a supernatural lockdown." Dakota murmured, everyone looked down at her as she spoke. "Whatever took Corbett, doesn't want us to leave."
"And it's no death echo." Dean cut in. "This is a bad mother, and it wants us scared." He finished as the EMF meter, that Dakota took from him early, started going off. He grabbed it out of her hand to look at it.
"Or it just wants us." Maggie said. Dakota dropped Dean's hand to go to her uncle, he looked upset and she didn't like that. She grabbed his hand and laid her head on his leg.
"Uh, guys, the camera is fritzing again." Spruce announced, he lowered the camera to look at it, unknowingly filming Harry and Maggie's interlocked hands.
"Whoa, EMF is starting to spike." Ed said, Dean looked up from his EMF meter.
"Everyone stay close, something is coming." Sam said, he pulled Dakota behind him as everybody huddled together in a group, their backs facing each other. Dakota gripped onto Sam's jeans tightly, holding her breath in fear at what's coming.
"Whoa!" Everybody shouted as a death echo appeared in front of them. Sam, Dean, and Dakota ended up in the front of the group, staring at the echo. Dean asked if it was the same echo but Dakota knew it wasn't from the tape they showed earlier. Spruce denied that option.
"Multiple echoes? What the hell is going on?" Dean questioned, turning to look at Sam. His eyes widened when he noticed Dakota wasn't behind Sam. "Kota?" He asked, his eyes searched frantically for her before he noticed her edging closer to the echo. "Dakota!" He hissed.
"Hey!" She shouted at the echo, her voice timid and not very loud. "Wake up!" She remembered what John told her about death echoes, she remembered most of what the boys and him taught her.
"Uh, what is she doing?" Ed asked as he watched the girl with confusion.
"Uh, s-sometimes, it's rare, but you can wake a death echo up." Sam replied, his eyes shining with pride at how smart his niece. "Shock it out of it's loop, but usually you have to have a connection to the deceased."
"Hey buddy!" Dean yelled as he joined his daughter in trying to wake the echo. "Hey! Hey. Wake up!"
"You're dead!" Dakota called and jumped with her arms waving.
"Come on! Wake up! Be dead!" Dean clapped in front of the echo's face. It just stared blankly forward despite the two Winchesters screaming at it.
The echo stood straight and turned to face Dakota, not looking at her. His eyes were trained forward in fear. Dakota didn't notice anything so she continued to scream at the poor guy, trying to let him know he's dead.
"You guys hear that?" Harry questioned as a train horn sounded.
"Wake up! Listen!" Dakota pleaded with the echo.
"Guys." Sam said, looking around.
"Come on! What are you waiting for!" Dean said moving away from the echo and toward the group, letting his daughter try. The echo's eyes widened and a bright light shone on him and he threw his arms up as the train horn sounded louder.
"Wake up! Come on!" Dakota shrieked, her last attempt to wake him up before the invisible train hit him, throwing him back as blood appeared on him.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Everybody ducked and covered their head as Dakota screamed in fear.
Dean crouched and brought her into a hug to calm her down as Ed asked where it went. "Shh, it's okay, Kota. It's over." He soothed, she quieted down but her eyes as well as everyone else's remained on the spot where the echo disappeared. Dean pulled his daughter back and she stayed beside Sam as Dean moved forward again to look for the echo. Everything happened so fast, nobody understood it.
Dakota stuck by Sam as Dean ranted about how there wasn't any record of anyone getting shot or hit by a train in the house. They started to walk back to where Ed dubbed home base. "Stay close." Sam warned and grabbed onto Dakota's hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles to comfort her.
Maggie followed after Dean, her camera trained on him as she questioned, "Did the echoes take Corbett?"
"Yes. No. I don't know." Dean said, his tone was stressed. "We don't know what's going on here. That's what were trying to figure out."
"All right, stay close." Sam repeated. He steadied Dakota as she tripped over her own feet, keeping a firm but gentle grip on her hand. "Okay, look." Sam said after he casted a glance at Maggie. "These death echoes are ghost, okay?"
"Ghost usually haunt places where they lived or where they died." Dakota added quietly, her fingers on her free hand absentmindedly gripped onto Sam's jeans.
"Except these mooks didn't live or die here." Dean said as he looked over behind at them.
"Right." Sam agreed.
They spread out to search things, trying to find out why so many echoes were attached here. Dakota stayed with Sam, her hand held onto his as they searched. Dean took the other side of the room but sent glances towards Dakota, an instinct he's had since she was born.
Dakota eyes scanned for things but Sam found the last homeowners plaque for 20 years at the Gamble General Hospital. Broken glass rained off the thing and Dakota jumped back as it landed by her feet.
"He's a doctor?" Dean questioned, Dakota raised up on her tiptoes to read the document.
"No, daddy." Dakota replied and she turned to look him. "Janitor."
Dean shot her a smile before he nodded. "This looks like his den. When'd you say he died? '64?"
"Yeah, heart attack." Sam answered reading something as Dakota played with the end of his jacket.
Maggie was looking at some boxes when she asked, "What are these? C-rations?"
"Yeah," Dean said, "Army issued, three squares."
"A lifetime supply." Dakota filled in, looking at the boxes beside her and Sam.
Ed started to freak out, saying nothing about food was going to help find Corbett. He suggested that they dig up the floorboards for him. Sam found a booklet about an atomic attack and how to survive. Everyone ignored Ed for the time being because they were busy looking through Freeman Daggett's belongings. Dean broke into his safe, and when he turned around Ed was holding an EMF meter in his face, he looked at him weirdly before putting the box he pulled from the safe.
Sam and Dean, along with Dakota, were sifting through the box.
"Ew." Dean muttered, holding up three tags. "Got three toe tags here." He said that they were the death echoes they saw and one more they haven't.
"Ew..." Sam trailed, looking off with a look of disgust. Dakota tilted her head to side with confusion.
"What?" Ed was also confused, it seemed like Sam and Dean were the only ones who understood. Sam tried explaining it but only received blank looks from Ed and Harry.
"Daggett brought the remains home from the morgue to play." Dean said looking into the camera. Harry and Ed shared a look before both exclaiming their disgust.
"Why would he bring dead people home to play?" Dakota asked innocently. "Daddy, why would he bring dead people to play? They wouldn't even be able to play." She said looking up at her dad.
Dean looked lost for words, he didn't know what to say to her. He glanced at Sam who just shrugged, he had the same scared look Dean had. They didn't want to tell Dakota what he meant, she's way too young to know that, obviously. "Uh, well, he....uh. Daggett was sick, baby." Dean said softly, squinting slightly as he tried to make his words work.
Dakota nodded her head, her mouth shaped like an 'o'. "Did he get better?" She then asked. "Did he burn the dead people?"
Sam looked at his brother, almost seeing a part of Dean's heart break at that last question. They've heard her ask things related to hunting but never something like this. Dean knew a six year old shouldn't be asking if he burned the bodies so they didn't come back, a six year old shouldn't know that. "Daddy?" She asked when he didn't say anything.
"No, baby, he didn't." Dean nearly whispered, he turned away from his daughter and glanced at his brother with sorrow filled eyes. Nobody said anything because Dean realized Maggie was missing. "Kota, stay with Uncle Sammy." He said as he left.
"Daddy?" Dakota tried to follow but Sam grabbed onto her gently.
"Dakota, stay with me, honey." Sam said but she kept resisting him, so he picked her up.
"Where's he going, Sammy?" She questioned, Sam told her that he was getting Maggie because she wandered off. Dakota struggled and looked, trying to follow Dean with her eyes but she lost him. She whined softly and wiggled in Sam's arms. "Where's he going? Uncle Sammy, where's he going?" She desperately questioned, pushing at Sam's chest. He tried explaining to her that he'd be right back, he was only going to get Maggie-but Dakota had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. Something terrible was going to happen, it was like something was trying to warn her. Something wanted her to leave.
Edited 3/16/19