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SEASON 01, EPISODE 14, PART 02
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Sam eventually came back from getting the three dinner which they quickly devoured. He had come back a bit after Delaney divulged into her added struggle with her anxiety and he continued to shoot her looks that practically screamed I told you he'd be fine. Delaney, being the adult she is, stuck her tongue out at her brother and plopped down in her seat to eat her dinner.
Delaney now sat on her bed as Dean continued to clean more weapons since Sam was tasked with doing most of the research on what they were dealing with. This left Delaney with nothing to do but sit back for a bit and relax. She tried to offer her help to Sam so he wasn't doing everything by himself, but he insisted that he could handle it.
"Have you figured out anything, Sammy?" Delaney asked, leaning back on her hands as she looked up at the wall of research Sam had compiled.
"Nothing. Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built," Sam explained, pinning up another article piece he had just printed from the motel's room printer.
"What about the land?" Dean inquired, running a rag over one of the silver pistols in his hand.
Sam sighed and placed his hands on his hips as his eyes ran across the wall in front of him. "No graveyard, battlefields, tribal lands, or any other kind of atrocity on or near the property."
Delaney deflated visibly and a frown formed on her face. "There has got to be something going on there, guys. Why else would I have a nightmare, vision, or whatever we want to call this now? It doesn't make any sense."
"I told you, kiddo. Sammy and I checked that house up and down. There were no cold spots, no sulfur scent, nada."
"The family said everything was normal?" Delaney questioned, looking between her two brothers. She had really only talked to the son since part through the talk with the wife her anxiety kicked in. The only information she had was from him and even then it sounded pretty cut and dry to her. Nothing was making sense to her.
Dean placed down the pistol and looked over at his sister, looking both pitiful for her and also serious. "Della, if there was a poltergeist or a demon in that house, don't you think someone would have noticed something? I looked at the infernal red scanner. There's nothing."
Delaney scoffed and stood up, pacing the room a bit. "So you think my dream was just some sort of freakish coincidence and Jim Miller just committed suicide?"
"We don't know, Delly, but it doesn't seem like anything supernatural about this house," Sam answered with a sad smile. It killed him to see Delaney driving herself mad over the house and these visions she keeps getting. He couldn't even do anything to help her which made him feel twice as bad.
Delaney stopped pacing as a thought occurred to her. It was a stretch, but it also didn't seem all that crazy to her. "What if it has nothing to do with the house? Maybe it's connected to Jim in some other way."
Suddenly, it was like a someone had struck her in the back of the scull and cracked it open. She gasped and dropped to her hands, pressing her hands against her head as the pressure and pain only progressively got worse. She heard her brothers call out for her and felt what she thought was Sam's hands clamp around her biceps but she couldn't respond to either one of them as flashes kept rushing past her mind. Delaney squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her head against Sam's chest in front of her, pushing against the sides of her head as she tried to alleviate the pressure in her head.
Flashes of Roger Miller in his kitchen having issues with his kitchen window and then his head being chopped off by said window when he stuck his head outside of it to see if something on the outside was blocking it appeared. Once the flashes ended, the pressure was gone and Delaney slowly removed her hands from her head and looked up at her two concerned brothers.
"Something's gonna kill Roger Miller."
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Delaney sat in the back of the Impala, her head leant against the window as she tried to get the address of Roger Miller from the operator. She felt absolutely drained by this point and the faint feeling of her head feeling like it was being crushed was still there. She politely thanked the operator for the address and voiced it to Dean.
Dean looked at her through the rearview mirror and Delaney hated the worry that she saw swimming in them. "You okay, Della? If you're gonna hurl, I'll pull the car over, cause the upholstery..."
"I'm fine," Delaney whispered, averting her gaze to back out the window. "Just drive."
It was quiet for a few minutes in the car, both brothers constantly checking on their baby sister in the back because they both knew well enough that she was the furthest thing from fine. She may not have to barf, but she definitely did not mentally or emotionally feel okay. It was easy to tell by her distant expression and the fact she looked like someone had just kicked her puppy.
"Guys... I'm scared," Delaney eventually spoke, surprising both boys since they thought she'd be silent the rest of the way to Roger's apartment. "These nightmares weren't bad enough, now I'm seeing things when I'm awake? These visions, they're getting more intense and painful every time."
"Come on, kiddo. You're going to be fine," Sam assured and reached back to squeeze her knee gently.
Delaney humorlessly chuckled and pulled her head off the window. "What is it about the Millers anyway? Why am I connected to them? Why am I watching them die? Why is to even happening to me to begin with?" She felt her hands start to shake and she forced herself to relax. There was no way she could have an anxiety attack right now when they had to go save Roger. Delaney wouldn't be any use to Roger if she allowed her anxiety to choke her up.
Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as he tried to keep himself from crying at how broken and scared Delaney sounded. "We don't know, Delly, but we'll figure it out. We face the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing, okay?"
Delaney scoffed and leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest. "No, it's never been us, Dean! Neither one of you have gotten these visions or whatever before. Tell the truth for once. You can't tell me this doesn't freak you out as much as it freaks me out!"
Dean was quiet for a long moment. Delaney already knew what his response was going to be before he said it. "This doesn't freak me out."
"Bullshit."
Dean opened his mouth to argue with Delaney when he saw Roger with a brown paper bag and a plastic bag. It was just like Delaney's vision. Roger had been on his way home from the grocery store and was putting everything away when the window started to act up. They couldn't let him go to the apartment.
"Hey, Roger! Hey wait a second!" Dean yelled out the window as he slowed down right next to Roger.
Roger rolled his eyes and turned to face the three siblings he hoped to never see again. "What are you guys, missionaries? Leave me alone." He turned on his heel and stalked up to the entrance of his apartment.
"No, Roger!" Delaney yelled and Dean quickly parked the car correctly before the three hopped out to chase after him. "We're trying to help!" She made it to the apartment's entrance just as Roger closed the glass door in her face, locking instantly from inside so no outsiders could get in. "No, no, no! Roger, come on!"
"I don't want your help," Roger snapped and walked over to the elevators.
"Roger, we're not priests. You got to listen to us!" Sam banged on the glass to try and get Roger to come back and open the door. "You're in danger!"
Delaney whimpered slightly when she saw the elevators door close. She leaned against the doors and looked up to her brothers, panic evident in her eyes. "Guys, what do we do? We have to help him."
Dean glanced around them for a moment before he grabbed his siblings' wrists and dragged them after him to the side of the apartment complex. He stood in front of the gate in the side of the building that lead to what looked like a small dumpster alley. He pulled on it, but of course it was locked. He took a step back and kicked the gate in, it banging against the side of the wall loudly.
The three climbed up onto the fire escape steps and started to run up the dozens of flights as quick as they could. The second Roger made it to the apartment, they only had about a minute to get to him before the window falls loose and slices his head off. Delaney was determined to save him. It would make up for her being too slow for Jim. At least she could save someone, right?
The sound of a window flying down and closing, alerted the three Winchesters and Delaney's steps faltered. No. They couldn't be too late. It could be anyone slamming their window closed, right? She couldn't fail someone else. She just couldn't.
Dean froze at the top of the next landing and Delaney bumped into him. She peered around his arm and gasped at the blood that soaked the window next to them. Her hand flew to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. She was too late... again. Yet another person of the Miller family died because she didn't react quick enough or try hard enough to get Roger to stop.
A handkerchief appeared in front of Delaney's face and Dean ordered her to wipe down the banister so the cops wouldn't know they were there. He and Sam climbed through the window to look inside while she cleaned up the fingerprints. She almost moved robotically as her mind still reeled at the fact that they were so close to saving Roger and yet he still died.
Once she was done, Delaney decided to just head back to the Impala and have her brothers tell her what they find. She couldn't concentrate on anything at the moment and she needed a minute to breathe before she snapped. Delaney jogged back to the Impala and hopped up onto the hood, pulling her knees to her chest and placing her forehead on top of her knees. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.
Delaney jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her back. She looked up to see Sam and Dean standing in front of the Impala. "Did you guys find anything?"
"No signs anywhere. Just like the Miller's house," Dean informed, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. "Sorry, kiddo, but there's nothing there."
"I did see a dark figure in my vision," Delaney said as she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember if she had seen a face. "Something had to be stalking him."
"Well, we can be sure it's not connected to their house," Sam noted.
Delaney perked up and grinned as a few of the puzzle pieces clicked together. "No, but what if it's connected to the family itself?"
"So... what? Like a vengeful spirit?" Sam questioned.
"It's not exactly impossible," Dean responded, leaning against the Impala next to his sister. "There have been a few to latch on to families, follow them for years. Basically like a curse. Maybe Roger and Jim Miller got involved in something heavy, something curse worthy."
"Now someone's out for revenge, and the men in their family are dying," Delaney concluded, her eyes widening as she looked between her two brothers. "You think Max is in danger?"
Dean shrugged and motioned for his siblings to get in the car. He sat in the driver's seat and turned the car on, pulling out onto the street again. "Let's figure it out before he dies, shall we?"
Delaney scoffed softly and leaned her arms on the front seat. "I know one thing I have in common with these people. Both of our families are freaking cursed."
"Our families not cursed," Dean rebutted, looking at his sister as if she had gone crazy. "We've just... had our dark spots."
"Our dark spots are pretty dark," Delaney commented.
"You're... dark," Dean lamely shot back and Delaney merely rolled her eyes.
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Delaney huffed as she tugged at the nun dress she had to throw back on. Dean and Sam walked in front of her wearing their priest outfits. She wondered if the boys felt as uncomfortable as she did in their costumes. Delaney just kept reminding herself she was doing all of this to save this family from whatever was plaguing them. She would be damned if she let anyone else from the family die horrifically.
Max walked ahead of the three siblings as he lead them into the sitting room that the three had sat in with Mrs. Miller when they first arrived in town. He explained to them that his mother was resting, but he was able to speak to them about whatever they came to talk about. They were the first people he's let in for a while because everyone had just been bringing him casserole like that would make up for his uncle and father passing away.
"So, how you holding up?" Sam asked once the three had settled into their seats. Sam, Dean and Delaney on the couch and Max on the chair across from them.
"I'm okay," Max sighed and leaned back in the chair. He looked extremely pale and as if he hadn't slept since his father passed away. His shoulders were tense as if he were carrying the weight of everything on his shoulder and that broke Delaney's heart to see him so broken. She couldn't imagine losing two people who meant a lot to her back to back. The thought alone almost made her reach out and hug both of her brothers.
"And your dad and uncle were close?" Delaney questioned next.
Max chuckled softly and lazily shrugged. "Uh, yeah I guess? I mean... they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when I was little."
"Not lately much?"
"No, it's not that. It's just, we used to be neighbors when I was a kid. We lived across town in this house, and Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time."
Dean licked his lips and nodded his head in understanding. "So, how was it in that house when you were a kid?"
"Fine. Why?"
"All good memories? You remember anything... unusual? Something involving your father and your uncle maybe?" Dean questioned and Delaney almost pinched him for being not so subtle about his question. He ignored the subtle glare she had sent his way.
Max furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Dean. He seemed to grow more and more suspicious as time went by. "Why - why do you ask?"
"Just a question," was Dean's swift and immediate reply.
"No, there was nothing. We were totally normal... happy."
Delaney glanced between her two brothers before she turned her attention back to Max who looked even paler than he did a second ago and a light layer of sweat had formed on his face. "Well, you must be exhausted so we should take off and let you rest."
The four said their goodbyes to each other and the Winchester siblings made their way over to the Impala. Delaney turned to face her brothers and crossed her arms with a heavy sigh. "Nobody's family is all happy and normal, guys. He sounded scared when Dean asked about the old house and how they were back then."
Dean grabbed the white cardboard on his collar and took it out, unbuttoning the top button of his black button up shirt. He let out a sigh of relief when he could breathe normally again. "He isn't telling us everything. We have to find that old neighborhood. Find out what life was really like for the Millers."
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Delaney followed her brothers over to a man that stood on his stoop, sweeping up leaves and dirt. The guy looked up as the three approached and raised an eyebrow at the three random strangers that stood before him.
"Hi, sir. We were just wondering if you had lived in this neighborhood for very long? My brother, sister and I were thinking of moving here possibly," Sam greeted with a small smile.
The man leaned on his broom and nodded. "Yeah, about twenty years now. It's nice and quiet."
"We thought so. We know of this family that lived here years ago. They lived right across the street," Delaney explained, gesturing over her shoulder to the house behind them. "The Millers? They had a little boy named Max."
"Yeah, I remember them. The brother lived right next door. So, what's this about? That poor kid okay?"
Delaney furrowed her eyebrows at the obvious concern the man had for Max. He seemed to really care about the kid an if he was worried about him... what was going on? "What do you mean, sir?"
"Well, in my life, I've never seen a kid 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 out of Max - bruises. Broke his arm two times that I know of."
"And this was going on regularly?" Sam asked softly.
"Practically every day," the man replied solemnly. "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. Never lifted a finger to protect him. I must have called the policed seven or eight times. Never did any good."
"You said 'stepmother'," Dean noted.
The man nodded and fiddled with the broom in his hand. "I think his real mother died in some sort of accident - car accident, I think."
Delaney felt the prickling of her skull being crushed open and hissed, pressing a hand to her forehead with a groan. She felt Dean's hand wrap around her bicep while he quickly thanked the man and quickly got her into the back seat. She leaned forward in the back seat and pressed her hands against her face as flashes of Max and his step-mother raced past her mind. Max made a knife float in the air while Mrs. Miller begged and pleaded him to not kill her, that she was sorry for never stepping in to save him from his father uncle. Max wasn't having any of it and he sent the knife straight into her left eye and through the back of her head.
"Della?" Dean said after a long time of her not speaking.
"It's... it's Max," Delaney whispered as she tried to wrap her head around the fact the issue had been under their noses the whole time. Her head spun at all the information that had just been fed to her. "I can't believe it. Everything I've been seeing."
"How's he pulling it off?" Sam asked, sounding just as shocked and confused as Delaney felt.
Delaney rubbed a hand over her face as she let out a heavy breath. "Um, I don't know. It looked like telekinesis or something."
"Wait... so he's, like, a psychic? He's a spoon bender?" Dean inquired in disbelief. It made Delaney wonder if this was the boys' first time dealing with something like this.
Delaney frowned and leaned back in her seat. She couldn't believe this whole thing had gone over her head. Shouldn't it have been obvious that it was Max? "I didn't even realize it, but this whole time, he was there. He was outside of the garage when his dad died. He was in the apartment when his uncle died. These visions - I wasn't connecting to the Millers. I was connecting to Max. I just don't get why. Is it because we're alike?"
Dean gave his sister an odd look in the rearview mirror. "What are you talking about? Dude's nothing like you."
"We both have psychic abilities," Delaney reminded Dean with a duh expression. "We're both - "
"Both what?" Dean cut her off with a scoff. "Della, Max is a monster. He's killed two people. Now he's gunning for a third."
"With what he went through - the beatings - to want revenge on this people - I'm sorry, boys. I hate to say it, but it's not that insane."
"Doesn't exactly justify murdering his entire family," Sam scolded Delaney. It shocked both brothers to even hear her say something like that. "He's just like everything else we hunted. I hate to say it, Delly, but we got to end him."
Delaney glared at both of her brothers through the rearview mirror. "No. No way. We're not going to kill Max."
"Then what?" Dean snapped at Delaney. "Hand him over to the cops and say, 'lock him up, officer. He kills people with the power of his mind.' Delaney, - "
"Dean," Delaney cut Dean off and popped her head into the front seat so she could properly look at him. "He's a person. We can talk to him. Promise me you both will follow my lead on this one."
The two older Winchesters exchanged looks with each other, doing that weird thing where they communicate silently with each other. Something Delaney still had no idea how to decipher.
"Fine," the two replied in unison and the three got out once Dean parked and turned off the Impala.
"I'm not letting him hurt anybody else," Dean warned and stuffed the silver pistol into the back of his jeans waistband.
Delaney sighed, but decided not to argue with Dean about bringing it in with them. She'd just lose and she'd rather get in the house and make sure Max didn't hurt his step-mother. She lead the way up the lawn and up the steps. Delaney pushed the door open, silently thanking whatever god was out there for making it unlocked.
Mrs. Miller and Max both turned to the front door in shock. Mrs. Miller placed down the knife in her hand and walked around the kitchen island to stand in the archway of the kitchen. "Fathers? Sister?"
"What are you doing here?" Max questioned, clearly annoyed they stopped him from killing his stepmother.
"Sorry to interrupt," Dean said, waving awkwardly from behind Delaney.
"Max, could we, uh..." Delaney trailed off and took a step forward, trying to keep the nervousness out of her tone. "Could we talk to you outside for a second?"
Max moved in front of the counter and hid the large knife from view. He thought he was subtle about it, but Delaney didn't miss the way looked at it thoughtfully. "About what?"
"It's private," Sam replied. "We don't want to bother your mother with it. We won't be long at all, promise."
Max looked to his stepmother for a second, as if trying to think if he should go with them or just kill her right then and there even with an audience. He eventually agreed and slowly walked over to the trio that were still stood by the front door.
Dean gave Mrs. Miller an assuring smile before he turned to open the front door to lead Max outside. However, it was closed just as quickly as it was opened, locking immediately after. The shutters on the windows closed and the lights shut off. Delaney gasped and stepped back into Sam, who placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
"You're not priests," Max snarled, his fists clenching at his side.
Dean pulled the silver pistol out of his waistband, but it was immediately flown out of his hands and into Max's. He shakily pointed it at the three siblings and Delaney's eyes widened. This was so not how she saw this going down. God, she was not going to live this one down from Dean. Ugh.
"Max, what's happening?!" Mrs. Miller exclaimed as she saw the gun in her stepson's hand.
"Shut up!" Max snapped.
"What are you doing?" Mrs. Miller asked, taking a step closer to Max.
Max flew her across the room and Mrs. Miller hit her forehead on the counter, dropping to the ground unconscious. Delaney was held back from going after Mrs. Miller by Dean and Sam who had instinctively stood in front of her at the sight of the gun. "I said, shut up!"
"Max, calm down," Delaney said, holding her hands out so he could see she wasn't going to hurt him. Not that she could since she had no weapons for her hands and that wouldn't really go down well. No one brings fists to a gun fight.
"Who are you?!" Max demanded, keeping the gun pointed at the siblings.
"We just want to talk to you," Sam explained.
Max's eyes welled with tears as his emotions spiked rapidly. "Yeah right! That's why you brought this?!"
Delaney gave Dean a look that screamed I told you so. "That was a mistake, alright? So was lying about who we were, but no more lying, okay?" She promised as she tentatively took a step toward Max, but Dean grabbed the back of her shirt so she couldn't further. "Just please hear us out."
"About what?"
"I saw you do it," Delaney said, deciding to not beat around the bush and just go all in. Hopefully none of it blew up in her face. "I saw you kill your dad and your uncle before it happened."
Max's face flashed with shock for a quick second before it was gone. If Delaney had blinked, she would have missed the tiny shift in his expression. "What?"
"I'm having visions, Max, about you," Delaney continued in a calm and soft voice. She was scared if she spoke any louder it'd just set him off.
"You're crazy," Max cried, shifting on his feet.
Delaney raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing a word he said. "Oh? So you weren't going to launch a knife at your stepmom right here?" She brought her arm up and pointed to her left eye, exactly where the knife had plunged into Mrs. Miller's head. "Is it that hard to believe, Max? Look what you can do. I was drawn here, alright? I think I'm here to help you."
Max broke and sobs took over his body as he looked to his unconscious stepmother. He shook his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, tears pooling out of them. "No one can help me."
"Let me try," Delaney begged. "We'll talk... you and me. We'll get my brothers and Alice out of here."
"Unh-unh. No way am I leaving you alone," Dean argued, not taking his eyes off Max.
The house started to shake and the three siblings cautiously looked up at the chandelier above them as it shook violently.
"Nobody leaves this house!" Max yelled.
"Nobody has to leave, okay? They'll just go upstairs," Delaney said.
Dean shook his head in obvious detest. "No. No way. Not leaving you alone, Delaney."
"Yes you are," Delaney stressed as she looked between both of her brothers. "Look, Max, you're in charge. We all know that. No one's going to do anything that you don't want to do, but I'm talking five minutes here, dude."
"Delaney," Sam scolded, not liking the idea of her being alone with this psychopath.
Max slowly lowered the gun and the house stopped shaking around them. "Five minutes. That's it."
Delaney quietly sighed in relief as Max ordered for her brothers and Alice to make their way upstairs. She ignored the looks from her brothers and watched them help Alice to her feet and lead her up the stairs. Hopefully they helped her clean up the blood on her forehead from the wound that was caused by her hitting her head.
Delaney followed Max into the sitting room and slowly lowered herself to the couch across from him. She couldn't help but stare at the knife he had held up above the table to his left. Most likely to send on her if this conversation didn't go the way he wanted. That was definitely unsettling.
"Okay, um I can't begin to understand what you went through."
"That's right you can't," Max huffed, his eyes trained on the silver knife as he twisted and turned it in the air.
Delaney gulped inaudibly and tried to ignore the fact that the knife could be sent at her at any second. "Max, this has to stop. You need to let your stepmother go."
"Why?" Max countered and Delaney could see his face growing redder by the second with anger.
"Did she beat you?" Delaney asked and Max shook his head. "I know she didn't step in to save you. What your dad and uncle did to you, what they all did to you growing up, they deserve to be punished, but - "
"Growing up?" Max cut her off, finally looking from the spinning knife and over to Delaney. "Try last week."
He stood up from the chair and lifted up his shirt to show Delaney his chest and stomach that had knife marks on it. Some were mere scars and other were wounds that still had a bit of blood in them and red. Delaney's eyes widened slightly at the sight and it honestly broke her heart to see such an innocent kid so beaten and bruised by people that were supposed to love him.
"My dad still hit me, just in places people wouldn't see it. Old habits die hard, I guess."
"I'm sorry," Delaney whispered.
Max sucked in a shaky breath and focused his attention back on the knife that seemed to spin faster. "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 first time in a long time and he beats me to Hell first time in long time. Then I knew what I had to do."
"Why didn't you just leave?"
"It wasn't about getting away," Max answered and the knife fell back onto the table, the sound causing Delaney to flinch slightly. "Just knowing that they'd 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 know what that feels like?"
Delaney's father may have been hard on her and treated her totally different from her two brothers, but not once did he ever look at her as if he hated her. She knew deep down John loved her and had reasons for being so hard on her, but never did he show once that he hated her. "No."
"He blamed me for everything - for his job, for his life, for my mom's death," Max cried, not even bothering to wipe the tears that fell from his eyes.
Delaney furrowed her eyebrows at that. Blamed for his mother's death? "Why would he blame you for that?"
Max leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. "Because she died in my nursery when I was asleep in my crib, as if that makes it my fault."
Delaney felt like the wind was knocked out of her. Her and Max were truly more alike than she thought. Granted, she didn't go out trying to kill her family because of whatever reason, but because they both had these abilities they couldn't explain and their mothers died in their nurseries on the damn ceiling. Her head spun with this new found information and she didn't even know how to handle it.
"She died in your nursery?"
"Yeah, 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."
Delaney closed her eyes and had to push her anxiety down. The memory of her mom dying and Will in the same, morbid way kept flashing past her mind and it was something she still dealt with. Something she never thought she'd ever really be over. She took a deep breath before she opened her eyes again and looked at Max.
"Listen to me, Max. What your dad said about your mom's death... it's real. It happened to my mom, too, exactly the same - my nursery, my crib. My dad saw her on the ceiling."
Max started to rock back and forth on the couch as he shook his head. "Your dad must have been as drunk as mine."
"No, no, it's the same thing, Max," Delaney countered, trying desperately to get him to believe her. "The same thing killed our mothers."
"That's impossible."
"This must be why I've been having visions during the day," Delaney noted breathlessly. "why they're getting more intense - because you and I must be connected in some way. Your abilities. They started six, seven months ago, right?"
Max blinked at Delaney in shock. "H-how did you know that?"
"Because that's when my abilities started," Delaney replied, feeling slightly relieved that she wasn't the only one going crazy. "I mean, yours seem to be much further along, but, still this means something, right? I mean for some reason you and I... were chosen."
Max looked at Delaney as if he were kind of believing what she was saying but was also extremely skeptical about it. She didn't exactly blame him because she even still didn't believe any of it was happening to her and she had these visions almost all the time. "For what?"
Delaney ran a hand through her hair as she licked her lips thoughtfully. "I don't really know, but, Sam, Dean and I - my brothers and I - we're hunting for what killed both of our moms, and we can find answers. Answers that can help us both. You have to let us go though, Max. You got to let your stepmother go.
Max was quiet for a long moment as he thought about Delaney's words. He seemed to be considering it and Delaney felt relief flood through her. However, that was quickly wiped away when Max started to shake his head. "No. What they did to me - I still have nightmares. I'm still scared all the time, like I'm just waiting for that next beating. I'm just tired of being scared." He pushed himself off the couch and began to make his way out of the sitting room.
"If I do this, it will be over."
Delaney gasped and rushed after Max, blocking his path from exiting the room. "Look, don't you get it? It won't. The nightmares won't end, Max - not like this. It's just... more pain, and it makes you as bad as them. You don't have to go through all this by yourself."
"I'm sorry," Max whispered before Delaney was flown back into the coat closet behind her, the doors closing behind her.
Delaney banged on the door, but it was no use. The door wasn't budging. When she heard the doorknob fall off the door, she knew Max must have pushed something in front of the doors. She closed her eyes and was instantly met with the vision of shooting both Sam and Dean in the head while they tried to protect Mrs. Miller from being killed.
Her eyes flew open and she shook her head frantically, tears instantly welling in her eyes. "No, no, no, no," she cried as she continued to push on the closet doors. Suddenly, the door flew open and Delaney stumbled back in shock. Did she just....?
Delaney decided to file that thought for later and rushed up the stairs. She burst through the bedroom door just as the gun was pointed at Dean's head. "No, don't! Don't!" Both of her brothers looked at her with wide eyes, not expecting her to burst through the door. She couldn't exactly blame them because she didn't think she'd get out either.
"Please, Max. We can help you! But this, what you're doing... it's not the solution. It's not going to fix anything."
Max's face screwed up as the sobs returned and Delaney silently prayed that he wouldn't just turn and shoot her brothers. Dean and Sam were cautiously looking back and forth between the two.
"You're right," Max quietly replied, spreading relief through Delaney's body. Once again that relief was short lived as Max turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the head.
"No!" Delaney screamed and rushed over to Max's dead body. She watched it with her own eyes and she still couldn't believe it happened. Make that three people she couldn't save. Award winning hunter award definitely does not go to her.
◆◇◆◇
Delaney sat on the hood of the Impala while her brothers stayed inside with Mrs. Miller as the police questioned her about what happened in the house. Her knees were pulled into her chest and she buried her face into her knees. A part of her knew she shouldn't be so hard on herself for not being able to save Max because logically there really was no way to save him. However, the bigger part of her just knew there was something she could have done. Said something another way to get him to understand. She just didn't try hard enough. She hadn't realized how lucky she was to have her dad than after this whole fiasco. If John had treated her like that because of how Mary died, she would have turned up just like Max.
"Don't do this," Dean's voice broke through her inner turmoil. She looked up with teary, puffy eyes at her two brothers who stood in front of her. She didn't even hear them walk over to her.
"Do what?" Delaney whispered, blinking away unshed tears.
"Torture yourself," Sam replied, frowning at his baby sister's obvious distraught nature. "It wouldn't have mattered what you said, Delly. Max was too far gone."
Delaney sniffled and hugged her knees tighter to herself, wanting to curl up so tightly she just disappeared. "When I think about how he looked at me, right before... I should have done something."
"Come on, kiddo, you risked your life," Dean reminded, trying to get her to cheer up. It wasn't working. "I mean, yeah, maybe if we'd have gotten there twenty years earlier."
Delaney sighed and stretched her legs out, looking up at her brothers. "We're lucky we had dad, you know."
Dean raised an eyebrow in amusement and chuckled softly. "Whoa. I never thought I'd hear you say that."
Delaney shrugged and fiddled with her thumbs. "Well, I could have ended up like Max if it weren't for Dad. We would have all been treated the way Max was. All things considered, the three of us turned out okay.... thanks to him."
The boys both silently agreed and the three made their way to their motel to gather up their things and make their way back onto the road again.
"You know, boys, I've been thinking," Delaney announced as she exited the bathroom after changing into something more comfortable for the drive because her jeans were starting to squeeze her. She just wanted a few hours in comfortable sweats before she puts them back on. "Why would this demon - whatever it is - want to kill mom, Will and Max's mother? What does it want?"
"No idea," Sam shrugged as he dropped himself onto the bed next to Dean's.
Delaney sat on the bed that Dean was currently folding up his clothes on. "You think maybe it was after us, after Max and I?"
"Why would you think that?" Dean questioned, freezing in folding his clothes to look at his sister.
"I mean, either telekinesis or premonitions - we both had abilities we couldn't explain, you know? Maybe it was after us for some reason."
Dean shook his head and resumed folding his clothes again. She wasn't sure if he just didn't believe her or if he did and he didn't want to think about that possibility. "Della, if it wanted you, it would have taken you. This is not about you. It's not your fault."
Delaney groaned and threw her head back. "Then what is it about?"
Sam slapped his hand to his face. "Here we go again," he mumbled to himself, deciding to stay out of it. He could already see the argument on the horizon and he wasn't stupid to get involved in a Delaney and Dean argument. That was just death waiting to happen.
"It's about that damn thing that did this to our family - the thing that we're going to find, the thing that we're gonna kill - and that's all."
Delaney chewed on her bottom lip, looking away from Dean, not wanting to see his or Sam's faces when she told him what she was about to. "Um... there's actually something else too. When Max locked me in that closet, with some big cabinet against the door... I moved it."
Dean just chuckled and Delaney looked back to him with a confused expression. Sam seemed to have caught on to what she said quicker than him because he immediately paled as if he had seen a ghost. "Wow, kid. You got some serious upper-body strength than I gave you credit for. Now I really hate that Sammy and I missed out on your cheerleading performances."
"Uh, no, Dean. I moved it like... Max."
Dean's gaze met Delaney's from where he now stood by the dresser in the room. He seemed taken aback by her statement. "Oh..." He trailed off and glanced to his right. He quickly grabbed a spoon from the cup on the dresser and held it out to Delaney. "Bend this."
Delaney rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I can't just this thing on and off, Dean. It's not a fucking light switch."
"Well, how'd you do it?" Sam questioned softly before Dean could cut in with a sarcastic remark that would only make the situation worse than it already was. Not that he saw how it could get worse. Not anymore.
"I don't know. I can't control it," Delaney explained with a sigh of frustration. "I saw you and Dean die, and it just came out of me like a punch or something, like a freak adrenaline thing."
"Well I'm sure it won't happen again," Dean mumbled as he walked back over to the bed and stuffed his clothes into his duffle.
Delaney glanced to Sam who seemed just as skeptical about Dean's response. He thought he was slick with trying to act like none of this was bothering him, but it wasn't going over her or Sam's heads. "So you aren't worried, Dean? You aren't scared that I could turn into Max or something?"
Dean sighed and moved his duffle bag off the bed so he could sit down in front of Delaney. "I'm not scared and you want to know why? Because you got an advantage that Max didn't have."
"Dad? Cause last time I checked, Dean, he's not here."
Dean shook his head and glanced behind him to Sam before he focused back on Delaney. "No. Sammy and me. As long as we're both around, nothing bad is going to happen to you," he assured and Sam frantically nodded his head in agreement as he moved over to their bed and sat next to Delaney.
Delaney smiled softly at her brother before hugging both of her brothers in small - yet awkward because of how Dean was sitting - group hug. Dean was the first to pull away and he stood up, shrugging his leather jacket on and grabbed his duffle while his siblings followed suit.
"Okay, well," Dean began as the three exited motel room. "I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go."
"Where?" Delaney asked, tossing her duffle bag into the trunk and closing it once the boys tossed theirs in.
"Vegas," Dean grinned mischievously.
Sam scoffed softly and shook his head. "You're unbelievable, man."
"What? We could clean out the craps table!" Dean argued.
Delaney decided to ignore her brother and got into the back seat, laying across the back as her two brothers got in the front, driving off to their next destination. The next destination where Delaney really hoped that it wasn't Vegas.
authors note
NOT YET EDITED!!!
HI hey hello.
So Delaney finally found someone that was going through the same thing as her. Then also finds out that there is more to her abilities than she thought and a GIRL IS F R E A K E D. She's also really hard on herself because Delaney is the type to help out anyone that needs it and the fact that three people that needed it all wound up dying, it didn't exactly make her feel good. Dean and Sam of course don't know how to make her feel better about the situation because... well... how do you tell your sister not to be sad over failing at saving three people when they literally save people for a living? It's like the equivalent of telling a fireman that it's okay a person they tried to save set on fire and they couldn't be saved.
We are also coming up to the end of Season One guys! We literally just have Episodes 15 through 22 and then we are done, which is crazy to me because I felt like I was never going to make it to the end of the season but I have and I'm actually lowkey sad about it because Season One was always my favorite season. Just buckle up, kids, cause we're about to hit the downfall of this rollercoaster. SO BE PREPARED.
Anyways, don't forget to vote and comment so I know what you guys are thinking throughout the story!!