One month.

It had been one month since Ava Wilson was taken by the demon in her own home, and the four hunters remained in Peoria, Illinois in hopes of finding her. But while Dean, Sam, and Danielle worked around the clock together for any leads, Juniper kept to herself as she did some digging with the case every now and then, though at times she had to stop whenever she was about to break down and cry again over it.

While she felt terrible for not helping out more with finding Ava, there was an aching feeling that wouldn't go away just by seeing her face on the missing poster. She was already having a hard time just getting out of bed in the morning just thinking about that night, and she wondered if the guilt would drive her crazy soon.

Fortunately, Ellen called Sam about a potential case in Cornwall, Connecticut, which Dean and Danielle agreed to go with Sam being so eager about checking it out. In a way, Juniper was grateful that they were about to leave Peoria and focus on something else that didn't involve Ava. Juniper knew it was awful to think that way, but she couldn't help it for her own sake.

For the first time since the girls met, Danielle offered to let Juniper drive, hoping to help get her mind off of what was going on. Juniper, surprised by the offer, decided to accept it, seeing as the last time she actually drove a car was when she was in Baltimore. When they were getting close to reaching their destination, Danielle was shuffling through the note Sam wrote down for her one last time to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"Okay, so we got two freak accidents in the past three weeks at this hotel in Cornwall," she said, looking down at Sam's notes. We got a lady drowning in the bathtub, then a guy fell down the stairs with his head completely turned around..." Danielle groaned, rubbing the back of her neck. "That hurts just thinking about someone's head doing that."

"Yeah," was all Juniper responded with, her eyes still on the road.

Danielle was quiet for a moment, then let out a sigh. "Junie--"

"If you're going to ask me if I'm okay--"

"I'm just worried about you after what happened," she said. "Dean and Sam are worried, too."

"I know," she replied.

"You can talk to me about it, you know," she informed the brunette driving. "Hell, you can talk to me about anything. I won't tell the boys or anyone else. It'll stay between us, I promise."

Juniper slowly turned to briefly look at Danielle, who had a reassuring expression on her face that made Juniper believe Danielle meant what she said. With not being able to talk to Nancy constantly like she used to, Juniper found it nice to have Danielle to confide in while always on the road. But as much as she enjoyed Danielle's company, she still couldn't replace Nancy.

"I just wish that I could've done more to help Ava and Brady," she confessed. "Maybe if I hadn't stepped outside to call Sam, then maybe Ava wouldn't be missing and Brady might still be..." She couldn't finish the sentence, stopping herself before she thought about all the failed ways she tried to save him that night.

"You did all that you could," Danielle assured her. "And like Dean said before, if you had been inside the house when Yellow Eyes showed up--"

"I don't need the reminder, Dani," Juniper cut her off in a bitter tone.

"Look, you can't keep carrying around this guilt, especially when none of it was your fault." Danielle paused, letting out a sigh. "One thing you need to know about being a hunter is that you can't let a bad case weigh you down. It happens to all of us."

"And how exactly do I not let it weigh me down?"

"We all have our different ways of doing it."

Juniper rolled her eyes. "That's really helpful, thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"Hey, no one ever said this line of work was easy," Danielle pointed out.

"Obviously," Juniper mumbled under her breath.

The tension between the girls just about died down by the time they reached the Pierpont Inn. Dean and Sam were just pulling up themselves, parking the Impala by the entrance, in which Juniper stopped the Honda right next to them and killed the engine. Getting out of the car, Juniper and Danielle grabbed their duffle bags from the trunk, while Dean and Sam looked at the hotel.

"This is sweet," Dean exclaimed. "I never get to work jobs like this."

"Like what?" Sam asked, getting his backpack and knapsack from the back seat.

"Old-school haunted houses," Dean answered, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "You know, fog, secret passageways, sissy British accents..." He paused, letting out a chuckle. "Hell, we might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside."

Danielle let out a scoff. "You wish."

As Juniper stared at the inn, she realized that the place did resemble an old-school haunted house. With the gray, brown, and tan colors painted on the house, along with the similar German style architecture, it almost felt like the four were transported back in time. Not only that, but the fog in Cornwall already gave an eerie vibe to the town, which now had Juniper even more curious as to what could be going on in this hotel.

The girls were following the brothers up the front steps when Sam seemed intrigued by the plant that stood on the brick railing.

"Hey, wait a sec," Sam said before anyone could go inside. "I'm not so sure haunted's the problem.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"You see this pattern here?" He pointed at the five-point carving on the pot, each dot filled with red paint. "That's a quincunx. It's a five-spot."

"Five-spot," Dean repeated, taking a good look at the pattern. "That's for hoodoo spellwork, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah," Danielle added. "Get some bloodweed and you'd be good to go."

"Yeah, a powerful charm to ward off enemies," Sam added.

"Except I don't see any bloodweed," Dean pointed out, looking around for a moment. "Don't you think this place is a little too, uh...white-meat for hoodoo?"

Sam shrugged in response. "Maybe."

"Well, how about we head inside and find out for ourselves?" Danielle suggested.

So Dean led the others inside the hotel, finding no other guests in sight. The inside of the hotel looked just as old-fashioned as the outside, with even more bland colors and decorations all over.

"Hello there," a woman with brown hair and pale skin greeted the four, walking up to the front desk. "May I help you?"

"Hi," Dean spoke up. "Yeah, we'd like a room for a couple of nights."

Before the other three could take another step, a little girl ran out in front of them, smiling and giggling as she bumped into Sam.

"Tyler!" the woman scolded the girl. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," Sam said.

She nodded her head, giving the four a small smile. "Well, congratulations. You could be some of our final guests."

Dean let out a chuckle. "Well, that sounds vaguely ominous."

"No, I'm sorry. I mean, we're closing at the end of the month," she clarified. "Let me guess-- you guys are all here antiquing?"

The four glanced at each other, then Dean gave the woman a grin.

"How'd you know?" he asked.

"You just look the type," she replied.

None of them were sure as to what she meant by that, shooting each other confused looks in response.

"So a king-size bed?" she questioned the boys.

"What? No!" Sam protested. "No, no. We're, uh...two singles. We're just brothers."

Juniper and Danielle smirked in the back, trying to not burst out laughing.

With her mouth open in shock and embarrassment, the woman shook her head. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She then looked behind Dean and Sam and spotted Juniper and Danielle in the corner. "I didn't even see your fiancées back there."

The girls, thrown off by her comment, raised their eyebrows and still managed to laugh it off.

"We're actually not engaged to them," Juniper stated.

"Yeah, we're just tagging along for some antiquing," Danielle added.

The awkwardness only got worse as the woman chuckled nervously. "Wow, this is really embarrassing..."

"Don't worry about it," Dean assured her. "But what did you mean that we looked the type?"

"Actually, speaking of antiques..." Sam interjected before the situation got any weirder. "You have a really interesting urn on the front porch. Where did you get that?"

"I have no idea. It's been there forever." She let out a sigh as she gave Dean back his fake credit card he had. "Here you go, Mr. Mahogoff." She rang the bell on the desk, then grabbed a key. "You'll be staying in Room 237. Sherwin, could you show these gentlemen to their room?"

An elderly man came strolling in with a suit on, nodding towards the boys. "Let me guess-- antiquers?"

The boys merely gave each other odd looks as Sherwin took Dean's bag and led them towards the stairs.

"Okay, so two singles for you ladies as well?" the lady asked.

"Yes, please," Juniper answered as she and Danielle approached the front desk.

"I apologize again for my assumptions," she spoke up. "It's just been stressful trying to get everything done before closing up this place for good."

"Yeah, it sucks you're having to shut down," Danielle said.

The lady shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that's what happens when people slowly stop coming. It just isn't an ideal hotel for people anymore. As much as I love the place, I can't keep it up forever."

Juniper gave the woman a sad look. "You did all that you could, I'm sure. At least you enjoyed every minute of it, right?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, I most certainly did. But at some point you just have to move on, you know?"

"My thoughts exactly," Danielle spoke up, nodding her head. "You just gotta let it go one way or another."

Juniper eyed Danielle, knowing what she was implying.

When they got their room number, the two headed upstairs, walking down the hall to Room 239. Opening the door, they were met with a large room filled with wooden furniture and odd decorations such as old dresses and pictures hanging on the wall.

"Well, this looks cozy," Danielle commented, stepping inside.

"Yeah, totally," Juniper muttered, entering the room and placing her bag on the nearest bed.

Sighing, Danielle looked around at the room, shaking her head. "Maybe it's a good thing she's letting this place go." She paused to turn and face Juniper. "You know who would also benefit from moving on?"

"Save it," Juniper retorted, heading for the door. "Let's get to work on this case."

The girls went to Sam and Dean's room, where they all spent what felt like forever going through each murder case a few times to see if they had missed anything. Juniper was convinced her brain was going to melt soon as the words started to mesh together, making it difficult for her to concentrate anymore.

Dean stood up and checked out the room, seeing the decorations and shaking his head, chuckling. "What the..."

"What?" Sam asked.

Turning around, Dean pointed at the long and white-laced dress pinned to the wall. "That's normal," he said sarcastically. "Why the hell would anyone stay here?"

"Coming from the guy who couldn't wait to get inside and check this place out," Danielle pointed out.

"Well, maybe I had high hopes for this place compared to the other dumps we've stayed at before," he commented. "But I'm amazed they kept in business this long."

Juniper had to agree that this hotel was nicer than the other ones they had to stay in for the last few months.

Sam let out a sigh as he continued looking through his papers. "All right, victim number one: Joan Edison, 43 years old, a realtor handling the sale of the hotel. And victim number two was Larry Williams, moving some stuff out to Goodwill."

"Well, there's a connection: they're both tied up in shuttin' the place down," Dean said, almost falling off his bed and he sat down.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Maybe someone doesn't want to leave and they're using hoodoo to fight back."

"The question is, who is it?" Juniper spoke up.

"The owner, Susan Thompson, maybe?" Dean suggested.

"That doesn't seem likely. I mean, she's the one selling," Sam pointed out.

"So what, then, Sherwin?"

"Who, the elderly bellboy?" Danielle spoke up. "Doubtful. He seems nice."

"Dani, when have you ever come across a nice witch?" Dean inquired.

Danielle scoffed. "I haven't, but you have." She motioned towards herself, raising her eyebrows.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You don't count since you don't even consider yourself a witch."

"But it's close enough, right?"

Huffing a sigh, Dean shook his head. "Of course, the most troubling question is, why do these people assume we're gay?"

"I can answer that."

"Zip it, witch bitch."

Sam grinned a little. "Well, you are kind of butch. Probably think you're overcompensating."

Dean chuckled. "Right." He paused, scratching his forehead. "So now what? We go take another tour of the house? See what else we can find?"

"You know, that's probably the best idea you've come up with since we've been here," Juniper spoke up, rising from her chair. "I'm gonna go outside and see what I can find."

"I'll join you," Danielle added, following her. "I need to smoke one, anyway."

The girls left the room and walked down the hall, glancing at the old framed pictures and odd knick-knacks on little tables as they headed for the stairs. Juniper was quick to descend the steps and exit out through the front entrance, letting the cool air hit her in the face. She felt a lot better now that she wasn't cooped up inside a room, or even the hotel for that matter. Maybe taking a walk on the property could give her a clear mind for once.

"You were kind of snippy back there," Danielle commented as she pulled out her lighter and pack of cigarettes. "And you were also quick at getting out of there."

"I needed some fresh air," Juniper told her. "I was getting congested and irritated the longer we were in there staring at all those case files."

"Still, you don't need to take it out on everyone else," she pointed out, lighting a cigarette.

"Well, sorry for having feelings like a normal human being," Juniper retorted.

Blowing out some smoke, Danielle rolled her eyes and eyed Juniper. "You're letting the guilt get to you again. You wanna know how I deal with my guilt? I work on a case. You know why? Because when I work a case I think about the opportunity of saving someone else and not about the ones I couldn't get to in time. Call it a second chance at redeeming myself, only there's a million of them and they never seem to stop coming."

"Dani, if you're trying to help me come to terms with what happened--"

"I'm trying to tell you how it is so that maybe I can get through to you and help you understand that it's a part of this life." Danielle paused, working some more on her cigarette before continuing. "Hell, that's just a part of life in general. It's just a little bit different for us given our job and with what we do and know about in this world."

Our job.

It seemed as if hearing the way Danielle included Juniper like that almost made it become even more real than before. A part of Juniper didn't want to be associated with it, despite knowing this was the closest thing she was going to get when it came to her safety. And because of that, she knew that she had no choice but to stick around with Danielle and the Winchesters.

The two continued walking along the grounds for a while, not saying much for a while as they looked around for anything out of the ordinary. While Danielle was taking a look at the garden for any bloodweed, Juniper found what looked like an enclosed pool. She tried to open the door, but it was locked, and judging by the vines and rust all over the place, it had to be no longer in use.

"You can't go in there!"

Juniper turned around to find Tyler, the little girl from before, standing there with a scared look on her face. She didn't even realize that Danielle was no longer in sight.

"Oh, hi there," was all Juniper could get out. "I was just looking around."

"Mom and Grandma Rose would get mad if you went inside," Tyler stated.

"And why would they be mad?" Juniper asked.

"She doesn't like it when anyone goes in the pool," she explained. "Maggie always wants to go inside. We've tried a few times, but my mom doesn't know that."

That was a name Juniper hadn't heard ever since she got here. But she nodded her head, anyway. "I see. How about we keep it between us, yeah? We don't have to tell anyone and we'll forget this ever happened."

"But I can't keep secrets from Maggie," she protested.

"Well, I don't see her anywhere," Juniper pointed out, giving her a small smile. "It'll be our little secret. I promise."

Tyler smiled back at Juniper, then the two headed back towards the hotel, where Danielle was smoking what looked like another cigarette by the front steps. Juniper took notice of another car parked out front as Tyler skipped up the steps and went back inside.

"More guests?" Juniper asked.

Danielle shook her head. "Just some lawyer, it looked like. Probably here to get some things finalized before selling." She started twirling the cigarette in between her fingers. "Find anything?"

"No. You?"

"Just some more of that five-spot pattern on a few urns."

Groaning, Juniper took a seat on the stone steps and exhaled loudly. "Some progress we're making."

Danielle let out a scoff. "Yeah, maybe the boys are having better luck than we are."

Juniper chuckled a little. "Let's hope so."

When Danielle took another few minutes to finish off her second cigarette, the two decided to go back inside after finding nothing outside. It was only a few seconds of being back indoors when they heard a blood-curdling scream coming from upstairs.

"Shit," Danielle mumbled before dashing for the stairs, followed by Juniper.

The girls ran up the steps and down the hall, finding the open door and a maid standing there, staring at the man hanging from the fan in horror.

"Oh my God," Juniper gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

"Junie, don't look," Danielle said, motioning her to turn away.

Juniper obliged and headed back into the hall, closing her eyes as she let the tears fall down her face.

*******

The image of the hanging man stayed with Juniper for the rest of the day.

Staying in her room, she tried to fall asleep, but had no luck with it. With Danielle helping out Susan and the police with what happened, Juniper was alone, which she thought was becoming a dangerous game for her to play at this point.

That night, as many people were still coming in and out of the hotel, Juniper started to get a little hungry, her stomach rumbling. She got out of bed and left the room, about to go downstairs when she saw the door to Dean and Sam's room cracked. Curious, she pushed it open to find Sam sitting in the chair, staring at the window.

"Sam?" she spoke up, walking towards him. "I'm gonna get something to eat if you want to join me."

"I'm not hungry," he replied, not even glancing her way.

Furrowing her brows, Juniper sat down across from him, concerned and puzzled. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

She raised her eyebrows, able to smell the tequila on his breath. "You're drunk."

Sam scoffed, his eyes at the brink of tears. "And apparently unable to save anyone anymore."

"What?"

He swallowed hard, letting out a shaky breath. "I couldn't save the man who hung himself, or Ava, or Brady..." Pausing, he gave Juniper a sad look. "Or even Eric."

Juniper's heart sank at the sound of his name. "Sam--"

"I should've done more for both of you," he cut her off. "Maybe you wouldn't be in this mess with us if I had. You and Eric could still be in Baltimore and not have to worry about all of this." He paused, shaking his head as he shot her a sad smile. "You're so pretty, June. You're too pretty to be sad and to feel so helpless. You deserve a normal life. A beautiful and normal life without me, my brother, and Dani. Don't you want that, still?"

Juniper opened her mouth to speak, though it took a moment for the words to come out as she shook her head. "It's too late for that, Sam. You and I both know I can't go back to my old life."

"Right, because of our destiny," he retorted. "Because we were born to become soldiers in some demon army." Sam's voice was beginning to crack. "That's why I want to do better. I want to save as many people as I can." He let out another scoff. "My track record isn't going too well, is it?"

Before Juniper could respond, Dean and Danielle entered the room, looking at the two sitting down.

"What's going on?" Danielle asked.

"Nothing," Sam replied.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Dean retorted. "Are you drunk?"

"Yeah. So?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Dude, we're working a case. What were you thinking?"

"Obviously, he wasn't," Danielle stated.

Groaning, Dean looked over at Juniper. "All right, I'll take over from here."

Nodding her head, Juniper stood up and quickly rushed out of the room, with Danielle following suit.

"Hey," Danielle said, making Juniper turn around to face her. "I know you're gonna hate me for asking, but are you--"

"No, I'm not," Juniper confessed. "I'm gonna go downstairs for a while to clear my head."

With a sympathetic expression, Danielle nodded her head and went back to their room for the night, leaving Juniper alone again.

Once she thought everyone was gone, Juniper crept down the stairs and walked across the empty lobby, heading for the small restaurant and bar on the other side. Sherwin, the bellboy from earlier, was standing at the bar, fixing himself a drink on the counter.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, taking a step back. "I was just--"

"Nonsense! Come have a seat and get a drink," he replied eagerly, motioning her to sit down.

Reluctantly, Juniper strolled towards the bar and took a seat as Sherwin was pouring another glass of whiskey and sliding it towards her, along with a small packet of crackers. Juniper gave him a thankful look as she began to eat and drink away everything she was feeling. She then heard footsteps behind her, which she turned around and saw that it was Dean who walked in, making his way to the bar as well.

"Find any good antiques?" Sherwin asked him.

"No, no. Got distracted," Dean responded.

"It looks like you need a drink, too," he said, getting another glass.

"Yeah, thanks," Dean stated, sitting next to Juniper. He looked over towards her. "Sam's gonna be fine. I'm havin' him sleep it off now."

She nodded her head. "Good to know."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Dean nodded and went back to focusing on Sherwin. "So, poor guy, huh, killin' himself?"

"That kind of thing seems to be going around lately," the older man responded.

"Yeah. Yeah, we heard about the other ones," he said. "It's almost like this hotel is cursed or something."

"Every hotel has its spilled blood," Sherwin stated. "If people only knew what's gone on in some of those rooms they've checked into."

"You really know the ins and outs of this place," Juniper spoke up.

"Down to the last nail."

"We'd love to hear some stories," Dean added.

Sherwin shook his head with a grin. "Boy, you should never say that to an old man."

"Maybe we could use a few stories after what happened tonight," Juniper said. Really, that sounded pretty nice right now, given that she would do anything to have some kind of distraction from everything else.

So Sherwin led the two back towards the lobby and up the steps, only going halfway up when he pointed towards a picture of a woman with a little girl by her side on the wall of many photos. "This is little Susan and her mother, Rose. Happier days."

Juniper observed the picture and saw the weak smiles from the two of them.

"They're not happy now?" Dean questioned.

Sherwin turned to face him. "Would you be if you were leaving the only home you ever knew?"

"I never knew what it was like to have a home," Dean confessed. "Me and my brother moved around a lot."

Sherwin nodded, letting out a sigh. "Well, this is Rose's home. It's been in the family for over a century. Used to be the family estate. Now she gets to live in some senior-living graveyard, and they tear this place down."

"That's too bad," Dean said, though he didn't sound sincere about it. "I hear Rose isn't feeling well, either."

"No, she isn't," Sherwin said as the three walked back down the stairs.

"What's wrong with her?" Juniper asked.

"It's not my business to say."

Dean and Juniper's eyes scanned to a small table with more old pictures of the hotel and family members.

"Who's this?" Dean asked as he motioned his head towards a picture of a child.

"That's Rose when she was a little girl." Sherwin picked up the picture in the back and showed the two of a young Rose sitting next to a maid with a book in her hand. "And that's her nanny, Marie. She looked after Rose more than her own mother."

Taking a better look at the picture, Juniper's eyes went straight towards the necklace Marie was wearing. It didn't take long for her to recognize it to be the same five-spot pattern Sam pointed out earlier today, and when she looked at Dean, it was obvious that he had the same realization judging by his expression being very similar to hers.

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" he whispered once Sherwin wasn't within earshot of them.

"That we're finally getting somewhere with this case?"

"Yup, and it's about damn time we did."

*******

The girls woke up to the sound of vomiting the next morning.

Of course, neither of them were surprised to find Sam hunched over the toilet as he groaned and coughed non-stop. Seeing him sober made Juniper think back to last night when he was drunk and spilling out his guilt to her. She hoped he would get a clear mind once he felt better from his hangover.

"You look like shit," Danielle commented.

"Yeah, thanks, Dani," Sam groaned, his forehead pressed against the toilet seat.

Dean walked in already dressed for the day and let out a chuckle when he saw Sam in the bathroom. "How you feeling, Sammy?" he asked, taking off his leather jacket. "I guess mixing whiskey and jager wasn't such a gangbuster idea, was it?"

Sam responded by gagging some more.

"I'll bet you don't remember a thing from last night, do you?" Dean inquired.

Juniper felt her heart drop a little, wondering if he actually did remember anything that he said.

"Not much, but I can still taste the tequila," he stated hoarsely.

Juniper almost let out a sigh of relief hearing that.

Dean nodded his head, grinning a little. "You know, there's a really good hangover remedy. It's a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray."

"Oh, God, I hate you!" Sam groaned.

"I know you do," Dean mumbled, smirking.

"Okay, well, as much as I'd love to hear about Dean's terrible hangover remedy, did any of you find new clues as to what the hell's going on around here?" Danielle asked. "Junie and I came up with jack squat yesterday."

"Actually, June Bug and I got something out of Sherwin last night while taking a walk down memory lane," Dean explained. "Turns out when Grandma Rose was a tyke, she had a creole nanny who wore a hoodoo necklace."

Sam lifted up his head to face Dean. "So you think she taught Rose hoodoo?"

"Yes, I do," Dean said.

"Didn't you tell me yesterday that Grandma Rose was sick?" Danielle pointed out.

"Doesn't mean we can't find a way to get some answers out of her," he said.

With a sigh, Sam nodded his head and slowly stood up and leaned against the doorway of the bathroom. "All right. I think it's time we talk to Rose, then."

The smell of vomit and tequila and morning breath hit the other three in the face, to which they all took a step back from Sam.

"You need to brush your teeth first," Dean retorted as he left the room, followed by Danielle.

"June," Sam called out, causing her to turn around before she could leave. "Whatever I said to you last night--"

"Don't worry about it," she cut him off, turning around to leave the room before he could say anything else to her.

After getting dressed and regrouping with Dean and Sam in the hallway, Juniper had a hard time looking at Sam, despite him having some color show back up in his face after a good clean up from his hangover. All she could see was the sad and guilty version of him from last night, hearing his voice crack when mentioning Eric, Ava, and Brady. But then he talked about her in such a way that made her feel terrible with their circumstances.

You deserve a normal life. A beautiful and normal life without me, my brother, and Dani.

But at this point, did she really deserve that kind of life anymore? Because after what happened to Ava and Brady, the guilt building up inside was telling her otherwise.

Juniper didn't have any more time to think about it once she and the other three approached a door that was marked PRIVATE.

Sam knocked on the door a few times. "Hello? Susan?" he called out. When no one answered, he began to pick the lock on the door, managing to get it open in just under a minute.

Juniper had wide eyes when she saw the collection of antique dolls lined up on the shelves, along with the dollhouse replica of the hotel in the middle of the room. She only glanced at them for a moment before Dean led the others through another door and slowly up the creaking stairs. When they reached the top, the four headed down the hall towards the cracked door, pushing it open to reveal an old woman sitting in a wheelchair as she looked out at the rain hitting against the window.

"Mrs. Thompson?" Sam spoke up, walking in the room first as the others followed. "Mrs. Thompson? Rose?" When there still wasn't an answer, Sam crouched down in front of her. "Hi, Mrs. Thompson. We're not here to hurt you. It's okay, we just..." He trailed off as he continued to stare at her, realizing that something was definitely off with her.

"I don't think she can speak at all," Juniper pointed out, seeing the way she was shaking with her mouth open, as if she wanted to say something.

"Guys." He motioned the others to follow him towards the back of the room. "This woman's had a stroke."

"Yeah, but hoodoo's hands on," Dean said. "You gotta mix herbs and chant, build an altar."

"It's a lot of work," Danielle added.

"So it can't be Rose," Sam said. "Heck, maybe it's not even hoodoo."

"So what is it, then?" Juniper spoke up.

"You know, she could be faking," Dean commented.

"How could she be faking a stroke, dipshit?" Danielle retorted.

"Yeah, what do you want to do, poke her with a stick?" Sam added, looking at Dean, who seemed intrigued by the idea. "Dude, you're not gonna poke her with a stick!"

Before any of them could go back to Grandma Rose, the sound of footsteps were coming closer, in which Susan came strolling in the room.

"What the hell? What are you doing in here?" She asked, rushing towards the elderly woman to check on her.

"We just wanted to talk to Rose about--" Sam was saying.

"Look at her. She's scared out of her wits." Susan raised her head and gave the four a stern look. "I want you out of my hotel in two minutes or I'm calling the cops."

Reluctantly, the four left the room and dashed down the stairs to gather their things.

"Well, that was a bust," Danielle said.

"We still have some time to figure this out," Sam told her.

"How? We can't stick around and risk being arrested," Juniper stated.

"Oh, don't worry," Dean spoke up. "We always find a way around things like that."

"Of course you do," Juniper muttered.

The four quickly packed their things and hurried out of the hotel, getting into their cars and driving off as fast as they could. However, they didn't go very far as they parked just a couple of blocks away and waited a few minutes before finally getting out of their cars and heading back to the hotel on foot.

"So how exactly are we going to do this without getting caught?" Juniper asked.

"Yeah, uh, we haven't figured that out yet," Sam admitted sheepishly.

"Do any of you ever come up with a plan for anything?" she retorted.

"Kind of hard to do when you have no idea what'll happen on a case," Dean pointed out.

"Especially when you get kicked out of a hotel," Danielle added. "Can't say this is my first time."

Dean shot her a confused look. "When was the last time you got kicked out of a hotel?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, it doesn't," Sam interjected before Dean could answer. "Let's just focus on this case and get down to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on."

"Right," Danielle said. "So do you guys think Rose's stroke has anything to do with the murders?"

"Not unless they started after she got sick," Sam replied. "We just gotta figure out when she had the stroke and that might help us."

"Do you guys still think this is hoodoo stuff?" Juniper asked.

"At this point, it can't be," Danielle said. "It seems like none of the killings match up with a hoodoo curse."

"So a vengeful spirit, maybe?" Sam suggested.

"That sounds more likely," Danielle answered, then furrowing her brows. "If that's the case, then maybe the five-spot patterns we kept seeing around the hotel are there for a reason."

"What, you mean, like, used as protection?" Juniper questioned.

"Yeah, exactly," Sam said, looking as if he just had a lightbulb go off in his head. "And maybe Rose was the one who had them put up in the first place."

"But then she got sick and had to stop," Danielle stated. "So now the spirit is free and killing everyone who's helping with shutting down the hotel."

"It's starting to make sense now," Sam said.

"Well, we better get a move on before anyone else gets ganked," Dean spoke up with a firm voice.

At a quicker pace, the four headed back to the hotel. Juniper already had a bad feeling that something was about to happen to either Susan or Tyler before they could get there in time. She knew judging how determined the other three looked that they were thinking the same thing.

By the time she reached the hotel, they could hear the sound of a car starting. Sam and Dean were the first to start sprinting around front, with Juniper and Danielle to follow suit. The girls stopped when they saw the car driving by itself, speeding towards Susan. Juniper's heart almost stopped when she saw Sam jumping in front of the car and grabbing Susan to move her out of the way, in which the car crashed into the bushes and missed the two.

"Come on! Let's get inside!" Dean shouted as he led everyone back to the hotel.

The four took a shaken up Susan to the bar, where she looked over at the bottles placed on the counter.

"Whiskey," she stated, sitting down.

"Sure. I know the feeling," Sam said as he went to pour her a glass.

"What the hell happened out there?" she asked.

"You want the truth?" Dean inquired.

"Of course."

"Oh, here we go," Danielle muttered.

"Well, at first, we thought it was some sort of a hoodoo curse," he explained. "But that out there was definitely a spirit."

When she got her drink in hand, Susan looked at the four and shook her head. "You're insane."

"Yeah, it's been said," Dean told her.

"Definitely not the first time we've heard that," Danielle said. "And it sure as hell won't be the last."

Sam let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry, Susan. We don't exactly have time to ease you into this, but we need to know when your mother had the stroke."

Susan gave him a confused look. "What does that have to do with--"

"Just answer the question."

"Uh, about a month ago."

"Right before the killings began," Sam stated, turning towards Dean and the girls. "You see? So what if Rose was working hoodoo, but not to hurt anyone, to protect them?"

"She was using the five-spot urns to ward off the spirit," Dean added.

"Right, until she had a stroke and she couldn't anymore."

Susan looked at the boys with a shocked expression on her face, shaking her head in disbelief. "I don't believe this."

"Listen, that car didn't try to run you down by itself, okay?" Dean retorted. "I mean, I guess it did, technically, but with a spirit--"

"Dean."

"Okay, I'll stop."

"Look, believe what you want, but you and your family are in danger," Sam told Susan. "So you need to clear everybody out of here-- your employees, your mother, your daughters, everyone."

Susan, with a single tear falling from her eye, looked at Sam with scared eyes. "Um, I only have one daughter."

The four exchanged glances of confusion.

"We thought Tyler had a sister named Maggie," Dean said.

"Yeah, she was talking about her yesterday like she was real," Juniper added.

"Maggie's imaginary," Susan clarified.

From confused to worried, the four had come to the realization that Maggie was the spirit this entire time, to which they scrambled to go find Tyler, along with Susan. While Susan and the Winchesters headed upstairs, Juniper and Danielle started downstairs, checking every room and hiding spot they could find, but having no luck.

"Where could she be?" Danielle asked in a frantic voice.

Juniper thought back to when she saw Tyler yesterday, remembering when she saw her by the pool.

And then it hit her.

Maggie always wants to go inside.

"The pool," Juniper mumbled, turning towards Danielle with wide eyes. "Dani, we gotta get to the pool now."

So the girls rushed out of the hotel and off down to the pool, their adrenaline rushing. Once they reached the entrance, they found Tyler standing over the railing.

"Tyler!" Juniper shouted as she tried to open the door with the knob, but got no response. "Tyler!"

"Let's get this door open," Danielle said as she started to make an attempt to break the glass with her elbows and feet.

The two banged and kicked the doors as hard as they could for minutes, but the glass didn't even form a single crack. It wasn't long before Susan and the boys showed up, trying to get the door open as well.

"Tyler!" Susan yelled this time.

The little girl turned around, looking frightened as ever. "Mommy!" In just a matter of seconds, Tyler was off the railing, her scream and the splash echoing from the inside.

"Come on!" Dean grunted. "Is there another entrance?"

"Around back," Susan replied.

"All right, let's go," Dean stated as he and Susan left to head around the back of the pool house.

Sam, Juniper, and Danielle continued to work on the glass, and after getting fed up with it, Sam finally turned his head towards the urn standing there, grabbing it and dumping the plant before using it to break the glass. With much force, he started to get cracks along the glass, having it spread all over until it finally broke and Sam squeezed through to get inside. He pushed himself up with his feet and jumped over the railing and into the pool, with Juniper and Danielle watching from above as he struggled to get Tyler, taking her to the edge of the pool, looking lifeless.

"Oh my God," Danielle whispered.

Juniper felt tears form in her eyes as she watched Dean and Susan meet Sam with Tyler in his arms. She waited for a moment to see if Tyler was alive, hoping that was the case, for she didn't think she could bear it if there was another person they couldn't save, especially if that person was a little girl.

But when Tyler began to cough up water and grab ahold of her mother, Juniper let out a gasp and felt more relieved than ever.

"Mommy," Tyler whimpered.

"Yeah, baby, I'm here," Susan reassured her with a shaky voice.

"Tyler, do you see Maggie anywhere?" Sam asked.

"No, she's gone."

While it left everyone with more questions, just knowing that Maggie was gone seemed like a successful case.

*******

It wasn't long after leaving the pool that tragedy struck again inside the Pierpont Inn. This time, Grandma Rose was the victim.

With how no one knew why Maggie vanished the way she did, the four assumed that the elderly woman might have had something to do with it, as Juniper and Danielle learned that Rose and Maggie were sisters and Maggie drowned when she was a child, hence why she lured Tyler to the pool. And even though it was sad that she couldn't be saved, Juniper thought it was different this time with the hopeful feeling that Rose was finally at peace, along with Maggie.

During the time it took for the paramedics to arrive and handle Rose's body, the four were able to get their cars, along with Sam having some time to clean up before they headed back on the road. Later on, as the coroner was taking away the body, the four stood with Susan on the front porch, waiting for Tyler to come outside.

"Paramedics said it was another stroke," Susan said. "Do you think...Margaret could've had something to do with it?"

"We don't know," Dean admitted.

"But it's possible, yeah," Sam spoke up, sighing. "Susan, I'm sorry."

Susan shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for. You've given me everything." She turned around and smiled when she saw Tyler coming out with the rest of her things. "Ready to go, kiddo?"

"Yep," she replied, standing next to her mom.

"Tyler, you're sure Maggie's not around anymore?" Dean asked.

"I'm sure. I'd see her."

"Well, I guess whatever's goin' on must be over," he told the other three as Susan and Tyler headed for the cab.

"That's good to hear," Danielle muttered.

Sam went ahead and opened the door for Susan and Tyler. "You two take care of yourselves, all right?"

Susan, with one last small smile, gave Sam a hug. "Thank you." Pulling away, she glanced at the other three. "All of you."

With that, Susan got in the cab, letting Sam close the door before they drove away.

Dean smirked his way. "Think you could've hooked up some MILF action there, bud."

Sam scoffed. "Dude."

"Seriously, I think she liked you."

"Yeah, that's all she needs," Sam stated sarcastically.

"Hey, you did a heroic deed for them," Danielle pointed out.

"You saved the mom, you saved the girl. Course, you know, I could've saved them myself, but I didn't want you to feel useless."

Sam let out a chuckle. "All right, I appreciate it."

"Feels good gettin' back in the saddle, doesn't it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it does." Despite his words, there was still a sad look in his eyes, as if he didn't really mean it.

Danielle pulled out her pack of cigarettes and lighter, huffing a sigh. "Well, if y'all don't mind, I'm gonna go smoke one before we hit the road." She strolled away from the others, already placing a cigarette in her mouth.

Juniper went to wait by her car, leaning against the door, when Dean approached her. "How you holdin' up?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I'm fine."

He continued to stare at her. "I know it's been hard with what happened last month. You've been through enough already. But I'd be lying if I told you that we save everyone in this line of work." Pausing, he gave her a sad look. "You can't save everyone, June Bug, no matter how badly you want to. It just doesn't work that way."

Looking up at him, she slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, I think I'm starting to understand that."

Before Dean could say anything else, Sam walked over with his hands in his jacket pockets. "Hey, can I talk to you, June?" He shifted his eyes towards Dean, widening them a little.

"Guess that's my cue to go," he stated, turning around and heading back to the Impala.

Sam let out a sigh when his eyes were focused back on Juniper. "Listen, I'm sorry about what happened last night. I shouldn't have dumped whatever I said onto you like that, especially in the state I was in."

Juniper pressed her lips together for a moment before responding. "Like I told you, don't worry about it. We had it rough with what happened with Ava, so I get it."

He nodded his head, shuffling his feet a little. "So, uh...I only remember bits and pieces of our conversation about...you know." He paused, letting out a shaky breath. "What else did I say?"

Opening her mouth to speak, she was debating on whether or not she should tell him, unsure if having him know and reliving the guilt he was carrying around ever since the two met was such a good idea with everything going on.

"Just that I was pretty," was all that came out of her mouth.

Looking almost surprised and embarrassed, Sam smiled a little. "Well, at least I said some truth that wasn't so depressing."

With a sad smile, Juniper nodded her head. "Yeah." If only she had the heart to tell him that it was the most painful thing he had ever said to her.

~~~~~~~

A/N: It's been a minute since I updated this fic, oops.

I was trying to finish up the show, along with having my Stranger Things hyper-fixation come back after season 4, and y'all know how bad the brainrot can get.

Anyway, what did you think? I want to try and work on this story some more (y'all can thank reloading- for that because she'll fuss at me to work on it when I need her to).

So comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A