Bloody Mary.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN , BLOODY MARY

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After the siblings were done investigating Jill's room, they went back to the Motel and found information about a girl named Mary being Murdered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

"I was on the job for 35 years, detective for most of that." The man states. "Now, everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder--that one still gets me."

"What exactly happened?" Dean inquires.

"You boys said you were reporters." The man says, he then looks at Athena. "With a child attached to your hip."

"And I just can't seem to shake her." Dean quips with a sigh.

Athena nudges his leg, causing him to groan.

"We know Mary was 19, lived by herself." Sam states. "She won a few beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th, someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut her eyes out with a knife."

"That's right." The former detective nods.

Athena raises her hand, slightly waving. "Um, excuse me, sir. When they ask what happened, they actually want to know what you think happened."

The Detective looks at each other siblings before, grabbing a box from a shelf. He sat at the table, opening the box.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to have a copy of this."

He grabs a folder and flips to a picture. "Now, see that there, that 'T-R-E'?" he points at the letters written in blood.

"Yeah."

"I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." The man states.

"You know who it was?" Sam asks.

"Not for sure." The Detective answers. "But there was a local man, a surgeon, Trevor Sampson." He places a picture of the man on the table. "And I think he cut her up good."

Athena pulls her brows together. "Why would he do something like that?"

"Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing. She called him by his initial, 'T'. Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell T's wife about their affair." He explains.

"Yeah, well, how do you know it was this guy Sampson who killed her?" Dean inquires.

"It's hard to say." The Detective sighs. "But the way her eyes were cut out...it was almost professional."

"But you could never prove it?"

"No. No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous." The Detective states.

"Is he still alive?"

"Nope." He takes a seat with a sigh. "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could."

Athena felt sympathy about what happened to Mary. Being murdered and having your case go unsolved. She couldn't imagine what that's like.

"Where was she buried?"

"She wasn't. She was cremated." The Detective answers.

Athena looks at the picture once again. "What about that mirror?"

"It's not in some evidence lockup somewhere, is it?" Dean adds.

"No. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago."

The Detective gave the siblings the names of Mary's family members, in hopes of finding the location of the mirror. They got back on the road, calling each family member.

"Oh, really?"

Athena looks at Sam, who was on the phone. "Ah, that's too bad, Mr. Worthington. I would've paid a lot for that mirror."

"Okay, well, maybe next time."

Sam hangs up the phone and sighs.

"So?"

"So, that was Mary's brother," Sam informs them. "The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques, a store in Toledo."

"So, wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" Dean inquires.

"Her spirit's definitely tied up with it somehow," Athena speaks, solving another Rubik's Cube.

"Isn't there an old superstition that says mirror can capture spirits?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, there is." Athena answers. "When someone would die in a House, people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped."

"So, Mary dies in front of the mirror and it draws in her spirit."

"Yeah, but how could she move through like 100 different mirrors?" Sam questions.

"I don't know but if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it," Dean pronounces.

A small hun comes from Athena. "That doesn't seem like a good idea." She states.

"You always think that my ideas aren't good," Dean says.

"Because they aren't good."

Sam's phone rings and he quickly answers it.

"Hello? Charlie?"

☆

Athena sits beside Charlie on the bed as Sam and Dean cover up anything you can see your reflection in. Sam looks at Athena and nods his head.

Athena looks at Charlie. "Hey. It's okay." She speaks in a soft comforting tone. "You can open up your eyes, Charlie."

Charlie slowly takes her head out of her jacket.

"Now, listen..." Sam walks over to the girl. "...your gonna stay right here on this bed. You're not gonna look at glass or anything else that has a reflection, okay? As long as you do that. She cannot get you."

Charlie slightly opens her mouth. "But I can't keep that up forever..." a terrifying thought settles into her head. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"No," Athena speaks. "We won't let that happen."

"All right, Charlie..." Dean sits down. "...we need to know what happened."

"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it." Charlie states.

"That's not what we're talking about," Dean replies. "Something happened, didn't it, in your life. A secret where someone got hurt?"

Charlie's eyes become even tearier than before.

"Can you tell us about it?" Athena asks, cautiously.

"I had this boyfriend." Charlie starts. "I loved him. But he kind of scared me, too, you know?"

Athena tenses.

"And one night at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset. He said he needed me and he loved me. And he said... 'Charlie if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself."

Athena's mouth slightly opens.

"And you know what I said?" Charlie looks at the ground. "I said 'Go ahead. And I left."

"How could I say that?" Charlie whispers. "How could I leave him like that? I just...I didn't believe him, you know?"

She looks at the siblings, "I should have."

Charlie tucks her head between her knees and continues to cry. In that moment, Athena didn't know what to say. Guilt is something that you can carry with you for the entirety of your life and adding the fact that someone got hurt in the process just worsens that. Athena hated that she knew how Charlie was feeling.

"You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault," Dean speaks, driving down the road.

"You know as well as I do, spirits don't exactly see shades of gray." Sam states. "Charlie had a secret, someone died. That's good enough for Mary."

"I guess."

Athena stops mumbling to herself and inhales. "You know, I've been thinking, it might not be enough to just smash that mirror," she speaks, catching her brother's attentions.

"Why, what do you mean?"

Athena sticks her pinky in her ear, "Well, Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean, she moves around from mirror to mirror." she then shrugs. "So, who's to say that she's not gonna just keep hiding in them forever?"

Sam and Dean look at each other, not understanding where she's getting. Athena lets out a sigh, "So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror, and then smash it."

Dean pulls his brows together. "Well, how do you know that's gonna work?"

Athena puffs her cheeks, "I don't, not for sure."

Dean thinks for a second. "Well, who's gonna summon her?"

Athena opens her mouth to volunteer, but Sam speaks first.

"I'll do it."

Athena and Dean turn to him.

"She'll come after me," Sam says.

Dean lets a scoff, "All right, you know what? That's it?" he pulls over, parking the car. He turns to his brother, "This is about Jessica, isn't it?"

Sam stays quiet.

"You think that's your dirty little secret, that you killed her somehow?" Dean questions.

Sam continues to avoid eye contact.

"Sam, this has got to stop, man." Dean huffs. "I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night, it's gonna kill you."

Athena's throat tightens, sitting in the backseat.

"Now, listen to me. It wasn't your fault." Dean states. "If you want to blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or, Hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean, I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place."

"I don't blame you," Sam speaks.

"Well, you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done," Dean replies.

"I could've warned her." Sam retorts.

"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen." Dean tries his best to reassure his brother. "And, besides, all of this isn't a secret. I mean, I know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway."

Silence settles into the car.

"Then I'll do it."

The brothers immediately become alert.

"No!" Both brothers shout.

Dean throws his hands in the air. "What the hell is going on with you two?" he turns to Athena.

"Athy, you have nothing to feel guilty about." Dean states.

Small incoherent mumbles leave Athena's lips.

"I'm sorry?" Dean raises his brows.

Athena inhales a deep breath, "I said...you don't know that."

Dean rolls his eyes, causing Athena to become more frustrated.

"Athena why would you even want to sacrifice yourself? It makes no sense." Sam speaks.

"It actually makes perfect sense, Sam." Athena pronounces. There was confidence in her statement but the sadness was evident in her voice. "I mean, you guys have to find your mom and Jess' killer. And you have to find dad."

A painful lump forms in her throat and she looks down at her bandaged wrapped fingers.

"My mom didn't want me."

The guilt in both of the brothers become heavier than before. "She...she didn't love me so she abandoned me and dad...he's made it perfectly clear how much he hates me." She inhales a deep breath, trying to continue. "So, when we find him. I'm not gonna matter, like always."

Athena clears her throat, "Out of the three of us...I don't matter."

Dean's jaw clenches, he looks at Sam; who also had a look of sympathy for their sister. Both the brothers couldn't help but feel sorrow for Athena feeling like she wasn't important.

"Athena, that is not true, all right?" Dean says, his tone was firm.

"You help us through everything." Sam lets out a breath of disbelief. "There would be times we wouldn't have survived without you."

"And dad..."

Athena snaps her eyes over to Dean.

"...he just doesn't know how to express his feelings, all right?"

Athena lets out a quiet breath.

He's gonna defend your father until the end of time.

The young girl leans back in her seat and looks out the window. "The Half-Blooded Burden...has a nice ring to it, I guess..."

☆

The entire car ride was quiet. Sam soon convinced Dean to allow him to summon Mary. Athena regretted saying anything, trying to explain to her brothers about her deep feelings. Now, they were most definitely going to bring up the subject once again. Whether it be after the case or weeks from now.

The car slows to a stop. Dean parks the car and sighs.

"Athy—"

"Stay in the car." She finishes and inhales. "Yeah, I know..."

Sam and Dean look at each other, noticing the girl's solemn filled expression.

"Hey."

Athena looks up from her hands, looking at each of her brothers.

"We'll be back soon." Sam gives her a soft smile.

Athena presses her lips together. "I know. Be careful, all right?"

"Always." Dean speaks.

Athena quietly chuckles as they both leave the car. Silence settles into the car and Athena is left with her thoughts.

They're not coming back.

Athena bunches her shoulders, her throat tightening.

They're gonna die.

Her breathing quickens.

Or they're gonna abandon you.

Athena tangles a hand in her hair. She turns to the window. "No..."

Athena looks at the building that her brothers just entered.

"Don't do it..." she whispers, shaking her head. "They're gonna come back."

No they're not.

Athena gnaws on her lower lip. "Yes, they are..."

Doubt settles into the girl and she quietly hums.

"But I should check on them just in case." Athena crawls to the front seat, unlocks the door, and gets out of the car.

Athens lets out a soft breath and runs over to the building. She trips over her feet and stumbles forward.

"Fiddlesticks!" Her voice starts to shake.

Athena regains her footing, balancing on one foot. The girl lets out a relieved chuckle. "I didn't fall!" She cheers.

Athena lets out a breath and stands on both her feet. She clears her throat, stopping her laughter. She straightens her overalls and a determined expression crosses her face.

"Focus..."

Athena opens the door, entering the building. As soon as she entered, she heard glass shattering. Athena flinches, looking around the dark building. She rubs her sweaty palms against her jeans and makes her way through the building.

Athena gets closer to the sound of glass smashing. She looks around and her eyes land on the mirror beside her. The girl pulls her brows together, when she notices her reflection start to tilt it's head.

A pain forms in Athena's head and she winces. The pain increasingly gets worse, it shoots through her body, blood slowly spilling from her eyes.

"You killed him."

Athena tangles a hand in her hair, falling to her knees. "I...I didn't mean to—"

"Yes you did!" Athena's reflection cries out.

Blood falls from Athena's eyes and onto the ground. She grasps at her chest, trying to catch her breath.

"And you left him there!" The reflection screams. "He was your friend!"

"No, he was a liar!" Athena shouts back.

"And you didn't notice..."

Athena lets out a soft sob, she curls into a ball.

"ATHY, COVER YOUR EYES!"

Athena immediately covers her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

Dean smashes the mirror, Sam runs over to the girl, grasping at his side.

"Athy, Athy hey!" Sam cups her face, seeing the blood in her eyes.

"Athena!" Sam's voice starts to shake.

"Sam?"

Athena slowly opens her eyes. She blinks a few times and Sam lets out a chuckle of relief.

"Is she okay?!" Dean turns to his younger siblings.

Sam looks at Dean then back at Athena. "Are you okay?"

Athena sniffles, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"She's—"

"Yeah, Sam. I just heard her." Dean says.

Sam nods his head, "Oh. Okay."

"Is it over?" Athena asks.

"I think so." Sam answers.

"Then, can we please go?" Athena asks.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." Dean chuckles softly.

Sam helps Athena onto her feet. "You were supposed to stay in the car."

Athena presses her lips together. "I'll be sure to remember that next time." She inhales.

The siblings start to walk away. A chill runs down Athena's spine, she turns around, seeing the long black-haired girl standing there.

"Fiddlesticks..." Athena whispers, her blood running cold.

The brothers stop and turn, looking at the spirit.

Suddenly, each sibling falls to the ground, more blood-forming in each of their eyes. Athena falls onto her back, gasping for air. She turns to the side, catching sight of the mirror beside her. She reaches for it and inhales a deep breath. Just have to do this one thing.

Athena grabs the mirror and points it at Mary. The spirit looks at her reflection.

"You killed them! All those people!"

Blood starts to leave Mary's eyes and she gasps for air. Her body slowly starts to liquefy, becoming a puddle of blood. Dean grabs the mirror from Athena and smashes it onto the ground.

Athena tries to catch her breath.

"Hey, guys?"

Athena turns to Dean.

"Yeah?"

"This has got to be like what, 600 years of bad luck?" Dean estimates.

Athena frowns, "Please knock on wood."

And Dean never did.

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Author's Note:

The next chapters are gonna be flashbacks. Specifically, heartbreaking ones...sorry.