SuperPsych

Chapter 4

Gus

"You two live in Santa Barbara, think. Have you ever heard of that story about Sarah Nicholson and Matt Tarpy before?" Sam demanded.

Sam ran outside and Shawn and Gus followed. Dean was nowhere in sight, although that wasn't surprising since it was pitch black outside. Gus leaned heavily on Shawn, partially from the pain of being thrown across the room again and partially from fear. For the second time, he and Shawn had been attacked by an actual ghost. And this time, even with expert hunters like Sam and Dean, Dean had been possessed and taken by a ghost. Gus was way past ready to go home.

"Yeah, I think so." Shawn said. "Um, just a little different. I heard that Tarpy shot Nicholson in cold blood, nine times. And then he turned himself in and the mob killed him, like you said."

"Nicholson's definitely got motive, then." Sam growled. He ran a hand through his hair and stomped back into the restaurant. He grabbed Dean's fallen gun and their flashlights. "But why would she let the two of you go after you left the building? Why take Dean? Where is she buried?"

Shawn started to answer, but Sam spoke again. "Nevermind, I don't care why or how right now. We need to find her bones and burn her fast, before she can hurt Dean. I have a feeling that's the first thing on her agenda."

"I think I heard something about her being buried behind the restaurant," Shawn said.

Sam said nothing as he ran outside. Shawn and Gus raced after him, Gus still too much in shock to say anything. By the time they reached the back, Sam had already found a shovel and was digging in front of a tombstone that simply read "Sarah Nicholson."

Shawn and Gus found two more shovels and helped. With their combined determination, they hit her coffin after fifteen minutes.

"Salt," Sam growled at Shawn and Gus as he worked on prying open the coffin.

Gus stayed with Sam while Shawn ran inside to get salt. Gus finally managed to find his voice, and said shakily, "Is Dean gonna be okay?"

Gus wasn't cut out for this. He just wanted to go home, eat some popcorn, sleep, and wake up to find that this whole ghost thing was a dream, or that it was another one of Shawn's awful pranks. He had tap class tomorrow!

"If we can stop this ghost soon, yeah, he'll be fine." Sam assured him. "Now pull yourself together and help me."

Gus jumped down into the grave and helped Sam pull up the top of the coffin. He shrieked when it popped open and revealed a tattered skeleton. He nearly tripped over himself in his hurry to climb out of the grave. Sam rolled his eyes as he followed Gus, and Gus stood off to the side, dry heaving.

Shawn returned with the salt. Sam took it and dumped it over Nicholson's skeleton, and then sprayed it with lighter fluid. He struck a match and dropped it into the grave. Flames quickly warmed up the night air.

"Now what?" Shawn asked.

Sam took out his phone, dialing a number. "We hope that Dean picks up, and if he doesn't, we hope that he shows up in the next five minutes."

Sam held the phone up to his ear, pacing. Shawn and Gus watched him, waiting. Gus refused to look at the flaming grave. After fifteen seconds, Sam shut off his phone and cursed. "Dammit."

Sam stomped back to the front of the restaurant, followed by Shawn and Gus. "We wait a few more minutes, and then we go looking." Sam instructed. He walked inside and found a light switch, shedding more light on the destruction the ghost had caused.

Many more chairs and tables were overturned than before, and a lot of them were broken. Glass from the windows covered the ground. Bottles were smashed, and various liquids dripped from the bar counter. There was plenty of splintered wood, and lightbulbs swung precariously from the ceiling. There were a few drops of blood from where Sam, Shawn, and Gus had been cut by glass.

"Why would she take Dean? And why didn't she show up when we burned her bones?" Gus wondered.

Sam groaned. "Her spirit must be tied to something else. But what? How could she leave the building? And if she's been here this whole time, why did she only attack you two today?"

"Well, think about it." Shawn said. "Tarpy's the one that killed her. That's why she attacked me and Gus. I guess no one else fit the bill since she's been haunting this place. She probably holds a grudge against fiery-tempered men who serve justice."

Sam stared at Shawn. "And especially those that break it too. According to your version of the story, he shot Sarah in cold-blood. Dean and I certainly aren't poster boys for the law. And neither are you two, lying to the police about how you really solve crimes. And Dean's been pretty aggressive lately, because of the Mark of Cain."

"Yeah. He was a demon a few weeks ago. So cool." Shawn commented.

"So we've got motive, but what is her spirit tied to?" Gus asked, ignoring Shawn.

Shawn sucked in a breath and stuck his finger to his head. "I'm having a vision!"

"Shawn," both Sam and Gus scolded at the same time.

"Sorry, force of habit." Shawn apologized. "I noticed it when we were here earlier for dinner. There was a handkerchief nailed to the wall here, right next to where Tarpy's gun holster was." Shawn said, pointing.

"'Sarah Nicholson's,'" Sam read, and cursed. "She must have grabbed it after possessing Dean. If we can get that handkerchief, we can stop her."

"How do we find her? Where would she take Dean?" Gus said.

Shawn's eyes widened. "She's obsessed with Tarpy and targets guys like him. She probably wants to kill Dean the way Tarpy was killed." Shawn took off running outside, and Sam and Gus chased after him.

"Where?" Sam shouted.

Shawn turned around, still running off into the hills. "Tarpy's Flats!"