Family Business (2nd book in Winchester Girl)

I Always Knew I'd End Up In This Business

Mary's POV
I was sleeping peacefully when someone was rudely waking me up. I looked and saw Sam out of breath. "Is there a fire or zombie apocalypse?" I asked. "No." Sam said. "Then go back to sleep." I said looking tiredly at my older brother. "I can't." Sam said. "It's still dark out I don't give a damn." I said turning and going to sleep. I still felt Sam looking at me I sighed. "Why not Sammy?" I asked looking at him. "I had a nightmare." Sam said sitting at the foot of my bed. "About what?" I asked. Sam looks ready to tell me but sees Dean is in bed and Kara is with him. Sam then picked me up and dragged me in the other room. "Sam it's still dark outside it better be good." I said yawning. "Okay it was about Kara." Sam said. "Then tell her." I said and walked back to the room. "It was the last time we were in the hospital." Sam said scared. "I don't care." I said flipping him off and going to the bedroom. .. I walked in.

Dean and Kara were cuddling on the bottom bunk asleep. I fell asleep on the single bed. I soon heard Sam getting on the top bunk. I soon woke up to the sun shining on my face. I opened my eyes and saw a post it on my face. I took it off and saw 'Jerk' in Sam's handwriting. I found post it notes and pen next to my bed. I took them and wrote down 'Asshat'. I threw the covers off me and walked downstairs and saw Sam looking through dad's stuff. I stuck the post it to his back. He looked at me and laughed. "What?" I asked. "Your hair,." He managed. I flipped him off and walked in the kitchen/dining room. "Hey Sunshine have a nice sleep?" Bobby said trying not to laugh at my crazy hair. "Yeah, despite and Asshat waking me up." I said glaring in Sam's direction. "Yeah Kara woke up to that and left." Bobby said. I nodded. It did happen around 11 at night. "I'm just happy to have no cast, no wrapped head, and no cane." I said. Bobby nodded. I made a bowl of Cheerios. I ate and then washed the bowl. I walked to the bedroom. Bobby would have given me the second guest room but it was full of shit. I got dressed for today.

I did my hair in a ponytail so it was out of my face. I walked downstairs and Sam tossed me one of dad's old phones. "Try to get in the messages." Sam said. I nodded. I played with dad's phone that had a passcode on it. I tried Dad birthday, nothing, Sam's birthday, nope, Dean's birthday, nope, my birthday, no. I sighed maybe mom's. I put on mom's birthday, it finally opened. I found the most recent one. "Sam come over here I got in." I said. Sam came over to me and got the phone to listen to the messages hit the most recent one. "John, it's Ellen. Again. Look, don't be stubborn, you know I can help you. Call me." We heard a women's voice, I guess Ellen's. "Let's go tell Dean." Sam said. I nodded and we walked to where the impala was, no doors, the one backseat stained with blood that left my stomach when I almost died, but less mangled then last time. "How's the car coming along?" Sam asked. "Slow." Dean said. "Yeah? Need any help?" I asked, wanting to help. We heard something heavy drop. "What, you under a hood? I'll pass." Dean said trying to be nice. "Need anything else, then?" Sam asked. "Stop it, Sam." Dean said coming out from under the car. "Stop what?" I asked confused to what Sam was doing. "Stop asking if I need anything, stop asking if I'm okay. I'm okay. Really. I promise. Ask Mae she was worse then me had to get stitched in the stomach, broken arm, and a concussion." Dean said. "Yeah but it's been three weeks since that, I'm all better." I said showing no cast, no cane, and my head's not wrapped. "All right, Dean, it's just... We've been at Bobby's for over three weeks now and you haven't brought up Dad once." Sam said. "You know what? You're right. Come here. I'm gonna lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug, and maybe even slow dance." Dean said causing me to let out a small laugh. "Don't patronize me, Dean, Dad is dead. The Colt is gone, and it seems pretty damn likely that the demon is behind all of this, and you're acting like nothing happened." Sam said. "What do you want me to say?" Dean asked. I just got out my phone to text Ricky.
Ricky:Hey how are you Kara said you looked better.
Mary:Yeah no more cast, no more cane, and my head is all better.
Ricky:Cool I'm right now letting Kara braid my hair.
Mary:Your hair is to short.
Ricky:Yeah but Jo is helping my mom so I'm the next best thing.
I let out a small laugh. "Revenge, huh. Sounds good. You got any leads on where the demon is? Making heads or tails of any of Dad's research? Because I sure ain't. But you know, if we do finally find it - oh. No, wait, like you said. The Colt's gone. But I'm sure you've figured out another way to kill it. We've got nothing, Sam. Nothing, okay? So you know the only thing I can do? Is I can work on the car." Dean said. "Well, we've got something, all right?" Sam said taking out the phone. "It's what we came by here to tell you. This is one of dad's old phones. Took me a while, but I cracked his voicemail code, mom's birthday by the way. Listen to this." I said and grabbed the phone and pressed play. "John, it's Ellen. Again. Look, don't be stubborn, you know I can help you. Call me." Ellen's voice said. "That message is four months old." Sam said. "Dad saved that chick's message for four months?" Dean said. "Yeah." Sam said. "Well, who's Ellen? Any mention of her in Dad's journal?" Dean asked looking at me, since there was a note that dad wanted me to have his journal. "No. But Sam ran a trace on her phone number and got an address." I said. "Ask Bobby if we can use one of his cars." Dean said. We ran in. "Bobby can we borrow a car?" I asked. "As long as one of the Idigts is driving and not you." Bobby said. "Sam and Dean are not that dumb." I said. "Okay here's the keys to the only car available." Bobby said handing me keys. I packed my duffel along with my brothers we left in a banged up minivan. I fell asleep it took us a day. We soon pulled up in the Roadhouse Saloon. "This is humiliating. I feel like a friggin' soccer mom!" Dean said pissed. "It's the only car Bobby had available." I said. "Hello? Anybody here?" Sam asked knocking. "Hey. You bring the, uh, and Mae no more kicking in doors." Dean said. I nodded. "Of course." Sam said getting out a bobby-pin and handed it to me. I picked open the lock. We walked in I heard a fly buzzing. I saw a guy passed out at the pool table. "Hey, buddy?" Sam asked nudging the guy. "I'm guessing that isn't Ellen." Sam said. "Yeah." Dean said. "No shit." I said. Sam went to the back room. I looked around and left a gun to my back. "Who are you Blondie?" I heard Ricky's voice. "Ricky?" I asked and spun around seeing Ricky. "Mae, hey girl." He said hugging me. I hugged back. "You look awesome." He said. I saw Kara come down and smiled seeing me. "Hey Mae." She said smiling. I smiled. "Ricky, Kara get away from the girl." I turned and saw, who I guess Ellen, said. "Mom this is Mary Winchester." Ricky said. "Sam? Dean? Mary? Winchester?" Ellen asked. "Yeah." Sam, Dean, and I said in unison. "Son of a bitch." Ellen said shocked. "Mom, Ricky, you know these guys?" A girl with blonde hair said. "Yeah, I think these are John Winchester's kids." Ellen said. "The girl I visited in the hospital with Kara and gave her some of your old clothes." Ricky said. Ellen lowered her gun laughing. "Hey, I'm Ellen. This is my daughter Jo and you guys already met my son, Ricky." Ellen said. Jo lowered her gun smiling. "Hey." Jo said. "You're not gonna hit me again, are you?" Dean asked. "Please do, I want to see that." I said laughing. "Oh your adorable." Jobsaid coming over to me. I smiled, blushing. "See Jo the pictures don't lie." Kara said. "I know and she looks good in my old clothes." Jo said. We walked over to the bar as Ellen handed Dean a towel with ice. "Here you go." Ellen said. "Thanks. You called our dad, said you could help. Help with what?" Dean asked. "Well, the demon, of course. I heard he was closing in on it." Ellen said. "What, was there an article in the Demon Hunters Quarterly that I missed? I mean, who, who are you? How do you know about all this?" Dean asked. I smacked him upside the head. "Hey, I just run a saloon. But hunters have been known to pass through now and again. Including your dad a long time ago. John was like family once." Ellen said. "Oh yeah? How come he never mentioned you before?" I asked nicely and curious. Ellen looked at me. "You'd have to ask him that, Mary." Ellen said. "So why exactly do we need your help?" Dean said. "Hey, don't do me any favors. Look, if you don't want my help, fine. Don't let the door smack your ass on the way out. But John wouldn't have sent you if... He didn't send you." Ellen said and Dean looks down and back at Sam. I just bit my lip as Ricky and I shared a look. "He's all right, isn't he?" Ellen asked worried. "No. No, he isn't. It was the demon, we think. It, um, it just got him before he got it, I guess." I said. "I'm so sorry." Ellen said. "It's okay. We're all right." Dean said, obviously lying. "Really? I know how close you and your dad were and Mary's only eleven." Ellen said. "Really, lady, I'm fine and Mae is handling it." Dean said. Ricky looked at me I shrugged. "So look, if you can help, we could use all the help we can get." Sam said. "Well, we can't. But Ash will." Ricky said. "Who's Ash?" Sam asked. "Ash!" Ellen yelled and the guy at the pool table jerked awake and looked at us. "What? It closin' time?" Ash asked. "That's Ash?" I asked. "Mm-hmm. He's a genius." Jo said with no sarcasm. I shrugged and got the brown folder as Ash sat at the bar. I slapped it down. "You've gotta be kidding me, this guy's no genius. He's a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie." Dean said. "I like you." Ash said to Dean. "Thanks." Dean said kinda weirded out. "Just give him a chance." Kara and Ricky said. "All right. This stuff's about a year's worth of our dad's work, so uh, let's see what you make of it." I said being nice. Ash pulled it out and looked at it shaking his head. "Come on. This crap ain't real. There ain't nobody can track a demon like this." Ash said. "Our dad could." Sam said. "There are non-parametrics, statistical overviews, prospects and correlations, I mean.. damn! They're signs. Omens. Uh, if you can track 'em, you can track this demon. You know, like crop failures, electrical storms... You ever been struck by lightening? It ain't fun." Ash said. "You have?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Yes Blondie I have." Ash said. "Can you track it or not?" Sam asked. "Yeah, with this, I think so. But it's gonna take time, uh, give me... fifty one hours." Ash said getting up to leave. "Hey, man?" Dean asked. "Yeah." Ash said. "I, uh, I dig the haircut." Dean said. I went over to Jo and Kara. "Hey Mary why do I want to punch your brother?" Jo asked. "Which one?" I asked. "Dean." Kara said. "Well considering I normally want to no clue." I said. "Hey, Ellen, what is that?" Sam asked catching mine and Kara's attention. We walked over. "It's a police scanner. We keep tabs on things, we...." Ellen said trailing off and Sam cut her off. "No, no, no, no, the, um, the folder." Sam said pointing to the folder. "Uh, I was gonna give this to a friend of mine. But take a look, if you want." Ellen said. Kara looked over Sam's shoulder. "Mary?" Ellen asked. "Yeah Ellen?" I asked. "Ricky said how badly you were injured you okay?" Ellen asked. Ellen reminded me of a mom. "Yeah I'm fine." I said. Ellen nodded. "Dean, come here, check this out." Kara said. Dean came over. Jo went over to me. "You chopping off monsters heads?" She asked. "Yeah." I said. "Lucky, I'm not aloud to hunt." Jo said. I smiled. "A few murders, not far from here, that Ellen caught wind of. Looks to me like there might be a hunt." Sam said grabbing my attention. "Yeah. So?" Dean asked. "So, I think we'd check it out." Kara said. "Yay back to hunting baby!" I yelled causing everyone to laugh. "You are a weirdo." Ricky said. "I wasn't wanting animal crackers and juice in a hospital." I shot back smiling. Jo laughed. "You two act more like siblings then him and I do." She said smiling. We left and were now in the car at night and Sam did research. "You've gotta be kidding me. A killer clown?" I asked. "Yeah. He left the daughter unharmed and killed the parents. Ripped them to pieces, actually." Sam said. "And this family was at some carnival that night?" Dean asked. "Right, right. The, uh, Cooper Carnivals." Sam said. "So how do you know we're not dealing with some psycho carnie in a clown suit?" Dean asked. "Well, the cops have no viable leads, and all the employees were tearing down shop. Alibis all around. Plus this girl said she saw a clown vanish into thin air. Cops are saying trauma, of course." Kara said knowing the case. "Well, I know what you're thinking, Sam. Why did it have to be clowns?" Dean said. I laughed remembering Sam's fear of clowns. "Oh, give me a break." Sam said giving us a bitch face. "You didn't think we'd remember, did you?" I asked. "I mean, come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the television." Dean said. "Guys everyone's scared of something I mean I'm scared of dolls." Kara said. "Yeah I'm scared of tampons." I said. "Everyone is." Dean said. "Well, at least I'm not afraid of flying." Sam said. "Planes crash!" Dean defended. "And apparently clowns kill!" Sam said. Kara and I shared a look. "So these types of murders, they ever happen before?" I asked hoping that an argument wouldn't start. "Uh, according to the file, 1981, the Bunker Brothers Circus, same M.O. It happened three times, three different locales." Sam said. "It's weird, though, I'm mean if it is a spirit it's usually bound to a specific locale, you know, a house, or a town." Kara said. "So how's this one moving from city to city, carnival to carnival?" Sam asked. "Cursed object, maybe. Spirit attaches itself to something and the, uh, carnival carries it around with them." Dean said. "Great. Paranormal scavenger hunt." Sam said. "Well, this case was your idea. By the way, why is that? You were awfully quick to jump on this job." I said now confused. "So?" Sam asked. "It's just... not like you, that's all. Mae and I thought you were hell-bent for leather on the demon hunt." Dean said. "I don't know, I just think, this job, it's what Dad would have wanted us to do." Sam said. Okay so now Sam is gonna be dad's solider. "What Dad would have wanted?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Yeah. So?" Sam said. "Nothin'." I said. Everyone was silent for a little while. "I'm gonna sleep." Kara said. "Me too." I said Kara and I on opposite sides of the backseat. I woke up and we were at the carnival. "Come on you two." Dean said. We saw detectives talking to carnies. "Check it out. Five-oh." Kara said pointing. Sam looked uncomfortable as a woman in a clown outfit pass him as Dean and Kara talked to the detectives. "Did you get her number?" Dean asked joking as they came over. Sam gave him his bitch face. "More murders?" I asked. "Two more last night. Apparently they were ripped to shreds. And they had a little boy with them." Kara said. "Who figured a clown." Sam said making me give him a weird look. "What?" I asked. "Yeah, a clown, who apparently vanished into thin air." Dean said. "Dean, you know, looking for a cursed object is like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. They could be anything." Kara said. "Well, it's bound to give off EMF, so we'll just have to scan everything." Dean said. "Oh, good, that's nice and... inconspicuous." Sam said. "I guess we'll just have to blend in." Dean said and we looked seeing a help wanted sign. I looked at Kara. "Well I always knew I'd end up in this business." I whispered to my bff. She stifled a laugh. "Excuse me, we're looking for a Mr. Cooper, have you seen him around?" Dean asked as we walked in a tent. "What is that, some kind of joke?" The guy asked turning around and taking off sunglasses showing he's blind. "Oh. God, I'm, I'm sorry." Dean said. "You think I wouldn't give my eyeteeth to see Mr. Cooper? Or a sunset, or anything at all?" The blind man asked pissed. "Wanna give me a little help here?" Dean whispered to us. "Not really." Sam and I whispered back in unison. "Hey man, is there a problem?" A short man asked coming in the tent. "Yeah, this guy hates blind people." The blind man said. "No, I don't, I...." Dean said trying to figure out the right words. "Hey buddy, what's your problem?" The short guy said to Dean it was kinda funny. "Nothing, it's just a little misunderstanding." Dean said. Oh Dean your in for it now. "Little?! You son of a bitch!" The short guy said causing Kara and I not to laugh. "No, no, no, no! I'm just, could somebody tell me where Mr. Cooper is? Please?" Dean asked as Sam, Kara, and I laughed. We found Mr. Cooper and we walked in his office. "You four picked a hell of a time to join up. Take a seat." Mr. Cooper said. I sat down in a normal chair with Kara and Dean while Sam sat in a clown chair. "We've got all kinds of local trouble." Mr. Cooper continued. "What do you mean?" Kara and I asked. "Oh, a couple of folks got themselves murdered. Cops always seem to start here first. So, you four ever worked the circuit before?" Mr. Cooper asked. "Yes sir, last year through Texas and Arkansas." Sam said. "Yeah." Dean said. "Doing what? Ride jockies? Butcher? ANS men?" Mr. Cooper asked raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's, uh, little bit of everything, I guess. Although I would do face painting and Mary here would do gymnastics she's flexible." Kara said I nodded. "You two boys have never worked a show in your lives before, have you?" Mr. Cooper asked Sam and Dean so he believed Kara and I have actually done carnival business. "Nope. But we really need the work. Oh, and uh, Sam here's got a thing for the bearded lady." Dean said. "You see that picture? That's my daddy." Mr. Cooper said showing us a picture of what looked like a black and white photo of him. "You look just like him." I commented. "He was in the business. Ran a freakshow. Till they outlawed them, most places. Apparently displaying the deformed isn't dignified. So most of the performers went from honest work to rotting in hospitals and asylums. That's progress. I guess. You see, this place, it's a refuge for outcasts. Always has been. For folks that don't fit in nowhere else. But you two boys? You should go to school. Find a couple of girls. Have two point five kids. Live regular." The guy said. "Us?" Kara asked. "You two can work here." Mr. Cooper said. "Sir? We don't want to go to school. And we don't want regular. We want this." Sam said. After Mr. Cooper hired us he got me an outfit for me to do gymnastics and doing contortioning. I changed in the outfit.