Episode Fifteen: Pyromania

By Grkgrl88

Part Two

Dean and Sam stood outside of Tracy’s apartment. After checking the hallway, Dean nodded to Sam. “Okay, do your thing.”

Sam pushed his hand into his coat pocket as he kneeled down in front of the doorknob. He slipped two wire picks out of his pocket and inserted them into the keyhole. “Still clear?” he asked Dean as he started working.

Dean took another glance. “Yeah.”

Sam narrowed his eyes in concentration as he moved the picks back and forth in the lock. He held one at a wide angle and tinkered with the second one. After a click, Sam held the doorknob with one hand as he removed the picks with his other. He stood up and gently leaned into the apartment. “Okay,” he said, “we’re in.”

Dean hefted his usual duffle bag and followed his younger brother into the apartment. He pulled out two flashlights and handed one to Sam. Scanning the room, they walked up to the bedroom door. Dean tilted his head as he shined his light up and down the door. He reached between strips of police tape and opened the door. He looked over at Sam with a grin. “Duck and step in, Sammy.”

Sam raised his eyebrows in amusement and followed Dean into the room. Someone’s in a good mood. With their flashlights scanning the floor and walls, Dean walked towards the window and Sam walked to the opposite wall. Dean stopped next to the window and traced the charred carpet with the flashlight’s beam. He whistled and said, “Whoa, Sam, check this out.”

Sam turned and walked over to Dean. He looked at the floor as his brother moved the flashlight. “What is it?”

“Look,” Dean pivoted on his heel. “The line starts at the window, goes down the wall, and then straight ahead on the carpet to the bed. The line’s almost perfectly straight…” Dean looked at Sam. “What could have done that?”

Sam shrugged. “You’re the one who wanted to be a firefighter.”

Dean shook his head. “Ha ha.” He sighed and walked over to the bed. “The police report said there was no sign of a break-in, so it’s not like someone came in and poured gasoline in a line like that to burn. Unless Kurt did it himself.”

“Suicide?” Sam looked out the window. “Something tells me he didn’t kill himself.”

“Oh,” Dean turned to face Sam. "Are you getting vibes, Psychic Wonder?” He smirked.

“Now who’s funny?” Sam said as he walked towards his brother.

“Hey, man, you started it.” Dean opened the duffle bag. “Here.” He tossed Sam a black light. “You check for any markings. I’ll check the EMF levels.”

Sam caught the black light and switched it on in one fluid motion. He walked back to the window and ran the light along the sill.

Dean turned on his walkman EMF reader and watched the display as he walked around the room. “Well, electricity’s at normal levels.”

Sam had moved to the closet and turned back to Dean briefly. “Pick up anything else?”

Dean shook his head but then he squinted his eyes. “Actually, yeah.” Dean looked around and tilted his head. He took a step forward and checked the display. Then he walked a few more steps around the room. “EMF is weird in here. Keeps going up and down.”

Sam nodded. “That’s weird.”

“Yeah.” Dean switched off his reader and placed it back in the bag. “Did you find anything?”

Sam shook his head. “All clean.”

“Hmm.” Dean checked his watch. “Well, we’ve got a weird burnt line and screwed-up EMF. Call it a night?”

“I guess so.” Sam looked around the room once more and shrugged. He tossed the black light back to Dean. Dean caught it and placed it back in the bag. He walked out of the bedroom first and out into the hallway.

“So, any theories?” Dean asked.

Sam shook his head as he locked the door and pulled it shut. “Not really. Maybe a ghost, some other kind of spirit?” They walked down the hall together. “I’ll do some research when we get back to the motel. Maybe there’s a local legend or something.”

“Huh.” Dean held the main door open for Sam.

“What?” Sam asked.

Dean gestured out the door. “Ladies first.” His eyes sparkled.

Sam held back a smirk. “Shut up, man,” he said as he took a step back.

Dean shook his head. “Fine, whatever. Don’t say I didn’t offer, though.” He laughed as he walked out the door.

Sam walked out after him. “Not funny…”

Dean flashed his brother a smile and then sat behind the Impala’s steering wheel. After Sam sat and closed the door, Dean clicked his tongue. “Someone’s a little touchy tonight.”

Sam sighed. “Just drive.”

~*~

As soon as they entered the motel room, Sam took his laptop out and sat at the kitchenette table. Dean shrugged, took the duffle bag off his shoulder, and placed it on the bed. He took a shotgun out and put it on the bed before starting to clean his handgun.

After a few minutes of typing and clicking, Sam glanced up at Dean. “Hey, I don’t think it’s a ghost.”

“What?” Dean stopped cleaning his gun for a moment. “EMF readings were weird but off the scale. You were there when I tested it.”

Sam nodded. “I know. I’m not saying there’s no ghost at all, but I think something else started that fire.”

“Like what?”

Sam shrugged and sighed. “I don’t know. Have you ever heard of a ghost that could start fires?”

“I don’t think so.” Dean frowned. “That doesn’t mean—”

“I think we’re dealing with something else here. I just don’t know what.”

“So we don’t know what it is.”

Sam shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Hmm…” Dean sat on the bed. “Well, I don’t know. We’ll work on it more in the morning. Maybe it has to do with this Kurt Rogers guy. Whatever killed him waited until he was alone. Maybe he did something.” He put the guns back in the bag.

“There isn’t much in the Epsom newspaper archive…”

Dean shrugged. “Maybe we missed something. I don’t know about you, but I’m done for the day. Lights out.”

~*~

As usual, Sam was the first one up. He didn’t have any problems sleeping that night, but he was used to waking up early. Or just not trying to get some sleep after 7 a.m. He sat down in front of his laptop and yawned.

Some time later, Dean rolled out of bed. “What are you checking now?” Dean asked as he walked over to the table.

“Well,” Sam started but didn’t move his eyes from the screen, “Kurt didn’t grow up here. He was born in Odon, Indiana, and went to high school there. Big football player.”

“Odon?” Dean asked, looking bored. “These town names just keep getting better.”

Sam smirked. “Yeah, well, I don’t know if it’s important that he lived there.” He looked up at Dean. “We could check it out, though. It’s only about a half hour away.”

“Okay,” Dean nodded, “but we need to stop somewhere for coffee and breakfast first. I’m starving.”

~*~

After breakfast, Dean walked to the driver’s side of the Impala. He narrowed his eyebrows and pointed to a blue piece of paper on the windshield. “Hey, what’s that?”

Sam glanced down and peeled the paper back. He held it and skimmed the text. “It’s a flyer.”

Dean pursed his lips. “No one touches my baby…”

Sam chuckled and read aloud, “Save the Drusser House, an important piece of Odon history. Please join us for a rally this Saturday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.” Sam raised his eyebrows. “Pretty big house.” He flipped the paper over for Dean to see the photo. “So the rally’s today.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, we’ll at least drive by. If we’re stuck on this gig, we might as well do some sight seeing.” He opened the car door. “Hell, who knows, the house might even be haunted. It looks so friggin’ old.”

~*~

Dean looked out of the Impala’s window. “Sam, what’s the address again?”

Sam unfolded the flyer on his lap. “Twelve Sunset Drive.”

“Sunset….” Dean turned left onto the road. At the end of it stood a large, white house. A young man walked around the front, checking his watch. Dean eased the Impala to the side and parked along the grass. When the brothers stepped out of the car, Dean noticed Sam’s Adam’s apple move as he slowly swallowed. “Dude, you okay?”

Sam blinked his gaze away from the house and looked at Dean. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He shook his head and looked up again at the house; the house which was undoubtedly the same as the one from his dreams.

The young man walked over to them and smiled. “Hi,” he said, “are you two here for the rally?”

“Uh, yeah…” Sam managed a small smile. He tried to keep his face from betraying the surprise in his mind. This young man was the same as the one in his dreams, although a few years older now.

“Well,” the young man held out his hand, “I’m Matthew Teller.” He shook Sam’s hand and then Dean’s. “You can call me Matt. Thank you for coming.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dean replied. “I’m Dean.” He nodded towards Sam. “This is my brother, Sam. We were just passing through and saw a flyer. Thought we’d stop by.”

Matt nodded. “Excellent.”

“So, um, Matt,” Sam asked, “what’s special about this house? Why have a rally?”

“The Drusser house is the oldest building in Odon, the first home built here.” Matt briefly turned to the house. “A few months ago, the town council decided to tear it down, so I’ve been working to save it since then.”

“Uh huh,” Dean said. “Why do they want to tear it down? Just looks old to me.”

Matt nodded. “The front of the house is fine.” He beckoned to them. “Here, I’ll show you.” Dean glanced at Sam and they followed Matt to the back of the house. “The back of the house was damaged a few years ago.”

Sam slowly nodded. “By a fire.”

Matt looked at them. “Yes, actually.” He stopped when they reached the back of the house and pointed up. “See, you can see the damage all the way up to the second floor. Emily, one of the Drussers, actually died in the fire. She was an only child and her parents moved away afterwards, so the house was never repaired. No one will buy it; the town council sees it as a waste of space.”

Sam watched Matt’s face as he spoke. On the name “Emily,” Sam noticed that Matt’s green eyes watered and shifted downwards. “That’s horrible,” Sam finally said. “I’m sorry, but did you know Emily?”

Matt gave them a small smile. “Yeah, we were best friends.” Matt looked back at the house. “She was our high school’s best newspaper reporter and I took photos for the paper, so we hung out a lot. We were good friends, but she never knew….” He turned back to Dean and Sam and blushed a little. “Well, I was going to ask her to prom our senior year, but she died the November before.”

Sam nodded. “I am so sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“What caused the fire?” Dean finally spoke up.

Sam looked at his brother. “Dean—”

Matt shook his head. “No, it’s okay. The police never found a cause. They chalked it up to faulty wiring since the house is so old.”

“But you don’t believe that?”

Again, Matt shook his head. “No, because I saw what really happened that night.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “What happened?”

Matt looked at Sam and Dean and then nodded towards the front of the house. “I set up chairs on the front lawn for the rally. We can have a seat and I’ll tell you.”

Dean nodded and walked after Matt. Sam paused at the corner of the house and looked at the charred and cracked window. In his mind, Sam could hear the girl screaming, Help! Help me, please!

“Dude, you comin’?”

Sam shook his head and blinked. He turned to see Dean waiting for him a few steps away.

Dean looked at Sam, at the house and then back to his brother. “Sammy, you okay?” Dean asked.

Sam could hear genuine concern in Dean’s voice, but he shook it off. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He walked forward to meet up with Dean. “Let’s hear what Matt has to say.”

The three young men sat down and after Matt took a breath, he told his story.

“Four years ago, Emily and I were high school seniors. I already told you she worked on the school paper. She was the editor, and one of the best writers. Even won a few awards on the national level. She could find a story in anything and no matter what, it was good writing. Towards the end of the football season, she investigated a couple of the players, and she found what she suspected, too. The quarterback and two of our best players were into steroids, and she found proof that they had cheated on a few tests. She was going to nail them in a front-page article. All three jocks had full rides to college, and they’d lose them, but that didn’t stop Emily. It shouldn’t stop anyone who wants to get the truth out.” Matt took a deep breath. He sat back in his chair and stared at his hands on his lap. “But they stopped her. Somehow, they found out what she knew. They showed up here that night really drunk. They set fire to her house and that was it.”

“Where were her parents?” Sam asked with obvious sadness in his eyes.

“As if it’s not bad enough.” Matt looked up with watery eyes. “That night was their wedding anniversary. They went out to dinner, and Emily stayed at home to finish up the article. Her parents came home after a nice dinner and found out that their daughter had died.”

Sam shook his head and looked down at the ground.

Dean shifted in his seat. “How do you know all this and the police don’t?”

Matt turned and pointed down the street. “I live in that house down there, with the balcony facing this way.”

Dean nodded.

“I was outside on the balcony doing some homework that night. Everything was quiet and then I saw their car pull up and the jocks got out, laughing and yelling. I went inside for a couple of minutes and when I came back out, I saw the back of house in flames. I called 911 and got there as fast as I could. I couldn’t save her, though.”

Matt sniffled and continued, “The firemen couldn’t save her.” An angry tone entered his voice. “She was doing her job, exposing the truth, and they killed her for it.”

Sam kept his voice soft. “Do you know for sure that those three did it?”

Matt rubbed one eye and nodded. “Yeah, I know they did it. I recognized the car. Steve Pleden, Brian Flemming, and the quarterback, Kurt Rogers.”

Sam glanced at Dean and Dean nodded back.

Matt took a deep breath and sighed. “But they never got caught. Never went to jail.”

Dean sat up in his chair. “Why not? Didn’t you go to the police?”

“Of course I did. But this is a small town, and football is the most important thing. The only thing some people can cling to is our state champs. I didn’t have solid proof, so it was their word against mine. No one’s going to believe the geeky photographer over the all-American football heroes, especially when the biggest football fans work at the police station.”

“Wow, I am so sorry,” Sam said. “That really is horrible.”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, and now they want to knock down the house, the only thing of Emily’s that’s left.” He turned to look at the house again.

“And her parents moved away?” Dean asked.

Matt turned back, “Yeah, they left right after the funeral and no one’s heard from them since.”

Dean nodded. After a moment, he said, “Well, I am sorry, but we have to get going.” He stood up. “And we don’t want to keep you from starting the rally.”

Sam shook hands with Matt and then also stood up. “It was nice meeting you, Matt. Again, I’m sorry about what happened.”

Matt nodded and stood with them. “Thank you,” he said to them.

“Maybe we’ll see you around later.” Sam nodded and walked after Dean.

When they were back in the Impala and heading for the main road, Dean looked over at Sam and said, “You seemed a little freaked out back there.”

Sam tilted his head, but didn’t say anything.

“Sammy……” Dean glanced over. “Come on, what’s up?”

Sam sighed. “It’s my dreams. The house, the fire, Matt…I dreamed it all.” He turned to face Dean. “I saw them right before we knew anything about Kurt Rogers.”

Dean raised his eyebrows and nodded. “And now we know the connection to fire.” He swallowed and kept his eyes focused on the road for once, not wanting Sam to see how concerned he was about the dreams. “Time for more research?” Dean thought changing the subject would be best.

Sam licked his lips and kept his gaze ahead on the road, too. “Yeah. Guess we’re staying in Odon….hey, there’s a motel up ahead on the right.”

Sam looked out the window as Dean pulled into the parking lot. Going to the house and meeting Matt did freak him out. A lot. And Dean had just brushed it off as if it were no big deal. As if it weren’t weird that he was having dreams about things in the past that related directly to the present. Sam shook his head and stepped out of the car. He had had visions about something right before it happened, and the most jarring vision was watching a bullet kill Dean last year. But now he was having visions of the past...again. Their U-Boat gig was scary enough, but what would happen now? Somehow, he knew the answers he needed were there, but he didn’t know if Dean cared enough to talk about it. Every time Sam talked about his visions, Dean quickly ended the conversation. He showed concern, but nothing beyond that.

Continue...

Discuss The Episode here

E-Mail the Author!