Part 3

The boys decided to go to the Sunday meeting after breakfast. Mac had made them French toast, freshly squeezed orange juice and espresso for breakfast. The warm breakfast relaxed the brothers.

Sam took a sip of espresso, then put the little cup down. "Can people learn psychic abilities?" The question had been bothering him. He had asked his brother, but Dean had no viable answer.

Mac finished chewing his French toast before answering. "I don’t know if their type of channeling actually utilizes psychic abilities. The EMF didn’t pick up anything?"

Dean shook his head.

Sam replied, "No, but these people believe it and something is going on."

"Maybe they are transcending into a relaxed state. Maybe they are really experiencing past life regression."

"So they are talking to themselves? That's just confusing." Dean put another piece of French toast on his plate and poured on the maple syrup.

"They are hypotheses. I don’t really know." He turned to Sam, and eyed him thoughtfully. "But you want reassurance for yourself."

Sam nodded. He looked away from Mac's glare, then looked up again. "I don't know what to do."

Ames noticed Dean shifting in his chair, leaning a little so he was closer to his brother, even though it was only an inch. He wished he had spent more time with the youngest Winchester, helping to cultivate his abilities. John's wishes had been unwavering-he did not want to acknowledge his son's gifts. "What I can tell you Samuel is that you can learn to use your psychic abilities with practice, overtime."

Sam nodded and relaxed. Dean did the same, then looked at his watch. He picked up his plate, his brother's and brought them to the sink. He gave them a rinse, placing them in the dishwasher. "We gotta go. Do you wanna come to a Spiritist meeting?" He asked Mac with a smile. "You could study them up close."

"As interesting as that sounds, I think I'll pass. I have some work to catch up on." Mac crossed his arms, looking smugly at the boys. "Jim would be proud."

"About what?" Sam asked, standing up.

"Going to church of course."

Dean frowned. "The man did have a partiality to Christianity."

Mac shook his head, again reminded how little they knew. Jim Murphy was an expert on all religions and also supernatural antiquities. "Jim wanted God to touch our lives in some way, whether is was at a church or in private."

"Private," Dean stated. He gestured to his brother. They would have to hurry if they were to make the meeting on time.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSSNSNS

The room next door to the Spiritists meeting was quiet but, inside the people were humming, discussing something important.

Dean found Celia, and pulled her from a group. "What's going on?"

"Beth attacked her neighbor." She wrung her hands. When the brothers gave her a vacant look she described the woman.

"She was the one with the notebook?" Sam asked, finally putting a name and a description together. "What happened?"

Celia rested a hand on her cheek. "We don't know. Just that she attacked her neighbor and he hit her over the head. She's at Downtown Hospital, and we're waiting to her something." Her eyes welled up.

"Let's quiet down." Joachim spoke into a microphone on the podium. Everyone came to attention.

Sam shuffled in with the rest of the crowd; Dean grabbed his arm, pulling him aside. "Save me a seat."

Dean pulled his cell phone out and went to the stairwell, away from the meeting room. He skipped the pleasantries. "Mac, hey, do you have privileges at Downtown Hospital?"

"Beekman, yes, why?"

"Great, you need to look in on a woman, brought in tonight, went crazy and the neighbor hit her over the head. Goes by the name of Beth. She's on that list Sam gave you. We'll meet you back at the apartment later."

Dean entered with his head bowed in piousness and slid in next to his brother. "I have Mac looking in on it," he whispered to Sam.

The service was more traditional with readings from the Bible. It concluded with a moment of prayer for Beth. The older Winchester pushed his brother to the door.

"What's the rush?" Sam asked.

"I want to check out her apartment, see what we can find." Dean stated as they made their way to the Impala. Luckily, the folder Mac had given them remained in the car and so they had her home address.

The police were long gone from the scene having more important matters to deal with than a crazy woman being apprehended by her neighbor. The yellow tape still covered her door, but it was quickly removed by Dean.

There was nothing unusual about Beth's apartment. Some new age items were scattered-dream catchers, magazines and candles. Dean entered her bedroom, his eyes zeroed in to her magazine rack by her bed. "Hey man," he called out to her brother, "remember that notebook she was writing in?" He held it up.

"That could help." Sam agreed. Dean slipped it under his jacket; they left the apartment and headed to Mac's to find out about his discoveries at the hospital.

They had to wait an hour before Mac returned to his apartment. "I don't know exactly how you boys do it, but somehow you find yourselves in the thick of it." The doctor hung his coat up and gestured they sit at the kitchen table.

"We do what's expected of us." Dean replied with a shrug. "What'd you find out?"

"Beth Anders had cognitive break. She attacked her neighbor because the music was too loud."

"I have the same reaction with Yanni."

Mac ignored Dean's comment. "Right now she has some intracranial swelling. She wasn’t awake when I last checked on her. Her family says this is unlike her, and thought I was called in because there was a brain tumor." Ames shook his head. He didn't like that his presence gave the family false hope. "People watch way too much daytime television."

"We found this." Sam slid the notebook over to the doctor. "We noticed the writing changed, the slant changed." The youngest Winchester cleared his throat. "We were wondering. . ."

Mac raised an eyebrow before accepting the notebook. "If I could use my Zen—"

"Yoda," Dean corrected.

"Sorry, Yoda like powers and see what Miss Anders has been up to?" Mac and rested a hand on top of the notebook. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

Mackland jutted is chin up then tilted his head to the side. "She was possessed by a distressed spirit." He kept his eyes closed as he spoke. "Seems to stay dormant then just attacks."

"Does the spirit have a name?" Sam prompted.

Ames shook his head. "It is as if she is a portal. Some just pass through, but some can linger." Ames blinked in quick succession before opening his eyes fully. "Call Bobby," he looked at Dean. "We need an exorcism plus we have to think about preventing future attacks."

The older Winchester brother dialed the memorized phone number. "Hey, Bobby, Mac said I should call you. We got a problem. . ."

"You all having a meeting without me?" Singer replied.

Dean rolled his eyes. This was not going to be a simple request. "Sam and I are on a job in New York and we're staying with Mac. . ."

"Must have had to twist your arm on that one." Bobby snorted. "What does he have three hundred channels on his flat screen tv?"

Mackland overheard the remark, and came close to Dean's cell so he could answer. "No one says he has to live in a junkyard."

"It isn’t a junkyard. It is a repository of gently used goods."

"I need you to focus, Bobby." Dean stepped away from the doctor and closer to his brother. He then explained about the Spiritists without interruption, and about Mac's discovery.

"Sending an invitation just missing all that fancy engraving. People are stupid." Bobby answered. "You need to exorcise the demon in that girl, figure out if anyone else has brought along company and then make sure when they dial that number again the person who comes through doesn’t get stuck in the switchboard." There was a pause as Dean heard the older hunter flipping through some books. "I'll fax it over to you."

"Fax?" Dean blurted and looked to his brother who shrugged his shoulders.

"Hell, what do you think that Josh is the only one who has gadgets?" Singer responded indignantly.

"Guess not." Dean was not used to having this much assistance on a hunt. He really didn’t know how the other hunters worked amongst themselves. "Though I'm surprised you're comparing yourself to Josh."

"You're right. Drives that piece-o-shit Mercedes-gotta be overcompensating for something." Singer chuckled. "Tell Mac I'll be visiting him soon."

"Better start looking for a new place to live," Dean said as closed his phone.

"He threatened me with a visit, didn’t he?" Ames shook his head.

A ringing phone could be heard emanating from the den.

"I'll get the fax," Sam said, exiting the kitchen. The young hunter returned to the room holding a few pages. "We got work to do."

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