Hiraeth
Out of Touch
Five Years Later
Two Rivers Psychiatric Facility
Kansas City, MO
The last time Coralee McAlister had seen the inside of a psychiatric facility, she had been a patient. It had been not long after her sister had disappeared and Coralee hadn't been able to cope. She'd been eight years younger than Vivian and had spent her entire life up to that point looking up to her. She'd been the apple of the family's eye, what with her prestigious education and her good job in Atlanta. She'd had everything going for her, while Coralee had remained in her sister's shadow.
The disappearance had changed her life, and not just in the obvious ways. The authorities hadn't believed her, but Coralee knew what she'd seen. Her sister hadn't simply 'disappeared.' She had been dragged away, screaming and crying and covered in blood. God, the blood. Coralee could still smell the metallic liquid as it sat stagnant on the ground while cadaver dogs and policemen searched the grounds of their grandparents' home.
A buzz pulled her out of her thoughts and she bit down on her bottom lip as she was granted access to the room that she'd been waiting to get into. A nurse sat at a desk in front of the door and looked up with a smile.
"Can I help you find someone, dear?"
"I uh...Yeah," she murmured, looking down for a moment. "I'm here to see Clarice Steinbarger.
"Oh! You must be the niece that called yesterday, right?" The nurse asked cheerfully. "Clary is finishing up lunch right now, but you can go sit with her if you'd like. I'm sure she'd love a visitor."
"That would be great." Coralee nodded, writing her name down on the log before she followed the nurse down the hallway. The whole setting was far too sterile for the brunette and brought back far too many bad memories from her time spent in a facility.
There were a few people sitting in the dining hall as they emerged from the corridor, and the nurse led her to a woman sitting on her own in the furthest corner of the room. Her food hadn't been touched and she was rail thin, her face a pallid shade of white.
"Clarice, your niece is here to see you. All the way from Peoria," the nurse introduced her before leaving the two women on their own. Coralee sat across the seat from her and thought for a few moments before speaking.
"I'm not really your niece, Ms. Steinbarger."
"I know that," the woman snapped suddenly, her eyes lifting to look at her. Clarice studied her, almost as though she was trying to gauge whether or not she was good or bad before finally she spoke again. "I hear things in the walls here."
Now she was getting somewhere. Coralee pulled a worn out journal from her bag and flipped through to an empty page, jotting down the information before looking back up at the older woman.
"What kind of things?"
The older woman hesitated. Every time she talked about it, the orderlies and doctors told her she was just hallucinating, that her medication must not be working and then they'd switch them out. But the hallucinations never went away. No matter what kind of meds she was prescribed, she found herself lying awake every single night, hearing screams coming from other patients, scratching in the walls.
"There's something not right here. Something in the walls...Something. In. The. Walls," she repeated in an almost agitated tone before swallowing hard, tears welling up in her eyes. "Mary didn't kill herself."
This piqued Coralee's interest and she jotted down Mary - suicide? attack? in her journal before lifting her eyes to the older woman again.
"Did you see what did kill her, Ms. Steinbarger?"
"The thing from the walls, girl," the woman answered her before standing. "You should go. You should leave this place before it gets you, too."
Coralee blinked as she watched the woman walk away. Clarice Steinbarger was definitely suffering from mental illness, but she also found herself believing the woman's claims that something wasn't right in this mental hospital. She'd been on her way to South Dakota when she'd caught wind of an unusual amount of suicides occurring at a psych hospital in Kansas City.
She was quick to exit the building and once she was safe in her car, she pulled her cell phone out of her bag and dialed the first number on speed dial. It rang only once before a gruff voice answered on the other end of the line.
"Bobby Singer's phone, who's this?"
Coralee breathed a sigh of relief as she shut and locked her car doors. "Bobby, it's Coralee. Look, I think I came across something."
She went on to explain everything that Clarice Steinbarger had told her about; the scratching, the string of suicides. Bobby listened to everything she had to say. She could hear papers shuffling in the background as she finished up the conversation.
"So...any idea what I might be dealing with?"
"Well kid, it sounds like you've got yourself a wraith," Bobby answered her. "Listen, Cor. Sam and Dean aren't too far away, and I can--"
"I can take care of this myself, Bobby. Just tell me what I need to kill it."
Bobby Singer was the father figure she'd never had growing up, and she was grateful that he wanted to look out for her. After her sister's death, she had met the two Winchester brothers, who'd been in town investigating the same thing that had taken the lives of Vivian and her friends. She knew now that they hadn't been writers for an architectural magazine, but hunters.
They had been the ones to explain to her what had come after her sister. She hadn't believed them at first - after all, monsters couldn't be real, could they? But then, she couldn't explain what she'd seen and Vivian had described scary, black dogs to her in the days preceding her disappearance.
In the five years since that horrible night, Coralee had dedicated herself to finding a way to avenge her sister's death. The boys had introduced her to Bobby, who had taught her everything she knew so far. She'd only been on her own for the past six months, and this was the first case she'd caught that hadn't been your typical ghostly specter kind of thing.
Bobby sighed on the other end of the line, and she knew he'd try to convince her to wait for the boys to get here. But this was her first big case, and she wanted to do this on her own. "Alright. Well, for starters, don't let the thing touch you. You let it do that, and it's all over. Silver will kill it, but you've got to be careful. They're quick, Cora."
"Thanks, Bobby," she murmured softly before hanging up the phone and putting her car in to reverse. She would be back tonight and by tomorrow she would be back on her way to South Dakota. But first, she needed a little bit of rest.
Two Rivers Psychiatric Facility
Kansas City, MO
The last time Coralee McAlister had seen the inside of a psychiatric facility, she had been a patient. It had been not long after her sister had disappeared and Coralee hadn't been able to cope. She'd been eight years younger than Vivian and had spent her entire life up to that point looking up to her. She'd been the apple of the family's eye, what with her prestigious education and her good job in Atlanta. She'd had everything going for her, while Coralee had remained in her sister's shadow.
The disappearance had changed her life, and not just in the obvious ways. The authorities hadn't believed her, but Coralee knew what she'd seen. Her sister hadn't simply 'disappeared.' She had been dragged away, screaming and crying and covered in blood. God, the blood. Coralee could still smell the metallic liquid as it sat stagnant on the ground while cadaver dogs and policemen searched the grounds of their grandparents' home.
A buzz pulled her out of her thoughts and she bit down on her bottom lip as she was granted access to the room that she'd been waiting to get into. A nurse sat at a desk in front of the door and looked up with a smile.
"Can I help you find someone, dear?"
"I uh...Yeah," she murmured, looking down for a moment. "I'm here to see Clarice Steinbarger.
"Oh! You must be the niece that called yesterday, right?" The nurse asked cheerfully. "Clary is finishing up lunch right now, but you can go sit with her if you'd like. I'm sure she'd love a visitor."
"That would be great." Coralee nodded, writing her name down on the log before she followed the nurse down the hallway. The whole setting was far too sterile for the brunette and brought back far too many bad memories from her time spent in a facility.
There were a few people sitting in the dining hall as they emerged from the corridor, and the nurse led her to a woman sitting on her own in the furthest corner of the room. Her food hadn't been touched and she was rail thin, her face a pallid shade of white.
"Clarice, your niece is here to see you. All the way from Peoria," the nurse introduced her before leaving the two women on their own. Coralee sat across the seat from her and thought for a few moments before speaking.
"I'm not really your niece, Ms. Steinbarger."
"I know that," the woman snapped suddenly, her eyes lifting to look at her. Clarice studied her, almost as though she was trying to gauge whether or not she was good or bad before finally she spoke again. "I hear things in the walls here."
Now she was getting somewhere. Coralee pulled a worn out journal from her bag and flipped through to an empty page, jotting down the information before looking back up at the older woman.
"What kind of things?"
The older woman hesitated. Every time she talked about it, the orderlies and doctors told her she was just hallucinating, that her medication must not be working and then they'd switch them out. But the hallucinations never went away. No matter what kind of meds she was prescribed, she found herself lying awake every single night, hearing screams coming from other patients, scratching in the walls.
"There's something not right here. Something in the walls...Something. In. The. Walls," she repeated in an almost agitated tone before swallowing hard, tears welling up in her eyes. "Mary didn't kill herself."
This piqued Coralee's interest and she jotted down Mary - suicide? attack? in her journal before lifting her eyes to the older woman again.
"Did you see what did kill her, Ms. Steinbarger?"
"The thing from the walls, girl," the woman answered her before standing. "You should go. You should leave this place before it gets you, too."
Coralee blinked as she watched the woman walk away. Clarice Steinbarger was definitely suffering from mental illness, but she also found herself believing the woman's claims that something wasn't right in this mental hospital. She'd been on her way to South Dakota when she'd caught wind of an unusual amount of suicides occurring at a psych hospital in Kansas City.
She was quick to exit the building and once she was safe in her car, she pulled her cell phone out of her bag and dialed the first number on speed dial. It rang only once before a gruff voice answered on the other end of the line.
"Bobby Singer's phone, who's this?"
Coralee breathed a sigh of relief as she shut and locked her car doors. "Bobby, it's Coralee. Look, I think I came across something."
She went on to explain everything that Clarice Steinbarger had told her about; the scratching, the string of suicides. Bobby listened to everything she had to say. She could hear papers shuffling in the background as she finished up the conversation.
"So...any idea what I might be dealing with?"
"Well kid, it sounds like you've got yourself a wraith," Bobby answered her. "Listen, Cor. Sam and Dean aren't too far away, and I can--"
"I can take care of this myself, Bobby. Just tell me what I need to kill it."
Bobby Singer was the father figure she'd never had growing up, and she was grateful that he wanted to look out for her. After her sister's death, she had met the two Winchester brothers, who'd been in town investigating the same thing that had taken the lives of Vivian and her friends. She knew now that they hadn't been writers for an architectural magazine, but hunters.
They had been the ones to explain to her what had come after her sister. She hadn't believed them at first - after all, monsters couldn't be real, could they? But then, she couldn't explain what she'd seen and Vivian had described scary, black dogs to her in the days preceding her disappearance.
In the five years since that horrible night, Coralee had dedicated herself to finding a way to avenge her sister's death. The boys had introduced her to Bobby, who had taught her everything she knew so far. She'd only been on her own for the past six months, and this was the first case she'd caught that hadn't been your typical ghostly specter kind of thing.
Bobby sighed on the other end of the line, and she knew he'd try to convince her to wait for the boys to get here. But this was her first big case, and she wanted to do this on her own. "Alright. Well, for starters, don't let the thing touch you. You let it do that, and it's all over. Silver will kill it, but you've got to be careful. They're quick, Cora."
"Thanks, Bobby," she murmured softly before hanging up the phone and putting her car in to reverse. She would be back tonight and by tomorrow she would be back on her way to South Dakota. But first, she needed a little bit of rest.