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Paranormal 101: Part Four
In the early afternoon, Jensen wakes before Jared and takes the chance to admire how soundly he’s still sleeping. Jared’s on his side, facing Jensen, and curled into himself with his head tucked low.
Jensen reaches out then stops before he can swipe hair away from Jared’s eye or touch his cheek. He can hear the others are up and working, and he should really join them before they realize where he and Jared have been all day. After another quick over Jared, he gets out of bed, tugs some clothes on and heads to the kitchen for coffee before joining the rest of the crew in the parlor.
Ryan and Danneel barely glance at him, but Chris gives him a good once-over and hums. After Jensen shrugs him off, Chris wordlessly points at the screen as if to remind Jensen why they’re here. Ryan has footage onscreen that’s lit night-vision green with Danneel in the frame as she touches Marie Laveau’s tomb.
Jensen sits in an armchair facing the video console and watches the tape roll as he drinks, quietly commenting on things Jared’s camera caught and how to edit it with a frame Ryan has paused on another screen. In the middle of a long conversation on which EVPs to use, Jared comes out of the bedroom and freezes when they all look at him.
“I, uh,” Jared mutters as he points a thumb behind him. “I had to …”
Danneel snorts and shakes her head. “Well, the shower’s open obviously,” she points out, gesturing at the rest of them in the room together.
“Yeah, I gotta go do that.”
He rushes up the stairs and Jensen kicks her ankle. When she looks over her shoulder, he gives her a long look, and says, “Be nice.”
“I am,” she replies sweetly. “I told him the shower was free.”
“You need one, too?” Chris asks, staring at him again.
“We could just work,” Jensen offers, shrugging with attitude. “Instead of analyzing my sex life.”
“I vote for the first one,” Ryan says, continuing to wheel through footage.
Jensen nods. “And I vote that we listen to Ryan.”
Soon enough, Jared is back and showered with damp hair combed back off his face. Jensen does his best to not react to the image of Jared’s clear, flushed face. It’s making his hands twitch and his gut turn over with want, but he’s not going to let that out right now. They are trying to work here, so he leans forward with his elbows on his knees and keeps watching the tape run.
Jared seems to fight with where to stand or whether he should sit in the chair beside Jensen, finally doing just that. Jensen glances back and shoots him a small smile, feeling crazy that he’s glad Jared returns it.
Jensen doesn’t spend time wondering what he’s doing, what they’re doing, or what will happen. He focuses on the tape and continues talking through it all with the group. Except not really.
They spend another night following Danneel and Ryan to some of their favorite hangouts. None of them drink as much or as fast as the night before, but Jared is uncharacteristically quiet as they barhop through the neighborhood. Jensen tries to ease the awkwardness by passing Jared drinks when they get new rounds and attempting to include him in their conversations by always turning toward him as they talk.
It works to a point, and he’s glad to see Jared relax a bit. He wishes he could muster the courage to talk directly to him, make the effort to touch him or reassure him that he doesn’t find what happened between them was a bad idea. Jensen doesn’t regret it; he keeps reliving it and thinking of another night in bed, Jared wriggling beneath Jensen’s hands, even Jared taking the lead and making Jensen beg until he’s hoarse. A tiny bit of him hopes that Jared is on the same page.
Back at the house, they play long rounds of Texas Hold ‘Em, passing chips back and forth until Chris runs them all out. They head out the back door and hang on the stoop with another round of beers. All except Jared, who stays back in the small kitchen as if he’s got something better to do.
It’s not long before Jared finally stands in the doorway to watch them talk, but Jensen feels as if it was eons. Suddenly, his mind is blank and mouth thick with uncertainty. He likes Jared; he’s a good kid, and Jensen’s image of him is getting better and better. He doesn’t want to play cocky with this, but he doesn’t really know how else to be. He wishes he had the right words to drag Jared right next to him without starting a fuss among his friends. It’s been a while since Jensen’s had to face this sort of situation, deal with people around him sharing their opinions – large or small, real or not – on what he does behind closed doors. He’s uncertain of how to deal with it, especially with Jared in their crew.
Chris shakes his empty beer bottle and nods at Ryan. “You got any left?”
Ryan gets up from the stoop. “A couple. You want a cigar, too?”
“Hell yeah, son,” Chris replies with a short laugh.
Jensen realizes they’re not heading to bed any time soon and he’s not willing to prolong the tension with Jared standing awkwardly by the door as Ryan heads back inside. He clears his throat and flicks his hand out as he looks right at Jared. He chews on his words when Danneel and Chris glance at each other then back to him.
Jensen finally bites the bullet and clears his throat again. “I’m gonna head back in.”
He’ll never admit he’s disappointed that Jared either doesn’t get the clue or doesn’t want it, and Jensen’s entering his bedroom alone. It’s probably for the best. No need to make things hard on Jared just when he’s finally fit comfortably among them. Lord knows what shit Chris and Matt will give Jared once they’re all back together and Chris has his partner-in-crime by his side.
Jensen strips down to his boxers and sits on the edge of the bed as he yanks his socks off. There’s a soft knock at the barely closed door and it slips open enough for him to see Jared.
“Hey there,” Jensen murmurs.
“Hey.” Jared offers him a short smile. “You ran off a little fast. I was just checking that everything’s cool.”
Jensen sits up straight and runs his eyes over Jared’s nervous face, how he sucks at the corner of his mouth. It’s stupid how much it thrills him to be staring at Jared like this, after last night, and to realize Jared is here again. “Really, Jared?” he asks, only a tiny bit smug.
Jared doesn’t reply, just glances around the room like he’s remembering it—or them—from last night.
Jensen chuckles. “You can come inside.”
Jared flushes. Maybe Jensen shouldn’t have phrased it that way, but he’s not regretting it when Jared steps a few feet into the room. “I didn’t wanna assume.”
“Do you wanna be here?” Jensen asks, even when he’s about ninety-nine percent sure of the answer.
“Yeah, I do.”
Holding a hand out, Jensen beckons him over. Jared steps closer and Jensen rings his finger into one of Jared’s belt loops, tugging him the rest of the way. Jared palms Jensen’s cheek and Jensen moves into it, then forward to kiss Jared’s shirt, pressing against his stomach. He smiles into the cotton when Jared sighs.
In a matter of minutes, they’re on the bed and both tugging Jared’s shirt off as he looms over Jensen. They meet for a heated kiss, one that’s surer than last night, and that’s a kick to Jensen’s gut. That it’s even better. It makes him grab Jared close, though Jared doesn’t stay for long as he kisses down Jensen’s chest. Jared gets Jensen’s boxers off and sucks him off long enough to make Jensen whimper and grab at Jared’s hair. Then he kisses down the inside of Jensen’s thigh and lower before nudging Jensen over onto his stomach.
Jensen can hear Jared’s harsh breathing, and pushes back as Jared squeezes and kneads his ass. He quietly says Jared’s name then cuts off a curse when Jared runs his fingers down Jensen’s crack. He does it again, this time with spit slicking the way, and before Jensen can get his wits about him, Jared bends himself down and licks over his hole. Jensen stuffs his face into the crook of his arm when Jared presses his tongue inside and pads his thumb behind Jensen’s balls, prodding up and in.
It is far too fucking amazing and intense. Quickly, Jensen is impossibly hard, because Jared’s incredibly insistent and loud as he sucks at Jensen’s hole. Jensen feels like he could come out of his skin, pulse pounding in his temples, through his chest, and lower. He feels raw and open with Jared mouthing at him, but it’s also really fucking good as sparks lick up his spine every time Jared licks inside.
The pressure of Jared’s thumb against his perineum is enough to drag his orgasm out. He’s nearly embarrassed that he’s coming this fast, but, goddamn, Jared knows what he’s doing.
Jared kisses up Jensen’s back, roaming to his side with his hand following the path of his mouth. Once he’s near enough, Jensen shifts and brings Jared next to him, leans over him and kisses him slow but thorough.
He hums as he pulls back and sets his head to the pillow. “You should’ve told me you knew how to do that. I wouldn’t have waited so long.”
“So long to do what?”
Jensen smirks and runs his hand over Jared’s chest. “Take advantage of you.” Before Jared can reply, he sits up, pulls Jared’s jeans and boxers down, and blows him more thoroughly than he did the night before.
Jared’s left panting with a hand slung over his face. “You definitely should’ve done that earlier. Like, day one.”
Softly laughing, Jensen settles next to him. He tugs Jared’s arm away from his face so he can look at him, all dazed out, eyes listless as they wander Jensen’s body from head to toe. Jared groans and Jensen rests his face on his hand, elbow in the pillow, as he studies Jared for a bit.
“What? Am I not everything you thought I’d be?” Jensen keeps playing. “Disappointed with the goods?”
“God, no. No, not that.” He sighs and carefully glances at Jensen before dropping his sight to Jensen’s chest. “Six months ago … I was sitting in my room, and stupidly, ridiculously infatuated with you.”
Jensen lifts his eyebrows and is somewhat impressed that Jared’s admitted it, even if it’s not too surprising.
“I’d just stare at you in night vision. And still, now, I’m getting off to you in the dark.”
Suddenly, a hard, boisterous laugh bubbles out of Jensen’s mouth. He grabs his pillow and stuffs it over Jared’s face, still laughing. “Oh my God, shut up.”
Jared fights against him, nervously laughing, too. When Jensen lets the pillow up, he beams down at Jared. Because it’s stupid that he feels so good about this kid, even after hearing such a crazy line. This is not what he thought Jared would bring to his life, especially right after that first interview.
“God, I should not have said that,” Jared breathes out with a strangled chuckle.
“No, you shouldn’t have.” Jensen smiles with him, though he’s feeling more free and easy than Jared looks. He pokes Jared’s side. “But it’s alright. You’re good enough in bed to cover that up.”
Jared looks over and seems hopeful that Jensen’s not lying to him.
Jensen tsks. “Like you didn’t know what you were doing five minutes ago?”
“I might’ve learned a thing or two in college.”
“And perfected them all since then.”
Jared tips his head towards Jensen’s. “I’m a fast learner.”
“Yeah, I’m noticing that.”
Jensen doesn’t exactly wrap himself around Jared as he settles back on the bed, or at least he tells himself he hasn’t. True, his one arm is hangs above Jared’s head, the other across his shoulder, and his leg slides between Jared’s, but Jared doesn’t seem to mind.
Jared is up and carefully sliding out of bed when he can’t hear a single noise in the house. He’s hopeful he can get back to his room before anyone else wakes. There’s no way he wants to relive the morning before, facing the firing squad and being on the receiving end of all those knowing looks.
He’s getting his jeans into place, quietly zipping them up, when he hears Jensen’s sleepy grumble.
“Where you runnin’ off to?”
Jared takes a deep breath, trying to ignore the way Jensen’s groggy, lazy voice turns him on. His dick perks up and starts to pay attention, and Jared cups himself, thinking about how Jensen looks and sounds when he comes. Which is not helping. He glances over his shoulder and his dick really stands up at the sight of Jensen bare-chested, muscles going taut as he stretches and twists in bed.
Jensen’s eyes drop to Jared’s waist and he drowsily smiles. “You want help with that?”
Screw the others, Jared figures.
Later in the day, when everyone is up and showered and hungry, they congregate in the kitchen to make what constitutes as breakfast on their schedules. Jared helps Ryan cook at the stove while Danneel mans the coffeemaker and Chris flips through site plans of the cemetery at the dining table in the next room.
“I love a Southern breakfast,” Jensen mumbles behind Jared. He rubs fingertips over Jared’s shirt as he hums at the sight of the gravy Jared’s stirring on the stovetop.
Ryan shoots a look at them, smiling a little yet assessing, and Jared tries to smile in return. He’s not sure what to say about this thing now. Not entirely certain what Jensen wants or what Jared will get out of it, but it seems pretty damn good so far.
As they settle down to eat, Jensen sits beside him. It feels like any other time they’re all together, except that he can acutely feel the heat of Jensen’s leg against his and the shivery tickle of Jensen’s shirtsleeve on his arm whenever Jensen shifts in his chair.
No one says anything about it, although they each take their turn to examine Jared and Jensen. It’s extremely awkward, except that Jared’s had to face their calculating looks for months. They’d assumed he’d be a dead weight in their group, so it feels a bit familiar. And even when he’s now caught up, Chris or Matt still take the time to check whether Jared really does suit them.
“You know what we’re missing?” Jensen asks in between forkfuls of biscuits and gravy.
“Boundaries?” Chris asks, slanting a look between Jared and Jensen.
The table goes silent, the others sharing looks as if they’re waiting for an eruption.
Jared feels nervous and has to ask, “Is this gonna be a thing?”
“Yes,” Chris replies as Jensen says, “No,” as he leans back in his chair and rest his arm on the back of Jared’s.
Danneel chuckles. “As much I love me a little daytime drama, I’d rather y’all not fight in my dining room.”
“It is a very nice table,” Ryan points out.
She pets the oak top. “I got it at an estate sale. It’s been through three generations.”
Jensen shrugs and smiles at Chris. “It’s not a thing. We’re here to work and play a little, right?” When Chris doesn’t budge, Jensen jokes, “You don’t see me judging you for trying to slide right up to Danny the last three days.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Danneel coos, now petting Chris’s shoulder. “But no.”
Chris scowls at Jensen and Danneel in turn then pushes his cemetery map towards the middle of the table. “Are we gonna work or what?”
Jensen nods and just like that the tension is alleviated. “What we’re missing is a little tour of St. Louis Cathedral.”
“Dagobert,” Ryan says. “That’s not a bad idea.”
Jared glances between them all, feeling ten kinds of lost. “Dagobert?”
Jensen sets his napkin on the table then pats Jared’s thigh. “Wanna go for a little tour? I’ll show you.”
And just like that, Jared and Jensen escape the house with Jared’s camera and the keys to the SUV.
They walk up the curling brick pathway as Jared films and Jensen talks about the history of the cathedral. How the site was built upon in the early 1700s. That French engineer Adrien De Pauger worked with the Engineer-in-Chief of Louisiana to design the site. That it was dedicated to the sainted King of France, Louis VI.
“It’s the first building of its kind, with brick-post construction, which was used for the next century in New Orleans. But on March 21, 1788, at the home of Vincente Jose Nunez, the military treasurer of the colony, a candle ignited nearby drapes and the home went up in flames. Buildings all around it burned down, including the Church of St. Louis. A full year passed before the site was cleared and St. Louis Cathedral was rebuilt.
“But before that, the church buried many of its own priests and royal commissioners on the site, including Pere Antoine. He spent most of his life serving the church and when he died in 1829, all of New Orleans went into mourning. Since then, for the last two centuries, Pere Antoine’s ghost is seen walking these halls day and night. St. Louis Cathedral’s living spirit is forever serving his parish.”
Jared smiles as he keeps his lens focused on Jensen. He always loves hearing how much Jensen knows about their locations, how deep his research goes.
“And what’s Dagobert?” Jared asks from behind his camera.
“Not what, but who,” he replies, voice slipping away from the serious on-camera persona.
“Okay, who is Dagobert?”
Jensen smiles and motions for Jared to walk with him up to the entrance of the cathedral. He leans against the archway, giving off his typical air of relaxed confidence, and Jared takes his camera off his shoulder. This seems so entirely different from their show that he doesn’t want to witness it from behind a camera.
“Pere Dagobert was a Capuchin monk in the mid-1700s. He was loved by the parish for his dedication to the poor and sick, for helping all parishioners who came for worship. In 1764, the city seceded from Spain, but not without a fight. Soldiers defending the colony were left where they were slain and the Spanish leadership insisted the bodies not be moved. No one owned up to it, but the bodies were brought to the front doors of the cathedral. And then Dagobert showed up with the soldiers’ families, and he performed the proper funerals here with many parishioners mourning with them.”
Jared looks to the front pathway, imagines bodies surrounded by loved ones and a priest giving mass. When Jensen’s voice drops lower, Jared snaps his attention back to the story.
“It was dark as anything that night, a heavy mist covering the grounds. Dagobert sang the Kyrie, a Christian prayer in song. As he continued to sing, the mist rose and the bodies were gone. The Spaniards had nothing to trace, no one could explain it, and headstones were set in St. Louis No. 1 for the six soldiers.”
Jared’s face is open and surprised; his cheeks feel tight because of it. It’s not an entirely creepy story, but it’s fascinating for sure. Especially coming through Jensen’s steady cadence and easy smile. “And Dagobert now?” he prompts.
“Legend says he haunts the area, the church, the cemetery. Almost always seen with six other figures with him.”
He chuckles with good, nervous energy, and glances at the white stone of the cathedral. “Why aren’t we talking about that?”
“We are talking about it.”
“I mean for the show. Why are you telling me now?”
Jensen makes a face, squinting up into the daylight. “I just thought you’d like to hear the story.”
Jared bites his lip to avoid smiling too much. Then says, “You’re a great storyteller.” He feels foolish to be gushing about that, but he figures it can’t be any worse than admitting to Jensen that he’s had a crush on him long before they met.
Just like earlier this morning, Jensen takes it in stride and smoothly smiles at him. “How else do you think I rock this job?”
“I thought it was because you’re so good looking.”
“That, too.” Jensen nods and tugs Jared inside by his belt. “Let’s get back to work.”
“Did you actually film anything, or just screw your way around the city?” Danneel asks when they return later that evening.
“We filmed ourselves screwing through the city,” Jensen replies as he drops into an arm chair in the front parlor.
The other three stare at Jared then at his camera when he sets it on the table beside other equipment. Ryan looks at him, entirely too uncomfortable. “I have to sort through that.”
“I think I turned it off for that,” Jared says. When no one eases up, he clears his throat. “I’m kidding. Nothing happened.”
Jared still shoots Jensen a soft look when he sits next to him. For all that nothing like that happened, he had a hell of a journey out in the city as he and Jensen roamed the neighborhood surrounding the cathedral and cemetery. If he really let himself think on it, he’d consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, they’re not just screwing around at an opportune getaway. That perhaps something’s really building between them – or is already there, just waiting to be seized.
Ryan plugs Jared’s camera in and they all watch the footage they’d taped earlier of the cathedral and Jensen talking about its history. They discuss how to use it as backstory for their trip, and Ryan gets to quick work cutting pieces together. It’s different to watch the rough tape, but Jared’s full of edgy excitement watching it happen in real time before him. It feels good to be in the middle of it.
For the summarization, Jared films Jensen doing his opening spiel, taking a side angle as he talks to Chris’s camera. Jensen runs through the explanation of the cemetery and that they’re now checking footage at the P.U.S.I. headquarters as he stands behind Ryan at the video console, his legs wide and arms crossed over his chest.
“So, guys,” Jensen says to Danneel and Ryan. “What are we looking at here?”
“This is just after we’d given our offerings,” Danneel replies. “And then we heard the chanting while this was happening.”
Ryan starts the tape, which is all greened out with night vision. Danneel is seen standing next to the tomb and staring off into space. “There’s this light hovering over Danneel’s shoulder,” he says, pointing at a glowing orb that swirls loosely just behind Danneel. Seconds later, she flinches on tape and flicks her hair away from her neck.
“And there,” she says firmly. “Right then is when I felt something on my neck.”
“And then a person quickly forms and dissolves behind her.”
Jared’s mouth drops as he watches it happen. It wasn’t anything he had seen while filming, but it’s quite obvious now that Ryan has pointed it out. Wisps of dark shadows move over her shoulder, she flinches, then the shadows withdraw and disappear entirely.
“What did it feel like?” Jensen asks.
“Like a breeze came through – ”
“But it wasn’t windy that night,” Chris points out.
“Right, I know!” she responds quickly, turning towards him. “But then there were fingers around my neck.”
“I remember the marks on your neck,” Jensen says.
Danneel pulls her hair away from her neck and points at a few lines across it. “Yeah, right here.”
Jared is overcome with the want to chime in, to express his own shock that Danneel still has marks on her neck. He didn’t remember seeing any of that the last few days, but he can’t deny what he’s staring at. His breathing gets tight and he wants to question them on it and ask how the marks are still there. In his lengthy TV-watching and blog-reading experience, plus his few short months with the show, he’s learned that not many friendly ghosts will touch hard enough to leave marks. And for all they talked about Marie Laveau, she was anything but angry.
Instead, he remains quiet, professional, and keeps filming.
Ryan cues up another screen with thermal imaging and explains, “Later, Chris was filming with the thermal cam and we found this image.”
The tape rolls and it’s the same frames Jared had seen the morning after they’d filmed. The screen is mostly dark with stripes of yellow and green meaning that there are low temps in the area then suddenly an orange and red figure develops on the left side.
A shiver runs down Jared’s spine and his hearing fuzzes out. He can’t make out what the others are saying to explain it because he’s too focused watching the blur expand into the shape of a person. When he’d first seen it on Ryan’s screen three days ago, it was nothing more than a blob. Right now, Jensen is talking about Maria Laveau, her tomb, and tying them both to this thermal figure.
Any other day of the week, Jared would chime right in with his agreement of what they’re seeing, but he feels tense about speaking. His throat is thick with surprise and his stomach clenches as he watches them replay it yet again. This is the clearest thing they’ve ever taped.
“These would be her robes,” Jensen explains, fingers following the sweep of the red form. He outlines the figure where it stretches out as if its arms are spread wide. “Then her arms are out here.”
Danneel joins in. “Right then we also have an EVP of the chanting going faster than before.”
The EVP plays and Jared doesn’t hear it for what it should be. It’s all garbled and he fights to hear something real within the noise, but he just can’t. It’s the first time since that initial summarization that he doesn’t know what to say or do about what they’re seeing and hearing.
He realizes he hasn’t moved his camera off of Jensen, and he breathes a short sigh of relief. He’s just distracted and isn’t able to hear through his own quick heartbeat. Especially not when they’re wrapping up and Jensen smiles right at him. He wills a small one in return then flinches when Danneel happily slaps Ryan on the back, as if he’s just waking up from a dream.
“Good job, babe.”
Ryan grins back at her. “I am the best.”
She stands and leans over to kiss the top of his head. “That’s why you’re on my team. No one but you could make those videos.”
When she finds Jared watching her, she shrugs.
“Gotta keep him happy so he doesn’t move onto bigger, better paying jobs.”
Jared chuckles, shuts off his camera, and sets it down on the table. “I wouldn’t blame you. Three days ago, that thermal had nothing more than Jabba the Hut on it.”
“Give him two days and he can make anything appear on screen.”
He stares at her and the room is unnervingly quiet. “What do you mean, anything?”
She laughs and Jared is annoyed by the sound of it. “How do you think we got Marie on tape?”
A moment later, she laughs again while turning towards Jensen, but Jensen just looks strangely between them. then his throat. “Danneel,” he warns.
“Yeah?”
Jensen doesn’t respond, only shakes his head, and that makes Jared finally ask what’s been disturbing him all along. “How did Marie Laveau get on our tape?” The room remains quiet and he asks again, louder, but no one will reply. “It’s not her, is it?”
More time passes and he snaps, “Anyone? Someone?”
When no one will answer, he’s certain that the whole thing is a sham.
Jared spins in an instant and stalks out the front door, slamming it shut behind him. Danneel can be heard defending herself - how was I supposed to know he didn’t know? – but he keeps moving. He’s at the bottom of the stairs when the door swings open and closed, and Jensen’s calling to him and hopping down the stairs to catch up.
“Jared, wait a minute,” Jensen begs, tugging Jared’s arm to pull him around.
He’s not sure what he wants right now, but it’s not Jensen telling him anything. For four months, Jensen’s been telling him things he’s believed. Hell, it’s been years that he’s bought all the hype. Jared yanks his arm away and takes a few more steps to put space between them. “So it’s all a lie? All of this is bullshit and you just kept feeding it to me? How big of a fucking joke am I?”
“Jared, it’s not like that,” he insists.
“Oh my God,” Jared nearly wails, still fitful with disbelief. “Is this still all the hazing? Set the new kid up, tell him he’s being haunted at every turn, and then fuck around with him to distract him?”
Jensen’s face drops then goes firm with anger. “I didn’t fuck around with you to distract you.”
“So that was just a bonus?” Jared smiles a bit at the visible hit Jensen takes at that.
Taking a deep breath, Jensen runs his hands over his face then lets them drop lifelessly at his side. His shoulders slump and he looks at Jared so earnestly it almost makes Jared’s chest hurt, but Jared still has the betrayal and embarrassment making him shake.
“Jared, that was just, I don’t know, something inevitable. It has nothing to do with the show.”
It’s impossible to sort his anger between the thoughts of being used by Jensen for fun and being used for the sake of TV. Neither is better than the other. “What’s with the show, then? Everything’s all a joke? You just mock your way through America and prey on all of us who believe in this shit?”
Jensen steps closer, stalling when Jared moves back. He sighs and puts a hand out between them. “No, it’s not a joke. We believe in it, too.”
“But you have Ryan there creating evidence.”
Making an odd, tormented face, Jensen shrugs. “He enhances it.”
Jared thinks through all of their hunts in the last four months. A dozen different trips that were all enhanced by handy computer work. “And Matt?”
Jensen sighs and reluctantly nods. “Yeah, him, too.”
He’s not sure he wants to know everything, but he can’t not ask. “What about the stuff during the lockdowns? The EVPs and other sounds we hear?”
“They’re set up,” Jensen admits quietly. “The recorders are pre-taped. Most of the noises are Matt.”
“And the equipment? When you have the mel meter or spirit box running?”
Jensen nods and sadly looks at Jared. “They have triggers on them.”
Jared sighs roughly and spins away. He glares at the houses around them, hating how much he’s loved being here the last few days and now everything is crashing. Running his hands through his hair, he settles them around his neck and groans. “For years, man, I fucking believed it all.”
When Jensen touches his shoulder, Jared shrugs him off and can’t look at him. He goes back inside and ignores everyone else watching him as he walks upstairs and shuts himself inside his room.
They all give him a wide berth when they set out for the airport. He’s gentleman enough to thank Danneel and Ryan for their hospitality, but otherwise keeps to himself the whole way back to L.A. Even when Matt picks them up and drops them off at their places, all the while poking and prodding about what happened to make them this depressingly morose. He and Chris crack jokes in the front seat while Jared pointedly stares out the side window.
He ignores Jensen’s calls and voicemails for the next two days. The only time he uses his phone is to reach home, owing his mom a call. It doesn’t last long when he can’t bear to tell her what happened in New Orleans. He’s too embarrassed, full of stupidity for being swept up in the show. It’s obvious she can read his distress through the line and when he won’t give up the source, the call drifts off.
Three days after they’ve returned, there’s a knock at his door. He chides himself for flinching at it; no one’s visited him here in weeks. Before he knew the truth, he might’ve blamed it on already being on edge from lockdowns. Not now.
He starts to open the door, but stops after a few inches with Jensen on the other side of it.
“Can I come in?” Jensen asks when Jared won’t budge.
He takes time to think on it. There’s been enough space now that Jared’s anger has diminished into pure disappointment. In the show, himself, and definitely Jensen. He’s certain this wouldn’t hurt even a tenth as badly if they hadn’t spent two nights together, if Jared hadn’t been hanging onto the connection they’d created.
Following long moments of silence, Jensen quietly says, “You should’ve seen me on our first lockdown.” He leans against the doorway and shoves his hands into his jeans pockets. “We were at a theater in Dallas. Supposedly, old stagehands move backdrops like they’re still working there. But there was nothing. We saw nothing, heard nothing. Steve laughed at us for days for even attempting to make something of it. He thought we were idiots for being so disappointed that we didn’t have anything to show for all the hours we filmed and all the shit we hauled around with us. We thought we’d be hotshots like everyone else out there, but we weren’t any better than them.”
It’s the first time in a long time that Jared’s heard any of them mention Steve, and he’s reminded how he started with this mess. “What happened with Steve?”
Jensen sighs and shuts his eyes for a second. “He got tired of travelling all the time and wanted a break.”
Jared immediately feels insulted on behalf of the show’s entire fanbase. “So you pretended he was possessed?”
“Yeah,” he replies, looked tired and guilty. “We pretended so it could ramp up ratings and get people excited about the show again.”
Jared leans to the side, but won’t release the doorknob, keeping the door barely open. He’s not up for talking it through. His irritation grows that Jensen’s making him. “You just made all this shit up? Steve’s possession, all the lockdowns, the interviews. You’ve lied to everyone you’ve met.”
“We embraced it,” Jensen corrects him. “We decided to play up the stories of what people have seen and heard themselves.”
Suddenly, Jared remembers when he told Jensen he was a good storyteller. He remembers thinking there was something real between them when Jensen was talking so frankly and openly with him at the Cathedral. “What about Dagobert?”
Jensen shakes his head. “That was all true. You can read it on the internet.”
“Right,” Jared laughs harshly. “Because everything on the internet is true.”
“Jared, I’m sorry.” Jensen sighs and slumps against the doorframe. “I didn’t do it on purpose. For a while, I thought you knew.”
“And when you realized I didn’t?”
He shrugs and frowns. “I didn’t wanna ruin it for you. Like telling a kid Santa doesn’t exist.”
“There’s no Santa?” Jared asks caustically. “Well, now you’re ruining everything for me.”
Jensen flinches then frowns. “You’re pissed at me, I get it. And you know-”
“Damn right I am,” Jared cuts in sharply. “You think I wanna keep doing this with you all now?”
“Well, you signed a contract,” Jensen reminds him. “So, you’re kinda stuck with us now.”
“Maybe you can just make me possessed then.”
Jensen wipes a hand over his mouth and stands up straight. He seems livid in a way Jared’s never seen before. “How long am I gonna have to wait this out?”
The change in Jensen’s demeanor is alarming. Still, Jared feels his own anger flare again. “’Til the end of my contract, I guess.”
Nodding, Jensen pushes off the doorway and huffs as he walks away. Then he stops and turns back. “For what it’s worth, I wasn’t making anything up with you. I like you.”
There’s something about hearing it that makes Jared want to give in, but he can’t find the words to truly express how much this whole situation is twisting him up.
“And I wasn’t just thinking about New Orleans. I was thinking about after, and seeing you in between trips, and whatever. I never meant to hurt you.” Jared still can’t reply and Jensen deflates. “At the very least, don’t quit the show.”
He can’t think of the right response. All he can come up with is, “I guess I’ll see you on the next trip.”
Jensen nods and forces a smile. “Good. I’ll see you then.”
They’re at the notorious Helltown in Boston Township, Ohio. Stories say the area was bought out by the government, abandoned, and intended to be recycled as a national park, yet all the structures remain. The woods leading to Helltown gives a creepy vibe to their trip, but Jared’s just not feeling it.
“We’re here,” Jensen’s saying as the three of them march down a street lined with boarded-up houses, “in Helltown, Ohio. We heard from witnesses this morning that there have been numerous ghost experiences along this road.”
They come to the end of the trail and Jared stands off the side as he films. Where Jensen had always been captivating with his monologues, Jared’s now finding him cocky and overdone. He’s not sure how much longer he can listen to Jensen spout on.
“And here, at the end of our trail.” Jensen pauses and looks right to Jared’s camera. “At the end of Stanford Road, this place is that locals have nicknamed The End of the World. This is where the most intense experiences have been documented.” Jensen suddenly drops his camera and his conversational voice returns. “Jared, are you with us?”
“Yeah,” he replies. Jensen’s obviously not buying it and is still staring at him; Jared can tell in the night vision that Jensen is more disappointed than pissed off. “What?”
Chris laughs harshly. “You’re wasting our time, man.”
Jared lowers his camera and it’s dark out here, but he still can make out the shapes of both Chris and Jensen standing. The angles of their arms and legs say just as much as Jensen’s noisy huff does. “What?” Jared asks again.
Chris makes another angry noise. “You know your contract is more a favor to you being able to stick around?”
“What’re you trying to say?” Jared asks.
“That we can find ways to cut contracts.”
“Chris,” Jensen butts in. “Don’t do that.”
“What?” Chris asks, angrily. “What’s the point of keeping him here if he’s gonna ruin half our takes?”
Jensen waves him off then takes a few steps towards Jared. He stops suddenly with his arms hanging lifelessly at his side. “Are you with us?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Are you with us?”
“Yes, I’m with you,” Jared says forcefully. They stare at one another for quiet, tense seconds until Jared lets up on his anger. “I’m here.”
“Alright. Let’s do this again,” Jensen insists. “And maybe with a little less attitude.” Chris snorts and Jensen glances at him. “I’m talkin’ about you, too.”
Chris raises his arms in the air and then sets his camera up. “I’m not the one fucking up. But whatever.”
Jared grumbles to himself. He wants to fight them both, but he knows it’s no use. This is his one shot to take; they don’t owe him anything. After a few deep breaths, he gets his camera ready, too. “Fine, let’s go.”
Jensen moves back into place and shakes his shoulders out, like he does when resetting. He faces Jared’s camera and starts up again. “And here, at the end of our trail …”
Another week, another plane, and another bout of hating the job. Jared sits alone in an empty row and focuses on reading while people fuss around one another in the aisles.
“I didn’t think you’d make it.”
Jared glances up from his tablet to see Jensen in the aisle.
“I didn’t see you at the gate.”
Waving his boarding pass, Jared replies, “Group A.”
Jensen chuckles. “Lucky dog.” He looks down the aisle and there are a handful of other seats open, but he’s obviously waiting for Jared to grant him the one next to him. Jared stays quiet and watches Jensen sigh and haul his bag into the overhead compartment, shoving it into what space is left, then drop into the seat.
It’s not so bad, Jared thinks, sitting next to Jensen for their flight out. Jensen usually sleeps for ninety percent of every flight, and Jared can keep himself busy reading. It’ll be like he’s just on his own.
Except Jared suddenly gets smacked in the back of the head. He winces and twists around to see Matt leaning back into the seat behind Jared.
“You almost made us miss the flight, douchewad.”
Jared rubs over the crown of his head and glares at Matt. They’d never exactly gotten along anyway; Jared had been swimming in hero worship and let it slide the last few months. Right now, he just sees Matt as the pledgemaster that never grew up.
Jensen twists around to glare at Matt. “Drop it, alright?” he says, dark and low.
“You’re the one who said to wait,” he argues.
“Just shut up,” Jensen mutters as he turns back in his seat. “It’s a long flight.”
“Why’re you such a dick?”
“I swear to God, Matty,” Jensen complains loudly. “I will shove you out the emergency doors.”
That shuts Matt up quickly and Jared’s left staring at Jensen.
“Jared, I-”
Jared shakes his head to cut him off and gets back to reading.
He had shown up to the airport on his own, came nice and early to check the equipment, had checked in right at the 24-hour-before mark to ensure he could pick his own seat once he boarded. He’d chosen a window seat near the back, banking on Jensen’s affinity for having the inside of the plane to sleep against and the group’s insistence on sitting up front so they could exit quickly.
Apparently that backfired and now he’s surrounded by people he can’t stand to look at. Even if he glances at Jensen throughout the flight, and often finds Jensen watching him right back.
Chris smacks his gum between his teeth and stares at Jared while talking to Jensen. “If he’s not gonna talk, how’s this gonna work?”
Jared stares back with a lazy glance, like he doesn’t give a shit what Chris is saying right now. He goes so far as to wipe the sweat from his brow, because Jared will sweat anywhere, especially in Savanna, Georgia, and makes a show of flicking his hands out. Still pretending not to care. “I can talk, I just don’t want to.”
“It speaks!” Chris shouts, spinning to Jensen with his arms stretched out.
Jensen rolls his eyes and snags Chris’s camera from his hand before Chris loses his grip on it. “Watch your own stuff and do your job.”
“You two really aren’t gonna talk?” Chris asks, sounding less annoyed and more curious. He looks between them and Jared grants Jensen a quick look. “Okay, awkward.”
Jared isn’t up for defending the fact that he’s feeling the need to support this show when all that he’s believed in it has been pulled out from under him. He’s gone over this with himself during their last few trips, and he decided that meeting his contract was the easiest thing to do. And perhaps beneficial, if he wants to remain in camera work.
He figures he’ll use them the way they used him.
Suddenly, Jensen is in front of him and speaking low. “Look, I’ve told them to give you a break, but you gotta meet me halfway.”
He wants to smart off a thank you so very much, but Jensen appears worried, sounds it, too, and Jared knows he can’t hold up this act forever. Even feeling left out high and dry, a man can only stand up to Jensen Ackles for so long.
Jared turns his attention to the side and motions towards the man exiting the Pirate’s Head, their chosen lockdown for this week. “Here comes the owner. We should get to work.”
Jensen stumbles a step or two, like he knows he should go talk to Thomas Smith, their host, but isn’t about to leave Jared’s side. “You’ll be okay, right? You’ll try?”
“I’m here,” Jared points out, trying to soften his words.
Squeezing Jared’s elbow, Jensen smiles, nods in thanks, then walks over to the owner.
In the meantime, Jared focuses his impatience on getting B-roll of the seaside bar and grill. He’s trying.
After dark, Jensen and Chris stand on the brick sidewalk in front of The Pirate’s House while Jared stands in front to tape Jensen’s introduction to their lockdown. Jared does his best to not get riled up at the animated way Jensen amps up the history of the place.
“We’re getting locked down in The Pirate’s House, the oldest building in all of Savannah. The employees and owner of the tavern have reported apparitions in the main barroom and the basement. They report residual, angry feelings inside. We have Matt watching and listening to everything while he’s stationed upstairs in the Smith’s home. It’s pitch black inside and we only have our cameras on night vision to light our way. We’re gonna see what we can stir up inside.”
They do their typical sweep of the place, taking in the bar-top tables with stools and low, square tables with chairs around them, the long wooden bar, and historical photos on the wall that date back to the mid-1700s, when the inn and tavern was first built.
Jared swings his camera around the room and focuses it on a few photos of angry, bearded men. It’s a bit creepy to zoom in on them and listen to Jensen recount how pirates used to ravage the neighborhood then congregate here. He’ll just chalk that up to the darkness and his history of watching the show, once believing in these stories.
For the next hour, Chris and Jensen try talking to spirits and tape EVPs. They taunt and dare the spirits to use them to speak, to come out and show them they’re here.
Jared doesn’t know what exactly they say or claim to hear in return. He’s got his camera turned on them while he’s looking off in the corner. He doesn’t hear anything other than Jensen and Chris, but there’s tension in the air and he senses someone behind him.
“Jared!” Jensen says. “Did you hear that?”
In his camera’s viewfinder, he sees Jensen is staring back with his own camera focused on him. Instead of running with their game, he admits, “No, I didn’t.” Chris sighs, and Jared turns back towards the nearby corner again. “I think … I think there’s something else.”
“Like what?” Jensen asks.
“Someone,” he mumbles.
Jensen steps next to him and even in the pitch dark, he can sense that Jensen is trying to film the area, too. “Is there someone here with us? Can you answer us in this recorder here?”
Something slinks up Jared’s neck and he spins around, dragging his camera with him to find Chris a few feet away It’s not terribly close, yet close enough, and Jared’s anger boils. “What the hell, man? Don’t touch me.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Chris yells back.
“Yeah, right, you didn’t. I felt it.” Before Chris can answer for himself, fingers scratch down Jared’s neck, and he swings around to Jensen. “Would you leave me the fuck alone!”
He can’t stop shaking as he feels his heart race. His breathing comes in short pants. He’s so unbelievably angry with Jensen and Chris right now that it takes a few moments to recognize that Jensen is staring at him like Jared’s just ripped someone’s arm off.
Through his viewfinder, Jared films the corner again then brings his free hand up to his neck.
“Holy shit, Jared,” Jensen gasps. His fingers join Jared’s on his neck and trace the burning lines Jared can’t ignore.
“Stop, just … stop.” Jared turns away from Jensen and drags his fingertips across his skin. It feels hot and clammy, just like the rest of him. “Did you scratch me?” he asks while filming Jensen.
“No, I didn’t, I swear.”
“Where’s Matt?”
“He’s back in the room,” Jensen answers oddly.
Jared continues to stare at Jensen and then it’s like all his energy drains down through his legs and he’s dizzy and weak. When he stumbles toward the bar to grab one of the high-back stools, Jensen goes with him and keeps him upright with his free hand grabbing Jared’s side.
“Oh, shit, Jared,” Chris mumbles as he comes to help, too.
Jared can’t look at him right now. He can’t see anything in the dark, and even if he could, he’s sure it would be blurry and shaky.
“Here, hang on,” Jensen says as he puts his camera on the bar and then nudges Jared closer to a stool to prop himself up. He sets his hand on Jared’s back and leans in close. Jared finds it useless since it’s still dark as shit in here. “What’s wrong?”
Jared tries to blink his eyes open and closed, ease himself into keeping them open, but the darkness just makes him more disoriented. He flinches when Jensen snaps a flashlight on and aims it at Jared’s face. Jared covers the end of the flashlight with his palm, letting enough light out to see the shape of Jensen’s face right in front of his own.
“Hey, Jared,” Jensen murmurs, sweeping a hand over Jared’s head, pushing hair out of his face. “Look at me.”
Bringing his eyes up to Jensen’s, he can’t help but get lost in the wide gaze Jensen has on him, face full of worry and shock. “Just got dizzy,” he manages to say. “It’s stuffy in here.”
He knows Jensen’s stepped back, but it doesn’t make sense until he hears Jensen and Chris talking quietly a few feet away.
“How warm is it in here?”
“Maybe 60’s?”
“What’s the mel meter say?”
“… Sixty-two.”
“The mel meter’s shit,” Jared grumbles then leans harder on the bar. Nothing seems right. He feels as if just saying those four words have drained him of any energy and sense of orientation he’d dragged back together in the last few minutes.
He then hears Jensen tweak his walkie-talkie. “Matt, do you see anything?”
“Negatory,” Matt replies, all static.
“Hear anything?”
“No, dude, you’re a-okay.”
Jensen sighs and Jared huffs in return. “There’s no such thing as ghosts. Remember?”
“They said angry spirits,” Chris whispers.
“He’s already been angry,” Jensen replies.
“This is angry, Jen.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jared says tiredly. He breathes roughly and turns his head in their direction, barely making them out with the flashlight still on the bar pointing towards him.
There’s a hard pressure in Jared’s chest and instead of feeling faint and sweaty, his fingers go ice cold. He stands and fumbles with the flashlight, aiming it at Jensen and Chris. He’s about to complain about the air conditioning when everything goes black.