Title: Tick Tock, Grandfather Clock
By: LadyFanuilh
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Don't own Supernatural or anything connected to it, just borrowing it for a night!
Summary: Sam & Dean interview a victim of a haunting...

***

"Name?" A young man dressed in jeans and a jacket turns on a tape recorder as he waited, his brother sitting besides him posed to write down every word. Across from Dean and Sam was a young woman, sitting with her hands in her lap, her long red dyed hair was loosely bounded back with a plain hairclip.

"Lucy Queen." She replied in a soft voice as she brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. There was a moment of quiet as Sam wrote down her name and she glazed out the window with a far away look, as if she wasn't in thepale room with them being questioned anymore but was free.

"Care to tell us what happened at the Madison place, Miss. Queen?" Dean asked as he glanced up, Sam waited, hispen hovering over the paper as he waited for her to speak.

"It was a warm summer day when we arrived at Fairhaven. I still remember the smell of the lilacs... softly scenting the air with a cloying sweetness. It was just me and my best friends, Eva Green and..." Lucy paused for a moment, glancing down at her hands as they twisted around each other before resuming. "-Jenny Devin. I couldn't believe how lucky Jenny was, inheriting the most beautiful house you ever saw from her great aunt. I should have known that there was something wrong with the place... those rhymes... " Lucy looked up suddenly at the brothers. "Have you ever been in Fairhaven?"

"No. I haven't had the pleasure. What do you mean by... rhymes?" Dean asked as he glanced down at Sam's notes before looking at her again with watchful eyes.

"Count your blessings. The kids would sing it as they played jump rope..."

"By the way, do you know where to find Sycamore Lane?" Lucy asked as she paid for her bottle of pop as Eva and Jenny hurried outside to do a little window shopping.

"Sycamore Lane?" The woman asked, clarifying the question. Lucy nodded as she opened her pop and took a sip.

"It's just outside of town, three miles to the East. You'll see it."

"Thanks." Lucy went outside of the store and paused for a moment, raising a hand to block the sun's rays as she looked around at Fairhaven and sighed.

"Luc! Come on, there's this really cool shop you should see!" Lucy turned at the sound of her name to see Eva waving before she vanished into the store. Lucy grinned to herself as she strolled along the sidewalk. Just across the street she could see four girls and a boy playing jump rope.

"Tick tock, the Grandfather clock. Whose clock? The Madison's clock." Lucy heard them sing faintly just before she entered the store.

"An herb shop?" Lucy asked as she looked around with a half smile as she breathed deeply of the herb's scents...

"I could smell rosemary, thyme, sage and nutmeg. It was so peaceful, calm and wonderful. We had no idea what was waiting for us, heh, absolutely no idea." Lucy chuckled without humor as she tucked another stray curly lock of her hair behind her ear.

"What happened at the Madison place?" Sam asked this time as Dean glanced at him.

"They died."

"Skip, skip down Sycamore Lane. Turn your heel and listen for pain. Jump, jump here come the bad man. If you dare, take him by the hand." Jenny sang before falling back laughing. "That's what they were singing! I'm not kidding!" Jenny said as she laughed at Eva's look of mild horror and Lucy's raised eyebrow.

"Wow... I thought jumping rhymes were happier?" Eva asked as they drove along a road, enclosed by trees so that it seemed as if they were traveling through a tunnel of green and brown.

"Sometimes, but there are times whenthey are just plain weird." Lucy replied. "Finally! I was starting to wonder if I got something wrong." Lucy exclaimed when a battered, weather worn sign that barely still have the words of 'Madison' appeared.

"Holy..." Eva's eyes went big and round as she stared in wonder at the house that still before them. The paint was peeling, there was a boarded up window and there was ivy climbing the walls but it still held a power of awe. Lucy parked the car next to a large rose bush and climbed out as she took in the sight of the mansion. Slowly the girls went up the steps onto the porch, almost scared to speak and ruin the spell the house had cast over them.

"You have the key, right?" Eva asked in a whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Lucy whispered back. "Bloody hell! Why am I whispering?" Lucy asked again but this time in a normal voice. Jenny and Eva laughed weakly but the feeling was gone and they felt a little more normal.

"Don't worry, I got the key." Jenny said as she pulled the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. The door opened with a screech, almost sounded likes something dying causing them to wince.

"First chore, oil the damn things before I get another heart attack!" Eva said as she followed Jenny into the house and was floored as she stared around her. "Marble floor? Ooh, look at the statues!"

"Eva loved the place. Me? I'll admit it, so did I. Marsha, Jenny's great aunt was very rich until a few years before her death. Before her husband killed himself, he built her a grand place, surrounded her with roses and beautiful flowers. There were statues in every garden outside and in rooms of the house. The library was enormous with hundreds of books and a large fireplace to read in front of. There were thirteen bedrooms, three bathrooms on every floor; by the way, the mansion was three stories tall. Everything in that place followed a rule of three. Nine stalls for nine horses, three dog kennels and thirteen statues that guarded the driveway." Lucy looked out the window again with a faraway look as she remembered the house.

"I have seen the pictures, a very nice place. Although..." Sam said pleasantly, before he paused for a moment as he tapped the pen against his chin.

"Those thirteen statues? They creep the hell outta me." Lucy laughed gently.

"Eva's room was over the kitchen, second floor up. Jenny chose the bedroom just across from Eva's. Me? I chose the tower. You want to know why?"

"Sure." Dean said.

"No one's been killed there... yet."

Lucy brushed the back of her hand across her forehead as she stood up and looked around at the tower room she had picked for her bedroom. At the moment, there was boxes everywhere, some opened and partly unpacked while others were still taped shut. After hours of cleaning and dusting, the place was almost livable although it could use some more cleaning and some things need to be fixed.

"Luc? Are you up here?" Eva suddenly appeared at doorway and looked around at the bedroom. "Cool, I like it." She said as she came in.

"Yah, me too." Lucy replied as she opened another box and pulled out a mirror. "Are you moved in yet?" She asked as she glanced around the room, trying to figure out where she wanted to hang the mirror.

"Yah, somewhat. Still a few more boxes to unpack but I need a break. Lucy?" Eva asked as she sat down on the bed and toyed with the frayed edge of the hole in her jeans.

"Hmm?"

"Does this place give you a weird vibe? I mean, almost like something's watching you, your every move in this place and hating you. Not only that... there's something about Jenny that I never noticed before... it's like she changed since coming here." Eva said as she glanced back at the doorway.

"Jenny? What's different about her?" Lucy asked glancing up from the box she was unpacking.

"I-"

"There you are! Come on, I figured out the stove and made soup." Jenny said cheerfully as she bounced into Lucy's room causing Eva to jump.

"Kay, we'll be down in a minute." Lucy replied as she pushed the box away and stood up. Jenny disappeared through the doorway, leaving Lucy and Eva alone.

"Like she had a huge dose of creepy cheeriness and seems to know when you're talking about her? Yah, I noticed that too. It might be just nothing." Lucy said as she wiped her hands on a rag. "Remember that time she acted really moody and we had no clue why until we found out it was because her boyfriend just broke up with her?"

"Yah. She's a real drama queen." Eva agreed as she regained her cheer. "Let's go down! I'm hungry!" Eva said as she pulled Lucy down the stairs.

"Funny how that house would play with your mind. I felt those things but I didn't want to scare Eva. Did you know that just a week before we came to Fairhaven, her boyfriend was killed by a hit and run?" Lucy asked as her gray eyes met each of the brothers' before looking back down at her hands again.

"Really? Did they find out who killed him?" Same asked.

"No."

"We're straying off topic. You just moved in, Eva comes to you with worries of Jenny's behavior. Then what happens?" Dean asked as he glanced at Sam's notes again before watching Lucy carefully.

"It was late. I could see the moon shinning through the windows, lighting up my room with a pale glow. I was just staring up at the ceiling, trying to woo sandman into coming and help me fall asleep. Just as my eyes started to close... I heard a sound."

Lucy sat up quickly as a sound reached her ears and looked around, trying to find the source. Slowly she lifted the blanket and placed one foot on the cold wood floor, creeping forward to her bedroom door. The floor felt frozen under her feet and the air was chilly as she took each step closer to the door. Softly she breathed out, just realizing that she had been holding her breath and was surprised to see that it was cold enough in the room that she could see her breath.

"Eva? Jenny?" Lucy asked softly into the empty air as she unwilling walked closer to the door as if pulled along by puppet strings. Slowly she reached out to the doorknob and touched it with her fingertips.

"Is someone there?" She asked again as her hand wrapped around the doorknob and begins to turn it. Slowly the door opened with a faint creak that faded away into the darkness of the stairway. For a moment Lucy stood at the top of the stairway, staring downwards at the darkness that waited for her, each breath causing a cloud to form in front of her. She slivered as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep what warmth she had left within herself as she took the first step down the stairs. With every step she took down the stairs, the air seemed to get colder, more foreboding as if warning her to return to the flimsily safety of her bedroom.

"Eva?" Lucy called out softly when she reached the hallway, glancing left and right before heading for her friend's bedroom.

"Tick tock, the Grandfather clock... whose clock? The Madison's clock... skip, skip down sycamore lane... turn your heel and listen for pain..." Lucy gasped and spun around when she heard a voice singing but found nothing. Slowly she backed up until she was pressed up against the wall as she glanced left and right, trying to find the source of the singing.

"Jenny?" Lucy asked softly in a shaky voice barely higher then a squeak of a frighten mouse. She stared backing up along the hallway, before suddenly turning and raced for the door to Eva's bedroom. Upon reaching it, Lucy flung it open and slammed it shut behind her creating a loud bang that made herself jump at the sudden noise.

"Who's there? I'm armed!" Eva yelped before Lucy slapped a hand over her mouth to quiet her.

"Shh! It's just me." Lucy said as she removed her hand and sat hunched on the bed, wrapping her arms around her legs and hugging them close to her body as she tried to regain the warmth that she lost.

"What's wrong? You're shaking." Eva asked as she pulled the blanket around her friend's shoulders before turning on a light.

"I scared the hell outta myself. By the way, we gotta fix the temp in this place, its freezing." Lucy replied as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

"You sure scared the hell outta me." Eva replied with a grin as she went to her bedroom door and opened it. "Want some water? I'm gonna get some." She asked looking at Lucy.

"Lucy?" Eva asked when she saw Lucy's face go pale as she stared at something over her shoulder. Slowly Eva turned and saw...

"What happened? Who was it?" Dean asked when Lucia suddenly stopped talking, glancing up from her hands.

"You won't believe me." Lucy replied with a small sad smile. "I'll never forget her face... the surprise when she saw mine, then transforming into fear of the deepest kind as she faced... Jenny."

"Jenny? I thought she was one of the victims?"

"She was. Something took over her, it wasn't her anymore. She grabbed Eva, slammed her against the wall and told her "Scream for Me." but it wasn't her voice... it was someone else's, an older woman. Eva screamed. That place is evil. After that thing killed Eva... I... I screamed. Have you ever faced true evil? Looked at him in his eyes?" Lucy looked up again but this time the brothers didn't meet her eyes.

"Can't say that I have."

"I did. Let me tell you, you don't ever want to look into their soul... it eats away at you until there's nothing left of you and then something takes over. That's what happened to Jenny and her great aunt Marsha."

"Marsha? What she got to do with the murders?"

"Who do you think started it? Who do you think buried all those bodies in the cellar and the walls of the house? Who do you think killed her husband? Marsha. She knew that she was fated for hell after killing her babies and made sure that she would never die. When Eva noticed that there was something different about Jenny... she was right. There was, it wasn't Jenny anymore."

"What did you say your name was again?"Dean asked again.

"Marsha Devin."

***