Supernatural S01E10

Supernatural: The Remington Files
GM
Lisa
Air Time
Intermittent
Next Episode
Season 4, Episode 1
(November 2011)
Characters
Team Remington Scott Remington · Marcus Remington Amanda Grey A Dose of Doctors Dr. Alexander Airy · Dr. Richard Magnum The X-Files Ciaran Brennan · Jon Clarke Razik Ericson
Supporting Characters
Áine Ni Seachnasaigh Gabriel, aka Loki
Deceased Characters
Archangel Raphael
Episodes
Episode Guide · Synchronizing Serials
Resources
Contacts · Lore Index Supernatural World Dad's Journal · Agatha's Book Supernatural Ritual Compendium Roman Rite 1999 English Edition

Backstory

This used some big historical sources, so the writers had to work out the complex history of What Really Happened:

1. Vampirism, more than just having an alpha vampire, is truly a disease. It infects and spreads to others. Eve may have created the first vampire, but it wasn’t virulent. Leave that to Pestilence and his cronies.

2. George Brown had a normal family, but Mary Brown was suffering from tuberculosis. The TB was to encourage George to eventually turn his family and spread vampirism.

3. George was turned by a, shall we say, low generation vampire named James Peckham in 1887. At first Brown resisted, but the bloodlust was too great and he began to feed on his family.

3. With support from his sire, Brown decided to turn his family.

4. Before he could turn her, Mary died from the TB.

5. Heartbroken, the death persuaded George to turn his children, but he hadn’t the heart to do it against their will. George convinced Mercy, who was his youngest, but he couldn’t convince his eldest, Mary Olive, or his son, Edwin, to accept his gift.

6. Mary Olive began showing symptoms, but her faith and George’s pain kept her from turning. Mercy, realizing the pain she was going through, began feeding off her to impart some of the rapturous feelings from the vampire’s “kiss.” She died in 1888

7. Edwin showed signs of the illness as well, and again, Mercy tried to help ease his pain while he slept. Edwin sent himself away to Colorado to try to recover.

8. By 1891, Mercy, with her own symptoms of vampirism, gave the impression of being ill herself, but stayed out in the community.

9. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to explain Mercy’s survival, George faked Mercy’s death. (Jan 17th, 1892) She was laid out in the impromptu crypt because the ground was too icy and hard to dig. This kept them from having to perform a burial.

10. Edwin returned home at Mercy’s death, looking refreshed but was never 1

Mercy, Mercy Me really “cured.” He was not told that Mercy was still undead.

11. Mercy started appearing to Edwin and feeding on him again. Edwin began telling others that he saw Mercy sitting on him. At this time the hunter family moves to town.

12. George’s sire realized that they were attracting too much attention and decided to sacrifice Mercy. He made her drink dead man’s blood to get her into her coffin. Mercy was then buried. The sire told George he had secreted Mercy away.

13. As Edwin’s condition worsened, he became certain of the damnation of his family and spoke out more. The stories of Mercy sitting on him convinced the town that one of the Brown ladies must be a vampire and was causing Edwin’s illness. Mary and Mary Olive were exhumed first and proclaimed dead.

14. George, thinking Mercy’s coffin was empty, tried to persuade the town not to exhume her, but weak of will, he gave in to the suggestions of the hunter. She was exhumed March 17th, 1892. He was shocked and horrified to see his daughter in the coffin. Everyone took this as shock to see her unchanged, a slumbering vampire.

15. Mercy’s heart was burned and fed to Edwin. Edwin still died two months later. George sold his farm and ended up boarding with local farmer James Peckham, his sire. Mercy became a ghost, insulted at the desecration committed when she tried to ease the suffering of her family, she remained to protect the cemetery rather than move on to purgatory.

16. Hard now heartened, George and James began building a brood in Peckham’s farm, feeding on and taking members from the poor farm next to his land. Peckham regularly hosted the Green-Eyed demon, and the “Pest House” seemed to always be full of the poor diseased.

17. Returning home from service in 1900, one of the sons of the hunters, now Capt. John Reynolds visited the poor farm, which his family often donated too. He discovered that the farm housed a vampire nest. He returned later to burn the place down.

18. In the conflagration, George was trying to escape, and Reynolds pegged him for the head vampire rather than Peckham. To ensure George’s death, and given the virulent nature of vampirism, and Reynold’s service to duty, he held George down in the fire and burned to death with him.

19. The townsfolk enshrined the young Captain Reynolds, buried the dead, and rotated the bodies of the ones they believed to be vampires to keep them from rising - the last act of desecration.

20. Meanwhile Peckham has lived in the New England, keeping on the low. He has a “family” now, claims descent from James Peckham, and calls himself Christopher. His wife is Wendy, and they have two teens: twins Arthur and Arianne.

21. The soccer team girls went, like many do, to visit Mercy’s grave. Intrigued by the name “Purgatory Road” and hearing that it too was haunted by ghosts, they turned down the road. Zipping around the corner, they ran headlong into Arthur and Arianne, who were feeding on a deer that had been hit middle of the road. The two girls in front saw and panicked, and Arthur jumped in front of the car, which smashed into him and went off the road.

22. Arianne pulled the two girls out while all four were in shock and semi- conscious. Arthur wanted to drain the girls to erase their memories of seeing them feed, but Arianne insisted they be killed. They compromised by killing the two in the front and then rushing to help the girls in the back of the car, as though they had just arrived on the scene. Arthur called 911.

The Hunters Arrive

Hunters arrive on the scene in Exeter after reading about the car crash and visit to the vampire grave. Probably nothing, but also a big no way, we've got to check this out.

The hunters started with the usual route: interviewing the cops about the crash, the victims, and checking out the crash site and finding the grave the teens werre supposed to have visited.

In talking to Captain Delaney and Lt. Hawkins the hunters got the official report, that the car had gone off the road and flipped into the snow bank. The car swerved right, tossing Bella into the snow and Elenna onto the pavement. Two girls in the car were not wearing safety belts and were found outside of the car, really smashed up. From the position the girls were found in, corroborated by Jenna and Connie, Elenna (16) was driving the car and Bella (17) was a passenger.

Elenna was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics while Bella, Connie, and Jenna were rushed to Rhode Island Hospital. Capt. Delaney arrived on the scene as the paramedics were transporting Bella. She was moaning terribly and seemed barely conscious.

The girls reported seeing some strange things to him: “I mean, the two surviving girls claimed they wanted to go down the road because it ‘looked haunted.’ What can I say? They were going to visit a vampire grave and were knocked over the head - hard.”

He found no alcohol, and from what he has heard, the girls were all good kids, if maybe a little too interested in “that Twilight crap.” His best guess is that Elenna, a younger driver, was speeding at the time of the accident, and that neither she nor Bella had their safety belts on.

The speed limit on Purgatory Road is only 25 mph, but kids and adults alike “regularly zoom through.” The road was wet with the snow, but hadn’t iced over at the time of the accident.

This report, while pretty typical, is not borne out by interviewing the victims, dead or alive:

The two survivors, Jenna Horn and Connie Boon, are recovering in the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. Jenna had hit her head on the seat in front of her and suffered severe whiplash and some bruising from when the car was flipped. Jenna reports that they decided to go down the road because it looked haunted. They were polite at Mercy’s grave and read poetry they had made. They didn’t see her ghost,though, so Purgatory Road sounded “perfect” and they thought it might be haunted with all the small cemeteries nearby, and if they didn’t see anything there, they’d probably go to Queen’s Fort before heading home.

Connie also has a fractured wrist as, when the car was flipped, she hit her wrist backwards against the roof of the car right as it impacted the ground. Connie, however, has the most clarity. The adrenaline from the pain kept her somewhat lucid, despite looking hazy to the twins. Connie remembers smelling roses when they left the cemetery, but didn’t see any ghosts either. But, she did see the accident. She remembers that they all four had seat belts on and finds it inconceivable that her two friends would’ve both done something stupid like that. She saw the speedometer and they were only going 30 - not really speeding. She saw a deer on the road and two people standing over it, blood on them. Then one leapt in front of the car “like wicked fast” and they crashed. She didn’t tell the police that.

The crash site is just a bit down Purgatory Road from 10 Rod Road on a windy stretch with snow banked on the sides and trees looming overhead, keeping the street in perpetual winter shade. The Hunters don’t find much as the car and roadkill has been removed, but there’s shattered glass and plastic along the road, and browned red streaks in the snow and on the pavement where Elenna and Bella landed. There’s another streak across the road, more of a brushed aside pool, with drops leading off the road. If they get a sample, it’s the blood from the deer, rather than the girls. This would corroborate Connie’s story.

Going down Purgatory Road to find other haunted sites would lead hunters to the Poor Farm. The site of the poor farm, along Purgatory road, is a bit south of the crash site. The hunters would pass the (historic) Peckham farm, and then pass onto the Chapman lot, which was donated to be the poor farm.

At the road is a monument. The monument is somewhat vague:

“To remember Capt. John Reynolds, who gave his life to save others.

A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

Psalms 97:3”

Upon inspection, hunters can see an area of the lot set aside as a cemetery. There are 30 burials, 13 of which are rotated precisely 90 degrees from the others. The hunters noted it as odd but filed it for later having nothing to connect it to.

Going to the ME painted a similar, yet frightening picture:

The M.E.’S office is attached to the R.I State Police Department headquarters in Providence. Gideon Patterson is young and bright faced, and quite charming. He is like a younger, American Ducky.

Both bodies have been released, but only Bella’s has been claimed. Elenna clearly was smashed into the pavement, but with a greater force then the car. She sustained direct injuries to her neck which severed her spinal column. She was, however, bruised on both sides of her neck and shoulders, as though she were pinned, which was impossible since they found her on the road in the open. Bella, on the other hand, has some surface abrasious and cuts from tree branches, but appeared to have been strangled. He suspects she was possibly putting her seat belt on or taking it off at the time of the crash, and perhaps got her neck caught in it. The whiplash would have been enough to asphyxiate her. Though this too does not stand with her being found outside of the vehicle, her cuts do. Bella’s family, however, was instant of recovering her body, and her older brother claimed her.

The Chestnut Hill Cemetery lies behind the Baptist Church and is often called the Baptist Cemetery, or the Historic Baptist Cemetery.The minister on duty, a middle aged man Rev. Sam Vernon, was glad to show the hunters around and to the “famous, late, and great” Mercy Brown and recount the story of what happened.

He gave the straight dope on the family having TB and, sadly, how many graves were desecrated in a vampire craze from rural folks who didn’t know what was causing all the illness.

“Vampirism, you see, is just an illness, albeit a virulent one. It always has been. It’s one borne of hysteria and fear, but also used to explain disease and death. Even when you have these... hollywood vampires, they are truly ill. Psychologically traumatized, incurable, near death, pale and wasted away. Humans used vampire myths to explain the disease around them. It gave them something that could be solved and cure. But not for the Browns. Certainly not for Mercy. There was no Mercy for her. God rest their souls.” Vernon willingly poked his head out at night to advise the hunters, somewhat with jollity, not to disturb the graves unless they want an encounter with Mercy directly. Otherwise he won’t speak about her ghost unless asked directly.

Ciaran called up Mercy Lena Brown would reveal a pretty teenager that looks wholly flesh and blood. It was helpful that there were two girls there, including a dead one for her to take more kindly to them. She’ll nudge hunters not to step on graves and will prevent anyone from exhuming any grave in the cemetery. She’s somewhat tied to Exeter, and in her words, she “works most of Rhode Island” so she can “take some personal interest in my home town.”

Which is a much better alternative than going to Purgatory. Because of how she died, she got an offer for a new occupation and existence as a Reaper. When the hunters put on their best behavior, they smelled roses and she’ll be willing to converse with Ainé or Amanda. She is somewhat annoyed with male hunters, who she sees as the problem for “not getting the right mark.” (She found Magnum particularly loathsome, but Ciaran alright.) She told her story after being calmed and plied gently. And also hinted that the vampire who turned her father is still in town. She can’t wait to reap him herself.

Death considers that to be wonderfully good karma.

The hunters did their research on Mercy and Purgatory Road:

Investigating the history of Purgatory Road will lead to the Peckham Holocaust.

The Peckham Holocaust will lead to Capt Reynolds, and dirt on him will bring up Brown’s demise and a connection to Peckham.

Reynolds has a Remington connection. At the historical society there is a relevant journal entry (handout)

Hunters can do research from various sources as needed. They can get lore on:

Mercy: Historical Society or Online or in person

Reynolds: Some from Historical Society, most from other hunters

Vampires: John’s Journal

Burials: Agatha’s Book of Shadow

Peckham Holocaust at the Poor Farm: Historical Society, some from Hunters

In town, the hunters will hear rumors of townspeople seeing the ghost of Bella now too. Arthur has taken in Bella and is hiding her at the Peckham farm.

Some will start to report seeing the ghost of Bella along Purgatory Road. Truth is, poor Bella is in shock and is trying to understand her new unlife. In grief for Elenna, her best friend, she returns to the crash site and leave flowers and even goes to her own candlelight vigil at Pilgrim High School. At the vigil, the hunters spot her with Arianne and Arthur Peckham. Bella flees. They confront the vampiric siblings, who confess and give intel on how Peckham has been holding them in his sway for ever and they wish to be free and Peckham taken down. The hunters let the two go, but not after a tender scene between Arthur and Amanda. The siblings hint that they may go south, to Florida, or at least drive as far as they can that night and keep driving the next to start a new life.

The hunters must assault the Peckham farm to take out the nest Peckham has created there. The farmhouse is put to siege and when the vampires fail to exit, put to the torch. Peckham, Wendy, and Bella go down in an inferno, heads taken when they come screaming from the wreckage.

Hook for Next Episode

The hunters will get a call from Chuck. Seems Officer Michael White from Fort Douglas is trying to get a hold of them.

White will tell them that Father MacManus is dead, and he thinks it was “the same thing” that they wrestled with before. He’s skirting around the supernatural - he doesn’t really know how to put it in words. He found sulfur and a visitor that came in town got really sick like Chief Ryan did when he was possessed and is now as dead as MacManus.

He says the altar’s all smashed up, and the young priest seems to by hiding what’s missing, like he’s afraid of saying what they had - and just as afraid to tell the Church hierarchy. “I can’t get him to open up. Maybe... could you... talk to him? Find out what happened?”

Hunters should remember that MacManus said they had the cross of St. Martha, much as other churches had relics from the old French cathedral as well.