THE TULPA

[ ☼ ]

am exits and comes down the stairs as Dean and Elena approach. "Hey." He says.

"Hey. What you got?" Dean asks.

"Well I couldn't find a Mordechai but I did find a Martin Murdock who lived in that house in the '30s. He did have children but only two of them, both boys and there's no evidence he ever killed anyone." Sam says.

"Huh." Dean says.

"What about you?" Sam asks. They have reached the Impala and stand talking over the top of it.

"Well those kids didn't really give us a clear description of that dead girl but I did hit up the police station. No matching missing persons, it's like she never existed." Dean says. "Dude come on, we did our digging, this one's a bust all right. For all we know those hell hound boys made up the whole thing."

"Yeah all right." Sam says.

"I say we find ourself a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals." Dean gets into the car. Sam leans down, smiling, to look in the window. Dean turns the key in the ignition. South American music blasts from the speakers, the wipers turn on and Dean rears back. "WHOA! What the..."

He quickly reaches to turn everything off. Sam gets in, laughing. He licks his finger and marks an imaginary '1' in the air then points to himself.

Dean gives him a dirty look. "That's all you got? Sweet. That is bush league." Elena also gets into the car and shakes her head. The impala pulls away.

[ ☾]

wo girls and a guy approach the house. "This is it. The point of no return." The guy says.

"Why do I have to go in there?" Girl One asks.

"Because Jill you chose dare. You either have to grab a jar from Mordechai's cellar and bring it back or..." Girl two says.

"...or you can make out with me." The guy says.

Jill gives them both a dirty look. "I'll take the homicidal ghost, thanks." She turns on her torch and slowly approaches the house, leaving the other two behind.

"Would you ever take that dare?" The Guy asks Girl Two.

"Hell no!"

Jill cautiously moves inside. There is a noise like knives being sharpened. "Hello? Hello? Is there anybody there?" She asks.

She makes her way to the cellar, looks around and moves toward the jars. One falls and she jumps back, panicked. "Ok. ok ok ok."

She turns and sees Mordechai. He throws a rope around her neck and she screams and keeps screaming as she is hoisted in the air.

mergency vehicles and men move around. The girl's body is bought out on a stretcher. Dean and Sam approach a man standing outside. "What happened?" Elena asks.

"A coupla cops say a girl hung herself in the house." A man says.

"Suicide?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. She was a straight A student, with a full ride to UT too. It just don't make sense." He walks away.

"Whaddaya think?" Sam asks them.

"I think maybe we missed something." Dean says.

Later that night, A police car is parked outside, two cops stand around. Sam, Elena and Dean crouch in the bushes. "I guess the cops don't want anyone else screwing around in there." Sam says.

"Yeah but we still gotta get in there." Dean says.

Elena hears whispers and peaks from their hiding place. "I don't believe it." She says.

Sam spins to look. Ed and Harry are approaching: hunched over, wearing all sorts of gadgets, whispering and shh-ing each other. "I got an idea." Dean says. He rises slightly, turns towards the cops and cups a hand to his mouth. "Who ya gunna call!"

"Wha...huh?" Ed and Harry say.

"Hey you!" One Cop yells.

There is a muddled mixture of voices. "Freeze. Run! Come on! Get back here. Hey!"

The cops chase Ed and Harry back down the path. Laughing, Sam, Elena and Dean make a break for the house.

Once inside Sam breaks out the rifles, handing one to Dean. Dean turns on a flashlight. "Where have I seen that symbol before? It's killing me!" Dean yells.

"Come on, we don't have much time." Sam says. They go down to the basement and look around.

Dean spies the jars and picks one up for a closer look. The pale red liquid sloshes around inside. "Hey Sam. I dare you to take a swig of this." He says.

"What the hell would I do that for?" Sam asks.

"...I double dare you." Dean says.

Sam just shakes his head, looking away. Dean grins. A noise has them both on alert and they move toward the cabinet. At Dean's nod Sam opens the door. Rats squeak and run from the torchlight.

"Arghh! I hate rats." Dean lifts his feet.

"You'd rather it was a ghost?" Elena asks.

"Yes."

Behind Sam's head we can see Mordechai has appeared. Sam and Dean realise at the same time and swing around to see Mordechai raising an axe above his head. Sam shoots him twice but he's still there. Dean shoots him again and he mists away.

"What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" Sam asks.

"I dunno. Come on. Come on come on!" Dean yells.

As they run toward the stairs Mordechai smashes his axe down, catching the shelves and bringing the jars crashing down on Dean and Elena.

Mordecai and Sam begin fighting. "Go! Get outta here!" Sam yells. Mordecai smashes the electrical box and sparks fly everywhere. Sam, Elena and Dean bolt for the door. Outside, Ed and Harry creep back toward the house.

Harry raises his night vision goggles. "Maybe we should just get out of here." He says.

"No. Would John Edward go? We've lost the cops, let's find our centre and get some work done. Ok? All right?" Ed says.

As they approach the porch, camera raised, Sam, Elena and Dean burst out. They fall through the emergency tape and roll down the steps, spring immediately to their feet and keep running.

"Get that damn thing outta my face." Dean says.

"Go go go!" Sam yells. Ed and Harry are still facing the door and see Mordechai lurk.

"Sweet Lord..." Ed drones.

"...of the rings." Harry finishes. "RUN! GO GO GO" They turn to flee...and run straight into the arms of the cops. "Look, there's a...look. There's a man over there...I saw...where'd he go?"

The Cops grab their collars. "Boys come on." He says.

n the Motel Room, Dean is sitting on the bed drawing the symbol. Sam and Elena are researching. "What the hell is this symbol? It's buggin' the hell outta me. This whole damn job's buggin' me. I thought the legend said Mordechai only goes after chicks." Dean says.

"It does."

"All right. Well that explains why he went after you but why me?" Dean asks.

"Hilarious! The legend also says he hung himself but did you see those slit wrists?" Sam asks.

"Yeah."

"What's up with that? And the axe too. I mean, ghosts are usually pretty strict right? Following the Same patterns over and over again?" Sam asks.

"But this mook keeps changing." Dean says.

Sam clicks away on his laptop "Exactly. I'm telling ya, the way the story goes...wait a minute." He says.

"What?" Elena asks and looks closer at the computer.

"Someone added a new post to the Hell Hound site. Listen to this. 'They say Mordechai Murdock was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an axe before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity." Sam reads.

Still staring at the symbol he has drawn, Dean suddenly sits straight up. "Where the hell is this going?" Elena asks.

"I don't know but I think I might have just figured out where it all started." Dean says.

[ ☼ ]

raig is sitting at the counter looking depressed. "Hey Craig? Remember us?" Dean asks as they walk in.

"Guys, look I'm really not in the mood to answer any of your questions ok?" Craig says.

"Oh don't worry. We're just here to buy an album, that's all." Dean says Dean flicks through and picks up an album.

He turns to Sam as they approach the counter. "You know I couldn't figure out what that symbol was and then I realised that it doesn't mean anything. It's the logo for the Blue Oyster Cult. Tell me Craig, You into BOC? Or just sacring the hell outta people? Know why don't you tell us about that house...without lying through your ass this time."

Craig sighs. "All right, um. My cousin Dana was on break from TCU. I guess we were just bored, looking for something to do. So I showed her this abandoned dump I found. We thought it would be funny if we made it look like it was haunted. So we painted symbols on the wall, some from albums, some from some of Dana's theology textbooks. Then we found out this guy Murdock used to live there so...we made up some story to go along with that. So they told people, who told other people. And then these two guys put it on their stupid website. Everything just took on a life of it's own. I mean I thought it was funny at first but...that girl's dead! It was just a joke, you know. I mean, none of it was real, we just made the whole thing up. I swear!"

Sam speaks softly. "All right." Sam and Dean turn to leave.

"If none of it was real how the hell do you explain Mordechai?" Dean asks.

n the Motel Room, Sounds of the shower running. Dean enters and walks over to Sam's bed, lifting a packet labelled 'Itching Powder". Elena was fast asleep on the bed and Dean had no other option than to prank his brother.

"Hey, I'm back." Dean yells to

Sam.

Sam speaks from inside the shower. "Hey, where were you?" He asks.

"Oh, I went out." Dean picks up Sam's underwear from the bed and shakes the content of the packet onto it.

"So I think I might have a theory about what's going on." Sam says.

Dean still shakes the powder into the underwear. "Oh yeah?" He asks.

"What if Mordechai is a Tulpa?" Sam asks.

"Tulpa?" Dean asks.

Sam emerges from the bathroom. "Yeah, a Tibetan thought form." He says.

Dean swings around hastily. "Ahh, yeah, I know what a Tulpa is. Hey why don't you get dressed, I wanna go grab something to eat." Dean enters the bathroom, smiling at Sam as he closes the door. Sam watches then turns to pick up his underwear.

[ ☼ ]

server comes around with a tray of coffees. "There you go lady and gents."

Elena takes their three coffees. "Thank you."

They make their way to a table, Sam grimacing and adjusting his jeans. "Dude what's your problem?" Dean asks.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Sam says.

"Yeah?" Dean asks.

"Yeah."

"So, ahhh, all right keep going. What about these Tulpas?" Dean says.

"Ok, so there was this incident in Tibet in 1915. Group of monks visualised a golem in their head. The meditated on it so hard they bought the thing to life. Outta thin air." Sam says.

Elena takes a sip of her coffee. "So?" She says.

"That was 20 monks. Imagine what 10,000 web surfers could do. I mean Craig starts the story about Mordechai, then it spreads, goes online. Now there are countless people all believing in the bastard." Sam points out.

"Now wait a second. Are you trying to tell me that just because people believe in Mordechai he's real?" Dean asks.

"I dunno, maybe."

"People believe in Santa Claus, how come I'm not getting hooked up every christmas?" Dean asks.

"Cause you're a bad person. And because of this..." Sam turns his laptop, showing Dean a photo of one of the Hell House symbols. "That's a Tibetan spirit sigil. On the wall of the house. Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet they painted this, not even knowing what it was. Now that sigil has been used for centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So people are on the Hell Hounds website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai...I mean I don't know, but it might be enough to bring a Tulpa to life."

"It would explain why he keeps changing." Elena says.

Sam grimaces and starts adjusting himself again. "Right, as the legend changes, people think different things, so the legend itself changes. Like a game of telephone. That would also explain why the rock salt didn't work." He says.

"Yeah because he's not a traditional spirit." Dean says.

Sam still fidgets. "Yeah." He says.

"Ok. So why don't we just...uhh. get this spirit sigil thingie off the wall and off the website?" Dean asks.

"Well it's not that simple. You see, once Tupla's are created they take on a life of their own." Sam says.

"Great. So if he really is a thought form how the hell are we supposed to kill an idea?" Dean asks.

Sam is still itching and adjusting. "Well it's not gunna be easy with these guys helping us. Check out their home page." Sam shows Dean footage from the previous night. "Since they've posted the footage their number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone."

"Hmph. I got an idea. Come on." Dean says.

"Where we going?" Elena asks.

"We gotta find a copy store." They rise to go.

Sam is itching and jiggling. "Man, I think I'm allergic to our soap or something." He says. Dean laughs as he walks away. "You did this?"Dean continues laughing. "You're a friggin jerk!"

"Oh yeah." Dean says.

[ ☼ ]

Ed and Harry sit in a trailer with all their equipment. "No. No no, forget it. Forget it! I'm not going back in there again." Harry yells.

"Harry. Look at me. Right here. Ok? You are a ghost hunter, ok?" Ed says.

"I know but I've never seen a real ghost before Ed, like a real ghost, an apparition!" Harry yells.

"This stuff here...this is our ticket to the big time right here. Fame, money, sex. With girls. K? Be brave. WWBD. What. Would. Buffy. Do. huh?" Ed asks.

Harry whispers. "What would Buffy do. But Ed, she's stronger than me." He says.

"It's ok."

There is a pounding on the door. Harry jumps a foot in the air and squeals. "Who is it!" He yells.

"Come on out here guys, we hear you in there." Dean says.

"It's them!" Ed yells. They stick their heads out the door.

"Ah, would you look at that! Action figures in their original packaging, what a shock." Dean says.

"Guys, we need to talk." Elena says to the boys.

"Yeah, um, sorry guys...and girl. We're ahhh, a little bit busy right now." Ed says.

"Ok well we'll make it quick. We need you to shut down your website." Dean says.

Ed begins laughing. "Well these guys got us busted last night, spent the night in a holding cell..." He says.

"I had to pee in that cell urinal. In front of people. And I get stage fright." Harry says.

"Why should we trust you guys?" Ed asks.

"Look guys. We all know what we saw last night, what's in that house. But now thanks to your website there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai." Sam says.

"That's right which means people are gunna keep showing up at the Hell House, running into him in person, somebody could get hurt." Dean says.

"Yeah, yeah..." Ed says nonchalantly.

"Ed maybe he's got a point, maybe..." Harry starts.

"Nope..." Ed says.

"No." Harry says finally.

"We have an obligation to our fans, to the truth." Ed says.

Dean all but loses it. "Well I have an obligation to kick both your little asses right now." He says.

"Dean, Dean, it's ok." Sam says to Dean, then he turns to Ed and Harry. "Hey, just forget it, all right? These guys...probably bitch slap them both, I could probably even tell them that thing about Mordechai...but they still won't help us. Let's just go.""

"Whoa.. whoa..." Ed and Harry say at the same time.

"Yeah, you're right." Dean agrees.

Sam and Dean start to walk away, Ed and Harry trailing behind. "What you say about...?" Ed asks.

"Hang on a second here." Harry says.

"Wait...wait." Ed says.

"What thing about Mordechai you guys?" Harry asks.

"Don't tell 'em Sam." Dean says.

"But if they agree to shut the website down Dean." Sam says.

"They're not going to do it, you said so yourself." Elena says.

"No wait. Wait. Don't listen to him ok? We'll do it. We'll do it." Ed says.

"It's a secret Sam." Dean says.

Sam looks at Ed and Harry. "Look, it is a really big deal all right. And it wasn't easy to dig up. So only if we have your word that you'll shut everything down." He says.

"Totally." Ed says.

"All right."

Dean hands them some paperwork. "It's a death certificate. From the '30s. We got it at the library. Now according to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gun shot wound." Sam says.

"That's right he didn't hang or cut himself." Dean says.

"He shot himself?" Ed asks.

"Yep. With a .45 pistol. To this day they say he's terrified of them." Elena says.

"Matter of fact they say if you shoot him with a .45, loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds it'd kill the son of a bitch." Dean says. Ed and Harry snigger gleefully. Ed spins and bolts back toward the trailer, Ed follows more slowly.

"Harry. Slow your roll buddy. They're gunna know we're excited." Ed says.