“Are you sure this is going to work?”

For some reason, as Charlie stood in front of the mirror, she still felt a bit disturbed. Logic said she would be fine, and Jessica would be beside her to protect her, but the human nature to avoid danger still screamed at her to get the hell out of where the mirror was. 

“Yeah...should be fine…” Jessica eyed the fear on Charlie’s face and knew her uncertain tone definitely wasn’t helping. “I mean...no problem! The moment that ghost comes out is the moment she dies!”

I mean...what can possibly go wrong? A drop of Killian’s energy was enough to fend the ghost off. I have the full backing of Killian! I can kill that thing with ease!

“Ok…” Charlie grinned slightly. She opened her mouth again, moving to a different topic. “So, private investigator? I thought you’d be something like supernatural mercenary-for-hire.”

“Yeah, I considered something like that. Hunter-for-hire or something, but that feels a bit weird.” Jessica shrugged. “Who knows. I’m just getting started here...wait! I sense something!” 

The mirror in front of Jessica and Charlie started to flicker, and all of a sudden, Charlie reflection smiled. 

Beside Jessica, Charlie’s face was as straight as a ruler. 

“Here we go…” Red energy formed across Jessica’s arms. 

The reflection in the mirror started walking, as if it was coming out of the mirror. Charlie felt her body shake, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move an inch. 

Suddenly, a figure moved between her and the mirror, and all the influence the thing in the mirror had on her melted away. 

“Finally!” Jessica smiled before reaching her hand out with crimson energy all over her reach. Just like that, she punched straight through the bathroom mirror. 

Before the spirit could move, it realized crimson energy has taken up position all across the mirror. The moment it was broken, the energy swept in and ran across the shattered glass shards, extracting black and grey shadows from their material attachments. 

Finally, a girl with dirty dark hair was standing in front of Jessica. Her feet were bare, and her skin was pale. If it wasn’t for the crimson energy that has imprisoned her, Jessica would be at least a little scared. 

Mary Worthington. She was 19 when someone murdered her and cut her eyes out. She died in front of a mirror, but her spirit wasn’t laid to rest. Instead, it became Bloody Mary, an entity capable of traveling across mirrors and glass surfaces. 

Behind her, Charlie took a breath of relief. At last, after two casualties, this nightmare would be over. 

“Hmmm…” Jessica frowned as she observed the spirit. Even now, imprisoned, she was acting a little weird. “she seems to be coming after you alone. She’s really not interested in me. I wonder why.” 

“It doesn’t matter!” Charlie urged. “Just take care of her!” 

Jessica nodded. She was about to deliver the killing blow when Killian suddenly took control of the body. This was something he did to all the monsters. He wanted to check out if they had any value to him. 

This time, that was a deadly mistake. 

As soon as Killian took over, Bloody Mary’s attention immediately turned from Charlie to him. 

“Killian...you are guilty. Your people...your weakness killed them all!” 

Killian, not Jessica. 

Killian froze. 

Two trails of blood flowed out of his eyes. 

Warning bells echoed through Killian’s head. This wasn’t just a random ghost! Hell no! This was something much weirder. He tried to focus his powers, but Bloody Mary’s words were like nails pushed into his brain, piercing through whatever focus he had. 

“How’d you…how’d you know...”

Bloody Mary’s shape started shifting. It twisted and turned and it became someone familiar. 

Killian himself.  

“When the Protector Corps invaded your world, when legions of Voyagers stormed your people’s fortress, where were you? When fleets of Supplicant battleships wiped out your people’s garrisons, where were you? When a thousand worlds were wiped off of the surface of the Infinite Realms, where were you?”

“You have pledged your life to the defense of your people, but when the end was near, you weren’t there! You killed them all!” 

Every word was like an arrow that went through Killian’s heart. His head felt like it was going to explode. For a moment, end was near, but Killian was far from a defenseless victim. No. He was a warrior, and this was hardly the worst he has faced. 

“I have my regrets…” Killian growled lowly before suddenly holding his right hand out. “but it was the Protectors that betrayed us. It was the Protectors that brought the end to my people!”

As that declaration landed, crimson energy flowed out of Jessica’s body as if it was on sale. They closed in onto Killian’s hand, slowly solidifying into a weapon. First, a long stick was warped into existence. And then, the top of the stick started shifting until the weapon became a halberd. 

“Also, who are you to judge me?”

Suddenly, Killian struck his weapon forward with all the fury in the world. Even the spirit couldn’t help but take a step back as rogue energy circled around the room. Countless zapping sounds exploded throughout the room. It was the sound of space itself being torn apart. Furniture. Beds. At certain spots were space was ripped open, even the air in the sky would be severed.

A wave of mini-explosions later, the bed Jessica was sleeping on severed to a dozen pieces. Parts of the bed were just erased from existence when the area they occupied literally disappeared. 

Just as Bloody Mary braced for impact, Killian’s halberd slashed across in front of him, and a slither was opened up in the very existence of space. 

The next moment, both Killian and Charlie were gone. 

Bloody Mary scanned the room before disappearing back into the mirror. 

Several minutes later, several hotel staffers, alerted by the noise, charged into the wrecked room. 

They had no idea what just happened. 

---

In a desert in Nevada, over 2,000 miles away from the hotel in Ohio, two figures collapsed into existence. Before Charlie could say anything, Killian tapped her on the head and knocked her out.

“Killian! What the hell just happened?” Jessica was back in control of the body, and she didn't exactly expect to be in a desert, all of a sudden. “Wait, are you injured?”

“That thing back there, Bloody Mary.” Killian’s voice was quiet and slow. It was obvious he was trying hard to recover. “She’s more than just a spirit.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how.” Killian was deep in thoughts. “But I think she was given a special attribute.” 

“What?”

“Basically, attributes are qualities that things have.” Killian did his best to explain. “For example, water. Water is a liquid. It can be turned to ice or water vapor based on different temperatures. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. These are all attributes.” 

“Ok…” Jessica nodded. 

“But the problem is, extremely powerful beings, they can manipulate attributes.” Killian continued quietly. “I have heard of people who could change or add or remove attributes with a single sentence. Can you imagine that?”

“Wait...what do you mean?” 

“If someone at that caliber says 1 + 1 = 3, then that is true. That is the truth that everything else in that world has to follow.” Killian’s voice, despite still being weak, was getting a little excited. “It doesn’t matter if that doesn’t make sense by human interpretations. That will be true.” 

“Oh my god…” Jessica remembered Bloody Mary. “so is Bloody Mary one of those individuals?”

“Of course not.” Killian shrugged. “Entities like that are on the top of the food chain in the Infinite Realms. They are either friends of the Protectors or they are their prisoners. Bloody Mary...I think someone assigned a special attribute to her.”

“You have to be more specific, Kil.” 

“I think someone assigned this attribute to her: she will strike down anyone she sees who feels guilty about someone’s death. Anyone. It doesn’t matter if it’s a defenseless human like her,” 

Killian gestured to Charlie, who was lying on the ground. 

“or a being like me. It doesn’t matter. Anyone who matches the criteria will be hunted down. Unless you are stronger than the being who issued this attribute, you can’t really fight back or break free by force. That’s why she didn't attack you: you didn't feel guilty about killing someone!”

Killian was powerful, but he was a long way off from the peak of the Infinite Realms. He should be proud of himself just for being able to escape.  

“But you protected Charlie. You resisted Bloody Mary.”

“These attributes are probably based on some numbers. It’s not an instant kill. Bloody Mary talked about guilt, so the intensity of the attacks are likely related to the guilt people are feeling. I don’t know what Charlie did, but I…” He trailed off at the end. “let’s just say it’s more than anything Charlie did.”  

“That sounds really overpowered.” Jessica complained. She could feel her friend in pain, and she wisely changed the topic back to the present time. 

“So how do we kill it? This Bloody Mary is really, really getting on my nerves.”

Twice. Twice! This was the second time she was embarrassed by this Bloody Mary! First time, she didn't even show up. Now that she did show up, she was suddenly this powerful! 

“Not by force. That’s for sure.” Killian frowned. “But these attributes are far from perfect. I remember there was a Supplicant Legion fighting for the Protectors. I think they’re all given the attributes of immortality, but someone managed to seal the entire Legion with magic. Just because you literally can’t die doesn’t mean you can’t be imprisoned until the end of time.”

“Well, can you trap her?”

“Probably not. I know a few seals but it’s gonna take a while, and I have to face her.”

“Hmmm…” Jessica started thinking. Suddenly, she had an idea. “wait...do the owners of the attributes get to control them?”

“What?”

“I mean...are these attributes like abilities in games where the users get to turn on and off when they need to?”

“No! Do water get to decide what degree they boil?”

“Well, in that case…” Jessica suddenly smiled. “I have an idea…”

She stood there for a moment and nothing happened. “Well, do the thing. Open the portal and bring us back!”

“Not until you actually tell me what the plan is.” Killian wanted to face-palm. “Eluding to having a plan isn’t enough, Jess.” 

What is this? A book? You don’t just get to trail off with three dots and expect the others to be fine with it!

“Fine!” Jessica growled before actually explaining her plan. 

---

“Bloody Mary. Bloody...Never mind.” 

In another hotel room that he paid for with some of the 400 bucks Charlie paid, Killian shrugged as he watched the familiar figure of himself solidify in the mirror in front of him. 

“Killian...you are guilty…” 

Immediately, Killian felt blood dripping down from his eyes again. This time, he simply started taking steps back, away from the mirror. Bloody Mary wasn’t about to let him go that easily. She crawled out of the mirror like a snake and pursued after Killian. 

That was what Killian was waiting for. 

He waved his hand, and a mirror suddenly flew in from the side. He positioned it perfectly so Bloody Mary could see her own reflection. 

“That’s the problem with attributes.” He said quietly. “Chances are, they are as deadly to you as they are to others.” 

Bloody Mary froze. Her attribute was simple. Those that saw her would be attacked by her if they felt guilty of someone’s death. The more guilty the victims felt, the more powerful Bloody Mary grew. That was how she beat up Killian with ease. 

But now, she saw herself. This attribute also applied to herself. Did she felt guilty? Of course. She killed Mr. Shoemaker. She killed Jill. Their deaths were by her hands, and according to the attribute, she had to be punished. 

Like Killian said, attributes weren’t something you could just turn on or turn off whenever you wanted. This was the idea Jessica came up with. Killian had to admit it was smart. He probably could’ve thought of it on his own, but not as quickly. 

Bloody Mary screeched in agony. Blood dripped out of her eyes like two narrow red streams. The reflection in the mirror, her own reflection, watched coldly as Blood Mary collapsed and died. 

The nightmare was finally over. 

---

“Thank you! You have no idea how glad I am! I know what I paid you isn’t a lot. If you need any more cash, I can get them to you.”

A few hours later, Jessica was accepting Charlie’s gratitude. 

Charlie observed the first battle between Killian and Bloody Mary. As a result, she knew a little too much about who Killian was, so when it was all over, Killian altered her memories a little. He made she feel like the process went down as planned: Jessica caught and destroyed the foul spirit during the first engagement. 

It was for her own protection. Really! Otherwise, Killian would have to come back during the night and silence her forever, just to be safe. He was protecting her from himself. 

“No thank you. What you paid me is more than enough to last me until the next job.” Jessica replied politely. Charlie was just a high school student. Those 400 bucks were probably her life savings. Jessica wasn’t that short on money. 

After some farewell, Jessica got back onto her black Toyota. 

“So, do you feel like going back to Stanford?”

“Me?” Killian shrugged. “Not really. Never liked the campus.” 

“Hmmm…then let’s keep moving.” Jessica stretched her neck before moving to start the car. 

Meanwhile, in Jessica and Sam’s dorm room back in Stanford, the two Winchesters sat side by side on the sofa. 

“So...still no news on Jess?”

“Nope.”

“Oh…”