Ghostly Problem Sleuthing [Oswin]

[dean]

Ghost cases sucked. Really, was there anything worse than having to kill a creepy, flying thing that you couldn't hurt and has a buttload of powers? Still, it wasn't like ghosts weren't normal to see. Dean knew that there was probably going to be a ghost somewhere around wherever he went. The things were just so damn common because wherever you went, someone died there. Dean's current case was some creepy old house that was abandoned a little while back. The family that lived there was two parents and a kid. From what he knew, the kid was getting attacked by the ghost. That wasn't really too rare, ghosts usually haunted just one person from the family that lived in their house. Apparently, the ghost also hated the parents or something. Sounded like your typical ghost.

Dean parked the Impala outside the house and got out of his car. After taking a look around, he decided that it pretty much looked like a normal house. He couldn't see much because it was the middle of the night, but there wasn't anything too creepy about the place. Besides, y'know, the creepy-ass ghost that was haunting the place. Dean walked up to the house and quickly picked the lock. Breaking in less quietly would probably wake up the whole damn town and alert the police. Dean opened the door and walked in. The place looked pretty normal, but kinda old. There was dust all over everything. Everything was left there too, like the family was afraid to take anything from the house. What kind of stuff could have been going on here?

The sound of a picture flying off of a shelf and clattering to the ground startled Dean, who turned around and pointed his flashlight at the picture. For just a second he could swear he saw something in the windows as he turned. Damn, this was already getting freaky. Dean reached down and picked up the picture. It showed a happy family of three - a mom, a dad and a young daughter. Dean put the picture back on the shelf and looked around the room with his flashlight. As he was doing that, Dean heard something coming from outside. Dean looked out the window to see someone approaching the house. What the hell? As a precaution, Dean pulled out the rock salt-loaded shotgun he'd brought with him and waited for whoever it was to get into the house.

[Oswin Oswald]

You'd be surprised at just how many cases of paranormal activity turned out to just be some kind of alien messing with people. And, while Oswin was a little dubious at Jack's decision to send across the ocean to work on this one alone (he could have at least come with her and helped her take advantage of the empty hotel room~), she wasn't going to pass up something like this. Checking these things helped to alleviate her longing to return to the TARDIS and see the Doctor again. Torchwood didn't normally cover cases of alien activity in America, but this one had been interesting enough for Jack to take on.

So, after dropping her things off at the hotel she would be staying at for the next few days, Oswin had headed towards the house that everything was centered around. When she arrived, night was falling and the streetlamps had turned on to light her path to the house.

Oddly enough, there was a car parked in front of it, something she hadn't been expecting. For a split second, Oswin could have sworn she saw a flash of light in one of the downstairs windows, as if someone was shining a flashlight around.

Immediately, she went to the utility belt around her waist, a substitute for the one she'd left on the TARDIS when the spell had pulled her into the Enchanted Forest. What she palmed wasn't a gun, but a a small device that would stun anyone it touched. At her refusal to carry a gun, Jack had given the device to Oswin so that she wouldn't be defenseless.

Walking up the drive, Oswin kept her gaze on the window, trying to see if there were any signs of life inside. Or, un-life, but Oswin was still skeptical about the existence of ghosts. Aliens and monsters, sure. But ghosts? She had let to see any ghost that didn't have some kind of influence behind it, alien or otherwise. Quietly and once she reached it, Oswin opened the unlocked door. Funny, she thought she'd have to climb in through a window or something like that. Well. All the better for her really. Climbing through windows was hard work.

The inside of the house was dark and dusty, but really, that was nothing compared to coming face to face with another person. Oswin blinked, looking the man up and down. Her gaze lingered briefly on the shotgun in his hand before moving up to his face. "You're not the ghost, are you?" Oswin gave him a faint smirk, having discerned that he wasn't about to be using that gun against her.