Sam has been checking up on their contacts - Caleb, Jefferson, Pastor Jim - to see if John (Sam and Dean’s missing father) has been in touch. While Sam and Dean argue about John's whereabouts, Dean receives a text message from him containing coordinates. The boys travel to Rockford and speak to Daniel Gunderson about his partner's death. Gunderson tells them that his partner chased the kids into the south wing of the asylum.

They find a reference in John's journal to kids who disappeared from the south wing in 1972. After a brief visit to the asylum, Sam and Dean track down a psychiatrist, James Ellicott, whose father, Sanford Ellicott, was the Chief of Staff at the asylum. Sam poses as a patient and finds out from Dr. Ellicott that the south wing housed the criminally insane. He learns that in 1964 the patients rioted, killing the senior Dr. Ellicott, whose body was never found.

The boys return to the asylum, where they shoot an innocent ghost lady and also discover Kat, who has been separated from her boyfriend Gavin. She insists on helping the boys find Gavin, and she goes with Dean while Sam goes off on his own. Sam finds a terrified Gavin who says that a ghost kissed him and tried to whisper something to him.

Meanwhile, Kat is trapped in a room with a ghost, and Dean is unable to open the door. When Sam arrives he works out that it's trying to communicate with her, not hurt her. It whispers "One thirty-seven" to her before it leaves, which the boys deduce is a room number.

While Dean goes to find the room, Sam tries to lead the kids out, but finds they are trapped. He leaves Kat with a shotgun to protect them, and responds to a phone call he thinks is from Dean. Sam doesn't find Dean, but is found by Dr. Ellicott, who uses his powers on Sam.