"You're scared. It's okay, I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom - I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe... your dad wants you to be brave, too."

That had been six years ago. Lucas had only been ten then, and he'd thought that Dean was amazing. Come on, he wore a leather jacket, drove an impala, listened to rock music and hunted ghosts for a living. To a ten year old kid, that made him, like, the coolest guy ever.

And he'd sort of… known things. When Lucas's dad had been taken, he'd seen the boy in the lake. And it wasn't just that. He'd seen the two older kids drowning the boy. He'd seen the boy dying, and his mother grieving, and the furious spirit plotting its revenge. He'd even seen the people who the boy took after his father. Of course, he wanted to tell someone, but who would listen? Who would believe him? He was just a little kid who'd been through a lot. He was probably imagining things; he was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress. And so, instead, he drew. He drew the boy, and his bike, and his house.

Then, along had come Dean, and he hadn't even had to show him the pictures at first. Dean had just come up to him and the park and sort of… known what had happened. He hadn't been dismissing, like the police, or patronising, like the therapist his mum had sent him too. Even his mum hadn't really understood what he'd been through. But Dean – he had seen bad stuff happen too. He'd lost his mum. And if Dean had been through that and still turned out really cool, then so could he.

So he had helped Dean.

Then, when Lucas had seen the boy trying to take his mum, he had panicked. Dean and his brother were gone. He'd seen them drive off, engine revving and rock music blaring. But then, in his hour of need, there'd been a knocking – well, more like a hammering – on the door, and there had been Dean.

When the boy had taken him into the lake, it had been Dean who'd saved him. Afterwards, his mum had told him how his grandfather had given up himself to save him, but he wasn't all that grateful. He'd seen his granddad kill that boy as a kid. It was ruthless and cruel. He deserved it. And, when he was descending into blackness, water filling his lungs, and his heart pummeling in his ears, it hadn't been his granddad's face that had appeared in the darkness, had it? It hadn't been his granddad's strong arms that had wrapped around him, pulling him away from the blackness and towards the light. It had been Dean.

He'd remembered Dean ever since. He'd saved his life. He'd saved his mum. And, after that, he'd always wondered about Dean's job. If there were angry dead boys in lakes, seeking revenge on his killers, then surely there were other things out there too?

Lucas had become a bit of a supernatural geek after that. He'd read up on myths and lore. It had started out just looking on Wikipedia, but sooner or later, he had found his way into more serious sites – ones with information on dark stuff, weird stuff. He'd found books too, at the back of his local library. His mum had worried about this hobby, of course, but she didn't stop him. She knew what was out there too, now.

Then, four weeks after Lucas's sixteenth birthday, it happened.

He'd been coming home from school, his rucksack slung casually over his leather-jacketed shoulder, headphones on, his best mates, Shane and Ewan, slightly ahead of him.

"Hey Lucas!" Shane called over his shoulder, "Come out of those headphones!"

Reluctantly, Lucas pulled his headphones off and looked at his friends. Ewan laughed.

"What're you listening to? More Zeppelin?"

Lucas gave his friend a sharp look, but there was a laugh in his eyes.

"Hey!" he protested with a grin, "Zeppelin rules!"

Shane shrugged. 'Whatever. Look, you up for going out on Friday? Michael Paterson's parents are out of town – he's got an empty house!"

"Uh…"

"Oh, come on, Luke, it'll be a laugh!" Ewan pleaded, "You haven't been out in weeks! It's never the same without you!"

Lucas sighed. Michael Paterson really did know how to throw a party, and it would be a laugh, but…

"Sorry guys, it's my mum's birthday," he said reluctantly, "Promised her we could go out for a meal. You know how it is, since my granddad dies, it's just been the two of us. I really don't want to leave her alone."

Shane and Ewan exchanged grins. Lucas shuddered. He knew what his friends thought of his mum, and it creeped him out big time.

"Hey, Luke, we get it," Shane said, clapping his friend on the shoulder, "Well… if you're free Saturday, give us a call."

With a wave, the two guys left, leaving Lucas to walk the final two blocks to his house. The minute he reached his house, he knew something was wrong. Perhaps it was the remnants of the psychic skills he had when he was ten, he didn't know, but he had a sudden strong feeling that his mum was in trouble.

He unlocked the door, and rushed in, flinging his rucksack to the floor.

"Mum?" he yelled, rushing from room to room in panic, "Mum? Where…"

As he entered his mum's bedroom, he froze. His mum was lying on her bed, her shirt ripped open, and blood dripping down her chest. She looked at him, pain in her eyes, and tried to talk, but no words came out.

He was about to rush to her, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the guy in the corner of the room, his shirt and hands stained with blood. He knew the guy – Mr. Rodgers, his next door neighbour – but something was wrong. There was something in his smile – something ancient, something evil, something…

"Christo," Lucas whispered. Something in the back of his brain, from his hours spend poring over web articles and old books, was screaming at him. This wasn't Mr. Rodgers.

The instant the two syllables left his mouth, Mr. Rodgers flinched, drawing back from him in temporary fear. His light blue eyes were gone, replaced with two gaping black holes, opening into a bottomless pit of evil and loathing. Lucas backed against the wall, looking around desperately for something to fend this demon off. What were demons afraid of? Holy water… where was he going to get that? Salt… or was that spirits? In his fear, Lucas could not think. He was trembling in fear, his mind rushing.

Mr. Rodgers held up a hand, and Lucas was thrown across the room. Everything went momentarily black, and when he opened his eyes, the demon was gone. Immediately, he crawled over to his mum. She looked up at him, agony and fear filling her dark eyes.

"Lucas…" she croaked. Lucas cradled her head in his lap.

"Mum…" he whispered, "It's… it's going to be okay. I'll call an ambulance. You'll be okay."

"No, Lucas," his mum said, her breathing labored, "You… just stay with me for a minute."

Lucas held his mum to his chest. Her blood was staining his jacket and his white shirt, but he didn't care. Tears were dripping down his cheeks, but he ignored them.

"What happened, mum?" he found himself asking.

"I… I don't know. Lucas, promise me you won't… you won't do anything stupid…"

"Mum…"

"Promise me you'll look after yourself."

"Mum, I…"

"Please, darling, promise me."

Lucas sighed, sobs shaking his entire frame. "I promise."

"I love you darling," were his mother's last words before her eyes closed and her head drooped onto Lucas's chest.

A bloodstained, shaking Lucas stood outside his house in shock. Everywhere was flashing blue lights and police officers, milling around. A gurney containing a body bag was wheeled into an ambulance. A pale-face Mr. Rodgers was led, handcuffed, into a police car. Lucas let all this wash over him. His head was spinning, and his body was trembling. People were speaking to him, but their words were little more than white noise to him. Thoughts were swirling through his mind.

He'd promised his mum that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Well, he wouldn't. That wasn't to say that he wasn't going to go after the thing that killed her.

Thanks for reading this! Please review, constructive (yes, I said constructive) criticism and suggestions welcome. This is just a little experiment, so sorry if it's terrible. Don't worry, there'll be some regular characters too.

C-M