Disclaimer: I'm telling you, I really wish I owned this. But sadly, I do not
Dead In The Water
Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin
In the home of Bill Carlton, his son Will was sitting against the sink, still in his PJs and his younger sister Sophie was in her training clothes, her swimsuit under it. She was an Olympic swimmer, and she practiced 3 times a week. She walked in and kissed her daddy on the cheek who was sitting in his chair reading the newspaper.
"Morning, Daddy!" she said.
"Morning, sweetheart." he replied. She went over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.
"All these workouts, Soph- I don't know. Guys don't like buff girls." Will said, scooping at his cereal.
"Yeah, well, girls don't like guys who still live at home." she remarked.
"Ha ha ha." he said sarcastically, and she came back with the same sarcastic move. She moved to go out the door and heard Bill call "Be careful."
"I will, Daddy."
Sophie stood on the dock, staring at the water. It was calm, so she was calm. She dove in, head and arms first. She swam, and she didn't know whether she really did or not, but she could've swore that she heard whispering.
"Come play with me." it whispered. Maybe it was just her imagination. I mean, maybe fish were swimming and maybe it sounded like whispering. It may have made her nervous, but she would not let that ruin her training. Sophie came up for a breath and looked around. She saw green trees, and she saw the connected electricity towers. She looked the other way and the same things on the other side. So, she dove back into the water. Then, when she came back up again, she still heard the whispering, even above the surface. She became scared. What whispers like that? She didn't believe in ghosts, but she will keep an open mind, but that wasn't helping right now! Suddenly, a hand grabbed her ankle and before she had the chance to scream, she was pulled under the water. Bubbles surfaced, but Sophie never did.
XXX
Inside BB's Diner in Detroit, Dean was circling pictures of drowning victims. The waitress came up to him and she leaned down, showing all her cleavage.
"Can I get you anything else?" he asked. He looked up at her and smiled. Sam came back from the restroom and had to ruin his moment.
"Just the check please." she said. The waitress glared at her, probably not noticing the resemblance between the two.
"Whatever." the waitress said quietly before going to the back to get the check. Dean sighed.
"You know, Sam, we're allowed to have fun, once in a while." he said, turning to her. He pointed toward the waitress.
"That's fun." he smirked. She looked at him.
"I think the only reason she didn't even touch you is because she thinks I'm your girlfriend." she said. He shrugged.
"Look at this. I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlton, 18, walks into lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water-nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago." he finished.
"A funeral?" she asked.
"It's weird. They buried an empty coffin for, uh, closure, or whatever."
"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them." she said. It was weird how she said it. She had this look in her eye showing she was hiding something.
"Is there something you'd like to say to me?" Dean asked. Sam sighed looking back up at him.
"The trail for Dad is getting colder and colder every day." she sighed.
"What are we supposed to do?" he asked. He was tired of her constantly arguing about their dad.
"I don't know! Something. Anything." she said.
"You know what? I am sick of this attitude. You don't think I want to find Dad just as much as you do? I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then we're gonna kill everything bad-" he tapped the newspaper, "between here and there, okay?" he ordered. Sam sighed and rolled her eyes, but nodded.
"But didn't you want that life for me, Dean?" Sam asked quietly.
"Yeah, I did. I wasn't trying to be mean, I want you to calm down over finding Dad. We'll find him. I mean, I promised, didn't I?" he asked. She nodded, and she looked over to the newspaper. But then, their waitress came by and she noticed Dean checking out her butt.
"Ok, Lake Manitoc." she noticed he was still staring at the girl, so she snapped her fingers in his face.
"Hey! Wake up! Get out of butt-landia." she yelled to him. He stopped and looked over at her smirking.
"Think I'm gonna vacation there one day." he laughed.
"How far is the lake?" she asked him, chuckling, shaking her head.
XXX
The two were on the road in less than a few minutes after discussing the lake. They rode across a peer and got to Wisconsin in 5 hours. They pulled up to Bill's house and knocked on the door and Will opened.
"Will Carlton?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, that's right." muttered the boy.
"I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill. We're with the U.S Wildlife Service." he held up his badge.
"Are you here about Sophie?" he asked. He led them out by the dock and explained to them what he thought Sophie.
"She was about 100 yards out. That's when she got dragged down." he explained.
"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. She was an Olympic swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She's as safe out there as in her own bathtub." he told them.
"So, no splashing, no signs of distress?" asked Sam.
"No. That's what I'm telling you." he said as if Sam was stupid.
"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" she asked him.
"No, again, she was really far out there." he continued. He got annoyed with the two. They were asking the same questions over and over again.
"Did you ever see any tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked.
"No, never. Why? What do you think is out there?"
"We'll let you know as soon as we do." promised Dean. He walked over to the car, then realized Sam wasn't following him. He turned, and she was still turned to the boy.
"What about your father? Could we talk to him?" she asked him. The boy looked at her, as if deep in thought, turning around to glance at his Dad sitting on a bench on the dock. Then he turned back to her.
"Look, if you don't mind, I mean, he didn't see anything, and he's kind of been through a lot." he said, his eyes shifting back and forth between Sam and Dean.
"We understand." Sam nodded. She turned around and followed her brother back to the car. Will watched them walk off, his shoulders visibly relaxing. They got in the car and drove away.
XXX
The two stood in front of the sheriff and had asked about Sophie's disappearance.
"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" asked the sheriff as he opened the small door for them to come into the room. Sam raised her eyebrows.
"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." she said. The three made it to the back office.
"Like what? Please, sit. I know there are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." Dean rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Right." he laughed.
"Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure, and there was nothing down there." he explained.
"That's weird though. That's the third missing body this year." Dean said, leaning forward.
"I know. These are people from my town. These are people that I care about." he said, looking between the both of them, but he was mostly directing his sentences toward Dean.
"I know." Dean said, puckering his lips slightly. The Sheriff sighed.
"Anyway... all this- it won't be a problem much longer."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"Well, the dam, of course." Sam nodded as he said that and Dean's eyes brightened in realization.
"Of course. The dam. It's uh... it sprung a leak." Dean tried.
"It's falling apart. and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either, but as federal wildlife, you already knew that." he said. Dean widened his eyes.
"Um. Exactly." he said. But the way he said it sounded as if he said eggs-actly. They heard a knock. It was a young adult with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She had on a white blouse and a pink mini-skirt.
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting? I can come back later." she reasoned, about to head out the door. Sam and Dean stood.
"This is my daughter." he said, standing up. Dean got that flirty smirk on his face and Sam rolled her eyes. She knew where this was heading.
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean." he said, reaching his hand out for her to shake.
"Andrea Barr. Hi." she said, accepting the hand.
"Hi." Dean replied softly.
"They're from the Wildlife Service. They're here about the lake." Sheriff Barr said. She nodded.
"Oh." she said softly. A little boy with auburn hair and brown eyes appeared from behind from behind Andrea.
"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked the child. The little boy looked up at him for maybe a few seconds, before turning around and ran out. Then Andrea followed him. Dean and Sam looked at each other with confused expressions before turning to the Sheriff.
"His name is Lucas." They looked back outside where Andrea was speaking to the boy and handing him crayons.
"Is he ok?" Sam asked.
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." the two looked back at Lucas and Andrea before the Sheriff showed them out.
"Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know." he said, as he led them out the door.
"Thanks." Dean told him as he walked out the door, Sam following him.
"You know, now that you mention it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced hotel?" Dean asked, turning around. Andrea turned around.
"Lakefront Motel- go around the corner, it's two blocks up." Dean thought about it and Sam turned to leave again, but Dean got that flirty smile on again, causing Sam to roll her eyes. Again.
"Would you mind showing us?" Dean asked. Andrea chuckled.
"You want me to walk you two blocks?" she could tell when someone was flirting.
"Not if it's any trouble." Andrea sighed.
"I'm headed that way, anyway." she laughed. She turned to Sheriff Barr.
"I'll be back to pick up Lucas at 3:00." she leaned down and whispered in Lucas's ear.
"We'll go to the park, ok sweetie?" she whispered to him before kissing his cheek. She walked out the two waved to the Sheriff before following her. The 3 walked down the block.
"So, cute kid." Dean said. He was the closest to Andrea while Sam was just quietly walking behind them.
"Thanks." Andrea replied. As they crossed the street, Dean said "Kids are the best, huh?" Sam looked at him weirdly, then just let him have his moment. She would chew him out about it later. They appeared in front of it only 10 seconds later.
"There it is. Like I said, two blocks." she said, nodding.
"Thanks." Sam thanked her.
"Must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pick-up line." Andrea told Dean before walking off. Sam gaped happily and Dean's smirk disappeared. In just a few minutes, Sam had bursted out laughing and was practically rolling on the floor and Dean was quietly telling her "Shut up." before walking into the hotel. They went in and as they got a room, Sam asked, still gasping with laughter.
"Kids are the best?" she mocked.
"You don't even like kids." she said.
"I love kids!" Dean said, his face still faltered.
"Name three children that you even know." she said as they went up to their room. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.
"That's what I thought." she said, opening the room door.
"I'm thinking." he said quietly.
XXX
The two sat in their hotel room, Sam on her laptop and Dean was putting his jacket away. He was still bummed over Andrea dogging his pick-up line and Sam had finally stopped laughing a couple minutes ago.
"So there's the three drowning victims this year..."
"Any before that?" Dean's deep voice sounded. She clicked on a new tab.
"Uh, yeah, six more, spread out over the past 35 years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace." she said, looking through the amount of lore she had found on things like nymphs, mermaids, even the Loch Ness Monster.
"So, what? We got a lake monster on a binge?"
"This whole lake monster theory, it bugs me." she muttered, but her brother still heard it.
"Why?"
"Loch Ness, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing." It was weird. So many people had talked about seeing the monsters in those two lakes and in this lake, something was killing people. How does that work? Do you photoshop pictures? Do you put fake stories on the internet? What do you do to make people think that there's something, wherever? Whatever it is, the people in this town had done nothing like it and people were dying. Whatever this is, and if anyone had seen it, maybe they weren't living to talk about it. She voiced her theory to Dean. Dean then looked to the list of drowning victims.
"Wait, Barr. Christopher Barr, where have I heard that name before?" he pointed to the screen.
"Christopher Barr, the victim in May." she clicked on him and a picture of Lucas came up with a man putting a towel around his shoulders.
"Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas' father. Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. It was two hours before the kid was rescued. Maybe we have an eyewitness after all." she said, scratching her head as she put the picture on big screen. Dean looked down.
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." he said quietly. Sam looked up at her brother sympathetically. He was the one of them to witness their mother's death and she felt bad she didn't feel the pain of missing their mother along with him. She stood up and hugged her brother. He hugged her back, but whispered in her ear "I'm ok."
XXX
Sam and Dean arrived at the park where Andrea was watching Lucas color on the bench.
"Can we join you?" Sam asked. They appeared next to her, and she had a look of shock on her face, but it turned into a small smile.
"I'm here with my son." she said. They both looked toward the table when Lucas sat, coloring.
"Oh. Mind if I say hi?" Dean asked, and before she had the chance to answer, Dean walked over to the kid. Sam sighed and shook her head.
"Tell your friend this whole "Jerry Maguire" thing is going to work on me." she laughed as Sam sat down beside her. Sam chuckled.
"I don't think that's what this is about." she said sincerely. They both looked over to Dean. Dean arrived to the kid and greeted him.
"How's it going?" he asked him. He got down on his knees and looked at the kids drawing. He chuckled, and the child didn't even blink. It was like he was invisible. He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth and looked at the auburn-haired boy as he drew his picture. He noticed play soldiers on the table beside the boy.
"I used to love these things." he picked one up and imitated a gunshot and an explosion. But the kid still didn't say a word. He continued to color.
"So, crayons is more your thing, huh? That's cool. Chicks dig artists." he laughed. He looked over at the already-finished drawings.
"Hey. These are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?" he picked up a green crayon without an answer.
"I'm not so bad myself." he smiled. He picked up a piece of paper and sat on the bench. He drew something.
"You know, I'm thinking you can hear me. You just don't want to talk. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad." he took the crayon off the paper for and had flashes of something red.
"I think I know how you feel." he muttered. He realized that those flashes of red was the fire. He saw his father run out of the nursery, a pink bundle in his hands. He blinked, but the flashback didn't let go of him. He could hear his father's words, but he couldn't process them. He looked down at his crying baby sister and ran out the house. Dean came back to reality. He explained to Lucas.
"When I was your age, I saw something. It scarred me for life, but I'm glad I saved my baby sister." he stopped in mid-sentence and looked over to Sam who looked as if she was in a deep conversation with Andrea.
"Anyway... well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you or, uh, or believe you. But I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything, you could just draw me a picture of what you saw that day with your dad on the lake." he finished his drawing and handed it to the boy. Well, not handed. He put it down beside him. He noticed that the boy wasn't speaking.
"Um. Ok. This is for you." he pointed to the picture.
"It's my family. That's my Dad." he pointed to the tallest figure.
"My mom." he pointed to the shortest one, even counting his sister. He had only drawn stick figures, and he didn't have control of anything but the height.
"There's my nerdy baby sister and then there's me." he pointed at the second tallest figure and the one smaller than him. His smile fell when he realized the kid wasn't even paying attention to him.
"Ok, so I'm a sucky artist. I'll see you around, Lucas." he said, standing up. He went over to where Andrea and Sammy were talking.
"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me- not since his dad's accident." she said.
"Yeah, we heard. Sorry." Dean said, once he got over there.
"What did the doctor say?" Sam asked.
"That it's some kind of post-traumatic stress." she shrugged.
"That can't be easy for either for either of you." Andrea shrugged, once again, and looked down.
"We moved in with my Dad. He helps out a lot. It's just..." she glanced over at Lucas.
"When I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..." she was staring at her poor son, remembering the grief they both had when Christopher died.
"Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Dean told her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas getting up.
"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth." she smiled brightly. It reminded him of when Sam smiled.
"Now, he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-" but Lucas came up to the three, and she stopped immediately.
"Hey, sweetie." she leaned down to him. He handed a picture to Dean.
"Thanks, Lucas." he said. The boy said nothing, but ran off. He had given Dean a picture of a house. They all looked off at him, but Sam and Dean shared a look. Then they both looked at Andrea who just shrugged.
XXX
That night, in the Carlton house, Bill sat in his chair, watching a random movie. His eyes were only slits, and he was slack-jawed. He had the triple-chin because of how far he was leaning in the chair. Will appeared in the doorway.
"Hey, dad." he greeted, clapping his hands together nervously. His dad hadn't said barely 5 words to him since his sister died. It took a toll on him too, but his Dad couldn't survive 10 minutes without seeing his baby girl. Much less a week. He hadn't eaten, he rarely ever slept, and he was stinking up the house with both ends.
"You should probably eat something." he told his father. He didn't reply.
"I'm going to make dinner, ok?" he asked his father. Still no reply. He sighed and walked into the kitchen. He took out a fish he had caught earlier and rinsed it. Will didn't think about turning the water off and cut the fish apart. But the water backed itself up, but came back on. When it came back on, it was a darkish yellow. He looked at it and cut the water off. But then the drain erupted in the same disgusting water. It became waves and waves of water, but not enough to make it flood. But it all just stopped. Will was confused. The water couldn't do that on its own unless there was a small plumber caught in the sink. Will pulled his sleeve up and reached his hand inside the water. He had to find the plug and pull it out. He pulled it, but the water didn't go back down. Will couldn't find anything in the drain, so he tried to lift his arm, but was roughly pulled back in. He struggled against it, but he felt as if a hand was wrapped around his wrist. He was pulled in deeper and his face was soon pulled under. Will struggled to pull back up, but he couldn't and in seconds, he couldn't breath. He stopped struggling, and he was gone. Only then, the water drained.
XXX
"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." Sam said as she walked through the door to see her brother sitting on his bed on her laptop.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked as she sat on the bed with him and lied her head on his shoulder to see what he was working on.
"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead." she said, with a bit of aggressiveness in her voice.
"He drowned?" he asked, looking down at his sister.
"Yep, in the sink." she muttered. He closed the laptop and looked at her as she stood up.
"What the hell?" he asked. "So, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."
"Yeah, but what?" His sister voiced. He shrugged silently.
"A water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon?" he asked. "Something that controls water. Water that comes from the same source." they both got a look of realization on their faces.
"The lake- which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time." she told him.
"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, anywhere. This is gonna happen again soon." he said as he got up and went over to the chair by a table.
"And we do know one other thing for sure. This has something to do with Bill Carlton." Sam said, turning to where her brother had taken a new seat.
"Yeah, it took both his kids." he began to put on his boots.
"And I've been asking around. Lucas' Dad, Chris- Bill Carlton's godson." she said.
"Well, let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit." Dean smiled, standing up. He put out a hand to his sister, and she took it, getting up as they headed out the door.
XXX
The two arrived at the Carlton house where they noticed Bill in the same spot he was last time they had visited the house. Out on the dock on the bench, staring out at the water. The two looked at each other and him with sympathy before heading over there. The man's kids were stolen from him by a water monster. They both were hoping to be subtle about it..
"Mr. Carlton?" Sam asked as they arrived in front of them. He looked up and his eyes were a dull blue and his face had tired wrinkles. The poor man was suffering.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind?" she asked sweetly, hoping the man would buy her sweet voice.
"We're from the department-" Dean started, but Bill interrupted them.
"I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today." he said quietly. Sam and Dean looked at each other and he nodded at her to go on.
"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? Did you ever see anything out in the lake?" When he said nothing, she continued.
"Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death- we think there might be a connection to you or your family." Bill was nodding slightly as they spoke, but she didn't think he was nodding at them. But tears were erupting in his eyes.
"My children are gone. This is worse than-it's worse than dying." he glanced up at them for a few seconds.
"Go away... please." he pleaded quietly. Sam sighed and pushed her brother back to the car, not that he was objecting.
"What do you think?" Sam asked as they went back to the car.
"I think the poor guy's been through hell. But I also think he's not telling us something." Sam leaned against the car.
"So now what?" she asked. Then she noticed him staring at the house.
"What's the matter?" she asked. The house that Lucas drew, was the Carlton house.
"Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something." he muttered to his sister. He took out the picture and handed it to Sam who also compared it.
XXX
"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." Andrea said quietly, hoping not to disturb Lucas while he was coloring.
"I just need to talk to him, just for a few minutes." Dean said reassuringly. He had to assure her he didn't want to harm Lucas in any way.
"He's not going say anything. What good would it do?" she asked as she took her arms off her hips and crossed them. Dean looked at Sam for help and made her way into the conversation.
"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there." she said, giving a puppy dog look.
"My husband, the others- they drowned, that's all." Andrea told the two. But her voice was shaking. Her husband could swim and she knew that, so how did he drown?
"If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there's even the possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son." Dean begged. She sighed and led them to Lucas' room where he had paper spread out and he was coloring them. The three arrived at the door and Dean crouched beside the boy.
"Hey, Lucas. You remember me?" he asked. But the boy didn't reply. He sat there, messing with his crayons and coloring. The army men sat in front of him, looking as if they would shoot him. Dean looked down at some of the freshly drawn drawings of a red bike. There were at least 4 copies of that same bike. Dean brushed over one. He sat criss-cross applesauce instead of squatting.
"You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." the boy stayed silent, not even sharing a glance at the grown man in front of him. He acted as if none of them were there. Dean noticed this and sighed in frustration before taking out the picture that Lucas had drawn for him and set it down on a few of the other drawings. He put his hand on top of it and whispered "How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was going to happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?" he asked desperately. The boy didn't even look at him.
"You're scared. It's ok. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared to. I didn't feel like talking, just like you." Sam looked at her brother as he spoke of their mom. She hadn't known what he had gone through then, but she was hearing it now while he was talking to another boy. She had the urge to run over there and comfort him, but he had to handle Lucas right now.
"But, you 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." By the time Dean finished his short speech, his voice was quiet and raspy who the only person that could've heard it was Lucas. The child put the crayon down slowly. He looked up at Dean and Andrea looked at Sam and Dean with a shocked, but relieved look in her eye. Lucas handed his latest picture to Dean. It was a yellow house behind a church with a fence and a red bike. A boy was beside it.
"Thanks Lucas." Dean muttered. Lucas nodded slightly, then picked back up his orange crayon.
XXX
The Impala flew down the street like a lightning bolt. Sam was looking over the picture Lucas had given to Dean.
"Andrea said the kid never drew like that until his dad died." Dean said. His sister sighed.
"Well, there are cases going through a traumatic experience could make certain people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies." Sam began to list.
"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? It's only a matter of time before someone else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please." Dean laughed. Sam threw her hands up, but they landed back in her lap.
"Alright, guess we got another house to find." she smiled.
"Only problem, there's a thousand yellow-story houses in this county alone." Dean exaggerated. Sam inspected the picture more closely.
"See that church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here." she looked to her brother, seeing him begin to chuckle.
"Oh, look, college girl thinks she's so smart." She laughed and shoved him slightly. But then, her eyebrows furrowed and she looked back over to her brother.
"You know, what you said about mom- you never told me that before." she said. His eyes widened a bit, but he covered it quickly.
"It's no big deal, Sammy." he said. He could feel her eyes burning through his face. He turned and saw the sweet innocent girl look on her face.
"Oh no, we're not gonna have to hug, are we?" he joked. She laughed.
"Yep." She leaned over and wrapped her small arms around him.
"No!" he yelled slightly and jokingly. She laughed and that just made her squeeze harder. As she lied her head on his shoulder, he kissed the top of her head.
XXX
The two arrived in front of the church drawn on the picture, which was held in Dean's hand. He held up the picture to compare the church they were seeing to the one on the picture. He followed behind the church to see a yellow house with a green roof on it and a fence beside it, just like in the picture. The only difference was no boy, and no bike. Sam looked over to her brother who was still looking at her brother, but she tapped him and they headed over to the house. Dean knocked on the door and an elderly woman opened it. She had withered gray hair and green eyes that looked as if they had been dull for some time now.
"We're sorry to bother you, Ma'am, but does a little boy live here by chance?" Dean asked her.
"He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle?" The woman sighed and a sorrowful look filled her eyes.
"No, sir." she said quietly.
"Not for a very long time." she sighed. Sam looked over at Dean as they traded a look. A little boy maybe had once lived here. But he was long gone.
"Peter's been dead 35 years now." She looked over to a picture of a young boy on a dresser.
"The police never-" she took a deep breath
"I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared. Losing him-" she started, but Sam tapped Dean. She nodded to a table and there sat army men, exactly like Lucas'.
"You know, it's- it's worse than dying." the two looked at each other. That's the exact thing Bill Carlton had said. Were the two connected somehow?
"Did he disappear from here? I mean- this house?" Dean asked.
"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up." she cried. Dean looked around the room and stuck in the mirror's frame was a picture of two little boys. He took it out and looked it over before reading the back.
"Peter Sweeny and Billy Carlton, 1970." he showed the picture to Sam. It was true. They were connected. Well, maybe not the mom, but Peter and Bill. But the question is, what did Bill have to do with Peter's death?
XXX
Out on the dock, Bill Carlton looked over the swaying tides.
"You've taken everything, everyone. I've got nothing left. I didn't understand. I didn't believe. Now I think I do. I think I finally know what you want." the man whispered into the wind. He sighed before getting ready to let the sea wash away his pain.
XXX
The two sat in the car once again and Sam was speaking. They were reflecting what they had found out and learned so far.
"Ok, this little boy, Peter Sweeny, vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow." she said.
"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" he said, his hand on the wheel and his other tightly clutching the photo Lucas had drawn.
"Bill-the people he loves, they're all getting punished." she remarked.
"What if Bill did something?" Dean asked.
"What if Bill killed him?" she stated the obvious.
"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible." he said as they arrived at the Carlton house.
"Mr. Carlton?" Sam yelled as she got out of the car.
"Hey, check it out." Dean said. Sam turned, and they both saw Bill heading out on the water in a motorboat. He was set to kill himself. They both sprinted over to the edge of the dock and yelled to the man. But he wasn't listening. He turned and looked at them, but he turned right back to his destination. Death. He heard a rumbling and suddenly, his boat was turned over and Bill Carlton was dead.
"Oh my god." Sam muttered. He looked over at her and she was watching the water with bits and pieces of despair leaking through her eyes.
XXX
Lucas sat rocking back and forth in a seat in his grandpa's office. His head was pounding and his ears were practically vibrating and he felt like screaming. But he wouldn't. He wouldn't speak. His father was gone. That thing took him and he couldn't have done anything about it. He was a child. But now, he could help somebody save his mother. He hoped. His mother was rubbing his back softly.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, noticing her son's slight distress. The door opened and Sheriff Barr, Dean and Sam walked through it.
"Sam, Dean, I didn't expect to see you here." she said, as she set down the bag of food in the chair she was once sitting in. Her father turned to the two.
"Oh, so now you're on a first name basis?" the man asked them.
"What are you doing here?" he asked his daughter as they opened the door to the back of the room, behind the desk.
"I brought you dinner." she offered the bag quietly.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I don't have the time." Sheriff Barr said as he took off his tan sheriff's jacket. Andrea noticed a slight look on Dean and Sam's faces. The three of them looked at each other and she looked back at her dad.
"I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?" she asked softly. Jake looked back at Sam and Dean who just sighed.
"Right now, we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." Dean looked down at Lucas, who whimpered slightly at that sentence. He stood up and ran over to Dean, pulling hard on his arm.
"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean said to him. He continued to whimper and pull.
"Lucas!" Andrea said. She went over to her son and held on to him as he flung himself everywhere.
"Lucas. It's ok. It's ok." Dean said, trying to hold onto the boy's hand. He tried to ask him what was wrong, but he knew it would do no good. The boy let go of him, but continued to resist against his mother. He cried and whined as Dean stroked the side of his head. But he quietly submitted, letting out soft whimpers here and there. His mother led him out the door, but he and Dean held eye contact the entire time. Dean knew something was wrong. Lucas was scared. But of what? Sheriff Barr went into his office and Sam slightly touched her big brother's arm. He sighed and looked over to her and they both followed the Sheriff. They sat down and Jake talked to them.
"Ok, just so I'm clear, You see... something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer, by the way, into the drink, and you never see him again?" he asked, his eyes shifting between the two.
"Yeah, that about sums it up." Dean told him as Sam nodded.
"And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake and what you're describing is impossible, and you're not really wildlife service?" he said. Dean's face showed that he analyzed that second for a few seconds and then he was confused on how the man had discovered that and Sam was just gaping.
"That's right, I checked. The department's never heard of you two." he said.
"See? Now, we can explain that..." Dean started, his mind ready to cook up another lie.
"Enough, please." Jake said.
"The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance, or we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town into your rear view mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again." the whole time he was talking, he was staring and pointing at Sam as if the entire thing was her fault. She looked to her brother who was giving the man a hard glare, so before he could say anything rude, she said "I like the 2nd door better." she gave him a fake smile.
"That's the one I'd pick." he whispered gravely. And like that, Sam was out of her chair, and out the room. Dean stared after her and gave one final glare before walking out behind his sister.
XXX
Lucas scribbled furiously against the paper, his newest drawing. His army men were lined up in front of him as if set to shoot him. He continued to feel as if he wouldn't be able to help Dean save his mother and the lake would take him and everyone else he loved. And he couldn't let that happen. On the drawing, he was drawing the lake, in a big black hole form. His mother passed the small slit in his door and when she noticed him awake, she picked him up, taking the crayon out of his hand.
"Baby, what are you doing up? Come on, let's get in bed." she picked him up and put him under his red dinosaur duvet. She kissed his head and as soon as she was out the door, he was back on the floor creating the lake.
XXX
Sam and Dean rode to the interstate and had been stopped by a red light. But Sam had noticed it had gone green.
"Green." she told him.
"What?" he muttered to her.
"The light's green." she said louder. He sighed and drove, but interstate was the other way.
"Uh, Dean. The interstate's the other way." she told him.
"I know." he told her. She groaned.
XXX
Andrea walked into the bathroom, pushing the shower curtain aside, and put the plug in the drain before turning on the water. She just needed relaxation. Between her father's best friend's death, the lake, and her son not saying a word to her. Plus, her father wouldn't even explain two of those things to her even when she demanded some answers, he'd just sit in his office and sulk in despair. But she couldn't think about that right now. She just needed to calm down, and she had earned some relaxation anyway. A nice, hot bath would do her some good.
XXX
Dean, this job- I think it's over." she told him, chuckling to herself. But the way he looked, he wasn't laughing.
"I'm not so sure." he said, glancing at his sister for a slight second, before turning his eyes back to the road.
"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest." she said as if it was obvious. Her brother was acting unusual and she was ready to get to the bottom of it.
"So, what if we take off and this thing isn't done, huh? What if we missed something? What if more people get hurt?" he told her.
"But why would you think like that?" Sam asked. Her back was too the window, and she was sitting cross-legged in her seat. He made a slight face then muttered.
"Because Lucas seemed pretty scared." he muttered.
"Oh my god! That's what this is about? I can't believe that you, Dean Samuel Winchester, has a soft spot for a child." she began to poke at his side with her boot. She couldn't believe that her big, tough brother who enjoyed frisky women and bacon cheeseburgers, had a soft spot for a child.
"Shut up. I just don't want to leave town without knowing the kid is ok." he said. She sighed.
"Aw. So sweet." he shoved her slightly, and she laughed.
"Well, I'm with you. The kid seemed pretty freaked." she said as she lied her head on her seat.
XXX
Andrea glided her hand through the water, making sure it was the right temperature before going over to the mirror. She stripped. Then, as all her clothes were stripped from her body, she sat in the tub and grabbed the rag on the side of the tub before closing her eyes. The water was still running, so she raised a foot and let it soak underneath the running water. She sighed. This was just what she needed. A nice warm soak to relax in. She rubbed the towel up and down her arms. But since her eyes weren't open, she didn't notice that the crystal clear blue water had turned a dark and murky yellow. Then she felt something grab at her leg, but in an instant reflex, she jerked it away and that was when she opened her eyes to see the dark color of the water. She screamed and tried to fling herself out of the water. But whatever was in there had a grip on her leg and she was pulled back in. When she realized that her legs weren't getting out soon, she grabbed the edge of the tub and tried to keep her head up. She flung her hair many times and her hair was soaking. Her heart was flipping, and it was falling into her stomach. She tried as hard as she could and she could even hear her son banging on the door. She screamed bloody murder, and she couldn't keep her head up. At least she had taken in a large gulp of she was underwater, she heard a small voice whisper to her. But, maybe it wasn't really. But she could've swore she had heard "Come play with me."
XXX
The two stood in front of Andrea's house and just as Dean was about to knock, Lucas opened the door panting. He tugged Dean's arm quickly.
"Lucas? Lucas! What's wrong?" he asked the boy. But he wasn't listening. He continued to pant and ran upstairs, hoping the two would follow him. Which they did. But the time they had gotten to the stairs, water was dripping from the door and over the stairs. Lucas raced up and continued to bang on the door until Sam pulled him out of the way and handed him to Dean before raising a foot and kicking the door off its hinges. She ran in and grabbed at the arms she had found under the water and pulled. She groaned at the strength she had to use and she had finally gotten Andrea's head above water. Sam pulled the rest of her body out and Andrea was crying, coughing, and gasping. She was fine, and she realized that a man was seeing her naked, but she couldn't think about that right now. She was glad she had been saved, but she needed to know what the hell was in her tub. And fast.
XXX
Sam sat with Andrea at the dinner table. She had saved the girl and was trying to get the information of what had happened so she could at least think of a way to save the rest of the town.
"Can you tell me?" Sam muttered softly, knowing she was still shaken up.
"No..." she muttered softly. Dean was in the basement looking through some things trying to figure out why Peter had gone after Andrea. She wasn't part of Bill's family. So, why would he attack her? Andrea shook her head and tears came up in her eyes.
"It doesn't make sense. I'm going crazy." she muttered, her eyes moving everywhere and they wouldn't meet Sam's. She put her face in her hands as the tears fell.
"No, Andrea, you're not. Just tell me what happened. Everything." she gave her best puppy dog eyes. She lifted her eyes to Sam and noticed the look, so she gave in.
"I heard- I thought I heard... there was this voice." her voice was raspy and quiet.
"What did it say?" Sam asked in the same voice, except not as raspy.
"It said- it said 'Come play with me.'" she sobbed.
"What's happening?" she cried. Sam rubbed her back and whispered comforting words to her while thinking of what to do. Back in the basement, Dean had finally picked out a folder that said 'Jake-12 years old'. He looked it over and turned to a random page. There was no evidence there, and he flipped to the next. There, he didn't believe his eyes. He closed the book and rushed back upstairs. He opened the book to that page and showed it to Andrea. It was an explorers' camp, and he noticed 3 of the kids he knew.
"Do you recognize the kids in this picture?" he asked. She shook her head.
"What? Oh, um, no, I mean, except that's my dad right there." she pointed to one of the taller kids.
"He must've been 12 years old in these pictures." she muttered. Dean looked to his sister who looked back at him with a muddled expression.
"Chris Barr's drowning, the connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must've been to the Sheriff." she realized.
"Bill and the Sheriff, they were both involved with Peter's death." she realized. Andrea looked at the two in front of her with a bewildered expression.
"What about Chris? My Dad-what-what are you talking about?" Not even acknowledging the question, Dean had realized that Lucas stood out the door, staring out at the morning sun. He was staring at something, but he couldn't tell what.
"Lucas?" he asked, catching the attention of Andrea and Sam who looked to the boy.
"Lucas, what is it?" he asked the boy. Not even recognizing the man's voice, he opened the door and walked out. The three stood up and followed after the boy. He continued into the story and when they were deep in, Andrea called to him.
"Lucas, honey?" she asked. Then Lucas stopped over what seemed as a patch of dirt that looked softer than usual dirt would be. He stepped over it and looked up at Dean who stood in front of him.
"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, ok?" he asked. She nodded and grasped Lucas' hand as they walked back to the house. Dean ran back and got two shovels from the back of the Impala, bringing them back to the place where Sam stood. They both dug into the soft ground. They had both gotten at least 3 patches of dirt before Sam had pounded into something hard. It sounded big and metal. She shared a look with her brother before the two leaned down and dug through the rest with their hands. Sam grabbed hold onto a handle and her brother grabbed it along with her and they pulled it out. It was an old red bicycle. Correction, the old red bicycle.
"Peter's bike." Sam said in awe.
"Who are you?" they heard a voice and turned around to see Jake holding a gun. It was pointed at Sam more than Dean, in which he stepped in front of her.
"Ok, you seem to have a grudge against my sister and I don't know why, so I'm going to have to ask you to point that somewhere else." Jake squeezed the trigger in warning, but Dean stood his ground.
"Put the gun down, Jake." Sam said hurriedly. Jake didn't back down either and his hand was trembling.
"How did you know that was there?" he asked, angrily and his face was as red as a raging bull.
"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter? Drowned him in the lake and then buried his bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." Dean told him. Jake was breathing heavily and they could tell that he was nervous. From the window, Andrea saw her Dad had pointed the gun at Sam and Dean.
"I need you to go upstairs, sweetie. Now." she glanced out the window.
"Lock the door and wait for me. Don't come out." she told him and at that, he ran upstairs as she ran out the door.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Jake muttered quietly.
"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney 35 years ago, that's what the hell we're talking about." Dean said. He was standing straighter now and Sam had her hand on her brother's shoulder.
"Dad!" Andrea yelled from beside them.
"And now you've got one seriously pissed off spirit." Dean said angrily.
"It's going to take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's going to drown them, and drag your bodies God knows where so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then it's going to take you, and it's not going to stop until it does." Sam told him.
"And how do you know that?" he asked.
"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton." she finished.
"Listen to yourselves. Both of you. You're insane." he exaggerated.
"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us, but if we're going to bring this spirit down, we're going to have to find the remains, salt them, and burn them to dust. Now tell me, you buried Peter. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake." Dean growled.
"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea asked.
"No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous." he said to her, without taking his eyes off the two in front of him.
"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me!" she cried. He glanced over at his daughter.
"And tell me you didn't-you didn't kill anyone." she finished that sentence quietly. Jake stared at her and began to breath heavily, tearing his eyes away from his daughter and began to breath heavily.
"Oh my God." she muttered.
"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest of us. We always bullied him, but this time... it got rough. We were holding his head underwater. We didn't mean to, but we held him under too long and he drowned." he looked to the siblings.
"We let the body go, and it sank." he finished. Since the gun was put down now, Dean had gotten from in front of Sam and the two looked at each other frustrated.
"Oh, Andrea. We were kids, we were so scared. It was a mistake, but Andrea, to think that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris(I), because of some ghost- It's not rational." he explained. Dean sighed.
"All right, listen to me. All of you. We need to get you away from this lake as far as we can right now." he told them. Then they heard Andrea gasp. Lucas was at the dock. He leaned down and his hand reached towards the water.
"Lucas!" Jake yelled. The four ran towards the lake, each of them calling for Lucas.
"Come play with me." a voice whispered to him. A ghostly hand reached from the water and pulled Lucas in. The four emerged from the woods and Jake stopped. He couldn't believe his eyes. A ghostly version of Peter, with matted black hair and ghostlike blue eyes, was staring at him from the water. He gasped. Sam and Dean both ran down to the dock and jumped into the water, pointed hands first.
"Andrea, stay where you are!" Sam ordered to Andrea who was set to jump in.
"No, Lucas!" she screamed, but stayed there. They came up for air a couple minutes later. They both had long wet hair that was matted to their foreheads.
"Lucas, where are you?" she cried. Jake began to take his jacket off as the siblings dove back in the water.
"Peter, if you can hear me, please, Peter, I'm so- I'm so sorry. Lucas- he's just a little boy. It's not his fault, it's mine! Take me, please!" he yelled to the water. Dean and Sam appeared once again, and Dean yelled to Jake.
"Jake, no!"
"Just let it be over!" Sheriff Barr screamed.
"Daddy!" was the last word Jake heard from his daughter. His leg was grabbed and in reflex, he began to struggle. But Jake was gone in an instant. Sam and Dean dove back in and 3 minutes later, Sam came back up. She shook her hair out of her face and looked to Andrea, shaking her head.
"No!" Andrea screamed once again. But just as she screamed, Dean appeared with Lucas, who was unconscious. Andrea continued to cry, though, for her father. Sam took Lucas from Dean's arms and left him on the dock where Andrea tried to wake them, then they helped each other out of the lake.
XXX
The next day, Sam and Dean were walking back to their car. They opened the back door, and both threw their bags in the car. Sam looked over at her brother who looked like a mix of a lost puppy and a wrestler who just lost a match.
"Dean, we can't save everyone." she rubbed his back slightly.
"I know." he muttered. She nodded.
"Sam, Dean!" they heard, and both turned to look behind Sam where Andrea and Lucas stood.
"Hey." Dean called.
"We're glad we're caught you." she said. Lucas held a platter of sandwiches.
"We just, um, we made you some lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." she smiled. Lucas looked up to his mother.
"Can I give it to them now." he asked. His voice was soft, probably raspy from not talking for 2 years. Dean smiled at Sam who chuckled at the boy's soft voice. Dean took the platter.
"Come on, Lucas, let's load them in the car." he told the boy as they walked over to the car. Sam smiled at her brother as they opened the car door.
"So how you holding up?" Andrea asked. "It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" she said. Sam sighed, looking over as Dean started the car.
"Andrea, I'm sorry." she muttered.
"You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I guess I just have to hold on to that." she said. Sam smiled and reached her arms out.
"Goodbye, Andrea." she smiled as they hugged. Then they walked over to the car. Dean sat in the car and Lucas stood in front of him.
"Ok, if you're going to be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I need you to repeat it back to me one more time." he smiled and made the 'c'mon' gesture with his hand.
"Zeppelin Rules!" Lucas smiled and threw a fist into the air.
"Yes, yes they do." Sam told them as she appeared over the open car door.
"You take care of your mom, ok?" Dean asked, rubbing Lucas head. Dean stood up in front of Andrea who appeared besides Sam and Andrea kissed him. Sam smiled at her big brother.
"Thank you." she whispered as they pulled apart. Dean noticed his sister's smile and chuckled.
"Come on, Sammy, move your ass. We're gonna lose daylight before we hit the road. " he told her, rounding to the driver's seat. Sam kissed Lucas on his cheek before getting in the car with her big brother. They pulled off and Sam waved to Andrea and Lucas who waved at them until they were out of sight.