"That's weird."
Dean looked up from the coroner's report he was studying, for the third time.
"What's weird?" he said, getting up and walking over to where Sam had an old map spread out across the table.
"Look. This map is from thirty years ago and see here, behind where we were looking – there's something there."
Dean leaned over Sam's shoulder and squinted where his brother was pointing. The map wasn't great, since it was a copy, but Sam was right. He could just about make out a square shape in the middle of the shaded area leading back from the river.
"Ok, I see something. Not sure I see what's weird about it though."
Sam opened out another, newer, map and laid it over the first one.
"This is the map we bought this morning. See? There's nothing there now."
"Could just be an old building that they pulled down. We don't even know if it was there when these deaths started, that other map is pretty old." Dean pointed out.
"Yeah, but we might as well check it out don't you think? It's not like we've come across anything else."
Dean had to admit Sam was right. They'd been going over everything they had for the last two hours and all Dean had got out of it so far was a headache. Not even Bobby had managed to send them anything useful yet.
"Alright, we'll go take a look."
Sam stood up and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair. As Dean put his on, he shook his head.
"This means more trees, doesn't it?" he said and Sam grinned but kept his mouth shut. There was no telling how long they were gonna be stuck on this one and he didn't particularly want Dean in too much of a bad mood already.
A short while later, as they headed past where they'd been a few hours earlier, Sam paused to look at the river. He was still sure there'd been something in the water last time.
"You hear something again?" said Dean, seeing him stop, and Sam shrugged uneasily.
"No, I just can't shake the feeling there was something there before." he said and Dean raised an eyebrow.
"A regular feeling or a spidey-sense feeling?" he said, only half teasing, and Sam shook his head.
"I dunno."
Dean joined him at the water's edge, looking down. They stood there for a few minutes but there was nothing to see and the only sounds were the occasional bird song and the noise of the water rushing past.
Sam sighed.
"Come on. There's obviously nothing here now."
Dean took one last look around before turning and following Sam as he headed deeper into the forest.
There wasn't much talking for a while, as the path they were taking was overgrown and getting through all the foliage was proving not such an easy task. As a thin branch Sam had just struggled past flew back, almost catching Dean in the face, he stopped.
"Hey, Indiana Jones – you wanna watch what you're doing there?" he said and Sam turned round.
"What?" he said, frowning, and Dean looked indignant.
"Oh, nothing, just everything you manage to get past is smacking me in the face back here. If I'd known it was gonna be like this I'd have brought a damn axe."
Sam looked a little guilty.
"Sorry, I didn't realise."
Seeing the genuine apology Dean waved his hand.
"Forget it. Seriously, though, if this gets much worse we're never gonna get through it without a machete."
"We should be nearly there, according to the old map anyway." said Sam and Dean grudgingly indicated for him to lead on, which he did but more carefully this time.
Dean was so busy watching his footing and looking out for flying branches that he almost missed Sam coming to a sudden stop. As it was he noticed at the last minute and pulled up short, narrowly avoiding walking straight into his brother's back.
"Dude, a little warning?" he said and Sam turned to face him, moving so Dean could get alongside him.
"Sorry, it's just look – I think we found what used to be on the map before."
Stepping up Dean saw what had taken Sam by surprise.
Just visible through the tangled branches and leaves that covered the entire area was a small wooden house. The glass in the two front windows was cracked and broken, plants growing through from both inside and outside, and the door was hanging on just one hinge. The whole place looked like it hadn't been touched in decades.
"Well I can see why they left it off the new map. Not exactly a tourist attraction, is it?" said Dean, starting to push his way towards it.
"It must have belonged to someone." said Sam, following him, and Dean grimaced.
"Someone who clearly doesn't live here anymore. Not unless they're really relaxed about their housekeeping."
Having managed to reach the house Dean held up a warning hand and pointed to the broken boards on the steps leading up to the front porch. Sam nodded to show that he'd seen them and they both made their way cautiously up to the door. By silent agreement they made as little noise as possible, knowing that just because the place looked deserted didn't mean there was no one – or no 'thing' – hiding inside.
As they reached the broken door Dean slipped the gun out from his waistband, holding it low in his right hand. It never hurt to be cautious. Glancing to make sure Sam had done the same he pushed the hanging door to one side and ducked under it to get past.
Although it was dark inside there were so many broken panels and gaps in the roof that there was enough dim light to see by. Using the hand signals John had taught them, Dean told Sam to check out the rooms at the front while he made his way towards the back of the house. He listened intently, alert for any noise, but all he could hear was the creak of the floorboards under his own feet and the almost imperceptible sounds of Sam moving about in the other rooms.
The first room he came to was obviously the kitchen, although it had been a long time since anyone had sat down to dinner there. The sink was full of brown sludge, the taps were rusted, and every surface was covered in cobwebs and dust. Moving stealthily into the next room he saw it was what passed for a bathroom, and if anything in a worse state than the kitchen. A quick glance through the window showed the back of the house was as overgrown as the front with not even a hint of a garden, if there'd ever been one.
Passing back through the kitchen he pushed open another door, which creaked alarmingly as he did so, and saw the room was completely empty. He stepped back out just as Sam made his way to join him.
"Well?" he whispered and Sam shook his head.
"Nothing. There's what was probably a lounge on the left and the other room was a bedroom. No sign of anything unusual in either of them."
Dean sighed. Another dead end.
Motioning to Sam that they were leaving he led the way back out the front door, being careful again not to put his foot through any of the rotten boards. Back on solid ground he tucked the gun back in his jeans and ran a hand through his hair frustratedly.
"So that was another waste of time." he said and Sam frowned.
"Maybe not. Seems like a hell of a coincidence, don't you think, that this place is hidden out here right near where people have been drowning?"
"Yeah, but no one's been in here for decades, Sam. Looks to me like it was just abandoned."
"But why?" said Sam, persistently, and Dean shrugged.
"How do I know? Maybe because it's in the back end of nowhere and they felt like joining civilisation? It probably doesn't even have running water."
Sam wasn't convinced. "I'm gonna look into it some more. There must be a record of whoever owned it, or at least the land."
"Fine, be my guest. But while you're doing that I'm gonna be getting something to eat. I'm starving."
Sam rolled his eyes. He was surprised it had taken this long really, given they'd skipped breakfast.
By the time they reached the river again they were both covered in dirt and leaves, not to mention scratches.
"Next time Bobby has a bright idea for a case, remind me to put the phone down." Dean grumbled, shaking stuff out of his hair and picking twigs out of his collar.
Sam smirked but before he could say anything they both heard a loud splash. They froze, Dean glancing at Sam before edging his way slowly towards the river bank. He peered into the water, extending his gaze left and right as he searched for the source of the noise. He was aware of Sam beside him, doing the same.
"Anything?" he murmured and Sam shook his head.
Bending down Dean leaned forward a little, putting his right hand on the ground to balance himself. He thought he saw a faint glow and was about to mention it to Sam when there was a surge of water and something reached out from beneath the surface. It was too fast for him even to react and he felt himself yanked forward. He heard Sam yell his name, then the cold water hit him and as he went under all noise became muffled.
He kicked his feet, trying to feel for the river bed, but it was too deep. Blinded by the water in his eyes he reached out, feeling his hands connect with something cold and leathery. The grip on his shoulder was like iron and try as he might he couldn't get whatever the hell it was to let go. His lungs were seriously beginning to burn and he struggled not to panic.
He really hated being underwater.
Even though all he could hear was the roar of river and the pounding of his own heartbeat, he was sure he could make out Sam yelling his name. He made a mental note to point out to his brother that it was a somewhat attention grabbing habit.
Assuming he managed to get out of this.
Suddenly something grabbed his other arm and he pushed against it until he realised it was actually trying to pull him upwards.
Latching on he felt fabric and guessed Sam had decided to join his little impromptu diving session. Despite the help though, whatever had him was nothing if not determined and they weren't letting go.
He was aware another few seconds and he was gonna be unconscious.
Sam's heart had almost stopped when Dean had suddenly been pulled into the water and for a second he'd only been able to stare horrified as the water closed over his brother's head like nothing had ever been there. He'd yelled Dean's name, frantically searching for a glimpse of him, and when there'd been none he'd simply pulled off his jacket and dived in. He'd ignored the breathtaking coldness of the water, his entire focus on finding his brother. Diving under the water he'd seen a dark shape ahead of him and as he'd got closer he'd been able to make out Dean struggling with whatever was holding him under. Reaching out he'd managed to grab hold of Dean's arm and although at first he'd tried to pull away it had only taken seconds for him to realise it was Sam and stop.
Sam had surfaced, gulping in air and trying not to think about how long Dean had been under already. He'd pulled with all his strength but Dean had remained under the surface. Sam took a deep breath and ducked under again.
All he could see was a shape below them, one long arm reaching up and gripping Dean's arm with what Sam thought looked like a claw. He pushed himself round to the other side of Dean, concentrating his efforts on getting the thing to let go. Dean was hitting it with his free hand but it didn't seem to be having much effect and even with the murkiness of the water Sam could see the blows were getting weaker. He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't see the thing turn its attention to him until he felt a blow to his stomach that literally forced all the air out of his body. He gasped out of reflex which unfortunately meant he took in a lungful of water. Coughing and spluttering he broke the surface, sheer desperation making him go straight back under before he even really had a chance to get an air back into his lungs.
Dean had felt the creature lash out and sensed Sam disappear suddenly. He reached out even more determinedly, managing to get hold of what he thought might be a neck of sorts this time. He squeezed, as hard as possible given the fact he was about to black out, but the water made everything slippery and his fingers were nearly numb so he couldn't get a proper grip. What he'd managed to get hold of was wrenched from his grasp and the next thing he knew he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder as the creature seemed to bite him. He gritted his teeth, cursing to himself as he realised he now only had one arm that was working properly.
Blackness was starting to creep into the edges of his vision.
I could use a little help here, Sammy he thought desperately and, as if summoned, he felt Sam's hand on his arm again. He turned his head, blinking rapidly as he tried to make out his brother beside him, but everything was blurry. He felt Sam move and then suddenly the grip on his arm was gone and he was being pulled upwards.
He gasped as his head broke the surface, gulping in air greedily and feeling a rush of dizziness as his brain was overloaded with oxygen again. He would have slipped back under but Sam had hold of him, pulling him back against him and keeping a tight grip.
"Hang on, I've got you." he said and for once Dean did as he was told, letting Sam do all the work as he kicked them back to the riverbank.
"Can you hold on?" he said when they reached it and Dean nodded, managing to grip onto an overhanging branch with his good arm.
Sam hauled himself up, sliding on the mud, and as soon as he was fully out he turned round and reached down.
"Take my hand." he said and Dean let go of the branch, trusting Sam to hold onto him and not let him go back under.
With supreme effort Sam managed to pull Dean up onto the bank, literally taking his whole weight since Dean was too exhausted to do any more than try to stay awake. They both collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily, and Dean rolled over onto his back with a groan.
"Son of a bitch!" he cursed, bringing his hand up to his shoulder which was beginning to burn now he was out of the freezing cold water.
"Here, let me look." said Sam with concern, gently prising Dean's hand out of the way so he could see. He moved aside Dean's jacket and shirt, revealing a fairly deep gash that was bleeding far more than he would have liked. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief, albeit a soaking wet one, and pressed it against the wound ignoring the fresh stream of curses.
"Keep pressure on that until we get back." he said, somewhat unnecessarily since Dean knew the drill. He would have rolled his eyes if he'd had the energy.
Sitting up Dean waited for the scenery to stop spinning and accepted Sam's help to get back on his feet.
"Ok?" Sam said, once they were both standing, and Dean grimaced.
"No."
Sam moved closer, openly worried, but before he could say anything Dean continued.
"I really hate freaking forests."
