Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or anything related to the series, I am just writing for fun.
Chapter 7: Dead in the Water
Dean was reading the newspaper. Not actually reading current events, I'd noticed, but mostly the obituary pages of the recently deceased.
That was morbid.
"Sooo, this is how you find cases?" I asked, breaking the dead and heavy silence that had settled between us since Sam left to use the restroom in the restaurant we were in. "I mean, Sam told me a little of what you did, never really on the details. He kept it on the down low."
No one noticed me in the busy restaurant. I was totally invisible to these people, and I still wondered why that Haley girl had been able to see me after Dean killed the Wendigo.
"Mhmm," he said without taking his eyes off of the black type bold lettering on the gray piece of paper he had in his hands, pen in the other.
I bared my teeth down with annoyance. He'd been doing that to me ever since he let me come with him and his brother.
"You know you can pretend all you want that I am not here, but I'm here, so you need to deal with it," I said finally.
"Oh, I will, sweetheart, as soon as I kill that son of a bitch that killed my mom, you'll be gone too," Dean said, flicking his eyes to mine, narrowing them squarely at me, making me feel small inside this blur…this form, I didn't even know what to call it. I just called myself a spirit because as far as I knew that's what I was. I wasn't in a human form like normal girls, like the waitress swinging by tables, or, or Sam and Dean. I was just…here. Suppose that was normal for me. It took me awhile to make friends in Girl Scouts, like Katherine. I'd been lucky to have her as a friend and now…? All of that was lost because of my big mouth. I was lost.
"Hopefully," I said quietly, looking down at the surface of the table.
I still felt his eyes on me nervously a bit until he went back to the newspaper in front of him, eyes focused on a certain obituary.
SOPHIE CARLTON. The Carlton Family is sad to announce the death of their beloved daughter in a tragic swimming accident. Sophie Carlton, 18, was having her….
Dean flicked the newspaper away from my wandering eyes and I caught the town it'd been in. He leaned the paper down on the surface of the table and started to circle it. Lake Manitoc, WI.
Their waitress, Wendy, swung by with a charming smile on her face. I eyed her curiously at the blonde as she came by to give Dean some more coffee. Ugh. Coffee. What I wouldn't give to have more coffee.
He grinned at her presence, pen in between his teeth. I gave him a look, and pressed my lips to the side, shaking my head. Honestly. Men.
"Can I get you anything, else?" Wendy smiled.
"Just the check please," Sam said, coming by, and over to his chair. I thanked the Lord silently for Sam's impeccable timing. He'd totally noticed his brother ogling at the definitely cute waitress. I wasn't going to lie about that.
Dean dropped his head and then eyed Sam suggestively. "You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in awhile." He tilted his head to the side and looked at Wendy's retreating form. I didn't miss the short shorts either. He pointed at her. "That's fun."
Sam just gave him a look.
Dean rolled his eyes and shoved the newspaper in front of his eyes. Sam looked down at it.
"Here, take a look at this. I think I got one. Lake Monitoc, WI. Last Week, Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Monitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."
"A funeral?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For uh, closure or whatever," Dean shrugged.
"Closure? What closure? People just don't disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them," Sam said.
Dean had that wondered look on his face as if there were more to that and I definitely heard the undertone.
"Something you want to say to me?" He asked.
"The trail for Dad," Sam said, narrowing his eyes at his older brother. "It's getting colder every day."
"Exactly," Dean said. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything," Sam rationalized.
"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I want to find Dad as much as you do?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded. "I know you do, it's just-"
"I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been going off to college going to pep school rallies. We will find Dad, but until then we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?" Dean asked, nearly pleaded with Sam, as Sam listened, taking his brother's words in.
I glanced between them worriedly, remaining silent as the grave. I really wanted to say to Dean that college didn't have pep school rallies, but I decided against it.
Sam rolled his eyes, and then soon enough Dean became distracted by Wendy again as she dropped the check on the table, smirking at him.
Sam looked at me. I tilted my head gingerly to the side.
"All right. Lake Monitoc," Sam said, then he reached out in front of Dean to get a hold of him. "Hey!"
"Huh?" Dean asked.
"How far?"
~*SPN*~
Lake Monitoc, WI.
We rode into the small town of Lake Monitoc. It seemed quaint and very small with everyone walking about. There was a close line with white sheets flying in the wind. We passed someone on the bridge who was finishing off of it. And then finally drove passed a welcome sign that read 'Welcome to Lake Monitoc.'
We drove further into town, and toward the Carlton house up on a small green hill.
Dean parked the car, cutting off the engine, and the music as well, of which I silently thanked the Lord. The music choice wasn't really settling with me today.
Sam and Dean piled out of the impala; I slipped through the metal of the car, and followed them up to the house.
An older man opened up the door and looked warily out at Sam and Dean. I was a bit off to the side, not that he could see me.
"I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill," Dean said, and I gave him a look as he held up a fake I.D.
"Star Wars?" I said dryly.
Sam gave me a slight look as if to say he'd explain it to me later. I shook my head slightly and looked to Will Carlton again.
"We're with the U.S. wildlife service," Dean announced. "We'd like to talk to you what happened to Sophie Carlton."
Will cast a dark look, a shadow over him, but he nodded. "Follow me," he said, and we followed him through the house and out the backdoor that lead all the way to the lake. It was so pretty out here. A picturesque lake that looked like dark skimming glass. A mountain of forests and rock cascaded all around it for comfort.
"She was about a hundred yards out," Will said. The sadness was still evident in his voice. So much for closure. He narrowed his eyes as we stopped at the edge of the lake. He peered out to the middle of the lake and pointed, "That's where she got dragged down."
"And you're sure she just didn't drown?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. She was a swimmer," Will nodded as he answered Dean. "She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as she was in her own bathtub."
I looked from the glassy, placid like lake and gave the man a look. Right. It may look calm. But there was no way in hell was I feeling that sense of calm out here. Something was underneath that lake.
"So no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam asked.
"No, that's what I'm telling you."
"Did you see any shadows in the water?" Sam asked, looking at my worried look all of a sudden. "Maybe some dark shape breached the surface?"
Lock-ness? Doubtful. I didn't think the lock-ness monster would be as evil as whatever it was I was feeling now. Plus, he was a myth as far as I was concerned.
"No, again she was really far out there," Will said.
"Did you ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked.
Will's eyes flickered and became really nervous for a minute. "No, never. Why? Why, what do you think is out there?"
Dean looked to Sam and then at him. "We'll let you know as soon as we do."
Dean turned around to head to his car, and I was going to follow too (ready to get out of there myself), but Sam stuck around for one more question.
"What about your father?" Sam asked.
Dean turned around and I looked to Will.
"Look, if you don't mind," Will began hesitantly. "I mean, he didn't see anything, and he's kind of been through a lot."
"We understand," Sam said.
I narrowed my eyes a bit questionably before I took off after Sam and Dean, heading back to the impala.
~*SPN*~
Now it was time to talk to the Sheriff. Sam and Dean needed to dig up more of what they could find on the mystery case. Jake didn't seem to believe they were with the Wildlife Service, but he went along with it. I trailed behind the brothers and the Sheriff as we walked through his office.
"Now, I'm sorry, why does the Wildlife Serivce care about an accidental drowning?" He asked.
"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister," Sam said as a matter of fact.
"Like what?" He asked, standing behind his desk. Sam, Dean, and I stood on the other side. He gestured with his hand for the boys to sit down on the empty chairs right in front of his desk.
"Here, sit please. There are no indigenous carnivores in the lake," he said.
"Yeah," Dean laughed. Sam and I gave him a gawked look, or at least I did. "Right." I glanced over at Sam and then saw it. Nope. Yep. There was his glare at his brother.
"Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks," Jake was convince. "Still…" he took a seat of his own chair. "WE dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."
"That's weird, though, I mean that's… that's the third missing body this year," Dean said.
"I know," Jake nodded. "These are people from my town. These are people I care about."
"I know," Dean said.
"Anyway…" Jake sighed. "All this…it won't be a problem much longer."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the dam, of course," he said as if it should be common knowledge to the Wildlife Service men.
"Of course," Dean coughed, "The dam, the uh, it sprung a leak."
"It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened up 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 tested Dean.
"Exactly."
I shook my head at Dean. I just didn't understand why they couldn't tell these people the truth of who they actually were instead of lying to them flat out. It's not like they were going to see them again.
A young woman walked inside with light brown hair that was pulled back in a half updo. She looked pleasant and innocent and I sensed nothing from her except maybe tragic loss, but that was the whole town.
She noticed Sam and Dean. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked with a bright smile on her face as she knocked on the door, peeking her head inside.
Sam and Dean both stood at her presence and I fought to make a snide comment that threatened to make its way to my lips.
"I can come back later," she said.
"Gentlemen, this is my daughter," Jake introduced.
Dean's straightened up. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean," he shook her hand.
"Andrea Barr. Hi," she smiled.
"Hi," Dean smiled right back as though none of us were in the room.
"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake," Jake explained, noticing the quick exchange.
"Oh," she said, glancing at her father.
Another newcomer entered the room and it was a little boy with sandy blonde hair. He needed a haircut. But he'd walked toward his mom?
Awe. He was adorable. Then a sad reminder pinged in my soul. I realized I was never going to have a family. Never.
"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked him. The boy didn't say a word. Instead his eyes flickered over to mine and we locked eyes.
Strange.
I thought about saying hi. I thought about waving. But I didn't. I was frozen. Sam noticed this too. But he didn't say a word to me. He didn't even flip out like Haley had when she saw me after seeing the Wendigo for the first time in her life. The mother instinct that had found its way back made me want to help him. But I wasn't sure what to do.
And then he just walked away. Andrea followed after him, sending Dean an apologetic look.
"His name is Lucas," Jake said. Andrea took Lucas to the small table and handed him a few crayons out of the Crayola box.
"Is he okay?" Sam asked.
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have," Jake said.
He got up from his chair and walked over to the open door to look out at his daughter and grandson thoughtfully. I turned too. I don't know why, but I think something was wrong with Lucas. Especially if he wasn't talking.
"Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know," Jake said.
Dean, Sam, Jake, and I left the office and into the main lobby area.
"Thanks. You know, now that you mention it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked.
"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south," Andrea replied, looking up at him. She walked over to the boys, and myself as I stood off to the side.
"Two-would you mind showing us?" Dean asked.
"You want me to walk you two blocks?" Andrea sounded skeptic and was right to.
"Not if it's any trouble," Dean smiled at her.
"I'll be right back to pick up Lucas at three," she said to her father. Jake nodded at her, keeping an eye on him.
"We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" She asked, walking back over to her son. She knelt down and kissed the top of his head before she took off with us, leaving the sheriff's station.
Dean waved. Jake nodded for his time with him.
"Thanks again," Sam said and we followed Andrea out of the office and out into the brilliant sunlight into the small town following down the sidewalk quietly until Dean opened his mouth.
"So, cute kid."
"Thanks," she said.
We crossed another street.
"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean tried.
Sam and I looked at one another smirking as Sam shoved his hands in his pockets.
Andrea just slightly gave him a strange look. Silence. Ouch.
It wasn't a far walk, like she said because the Lakefront Motel was right in front of us. Thank God. The silence and the awkwardness Dean had created with Andrea was sooo…well…awkward.
"There it is. Like I said, two blocks," she smiled.
"Thanks," Sam nodded at her. Andrea nodded as well at Sam and then turned to Dean. "Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line."
My mouth gaped open. Wow….Nice one, Andrea.
She started to leave, and then looked over at them, flashing a smile. "Enjoy your stay!"
Dean looked over at my look and I held up my hands in defense, not saying a word. Just in shock and surprised that I had found new faith in humanity.
"Kids are the best?" Sam repeated doubtfully to his brother. Exactly. "You don't even like kids."
"I love kids!" Dean exclaimed.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Name three children that you even know."
Dean fought for a brief moment and I tilted my head to the side curiously. Was he actually thinking? He had nothing. Sam smacked the air with his hand as if he'd had enough waiting and walked to the motel room.
Dean scratched the top of his head, "I'm thinking!"
"Don't think too hard," I whispered, leaning into his ear as I passed im to follow after Sam.
~*SPN*~
A couple of hours later, Sam was hard at work researching his silver computer. I looked around the small and dingy motel room with two twin beds between a bedside table and a lamp. Each motel room had been different so far. Different décor. I guess to go with the town? I wasn't sure. But this one was nicer than the last one.
"So there's the three drowning victims this year," Sam said as Dean started to stifle through his clothing in his duffle.
"Any before that?" Dean asked.
"Uh, yeah," he read.
On his screen he had an article of the Lake Manitoc Tribune. It read DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL.
He clicked on it and the article pulled up in front of him. It was the story of a young girl who'd drowned at the lake. It was the secondo ne in a span of six months in the same lake.
"Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."
"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" Dean asked.
"This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me," Sam shrugged.
Dean walked over and leaned over Sam's shoulder to read the article.
"Why?" He asked.
"Lock Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing," Sam explained.
"Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."
"Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" Dean asked, catching a name through Sam's searches.
"Christopher Barr, the victim in May," Sam said. He clicked on another link, pulling up a new page. LOCAL MAN IN THE TRACIC ACCIDENT. It was the father of Lucas with his son. He was a police officer.
"Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued," Sam read out loud.
If I still had a heart? It would be breaking because now sadness flooded through my spirit form.
Another picture came up. He tilted his head and scratched the top of his head thoughtfully as he studied it.
"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out," Dean said. "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."
A heavy silence swept over the room. I didn't know what it was like to loose a parent, but I did know what it was like to die and loosing everything you ever cared about and took for granted.
~*SPN*~
We knew Andrea would be at the park with her son. It was a beautiful day outside and the sun was shining through crystal clear blue skies all over the small town of Lake Monitoc. I might've liked to live in a place like this. It wasn't as busy as a college town. Maybe have a small family in a house and big back yard.
I glanced around the park. Every kid was happy. They had smiles on their faces except for one. Lucas. Though he seemed content just coloring his toy soldiers in front of him.
"Can we join you?" Sam asked, walking over to Andrea, seated on a nearby bench.
She looked up to see Sam and Dean. I stood a bit beside them, but I knew she couldn't see me.
"I'm here with my son," she said. I took that as an indication of a no.
Dean looked over at Lucas. "Oh. Mind if I say hi?" Without another word from Andrea, he walked over.
She rolled her head over at Sam with a smile. "Tell your friend, this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me."
I frowned. "I still have yet to see that movie," I commented lightly next to Sam as he took a seat by Andrea. He gave me a bit of a surprised look, sneaking at me.
"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam said.
"Hey, I'm gonna see something real quick," I said to Sam. I jogged over to the small pick nick table over to where Dean was. Dean looked over at me as I knelt down beside Lucas.
"Hey, Lucas," I said slowly. "How's it going?"
Lucas was too intent on his coloring. He didn't look up at me.
"I know you can hear me," I continued.
"You might be scaring him," Dean narrowed his eyes at me.
"I know he saw me in the office, I just know it," I said. "I have to try."
"Let me try," Dean said.
"Okay," I said.
When Dean began to talk, I reached for a crayon. Purple. It was my favorite color. I snuck a piece of paper from him and started to draw, meanwhile Dean picked up a toy soldier from the set.
"Oh, I used to love these things," he exclaimed, admiring the toy soldier. He started to imitate what a soldier would do in battle, making battle noises and everything. He chuckled a bit then set the soldier down when Lucas made no attempt to interact with him. I continued to draw my picture.
"So crayons is more our thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists," Dean said.
I noticed that Lucas had a bunch of drawings on the bench. Dean saw my look and then took a look at one of them. He noticed the black swirl. And then the second one was a red bicycle.
"Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for awhile?"
"I'm not so bad myself," he picked up a crayon off the table and started to draw. "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk. Maybe even my ghost friend too. Yeah, I know it's weird. She's weird, even though she's kind of nice," he corrected when he noticed my off-handish look. "Yeah, I don't get it either. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something," he paused thoughtfully. I stopped coloring and looked up at him, to listen about Dean's past. He didn't go into too much detail of it, so he continued.
"Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or uh, or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake. Okay, no problem. This is for you," Dean said. He'd finished drawing and showed the picture to Lucas. Stick figures. I looked at the handy artwork and chuckled. It was no better than mine.
I'd just drawn a forest. Whenever I used to feel extreme high anxiety about something, I would picture a forest. It used to calm me down instantly so I thought maybe Lucas would like it. It was peaceful. But within my forest, I had my family circle. It was my dad, my mom, and me having smore's.
"This is my family," Dean said. "This is my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother, and that's me."
I wrote down my dad's name, my mom's name, and then my name on top of mine. We had a dog too. A German Shepard named Merlin.
"All right, so I'm a sucky artist," Dean concluded when Lucas said nothing in return. A smile appeared on my face. I was finished with my drawing, so I left it with his pile.
"I'll see you around, Lucas," Dean said. Dean motioned a quick nod to me and we started to head back to Sam and Andrea.
"Bye, Lucas," I offered kindly.
"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident," Andrea said.
"Yeah, we heard. Sorry," Dean said.
Andrea nodded sadly.
"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked.
"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress," she said.
"That can't be easy. For either of you," Sam added sympathetically.
"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just…when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…"
"Kids are strong," Dean reminded her. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."
Lucas started to walk towards us.
"Hey sweetie," Andrea greeted.
Lucas handed Dean two pictures.
"Thanks. Thanks, Lucas," he said, glancing at the two pictures.
One of the pictures was the Carlton house, while the other was a mysterious ghostly figure.
~*SPN*~
I was studying the picture inside the motel room. The picture had been meant for me. I was surprised he'd draw me anything at all to be perfectly honest. Ghosts and monsters usually freaked kids out.
"How'd you know he was going to open up to you?" Dean asked me.
I shrugged slightly, looking up from the picture to Dean's green questionable eyes. "Dogs and kids can see certain things that we can't. Back when you shot the Wendigo, Haley saw me after she saw the creature. I'm thinking maybe Lucas can see me now that he'd seen whatever attacked his Dad. Like you said, kids are strong."
"So, I think it's safe we can rule out Nessie," Sam announced as he opened up the door and walked inside.
I got up from the other bed.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked as Sam sat beside him.
"I just drove past the Carlton House, there was an ambulance waiting there. Will Carlton is dead," Sam said.
I placed my fingers over my mouth, pressing my lips together at the news.
"He drowned?" Dean asked.
"Yep. In the sink," Sam said.
"What the hell? So, you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."
"Yeah, but what?"
"I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water….water that comes from the same source," Dean tried to wrack his brain to figure out what was next on the list at who could be killing.
The black ghostly stick figure that Lucas drew was more than a stick figure. I wondered if that had been it. But I honestly just thought the picture was Lucas as how he was feeling after his dad's accident. That's what Dean and I had concluded anyway, especially after Andrea noted that Lucas was dealing with some sort of post-traumatic stress feelings. Poor kid. Made me wonder if my parents were dealing with that after my own death. I wouldn't wish those feelings on anyone.
"The lake," Sam concluded.
"Yeah," Dean nodded.
"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."
"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere," Dean added, standing up.
"This is gonna happen again soon. He walked over to sit down on the chair.
"And we do know one other thing or sure. We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."
"Yeah, it took both his kids," Dean said.
"And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris…Bill Carlton's godson."
"Oh," I mouthed.
"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."
~*SPN*~
"Mr. Carlton?" Sam asked, approaching the man who was sitting on the bench closer we got towards the dock.
Bill lifted his head at the boys as I followed them downward the dock closer to the lake.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind," Sam said gently.
"We're from the, the Department-" Dean couldn't even finish his sentence when Bill butted in.
"I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today."
"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there? Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will death, we think there might be a connection to you or your family."
"My children are gone. It's worse than dying. Go away. Please," he pleaded desperately.
I heard the desperation and it made me frown. I gently tugged Sam's shirt, and nodded. We turned to go back to the impala.
"What do you think?" Sam asked toward Dean after they were out of Bill's earshot.
"Awe, I think the poor guy's been through hell," Dean shrugged. "I also think he's not telling us something.
Sam casually leaned against the impala. "So now what?"
An idea hit Dean.
"What is it?"
"Huh," he turned to face the Carlton house as if he was remembering something.
"Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something," Dean said. He pulled out the picture that Lucas had drawn him. He showed Sam and I and we studied both houses. It was the exact same house.
"Huh," I said.
~*SPN*~
"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea," Andrea said, and possibly rightfully so on her part, but we needed some answers to stop the killings in the lake.
"I just need to talk to him," Dean pleaded. "Just for a few minutes."
"He won't say anything. What good's it gonna do?" She asked.
"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there."
"My husband, the others, they just drowned," she said with a small shake of her head. She looked spooked. "That's all."
"If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son."
Andrea sighed, and finally allowed Dean to talk to Lucas. She showed him where his room was. And there he was, just sitting there, coloring with his toy soldiers. We all leaned in against the doorway of the threshold.
Dean walked further in toward his bedroom and knelt down beside him genty.
"Hey, Lucas. You remember me?" Dean asked.
Lucas had two new pictures; both of them were red bicycles.
"You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again," Dean said when Lucas remained silent. I snuck into the room to see what else what he was drawing. I sensed that the poor kid was anxious. He seemed to be drawing the same ghostly figure in the water that he'd drawn me.
"How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen?" He asked, holding up the Carlton house picture toward him. But Lucas hadn't looked at it, too intent in his own coloring. "Maybe you could nod yes or no for me…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."
Lucas dropped the crayon all of a sudden, and lifted is head up at Dean.
He picked out one of his pictures and it was a picture of a church, another house, but this time sunshine yellow, and a boy who had a baseball cap on who was standing next to a red bicycle right in front of a fence made of wood.
"Thanks Lucas," he said.
Dean thanked Andrea, and we left the house, heading back toward the impala.
~*SPN*~
We drove back to the motel. I was in the back trying to think of all the connections that had happened so far, trying to piece it together. So far, houses and that red bicycle seemed to be key.
"I think the pattern is the red bicycle," I announced once we were out of the house and beside the impala.
"Ah, well, look at you, give the lady a cigar," Dean flicked his eyes up at the rear view mirror as I'd given in my two cents. "If you know, ghosts could smoke."
"Ha, ha," I said sarcastically.
"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died," Dean said.
"Well, Melinda's not wrong, Dean," Sam said, studying the picture in his hands. "There are cases, going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies."
"Thank you," I chimed.
"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead…please," Dean said, as a bit of agitation seeped out of his voice.
"All right, we got another house to find," Sam suggested.
"The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone," Dean grumbled.
Sam narrowed is eyes at the picture in his hands. "See this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here."
"Oh, college boy thinks he so smart," Dean teased.
"You know, um…" Sam began slowly. "What you said about Mom? You never told me that before."
"It's no big deal," Dean shrugged. I flicked my eyes between the two brothers.
"Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything are we?" He asked, making Sam smile a bit.
~*SPN*~
"Uh, guys?" I looked up at the church, suddenly wary of it. Sam and Dean glanced behind me after they climbed out of the impala. "Can ghosts walk into a Church? Or stand on Hollow Ground? I mean, I know witches can't," I smirked at my knowledge of this stuff from movies.
"Maybe you should stay by the impala just in case," Sam suggested.
I nodded. "Good idea."
Dean held up the picture and studied it as though he was comparing the two. Right across the church, however, was a yellow house and a wooden fence. We crossed the street, and I felt a bit better that we were heading away from the church, heading toward the yellow house with the picket wooden fence.
Dean knocked on the door. An old woman approached the door, eyeing Sam and Dean warily.
"We're working a case here in town, and we need to ask you a few questions," Dean said.
"I need some I.D.," she said.
They pulled out their badges and she eyed them carefully before she let them into her home. They stuffed the I.D wallets back inside their back pockets and followed her throughout the house. Her name was Mrs. Sweeney.
"We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does this little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle?" Dean asked.
She looked at the picture a bit, and shook her head. "No sir. Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." She looked over at a picture frame of Peter and let out a tired sigh.
"The police never….I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared," Mrs. Sweeney continued. "Loosing him, you know it's….it's worse than dying."
Wait a second. Didn't Bill just say the same thing? I'd noticed it.
Sam had noticed some toy soldiers that were on a table. Dean shared a look with his brother.
"Did he disappear from here? Dean asked. "I mean, from this house?"
"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up."
Dean had found his way toward a picture that was attached to the mirror. He saw two boys in the photo. Peter had a red bicycle. That same bicycle! I walked over beside Dean and looked at him, sharing a look.
"Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, 1970," Dean read aloud.
"Oh, yes," Mrs. Sweeney nodded. "They were best friends."
It suddenly felt like Déjà vu all over again and looked down at the floorboards beneath my feet. Great. It's college all over again.
~*SPN*~
I was in the backseat of the impala, listening to the boys go over everything they'd just learned.
"Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow," Sam was saying as his mind worked through the patterns.
"Yeah. Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?"
"And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished."
"So, what if Bill did something to Peter?"
"What if Bill killed him?" Sam asked.
"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible," Dean said.
"Like how I tried to kill Jason for betrayal," I added. Dean nodded at that.
We soon found ourselves pulled up to the Carlton house.
"Mr. Carlton?" Sam asked.
It was quiet, a bit too quiet for my tastes, so we decided to head out to the lake. He was there last time. I wondered if he ever moved from his spot.
An engine from the back had made its way to the front of the house. It came from the back and sounded like a boat engine. We looked at one another and ran around the house only to find the old man out on a small motor boat, heading for the middle.
"Hey, check it out," Dean said. I couldn't believe it. What was the man thinking?!
"I really don't think that's a good idea," I said quietly. Sam and Dean also didn't think it was a good idea. They pumped their legs and ran for the dock, yelling.
"Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!"
"Mr. Calrton!"
But the old man wasn't listening. He was far too intent to go out on that lake until all of a sudden the water swooshed upward and flipped his boat over the water as though he'd hit some type of rock. I covered my mouth in shock with my hands, watching Bill totally disappear. Yep. Something was definitely inside that lake.
~*SPN*~
We walked inside the police station through the weave of desks and toward Jake's office where Andrea and Lucas were. She was sitting next to her son, holding a brown paper bag and a plastic container. She looked very concerned about Lucas.
"Sam, Dean," she said in greeting as the boys walked inside.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
"So now you're on a first-name basis?" Jake didn't like that at all. "What are you doing here?" He asked his daughter.
"I brought you dinner," she showed him the container and bag in her hands.
Jake sent her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I really don't have the time."
"I Heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"
"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home," Jake warned.
Lucas suddenly made a feared cry. His eyes looked up in horror. He was really scared. He got out of his seat and reached for Dean's arm, tugging him closer as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to say it. Sam and I looked at one another worriedly.
"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asked gently. "Lucas?"
"Lucas," Andrea came over to her son, concerned.
"Lucas, it's okay. It's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay. It's okay," Dean tried to calm him down, but Lucas wasn't even close. He was too frightened. He even looked to me for answers, but I didn't have any. I gave him an apologetic look. Of course, I'd do everything in my power to help if I knew what was happening and had all the answers. But I don't.
Andrea pulled Lucas away from Dean, staring at him as she dragged him out of the office. Once they were out of the room, Jake headed over to his chair, and took off his jacket. He tossed it on the chair.
"Okay, just so I'm clear, you see, something attacked Bill's boat, sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer, by the way, into the drink, and you never see him again?" Jake asked skeptically.
Dean flicked his eyes, sharing a look with Sam before he answered.
"Yeah, that about sums it up."
"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?"
Dean looked shocked that Jake had found out about them.
"That's right, I checked," Jake said, noticing Dean's surprised look on his face. "Department's never heard of you two."
"See, now, we can explain that."
"Enough," Jake cut Dean off. "Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbor's 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 in your review mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."
"Door number tow sounds good," Sam said quickly.
"That's the one I'd pick."
We ran on right out of there, not wanting Jake to change his mind.
~*SPN*~
I read the sign in front of us that read I-43 North to Milwaukee on my left. It didn't feel right that we were leaving, leaving Lucas all afraid like that. Something bugged. I wasn't sure what it is. My thoughts kept going to the bicycle and the weird black swirls and the kid he drew me that was drawn in black and depressing colors.
"Green," Sam said, breaking the car's silence.
"What?" Dean asked. He'd drifted back into his own thoughts.
"Light's green," Sam repeated. Dean turned right instead of left.
"Uh, the interstate's the other way," Sam pointed out.
"I know," Dean said, nodding, and continuing to drive back to Lake Monitoc.
"But Dean, this job, I think it's over," Sam said.
"I'm not so sure," Dean shook his head.
"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest."
"All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done?" Dean asked. "You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?"
"But why would you think that?" Sam asked.
"Because Lucas was really scared," Dean replied.
"That's what this is about?" Sam inquired.
"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay," Dean said. I thanked him silently for that. I didn't want to either.
"Who are you?" Sam exclaimed. "And what have you done with my brother?"
"Shut up," Dean said, making Sam chuckle. I could only smile.
~*SPN*~
We got out of the impala and walked up to the front door.
"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked worriedly. "It's pretty late, man."
Dean shrugged and rang the doorbell. I suddenly got a bad feeling and frowned.
"No, I think we're sure," I said. "I have a bad feeling."
"Right," Sam said to me.
Of course, I'm right.
No sooner did I think that, did Lucas open up the door. He suddenly ran away from us when he realized it was us, but he did want us to follow.
"Lucas? Lucas!"
"He wants us to follow him," I said as we ran through the hallway toward the back of the house.
I looked down at the water seeping out of the cracked bathroom door. Lucas was already grasping at straws as he tried to get the door to open. Dean gently pulled him away and set him beside Sam and me to protect him, while Dean suddenly kicked the door wide open. Lucas attached himself to Dean as Sam ran into the bathroom and searched for Andrea inside the overflowing tub of dark water. Sam pulled all of his strength to try and get Andrea out of the tub to keep from drowning. With all his might, he finally grabbed her, and pulled her out until she was finally free of its restraints. She shook against Sam's arms, in fear, and coughed up water, allowing herself to finally breathe.
~*SPN*~
Sam, Dean and I had hung out in the living room, until Andrea finished getting herself ready. She walked in the room, with a robe on, and her hair had dried from the night before.
"Can you tell me?" Sam asked gently as she sat down, staring.
"No," she shook her head.
Dean and I found ourselves occupied with a scrapbook of photographs he was thumbing through by the bookshelf.
"It doesn't make any sense," she said with a shake of her head. She started to cry. "I'm going crazy," she buried her face within the palms of her hands.
"No, you're not," Sam assured her. "Tell me what happened. Everything."
"I heard…I thought I heard…." She began shakily. "There was this voice."
"What did it say?" Sam asked.
"It said…it said… 'come play with me,'" she looked really shaken up by the voice. "What's happening?"
Dean pulled out another scrapbook, one that said, Jake. 12 Years Old. He opened it and started to flip through the pages until he finally closed it, and walked over to Sam and Andrea. He placed the book down for Andrea and picked out one particular page. An Explorer Troop 37. Boy scouts.
"Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" Dean asked.
"What? Um, um no," she said, bringing herself out of her thoughts as she'd drowned in them. "I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures." She pointed her finger at Jake who was with Peter.
"Chris Barr's drowning," Dean said after sharing a look with Sam. "The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been the sheriff."
"Bill and the sheriff," Sam corrected him. "They were both involved with Peter."
"What about Chris?" Andrea asked incredulously, looking between Sam and Dean. "My dad, what are you talking about?"
"Lucas?" Dean asked, looking at Lucas as he had entered the room. He was looking out the window. "Lucas, what is it?"
Lucas suddenly opened the door and walked outside. Andrea looked at Sam and Dean, and got up to follow her son outside. We followed them too.
"Lucas, honey?" Andrea asked, concern laced in her voice.
"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" Dean said after Lucas stopped behind the bushes, looking at the grass.
Andrea nodded at Dean's request, and pulled Lucas away from the backyard, and back to the house. Dean and Sam went to retrieve shovels from the impala and started to dig the very spot that Lucas showed them. Something was underneath.
Sam's shovel hit something hard. He shared a knowing look with his brother before they started to dig with their hands quickly and gripped onto something metal. They finally pulled out a red bicycle.
"Holy crap…" I said.
"Peter's bike," Sam said with a nod of his head at my comment.
"Who are you?" Jake demanded, suddenly pointing his gun at them. I widened my eyes and looked over at the boys worriedly.
Sam and Dean spun around and dropped the bike on the ground, holding up their hands in defense. The shovels were dropped too.
"How did you know that was there?" Jake asked. He'd looked as though he'd seen a ghost.
"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried," Dean said, eyes glowering at him.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Jake dismissed it.
"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about," Dean explained.
Andrea ran up to them.
"Dad!" She cried as she noticed the gun in his hands.
"And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit," Dean added.
"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does," Sam explained.
"Yeah, and how do you know that?"
"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton," Sam replied.
"Listen to yourselves, both of you. You're insane!" Jake shook his head.
"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us," Dean said. "But if we're gonna bring tdown this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."
"Come play with me…" Peter's voice chilled the air. I'd heard it. Why could I hear it?
"Uh…guys….it's happening again," I said. But no one was listening to me.
"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea asked.
"No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous," Jake glared at Sam and Dean.
"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me," Andrea pleaded. "Tell me, you…you didn't kill anyone."
Jake couldn't look at his daughter.
"Oh my God…" she breathed out in shock.
"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank."
Dean looked at Sam.
I wondered why the voice spoke again. Andrea and Jake were here, so why did it speak?
"Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost?" I narrowed my eyes at that. "It's not rational."
"All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now," Dean ordered.
Andrea was about to turn, until she spotted her son walking toward the lake. She gasped, covering her mouth.
"Lucas!" Jake cried. We ran out to the dock. Lucas was leaning far too close into the water. No. No. No. No. My thoughts thought frantically.
"Come play with me…" It was that damn voice again.
"Don't listen to it, Lucas!" I shouted unable to help it.
Dean looked at me and then at Lucas. "Lucas!"
There was a tiny toy soldier that Lucas was trying to reach for.
"Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!" She cried.
"I don't think he can hear us," I said.
"Can you connect with the spirit?" Sam asked me.
I tilted my head to the side. Maybe. "Kid, if you're out there, stay away from Lucas!"
"NO!" It screamed at me, and I gave Sam a twisted look on my face.
"Damn it," Sam said.
Yeah.
A hand reached for Lucas and pulled him inside. He flipped over and crashed in.
We finally made it toward the edge of the lake. Peter appeared through the dark waters, looking out at us. Jake saw him. Dean and Sam ran toward the end and jumped into the water after Lucas.
"Oh my God!" Andrea cried.
"Andrea, stay there!" Sam said, pulling out of the water, as he saw her about to take off her jacket and jump in as well. It wanted anyone connected to the case. She couldn't be near it.
"No! Lucas!" She cried.
"We'll get him! Just stay on the dock!" Sam yelled out to her. I looked over to her as she worriedly covered her face with her hands.
Sam ducked underneath the water, while Dean came up, looking all around him.
"Sam?" Dean asked as Sam pulled up. He shook his head.
"Lucas, where are you?" Andrea cried out.
Jake started to take off his jacket while the brothers dove back under the water. Jake started to go into the lake until the waters were about halfway around his waist.
"Peter, if you can hear me….please, Peter…I'm sorry, I'm so…I'm so sorry,"
"Daddy no!" Andrea cried, noticing her Dad try to talk to Peter. I tried to place a comforting hand over her shoulder. She immediately stilled.
"Peter. Lucas. He's just a little boy. Please. It's not his fault. It's mine. Please take me."
Sam and Dean came up for air out of the water and looked at Jake.
"Jake, no!" Dean cried.
"Just let it be over!" Jake said as Peter popped his head out of the water, hearing Jake's pleas. Jake suddenly felt a tug, and realized that Peter had gotten to him, as Peter pulled him inside the water.
"Dady! Daddy! No!" Andrea was in near tears as she watched her own father drown in the lake by Peter's spirit. "No!"
Sam pulled out of the water, looking around him, and then at me. "Anything?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"No," Andrea mouthed next to me.
Suddenly Dean came up out of the water with Lucas in his arms. I looked over at him worriedly, wondering if Lucas was going to be okay. I looked over where Jake had gotten pulled in by Peter's spirit and didn't see him come back up.
~*SPN*~
I followed Sam and Dean out of the motel the next day. Dean opened up the door of the impala, and Sam threw in his duffel bag onto the far seat next to me, leaving me some room so I could sit down.
"Look, we're not gonna save everybody," Sam said. I was about to sit down until he said that.
"I know," Dean said.
"Sam, Dean," Andrea said in greeting as they walked down the street toward them. Lucas was right beside her, carrying a tray full of lunch goodies.
"Hey," Dean smiled at them.
"We're glad we caught you," Andrea said. "We just, um, we made you lunch for the road."
Lucas made three sandwiches, instead of two.
I couldn't help but bite back a grin. Was that for me? Even though I didn't require food at all.
"I told him to make two sandwiches because there are only two of you, not three," Andrea said. "But he insisted that he'd make one for a girl named Melinda? Do you guys know anything about that?" She flicked her eyes between the two brothers and they looked at one another. I couldn't help but feel slightly elated by this. "I assumed, it was an imaginary friend."
"Something like that," Sam said with a small nod.
"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked.
Andrea smiled. "Of course."
"Come on, Lucas," Dean motioned him over. "Let's load this into the car."
Sam walked over to Andrea. "How are you holding up?"
"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" Andrea asked Sam.
I smiled as Lucas and Dean walked over to the car.
"Hi, Melinda!" He said brightly at me.
"Hey, Lucas," I said. "You know the sandwich was very thoughtful, but I think I'm gonna give my sandwich to Dean if that's cool. He could use it more than me."
Lucas grinned. "Okay! Hey, is purple your favorite color?"
I nodded.
"Do ghosts sleep?" Lucas asked.
Dean chuckled at his many questions at the top of his head, as they rattled and I had no clue how to answer them. So far I hadn't needed sleep. I wasn't like a regular human.
Dean placed the sandwiches into the duffle bag. I looked over at Andrea and Sam as he apologized to her about this whole thing that had occurred in her life, turning it upside down.
She shook her head. "You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that."
"All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it to me one more time," Dean said.
"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas exclaimed excitedly.
Dean laughed, "That's right. Up high!" he said, holding his hand up for a high five. Lucas high-fived him back.
"You take care of your mom, okay?" Dean asked.
Lucas nodded and he ran up to her. Dean and I stood by the impala. She walked up to Dean and stepped in to place a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you," she said. I smiled. I liked her. Seeing Andrea with a son had made me crave a family even more. I wanted to be that warm and loving again, but right now I was anything but. And realized, that I was a ghost. I wasn't a living person. I was never going to have that.
Dean scratched his head thoughtfully before he walked around the car to the driver's side. "Sam, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road. That includes you imaginary friend," Dean added.
"Oh, he's talking to me," I realized that I was the imaginary friend. I jumped at the chance to walk through the door and sat inside on my seat. I heard Lucas gasp excitedly. I turned around to give him a wink.
He turned on the engine and another rock song appeared on the radio. We drove away from them, leaving them behind in tiny little Lake Monitoc.
~*SPN*~
