Chapter 11

Dean and Sam arrived at the beach where the websites had said the most recent two shark attacks had supposedly happened. There were very few people at the beach. It was hard to tell if the people present were tourists or locals. Either way, the beach was pretty sparse.

Dean kicked his flip-flops off and buried his feet into the snow-white sand. "Oh man, Sammy! It's not even hot! The sand is actually cool!"

Sam followed his big brother's lead and removed his sandals. The sand was actually very comfortable on his skin. He looked out on the beach. There was a couple lounging on beach chairs, clad in swimsuits, just soaking up the sun. A family played in the clear water close to shore. A couple kids built a sandcastle on the edge of the water. It all looked so nice...so normal. It was like there was no fear of sharks at all. It was just like Jaws had shown. No one cared about the shark attacks.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Dean shouted, throwing his tank top under his flip-flops and sprinting goofily toward the water. Sam shook his head, smiled, and removed his tank top, placed his bag with his laptop on the ground, and ran to join his brother in the ocean.

Dean splashed into the water. It was so warm! He finally understood why everyone always wanted to vacation to Florida. He had never seen the appeal himself. Oceans and beaches just weren't his thing, at least, not until he was so deprived of any "me time" by the whole hunting gig. Nowadays, any excuse for a vacation seemed like a nice one.

Sam came up beside his brother in the emerald water and stared out to sea. It was hard to believe that just hours earlier the police were pulling the body of Marissa out of the water. It was hard to believe that someone had just lost their life here. It didn't look like it. He guessed that in a tourist trap, the show must go on, no matter what. The economy depended on it.

"So what are we doing here?" Dean asked.

"Looking for anything that might be considered a clue. Anything odd. Anything that looks out of place."

"Like?"

"That's the problem," Sam sighed heavily, "I'm not sure. Beaches are so not our thing. I figured we could walk up and down the beach and see if we come across anything that looks strange. You know, like old rocks with inscriptions on them, any strange formations, or any locals that may know something about the recent 'shark attacks'."

"Sounds good to me. Like shooting targets in the dark. But at least the dark is actually a gorgeous, warm beach. We're not gonna' find anything just walking randomly." Dean said.

"Yeah, but it can't hurt. You never know what we might come across. Besides, it gives you a chance to enjoy the beach a bit."

"Can't argue with that." Dean smirked as he splashed water at Sam. They spent a few minutes enjoying the water. Relaxing was something they rarely got to do.

Satisfied, they moved back onto the sandy beach, stuffed their tank tops and sandals into Sam's laptop bag, and began their patrol, searching for anything that seemed like it could be linked to unnatural or supernatural events. From any other person's perspective, they would just look like two guys enjoying the sun on the beach, but they were this town's last defense against a possible monstrous or demonic threat. Or they were on a wild goose chase. They weren't really sure.

They walked the entirety of the beach, all the way to the Tiki Torch Tavern and headed inside. Dean's eyes lit up. This was his kind of dive. The fresh open breeze flowed into the bar area since there were no actual walls. Just poles holding up the large canopy roof overhead. The floor was white sand and the bar looked like it had anything you'd ever want.

The brothers took a seat in front of the stage where it looked like someone performed at times. Sam pulled out his laptop and opened a map of the area. He marked on the map the area where the two most recent shark attacks had happened. Marissa Wenton had died just off the shore about a quarter of a mile back where they started from the bar. A guy named Chester Sonova died just off the shore right next to the bar.

"These attacks occurred really close together, within a half a mile." Sam explained, showing his brother the map on which he had marked the death locations.

"Yeah, where did the other ones occur? Do we know?"

"I don't know. I can't find any sources that show the locations. I just know they were on this beach, but that's a long beach."

"Do you think a local may know?" Dean asked.

"It's possible." Sam answered. A short, thin girl approached the table. Dean looked her up and down and liked what he saw. She was a cutie. A small, petite kinda' gal. Sam was pretty sure that if he stood up, she wouldn't even reach his chest. Heck, she might not even reach Dean's chest. She had straight dirty-blonde hair that reached just below her shoulder, sharp blue eyes, and wore a cute white sundress over what looked like a sky-blue bikini. "The name's Cassie. Can I get you anything to eat or to drink? We have an excellent Mai Tai and our fried grouper is the best in town."

"Hey Cassie. I'll take a beer, whichever your favorite is, and I'll try the grouper." Dean said. "He'll take a Mai Tai and whatever salad you have." Sam glared at Dean.

"Okay, I'll be right out with those." she said as she headed over to the bar.

"A Mai Tai? Really, Dean?" Sam whispered harshly.

"You love girly stuff at bars." Dean said, ignoring his brother's protest.

Cassie returned carrying one Blue Moon beer from the tap and a Mai Tai with a colorful tropical flower resting on the top of the glass. "Here ya' go boys."

"Thank you." Dean said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. It was so hot he thought he would die if he didn't drink something soon!

"Hey, Cassie" Sam started, "we're actually here investigating the recent shark attacks that have been occurring."

"Oh yeah, terrible things." she said, her eyes tearing up a bit.

"So we've heard, is this many shark attacks in such a short time and such a close proximity at all normal?"

"Not at all. I've lived here my whole life, been working at this bar for several years too. I've never seen anything like this." she answered.

"Would you be able to tell us where these shark attacks occurred, so we can get accurate information for our research?"

"Well, I know one happened just out there." Cassie explained, pointing at the sea just outside of the bar. "The other one that was near here was just a bit down the beach, that direction." She pointed back to where the brothers had come from.

"What about the other five that happened over the last month or so?" Dean asked.

"Well, I'm not as sure..." she explained. "I'm pretty sure they happened just down the beach as well. The Beach Patrol has had the purple flag up at the beach entrance for over a month now."

"The purple flag?" Dean asked.

"It's their way of letting the tourists and locals know the conditions of the water." Sam explained.

"Yeah, purple means there's dangerous wildlife in the area. Like sharks or jellyfish." she said. "We get Tiger sharks, hammerheads, and even Portuguese Man of Wars."

"Are those jellyfish?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, big ones."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Yeah, especially for little children. If you get hospital aid you should be fine." she told them, "but it'll hurt like hell." She smiled.

"So, where could we go to find out the specific locations of these recent shark attacks?" Sam asked.

"I'm not really sure. I suppose you could go to the Sheriff's Office. It's the police that pull the dead bodies, or what's left of them, out of the water. I'd start there. You might also be able to find out at the Beach Patrol Office, but I'm not positive on that one."

"Okay, great. We'll start there." Sam said. "Thanks."

"No problem. Sorry I couldn't help more." she apologized. "I'll go grab your food. I'm sure it's ready."

She headed off toward the bar with a smile. Dean leaned into Sam. "I know where we're heading tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, the Sheriff's Office."

Cassie returned with a hot plate of fried grouper and a cute salad with another tropical flower on top. "Here ya' go."

"Thanks!" Dean said through a wide grin. "Looks delicious."

"Let me know if you need anything." Cassie said as she headed back off to help other customers.

Dean took a bite of the grouper. "This is fantastic! How's the salad?"

Sam looked at his plate of greens. "Looks fine."

After their evening at the Tiki Torch Tavern, the brothers made their way back to their motel. Once back, Dean rummaged through their shopping bags and pulled out a couple of cheap suits that would help them pull off the role of Investigators from the State Bureau of Environmental Protection dealing with the shark attacks. "Ready for a big day tomorrow?" Dean asked.

"Another day of work." Sam answered.

"You're doing the ironing."

They spent the rest of the evening mulling over shark facts, local legends- which there were nearly none of, ironing their suits, and getting the lay of the land. Once night came they both promptly went to bed to get an early start in the morning.

Sam tried to ignore the groans and mumbles from Dean's bed. The room was dark, but he could make out the shape of Dean thrashing about in bed. Sam stared at Dean, desperate to fix him, but unsure how. He couldn't bear watching his brother suffer so much. Sam knew that whatever Dean had done during his time as a demon was eating him up. But how do you get someone like Dean to talk about that? Besides that, what can someone say to make it all better? Sam sighed. He knew he wouldn't sleep well tonight. Not with his mind racing at a thousand miles per second. He lay back down, trying to make the world fade away. These were problems that would need to be dealt with at another time A time that wasn't the middle of the night.