Chapter Eleven
Searching
It had been really long for a short night. Sam tried to do the voices when he read to Rae, but he doubted she had even been paying attention. She stared toward the door until she fell asleep. Then she had some of the worst nightmares Sam could recall in recent months. He held and rocked her, using the same litany that worked before.
"It's okay. I got you. I'm here. I got you." Over and over he repeated it until Rae's cries subsided and her eyes opened, awake.
"You can read to me," she said. "Unless Dad is back?" She yawned broadly.
"Soon," Sam promised, though he had no idea when Dean would actually be back. He picked up The Wizard of Oz, hoping she would fall asleep again. He kept telling Dean that bad sleep was better than no sleep, but Sam never realized that bad sleep for Rae meant no sleep for Dean. Sam swore to himself if she started having nightmares about witches or flying monkeys, Sam would use this book the same way Dean had Alice in Wonderland. Maybe he should have actually read these books before pushing them on Dean and Rae. Surely some of those Little House or Little Women, or whatever they were, books were better. He would do some research on that later. How the hell some books got branded as a children's 'classic' were beyond him.
Sam paused before he started reading again. "Rae? You do sleep better with Dean, right? I mean, you don't wake up this much every night, do you?"
Rae shook her head, snuggling up closer. "Nah. Usually Daddy makes me sleep more."
"Makes you sleep more?" Sam asked, brushing sweaty hair off her forehead. "What's that mean?"
Rae shrugged. "He doesn't let the bad things get me. I'm safe with Dad."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, remembering many a night where Dean helped him sleep, both as a kid and an adult, "I know what you mean."
"Uncle Sam?" Rae sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Who was your mom?"
"What?" Sam asked. Now that was just too far from left field. Were all kids like this?
"Who was your mom?" Rae repeated, as if it were the most natural question in the world. "Dad said your mom died when you were a baby, so who was your mom growing up?"
"I, uh, just didn't have one," he replied. "It was just me, Dean and our dad. Not everybody has to have a mom, Sunshine," Sam tried to assure her. She gave him the oddest look, though, making him wonder what exactly was going through her mind.
Eventually Rae shrugged. "So are you going to read or do I get to watch my shows?"
Sam checked his watch. It was nearly six-thirty. "Might as well get up," he replied, setting the book aside, "unless you think you might be able to sleep more if I read?"
Rae shook her head. "I'll wait for Dad. No offense, Uncle Sam, but Dad is better at night stuff."
Sam smiled at her. "No offense. It's nice to finally find something Dean's better at."
"Ha, ha." She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm telling that you said that." The television flickered to life.
Sam contemplated showering, but Rae really didn't react well to even being in a room alone. Deciding to kill time until Dean showed up, Sam returned to his research from last night. He was still at it when the door opened.
Dean, covered in bits of twig, leaves and dried mossy stuff off trees, entered the room. Sam let out a breath of relief. Dean met his eyes and shook his head. So, no sign of the missing kid.
"Daddy!" Rae squealed as she charged across the room. Dean dropped down to give her a huge hug.
"You'll need a bath now," Dean said with his chin resting on her head, "I'm filthy."
"Nah!" Rae grinned as she bounded back to the television. "Go ahead, I'm watching my show." She waved a hand in their direction. They now had permission to take turns showering.
"Dean?" Sam stopped his brother just before Dean disappeared behind the bathroom door. Dean turned weary eyes on him. "Where's Bobby?"
"His room," Dean replied. "He'll be by after he washes up and grabs a quick nap."
Sam nodded. "Why don't you shower first?" he suggested. "You reek."
Dean gave him that little grin as he shook his head. "If it's all the same to you, Sam, I just want to sit here for a few minutes." He sat at the table opposite Sam, staring right at Rae. "You go ahead."
Sam glanced over his shoulder where Rae sat watching cartoons, oblivious to Dean's distress. Figuring Dean might need a few minutes to pull himself together, Sam headed for the shower. As the warm water beat down on his back, Sam heard the front door open. "Dean?"
No answer. Concerned, he turned off the water. "Hey! Dean!"
Silence. "Rae?"
The continued silence was deafening. His heart pounding in his chest, Sam rushed to pull dry jeans on his wet body. He threw open the bathroom door as he put on his shirt. The motel room was empty. Sam shoved wet bare feet into his sneakers as he reached for the door. It opened before he could reach it and Dean stood framed in the doorway.
"Damn it, Dean!" Sam exploded. "Why didn't you tell me you were going out?" He looked down but Rae did not hover by his brother's legs.
"Uh, Sam?" Dean's brow furrowed. Bobby appeared right behind Dean in the doorway, covered in just as much grime. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Sam froze, his eyes pinned to Bobby. His heart stuck in his throat and time slowed almost to a standstill. Infinitely slow, Dean's hand moved in front of his face. "Sa-a-a-m-m?"
Sam had to shake off the stupor. "You weren't just here?" he demanded, shoving Dean and Bobby aside to step outside.
"Uh, what are you talking about?" Dean asked from behind him. "Where's Rae?"
Sam spun around. "You were here not five minutes ago, with Rae."
He watched as all the color left his brother's face.
"Sam," Bobby said slowly, "I've been with Dean for the past three hours. We just got here."
"Which way?" Sam demanded, eyes scanning the area around the motel. "Toward the lake?"
He was answered by the heavy thuds of Dean's boots against the pavement. Sam followed closely, not worried about Bobby. If the older guy could keep up, fine, but there was no way they could afford for anyone to slow them down. Not now.
Rae had to run to keep up with Dad. "Where are we going, Daddy?" she asked again.
"I told you," he said as he tugged her along, "to that great play place I found."
"I don't understand why we couldn't wait for Uncle Sam." Rae tripped again. "Can't we slow down? A little?"
"No," Dad snapped. "We're in a hurry."
"Why?" Rae demanded as she ran alongside Dad. "Is it going to disappear?"
Dad kind of laughed, but he didn't sound happy. "What about Uncle Sam?" she asked. "Why couldn't we wait for him?"
Dad kept walking really fast. They reached the lake. Dad stopped and looked down at her. "Ready to see something really cool?" He grinned that smile that made her feel safe.
Rae shrugged. "I guess."
Dad's grin widened into a huge smile. He got down on his knees and pointed to his back. "Climb on. We're going across the lake."
Rae stared at Dad. He had to be kidding. She looked across the lake and it looked really far. "Can't we just drive around? We have a car."
"What's wrong?" Dad asked, the smile fading.
Rae sighed, hoping this would not disappoint Dad. "You've never even taken me swimming before Dad, and now you want me to swim across a lake? That's crazy. No offense."
Dad sighed, real deep. "Rae. Climb on."
"You still haven't told me why we couldn't wait for Uncle Sam," Rae said with her arms crossed over her chest. This was really weird. Dad never did anything without telling Uncle Sam first, unless it was part of a joke.
Now Dad scowled at her, and it was pretty scary. "Fine. Then we do it the hard way." He sounded different, too. Rae watched, terrified, as Dad scooped her up. He tossed her over his shoulder and walked into the water. Rae clutched at Dad's shirt, hanging on like her life depended on it. The splashing stopped after a few minutes. She looked around. It looked like they were surrounded by water, like they were inside the lake! Rae squeezed her eyes closed again as a fish swam near her head. It had to be a dream or something, because she didn't feel wet. Rae tried taking a deep breath. Yep, there was air, too. She was dreaming. When she woke up, Dad would be back and she would not have to listen to Uncle Sam read anymore. His voices for the characters sucked.
Dean plowed through the underbrush in the most direct route for the lake. As he broke through the tree line, he thought he saw something in the water. Dean stared as a ripple appeared. It headed against the wind across the lake.
"It has her," Dean breathed. He dropped to his knees by the water. "It has her."
He felt Sam stand beside him, but his brother said nothing. Sam probably blamed himself for not realizing it was the fossegrim. Dean wanted to say something, to let Sam know that he wasn't to blame, but forming words or even coherent thoughts at the moment were impossible.
"You boys gonna stand around here all day?" Bobby's gruff voice came from behind him. "Or are we going to go find that girl of yours?"
Dean turned slowly, tearing his eyes from the ripple in the lake. He knew the voice, but the words made no sense. "What?"
Bobby approached slowly and one hand gripped his shoulder. "I said, do you want to stare at the lake all day or go find Rae?"
Dean waited a moment before answering, to be sure he understood. Bobby wanted to go look for Rae. He pointed at the lake. "It has her."
Bobby went down on one knee. "Yeah, Dean. I know. But it's taking her someplace, where it's keeping the other kids. That has to be on the other side of the lake. We just need to find it."
Did that make sense? What did they need to find? Wasn't it Sam's job to figure this crap out? Dean turned to look up at Sam. "Sam? What do we do?"
Sam had that devastated look on his face. He bent over and hauled Dean to his feet. Damn, little brother was strong. "We go find her."
Dean was barely aware of the fact Sam had a hand on one of his arms while Bobby had him by the other arm. They rushed back to the motel. Sam pushed him into the passenger seat of the Impala. Dean stared out the window as Sam raced his car on the open road toward the other side of the lake. He pulled out his handgun. Since Sam was driving, Dean had plenty of time to check his clip. He knew Sam was sending anxious, worried glances his way, but Dean could not worry about that right now. He would worry about that later, after they found Rae.
