The Spirit of Arrow Lake

Chapter seven

"I'm sorry." Alex said as he put his hand on Dean's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Dean stood staring out at the river, not wanting to believe he might have just heard his brother's life ended.

"Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was hunters." He said trying to convince himself as he walked away from the others needing to be alone.

On the river

The pain was unbearable and Sam had to use every bit of strength he had to get to the river bank. He slowly crawled out of the water shivering both from the cold and the pain. He looked back at the river just in time to see Rob and Mick both being thrown from the raft and trying to make their way to the river bank. He tried to stand up but the pain in his back and leg caused him to collapse back onto the ground. He knew if they found him he was dead. He could hear someone coming toward him in the darkness.

"Dean?" He said hoping his brother somehow had found him.

But then he smelled the horrible stench again and knew he was in big trouble. He tried to push himself back into the river to hide behind some rocks but it was too late. He screamed in agony as a large hairy hand reached down and grabbed him by the shirt yanking him out of the water.

Back at the campsite

Dean, Alex, and Dave all worked on patching the raft and inflating it. Luckily neither Rob nor Mick thought of the repair kit that all the rafts carried with them. Dean knew it could take hours before the raft would be water ready. He worked side by side with the men, his face etched with sorrow. His brother was probably dead. He didn't want to believe it but he had heard the shot. He felt cold and numb inside. If Sam was dead it meant he was now all alone. His mom was dead, his dad missing, and now Sammy. He never should have taken him out of college. He should have left him live the life he wanted instead of dragging him back into the family business. And now….he was dead because of it….because of him. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to see through the tears. I'm so sorry Sammy, I'm so sorry.

Gale, seeing the pain Dean was in, walked over and put her arm around him and pulled him away from the others, she then drew him into a gentle hug.

"I'm so sorry about your brother. You and him were close weren't you?"

"Yeah, real close."

"He seemed like such a nice boy. He really loved you, you know. You could see it in his eyes."

Dean could only nod; there was no way he could talk.

"I just want you to know that I know how you feel. I lost my brother a few months back. We were best friends too, just like you and Sam. You think you're never going to get through it but you do. You just remember the good times and pray that someday you'll see them again."

Dean gave her a small sad smile.

"Thanks." He said his voice cracking.

The River

The creature dragged Sam along easily with one arm. He remembered Dean telling him not to fight the thing or it would kill you. Right now with all the pain he was in he wished it would. But even if he wanted to fight it he couldn't, he was way too weak. The thing finally dropped him and he could see why. Rob and Mick were crawling out of the river and it had spotted them. Even after what they had just done to him he still tried to cry out a warning but he was too weak and only a whisper came out. He watched as they looked around probably smelling the thing then started to head back into the water but they weren't fast enough. The thing snatched Rob out of the water just as Mick spun around and began firing at it with no results. The creature only grew angrier and put its head back and screamed in rage. Sam tried to reach for his crossbow but even that exhausted him. Finally he welcomed the darkness that enveloped him wondering if this is what it felt like to die.

Two hours later at the campsite

They had heard the additional gunshots but with all the echoes in the canyon they had no idea where they had come from. Had Sam somehow gotten away from the two men Dean wondered, and if he had, was he lying out there somewhere hurt.

They finally repaired the boat then they stood around trying to decide what to do. If they stayed there they had to worry about that thing coming into their campsite, but if they tried to ride the river at night there would be no way to see any hidden dangers in the water. They decided to take a vote. The river won. They loaded their gear into the raft and began rowing out into the river.

"This is going to be bad. I need you all to hang on with everything you got. These rapids are bad enough during the day but at night they're wicked." Alex warned them.

The rapids were indeed wild and dangerous. But somehow they made it through them. Exhausted, they pulled the raft over to rest for a while. While the others tried to set up a temporary campsite Dean stood by the river thinking of Sam, wondering if his brother was alive or dead. His eyes searched the river for any sign of a body. At least he could bring his brother home. He was just about to walk back to camp when he saw the blood. He knelt down and touched it.

"Sam." He said as his eyes once more filled up. He looked around the area. If Sam's body had washed up here where was it? Or maybe it wasn't even Sam's blood, it could be an animal. But then he smelled it. He turned around slowly realizing the thing was standing right next to him. Why hadn't he smelled it sooner? It was like this creature could just appear when it wanted to. As he turned he started to reach down for the crossbow. He knew he didn't have a chance of reaching it before that thing would be on him. He slowly raised his eyes and looked into the snarling face of the beast. The thing took its massive arm and slammed Dean back against a tree. His head snapped back hitting the tree hard and he fell to the ground. He shut his eyes as the creature started toward him. His head was spinning and he couldn't think straight all he knew was that he was going to die. I'll least I'll be with you Bro He thought as the thing started to reach down for him. As it grabbed his leg one of his silver arrows pierced the material and stuck the creature in its hand. The thing reared back screaming staring at Dean its face a mass of anger and pain. He watched as it turned and headed toward the campsite and the others before he passed out.

TBC