Chapter 8

"Blackbird"

Vermilion Lake, South Dakota

6:20pm

Almost 20 minutes later two vehicles pulled into an old dusty parking lot with nothing but gravel and potholes from years of complete neglect. A glint of the sun reflected off of the black hood of a black 67' Chevy Impala as it turned into the parking lot. An old truck followed behind with the Sioux Falls Police Department logo branded across its side. The sun was going down fast leaving streaks of horizontal bright light in the darkening sky.

Sam opened his door first with Dean following suit. They both headed straight for the trunk. Dean opened it and Sam reached in and yanked out an old green seemingly worn out army duffle bag filled with all the hunting paraphernalia they needed for hunts. He tossed it to the ground where Dean quickly unzipped it and started rummaging through the bag until he pulled out a couple of iron rods. He handed one to Jody and the other to Sam and then grabbed one for himself.

"Since when do we have 3 rods?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Lucky we do.." Dean replied.

He then handed a couple of specialized salt containers tossing one to Sam and then one to Jody and shoving a third into his coat. He tossed the bag back into the trunk and slammed the trunk shut after it. Twilight was already coming on and visibility was only going to become more difficult for the trio.

Dean pointed to Jody, "Ok, we're gonna split up. You take the north side. Sam you go east and I'll take west."

They each took out their flashlights stashed in their pockets, readying themselves for the ensuing darkness, and then separated going their own ways, with hearts pounding and fingers crossed they'd find Charlie in time.

It was uncomfortably darker now and getting rather cold. Cloud cover enveloped most of the sky keeping the light of the brightening moon hidden. Dean had his gun out and was in complete stealth mode and disappeared into the dark.

"Come on Charlie, where are you... " He said underbreath; his eyes sweeping back and forth over his surroundings.

Dean had been searching for about twenty minutes at that point and nothing. His frustration and impatience had grown by leaps and bounds with every step he had taken. The idea of Charlie out here alone killed him. 'Did she know what was going on? Or was the ghost suppressing her consciousness? Was she afraid? Was she ok?' And most importantly, would they find her in time?'

He gritted his teeth at all the chaotic thoughts swirling in his head. The idea of losing her again after the whole Styne crap and everything that had followed 7 months ago had left an indelible mark on her naturally optimistic outlook on life in general. Only now, had she started to resemble the Charlie he had missed so dearly. It had been a long hard winding road for her to navigate, but she had made it through. Barely. At that moment thinking about her and her possible current state of mind left him wondering what repercussions would there be in the aftermath this time? And how it would add to everything else that she had been managing and coping with. He didn't like the answers he was coming up with. Dean shook the thought off and refocused in the task at hand. Finding Charlie.

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Sam walked slowly through the brush, ducking beneath low lying branches and stepping over dead tree trunks seemingly every minute. He didn't seemed to notice though. His thoughts were squarely on Charlie. He was deeply worried for her. He knew what it was like to be possessed by a ghost. The degree of the psychic imprint they left behind depended on the connection it had to its host. And with Charlie, that connection was partly shared through their almost identical appearance and past grief due to tragic loss.

He wondered how much Charlie was aware of what was happening. He wondered how much she had been suffering. She had made so much progress in the last year. She was finally starting to find a place where she could cope successfully with all that had happened. But now what was she going to be facing? The mere thought was upsetting so he refocused his full attention to finding her. Sam stopped suddenly seeing something up ahead. It was a light. And it was moving.

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Jody walked with purpose. She knew these woods pretty well having spent a great deal of her childhood swimming in the lake and just shooting the shit with friends and family during her adolescence. 'Family', she thought. The lake represented good memories for her but for people like Jessica and her son it represented nothing but tragedy and loss. The face of Jody's son suddenly popped into her head. Such a sweet boy he was. He was kind and caring so full of life; all of it cut short so senselessly.

Jody stopped in her tracks concentrating on shoving the image back down when she felt tears forming. She waited until she felt better able to control the emotions the situation was drudging up for her before she continued on her path. She couldn't afford the emotions distracting her for the time being. It was a liability. She had to stay sharp. She did not want Charlie to become another tragedy.

Jody stopped mid stride when something caught her eye to her left. She turned and noticed a small light in the distance. She headed towards it. The light seemed to be moving away from her though. So she picked up her pace and tried to keep it within view. The terrain beneath her feet changed from dirt, grass, and broken branches to small pebbles and sand. Jody caught the reflection of the light on the water now. It gave off quite an eeriely blue glow for something so small. It suddenly stopped moving and instead just hovered near the shoreline of the lake.

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Dean hurried his pace a bit scanning his surroundings as he went. He quickly walked past a row of trees and glimpsed something hovering over the lake. He headed towards it. He couldn't tell what he was seeing until he got closer. It was a pin prick of light but it seemed to be stationary as he continued to make his way towards it. The closer he got though the brighter it seemed to glow. Then without warning it shone brighter and started moving towards the shoreline illuminating everything around it.

He followed in the direction it headed and then stopped short when it stopped short. He could see a silhouette of a figure standing directly in its path. His adrenaline now pumping wildly when he realized it was Charlie. He bolted from a dead start and raced towards her. When he glimpsed Charlie starting to move towards the water, Dean ran faster.

Jody peered towards the light. It seemed to be waiting for something. Her eyes drifted beyond the light and saw a figure standing on the shoreline. It was Charlie. She was walking towards the water. Jody started running.

Sam followed the light's path towards the shoreline when he noticed a dark figure standing alone by the water. Then the light illuminated her body making her look like she was glowing. He panicked when he realized it was Charlie and she was moving towards the water. He picked up speed and raced towards her before she became immersed into the dark abyss of the lake.

Jody ran. Dean ran. Sam ran. All racing against the clock.

Charlie continued walking towards the lake until her toes were dipping into the waters edge. Then she took another step and then another until she was thigh deep.

"NO!" Dean yelled from a close distance as he jumped over a fallen log.

"Charlie STOP!" Sam yelled not far off from her as he ducked under another low lying branch. But she kept moving into the water. Waist deep. Then she was chest deep. Shoulder deep.

"Charlie, honey stop!"Jody yelled as she pushed herself to the limits running around the edge of the shoreline trying to reach her before it was too late.

Charlie though, continued until she was completely immersed into the water disappearing from view. Jody reached that section of the shoreline first. She tossed her rod, threw off her jacket and gun holster and shoes and anything else that would weigh her down and ran into the water at full throttle.

Dean reached the shoreline next. He too did the same and then ran into the water. Jody, when deep enough, dove into the water where she last saw Charlie. Dean, who was right behind her did the same.

Sam came last. He followed suit with his jacket and gun and shoes and ran into the water. The light that had been hovering suddenly dove directly into the water right in front of him.

"... oh no.., " Sam gasped. Before he could dive in himself there was a flash of light that seemed to burst through the water lighting it up several feet in every direction. That's when Jody and Dean popped up.

"I see her!" Jody yelled at them. Dean swam over to Jody and they both dove back down together. Sam waited literally counting the seconds. Five seconds went by then ten seconds and then.. they both burst back up through the dark water.

"Dean?" Jody yelled at him. Dean shook his head and they both took another deep breath and sunk back down beneath the black water.

Sam headed into water with the intention of diving in but before he got far both Dean and Jody popped back up moments later dragging Charlie behind them.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled for his brother. Sam waded further into the water to meet them but froze instantly when he caught a glimpse of Charlie's face in the moonlight.

Sam's brain immediately slowed everything down to half speed. Everything that he was seeing; Jody hanging onto Charlie's limp water drenched body for dear life and Dean, well his expression was lifeless as he dragged the brunt of Charlie's wieght through the water and onto the sand.

Sam locked eyes with Dean. They had the same undeniable thought. Charlie looked like she did that night at the Blackbird motel.

Dead.