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The Mermaid

Chapter fifteen

Sam felt a cold chill wash over him as his brother disappeared under the water. What if he didn't come back? What if he never saw him again? Sam leaned over the boat and tried to look down into the murky water but it was impossible. He knew Dean could only hold his breath for about five minutes before needing air. He looked at his watch, if Dean wasn't up in five minutes he didn't care what his brother said he was going to jump in after him. Even if they both got killed, it was better then sitting here doing nothing, and at least they would die together.

Four and a half minutes later Sam began pulling off his shoes and getting ready to jump in the water. But a few seconds later Dean surfaced for a breath of air then dived under again. Sam let out the breath of air he hadn't realized he had been holding; at least his brother was still okay.

Under the water

Dean had spent the last five minutes looking for any kind of cave or an entrance to a cave under the rocks. He had finally found what looked like an opening in the rocks which might lead to a cave but had to go back up for air. When he surfaced he glanced over at the boat and was relieved to see Sam still in the boat. He could see that his brother looked worried but at least he hadn't jumped in after him. Dean dove back under the water and swam to the opening. He figured he'd go in just so far and if he couldn't find a cave within two minutes he'd have to resurface for air. If the cave itself was too far back in the rocks he knew he'd never make it without scuba gear. Finally he saw what appeared to be light coming from deeper in the rocks. He swam toward it then popped up inside an underwater cave. He climbed out onto a rock to catch his breath as he looked around the cave which seemed to glow in the dark. It wasn't quite as bright as being outside in the daylight but it was light enough to see clearly. He soon spotted three bodies, two lying on a rock, the third floating face down in the water. He cautiously made his way over to them being careful to make sure it wasn't some kind of a trap. When he got there he saw that Grady was one of them men lying on the rock, he was still alive, but both his friends were dead. He looked around for any sign of the mermaid as he nudged Grady with his foot.

"Wake up…Come on wake up…" He said softly as he nudged him a little harder.

Grady moaned then opened his eyes. At first he looked at Dean confused and not sure what was going on, but his memory soon returned and he bolted upright.

"Where is she?" He asked as he looked around, his eyes wide with fear.

"I don't know." Dean said, he then added. "She's a little bit more then you expected huh?"

"Okay, so you were right." Grady said with no hint of apology in his tone. "What do we do now? How do we get out of here?"

"What do you mean we? I should leave your sorry ass here for almost killing my brother."

"Okay I'm sorry, I thought you guys were out to steal her, I didn't know…"

Dean wasn't about to except his apology which he knew wasn't.

"I'm going to kick your ass later for what you did to my brother, but right now I got to get you back to the surface."

Grady looked down at his friend's bodies.

"Are they dead?"

"Yeah…but you can always get new friends right?" Dean said repeating the words Grady had said to him back at the cabin. "Come on…" Dean reached down and pulled Grady up. "I got to get you back to the boat…You can swim can't you?"

"Yeah, but what about that thing?"

"Just stay by my side and let me worry about her."

Dean then led Grady into the water and out of the cave.

The boat

Sam looked at his watch and could feel his heart start to pound in his chest. It was a little over five minutes and Dean still wasn't back. He knew Dean would be mad at him but he couldn't wait any longer. He took a spare knife and another underwater flashlight out of their bag and dove into the water.

The water was murky and the flashlight only illuminated a short distance in front of him but it was still better then swimming in total darkness. Within two minutes he felt like his lungs were going to break. He knew his near drowning yesterday was the cause of it; normally he could stay under as long as Dean. He swam to the surface and gulped in a breath of air.

"Dean!" He shouted out into the night hoping maybe his brother had climbed ashore somewhere but he was only met by silence. Convinced that Dean was in trouble he dove under the water again ignoring the sharp pain in his chest. He was determined to find his brother, or die trying.

TBC