Chapter 6: The Cave

Dean opened his eyes to a steady drip…drip…drip landing on his head. He shook out his wet hair and looked around the damp space he was in. Water reflected off the sides of the cave in shimmering waves from a pool in the center of the floor.

Dean tried to move his arms but found they were tied behind him to a stalagmite on the floor. He looked around for Sam and saw him tied to another stalagmite not far away. He was just starting to wake up and Dean smiled when Sam finally looked up.

"Hey, Sammy." Dean said as Sam locked eyes with him.

"I was hoping you were coming to save me." Sam said with a slight smile. He shook his head. "I guess that isn't going to happen now." his smile faded as he said this and Dean grew stern.

"Don't worry, Sammy." he said with seriousness. "We'll get out of this."

"I wouldn't count on that, Dean." a voice said from the shadows. Dean felt a chill go down his spine as the source of the voice stepped out of the shadows. It was an old woman dressed all in seaweed and shells like the girls from the motel.

"How do you know my name?" Dean asked calmly as the woman hobbled farther out of the shadows. The crone gave Dean a toothless grin.

"I know a lot about most things." she said bending down next to Dean. She held her hand out to him and stroked it along his face.

"Don't touch him!" Sam shouted struggling against his bonds. The old crone shot a glance over at Sam before grabbing Dean's face and cutting his bonds.

Dean struggled against the woman's hold but could not escape her grasp. She led Dean over to the edge of the water and Dean looked down. The water must have been at least 15 feet deep, Dean thought before the crone pushed him in and all went black.

"No!" Sam cried struggling even more against his bonds. The old crone merely laughed and melted back into the shadows.

Sam's voice went hoarse from calling for Dean and tears sprang to his eyes as he realized that Dean wasn't coming up. He just hoped that he had somehow managed to swim out of the cavern.

Sam started looking around for something to cut his bonds when he heard a small voice whispering from the pool. He looked over at the pool and gasped at what he saw.

Dean groaned as the sunlight blinded him. He sat up slowly and looked around, wondering how he gotten there. He was on a rock in the middle of the ocean completely surrounded by water.

"Hello." a voice said from behind him. Dean spun around and nearly fell off the rock as he came face to face with the girl from the newspaper.

"Hi…" Dean said as he looked her over. He gasped as his eyes traveled down to where her legs should have been.

"My name's Alina." she said ignoring Dean's staring. Dean nodded, finally finding his voice.

"I know." he said slowly still trying to process what he was seeing. "Me and my brother came looking for you. Your father's really worried about you." The girl's smile faded and her face went blank.

"My father…" Dean looked her over as she said this, as if the words were completely foreign to her.

"Alina…" Dean said grabbing her shoulders and turning her towards him. "What happened to you?" She turned away and looked out at the sea before turning back to Dean.

Sam looked at the girl resting her head on the edge of the pool. She wasn't Alina, but she looked like another girl he had seen among the photos of the missing girls.

"You're Marissa, aren't you?" he asked carefully. The girl lifted her head and looked at him.

"How do you know my name?" she asked quietly, backing farther away from Sam.

"Me and my brother were looking for you and the other missing girls." he said, hoping he wouldn't scare her away.

"I'm not missing." she said matter-of-factly. "I've always lived in the sea." and with that she dove under the water and out of sight. The last thing Sam saw was the flash of a fish's tale.