8

Holy Water

Sam glared at his brother when he saw the look on Castiel's face.

"What?" Dean said. Sam nodded to Castiel. "Oh, that. Yeah, he's kinda pissed at me."

"Understatement," the former angel growled, walking past him.

"What did you do?" Sam sighed.

"I might've given him dating advice that he didn't like," he mumbled. Sam rolled his eyes, huffing. "So, uh…where is everybody?" Dean asked, looking around the empty room.

Community centers were usually crowded places, filled with people either working out or swimming or practicing some sort of sport in the gymnasium. Not right now, apparently. It seemed that other than the scowling man in the trench coat, Sam and him, there was no one else in the building.

"We are everybody," Sam said. "The manager closed this place down after the fourth death for safety reasons. He thinks we're maintenance workers to check the wiring and safety codes for the building."

"A.k.a., we're killing the crap out of whatever's here and getting the hell out, right?"

"Right," Sam nodded. "I checked the EMF before you got here and it's off the charts no matter where you go. We'll just have to split up and find the damn thing."

"So, what are you thinkin'? Poltergeist?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna check the gym upstairs. That's where the last two deaths were. You and Cas should check the pool where the other two were," he suggested.

"Why isn't Cas goin' somewhere by himself? He's a big boy, Sammy," Dean grumped.

"He's never been on a hunt before, Dean. And he doesn't have his powers anymore, which makes it, like, ten times worse. Just…stay with him, alright?" Sam sighed, cocking the shot gun in his hands and jogging up the staircase.

Dean sighed and looked at Castiel, who was staring out at the pool, face unreadable.

"Cas," Dean said. He turned and he tossed a shotgun into his arms, which he caught hastily and almost dropped.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" The ex-angel frowned.

"Shoot anything that isn't me or Sam," Dean said. "If it looks pissed off, shoot it twice."

"Okay," Castiel said nervously.

He followed Dean into the room that held the pool. The air was thick and heavy. The stink of chlorine burned his nose. He looked down at the still water curiously, noting that he could barely see the bottom.

"So what are we looking for?" He asked loudly.

"Shh!" Dean hissed, holding a finger to his lips.

"Sorry."

"We're trying to find a ghost of some sort. We think. We're pretty sure," Dean said thoughtfully.

"'Pretty sure'?" Castiel said skeptically.

"Really pretty sure?" Dean ventured. Castiel frowned at him. "We'll figure it out. That's why we're here."

"Right," Castiel mumbled, looking around. "Well, I don't see anything." He didn't. All that was in the room was the pool and them. Every tiny sound echoed off of the walls, creating a very eerie atmosphere that Castiel didn't care for.

The lights flickered above their heads. Castiel looked around, his eyes wide. Dean shifted his grip on the gun.

"Cas, stay behind me," he said quietly. He nodded, still looking around.

"AAAHHHHNNN!" The scream thundered around them. Dean spun around on his heels, eyes wide and scared.

"SAMMY!" He started to run for the door. "CAS, STAY HERE!" He bolted out the door and out of sight, leaving the untrained hunter alone and unsure of what he should do.

He stayed in the room with the pool, just as Dean told him to. He walked around the edge of the pool, staring curiously at the water. He caught sight of his own reflection, cocking his head to the side as it rippled and shook with the tiny waves.

That's when he saw it. A horrible, contorted face behind him, grinning maliciously. He spun around, clumsy fingers trying to grip the shot gun and shoot it at the creature before him.

The thing laughed, sending chills up Castiel's spine. He doubled his efforts to try and shoot the being, but it was too late. The thing's hand lunged at him, striking him square in the chest.

He was blind-sighted by the force of the blow and dropped the gun, air leaving his lungs as he teetered backward.

The thing with the ghoulish face smiled and placed a finger on the former angel's chest, shoving him.

Castiel only had seconds to think before he hit the water.

"SAMMY?" Dean thundered up the stairs, eyes searching for his little brother or the thing that made him cry out. "SAAM?"

"Dean!" He bolted toward the strangled voice.

"Sam!" He was stuck under a barbell that was loaded with enough weight to kill a horse. His face was red, veins and muscles straining in his arms and his neck as he tried to lift the enormous load off of him.

Dean rushed over to him and lifted, grunting and using everything he had to get the crushing metal off of him. Sam helped as much as he could and finally –after Dean was sure he overexerted something- it fell to the floor with a weighted clang.

Sam took strangled gasps for air with Dean's hand on his back.

"You okay, Sammy?" He asked. Sam coughed and nodded, standing shakily.

"Yeah," he gasped. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Poltergeist?"

"Yeah. Nasty son of a bitch. I think there's more than one," he wheezed.

"You okay to walk?" Sam nodded and they headed for the stairs.

They were halfway down when they heard the splash. The two brothers looked at each other.

"Cas?" Sam said. Dean's eyes grew and he darted down the steps. "Dean, what's wrong?" Sam called.

"Cas can't swim!"

He didn't know what to do. All he knew was that the more he struggled, the worse it got. His trench coat made it impossible to move and his tie was trying to strangle him. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't fight his way to the top. He was sinking lower and lower, his lungs growing so tight he thought they'd burst.

The edges of his vision were growing dark, his hammering heart slowing. The chemicals burning his eyes and blurring his vision.

He tried to fight just a little harder, but he was too weak. He choked on the water again, but there was nothing he could do.

Help me…