Don't own it
Chapter 8: Dead Dads Club
A couple weeks later, the trio of hunters were searching for a case in the newspaper in a diner. Dean sat with an empty plate of food in front of him. George was sitting on the other side of the table, digging into a plate full of sausage. Dean circled an obituary that read:
'CARLTON, SOPHIE -The Carlton family is sad to announce the death of their beloved daughter in a tragic swimming accident. Sophie Carlton, 18, was having her daily swim in Lake Manitoc, WI, an amazing space for a swim, when suddenly she tragically drowned.'
A waitress, who George might add was very easy on the eyes, named Wendy, approached, "Can I get you anything else?"
Dean looked up and grinned around the pen he was chewing on.
Sam came over and sat down, "Just the check please." George stuck out her bottom lip.
"Okay," Wendy walked away. Dean dropped his head, then looked at Sam.
"You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while."
"There isn't a rule saying no waitresses on the job," George said.
Dean pointed to Wendy walking away; she was wearing short shorts, "That's fun."
Sam just looked at him. Dean handed Sam the newspaper. "Here, take a look at this, I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."
"A funeral?"
"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever."
"You may be surprised," George deadpanned, "But closure makes some people feel better."
"Woah, sorry," Dean apologized.
"s'fine," George waved it off.
"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, guys. Other people just stop looking for them," Sam reminded them.
"Something you want to say to me?" Dean asked.
"The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day," Sam explained.
"That's exactly the point. What are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything."
"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think we wanna find Dad as much as you do?"
"Yeah, I know you do, it's just—" Sam was cut off by Dean.
We're the ones that have been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?"
Sam rolled his eyes. Wendy the Waitress walked by, distracting Dean and getting a bit of a stare from George. "All right, Lake Manitoc. Hey!"
Dean returned his attention to Sam. "Huh?"
"How far?"
The Impala pulled up in front of the Carlton house. It was painted green with a red roof. It was rather old looking. They walked up to the house and Dean knocked on the door. A young man opened it.
"Will Carlton?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, that's right," Will responded.
"I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill and Agent Fisher. We're with the US Wildlife Service." Dean held up an ID. Will Carlton brought them around the house to see Bill Carlton, who was sitting on a bench on the dock.
"She was about a hundred yards out," Will told them, "That's where she got dragged down."
"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" George asked.
"Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as she was in her own bathtub."
"So no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam asked.
"No, that's what I'm telling you."
"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" Sam questioned.
"No. Again, she was really far out there."
"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked.
No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?
"We'll let you know as soon as we do."
Dean headed back to the car.
"What about your father?" Sam asked.
Dean stopped and turned back.
"Can we talk to him?" George asked.
Will turned to look at Bill, then turned back. "Look, if you don't mind, I mean...he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."
"We understand."
The three hunters went to the car.
They talked to Sheriff Jake Devins.
"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Jake asked.
"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister," George told him.
"Like what?'
They walked into Jake's office. Jake motioned to chairs in front of his desk. "Here, sit, please. There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake." The three hunters sat. "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster."
"Yeah," Dean laughed, "Right."
Sam glanced at Dean. "Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still-" Jake sat down, "We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."
"That's weird, though, I mean, that's, that's the third missing body this year.
"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about."
"I know."
"Anyway..." Jake sighed, "All this...it won't be a problem much longer."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"Well, the dam, of course," Jake explained.
"Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak."
"It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."
"Exactly."
A young woman tapped on the door. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" she asked. The three hunters stood up. "I can come back later."
"Gentlemen, this is my daughter."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean," Dean shook the woman's hand.
"Andrea Barr. Hi."
"Hi," Dean greeted.
"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake," Jake introduced.
"Oh." A boy, most likely her son, walked in around Andrea.
"Oh, hey there. What's your name?"
The boy walked away without speaking. Andrea followed.
"His name is Lucas."
"Is he okay?"
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake stood and went to the office door. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."
The four of them left the office.
"Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked.
"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south."
"Two-would you mind showing us?" Dean asked.
Andrea laughed, "You want me to walk you two blocks?"
"Not if it's any trouble."
"I'm headed that way anyway," Andrea turned to Jake. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three." Andrea turned to Luca. "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" Andrea kissed Lucas on the head.
Dean waved as they leave. Jake nodded.
"Thanks again," Sam thanked.
Andrea lead the three hunters along the street.
"So, cute kid."
"Thanks."
They crossed a street. "Kids are the best, huh?" Dean complimented
Andrea glanced at him and ignored him. They kept walking. They stopped in front of the Lakefront Motel. "There it is. Like I said, two blocks."
"Thanks."
Andrea addressed Dean. "Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line."
Andrea left, calling back over her shoulder. "Enjoy your stay!"
"'Kids are the best'? You don't even like kids."
"I love kids," Dean shot back.
"Name three children that you even know."
"I can," George said with a triumphant smile on her face, "James Wilson, the one whose mom we saved from getting her heart ripped out of her by a werewolf. Olivia Darly, saved her from being vampire chow, and Rupert Mason whose house was haunted by a vengeful spirit."
"See, now she likes kids." Sam agreed.
"Now you name three Dean."
Dean thought and came up empty. Sam waved a hand. Sam and George walked into the motel. Dean scratched his head. "I'm thinking!"
Sam was working on his laptop and Dean was going through his clothing. George was lying on a bed using her laptop, chewing on a chocolate bar.
"So there's the three drowning victims this year."
"Any before that?" George asked with a mouthful of chocolate.
"Uh, yeah." Sam had a browser window open to The Lake Manitoc Tribune. DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL. He clicked, and another browser window came up, again the Tribune: 12-YEAR-OLD Girl DROWNS IN LAKE, Second drowning in 6 months at Lake Manitoc. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."
Dean tossed an item of clothing onto a bed. "So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?"
"This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me."
Dean came over to read over Sam's shoulder. "Why?"
"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing.
Sam looked at the Tribune homepage. "Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it." Sam scrolled to the comments section of an article. Dean pointed at it.
"Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"
Sam read from the page. "Christopher Barr, the victim in May."
Sam clicked a link, opening a new page. LOCAL Man IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT. The picture loads: it shows a police officer with Lucas. "Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." Sam clicked the picture for a better look, then scratches his head. "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."
Your father is dead.
Those words still bounced around inside her head. When she had heard the door open, eight-year-old Georgia did not expect John Winchester to come in, and tell her the terrible news. She ran to the bed she was resting on and she cried like a baby. Once she was done crying, John had taken her to the motel room that Sam and Dean were at. Instead of greeting them, she just stayed silent with a blank face. She didn't smile nor frown. Even six months later, she still hadn't spoken a word. Care-free, smiling, laughing Georgia was gone and replaced with a silent George.
It wasn't like she couldn't speak, that there was some something psychologically wrong with her. It's just that she didn't see the point. What was the point of speaking if her dad wasn't ever going to be on the receiving end ever again?
George had communicated to everyone for the last six months by writing it down. It got tedious, at times, to have to tell the teachers (well, show), that she didn't speak. Some were okay with it. Others weren't as accepting. But she didn't care. There was only one person who's opinion mattered, and he was dead. She didn't even remember what her voice sounded like. She hadn't spoken a word when she found out monsters were real. She hadn't spoken a word on her ninth birthday either. The first time she spoke a word since she found out was when she found out what killed him. John had finally told her that a werewolf had murdered her dad. It wasn't much. It wasn't a 'Oh my god' or more crying. It was a simple,
'Yes, sir.'
At the park, Kids were laughing and playing. Andrea sat on a bench and watched Lucas, who was at another bench coloring and playing with toy soldiers.
"Can we join you?" Sam asked.
Andrea looked up to see Sam, Dean, and George.
"I'm here with my son."
George looked over at Lucas.
"Oh. Mind if we say hi?" Dean and George went over to Lucas.
"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me."
Sam sat down next to Andrea. "I don't think that's what this is about."w
Dean and George approached Lucas. "How's it going?"
Dean kneeled down next to the bench where Lucas was coloring; when Lucas didn't even look up, Dean picked up one of the toy soldiers. "Oh, I used to love these things."Dean imitated guns and explosions, then tossed the toy soldier down.
"Think thats bad? Try living with him," George laughed.
Dean mock-scowled, "So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists."
Lucas had a pile of drawings on the bench. George look closer at them. The top one was of a big black swirl; the second one was of a red bicycle.
Dean: Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?
Dean picks up a crayon.
Dean: I'm not so bad myself.
Dean sat down on the bench, picked up a pad of paper, and started drawing. "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something." There was a pause. "Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh...or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake. Okay, no problem. This is for you." Dean held out to Lucas the picture he drew. It was stick figures. "This is my family." Dean pointed at each person in turn. "That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother. Thats my annoying sister-"
"Shut up."
Dean chuckled, "And that's me"
There was a pause. "All right, so I'm a sucky artist. I'll see you around, Lucas." Dean headed back to Sam and Andrea. Lucas picked up the picture.
"Listen Lucas," George got down on one knee, "I know what it's like to loose your dad. I didn't see mine die, but it can be horrible," George sighed, "I didn't talk for one and a half years." George took a breath, "Look, I probably got off-topic, but what I'm attempting to say is, it gets better. May not seem like it, but it will." Lucas barely acknowledged her. "Okay tried that." George headed back to Dean, Sam, and Andrea.
"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident," She heard Andrea say as she walked back.
"Yeah, we heard. Sorry," Dean said.
Andrea nodded.
"What are the Doctors saying?" Sam asked.
George rejoined the group as Andrea said, "That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress."
"That can't be easy. For either of you."
"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..."
There was a pause. "Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Dean told her.
Lucas left the bench, heading for the group.
"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-"
Lucas walked up, carrying a picture.
"Hey sweetie," Andrea greeted."
Lucas handed Dean the picture. "Thanks. Thanks, Lucas." Lucas headed back to the bench.
So what do you think? Yay or nay? I always accept CC, so be sure to R&R