A/N I'm sorry it took me so long, but I can promise now that this story will be finished by the end of this month.

As always, a big 'thank you' to FictionalNutter, my wonderful beta.

Waiting to hear from you guys!

Chapter 5

Dean was sitting on the couch next to the sobbing girl, awkwardly patting her shoulder. He was taken aback by her outburst, she had seemed to be doing alright considering the circumstances. On the other hand, he knew very well that suppressed emotions needed a way out. Looking at her, sad and broken like that, he suddenly felt guilty. Yes, his interest in the girl was sincere; however, he finally was forced to admit to himself that he might have been using the situation a little bit for his own sake. That was why at that moment the gaze of Chad Adams staring at him from a big photograph on the desk made him feel much more uncomfortable than before. For the first time he wasn't sure how to behave and he wasn't able to do much more than offer a mumbled consolation and his unsure hand on Sophie's back.

Finally, Sophie calmed down, wiped off her tears and struggled to smile. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice trembling. "I didn't know who to go to. They would never believe me."

"Why, what happened?" Maybe there's something more to it than just grief after all? Dean thought.

"I..." She stopped for a moment, tightening her grip on a used Kleenex. "I have Chad's cell phone. He left it in the car that night. I couldn't bring myself to look at it earlier, but today I thought I should. I mean, what if someone called him and needed something important? So I recharged the battery and turned it on, and then I saw these messages..." She burst into tears again. "He had another woman!" she moaned. "Photography was just a cover-up, he went to the lake to see her!" She tried to control her sobs, but soon gave up and hid her face in her hands, crying even more violently than before.

His previous reservations forgotten, Dean pulled her to him and hugged her tight, allowing her to press her face against his shirt. Her tears soaked through it within a moment, but he didn't even feel it. He held her in his arms, rocking slowly until she calmed down. After a long while she pulled away, taking a deep breath, but even then he didn't release her from his embrace completely. Instead, he took another tissue and gently wiped her tears away. She raised her eyes to meet his gaze, and for the first time he noticed their color. They were dark blue with a shade of green that reminded him of the lake he had spent so much time at. They were huge and full of such gentleness and sadness at the same time it made his heart ache. Suddenly a thought passed his head that his long dormant dream of a home, a family, a woman by his side could finally become true. That thought remained in his mind, grew, made him forget about the job, the nymph, even about his brother. He just wanted this moment to last forever. He leaned down and gently kissed Sophie's lips. She didn'tpull away, but when he was finished she shook her head and looked deep into his eyes.

"Dean, how am I supposed to trust you after all this?" Her eyes once again became filled with tears. "I trusted Chad, trusted him with all my heart and he didn't care. How am I supposed to know you would be any different?"

"I'm different!" said Dean firmly. "Sophie, I know I'm not an angel, but I'd never hurt you, never. Chad was a jerk, you can't let him destroy love for you."

"You say it now, but the moment you see a prettier girl than me you'll want to leave me too, like everybody did." She pierced him with her gaze, suddenly sharp and fierce, but it lasted only for a second and then it was replaced once again by only gentleness and innocence.

"I won't, I promise!" Dean desperately wanted her to trust him, to believe she was safe with him, because he would never ever look at any other woman.

"You promise?" Her voice was low, almost menacing. It sounded like a warning. Dean, however, didn't see that.

"I promise," he said, ignoring the chills going down his spine. Sophie stood on tiptoe and gave him a long, passionate kiss, depraving him of the remains of reason.

And then the phone rang.

"Dean? I think I've got something. I'll meet you in the motel," said Sam quickly. Dean wanted to tell him that it didn't matter, that everything had changed, but his brother hung up before he managed to open his mouth.

"Go," Sophie said with a gentle smile. "Talk to your brother. I'll be waiting for you."

"Nymphs? An interesting hobby."

Sam raised his head and looked at the librarian smiling friendly at him. It was a nice old lady with rather short gray hair, which immediately brought to his mind another Northern Exposure character. Had Dean been there, he would for sure call Mrs Middleton 'Ruth Ann'.

"I'm writing a dissertation about them," he improvised.

"Oh. I thought you were Chad Adam's cousin."

Sam cursed once again the little town's gossip system. "Yeah. But I thought if I'm already here, maybe I'd look if I can find any materials."

"I'm afraid you won't find much. It's not a big library, and what's here is mostly connected with local issues." Mrs Middleton looked genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I was wondering if there were maybe some local stories..." Sam ventured.

"About nymphs?" the elderly woman asked with surprise.

"Yes. For example water nymphs. Or anything similar."

"Well, you know, son, nymphs are creatures from the Greek mythology. I've never heard of similar beliefs among the local tribes, and I've lived here for almost thirty years."

"Oh, you're not from here?" Now it was Sam who was surprised. She seemed to fit so well into his mental image of a little town librarian. Or maybe it was that Northern Exposure association again?

"No, to tell you the truth, I'm not even American. My parents came to New York when I was two. They were Polish. Funny you're asking, when I think about it now, because there are creatures similar to nymphs in the Slavic mythology. They're called 'rusalki'."

"Could you tell me about them?" Sam's eyes lit up with fresh hope.

"If you're interested in an old lady's ramblings," she laughed. Sam nodded energetically, so she sat in the chair opposite him and begun. "I remember for example this poem, a ballad by a nineteenth-century Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz. It's called Świtezianka."

"What?"

"Świtezianka. Don't worry, son, I'd be surprised if you were able to pronounce it," she chuckled.

"It sounds weird," Sam confirmed with a laugh. "What is it about?"

"It tells a story of a young man who's in love with a mysterious beautiful girl, whom he meets every night under a larch on the lake shore. When one night he asks her to stay and marry him, she makes him take a vow of faithfulness, warning him of terrible punishment were he to break it. He swears to be faithful, and she runs away from him, like she does every night. He wanders along the shore looking for her and suddenly he sees a rusalka emerging from the lake. She tempts him, dancing naked on the waves, singing and calling him to join her and lead a happy life with her under the water. He's so enchanted by her that he forgets about his oath and follows her into the water, and then the wind starts blowing. It chases the clouds away, and in the moonlight he suddenly sees that the beautiful lady from the lake and his mysterious girl are one and the same person. He hasn't endured the test, so she punishes him, turning him into a ghost forced to spend the rest of his life wailing under the same larch they used to meet under. It's a dark story, but really romantic, don't you think, son?"

But Sam wasn't listening to her any more. He jumped up from his chair, mumbled a 'thank you' and ran out of the building. Mrs Middleton shook her head with mock anger, smiled to herself, muttering something about youth, and started to collect the books he left on the table.

When Dean got back to the motel, Sam wasn't there yet. Not sure what to do, he started pacing to and fro. He felt strange, almost as if he was drunk, but this feeling was way better. For the first time in his life he was really, truly in love. The world was beautiful when he looked at it with memories of Sophie, her eyes, her smile, the taste of her lips still alive in his head. If only Sam could fit in and stop trying to draw him away from the source of his happiness. The phone rang and Dean grabbed it, ready to scold his brother, but his attitude changed the second he heard Sophie's voice.

"Dean, I need your help. Ed went to the lake. I've got a bad feeling, something's going to happen to him if we don't hurry," she pleaded.

"Sure, I'm going there as soon as Sam's back," he assured her.

"There's no time! Don't wait for him, I'm going with you. We'll meet at the lake. In the little bay under the larches."

"You shouldn't go, it's to dangerous!" he protested, but it sounded rather weak.

"I'll be safe with you. Go, I'll be waiting for you there."

Somewhere inside, his hunter's instinct was telling him something was wrong. It told him there was something he was missing and he should pay attention to it very soon. Nevertheless, he ignored the feeling, forced himself to ignore the alarm going off in his head. Fear of Sophie being there all alone was stronger than anything else. Still hearing her pleading voice in his mind, he grabbed his jacket and left the room without giving a single thought to his brother, who was bound to be there any minute.

It wasn't far to the motel, but Sam met Ed on his way back from the library. He was forced to talk for a while with the young Native and give Lady some caressing if he didn't want his behavior to raise suspicion, so when he finally got back to their room, he was even more impatient to share his discovery with Dean. The problem was Dean wasn't there. From the lady at the reception he learned that his brother left a couple of minutes earlier and he was headed for the forest. It wasn't hard to guess his final destination, and Sam was furious with Dean for not waiting for him, but he was even more worried about his brother going to that cursed lake alone in the night. He tried calling, but the voice on the other side informed him that his brother was out of reach. He called Sophie, hoping there was some mistake and Dean was still at her house enjoying her cooking skills, but she didn't pick up the phone. Unsure what to do next, he went out and looked for Ed, who luckily easily agreed to lend Sam his bike, and soon after he was pedaling as fast as he could up a winding forest road, praying silently that his brother was okay.

Dean was running through the thicket, a gun in his hand, heading towards the little bay. There was a thousand emotions whirling in his head, worry about Sophie and longing for her the strongest of all. Finally he got to the meeting place, but the girl wasn't there. He stopped under a tall larch, panting heavily and looking around frantically. He felt strangely confused, as if he'd been hit in the head. After a long moment, he managed to think more clearly, and he decided to walk along the shore, hoping to find either Sophie or Ed, since he suddenly recalled the young man was the main reason he was there. He called their names, but an owl hooting ominously was his only answer. He took out his phone to call Sophie, but it turned out to be dead. He was already close to the clearing the Impala was parked in, so he turned around and headed back towards the bay. After a few minutes he heard the sound of the wind getting stronger, louder. The leaves, previously almost unmoving, danced in the wind, and soon their rustle was joined by the sound of the water, which started waving and raising, making the lake appear more like an ocean in the storm. Dean turned quickly towards it and pointed the muzzle of his gun at the water. It rippled violently, and suddenly he saw a bright shape emerging from it. As if under some kind of spell, he lowered down his gun and stopped, staring in fascination at the figure in front of him. It twirled around, as if trying to get rid of the water dripping of it, and then moved, half running, half dancing towards him, water splashing under its feet. Now Dean could see it was female, although the pale blue light radiating of her suggested she wasn't a woman flesh and blood. She was naked, covered only with foam and unnaturally long hair, appearing silver, blue and green at the same time. It was even hard to spot where the hair ended and the water started. She laughed melodiously and begun to sing in some strange, harmonious language. Dean didn't understand the words, and yet he knew exactly what she was singing about. His instinct telling him to act, to do something before it was too late subsided more and more, suppressed by the visions of a beautiful palace under the water, where time had no power, where he would be the king; the visions of a soft bed made of seaweed, and the rusalka waiting for him there, beautiful, naked and ready to obey him, always his, always alone, enjoying each other's company for ages. Somewhere at the back of his mind there were last conscious thoughts of Sam, looking for him, killing himself with worry, of Sophie, crying after another man betrayed her, and finally of the Impala, being driven by someone inept. Nothing, however, could compete with the beauty from the lake. He could already feel the cool soft waterdrops gently caressing his face, an augury of what awaited him further on. The rusalka was just in front of him. She stopped, reaching out for him, waiting for him to take a step further. Just a step, and then one more, and another one, deeper and deeper, but no fear of drowning, just the promise of a sweet prize awaiting him at the end. The wind blew even harder than before, pushing the clouds away to reveal the bright face of the moon. The light reached the dark waters of the lake. Dean raised his eyes with joy, finally able to see the face of the beautiful stranger. He could see now that her hair wasn't silver, but blond, her eyes big and blue, looking straight at him. There was no love in those eyes, just anger and reproach. He stopped dead in his tracks. The mysterious lady from the lake was Sophie.