A/N I'd like to thank all the reviewers. I'm glad you like this story. And if you like this chapter as well, please let me know ;)

Chapter 6

Sam was panting heavily as he stopped and leaned the bike against a side of the Impala, which had been abandoned in a small clearing. He called his brother's name, but silence was his only answer. He cursed quietly, took a lockpick out of his wallet, and approached the trunk. Time was important, but he knew facing the creature unarmed wouldn't help him save Dean. Finally, he managed to open their hidden arsenal. Not sure what would kill the rusalka, he took out two guns, one loaded with salt, the other with silver bullets. He ran in the direction of the place they had previously been taken to by Ed, hoping he guessed right and the 'additional' larch noticed by their friend and barked at by his dog was in fact Chad Adams or some other victim of the creature. He was coming close to the little bay when he heard the wind howling and the water roaring somewhere in the short distance. He emerged from the thicket just in time to see his brother standing knee deep in the water, staring in bewilderment at a glowing figure dancing in front of him. After a few seconds Dean moved forward, walking deeper and deeper into the lake. Sam called his name, but his brother seemed not to hear or notice anything around him, so the younger Winchester started to run towards him. The water was already reaching Dean's shoulders when the rusalka finally stopped and held out her hand. The moon came out from behind the clouds and, as he had suspected, Sam saw Sophie's face. Dean must have recognized her as well, because he froze, staring with shock at the woman in front of him. He cringed and shivered, trying to avoid the hand reaching for him. Sam didn't wait any longer. He stopped, aimed both guns at Sophie and fired. The rusalka gave out a sharp scream and disappeared in the dark depths of the lake, sending a fountain of water into the air. A huge wave covered Dean, who, apparently still under the creature's spell, didn't even try to fight back. Without hesitation, Sam stripped off his jacket and jumped into the cold water. Luckily for the brothers, the wind and the waves disappeared together with Sophie, and he was able to reach Dean without bigger problems. He started towing the unresponsive older hunter towards the shore, but the moon hid again behind the clouds and in the darkness he missed the more accessible way out. Instead, he stumbled across the small cliff, the same one he and Lady had fallen from a couple of days earlier. He reached up, trying to catch one of the protruding roots, when suddenly he felt a tight grip on his wrist. Surprised, he jerked back, letting go of his brother, but luckily it wasn't deep there and Dean was able to stay above the surface without his assistance.

"Easy, it's me!" spoke a voice from the darkness, and the mysterious savior illuminated his face with a flashlight.

"Ed!" exclaimed Sam with relief.

"Just give me your hand, I'll help you out." With Ed's help, both Winchesters were soon laying on the grass, panting heavily. Sam shivered when the cool breeze met his wet clothes, but immediately he turned his whole attention to his brother. To his relief, Dean was conscious, although still pretty much dazed by the rusalka's magic. Ed handed Sam his jacket he found on the shore, put his own one on Dean's back, and together they helped the would-be victim to his feet and led him towards the Impala.

Ed's car was also parked in the same clearing. After helping a still dazed Dean into the Impala, the young Native moved towards it, but Sam stopped him.

"Don't worry, I'm not running away," Ed laughed. "I have two blankets in the trunk. Usually it's Lady who uses them, but I don't think you're going to be picky right now."

Sam thanked him and headed back for the Impala. A couple of minutes later, when all the three men were sitting in the warm car, both Winchesters wrapped in blankets, Sam finally asked the question that had been nagging him from the moment he saw their friend on the shore.

"What are you doing here?"

"After you left I thought you may need help, so I took my dad's car and followed you. It wasn't hard to guess where to look."

"So you knew about the rusalka?" Sam asked with surprise.

"The nymph?" Ed wanted to make sure.

"Not really, I think she's more like a succubus," Sam explained.

"Oh." This time it was Ed who was surprised. "No, I didn't know. I just suspected something wrong was going on at that lake."

"But you saw her tonight?" Sam inquired. A nod answered him. "You don't seem particularly surprised. Most people would," he observed.

"Most of your kind." Ed smiled. "My people have always believed in the supernatural. I grew up believing every tree, every rock has a soul. Why would I be surprised by a spirit of a lake? By the way, you aren't Chad's cousins, are you? Nobody in the town has ever heard of you."

"Nope," Sam admitted. "We hunt things like the rusalka. Monsters, spirits, all sort of supernatural stuff, it's our job."

Ed just nodded, as if he had just heard that the brothers were salesmen, lawyers or something equally normal. "How do you kill her?" he asked matter-of-factly. "I don't think your gun worked."

"I'm not sure yet. A few hours ago we were still convinced it was a water nymph, which is a completely different kind of creature."

"I'll ask my grandpa; he knows a lot about such things," he offered.

Sam felt growing gratitude towards this man. However, for the time being, he decided the rest of the conversation could wait. They both finally stopped shivering, and Dean was looking much more like his old self, although he still kept very quiet and didn't even make any attempt at driving his baby. Sam thanked Ed once again for his help, waited for him to take off in his car, then followed in the Impala, dreaming of getting rid of wet clothes, of a hot shower and even hotter coffee.

Dean had already felt better before they found themselves back in the motel, but he still sat in silence, facing the window with a surprising attention considering the fact it was completely dark outside. Knowing his brother too well, Sam didn't try to encourage him to talk. Instead, he got lost in his own thoughts. Sure now that the rusalka and Sophie were one and the same person, he was wondering whether Dean's interest in the girl was nothing more than the result of her magic. He was sure that if he managed to prove it, his brother would feel much better, but the truth was he wasn't so convinced himself.

"How did you know?" When they changed into dry clothes and managed to get a bit warmer, Dean finally asked the question. Sam told him the story he had heard from the librarian and what he had guessed from it.

Dean slowly nodded his head. "It all fits," he agreed. "The second victim's wife was furious because she'd learned about his lover. The third victim was divorcing. Mandy had a row with her father because he had an affair. Chad also had someone."

Sam noticed his brother didn't reveal the source of that information, even though it was new to them. "The others probably were unfaithful as well," he took up.

"And then there's me," Dean begun and stopped for a while. "I had my sins too," he finally added, turning his gaze away.

"Dean..." Sam started, but he didn't know what to say.

"It's alright." Dean sent his brother a bitter smile. "I was asking for it. You warned me about her, even my damn instinct was warning me."

"It isn't what I was warning you about!" Sam protested. "We couldn't know. And she put a spell on you!"

"I know." He didn't know. He was sure he had been under the spell that night, he remembered all the reason leaving him, his hunter's instinct screaming at him, unable to get to the surface. But before? He could have sworn he had felt pretty normal, he had been able to think clearly, and still he had been enchanted by the girl and he had really hoped, dreamed that something could happen between them, something bigger, longer. Even lifetime long, in fact. And he hasn't been completely blinded. He had been aware how hard it would be, almost impossible, yet all that time somewhere deep inside he had believed they could be together in spite of everything. He couldn't fully convince himself to believe that it had all been magic and nothing more. "Whatever," he finally said, forcing himself to go back to business. "We have a monster to kill. And a couple of additional pines to turn back into guys."

"They aren't pines, they're larches," Sam corrected him out of habit, not sure whether to be worried or relieved by his brother's behavior. "I think the spell could be undone if we kill the rusalka. The problem is we still don't know how to kill her. I don't think salt and silver worked, she screamed and hid under the water, but she didn't look dead to me."

"Do you know what she really is?" Dean asked. "I don't think she's a goddess or anything similar."

"I didn't have time to look yet, but I think she's a kind of succubus." Sam reached for his laptop. "Let's see what we can find about them."

"Fine, I'll make some sandwiches then," Dean offered. "It's going to be a long night."

"Do you happen to know Russian or Polish?" snorted Sam an hour and a half later, looking at another web page.

"Sorry, just Czech and Lithuanian." Dean grinned.

"Lithuanian would be useful too." Despite everything, Sam couldn't help but smile.

"Try Google Translator," the older brother advised.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Sam sent him an annoyed look. "Okay, listen," he said after a while. "The rusalky are Slavic demons. They are a bit similar to the nymphs. I mean they also live in places like trees, rocks, streams or lakes; they look like beautiful young women, usually naked, with long green or silver hair, and they attack only men. The legend says they're virgins who died before marriage."

"So they used to be humans, just like an average ghost? Maybe it's enough to just find their bones and torch them?" Dean suggested.

"Maybe. But first we have to find someone who'd fit the description. A virgin, but not a child, at least a teenage girl, maybe older. I don't think it would be so hard in such a little town. Besides, we could always ask Ed."

"Ed? He knows what we do?" Dean asked with surprise.

"Dean, he was there, at the lake. He helped us, don't you remember?" Sam eyed him with worry.

"I remember most of it, but some things not very clearly," the older Winchester admitted. He wasn't willing to continue the topic, though. "Alright, Sammy. We can't do much right now, so I suggest we go to bed. Separately," he added with an impish grin.

Even though he could see his brother was still putting on a brave face at least a little bit, Sam laughed out loud in answer.