Author's Note: 6 reviews! It really does tell me your enthusiasm for this story, and don't you worry: I'm taking all your criteria and trying to apply it to improve this story.
Winchester and Cain Chapter 03 – Dead in the Water
Valkyrie's P.O.V
We had decided to stop at a hotel called The Lynnwood Inn, Sam had been playing the game of twenty questions ever since we had pulled out of Blackwater Ridge and onto the highway, and even after I had told him basically my whole life story he still seemed to have a countless number of questions for me. "So, if there are two bases of magic, is there a stronger one than the other? I mean, which is stronger – an elemental or an adept?" He asked, I pulled a face as I tried to pick my words carefully for an answer.
"Well it really depends, Sam, an adept doesn't always have to be attack-based: it can be mental-based too. Like, I know quite a few psychics, they're known as Sensitives. An elemental's power relies, of course, on the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water." I explained, Sam nodded and leaned in closer with curiosity shining in his dark eyes.
"I noticed a few things about you, when we were chased off that bridge by Constance Welch's ghost you and Dean fell straight into the river and came out soaking wet, I remember Dean and I checked to see if the car was okay almost immediately after, and when we turned back to you I remember you were bone dry, just a little muddy." Sam responded, I nodded slowly and opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off.
"And when we were at the campsite yesterday you said the wendigo was still out there, even though we couldn't see it or anything – you sounded so sure, Steph. How did you know?" Dean piped up, looking up from the newspaper he was looking at. I gave them both a small smile and nodded again.
"That's because I'm an elemental, I can... manipulate the elements and control them to some degree. Yesterday I was using the air to detect the wendigo when we were in Blackwater Ridge, when we were thrown off the bridge I used the air again to dry myself whilst you and Dean checked his car." I explained, the two brothers stared at me in amazement, I shifted uncomfortably and drummed the first few bars of Man in the Wilderness by Styx on the table.
"So, uh, aside the fire throwing, the air using and all. Is there anything else we should know about?" Dean asked, I stopped tapping and looked at the ring on my finger and sighed and took it off and held it up for them to see.
"When someone like me reaches a certain age, they have their Surge – after that you can only be an Adept or an Elemental, never both. I haven't had my Surge yet, and I've kind of dabbled a little." I explained, putting the ring back on my finger, instantly I felt better with it on.
"Dabbled in what?" Sam asked.
"It's nothing." I decided, hopefully they wouldn't have to know the talent I had for the manipulation of death-magic. Sam frowned an opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a waitress coming over.
"Can I get you three anything else?" She asked, giving a dentist ad smile. Dean looked up from his newspaper and grins at her, I roll my eyes and smiled politely up at the girl.
"Just the cheque, please." I asked her, the waitress's smile faded a little when she turned to me, and I saw hostility in her eyes.
"Okay." She answered and walked away, Dean stared longingly after her for a moment before looking at us.
"You know, guys, we are allowed to have fun once in a while." Dean sighed, and turned and pointed to the waitress, "That's fun." He did that charming grin of his but it dropped when neither Sam or I smiled back at him. Dean rolled his eyes and slid the newspaper he had been pouring over all morning to us, I frowned when I saw he'd circled an obituary. "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." Dean cliff-noted for me while Sam read the article, he looked up at his brother in confusion.
"A funeral?" He asked, confusion lacing his tone.
"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever." Dean replied with a shrug.
"Closure? What closure?" I asked, the two boys both looked up at me and I shrugged, "I mean, people don't just disappear, guys. Other people just stop looking for them." Dean narrowed his eyes at me and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
"Something you want to say to me?" He demanded, I didn't even bat an eyelid at the angry older brother.
"The trail for your Dad, it's getting colder every day." I pointed out and Dean nodded.
"Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?" He asked again, to this I had no answer to.
"I don't know, your guess is as good as mine: Something, anything." I shrugged, unfazed by his sudden anger.
"You know what? I'm already sick of Sam's attitude, if you start, Stephanie I swear to God I will leave you on the road and leave you. I swear it's like you and Sam think I don't wanna find Dad at all." He bit out, I saw the hurt in his eyes and decided to backtrack a little.
"Yeah, I know you want to find him. It's just-."
"Look, Stephanie. I'm the one who's been with him every single day for the past two years, while Sammy here has been off to college going to pep rallies. Mark my words we will find my Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything and anything bad between here and there. Got it?" He grated, I nodded once whilst beside me Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother.
"Dean, don't be harsh to Stephanie, she's probably just frustrated about the wild goose chase we're on for finding Dad." Sam defended me, but it was needless. The waitress had walked by and Dean was distracted, Sam snapped his fingers in front of him, "Hey, hey, hey!" He said, Dean's head snapped back to us and he sent us a slightly dazed look.
"Huh?"
"Never mind," Sam sighed, then he drummed his hands on the table, "Lake Manitoc, how far?" He asked.
I fell asleep in the car and woke up to the car driving past a sign that read:
WELCOME TO LAKE MANITOC WI
Dean and Sam were arguing, once again, over Dean's music choice. "That's it, Dean. I can't take it anymore, I'm gonna get you an Ipod and we are both gonna sit down together and add music that we both like and it will make these car rides more enjoyable." Sam moaned and Dean shook his head violently.
"Sorry Sammy, only you like Bangles in the family. And besides, we've been through this. Family rules, remember." Dean glared at him and then turned his attention back to the driving, Sam opened his mouth to retaliate but then sighed and stayed quiet. "I just don't understand why you complain all the time, Stephanie doesn't." Dean pointed out.
"That's because she's normally asleep in the back." Sam sighed and I leant forward and tapped him on the back, he jumped and snapped his head back and glared, whilst Dean laughed loudly from the driver's seat. "Don't do that! It's not funny!" Sam glared daggers at me and I smirked.
"You should have seen your face!" Dean had a grin so wide I was worried his face was going to split.
Dean was still giggling as we pulled up outside a house located on the edge of town, Sam had sulked for the rest of the way whilst I was rifling through Dean's music collection, I had to say: it wasn't too bad. "Sombre faces on, team." Dean sighed as we walked up to the house, I made sure I had the correct fake ID in my pockets in case we had to get them checked. He knocked on the door and a man who looked to be in his late twenties opened it. "Will Carton?" Dean asked, remembering the name from the obituary this morning.
"Yeah, that's right." He answered, his eyes glanced at me and Sam, lingering particularly on me. I subconsciously looked back and stepped out of view behind the brothers.
"I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamill and Agent Bonham." He said, gesturing to each of us as he introduced us. "We're with the US Wildlife Service." He said in a professional voice and held up his fake ID.
"Ok, come on through, Dad's through here." Will opened the door wide open for us and we all walked through the shabby house, dirty dishes and outdated newspapers littered everywhere and empty beer cans were piled up on tables and chairs. We were led all through the house and out the back door, the lake was a short walk down the end of the Carlton's garden and through a short stretch of woodland. The lake stretched far out from a small dock and the surface shimmered in the sunlight, an aging man was sat on a chair on the dock looking out at the sparkling surface.
"She was about a hundred yards out." The man rasped sadly, his voice throaty.
"That's where she got dragged down." Will pointed out to a spot on the lake.
"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" I asked, doubt seeping into my tone.
"She was a varsity swimmer." Will stated flatly, I frowned and nudged the two boys.
"What's a varsity swimmer?" I whispered, Sam smiled a little and shook his head.
"It doesn't matter, Steph." He rolled his eyes and I sighed. Americans.
"Yeah, she practically grew up in this lake, she was as safe out there as in her own bathtub." Will continued, looking at me like I was an idiot. It annoyed me to no end.
"So, uh, no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam took over, seeing me glaring at the young Carlton.
"No, that's what I'm telling you." Will shook his head.
"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark breach in the surface?" Sam asked, both the Carltons looked at Sam weirdly, they exchanged a look and then looked back at us.
"No. Again, she was really far out there." Will stated, his toe firm and slightly annoyed.
"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked, sensing Will's irritation at Sam.
"No. Never. Why? What do you think's out there?" Will asked, crossing his arms and looking interestedly at Dean.
"We'll let you know as soon as we do." He smiled and turned away for the car. He made two steps and I turned to follow, but Sam stayed where he was.
"What about your father?" I heard Sam asked, Dean and I stopped and turned back to them, "Can we talk to him?" He asked again, Will looked at his Dad but his Dad had turned back to the lake and was staring sadly out at it. Will sighed and stepped closer to us, looking back at his Dad before speaking.
"Look," He started, his voice a low whisper, "If you don't mind, I mean... he didn't see anything and he's been through a lot." He explained, his eyes a little dull.
"We understand." Sam nodded in agreement and turned to join Dean and I as we walked back up to the car.
We headed straight to the police station from the Carlton residence, a man named Sheriff Jake Devins sat us in his office to talk in private about Sophie's death. "Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Jake asked, looking at the three of us suspiciously. He looked to be in about his mid-forties, and had hard grey eyes that bored into you.
"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." Sam challenged, leaning forward in his chair.
"Like what?" The Sheriff raised his eyebrow dubiously. "There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake." He smirked, looking at the three of us in turn, "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." He snorted.
"Yeah." Dean said, giving Jake a weird look. The Sheriff laughed and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and sigh.
"Right." I muttered, sharing a glance with Sam.
"Will Carlton was traumatised, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still-," Jake paused and took off his hat and set it down on the desk before him, "We dragged that entire lake, we even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure. There is nothing down there." Jake explained, Dean nodded and leant on the desk, his expression thoughtful.
"That's weird though, I mean: that's – that's the third missing body this year." He pointed out, his tone light.
"I know, these are people from my town. These are people I care about." Jake replied in a firm, hard tone.
"We know." I responded, Jake nodded slowly and leant back in his chair and sighed.
"All this... it won't be a problem much longer." Jake said, rubbing the back of his head.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Well, the dam of course." Jake explained, saying it as if we should know what that meant, nevertheless Dean nodded along.
"Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it's sprung a leak." Dean smiled and made his tone sound knowing of the topic, I fought to keep a straight face as Jake looked at him closely and frowned.
"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. Won't be much of a town either, but as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that." Jake scoffed and the three of us nodded on cue.
"Exactly." Dean agreed, Jake frowned at us and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a tapping on the door, we all turned our heads to see a young woman standing there with an apologetic expression on her face.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked, we stood up and shook our heads but she bit her lip nervously and looked at Jake, "I can come back later." She offered.
"Nonsense, this is my daughter." He introduced the woman to us and we nodded, Dean stepped forward with his charming smile and shook her hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Dean." He smiled wider in greeting and she nodded.
"Andrea Barr. Hi." She replied.
"Hi." Dean repeated, raising his eyebrows. Behind him, Sam and I exchanged pained looks of embarrassment.
"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Jake explained to Andrea and she nodded once.
"Oh." She murmured, a boy walks in and looks up at the three of us in shock, Dean smiles down at him cheerily.
"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked, the boy looked at the three of us in stunned silence and then turned and walked back out the office, Andrea followed close behind.
"His name is Lucas." Andy explained as he put his hat on and exited the office, the three of us in tow. We entered the main room of the station to find Andrea and Lucas at one of the chairs, Andrea was giving him a box of crayons.
"Is he ok?" Sam asked, looking at the boy with concern on his face.
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake explained sadly, a woman exited the office and motioned for him to come over and he nodded and turned to us, "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."
"Thanks. You know, now that you've 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." Andrea answered, stepping into earshot.
"Would you mind showing us?" Dean asked the young woman innocently, Andrea laughed and looked at him doubtfully.
"You want me to walk you two blocks?" She asked and Dean nodded.
"Not if it's any trouble." He replied, Sam shook his head and laughed behind him, but Dean pretended not to notice.
"I'm headed that way anyway." Andrea shrugged and turned to Jake, who was still stood with us, "I'll be back to pick Lucas up at threee." She told him and then looked at her son, who was quietly staring at his Mum. "We'll go to the park, ok, sweetie?" She smiled and walked over and kissed him on the head and we left the station, Dean walking next to Andrea with Sam and I behind them.
"So, cute kid." Dean smiled at the woman as we walked, Andrea looked at him and nodded.
"Thanks." She smiled and motioned for us to cross the street.
"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean continued, Andrea glanced at him and didn't reply, we stopped in front of the motel.
"Here it is. Like I said,two blocks." She nodded to the building.
"Thanks." Sam looked at her gratefully and she nodded, then turned to Dean and patted his shoulder lightly.
"Must be hard, with your sense of direction. Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." She said sadly and then walked away, leaving Dean with a stunned look. "Enjoy your stay!" She called to us over her shoulder before leaving. Sam and I waited two seconds...
"Wow, you got shut down so hard, that was... hilarious." I smirked at him, he narrowed his eyes at me and Sam grinned.
"'Kids are the best'? You don't even like kids." Sam frowned at his older brother, Dean shook his head.
"I love kids!" He protested, Sam and I crossed our arms at him.
"Name three children that you even know." I raised an eyebrow at him, Dean frowned as he tried to answer, I scoffed and walked into the motel, Sam close behind.
"I'm thinking!" He called over to us in protest, but we ignored him.
We were sat in the motel room waiting as Sam worked on his laptop, Dean sorted through his clothing and I was playing with a ball of flame in my palm. "Stephanie, please be careful with that. The last thing we need is a fire and people asking questions." Sam warned me for the billionth time, I rolled my eyes and nodded.
"Relax, Sammy. You worry too much." I tutted and concentrated, the flame grew hotter and bigger in my palm, and I used my other hand to cup it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam watching in fascination at the flame but then he rolled his eyes and scoffed, turning his attention back to his computer screen.
"So there's been three drowning victims this year." Sam changed the subject, Dean nodded from his bed and looked over at him.
"Any before that?" He asked, Sam nodded as his gaze was transfixed on the bright screen.
"Uh, yeah." He answered, I snuffed the flame out and walked over to him and stood behind him, Sam had found a webpage up of a newspaper from a month ago:
THE LAKE MANITOC TRIBUNE: DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL
Sam clicked on a subheading and the page changed:
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 it's pace." Sam explained, craning his neck to look at me. I nodded at him as Dean threw another item of clothing onto his bed.
"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" He asked a little doubtfully.
"This whole lake monster theory, it – it just bugs me." Sam shrugged, Dean frowned and joined me behind Sam, reading over his shoulder.
"Why?" I asked him, frowning at the younger Winchester.
"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundred of eyewitness accounts. But here, almost nothing." Sam looked back at the newspaper article and sighed, "Whatever is out there, no one's living to talk about it." He muttered, scrolling to the bottom of the page to reveal the comments section of the article. Dean suddenly reached out and pointed at the screen.
"Wait, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" He asked, he was right: it did sound very familiar.
"Uh, Christopher Barr, the victim in May." Sam read aloud, then clicked on the name, opening a new page:
LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT
The headline read, and below showed a picture of a police officer with a small boy, I peered closer and recognised Lucas. "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." I read aloud, Sam clicked the picture for a better look and rubbed his left eye.
"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all." Sam nodded and sighed.
"No wonder that poor kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." I murmured, staring at the smiling boy in the picture, holding his Dad's hand.
At three o'clock we arrived at the park, kids were laughing and playing around. We spotted Andrea sat on a bench watching her son, he's playing at another bench colouring and playing with toy soldiers. "Can we join you?" Sam asked as we neared Andrea, she looked up and spotted the three of us.
"I'm here with my son." She replied, nodding her head at Lucas.
"Mind if I say hi?" Dean asked, looking over at him, without an answer he walked over to where Lucas was sat.
"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing isn't gonna work on me." She looked at the two of us once Dean was out of earshot.
"I don't think that's what this is about." I smiled kindly at her.
"Hmmph." She crossed her arms and frowned at me. I looked at Sam and gave him a look and stepped forward to hit her, but Sam grabbed my arm and held me back.
"So, did you know Sophie Carlton personally?" Sam broke the silence, Andrea looked up at him and shrugged.
"I used to teach her piano but then she turned into a real health nut, always working out and stuff at the gym. It's really sad how she died." Andrea replied, I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it's so weird, I heard she was a really strong swimmer too." I responded. We waited for Dean to come back and he returned two minutes later.
"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his Dad's accident." Andrea told the older brother as he approached, he nodded.
"Yeah, we heard, sorry." Dean answered, his tone solemn.
"What are the doctor's saying?" Sam asked the young woman, she sniffed and looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." She muttered.
"That can't be easy, for either of you." He bserved, looking at Lucas and then at Andrea.
"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..." She trailed off and there was a pause.
"Kids are strong," Dean said, "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."
"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with to tell you the truth." Andrea laughed as tears fell from her eyes, she paused and wiped them away, "Now he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-." She broke off when Lucas approached, he was carrying a drawing and Andrea smiled at him. "Hey sweetie." She greeted. Lucas looked up at Dean and handed him the drawing, Dean smiled when he looked at it.
"Hey, thanks, Lucas." Dean thanked him, I looked over and recognised it as a picture of the Carlton household, Lucas took one last look at the three of us and then walked back over to the bench.
Sam was out buying food for the three of us, Dean and I were sat on separate beds in silence. I had lost my phone in the mine when we were fighting the wendigo – not that it mattered, I couldn't reach Skulduggery or anyone else even if I wanted to. I shrugged off my coat and stretched my arms, then threw it down on the bed. "So, Stephanie, where are your parents in all this? Do they know what you do for a living?" Dean broke the silence, I finished stretching and looked over to him.
"No, my parents just think I'm a normal, ordinary teenaged girl." I answered, looking back at him.
"What about you? I know your Dad trained you to, uh, hunt the supernatural. But where's your Mum?" I asked, Dean shrugged simply.
"When I was four years old, Sammy was just a baby... She heard a noise from Sammy's room and went in there, a demon was in there and it killed her. The same thing killed Sam's girlfriend that night at the college." Dean explained, I nodded once.
"That must've been hard, growing up without her." I told him sympathetically.
"You, uh, you could say that, yeah." He smiled sadly.
"And you've been looking for the demon ever since, right?" I asked.
"Our Dad has, yeah." He answered, there was silence and I listened to the traffic coming in through the open window sounding from the street below. "So, who trained you to, uh, do all this stuff?" Dean broke the silence, I looked at him for a moment and sighed.
"It's a, uh, it's a long story, Dean." I smiled but he shrugged.
"We have time. Just tell me." He replied.
"Ummm, ok, well... Magic can be in anyone, and I found out I had it whilst I was working on my first case with my partner, and he's been teaching me ever since. In both magic and combat." I explained, Dean was frowning in confusion at me.
"Ok... So, why did you first introduce yourself as Valkyrie when we met you?" He asked, I smiled a small smile.
"Well, magic people, they, uh, there's this idea that each person has three names: their given name, taken name and true name." I explained.
"So?" He shrugged.
"Well my given name is Stephanie Edgely, but people can have influence over me if they learnt that name, so I took a name to protect myself: Valkyrie Cain." I explained, he nodded slowly.
"So, what about your true name? What's that?"
"Your true name is where your magic stems from, if a sorcerer knew their true name, they could harness unimaginable power. But if someone knew your true name then they could control you without question." I explained, "Most people go through life without ever finding out what their true name is."
"And what about you, do you know what your true name is?" He leaned closer and I nodded once.
"I do, and I got my name sealed so I couldn't be controlled when I was sixteen." I replied, Dean blinked in surprise and I shrugged.
"How'd you get it sealed?"
"I went through a very, very dangerous procedure." I answered and got up from the bed and went over to the window and looked out of it.
"What kind of procedure?" Dean asked from the bed, I took a deep breath and looked back at him.
"I had to die, then I underwent a surgery in which a monster carved out my heart and burnt symbols onto it and then put it back." I whispered, Dean went pale and leant against the wall and stared at my discarded coat on the bed in silence. Sam came through the doors holding a single bag full of food.
"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." He said as he walked in, Dean cleared his throat and looked at him.
"What do, uh, what do you mean?" Dean asks, Sam sat down on Dean's bed and looked at him.
"I just drove past the Carlton house, there was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead." Sam told us and I blinked in shock and walked nearer to them.
"How?" I asked.
"Apparently he drowned in the sink." He said.
"He drowned?" Dean echoed.
"Yep. In the sink." Sam answered, Dean and I exchanged a confused look.
"What the hell? So you're right, this isn't a creature: we're dealing with something else." Dean sighed and leaned back on the bed.
"Yeah, but what?" Sam asked.
"I don't know, water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water... water that comes from the same source." Dean shrugged as he rubbed his eyes.
"The lake." I realised.
"Yep." Sam nodded, "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining, you heard Jake – it'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants: it's running out of time."
"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone almost anywhere." I pointed out, Dean stood up and sighed.
"This is gonna happen again soon." He said as he moved to the desk and sat at a chair.
"And we do know one thing for sure, we know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton." Sam stated and we nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it killed Sophie and Will." I responded.
"And I was asking around earlier. Lucas's dad, Chris – Bill Carlton's godson." Sam told us and I nodded, connecting up the dots: this all led back to -
"Let's go pay Bill Carlton a visit." Dean said.
We found Bill sitting at the bench on the dock looking out at the lake, "Mr Carlton?" Sam called to him as we approached, Bill turned and squinted up at us as we neared. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." He asked, and Dean nodded.
"We're from the Department-." Dean started to say, but was cut off by the man.
"I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today." Bill muttered, nevertheless Sam walked over and stood in front of the ageing man.
"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever seen anything out there? Mr Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death – we think there might be a connection to you or your family." Sam explained and crouched down in front of Bill.
"My children are gone. It's – it's worse than dying. Go away. Please." Bill cried, I walked over and tugged at Sam's arm so we could leave the man in peace.
We headed back to Dean's car without another glance back at the man. "What do you think, guys?" I asked the brothers.
"I think the poor guy's been through hell. But I also think that he's not telling us something." Dean answered, we reached the car and Sam leant on it and sighed.
"So what now?" I asked, stretching in the sunlight. Dean didn't reply and looked at the Carlton house intently.
"What is it, Dean?" Sam asked.
"Huh?" He snapped back to us and then started fumbling in his pockets searching for something. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who know something." Dean said as he pulled out a folded piece of paper, he unfolded it and I peeked over his shoulder and saw it was the crayon drawing of the Carlton House that Lucas had drawn for Dean.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." Andrea hedged, we were standing outside her house asking for Lucas, but Andrea was refusing.
"I just need to talk to him." Dean tried, but she shook her head, I sighed and stepped forward and her gaze switched to me.
"Look, we just want to talk to him – just for a few minutes, it won't take long I promise." I told her, but she shook her head again.
"He won't say anything. What good is it gonna do?" She argued, I sighed and stepped away before I hit her.
"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there." Sam tried, but she looked at us as if we were crazy: to her we probably were.
"My husband, the others – they just drowned. That's all." She disagreed, I opened my mouth to protest, but Dean tugged at my elbow and shook his head.
"If that's what you really want, we'll go. But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son." He pleaded, she stared at him for the longest time before nodding once.
Andrea led us upstairs to Lucas's bedroom and found him playing with the toy soldiers and colouring with his crayons. Dean entered the room whilst Andrea, Sam and I lingered in the doorway. "Hey Lucas, you remember me?" He said as he crouched down next to the boy, Lucas didn't answer or look up, he kept drawing his drawing. "You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." Dean continued, when Lucas didn't reply he pulled out his old drawing and unfolded it, then placed it in front of the boy. "How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?" Dean questioned, but Lucas kept colouring, Dean sighed and switched his positions and sat cross-legged in front of him. "You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my Mum, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my Mum—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too." Dean told him, Lucas drops the crayon he was using and looked up at Dean. He turned back to his desk and gave Dean the drawing he'd just finished. Dean looked at it and then smiled down at Lucas. "Thanks Lucas." He grinned and then stood up and nodded to us, I lead the way down the stairs and walked down the path to where Dean had parked his car, not bothering to thank Andrea for letting us in.
Sam was looking at the picture Lucas had drawn for Dean: it was a picture of a white church with a yellow house beside it, in front of the yellow house was a wooden house with a boy standing there in a blue baseball cap with a red bicycle. "Andrea said that the kid never drew like that until his Dad died." Dean told us, glancing at Sam from the driver's seat.
"There are cases – going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies." Sam nodded.
"So what are you saying? Whatever's out there Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" I asked.
"Steph's right: I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please." Dean spoke up.
"Alright, we got another house to find." Sam said, pointing to the yellow house in the drawing, Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"The only problem is there's a thousand yellow two – stories in this county alone." Dean sighed, but I leaned forward and pointed at the picture.
"See this church? There's probably less than a thousand of those around here." I told them, Dean scoffed and shook his head.
"Oh, detective girl thinks she's so smart." Dean taunted and I glared at him.
"Shut up." I told him.
"Anyway, what you said earlier... about Mum... you never told me that before." Sam said, Dean kept his eyes fixed on the road and turned up the music player.
"It's no big deal." Dean shrugged, there was a silence and Sam stared at his brother with big, soulful eyes, "Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" He moaned and I cracked a smile.
"We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by any chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle." Dean asked an old lady who lived in the yellow house next to the church just like in Lucas's picture.
"No sir, not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." The old lady shook her head. She motioned for us to come in and we followed her as she led us into the living room. She picked up a photograph of a smiling young boy holding a shiny red bicycle. "The police never – I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared." The old lady sighed, shaking her head down at the photograph. Sam nudged Dean and I and pointed to several toy soldiers set up neatly in a glass cabinet. "Losing him – you know, it's... it's worse than dying." She said sadly, I glanced at Dean and he made a face.
"Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?" Dean asked.
"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up." She answered, her voice breaking on the word 'up'. I saw a picture before the mirror and picked it up and turned it over, on the back it read:
Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton – 1970
"Well, thank you for your time, ma'am." I turned back to Sam and Dean and the old lady, she was nodding, still staring sadly at the photograph in her shaking hands.
"Okay," Sam said as we drove away from the old woman's house and back into town, "This little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow."
"He's definitely connected, there was a picture of him and Peter when they were kids on the mantle." I told them and the two brothers nodded.
"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" Dean agreed.
"And Bill, the people he loves – they're all getting punished." Sam continued and I leant forward in the backseat.
"So what if Bill did something to Peter?" I asked and Sam nodded, a disturbing smile on his face.
"What if Bill killed him?" Sam joined in with my question asking.
"Peter's spirit would be furious, it'd want revenge. It's possible." Dean shrugged and the car moved along faster.
"Mr Carlton?" Sam called as we approached the house, behind the house we heard an engine roar and we took off sprinting in the direction of it, we ran down and came to the shoreline of the lake to see Bill out on the lake in a boat.
"Check it out." Dean said and we ran to the end of the dock overlooking the lake.
"Mr Carlton!" I called, he turned round but his boat didn't slow down, he had a steely expression on his old, lined face.
"Mr Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!" Dean cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled to the man, I watched in fear as the boat kept going.
"Mr Carlton!" Sam tried again, but we were ignored, the water started churning around the boat, I ran a hand through my dark hair as the water lapped roughly on the underside of the boat. I cried out as the water rose up and flipped the boat over, when the water cleared the boat and Bill vanished beneath the dark, murky surface. The water returned to it's natural yet so unnatural calm state, not a ripple on the surface.
We strode through the doors of the police station, Andrea was sat on a chair on the side and leapt up and walked over, "Sam, Stephanie, Dean." She said and walked up with a confused look on her face. "I didn't expect to see you here." She said.
"So now you're on a first name basis." Te Sheriff walked over to us with an irritated look on his face, then he turned to his daughter, "What are you doing here?" He asked, his expression softer.
"I bought you dinner." She answered and pointed to the plastic bag and container that had been stacked neatly on a chair.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have time." He pulled a face, his tone apologetic.
"I heard about Bill Carlton, is it true? I something going on with the lake?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." He told his worried daughter, as if he had received an unknown signal, Lucas looked up and made a scared whining noise and grabbed Dean's arm, his eyes were wide and scared.
"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asked the boy with a concerned look on his face, "Lucas?" His tone became more serious as the boy's wide unblinking eyes stared up at Dean.
"Lucas." Andrea looked at her son with a worried expression, Dean crouched down and look into the boy's face.
"Lucas, it's ok, it's ok. Hey, Lucas, it's ok, it's ok." Dean told the boy in soothing tones, but he didn't look any calmer. Andrea pulled Lucas away from Dean and led him outside, Lucas kept his wide staring eyes on Dean the whole time. When the doors to the station closed the three of us turned our attention back to Jake, he threw his jacket down and beckoned us into his office.
"Okay, just so I'm clear," The Sheriff sighed heavily as he sat in his chair, "You see... something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill – who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the lake. And you never see him again?" Jake asked, Sam and I shared a glance and then nodded at Dean.
"Yeah, that about sums it up." Dean confirmed.
"Ad I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not Wildlife Service?" Jake demands, I gave the brother's a surprised look and Jake grins and leans forward in his seat, "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you three."
"See, now we can explain that." I tried.
"Enough," Jake held up his hand, "Please, the only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbours saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here – I can arrest the three of you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror and you don't ever darken my doorstep again." He yelled, making us shift in our seats.
"Door number two sounds good." Dean grinned and Jake nodded, his eyes full of rage.
"That's the one I'd pick." He nodded.
We were sat in Dean's car waiting at a traffic light, out the window there was a sign that read:
1-43 NORTH TO MILWAUKEE →
The traffic light turned green but Dean didn't move. "Green." Sam said, Dean turned to look at him.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"He's talking about the traffic light, it's green." I pointed to the light. Dean nodded and the car moved forward and went left.
"Uh, the interstate's the other way." Sam murmured and Dean grinned.
"I know."
"But Dean, this job. I think it's over." Sam told him but Dean shook his head.
"I'm not so sure." He argued.
"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got it's revenge: case closed. Shouldn't the spirit be at, like, rest, or something?" I asked and Dean nodded.
"Alright, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?" He asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
"But why would you think that?" Sam asked.
"Because Lucas was really scared." Dean answered with a shrug and I scoffed from the back seat.
"That's what this is about?" I asked, surprised at Dean's behaviour.
"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's ok." Dean replied with a shrug and Sam looked at Dean in shock.
"Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?" Sam asked, Dean glanced at Sam and half smiled.
"Shut up." We drove in silence after that, and Dean sighed happily as he pulled up in front of Andrea's home.
"Are we sure about this? It's pretty late." I said, looking up at the twinkling night sky. Dean didn't reply and walked quickly up to the house and rang the doorbell, Sam looked at me and I shrugged and sighed as we followed him up to the porch. Lucas flings open the door and he's breathing loudly with a petrified look on his face.
"Lucas? Lucas!" Dean asked, suddenly worried, the boy runs off and we follow close behind and upstairs. The landing carpet is saturated with water and it poured out from under the bathroom door, Lucas ran on the soaking carpet and started pounding on the door, I walked over and pushed Lucas gently to Dean and splayed my hands, feeling the air shift and connect beneath my palm, a sudden force of air slams into the door, blowing it from its hinges. I ran into the bathroom and reached the tub, dark water swirled around in it: lake water.
"Help me!" I cried out as Sam appeared in the door way, I reached my hand into the bath and felt a wrist. Sam stood beside me and grabbed what I assumed was Andrea's other arm, we pulled her up and she gasped as she broke free from the surface, but then something shifted in the air and I narrowed my eyes. I cried out in fright as Andrea is yanked back down and out of my grip, I reached in the tub again and used both hands to grab her arm, Together Sam and I slowly lifted Andrea from the bath and she fell on us, Sam jumped back in surprise and I groaned as Andrea's full weight landed on me coughing up water.
Sam and I were sat with Andrea in the living room, the woman was holding a cup of tea I had made her in her shaking hands and was wearing some comfortable clothes. "Can you tell us?" Sam asked her gently and she shook her head and looked at us with wide eyes.
"No." She told him. "It doesn't make any sense," Andrea sobbed, tears falling from her red-rimmed eyes, "I'm going crazy." She managed, I took the tea away from her to save it falling from her hands.
"No you're not, tell us what what happened, everything." I told her gently.
"I heard... I thought I heard... there was this voice." She told us, putting her face in her hands and sobbing harder, I rubbed her back soothingly and handed her a tissue, she took it and nodded at me gratefully. "T-thank you, Stephanie." She stuttered and I smiled warmly at her.
"It's no problem, Andrea. Now, this voice. What did it say?" I asked her gently.
"It said... it said 'come play with me'." She answered as more tears streamed down her bloodshot eyes, she sniffed and I fought the urge to shudder. "What's happening?" She cried out and envelopes me in a hug, I shoot Sam an uncomfortable look and he shrugs.
"She's just upset, she's not gonna hurt you." He mouthed to me, I pulled a face and awkwardly put my arms around the weeping woman.
"Do you recognise the kids in these pictures?" Dean asked as he came over, holding a scrapbook. Andrea released her death grip on me and sniffed as she looked at the book Dean had set down on the coffee table. It was open to a picture of a group of boys in scout uniforms, I glanced at what the caption read below:
EXPLORER TROOP 37
"Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my Dad right there, he must have been about twelve in these pictures." Andrea explained, running her a finger over a boy, presumably her Dad. I recognised the boy next to her though: Peter Sweeney. I looked up at Dean and then back at the picture.
"That's Peter!" I exclaimed pointing to the boy next to Jake.
"Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the Sheriff." Dean stated, looking at Sam and I.
"Bill and the Sheriff. They were both involved with Peter." Sam nodded in understanding.
"What about Chris? My Dad – what are you talking about?" Andrea looked at the three of us with a confused expression, but Dean's attention was on something else.
"Lucas?" He asked, I looked over and saw that the boy's gaze was transfixed on something outside the window, in silence he get up and walked out the door. "Lucas, what is it?" Dean asked as he opened the door and followed the boy down the garden path and into the woods, everyone close behind.
"Lucas, honey?" Andrea called out, hysteria seeping into her tone. Lucas stopped abruptly and Andrea sighed in relief, but the boy didn't stop because of her: he was staring at something on the ground, then he looked up at Dean.
"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, ok?" Dean told Andrea, she nodded with shocked eyes and took Lucas's hand and led him back in the direction of the house. We walked to the shed at the end of Andrea's garden and I used the air to blast open the doors of the old shack, I found three shovels and threw two to the brother's and we walked back into the woods. Sam started to dig but his shovel clanked against something and he looked up at Dean and I and we threw the shovels down and started to dig with out hands, three minutes later we had pulled away enough dirt to reveal an old, red bicycle.
"Peter's bike." Sam breathed out and I nodded, the all too familiar sound of a gun clicking sounded behind us, followed by an all too familiar voice.
"Who are you?" Jake asked, he was stood there with a gun pointed at Sam.
"Put the gun down, Jake." I told the Sheriff in a firm voice, but Jake shook his head.
"How did you know that was there?" He demanded, pointing the gun harder at the youngest Winchester.
"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." I told him in an even voice, his gun moved off Sam and onto my, but I kept calm. Worse situations had occurred.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He denied in an angry voice.
"Hey, hey, listen: you and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about." Dean said, trying to move some of Jake's anger from me to him. Fortunately for us, Andrea ran up with a horrified look on her face.
"Dad!" She exclaimed, terrified.
"And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit." Dean continued.
"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them, and it's gonna drag their bodies down to God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's Mum felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you and it's not gonna stop until it does." Sam told the Sheriff, he scoffed and glanced at Sam.
"Yeah, and how do you know that?" The man asked, beside Sam I shrugged and my gaze remained calm and collected.
"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton." I answered.
"Listen to yourselves, all three of you. You're insane." Jake responded, but Dean had had enough.
"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them and then burn them to dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake." Dean pleaded, despite the gun being pointed at his chest.
"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea demanded, Jake looked at his hysterical daughter out of the corner of his eyes and he shook his head.
"No. Don't listen to them, they're liars and they're dangerous." He told his daughter.
"Something tried to drown me," She told him, "Chris died on that lake, Dad look at me." She said and Jake turned his head and stared at Andrea, "Tell me you – you didn't kill anyone." She begged, her eyes shining bright with tears in the early light of dawn. Jake looked away and her face went slack, "Oh my God." She whispered.
"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one, we always bullied him. But this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water, we didn't mean to, but we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank." Jake explained in a hollow voice, Dean and I caught eachother's eye and then I turned back to Jake. "Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared, it was a mistake. But Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational." He tried to explain, but Andrea was looking at him as if he were a stranger.
"Alright, listen to me: all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can. Right now." Dean ordered, his tone firm and commanding. Andrea's gaze was fixed on a point pass my shoulder and I was starting to feel a little self conscious, she suddenly gasped and I fought down the urge to whip round.
"Lucas!" Jake called, looking where Andrea was, I turned and saw what they were looking at and gasped along with them, Lucas was leaning over the side of the dock, reaching for something in the water.
"Lucas!" Dean roared, and charged towards him, everyone followed close behind.
"Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!" Andrea screamed, suddenly a pale, white hand reached up from the surface and yanked Lucas down, I force my legs to run all the more faster and reach the end of the dock and dive in, Dean and Sam close behind. The water was dark and murky, and in my ears I could hear the sound of a boy laughing, as if he were playing a game. I opened my eyes and saw Peter, he was so pale he actually glowed brightly in contrast of the gloomy depths of the lake. He glared at me in the water and started moving towards me, I looked to see if Lucas was with him but he was nowhere in sight, Peter was getting closer now – his eyes shadowed and his face chalky, I kicked up with my legs and I broke up to the surface, gasping for air.
"Stephanie? Did you find anything?" I heard Dean ask, I shook his head and looked up at Andrea sadly.
"I'm sorry." I said and Andrea lets out a loud, broken cry.
"Lucas where are you?" She screamed and I looked at the brothers.
"Down again, guys." I told them and dived back down, Peter was waiting for me and grabbed onto my wrist and I cried out and tried to pull away, but the boy had a vice like grip on my wrist. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me, "You're not here to play!" He shouted, the water distorting his voice, I shook my head and he screamed, I closed my eyes in pain as the spirits screams rattled around my head, my heartbeat was in my ears and my lungs were on fire, telling me to get more air. I kicked out with my leg and it came into contact with Peter's stomach, but he barely noticed, he was looking at something else – something that was happening above the surface. Peter gave me one last look and smiled evilly at me, ad I knew why – my heartbeat was slowing down in my ears, and my head felt so heavy: no wonder I hadn't drifted back up to the surface yet. Peter had disappeared and I was glad to be rid of him, glad that the last thing I saw wasn't going to be that creepy bastard's face. My eyes were drifting shut now, it was going to be over soon, I felt the air shift under my palms but I was too tired to open my eyes and investigate what it was, I closed my eyes and ignored the numb feeling of something wrapping around me waist, I was feeling light headed and wondering why I hadn't fallen asleep yet.
"Stephanie! Stephanie, can you hear me?" A voice was interrupting my attempt at sleeping, something was hitting my face now, "Steph? Steph! Come on, I know you can hear me in there!" The voice sounded again, I sighed inwardly as I felt the welcoming feeling of sleep vanish and I opened my eyes and breathed in a great lungful of air, but something was already in my lungs. I coughed and pushed the water from my lungs, gasping gratefully as air filled my lungs and dispelled the heavy weight in my head. I looked around and saw Sam looking down at me, a look of relief on his face, "Oh thank God." He sighed and pulled me into a hug, I coughed again at the pain of my chest being crushed in Sam's bear hug.
"Sam? Can't breathe." I rasped in his ear and he suddenly let go and I rested back down on the floor again and sighed. "Did we do it?" I asked him.
"Yeah, yeah we did it."
We checked out the motel and were heading to Dean's car, Dean opened the car door and Sam tossed his duffel bag in. "Look, we're not gonna save everybody." Sam looked at his brother sadly and Dean nodded once.
"I know." He replied curtly.
"Guys!" A voice called from behind us, we turned to see Andrea walking over to us with Lucas in tow.
"Hey." Dean smiled in greeting.
"We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road." Andrea explained and looked down at Lucas, he was carrying a tray piled with sandwiches. "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." She smiled down at her son and he grinned up at his Mum.
"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked and I beamed down at him when I heard his voice.
"Of course." Andrea allowed and kissed Lucas's forehead.
"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car." Dean offered and they moved over to the car.
"How are you holding up?" I asked Andrea, she laughed, much to my surprise.
"How are you? Last time I saw you, Sam was carrying you to the car." She smiled and touched my arm, I shrugged and nodded.
"I'm sure I'll live. But seriously, how have you been keeping?" I asked again.
"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" Andrea's smile drops and she sighed heavily.
"Andrea, we're both really sorry." Sam cut in, but she shook her head.
"You three saved my son, one of you damn near died doing it. I can't ask for more than that, Dad loved me. He loved Lucas, no matter what he did, I just have to hold onto that." Andrea dry sobbed a little and I pulled her in for a hug, over her shoulder Sam was looking at me in surprise and I shrugged.
"Goodbye, Andrea." I told her and then moved over to the car and stepped into earshot of what Dean was saying to Lucas.
"You take care of your Mum, ok?" I heard Dean ask the boy.
"All right." Lucas said and then I looked over to see Dean kissing Andrea and I couldn't help but giggle a little, Lucas giggled with me and I walked over and hugged him.
"I know about you, Valkyrie." Lucas's voice sounded in my ear and I pulled away in shock.
"What did you just call me?" I asked the boy.
"Valkyrie. I've dreamed about you, you're not with the skeleton man anymore, this isn't your world is it?" Lucas asked me, I stared at the boy in shock before nodding once with tears in my eyes.
"No it's not, but I was supposed to go back home ages ago, but it hasn't happened. I think something's wrong and I can't get back." I admitted to the boy, Lucas nodded.
"I haven't dreamed of you leaving Dean and Sam, Valkyrie." The boy replied, I nodded slowly.
"Stephanie, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road." I heard dean's voice from behind me, I gave Lucas one last hug.
"Take care, Lucas." I told him before I got into the car and shut the door, Dean grinned when everyone was ready and started the engine and we drove off. We all smile as we see Andrea and Lucas waving goodbye to us, and we all wave in return, then Dean switches up the radio and we all sing along to Movin' on by Bad Company.
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews! I didn't expect to get so many to be honest! I'm planning on posting Chapter 3 when I have at least 10 reviews! So comment if you want to see the next chapter!