Hello and welcome back! We're moving onto the next episode and I'm just so excited to keep trucking along with this story. A huge thank you to anyone who's made it this far! As always, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Highway 43, Outskirts of Cleveland, Wisconsin - August 15, 2005
The music pumping out of Ariella's car was loud enough that she was sure everyone else on the small two-laned highway could hear the notes filtering out as she swept past them. She didn't care though. She was screaming along with the Linkin Park song, blissfully ignoring the looks being sent her way as she weaved in and out of traffic, going well over the speed limit. She was on her way to meet up with Sam and Dean, having stopped for the night to rest and get a shower in while they had continued on. The benefits, she supposed, of driving with two passengers instead of just one.
The trail for John had gone icily cold after their hunt in Blackwater, leaving the three of them scrambling for their next step. Dean had insisted that they just keep tracking down cases and hope something turns up, but Sam had been less than happy with that plan. He was angry. Angry that John wouldn't send word to them. Angry that Dean seemed more concerned with hunting than finding him. Angry that they were stuck optionless. And Ariella…well Ariella was just doing her best not to let the swirling storm of emotions she had been fighting since being dragged into this whole mess completely spiral out of control.
She didn't know what to feel anymore. She was both immensely concerned about and angry with John. She was plain worried about Sam. And Dean…well she would be lying if she said that these last few weeks hadn't dredged up feelings that she wasn't ready to deal with. There had been a time that she had believed Dean understood her more than anyone else. A time when she loved him more than anyone else. But that had all ended the night Sam left for Stanford….the night their so-called family had fallen apart. She had convinced herself she hated him after that. She deserved to hate him after what he had said. That was what she would repeat in her head like a mantra every time he would send that stupid grin of his in her direction. But the longer she spent with him, the harder it was to believe those words.
The ringing of Ariella's phone cut through her thoughts then, pulling her from the pit she was slowly falling into. She reached out and turned down the music before swiping up her cell from the passenger seat. She saw Bobby's number flash across the screen and let out an audible groan. She had been actively avoiding the old mechanic's calls, knowing he would not have reacted well to her latest affairs, but she also knew she couldn't avoid him forever. If Bobby Singer was anything, he was stubbornly persistent. So, she flipped open the phone before pulling it up to her ear, internally bracing herself for the verbal assault that was surely about to take place.
"Hi, Bobby." She said in greeting.
"We had a deal, young lady." Came his gruff voice, irritation evident in his tone.
"Yeah, I know." She told him with a sigh. "I've just been….busy."
"Too busy for a three second phone call to let me know you're not dead?" he pressed.
"Hi. Bobby. I'm not dead." she said sarcastically, eyes rolling as she pictured the annoyed look that would surely be rolling across his face.
"No, but you ought to be." He responded, clearly not finding her snark as humorous as she did. "You have any idea how worried I've been? I've been calling everyone trying to track down whereabouts on you."
"Bobby, relax." Ariella told him with another sigh as a wave of guilt washed through her. "I'm fine, really. I've just been busy dealing with a case…turned out to be a Wendigo."
"A Wendigo?" Bobby nearly shouted, loud enough that Ariella had to pull the phone away from her ear. "The hell you doing hunting down a damn Wendigo by yourself!?"
"I wasn't alone." She told him, bringing the phone back up to her ear. "So, simmer down before you give yourself a damn heart attack."
"You're the one giving me the damn heart attack!" he threw back at her with a grumble. "I don't like the idea of you teaming up with another hunter. They're bad company to keep, girl."
"Says the pot to the kettle." Ariella said in exasperation. "Besides, it was Sam and Dean."
The line went quiet then and Ariella had to double check that the call hadn't dropped before she heard Bobby answer. "What are you doing caught up with the Winchesters again?" he questioned lowly, not bothering to hide his displeasure at the news.
Ariella let out another sigh. Bobby hadn't had the best attitude towards John since he had practically dropped her in his lap at fifteen, and even less so after the night Sam left. She knew he wouldn't be happy to hear she was getting herself caught up in Winchester drama again. "John's missing." She told him.
"What do you mean 'missing'?" he asked.
"Dean showed up to Stanford while I was visiting Sam saying that their Dad had gone missing and he needed help finding him. We've been trying to track him down but it's like he's just disappeared." She explained. "You haven't…you haven't heard anything about where he could be, have you?"
"That son of a bitch." Bobby breathed out in frustration. "No, I haven't."
"Shit." Ariella added, hoping that if anybody had heard a whisper of John's whereabouts it would have been him.
"Ariella, you listen to me." He said seriously. "Whatever John Winchester has gotten himself involved with is none of your concern. You leave that hornet's nest be and get as far away from it as possible before you end up hurt again."
"I can't." Ariella told him with a shake of her head.
"The hell you can't!" he said, voice raising in anger. "You walk away! That family has-"
"Bobby, I can't!" she yelled back, cutting him off. "Sam's girlfriend is dead." she said bluntly, having to fight back the angry tears. "Murdered by that yellow-eyed demon." The line went silent again and Ariella could practically see Bobby rubbing his temples with that bomb. "John going missing and that bastard showing up again isn't coincidental." She said with a defeated sigh. "Something's happening…and if that demon's involved…I can't walk away. You know I can't."
"Ari…" Bobby said with his own sigh, voice no longer laced with anger. "Hunting that thing down isn't going to bring her back. You know that. You've seen firsthand what an obsession like this can lead to. You really wanna end up like John?" he questioned. "So obsessed with vengeance that you're blinded to everything else?"
Ariella let the phone drop away from her ear as a surge of emotions pushed tears from her eyes despite her resistance. She quickly wiped them away before swallowing thickly and clearing her throat. "Bobby, I have nothing else." She told him after a moment, bringing the phone back up.
"No." he said in agreement. "But you could. There could be more to your life than just hunting."
Ariella felt another tear drip down her cheek as she bit down on the inside of her lip. This was not the first time the two of them had had a conversation like this. Bobby had, more than once, done everything in his power to try swaying her away from hunting. To having a life. And she knew he had done it because he cared about her, but there had never been another option for Ariella. Her life had always been just too…complicated.
"Just let me know if you hear anything, okay?" she decided to say after a beat of silence before snapping the phone shut. She threw the phone back onto the seat next to her then and reached forward to turn the volume up as loud as it would go. The heavy rock music filled the car once more as she pressed the pedal down further, hoping the deafening lyrics would be loud enough to drown out her thoughts.
It took Ariella no more than a half hour to make it to the restaurant Sam had sent her the address to, and by the time she was pulling into the empty spot next to the Impala, she had managed to rebuild the walls containing her erratic thoughts. After taking one last stabilizing breath, she pushed her door open and got out, heading for the entrance.
The mixed smell of coffee, bacon, and syrup hit her nose as soon as Ariella pulled open the door, eliciting a grumble from her empty stomach as she stepped into the small diner. She caught sight of Dean sitting alone at the counter, back facing her, and she made her way towards him, dropping herself down in the empty seat to his right.
"Where's Sam?" she asked in leu of greeting, reaching forward to grab one of the laminated menus between them.
"Bathroom." Dean responded around a mouthful of food. Ariella pulled her eyes away from the menu items, watching as Dean shoved yet another large stack of pancakes into mouth, syrup dribbling out of the corner.
Her mouth fell open to comment on his table manners, but before she could, a waitress stepped up to them from behind the counter, stopping her. "Hey there, can I get you anything?" she asked Ariella, seeing her holding the menu.
"Yeah, can I just get the veggie omelet, please?" she asked, setting the menu back down on top of the other. "And coffee."
She watched as the waitress scribbled down her order before turning to Dean. "And can I get you anything else, sugar?" she asked, lip quirking up in the corner.
Dean flashed her a wide grin and Ariella nearly let out a scoff as she watched his eyes rake over the length of the waitress's body. She had long blonde hair, large breasts, and a tiny waist. She was pretty, Ariella decided, and just Dean's type. "I'm okay for now." He told her.
"Well, alright then." The waitress answered with a flirtatious smile before her eyes slid back onto Ariella. "Be right back with your food."
"Thank you." Ariella called after her as she walked back towards the kitchen. "Oh, good God, Dean." She scoffed then, turning to find him unashamedly ogling the girl's backside.
"What?" he asked, pulling his eyes away to level her with an annoyed look. "A man has needs."
"Ew." she remarked, face drawing up in disgust. The waitress came back then, setting a fresh mug of coffee down in front of Ariella. Dean shot her a wink before she slipped away again, eyes trailing on him as she moved on to other customers. "Please stop before I vomit." Ariella told him as she picked up her coffee and took a sip.
"Stop being such a cock block." He threw back at her. "It's been weeks since I got laid last and I'm in serious need of some release."
Ariella nearly choked on the coffee she had been in the process of swallowing. "For fuck's sake, Dean!" she told him as she set her cup back down with a small clank. "I didn't need to know that or picture that!" she complained with a huff.
"Why? You jealous?" he asked, grin stretching wider as he watched her face drop down unhappily.
"Please." Ariella scoffed. "Honey, I've been there and done that and there ain't nothing to be jealous about." She told him before picking her coffee back up.
"Well, maybe I've picked up a few things over the years." He taunted, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable he was making her.
"What? Like STDs?" she muttered over the rim of her cup before turning in her seat to face him. "You're right. I'm teeming with jealousy."
"Remind me again why you're here?" he asked then, his previous satisfaction simmering away into displeasure.
"Simply to impede upon your life in any way I can." She said sardonically before catching sight of Sam making his way through the diner towards them.
"Bitch." Dean grumbled moodily, turning and stabbing his fork back into his food.
"Ass." Ariella threw back just as Sam dropped himself down into the stool on the other side of Dean.
"Can you guys seriously not go five minutes without fighting?" Sam questioned with a sigh, already fed up with their constant bickering.
"She started it." Dean mumbled around his food again, jabbing his thumb in Ariella's direction.
"Real mature." Ariella responded with a roll of her eyes. "Can we please just get to the part where you tell me about this supposed case you found."
Dean responded by grabbing hold of the newspaper that had been sitting on the counter next to him and dropping it down in front of Ariella. She grabbed hold of it and let her eyes sweep over the articles before she caught sight of an obituary column that had been circled with pen. "A swimming accident?" she questioned with an arched brow.
"Last week this kid walked into Lake Manitoc and didn't come back out." He explained, reaching out to tap on the young girl's photo. "Authorities dredged the water and-nothing."
"Any others like her?" Ariella asked with furrowed brows as she examined the girl's photo closer. Sophie Carlton….she had only been eighteen.
"It's the third drowning in that lake this year." Dean confirmed with a nod. "None of the other bodies were found either. They just had the funeral two days ago. Buried an empty casket for closure or whatever." He explained, waving his hand around like he didn't understand the motivation.
"Closure?" Sam repeated with a scoff. "What closure? People don't just go missing. Other people just stop looking for them." He bit out, the attitude practically dripping from his voice.
Ariella's eyebrows furrowed together as she pulled her gaze away from the paper to look at him just as Dean swung around to face him as well. "Something you want to say?" he asked pointedly.
"The trail for Dad…it's getting colder every day." Sam replied unhappily.
"Sam, the trails not getting colder." Ariella said with a sigh. "It's practically iced over at this point. What are we supposed to do?"
Sam's gaze flicked to her for a moment before he let out an unamused laugh and shook his head. "I don't know." He admitted. "Something….anything."
"I'm getting real sick this of this attitude." Dean told him then, pulling Sam's narrowed eyes back onto him. "You think I don't want to find Dad just as much as you do?" he snipped defensively. "I'm the one who's been with him every single day for the past two years while you've been off to college going to pep rallies!"
"Okay, let's just all take a moment and just calm the hell down!" Ariella said, leaning in closer to the two of them to keep her voice from travelling. "You have got to stop dragging Sam through the mud for wanting a chance at a normal life." she said, pointing an accusatory finger at Dean. "And you…" she said, finger moving onto Sam. "Have got to practice the art of patience. We are trying to find your dad, Sam, but we've got nothing to go on right now." She said, trying to get him to understand that there just wasn't anything more they could be doing at the moment. "Look, I've got Bobby putting his nets out to see if he can pick anything up, but in the meantime this-" she said, tapping the young girl's photo. "Will give us something else to focus on. Taking on this case doesn't mean we're giving up on finding John. It's just giving us something to do until something does turn up. Okay?" Sam's eyes had dropped back onto the counter during her rant, and she watched his jaw move back and forth as he processed that. "Okay?" she asked again after getting no response.
"Yeah, okay." He finally said after a moment of contemplation, eyes swinging back onto her. His face was still dropped down unhappily, but he, at least, seemed to relent in his protesting for the moment.
"Well, okay then." Dean said, quickly trying to move on from the tense conversation. "Lake Manitoc it is."
By midday, the three of them had made it to small town and began working the case. Dean had always preferred the shoot first, ask questions later method while working cases. He had insisted on just diving in and seeing what they could dig up. Ariella, however, preferred to hit the research first before going in guns blazing. So, they split up. Ariella booked them a motel room and began digging up whatever articles she could about the local area while Sam and Dean conducted interviews with the latest victim's family and local authorities.
Ariella lay sprawled out on her stomach on one of the two queen beds for hours, scouring the internet for anything she could find about the area. After the third hour, Sam and Dean pushed open the door to the room, forcing her attention away from the latest article she had been reading.
"Dean, you don't even like kids." Sam was saying as they stepped into the room together with bag in hand.
"I love kids!" Dean said in defense, shutting the door behind him.
"Name three kids you even know." Sam said with a roll of his eyes as he tossed his duffle bag onto the bed next to Ariella.
"I can name one really big one." Ariella commented under her breath as her eyes slid back onto her screen. She caught sight of Dean giving her the middle finger from the corner of her eye and a grin stretched across her face. "Why are we even arguing over Dean's nonexistent affinity towards children?" she asked as she continued scanning the page she had previously been reading before they interrupted.
"Because Dean thinks it's a good idea to go around flirting with young moms." Sam told her as he dropped himself down behind her, the entire bed shifting with his added weight, jostling Ariella around briefly.
"Classy." Ariella muttered with an arched brow. "And did you manage to actually find anything out other than Dean's persistent need to flirt with anything in a skirt?"
"Shut up, the both of you." Dean told them grumpily as he tossed his own bag down on the other bed and pulled it open.
"That Sophie girl was a strong swimmer." Sam answered with a huff. "And the sheriff is convinced there's nothing in that water big enough to be responsible for all the drownings."
Ariella paused in her typing before swinging her eyes behind her shoulder to look at Sam. "That's it?" she asked, surprised they hadn't been able to dig up more during their three hours of work.
"What do you mean 'that's it?'" Dean repeated in offense. "Why? What did you find?"
"More than that." She said, eyes briefly flicking to him before she turned to face her screen again with a shake of her head. "From what I've been able to find, there's been nine drownings in that lake spanning back over the last three decades." She began to tell them, pulling up the oldest article she could find. "It started back in the seventies with this kid who just kind of went missing. They assumed he drowned in the lake, but his body was never recovered. Every few years after that there seems to be another mysterious drowning. A woman talking a late-night walk on the beach…a guy out fishing…a twelve year-old girl drowning at bible camp…no connection with gender or age or anything I could find. The only thing they all seem to have in common is that none of the bodies were ever found."
"So, whatever it is, it's picking up it's pace." Sam said, leaning over Ariella's shoulder to read through the articles she had pulled up.
"Yeah, we've gone from six victims over thirty-four years to three alone this year." She said in agreement as she pulled up what she had found on the three latest victims. "Back in February this ice-fisher drowned. Bunch of witnesses saw her get pulled straight through the ice, but none of them saw what did it. But, the last victim back in May I think we might be in luck with. A father took his kid swimming in the lake and didn't come back out." she said, pulling the article to the front, a small, frightened boy pictured within it. "The son was found on a platform two hours later by search and rescue." She explained, motioning towards his picture. "I think this kid may be our best bet for an actual witness."
"Wait a minute. That's Lucas." Sam said, leaning in closer.
"You know him?" Ariella asked, turning to give him a surprised look.
"Yeah, that's Andrea's kid." Sam said in confirmation. "That's the mom Dean was flirting with. She's the sheriff's daughter."
Ariella's eyes slid over to Dean as he walked closer, getting a look at the article for himself. "Wow. Flirting with a recently widowed woman." she said, letting out a whistle as he came to a stop beside her and Sam. "That's a new low, Dean, even for you."
"It's not like I knew that!" Dean said in defense.
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out." Sam said, letting out a long breath as he pulled away from Ariella.
"Well, watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." Dean said with his own sigh, voice low and serious.
Ariella's mouth pulled down in the corner with that statement. "No…" she said as her own painful memories began swimming to the surface of her mind. "It's not."
Her and Dean shared a look then and, for a moment, it was as if all the anger and frustration between them didn't matter. That one look was enough for both of them to understand what the other was thinking. Afterall, they both knew what that particular burden felt like…of watching your parent die right in front of you. Of them being murdered before your own eyes. Once upon a time, they had confided in each other about what it felt like to have to carry that trauma. In fact, Dean had been the only other person who she could confide in…who could understand that pain. She pulled her eyes away after a moment, shaking that string of thoughts away.
"So, we talk to the kid." she said with a bob of her head before reaching out to slap her laptop closed. "And we figure out what the hell is lurking in that lake."