Hi everyone! I'm hoping you're all getting notifications for updates on this story. My account has been all glitchy lately due to the bugs this site has been working on fixing, so I have not been able to access any sort of stats and such for the past couple weeks. I'm just going to keep on posting updates and hope you're reading along until they fix everything! As aways, I hope you like this next chapter! Xoxo-NickyLynn

Tracking down Andrea and her son hadn't been hard. After checking the only park in town, they found her sitting on a bench, watching Lucas while he sat coloring at a small table in the playground. Seeing as Dean and Sam had already introduced themselves, Ariella let them take the lead as they approached the young mother.

"Hey! Andrea!" Dean called out as they made their way over to her, lifting his hand to give her a small wave. She turned in surprise, a small smile pulling across her face as her eyes landed on Dean. "Mind if we join you?" he asked.

"I'm actually here with my son." she said, tipping her heads towards where Lucas was sitting.

"We actually just wanted to ask you a few questions is all." He told her. "Just need a couple minutes of your time."

"Oh." Andrea said, eyebrows drawing together as she turned back towards Dean, her eyes briefly sweeping past Ariella. "Sure, about what?"

"We were hoping you could tell us about what happened to your husband." Sam told her. "We didn't realize before that he was one of the victims."

"Oh." Andrea repeated, smiling dropping. "What did you want to ask?" she questioned as she pulled her arms tightly against her chest, clearly uncomfortable with the turn in topic.

"He was with Lucas when it happened, wasn't he?" Dean asked her. "The two of them had gone swimming together."

Andrea nodded, sad eyes moving back to where her son was playing by himself. "I thought I had lost them both that night." She admitted with a heavy sigh. "By the time they found him out there, he was practically catatonic. We couldn't get him to tell us what happened. He still hasn't said a word since that night. Even to me."

Ariella's eyes drifted over to the young boy as she spoke, a frown beginning to form as she watched him as well. "The doctors say it's some kind of post-traumatic stress or something." She continued with a shake of her head.

"That can't be easy for either of you." Sam commented empathetically.

"We moved in with my dad." Andrea told them with a lift of her shoulder. "He helps out a lot. It's just…when I think about what Lucas went through…what he saw…"

"Do you mind if I talk to him?" Ariella asked, pulling her eyes away from Lucas to look at Andrea again.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked, eyes sweeping between Sam, Dean, and her.

"Right." Ariella said, shaking her head as she took a step forward. "My name's Sarah." She said, reaching into her shirt to pull out the fake documentation hanging from a lanyard around her neck. "I'm an investigative journalist hoping to do an article about all the local drownings and disappearances." She explained, flashing her press badge. "I heard that the Fish and Wildlife Services were conducting an investigation, so I've been trying to tag along. I'd like to try talking to him, if you don't mind. Strictly off the record, of course." she quickly added, throwing her hand up. "I just…I went through something similar around his age. Maybe I could help."

"Um, sure." Andrea said, giving her a nod of permission. "You can try."

"Thanks." Ariella said before sliding a quick glance towards Sam and Dean. "I'll be right back."

She made her way towards Lucas then, eyes bouncing around the playground full of laughing children. Lucas wasn't laughing, however. He wasn't even smiling. He just sat there all alone, focusing on his crayons as he dragged them across paper after paper. "Hi, Lucas." she said in greeting once she was close enough. "Your mom said it would be alright if I came and talked with you." She said, pointing back to where Andrea continued talking with Sam and Dean. "Mind if I sit with you?"

Lucas's focus didn't sway from the picture he was busy making. He didn't look up at Ariella, or even so much as acknowledge that he heard her. She decided to sit down across from him regardless, eyes sweeping over the pile of drawings he had finished as she lowered herself down at the table. "These are really good." She praised, reaching out to grab hold of a rather good picture of a bicycle.

Lucas continued scribbling away with his crayons, not even bothering to look up. "You know…" Ariella said then, letting out a sigh as she placed the drawing back in the pile she had pulled it from. "Your mom told me about what happened to your dad. That you were there. That must have been really scary for you and I'm sorry." She told him earnestly. When he continued drawing in silence, she let her eyes trail over to Sam and Dean, mouth pulling down in the corner. "I saw something really scary, too, when I was your age." She admitted quietly. "I saw something hurt my mommy really bad." She told him, eyes dropping back down on him. "And afterwards everyone had thought I had done it. They thought it was me that hurt her. They didn't believe me when I told them it was a monster."

She watched as Lucas's hand stopped moving. "No matter how hard I pleaded with those grownups, none of them would believe me. They wanted to get me in trouble for what had happened and nothing I said would make them listen. So, after a while, I just stopped trying to convince them. It felt like my words didn't matter so I stopped talking."

Lucas's eyes cautiously flicked up to meet Ariella's then, and she could see the emotion swirling within them. "But eventually somebody came along and asked me what happened." She continued, remembering the day John Winchester had come into her life. "He promised he would believe me…that he was there to help…and he did. Lucas, I don't know what you saw that night, but me and my two friends over there-" she said, pointing towards Sam and Dean. "We're here to make sure that whatever it is…doesn't hurt anyone else. So, if you could tell me what happened…maybe even draw me a picture-" she said, motioning towards his crayons. "I promise that I'll believe you."

Lucas stared at her a few moments before his gaze dropped back down to his picture. Ariella watched his hand begin to sweep back and forth again for a few moments before she let out a long breath. "Okay, if you're not ready for that yet, I understand." She told him in reassurance. "Me and my friends are going to be in town for a few days until we can figure this out. So, if at any point you feel like you're ready to talk to someone about what happened you can always come find me, okay?" Knowing there was nothing more she could say, she stood up. "It was nice to meet you, Lucas." she said, giving him one last smile before turning and making her way back towards the others.

"Anything?" Sam asked as she approached, he, Dean, and Andrea turning their attention onto her as she came to a stop. Ariella shook her head in response.

"He used to have so much life in him." Andrea said with a deep frown. "He was hard to keep up with to tell you the truth." She added with a small, remorseful laugh. "Now he just sits there in silence."

"He's just scared." Ariella said, reaching over to give the grieving woman a pat on the shoulder. "Kids are resilient. Whatever it is he saw that night…he can learn to overcome it. You'd be surprised by just how much a kid can endure."

"You said you went through something similar?" Andrea said with a dip of her eyebrows. "How'd you manage to deal with it?"

Ariella bit down on the inside of her lip, eyes flicking over to Dean briefly before they landed back on Andrea. "I had people who listened." She decided to say. "People who made me feel less alone." She said before clearing her throat. "Just keep being there for him." She encouraged with a nod. "He'll come around."

Ariella felt a tug on her leg then and she turned to find Lucas standing behind her, holding a drawing out towards her. A warm smile pulled across her lips as she dropped down to her haunches to be level with him. "This for me?" she asked as she gently took the paper from him. He gave her a quick nod, eyes refusing to meet hers. "Thank you, Lucas." He gave her a nod before turning and running off towards the playground without answering. Ariella watched him run back to the table for a moment before standing back up and examining the drawing he had left her with.

"What is it?" Dean asked curiously, stepping up beside her to get a good look at the drawing. The picture he had given her was nothing more than a house with a red roof, and Ariella would be lying if she said she had any idea what it meant.

"His house maybe?" Ariella asked, flipping the image over for Andrea to see.

"It's not our house." She said with a shake of her head.

Ariella hummed in thought before folding the picture into quarters and slipping it into her pocket. "Well, thank you for your time." She told Andrea. "We really appreciate it."

"We'll be in touch if find anything else out." Dean told her with a nod before the three of them turned and began making their way back though town. "So, what's with the picture?" he asked Ariella once they were far enough away that Andrea couldn't overhear.

"I have no idea." She told him truthfully. "It's gotta be important though. I say we get some dinner and see if we can't dig anything else up on all this."

"Sound like a plan to me." Dean grunted in agreement. "I could go for a cheeseburger."

So, the three of them ordered take out and headed back to the motel to do some more research. Or, at least Sam and Ariella were doing more research. Dean, however, had practically inhaled his food before passing out face-down on one of the two beds. His snoring had filled the otherwise quiet room as Sam and Ariella sat together on the other bed, working on their laptops and trying to find something that would help push them in the right direction. The problem, however, was that no matter how long they looked, they couldn't seem to find a break in the case.

"Alight." Sam said after the second hour of looking, pushing his laptop way with a frustrated sigh. "I'm tapping out for the night." He said, scrubbing a hand down his tired face. Ariella swung her eyes over the edge of her computer, watching as he kicked his boots off and adjusted himself so that he was taking up the entire half of the bed as he laid back.

"Didn't sleep well last night I take it?" she asked as her eyes flicked over to the clock. It was barely past nine.

"Dean had us take turns driving." He told her as he brought one of his arms up to hang across his eyes. "And I'd like to actually get some rest in while I've got the chance to sleep in an actual bed."

"Hey, no judgment here." Ariella said as her eyes drifted back down to the screen. Life as a hunter was just like that sometimes. You slept when you could and kept running when you couldn't. It was far and in between when Ariella herself got more than a few hours sleep at a time. She knew that Sam and Dean hadn't had any proper rest in a while, so she didn't mind letting them doze off while she kept working. It wasn't like there was much to do at the moment anyways.

After a few minutes of her skimming through housing listings, trying to find one that matched Lucas's drawing, Sam spoke back up, breaking the silence once again. "You never told me what happened with your mom." He said out of the blue, causing Ariella to freeze in her typing. She turned towards him, eyebrows dipping down.

"Sam, you know what happened." She replied in confusion.

"Yeah, I know what happened. I just mean that I don't remember you ever really talking to me about it." He tried to explain. "Dean never talked to me either….about Mom."

"Oh." Ariella said, reaching forward to shut her laptop as she let out a sigh. "Sam, you were just so young when it all happened." she told him with a shrug. "I mean, we all were, but you were just too little to understand the details of it all. And me and Dean-" she said, eyes sweeping over his prone form. "We…helped each other through it." She said, frown beginning to pull down her lips. She watched Dean's back rise up and down for a moment, slowly being swept away into her thoughts.

"It feels like its just one more thing I was kept in the dark about." Sam told her honestly.

"It's a terrible burden to carry, Sam." She breathed out as her eyes fell back on him. "I guess we just wanted to protect you from knowing how it felt to have to carry something like that. Suppose now you know exactly how it feels though." She added with a sigh as she studied the emotion swirling behind his eyes. "How are you holding up, by the way?" she asked. "And I don't want some bullshit 'I'm fine' answer."

Sam drew in a deep breath as his eyes dropped down to his hands, fidgeting with the fabric of his shirt. "Managing…I guess." He answered with a small shrug. "I can't…" he continued before letting out a breath as he shook his head, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I can't let myself think about too long." He admitted, bringing his gaze back up to her. "If I do, I-" he began before his throat closed off and he dropped his head again. "It's my fault."

"Hey." Ariella said as she watched the tears begin to slip past his eyes, face softening as she pushed away her laptop and slid closer to him. "Come here." She said as she moved towards the pillows and pulled his head into her lap, much like she would when they were children. "It wasn't your fault, Sammy." She told him as she began stroking his hair back away from his face, it killing her to see the pain etched into his features.

"I should have never gone to college." He whispered brokenly. "None of this would be happening if I had never left. Jess would still be alive….Dad wouldn't be missing…we would still be a family."

"You can't beat yourself up about the what-ifs, Sam." Ariella told him with a shake of her head, doing her best to keep her own emotions in check as she watched a small trail of tears move down his cheek. "It'll only drag you down into a pit you won't be able to crawl out of, trust me. This isn't on you." She told in reassuringly. "None of it."

By the time Dean woke back up, not having meant to even fall asleep in the first place, his mind was groggy, and he felt incredibly disoriented. He had spent all night sleeping in the same position, leaving his body feeling cramped up as he began to stir with movement again. He let out a groan as he rolled over onto his back, muscles feeling incredibly stiff from the effort of it. It felt like he was practically coming out of a coma, not having slept for that many consecutive hours in weeks. After giving himself a minute to get his thoughts together, he pushed himself and swung over the edge of the bed. His boots hit the floor with a soft thud before he got up and shuffled his way towards the bathroom.

Once he was done and moving back into the main room to dig a set of clean clothes out of his bag, he caught sight of Sam and Ariella huddled together on the other bed and paused. Ariella was sitting upright at the head of the bed, back resting along the wall, slumped over to the side with her mouth hanging open. Sam was practically curled up in her lap, using her as a pillow. It looked a bit silly, seeing as Sam was nearly twice the size of her, but Dean found something stirring in himself at the sight of it. He would often find the two of them curled up together like that as children, usually having fallen asleep from reading some book or another, and seeing them now brought those memories rushing to the surface.

He realized, as he stood there watching them, that the sight elicited another feeling from deep inside himself. The bond between the two of them had always been one that he found himself jealous of. They had always gotten along easily without so much as a spat between the two of them. He could never have what they did. He was always the odd-ball out. As a kid, it had always been more annoying than anything, but now…now it just left him feeling incredibly lonely. He pulled his gaze away and finished gathering a change of clothes, doing his best to erase that last thought from his mind. He grabbed what he needed and headed back into the bathroom to shower.

After he showered and redressed, Dean decided to run out and grab coffee and breakfast, knowing Sam and Ariella would most likely be sleeping for a couple more hours yet. He took a drive down to a local bakery he had seen on their way into town the day prior. It was just on the outskirts of town, and Dean used the short drive to help clear his mind and focus on the case. Fortunately, one unmistakable sight on his way helped pull his focus back onto the case rather abruptly. There was an ambulance and a whole squad of police cars parked outside of the Carlton's house, and as Dean slowly drove past, he caught sight of an unmistakable white sheet being rolled out on a stretcher.

"Son of a bitch." He breathed out, realizing they most likely had another victim on their hands. He quickly jerked the steering wheel around, tires letting out a squeal as he turned himself around.

Luckily, by the time Dean made it back to the motel after figuring out who their latest victim was, Sam and Ariella were awake. He came back in to find Sam sitting on the edge of the bed, lacing his boots up, while Ariella was sitting on the bed Dean had been sleeping on, towel drying her wet hair.

"Well, safe to say we're not dealing with Nessie." Dean said as he stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him as both Sam and Ariella's eyes snapped over to him.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, straightening himself back up.

"I just drove by the Carlton house and an ambulance was there. Will Carlton is dead." Dean told them.

"He drown?" Ariella asked, eyebrows dipping together in worry.

"Yep." Dean answered. "But you're never gonna guess this…he didn't drown in the lake…he drowned in the kitchen sink."

"You're kidding me." Sam said to that, letting out a huff of disbelief.

"How the fuck does that even happen?" Ariella asked, face going from worried to confused.

"Beats me." Dean said with a shrug. "But one thing's for sure…this ain't no creature we're dealing with."

"So, what are we dealing with?" Sam asked, eyes moving between Dean and Ariella.

"I don't know." Dean admitted. "A water-wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon?"

"It's not a demon." Ariella said, letting out a sigh as she tossed her towel onto the floor. "And whatever it is, it's tied to the water of Lake Manitoc."

"A lake that's about to dry up in the next six months." Sam added with a tip of his head. "Could explain why it's upping the body count."

"Wait, what do you mean it's drying up?" Ariella asked in confusion.

"The dam keeping it full is falling apart." Sam explained. "Once they open those spillways, there won't be a lake left."

"Well that would have been nice to know." She replied with a huff. "Okay, so this thing is tied to a dying lake." She mused. "It's on limited time, so that means-"

"It's going to kill again." Dean supplied, pulling her eyes from Sam back onto him.

"Soon." She said with a nod. "And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone." She said, letting out a sigh as she realized just how dangerous this thing could be. "Which means we've got to get our asses in gear and figure this thing out before it does strike again."

"Whatever this thing wants, it's got something to do with Bill Carlton." Sam added. "It's taken both of his kids now and, turns out, Lucas's dad, Chris,—Bill Carlton's godson."

"Didn't you guys already talk to him?" Ariella asked. "Did he happen to mention anything that would tie him to any of this?"

"He wasn't exactly in a talkative mood." Sam told her.

"Well, maybe he'll be a bit more talkative now." Dean said, knowing he was the only lead they had.

"Alright." Ariella said as she stood back up and swiped up her jacket from the back of the chair next to Dean. "Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."