Hi everyone! I'm excited to see that this story has picked up a good chunk of followers so I'd just like to take a moment to welcome and thank those of you who have chosen to follow along! Every single notification only pushes me to want to work on this more and more. If you have the chance to drop a review too just know I die of happiness with each one. I'm curious to know what you're all feeling about how things are developing between Ariella, Sam, and Dean. 😊 With all that said, I'll send you on your way! Hope you enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn

Bill Carlton, as it turned out, was in no more of a talkative mood than the first time Sam and Dean had tried interviewing him. Despite their insistence on discussing what had happened to his kids, he had practically blown them off, refusing to do more than stare vacantly out at the lake. Dean was growing frustrated with the man. He was hiding something from them, he was sure of it, but there was no convincing him to talk. He let out a grumble as he and Sam made their way back to the Impala, not sure what more they were supposed to do.

"What do you think?" Sam asked as they made their way back to where Ariella was waiting, having been doing a sweep around the house while he and Sam went to talk with Bill.

"I think the poor guy's been through hell." He replied honestly. "I also think he's not telling us something."

"Well, lucky for us, someone else has been trying to tell us something all along." Ariella interjected, sliding off the hood of the car as they approached. She reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. "I was wondering why this place seemed so familiar when we pulled up-" she said as she unfolded it. "I don't think it was just some random house that Lucas drew." She told them as she flipped the paper over for them to see. It was the picture Lucas had given her the day prior, and as Dean's eyes flicked from it, to the house behind Ariella, it was impossible not to see the startingly similarities between the two. "I think Lucas was trying to tell us something."

"Well, I'll be." Dean said as he reached out to take hold of the picture, studying it closer as he compared it to the old cabin.

"So, what? The kid has some sort of connection with this thing?" Sam asked, leaning against the roof of the Impala.

Ariella swung her eyes onto him, giving a lift of one of her shoulders. "I don't know…but there's one way to find out."

"Alright." Dean said with a nod as he handed the drawing back to Ariella, who repocketed it. "Let's go have another chat with the kid."

The three of them showing up at Andrea's door, however, did not seem to go over very well with the mother. She had eyed them up suspiciously after answering the door, Dean practically demanding to see Lucas. "We really need to speak with him again." He told Andrea as she led them inside the house. "We think he saw something that night that may help us."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." She answered warily, eyes sweeping from him over to Ariella and Sam.

"It'll only be a minute." He urged. "It's important."

"He won't say anything." She said with a shake of her head. "What good is it going to do?"

"Andrea, we think more people are going to get hurt." Sam interjected, pulling her focus onto him. "We think something's happening out there."

"My husband…the others…they drowned. That's all." She maintained.

"Do you really believe that?" Ariella asked as she took a step closer. "You never stopped to wonder why his body was never found? Why none of the bodies were ever found?"

"I…" Andrea stammered, jaw falling open and closed as her eyes moved between the three of them.

"There's something in that lake." Ariella continued seriously, bringing her hand up to point out at the lake through the large window they had been standing in front of. "There's something unnatural in that lake." She then restated with a shake of her head as she dropped her hand. "And we think Lucas knows what it is." She said, pulling the drawing out of her pocket and unfolding it. "You're wrong, Andrea." She told her as she handed it over. "Lucas has been trying to say something all along…we just haven't been listening."

Andrea studied the image as Dean took a step forward to bring himself next to Ariella. "Lucas drew a picture of the Carlton's cabin the same day Will Carlton died." He stated lowly. "That's one hell of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"I-I don't understand." Andrea admitted, concerned eyes flicking back up to them. "How would he-? I mean…none of this makes any sense." She muttered, mouth pulling down into a deep frown. "Who are you people, anyways?" she questioned skeptically. "You aren't from Fish and Game, are you?"

"We're the people trying to stop the thing that killed your husband." Ariella told her honestly. "We're trying to help."

"If you really believe your husband drowned, then we'll go." Dean said in an attempt to garner her trust. "But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here….please let us talk to your son."

Andrea let her eyes sweep around the three of the them again as she pondered that. At first, she eyed them up as if they were insane, and Ariella thought for a moment that her jaw would fall open to kick them out of her house, but slowly her face shifted into something else altogether. Fear began swirling behind her eyes as she began to let herself think things over, and with one look, Ariella knew there was a part of her which believed them.

"He's upstairs in his bedroom." She said quietly, tilting her head back towards a set of stairs behind them. "You can have five minutes."

Ariella didn't wait for her to change her mind. In the next moment, she was moving towards the stairs, just praying Lucas would be able to pass along another clue that would help them figure out what they were up against….and how to stop it. The first door she came across on the upper level had been left wide open, and as she poked her head around the doorframe, she found Lucas sitting on the floor inside, surrounded by a row a small toy army figures. He was busy coloring again, several pictures strew around him that had already been finished. Ariella stepped inside, and although she was sure Lucas noticed her entrance, he didn't bother greeting her.

"Hey there, Lucas." She said as she stepped up next to him, dropping down onto her knees to be eye level with him. "Remember me?"

Lucas remained just as impassive as the first time Ariella had tried to speak with him. He didn't speak, nor did he pause in his coloring to even acknowledge her. Ariella blew out a long breath as she watched him, stuck between knowing that he was the solitary lead they had, and wishing more than anything he wasn't. "That picture you drew me…" she began softly. "You knew something was going to happen there, didn't you?"

Lucas continued coloring without looking up. "I want you to know that I'm listening. I think you wanted to warn me about that cabin….maybe try stopping it…and I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. And I'm thinking…I'm thinking that maybe you know something else that could help us. I wanted to ask you for your help again. Maybe you can make another drawing….if you do, I promise you, Lucas….I'll do whatever it takes to figure this out. To work out your clue and stop this thing before it hurts anyone else."

When Lucas kept coloring without looking away from his paper, she let out anotther breath, leaning back slightly as she studied him. The truth was, she wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap her arms around the boy. She hated that he was stuck in the middle of all this. She had developed a particular soft spot for the boy, having remembered all too well what it felt like to be so young and wrapped up in something so horrific. In fact, she could practically picture her younger self sitting there in front of her instead of Lucas, and it left her wishing she was there to console him instead of interrogate him.

Dean's voice sounded from the doorway behind Ariella then, jarring her out of her inner thoughts. She swung her head around to find him standing in the archway, eyes focused solely on Lucas. She wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, but the look in his eyes made her wonder if he had been thinking something similar as well. "You're scared, aren't you?" he asked Lucas, voice softer than Ariella had heard in ages.

Lucas finally stopped coloring then, eyes slowly drifting up to watch as Dean stepped into his room. "It's okay." Dean told him reassuringly as he dropped down next to Ariella, pulling his legs under himself as he got down to Lucas's level as well. "When I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom and I was scared too." He told him. "For a long time, that's all I remember feeling….but thing is, eventually someone came along and showed me that it was alright to be scared." He said, eyes flicking over to Ariella before quickly falling back onto Lucas. "This girl here…" he said, tipping his head in Ariella's direction. "It's kinda like she's a superhero, ya know? It was like she could hear the things I wanted to say without ever having to say them…she listened to me…listened to me when no one else would, just like she's doing for you. And you know what? She helped me be brave again…and I bet you she can help you be brave, too."

Ariella knew Dean was just trying to get Lucas to open up…to connect with him in a way that could elicit some form of communication from him…but there was something in the way he spoke that left her aching inside. They weren't just empty words he was using to convince Lucas to help…he was being entirely sincere…showing a side of himself he so very rarely let people see. The part of him that she had fallen in love with. She did her best to ignore that rush of thoughts, however, and the feeling that came with them, and instead focused on the hesitancy swirling behind Lucas's eyes.

"You want to know the secret to being brave, Lucas?" Dean continued, eyebrows pulling together as he learned in closer to him. "It's having someone to be brave with."

Ariella had to swallow past her suddenly dry throat before drawing in a breath. "I'm scared, too." She nearly whispered, pulling Lucas's eyes away from Dean and back onto her. "But I promise not to leave this town until whatever it is, is gone. I'm going to be brave and do whatever it takes to stop it. We're going to stop it." She quickly amended, looking over to Dean briefly. "But in order to do that we need your help. Do you think you can do that for us, Lucas?" she asked, eyes falling back on the frightened boy. "Will you be brave with us?"

Lucas's gaze flicked between Ariella and Dean for a moment before shuffling through one of the stack of finished drawings next to him. He fished one out before holding it out for them to take. Ariella took the paper from him, a rush of relief filling her as she took in the church and house pictured within. "Thank you, Lucas." She said, hoping this would be the clue they needed. "We're going to find this thing, Lucas." She vowed. "So, you just keep on being brave just for a little while longer, okay?"

His eyes fell back onto the drawing he had previously been working on then, resuming his coloring. Ariella let her eyes slide onto Dean then, holding up the picture for him to see. "We have a house to find."

They passed on another thanks to Lucas once more before the two of them made their way back downstairs and found Sam. "Well?" he asked once they were back in the Impala, turning in the passenger seat to question Ariella and Dean. Ariella handed the drawing over to him in response, letting him see their next clue. "What? A yellow house?" he asked as he examined it. "You think this is where the next attack will take place?"

"Maybe." Dean answered with a shrug. "I mean, whatever's out there, maybe Lucas is tapping into it somehow."

"Maybe this is our next victim." Ariella supplied then, reaching out to point out the figure standing over a red bicycle on the drawing. "I've seen other pictures he's drawn of that bike. Maybe he's trying to warn us, so we can stop it…like he tried to do with Will Carlton."

"It's the best lead we've got." Dean surmised with a sigh as he reached out and started the engine. "I just don't know how the hell we're going to find it."

"Well, lucky for you guys, I actually do my research." Ariella said as she reached forward to pull the picture out of Sam's hands again. "I saw this church while browsing through real estate listings last night." She told them, turning the paper around to point out the white steeple Lucas had drawn. "I know right where to find it."

"Wait, seriously?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Head towards the east side of town…on Bridge street." She instructed Dean as she carefully folded up the drawing. "We have a drowning to stop."

Dean drove them back through town while Ariella shot out the occasional direction from the backseat then, and in no more than twenty minutes, they were parked in front of the church Ariella had remembered seeing the night before. And luckily for them, sitting nearly directly across the street from it was a yellow two-story house, much like the one in Lucas's drawing.

"Well, that was easy." Sam commented as Ariella pushed her door open.

"Let's just hope we managed to figure this one out in time." She responded as she stepped out, shutting the door behind her before heading up the sidewalk.

Sam and Dean quickly followed suit, trailing behind Ariella as they made their towards the house. Ariella searched the small yard as they got closer, looking for any sign of the red bike or boy Lucas had drawn, but there was nothing more than a manicured lawn. "We sure this is the place?" Sam asked warily as they walked up the steps to the porch, he too looking around apprehensively. "Because we're going to sound awfully insane if we're wrong."

"Well, we kind of always sound insane." Ariella muttered with a shrug as she reached for the doorbell, hearing it echo through the house as she pressed it. "Let's just hope we don't get the door slammed in our faces."

A few moments later, the door pulled open a crack, revealing an older woman with white, mousy hair peering out at them curiously. "May I help you?" she asked hesitantly, obviously not use to having unexpected visitors.

"Good day ma'am." Dean quickly greeted, stepping forward to flash her a smile along with his fake badge. "We're with Fish and Game, conducting an investigation into the local drownings and we're hoping you had a minute to spare to answer a few questions."

The woman blinked in surprise before pulling the door open all the way. "I suppose." She said, taking a step back to let them through. "Come on in."

The three of them stepped through the threshold then, and as Ariella took in the old, dusty furniture and knickknacks, doubt began to swirl in her. Just like the yard, there seemed to be no indication that a child lived there. Dean must have been thinking the same thing, because as he and Ariella caught eyes for a brief moment, she could the same worry swirling in his own eyes.

"We're sorry to bother you ma'am." He said, eyes swinging back onto the elderly owner of the house once they were all inside. "But does a little boy live here by chance? He might wear a blue ballcap…ride a red bicycle."

The woman's entire demeanor shifted then. Her shoulders sagged as a sudden sadness washed over her face. "No, sir." She told him with a wavering voice. "Not for a very long time."

Ariella let out sigh as her previous doubt morphed into disappointment. She pulled her eyes away from the woman, letting them trail around the space once more as she began to question if she had been wrong. "Peter's been gone thirty-five years now." The woman informed them then, pulling Ariella's focus back onto her in an instant.

"I'm sorry, you said Peter?" she asked in confusion. "Peter Sweeney?"

The woman nodded at her in confirmation, sending Ariella's thoughts spinning. She had remembered coming across that name before while doing her preliminary research…he had been the first person to go missing in the area. She had figured, at the time, he had just been the creature's first victim, but now she found herself rethinking that assumption.

"He…he went missing and the police could never find him." The woman explained, looking lost in painful memories. "He just disappeared. Losing him, it…" she said, letting out a long sigh as her gaze dropped to the floor. "It's worse than death."

"Did he disappear from here?" Dean asked her then, watching as she let out a silent sob. "I mean, from this house?"

She shook her head as she drew in a stabilizing breath. "He was supposed to ride his bike straight home from school." She answered. "He…he just never showed up." Ariella felt the urge to comfort the woman creep up her spine as she watched the tears begin forming in her eyes. "Ex-excuse me." The woman said, voice breaking as she spun around and left the room, presumably to pull herself together. Once she was out of sight, Ariella turned towards Dean and Sam.

"Okay, spill." Dean told her quietly, voice low enough that it wouldn't carry. "What do you know about this Sweeny kid?"

"Only that he was the first victim back in the seventies." She answered with a shrug. "Or, at least, I thought he was. Now, I'm not so sure. Maybe he's been the source of this thing all along." She supplied before turning again and letting her eyes drift around the room in curiosity, trying to find anything that would help them make sense of it all.

"So, we're looking at a spirit?" Sam questioned as she began pacing around the room, studying the photographs littered around the shelves and walls. "Maybe something traumatic happened to him to keep him tethered to this world and has been taking down victims ever since?"

"Would explain how it was able to get through the pipes." Dean added as they began connecting the pieces of the case together.

"But why would it be targeting Bill Carlton?" Sam asked in confusion, not being able to make sense of its motivations.

Ariella came to a stop in front of a mirror then, catching sight of something that seemed to serve up an answer to Sam's query. She ignored the fatigued face staring back at her and instead let her eyes trail to the photograph tucked into the side of the frame. Pictured was of Peter with his bike, standing next to another boy around the same age. She reached out and plucked the photo from the frame, flipping it over to find the names Peter Sweeny and Billy Carlton scribbled on the back of the image in ink.

"Maybe because he had something to do with his disappearance." Ariella offered in explanation as she turned and walked back towards Sam and Dean, holding the photo out from them to see. "Maybe Peter has been enacting some good old vengeance against Bill."

"Would explain why he won't talk." Dean said with a nod after examining the photograph. "Maybe deep down he's known all along what's been taking these lives."

"Well, I think it's time I go pay Bill a visit for myself." Ariella said as she turned to redeposit the photograph back where she had found it. "He's going to talk whether he wants to or not."

"Sorry about that." Came the old woman's voice again just as Ariella's hand was falling away from the mirror. "It's been a while since I've talked about Peter is all."

Ariella turned around, giving her a warm smile. "It's really alright, Ms. Sweeny." She responded, pity filling her as she took in the woman's red-rimmed eyes. "I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you all these years."

"Yes, well, I'm not sure what else I could tell you about all these disappearances." The woman told them with a frown. "I'm afraid I'm no help at all on the matter."

"Oh, you've been more than helpful." Ariella told her in response, knowing she couldn't understand just how helpful this visit had been. They thanked her for her time then before quickly making their way back out of the house.

"Alright, so we head back up to the Carlton's and see if Bill's in the mood for a chat this time around?" Sam gathered as they made their way back to the Impala.

"Let's hope the third times the charm." Dean added before pulling the driver's door open with a sigh.

He drove them back to the cabin then, Ariella mentally preparing herself along the way to tear into the man if he tried brushing them off again. Unfortunately, after making it to the cabin, they came across something that ended up throwing an abrupt wrench into their plans. The sound of a boat motor had drawn them down to the lake, and as they stepped out of the tree line down by the dock, they came across a sight that had Ariella running in a panic. Bill Carlton was steering a small fishing boat out into the middle of the lake.

"Stop!" Ariella yelled as loud as she could, feet pounding against the wood of the dock as she sprinted onto it. "Get out of the water!"

She could hear Sam and Dean's footsteps following behind her, screaming for him to stop as well. "Mr. Carlton! Turn the boat around!" Dean yelled as they hit the end of the dock, cupping his hand around his mouth in hopes he could be heard over the boat's engine.

Bill turned his head at the sound of their yelling, but the look marring his face left Ariella's heart sinking. He turned back around as Dean and Sam continued yelling for him to stop, only pushing the engine to go faster as he ignored their pleas. Ariella began prying off her boots in a panic, ready to go after him, but before she could get the second off Dean reached out and latched onto her arm, stopping her.

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" he demanded in conern.

"Going after him!" Ariella said, thrusting a hand towards the man knowingly putting himself in serious danger. "He's going to die out there!"

"Ariella, you can't just-" he began to say in protest before a loud boom filled the air, startling the three of them. Dean and Ariella spun around with a jolt to find Bill's boat being flipped through the air as if something powerful had slammed up from underneath it. Bill went soaring into the air as they watched helplessly, and as he and the boat hit the water again, they quicky sunk under the surface within seconds, leaving nothing but a ripple on the otherwise calm surface.
"Holy shit." Ariella breathed out as she watched the water settle again, leaving no trace of Bill's presence from just mere seconds ago. Her wide eyes swung around to look at Sam and Dean, shock lining their features, same as hers. "Well…guess he's not going to be talking to us afterall."