When the police finally arrived, Jake was so upset by the death of the last Carlton, that he let another officer question the hunters while he examined the lake with his team. The man taking their testimony was pretty attractive, seemed to be Dean's age, and Alina wouldn't have hesitated to flirt with him, if she wasn't so demoralized by the death of Bill Carlton, and exhausted from her fight against Peter Sweeney.
"So when the boat vanished, we both jumped in the lake to try and save Mr Carlton. But as you can see it wasn't our biggest success." Explained an annoyed Dean, noticing from the beginning, the interested looks that the officer was throwing at his friend. She had removed her heavy jacket, revealing her transparent soaked tank top, and the white bra underneath.
He tried to stay calm for as long as he could, but ultimately lost patience as the man wasn't even pretending to take notes anymore. "Hey buddy?"
The officer kept looking at Alina for a short moment before turning to look at Dean.
"She's not hiding the boat in her breast. So are we done?"
The embarrassed young man, couldn't find a way to defend himself against Dean's accusations. So he simply nodded and left to report to the Sheriff.
Alina and Sam immediately stared at Dean, stunned by the way he had just spoken to the officer. "Why do you always have to act like that in front of the police?" His brother blamed him.
"Why did you let him stare at Alina like that for so long?"
"Maybe 'cause Alina's a big girl, who knows how to handle herself without me having to defend her honor like a total idiot."
"Okay chill guys." Alina stopped them. "Don't you think we've got more important things to think about right now?"
The Sheriff returned at the same time, informing the three witnesses that he wasn't done with them. They therefore had to follow him to the police station, in a silent Impala. Obviously, being asked at the police station by the Sheriff himself couldn't be good news, even if they were innocents.
When they all got there, they found Andrea and Lucas inside, waiting for Jake's return.
"Sam, Dean, Alina." The woman immediately stood up and put the bag and container she was holding, on her chair. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"So now you're on a first-name basis." Her father pointed out. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you dinner."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time."
"I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"
Alina and Dean gave her a sorry look. Unable to reassure her at the moment.
"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home."
At his last words, Lucas instantly looked up and whined. Alina's guilt came back when she met his scared eyes. The little boy jumped up and grabbed Dean and Alina's arms.
"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean worriedly asked.
Alina couldn't say anything. She felt how terrified he was, and didn't know how to comfort the poor kid.
"Lucas, it's okay. It's okay." Dean told him as Andrea tried to grab her son. "Hey, Lucas, it's okay."
His mom was finally able to pull him away from them and led him outside. Alina realized she was frozen in place as she was watching Lucas leaving, refusing to look away from the two hunters. Something was wrong, but for some reason, she couldn't even understand her own thoughts on the matter.
Jake threw down his jacket and went into his office, forcing the hunters to follow him.
"Okay, just so I'm clear, you see...something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the drink, and you never see him again?"
The three of them shared a same look. At least, that was the only details they could share without talking about the ghost of a dead kid.
"Yeah, that about sums it up." Dean responded.
"And 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 really Wildlife Service?"
They all looked surprised of his last point.
"That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you three."
"See, now, we can explain that..." Dean tried to defend himself, but Alina softly hit him in the arm to prevent him from worsening their situation.
"The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest 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."
"Door number two sounds good." Sam immediately answered for them.
"That's the one I'd pick."
And even though Sam was convinced that leaving was their best option, Alina and Dean didn't seem to share his opinion as they stayed silent while picking up their stuff at the motel, and during the short drive leading them outside the city. They were now waiting at a traffic light, Alina looking at the sign indicating the road to the interstate, hating herself for being here instead of helping Lucas.
"Green."
Both Dean and Alina didn't seem to hear, or understand what Sam was trying to say in the backseat.
"What?" Dean asked without really focusing on the answer.
"Light's green."
They waited a few more seconds, looking at the empty road, before Dean decided to turn right. The wrong direction if they wanted to leave.
"Uh, the interstate's the other way." Sam pointed out.
"I know."
"Thank god…" Alina felt a huge wave of relief coursing through her body, giving a thankful smile to Dean, who smiled back at her.
"But guys, this job, I think it's over." Sam tried to convince them.
"I'm not so sure." Dean informed him.
"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest."
"All right, 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?"
"But why would you think that?"
"I mean, Peter didn't really seem at rest when he tried to drown me, right after killing Bill."
"Yeah, that's another reason why we shouldn't go back Alina."
"Really Sammy?" Dean mocked him. "What happened to her being a big girl capable of handling herself?"
Alina softly laughed at his repartee. He did love to use Sam's own arguments against him. "Besides, Lucas was really scared."
The young woman looked at her friend in surprise. She obviously had noticed the kid's attitude, and hadn't been able to think about anything else ever since their last encounter. But she wasn't expecting Dean to have the same reaction.
"That's what this is about?" Sam was as shocked as her.
"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay."
Alina knew she had to be the only woman with the privilege of seeing this vulnerable side of Dean. And she was glad she got to be so special, because she loved that side of him.
"Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?"
She didn't laugh at Sam's comment, because for once, she didn't want Dean to feel ashamed. She even grabbed the empty soda bottle at her feet and threw it at her friend behind her. "Shut up." She told him, knowing Dean was about to say the same thing.
Sam dodged the attack, and faked an offended look at Alina. "Don't make fun of your brother!" She ordered in an angry parent voice, then looked back at the road in front of the car, hearing Dean's soft laugh next to her before the car sped up.
The house was silent when they arrived at the front door.
"Are you sure about this? It's pretty late, guys."
With Sam's concerned voice, and no sign of danger, Alina almost felt bad coming here in the middle of the night. She didn't want to bother Andrea and Lucas.
But Dean rang the doorbell anyway, and all her regrets disappeared when the door suddenly opened on a panicking Lucas.
"Lucas? Lucas!" He didn't respond to Dean and ran back inside in full speed. The brothers and the girl didn't think twice before following him. They found out that the water pouring down the stairs, was coming from under the bathroom door towards which Lucas guided them. He started to pound on the door in panic, but Alina pulled him away to let Dean kick it open.
Sam was fast to run into the bathroom when Lucas grabbed Dean, and stuck his arms in the tub, trying to pull Andrea out. Alina wrapped her arms around Lucas, not wanting the boy to see what was happening to his mom. He let go of Dean when he got pulled into the embrace, so the hunter quickly went into the room to help his brother.
They both pulled until Andrea was finally all the way out. She started coughing up water when Sam put a towel on her naked body.
But Alina noticed how Lucas was still holding on to her. She first thought it was because he was still shaken by the situation, but she then spotted the hand that was coming out of the water at their feet.
"Alina!" Dean shouted as he saw the hand too.
Alina growled, tired of being targeted by the thing, lifted her right foot, and crushed the hand with force when it got close enough. She felt Lucas' grip soften when the hand disappeared under her foot, so she fell on her knees to get a closer look at his scared face and smile at him. "You're okay Lucas. You and your mom are safe."
The boy nodded, and was finally able to go check on his mom. Still panting on the floor, she didn't hesitate to hug him in relief, rocking him back and forth to reassure him, and herself at the same time.
Sam stayed with them while Dean joined Alina in the hallway, crouching in front of her. "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"How did you…"
She proudly took off one of her boots and removed the thick heel in two seconds, shoving it in Dean's hand. "Removable Iron Heels. I usually keep them in my bag because they're so loud, but I was getting sick of that little freak."
Dean looked at the heel for a moment, impressed, then back at Alina, and smiled at her. "Sammy's right. You can handle yourself."
"Don't say it like it's a bad thing. Besides, I love having a super hot savior at my disposal whenever I don't feel like wearing heels."
They both laughed and he gave the young woman his hand, to get her back up.
After the terrifying events, the hunters decided that it was best for them to stay with the family until they got rid of the spirit. Only Lucas got to sleep a few hours before waking up from a nightmare.
Dawn was now breaking, Sam and Andrea were sitting in the living room, while Dean, Alina and Lucas were in a different room. Dean was looking through notebooks on bookshelves and Alina was drawing with Lucas on the ground.
Sometimes, she would raise her head to check on Dean's progress, then go back to her drawing to help Lucas think about anything else than his fears.
"Come on!" She pretended to be shocked. "Your horses look so good! If you teach me how to draw them, I'll teach you how to say anything you want in French. Even if it's a bad word, we'll just keep it a secret. Deal?"
The kid nodded in agreement, and even if he still wouldn't talk, Alina was happy that he was finally communicating with her. She looked at Dean again, surprised to meet his green eyes already watching her and Lucas with a smile. "What?" She asked him instantly.
"Nothing." And he went back to his research.
After a short moment, Lucas was showing Alina how to draw the head of a horse, when Dean suddenly closed the scrapbook he was looking at, and left the room. Alina put her crayons down and smiled at Lucas. "I'll be right back, okay?"
The kid kept drawing so she affectionately ruffled his hair a little and stood up to join the grown ups in the living room, where Dean was showing the book to Andrea. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" He asked her.
"What? Um…no. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures."
Alina got closer to take a look at the picture she was pointing at, and immediately recognized one of the kids.
"Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff." Dean deducted.
"Bill and the sheriff…they were both involved with Peter." Sam continued.
"So that's why Lucas is still connected to him." Alina whispered to herself.
"What about Chris? My dad…Lucas…what are you talking about?" Andrea questioned them in a confused tone.
Alina was about to answer, but Dean's voice interrupted her. "Lucas?" The boy who was still drawing a few seconds ago, was now staring out the window. "Lucas, what is it?"
Lucas didn't say anything, opened the door, and walked outside. Everybody followed him in concerned.
"Lucas, honey?"
He stopped a little further away from the house, looked at the ground, then at Dean and Alina. The two friends understood the message, so Dean told Andrea to get back to the house while Sam and Alina went to the car. With only two shovels, the brothers started to dig until Sam's clanked against something. Alina helped them when they finished digging with their hands and pulled out a red bicycle. Peter's bike.
"Who are you?"
They turned around to face Jake, pointing a gun at them.
"Really?" Alina sighed.
"Put the gun down, Jake." Sam said calmly as the two shovels dropped to the ground.
"How did you know that was there?"
"What happened?" Dean asked him. "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 don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about. And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit."
"Seriously Dean?!" Alina snapped at him. "Why do you always feel the need to piss off the guy with the gun?!"
Andrea arrived at the same moment Dean, Sam, and Alina were trying to convince Jake that Peter's spirit was here for him. They explained to him that he wanted to make him feel the same pain his mom felt by taking his own family, before taking him too. The same way he did with Bill Carlton. And without any surprise, Jake didn't lower his gun, calling them insane and denying all their accusations.
The hunters didn't really care about that. They just wanted to know if Peter was buried somewhere so they could find his remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. That was the only way for them to stop the spirit. But Jake just wouldn't listen to anything they had to say, until Andrea decided to confront him herself. "Dad, is any of this true?"
"No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous."
"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me."
Jake looked at his daughter.
"Tell me you…you didn't kill anyone."
But she got her answer when her father looked away with shame. "Oh my God."
"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."
The hunters shared the same angry look. That wasn't good news for them.
"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."
"Yeah we heard that before…" Alina said in annoyance.
"All right, listen to me, all of you." Dean announced with a serious look. "We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now."
But Andrea suddenly gasped and made them all look in the same direction as her. They watched in horror as Lucas was now outside, walking down to the lake.
"Lucas!" Jake yelled.
They all ran up to the dock, screaming Lucas' name to stop him. But when the boy leaned over to try and reach for something, Peter's hand came up and pulled him into the water in front of their eyes.
When they reached the lake, Jake stopped himself when he saw Peter's head outside the water and recognized him. Only Dean and Sam kept running to the end of the dock and dived in.
"Oh my God!" Andrea took off her jacket to jump in but Alina stopped her.
"They'll get him Andrea. Don't worry they'll get him."
At least that's what she was trying to convince herself. Dean had found her when she got attacked by Peter, and that's why she hadn't gone with them in the lake. She couldn't take the risk to slow them down by putting herself in the same danger over and over again. So she hated that she could only watch them, but she did it anyway, making sure that Andrea too wouldn't go in the water.
Alina saw the boys coming up after what seemed to be an eternity, but there were no signs of Lucas.
"Sam?!" Dean questioned his brother who only shook his head.
"Lucas, where are you?!" Andrea desperately screamed.
But when Dean and Sam dived back down, Alina spotted Jake behind them, taking off his jacket and starting to walk into the lake. "Jake!" She shouted. But he didn't listen.
"Peter, if you can hear me...please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so…I'm so sorry."
Alina wanted to run and stop him, but she had to hold Andrea to keep her from going herself. "Daddy, no!"
The hunter had her arms wrapped around the daughter, who had to witness her father sacrificing himself to the angry spirit.
"Peter. Lucas…he's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me."
"Jake, no!" Dean yelled at him when he came up again.
"Just let it be over!"
And just like that, the man got dragged down, making Andrea struggle even more in despair. "Daddy! Daddy! No!"
"Andrea you can't go!" Alina held her tighter, shedding a few tears at the woman's pain. "I'm sorry Andrea! I'm so sorry!"
She felt the woman's body abruptly immobilize when Sam came up, shaking his head.
Alina couldn't accept that. She believed in Dean. She knew he could find Lucas. She just had to believe it. So she kept holding Andrea in her arms for a few more seconds, until finally, Dean came up holding Lucas' motionless body.
The hunter released the mother, to let her run towards them as the brothers came out of the lake with Lucas. Alina couldn't hold her tears anymore, her heart was threatening to come out of her chest, she couldn't feel the air entering her mouth, and her entire body was now in complete chaos. She watched her friends trying to resuscitate the boy from afar, unable to get any closer.
The more she looked at them, the more it reminded her of Charlie holding Chris' bloody corpse in tears…
It reminded her of the day she had killed her friend, and watched his sister cry over his dead body, with guilt and disgust. She was disgusted by herself. She was afraid of herself.
Fortunately, the flashes disappeared the second Lucas opened his eyes and coughed up all the water in his lungs. Andrea held him against her with tears of joy.
Dean and Sam were sitting on the ground, catching their breaths, when the youngest spotted Alina's trembling body and tears at the end of the dock, and didn't wait any longer before getting up and running to meet her. "Alina?"
She looked at Sam with a heavy heart, and broke down when he wrapped his arms around her. She grabbed his wet shirt to keep her balance, and cried.
"It's okay Alina. It's okay."
"I didn't mean to…He wasn't supposed to die…"
"Alina…"
"I should've died…Not him…He should be alive…"
Sam kept holding her with force, until she eventually collapsed in his arm, exhausted by the painful memories.
Dean, who had witnessed the scene from afar, took the opportunity and join his brother as he was lifting the sleeping girl to take her somewhere else. "Hey, what's wrong with her?"
Sam hesitated to answer. Not because he didn't trust his brother, but because he didn't even know the full story himself. "She had a panic attack. It's not the first time though, she'll be fine. I'll get her in the car."
Dean wanted to ask more. The last time he had seen her in a similar state, was the day she had learned about her father's death. A day that was still haunting his mind as he had promised himself to never let her cry like that ever again. And obviously, he had failed. Because of his guilt, he had pushed away the girl for five years and had no idea of what she could've been through all this time. He hadn't been there for her.
"Dean I don't really know what happened either. If you wanna know, you'll have to ask her yourself. But don't push her. Okay?"
Dean clearly wasn't satisfied with the little informations he got, but agreed anyway.
"I'll take her to the car." He declared before taking Alina from Sam's arms. "You stay with Andrea and Lucas."
He then carried the girl to the Impala, where he sat her on the passenger's seat. He then took of his wet jacket for the second time in two days, threw it on backseat with a sigh, and sat in the driver's seat to keep an eye on his friend's sleeping figure. She looked so peaceful…
THE NEXT DAY
The hunters had returned to the motel after the events of the lake. They wanted to rest before getting back on the road. Alina had woken up not remembering her panic attack, and had therefore easily regained her legendary playful mood. Sam and Dean, although curious and worried, continued to behave normally with her as if they had not seen or heard anything. They liked to see the young woman smile and refused to take that away from her for the time being.
So after making sure that Andrea and Lucas were okay, and having a good night of sleep, they had to prepare to leave. Sam was at the laundromat, Dean was taking a shower, and Alina was finishing to pack up her things, when she heard the bathroom door open.
"Hey Dean did you take my…" She was surprised after turning around completely, to see Dean Winchester, standing in the doorway with only a towel around his waist.
She could've immediately looked away. She could've ignored him. She even could've laughed. But the sight of his impressive muscular torso, and his perfect wet abs, left her completely speechless. She couldn't help but look even if her mind yelled at her not to give this pleasure to the arrogant man.
"What are you…doing?" She succeeded to ask in an almost trembling voice.
How was he so hot? Had he always been that hot?
Dean smiled and started to walk towards her. "I'm making us even, Frenchy."
She hold her breath and leaned back just a little when he stopped in front of her and looked her in the eyes. "So you're more chatty when you're the one wearing the towel, huh? Wanna share mine?"
Since she suspected her face to be absurdly red by now, there was only one solution left for her to keep her dignity. She closed her eyes.
And insulted herself for the images of Dean's attractive body that was now printed in her mind forever.
"You're gonna regret doing that, Winchester."
"There's no way you could make me…"
Alina had punched him in the face. Hard enough for him to be completely knocked out.
Ten minutes later, Sam came back and almost let all the clean clothes fall to the ground when he entered the room. "What the…"
Alina was on his bed, reading her mom's journal, and raised her head from the book with a smile when she noticed him. "Hey Sammy. Thanks for the laundry."
She jumped off the bed and took the laundry basket from his hands. Sam stared at her, then back at his brother. Dean was sulking, laying on his own bed, still wearing the single towel around his waist. But he was now handcuffed to the wooden headboard, singing in boredom. "The woman is wild, a she-cat tamed by the purr of a jaguar."
"Guys I left for like thirty minutes." Sam couldn't believe what he was witnessing.
The young woman kept throwing the clean clothes in her bag, whistling to "Maneater", the same song Dean was singing, making Sam sigh at the two kids he had to babysit.
They walked out of the motel an hour later. They were putting their stuff in the car when Andrea called them from behind. "Sam, Dean, Alina." The three hunters turned to her and Lucas, proudly carrying a tray of sandwiches as he walked next to his mom. "We're glad we caught you. We just…we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."
"Can I give it to them now?"
Alina smiled at the little boy's voice. She was so happy to hear it.
"Of course." Andrea kissed his head and let him follow Dean.
"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car. "
Sam and Alina stayed behind to talk with Andrea.
"How you holding up?" Sam asked her.
"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?"
The two friend sighed, feeling sorry for the young mom who had already lost her husband, and now had to deal with her father's death. "Andrea, we're sorry."
She quickly shook her head to stop them. "You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that."
Alina smiled at her. "You're a good mom."
Andrea smiled back at her, and turned to Sam when Alina went to see Lucas with her friend. Dean was sitting in the car in front of the kid. "All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it one more time."
"Zeppelin rules!"
"That's right. Up high."
Alina rolled her eyes with a smile and put her hand on top of the boy's head, making him look up at her. "Please don't turn into another him, kiddo."
The kid laughed.
"What's wrong with that?" Dean complained.
"There can't be two like you Winchester. The women of this world aren't ready for that."
They smiled at each other and Lucas took a piece of paper out of his pocket to give it to Alina. She took it and unfolded it, revealing a drawing of the three hunters similar to the one she had given him. They were wearing armors, holding swords and shields, but...
"Thanks Lucas. This looks amazing, but…weren't there enough horses for each of us?"
Just like in her own drawing, they were sitting on horses, except Alina and Dean were sharing one.
"You're stronger together." He explained to them.
Alina felt her heart melt at the cuteness of his answer, and glanced at her friend in the car. "Are we really?"
"You would push me off that horse in less than a minute, Frenchy."
"What? No! I would give you at least five minutes to enjoy the ride!"
The kid laughed again at them, and Alina crouched in front of him with a proud smile. "Thank you Lucas. Never lose that talent of yours."
"And take care of your mom, okay?" Dean added next to her.
"All right."
They all stood up when Andrea and Sam finally joined them. Andrea approached Dean, leaned over the open car door between them and kissed him softly on the lips.
Alina closed her mouth to keep herself from smiling too much and threw Sam an amused gaze, discreetly whispering "Kids are the best…"
Sam also held his laugh and they both stared back at the silent Dean. He thought for a minute, scratched his head and finally went around the car to get to the driver's seat. "Guys, move your asses. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."
He got inside the Impala, and the two friends obeyed in amusement. The music started to play, the engine roared, and they waved goodbye one last time to the mother and son, before driving away, this time leaving the town without any worries.
Once they were far enough from the little family, Alina leaned over to the front seats, in a childish way. "What's up Shy Dean? It's been a while."
"Shut up Frenchy."
"Okay, so I don't get to make fun of him, but you can?" Sam didn't think it was right.
"Because I do it in a cute way. You do it in a mean sibling way."
"Or, you could both just stop doing it." Dean joined their argument.
"What?!" Alina was outraged. "But that's like 90% of the fun we get to have on a hunt!"
"Yeah Dean, don't ruin our fun."
"I hate you two."
Sam and Alina high-fived and laughed, then the young woman let herself fall back on her seat. She kept laughing until she ultimately had to fake her smile at the thought of the last days events. Her nightmare, her uneasiness during the whole case, and her panic attack by the lake. She actually remembered it perfectly, but she couldn't tell the truth to the brothers. She couldn't talk about Christophe and Charlotte, even if she trusted the Winchesters with her own life. What would they think of her? No. They'd probably try to comfort her, convince her that none of this was her fault, and she couldn't let them do that. She was guilty, she didn't deserve comfort. She just had to hold on a little longer.
She just had to find her mother.
So as I reread this chapter, I realized it wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Well I've already started writing episode 5 and I didn't wanna come back to this one. Also, no Alina won't spend the entire story crying over her past. You'll get a lot of answers in episode 4 about what happened with Charlie and Chris, and then, once the truth is out, Alina won't be crying for a while.
So I hope you liked this chapter anyway, and I actually like what I did with episode 4. So please, leave a review, follow the story to not miss the next chapter, and have a nice day/night!