1.03
Another day, another beautiful diner to eat in. Dean's circling stuff in the newspaper and I'm finishing writing out a draft for my history essay. Sacagawea. Fascinating woman.
"Anything else?" asks the waitress.
Sam comes and sits down. "Just the check please."
"Okay," smiles the waitress and leaves.
Dean drops his head and looks at Sam. "You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while," he points to the waitress walking away. "That's fun."
I look back at the waitress. "How is that fun?" I ask.
"Ask me in six years," says Dean he turns back to Sam then immediately back to me. "No, ten."
I roll my eyes.
"Here, take a look at this, I think I got one," Dean says sliding the newspaper over to Sam. "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."
"A funeral?" asks Sam.
"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever."
"That's kind of nice," I say. "Weird, but nice."
"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them."
"Something you want to say to me?" asks Dean.
I shuffle awkwardly in my seat.
"The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day," says Sam.
"Exactly. So, what are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything."
"Like what?" I ask.
"You know what?" says Dean to Sam. "I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find Dad as much as you do?"
"Or me?" I ask.
"Yeah, I know you guys do, it's just-" says Sam.
Dean's mad. "We're the ones that've been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?"
Sam rolls his eyes. The waitress walks by, and Dean looks at her.
"Why is he staring at her like that?" I ask Sam.
"Because…" Sam trails off, he's looking at the newspaper. "You know this really is something. Dean, all right, Lake Manitoc," he says instead.
"Dean," I say, he's still staring at the waitress.
"Hey!" Sam practically yells at Dean.
Dean turns back to us. "Huh?"
"How far?"
I'm forced to wait in the car while Sam and Dean talk to the victim's brother at the lake. They decide to go to the police station and I get as far as convincing them to wait in the lobby while they talk to the sheriff. I read the local newspapers strewn around. They're all equally as depressing with all the missing persons and deaths. A woman and her son come in and go into the sheriff's office. The little boy follows. He and his mom come out and she sets him up with some crayons.
"Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know," says the Sheriff as Sam and Dean come out. I stand up, giving the little boy more space to color.
"Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asks the woman.
"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south."
"Two-would you mind showing us?" asks Dean as if he's an idiot.
The woman laughs. "You want me to walk you two blocks?"
"Not if it's any trouble."
"I'm headed that way anyway." She turns to the sheriff. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three." She goes to her son. "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" She kisses him on the head.
"Thanks again," says Sam as we all go outside.
"I'm Andrea," the woman says to me as we walk down the street.
"Jane," I say. "I'm-"
"Little sister," Sam says. I glare at him. What did he think I was going to say?
Andrea nods.
"So, cute kid you've got," says Dean.
"Thanks."
We cross a street.
"Kids are the best, huh?" says Dean.
I make a face at Sam who's holding back a laugh. We stop in front of the motel.
"There it is," says Andrea. "Like I said, two blocks."
"Thanks," says Sam.
Andrea turns to Dean. "Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line," she runs off and calls back over her shoulder,
"Enjoy your stay!"
I laugh.
"'Kids are the best'?" says Sam. "You don't even like kids."
"I love kids," Dean says wrapping his arm around my head. "See?"
I shove him off me.
"Name three children that you even know."
"Ja-," Dean starts but Sam cuts him off.
"That you're not related to."
Dean pauses and says nothing. Sam waves at him and he and I walk into the motel.
"I'm thinking!" Dean calls.
Sam pulls out his laptop and Dean brings in the bags. I go through my backpack and go to pull out my book. I feel Sam's eyes on me.
"What?" I ask.
"Don't you have an essay due?" he says.
I roll my eyes.
"You can't put your education on the backburner," says Sam logging in.
"You're one to talk," I say.
Sam looks at me over the laptop. "Seventh grade is mandatory."
I roll my eyes again but pull out my notebook and sit down at the end of the bed, my back to Sam, to finish. Dean comes in and starts to unpack.
"So there's the three drowning victim this year," says Sam.
"Any before that?" asks Dean.
"Uh, yeah. Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."
"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?"
"This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me," says Sam.
Dean goes over to him to see the laptop. I spin around on the bed to see.
"Why?" asks Dean, leaning on the chair.
"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing," Sam's looking at articles. "Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."
Dean points at the screen. "Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"
"Christopher Barr, the victim in May," he clicks a link, opening a new page. 'LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT' it reads. There's a picture, a police officer with the little boy from before. "Oh," says Sam. "Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." He clicks on the picture and the picture of little Lucas being rescued fills the screen. "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die, isn't something you just get over."
I pretend to be really intrigued by my essay.
We go to the park, because that's where Andrea said she was going. And apparently there's only one good one in town. Andrea is on a bench.
"Can we join you?" asks Sam.
Andrea looks up at us. "I'm here with my son."
Dean looks over at the little boy. "Oh. Mind if I say hi."
Without waiting for an answer, Dean goes over.
"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me," she says.
Sam sits next to Andrea.
"I don't think that's what this is about," says Sam.
I stand there awkwardly until I wander closer to Dean and Lucas. Before Dean scares the kid with a dead mouse in his shoe.
Dean picks up a toy soldier that Lucas has in front of him. "Oh, I used to love these things." Dean plays with it like he's 5 and tosses the toy soldier down. He looks up at me, sees me watching. I raise my eyebrows. Dean looks back at Lucas. "So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists." Dean looks at some of drawings Lucas has around him. "Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?"
I lean on a tree as I half watch Dean draw with a crayon and half watch the other kids playing on the equipment. I know I'm pretty much too old for playgrounds now but part of me misses the fact that I never got this. To play with other kids on a nice sunny day. Dad, Dean, and yes, Sam used to only take me past a park if we were waiting for something. And most of our waiting was done at night. I had the playground to myself, which was nice, but I'd play by moonlight or torchlight. It's really not the same.
"Okay, no problem," Dean's saying to Lucas when I look back to him. "This is for you." Dean holds out the picture he drew, it's stick figures. I nearly laugh. "This is my family. Dean points at each stick figure in turn. "That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother. That's my pesky sister, and that's me."
Lucas doesn't say anything.
"All right, so I'm a sucky artist. I'll see you around, Lucas."
Dean gets up and signals for me to come with him back to Sam and Andrea.
"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me," says Andrea. "Not since his dad's accident."
"Yeah, we heard. Sorry," says Dean.
Andrea just nods.
"What are the Doctors saying?" asks Sam.
"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress," says Andrea.
"I know that can be hard," says Sam. He glances at me and if we didn't have company, I'd give him the finger. "For either of you," he says, turning back to Andrea.
"We moved in with my dad," says Andrea. "He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..."
"Kids are strong," says Dean. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."
"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-"
Lucas is there, next to Dean.
"Hey sweetie," says Andrea.
Lucas hands Dean the paper. "Thanks. Thanks, Lucas," says Dean.
I lean over to look, it's a picture of a house.
"Do you agree that this is my own work and you have checked over it all," I ask from my laptop.
"You betcha," says Dean.
I tick the box that says my parent/guardian approves and submit my essay. Dean never looks over my work. Dad sometimes does, especially for history. But obviously that's not happening any time soon. "Submitted four days early. What's my prize?"
"An A?" Dean offers.
"You didn't even read it."
He shrugs. "You're not an idiot."
"And that means I should get an A?"
"What other criteria is there?"
Sam comes in. "So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie," he says.
"What do you mean?" asks Dean.
Sam sits next to him on the bed. "I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."
"He drowned?" asks Dean.
"Yep. In the sink."
"The sink?" I ask.
"What the hell," says Dean. "So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."
"Yeah, but what?" asks Sam.
"I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water...water that comes from the same source."
"The lake."
"Yeah."
"Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."
"Then the deaths aren't random, are they?" I ask. "If it doesn't the lake drained, wouldn't it go after, I dunno people who would stop it or something?"
"Yeah, it can get through the pipes," says Dean. "It can get to anyone, almost anywhere." Dean stands up. "This gonna happen again soon." He sits down on the chair across from me.
"And we do know one other thing for sure, then. We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton," says Sam.
"Yeah, it took both his kids," says Dean.
"And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris, Bill Carlton's godson."
"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."
I'm deemed too young to talk to Mr Carlton. Although the house Lucas drew matches Mr Carlton's. Creepy. Sam and Dean want to talk to Lucas again. And again, I'm not allowed in. I'm starting to feel like just because Sam's here now I'm completely useless. I've been replaced with Sammy. Bastard.
They come back to the car with another picture from Lucas, a yellow house and a church.
"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died," says Dean.
"There are cases-going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies," says Sam.
"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please."
"All right, we got another house to find."
"Oh I'm sure there's only one yellow two storey house in this entire area," I say.
Sam looks at the picture. "See this church? I bet there's not that many around here."
"Oh, college boy thinks he's so smart," says Dean.
I kick Sam's seat. He waves his arm behind the seat and whacks my knee.
"You know, um..." Sam says. "What you said about Mom...you never told me that before."
"It's no big deal," says Dean.
What the hell are they talking about?
"Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" asks Dean.
See, Jane being left on the outside because she's literally being left on the outside and the backseat. I wonder if they even notice.
We find the church and house. Looks pretty close to the drawing. We go forward.
"Whoa, Janie," says Sam. "You gotta wait-"
"In the car?" I finish.
"Yeah," says Sam.
This time I do actually give him the finger and turn back to the car.
"Dude she's gonna shave your head in your sleep if you're not careful."
"Jane wouldn't do that," I hear Sam say as they walk across the street.
"She's not ten anymore, dude."
I sit on the hood of the car. Sam looks back over his shoulder and I mimic shaving my own head while glaring at him. I'll have to thank Dean for the idea later.
Sam says nothing when they come back and I sit in the front seat. Sam climbs in the back and sits in the middle as Dean drives.
"Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes," says Sam, "and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow."
"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" says Dean.
"And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished."
"Punished by killing their family?" I ask, looking back at Sam.
He shrugs. "Killing family member is a form of punishment."
"So what if Bill did something to Peter?" asks Dean.
"What if Bill killed him?"
"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible."
We get the Carlton House and get out.
"Mr Carlton?" Sam calls.
We hear an engine roar. We go around the house to the lake.
"Hey, check it out," says Dean.
We run to the end of the dock, yelling out to Mr Carlton.
"You need to come back!" calls Dean. "Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!"
He ignores all our shouts. The water somehow rises and the boat flips over. Then the boat, and Mr Carlton vanish.
"What the hell," I say.
We get the police station with the sheriff and Andrea and Lucas are there. Andrea stands up, "I didn't expect to see you here," she says to us.
"So now you're on a first-name basis," says the Sheriff. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you dinner," says Andrea.
"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?"
"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home."
Lucas suddenly looks up and whines, a weird look on his face. He jumps up and grabs Dean's arm.
"Lucas, hey," says Dean, "what is it? Lucas?"
"Lucas?" says Andrea. He won't let go of Dean.
"Lucas, it's okay. It's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay. It's okay."
Andrea pulls Lucas away from Dean and takes him outside, but Lucas just keeps looking at Dean.
The sheriff throws his jacket down and goes into the office. Sam and Dean follow. Dean grabs my sleeve and pulls me into the office too.
"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?" says the Sheriff.
Sam, Dean, and I all look at each other.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," says Dean.
"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? That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two."
"See, now, we can explain that."
"Enough. Please. 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 leaving little sis out to fend for herself." Rude I want to say, but I bite my tongue. "Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rear-view mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."
"Door number two sounds good," says Sam.
I smile in agreement.
"That's the one I'd pick."
We go to the motel to pack up, and I'm actually grateful I submitted my essay early. We get in the car, Sam rudely getting to the front seat first, and drive towards the interstate. We stop at a red light but Dean does move.
"Green," says Sam.
"What?" asks Dean.
"Light's green."
"Uh, the interstate's the other way."
"I know."
Dean drives back into town.
"But Dean, this job, I think it's over," says Sam.
"I'm not so sure," says Dean.
"Why not?" I ask.
"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest," says Sam.
"All right," says Dean, "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?"
"Because Lucas was really scared."
"That's what this is about?" asks Sam.
"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay."
"Aww, you're so adorable when you care," I tease.
"Who are you?" asks Sam. "And what have you done with my brother?"
Dean glances at Sam. I make a face in the rear-view mirror to Dean.
"Shut up," says Dean. "Both of you."
We arrive at Andrea's house. No one argues when I come up with them.
"Are you sure about this?" asks Sam. "It's pretty late."
Dean rings the doorbell. The door immediately opens, and Lucas is there, he's terrified.
"Lucas?" asks Dean. "Lucas!"
Lucas runs upstairs. We all follow. Water is coming from underneath a door. Lucas pounds on the door. Dean grabs him and I get out of the way. Sam breaks down the door. The bathtub is overflowing with water. Sam runs in, shoves in arms into the tub, trying to grab Andrea. It's not working. I run in, I find the chain for the plug in the water but it weighs a tonne. Sam pulls Andrew out a little, but then she's pulled in more, and the plug is stuck even more. Sam pulls again and he rolls away from the tub with Andrea in his arm. The plug pulls out and the water begins to drain. I look over, Andrea's coughing. But breathing.
The morning comes too slow but Andrea managed to get dressed but didn't sleep. Once the sun rises Andrea seems a little better to talk. Dean's being nosy on the bookshelves and I'm drinking the tea Andrea didn't want.
"Can you tell me?" asks Sam.
"No," she answers.
"It doesn't make any sense," she starts crying. "I'm going crazy."
"No, you're not. Tell me what happened. Everything."
"I heard...I thought I heard...there was this voice."
"What did it say?"
"It said...it said 'come play with me'." She sobs. "What's happening?"
Dean comes over to Sam and Andrea with a book. He puts it down. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?"
"What? Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures."
They're faded pictures of, scouts? Hard to tell.
"Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the Sheriff," says Dean.
"Little kids did this?" I ask.
"Bill and the Sheriff-they were both involved with Peter," says Sam.
"What about Chris? My dad-what are you talking about?"
"Lucas?"
Lucas is just staring out of the window.
"Lucas, what is it?" asks Dean.
Lucas just opens the door and walks outside. We all follow.
"Lucas, honey?" says Andrea.
Lucas suddenly stops, looks at the ground, then over at Dean.
"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" says Dean.
Andrea does so and we go to the car and get some shovels from the side of the house. Sam and Dean dig where Lucas looked. Sam's shovel hit something and we all push the rest of the dirt off.
"It's a bike," I say.
"Peter's bike," says Sam.
"Who are you?"
We all turn and the sheriff is there pointing a gun at us.
"Put the gun down, Jake," says Sam.
Sam and Dean drop the shovels.
"How did you know that was there?" asks the sheriff.
"Oh you did do it," I say.
Dean elbows me. "What happened? You and Bill kill 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," says the sheriff.
"You and Bill kill Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about," says Dean.
"Dad!" it's Andrea.
"And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit."
"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love," says Sam. "It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the Same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does."
"Yeah, and how do you know that?" asks the Sheriff.
"That's what it did to Mr Carlton," I say.
"Listen to yourselves, all of you. You're insane."
"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us," says Dean. "But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."
"Dad, is any of this true?" asks Andrea.
"No. Don't listen to them," says the Sheriff. "They're liars and they're dangerous."
"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me. Tell me you-you didn't kill anyone."
The sheriff looks away from her.
"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. 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."
They were kids. And they killed someone. And they said nothing? For over 30 years? How could he live with himself.
"All right, listen to me, all of you," says Dean. "We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now."
Andrea gasps.
"Lucas!" yells the sheriff.
We all look. Lucas is reaching to the water.
People are calling Lucas's name, we're all running to the lake, but something pulls Lucas into the water. When we get to the edge I see a creepy ghosty kid face in the water. Peter.
Sam and Dean run along the dock and jump in.
"Andrea, stay there!"
Andrea's taken her jacket off. "NO! LUCAS!"
"We'll get him! Just stay on the dock!" Sam dives under again.
Andrea is kneeling on the dock. Debating with herself to jump in. I wrap my arms around her. "They'll get him," I say. "They'll get Lucas."
Andrea sobs.
We wait.
I hear someone talking. Andrea and I both turn, the Sheriff is wading into the water. "I'm so sorry," he's saying as he walks into the water. "Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me."
"Jake no!" Dean screams.
"Just let it be over!"
The sheriff is dragged down.
"Daddy!" screams Andrea. But he's gone.
Sam and Dean dive under again. Andrea calls for her dad. Dean comes up, he has Lucas.
We spent another night in the motel. Thankful that my brothers showered after that lake, they did not smell good. Probably didn't help that there were literal corpses under there. Dean tosses his bag in the bag, he's upset.
"Look," says Sam. "We're not gonna save everybody."
"I know."
"Sam, Dean, Jane," says Andrea. She's will Lucas.
"Hey," says Dean.
"We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road."
Lucas has a plate of sandwiches. "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."
"Can I give it to them now?" he asks. The boy speaks!
"Of course," says Andrea with a smile and she kisses Lucas's head.
"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car."
"How you holding up?" asks Sam.
"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?"
Sam sighs. "Andrea, I'm sorry."
She shakes her head. "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."
"Zeppelin rules!" announces Lucas.
"That's right," says Dean. "Up high." Lucas high-fives Dean. "You take care of your mom, okay?"
"All right."
Andrea kisses Dean. "Thank you," she says.
Dean says nothing.
"Smooth," I say and get in the front seat.
"Sam, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road," says Dean. He gets in the car, then Sam climbs in behind me. Dean starts the engine and Bad Company starts up. Not Zeppelin, but still pretty good. We wave goodbye to Andrea and Lucas. Sam kicks the back of my seat.