⋆·⋆

(3.1) ─ Dead in The Water

𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫:
‧⁺˚*‧☾ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚, 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 ☽‧*˚⁺‧

⋆·⋆

The youngest and oldest WInchesters sat in a small dinner taking a break from their search for their father. Carmen held a newspaper in one hand and the straw to her milkshake in the other. Looking for a new case as her brother was drooling over their waitress. Tilting her head while reading the obituary section  'CARLTON SOPHIE -- The Carlton family is sad to announce the death of their beloved daughter in a tragic swimming accident. Sophie Carlton, 18,'.

"Hey, how often does a 18 year old die in a swimming accident?"

"Well it depends on if they know how to swim or not?" He remarked slyly as her face changed to annoyance as she handed him the paper pointing at the red circle. He took a minute to read it and think about it before nodding, "Looks like a case, nice work shorty,"

"Can I get you anything else?" A female voice asked, making them both look up seeing it was the waitress. Dean smiled up at her as Carmen just rolled my eyes looking back at her shake. "Just the check, please," Sam stated, sliding into the booth seat beside Carmen.

"Okay," She said smiling at Dean before walking away.

His head quickly fell before looking up at Sam. "You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while," He said pointing at the waitress in her uniform that had short shorts. "That's fun,"

"You're disgusting," Carmen remarked before handing Sam the newspaper, "Take a look at this,"

"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." He read aloud before frowning, "A funeral?"

"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever," Dean said, making Sam let out a small chuckle. "Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear. Other people just stop looking for them."

Dean shot him a glare, "Something you want to say to me?"

"The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day,"

"Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?" Dean asked, trying to stay calm.

"I don't know. Something. Anything."

Carmen sighed, taking the newspaper folding it up before sitting back finishing her milkshake thinking 'here we go.' "You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think me and Carmen wanna find Dad as much as you do?"

"Yeah, I know you do, it's just--"

"We've been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies," He cut Sam off. "We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?"

There was clear tension between the two, Sam didn't answer as the two just kept staring at each other. That was until the waitress walked by and Dean's eyes shifted to her. Both younger siblings let out a small sigh. "All right, Lake Manitoc," Sam started trying to get Dean's attention but kept staring at the waitress' ass. "Hey!" Carmen snapped in front of his face getting his attention, "Huh?'

"You're drooling,"

He looked down whipping the corner of his mouth, "How far?"

💾

After a couple of hours, they made it into the small town and towards the small cabin by the lake. The three climbed out as Dean knocked on the door as a few seconds passed before someone opened it. "Will Carlton?" He asked seeing a man, in his mid-20's standing in front of them.

"Yeah, that's right,"

"I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill," He lied pointing at each of them before ending on Carmen. "And our trainy Allison. We're with the US Wildlife Service. Do you mind if we can see your Dad?"

Will nodded, "I guess."

He led them to the lake where the girls, Sophie, had drowned. Seeing the father, Bill, sitting on the dock. "She was about a hundred yards out. That's where she got dragged down," He explained pointing outwards. "And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Carmen asked wanting to prove to Dean this was an actual case. He nodded, "Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. SHe was as safe out there as in her own bathtub."

"So no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam questioned

"No, that's what I'm telling you," Will insteaded.

"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe dark shapes breach the surface?" Sam continued to question.

"No. Again, she was really far out there."

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean added as Will's face changed to confusion, "No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?" He questioned. "We'll let you know as soon as we do," Dean said as he and Sam turned and started to walk away as Carmen asked something, making them stop. "What about your father? Can we talk to him?"

He looked over his shoulder before looking back at her. He let out a small sigh, "Look, if you don't mind, I mean... he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot,"

She nodded, giving an empathic smile, "We understand."

After that, they went to the police station, meeting the town sheriff, Jake. "Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?

"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister," The middle WInchester said.

"Like what?" He asked as the siblings followed him into his office "Here, sit, please," He insteaded sitting behind his desk. Sam and Carmen sat in the two chars while Dean placed his hands on the back of Carmen's.

"There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster...Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still... We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."

"That's weird, though, I mean, that's-that's the third missing body this year," Dean stated.

"I know. These are people from any town. These are people I care about,"

"I know,"

Jake sighed, "Anyway..." He shook his head slightly, "All this...It won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the dam of coure."

"Of course, the dam. It's, uh.." Dean trailed off looking for help, "It's falling apart." Carmen stated putting the pieces together.

"Yes, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another 6 months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."

A woman lightly knocked once on the door, "Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked as me and Sam got up. "I can come back later,"

Jake got up, "Gentleman--" He started, looking over at Carmen and giving her a small smile, "And young lady, this is my daughter."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean,"

"Andrea Barr. Hi,"

"Dean and Sam are from the Wildlife Service and Carmen's volunteering.. They're here about the lake," Jake informed her as a little boy showed up behind her. Carmen smiled crouching down to his level, "Hi, little guy,".

"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean added, smiling. The boy just walked out of the room without saying a word. Andrea gave an apologetic look before walking out after him. "His name is Lucas," He informed them. "Is he okay?" Sam asked, worried. Carmen stood back up watching Andrea pulling crayons out of their box for her son. "My grandson's been through a lot. We all have," Jake said and he walked over to the office door. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

"Thanks," Sam said as they walked out of the office and to Andrea. "You know, now that you mentioned it," Dean started and looked at Andrea, "Could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?"

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south," She replied.

"Two- would you mind showing us?" Sam and I exchanged a look before rolling our eyes. While Andrea laughed, "You want me to walk you two blocks?"

"Not if it's any trouble,"

"I'm headed that way anyway," Andrea said with a smile. She turned to her dad, "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three. We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" She said sweetly as she kissed his head.

Sam and I looked at each other and bit my lip; we were hurting ourselves because we wanted to laugh. Dean gave us a look because he saw that before we stopped in front of the motel 'LAKEFRONT MOTEL.'

She led them down the street as Dean spoke up, "So, cute kid," She gave a simple thanks as they crossed the street but he continued. "Kids are the best, huh?"The two younger siblings gave each other the same look trying their best not to laugh.

Stopping in front of 'LAKEFRONT MOTEL'. "There it is. Like I said, two blocks," She said the two gave thanks as she nodded at them before looking at Dean, "Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pick up line." She started walking away before calling back over her shoulder, "Enjoy your stay!"

The two broke out into laughing fits, Dean looking back giving them a look as they started to mock him. "Kids are the best? You don't even like kids."

"I love kids,"

"Really, name three children that you even know," Sam challenged as he opened his mouth pointing to Carmen about to say her name. "I don't count," She said as Sam put his arm around her. "Yeah you do, you're 14." He protested. "Exactly," She said making Dean scratch his head as they continued past him. "I'm thinking!"

💾

Carmen laid down on one of the beds staring at the ceiling, while Dean was going through his clothes, leaving Sam researching on his laptop. "So there's the three drowning victims this year,"

"Any before that?".

"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 if we got a lake monster on an eating binge?" She suggested. "This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me," Sam said Carmen sat up scooting to the edge of the bed as Dean walked over to her, "Why?"

"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it,"

Sam scrolled to the comments section of an article and quickly Dean pointed at something. "Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" He asked. Sam read from the page, "Christopher Barr, the victim in May."

He clicked a link, opening a new page. 'LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT.' The picture showed a police officer with Lucas. "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," Sam read a loud scratching his head, "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."

"No wonder the kid is so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you...just get over,"

"Carmen, do you want to tell us something?" Dean asked as they both turned towards their sister who stood up running her hands through her hair. "It's just-" She was about to say but cut herself before going through with what she was going to say. "It's just closure isn't something you guys can go and mock."

"Carmen-" Dean said softly not knowing either one had hurt her.

"Closure is something that helps, even if it's the smallest thing. Hell it keeps me sane. It doesn't make you weak or-or wanting a distraction to keep yourself from dealing with things. It helps. It's the only thing that made it so I'm not that mute little girl waiting on her mom." She huffed out.

The late rainy night in 1995, was scary for a small 5 year old Carmenas her and her mother stood outside the motel door. "Mommy, where are we?" Emmaline smiled at the girl after knocking on the door. "I just need to get a few things, my little witch," The door opened to reveal a man she didn't know. The two adults spoke as she saw two boys in the room trying to see who was at the door, so she ran and hid behind her mom's legs. Her mother crouched down in front of her holding each side of her arms. "Listen to me baby, I love you so much, okay." She whipped away what the small girl thought was either a tear or a raindrop. "Don't cry mommy,"

"I'm not, I just need to go away for a while, but I'll be back before you know it." Carmen quickled hugged her. "But I don't want you to go,"

"Listen to me, I will be back okay. And you know that I love you so much. There is something I want to give you," She said, taking off her necklace and placing it on her. "If you ever miss me, just know I'm right here,"

"But mommy this is your necklace,"

"It's yours now," She said, hugging her daughter one last time. "Now you be good for John okay," She said standing up. "Yes mommy I will, I love you," Carmen said, hugging her mom's leg. "Now, I have to go," She said before John crouched down getting to her eye level. "Hi Carmen, my name's John, I'm going to take care of you for a while," He introduce holding out his hand.

She hesitated but grabbed his hand, "See I don't bite. Now there's a few people I want you to meet,"

"I will see you soon my little kitten," Her mom said with a small smile, slowly walking away watching them as she walked backwards.

"Do you want to get out of this rain?" He asked as Carmen shook her head. "Come on in,"

"Sam, Dean, there's someone you need to meet. This is Carmen, she's staying with us for a while. Carmen this is Sam," John said pointing at a 12 year old Sam. "And Dean," pointing to a 16 year old Dean. "Why?" Sam questioned with frowned brows, "Her mom is...away, so you two have to watch after her."

"Hi Carmen, my name's Dean. I really like your necklace." Dean said crouching down and pointing to the long red stone. "It's my mommy's," She said, making him smile. "How old are you Carmen?" He asked. "Five," Carmen replied softly holding up her hand. "Really, do you remember being five Sammy?"

"Carmen do you like cartoons?" Sam asked after rolling his eyes at his brother, she shook her head. "Do you want to watch some with me?"

"I remember seeing dad opening the door, and me and Sam trying to figure out what was happening. Then you come into the room with Dad and I was even more confused. But whenever you come out from behind his legs, my first thought was how adorable you were." Dean smiled at the happy memory.

She rubbed her watery eyes, "When I found out what happened to my mom it hurt, but it felt like an odd relief. Like she didn't leave because of me, and... I don't know. I'm feeling those things again and it's starting to freak me out." She explained fidgeting with her fingers.

"And that's good. It's good that your dealing with them." Sam said making her and Dean look at each other as and uncomfortable silence filled the room. "Thank you for making me feel better," She said lightly laughing as they all went back to normal.

"Good, now, come on," Dean said, getting up.. "Let's go to see Andrea and Lucas."