“Tell me again why after after a day or research, we still have nothing to go on,” Dean insisted as he stabbed a piece of pie more violently than necessary.
“You know, it’d be easier to bring back something of use if you’d have told me any leads,” I said to him.
“Alright, both of you shut up,” Sam said, and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not going to be blamed here. I dug up everything I could about that damn family and in return all I get is a scolding because it’s not enough,” I spat.
“We’ll no offense but-” Dean began, and I slammed my fist down on the table, causing several people to look over at us with alarm.
“If you think you can do it so much better, than maybe you should,” I told Dean.
“Maybe I will,” he said defensively.
“Fine then, it’s settled,” Sam said. “I’ll take Katherine out with her new badge and you can stay home and research.”
Dean huffed and mumbled something unintelligible under his breath but I ignored him and addressed Sam. “I want to speak wit Lucas Barr. Or try to anyway,” I told him.
Sam nodded. “We met him at the police station. His mom is the sheriff's daughter.”
“His mom is also the widow of the drowning vic before Sophie,” I told him. “And Lucas was there when it happened.”
“If he saw anything, that could really help our investigation,” Sam agreed.
“Thing is, we can’t just stroll up to the kid and ask him what happened since he doesn’t speak,” I said.
“I know, I know,” Sam said with a sigh.
“Maybe there’s some other way,” I contemplated.
“Well, what do we know about the kid?” Sam asked.
“He draws,” Dean said quietly.
“How on earth-” I began, but Dean cut me off.
“I pay attention,” he said defensively.
“Well maybe we could get him to draw something,” I suggested.
“Have you ever even talked to the kid?” Dean asked incredulously.
“Actually, I have,” I spat back.
“If you two don’t stop arguing I swear to God,” Sam said, finally fed up with our bickering.
We both huffed and stared daggers across the table at each other.
“I hate to be the bad guy here, but as of right now, I’m agreeing with Katherine,” Sam said. “We need to go check this kid out, and we need to get it done soon, before more people start dropping dead.”
Dean huffed again but said nothing more.
“I’m finished,” Sam said, pushing his plate away.
“We should head to the hotel,” I said, and he nodded in agreement before turning to Dean.
“You done yet?” Sam asked.
“Dean nodded his head stiffly and threw down the money for our food, before scooting out of the booth, pushing Sam with him.
We made our way outside to the impala, and I opened the door and slid into the back seat. Dean took off and a few minutes later we arrived back to the hotel.
I grabbed my key and unlocked the door to my room, stepping inside. I crossed the floor to my bag, digging through it one last time and finally finding a pair of jeans. I threw them on and then knocked on the door between our rooms.
“Come in,” Sam said.
I walked in to find Sam sitting at his computer and Dean watching some doctor show on the TV.
Sam held up one finger. “It’ll just be a minute,” he said.
I nodded and leaned against the doorway with a sigh.
“I’m going with,” Dean said quietly, breaking the silence. Sam opened his mouth to argue, but I spoke first.
“Whatever floats your boat,” I told him, and I could tell that both Sam and Dean were both surprised at my answer.
Sam snapped his laptop closed and stood with a sigh. “I’m ready.”
We all left, piling into the impala before taking off to find where Lucas and Andrea were. Dean claimed she’d said something about taking Lucas to the park, so we decided to start there.
Sure enough, when we pulled up, Lucas was coloring by the equipment and Andrea was sitting on a nearby bench, watching him intently. Sam, Dean, and I slid out of the car after Dean parked it and made our way over to her.
She glanced up when she heard our footsteps and looked confused when she saw me walking with Sam and Dean.
“Katherine, right?” she asked.
I smiled. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Are you with the Wildlife Service as well?” she asked.
I nodded. “A proud worker for four years,” I told her with a small smile.
Andrea returned one of her own. “Well, what can I do for you?”
“We’d like to speak with Lucas, if that’s alright,” Dean said.
Andrea grimaced. “I’m afraid you won’t get much from him. Like I told you before, he hasn’t spoken since his father’s accident and-”
“We’d just like to try,” Dean interrupted. “What’s the harm in that?”
Andrea looked unsure of herself for a moment and then nodded. “Alright, fine,” she told Dean.
Dean and I made a move to go to Lucas at the same time, and as I did so, Dean shot me a look, but I ignored it; this had been my idea after all.
“You don’t have to tag along,” Dean said over his shoulder when we were out of earshot of Andrea and Sam.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said back with heavy sarcasm.
We walked slowly side by side to Lucas, who was coloring intently.
The closer we got, the further I hung back, until Dean had gotten to the bench and I was a good three feet behind him. I stayed there too, listening to Dean speak to the boy as if he were his equal. I was ready to jump in if I needed to, but Dean was good with the boy. That surprised me a lot. I was expecting him to not know the first thing about kids, but I was pleasantly surprised when he exceeded my expectations.
“You didn’t butt in,” Dean said as we headed back to Sam, who was still talking with Andrea.
“I didn’t need to,” I told him. “You were good with him.”
Dean seemed just as surprised by my answer as I was by saying it. But it was true; I didn’t butt in because I didn’t need to. Dean had controlled the situation pretty well.
“Well it’s not rocket science,” Dean said, trying to play it cool. “He’s just a scared kid. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?”
“I nodded. “ I think I’d be in the same boat as Lucas if it were me,” I said solemnly. “Poor kid.”
We’d gotten back to Sam and Andrea at this point. Andrea called for Lucas, and he immediately came running, carrying his crayons and drawings in hand.
“C’mon sweetie. Let’s go see Grandpa,” she said, holding out her hand. However, instead of taking her hand, he rushed past her and ran up to Dean, whom he gave the picture, before running over and taking his mother’s hand.
I raised my eyebrows, questioning Dean but he just shook his head.
I held out my hand to Andrea and she took it, shaking it lightly. “Have a good day,” I told her.
She smiled and nodded. “You too.”
Andrea and Lucas left, and both Sam and I immediately turned to Dean.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“A drawing,” Dean replied, handing it to me. I looked it over. The drawing was of an old house seemingly out in the woods.
“What do you think it means?” Sam asked.
Dean just shook his head.
***
“You up?”
I groaned and rolled over in bed, glancing at the alarm clock on the bedside stand as I did so. 7 am. Lovely.
“Who’s asking?” I yelled back.
“It’s Sam. I’ve got breakfast and news,” he said.
I sighed and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I’d been up most of the night trying to see if I could figure out anything Lucas before he’d went mute from his father’s accident. I thought it might give us a clue about him, but I’d come up mostly empty handed.
I threw my blankets aside and put my feet on the floor, contemplating whether to turn back into the warm embrace of my bed. In the end, I decided against it. I was burning daylight.
I threw on a sweatshirt over my cami that I’d worn to bed and then opened the door and trudged into Sam and Dean’s room.
“There better be coffee,” I grumbled, walking over to the table where Dean was sitting.
Sam chuckled and handed me a cup of steaming hot coffee.
“Thank God for coffee,” I breathed, closing my eyes and taking in the scent.
“I think you should be thanking Sam,” Dean joked, and I rolled my eyes.
“So what’s this news you had to pull me out of bed for?” I asked Sam.
“I think you were right. We can rule out Nessie,” Sam said.
I smirked at Dean. “See? Told ya,” I said to him. He just shook his head at my childish ways.
“What makes you think that?” Dean asked.
“I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead,” Sam replied. I gasped.
“He drowned?” I asked.
“Yep. In the sink,” Sam said. I stared at him in disbelief.
“What the hell? So Katherine’s right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else,” Dean said.
“Yeah, but what?” Sam asked.
I shrugged. “Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water...water that comes from the same source.”
A sudden wave of realization seemed to wash over Sam.
“The Lake.”
“That explains 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,” I said.
“And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere,” Dean said slowly.
Dean stood up suddenly. “This is going to happen again.
“Yeah. And we know one thing for sure. This whole thing seems to be centered around Bill Carlton,” Sam said.
“Yeah, it took both of his kids,” I added.
“I’ve also been doing a little asking around. Lucas’ dad, Chris- Bill Carlton’s godson,” Sam finished.
“I think it’s time we paid Mr. Carlton a visit,” Dean said.
***
“What do you think?” I asked from beside the impala after our attempt to question Bill Carlton had failed quite miserably.
“I think the poor guy has been through hell, losing both his kids like that. But I also think he’s not telling us something,” Dean said.
“What are we going to do now?” I asked.
Neither Sam nor Dean responded. I don’t think either of them knew what to do now.
A few moments later, however, Dean broke the silence with a rather ambiguous, “Huh.”
“What?” Sam asked.
“Maybe Bill’s not the only one who knows something,” Dean replied, showing us both the picture that Lucas had drawn; a picture of Bill Carlton’s house.
Hello readers! I am so sorry it's taken so long to update! Monday I started my college program, Tuesday and Wednesday I went camping, Thursday I had college, Friday I had a college field trip, and Friday night I got grounded. It's been a pretty tough week. But I hoped you enjoyed this!
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