CHAPTER TEN

"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." Sam says as he walks back into the motel room where Dean and Nyx are.

"What do you mean?" His older brother asks, and he walks over and sits on one of the beds after shutting the door behind him.

"I just drove past the Carlton house. Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?" Nyx asks as she looks over at him.

"Yep, in the sink."

"What the hell?"

"So, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else." Dean says.

"Yeah, but what?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. A water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon." He suggests. "I mean, something that controls water..."

"Water that comes from the same source." Nyx says as she looks between the two of the brothers.

"The lake." Sam realizes. "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake's draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants​ — it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone almost anywhere." She says as Dean stands up to get his shoes and put them on.

"This is gonna happen again soon." He says.

"And we know one other thing for sure." Sam adds. "This has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

"It took both his kids."

"And I've been asking around. Lucas' dad, Chris — Bill Carlton's Godson."

"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit." Dean says as he stands up.

"You guys go ahead. I wanna do some more research." Nyx tells them, and the boys leave.

—

Dean calls Nyx later saying that Bill's dead — he drowned in the lake. He wants her to meet them at the sheriff's station, so she quickly heads over. The brunette's outside, walking up to the building, as Andrea and Lucas are leaving. He looks upset, and she seems really worried.

"Andrea, is everything alright?" Nyx asks as she walks​ over to them.

"Nycole. I, um..." She looks at Lucas, and he suddenly shoots away from her.

The little boy grabs a hold of Nyx's arm, obviously panicked. She kneels down to his height as he continuously pulls on her arm. He looks scared, like he knows something that she doesn't.

"Lucas, hey. It's okay." The teenager says​ as she tries to calm him down. "It's alright, Lucas."

"Lucas. Lucas." Andrea pulls him off of Nyx. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

The only noise that comes from him is this low whimpering as tears run down his cheeks. He wants Nyx to know something, but he can't say it. It's like his fear won't allow him to speak.

"Hey, Lucas, it's okay." Nyx says​ as Andrea wraps her arms around her son.

"I'm sorry." The older woman says and then walks away from Nyx, keeping her son as close to her as possible.

Nyx watches them leave, and he keeps his eyes on her until they round a corner and they're out of sight. A chill runs down her spine as she thinks about what just happened. He was completely terrified and there was something that he seemed to want her to know about.

"Nyx." Dean gets her attention, and she turns to face him. "Are you okay?"

"Lucas." She looks​ back in the direction that they went before her gaze returns to the boys. "He grabbed my arm, he was totally freaked out."

"Yeah, he grabbed me too." He tells her.

"It was like he wanted to tell me something, he just couldn't." She says, and Dean nods.

"I know."

The boys tell her that the sheriff knows that they're not Wildlife Service and he wants them to leave before he arrests all three of them. So, they go back to the motel and pack up their stuff.

It's after dark now, and the hunters are in the Impala, on their way out of the small town. Dean and Nyx both feel like something isn't right here, and the idea of leaving makes them uneasy.

"Green." Sam says suddenly.

"What?" Dean asks, and Nyx glances over at him.

"Light's green."

He doesn't say or do anything in response, and Nyx reaches forward and rests her hand on his shoulder. He looks at her in the rearview mirror, and they know that they're both thinking the same thing: they can't leave this town just yet.

Dean starts driving again, turning right.

"Uh, the interstate's the other way." His brother tells him.

"I know."

"Dean, this job — I think it's over." Sam says.

"I'm not so sure."

"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney, and Peter's spirit got its revenge — case closed. The spirit should be at rest."

"And what if we take off and this thing isn't done?" Nyx questions. "What if we missed something? What if more people get hurt?"

"But why would you think that?" Sam asks as he looks between the two of them.

"Because Lucas was really scared." His brother says.

"That's what this is about?"

"We just don't want to leave town until we know that the kid's okay." Nyx tells him.

"I guess I'd expect this from you." The younger of the boys looks from her to Dean. "But who are you, and what have you done with my brother?"

"Shaddup." Dean mutters as he continues in the direction of Andrea's house.

They pull up outside the house and walk up to the door. "Are you guys sure about this? It's pretty late." Sam says.

Dean rings the bell, and the door immediately swings open. Lucas looks up at them and he's even more freaked out than he was before. His breathing is erratic and then he turns around and runs away from them.

They quickly run in after him and follow him up the stairs. There's water coming from under a door, and Lucas starts pounding on it. Dean pulls him away from it, and Nyx grabs Lucas. She holds onto him as Dean kicks the door in.

It bursts open, and the older boys both run into the bathroom as she keep​s Lucas with her. She looks inside and sees them trying to pull Andrea out of the bathtub before she can drown. Lucas is fighting, trying to get away from Nycole, but she keeps her arms locked around him. The boys finally manage to get Andrea out, before falling to the floor, all of them completely soaked.

—

Sam's talking to Andrea, Dean's looking for anything that they don't already know, and Nyx is sitting with Lucas in his bedroom. He's toying around with his little soldiers​, but he's not really making them play. The little boy suddenly sets them down, and gets up from his floor. Nyx stands up as well and follows him all the way downstairs and to the front door.

"Lucas? Lucas, what is it?" The teenager asks, and the others look at them.

He opens the door and walks outside. Nyx immediately follows him out and away from the house. Dean, Sam, and Andrea are all right behind them.

"Lucas, honey?" Andrea calls after him.

He stops walking suddenly and looks down, before looking up at Nyx and Dean. The two glance at each other for a second, and then she turns to face Andrea and Sam.

"Why don't you, me, and Lucas go back inside?" The teenager suggests, and Andrea nods. She grabs Lucas' hand, and the three of them go back up to the house.

Andrea sends​ Lucas back up to his bedroom and then turns​ to Nyx. "What's going on?"

"We think it's a spirit." The younger girl tells​ her, and her eyes widen. "There was a little boy who went missing thirty-five​ years ago. His body was never found, and the police don't know what happened to him. We think he drowned, he was killed and now his spirit is looking for revenge."

"Against me?" She questions. "I wasn't even born yet."

"Against Bill Carlton...and possibly against your father." Nyx explains. "I know that this sounds crazy, but it's true. Have you ever heard the name Peter Sweeney?"

"No." She shakes her head and then looks outside. "Oh my God."

Nyx turns to look out the window and then she sees the sheriff pointing a gun at Dean and Sam.

"Stay with Lucas. I'll get my dad to calm down." Andrea quickly tells her and then runs outside.

Nyx watches what's going on until she sees movement out by the water. She looks closer and realizes​ that it's Lucas walking toward the lake. She runs outside and tries to push herself to get to him fast enough to keep him from going in.

"Lucas, no!" Nyx yells. "Get away from the water!"

"Lucas!" The sheriff yells​ from behind her.

The other's are all running toward them, and Nyx hears Dean and Andrea both yelling for Lucas as well. The teenager takes​ off her jacket as Lucas seems to fall into the water, and it hits the ground behind her with a light thud.

Nyx dives into the lake as soon as she reaches the end of the dock and immediately starts looking for Lucas, but she doesn't see him in the murky water. Dean and Sam both run past the sheriff, who stops dead in his tracks when he sees the ghost of Peter Sweeney floating just under the water's surface. The brothers dive into the lake as Nyx comes back up for air; she's farther out a little ways now. Sam tells​ Andrea to stay on the dock as Nyx swims back under the water in search of the little boy.

The hunters keep trying to find Lucas, and then the sheriff walks into the lake, asking Peter to let his grandson go because he's just a little boy. He gets pulled under, and all three of the hunters dive down again. Nyx finally sees​ Lucas and she swims toward him as quickly as she can.

The teenager grabs​ his arm and swims​ back up to the surface. She pulls him to her chest and then yells for Dean as soon as she reaches the top. He quickly swims over and helps the brunette keep Lucas up so that they can get him out of the water.

The next morning, the hunters are loading their stuff into the Impala, and Sam turns to look between the other two. "Look, we're not gonna save everybody." He tells them.

"I know." Dean says.

"Dean, Sam, Nycole." Andrea calls as she walks over to them with Lucas at her side. "Hey."

"Hey." Dean greets.

"We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." She tells them.

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asks, and Dean and Nyx smile as they look at each other and then over at Sam.

"Of course." His mom says as she leans down and kisses his head.

"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car." Dean takes the tray from him, and the two start walking. Lucas grabs Nyx's hand as he passes her, and both Andrea and Sam laugh as the teenager falls into step with him.

Dean's talking to Lucas on the way to the Impala, and then he puts the sandwiches in the backseat. He then sits down and faces them; Nyx kneels down so she's closer to Lucas' height.

"Alright, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it for me one more time." Dean says as he looks at Lucas.

"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas yells enthusiastically, repeating what Dean said on the way over.

"That's right. Up top." He high fives the kid, and Nyx chuckles as she looks between the two of them. "You take care of your mom, okay?"

"Alright." Lucas nods, and Nyx puts her hand on her knee and pushes​ as she stands​ up straight.

Dean stands as well as Sam and Andrea walk over to them. The brunette woman places her hands on the open door and leans forward, toward Dean. Andrea then kisses him, and Nyx quickly looks away from the two of them, turning her attention to Lucas.

It's strange — Nyx sees Dean flirt with other women all the time, and it's never really bothered her before. But seeing Andrea kiss him just now... She doesn't want to admit that it made her a little jealous. She has too much chaos in her life to fall for the man who helped her find some semblance of peace again — she can't risk losing it by complicating things.

"Thank you." Andrea smiles up at Dean, and he gets incredibly awkward by her display of affection.

"Sam, move your ass." The older boy says as he turns and starts walking away from the passenger side of the car. Nyx moves out of his way, and he quickly walks past her. "We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."

"Bye, Lucas." Nyx squeezes his hand, and he lets go so that she can climb into the backseat of the car.

Andrea and Lucas wave at the hunters as they drive off.