𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

『3.3』

      Riley blows a raspberry as she sits on the bed she and Dean have to share. She's used to sharing. She's done it her whole life. Except for the few rare times they get a hotel room with a couch.

      Sam nods at Riley and Dean. "I'll go get us food. Bacon burger and fries for you and," He looks from Dean to Riley. "Normal burger and an iced tea?" Riley nods, then both she and her father speak up, "Pie!" Sam laughs and nods, leaving the room.

      Dean rolls his head around to look at Riley laying back on the bed. "Spill." Riley raises an eyebrow at him. "What?" Dean sits on the foot of the bed. "You've had this look on your face since we talked to Lucas." Riley sighs and closes her eyes.

      Nothing gets past Dean. She's just hoping he hasn't noticed her acting weird whenever John is brought up.

      "Fine." Riley pulls the drawing out of her pocket and tosses it at Dean. He opens it up and raises an eyebrow. "Two angels?" Riley nods and sits up. "I think it's supposed to be me and my mom." Dean creases his brows. "How are you so sure?" Riley shrugs. "I dunno. I can just feel it." Dean looks at the drawing.

      "So, what do you think it means?" Riley lets out a breath and stares at it. "Could be nothing, could be everything." She purses her lips. "I just can't help but think it's a sign." Dean gives Riley a crude look. "A sign?" Riley shrugs and flops back on the bed. "I don't know! Angels usually mean going to heaven if it even exists. My mom is dead and,"

      Riley points at the drawing. "I'm with her in that." Dean stares at his daughter. "You aren't going to die." Riley hides her face in her hands. "Well his drawings have to mean something, right? I mean," Riley bends over the side of the bed and pulls out her sketchbook.

      Dean takes it and stops a few very good drawings, but Riley flips past them until she stops on her bike drawing. "I drew the same bike as him." Dean glances at Riley. "When was this?" Riley folds up Lucas's drawing. "When we were at the Carlton's house earlier. I didn't even know I was drawing it until I was done."

      Riley chews at her bottom lip and looks at the ground. "What?" Dean asks. Riley blinks for a long moment. "I swear I thought I saw something by the lake. Then it whispered to me." Dean raises an eyebrow. "What did it say?" Riley creases her brows. "'Come play with me'." Dean's eyebrows shoot up.

      "What is this? 'IT'?" Riley chuckles. "I thought the same thing." She frowns and looks at Dean. "But doesn't he say 'Come float with us' or something?" Dean purses his lips in thought. "'You'll float too'." He corrects. Riley nods.

      Dean turns to her. "Get some sleep. We'll figure this out in the morning." Riley nods and walks off to the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Dean glances at the bathroom door then begins flipping through Riley's sketchbook. He's kept his distance from it, but now that it's in his hands, he can't resist.

      Dean stops on a drawing of himself and smiles. "Damn." She's amazing. He continues to flip through the book and laughs at the occasional funny drawing. Dean stops in the front of the book and stares at the drawing. It's dated to almost four years ago.

      It's a strange drawing because it stands out from the best of hers. Most drawings are of faces, heroes, funny memes, but this one is not. It's a silhouette of four people. All of them walking forward, but two of them are different. One looks like they have a long jacket on and the other is shorter than the rest with longer hair.

      Behind both of those two figures are dark masses protruding out of their backs. They almost look like wings. They stretch across the page and surround the other two people. Dean touches the photo then snaps the sketch book closed when Riley walks back out of the bathroom.

      He stands and stretches, playing it cool. Riley walks past him and grabs her sketchbook, stuffing it in her backpack. She crashes into the bed and groans as she closes her eyes, falling asleep. Dean smirked at her then sat at the table. He's going to stay up for food.

△

      Riley sits tiredly at the table in the morning. She couldn't get any decent sleep last night. Sam and Dean's snoring kept her up. They sounded like thunder. How is it even humanly possible to snore so loud.

      "Hey!" Dean slams his hand down on the table waking Riley up. She blinks and rubs her face. Sam bursts into the room. "So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." Dean looks at Sam and Riley stands up, stretching. "What do you mean?" Riley runs a hand through her hair and cringes. She needs a shower.

      "I just drive past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance ther. Will Carlton is dead." Riley blinks in surprise. "He drowned?" Dean asks. Sam nods. "Yep, in the sink." Riley nods to herself. Yeah, she is not taking a shower. She'll just have to live with her greasy hair. "What the hell?" Dean asks.

      "So this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else." Dean glances at Riley. "Yeah, but what?" Sam shakes his head. "I don't know." Dean purses his lips. "A water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water..." All three Winchester's faces fall in realization. "...Water that comes from the same source."

      Sam scoffs. "The lake- Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months." Riley frowns. "So no Winchester 6th sense?"

      "Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time." Dean nods. "And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone almost anywhere." Riley swallows hard. "This is gonna happen again soon." Sam sighs and nods. "And we do know one other thing for sure. We know that this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

      Riley nods. "It killed both of his kids." Same nods at her. "And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris- Bill Carlton's godson." Dean nods. "Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."

△

      Dean pulls the Impala to a stop outside the Carlton house. Bill Carlton is sitting out on the dock. Dean turns around to Riley. "C'mon, you're coming this time." She nods and climbs out of the car. She doesn't particularly want to be alone.

      Sam frowns at the two of them as they begin walking towards the dock. "What's wrong?" Dean glances at Sam and then Riley. "She seems to believe she's going to become an angel. Dead angel." Riley rolls her eyes and Sam looks at her. "What's got you thinking that?" She shakes her head at his question. "It's a long story."

      As they walk onto the dock Dean moves Riley between him and Sam. She grabs his jacket as she stares at the water. "Mr. Carlton?" Sam asks. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." Bill looks out at the water. "We're from the department-" Bill cuts Dean off. "I don't care who you're with." Dean glances at Riley and Sam.

      "I've answered enough questions today." Riley stands closer to Dean and he gives her a look. "Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there?" Bill doesn't answer. "Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death- We think there might be a connection to you or your family."

      Bill's eyes fill with tears. "My children are gone. It's- It's worse than dying." Dean steals a glance at Riley but she doesn't notice. "Go away... please." Hesitantly they walk back down the dock. As they approach the Impala Sam asks; "What do you think?"

Dean walks over to the drivers side and Riley opens the door to the back seat. "I think the poor guy's been through hell. I also think he's not telling us something." Sam leans against the Impala. "So what now?" Dean purses his lips and looks at the Carlton house. "What is it?" Sam asks.

      Riley narrows her eyes. "Huh." She sees it too. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something." Dean pulls Lucas's drawing out of his jacket and shows Sam. It's of the Carlton house.

- author's notes -

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