Miss. Winchester ( volume one)

Chapter Nine

The Winchester trio sat in their cramped motel room, a familiar setting for their investigations. Sam, engrossed in his laptop, was the first to break the silence.

"So there've been three drowning victims this year," he announced, drawing the attention of his companions.

"Any before that?" Dean inquired absentmindedly, occupied with sorting through his clothing.

"Yeah, six more over the past thirty-five years. Bodies never recovered. If there's something out there, it's picking up its pace," Sam replied, his brow furrowed in concern.

"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" Eliana chimed in, her eyes glued to her own research.

"This whole lake monster theory, it just bugs me," Sam confessed, shooting Eliana a questioning look.

Dean, now interested, joined them, passing a shirt to Eliana for inspection. "Why's that?"

"Loch Ness, 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 explained, his skepticism evident.

Eliana's fingers danced across her keyboard until she found something intriguing. "Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" she mused aloud, prompting her brothers to lean in closer.

"Christopher Barr, the victim in May," Sam recalled, clicking a link to reveal an article titled "LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT" with a picture of a police officer and a young boy.

Dean made the connection. "Oh. 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 recounted, studying the photo intently.

"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all," he concluded, optimism creeping into his voice.

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over," Dean remarked, sympathy evident in his tone.

Eliana, ever the repository of obscure knowledge, added her insight. "It's called traumatic mutism. It happens when you see something so tragic that the Broca's area of the brain can be affected."

Her brothers looked at as if she had two heads.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eliana looked over the park. Kids were laughing and playing. Andrea sat on a bench, watching Lucas, who was at another bench coloring and playing with toy soldiers.

"Can we join you?" Sam inquired. Andrea glanced up at the three siblings. "I'm here with my son," she replied.

Dean, already making his way over to Lucas, asked, "Mind if I say hi?" before Andrea could respond.

"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me," Andrea teased.

Eliana settled next to Andrea, and Sam joined them. "I don't think that's what this is about," Eliana remarked, absently playing with her necklace.

Andrea observed Eliana's gesture and noticed her slight bump. "How far along are you?" she asked, causing the twins to look at her.

"Um, almost two months. How could you tell?" Eliana inquired.

"Your bump is showing," Andrea noted, "also, your ring is pretty."

"Thank you. I'm sorry about your husband, by the way. I can't imagine going through that," Eliana expressed softly. "I'm sorry Lucas had to go through that too."