I.Dean closed the door of the car behind him and walked over to the house. He did not look back to his brother Sam, who still sat on the passenger's seat of the old black 1967 Chevy Impala. They had had a fight, again. Over the same thing as always. Sam wanted to call it quits. Again. He was such a fickle person. Dean had always been the determined one of the two brothers. Their father's training had been hard but from what he could tell, it had been worth every single drop of sweat and blood. They were doing something to relieve people's pain and also their own pain. But unfortunately, it didn't seem enough for Sam. Sam wanted Jessica back, that was all he could think about.Dean tried hard to understand his younger brother, but he never could. Every time there was a new twist and turn in him that he hadn't known about before and each time he had a hard time adjusting to that. He knew that Sam hated everyone and everything so much it nearly consumed him from the inside and there was nothing Dean could do about it.
And now they were here, in front of the house of the Hawkings in Richmond. Dean had found this article in a newspaper telling about their youngest daughter who was said to be possessed by demons. Two people were dead already, both the father and the mother, and four other people were in a serious condition in the local hospital. The authorities had her locked up in a medical facility, running tests, finding nothing, blaming everything on the 12 year old girl. That was always the easiest way out, Dean thought. He had seen the strangest things, had faced the oldest demons but he had never understood why people blamed other people for supernatural phenomena and even killed these other people. Of course, it had been a common practice. The witch-burnings were a good indicator for that."You coming?" he shouted but Sam didn't move. Dean hated these fallouts with his brother. So he would have to establish the first contact alone.
He rang the doorbell, once, twice, but no one answered. Then he knocked. Nothing. He knocked again, this time with a bit more force and the door swung open. No one seemed to be home."Hello?" he shouted. "Anybody home?" He stepped in, moving carefully, eyeing the surroundings carefully. He had learned everything there was to learn from his father John but even though he knew what he was doing, he had to be careful. You never know what was going to happen. Dean felt a little tired. He hadn't been sleeping well lately. Mary was in his thoughts again. Even though he never admitted it to his brother, he knew exactly how Sam felt about the loss of Jessica. He took a few more steps, then he stopped dead in his tracks.In front of him stood a thin blond girl, not older than 9 years, dirty and only wearing an old-fashioned white sleeping gown. She didn't cry but Dean noticed that she must have been crying before because he could see where the tears had washed away some of the dirt on her face. Her long brown hair was caked with mud."Hello there?" Dean said with a funny face. "Looking good today! Is your dad home?"The girl didn't say anything.
"Or your mommy?"Still, the little girl didn't reply."Can you tell me where to find them? Are you all on your own? Where is everybody?" He made a few steps towards the girl who stood there like a sculpture. Her eyes followed his move but still, she didn't say anything. Suddenly he heard footsteps from behind. He spun around."She doesn't speak." The unfriendly voice belonged to a thin young woman. She looked like the small girl, so Dean assumed they were sisters."I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Dean tried to explain why he was in here in a wide gesture of his arms."Lauren? Go upstairs and take a shower, darling, will you?" The tiny girl turned, ran up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind her."Nice girl…" Dean said, trying to be funny.The young woman said nothing. Her huge green eyes were reddened and the clothes she wore, a long brown sweatshirt and white shorts, were too big for her frail body. Still, she was beautiful, to a certain level. But the sadness that was so obvious about her was so powerful that Dean wished he had not said anything.Minutes passed and the uneasy silence stretched on like a chewing gum. Finally, the woman cleared her throat. "Why are you here?""Ah…well, I'm…I'm from the Daily Mail, a journalist?""Right…" She didn't seem convinced.
"Yes, ah…yes!""You better get out of the house or else I…""…call the cops?" Dean joked."No, take that rifle and shoot you!" She was damn serious. Dean looked to the right and saw a brown rifle leaning against the doorframe."Well…" He took a few steps backwards, away from her and away from the rifle. "No offence, but are you sure you want to shoot me? You don't even know why I'm here?""Didn't you just say you were a journalist? Those just come to make a story out of the incidents that happened here. Those blow up a story about a little girl who is supposed to be responsible for what happened. Those bring more pain. And those belong to a kind of people that I don't want to have around me or my sister. So please, get the hell out of here!" She moved towards the rifle."Ok, so I'm not a journalist."
"Guessed so. You're not as persistent as they are. They never give up easily." Her face twisted a bit.Dean looked at her intently. "I want to help…"Now she laughed. "Help? How. Kill her?""What? No!" He raised both hands. "No!" he said again. "Why would I do such a thing?"She laughed again, but this time it sounded more like a snort. "Why? Why not? The people here made a sport out of it.""No, I just want to help.""Thank you, but no thank you. We don't need help. Nobody can help us anyway."She again took a few daring steps towards the rifle."Listen to me! We can help you. My brother and I…", Dean pointed through the still open front door, "…have some experience with things like that." That was not exactly the truth, but he was sure that they could at least be of a bit of help.
"You're a priest then?" Her face hardened. "Get out, right now!" She jumped over to the rifle, snatched it and pointed it at Dean. She released the safety and her finger tightened around the trigger. "Get out!" she said through clenched teeth."We can help! And nobody will get hurt, ok? Put that thing out of my face and let's talk, alright?" He paused for a moment. It was time for the truth now. "My name is Dean Winchester. I want to help!"She didn't move."All we heard is that the river turned red and that the people here think that the child, I assume it's your daughter, is possessed. People are dying. We can help here. We can find out what is going on.""It's a lake, not a river! And she's my sister!" she hissed, but she lowered the rifle. It seemed to Dean as if she suddenly grew even frailer. All the anger that was on her face before was not there anymore, only sadness and exhaustion.
"Oh, ok…sorry." He flashed her one of his charming smiles but it didn't work on her. She still had this suspicious expression in her eyes but he could feel that she was tired of fighting. Whatever it was she was fighting."Can I come in? I mean, officially?"She waved a hand, almost dismissively, when she turned around but Dean took it as a yes. He followed her into the living room where the tiny girl already sat squatted on the large sofa. Now she wore blue jeans and a green shirt with a Mickey Mouse logo printed on the front. Her hair was still wet, but she was clean now. The TV was on."Oh I love the Smurfs!" Dean said with a big smile on his face. He sat down next to her and looked really happy. He then shot a glance at Lucy and pointed at the TV. "Smurfs!" While he was pretending to watch the TV show, he scanned the room. There were many pictures, mostly pictures of the family. One caught his attention. It couldn't have been old, because except for the sadness and the skinniness of both of the girls, they looked about the same age as today. The parents were on that picture as well. They all looked very happy. He had to suppress a sigh."By the way, my name is Lucy. My sister's called Lauren." She sat down on the other sofa."I'm Dean." He turned to her.
"And our parents are dead…" Lucy said, almost matter-of-fact. Dean suddenly remembered. That was what he had read in the newspaper. Now he felt a little stupid."But Lauren didn't do it. She didn't do any of the things they accuse her of. She's just a girl…" She started to cry and buried her head in her hands. But this weakness lasted only for a moment or two. Quickly, she regained her composure and wiped across her face. Dean finally understood. This was the girl he had read about. This was the girl that everybody thought was possessed."Sorry for earlier, old habits die hard, I guess…" she whispered."It's ok, you know I'm kinda used to being threatened with a gun."She gave him a questioning look but he waved his hand dismissively. Lucy didn't ask."So…what happened?" Dean inquired now.Lucy watched her little sister, but Lauren didn't seem to be bothered by the presence of the stranger in any way. "You said you came here to help. How much do you know?""We read reports about the red riv-…lake and about your sister. And since Richmond was kinda on the way, I thought we could drop by and see if there's anything we could do. But I have to know everything to be able to help."

Lucy sank back into the cushions. "When the first murders happened, she hadn't even been born." Lucy nodded towards Lauren who was still busy watching the little blue creatures on the TV screen. "Mom was giving birth that night when Dr. Stevenson and his wife were found dead. He was the doctor who had taken care of her. And during the next night, the four Stevenson children went missing or better, that's when they were reported missing. The nanny couldn't find them anywhere but they thought it was some kind of normal reaction to their parents' death. I guess they already suspected Lauren no one ever said anything. All the mothers kept their children away in the following years and mother hid Lauren in her room. She never went out, she was never allowed to, but that was ok for us. The people around here are very superstitious." It almost sounded like an excuse. Dean cocked his head to one side. Lucy smiled politely, but the worry on her face touched him.
"And then, our parents…" Dean saw Lucy's eyes fill up again. "…on Lauren's 10th birthday…No one knows how they died, and I think that no one wants to investigate on that. They've already found their scapegoat. Although, nothing was ever proven. But when the small lake just behind our house turned red, people began to ask questions." She paused again."And the four injured people? What happened to them?" Dean asked. Ok, he had to admit that he had thought that Lauren was younger when he first saw her. So she was older than 9 years old.They began to…" she paused and looked at Lauren who was still watching the show. "…to…harm us."
"What?" Dean couldn't hold back that sharp remark.The girl looked at him, then looked down on her lap where her hands lay folded as if in prayer. Suddenly she raised one arm and pulled back the sleeve with her other hand. There were burn-marks, scars and strange cuttings, Christian symbols. She quickly hid her arm again when she saw the look on Dean's face."I am sorry…" she whispered."You don't have anything to be sorry for!" Dean replied in a low voice. "Nothing…"Lucy's big eyes went from green to nearly black. "Those people…I'm not sure what happened, but when they left the house, they were fine. They went to the lake to see if what they did already had an effect on the water. But obviously, it didn't have any effect but to piss someone off big time. I found them the next morning, badly mutilated but still alive. I called the ambulance and last thing I've heard, they're still in the hospital, but they're alive. And the local authorities just don't see that Lauren could have never done such a thing. I mean, look at her! She's a small girl and she'd never be able to do something so horrible to another person."
Dean only thought that sometimes, looks could be deceiving but he didn't say so.Suddenly, Lauren coughed. Lucy jumped up immediately and knelt down before her. "Is everything ok, sweetie?"Lauren nodded but she didn't look well. Lucy turned back to Dean but kept on kneeling before her little sister. "Maybe I'm a bit overprotective, but…" she cleared his throat and fell quiet.Dean let the silence hang between them like a curtain for a moment, then he spoke up. "What happened then? You have to tell me everything, Lucy. Everything!"The girl stared at him for a second. Her eyes were wet with upcoming tears. He quickly searched for something to reassure her because he damn well knew how hard it was to give all the painful information that was necessary here. And he would not push her, even though he also knew that they didn't have time. From what he already had heard from the people of the town, he knew that they would have to act really soon."Please, Lucy…" He began but Lauren interrupted him.
"Sam? Come in and sit down here beside me. We're watching the Smurfs…" Her light voice brought a smile to Lucy's face. All three of them turned towards the door, where Sam stood, leaning against the doorframe. He looked confused. Dean and his brother exchanged a glance. How could this girl know his name?Lucy glanced from one brother to the other and then back to her little sister. "She hasn't spoken in months…" she whispered exuberantly. "She…"Dean put one hand onto her arm but quickly pulled it back. He remembered what she had shown him."It's ok, you know? I don't mind, as long as she's safe." She reached out for Dean's hand. "Make her safe, please?" The look she gave him nearly broke his heart. It was a mixture of a sad and hopeful smile but at the same time, it was so powerful that it reached his inner core. He took her hand and held it in his. "I'll try…"He shot a look at Sam who nodded in agreement.
Sam had been watching both Lauren and Lucy from where he stood, especially Lucy. He saw her hands and her lips tremble. He saw the soft movement of her chest when she breathed, he even could make out the fine lines of veins under her slightly tanned skin and the tiny freckles on her face. He noticed the light which fell in through the window play with the different shades of blond highlights in Lucy's brown hair. Finally, he looked into her big green eyes where he saw nothing but sadness. And he remembered where he had seen this kind of sadness and fear before, in his mom's eyes and in Jess' eyes, right before they died. And suddenly he felt something he had not felt in a very long time, he felt the need to protect her. And for the first time since Jessica's death, he was ready to give everything. Even though this was a scary feeling, he began to feel whole again. Jessica's death had torn him apart and left him hanging in midair. He didn't have anything to hold onto except his brother Dean. All he had wanted to do in the past years was to find the demon that had killed his mother and his girlfriend. That had been all he could think of during the day and during the night. But now, things had changed. Everything had changed. Sam was certain that it was not only because of Lucy or her sister – which by the way did not appear to be obsessed at all, just frightened. He had changed.
After a while, Lucy continued to tell her story. "The second strange thing that occurred after the blood in the river was the dead fish and frogs that fell out of the sky. Suddenly the kids at school got lice, and the people at the retirement home were attacked by aggressive flies. Then the animals got sick, and the cattle, pigs and dogs, they all died. The priest came to our house and begged of Lauren to let go of the satanic practices and took her with him for a few days and when she returned, she had stopped speaking. He said that she was possessed and the exorcism didn't work. He would have to have someone come from the city. That was 3 months ago, just before those people got injured. The priest is dead, too…found dead by the lake. They blamed Lauren…again." She gave a short laugh. "Priests. They always try to explain everything with their stupid faith and book. They think they can pray everything away. But they didn't realize what they did to us when they said that this is the punishment of God for what Lauren did. But she didn't do anything! She's just a child and she's the only person I have left. And I won't let them take her away from me." When Sam looked into her eyes again, he knew that she meant what she said. She was willing to suffer for her sister. She would not let anything happen to her as long as she could do something. And even though she probably had absolutely no idea what was going on, Sam was sure she would fight. And they would help her."How did your parents die?" It was the first time that Sam said anything. Lucy turned around at the sound of his voice. In that instant he wanted to take back that question. The horror was clearly written on her face. It must have been truly horrible.
But Lucy managed a lopsided smile. "They…died in a fire…" she whispered and backed away from Lauren. Dean turned towards her and while Sam stood up and followed Lucy to the other sofa, he put one hand on his brother's shoulder."One night, about 2 years ago, right on the night before Lauren's 10th birthday. Someone set fire to Lauren's bedroom and both mum and dad died in there.""Mom was flying to the ceiling…" Lauren whispered but she didn't look away from the TV. Sam and Dean spun around. "She was trying to protect me but they wouldn't let her. She was crying. And then…""…then I pulled her out of her bed and ran outside. Everything was burning…Dad tried to…" Now the tears were flowing freely down her cheek. Lucy couldn't fight them any longer. She blinked and then covered her face"It's ok, I understand." Sam said quickly and put one hand on her knee to soothe her. It happened almost unconsciously but it was to late now to take it back. "Did you see what Lauren saw?""See what?" Lucy cried.
"Your mum burning on the ceiling?" Sam immediately regretted having to be so direct and bring back painful memories and bit his lower lip."I don't remember!" She was desperate. She wiped across her face and dried her hands on her brown sweater. Then she brushed through her hair with both hands. "I don't know what I've seen, ok?" She calmed down a bit and lowered her hands to rest them in her lap but Sam's hand was still there. Suddenly, their hands touched. For the moment being, it felt good, her hands were warm and still a little wet from her tears."Listen, Lauren's just a child and children have some sort of weird imagination sometimes. Maybe she was just making…" Lucy said and pulled back her hands."…making up things? Believe me, I'm sure she wasn't!" Sam grunted. Lucy looked at him in question but he decided not to tell her what happened to his and Dean's mother 22 years ago. She was already too freaked out. He could still feel the warmth of her hands which now slowly faded away.