"Not like anything I've ever seen. This poor girl must have been in so much pain before she died." said the coroner, his face mournful and passive.

"What makes you say that?" asked Sam, slipping his fake FBI badge back into his front pocket as the coroner led him and Dean into the morgue.

"Well for one thing," he said, taking hold of one of the drawer handles and pulling, "Look at all of these cuts. The were precise, not deep enough to kill her but bad enough that she would have been in a lot of pain. And then there are these," he lifted up the victim's arm to reveal the stitches that had been cruelly administered to the left side of her torso. "As if someone had sliced her open, pulled something out, and then tried to put her together again." said the coroner in disgust.

"And that's what killed her? The blood loss?" asked Dean, pretending to take notes in the small pad he had brought.

"No." answered the coroner, "she drowned."

"Did they all drown?"

"Somehow" sighed the coroner, "they were all tortured, loosing an immense amount of blood, but on all three the cause of death was drowning." there was a pause as the three of them considered this. Then the coroner turned around to look at the body that already on the table, "I suppose you really came for this." He pulled the large sheet up to reveal the naked woman who lay there.

Sam and Dean both let out low "whoah"s as they saw her. She was one of the most beautiful women the two boys had ever seen; her hair was an odd bronze colour as it framed her tanned face. Her skin looked so pure, yet also very weathered, as if she had spent a lot of her time in harsh conditions.

But what caught the Winchester's attention the most was the turquoise scales that started near the woman's navel and continued down, to where her legs would have been, but instead of legs, the scales formed a massive fish tail.

"We had a marine biologist in here couple of days ago, he says it looked like some sort of tropical fish, but he'd never seen it before." mused the coroner as Sam leaned in closer to be sure that there were no stitches or signs that the tail had been surgically attached, there were none.

"So what's your theory?" inquired Dean "Just out of curiosity."

The coroner considered this for a moment, it seemed he was debating whether or not he should give his opinion, "There have always be stories, my grandfather worked by the docks, he used to tell me stories about the fish women who would come swimming near the shore, singing a mournful tune." he paused, lost in reflection, but then continued, "I never actually believed him until they brought this one in..."

Sam nodded, his lips pressed together as he inspected the "mermaid", it was unlike anything he had ever seen. He ran a gloved hand along the line where scales met human flesh and wondered at how perfectly they seemed to flow from one to the other. Then he paused, confused. "Did you say that all of the victims had those stitches?" he asked the coroner.

"All but her, the only reason they connected her to the others was because of the burn."

"Burn?" asked the Winchester brothers simultaneously.

"Yeah." answered the coroner, "Right here, I'll show you." he returned to the drawer where the first victim lay and lifted the sheet again. Gently lifting her head, he pointed to the base of her neck, "Some kind of symbol, they've all got it; same symbol, same spot." the hunters leaned in close, taking in the sight. The symbol was simple, but recognizable. Quickly straightening up, both boys nodded quickly to the coroner and thanked him hurriedly before leaving the morgue very quickly.

"Dean." began Sam once they had left the building.

"I know Sam." answered his brother grimmly, grabbing his car keys from out of his pocket, "Witch's Anchor. Time we pay 'Bloody Jack' a visit."

Sorry it's so short. the next one will be longer. Thanks for Reading, please Review!