Smoky Secret

by shadow0night

While on a hunt, will a family's secret cause the Winchester brothers to be added to the list, of missing persons?

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or the Winchester brothers. They belong to Kripke and crew. I'm also not getting any financial benefits, by posting this story. The Cooper mansion, mentioned in this story, is fictional and so is everything else. This is written purely for entertainment and should not be taken seriously. No copyright infringement is intended.

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The dry leaves crunched under the brothers' feet as they walked among the trees. The smell of autumn hung, in the air. While the sun warmed the brothers, a cool breeze kept them cool and teased the leaves that still lingered on the branches.

Dean's eyes slowly traveled from left to right as he looked for anything unusual. Sam walked slightly behind Dean and his eyes also slowly inspected the area. Neither brother was certain exactly what they were looking for. But, years of experience had given them knowledge and helped to guide their actions.

They had just stumbled upon this case. Although neither brother was certain that there really was a case. An article, in the local paper, had caught their eye and had caused the brothers to stay in town longer then they had initially intended. The article had discussed some unexplained sightings and some missing people. The article went on to say that local law enforcement felt that kids' pranks had been the source of the reported odd sightings. However, when the proprietor of a local landmark was questioned, he reported that he had not seen any signs of any kids, around the area where the sightings had taken place. When the police were questioned about the missing persons, their simple reply was "we have started an investigation and are unable to comment, at this time."

/SN/

Dean had been the one to see the article, while he had waited for Sam to join him for breakfast. The night before, they had driven into town and had decided that a local hotel looked like a decent place to stop, for some sleep. They weren't headed to another case. But, as was their norm, were simply driving along, until a case directed them to a certain direction. Dean had spotted the local paper, upon entering the restaurant, and had simply snagged it and started to skim through it. As Sam approached the table where Dean was seated, he noticed Dean's thoughtful expression and wondered what was up.

"What'd I miss?"

Dean looked up from the article and quickly folded the paper, so that the article was on top. Handing the paper to Sam, Dean said, "Read this."

Sam quickly read the article and got a quizzical look on his face. "So, you think this is a case or just some kids messing around?"

"I get the possibility of kids playing pranks. But, the missing people just don't make sense."

Both brothers sat there contemplatingly as the waitress put the coffees, which Dean had previously ordered for them both, on the table. The brothers placed their orders and then resumed their conversation.

Dean raised an eyebrow, as he said, "we're not in a rush to go anywhere and it wouldn't hurt to look into this a bit more."

Sam agreed, since they had started other cases, with just as much little information. Sam continued to scan the paper, for any additional information and was not surprised when his search came up empty.

Dean quietly drank his coffee, as he watched Sam look through the paper. With a slight smile on his face, Dean observed his brother and was grateful that Sam was there. Dean would never admit to Sam just how much he enjoyed having his pain-in-the-ass little brother around. Sure, they got on each others' nerves, at times. But driving around the country together and spending almost all their time together would put a strain on anyone's relationship. While they were brothers, they were also comrades and had to totally trust and rely on each other, in ways that most brothers never had to. Dean knew that Sam had his back, and Dean knew that Sam was aware of the fact that Dean would do everything he could to keep Sam safe.

Sam's eyes drifted up from the paper to Dean's face. But, Sam never saw Dean's smile, since it quickly vanished as soon as Dean saw Sam's attention turning to himself.

"Do we start at the library or just head over to the mansion, mentioned in the article?" Sam knew Dean hated research and that Dean did his best to avoid libraries. So, he was not surprised when Dean suggested that Sam start at the library, while Dean spoke to the locals.

As the waitress placed their breakfast, on the table, Dean smiled and turned his attention to her. Having noticed her nametag earlier when he ordered the coffee, Dean smiled and said, "Sherise, what can you tell us about the Cooper mansion?"

Noticing his smile and the way his attention seemed to be totally focused on her and whatever she had to say, Sherise felt herself blushing a bit and replied, "are you planning on taking a tour of the place? History buffs find the place interesting and check it out now and again. In grade school, we had to go there on a field trip, which seemed like a complete waste of time, since it's right in our own backyard and we've all played on the mansion grounds at some point. War buffs and other history fans find the place interesting and say it's insightful and well-preserved. I'm not surprised, by the fact that the place hasn't gone to rot, since it's been owned by the same family, since it was constructed decades ago. Heck, I can't think of a time when I ever heard of anyone but a Cooper living in the place." She got a thoughtful look on her face, as she recalled stories she had heard about the place.

Both brothers watched and listened to her, as she recounted a few quick stories for them. It was slow, in the restaurant, and she was able to spend several minutes educating them about what she knew of the place. By the time they had finished their breakfast, the brothers had a rough sketch of the mansion's history; but, they were no closer to knowing anything about the sightings or the missing people.

After leaving the restaurant, Sam headed towards the library. Dean went to the town hall, where Sherise had said that a little exhibit was dedicated to the mansion. Since the town wasn't that big and the mansion did help to draw some tourists into the place, the town had decided to strategically place some information about the mansion there, in the hopes that while visiting the town hall, tourists might also stop into the stores that were nearby. Upon entering the building, Dean couldn't help but notice the musty odor. Finding the mansion's exhibit wasn't hard, since it had been placed right near the front door.

Dean slowly made his way around the room, which contained the exhibit. He felt himself being watched and slowly turned around. A small, elderly woman with gray hair and foggy bluish eyes stood nearby. She was holding onto her walker as though it was the only thing keeping her upright. Dean directed a friendly smile at her. She slowly appraised him and asked, "can I help you?"

Dean gestured towards the mansion's exhibit and replied, "Just looking at the stuff about Cooper's mansion."

The elderly woman cocked her head to the side and said, "they only give tours on the weekend."

"Uh, ok." Dean was somewhat taken aback by her statement, since he hadn't asked anything about taking a tour. In fact, most of the time he and Sam skipped the official tour, of most of the places they investigated, and preferred to take the "unofficial" tour on their own. "Is there a museum, at the mansion itself, or is this the only exhibit?"

The woman moved a bit closer to Dean, as though she was trying to get a better look at him or possibly, hear what he was saying. Dean was about to repeat his question, when she said, "They're open during the week; but only give tours on the weekend. Once a month, they have different re-enactments. You just missed the war re-enactment, which was this past weekend. They have a museum set up, in what was once the barn and the mansion itself is its own exhibit. They don't have anything going on, during the week. The best time to visit the place is on the weekends, when they have the tours."

Dean recalled, from the article, that the most recent missing person had attended the weekend's war re-enactment. He also recalled that the odd sightings had taken place during the week and on the weekends.

Dean thanked the woman and left town hall. As he exited the building, he noticed that there wasn't much traffic in town. Dean headed down main street, towards the library. As he walked by some grade school aged kids, he heard one mention Cooper mansion. Nonchalantly, he turned to face a store's window and listened in on the kids' conversation.

"Jimmy said he's going there tonight," stated a kid, who had his school baseball cap on backwards.

Another child replied, "Yeah, well he's an idiot. He got lost in the school library, when he first came to school, and will probably just land up lost in the woods." The other kids laughed and seemed to agree with the child's lacking sense of direction.

"Nick got in trouble when he called the fire department about the smoke he saw, in the one clearing. And Todd said that his brother, who works for the fire department, told him the firefighters are tired of getting calls about smoke in the woods around the mansion. And Todd's brother said that Mr. Cooper is sick and tired of the fire trucks messing up his land and doesn't want them coming, unless he calls them himself."

"Mr. Cooper is a pretty cool guy. He let me and my brother camp out, in the woods, two summers ago and even let us build a campfire. He even checked on us during the night and brought us stuff to make s'mores with." The other kids nodded their head and seemed to agree that Cooper was a decent guy.

The kid, with the backwards cap, asked, "you guys want to head over to my place for something to eat? My brother 's at practice and won't be home to bother us." The other kids grabbed their stuff and headed down an alley.

Through the store's window, Dean had noticed that the store sold nickel and dime candy and decided to stop in, before continuing on to the library. The store's collection included candy that you just couldn't find in the big, chain grocery stores. Dean found candy that he hadn't seen in years. Dean filled up two brown lunch bags with candy, one bag for him and one for Sam. Dean paid for the bags and then headed to the library.

By the time Dean reached the library, Dean's bag was already halfway empty. Sam was just coming out of the library, as Dean started to head up the library steps. Without a word, Dean handed Sam his bag. Curious, Sam accepted the bag and slowly peered inside.

"You afraid something is going to jump out and bite off your nose?'" Dean jokingly asked Sam, as he watched how cautious Sam was with the bag. Dean was quick to add, "if you don't want it, just give it back to me."

However, Sam's expression made it clear that he was very pleased with what he found in the bag. Sam placed some candy in his mouth and said, "Thanks."

Dean just nodded his head, in reply. "So, did you find anything interesting?"

Sam fell in step with Dean, as they walked back towards the Impala. Sam grabbed a few more pieces of candy, from his bag, before answering Dean's question.

"I really didn't find too much. The place was built by the Cooper family, before the Civil War. The area never saw any battles; but, was used a few times as a campground for the armies and for some training exercises. The family had been rather prestigious and played a big role in town. For many decades, a Cooper was always mayor, until the family decided to cut back on their public political status. Although, I did find many articles that mentioned how financially supportive the family was of certain politicians and how the family frequently attended public functions. However, the number of living Coopers has dwindled down and they seem to now prefer a more private lifestyle."

Dean loudly yawned and gave Sam a look that clearly asked "and how does this apply to the possibility of a hunt?"

Sam ignored Dean and continued on. "The Coopers did own slaves, for a short time. After they freed their slaves, many of the ex-slaves remained at the mansion and worked for the family. While I found a bunch of stuff regarding the family's involvement in the community, they did seem to try to keep their lives private, to a certain extent. For many decades, the family was known for holding large parties, at the mansion, several times a year. Within the past few decades, the family stopped holding parties and now has war and colonial re-enactments. In the early 1900's, there was a fire and the mansion was destroyed. However, the family had it re-built to look exactly the way it had, before the fire. The Coopers currently own about seventy fives acres, on the outskirts of town and that includes the mansion and a couple other buildings, on the property."

Dean shot Sam another look and contemplated taking back the rest of Sam's candy, since he really wasn't interested in the Cooper history lesson.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam noticed Dean's look and grinned to himself. He knew what Dean wanted to hear; but, enjoyed tormenting Dean with unnecessary details whenever he could. But since Dean had bought the bag of candy for Sam, Sam decided to cut Dean a break.

"I didn't find too much about the sightings of smoke. I saw a few mentions of it sporadically spread throughout the mansion's history, and it seemed to start sometime after the original mansion had burned down. However, no fires were ever found to be the source of the smoke and no one gave much credit to the reports. Instead, whoever reported the smoke was quickly discredited and was viewed as being a nuisance. There have been a several cases of people gone missing around the mansion. Those too have been sporadic and frequently, it was reported that there was never any proof that the person went missing at the mansion and simply that the person had been last seen or last known to have been at the mansion. I think either the police or the Cooper family did what they could to discourage people from thinking that the mansion was in any way linked to the missing people." Before Dean had a chance to ask, Sam added, "I checked the lunar cycles and when the people went missing did not coincide with a full moon. Nor did their disappearances coincide with a certain time of the year and didn't even seem to have any similarities to each other, except that none of the missing people were locals. Rather, the missing individuals all came from out of town."

Dean contemplated what Sam had said. He wasn't certain that this was their type of case. But at the same time, he just had a feeling that they should still check the mansion out for themselves.

Sam watched his brother's expression. Sam didn't feel that his research proved that this needed more of their attention. But he knew that if Dean felt that there was even the slightest chance of anything being supernaturally related, that Dean would want to investigate more. And based on Dean's expression, Sam had a feeling that Dean wanted to do a little more digging, before he made any final decisions.

/SN/

So, that's how it came to be that the brothers were now in the woods, near the mansion. The sightings, of the smoke, had occurred during the day and the reports of missing people never stated what time of day they had gone missing. As a result, the brothers didn't feel the need to postpone their search, until later tonight. As it was, the day was already starting to draw to an end and sunlight was slowly receding from the woods.

Both brothers had their most basic arsenal on them. Each had a flashlight, a gun, a flask of holy water, and a silver knife. They really didn't have any proof that something supernatural was here; but at the same time, it never hurt to be prepared.

Dean had parked the Impala among some trees, out of sight from the road. They had decided to check out the woods first, before going to the mansion. No smoke had been sighted, at the mansion. Rather, all the reported smoke sightings had occurred in the woods. As they walked, both brothers were on alert and paid attention to the area that surrounded them.

A noise was made, off to their right. Both froze and, without a word, started to approach the source of the noise, from different directions. As they neared the location of the noise, they simultaneously saw the squirrel. It was in a big pile of leaves and was scurrying to and fro. The brothers looked at each other and smirked. Having been prepared to fight whatever they might have encountered, both relaxed a bit and resumed their walk, through the woods.

Dean was just a couple feet, in front of Sam. Noticing the decreased amount of sunlight and the quickly darkening sky, Dean turned to Sam and suggested that they head back to the Impala. They changed their direction and headed back to the car. Dean was again in the lead.

As he rounded a large pine tree, he felt the temperature drop and the hairs, on the back of his neck, stand on end. Before he could do anything except register the temperature change, Dean found himself surrounded by smoke. He tried to move; but despite all his efforts, he was unable to move his body. Some part of his brain thought it odd that the smoke felt cold, instead of hot. The smoke seemed to have totally engulfed Dean and made it impossible for him to see anything but black. Dean tried to take a breath and yet, it felt as though there was no oxygen. Dean tried again to take a deep breath, through his mouth. He could tell that he was making an effort to inhale and yet he felt nothing. In fact, he didn't even taste the acrid taste of smoke, which he had at least expected to experience especially since smoke was all he could see. While Dean's lungs burned to get some oxygen, Dean couldn't help but worry about Sam. There had been no warning that smoke was about to surround Dean, and he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Sam was also held hostage by the same smoke. Again, Dean struggled to free himself from the smoke and was unsuccessful. Dean began to see black dots, in front of his eyes, which seemed somewhat ironic since all he had recently been able to see was nothing but black smoke. He was also starting to feel very light-headed and knew that if he didn't soon get some oxygen that he would pass out.

As Sam rounded the pine tree, he came up short of walking into a billow of thick, black smoke. He noticed that while he saw the smoke, he didn't smell it at all. He also noticed that the smoke was only in one place and that it wasn't drifting, like smoke normally would. Also, no fire was present. It looked as though the smoke just appeared out of nowhere. As he examined the smoke, he also glanced around for Dean. Not seeing any sign of Dean, Sam wasn't sure what to think. The smoke sightings had been one of the things that had drawn the brothers to investigate the area. Dean hadn't been far ahead of Sam and yet, he wasn't there to also witness the smoke.

Sam wasn't sure what to do next. The smoke hadn't changed its position and also had neither increased nor decreased in size. Sam quickly circled around the smoke and was unable to see through it. The smoke didn't seem to have any shape to it and did not seem to notice Sam's presence. Sam decided to pull out the flask of holy water and unscrewed the cap. His gun, loaded with salt rounds, was useful against ghosts; but, this smoke didn't appear to be like any ghost Sam had ever seen or heard of. So, Sam decided to toss a little bit of holy water, at the smoke, and see what happened. To his horror, Sam saw a little of Dean's face, where the holy water had penetrated the smoke.

Without thinking, Sam attempted to reach into the smoke and pull Dean out of it. Surprisingly, Sam's hands seemed to pass right through the smoke and never came in contact with Dean. Sam was stunned. He was certain that he had seen Dean enveloped, by the smoke. And yet as Sam's fingers once again did not come in contact with anything solid in the smoke, Sam began to wonder if Dean's appearance had been some sort of trick.

"DEAN!" Sam anxiously yelled. Again, Sam quickly looked around and saw no trace of Dean and didn't hear any footsteps hurrying to respond to his call. Sam quickly took a deep breath and tried to center his thoughts. Since Dean appeared to be stuck in the smoke, Sam had to find someway to get him out. He thought of his gun; but quickly vetoed that idea, out of concern that he might unintentionally cause harm to Dean. Sam was still holding the flask; but, there wasn't much water in it and the smoke was of a decent size. Sam had also noticed how quickly the smoke had been to return to its original form, after it had been splashed with the water. Even if he threw the flask's entire content of water, Sam doubted that he would have enough time to grab Dean, before the smoke re-engulfed his brother.

Dean found himself losing his battle to stay conscious. At one point, he thought he had heard Sam call his name; but, it had sounded as though he was miles away. For a brief second, he also thought he had seen Sam's face through a break, in the smoke. But now, he thought that that had been a trick of his imagination, caused by the oxygen deprivation. Dean was worried that Sam was also engulfed by the smoke and put the last of his energy into making a break from it. But, the smoke still had firm control over Dean's body and kept it from moving at all. Dean's last thought, as unconsciousness claimed him, was "I'm sorry Sammy. I really did try to get to you"

Sam was desperate. He knew he didn't have enough holy water to cause all the smoke to dissipate and had a nagging feeling that time was running out for Dean and that he didn't have time to go back to the Impala for more supplies. He quickly glanced down at his hands and then at the flask. A desperate idea came to mind; but, Sam wasn't sure that it would work. It didn't seem like much of a plan and didn't make too much sense. Although, who would have thought that regular salt could contain a demon or that a drawn symbol could glue a demon to a certain spot? Logic didn't seem to apply to the supernatural world.

Frantically, Sam clung to his idea and prayed that it would work. He quickly uncapped the flask and poured the holy water onto his hands. He hoped his wet hands would be able to reach into the smoke and then grab onto Dean. Quickly, Sam took a deep breath and plunged his hands into the smoke. To his amazement, he felt his hands hit something and swiftly grabbed onto what felt like a leather jacket. Once he had a grip, Sam pulled with all his might. Sam's hands hadn't encountered any resistance from the smoke and as he pulled on the jacket, Sam hadn't realized how much effort he had put into the tug. While Sam's hands still had a death grip on the jacket, Dean's body came rapidly out of the smoke. Sam had been so concerned with getting Dean out of the smoke, he hadn't considered what to do, once his brother's body was free from it. Sam realized, a second too late, that Dean was falling right at Sam and Sam was unprepared to catch his brother.

Sam moved his left foot back, in attempt to keep his balance. But, his foot came in contact with a branch, instead of solid ground and Sam now found himself more off balance than before. He still had a death grip on his brother and had no desire to let go. As a result, Sam felt himself falling backwards, with Dean still falling straight at him. Sam landed on some pine tree branches and Dean soon landed on top of him. In the background, Sam noticed that the smoke seemed to have disappeared.

After Dean had come to rest on top of Sam, Sam quickly, but gently, moved Dean off of himself and scanned the area for the smoke. It was nowhere to be seen. Sam swiftly retuned his attention, to his brother. First thing he noticed was how pale Dean was. Sam speedily looked over his brother's body and saw no signs of blood or cuts, on Dean's clothes. While scanning Dean's body, Sam's fingers had gone to his brother's neck and located a very weak pulse. Sam's attention returned to Dean's face and chest. Something didn't seem right. Aghast, Sam realized that Dean wasn't breathing. Sam quickly got up and pulled his brother off the branches and onto solid ground. Just as Sam was about to tilt his brother's head back, Dean gasped for air.

"Dean, can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes. Take a deep breath. Just take it easy." Sam knew he was beginning to ramble. He had his hands, on both of Dean's shoulders and was gently shaking his brother. Sam had also moved his face closer to Dean's. "Come on, open your eyes. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Seriously dude, what have I told you about personal space?" Dean weakly remarked as his opened eyes came to focus on Sam's face. Dean hungrily drew in another breath and savored the fresh air, that he felt enter his oxygen-deprived lungs. Sam's face had moved away from Dean's; but, his brother still continued to hold onto his shoulders. For the time being, Dean decided not to comment about the physical contact, since he was much more focused on inhaling as much oxygen as he could and try to recover from his light-headedness. Gradually, Dean began to feel better and quickly began to scan the area for the smoke. "You ok Sammy?"

Sam smirked. He had been intensely watching his brother breathe and was glad to see the color returning to his brother's face. As was the norm for Dean, Dean's first concern was for his brother and despite the fact that Sam had not been the one swallowed whole by a billow of smoke; Dean showed more concern about Sam's welfare than his own. "Dean, I'm fine. Why don't you just focus on breathing right now? Are you sure that you're not hurt anywhere else?"

Dean contemplated Sam's remarks. Now that oxygen-rich air was readily available and was successfully filling his lungs, Dean was feeling much better. In fact, he really didn't feel physically injured, in any other way. It seemed as though his only problem had been the oxygen deprivation and the inability to move, due to the smoke. Dean once again looked around for any signs of the smoke.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. How about we get out of here and come back later on?" Dean had forgotten that Sam had asked him a couple questions, until Sam had said his name. After replying to Sam, Dean noticed relief spread over Sam's face. Dean stood up; but regretfully, he had moved too quickly and started to see black dots dance in front of his vision. Before Dean had a chance to put a hand out to grab onto something, he felt Sam's hand on his arm. Dean closed his eyes and waited for his equilibrium to return. As he opened his eyes, Sam removed his hand, from his brother's arm. Dean turned and started walking back to the Impala.

Dean knew that Sam had questions. Heck, he had questions of his own. But with the sunlight almost gone and the fact that the smoke had appeared without warning, Dean felt it best to get out of the woods.

Sam closely followed behind Dean and kept a close eye on his brother. He knew Dean was good about hiding his injuries; but, he also knew his brother was human and didn't want him to suffer any ill-effects from the encounter with the smoke. As they neared the Impala, Sam noticed that Dean was more surefooted and was breathing more normally.

Both brothers got into the Impala. Dean was behind the steering wheel, and Sam was on the passenger side of the front seat. Both just sat there and stared out the windshield. After a few seconds, Dean took a deep breath and started the Impala. They drove in silence back to their hotel.

Upon entering the hotel room, Dean went straight to his bed and lay down. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure how it came about that he had gotten stuck, in the smoke. There had been no warning or any sign that something might happen. Heck, he never even smelled smoke, not even when it had engulfed him. Dean was totally perplexed by the whole situation. This was definitely supernatural; but, Dean wasn't sure what category it fell under. Nothing had tried to communicate with him, while he was in the smoke. And besides depriving him of oxygen and restricting his ability to move, the smoke hadn't really tried to physically harm him. Dean racked his brain and just couldn't recall ever hearing anything that even came close to what he had just experienced.

After following Dean into the room, Sam had gone over to the table and had fired up his laptop. He discreetly kept an eye on Dean, just in case his brother hadn't been totally honest about being ok. On the internet, Sam began a search. He found tons of sites about smoke; but, he wasn't really sure how to narrow the search to focus on the type of smoke, which they had just encountered. It had appeared to be just regular smoke. Except, this smoke stayed in one place and had swallowed his brother up whole. Sam slowly chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought about ways to focus his search. After a few minutes, his thoughts were interrupted by Dean.

"You hungry? Want to eat in or out?"

"I don't care." Sam had forgotten that they hadn't had lunch. Although, Dean probably had considered the bag of candy a good alternative to a normal lunch meal. Sam was still coming down from the adrenaline rush, which he had gotten when he realized that Dean was stuck in the smoke. Sam glanced up, as Dean headed out the door.

"I'll be back soon. Want anything special?"

"Nah." Sam didn't have an appetite for food. Rather, he did crave information about the smoke. He resumed his search, after Dean left.

Dean returned to find Sam working on the laptop. He smirked as he realized how focused his brother was on whatever he was reading.

"Did you find something?" As Dean spoke to Sam, he also handed him a styrofoam container.

"Not really. I'm having a hard time narrowing my search. Did the smoke smell like anything? Was there anything unusual about it?"

"You mean, besides the fact that it totally surrounded me, immobilized me and deprived me of oxygen?"

Sam gave him a lop-sided grin and half-heartedly said, "yea."

"Other than it looked like smoke, it really didn't seem to be smoke."

Sam looked at Dean questioningly and encouraged him to continue.

"I don't know. It was weird. I had come around the tree and the next thing I know, I'm surrounded by smoke. It wasn't as though I walked into it. It was more like it just appeared from nowhere. It didn't smell, not even like smoke normally does. There just wasn't any odor. And, it felt cold, almost like a mist, except it didn't feel moist or damp. I remember that I couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried and when I took a breath, nothing was there. And, it was so thick, that I couldn't see through it." Dean shook his head with frustration, as he recalled what he had experienced. "It was really strange. I just have no idea what it was. I don't recall Dad ever encountering anything like this." Dean took a bite, of his hamburger, and looked at Sam.

Sam had been eating the lasagna, which Dean had got for him, while he listened to his brother recount his experience. When Dean finished, Sam spoke up. "I thought it was smoke too, except I noticed that it stayed in one spot and didn't dissipate, like smoke normally does. Like you, I noticed that it didn't smell. When I first reached into it, my hands went right through it.

"What? You put you're hands into the smoke? What were you thinking? Why would you do something so stupid like that? You had no idea what the smoke was and you just decide to put your hands in it?" Dean's concerned voice grew in volume, as a he reprimanded his brother.

Sam sheepishly looked down, at his food, and in a low voice, replied, "I didn't reach in, until after I saw you in there."

"What? What do you mean, you saw me in there? That smoke was thick."

Sam raised his eyes up to meet Dean's. "I had thrown some holy water, at it. For a brief second, I saw you inside the smoke and tried to reach in to pull you out of it. But, that didn't work and my hands seemed to pass through nothing but air."

Dean barely recalled seeing Sam, for a brief time, through a clearing in the smoke. "If your hands went through it, then how did you get me out?" Dean didn't recall Sam pulling him out; but, he had a feeling that Sam was responsible for his extrication from the smoke.

Sam got a small smile on his face and proudly replied, "I poured the holy water on my hands, reached in again, and just pulled you out."

"And that worked? All you did was wet your hands and could then grab me?"

"Well, you're here. Aren't you? I'll admit that I was a little surprised it worked." Sam grinned.

Dean let Sam's words sink in. But, things still didn't make sense. How could just getting your hands wet, nullify the effects of the smoke… unless, it really hadn't been smoke to begin with. Maybe, they were looking at this all wrong. It could be something totally different that just took on the form of smoke.

Sam watched his brother think. Dean got a certain look, on his face, when he was doing some serious thinking and when he was reaching some type of conclusion. Sam waited for Dean to share his insight with him.

"I think we're dealing with some type of haunting here. I don't think that really was smoke we saw; but, something that just appeared to be smoke. We'll go back tomorrow and do some more looking around." Dean paused and then quickly added "Next time, we'll take a couple gallons of holy water with us, just in case."

Sam agreed with Dean's decision. They finished eating and then got ready for bed.

/SN/

The next morning, they got some containers, filled them with water and consecrated the water. After getting some breakfast, they headed back to the mansion. This time, they went to the mansion, rather than checking out the woods, which surrounded it.

As Dean parked the Impala in the parking lot near the mansion, he noticed how well maintained the building was. The building showed no sign of how old it really was. Rather, it looked perfectly preserved. Even the wooden shutters, for the windows, showed no signs of rot and had no peeling paint on them.

The brothers exited the car and headed up the mansion's steps. As they approached the door, they noticed a "closed" sign hanging on it. Looking at a sign, attached to the wall near the door, the brothers noticed that they were a half hour early for the business hours. Looking at each other, they nonverbally decide to walk around the mansion and check out the nearby area.

As they started around the right side, of the building, they noticed that a barn and an old slave cabin were located not far from the mansion. Before the brothers could decide whether to check out the barn or the cabin first, they saw a man walking out of the woods, near the cabin.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" The man directed his question, at the brothers, as he walked towards them. He looked to be in his fifties and had graying hair.

"We came to tour the mansion; but, we didn't know that it doesn't open until 11 am," Dean replied.

"I usually don't get many visitors during the week. So, I never really saw a reason to open it too early, on the weekdays." The man scrutinized the brothers, as he approached them. "I'm Richard and am the curator, of the place. What brings you boys out here, on a weekday? You missed the re-enactment we had over the weekend. Plus, there aren't any tours of the place, during the week. But, visitors can wander around and check the place out for themselves. Although personally, I think you learn more, when there's a guide there to fill you in on what all took place and can answer your questions, as you walk around."

"We happened to be passing through town and heard about this place. My brother here is a bit of a novice history buff and just wanted to check this place out." Dean pointed to Sam, as he spoke to Richard.

Sam wanted to give Dean a look; but, he noticed that the curator was still scrutinizing them. Instead, Sam spoke up. "I heard no battles were actually fought here; but that, the area was more of a thoroughfare for the soldiers. I know a bunch of historical landmarks struggle to stay open. What with lack of funding and with places being bought up for home development and other construction, I'm surprised this area is still standing here and on all this land. Most places this size have either been totally bought out or forced to downsize. Even fields of past battles and buildings, in which historical things took place, find it a struggle to remain open. I have to admit that it's nice to see something like this remain true to what it originally was." Dean had told some good lies, in his time, and now admired how sincere Sam told his.

In response to Sam's remarks, Richard began to relax and a small smile appeared on his face. "Fortunately, this place doesn't rely on public funding and isn't at the whim of some politician, who might every now and then throw some measly grant at it to help maintain it. The Cooper family has always owned the place and is solely responsible for keeping it running. I'm actually a seventh generation Cooper and have lived here my entire life. My family and I take pride, in the place, and would never let it get rundown. Nothing huge ever happened here and it's not like we're even mentioned in any history books. But, it's our home and we know that back in the day, historical people tread upon this very land." Richard's voice was full of pride.

Sam looked back over his shoulder and took a long look at the mansion. Turning back to face Richard, Sam said, "the place shows how much time and love has been put into it. From what I can see, I never would have guessed how old this structure actually is."

Dean was starting to wish he had hip-waders on. Sam was piling it on so thick, that Dean was fairly certain that he could smell a hint of manure, in the air. Dean was tempted to throw a get real look at Sam. But, he didn't want to take a chance that Richard might see it and then all of Sam's snake charming may get destroyed. Instead, Dean had taken a step back and made it clear that this conversation was solely between his brother and the curator.

"Well, I guess there's no harm, in opening it up a bit early today." Richard looked at his watch and then, looked back at the brothers. He started walking towards the front of the mansion, with the boys close behind him.

Behind Richard's back, Dean shot a glance at Sam, gave him a lop-sided grin and shook his head. Sam's expression clearly said, "what? It worked didn't it?"

Richard unlocked the front door and entered the hallway. He flicked on a couple light switches and lights could be seen coming on throughout the first floor. The brothers entered the building a few steps behind Richard.

Sam made a show of looking around, from where he stood at the entrance of the mansion. He could see rooms off to either side and noticed that the hallway lead to the back of the building. He also noticed a curved stairway that lead up to the second floor. His wandering eyes took in the artwork and framed papers that decorated the walls, on the first floor. He also noticed that the furniture seemed to date back to the 1800's. Respectfully, Sam turned to Richard and asked, "is this all original furniture?"

A saddened smile ghosted onto Richard's face. "No. The place burned to the ground in 1922 and everything inside was destroyed. My family rebuilt the mansion to look exactly the way it had before the fire and over the years, they bought furniture from that era to furnish it. While the place was getting rebuilt, the family was forced to live in the old slave cabin. Getting the mansion rebuilt was quite an endeavor and took longer than expected. No one, in town, was really qualified to do this type of construction and the family had to hire people from other counties and states. Even the construction material had to come from miles away. As a result, the family was stuck in the cabin, much longer than expected. By the time the mansion was finished, money was tight and it was just cheaper to stay in the cabin." Richard sadly shook his head, as though he had personally experienced this and was disheartened, by the hardship it caused his family. "After that, the family decided to just use the mansion for special occasions and to give tours of the place. More recently, re-enactors like to come here and do their thing. Not only does the mansion serve as a great backdrop; but with all the acreage, they have plenty of room to move around and re-enact different battles."

While Richard was talking, Dean had walked away and had left Sam to listen to the history lesson. Dean looked over the framed historic papers and at the array of old pictures. However, nothing struck him as odd or unusual.

"A story, about this past weekend's re-enactment, is actually what caught my eye. The article said that you get a decent turnout for those things."

"Yes, we do. It's amazing how many people are fascinated by stuff like that."

"I couldn't help but notice there was mention of someone getting lost, while they were here. Although, with all the land this property is on and the woods, I could see how someone could go missing."

Dean was glad, that as Sam made his statement, he had chosen that time to turn and face Richard. Had he not, then he would have missed the odd look that quickly passed over Richard's face. Dean had a lot of experiencing playing poker and knew how to read people. Richard's look caused Dean to suspect that the man probably knew more, about the missing people, than he would be willing to say.

Richard was very quick to recover from Sam's remark and calmly said, "the police really aren't certain that the guy went missing on this property. In fact, they think he may have left, with the other participants, and that his family just doesn't know where he may have gone to."

Sam knew that he was pushing his luck; but, he also knew that they needed some more information. "Is it possible that he may just be camping somewhere, on the property, since there have been sightings of smoke around here?"

Richard looked at Sam suspiciously. "Anything 's possible. I'm the only one, who lives here and I really don't have a bunch of staff who work for me, except on the weekends, for the tours, and a few more extra people, when we have the re-enactments. So, it's not like people are out patrolling the woods or anything like that. The most I have to worry about are the local kids, who like to camp around here. Just last night, I had a young man spend the night, not far from here. In fact, I was just returning from making certain that he had cleaned up his campsite, when you boys arrived. With the movies out there and all those violent video games, kids these days have very vivid imaginations and like to make up stories. I've lost count of how many times the fire department came out here, because some kids said that they saw smoke and a brush fire could easily spread in the woods and potentially lead to property damage. But every time the firefighters investigate a report, they find nothing, not even an old campfire." Richard became more defensive as he spoke. Dean noticed the change, in the man, and decided he wanted to keep a close eye on the guy. Something was going on, and Dean suspected that Richard knew more than he let on.

Sensing that the curator was uncomfortable with the direction that the conversation had taken, Sam decided to change the subject. Having noticed a collection of pictures on the walls, Sam asked, "are all these photos of your relatives?"

Relieved with the topic change, Richard relaxed a bit and said "yes."

Sam soon found himself being shown around the mansion by Richard. Richard was very thorough in telling Sam about every generation, of the Cooper family, whose pictures appeared, on the walls.

With Richard distracted, Dean went to work at doing a more thorough investigation, of the mansion. Once Richard was out of sight, Dean pulled out his EMF meter and began scanning all the rooms. The EMF didn't come up without anything. As Dean had done the EMF scan, he also had looked around and hadn't seen anything occult-like or anything that suggested that something supernatural was in the mansion.

Dean headed back to the entrance hall. Richard and Sam were engaged in a conversation, as Dean joined them near the front door. While Richard's back was towards Dean, Dean looked at Sam and shook his head no.

Sam recalled that the mansion wasn't the only building, on the property. "Richard, is there also an exhibit in the barn?"

"Yes, there is. In fact, that one includes information on the rebuilding of the mansion, after the original had burned down. Also, I've included information about some of the re-enactments that have taken place here. The re-enactors seem to appreciate being included in the exhibit. They like to come back here and look for themselves, in some of the photos. Plus, it doesn't hurt the business to keep adding stuff, as a means of encouraging people to come back and visit." Richard added with a wink. Dean noticed that Richard was relaxed and didn't seem defensive any more, like he had been when Sam had mentioned the missing man and the smoke.

The three men walked out of the mansion and went to the barn. The barn was a decent size and even had a large hay loft. Upon entering the barn, both brothers noticed that the entire barn, including the loft, was set up as a museum. Richard left the brothers, to let them tour the exhibit themselves. Dean pulled out the EMF meter again and scanned the barn. Again, he found nothing.

While Dean scanned the barn, Sam looked over the exhibit. One wall was dedicated to the reconstruction, of the mansion. The exhibit included newspaper articles about the work that was done. Sam recognized many of the articles, from the research he had done at the library. As Sam skimmed the posted articles, he recalled reading an editorial, back at the library, which reported that some local citizens had been upset with how much outside help and supplies were used for the reconstruction.

Dean approached Sam. "Well, that was a waste. Did you find anything?"

"I'm not sure," Sam said hesitantly. "I mean, I didn't find anything here. It's probably nothing. I just remember reading an editorial about how upset some locals had been, when the reconstruction took place. Apparently, they felt that they should have been hired to do some of the work and were angered by how many outsiders were brought in for the job. Understandably, that editorial isn't here, on this wall."

"Hmm. That could be a reason for revenge. But, that wouldn't explain the smoke. Although, you did mention that none of the missing persons were locals. So maybe, there is something here after all." Dean gently chewed the inside of his cheek and tried to think what their next step should be. He wasn't fond of the idea of investigating the woods more; but, there really didn't seem much else left to do.

The brothers went over to the old cabin, to thank Richard for letting them check out the mansion and barn. They knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later, Richard came to the door. Opening the door just a few inches, Richard blocked their view of the cabin's interior. "Yes?"

"We just wanted to thank you for opening the mansion early, for us. Would it be ok if we looked around the grounds a bit? In the barn, I saw some of the re-enactment photos and would love to see some of the area for myself. I know there probably isn't any of the war memorabilia out there right now; but, I've been known to have a pretty avid imagination of my own, and would enjoy being able to just see the "battlefields" used for those re-enactments," Sam longingly said, with a small smile on his face.

Once again, Dean was certain that he caught a whiff of manure, as Sam laid it on thick, for Richard's benefit. Dean was pretty sure that Sam must have taken notes, during some of Dean's past performances, when he had to lay on the charm and tell some lies, in order to get what they needed.

"Sure, go ahead. There isn't anything out there. The re-enactors are really good about cleaning up after themselves and never leave their gear behind. But, you boys can feel free to take a look around, if you wish." With that, Richard shut the door, on the brothers.

The brothers looked at each other, after the door had been shut. Both thought that Richard was now acting a little weird; but, for the moment, they felt no need to question him further.

Before heading off into the woods, the brothers returned to the Impala for a few supplies. Inconspicuously, Dean took backpacks out of the Impala's trunk. The casual observer would never suspect what was actually in the backpacks. Before leaving the hotel, the brothers had stashed some hunting gear, including the holy water, into the bags, in preparation for a return trip into the woods. Now, the brothers shouldered the bags and closed the Impala's trunk.

While in the barn looking at the re-enactment photos, Sam had paid attention to where they had been taken on the mansion's property. Since the most recent person had attended the re-enactment, the brothers decided to start their search there. Dean decided to leave his EMF meter on, in the hopes that it would go off before either brother was engulfed by the smoke.

After spending about three hours investigating the "battlefields", their search had come up empty. The brothers then decided to extend their search deeper into the woods. They noticed that the woods became a little denser, the farther they got from the re-enactment grounds. Due to the close proximity of the trees, the brothers had to walk in a single file. Once again, Dean was in front. Sam stayed just a couple feet behind Dean. Dean was just exiting a small clearing, when he heard a large snapping sound behind him. Quickly, he turned around and witnessed Sam fall through the ground, before he could reach his brother.

In the process of dropping to the ground on his stomach, Dean pulled out his flashlight, from the pocket of his jacket. Dean cautiously moved to the opening, in the earth, and peered in.

"SAM?"

There was no response. The beam of Dean's flashlight was unable to break through the dust cloud and leaves that were still floating around in the air, beneath the hole.

"SAMMY? Are you alright? Can you hear me? Answer me!"

Still, there was no response. Dean wanted to jump into the hole, to check on Sam; but, Dean knew he first needed to see what he would be jumping into. The last thing he wanted to do was hurry in and inadvertently land on Sam or possibly cause something to fall onto Sam.

"Sam? If you can hear me, say something."

Still, Dean got no reply. Since the brothers weren't certain about what all they might need, they had packed a little bit of everything, into the backpacks. Fortunately, the rope had been placed into Dean's pack. He quickly tied one end of it, to a tree and lowered the other end, into the hole. By the time he finished with the rope, the dust cloud had settled a bit and Dean shown the flashlight back into the hole. He was just able to make out the prone form, of his brother. Dean quickly descended the rope and went to his brother's side. Experienced fingers checked Sam's neck for a pulse. Dean hadn't realized he was holding his breath, until he exhaled upon finding a pulse.

Dean looked over Sam's body and felt his limbs for any broken bones. Dean couldn't find any obvious injuries; but, didn't want to risk moving Sam; for fear that his brother had injuries, which Dean wasn't aware of.

Dean gently cupped Sam's face, with is hands and lightly tapped Sam on his cheek.

"Sam, it's time to wake up. Open those eyes, of yours, and look at me. Come on man, this isn't the time for you to catch up on your beauty rest." Dean's heart seemed to constrict tighter and tighter the longer he went without a response from Sam. Dean knew that Sam was still alive, since his brother had a pulse and Dean had seen his brother's chest rise and fall for breathing. However, the lack of response caused Dean to become concerned that Sam may have some internal injuries.

"Sammy, come on now. You need to wake up; so, we can get out of here." Finally, Dean got a low moan as an answer. "Sam, open your eyes."

With what appeared to be a great deal of effort, San's eyes slowly opened. "De… Dean?" Sam heard something that sounded a little like his voice, except it was much weaker and quieter than usual.

"Welcome back there, Sammy boy. For a while there, I thought you were trying out for a sleeping contest against Rip Van Winkle." Dean's heart started to feel lighter, as he was able to look into his brother's eyes and heard his voice.

Sam licked his lips and tried his voice again. "What happened? Where are we?"

For the first time since entering the hole, Dean took his flashlight off Sam and aimed it around to illuminate their surroundings.

"Well, it looks as though we're in a room of some sort. Although, might I suggest the next time you enter a room, that you use a door, instead of dropping in through the ceiling. After all, that is the more civilized thing to do." Dean said with a smile.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Hah, hah."

"Seriously man, how do you feel? Where all do you hurt? Does your head, neck or back bother you? Do you think it safe to sit up?" Dean's eyes were filled with concern, as he waited for his brother to answer.

Sam remained silent for a minute, as he contemplated what Dean had asked him and as he evaluated how bad he felt. Nothing seemed to be seriously damaged and Sam felt more like he mainly just had the wind seriously knocked out of him. "I'm not too bad. A little sore; but, nothing seems to be broken. What did I land on?"

Dean shown the flashlight onto the floor, around his brother. "Looks like you landed on some old wooden boxes. They look a little rotted; but, were probably just enough to cushion your fall a bit."

Sam tentatively placed his left hand flat on the floor and slowly began to sit up. Dean's hand was immediately on his shoulder and was offering support. To his relief, Sam didn't feel light-headed, nor was there any additional pain.

"How do you feel?"

"Ok." Sam looked Dean straight in the eye, as he gave his answer. He knew his brother was worried about him and wanted to assure him that he really was going to be alright.

Dean pulled a bottle of water, from his pack and had Sam take a few sips. Before putting the bottle away, Dean also had some himself.

"Sit there a minute, while I look around." Dean got up and began to walk around the room. It looked to be part of cave, with a few boards up to create walls, on a couple sides. Dean found an entranceway; but, he didn't want to leave the room without Sam.

Returning to his brother's side, Dean asked, "do you think you can stand up?"

In answer to his brother's question, Sam began to stand up. Once again, Dean's hand was on his shoulder and was giving him some support. Once he was standing up, Sam began to knock some of the dust off of himself.

Dean shook his head, as he watched Sam dust himself off. "Let me know when you're done there princess; so, we can get out of here and see what else we can find."

Sam shook his head and began to walks towards the door. Dean let Sam lead; so, he could keep a better eye on his brother.

They seemed to be in a large cave, which was divided into several smaller rooms. Each room contained wooden boxes. As they walked around, Dean noticed that there were trap doors, in the ceiling, sporadically placed throughout the cave. He began to wonder, if perhaps, it had actually been a door like that, through which Sam had fallen. Since the doors were made of wood, rot could have weakened the door and had been unable to bear the weight of the brothers walking on it.

Sam walked over to a pile of boxes. Using his large knife as a crowbar, he began to pry the lid off one of the boxes. Inside the box, he found many large bottles. He took one out and read the label. It was whisky. He pulled a few more out and saw that they too were whisky. Dean went a step further and actually opened up a bottle and took a whiff. "Whoa. So, this is where they keep the good stuff."

Sam read the label again and noticed the date. "I think this may be from the prohibition. Look at the dates, on these bottles"

Before Dean had a chance, the forgotten EMF meter began to make a loud sound. Sam pulled out his flashlight. The two brothers aimed their flashlights around the area surrounding them and looked for anything unusual. Dean had quickly pulled out his rock salt loaded shotgun, while Sam pulled out a bottle of holy water. For several seconds, the EMF meter continued its alarming melody, while the boys prepared themselves for whatever might happen next. Without warning, Dean was thrown through the air. The cave's wall brought a sudden and painful end to his flight. Dean's slack form crumpled to the cave's floor. Sam turned to his brother.

"DEAN?!" No answer came from Dean.

Sam's head swiftly swiveled in every direction, as he tried to see what had thrown his brother. While continuing to look for any visual threat, Sam moved toward his fallen brother.

Sam's view of his brother was suddenly blocked by a plume of dark, black smoke. Sam uncapped the bottle and threw holy water at the smoke. The smoke dissipated, and Sam was once again able to see Dean. Sam crouched down, at his brother's side and looked for any injuries.

"Dean?"

Dean replied with a low groan.

Sam placed one hand on Dean's shoulder and the other on Dean's face. "Come on man, you have to wake up." The EMF meter continued its tune, with no acknowledgement of the fallen brother.

Dean could hear Sam calling him and noted the concern and worry he heard in his brother's tone. Something was wrong and Dean wanted to fix whatever was causing his brother grief. But first, Dean felt rather dazed and knew he had to clear his head a bit. With great effort, Dean opened his eyes and noticed the relief that suddenly appeared on Sam's face. In the background, Dean could also hear the EMF meter and knew that danger was still too close for comfort. Before Dean could say anything, he noticed a ghostly image appear close behind his brother. Without a word, Dean grabbed Sam with one hand and yanked his brother down onto himself, while you used his other hand to aim the shotgun and pull the trigger.

Sam had not expected Dean to grab him and was easily taken off balance by the sudden, forceful tug. He found himself lying across his brother's stomach and heard the shotgun go off, where his head had just been. Sam turned his head and saw the remnants of a ghost disappear. Quickly recovering, Sam sat up and put a hand out, to help Dean do the same. Instead of taking the offered hand, Dean placed the shotgun in it. Sam shook his head; but accepted the gun. Using both hands, Dean slowly sat up and was relieved when the cave didn't start to spin. Grabbing his flashlight, which was laying nearby, Dean then stood up. Sam handed the gun back to Dean, grabbed his own flashlight, and stood as well. The EMF meter had gone silent, as the ghost had disappeared.

"How do you feel?" Sam asked with a little concern, in his voice.

"I'm fine. I'd love to know who just decided to make an appearance and use me as their own personal Frisbee." As Dean thought back to the portraits he had seen, in the mansion, he did not recall seeing the ghost's face among them. "What do you say we look for a way out of here, besides going through the roof?"

Sam nodded his head, in response to Dean's question.

In the one corner of the cave, there appeared to be a tunnel of sorts. The brothers headed to it and saw that it went some distance. With shotgun and holy water still at the ready, the brothers walked down the tunnel. As they made their way down the tunnel, they noticed additional rooms that fed off of it, which also contained boxes similar to the ones they had found earlier.

The brothers came to a T-like intersection. However, instead of having to decide which direction to go, the decision had already been made for them. They noticed that the tunnel, to the left, was blocked from a past cave-in and that their only option was to either go to the right or return the way they had come. As the brothers went to turn right, a dark, black smoke plume blocked the tunnel.

Sam was confused. He had seen the tunnel become blocked, by the smoke, and now, all he saw was blackness. He tried to raise his hand to throw some holy water around; but, his hand just didn't seem to respond to his command. Sam went to take a breath and found that nothing seemed to enter his lungs. He felt like he was in an abyss and was engulfed by nothingness. Sam knew that Dean had been nearby and feared that his brother was also somewhere in the smoke with him. If Dean was similarly trapped, Sam knew that there was no way that they could escape. As panic began to ebb its way into him, Sam recalled that Dean had not been breathing, when Dean had previously been released from the smoke. Sam realized that Dean hadn't been breathing since no air existed in the smoke and there had been no oxygen to inhale. Sam tried to remain calm; but, his body's demand for oxygen seemed to over-ride his ability to maintain his wits.

As the tunnel became blocked by smoke, from the corner of his eye, Dean saw the ghost appear in the tunnel, to the left. Without warning, Sam was blocked from Dean's view, by the smoke. Dean aimed his shotgun, at the ghost and pulled the trigger, just as the smoke began to gravitate towards Dean. As the ghost dissipated due to the salt, Dean saw that the smoke also dissipated. Dean deftly caught Sam, as the smoke revealed his brother to him. Gently, Dean lowered Sam to the ground and noticed that Sam was wide-eyed and gasping like a fish out of water. Recalling his own, previous smoke experience, Dean knew that Sam had not been able to breathe, in the smoke.

"Take it easy, Sammy. You're ok. Just take slow, deep breaths." Dean was now kneeling and had kept Sam in a sitting position, by leaning Sam against his chest. "Come on Sam. Nice and slow. That's it… Good job... Just take it slow and easy."

After a couple panicked gasps for air, Sam began to follow his brother's commands. A few more relaxed and satisfying breaths later, Sam looked up at Dean's face. Dean smiled, as he saw that Sam was now breathing without difficulty and wasn't breathing so hard that he ran the risk of hyperventilating.

Gently pushing his brother off his chest, Dean said, "Ok, time to get moving." Dean stood first and then helped Sam to stand as well.

After heading down the tunnel, which was not blocked by the cave-in, the brothers discovered that they could not go very far. It soon came to a natural dead-end and did not contain any rooms. However, what they did find was the remains, of a person.

Dean illuminated the remains, with his flashlight, and squatted down to get a better look. Surprisingly, the clothes were still pretty much intact and enough skin and hair remained on the face, to allow the brothers a glimpse of what the person had looked like. Dean took a closer look, at the face and realized that the remains belonged to the ghost that had already made two appearances.

"This is the guy, whose been bothering us down here." Dean stated.

"Are you sure?" Since Sam hadn't gotten a good look at the ghost, he had to rely on what his brother told him.

"Yeah. How 'bout we salt and burn these now, before he decides to come back again?"

Without a word, Sam quickly took his backpack off and pulled the salt and lighter fluid out. Skillfully, Sam poured the salt and lighter fluid over the remains. Dean pulled out some matches and prepared to light one. Just as he was about to strike it, he stopped. A thought had come to him and he felt it best to pause for a moment.

"Sam, grab your stuff and head back to the room you fell into."

"What?" Sam asked incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me. That thing could come back any second and you're just standing there. We were taught to finish the hunt and you're not even lighting it!"

"Sam, we don't have time for this. Just do as I say."

"Dean…" Sam didn't say anything more, as he caught sight of the look on Dean's face. It was clear that Dean wasn't going to do anything, until Sam had started to head back to where they had come from. Quickly, Sam gathered his stuff, back into his pack and headed back down the tunnel.

Dean waited a few seconds and then, struck the match. Throwing the burning match onto the remains, Dean stepped back, as the remains quickly caught. To his surprise, the ghost didn't attempt to harm him or make any last-ditch effort to make its presence known.

Then just as Dean had anticipated, that section of the cave quickly became engulfed in smoke. From previous experience gained from burning corpses, Dean knew how smoky it could get. As he had been about to light this corpse, he had recalled those experiences and since they were in a cave with very limited air circulation, Dean felt it best to send his brother some distance away, from the intended fire. He hadn't had time to explain this to Sam, since he feared the ghost might still reappear. Now, Dean found himself surrounded by smoke and struggled to find his way back the tunnel. The dry corpse and its clothes had been quick to catch fire and since the cave wasn't that big in size, it didn't take long for the smoke to become thick.

Dean pulled the top of his shirt up, to cover his mouth and nose. Dean used his other hand to feel along the wall of the tunnel, as he headed to where Sam should be. Dean's eyes stung and were watering so bad, that it was impossible to see anything through the tears and the smoke. It was becoming harder to breathe and he began coughing incessantly. He finally came to the turn in the tunnel. As he made his way down the tunnel, which was lined by various rooms, he found that the smoke wasn't as thick and was more tolerable. While he still seemed to be coughing up his lungs, he was able to breathe a little easier and his vision was no longer impeded by smoke, but was still restricted due to the smoke-induced tears.

Sam had arrived back at where he had fallen in, about ten minutes after leaving Dean with the corpse. Sam was somewhat miffed and confused by Dean's order. The brothers had been trained to follow orders and to this day, they both found it hard to ignore an order, when it was given with a certain tone of voice and a certain look in the eye. Sam knew it was his job to watch his brother's back; but at the same time, he knew that his brother must have had some reason to send him away. Sam just wanted to know what that reason was. If the ghost had decided to make one, last reappearance, then Dean would be on his own to deal with it. If the ghost decided to use the smoke, then Sam knew that Dean would be unable to get himself out of it, on his own.

Sam shown his flashlight down the tunnel, which he had just come up. He had hoped to see some sign of his brother. Instead, Sam's heart froze as the beam, from his flashlight, encountered smoke. No! Sam immediately feared that the ghost had somehow gotten the better of his brother and that Dean was now trapped, by its smoke.

Without thinking, Sam ran back down the tunnel. As he ran, he noticed that he could smell the acrid odor, from smoke. Awkwardly, Sam came to a sudden stop, as Dean walked out of the smoke.

"Are you ok?" Sam's hands were on his brother's shoulders and his concerned eyes looked at his brother's face. He noticed how hard Dean was coughing and the dirty tear tracks that ran down his brother's face.

Sam's question was answered by a torrent of coughs, from Dean. With great effort, Dean took several deep breaths, which lead to more coughs. Dean's watery eyes met Sam's and with a nod of his head, Dean let Sam know that he was alright. Pushing his shoulder into Sam's, Dean made it clear that they needed to head back the way Sam had just come. Despite Dean's attempts to shake Sam's worried hands off his shoulders, Sam kept his hands on Dean. Due to Dean's relentless coughing, Sam was worried about his brother, and since he also noticed how much the smoke had affected his brother's eyes, Sam also worried about how well Dean could see. Sam used the grip he had on his brother to help lead him back the way they had come and to let Dean know that he had no intention of leaving Dean's side.

Dean's breathing became somewhat easier, as they neared where they had entered the cave. He would never admit it to Sam; but, he was a bit glad that Sam was helping him. Dean had been surprised by how quickly the smoke, from the burning remains, had filled the narrow cave. Dean wondered, if wood near the remains, had also caught fire and that had lead to the copious amount of smoke, which was quickly expanding throughout the cave. In the short amount of time it took for Dean to acknowledge Sam, the smoke had already started to gain on them. Grudgingly, Dean admitted to himself that his vision had been more impeded by the smoke, than he had first thought. Sam's guiding hands helped to keep Dean from inadvertently losing his way in the cave. Also, it allowed Dean to stop feeling along the wall, with his one hand and now that hand was busy trying to clear his eyes from the smoke-induced tears. Dean's other hand had lowered his shirt back down and was now holding his chest, which had begun to seriously ache due to all the coughing.

With great relief, both brothers entered the part of the cave, which Sam had fallen into. Quickly, Dean grabbed the rope, which he had used to enter the cave. Going down onto one knee, Dean looked at Sam.

"Up you go."

"Dean, you…"

"Get going, Sam. Now!"

Disgruntled, Sam put one of his feet, on Dean's bent leg and grabbed onto the rope with both hands. Sam hadn't been the one engulfed by the smoke and still, Dean was insisting that Sam be the first to exit the cave and breathe fresh air. Sam knew that he would not be able to persuade Dean to switch places and so, he quickly worked his way up the rope. Since Dean held the rope taught and had used his leg to serve as a starting point, Sam was able to able to easily move up the rope. Fortunately, the distance between the ceiling and the floor of the cave was only about twelve feet and in less than a few seconds, Sam found his head out of the cave and was able to skillfully pull himself onto the ground. Sam turned to tell Dean that he was clear of the rope; but, wasn't totally surprised to see that Dean had already started his way up the rope. Once Dean was within reach, Sam grabbed hold of Dean's jacket and helped to pull him the rest of the way out of the hole. As soon as he was completely on firm ground, Dean lay on his back and greedily gulped in the fresh air. He closed his eyes and allowed the fresh air to ease the ache, in his chest. He could feel his coughs receding; but, due to the amount of smoke he had been exposed to, he knew that he would have a lingering cough for a few days.

Sam stayed nearby and watched his brother breathe in the fresh, smoke-free air. He noticed that Dean's eyes weren't watering as much and was relieved to notice that the coughs were not as forceful or as painful sounding. Gently placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, Sam asked, "you ok?"

"Yeah. Much more exposure to that smoke and I might have needed to look into getting myself an iron lung. Next place we eat at, I am definitely asking for the smoke-free section." A small smile appeared on Dean's face. Who would have thought that breathing fresh air could cause some one to feel so euphoric?

As a grin formed on Sam's face, he shook his head at Dean's remark. Leave it to his brother to jest at a situation, which could have easily have turned deadly.

Dean hadn't realized how much time had transpired, until he noticed that the sun was much lower in the sky, than it had been before they started to investigate the "battlefields" and nearby woods.

"What do you say we head back to the mansion?" Dean hit Sam's knee, as he sat up and prepared to stand.

Sam went to assist his brother; but, noticing the look which was quickly shot in his direction, he just watched his brother slowly stand. "Yeah, sure. It is getting rather late. Do you think Richard knew about this place?"

"I think Ricky boy knows something. I'm just not sure what all that is just yet. When we get back, I plan on having a little chat with him," Dean firmly stated.

Sam looked at Dean and could tell that his brother may not stop at just talking. Sam had a few questions of his own; but, he was a little uncertain as to how much Richard might know about the cave. After all, they had only found it, since Sam had fallen through its ceiling. There had been no other obvious way, into the cave. They had seen other trap doors, in the cave's ceiling; but, none of the doors had shown any signs of being used. Also, the clothes, which had been on the remains, appeared to have possibly have been the style of the 1920's-1930's. So, if the body had been down there the entire time and the cave had not been accessed, Sam wondered if Richard even knew it was there.

/SN/

The brothers finally arrived back at the mansion. With the exception of Dean's occasional hard coughing spells, their return trip had been unremarkable.

Dean forcefully knocked, on the door to the cabin. He paused a few seconds and prepared to knock on the door again, with his fist. Just then, Richard opened the door. Seeing Dean's fist in the air, he stepped back. However, he seemed even more shocked to see the brothers at his door.

"I take it you weren't expecting to see us." Dean bitterly said. "Aren't you going to invite us in?" Not waiting for a reply, Dean stepped into the cabin and Sam followed his lead. As he entered the cabin, Dean quickly scanned the interior and saw no signs of any one else present. This pleased him, since he just wanted to have a talk with Richard and didn't want any witnesses. As Sam stepped in the cabin, he closed the front door behind him. Seeing the brothers entering the cabin, Richard had taken several steps back, until he bumped into a chair in the living room.

Sarcastically, Dean said to Richard, "Why don't you have a seat? No need for you to remain standing on our account."

Richard quickly abided by Dean's suggestion. Nervously, he looked from one brother to the next. "Wha… What do you want?" With great effort, Richard had asked his question. Fear was obvious in his eyes. Frantically, he looked around for some way to exit the situation. Finding no way out, he again apprehensively looked back at the brothers. Sam couldn't tell if the man was about to wet his pants or throw up. Dean wasn't making the situation any less threatening, by the way he forcefully pulled a hardback chair over to where Richard sat, sat down himself, and looked squarely into Richard's face.

"Anything you feel like telling us?" Dean asked in an eerily, calm voice.

Sam chose to stand near the couch and let Dean carry out the interrogation. Normally, Sam would have preferred a much calmer and less intimidating approach; but, after everything they had experienced in the cave, Sam decided that Dean's approach was justified.

Noticing how Sam was the least threatening, Richard turned pleading eyes towards him. However, Sam only replied with a cold stare. Detecting that Sam was not willing to offer any solace, Richard turned his attention back to Dean.

Noticing how Richard was not forthcoming, Dean pressed on. "Want to tell us about the missing people? Or, how about you explain the smoke that appears out of nowhere?"

"I really don't know anything about the smoke." Richard replied. He couldn't believe how dry his mouth was and was finding it difficult to talk.

"Well then, what do you know about the missing people?"

"They're dead." Richard felt his heart stop, as he gave his answer. He hadn't meant to be so blunt. He was finding it difficult to formulate words and with the way he was being looked at, Richard felt the best way to answer was to be straight to the point.

"Did you kill them yourself or did you have some one or something do it for you?"

Something? Richard was confused by the question. How could he have something kill people?

"I never killed anyone. I would just find their bodies and then get rid of them."

Sam leaned in a bit and increased the stare, which was directed at Richard. "What do you mean you found their bodies?"

Richard turned his attention to his second interrogator. "I would just find the bodies, in the woods. They never had any marks on them. They were just dead."

"And you never contacted the authorities? You never felt the need to let those families know what happened to their loved ones?"

"I have no idea what happened to them. I would just find the bodies and bury them. What was I supposed to do? This town relies on the revenue, this place helps to bring in, to survive. The Cooper family has always done what they could to help out the locals."

"You mean you're not the first Cooper to bury bodies?"

Richard tried to take a deep breath; but found that his chest had become so tight, that breathing was difficult. He was very uncomfortable, due to the stares of his interrogators. When they had left to check out the "battlefields" and woods, he had been fairly certain that their bodies would be the next ones he found. He had never expected to have them show up at his door and was now concerned that it would be his body that was found in the woods.

"No... No, I'm not the only generation to find the bodies."

Glancing quickly at his brother and noticing his brother's body posture, Sam decided to encourage Richard to continue. "Might I suggest that you start at the beginning and explain this little family tradition of yours"

"It started after the mansion was re-built, after the fire. My grandfather found a body, in the woods, and contacted the sheriff. No apparent injuries were found and the sheriff wasn't able to identify the guy. He wasn't a local. The motel owner recognized the guy, as some one who was renting a room. But, he hadn't caught the guy's full name and didn't know where he was from. So, granddad felt sorry for the guy and buried him on the property. Cemeteries aren't cheap, even back then. So, granddad just donated a small piece of land, for the guy's grave.

A few months later, granddad found another body. Same story. The sheriff was called in. No obvious signs of death and the body had no ID on it. By then, granddad had started to give tours of the mansion. Needless to say, the dead bodies didn't help business much. So the next time he found a body, he took care of it himself and didn't call the sheriff.

It's been going on, ever since then. Bodies didn't start having IDs on them, until my father took over the task. But still, the mansion was bringing in revenue for the town, and he didn't want to ruin that. So, he would just bury the bodies. He would also find the cars, which belonged to the dead people, and drive them to the city and leave them there. If the cops found the cars, I guess they assumed the car had been stolen or something like that. However, dad and I started leaving the cars in a bad part of the city. And I think, the cars were then stolen and stripped down for parts.

Look, my family and I never killed anyone. There was never any sign of how the people died. It wouldn't do this town any good to keep calling the police, every time a body showed up. This town needs this mansion to stay open and I have no desire to change this tradition." While Richard seemed sincere about this, his resolve seemed somewhat shaken. He quickly looked from one interrogator to the next and tried to gauge what might come next.

The brothers remained silent for a minute. Dean had played enough poker to know when some one was trying to pull a fast one. Richard seemed sincere and didn't seem to be holding anything back. With a raised eyebrow, Dean looked at Sam. Sam looked back at Dean. He too felt that Richard was being honest, and yet, a lot of questions remained unanswered.

"What can you tell us about the cave?" Sam asked.

"What cave?" Richard seemed perplexed by the question.

"The cave that's a little over a mile, east of the mansion." Sam clarified for him.

"There's no cave there. There's no cave anywhere, on this property." Richard firmly stated. He was confused about the turn in the interrogation. He understood why they had asked him about the missing people; but, was now puzzled about being questioned about a non-existent cave.

Dean once again leaned in towards Richard. "And to think, that I thought you were going to be honest with us. You can drop this little charade of yours. We were in the cave. So, why don't you just tell us a little more about it?"

Richard's eyes grew large with fear. He knew that his interrogators weren't happy with his answer; but, he had grown up here and knew of no caves. "Look, I've spent my entire life here. I've been over every square inch of this place, countless times. There are no caves anywhere on this property. I swear to you, that I have no idea what you're talking about."

Dean was losing his patience and was somewhat tempted to drag Richard by his collar to the cave. Forebodingly, Dean addressed Richard. "The cave, we're talking about, is the one on your property that has a nice little stash of whisky in it."

"Whisky?" Richard asked incredulously. "Why would whisky be in a cave? I've never heard… Wait. I thought it was just a story. He only mentioned it once and it seemed more like a story tale." Richard shook his head, as if doubting whatever he was recalling. "It can't be. I've been all over this place and never say any signs of it."

"Who's the 'he' that mentioned the cave? And, what exactly did he tell you?" Dean sharply asked Richard and made certain he once again had Richard's full attention.

"Well, he really didn't tell me exactly. He was talking to my dad and I happened to overhear the conversation." Seeing his interrogator growing more impatient, Richard decided to get right to the point.

"My granddad was talking to my father one night. They probably thought that I was in bed. Any way, I heard my granddad say that he had had a brother, who might have been involved with running alcohol, during the prohibition. My granddad and his brother were trying to get the mansion rebuilt, after it burnt to the ground. Thing is the town was in real bad shape, at the time, and didn't have the supplies needed to build the mansion with. Times were tough for the Cooper family as well and even back then, building a place didn't come cheap. Supposedly, granddad's brother got involved with running alcohol, as a means to earn some money to help fund the construction. And, it worked. Granddad thought that the construction company may have also have had a hand in the alcohol running; but, he never really looked into it.

Just as the mansion was almost completely rebuilt, granddad overheard his brother and a foreman arguing about something. Before he could intervene, he saw the two men walk into the woods together. And, that was the last he saw of his brother. When his brother didn't show up, granddad went looking for him; but couldn't find him. He tried finding the foreman, who his brother had argued with; but, he never saw the guy again at the construction site. Granddad asked around about the foreman; but, he never got a straight answer about who the guy was.

A few years later, a young man showed up at the mansion and asked granddad about his brother. Granddad didn't say much; but, the young man told him a little story.

Supposedly, his father had been a foreman at the mansion's construction site. The foreman worked for the mafia and was involved with alcohol running. In order to get a discount on supplies and labor, granddad's brother agreed to allow some alcohol to be stored on the property. The mafia sent some guys, dressed as construction crew, to build some storage areas on the property. Since any additional buildings would draw suspicion, they made a cave underground. Alcohol got stored there and things ran smoothly for a while. Then as the construction drew to a close granddad's brother tried to put an end to the alcohol storage. But, the foreman knew that no one knew of the stash and didn't want to lose the secret site. He and granddad's brother went to the cave and argued some more. They fought and a small fire broke out. Granddad's brother got knocked out and the foreman escaped out of the cave, right before the entrance caved in.

The foreman had been injured, in the fight. However, he knew he couldn't return to town, without raising suspicion. Somehow, he managed to return to his home, in the city. A doctor tried to help him; but his injuries were too extensive. Right before he died, he told his son was had happened.

The young man explained that he was the foreman's son. He said that he didn't want any parts of the mafia and had kept his father's revelation to himself for several years. But, the young man got curious and wanted to find out, if the story was true. Hence, he had come to the mansion to talk to my granddad and see if he could find the cave. Granddad thought the kid was playing a cruel prank; but, let the young man go into the woods to try and find the cave." Richard stopped talking.

Dean was intrigued by the account and was upset that Richard hadn't finished it. "So, did the guy or your granddad find the cave?"

"I don't know. My dad had stood up to get something to drink and I didn't want to get caught eavesdropping. So, I left, before I could finish hearing granddad's story. I wanted to ask him about it; but, I never knew how to bring up the subject. Granddad never told me that he had a brother; so, I wasn't sure how to ask about him or the cave." Richard sulkingly admitted.

"Was the young man the first dead body your grandfather buried?" Sam asked.

"I… I'm not sure. I never asked. I guess I really didn't want to know." Richard put his head down, ashamed.

"Why would your grandfather's brother not want to be involved any more in alcohol running? If he was getting paid for it, wouldn't it have been wise to keep it up?" Dean inquired.

Richard shook his head. "The Cooper family has always prided themselves as being good, upstanding citizens. He may have agreed to it, since they needed to get the mansion built, and then, wanted to stop once the place was done. We've always done what we thought was best, for the town. And getting the mansion rebuilt, definitely helped to bring money back to town and to this day, tourists spend money in town, which has kept the town from going bankrupt. The town isn't that big; so the money the tourists spend is just enough to keep the place running."

"If it had come out that the mansion had ties to the mafia and alcohol running, would the place have survived?" Sam asked.

"No. Nowadays, maybe. But back then, that would have been grounds to get arrested and the mansion would have been shut down. This place would have gone to rot and so too the town." Richard seemed horrified by how things might have turned out.

For a few minutes, the three men remained quiet; each considering what all had just been revealed.

Thoughtfully, Dean turned to Sam. "The Coopers are known for doing what they think is best for the town. A scandal like this would have been a very bad thing. I bet grandpappy's brother regretted hooking up with the mafia. If there was a fire in the cave and he got trapped inside, he might have died from smoke inhalation."

Sam saw where Dean was going with this and continued the thought. "If some one went looking for the cave, he would have wanted to keep it a secret and would probably do his best to stop them. Back then, they didn't know much about forensics and probably wouldn't know what to look for, in regards to suffocation. So, finding a dead body with no apparent physical marks, like cuts or gunshots, probably had them puzzled but that would have been about it. The smoke we encountered never smelled like smoke and never left soot, like smoke does. It just kept us from being able to breathe. If he had died from smoke inhalation, I could see how he might see it fitting to use a form of that, to get rid of the curious. But, I don't get why there are so many dead people."

"Well, we got attacked when we were just looking around. We weren't looking for the cave specifically. But, you did happen to find it. So maybe, he feared that some one else might happen upon it as well and did his best to keep the curious at a safe distance. And since the family tradition involved disposing of the bodies, he knew that the unexplained deaths would never be properly or thoroughly investigated."

"True. But with so many tourists passing through, shouldn't the death toll be higher?"

Up until now, Richard had silently been listening to their conversation. He wasn't sure what to think. How could his dead relative be responsible for the deaths? Hearing the question, Richard felt compelled to answer. "The bodies were only found deep in the woods. For the most part the tourists stick to the mansion and the immediate area around the mansion, which includes the "battlefields". Even the kids, who camp here, know that they are only allowed to camp in certain parts of the property. I guess as long as the people stay, in the designated area, he never felt a need to kill them." Wait, had he just conceded to their logic? Had he just blamed a Cooper for killing people? That felt so wrong and yet, it did seem to have some twisted sense to it.

The brothers listened to what Richard had to say. After his remark, they looked at each other and nodded. His explanation made sense. As long as the deceased man felt that no one was coming close to the cave, he would have felt no need to kill them.

"True. But, haven't firefighters been here frequently to investigate reports of smoke?" Sam inquired.

"Sure, if you want to call it that. In the past, the firefighters would come; but mainly, they stayed in their trucks and looked out its windows for any smoke. The witnesses could never give an exact location, of where they had seen the smoke. Also, when firefighters arrived, they never saw smoke or any signs of a fire; so, they didn't stay on the property for long. Years back, I spoke with the fire chief and worked out an arrangement, after the fire department had received so many false alarms. Whenever the department received a call about smoke, they would call me and have me confirm or deny it. And since I never say the smoke or any signs of a fire, they never had a reason to come out."

Dean put the chair, which he had been sitting in, back in its place. He then walked over to Sam. Dean looked at Richard and then, looked back at Sam.

"So, you think we got this one wrapped up?"

"You did burn the body. But, I think there are a few loose ends that still need to be addressed."

/SN/

Sam spent some time talking with Richard. He drew him a map, which showed where they had found the cave. Sam then spoke to Richard about giving closure to the families, of the missing people. After he was satisfied that Richard would contact the authorities and would show them where the bodies were buried, Sam decided to leave. He knew that Richard was ashamed of the deaths, caused by his ancestor, and that he wanted to do what was right. Sam didn't care what story Richard came up with about the bodies, he was just happy that the families, of the deceased, would now be able to get some type of closure.

Sam joined Dean, in the Impala. Satisfied that this hunt had come to an end, the brothers headed down the road, not knowing what they might encounter on their next hunt.

---

Author's note: All mistakes are mine. Constructive criticism is encouraged and appreciated. This is my very first attempt at fanfic. It started off as just a small idea and then, exploded into this. I've enjoyed reading everyone elses' stories and decided to try it myself. I know there is room for improvement; but, I wanted to see what people thought of the story. Thanks for reading it.