"Did you get her number?" Dean joked as he walked over to Sam staring at small woman in a clown costume.
"More murders?" Sam asked ignoring Deans joke.
"Two more last night. Apparently, they were ripped to shreds, and they had a little boy with them" Dean explained as they leant against a railing that went around a ride at the circus.
"Who fingered a clown" Sam said making Dean pause slightly and look over at him.
"What?" Sam asked confused.
"Yes, a clown, who apparently vanished into thin air" Dean explained.
"Dean, you know, looking for a cursed object, it's like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. It could be anything" Sam said frustrated.
"Well, it's bound to give off EMF. So we'll just have to scan everything" Dean said with a shrug.
"Oh, good. That's nice and inconspicuous" Sam said sarcastically.
"I guess we'll just have to blend in" Dean said looking over at a 'help wanted' sign. They walked over to the tent and saw a man throwing knives into a board.
"Excuse me. We're looking for a Mr. Cooper. Have you seen him around?" Dean called out.
"What is that? Some kind of joke?" The man replied taking off his sunglasses to reveal he was blind.
"Oh, god, I'm sorry" Dean apologized awkwardly.
"You think I wouldn't give my eyeteeth to see Mr. Cooper or a sunset or anything at all?" The Blind man snapped.
"Want to give me a little help here?" Dean asked Sam softly.
"Not really" Sam said amused.
"Hey, Barry, is there a problem?" A midget working for the circus asked as he walked into the tent.
"Yeah, this guy hates blind people" The Blind guy said annoyed.
"No, I don't" Dean said trying to defend himself.
"Hey, buddy, what's your problem?" The midget demanded.
"Nothing. It's just a little misunderstanding" Dean said firmly.
"Little? You son of a bitch" The Midget said getting angry while Sam watched amused and Dean was flustered.
"No, no, no! Could somebody tell me where Mr. Cooper is? Please?" Dean begged and they pointed out of the tent and to a small caravan. Dean and Sam quickly left the tent and walked over to the caravan.
"You boys picked a hell of a time to join up. Take a seat. We got all kinds of local trouble" Mr. Cooper said as he let Dean and Sam into his office. Dean looked at the seats at the desk and there was one normal seat and one clown seat. Dean rushed over and sat on the normal chair forcing Sam to sit uncomfortably on the clown chair.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked smirking at Sam's discomfort.
"A couple of folks got themselves murdered. Cops always seem to start here first. So, you two ever work the circuit before?" Mr. Cooper asked.
"Uh, yes, sir. Last year through Texas and Arkansas" Sam replied.
"Doing what? Ride jockeys? Pull shoot? A-And-S men?" Mr. Cooper asked.
"Yeah, it's a... little bit of everything, I guess" Sam lied badly making Mr. Cooper give them a knowing look.
"You two have never worked a show in your lives before, have you?" Mr. Cooper asked.
"Nope. But we really need the work. And Sam here's got a thing for the bearded lady" Dean joked making Sam give a look saying 'what the fuck?'.
"You see that picture? That's my daddy" Mr. Cooper said pointing to a picture above his head.
"You look just like him" Sam said kindly.
"He was in the business. Ran a freak show 'til they outlawed them most places. Apparently displaying the deformed isn't dignified. So, most of the performers went from honest work to rotting in hospitals and asylums. That's progress, I guess. You see, this place is a refuge for outcasts. Always has been. For folks that don't fit in nowhere else. But you two... You should go to school, find a couple of girls, have 2.5 kids, live regular" Mr. Cooper said making Dean think of Kaylee again and blink away some tears while Sam leant forward.
"Sir... we don't want to go to school. And we don't want regular. We want this" Sam said firmly making Dean look at him curiously. Mr. Cooper gave them the job and they left his office quickly.
"What?" Sam asked Dean who was looking at him weirdly.
"That whole "I don't want to go back to school" thing, you just... you were just saying that to Cooper, or were you, you know, saying it?" Dean asked
"I don't know" Sam said sighing.
"You don't know? I thought that once the demon was dead and the fat lady sings that you were gonna take off, head back to wussy state" Dean said confused.
"I'm having second thoughts" Sam said making Dean stop walking.
"Really?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I think... Dad would have wanted me to stick to the job" Sam said making Dean annoyed.
"Since when do you give a damn what dad wanted? You spent half your life doing exactly what he didn't want" Dean snapped.
"Since he died, okay? You have a problem with that?" Sam replied firmly.
"No, I don't have a problem at all" Dean said walking off. Dean and Sam spent the next few hours checking everything in the circus for EMF readings but found nothing.
….
"Hello?" Dean said picking up his phone.
"Hey, man" Sam said from outside the fun house at the circus.
"What's the matter? You sound like you just saw a clown" Dean joked.
"Very funny. Skeleton, actually" Sam admitted.
"Like a real human skeleton?" Dean asked confused.
"In the fun house. Listen, I was thinking. What if the spirit isn't attached to a cursed object? What if it's attached to its own remains?" Sam suggested.
"Did the bones give off EMF?" Dean asked
"Well, no, but..." Sam started to say.
"We should check it out anyway. I'm heading to you" Dean said hanging up and was about to walk towards the fun house when the blind man from earlier stopped him.
"What are you doing here, kid?" He asked seriously.
"Just sweeping" Dean said confused.
"Bull. And what were you talking about? Skeletons? What's EMF?" He asked.
"Dude, your blind-Man hearing is out of control" Dean said looking at him.
"We're a tight-Knit group. We don't like outsiders. We take care of our own problems" He explained simply.
"We got a problem?" Dean asked annoyed.
"You tell me. You're the one talking about human bones" The Blind man said simply.
"Do you believe in ghosts? My brother and me... We're writing a book about them" Dean lied before leaving the Blind man and finding Sam near the fun house.
"What took you so long?" Sam said annoyed.
"Long story" Dean grumbled annoyed.
"Mommy, look at the clown" A young girl said nearby making both Sam and Dean pause and look over at the young black haired girl.
"What clown?" The mother asked confused as she looked to wear the daughter was pointing but didn't see anyone. The daughter looked back to where she saw the clown but it had disappeared.
"Come on, sweetie. Come on" The mother said pulling the daughter away with Sam and Dean following closely behind them. They followed the family back to their house and sat outside in the car until sundown.
"Dean, I cannot believe You told Papasan about the homicidal phantom clown" Sam said to Dean after Dean told him about the conversation he had with the Blind Man.
"I told him an urban legend about a homicidal phantom clown. I never said it was real. Keep it down. Oh, and get this. I mentioned the Bunker Brothers Circus in '81 and their evil-clown apocalypse. Guess what" Dean said as they continued to watch the house.
"What?" Sam asked.
"Before Mr. Cooper owned Cooper carnival, he worked for the Bunker Brothers. He was their lot manager" Dean explained.
So, you think whatever's the spirit attached to Cooper just brought it with him?" Sam asked curiously.
"Something like that" Dean said shrugging.
"I can't believe we keep talking about clowns" Dean muttered as they kept a lookout on the house. Over the next few hours they took turns sleeping but Dean's dreams we're nightmares as he dreamt of Demon John shooting Kaylee while he was forced to watch. He was thankful when Sam woke him up because the lights in the house turned on and they saw the daughter walk to the back door. They broke into the house through the front door and waited for the girl and the clown to walk past them. Sam grabbed the girl making her scream while Dean shot the clown. The daughter kept screaming as Dean watched the clown stand back up.
"Sam, watch out!" Dean called out before the clown jumped through the glass door and disappeared.
"What's going on in here? Oh, my god! What do you do to my daughter! Get away from my kid!" The father yelled as he and mother came into the room to find Sam holding the daughter. Sam immediately let go off the girl and ran out of the house with Dean.
….