2: Searching For You
Karen Phillips stood inside of her house at her vanity mirror, smiling at herself. She was going to go on a date with a guy she hadn't had the courage to ask out for four months. Now that she was finally able to talk to him, she was going to spend this night looking her best, so that he would like her too. She thought for sure, if she was polite, good looking and if she smiled a lot, she would surely catch his attention. She put her brush down and looked into the mirror, smiling at her reflection. She had never felt so happy, never so great. This was the best day of her life.
Until she was grabbed from behind by a red skinned beast with the head of a hog and the horns of a ram.
He threw her to the ground, and Karen cried out, thinking that she was being attacked. The beast couldn't stand the sound of her screaming, so he took her head in his hands and snapped it back, breaking her neck. Karen's body went limp just as the door opened and Dean stepped inside. He started for the girl, but the demon put his hand out and Dean became pinned to the wall, unable to move. The demon told him, "Her soul is mine."
Dean struggled to get off of the wall while the beast leaned down to get a better look at the girl. He was about to take her soul when the window shattered to his left, and in came the girl that Dean had seen at the bar the day before. Her transparent blue eyes stared right at the demon, and she held up a medieval sword that was double edged. The demon smiled and gurgled, "We finally meet, Sedona."
"I've been waiting for this day," Sedona replied.
"You're too late anyway," the demon said.
He took a letter opener from the table and threw it at Sedona. It went into her skull, nearly slicing it in half. She pulled out the opener and said, "What was that for?"
The demon put out his hand and the double edged sword went into Sedona, pinning her into the wall. The demon leaned down for Karen again, but Sedona wasn't about to give up. She pulled herself out of the wall, and with the sword still in her body, she ran up to the demon and ran into him, stabbing the other edge of the sword through him. She clung to him as he took a few steps back, then he started leaning forward. Sedona said, "No, backward!"
The demon continued to lean forward until he slumped on the bed, with Sedona underneath him. She couldn't get herself out, with the sword still through her, and Dean was finally freed. He got off of the wall, went to Karen and put his hand on her cheek. A light came out of her and into his hand, and her soul was free. Then he got up and went to Sedona, smiling. She looked up at him with hateful eyes, not returning the humor. He laughed and said, "You look stuck."
"If you're going to make fun of me, you can just leave," Sedona said.
"Fine," Dean started to leave.
"Wait, Dean, please help," Sedona said, a little brashly.
"So you want my help now?" Dean asked.
"Look, just help me or leave," Sedona answered.
Dean went up to the sword and pulled it out, then he pushed the demon off of her. He noticed where the sword had gone in, through Sedona's stomach, and it looked like some of the demon's black blood had gotten in the wound. Sedona got up and started to leave, so Dean asked, "What, no thank you?"
"Bite me," Sedona answered, making Dean smile.
He got back to the Mustang, and when he was ready to go, he noticed his father's journal was open. He looked around, saying to himself, "I didn't open this."
When he looked at the page it was open to, he saw the name Ellen, along with an address. He wondered if either someone was telling him something, or if it was a joke, but decided to go ahead with it anyway. He headed in the direction of the address, hoping that he would find someone.
When he got to the Roadhouse, he went inside, asking, "Ellen? Is there an Ellen here?"
There was a man asleep on top of a bar table, but no one else was in sight. Dean looked around, thinking that this was beginning to look like a lost cause. He tapped the man's shoulder and asked, "Excuse me, you know an Ellen?"
The man rolled over, and put a gun to Dean's face. Two more women, one brunette and one blond, came out from the back with guns pointed at him as well. The brunette asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Dean Winchester, my father told me to come find you," Dean lied.
Everyone put their guns down, then the brunette said, "I'm Ellen. This is Jo and Ash."
She pointed at the blond as Jo and the man on the table as Ash. Dean put his hand out for Ash to shake, and he did. He also had an eye on Jo, but not because he disliked her. Ellen said to him, "I thought you would've been here earlier."
"I got tied up with other things," Dean replied.
Ellen asked him, "Do you have some of your father's things? Ash here can take a look at them and help you track the demon."
Dean looked at the mullet that Ash was sporting, and declined, saying, "I think I can do it."
"Don't let my good looks fool you, I can track any demon," Ash replied.
Dean decided to give it a shot, because he had nothing to lose. He went to the car, got his things and brought them back. Ellen looked them over, then she handed the work to Ash. He spent some time on it, then he said, "Give me some time to look it over, and I'll get back to you with results."
"I've got something for you as well," Ellen went out the side door.
Ash left to the back, so it was just Dean and Jo. She walked up to him and asked, "So, what brings you out here."
"Lots of things," Dean replied.
"You want another reason?" she asked, watching him with fire in her eyes.
Dean got up and kissed her, then she jumped up on the bar to get a better feel of him. They were making out fast and furious, not taking any consideration to anyone else who may walk in on them, when Dean suddenly pulled away, saying, "I can't do this."
"What? Why?" Jo asked.
"I just can't," Dean answered, starting to leave.
"That isn't a good reason, Dean. Just tell me straight," Jo said.
Dean turned around to tell her something that he had made up, but he suddenly saw Sam standing behind her. Dean looked at him and asked, "Sammy?"
He started toward him, but Jo had turned around and saw no one there. She asked him, "Who are you talking to?"
"Sam!" Dean said.
"There's nobody there!" Jo replied.
Dean turned to look at her, not understanding why she didn't see him, then when he turned back, Sam was gone. Now Dean really wanted to leave. He started for the door, but Ellen came out at that moment and said, "I think you should take a look at this case."
Dean took the folder and went out the door as fast as he could, not looking back. When he got in the car, he opened the folder to see articles about some kind of a mysterious clown. He saw the name Cooper Carnival, and it gave a recent location. He started that way, trying to forget what he saw, but it was seared into his brain. He was on the road, driving wherever he could when he suddenly slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of the road. He got out, and saw a giant rock next to a lake. He started punching the rock as hard as he could, letting his knuckles crack and then heal themselves immediately so that he could break them again.
When he had finished punching the rock, he heard the voice of Charlie behind him say, "I'm glad you are finally trying to deal with it."
"What?" Dean asked, turning to face him.
"I thought you were never going to release that rage you had over your father and brother's death. You're making progress Dean," Charlie said.
"What the hell do you know?" Dean said, starting to get back to the car.
"I see you're going to check something out. You have a folder in the passenger seat, and it says something about an evil clown," Charlie replied.
"Maybe I want to help some people for once, alright?" Dean said.
"I have no problem with that, but know that there are others that will need you, so don't take too much time on one case when others will be on the way," Charlie replied.
Dean got into his car and drove off, leaving Charlie on the road. When he finally made it to the carnival, he felt better, although he was still upset about what he saw. He got out of the car and was immediately met by a little person. The man barely reached Dean's waist, and he was wearing a tux that was very nicely made. He had short black hair, a black beard, and brown eyes. He put out his hand to Dean and said, "I'm Herb, and I'm a soul catcher."
Dean shook his hand, but with some resistance. Herb let go and gave him an angry look, saying, "What? You think little people can't be fallen angels?"
"No, it's not that, I just..." Dean tried to recover.
"Everybody thinks they can judge others, when they haven't even properly judged themselves," Herb said, walking away.
Dean looked for the trailer that said the name of the owner, Cooper, then he knocked on the door. An older man opened the door and led him inside, saying, "You must be the new help."
"No, I'm just here to ask some questions. I'm writing an article about the carnival," Dean said.
"What do you need to ask? We've got all the acts, tarot readers, knife throwers, acrobats, clowns," Cooper rattled them off.
"Actually, I was looking for an old time clown. He kind of looks like he's from the 80's, maybe older," Dean said.
Cooper looked at him for a moment, then he said, "I'm sorry, we don't have any old time clowns here, just the new ones."
"There were some problems you had with clowns in the 80's, or at least that's what some old articles said that I looked up about you," Dean said.
"Look, I don't care what kind of article you write, but the past is the past and it should be left that way," Cooper said.
Dean got up and started to leave, saying, "You're right, I'll let my publishers know that nothing like that will happen again."
"You better believe it," Cooper pointed out.
Before he left, Dean turned back to Cooper and said, "You know, my brother hated clowns."
"A lot of people do. I don't know why, they don't cause any harm," Cooper said.
"Yeah, that's what I used to tell him," Dean replied.
When he got outside, he saw a woman pass him with a gypsy gown on in blue, and she was covered in jewelry, with her curly red hair tied back. She had soft brown eyes, and she was looking distraught. There was the ghost of a man behind her, and he was talking to her but she wasn't hearing him. The man was saying, "I'm sorry! Please listen to me, Rita!"
Dean saw the woman go into a trailer not far from him, and the man remained outside. Dean went up to him and asked, "What's going on?"
"She won't listen to me! I just want to tell her I'm sorry!" he said.
"I'll let her know for you," Dean replied.
"Thanks, that would be really great. What do I do now?" he asked.
"There should be a light somewhere. Go to it," Dean answered.
The man looked around, and near the Ferris Wheel, he said, "There it is."
He went to it, while Dean went inside of the trailer. It was the tarot trailer, complete with the crystal ball on the table, the last place he wanted to be. He sat down across from the woman, and she wiped her eyes, saying, "Would you like your palm read?"
She took his palm in her hands, but Dean told her, "No, I was just wondering what was wrong. You seem upset."
She looked up at him, and although at first she was reluctant, she seemed to warm up to him in moments, as though his face was something she needed to see. She asked him, "Could I tell you a secret?"
"Absolutely," Dean answered.
"I'm pregnant, and the man who gave me this gift, he's dead. He left me with debts to pay, enemies, and everything that he had done bad in his life. I don't know what to do anymore," she replied.
Dean looked into her eyes, then he knew what he had to say. He told her, "I think things will be better for you in time. You just wait."
She laughed a little, but the words seemed to comfort her. She smiled, then she looked down at his palm and her face became distraught again. She whispered, "Sam."
"What?" Dean asked.
"You should leave now," she said, releasing his hand.
"But what about..." Dean began.
"No, you should leave now," she answered.
Dean got out of the trailer, not understanding what happened. Herb was waiting for him, and he said, "You've been here ten minutes, and already you've pissed two people off."
"Don't start with me, I'm trying my best," Dean began.
He looked up and he noticed a little girl taking the hand of a clown that was dressed in old time clothes. He started for the clown, and Herb followed him, saying, "Wait for me!"
Dean ran into the maze, and when he got inside, he realized what a mistake it was. There were mirrors everywhere, and it was very confusing. He started walking, calling out, "Where are you demon?"
He thought he saw the little girl in one of the mirrors, so he ran in that direction, but he lost her. He could hear the wicked laughing of a clown, and he knew that the clown was nearby. He looked around, then he thought he saw Sam in another mirror. He went in that direction, asking, "Sam?"
He almost ran into the mirror, then he turned around and saw John in another mirror. He ran toward it, saying, "Dad?"
The mirror shattered before he could get to it, then when he turned around every mirror was of Sam or John. Dean became confused, ready to cry out to no one that he wasn't understanding, when he thought he saw the clown pass by one of the mirrors. He went in that direction, and found a curtain to a back room. He went through the curtain, but what he found was Herb against the far wall, and the little girl standing next to Sedona. The clown was on Sedona, as though he were taking something from her. She looked very sick, and the wound on her stomach from earlier looked much more serious. Dean went to the clown and shoved him off of Sedona. Herb just stared at Sedona, while she handed Dean a brass knife and said, "Kill him with this."
Dean went toward the clown, but the clown clawed him across the face. The claw marks healed in seconds, then Dean put up the knife. The little girl screamed as Dean stabbed the knife into the clown. The clown shriveled up into a charred mess, then he fell to the ground. The little girl started to cry, so Dean went to her and picked her up in his arms, then he took her to the exit door and opened it, saying, "Go find your mom."
She ran out the exit, then he came back to Sedona. She looked sick, some of her veins black as night. She put her hand on the clown, and a black light came out of him and into her hand. Dean started to pick her up in his arms, but Herb warned him, "Don't Dean."
"Why not?" Dean asked.
"We don't deal with her kind," Herb answered.
Dean didn't listen to him. Instead, he carried her out the door and to his car, then he brought her to a nearby motel. He asked her, "What do you need?"
"Just a place to rest for the night," Sedona answered.
He carried her into the motel room and set her down on the first bed, then he went to the bathroom to look for medicine. He found some alcohol in the bathroom, so he took it and started back to her. He thought he saw something in the mirror, so he turned to look at it, but nothing was there. He went back to the room and put some alcohol on a pad and began wiping the wound. Sedona flinched, but didn't cry out. He cleaned up the wound, but he wasn't sure if it was doing anything. He remembered his dad's journal was still in the car, so he went outside to get it. There he saw Charlie by his car. Dean said, "I don't have time to deal with you right now."
"Dean, you shouldn't be helping her," Charlie began.
"Why not?" Dean asked.
"She's a different kind of angel," Charlie answered.
"I don't care, I'm going to help her," Dean said.
"You don't know what you're doing," Charlie replied.
"Look, I don't want to..." Dean turned to argue, but Charlie was gone.
He just went back to the room, ready to save at least one person in all of this. No matter what was happening to him, he was going to make things right.