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ETERNAL

Chapter 6

"I hate this stupid house!" Dean exclaimed, running into yet another dead end. It had been over an hour since he had over heard Charlotte and Margaret's conversation and he had yet to find Sam and Kerri. It wasn't that he was worried about his brother getting jumped by a bunch of old ladies, it was just that he was really sick and tired of being trapped in a space all of two feet wide.

He couldn't believe that there was no way out of his self imposed prison. What did the plumbers do, live in the damn wall? He growled as he continued through the narrow passages on his search for another vent, not even caring if he could be heard. There were so many more guests there than he had originally thought, and he was sure that any sounds within the wall would be easily dismissed.

"Exclusive party my ass." He continued to complain, having counted no less than one hundred people on his last pass, and he knew that there was probably a lot more that he just couldn't find.

It was a joke really, the entire stupid hunt. He and Sam would have had better luck telling the guy that they were exterminators and just 'accidently' break whatever the hell was causing all the problems. But no, he had to be clever, he had to involve Kerri, and he felt like kicking himself. And he probably would have if he could have lifted his damn leg high enough in the small space.

He sighed out in relief when he saw the light shinning through a small grate up ahead, it wasn't much, but at least it was something. He made his way to it a quickly as he could, kneeling down and peering out into the large room. After several minutes of searching he cursed beneath his breath. There, mere feet from where he was hiding was Kerri, as she was very much alone.

He closed his eyes, trying for patients. He didn't know if he should be mad at Sam, or sympathize with the guy, because Dean was pretty sure that Kerri had wandered off on her own. One thing was for sure, he was really going to have to have a talk with her about that. Lord only knew what could be waiting around the corner, ready to jump out a grab her. She always took too many risks, it was a trait that she had apparently had since birth. Her father would often say that, if there was a harder way to do something then Kerri would sure as hell find it.

Dean scanned the halls around his friend, searching for anyone, or anything sinister amid the heavily jeweled party guests. But nothing seemed out of place, well nothing other than a twenty nine year old girl stuck at a party with a bunch of sixty year olds.

Kerri was only a few feet away from Dean's location, the halls around her strangely empty. She looked a bit lost, standing just a foot or two from the wall, a small glass of something red held in her hands. Her deep blue eyes were scanning every inch of the ornate walls, almost as though she could stare through them, see what others simply could not see. But, for all her keen observational skills, she still nearly screamed when Dean called out her name.

He held in a laugh as he watcher her turning on the spot, obviously trying to decided if she had heard him or not. Just when it seemed that she had dismissed the call as imagined Dean called her again, eliciting the same response.

"I'm over here." He whispered, trying to keep his location a secret.

"Over where?" Kerri asked, still searching the hall.

"Near the floor behind the nice, shinny grate."

Kerri turned and stared down at the vent for a moment, almost as though she were trying to decide if he was lying or not. She then did a quick scan of the hall before leaning down and pretending to fix her shoe.

"Dean, what the hell are you doing in there?"

"Uh, backing you up."

"Through a foot high vent. Wouldn't it be easier to just sneak around the place?"

"Oh well, yes it would, if I could find a way out of the freaking wall!"

"Wait." Kerri smiled, realization finally dawning on her. "You're stuck in there?"

"It's not funny."

"Oh it's not?"

"No, it's not. Have you seen any vents bigger than this?"

"No, but I haven't really been looking."

"What have you been looking for?"

"If you must know, I'm looking for Sam."

"What? Where the hell'd he go?"

"If I knew that, then I wouldn't be looking for him."

"I told you not to spilt up."

"That's easier said than done, Dean. There's like two hundred people here and apparently your brother and me are the main attractions."

"What about Bramhurst?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since we got here."

As if on cue, the millionaire's voice rang out through the hallway, sending chills down both hunters' spines. The older man was slowly but steadily making his way down the long hall, shaking hands as he went. Dean's eyes grew wide in horror when he saw Kerri move to stand.

"Don't talk to him!" Dean hissed though the grate, cursing the fact that there was nothing he could do.

"Dean, I have to."

"Just pretend you don't see him."

Kerri just rolled her eyes as the man drew ever closer. "Just find your brother, I'll be fine."

"Kerri." William smiled when he finally made it to her side, offering her a hand up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just fixing my shoe."

"I'm surprised your husband let you wander around by yourself. He seemed rather… attached before."

"Well, we actually don't like to be separated. I went to freshen up and I kind of lost my way back."

Dean had to roll his eyes at the lame excuse, what the hell was she thinking. He really had to teach her how to think better on her feet.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that I found you." Bramhurst smiled, taking Kerri by the arm.

If he could have Dean would have busted through the wall like a B-horror movie robot, ready to take down whatever lay on the other side. But, as it was, he didn't have enough space to build up the necessary speed to launch his attack. And so, he was forced to sit inside the wall and listen. But hell, if worse came to worse, he did have his .45 and he was pretty sure that that didn't need a running start to work its magic.

"Yes, actually, I saw him wandering through one of the south halls. I believe he was looking for you. Come, I'll bring you over to him." William smiled again, eyeing the girl like she was made of gold.

He pulled her slightly closer, her resistance not lost on Dean. The elder Winchester quickly climbed to his feet when he saw the man wrap his strong arm tighter around Kerri's thin one, leading her away. He just hoped to god that Sam was actually in the south hall. But, if he wasn't, grate or not, if that man tried anything, he'd be dead before he hit the floor. Of that, Dean Winchester was certain.

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"Gotta find Kerri, Gotta find Kerri." Sam kept repeating quietly to himself as he scanned the corridor, cursing at the number of people that were milling about. How the hell had he managed to lose her? He had only turned his back for what, two minutes, and she had somehow managed to vanish.

He didn't know if she had just wandered off on her own like she had suggested before, or if she had been taken. Either way, he was going to find her, and then he wasn't going to let go of her for anything. He had lost too many people he cared about to the hunt, had see too many lives cut short long before their times, and he wasn't about to let Kerri become someone else that he lost, or someone that his brother lost.

Sam wasn't blind, he knew that Kerri meant a lot to his big brother, knew that she was someone who understood him better than anyone else. Because, not only was she his best friend and the same age, but she had gone through everything that he had as a child. Kerri was an older sibling to one of the 'special' kids, Evelyn, and Kerri had to step in and take care of her after their mother had passed.

But, Sam knew, it was more than that. Dean had seen her hurt, had already lived through the terror of losing her, and that had left serious scars on the older hunter's heart. Dean had been so young back then, eleven, but he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, carried the responsibilities of an adult when he was still just a small child. He had found himself trapped in a hunt while their fathers were away, and it was a hunt that had almost cost Kerri her life.

And then, five years later, they had left her family for good, and look what had come of it. Evelyn and Tom Harrison were dead, and Kerri had been left alone for years. No, Sam knew that he had to find her before anything happened. Because, if she got hurt, he knew that his brother would never forgive him.

"Why hello there, young man." Sam turned when he felt a hand on his arm, a woman, old enough to be his mother attached to the other end of it.

"Uh, hi?" Sam began awkwardly, shifting out of her grip, her eyes rolling over every inch of him. "Can I help you?"

"Of course you can, honey."

Sam's mouth opened and closed a few times, his mind suddenly moving a lot slower than normal. 'Did that woman just say what I think she said?' "I'm looking for my wife actually, she's about five seven, long dark red hair, blue eyes." Sam began, hoping that the mention of his 'wife' would get this woman to leave him alone.

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Yeah, well, I just wanna find her." He tried to move away, but the woman before him just gripped his forearm, tightly.

"You know, I think I saw her go off with William a few minutes ago."

Sam's mind was screaming, he needed to get away, he needed to get to Kerri. "Bramhurst?"

"The very same." She answered coyly, moving her finger up and down his arm.

"Could you tell me where they went?" Sam asked as politely as he could, finally managing to wrestle his arm away from her.

"East corridor, heading towards the private quarters." The way she emphasized the last part of the sentence made Sam sick. This woman was spreading rumors, vicious ones, just because she wanted to get him alone. It was sick, and twisted, and he suddenly found a whole new level of contempt that he had never known before.

"Thank you for your help." Sam walked away as fast as he could, turning his back on the woman before she even had a chance t reply. At that moment, all he wanted to do was find Kerri and then get the hell out of dodge.

Dean had yet to turn up and everyone else in that building was against them. The people there were acting for their own personal gain and Sam knew that it was going to get in the way of the hunt, make everything that much more dangerous. Hell, if worse came to worse, he could pull a Dean and come back another night and burn the whole place to the ground. Antiques and all.

"Sammy." Sam stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around the nearly empty hallway, but his whispered name seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Sammy, over here."

"Dean?"

"No, I'm the ghost of christmas past!"

"Where the hell are you?" Sam whispered, wondering how in the hell Dean had become invisible.

"Turn…… turn…… turn….. Stop there. Look at your knees."

Sam looked down and saw a small vent about a foot and a half by a foot. At first glance there was nothing special about the small piece of metal, but on closer inspection he saw a familiar set of green eyes peering through it.

"How the hell did you get in there?"

"Am I in the south hall?" Dean sounded as though he were asking what train went east, and Sam couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny."

"Nothing."

"Can you please just answer my question." Dean shot back, annoyed.

"Yes, Dean, you are in the south hall. Why do you care?"

"Because I was just talking to Kerri, nice job watching her by the way, and Bramhurst came over and took her to the south hall because he said you were there. Which, you are, so I guess he wasn't lying."

"And you didn't stop him."

"I'm at a little bit of a disadvantage here."

"Well, why don't you get out of the wall."

"Because I can't. None of the stupid vents are big enough. Stop laughing at me. Because of your crappy look out skills she just got kidnapped my Mr. Snooty Von Get-in-her-pants."

"Dean, I turned around for like a minute. That girl's like a freaking Houdini. And then some weird lady started hitting on me."

"Charlotte?"

"What! What do you know that you're not tell me?"

"Can we do this later? Kerri's supposed to be over here somewhere."

"Well, Charlotte, told me that she saw them going down the east corridor to the private quarters, but she could have been lying. Which hall were you in when you saw her?"

"Well you see, Sammy, when you get stuck inside a wall, it really throws off your sense of direction."

"You know, this was your idea."

"Blah, blah, blah."

"How long ago did you see them?"

"I don't know. Ten, fifteen minutes, tops."

"Then they should have been here already. I've been standing by this hall for the past half hour, I would have seen them pass. They must be in the east corridor."

"Why would he tell her south?"

"I don't know. Was she talking to a vent when he found her?"

"Maybe."

"Look, Dean. I think he's on to us. Or suspects us or something. I'm gonna go to the east hall, you just work on getting yourself out of there. Maybe some crunches would help."

"Bite me."

Sam was just about the head down the hall when the lights flickered and dimmed, the voices of the other guests rising in confusion.

"What was that?" Sam asked, turning towards Dean.

"Probably the storm. Look, just find Kerri, I'll meet you over there."

"Alright. And Dean, if anything happens, just call the phones. I think the time to be discreet is over."

"Be careful, Sam." Dean called to his brother's retreating back. Hoping against hope that Kerri was alright.