"This is a stupid plan," Dean said for the thirtieth time, "Not only is it crazy, it's dangerous, and is probably gonna get us both killed!"
"I know, Dean, you've already told me," Sam said, "Repeatedly. And if you have another plan, I'm happy to hear it."
"Ah, how about a plan that doesn't involve you offering yourself up to a monster that's killed all but one of the people it's attacked?" Dean responded.
"And that's why you're gonna be right by the door," Sam replied, "When the mirror monster starts it attack, you jump in and we take it down together and try to figure out what makes it tick."
"Mirror monster?" Dean repeated, "Is that really what we're calling it?"
"Until we have its actual name," Sam said, then before there could be any more debate on the matter, walked into the bathroom.
Sam looked into the mirror and waited for the transformation William Roberts had described. Nothing happened.
"What's going on in there?!" Dean called from his place just outside of the bathroom.
"Nothing," Sam called back, sounding perplexed, "Nothing at all."
"Really?" Dean asked, stepping into the bathroom.
"Not a shadow in sight," Sam said.
"That's weird," Dean said, "I mean, I'm not complaining, but these things have been attacking anyone that so much as glances at mirror."
"I know," Sam said, "So where is it now?"
Meanwhile, a little bit away, Red had just arrived home. "Abby!" She called out so the babysitter wouldn't panic, "It's just me." She opened the door and entered her living room where Abby, a young woman with brunette hair done up in a ponytail and small blue eyes, was sitting on green leather couch.
"Alice is still asleep," Abby informed Red, getting up, "I was just about to go wake her up."
"That's alright, I'll do it," Red said, "Just let me get out your money for last night and you can be on your way." She thumbed through her purse and pulled out two twenties and handing them to the girl.
"Thanks Ms. Coates," Abby said, then went out the front door shutting it behind her.
Red locked up and then went down the hallway to her daughter's room. She peeked in, and saw a head of smooth red hair peaking out beneath a cocoon of pink sheets. She walked in knelt down by the bed and said, "Alice, Alice sweetie, time to get up."
Alice opened up her eyes and rose up.
"Good morning, sweetie," Red said.
Alice smiled up at her mother. "Good morning, Mommy," The seven-year-old replied sweetly, then seeing the sate of her mother clothing asked, "What happened to your sweater?"
Red looked down at her bloody, ripped-up shirt. "Nothing, baby," Red lied, "Mommy just had a...weird night at work. Look, why don't you get dress while I fix breakfast, okay?"
Red made breakfast and still had time to change into a new shirt. She was making lunch while Alice was brushing her teeth, and thinking she might be able to get a nap in before she had to go with her day job when she heard Alice screaming. She rush towards the bathroom as Alice blotted out, still screaming her head off, her little face stricken with terror.
Red scooped her daughter up in her arms saying, "Alice, baby, what's wrong?"
"There's something scary in the mirror," Alice cried into her mother's cardigan.
Dean's words rang out in Red's mind. "And we haven't even seen the mirror monsters yet..."
Red sat Alice back on the ground. "Alice," She instructed, "Go outside and wait for me. If I'm not out there in ten minutes go to Mrs. Bridges' and tell her to call this number," She handed Alice Dean's number, "They'll know what to do."
Alice rushed away as Red crept over to the bathroom. She poked her head in the door and to her horror found what looked like the head and body of a shadow coming out of the mirror. The creature turned her way, and stepped completely out of the mirror. The shadowy figure was about as tall as Red with a featureless face, two arms that ended in hands, and two legs that ended in toeless feet. As soon as it exited whatever reflective world it lived in, it reached out and grabbed Red's arm. Red pulled back fiercely and struggled against her otherworldly attacker. Despite the creature's superior strength, Red was able to get the upper hand and pin it to the ground. She held the struggling monster for five minutes, but it felt like forever as she fought to keep it on the ground. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, with a violet gush of wind, the it evaporated, sending trails of black smoke past Red.
Still on high-alert, Red leapt up and ran outside. When she saw Alice wasn't there she rushed over to the house across the street and started pounding on the door and shouting, "Mrs. Bridges, Pat! Pat, it's Red! Is Alice in there?!"
Pat Bridges, woman in her mid-forties with graying brown hair opened the door. "Don't worry, Red, Alice just got here," Pat said, gesturing towards her living room where a shaking Alice was sitting on a taupe couch, "She's not making any sense. Has something happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Red assured her, "Can I come inside and use your phone, please?"
"Sure," Pam said, sounding somewhat concerned, letting Red in.
"Mommy!" Alice cried out, running up to Red the second she saw her, and hugging her legs, "You're okay."
"Of course, I'm okay, baby," Red said, stroking her daughters hair, "But I need to call some...new friends of mine so can you let go of me for minute?"
Alice let go and even had the foresight to hand Red the number, but stayed close to Red's side as she went over to the phone and dialed it in. Red anxiously listened to the dial tone for what seemed like forever when at last someone picked up and she heard Dean's voice. "Hello?"
"Dean thank God," Red breathed "You know how you said you hadn't actually seen the ones in the mirror yet?"
Now that Dean thought about it he had mentioned the mirror monsters to Red. "Yeah?" He replied.
Red held grabbed onto her daughter's head and held on tightly, "I've seen one."
Dean drove at ten miles over the speed limit as he and Sam raced to Red's neighborhood. "You sure we got the right place?" Sam asked. The neighborhood was filled with rather nice, brightly painted houses that were probably out of the price-range of a motel night manager.
"Yeah, this where she said to go," Dean said, scanning the houses for the address Red had gave him. Seeing it, he parallel parked in from of a bubble pink house with a perfectly manicured law and rose bushes up against the house. "Not exactly the place you'd think a person named for a primary color would live," Dean thought as he stepped out of the car. Then again, he was almost floored when it came up she had a daughter.
The brothers walked up to the door which Sam knocked. No one answered. Sam knocked again hopping that something hadn't happened after they had hung up with Red. Once again there was nothing. This time Dean jumped in, banging on the door and shouting "Red! Red are you in there?!"
"Red, are you okay?!" Sam jumped in.
Suddenly the door opened and a barely five-foot-tall woman with hair that was half brown, half grey, poked her head out. "Are you the men Red called?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's us," Sam said.
The woman opened the door, gesturing towards her living room. "They're in there," She said.
Sam and Dean walked into the living room where Red was sitting next to a girl that basically a smaller, younger version of her. She had the same red hair, same slender frame, same aquamarine eyes. The only difference aside from age was that the little girl's hair was strait, while Red's was a mass of wild curls.
Red stood up where they came in. "Glad you came guys," Red said, "Thank you so, so much."
"When we hear monster attack we come running," Dean said, "So where did it happen?"
"Not here," Red said, "It was over at my house, I'll take you to it." She turned back the other woman and said, "Pat would mind watching Alice for little bit?"
"Sure thing," Pat replied wondering what the heck was going on.
Red turned her attention back to Alice and said, "Baby, I need to go talk to these men for a few minutes, so I need you to stay with Mrs. Bridges for a little bit."
Alice looked up and nodded, "Yea, Mommy."
Red turned back to Sam and Dean. "Come on," She said, then as they all headed out the door she turned her back and said, "Thanks, Pat."
"Don't mention it," Pat replied.
They walked across the street to a robin's egg blue colonial. "This is your house?" Sam asked as they walked up the front porch steps.
"Yeah," Red answered, "I ...inherited it, so I figured why not move in?" She started to unlock the door, but then remember she had fled in such a hurry that she didn't even lock the door. Walking, in, she looked around, worried because she was obviously now a target of these creatures and she gave them ample opportunity to get in , followed by Sam and Dean.
"Here's where it happened," Red said, leading them into the bathroom.
The men stared at the scene, not knowing what to think because...there wasn't really much of a scene. Combs and beauty product that were scattered across the floor where the only indication anything out of the ordinary had happened.
"So tell us again," Dean said, "What happened exactly?"
"My daughter ran out of the bathroom saying something scary had came out of the mirror," Red explained again, " I sent her outside and went to see if it was still there, and sure enough I saw this-this shadow coming out of the mirror. It was like-like some kind of silhouette of a person. " Red didn't say anything after that, still trying to get her head around what had just happened.
"It's alright," Sam said, "Go on, what happened next?"
"It came at me," Red picked up, "But I was able to pin it down. It was fighting back for...I don't know how long. I thought it was gonna over power me at any second, then suddenly...it just...poof."
"Poof?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, it was just...smoke," Red said.
"Okay," Dean said, processing the information, "So we got shadows that pop out of the mirror and for evaporate without warning." He looked to Sam for help. Sam shrugged, at a lost himself.
"So," Red asked, "What's the plan?"
The brother looked at each other again.
"You're telling me you two have nothing?" Red asked, starting to get upset.
"Actually," Sam said, "I think we have something."
"You know something I don't?" Dean asked.
"Think about Dean," Sam, "We make a plan to lure the mirror monsters out to us-"
"Seriously, man, we have to come up with a better name," Dean interrupted.
Sam shot Dean an annoyed look then continued, "And not only does it not show up after it seemed to have no problem attacking everyone else, but then goes after her and her daughter."
Dean thought over Sam's observation then said, "So you're saying it somehow knew what we were planning and decided not to show up because they knew it was a trap?"
"Yeah, and then maybe went after Red and Alice to get to us," Sam hypothesized.
"How?" Red asked.
"I don't know," Sam said, "They travel through the mirror so maybe Eli was right and they're using it to spy on people."
"But we weren't near a mirror when we came up with the plan," Dean pointed out, "We were still burying the blind ones' from the motel."
Red mauled over that for a second then said, "I think I know how they're doing it."
Dean and Sam's attention instantaneously went to her. When she didn't elaborate Dean said, "Well?"
Red was about to speak when it occurred that if it was right, speaking out loud was the last thing they should do, so she darted into the kitchen where she knew a note pad was. Sam and Dean exchanged confused glances and followed her. "What the Hell are you doing?!" Dean demanded, watching her rummaging through her kitchen, pulling open door and throwing stuff out of them like some sort of lunatic.
"Looking for a note pad," Red explained, throwing a phonebook on the floor.
"Yeah," Red said, tossing a hammer from the junk drawer over her shoulder, nearly hitting Sam, who ducked out of the way.
"Why are you looking for a notepad?" Dean asked.
"I'll tell you when I find it," Red said, then at last she pulled out the coveted pad of yellow blue-lined paper, grabbed a pencil, and started writing.
"Sam, do you think all the recent trauma she's had could have made her crazy?" Dean asked.
"Maybe," Sam whispered over to him.
When she was finished, Red turned the notepad around for the brothers to see. It said : If I'm right, we can't say anything out loud. Nod if you understand.
The two men nodded, though looking like they weren't sure what was going on.
Red pointed down to the next line. You hear all the time about people who lose a sense, then the other senses enhance to compensate, right?
They nodded again.
Red scribbled something else down and held up the paper again. So maybe to compensate for not being able to see, the blind ones are able to hear people's conversations even when they're not actually around.
Both Dean and Sam's eyes widened. "You're serious?" Dean asked at last.
Red nodded.
"How is-" Dean began, then after seeing Sam and Red's scared looks he stuck out his hand and asked, "Can I see the pad for a moment?"
Red held out the pad which Dean took, along with the pencil and wrote down : How is the physically possible?
Seeing what his brother had wrote, Sam held out his hands, indicating he wanted the note pad. "Sam," Dean said, "Use your words."
Sam looked annoyed, saying almost forcefully, "Give me the note pad Dean."
Dean handed over the note pad, which Sam began to write on. When he finished, he flipped it for the others to see. Since when do monsters have to follow the laws of physics?
"Okay, good point," Dean admitted, "So, what do we do then, write everything down forever?"
Sam flipped the note pad back to face them, then flipped it back again. Just until we can kill them.
"Can I have the note pad?" Dean asked.
Sam wordlessly handed over to Dean. Dean wrote down what he had to say then turned it around. Yeah, great except we have no idea how to kill them. I mean, we might be the first hunters to ever encounter these things for crying out loud! Us and Eli, and you know how well it worked out for him.
"Um," Red spoke up, "Can I see the note pad for a minute?"
Dean handed her the note pad. She scribbled her message down then turned it around. Can't you set some sort of trap for them for them or something?
Sam and Dean exchanged look. That might actually work. "Can I have the note pad back?" Dean asked.
Red handed it to him. Dean spent a good several minutes writing down his plan. He finished he turned it around for them to see: Here's the plan. We'll talk about leaving you and Alice here alone tonight. Don't worry, we won't, but hopefully the monsters will believe it and come back to finish the job, than we can catch one of follow it back to where the other monsters are and we can gank them all at once, at least the ones with the physic hearing.
Red held out her and for the one with the note pad. Dean, aware of the procedure by now, handed it back to her. Like so many times before, Red scribbled down her concerns, then turned it around for Sam and Dean to see. And where would Alice be while this was going on?
Dean extended his arm for the note pad, which Red handed to him. "We need to get a better system," Dean thought, as he wrote down his thoughts on the paper. You and Alice will be at the motel, in a room with no mirrors.
Red gestured for the note pad back. Dean handed it back to her wondering what there could be possibly left to talk about.
He soon found out. For Alice, yes, but for me, no, I'm staying with you guys. These things have terrorized my town, nearly killed me, and threatened my child. I'm not taking it anymore, I'm not staying on the side lines anymore. I'm fighting back.
Dean and Sam exchanged looks again. Sam extended his hand for the note-pad. Red, He wrote, Maybe you should go check on Alice while me and Dean talk about this.
Alice looked down in the junk drawer in found of thing of post-its. Sam and Dean looked at each other incredulously. There had been more paper in there the whole time?!
Red walked out of the room, putting the post-it in Sam's hand. "What's it say?" Dean asked.
Sam held it out for his brother to see. Whatever you decide, you can't stop me.
"I think that says it all, don't you?" Sam said.
Sam was right, it did. Red was strong and stubborn, and it she wanted to stay and help she would and there was nothing they could do to stop her.
But then Dean had thought and wrote it down, partly because it was already becoming a habit, partly because he didn't want to catch the monsters catching on. We could tie her to the bed in the motel room, so she can't get herself in trouble.
Sam took the nearby post-its and wrote: Sure that's not gonna freak her kid out and make it so Red won't cooperate with us anymore.
Sarcasm doesn't translate well to writing. Dean wrote back.
Having settled that, they walked over Pat's house where Red was talking to Alice. Both turned their heads when the pair came in. "Alice," Red said, gesturing to each brother in turn, "This is Sam and this is Dean. They're going to help us with what happened this morning."
Alice looked up at them with wide, innocent eyes. "Hi," She said in a small voice.
"Hey, there," Dean said, smiling at her charmingly.
Alice smiled back him.
"Alice go play with Mrs. Bridges while I talk with Sam and Dean." Red instructed her daughter.
The girl obediently jumped up and scurried into the kitchen. They all just stared at each for a moment then Sam broke the silence by saying, "That's a cute kid you got there."
"Thanks," Red said, shifting uncomfortably.
"Looks just like her mom," Dean agreed.
"Did you come over here just to compliment my kid?" Red asked.
"No," Dean said, "You-" Then Dean remembered they were being spied on and gestured for the pad. He wrote something down and handed it to Red.
The note read: You can be part of this, if you do everything we tell you and let us do most of the heavy lifting. We're the professionals remember? And your little girl needs you.
Red looked over to the kitchen where there was a square cut out in the wall so she could see Alice at Pat's kitchen table, eating a cookie. Then she looked back at Dean and Sam and nodded her understanding.
"So," Sam said, "Get Alice settled and we'll meet back-" Sam's voice trailed off and he gestured with his head towards the street and Red's house.
Red nodded again and walked off to the kitchen.
"Some tells me this is going to be a long day," Dean said.