Chapter 2

Sam was tying his sneakers when Dean stuck his head around the door frame to see what he was doing.

"You 'bout ready Sammy? I figure we can grab some food and check the place out before riding some rides and playing some games," Dean told his brother. "Bet I can beat all those rigged games again."

"Yes, give me a second," Sam grunted, not that thrilled about having to go to the carnival.

"Man! I can't wait," Dean gushed rubbing his hands together in delight. "I can taste the carnival food already."

"Control yourself," Sam replied rolling his eyes.

"If you play your cards right Sammy, maybe I'll sneak you into to the exotic dancers' tents and let you see a little skin," Dean teased.

"Ewe, gross!" Sam spat at him. "That's just disgusting and no thank you."

"Awe, come on Sammy, don't you wanna expand on your sex education and see the real thing?"

"No," Sam stated firmly as he got into the Impala and slammed the door harder than needed.

"Hey! Easy on my Baby," Dean complained. "She doesn't like being treated that way."

"You know your obsession with the Impala is not healthy."

"Really Sammy? Don't you listen to him sweetheart," Dean cooed to the Impala as he stroked her dash. "He doesn't know what he's talking about." He cranked her and listened to the car roar to life before settling into a steady rumble. "That's my baby."

Sam didn't say anything as he shook his head and snorted at Dean's comments. He slunk down in the passenger seat and watched out the window as Dean drove down the driveway to the main road into town.

When they got closer to where the carnival was set up, the traffic became more congested with folks from neighboring towns coming to it. Dean followed the directions from the people who were directing parking for the event and parked.

"Can you feel it Sammy?" Dean questioned as he got out of the Impala and took in all the sights and sounds.

"Feel what?" Sam asked glancing around to see what he missed.

"Drink in the atmosphere bro. There's a sense of magic in the air. Listen to the music, doesn't it excite you?" Dean shivered as he drew in a long breath and sighed deeply. He slung an arm around Sam's shoulders and fell in with the others that were walking toward the lights and music.

"Not really," Sam shrugged looking at the entrance to the carnival. People were making their way to the booth to get a ticket to go inside. He waited to the side as Dean paid for two tickets before falling in step with him to go through the gates.

Dean tried to look at everything as his head swiveled around and he turned to take it all in. He was like a kid in a candy shop, not knowing what to look at first.

"C'mon Sammy, my nose is telling me the food is this way," Dean told him as he began to walk down the main section of the carnival. It didn't take him long to find the vendors selling all kinds of food and stopped to survey his options. "Oh man, a turkey leg is calling my name. You want one Sammy?"

"No, I don't think so," Sam grimaced as Dean got in line to get one.

"Here," Dean told him handing him some money. "Get what you want and meet me over at the tables. Don't go wandering off," he added in a big brother voice.

"Alright," Sam replied taking the money and looking at the offerings of food. None of it was really to his liking, but he finally settled on a chicken kabob, homemade fries, and a fresh squeezed lemonade. Sam carefully made his way to the rows of tables that were nearby and took a seat as he gazed out at the crowd for Dean. He finally saw him and stood to wave so he could see him.

"Did you see the deep fried twinkies and fried apple pies? Man, I wish we could get food like this every day."

"Yeah and you'll be dying young dude or be the size of a barn."

"But what a way to go," Dean sighed as he took a large bite of turkey leg. "Soooo good…"

"Dude! Chew with your mouth closed," Sam hissed at him as he gave him his best bitch face. He had been working on it for a while now and thought he had it down pat.

Dean smiled showing the food he was chewing just to irritate his little brother. He knew what pissed Sam off and enjoyed teasing him just to rile him up. Wasn't that what big brothers were supposed to do?

"Jerk," Sam mumbled under his breath.

"Come on Sammy, you need to loosen up and enjoy yourself instead of being a little bitch."

"Whatever," Sam grumbled as he ignored his brother and ate his food. "You should get a lemonade, it's really good."

"Let me try it."

"No! Get your own," Sam fussed pulling his drink away from Dean's grasp. "I don't need your germs contaminating my drink."

"You're such a wuss," Dean snorted as he took a bite of grilled corn on the cob and hummed his delight. He smacked his lips and continued to eat. He watched his brother as he ate his food, being all prim and proper about it thinking Sammy needed to relax and just have some fun. Dean knew he was starting through the teen years and rebelling against everyone, especially their Dad.

Once they were finished with their food, the brothers threw away their trash and washed their hands at a portable washing station and then strolled back toward the main part of the carnival. Dean stopped at a ticket booth and bought a hand full of tickets so they could play games and ride rides. They started on one side and slowly worked their way down the tents, stands, and games.

"Check this out Sammy," Dean told him, stopping at a ring the bell to test your strength game. He waited for the guy ahead of him to finish up and gave the gaffer a couple of tickets. He picked up the hammer and tested it for a moment before stepping up to the platform.

Sam watched his brother closely seeing Dean was quickly figuring the game out in his head as he shifted the hammer back and forth in his hands for a moment. He knew how smart his brother was and knew he could work out the tricks of the trade. He held his breath as Dean braced himself before swinging the hammer into the air and bringing it down on the plate with all his weight behind it and sent a metal ball upward to hit a bell making it ding loudly.

"We have a winner!" the worker announced loudly before reaching for a stuffed animal to give Dean.

"You did it," Sam exclaimed happily slapping Dean on the arm as he let out the breath he was holding.

"Did you ever doubt me? Here, hang on to this." Dean shoved the stuffed animal into Sam's arms and headed to the next game to see if he wanted to play it. "Come on Sammy, keep up."

The next game was dart throwing which Dean had no trouble winning again. He passed the stuffed animal to Sam who frowned at being the holder of the prizes.

"Here we go Sammy, you can do this one," Dean decided pulling him to the counter and laying the tickets down to play. He leaned close to Sam's ear and whispered, "The gun sight is slightly off, aim a little higher than you need to."

Sam picked up the bb gun and checked it out before putting it to his shoulder and taking aim. He went for the hardest targets to get the better prize and quickly squeezed off four shots, each one hitting the target.

"We have a winner," the roadie announced loudly. "If this kid can do it, you can, come on, step up and try your luck. Okay kid pick something from the top shelf."

Sam looked at the offerings, trying to decide what might be useful and chose a small battery-operated radio. He thought it would come in handy if the power went out.

"We need to find a bag or something," Dean noted looking around and grabbed a plastic bag from a trash can. He made sure it was clean before dropping the stuffed animals into it and handed it to Sammy. "Look, they're starting a show in the tent," Dean pointed across the way where people were slowly making their way inside.

Sam followed Dean and waited beside him as he counted off the right number of tickets. They went into the tent and found a couple of decent seats in the bleachers to watch the show. Music began to play, and spotlights began to roam around the tent lighting up the crowd.

"Check it out Sammy," Dean mumbled pointing to the horses that trotted into the center ring.

A young woman rode on one and carefully stood on the saddle to jump to the other horse and balance there. She did a couple of flips, jumped off and then back on the horse and stood on both horses as they trotted around the ring. The crowd clapped and cheered when she finished and cast their eyes upward to the trapeze act that was starting.

"Wow," Sam whispered as he watched a guy catch the woman and toss her back to the other trapeze for a moment where she swung a couple of times before letting go and doing a flip to be caught by her partner. Everyone clapped and continued to stare in awe as they completed their act.

The next act had Sam stiffening and clenching his jaw tightly when a car drove out and clowns began to pour out of it. They started doing their act and Sam grimaced when some got too close to him. He eased closer to Dean and forced himself to stay seated during the act though he wanted to run out of the tent away from the clowns.

"It's okay Sammy," Dean whispered when he sensed his brother's discomfort. He would usually tease him about his phobia of clowns but didn't this time. He could feel Sam's body relax after the clowns left the ring and then the next act came out. When the show was over, the brothers followed everyone else from the tent and they headed to where the rides were.

"What do you want to ride first? The swings? Or how 'bout the bumper cars? They have a Ferris wheel," Dean asked Sam. He stopped at a ticket booth and bought some more tickets deciding to splurge so they could have a good time. It wasn't often that the brothers got to be normal like other people.

"I don't really care," Sam shrugged looking at the rides. None really interested him, but he would ride them to make Dean happy. He was having a good time and didn't want to spoil it for him. "Why don't you pick?"

"Bumper cars it is." Dean led them over to the short line and waited their turn as they watched the cars being driven by other visitors crash into each other. "This is going to be fun," Dean laughed anxiously waiting for their turn. After he counted out the right number of tickets, they went into the ring and chose a car. "I'm not going to be easy on you bro."

"Never asked you to," Sammy answered as he put on the seat belt.

The brothers eyed each other as they waited for the power to be turned back on and once it was, began steering their cars and crashing into each other. Sam hit Dean from the back and got another kid to gain up on him and hit him at the same time. Dean got out of the bunched-up cars and went after Sammy, slamming into the side of his car and bouncing off it. They continued to assault each other until the ride was over.

"Man, my head is ringing," Dean complained as they walked away from the ride. He rolled his head and stretched his neck from the jarring. "You okay Sammy?"

"Yeah," Sam replied rolling his shoulders. "Can we do something less…aggressive next?"

"Hey look," Dean said as he pulled Sam toward two structures. "A haunted house and a house of mirrors. I'll make a bet with you, if you can get through your house faster than me I will…Take out the trash and do the dishes for a week," he challenged his brother.

Sam looked between the two structures as he pursed his lips thinking.

"Make it two weeks and you're own. I get the House of Mirrors."

"Fine with me. Here you go," Dean agreed giving him some tickets. "We go in at the same time and I'll be waiting for you at the exit."

"You wish. Get ready to do the chores for two weeks," Sam shot back.

The brothers paid and went to the entrance. Dean had to wait for Sam so they could start at the same time. He gave the signal, and they entered their respective houses. Dean made his way down the halls, ignoring their feeble attempts at being scary and batted away fake ghosts and monsters as he hurried toward the exit.

Dean stepped from the haunted house and smiled when he didn't see Sammy waiting on him. He walked over to the exit for the House of Mirrors and waited for his brother to come out. Five minutes passed, and then ten, fifteen, and still Sam did not come out. A chill ran down Dean's spine as his stomach twisted into knots when he realized something was wrong and headed for the entrance to the House of Mirrors.

A/N: Nothing could go wrong, now could it? You know how I love cliffhangers. What is Dean going to do? Thank you for coming along for the ride. Reviews/Comments would be great. NC