A/N: Happy Monday everyone.

Chapter 8

Dean pulled into a section cordoned off for carnival workers and parked. It was early and the place had not opened to the public yet. They got out and made their way through the trailers and tents to find the foreman and get their work duties.

"What's going on?" Bobby asked when he saw some police cars parked near the entrance and policemen roaming around the place.

"Some kid went missing last night," a gruff, older man replied.

"Do they know what happened?" Dean asked.

"The carnival was searched, and nothing was found. The cops think she was taken from here by someone."

Bobby and Dean glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing, another victim had been taken just like Sammy.

"So, you're the temps the boss hired?" the foreman grunted eyeing Bobby and Dean with a critical eye.

"Yes, where should we start?" Bobby asked, giving Dean a frown to not speak again. He knew how short tempered and impatient Dean could be when Sam was in danger.

"Well old timer, why don't you grab a sack and stick and start picking up any trash and you kid, you can check the trashcans. There's a roll of bags to replace them. The dumpster is over behind the blue trailer there to put the bags of trash."

"Alright, I think I can handle that," Bobby sniffed, holding his temper at being called old.

Dean bit his lip to not laugh and grabbed the roll of bags so he could start checking the trashcans. He gave a nod to Bobby that he would meet him at the House of Mirrors when they could. He strolled away to find the first can and checked to see if it needed dumping. He tried to avoid the cops that were walking around, keeping his head down.

Bobby looped the bag over his shoulder and grabbed the stick that had a pointed metal end to begin his trash duty. He started down one side of the tents and began to stab tossed trash and deposited it in the bag. "Don't know who he's calling old," Bobby grumbled under his breath as he speared another discarded cup. "Idjit needs to learn some proper respect." He let his gaze roam his surroundings, watching the crew and performers going about their daily business. None seemed threatening or doing anything suspicious. He looked around for Dean and saw him halfway down the main drag.

Dean grunted in disgust as he pulled a bag of trash from a can and tied the top. Rotten, spoiled, odors make him gag for a moment as he shook out a new bag and inserted it into the can. He tied a knot at the top to hold the bag in place and grabbed the full bag to take with him. Dean kept his head on a swivel as he scoped the carnival out looking for anything out of place. No one paid any attention to him as he went about his job. It was like he was invisible.

An hour later, Dean stopped in front of the House of Mirrors and glanced around before dropping the roll of bags under the steps at the entrance. He slipped into the attraction, making his way to the circular room of mirrors and stopped. He cocked his head and listened for any foreign noises but didn't hear anything.

Once he was sure he was safe, Dean approached the mirror he had marked and studied it closely. There was something about the surface that didn't seem right. If he let his eyes go out of focus, and he could almost make out a shimmering on the surface like something was dancing inside of it.

"Dean," a familiar gruff voice called out from the hallway.

"In here," he replied turning to see Bobby enter the room. "Any problems?"

"No, this old timer picked up the trash that assholes couldn't bother to put in the trashcan," Bobby sneered at him.

"Oh, sure, whatever," Dean shrugged. "It's this one Bobby. At first glance it looks like all the others, but when you really look at it…There's something different about it. I can feel the strange vibes coming off it."

"I see," Bobby said. He stepped closer to the mirror to inspect it but didn't touch it. He looked it over following the frame with his eyes until he had taken it all in. "And you say you found a 'W' on this one mirror?"

"Yeah, on the back, c'mon and I'll show you," Dean replied, leading Bobby out of the room and to the secret door to the maintenance part of the attraction. He made his way down the small walkway, until he found the mirror. "See it here," Dean told Bobby pointing to scratched 'W'.

"Well, it does look like your brother was trying to send us a message," Bobby surmised as he leaned closer to examine it.

"Bobby, could we remove the mirror and take it somewhere else?" Dean questioned as he checked how the mirror was hung.

"No, we couldn't risk that son," Bobby replied. "Removing or breaking the mirror would break the link to this world and your brother would be trapped in there forever. It's the only way from this world to whatever is on the other side of the mirror."

"I should have known it couldn't be that easy," Dean huffed in disgust. He rubbed a hand over his short hair and snorted his anger. "Any idea how to get to Sammy and stop this monster from taking other victims?"

"I do remember reading something about portals and thinning between dimensions being made by rituals or the use of something very powerful."

"Okay, but how do we stop the monster?

"I have feelers out to contacts about that. I'm hoping one of them will get back with me today."

"What do we do in the meantime? There's no telling what Sammy is going through in there. I know he's not dead, Bobby. I can feel it. He's trapped in there…" Dean stressed letting his voice trail off. He looked away as he drew in a couple of long breaths to control his emotions. The guilt was eating at him because he felt responsible for Sammy disappearing. If he hadn't made that stupid bet with him and let him go into this place alone, maybe Sammy would not have been taken.

"Stop blaming yourself son," Bobby gently chastised him dropping a callused hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. He knew the eldest brother was blaming himself for his brother's disappearance. "We need to focus all our efforts on saving your brother."

"That missing girl, you think she was taken too, don't you?"

"I'm sure of it. I talked to a couple of the local cops, and she was last seen around the House of Mirrors. She was with a group from her school and wasn't missed until they got ready to leave."

"So, she could have been alone when she went into the house and was an easy target," Dean suggested.

"True. Maybe there's a reason young people and kids are being taken. Maybe it's because they have something this creature wants or needs."

"What could that be? Blood? Does it eat them? Please tell me you don't think it eats them."

"What if it's their soul, or rather the energy of the soul?"

"The soul?" Dean asked in puzzlement.

"Sure, a human soul has immense energy inside of it. There a several creatures who feed off that energy and drain a person until they die."

"You mean it could be doing that to Sammy?" Dean questioned as he paled slightly with just the thoughts of that happening to his brother.

"Guess we better get back to work before we're missed," Bobby sighed. "Hopefully I'll hear from my contacts soon and we can rescue your brother and the young lass."

"Do we get a break?" Dean whined as he followed Bobby back to the hidden door and out of the House of Mirrors. His mind was racing as he ran through scenarios in his head and none of them were turning out well.

Dean went back to dumping the trashcans and Bobby finished cleaning the grounds. They headed to the owner's trailer to get paid. It was less than an hour before the carnival would be opening again, and they were going to head back to the house to see if anyone had answered Bobby's SOS.

"Alright, here you go," the owner told Bobby handing him a few bills folded together. "Why don't you come in a few hours earlier tomorrow since there will probably be more to do. The weekend always draws more people and that means more trash and things to fix before the next night."

"Sure thing, we can do that," Bobby told him shoving the money in his pocket and hustling Dean toward where the car was parked. He was anxious to see if there had been any responses so they could get a plan in place. He knew the longer Sam was trapped in there, the more dangerous it was for him.

A/N: Dean has found Sam's clue, now to figure a way to save him. Good thing Bobby is there to help. Thank you for coming on this journey with me. Reviews/Comments will make my day. NC