CHAPTER 9

It was a warm evening in New Orleans tonight and the air was humid as Sam headed out into the night. There was no wind but there was a promise of lightning in the air and it brought long buried memories to the forefront of his mind from days long gone. Memories from a time when a hug from his brother would chase away his fear of the storms. Sam forced his regrets from his mind. There was no point dwelling on things that happened so long ago it was literally ancient history.

Sam worked his way steadily through the city. He wanted to get back to Dean but he wouldn't neglect his duty. He made his way through the dark streets searching for any danger but there was nothing. Where were all the soul sucking daimons? Sam never thought that he would ever be concerned about there not being any daimon activity but this wasn't natural. Three nights and no daimons. Something was wrong. Sam let his senses roam searching for a hint of something, anything, out of place. The silence in the night air seemed to be deafening. He paused, his gaze piercing the still air before shaking his head. This was pointless. Sam dug out his phone and fired of a few quick messages. One to Jean-Luc and the other to Valerius with one single comment.

Do the daimons know something we don't?

Because Sam was sure they must do. They were never this quiet.

Sam was surprised he got an almost instantaneous reply from Jean Luc. The Spaniard's response was short.

The city is clear. Trouble must be brewing.

Sam sighed. Daimons had to eat and they only had a single food source- human souls. So where were they all? And where was Ash?

Eventually Sam started to head home. The bars and clubs had already emptied and even the tourists had gone staggering home. The only people still out were the drunks stumbling along and the prostitutes working the streets.

Then he saw her, walking elegantly towards him. Petite. Slim. Short, blond hair. She was wearing tight fitting leather pants with a cropped t-shirt which exposed her taught, flat stomach and long slender arms. A long smooth neck reached up to a pretty face with pouting lips and big brown eyes. She caught Sam's eye and gave a seductive smile. Sam nearly took her for another street worker before something about her made him pause. As she approached him, her walk wasn't the usual seductive gait of a working girl but something more predatory. Sam studied her before speaking.

"Meg" Sam finally acknowledged her.

She came to a stop just out with Sam's reach and cocked her head as her eyes turned black. "You're getting better, Sam. Took you hardly any time at all to recognise me."

"Why don't you do us all a favour and just die for good? Cause I'm getting fed up killing you"

The blond grinned maliciously.

"But Sammy I'm having so much fun. Do you like my new meat suit? I like this one. I think I'll keep it for a while." She twirled a strand of her short hair around her finger in a gesture of mock innocence.

Sam drew a long, serrated knife from his belt, suddenly regretting he had only brought one and his sword instead of his usual arsenal. "Do you really want to mess with me again Meg?"

Meg had started pacing around him and Sam followed her movements with his eyes.

"Oh, but Sammy, this trip top-side has been so educational for me. I'm even actually learning stuff. You see, I'd never dealt with one of your kind before so I went to have a chat with an old friend of mine. Turns out he wasn't completely useless and gave me a little fact I didn't know."

She continued to pace around him with a grin plastered on her face. She looked so smug Sam was starting to feel uneasy. Of course not a hint of it shone on the surface for her sly eyes to detect, but all the same he prepared himself for the attack that he knew was coming.

"I reckon getting you to tell me where my puppy is will be impossible so I'm going to do something a little bit different."

"Oh really?"

"What my friend told me is you have no soul which means you're just an empty vessel waiting to be filled" she grinned.

Sam could see where this was going and started throwing up every mental barrier he had around himself to protect his mind. Before he could get his extra barriers in place Sam saw the now familiar smoke flowing towards him. A feeling of dread consumed him as he felt it force its way inside of him. He managed to erect a thin mental defence in his own mind to protect him as a mental struggle began. Sam fought against the fog he could feel in his mind as he tried to keep his thoughts his own. He wasn't ready for the battle in his mind that was currently raging as he choked on the smoke in his throat and before he felt the black smoke smother his consciousness, he was engulfed in darkness. He should have called Ash.

Meg stretched her consciousness to every single part of her new meat suit. She felt the power contained within his, no her, body. This vessel was now hers. It felt odd. She'd never had a male vessel before and the balance was different. She felt the strength of the muscles as she moved, trying to get used to her new height. This body was so much stronger than all the other people she had possessed. All her senses were sharper, almost painful in their clarity. Meg was no fool. She was under no impression that if she hadn't caught the dark hunter off guard she wouldn't have been able to supress him and she didn't think she would be able to do it again. She smiled and felt the unfamiliar muscles of her face move. She ran her hands through her hair and frowned. She'd have to get a haircut, maybe dye it blond. She liked the short hair of her old vessel.

The idea of possessing the dark hunter had come to her as she was considering how to get Winchesters' location from him. She had accepted that torturing the man wouldn't do any good but she had to find the human before her father discovered that she had lost him. She was just supposed to be keeping an eye on him, not interacting with him. And she really didn't want to go back to hell. When she learnt that the dark hunter was a human whose soul had been removed the idea of simply possessing him had made her grin. Without a soul he would not have any ability to fight back. She could simply take his body and steal his thoughts. Not only would she have the physical strength of his body she would have control of his mental powers as well. She had grinned at the idea as her cockiness grew. That was until she was actually forcing her way into his body expecting no resistance. It had felt 'sticky' going in instead of the usual easy installation of one soul over another. Over the years Meg had possessed many people so she was familiar with the sensation. This time had been different. Could it just be a Dark Hunter thing? But this body was soulless. She disregarded the feeling.

Meg began walking as she continued to adjust to the new vessel. After a while she began searching Sam's mind for Dean's location. It was when Meg tried to tap into Sam's memories that she was brought to a sharp stop. Something was wrong. She couldn't find him. She searched but there was no trace of Sam. She cursed herself. If she had erased him she was no better off than before and no closer to locating Dean. Then she felt something in her mind, a layer of icy coldness was chilling her. In all her years of possessing people she had never felt anything like this. Finally she dismissed it, again as a Dark Hunter thing. She was actually slightly disappointed at how easy it had been to erase Sam. She hadn't even meant too. She needed his thoughts and she wanted his powers. She would be able to increase her place in the ranks of Hell with them. Surely a Dark Hunter wouldn't be extinguished that easily. There should be at least some residual echoes of his thoughts. She felt her anger building. Her plan had backfired. She tapped into her powers and lashed out mentally at the nearest object causing the street light to bend and spark before going out. She frowned. It was just her usual strength, no Dark Hunter super charged blast. And that feeling of ice was still in her mind. Unbeknown to Meg was that there was something asleep behind that ice but it wasn't going to stay asleep long.

In his mind Sam had been protected by the psychic barriers that he permanently kept around himself. The feeling of floating was weakening and he was becoming more aware. Sam knew there was something he should be trying to do. He had a job to do, maybe someone to help. But in the little ball of ice that protected his mind all he could do was float. No, that wasn't right. He had a job to do. He struggled to remember. He managed to grab onto a name before it disappeared into the dark. Dean. Dean needed help. He almost floated away again. Then he felt it. His gently floating form bumped against something hard. The jolt stopped Sam from slipping away again as he recognised the feeling. It was his own mental barriers and he was trapped. Something was supressing him. He was trapped inside his own brain. And then he remembered. As it came back to him he got angry as he felt his body moving and knowing that he wasn't in control.

Meg.

Sam gradually came back to himself. He knew the walls of ice he unconsciously used as an empathic block were what had saved him from Meg. He had no idea how long he had been suppressed for but he wanted his body back. He could fell that Meg had tried to access his power. He began to uncoil his thoughts and he could finally see again. He was seeing what Meg was seeing through his eyes. And he really didn't like what he was seeing.

She had a kid pinned against the wall. Sam could tell from the boy's appearance that the boy was an Appollite and was just a teenager and he was terrified.

"You can't hurt me. I'm not a Daimon and Dark Hunters can only kill Daimons"

Sam felt Meg smirk with his face. "I'll tell you a secret kid, I'm not really a Dark Hunter, I've just stolen this body so I can do whatever I want"

He could feel the smugness in Meg as she pushed a knife against the struggling and panic ridden kids' throat.

And Sam felt the kids fear like a physical blow. And he thought loudly so Meg could hear

No you don't bitch

Meg jolted in surprise at hearing Sam's voice in her mind so much so that the kid managed to twist out of her grip and run.

"So you're not dead then, Sammy. Good to know but I know where Dean is now so I don't need you anymore."

Sam felt the floating feeling nipping at the edges of his mind but before the darkness engulfed him again he let out a mental scream of fear.

Artemis's Temple

"I'm like a bird in puzzle Acheron!"

Ash paused trying to decide what she meant. "Rat in a maze. Damn it Artie learn to speak. I get a headache trying to figure out what you're saying."

"Whatever." She paused and Ash waited for it. "I'm not a rat!" the red head shrieked before getting back on track. "He's going to kill me Acheron and it'll be your fault. Or do you just not care about me anymore?" she simpered.

No. Not for thousands of years he thought bitterly to himself. Damn her for tying him to her.

"Look Artie I don't have time to be dealing with this shit. You're not a child. You pissed him off, you deal with him."

"I hate it when you talk like that" he heard her mutter and smirked. That was exactly why he did it after all.

This time she spoke so he could hear "But it wasn't my fault, Acheron. After everything I've done for you, you have to help me". This time it was a whine.

Ash gritted his teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was help her in any way. And Ash was sure there was more to this story. Although Maximon had the reputation of being a bully he wasn't. He didn't attack for no reason. Whatever Artie had done he had no doubt she deserved it. He sighed. The manipulative bitch knew he couldn't let her die. "I really don't have time for this right now, Artie. Stay here. He can't get to you here, and I'll deal with him later."

Gods of Vengeance as a general rule weren't exactly forgiving but Maximon was at least known to be reasonable on occasion. And he owed Ash.

"Stay here" he repeated.

Artemis looked coy as she approached him seductively.

She ran her hands across his bare chest "You could stay here with me. We've not made love for a week" she whispered.

Ash felt his anger mount and he grabbed her hand that she had placed on his groin. He was fed up of being used. "What we do is not making love Artie". He pushed her away roughly. Fake tears began to form in her eyes. Bitch.

"If you want Maximon dealt with I have to go, I've got other things to take care of first." And this time he was telling the truth. He had felt a wrench in his mind. One of his Hunters was in trouble. One that never asked for his help and that was always in control, always calm and always emotionless, was panicking. And Sam never panicked.