-Solstice of the Moon-
By: Final Spirit

Chapter 10- Numb

Artemis couldn't believe her eyes. As Sam simply stood there, gun pointed and teeth gritted, his eyes shined gold with hate. Her fears had come true; she'd ruined the life of the only person she truly cared for anymore.

Sam stared down the werewolf before him with true malice. This was the bitch that had ruined his brother's life, the one that made his brother a monster. She was going to pay, he was going to make sure of it. He felt a strength growing within him, feeding off his rage. Whatever this strength was, he was going to use it to make her pay. He felt another wave of rage wash over him, and the strength within him grew.

Artemis watched in horror as Sam, who seemed completely focused on Sanja, gripped his gun even harder. She could see the metal of the handle begin bend under his grip, submitting to his newfound strength. Another small gasp escaped her mouth as her horror was furthered; Sam's nails began to lengthen themselves in claws.

Dean watched suspiciously as a small exchange in glances occurred between Artemis and Sanja. Whatever they seemed to be saying to each other, Dean couldn't understand it. Sanja's comment from earlier was still fresh in his mind; did it have anything to do with this? She mentioned something that Artemis did, something that Sanja never thought Artemis would do. But what could that be? What could Artemis do that Sanja had never expected? Then he remembered the glance Sanja had given Sam after that comment. Did this mean Artemis had something to Sam?

As Dean glanced over at Sam, his heart nearly stopped. He saw the look of horror on Artemis' face, the fear that emanated from her as he looked upon the same source. Sam just stood there, oblivious to what everyone else saw in him. His brother was infected, like him.

Suddenly everything made sense to dean, everything. Artemis' weird behavior, the stockpile of serum she always kept, her extensive knowledge; Artemis' had been a werewolf from the start.

"Sam…" Dean called out his brother's name, hoping to get through to him. He had to warn his brother.

Sam could hear his brother calling out to him, but Dean's voice just seemed so far away to him. The only thing on his mind was killing Sanja, that was it. He had to kill her. The smile on her face just seemed to egg the feeling on even more.

"Come on," Sanja said, breaking the silence, "Go ahead, shoot me." She knew the this young hunter was just coming into his abilities. With any luck, she'd fall right into the trap she was planning. All she needed for this trap, was for him to pull the trigger.

Sam just couldn't take it anymore. Against the protests that seemed to scream from the depths of his mind, he pulled the trigger. The gunshot seemed to echo in his ears a thousand times louder than normal, causing him to drop his gun and cover his ears in pain. What the hell was going on?

Sanja smiled the moment the roar of the gun reached her ears. She knew the hunter, with his new heightened sense of hearing, would be deafened by the sound of the gun, giving her a chance to attack. When the hunter covered his ears in pain, she jetted toward him, poised for attack.

Artemis could see the look of comprehension over Dean's face and knew, Dean had figured out the truth. When Sam finally squeezed the trigger, she knew she had to act. Sanja would use this opportunity to attack Sam. Now that Dean knew what she was, it was pointless to jeopardize everything by simply trying to hide her secret.

She gave Dean a look that spoke, quite clearly, 'I'm protecting him,' and then, without another thought, she took action.

At almost lightening fast speed, she raced toward Sam, grabbing him seconds before she could feel Sanja take a swipe at his throat. By that time, Sanja had already dodged Sam's bullet and had then proceeded to rip his throat out. But that wouldn't happen as long as Artemis was around.

With one burst of strength, Artemis flung Sam over her shoulder at Dean, "Take him! I've got her!" she yelled despite the chaos surrounding her. In her distraction, she felt Sanja's claws collide with her face, ripping three parallel slashes into her cheek while sending her flying.

Artemis twisted her body around in midair, allowing herself her land on all fours when she collided with the ground. The slashes burned in her cheek momentarily before she could feel the pain begin to faded, the wound healing itself. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Dean couldn't believe his eyes. It seemed like everything happened in slow motion before it all just turned into a blur. Sam fired the gun, then fell down in pain. Artemis glared right at him, sending him her clear message. Then everything just turned into a blur. He heard Artemis yell at him, and the next thing he knew Sam almost landed right on top of him. By the time he'd whipped his head over to look at Artemis, she was several feet away, crouching on all fours with three large gashes in her cheek. He watched, with the same awe he'd felt earlier, as the gashes healed up before his eyes. So she was a werewolf.

Sam was definitely lost in all this mess. First that pain…why had the gunshot been so loud? Then he felt himself snatched up off his feet, something he didn't even think possible. He could have sworn he could a glimpse of the person that grabbed him, but he must have been wrong. Well, he had to be. Artemis couldn't move that fast and be that strong…could she?

Next thing he knew, Sam found himself in a heap on top of Dean, who seemed to be following the events occurring behind Sam's back. Sam pivoted his head just in time to see the cuts on Artemis' face heal themselves, and then he knew. It all made sense. Her behavior, his recent health concerns, the loud echo of the bullet; it all made sense. She'd infected him.

"I see you've gotten stronger Art," Sanja said with a wicked smile, standing there as if nothing had happened. Artemis merely scowled at this.

Standing up, Artemis glared at Sanja, her eyes shining gold, "You're gonna pay," she spat, "You're gonna pay for everything you've done." Sanja had been the one to betray her all those years ago, the one that helped ruin her life. Now she'd succeeded in doing the same thing to Dean. Artemis was going to make sure that she didn't ruin anybody else's life.

Sanja merely smiled wider, "Oohhh!" she gave a melodramatic shake of her hands, "I'm sooo scared." If this was the best Artemis had for her, then she sure as hell wasn't worried.

That was it. Artemis was tired as hell of this shit. Tired of holding back, tired of keeping secrets, tired of watching as she ruined the lives of everyone around her; she was tired of everything. She took off sprinting, streaking toward Sanja in a tunnel of hate.

Sanja laughed at Artemis' oncoming attack. It was too focused on rage to do anything but clip by her, during which Sanja grabbed Artemis, flinging her helplessly into the pick-up a few feet from them. Artemis crashed into the truck in a flurry of shards that rained off the broken window above her.

Dean and Sam scrambled to their feet during all the chaos, trying to follow the speedy exchange between Artemis and Sanja. They were both lost up to the point where they saw the windows explode on Artemis' truck as someone crashed into it. They prayed it was Sanja, but when the dust cleared they saw that the bruised and bloody form of Artemis lied there, coughing up blood.

The minute Sam saw Artemis injured, he sprinted toward her. He didn't care whether of not she was a werewolf, or the fact that she'd infected him; he still felt for her and cared for her well being. When he was halfway to her however, Sam felt a force tackle him from behind, pinning his arms behind him, and placing something sharp on his throat.

Artemis laid there in pain, unable to move. Sanja had thrown her into the trunk hard enough to immobilize her. She could feel the breakages in her spine and other bones begin to mend, but the sheer amount of injuries was keeping her grounded at the moment. Sure she had a heightened sense of healing, but it could only do much in so little time. Sanja had done this on purpose, breaking as many bones a she could so that Artemis would take longer to heal.

Fighting the pain, Artemis attempted to glance up, trying to find Sanja despite her blurring vision. That was when she saw it, Sanja. She held Sam, with his arms pinned behind his back, her claws placed directly over his throat. Artemis could see the shock on Dean's face, the fear he held for his brother.

"W-why?" Artemis choked out, "Why a-are you doing th…this?" It pained her to talk, but she had to know. She had to know why Sanja was alive, why she was doing this.

Sanja merely laughed, "Why?" then a look of anger washed over her face, "For revenge of course…."

Dean's heart had nearly stopped. This…this bitch was holding his brother hostage. Whatever the hell was going to happen, it sure as hell wouldn't be his brother dying, "What revenge!" Dean yelled, his anger rising, "You're the one that betrayed her!"

"Yes," Sanja spat, "But she's the one that tried to kill me," at this, Sanja pulled the collar of her shirt down, displaying several large circular scars; gunshot scars, "Lucky for me, I'm a bit more resilient than anybody thought…" It was Artemis' fault that everything had gone to hell, and Sanja was going to make sure she paid for it.

Sanja grinned, "And so I have been taking my revenge," she tapped her claws on Sam's throat, "After all, I am the one that infected her…"

Artemis caught her breath at those words. Sanja? She'd been the one to infect her? How? It wasn't possible…it just could be.

Sanja spotted the look of disbelief on Artemis' face and chuckled, "How the hell else do you think you ever woke up from that coma? I wanted you to suffer, and you lying there like sleeping beauty wasn't really fitting into that plan. I knew the virus could heal you, wake you up, so I took a needle with my blood and plop--" she motioned sticking a needle with her free hand, "--made sure as hell that you would suffer."

Everything, everything altogether was too much for Artemis to take. For the past couple of minutes she'd been fighting the darkness that had tried to creep into her consciousness, she'd been battling to stay to awake. Her body was still healing, and it eventually would, but the energy need for such an action was draining her. And with this new revelation, she felt the rest of that energy seep away. She felt the darkness within her mind begin creeping in closer, overtaking her mind. The anger, the guilt, the sadness; she gave them all up for the comfort and numbness that soon consumed her mind.

Sanja saw the way Artemis had begun to drift away, and knew her work here was done. She faded into the shadows before either of the brothers could react, and when they did they streaked toward Artemis' motionless form in a haste of worry.

And Artemis, with one last breath, faded away into the impending darkness of her unconscious.