Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't updated in forever, life's been really busy lately and I went through an awful case of writers block. But anywaiiz, I'm back and so is everybody's favourite pair of goofballs…Team Winchester! Yay…cough I think I'll get on with it. Well, here it is:

The Hunter – Chapter 3

A week had passed since the poltergeist attack and Sam was getting worried because Amy didn't seem to be getting any better. In fact, she seemed to be getting worse. She was deathly pale and the cuts on her back weren't healing. They looked just as they had the night she came home with them. She had near to no energy and had spent most of the past few days either asleep in her room or lying down on the couch.

Secretly Dean was worried about her too, but he left 'mother hen duty' to Sam. He had tried to figure out why her wounds weren't healing but after three days of researching the topic, he had crossed out every 'suspect' on his list. It wasn't an infection – demonic or otherwise, it couldn't be a thousand-year-old plague that hadn't been seen for centuries, she wasn't the spawn of the devil and it wasn't an allergic reaction as far as he could tell. He had moved on from looking at her injuries, and had started looking for a hunt. Luckily he found one nearby so he and Sam could still keep an eye on Amy.

Sam walked into Amy's study where Dean had set up the laptop and pulled out just about every book in Amy's library. "Find a hunt yet?"

"Yeah," Dean kicked out a chair for Sam to sit down. "There have been some cattle deaths in the area recently. They've been sucked dry, so I'm thinking vampires."

"Okay, do you know where the nest is?"

"Yeah, there's an abandoned farm a couple miles from here, middle of nowhere. It's smack bang in the middle of where the cattle deaths have been happening. I say we take care of it tonight, it's nearly four now so we should get our things together so we can leave as soon as Amy falls asleep."

"You're going on a hunt and weren't going to tell me?" came a soft voice from the doorway.

Sam looked up at her. Dean spun to face her so quickly he fell off his chair. Getting up, rubbing his shoulder he asked her "What're you doing here, you're supposed to be resting." Amy looked terrible. Her face was pale, her eyes red-rimmed and she looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Rest ain't doing me no good so I thought I'd try something else. But that's enough about me, why weren't you guys going to tell me you were going on a hunt? It's not like I'm in the right condition to tag along, even I know that."

"We didn't want you to worry, we'd be there and back before you even woke up." Sam said, while Dean tried to hide the fact that he had half her library in the study.

"Dude," Amy walked over to the pile of books Dean was trying to hide. "Why do you have all my vampire books in here?"

"I figured I'd brush up on my vampire knowledge. Dad said that most vampire lore is crap, so I wanted to separate the fact from the fiction." Dean picked up a leather bound tome and handed it to her. "Here, I misread the title when I took it out of the library. Could you put it back for me?"

Sam was about to protest but Dean gave him a look, telling him he had something to say that he didn't want her to hear. As soon as they heard Amy moving around on the floor above them, Dean began to speak. "She doesn't look too good dude, she's getting worse."

"Don't you think I know that? I'm starting to think she might not get any better." Sam was looking sad. Although they had only known her a week, he'd gotten used to her being around. He saw her like the little sister he never had. "Dean, man, we have to find a way to help her."

"Don't you think I know that? I looked for three days straight and came up with nothing. I called Bobby and he hasn't got a clue either." The boys sat in silence for a while before Dean realised he could no longer hear Amy moving around upstairs. He opened his mouth to tell Sam but was interrupted by the sound of Amy's car starting. The brothers rushed to the window but it was dark outside and all they saw were her taillights disappearing into the night.

"Amy?" Sam called up the stairs, but got no response. He headed to the library while Dean went downstairs. On the table in the library Sam found a note.

Sam, Dean,

There's something I have to take care of. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I might not be back until tomorrow but I'll call you if I run into trouble. I hope you guys understand, I'm sorry for the late notice but I only just realised what I have to do.

Hope to see you again,

Amy Juliette d'Angouleme

"Dean," Sam called on his way downstairs. He saw Dean standing in the kitchen looking out the window. "We have a problem." He handed Dean the note and waited while Dean read it.

"What does she mean she only just realised? Where do you think she went?" Dean was looking at Sam as though he should have all the answers, and Sam was surprised to see that Dean looked lost, but he blinked and that look was gone.

"I dunno, dude. But she said not to worry. Maybe we should just do like we planned and check out the vampire nest." Sam suggested, trying to hide his worry.

"Yeah, you're right, lets go kick some vampire ass." Dean just wanted to focus his attention on something that wasn't Amy-related.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in town….

Amy got out of her car, wincing as her top rubbed against the cuts on her back. She was dressed in black jeans with a studded belt. She also had on a black AC/DC shirt under a black leather jacket. Her dark hair was held back with a black ribbon and her feet were clad in black gothic looking boots. She went round to the trunk, extracted a machete and strapped it to the belt on her jeans. She then closed the trunk as quietly as possible and moved silently towards the barn. As soon as she heard Sam and Dean talking about the vampires she knew it was her last chance to get her health back. She just hoped she could do it without the Winchesters finding out.

She climbed through a half boarded-up doorway and dropped silently to the ground. She made her way towards the back room, where she could hear whispered snippets of conversation.

"…they're getting suspicious…"

"…better distractions…"

"…have to be careful…"

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Amy spun round and came face to face with a female vampire. "Boys, we have a visitor." she called to the vampires in the back room.

Amy watched as the three vampires from the back room joined the female vampire, who seemed to be their leader. She also noticed two more female vampires behind the head vampire. "My name's Amy. Please, hear me out. I need your help."

The vampires looked at her with interest. "Well," started the leader, licking her lips. "In that case I think introductions are in order. I'm Kate. These are Mia and Shaz." she motioned to the two females behind her. "And these fine men are Warren, Josh, and Dom." None of the vampires looked very friendly. "Now. I'll give you three minutes to convince us not to kill you. What do you want?"

"You can't kill me because I'm one of you…sorta. Does it not say in the law vampires have followed for centuries that if one of your kind asks your help, you cannot refuse them?"

Kate looked at her suspiciously. "How are you one of us? You smell like a human."

Dom snickered. "Bet she tastes like a human as well."

"I'm only part vampire. My mother was one but my father was human. I'm a dhampir. But I am still one of you, I have the same weaknesses and the same…urges. I've just learnt to control them."

"Dhampires don't need blood to survive unless mortally wounded. You look fine. What do you want?" The tall one, Warren, looked angry now.

"I was wounded by a poltergeist a week ago. I thought I could handle it but it's just getting worse. I don't have much time left, I can feel it. You're the only ones that can help me."

"Show us." Kate seemed to trust Amy so the others followed her lead and relaxed. Amy shrugged off the leather jacket, wincing, and lifted her shirt to show them the wounds. Kate ran her fingers over the stitches. "The Winchester boys stitched you up?"

Amy's heart skipped a beat. "How did you know?"

"Their scent is on you. And you're right, you don't have much time left. Even less than you thought." Kate stepped back and Amy dropped her shirt back into place.

"So will you help me?" Amy started to feel light headed and Kate looked concerned.

"Josh, take her to rest." Josh steered Amy towards another section of the barn but her knees gave out after a few steps. The last thing she heard before the blackness consumed her was Kate ordering one of the others to "Get one of the kids from the vault."

When Sam and Dean drove up to the supposedly abandoned barn the last thing they expected to see was Amy's Mustang. They grabbed their machetes and headed inside. Dean was the first to hear the voices and swung an arm to stop Sam. He aimed a little high and ended up smacking Sam in the mouth. "Dude!"

"Shut up and listen." Dean hissed at him. There was something going on in the barn and Dean wanted to know what it was. He saw a partly boarded up window and decided to take a look. What he saw astounded him. Amy was there, unconscious and standing nearby giving orders was Kate, the vampire they'd met in Colorado.

"Alright, bring the kid over here." The tall vampire dragged an unconscious girl over. She couldn't have been older than 16. Kate sat down and pulled Amy towards her, cradling Amy's head in her lap. "Okay, cut her wrist and hold it over Amy's mouth." The tall vampire did as he was told and Dean watched in horror as Amy started to wake up but didn't struggle against Kate. Sam sat beside him, unable to look away as Amy drank the blood that was running into her mouth.

Another vampire came into the room and walked towards Kate. Sam recognised her as the woman who'd gone missing with her husband in Colorado. He'd tried to get her out of the vampire's lair back then, only to find that she'd been turned. She whispered something to Kate, who knocked the bleeding wrist away and stood up, letting Amy drop. Sam winced as Amy's head thumped against the ground. All six of the vampires were grouped in the centre of the room and conversing in loud whispers.

"The Winchesters are here. See, we told you they wouldn't fall for the dead cows."

"How did they find us? Did they follow the girl?"

While the vampires had their backs turned, Amy got up and carried the girl towards the doorway she'd gotten in through. Unfortunately she was also going towards Sam and Dean's hiding spot. She climbed through the doorway and pulled the girl with her. She started for her car when a hand grabbed her arm. "What are you doing here?" she recognised Sam's voice.

"More to the point," Dean said, stepping up beside Sam. "What are you? And I want the truth."

Amy could see that Dean was angry. She could feel it radiating off him in waves. "It was the only way." She didn't want to have this conversation.

"Only way for what? For you to get your next meal?" Dean was nose-to-nose with her and shouting at the top of his voice. "Why didn't you slice me or Sammy open? Or are we next, huh?"

Kate and the vampires had heard the voices and were standing a few feet away waiting to be noticed. Once Dean had finished screaming at Amy, she just stood there, silent. Then she noticed the vampires. "Uh, Dean, we have company."

That's when the battle began. It happened so fast that Amy didn't have time to react. Sam and Dean lashed out at the vampires with their machetes and the vampires looked to be gaining the upper hand. Before long Sam was laying on the ground holding his bleeding arm, barely conscious, and Kate was holding Dean by the throat, his feet swinging a foot above the ground. He was fighting for air and losing, his weak attempts to hit her getting weaker.

Amy was torn between saving the son of the greatest man she'd ever known, and defending the one who'd saved her life. It was in her hands to choose who was to die and it broke her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she made her decision.

lol I've left you with a cliffie, I wonder who she'll choose…

Don't forget to review hint, hint

A/N: To see what Amy's boots look like visit h t t p / i m a g e s . v i x e n s a n d a n g e l s . c o m / i m a g e s / S h o e s / N R s a b e r 5 7 2 . j p e g (but without the spaces)