Oh, dear Candace, I really hope you start realising over the next couple of days that you should not let your talent be wasted because of a bad review. Believe me, you are a gifted writer, I read a lot of fics and your stories all stand out! So I really hope you can find the courage to start posting again.

OMG Sam is now at the mercy of the female manticore now that the tree has fallen and impaled his leg.

Just hope that Bobby realised that Sam was going to go after the manticore on his own and either is on his way to help or has rung another hunter in the area and asked him to help Sam out.

The only other option is that luck is on Sam's side and the manticore gets cocky and makes a mistake, enabling Sam to get in the fatal shot, but even if that happens how is he going to get out from under the tree, get the spike and get back to the hospital to save Dean?

Loved the drama and the cliffhanger Candace!

Sarah

Hi, I'm sorry you still don't feel well, I really hope it'll get better. Thank you for the update, I really loved the flashback to Devil's trap, my favorite SPN episode ever!

OMG Brent was the other guy brought in, and he didn't make it.  

Thank goodness the docs managed to get Dean back after he flatlined and just hope that Sam can find something in Brett's file that will help Dean.  So far he is the only one who hasn't been killed by the poison but it was a close thing and he's not out of the woods yet.

Enjoy your new home Candace, hope you get some time to relax and take it easy.

Sarah

Author's Response:

Nope Brent didn't make it - don't think I should let my brother-in-law read this. I don't think he'd be very happy if I knew I killed him. LOL.

Sam finds something to help him alright but it isn't in Brent's file. Sorry for the delay in updates. And thanks as always for the review.

OMG!Dean is getting worse, time is running out for him. Hope that Sam'll figure out something fast to help his big brother. I can't wait for your next update Candace. 

Author's Response: Sorry for the delay for the latest chapter. You'll find out how Sam will help his brother in it though. Thanks for being patient with me and for the review.

What scared me more than anything else in this chapter was Sam's thought Dean maybe doesn't want to fight this, that he wants to die and leave Sam ("He wouldn't leave Sam all alone. Or would he?...Sam couldn't say that he didn't know Dean wished for death at times...How could he not have noticed how truly broken his brother was?") and I'm afraid he could be right about it. It's nothing but heartbreaking (but what an amazing description) and I fear for Sam as much as for Dean. And still I hope they'll find a way to make it trough together, as Sam so desperately promised, "...no matter what it takes we'll make it through this...and we'll do it together". Wonder if the poisoned dart they found could give them at least a hint to save Dean's life. Fantastic chapter!

Author's Response: With where Dean's mind was after John's death it seemed suiting to have him in a vulnerable situation, wondering if it was really worth it to go on. What John told him in the hospital really weighed down on him, and it almost destroyed him. In Croatoan when the brothers thought Sam had been infected with the virus, Dean had been all too willing to just lay down and die along side him. So what if he had had the choice to just stop fighting before that? And as things are going to get worse before they get better Dean and Sam might just have to face that. Thanks as always for reading and for the review.

Hmmm, I'm guessing, but may be wrong that the dart the nurse is holding came from the victim that didn't make it as Sam would have certainly found one had it been in Dean's leg and the one he saw was in the tree trunk behind his brother.  If so Dr Marteen has certainly put two and two together and is going to question Sam as he asked if some sort of toxin could be causing Dean's condition.

Good that the doc is concerned about Sam's eyesight and sincerely hope he is not having a vision when the doc returns to Dean's room as that is where he is heading!

And if there has been another victim is there more than one manticore?

Totally intrigued :)

Sarah

Author's Response:

Yes the dart that the nurse was holding came from the victim that didn't make it - and you'll find out who that was in this next chapter. Dr. Marteen is certainly going to question Sam about this - but Sam is going to have to make up his own mind on whether or not he is going to come clean and tell the truth about the attack. As for Dean's condition it is going to get worse before it gets better. As for what Sam saw - well you won't know that for a while.

As for your question about a second manticore - I'm not sure yet, I'm not saying there is I'm not saying there isn't I just haven't planned out that far yet. But thanks as always for reading and for the review.

hmmmm...so maybe the tip broke off in Dean's leg.  poison?  coma?  hmmmm  worried about Sam too!

Author's Response: Dean is definitely in bad shape, and things are going to get worse until they get better. But Sam is going to have to come clean about what really happened to Dean if they expect to find anything. I hope you continue to enjoy it. Thank you for the review.

Dean? No!He can't be dead. What a cliffhanger, I'm so looking forward to your next chapter Candace. In the meantime, Happy New Year to you and your hubby.

Author's Response: Nah, I wouldn't kill Dean permanently. We had a very calm boring New Year - I had to work early the next morning so I couldn't stay up and my husband worked so I didn't even see him. Go figure huh? LOL. Hope you had a great New Year though and I hope 2011 is an amazing year for you. :) Thanks as always for reading, sticking with me, and reviewing.

A great but deeply sad and haunting chapter, it just hurts to see how far from okay these two are. There's such a distance between them and it seems Dean is so lost in his own grief he doesn't see how much Sam needs him and wants his brother back. Even when Dean finally realized Sam had problems with his eyes he couldn't show his concern, only said to Sam: "Not being able to see while on a hunt is as much of a liability a being untrained and hot headed is." What a blow, this must have hurt Sam deeply and as he now has to fear he lost his brother, it has to be agonizing for him, you very well and painfully could sense it (very intense moment) - "He pressed his forehead against Dean's, knowing that if Dean were conscious he'd never have allowed this...I'm not getting to let you die, Dean...Do you hear me?' Sam's voice rose a little as he shouted. 'I'm not getting to let you die, Dean! Now breathe!" Thought the whole time about this line from Dinah Washington's song, "Lord, this bitter earth can be so cold." It's so true here and I still hope so much they won't lose each other in the end (you wouldn't do this, right?), this just can't be the end, not like this, because of this terrible manticore creature. Brilliant chapter!!!!

Author's Response:

I know I left the last chapter on a bad cliff hanger, but I was working on the next chapter hard I promise. Unfortunately I'm not going to have a lot of time to write on the next chapter as we are getting ready to move again, we move the first week of February. But I'll get back to it as soon as I can.

Dean was unsensitive when he found out Sam was still having vision problems, but he didn't really go back to the good old Dean we fell in love with until later on in the season. At first he was really cold to everyone and everything. And of course I wouldn't kill Dean, not permanently anyway. LOL. Hope you enjoy the next chapter. Thanks as always for reading, sticking with me, and reviewing.

Great chapter Candace.  I must admit when I saw the character was called Brent it made me think of your brother-in-law.  Thank goodness you didn't use your sister's name for his wife, though it does begin with the same initial!

Brent is sounding very like John Winchester, wanting revenge for his wife's murder by the manticore but not being a hunter he needs to listen to Sam and Dean and not go off gung-ho.  With his emotions all over the place though the boys will have to keep a close eye on him.

Typical that the manticore can only be killed by silver bullets covered in the blood of one of it's victims and guess it has perfected a way of eating them quickly without a lot of blood spilling onto the ground.

The boys are certainly going to have their work cut out on this hunt, especially as Sammy's eyesight is not good, he may have got away with tripping over a tree root but Dean did notice him looking hard at his phone screen before he answered Bobby's call.

Looking forward to more.

Happy Thanksgiving Candace and also Happy Anniversary for the 27th :)

Sarah

Author's Response:

Yeah as much as Brent wanted to be in the story I knew there would have to be something tragic or something like that, so that would explain why he was in the story. But I couldn't kill off my sister so he wasn't married to her. He really appreciated that when I told him that. LOL.

A lot of what you mentioned in your review are addressed in this next chapter so I hope it was worth the wait for you. Hope you had a great Christmas. Thanks for the review.

So they're dealing with a manticore, I googled it, it's terrifying. How Dean and Sam're going to find blood from that monster's victims knowing that they ate them in one mouthful. Hope that Brent won't do anything reckless. Awww... Candace sweet of you to not leave us at the edge of our seat until December.

Author's Response: I thought the manticore would be a pretty scary thing for the brothers to have to go up against too - but it is so cool! I hope that this next chapter was worth the wait. Thanks for the review.