A/N: Yes! An update! I've been waiting for weeks to actually write something! Please enjoy, and sorry if it's too short, I swear there's more.

FYI: to clarify to those of you who may read both this fic and "Before the Endless Night Falls," this is a completely different universe. The back story that I apply in BTENF has nothing to do with this story. Carry on :)

Chapter 6: The Unexpected

Seeing her father in this state made her wonder about his past. How hard was the transition? How hard was it to leave his life and love? His child? Seeing the way he mourns Priestess' capture worries her. He was so reserved; so determined. He didn't rest, he couldn't. When the fire went out each night, she could see him still standing, staring into the distance. What was he thinking about? He would meditate often, likely warding off all thoughts of revenge. He would get her back, but not out of retribution. He would kill Black Hat, but not out of hatred.

He would kill Black Hat out of necessity.

"Father?"

Lucy almost hoped that she would see her father jump in surprise, but to her slight dismay, he only looked sideways and motioned for her to stand next to him. He was secretly marveling at her beauty as he did so, seeing so much of her mother while at the same time recognizing his own features. Her face was more his than Shannon's, although resulting from his many years spent alone, his memories dulled into short glimpses and faded dreams, he couldn't truly decide whether Lucy had her mother's eyes or not. Maybe she didn't inherit those eyes, maybe they were just purely Lucy, unique in every way.

The moon was very bright tonight, the sky a heavenly dark blue dotted with small, shimmering stars. Priest looked up to them every night in silent awe, not having been able to see stars from the city's streets. He knew that most in Cathedral City had never seen stars in their entire lives. He sometimes contemplated whether that trivial fact, among others, could be one of the reasons some could be so small minded. Although they were being taught of the world and its mysteries through religion and science both, they knew nothing of how enormous and dynamic the world and the war really was. Somewhat blinded by both the church and the dark cloud over the city, people lived in ignorance. He knew this war couldn't end until that ignorance is stopped once and for all.

The fire had been taken out hours ago, yet Priest still stood at the edge of the moldy wooden deck underneath the tattered roof of their safe house, staring in the direction of the hive. His face was stoic, as always, his hands clasped behind his back. He was thinking, she knew, of the ambush he was planning to spring on the hive. There was no real proof that Priestess had been taken there, but even so, that's where the other human vampires would most likely be.

"What's troubling you?" He said, his voice a heavy growl from lack of sleep. He slipped a hand to his side and found hers, grasping it affectionately.

"You." Lucy said softly, taking comfort that he had started the conversation.

His grip on her hand suddenly tightened. "I don't want you to worry."

"I can't help it. Talk to me."

There was a pause. Priest was almost afraid to ask, but he knew that Lucy deserved any truth she wished to know. He would not have her ignorant of anything. Not anymore. "Talk about what?" he whispered.

"Anything. Tell me…" she wanted to know; she wanted him to open up to her. Open up to anyone.

Priest lowered his head some and leaned closer to his daughter, a bit more confident that she didn't mean to pry. "Tell me what?"

Lucy looked up at him before she spoke. "There's so much to ask…" she trailed off.

"Start with the first thing that comes to mind."

"…Have you always distrusted the clergy?" she decided to ask an easy one.

"No." he said, simply. He thought before saying more. "At first, I was honored that God had chosen me, but…somewhat…" he made sure Lucy was looking in his eyes as he half smiled. "…annoyed."

"…what?" Lucy said under her breath, in slight disbelief. She smiled at his words, not being able to imagine him as someone to get 'annoyed.' "Why?"

"You know why…" he trailed off, shuffling in front of her, taking both her hands and looking into her eyes. "It meant I had to leave you behind."

Lucy blushed slightly, feeling a bit silly for not realizing that in the first place. "How old was I?"

"Only a year."

"Did you…" her confidence fell short once again as she tried to mention her mother. "Did you miss us?"

"Of course." Priest answered, surprised at how easy it was to be honest with her. "There wasn't a day I didn't wake up and think about you. But, I did push those thoughts away, once my day progressed. They distracted me from training; made me question myself. Priests can question themselves."

"There are a lot of things Priests can't do." Lucy commented under her breath, not expecting an answer. They stood in content silence for some time, listening to the other's breathing. Lucy was glad that she could calm her father, even in such stressful times. Which reminded her, "When did you know you were in love?"

Priest's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily, thoughts and feelings mingling listlessly in his chest. By looking at his daughter, he somehow knew why she made the question so ambiguous. She wanted to know everything. He sighed, ready to tell.

"I met your mother at work one day. Owen and I were taken into the city because of the danger of vampire attacks on our…'farm.'"

"You worked on the land?" Lucy perked up, suddenly intrigued, missing Owen, sorry beyond belief that he was dead. She squeezed Priests hand as she fought back a tear.

"All my life up until then. Anyway, Shannon was sitting alone at lunch and I decided to join her because she looked lonely. Every day after, we met for lunch. We eventually became good friends and then…" the memories were flooding back, interrupting his train of thought. Their friendship had been pure, one of the best he'd ever had. Their relationship had started and ended so quickly, but those short years they had…he used to believe that he could live like that forever, until the church came along.

Lucy waited patiently, watching her father stare into the distance, unaware of her eyes on him. She took this opportunity to try and imagine him without his tattoo, without the age his face held from the years living in war and seclusion, without the layer of permanent sadness that seemed to loom over his blue eyes.

"You came along. It was…sudden." His voice was hushed, still entranced with the memories. His hand almost grew faint in hers before he came back to reality. His grip on her fingers became almost desperate as he brought her hand to his lips. "It…all went so fast."

"So I was a mistake." Lucy stated more than questioned, not at all dejected by the fact.

"No." Priest retorted, letting her hand go and taking her face in his hands. He loved looking into her eyes; being able to touch her. Only in his dreams could he talk to her; could he know her. "Never. You were just…unexpected."

…

It was strangely quiet in Sola Mira at this time of day. The hive was still being rebuilt, and vampires were usually working at all hours of the day. But not today. Today was sacred; a change had taken place that deserved recognition.

A scant figure of a boy lay on his stomach, face buried in his crossed arms, internally wrestling the daylight. He eventually rolled on his back and sleepily stretched out—like a dog—he reminded himself of some sort of blood sucking dog. Heavily breathing in the cold cave air, his chest rose, ribs visibly expanding as he scratched his stomach. Never before had he felt so free; not when he was human. 13 years of being human had been a waste of life. Humans, disgusting creatures. They were selfish; defenseless cowards, the lot of them. They hid behind their walls and their Priests; a spineless species that basks in the safely of the sun. Not for long, no, not with this new breed.

He turned his head to see three other sleeping figures huddled together, two of them humans turned, one a genuine adolescent vampire. Family was so much closer here, but then again, so was status. Vampire status was deadly, almost like human status, only animalistic. He'd seen a vampire kill a human turned because he rubbed him the wrong way. Black Hat approved, saying he turned out too weak anyway.

He got up, suddenly feeling a surge of energy coarse through his now rippling muscles. Master Black Hat had said that after a few weeks of heavy resting that they would gain the strength to rarely ever be tired again. He shook himself, again reminding himself of a wire haired terrier, fully awake now. At a sudden memory, he bore his teeth and growled at himself, slightly ashamed, but mostly frustrated.

Can I come? I want to see a defenseless Priest with my own eyes. His voice was hungry, his eyes wild.

The Master glanced at his most grateful pupil, smirking at his untamed eagerness. I'll let you come with us, but only if you can wait patiently. But I doubt that you can take it.

Take it? You mean the running? Or the killing?

No, you're staying awake until then.

How had he known? Was it a common weakness? Was he still too young? It's been weeks! How much longer did he have to wait to go on even a small hunt? He was starving with the small rations they were being given and wanted more than anything to prove it to his master that he was ready to kill. Was he really? No, but he would go down with as much fight as he had in him.

He suddenly thought of Damon and circled around frantically to look for him. Had he gone on the ambush? Had he helped locate Gunther? A low growl ripped through his throat as he angrily and eagerly began to scale the cave.

Darkness. He'd always been afraid of the dark. But now…he felt more at home in it then he ever had anywhere. He felt the memories of his past life fade as his new instinct took over; his new soul flowing through him like blood used to. He's hungry, but he can wait,; he can be strong for the master. Strength pleased the master.

Bare feet landing on the cold ground with grace, his figure is a slim shadow among the rock and earth. His breathing is perfectly even as he starts to run, chill air flowing in and out of his lungs as he runs past stray and unwelcomed sun beams, testing his abilities just for the sheer joy of doing so. Hi sears perk up as he hears…a struggle. A captive? Maybe a Priest from the ambush!

He jumped, tucked, and rolled onto the ground to quiet his halt. He craned his neck as far as he could and listened. Picking up light footsteps in the other direction, he turns his head, the muscles on his bare back glistening with sweat. Another thing he enjoyed about his acute senses was that it was second nature to identify people by the pace at which they walked. The patterns are constant in all species, especially vampires.

"Damon?" he asked quietly, his anger subsided.

"Denis, what are you doing?"

"Lurkin'." He said casually. "D'you go on the hunt? What's up here? What'd yuh catch?"

"Nah, I slept through it, too." He said, lying through his teeth. He continued when his brother didn't catch it. "Master just woke me up to show me the Priestess they caught."

Denis stared for a moment, fighting off jealously. What the master saw in Damon, he had no idea, but it was obviously the favorite. He shook himself, cold sweat dripping from his bangs.

"Gunther ain't here, is he?" he asked. "I woulda' smelled him if he was."

"Nah. He's…some'ere else." He paused, trying to stop his human consciousness from taking over. Vampires didn't think like humans. Thinking like human's what gets you killed. "Any idea whether human vampires go to hell or not? Or does it even exist?"

Denis sat down and sniffed the air for a moment before he spoke again, as if he were double checking his brother's words. He could smell death, but it was different. It wasn't human, but it wasn't vampire. It must have been Gunther. "He dead?"

"As a dog. Didn't stand a chance out by himself."

So, they found him dead? Killed? Or dead?"

"Dead, Priests that found him didn't harm him any. Just stuck him in a cage to die."

"…That don't sound like Priests." Denis said this as he chewed his thumb-nail, circling the dirt with a big toe.

"No, it don't. Master says he's gonna get the truth out of her."

"A Priestess, huh? Is it the one from the train?"

"Yeah, Master says so."

After Denis effortlessly pushed himself to his feet, they stood at eye level with each other. Brother face to face with brother, they secretly sized themselves up as they had done ever since they became teenagers, let alone vampires. Denis' feet were firmly planted as he stretched his elbows back animalistically, his greasy black hair falling over his hungry yellow eyes. His premature body coated with dirt and grit, his only clothing a pair of thin brown pants.

Damon preferred a full wardrobe, shirt, pants, boots; more like Master Black Hat. His trimmed black hair was pulled back, single unruly curls poking out onto his forehead. Always unsure of what to do with his hands, he looked at Denis'. His brother's muscular arms hung garishly at his sides, intimidating, his hands curved like claws just below his waist. He resisted putting his own hands in his pockets.

Denis spoke up, his stomach very impatient. "We gonna make a feast out of her or what? And why isn't anyone workin' on the expansion?"

"Master said not to work. Not today. This Priestess is mighty special."

"She taste good?"

"No, no, you don't get it! I…I mean he—well—"

"Slow down, brother, you ain't making any sense."

Damon took a deep breath, secretly envying his brother's ease at becoming a vampire. Vampires never stuttered, never faltered. They were instinctive and straightforward. He was ashamed of his human blood.

"She's not a Priest no more, she caint be."

Ok, hope you enjoyed that extra long chapter. Sorry if the writing isn't my best, I was really just trying to finish tonight. Let me know what you think about the human vampire OC's, I've got a lot more of them later on. As always. stay tuned :)