A/N: I took a different approach, well. And it's for NaNoWriMo after all. :) Bonne lire!

DISCLAIMER: The CSI Miami and NY characters are taken by CBS, saying "they will be mine! they will be mine!" but the others characters are by yours truly. Bold, italics are the lyrics of Coldplay, and therefore I don't own them, even if I want to. :\ Credits to YUMGirlandMoltman for some of the characters. I hope there aren't any bad feelings. :

Prologue:

Horatio's Point of View (will be using POV from now on):

As night time comes around in Miami, mortals began to turn in for the night to dream of what happened today and what might happen tomorrow. However, there are creatures that would stay awake at this point of time and play their own games, where evil could stark around as it pleases, and where the hunters became the hunted. People call them the 'creatures of the dark'.

And I am one of them.

My ancestor, Elena, was the reason for my existence. A million years ago, she was banished from 'paradise' as a form of punishment for not obeying the most important command of all given by the creator: Thou shall not kill. As a result, she roamed the world alone, living an immortal life and taking lives away from mortals in the form of blood, which unfortunately, she could only consume. After spending a few decades on her own, suffering the pang of loneliness clinging on to her all those time, she finally found herself a mate and turned him into one of her, thus creating the population we have today. She has only made good friends with those now our cousins, the werewolves. We now depend on each other like peanut butter and bread.

I sat down, leaning against the tree branch for support after a long day at work. I closed my eyes, taking in the surroundings around me, from the sounds of heartbeats, slow and peaceful, to the quiet running of the waters from the lake a mile away from me. I took in a deep breath, letting myself feel 'human' for once.

It was in my nature to take the lives of mere mortals, to torture them a great deal before finally leaving them to suffer a slow and painful death. To see them looking into my eyes with a massive sense of fear, begging me for mercy, to let them go back to their families, and where they truly belong. Hope that they would live to see another day. The blood from them was meant to show who I really am inside of me;

A vampire.

But I chose not to. I decided to turn against most of my 'brothers and sisters', along with a few others. The Elders, they who have been in power for as long as I have been living in this world, were not very happy with my view on the world and especially humans, most of all Rick Stetler, as they thought that humans should only be used as slaves or as food. I love living alongside humans, being able to greet them with a 'good morning' every single day and to be able to have a little conversation with them regarding life, rather than hunting them out of hunger. They taught me the true meaning of joy and peace, but most of all love, in which vampire's themselves can't.

When I met Marisol at a crime scene, my heart, if I had one, felt as if it was fluttering. That was the first, and only time I thought I fell in love. I had come back to Miami, pouring myself into work after losing my only fiancé, Mandy, at that time. I thought love will never find it's way back to me again, but after meeting her, my conscience just changed its course. The thought of her in my mind only brought a big grin into my face.

Even though the elders and my "ex-girlfriend" Casey didn't agree to give me their blessing for having Marisol's hand in marriage, I would still ask for it anyway. I have usually listened to their words, to follow their direct orders and keep out of their path, but this time they have no reason to force me to live my life the way they want it, even if they used force. It was the first time I talked back to the leader of the Elders, Aaron, and it took some time before the two of us arrived at an agreement.

The Elders finally gave their blessings when another one and only female Elder, Yelina, told them that Marisol was pregnant with a dhampire, our daughter. Apparently, dhampires are the most powerful creatures between humans and vampires, for he or she has the ability of super human strength and speed, but she is able to go out into the sun without the aim of a ring, something that most vampires have ever wished for their entire lives. That meant more people may plan to use it to their advantage. Something I promised to protect her from as her father.

Casey didn't take it well, the week before the meeting with the Elders, we met and chatted for a while. Her face flipped upside down immediately when she heard that Marisol has been pregnant, her jealousy flaring a great deal. She continued to persuade me to go back to her side, explaining to me all the down sides of pregnancy, but I only see that as a blessing. She tried all sorts of things to separate us from each other, physically and emotionally, making us lose faith with each other. A few months before Anastasia, my daughter's, entrance into the world, Casey kept on giving nightmares towards as a form of torment. She even sent some of her men to steal Marisol away from me, in the hopes of making me go back to being her boyfriend and love. If not for Frank and my CSI team, she would probably be in heaven, along with the fetus inside of her.

Grey was my old nemesis and was also one of the guys that Mandy was asked to choose from when she had the chance. He had loved her deeply, but she was oblivious to his tell-tale signs and chose me instead. Ever since the day Mandy died, he had been making my life feel miserable.

He had even gotten Jack, one of Marisols best friend's boyfriend to kidnap Marisol and brought her into his hiding place, even when she was pregnant with my daughter, our child, for a few weeks, where he tortured her immensely for days. I didn't even want to think about the things they could have done to her, least of all the things they did to her sexually. I couldn't even wrap around the fact that they have locked her up in a small cell, complete with walls and without windows for ventilation. I've almost killed him when I met him in his house a few days later, all thanks to the trackers and the strong bond that Marisol and I shared together. I was about to kill him when the elders told me to bring Marisol into safety, which is important, but that meant a great chance for Grey to escape and disappear into thin air. I regretted not snapping his head off when I had the chance.

The family I have always wanted in my whole two hundred years of existence. A family of my own and I let it slip away. I blamed myself for making that mistake, vowing never to do it ever again, now being extra careful by making calls on and off work just to make sure they are safe and accompanied by people that I trust.

I was disturbed by the cracking on some branches, the crunching of leaves, and the constant lapping of something liquid by tongues, causing my head to snap up, looking at my surroundings. It was dark under human eyes, but it was as bright as it was in the day for me. I began to scan the area, only to find three deers drinking water from the river, lapping their tongues on it, and two munching on some grass near the trees. I took in a deep breath, making sure of myself, but my mind brought me back to a constant, dreamlike state.

My mind drifted back to the place that we now called 'home', from where we have had moved to when Anastasia is born, and to our lovely daughter herself. I could still remember the years growing up with her, to overcome life's challenges and problems with her. We do fight with each other at times about the little things, but we do still love each other in the end.

Her fifteenth birthday is coming in a few days, and that is my biggest worry. Yelina told me that most of the powers of the dhampire will be released when he or she reaches fifteen years of age, which would mean that she will be more obvious to vampires and werewolves everywhere as they could sense more energy bursting out of her. I feared for her future, of what she might become, of the dangers that lie in front of her, just waiting to pounce on her when they had the chance.

It was my destiny to save the humans from the rogue vampires, to bring peace and strengthen the bonds between the supernatural and natural beings. And now it is her turn to carry on the torch, as we continue on our marathon of life. The torch of upholding the good and banishing the evil, the torch of everlasting peace where man and vampire walk together, hand in hand.

She has been choosen to come into the world, to help me continue the legacy. She is going to be a warrior, and a mighty one at that. One that the good vampires and werewolves would bow their heads in respect when she is around, one they could trust when everything seemed hopeless, just like a respectable new hero in the comic book.

There will be no purpose for me by then. I'll be sitting in the sidelines, watching as she lead the army every single day on for the rest of her life, occasionally advising her on the important things along the way. I'll be able to fully experience life with my beloved wife, to be able to wake up every morning with her around my arms, thinking about our time together, rather than worrying for the people. To spend most of the time together, to go and venture places where we had never been before. And when the time comes, it will be time where I would have to leave my existence all together. I don't believe in heaven, but I do believe in a place where tired souls would rest when their time had come. But now is not the time.

I smiled to myself, standing up quietly so as to not to startle the deers, or my dinner in other words. Feeling confident, I let out a sigh of relief, ran my hand through my blonde red hair, and stared at the scene in front of me.

She is The One. And I have done what I have been destined to do.

"One day, death is going to conquer me,
I'll be down where the waters flow,
I hope sweet Heaven is the place for me,
Let me know, boys, let me know."