ME no own Moonlight if i did i doubt i would be here.

Enjoy, i owe you guys big time, schools just a jerk adn so is internet connection failure

Chapter 6

"Today we will be starting on teaching you a few things," said Josef.

Jack stared up at him and Mick from her curled up position on the couch. Both were staring down at her and it wasn't their gazes that frightened her but rather the cutlasses they were holding. Both men had decided it was finally time to teach Jack on how to be a vampire, even though it took them nearly a week to decide on how and at whose house. In that time Jack had been doing nothing but sitting around Mick's house, nose stuck in a book and absolutely bored out of her mind. Now she was in Josef's enormous house-mansion thing, apparently preparing to sword fight with both of them.

"This was not my idea of learning how to be a vampire," Jack mumbled. Truthfully she had absolutely no idea what she would be doing, but figuring out how to sword fight was not one of them.

"You have to master the physical things first," Mick told her in a stern voice, "if you don't you'll end up doing something stupid like pulling the door off of a car when all you meant to do was get in it."

"Swords though?" Jack squeaked.

Mick chuckled and handed his sword to Josef who took it with a frown. He offered his hand to Jack who took it happily.

"We'll start off slow. Josef thought it would be funny to see your reaction to the swords. We will be using them in the future, if for no other reason than to keep you from getting bored."

Jack whirled around to see Josef smirking as he placed the blades inside of a case.

"You mean thing," she hissed.

Mick sighed and demanded Jack to focus.

Jack turned back to him with an innocent expression.

"Nice try, but we really do need you to focus," Mick told her sternly. "The best way for a new vampire to find out how to control their strength is to fight."

Jack opened her mouth to interrupt; she had already fought other vampires.

"That wasn't a fight," Mick interrupted, already sensing what she was going to say. "That was you beating him to smithereens. When I say fight I mean a battle that's actually controlled and not fueled by raging emotions."

"Teach me then," Jack demanded elated. She had been so bored she would do anything as long as she could move.

Mick chuckled again and ruffled her hair. "Be patient I swear you get more hyper every day."

"I've been cooped up for forever," Jack retorted rolling her eyes. "Do you know what it's like being stuck in an apartment without something to do?"

Josef finished placing the swords in a case and walked back to them. "Jack give me your bracelet," he commanded.

Too distracted to care why he wanted it Jack handed the bracelet over half consciously. "So what are we going to do?" she asked.

Josef smirked and shoved the bracelet in his pocket. "We're going to put that energy to good use."

Jack smiled at him. An hour later she was still smiling even though she could barely catch her breath and was flat on her back, a wooden stick shoved into the ground right next to her head.

"Dead," Mick panted, staring at her.

Jack rolled over and dragged herself to her feet. Her muscles were slightly sore and she had a cracked rib that was slowly healing but otherwise she couldn't have been happier. She and Mick had been fighting relentlessly for the past three hours. At first Jack had been amazed at how aggressive Mick was. Before he had always been a lover not a fighter, but he put her on her back enough times to convince Jack that could defiantly fight.

They had started off with simple stances, punches, and kicks since Mick and Josef wanted to see what Jack could do. Of course it had been difficult since this was supposed to be a controlled fight and she still wasn't use to her new strength or speed but a year of Kickboxing as a human had taught her some control. As soon as Josef learned Jack had already been in a fighting sport he quickly rounded up a set of wooden staffs. And that had sparked an entirely new round of fighting.

A few yards off the ancient vampire was watching—as he had been doing the last few hours—with mixed curiosity. Despite Mick obviously being the superior Jack was managing to get a few blows in herself before being knocked to the ground and 'killed'. Josef had to admit that even if she didn't have a history of fighting Jack would still be a natural fighter and aggressor. But even that would have its own set of problems, one of which would ultimately be challengers looking for a good fight. Still she was less than six months old, the challenge now was keeping her alive. When she was a few decades old he would worry about that but for now Josef could concentrate on teaching her control.

"Alright break time," he shouted to them.

Mick trudged over still breathing heavily while Jack nearly skipped. She was extremely happy today, the natural high of a workout emphasizing her joy.

"Jack you need to go get the other half of you staff," Mick panted.

Jack looked at confused then finally remembered she was only clutching about half of her splintered weapon. Looking around she finally spotted the other half lodged into a side of a tree a few hundred feet off of the ground. Its stain was glinting in the moonlight looking almost like metal.

"How in the world?" Jack mumbled, her brow furrowed as she tried to remember when she had lost half her stick. "I'll be right back."

Mick watched her run off and shook her head.

"She's going to be a handful," Josef commented when his friend collapsed on the ground next to him.

"She already is," Mick said. "I haven't had to fight someone that fierce in awhile, even if she is untrained she's got more energy than me."

Josef chuckled.

"Josef," a soft voice called out behind him.

Both vampires turned to see a stunningly beautiful woman dressed casually standing behind them. Josef smiled. "Glad you remembered Candice," he nearly purred.

Candice smiled and walked over, offering him her wrist. Josef took it with a smile, he always did like blonds. Mick watched with distaste but didn't move from his spot.

Away, hundreds of feet in the air, Jack grabbed her weapon tightly with both hands, careful not to disintegrate the wood. Pulling it with as much force as she can muster Jack yanked the weapon from the trunk, holding onto a branch as the tree swayed from the force. She grimaced and brushed her fingers around the perfect hole it had created, hoping the tree would be okay. It would be a shame to lose such a behemoth.

Staff in hand Jack jumped to the tree next to it, landing lithely on one of the top branches, and then jumped to the one next to it. Leaping from branch to branch almost running through the tree Jack traveled back to Mick and Josef, the buzz from earlier still fluttering in her head.

This was much better than running, she thought. Glancing down Jack watched the ground flow underneath her in a ripple of colors. A giggle escaped her lips.

After a minute Jack finally landed into the tree nearest to Mick and Josef. She smiled and held up her broken weapon like a trophy when Josef bit down into a human's wrist.

Jack flinched and half sat half fell back in surprise. She had never seen anyone bite a humane before tonight. There were only three vampires she had ever interacted with—Zachary, Josef, and Mick—and had never seen any of them drink from something alive.

Of course I should be prepared for this though, Jack thought swallowing. She was a vampire for God's sake, naturally she should be biting people left and right not sucking down a bag of morgue blood. It was only natural for Josef to feed from a live human.

But instead of making her feeling better, the thought, if anything, made her feel worse. Jack realized how different she was for a vampire, how much an outcast she was…again. Instantly the high she had been naturally living on for the past week disappeared and Jack felt as if she had been thrown back into that month after she had been changed.

As if driven by instinct Mick suddenly looked up. His eyes almost immediately locked with Jack's. She watched as he said something to Josef, too far to hear what it was even with her new ears.

Josef stopped feeding and turned around, his eyes quickly settling on Jack. He whipped around to Mick and the two began to talk extremely fast, too fast for Jack to catch anything from their lips. Each seemed to be getting angrier and angrier; Mick eventually stood and walked over to Josef so he was barely a foot away. Thankfully after a moment the two calmed down and appeared to have come to some agreement. Josef handed over the extremely beautiful and slightly unsteady woman to Mick who once again looked up at Jack, giving his best reassuring smile. Josef meanwhile walked over to the tree and within less than a second was sitting on a branch next to Jack.

"Found my staff," she told him meekly.

Josef looked at her sternly. Most older vampires would have withered under the stare but Jack just looked back. "Is that completely new to you?" he asked sternly.

Jack's attempt at creating a light mood instantly disappeared and she curled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"Most vampires would have probably bitten a human by now at least," she grumbled. "Even as a vampire I'm an outcast."

Josef looked at her for the first time in understanding. Her human past was still obviously affecting her, of course it would be it would affect her forever. "This relates back to your human life," he stated.

"Obviously not the whole blood drinking thing," Jack said quickly.

"Well we wouldn't want to make you an outcast would we?" Josef asked her. "You should probably try anyway just so you aren't biased by you sire."

"But won't he be upset?" Jack asked worried. Mick had made his views very clear in the beginning, intentionally and unintentionally.

Josef's face immediately darkened, startling Jack. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise and there was an almost undeniable feeling to run away as fast as she could. He was going to stake Mick for making this fledgling terrified of drinking from humans, disrupting a natural instinct like that could be detrimental in the long run, especially if she ever wanted to branch out on her own.

"No he won't, I promise," Josef swore.

Jack said in a quiet voice, "This is completely mortifying. I feel like a teenager whose being taught how to use a fork."

Josef sighed and grabbed Jack, throwing her over his shoulder before jumping to the ground.

"I can walk you know!" Jack snarled.

Josef intended to drop her but Jack landed on her feet instead. She jumped a couple feet away and took a deep breath, intending to calm her nerves. But a sharp scent caught her off guard and Jack almost fell over when the image of flames flickered into her vision. She froze and smelled the air again, taking a deep breath this time and trying to identify whatever the strange scent was.

"If you don't walk faster I'm going to carry you again," Josef snapped. He was beginning to become impatient with her stubbornness. She still hadn't figured out when to listen and when to not, and that natural instinct to obey an older vampire had obviously been left out of her genetic makeup.

When Jack didn't respond Josef swung around with the intention of throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her the several miles to the mansion. At her expression he stopped short though and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jack's answer was barely above a whisper, her expression immensely confused. "It smells funny."

Josef took a deep breath. Sure enough the scent of burning wood and chemicals reached his nose and he frowned. His cell phone rang and Josef had it up to his ear faster than any human could.

"I already know Mick," he said.

"Beth just called there's been a—how do you already know?"

"Your fledgling decided to actually pay attention to her nose. You can smell it form here."

"She smelled it before you?" Mick's tone was teasing and Josef growled a little. "Are you losing your touch Josef?"

"No," Josef snarled. "I was trying to think of ways to go about de-traumatizing your fledgling from drinking blood from a human. You've got her absolutely terrified of it."

There was silence before Mick finally spoke. "Josef that's not something I can really teach—"

"Then maybe she should stay with me for a while," Josef snapped. "You can't impose something like this on someone so young. It's unhealthy, physically and mentally. I should have already been forcing fresh stuff down her throat for her own good."

Rage entered Mick's voice. "I am plenty capable on taking care of Jack, Josef."

"Obviously not or else she wouldn't feel it necessary to hide in a tree while watching another vampire feed from a human, something that should be as natural to her by now as breathing."

"I didn't change her," Mick challenged. "I haven't had her since the time she became a vampire unlike most sires, and also unlike most sires I don't have am extremely deep connection with her. I can't tell what she's thinking most of the time or what she's going to do."

"Which is all the more reason for you to push her because you can't tell so easily when she needs it," Josef hissed. "You go off and run around with Buzzwire, Jack is staying here tonight. Hopefully I can convince your fledgling that drinking blood is not something only monsters do." Josef nearly snapped his phone shut, almost breaking the fragile plastic.

"Josef?"

The ancient vamp cursed his thoughtless nature, he had completely forgotten Jack was in earshot. He had not only just insulted her sire but he had also brought up the very thing she was scared of: being different. And now he was going to pay for it. Turning around he saw a furious baby vampire glaring daggers at him. Even though she was young Jack's stare would probably make a vampire decades old quiver.

"Just because Mick has some issues doesn't mean he isn't a great sire," she hissed. "And I don't care if you think you could do a better job, Mick took me in when you probably would have just second glanced me, and that makes him more my sire than anybody else."

She stormed passed Josef. He merely watched her follow the path back to his mansion. It wasn't just anyone who could speak to him that way but Jack was someone he cared about and he could also understand where she was coming from. If anyone had dared to insult his sire Josef would have done much more than just shouted. He began to short trek through the woods back to his house, wondering how he was going to fix this mess.

When his mansion finally came into view Josef saw Mick talking to a very upset looking Jack in the driveway. She had neglected to notice Josef and seemed to be pleading with Mick. He merely shook his head and turned to the ancient vampire.

"Josef."

Jack twisted her neck and looked behind but then turned back to Mick, burying her face into his side. She didn't want to stay at Josef's it was an unfamiliar place and Mick wasn't there. Mick wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her back. He led her over towards Josef who was watching with an expressionless face.

"Keep her safe tonight," he told Josef quietly.

Josef nodded and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. She sighed and then walked towards the mansion but not before giving Mick a brief hug. This was one of those battles Jack knew she wasn't going to win and she didn't feel like fighting anyway.

"I managed to convince her to stay," Mick said as he watched her go. "I didn't think you would be stupid enough to say all of that in front of her."

"I didn't think she would be so angry," Josef admitted.

Mick rubbed the back of his neck. "Neither did I, I thought that since I'm not really her sire she would be so clingy."

Josef smiled. "Don't let her hear you say that. To her Mick you are more her sire than anyone else."

Mick blew air out of his mouth. Raising a vampire was much harder than he expected and in some areas he couldn't raise her at all. "Drinking from a human isn't something I can teach her Josef but it's not something I would forbid. Although I don't know what will happen if she decides to switch over to this."

"Simple you'd both move in with me," Josef sneered.

Mick sniggered. The day he could tolerate living with Josef was the day hell froze over.

"This one is up to you Josef," Mick sighed. "Take care of her?'

Josef nodded. As Mick drove off he turned back to the mansion where Jack was waiting by the front door. Now for the difficult part.