*** I don't own Jasper, Nettie, Maria, or Lucy. Enjoy!***

Our first loss came shortly after our victory at Monterrey. We had won a few skirmishes in the surrounding areas, but nothing of great importance. Until Maria decided to become greedy and send us over to Chihuahua to gain more land. I had protested at first, not liking the idea of heading so far from home, but as usual, she insisted and I caved to her will. I was determined to do anything to please her.

Lucy had proved to be a very proficient scout and so I sent Lucy out once again, much to her annoyance. This time I sent her along with a few soldiers for her own safety. They returned a week later to reveal that the army of Chihuahua was camped several miles outside of the city limits. But their leader, a young man named Roberto, was holed up in a brothel right in the middle of town. After much discussion, it was decided that I would kill the leader first, then together we would take out the rest of the army. We left soon after, ready to take control of another city.

We crept into the city, early in the evening, being sure to hide from the humans. I stalked the brothel with William, the vampire with the cowboy hat who I had met on my first day with Maria. I considered him my second-in-command, as he wasn't a particularly strong fighter, but he was very smart and was an incredible tactician. Therefore, I had chosen him to back me up on our special mission.

We ducked into an alley to avoid two drunk cowboys stumbling out of the saloon next door. Their smell hit my nose and flames ripped through my throat as I fought to maintain control. It wasn't as difficult for William, as he was nearing his year mark, while I was still only five months old. They passed us, shouting and laughing loudly. The smell of their blood was tainted by the whiskey they had imbibed, which made it a little easier to resist killing them. I still had to close my eyes and calm myself so I didn't jump out and rip them to shreds. I hadn't fed in a few days, so that was definitely not helping the situation.

"Focus," William whispered behind me. I nodded, assuring him that I was under control. His quiet demeanor helped me remember our original purpose.

I leaned my head back and took a deep breath, taking in all of the smells. I could smell the booze and smoke from the saloon, as well as the cheap perfume of the whores inside. There was also a tinge of sweet smell from the rooms above. The smell of another vampire. I motioned to William that I was going to jump into the upstairs room through the window above us while he was to come up the other side through the saloon. There was no way I was strong enough to walk through the saloon without taking a few humans down in the process. He nodded in understanding and disappeared.

Bracing myself for the coming fight, I pushed off with my legs and landed lightly on the balcony outside of the room. I could hear a woman's moans of ecstasy from within and realized I may have gotten the wrong room. I poked my head through the window and was shocked at the sight. It was definitely the room of the vampire since he was feeding off of the woman...at the same time they were flagrante delicto. I blinked my eyes at the sight, shocked as I pulled myself through the window. The vampire pulled his face away from the woman's throat the minute he caught my scent and growled at me, blood dripping from his teeth. The woman shrieked and jumped up from the bed, covering herself with the blanket.

My lips curled and I crouched as he leapt at me. It struck me as rather odd that I was standing in a bedroom-which smelled a lot like sex-fighting a naked man, but I focused on the fight I was about to face. "Roberto?" I asked.

His ruby eyes widened as I said his name. "Who are you?" he hissed.

"The man who's going to take your city." I threw myself at him, catching his chest and slamming him to the ground. He snarled deep in his throat as he reached for my throat. I grabbed his hand and, sinking his teeth into his wrist, ripped the arm off at the elbow. He screamed in pain and latched onto my forearm.

I hissed angrily and punched him across the face, ripping my arm free at the same time. I could hear the skin tear and flinched at the burning sensation. Roberto shoved me off of him and I flew across the room, crashing into the cabinet on the wall. It fell to the floor with a crash, toiletries scattering around the room. He followed my flight and caught me across the throat as I tried to stand. I felt his teeth in my throat and I struggled to push him off of me. Unable to pull free, I decided to try the opposite and wrapped my arms around his trunk. Squeezing with all of my strength, Roberto screamed in agony as I snapped all of the bones in his torso. He struggled weakly for a moment, then went limp. I jumped up quickly and dismantled his body. I wrapped his body parts in a sheet from the bed, intending to carry him out of town to burn the pieces.

I heard panting as I worked on my task, and turned to see William drinking from the woman-whom I had completely forgotten up until that moment. My thirst returned with a vengeance as I smelled her blood in the air. I ran over to her and grabbed an arm, my teeth tearing into her soft skin.

"Too late," William announced, slightly amused as he dropped her to the floor.

"Damn," I swore, disappointed I wasn't able to slake my thirst. I looked up to see William grinning at me. "What?" I asked. He gestured towards the mirror on the far wall with a nod of his head. Glancing at myself in the mirror, my eyebrows shot up at my appearance. My face was smeared with blood from the prostitute, and there was a large chunk of skin missing from my throat where Roberto had dug his teeth into me. Plus, my blond, wavy hair was completely standing on end from the tussle. Smiling, I grabbed a cloth from the wash basin and wiped my face clean and calmed my hair.

"Still a disaster, aren't you?" William joked, his red eyes flashing with humor.

"Hey, give me a break," I protested. "I had to kill him all by myself!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got caught up with a bunch of drunks downstairs, and I couldn't leave without drawing too much attention to myself."

I chuckled, picking up the sheet with Roberto's body. "I suppose we had better get back."

William grabbed the body of the prostitute and followed me out the window.

Maria was extremely pleased with Roberto's demise and we immediately began planning the attack on his ranch. We decided to approach the enemy from the west, looping around the town and hitting it from the other side. I put William in charge of the second wave of soldiers, me leading the first. We attacked at dawn this time, trying to keep the element of surprise on our side. They were definitely surprised at our attack. However, I was in for a shock of my own at their sheer numbers. Not expecting nearly that many, they had almost thirty newborns to our nineteen.

I threw myself into the fight, taking down several enemies before I was brought to my knees by a particularly vicious brute. He towered over me and threw me to the ground. I could feel cracks in my body as he slammed a knee on my chest. Snarling, I bit into his thigh, tearing a hunk of flesh through his pants. He yowled and jumped up where William was waiting to tear his head off. I sent a lopsided grin his way before I turned my attention to the others.

It was a brutal battle and we lost ten good fighters before I called a retreat. Maria wasn't too happy with me for that. Irritated at the loss, I said nothing as she yelled at me. I merely turned from her and led my damaged troops back to our villa in Monterrey, nursing the several wounds I had received. I had lost a finger to a nasty little female, but one of our soldiers had discovered weeks ago that if we licked our wounds, we could reattach our limb. It was kind of gross, but effective.

As we approached our home, I saw Lucy and Nettie waiting for us on the porch. I broke away from the troops and charged towards the house, allowing my anger to take over. "What the hell was that?" I shouted at Lucy. She raised her eyes to me defiantly. "How could you not tell me of their numbers!"

"I guess I forgot," she answered smugly.

"Forgot!" I roared as I grabbed the rocking chair from the porch and threw it across the yard. It smashed a hole in the nearby tool shed. "How do you forget something like that?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes at me and I was stunned at the hatred I suddenly felt sweep over me. I jumped over the porch railing and closed my hand on her throat, smashing her up against the house. "You killed half my men!"

"Then you're not a very good commander," she sneered. Her face began to show uncertainty and fear as my grip tightened on her neck.

I started to lean towards her, intent on tearing her throat out, when I then realized what I was doing. I stared at her in horror and pulled my hand away, stunned at what I had almost done. I staggered back and she and Nettie took that opportunity to flee. I turned to grip the porch rail, splintering the wood with my grip. I took several deep breaths to control my anger and watched as my troops trudged their way onto the ranch, looking mopey and miserable. This was our first loss, and I could tell that they were all taking it very hard. I decided to let the troops relax in the barn as I wandered to my bedroom to figure out what exactly went wrong in this battle.

As I sat in a chair in my bedroom, my eyes fell on a calendar that was nailed to the wall by the previous owners. I ran through the dates in my head, trying to figure out the actual date. I was stunned as I realized that it was December 24th. Christmas Eve. I quickly became depressed as I tried to imagine what my human family was doing during the holiday season. What had the Army told them about my sudden disappearance? Was I considered dead? Killed in a battle that had never actually happened? Trampled by a horse? I could only imagine the explanations my family had received.

I pictured them. My father, Henry, from whom I had inherited my height. My mother, Elizabeth, my blond hair and blue eyes. And my little sister, Madeline. She was only five when I left home to join the Army three years ago. Would she remember me at all? Would my parents explain to her who I was?

I became melancholy, lost in my memories, when Maria crashed into my bedroom, the door banging against the wall with a resounding boom. I jumped to my feet as she crossed the room towards me. Stopping just in front of me, she seethed. "We need to find more newborns. We cannot be humiliated like this again!"

"If you find me the newborns, I will train them," I responded woodenly.

She took my hand. "Come," she ordered. "We will head into Monterrey and find some humans to change."

I frowned. She had never asked me to go with her to change newborns before. "What about Nettie and Lucy?" I asked.

"They are searching around other areas. More to choose from. Plus," she pursed her lips at me, "after your little display, they don't really want to be around you right now."

I sighed and stood, following Maria into the city. However, we both soon discovered that bringing me along for a newborn hunt was a very bad idea. I tried to change three young men and a local prostitute. I ended up with nothing but a very full belly. I could sense Maria's irritation.

"Can't you control yourself?" she shouted at me as I drained the girl of her blood. Dropping the body, I bristled at her, angry at her tone. Not waiting for my response, Maria rolled her eyes. She waved in the direction of our home. "Just go home. I'll bring you some new recruits in the morning."

Nodding, I headed for home, slower than usual due to the sloshing in my stomach. I arrived just in time, as a fight was occurring in our barn. William was being attacked by a former Union soldier. Daniel, I believed was his name. And my friend was losing badly. Daniel was barely three months old and was much stronger.

By the time I got there, William was fighting as best as he could, given that he only had one arm left. I scanned the ground and found the other one lying off in a small bonfire. My lips curled over my teeth and I sprung in between them before they could cause anymore damage. I pulled Daniel away from William, hauling him up by his long brunette hair that was held in place with a leather strap. He turned on me, teeth bared. I punched him across the face and knocked him to the ground. "Enough!" I shouted, enraged at him. He was a great fighter, and I really didn't want to have to kill him.

Unfortunately, he didn't leave me much choice as soon as I turned towards William, he jumped on my back and sank his teeth into my neck. I swore angrily and launched him through the open barn door into the yard. I ran outside and quickly dismembered him. Disgusted, I looked at the pieces of Daniel scattered all over the field. "I didn't want to kill you," I sneered. Shaking my head, I walked back into the barn to check on William. He appeared to be okay, albeit a little bit sore from losing a limb.

"He jumped me when I wasn't looking. I should have paid more attention," William admitted.

I clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. At least you're still alive."

William looked down at his boots and kicked the dirt. "Yeah, I guess." His desolate mood made me depressed, so I sent him out to the yard to work on training some of the older newborns.

As I sat in the barn, awaiting the women's return, it occurred to me that William would no longer be able to fight for us, given that he only had one arm. I was happy for him since he had been living in a barn for almost a year. He deserved to be free. Free to live his own life...whatever life he could have given the fact that he was a vampire.

Little did I know, that wasn't the fate that Maria had in mind for him. When she returned with three newborns to add to our army, she saw William sitting on a rock outside, sleeve neatly rolled up to his shoulder.

She pulled me aside. "What happened?"

"There was a disagreement while we were in the city," I answered diplomatically.

She sneered in disgust. "Well, he's useless to us now."

I nodded. "Yes, I think he should leave us." Maria looked taken aback. "What?" I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "No one leaves my army."

"But you just said he was useless." At her sudden smile, the pieces all clicked into place. "You're going to kill him." It was not a question, merely a simple fact.

"No," she countered. "You are."

***Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave reviews and stay tuned for Chapter Six: The Bonfire***