Disclaimer: Priest and its characters belong to Scott Stewart.

Claimer: I own Tessa.

Chapter #18: Phantom of the Opera

They met Priest at the town's frontage as promised, where he had already been mounted on his motorcycle waiting for them. Tessa had been a bit surprised he had bothered to wait, but she made no comment. It wouldn't be for at least two days until they reached Jackson, as they made haste into the early morning horizon. There was an outpost that marked the halfway point to their destination, and after a weary day's travel they had arrived at said station—but it was hardly a sight to behold. The roof's shingles hung loosely where they had been torn from their attachments, the jagged claw marks littering the wood and sand around the small house giving an instantaneous explanation as to what had occurred. The windows were all vacant of their glass, and the door was barely hanging on to its hinges.

Tessa's eyes held a glint of solemn awareness as she looked around at the damage. Beside her, Black Hat crouched down to inspect the ground while Priest walked into the demolished house.

"Anything catch your eye?" she asked, looking down at Black Hat.

"Judging by the amount of activity in the prints, I'd say roughly fifty vampires were in this herd."

She nodded, and after a moment she walked passed him towards the house. She entered cautiously, but she stopped short when she was greeted with the sight of a man and woman lying motionlessly in the center of the floor, both their necks torn from being assaulted by the fanged creatures.

"Oh, God…" she breathed, and looked up to Priest. The look in his eyes made her pause momentarily. He was staring at the couple with a distant gaze, and she became aware he was thinking about Shannon. At first she hesitated, knowing he didn't know nor trust her that well, but eventually she reached out and placed a feather-light, consoling hand on his arm. The contact seemed to snap him from the reminiscent reverie he was absorbed in, and his head turned to her. Silence drifted between them for a considerable amount of time, and she was starting to get the feeling he was trying to decipher her somehow.

"Why is it that every time I look at you, I feel like I've seen you before?" he asked at last.

Tessa smiled softly. "Because you have."

His eyebrows drew together.

"You saved me from vampires when I was a teenager," she admitted.

The icy wall cracked to let in a stream of genuine surprise, which was the most emotion she had seen from him yet. Then he seemed to fall in thought again, as if attempting to recall this event himself.

"I don't expect you to remember," she said. "There was so much going on at the time, and it was years ago." She tilted her head at him. "You were young... I'm guessing in your late twenties."

His eyes returned to the couple on the floor, and her stare shifted there as well, where it lingered a moment before taking a turn into the bedroom. When she came back, she held two sheets in her hands, and she could have sworn she saw a glint of admiration appear in those frosty orbs. Taking one of the sheets from her, he covered the woman while she carefully draped the man, and Black Hat walked in a minute later.

He stopped in the doorway when he saw them draping the sheets over the corpses, and his eyes shifted to Priest, who caught his stare and eyed him coldly. They left shortly after and made camp on a sandy hill a few miles further down the path, the outpost hardly serving as an appropriate resting place.

Tessa took a keen drink from her canteen as she gazed out into the vibrant horizon, and then turned her head over at Priest as he dismounted his motorcycle. Her eyes softened as she remembered the look in his eyes at the outpost, and she felt herself wanting to say something to him. When she turned to walk towards him, she missed the curious glance Black Hat sent her from behind, and Priest looked up at her in indistinct query as she approached.

"I never gave my condolences for your loss," she said softly.

He glanced up at her fleetingly.

"What do they look like?" she asked humbly. "Your family."

His eyes shifted back up to her a moment, and then fell again as if in thought. She watched as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which she realized was a photo. He handed it to her, and she took it carefully. The blood splatters on the picture sent chills down her spine, and without realizing it she felt sadness for him. The man's face, whom she assumed was Owen, had been blotched out by the blood, but the two women could still be made out clearly. The smaller one she knew was Lucy. She had a pretty, youthful face and big brown eyes.

"She's pretty," she said softly. Her gaze moved back up to him. It did not go unnoticed by her how his eyes seemed to lose some of their rigidity as he looked at the woman in the photo. Tessa eyed him sympathetically. "Why didn't you go back when the war was over; if you don't mind me asking?"

His stare fell to the sand. "I wanted to."

She nodded faintly. "I get it. I do."

His head turned back to her once more, and she offered him another gentle smile before reaching down and placing her hand over his.

"I'm sure Shannon understands as well."

He stared at her with close, deciphering eyes.

"You're a good father, Priest. Never doubt that for a second." With one last, kind smile, she turned away to the feeling of his eyes following her as she walked over to Black Hat, who had been distracting himself over near the rocks.

After she'd had a chance to stretch out her muscles from a long day's travel, they began their usual sparring practice. Priest was watching curiously from his seat a little ways away, eyes slightly narrowed at the strange display before him. His eyebrows had raised at one point when Tessa managed to deflect a hit before delivering what would have been a direct blow to Black Hat's face. He promptly followed up by sweeping his foot under her legs, and she fell to the ground hard. At first Priest didn't think she would get up, but she took him by surprise when she just shook it off. He watched as his old foe pounced her, fangs flashing, and Priest grew alert, hand shooting towards the blade at his hip. However, he stopped when Tessa skillfully switched their positions. She threw her arms out to knock his aside, wielding two invisible blades high above her head as she drove them both down into his chest. He heard Black Hat praise her as they regained their footing, but he never gave her more than a second's rest before attacking again.

She was slammed up against the rocks, when all of a sudden she released a sharp yelp. Black Hat paused briefly at the cry and glanced down to see her arm was bleeding, a trail of crimson trickling down her forearm.

"Forget it, I'm fine!" she said. He pulled away and tried looking at it, but she yanked her arm from his grip and shoved him back. "It won't kill me! They aren't going to stop if I get a few scrapes!"

A glint of unadulterated pride appeared in his eyes at her hardiness, and he resumed his attack. He didn't stop until she managed to subdue him another three times, but then he called it quits after he saw her arm was still bleeding steadily.

"Now let me see that."

She allowed him to gently take her arm, and he inspected it briefly before picking up a canteen and pouring a small amount of water over the cut. He wiped it clean with a handkerchief, not noticing the smile that was dancing across her lips as she watched him.

"You're such a mother hen," she teased.

He smirked at her. Once her arm was clean and bound, he sat down a small distance from where Priest sat near the bikes. Tessa joined him, sitting down between his legs, and she leaned back against his front. She caught the dissecting stare Priest was fixing them with, and she quirked an inquiring eyebrow in his direction.

"What?"

He nodded to her. "…You would have made a good priestess."

To say she was surprised at his words did little justice to what she really thought, and she felt herself smiling appreciatively. "Maybe one day. I've got a long way to go."

His eyes shifted to Black Hat fleetingly, who held his stare with an even gaze.

Jackson was nothing but a ghost town by the time they arrived. Corpses scattered the streets amidst the debris, smoke still emitting in thin trails from the dying fires. Tessa's eyes were wide as she scanned over the slaughter before her, blank horror shimmering in her hazel-green orbs. When she had returned to Blackshire, there had been no bodies, and even that was a startling sight to behold. This was something straight from her nightmares. Her eyes swiftly averted when she had glanced up to see a man hanging halfway from a window, mouth agape and glassy eyes still opened in lifeless shock. Not even the chickens were left alive.

"They didn't take the bodies with them this time," Priest mused ponderingly.

"Must be harder to fit them all in armored trucks. Trains have more space," Black Hat muttered.

"You would know."

Black Hat sent him a halfhearted glare, before he reached to his left and pulled Tessa closer to him. "Stay close to me."

She nodded.

"Let's split up," said Priest.

"No."

Priest looked at him.

"She stays with me," said Black Hat firmly.

"Fine. Then you take the north end of town. I'll search the south."

They separated, and as they were walking, Tessa tried not to look at the bodies. Death was nothing new to her, but it made it no easier to gaze upon the lifeless faces of innocent victims. She felt him rub her arm comfortingly.

"It's okay. Just stay close. We're safe as long as the sun is out."

"I'm not worried about being attacked by vampires."

He looked down at her.

"This place just brings back bad memories, that's all…"

His eyes softened as he realized she meant when her parents had been killed. Before he had the chance to say anything, though, a noise grabbed both their attentions. His eyes narrowed as he processed the sound as some sort of whimper.

"Someone's alive." Tessa ran forward before he could stop her, and he followed quickly. She turned a corner, and then suddenly skidded to an abrupt halt when she saw who the assumed survivor was.

It was a Familiar. Black Hat stopped beside her, and the Familiar's eyes flew wide when he saw him. With a snarl curling at his lips, he moved to take a hostile step towards the fallen servant, who was visibly terrified at seeing his old master towering above him with an angered sneer. However, before he could make any move to grab the Familiar by the collar, Tessa calmly put her arm across his chest to hold him back. He looked at her with a questioning frown.

"Maybe he can tell us what's going on." She knelt down in front of the Familiar, who still appeared very frightened with Black Hat's presence. "Relax. Who lead you here?"

"I-I don't know his name…"

"He?" she asked. "What did he look like?"

He was still trembling, eyes darting towards Black Hat uneasily. "We thought you were dead…"

Black Hat growled at him, "Answer the question."

"I don't know. H-he keeps his face covered."

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.

"He wears all black… and he keeps this black mask over his eyes…"

Behind her, Black Hat released a scornful titter with a vague roll of his golden orbs. "Perfect. We're dealing with a Phantom of the Opera wannabe."

Tessa looked back at him with a quirked eyebrow. "I'm a little shocked you know what Phantom of the Opera is."

"I read."

She returned her attention to the Familiar. "How did you get injured?"

"Got shot by a civilian…"

"Is this new guy a vampire like him?" She nodded to Black Hat, and the Familiar nodded back. She sent a pensive stare over her shoulder at Black Hat, whose eyes were dark. "Where is he going next? Where is he taking the vampires?" she asked.

He hesitated, and when he didn't answer in the first three seconds Black Hat stepped forward without warning. Tessa did nothing to stop him as he pressed his foot down on the Familiar's injured side, and he released a cry of pain.

"Answer her." He removed his foot after a moment, leaving the Familiar breathing heavily, pale face contorted in pain.

"West!"

"Why West?" Tessa asked.

"The same reason you did." His eyes shifted pointedly to Black Hat, who frowned.

"What does that mean?" Tessa looked up at him inquiringly.

Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a map from the inside pocket and looked down at it. A moment of silence stretched between them, when realization suddenly fell over his features. Tessa frowned.

"Julian, what is it?"

"We need to go." He looked at her gravely. "Now."

Stepping forward, he whipped out a blade, and the Familiar's eyes flew wide as he tried scrambling away.

"Wait!" said Tessa hastily. "What are you doing?"

"He's not going anywhere. Better to end his misery now."

Suddenly they were alerted to booted footsteps moving against the sand, and they both looked up just as Priest walked around the corner.

"I heard voices." He stopped when he laid cold blue eyes on the Familiar. A fierce glimmer flashed across his icy orbs, and with a speed to rival Black Hat's he had a blade out as he strode towards them. "Did you get any information out of 'im?"

Black Hat was the one who answered. "He doesn't know much, but at least we know what we're dealing with now."

"Which is?"

"Our original theory. Vampire hybrid of some sort." He looked at him. "Priest."

Priest looked at him.

Black Hat's eyes remained solemn. "They're headed to the outpost."

Priest froze. Tessa, who had been standing silently off to the side remained completely confused.

"Outpost…?" She jumped when Priest suddenly cut in front of her, nearly knocking her backwards as he grabbed the Familiar by the collar.

"Where are they taking her?" He shook him when he didn't receive an answer right away. "WHERE?!"

"I don't know! He didn't say!"

"Then you're of no use to us."

A startled gasp left Tessa when Priest snapped his neck, and there was a sickening crunch before the limp body fell back to the sand. Both she and Black Hat stepped aside to give him room as he strode passed, cloak billowing with his swift stride.

Black Hat stared after him. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" Priest snapped.

He exchanged a glance with Tessa before moving to follow the visibly enraged man, and she trailed at his heels.

"I thought you were supposed to meet the others here?" she called to Priest.

"Change of plans."

She looked up at Black Hat for some sort of explanation to the man's sudden darkened behavior. "What's going on? What just happened?"

"The outpost is where I kidnapped Lucy," he explained finally. "They're going after her again."

Her eyes widened. She followed him to the bikes, where Priest was drawing something in the dirt with a disposed pole. Upon closer inspection, she saw it read OUTPOST in large, capital letters. Hurrying to her bike, she took out her journal and pen and began scribbling on a blank page.

Black Hat frowned at her questioningly. "What are you doing?"

"We should leave them a note on the information we uncovered."

Priest looked at her as she tore the page loose and bent over to pick up a rock. Setting the paper down, she placed the rock in its center in the middle of Priest's message. By the time they were on their bikes, Priest was already at full speed.

Sorry for the short chapter. Another will be up soon. Yes, I had Lucy be captured again, but it's not going to be a repeat scenario of the movie, I promise. Review and stay tuned. xoxo