Something changed in me after that day, or maybe I accepted something that I had always refused to. I took on Maria's beliefs that we were creatures of God as evil as we were. I believed that by some divine right we were given the power to live, and therefore given a purpose in the world. And Maria gave me my purpose; we would kill every vampire coven we came in contact with and rule over the humans without their knowledge.

Soon we were building an army, 'God's army' she called it. I watched as she killed four men in the dead of night, making them into newborn vampires.

It was very traumatic, yet still not as much as my own death. But it was like reliving a nightmare; watching Maria creep toward them looking innocent and fragile, leaning forward and biting them thus making them one of us. I had to turn away because the process horrified me and I felt extreme pity for them.

They were different than me, at least according to Maria. They were wild and untrainable, trying to attack not only the humans but us as well. Several times one of the men tried to turn on Maria and I, and he actually got his hands around Lucy's neck before I threw him off. I tried to calm him and by some miracle it worked, he ceased his attack and relented to me. I don't know how I did it, but I told him to be calm in my mind and he obeyed.

Maria beamed at me, a realization flashing across her eyes. She said that was my gift, something God had blessed me with. She said she had felt it immediately upon meeting me, a compelling invisible force that put her at ease despite the thirst she felt. She concluded also that my gift allowed me to feel the emotions of others and that is why I felt such pain after killing humans. But I was not to accept this gift, not the feeling human's fear part. She told me to disregard it, as it would be a weakness, so I tried to do that.

But when it came to manipulating the emotions of the new borns, Maria said it was necessary. They were too wild, and they would expose us if I didn't reel them in. So I did, and she put me in charge of them.

I was made to train them in the ways of combat and hunting. I taught them to use their vampire abilities to move unnoticed through the night. For some reason this felt familiar to me, I suppose it was because that was my job as a human, to train and lead. I was fine with it. It made Maria happy and that seemed to be all I wanted to do anymore. Make her happy.

I did everything I had to do and eventually we grew to live in peace. We lived in our lavish plantation home, surrounded by fine furniture and rugs that we'd stolen from our victims.

There were nights I'd lay on the porch, Maria draped over my chest as I listened to her speak of her dreams. They were always the same. She wanted power but also peace in her world. She wanted to hunt freely across wide expanses of land without fear of others coming to claim what was hers. I suppose that was just her nature, perhaps in life she was a slave or poor, and that is why she surrounded herself with loyal minions and lavish things. I wouldn't know, I never dare ask her.

We rarely saw any other vampire covens, just roaming nomads that scattered when we neared them. I could feel Maria's anxiousness as she wanted to fight. But we were not yet ready, not the new borns anyway.

Eventually Maria taught me how to make new borns, which allowed me to seek out new soldiers for our army. The first few times I tried, I killed them, unable to deny the taste of their blood. But soon I perfected it just as I'd done with everything she taught me, and I was stalking through the night for those worthy to serve us. It was kind of strange to me, this new power.

I was becoming more like a God than ever before. I decided who lived and died, who I drained and who I made into a vampire. And I sought them out meticulously, using my gift to find them. The ones who didn't fear me were the ones I chose to make into vampires. They were strong willed enough to not be afraid of a strange pale creature approaching them from the shadows, and even sensing that I was something to fear they were not afraid, so there for they wouldn't fear anyone.

But our time of peace was short lived, lasting only a few months. Maria and several new borns were attacked by a small group of nomads, and this infuriated her as well as me. She wanted revenge, and her hunger for a fight was growing stronger. She asked me if our army was ready and I told her the answer she longed to hear.

In retrospect that might have been a bad idea as she threw us into battle.

We took our coven to Monterrey, traveling along the outskirts of the city. A great battle was approaching and I craved the fight almost as much as Maria. When we were finally about to attack, I was brimming with anticipation.

We sprinted down into the city, a mass of new born vampires moving like a wave beneath the moon. The opposing coven had no idea what was coming for them. We slew them easily, and strangely enough I felt excited, thrilled really by the fight. I showed off mostly, slaying our enemies quickly much to Maria's delight. We took up residence in their small coven house, watching the high pyres burn with the bodies of our victims.

Maria kissed me eagerly, grinning and praising me as she led me to the bedroom.

The nights after were filled with celebration, and we killed freely, and made handfuls of more new borns.

But she was not satisfied with just having Monterrey, she wanted more. And soon, her lust for power would bring more enemies that we could have ever anticipated.

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