"I didn't want you to see ... what I am."

"What do you mean, what you are?"

"Her mother had it. That's where the magic comes from. We came to take her home before...well, before things like...like this started happening."

She couldn't decide what hair color she wanted. She'd been bright and blonde and beautiful, but now she was a chocolate brown, dark, rich, and majestic. She wanted to do something radical, like black, or maybe even teal.

Maybe black, for mourning. They'd lost one of theirs only a few days before, and because her body was locked up in a morgue, they couldn't get in to give her a decent burial. It wasn't fair.

Humans weren't fair.

...Well, not most of the time, at any rate.

So when the hunters came to town and killed Conrad, violently at that, there was an instant surge for their own blood to be spilled as horribly as his. She'd made herself wait, made the others wait, too.

She'd sworn to give them a chance. They'd given her one, once upon a time.

She trailed them back to the bar and watched them interact. One was calm and cool and collected; the one who'd stalked Conrad from the start. The other who'd slain Conrad looked almost giddy at having done it. The third, the tallest and more than likely the youngest, looked unsettled. The last two made quite the pair, and she wondered why they were together when they were such opposites. It had to be family that bound them together. Family ties were the strongest.

Except if there wasn't love found there, and it was found somewhere else.

The woman in front of her gazed at her for a moment, before turning to her sister. "Nearly got us killed."

Shame that shouldn't have been there surged forward, and she moved forward, surprising herself with the apology that quickly fell from her lips.

An approving nod from her family before her, but it was the gentle touch of the woman behind her that made the most important difference. A simple question, and even simpler answer, and then her lover asked the most important question of them all. "Do you wanna leave?"

No. She didn't want to leave. But she had to, and she didn't really understand why. Why she cared about leaving them. She didn't fit in here.

Blonde hair spun in the light, framing the face that spoke to her family. "You want her, Mr. Maclay? You can go ahead and take her."

A pause as everything fell to pieces, and she hung her head in sorrow.

Then, the blessing she shouldn't have received.

"You just gotta go through me."

The hunters separated on their own, which made it easier. Eli slipped out early from the bar, and together they silently crept upon the youngest after he'd returned to the hotel.

No one watched or saw as they carried him out, bound and gagged. No one witnessed them putting him in the trunk with a sack over his head. No one cared when they drove away.

Except her. She watched it all, making sure that despite their losses, her family was gentle with him. He was not to be harmed.

Once back at the house, it only took him ten minutes to come to. He tensed as soon as he realized his vision had been taken from him. Tentative movements with his hands and ankles to find them bound as well, but she saw them anyway. He was good; if she hadn't been watching him, she wouldn't have seen his quiet tests.

She nodded to Eli, and the sack was pulled away. Green eyes wide with fear and apprehension were revealed, but there was determination and anger overriding them for the moment.

Eli couldn't contain himself, and she had to call him back. Confusion marred the youngest's face as she made her way in front of him. "My name's Lenore," she said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. We just need to talk."

And she hoped that it would make a difference.

"Is this a joke? I'm not gonna be threatened by two little girls."

No joke, she could see it clearly now. One by one they all came together, standing between her and her family. Protecting her. Wanting her.

The revelation and shock nearly sent her to her knees. She couldn't understand why.

Neither could her family. "This is insane. You people have no right to interfere with Tara's affairs. We are her blood kin! Who the hell are you?"

"We're family." Her new family. She belonged.

A hesitant question from behind her had her tensing back up again. "What kind of demon is she? There's a lot of different kinds. Some are very, very evil. And some have been considered to be useful members of society."

They were a dying breed as it was, not nearly as wide-spread as the other race. If they stepped out now, they would all be exposed. She knew it, her once-family knew it. They couldn't reveal it.

A tap on the shoulder made her turn, and bright blue eyes met hers. In that instant, she knew that she'd been found out. He knew what she was.

Then he punched her in the nose.

"I'm not giving up hope. If we can change, they can change."

She'd told Eli before he'd left.

She wanted to tell the hunter that, but he'd stabbed her with the blood before she'd had a chance.

It was the one who'd been tracking them for so long who dragged her back inside and tied her to the chair. No sign of the youngest or the other hunter he traveled with. Maybe they'd refused to join this hunter. The youngest had believed her, she'd seen it in his eyes.

It wasn't doing her any good now, though. Dead man's blood was pouring through her veins, and pain suffused her every pore. It hadn't even hurt like this when she'd been shot all those years ago.

She'd had to lay with the bullet in her chest for two days, first in the house and then in the morgue. She'd been buried after the world had almost ended, and when she'd crawled out of her grave, she'd wished that she could've told her lover the truth, so none of this would've happened. The black magic, the near Apocalypse because of her, all of it.

The other part of her had known that it was time to move on. On to find others who believed what she believed, to make a difference so they could survive. Not multiply, by any means. But survive. She knew she wasn't the last of her kind.

Then footsteps dragged her attention from the burning pain that surrounded her to the doorway. The youngest hunter stood, watching her in horror. He did believe, then.

The other hunter stood with him, and didn't look nearly as happy as he had been before.

More poison, and she tried not to think of anything after that.

Various curse words were muttered under his breath as he grasped his head. As if he was in pain from punching her, which she knew couldn't have happened. It only worked on humans.

For all he said, he was protecting her, too. Protecting her not just from her once-family, but from her new family, too. He wasn't betraying her.

Her lover rejoiced even as he continued to weave a lie about why they'd said what they had. Protecting them all, and she'd never felt so grateful in her entire existence.

Her once-family was leaving, and her hero of the hour was walking to the back. Once she'd been embraced multiple times, she made an excuse and headed out to the back door, where he was waiting. "You didn't have to do that," she said softly.

He sniffed and tried to look indifferent, but she knew better by now. "Few of us left as it is," he said, glancing over at her. "And I do like you, you know. Hope I didn't break somethin'."

"Even if you had, it would've been worth it," she said, meaning every word. "Thank you. I know...I know there's more of your kind than mine, but you yourself are just as rare as I am. If there's anything you ever need..."

She let the offer hang in the air, and he nodded once to show that he'd heard. "'Preciate it," he said, before jerking his head back towards the inside. "Go on. She's waiting for you. They all are, now."

"Because of you," she reiterated, and he only smiled before walking off into the night.

"Shh, I've got you," he whispered, cradling her as if she wasn't a vampire of a woman, but a small, weightless doll he was afraid of dropping.

By all accounts, he should've dropped her. The relentless hunter had practically fed her his blood in an attempt to sway the other hunter. The other hunter who had sounded undecided up until that point, when he'd immediately pulled his gun and demanded that the youngest go free.

Family. It had to be. Brothers, probably.

Real, human blood on her face since ages, and she hadn't been able to stop her initial reaction. She'd forced it back, though, had made herself not heed the scent of it. Then the same strong arms that held her now had lifted her then, and the other hunter had forced the relentless one back. Gruff, cared for no one seemingly except himself, yet would stand instantly for those he cared for or believed in.

He reminded her of Spike.

Eli and the others burst from the woods, and the youngest stopped even as she turned. "He saved me," she said, putting her arm out as far as she dared. "Don't...don't hurt him."

"I don't know how long Dean can hold Gordon off for," the youngest said, gently handing her to Eli. "But long enough, I'd think, to make sure you guys got out of here okay."

"Thank you," she whispered, in shock once more. She'd only expected them to let her and the others leave, at best.

She'd never expected them to protect her, to want her to be safe.

Humans kept surprising her wherever she went. Maybe there was hope for co-existence, after all.

"Tell your brother thank you, too...?"

His green eyes met hers in the darkness from under his long, dark bangs, and he instantly reminded her of green eyes framed by red hair. "Sam," he said softly. "Sam Winchester."

"I won't forget," she swore. She never forgot a name.

And she never forgot a kindness, either. Especially not one that came bearing hope.

"I do wanna ask, though," Spike said, causing her to turn around. He stepped forward again, raising his eyebrows at her. "I go by a few names, you know that. Wonderin' if you do the same."

"I have a few," she said, smiling. "I've been Tara for awhile, and I like it. But my main name, my real, human name, is Lenore."

"Tara Lenore," he repeated softly into the night. "It fits."

She decided on a reddish hair color to mix with her brown. Maybe even a few highlights. Then she could be a bit of Tara, a bit of Lenore, and a bit of someone else, too. Someone who remembered being in love and being loved.

Someone who looked to the future where there was hope for her and her kind, for those who believed that a peace could exist without death.

Hope, maybe. Tara Lenore Hope. She liked the sound of it.