Epilogue - Soren Carter

[Soren Carter]

June 3rd
22:07

The hairs on the back of Soren’s neck began to prickle once again. It had happened once in Auckland just before he’d left, then twice more this past week. This fourth occasion confirmed his suspicion: someone was watching him.

The street was crowded with people; any sudden movements would only make a stir, drawing more attention to himself. More attention was the last thing he needed right now. On the bright side, the crowds protected him for the time being. Whoever was watching him, they wouldn’t try anything here.

He’d known this day was coming. There was no way to escape, really. On an operation this important, the Knights would have sent - well, everyone. They’d have people watching every way out of the country; there was no way they were letting him out in one piece.

Even in the crowd, he felt a bit vulnerable without his gun - not that it would really help now. Even killing one wouldn't stop the rest. They worked as one: Methodical, flawless. He’d taught them to do no less.

They would have already figured out where he’d been staying. Going back there now would be suicide. The only hope was to slip through the web, return to Auckland where they’d already looked, keep on the move and stay off the radar... if that was even possible any more.

Once again the anger reared up inside him. Those damned police - couldn’t they have just minded their own business? He hadn’t been doing anything illegal. Well, except for the gun, but that hardly counted. It’s not like he’d used it on anyone since the blood demons. But no, they had to register him. He’d tried to throw them off with a fake name, but it hadn’t worked. They’d found out who he was and put his name in that accursed computer, where of COURSE the Knights were going to find it. As if anything was really secure.

Fighting his beast back down, he weaved through a particularly large crowd of young, drunk men, then ducked to the side, into an alleyway. He’d seen a door out of the corner of his eye - ah, there it was. It was locked, of course, but that wouldn’t last long.


Where was he? A hallway. Apartments, maybe, he couldn’t be sure. Now out of the crowd, he stopped breathing and slipped down the hall as quietly as he could. Maybe he’d managed to give his tail the slip - but he doubted it. Locking the door behind him wouldn’t throw off any but the most raw recruit, though it would hopefully slow them down some.

Trying a door at random, he found it locked. The next one was as well, but the third opened freely. As it swung wide, he saw a man in his fifties looking back at him from a sofa. The television was on, but Soren didn’t care to see what the man was watching.

"Keep watching TV," he told the man, looking him straight in the eye, "and don’t tell anyone I was here." The man’s attention drifted back to his show, so Soren entered the apartment, closing and locking the door behind him.


A plan. He needed a plan. There had to be some way out, some way to survive. He just had to think of it. He just had to - ah, who was he kidding? The Knights of St. Finlay never gave up on a hunt, even when the vampire in question was small and insignificant. He knew everything about them - they’d never let a vampire go with knowledge like that. He couldn’t even hope to fool them into thinking he was dead - standard operating procedure had always been ‘burn the body, just to be sure.’

He searched the apartment, but there was only one way out - and breaking the window would surely bring the Knights right to him. No, he’d have to go back, maybe try the stairs.

"Thanks," he murmured as he passed the man on the sofa. There was no response; good, that meant his command was holding.


He reached for the doorknob, but the door swung open before him. On the other side stood a lone woman with her arms folded and a hard look in her eyes.

"Skye," he said. Of course they’d send her. "I suppose you’ve got every exit to this place covered."

"No." She eyed him up and down, sizing him up. "I came alone."

"Alone? That’s now how we do things."

"There is no WE." He could hear the pain in her voice. It should be affecting him, but it wasn’t. He felt... nothing. Well, maybe a little peckish.

"But there used to be. And in my day-"

"You. Are not. Soren." Her fists clenched as she struggled to even her breathing. "You’re the demon that stole his body."

"No," he said. "No, I’m still me. I mean, I’m a bit different, but... well, I’m not evil. If I was, wouldn’t I be trying to kill you?"

"That’s the Prince of Lies talking," she spat, one hand deftly flicking open a pouch at her side. Just as he remembered, it carried a stake. "You took my husband from me," she pulled the stake out, "denied him his rightful place in Heaven," she dropped into a fighting stance, "and now you use his voice to lie to me. No more."

She pounced forward to attack, but he dodged it easily. Too late, he realised that her other hand held a knife; in dodging, he’d moved right into it. He back-pedalled, but her foot was there behind his knee, knocking him off-balance. Before he could steady himself, she struck again - a knee knocking him to the ground. He heard a door locking as the apartment’s owner closed himself in the bedroom. Just as well.

"You’re better at this than I remember," he said. It was almost like- "You know where I’m going to be before I start moving, don’t you?" She simply glared at him before slamming him into the wall with a powerful kick. "It used to just be the dreams, but now..."

She buried the knife in his thigh, then used her free hand to pull him up from the floor. It hurt, of course, but he barely noticed. He only had one chance to make it out of here. Looking her in the eyes, he gave one simple order.

"Let me go and don’t come after me."


She dropped him. Pulling the dagger from his leg, he dropped it on the floor; though he felt nothing for her now, he still remembered what they’d once had. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her, he just... had to get away...

He slipped past her out the door and turned to make his way back outside. She’d said she was here alone; hopefully that was the truth.


"No." She turned around. "I don’t think so."

His mind raced, panicked thoughts running every which way. What was this? She wasn’t supposed to be able to say no! That was how this Domination thing worked, right? She shouldn’t-


The stake pierced his heart and he collapsed into the nightmarish dark.


Two days later, in a small monastery near Aberdeen, embers from the pyre shot into the sky in a glorious blaze. The mood was festive, but as Skye Carter held her three-year-old son close, she couldn’t quite manage a smile.