by Dylan Keefer
After that Prue sat on the table pretending to cry as Serg threw around some things, made a lot of noise and spouted what he liked to call ‘holy nonsense.' She struggled not to laugh as she tried to sound as distressed as possible. After all, Serg was supposed to be strict and god-fearing. They would talk after the show, seriously.
She supposed it was stupid to do that, kiss in the middle of the yard but it was romantic in the evening, and she wanted to run her fingers through his curly hair so much. And he liked her.
After the screaming and door slamming, both of them sat in the room, and she explained what she felt.
“I know it was stupid to do it there in the open but—”
“It was stupid period darling. I know you want to be with someone, but here it’s a bad idea.” Serg huddled next to Prue.
"Then where?" Prue almost yelled. "You keep talking about this place; you keep telling me there is somewhere I will be respected, but you tell me nothing. You don't even tell me what you are. Don't you trust me?"
“I do trust you. I just want you to keep being a child.”
“I have been a child for a long time. It feels like forever.” Prue sighed and heard Sergius chuckle. “What?”
Serg pulled her on his lap, as if she was a little girl wanting a story and stroked her hair while he spoke. "I will tell you a story alright? It's about people hiding in the shadows. They controlled everything and knew no mercy; all others were ants before them. But then one of them fell in love with a common woman. They had a small princess, one with dark eyes, who could draw so well one would think her drawings were alive."
At this point, Prue smiled hugely. She wanted to speak, but Serg stopped her.
"Now that shadow man knew his princess would not be safe. So, he took her far away. Gave her to someone that was sworn to protect her. Because he knew that the time would come when she would walk into the shadows, and they would be home. But first, she had to be patient. She had to grow and learn, and most importantly, to wait until it was safe. For her knowledge was the danger until then." Serg smiled at Prue. "Do you understand?"
Prue nodded, surprised there were tears on her face. “That’s the most you’ve told me about my parents.”
"I know." Serg hugged her. "I would tell you so much more if I could. Please be patient; your life depends on it."
The vision blurred, and Prue found herself back in Clayton’s arms. He had prevented her from bleeding.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
“Yes, I am.” Prue got up. “I know something about my parents now. Would you like to hear?”
“Yes, I would.”
Prue spoke to him slowly, wishing he would never let her go. She would need to find the time to speak to Milo. But for now, she sat there, telling Clayton what she saw.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“What the hell?” John’s voice carried down the hallway as Clayton and Prue came to the living room. They came in just in time to see John turn the television’s sound on.
“The bodies were all in different stages of composition, but none were older than a few days. Police have been getting reports of the carnage moving its way down to Maine. Citizens are urged to be careful and lock their doors up. No news on what type of animal is responsible, but animal control officers on the scene said it is most likely a feral wolf.” There was a dead woman on the screen as the news lady rattled off her piece with a detached voice.
“That is odd.” Charlotte pointed at the television. The camera turned away from the body and back on the officers, all looking confused.
“Here.” Milo lifted up his laptop. He had searched for more information. “Teenagers found them, so there are a lot of photos online.”
"All of these seem to have their neck cut up and their vocal cords destroyed," Charlotte said.
“Where is Rick?” Prue noticed he wasn’t in the living room. Clayton had walked around the living room and peered at the photos over Charlotte’s shoulder.
“He left for work.” Charlotte looked at Clayton. “Why did your heart start beating weirdly?”
"You weren't turned till the day before yesterday. But their marks are exactly the same as the marks on the body Prue and I found." Clayton grabbed the laptop and turned it toward Prue.
The body on the laptop was quite a bit older than the one they found. Prue had never seen anything quite so decomposed that wasn’t on fire. But it wasn’t so far gone that she couldn’t clearly recognize all of the injuries. “That means that it wasn’t you. You only killed the cow.” Prue exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“Though that means that whatever did this is here now. And that you accidentally covered that up.” John reminded. “I better call into the station and tell Rick. John picked up his phone and walked away.
“So that means you’re not a danger to humans.” Milo smiled.
"Unless you mess with me or my food apparently." Charlotte's expression didn't change, but Prue could tell that Charlotte was relieved too. Prue could hear John speaking on the phone in the hall. He poked his head in and asked Clayton.
“Are we safe in the daylight from this thing?”
“Well, it appears so. An abomination is usually either half-vampire or half-werewolf. And since there is no full moon right now, the sunlight should be a deterrent.” Clayton scratched his head.
“But it’s not for me," Prue said.
"But you're a rarity." Clayton smiled, and Prue had to prevent herself from grinning like an idiot and blushing at that. She quickly chided herself for thinking about that when there was a monster on the loose.
"There is another body. It has been taken to the station. Rick wants you guys to take a look at it." John walked in. He had been running his hands through his hair; it was messy.
“Ya think I can go out under a blanket and not fry?” Charlotte asked Clayton. “I want to take a look at this.”
“Of course, if the car windows were not an issue.”
"I have a van." John left the house right after he said that. A few minutes later there was a van outside the house, and Prue helped Charlotte climb in the back. Clayton and Prue were there too, while Milo and John sat in the front.
“So, did ya send the feds that picked up the hunter’s body?” Charlotte asked Clayton. For a moment Prue didn’t remember what Charlotte meant, but then the memories of the federal agents flooded back.
"No, that was probably the vampire castes or a hunter high up in the government. Both groups want to stay out of the limelight, so they clean up after each other as well as themselves." Clayton said, leaning back in the van and closing his eyes. "You're lucky they didn't know you killed him, or they'd try and clean you up as well."
“Well, maybe they did. The vampire that was sent to kill us?” Charlotte said.
“No, that one was looking for me. And the man that brought me here. Remember?” Prue couldn’t stop listening to that vampire growl in her head. "Tell me when ‘Prudence,' is set to meet the one that brought her here and I'll release him. Don't, and he dies." She remembered that the vampire had spoken her name but hadn’t said Serg’s name. She wondered if that was a clue to how much they knew or just a way of expressing herself.
For a moment she thought that she was going to have another vision, but John stopped the van. “I drove around the back. It will be easier without having to explain the blanket thing.
Charlotte ran in under the cover of a blanket and put on her work clothes. John went to his desk.
“Are you the only one here? No one else has touched anything.” Prue asked.
"There is no other medical examiner in this small town, but there is one in the next town over. That is where the bodies go when I'm not around. And if I took more days off, they'd need someone else." Charlotte got to work. She cringed when doing things like cutting the body open now. Prue assumed it was because of the new smell. If Prue wasn't so far away, the smell would have been overwhelming. And Charlotte didn't even like it.
> Clayton was closer, looking at the wounds and making suggestions. Prue debated whether to keep watching when Milo came over.
"I never liked looking at her work either," Milo said. Prue looked at him, about to ask why he was talking to her now after ignoring her for two days when Milo started talking again. "Can we talk in that room over there?" He pointed to a closet. Prue nodded, and they went there.
Milo closed the door, shoved his hands in his pocket and took a deep breath. Prue didn’t think he’d want to be alone with her in a place like this again. Maybe he felt safe because Charlotte was here?
“Thank you for giving me enough time to process this. Honestly, now that I know Charlotte didn’t kill that man, it’s easier.” Milo walked over.
“She can’t control herself. Even if she did kill him, it wouldn’t make that big of a difference. She would just feel guilty.” Prue said. Since he wanted to do this, Prue was going to talk to him too.
“Yes, I know, but it’s different doing that vs killing animals.” Milo smiled.
“I have killed people," Prue said
“Vampires you mean. I helped.” Milo said.
“Not just vampires. Before Charlotte found me, I had killed two EMTs. She covered it up.” Prue said it as blankly as possible.
Milo shuddered and backed away.
"It doesn't matter that I still feel guilty, and that I will feel like that for the rest of my life probably. I am a monster; it is a part of me, and hunger for blood will never be something that I can just ignore. Charlotte will be better once we figure out how to stop her from blacking out, but she will still need to kill living things. And I can never change that. And I know you can't handle that." Prue ended.
“How do you know?” Milo asked.
"Because I know you. I care about you deeply, which is why I won't let you force yourself to be in a relationship with me because now you feel better about the fact I bit your cousin. And let us not even touch on the fact I will potentially live forever, and you won't, or that I am constantly being chased. Focus on her. I will never forget what we had or appreciate you any less. But after this is over, I will go with Clayton to find out more about the necklace that Charlotte gave me. We might not see each other for a while." Prue had said all of that without interruptions. She assumed Milo realized she had to say everything before interfering.
“I was going to say something similar actually," Milo said. “I mean I know you and I guess until now I didn’t actually see the gravity of your vampire side. And it will take a long time to get used to Charlotte having to eat live things every once in a while.” Milo smiled and extended his hand. “Friends?”
“Of course.” They shook hands.
“Get out here you guys and let me show you what I found!” Charlotte yelled out.
Milo and Prue got out and headed for the examiner table.
“The vocal cords were ripped out. Someone put what looks like claws — a bit smaller than the ones I have, through the neck, grabbed them and pulled them out. Then drank the blood and used the neck like a dog’s chew toy. That thing has to have shorter teeth than me.” Charlotte had her hands on her hips.
“I have no clue what type of abomination this is, but I might be able to track it.” Clayton picked up the file that was on the table. “There are enough tracks for me to do that.” Clayton got up. “Do you want to come with me? I could use some help.” He asked Prue.
“You think you can find him in the daylight?” Milo asked.
“Tracks vanish over time, and if I am right, it should be hiding from the daylight now," Clayton said.
“So, we can find it while it’s vulnerable.” Prue understood and got up. “Will you be fine here alone Charlotte?”
"Don't worry about me; I still have a lot of work to do. Things pile up when you take a few sick days. Find that crazy thing, so I don't have even more work to do. Do you know where the body was found?" Charlotte asked.
“Yup, wish us luck.” Prue and Clayton left through the back. Milo stayed to keep an eye on his cousin.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
"It's not that far; we can handle it on foot. I tend not to use anything that might attract noise unless I need to." Clayton walked by Prue. They walked fast for humans, but slow enough to not be considered weird.
“What do you use when you can’t go on foot? How did you get here anyway?” She asked.
"I have a bike. A motorbike." Clayton added as soon as Prue looked at him in confusion. "That is why it took me so long to get here. But the upside is it's smaller than a car and can handle rough terrain. We're here." Clayton pointed at the police tape. This killing happened on the outside of town as well. It seemed that whatever this was it didn't go into town unless it needed to hunt, and when it found someone, it dragged it back to pretty much the same area. Clayton noticed tracks leaving the crime scene. The police probably hadn't noticed them because whatever it was, it ran just as fast as Prue did when vampire.
“Here.” Clayton pointed them out to Prue.
"I see them. They lead that way." Prue pointed to the south. "As far as I know from maps, there is very little forest there, mostly houses and the hospital." She said.
"Okay, let's follow them." Clayton grabbed Prue's hand, and they followed the tracks for over an hour. Clayton was beginning to be frustrated. He could tell the abomination was still hunting, not trying to find a place to rest. It had been too smart so far, so Clayton didn't think the thing would be caught by daylight, but he hoped he was wrong.
“This thing doesn’t slow down, does it? Do you think it ate someone else as well?” Prue asked. Before this, she had asked only two questions, and both were about tracking. Clayton liked the fact that she wanted to learn. He squeezed the knife that was on his belt as a reflex.
“It might have. Look, the tracks curve down here, it rolled down this hill.” Clayton pointed.
“Scorch marks.” Prue ran down the hill. Clayton admired the fact she didn’t stumble.
“Apparently, as the sun rose, the abomination rolled down the hill. It might have even been the thing that tripped it. With any luck, it’s down there, fried and we can just finish it.” Clayton walked down.
“Can I ask you something?”
"Go ahead, Prue," Clayton said. Prue's tone was hesitant, so he tried to sound as reassuring as possible.
"How do you decide which people to help and which not to help? I mean how do you tell the difference?" Prue asked.
"The same way you do." Clayton was beginning to wonder exactly why Prue lacked confidence in herself. Was it that she didn't know who she was? Maybe when she got her memories back, she would be different.
“How do you mean?”
“Well, when you were in New York how did you decide to kill those vampires?” They were at the bottom of the hill now. No body found.
"They killed people, people I like. But I killed people too." Prue said. "Of course, they didn't feel bad about it, but is that all it takes to be good? To feel bad about the bad things you do?"
"No, you also have to try and do good things. Look." Clayton knelt down. There were tracks heading to the road. Clayton scanned it, and soon he found a scorched shoe in the middle of the road. Clayton headed for it. The shoe was a male sneaker.
“Philip.” Prue stopped behind Clayton.
“Where?” Clayton turned around.
"No, that shoe, it's his. It smells like him, and that is what I saw him wearing this morning." Prue's voice cracked.
“This is not good. Which way is the hospital?” Clayton asked.
Prue pointed down the road. "I don't know if I can track him by smell, but I can try.
Clayton handed Prue the sneaker without a word. She grabbed his hand again and they were running so fast everything around them was a blur.
Prue had to stop several times. She was obviously unused to tracking by smell. Clayton got reminded of a girlfriend he used to have, one that could but didn’t like to track, because it reminded her of hunting too muc
h. Clayton was glad Prue didn’t have that hang up.
Soon enough he could let her go because he saw skid marks on the ground. A little way ahead, the road made a sharp turn and there was no fence.
“The plants are broken there.“ Prue rushed over.
Clayton was just about to compliment what a quick study she was when Prue gasped. He looked down and saw a car leaning on its side. The top of the car was warped as if something burst out of it, and there was a lot of blood.
“That is Philip’s car. I think.” Prue started to shake. No matter how big of a jerk Philip had been to her, she didn’t want him to die. A younger Clayton might not have understood that part, but the older Clayton did.
"Be careful. Let's go down." Clayton grabbed Prue's hand again, and after she composed herself, they were down there within the blink of an eye.
The car was nothing more than a mangled mess, stabbed right through the dense foliage here. The inside of the car was a terrible sight. Clayton managed to see the struggle in every little detail. From the evidence, Clayton made the assumption that the abomination ran across Philip driving down the road. Maybe it had been looking for another victim and lost track of time. It jumped in, and Philip managed to drive until it got here, or maybe he just kept his foot on the gas pedal, the road had been pretty straight till now. The car crashed, and the abomination managed to drag Philip out of there. Clayton thanked fate, or whoever was out there, that there hadn't been any other cars around.
“The blood is definitely Philip’s. And the car. I spent a lot of time staring at that dashboard once.” Prue sat down on the grass and took a deep breath. Clayton wondered if she was going to break down now, but he realized she wasn’t calming herself down, she was trying to hear or smell something. After a little bit, Prue opened her eyes, got up and started to walk in one direction. Clayton followed.