His eyes are black pits, but they are utterly and completely empty.
Dead? But how? How could he be dead? Ten seconds ago Josep was bragging that he was going to sentence us both to empty darkness.
How could he bedead?
Josep falls to his knees, then face first on the ground.
And it hits me.
There is only one way to kill a vampire.
Josep didn’t kill Paul.
Paul killed himself and he took Josep with him on the way out.
Everything stops now.
I crash to the ground, all the light gone, and in its place is nothing but Darkness.
“Oh, shit, Ryet! Oh, fucking shit! What did you do?” And that’s the last thing I hear—Syrsee freaking out before everything fades to purple.
To no one’s surpriseI find myself in a wintery forest. Paul is sitting on a log in the middle of a clearing, wearing fur, and holding a baby.
“Nice coat,” I say.
He smiles at me. “Yeah. Wolf pelts, not some stupid sheep.”
I don’t even know what to say to that. “OK.”
“Well.” He sighs. “This is it.”
“This is… what?”
“The end.”
I sigh too, then walk over and take a seat next to him. I look down at the baby, then recoil. “Holy fuck. Is that what I looked like when I was born?”
Paul laughs. “No. Of course not. I don’t make ugly things.”
“Then what are you doin’ with it? Because that’s…” I shake my head. “Gross.”
“Come on now, Ryet. It’s a face only a mother could love.” He looks at me. “Or a father.”
I grimace. “Oh, fuck.That’smy baby?”
“Well, he’s part mine too. I was there.”
“And Josep.”
“Yeah.” Paul exhales. Like this was an unavoidable necessity. “But he’s mostly yours. He’s inside Syrsee right now. He can’t be born, you know that, right?”
I nod, pressing my lips together. “Yeah, well, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not gonna kill Syrsee, no matter how evil that thing is.”
“No, of course not. She already has a plan for it. That’s not why I’m here. It’s you we need to talk about.”
“Me? You’re the one who died. Hey, hold on. If you’re here in the mist, then you’re not dead!”
“Oh, no. I’m dead. I’m not here and neither are you. You’ve been taken over, Ryet. You don’t actually exist anymore.”
