“What are you going to do now?” he asked. He gulped. I knew he was afraid that I would kill him, but I wasn’t going to do that.
“I’m going to go away with my vampires and find this council. I’m going to find other Slayers and tell them the truth. You tried to shackle us and use us as weapons, but we’re not weapons. We’re living, breathing beings and we have ambitions of our own. I’m going to change this world and I’m going to make sure that my Aunt didn’t die in vain. And I’m going to warn them all about their watchers, because any of them could be stabbed in the back at any time. I’m not going to let that happen ever again.”
That was the last thing I said to him. I walked out of the door, and as I turned down the street to put this house behind me forever I heard a gunshot that faded into silence.
Epilogue
As I suspected, the council used their influence to come up with some fake story about there being a financial scandal where the heads of the academy made off with a great deal of money. It was claimed that Mr. Griff, Mrs. Thorpe, and Mr. Hanon had disappeared into thin air with a whole year’s worth of tuition fees, and because they couldn’t find anyone to pay the sum needed to keep the academy open it was being closed down. All the students were told to leave, which had caused much consternation and panic as nobody really knew if their qualifications were still going to be honored. It was said that Julia died in an accident as well. Most believed that she had committed suicide in the wake of her parent’s death. I wasn’t about to tell anyone the truth.
It was strange to see the building so vacant, and there were so many questions left. I didn’t know how many other vampires there were or which of the academy graduates had been placed there by the vampire masters. The boys hadn’t been privy to any of that information either, so the hunt would have to continue.
We met under the cover of darkness. Adam had rescued a plant from the botany lab, and he was dismayed that he wouldn’t be able to take care of the gardens.
“We’ll find another one for you,” Troy reassured him. I looked over at Josh.
“Are you ready to begin the adventure?” I asked. Josh grinned and pointed in a random direction.
“Let’s go that way,” he said.
We started walking and I was filled with hope. I had no idea where our path was going to lead us, but I didn’t think that anything could stand in the way of a Slayer and her vampire harem. We had been through plenty already, but there was more to come. I knew not every Slayer was going to listen to me, and the council was certainly going to be a formidable enemy, but as long as we were together I knew that nothing was going to hurt us. We’d make our way in this world together, as a family, and I was going to live up to the legacy of my ancestors. I didn’t care about rules any longer; although I must say that I never had. I was going to have their babies, and if I had a daughter I wasn’t going to keep our true nature a secret. She deserved to know that one day she was going to be a Slayer, and she deserved to know exactly what it meant.
I led them into the darkness, into the future, and my heart raced with excitement.
*****
THE END