Here, Megan gets Nicholas to write down more from his past. Yet again, Nicholas is a bit cranky.

“More to be told? What power in the universe, beside me at the beginning of all of this, told you that the Mother would not be pleased at my mediocre attempt to recount my beginnings?” His voice reached a shout, and he decided that the journal would serve best embedded in the glass of the hotel’s television.

“Despite their petulance, your words wound me, Nicholas. You know as well as I that the source of my sight is a mystery to the both of us.” She tightened her grip, and pain began to jump down his back. “I suppose that you need a reminder that I am not, nor have I ever been, compelled to share frivolous revelations with you or anyone else.” Two vertebrae cracked, and Nicholas knew that several discs were crushed.

3,648 / 114,389 (3.2%)

In tracking down Megan and Nicholas, the Hunter runs into a bit more than he can handle.

Even after dark, this one would not pass for human. Its skin was dried and torn from many years of existence. Its teeth, most prominently its fangs, had grown to lengths that prevented both speech and closing its mouth. A leathery, translucent skin joined the bottom of its arms to the sides of its body. They appeared to be ribbed, and reminded the hunter of the first night that he’d seen the pretentious redheaded one. The caretaker’s eyes were all pupil, seemingly black. It snarled at him, a frightening and unsettling sound, but the hunter stood firm. He would not become prey, even to one as old as this.
The beast became silent for a moment. It was sizing him up and deciding his worth. If it saw him as a threat, it would attack, and the hunter would most likely perish in the service of the Almighty. If it did not, the insult would sting, but the hunter would be free to resume tracking his prey.

2,911 / 114,389 (2.5%)