Epilogue; kinda

A knock came from his door. Oak, heavy. The sound was made by the perfect gesture, and he knew exactly who it was on the other side. His dark eyes traveled to the door as his tall and thin body smoothly moved over to open that entrance and let his favorite fair-headed vampiress inside his study. "Mr. Halling," she addressed him formally, sounding ready to tell him the news of something important.

"Julie." the man interrupted kindly. "I told you to address me as Taylor when it is just you and I."

The woman with the bright orange hair blushed, a beautiful rose color coming to her white cheeks from the blood of her latest kill, then continued what she had came in to report. "Taylor," she began again, almost embarrassed to speak his name in such an intimate setting. Just the two of them, in his office, the fireplace a lit and blazing... His smile was friendly to encourage her. "Allison, the current Lockett Queen, has disappeared suddenly. You know what this means..."

"Yes." he replied simply. "That was my original intent."

The vampire Julie tilted her head and narrowed her emerald eyes with a slight misunderstanding, he believed. "Original intent?" she questioned.

Taylor gestured for her to sit down in one of the two chairs facing a table where two glasses and a bottle of blood sat. With one of his long arms, he poured them both a fresh glass of blood. She knew this meant his explanation was going to be good as well as lengthy; she sat on the edge of her seat. He first made a silent toast with her, then sipped his drink before going on. "My original intent when I killed her mother some seven years ago or so..."

Julie nodded her head, not finding this much of an unexpected surprise. Courtney's signature was carving the word "Vengeance" into her significant victim's body after grueling torture and harm, leaving the body unrecognizable, almost. Allison's mother, Mary Lockett, simply was drained by one bite on the neck and had a piece of paper in her hand with the word "Vengeance" on it written in her own blood. There wasn't a single scar or drop of blood wasted with Mary. Taylor didn't like making a lot of mess when it came to murder. But Julie didn't see how the points connected from Allison Lockett becoming a vampire to Taylor killing her mother a few years in the past. Her emerald eyes examined the blood in the glass before she took a small sip and gracefully set her glass back down. She didn't know how Taylor could stand to drink this... this... bottled blood. She preferred live game, but that was just her.

"You know, of all immortals, my dear, before our little Allison came along, the hunt for Courtney had carried on for decades with no success whatsoever." Julie nodded and he had a sour look on his face when recalling it. Those had been troubling times, indeed. Courtney would never take any of the bait set, such as the next Lockett man who was supposed to die, but she would still strike when least expected and leave as much mess as she possibly could just to spite them. Without the help of Luke and any way to track the beast she transformed into, she'd gotten away every time. The Grand Council had threatened to take away the leadership they entrusted Taylor with several times during those years, they had even attempted their own hunt for Courtney, but they had no success whatsoever and Taylor sternly promised them he was best for the job and would contain the uncontrollable soon. Lucas had gotten a bunch of the heat too, but with he being elder than Taylor and most of what was left of the council, he'd been able to slide through a large portion of his punishments for not 'taking care of an uncontrollable fledgling.' But anyway, "Everything changed when I saw the recently widowed Mary Lockett and her daughter in the newspaper over ten years ago, an article about how they'd run from the country and were rumored to be in America. I looked at the picture of Allison and I knew right away, she was the one!" the man exclaimed.

Julie looked oddly at him again, knowing that Taylor did not mean he had fallen in love with Allison. He shook his head as she thought this and she kept listening. "No no, she was the one who would change everything about the hunt for Courtney. I'm the mastermind of plans, after all. I can read people better than any other of our kind, and I have this blessed ability to strategist. Nine years I did this, and right before Allison turned the grand year of twenty and one, I set my latest plan in motion."

"And what was the plan, Mr. Hal-, I mean, Taylor." she corrected herself with a curt nod of the head. He stunned her with another huge smile and continued with a dazzling excitement about his accomplishments. Big ego, she thought to herself.

"Mary was going to send her daughter back to her throne when she turned twenty-one, but I couldn't have that, not yet. We'd settled in America because that was where we tracked Courtney and Luke to. If she moved again, we'd lose all range of her for sure."

"I still don't understand how she was the one. So far you've just explained that you killed Mary, and you framed Courtney so Allison would think Courtney Vengeance was the culprit."

"Exactly." he said and finished his drink. He poured himself another. "Like I said, I've been analyzing the Lockett family for many years, and Lucas for that matter. I planned all of the events to follow based on what their reactions would be. Every last detail was taken into account and it was executed flawlessly." Julie sighed to herself. He had so much pride in himself. "I knew Allison would want to find who killed her mother, which would trigger a higher interest with breaking the family "curse," I knew she would want to take revenge eventually, break the curse, one in the same. I knew Luke would desire her the moment he saw her because she looked so much like Courtney, and since she was a Lockett, Luke would be interested even more; from there I knew Luke would protect her, keep her alive... Of course, I had to make them meet and I had to give him a reason to protect her more fiercely after he'd fallen for her. I used your lovely ability of manipulation to draw her to Luke's house in the first place, I allowed her to see Felicia's dead body in the ally so she would get a lead to her investigation, I threatened her life and stole her blood so Luke would be motivated to protect her at all costs, from both me and Courtney. He needed a little push, that's all; and my my, her delectable blood was the first I feasted fresh on in a long while. I almost envy Lucas..." He glanced at Julie and her form and smirked to himself. "Almost."

Julie simply sat in a graceful yet comfortable pose as he spoke. She was listening, but she was looking at her glass as well and debating whether she would just finish it to be polite; for that she did not catch his attempt at flattery. Taylor lost enthusiasm as he saw her losing interest with the details. "And from there," he raised his voice and gained her attention again, "little Allison went home after a few casualties, and she and Luke built a bond so strong it overcame his obsession with Courtney. And together, they destroyed her for me. Like I had planned all along.

"The problem before was me, I couldn't defeat Courtney alone because I couldn't get close enough to her. Luke had to be the one, he was the only one Courtney would allow herself to be close to without worry, because he created her. Then Allison was the only person in this world, other than I, with a fiercer drive within to kill Courtney. And we all lived 'happily ever after.'"

Julie decided to down the rest of the drink but then stood to make the excuse she was busy and needed to leave. She came in his office to simply tell him of the news. Luke had turned another Lockett woman. "Hopefully this one won't be like the last."

Taylor stood also and chuckled with a hard smile. "She won't be. I counted on that too." But there was one part of the outcome that did not process in his mind. A part that would cause a stir in The Grand Council in another decade or so... But he would worry about that when the time came.

Julie sighed again. Such a simple but beautiful gesture, he thought. She let her chest rise and fall as any mortal would. It had just become second nature by now, such simple human gestures. It allowed them to fool anyone they so pleased. Taylor was delighted by this and followed her toward the door to open it for her. Polite as always toward fellow immortals, pleasant as usual, she thought.

"I thank you for the enlightenment, ...Taylor." she bid him politely, nodding to him as she stood under his arm. His black eyes penetrated her with an awesome interest and made her pause for a moment. Again, she was curious as to what he was planning.

"Have a wonderful night, Julie." he bid her in a sultry tone after a moment. Another nod, because she didn't know what else to do or say to him,

until his lips pressed gently against hers.

Then that immortal goddess locked within, underneath the human act she portrayed on her pale shoulders, was released and Taylor didn't need to open the door for her to leave him again for quite awhile.

Stay tuned for the next installment: The Adventures of the Vampire Inspector (The title is variable to change)

Then the sequel to Vengeance is Written in Blood:
"The Divine Demon"