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For the last time, Adrian returned home in his favourite guise, feeling the sinews in his wings generating the uplift required to keep his body in the air. His keen eyes picked out the usual variety of human behaviours seen in the dead time of night. For a moment, he felt almost nostalgic, then shrugged it off and let his mind float free to enjoy his last flight as a bat. He landed on the balcony of his apartment and transformed back into his human shape. The effort required to transmogrify now was intense and he only just made it. He leaned on the balcony rail to recover his energy and took a final look over the sweeping majesty of the River Thames, taking pleasure in the reflection of the full moon in the dark waters, the city lit up with artificial light like the brightest constellations in the sky. This was his watchtower, his crow's nest, where he used his keen senses to seek out his next victim. Where he used to use his keen senses, he corrected himself. Sighing to himself, although without any real sadness, he stepped inside to assume his role as the last vampire killer.
He had loved his time in London. He had enjoyed toying with it and its denizens. He was proud to have invented the world famous legend of Jack the Ripper when he had first arrived there, attempting to cover up his first kills. It had been incredibly successful, but he soon tired of the tedious treatment of the bodies and gave up after five kills. Now it was time to say goodbye to London. |
He sat at his desk, opening the book that lay there. It
was a volume of the letters of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, better
known as Pliny the Younger, one of his favourite classical writers. His
description of the eruption of Vesuvius, which had destroyed Herculaneum,
Pompeii and Stabiae, was wonderful in its simplicity. He read a few of
his favourite sections one last time, savouring his final bottle of Chateau
Mouton-Rothschild 1945.|
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