The hunters had all returned to the grand spires and protective gargoyles of their HQ. Leaving the camaz and vampire lord behind to become nothing more than fading nightmares.
Rosa sat in the medical infirmary beside her sister. Emma rested in her assigned bed as her body adjusted to whatever medication Dr Sana had prescribed. Unlike Rosa who'd pretty much got away with only some bruises and cuts, Valdosk had delivered Emma a number of brutal injuries, from torn muscles to cracked ribs and partially ruptured organs. However, fortunately, thanks to their strange mutations, the healing capabilities of hunters far surpassed that of normal humans. Dr Sana explained that under her care Emma would be back on her feet by tomorrow and in a few days to a week would be fully recovered.
A pained and annoyed groan quickly reminded Rosa that they weren't alone. The Elacti sisters were joined in their ward by commander Ruthor, Zack, Sam, Audrey as well as Seis who was currently amusing himself by playfully prodding Audrey's broken arm.
The other two critical patients had been given similar diagnoses and recovery times to Emma, although they seemed far more annoyed by it. The commander had attempted many times to return to his office only to be stopped by Zack. 'Doctors orders' he'd tell his commander each time, grinning. Dr Sana had positioned both her fiancé and Seis there for the exact reason of keeping Audrey and Ruthor in bed however, Seis was finding much more enjoyment in his role than Zack. Finally able to get easy revenge on all the times Audrey had teased or terrorised him.
Suddenly, Rosa's phone rang, almost making her jump up from her seat. She looked down at the screen and her heart skipped a beat upon seeing Louie's name. Instantly she answered.
"Finally someone picked up," he said. "Is everyone's phone broke?"
"Pretty much," Rosa replied. She quickly put her phone on speaker and held it up for the whole room to hear.
"I take it Valdosk is dead," Louie said.
"Nothing more than ash," Zack replied.
"Oh good you made it then," Louie said casually. "Would've been annoying if everyone died and I had to come kick your ass." Rosa could practically hear his self-amused grin through the phone.
"How is everyone holding up?" Louie asked.
"A few of us took a beating but surprisingly zero casualties," the commander spoke sitting up from his bed with a pained grunt. Too much of the commander's annoyance, a temporary neck cast had given to him and bandages covered where Valdosk had struck his head, both heavily restricted his movements.
"Any of you in bad shape?"
"Just me, John and Audrey," Emma said.
"Ruthor? How'd that happen?" Louie questioned. Rosa could tell he was stifling a laugh.
"I tried to box a vampire lord," the commander admitted bitterly.
"Could be worse, you could've started swinging your rifle like it was a bat," Seis commented.
"Shut it," Audrey snapped grumpily.
Seis fake coughed, "When you had a perfectly good, enchanted knife."
Louie's laugh echoed through the phone's speakers. Audrey grumbled and sunk back into her bed.
"Now onto more important matters," Ruthor announced. "There's aren't enough words to describe the lecture I should give you Louie, so I'll do us a favour and skip it. What happened with Orus?"
"Dead," Louie responded relaxed, as if he'd just accomplished a common house chore.
Rosa's heart leapt and she noticed her sister shared a similar reaction. Their parents had been avenged. Louie had kept his promise. A smile shone across her face as she realised her parents could finally rest well.
"Bastard," Zack said jokingly. "I killed a vampire lord tonight and you've still managed to outdo me."
"I've been outdoing you since the academy," Louie retorted. Rosa could've sworn she heard him shrug.
Instantly, the mood in the room lightened and an impressed whistle from Seis bounced off the walls.
"Good job Huntor," Ruthor said finally relaxing into his bed.
"You need a lift back?" Zack asked.
"No I'm good," Louie replied. Then without warning he ended the call.
"A complete victory," Zack mused. "How often have we been able to say that?"
"Not a lot," Ruthor admitted. "Zack, Seis go take Rosa and get some food and drinks. She's earnt it. Plus It'd be a pain if Audrey kills Seis."
Zack's brows raised suspiciously.
The commander sighed. "I promise to rest until I'm discharged."
Zack nodded. He dragged Seis away from Audrey and gestured for Rosa to follow. "Come," he said. "I'll show you where we hide the best stuff."
Louie arrived back at HQ within a half hour of ending the call. His clothes were slightly torn and ragged, and his skin was stained with dried blood but except for that he was completely fine.
After checking on Rosa, he visited the infirmary to see the others and after only five minutes returned back to lobby where Rosa was sat.
"Louie! An entire warehouse depot!" Lyn suddenly yelled across the vast room.
Rosa could've sworn Louie paled and noticed the childish grins that quickly spread across Seis and Zack's faces. Lyn stormed across the grand hall, stopping directly in front of Louie.
"What the hell happened?" she questioned.
"Erm … well when the fight started there was a bunch of warehouses, and when it finished there where none … just kind of lots of rubble," Louie attempted to explain.
"I'll let it slide this time because of who you ended up killing," Lyn grumbled. "But for the mountain of paperwork I've been given, you owe me."
"I thought me killing Orus paid my owes," Louie said cautiously and slightly confused.
"That was to the world, not to me," Lyn explained. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She then winked at Rosa, hiding a grin, and then continued on with her work, as if she'd just simply finished another task on her checklist.
Louie released an exhausted huff and Zack and Seis burst into laughter.
"She's been running circles around you ever since school," Zack teased.
"Don't remind me," Louie muttered.
"If only all monsters knew there was a being capable of conquering the Black Wraith," Seis joked.
"Funny," Louie grumbled. He then turned to Rosa with an exhausted breath.
"You ready to go?" he asked.
"What about Emma?" Rosa questioned.
"Bianca is keeping her overnight … she may also have told me to leave after my amazing jokes. So, you're ready?"
Rosa nodded and hopped off the pew. They waved their goodbyes to Zack and Seis and made their way to the car park.
As soon as they got home, Rosa couldn't help but laugh as she caught Louie pacing around the house analysing his ruined coat in disdain.
"Doubt this is worth saving. Probably will just have to replace it," he grumbled. "Damn, I wanted to wear it tomorrow."
"What's tomorrow?" Rosa inquired.
"Hmmm? Oh did I forgot to tell you. The … how do you say it, the relaunch of the Liverpool hunting division. Now that all major threats are dealt with we can become official. It's basically just like a big celebration party thing," Louie explained.
"Who's going?"
"Everyone."
"What? even me?" Rosa asked confused.
"Yes," Louie nodded.
"Wait what! What am I going to wear? I don't have formal dresses or anything," Rosa said.
"Whatever you want," Louie said, shrugging. "Anyway that doesn't matter right now. Meet me outside in the garden in ten minutes."
Without giving her any context or even a chance to respond he wandered away, continuing to mutter about his coat.
Rosa was surprised to say she'd never actually been in the garden and was even more surprised at how big it was. Louie really did have a nice house. The beginning of the garden how been transformed into a smooth, stone patio where Rosa found Louie standing under the stars beside a grand fire he'd stoked. The flames burned beautifully in a well-constructed fire pit.
"What are we doing?" Rosa yawned. She vigorously wiped her eyes trying to expel all exhaustion from her body.
"Here," he said. In his hands he held two white envelopes. He offered one of them out to her. Taking it into her own hands she could see her name was written boldly on the back.
"What's this?" she asked baffled.
"It was recovered from your parents' bedroom," Louie explained. "I meant to give them to you and Em a while back but, with everything that was going on, I completely forgot. Works out better this way anyway."
Rosa noticed it was still sealed. "You didn't look?"
He held up his own envelope addressed with his name. "It's not mine to read."
"Have you read yours yet?" Rosa asked, while analysing hers more thoroughly. She noticed her hands had begun to tremble slightly. Like they feared what could possibly be held inside.
"No, I thought we could do it together," Louie responded.
He then ripped open his envelope. Despite a slight hesitation, Rosa opened her own, pulling out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, she could see it was a letter. Her heart practically stopped. It was a final message from her dad.
'Dear Rosa,
If you're reading this, I'm dead. And for that I'm truly sorry. The last thing I'd want is to see you abandoned and lost in this world once again. I've hopefully set a plan into motion to prevent this, gave you a family you can love and that will love you back, never leaving you alone again.
Keep an eye on your sister for me would you, Em is a brilliant and independent girl but even she will always need someone to fall back on, whether she'll admit it or not. There is no one better for the job than you. You sisters always need to stick together no matter what, combined I believe you two can accomplish anything.
The world you know is about to be ripped apart, but this doesn't worry me. Rosa, you are one of the bravest, most brilliant girls I have ever met, and you have never failed to leave me speechless with what you can achieve. Never forget that.
Now you're going to come into contact with someone named Louie Huntor. He is a great man and there is no one I trust more in this world. I know for a fact he'll take you and Em under his wing, no matter the cost or sacrifice. Allow him into your life Rosa, your worries, your fears, your secrets, leave them in his hands he'll always keep you safe. Despite what he or anyone else may say, he his family, the son I never had, and I know without a doubt he'll split both the heavens and hell apart to keep our family safe.
Know whatever path you choose you have my full support. Whatever challenge you find you'll surpass. Never lose faith in yourself, I know I never will.
Live well kiddo.
Love,
Dad'
A lump sat in her throat as Rosa lowered the letter away from the flame's light. She found tears flowing down her face. Louie had finished his letter and was staring out into the stars, his face was blank but his eyes trembled and glistened under the fire's light. He glanced back down and noticed she'd finished reading. Thankfully he looked past her tears as she wiped them away.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said truthfully. "What do we do now?"
"This," he smiled. Louie then placed his letter into the flames. "We live on."
His smile spread onto her own face and after one last glance, engraining it into her memory, her letter followed his, into the flames. The papers burnt into night sky turning into a glowing display of beautiful dancing embers.