The sun was setting, showing angry and red from the smoke of the fires still burning throughout the city.  Ciudad Obregón must have been beautiful once, but now it was painted from the palate of war.  It was about to get worse.

“Renyovalia?”  Cor’s voice intruded on my thoughts. “What exactly the FUCK are you doing?  We’ve been waiting here for you to tell us what was going on, the city is completely overrun with Broken, shit’s burning everywhere and … you seem … you seem dead.”  His voice dropped to a whisper, “I thought you were gone.”

“I’m not gone yet.”  I replied, “I’m just doing what needs to be done.  But you and Miranda are supposed to be miles away.”

“You sound dead.”  He said, ignoring the orders I’d given.  “What happened to you?  Are you … all right?”

“I’m fine.  You all should get out of here before midnight.”  I wasn’t sure why I cared, but for some reason I felt as though my Spawn should survive.

“My Sire, I want to help.  What is happening?” He sounded afraid.

“I’m going to send them all to the Final Death Cor.  They have earned this end.”  I said, “They will pay for what they’ve done and I will mete out justice as I see fit.” I could feel him shiver.

The lines of my Power were extended throughout Cuidad Obregon like invisible wisps of mist.  They wrapped around the buildings, swirled between the legs of the Broken that were milling aimlessly in the streets and threading through the flames and smoke.  I was nearly ready… just a little more.

“Here’s the last one I could find.”  I brought my eyes back into focus and saw Donchivo standing in front of me.  He threw a mewling human boy on the ground in front of me.  The boy looked up at me, his eyes glassy with fear.

“Please.” He whispered in terrified Spanish, “Don’t kill me.”

I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled his neck to my mouth.  With my heightened sense of awareness due to the sheer amount of blood I had consumed in the last few hours I could feel the red blood cells trembling in his veins.  I could also feel the archo-scientific trap waiting for me there.  I cursed under my breath; it was a trap.  Perhaps I could use that hidden trap for my own selfish vendetta, after all before it had made my power too strong to control and that’s what I wanted this time.

“Sorry.” I said, not even hesitating before biting his neck drinking deeply and allowing the tainted garbage that my former friend had designed to infect my Gift.

The stage was set, the players were falling into place and I was ready.  I could feel the Power growing inside me, flaring hotter with every breath.

“What are you doing?”  I turned and saw Miranda coming up the top of the stairs to the rooftop.  Although the sun had set I was glowing like a tiny sun.

“I told you to go away.”  I said, my voice sounding flat and far away in my ears.  “You came anyway and now you will pay for it with your life.  After all I did to keep you alive, what a waste.”

“But why are you-” She began, before the door slammed open behind her and Donchivo stormed onto the roof.

“You LIED to me!”  He raged, every vein in his body glowed bright purple and tendrils of Power snaked through the air around him.

“You knew better, or you should have.”  I said, “I told you I was going to kill you all even if you decided not to listen.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this.”  Miranda said, “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes.  I do.” I looked into her eyes and she recoiled from whatever she saw there. The torrent of power inside me writhed and thrashed like a living thing.  Miranda backed away further, her face distorting slightly in pain.  “This will end in a blaze of power, in a flash of light.  It’s a better end than they deserve but I am in a generous mood.”

“You will not take ME!” Donchivo advanced on us, but as he drew near, the light froze his questing tendrils of Power and they shattered into glittering fragments.  I could see steam rising from his body and Miranda’s breath misted in the air.

I hesitated, this wasn’t how it was supposed to work.  Something was wrong with my Gift.  Fear skittered across the blank surface of my emotions, but I couldn’t stop the Power now.  The air chilled further, ice crystals formed on Miranda’s skin as she turned to run.  A wave of absolute cold rolled from me in all directions like an arctic tsunami and I stood in the center of a frozen wasteland.  I had never experienced such silence and stillness.  At last I had found peace.

Then my Gift snapped back to normal and the peace was destroyed in a flash of pure Destruction.  Everything in a mile radius flashed to a negative image of itself for a fleeting moment before vanishing without a trace.  I knew I was drained, I knew that in spite of the dozens of humans I’d eaten in preparation that I would likely be easy prey for anyone or anything that came along, but I was beyond caring.

I sank down to the completely smooth perfect surface left behind by the Destruction of my Gift and sat in the Lotus position.  Here I would wait until the sun rose.  Here I would welcome the Final Death.

I had been sitting for nearly an hour when a sharp pain struck the back of my neck and I felt myself slumping sideways.  The soft report of the rifle reached my ears a heartbeat later.  It was an impossible shot; after all for the impact and the shot to have been so separated the shooter must have been a mile or more away.

As consciousness gradually dwindled I felt a tear leak from the corner of my left eye I heard the sound of an approaching helicopter.  No rest for the wicked I supposed.  In that case it was fitting that I was immortal.