The Shrinker

EPILOGUE (PART-1)

Epilogue

She was utterly famished; the painful screaming of her stomach told her as much. Droll spilt from the corners of her mouth as she salivated in excitement at the prospect of another wondrous meal. And this one would be young. She especially loved young meat, which was full of energy and life.

Having discovered her imposter's identity, she researched hard but discreetly into her background. She was particularly keen to know if there were people the scapegoat hated enough to want dead; she needed a motive. To her delight she'd learned of one candidate in particular the pretender had publicly fought with. This disappearance would also get the town's full attention.

Selecting this person as her target, she merrily made her way through the old-fashioned but charming cobbled streets of Vorford's housing estates, passing by numerous cottages and bungalows. The night was very dark with not a bit of moonlight, whilst the dim street lamps barely lit the way. Thick and heavy rain was lashing down everywhere. But not one drop touched her.

As she walked, each and every single raindrop that threatened to fall on her suddenly glowed red at the last second and shrank into vapours, leaving her dry. No matter what direction she moved in and regardless of her pace. It all happened so instantaneously nobody else noticed a thing; too distracted by the rain. But she never once had to pay attention to the drops, lazily shrinking them with no effort as she contemplated.

What was vitally important was that the pretender was only suspected of this incoming disappearance, not convicted. At present she wanted the scapegoat under suspicion, but didn't want her arrested and charged yet. Not until she'd devoured as much of the town's populace as she could. Once the other size-shifter was locked-up, her alibi would be gone.

She'd always hated Vorford with a vengeance. On the surface it was a pleasant charming little town where the whole community looked out for each other, where all citizens busily worked for everyone's benefit, and where locals who demonstrated high efficiency were held in great regard.

But underneath it was a town where opposing politics constantly clashed within its council, and where corruption and negligence within authority was met with a blind eye by its public for the sake of convenience. Vorford's entire history was spent shutting out the rest of the world in favour of selfishly focusing upon its own ends. Everybody in the small town was expected to remain for life to serve it, and most did, out of habit. But its insular ant-farm mentality was growing more obsolete with every new generation.

Time is the killer of tradition, not its protector. Vorford was ripe for killing but it was her who'd be its killer. She would drag the town kicking and screaming into worldwide infamy whether it liked it or not.

She approached her destination and halted, staring at the lavish old mansion before her; one of two in Vorford. Black gates between tall stone walls barred her way, but these were no obstacles to her and her abilities. With an excited grin, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a mask. Such a property would likely have security cameras; this precaution was necessary. Even with shrinking herself to infiltrate the area unseen, and restoring herself to normal once inside her prey's room.

With the enormous extent of her powers and capabilities, she didn't fear the consequences of getting caught. She could kill anybody instantaneously in a number of ways all at once, like by imagining their brains expanding out their heads or doing likewise with their hearts. But if she was found out, everyone would be on high alert against her. Hunting and devouring more people would get so much harder. Getting constantly hunted would be extremely irritating and inconvenient.

No, Jamie Cooper would get the blame; she was set on it. She wanted to keep eating as she pleased in the same leisurely way, for the rest of her life. Which could be for as long as she liked, with her ability to vastly reduce the ageing process and shrink away any internal illnesses.