The road stretched endlessly ahead.
Daniel drove through the morning fog.
Mara sat beside him.
Michael slept in the back seat.
For the first time, nobody was chasing them.
Daniel almost missed it.
The quiet.
Then Mara spoke.
"You know you don't have to keep hunting."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"You've been doing this your whole life."
"I've been running from it my whole life."
"There's a difference."
Daniel thought about that.
Maybe she was right.
He could stop.
The entity was sealed.
The book was under control.
The world didn't need him.
But somewhere out there, someone was being hunted.
Someone was hearing strange noises at night.
Someone was discovering that monsters were real.
Daniel looked at the road.
"What did my father do after he learned the truth?"
Mara smiled.
"He hunted."
"Why?"
"Because somebody had to."
Daniel nodded.
"Then I know what I'm doing."
Mara looked at him.
"You sure?"
Daniel smiled.
"For the first time."
A phone rang.
Michael woke up.
He answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a frightened voice.
"We need a hunter."
Michael looked at Daniel.
Daniel reached for the phone.
"Where are you?"
The voice gave an address.
Daniel wrote it down.
"What's happening?"
The caller whispered:
"Something is killing people."
Daniel asked:
"What kind?"
The voice answered:
"We don't know."
Daniel smiled slightly.
"That's okay."
He started the engine.
"We'll find out."
He hung up.
Mara looked at the address.
"That's three states away."
Daniel put the car into gear.
"Road trip."
Michael sighed.
"I hate road trips."
Daniel laughed.
The sound surprised all of them.
For the first time in years, he wasn't afraid of what waited ahead.
He was ready.
The road disappeared beneath the tires.
And somewhere in the darkness, something watched them go.