A year had passed. There were new buildings, more railway lines, more people, and the city was bustling with activity. A year ago, Nick Smith had noticed Stella Robbs in the park while she had no idea he had been there. He had observed her, and although he was fifteen meters away, he could see and smell her clearly, through the trees and through the flowers. Slowly, he ventured nearer and nearer, tempting Death at the same time.
He found himself at the park and he sat at his usual spot. Stella Robbs was gone but he could see her sitting at the same spot. He could see himself walk towards her, and he would lose confidence and retreat back.
Stephen had watched Nick Smith ascend to insanity and then descend to inconsolability. While Mr Smith retained the youthfulness of his face, he had lost all the radiance that he had momentarily gained when with Stella. Stella had left him, torched his pride and stole the soul that he had already lost.
Stephen waited in the car, knowing that he was to wait until Mr Smith had finished his time at the park. This sometimes took hours, yet he would wait patiently. He had hated the girl initially, and he wanted to find her and torture her for the misery she had inflicted on his master. He could not understand why Mr Smith had the ability to search for the girl, but he had refused to do so.
Just a few days ago, Mr Smith had torn the contract into pieces and burned it with his own hands. He burst into flames and had set his entire apartment on fire. Stephen was afraid that Mr Smith would do something rash again and let his secret out to the whole world. That was even worse than the fact that the girl knew everything about him and his kind.
After Stella Robbs had found out that Nick Smith was a souleater, and that a souleater was the cause of her father’s death, she hated him. She hated the fact that he was a cold-blooded murderer. And she called Nick a devil, a monster and the most wicked creature on earth.
“If a lion killed someone you love, will you ever see any lion without feeling hate? No, I shall hate you for the rest of my life. I shall make your life miserable and everyone of your kind suffer,” were her final words before she had taken off with Micheal Owell.
Nick came into the car and asked, “Have you found out anything regarding her father’s murder?” Stephen knew immediately that he was referring to Stella and was sorry to inform Mr Smith that there was nothing that he could find. Nick kept quiet. There was something strange about Mr Robbs’ death. It was planned, and it was not one of his kind who had killed him. Someone had entered the world, deliberately.