A/N Written for hl_flashfic secondary characters challenge. The character is Caspian and the prompt is children, which should be all the warning you need to tell you this isn't a light hearted tale.

Caspian can hear laughter from across the street bright and cheerful, it makes him angry, and hungry. From the darkness in which he waits he can see the children play, flying higher and higher on the swings, it makes him want to rip and tear and cover the world in red again. The last child on the swings has dark hair and a wide grin as he pumps his legs to go higher, faster, further, he is 10 maybe. Caspian remembers being ten, just. He remembers blood and death and meat still warm from the kill, his first heart from his first kill, a rite of passage. At this boys age he was a man, a killer kept strong on the blood of his enemies.

Abi laughed as he went higher, staying on the swings as the others left. His Mum always did the housework at this time and she wouldn't notice he was slow getting back so long as he didn't stay more than ten minutes. The sun was shining and the swing seemed to reach for the sky. Abi slowed down as he noticed the creepy man, he had seen him around before and there was something scary about him. The man noticed him! He looked straight at him and grinned. Abi jumped off the swing and ran. The man was standing between him and home so Abi ran the other way, but he would come back round.

There was something about children that always set Caspian's teeth on edge. Silas used to give them extra rations and watch over them like his pets, giving extra amusement to catching and killing one. Silas would get upset and then sometimes Methos would interfere which always attracted Kronos' attention. There was no better way to bring Kronos than to include Methos in something, Caspian grinned predatorily thinking of Methos annoyed him more than anything. It was what made Silas such a great target, Methos was always protective of Silas. Caspian shifted slightly watching the prey carefully, as he scampered off. He slid back into the shadows satisfied, there was more than one way to skin a cat.

Abi slowed down out of breath looking around quickly, the man was gone he sighed in relief. He turned quickly heading for home ducking back round and skirting the playground area. He sighed in relief as he turned into the road leading up to his house, his Mum was going to scold him for being late again but the man was gone. He walked up the street quickly, relaxing as he came closer to home. Hands grabbed him, one wrapped around his waist another across his mouth pulling him to one side and into an alley. Abi kicked and struggled biting down on the hand across his mouth but the arms just tightened, something hit the back of his head black spots swam across his vision and everything went dark.

Caspian grinned happily the bruise on his own head from where he had hit the prey healing quickly. He could feel him breathing still, so the boy was still alive. Caspian tied him quickly and pushed him into the boot of his car, satisfied by the successful hunt. He slid quickly into the drivers seat and pulled out of the alleyway. The boy would have to wait until he reached home and his specially insulated basement. One of the benefits of modern society, sound insulation.

Abi woke in a small enclosed space, he was lying on carpet in the dark, there were ropes around his wrists and ankles and a cloth tied across his mouth. Abi battered at the metal ceiling screaming for help behind the gag, he sobbed in fright as he worked out he was in a car boot. Light rushed in as the boot was opened, for a moment Abi hoped he had been rescued until he saw him. The Man grinned down at him, before reaching in casually and lifting him out. Abi screamed and struggled but the man just laughed before dropping him on a couch. The light glinting off a knife stopped Abi from pulling at his bonds. He sobbed in fright pulling back as the man leaned closer. Knife coming up, the gag fell away cut and for a second Abi was relieved. The knife was lifted again and this time pain exploded in his arm. Abi screamed and The Man lowered his head to lick away the blood before biting down on his arm.

It had been easy to pick the child up from the street, keeping him from dying too quickly had been harder but Caspian was a master. The idea to keep the prey alive as long as possible had come from Methos originally, but where Methos played head games Caspian specialised in giving pain. Caspian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, still warm and vibrant. The boy had taken three days to die and it was another day before Capsian had finished, the boy was nothing now but a collection of bones and pieces that even Caspian will not eat. The boy's Mother will be worried and lost but they will never find her son.

Cemre carefully turned the bone they had brought her, a child's femur. She stared at the teeth marks and at the map they had constructed of where the remains had been found. She smiled grimly looking at the pattern, they were getting closer. They had his probable location down to a 1 mile radius. Evrin looked around the door with a grin "We have a match for our profile, his name is Evan Caspari. Are you coming?"

Caspian looked up at the knock on his door, they've finally found him. He laughed as he opened the door to them, and didn't bother to hide the evidence of the woman in the basement. He kills one of the police officers as they restrain him, snapping her neck, but only because he can, he doesn't try to escape. They can capture the horsemen and hold him in some dark hole keeping these fragile mortals safe from him for a year or maybe two but they can not stop him he is eternal, a hunter that stalks the night.