EXODUS  THE END OF THE BEGINNING

by Bill Smith


Jay hung up the phone and allowed himself two seconds of silence before
whooping with joy. He leaped up dumping Ray Stevens on the floor. The cat
scampered away from him in surprise, but Jay picked the furball up and swung
him around, kissing its head. Jay tossed the cat onto his bed and ran through
his meager dwelling, shouting for joy.

After about ten minutes, Jay gathered himself and looked outside. It would be
another two hours before dusk came along. Could he wait that long? "A WHOLE
FREAKIN TWO MILLION DOLLARS!" he shouted again, hopping up and down.

Then he calmed himself. Had to be prepared. This would be the biggest friggin
job of his life, and he couldn't afford to screw it up.

"Okay," he said, half to himself, half to his cat. "First thing to do is look
professional, right Ray?" Ray Stevens had finally found a shelf to curl up on,
and completely ignored Jay. "So, we come in here and grab a nice... looking...
shirt." Jay yanked a gray medieval-looking shirt from his closet. It was full
of folds, and would make him look like an out-of-work artist, or...he hoped, a
professional demon killer. Under that shirt went a black long-sleeve shirt,
and a red handkerchief was tied around his neck. One of his more flashy but
less useful pendants went around his neck, and a couple bracelets found
themselves on his wrist. He grabbed a pair of loose pants to match his shirt,
and pulled on his only pair of shoes. "This'll have to do," he remarked to his
reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Second, we have to look like we're doing
business," he said. Jay went to the refrigerator to get some useless
ingredients, but stopped half way. "No..." he said. "Freak it, man. This guy
wants business taken care of, and that's it. No flashy gimmicks."

Jay decided to keep his outfit, and just went straight to his wards and
spells. "What to use, what to use?" he muttered, scanning the bookshelves and
bookshelves of available tomes. Jay began humming some Ray Stevens song and
pulling down some of his more used spell books. Then he grabbed his own
personal Rune Reference Encyclopedia and put them all in a canvas bag. After
that, he grabbed the tackle box from the bottom of his bed. It contained most
of the common ingredients that anyone would ever need when intending to cast a
spell.

Jay grabbed a few more pendants and wards, stuffed them into his pockets, then
set them near his door. He'd go outside and wait, in about a half hour. As Jay
was preparing to sit down, a knock at the door brought him to his

feet again.

At the door stood a man dressed in a black suit, wearing a limo driver's hat.
"It's already started, can you come now?" the man said.

Jay nodded, a knot twisting his stomach. He wasn't scared of the demon,
really. He'd dealt with hundreds of demons. It was just...well, if this case
got away from him, then he'd never really live with it.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Can you carry these books?"

The mansion was huge, and the estate was even bigger. Jay swallowed as they
stopped in front of the main entrance. "Shit," he breathed when the car
stopped. Jay grabbed his stuff and dragged it to the front door, where

another servant took them.

His client, a man in his fifties, came to the door. "Jay? Thank you for
coming. I am Ian, this is my wife Gina," he gestured to a woman of no more
than thirty. "This is my daughter, Amber." The girl smiled. She was short,
scarcely five feet, but mature. Probably 17 or 18. Her hair was long and sandy
blonde, with brown streaks running through it. Jay's hand unconsciously
lingered in hers as they shook. "Thank you for coming early, but it has
already begun."

Jay's mind clicked back to his demon hunter mode. "Where?"

The man led them to the wine cellar, where a black and brown imp was sitting
in the corner, drinking wine from a broken-necked bottle. Shit. A freakin imp.
That was it? Jay hoped so.

"There's usually more, about three."

"What's the most you've seen at one time?" Jay asked as they observed it
distantly.

"About four."

Oh. Four imps. No biggy, but not too easy, either.

"I'll take care of this one now, hold on." Jay pulled his bag of books next to
him and dug out one of the smaller volumes. "Actually," Jay almost drawled.
"Would you guys like a pet?"

The man blinked. "What?"

"I can just as easily trap this guy in a crystal ball forever, and he'll never
be able to be free. If he does get free, he'll be no bigger than a rat."

Amber looked up at her parents eagerly, but both looked a little nervous.

"I can also just kill him," Jay added hastily.

"How about you do that?" the man asked.

"No problem."

Jay opened his tackle box and stopped. Naw. He could trap one of the others.
Jay always liked to keep souvenirs, if possible. Imps were simple and easy. He
closed the tackle box and reached into his back pack. He pulled out a .44,
drawing gasps from the small audience. Earplugs were tied to the gun's handle.
Jay pulled these off and put them in his ears.

"We tried shooting it, but it never worked," said the man, slight irritation
showing in his voice.

"Huh," Jay snorted. "Not with this you didn't."

The imp had discarded that bottle and was chewing on another one. It
completely ignored the others' existence.

Jay braced himself, placing one foot against the wall, and was about to shoot,
when another imp pushed from the ground, using its semi-corporeality to go
through the stones themselves.

"There's another one!" cried the wife.

Jay aimed at the closer one and waited until it was out. This imp looked at
him, and grinned evilly. "Hold your ears everybody," Jay said. He pulled the
trigger, swore softly, and released the safety. The second time he pulled the
trigger, the gun exploded loudly, and the closer imp's right arm blew off in a
shower of blood. The wife and girl screamed, and Jay fired again, catching the
imp in the stomach. This time it nearly exploded, spraying guts and blood all
over the walls. The first imp, probably drunk out of its wits, looked at Jay,
barely recognizing he was alive. Jay pulled the trigger again, and this imp
did explode. Its body parts lay in a circle radiating from the broken wine
bottle. Jay stood back straight and clicked the safety on, and took out his
earplugs, tying them back to the gun. "There's two. Now, I guess you'll want
to get somebody to clean up this mess."

So far, Jay was extremely proud of himself. Bam bam bam. There went two imps.
These ones were dumb, as well. Most would have run away at the sight of a gun.

The wife had run up the stairs, and Ian followed her. Amber was staring at the
mess, horrified. "If it grosses you out, try not to look," said Jay, tucking
the pistol back in his bag.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"I have friends."

"Oh. How do we get the others to come out?"

"I could either perform a 7 day ritual to summon them to a single spot,
sacrificing a human virgin, or...just whistle."

Amber looked at him, horrified.

"You know they've taken the word gullible out of the dictionary?" he said,
pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

"What? They have n..." Amber scowled at him and stomped up the stairs.

Jay grinned, following her. "Where else do they appear?" he asked Ian. Gina
was gone. She must be vomiting, Jay thought wryly.

Ian shrugged. "Anywhere. Usually down there."

Jay dumped his belongings in a corner. "How often?"

"Every night."

"Okay. The only reasonable thing to do is wait for them to show up."

"What do you mean, reasonable?"

"Any other method would involve sacrifice or something. I'll look for them, of
course, but the most aggravating thing about your type of imps is that they're
hard to locate. They spend most of their time in...well, places you don't want
to know about. Those places are practically impossible to get to."

"What places?"

"I...shouldn't tell you. You don't need to worry about it, so long as you
don't have a graveyard around here."

"We used to."

Jay pursed his lips. "Were the coffins removed?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Nothing to worry about." Jay grinned as a flashback from Poltergeist
played in his mind. "Best thing to do is just wait. Keep somebody down in the
basement in case they show up there. If somebody sees one, give me a holler."

Ian nodded and spoke quickly to his butler, who jogged off for more servants.
"I want to thank you. I'll have to admit, I didn't have much confidence when I
first heard about you, but now I do. I'll be sure to recommend you."

Jay danced inside his skull, cheering. Nothing showed on his face. "Thank you,
sir."

"It just went into the wall," the servant said.

Jay lowered his blood knife. The blood knife was long, with an extended curved
blade. The blade was jagged, with several runes and ancient letters covering
it. The grip on the knife was leather, with a black pommel just beneath.

This knife was Jay's most trusted weapon. It had belonged to a Japanese demon
hunter last, or so the runes stated. He had added his own heritage to the
blade, not wanting to be left out. The list of owners stretched far back, all
the way to the antediluvian werewolves. Jay still didn't know all of its
powers.

Jay tucked the blade into his waistband and nodded. "Okay. Thanks for
calling."

Jay joined the other back outside the walk-in closet. "It ran away before I
could get here."

"Listen, Jay," Ian said. "It's getting pretty late, I don't know what time you
go to bed, but I would appreciate it if you could stay here tonight. I have
guest quarters set up for you in the west wing whenever you get tired. I think
the family will go to sleep now."

Jay nodded. "I'll stay up a bit longer. My hours are flexible."

Ian smiled and the whole family left. Jay flopped onto the couch in the huge
house. The living room itself was like a massive chamber. The ceiling was
easily twenty feet, with high pane windows and skylights. Man oh man. Jay
leaned against the plush pillows. Two million dollars. God. What he could do
with that money. Jay chuckled to himself, closed eyes staring at the ceiling.

"We have over 500 TV channels," Amber's voice said, startling him out of his
daze.

Jay jumped up to find her standing behind him. "Wha-What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she answered, coming around the side. "It's only 10 o'clock. You
think I go to bed this early? No. Uh-uh. Not possible. I just say I do, and my
parents don't know the difference." She was wearing a gray T-shirt that came
to her knees. "So long as I'm wearing this, I just say I got up for a snack.
They're too stupid to know the difference."

Jay sat back down. "I see. What time do you usually go to bed?"

"Mmm...'round 1 or 2, I guess. Usually watch TV until then. This place is so
boring. Nothing to do."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Right. I was about to say the same thing," he said
sarcastically.

She scowled at him. "Listen, just because we have a shitload of money doesn't
mean we can do whatever we want! I'm an artist, but my dad just thinks we
should all live comfortably and do nothing. Nobody here does any work, not
even him, any more. He thinks that painting and drawing is work. Jeez. I can't
do anything I want, since my parents are always around. I have no social life.
My school friends are all geeks..."Amber sighed, "Well, you wouldn't
understand."

"Guess not," Jay said.

Amber flipped on the TV and switched it to one of the movie channels. They
watched it quietly for a few minutes, and then Jay sat up straight, straining
his ears. "Turn that up," he said when Amber turned it down.

"Why? What is it? What do you hear?"

"There's one of them in the kitchen," Jay said. He crawled over the back of
the couch and sneaked to the base of the stairs. Upon peeking around the edge,
he saw an imp crawling around in the cabinets. It made its presence known
further by tossing a plate to the floor. Jay winced, then scrambled back to
his backpack. He grabbed a chain-mail glove from the bottom and slipped it
over his right hand.

Amber was crouching behind the chair. "What are you going to do with that?"
she asked.

"Get my tackle box from the other side of the sofa," he said. "And hurry."

Jay ran back to the kitchen and looked around the edge of the door again. The
imp jumped from the cabinet to the refrigerator, passing through the door to
the interior. Jay jerked open the door, and grabbed the squinting imp by its
neck. He pulled it out and held it squirming and screaming in his mailed fist.

Amber almost dropped the tackle box when she saw Jay.

"Open it up," Jay said, holding the edge of the mail glove as the imp bit and
clawed at it. He had to keep the imp from pulling the glove down around his
wrist, or it'd get to his flesh. "Look for -- see that purple vial? No, the
other one. Yeah. Take it out, and get one of the Q-tips. Dip the Q-tip in the
vial and draw a circle on the floor with it."

"Where?"

"Anywhere. It'll wash off. I don't care really."

Amber kneeled and drew a careful circled on the floor. "Okay."

"Go into the canvas bag and get the largest black book you can find. It'll
have a silver pentagram on the front."

Jay tipped over his backpack with his foot, and nudged a crystal ball out with
his foot. He rolled it across the floor until it was in the circle. "Can you
read Latin?" he asked.

"What?"

"Latin, can you read it?"

"I can pronounce it and stuff, but I don't understand-"

"Fine. Open the book to my third marked page, and read the underlined
section."

The girl did, and Jay positioned the ball inside the circle then punched the
imp in the face. Any normal creature's neck would have been snapped, but the
imp was just dazed. He dropped the imp in the circle, and Amber began reading.
As she read, the circle began to glow, and streams of energy began to flow
upward from the circle, like drops of water moving upside down. Jay stayed
outside the circle, in case the imp got free.

As Amber read, the imp started wailing and then was sucked inside the crystal
ball. When she finished, the ball glimmered once, sealing it inside.

"Okay, I finished," she said. "Now what do-" Amber looked at the crystal ball.
Inside was a panicky imp. "What happened?"

"You sealed him in the crystal ball."

"But my father said he didn't want a pet imp."

"Well, I do. Unless you want it, of course." Jay picked it up and showed it to
her. "He'll calm down in a few days. After he gets used to it."

Amber looked at it. "Here, hold this while I clean up." She took it gingerly
and peered inside at the creature. She giggled. "This guy's kinda funny
looking."

"Yeah. They get that way once they're trapped."

Jay blinked. It was 2:30 am. The little statue next to his bed was alight. It
was a metal sculpture of an eyeball, with a round quartz as the pupil.
Whenever a demon was present, the quartz glowed brightly. Jay looked around
his room. In the corner, a small shape was sniffing the dirty clothes hamper.
Jay sighed and pulled off the top cover of the bed. As the imp turned to look
at him, Jay smashed his fist into the imp, then grabbed it around the neck,
and wrapped it up in the blanket quickly. He quickly cast a protective circle
around it, successfully sealing it off from the outside world. Jay grinned as
the imp pushed out of the cover, but couldn't free itself from the barrier he
had set up. Then Jay frowned.

The eye was still glowing. As long as the imp was in the circle, the eye
shouldn't register it. There must be another one about.

Jay looked around the room. He went to the tackle box and pulled out a
medallion. The medallion served as an eye into several planes of existence,
allowing the wearer to see anything existing on those planes. Jay put the
necklace on, and pressed the ten-sided crystal against his eye. The two
largest facets of the quartz were parallel, and these were the sides through
which Jay looked. He fit the metal surrounding the medallion into his eye
socket. It was uncomfortable, resting almost on top of his eyeball, but it
worked well. Jay looked around. Nothing. The eyeball was still glowing, so he
took it with him in the hall, where it glowed brighter. Jay walked down the
hall and stopped next to a door. The demon was through there. He could barely
see the blur of an imp. Jay quietly opened the door and slipped in, tucking
the glowing eye into his pocket. He drew the blood knife and crept towards the
imp. It was crawling around on the bed. Someone else was there as well, but he
couldn't tell who. As he neared the imp, he saw that it was Amber.

"Come on..." he whispered. "Last one..."

Amber moaned in her sleep, and the imp looked at her. It crawled up towards
her and stood on her stomach, sniffing her torso.

"Don't you dare, you motherfucker..." Jay breathed, moving ever closer. The
imp looked at him, and he stopped. It turned around and began sniffing Amber's
breasts. "So help me I'll..." the imp looked at him again. Shut up! he scolded
himself.

When the imp returned its attention to Amber, he moved forward slowly. The imp
began sniffing and nudging her breasts more aggressively. Amber moaned again,
her hand moving slightly. Jay slowly kneeled, and began crawling along the
side of the bed. He couldn't see what was going on now, but Amber was moaning
louder now. Jay moved to where he was right next to her. He could see the imp
with the medallion still. It was up there, sniffing around. Jay waited several
seconds as the imp stopped, looking around the room. When it began nudging
Amber again, he snaked his arm up and grabbed the imp. It squawked, and Jay
slammed it to the floor in front of him, dazing it. He plunged his blood knife
into its heart. It died.

Amber flipped on her light switch, and Jay squinted up at her. Her eyes
widened.

"Don't scream," Jay hissed.

Amber's mouth opened, and Jay covered his ears.

She tapped his shoulder a few moments later. "Is that the last one?" Her face
was a little sick.

Jay nodded, pulling the medallion from his eye. "Yeah, according to you guys."
He dug the eye from his pocket. It was blank. "Looks like there's no activity
now. I'll cast a spell that'll tell whether there are any more within five
hundred yards. Just to be sure."

Since a sixteen-year old spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a
two-story apartment in downtown Toho would look somewhat suspicious, Ian
bought the apartment and wrote it off to Jay.

Toho was competing with the largest cities in the world for being the biggest
and most commercial. It had over 7 million inhabitants, and was situated on
the southern coast of the Kurai island in the country of Amaria.

A few hundred miles to the north was the Bering Straight, and to the east was
the Canadian coast. West was Japan, and south were the Pacific islands.

Jay hired movers to take all his stuff up there, and was ecstatic, to say the
least. Had he more friends, he would have held a party.

"You know, Ray," Jay said as he sat back in the couch. "Now that I've been
living here for...three days, I don't think I could go back to my previous
life." Jay chuckled and sipped on his Coke from a martini glass. His mouth
puckered up in slight disgust, and he threw the olive to a trash can in the
corner.

Jay set the drink aside and started pacing the floor of his living room. The
living room was huge, with one long sofa, two recliners, a coffee table, 50''
TV, and huge pane glass windows behind that. He was getting a telescope in
tomorrow to stare out at the people across the street.

"I've been thinking, Ray," said Jay. "What if I become some kind of super
hero?" The cat slept. "I mean, now that I've got all this money, I could set
up some kind of bat cave or something. Except we'd have to call it the Jay
cave. But then, I wouldn't make it a cave..." Jay pursed his lips
thoughtfully. "Ooh! What if we make it some kind of high-tech Star Trek room!
I could tap into all the wires in the city, keep a police scanner down there,
monitor satellite communications, tap the telephone company, and access all
the surveillance cameras in Toho!" Jay jumped, whirling in the air. Just as he
landed, there was a knock at his door. Somehow, through his little discourse,
Jay had ended up right next to the door. He opened it.

Without a word, Amber huffed past him, dragging two wheeled suitcases. "Hi!"
Jay said to the empty doorway. "How are you doing? Haven't seen you in a
while."

Amber slung her suitcases to the side, and they slid across the polished wood
floor.

"Hope those imps haven't given you any trouble since I left," he said, still
talking to the empty air.

"Jay," Amber said.

"I'm glad you dropped by."

"Jay."

"Please come in," Jay gestured inside the apartment, then closed the door and
looked at Amber. "Oh! How'd you get there? My, you're fast."

"Shut up."

Then Jay noticed the suitcases. A cold sweat broke across the back of his
neck. "Um. What are you doing here?"

"Ian died."

"Who?"

"My father. He died."

Jay started sweating on his forehead. "Um..." he said.

"No, I don't care about him. No, I don't love him. No, I never did. He never
loved me. My mother has, using her incredible legal influence, successfully
taken 4/5s of my share of the estate."

"Oh?" Jay squeaked, starting to sweat elsewhere.

"That only leaves me with $45 million." Amber began swearing profusely.

Jay stopped. "I'm sorry. Could you say that again, please?"

"You heard me. I only get a fuckin $45 million bucks. And I can't do shit with
it because I'm too young."

Jay swallowed nervously. "I, uh...what?"

"I'm seventeen, and won't be eighteen for another nine months."

"Hold it. What are you doing here?"

"Where else do I have to go?" Amber demanded. Instantly she softened, putting
on her best puppy dog expression and sidling over to Jay. "I know I don't know
you that well, Jay," she murmured, setting her head on his shoulder and
looking up at him. Then she started begging. "But please let me stay here! I'm
not going to stay with that bitch after what she did! If she knew where I
went, she'd kill me!"

"Um..." Jay said.

"Please?" she whined.

Jay swallowed again, tugging at his collar. "Well..."

"Please?"

"I guess so."

Amber jumped for joy and kissed his cheek. "Thank you!" she cried. The girl
ran to her luggage and began dragging it up the stairs.

"Well that takes care of this month's rent," Jay muttered, wiping his
forehead. "Now...what to do, what to do?"

There was another knock at the door. Jay opened it, and a somewhat tall,
stately man stood with hands folded. He had a single suitcase, and was wearing
a formal suit.

"Yes?" Jay said, breaking into a sweat again.

"My name is Robert de'Ville," said the man almost stiffly. "I am here for the
position of the butler."

"Unh?"

"He's mine, Jay!" Amber called from the staircase. "I hired him. I called in a
few favors from my old butler, and Robert will be on my payroll."

Jay was gaping. He suddenly grinned. "So you belong to us?"

"Technically, yes," Robert answered in the same tone, picking up his suitcase.

Jay stepped aside. "Can I call you Jeeves?"

"If you wish, sir."

"Cool!"

Jay closed the door behind the man and grinned goofily at Ray, who still
ignored him.

"Uh, we have another room somewhere around here. You can stay in any empty
room you find...Jeeves."

"Very well, sir."

The butler walked upstairs as Amber came down. She came up to Jay. "What do
you have to eat around this place?"

"I usually...I always order out."

"Okay. Order out then."

Jay stuck his tongue between his teeth and grinned. He reached into his pocket
and lightning quick whipped out his phone. The microphone section flipped out
and Jay gave a gloating sort of laugh. He held the phone up to his ear after
dialing. "Yes?" he said in a mock-sophisticated voice. "I would like to
order...two large pizzas. One pineapple and Canadian bacon, and one - " he
cupped his hand over the phone and looked at Amber " - what do you like on
your pizza?"

Amber shrugged. "Pepperoni."

"Hey Jeeves!" he yelled. "What do you want on your pizza?"

"Green pepper and onions," came the stately voice. It was loud enough to be
heard, but Jeeves wasn't yelling.

"And one half pepperoni, half green pepper and onions. Yes. Same place. Thank
you. Good bye." Jay closed up the phone, retaining his aloof expression.

Amber raised an eyebrow then walked away. "I'm going to unpack."

Later, Jay and Amber were seated at either end of the couch, their legs
stretched out towards the center. Their feet weren't even touching. "This is a
big couch," Jay said, looking at the space between the two pairs of socked
feet.

"Yeah? You'll get used to it."

"Well, um, where's Jeeves?"

"I sent him out for groceries."

"Oh."

"I was going to say that it might be wise for him to manage our finances."

Jay's face darkened and twitched. "Oh really? Why?"

"Simply because he's better at it than we are."

Jay's face twitched again. "Oh. Don't you get nervous with someone else
handling all your money?"

"No," she shook her head. "He's completely trustworthy, and he knows that if
we suspect anything, we'll call in a finance advisor to come make sure he
hasn't been stealing money out from under us."

Twitch. "I see. He could also suck up the funds slowly, so that we never
noticed."

"Yeah, but he wouldn't. If it makes you feel any safer, I'll tell him that
you're a paranoid freak, and want to call in an accountant every few months."

"No! Then he'd know. We'll just call in an accountant after about six months,
then six months after that. If nothing's happening, we'll trust him, okay?"

Amber shrugged. "Whatever. That's fine with me."

Jay relaxed. "Okay. Fine with me as well."

They sat for a few moments, and then Jay pulled a remote control from the
coffee table. He used the remote control to dim the lights. He flipped on the
TV. "Uh, I have the same setup as you. How many channels do I have?"

"523."

"Oh. Okay."

Jay set the TV to auto-surf and silently watched it for the next 20 or so
minutes as it scanned through all 523 channels. "Nothing's on," he said. "I
never thought I'd admit that, but even with all these channels, nothings on."

Amber shrugged, her night shirt sliding down her shoulders slightly. "Well,
you can't get everything."

"Now, if they had an all-the-time Star Trek channel, that'd be cool."

"Star Trek?"

"Star Trek or anime. Preferably the latter."

"Anime?"

"You know? Japanese animation?"

Amber shook her head.

"Don't worry about it."

Amber looked at the clock and hung her head in disappointment. "Only 10 and
nothing's on? Perfect."

Jay looked at the clock behind him. "Star Trek should be on Fox...where is
Fox?"

"Which one?"

"Uh...all of them."

"Tellya what," Amber sighed. "Why don't you tell me about your work? Demon
killing. Hunting. Whatever."

Jay brightened. "Sure. Now...let's see...where should I start?"

"There's four hours left before I even get sleepy, so you can go over all of
it."

Jay ran his tongue across his teeth. "I can try. It'll be a pretty tight
squeeze. Now. First of all..." he started, then stopped. Jay sighed. "Okay. I
deal with small demons, usually. There are other people who deal with the big
ones."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't you deal with big ones?"

"I'm not powerful enough. I don't have any natural ability that lets me fight
them. All I do is cast spells and wards, do rituals, runes, etc. There are
other people in this world that have natural abilities."

"Like what?"

Jay sighed. "Okay. Um...I found out about a demon one time somewhere in Idaho,
an American state."

"I know where it is."

"Okay, well, this demon had demon underlings. That's almost a sure sign of a
greater demon. So this demon was really bad, and I got stuck fighting it. I
managed to erect a shield in time, but I was out in the middle of nowhere, so
the demon sat, waiting for me to come out. I could have starved to death
inside the casting circle, but some guy came along and fought the demon. He
killed it with a glowing sword of energy. That's all I know."

"Oh. Wow."

"Or you might be able to invoke or evoke demons on your own, cast runes, throw
holy energy, whatever. Beats me. Few people have that kind of personal
ability."

"How do you know if you've got it?"

"I have no idea. Maybe it shows up."

"Do you have a spell that can tell?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I do. I'll look for it some time. Anyway, I handle the lesser
demons. Usually. I managed to get a greater demon once, and boy was I spent.
That was tough. Three days in the hospital for exhaustion. So, I use spells,
magic, runes..."

"What's a rune?" Amber asked.

"Uh..." Jay glanced around the room. He pulled a coaster off the coffee table
and tossed it to her. "That's a rune."

"What is it?"

"It's a symbol that has some various effect on demons."

"What's this one do?"

"I don't know. I just saw it in a book and scrawled it someplace where I'd see
it later. Next time I see a demon, I'll throw the coaster at him and see what
happens."

"You're kidding."

"Not really. If I happen to go outside of the house with the coaster, then
I'll throw it at one. Otherwise..." he shrugged. "I don't know of any single
demon that could get inside this apartment without dying, being banished, or
any number of other things."

"I see..."

"I have runes and symbols carved all over the place; you'll see more as time
goes on. It's helpful to know your runes."

"Okey-dokey."

Jeeves came in the door carrying four bags of groceries, two paper and two
plastic.

"Hey Jeeves," Jay said.

"Hello, sir," said the butler, pushing the door closed with his foot. "Madam."
He walked into the kitchen.

"Why do you call him Jeeves?"

"Because, it sounds like a good butler name, doesn't it?"

Amber cocked an eyebrow.

"Doesn't it?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Come on. Which sounds better, Robert or Jeeves?"

Amber sighed. "Okay. Fine. Jeeves."

"The Waldorf Historia?" Amber said.

"Yeah."

"Isn't that in New York?"

"No," Jay said, grabbing a brown pouch and tying it to his belt. "That's the
Waldorf Astoria. Some doof in Toho decided to copy him and make the Waldorf
Historia. They're strikingly similar."

"What's going on over there?"

"Demon," he said. "They've been having problems over there recently, and I'm
going to help them out." Jay pulled the eye pendant over his head. "You wanna
come?"

"Yeah!" Amber grabbed her jacket and slipped into her sneakers. "Jeeves!" she
called. "We're gonna be out for a little while!"

"Of course, madam."

Jay held the door open for her and then closed it, muttering under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just a small spell I cast. Let's me know if anybody's come
or gone since I left."

He pushed the button on the elevator, and it dinged almost immediately. They
got in, and as the elevator began dropping, Amber said, "How long have you
been doing this? Chasing demons, I mean."

"Hm. About 5 or 6 years, I guess. My parents were killed in a car crash, and I
was left alone. My incredibly strange uncle got custody of me, and he taught
me much of what I know. After he died, I didn't have any surviving relatives,
so I never told anybody of his death. I lived alone, forging documents,
eventually moving into an abandoned building. There I've lived, until now."

Amber nodded. "I see."

The Waldorf Historia was 20 stories high, and had a huge green awning over the
front door. It was starting to rain now, pouring down in a slight drizzle. As
they went under the awning, it started pouring even harder. A doorman greeted
them, and Jay brushed him off immediately. "Hate those guys," he explained,
pushing into the hotel lobby. It was huge. To the left was a lounge area, with
couches, tables, and chairs. To the right was a restaurant, and ahead was a
huge marble floor with elevators and the check-in desk.

A security guard noticed them and waved them over. "Hi," he said, a slightly
revolted tone in his voice. "Come this way."

Amber scowled and mouthed something to Jay that he didn't catch.

They were taken to a back room and presented to a man behind a desk. "You must
be Jay," the man said when the guard was gone. "My name is Allen Cathoway, and
I own the Historia."

Jay shook hands and sat down in a chair.

"Lately, we've been experiencing...difficulties with some of the suites. They
tend to attack our guests, and I haven't been able to figure out why or how to
stop it. Fortunately, since this sort of incident isn't widely accepted by the
public as more than rumors, it hasn't hurt our business...yet. I would like
you to do your best to stop the, uh, suites from hurting any more guests."

Jay shrugged. "Okay. Which ones?"

"Floor 18 is the only one we're having a problem on."

"Okay."

"We've been trying to assign the guests to different floors, but space is
getting tight with the arrival of summer."

"Oh."

"I'm having a hard time of it myself."

"That's great."

"So could you go up and take a look?"

"Yes."

"I must admit that I'm somewhat skeptical of your appearance," the man said,
"but I'm willing to try anything."

"Yes, well, I'll go look at it now."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

As they stood in front of the elevator, Amber said, "Why do you put up with
creeps like that guard?"

Jay shrugged. "I don't. I cast a hex on him that will damn him to eternal
impotence."

Amber gaped. "What?!"

"Just kidding. Here."

They stood in the elevator and took it straight to the 18th floor. The hall in
front of them was empty. They stepped out. It appeared completely normal.

"It looks normal," Amber said.

"Like hell it is!" Jay said, getting excited. He fumbled the eye medallion up
to his own eye and looked through. It was a hotbed of astral activity.
"There's a hell of a lot going on here."

"Lemme see through that," Amber took it and peered through. "What's all that
going on?"

"Demons. Or something, anyway."

"How do you stop them?"

"You can help me."

"How?"

"Well, let's see...the first thing we need to do is merge the planes on this
floor and this floor only. Or create a merged spot. Yeah. That'd be better.
You sit over here while I make a casting circle in the middle of the hall
there. You know, this is gonna take a while. Why don't you go get us some
lunch or something?"

"I thought I could help you."

"You can, but not yet. This part is REALLY complicated, and could mess up
easy."

"Oh. All right."

An hour later, Amber was absently sketching the rune that was on the coaster
she'd seen to a napkin. "Okay," Jay called. "You can help now."

Amber tucked the napkin into her pocket and stepped over the eaten food. She
came next to Jay, who was setting out little rune-covered stones. "What's
this?"

"Get that book there, and read what I've highlighted."

Amber picked it up and began intoning the spell. As she did so, a small black
spot appeared in the center of the circle, about five feet up. Jay skittered
around the edge of the circle carefully, and stood next to Amber. The circle
was large, about ten feet in diameter, and had nine points, each with one of
the rune-stones at the point. The lines of the nonegram had a candle at each
intersecting point. Jay held his breath as the black spot grew in size. As
Amber finished reading, she said, "Now what?"

Jay opened his mouth, and a demon flew from the black portal and slammed into
the edge of the casting circle right in front of them. Blue ripples of energy
expanded from the impact point. Amber squealed as soon as it hit, jumping
back. More demons flew from the rift, some larger, some smaller. Some attacked
the shield, and others flew around within.

Jay looked through the medallion and scanned the hall. "There's one more," he
said, pointing at the end of the hall. "He's just sitting there. I don't-"

Suddenly the demon ripped through the dimensional barrier, moving straight at
Amber. She screamed as the demon smashed her into the casting circle. The blue
shield crackled electrically, and the girl screamed again. Jay yanked out his
blood knife. He struck at the demon, but it dodged, then pulled Amber in front
of it.

It stepped back, and its foot fell on Amber's napkin. The one she had been
drawing on earlier. Suddenly the demon's eyes widened, and its body turned red
as it was sucked into the napkin. Amber collapsed, and Jay grabbed her,
carefully laying her on her stomach. The back of her blouse was completely
burnt away to the skin, which was covered in energy burns. Jay swore
repeatedly. He pulled out a clear vial and spread the substance over her back.

"Wha...?" she mumbled. "Ow!"

"Don't move," Jay said. He rubbed the liquid into her skin. A few minutes
later, most of the pain was gone. "Can you feel it anymore?"

Amber shook her head. "No. Thanks."

Then Jay said, "Your jacket's over there. I'll take care of the demons."

"Okay."

"Listen, Amber," Jay said nervously as they rode home. "I'm really sorry. I
shouldn't have brought you there without knowing..."

"It's not your fault," she said. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

Jay looked at the floor sullenly.

"What happened to the demon?" Amber asked, noticing his discomfort.

"Well, that rune you drew on the napkin did something...to...it..." Jay looked
at her.

"What?" she asked, blushing.

"Hey. You did draw that rune."

"Huh?"

"That means you have some ability!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a natural, that's what I'm talking about!" he said excitedly. "You
just drew that rune without casting a spell or anything and it still affected
the demon! That means you have a natural ability!"

"Don't you do that with runes?"

Jay shook his head. "No. I mean, yes, but I weave them in with spells and use
them in rituals and stuff. But you just drew it without any other motivation,
which means you've got that ability!"

Amber smiled at his eagerness. "But what happened to the demon?"

"Huh? Oh. Jay looked at the napkin she was still holding. "Let me see it."

Jay took it and looked at it through the medallion. He blinked, then started
laughing.

"What is it?"

"The demon possessed this napkin!"

"What?"

"That rune forced the demon to possess this napkin, and now it can't get out!"
he burst into laughter.

Amber soon joined him.

"What are you doing?"

"Sh!"

"What are you doing?" Amber repeated, more quietly.

Jay's apartment was on the top floor of his building, which meant he had
access to a roof. A plastic picnic table with benches had been set out, but
those were the only furnishings. Surrounding Jay's section of the roof was a
high garden wall, with vines and flowers hanging down. And circling the
perimeter was a small garden, with various bushes, flowers, plants, and
decorations. Jay had a small section set aside for himself, and Jeeves tended
to the rest.

Now, Jay was standing on the center of the table, arms outstretched, one leg
behind him. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sniffing the air.

"Are you trying to be an airplane?" Amber asked.

Jay sighed and stood up, then jumped off the table. "No," he huffed. "It's an
ancient centering exercise a Tibetan monk taught me once."

"I'll bet that monk is laughing his head off that you're so gullible,"
muttered Amber as he went inside.

She set Jay's Encyclopedia of Runes on the table and began reading.

A few minutes later, Jeeves came out. "Could you get me a glass of lemonade,
Jeeves?" she called without looking up. A glass clicked on the plastic table
next to her elbow. "Hey, thanks!" she said, taking it. "How'd you know?"

"It is my position to know your needs."

"Right."

Jeeves returned inside, and came back out a half hour later. "Master Jay said
to give you this," said the butler, handing Amber a small envelope.

"What?" Amber took it and looked at the door inside. "Why didn't he give it to
me himself?"

"He seemed to be in quite a hurry, madam."

"Going where?"

"I wouldn't know."

Amber scowled and ripped open the envelope. Her face showed puzzlement, and
then outrage. "T-T-That bastard!" she swore, rampaging into the apartment.

Jay was stepping into the taxi, when someone grabbed his shirt and yanked him
back to the sidewalk. He turned around. "Amber!" he said. "You followed me
here?"

She drew her hand back to strike, and Jay braced himself for a stinging slap.

Her fist took him straight in the nose, and he staggered into a streetlight,
his head bouncing off the metal pole. When he woke up, Amber was dragging him
to his feet. "What's the matter with you?" he mumbled, blood pouring down his
face.

"You asshole! What the hell were you thinking coming here to talk to my
mother?"

"I-"

"I hate my mother!" she screamed in his face. "Why in the fuck would I want
her to take me back!?"

"But-"

"If you didn't want me to stay at your place, you should have said so! This is
the most childish...stupid stunt anyone's ever pulled!"

Jay groaned when she punched him in the stomach. He sank down the pole.

"I'll find some other place to stay," she spat and spun on her heel.

"Amber!" he called. "That's not why I came."

The girl stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I got you your share of the inheritance back."

There's next month's rent, Jay thought as Amber pulled her mouth away from
his. He tried to contain his surprise.

"How did you do it?" Amber asked as she filled up a cup with water.

"It wasn't too hard." He took the cup and swished his mouth out, spitting the
bloody water into the sink.

The nurse returned and put the X-rays up for them to see. "Your nose is
broken, but it won't be hard to set," she said. "The doctor will be in
shortly."

"Well?" Amber asked, swishing her own mouth out to get rid of Jay's bloody
taste.

"I used my demonic influence over her."

"You hypnotized her?"

"No!"

"Darn."

"I threatened to release a demon on her."

"Can you really do that?" she asked.

Jay shrugged. "I guess. I've never tried. Necromancy and demonology aren't
really the best arts to practice."

"Oh."

Jay sighed. "But I do want you to stay."

Amber looked at him.

"I mean, if you want to," Jay said.

Amber smiled. "Of course I do. You've still got a lot to teach me," she poked
his chest.

As the doors swung shut behind them, Jay sighed. "How long do I have to wear
this?" he complained.

"Not that long," Amber said. "Only a few..."

Jay forgot the rest of the world instantly, as emotions suddenly pounded into
his brain like a ton of bricks. He was totally overwhelmed with fear and
apprehension. For the next few moments, the world was a mass of terror, until
he blinked. The next thing he knew, he was huddled in a corner, with Amber
kneeling next to him. "Jay? Jay, are you okay?"

Jay managed to look up. He realized he was trembling. "Huh? Yeah, I'm...
fine." As he stood, he tried to brush off a lingering sense of coldness, as if
something physical remained on his skin.

"What happened?" she said.

"I was about to ask you."

"All the sudden your eyes went wide and you ran out here, like you were
running from something. Then you woke up after a few seconds of cringing down
there like that."

Jay was gaping. Holy shit. What had happened?

"What happened?"

His expression replaced with a smile. "Nothing. I just got a little worried
about the nose thing, that's all."

"No you didn't," Amber said disgustedly. "Don't try to pass that crap off."

"I don't know," he sighed. "But don't worry, I can find out easy enough."

"You'd better."

Melanie leaned against the tree, gasping for air. She lost it. Or it hadn't
followed. God, why was this happening to her? Melanie began sobbing into her
arms as she sat in the fetal position.

They walked past their butler when he opened the door. Amber asked, "So you
think that a demon was attacking you?"

Jay shrugged. "That's the only thing I can think of. Right off hand."

Amber bit her lip. "So did it follow you in here?"

Jay barked out a laugh. "Ain't no way, honey. I don't think anything would be
able to get me in here."

"Oh. So all we have to do now is find out what the demon did to you?"

Jay nodded. "And why."

"Let me get us some dinner," Amber said. She walked to the door of the
kitchen. "Jeeves, what did you make us for dinner? Anything? Okay. That's
good," he heard her say.

When she returned, Jay had pushed the coffee table aside, and the main floor
was cleared.

"What are you doing?" Amber asked. She hopped over the back of the couch and
landed on it in a sitting position.

Jay waved her over to him. "Here. First lesson."

Amber crawled over next to Jay. "What?"

"First lesson is the casting circle. The casting circle is essential to many
spells and rituals. It provides..."

"Quit talking like you're a freaking manual."

"Huh?"

"You're talking like some stupid instruction video."

"Oh. Sorry. The casting circle is used a lot in spells and rituals. You've got
a natural ability, so you probably will use that more than anything else, but
the casting circle is something you have to know."

"Fine, how do you do it?"

"Depends on what spell you're casting. Now, I use about three or four
different power point configurations."

"What?"

"I either quarter the circle, use a pentagram or a nonegram."

"Oh."

"The advantages of each are that..."

Amber looked up when Jay stopped. His eyes were blank, and he was staring off
somewhere in the distance.

"Jay?"

His eyes suddenly widened and he jumped back, stumbling over the step leading
to the front door.

"Jay, what's wrong?" Amber said, panic entering her voice.

Jay scampered backwards until he hit the wall. He pressed against it as hard
as he could staring in horror at something that only he could see.

Melanie backpedaled into the refrigerator and pushed against it as far as she
would go, hoping it would absorb her, maybe even fall on her. She squeezed her
eyes shut as the eerie mist slid across the floor like oil. The grayish mist
crept over the kitchen tiles, and contacted with her bare feet. Melanie's skin
prickled at its touch. The mist crawled over her feet, and climbed her body,
clinging to her skin like water. It progressed up her legs, around and beneath
her pajama bottoms, like demonic tendrils. An unholy chill crept into the
girl's bones with every inch the mist moved, slowly absorbing her body heat.
She trembled violently, her mouth moving silently. The mist crawled up her
legs to her panties, moving beneath them and over them, covering her skin with
a molecule-thin layer of the mist.

Although bodiless, and probably mindless, the mist seemed to enjoy Melanie's
agony, relishing her fear. The mist paused at the waist of her pajamas, then
continued up, soaking lower back and stomach with its freezing touch. It moved
up along her torso, breasts, arms, back, until it reached her neck. It stopped
just before it reached her chin, and allowed her one last whimper of fear
before enveloping her entirely. Melanie held her breath as long as she could,
but she began to grow dizzy, and subconsciously exhaled, then breathed in
again. The girl coughed, or tried to, but none of the mist would come up. The
mist inside her lungs seemed like normal, if a bit cold, air. She breathed
lightly through her nostrils, sensing the evil presence completely around and
within her, against her scalp, beneath her clothes, touching her skin like
water. Melanie's eyes were closed tightly, but she could feel the mist slowly
seeping between her eyelids.

Then it was gone. Almost instantly. It took several seconds for her to realize
that there was warm air again. The refrigerator blowing against the back of
her feet woke the girl up, and she looked around.

She was alone.

The kitchen was empty, and she was alone.

Melanie collapsed to the floor, sobbing with relief.

Jay's vision cleared. He blinked tears from his eyes. What the hell? Jay was
on his knees, bending forward until he was almost touching the floor. Amber
was above him, repeating his name over and over.

Oh shit.

"I'm cold," he said.

Before he even knew she was gone, Amber had returned with a blanket. "What
happened?" she said.

"It happened again," he muttered. "It can't be a demon. There's no possible
way!"

"Jay, listen, we have to figure out what's happening here. Something's..."

"I know that!" he snapped, standing up. He threw the blanket down and stalked
back to the casting circle. "God," muttered Jay. He pushed the hair back from
his face and blew through his lips.

"How?" she asked quietly.

Jay blinked, then looked at Amber.

"What?"

He continued to stare at her thoughtfully.

"What?"

Jay shook his head and looked back at the casting circle. "Okay," he sighed
finally. "The fact of the matter is..." Jay mumbled under his breath. "Well,
it wasn't a demon. I need to find out what is happening."

Amber frowned at him. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

Jay sat down in the chair. "The most obvious thing that would help now is
hypnotism, but you don't know enough...anything about it. Self-hypnotism
is...well, really really hard. I guess the only choice is to go to a
psychologist."

"They know what hypnotism is?"

"I know some that use it a lot. There's one that I've been to before. We can
go see him again. But now its too late. I'll have to wait till tomorrow."

Amber shook her head. "I could try."

"You would know how."

"But-"

"Trust me."

Amber sighed. "So we'll just wait, then?"

"Yeah."

Amber put her shoulder under Jay's left arm when he sagged. "Let me help you
to the kitchen. We should eat dinner."

"Unh. Whatever."

"Good morning, Jason."

"Jay. And this is Amber."

"Good morning." Dr. Foster shook their hands and pointed them towards their
seats. "Now, what was the problem you wanted to talk about?"

Jay sat down and explained what had happened to him the previous evening. "My
reason for coming is that I've seen you once before, and I know you're a
competent hypnotist."

Dr. Foster shifted in his seat. "I don't know if we should start with
hypnotism right away. First we should rule out a few-"

"Doc," Jay said. "We're going to start with hypnotism. I know for a fact that
that's the only way. I have an idea about what the problem is, and hypnotism
is the only easy way to do it. Okay?"

The psychologist pursed his lips then nodded.

"Now, I'll make it easy for you and slip myself into a trance," Jay said.
"I've done this a lot."

Jay sat back in the chair for a few moments with his eyes closed, then he
opened them again. They stared a little blankly off into space.

"Jay?" the doctor asked, pushing his chair in front of Jay's.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm in your office."

Amber was surprised, almost shocked that they had been able to start so soon.
Jay must really be scared of this thing.

"Okay, Jay can you remember yesterday?"

Jay nodded.

"I want you to go back there, search your memory for me, to yesterday night.
You were just leaving the doctor's office at the hospital, and something
happened. Tell us your memory proceeding from the doctor's office."

Jay looked up. "What happened?" he asked.

"You don't remember?"

"No. Should I?"

"I told you to."

Jay frowned. "Well, did you discover the source of the problem?"

The doctor sighed. "It seems you...ah, assumed you were in the body of a young
girl who was being chased by something."

"Well, what was it?"

The doctor checked his watch. "I'm sorry, Jay, but that session took twenty
minutes longer than I thought it would. I have an appointment waiting for me.
The tapes are here, as you requested." He leaned back and popped a cassette
from a recorder. "Here."

Jay took it. Even better, he thought.

They left the psychologist's office and returned back to the apartment. As
soon as they were inside, Jay popped the tape in and began listening.

"Okay, I'm in the hall," Jay was saying about his first experience.

"Then..." Long pause. Jay's voice changed tone and pitch, and he could hear a
note of fear. "I'm in the forest."

"Where in the forest?"

"I don't know. I'm running. There's something behind me." Jay paused and his
voice grew more fearful.

"What is it?"

"I can't see it. I'm not turning my head. I keep running, and running, until I
trip and fall in a ditch..." Jay cried out suddenly, and there was some
scuffling.

Amber was sitting silently in one of the chairs as Jay listened to the tape.
She watched him the whole time.

"Then Amber's standing beside me..." his voice was saying. "And I'm cold. Like
I've been somewhere else. Then... I can't remember what happened. We get up
and go. She's scared, and I'm scared, and I don't know what happened." His
voice had returned to its normal state now.

"Okay, Jay," the doctor said. "I want you to remember that you are only
remembering this, and it is not happening to you. You are completely safe in
my office." The doctor paused and let that sink in. "Now, Jay, I'd like you to
go over what happened when you got home."

"We came in the door. Amber told Jeeves to make us some dinner, and I said
that I would teach her the basics of a casting circle. So I cleared away the
living room floor, and began explaining what it involved."

After a pause, Dr. Foster said, "Then what?"

"I-I'm in a kitchen."

"Whose?"

"I don't know."

"Where are you?"

"In the kitchen. That's all I know. I look down and see something coming from
the other room...it's sliding beneath the kitchen door." Jay's voice changed
again. "It's coming towards me! Not again!"

More scuffling, and there was a thud. Jay could be heard panting.

"What are you doing, Jay?" the doctor asked. He was nervous, Amber could tell.

Jay's voice came from a different place in the room. "I-I'm against the
refrigerator. It's coming towards me like some kind of liquid, rolling across
the floor..."

"What is, Jay?"

"The-the mist is."

"Mist?"

"Yes. It's disgusting, and-oh God!"

"Jay-" Amber's voice interrupted the doctor. Her voice was indistinct, but
when she was finished talking, the doctor started again. "Jay, go back just a
few seconds. Just before you turned your head to the side."

Pause. "Oh God, it's-"

"Jay, stop!" the doctor commanded. "As you turn your head, I want you to tell
me what your vision passes over."

Jay's reply came slowly. "The lower cabinets...the sink...the window..."

"Stop. Look at the window. I want you to tell me if you can see your
reflection."

"Yes."

"What do you look like?"

"I-I'm short, maybe 5 foot. I have blonde-brown hair."

"What color are your eyes?"

"Blue?"

"What is your skin color?"

"White. A little pale." Jay's voice was now speaking in a monotone, somewhere
between his own voice and the girl's.

"Have you seen this girl before?" Amber asked.

"Yes."

There was a slight pause, and the doctor continued. "Where? Take us there,
Jay."

There was some noise, and Jay's normal voice said, "I'm in my old studio."

"When is this Jay?"

"Five months ago."

"Tell us what's happening."

"I'm playing with Ray Stevens-"

"Who's Ray Stevens?"

"My cat."

"Oh. Continue."

"And the door opens. She runs in, and slams the door. She's breathing hard.

"'What's going on?' I say.

"'Please, just let me stay in here a few seconds,' she asks me.

"'Who are you?' I ask.

"'My name is Melanie,' she says."

Jay suddenly jumped up and stopped the tape.

Amber started. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Come on," Jay said. "We have to find her."

"Don't you want to hear what happens?"

"I already know."

Jay pulled the door open and ran out. He ran back in, got his keys, and ran
back out. Amber closed the door behind her and locked it.

"Maybe we should get our own, car," Amber said loudly as they flagged down a
taxi.

"Yeah, but this'll do for now."

"Where are we going?"

"DSS."

"Social Services? Why?"

"Melanie's a foster kid."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me."

The taxi stopped in front and Jay leaped out, leaving Amber to pay. She
followed him in. "Will you slow down?" she complained.

"No. Can't. Must-" Jay stopped abruptly at a building directory. "Jane
Williams. Remember that name."

"Wha-?"

Jay was jogging to the elevators. He pushed the up button and Amber stood next
to him. "Please tell me what you're doing."

"I told you, I'm going to locate Melanie."

"How?"

"They have a record of all the foster kids up there."

"How do you know?"

"First of all, it's a common fact. Second of all, I go up there a lot."

When the doors opened to the eighth floor, they got out. "Now..." he said. He
walked down the hall to a door with a "Restricted Access" sign posted on the
front. When the knob didn't turn, Jay put his hands to the door and began
mumbling under his breath. It clicked a moment later, and Jay grinned at
Amber. "Come on."

Inside was a huge room, cold and uninviting. It held rows and rows of filing
cabinets. "What's this?" Amber asked.

"Records. Here's a computer." He sat down and began typing.

"Why do you come in here instead of somebody's office."

"It's safer in here. Few people ever come in here except in the afternoons to
file new records and add them to the computer."

"Oh. How are you supposed to find her with just the name Melanie?"

"It'll take a while."

"How do you know which one is the same Melanie?"

"I'll know."

Amber sighed and wandered around the room for a few minutes, then sat down. As
she was about to fall asleep, Jay nudged her with his foot. "Let's move," he
said.

"Did you find her?"

Jay nodded. "Let's move."

"Why does it always have to be night when we find the demons?" Amber asked.

"Because that's when they come out," Jay hissed.

"What?" she whispered back.

"Kind of. That's when they have the greatest power."

"Why?"

"It just is. I've thought about it for a long time, and have several theories,
but now's not the time."

"Fine." Amber sat forward and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Wake me when
the demons are here."

Jay grinned wryly. "You'll know."

Amber almost said, "How?" but decided against it.

A few moments later, Jay peeked over the bushes and looked at the house
through the medallion. "Hey," he whispered. "Something's happening."

"What?" Amber said.

"It's hard to..." he paused. "...tell..."

"Can't you cast a spell that will let you see into astral space?"

"Yeah, temporarily."

"Why don't you do that?"

"It's too bright. It shows off like a beacon, and you can't sneak up on the
demons."

"Oh."

"Even so, I'm looking into more than just astral space. This thing lets me see
into several dimensions."

"Oh. Fine."

"All right. Let's move."

Amber glanced at Jay. He looked at her and said, "Let's save that girl."

"Let's save that girl?"

"Yeah. What?"

"It just sounded funny."

"I'm sorry if you feel that way. Now, before we go..." Jay dug out a small
book from his pocket and shined a flashlight onto a marked page. He mumbled in
ancient Arabic for a few moments, and then opened his eyes. "Okay. Let's
move."

Amber followed the demon hunter as he sneaked up to the front door of the dark
house and unlocked it with his spell. "Be careful," he whispered, staying low
to the ground as he slipped in the door. "The demon is in there," he pointed
to the living room. "You stay here."

Jay sneaked into the living room after muttering another spell under his
breath. The living room was dark, but using the medallion he could see the
presence.

Amber watched him from the foyer. She reached into her pocket and drew out a
thin dagger that Jay had given her. He said it would be able to hurt most
demons.

Jay meditated, softly chanting a third spell. As he neared the end, a blue
glow surrounded the presence in his dimension, the true dimension, as he
called it. It was about this time that the demon began to notice something was
amiss. It moved toward Jay, and the demon hunter withdrew a small sphere from
his jacket. Covering the sphere were hundreds of strange letters, runes, and
symbols.

The demon, which had no real form yet, just floated towards Jay, who was
ducking behind the couch. "Eat this, baby," he said, throwing the sphere as
hard as he could into the middle of the demon.

There was a small hiss, and the sphere stopped. The symbols on the sphere
began to glow brightly, and beams of lights lanced out from the ball. Jay
grinned. Then he stopped grinning.

"Jay!" he heard Amber say from the foyer.

Black tendrils of smoke reached out from the ball, and cracks began appearing
on the surface.

"Jay!"

"Oh shit," Jay said. Red veins began pulsing in the demon as it fought to
counteract the sphere's effect.

Jay spun on his heal and ran into the foyer. "Get out!" he cried. "Out out
out!"

Amber scrambled back and yanked open the door.

Then the demon hunter sensed an emotion crushing against the barrier he had
erected earlier. Behind him was the girl.

Jay turned and saw Melanie staring fearfully at the demon. She was in her
pajamas. "Fuck!" He grabbed her waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. The
emotion stopped pressing against his barrier, and he ran out into the yard
after Amber.

There was a sudden flash, and then an increase in pressure. Amber tripped,
sprawling all over the yard. Jay would have fallen on top of her, but the
explosion tossed him over. Both he and Melanie tumbled across the grass. Jay
staggered to his feet, looking back at the house. The entire left side of the
building was gone, and debris was raining out of the sky.

The demon was still there.

It lashed out with energy, a bolt of green power smashing Jay in the chest. He
flew back, landing in the grass with a thud. "Shit," he moaned, propping
himself up on his elbows.

Sirens blared in the distance, and people in the neighborhood began shouting.
Amber's voice rose above this sound, speaking in a language Jay couldn't
recognize. She pointed at the demon with her right arm, her left arm raising
in the air. The girl's voice chanted powerfully, the syllables striking the
air like a sledgehammer.

The demon stopped, its blue radiance faltering.

Amber continued her chant, and she cried out one final word. Energy raced up
her left arm, and a white beam shot out from her right index finger. The beam
traced a single symbol on the demon in lines of white fire.

The demon's blue hue changed to a dark red, and everything flared brightly
before winking out suddenly.

Melanie's vision slowly swam into focus. Her head hurt, and her eyes weren't
working fully, but she could feel that it was gone. The demon wasn't here! It
wasn't inside her any more!

The girl's heart leapt for joy, but she stopped short. Why was it gone? Where
did it go? With a slight hesitation, Melanie threw back the covers and sat up
in the bed. Pain lanced up her spine and pounded against her brain.

"It'd be better if you just stayed in bed today."

Melanie's eyes moved to the left, and she found she was staring at a girl. The
owner of the voice was sitting with her feet up on her chair, elbows on her
knees, hands hanging forward. "What?"

"You're tired and have a concussion. You should stay in bed."

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"I'm Amber, and you're in my...Jay's apartment."

"Who?"

Amber stood up and walked over to Melanie. "Listen, you've had a real hard
day, and you should really get some rest. If you get thirsty or hungry, just
push this button on the intercom."

Melanie nodded mutely and let the older girl push her back into bed.

Amber walked out the door and closed it softly. She sighed and trudged down
the stairs. When she went in their personal library, Jay was eating crackers
over the Necronomicon.

"How long have you been up?" she asked.

"Thirty minutes. What about you?"

"Three hours."

"Why?"

Amber shrugged, plopping down in the seat across from him. "I was looking
around in here earlier, and then went to check on Melanie."

"When was that?"

"An hour ago."

"You stayed in there for an hour?"

"I was thinking."

"Oh." Jay set his peanut-butter cracker aside. "Now, uh, Amber?"

She moved her eyes from the wall to his own eyes.

"The inevitable question has come," he said. "You remember last night? Well,
what the hell happened?"

Amber opened her mouth and shrugged. "I don't know," she finally said.

Jay pushed his lips out with his tongue. "Okay. I guess we could leave it at
that."

"All I know is that a spell from one of your books came to my mind and I cast
it."

Frowning, Jay said, "How did you remember it?"

"I don't know. It was just...there."

"Stuck in your subconscious?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"That's probably it. Your natural ability just recalled it for you."

There were a few moments of silence, then Jay said, "Amber, I need to know
what's going to happen here."

"What do you mean?"

"Here. With us."

Amber scowled, opening her mouth to reply.

"About the demons," he added hastily. "I mean, are we going to continue
fighting them together? If so, I'm going to actively have to train you. On a
regular basis."

Amber nodded. "Yeah. I've been thinking about last night."

"I can understand if you don't want to do it; chasing down demons and
possessed homocidal maniacs isn't everybody's cup of tea."

"Homocidal maniacs?"

Jay searched through the pile of books in front of him and pulled out a
newspaper and pushed it in Amber's face. She took it. On the front page was
the headline, "Fourth Serial Murder Baffles Police."

"Why are you going to chase serial killers? Why don't you leave that to the
cops?"

"Because the newspaper said that the murders seem to be Satanic or occult in
origin."

Amber set the paper down. "I've thought about it, and, yes, I want to stay."

Jay almost hugged her, but he stopped short. "Good! I've been working for a
long time, at last I can have a partner."

Amber smiled. "Well, where do we start?"

"In what?"

"The training."

"Oh, that. We start by going to the library and finding as much as we can
about the murders."

Jay's slitted eyes reminded Amber of a snake. Rain was falling in a steady
drizzle now, creating a halo around the streetlights. He looked through the
bushes at the homeless man. "They make me sick," he spat.

"Homeless?"

"No. The type of demon that inhabits the weak and vulnerable."

"Who says that all homeless people are weak and vulnerable?"

Jay scowled impatiently. "No one. The reason this guy is homeless is because
the demon inhabited him. Now," he pulled out his blood knife. "I want you to
cast Chain of Arafel level 1 on him. Okay?"

Amber nodded and reached back into her mind. It was like clockwork, simple and
easy. Her mind operated almost without her instruction once she had begun. The
ancient Greek words tumbled from her lips in a methodical chant, weaving
together a simplistic spell.

When it was finished, the man across the street suddenly screamed lurching on
the bench where he'd been sleeping. The homeless person struggled against
invisible bonds, uselessly trying to break free.

"Now," Jay said aloud, standing up.

Amber stood up, mustering her courage, and walked to the thrashing man. With
her left hand, she traced a symbol on his forehead. Glowing lines appeared as
her finger touched the dirty forehead. The man's eyes bulged and a deep voice
issued from his lungs, shouting at Amber in another language. She flinched,
but continued. When the symbol was finished, the man thrashed once, and fell
into unconsciousness.

"Okay," Jay grinned. "Let's go celebrate. Your first demon killed."

"Thank you."

The papers hit the table with a slap. They were stolen police reports on the
serial murders that had been taking place recently.

"We can look over all that crap later," Jay yawned. "Right now we should
sleep."

Amber nodded, her eyelids half shut. "Does it always take that long to find a
raving derelict?"

"No, but finding one that's possessed by a demon instead of one that's insane
is hard. We were lucky to find one that was asleep."

"Yeah."

"Holy shit," breathed the acolyte. He froze in place at the horrible scene.

In the center of the sanctuary, Father Brooks was tied down to a pentagram
with a limb at each point. Blood was everywhere, it was impossible to tell the
source. Father Brooks was unconscious, fortunately.

A few feet from the priest was an old man in tattered rags, holding a knife.
The old man was kneeling and had the knife arched up above his head.

As it fell down in a smooth motion, the acolyte screamed. His yell was blasted
away as soon as the knife penetrated the priest's heart. Everything was
blasted away.

A few moments after the main sanctuary had been demolished in the explosion, a
pair of yellow eyes opened. Baal smiled maliciously. "The time has come," his
voice echoed ominously.

Two days later, a 15 year old boy named Peter Web woke in an alley three
blocks from the church. He could only remember his name and his age. Nothing
else would surface. He had amnesia.

Over his torn clothes, he wore a torn and burnt white robe.

Melanie saw two kids about her age sitting in the living room. They were
playing cards. As she approached them, the boy turned to look at her. "You're
awake!" he said.

Melanie nodded.

The girl she had seen earlier scrambled to her feet, "You must be starving,
let me get you something to eat."

Melanie's eyelids were heavy, she had slept for almost 36 hours since the
demon had been killed. She followed Amber into the kitchen, who bawled at
Jeeves to get her some food.

Jay set down the next Tarot card after they had gone. He glanced at it and
frowned. That couldn't be right. Ten of Swords? Jay put out the next card.
Death.

Uh-oh.

The next card was the Devil.

Jay began to sweat.

The final card was the High Priestess.

"Fuck."

"Do you want anything?" Amber called to him.

"N-no!" Jay said, his voice breaking slightly. "I'm fine! Hey listen, I'm
gonna go to the magazine store for a little bit, I'll be back soon!"

Amber yelled her acknowledgment, and Jay scrambled out the door. He sat in the
hallway, panting. The hall outside his apartment was officially the landlord's
property, and any one could go there if they wished, but it only lead to his
apartment, so no one else came. He sat in the short hall, thinking. "Fuck fuck
fuck" could be heard in the enclosed space. Jay tiptoed back into the
apartment and grabbed the thickest volume off his bookshelf.

Jeeves and the girls were talking in the kitchen.

Jay closed the apartment door and sat in the empty hall. He opened the book
and flipped to one of the less-used sections. There it was. It had been a
while since he'd used this spell, and he hoped he'd never have to again. Too
late for that.

Anea looked at the horizon. A bright blue haze had taken place of the dusk
twilight. Glowing energy emanated from Toho like light. She could feel it.
There was something going on there, and she had to find out what it was.

Chani glanced up from the book she was reading. Floating out from downtown
Toho were blue strands of energy, ethereal spider webs floating on the wind.
Thousands of them spread out, growing brighter and stronger, until the girl
had to cover her eyes.

Something was definitely up.

Jay's physical body phased into existence with a shimmer of displaced air and
power. His eyes closed and he fell on his back, asleep.

When he woke, it was dark outside, and the two girls were above him.

"What did you do?" Amber asked.

Jay's eyes closed. He unclenched his fist from around his blood knife.
Probably would have pulled a muscle if he held it any tighter. "I...uh...fell
asleep." Jay would have returned to slumber, but Amber spoke again.

"In the hall? Just like that? With a bloody knife in your hand?" Amber asked.

Melanie was looking at the knife fearfully.

"Yeah," Jay mumbled, feeling sleep come over him again.

Amber grabbed his armpits and hauled him into a sitting position. "Come on,"
she grunted. "What the hell did you do?"

Jay fell against a wall when she let him go. "I..." For some reason, he was
having a difficult time thinking. "Did something."

"Really," she said sarcastically. "What?"

"Wh...who...hum. What's today?"

"Thursday."

"We're...supposed to go get the...deal, from...that..." Jay's head fell to the
side, waking him up more. "Person you know..."

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked.

Jay tried to shrug, but fell asleep.

Amber rolled her eyes and pulled out a small book from her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Melanie asked.

"I'm going to try something. I haven't had much of a chance to use my powers
yet."

Amber looked in the book and traced a symbol in the air. When she finished the
invisible rune, it glowed, and Amber pushed it forward until it went inside
Jay's forehead.

"Jay?" she asked a few seconds later.

"Yeah?" Jay's response was louder than before. He was asleep, it seemed, but
his mouth was not.

"Are you awake?"

"Sure, I guess. What'd you do?"

"I...don't know. I thought this'd wake you up."

"Hm. Well, I've just discovered that I'm asleep. You obviously didn't wake me
up correctly."

"Hey, I tried. Anyway, what did you do?"

Jay shrugged, his eyes still closed. "I...cast a spell."

"And it did what?"

"It let me...well...I was investigating something that the Tarot cards told
me."

"And that was...?"

"Something's here."

"Where?" Melanie interjected nervously.

"Here. In the city. Something that wasn't here before."

"A demon?" Amber asked.

"Yeah. A demon. I checked it out today."

"What's so different about this one?"

"It's the most powerful I've ever detected. This thing is like...it's
like...Satan is loose on Earth."

Amber's heart stopped. "What?"

"That's the magnitude of this demon. If I didn't know any better, then I would
say that Satan's arrived."

Melanie shrank back behind Amber, but she didn't notice. "Can we beat it?"

"Yeah, we just have to wait. I want to find out where he is, first. I want to
find out as much as I can."

Amber sighed and sat back on her heels. "Oh shit."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Jay said. "So what've you guys been up to?"

"Not much. I thought you wanted to sleep."

"I am, remember?" Jay cocked an eyebrow. "If you'll notice, my breathing is
still heavy, and I'm not moving."

"Then how are you talking to us?"

Jay's shoulders moved up slightly. "Beats me. I just know I'm definitely
asleep. Wake me up tomorrow morning."

"Don't you want to get to a bed or something?"

"Naw. Besides, who's gonna carry me? You?"

The next several weeks constituted intense training. Since the apartment was
virtually isolated from the outside world (private phone line and listing,
soundproof everything, no salesman, no neighbors), Jay turned the one unused
room into the Arcanis, as he called it. It was the laboratory where all the
spells, runes, and magics were tested.

As Jay had suspected, Melanie had psychic powers and empathy. Jay began
training her to read thoughts, project thoughts, and do many other things.
Amber's ability with runes and spells was increasing; she could cast over a
hundred spells just by thinking it.

Jeeves seemed to completely ignore the strange occupation of his young
masters. He treated them all completely normally, thus no one gave him a
second thought.

"There are ten Runes of Arial," Jay said, sketching the symbols on the
chalkboard. "Each one has a specific power, except the master rune, which is
used to control the-"

"Jay?"

"...which is used to control the other runes," he continued, sketching a
diagram out.

"Jay?" Melanie said.

"Yeah?" he stopped and leaned against the table, breathing hard.

"I think we've all had a hard day," she said. "Why don't we give it a rest?"

Jay looked at Amber, who had dark circles under her eyes.

"You don't look so hot yourself," Melanie said.

"Good! Good work," he said. "You're learning faster than I thought."

"You're simple to read," she shrugged.

Amber stretched and got off the stool. "Let's go out to eat somewhere."

"Good idea," Jay said. He punched a button on the intercom system.

"Jeeves," he said in a deep voice. "This is your master, Jay."

"Yes sir," said the butler in the typical butler voice.

"I command you not to make us dinner. We are going out to eat."

"Yes sir," Jeeves replied.

"Come on," Amber growled, dragging him away from the intercom.

"But it's so fun!"

Jay pulled on a black vest as they waited for the elevator to arrive. Seconds
later, the bell dinged, and the doors slid open.

As they were about to enter, Jay stopped. Two girls were standing in the
elevator, looking at him. "Jay?" said the smaller one.

"Yeah?" he said slowly.

"My name is Chani, and this is Anea. We're here to help."

Amber had stopped halfway through pulling her jacket on, and was staring. She
shrugged into it and sat back, waiting for Jay's response.

Gaping, Jay stammered, "H-Help for what?"

Anea smiled softly. "The demon, of course."

Jay's lips moved through several positions as he thought about this. As he did
this, he noticed a symbol on their foreheads. It looked like an angular metal
dagger or cross. "What's that?" he asked.

"What?" Anea said, touching her forehead.

"That. On your face."

Anea rubbed her fingers over the spot where he pointed. "Oh!" she said,
realizing. "I get it. I don't know. Neither of us does. We're here to help."

"I know that, but why?"

"Because you'll need all the help you can get."

"Oh. Okay. How did you find me?"

"Your search spell. We could see it from miles away."

"Just you? Nobody else?"

"Just us," Chani said.

Jay looked at the Amber and Melanie, who gave a slight shrug. Amber traced a
symbol in the air in front of her, which dissolved a few seconds later. She
smiled sweetly as everyone else looked at her.

The original demon hunter scowled, digging around in his back pocket. He
withdrew the eye medallion and peered down at the symbol, which rested a few
phases away. It was a truth symbol, something she was quite fond of using on
him when he wasn't looking.

Chani and Anea appeared not even to notice. "So?" Chani said after a few
moments. "What do you say?"

"I...uh...guess you can help us. I don't see why not."

Anea dug her toe into the elevator floor. "We, uh..."

"Where were you guys going?" Chani said as the elevator doors began to close.
Her hand pushed against the pressure plate, holding it open.

"Out to eat," Amber said. "Want to come?"

"Yes!" Anea exclaimed. "I'm starved!" She covered her mouth, as if she'd said
too much.

Chani shot her a puzzled expression. "If it's not too much trouble," she
added.

"It'll be a little, but we'll bear it," Jay replied, then bared his teeth at
Amber.

"Good, let's go," Anea said, then covered her mouth again, blushing.

They stepped into the elevator, but before they did, Jay counteracted Amber's
symbol with a quick spell of his own. She fought back with another, and he
countered that. The small battle went back and forth several more times within
the span of a second, both angling for control of the Truth Rune until Jay
slipped in a small attack that rendered it ineffective.

"Page 347 of the fifth volume of The Druidic Containment," he said smugly.

Amber growled at him and they all stepped into the elevator.

Melanie entered last, quiet in the presence of the visitors. Over the past
week, she had opened like a flower, but was still quiet. Jay could tell she
was hiding something back. What, he didn't know. Probably secrets of the
demon. It would haunt her for life, he knew. If she chose to tell him, she
would.

Melanie was special. Her powers and abilities grew amazingly quickly, and
would grow more. She was already able to pick up random thoughts from
strangers, and project emotions (quite well) and limited thoughts to others.

Jay still wondered as to why her subconscious had reached out to him. If
anybody, they should have found another natural. Somebody who actually made an
impression in the psychic universe. Amber was natural. Chani and Anea were
probably natural as well.

Who were they, any way?

"I didn't talk about it, because I didn't want to dump my problems on you,"
Melanie said quietly.

"Huh?" Jay sat up. He was laying down on the couch, petting Ray Stevens. Amber
was helping the two new girls unpack in their new room (of course, they had to
stay in the apartment; everyone did).

Melanie was sitting on her feet in the middle of the couch, a few inches from
his own feet.

"What?" he said.

"Before we went out to eat," she said. "You were wondering why I didn't talk
to you guys about my past. I didn't want to dump my problems on you."

"You don't have to worry about that," Jay said.

"I know, now." Melanie sighed, laying with her head at the other end of the
couch, her legs extended towards him. Ray Stevens jumped off Jay and curled up
in the middle of the couch, between Jay's and Melanie's feet.

"I was born in Arkansas, USA," Melanie said, looking at the ceiling. "My
family was poor, I think. When I was two years old, they were killed in a car
crash. I moved in with my aunt up north of Toho. She was nice, but didn't know
very much about kids. I never grew to love her very much, so when she
committed suicide, I didn't mind, except for that I'd be living in foster
homes from then on. Since then, (I was ten) I've been moving from house to
house, until I ended up at the Harper's. They were okay, and would probably
have kept me for a while.

"Then, the demon came. This was a few weeks ago, and I was in my bed, when it
came. The thing rose up from the foot of my bed and jumped on me." Melanie's
voice was emotionless, as if she were talking about the weather. "The last
thing I remember from that night was its hands on my arms. When I woke the
next morning, it had gone, but I was very sleepy, as if I hadn't slept at all
that night. I was quick to dismiss the incident as a nightmare, but...well,
that was a lie. A few days later, it happened again, but the demon was in a
different form."

"How do you know it was the same one?"

"I know. I knew. This time, it just toyed with me before grabbing me. I tried
to run and it caught me. I have no memory of that, either. Of course, the next
time it came, I was in the woods, taking a walk. It chased me, but
I...somehow...got away." Melanie sounded skeptical of that part, as if it
shouldn't have happened, even though it already had. "This is when you were at
the hospital.

"Finally, the demon caught me in the kitchen, in the form of that fog. You
remember it as well as me, I'm sure."

Jay nodded. After hearing the tape, he had used it to help restore his memory.
He almost wished he hadn't.

"So the day after that, I was coming down the stairs, for a snack. I couldn't
help it. I mean, the hunger in my stomach kept growing and growing until I was
literally starving. The only way I convinced myself to go down was by saying
that if the demon wanted me, he could get me whenever and wherever he wanted.
So that's when you were there."

Jay nodded, remembering her horrified face and the demon's evil glow.

"And I don't know why I chose you. You...could save me. I know that now, and
somehow think I did then, but..." Melanie shrugged, rubbing the cat with her
toe. "I don't know. You were the only one for m...you were the only one that
could do anything."

Jay didn't notice her mistake. "Yeah," he mumbled, sighing.

Melanie sighed slightly. She was appalled at how close she'd come to saying,
"You were the only one for me." That would have been bad. Terrible.

Jay yawned. "Listen, I think I'm gonna turn in, now. I'm getting pretty
sleepy."

Melanie smiled at him and waved. He trudged up the stairs to his room, and
Melanie sighed. She hoped that his feelings for Amber was just a silly and
short crush. She knew her own feelings ran much deeper than that.

Melanie screamed.

The rest of the group stopped walking and ran back to her. "What is it?" Chani
asked needlessly. A few yards in the underground parking lot was a tall man in
a trenchcoat, choking the life from a car passenger. The driver was already
dead, and the car was sitting in idle.

As soon as she screamed, the man turned towards them revealing boiling red
eyes. "You," said a deep gravelly voice. "I have found you at last." The
man/thing ran at the group. He was so fast, almost no one could react in time.

Jay's blood knife came free, and he slashed at the demon. It sidestepped in
its attack, and the knife slit open the demon's trenchcoat.

The demon's arms lashed out, catching Melanie, Chani, and Amber in its strike.
Jay lunged again, but the demon was quicker. It caught Jay's wrist and twisted
sharply. Jay screamed as his arm was broken in two places. He dropped to his
knees, the arm still held up by the demon.

"Leave here," said Anea. She held up a cross in her right hand, and a small
leather-bound book in her left.

The demon's eyes flared, and the girl shouted at it in Hebrew, one of the few
languages Jay was unfamiliar with. The demon jumped at her, but Anea stood her
ground, and the demon hit an invisible barrier in front of her. It roared
defiance, and she shouted at it again.

With a howl of frustration, the demon bounded off into the city.

"God damn it!" Jay swore, staggering to his feet.

"Stop moving," Anea said. She place her hand on his arm, pulled it straight
suddenly, and Jay's face contorted, expecting pain. There was none.

"Huh?" he said.

The other girls were standing up now. Anea turned his arm over again, and ran
her hand over the skin again. "There," she said, finishing a silent chant.

"Why!" Jay exclaimed, working his arm. "I feel free of pain, and...oddly
refreshed!" His face was masked in mock-joy. "It's like nothing I've ever
experienced! And with a starting price of just 19.95, anybody can afford..."

"Shut up," groaned Amber, clutching her head. "I've got a headache now."

"Sorry."

"Now," said Chani irritably. "Any one mind telling me who and what that was
all about?"

"That," Amber said as if she were explaining to a child, "was a demon. They
run rampant in this city, and are incredibly evil. Demons are our bane. They
are the reason that-"

"I know," scowled Chani. "I mean, which demon? Why was he attacking those
people?"

"Which people?" Anea said.

"Those," Melanie pointed. The car was gone. The people were gone. "They must
be gone," she said uncertainly. "I'm..." she trailed into silence.

Jay let out a string of cuss words.

"What's your problem?" Amber asked, still touching her head.

"The demon got away. We have to kill it. He's powerful. Really powerful."

"Is he the demon that you detected?" Melanie asked.

"No," Chani answered. "He's different. Either a servant of the one we
detected, or just really powerful."

Jay nodded, his face betraying slight annoyance. "She's right. We should go
back to Arcanis and find out what exactly is happening in this town."

Amber rolled her eyes at the word 'Arcanis.'

Melanie was the only one Jay allowed in Arcanis. He said that the others would
just get in the way.

"What can I do?" Melanie asked, a little nervous.

"Don't be nervous," Jay said, grabbing several articles from the shelf. "This
spell is quite simple. All I need is your powers."

"Okay." She relaxed, sensing that he was telling the truth.

Jay quickly sketched three casting circles with a charcoal stick. "All right,
I need you to stand in that one, and I'll stand in here."

"What do I do?"

"Nothing, I'll do it."

Melanie looked puzzled, but she agreed.

They stood inside the circles for a few moments as Jay chanted some ancient
Greek he had written on the chalkboard earlier. As he reached certain points
in the incantation, the casting circles would shift energy patterns or flare
brightly. When he finished, Jay began intoning another incantation.

Melanie was still puzzled, but a sudden wave of dizziness dispelled those
thoughts. She blinked, and realized that the third casting circle was glowing
brightly. Smoke swirled within the charcoal perimeter, and solidified into an
unstable figure.

Jay spoke in Greek again, and an echoing version of his own voice replied back
from the figure. This went on for several minutes, until the smoky figure
dissolved, and Jay broke down the casting circles.

"Okay," he sighed. "I couldn't find very much."

"What was that? It sounded like you were talking to yourself."

"Yeah. That's the voice it uses. The caster's voice, I mean."

"Oh. What did you find out?" Melanie asked, perching on the edge of a table.

Jay shrugged. "It's not as bad as I thought. The demon we met is pretty
powerful, and the other, un-named demon is more so. He accidentally escaped
from Hell, and all we have to do is put him back."

"It'd be better if you were more honest."

"What do you mean?"

Melanie sighed. "Who ever this demon is, he got someone here to resurrect him.
The demon is a shitload more powerful than that. I believe your exact thoughts
were, 'This is one step below the four horsemen.'"

Jay gaped, then swallowed. He had avoided shielding his thoughts from Melanie,
since hearing anybody's thoughts would only help her, but now he seriously
considered it. "Uh, that's about it, yeah."

Melanie rested her elbows on her knees and let out a shaky sigh. "What's
happening to this world?" she asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jay said fiercely. "I've been battling demons for
six years; I'm not gonna let another one destroy this world if I can help it."

Melanie nodded. "I know. But you just hope we're enough."

"With the help of Chani and Anea, we can defeat them," Jay said.

"Be honest. Don't show emotions you don't feel."

"It's psychologically beneficial if you let yourself hope."

Melanie shrugged. "Whatever," she said. "Do you know where the demon's
located?"

Jay nodded. "Let's get the others in here."

When the others were seated around the lab, Jay scrawled a diagram on the
chalk board. It consisted of three separate layers, one labeled Earth, the
other Hell, and the third, Heaven. "Now," he said. "Let's look at this, okay?
This is a theoretical diagram of Earth, Heaven, and Hell. There's speculation
that goes further than this, of course. Einstein said that there were ten
dimensions. I, along with a few others, believe that each of these layers
consists of three dimensions, which makes nine. The tenth dimension is time.
It has a blanketing effect, I think. Most of this is pure..." he made a
struggling gesture with his hands. "I don't know. None of this may be true.

"Anyhow, there's another theory that states that the binding force of the
universe is our life energy. That is, humans have this...field of energy that
extends out from their body, and these fields of energy make up the universe.
When a person dies, the universe weakens. Ever so slightly, but it is
weakened. Every species has found ways of weakening the barriers between the
universe by killing people in special ways, but the only people actively doing
this are demons. What has happened with the presence I detected was that he
managed to get an underling demon to sacrifice enough people to allow this
demon here, on Earth."

"Wait, you mean to say that it exists on Earth...in a body?"

"Yeah. Physically. This demon, whoever he is, exists-"

"Baal."

"What?" Jay turned to Anea.

"His name is Baal."

Jay gaped. He swallowed nervously. "Are you sure?"

The girl nodded.

"How do you know?" Amber asked.

"Revelation."

"The book in the Bible?" said Chani.

"No. I just had a revelation."

Amber looked skeptical.

"She did," Melanie said. "It's a real revelation. I know."

The room was silent for a few moments, and Jay said, "Okay. His name is Baal.
Now, Baal isn't limited by the Earth. He retains his powers and abilities
after crossing the barrier, since he crossed in his whole and natural form.
That means... we're in some trouble. Not too bad; we can handle it."

"What about that guy we saw today?" Chani asked.

"Malignus," Anea answered.

"Huh?" Amber asked.

"That's his name. Malignus."

"How come you know all this?" Amber asked.

"I picked it up from him when he attacked us."

There was another silence, and Jay continued. "So anyway, we have to formulate
a plan of attack. I don't want to wait and find out what Baal is planning on
doing here. We have to strike him first."

"How?"

"Find out where he lives, and hit him there."

"When?" Chani asked.

"As soon as possible. His powers are weaker now, since he's just arrived. He
hasn't had much of a chance to accustom himself to Earth's dimension. So I
want to hit him within a week."

"Where's he live?" Amber asked.

"In the Manner District," Jay said.

"With all the rich people?"

"He's made himself rich, probably by inhabiting the body of one of the
millionaires up there. I'd bet he's gonna wait until his powers are at their
peak before striking."

"I doubt it," Chani said skeptically. "That would leave him open to attack."

"Who said he was defenseless? I'll bet he has demons covering the mansion
where he lives."

"And we're supposed to go in there to get to him?"

Jay sighed. "Unless somebody else can think of another way. We'd have to fight
our way in and then kill him."

"I don't think so," grinned Chani.

"Why?"

"I've got an idea."

Silence.

"Tell us," Jay said. "We're not going to fade to black and leave ourselves in
anticipation."

"Huh?"

"Forget it, just tell us."

"Well, my dad used to be a Navy Seal, so I know some tricks."

"Sneaking in is not an option," Jay said. "They can detect us easily."

"I never said that."

"Okay fine, so tell us."

After they had heard and accepted Chani's idea, the girls filtered out to the
living room to catch the end of Letterman. Melanie stayed behind. "Jay?"

His face was buried in his hands, and he was sitting on a stool, thinking.

"Hm?" he said, taking his hands from his face.

"Why did you get so afraid of Baal?"

"He was the ancient god of the-"

"Hey Jay!" Chani called. "What channel is Letterman on?"

"89," he shouted back. "Baal was an ancient god, and was worshipped by an
entire civilization. I don't exactly relish the thought of having to kill
him."

Melanie looked at the floor. "I see."

A few hours later, Jay shut off the light to Arcanis, and closed the door.
Amber was still up watching TV. He sat next to her.

"Old habits die hard," she said.

Jay nodded.

"You tired?"

Jay nodded again.

"You really should stop overworking yourself. You won't be any good to us if
you fall asleep in the middle of a fight."

"I'll take some speed."

"Are you serious?"

Jay nodded. "Why not? I could get some if I needed it."

Amber shrugged. "I guess."

There was a short silence, and Amber said, "You have any tattoos?"

"No. Why?"

"You want one?"

Jay looked at her. "You draw tattoos?"

Amber grinned. "How hard can it be?"

Jay looked around nervously and smiled. "I think I'll pass this time. Thanks
though."

"If I ever do become a tattoo artist, I'd need a practice subject."

"Thanks." Jay laid on the couch, face pushed into the cushions. As he was
about to fall asleep, he felt Amber's hands touching his back. "What?" he
asked in a muffled voice.

"Nothing," she said. "Just lay still."

Jay complied, intending to go to sleep. Amber's hands moved to his shoulders.
She began kneading his tense muscles with her delicate hands, squeezing and
massaging his back.

Jay's eyes opened halfway, and his face relaxed in bliss. God it felt good.
Her hands worked his muscles like a professional, releasing the tension and
removing any kinks. "How much you do this?" he asked drowsily.

"Once or twice," Amber answered softly.

"It's...good." Jay answered. His voice was heavy, and he was very sleepy.
Maybe he'd been wrong earlier. Heaven wasn't so far away, was it?

By the time Amber's hands had worked their way to the small of Jay's back, his
muscles were completely loose. When she stopped, Jay's sleep fell away. "Wow,"
he mumbled. "You're good."

"Thanks," Amber said. Her voice had a strange quality to it.

Jay blinked. "I'd better go to bed," he grunted sleepily, sitting up.
"Tomorrow we have to..." Jay stopped when he saw Amber.

Jay was caught in the sudden beauty of the girl sitting next to him. The lamp
in the corner gently illuminated half of her face. Her hair was slightly
unkempt, and her skin seemed softer now.

Jay's breath slowly released. "I have to..." he breathed. "...go."

Amber's eyes were locked on his, and they couldn't seem to look away from each
other. "Jay...?" she asked quietly, almost pleadingly. Her eyes asked what was
happening.

They were drawn together slowly, but like magnets. Apprehension drained away
when their lips touched. They kissed.

Amber's mouth was hot against Jay's, and he moaned slightly. She was so good.
Their tongues twined together, exploring each other's mouths. Passion
increased, and Jay soon found himself on top of her, his hands wrapped around
her back. Amber's wrists were touching behind his back, and she whimpered into
his mouth.

"Jesus..." she mumbled.

It was as if they were no longer in control of their own bodies. A powerful
force seemed to drive them together; two unwitting participants in the cycle
of life. Jay didn't feel desire for Amber, she was his desire. She was for
him. As he continued to kiss her, moving down her chin and neck, the passion
blazed between them. He was no longer in control.

For Amber, all she could feel and understand was her hunger for Jay. To taste
him, to be with him, in him, part of him. That was all she could be. Her mind
was consumed with the primal lust, and she didn't resist when she felt Jay's
hot fingers push under her nightshirt. His hot hand moved to her breast, and
she moaned aloud when his fingers brushed her hard nipple. "Oh God..." she
breathed.

Jay's mouth moved from Amber's mouth to her collar bone. Then he moved down to
her legs. The couch was incredibly long, so he had plenty of room.

Amber groaned again. Her breath was coming in short gasps. A small part of her
mind wondered what had possessed her, but the pleasure was too great. She had
one hand wrapped up in his hair, and the other was clutching the couch. Her
legs were opened wide; one was bent and pushed against the back of the couch,
while the other was straight.

Jay's mouth was moving up the inside of that leg, trailing fire from her knee
towards her groin. He could smell Amber's female juice, and that just pushed
him forward faster. His mouth pushed up between her open legs, and his nose
touched her wet panties, rubbing against her slit. Amber trembled, and Jay
yanked on the panties. The bottom tore in half, exposing her female flesh. Jay
had no experience with sex, so he pushed his face forward, and pushed his
tongue deep inside.

That thrust Amber over the edge, screaming as her shattering orgasm slammed
into her. Her back arched and she thrashed in ecstasy as Jay's tongue
continued working her cunt. The pleasure demolished any sense of being she had
at that moment. Her mind was overwhelmed with the experience, and she fell
into an abyss of pleasure.

As Amber spasmed around his tongue, Jay felt the orgasmic energy flowing from
her. He continued to push his tongue in and out, until she stopped moving.

When Jay sat back on his heels, he realized that the animal passion was gone.
He felt the blatant lust for her, but the possessive desire was gone. It had
left Amber as well.

She blinked, slowing her breathing and scooted back against the arm of the
couch. "Wh-What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jay said. "I..." he tore his eyes from between her legs and
looked at her. "I'd better get to bed," he said thickly.

Amber swallowed and watched him go.

Jay walked up the stairs, thoroughly confused and tired. The door to his room
was open, and he left it that way. Jay fell asleep as soon as he hit the
mattress.

"Holy shit!!"

Jay looked up at John. "What?" he said.

"Fuck! Where the hell did you get this?"

Chani raised her hand slightly, smiling.

"And where did you get it?"

"I have a few friends that owe me favors."

"A few favors? A few favors? Don't you mean a few million favors? Shit! I
could blow up the Empire State Building with all this! Jesus!" John sighed.
"Ma'am I want to shake your hand," he said, extending it to Chani. She smiled
and shook it.

"Well tell us what it is!" Jay scowled.

John closed his eyes and breathed in and out a few times. "All right. This wad
of stuff here? That's C-4. It's an incredibly powerful explosive. A pound of
this could blow up a building. These are the detonators that you could use.
This is a grenade launcher, these are the grenades."

Jay picked up the C-4 paste. "How much do you think this is?"

"A fucking helluvalot, that's how much. Jesus, that much C-4 is more powerful
than-"

"Okay, okay," said Jay. "So you think we could just attach this to the bottom
of a car that's going in there and detonate it when it gets there?"

John shrugged. "Depends on how big the mansion is. C-4 is really powerful, but
if you have it all stacked together, it's blast radius isn't that big."

"How big?"

"I don't know exactly, I've never used it before. You use C-4 in small
amounts, like rubbing smidges of it here and there, then detonate it. If you
had enough time on your hands, you could just rub it all over the mansion. The
dust would settle in Europe, if you did that."

"Okay," Jay said. "We can't do that, then. We're aiming to hit a certain guy."

"The demon guy."

"Yeah. I want to get him and as many of his demon followers as possible."

"Cool," John said. "To do this, I'd...you said the demon was in human form,
right? Okay, cool. I'd plant a detonator under each of the gates, and just
start firing off grenades into the mansion. Pretty soon, people are going to
start to die, and those that don't are going to come out. You can hit them
when they go to the gates. I have some guns to whack the individuals if you
want."

Jay looked at Chani, who nodded.

"Cool," John said. "Let's get it on."

Jay wrapped up the explosives and weapons, and walked out into the alley with
Chani.

"Where'd you meet him?" Chani asked.

"I saved a him from a demon."

"What was his profession?"

Jay shrugged. "Beats me. I think he's an ex-marine or something. They booted
him out because one of his eyes doesn't work well."

"Oh."

"So just how did you get all this?"

Chani grinned. "That's a secret. If I told you, I'd have to-"

Jay stopped in his tracks, staring down the sidewalk.

Chani looked, and saw Malignus standing by the bus stop. "Hello," said the
grating voice. Jay tossed the bag away and shoved Chani aside, yanking out his
blood knife. As he had expected, the demon flashed forward, its eyes burning
red.

Jay tossed a runestone in front of him, yelling out the activation word. The
rune exploded in a cloud of white dust. Malignus ignored it and lashed out a
claw at Jay, who mentally activated a shield, through the blood knife. Bright
runes shone along the blade, straining to keep away the evil creature.

Malignus leapt back and clasped his hands together. He began chanting in a
language Jay didn't know. Jay dropped another runestone in front of him. The
stone hovered an inch above the sidewalk and revolved around him in a circle.
When the stone stopped at its original position, a blue dome surrounded Jay.

Jay chanted in Gaelic, but broke off with a yell as red energy fired into his
shoulder, shattering his shield. Jay dropped to the ground, clutching his
burnt left arm. Malignus stalked forward, conveniently ignoring Chani, who was
standing up now. "Hey shithead!" she shouted at it. "Look at me!"

Malignus stopped, turning his fiery eyes on the young girl. "Your time has
ended here, Malignus," Chani said ominously. A white glow shone on her
features, and a small gust of wind blew up from her feet. Chani's short hair
and skirt lifted as the energy drew up, altering the physics around her.

The demon laughed. "Pathetic creature," he said, raising an arm. Jay's blood
knife flashed out from his fist and stuck below the demon's right arm.
Malignus roared, yanking the knife out and spinning on Jay.

"You die!" Chani screamed. Her hands were folded together, her index fingers
pressed together and extending out. She threw her arms forward and a beam of
light lanced out, cutting through Malignus's shoulders. The demon screamed and
leaped up, throwing down a hail of fireballs. Chani leaped up after it,
avoiding the fire by inches.

She swung her arm out again, and another beam of light shot out, exploding the
demon's chest. It fell to the ground, bleeding from several different places.
Chani landed next to Jay and clapped both her hands together sharply. Another
beam of light speared Malignus, this time in the head.

The demon toppled to the ground, black blood pouring into the street.

"I coulda handled him," Jay coughed.

The next two days were spent training intensely, and the following day was
spent in Toho central park, relaxing. It was the day after that when they were
gathered in John's van, preparing to strike.

"You know how to shoot that thing, right?" Jay asked John for the tenth time.

"Of course, buddy. Don't worry about a thing." The big man hoisted the grenade
launcher up and grinned. "What're all these you wrote on the grenades?"

"Ah...runes. Precautions."

John shrugged. "Whatever. Let's get moving."

Jay nodded. "Now everybody," he said, "I want you to be careful."

"What about the cops?" Anea asked. "How long will it take them to arrive?"

"I've taken care of it," said John. "The police comm is jammed for a two mile
radius, and the phone lines are down for the surrounding few mansions."

"Won't somebody else notice?" Melanie asked.

"Girl, these mansions are huge. The land around them is even bigger. You could
do anything you wanted in there and nobody would notice."

"That's for sure," Amber said.

Jay looked at everyone. He and Amber had painted several runes, spells, and
symbols on their faces and arms as protection. Jay had showed them how to use
one of the symbols to create a huge spire of light if they found Baal.

Jay couldn't help but think it would be the last time he saw any of them. And
he hadn't even known them two months ago! God. They were such good friends
already. "Okay," he said, keeping his emotions to himself. "Let's go."

They all hugged each other and walked from the van to their respective posts
around the neighborhood. Jay turned to John when the girls had left. "Set your
watch for fifteen minutes. When that beeps, start unloading the rockets into
the mansion."

"Grenades."

"Whatever they are. If you need to start shooting before that, I'll page you."
Jay gave John his pager and flipped his cel phone on. "Advantages of being
rich."

"Let's get this on, little buddy," John said, gripping his shoulder.

Jay nodded and hopped from the back of the van. As he turned towards the
mansion, he saw Melanie standing in the morning twilight. "Melanie, what are
you-" he broke off when she pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him fiercely.

"Don't die," she choked. With a sob, Melanie turned and ran off to her post.

Jay's mouth hung open for a few moments, and he closed it when John began
setting up his equipment on top of the van.

With grim determination, Jay turned and sprinted to the mansion. The plan had
altered slightly, but he would be in the most danger, so he didn't care. His
presence would be masked from the demons, unless they came within a few feet
of him. And he'd have to stay out of sight, of course.

The large brick wall stood several feet higher than Jay, but he jumped up and
grabbed on with his hands, pulling himself over. Grunting, Jay landed on his
feet just inside the wall. He pulled out the eye medallion and swept the area.
Nothing. Jay cast a quick spell, looking for anything with a heat signature.
Nothing alive.

Crawling through the bushes until he reached the edge of the main garden, Jay
crouched low, then darted to the edge of the house. At the main door, he
placed a C-4 detonator, then crouched against the house. On the other side of
the house, he put another detonator against the brick wall, then ran back to
the bushes. He checked his watch. Four minutes to go.

According to the plan, Jay was supposed to go back to the main entrance with
Amber, but he didn't. Amber could handle anything that came out of the front
entrance. Baal would not leave through the front. He probably wouldn't leave
at all.

Four minutes later, a grenade exploded inside the house. Since John shot it
from the other side, Jay didn't see the whole blast, but it was enough to wake
up the dead. Jay waited until the second grenade hit before detonating both of
the C-4 explosives.

Although both Chani and John had told him the power of the C-4, nothing
prepared him for the blast. His eyes were open, looking straight at the blast,
and that was the greatest mistake. The noise deafened him, slamming into him
like a wall, but it didn't do as much damage as the flash. The bright flames
blinded the center of Jay's vision, and he couldn't see anything.

"Shit!" Jay swore. "Shit shit shit!!"

He closed his eyes tight and swore. This was the worst possible time for
anything like this to happen. How could he fight the demons this way?

A few pieces of debris rained down on him, and Jay looked up. He still
couldn't see past the afterimage. Fuck. Jay closed his eyes and reached out
with his mind, sensing for the demons. There they were. They were moving
faster than bees in a hive.

Another explosion signaled John's continual attack on the mansion. A few of
the demons died, but most of them were spreading out to find the attackers.
Baal was not moving. Jay nodded silently. That was good. He could wait until
his vision returned, and then hit the demon.

Jay's second mistake was leaving his mental vision open for too long. Baal
spotted him and decided to move. The powerful demon walked casually towards
Jay, and Jay swore. Baal was still inside the mansion, but he'd be out in a
minute. What if his vision didn't return?

He opened his eyes again. Nope. It didn't seem to be getting any better,
either. Shit shit shit.

Jay pulled out his blood knife and prepared for battle. To the east was a
fountain, he remembered. There was open grass around that. Using his memory
and some mental imaging, Jay stumbled to a spot there and fumbled out one of
his vials. He poured it in a circle around him and began scrawling runes onto
the ground with a charcoal stick. Baal walked out of the hole Jay had made
with the C-4. The demon was closing.

Fortunately, Jay had worked this circle so much, he had it memorized, and
could do it without even seeing anything. When Jay had finished the runes, he
set out nine runestones on the circle, then five in a circle around that, four
in a circle around that, three around that, and finally he leaned out farther
to draw an unpointed circle with the charcoal. When he sat back, Jay quickly
intoned the casting circles, starting with the farthest in. He had four
barriers of protection around him. They had to hold. Most casting circles were
impossible to penetrate. Four should be even more so.

Then Jay looked out again with his mind, and his breath caught. Baal was
within ten feet of him. Jay couldn't sense Baal's exact position, his shields
interfered too much, but he knew the demon was there.

"So good to see you, Jay," said a smooth voice. The voice was repulsive in its
subtle evil. "It's about time that we saw each other, don't you think?"

Jay swallowed. This demon had a sense of humor. He hated that.

"Oh, that's right, you can't see, can you? Silly me," the voice was changing
positions, moving around his barriers. "Well, I'm going to let you in on a
little secret, okay Jay? I'm not weak. I'm as powerful as ever, and there's
nothing you can do to stop me. Ever tried to stop a god? Ever discovered that
it's impossible?"

Jay's fear drowned out the constant explosions and distant shouting he heard.

"The only thing keeping me from getting to you are these silly little shields
you've put up," said Baal. "You know, Jay, how long its been since I've walked
around outside? In nature? Thousands of years. The air here is so fresh and so
crisp!" Baal inhaled, then exhaled. "So nice!" There was a pause, and Jay
strained his eyes, but he still couldn't see. He should be able to. How come
he couldn't see anything?

"Well, Jay," Baal said in mock regret. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill
you now. One of your friends is approaching, and I don't want to keep her
waiting."

"Like hell!" Jay cried, shooting a stream of fire to where he thought Baal
was.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Baal said. "It's unfortunate, you know. If you could see me,
then you'd be able to hit me, wouldn't you. You missed by three inches that
time."

Jay threw a runestone out of his circles, and it hit the cobblestones.

"Almost," said Baal's voice, farther to the left. "You could have hit me. Now,
my turn." Jay gasped when he felt two of his circles break down. "Nice
shields," Baal said. "Although instead of sketching the Rune of Tarn at the
north point, I'd use the Thirty-First Ancient Relian Rune. It provides greater
support for the shield in general, and has a most unnatural effect on demons
from the lower netherhells."

"Don't worry," Jay snarled. "It's in here somewhere."

"I suppose it is, at that," said Baal. "Now for the next circle..." Baal
shattered the pentagram circle.

Jay was sweating heavily. He only had one chance now. strapped to his right
forearm was a silver, sacrificial dagger he had gotten on his trip to Europe.
There were many different theories as to where it came from, but there was no
doubt the dagger was powerful. Some believed that the handle was from Jesus'
cross, and the blade was the spearhead that had pierced His side.

Jay didn't really care, so long as it worked. He'd used it once before, and
the demon had been banished to the lowest netherhell as soon as the blade
touched it. The resulting vortex that lead to the lowest netherhell lasted for
three days.

But Jay couldn't see to strike.

"Well," sighed the demon, again falsely regretful. "It appears that this
barrier is your last one. As soon as this barrier is broken, it is your turn
to die."

Jay almost pissed his pants, but something stopped him.

<Jay.>

It was Melanie.

<Use me, Jay. And kill him.>

Jay discovered he was no longer in his own body. He was in Melanie's. Again.
His vantage point was about a hundred feet away from his casting circles, just
inside the north wall.

Jay ran forward. Using his own body, he turned and tossed the dagger toward
himself in Melanie's body. Baal looked at Jay, startled. Jay ran forward,
catching the knife and stabbing at the demon.

Baal stepped back, but it was too late. The knife plunged into the demon's
chest, and smoke poured from the wound. Flames crawled up Jay's arm. Baal's
human eyes turned into fire, and he grabbed Jay's arm. Jay screamed in pain...

...and then it was Melanie screaming. He was in the casting circle, on his
knees, eyes open and seeing. Melanie's painful scream tore into his reality
like an axe, and he leaped from the casting circle. His blood knife arched
out, severing Baal's arm from his body. Jay punched the demon in the face with
his left hand, then jammed in the protruding silver dagger even more.

Baal's eyes burned with fire, and gouts of flame came from his mouth as he
staggered back, clutching the dagger with his one arm. Black smoke poured from
his severed shoulder, and he dissolved in a column of fire and smoke.

Jay spun around and knelt by Melanie. Her right arm was broken, in many
places, and her left shoulder looked broken as well. Her eyes opened, and she
looked at him. Tears spilled down her cheeks and fell to the cobblestones.

"It's okay now," Jay whispered. "Everything's fine."

The party was held on the fortieth floor of the Jewel Tower in downtown Toho.
About fifty guests were attending, not including the Demon Hunters (Jay had
adopted that name after establishing their group as a fully functional
business organization). Of those fifty guests, thirty-three had direct
business relations with Amber's new corporation, FireFly Inc. Nearly a hundred
business deals would be closed within the next five hours.

"How long does it take a party to get moving?" Jay said. "I haven't been to
many, but they started going faster than this."

"I think that it is going," Chani said. "Look. The band is playing, people are
talking, the bar is active, and tables are full."

"God, what a boring party," Jay said. "Why did we have to come?"

"Amber wanted to prove to us that her business life actually was exciting,"
Melanie said.

"Yeah," Jay snorted. "I'm convinced." He loosened his tie. "How long do we
have before it's over?"

"Five hours. We've only been here fifteen minutes."

"Great."

On the other side of the gardens, Amber was signing off a managerial position
to Mr. Tagawa. You could never have too many Japanese, that's what she always
said.

Anea was behind Amber's right shoulder the whole time, enraptured with the
whole course of events. She'd been a quick study under Amber, learning all the
methods of business and trade.

"Arigato," Amber said, bowing to the two Japanese men. As they walked off,
Amber waved to her next client across some carefully manicured bushes.

"He's going to manage my newest firm that I'm setting up in Seattle."

"The United States?" Anea asked.

"Yeah," Amber said. "The first countries I'm going to move into are Japan,
USA, and China."

"China?"

"Cheap labor," Amber shrugged. "Besides, I think China has a lot of potential
for the future. Some predict that China will become the next super-power in
the next 50 years. The United States is falling behind, any way."

"Oh."

"Now," Amber said. "The guy coming over here is one of my mom's friends. My
mother doesn't know that I know he's her agent, so don't give it away. My
mom's probably using him to spy on me, I mean. I'd bet this guy's here just to
find out some background info on me, and see if there's anything rotten in
FireFly."

"There's not, right?" Anea said.

"That's not the point," Amber evaded. "See, you have to watch out for people
like this. He could give my mother inside information about my corporation
that the Bitch could use against me. The Bitch is out to ruin me, I know she
is."

"But she's your mom!"

"Mother. Yes, she is. She's also the Bitch. She'll do anything to get a few
million. Her share of the estate is nearly four times as large as mine, so she
doesn't even need it."

"Why would she try to take all your money then?"

"I have no idea. But when this guy gets here, I'm gonna make him financial
manager of Blackfire."

"What's that?"

"A spinoff company that'll manufacture most of the parts we use in our
products."

"Why put him there?"

"Because as financial manager, he'll have access to all the money records for
Blackfire and FireFly. That's exactly what he wants, and he'll be more than
happy to accept the position. Since he's also getting paid by my mother, I'll
bet he won't mind if I knock a hundred grand off his salary, and use that
hundred grand to pay Mr. Jakowski over there."

"Who's he?" Anea distressed.

"I'll tell you after we're done," Amber said, smiling as her mother's agent
introduced himself as Danny Warren.

Jay turned around and leaned back on the rail after spitting at a pedestrian
below. "Man, ever since Amber turned 18, she's just been too into this FireFly
crap," he said.

"Leave her alone," Chani said. "If I had that much money, I'd just buy a few
islands and live there forever, because that's what makes me happy. This is
what makes her happy."

"I guess," Jay pulled some beef jerky from inside his business suit. "Want
any?" Chani took a piece, but Melanie declined. "You see," he said, picking up
his martini glass. "Looking sophisticated and big is one thing," he sipped
Sprite from the glass, "but actually being sophisticated and big is another
thing entirely. I just can't do it. Sure, I carry around a cellular, and sure,
I drink from martini glasses, but it's just the image, for me. For Amber, it's
different."

"What's wrong with being the owner of her own corporation?" Chani asked.

"Nothing! It's just that ever since she turned 18 and bought that company,
she's devoted less and less time to demon-hunting."

"You know, Jay, not everyone is cut out to be a demon hunter," Melanie pointed
out quietly.

"I know, I know, it's just that, she turns 18, and three months later, bam!
New FireFly stores start popping up all over Amaria, and she's already going
international! I mean, maybe I'm stupid, but three months isn't a whole
helluva lotta time to completely alter an entire corporation and start
building stores all over the world."

"That's the purpose behind all these business meetings and parties," Chani
said. "I think that most of these new stores won't show up for at least
another year. She's just preparing. I think she's been planning this for a
long time."

Jay sighed. "I guess so. I just wish she didn't have to do it so fast is all."

Amber and Anea sat at the table across from Matt Jakowski, Amber's only
unofficial contact at the party. He was tall, over six feet, with pale skin.
His manner seemed relaxed, but he was constantly watching, his eyes scanning
the guests as if they were all holding knives behind their backs. Amber
wondered if he used to be an agent for the government.

"You want Danny Warren?" he asked immediately.

"That's the one," Amber said. "He's working for my mom, I'm pretty sure, but-"

"He is," Matt said, sliding a folder across the table to Amber.

After perusing its contents, Amber smiled. "Cool. I like you already. My
personal assistant, Jeeves, will handle your salary. Just to go over what we
talked about earlier, you'll handle her computer accounts, monitor her phone
and spoken contacts, and feed her any false info that'll help FireFly, right?"

"You got it," Matt said, flipping a finger at her. "I might call in a favor
from one of my friends occasionally, but it's nothing to worry about. I will
keep all this information confidential."

"Good," Amber smiled again. "Jeeves is inside, near the door. Speak with him
privately, when you get the chance."

"No problemo," Matt said. He hopped to his feet and sauntered into the
building.

The girls watched him go. "Okay, where's the guys?"

Anea pointed to the balcony, past some trees.

They walked over to another table, where the rest of the Demon Hunters were
seated, playing cards.

"You're not talking to anybody?" Amber said. "Don't you want to be social?"

Jay wrinkled his face. "That's you, girl. I'm not in for the
business-executives-that-always-golf-for-each-other-and-let-the-other-guy-win-to-get-the-deal
kind of party."

Amber shrugged. "I work with strictly non-golfers."

"Oh yeah right. Listen, Amber, no offense, but this party stinks. How can you
stand it?"

Amber sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. After this, we can go to another one
somewhere. I'll bet some nightclubs are open."

"How do we get in? None of us are 21 or over."

"That's easy. I can bribe the bouncer or get one of my own bouncers to bounce
the bouncer. Or I can just talk to the owner of the club."

Jay shrugged, throwing a dime into a pile of money in the center of the table.
"Call," he said. "Naw. Sorry."

"What cards are you playing with?" Anea asked.

"Tarot cards," Chani answered.

"Don't you have any normal cards?" said Amber.

Jay shook his head. "We just have to assign them a suit and stuff, they work
pretty well."

"You think you could wait until the party's over? I don't want anybody else to
think my friends are weird."

"Probably too late for that," Melanie grinned.

Amber scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Jay interjected, straightening out his cards. "Yeah, you're right,
we're sorry. We'll go get a regular set and come back with that."

"I think there's a gift shop on the third floor," Melanie said.

"It's probably closed; use this," Amber gave her a key. "The code is 'Juniper'
on the keypad. Or that's the override code, anyway."

"Thanks," Melanie said. "You guys can stay here, I'll be back."

Melanie twirled the keys around her fingers as she waited for the elevator to
stop. When it did, she stepped out and headed for the gift shop. As she passed
in front of the arcade, one mind pressed against hers from the rest of the
crowd's.

She'd always joke to herself that the best way to hide your thoughts was to go
into an arcade. The games were so mind-draining that almost no emotions or
thoughts would surface. One did, now.

Melanie stopped at the entrance to the arcade. It was almost full, with
machines blaring and honking out noises continuously. The jerking of joysticks
and smashing of buttons could be heard in the din, but Melanie listened to
none of this.

Her mind was concentrated inwards, focusing on the presence she had felt
earlier. Since Melanie was trying to read from a crowd, it was difficult, but
since this was at an arcade, it was easy. It should be, anyway. Whoever this
person was was skittish. They couldn't stay in one place for more than a few
seconds.

Were they running from something?

Melanie scowled. What was going on?

After another few minutes of relative silence, the only companion the constant
drone of the arcaders' thoughts, Melanie moved toward the gift shop.

The hall was dark and empty, as were all the stores around it. The only place
that stayed open this late was the arcade, and a bar on the first floor.

She was walking between two of the dark shops when she felt the person again.
It was twice as powerful as before. Melanie slowly turned around to see a
young girl fly from the arcade's entrance.

The girl tripped and tumbled across the marble floor until she hit the
opposite wall. Julie. That was her name. Julie had brown hair that was braided
down to her lower back. She was wearing a knee-length white dress, and a black
vest over a black T-shirt. On her right arm was a silver bracer, and she wore
a silver choker. Her eyes were wide with fear, and Melanie saw why.

A massive demon leaped from the arcade, seething with energy.

Melanie rarely cursed, but she figured that now was a good time.

"Shit," she breathed.

Julie's fear seemed to resolve into a sort of resolution, or resignation. She
closed her eyes and straightened two fingers on her right hand. They were
placed between her eyes, pointing up.

Melanie started to say something, but a powerful blast of energy slammed into
the demon. The creature crashed into one of the gates protecting a closed
store, and crumpled to the ground in a heap. Julie dropped to her knees as the
energy drain affected her.

The demon's eyes opened and it shook its head. Another moment, and it was
standing straight, seemingly unaffected.

Jay! Melanie screamed in her mind. She felt herself for a weapon, but there
was no weapon. This was not good.

The demon stalked forward and picked up Julie by her neck, and said something
that Melanie couldn't hear. It's right hand came back, ready to strike.

"Leave her alone!" Melanie heard herself shout. Her voice sounded small and
pitiful in the empty hallway. Empty. It was still empty. Hadn't anyone else
seen the demon?

The demon's head slowly swiveled and locked onto Melanie. It's yellow eyes
slitted into triangles. In a contemptuous gesture, the thing tossed Julie
against the wall and began stalking toward Melanie.

Memories of the previous demon assaulted her as she saw its bulk advancing on
her. Fear pulsed through her veins, and she began backing away from it.

Not again. Please, not again.

Then Melanie stopped.

She wouldn't be overcome a second time.

Melanie closed her eyes and concentrated. She reached out to the demon's mind,
feeling for thoughts. There were none.

Wait.

There were some, but they weren't recognizable. What was this demon? Every
other time she'd felt a demon, she'd been able to understand its thoughts.
They were clear as day.

Then she saw it. Something was holding the demon. Someone else's will was
overpowering this demon's. But what would happen if she released the spell
holding the demon in place?

She could do it, she knew. The spell was of a psychic nature, and she could
probably destroy it with little difficulty, but what would happen if she did?
A normal psychic blast to the demon itself would usually do the trick, but the
demon's mind was so small it wouldn't matter if she destroyed the demon's
mind. If that happened, the spell itself would probably take over, and the
controller of this demon would have complete power.

Then Melanie saw the demon's claw shooting at her. She screamed, bringing her
arms in front of her face and lashing out with her psyche.

The claw stopped an inch in front of Melanie, and the spell holding the demon
shuddered, flickering as the controller strained to hold the demon. Melanie
fell on her butt and scrambled away from the demon as its internal conflict
raged on. It took her only a few more seconds to realize that she should
destroy the spell completely, and she did.

As soon as the controller spell crumbled, the demon gave a sort of sigh and
collapsed. Within a few seconds, it had faded back into its home dimension.

Julie gasped for air, as if she were just now able to breathe, and Melanie
knelt by the girl. Julie must be a year or two older, by the looks of it.

"Come on," Melanie said. "I'll help you. We should see someone." Her arm went
under Julie's, and the pair hobbled to the elevator.

"No, no," Julie said. "No time. I have to...I have to find..." Julie broke
into a fit of coughing, but Melanie felt the rest of it. She was here to find
Jay.

The door opened. Jay and Chani were standing there. "Doesn't look like you
needed my help," he said dryly, surveying the empty hall. He flipped out his
eye pendant and stared at the place where the demon disappeared. "Nope."

Chani got under Julie's other arm, and helped her into the elevator.

"Shit," Jay said. "Lay her on her back." He knelt next to her head and gently
probed her neck with his fingers. "Tell Anea to meet us outside the elevator,"
he said to Melanie.

Melanie did, mentally sending the message to Anea.

When the elevator stopped, Jay carried Julie out and set her in a cushioned
booth near the bar. Anea came running in from the outside. "What happened?"

"A demon attacked us," Melanie said. "I think he was choking her, I'm not
sure."

Julie's eyes managed to focus on Jay, and they went wide. She tried to speak,
but started coughing again. Anea pushed Jay aside and held a napkin in front
of Julie's mouth until she finished. It was bloody when she set it aside.

Anea closed her eyes, gently pushing Julie's head against the back of the
chair, and touching her fingertips against the girl's neck. After a few
moments of silent massaging, she pulled away.

Julie's eyes opened. "Are you Jay?" she said softly.

"One and only."

Julie sat up, her health returned completely. "I need your help."

Jay grinned. "At your service, madam."

"My cousin is going to destroy the world."

Amber exhaled loudly, closing her eyes. Talk about negotiations! Hell! She
might as well have been bargaining over her soul with Satan. They'd drawn her
to expend more capital than she wanted, by setting up her own warehouse in
Singapore. At least she didn't agree to their stupid-

"Amber?" Anea knocked on the conference room door. Her head poked in. "How
many meetings do you have left?"

"That was the last one. Sorry you missed it. Where did everybody else go?"

Anea came in and sat down in a chair next to her. "This girl named Julie was
attacked on the third story of the building. She-"

"What?" Amber sat up straight. "What about security?"

"They couldn't have done anything anyway. It was a demon."

"Great. So why did it attack her?"

"You'll have to come see. She has some story. I just came to see how you were
doing."

"I'm fine."

Anea looked at Amber. The older girl had dark circles under her eyes and her
make-up was slightly smudged. That didn't stop her from looking like one of
the most powerful, if youngest, business women on the face of the earth.

"You really should get some rest."

"No. I promised the guys we'd go to a club tonight. I should make some phone
calls right now." She pulled out her cel phone and punched a few buttons.

"Don't worry about it," Anea said.

Amber pulled off the old battery and clicked a new one into place. "Why not?"

"We're not going to be going anywhere tonight."

"Why not?"

"I think that Jay's going to stay up with the others and figure out what to do
with Julie. She's got a new case for us, I think."

"Well," Amber said, "I'll do my best to help you guys, but FireFly is taking
up an awful lot of my time."

Anea put on a concerned face. "I don't think you should."

Amber didn't listen. "Sure, whatever. You go on out and I'll be there in a few
minutes. I have some files to organize."

"You need any help?"

"No thanks."

After Anea had gone, Amber closed and locked the door. She sighed, leaning
against it and sliding to the floor. It was almost impossible to stop thinking
about FireFly, but she had to. At least a little. Amber felt guilty for
treating her friends like this, but...this was what she'd always wanted.
Right? To be her own business, dominate the competition, rule the world? That
last was stretching it a bit, but she had always wanted this part of it.

Although her father had been an asshole, he had taught her a lot. Early in her
life, he had stopped working, but every day he would tell her about a
business. How to operate, manage your stocks, finances, workforce, trade
agreements, how to undermine the competition, destroy their reputation,
maintain your own, keep afloat in the media, avoid the media...everything.
That was the only reason she admired him, his ability to manipulate the
business world.

The only person Amber really hated was her mother. The Bitch. The evil one.
Her mother held no love for anyone, and had just married her father for the
money. That's why she wanted Amber. Amber had money. If Amber lost her money,
her mother would get it, and everything she owned. Including FireFly.

Hell no.

Amber wasn't about to let the Bitch get FireFly, or her friends.

Her friends. Oh shit.

Amber leaned her head against the door as she realized that her mother would
try to get to her through her friends as well. Hell, it was so obvious. In
order to discredit and dethrone Amber, the Bitch would go after her friends.
Amber had to protect them. She hated herself for bringing them into this.
Shouldn't she just let them go? Sorry guys, I think I have to move on with my
life. Bye. Seeya. Out the door.

Shouldn't Jay's threat have kept her in check? Why would she be going after
Amber if she still thought Jay could threaten her with a demon? Maybe she
didn't think she'd be discovered.

Maybe she had hired her own demon hunter.

Amber rubbed her temples and walked over to the bar. She set out a glass and
poured herself a shot of Jack. As it went down, Amber made a face. Alcohol was
definitely an acquired taste.

Amber washed off her make-up and pulled her hair out so it fell about her
shoulders. After shaking it free, she tied it back in a pony tail and looked
at herself in the mirror. She did look bad. Her eyes were dark and bloodshot,
her hair was a mess, and her dress was wrinkled.

With a sigh of resignation, Amber pulled on a coat and went back into the
gardens. Most of the guests had departed, a few were still talking. No one was
drunk. All were professional enough to keep that under control. Here, at
least.

She went to the bar, inside the building, and saw the others eating dinner.
Amber pulled a chair to the end of the booth and sat down. "Hi guys," she
said, as cheerily as she could.

"You look like shit," Jay said, gaping. Anea tried to shush him, but it was
too late.

Amber's face darkened. "Thanks a lot, Jay! I come here to eat dinner with you
guys after just living through hell, and here you have to come and say I look
like shit! Well that just makes my day. The first thing anybody says to me is
'You look like shit.' Thank you very fucking much, Jay."

Amber stormed away from the table angrily. She heard Chani yelling at Jay for
his stupidity. You tell him, girl. Stupid fucker. Hell, she had just been
waiting for that. God damn it!

As she approached the elevator, the doors opened, and Jeeves stepped out.
"Madam," he said as she passed him. She angrily punched the button for the
50th floor, her office. It seemed to take far too long, going up.

When the elevator opened, she strode down the hall and slid her card through
the slot, tapped in her code, and slammed the door behind her.

"Fuck!" she cried, throwing her purse to the ground.

Amber sat on her desk, with her feet in her chair, and sobbed loudly. Could
she handle this? Could she handle all this? Maybe she should wait until she
had more experience...

After about fifteen minutes, the girl composed herself and stared out at the
city. It was beautiful. At least something was, if she wasn't.

She sat in her chair and swiveled it to look out of her pane windows, so she
could see. Some city lights were on now, but most were off. At this time of
night, usually the nightlife was open, on the street level. Some of the taller
buildings still had parties in the higher stories, but most were dark. There
were a couple boats in the harbor, and a few airplanes could be seen flying to
Toho International. The streets below were full of red and white lights, that
glared off the bottom of the buildings, but faded as the height increased.

For almost an hour, Amber stared thoughtlessly at the city, finally achieving
an emptiness in her mind. Nothing to cause stress, nothing to make her angry,
sad, or happy. Just complete emptiness. It was wonderful.

When she heard someone's footsteps, she knew it was Jay. The door closed
quietly.

"Amber," he said softly. "Listen, I'm...sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Don't worry about it," she replied.

She must have sounded cold to Jay, because he stepped forward and apologized
again. "I really am! I didn't mean it. It's just that, you've been working
very hard on this, and..." he trailed off.

"It's fine," she said.

Jay sat on the desk behind her and put his elbows on the back of her chair.

"Nice view," he said quietly.

"Yeah."

For several minutes they sat in silence, staring out at the city.

After a bit, Jay looked down at her and said,"Why do you like it?"

"What?"

"This? All this talking and hiring and firing and stuff. You know. Meeting
with other corporations and stuff. It's fun for you, right?"

Amber nodded. "Yeah."

"Why?"

"It's a war out there, Jay. I want to win it."

"But the government won't let you have a monopoly."

Amber looked up at him and grinned. "Not if you control the government."

Jay gaped. "Are you serious?"

With a kick of her feet, Amber spun the chair around, forcing Jay to sit up
straight. "What's wrong with trying to take over the government?" she asked
innocently.

Jay's mouth was still open. "Y-You? Take over the government?"

Amber shrugged, grinning. "Come on," she said. "I'm only human. As is everyone
else in the world...who's not a demon."

Jay's face twitched. "Yeah, I guess."

Amber stretched her arms. "Do you guys want to go to a nightclub or not?"

"I don't know. It's getting kinda late, and I want to figure out what the deal
is with..." he stopped. It had been almost a half-year since Jay had been last
captivated by Amber's beauty. Since that night, neither of them had spoken
about what occurred, each dismissing it with their own personal excuse.

"What are you looking at?" Amber asked curiously, grinning at his expression.

Her smile stabbed at him like a knife. He didn't notice the dark circles
beneath her eyes, and he thought that she looked more attractive without
make-up. Amber's whole being seemed to reach out and grab his soul.

"What are you looking at?" Amber demanded, almost laughing. Then she felt it
as well. The heat between them built before they'd even touched, and it flared
when Jay sank down on top of her. His legs were spread, a knee resting on
either side of her hips.

"Wh...?" Amber mumbled before Jay's mouth took hers. His tongue plunged past
her unresisting lips and they kissed.

Amber's arms wrapped around Jay's waist, and he bent down to kiss her harder.
Their tongues explored each other for almost a minute before it was too much
to bear. Jay's hand slipped to the hem of Amber's dress, and his fingers
pushed up her thigh.

"Oh God," she moaned. Amber could feel Jay's hardness pressing against her
stomach, and she wanted it more than anything. The only thing they could think
of was each other, being one and becoming one.

As before, the passion overwhelmed them, riding past the barriers of reason
and emotion. All that existed was the primal lust. That was all they were. Two
pieces of the universe becoming one.

Until someone knocked on the door.

Jay broke away from Amber, looking at her, confused, until there was another
knock at the door. "Shit," he said, pulling his hand from between her legs and
jumping over to one of her plush chairs.

Amber blinked, pulling her panties back up to their original position. After
checking herself the reflection of her computer monitor, she called for the
person to come in.

Melanie poked her head in the door.

Jay instantly wove a shield around his thoughts, as did Amber. "Yeah?" Amber
said.

"Did I interrupt anything?" Melanie asked.

"No, come on in."

"I was just going to ask if it's okay if Julie bunks with me at the
apartment?"

Amber looked at Jay, who said, "Sure, no problem. I'd better get going anyway,
okay? You coming Amber?"

"I'll, uh, be there in a few minutes."

Jay nodded and followed Melanie out the door.

Amber sat back in the chair with a sigh. This was the second time that'd
happened. It only happened when they were alone, thank goodness. But what was
it?

She sighed and gathered up her things.

Their new apartment was dark when Amber arrived. Everyone was in bed. Amber
had suggested they move into the Jewel Tower, her corporation headquarters,
since it would make transportation for her easier, and they wouldn't have to
pay any rent.

Although it would be a simple operation to separate everyone into their
individual apartments, no one had suggested it yet. Amber didn't mind. If she
wanted privacy, all she needed to do was go up to her office.

Everyone now had their own rooms, and there was a nice balcony out from the
"New Arcanis" as Jay called it. Jeeves was still with them, but since he was
on Amber's payroll, she'd adopted his business and financial skills for her
use. Jay complained when the dinner went unserved some nights, but he never
bothered to hire himself his own butler.

Things had changed.

As Amber moved through the living room, she stopped short, gasping. Jay was
sprawled out on the same long couch of their's. "I didn't see you there," she
said.

Jay looked down at her from the ceiling. "Ah."

A few moments of indecision passed before Amber went to the couch and sat on
the arm. "Do you want to talk about what happened?" Amber asked a moment
later.

"Or what almost happened," Jay said. He scooted back and leaned against the
other arm of the couch. "Yeah. Do you know?"

Amber shook her head.

"I didn't think so." He sighed. "I don't know either. I know that Melanie
could find out. One of the other girls could probably figure out what's going
on, but...well, I don't know if we should bring them into this."

"It might hurt them if they found out we were hiding something from them."

"I know, but the other side to that is, what about privacy? I mean, should we
tell them everything that happens to us?"

"If we can't figure out what happened...yeah. We should."

"Well we should try that, first."

"Of course."

"When can you make time?"

"I'll check my schedule."

"Okay. Then I think you'd better get to bed before something else happens."

Amber nodded. "Good night."

"G'night."

She trudged up to her room and closed the door. Amber wobbled over to the bed
and fell on it. Amber slipped out of her clothes and lay on the bed naked for
a few minutes. She looked at the clock. 2:34. Amber reached up and set her
alarm for 6:30, then crawled under the covers.

"It's a good thing that Baal did not complete his objectives."

Alan's voice rang cold in the dim cathedral. This would be Mannan's new home.
The specially chosen of his followers would come here just to be in his
presence. Azathoth, Hastur, and Yog-Sothoth kneeled before Alan.

Alan would be Mannan's servant. Right hand man.

But he had to find the rest of the artifacts before his cousin stopped him.
She had gone to Toho. To find Jason Savena, no doubt. He posed a threat. His
whole group posed a threat. They had to be stopped.

"But the one that stopped Baal, could now stop us," Alan said. "I want Jason,
and Julie, dead."

"Supposedly when these artifacts are gathered into one place, they create a
gate to the Otherworld."

"That's where Mannan was cast," Chani said.

Julie nodded. "Yes. And that's how he'll be brought back. Mannan was a sea
god, similar to Poseiden, only... well, different. He was Druidic. Mannan
turned evil, and was destroyed by a group of seven humans. The artifacts were
thought to be destroyed, but obviously they weren't. What we have to do is
stop him."

"How do we stop him?" Anea asked.

"We have to take all the artifacts, or...kill him."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Where is he?" asked Chani.

"He's in Atlantis. In Antarctica."

"Huh? Why down there?"

"The Druids invaded Europe about 300-400 BC, which means that they had to come
from somewhere. That somewhere was Antarctica."

"They were eskimos?"

"For a while? Probably. Not always. 10,000 BC was when Atlantis crumbled.
Because in 10,000 BC, the entire crust of the earth slid around the earth like
the loose skin of an orange. The reason for this shift is because the polar
caps got too heavy. So they just kind of...well, you get the idea."

"So Antarctica got too cold for them?"

Julie nodded. "I guess so. But there in Atlantis is the closest point to the
place in the Otherworld where Mannan is being held. That's where he'll be
brought back."

"Hey," Melanie said, looking up. "Has anybody seen Jay? Or Amber?"

Chani dug into her breakfast plate, grinning to herself. Nobody noticed.

Everybody else shook their heads.

"Well, Amber's been busy with FireFly," Anea said. "I wouldn't be surprised if
she's up in her office hiring more of her managers."

"What about Jay?"

"Who knows?" Chani said. "He might be out on the balcony trying to act like an
airplane again."

"What?" asked Julie.

"Nothin'. He'll show up, sooner or later."

Jay and Amber had cleared a conferance room on the 41st floor of the Jewel
Tower. In the center of the floor was a casting circle. It had nine points,
with nine runestones.

They were making out on top of it.

"God, why..." Amber moaned into Jay's probing tongue.

Jay's "un-lust" spell that he'd cast on himself had lasted a mere sixteen
seconds. The one preventative measure that he had cast on himself, without
telling Amber, was the temporary neutralization of all his sperm. At least
this way, if something did happen, she couldn't get pregnant.

Conscious thought slipped away within a minute, and they were once again like
animals. Passion overcame them. Amber's clothes came off, followed by Jay's.
Their mouths continued to stay locked, unable to part from each other for more
than a few moments.

When Jay's erection came free, Amber moaned as she felt it pressing against
her naked hip. "God..." she whimpered. Her hand traveled down his chest and
stomach until she had it in her hand.

Jay faltered in his kissing, pausing as he groaned.

"Oh hell..."

Amber's hand worked Jay's length, and he moaned in response. Jay took his own
fingers and reached down between her legs, pushing between her lips. She cried
out into his mouth, and he could feel juices leaking down her thighs.
"Fuck..."

Jay rubbed her swollen lips with his fingers, occasionally pushing into her
warm depth. "Can't...stand...this..." he heard her mutter. When his mouth
covered her breast, she squealed. "Now!" she cried. "God, now! It has to
be...unh!" Her hand pulled him toward her, and Jay dropped both his knees to
the ground. Jay complied, grabbing her hips with his hands and sliding in. He
thrust in, all the way to the hilt, grunting.

Amber let out a delirious moan, clutching at him with her legs. They both
thrust into each other for almost a minute before Jay's eyes closed. His back
arched, and he slammed his hips forward. Hot liquid spurted from his cock into
the girl.

The hot seed pumping into her from Jay's cock pushed Amber over the edge. She
squealed in pleasure, screaming as the hot fire exploded between her legs.
Amber's legs wrapped around Jay's hips and threatened to crush him. She bucked
against the casting circle, arching her back and digging her nails into Jay.

Melanie gasped suddenly at the table. Her eyes went wide as indescribable
pleasure suddenly pummeled her. She cried out as waves of ecstasy blasted
through her body and mind. For nearly ten seconds, the climax tore through her
body, robbing her thoughts and faculties.

When Melanie blinked again, she was sitting on the floor, with one hand flat
on the tiles, and the other gripping the edge of the table. Everyone was
staring at her. "Hey, are you okay?" Anea asked, kneeling beside Melanie.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Melanie said. "I just got a little stomach cramp."

"Stomach cramp?" retorted Chani somewhat nervously. "It sounded like somebody
ripped your stomach out with a hook."

Julie covered her mouth.

"Sorry," Chani said. "I think we should take you to the doctor."

Anea's arm had been on Melanie's shoulder. "I don't sense anything wrong.
Maybe Chani's right."

"No," Melanie said. "I'll be fine. Just...excuse me for a second."

When she was alone in the bathroom, Melanie trembled for a few seconds. She
knew what had happened. Although Jay didn't know it, Melanie's love for him
had drawn her so far into his mind that she felt about everything he did, if
she chose to. Sometimes even when she chose not to.

Dang. Now she'd have to change her panties.

"Is it hot in here?" Jay mumbled, turning on the air conditioner.

Amber pulled her sweatpants and sweatshirt on.

Jay searched for something to say, but couldn't. "I'm really sorry," he said.
"I didn't mean to-"

"It wasn't your fault," Amber said. "You know it wasn't."

Jay opened his mouth, then closed it. "I guess not. But what was that?"

Amber shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we have body chemistry?"

"That's for sure," Jay barked out a laugh.

Amber shivered. "Now all we have to worry about is if it happens again."

"You don't have to worry about getting pregnant."

"I know."

"Huh?"

"I cast a spell to stop it from happening."

Jay grinned. "Yeah, I guess we both planned for that one."

"This would definitely stand of any future relationships with other people."

Jay nodded. Both of them had agreed that they were good friends, but nothing
more. If everything stayed the same as it did right now, this wouldn't ruin
that friendship.

"Maybe we could try casting that spell now, to see if it'll work," Jay
suggested.

Amber crawled over to the table and looked in her daily planner. "Aw hell,"
she said. "I'm gonna be late for my appointment with Danny."

"Who?"

"He's my new financial manager for Blackfire." Amber grabbed her duffle bag.
"I have to change now. Turn around."

After her meeting with Danny, Amber leaned back in her chair, staring at the
computer screen on her desk. It was tapped into the security system, and she
was watching Danny move about in the building. Each time he would stop in
front of a desk to surreptitiously gather some information from one of her
unaware employees, Amber would make a well-timed telephone call that told the
employee to give Danny a false file. Of course, the employee never knew that
it was a false file. Amber would keep them both in the dark.

Danny had worked down about 30 stories, and was probably on his last stop,
since below the tenth floor was primarily commercial business. He stepped out
of the elevator and Amber switched cameras. She loved having the building
wired like this. Danny made his way toward an office at the end of the hall,
and Amber reached for the telephone. She dialed the correct extension, and got
an answer.

"This is John Adams, Systems Information Analyst," said the man.

Amber said. "Mr. Adams? This is Amber Jenkins." As she switched to his office
cam, she saw him straighten in his chair.

"Yes ma'am, what can I do for you?"

"I sent one of my new managers down to pick up a file from you. He'll probably
request copies of the the last few month's computer budget?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll get it right away for him."

"No. I mean, there's an updated version on the new server, FireFly_N, in the
\asystem\budget\4rthqrtr directory. Just give him a printout of that, okay?"

Danny knocked on John Adam's door. "Yes ma'am. Will do."

"And John? If anything looks strange, I don't care what it is, ignore it.
Understand?"

There was a slight pause. "Yes ma'am."

"And don't tell him I called. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Thanks John. Have a good day."

"You too."

Click.

Amber watched as the transaction took place, quickly and effortlessly. Danny's
only other stop in the Jewel Tower was to grab a donut at the Donut Factory on
the first floor.

She twirled her pen in her fingers as she dialed another number on her phone.
"Hello?" a voice said into her headset.

"You got him?"

"We see him. We're on him, don't you worry about a thing."

"Thanks."

"No prob."

Amber pulled the headset off and set it on top of her phone. She watched the
city outside her window for a minute, then returned to work.

"How long will Amber be working like this?" Jay asked, pulling his waffles out
of the microwave.

Anea shrugged. "Actually, most everything is done, as far as I can tell. All
that needs to happen now is her plans need to carry through."

"You think she could come with us?"

"Where?"

"To the Indian Ocean. We're going to the Isle of Araden."

Anea shrugged again. "Why?"

"That's where we can locate the artifacts, and Alan."

"Um. Okay. The problem is, she's required to run FireFly. After FireFly hits
the competition and establishes its own place in the international market,
Amber will have more free time. Not much more, but she will have more. Now is
probably the most stressful time in her life."

"I understand. We can go without her. Are you going to stay here?"

Anea shook her head. "I think I'd be more of a nuisance. I like business, but
not as much as Amber. I'll go with you."

"Great, I'll set up the fly times as soon as possible."

They left for Toho International the next morning, flew from there to Tokyo,
and from Tokyo to Bombay. Melanie sat in front of Jay the whole time, and even
though he wasn't telepathic, or empathic, he could sense something was wrong.
She had been quiet ever since the party, and Jay was going crazy to find out
why. He'd been sure to shield his thoughts from her.

Maybe he knew less about telepathy than he thought. Could she know about what
happened between him and Amber? He always stopped himself before he asked her,
leaving himself more annoyed than before.

Chani and Anea talked back and forth intermittently, but overall, the plane
ride was quiet. Except when Anea got into a big argument with another
passenger about the rapture versus the second coming.

The plane landed in Bombay, and one of Julie's friends picked them up from the
airport. He drove them straight to the port, where they grabbed a boat and set
sail.

"Do you know the coordinates of the island?" Jay asked her. "I don't want to
have to crawl all over the ocean floor if I don't have to."

"Of course I know the coordinates, silly," Julie giggled. "I wouldn't have
come all the way out here if I didn't."

Jay agreed and walked over the deck of the ship. It was about 100 feet long,
with sails and a motor...that's about all he could tell. Jay didn't know
anything about boats. He soon found that he couldn't stand them. Although he
never really threw up anything, the constant nausea was enough to make him
hate the sea.

After a few days of sailing, their Indian captain stopped above the
coordinates and said that this was it.

"How far down?" Jay asked.

"If I read the old maps right," Julie said, "it's a few hundred yards. Have
any of you scuba-dived before?"

They shook their heads.

"Now's a good time to learn," Julie said.

With that, they spent the next two days learning how to scuba dive before
actually going under.

The Isle of Araden was fairly small. Or it looked that way underwater, at
least. Where they wanted to go was just an old castle built into one of the
mountains. Julie said that it should still contain air. If not, well, they'd
have to hurry up.

Julie swam in the front, a bright beacon attached to her water tanks. Jay
followed, then Anea, then Melanie, then Chani. Each had a slightly different
color, for identification.

It took two dives to actually find the cave, but when they did, the work was
easy from then on. Julie swam into the mouth of the cave, dropping flares at
regular intervals, until she found a closed door.

Julie swam up to it and tried the handle, prying with all her might. Jay swam
next to her, waving her aside. He pulled, and wrung his hands out dramatically
afterwards. The doors wouldn't budge.

Jay figured there must be air on the other side, and the water was keeping
them closed. It would be impossible to get them open.

This time Julie pushed Jay aside. She held out her pad, on which was written,
"EXPLOSIVES."

Jay nodded and swam away, waving the other girls to get away. After Julie
placed the explosives, she swam up to Jay and waved them out another fifty
yards. When they stopped, she pushed the detonator.

There was an inaudible whump, and a small flash. Water gushed into the hole
for several seconds, and when the bubbles stopped coming up, Julie beckoned
them to go inside. They followed her in.

Inside the door wasn't much different than outside the door, except that the
floor was perfectly flat, and there were no fish swimming around. Jay followed
Julie up inside the cave, and before he knew what had happened, he surfaced.

The mouthpiece came free, and he could hear the others pulling theirs out as
well. Their breath echoed in the cavern. "Wow," Jay said. "What now?"

"We're up in the ceiling of the first room. We have to go back down and swim
up some stairs, then we should be in open air."

Jay nodded, fitting the mouthpiece back in.

They followed Julie under the water, into a door, up some stairs, down a hall,
up some more stairs, until they surfaced near the top of a staircase in a
single small room. "That was close," panted Julie. "The water stopped just
before we got here."

The rest of the crew pulled off their gear and stood around in their wetsuits.

"What now?" Jay asked.

"Here's the only other nexus that I could find relative to the one in
Atlantis. We can use it to locate Alan."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "I hope you have a plan on how to do this..."

Julie nodded. "Oh yes." She pulled a folded piece of paper from inside her
wetsuit and handed it to Jay. He read the spell as she began marking the
casting circle. "If I were you I'd summon the third Sprite of Winter instead
of the seventh. I mean, they'll probably have the same effect, it's just that
the third sprite has no concept of direction."

"I know," Julie said, scratching the runes into the ground. "It's just that I
kinda pissed off the seventh sprite accidentily. Now she won't even talk to
me."

"What happened?"

"You don't want to know," Julie said, taking the paper from Jay. "Here," she
handed him another copy. "I've highlighted your section."

Jay took it and sat down in one corner of the casting circle. "Okay, I'm ready
when you are."

Julie sat across from him and began reading. Over the next ten minutes, the
casting circle was brought to full force, and then the spell began. To those
outside the circle, it seemed that nothing was happening, but inside a world
of energy was awakening.

"Shit," Jay whispered, looking at the glowing walls of the circle. "What the
hell kinda place is this?"

Energy was crackling and jumping around them as if it were alive. It almost
was. The sprites and elementals hovered around protectively, adding their
resources to the spell.

"It's a nexus. Haven't you been to one before?"

"No. I thought all nexuses were huge cross sections of worlds. I mean, bigger
than this."

"That's one type of nexus. This is just a smaller version, where we're closer
to the other dimensions."

"Yeah, I figured."

"Okay, let's get this over with."

An hour later, Jay and Julie stood up, stretching and groaning.

"Well?" Chani asked impatiently.

"Here," Jay said. "Or here."

"What do you mean, here or here?"

"There's two possible places he could have gone. This is one," Jay pointed to
a spot on his map. "This is the other."

"Well great. What now?"

"We're gonna have to split up," Jay said. "We have to go to both places, since
he could be at either one."

"Oh."

"Let's get going," Julie said.

Four days later, they were saying at the the best hotel in Singapore,
preparing to head their separate ways. The two possibilities were so far apart
in Antarctica that they would have to come from opposite sides of the globe.

Jay and Melanie would head to the first location from South Africa, and Julie,
Chani, and Anea would head to the second point from Australia.

Julie was sitting in her room, looking through the balcony doors over the
ocean. She was sitting cross-legged, her palms on her knees, eyes staring
thoughtfully. She'd been lucky to stumble upon them when she did. Another
minute and the demon would have killed her.

The girl sighed, stretching her arms and running her hands alonger her slim
body. She wore nothing but her cotton panties now. It was too hot. With that
thought, Julie stood up and turned on the AC. She wondered if it would be
cooler outside.

Julie opened the door, and no sooner had she done that than a shape flashed up
from beneath the balcony. The girl's mouth opened, but a scaled hand clamped
over it and pushed her back. Julie's head hit the mirror on her dresser, and
glass cracked. Blood was running inside the cracks, spreading out like a
spider web. Stars danced in front of her vision for a few moments. Her
momentary dizziness was swept away when she heard the voice speak to her.

"I've found you..." a scratchy voice said.

"K-K-Keith?" she gasped into his hand.

"That's Azathoth to you, my sweet."

"W-What happened to you?"

"I got a hair cut. Like it?" An insane grin spread across the dark face.

"W-What are you doing here?" Julie asked.

"I've come to say hello to brother dearest's sister dearest. But not before I
have a little fun..."

Azathoth's right hand slipped down Julie's bare side, and she shivered when
she realized what he was doing. "K-Keith, don't," she whispered.

The man's left hand gently pinched either side of Julie's voice box, stating
that he could crush the life out of her in the time it took to scream.

Julie's eyes closed and a tear pushed from each eyelid. "P-Please Keith, don't
do this..."

His hand slipped beneath the fabric of her panties, and he traced a finger
down between her legs to her sensitive spot. "No, please," Julie cried softly.
"Keith, don't do this..."

Azathoth slipped a single finger between her dry lower lips. "What's the
matter? Not wet for me yet?"

"Keith..." she sobbed.

Azathoth grinned and pushed forward suddenly, his mouth covering Julie's. The
man's tongue pushed past Julie's startled lips, and just as suddnly, she took
control. All the fear she had displayed earlier dissolved, and she bit down on
Azathoth's tongue. With a cry, he yanked his head back. Before he could pull
the rest of his body away further, Julie slammed her knee up into his groin,
then drove two knuckles into his eyes. Azathoth staggered back, screaming.
Julie kicked out and smashed the bridge of her foot into his groin. This time,
he dropped to his knees. Julie broke his nose with her palm, and missed
breaking his knee when he writhed out of the way just in time.

He staggered back out to the balcony. "I'll be back," he said, blood running
down his face. His eyes were yellow, just like the other demon's.

"No you won't," Julie replied calmly. Her index and middle finger extended and
she aimed them at Azathoth.

Realization came crashing in, and Azathoth leaped up, trying to get away.

The white energy fired from her fingers and struck him in the back. The man
hurtled from her balcony and fell smoking to the beach below. Julie didn't
watch him hit.

Jay was staring at the ceiling when someone knocked at the door. He hoped it
would be Melanie, but it was Julie. She was outside his door in a white robe.
"Come on in," Jay said.

"No," Julie said. "I need you to come with me."

"Okay, hold on." Jay went inside and pulled on a shirt and grabbed his keys.
When he was out in the hall, Julie led him to the first floor of the hotel,
and out to the beach. On the sand was a blackened body.

"Holy shit!" Jay said. "What the hell happened?" he ran over to the body and
then stopped, his lip curled in disgust. "What happened?"

"He attacked me," Julie came up next to him. "This is Keith. He was a friend
of mine and Alan's before...before."

Jay knelt next to the body and rolled it over. The body was covered in green
scales, and the face had been transformed into that of a demon's.

"How did you recognize him?" Jay asked.

"His voice. That was all I could recognize."

Jay looked at the eyes and felt for a heartbeat. There was none. "Okay, get
back."

Julie stepped back and watched as Jay meditated over the body for a few
minutes.

When Jay slumped back, he wiped his forehead. "Okay," he said. "The body will
decompose at sunrise. Let's just hope nobody finds it before then."

"What did you find out?" Julie asked as they returned to the hotel.

"This is a reincarnated form of Azathoth. He was an Old One, according to the
Necronomicon. I'll bet Alan tricked Keith into letting him use his body for a
ritual. That ritual probably reincarnated Azathoth into Keith's body. What
Alan didn't realize is that Keith's soul still inhabited the body. He didn't
prepare Keith properly, so Azathoth wasn't powerful. He wasn't powerful at
all. If Azathoth was here in his full power, he could probably destroy the
entire world."

Julie stared out to the ocean. "Who was the demon in Toho?"

"I think that Alan just summoned that demon. Else there would have been a
physical body left over."

"I see."

At the elevator, they stopped, waiting for it to come down. "Okay," Jay said.
"We'll all leave tomorrow morning. I'll tell the others to be careful for more
demons. Can you guys handle anything else he throws at you?"

"Easily," Julie replied with mock arrogance.

"Okay."

Jay and Melanie hardly spoke at all during the flight the next morning. He
never asked her if she knew about him and Amber, and she never asked why he'd
begun shielding all his thoughts from her. Both knew that something was
bothering the other, but neither offered to find out what.

As they stood looking for a bus or taxi, Jay said, "Do you want to go out to
dinner tonight? Tomorrow is the next plane leaving for the Russian base in
Antarctica."

Melanie shrugged. "Okay."

They found an Italian restaraunt, and sat in a far corner, eating their dinner
quietly. After about fifteen minutes of unbearable silence, Jay finally said,
"Listen, Melanie, I..." he paused, trying to verbalize his thoughts.
"Something's wrong, isn't there?"

Melanie looked up at him. Straight in his eyes. "No, why would there be?"

"Shit..." he breathed. "You're one of the first people I know who can do
that."

"What?"

"Nothing. Listen you've been acting strange lately. You haven't said a word,
and you've been...I don't know. Something's different about you."

"Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Jay squirmed, desparate not to reveal the truth about himself and Amber, but
it was almost impossible to avoid.

"I know," she said.

Jay looked at her.

"I know what happened, but I don't know why." Melanie's eyes had never looked
more innocent, or more sad. "I thought you two were just friends...but...I
guess not."

Jay's mouth clicked shut after having been open so wide. "Listen Melanie,
I...it wasn't our fault. I mean, we..."

Melanie smiled ruefully. "You got carried away."

"That's not it at all. I mean, well, actually...it might be, I'm not sure."

"You couldn't have been drunk, it was 7:00 in the morning when this happened."

Jay didn't ask her how she knew. "You want the truth?" he growled, almost
angry. "Here." With that, Jay unraveled all the barriers and shields he had
place around his mind. Nothing prevented his thoughts from reaching Melanie's.

Or hers from reaching his.

Jay gasped. He had never felt another person's mind before, and was...
shocked, to say the very least. Everything Melanie had felt hit him like a
tidal wave. All her emotions, fears, hates, cares, reasons, philosophies,
ideals, feelings, personas, characteristics, likes, dislikes, and loves.

Neither of them noticed the waiter standing next to them. He departed after
twenty seconds of silent responses.

Melanie's emotions hit him almost as powerful as that first time in the
hospital. Tears sprung to his eyes almost instantly. Ever since they'd met,
she'd loved him with her whole heart. He loved her, too. He knew that now.

Some people would say that love at first sight is possible. Jay never believed
it. He still didn't believe it, but when two minds were completely and openly
exposed to each other, standing naked in each other's presence, it was
impossible not to see. When Melanie first saw his mind, open and exposed,
those few months ago, she knew at once she'd loved him. By completely exposing
one another in this manner, they knew more about each other than they could
have if they had lived together for all their lives.

Jay was completely torn at how long she had gone without expressing her
feelings for him. Before they had met, she had known she loved him. Somehow,
she had seen every part, every nook and cranny, of his mind, and she knew that
they were meant for each other.

"Dammit," he whispered, sliding around the side of the table and slipping an
arm around her shoulders. "Why didn't you say something?"

She sobbed softly into his chest, glad that her wait was finally over, and he
cried her tears as well.

After about twenty minutes, Jay dropped money on the table. "Let's get outa
here," he said. Jay pulled Melanie to the door. They left the restaraunt,
hand-in-hand.

Whereas Jay's sex with Amber had been wild and passionate, with Melanie, it
was just...nice. They weren't rambunctious, loud, or frenzied, just nice and
easy. It was one of the most beautiful nights of Jay's life.

"And who was Keith?" asked Chani as the airplane took off.

"Me and my cousin used to be close, and Keith was one of our friends. I forgot
about him when Alan and I drifted apart, but I guess they stayed friends. Jay
said Alan used Keith to resurrect one of the Old Ones in his body. A Cthuluan
demon." Julie looked at the cup of ginger ale in her hand. "I just hope no one
else has turned with Alan."

Danny leaned back in the recliner. "Yes ma'am, I'm here."

Gina's voice came sharply over the other end. "Good. I have the faxes in my
hand. What about the email?"

"It'll be there in a little bit."

He could hear her flipping through the paper's he'd sent over. "Good, good,"
she said. "This is very good. You've earned your reputation very well," she
said. "Where are you now?"

"Singapore. I'm the vice-president for Blackfire, a new sub-corporate that
manufactures the components for FireFly."

"Excellent," Gina said. Her voice was dripping with satisfaction. "That's my
girl. Already getting herself in over her head."

Danny smiled. He loved his job.

The only thing that prevented Jay and Melanie from spending the entire day in
an infatuated daze was the knowledge that they were one of the last defenses
against a madman that wanted to resurrect a god.

Early in the morning, they left in an airplane to the Russian base. "We have
to find some snow clothes and some kind of vehicle to travel in down there. If
we don't, we'll never make it to the nexus in time."

"I know."

Amber hung up and looked at Ryan Smith. He was tall, with short-cut dark hair,
and glasses. "Hello," he said, shaking her hand.

"Sit down," Amber told him, propping her feet up on the desk. "Now, you're a
friend of Matt's?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes I am. After working with Matt, I heard of your little
dispute with your mother..."

"He told you?" Amber's face darkened noticeably.

"No. I found that out through other channels. My reason for being here is to
offer you my services."

With a raised eyebrow, Amber said, "As..."

"As an infiltrator, of course. I would take a similar position as Mr. Warren,
only...I wouldn't be so clumsy. He's an overconfident dimwit."

"How do I know you're reliable? How do I know you're not another agent?"

Ryan shrugged. "You don't, for sure. Matt Jakowski can vouch for me."

Amber began tracing her finger on the pad in front of her. After a few
seconds, the patterns formed into the Truth Rune. "What is you're real reason
for being here?"

"To help you."

"And you're not working for my mother?" Amber asked.

"No."

"You're not working for anyone else?"

"No."

"And I can take you into full confidence, without fear of information leaks?"

"Yes, you can."

Amber smiled and stopped tracing her finger. She stood up and reached across
the desk. "Nice to have you aboard, Ryan."

Julie pulled the door closed, the wind's howling finally coming to a stop.
"Thank God you knew this was here," she chattered.

They had taken the plane south, and found a boat to that took them to an
American port at Antarctica. With some mind-numbing influence from Chani, the
Americans "loaned" a six-wheel snow truck to the girls. It had broken down an
hour ago, and they didn't know how to get it started again. Anea suggested
they gather all their clothes and gear, and take the snowmobiles from the top
of the truck. Once they had the snowmobiles, Anea led them to this abandoned
science station. It was no more than a hole in the side of an ice berg, and
impossible to tell from snow.

"I really wish you'd tell us how you did that," Chani added.

Anea shrugged, grinning slightly. Snow fell from her eyelashes. "I do too."

"It's s-s-so c-cold," Julie managed through her frozen jaw.

Chani fumbled out a small can of lighter fluid and a box of matches. As she
attempted to open them both, Julie broke down an old table and chairs for the
fire's fuel. It took a few minutes, but the fire eventually started to full
strength, burning away the kindling quickly. By then, Anea had found the
science station's firewood, and was bringing in logs one at a time.

An hour later, the blasting winds of Antarctica were only a memory, and the
girls were relaxing around the fire lazily.

"We should have let that guide come with us," Chani said. "He was pretty
cute."

"He looked like a freak! Didn't you see his eyes! They couldn't stop moving!
It was like they had electric motors or something," Julie said.

Chani shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention to his eyes."

Julie rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her pillow. "I hope we get there
soon. This food is really starting to make me sick."

Anea yawned widely, and looked back at the fire with her eyes only half open.

"Hey Anea, you should get into bed," Chani said sternly, getting up and
pulling the girl to her feet.

"No! I can stay awake," she yawned.

"You can sleep in the mattress in the corner."

"No, I-"

"Do it." Chani pushed her onto the old mattress, laying her blanket over the
girl.

As Chani sat back next to the fire, she pulled off her sweater. Beneath it,
she was wearing a tank top. "Oh," she sighed. "Now it's getting hot."

Julie looked at the younger girl for a few moments, then looked back at the
fire. A shiver passed through her body.

"This is the Demon Hunter headquarters," Jeeves said solemnly.

"Jeeves? Jay here, where's Amber?"

"The mistress has just retired for the night."

"Like hell she has, wake her up."

"That would be unwise, sir, since-"

"Do it, dammit. This is an emergency."

"Yes sir."

A few minutes later, Amber's sleepy voice came on the line. "Hello?"

"Amber? What happened to staying up till 2?"

"Can't. FireFly's keeping me busy. What do you want, I'm tired."

"I need you to look for a spell for me."

"What? Now?"

"Yeah."

"Jay, can't you get Jeeves-"

"No. You could do it in less than half the time."

"But-"

"Amber," Jay stressed. "Don't you realize the magnitude of what's going on
here? I know FireFly's important, and I know you're tired as hell, but if this
mission doesn't succeed, the world will end. Literally."

There was a silence for a few moments.

"Hello?" Jay said.

"Okay," Amber said, still sleepy. "I'm in your stupid lab. What do you want me
to look for?"

"I need you to find The Book of Ash and Druidic Myth and Magic."

"That piece of crap?"

"Yes, that piece of crap. Look in there for a Druid god named Mannan."

A few hours later, Jay had scrawled notes all over a piece of paper. "Let's
move," he said.

Melanie opened her mouth to speak, but he picked her up and carried her to
their room.

"What is it?" she asked when he set her down.

"I think we can teleport there instead of having to persuade the Russians to
give us a snow truck. It was hard enough trying to get a room from them."

Melanie sighed. "I hope it works. And I hope the others are okay."

Julie's internal conflict was growing as each minute passed. She'd never, ever
been attracted to girls before, but Chani was turning her on like a furnace.
What the hell was happening? Why was she suddenly so hot towards her?

Chani was curled up in her sleeping bag, her naked back exposed to the fire.
She breathed softly, her body rising and falling every time she inhaled.

Just as the madness was about to devour her, Julie heard something outside the
door to their room. She looked up to the barred doors of their one-room
bunker. There was a small clack, and Julie almost dismissed it as her
imagination, when the doors burst inwards. The bolt shattered in a million
shards of wood.

A dark figure leaped into the room, snarling. Black claws tipped his fingers,
and snake-like eyes inhabited his skull. The rest of his body was completely
black.

Julie screamed, which was loud enough to wake the others, if the explosive
entrance hadn't done it already.

"Nice to see you again, Julie," said a serpentine voice.

"No," breathed the girl. "Why have you all turned with him?" she cried.

Yog-Sothoth stalked towards the shaking girl, ignoring Chani and Anea. Then
Julie swore softly, fearful tears running down her face.

Anea yelled something at the creature, but a flash of its fist knocked her
against the wall. She fell to the ground, senseless.

Julie's hand extended and her last two fingers curled against her palm.
Yog-Sothoth saw this as an attack, and leaped forward, grabbing her neck and
lifting her up. "Alan will not forgive you for murdering Azathoth," the
demon's voice rattled in her face. "And neither will I."

Chani gave a powerful shout, and a beam of white energy shot straight through
Yog-Sothoth's chest, between Julie's legs. Yog-Sothoth dropped to the ground,
smoke pouring from his face and chest. Julie fell next to him, covering her
face and weeping.

Chani closed the door to their room, then kneeled next to Julie. Julie sobbed
for almost twenty minutes, until she slowed and realized her position.

Shivering with anticipation, Chani felt the skin of the girl beneath her.
Julie was wearing a tank top and boxer shorts, scant clothing for such cold
weather, even if she had been wearing a snowsuit earlier. It showed off her
tanned skin and slim thighs well, though.

After she stopped crying for her cousin and friend, Julie realized the
situation she was in. Her head was on Chani's shoulder, and the smaller girl's
breast was pressed into her back. Chani's hands were loosely wrapped around
Julie's neck, resting just above her breasts.

It didn't take long at all for Julie to realize she was helpless. When she
looked up at Chani, the younger girl leaned down and kissed her. Before Julie
was overwhelmed by the pleasure, she noticed that Chani's lips tasted like
mint.

Julie was swept away in the passionate kiss that lasted for several minutes.
When Chani finally pulled away, she was on top, looking down at Julie. "Why
are you doing this?" Julie mumbled weakly.

"Because I love it..." Chani whispered, kissing Julie on the mouth again. Her
tongue slipped out into the other girl's, then she kissed her lips, chin,
neck, and collar bone. Chani slowly pulled Julie's tank top above her head,
kissing down her chest, and moving to each breast. She lingered there, kissing
and sucking until Julie moaned. Chani licked further down, past her rib cage,
to her slim stomach, and to the waistline of her boxers.

Julie's eyes closed and she breathed small breaths when she felt the elastic
band slipping down her legs and about her ankles. "Oh..." she moaned. Chani's
tongue teased Julie's thin pubic hair, then moved to her sensitive spot. She
licked around it and pushed her tongue over it, sending thrills of pleasure up
Julie's inexperienced body.

Chani slid herself between the other girl's legs, lifting her hips and pushing
out her tongue. Julie gasped as she felt herself being penetrated. "Oh God,"
she cried softly. Chani's tongue moved slowly up and down Julie's cleft. Hot
juices were leaking from Julie's cunt, and Chani drank them up.

Julie's moans increased as she neared her peak. The girl's sweaty feet braced
against the floor. Chani's hands softly worked the other girl's buttocks as
she gave her a blowjob, slowly bringing her to orgasm. When Julie did come,
her hands were in Chani's hair, who was face-fucking her for all she was
worth. That was plenty.

Julie's orgasm stormed through her body, arching her back and widening her
eyes. She screamed aloud, clutching Chani's head as the orgasm pulsed through
her body.

As Julie lay back in the afterglow of her orgasm, Chani moved up her body,
straddling her hips over Julie's. The smaller girl kissed Julie again, and
Julie could taste her own juice on Chani's lips and tongue.

By now, both had forgotten completely about Anea.

Julie opened her mouth to speak, tears coming to her eyes.

Chani placed a finger on her lips, grinning. "Talk later."

She pulled her long-underwear shirt over her head.

Ryan picked the lock on the door with ease, and slipped inside.

The office was small, but probably held useful information. He flipped on the
light and began shuffling through papers, looking for anything. Anything at
all. It took several minutes, but he found it. A letter of request from Danny
Warren.

Ryan's large white teeth gleamed in the lamplight. The time would be soon.

Jay's eyes opened in the darkness. Something was wrong. He listened to
Melanie's soft breathing next to his, but could hear nothing else. His arm
slipped out from under her soft body, and he stepped to the cold floor,
slipping on his boxer shorts.

As soon as Jay reached for the eye pendant, he could see a shape move in the
corner of the room. Jay jumped forward, stepping off the bed and leaping at
the creature with a yell.

The demon's arm shot out, catching Jay in the shoulder. He spun in the air and
landed on his back heavily.

Jay dimly heard Melanie in the background as he dodged another attack from the
demon. Jay flipped up to his feet and backpedaled out of the demon's range. It
rushed at him, and Jay swung open the room's door, smashing the demon in the
face. That did little to stop it. Melanie lashed out with her mind, and the
demon halted as its claws were about to open Jay's stomach. Jay yanked his
blood knife from off the nightstand, and plunged it into the demon's face.

With a howl, the demon phased back into its home dimension.

Jay looked at Melanie, opening his mouth to speak. Something slammed into his
back, and Jay stumbled forward. A Borian Demon Parasite clung to his back,
trying to suck the life from him. Fortunately, a tattoo scrawled on Jay's
ankle prevented it from having any effect. Jay spun around, ignoring the huge
bug on his shoulder blades. He faced a second demon, twice as big as the
first.

Yellow eyes shone in the darkness.

"Get out of here Mel, I'll handle him."

"No."

"Melanie-" Jay broke off and dived to the side as the thing threw a fireball
at him. He dragged Melanie with him behind the bed, and they fell in a heap.
"Get out of here Melanie!" he cried, pushing her aside. Melanie cursed,
standing up and sidestepping another fireball.

"Dammit Melanie!" Jay yelled, throwing his backpack at the creature. "Get
away!" He reached for his blood knife, and swore when he realized it was lying
next to the closet.

Jay ducked as three more lances of fire slammed into the wall behind him.

Melanie closed her eyes and began throwing out psychic energy at the creature.
It slowed its attack and clutched its temples. Melanie's attack focused and
concentrated to a deadly assault that wouldn't relent.

It roared in agony, clutching its head, pitifully attempting to defend against
her mental onslaught. Jay stood up and slammed his hands together right in
front of his face, as if he were praying. He chanted seven words in Greek,
then spread his hands to his sides. White fire was burning on his palms,
flicking around the edges. He chanted seven words in Hebrew (he didn't know
what they meant), and clapped his hands together at arms' length, pointed
straight at the huge demon. White fire erupted between and around his hands,
at the same time enveloping the creature. Its scream of agony drowned out
Jay's.

When he woke up, the room was spinning. It slowed to a stop, and he saw a
nurse standing over him. She said something in Russian, and Melanie
translated. "She thinks you'll be fine. It's just a concussion."

Melanie's face was full of concern as she helped him to his feet. "What
happened?" she asked as she led him down the hall.

"Now I know why my uncle said to never use that spell."

"Why?"

"I felt the same pain from the fire as the demon, or whatever it was."

"Oh."

"What happened to him?"

"He ran away."

"What?"

Melanie nodded. "Just before he left, he held up a piece of gold cloth and
said 'I have this.'"

Jay stopped. "Damn. Fuck! That means he has one of the artifacts!"

"Probably more. What do we do now?"

"We're going to cast that spell."

"Are you up to it now?"

"Yeah yeah, we'll get one. Just hurry up, I have to call Amber again."

When they finally reached the underground palace, Julie knew it was the wrong
place. "It's not here," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "It's too
late."

"What are you t-talking about?" Anea's teeth clacked together.

"This isn't the place. Alan already has all the artifacts."

"Not if Jay and Melanie get to their position first."

They had been walking down a hallway, to the throne room, and a small spark of
hope had ignited at hearing those words. It died when Julie saw the far wall
of the throne room.

"All that's left is for you to witness his new birth. You will know where to
go, sister dearest," was written on the wall.

The three girls stopped in their tracks. Hope was far away, now.

"Damn," Melanie whispered.

"What?"

"That's not the place."

"What are you tlaking about?" Jay asked, putting his hand over the telephone.

"Alan. He's at our location. We have to hurry. He has all the artifacts."

Jay swore. "Huh? No, I was talking to somebody else. What do you mean you
can't find her?" he demanded. "I have to talk to Amber, dammit! No, I don't
care. When you find her, tell her to call...huh? She did what? No, thank you,"
Jay slammed the phone down. "Great," he huffed.

"What do we do now?"

"I'm going to have to try that spell on my own."

"Didn't you get it from her earlier? And where's Amber?"

"Yeah, I got it earlier, but I forgot to compensate for the fact that we'd be
teleporting into a nexus. Amber? I don't know! This guy says she won't accept
calls for the next week!"

"It doesn't matter. It's up to us now."

Jay straightened dramatically. "That's right. We are the sole hope of the
earth. We are the last defenders of the planet, and only we can-"

"Jay? Amber wouldn't put up with that, and neither will I."

"Oh fine." Jay took his hand from his chest. "Okay. I'm ready. Let's go."

"What are we going to do about the spell?"

"I'll cast it as soon as the saliva mixture has sat over night."

"The what mixture?"

"Don't ask." Jay sighed, putting his hand against the wall. "What now? The
mixture won't be ready until tomorrow."

Melanie wrapped her arms around Jay's waist sensuously, smiling up at him. "We
have a while until then." Her tongue licked his lips.

Jay grinned down at her and fell back onto the bed, startling Melanie. "Never
knew you were such an animal!" he said.

"I've had to wait a long time for you," she grinned, crawling up his chest and
opening her mouth over his. Her tongue thrust out into Jay's mouth, probing
him forcefully.

Jay laughed at her vivacity and pushed his hands inside the back of her pants.
Giggling, Melanie reached inside his, and gripped his hard cock.

With a grunt, Jay pulled Melanie's pants down her slim hips. She unbuttoned
her fly and kicked off her shoes, then her pants. In one quick motion, Jay
flipped her over onto the bed. Melanie squealed in surprise, even more so when
Jay started gnawing at her neck. Jay's fingers slipped inside her panties and
pressed between her lower lips. She was wet. He slid her panties off quickly.

Jay bent between her legs and licked up and down her slit, listening to her
moans. He sat back and pulled off his shirt, then pants and underwear. "Oh
Jay," Melanie giggled, coming forward in front of Jay. She bent over his
throbbing cock and licked the tip. After a few teasing licks, Melanie took it
inside her mouth, sucking on it and gently biting it with her teeth.

All Jay could see was her dark hair bobbing up and down on his cock. It didn't
take long for him to come. Her constant licking and caressing with her mouth
brought him to orgasm quickly. He held his hands on either side of her head,
grunting and then shouting as he jerked his hips into Melanie's mouth. She
almost gagged, but managed to swallow it all.

Jay fell back on the bed, sighing. "God you're so good," he said.

Melanie grinned at him. "I know." She unbuttoned her blouse and tossed it
aside, then did the same with her bra. Waiting on Jay to return to his former
state, she lay back between his legs, her head resting against his stomach and
stared down at her feet. "Who woulda thought?" she mumbled.

"What?" Jay said, caressing her hair.

"A year ago. Six months even. Things are changing so fast."

"It'll be faster, soon. Nothing these days stays the same for long."

"Yeah, I know."

Jay's hands moved down to her neck and face, rubbing delicately.

"What do you think's going to happen to us? Not us two, I mean, but the Demon
Hunters?" Melanie asked.

"I don't know. I doubt very much Amber will stay with us. I guess being a
demon hunter just isn't her nature. Chani and Anea? They're just kind
of...there. Nothing else. As far as I know, anyway."

"We'll stay Demon Hunters."

Jay nodded. "There's nothing else I know how to do. That's all I am, and all I
will be. Ever."

Melanie sighed as his hands worked to her breasts. "I'll see if I can change
that someday," she breathed.

Jay lifted her up so her head was just beneath his chin, so he could reach
farther down her body beneath her arms. "Why would you want to do that?" he
said into her hair. "Surely you wouldn't want to change me as a person."

Melanie shifted and groaned as her nipples hardened beneath his fingertips.
"That's not...that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?"

finger plunged into her pussy.

"What?" Jay said. "Answer me, please."

"I...you know what I meant!" Melanie shifted again, whimpering as his right
hand did wonderful things between her legs.

"Yeah," Jay finally whispered. "I do." His hands went around her waist,
lifting her up suddenly.

Melanie cried out in surprise, then grunted as she felt the head of Jay's cock
press against her anus. Relaxing her muscles, she let it slide in, all the
way.

It was a strange sensation, for both of them. Jay's hips began rocking in and
out of Melanie's young body. She bobbed up and down on top of his hard cock,
ignoring the pain she felt. "Jesus-" she gasped as her orgasm approached.

Jay's right hand was playing with her pussy. Juice was pouring down over his
fingers, onto the bedsheets. They stopped talking. The only sounds that could
be heard were the gentle squeaking of the bed and the light breathing of Jay
and Melanie.

It didn't take long for Jay to climax, he felt it rolling in on him quickly.
His back arched, grinding his naked pelvis into Melanie's buttocks. She
squealed out her orgasm, crying out as Jay pumped load after load into the
young girl's asshole.

After a few minutes, Melanie pulled herself off Jay's limp penis and lay on
her stomach next to him. "I'm feeling kinda tired now," she mumbled.

Jay laughed. "No offense, but, I can read you just about as well as you can
read me. You can't put anything past me."

Melanie looked up, grinning. "Shoulda known better."

Her tongue found his, and they returned to their lovemaking.

"How the hell did you guys find us?" Jay asked.

Chani jerked her head at Anea. "She comes up with more tricks than a
magician."

"Well, hurry up," he told them. "Sit by the fire."

The teleportation spell would have been ineffective if Jay had tried casting
it straight into the nexus, so he had to teleport them a few miles north of
it. And somehow the others had managed to get here just as fast, without
teleporting.

Jay had spent nearly a half hour creating this specific casting circle, and
needless to say, it saved all their lives. The casting circle formed a tall
dome that kept in heat, but kept out the cold and the snow. It was about ten
yards in radius, with a few faint lines drawn in the packed snow beneath them.
No heat escaped into that snow either.

After warming up for an hour, Jay asked Julie, "How did you know where he
went?"

"Who?"

"Alan? How did you know he came down here?"

"We've already been to the other location. He wasn't there."

"And where's the entrance to Atlantis?" Chani asked.

"Another few miles," Jay said. "I was gonna wait for the storm to die down."

Julie's eyes popped open. "No," she whispered. "No! We have to go now! There's
no time left!"

Jay sensed the urgency in her voice and scrambled to his feet. "Come on!"

The nexus itself could be seen, even through the blizzard. An unnatural pillar
of light stood against the horizon, shining brightly into the night. Chani,
Julie, and Anea had snowmobiles, so they all used them to ride south to the
shimmering nexus. It was finally time.

Although it took more than a half-hour to reach the nexus, it seemed like just
a few minutes. As they neared the pillar of energy, it began to shrink, until
it was about as high as a telephone pole.

The nexus where Alan was sitting was located on a separated plateau of ice,
ten feet above the rest of the ground. They could all hear Alan laughing as
the spell was completed.

"Oh God," Melanie whispered.

As the snowmobiles stopped next to the ice, Jay stumbled off and yanked a
grappling hook from his backpack. He jumped up and lodged it into the top of
the plateau, pulling himself up. As soon as he was up, he gaped at what he
saw.

About a hundred yards away, a lone figure sat in the snow, wearing a black
robe. It was Alan.

The pillar of energy had turned into a massive vortex of swirling gas and
energy. Lightning crackled around the edges, and demons were struggling to
free themselves from the grip of the swirling energy. Several did.

But in front of those demons came Mannan. The ancient god stood fifty feet
high, with a fiery mane of silver hair. His skin was cold blue, and his eyes
were shining white. A glowing sword was held in his left hand.

Jay's perplexed face was smashed bloody when a demon kicked him off the edge.
He fell into the snow with a plop, the cold already numbing his face. His mask
and snow glasses had been torn off. The demon jumped down to hit Jay, but
Chani reacted first. Her hands came together and a bolt of light slammed the
demon against the short cliff, exploding its chest.

With a groan, Jay struggled to his feet. He barely felt Melanie as she helped
him up. All that he saw was Hastur. The big demon stood on the edge of the
cliff, staring down and laughing.

"Hey asshole!" Jay shouted, taking his hand from his face and standing with
his legs apart. "Eat this!"

He shouted seven words in Greek.

Hastur's haughty eyes turned angry.

Jay's hands clapped together and he shouted seven words in Hebrew.

Fire boiled along the demon's skin, and Jay's. But when the demon fell, smoky
and burnt, Jay was still standing.

"Ha ha," Jay spat.

Melanie rushed over to him, grabbing under his shoulders. "Are...are you
okay?"

Jay shrugged, and then dropped to his knees. "I'll be fine," he managed a
moment later. "But we have to..." Jay fainted.

Chani grabbed the grappling hook and leaped back up to where Jay had been,
looking up over the edge. Hundreds of demons were now flying from the portal,
blackening the sky. Shit.

And Mannan was standing above Alan. "He's loose!" she called. "We have to
fight him!"

The others took their own grappling hooks and climbed up next to her, standing
on the ledge. Except for Julie.

Mannan wasn't even looking at them as he bathed in his power. Lightning was
dancing along his arms and shooting out into the sky. He was laughing
insanely.

Alan was still sitting on the ground.

"Julie, what are you doing?" Chani said. "We have to fight him!"

Julie looked up. "No. We can't win. He is a god. There is no way that we could
beat him."

Some of the demons noticed the girls and began flying towards them rapidly.

Julie swore and leaped up into the air. She flew over the edge of the cliff
and landed in front of the others.

"Hoooo shit," Chani said at the girl's incredible jump.

Anea straightened up. "This is it. We have to fight."

"No," Julie said, turning around and putting her hand on the girl's chest.
"No. This is not your fight."

"But-"

Julie's gaze silenced her. She faced the group, slowly backing towards the
evil god and his minions. "I'm sorry we couldn't have known each other
longer," she said sadly. "But I'm afraid this is the end. It was destined, I
suppose. Tell Jay good-bye for me," she said to Melanie. "I'll miss you all."
Her eyes looked at Chani when she said this. "Good bye."

Julie turned around, and before any of them could say anything, Julie's hand
reached up, her index and forefinger extended. A small dot of light appeared
at the end of her fingers, and grew in intensity as she lowered it in front of
her face. "Go now," Julie said. "Go before you can't any more."

Melanie sensed that Julie was not lying. Julie knew exactly what was
happening. She knew the risks. She knew it was her destiny. She knew this was
the end.

"Come on," Melanie said to the others. "We have to go now."

Julie's body was completely enveloped by the light. Her clothes disappeared,
and her body shined too brilliant too look at. It was brighter than the sun.

"Let's go," Melanie said louder, trying to be heard over the roar of the
energy that was being gathered.

Julie was walking forward, a cloud of white energy spreading from her body.
Demons were being caught in the luminescence, screaming in frustration.

"Now!" Melanie cried, pushing the others away. They scrambled down the cliff.

A blinding light shone from all around, forcing them to close their eyes. It
seemed to last forever, but when it did end, they saw that the plateau was
gone. In its place was a huge spire of ice. Thousands of smaller spires spiked
out from the main branch, making it look like a huge tree, or flower. It stood
hundreds of feet high, stretching into the now gathering storm clouds.

The girls stood staring at the magnificent sight for several minutes, until
Chani cried, "Look!"

She pointed at a small doorway into the ice, beyond which was completely
black.

"That's not meant to be used yet," Anea said. "We should leave now, before Jay
gets frost bite."

Chani stared at the doorway, puzzled, until she heard the snowmobiles revving.
She sat on her snowmobile and twisted the key. The others drove away, and she
followed.

Ryan opened the door and stepped in. He nodded to Amber. "It's done," he said.
"The explosives are planted at the factory, and should go off any-" A dull
whump interrupted him, and he nodded. "That's it. You have no more competition
here in Taiwan."

Amber grinned at him. "Good work, Ryan. I'll have to reward you for your
vigilance."

Ryan's cheek twitched. "I'd be more than happy to sniff out Mr. Warren, or
your mother."

Amber looked down at the floor momentarily. "Perhaps you've heard, but Matt
Jakowski has been...killed."

Ryan easily suppressed his grin.

"I'd like you to replace him, since you've shown your proficiency in many
areas."

"It would be my pleasure, Ms. Jenkins."

"Thank you. Good night."

Ryan closed the door behind him after he left.

People would die, he knew, but it was a small price to pay for revenge.

The rain fell from the sky in a steady downpour, running in rivers down
Amber's face and dress. She was soaked to the bone, but didn't care. Alone,
she stood above her mother's grave. Gina was dead.

It didn't matter.

Amber was her daughter, so she should feel some grief...sure, her mother had
been a...the Bitch, but shouldn't she even care that she was gone? It was the
lack of emotion that disturbed Amber. That and the fact that nobody could be
trusted. Even when they were telling the truth. Especially then.

It wasn't the grief that she was worried about. There was no grief at Ian's
death. Shouldn't she feel any satisfaction? Her mother was dead. That was more
than she could have hoped for...

Well, the most she could have hoped for would be for the Bitch to go bankrupt
and live in financial ruin until she was 101 years old, but that was unlikely.

Melanie grabbed Amber's shoulder as she was about to knock on the door.
"What?" Amber said.

"Don't go in there," Melanie said. "That's what he's waiting on."

"Who?"

"Ryan. He wants us to go in there."

"I know he does. He's here with my lawyer to discount all the false evidence
my mother's got against us."

Melanie's face went through a series of emotions. "Come on," she tugged at
Amber. "Come on!" she cried. "We have to get out of here!"

Amber stumbled after Melanie as she was pulled away from her old home. "What's
going on?" Amber demanded.

"He's crazy!"

"Who is?"

"Ryan!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just run!" Melanie cried, and they ran. "He's seen us," she stated as they
reached the gates outside of Gina's property. "It's too late for them."

"Who?"

A massive wall of sound slammed into them both, deafening them as the mansion
and surrounding property disappeared in an unbelievable ball of fiery light.
Amber fell on her backside as she stared stupidly at the plume of smoke rising
from where the main house once stood.

Who could be trusted? No one. How had Ryan deceived her Rune of Truth? Fuck.
This was too complicated. After a year of excellent service, Ryan suddenly
goes berserk and bombs the Jenkins Mansion, killing himself, Gina, and Danny.
No explanation.

As Amber walked to the car, she pondered her future now. She hadn't been
linked to the bombing. For good reason; she wasn't responsible. There were a
few tabloids that claimed she was responsible, but those papers were given
little thought by the populace.

She sighed.

Melanie and Jay were waiting beside the limo as she returned. Jay opened the
door and followed her inside.

"You're dripping wet," Jay said as he sat across from her, putting his arm
around Melanie's shoulders.

"I know," Amber said.

The limo pulled away and began its course back to the Jewel Tower.

They sat in silence for a few moments, and Amber said, "Why'd he do it?"

"He was crazy," Melanie said. "All I managed to read, before he killed
himself, was an...uncontrollable rage towards Danny. Something from the past.
I get the feeling that Danny and he had known each other before... but nothing
more."

"Why didn't Danny recognize Ryan?"

"He might have. I was concentrating on Ryan at the moment."

Amber leaned back in the seat and stared at the ceiling. Hell.

Hell Hell Hell. At least she'd inherited some extra capital. And at least she
knew what to do with it. This could probably double FireFly's growth. Or at
least provide her with a buffer if things went badly for her.

Now was extremely stressful, since she was having to cope with the demands of
all her new FireFly stores and firms. So far, her entrance into the
international market had met with remarkable success. Heavy advertising and
well-connected resources ensured that. As well as a few covert runes placed
strategically in the FireFly logo.

"What now?" Jay said.

Amber shrugged. "I'm gonna go home and sleep."

"You really should."

"I will."

"Where'd you get this?" Chani asked, looking at the back of the CD.

Jay shrugged. "That CD shop on the first floor. It was on sale."

"Vanessa Mae, hm? I'll have to remember her." Chani set the case aside and
held a printout to Jay. "Here, this was on your desk earlier today. I figured
you'd want to look at it before any of us went after it."

Jay read through the paper. "Why? What's so different about it?"

Chani shrugged. "You'd just said you wanted to take the case if there was any
suggestion of voodooism. There's a chance that this person's just the object
of somebody's revenge."

Jay pursed his lips. "Nah. That's all right. One of you can have it." Jay
handed it back to her and walked into his office. The Demon Hunters now
occupied a small space on the 33rd floor, had their own LAN, server,
computers, desks, offices, and paperweights.

Jay's was an imp in flat-bottom crystal ball.

He closed the door and Melanie swiveled around in her chair to face him, one
foot up on the seat. "Well?" she said. They shared the same office, which was
about half the size of Amber's, but twice as much space as they needed.

"What?"

"Did you take the case?"

"The voodoo one? No."

"Why not?"

"I don't feel like it. If it is a voodooist, Chani'll make sure he never goes
near a doll again in his life."

"What if it's Anea?"

"She'll make sure that this whiner is completely protected from voodoo magic
for all eternity. That simple."

Melanie leaned back. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Oh yeah. You know I am. The only reason I wanted the case is so I could learn
some voodoo. I just don't feel like it today." Jay paused, then added, "Come
on, let's play Doom against those guys in Tech Support."

Melanie nodded. "Okay. You think that'd be fun?"

"Playing Doom?" he asked, sitting behind his computer and dialing tech
support.

"No. If a huge gateway to Hell were opened and we all had tons of ammo to
shoot them with. Would you rather shoot them or cast spells against them?"

Jay shrugged as he put on his headset. "Beats me. I don't use weapons that
much, y'know."

Melanie's phone rang. "Chani and Anea must be out on that case," she noted.
"Who do you think'll win?" she asked.

"Chani," he replied, executing his doom manager. "She's the bossiest. She'll
end up smearing that voodoo man's brains all over the wall."

"I say both," Melanie countered, punching the button on her telephone. "This
is Melanie with DH Inc," she said. "How may I help you?"

Pause.

"Uh-huh," she scrawled some notes on a pad and handed it to Jay.

"This guy wants to kill you," it said.

What are you talking about? Jay thought at her.

He does want to kill you. I'm reading it from his mind.

Well show me.

Melanie's mind opened to Jay's, and they melded, as often happened during sex.
Jay experienced everything Melanie experienced, and she experienced everything
he did.

"I have this ghost, or something, that keeps coming into my room at night,"
the voice said. He was lying.

He's lying, Jay thought.

No kidding.

"Oh?" Melanie said. "When should I send someone over?"

"Now would be fine," said the voice. "I hate this. Please help me."

Jeez. This guy can't act, either, Jay thought.

Bad lines, too.

"Okay," Melanie said. "I'll send one of our agents right over-"

"Could you send over Jay?"

The best, grinned Jay.

And the cockiest.

Glad you noticed. I was always big for my age.

So guys actually compare themselves?

"I'm sorry," Melanie said. "But Jay is a busy man-"

"I'll pay anything," the voice stressed.

Better be willing to, commented Jay.

"He prices about twice as much as the other agents. Any of them could do the
job-"

"I want Jay."

I feel so appreciated.

I'll show you appreciated, Melanie mused.

I hope so. Later tonight.

"Okey-dokey, sir," Melanie replied. "He'll be over there as soon as possible
to assess the situation."

"Thank you. Good bye."

"No prob-" Click.

"Ungrateful asshole," Jay said.

Melanie snorted. "Really. When do we leave?"

Jay stood up. "Now, I guess."

"Okay. How do you plan on getting rid of this person?"

"He was another demon hunter, right?"

Melanie nodded.

"We'll use his own tricks against him. He can't be that powerful."

"Probably right."

"Let's move."

Chani's dry throat was drenched in the strong bite of Magpie Ale. Magpie
Mentality. She chuckled. What a name. If the Magpie Ale company did well
enough, Amber would probably buy up the company and rename it FireFly Ale. It
wouldn't surprise her.

As the road forked, Chani took it to the right, flooring the accelerator. What
a beautiful night. Not a cloud in the sky. The plains stretched out to her
left and right for miles, all the way to the horizon. Far behind her, the city
of Toho polluted the skyline with its artifical-light haze.

But Chani was looking ahead.

Ever since she'd gotten her driver's license, Chani had taken more and more
night drives. It gave her some calm, and some time to be alone. The stereo was
either quiet, or played Vanessa Mae. Or Enya. It had to be something in the
right mood. Tonight the CD player was silent.

Her convertible kicked up clouds of dust as it tore down the straight road.
Air was flying past, blowing out Chani's lengthening hair. She'd decided to
grow it out some, like Julie had. It looked nice like that.

More of the ale gushed down Chani's parched throat. It could get pretty dry
out here.

Chani flipped her headlights on bright, and turned left as the road slowly
curved. After the dirt road straightened out, Chani braced herself and her
bottle as the road turned into a paved highway. The car jumped, jarring her as
hit the beginning of the pavement.

That couldn't be good for the shocks.

It would be smooth sailing for another hour or so, even at 80.

When she held the drink to her lips this time, Chani noticed the bottle was
empty. She tossed it carelessly in the back seat, but underestimated her
throw. It bounced off the rear end and she could hear it break on the asphalt
far behind.

Oh well.

Popping the top on another bottle, Chani took another swig and wiped her mouth
on her sleeve.

The annoying thing about these rides was that she couldn't stop doing them.
And she couldn't stop drinking. Luckily, her alcohol tolerance was high. It
took about five or six bottles just to give her a buzz. Another two six packs
and she was finally gone. She always brought two or three cases on these
rides.

But why? Why did she keep driving out to the countryside, night after night,
staring at the sky? Maybe to think.

That's what always ended up happening. She'd think about anything and
everything. Or just one thing. Couldn't she talk to someone? No. No one was
close enough to her. Melanie could be, but she and Jay just couldn't get
enough of each other. Besides, if Chani ever confided in the older girl,
Melanie would find out that it had been Chani pushing Amber and Jay together.
Sexually. One of Chani's talents was to stimulate the sexual center of the
brain, causing her target to feel incredible attraction for whoever she
wanted.

But she didn't want Jay and Amber together now, especially since he and
Melanie were in love. No influence needed between those two, they were hot
enough by themselves.

She knew it was wrong to mess with others like that, but didn't care. Or did
she? Guilt continued to plague her about Julie. If Julie had still been alive,
then maybe the guilt would fade away. After all, Julie would still be able to
search out her own love life. Chani never intended to make Julie's one and
only sexual experience a forced one. It had been great, for both of them, and
Julie had enjoyed it, as Chani knew she would. But Chani couldn't read minds.
She didn't know how Julie felt about it afterwards.

She missed her throw again.

Chani had never really used her powers to any extent before Jay and Amber.
She'd been eager to try, but after the first night, left it alone for a while.
Now that power hadn't been exercised for over a year, and she wasn't about to
do it again. Not after Julie. No fuckin' way.

Shit. Holy fucking shit.

What was the point of it all? That question had haunted Chani for nearly two
years, ever since she'd met Jay and the others. Before, she'd lived with her
parents in...Chani paused. Her parents. Where were they now?

Aw shit. Who gives a fuck? Chani thought, tossing another bottle. This time
she didn't even aim.

Chani popped in her Vanessa Mae CD and blasted track 2 at max volume. It was
the only way she could hear it. Everything else was covered up by the wind.

Contradanza. That was her favorite song. Incredibly emotional. That was how
she measured her favorite songs. How much emotion they evoked in her. Enya,
Vanessa Mae. Those were her favorite two. Some classical music, but not much.

There was a single light out on the horizon as Chani approached the small town
of Naeville. Naeville itself was dead at this time of night, except for a few
streetlamps and the lone stoplight in town. She always ran it. Past Naeville
was another two hours of empty road. But she was late arriving here tonight.
She'd have to turn around after going through downtown.

Odd. The light was too far away from town to be in town, it must be a
farmhouse. Who would be up at 1am on a farm?

Jakar paused in his oration.

628 members of the Black Cult, known to its members as Karasha, knelt in the
field. A tall bonfire burned behind Jakar, but everyone could see the
headlights on Highway 87. Only he noticed the girl driving. Only he could
sense the conflict within her, and only he could sense that her time was soon.
Very soon, indeed.

Jakar looked back at his followers and smiled. "When we have reached our
number, the time will be ripe to pick a sacrifice. And the time will be ripe
to await the coming of the Otherworld."

Amber grinned at breakfast. It was the only time they ever saw her anymore.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she said through her cereal.

"No!" Melanie laughed. "His first personality wanted to absolutely destroy us,
and he probably would have with that spell he'd set up, but his second
personality was the one that answered the door."

Amber swallowed her mouthful. "So you're saying that this demon hunter was
actually a schitzo?"

"That's what I said," Jay told her. "When he opened the door, Mel said, 'This
is a different guy.' And then the dude said to come in, and his voice was the
same, so I said, sarcastically, 'Maybe he's a schitzo,' and Mel said, 'He
is!'"

Amber laughed out loud and then drained her bowl of milk. "Man, you guys are
some weirdos. I've got an important meeting in a few minutes, I'll seeya
later, huh?" She stood up and ran back to her room.

In the lone private part of Jay's mind, that he kept all his secret and
'unimportant' thoughts, he realized that Amber had always looked cuter in her
sweats and pajamas than in a low-cut business dress.

"Is Chani still asleep?" Anea asked when she came into the kitchen, rubbing
her eyes.

"It's only 6:49," Melanie pointed out. "Not everybody gets up this early."

"I don't think anybody gets up this early," Jay said.

"Except us."

"I'm not up yet. I'm still asleep."

"We should go back to sleep."

"I just told you," Jay said. "I never woke up."

Anea pushed some bagels into the oven and started it, sitting on the counter.
As they left to return to bed, she waved. "Bye guys."

"Bye," they both anwsered at once.

Anea looked out the kitchen window, which was abnormally large. The sun was
just now rising, casting an orange glow over the city. Beautiful. Absolutely
beautiful.

Maybe she'd go down to the market today. Chani could handle the reception at
DH Inc. for a few hours. If she ever woke up. It had taken Anea a while to
notice it, but Chani had changed. Something was definitely different about
her. The changes had only been noticeable recently, but they had existed
earlier. Unless they weren't changes at all. They might be just built up
stress.

If Anea wasn't so shy, she'd talk to Chani about it. Being shy was something
she hated. But then, she didn't want to be a gossipy, flirtatious girl,
either. There was this medium, between the two, that she couldn't seem to
reach.

She wanted to be social, but it couldn't make up her entire being. Chani and
Melanie seemed to be on that level...but...well, they had far different
personalities. There was this gap between the two extremes of Melanie and
Chani that Anea couldn't put her finger on. Chani was more outgoing, more
aggressive. Ever since Melanie had gotten together with Jay, her personality
had changed to be more social, but no less intelligent. "You can't analyze
everything," Melanie had told her. "You just have to... go with the flow."

That hadn't helped.

Anea was startled out of her reverie when the oven bell rang. She pulled out
her bagels and set them on a plate. When the girl turned around, Chani was
walking in the door.

"Chani? What are you doing up so early?" Anea asked.

"Hell if I know," Chani mumbled. "Can I have one?"

Anea held the plate out and Chani grabbed a bagel. She didn't even flinch at
the heat.

"Are you okay?" Anea asked, sitting next to her at the table.

Chani's eyes were dark and bloodshot, her hair was a mess, and her skin was
clammy. Her nightshirt clung to her body, damp with sweat. "Huh? Oh, sure. I'm
fine. Why?"

Anea bit into her bagel, and fanned her mouth. "No reason."

Chani tore off hunks of the cooked bread and swallowed, without even pausing
to drink.

"How are you feeling?" Anea asked after a few moments.

"Fine. You?"

Anea shrugged. "I...was wondering if I could go down to the market today. This
new music store opened there, and I was...you know, kind of wondering if it'd
be okay if-"

"Yeah yeah. No problem," Chani said. "You go ahead." She looked at the clock
on the wall. "Huh. Two hours till we're open. Yeah. I've got plenty of time to
wake up. Go ahead, I don't care."

"Thanks," Anea smiled. "I appreciate it."

"You owe me one," Chani said, chugging some OJ from the container. "Where's
everybody at?"

"They left a few minutes ago. Amber had an important meeting, and Jay and
Melanie went back to sleep."

Good, Chani thought. "Is anything on TV this time of morning?"

"Market News," Anea said.

"Oh. Whatever."

Anea flipped on the small TV sitting on the counter. The anchor woman appeared
as the camera zoomed in on her. "Amber Jenkins, the CEO for FireFly, the new
hard-hitting electronics and software company, has been dropped as a suspect
in the recent bombing of her mother's mansion. Ms. Jenkins, the youngest-"
Anea changed the channel.

"No, I guess nothing's on," she said.

Chani looked at Anea. She must have taken Gina's death pretty hard. She took
everything pretty hard. Anea didn't even love, much less know Gina. Gina was a
bitch, everyone knew that. Why did she even care? Chani was about to ask, when
Anea stood up. "I guess I'll go down to the market now. I'll see you in a
little bit."

Chani watched her friend go, trying not to stare below the hem of her
nightshirt. Jesus. Couldn't she think of one person as just a friend? Well,
Jay, Melanie, Amber...yes, and Anea. She was staring at Anea's butt. Who
cares? It wasn't like they had sex or anything.

At the remembrance of Julie, Chani buried her face in her arms with a sigh.
When would she get over that? It had been a year now. Instead of getting
better, it had gotten worse. Fuck. Maybe working would take her mind off
things.

It was about noon when Jakar opened the door to the DH Inc. offices. He had
tracked her here. It wasn't a very appealing place, he had to admit. Probably
the last place on Earth he'd want to be caught, dead or alive.

If only the girl was alone. He pushed open the door and stepped in quickly.
No, she wasn't alone. Hooo fuck. Three of them. The girl he was after, then
another boy and girl. His target was seated behind a desk. On the front of the
messy desk was a plastic prop that said "Chani."

She was the one. Her power was immense. By the gods, she would be more than
enough.

Jakar quickly soaked in the rest of them. The boy was not a natural. There was
something different about him, but it shouldn't present a problem. Not at all.
The other girl...fuck. She was a mindreader. She could identify him before he
even had a chance to do anything.

Chani looked up from the paper she was reading, her wide blue eyes evaluating
Jakar. With a smile, she asked, "May I help you?"

"No," Jakar said quickly. "I must have the wrong office."

He slipped out into the hall before the mindreader could look at him.
Hopefully she didn't pick up anything.

Jakar looked up and down the hall. It was empty. Except for security cameras.
Fuck. As Jakar was about to head down the stairs, he saw someone get off the
elevator down the hall. She caught his attention immediately.

The girl was short, with curly reddish hair that fell down about her
shoulders. She was older than Chani, but not much. Maybe 16 or 17. In each
hand was a large bag from the market downtown. Gods, she would be just as good
as Chani. Maybe better. Jakar stared at her until she noticed him and smiled
innocently.

Jakar smiled back and went into the stairwell. His pseudo-kind smile turned
evil. That innocence would become his, soon enough. All in good time. She had
to be alone, first. Only then could he catch her.

Chani twirled the car keys around her finger and hopped down the stairs. As
she walked past the couch, Anea sat up, blinking.

Chani jumped back, gasping in surprise. Her heart returned to its normal pace
momentarily, and she said, "What the hell are you doing there? You scared the
crap out of me!"

With a smile, Anea apologized, "I'm sorry. I must've fallen asleep." She
noticed the keys in Chani's hand. "Where are you going?"

"I, uh, was going to grab a bite to eat," Chani stammered. Then added, "You
want to come?"

To Chani's surprise, Anea agreed. "Yes, please. I'm starving. I haven't eaten
since breakfast."

"Uuhhhh, okay," Chani said, taken aback. "C-Come on."

They went down to Chani's convertible, and drove to a small Asian restaraunt
on the outskirts of downtown Toho. Chani ordered and said, "Let's eat outside.
The stars are out tonight."

Anea nodded and they returned to the car. Chani drove a ways along her
familiar route, in order to get away from the lights of the restaraunt, and
parked along the side of the road. "Nobody comes down this way," Chani
explained. She pulled her food out and began eating, even though she wasn't
very hungry.

The two girls ate in silence, primarily. Chani's thoughts inevitably wandered,
and she began thinking about herself and Julie. Chani hadn't really expected
it to happen. It just did. Kind of. Of course, her powers influenced the
incident directly, so it wouldn't have happened had she done nothing.

None of this would be bothering Chani if Julie were still alive. It was just
that Chani had stolen Julie's first and only sexual experience for her own
personal pleasure. Chani was dying to know what Julie thought of her
afterwards, but didn't dare ask. Melanie would be the only one who would know,
but there was no way in hell she'd come into this. At least, not if Chani
could help it.

God damn it! Why the hell did she have to force Julie into that? Jay and
Amber? Who cares. She could see that they'd both wanted it. Pretty badly, too.
But had Julie wanted it? Probably not. No, almost definitely not.

"Are you okay?" Anea asked, breaking Chani from her reverie.

"Huh?" Chani looked up and sniffed. Damn. She needed a beer.

"Is something wrong?"

Chani wiped her eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine, don't worry about it."

For the next few moments, Anea stared at her friend, then she said, "She did
want it."

Fuck.

"W-W-What?" Chani choked, rotating her head slowly to stare at the other girl.

"She did want it."

"W-What are you talking about?"

Anea smiled sympathetically. "Your powers just remove inhibitions. You don't
force anyone to do anything. Julie's desires were just harder to see than
Jay's."

Chani was gaping. "H-How..." She swallowed. "I thought you couldn't read
minds."

"I can't. I can see things, though. I see this."

"B-But how?"

Anea set her food on the dashboard. "Julie wanted it just as much as you did,
only she wasn't willing to act on it. Her fear of rejection, her forced
morals, shyness, and many others stood in the way. She is just as happy that
it happened as you were."

Chani's eyes closed as this sank in. All except the word "is." How Anea
knew...? Well, hell, everybody was a natural at something. The tension and
grief and guilt that had built up over the past months fell off like an old
garment. Tears sprung to her eyes again, but this time they were of relief and
joy.

As Chani wept, and Anea cradled her shoulder, she couldn't help but get a
feeling of deja vu. This had happened before, only Chani had been on the other
end.

When Chani's eyes cleared, quicker than Julie's had, she felt Anea's slim body
pressing against her own. Moments after Chani's wet eyes met Anea's, their
lips touched.

Tingling sensations danced along Chani's lips and tongue as they kissed
passionately. Anea was in charge, her hands sliding aggressively beneath
Chani's leather jacket and T-shirt. Her fingers slid along the younger girl's
smooth stomach, back, and chest.

A moan escaped Chani's lips as Anea undid her bra and fingered her breasts.
Pleasure lanced underneath Chani's skin, along her breasts, down her spine,
between her legs. Chani moaned, and could feel her panties begin to dampen. It
had been a long time.

Anea sat back on her heels and pulled her shirt over her head. She was wearing
a plain white bra underneath. Bending over once more, Anea snapped open
Chani's cutoff jean shorts and slipped her fingers inside, beneath the cotton
fabric of her panties.

Chani whimpered, remembering Julie that night. She had wanted it, after all.
More tears flowed, passion mixed in them. Another moan floated up from the
convertible as Chani felt Anea's hot mouth between her now-bared legs. This
was so similar, so much like last time. But did Anea want it? She had to.

Wild waves of pleasure flowed through Chani's brain, causing her to arch her
back. She cried out as the older girl's tongue flicked along her cleft, then
penetrated deeply. That was all it took for Chani to come, and she screamed,
tensing her legs around Anea's back and clutching the girl's hair.

After her orgasm died down, Chani lay gasping against the driver-side door of
the car. "Oh, Anea," she said. "I didn't-"

Anea's kiss cut her off. "Not yet," she whispered, slipping her hand up
Chani's shirt. Chani tasted her musky flavor in Anea's mouth as they kissed,
turning her on even more.

Anea's left hand slipped down to Chani's pussy as they kissed again, their
tongues touching and intertwining. "Holy shit..." whimpered the black-haired
girl as Anea used her small hands to her advantage.

Within a few minutes, Chani was naked, and Anea was plunging her fingers in
and out of the younger girl's pussy while she sucked on her breasts. It didn't
take much more to send Chani screaming over the edge again.

Later, they were both laying in the back seat, wrapped in a blanket that Chani
always kept in the trunk. Both were still naked, but had cleaned each other
off, and were finished for the rest of the night. Anea lay between Chani's
legs, her head resting on Chani's stomach.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," Anea murmured as Chani caressed her reddish
hair.

"I know," Chani replied softly, looking up at the endless sky. Enya played
quietly in the background. "Anea."

"Hm?"

"Why did you do this? You're not lesbian. Or bi."

"I know. You needed it. As did I."

"Me? You? I mean, we? Why did we need it?"

"You'll probably see why I needed it. If we hadn't done this, you would have
waited for years before even venturing with another human being. By that time,
your courage to find your one true love would be gone."

Chani's finger's stopped.

"No," Anea chuckled softly. "You don't love me. Not like that, you don't.
You'll meet the person you do love, though."

"Who?" Chani asked, stroking Anea's silky hair again.

"You'll know."

"What about you?"

"I can't read my own future," Anea said, half-truthfully. She had been able to
in the past, but this time she couldn't. There was one fork in the road that
blocked her view. It was a decision. Her or Chani. Something dark.

That was all.

It disturbed her deeply, and on the surface, Anea told herself that the future
was still open to change. But she knew it was not. Anea looked up at the clock
beneath the dashboard. 1:04. Not much time.

"Let's sleep here," Anea suggested, laying her head back against Chani's slim
stomach.

Chani agreed. "Okay. We will. Do you need a pillow or something?"

"If this is uncomfortable for you."

"It's fine."

With that, they both lay silently, staring at the black night.

Anea looked back at the spot of light in the distance. It was the moon
reflecting off the convertible's windshield.

She had reclothed herself, and was wearing the same clothes she had been
before they left. A black miniskirt, white blouse, and blue jean jacket. She'd
been unable to find her bra, but was wearing her panties.

A car engine sounded in the distance.

With a sigh of resignation, Anea looked ahead at the approaching headlights,
and weaved her last protective spell.

Air and light were displaced. A shimmer appeared around the convertible, and
it vanished.

The pickup truck slowed to a stop next to Anea, and Jakar got out of the
passenger's seat. He looked Anea up and down, feeling out for her defenses.
There were none.

"So you have accepted your fate," Jakar said with a thin-lipped smile. Two
more followers got out of the truck, one with a nightstick, the other with
rope.

Anea nodded. She felt no fear, resting in the knowledge that her soul,
someday, would be safe.

Chani blinked.

Anea was gone.

The girl sat up groggily, looking around. She plucked a note off the
dashboard. "Sorry. Had to leave in a hurry. -Anea"

Chani scowled. Couldn't she have woken her up? God.

Chani scrambled to the front seat and pulled on her panties, shorts, and
leather jacket, zipping it up the front. She should get back to the apartment.
Anea was probably on her way there now.

Amber looked up from the Elle magazine as someone down the hall shouted, "I
don't fuckin' believe this!"

Amber stood up and walked out of the empty conference room. Red, one of her
computer techs, stumbled from the 40th floor router-room, clutching a severed
ethernet cable.

"What's that?"

"A rat chewed through this cable!"

"Huh?"

"This is coaxial cable, and a rat chewed through it. Look." He shoved it at
her, and Amber took it. She examined the end. Yep. That's exactly what it
looked like.

"Well," Red exhaled, seemingly pleased with himself. "I'll go beep the others,
and we can take down that temporary server."

Amber nodded, smiling to herself. About fucking time. They'd been working on
that thing for two days, trying to find the problem. A rat! Somebody must've
spilled something on it. Maybe a drink or chips or something.

Chuckling, Amber set the coax cable in her chair, and began gathering her
things. On her way to the apartment, Amber stopped by her office, to pick up
her jacket. When she opened the door, a gust of wind blew in, tossing her
tarot cards all over the floor. The cards were normally kept in her drawer,
but she'd been idly admiring the artwork that evening while her computer techs
slaved to find the network problem.

As Amber bent over to pick up the cards, she stopped, staring at the faceup
cards.

Oh hell.

Amber picked her telephone from her desk and dialed a number. "Jeeves?" she
said after a moment. "Yeah. It's time for some R & D."

Anea blinked and groaned. It took her a moment to realize what was happening.
Oh yes. Of course. This was the beginning of the end.

Her wrists and ankles were tied together painfully, and there was a knot on
the side of her head. She struggled up to her knees and looked around. The
pickup truck had stopped.

One of the Karasha came around and grabbed her roughly, lifting her over his
shoulder. He carried her to the front of the truck and dropped her roughly on
her back.

The air whooshed out of Anea's lungs, and her vision blurred slightly. She was
staring at the stars. Indistinct voices drifted across the field, hundreds of
them. Anea waited, trying to empty her mind of all thoughts and emotions. It
was hard.

Fear was always lingering at the edge of her consciousness, but she wouldn't
let it overtake her. Not now.

After about ten minutes, Jakar stepped above Anea and jerked her to her feet
roughly. He dragged her up onto a wooden stage and thrust her in front of the
Karasha on her knees.

666 members of the Black Cult cheered and shouted at the sight of their
sacrifice. Her innocence and purity would fuel the ritual that would lead the
Karasha into the future. Her death would meld this world with the Otherworld,
Hell, Hades, whatever the name. The demons would be set free.

Anea blinked in the bright lights of the torches and candles held up by the
Karasha. Hundreds of insane, stoned, drunk, and wild faces jeered at her. None
of them had any ounce of sanity. That was quite obvious.

Jakar shouted at them in a foreign language unfamiliar to her. They responded
in a similar chant. The verses went back and forth for several minutes, until
there was electricity in the air. Energy could be felt. It was evil and
disgusting.

Anea felt nauseated at the demonic energy floating around her. After Jakar
stopped the chanting, he grabbed her waist and lifted her up high in front of
him. The Black Cult deafened her with a continuing thunder of noise. Anea
turned her head to the side and waited until Jakar brought her back to the
stage. He carried her off the back of the stage, and cut the bonds on her
ankles.

"We'll walk from here," he said.

Jakar pulled her after him, and Anea stumbled across the wet grass for about a
mile. When they stopped, Anea noticed she was in a black casting circle. A big
one. Thirty yards, maybe. Jakar forced her against a large boulder, that stood
alone in the center. Anea didn't resist as he pushed her against the cold
stone surface.

Jakar cut the bonds on her hands, then smiled and stepped back. "It is time,"
he said.

Anea blinked away her tears and stared at the horizon as Jakar stepped outside
the circle. For a blessed few moments, it was silent and still. Then, the
casting circle began to glow red.

There was movement out of the corner of her eye. Anea looked to her left and
gasped. A huge tentacle was writhing along the ground from beneath the rock.
As the girl began to step away from it, the tentacle grabbed her leg and
pulled her to the ground heavily. Another two tentacles lashed out from
beneath the rock, wrapping around her other leg.

Anea cried out as she was dragged toward the dark boulder. More tendrils
pushed from beneath the huge rock. A few of them grabbed her arms and neck.
Anea grabbed them, trying to pull them away, but they were far too strong.

One slipped beneath her miniskirt and circled her thighs, pulling them
together tightly. More of them tightened around her clothes and body. Another
large tentacle exploded from beneath the rock, scattering debris and stone
shards in the air.

The tentacle pushed up beneath Anea's miniskirt and reached her waistline. It
yanked the skirt off suddenly, then her panties, dropping them carelessly to
the ground. Anea's scream tore the night as a phallic tentacle ripped into her
cunt.

The shaft of flesh penetrated her virgin pussy, filling her vagina with its
slimy thickness. Another tentacle freed itself from the boulder, showering
more bits of rock everywhere. The long muscle wrapped around Anea's neck once,
then shoved its crown into Anea's screaming mouth. All the dark limbs lifted
Anea's struggling body into the air. A third tentacle forced its way into the
young girl's anus, pushing its slimy length up her asshole.

Anea's tears splattered onto the demon below her as it began thrusting its
long limbs into her ruthlessly. The thick, muscular rods held her legs and
arms out as they fucked her mercilessly, pumping in and out of her open
orifices.

Anea's emotions had finally won over, and she was terrified. Horror and fear
filled her as her insides were beaten by the demonic limbs. Evil pleasure was
coursing through her now, against her will. There was nothing she could do to
stop it.

Smaller tendrils pulled Anea's jacket and blouse off, tossing the shreds into
the air. More of the slimey tentacles gripped her breasts, rubbing and
massaging them with their tingling energy.

Carnal lust infused Anea's mind, and she felt herself begin to lose control.
The girl's back arched as she screamed her shattering orgasm around the
tentacle in her mouth. Fluid gushed from her legs as her cum poured down the
tentacles and dripped to the ground. Her muscles spasmed erratically. Her
muffled scream could be heard by Jakar at the edge of the casting circle.

Anea's orgasm seemed to give the demon strength. It continued thrusting in and
out of her frail body, then tensed its tentacles. Hot seed flooded Anea's cunt
and anus, filling her up and sending her farther into bliss. More of the hot
liquid surged into her mouth, almost causing her to choke. It flowed down her
throat thickly, forcing her to accept the hot semen.

Anea was pulled against the creature's pulsating body as it pulled its
tentacles from within her body. Whitish cream leaked from her cunt, butt, and
mouth. She spat the substance from her mouth weakly, numb from pain and fear.

Before reason could return to the frightened girl, another three tentacles
entered her beaten body. They fucked her slowly, bringing the orgasm about
over a longer period of time. When she did come, Anea's body was weaker than
she thought possible. She couldn't go on any more.

But it did.

Four more times, the tentacles relentlessly and ruthlessly ravaged her young
body. They drew her life energy as they sucked up her juices. Hot demon-seed
was oozing from her holes, puddling on the ground inside the casting circle.

After her sixth orgasm, Anea was totally gone. Her mind was enveloped in a
state of oblivion.

Her soul was trapped.

The tentacles slackened, and laid her on the ground in the middle of the
boulder's debris. Now, the casting circle was empty on the inside. The demon's
body and tentacles had withdrawn to the earth.

Anea was left alone in the circle. Her naked body lay spread-eagled on the
ground. Moments later, the ground beneath her raised, to become a smooth stone
altar. Each of her limbs was stretched to a point on the altar. Her hair was
splayed out behind her head like a red cloud.

After a few minutes of silence, the glowing circle vanished, and Jakar walked
between the girl's legs, pulling a long knife from his belt. It was time.

Jakar spoke in a deep voice for a few moments, weaving the spell that would
break the barrier between the two dimensions. Uttering the final words of the
spell, he held the knife high above his head.

It came down in a sharp arch, and plunged deeply into Anea's chest. Her
breastbone splintered apart, and her heart disintigrated.

Jakar felt the energy gathering...

And then it flared suddenly.

Anea's hands flashed up, one grabbing each of the priest's elbows. His eyes
widened. "No!" he hissed. "NO!" His scream ripped the night apart as Anea
squeezed her hands, crushing both his elbows as if they were made of wood. She
sat up, tossing him to the ground like a ragdoll.

Jakar stumbled to his feet to find Anea walking toward the remaining members
of the Black Cult. He staggered after, pain eating his arms alive. When he
arrived back at the stage, Anea was stalking to the front of the stage in a
long black dress. She stopped at the front, disgust evident on her features.

The Karasha was silent, uncertain of what this meant.

Anea curled her lip back in a snarl.

Jakar went to the side of the stage, wondering how he could stop her.

Then she smiled. A red glint passed over her irises.

"My children," she said, her voice low and menacing. "Tonight, we celebrate.
For tomorrow, is the dawn of the new world."

Hoooo shit, Chani thought, regaining her footing after the tectonic shift. It
almost seemed like the entire hotel had altered position. When Chani went to
the end of the hall, she found herself staring at stars. "What the fuck?" she
said, mouth agape.

Outside the hotel's window, stars flickered at her, as if she were staring at
a night sky. It reminded her strongly of the times when she still rode out on
the highway at night. Up, down, left, right. In every direction, all she could
see was black night, sprinkled with the glittering stars. What the hell had
happened?

She braced herself as the hotel shook again. What a pain.

Chani pulled her .44 from her waistline and cocked the gun.

Talk about annoying. The Waldorf Historia had been the object of demon attacks
ever since she'd joined the Demon Hunters. They'd offered to put one of them
into permanent employment, but nobody accepted.

Down the hall, it was empty. Each room on this floor was empty. She had just
two more stories before reaching the 20th floor. If the demon wasn't there,
she'd be in deep shit.

A smokey haze filled the tavern, making Melanie cough every few minutes. They
were seated at a small booth, untouched menus sitting on the table.

Jay looked at his watch. "Wouldn't you think Chani's job would be over by
now?" he asked.

Amber shrugged. "Some of the Waldorf jobs have taken longer than three hours.
Maybe she's still at it."

"You think we should go over there?" Jay asked. "Give her a hand?"

"Nah," Amber said. "She can handle it."

Melanie opened her eyes. "I can't sense anything from her. She's probably
casting a spell right now."

"Well, if she's not here by 10, I'm going over there."

"Waiter!" Amber waved the man to their table. "We'll have the appetizers now."

Chani dove to the side as streams of glowing ectoplasmic energy blew chunks
out of the hallway behind her. She stood to the side of the elevator doors and
waited for the demon to come out. It didn't.

"John?" she said into the headset. "You there?"

"I'm here, little lady," crackled the reply.

"I think I've got him in the third elevator shaft."

"On my way."

Chani put her chest against the wall next to the elevator door and stuck her
arm in. She closed her eyes and fired off the entire clip randomly, hoping to
hit something. Chani whirled around and pushed her back against the wall,
slapping a new clip into the gun.

She jumped in to the empty doorway, pointing the gun out with both arms. "I
don't see him," she sighed, standing back straight again. "I think I lost
him."

"Um, Chani?"

"Yeah John."

"Have you looked outside?"

"Uh-huh. Don't worry about it. Once we get this demon, we can try and figure
out how to get back home."

"Okay."

Chani looked around her. The demon was nowhere in sight. She sighed, tucking
the gun over her butt again. "Well, I think he lost me. He's-" Chani broke off
with a cry as something slammed into her from behind. She tumbled forward into
the empty elevator shaft and reached out, grabbing the elevator cable.

Her hands wrapped around the metal cable, jerking her to a stop. Chani
grunted, twining her legs about the rope below her.

Distantly, John was talking to her through the headset, but Chani just saw the
huge shape looming above her in the elevator shaft. It threw out energy at
Chani, knocking her arms free.

Chani fell upside down, hanging onto the cable with her legs. She yanked the
pistol from her waistband and aimed at the creature. Loud booms echoed in the
shaft as she emptied her clip into it. Green energy sprayed out from the
creature, and it fell down past Chani with a shriek.

"John?" she said. "John, you there?"

"Yes, girl. What-"

"Dump all your grenades into the elevator and get the hell away!"

"Yes ma'am," John replied.

Chani pulled herself upright on the cable. She heard the demon crash through
the roof of the elevator car at the bottom of the shaft. The cable vibrated
slightly with the impact, but that was nothing compared to when the grenades
exploded.

Chani's eyes were squeezed shut, she plugged her ears and opened her mouth
wide to compensate for the pressure. The cable swung wildly as the bottom of
the tube was decimated in a fiery inferno.

Chani covered her face with a cloth as the smoke flooded the tube around her.

Jay stepped out of the side of the limo, gaping as the Waldorf Historia
shimmered into existence. Amber pushed at him and he moved aside, letting
Amber and Melanie get out.

The 20-story hotel sparkled with luminescent energy as it slowly phased itself
back into Earth's dimension. When the energy stopped crackling along the sides
of the building, Chani and John came out of the front door.

Jay jogged over to them.

"I'm getting too old for this," John said.

"Took you long enough," Jay commented.

"Shut up," Chani replied absently, working her shoulder. "I'm gonna have to go
see a doctor now. I'll catch up with you guys in a little bit."

"What happened?" asked Melanie.

"I think I dislocated my shoulder."

Allen Cathoway walked up to them and stuck his hand out to John. "Good work,"
he said, shaking their hands. "I'm glad you were able to save my hotel again."

"Yeah," Chani said. "Again. Why don't you sell this place? It attracts more
demons than Jay."

"I'll never give up on the Historia," Allen said. "It always has potential."

Amber rolled her eyes. "If I were you, I'd demolish the building, perform a
negative energy sweep of the whole area, then rebuild it from the ground up."

Allen shrugged. "I wish I had that kind of money. As it is, the demons are
keeping us under tight strain, financially."

"Okay," Amber said. "I'll take the place off your hands, howabout that?"

Allen shook his head. "I'll hang onto it for a while longer, if I can."

Amber gave the man her card. "If you change your mind."

"Thanks."

"The bill's in the mail," Chani called as she headed to a nearby ambulance.
Fire trucks, police cars, helicopters, and army vehicles were stopping all
around the block. It was a mass of sound and light.

Jay shook John's hand. "Thanks for your help again," he said. "I really think
you should work full time at DH Inc."

John shook his head. "Hey, thanks for the offer, but I'll wait a few years.
When I get old and obsolete, I'll come to you guys and be your tactical
expert. How's that sound?"

"Fine to me," Jay grinned. "We should get together for a game of chess
sometime."

"You play chess?"

"No. It just sounded sophisticated."

"Right. Seeya 'round, Jay."

"Bye John."

The bulky man walked through the frozen traffic towards his car.

Melanie tugged Jay's sleeve. "We'd better get lost before the cops start
asking questions."

"Good point."

The room was fairly large. Computer terminals lined the walls, with hi-res
monitors showing pictures of various star systems and/or radio frequencies.
All the lights were off except a single lamp in the corner. A radio played
oldies next to a lone astronomer seated in front of one of the computer
consoles.

Wayne Anderson punched new coordinates into the computer and sat back, waiting
as the telescope shifted positions. It had been three days since anything
remotely exciting had come across the screen, but that was probably because
funding had been cut by half this quarter. SETI would become a thing of the
past, in the next few years. Where would he get a job?

Wherever it was, it was sure to pay more than this one.

"Hey Wayne, what are you still doing here?"

Wayne swiveled around in his chair. "Oh, hey Dan."

Daniel Monroe walked into the door and sat in another of the chairs. "What's
up?"

"Nothin'," Wayne shrugged. "I think SETI is history now. Funding was cut by
another 100 grand last quarter, even more next."

"There's always a position over at-"

A footstep interrupted them.

They looked over to see a young woman standing in the door. She was in her
early twenties, with dark blond hair tied back in a pony tail. A short black
dress clung to her slim figure, beneath a black vest. In her right hand was a
suitcase.

It only took a second for Wayne to recognize her. "Holy shit!" he said.

"Who are you?" Daniel asked suspiciously. "And how'd you get in here?"

"My name is Amber Jenkins," she said. "I have an offer for you both."

"What kind of offer?" Daniel asked, still suspicious.

"Who cares?" Wayne asked, jumping to his feet and pulling Daniel after him.
"We're all yours, ma'am."

Amber smiled charmingly and nodded. "Follow me."

"Who's she?" Daniel hissed to Wayne as they followed her down the hall,
towards the back entrance.

"God, haven't you heard?" Wayne asked, wide-eyed, staring at her butt as she
walked in front of them.

"No, sorry."

"She's bigger than Bill Gates, man! She's the owner of FireFly, that big
electronics company. Her fortune's skyrocketed over the past seven years, ever
since she bought the company. There are crazy rumors that she's buying up the
entire economy, man. Shit, this girl's got more money than the US government,
and she's only like 23, 24 years old."

"Quit staring at her like that, she's way too young for you."

"The day you stop noticing is the day you die."

Amber opened the back entrance and ushered them out. "It's the black car over
there," she said.

"What do you think she wants?" Daniel asked, stepping into the Buick.

"She wants to fuck us, man."

"The truth."

"Shit on me if I know."

"I wish you did know, now."

Amber crawled in the front passenger's seat and closed her door. The car
turned around and began moving down the road quickly.

"If...If you don't mind my asking," Daniel said nervously. "What are you
offering us?"

Amber turned around in her seat. "Actually, I have to make sure I have the
right guys. Who are you?"

"Daniel Monroe."

"Wayne Anderson."

"Good. You'll find out when we get there."

"Where?"

"Here," Amber said.

The car pulled to a stop next to a trailor on the side of the road. Amber and
the driver got out and headed towards the metal shack. They followed quickly.

"Somethin's up, man," Wayne said eagerly.

"I know, we should call the police," Daniel suggested, grabbing Wayne's arm.

"Shit no, this is a helluvalot cooler. Come on!"

Daniel groaned as the man bounced up the steps into the trailor.

Inside, they found about six other employees of NASA, most of whom looked like
they'd been asleep before being gathered together. A few other people stood
around the room, but they were probably Amber's associates.

"What's going on?" Daniel said as one of her men closed the door.

Amber set her suitcase on the coffee table of the living room and opened it
wide. Any agreements that the others had voiced with Daniel died instantly.
Easily over a million in cash sat in the box.

"I'm here to offer you all jobs," Amber said. "For a project that I'm working
on at FireFly."

Daniel shifted feet and crossed his arms. "Why would you want astronomers
working at an electronics company?"

"Electronics?" Amber laughed. "I haven't been an electronics company for over
three years."

"But-"

"You see," Amber said, grinning. "A wise businessman, or woman, doesn't
re-label every product and company they purchase. Customers tend to think
you're not dedicated to a single product line."

Small silence.

"And what is it that you've purchased?" asked one of the astronomers.

Amber shrugged. "My most recent purchase, I believe, was the European Stock
Exchange."

The rain had slowed to a drizzle now, and was just tapping gently on the
bricks of the alley. Jay slid along the ground like a cat, his blood knife in
hand. Steam spewed from a nearby sewer, and Jay crouched behind the dynamic
cloud, waiting for the man to come back out. After about five minutes, a shape
moved at the end of the alley.

Jay's eyes tightened.

The person shuffled down the alley, looking for his pursuer, but the pursuer
was nowhere in sight. After another moment of hesitation, the person began
running to the mouth of the alley.

Jay came out of the steam like a ghost, his knife slicing out in one clean
motion. Just as quickly, he vanished again, into the shadows of the alley.

The figure stumbled, dropping to his knees with a gurgle. His hands clutched
his neck, but dark blood was already pouring to the pavement in a river. It
was too late. It was finally beaten. Along the gash in his neck, blue fire
began to burn, ever so slowly. The fire seeped into the body, and consumed it
from within.

Ten minutes later, all that remained of the body was a burnt out husk.

Jay's emotionless eyes betrayed satisfaction as he slipped out of the alley
and returned to the Jewel Tower. On his way, someone followed him.

When Jay opened the door to DH Inc, Melanie was perched on the desk, wearing a
tank top and cutoff jean shorts. "You get him?" she asked absently, staring
out at the city.

"Of course," Jay said.

"You know you were being followed?"

"What?" Jay spun around, hand grasping the blood knife.

"Take it easy," Melanie giggled, dropping off the desk and sliding up next to
him. "He's just waiting outside the elevator for you to come out. Then he
plans to attack you mercilessly and choke the life from you slowly."

"Quit teasing," Jay said, his arm slipping around her waist. He pulled her
body to his and bent his head down, plunging his tongue into her mouth.

After a few moments, Melanie panted, "I'm not teasing. He's out there, he just
wants to follow you, that's all."

"Okay. He knows I work here. What's that mean to him?"

"Not much. He's not too bright. At least, I can't gather that much from him."

"Oh." Jay pushed against her and grabbed her buttocks, one in each hand.

Melanie giggled again and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

They kissed for a few more minutes, teasing each other with their tongues.

"Tellya what," Jay said when Melanie's hand pushed beneath his jeans. "Why
don't we go to the Historia tonight?"

"Huh?"

"The Waldorf. We can get a nice room, order room service, champagne, enjoy a
nice evening by the fire."

"But that's not all."

"Of course not, but the place is probably a little better than on top of
Chani's desk."

"True. True," Melanie mumbled looking at the desktop.

Jay set her on the ground and opened the door. She pulled her trenchcoat on,
walking out ahead of him. Jay locked the door with a spell, and they walked to
the elevators.

"Hm. Ugly," Jay noted as he saw his trail. The man was short, with a scraggly
beard, beady eyes, and a blue baseball cap over long unkempt hair. He wore a
dirty jean jacket and torn grey slacks.

The man followed them into the elevator and stood in the corner, staring at
them.

Not much subtlety, Jay thought to Melanie.

Got that right. He's high, though. Member of a cult.

Which one?

Can't tell, Melanie's brow furrowed. He's so crazy it's hard to pinpoint
what's delusional and what's not.

Just tell me if he's about to stick a knife in my back.

I will.

Outside, they decided to walk the ten blocks to the Waldorf, keeping out in
the open, and staying in the crowd. The rain had stopped now, but clouds were
still hovering over Toho like a blanket.

About halfway there, Melanie stopped suddenly.

"What?" Jay said.

"He's gone."

"What do you mean, he's gone?"

"That's just it. He's not there any more."

"So?"

"No, I mean his mind has vanished entirely. I think somebody killed him."

"Sure he didn't pass out?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. He went out, unconscious, for a second, but I found him
again, then he just vanished."

"Uh..." Jay said uncertainly.

"Come on," Melanie pulled Jay after her, back down the street. "We have to go
find him."

It took a few minutes, but they found the bum's body lying in a gutter, face
down.

"See," Jay said. "He fell on his face and drowned. Now come on, let's-" Jay
stopped when Melanie turned him over. The bum's forehead had a rune burnt into
the skin. "Oh shit," he breathed. "This guy was possessed, wasn't he?"

"Maybe, hard to tell. He could've just been stoned, for all I know."

Jay looked at the rune closely. "No. Somebody knew he was possessed, and they
exorcised the demon."

"So he's alive?"

"No. That rune there, the Derelias, is one I rarely use. That just destroys
any life force it comes in contact with. Human, demon, animal, plant, you name
it."

Melanie stood up, looking around uncomfortably. "Who would have used that?"

"Somebody who knew how. The only other people I know that could use it are
Amber, and Chani. My uncle taught it to me, but said never use it."

"Chani didn't do this."

"I know, she's out visiting her parents."

Chani braced herself for the familiar jolt as the gravel switched to pavement.
She cursed when beer spilled on her hand.

Melanie scanned the crowd. "I can't sense anything unusual. I think whoever
did that is gone now."

Jay nodded. "Okay. Let's get to the hotel now. We can figure this out later."

They left the body and walked through the crowd, until they reached the
Waldorf. The lobby was empty. Allen Cathoway was seated behind the desk,
playing cards.

"Allen? How's business?" Jay called.

Allen looked up glumly. "Slow," he replied. "I might take Amber up on her
offer."

"Well, in the meantime, get us a room, okay?"

"Sure thing," Allen said. He tossed them a key and went back to playing cards.

"Wow," Jay said, looking at the elevators. Three of the elevators were out of
order. A big white tarp covered the hole that had been created by John's
grenades. "Looks like it needs a little repairing," he said, pushing the up
button on the one working elevator.

"Yeah. He's gonna sell."

"Who?"

"Allen."

"He should."

The elevator opened, and they took it up to the eighteenth floor. "He's
decided it."

"Good. I don't see why Amber would have any better luck with it."

"I don't either, but let's just get our room."

Jay turned the key in the lock, and they went in. The suite was huge, with
four rooms plus a balcony. They drifted through the suite, seeing what it had
to offer.

"Oh goody!" Jay yelled. "Mint on the pillow!"

"Where?"

"Oh, it's not there yet, sorry to get you all excited."

Melanie stretched out and flopped on the couch, staring out the window. "So
what's for dinner?"

"I'll call room service," Jay said, picking up the room's phone. He dialed a
number. "Hello? Domino's? Right, I want a large pepperoni, with your herb
crust. Deliver it to the Waldorf Historia, room-huh? No, their food is fine, I
just want pizza now. Something wrong with that? Okay, room 1812. Thank you.
Good bye."

Jay came back into the living room and laid next to Melanie after taking off
his jacket. He sighed. "So, do you want to live in our apartment forever? It's
getting kind of crowded."

"Well, Amber's moved out."

"I know," Jay said. "But Chani's a little hard to live with. Anea's
disappearance was hard on her."

"It was hard on all of us."

"But she hasn't gotten over it."

"I know," sighed Melanie. "She seemed to share something special with her."

"What? They were total opposites."

"I know. It's just...well, I don't know. They both had those marks on their
head."

"It's gone now. Off Chani, I mean."

"I know." Melanie snuggled up against Jay and stared at the ceiling. "I wish
things were back to the way they were."

"How were they?"

"You know. Before Anea disappeared. Amber wasn't so absorbed with FireFly, you
and I were just together, Chani and Anea were...there. It was just better."

Jay shook his head. "I don't know about that. Amber was pretty into FireFly,
even after those first six months. Chani was troubled, about something. Who
knows what. Now there's something else wrong with her."

"Not wrong with her. Just weighing down."

"Whatever."

"There's a difference," Melanie said pointedly.

"I know, I know. I just pretend there isn't."

"Well. Just a thought."

"A few, actually."

"What?"

"Never mind."

There were a few minutes of silence, and then Melanie said, "Who do you think
killed that guy?"

"That was following us? I have no idea."

"Should we try to find out?"

"If he shows his work anywhere near us again, yeah. I'll kick his ass."

"Why?"

"It's not his place to kill bums following us! That's my job!"

"Who cares?"

"Well, he killed an innocent bum."

Melanie paused realizing that he was right, then grew angry. She sat up, about
to voice her righteous indignation, but Jay pulled her back next to him. A
startled yelp escaped her lips before Jay's mouth covered them. Her surprise
quickly turned into a giggly moan, and Jay positioned himself above her,
straddling her hips and kissing her passionately.

Just as his hand was slipping up beneath Melanie's tank top, the door shook as
somebody pounded on it with a fist. Jay scowled and crawled over the back of
the couch. He opened the door, about to demand what the hell it was all about,
when a steaming pizza was thrust under his nose. "Shit," Jay said. "That was
fast."

"Yeah," the pizza boy rumbled. He was six feet tall, at least, and probably
weighed more than 300 pounds. He was pretty old, too. To Jay, he looked like
that biker guy in the breath mints commercial.

"Uh, here," Jay said, handing the man a 20. "Keep it."

"Oh, well thank you!" the man said, almost bashfully.

Jay closed the door and dropped the pizza on the floor. "Damn that's hot!"

Melanie crawled over the couch and sat next to the box, opening it up. "Now
come on," she chided. "It can't be...whoa."

"You'd think they cooked it in the car on the way over here or something..."

"Possible," Melanie said. She went over to the phone and dialed room service.
"Yeah. Room service? Allen? Doesn't anybody else work here? Oh...sorry. Yeah,
we just want your best champagne...what? No, you can charge us. Credit card.
We have one you can...okay, bye."

Melanie came back to the pizza, still on the ground next to the door, and sat
down. Jay sat across from her and picked up his own slice, swearing profusely
as the cheese fused to the roof of his mouth.

"People have called 911 over hot cheese," noted Melanie as she blew on her
piece.

A few minutes later, Allen appeared at the door with a bottle of champagne and
two glasses in a bucket of ice. "Ah," said Allen, eyeing the pizza. "A
romantic evening alone. How sweet, it reminds me-"

"Shut up and give me the drink," Jay growled. He took the bucket and shoved
some ice in his mouth, chewing loudly.

Melanie tossed Allen her credit card. "Bring us another bottle in an hour,"
she said over Jay's groan of satisfaction as his mouth cooled. "If we don't
answer the door, go away."

"Yes ma'am," said Allen. He disappeared down the hall.

Jay slammed the door shut and lay on his back, gurgling the ice. "Very good,"
he moaned.

After they'd both eaten their fill of pizza, Jay took the bucket and they went
out to the balcony. Two lawn chairs were stretched out about a foot apart from
each other, staring across the Toho Bay. Jay led Melanie to her chair and sat
down, popping the cork and pouring them both a glass of champagne.

"To a lovely evening," he said, raising his glass in a toast.

"I hate toasts," Melanie replied, chinking her glass against his.

"Me too." Jay downed his glass with a face. "I hate champagne too."

"I think it tastes wonderful."

"I'm sorry for you."

Melanie sipped at her glass and set it beside her chair. "You know, this is a
perfect view."

"Yeah, sure," Jay said, staring at Melanie. His eyes seemed drawn to her face,
and he couldn't look away. Heat began to build in him, like fire.

She looked at him. "What?"

Jay shook his head, remembering the last time he had stared at someone like
that. Usually when he stared at Melanie for long periods of time, it was
because he just loved doing it. No real explanation. If asked, he would have
said that he just loved to stare at her. Her beauty was mesmerizing, but there
was something familiar about the feeling that had just washed over him. Where
the hell was that coming from?

Chani chuckled to herself, then lay back on the hood of the convertible,
gulping down a few more swallows of the malt liquor. Her tolerance for alcohol
had increased since she was sixteen, and now it took about one six-pack of
malt-liquor to do the trick. Beer wouldn't have any effect unless she drank
about twenty-four. But she'd have to pee so much if she did that.

Chani swished the rest of the drink inside the bottle, then aimed it down at
her face, about a foot above. Less than half made it in her mouth. Chani
tossed the bottle back, over the windshield into the rear seat of the car. She
reached for another bottle, but her hand stopped just short of the neck.

Someone else was here.

Chani blinked and sat up. Thank God that was just her first liquor. She was
buzzed, but in her right mind. Looking around, Chani couldn't see anyone else,
but knew someone was here.

She had come out to drive that night, in remembrance of all those times she
had before and after Anea's disappearance. The night rides were only
occasional now, but she still enjoyed them. They gave her peace of mind, and
let her dwell on the past, and in her sorrows.

Shit.

There it was again. A presence. Someone was nearby.

Chani backed behind the convertible, not knowing how much good it would do,
when she saw a short figure walking in the grass off to her left. The person
had on a black outfit, so it was hard to see them, but Chani had good eyes.
The young woman knelt in front of the car, watching as the person drew nearer.

Alcohol had a way of numbing most of Chani's senses, so she couldn't tell
anything about this person. Good? Evil? She couldn't see the person's aura or
sense any spells around them.

Chani reached into the pocket of her jean jacket, feeling for the Sober Stone,
as she called it. It had been prepared for emergencies, in case she was in
trouble and needed to sober up, fast. Jay had helped her work it out, but said
he wouldn't use it too often. Why? She'd find out after using it once.

She'd never used it.

The figure climbed up the shoulder of the road, on the other side, and
stopped, hands folded behind the back.

"You don't have to hide, Chani, I won't bite."

Chani's eyes widened, and her mouth worked silently. She staggered forward,
most of her instability not coming from the beer, but from shock.

"Haven't seen you in a while," said Anea with a smile.

Both their clothes were laying on the balcony. They were now inside, on the
floor. Jay was on top of Melanie, facedown on the carpet, gnawing on her neck
and massaging her breasts. They had developed over the past six years. She was
now 22 years old, fully mature. Jay had followed suit, his shoulders
broadening, and his muscles bulking out slightly.

Jay lifted Melanie's hips and grabbed his cock, angling it between Melanie's
wet lower lips. They both sighed as he sank in, and began rocking in and out,
grinding his hips into hers. Melanie's eyes were closed tightly as they
fucked. She grunted as he thrust into her, kneading her breasts and buttocks.

After a few minutes, Melanie pulled back and flipped over, so she was facing
him. He continued thrusting in, lifting Melanie's legs out to the side as he
pounded her into the soft carpet.

Melanie's hands were against the bottom of the couch as she was pushed along
the carpet by Jay's hips. She bit her lip as she felt her orgasm approaching.
Jay grabbed her hips and began pumping in faster, his long cock threatening to
fire. It did, moments later.

Jay grunted, slamming his hips out and rocketing his seed into Melanie's body.
Melanie screamed with him, feeling both their orgasms as she thrashed, bucking
against him as he fired off hot liquid into her accepting body. Her muscles
spasmed around his member, milking the cum from his penis and sending more
waves of pleasure through them both.

After the ecstasy had passed, Jay collapsed next to Melanie, panting. "Man, I
wish I wouldn't get so exhausted after doing that."

Melanie slowed her breathing as she replied, "It happens to the best of us."

Chani's arms clasped around Anea's back, and she buried her head into the
woman's soft hair. They hugged tightly for several moments, Chani's jerking
sobs providing the only sound.

She stepped back, her hands on Anea's shoulders. "We thought...we...what
happened to you?" Chani sniffled, tears running down her face.

Anea smiled back, but the smile didn't touch her eyes. "It's a long story."

Chani hugged her again and pulled back, looking at the woman in front of her.
Anea's hair was long. Down to her waist. She wore an odd black robe, clasped
at the shoulders and tied with a sash at the waist. The mysterious silver
cross that had resided on both their foreheads was gone. A simple black
bracelet rested on her left wrist.

"What kind of dress is that?" Chani asked, sniffling and smiling again. "God,
you've changed so much. I love your hair. It looks more natural."

Anea looked down and grinned. "Thanks," she replied. "You...uh, you look
good."

Chani smiled. She had changed as well. Her hair was shorter in the back, cut
close to her neck and fanning out as it got higher. Her body developed into
that of an athlete. Although there was very little fat on her body, Chani
wasn't notably skinny. The most common statement that her friends made was
that she looked like an Olympic diver.

"Come on," Anea said. "I want to show you something."

Chani agreed, and followed her down the shoulder of the road and into the
field. The buzz from the alcohol kept her from sensing Jakar's presence a few
yards away, hiding in the ditch.

After a few minutes of walking, and Anea's cryptic replies as to the queries
of their destination, they stopped in a mowed section of the grassy field. The
cut grass was about twenty yards radius, with a casting circle in the center.

In the middle of the circle was a large black boulder.

"What is this?" Chani said. She didn't see the casting circle. It had been
hidden beneath the grass. Anea stopped a few inches from the black powder that
marked the ring's perimeter. Chani stood next to her, looking around, but
mostly staring at Anea.

Anea looked back at her old friend and smiled. "It's been a long time since I
visited this place," she said.

"Where are we?" Chani asked.

It was then that Chani felt Anea's presence. Confusion entered her mind at the
difference. Anea seemed so much more powerful. Darker, larger, bolder. She
looked into Anea's eyes, and was captured by the presence there.

Anea's mind reached out like a claw and clutched Chani's heart. The younger
woman grunted and jerked as if something had taken hold of her soul. Her knees
buckled, but some invisible force held her up. Chani's eyes were blank, but
she was still conscious. Her entire mind was occupied by confusion. She
couldn't understand what was happening.

When Anea moved forward, slipping her arms inside Chani's jacket, around her
waist, Chani's skin prickled in anticipation. She arched back, pressing her
stomach and chest against the other woman. In doing so, Chani's bare neck was
exposed to the moonlight.

Anea bit down hard, her fangs sinking deeply into the smooth flesh.

Chani cried out, feeling a completely new sensation sweep through her. It was
somewhere between pain, pleasure, and death. If they could be combined.

Anea's eyes closed halfway in pleasure as she felt the life blood entering her
body. Chani was powerful. Very powerful. She would definitely break the
barrier. If Anea left enough for Zaroth to feast on.

Chani's eyes leaked more tears as she stared at the blurry sky. She could feel
the blood leaving her body, but could do nothing to stop it. Anea had total
control. Again.

Anea's hands pushed Chani's jacket down around her shoulders, and it fell to
the ground behind her. The woman's soft fingers pushed beneath Chani's shirt,
and a moan escaped her lips. She fell back, her hands hitting the dirt to
break her fall.

Her right hand fell on a small round stone.

Jay grinned.

He slowly poured the champagne between Melanie's breasts, watching it run in a
river down to her stomach, then onto the couch. She giggled as he licked his
way from her breast bone down to the couch. More champagne poured into her
navel, and he licked it up from there slowly.

Melanie giggled again, threatening to break out into peals of laughter.

Jay straddled her waist, pouring the champagne in her open mouth, then
trickling it onto her breasts and collar bone. As he bent over to lick more
from her sweaty skin, he saw a flicker in the corner of the room.

Jay's eyes moved sideways, and he caught a glimpse of someone moving along the
wall. How did they get in here? he thought, sucking on one of Melanie's
nipples.

Melanie was too overwhelmed with the pleasure to even consider Jay's thoughts
at the moment.

Jay let another trail of champagne pour from the bottle down her chest,
running down her stomach and between his legs, probably down between hers as
well. Jay bent down, intending to lick it up when someone sprang up from
behind the couch.

Before Melanie had time to react, Jay's arm flashed out, and the champagne
bottle cracked the intruder's skull. The man flopped to the ground in a heap.
Another two figures came from the edge of the room, and Jay vaulted off the
back of the couch, his foot splattering one's nose open. The second one
plunged a knife at Jay, who barely avoided his death by leaping aside just in
time.

The attacker screamed again, sweeping the knife low, but Jay jumped back
again, out of range.

Now Melanie took action.

Just as the man was about to strike again, he screeched in pain. His brain
stem exploded inside his head, and he died before his knees hit.

Melanie was gaping. "Jay, what-"

Another attacker leaped from the balcony, and Jay threw the bottle past
Melanie. It struck the assailant upside the head, and he dropped to his knees,
but staggered at Melanie. She scrambled off the back of the couch, and the man
tried to follow. He changed his mind when he saw Jay charging him.

Jay roared, flying at the man with a bear yell.

Finally, the assassin regained his senses and dodged. Jay hit the coffee
table, tipping it over and rolling to his feet. The intruder ran to the door
and yanked it open, rushing out into the hall.

Jay ran after, ignoring Melanie's calls.

When he got out in the hall, it was empty.

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

"Jay!" Melanie hissed from the doorway. "Get back in here! You're naked!"

Jay looked down and blushed furiously, slipping back inside. At least nobody
was in the hall. But maybe they had security cameras.

"Leave it to some possessed assassins to ruin the mood," Jay swore.

Melanie sighed. "Shit," she said.

Chani's eyes popped wide.

The Sober Stone's enchantment blazed, and heat lanced up her arm. Fire pulsed
through her veins, thundering in her arteries, destroying all the alcohol it
touched. Searing flames exploded through her shoulder, into her chest, down
her stomach, legs, feet, head, and neck. The fire almost literally burnt up
every ounce of alcohol in her blood.

It wasn't Chani's scream that knocked Anea back, but the enchantment. The
fiery energy traveled out Chani's neck and into Anea's mouth, down her throat,
into her stomach. It completely ruined the pleasurable moment.

The woman launched back with a cry, clutching her mouth as Chani arched her
back in pain. A few moments later, the fire died from them both, and their
senses returned.

"Oh shit," Chani swore, clamping a hand over her neck. She stumbled to her
feet, staring with horror-filled eyes at Anea. "My God," she whispered.
"What's happened to you?"

Anea stood up, wiping her mouth. "It's probably a good thing that happened,"
she said calmly. "I don't know if I could've stopped."

Chani took a step back, but felt someone against her back. She spun around,
and Jakar punched her in the face. Chani reeled, and fell into Anea's arms.
The red-haired woman dragged her into the casting circle. Chani shook her
head, and stood up. "Anea, what-"

A rocket of black energy threw her against the stone, stunning her again. When
Chani stood straight again, Anea and Jakar were standing outside the casting
circle.

"Anea?" Chani pleaded. "I don't understand. I-" she broked off as she suddenly
saw the casting circle. The black powder flared red, and began glowing
fiercely.

Chani took a step toward the perimeter, when she heard movement behind her.

"We catalog the security tapes by date," the guard said to Jay. "Each tape is
eight hours, and contains four camera's angles.

"Can you show us the one from a half hour ago?" Jay asked.

The guard shook his head. "No, sorry, I-"

Melanie's will surged.

"-I'd be glad to." He stopped the current recording and rewound the tape back
thirty minutes, to where the intruders had entered the room.

On the tape, three men moved towards their suite, and paused just a moment
before pushing straight through the walls. "Holy shit," Jay breathed. "They're
intangible."

"Oh fuck," the guard breathed, wide-eyed.

After about a minute, the door was yanked open. One of the men ran from the
room, then fell straight through the floor, losing his solidity. Jay ran out
naked a moment later, looking around for the intruder.

"Heh heh," the guard chuckled. "Looks like they kinda caught you guys in the
act, huh?"

"Sure," Jay said distractedly. He turned to Melanie and said, "Well?"

Melanie shrugged. "It's sometimes possible to get very faint readings from
people by watching them, but that's usually if I can see their faces. I
couldn't see this guy's."

On the screen, Jay had re-entered the room, and the door closed. At the end of
the hall, there was a flicker of movement that nobody noticed.

"Where would he have gone?"

"I don't know!" Melanie distressed. "He could be anywhere now. You think you
could cast a spell to locate him?"

Jay nodded. "I'll have to go back to the library to do some research, and that
might take a while, but I probably can."

"Okay," Melanie sighed, regretful that their night together had been so rudely
taken away.

"Don't worry," Jay said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "We can do this
again, real soon. You think I'm gonna let them get away with this?"

Anea smiled as she watched. Inside the circle, Chani's clothes had been torn
off, and she was being lifted into the air by the tentacles. They spread her
legs and arms away from her body and pushed their slimy limbs into her body.
One each entered her mouth, pussy, and anus.

Chani whimpered as they began fucking her, the thick appendages thrusting in
and out of her holes viciously. The pleasure rose, and she orgasmed
powerfully. Chani spasmed and lurched, sweat coating her skin as spikes of
pleasure slammed into her brain. The climax shook her body, and she screamed
around the tentacle in her mouth. Juices began leaking down the limb fucking
her cunt.

With her orgasm, the red casting circle blazed brightly. Annoyed, Anea
shielded her eyes and watched as Zaroth came.

The demon's tentacles fired off their loads simultaneously. Each one spurted
hot seed into Chani's cunt, mouth, and ass. The burning liquid poured into her
bowels, forcing the young woman to accept it. More white fluid flowed from her
mouth and cunt as the demon filled her with its seed.

The perimeter flared even more, and then without warning, exploded with
energy. Massive waves of red energy shot up into the sky from the casting
circle. The energy eruption was tremendous, blasting Anea and Jakar backwards
from the blazing column of crimson power.

When it died down, Anea struggled to her feet, staring at Zaroth.

He was dead.

Chani was gone.

The field was empty.

"We're being audited," Amber said, slapping the folder onto the table.

"What are you talking about?" said Joe Blackburn, her head of finance.

Amber spun on her heel, swearing and walking to the window. The conference
room was huge, twice as large as it needed to be. The Project X Council was
only ten members, including herself, but the conference room was large enough
for at least thirty. In the middle was a ten-person table, with room to spare.
On one wall was a wide-screen TV and projection screen. There was a
refreshment bar and Jeeves in case anyone was hungry or thirsty. The ceiling
and north wall was composed completely of glass, staring out at downtown Toho.
Rather, over downtown Toho.

Amber stared out at the city, and Matt Jakowski took her place seemlessly,
sliding out to where she had been and continuing to talk. "The audit won't
take place for another couple of months," Matt said, adjusting his sunglasses.
"I learned of it through some trustworthy channels. It was ordered by Bill
Gates."

"Kill him," Amber said.

"Yes ma'am," Matt agreed without stopping.

Bill Gates had become ruthless and underhanded ever since Amber had entered
the opposition, but this...this was devastating. If anybody found out about
Project X...then...it was over. Everything would be over.

"I want you all working around the clock," Amber said, spinning away from the
window. She'd interrupted something Matt had been saying, but didn't care.
"Double shifts, whatever. As I'm sure you're all aware, everything comes to an
end if they find out about Project X. I don't want that to happen," she said.
"We don't want that to happen."

"We know that, Ms. J," said Gumpy, her head of R & D. "That's obvious, but how
do we fool the auditors?"

Matt produced a folder from his suit and pulled some stapled papers out. He
passed the papers out, explaining. "This list will constitute the majority,
majority of your mercenary force. It's a list of the most able and experienced
accountants and bookkeepers I could find. They will be handling the details of
the coverup. Naturally, they will have to become part of the Project, so as
soon as they're finished, refer them to either myself or Amber. Understood?"

Mumbled agreements.

Matt tucked the leftover lists into his jacket. "They are to be kept strictly
on FireFly premises. What you need to look at is this; as soon as they're
hired, that's it. Their lives are through here, and you know why. To them, all
your doing is taking about a month out of their lives. Naturally, you will pay
whatever price necessary to achieve their services, but..." Matt grinned. "You
won't really be paying them, will you?"

The tension that had built up when Amber made the announcement seemed to
deflate somewhat. This would make things a lot easier. A whole lot easier.

"Now," Matt continued. "If you so choose to hire someone on your own, not on
this list, then do it. The same rules apply, of course, so don't think
otherwise. You will all be working as a team, so don't keep anything from
anybody else. Any questions?"

None.

"Goodbye," Matt said. "Coverup begins tomorrow."

As the Council filtered from the conference room, Amber sighed, hugging Matt.
"You're a life saver," she said.

"I know," Matt said.

"You're looking a little pale, haven't you fed lately?"

Matt shook his head. "I've been up day and night compiling this list. I'm
going to hit the town tonight, unless..."

Amber put her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to keep his distance. "Sorry,
Matt," she smiled. "Not tonight, okay? I need to sleep, and I'd like to wake
up tomorrow morning without needing a transfusion."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Matt closed the door as he left, leaving Amber and Jeeves alone.

Chani knelt by the stream, pushing her face in and sucking water into her
mouth. She swished it around and spit it back out to get rid of the demon-cum
taste. Not that it was terribly unpleasant, it was just...well, evil. Kind of
uncomfortable. Too much of a good thing became less good.

She used the cold water to wash what else she could off her bare skin, and
looked for a nearby house. She had to get some clothes, but couldn't go back
to her car. They'd surely be waiting for her.

"Shit," Chani breathed, wrapping her arms around her knees.

After a few minutes of thought, she stood up and jogged east, hoping to hit
the east I50. Instead, she found a small farming road. On the other side of
the gravel road was a farmhouse.

Perfect.

Chani slunk across the gravel and grass, until she found an open window. She
crawled inside. Nobody home. Or awake, anyways. Where was the laundry room?

It took her a few minutes, but she found the laundry room, and grabbed an
outfit. None of the underwear fit, so she pulled on some short boxers and a
tank top. Over that she wore a grey T-shirt and pair of overalls. There were
some oversized socks in the dryer, and she pulled those over her feet. Near
the living room door was a pair of work boots.

They'd have to do. Chani pulled them on and laced them up. She was ready.
Almost. As she was pulling a flannel shirt out of the dryer, the back door
opened.

Chani pulled the shirt on and hid behind the dryer. Whoever it was, they
weren't talking. There were several people, though.

As a precaution, Chani masked her presence from as many planes as she could
manage. The people stomped around, finally stopping in the den. Chani waited
for them to start talking, or snoring, or something, but nothing happened.

Furrowing her brow, the woman crept through the kitchen and peeked out the
door. In the living room, three people were holding hands around a smaller
boy. He was perhaps 11 or 12. His hands were tied behind his back, and he was
gagged.

The kid was standing up, chin on his chest, eyes closed. He was making no
effort to leave.

Then Chani saw why.

Although she couldn't see quite as well as Jay's pendant, she had some limited
vision into the surrounding dimensions. After some concentration, she could
easily identify that everyone in there was a demon. Except for the boy. They
were holding his soul in place as another demon moved to replace his soul.

Shit.

They were summoning a demon to possess the kid.

Chani watched as the kid's eyes opened, and instead of seeing an innocent boy,
she saw a malicious demon. Oh God.

The kid turned and looked at her. "Somebody's here!" he cried, pointing.

Chani walked into the open doorway with a grim face. No remorse was her middle
name.

Just as Jay and Melanie were about to enter the elevator, Melanie pulled him
back. "What is it?" he asked.

"He's near."

"Who?"

"The third assassin."

Jay scanned the lobby and hallway. "I don't-"

Melanie jerked him after her, and they headed towards the restaraunt on the
first floor. Just as they were passing the front counter, they heard a scream
come from the back room.

The attendant behind the counter turned around, uneasily looking at the door
that lead to the back.

"Stay here," Jay ordered, vaulting over the counter and landing next to the
door. Melanie pulled out her .44, which she rarely used, and aimed it at the
closed door. When Jay opened it, she relaxed.

Jay peeked in.

On the floor was the third assassin. His back was arched and his eyes were
staring at the ceiling, horrified. Melanie climbed over the desk, past the
wide-eyed attendant, and knelt next to him. "He's dead," she proclaimed,
shutting the man's eyes.

Jay looked at the forehead. "Killed in the same way. Is somebody following
us?"

"They're not doing us any harm."

"I know, but all this subterfuge makes me nervous."

"That's probably the biggest word you've ever used in your life."

"What? Subterfuge?"

"Yeah."

"We all have our moments. Hey!" he called as he saw the attendant dialing 911.
"Leave it alone buddy, we're with DH Inc, we'll handle this."

The attendant stared at the pair for a few moments, then nodded, hanging up
the phone. "What h-happened to him?"

Jay shrugged, withdrawing one of his runestones and laying it on the body. He
chanted softly for a few moments, invoking the rune's power. After a few
minutes, the stone began to glow, and the body beneath it began to smoke.

Jay and Melanie stepped out of the room. Light flashed briefly under the door,
and they went back inside.

The body was gone.

That was how they had disposed of the other demon possessed attackers. Just
return them to their own dimension. Dead or alive.

"Where'd it go?" the attendant cried.

"Don't worry about it," Jay replied curtly. "We have to find the man...or
whatever killed him. Did you see anybody come back here?"

The attendant shook his head. "No, but the main entrance is through the
employee lounge, so-"

Jay turned and walked back through the adjoining rooms, searching for a clue.
Nothing.

"Okay," he said, sitting in the middle of the lounge. "I'm going to use a time
distortion spell to see who came through here recently. Don't get upset."

"After all I've been through? You think I'm likely to get upset?"

"You're right. Sorry, Mel." Jay drew an invisible casting circle around him
and watched as the glowing blue energies began floating up from the perimeter.
He began reciting some memorized verses out of the Brethren's Blood spell
book. As he did so, the wall of energy shimmered, and Jay continued chanting.
He kept it up for about five minutes, when he saw a figure running backwards
from the crime scene. As soon as the person was past Jay, Jay stopped talking
and began repeating a short mantra. Time seemed to freeze, and Jay saw the man
close up. He was muscular, and somewhat tall. Over six feet. The man was
wearing an Armani suit, and had a short rod in his right hand. It looked like
an energy divider.

They were easy tools to use, if you weren't skilled enough to focus the energy
yourself. It was probably what he used to trace the Derelias Rune.

Jay reverted from the mantra back to the verses from Brethren's Blood, and he
watched the man move backwards in time, jogging backwards out of the back
entrance.

"Great," Jay whispered.

The spell halted, spinning time forward at an accelerated rate. Before Jay
realized what had happened, he was jolted into the present, and fell back with
a groan as the time shift affected him.

"What's wrong?" Melanie said, dropping by his side.

"Nothing, I'll get over it. I just forgot to close the spell properly."

"What did you find out?"

"That the murderer should still be in the room where the body was destroyed."

"Why didn't he leave?"

Jay sat up, wincing as his head throbbed with pain. "I don't know. We should
go find out though."

The room where they found the third assassin was just a simple conjunction of
halls, basically. Two doors were locked, and the only other two led to the
main room and the employee's lounge.

Jay pulled out his eye pendant and looked at the doors. Sure enough, one had a
spell residue on it. The door was a closet.

He's in there.

Where? Melanie asked. The closet?

Jay nodded. Feel out for him, but be careful. I don't know how powerful he is.

Okay. Melanie closed her eyes and pushed out with her mind, reaching into the
closet. He was there. A shield rested around his mind, and she couldn't get
past it without his knowing. But she could follow it.

Melanie opened her eyes.

"Okay," she sighed. "He must be long gone. We should go back up and get some
sleep." I can lock onto him now.

"Yeah, I guess. At least this dude took care of one problem for us." Good.
Let's go.

Melanie agreed again, and they went back out to the counter.

"Did you find the murderer?" asked the attendant.

Jay shook his head. "Sorry. He's not anywhere around."

Then Melanie put her head close to the attendant's. "Is there another exit out
of here?" she whispered.

"Go through the kitchen," replied the attendant just as quietly, but confused.

They sprinted out to the restaraunt, and ran past protesting cooks to the back
door. The door was closed, so Melanie pushed her ear against it and closed her
eyes.

After a few moments, she nodded to Jay.

Jay pulled out his .44 and crept out into the alley. He saw the man jogging
out of the alley, and followed in a crouching run.

Keep watch for any more, Melanie warned, keeping close behind Jay.

I know. I am.

Jay holstered his gun when they hit the alley entrance, and looked out into
the crowd of people walking through the commercial district. The man stood out
in his suit, and was easy to spot.

Jay and Melanie followed the man to a street corner, where he called a taxi.

Jay hailed one right after, and hopped in.

"Good evening," droned the bored cabby. "Where to?"

"Follow that taxi," Jay said.

"Bobby? What's he done wrong now?" asked the driver, pulling out into traffic.

"Who? Who's Bobby?"

"He's the driver of that cab. What's he done wrong?"

"Oh. Nothing. We're following the passenger."

"Just like in the movies."

"Yeah...right. Keep your distance, we don't want to look suspicious."

"Kinda hard, there are a lot of taxis around here. I might lose 'im."

"I can keep you informed," Melanie said, her eyes closed.

"Okey-dokey. Pulling to the normal stalking distance, four cars."

An hour later, they were let out at Pier 22, a few blocks south of the Jewel
Tower.

"Sure took a roundabout way of getting here, Bobby," the cabby said.

"Pay 'em, Mel," Jay said, getting out of the taxi.They were far enough away
from the man so as not to be seen, which was good.

Jay ran down to the pier, keeping low. He crouched behind a dock support,
waiting for Melanie to catch up with him.

"He went into that boat," Melanie said softly. "There are other people in
there. All of them have mind shields. Some of them are more powerful than
others."

"That's not a boat," Jay said. "That's a cargo ship. It's Japan ÿese."

"So?"

"You can never have enough Japanese."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just a saying I heard once."

"From who?"

"I think you'll find out," Jay growled at the ship. "Let's move."

They crept toward the entrance of the boat, keeping low and watching the sides
of the ship. After arriving at the big plank, Jay stopped, crouching behind
one of the dock supports again.

"Somebody's outside," Jay whispered.

Melanie peeked from around her side of the thick wooden pole. "He's smoking."

"We'll wait till he's finished."

"Maybe we should get him now, while he's alone."

"Good idea," Jay said, pulling out his gun. He began screwing a silencer onto
the barrel.

"You're going to kill him?"

"No, I'll get out my special clip."

"What special clip?"

"It's an experiment I've been working on. I tried to see if I could create a
bullet with an energy field that engulfed the target and completely stunned
them. The bullet would disappear, and not even hit them."

"Does it work?"

"I don't know yet. I've never tried it."

"I guess we'll find out."

"Yep," Jay said, putting the clip in.

Then the man tossed his cigarette into the water and went back inside.

"Great," Jay said aloud. "We'll just have to go in and wave our guns around.
I'll cast a cloaking spell so that they can't see us until we're right on top
of them."

"Okay," Melanie replied.

Jay spent a few moments weaving the spell, then nodded. Each held a gun in
their hand as they silently jogged to the deck of the ship. It was huge.
Massive boxes and crates were stacked on the deck, and probably tons more were
in the cargo hold.

Jay pointed to an open door, and he jogged to the doorway. Stairs led down
into the lower decks of the ship. Melanie followed as Jay tiptoed down the
metal stairs. His steps were muffled by the cloaking spell, thankfully.

When he reached the bottom, Jay peeked into the room. He caught a glimpse of
some men leaning against a table. That was enough.

With a yell of, "Don't move!" Jay leaped into the room, his gun pointed out.
He swept it over the participants, targeting the occasional eyeball for
effect. But even before he landed, there was a gun pointed at him.

Jay stopped, his .44 aimed at the barrel of a 9mm. The 9mm was being held by a
long, slim arm, that was attached to-

"Amber!?" Jay cried.

Amber lifted the barrel of her gun to the ceiling. "Jesus, Jay! Where did you
learn to knock?"

"I didn't! What the hell's going on in here?"

Amber tucked the pistol in her combat holster. She was wearing a white T-shirt
(which pressed against her breasts delightfully, Jay noted) under a police gun
holster, which was beneath a combat vest. She had on black army pants and
combat boots. Her hair was tied behind her head in a bun.

"Sorry," Amber blushed slightly. She lifted a marijuana pipe to her lips and
inhaled deeply, holding the smoke in her lungs. When she exhaled, Melanie was
standing beside Jay. "I guess I should've told you guys, huh?"

All the other men in the room were standing around uncertainly.

"You guys can go help the loaders," Amber said. "We need to have a private
chat."

After the men in suits left, Jay slid the metal door closed. "What's going on?
Why were those guys following us?"

"All 20? I doubt it. I only sent one of them to protect you. And observe."

"Protect? Us? Observe?" Jay's face was growing more confused by the second.
"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Calm down, Jay," Melanie and Amber said at the same time. Amber
continued,"I've started training my own force of demon hunters."

"What? Why? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I really didn't need to," she said. "And besides, this group is traveling far
beyond the techniques you use."

Jay's face clouded up, but Amber interrupted him. "Not necessarily better, but
just different. What I've done is attempted to integrate demon hunting with
technology. You've just started to do that, but not fast enough."

"Oh, like what are you talking about?" Jay retorted. "Enchanted warheads?"

"Not quite that far, but it's a possibility." Amber pulled an uzi from beneath
the table. "Here," she tossed it to him. "That's an amplified version of your
.44s. This," she said, setting a decorative sword on the table, "is a
life-drainer. It sucks the life force from anything it touches. Demon, human,
animal-"

"The Derelias Rune is engraved on the blade, isn't it?"

Amber nodded, taking another drag from the pipe. "Yeah. Here's my best weapon
so far." She tossed him a .45. "This is fucking dangerous, Jay. It's not so
much the gun as it is the bullets. I've put so many fucking enchantments on
there, you wouldn't believe."

"You ever shot it?"

Amber chuckled. "I'm kind of afraid to. I don't really know what effect it
would have."

"Well, all this is nice, but why are you starting your own demon hunting
force? It's not as if the world's going to explode or anything."

Amber barked out a laugh. "You have no idea."

"What are you talking about now?"

Amber stood up, setting the pipe on the table. "I need to get a wood pipe,"
she muttered. "You guys don't have one do you? No? Okay, well, come with me.
We can go get some dinner."

Chani lifted her hand out of the man's brains.

Shit.

She hadn't meant to hit him that hard.

Chani shuddered and walked upstairs. She took a long shower in their bathroom.
She kept going until the water ran cold. The disgusting feeling of the demon
wouldn't come off her. Why not? Any time something like this happened before,
the feeling had come off with ease.

After showering, Chani pulled on the clothes she had found earlier, and walked
down to the kitchen. She heated up some leftover casserole that was in the
refrigerator, and scarfed it down in less than a minute.

For nearly an hour, Chani sat at the table and stared blankly. She was at a
loss for something to do.

It seemed that now, her life was without purpose. No, it wasn't just now. It
was...always? That couldn't be right. Her life had a purpose at one point. But
the only clearly defined purpose she could think of was when she first met
Jay. All she was after was Baal. When she met Julie, it was to destroy Mannan.
But the past six years...nothing. Nothing at all.

Just an aimless wanderer in life, that's what she was. Right.

No, not a wanderer, a searcher. But a searcher for what? Maybe she had to
search for what she was supposed to search for. No, wait. It was purpose. That
was it. She had to find a purpose for her life. Right now, there was no
purpose.

Find the purpose. That was all she could do.

For a brief moment, when she had thought Anea was back, to become her old self
again, Chani didn't have a purpose, but she was content. She was content, for
a brief moment. When she thought Anea had returned, Chani's universe was
complete. Ever since Julie had gone, she had been drifting, waiting for
something or someone to come along, but no more.

Chani would go out and find what her destiny was. She would find what it was
that made her happy. Why was she happy when Julie or Anea was around? Was Anea
wrong? Had Chani really loved them? Romantically?

Fuck, it was so complicated.

But it was so simple. Why couldn't she figure it out?

Chani sighed, pouring herself some orange juice. She chugged the glass as if
it were liquor. Maybe these people had some. She needed a drink.

As Chani opened the door to the refrigerator, she heard someone moving outside
the back door. Someone knocked loudly, banging with their fist.

It was one of Anea's people. A demon. No, it wasn't a possessed person, it was
a demon. The person's soul was completely displaced from the body. Thus, there
would be no remorse when killing the demon. Chani opened the back door on the
demon.

It started in surprise, and Chani's hand plunged through the screen door,
grabbing the person's neck. She yanked on the man's voice box, her fingers
clamped together tightly.

His throat tore with a sick, tearing sound. Blood gushed from the man's torn
neck, pouring over Chani's clean hand. She pulled back, careful not to get any
on her clothes.

She was meticulous about splattering blood. Never had she gotten any blood on
her clothes, other than a few spots. Chani left the body on the back doorstep
and returned to the kitchen, washing her hands and arms.

Chani sat down and thought about Anea now. For the first time since her ordeal
with the demon. God, what had happened to her friend? She hadn't even noticed
any difference in Anea when they first saw each other. But she was buzzed with
the alcohol. Maybe that had made a difference. But even after her Sober Stone
burned away all the alocohol...she still didn't notice anything. Anea had
changed so drastically, and she hadn't noticed.

Chani was horrified at the thought that Anea had actually changed, turned
evil. That wasn't possible. Anea was the most...good was the word...person she
knew. Anea had the least evil in her of anybody.

No, Anea was possessed, or displaced. One or the other.

Chani had to find out which.

"You see," Amber said, "I'm doing this because of what's going to happen to
Earth."

"And what's that?" Melanie asked.

They were seated in the main mess hall at the end of a cafeteria table. Eaten
food was sitting in front of them.

Amber waved her hand. "Later. You know those guys that tried to kill you?"

Jay nodded.

"They're a member of the Black Cult."

"What's that?" Jay scowled.

"It's a cult, of course. The thing is, this cult isn't like any other cult. It
is really associated with demons."

"All cults are."

"But the Black Cult is led by a demon. None of my agents have been able to
find him, but when I do, I'm going to try to take him out, if possible."

Jay snorted. "So you're creating your demon hunters to battle the Black Cult?
Couldn't we do it?"

"They would destroy you by their sheer numbers, if nothing else."

"But you only have twenty of your demon hunters."

"Twenty here, yes. There are hundreds in training."

Jay's jaw dropped. "Hundreds?"

Amber furrowed her brow thoughtfully. "Seven hundred...something, I forget
now. But I'm here to battle the Black Cult, long enough to stall them for the
completion of Project X."

"And Project X is...?" Jay prompted.

"You'll see," Amber grinned. "Ah, here comes Matt. I'd like to introduce you
to the rest of the Project X Council, but they're dealing with another problem
on hand."

"What's that?" Melanie asked.

"Bill Gates managed to get us an audit. I guess he saw that millions and
millions of dollars were vanishing from our accounts to no apparent output."

"Bill Gates? From Microsoft?"

"Yeah, he's become a real asshole ever since I started chewing on his profit
margins. So I ordered him killed. Microsoft stock will drop, and I'm prepared
to eat it all up. Hopefully there'll be enough sellout in the public
shareholders that I can just buy Microsoft."

"What do you mean, 'buy Microsoft'?"

"If there's enough sellers in the market, and I'm hoping there is, I'll be
able to buy 51% of Microsoft stock, which will give me controlling interest.
I'd own the company. Now if that doesn't work," Amber shrugged, "I'd sabotage
their upcoming beta Windows release, and basically just destroy the company
through a series of subversions. Or I could just have myself a chat with the
new owner of Microsoft."

"What kind of chat?" Jay grinned.

"How do you think I got FireFly?" Amber asked innocently. "I use my charms to
entrance the victim, until they are willing to practically hand out their
company."

"That sounds a lot easier."

"But it's more fun the other way."

"Amber," Melanie interjected. "Just how much money do you have? You've only
owned FireFly for seven years. That can't be long enough to dominate a
business market so totally that you just...I don't know. That can't be long
enough for you to gain so much money, can it?"

Amber smiled. "Ah, normally, no. It'd be another twenty years before I have
the power I do now, but what's happening is I'm combining my natural abilities
with my business skill, and just eating everything else alive. Besides, I
started out with a lot of money."

"What good can demon hunting skills be in business?"

Amber laughed musically. "Oh Jay, you're so naive. The ability to influence
another human's mind is all anyone could ask for. Plus, with the Tarot reading
skills you taught me, I have limited vision into the future. I use spells to
decipher the plans of other corporations, and undermine them with my own. I
don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but FireFly is just a massive
steamroller. Anything that gets in front of us is flattened. I could become
the first mega-corp."

"What?"

"Actually, that's not true. Forget I said it."

Matt was now standing behind Amber, his hands folded behind his back.

Jay looked at him and frowned. Something was wrong with him. Jay reached for
his eye pendant, but Melanie's hand restrained him at a thought from Amber.

Later, Melanie told him.

Jay eased his hand back above the table, and Amber introduced them. "Jay,
Melanie, this is Matt. He's one of my close assistants in Project X."

Matt smiled a tight smile and shook their hands. He was cold.

After some meaningless chit chat, Matt reported to Amber that the ship was
ready to disembark.

"Okay," Amber said, standing. "I'm sorry, but you guys are going to have to
leave. The beginnings of Project X lie at the end of my journey. You stay
here, okay? Find out as much as you can about the Black Cult. I need to get to
their leader."

"Take me to your leader," Jay said in a stiff, mock-alien voice.

"Sorry, Jay, but you'll have to leave now. I've got a lot of work to do. It
was nice seeing you guys, though!" Amber pointed to the exit. "It's the third
door on your right."

Jay and Melanie nodded and said their goodbyes, leaving through the exit.

As soon as they were gone, Wayne walked over to them. "Daniel's found his way
to the NASA mainframe. We're downloading all the information now."

"Excellent," Amber said in a Mr. Burns voice, steepling her fingers. It flew
over everyone's head. "I used to watch that show when I was a kid." They
stared at her blankly. "Forget it. In an hour, I want an estimate on what you
can do with those plans."

"Yes ma'am."

"I thought you might return," Anea said calmly.

Chani's eyes filled with unbidden tears. "God, Anea, what happened to you? Why
are you like this?"

Anea patted the boulder she sat upon. "Six years ago, Zaroth happened to me."

"And you couldn't defeat him?"

Anea shook her head. "It was not for me to defeat him. Not my destiny, you
see."

Chani stood outside the casting circle, her hands clenching and unclenching by
her side. The sky was still dark, but the first rays of sun would reach in
about an hour.

"Is Anea your real name?" Chani asked.

"Yes, it is. I had another name, but I forget what it was."

"So that demon turned you evil?"

Anea laughed, a sweet, rich sound. "No, Chani. You should know that nothing
can be forced to evil. Especially me. I chose. I'll have to admit, it was
difficult, but I was glad once I'd made the choice. My soul wasn't displaced,
if that's what you're thinking."

"No," Chani breathed. "You can't be evil. Not you."

"I changed. Zaroth changed my mind. He showed me what it can be like."

"No!" Chani screamed. "You're not evil! Anea, wake up, dammit!"

Anea laughed again, but this time it was malevolent. Evil and menacing. "I am
awake, darling. More awake then I ever was. You see, instead of using my soul
to break open the barrier between this dimension and Hell, as Jakar intended,
Zaroth used my body and I became their leader. Zaroth knew that I would make a
good leader, after his fate. Chani, I am Anea. I am evil."

Chani screamed and brought her arms back, then forward, slamming her wrists
together. A blindingly bright shaft of light exploded from her palms, firing
at the woman in front of her.

Anea launched into the air, flying up above the deadly energy beam.

The boulder shattered and burst into a million small shards. The white energy
dug a crater in the ground past the rock.

Chani stopped the flow of energy, and Anea landed in front of her as she fell
forward. The black-haired woman wept into her friend's shoulder as she
accepted Anea's change.

Anea's fingertip pushed up Chani's chin, and she stared into her friend's
black eyes. Their lips touched, and fire ignited between their tongues.

If you can't beat them, join them.

THE TWO FIGURES WERE LOCKED TOGETHER IN THE DARK FIELD.

Strands of power rose around them and began weaving together an intricate
pattern of unknown purpose. Swirling energies coalesced around the pair,
forging a diamond-hard mystic structure. A powerful web of energy brought
itself forth from the two. Their converging life forces began to form a
gateway, reaching out into the fabric of the universe. Slowly, and precisely,
a rift began to form. A small hole between dimensions appeared, the glowing
energies merging and reinforcing the portal.

And then Chani was alone.

She blinked. Anea was nowhere around.

Complete blackness surrounded her, a total void. As if the world had been
sucked away, she was floating in nothingness. There was no gravity, air,
pressure, feeling...as if she didn't exist.

And then she did.

As soon as it had begun, it ended. Around her, noises and lights began to blur
out of the emptiness, fading in as if she were waking from a sleep. The
indistinct perceptions she felt began to solidify, until Chani emerged into
being.

Only a second was allowed for her to absorb her surroundings.

She was standing in a hallway. A hospital. It was bright, and people were
shouting. In front of her, a crowd of doctors and nurses were bearing down on
her.

Chani cried out and leaped aside, pressing herself against the wall.

They rushed past, into a trauma room.

Chani stared after them, shocked. She was still wearing her farmer's clothes,
but nobody seemed to notice. And nobody seemed to notice that she had just
appeared out of thin air, either. A few people walked past, giving her no heed
when she asked her location.

When Chani turned around, to look for a nurse's station, she jumped back in
surprise. In front of her was Anea. Not the same Anea she had been kissing,
but the old Anea. Seventeen years old. She was wearing a dark skirt, with a
blouse, and white sneakers. It was the same Anea she had made love to that
dark night before she disappeared.

"Anea?" Chani choked, more confused than ever.

The girl smiled. "It's me. The real me."

"What's going...why are you...I mean-"

"Don't ask any questions," Anea said. "I'll explain everything. Come on. Let's
walk."

Anea led her out of the emergency room, and they began walking down the halls.
"That night, Zaroth did the same thing to me that he did to you. Only I wasn't
strong enough to beat him. It was not my choice, to turn evil," Anea
explained, her hands folded behind her back. "I was forced to change."

"They can't force you to turn evil," Chani said.

Anea nodded, smiling regretfully. "Yes, they can. No one wants to believe it,
but the human mind is weak. Frail. We talk big, and say we'll never give up
information under torture, but it happens. There's nothing we can do to stop
it, except kill ourselves."

"Why didn't you kill yourself?"

"Because they would have sacrificed someone else in my place."

"How do you know?"

"I saw it."

"Do you know who it would have been?"

Anea nodded and stopped in front of an elevator. "You."

Chani's jaw dropped, and her mouth worked silently for a moment. "I-I
don't..."

"Don't worry about it," Anea said. "It's done now. We can't change anything."

The elevator doors opened, and after the passengers departed, Anea stepped in.
Chani followed her, and Anea pushed a button. The elevator moved up as she
continued, "The reason I had to be with you that night, was because if I
didn't, then my sacrifice would have opened the gateway to Hell, right then
and there. As it was, my body just became the host for their leader."

"Who is there leader?"

"Me, now."

"But you said you became the host for their leader."

"In part. Yes. What happened was the demon that Zaroth summoned melded with my
spirit, and we became one."

"What's that mean, you became one?"

"That is what it means. The demon and I fused, and became one entity. I am as
much demon as I am human, now. We are not two separate beings, inhabiting the
same body. We are the same being."

"Then who am I talking to?"

"Well, you're talking to the half of me that is my soul. Anea's soul, that
is."

"How-why did you bring me here?"

"I'll show you in a few minutes, let me finish, first. There's not much time,
and I'm getting weaker by the second. What's happening is that right now, I'm
creating a gateway to Hell, using your energies."

"I don't understand."

Anea grabbed Chani's shoulders, her eyes fierce. "Listen to me. You've given
up, okay?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've given up. There's no purpose to your life, and you spent all of five
minutes trying to find one. Big, fucking deal. I never thought you were a
quitter, so don't prove me wrong. What you have to do, when you get back to
Earth, is break the spell I'm casting. You're powerful, Chani. That's the only
reason I can cast it now. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for a few more years,
until there are enough members in the cult. Do you understand?"

Chani nodded her head numbly.

Anea stood back when the doors opened, and they got out. Anea headed to the
maternity ward, and Chani followed a step behind.

"You see, Chani, the world is being destroyed, and I'm the destroyer. Or, its
representative on Earth, at least. If you killed me, I doubt it would stop
anything, just slow things down. The cult is too large, now. Hundreds of
thousands of members."

"You mean there are thousands of those demons?"

"Like you saw at the farm, yes. Thousands. The Karasha has spread rapidly,
gaining more members every day. When the gateway is opened, all the Karasha
will revert to their true form, since no one in the Black Cult is human. All
are demons, living in human bodies. If the gateway is opened, hordes of demons
will be let loose on earth, and nothing we can do will stop them. Nothing."

"What are we doing here?" Chani asked as they stood looking in on the nursery.

"There, see that crib?" Anea pointed.

Chani nodded.

"That's you."

"Me?"

"Yes. This is the hospital where you were born. Look," she gestured to a man
standing at the other end of the pane windows.

Chani gasped. "My father?"

"Yes. He's here. He actually loved you once, believe it or not." Chani's
father walked away as she said this. "But...I'm not sure what tore him away
from you. Anyways," Anea pointed back into the nursery. "Look again."

As Chani watched her young self, she saw the baby begin to gurgle and choke.
"What's happening?" Chani asked, fear entering her voice.

"There was an infection in your throat that the doctors failed to diagnose,
and it's finally cut off air to your lungs. The infection would be fatal."

"But...what?" Chani demanded as the baby's face began to turn blue.

"That."

A glowing tendril extracted itself from the ceiling, and reached down towards
the baby Chani. The tendril formed into a shapeless mass of sheer energy, and
surrounded the baby. After the whole stream of power had surrounded the
choking baby, it began to seep into the young Chani's skin. A few minutes
later, her face had returned to the normal color, and her health had been
restored.

"What happened?" Chani asked.

"The same thing that happened to me, six years ago."

"What do you mean? I was fused with a demon?"

"The other end of the spectrum."

"An angel?"

"Possibly. I'm not sure. All I can say, is that some entity in the universe,
intelligent or not, merged with your soul, and made you what you are today."

Chani stared at the baby in the crib, then at her own reflection. What was
she? Was something else living inside her? Something part of her?

"You shouldn't look at yourself in any different light than you already do,"
Anea said. "You are...you. That's all there is to it."

Chani looked at the girl in front of her. "But what about you? Are you ever
going to separate?"

"It will be a few centuries, but yes, I will. Don't worry about me, Chani, you
have to worry about the world. There are others out there that would try to
stop me, but can't."

"Like who?"

"Jay, Melanie, and Amber."

"Amber? She's just caught up in FireFly."

"No," Anea said. "She will play a far bigger role than you could ever imagine.
She might try to kill the Anea you're with. Don't let her."

"Why not? Then you could try to free your soul from-"

"No. She couldn't do it. The only individual alive that is powerful enough to
match me, is you."

"What about Jay?"

"No. You are the only one with enough real power to meet me face to face."

"And should I try to kill you?" Chani asked. It occurred to her that talking
to Anea, the old Anea, like this was strange. It was hard, but if Anea was so
bent on the destruction of earth, Chani had to stop her.

"No. It's too risky, and I can't see the outcome of that battle. If you lose,
it's unlikely that anyone else on Earth will succeed." Anea twisted her face
in pain. She looked back up at Chani and said, "You have to go now. Unravel
the spell, and get away. If you try to kill me, which I hope you don't, be
careful. Never understimate me."

Chani opened her mouth, and was jerked back into reality. The hospital swirled
into nothingness, and she found that her eyes were open, and her open mouth
was against Anea's, their tongues pressing against each other.

Behind Chani was the portal, and she could hear the screams of Hell on the
other side. The energy around them was chaotic, crackling and flowing with
wickedness.

Chani pulled herself back from Anea, her face grim.

The other woman blinked, startled, as Chani prepared to destroy the spell.
"No!" Anea screamed.

Chani's eyes closed, and she released a shaft of light into the spell's
center.

One by one, the spell points began to break apart, failing and slowly
collapsing the structure of the portal. With a roar of exhausted power, the
gateway evaporated, casting lightning bolts and waves of energy out into the
atmosphere.

After it had died down, Chani looked back at the disbelieving Anea, and turned
around. She walked away.

Amber and three of her best demon hunters walked into the compound of Area 51,
ignoring all the guards. The guards continued their patrols, as if they
couldn't see the parading group.

Amber led her demon hunters straight to the main building, and walked up to
one of the two sentries on either side. With her mouth close to the guard's
ear, she whispered, "Open the door, just to see if it works."

She jumped back as the guard pushed his card into the slot, letting the door
slide open.

"What are you doing?" asked the other.

"I just had to see if it was working."

Amber and her hunters slipped into the main building, staring around them.

The doors slid closed, cutting off the guards' conversation.

Amber was wearing the same clothes she was when Jay had found her on the cargo
ship. Black army pants and boots. She had on a white T-shirt, combat holster,
with more than a few weapons, and a combat vest. Her hair was tied back in a
bun, to stay out of her way.

In the first room was just a single desk, behind which sat an old secretary.
She was typing something on a computer. Amber gestured at the secretary, and
one of her hunters went over to the computer and pulled the monitor cord out
of the back.

The secretary blinked at the blank screen, then hit the monitor. Before she
could do anything else, the hunter had attached a device to the end of the
cord, and plugged it back into the monitor. Everything returned to the same as
before.

Content, the secretary continued typing.

Amber walked over to the secretary's desk and looked for a button that opened
the next security door. She found it, and pushed the button. The two sliding
metal doors opened with a grind of motors. The secretary turned her head to
look, but Amber pushed her finger's gently against the woman's temple, so that
she was staring back at the monitor.

A few moments of incomprehension passed, and then the lady began typing once
more.

As Amber did that, her demon hunter had attached another device to the inside
of a window, and opened that just enough to put an antenna outside the window.
He pushed a small switch, and the antenna began transmitting.

Another of Amber's hunters attached a similar device on both sides of the
door, aiming it at the window transmitter.

The doors began to close, so they slipped inside quickly.

"Good work guys," Amber whispered as they moved down the metal hallway. At the
end of the hall was another door, requiring a keycard and passcode.

Amber put her hand on the small box and muttered a few redactions from The
Book of Ash. The door slid open, and they were looking into a gymnasium-sized
laboratory. In the middle of the lab was a massive space ship. Spotlights were
pointed at the ship, and video cameras were recording.

Scientists sat around the room at various tables, inspecting pieces of the
ship, and examining different aspects of its technology.

Basically, anything anyone could expect from a government inspection.

"Shit," Amber breathed.

"That's Roswell?" whispered one of her hunters.

"Roswell my ass, that's Independance Day times ten!"

"I don't know if it goes that far. Maybe it just looks bigger in real life."

"It looks different, at least," said another one.

"Well, let's find the mainframes and get the hell outa here."

"Yes ma'am."

One of the demon hunters pointed out another door at the far end of the room,
and they walked to it, ignoring the scientists. The door was closed, but not
locked. Inside, they found a dozen or more supercomputers lining the walls.
Air conditioning blew on them from behind, to keep the machines cool. Fiber
optic cabling ran from the mainframes out to the lab computers. A man sat
behind three computer screens, examining data flow and system usage.

"What a boring job," noted one of the hunters.

"Yeah," Amber agreed. "Patch into the cabling while I distract the guard."

Her hunters moved off to the fiber optic wires, and Amber moved over to the
man sitting behind the computer terminals. She swung him around in his chair,
and he started, grabbing the arms. As he was about to speak, Amber sat on his
legs, her knees pushed out wide. Her fingertips pressed against the man's
forehead, and he fainted instantly. Amber traced an invisible series of runes
on his forehead, and then stood back up.

She turned the man back to the terminal and placed an index finger on each
temple. The man awakened and immediately got to work. He opened up the system
administrator access account through a hex editor, and began editing the
profile rapidly. He perused his work, then restarted his workstation.

When the logon came back up, he typed in his password and then opened up a
user listing, including all passwords, decrypted. He printed the user listing,
and then restored the old sysadmin access account. As the computer was
restarting again, Amber released the man's temples, and his forehead hit the
table in front of him. "He'll be asleep for a few minutes," Amber said,
grabbing the password listing from the printer. "We all ready?"

"Yes ma'am," replied one of her hunters. "Transmitter is set in place."

"Good, start transmitting, then let's get the hell out of here."

A few days later, Jay was sitting in his office at DH Inc, when Chani came in
the door. "Hey!" he said. "I haven't seen you in a while!"

"Hi," she replied. "I was just wondering if you had any jobs for me. I know I
haven't been here for a bit, and just wanted to make up for it, if I could."

Jay shrugged. "Not much, really. We've been getting a lot of reports that
people are being possessed, but nothing else. It's mostly happening up north."

"You sure?"

Jay nodded. "Yeah. Me and Melanie are going up to the spud farms in Naeville
to check it out this weekend. That and we need to get out of the city for a
while."

Chani pursed her lips. "Okay. Be careful. There's something strange happening
around those parts."

"Like what?"

"I'm...not sure. Now, I need to talk to Amber. Is she up there?"

Jay shook his head. "I have no idea where she went. She's working on some kind
of special project, but that's all I know."

Chani nodded, staring out the window thoughtfully. "Okay, thanks. I'll be at
my desk if you need me."

After Chani left, she wondered why she didn't tell Jay any more about what she
knew; Jay wondered the same thing.

The day went rather slowly, and Chani just made a single house call, to
eradicate an imp. When Chani returned to the office, Melanie and Jay were
closing up. "We're going up to Naeville for a while. We'll stay up there this
weekend and see what we can find out."

Chani nodded. "Be careful."

Jay agreed, but Melanie caught her eye. Her eyes narrowed, as she searched
Chani, trying to read her. The most Chani would let her have was that there
was a lot more going on than Jay even considered.

They said their good-byes and left.

Chani sat at her desk for a while, twirling her pen and thinking. Well, she
kind of had a purpose, now. Protect Amber. Protect everyone from Anea. Did
that mean Jay and...? God, the good half of Anea's spirit wasn't ordering her
around, just giving her warnings. That's all.

So Jay and Melanie were heading up to Naeville, huh? That would take them
about three or four hours if they traveled by the speed limit. They probably
would, knowing Melanie and what she would allow. Were they heading out there
tonight?

Probably. It was the only way they could get any privacy at night.

Chani missed her fingering and the twirling pen flew off to the other side of
the office. Oh well. She grabbed her leather jacket and pulled it on, leaving
the office and setting the security system.

As Chani passed by an adjoining hall on the way to the elevator, she snorted.
A demon, one of Anea's, most likely, was crouching in the hall, trying to keep
its presence hidden from her. Stupid.

It probably wasn't there when Jay and Melanie walked by, otherwise it'd be
dead now.

That triggered another notion in Chani. Anea would be going after her wouldn't
she? She'd be trying to get her back to that casting circle to open a gateway
to Hell, wouldn't she? Damn. Having to constantly watch your back was
something Chani hated. It was such a fucking pain.

Well, shit, she shouldn't really be worried, should she? After all, she was an
even match for Anea, why should she be worried about Anea's little demon
followers? Perhaps Anea wasn't going to attack her, just spy on her.

In any case, Chani should keep an eye out.

She arrived at her black convertible in the underground parking lot and
dismantled the shield she'd placed around it. More than once, she'd found a
criminal lying on his back, stiff as a board. They fully regained their senses
after Chani took down the shield, and never came back.

Chani hopped in the driver's seat and cranked the engine. She flipped on the
CD player, which began belting out God Shuffled His Feet, and sped out of the
Jewel Tower parking lot.

"Bill Gates was found dead at his house this morning, death due to a heart
attack, says the doctor," the deejay said. "You know, he's been under a lot of
stress lately, what with his wife leaving him and all. I wouldn't be surprised
if h-"

Melanie flipped it off. "You don't think Amber...?"

"Nah," Jay said, pulling into the hotel parking lot. "I hear this is the best
hotel in town," he pointed at the sign.

"I hear this is the only hotel in town."

"True. Which would logically make it the best."

"And worst."

"Uh-huh."

They got out and went into the front office. The desk was empty. A guy came
from an adjoining room. "What's up?" he said. "One room?"

Jay nodded, holding out a credit card.

The man took it and swept it through the machine. After signing a receipt, Jay
was handed a key. The man returned to the other room to continue his nightly
TV watch.

Their room was noticeably smaller than the one in the Waldorf. It had two
single beds, separated by a nightstand. A TV sat on the desk at the end of the
room, and there was one bathroom.

Jay gaped. "This place sucks!"

"It's just because you're so used to having money."

"You don't think it sucks?"

"I didn't say that. I just think you're a little spoiled is all."

"Well, I think you agree with me. Please, don't be angry, but I'm going to
wait till we get back to Toho before making up that special night to you.
Okay?"

Melanie nodded. "Yeah, sometimes I wish I weren't so spoiled."

"I don't."

It took only two weeks for Chani to discover that she was pregnant.

She was looking at herself in the full length mirror in the bathroom, a couple
weeks after her conjugation with Zaroth, when she noticed that her stomach was
bulging, ever so slightly. Chani stood sideways and sucked in, feeling the
area. With her extra senses, she was easily able to tell what had happened. Oh
shit. She was going to have a demon child. This sucks.

Chani went over to the mirror and wiped all the moisture from its surface. She
looked at her face closely, for any differences. Why would there be any? Who
knows. Okay. She was pregnant. Eventually, she'd have to tell someone. They
would find out.

Unless she got an abortion.

Chani sat against the toilet, moving back to the beginning. She was pregnant.
The only way she could be pregnant is if Zaroth impregnated her. That was the
only way. Therefore, she was going to have a half-demon child. Now is when the
realization truly sank in.

She sat back and leaned her head against the wall, looking at the ceiling. For
a few moments, her mind was blank, and then she began rubbing her stomach,
where the baby was growing. It had to be growing faster than a normal child.
Chani didn't know any mothers, or anything about babies, but she was sure that
two weeks was too soon to have a bulge in the stomach.

Maybe she could go see a doctor today. How many weeks pregnant do you think I
am? Then she could estimate how much faster the baby would grow in her
stomach. Take a vacation for that many months, come back after the baby's
born.

Excellent.

But would the baby grow at the same rate after it was born?

But wait.

Would the baby be evil?

Chani hit her head against the wall a couple of times and then sighed. She'd
figure it out after seeing the doctor.

"This'll be your desk," Jay said. "It used to be Anea's. We dug it out of
inventory yesterday."

John nodded. "How much will I be using the desk?"

"Depends on how much business we get. If we're busy, not much. If we're slow,
a lot. Through that door's the research library, I've moved it down here from
the apartment. There's more open space in there, and you can do pushups or
whatever you do, if you need. Red, he's the computer guy around here, he
should be bringing you a PC sometime today. Chani'll be in later today, and
she can show you all it takes to run DH Inc."

John nodded in intervals as Jay spoke.

"Um, here's your chair. There's a supply closet down the hall if you need
anything. Here's my set of keys," Jay set his office keys on the desk. "You
can copy those whenever you have free time, and just set the originals on my
desk. The one with the black mark on it is the office key, and the one with
the red mark is to any closets on this floor. This is pretty informal in here,
so you can eat lunch whenever, wherever, whatever. Um, no dress code." Jay
searched the room, thinking of other things to prep John on. "I think that's
about it, unless you have any questions."

"Not now," the big man rumbled. "Chani will be here later, though, right?"

"Yes. She can help you with anything else you need to know. Chani should be
in...any minute now. Mel and I are going up to a ski resort over west for a
few weeks. We tried taking a little vacation in Naeville a few weeks ago, but
that turned out badly. Business has been slow lately, so don't expect too much
to happen. If you need to ask us any questions, all the telephone numbers are
in the middle drawer, and there's always Chani."

John nodded.

Jay and Melanie left, waving goodbye.

After a few moments, the phone rang.

"Good morning, DH Inc, this is John speaking."

"John? John who? Oh, hi! So you've finally decided to start working with us,
huh? Well, listen Johnny, tell Jay that I'm going on vacation for a while,
okay? I'll be gone for a month or two, just tell him that."

"But-"

"Hey, have a cool time, okay?"

"Wait-"

"Gotta go now, the bus is here."

"Chani-"

"Bye!"

Click.

John looked at the handset for a few moments. He ran his tongue along his
teeth, thinking. Great. Just great.

"Shit!" Jay said.

"What?"

"I left the cel phone back at the office."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Melanie said. "Chani's gonna be there."

Jay turned onto the mountain road and drove along the smooth pavement at about
50.

"It was nice of Chani to lend us her car," Jay said.

"What?" Melanie called over the wind.

"I said it was nice of Chani to lend us her convertible!"

"Oh!"

Jay pushed a button and the hood slid back into position, fighting the air
resistance. "What do you think about the Black Cult?" Jay said. "Are they
really as threatening as that demon said?"

Melanie furrowed her brow. "I don't know. I couldn't glean too much from him,
he was good at hiding his thoughts. You think he was lying?"

Jay shrugged. "Maybe. We had him cornered, and that's usually good. But demons
lie constantly, so I don't know. I think we should take him pretty seriously,
though. It never hurts."

Melanie nodded, staring at the landscape. Eastern Amaria was slowly sinking as
they rose along the mountain road. They could see stormclouds moving southeast
along the plains, toward Toho. Heat lightning was visible in the distance.

"Pretty," Melanie said.

"Mm-hm."

They drove in silence for the rest of the trip.

Amber walked into the conference room of the main building at Watermark, the
headquarters for Project X. This conference room was drastically different
from the one in the Jewel Tower. It looked like something out of a sci-fi
movie. Soon its adopted name would become "The Bridge."

In the center of the room was a huge holographic projector in the middle of a
large round table. A dozen wheeled chairs were placed around the table, two of
which were occupied. Around the sides of the room, several computer consoles
and terminals blinked and spouted noises as Amber's newly recruited computer
team tried to work the last few kinks out of the system. The room itself was
circular, and several descended towards the center, with several bleacher-like
benches encircling the main table.

It looked very similar to the rebel meeting room in Return of the Jedi, where
they were briefed on the Death Star's capabilities. Daniel was seated at the
table, a P6 computer linked to the holo-projector. He was alternating between
the hologram and the monitor as he examined the specs for a strange looking
jet.

"What's that?" Amber asked.

"The X1 shuttle I was telling you about. This is the jet that I was designing
before you hired me away," he explained. "I'm pretty sure they won't have a
working prototype for another three years, at least."

"I need one in two."

"I know, ma'am. According to the simulations, it's ready for test-flight, it
just needs to be built. There are several modifications I should make to it
first, but those can wait until after the frame is constructed. If you get me
a crew, I'll start on it right away."

Amber nodded. "Excellent."

She walked from the conference room through a series of hallways until she was
standing outside. Construction was happening all over the island. The whole
island was being deforested, and new buildings and structures were being
erected rapidly. Using tons and tons of materials, construction machines were
building the rest of Watermark. If everything went as she had planned,
Watermark would be completed in two months. That meant day and night shifts
for everyone, but...well, they knew the consequences if it didn't succeed.

Project X was the largest...thing anyone in all of history had ever attempted
to undertake. She hoped the Internal Revenue Service didn't find out about it
in their audit. Amber had poured billions into Project X. It would probably
amount to trillions.

It had to succeed. But not for that reason, of course.

Two days before Jay and Melanie were scheduled to return, four men in business
suits walked in the door.

John stood up. "May I help you?"

"We're from the IRS."

Fucking shit.

"It's about the audit."

Holy fucking shit.

"Although you are not officially employed by FireFly, you receive certain
benefits and funds from FireFly that require explanations. We're here to find
out what they are."

God.

Chani looked at herself in the mirror for the fifth time that day. Yes, she
definitely had to call Melanie. There was no way she could give birth to this
baby all by herself. It hadn't even been two months, as she had thought, but
she could sense that labor day was approaching rapidly.

Chani's physiology had altered so much since she became pregnant. Her appetite
was enormous, as it was, but it tripled with the baby. She ordered pizza two,
three times a day, and had huge stores of food in the lodge's pantry. The guy
down at the local convenience store looked forward to her daily food cravings,
since his tip was always rather generous.

Abortion had been out, just because Chani knew it was still not perfect, and
could cause problems with future family plans. If the baby turned out to be a
Satan-spawn, she'd just kill it herself. It wasn't something she was looking
forward to, but it might have to happen.

Chani let the dress fall back over her stomach, and she went to the phone.

Melanie set down the telephone, staring off into space. Her mouth and eyes
were open wide.

Jay came out of the kitchen with a bottle of OJ and some chips. "What?" he
said through the chips. "What's wrong?"

"Your spraying food on the floor," Melanie said absently, still disbelieving.
She turned her stunned face on Jay.

"What? What'd I do?"

"Nothing. I have to leave. Now. Good-bye."

The birth was difficult, but not as hard as Chani had feared. She only passed
out once, and managed to stay awake enough to determine that her child was not
demonspawn...well, it was, strictly speaking, but it wasn't evil.

After some rest, Chani managed to sit up in bed, and Melanie brought her her
child. "Have you thought about a name?" Melanie asked.

Chani blinked, looking up at her friend. "Name? Uh, no, not really. I mean,
most of the time I was either eating and watching TV, or throwing up, or
worrying about whether Shonan would be evil or not."

"Who?"

"Huh?"

"You just said his name."

"I did not."

"Yes you did. You said, 'Shonan.'"

"Did I?"

Melanie nodded.

"Where did that come from?" Chani looked down at the baby in her arms. As far
as she could tell, Shonan - that name sounded fine to her - was perfectly
normal. He had no strange markings or features. Melanie said that his thoughts
were completely normal for a baby's. All the baby's proportions were correct,
and he responded well to visual stimulation.

Melanie sat in a chair next to the bed. "How did it happen, Chani?"

"What?"

"You know. Who's the father? How come we couldn't tell?"

Chani looked at Shonan and drew in a shuddering breath. "Melanie, I'm not
really who you think I am. I'm not really who I thought I was."

"What are you talking about?"

Chani revealed her ordeal with Zaroth, Anea, Anea's soul, and went even
further by telling of Julie and her resulting guilt. The guilt that Anea
purged and used to free Chani from her first depression. And she told of
Anea's transformation, and all that she knew of the Black Cult. When she
finished, Shonan was sleeping quietly, and Melanie was absorbing the
information into her system.

"My God," Melanie whispered. "It's just...it all, kinda fits, you know?"

Chani nodded, wiping her teary eyes. "I, uh, should have told you guys
earlier, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Melanie said, her voice vacant. "I think I'm going to
go call Jay now. He might be getting worried."

Matt narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, picking at his teeth with his pen. As he
stared out of the window, his canines slowly elongated and sharpened. They
formed into fangs.

If the audit continued to go as smoothly as it had, then Project X could
proceed without a hitch. A minor problem was DH Inc. It had received
unexplained funding from FireFly, undoubtedly Amber's sentiments towards her
friends. That was fine, it just didn't help the situation any.

Matt punched some keys on his laptop and sent some email to a few of the new
"accountants" he had brought on board, explaining the situation with DH Inc.
Hopefully they could work with Jay to resolve the situation with minimal
difficulty. Some new guy was working at DH Inc, and he managed to deter the
IRS long enough for Jay to return, and Matt to get some new project for the
IRS to examine.

How many years would it be before Project X would finally be completed? Four,
five? Not long enough. He couldn't wait for-

Matt stopped, his black eyes darting to the side. With his extra-sensory
perceptions, he could detect movement out in the corridoor. It was late.
Nobody was left here at this time of night. Except maybe Amber, or one of the
Council.

But the Council wasn't here. They'd all left for a trade conference tonight.

And Amber was in Watermark. She was negotiating with some neo-pagans for the
Inner Circle of Project X. She would be negotiating for another month, at
least. Matt doubted that Amber would accept anyone far below her skill level,
especially for the Inner Circle.

A click came from the hallway, and Matt stood up, moved to the door, and put
his eye up to it in one fluid motion. Matt saw a shape slide into Amber's
office, and the door closed quietly.

Matt stepped out into the hall and walked to her door. A foot away from the
door, Matt's body turned grey instantly, and vaporized. He melted to the
ground and drained under the door, sliding back into his original shape within
seconds.

When Matt reformed, he saw a hunchbacked shape looking through Amber's desk.

"Can I help you?" Matt asked, his eyes narrow.

The figure jumped, and looked at Matt.

It was one of the Karasha. A demon.

With a snarl, the demon vaulted off the desk and slammed into Matt. They hit
the door with a crash, strong enough to shatter any normal door. Amber's was
reinforced with a metal web on the inside, so the hinges just splintered, and
the door bolt broke the threshold wood.

A silent alarm went off immediately, but both of them ignored it.

The demon's hands went to Matt's neck, and Matt wrapped his arms around the
demon's, glaring coldly as they pitted their strength against each other. For
several moments they grappled, trying to get a better chokehold than the
other.

Then the demon swung Matt around, probably aiming to throw him out the window.
Matt's right foot dug into the carpet, and he stopped himself before he could
move any more. Now Matt's back was to Amber's desk and the demon's was to the
door. Much better.

Matt planted his left foot and thrust forward with a grunt. The demon's back
smashed into the door. More wood splintered.

Matt pulled back and smashed the demon three more times before the door came
crashing down. The creature fell back, and Matt overcompensated his weight.
Using this to its advantage, the demon hurled Matt down the hall, and Matt hit
the elevator. His back snapped in three places, then mended itself back
together painfully.

The demon rushed down the hall, probably intending to break Matt again,
disabling him enough so the thing could finally kill him. Matt feigned
dizziness until the last second, then rolled aside. The demon slammed its fist
into the already dented elevator doors. They bent inwards with a squeal of
protest, and the demon pulled its fist out.

Matt's hands clamped on either side of the demon's head. He was trying to
crush its skull. As his superhuman strength fractured the human's skull, the
demon inside screamed in protest. It cast a quick spell, and transformed into
its true body. The price for transforming into its true form would probably
come later on, but hopefully Matt would have killed it by then.

As soon as the human body broke out into demon scales, Matt pulled his hands
away and jumped back. The body transformed into a demon; scales sprung out
over the skin, the muscles bulged, claws exploded from its fingertips, wings
burst out of its back, and the eyes burned red.

This was not a good thing.

But, hey, Matt could handle it. He was a vampire.

The demon charged again, and Matt transformed into mist at the last moment. He
only changed for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for the demon to
charge right through him. As soon as Matt reformed, he spun around and
barreled into the demon, pushing it to the end of the hall.

They hit a large glass window and crashed through, falling out of the side of
the building. Matt grabbed the demon's wings and pushed his feet into its
back, yanking on the wings as hard as he could.

There were simultaneous cracks as the wings were dislocated.

That demon wouldn't be able to fly for a while, at least.

Suddenly the demon had spun around in mid-air and grabbed Matt's neck. Matt
grabbed the demon's wrist and squeezed, trying to break its bones.

The blood and air to Matt's brain stopped. His neck snapped, and his vertebrae
parted. Several capillaries and blood vessels burst. Internal tissue ripped,
but Matt ignored it.

After a moment, Matt realized it was futile to try and break the demon's
wrist. It was too powerful. Any human's wrist would have been powder by now,
but he wasn't dealing with a human.

The demon's other arm grabbed Matt's head and began to crush his skull.

Not a good thing.

As tissue tore and more bones broke, Matt released the demon's wrist and
yanked out his .44. It had been a gift from Amber, and he wore it just to
please her, since normally, he could handle any situation he ran into.

A quick image in Matt's peripheral vision told him it was too late to shoot.

He turned into mist again, and slipped from the demon's fingers like air. Air,
vapor, close enough. As soon as he was free, he returned to his normal body,
and his body regenerated before he hit the ground. Matt tried to land with
minimal damage, but his footing was off and he broke his left ankle in three
places.

They mended by the time he was standing.

The demon was wavering in the crater it had made; its regeneration
capabilities were not as advanced as Matt's.

They had landed in the 10th floor gardens, in the middle of a birthday party.
Guests were screaming, and people were yelling for security. Matt aimed his
pistol at the demon and fired. The first boom knocked everyone at the party
flat, except for the demon. Blood sprayed from its left pectoral, and it took
a step back.

Matt emptied the clip into the demon, and watched as more blood spilled onto
the ground. After a few moments of hesitation, the demon decided to die and
then phase back into its own universe.

Matt gave a deep sigh and put the gun back. He wiped his forehead and looked
at his hand. Shit, he was pale. He needed to feed.

Ignoring the rest of the guests, he went inside and took an elevator up to the
thirteenth floor. That was the typing pool. There was almost always at least
one person putting in some overtime.

The doors opened, and Matt stepped out, looking at the maze of cubicles. He
saw only one light on. Good. Nobody else to see. The security cameras wouldn't
see anything either, since they couldn't look into each individual cubicle,
and there would be no crime reported.

Matt walked smoothly to the one cubicle, and took off his sunglasses when he
reached the desk. Seated behind a computer terminal was a woman in her late
twenties. Her hair was blonde, tied back in a bun. As she turned to look at
him, Matt smiled.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Her eyes started when she noticed how pale and
strange he looked.

Matt then reached out, locking her soul.

The girl froze, her eyes going blank. Matt lifted her up, leaning her head
back and pushing the blouse away from her neck. The skin was light and smooth.
Good.

Matt's mouth covered her skin, and his fangs brushed against the main artery
in her neck. He paused barely a moment, tasting her skin and feeling the
adrenaline rush he always got before a feeding.

Then his teeth sank into the soft flesh, breaking the skin and sending a flood
of hot life blood into his mouth. The blood rushed into his mouth cavity,
filling it up quickly. Then, as Matt swallowed the vital fluid, he couldn't
get enough. It pulsed into his body, and thundered through his veins like
fire. Every drop filled him with more power, removing age and whiteness from
his skin.

The woman moaned, feeling Matt's pleasure. Carnal power infused her mind, and
she arched her back as the blood drained from her neck. Each of her heartbeats
pumped more life into Matt, and more pleasure into her brain. Soon, she was
whimpering and crying out, jerking her hips with each beat. Then, she orgasmed
powerfully, screaming and thrusting her hips out in front of her.

Matt reluctantly closed his mouth. He placed his hand over her wound, and
pulled it away a few seconds later. After wiping away the bloodstain, no
evidence of his entry remained.

Matt felt her pulse and determined she would probably wake up in a few hours.
If she were smart, she'd take off a couple days, and that would hopefully
bring her blood level back up.

A moment's thought, and Matt used her terminal to access his account and send
an email to the typing pool supervisor, telling him to take the load off her
for the next couple of weeks.

Matt looked around again and then walked back to the elevator. As it rose back
to the 50th floor, he called security and told them to ignore anything out of
the ordinary this evening. He'd take care of it.

Amber looked down the list critically, chewing on the end of her pen. God. She
would only allow nine members into the Inner Circle. That was enough, but who
would she choose? The twelve still left were all powerful, but some had better
qualities than others. Most of those had bad qualities mixed in. There were
five or six that she knew would make it, and the rest were all competing for
the same positions.

Amber pushed the clipboard to the middle of the Roundtable (the holo-projector
table in the Bridge) and sighed, stretching. She looked at Daniel, who was
still working here, since her new computer team was trying to sort out a
problem with his workstation at the office building.

Twirling her pen, Amber decided to take a walk outside. Maybe it would clear
her head. She walked out of the headquarters along a small path that lead to
the other side of the island. That part of the island was still nature;
construction wouldn't begin there for another couple of months.

As she walked, she looked down at the night laborers. All of her people were
good workers. They were determined. It was surprising how the knowledge of the
future could change a person. Some had been lazy, with just potential, until
Amber revealed what the future held.

Making them believe her was the hard part. Making them believe that she could
see, did see, and that there was no way out. Fortunately, an extensive
research in Jay's library (he had ceased calling it "Arcanis" anything for a
while now) had turned out a spell that had literally become part of Amber now.

She couldn't remember the name of the spell, but it created an air of...
understanding, among the listeners. Anyone who listened to her knew in their
hearts that she was telling the truth, and what she was trying to say. That
had taken care of the most difficult part, or so she'd thought.

Pulling so many workers away from their jobs and homes was ridiculously
difficult, as she soon found out. Many didn't want to leave without knowing
why, even when offered enormous sums of money. They had to know the truth
before they would leave.

A few came without knowing why, just after the money, and then Amber told them
her purpose. Then they became truly dedicated. But that wasn't enough. She
needed more to continue with Project X, so Amber tried telling the truth
before offering money. Many offered to come without being paid, some came with
pay, and some just said to fuck the money. All came, after hearing the truth.

So hiring and putting employees to work here at Watermark became simplicity.
The labor force was practically free, so now she just needed to pay for the
materials. That was harder. Sort of. Many materials were mined, refined, and
sold by FireFly, so she could just ship those straight out here, but those
that weren't, she had to order in mass amounts. That would definitely draw
attention, especially from the IRS.

But Amber trusted Matt. He could hold them at bay while she worked here.

Amber walked over the rise and continued to the other half of the island,
careful to stay on the path.

More than once, Amber had considered showing Project X to Jay and Melanie and
Chani, but guilt stopped her short. Knowing the truth about the future was
like...taking the weight of the world on your shoulders. It was something that
wouldn't go away.

Amber always had this stress. She was always under stress from FireFly and her
many sub-corporates. It was in her normal routine to handle stress. If she
exposed this kind of anxiety to Jay, Melanie, and Chani, they might crack in
just a few years.

They were strong, though.

As Amber approached her favorite waterfall, she stopped. The path she always
walked had a branch-off leading to a small waterfall that she would sit by for
hours, when she needed to think. But someone was there now.

Curious, Amber walked down to the water, and saw someone swimming in the small
pool. She squinted at the figure in the moonlight. It was one of the
neo-pagans. Aranor was his name.

What was he doing out here?

Amber frowned and sat on a log situated next to the pond. She watched him
silently for a few minutes, before coughing loudly to reveal her presence.

Aranor stopped swimming and looked at her. His expression was puzzled for a
second, as he swam closer. "Ah, Amber!" he called. "What are you doing here?"

"I come here to think, what about yourself?"

Aranor blushed, and looked at the other side of the river.

Amber saw his clothes piled up in the sand. She fell back in laughter and
called out, "I see you're enjoying the spoils of nature."

Aranor nodded. "Yeah. It's become too technologically oriented in the rest of
the world. Coming here..." he waved his hand around at the sky. "It's full of
life and energy. I feel so...peaceful."

Amber nodded again. "It is. I wonder how much of it will remain like this."

Aranor treaded water silently for a few moments, then asked, "What did you
come out here to think about? Who to choose for the Inner Circle?"

"Yep," Amber sighed. "That's it. I...you're all good, it's just...who would
work best with me and the rest of the circle."

"There are twelve to choose from," Aranor said. "Right?"

"How did you know?"

"Don't ask."

"Right. Sorry."

"Why don't you pick the four best and make them the Inner Circle, and create
an Outer Circle of the other nine. That way, none of us would go to waste."

"That's a good idea," Amber mused aloud. "But I never said any of you would go
to waste. Those that didn't make it to the Inner Circle, and those that have
come that I'm compatible with, I was going to put in the Outer Circle. Only a
few would be left over. Some I might delegate to train my demon hunters or
something along those lines."

Aranor nodded.

Amber sighed. "So, how long are you going to swim in there?"

"Dunno," Aranor shrugged. "Care to join me?"

Shocked at herself, Amber agreed. "Sure."

Putting her shame aside, Amber stripped out of her dress and lingerie, until
she was completely naked. She shook the sand out of her feet and tested the
water. It was cool.

One glance at Aranor wasn't enough to tell what he was thinking, but she dived
in anyways, the cold water jolting her senses awake. Amber opened her eyes
underwater, and was surprised that she could see so clearly. Not terribly
clearly, but clear enough so that she could see the moonlight dancing on the
sandy bottom.

Amber's head broke the surface and she threw her head back, to keep the hair
out of her face. "God!" she sputtered. "It's cold!"

"Feels good, huh?" Aranor grinned, slowly treading toward the waterfall.

Amber smiled and swam to a corner of the pool near him. "It's warmer over
here," she noted, digging her toes into the sand. Letting it fall between them
and surround her feet. It felt so good, having every part of your body feeling
something at the same time.

"That's where I peed."

Amber laughed again, letting more of her worries slip away.

"So where are you from, Amber Jenkins? Amaria?"

Amber swam out to the center, where Aranor had returned to. "Yeah," she said,
swallowing then spitting water out of her mouth. "I grew up with my folks
there, until Jay took me in."

"Who?"

"Jay. Jay Savena. He's the owner of Demon Hunters Incorporated, a place in one
of my buildings. If anybody knows more about demons than me, it's him."

"How come he's not in on Project X?"

Amber shrugged her bare shoulders, treading a few feet away from him. "It's a
lot to ask, putting that kind of pressure on a person. He's my friend, and I
don't want to do that to him for another few years."

Aranor nodded. "I understand. But you have to know we'll succeed."

"I don't know. I can't see into our future, there are too many roads."

"Take the one less traveled."

"I'm taking the one never traveled."

"How true. How true."

"Where are you from?"

Aranor looked up and to the left, thinking. If they looked up and to the
right, they were lying, up and to the left, they were remembering. Amber heard
that somewhere. "I grew up in Scotland for a few years, and my parents moved
to America when I was young. I've lived there ever since, moving from coven to
coven, but staying solitary most of the time. I'm surprised you don't know all
this."

"Jeeves does. He's keeping track of my records and stuff. I have a lot more to
deal with than that."

"True. So what religon do you follow?"

Oddly enough, Amber didn't feel uncomfortable with the question. Usually when
someone asked her, she would avoid the question and try to find something else
to talk about. Aranor wasn't casting a spell or anything, so he couldn't be
disabling her self control. It must just be something natural for him, she
guessed.

Oh well.

"I don't," Amber said, swimming backwards around Aranor and looking at the
sky. "I haven't really believed in anything. FireFly has robbed me of any time
to think about anything else, so I don't know. My answer to why I haven't
thought about it is that I just haven't had the time."

"Good answer."

Amber turned her head sideways in the water and raised an eyebrow.

"Coming from you, I believe it. Anybody else, I'd believe it's bullshit."

With a smile, Amber dove backwards under the water and surfaced again nearer
to Aranor. "How come I can talk to you so easy?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, social situations where I talk about things like this usually...aren't
my style. I mean, the only other people I could talk to like this were my
friends back in Toho. The Demon Hunters. I usually don't open up like this to
anyone."

Aranor chuckled. "Open up? You think this is opening up? We need to have some
more discussions then."

"Well what do you think is opening up?" Amber frowned.

"What's your greatest fear?"

"Ha!" Amber cried triumphantly. "This isn't opening up, that question's easy.
That Project X won't-"

"No. I mean, your personal fear. Is it heights? Darkness? Demons? Failure?
Death?..."

Amber furrowed her brow.

Aranor swam closer, staring at her intensely. "Come on..." he whispered. "You
can do it."

"Do what? That is my greatest fear."

"No. Phobia. What are you paranoid about?"

"But-"

"Here. My greatest fear is that I'm doing something wrong, and nobody will
tell me."

"Huh?"

"Yeah." Aranor began swimming in a tight circle around Amber. "I constantly
need encouragement from my fellow man, otherwise I think I'm doing something
wrong. Unless they tell me something good, I think I'm doing it bad."

"Oh."

"See, right now, I'm afraid you're starting to think I'm looney."

"I don't!"

"Really?"

"Of course I don't think you're looney," Amber laughed. "Why would I?"

"Whew," Aranor relaxed visibly. "Okay. Now it's your turn."

Amber looked down into the water uncomfortably.

"Come on..." urged Aranor. "I said my fear, what's wrong with yours?"

"I...well..." Amber paused. "I don't know. I mean, I guess I'm always afraid
that FireFly won't succeed, or a business deal won't go through, or Project X
won't succeed...so I guess that's it."

"That things won't succeed."

"Yeah. That's my greatest fear."

"You won't meet your goals."

"Huh?"

"That's just a better way to put it. You're afraid you won't meet your goals,
and you'll fail miserably."

"Yeah. Okay. That's fine too."

Aranor smiled. "That's some decent opening up, if you ask me."

Amber couldn't help but smile back. God, he was attractive. His hair was
blond, cut short. His eyes were striking blue, and his face was sharp and
angular. He had well-muscled arms and chest, and probably other bonuses.

"What's your greatest flaw?" Aranor asked.

"Are you a psychologist?"

"No, why?"

Amber dove down to the bottom of the pool and came back up with a handful of
sand. "Just because," she panted from holding her breath. "You're sure asking
a lot of questions. It's like self-exploration-night or something." Amber let
the wet sand slide between her fingers, back down to the bottom.

Aranor shrugged. "We should all do it sometime, and you strike me as a person
who does it very little."

"Why do you say that?"

"You just do. You're a famous business woman, trying to dominate the market
and save the world at the same time. That's enough to occupy anyone's time.
And you haven't really thought of any religon to follow, so, it's only fair to
assume that you don't have much time to think about yourself."

That hit home. Not that it mattered, Amber knew it was true. "Yeah, I guess
you're right. But it doesn't matter. I mean, as soon as Project X launches,
I'll have a long time to think about myself."

"How true." Aranor pushed backwards in the water and floated face-first,
staring at the bottom. Which was exactly what Amber did to him. When he came
back up, gasping for air, his next question was, "So what about love?"

"Huh?"

"What about love? You ever been in love?"

"No," Amber answered. "I don't have time for it. FireFly and Project X are my
life, now. Maybe after..."

"How many guys will you have to choose from? Ten? Twenty?"

"25, I think. I still have some work to do with Daniel on the final
blueprints, so I'm not sure. But it'll be enough."

"Okey-dokey," Aranor looked at her gravely. "What about your sex life?"

Amber laughed again. "What!? What kind of question is that?"

"That's just it. When was the last time you had sex?"

Amber was still amazed that she answered his questions so easily, as if they
were talking about the weather. "It was seven or eight years ago."

"Too long," Aranor clucked his tongue. "Who with?"

"Jay."

"Jay your friend?"

Amber nodded. "Yeah. I think a lust demon entered the room or something."

"Seriously? I know how to get rid of those things."

"I was kidding. I didn't know there was such a thing."

"So was I. There's not. Did you find out why it happened? Unless you two just
got carried away or something."

Amber shook her head. "Huh-uh. It stopped happening after he met up with
Melanie though, so I'm not sure. I don't think he was casting a spell to make
it happen, but it's possible, I guess."

"Kill him, if he did."

Amber scowled. "Come on. That was a long time ago. I don't care about it any
more. We took measures, anyway."

"See! That was a long time ago. I told you."

"Well, so what if it was a long time ago? When was the last time you had sex?"

"It's been a couple years."

"Two?"

"About, yeah."

"When was it?"

"It was in a sex magic ritual. I was part of a coven at the time."

"Oh."

Aranor swam over to the shore. "Let's rest, treading water for this long is
tiring."

Amber followed, and they lay in the sand, under the water with their heads
sticking out. "What's the deal with you?" Amber asked. She looked up at the
sky.

"What do you mean?"

"How come you're so easy to talk to?"

"Sorry. Can't answer that one. Here's one for ya. Why is there time?"

"What?"

"Why is there time? Why does time exist? Why aren't we all just frozen
statues? Why do we exist? Why does anything at all exist? Why isn't there just
absolutely nothing to constitute the whole of existence?"

Amber raised her eyebrows, still looking up at the stars.

"Yeah, I know. That's usually a conversation stopper."

"You know, we don't have stars in the city."

"That sucks. That's why I always go out to the country on weekends."

"Mh-hm."

Aranor put his arms behind his head and sighed. "I wonder if there are aliens
on other worlds."

"I'll bet there are."

"You think we'll run into any of them?"

"I hope not," Amber said. "That wouldn't make things any easier for us."

"Maybe it would. If they were kind-hearted benevolent beings, they might offer
to help us with Project X."

"Yeah, like in Independence Day?"

"Well..."

Amber grinned. "I think it's unlikely we'll run into them before we complete
Project X."

"Yeah," sighed Aranor. "You're probably right."

They stared at the stars for a few minutes, and then Aranor asked, "Have you
decided on the Inner Circle yet?"

"Huh?" Amber started. "Oh, no. I wasn't even thinking about that."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Good. You should do that more often. But now, we shouldn't even think at
all."

"Why not?" Amber asked, grinning. She was still looking straight at the sky.

"You just let..." Aranor said slowly, pausing. Amber noticed his voice was
much closer, and she turned her head, to find him right next to her.
"...instinct take over," he whispered, kissing her lips softly.

Amber's protest died before it formed. Tingling sensations tickled her lips
and tongue as Aranor's mouth linked with hers. After a few moments, she
moaned, wrapping her arms around Aranor's back. Their tongues possessed each
other's mouths, wrestling for control. The passion built steadily over the
next couple of minutes as they kissed and rolled around the sand like a couple
of kids.

Before Amber knew what was happening, she could feel pressure between her
legs, and she looked down. His hand was cupping her mound, and he was nipping
at her breasts lightly, flicking his tongue over her hard nipples. She moaned
in response, and felt his finger sliding lightly over her cunt lips.

It had been too long.

Amber could feel warm juices leaking from her womanhood, mixing with the water
and sweat that already covered them both. Aranor bent down and licked her,
tasting the salty mixture.

Light swirled in front of Amber's eyes as she felt his mouth working her lower
hips, bringing blissful sensations crashing down on her brain. Her hands found
the sides of Aranor's head and she held him there as she bucked out into him,
screaming as the sexual pleasure rocketed through her sweating body. She
screamed, arching her back and clawing Aranor's hair as his tongue delved
deeply into her pussy.

After the powerful orgasm, Amber collapsed back onto the beach, panting. When
she looked up, Aranor was sitting back on his heels, wiping his face off.
"Well," Aranor said. "That's what I mean when I say we should think less."

"And talk less," Amber growled, pulling towards him and mashing her lips
against his. Her tongue shoved past his startled lips and moved into his
mouth, mixing their hot saliva together. Amber miscalculated...or didn't even
bother to calculate, how her weight was positioned, and she rolled to the
side, down towards the slow-moving river. She dragged Aranor with her, and
they tumbled into the cool waters.

It wasn't cold enough to stifle the fires in Amber. Her legs grappled out, and
she clenched them around Aranor's waist, still frenching him passionately.
Amber's hands found his cock, and she grabbed its length, pulling it into her
waiting womanhood.

At that moment, Aranor's feet hit the bottom, and he realized that they were
going to have to breath sometime soon. So Aranor dug his feet against the
current and pushed sideways, so their heads surfaced on the side of the river.
Aranor was on top now, and he drove Amber's back into the bank, keeping just
her head and breasts above the water.

Aranor began thrusting his cock into her, grinding his naked hips into
Amber's. She whimpered in reply, grabbing his shoulders as he fucked her.
Aranor bent down, alternately sucking on her breasts and kissing her mouth.
His thrusts sped up as his climax approached.

Amber could feel her own peak nearing, and she pushed her hands out to the
side, clutching the sand. It became too much, and she screamed, arching her
back and shuddering in ecstasy.

Aranor felt her vaginal walls spasming around his cock, and he orgasmed
forcefully, shouting out and slamming his hips into Amber's. Hot seed spewed
from his cock into her body, and her pussy just continued convulsing, sucking
his semen farther into her. A few more thrusts, and he was spent.

Amber's legs were clamped around his waist, and the hot fluid issuing from his
cock only prolonged her orgasm. When they had both finished, Aranor lay next
to her in the water, up to his neck.

Amber slid down next to him, letting the water wash away the outer signs of
their fuck.

"Now," Aranor panted. "Don't you feel better?"

Joe felt Anne trying to pull away, but he held her face against his groin as
he thrust in and out. She must have thought he was about to come.

She was wrong.

Joe held Anne's open mouth against his thrusting penis, forcing her to take
its full length into her throat, causing her to gag repeatedly. He ignored her
muffled cries of protest, and drove his hips out, feeling his balls beginning
to burn.

Soon, Joe was grunting and grinding his cock into her face, shooting semen
down her throat. He wouldn't pull away, and Anne was forced to swallow his
seed.

He waited until his cock began to return to its former size before letting
Anne free. She backed away, sputtering and coughing. After spitting what she
could into the kitchen sink, Anne turned baleful eyes on him. "What the hell
did you do that for?" she screamed, tears running down her face. "I was-"

"You weren't good enough," Joe spat, pushing his flaccid penis back into his
pants and zipping them up. "I've had plenty of better bitches than you."
Before any response could come to Anne, he said disgustedly, "I'm leaving."

Joe opened the front door to her house, and stopped short. Anne's father was
standing on the porch. Her mother and brother were right behind. All were
staring straight at him.

"What's going on?" Joe asked nervously, backing into the door and glancing at
Anne. She was walking calmly out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a bar
towel. "A-Anne? What's-" his question was cut short as Anne's father shot his
arm out, clamping it around Joe's neck. The blood and air flow was cut off
from his brain, and he gagged, clutching at the man's fingers.

Joe's eyes widened as Anne's father began to glow, a red nimbus forming around
his body. His eyes burned with fire, and his voice was a deep resonant,
hateful one. "I think you've done just about enough damage here, young man."

Anne and her brother were clearing the living room floor.

Oh shit! Joe screamed in his mind. He felt dizziness sweep over him as the
lack of air and blood took its toll.

Dimly, he was aware that he was being put down, and tied up. Joe blacked out.
He woke up just a few seconds later, and saw the family standing around him in
a circle, holding hands. The red energy was radiating from all of them now,
burning like fire.

Joe tried to stand up, but his hands and ankles were tied together, and he
could just flop on his back uselessly.

All of them began to chant, a strange song in another language.

Joe was panicking now, and was struggling frantically to free himself from his
bonds. It was no use. A few minutes later, Joe saw something rising out of the
floor around him. It was like a black mist, coming from the ground like a
snake. The cloud surrounded him and pressed strongly against his skin.

A single tendril seemed to solidify, and it hovered in front of Joe's face for
a moment before striking. Joe screamed as the tendril plunged straight into
his forehead, its dark energies forcing Joe's soul from his body prematurely.
The pain was worse than he could bear, and drove him insane. But he wouldn't
faint.

Joe convulsed and thrashed in his bonds as the demonic mist pried Joe's spirit
away from his body, and took its place.

After a few moments of stillness, Joe's blank, horrified eyes blinked. He
shook his head, and the rope fell from his wrists and ankles. Joe stood up and
smiled at the others.

"Welcome home," said Anne's father, with a smile that would have been
unresting to any human, but was comforting to Joe.

The others greeted him, and Anne smiled up. It had been a while since they'd
last seen each other.

"Tonight is our weekly meeting," Anne said. "You get to see Anea."

"I've heard a lot about her," Joe said. "Is she strong enough?"

Anne nodded. "More so than you'd think. There is no way we can't succeed, with
her leading us."

"Tonight, on Sightings: Reports that FireFly Inc. is using covert influence to
control the market;" - cut to blacked out face with altered voice - "'Yeah, I
seen 'em. They wear black suits, like the FBI, but they went into the guy's
house, and when they came out, he was ready to sell for a tenth the price. I
tellya, there's something wrong with that company...'" - cut back to host -
"in the farming lands of Amaria, a small town called Naeville has reports of a
cult out in the farming fields" - shot of badly dressed actors dancing around
a bonfire - "and fortune tellers predict the end of the world. But first, on
Sightings, our reporters have uncovered a hidden temple where monks of-"

Jay flipped the TV off. "Man, I hope this doesn't start a panic."

Melanie leaned against his shoulder. "It won't. Nobody takes that show
seriously."

"Yeah, but if it hits the news, the real news, we could be in trouble."

"'We' could be in trouble? Jay, I think the whole world could be in trouble."

"Oh, well, that too."

They heard Shonan crying distantly, and Chani stomping down to get him some
milk.

"I wonder," Jay sighed, "if we shouldn't be a little more...offensive against
this Black Cult."

"Why?"

"Because, Amber's spending a whole lot of money over something, she still
hasn't told us what. And if she's spending all that money because of what she
saw in some Tarot cards, then maybe we should take some precautions. Find out
what's going on."

"We are."

"Yeah, but I mean really find out. Get down into the dirt and go back to
Naeville, find one of those demons, bring him back here, and extract all the
information we can from him."

"What makes you think we could get any more from him than last time?"

"Those were hard-pressed conditions, Mel. We were in the middle of the field,
it was mortally wounded, and I was trying to keep it sane long enough for you
to read its mind. If we find a healthy one, capture it, and bring it back to
the office, we can get a bunch of information from it. There are spells for
this sort of thing you know."

"Oh. Well, that might be better. But DH Inc has had a lot of cases popping up
recently, you think we should leave them all to John and Chani, especially
with the baby?"

"We can hire a maid to help with the baby and the apartment."

Melanie pulled the covers back up over her shoulders. "I don't know," she
snuggled her head onto Jay's stomach. "You think Chani would want that? Having
her kid taken care of by somebody else?"

"Well, normally, no, but this is Chani. And there's the other thing with the
father being a demon."

"Why do you think it was able to impregnate her, and not Anea?"

Jay looked out their window at the city. Melanie had told Jay everything Chani
had told her, and it had floored him. That Anea was evil now. That was
amazing. "I think it has to do with Chani being part supernatural. Half of her
is not human, though she looks as normal as you or me. It was probably...well,
that's all I can figure, that her supernatural side contributed to it."

"Right. I guess that's it."

"Man," Jay scowled, "I'm starting to get pretty pissed off at Amber."

"Why?"

"She hasn't talked to us in over four months, ever since she left, and I'm
starting to worry."

Melanie snorted. "Worry about her?"

"Well, kind of. You think she'll ever come back? I wonder how FireFly can hold
on without her."

"So long as her top people know what's going on with Project X, FireFly should
be fine. Because they're probably the only ones that ever see her, and so long
as they know what to do, they just tell everyone below them what Amber
supposedly says."

"That's true. Okay. So tomorrow, I'll hire a maid, dump all the cases on John
and Chani, and we can go up to Naeville to capture ourselves a demon. How's
that sound?"

"Good enough to me," Melanie mumbled sleepily.

Jay leaned back against the headboard and stared off.

Chani stomped back upstairs with the milk.

Jay began quietly reciting the declensions as soon as the demon entered the
public bathroom. The demon walked over to the bathroom sink and bent over,
slurping from the faucet.

I've started, Jay told Melanie.

I'm waiting.

Pretty soon, after Jay had finished the sixth and thirteenth declensions of
the Druidic Containment, the demon could sense something was wrong. Power was
being weaved in the room, and it wasn't the one weaving.

It turned around slowly, scanning the room.

Nothing.

With a small amount of fear rising in the pit of its human stomach, the demon
looked under the door of each stall.

Nothing.

By then, Jay had finished the twelfth redaction of the Seventh Sign.

The demon turned around, sensing a presence. Jay's cloak had begun to slip,
but it didn't matter. As the demon rushed Jay, standing right next to the hand
drier, Jay threw his hands out with a yell.

Shimmering blue threads swung from Jay's fingertips, wrapping around the demon
in a dome shape. The threads connected to one another, becoming an
impenetrable web. The demon hit the web with a crackle of energy. It
struggled, beating against the cage, but it was no use.

Jay sighed, wiping his forehead. He grabbed the front of the dome and pulled.
The rest of the threads pulled taut, and the demon was completely wrapped in
the magic wire.

Got 'im, Jay thought.

Melanie came in a moment later, and they surveyed their capture.

A short, gangly teenager, with glasses and curly hair. He had on a flannel
shirt and blue jeans. His eyes were wild, and he was struggling against the
bonds uselessly.

"It's hard to believe someone so dorky could be a demon," Melanie said.

"Yes. Very hard to believe. But, we'd better get going before somebody else
comes in."

They grabbed the kid's feet and hauled him out into the car they'd rented for
this evening. Other than Chani's convertible, none of them owned a car, so Jay
had to rent a station wagon to steal their demon in.

"Somebody's coming," Melanie hissed as they finished shoving the demon into
the car.

Jay slammed the door and drew a quick cloaking rune on the back of the wagon,
not knowing how much good it would do.

A little child came running around the street corner, wailing. She was
clutching a ripped stuffed animal, and the bottom of her dress was covered in
blood.

"Shit," Jay gaped. "What happened to her?"

"Her parents tried to force a demon into her," Melanie said, positioning
herself in front of the running girl. "To displace her soul. It didn't work."

As soon as the kid saw them, she skidded to a stop, screeching at them.

It took very little from Melanie to calm her down. Just a little mental urging
and comforting. Before she even realized who they were, the girl had jumped
into Melanie's arms, sobbing loudly.

"Who is she?" Jay mouthed.

Her name's Lina.

So when did this happen?

I'm not sure, but we'd better get out of here, Melanie cautioned.

Oh, right. Jay ran around to his side of the station wagon and opened the
door, unlocking them all.

Melanie got in with the noisy girl, and Jay screeched out of the parking lot,
coming to a shakey start onto the town road. "Careful," Melanie said. "Don't
you know how to drive?"

"Actually, no. I don't."

"I was teasing. Maybe we should have brought Chani along for this one."

Jay scoffed. "Naw, I can handle a car! It can't be too-" the car stalled as he
came out of a turn. "Fucker! Goddammit!" Jay kicked the car and then restarted
the vehicle. "There! See? Not hard."

Jay mashed the gas pedal, and the station wagon roared up the merger lane and
onto I50. "Hee hee!" Jay chuckled. "I should do this more often."

After a few minutes, the girl's constant sobbing grew on both their nerves,
and Melanie gently willed her to sleep. Lina's head lolled to the side as she
fell into slumber. Her small hand still clutched the stuffed animal.

"I think some of your impatience has rubbed off on me," Melanie said.

"Not enough."

"Calm the fuck down," Jay snapped at the demon.

They were in the library at DH Inc, and had to cast several enchantments on
their captive just so it could enter without dropping dead on the spot. Jay
had engineered DH Inc just like their apartment, and it was nearly impossible
for a demon to survive in such a place.

He disabled the spells inside the library so that he could reconstruct them
easily and quickly, with just a few adjustments. They pushed the main table on
its side, up against another of the bookshelves, and put the demon in the
middle of the room, bound by some enchanted rope Jay kept lying around.

Melanie had handed Lina off to Carol, their new maid. Melanie was perched on
the thick windowsill, which overlooked the northern city.

"Now," Jay said, sitting on a stool. "Who are you?"

"Fuck you," the demon spat, literally. Fortunately, it was a bad aim, and just
soiled the carpet.

Jay scowled at that. "Unlike many torturers, I don't have much patience." He
hopped down. "Now," Jay's foot swung out and smashed the kid's face open. Its
broken glasses clattered into a bookshelf. Blood splattered in the air,
spraying all over the carpet. The demon was knocked back to the ground on its
face, blood flowing out of his nose.

Melanie screamed, covering her face. "Jesus Christ, Jay! Why didn't you warn
me!?" she ran from the room, her hands covering her mouth.

"Oops," Jay noted, his eyes following her. "Sorry!" The door slammed.

The demon wriggled around onto its back, and Jay noticed that its nose had
completely healed. "There!" cried the demon. "You can't hurt me! I'll just
regenerate forever!"

Jay grinned. "Excellent! That means I can kick the crap out of you until I
feel like banishing you."

This the demon didn't like.

"Now," Jay squatted next to the demon. "I think you'd better tell me all you
know about Anea, the Black Cult, and your plans for the future."

"Fuck y-" Jay's hand grabbed the kid's throat, tight. The kid couldn't breathe
enough to say anything.

"Listen here, punk. I'm not gonna mess around. I've been patient, I've been
kind. But physical torture is the least of my abilities."

The kid's face began to change color.

"Have you ever heard of a spell called 'Martyr's Revenge'?"

The demon shook its head.

"No? Well, it goes like this. The demon's I've heard describe it...well, you
know the demons they have down there in Hell, right? There are crazy, insane
demons. Some of them are in positions of power, like Hitler. Some of them are
raving derelects, like you find walking on the streets. And some of them sit
drooling in their small Hellhole, for all eternity, never coming out of their
private world. They dream horrible dreams, guy, and they scream at night, and
nobody can wake them up." Jay's face was real close to the demon's now. His
eyes were almost as demonic as the one's in front of him. "I've never cast
that spell, but I'll bet it's not too hard."

Jay released the kid's neck, before it passed out.

"In fact," Jay stuck his finger in the air, as if he just had an idea. "I've
got a copy of it lying right-" Jay picked a piece of paper off the table
"-here." Jay began pacing the room. "Now, I've decided that since your not a
willing demon, and probably don't know too much, I could experiment on you.
After all, you're not willing to talk, so what's the harm in-"

"Rashak."

"What was that?"

"Rashak. That's my name." The demon was full of hate, but fear as well.

"Good. Now talk. I think you know what I want to know."

The kid sneered. "As if it would matter. You puny humans can never stand
against the Karasha. As soon as Anea completes her spell-"

"Which one?"

Rashak shrugged. "I don't know! She is so far beyond me, I couldn't begin to
comprehend anything she does. But she's going to complete it. And when she
does, a gate to Hell will open up, right above Amaria. There's no way you can
stop it."

"Well, that's just dandy. Tell me about your cult. All about it. Who's who,
how you operate, everything."

The kid drew in a shuddering breath and continued. "The Black Cult is led by
Anea, now that she's replaced Jakar. He's her right hand man now. Our job is
to gather as many humans as possible, and replace their souls with the
demons."

"How can you do that now?" Jay asked. "It was never possible before. If it
was, we'd all be dead now."

"Yeah, you would. I don't know why it's possible. Just that it is. After Anea
started leading us, those retarded 'Black Cult' members Jakar had recruited
willingly put themselves forward, and all their souls were replaced by demons
then and there. They didn't know it, of course, they thought she was going to
baptize them in piss or something. There are 666 of the High Order, and they
follow directly behind Anea in power, besides Jakar."

Jay was staring thoughtfully at the bookshelf as the demon poured out its
tale. Now that it was talking, it didn't want to stop. Heh. Even demons loved
to gossip.

"Everyone else was conceived by the High Order, and their sacrifices. It
doesn't take many of us to displace a human soul. If they're of the Higher
Order, then it is a simple matter."

Are you done torturing him yet? Melanie asked, a somewhat sick tone to her
voice.

Yeah. That was all I had to do and he started talking. Come on in.

"How many of you are there?" Jay asked.

"Thousands. More than I would even know. We're multiplying faster than you
could imagine. And when the gate to Hell is opened, we'll reveal our true
forms, and you'll all know how many."

"Plus those that come through the gate," Jay said.

Rashak nodded, smiling tightly. "It's not like you can win," he sneered. "We
have overwhelming numbers."

"If we take out Anea," Jay said to Melanie, "that would break their
leadership, and she might be what's keeping them here, in Earth's dimension."

Rashak scowled.

"What do you mean?" asked Melanie.

"I mean that demons can't normally cross over into this dimension without a
loss of life, like a sacrifice, or something along those lines. A really,
really, really disgusting ritual will do the trick sometimes."

"Oh."

"So I'm thinking that Anea has some incredibly powerful skills if she's able
to let other demons into Earth. And replacing a human soul! That takes a
shitload of power. I've only heard of that being done in legends."

"And we're doing it every day," laughed Rashak. "You see? You have no hope!"

"So if we kill Anea, then they lose their control, and everybody slips back
into Hell?" Melanie asked.

Rashak stopped laughing.

"Yeah," Jay said. "That's the gist of it."

"Where is she?" Melanie asked Rashak.

"I...uh..."

Jay pulled out his piece of paper and began reciting the Greek words slowly
and methodically.

"Okay! She, and the Higher Order, and sometimes others, meet in the farming
fields outside of Naeville. Go up 440 and you'll see a huge bonfire every
night. That's when they meet. After midnight."

"Good," Jay stood up. "All we have to do is call Amber-"

"But there's no way you could defeat them!" cried Rashak. "You'd be facing the
whole Higher Order, plus Jakar, plus Anea! She alone could defeat you!"

What about that? Melanie asked.

Amber. We need her help.

For what?

Technology. Enchanted warheads.

Jay, you aren't serious.

Serious as Hell, my darling.

After a moment, Melanie nodded. "Is there anything else we'd want to know,
that you're not telling us? Any information about the Karasha? Anea?" she
asked the demon.

"No."

"You're lying," she said flatly, looking at Jay.

Jay unfolded his paper again, and Rashak stopped him. "Okay! In just less than
a year, Anea's going to open the gate."

"What?"

Rashak grinned, his eyes glinting red. "That's right. So even if you kill me
now, I'll be back in a year, in my true form. Along with billions of other
demons."

Melanie looked at Jay fearfully.

"Don't worry about it," Jay said. "We can get the warheads before then."

"What warhead?" Rashak asked.

"Nothing," Jay shrugged. He slid his blood knife from its sheath.

"Hey, what are you-" Melanie turned her head to the side as a splat
interrupted her. The body convulsed as the demon left through the hole Jay had
created in its chest.

"Okay," Jay said, letting the dark blood burn from his knife. "We need to
contact Amber. She's got the resources to get a warhead."

Melanie opened the door to the main offices.

Jay paused to restore all the room's defenses. As they were restored, the body
and blood on the carpet slowly phased out of existence.

Just as they were leaving, the phone rang. Jay picked up the headset and
twisted the right headpiece around, so he could listen through that without
wearing the headset.

"Hello?" he said. "DH Inc."

"Thank God you're there!" cried a voice on the other end. It was a woman.
"Please, I think my husband is a demon! He's been acting strange lately, and I
saw him with some people I've never seen before! I swear, I-"

"Ma'am," Jay interrupted. "Please. Calm down. Explain to me exactly why you
think your husband's a demon."

"He was walking with some strange people I've never seen before! He said they
were from out of town. Up north! Oh my God, please, come to my house! I need
something to - Oh please! He's looked wierd ever since the neighbors invited
him over for football that one day. Oh God, I just don't understand! Why could
this happen to me? Why?"

"Ma'am, if your husband is acting strangely, then please contact your local
authorities. We deal with purely supernatural cases, and-"

"I'll pay anything, please! Just help me!"

"Uh-huh. You have a good night too," Jay hung up. "Freak," he said.

"Sounded pretty wierd."

"Were you listening to my thoughts again?"

"No, she was screaming loud enough."

"Oh."

The phone rang, and Melanie got it this time. "DH Inc," she said. "Oh, hi
Chani...yeah, we...okay, sure. Why? Uh...bye..." Melanie looked at the
headset.

"What?"

"Come here."

Melanie opened the door to their office and went inside. She flipped on the TV
and turned it to channel five. A somewhat nervous anchor man was speaking.
"What's this channel?" Melanie whispered.

"APB. News channel."

"When the Associated Press released this video, earlier this evening, to news
stations across Amaria, the government yanked it off the air immediately. Our
free right to speech was trampled on, and we wouldn't stand for it. According
to the Constitution, we have free speech, and that means the ability to say
and report whatever we please. People..." He paused as, through his earpiece,
somebody told him to shut the fuck up and get on with the story. "After
viewing this video clip, people all over the country were outraged, panicked,
and fearful. In just a few minutes, President Brown will issue a press release
on the video."

The screen cut to an amateur-looking video. The cameraman was jerkily getting
out of a police car, following two cops as they ran at a couple guys. The guys
were getting out of their pickup truck, looking as if they meant to run.

"Down! Down on the ground!" the cops were yelling.

"Hands on your head!"

"Think this was filmed for COPS?" Jay muttered.

"Probably."

On the screen, the two guys were splayed out on the ground as the cops yelled
at them and searched for weapons. Suddenly, with amazing speed, one of the
guys on the ground rolled back and kicked one of the cop's faces. The
policeman staggered back, and the man leaped up, driving a fist into his face.

"Shit," Jay murmured.

"Get down!" screamed the other cop.

The man slugged the cop again, and again.

The second officer fired his gun, and the cameraman began backing away. A
flash of light left an afterimage on the screen, and when it was gone, the
attacker was on his knees.

Then the second man jumped up, but the cop shot him. He fired the gun three
times, slamming the man to the ground.

But then the first criminal was running at the cop. As he ran, he changed
shape. His body lengthened, darkened, and grew. He grew more muscular, and
bigger, until he was at least eight feet tall.

Jay couldn't count the number of bullets fired.

"A demon!" Melanie cried.

It grabbed the officer's arms and ripped them off. The cop's scream was
interrupted as his head was knocked into the air. The other policeman fired
like crazy.

Half his bullets missed, but those that didn't spouted fire from the demon's
hide. In a flash, the demon was on the second cop, tearing him to shreds.

And the cameraman was next. He didn't even have time to scream.

The screen went blank, and the anchorman appeared. He coughed, and looked at
someone off-camera. "Okay, the President is ready to begin his speech." He
listened to his earpiece. "Like I care!" he said.

Then they were looking at President Brown, who was being bombarded with
questions. It took him almost a minute to shut them up. When he did, he began,
"People, this is a tragedy. Of great proportions. I cannot begin to express my
sorrow for-"

Somebody shouted something at him, and the other reporters started shouting as
well.

President Brown used another minute to quiet them down. "We are making every
effort to find out the cause of this," he said. "Efforts have been made to
contact people who specialize in this sort of thing."

"Check the messages," Jay said.

Melanie lifted the headset and dialed. "Thirty-two messages!"

"Whoa."

President Brown was still speaking. "...and the army have been sent to the
area where this took place. We will not release that information at this
time-"

"Aren't you afraid those monsters might hurt other people?" a reporter cried.

"No. We have the situation under control, and-"

"What do you base that on?"

"Armed troops and special forces have been deployed to that area, to deal with
the situation. I have every confidence in their ability-"

"How can you expect them to handle a demon like that?"

"Please!" Brown shouted at the clamoring. "The most important thing is that we
do not panic. It is within our capabilities to destroy this creature, and that
is exactly what we are doing. There is no reason to panic. And we believe that
this is the only kind of creature like this to exist. So-"

"What do you base that on? It could be any one of us!"

Melanie cut off the TV before the president could reply. "Got him. Here's the
number..." she recited the telephone number to Jay, and he dialed from his
desk.

A moment later, it picked up.

"Hello?" said a stressed voice on the other end.

"Yeah, my girlfriend just told me to dial this number. I'm Jay Savena. With-"

"Thank God!" the voice said. "This is Aaron Ramsey, head of the ADO."

"The what?"

"We're who the government turns to when they get in a bind."

"Oh."

"You're at your office. Good. I'll be there in a few minutes, can you meet us
in the bottom level parking lot?"

"Uh, sure. What's this all about?"

"I think you know. We'll be there in a minute."

Click.

"Wow," Melanie said. "They must be desperate."

"Were you listening to my thoughts again?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well, I'll call Chani, and tell her to come with us."

"I already did."

"I'll call John then."

"I already did."

"On the telephone?" Jay scowled.

Melanie tapped her temple. "Let's go."

When they stepped out of the elevator, a limousine stopped right in front of
them. The doors opened. Jay and Melanie got in.

"We're waiting on a friend," Jay said. "She's coming in a minute."

The doors closed.

Inside, there were about five other men seated inside. Most had on sunglasses.
"Who are you people?" Jay asked.

"I'm Aaron Ramsey," said a big black man, sticking his hand out. Jay shook it.
"They aren't as important as me."

Jay noticed that President Brown was one of the men.

"What you need to understand here is the state of panic this represents,"
Aaron said. "We have no real knowledge of what that was, and neither does
anybody else who saw that. Millions of people. If it slipped outside Amaria,
and I think it did, billions. Worldwide panic."

Jay nodded. "What do you want us to do?"

"Tell us what that was."

"A demon," Jay shrugged. "No biggie."

The men looked at each other for a few moments.

One of them leaned forward. "'No biggie'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that. If you can locate it, I'll kill it."

President Brown looked at him skeptically.

What's he thinking? Jay asked

Take a guess, Melanie replied. He thinks were full of shit. The only reason
he's here is because he trusts Ramsey.

Who're the other guys?

"How often do you deal with this sort of thing?" Aaron asked.

Head of the FBI, CIA, and Department of Defense.

"Every day," Jay replied. "What you just saw isn't at all uncommon. People
just refuse to believe it until they see proof. I think that video was enough.
So when somebody's got a problem, they find me, and I fix it. That simple."

Don't sound so cocky, Melanie told him.

"Are you saying this kind of thing is common?" asked President Brown.

"Enormously."

"How come I never heard of it?" Brown snorted. "Listen, Ramsey, this kid is
lying through his teeth. That video had to be a hoax, it-"

"It wasn't," Aaron said. "We deal with similar things as well, Mr. President,
and it's not that uncommon. What's uncommon is that evidence is left over."

"How did the tape survive?" Melanie asked.

"It wasn't a tape," explained one of the others. "A couple years ago, the
satellite-feed video camera was invented, and that's what he was using. It was
transmitting straight to a satellite, and from there to the show's
headquarters, where it was being taped."

Someone knocked on the door.

It was Chani.

Aaron opened it, and after Chani got in and pulled the door shut, the limo
began moving. "Well?" she asked. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Aaron Ramsey," he said, shaking her hand. "Head of the ADO."

"Which is...?"

"Last line of defense?" suggested Jay.

"Close enough," Aaron replied. "We wanted your help to stifle the public's
fear. As it is, you've developed quite a reputation among some circles, and
it'll probably spread rapidly within the next week."

"We'll kill the demon," Jay said. "But you should know that that's the least
of your worries. A single demon isn't so hard to deal with, but thousands of
them are."

"Thousands?" Chani and President Brown said.

"What are you talking about?" Brown asked.

"Who told you that?" Chani demanded.

"We captured a demon today," Jay replied. "And it gave us a lot of
information. There's a cult in northern Amaria called the Black Cult."

"I've heard of it," said Aaron.

"This Black Cult is composed entirely of demons. They perform a ritual on a
human's body, that completely removes the soul and the demon's spirit replaces
it. I forced information out of one of them today, and he was more than happy
to enlighten me on their plans."

"Which are what?" Aaron asked.

"The leader of the cult plans to open a gate to Hell within the year. If that
happens, we will be fighting for all of humanity, trying to win a war against
all the demons of Hell."

Two minutes later, all of them were standing on a street corner.

"You know, they seemed really receptive at first," Jay said.

"Well, a single demon, compared to soul-replacing and gates to Hell does sound
a bit far fetched," Chani said. "And you guys made me waste all that time just
to come down there."

"Well, you got to see a bunch of famous people," Melanie said.

"Who cares?" Chani complained. "I'm hungry. Let's eat."

As luck would have it, they were standing by a cheap Italian restaraunt. Jay
led them inside, and they seated themselves in an isolated booth. The waiter
took their orders and then returned to the kitchen.

"Well," Chani said. "The government's not doing anything to help."

"They don't need to," Jay said. "All we have to do is get a hold of Amber. If
we can get a warhead from her, then-"

"Wait," Chani interrupted. "Warhead? What warhead?"

Jay and Melanie looked at each other, and Melanie explained. "We were being
followed by someone that had a habit of killing our demons. Jay cast a time
distortion spell and we followed the guy across town to the docks, where he
boarded a cargo ship. Inside, we found about twenty more of them, all led by
Amber."

"Amber?"

The waiter returned with their drinks, and Chani took her beer, pouring it
into a glass of ice. She sipped at it as Melanie continued.

"Yeah. She's started her own force of demon hunters, personally trained.
They're all embedded in this thing called Project X."

"What is it?"

"We don't know," Jay said. "She won't tell us, and it's really under wraps. So
don't tell anybody about it."

"Sure. You didn't pick anything up from her?" she asked Melanie.

Melanie shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Her thoughts are more closely guarded than
yours. I know that it's important. And big."

"Why did she start it?" Chani asked.

"Foretelling," Jay said. "She knows what's going to happen to the Earth."

"What's that?"

"I wish I knew. If I did, maybe I could help stop it."

Chani drank some of her beer and leaned forward conspiratorially. "I think she
knows about Anea, and the Black Cult. That's the only explanation. She's
training her demon hunters to help combat them. As you said, there are
thousands of the Karasha."

"Yeah, and how many demon hunters?" Jay asked.

"Seven hundred, is what she said," Melanie replied.

"That's not enough. We need more," Jay hit his fist on the table.

"Why?" Chani asked. "How many demons have you killed?"

"Hundreds."

"500? 500 for the 700 demon hunters is...a lot."

"But 500 is probably too high an estimate," Jay said.

Chani shrugged, raising the bottle to her lips.

"All we have to do is get to Anea."

Chani choked on her beer, and brought the napkin to her lips. "Not a good
idea, Jay."

"Why not?"

"She'll kill you."

"I can handle her. I've always handled myself. I was able to kill Baal, wasn't
I?"

"With some help," Melanie nudged his ribs.

"Well, you guys would be there."

Chani shook her head. "No. I won't let you."

"What do you mean, you won't let us?"

"That's just what I mean. Anea will kill you. The end. Period. End of story.
You will die. If you try to take her on, that is."

"How do you know?" Jay asked.

"Because she told me. When we were at the hospital, she told me that there was
no way you could defeat her. She's too powerful."

"Well, then we'll just do the warhead plan."

"What warhead plan?"

"Oh yeah. Back to the cargo ship. Project X involves a lot of technology
integration into demon hunting. She has some pretty neato weapons, and we were
considering enchanting a missile."

"Jokingly," Melanie added.

"Yeah, but it's not such a bad idea now, is it?"

Melanie shrugged.

Chani snorted. "That won't work."

"Why not?" Jay asked.

"Anea could destroy the missile before it even reached her."

"She wouldn't know it was coming."

Chani tapped her forehead. "She knows a lot more than you think, Jay. She sees
a lot more than any of us. Anea can see into the future, and predict things."

Jay pursed his lips.

"Hell, even I could destroy that missile before it reached me."

"How?"

Chani shrugged. "Haven't thought about it yet. There are various ways, of
course. If I can do it, she can do it. You could probably do it. If you can,
she can."

Jay nodded, sighing. "It might be worth a shot. Pretty soon, demons are going
to start popping up all over the place, and people are going to start dying.
They're going to be defenseless."

"Maybe not," Melanie mused. "I've got an idea."

Wayne blinked at the screen, then looked at the data display again. He checked
each monitor, four more times, and then started dancing around the room.
Finally! He'd found it!

Wayne popped open a small refridgerator under the desk and pulled out a bottle
of champagne with a pair of drinking glasses. He grabbed the phone and dialed
Amber's extension. No answer. Damn. He hung up and someone knocked at the
door. Wayne pushed 'play' on his tape recorder, and "The Macarena" started
blasting from the speakers.

It opened a second later, and Amber came in. "Hey, Wayne, what's going-ah!"
she squealed as he grabbed her and spun her around.

"I found it!" Wayne cried, hugging her fiercely.

Amber's face was puzzled for a moment. "Seriously?" she asked a second later.
"You did? Oh thank you!" she kissed him on the mouth.

"Hands off!" Aranor growled.

Amber grinned at him and threw her arms around his neck. Aranor spun around,
Amber's feet flying out. "What is it?" he asked.

"Here!" Wayne popped the cork on the bottle. Foamy liquid sprayed into the air
and dumped all over the floor. He poured it into the two glasses and handed
them to Amber and Aranor. "I found it!"

Aranor blinked, and looked at Amber, who grinned up at him. "You did? Really?"

Wayne nodded, pouring himself some champagne in a plastic cup.

"Let me see it," Amber said after a moment, disentangling herself from Aranor.

Wayne pointed at the main monitor. "Right there, honey. Alpha Prime."

Amber peered at the screen. Through the Hubble II space telescope (hitching a
ride on American channels) they were looking at a small blue planet. Data on
the planet was displayed on another screen, none of which Amber could make
out. The blue blob was one of seven planets in the Alpha Prime system.
Seventeen light years away.

"What's your middle name?" Amber asked Wayne.

"Mine? Randall."

Amber shrugged. "Oh well. I guess we'll just call it Alpha Prime."

"Your name isn't elegant enough to name a planet after," whispered Aranor.

"Don't I know it," snorted the astronomer.

Amber looked away from the monitor. Her smile lit up the room. "We're in
business, gentleman."

Wayne held out his cup. "A toast. To Project: Exodus."

"WHAT'S ANOTHER WORD FOR FIGHT?" JAY CALLED.

Melanie came into the room with two martini glasses of Sprite. Jay insisted
she drink it from the small glass with him. "Combat, battle, attack,
conflict...I don't know."

"Okay, thanks," Jay said, scrawling the word into the leatherbound book. He
was seated in the middle of the library, on the floor. Books, papers, notes,
runes, spells, songs, and many occult literatures were scattered around him on
the floor, being written into a small black book.

"How can you keep track of all this mess?" Melanie asked, stepping through
until she sat next to him.

Jay took his glass and chugged the Sprite in one gulp. He handed it back to
her and put a bookmark in the book, stretching his arms. "It's almost done,"
he said.

"Have you decided what to name it yet?"

Jay nodded. "The Sentinel."

"Why that?" Melanie handed him her glass of Sprite, and he drank that as well.

Jay shrugged. "It sounds cool. And that's kind of what it is. A guard
against...you know. The demons of the night." He made a spooky gesture with
his hands.

Melanie set both the glasses aside and looked at the clutter around him. "I
hope this helps. You've worked so hard on it."

Jay nodded. Writing this book over the past four years had taken more of his
time than he liked. Sometimes he spent more time on the book than with
Melanie. She understood, though. It had been her idea to write the book, and
she fully supported it. Despite the toll it was taking on their relationship.

Well, it wasn't taking a toll, just time.

"I'll be done by tomorrow," Jay said.

Melanie smiled. God, she couldn't even wait. Finally she'd have Jay back, all
for herself. But this book would do good. She hoped.

"Listen Mel," Jay said, twirling her hair in his finger. "Why don't you go to
bed, and I'll meet you in there in a few hours. This weekend, we can go back
up to that ski resort."

Melanie kissed Jay and stood up. She shivered in anticipation. They had spent
so little time together since the beginning of the book, and their sex life
had died down somewhat.

Of course, with Lina and Shonan there, that just made things harder. Although,
Lina was getting older. She was eight now, and Shonan was four, soon to be
five. They got along pretty well most of the time, but when they fought, it
scared everyone. Tempers would fly, and they wouldn't speak for days after.
Often enough, an entire room was trashed during the dual tantrums.

That didn't happen too often, fortunately enough.

The Sentinel. Good enough name.

Since they hadn't seen, much less spoken to Amber ever since she left for
Project X, the warhead plan was completely out. And Amber's demon hunters
hadn't been seen since that one night at the docks.

DH Inc was receiving more and more business, and more and more of it turned
out to be legit. John was turning out to be a necessity, now that Jay was so
occupied with his book. They had hired a secretary and another demon hunter
within the past two years.

Terri was the secretary, and she was just as normal of a secretary as one
could expect. Cute, with curly blonde hair, and short. High-pitched squeally
voice, who enjoyed filing her nails just as much as answering the telephone.
She'd picked up a little bit of demon hunting skills from Jay, but wasn't that
enthusiastic about it. She just found it thrilling to watch them work.

Richard Blackburn was the demon hunter. He was pretty old, forty-something,
but had a lot of experience under his belt. Jay and Rich would both learn
things from each other, but Jay less than Rich. Rich had been a demon hunter
longer than Jay, for almost twenty years. But he hadn't devoted his entire
life to it, as Jay had. Chani always thought Rich was too serious for his own
good, and needed to get seriously wasted sometime, but it wouldn't happen.
Rich was always sober, and avoided any body-altering substances.

Jay managed to pulled some strings at DSS, and Jay and Melanie officially
adopted Lina, even though they still weren't married. Unbeknownst to Melanie,
Jay hoped to change that, soon.

Amber's thighs clenched around Aranor's back, and she grunted as he pumped his
seed into her. Her back was arched, and she was sitting on top of him,
finished her orgasm.

After the bliss died down, Amber lay down on top of Aranor, still inside her.
"I can't believe it's almost finished," she whispered. "We're almost there."

Their room at Watermark was dim, with moonlight streaming through the window
and spilling onto the metal floor. Metal. Everything here was metal. They had
to import it all, of course. The island had its own natural resources, an
abundant supply, but none of them suited Amber's purposes.

They were lying naked on top of the bedcovers, sweat gleaming in the darkness.

Aranor stroked her hair. "I know. It's been hard, but we still have a ways to
go."

"I think I should tell Jay and the others soon."

"When?"

"In a couple days. It's about time they found out about it."

Aranor kissed the top of her head and cradled Amber in his arms. "I hope all
this works out."

"It will."

"We haven't been able to determine anything through the divination. And the
Inner Circle hasn't discovered anything, either."

"That's just the way it is sometimes. You can't have everything."

"How true."

Amber lay on him for a few more moments before getting off and pulling on a
jogging suit. "I think I'm going to double check the new loading dock. You
wanna come?"

Aranor shook his head. "Sorry, sweetie. I'm going to sleep. I think you should
too. You're putting yourself through too much. The others can handle things."

"I know," Amber said. "I just have to have a hand in things. I won't be much
of a leader if everyone else does it all."

Matt looked up from Amber's desk. His desk, now. Practically. Since she'd
left, he'd adopted her office, and nearly taken her place. But everyone knew
that she was still in control. Amber video-conferenced with the Council and
some other board members every so often, just to show her face around. Only a
couple times had she returned to Amaria in person, and then not for long. Just
to let the media know she still existed.

Unlike Gates, Amber didn't saturate her image in the media, and the image of
FireFly was presented more often than her own. It was "FireFly the corporate
giant," not "Amber the corporate master of FireFly the corporate giant."

Now, the setup Amber had created at FireFly was almost seamless. Authority had
been distributed so effectively that her presence was rarely needed, and
people hardly ever needed to meet with her. When they did, they were directed
to Matt, because she was far too busy. With what? None of your business.

It was rare that anyone ever used her office any more, other than Matt, so he
was startled when someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?" he said.

The door opened, and Jay Savena poked his head in. The demon hunter. Of
course. Matt had kept a wary eye on him, but Jay seemed to be doing so little,
just holing up inside his house, Matt was curious as to why he was here.

"Can I help you?" Matt asked.

"What are you doing in Amber's office?" Jay scowled.

"She's relocated."

"Uh-huh. I need to see her."

"I'm sorry, but that's-"

"I really need to see her," Jay came in the door and walked up to the desk.
"This is the most dire emergency to ever walk the face of the planet."

Matt squinted up at him. Shit. Jay's presence radiated into the entire room.
His aura was dark, though. Oddly enough, Jay wasn't evil. "I'll see what I can
do," Matt said. "I'll have her contact you."

Jay squinted at Matt for several seconds. "You're..."

Oh, now. Wasn't this a joy? Jay knew he was a vampire.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Matt blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I remember. Years ago, I could have sworn that this guy named Ryan killed
you."

Matt smiled. "He tried. Without success."

"Doesn't do any good to blow up a vampire, does it?" Jay asked.

Matt started. Shit. He was a mindreader? No. Matt searched around him quickly,
but could detect no one else. "How did you know about that?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry. Well, listen Matt, I've gotta run. Tell Amber I called, okay?
I really need to talk to her."

Matt nodded, his eyes narrow. He watched Jay leave.

Most interesting.

Someone else must have infiltrated his mind, unless Jay was very good at
concealing his powers. But Jay wasn't psychic. His girlfriend was, though.
Perhaps she was nearby.

That must have been it.

Matt quickly checked the surveillance cameras, and saw them riding down the
elevator together. Yep.

He opened up his email account and sent Amber a message, relaying that Jay
wanted to see her.

Aaron Ramsey stood in the corner of the room, out of sight, as his agents
tortured the man/demon. Whatever it was. The guy had to be possessed. Maybe he
shouldn't have disregarded Jay Savena's threat so easily.

It was four years later, and nothing had happened, but now, things were taking
a turn for the worse. After the first video of the demon attack, people went
into a panic for a while, and paranormal TV shows' ratings skyrocketed, but
things had died down. The TV shows were still popular, and a lot more people
than before accepted their word as truth, but no one was panicking.

When they should be.

Aaron had to do something. Things were getting out of control, but nobody knew
it. Insane people, possessed by demons, were springing up all across Amaria,
and in some other countries. More transformations were taking place, but so
far, none had been caught on tape as before. Thankfully.

"It's the end!" roared the prisoner, suddenly. His voice was deep, it sounded
like a bear talking. "In seventeen days, the gate shall be opened, and
Armageddon will come to pass. There is no way to stop it. The road is
straight, now. And you will all die." The demon laughed maniacally until one
of the agents injected him with a sedative. They'd keep the demon in a
maximum-plus security prison, and try to get some more information out of it
later. If none was forthcoming, and even if it was, they'd keep it in a 10 X
10 X 10 cell for the rest of its mortal life.

Jay looked up. A man walked in, wearing a leather vest, white shirt, and white
jeans. His hair was blond, and cut short. He wore a triskele around his neck.

"Can I help you?" Terri asked.

"I'm looking for Jay," said the man.

"Here," Jay said.

The man stuck his hand out. "My name's Aranor. Amber sent me to come get you."

Jay paused. "Amber? Where is she?"

"She's waiting for us at the docks. We have something to show you. And bring
Chani and Melanie."

Jay grabbed his jacket. Melanie came out of the back a few moments later,
ready to go. Chani came a few moments later.

Aranor didn't ask how they all knew to come out.

"Hey Terri, Rich, John? We'll be back soon."

"In a few days, I think," said Aranor.

"Days?" Jay asked. "Oh. Well, you guys hold down the fort till we get back."
He went into the library. Two of his summoned demons were busily copying down
The Sentinel. A pile of already finished books lay behind them. Jay grabbed a
couple of the copies and said. "You guys can take a thirty minute break every
six hours," Jay said.

The demons looked at him and nodded silently. They weren't much different than
imps, except in that they had large green eyes. They were good scribes. And
Jay needed them. The only way The Sentinel was any good was if it was
hand-copied. All the lines of power had to be directly transferred from an
existing copy. Computers and printers were useless except for the information
part of his book.

On a second thought, Jay poked his head into the office. "Hold on a sec, guys,
I'm gonna summon another scribe."

Aranor looked puzzled at this, but didn't say anything.

Jay retreated back into the library and drew a third casting circle on the
table, sketching small runes within and around the charcoal perimeter. He
turned to the correct spell in The Sentinel, and memorized the formula. In the
back of his book, he had copied many common and useful declensions from his
library of books. He read the spell aloud, and purple gas filled the casting
circle. The gas cleared to reveal another scribe demon.

Jay set a box of charcoal pencils and a stack of books next to the demon. "You
guys can brief him on what to do," Jay said, exiting the library. "Okay," he
told them. "Let's move."

Aranor took them to his car and they rode toward the docks. On the way,
Melanie called Carol, the maid, and informed her that they would be gone for a
few days.

When they reached the docks, Aranor drove into the cargo ship, and parked it
next to a couple other cars. "We keep these here for anybody else who needs
travel facilities while the ship is docked at the city," he explained.

"How come Amber's decided to return so suddenly?" Jay asked.

Aranor looked grave. "The Project is almost finished. The time has begun to
start implementing it."

"What?"

"Amber will tell you."

They ran into her coming out of the galley, and everyone stopped. Amber looked
older than she should at twenty-nine. She was still stunning, but Project X
had obviously taken a lot out of her. Although, she would have looked worse if
she'd never met Aranor.

Jay and Melanie had each aged, but not very noticeably. Chani appeared exactly
the same age as when she had conjugated with Zaroth (though the demon had
nothing to do with it).

They all stared each other for a few moments, and then Amber wrapped her arms
around Jay, kissing him. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"Watch it," warned Melanie.

Amber hugged Melanie and Chani, all of them exchanging their greetings and
life status. How are you doing? Good. That's good. It's always good to be
good.

Amber formally introduced Aranor. "Sorry I couldn't get you guys myself," she
said, "but I was tied up with the shipping orders and loading."

"God, it's good to see you," Jay said. "Where have you been all these years?"

"Watermark."

"Where?"

"Project X," Amber said.

"Are you ready to show it to us?" Chani asked.

Amber nodded. "I am."

"You think you can stop her?" Jay asked.

"Who?"

"Anea."

"From opening the gate?"

Jay nodded.

"Let's talk about that later," she said. "I want to hear what you guys have
been up to. Any kids yet?" she whispered at Melanie.

"Not really," Melanie answered.

"That's bad. But that's also good. Now, have you found any new information for
me about the Black Cult?"

Jay looked at the others. "Probably nothing you don't already know."

"Try me."

A few days later, they were flying in a helicopter, out over the ocean. The
ride had been four hours so far, and Jay was sleeping against Melanie's
shoulder. He jerked awake when four Harrier jets screamed past the helicopter.

"What the hell's that?" he said, blinking blearily.

"That's my defense line," Amber said. "In case anybody else tries to get out
here. Watermark is pretty much unknown to the outside world, but I'm not about
to risk anything. Especially when governments start noticing a dot of static
on their satellites right here."

"Huh?"

"I've got every kind of jammer available working on this island. Nobody's
going to find out what's happening here if I can help it."

"Now I'm really curious," Chani said.

Jay wrapped his arm around Melanie's shoulders, and noticed that Aranor had
done the same thing to Amber. "You guys together?"

Amber blinked, then looked up at Aranor. "Yeah," she answered.

"There it is," Chani pointed.

Amber craned her neck and pressed her face against the glass. Sure enough,
they were approaching Watermark. It was a somewhat small island, only a few
miles in diameter. "Okay," Amber said. "I think you guys will be shocked at
what you find here."

"I think I will, too," Jay said.

The helicoptor flew into the island and landed on a helipad, which was just
off the beach. When the engine stopped, and the blades were just whirring
about, Amber nodded. They undid their safety belts and pulled open the doors.
In front of the helicoptor was Watermark, in all its glory.

Chani, Jay, and Melanie stood next to Amber and Aranor, staring at the huge
complex that had been built here.

"Oh my Gawd," Jay breathed.

"What is all this?!" Melanie asked.

Amber gestured, and they started walking towards the central building. "This
is Project X, short for Project: Exodus. It's the last, best hope for
survival."

"Copycat," Jay accused.

"What?"

"That's what they say on Babylon 5."

"No, they say, 'it's the last, best hope for victory' or peace, depending on
which season."

"Pardon me."

"Now, these buildings all have different functions, which I'll explain later.
This one here is the base of operations for the whole island. It's where I do
most of my work." She led them inside, to the Bridge. "Here's the conference
room. The Council will be transferring from FireFly to here, shortly, along
with...well, let me explain. Have a seat at the Roundtable, please."

They pulled up a chair, and Amber went around to the other side. "Jay, when we
talked last, you asked what was going to happen to the Earth."

"I think I know, now," Jay said.

"Tell me."

"Anea's going to try and create a gate to Hell, and you're going to stop her."

"Right and wrong. I'm not going to stop her. I can't. She's too powerful for
most of us in here. A long time ago, I was coming back to my office, when a
gust of wind blew my Tarot deck all over the floor. About half of them were
turned up, and half weren't. I took one look at those turned up, and knew
something was wrong. I started some research and development facilities the
next day."

"What did the cards say?" Jay asked.

"That the world was going to end."

The room was silent for a moment.

Amber continued. "I performed several more readings, all in relation to that
one, and they all said the same thing. The world is going to end, and there's
not a fucking thing you can do about it."

Everyone, except Aranor, who already knew this, was stunned.

"So, the goal of Project: Exodus is to save as many people as possible. I have
hired astronomers, technicians, scientists, mages, from all over the world to
help with the Project."

"H-How?" Melanie asked. "How are you going to save all these people?"

"There's absolutely nothing we can do to stop it?" Jay asked.

"I've hired away the top space technology researchers from NASA and other
space programs to help develop a space ship that will carry people from Earth
to another planet."

"That's ludicrous!" Chani said. "Technology hasn't advanced far enough for you
to just whisk people away like that! And how many people could you fit in a
space ship? Fifty? A hundred?"

"Where would we go?" Jay asked. "We can't just float around in space forever."

Amber held up her hand patiently. "Follow me."

She led them out to another section of Watermark. At least twenty massive pods
were standing next to each other, and a few more were being built. Daniel was
talking to the construction manager a few yards away. When he finished, he
walked over to the group. "So these are the demon hunters?"

Amber nodded. "Guys, this is Daniel. He's the main researcher here. He
designed most of the space shuttles you see around the island. Very smart
man." She turned to him, "We'd like a tour of one of the ships, please."

"Sure thing."

"He loves this," Amber whispered to the group.

Daniel took them next to a ship and showed it to them. "Now, as you can see,
each ship is of a simplistic design, one which I made myself. It is meant for
a one-time launch and landing, but has the capability of multiple flights.
Each ship is 800 feet tall, and 500 feet in diameter. There is one main
thruster in the rear, with four directional thrusters around them."

Daniel took them beneath one of the finished pods, pointing at the
afterburners. "There are several entrances around the ship, and we can use
this one. It's a maintenance hatch." Daniel pulled down on a hatch, then
climbed up a ladder that descended from the ship. They followed, one at a
time, until they were inside of a large tube. A circular ladder-rung stairwell
ran around the inside of the tube, all the way to the top of the ship. "This
is the plasma pulse shaft," he said, his voice echoing in the hollow metal
cylinder. "The main power reactor is up there, at the top of the tube. This
tube has a diameter of about twenty or thirty feet, I don't remember the exact
number." He started walking up the stairwell. "We're in the axis of the ship
now. In space, this will be the center of the ship. It's like if you drew a
line from the north pole to the south pole, that's the axis. Same thing here.

"Anyway, at the top of the shaft is the power reactor. It fires a-"

"What kind of reactor?" interrupted Chani.

"Magnetohydrodynamics powers the hydrogen recycler, and plasma powers the rest
of the ship."

"Doesn't that cause radiation?"

Daniel shook his head. "No. The fusion reactor uses water to generate
electricity. That powers the hydrogen recycler, which converts energy into
plasma."

"How do you manage that?"

Daniel furrowed his brow, and started to speak several times, but stopped each
time. "It would be too hard to explain in layman's terms. We have a tank of
hydrogen mush in the power reactor. It is fed through a matter/antimatter
conversion system, and plasma is created."

"But where's the magnetohydro-crap come into play?" Chani asked.

"It powers the converter, and the reverter."

"What's that?"

"It changes the waste produced by the hydrogen back into hydrogen."

"How?"

Daniel looked up, thinking of how to put it. "It's sent through a meson
neutralization chamber, and then all the subatomic particles collect in the
collection chamber. When they form back together, they inevitably become
hydrogen, the most basic element. The hydrogen is refrozen, and introduced
back into the mush tank."

"Wow," Chani murmured. "This technology is so far beyond anything we have
today. How did you get your hands on it?"

"Most of it was gathered from Area 51 and the NASA mainframe," Amber said.
"Some of it was developed by my R&D facilities, and some was just there. But
of course, it took a genius like Daniel to integrate them together."

Daniel blushed, and continued. "About every thirty seconds, a 3000 gigawatt
plasma burst is fired from up there-" he pointed to the top of the tube, which
they were getting closer to "-to down there." He pointed at the bottom of the
tube. "This tube is the SPPC, supercold-pulse-plasma-conductor. After the ship
becomes operational, it will be nearly impossible for humans to enter this
chamber. The radiation is tremendous, from the plasma, and the temperature is
just a few degrees above absolute zero. Everybody else in the ship is
protected from the radiation by some ultra-dense RF shielding in the wall
here."

"How long did it take you to come up with this ship design?" Melanie asked.

"Years. And years. A very long time."

"Slow poke," Amber said.

"Outside of this axis, everything is in layers. Like the rings of a tree. Just
outside the RF shielding is the powergrid, and the waste recycling system.
Around that is a titanium alloy structural web, to hold the ship together.
Outside of that is the crew quarters. Beyond that is a second structural web,
and the corridoors, means of travel about the ship. Most of those parts of the
ship are relatively small. They only take up 150 feet of the total ship
diameter. The largest portion of the pod is taken up by the CCC. Cryo-Chamber
Containment facility. That's where we keep all the passengers."

"You mean who you're going to rescue," Jay said.

"Yeah."

"Where are you going to put them? What planet?" Jay asked.

"Wayne Anderson, one of the astronomers here, discovered a planet in the Alpha
Prime system. It's capable of supporting terran life."

"Wait a second," Chani said. "How are you going to extract people from
hibernation? That's not a perfect science yet. There's extensive tissue
damage, and-"

"It's perfect," Amber said. "My R&D have developed a nearly flawless method
for cryo-stasis. Only .04% have any tissue damage, and there are even fewer
fatalities."

"Oh. But how many can you fit in this ship?"

Daniel grinned at them. "You guys ready for this shocker?"

"Out with it," Jay said.

"1.7 million."

Several exclamations echoed throughout the chamber.

"Two million??" Jay gaped. "How in hell can you fit that many people in here?"

"Each cryo-chamber is 7.5 feet high, and 3.5 feet in diameter," Daniel
explained. "We pack them together, right up against each other, that gives us
20 rows out, and about 214 bottom to top. Each row holds about 400, give or
take a few. There are crawl spaces next to each cryo-chamber, allowing entry
and exit."

"Jesus!" Jay said. "Almost two million people fit inside this thing! That's
amazing! How many ships do you have?"

"We only have enough time and resources to safely build and launch 25," Amber
replied.

"That's..." Jay calculated in his head.

"42 million," Amber filled in. "Plus another couple ships for supplies."

Jay gaped. "Wow! How are you going to decide who comes and who goes?"

"I'm only going to let FireFly employees on, plus you guys."

Chani scowled. "Wait a minute. You're only going to let your fucking company
on board? Don't you think that's a little selfish? Only letting people who
work for FireFly on board?"

"Chani-"

"And besides, FireFly isn't 42 million employees big," Chani said. "You-"

"Wanna bet?" challenged Amber. "No offense Chani, but I resent that. FireFly
has over 30 million employees worldwide, whether they know it or not, and by
the time Project: Exodus is finished, it'll be 40 million plus. It is not
selfish. Any given person could be working for me, without even knowing it.
I've absorbed so many corporations, and most still have their old names."

"But what about those that don't work for big corporations? What about those
that run their own business, or have some other line of work?"

"They stay."

There was an uncomfortable silence as the two glared at each other.

Mercifully, Daniel interrupted it by explaining the life support and drive
capabilities of the ships.

Amber had given all of them rooms around Watermark, but none of them went to
the rooms right away. Chani wandered to the south end of the island, and Jay
and Melanie followed a worn out path.

Amber and Aranor sat on the cargo ship, staring at the ocean for a while, and
Amber excused herself. "I'm going to find the others," she said. "I haven't
seen them all in a while."

Aranor nodded. "I'll head back to the room in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you there."

Amber walked onto the dock and cast a quick spell, locating Chani. The younger
woman had walked to the south end of the island and was staying there, for
now. Probably at the cliffs.

Quickly, Amber made her way through the forest, hopping logs and moving
through the forest like an expert. She had walked a lot in the here, enjoying
the sights and sounds of the jungle. It was similar to the Galapagos islands,
she heard one of her biologists say.

Soon, Amber came upon Chani. She was sitting on the edge of the cliff, staring
out over the ocean and at the stars. Amber hesitated, then steeled herself and
sat next to her friend.

They didn't say anything for a few minutes, until Amber said, "Listen, Chani,
I-"

"No, I shouldn't have said anything. It's my fault. Don't worry about it."

"Chani, I know you're probably right about my selection method, but it's the
easiest way. I can't pick and choose 42 million people from the earth. I can't
do that."

"I know," Chani said softly. "It just seemed so...well, it sounded different,
when you first said it. I'm sorry."

"Okay," Amber sighed with relief. "I'm sorry too."

Chani nodded, her eyes distant.

After a moment, Amber asked, "What is it?"

Chani blinked, then looked at her for the first time. "Huh? Oh, nothing. I'm
just...I'm just thinking about something."

"What?"

"I'd...rather not tell you, if that's all right."

Amber winced, inwardly. They had all drifted apart. Amber shouldn't have
stayed away so long. Dammit. Although dominating the business world, and
having money and power was great, true friendship was much better.

"Y-Yeah, it's okay." Amber looked out at the ocean. It was, as always,
beautiful. The waves crashed against the rocks below, at the bottom of the
cliff. She had taken to watching the stars more often, with a renewed
interest. In a few years, they would be out there. Among the stars, somewhere.

Chani was looking at the stars also. Was she thinking about Project:Exodus, or
something different? It had to be something different. Because Chani seemed
too far removed from anything on this island right now.

"You know," Amber said, just now noticing. "You haven't changed at all since I
last saw you."

"I haven't?" Chani blinked, looking back at Amber.

"No. You're...the same. Everything's exactly the same. You look the same age,
and everything."

"Well, I've probably gained a few pounds since...I last saw you." Chani had
almost said "since I had Shonan," but caught herself in time. Why couldn't she
tell Amber about Shonan? She'd find out eventually, and Jay or Melanie would
probably let it slip without even thinking.

"No, you haven't. You probably still eat a lot, but I don't think you've
gained any."

Chani pulled her legs back up and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Uh-huh.
So what's the scoop with you and Aranor? How long have you been seeing each
other?"

Amber blushed, remembering the first time they met outside the interviews.
"It's been almost since I saw you last. Almost four years."

"Wow. How'd you meet?"

Amber blushed more. "I brought him here, for the Inner Circle, a group of
mages on the island. They're going to help defend against the horde when it
comes time. Anyway, I was taking a walk on the other part of the island, near
the waterfall, and he was there."

Chani grinned. "Waterfall? You'll have to show it to me sometime."

Amber traced a rune in the air and looked at it. "Yeah, some other time. Jay
and Melanie are there now. Wouldn't want to interrupt them."

"No. They're probably having wild, passionate sex right about now."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, don't you think so?"

"Maybe, but why do you think it's wild and passionate?"

"They've been drifting a little bit ever since Jay started on his book."

"Book? What book?"

"He didn't tell you?"

Amber shook her head.

Chani dug her copy of The Sentinel out of her pocket and handed it to Amber.
"He's going to start distributing it to people after Anea opens the gate."

"Why? What is it?" Amber flipped through the pages.

"I haven't read much, but as far as I can tell, it's a self-defense guide
against demons. Demon hunter handbook kind of thing."

"Wow. He's just handing this stuff out," murmured Amber.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that the knowledge in this book is hard to come by, and
he's just giving it away like candy."

"It's the only way. Or it was, before you told us about Earth's fate."

Amber nodded. "I guess so."

Both of them sighed as Jay speared Melanie on his length. "God," she moaned.
"How long has it been?"

"Most definitely," Jay nipped at her breast, "too long."

He began rocking his hips up and down, his long cock pumping in and out of
Melanie's womanhood. They were on the shore, and hadn't gone into the water
yet. Jay was sitting down, his hips bobbing Melanie up and down on his shaft.

She gave small gasps as he licked and bit her breasts. A few moments later,
Melanie gave a little groan, and Jay knew she was about to come. She locked
her hands and ankles behind his back, pounding her wet cunt into Jay's stiff
member.

Jay stopped moving, and let Melanie orgasm. She screamed, juices streaming out
of her legs and draining onto the sand. After Melanie stopped spasming and
moaning, Jay began thrusting in again. He came forward, putting Melanie's back
to the ground, and began pounding his hips into hers faster.

A few moments passed, and Jay orgasmed. His shaft began spewing seed out into
Melanie, and he continued to thrust in, even after he was spent. Melanie
squealed, the pleasure overtaking her as well. She came a second time,
clenching Jay with her legs and crushing him into her. Her nails raked along
his back as she convulsed beneath him.

When Melanie stopped bucking and thrashing, Jay pulled out and sat back on his
heels. "What do you say we go for a swim now?"

Aranor couldn't contain it any more. Amber's constant sucking and licking, her
mouth working around his cock, was too much. He grunted, clutching the sides
of the bed and jerking his hips out.

Amber moved with him smoothly as he unloaded his seed into her mouth. She
swallowed the hot liquid as it poured from his cock time after time. Aranor's
orgasm nearly made him forget Amber's pussy was right above his face.

His tongue went forward, and he licked her wet slit, tasting her musky flavor.
She gasped and moaned, still licking the cum from his softening penis.
Aranor's hands went to her breasts, and he moved his mouth farther, licking
her clit.

Pleasure spiked through Amber, and she gasped, freezing. Aranor continued, his
fingers pinching her nipples. His right hand moved up between her legs, and he
began pumping two fingers in and out of her pussy as he continued to lick and
suck on her clit.

Another moment, and Amber was gone. The orgasm overwhelmed her, and she
screamed, her vaginal walls contracting around Aranor's fingers. Juices leaked
down on his face as he kept sucking on her.

After Amber was completely finished, she sat back, and faced Aranor.

"We have a healthy sex life," Aranor grinned. "And we're better people because
of it."

Amber giggled and took his cock in her hand, stroking it. "I know I feel
better because of it."

Two months later, fifty of Amber's demon hunters had secured the premises, and
Jaron, one of the Inner Circle, was speaking to an entire FireFly department
store staff. As many as could be gathered in two hours were standing in front
of him in the parking lot.

Naturally, the demon hunters had taken measures to prevent eavesdropping.
Human, satellite, or otherwise. They stayed out of sight of the FireFly
employees, though, in order to keep immediate suspicion low.

"All right you people," Jaron said into the megaphone. "Here's the deal, I'm
gonna talk and you're gonna listen. Got it? Good. You all probably remember
that tape that was released to the media a few years ago..." and he poured out
the whole spiel. Telling everyone here what was going on in northern Amaria.
He explained that the end of the world was coming, and there wasn't anything
they could do to stop it.

The spell Amber used to hire all her construction workers was used here as
well. It made the transition a whole lot easier. Realization and resignation
swept through the crowd like a wave, and the people slowly started to accept
their fate. After they thought about it for a few minutes, they weren't so
gloomy. After all, the rest of the world was being destroyed, and they were
being saved. What a bargain!

"Wait!" shouted one girl. "What about those that couldn't make it here today?"

"And our family members! Are we just going to leave them to die?"

Jaron lifted the megaphone to his lips. "No ma'am. The employees that were
unable to make it today will be contacted personally about this matter," he
lied. They wouldn't. There wasn't enough time. Amber could only afford to grab
those who were available at a moments notice. Not because she didn't care
about the others, she did. It was just that getting individual people would
take a lot more resources than she had at the moment.

If there was a large enough time buffer before the end, Amber would try, but
there wouldn't be. They would be cutting it close as it was.

"Your family members will stay here. Only those you see before you, and your
other co-workers will come along."

There was a cacophony of protests, which Jaron stopped immediately.

"Shut up people! You know the end of the world is coming, and you know we
can't do anything about it! We do not have the time or money or materials to
bring everyone along. There is just enough space for FireFly employees, got
it? I'm sorry if this sounds selfish, but, that's life. Now, for those of you
that do wish to leave, do it now. Talk to that man over there, and tell him
who you are. He'll write you up on the deathlist. That means you will not get
another chance to come with us. If you feel like dying with your friends and
family, then go ahead."

Jaron's underlying contempt for those that did want to stay was enough to stop
them. Nobody moved.

"Good. See those buses over there? Board them now. You will leave every
personal belonging here. Your purse, wallet, cash, everything. Except your
personal ID. Driver's license, or whatever it is. If you don't have one, talk
to Joey over there and he'll get you one. These will be your only clothes
until we get to Watermark, and otherwise, that's it.

"I will handle the closing and selling of the store, so don't worry managers."

Jaron watched them slowly trickle across the parking lot to the four waiting
buses. The driver directed them to throw their things outside the bus, and
show him their ID. They scanned it into the computer next to him, and
continued inside.

A hundred miles above the atmosphere, the space station Last Hope was in its
final stages of construction. It would be the jumpoff point for all of the
"savior" ships. Many of those working here would be members of the crew on
some of the bubble ships.

And in the northern plains of Amaria, Anea was finishing the gate. In front of
her was a massive pentagram, drawn in gallons of ram's blood. At each point of
the pentagram was another pentagram. Inside that was a human sacrifice, naked
and bleeding. Their hearts were now lying in the center of the larger
pentagram, but they were still alive, due to the constraining forces at play
around them.

Anea and much of the Higher Order were completing the final declensions found
in The Book of Ash. Their voices rose like a single, echoing entity, reaching
out with unholy strength to cleave the barrier between dimensions.

In front of Anea, dark smoke began forming into a vortex. The smoke swirled
around in a circle, rotating into a vortex. The center of the vortex extended
out, away from Anea. A side view of the portal would have shown the dark cloud
spinning behind the gate like a whirpool. From Anea's point of view, she could
see down into the hole.

Hellish screams and painful cries were coming from the vortex now. Crackling
energy leaped out of the portal, dancing along the pentagram and sacrifices.
Anea's eyes closed as the chant finished. She bathed in the evil light coming
from the portal. A hot wind was blowing on her from the vortex, flapping her
robes behind her. It was wonderful.

Finally, the end of the vortex stopped extending, and it widened. Red light
flooded the whirling tube, and Hell could be seen on the other side. The first
demon came. It was followed by many others, all flying towards the opening
with all their strength.

To be free. That was all they asked. To be free.

The instant the first demon left this side of the portal, the vortex exploded
in a dark, boiling cloud. Anea jumped back, floating a few yards away as the
foaming cloud expanded like a geyser. The pentagram and the sacrifices were
enveloped by the cloud, cast into Hell. They might make their way out someday,
who knows.

The cloud writhed, as if it were living, and Anea smiled. More demons began
flying from the dark cloud. Her minions. Every single one of them was under
her control.

Chani dropped to the ground, clutching her head.

Amber knelt by her. "What? What's going on?"

"The gate, she's opened it."

Amber's eyes went sad, and she sighed. "It's almost time."

Aranor helped Chani to her feet, and he said, "We have to get more people on
board."

A few hundred yards away, the saved were being led into the bubble ships in
long lines. All had been provided with a cryo-suit, that looked like the blue
ones doctors wore. Simple white pants and shirt, and that was it. Most were
anxious about the hibernation. Sleeping for forty years was not anyone's idea
of fun. Well, some people thought it was fun, but most everyone else condemned
them as freaks, so they didn't count.

Amber pulled out her cel phone and dialed the Inner Circle's building. One of
them picked up. It was Tyllendal. "Hello?" he said.

"It's time. Prepare the spell, and send out the demon hunters."

There was a pause at the other end. "Damn."

Jay sat alone in his room at Watermark, meditating. He held a bag of
runestones in his hand, and set the bag on the ground in front of him. Jay
turned the bag upside down, after mentally adressing his question.

When he opened his eyes, he looked down at the stones, and sighed with relief.
Some could be saved, after all. At least The Sentinel could provide them with
some protection.

He dialed up DH Inc.

"This is DH Inc, Rich speaking," said the demon hunter after about ten rings.

"What took you so long?" Jay asked.

"It's happened, Jay."

"What has?"

"The gate. It's open."

Jay jumped to his feet. "You're kidding, right?"

"No. People are flooding our lines with calls, but there's nothing we can do
against that."

"Damn straight there isn't. What I want you to do, is tell them to come to the
offices and pick up their copy of The Sentinel."

"What's the-"

"I just performed a foretelling, and it worked."

"For you? I'm surprised."

"Me too. But listen, not everybody is going to die. We can save some of them.
All we have to do is teach them how to defend themselves."

"Okay. I'll tell them."

Jay slammed down the phone, then called Amber. She answered a moment later,
"Yeah?"

"Amber, have you still got that helicopter?"

"Oh fuck," the pilot wet himself.

In front of the fleet was a huge cloud of ash. Red lightning was crackling
around the swirling cloud, and thousands of black shapes were flying from the
cloud. In the center of the cloud, a whirling vortex could be seen.

"Red Leader, pull away!" screamed his helmet, and he looked in front of him.
The pilot jerked on the controls, and his Tomcat spun to the side, rolling out
of the way of one of the oblivious demons. He regained control, then said,
"Fire at will, boys."

About thirty missiles streamed past him, some of them entering the vortex, and
some of them hitting the demons. The pilot engaged his autocannons, and
tracers leaped from the barrel of his guns, shooting yellow streaks at the
demons. Many were torn apart instantly, but some just ignored it, and
continued flying around.

Then the entire squadron roared over the gate, and were beyond it, flying over
the farming fields.

"Jesus, what is that thing?" somebody asked.

"Who the hell knows?" another answered.

"Enough guys, we'll go in for another flyby. Was anybody hit?"

"Negatory, Red Leader."

"Good, maybe we've got a shot, after all."

They curved around and came at the gate from the north. Now, the demons seemed
to acknowledge their presence, and flew straight at them. More trails of smoke
flew past the Red Leader, and more of the demons exploded.

"Use the cannons," he instructed. "We can try to get the cloud with our
missiles. And watch where you aim."

Fiery streaks shot past him, and many demons were torn apart in mid-air. Most
of them. Finally, one of the demons decided to attack. It threw a disc of
green energy straight at the Red Leader, and he swore, barrel rolling just in
time. The disc ripped straight through his wingman, and the plane exploded in
a cloud of flames.

The pilot stabilized the jet and let loose with his cannons. The bullets
hamburgered the demon, and its pieces fell to the ground in a shower of blood
and guts.

Then the pilot noticed a group of people on the ground. A lot of them. They
were all demons. It looked like they were...

With grim determination, the pilot locked his missile onto those coordinates,
and fired. The warhead jumped ahead of his plane and dove straight at the
group. It mushroomed on impact, and a cloud of smoke and fire billowed up. The
squad screamed through the demon horde again, but this time, three of the
planes were missing.

"Let's do another one, and if you have any missiles left, aim for the vortex."

Red Leader flew low this time, barely a hundred feet off the ground. He looked
back at the group of demons, only to find that they were still there. Shit.
His missile hadn't done anything.

The pilot locked on four of his missiles this time. He heard a few of his
pilots scream as their planes were torn apart by the demons. Red Leader
flipped up the switch guard.

"Eat this, you motherfuckers."

Four missiles leaped from his wings, and flew out ahead, leaving behind long
trails of smoke. And then, from one of the demons, the smallest one, the one
that looked most human, Red Leader saw a small beam of light. The light grew
in size, until he realized it was heading straight for him.

Before the pilot could pull away, a shaft of red energy hit the nose of his
plane, tearing straight through the center. The pilot was disintigrated
instantly, along with most of his plane. The wings flew out to the side,
whirling like paper, until they landed somewhere in the field, far away.

John pulled out of the manufacturing plant with his U-Haul truck, filled to
the brim with leatherbound books. He looked at the traffic, then swore. It was
completely backed up, all the way down Main. It wasn't moving an inch.

John stopped next to the traffic and looked down, trying to see what could be
causing the backup. His eyes widened. Black smoke and fire were billowing up
from a car wreck down the avenue. John squinted, and saw a massive shape
tearing at the car. A demon.

Here already?

Fucking shit.

John reached into his shirt and pulled out his gun. He aimed, but realized the
distance was too great to be effective. He locked up the truck and ran down
the side of the street, barreling through the fleeing crowd. "Get outta my
way!" he bellowed, firing the pistol into the air.

That had a small effect, and people at least moved aside for him. They still
ran from the demon, though.

When John was close enough, he ran and jumped onto the hood of the closest
car, about ten yards away from the demon. It completely ignored him, and
ripped a tire off the car, tossing it up into the air. The tire landed on the
roof of a neighboring building.

John extended his arm and aimed. Fire exploded from the barrel, and the
demon's head rocked. Blood poured from its eyes socket, and it fell back.
Before it could get up again, John had blown its face into a million pieces.

John holstered the gun and jumped onto the sidewalk. As soon as he landed,
traffic started moving again, pushing past the car wreck. People would
probably leave the city. But where would they go from here?

Not caring, John ran back to the truck and got in. He pushed his way into
traffic and headed back towards the Jewel Tower.

"Now everybody shut up!" Rich shouted.

Terri was fending one of the crowd off with a ruler.

"There is nothing to be alarmed about!" he shouted. "This book will provide
you with a means of self-defense against the demons, and you will be safe, but
you'll have to wait your turn!"

"How much is it?" somebody cried.

Rich stopped. He didn't know.

"Fifty bucks!" Terri replied.

People started dishing out money.

Rich looked at her and she grinned, with a shrug.

Rich started exchanging the books for the bills, not even counting it. Terri
grabbed a box and did the same thing. People shoved and pushed their way out
as soon as they had it, probably to find some corner to read in.

Supplies ran out within fifteen minutes, and Rich went into the library. He
had summoned many more of the scribe demons. There were more than thirty
scattered around the small room. On top of bookshelves, inside the
bookshelves, under the table, in the chair, on the windowsill, sitting on
piles of the Druidic Containment volumes, they were everywhere.

"How many have you guys got finished?" Rich asked.

"It's hard work!" squawked one of them.

"Yeah! You should give us a break!"

"Can you hear them out there?" Rich asked. "I need a break. Now give me what
you've finished today."

They handed him a couple boxfulls, and Rich opened the door. He started
throwing copies of The Sentinel past the people, and they scrambled to get
copies. Those near enough to see the demons were too stunned to do anything
for a moment.

"What are those?"

"Your mama!" John bellowed, plowing through the crowd and standing next to
Rich. "Listen up you people! Tell all your friends about the book! It's the
only way you can save yourselves, got it? After everybody in this room gets a
copy, nobody else is allowed in. We'll be accepting orders at the E level
parking lot beneath the Jewel Tower, understand? No book orders will be given
out from here."

The people probably heard, but nobody paid any attention. As soon as they got
their copies, they ran away, clutching to it for dear life. After all the
people had been serviced, Rich closed and locked the door. "What are you
talking about? Did you get the other books?"

John nodded. "Yeah. Can you move those scribes down to the E level parking
lot? It's almost empty now. There are millions of blank books in there. All we
have to do is get them written in."

"Yeah, I can set up the demons. We should hire some security while we're at
it."

"Yes!" Terri cried. "Look at what they did to my hair! And my nail is broken!"

Aaron Ramsey stood behind the operator and his console. "Fire," Aaron said
into the headset.

"Roger, linking bomb to target, and engaging," crackled over the small
speakers.

On the screen, they saw the radar blip closer and closer to the vortex. This
was their last resort. It was a particle dissemination warhead. Everything
within three miles of the bomb drop would be utterly disintigrated. The atoms
themselves would fly apart at the seams. Aaron looked at the satellite
close-up on another monitor. He saw the bomber speed over the vortex. "Bomb
has been dropped," the pilot informed him.

The satellite feed was the best imaging he could get, and had the capability
of magnifying to less than a half-mile distance. He was at closest
magnifcation now, and he watched the highlighted bomb drop down to the target
zone.

Fifteen feet above the ground, the bomb detonated, and the screen filled with
brilliant white light. It was only ten seconds later when the screen cleared,
and he could see that the vortex was gone. Aaron cheered. "Go in for a flyby,"
he ordered the pilot. "Tell me what you see."

"Roger, coming about."

The plane flew back to the decimated target zone.

"Everything is gone, sir. All the plants, buildings, everything. There's this
huge crater, and I don't..."

The pilot stopped.

"What? What is it?"

"Oh, my God," the pilot said.

"What is-"

Aaron was interrupted with a burst of static, and he yanked the headset off.
Looking back at the screen, he could see that the vortex was still there. And
more demons were there. Including that group next to the vortex. He saw the
plane falling to the ground in flames.

The gate was still there. Only it was different. It was larger, ten times, at
least. Instead of being a cloud of boiling smoke, it was now just a huge rift,
and he was looking straight down into the fires of Hell.

"Remember, Chani?" Anea said.

"What?"

They were standing in a typical dreamscape, with mist floating around their
feet, and darkness all around. But that quickly changed, and they were instead
sitting on top of a moving bus. The bus was driving through the streets of
downtown Toho, and instead of the roads being pavement, they were made of
water.

Dreams were weird.

"Don't you remember?" Anea asked.

"No, what am I supposed to be remembering?"

"Well, see, all I can tell you, is that you're forgetting something. If I told
you, that wouldn't be right, would it?"

"Why wouldn't it be right?" Chani scowled.

"Because, I'm only a part of your psyche, and I can't tell you what it is
without forcing you to remember, first."

"But if you're part of my psyche, you could remember, then tell me. That could
be how I remember."

Anea pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess that would work, but since
this dream is about to end, I don't think I'd have enough-"

The bus suddenly crashed into a boulder-sized marshmallow, and they were
hurled off into the street. They plunged beneath the water, and Chani came
sputtering above the surface a few moments later.

Then she realized she was in her bed, sitting up and staring at the wall.
Damn. So she was supposed to do something, but what?

Remember, Anea had said. You have to remember something.

What though?

The helicoptor touched down roughly on the pad on top of the Jewel Tower. Jay
and Melanie jumped out and ran to the door, jogging down the stairs until they
reached an elevator. Jay punched the down button and waited for Amber to catch
up to them.

"I'm going to evacuate all the FireFly sub-corporates in Toho, then the
FireFly official corporation buildings, except for the Jewel Tower. You think
you can help me and Aranor set up some wards around the building?"

Jay nodded. "Sure. Later. I have to see what's happening with The Sentinel."

"But what's the point, Jay? The Earth is going to be destroyed, and-"

"Didn't I tell you?" Jay asked.

"What?"

"Jay did a foretelling," Melanie said. "And it told him that there will be
people left alive on earth."

Amber blinked. "What?"

"You were right," Jay said. "But there will be a few people left alive on
Earth after Project: Exodus launches."

"How many?" Aranor asked.

"A few thousand."

Amber relaxed. For a moment, she thought that her original foretelling had
been wrong, and that the whole Project had been a waste. Good. At least they
could save a few more people with Jay's book.

The doors opened and they all filed into the elevator. Amber and Aranor got
out at the 50th floor, and Jay and Melanie rode it down to DH Inc. When they
arrived in the office, Terri was filing her nails behind the desk.

"Hi guys!" she said in her squeaky voice.

"Hi," Jay said. "Where is everybody?"

"John and Rich are at the E level parking lot."

"Doing what?"

"Selling your book."

Jay stopped. "They're what?"

"Your book. They're selling it."

Jay pursed his lips and looked at Melanie. She raised an eyebrow. Let's go
see, she suggested.

"Yes."

When they came upon John and Rich, they were servicing a line that stretched
up to the street. "What are you guys doing down here?" Jay demanded.

John looked up. "Your book is selling like crazy, Jay."

"You're selling it?" Melanie asked, scowling.

"What's it matter?" John shrugged. "Money will be useless soon anyway."

He's right, Jay mused.

Well, still, don't you think that's a little cold?

No. I spent a long time working on that, in case you've forgotten.

That got Melanie. "How much are you selling it for?" she asked.

"Fifty bucks."

"Double it," she said. "Who's copying it?"

"In there," John pointed to a set of portable walls, the kind they used for
cubicles.

Jay went around to the other side, and saw all the scribe demons. "Holy shit!"
he cried. There were more than a hundred. Jay ran back to Rich, fuming. "Do
you know how fucking dangerous that is? Summoning that many demons in one
place, at one time, from one caster-"

Rich interrupted him, "Yes I do know, but I've also taken plenty of
precautions. They're not going to escape. They can't. We have security guards
crawling this floor, and I've set up ten-binding shields around them. Okay?
Don't worry about it."

Jay inhaled and then breathed out. "Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Just be careful, okay?"

Rich nodded. "I've read your book, I know."

"Don't exhaust yourself. You want me to take over some of them?"

Rich shook his head. "I managed to tie up most of them in a Torias Runestone."

"How did you do that?" Jay was surprised.

"I'll show you later. It was an accident, really."

Jay's tension was gone now, and he looked at the line. "How many have you
sold?"

"Thousands," John answered, taking money from a customer and handing them the
book.

"Cool," Jay said. "The more people have, the better." He whispered in John's
ear, "If somebody doesn't have enough money, give it to them anyway."

"You got it."

Melanie carried a box of the books over from behind the portable walls. "How
fast do they dish these out?" she asked.

"Each one does about one book every two and a half hours, so that's... a
little under one every minute."

"How long do you think this is going to last?" Jay asked, looking at the
people. Most of them were frantic, as if demons had followed them all the way
from their houses. Fear was a powerful weapon, more powerful than most.

John shrugged. "Long time."

"Why don't we just let the security guards deal with it," Melanie suggested.
"They can just put the wall up to the entrance and let those little guys toss
the books over the wall when they're finished with each one. Just forget the
money."

"Good idea," Jay said. "Let's do it."

"Amber, Matt, c'mere!" Aranor called.

The two returned to Amber's office, where Aranor was watching TV. On the
screen, after only a few months in office, President Johnson was declaring a
state of emergency for Amaria.

"Amaria is now in a state of martial law," he stated. "The army, navy, and air
force are being called in to combat this supernatural threat. 30,000 UN troops
will be arriving in two days to assist in our effort. We are taking other
measures to ensure that these demons do not travel any further into our
country."

Amber cut it off. "Great. The Amarian dollar will probably plummet, and all
Amarian companies will lose any stock value." She thought for a moment.
"Including us. Matt, liquidate the funds and buy up as much gold as you can."

"Gold?" Aranor asked.

"Yes, it's the only thing that retains value at a time like this. I should've
done it earlier."

Matt was on the phone, ordering tons of gold. "Platinum? Silver?" he asked.

Amber nodded. "Okey-dokey. By waiting this long, I've probably lost a few
million dollars, but what the hell. I won't need it, soon enough."

"How long until everyone's at Watermark?" Aranor asked her.

"A year and a half. It's going to be a while. I have the demon hunters
rounding up everyone here in Amaria as we speak. They'll be the first to go,
then I'll gather up the other companies in other countries."

Aranor nodded. "You don't like this."

"Of course I don't like it, the world's ending. What would you expect?"

"No. Leaving this. The business world. It's crumbling now, and that's the end
of it. The end of FireFly."

Amber nodded. "In one sense, yes. The corporation on Earth is ending, but
we'll start new on Alpha Prime."

"True."

Matt hung up the phone. "It's done," he said. "They'll be shipped here within
24 hours."

"Get them to Watermark," Amber said.

"Sure thing," Matt said, picking up the phone.

In a few hours, Jay, Rich, Amber, Aranor, and Chani had built a sizable
defense around the Jewel Tower. Most demons would be hard pressed to enter. No
one was told, of course. If anybody found out, the building would be flooded
with refugees in an hour.

After they finished, Jay and Melanie were sitting at the E level parking lot,
watching the scribe demons toss the books over every couple of minutes. People
were still outside, and hadn't stopped coming. Jay had put a ward around his
demons, preventing them from incineration by the powerful shields around the
tower.

"Jay," Melanie said.

"Yeah?"

"In your book, you talk about building a sanctuary. Where people can live to
block out Hell, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"What if we build one here?"

"Where? In the parking lot?"

"No. In the tower."

"That would take a lot of power, and time."

"I know, but do you think it could be done? We could turn the Jewel Tower into
a totally self-sufficiant sanctuary, and people could live here during the
genocide."

Jay shuddered. "Nice choice of words."

"Holocaust, scourge, mass destruction. Whatever. But think. The bubble ships
going to Alpha Prime are going to be completely self-sufficiant during their
flight. We can do the same thing here. It just needs a little tuning."

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot. But it would work, wouldn't it?"

Jay thought for a moment, then kissed her. "God, you're beautiful."

"Aw, I know."

They went up to floor 50, and presented the suggestion to Amber. She seemed
reluctant. "You can do it if you want, and I'll give you as many workers as I
can, but time is running short. It will take you a long time to get it ready."

"I know, but it's got to work. We have to save as many people as we can."

Amber sighed and nodded to Matt.

CHANI SIGHED.

She looked out the window. It was almost time. The saviour ships would be
leaving in two weeks. Almost the entire FireFly corporation had been
evacuated, except for a skeleton crew at the Jewel Tower. Amber, Matt, Aranor,
DH Inc, and just a few others remained.

Rifts to Hell had been opening all over the world, and the apocalypse was
near. Communication lines had broken down, and people stayed huddled in their
houses, fearful and dying. No one traveled outside any more, and the only safe
place was here.

Jay had spent a month straight composing a spell he called The Protector. And
he had spent nearly a year casting it. When Jay finished the spell, the Jewel
Tower would be completely isolated from the outside world. Absolutely nothing
could get in or out.

Now, the remaining members of DH Inc were gathering outside survivors and
filling up the empty places in the Jewel Tower, until it could hold no more.
No one told these survivors of Project: Exodus, so they never fought to follow
those that were evacuating to Watermark.

Daytime had ceased to exist. Now, there was night, and gloom. That was it.
Hell had literally broken out on Earth, and nothing could be done to stop it.
It had already happened.

Chani stroked Shonan's hair softly as he slept next to her. Since Jay and
Melanie would be disembarking on the last boat to the island, Chani had agreed
to take Lina with her to Watermark. There, they would wait until Jay and
Melanie caught up to them before launching.

The past few weeks had been hell for Chani. She had been plagued by dreams
similar to the one with Anea, reminding her to do something, but they never
specified what it was.

Chani sighed.

"Come on!" Jay held his hand down to the girl. She grasped it and he pulled
her up. "Quick, run that way!"

She's coming, Mel.

I see her.

Hold on while I take care of this guy.

Jay began reciting the fifth Last Known Good redaction (out of The Sentinel)
and braced himself.

He was standing on the edge of a roof, waiting for the demon to fly up over
the edge. It did, and the creature's mouth opened.

Jay planted his foot and completed the redaction.

A blue shield sprung up in front of him as black fire shot from its mouth and
slammed into the shield. He waited for it to die down, then ran forward. His
blood knife plunged into the creature's chest, and blue fire erupted out of
the wound.

The demon's claws grabbed Jay's chest, and Jay shouted out another of his
declensions. Fire burned along the creature's hand, and it roared in agony.
Blue fire was spouting out of its chest now, and Jay ran away as the fire
consumed it from the inside out. He jumped off the edge and landed in the back
of the garbage truck. It contained a couple thousand pounds of sawdust.

Jay rolled to the side as he landed.

I'm in, let's go.

Melanie revved up the truck and it rolled through the empty streets of Toho.
Jay masked its presence as best he could, but he'd been spellcasting nonstop
for the past year, and it might not have worked as well as he would've liked.

They stopped the truck next to a loading dock in the alley outside of the
Jewel Tower, and got out. They'd found three more survivors, this time. Not
many at all.

The girl, a boy, and an old man.

Jay opened the loading door and hurried them in. Melanie came in last, after
shutting off the truck, and sat against the door.

"Go to the end of this room," Jay said, "and go down that hall. Somebody
should be there to help you."

The old man thanked Jay and led the two kids out of the loading room.

Jay sat next to Melanie. "Almost, honey. We're close."

"I know," Melanie said. "But I just wish it was all over."

"Soon."

"It seems like its been forever since this chaos started."

"I know. It's only been...five years?"

"I lost count over the past twelve months."

Jay pulled her to her feet after standing up. "Come on. I think you need some
sleep."

"What about you?"

"The Protector is almost finished. I have to build another point at the 45th
floor gardens, then I just have to reinforce the base, then its done."

Melanie nodded. She went up to their apartment, completely exhausted. She
couldn't wait until it was over.

A 40 year sleep sounded good right about now.

The Inner Circle was seated at the roundtable, meditating. They were
reinforcing the ward around Watermark. Ever since it had been discovered by
the demons, the attack on it was nonstop, and mages all over the island were
doing their best to keep it strong.

Anea sat on her throne.

It was made completely out of human bones, fit together in such a way that its
surface was completely smooth and white. No one could see its true origin
unless she told them.

She had put the throne where Zaroth's boulder used to sit. Here would be her
palace. It would take a few years for her pitiful demon minions to find enough
of the right materials to suit her tastes, but she could wait. Her reign had
finally come.

Jakar stood next to her, in his true form. His demon appearance was
frightening. He stood ten feet tall, with burning red eyes, and black leathery
skin. Sharp horns protruded from the side of his skull, his elbows, and the
top of his wings. His face was shaped like a warped human face. His eyes were
thin, and red, not like human's at all. The only similarity was the general
structure of the bone. His teeth were huge, and canine.

Anea had remained the same.

She smiled. As Hell became more a part of Earth, her power increased, and she
could draw her resources away from keeping the demons in their true form. The
demons themselves gave her energy. The humans they killed, fed on, murdered,
sacrificed. Anything they did gave her power. And the power continued to grow
within her every second, swelling

When the spell finally stopped, she would be free to do whatever she wanted.
At last.

Hopefully it would be in time to stop Amber from escaping.

A flicker at the edge of her senses alerted Anea to the presence of another
missile. She frowned, annoyed. Wouldn't they ever get the picture? With a
resigned sigh, Anea closed her eyes and felt out the warhead.

Nuclear, this time. They were getting desperate.

The missile was aimed straight at her.

Anea calculated her resources. Would she have enough power to deal with the
missile? She grinned. Oh yeah. Maybe this could work to her advantage.

"Jakar!" she called.

The demon materialized by her side. "Yes?"

"Where did that missile come from?"

He stared at the oncoming warhead. "America. A secret missile silo in
Colorado."

"Excellent." Anea rubbed her hands together. "Lend me your power. Gashar!
Nerada! Voshilar!" The demons appeared a moment after she called their names.
At least they were well trained. "I need your power."

As one, Jakar and the best members of the Higher Order opened up and sent
lines of power out to Anea. She closed her eyes and spread her arms out. Black
lines of smoke streamed from her fingers, and then swirled into a portal
quickly. About twenty yards in front of them. Within three seconds, Anea had
opened up a gate into the presidential suite of the White House.

The warhead flew straight into the vortex, and the very instant it was
through, Anea closed the portal. Anea threw her head back and laughed. This
was so fun! It was too bad the battle with the humans wouldn't last very long.

On the other side of the world, the 1.4 million people still left alive in
Washington D.C. were blasted to particles.

The demon's huge hips slammed into the girl's. Its large cock was tearing her
apart, but it didn't care. She was shrieking now, tears streaming down her
face. Blood was covering her head and naked torso. Several, long thin gashes
ran down her back and sides.

A few minutes later, the demon fired off its scorching seed into the girl's
body. She was unconscious, but groaned as it surged into her canal. The demon
waited until it was spent, then pulled out. It laughed, and traced a black
symbol on her forehead with its fingernail.

A moment later, it flew away, satisfied that other members of the Horde would
leave her be.

"Where the hell is Jay?" demanded Amber into the phone.

"I don't know!" John said. "He isn't around."

Aranor ran into the room, panting. "I haven't been able to find him anywhere."

Amber slammed down the phone. "Fuck! If we don't find him soon...Jesus, where
could he be?"

Amber? Where are you? Melanie sent.

Thank God. Where are you guys? Amber asked.

We're down in the lobby.

We don't have much time, Melanie. We have to leave soon.

There was a pause.

Melanie?

Hold on, Melanie told her.

Amber waited. Aranor watched her, sensing she was communicating with Melanie.
"Well?" he asked.

"I don't know, something's-"

Amber, I don't think we're going to be able to make it.

Amber blinked. What? What are you talking about?

Jay and I are going to stay.

Can't you come up here for just a minute?

We're on our way.

Amber, disbelieving, strode out to the elevators, and waited until Jay and
Melanie arrived. "What do you mean you can't stay?" she demanded.

"The Protector isn't complete," Jay said. "I screwed up when I added the third
Rune of Allanon to the northern power base."

"Jay! We can't stand to wait any longer here! The trip to Watermark won't be
safe much longer! Anea's sending more of the Horde down here."

"I know," Jay answered. "We just can't leave the people here like this. The
Protector still has a fault in it!"

"Jay, listen here, I'm not going to let you-"

"Shut up Amber!" Jay snapped. "I don't have time for this! We're staying and
that's final. You. Leave. Now. Good-bye." Jay hugged Amber fiercely, before
she could reply, and he stepped back, shaking Aranor's hand. "Good to know you
both," he said, almost curtly.

Melanie hugged them both, and they got in the elevator. "Bye!" Melanie raised
her hand as the doors closed.

Amber gaped after them, stunned. "Th-They're going to die!"

"No they're not," Aranor said, gently taking her arm. "As soon as Jay finishes
the spell, the Jewel Tower will be completely sealed off. It's a sanctuary.
Nobody can get in."

Amber nodded. "Let's go."

They ran up to the roof and sprinted over to the helicoptor pad. To the north,
Amber could see a mass of demons flying at the Jewel Tower. They flew over the
broken city like a wave of death, ready to fall on them like hawks.

Toho was now practically empty, except for the Jewel Tower. It shone like a
beacon among the dead. Buildings were cracked and destroyed. Only a few were
still standing complete. They poked up out of a haze like dead trees, black
shapes in the grey haze.

"Move!" Amber yelled at the pilot when she jumped in.

Aranor slammed the door closed as the helicoptor was lifting away from the
pad.

"Wait!" Chani said. "Where's Jay and Melanie?"

"They're staying," Aranor replied. "The spell isn't complete yet, and he has
to finish it."

The helicoptor flew away from the city at top speed, digging into the gloomy
air with all its power. Behind them, the demons had stopped, and were
beginning to glow with energy.

As they got farther away, Chani had to stand up to see out the window. A huge
wave of energy began rolling from the demons, like a huge tidal wave of fire.
It consumed the tops of some buildings, but was aimed high, at the Jewel
Tower.

"Shit," Amber whispered.

"What's going on?" Lina asked.

"Nothing, honey," Chani said, stroking the girl's hair absently. "Sit back
down."

Jay and Melanie stood outside the tower, and Jay was tracing a invisible rune
on the northern entrance with his hand. The invisible energy clinked into
place with the rest of The Protector, and Jay began to chant the final
redactions for the spell.

"Oh my God," breathed Aranor.

The wave of fire spread out like a parachute, enveloping buildings and trees
like water. Just before the wave reached the Jewel Tower, Jay finished the
final verse.

Jay completed the redaction, and the invisible rune began to shine with blue
power in the physical world. Electricity moved along the symbol, and then
spread to the power bases. From there, the mystic energy spread along the web,
to the top of the tower.

Like electricity, blue energy crawled up the sides of the Jewel Tower, and the
impenetrable shield shimmered with energy. Blue radiance shone from the
windows, and shafts of light exploded from the nine power bases Jay built. And
then the wave hit.

Jay grabbed Melanie close to him as the wall of fire barreled down 4th avenue,
straight at them. Oh well. At least everyone inside would be safe.

"Bye," he whispered.

"Hey, we'll still be together."

Amber sighed with relief. "He completed the spell."

Chani wasn't so happy. But she nodded. "Yeah, he did."

The wall of fire continued coming, and Aranor said, "I don't know how much of
it will reach us, but we might want to prepare..."

"Oh shit, yeah!" Amber cried, realizing that the wave was still moving towards
them.

Chani joined the two as they mentally built a shield around the helicoptor.
Just as it was finished, fire enfolded the chopper, and for almost five
seconds, all they could see was the boiling fires of Hell outside the windows,
and then it was past, still flying on top of the ocean. Steam rose from the
ocean behind the wall, dissipating soon after. It took another five minutes
for the wall to finally disperse.

Watermark was a hotbed of activity. People were rushing around, giving and
taking orders constantly. Most of the bubble ships were ready for launch,
having been filled with passengers and supplies. On top of the highest
mountain of the island, a massive, 500mm cannon rested, prepared to target any
oncoming demons. Those that had pitted themselves against the Inner Circle's
ward were picked off by the gun, one by one.

The countdown to final launch was three days. People were boarding the saviour
ships day and night. The cargo ship The Ark was being filled with tools,
electronics, frozen plant samples, frozen animals, fungus, and samples of just
about everything on earth that could be brought with them. The space shuttle
the X2, a better development on NASA's X1 model, would be the scout. It would
fly ahead to Alpha Prime and examine the environment ahead of time. According
to the schedule, it would arrive three years before the saviour ships. Many
scientists would be on board that ship, and some of them would go into
hibernation for the voyage.

"We should leave now, before Jay gets frostbite."

Chani jerked up from her dream, sweating and panting. Shonan lay next to her,
breathing softly. Who had said that? Fuck, who said that?

Chani got up from bed, in her pajamas, and went to the public kitchen. She
poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat at the table. Who said that?
And when?

Well, when would Jay have gotten frostbite? They had been to cold places
several times over the years. Ever since that first time in Antarctica. They'd
been to Alaska on an abominable snowman chase, Siberia in search for a yeti,
or something, Greenland, to meet Amber's distant aunt (who turned out to be
dead), and to Canada. But which of those places had been the most dangerous?
To Jay?

Chani drained her glass and stood up to get more. When she opened the
refrigerator door, she froze. On the top shelf was an opened bottle of Magpie
Ale. For almost a minute, Chani stared at the bottle. It meant something.
What?

Magpie mentality.

Where did Magpie mentality come from? Maybe it was from...yeah! That was her
first beer. She used to drink it when she would take those night time drives
north of Toho. But what's the connection?

Chani poured herself more OJ and sat back down. As soon as she sat down, she
was up again, her eyes wide. Holy shit. Anea had said it. When they were in
Antarctica.

"That's not meant to be used yet."

The door. In the ice.

"Oh God," Chani said. Her willpower crumbled, and she ran back to her room,
grabbing her old black jeans and leather jacket, pulling it on over a white
T-shirt. She slipped into her sneakers and ran out the door.

Chani ran to Amber's room after grabbing a pencil and piece of paper from the
kitchen. She told Amber to call her on the cel phone when she woke up.

FireFly cellular phones had been the first to implement direct satellite
linkup, which meant global coverage. This let Chani call Amber from wherever
she wanted without worrying about coverage area. Every hour, the phone would
send a beacon signal up to the satellite, to update position, which would make
the roaming ability more effective.

Chani stopped after taping the note to Amber's door. How would she get there?
Fuck. She looked at the Watermark airport. It had planes, helicoptors,
jets...jet. She could fly a jet.

But she didn't know how.

But somebody else did.

Chani ran to the main computer at Watermark, and stopped. A couple computer
guys were still working late. "Hey you," she said, bearing down on one guy.

"Yeah?" he asked, extracting himself from inside the computer terminal.

"Is there somewhere I can find where a guy sleeps?"

The guy grinned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm looking for somebody who can fly a Harrier jet."

"My friend Jack does."

"Where's he sleep?"

"Building C, room 108."

"Okay, thanks."

The computer guy grinned at her as she left, then went back to work.

Chani ran over to building C, and let herself in. She found room 108 and tried
the door. It was locked. Chani cast an unlocking spell, and opened it. The
room was dark, and there was a lone figure sleeping on the bed.

Quietly, Chani crept over to the figure and placed her fingertips on his
temples. He didn't stir. She silently cast the spell, and trembled as the
man's piloting skill flooded her mind. After a few moments, Chani backed away
and closed the door.

She ran out to the airport and found Jack's plane. She jumped up the ladder,
as if she'd flown all her life, and popped the hatch. His helmet was lying in
the seat. Chani pulled it over her head as she sat down and strapped herself
in. If her calculations were correct, she'd have just enough fuel to get there
and back.

Chani started the jet and took off. It rose slowly and after she'd cleared the
airport, she kicked in the thrusters and grunted as the (un)familiar force
pushed her against the seat.

After Chani left the island, she marveled at how the Earth had changed. After
the gate opened, there had been maybe one clear night. She was unable to see
the stars, and that really depressed her. Chani always loved to look at the
stars. There was a constant grey gloom hanging low in the sky, and a haze that
brought the horizon a few miles closer.

The flight was strangely peaceful. Just the vibration of the engines and the
static surroundings made it seem like time stood still. But it wasn't. Chani
felt every agonizing moment on her way to the nexus.

It took about three hours of straight flying to reach Antarctica, and from
there, she flew straight to the ice spire. The location had been ingrained in
her mind, and she used the jet's navigation system to find it.

It popped up on the horizon after about a half-hour after crossing the
shoreline of Antarctica, and she slowed to a hover. As the jet descended to
the snow, spraying white flakes out in a cloud, Chani realized she wasn't
wearing any protective clothing. The temperature could get to her within a
minute if she wasn't careful.

Careful. How could you be careful against the cold?

Chani waited until the snow had settled, and looked outside. It was very
still. No wind. The clouds were standing still. No noise.

No noise. The only sound was Chani's breathing, since she had shut off the
jet. Chani sat for a few moments, wondering how should go about doing this,
when she saw the entrance to the nexus.

Without pausing to consider her actions, Chani popped the top, and felt cold
air rush in. Her teeth were clattering even before she reached the ground.
Chani stumbled over to the pitch black door, and fell through. Her knees hit
polished stone, and she fell on her hands. The room was vast, so vast she
couldn't see a ceiling, or any walls. When she looked forward, she found
herself looking at a statue.

The statue was on a single slab of stone, and seemed to be carved out of
ivory. Old. It was so old that it was brown. There were two figures, Julie and
Mannan. Julie was standing straight, her fingertips resting on Mannan's head,
who was kneeling beneath her. At first glance, it seemed that he was bowing to
her, but when she looked at it longer, Chani could see it was different. There
was strain on both their faces, as if Julie was struggling to hold the god
down, and Mannan was struggling to stand up. His muscles were standing out,
like he was pushing against her.

As Chani continued to stare, she was drawn in by the statue's power. Although
the two's struggle remained the same as it had for the past ten years, it
seemed to grow in intensity. Chani noticed the pain on Julie's face and the
anger on Mannan's. They were still battling. Although it seemed she was
holding him at bay, the two were still fighting fiercely.

Chani shook her head and reached out. Her fingers touched Julie's wrist, and
she pulled. The cold, brown stone warmed to her touch, and within a few
seconds, color returned to Julie's features. She gasped and staggered to the
side, falling back. Chani held the girl up with her left arm and stood her up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.

Julie blinked, looking around her. Her face was wet, as if she'd been crying.
She looked up at Chani and stared. "Ch-Chani? Is that you?"

Chani smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"How long has it been?"

"Ten years."

"So your 25?"

"26."

"Wh-What happened? Why did you come and get me? Where's everyone else?" Then,
Julie's eyes widened. "No! You shouldn't have come! He'll get free now! We
have to stop him!"

Chani started, then looked at Mannan. Color had returned to him as well, and
he stood up, his eyes burning brightly. "At last, I am free. This time, Julie,
you-"

Chani interrupted the god. Her right arm extended, and a shaft of light
exploded from her palm. It struck Mannan in the chest, and he hurled back
several yards. "Come on," Chani said. "He'll be back to full strength in a
minute."

"But-"

"Now!" Chani pulled her out of the door and pointed to the jet. "In there."

She helped the girl up the ladder, and directed her to the rear. "There should
be a helmet back there. Put it on."

Julie pulled it over her head and strapped herself in. "I'm ready," she said.

"Good." Chani had started the engines, and now launched the jet. As it rose,
she spun it around and flew forward, back toward Watermark.

"What's going on?" Julie asked.

Chani drew in a shuddering breath and exhaled. "God, I never thought I'd hear
you speak again."

Julie waited for Chani to continue.

"The world is falling apart, Julie. Armaggedon is taking place, and Earth will
be destroyed in a few days."

Julie was stunned. "W-W-What? What are you talking about?"

Chani started from the beginning telling everything that happened from the
time Julie had started her battle with Mannan. It took most of the trip, and
when she finished, Julie didn't speak for some time. "I..." she said. "What's
happened to Jay and Melanie?"

"They...they're safe in Jewel Tower," Chani lied. "Jay cast a protective spell
around it, but couldn't finish in time to make it to the island. So he and
Melanie stayed."

"I see."

"We're almost there. I can show you..." Chani swore.

"What is it?"

"Demons. Quite a few of them. They must be planning to attack Watermark soon."

"Can we stop them with this thing?"

"We can try," Chani said, unlocking the missiles. She put her hand on the
trigger, but stopped. She chuckled. "Hell, they won't even see us before we're
in there."

And she was right. The jet roared past the demons, passing through the
invisible barrier built by the Inner Circle. Chani reversed quickly, so she
didn't shoot out the other side, and brought the jet back above the airport.
Just as she landed, the fuel warning light went off.

"What time is it?" Julie asked. People on the island were very active.

"Morning," Chani answered. "8:00."

"Look at the sky, though!"

"I know," Chani replied sadly, unbuckling herself. "It's from the gateway."
She opened the hatch, and pulled off her helmet. Several airport people ran
over to her, shouting angrily.

"What's wrong with them?" Julie asked as she undid her straps.

"I kinda forgot to tell anyone I was taking the jet."

It was a few hours before the scheduled launch when the attack began. Demons
constantly attacked the shield, hurling energy against it, and the Inner
Circle was battling back with their own spells. The 500mm cannon was helping,
some, but it was too slow to take out the massive numbers of the Horde.

The Outer Circle aided as well, reinforcing the shield as the Inner Circle
destroyed the demons. Amber and Aranor were too busy to do anything but
organize the loading and launch preparations. Carol was taking care of Shonan
and Lina, while Chani prepared to leave. She would be on board the 311,
Amber's ship. Most of the important people were there. Daniel, Wayne, Aranor,
some of the Inner Circle, and Matt.

After about three hours, the attack subsided, the demons evidently deciding
that when Anea was able to aid them, they would fare better.

Many people were silent that day, the only conversations being nervous chit
chat. They couldn't talk about weather, or football, or what was happening in
the rest of the world, without becoming uncomfortable. Those that didn't mind
the social stigma of talking about the voyage did so. They were the ones that
got loads off people's chests, and helped to relieve some other's tensions.

Chani and Julie were eating breakfast on the docks, when they heard Amber's
voice blaring through the speakers at the auditorium. They stood up and walked
to the back of the small crowd that had gathered. Most everybody here was
going to be part of the crew, since everyone else was in hibernation now.

"This is it, ladies and gentleman! The day that we finally free ourselves of
these horrible demons! This is the day we stick our asses up their nose and
say 'Kiss this!'" Cheers. "This is the day we finally get to find our own
road, and create a new life on Alpha Prime!" More cheers. "Yes, ladies and
gentleman, this is the day we run away!" More cheers.

"I wonder who really listened to that last line," Chani murmured.

Amber continued in a more conversational tone. "Here is our agenda. The colony
ships will launch, one by one, to the jumpoff point, Last Hope. From there,
the computer will calculate our coordinates and we'll fly out to Alpha Prime.
The voyage is 17 light years distant, and will be 39 years in real time. The
colony ships will fly in a honeycomb formation, a few thousand miles apart, so
communication will be possible between ships. And don't worry, my computer
guys have networked it so you can all play Doom between the ships." Laughter.
"I'll be flying on the 311, so if you're stationed there, you'd better watch
your back. I'm the boss, ya know. The X2 shuttle will be flying ahead of the
pack, and will arrive ahead of the rest of us. It will scout out Alpha Prime,
and will have all the information we need to find us a good beginning. Now, in
the off-chance that Alpha Prime is inhabited, or otherwise unavailable, Wayne
will be on board the 311, watching for other suitable homes. The colony ships
are capable of multiple flights, so don't worry about that."

Aranor leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about this. Due to the nature of space travel and the extra
atmospheric pressure provided by the ship's life support systems, you will age
a lot slower."

Somebody in the front asked her a question.

"Hell if I know," Amber replied. She pulled somebody up out of the front of
the crowd. "Here's Loreena, my biologist."

Another woman took the microphone and began speaking. "The metabolism speeds
up under greater air pressure, which decreases the aging process. Our body
systems increase in their ability to produce needed proteins and process
nutrients, and our waste is less. Plus, living in space is healthier."

Someone else asked a question.

"Well, in the residential section, that's true. But while in flight, the ship
will be rotating on an axis, and gravity will increase throughout, to nearly
one and a half times by the outer edge of the ship. Gravity in the crew
quarters will be at about..." she paused and asked Daniel the exact number
"...I think, he thinks, it's about 10% or 15% of normal."

She handed the microphone back to Amber. "So those of you that wanted to lose
weight, your dreams have come true," Amber said. There was more laughter.
"Now, I think we're about ready to depart. Naturally, I've designated captains
and first officers for each ship. Everybody else...well, do as your told. Any
questions?"

Nobody had any pressing ones.

"Okey-dokey people, get the rest of your belongings, and get on board the
ship. We will not wait for anybody."

Amber set the microphone aside and walked off stage.

"That's Amber?"

Chani nodded. "Yeah. I'll introduce you, since you've never really met, have
you?"

Julie shook her head.

Chani led her over to Amber and Aranor, who were conversing with Daniel. Amber
looked up. "I suppose you'll tell me why you stole one of my jets this
morning?" she asked in mock anger. "Who's this?" she noticed Julie.

"This is Julie."

"Julie who?"

"Julie Parker."

Amber looked at the girl for a few moments as she remembered. "Julie? My..."
she paused "...God. You look...good for your age."

Julie blushed as they shook hands. "Well, I-"

"We can explain later," Chani said. "What do we do now?"

"Head to the 311," Amber replied.

"Hey Amber," Chani asked as she was leaving. "How come you named it the 311?"

Amber jerked her thumb at Wayne. "Ask him. He named it. Why?"

"Oh. I just think that's the police code for indecent exposure."

"Where's Shonan?" Julie asked as they packed.

"He's...well, he's with Carol."

"Who's that?"

"She's our new maid."

"What happened to your butler?"

"He went over to...I don't know. I haven't seen him in a long time. I'll ask
Amber."

"How come Shonan's not here?"

Chani paused and sat on her suitcase. "I...he is my son, but...I don't...think
of him as my son. Really. He's just...not..." she sighed. "It's hard to
explain. We're not real close, let's just leave it at that."

"What about Lina?"

"I'll bet Amber and Aranor will end up taking care of her more than me. I
don't know if Lina will have any set parents. She might grow up ruined, for
all I know."

Julie nodded, looking at the floor.

As Chani looked at her, the question suddenly burned in her mind. Do you
regret what happened between us? But before asking, she felt like apologizing
and crying all over her.

Anea's reassurance had been proof enough, but now that Julie was here... her
word was all that mattered. Much to Chani's chagrin, she wasn't able to summon
up the courage to ask.

They finished packing in silence and went to the 311, where Ben, the engineer,
was welcoming them all aboard. "Hi, I'm Ben, your engineer for this voyage."
"Hi, my name's Ben, the engineer." "Ben here, the engineer." "I'm Ben the
engineer, who the hell are you?"

He welcomed Chani and Julie with a bow. "I don't know how to do anything. I am
trying to move mountains with words. But I am an ant. I scribble. I drool. I
move like a worm."

"What?" Chani asked, gaping.

"Sorry. Every time I see beauty, I recite some poetry."

"Who's poetry was that?"

The engineer shrugged with a grin. "Dunno. I'm very glad to have you aboard,"
he bowed to them again.

Chani touched Julie's shoulder, and they went inside. "What a weird guy,"
Julie said.

"Very. Let's find our rooms."

Since the 311, like the other colony ships, was made for gravity moving
sideways, it was hard moving around in the rooms, but once they were situated,
it was easy. There was a thin mattress in the room, and a small refrigerator,
plus a toilet, but that was it. Everything else had to be provided by the crew
member.

About thirty minutes before launch, a voice came over the speakers. "This is
your captain speaking, Joseph Matthews. You will find two sets of straps on
the wall, that you're now walking on. In flight, the wall your walking on will
no longer be a wall you're walking on, but a wall you're looking at. The floor
you're looking at will become the floor you're walking on. So strap yourselves
in, and stay completely relaxed for the next few minutes. Do not unstrap
yourself under any circumstances. Thank you."

The intercom clicked off.

"Well, let's get ready," Chani said, putting her arms in the straps.

About twenty minutes later, the engines roared to life. Amber's voice came
over the speakers. "Ladies and gentleman, men and women, our time has come.
Now, we begin again."

The two minute countdown began, and Chani heard other ships launching into the
atmosphere.

Jesus. They were really doing it. Earth would become only a memory. What would
happen in the future. Would people forget about it? No. They couldn't. People
would never forget Earth. It had been home to mankind for millions of years.
Nobody would forget.

Chani felt something hard pressing against her right buttock.

The Sentinel.

What about the people on Earth? In the Jewel Tower? Would they just exist
inside the skyscraper forever? Maybe. Maybe someday they would fight back, and
turn Earth back into their home.

But Chani had no time to think about it as she was slammed back. The whole
ship shook as it lifted off the ground. What would happen now? What would
become of their life on Alpha Prime?

She started when she felt Julie's small hand grasp hers, and she looked over.
Julie was smiling nervously. Chani smiled back, as they catapulted into the
atmosphere, leaving planet Earth forever.

The first Demon War had ended. There was no victor, but it had ended
nonetheless. And it would be a long time before mankind knew peace.

THE END

ÿ