....and now, back to PENGUIN$

**************************************

"It looks delicious," a voice said.

"It does indeed," agreed a second voice. "Good enough to eat."

The voices pierced the thick fog of pain that had invaded Anita's mind
moments after she'd slammed into the ground. She lay with her cheek pressed
against the gritty floor, trying desperately to focus her thoughts. There
was light nearby, but it was low. The objects within her limited field of
vision were no more than unidentifiable blobs.

By straining her neck she could barely make out two dark objects that hung
suspended in the air near the ceiling. The nauseating stench of unwashed
bodies and death was heavy in the stale air around her and she could hear
faint moans, whispers and the slight rustling of cloth.

"I think we should feed on It's little penguin master first, as an
appetizer. What do you say to that, Callidus?" The first voice asked.

"On that I am forced to heartily disagree, Lucifer," Callidus replied,
sounding bored. "I think we should feed on It first and let It's little
master watch as It dies in agony. We shall not bespell It, what would be the
fun?"

"Genius!" Lucifer breathed, his voice rapturous. "Of the two of us, brother,
you have certainly received the entire allotment of brain matter!"

"You are too kind," Callidus replied. "But first, we must bring them both
before the master.

"A pity," sighed Lucifer.

Anita watched as the two shapes began to float slowly downwards. A jolt of
panic shot through her as she realized that she was no longer holding the
sentry's ray gun. Carefully she swept her hands over the ground around
herself, searching for it. As she did, her fingertips brushed Norman's small
feathered body and he let out a soft, half hearted squawk. The sound lifted
her spirits until a pair of boots filled her line of sight and the edge of a
long cloak brushed her face. She heard Norman let out a louder squawk and
then she could no longer feel him nearby.

"Tell your human servant to stand and face us, bird," the voice of Lucifer
said.

Norman squawked feebly.

As Anita forced herself to her feet she could feel adrenaline quickly
burning the fog from her mind, leaving in its wake a crystal clear sense of
hyper-awareness. A torch suddenly burst into flame on a far wall, causing
her to jump and instinctively reach into her jacket for her gun. Remembering
that her shoulder holster was empty, she immediately assumed a fighting
stance, her body humming with tension, ready for any attack. Before her
heart had a chance to calm, the sound of another torch roaring to life
behind her brought her swinging around in its direction.

"Very funny," she said, her voice tight. "This really doesn't impress me.
I've seen better."

The remaining torches all exploded at once in a shower of sparks, each
becoming a raging inferno, sending licks of flame high into the air and a
wave of heat through the room.

"All right! Enough already! I'm impressed!" Anita yelled, forcing herself to
hold her ground.

Immediately the flames were reduced and soft laughter echoed in the silence
that followed. Anita turned slowly, searching for the source of the
laughter.

The increase in illumination had revealed the source of the stench and the
sounds around her. Human bodies littered the floor, some dazed and moaning,
others huddled in fear, muttering to themselves. Several were obviously
dead. They were of all different ages and races, but by the look of them
Anita knew almost immediately that most were homeless people.

The filthy face of a young girl peeked out from behind one huddled body. She
had puncture wounds on her neck. Anita tried to quell the anger and disgust
that welled up inside her at the sight. She took a step towards the child
but then froze as a sound brought her attention to the front of the room,
where a man leaned casually against the stone wall with Norman in his arms.

Dread settled on her as she felt her preternatural senses stir. There was no
doubt in her mind that there was nothing human about her observer, and there
hadn't been for a very long time.

The vampire watched her with an expression of amused curiosity on his face.
He wore an antique brocade coat, intricately embroidered with gold threads
that gleamed in the torchlight. The coat hung open to expose a bare,
muscular chest, black leather jeans that hung obscenely low on his hips and
black Doc Martens. Long blond hair the color of wheat fell in a mess of
waves past his shoulders. A square jaw, full, sensuous lips and hard dark
eyes combined to form a face that was both devastatingly handsome and
annoyingly coy.

The face of a fallen angel.

The angel smiled. "Well hello, lunch," he said and then widened his generous
mouth into a grin that revealed an impressive pair of fangs.

Anita snorted and shook her head. "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?
Liberace's boy toy? Don't bother trying to intimidate me."

She returned his grin with the same predatory edge and tensed herself for
the inevitable blow, but the angel only looked dumbstruck, one eyebrow
arched high above the other.

"It speaks, Callidus," he said softly. "Except for the bitch's own servant,
the others didn't. What does this mean?"

Anita opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sound of smooth,
seductive laughter coming from somewhere behind her. A second man appeared
and began to stroll casually around her in circles as she watched him with
narrowed eyes.

He wore a precisely cut suit that accented the strong, athletic build of his
body. Long black hair was pulled back from a stunning, model-perfect face.
Though his features held a distant hint of the Orient he still managed to
bear an obvious resemblance to the other vampire.

Callidus stopped to inspect Anita and poked at her injured shoulder with one
elegant finger, sending lighting bolts of pain through her body. Immediately
her left arm came up to block his and her right fist shot forward. With
blinding speed the vampire casually grabbed both her wrists and twisted
hard.

Gasping, Anita blinked tears from her eyes and then bit her lip to keep from
crying out. After a few minutes of listening to the strangled sounds of her
pain, Callidus laughed softly and released her wrists only to grab a handful
of her hair, pulling her head back to expose her throat. He lightly stroked
a long, lethally pointed fingernail, across the white column of skin.  Anita
struggled at first, but then stilled though her hands continued to clench
and unclench at her sides.

"Victoria was right, Lucifer," Callidus said, still chuckling. "She's small,
but she's a fighter. She certainly isn't like the penguin hoard's other
servants."

"Regardless, she chose her company unwisely," the angel replied. "She is
unclean. I will enjoy killing her."

"If the master doesn't take her for himself you will." Callidus smiled.

"Let's hope he doesn't, Lucifer," Anita said, her voice dripping bitter
saccharine. "I've kinda got my heart set on killing you first." She began to
struggle again, this time in Lucifer's direction. "Don't you even think
about hurting my penguin!"

"Careful, careful," Callidus warned in a soothing voice. "You wouldn't want
to do anything to cause the immediate death of your small master would you?"

Anita heard Norman squawk. She couldn't see him, but he sounded hurt and
afraid.

She stopped struggling and Callidus slightly loosened his grip on her hair.

Lucifer snorted. "Why would he care about her?" He said to Callidus. "She's
just another penguin flunky."

"Indeed," Callidus checked his watch. "But unfortunately our past failures
have led us to this...," he paused, sweeping his free hand around the room,
"...embarrassment. I, for one, do not intend to give the master a reason to
lower the state of my existence with errands such as these any further."

"But her death won't mean anything to the Empress compared to the death of
her servant!" Lucifer sulked. "He was tasty looking too, but it's
understandable that his death could severely weaken her, especially now.
Then there'll be no more penguins and that will leave more humans for us and
we can get our tunnels back instead of living down here with the rif raf."

"Hush, Lucifer," Callidus said.

From her awkward position, Anita considered Lucifer's words, realizing their
importance. She remained silent, forcing her mind to find some order and
inserting this new fact into the general equation. Toronto's vampire
community apparently had a bone to pick with the Empress.

"Come," Callidus continued, "This room turns my stomach." He glanced around
at the bodies of the homeless. "Though some of our little clan may not mind
roughing it, I don't particularly want to know where my food comes from
before it's cleaned and attractively packaged for my enjoyment. Do you
Lucifer?"

"Nonsense," Lucifer smirked, "I always know exactly where my food comes
from."

"You do, brother?" Callidus asked.

"Indeed!" Lucifer replied. "The supermarket! All those tasty shoppers
pushing around their little carts. Why it's a wonderful place to meet
people, and some stores stay open all night." The vampire wiggled his
eyebrows.

"Genius!" Callidus smiled at the other man with affection. Lucifer bowed
with courtier-like grace.

Anita felt her stomach turn at their antics. "Filthy murderers," she said,
her voice a low growl.

"And your point is?" Lucifer laughed and snapped his jaws in her direction.

"I most certainly am not filthy," Callidus snorted and brushed at the lapel
of his jacket with his free hand. "Besides, we prefer the term predatory
killer over murderer. One must be politically correct in this day and age."
He motioned at Lucifer, who nodded and picked up an intricate candelabra
from the floor.

"Time to go, penguin wench!" Lucifer said with enthusiasm. He shoved Norman
under one arm and wrenched open a heavy wooden door with one hand.

Callidus slowly released Anita's hair. Giving her a look of warning he
reached into his breast pocket, producing a black silk scarf. "A simple
precaution given your alert, curious nature," he said. "Remember, the fate
of your little Master is in your hands, girl."

"It would have been easier to simply have fogged her mind," Lucifer said in
disgust, looking at Norman. He leaned against the open door, now holding the
tiny penguin upside down by one foot. Norman dangled helplessly, his eyes
wide with fear. The vampire grunted. "It baffles me that we cannot enter the
minds of humans under the spell of these ugly little beasts."

"Lucifer!" Callidus snapped. "You talk far too much, brother."

Lucifer ignored his brother's command. "Don't worry, lunch," He said to
Anita, his voice softly intimate, "I'll hold your hand in the dark."

Searching for options and finding none, Anita temporarily resigned herself
to her fate for the sake of Norman. She felt the cool silk slide over her
face, and breathed in the musky scent of expensive men's cologne that wafted
from it. A hand, soft and slender, clamped with the strength of steel around
her wrist. She was lead forward several steps and then heard the heavy door
slam shut behind her, separating her from the larder of human flesh.

***********************

The first sight that met Anita's eyes after the blindfold was removed a
short time later, was that of Byron Pisces being slowly drained to death by
a leather clad male vampire with a shock of long gray hair. The vampire's
arms were wrapped tightly around his victim, holding him to his chest in an
embrace that was darkly intimate.

When he became aware of Anita's presence, the vampire lifted his head from
Pisces neck and showed her his blood stained teeth in a poor imitation of a
grin.

"Be right with you," he said, his voice low and rough. "Just catching a bite
to eat." He returned to his feeding.

The sound of laughter echoed around the room from several different
directions.

Anita found herself mesmerized by the sight in front of her. A stubborn
inertia began to settle on her limbs as she tried to decide whether or not
to risk her life by going to aid of a man who had caused the pain and death
of so many. Though Pisces may have failed in his evil quest, he carried in
his mind the knowledge to try again, and perhaps succeed. The new technology
he had forged could be deadly in any number of wrong hands.

With a sense of eerie calm, Anita concluded that she would not interfere.
She suspected that her conscience would not let her forget this decision for
the rest of her life.

Not being able to stand the sight any longer, she tore her eyes away and
began to carefully examine the room around her to distract herself. There
were several figures in the room; all vampires. They lounged on a random
selection of sofas and mattresses that looked as if someone had dragged the
furniture out of the local dump.

At the head of the room, on a raised platform, was a leather Lay-Z-Boy
recliner that had seen one too many days. Shiny black electrical tape had
been used to patch up a number of rips and tears all over the chair. Behind
the recliner was spray painted the image of a skeleton with angels wings, a
long horn held to its fleshless lips. With a flash of recognition, Anita
realized that she was looking at the graffiti that Valeria had pointed out
to her on the big screen in the penthouse. She wondered how close they were
to the Empress.

Most of the vampires in the room were old; she could feel the heavy,
suffocating press of their ages in her mind. Not a single one had seen less
than five hundred years of existence. It explained why they were awake and
alert even though it was full daylight above ground.

Pisces moaned low in his throat and the sound dragged her eyes back to him
against her will. His arms moved weakly beside his body.

Anita drew in a quiet breath and felt her detachment slip slightly. The gray
haired vampire raised his head again and eyed Norman.

"What's the matter with him?" He asked. "He looks a bit off color."

"Answer!" Lucifer hissed from behind her.

Anita cleared her throat and clenched her fists. "He's a Purple Penguin,"
she said, her voice low and clear. "He's not one of the others. He's
different."

"Bah!" The vampire said. "If it waddles like a penguin and squawks like a
penguin, it's a penguin, right?" He chuckled. "I'm Lance, by the way. Master
of this city. Cool huh?"

"Nifty," Anita replied, her voice deadpan as her eyes strayed back again to
the man in the vampire's arms.

Lance raised his eyebrows and studied her for a moment before continuing.
"This guy here...," he nodded his head in Pisces' direction, "...just
wandered into our happy little commune and started acting like he owned it.
I'm sure you already know him, given that you share the same kink."

Anita bit her tongue, marvelling at her own restraint.

The master vampire chuckled, a bemused expression on his face. He dropped
Pisces to the floor and stepped over him to approach Anita. "So what's the
deal with you?" He asked, looking her up and down. "You reek of penguin and
you show up at my place with the purple menace over there, but I hear you
wisecracking and giving me attitude like you got a free will or something.
What gives?"

Anita remained silent until Callidus pinched the back of her arm, forcing
her to draw a sharp breath to keep from yelping. She looked up at the Master
of Toronto, meeting his eyes.

"I told you," she said through clenched teeth. "He's not one of the others.
He's not my master, he's my friend."

"Y-y-your friend?" Lance snorted between a sudden fit of repressed giggles.
"Are you kidding me? Seriously?" He threw back his head and howled with
laughter.

All around the room, the members of Lance's court joined him in his mirth.
On the ground, Pisces was still moving. Anita watched as his head turned
towards her, faint recognition on his face. She looked into his crystal blue
eyes and at that moment, instead of seeing the egotistical, power-mad evil
genius she'd sworn to kill, she saw a frightened young man. This was the
person he'd been before his mind had been savaged and plundered by the
penguin hoard.

He moved one of his arms in her direction in an age-old human gesture of
pleading and the last of Anita's detachment dissipated like smoke. Years ago
she'd vowed to do whatever it took to protect humanity from the monsters.
Now the oath rose like a beacon in her mind, reminding her.

Lance brought a hand to the tears of laughter that streamed down his face,
smearing faint traces of pink across his cheeks. The added color made him
seem almost alive. "Y'know," he said, still chuckling, "sometimes humans can
really piss me off. You think you own this world, but in your arrogance you
reveal your stupidity.  One of your own kind waltzes those, those...," he
pointed at Norman, "things into your city with their killing machines, their
big fancy guns and their mind control, and you don't even bat an eyelash!"

Anita stared at him but his words held no meaning for her. With renewed
purpose she began to search the area within her field of vision for
something, anything, that she could use as a weapon.

Suddenly, a sharp, painful, burning sensation flared at the hollow between
her breasts. Instinctively she brought her hands up to her chest. Lucifer
noticed the motion and grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back.

"Nice try, lunch," he whispered.

Lance laughed harshly, absorbed in his speech. "It's like, beam me up
Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here! Those flightless fowl don't
even have to control your minds any more, you're doing it to yourselves!
What is it about them that we don't have? Huh? What is it? Those stupid
webbed feet? More retail merchandise items? What?"

He growled in frustration, then turned and gave Pisces a swift kick.

Anita's pain was increasingly steadily. She looked down at her sweatshirt in
time to see faint burn marks appear. Wide eyed, she looked back up, noticing
that several of the lounging vampires had pushed themselves out of their
seats and were approaching, staring with intent curiosity at her chest and
sniffing the air.

"Uh, Master," one of them said, pointing.

"Will you shut up!" Lance yelled, "I'm on a roll here!"

"Sorry," the vampire cringed and stepped back several paces.

"Now where was I?" Lance paused to pinch the bridge of his nose as if deep
in thought. "Oh yeah!" He shook his finger at Anita. "We've been belittling
ourselves for you and you still treat us like animals! When those webbed
footed little bastards moved onto our lands without asking and began taking
our humans we didn't start a war like we should have. NoooOOOooo. We stuck
our tails between our legs and moved so nothing would hit the papers and
ruin tourist season."

My cross, Anita realized with sudden shock. The pain she was experiencing
was being caused by her grandmother's cross, reacting with unheard of
violence to the close proximity of the vampires. She set aside the shame she
felt at having forgotten that she was wearing it. With her arms pinned
tightly, there was no way to release the tiny silver symbol of her faith
from behind the confines of her shirt.

Her only option was to let it burn its way through the thick cloth as it
seemed to be doing. The solution was a painful one. Anita hoped that she
could buy as much time as possible until it happened.

Lance seemed to be giving her all the time she needed.

"We're higher on the food chain then you are, dammit," he roared, "and we're
still playing it by your rules all so we can become citizens in a country
where we've existed longer than the oldest living citizen. Haven't we been
good little undead? Haven't we left the privileged classes alone like the
Mayor told us too?"

Anita's head shot up in astonishment, beads of sweat gathering on her
forehead. "Th-the mayor?" She asked deliriously.

"Honey," Lance sighed at her interruption, "we're playing a little game
here. I talk, you listen. Think you can handle it?"

Anita nodded, gritting her teeth as the scent of burning skin and cloth
began to rise from her body.

"Liar," Lance snorted and paced away from her. The vampire leaned over
Pisces, grasped a handful of his hair and yanked on it until his fanged
mouth was next to the young man's ear. "I really hate meaningless death,"
Lance said in a conversational tone. It's... meaningless, y'know? My friend,
I'm gonna do you a favor and tell you exactly why you're gonna die, but
first we'll toss the question out to our panel of experts." He looked up at
Anita, "Yo! Penguin wench! Any idea why your partner here is gonna die?"

"You're killing him because you think he's the Empress' human servant and
that his death will weaken her," Anita said, her voice a breathy whisper.

"Not fair! Who told?" Lance shouted, looking around him.

"They did," Anita gestured over her shoulder with her chin at Lucifer and
Callidus.

"Bitch!" Lucifer said in a catty tone, tugging hard on Anita's arms.
Callidus said nothing. He carefully moved around Anita until he was standing
in front of her, staring at her with suspicion.

"Figures," Lance sighed. "It's so hard to get good flunkies these days. Any
vamp with half a noodle in his head is living the high life Stateside now."
He looked up at Anita and smiled. "Fine! You were right, but you missed one
answer and for that you're going to get eaten."

Anita was beyond caring. The pain was causing darkness to creep in from the
corners of her vision, teasing her with unconsciousness.

She fell to her knees.

Lance paused. "Now you boys see this?" He pointed, looking back at his
vampires. "That's respect. Why don't I get this more oft..."

"Master!" Callidus interrupted, his voice ringing out like a shot. "Look at
her chest!"

"Callidus, you old dog." Lance leered. "I like the way you think but now is
certainly not the time for...."

"There are burn marks forming on her shirt," Callidus pointed out with
forced calm.

Lance turned to look at her. "Some kind of trick?" He said, taking a careful
step backwards. "Did you have her checked for holy items?"

"She's a penguin servant, Master!" Callidus replied incredulously. "Of the
few that we've encountered, not only were most not capable of thinking to
use holy items against us, but the items themselves were useless in the
hands of those that did! This must be something else."

"Well, do something!" Lance cried.

Callidus took a step, but then hesitated. "Lucifer, remove her to the
larder."

"Screw that, I'm not getting fried!" Lucifer released Anita's arms and took
several steps back.

"Brother do not release her!" Callidus roared.

Through her pain, Anita grinned maliciously. "Whatsa matter, gang? Scared of
little old me?" She shook her arms to return the circulation to her numb
fingers and then slowly raised herself on legs that shook with the exertion.

Now, Lord. Please. Now would be good, she begged silently, and as if in
response, a tiny piece of her sweatshirt dissolved and a stream of pure
white light streaked out. It struck one of Lance's vampires who went
screaming to the floor, smoke rising from his face.

Pandemonium broke loose. Lance and Callidus both threw their hands over
their heads and flung themselves away from the glow. Anita tore off her
jacket and slipped the ruined sweatshirt over her head, bathing the entire
room in blinding light. Screams and cries erupted around her. Smoke began to
rise from the vampire's bodies, making it difficult to see, let alone
breath.

Gingerly Anita grasped the chain around her neck and pulled the tiny pendant
away from her seared flesh. Holding it out in front her, she rushed to the
spot where Pisces lay.

"We're leaving now, Pisces," she said.

Pisces looked up at her. "I can't," he whispered. "I can't even stand up.
God, what have I done? How did I get here?"

"We don't have time for a psychoanalysis," Anita snarled. "Just get up! Do
it! I'm not leaving without you!"

Pisces placed his hand in her free one and she pulled him to his feet.

"That way, I'll cover us," she said, pointing at the entrance to the room.
She pushed Pisces ahead of her and began to walk backwards, holding the
cross.

As they reached the doorway a pitiful squawk cut across the room, halting
Anita in her tracks.

"Norman!" She shouted, realizing with shock that she'd forgotten him. "Here
boy. C'mon!"

She heard the squawk again.

"He says that he's in trouble," Pisces said, leaning against the arch of the
doorway. "He can't come to you."

"I understood him just fine," Anita snapped with irritation. "Go on ahead.
Get out of here."

"It's a trap," Pisces said. "You'll be killed."

"People keep telling me that!" Anita said through clenched teeth. "Now go!"
Not waiting to find out if he'd followed her order, she ran back into the
center of the room.

A rush of wind swirled around her, sending her hair fluttering about her
head. Reaching to pull it away from her face, Anita caught a blur of motion
that was like nothing seen in the natural world.

Then the wind died, leaving her standing alone in the empty throne room.

"Norman!" Anita called. She turned in circles her eyes scanning the area.
The tiny bird was no where to be found.

"Looking for someone?"  A familiar voice said.

Anita spun to face the front of the room. A woman with short, platinum
blonde hair and bright red lips was now sprawled across the lay-Z-boy
recliner with her arms wrapped around Norman. She'd clamped her hand around
his beak.

Anita recognized the voice. "Victoria Blackwood, I presume," she said,
narrowing her eyes.

"Yep." The woman smiled. She wore an expertly tailored gray suit, matching
accessories and seamed stockings. Black, shiny stiletto pumps completed the
outfit.

"I take it you're someone's human servant," Anita said. "But frankly it
doesn't matter. You are the lowest form of humanity."

"Oh lower than you think," Victoria laughed. "I'm not anyone's damn servant.
I'm doing this for fun!" She looked at Norman with mock affection. "Aren't
I, sweetie?" She added, and then laughed again.

"Let him go," Anita growled.

"I don't think so," Victoria smiled. She flicked open a switchblade.

"No!" Anita yelled and rushed at the grinning woman. Suddenly, strong arms
caught her shoulders and spun her around. A fist cracked into her jaw,
sending her reeling backwards into another pair of arms. Once again she was
spun and felt the cross ripped from her neck as she went tumbling to the
ground, the taste of fresh blood in her mouth.

She lay, momentarily dazed and breathing heavily. Wiping a hand across her
mouth, she looked down to see fresh liquid redness glistening against her
pale skin.

Several humans surrounded her. One had her grandmother's cross. It glinted
sadly at her in the torchlight. The man holding it moved his hands in the
dramatic motions of a stage magician and the small pendant disappeared. He
grinned and bowed, then left quickly.

Now that the talisman was gone, the vampires returned to the throne room.
Several were covered in burns, their skin peeling away from their bodies.
The humans scattered at their approach, sensing their anger.

There was no hesitation in the actions of the undead. They converged on
Anita, surrounding her as she fought desperately. Soon they had her
effectively restrained, their hands locked around her arms and legs.

Between the bodies Anita caught glances of Callidus, standing apart from the
throng, staring at her with sadness in his eyes. Lucifer stood beside him, a
mask of disgust on his face.

The tight circle of vampires broke to admit the stumbling figure of Byron
Pisces. He was pushed up against Anita and they found themselves nose to
nose, jostled by their captors. For an odd fleeting moment, her mind
returned to his unsettling similarity to Jean-Claude.

"I'm sorry," he yelled. "They caught me as I tried to run. I didn't know
where to go."

"At least you tried," Anita replied through gritted teeth. "Don't give up.
We can still survive this."

"No, we can't," Byron replied sadly. "Can you tell me something. I mean,
before we die?"

Anita made a low sound of frustration and then nodded her response.

"Wh-who am I?" His voice was unusually strong in his demand.

Anita stared at him in shock, wondering if the Empresses' mind control had
been broken by his own will to live.

"I mean, I have these images in my mind," he continued. "I remember being
somewhere with a lot of snow. I had something very important to tell a lot
of people. I wanted to save lives. Then there were horrible, horrible things
after that. I think I've hurt people, maybe even k-killed. I...I can't..,"
he coughed, "it doesn't make any sense, but it's all that matters to me
right now. None of this seems real."

"No more words," Lance's voice carried over the din. "Feast till not a
single drop of blood remains in their bodies. The penguin bitch's servant
will die first. Take the Empresses' power as your own. As one we shall take
back our lands!"

"Tell me!" Pisces yelled as teeth sunk into his flesh.

"Your name is Byron Pisces, and you're a research assistant. That's all I
know," Anita lied as she struggled against the hands that clutched at her.
There was no room to move, let alone fight. The press of bodies was
suffocating.

"Thank you," Pisces said. His hand found hers. "I wish I was home. Maybe,
when I open my eyes again, I will be."

He didn't speak further. Pressed against him, Anita watched helplessly as
the life drained from his eyes. Then she felt his hand loosen and drop away.

The vampires gently lowered the young scientist to the ground and continued
to feed.

And thus Byron Pisces, the man who had planned to enslave the world and hand
it over to another species, met his end quietly in the arms of human-kind's
oldest, most devious preternatural predator; his mind and concscience clear
of the evil he had done, and the destruction he'd left behind him in the
living world.

"Bastards!" Anita screamed high in her throat and fought with all her might
against the creatures holding her. "I'll kill you all, every last one of
you!"

"Take her!" Lance yelled.

***********************

...Continued in  Issue 21  of PENGUIN$

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