

by Ron Stillman

Copyright © 2016 Ron Stillman

All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

# Preface

In the year 1560, a girl was born into the royal and wealthy Bathory family of Hungary. She eventually came to be Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer in history. A known and unabashed lesbian, even though she did have children, Elizabeth, a sexual sadist also known as "the Blood Countess", is said to have tortured and killed over 600 virgin girls in order to keep herself looking youthful by bathing in the girls' blood. What is not known is whether she drank of their blood as well. She is said to have died in 1613, a prisoner walled into her own living quarters at her castle in Cahtice, a town that is now in the country of Slovakia.

This story proposes that the Countess did not die, but actually lived on into the present day, thanks to genetic mutations. One mutation involved telomerase, the substance that determined the lifespan of a human body cell. The other mutation, one that made it necessary to drink human blood was that Elizabeth Bathory's body's cells divided according to the pattern of the summation of the Fibonacci Sequence (∑f). (For the many fascinating properties of the ∑f sequence, visit www.fibonaccisummation.com). As for Elizabeth, she would sometimes wonder to herself, "If you could live forever, would you choose to die"?

The mathematical symbol for the pattern of blood cell division in the Vampyr, where f is the Fibonacci Sequence.

n

∑ f-1

f=1

# Prologue

The year was 1202 AD, and the Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano filius Bonacci (Leonardo of Pisa, son of Bonaci) - who would centuries later become known as simply Fibonacci - returned from India to Rome to present his report to his employers, the Italian royal family. He brought back with him a mathematical discovery of a deceptively simple series of numbers that eventually came to be known as the Fibonacci Sequence. This sequence, although little known to the general population of the world, appears in hundreds of areas of nature; including but not limited to astronomy, botany, curves of the ocean's waves and elephant's tusk, the chambers of the nautilus shell, and genetics. It has been adopted in hundreds of human-invented arts and sciences, among them; computer algorithms, chemotherapy dosage, molecular biology, behavior of financial markets, sacred geometry, and architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. It has appeared many times in entertainment media, such as in Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code", music of famous classical composer Bela Bartok, and of the popular rock band, Tool. And it has appeared - once again, in the human-invented science of genetics.

Leonardo watched the small dark waves lapping against the boat, which was preparing to dock on the coast of Italy. His servant, Giovanni, a thin, short easy-going man with a goatee brought a goblet of wine to Leonardo. The great mathematician looked well-fed and a bit jolly, but thoughtful and worried at the moment, as he accepted the goblet.

"What a beautiful evening to present such a triumph to the lords of Rome, Leonardo", said Giovanni. "They will be enamored of you for such an invention, and more so that your fellow genius in India is part of this event". It is a finding that is certain to have significance for decades, possibly centuries, to come. Personally, I think you deserve all the credit. And I don't know why you look worried".

"As for credit" responded Leonardo, "this was a discovery, not an invention. God created it, and I feel privileged to have discovered it along with my Indian colleague".

Suddenly, a sailor ran up from below deck in a panic. "Watch out!" he shouted, "They are loose! The snakes are loose"! The sailor was joined by three of his fellow shipmates, and after a short chase, they succeeded in throwing heavy blankets over the snakes and grabbing them by the backs of their heads. They took them below deck, and all seemed all right. "Mother of God", thank you for your mercy", said the sailor.

"And I am worried", continued Leonardo, but not about the snakes. Look here my boy".

"I'm not a—

"Yes, yes. I know you're not a boy" interrupted Leonardo. "This is what I'm worried about. The summation of the sequence contains several unique properties, and I'm not sure that the summation will receive any attention. Now", he said, look at this".

Leonardo wrote on a sheet of parchment his to be famous sequence:

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34. Then he wrote on another sheet the same numbers, but with a space between each one. "If you extract the number of integers between each number in my Indian friend's sequence—

"It is your sequence sir; let's call it the Fibonacci Sequence, short for filius Bonacci. India has nothing but snakes and snake charmers. Where were they a moment ago"?

Leonardo said, "You could use a little more charm yourself, and the discovery was his, mostly. Just follow me now. Extract the number of integers between each two beginning with zero". What he wrote was:

0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 55 | 89 | 144 | 233

0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 33 | 54 | 88

"Then extract the number of integers from the second sequence, and you get the second sequence all over again. It self-regenerates." He wrote:

0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 33 | 54 | 88

0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 33

0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12

0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4

0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1

0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

"The extraction sequence is identical to the summation of what your are calling the Fibonacci Sequence. Furthermore, if you subtract one from each of the Fibonacci Sequence's numbers, you arrive at the same result. It is the summation of the Sequence. It is a fascinating sequence in itself for this reason and others that I've discovered. It continues on indefinitely, as some sequences do. But it is monotonic, with each number being greater than the last. And it branches off in all different directions, in some directions that have not even been discovered or invented yet. It's an incestuous sequence of numbers. I have 15 pages of notes on the summation of the Fibonacci Sequence, but I don't think it will get the attention it deserves. For the Lord's sake Giovanni", how can I explain to you what this is about?! Look at it! See it!

Giovanni examined the self-regenerating sequence and replied, "Leonardo, you cannot explain it at all. It is more of a picture than an equation or formula. But this picture is telling a thousand words".

"Clever, Giovanni. This picture is telling a thousand words. Perhaps people will be saying that for years and years".

"Stranger things have happened" said the servant.

"I knew I hired you for a reason", replied the mathematician. Leonardo was almost manic, as he proclaimed, "Now look! The universe has an ordered chaos. The summation sequence is an ordered order. There is, or will be, something that happens from this.

And at that, two snakes appeared back on deck, closely followed by the again panic-stricken sailors, one of whom yelled, "Catch them for God's sake! Leonardo, sir, move to safety"! The one who yelled once again threw a blanket over one snake, but the other snake jumped several feet and bit another sailor on the neck. Four other sailors threw blankets and buckets of water at the snakes, and waved torches at them, and finally caught them both, but only after one of them reared up, showing his cowl, revealing it to be a King Cobra. The sailors threw the snakes into a wooden box that contained coils of rope, and slammed the lid down. They held the lid fast until four other sailors arrived, carrying an anchor to weigh the lid down over the snakes.

One sailor meanwhile was trying to resuscitate the bitten one, but failed. The captain of the boat appeared and said solemnly, "Take him below. We will be ashore soon. He is with our Lord now. He will receive our priest's blessing, and may his soul rest in peace".

Leonardo whispered to himself, "There are beauties and dangers in this. Beauties and dangers". He poured his untouched goblet of wine into the water, as a sudden wind blew away the first parchment. The second parchment, with the summation of the Fibonacci Sequence, was not carried away, but stayed as if it had been glued to the boat. Leonardo could not control his excitement, even though the life and death of the sailor distracted him for a few minutes. Indeed, he became almost manic at the beauty of the mathematical patterns that he saw, and that his servant seemed not to. He started to hurry below deck. "Come with me now Giovanni! Come with me" he shouted. Leonardo rushed down the corridor to his cabin, with Giovanni in close pursuit. The mathematician unfolded pages upon pages of parchment with the 0,1,2,4,7 pattern, now stretching further into 12, 20, 33, 54, 88, etc. He was almost screaming with exasperation at Giovanni, while pointing out the permutations and directions of the number pattern, and how the numbers seemed to be manipulating themselves into ever more repetitions and combinations of direction Then he fell silent.

Giovanni had been looking more and more closely, and he saw more and more of what he had not seen before. "Forgive me Leonardo. You spoke the truth, a truth as bright as the heavens, and yet as hidden as the mysteries of the stars, though they are in plain sight of their beholders. Your original sequence is undeniable. This one that you are so excited about I fear may be hidden for centuries.

* * *

Phyddius, a nobleman of Rome, was Leonardo Pisano's boss, and the financier of Leonardo's excursion to India. If Leonardo was well-fed, Phyddius was more so. His rotund figure barely fit into his high-backed chair, as he welcomed his prize mathematician back. "Pyramids" he said, "the Parthenon, seashells, human body dimensions! Is there no end to your magic numbers Leonardo"?

"An end, well, I suppose there must be. I just have not found it. But its cousin, the summation sequence, that does not seem to have an end, just keeps branching out. Regenerating uncontrollably. Uncontrollably.

"Look" said Phyddius, it seems you may have carved out a bit of history for yourself. Why don't you do the same for me? My life is quite enjoyable, and I'd rather not see it end anytime soon. Brew something magic out of those numbers for me. A potion that regenerates life like your numbers seem to. Let me live forever.

"Live forever or even close to it?! Magic these may be, but they are God's creation, not mine. He merely placed them in front of those who would see them for what they are. I cannot make you or anyone or anything live forever. It is not possible. Just does not seem possible. By the way sir, how are my cobras doing?

"Those two horrid things? Our friends in Hungary were quite enchanted by them I promised them the offspring.

# Chapter 1

At Trencsen Castle in 1599, three servant girls were discussing the latest girl summoned to the court of Countess Elizabeth Bathory. "She looks highly presentable", said one of the servants, skin as luscious as that of both her sisters". "And her gown is so soft", said the second servant, so inviting to the touch". Said the third servant, "Her hair, much better now that we've washed it clean, and now it's like silk. The three servants were tending to a very pretty young girl named Beata, who looked to be about 15 years old. They had bathed her, and now were dressing her, perfuming, manicuring, and combing her. The servants, who were also pretty, were a little older, in their 20's.

"I'm very excited about working in one of Countess Bathory's castles, but why am I, a poor peasant girl, being dressed like a princess? And please, can you tell me when I will get to see my sisters? It's been so long since we were together".

The servant girls all laughed; one sweetly, one cruelly, one knowingly. One of them answered, "Oh, the Countess likes to give a special welcome to her new maidens. Your sisters had the same type of welcome. You will see them soon after you dine with the Countess".

They led Beata downstairs to a large dining hall with a large table filled at one end with mountains of food, but with no guests except for a beautiful, dominant-looking, but smiling woman; it was Elizabeth Bathory. Elizabeth, in a friendly tone, said, "Welcome, my lovely little one.

The girl, a bit nervous, responded, "Countess Bathory, I am honored indeed simply to be in your presence. But to dine with you is something that I never in my life would have expected to do. May it please you—"

"Shhh, my child", Elizabeth interrupted, "You must be starving. My girls have been preparing you since you accepted employment here early this morning. I trust that your ride to the castle was comfortable? Please, eat, have your fill".

"Thank you Countess", said Beata as she started eating. Noticing that Elizabeth was not touching her food, she continued, "You are not dining majesty"?

Elizabeth smiled, and said simply, "Later".

The young girl continued to eat while Elizabeth stood up and walked behind her and started to caress her hair.

Beata asked, "May it please your highness, it is such a pleasure to dine in your presence, but if I may entreat you to take me to my sisters, who have been in your employ here for several months"?

"Of course, my dear, follow me downstairs".

"I thought we were downstairs".

"We are going farther downstairs. That is where your sisters are even as we speak.

The girl asked excitedly, "Are they in good health my lady"?

"They never complain. And they gave me much pleasure when I desired it from them.

They walked through a great wooden door and down a staircase, whereupon three male guards started to follow them downstairs, exchanging knowing glances, all three of the guards familiar with what was to come next. The young Beata became a little worried; something seemed not quite right to her.

"Countess" she asked, "Countess, can you bring them upstairs? I feel not so comfortable so far down these dark stairs".

They had gotten to a large and heavy looking metal door, when Elizabeth, in a cruel tone now, said, "They, and now you, will never see the light of day again".

Elizabeth motioned quickly to the guards, two of whom grabbed the girl roughly, and as she screamed, the third opened the door. The two guards brought the now struggling Beata inside the room behind the door, which turned out to be a dungeon. They held her to a large stone table which looked more like a stone bed with a heavy wood slab on it, and chained her ankles to the slab while holding her wrists down tightly. The girl screamed even more now as the third guard cut and ripped and cut her clothing off completely. Elizabeth opened a chest at the foot of the stone bed and took out two objects. They were human skulls. She held them in front of the horrified girl's eyes.

"Here are your sisters", shouted Elizabeth.

Beata screamed again, "No! That's not them! It's not"!

At that, Elizabeth took more of the girl's sisters belongings out of the chest.

"Are these not their clothes? Are these not their pitiful little trinkets? Their peasant shoes"?

Beata, now crying, asked shrilly, "What did you do to them? Why did you do it"?

"You will see what I did to them if you can bear to look at what is happening to you. I doubt that you will be able to see anything though. You will be blinded by pain. Pain that every poor nerve in your luscious young body will feel. You will hear your own screams of agony, just as your sisters heard their own screams. Screams that to my ears are sweeter than the artistry of the finest musician. The exquisite intensity of your torture will be worse than any you could have imagined possible. And your virgin blood will be delicious to me. That is the only sustenance my body requires", said Elizabeth as she stroked the girl's hair and caressed her cheek and small breasts..."...and it does require quite large amounts of blood. My servants who I choose not to torture and kill I keep for my own pleasures of the flesh, and they think I bathe in blood to keep looking young". She laughed cruelly. "But drinking it...drinking it", she said in a hypnotic sort of way. Unfortunately sweet thing, you I am not keeping, you are going to join your sisters..."

Elizabeth walked in back of the girl, picked up two knives from the wooden slab, and stabbed one in each of the girl's hands and deep into the wood slab, effectively pinning the girl's hands to the slab. Elizabeth motioned for the guards to leave. They left and closed the door behind them.

Elizabeth started to work on the girl. She began softly by kissing her breasts and her nipples and her clitoris. But then Elizabeth's sexually sadistic nature took over, and she started to bite into her prisoner's young labia. She bit softly at first, but then started to bite more strongly, and eventually chewed off Beata's vaginal lips. Elizabeth then moved to the nipples, sucked on them for a few moments, and then bit them off too. The young girl could only scream in pain, helpless against Elizabeth monstrous torture. The Countess then undressed herself completely. She had full round breasts with dark nipples, a small waist, and well-shaped hips. She felt like a goddess and looked like one. She then took a forceps from the torture platform and grabbed the crying girl's tongue with them. She pulled her tongue out of her mouth, and with her other hand, she grabbed a sewing needle and jabbed it diagonally into her victim's tongue. She took another sewing needle and did the same on the opposite diagonal. Beata was helplessly laying in bondage, with her tongue captured outside her mouth by the needles.

Elizabeth straddled the girl's face, and started to move her hips forward and back with her clitoris against Beata's trapped tongue. She started slowly at first, but as she became more sexually excited, she started to thrust her hips harder and faster. She continued this until she had a powerful orgasm, while Beata could only lay there crying in pain and terror. But once was not enough for Elizabeth, and she repeated the act several more times until she was satisfied. Finally she lay down next to her hapless victim and sank her teeth into her neck. She drank of Beata's blood until her bloodthirst was sated. Mercifully for young Beata, she lost enough blood that her breathing became more and more shallow, and she eventually slipped into death. The naked Elizabeth cradled her victim's head with a dreamy smile, and said to the dead girl softly, "You were so delicious".

# Chapter 2

The two men were talking as they dug the grave. The ravaged body of Beata lay next to the six-foot hole.

"What is she, about number three hundred"? asked one of the men.

"Three hundred, four hundred, who knows"? We take some of them out here, some of them are burned in the firepit, some are tossed in the river. Who knows how many there are"?

"Now I hear she's got snakes, big ones! She's crazy as a loon".

"She's a she-wolf who feeds on human blood. Somebody ought to put an end to this".

"Lajos says she's started to murder some of the nobles' daughters now. That's got to get someone's attention".

"She's got the devil's attention long ago. That's the only place she'll be welcome when she's dead".

"Devil doesn't want her anywhere but here, to spread his hell on earth. He'll do his damndest to keep her alive".

# Chapter 3

In 1606 A.D., In the garden at Lockenhaus Castle, Elizabeth and her very pretty maidservant watched two King Cobras twirling to the tune of an Indian snake charmer. The snakes had been born in captivity in the homes of Italian nobility. The Italians gave them as a gift to Elizabeth, just as the nobles of Rome had done four hundred years prior. Elizabeth took a special liking to their swift and deadly intensity.

"Bring them to my chamber", ordered Elizabeth.

The snake charmer faded his instrument, and slowly nodded once.

As Elizabeth strode toward her door, she spoke sharply to the guards, "Fetch me a maiden, the strongest looking one I have".

* * *

As was the custom with Hungarian royalty, Elizabeth had a wet nurse as an infant. Her name was Darvulia. Darvulia was a peasant woman, but well- versed in dark arts of mixing poisons and potions. She was originally from one of the many forests that covered the Hungarian kingdom. She believed not in the teachings of Catholicism, nor in the teachings of the new Christian leader Martin Luther. She was a pagan, and believed in animal spirits, and in the original "four elements" of earth, air, fire, and water. She held in no high regard the alchemists who purported to be able to turn lead into gold. (The Bathory family had hordes of gold anyway, more than King Matthias, who spent most of his on financing the wars with the Turks).

Darvulia was a short woman, and as befitting a wet nurse, had very large breasts. She dressed in plain garb, eschewing the pretty dresses and jewelry of the nobility of whom she was responsible for. She was also an expert in using and teaching the hypnotic voice that convinced her listeners to do as she said. Her skills in divining astrological signs were also much admired. She was highly respected in the royal family as a faithful and experience-learned woman. About 75 years old now, she was still of great value to Elizabeth Bathory.

"Darvulia", said Elizabeth, "you will soon have a task worthy of your wisdom in the black arts. And Scylla, you will join me in a little adventure, not exactly one of my usual sort".

Scylla had been one of Elizabeth's many servants, all of whom had strong personalities. If a servant was seen to be weak, she soon became victim to Elizabeth's murderous torture orgies. Scylla proved not only to be strong though, she also drew admiration from Elizabeth for her strategy suggestions when it came to fighting the Turks, who seemed to be forever trying to invade Hungary. Elizabeth particularly valued this, because her husband, Franz Nadazdy, was always on the battlefield fighting, leaving Elizabeth to do the war planning.

Scylla was a beautiful woman, and both men and women were attracted to her. This was fortunate for Scylla, who found at a young age that she was sexually attracted to both males and females. She had full breasts, dark, luxuriant hair, and a womanly figure like that of an hourglass. She was rock solidly loyal to her leader, Elizabeth. Darvulia and Scylla were both compliant to Elizabeth's request for their assistance, without needing to know what was required of them.

Scylla's response was, "As you wish, my lady", and Darvulia said, "I am always creatively at your service, Mistress".

Elizabeth walked to a window, thinking deeply. The snake charmer was there also, and Elizabeth bade him, "snake charmer, tell us of the snake and the four elements".

"As you wish, my lady", he said. "In my homeland of Tibet, the ancient stories are of a rope ladder symbolized by a pair of snakes, and that the ladders also represent the connection between the earth we stand on and the air around us and above us. And the serpent Ahi Budhnya - the furious serpent - is the symbol of fire. And he is also the divine protector of lakes, rivers, and all the waters. Indeed, the Nagathese Cobras are symbols of the Four: the Earth that we stand on, the Air that we breathe, the Fire that warms us, and the Water that we drink.

Elizabeth added, "It is as our pagan ancestor Arpad believed; the earth, the air, the fire, the water. Those are the Gods I pray to. Let Dr. Luther's followers and the Pope's followers battle themselves to the philosophical death".

At that point, the guards had returned with the girl that Elizabeth had requested, and the girl looked terrified because she had heard stories from the fathers and mothers of girls who had been tortured and murdered by Elizabeth. "Lash her to the bed Charmer" ordered Elizabeth, "and bring a serpent to her. Have it tickle her with its lovely teeth".

"Highness", the snake charmer protested, "the girl may die"!

"And she may not", responded Elizabeth, and then unnecessarily and a bit sarcastically, "I beg of you, do as I say".

"As you wish", said the charmer. And he walked slowly to the bed, where the terrified girl, now tied down, tried to avoid the snakes. Elizabeth walked quickly to the girl, roughly pulled up her skirt, and put her hand on the girl's right inside thigh. "Here", she said. And so the charmer brought the snake to the girl, and pressed its mouth to the girl's thigh, at which point the snake bit the girl.

"Darvulia, draw vials of her blood. Mix it so that Scylla and I may partake of it, and still live to see the dark of night".

"Mistress", said Scylla, "we may forever see the dark of night and never again the day".

"I trust that my Darvulia will brew us something that may slowly let this venom form in our bodies an elixir. Charmer- what is the other legend of the cobra that you spoke to me about? The Ouroboros I believe you called it".

"The Ouroboros; regeneration, rebirth", said the snake charmer.

* * *

Elizabeth, with blood on her body and face, was lying next to a dead girl. She breathed heavily. "One does not seem to be quite enough anymore". She paused and then said, "Look at your lovely neck" as she gazed at her next victim, a terrified, pretty girl of about 18 years, with shoulder length dark hair and small breasts, with a waist in proportion to them. She was chained to the wooden slab. She bit the girl's neck and drank of her blood. "Darvulia" she called. When Darvulia appeared, Elizabeth commanded, "This one is still alive. Tend to her".

Darvulia observed, "I see that on this one you preferred the neck rather than the thigh". Looking at the bite marks, Elizabeth said, "And her neck is even prettier than before".

# Chapter 4

Elizabeth's Aunt Klara was a very pretty woman, but not beautiful like Elizabeth. She was older, and bore an aristocratic air. Elizabeth and Klara were in the latter's bedroom.

Elizabeth asked, "When you were teaching me, so many years ago, Aunt Klara, about how to please you, did you ever lust for something other than the pleasure between your legs"?

Aunt Klara was shocked at Elizabeth's mentioning of what should be forgotten, but Klara is in recognition of Elizabeth's royal status being clearly superior to her own. She responded, "Do you mean like the strange bloodlettings that I hear whispered about by your delicious Scylla and your other maid-servants? No...but there have been tales passed down of relations in distant times and distant lands who practiced the type of...activities...that you seem to enjoy. So I have heard".

"What relations?" asked Eliabeth.

"Caligula from Rome, Charles the Sixth of France, Justin the Second from the Byzantine, Jeanne d'Arc's friend Gilles de Rais. Others whose names are not remembered as well, but are also ancestors of ours. Those in power Elizabeth, are not going to bear children to commoners. And so there have been heathens also from our past who had a blood-thirst. Perhaps not as great as yours, from what I hear".

Suddenly, there was an urgent knock at the door, and Klara said, "Show yourself". It was Darvulia who entered.

"My ladyship" she said to Klara, I am sorry for the interruption, but Countess, please, you must come with me"! And she left the room.

Klara said sarcastically, Countess, your old Darvulia, wet nursing you as a baby, and now preparing your girls for God knows what. To her, you are both teacher and student, but the four elements, and not you, are her leader, and she is not your friend".

Elizabeth glared at Klara and began to follow Darvulia. As she was leaving, Klara remembered her place, and said, "Elizabeth!...the word heathen was perhaps inappropriate".

* * *

Darvulia led Elizabeth into the dungeon. The girl who Elizabeth bit on the neck was straining insanely, but seemingly not with fear, against the chains so much, that she was pulling them out of the wood slab, straining so much that her wrists were bleeding and she did not even notice. She stared wild-eyed at the dead girl, and her nostrils are flared widely. Darvulia said, "We can kill her Elizabeth, but there is something dark and magic here that none of my teachers from the dark woods ever taught me. I can learn"-

Elizabeth interrupted, "We will not kill her! Guards"!

Three guards entered, and Elizabeth ordered, "If she comes for us, restrain her. Do not kill her...but she is not even looking at us".

"She is looking at death. Why, I wonder"?

"Not death, said Elizabeth, blood. And she is screaming for it".

At that, the girl pulled chains out of the wood and ran directly for the dead girl's bloody leg. She sucked it as if she were dying of thirst. They all watched her as she calmed very noticeably as she drank.

Elizabeth yelled to the horrified guards, "Reinforce her chains! Keep her alive...and if she becomes crazed again, call for me! I will find more blood"! She laughed loudly and cruelly to herself. "And I will need to know more about this one".

"Her name is Jolan. She is both strong and lovely. She is of great value to her tribe. A scout, a huntress, a tracker. But the men never touch her because she herself favors women when she craves pleasure. I have heard that her smile is soft and warm, until you turn your back, when her smile flees and is replaced by sharp narrow eyes".

"Huntress, tracker? Keep her alive," said Elizabeth in strong tones.

Darvulia added, "I will see if the cobra venom is sweet to her blood, just as it strangely is to yours. I suspect that it will be. You have taken the lives of many, but to this one Countess, you have given birth".

# Chapter 5

Elizabeth and Darvulia were talking on a somewhat equal level. Darvulia was the only one of Elizabeth's subjects who could do that, being both trusted and respected by Elizabeth since infancy. Darvulia advised, "The voice of the ghosts that you speak of will be hypnotic indeed. You will need it to see that these new followers of yours, this new breed of human, will obey you".

Elizabeth responded,"I still don't see why you think they won't anyway. Everyone else does".

Ignoring that comment, Darvulia said, "I will train you in 'voicing' with the ghosts. You will control others merely by choosing dips and rises and intonations in your voice. By using shaded whispers and layered yells, you can command others in ways that they will not resist. They often will never know that they are being issued commands, because it will seem like normal conversation to them. The control you will wield will be great even with others of royal blood".

* * *

In her living quarters, Darvulia took one of many small bottles of blood from a shelf, and then went to retrieve one of the cobras. She went down to the dungeon, where the guards let her in without question, and she brought the blood to Jolan. The girl was crazed, as before, and lunged for the blood with her mouth because she was securely chained to the wall. Darvulia wickedly held it just out of her reach. She spoke to herself, "I know of many things, but this bloodlust is like nothing ever told or foretold. And her strength is greater than any magic I could ever cast". Then to Jolan she said, "Drink" as she held the bottle to Jolan's mouth. After Jolan drank one vial of blood, and then another vial, Darvulia brought blood to another girl with a bite on her neck and then another. It turned out that there were many such prisoners, and they all had the bloodthirst.

Darvulia then brought the cobra to Jolan, and the snake bit Jolan on her inner thigh. Darvulia kept the snake there for several seconds, holding it by the back of its head, before removing it from Jolan. Jolan swooned, apparently with pleasure. At that moment, Darvulia was surprised by someone in back of her. It was Elizabeth.

Elizabeth spoke, and it was to all the girls chained in the dungeon. "We are strong. You give rebirth, one to the other, as I did with my first. I will send you out to distant villages to hunt for your blood. You will be my followers, for though you are strong, your life will be like that of rats among humans unless you receive financial resources from the Bathory fortune. With the power of my riches and the long powerful reach of the Bathory name, we will forge a Sisterhood, as a smith forges an anvil. You will go wherever my allies are and also wherever my enemies are. You will be secretive like a dark silent cat hunting for its prey. You will report back to me of any plots against me, for any plots against me are thence against our own unity. And we must have unity, because there are no others like us. There will be no brotherhood, for the male spirit is naturally hostile to us, as my beloved Darvulia has taught me so well. And we do not need the man anymore. We reproduce those who are already born. When you feed from a female, it will be with love in your heart, and your strangely changed pointed teeth will drink from her leg. But the man will feel you pierce him in his throat, and you will drink deeply until death takes him. We will give rebirth to our own sex as we pour our blood into our sisters. It will be a new day that the world will come to see, an iron sunrise my sisters, and a night of venom".

Elizabeth then put her arm to the cobra, which bit her, and then Elizabeth started to swoon. She said dreamily to Darvulia, "Have the blacksmith forge a giant... a giant cobra".

# Chapter 6

In the year 1610,in the house of a young strong peasant man, he and Scylla are laying on his bed, exhausted after making love.

"It is rare", said Scylla, "that I visit the same man more than once. And never as many times as I have laid with you. The castle maids must think I am in love".

"Nothing would please me more", said he. The pleasures of your flesh would keep me young forever. If making love to you will make you love me, I will kiss your entire body and then once again take my pleasure".

"You are very tempting, and very dangerous".

"Dangerous"? And he started kissing her skin everywhere.

The splash of cold water woke the peasant same man, and he found himself tied hand and foot to a large wooden wheel. He saw that he was naked, and could not speak, for he was gagged with a stone in his mouth. Very frightened and confused, he could only muffle his protests through his gag to Scylla, who was standing imperiously before him.

"My loyalty is and must be to my lady Elizabeth Bathory", said Scylla to the peasant. "When I said you were dangerous, it was because my loyalties were shifting in my insides. While you live, I am not safe from your physical charms".

Scylla pulled a rope from her tunic and tied it tightly around the peasant's testicles. She pulled out another rope out and tightened that one on his penis. His painful screams were loud in spite of the gag. Scylla took her knife out, and while smiling straight into her lover's eyes, castrated him fully.

"What a pity" said Scylla. "Such a fine specimen of a man". Still smiling, she kissed him on the lips,..."you _were_ a fine specimen. Now, not even a man at all". She then turned away, looked towards Elizabeth, and declared, "My loyalty will ever be yours".

She handed the knife to Elizabeth, who nodded once. Scylla left the dungeon, and then, out of sight of everyone, mouthed the words, "I'm sorry", and wiped a tear from her eye. She took her bloodied hands and licked one finger, then covered her breasts with the rest of the blood. Her sorrowful expression then turned quickly into one of hard resolve, and she left for the loneliness of her bedroom.

In the dungeon, there was a scared girl tied to another wheel, who has just witnessed the castration. Her face is frozen in horror and fear, and she is wearing a gold necklace, one that only nobility could afford. Elizabeth turned to her. With a cruel gleam in her eyes and the knife in her hand, Elizabeth approached the girl, and asked sweetly, "Do you like to scream, my young pretty thing"? The girl could do nothing but whimper and wish for her mommy.

* * *

The next day, In Elizabeth's bedroom, she asked of Darvulia, "Why is it that I adore Scylla and yet desire neither the pleasure of nor the pain to her flesh"?

"You admire her strength, which is like that of your mother's. You value her cunning and intelligence, which of all your maidservants, is highest in her. But you do want neither pleasure from her nor pain to her, because it is the weak who are deserving of nothing more than taking your pain or giving you pleasure".

"Indeed, with all her strength, she never betrays my love, even when she is with a disgusting male of the species. I do not see how Scylla can even be with a man".

"She is not with them more than once, mistress, except for the unfortunate peasant who she disposed of yesterday. As for the other maidens, the ones who betray you by laying with men, I have seen you save your angriest passions and your most exotic punishments for them and the men they have been with".

"Enough of this. I want to know why my monthly bleeding has stopped. And why the light hurts my eyes of late. And why my front side teeth grow every time I suck on a maiden's blood. And yet I happily seem not to be aging. Maybe it is the snake's juices".

"It was happening before the snake, mistress. And it is happening to those who you are sparing for your sisterhood. Each one of them gains physical strength, loses their ability to bear children, and yet continues each year not looking any older than since when you first touched your teeth to their necks. And they all crave human blood. It is like no magic or curse that I have ever learned from my Pagan sisters or teachers".

It was true. Elizabeth had not aged a day in the last several years, and it was the same with the young women she fed on but kept alive. What she did not know was that her body's cells were unlike that of any living being that had been born previously. From the incestuous inbreeding of the Bathory family, there evolved a mutation that showed itself as Elizabeth's body chemistry changed during her menopause. It was a mutation of cell division, that was unlike any of the three forms of cell division already in existence; binary fission, mitosis, and meiosis.

Instead of dividing in a geometric pattern of one cell forming two others, Elizabeth's cells divided according to the pattern of the summation of the Fibonacci Sequence. One cell formed two, and two formed four, but then the change occurred; only three of the four cells divided, forming seven instead of eight. And then of the seven, only five divided, forming twelve. This sequence was 1,2,4,7,12,20,33, etc. Consequently, there was a shortage of cells in Elizabeth's body, a shortage that she needed to address. Her craving for human blood was her body's way of telling her what she needed in order to stay alive. Hence the bloodlust that consumed her when she did not have enough cells to survive.

There was another mutation with her cells as well. One that allowed her to stay not only alive, but alive without aging. In normal humans, cell division occurs on average 52 times. This is known as the Hayflick limit. The cells stop dividing after this because protective bits of DNA called telomeres shorten with each successive replication. But in Elizabeth's body, there formed a large quantity of telomerase, an enzyme found in large amounts in cancer cells. The large amount of telomerase in those cells rebuild the telomeres, which allowed for Elizabeth's cell division to continue on and on. In cancer victims, the cancer cells die only when the host dies, or when radiation or chemotherapy is used. But Elizabeth did not have cancer. The telomerase in her body kept her alive as long as she had sufficient quantities of human cells, quantities that she supplied herself by ingesting the cells of other humans.

Although most mutations don't survive, Elizabeth's mutation not only did that, but was able to transfer itself to other humans if the telomerase in the blood was transferred to other human. This transfer of telomerase occurred when Elizabeth bit her victims and shot out of her teeth telomerase-filled liquid. Thus, Elizabeth, the first Vampyr, was born, And through the act of feeding on others, the two primary instincts of animals were fulfilled; the instinct to survive by ingesting the blood of others, and the instinct to procreate by transferring its own bodily fluid to others.

# Chapter 7

On the following day, Elizabeth, Scylla, and Darvulia were talking earnestly. The Countess was wearing the necklace from her previous victim who had been tied to the wheel.

"My lady", said Darvulia, "they know of your actions. They have seen the bodies buried, they have smelled the bodies burned. Parents have seen their daughters flung over the castle walls at night. Noblemen have seen their daughters' jewels around your neck, but can get no word of their daughters themselves. They are coming for you".

Scylla affirmed that with, "They have the backing of King Matthias, mistress. He owes the Bathorys more money than his entire crown is worth, and if he sees you executed, he believes his debt disappears".

Elizabeth exclaimed, "But he would still owe my children"!

"They are not strong like you", said Darvulia. "They will not be able to collect their debt".

Scylla continued, "My lady, you have always admired my clever and cunning ways. Listen then, to this. I have noticed often when your uncle, the Palatine Thurzo is here, he looks jealously on your wealth. With that desire for more riches for himself, I can have him intercede on your behalf. He can negotiate with Matthias, who trusts him more than he should. Thurzo could reach an accord whereby if Matthias pays one half of the debt, the remainder of it will be forgiven, so long as he agrees to let you live, even if imprisoned in your own present living quarters. Thurzo will be only too happy to collect a percentage from you of what Matthias pays. If you can endure your loneliness, my lady, I will be able to order our lovely venom-toothed sisterhood to immediately raid the Bathory estates and make off with as much treasure as we can before your trial. We will store it safely, while we await your release, or plan to set you free secretly. For I fear my lady, that you will be imprisoned".

Elizabeth countered with, "You have given this quite a bit of thought, but not enough I'm afraid. If I am imprisoned, why would Matthias let me go free? If I am imprisoned, how will I not starve if all I am fed is cuts of meat and loaves of bread? I need human blood".

Darvulia stood up and opened a trunk she had brought to the meeting. Inside the trunk were very many glass jars of blood. "Your highness, look behind you. I have already started providing for your sustenance. There will be no shortage. My old friends in the forests of my birth are still my friends, and they will find me all that you need".

And Scylla joined in with, "The sisterhood also will see to it that you are completely nourished throughout your stay".

"You have not said why Matthias would let me go" said Elizabeth.

Scylla replied, "Our army of vixen will have in their possession enough wealth that we will offer Matthias a portion of that once he lets you go, with Thurzo once again being the intermediary. Of course, neither he nor Thurzo can let it be known that they let you go".

"So how..."?, began Elizabeth.

Darvulia said, "You will be thought to be dead. The plates of food that you would normally throw down the hole you will instead leave untouched. They will think you have died, and Thurzo will arrange for a burial. He will not need to know where we got a replacement body from. We will merely take a very healthy-looking peasant woman, and after strangling her, we will dress her in your clothes. She will have to have her face cut off and burned in your fireplace, so no one can recognize that it is not your highness".

"But when they find her, they will wonder why in the names of the Gods would I have torn my own face off"?

"The madness of solitude perhaps, "suggested Darvulia, "or the intense sorrow of seeing your youth fade? There is no secret that you prize your appearance above almost all else my lady...Your loyal manservant and stonemason Edvard, will destroy the rock walls that will imprison you, and you will escape via the back staircase, after which he will rebuild the walls".

"That would take years if he were to do it in secret"! protested Elizabeth.

"Then we will wait years for you, my lady. I myself will wait for you on the day that Edvard will finish chiseling through the walls".

"It will not work...Matthias has been on the throne only a short time. He will not be bold enough to take part in deceiving a public and a royalty that apparently both think that their lives are worth more than my pleasure".

Darvulia and Scylla said nothing to that comment, audacious even by Elizabeth's standards.

Elizabeth continued, "It will be years before Matthias will be bold enough to let me go. But eventually, I suppose he will not be able to resist the opportunity for another part of the Bathory fortune".

Scylla said, "Especially your highness, if the Turks attack again, which they continually do, he will need money to battle them successfully. He may even surreptitiously ask my advice. I certainly have had much practice in defending against those heathen hordes. And I will wait for you mistress, no matter how long it takes, and be there when the time is right. And I will be here to get your vials of blood to you. In fact, I shall need many for myself".

"You have decided", asked Elizabeth, "to regenerate"?

"Yes. You seem not to be aging at all, and I desire to share your youth for as long as we are on this earth".

"Then, let us do the deed now, and seal our compact with our own blood". Elizabeth gently but firmly pushed Scylla to the bed, spread Scylla's legs, and bit on her inner thigh, reaching the femoral artery, and sucked her blood deeply. "And you, Darvulia"? asked Elizabeth.

"My beloved, I will rejoin the spirits when they call. I do not wish to see in my own cursed heart for all eternity the black deeds I have done. I choose to die as a human".

# Chapter 8

Edvard was a strong hardworking stonemason, but because of the need for chipping out a staircase quietly enough that the guards did not hear him, it took him four long years to complete the stairs. Finally, when all was finished, it was time for Scylla and Darvulia to carry out their plan for Elizabeth's escape.

* * *

On the outskirts of a cemetery near Kereshtur Castle, Palatine Thurzo walked towards a horse-drawn carriage. He climbed inside to see both Scylla and Countess Elizabeth Bathory. The Countess was heavily clothed, and wearing a funeral veil, so as to hide her identity. It did not help that the weather was warm.

"I had thought there would be four of us", said Thurzo. Where is that wretched woman Darvulia, who looks more like a creature of the wild than a noblewoman's wet nurse"?

" Darvulia was very good to me for my entire life", said Elizabeth. "If I still had a heart, it would have broken when she chose to leave this world".

"It was her choice, mistress", said Scylla, "and she is with her beloved animal spirits now".

"Loyalty to one's superiors is an expected, yet treasured thing", said Thurzo. "I pray that our loyalty to each other as cousins in the great Bathory family will be a lifelong loyalty".

"My dear Thurzo", said Elizabeth, "you are as transparent as the sky, and not nearly as pretty. If it must be said, you are merely waiting for me to conclude my part of this bargain of the buying of my freedom".

Thurzo countered, "We have always been a tight knit family Elizabeth. There is no reason why it should not remain so, albeit in secrecy. That being said, I believe our destination is not far from here. I trust that is where we are going"?

"That is where we are going" answered Elizabeth. You will get your money".

* * *

In the castle of King Matthias of Hungary, the King and Thurzo were speaking and studying a set of maps. Matthias, superior in rank if not in personality, said, "...therefore, we need to hold back until we are strong enough. At that point, we'll strike her hard. I only hope that when that day comes, I have not underestimated her strength...(then ominously to Thurzo) or overestimated mine. Make sure that everything goes according to plan. And keep me informed, will you"?

* * *

Thurzo emerged from outside a small stone storage building with four servants. The servants carried heavy wooden crates. They packed the crates on a waiting wagon. Thurzo tipped his hat to Elizabeth, who was again in heavy clothing and veiled. Thurzo did not say a word. Elizabeth nodded and also said nothing. Thurzo climbed into a carriage and left, with the wagon trailing him.

"Scylla", began Elizabeth.

"I know, my lady, we will retrieve the part of your wealth that Thurzo has now gotten, though it may cost us a battle".

"Perhaps I will need these clothes again for his funeral". But for now, hand to me my tunic". Elizabeth shed her funeral clothes, and donned the tunic that Scylla had brought with her. Scylla folded the funeral clothing and stored them in a leather satchel. They left the scene on horseback.

* * *

In one of the many forests of Hungary, two horsemen paused at a stream.

One of the horsemen said, "When Palatine Thurzo told me that I was to track a group of women through these woods, I didn't know whether to protest for my honor or to howl with laughter. Witches on horseback he called them. Would not say where they came from, only that, believe it or not, they were dangerous".

The second horseman responded, "Catchy name he had for them; Cult of the Iron Cobra. Only cobras I ever heard of are in India, and people say they don't even exist".

The first one answered, "We don't need any cult to deal with witches of the forest. Let them deal with this", as he laughed and rubbed his crotch.

The other horseman joined in the laughter, and cried out, "Madam Cult Leader, we are the cult of the iron penis"!

They both unsheathed their swords, and in a middle ages version of a high five, they clanged them against each other. Suddenly, both horses reared up on their hind legs. Then both men fell off their horses. The horses started to run, but were calmed by several women who emerged from hiding behind trees and bushes. The horsemen each had several arrows sticking in them. The women tied the calmed horses to trees, and started biting and sucking the horsemen's necks. Scylla and Elizabeth appeared from the forest.

Scylla said, "If this is the best that Thurzo's men can do, we can retrieve our wealth from him now. We are many enough and strong enough".

Elizabeth disagreed with, "Thurzo is old. We can wait for him to die. We do not need our money back immediately. The part of my treasure that you held onto are enough for now. And even though we are strong enough to take on Thurzo, we will never be strong enough to take on the world. We will always need to hide from them. They will be too afraid. The afraid are dangerous".

Scylla said, "But fear makes our enemies weak".

"No", said Elizabeth. "We are different, humans and Vampyrs, but we are both predators. They will band together for strength against an unknown type of enemy like us. They will not run from us, they will prey on us. They will befriend their own enemies until they all unite to hunt us down and destroy us. The hostile spirit of men that my Darvulia spoke of has not died and will never die. We will need to grow stronger in secrecy, but in the plain light of day, blending in with populations, placing ourselves where we will know what they do, what they think".

"As you wish", my lady, said Scylla, and continued, "We will outlive everyone. The world will change strangely around us, and our memories will be of times that will exist only in history books. We are a new race".

"Indeed my dear Scylla, we are a new race".

# Chapter 9

In northern Hungary was the Barad La-Domica cave system. It was an enormous and intricate cluster of caverns, some of which interconnected. It was there that Elizabeth and Scylla agreed should be where they lived. Elizabeth's wealth bought all the furnishings that her castles had. There was carpeting everywhere. Chests of drawers lined the walls, with some of them containing clothing, and many of them containing bottles of blood, the blood having been taken from the victims of Elizabeth's cult.

Elizabeth was raised since childhood as the one who gave orders to her servants; that and her wealth and strong personality contributed to her being the leader of a cult of blood. Her expertise in the voicing that Darvulia had taught her also enabled her to be the uncontested ruler. She called her followers "Cult of the Iron Cobra". Indeed, there was a seven-foot statue of an iron cobra inside Elizabeth's cave. The blacksmith had outdone himself with the metal snake. It was coiled at the bottom, with the coils spiraling upwards to the neck, which was extended upward to the cowl of the cobra, with the cowl and head being nearly half of the seven-foot high snake.

Elizabeth's cult had grown very large and far-flung, for she had sent out her vampires to both near and distant lands. She had sent them to Germany and France and Italy, and all the lands in between Hungary and the rest of Europe. They had expanded to Russia, and had taken the silk route to the far eastern lands of India and China. She used her wealth to ensure the well-being of her cult. She had provided them with spears and shields, crossbows and arrows, and warm clothing for the winters.

Each year at the spring solstice, the female vampire cultists performed rituals of sisterhood at various meeting posts across Europe and Asia, celebrating the first hundred members of the individual clans.

At Barad La-Domica, many vampires in groups of one hundred had traveled from nearby Hungarian lands to be with their leader, Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Elizabeth called out, "We celebrate the one hundred"! Scylla cried out in response, "the one hundred"! The hundreds of vampire women at the fields outside the caves joined in with "the one hundred"!

A teenage girl walking next to a leader of one group asked, "Why do we come all the way here to celebrate? We can do that at home".

The vampire leader responded, "Some say it's to pay homage to those of us who have changed already. For me, and I'm certain for others, our songs are a sad and soft scream of the desperate and dying human inside us all. We gather together in our sadness, and the chanting of our still too young children soothes us...until our next thirst".

At the edge of a cliff overlooking a lake, a ritual played out. All the vampires were dressed in red. There was a line of vampires waiting at the lake, and the first one called out" From my tribe, I offer myself to the god of the serpent, who teaches us how to stay low to the ground, safe and hidden". And then she dove into the lake. The next vampire in line called, "From the tribe of my sisters and myself, I offer myself to the wolf moon, that captivates our imagination". And she too dove into the lake. The third vampire cried out, "From the tribe of my followers. I offer myself to Devana, the huntress". And she dove into the lake. The fourth vampire yelled, "From my tribe, I offer myself to the Pagan warrior Arpad". And she also dove into the lake. Many others waited in line to follow. They all emerged from the lake, bloodied from the rocks that they crashed into.

The celebration continued into the night. There was a group of women around a campfire, and one of them was finishing a story. She said, "And so the moon never came down to sing his praises until the owl breathed his last". At another campfire site, a woman started the fire by rubbing two sticks together. The fire, once it started, grew quickly, and then there was an annual rite of sisterhood, blood bonding. The vampires formed a daisy chain circle of one vampire sucking blood from the next one's inside elbow, while that one sucks blood from the next one, and so on, till a circle of exchanging blood was formed.

At yet another campfire site, there was singing. It was a song that combined elements of a Latin Mass and a dirge. It was sung by young girls, at about 12 years old, captured but deemed too young to have undergone the change. In homage to their elders, who are already vampires, the young girls sang.

"We are now here to offer our blood.

Now we stand upon the ground that you once stood.

And we feel the flood , of windy ev'ning air.

Bless my sisterhood.

Now we sing...for we are the young.

And we bring for your joy our love song.

Days were dark and long.

But night it was so...

sweet and vermilion".

Elizabeth and Vampyr Priestess Arianna, an expert in the voicing that Darvulia taught, were watching and listening from a hundred feet away. Elizabeth, with the vampire's enhanced sense of smell, said, "There is a betrayer. I smell a man on her. Many men. Kupla-La, The Betrayer. She is there," as she pointed to the left side of the circle of vampire women. "Find her".

Without a word, Priestess Arianna walked steadily towards the circle and entered it. The chanting stopped. The vampire women heard the silence and stopped sucking each other's blood, and they turned to see Arianna. They looked nervous. They all stood up, still in a circle. Arianna walked to the first vampire on the left. She asked of her, "You are Kupla-La the Betrayer"? The woman shook her head emphatically, even though there was fear in her eyes.

"No Priestess", she said, I am not Kupla-La. Arianna looked into her eyes for a moment, then walked to the next vampire. "You are Kupla-La, the Betrayer", she asked. The vampire was confident in her answer and demeanor. "No Priestess, I am not the Betrayer". Arianna moved patiently to the next vampire. "You are Kupla-La, the Betrayer?" she asked once again. It was the vampire leader who was talking to the teenage girl about celebrating at home.

The vampire leader looked nervous, and shook her head slightly. "No Priestess", she said.

Arianna looked into her eyes for a long moment, and then asked again,

"You are Kupla-La, the Betrayer"? The woman being questioned looked even more nervous, and averted her eyes downwards. She shook her head again, and answered, No. No Priestess. Arianna looked at her for a long moment, and asked once again, in a shaded voice, "You are Kupla-La, the Betrayer"?

The vampire woman began to weep. "No, no! I would never betray the Cult"! she exclaimed. But Arianna asked, "How many men"?

"I would never betray the Cult!" shouted the still-weeping vampire leader. "How many men"? asked the Priestess again. The vampire leader was openly crying, as Arianna asked again, "How many men"?

Through her tears, the unfortunate vampire admitted, "I don't know. I don't know how many"! Arianna shouted cruelly, "Kupla-La, the Betrayer! Kupla-La, Goddess of Fertility! Kupla-La, the Betrayer"! Arianna pointed both her hands at the woman, then brought her arms down and wide, and then up and together. The other vampires in the circle immediately surrounded the Betrayer, and started biting pieces of flesh from her and spitting them on the ground. The woman cried with sadness as she was being torn apart by many sets of teeth. The circle of vampires bit into her until there was nothing left but bones. And the teenage girl whispered and cried to another vampire, "We don't need to do that . We can banish her. We can punish her. But we don't need to do that to our sister, our own blood"!

The vampire woman answered in a whisper, "Shhh. Shhh. It's done. Stop crying. It's dangerous to cry. It's done. She's gone. Shhh"!

Priestess Arianna turned to face Elizabeth, who had watched from where she was standing. Elizabeth nodded once.

Outside the Barad La-Domica caves, Elizabeth had gathered her followers. "My sisters, I thank you for gathering here to be at my side. My ever loyal Scylla, bonded to my soul, has long ago brought about the recovery of much of the Bathory wealth. But we are not merely wealthy in the financial sense; we are wealthy in a way that no mere human can conceive. For though we are not immortal, we will not die natural deaths. We will live on in the glory of our cult, one that will traverse the world one day. With my wealth intact and our clan growing each time we regenerate our human sisters, it would seem that we can only grow stronger. But we must be aware that we are different, and it is a difference that the world outside us will want to destroy. If they know even a small part of the truth about us, they will try to kill us off, and they may indeed kill many of us. If they know the truth about who we are, they will kill those that they identify as blood drinkers. If they know the truth about where we are, even though we may be hiding in their full presence, they will hunt us and kill us. If they own the truth, they have the power. But you, you can spread the word about us, by joining your blood with that of our unbitten sisters. That is our truth. You can grow our clan in numbers and strength, that is our truth. You can keep us safe by spreading seamlessly into all corners of the known world and into all levels of our societies, and thereby giving me the truth about their world. To quietly but forcefully spread the word about our eternal life, that can be our truth. So take note that the truth is a warning to us to take good care. And take note that the truth is a beacon for us that will lead us to strength, prosperity, and to the sweet satisfaction of an intense lust. I am Elizabeth Bathory, and that is my truth. And there is power in the truth".

"There is passion in the power" she continued,

"There is love in the passion,

There is truth in the love,

There is power in the truth".

# Chapter 10

In the year 2022, the acceptance of the existence of vampires was growing. Caterina Lizalova did not believe in them though, in spite of the unexplained disappearances of many men and women, with only the males'

bodies being found. Her disbelief left her unafraid though, and even though it was late at night, she walked past a cemetery and down the hill to Prague's seemingly empty Radlicka subway station. When she got to the station, she saw a figure emerge from the train tunnel. The figure was that of a young woman with a sword, dressed in a short tunic, something that would allow for hand-to-hand combat without a dress getting in the way.

"Would you join us"? asked the woman, who steadily grew fangs as she approached Caterina. "We will not hurt you if you join us. It is true, we will not hurt you". Caterina did not bother to answer, but instead walked quickly away from the woman. Suddenly another similarly-clad woman appeared from the tunnel at the other end of the station. Caterina removed her high heels, tossed them aside, and started to run for the exit. Yet another woman was there, dressed the same, and almost upon her. She turned to run the other way, and ran straight into a fourth vampire, who immediately grabbed Caterina, and bit her on the neck. Caterina screamed, but there was no one to help her.

The vampires wrestled Caterina to the ground, and dragged her into the dark train tunnel. They all started to feed on her, two at her neck, another at her femoral artery, another at her elbow. Very quickly they are almost done. Suddenly another vampire came into view. It is Scylla, and she is not happy about the scene that just played out. She stood tall, and her face was strong but undeniably beautiful, and looked as if her kiss could kill you as surely as would her sword. She halted the feeding with...

"Are you well fed? You should be, you emptied her. You did well with your strategy, you did well with your tactics, but you did not control your thirst. We cannot keep growing our population with that lack of self control. You have just lost a sister. Her blood lives inside you but her body is dead. I don't believe this is how the Countess and I taught you. Next time this happens, you will all be banished for one week of bloodlust. Go now". And as the other vampires left, Scylla stood there with a stern but mostly expressionless face as she looked at the dead girl.

* * *

In a luxurious house in Budapest, a voice was saying something in an almost ghostly manner. It was Jolan, Elizabeth Bathory's lover and devoted servant to the Countess. She whispered to a sleeping Elizabeth, "I found one".

As she stroked Elizabeth's hair, waking her up, she repeated, "I found one".

"Jolan, my sweet", what did you find?

"A relative of yours, my lady, a granddaughter of someone in America who recently passed on. She was weakened years ago, and is now sad from her life. But she's out of the hospital now. She seems really still too sad, but since that is your preference, so to speak, you may hurt her".

Elizabeth responded excitedly, "A young woman of my own bloodline! May my daughter in the heaven where I will never be welcomed, may she be warmed that this girl will be in my arms. What is her name"?

"It is Jeunais, my loving one".

"Jeunais! Such a pretty name! Such a delicious name...and someone with the passionate blood of the Bathorys. Indeed, what a volcano of passion she must be with a touch of rough and tender loving care. I will make her strong. And perhaps I will take her. Bring her to me or bring me to her".

Jolan did not answer but looked hurt.

"Jolan" asked Elizabeth, "why so sad so suddenly"?

"Am I not delicious to you? Am I not passionate with you? Do I not want your loving care"?

Elizabeth looked at Jolan, looked away, and then gazed at her again for several tense seconds. She rose from the couch, walked to and behind Jolan, and grabbed her hair to pull her head back. "Come with me upstairs".

One hour later, Jolan was lying naked in bed, sweating and out of breath. She had her head tilted back, and Elizabeth was holding an ice cube to her neck. The ice cube melted quickly against Jolan's skin, which was hot from sex, and formed a pool of water in the hollow of Jolan's neck. Elizabeth, sitting naked on the bed, said, "You indeed are delicious, you are so very passionate, and I give you my loving care".

# Chapter 11

It was a gorgeous day on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and Roland Kavalek, a 44-year old morose looking man who seemed to be in his mid-50's, sat on a bench and smoked a cigarette. He had a nicotine stain on the inside of his index finger from smoking his cigarettes down to the filter. He had a mustache that had grown down around the curve of his jaw down to the rear base of his neck, where it met with his sideburns, which he had also grown to the base of his neck. It gave him the vague appearance of a wolfman. He had a magazine with him. Passing by in front of him were teenage skateboarders, bike riders, elderly couples walking hand in hand, mothers pushing baby strollers, young couples laughing and giggling lasciviously, and young girls in short shorts and tight shirts. About a hundred feet away, Ahi Afah, a happy and handsome 44-year old who looked to be in his 30's, with a middle-eastern look and a confident walk, approached two men, both of whom he apparently knew. The men were resting from a bicycle ride.

"Morning guys", called out Afah. "What's up? Peddling your wares"?

One man answered, "Yeah, yeah. We're peddling our wares"? The other said, "What're you doin"? Trolling for women? Or their daughters"?

"Hey, what's the deal? Was it something I said? Like good morning"?

The first man said, "A good morning for me is waking up with a good woman. A good morning for you is waking up with her daughter".

Afah anwered, "This again"?

"This still", said the second man. "Difference between you and your students is they graduate to a higher level. You're still in grade school, or would be if it were legal".

"Hey, fuck you guys, okay! You get who you get and I get who I get. What's the attitude about, plain jealousy or what? I've been getting this since the seventh grade dance. I don't need it from college professors. There are plenty of female ones at NYU too. Get one of your own"!

The first man answered, "Yeah, while you're fucking their children. See ya' later Afah. Much later". The two New York University professors rode off, leaving Afah frustrated and sad. Afah let out a sigh, and continued toward the bench he was previously headed for. Simultaneously, he saw the dramatic and brilliant lower Manhattan skyline, a pretty girl in tight clothes, and Kavalek's cigarette.

"Nice view", said Afah. Kavalek asked, "Of the cigarette"?

"Yeah, you gonna' give me a hard time too? He sighed again. "Yeah, nice view of the cigarette". Then he gently said "Passes the time, does it"?

Kavalek answered, "You smoke a cigarette and you can make it your friend and your world for ten minutes of the rest of your life. What I need...

what I need is a never-ending cigarette that will be with me till my life itself ends".

"Well, Vonnegut did call it a socially acceptable way of committing suicide".

"Not so socially acceptable anymore".

"Then it's perfect for you".

Kavalek smoked the cigarette down to the filter and threw it over his left shoulder. "For good luck. Get the tickets yet"?

"Yes!" replied Afah. "Finish your presentation yet? You could be famous by next week. "Roland Kavalek finally provides physiological possibility for existence of vampires. And to think that it could happen at the C.R.E.A.T.E. conference"!

"I say it every year and I'll say it again. I wish they could call it something besides that".

"Congress for Research of Emerging and Theoretical Endeavors. I think it's pretty descriptive".

"Ridiculous acronym, said Kavalek. "At least they didn't change it to VAMP or something like that, and thank God they tossed the idea of holding it at Vlad's castle".

Afah said, "Maybe it's in Budapest this year, because you, Dr. Kavalek, want it there. I think you must be planning to unleash the Bathory bombshell on the crowd. Budapest would be quite fitting. And I hear the press is taking CREATE even more seriously because of the rumors of the Vampyr presentation by the world's foremost researcher on the topic. Seems your article in Fibonacci Quarterly has drawn some attention. He brought out a copy of Fibonacci Quarterly from his shorts, and then read out loud, "'The Self-regenerating and Multi-branching Properties of the Summation of the Fibonacci Sequence," by Roland the Martian Kavalek. "Complete with mutational cell division that no Watson-Crick DNA Model could ever explain'. Well, at least they left out the vampire part. Just math. Math with no numbers here though, just letters, Greek ones at that".

Kavalek answered, "The press is taking it seriously because somebody wanted to feel important and leaked the word about the vampires in the mix. They said it's different this time. Told 'em there's historical evidence. Nice job on that part of it my friend. But there is police evidence, even though no government official anywhere dares to attach the "V word" to that evidence. And at long last, there's physiological evidence. It's not like the public would be alarmed; the whole vampire truth is going to come out eventually, like when the government said, 'yeah, ok, it's like you said, UFO's do exist, but don't panic', and they were surprised that no one panicked, but instead went about following the football playoffs or something. General public knows the deal. They're actually not stupid, even though I tend to think of them that way".

"You should've discovered this in junior high buddy. Those girls would have been so impressed with the vampire thing that they'd forget about your social...umm"

"Ineptitude"? suggested Kavalek.

In the Junior High School hallway, a teenage Roland Kavalek, shouted,

"Ahi! Ahi, Ahi! I had a brainstorm".

A teenage Afah replied, "Not surprising, your brain is usually pretty stormy".

"Real clever. Anyway, this one is a tornado".

"Yeah, your brain's usually twisted like one".

Kavalek sighed in mock disgust. "Hurricane"? he tried.

"Brain at sea, doesn't touch land".

"Weak, Ahi, very weak. But look! This is strong! You see these recurring patterns? One of them should not exist but it does.

This is how their blood could change"!

Two cute and smiling teenage girls approached. They wore miniskirts and tight tops to show off their budding breasts. The first one said, "Hi A-hi"!

The second girl also said, "Hi A-hi"!

Afah responded, It's A-hee! A-hee! Okay"?

"Okay"! said the first girl. "A-hi Afah"!

The second girl said, "Afah, okay? A-hi, A-hee"! They both bumped Afah's shoulders flirtatiously, ignoring Kavalek.

"Hey dudes", said Afah. Bump Roland too. Or at least say hello or something. The guy is a for-real genius".

The first girl reluctantly said "Hi" to Kavalek.

Kavalek said, "Hey, I have a funny name too. My..."

The second girl interrupted, "Ahi's name isn't funny, it's cute".

Kavalek tried, "Well, my name is funny because it's Ro-land. But you can't row on land". And he smiled, believing he had said something clever.

The teenage Afah got a piteous expression on his face. The girls looked at Kavalek as if he were from Mars. The first girl, turning back to Afah, said, A-hi Ahee. A-hi Ahee"! The second girl bit his shoulder. Afah turned to Kavalek with a "what-can-I-do" gesture.

"I wouldn't call it ineptitude," said Afah. And meanwhile, I didn't have a guy friend in the whole damn school except for you. Fuck their jealous asses! Yeah, so who's inept"?

"Whatever. Anyway, if you read on, you'll see that there's a significant historical parallel. The rich and the powerful were often inbred throughout history. As universities in Spain and Ohio have said", (he grabbed his magazine and read) "as universities in Spain and Ohio have found in a joint study, "inbreeding can cause serious health problems because it increases the chances of a successful expression for diseases otherwise rare or muted in an individual's pedigree".

Ahi, if vampires exist, they most likely cannot procreate. That would be their "successful gene expression for a disease", the disease of sterility. And that's why they must bite and infuse their way into the propagation of their own sub-species. They surely have a procreation instinct, just as we all do".

Kavalek sat back against the bench and saw several sexy young women rollerblading.

"I never had anything like that. I'd give this all up if I could just have one of those. How come I don't hate you"?

Afah responded, "You have male friends all over the world. I have one male friend, and he's sitting on the bench next to me. You're a good guy. I'm a decent guy. We sit on a bench or we laugh on a sidewalk. And I'd help you with the girls if you'd let me. That's why you don't hate me. Till death do us part buddy".

# Chapter 12

Lissette and Jamaal, two NYU college students, were walking the streets of Greenwich village, on their way to lunch. Lissette was a beautiful black girl who did not need to worry about what to do on weekends. She got lots of male attention. Jamaal was dressed in a light jacket and a scarf. A car horn honked loudly.

"No reason for that", said Lissette.

"There's a reason for everything I think. Ya know what I'm sayin' Lissette"?

"Not everything has a reason", she said. Everything is connected though, you know like in Afah's last class, when he said 0.618 and 1.618 are connected in a golden rectangle and the rectangle has a spiral in it, and that the eye of God in that spiral can expand and contract".

"Well, okay, mindjumper! Yeah, I hooked into that. But sometimes I can't tell if I'm in his philosophy of math class or in Kavalek's paranormal physiology".

"Or in Afah's new class. He's teaching Alternative History this term".

They entered the cafeteria building, and saw a woman behind a sign-up table on which is a large "donate blood now, people can't live without it" tent card.

"One mind, two personalities, Afah and Kavalek", said Jamaal.

"One mind, two personalities, those guys", agreed Lissette. "But I was talkin' about expansion and contraction of the spiral. That was connection one. Connection two; the universe expands and contracts just like our sexual organs do, to promote fertilization and birth. Connection three; Planet earth's shield of golden rectangles and Fibonacci stars contracted and then expanded just in time for one hell of a big asteroid to slip through that eye of God and land in the gulf of Mexico. Changed the course of history. That asteroid caused super major changes even bigger than that dinosaur wipeout, and we'll never know what they were. Jamaal, you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down"?

"Pickin' it up 100% and agreeing with maybe 10%. Why don't you pick up some food and I'll put down some cash"?

They sat at a table with a heavily tattooed guy and two girls. The boy was named Carson, and he had a girlfriend on his arm. Sondra was the other girl. After exchanging greetings with Lissette and Jamaal, Jamaal noticed that there were drops of drying blood on a napkin.

He asked, "One o' you guys get cut or something"?

Sondra answered, "Nah, we do a razor blade thing before we study for Kavalek; vampire thing ya' know".

"Those are bodily fluids girl", said Lissette, "that is not cool".

"Renfield Syndrome", said Carson. "Ya' got to drink blood and eat insects. Maybe we'll get partial credit for that. Porphyriacs; ya' got teeth that are made for it. Immersion studying, ya' know"? Jamaal and Lissette looked at each other as if they were about to leave.

Sondra said, "Hey, it's cool. We were just leavin' anyway. Bet I get a better grade on the test than you guys".

"The blood test"? asked Jamaal, as Sondra and Carson and his girlfriend left the table.

"Takes all kinds", said Lissette. "Anyway, I think Afah should do the lecture at the C.R.E.A.T.E. conference.

"The one in Romania, Vlad's castle? That's all Kavalek".

Lissette responded, "It's in Hungary, where'd you get Romania? Anyway, Kavalek doesn't have the necessary level of charisma to convince anyone of his claims of scientific evidence".

Unless zero is the necessary level", said Jamaal.

There was a "Biology for Dummies" book next to Lissette. "They're gonna' see a nut job first class. Crazier than the existence of vampires themselves. A werewolf would seem boringly normal next to that one-unit species of freakazoid. He should see somebody about that, or at least read "Changing Your Personality for Dummies" or something, as she off-handedly pushed the book toward Jamaal.

Jamaal replied, "It would be 'bout as easy for him to change his personality as it would be for a dude to loosen your threads. Hey, he's the one who gets the funding from God knows who, and how much does NYU pay for all those cadavers in his labs? Dissects their bodies, dissects their damn brains. Writes it all up, then talks about the whole deal. For Kavalek, that would be the path of least resistance".

"The psychopath of least resistance", said Lissette.

* * *

In Kavalek's NYU classroom, all the students had arrived in class. The only person not there was Kavalek, and no one seemed to be surprised. On the whiteboard was written:

"If nihilism is the moral equivalent of weightlessness, then what is it when it's not?

A. something or other

B. nothing or other

C. something

D. nothing

E. it doesn't matter

F. all or none of the above

G. an invitation to the "Wicker Man" party

Kavalek finally arrived ten minutes late, and began, "And so, I'm fully aware that I ended yesterday mid-sentence because I feel a strangely human need sometimes to speak semi-poetically about this subject, and so I will recast that sentence to say that - the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".

"Siamese twins for God's sake! Human ones! Cloning of sheep and cows, who knows, maybe somewhere in the world, cloning of humans. Amphibians that change their sex when necessary for procreation. Change their sex! With no medical or church involvement?! Would anyone have believed _any of_ _that_ before there was living proof? And what is proof to a human other than observation? If you see you believe, that is true, but can you believe, really believe, in a vampire, without seeing one"? He paused, and then continued, "I could believe, but I did not. Not until I saw under a microscope that which you see on the board" and he swept his hand across the whiteboard. "What do I see"?

A slouching student in the back, impatient for Kavalek to continue, raised her hand and talked at the same time. It was Sondra. "As you've pounded into us, Dr. Kavalek, she said, "the self-regeneration, expanding tentacle-like patterns of the Fibonacci Sequence summation indicate the possibility of..." and she was interrupted by an excited Dr. Kavalek...

"Possibility of what"!?

I was just getting to that sir. The possibility of a mutated non-geometric division of cells in the human body. Leading to all kinds of weird shit. I mean stuff".

Kavalek said, "Look now. Every species wants more than anything else, to procreate. More than anything else other than that, the individual of that species wants to simply survive. If a strange sort of human (the students chuckled to themselves because their very professor was a rather strange sort of human) cannot impregnate or be impregnated, how then will it survive? By regenerating itself. Maybe through the forced transfusion of blood to its already-born and yet-to-be-reborn offspring?...We have a guest with us today". He presented with a wave of his hand an iron sculpture of a cobra. Kavalek continued, "It has fangs to protect itself and to kill for food, so it can survive to procreate. A vampire, mutated through many centuries, may have developed fangs to obtain food, but perhaps not to kill for it. Rather, the act of obtaining its nourishment is _simultaneously_ the act of recreating one of its own kind. Simple propagation of the species. I will have more to say about this in Budapest. You can read about it. I have to leave early today. Study for mid-terms. Dismissed. You three (he motioned to Sondra and Carson and his girlfriend). Talk to me about that", and he waved toward the phrase on the whiteboard.

Sondra said, "We love you Doc, I mean Doctor.; sometimes we call you Doc affectionately. Well we kind of like you, you know, but we don't like writing papers, especially ones that are due in two days. Even on stuff that interests us. We'd rather impress you with our cleverness on the whiteboard. I know what! We'll teach your class for a day! And if we don't have to write stuff we already know and you know we know, we can go to tonight's "Wicker Man" party. Five different types of absinthe. You can be an absinthe critic for the Times".

Carson said, "Hey, you _should_ come to the party Dr. Kavalek! You'd like, start a wave of murmurs".

Sondra said, "Carson, shut up! I'll do the talking. Come on Doc, whaddaya' say?

"Do you say that affectionately"?

Sondra, blushing a little, answered, "Yeah, in sort of an, umm, I don't know, uncle type of way.

"You mean avuncular"? said Kavalek

"Whatever, um... Doc? Just come on and tell cool Pagan stories tonight.

"Affectionately, like an uncle"?

"Well, yeah", said Carson. "Yeah. And no murmers, we promise".

Sondra asked excitedly, "So you're coming? Come on! I'll take good care of you! I mean, oh God"!

Kavalek was silent as he filled his briefcase, and turned around so as not to face his admiring students, especially Sondra. He again saw the writing on the board. "I knew that was you three".

Carson said, "We thought you'd be impressed".

Kavalek suggested, "Take my Philosophy of Truth class next semester. One of you explains the question, one of you the answers, one analyzes "Wicker Man" in neo-pagan culture, and you won't have to take exams and you'll all get A's".

Carson's girlfriend said, "Are you serious"!?

Sondra asked, "Dr. Kavalek"?

"Yes"?

"I'd rather you came to the party".

As they left, they saw a pretty girl waiting just outside the classroom. She had been listening from the outside. It was Jolan.

* * *

It was a rainy night in Brooklyn Heights, and Afah and Kavalek were having a drink at a cafe. Kavalek said to his friend, "Nanotechnology, perpetual motion theory, and all anyone sees are vampires. Will that be my only contribution to this dreary existence"?

"This dreary existence. Okay, Edgar Allan. Hey look, you're making headlines. And that's the main thing you want them to see anyway. Not to mention that you're opening the door to millions of intimacy-inducing conversations all over the world. Vampires make for super sexy mood alterations. They're like today's answer to Barry White. You could catch that action yourself if you ever still talked to anyone. I've seen you lecture in class; you don't even know who those people are anymore, just a bunch of ears. Blood is the new cool, and the cool gets hot after a night of hard stuff and species propagation talk. You could get more than your share".

Kavalek answered,

"I make warm boots for everyone, but I go barefoot myself in the cold snows of winter.

I make warm gloves for everyone, but my own fingers crack in the frozen air of winter".

Afah asked, "Who wrote that"?

"No one", answered Kavalek.

"Then who said it"?

"I did...just now".

"Ya' know, I wouldn't mind making some warm boots and gloves myself".

"Kavalek looked at Afah curiously, but said nothing.

"Puss n' Boots", said Afah, and Kavalek still looked at him curiously.

"Puss n' Boots"? asked Kavalek.

"Yeah, I think it's some kind of cat story".

"Yes, I think so. You know, I'm the one who's supposed to be the weirdo".

Afah laughed and said, "I'm not being weird, just feeling like 45 with no one who loves me to take care of".

"Since when did you ever want to take care of anyone"?

Afah answered, "Ya' know, I always wanted a little brother or a little sister, which I've mentioned before, I know, but one day my dad brought home a little stray kitten on a rainy night, kind of like this night - kitten didn't have any boots on by the way......That little fluffball just broke your heart when it was meowing so helplessly. My dad started to open a can of tuna for her. I was maybe about seven years old, and I grabbed that tuna can right out of his hand and tore at the top to open it faster because I was afraid the kitten would starve to death right in front of me if she didn't get that tuna right away. I sliced my thumb so bad on that metal top that the cut must have been an inch deep. I didn't even feel it. I was crying, but I was crying before I got cut. I felt so bad for that kitten. I fed her and of course she was fine. I just thought, you know, I had to take care of her. Something in me I guess. Nature or nurture, who knows?

"This is the first sob story you ever told me", said Kavalek, and he saw that Afah was a bit hurt. "No, listen, I didn't mean it like that; it's just the way I talk, you know how I am. But it does seem a little...unusual, for you to be telling this type of story. I mean, you're kind of like a sugar daddy to some of those students, except you don't even need to give them any sugar".

Afah stated, "That's the point buddy. They don't need me or love me. I'm just a fling to them. Little brother, yeah, little sister, yeah. These sweet young things I see for one night. No".

"What happened to the kitten"? asked Kavalek.

She grew up and ran away.

Kavalek just then saw a sexy woman with a smiling man, who was holding an umbrella over her head. He said, "So I guess we're even. We both want that, someone to love and take care of."

"Yeah, that's why I miss Jeunais", said Afah.

* * *

At a Brooklyn Heights parking garage, a somewhat conservatively dressed newspaper reporter left her car and tapped a number on her phone. Kavalek answered.

"Dr. Kavalek"? she said. "This is Laurel Lee. There was no traffic from Jersey so I'm actually a little early. I just parked on Joralemon St......Yeah, no traffic jams just before an appointment! How's that for good luck?...... so I'll see you in a minute... ok, bye". She tapped a name on the phone next. "Hi Jay. It's Laurel... Listen, the traffic was horrible coming from Jersey, so I'll have to finish the 'sight bites' from home...... No, the usual boring starlet stuff. Exciting for them; and maybe for the readers; I could use something a little more challenging myself. Any chance of that happening soon?......Yeah, ok, bye". She hung up and said to herself, "Yeah sure, like five years soon".

A few minutes later, Laurel arrived at Kavalek's building and punched the button for his apartment. Kavalek buzzed her in, and was waiting at the door for her. They exchanged greetings and shook hands as Laurel entered the apartment. Kavalek guessed that she was Korean. He had the radio on. His living room had bookcases covering an entire wall, with each shelf having the books lined up from tallest on the left, stepping down steadily to shortest on the right. There were sconces on the entryway to the kitchen. Laurel took a look out the window at the Manhattan skyline and said, "Everybody who comes in here must say 'really nice view!', so I won't say it, even though the view is, well you know..."

Kavalek responded, "I don't really see it anymore. You see something noticeable one time and you notice it. You see it 1000 times and it's no longer noticeable. You see it every day and it becomes invisible. Can I get you something to drink"?

"No thanks. Is this good right here"? she asked as she gestured towards an overstuffed chair.

"Sure." Then "Wait a minute", as he listened intently to the radio in the background, on which the announcer had just said, "We'll be back after a word from First Gear". Then the voiceover asked, "Stuck in neutral with your old auto parts store? Then shift into First Gear! First Gear, your new place for auto parts, service, and accessories. Tired of lackadaisical service? Tired of lack o' basical knowledge? Shift into First Gear auto stores! Whether it's soft lighting for the ladies or heavy metal for the bad boys, what you want, baby we've got it! For the right stuff at the right price, shift into First Gear"!

Kavalek said mostly to himself, "First Gear. Why does there have to be anything more than first gear? Why not just one gear? Look here", he said to the very cute reporter. He excitedly drew on a notepad a gear that had one space between the first two teeth, then two spaces between the second and third tooth, then four spaces between the third and fourth, seven spaces between the fourth and fifth, and twelve spaces between the fifth and sixth. He explained to Laurel excitedly the 1,2,4,7,12 gear as if she had been an old associate of his. "This tooth is one unit wide, for speed. This next one is two units, a little less speed, but a little more power. Next one is four units, then seven, then twelve. The thing's moving pretty damn powerfully at twelve units. Speed or torque. All in one gear. Who needs to go past first"??

Laurel talked as if Kavalek was nuts but didn't want him to know that she noticed, so she said, "I don't know. Who needs to go past first"?

"This is all part of the same stuff"!, said Kavalek. This sequence on this gear I drew is the sequence that is in the vampire's cell division, and that's off the record, if that still exists".

"It certainly still exists", answered Laurel. "In fact, I didn't even know I'd get an opportunity to mention this, but the Post, adventurous though it is, wasn't so crazy about this story idea. They think their readers are not going to take an 'evidence of vampires' story seriously".

Kavalek said, "So? So are you apologizing in advance for wasting my time"?

"No! No! It's just that there are audience-specific publications that might want this type of news. Vampire talk is gossip if it's from someone off the street, but it's news if it's from Roland Kavalek. There is an audience, and not just a recreational one, that takes what you say about this seriously".

"So you work for the Post, but you'd sell their story to a vampire fanzine"?

"Not exactly Dr. Kavalek. There are enough stories and enough fanzines already. And enough online fanzines that I could do this full time. But I'd die for, well not really die for, a serious writing opportunity for what I see as a serious subject. That is, if I had enough story leads; you know, police findings, cadaver research, coverage of vampires in Romania".

"The conference is in Budapest damn it"!

"Oh! See! people give me rumors instead of facts. Nobody tells me because I'm too busy chasing Kim and Gaga leads. Send me some tips Dr. Kavalek; I want to do this. It's real stuff to me. I know about you. You're real. Maybe a little bit...um, I mean you're real. You're serious about this. I am too. You can have veto rights to every word I write, and publishing rights to every word I write about you... I know this seems like it came out of nowhere, but it's been in my head to tell you ever since you agreed to this interview".

"So you think I'm real. That's quite observant for a reporter. And you also think I'm a little bit...what"?

Laurel knew she had been caught off guard. She tried, "Uhh. You know well, a little bit unusual in a way that most unusual people usually are not. Can I use your bathroom"?

Kavalek pointed down the hallway. "Certainly', he said.

Laurel went into the bathroom, specifically to see what it looked like. There was nothing special about it, except that there are no towels anywhere. She pretended to use the toilet. She washed her hands.

"Dr. Kavalek, where are, I mean do you have any towels"?

"They're in the closet. Use any one you'd like. The pink one, the worn one, the rough one, or the torn one. Laurel took a photo with her phone. She chose the pink towel. "What about when you wash your hands or take a shower? Being nosy is my job ya' know".

"I dry my hands on my hair, and I dry myself with that robe...I'm a minimalist, like Einstein, you know. That's why I see just one gear".

Laurel returned from the bathroom.

"How many people know your doctorate is in Mechanical Engineering"? she asked.

"I don't know".

"How did you go from that into vampires"?

"It's the other way around, I went from vampires to that. Mechanical engineering; nanotechnology, tiny machines reproducing exact replicas of themselves ad infinitum. Vampire blood cells, reproducing themselves ad infinitum".

Taking a chance, Laurel asked, "Can I go to Budapest with you"?

"No, but I'll buy your ticket out of my expense account".

* * *

The next day, in Kavalek's classroom before class began, he was playing the ancient oriental game of go-moku against himself. Two students walked in. Kavalek did not even look up. One of the students was a girl named Isobel and, the other was Jolan.

Isobel asked, " Why do you play 'go' against yourself?

Kavalek, seemingly annoyed, responded, "Because I prefer an evenly-matched opponent".

"Who usually wins"?, asked Isobel.

"It's usually a draw", and he started to stare out the window.

"32 to 32, most of the time? Can't be", said Isobel.

Jolan asked, "What are you looking at"?

"The bend in the road", answered Kavalek. There was no bend in the street, as they all could easily observe.

Isobel said, "Dr. Kavalek, I'm a little curious. I understand Professor Afah's nautilus shell and golden rectangle and your summation 1,2,4,7,12 fitting into itself after the next term and its relation to cell divison; I understand all that stuff and everything, but could you tell me something? What is the Aztec dream of a fried egg? You know, that illustration, that drawing there?" It was an abstract drawing of a 0,0,1,2,4,7. Kavalek looked strange and a bit scary. He looked at Isobel a long time with 1000-yard eyes, then looked away, then looked back and looked one inch to left of her eye.

"All that stuff and everything? You understand the nautilus and the rectangle and the summation and everything?"

"Yes. Why are you looking one inch to the left of my eye"?

Kavalek said, "My Aztec dream of a fried egg is something that even my dear friend Afah does not understand. You have to see it to believe it. You're not really seeing it. The zero inside the other zero looks like a fried egg. But don't worry. It has nothing to do with anything".

Jolan asked, "If you don't mind my asking, is it like a type of drug or"-

"Or what?, interrupted Kavalek.

"Or a type of high from some type of exotic something"?

"I get high on life", answered Kavalek, as he laughed in a rather bitter and somewhat deranged way. "Sort of".

Isobel said, "You have many wires all connected to themselves, Dr. Kavalek. I wish I could see which one's connected to the wall. As other students filed in, Kavalek asked Jolan, "Where is your accent from"?

"I don't think I have one. My parents were both American".

Jolan and Isobel take their seats. Kavalek said under his breath, "No they weren't.

Isobel whispered to Jolan, "go-moku is almost never a draw".

After class, in the hallway outside Kavalek's classroom, Isobel saw Afah approaching.

Isobel, who had a mad crush on Afah, asked him, "Professor Afah! Coming to "Let It Bleed" for the Gargirl concert"?

"Let It Bleed" was a vampire-oriented rock club, but unbeknownst to the public, it was owned and run by actual vampires.

Afah said, "Wouldn't miss it. Especially if you're going to be there".

Isobel kicked his foot playfully. She said, I bet you say that to all your favorite Vampirouettes.

"No", said Afah, smiling at her and Jolan, "Only to you. But what is a Vampirouette? And by the way, you left a scuff mark".

"Don't you ever wipe if off", said Isobel. "And Vampirouettes is a dumb name for a girl band that I want to put together. Hey, can you get your friend to go?" she asked, motioning to Kavalek's classroom.

"To the concert? He'd love to and he'd hate to...antisocial ya' know...so that would be a no".

Isobel said, "Too bad. Maybe he'd even like the music".

"Might like the name. Of the place, not the music".

* * *

On the next Saturday night, Afah and several of his and Kavalek's students were at "Let It Bleed". The club was very gothic in atmosphere, with gas lamps everywhere. Long, heavy, red curtains covered the walls. Gargoyles glared down from the ceiling. The students had all gotten in with fake IDs. One of them was the 18-year-old Isobel and one of them was Lissette. The band, "Gargirl" was performing. They were loud, and so everyone was talking loudly.

Terry, a male student, shouted, "Professor Afah, we're having a party at the frat house. We want you to be there, guest of honor, first on line for keg stand".

Afah shouted back, "Frat house is the wrong atmosphere for me. And I can't go to parties with students".

Terry said, "Okay, it's a gathering then. And it's the House Omega Frat House. They'd give their left bicuspid to be vampires. Wannabes for sure, but they wannabe real bad like. Seeing as you're Kavalek's confidante, having you there is the next best thing".

Afah looked at Terry as if he's insulted and honored at the same time. "Next best thing huh? Okay, but no mind-altering substances. We're all examining a possibility here that would make all your chemical and organic highs irrelevant. Anyway, I'm already out there in the ozone when I'm with my buddy, positively stratospheric. Doin' weed or something would send me out wpm".

Isobel asked, " What is wpm"?

"What"? asked Afah.

Isobel screamed over the din of music, "what is wpm"?

Afah said, "Waaaay past mars", to laughter all around.

Charlie, another male student, suggested, "Dude, you should like, put up a 'way past mars' web site".

"It's taken".

"No way, Ray"!, shouted Charlie. "Then how 'bout "waypastmars.org" or .net or something? Make it a movement! A cult".

"It's taken by Kavalek and me! We ooowwwnnn 'waypastmars'"!

"Fuck no man. For real"?

Isobel asked, "Dr. Afah, did you really put up that site"?

"I'm not a doctor, and Kavalek put up the site. He does like to have a bit of fun in his own way. Which is kind of fun for me too. He's the only one who I...well, you know, we share that same sense of humor".

Isobel said flirtatiously, "Can we pretend you're a doctor"?

"Can we pretend"?

"I really wanted to be your young patient".

"Hmmmm'! thought Afah out loud.

Several of the students yelled something to effect of "Whoooaaa! Isobel"!

Isobel said, "Well, I'm just sayin".

Charlie said to Terry, "Pretty soon she'll just be doin' ".

Lissette said, " Hey let's check out the doctor's site". And to Isobel she said, "You can check out your doctor later". Lissette pulled up waypastmars.com on her I-phone. Fangs rushed to the foreground with 3d effect, and then bit down. Blood dripped from the fangs, and then 1,2,4,7,12,20 appear on successive drops of blood, then we see them arranged so that they regenerate. On the I-phone screen, text read, "Fibonaccci strikes again: an examination of the physiological possibility of the Vampyr's existence". Links across the web page are red on black. They read:

1. Incest and Insanity/Arithmetic Mutation

2. Renfield Syndrome and Porphyria

3. Present-day Paganism

4. Elizabeth Bathory, the first vampire?

"Present-day paganism", said Isobel. Why don't you teach a course in that"?

Charlie asked, "What the hell do incest and insanity have to do with arithmetic mutation"?

Lissette answered, "It's pretty much accepted that inbreeding causes weird stuff to happen to the offspring, and then if there's more inbreeding and more inbreeding, the stuff gets weirder and weirder throughout the generations, until who knows, maybe you get a genuine mutation".

Afah joined in with, "Arithmetic mutation concerns human cell division, a process that is normally geometric, but if by way of nature's many rolls of the dice, the process changes into something non-geometric, something that's not quite as rapid as geometric growth, something that is, for instance, the summation of the non-geometric Fibonacci Sequence summation, something whose pattern is the 1,2,4,7,12 (that you may have noticed on the blood drops). Then, well, you will have shortage of blood cells, a fatal shortage...unless that blood can be replaced...regularly...by ingesting other humans' blood".

Lissette said, "like what happens with Renfield's syndrome. Renfield was that dude in Dracula who ate spiders and flies and drank blood".

Afah agreed, "Exactly. What Kavalek theorizes is that the mutated blood, although always in need of replenishment, is able to assimilate and be assimilated with other animals' blood".

Charlie asked, "Say what"?

Afah responded, "I did say what".

"Come on man", said Charlie, "I get that blood #1 assimilates blood #2, and the other way around too, but I don't see how he gets there from the mutation direction".

Afah answered, "I don't either. He hasn't told me yet. He's waiting for the C.R.E.A.T.E. conference".

Another female student, Renata, said, "I pick up what you guys are intellectualizing, but let's concentrate on the sensationalistic. We _are_ out partying y'know. That last link in that list, Lizzie Bathory, the blood countess? Loved women, loved to kill them, loved to torture them. Any Bathory Halloween costumes out there"?

Terry answered, "Get serious dude, I've heard from reliable sources that you're not lesbian. But this is all text. Professor Afah, this wpm site is way down on earth. You gotta' pimp your site if anyone's gonna' read this".

Afah responded, "You will all read it, with no site-pimping necessary. Kavalek just hasn't told you yet. A paranormal physiology course cannot be just about fictitious phenomena like transcendental medicine, alchemy of evolution, and precognitive arachnids. I think the University would prefer, as would Kavalek, that a significant part of your grade be about something based in reality. And since this material, if I know him, will be about 50% of your final, you will need to find it fascinating, or at least pretend to, even if it is just text".

Charlie said, "Dr. Dude, we are in this mostly for the vampire thing. Transcendental medicine, beautiful; but we _are_ in it for the blood. You still oughtta' have some graphics or Bathory cartoons or a streaming pagan ritual. You know, make it spicy".

Isobel chimed in with, "Get over it guys. You're just jealous - of something, otherwise you wouldn't be guys. Professor Afah - did I get it right this time? - don't make me wait any longer. Come on (as she pulled him onto the dance floor). This whole thing seems to be very close to your heart, Mr. Afah. How close is it?", as she puts her hand on his chest and his hand on her chest).

Afah hesitated. "I could get in a bit of hot water for this you know. You are my student after all".

'No one's gotten you in trouble before. And I sure won't. Now if I'm your student, what's your lesson plan"?

Afah looked at her steadily. He was wavering. At 18 years old, she was even younger than most of his many conquests.

"Mr. Ahi...if you don't want to be my doctor...can you be my...I mean, can I be, your victim?

"I think maybe you already are", he said.

"Ahhhhh", said Isobel, with her hand on his leg.

A half hour's taxi ride later, they walked into Afah's apartment. It was a comfortable place to live, with overstuffed furniture, a Gothic feel, and candles around the entire living room and bedroom.

Afah turned on the light, but Isobel put her hand over his and pushed it down to turn the light off. "I came prepared for the occasion' she said", and produced from her purse four miniature candlestick holders and candles. "But I see that I didn't need these after all.

After Afah led Isobel into the bedroom, she took her lighter and lit all the candles she could find, including the ones she had brought.

Afah pulled her to him by her upper arms. Like a captured maiden, but very passionately, Isobel said, "I'm your victim"? They shared a deep kiss. She undid the buttons on Afah's shirt, took his shirt off, and noticed a tattoo on his arm. It was a circle demarcated by the letters E,A,F,W.

"That's beautiful! Earthy, majestic. But what is it"?

"It's all we need in this world". Isobel looked quizzical.

Afah said, "the earth, the air, the fire, the water. It's what the pagans believed in". He laid his fingers on the chest above the top of Isobel's low-cut blouse. He traced the letters on her chest, and said the line again, "the earth, the air, the fire, and the water".

Isobel smiled lasciviously, and asked, "Do you also make love like a pagan"? Afah smiled hungrily. Once again they kiss, just as deeply, but more aggressively. And then Afah took her; roughly.

* * *

It was after 2A.M. and it was dark, as Lissette entered her dormitory room. She heard soft breathing. Lissette started to undress for bed, being quiet as she could. Her roommate, as it turned out, was not asleep.

Her roommate, asked, "How was the club"?

"Awesome", said Lissette. "Jamaal should wish his band could be that good. I wish it could be too. Sorry I woke you".

Her roommate answered, "It's ok. I fall asleep pretty easily. See you in the morning".

" 'night".

Lissette got into bed after setting her cell phone alarm. When she laid the phone down, the clock on it read 2:17 am.

About an hour later, Lissette was asleep, breathing steadily, when there was a soft rustling. Her roommate got out of bed and moved toward her. The roommate then licked Lissette's neck, then put her mouth on it. Lissette sounded like she was waking up, but she didn't. Her roommate picked her head up, and tossed her hair. It was Jolan.

At that point, Lissette stirred uneasily, and then awakened to see Jolan sitting on her bed, looking at her..

Lissette said, "Huh? What's up Jolan. You look weird. I feel weird. Real weird. I'm thirsty. Why am I so thirsty"?

Jolan answered, "I know you're thirsty. And I know why. Here". She handed Lissette a glass of liquid, red in color. Lissette of course, did not know that it was human blood.

"Damn, this smells good!" said Lissette. "What is it"?

"It's good stuff", said Jolan. "Really quenches your thirst".

Lissette took the glass slowly, doubtfully, but definitely took it, and she drained the glass without taking it from her lips. She then realized that her neck hurt a bit, and touched it. "Why the hell does my neck hurt. She turned on the light, went to the mirror, and examined her neck. "Jolan, come here"! she called.

Jolan asked, "What's the matter"?

"What the fuck are these marks on my neck"?

"That's pretty weird, they look like tooth marks".

"Tooth marks? From what? I don't know what they are, but they're not tooth marks. I was at a vampire club, but I would have known if someone had bit me".

Jolan answered only with her eyes, which had an eerie shine in them. Lissette started to get a quizzical look on her face, as she stared into Jolan's eyes, and realized that something strange may have happened.

Lissette asked, "Hey, do you have some more of that? And also, how'd you know I was thirsty"?

"Well, actually, I need some of that for myself".

Lissette repeated, "How'd you know I was thirsty"?

Jolan drank the last of the blood, and said, "Just a guess. Have a nice walk. I'm going to sleep".

"How'd you know I was going for a walk"?

"You seem a little jittery. I figured you might go back out".

"Lissette got dressed", all the while looking at Jolan suspiciously, and then she left.

Jolan thought to herself, "Sometimes you just can't bite their thigh. She'll take her first by morning".

Lissette was shivering even though she had worn a coat to go for her walk. As she entered a subway station, her eyes started to hurt from the bright light that a subway repair crew was using. She walked toward the very end of the station, and then down the steps that led to the track.

The light of an approaching train shone against the wall of the tunnel. The train's roar got louder. It passed by and the sound slowly disappeared until it restarted and left for the next station. Lissette was leaning against the tunnel wall, taking deep breaths of discomfort and exhilaration, like those of a long-distance runner whose whole body is aching but who sees the finish line getting closer and closer.

Lissette thought to herself that she was still thirsty. As she stepped over a dead homeless subway dweller, Lissette noticed that he had bite marks on his neck. She moved farther down the tunnel in the hopes of finding a live person.

* * *

Inside a Greenwich Village vampire freaks store, Jamaal and Renata were checking out the merchandise. As they left the store, they saw a sidewalk preacher ranting about God. The preacher raved, "God in all his glory sketched it out for us, but his picture started painting itself after by him it was drawn. The world he gave us is will not be ours anymore, for he will have to take it back. It has become a picture of control out of control! You cannot call him on your phone. My poor Lord, he will always be alone. Sums of change and shape, aim for the infinite"!

"Not a bad poet," said Renata. "Maybe you could use him as a songwriter".

"Word", said Jamaal. "I heard my man last week in the subway. Yells over the train noise". Then he buttoned his coat up to his scarf.

Renata said, "Hey, it's April, y'know".

Jamaal responded, "It's 44 degrees out. We had snow two weeks ago".

"OK Mr. Scarf. Wouldn't want you to be anything but toasty in the spring".

"Yo, I got vocal chords to protect. What's the band without my stellar shrieking baritone"?

"Metal singers shred their vocal chords to make a living, so you'd better toughen yours, Jamaal. I still think you're whacked, a black frontman in a metal band"!

"Girl, you'll regret your insolence when Dark Star's first jam hits high on the charts. Spittin' out my scribe's rhymes with speed metal backup; so hot, so cool"!

"Oooh, can I be tour groupie then"?

"If you're somewhere near the front of the line. It forms on the right", he said, as he rolled up his sleeves to reveal muscular forearms.

"Mmmm, Mr. Hot Guns".

"Mmmm, Miss Hot Buns" returned Jamaal as he stepped back to look at Renata's tight butt in her tight jeans. Renata pushed out her butt and swung it to tease Jamaal.

"Unh, unh!" said Jamaal, "Gonna' be some OTK treatment for this girl"!

"OTK"? asked Renata.

"'Over the knee', sweet thing"!

"OTK, my ass"! she said, and they both laughed.

"Baby, I'm burnin' for you", said Jamaal.

They parted ways, and Jamaal walk back towards his dorm building. He was smiling from his time out with Renata. He said to himself, "Dark Star makes headlines". Suddenly, as he is at his dorm building, he saw the very pretty Lissette, wearing very pretty makeup, waiting outside. "Lissette, you look delicious"! exclaimed Jamaal! Where you goin' all made up this early"?

Lissette eyed him seductively and said, "Just waiting for. You _smell_ delicious".

* * *

Two hour later Jamaal lay dead on his dorm bed, with fang marks on his neck. Several police detectives were at the scene. The first detective, with a flashlight shining directly on the fang marks, turned to the second detective and said "Another one. How long can they keep this under wraps O'Toole"?

O'Toole, the second detective, said, "I'm unwrapping it. The public has a right to know".

The first detective countered, "They won't even believe it".

"Maybe not, maybe so. That's their choice. But they have a right to know".

# Chapter 13

At Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn, NY, a pretty and sad twenty-year old woman was looking at two pen and ink portraits in her hands. She had drawn one of them, the one of her mother. The other was a photocopy, one that her mother had filled in completely, so that it covered the entire page it was photocopied on. The woman's name was Jeunais.

She left her room, and walked to her psychiatrist's office, entered the waiting room, and started gazing at the portraits again.

The psychiatrist, Dr. Lind, appeared in the waiting room. She said simply, "Hi Jeunais".

Jeunais said, "I was just thinking what their last moments were like".

"We can talk about it if you like", said Dr. Lind. "Come on in".

Jeunais settled herself on the couch, after which neither one spoke for a time. Finally, Jeunais said, "I can kind of see him...and her. I can see both of them".

She continued, "I don't know why she had to push me so high on the swing. I was so scared and she knew it. And she laughed. And she pushed me more. Harder. I was crying and she was laughing. She said crying was for little girls. I told her I was a little girl. She let the swing slow down and then when it got low enough she grabbed me from the back and pulled me off. She said 'Don't you feel silly now'? And she had a weird glint in her eye. Laughing. My mother was laughing at my fear, with a weird glint in her eye. I hated those eyes. That's why I left her head off my drawing. And before she ran away with the man in the black car, she took my drawing and copied it."

"She took it with her"? asked Dr. Lind.

"No. No she didn't. She took it, and changed it. Well, added to it. She drew another whole picture around the one I did. I called mine 'The Dancer' because my mother loved to dance so much". She added to the title too. She added the words, "In Love Again".

"She showed it to you? Left it for you"?

"Left it for me. Like some sort of crazy good-bye to me and my dad".

"Sometimes you call him your father, sometimes you call him your dad".

"Yeah".

Following that was silence and more silence.

Jeunais broke it with a sigh, and said, "She always drank wine. There were lots of bottles of wine left after she left. I never drank alcohol too much, but once I went to open a bottle because a friend of mine came over". She sighed, and said, "And there were like only two bottles left".

"How many were there when she left"?

"She had a wine rack in the basement. There were probably about thirty bottles when she left...so I asked my dad \- that's when I was still calling him my dad - if he drank them all. I didn't ask unfriendly or anything, just, like I was curious. Wow, did he get pissed off! Like really pissed off. 'She left me with nothing but the wine' he said, 'and I'll be damned if I don't use it all'. I said 'Use it?' And he said something like, 'Yeah, she used me, and now I'm gonna' use her wine'. And I asked him what he was using it for, and he said to help him forget about her. And then he started crying".

"What did you do then?" asked Dr. Lind.

"I went to give him a hug".

When Jeunais did not continue, Dr. Lind asked, "And"?

"He kind of pushed past me or sort of pushed me away really. And then he said, 'Fuck the wine! And he took the bottles outside and smashed them against the house and left the broken pieces on the lawn. And then he left for a few hours. When he came back, he was completely drunk, and he smashed a paper bag full of something on the kitchen table and it was a huge empty bottle of vodka. He did that for a few more days, and then soon it didn't go smash anymore because he started buying those plastic bottle vodkas.

"The cheap stuff"?

"The alcoholic cheap stuff". Jeunais paused, and then continued,

"He used to protect me from my mom sometimes when she got a little nuts. But after he started drinking and kept drinking, and I dove into our pool one day - it was one of those above ground pools ya' know - when I got out he told me my butt looked pretty cute when I climbed to the diving board".

There was a long silence, which Jeunais broke with "You don't have anything to say"?

"I feel very sorry about what happened with you Jeunais, and I can say a lot of things now, but you seem to want to say some more things yourself. But I'm wondering what you said to him after your father's comment".

Jeunais did not answer right away. Then she said, "Nothing. I just sort of ignored it in my own head. It was my dad. He was what I had left. My mom never called or wrote or emailed or anything. She was just gone. I needed my dad. I just sort of ignored it in my own head". She paused before continuing, "And then he kept on making comments like that more often. One day I walked into the house with my bathing suit because I thought he wasn't there - I was a little scared of him by then -

"Is that when he started becoming your father and not your dad"?

"Yeah, exactly. Anyway, I walked into the living room and it was kind of dark in there, so I didn't see him, and when I did see him, I felt like I was just stalked by my own father. He was sitting on a chair in a dark corner, and the weird thing was that the dark corner made the gleam in his eye look even \- scarier. It reminded me of my mother's eyes. I finally told him then that he shouldn't be looking at his own daughter like that, that he should look for a girlfriend".

Dr. Lind asked, "Do you want to tell me what he said"?

"He said that he found her. He found out where my mother lived. I told him to just forget about her, and I told him that he really needed to put down the bottle because it made him look at me and made me scared. He thought for a minute and then said, 'Yeah, you know you're right, I should not be looking at my own daughter like that Jeunais. You're right'. Then he said it again. And then he said something that sounded weird. He said, 'I will put down the bottle, and I'll just pick up a can'. I looked at him weirdly, but he sounded kind of more sane than he usually did, and he lost that gleam or glint or shine; it was always a little bit different, but it always scared me. But he looked like my dad again then".

There was a silence in the room that Dr. Lind broke with, "The can was the... can of.."

"Yeah. It was the can of gasoline". She sighed. "Two days later he gave me a kiss on the forehead which was the first time in like a year he gave me a kiss on the forehead and he said he was sorry for how he had acted and he said I was a good girl and that nobody should ever treat me like that especially my own dad and that he promised it would never happen again and I thought things might be a little bit okay and then that night they found his burned skeleton lying on top of my mom's bones with my mom's wrists and ankles cuffed to the bed and here I am.

And Jeunais cried uncontrollably.

Three months later, Jeunais felt ready to leave the hospital. She said to Dr. Lind, "I can't hate my father, you know".

Dr. Lind agreed with, "Because he was your father".

Jeunais nodded faintly with her head lowered.

Dr. Lind continued, "And you can't help but hate him because he killed your mother"?

Once again Jeunais nodded faintly.

"And yet you loved him".

"Yes, I loved him". I didn't have a father after that. So, you know, that's why I look for one now. And the one I like turns out to be a womanizer".

Jeunais paused and then continued. "I do still love my dad though, even though he's dead. I'll just never be able to feel his love anymore, if that makes sense".

Neither of them said anything for two long minutes, and then Jeunais asked, "Well, if I need you, can I call you"?

"Of course", said Dr. Lind, "but do you think you're ready to leave? From what I just heard, you sound like you still have to work through this".

Jeunais agreed and disagreed. "I guess it kind of does sound like that", she said, "but I'm less ready to stay. I feel like I'll end up wasting my life here. I know they loved me. I know others will. Maybe my great aunt".

"The one whose niece is at NYU with you"?

"Yeah, that one. She doesn't even know me. I don't know how she appeared out of nowhere.

"You're planning to live in the same house"?

Jeunais nodded.

"Will it still feel like your home"?

"It's my house. I just want a safe place to live. Wherever I am, I'll never be home again".

Jeunais was driving home to New Jersey from the psychiatric hospital. She was near tears, and not paying enough attention to her driving. Turning left for the Interstate entrance, she accidentally turned, against the light, into the exit ramp. A truck driver just coming off the exit barely dodged her, and stopped his truck long enough to yell, "You fucking asshole"!!

"Jeunais had come screeching to a stop in the intersection to avoid hitting the truck. She heard the truck driver loud and clear, and heard cars in the intersection blaring their horns at her. She broke down and cried uncontrollably. She then saw, through her tears, the discharge papers from the Kingsboro Hospital. And then she heard a man at her car window...

"Miss, are you okay? Are you okay? I'll call an ambulance"!

Jeunais suddenly became alarmed at the prospect of going back to the psychiatric hospital if the paramedics saw her discharge papers. She rolled her window down and yelled, "No! No! I'm okay! There's nobody hurt, is there? I didn't get hit! Is everyone else okay"? Everyone was indeed okay, and Jeunais stoically steeled her face. She drove two blocks and pulled over, took out her phone and pulled up Afah's number. The name read, "Ahi?", "Afah?". She was about to hit call, and then stopped and put the phone down and stepped harder on the gas, and changed course from her house to NYU.

Afah walked into his classroom and did not see someone sort of hiding behind the door. It is his very pretty, sad and vulnerable looking young student, Jeunais. She was simply looking at him.

Then she said, "Checked out of the hospital today".

Afah, very surprised, turned quickly. Then he was again surprised to see who it was. "Jeunais"! he exclaimed. "I didn't know you were coming back. Not if, not when, nothing. I called you, texted you, emailed you!"

"I know. I had enough going on in my head than to deal with an age-inappropriate sexual curiosity, comforting shoulder, spiritual partner".

"Well, is it really -", began Afah.

Jeunais interrupted with, "Your other playthings aren't enough for you"?

"I don't believe there is anything wrong with playthings, as you call them, even though I don't think that's a particularly respectful term for those that I might have been intimate with. Maybe, I'm _their_ plaything too. And I've only seen you twice outside of this classroom. And have been wondering just about every day if I'd ever see you again. I didn't know where you were, I tried to find out; I only found out what happened with...your mother and father".

"You didn't answer my question Professor Afah".

"Okay, no, they are not enough for me. It may sound like the movies or something, but there is something, you know, special about you. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's told you that".

"And what if I looked like an old hag?......never mind".

At that point, several students had walked in. Among them was Jolan, who noticed that Jeunais and Afah seemed to be connecting.

Afah now spoke in a whisper to Jeunais, "I've asked you before. It's just a drink, or a coffee, or one of those four-syllable drinks your fair sex favors".

Jeunais let out a little laugh, and still talking to Afah, asked, "You promise you won't get too serious over the macchiado"? Afah said as he went to the front of the classroom, "I can't promise anything".

Jeunais responded, "Neither can I".

Jolan at that point, walked quickly over to Jeunais, and said, "Welcome back".

"Thank you, Jolan. I appreciate that you called. I just didn't want to talk to anyone".

Jolan answered, "It's okay. But my aunt's offer of dinner and Hungarian fruit soup is always open. I mean she is your aunt too, even though you don't ever remember seeing her. I guess if you're two years old, you don't remember a whole lot". Jeunais of course, had never met Elizabeth. "I may take you up on that dinner invite one day. You sure she won't mind? I haven't seen her in years. I don't even know why she got interested in me all of a sudden".

"How's Friday"? asked Jolan.

Jeunais hesitated, and then said, "Okay".

"Good", said Jolan. I'll talk to you after class. She then whispered, "By the way, I've seen how you two look at each other. Don't do it. It can only end badly".

Jolan sat down and texted a message to someone, "Jeunais is back. She likes Afah though. A lot I think. But I arranged for her to visit for dinner at the house on Friday".

* * *

Afah was having whiskey. Jeunais had had a little too much to drink.

She said, "Thiiis is some pretty strong coffee. Nooow howd we end up here again?

Afah, in a sophomoric-type double entendre, said, "Remember? I seduced you... into coming...here".

Jeunais in her own double entendre, moaned, "Ohhh, yes"!

They both laughed.

Afah's hand was on his glass. Jeunais closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, stretched her arms so that her hands touched the table near Afah's glass, and then exhaled. She opened her eyes, gazed at her hands, and crawled them over to touch Afah's fingertips. Afah cupped her hands in his.

"It's a little surprising to me, but uh, and I never have said THIS to ANYONE ELSE, this is about THE best moment of my life. Sorry, I know you didn't want me to say"...he was interrupted by Jeunais putting a finger on his mouth.

"Just don't hurt me", she said. "Just keep me safe... Please".

Half an hour later, Jeunais took a breath of wonder and excited pleasure as she entered Afah's apartment. They looked intensely into each other's eyes. When they made love, it was an extended, passionate, romantic and lustful adventure for them both. The many candles that Afah had lit threw shadows of their passion against the walls. When they finally finished, with Afah still inside Jeunais, she said in an out-of-breath whisper, "Stay".

"I will", he said, also out of breath.

"Stay a long time".

"I will", he said.

The night breeze blew the curtains a bit, and outside a window in the distance, a crouching figure atop a nearby roof watched. It was Scylla, dressed for battle exactly as she was 400 years prior.

The next morning, Jeunais was in the kitchen wearing Afah's shirt from the night before and apparently nothing else, as she poured orange juice into glasses. She saw two goblets on the fireplace mantle, not really used for drinking. But she retrieved them, ran her finger through the dust on them, smiled, washed the goblets, and poured the juice from the glasses into the goblets. She looked very innocent and vulnerable. Afah came in wearing sweatpants. He looked at Jeunais and kept looking. Jeunais smiled at him, and handed him a goblet. He went to click them, but Jeunais wound her hand around his and gently poured some of her juice into his. He looked at her, and did the same thing, a little hesitantly. On this morning, the rest of the world had no place in their lives.

Afah cleared his throat as he tried to speak, tried to get the words out. "I don't _usually_ ask this. Achhh! That didn't come out right"!

Jeunais asked, "You mean you don't usually ask this of women you've just made love to"?

"Well, yes".

"So I'm the first? Or almost the first"?

"The very first, actually, that I have loved in the way I loved you last night and this morning". Then there was a moment of silence, a little tense, but not awkward.

Afah said, "You know, umm. Sometimes when a woman feels really loved by a man because of how the night went, and if he seemed like just the type of man in bed that she imagined he would be", and he started talking fast and nervously, "ah jeez, look I'm not, like, all that ya' know, I'm just trying to say that sometimes I do ok in the evening, and then I do okay later you know, with the woman, and the woman might like me a bit, and sometimes this happens with other guys too for sure, I'm nothing special, but sometimes it does happen with me, and then sometimes the girl likes me kind of a lot after one night, I mean sometimes she says she loves me".

Jeunais said, "I didn't say I loved you".

"I know, I know...It's just that it's never happened the other way around... and it happened the other way around this time".

Jeunais, asked, "So did you just say that you love me"?

"Yeah, I, I think I did".

"That's okay. I love you too".

"Well, how come dammit? I mean, I'm happy you do. I think I'm overjoyed in fact...but how come you love me? I mean, why or what is it about me? You know what I mean"?

"First of all", said Jeunais, I don't just love you. Here's the scary part. I'm _in love_ with you...as for why or what or how come? You silly boy, I have no idea of course". They smiled at each other and kissed deeply as the curtains blew back and forth from a breeze, enough so that the sun shone in the window between the curtain sways.

* * *

It was Friday, and Jeunais was waiting outside in her car. Jolan drove up in an old classic Mustang, as could be seen by the distinctive logo.

"Hi Jeunais", she greeted.

"Hello", said Jeunais, a little shyly. "Beautiful car. Mustangs seem to never go out of style".

"Out of style or not, I love this one. It's from the '60's. A Shelby Cobra.

"Just like your tattoo", said Jeunais, for she had noticed that Jolan had a cobra tattoo on the back of her neck.

"Just like my tattoo", agreed Jolan.

Jeunais asked, "How does it feel to be driving a car that's older than you are"?

Jolan paused and smiled a bit. "hmm. I love this car".

The drive to Elizabeth Bathory's house was uneventful. The driveway was lined with trees and flowers of many types When they got there, Jeunais noticed how large the house was. Elizabeth had bought a house in Great Neck, on New York's north shore of Long Island, soon after the end of World War II. By that time, there had been a small start in her vampire cult in the United States, and she sought to have a center of operations in the USA for any eventuality. The house had a brick and stone exterior, with gables and turrets adorning the roof. It had a deep and shaded wraparound porch. Located in a forested area, it was out of sight of and quite a distance from any other house.

Elizabeth had recognized the need to learn the English language, as America was the only superpower on Earth after the second world war. She had learned it rather easily, as she had learned other languages when she was a child in Hungary.

Jolan said, "I love my aunt. I mean our aunt. She pretty much raised me".

"Maybe she could raise me too", said Jeunais. "I could use a brand new mother". Jolan put her arm around Jeunais. When they got to the door, it was already open, with Elizabeth standing inside, looking very kindly and of course beautiful.

"So this is the sweet Jeunais that my darling Jolan has told me about. I'm so sorry for your loss, my dear".

"Thank you...Aunt...Aunt...Elizabeth".

Elizabeth said, "It must sound strange to you. You don't ever remember seeing me at all. It's all right sweetheart. I'm just sorry for the sad circumstances".

Jeunais said, "I guess I'm supposed to say, 'oh, that's okay'. That's what people seem to say in these situations".

"We all know it's not okay Jeunais. I told you, my, I mean _our_ , aunt is such a comfort to a lost soul. And so is her cooking. You will never forget this authentic Hungarian dinner. Best food in the world, you know".

"And from what I hear", said Elizabeth, "I will never forget those drawings you brought".

"I only brought them because Jolan said you would genuinely like to see them, to see the joy of love in one and the pain of love in the other.

Elizabeth gave Jeunais a bear hug. Jeunais, to her own surprise, felt quite warmed and comforted by the hug.

"Sit down", said Elizabeth. "You don't need to say another word. This couch is like a cocoon. Let it wrap you up". Jolan had brought a shawl for Jeunais. She laid it over her, and said, "I'll get dinner ready.

Jeunais said, "Jolan, I heard that you told Kavalek that you were American".

"I am", said Jolan, "except when I cook". And they both laughed.

Jeunais, feeling quite comfortable, said, "...it probably wasn't that much different than other tragic love triangles, maybe a little more poetic, maybe a little more imaginative, but basically it just ended in death. Life is a terminal illness, isn't it? There is no cure for it, and it ends in death. Isn't that the definition of terminal illness"?

Elizabeth answered, "Maybe death is the cure for life".

"Sometimes it feels like that".

Elizabeth moved to the couch to be next to Jeunais. "Show me the drawings", she said. Jeunais brought out the rolled up drawings from her large handbag. She showed Elizabeth "The Dancer" and "The Dancer in Love Again".

Jeunais said, "My mom was a dancer, and this is a portrait of her. And this other one is her self-portrait, which she drew by taking my drawing of her and filling in the empty spaces. It was after she had fallen in love with someone else. This is my dad's self-portrait after he saw that she had filled in the empty spaces. He knew then that someone had stolen, maybe not her heart, but certainly her heartbeat. And so his pretty dancer broke his heart. He was insanely angry at first, then desperately grief-stricken. Soon enough, he became insanely angry again and killed her and himself. He apparently thought he had become a monster of a man".

Elizabeth gently took the father's self-portrait from Jeunais. She gazed at it for a few moments, and then said, "It is a rare thing when one of us is born a monster. Neither your mother nor your father were such. They were merely human. This man was in pain. And you loved him. And he took your mother from you and you still love him, and he took himself from you and you still love him".

Jeunais felt very comforted by Elizabeth's strong but warm presence, and gazed into her eyes, surprised to see them look sad, seemingly for her own self. Elizabeth drew Jeunais towards herself, and Jeunais gave in willingly.

Jeunais, laughing a little nervously, asked, "What will Jolan think"?

Elizabeth answered, "She will think that I am comforting you, and she would be right".

Jeunais asked, "Where is Jolan"?

"She had to study vampires, what else"? And in a jokingly mysterious tone, she said, "And I believe she is creating a magic potion for us to drink". And they both laughed.

Jeunais asked, "What does this magic potion do"?

"Oh, it works wonders". And she called in a loud but friendly tone, "Jolaaan"!

Jolan, already at the bottom of the stairs, said, "Three magic potions, coming right up".

"My God, this does smell delicious"! said Jeunais. "What is it"?

Elizabeth answered, "A very rare blend of ancient Indian teas and Eastern European herbs. To a long life Jeunais".

"And a happy one", said Jolan.

"And a safe one", added Jeunais.

They all drink. Jeunais felt the effects within about a minute, as she got up to help with setting the dinner dishes. She was a little dizzy, and sat back down. Elizabeth tucked her in to the couch and blanket. Jeunais fell asleep. The two vampire women were unaffected by the concoction. What Jeunais did not know was that hers was laced with rohypnol.

"Jolan, her neck is as lovely as yours was 400 years ago - and still is. You did well with her. Very well. She and I will be fine together now. And you and I will be fine together as well". And she gave Jolan a kiss on the lips.

A little sadly and jealously, Jolan said, "Yes, my lady. I'm happy to serve you". And she left to go to her bedroom.

It had started to rain, and then it rained harder, a driving storm that turned the roof into a drum. In the attic of the house, Elizabeth searched methodically through a trunk of clothing. She started to lick her lips quite a bit, and was almost drooling. She found what she was looking for; a sheer white short nightgown. She went downstairs to where Jeunais was sleeping. Elizabeth had gotten a wild look in her eye. Her gums had receded, and her fangs were out. She said to Jeunais, "Our difference will soon be no more, and there will be no hindrance to our passion. When you awaken from your frightening dreams, my arms will be there to hold you so tightly, and so warmly that your trembling body will then feel calmed, and as if it became absorbed into my iron spirit, and I will pour my love slowly into you, so that the so afraid place in your heart will be comforted by my love that will last forever". With that, she sunk her fangs into Jeunais' neck.

Jeunais half-awakened to find Elizabeth at her throat, but is calmed by Elizabeth's hands caressing her face and hair. Elizabeth undressed Jeunais, who was too drugged to resist in her semi-hypnotic state, and then redressed her in the white gown. She carried Jeunais up to the bedroom, which was of course, gothic and pagan in feel and look.

Elizabeth used her voicing in a both sweet and commanding way; "Jeunais"! she said.

Jeunais awakened a bit more. She saw that she was in a different room and in different clothes. She regenerated very quickly, due to the powerful concentration of Elizabeth's salivary venom.

Elizabeth continued, "Lovely gown. Stand up and take it off".

Jeunais started to do what she was told, though she did not understand quite why. It was something in Elizabeth's voice that was authoritative and convincing. Jeunais unbuttoned all but the top and bottom buttons, and covered each of those buttons with one hand.

"I'm sorry", said Jeunais, "I can't unbutton these".

Elizabeth walked slowly to Jeunais, put both of Jeunais' arms behind her back, and unbuttoned the last two buttons. She gently kicked Jeunais' legs apart, licked her own fingers, and brought them to Jeunais' genitals. Elizabeth started to massage Jeunias' lips and clitoris slowly and gently. "It's natural to be a bit nervous" said Elizabeth. Jeunais was vulnerable and embarrassed, but was entranced and powerless to do anything about Elizabeth's skillful fingers.

"You are enjoying this, I can tell", said Elizabeth, as she felt Jeunais' wetness, and soon you will come to enjoy it more, and then desire it greatly, as did my Jolan tonight, and soon you won't want to live without it. Turn around", she commanded.

As Jeunais turned around, Elizabeth caressed her belly and her buttocks, and tried hard and succeeded in not biting Jeunais again. She caressed Jeunais' cheek with her lips, pulled Jeunais' head back with her hand, and used her other hand to stimulate Jeunais again, this time until Jeunais had a shuddering orgasm, during which Jeunais clenched and unclenched her fingers against her thighs uncontrollably. Elizabeth kissed Jeunais on the back of her neck, and put the white gown back on her. She carried her to another bedroom, and caressed Jeunais until she fell asleep. Elizabeth left, shut the door behind her, and took a very deep breath. She walked downstairs to see Jolan on the couch where Elizabeth and Jeunais had been.

Jolan said, "I admire your power Countess...but I love your love...Elizabeth". Elizabeth said nothing. Jolan continued in a weeping voice, "Do you love mine"?

Elizabeth went to comfort Jolan, and said, "Of course I do".

"Then why do you want hers so badly"?

# Chapter 14

Detective O'Toole was in his boss's office, having an argument. "O'Toole said, "I know it sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous, but it's also evidence. If you think holding back evidence for the year or so that we've been doing it boosts the public's confidence, then you're on another planet. There are Youtube videos of these fang marks for God's sake, and they could be from the coroner's office, the families, the doctors or nurses; we just really have no idea.

Lieutenant Castillo said, "They could be from you".

"They're not from me! How many times do I have to tell you?! Look, we have reporters who know we're lying, a public that thinks we're out of touch with what they can handle, and families who deserve to have some damn answers, not lies, answers"!

"Yeah, and we have detectives who deserve to have jobs. And lieutenants who deserve to have jobs. You don't want yours? Go spill the beans that nobody will eat anyway, but just talk to the union before you do. It would be direct insubordination to an order from the commissioner, who gets his orders from the mayor. So you want to fight city hall"?

"So it's just politics as usual, while people are having their throats ripped apart"?

"Yep".

"Ok. Ok. Listen, how about I take vacation a couple of months early? Let me sort through this".

"Sure. Just get the reports in. Shouldn't be too difficult. Not much evidence to report, right amigo"?

* * *

For his answers to the vampire question, Detective O'Toole decided to investigate the club which urban legend had it, was frequented by vampires, the "Let It Bleed" nightclub. He gave the outside a once over, and entered the club.

He sat at the bar and ordered a beer. It was early, just 7pm, so he was one of the only customers. The bartender was a very sexy woman with long dark hair, wearing tight pants and a revealing top which showed off her large breasts. He ordered a beer. O'Toole wondered if she was a vampire.

The bartender said, "your badge is showing".

O'Toole responded, "Yeah, I was hoping you'd notice".

"And now that I have"?

"I'm assigned to the fang bite cases, and the bosses don't want to go anywhere near the 'V' word.

"Do you blame them"?

"You're a big help".

"They do want to get reelected you know. Isn't that a politician's job from day one in office, to get reelected"?

O'Toole got a phone call, which he ignored. Then he said "I'm not big enough to have bosses in elected positions".

"So you're telling me there's no politics in the police force"?

Dryly and ironically, O'Toole said, "not a shred". He continued, "Listen, you know anything about this conference in Romania? The one where they say that NYU guy is gonna' blow the lid off something or other? Vampire stuff maybe? I don't know if you believe in that or anything, but you know anything about this from your clientele"?

"Yeah. I hear it's gonna' be good stuff. Real good stuff. But it's in Budapest".

"Romania".

"It's Budapest"! What are you thinkin'? Romania? Transylvania? Vlad's Castle? No way. Like I said, real good stuff this year. Purist, not tourist".

"Aw'right aw'ready! What does Budapest have to do with real good stuff"?

"How 'bout we talk after work? My work. No pick-up talk. Just real good vampire stuff".

"I thought that's what I was here for. What time"?

"Two or so. We close early on weeknights. And maybe that's what you were here for, but now that you're here, you're lookin' for somethin' else too. You don't need to wear a badge to detectivate that. Like I said, no pick-ups. I have a real shirt that's goin' back on this body".

O'Toole looked at her for a bit. Then he said, "You got a date".

"I said, it's not a date. You got a name"?

"O'Toole". You"?

"It's Natalia".

"Hungarian"?

"Not American. O'Toole what"?

"It's not a date, so it's just O'Toole".

"I feel so deprived" Natalia said sarcastically.

O'Toole finished his beer and left. He gave the "Let It Bleed" club the once over again, checked the alley in the back, and found nothing. In the bar, Natalia got a drink for someone, then made a phone call.

"Hey", she said, "I thought New York was supposed to be fast. It's been a year since I struck first blood here, and it's only just now a detective came in. Nobody in this city is even reporting any evidence that I know they gotta' be finding". She paused and listened. Then she answered, "Do I?! Wow, a New York accent, I'm so hip"! She paused again, and then said, "He already knows about C.R.E.A.T.E. I'm seeing him again in a few hours. I'll find out if he is or could be a threat. Would not be difficult to eliminate, that's for sure. He may know New York streets, but he don't know Hungarian caves" She paused again, and then said "Thanks. It's pretty boring here though, with all these wannabes". Another pause. "Yeah, I'm just not into doing too much of the bloody stuff though. So it's back here again after Budapest espionage"? Antoher pause, and then, "OK. Happy hunting, Scylla. Bye".

There was nothing particularly unusual about O'Toole's apartment. There was a cross, the Virgin Mary, a Yankees team picture, and plain furnishings. O'Toole checked his phone for the message he got at the bar. It was from Lieutenant Castillo.

"Mike, it's Castillo, said the voicemail. "Reporter from the Post called, but not that usual piece o' toilet paper stuck to my shoe. Sexy-voiced muchacha. Laurel Lee, she said, but what the hell kind of name is Laurel Lee? Just call her Laura, tell her to get real. Called for details on the black kid's murder. I gave 'er the usual line, but she wanted info about, quote, 'similar prior cases within the last year'. Thought she was being clever. All she managed was cute. Talk to her if you want, since you're not on vacation yet, but nothing; that's nothing - as in nothing - about any vampire stuff, unless you want to stay on vacation. Take it easy buddy. Call me for her number. Aqui no securidad phono lino, understandez-vous? Ciao.

O'Toole wondered to himself, "Multi-lingual, I wonder if his wife likes that"? He dialed Castillo.

Castillo answered the phone with, "No v-word talk, O'Toole. Got it"?

"Sorry, lieu, you're breakin' up".

"Your career's gonna' break up! I'm not kidding about this Mike! This city is about tourist dollars, not about fuckin' severed headlines!

"No severed" began O'Toole, before he was interrupted with,

"I know, no severed heads, just punctured necks. I just couldn't think of anything clever to say about that, aw'right"?!

"How about 'this city is about plunging necklines, not severed necklines?'"

There was silence on the other end. O'Toole asked, "Lieu"?

"I never asked you this, but why do you call me Lou"?

"Short for lieutenant".

Castillo answered in a jovial but sarcastic tone, "Hey, I like that! Lieu! not bad". And then screaming, "No talk about vampires"!

It was 2am at "Let It Bleed", and O'Toole was at a table with Laurel Lee. "What can I get you"? he asked.

"It's on me", replied Laurel. "Business expense. Plus I'm the one who asked for the interview.

"Yeah, but I know the bartender.

"Really? For how long"?

"About six hours".

"I have a week on you. I have a week on you. I checked out this place last week. I'll get the drinks. You're police. Does that mean beer"?

"Irish whiskey. Nah, nix that. Let's see if she has anything Hungarian. Might as well get to know the culture".

Natalia showed up at the table with a "Let It Bleed t-shirt on. Laurel greeted her with a simple, "Hey".

Natalia said, "Well, it looks like we have a love triangle. Whaddayasay? Make a good headline. Asian beauty meets vampire chick".

Laurel responded, "Wasn't interested last week, not interested now. But maybe I could hook you up with a friend or two".

"Bring her in", said Natalia. "Bring them in. I can promise you strong drinks".

Laurel answered, "I'll see what I can do. You see what you can do. Maybe this vampire stuff is not all real, maybe it is all real, but one thing's for sure, it's at least part real. Get me the 411, and I'll get you a warm and friendly companion for those lonely sleepless nights".

"Days", said Natalia.

"What"? asked Laurel.

"Lonely sleepless days...can you get a little travel time off"?

"How much, and when?" asked Laurel.

"In two weeks. You'd need four or five days off".

"Not the conference in Budapest?" said Laurel.

Natalia said with surprise, "Who told you about that"?

I'm, doing a little freelancing for this Dr. Kavalek, one of the speakers. Heard of him"?

"Yeah, yeah I have". She thought for a moment. "So let's all go together", she said.

"All? All, as in who all"?

"You, me, Kavalek, and your friend here, the cop".

"Not happening", said Laurel. "Kavalek's traveling on his own. I already asked. But he knows me anyway. No disrespect, but why would he fly with you? Unless you're a for real vampire instead of a bartender who might just be pretending she knows something".

"Okay", responded Natalia, "so you, O'Toole, and me. Mile high threesome"?

"Dream on" said Laurel. "You have anything Hungarian to drink here"?

"For you"?

"For Mike. O'Toole. The cop".

Natalia sauntered over to the bar, and brought back a bottle. She poured two drinks. "You guys try this. Absinthe. Not Hungarian, but it's made sort of an exotic, though slightly pretentious comeback. Not this brand of absinthe though. Nothing pretentious about this one". When Laurel hesitated, Natalia said, "Don't worry, you're not going to start changing or anything. And say high to O'Toole", who of course was sitting right at the same table. He had been observing them talking, trying to figure out what Natalia was about.

Laurel said to O'Toole, "Sorry. We were just catching up".

"To who"? said O'Toole.

Laurel, smiling very sweetly, said, "So Natalia's going to the C.R.E.A.T.E. conference in Budapest". "I wonder what special interest you have in that"?

O'Toole said, "They have brainiacs from all over the world going there to talk about everything from cold fusion to hot weather. The intelligence there I believe is not going to be of the artificial sort. But if you want information on what I think you want it on, you might want to join her".

"Well, we are joining her. Not in exactly the close way she wants, but we are joining her".

"Sooo...I would or would not be a third wheel".

"Definitely not a third wheel! Are you serious? You wanna' go with us"?

"Considering it".

"Oh, do it!" exclaimed Laurel. "I don't even know you but I know we'd work real well together. I mean we're both in the information business. Let's team up. You be the good cop or the bad cop, I'll take either role. And we can get something, maybe a lot, from Natalia here. What do you think Natalia"? Natalia did not answer.

O'Toole looked at Laurel's openness and heard her eagerness, and took a sip of his drink. "I like this stuff".

Laurel took a quick sip. "This shit's made a comeback?! Who let it out of the barrel in the first place"?

O'Toole chuckled. "Ya' know, somehow you seem to lead a little too much with your jaw there for a news reporter".

"Way too much. Well, what do you say"?

"Who's paying for your ticket"?

"Kavalek, out of an expense fund, he said. I can see if he'll pay for -

"No, I'll pay my way. You can get me another drink though".

"So we're both going! Yes"! said Laurel with delight.

She stood up, grabbed O'Toole's hand, shook it, smiled broadly, and went back towards the bar.

Natalia said, "I'll get the drinks. I'm the manager of this place".

Back at her apartment, Laurel fell asleep and started drooling a bit. There were two cell phones on her night stand. They, along with a voice recorder and two memo pads, were lined up perfectly. There was a pencil lying on one memo pad labeled "dreams" and a pen lying on the other pad labeled "reality". The rest of the apartment was a mess. Laurel woke up and had a big hangover. After the aspirin and the orange juice and the Tums, she went back to bed and almost fell asleep, but then she moved her arm over, with her eyes still closed, to the pencil and the "dreams" memo pad, and then brought it to her right side. She then brought the pen and the "reality" memo pad to her left side. She then picked up the "dreams" pad and started writing.

One week later Laurel was driving as her phone rang. "Laurel Lee", she said.

"It's Kavalek. I need you to cover a story. Could be a good one. You up for it"?

"Sure! Absolutely! What's-"

Kavalek interrupted with, "West Milford, New Jersey. A forest off of a road they say is a little spooky. Clinton Road. Doesn't sound so spooky. Anyway, they found four bodies arranged neatly and headlessly around what they say is a small stone pyramid".

"I'm on it. But who told you and didn't tell my guys at the paper"?

"The people who pay for my research also pay for information. Who knows, maybe they'll pay for you too. Anyway, it could be the work of a splinter group of male vampires".

"Male vampires! Cool Jewel. Catch ya' on the flip side".

"Cool Jewel? Catch you on the flip side? Are you in a time warp even though you're too young to be"?

Laurel said, "I'm reading a book about American slang of the 1900s. I'm up to the 70's".

"Okay, then what's a good slang term for 'bound and gagged headless bodies'"?

Laurel paused and then said, "Tied, neck and neck?"

"You know", said Kavalek, "this could work".

Laurel arrived at Clinton Road in West Milford, and parked in back of the police cars. She wrote down the plate number of each car and noted the time of day. She went through a hole in a fence even though there were many "Private Property" signs posted. One sign read "NO TRESPASSING" in commanding letters, but on the sign in graffiti-style spray paint was written, "no guards". She clambered down a slope, headed toward the stone pyramid, got her camera out, and then stopped short when she saw the headless bodies, and then she proceeded to throw up.

# Chapter 15

Jeunais woke up. She was alone in the bed in Elizabeth's bedroom. She was very thirsty and had a headache.. On the nightstand next to the bed, was a note from Elizabeth under a quart of red liquid that read, 'If you wake up thirsty, drink this". She drank some of it, and immediately felt a little better. She called Afah.

Afah saw it was Jeunais on the phone, and got as excited as a teenager on his first date. " Hi Jeunais", he said.

"Hi Ahi", said Jeunais groggily and seemingly coming off a bad dream. I fell asleep...Jolan's aunt's house, my aunt's house...things look wavy.

"You sound wavy"! said Afah. "Are you okay"?

"I don't know...feel kinda' good but like I shouldn't feel kinda' good. Ya'know? I can't explain it".

"Can you drive? You're not speaking so clearly you know. Can you drive or should I pick you up from wherever you are"?

"Yes, I can drive. But she was hypnotic. She, I think she..."

"You think she what"?

"I don't know".

"You don't know what"??

Jeunais was getting a little more clear in the head. "Nothing", she said. "I'll be over as soon as I can".

"You can wait for me to pick you up" Afah offered again.

"I'm okay. I'll be over soon. Bye".

Jeunais left the seemingly deserted house. She was a little wobbly as she walked to her car with what was left of the quart bottle. She got in, started the car, rolled down the window, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the flowers looked extremely bright. She saw strange shapes in the trees. She started driving, and imagined she heard the wind in the trees say in an almost unearthly "whoosh" kind of way, "Safe journey Jeunais". The light of the sky seemed to hurt her eyes. She wondered about that, stopped the car, looked at the dark cloudy sky, squinted, put sunglasses on, looked at the dark sky again, and whispered to herself, "What in the hell is this about"?

On her way to the Long Island Expressway, Jeunais stopped at a convenience store, saw a man with a bandaid on his finger smoking a cigarette. She smelled something good and sniffed, got a bottle of water, went back out, sniffed again as she passed the smoker, drank a few swallows of water, threw the water out, went back in, got a Red Bull, went back out, sniffed yet again, took two swallows of the Red Bull and threw that out too, put her sunglasses on, and put her hand to her forehead.

The smoker with the bandaid asked, "Are you all right miss"?

Jeunais looked at the man, and sniffed again.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Did you cut yourself"? she asked, pointing to the bandaid.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch".

"It smells good", said Jeunais. She got back in her car and left, and the smoker stared after her, and smelled his cut. "I can't smell nothin'", he said. He took a long drag on his cigarette, and stared at Jeunais' car receding in the distance. Inside the car, Jeunais was sipping from the bottle.

* * *

At New York's JFK International Airport, O'Toole, Natalia, and Laurel all walked down a long corridor. Laurel on the left was trying to rub shoulders with O'Toole, who was in the middle.

"I don't rub shoulders with reporters" said O'Toole, as he moved to his right and bumped into Natalia.

"And I don't with men" said Natalia, as she moved to Laurel's left and bumped her shoulder.

"And I don't with women", said Laurel.

"Who's sitting where anyway"? asked O'Toole.

When the not full plane was in the air, the three of them all separated, even though they bought tickets together.

The flight attendant was making her way down the aisle with dinners for the passengers. "Dinner Miss"? she asked Natalia.

Natalia decided to have some fun with that. "If it's goulash as usual, I'll pass. It's a vampire thing. Almost all of us are pagan you know, but not of the animal sacrifice kind. We actually respect our fellow denizens of the forest, and so we're vegetarian...except when it comes to humans of course..." and then she added sweetly, "You understand".

The flight attendant was a bit taken aback, but managed to ask, "Would you like some salad"?

When all three had finished eating, Natalia came over to O'Toole and said, "You have no respect for that animal you ate. And we pagans are the ones who are seen as animal-sacrificing savages"?

O'Toole answered, "Maybe you'd like to have a memorial service for the cow"?

"Actually, I'm going to a memorial service in two days".

"Oh, sorry to hear that. I didn't know. Sorry".

"It's okay".

"If you don't mind my asking, who died"?

A few days earlier at "Let It Bleed", Natalia suspiciously eyed the all-girl, all-vampire band Gargirl on stage. There was loud music, and there were customers and waitresses dressed like vampires. Gargirl finished their song called Acid, for the drug. A spotlight suddenly shined on a translucent screen surrounding a round stage. There was a very well-proportioned young woman in a flesh-colored body suit on behind the screen. An MC circled the stage to introduce her.

The MC announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, as much as you may have enjoyed Gargirl with your ears, we now have an equally pleasurable sensuality for your eyes. Please welcome the ultra feminine, seductively dangerous, feline clawed sex kitten, Catalina; a dancer who is insatiable when it comes to pleasing each one of her guests, with sexual persuasion not being an issue at all ladies. But then again ladies, you don't want your men rushing the stage, so make sure you hold on to them real hard, real tight".

Suddenly, a ripping sound came from the stage and the name "Catalina" looked like it had been clawed into the screen. Catalina looked naked in her skin-colored body suit, and she launched into a very hot pole dance behind the screen. Because of the translucentcy of the screen, no one could see her seeming nudity, except for teasing glimpses through the "Catalina" gash. Her entire physique was entirely visible though through the screen. The audience of course did not know that both Gargirl and the dancer were real vampires and that they, the audience, could be in physical danger. The dancer eventually stopped. She enticed the audience with "Are you having fun"? The audience whooped in approval. "Let's have a lot more fun", said Catalina. "Who here has no fear in them? I'm sure there must be some macho men with young women here who they'd like to impress with their courage. So who'd like to have some fun? Fearless only, please".

Several men raised their hands and shouted. The man that the singer picked had close-cropped hair, lots of tattoos and muscles, and a very pretty woman with him. "You, Mr. Inkman. What does a strong boy like you do for a living"?

The inkman answered, "I'm a New Jersey bounty hunter".

"I'm impressed" said Catalina. "So very impressed. You must be very brave to handle a job like that. And she asked in a teasing and challenging way, "You have no fear"?

"No fear", said the inkman.

"Then come on up here and join in the fun. Kiss me and bite me, right here, on my neck, and I'll return the favor".

The inkman said to his girlfriend, "That okay with you honey"?

The girlfriend said, "Hey, go for it I guess. Sounds weird though".

"Hey, we came here for a little weird fun. Don't worry, she ain't puttin' me under any spells or anythin'". And with that, he walked up on the stage. Catalina lifted her head enticingly, and brushed her neck with her hand. Mr. Inkman bit her neck just a bit.

"Oooh", moaned Catalina. "I'm a changed woman. But now it's my turn".

She turned her back to the audience to hide what she did next, which was to tilt the inkman's head back and lick his neck. Fangs grew quickly from her mouth, and she bit him. The inkman thought he may actually have been bitten, except that his neck did not hurt.

"Did you just bite me on the neck, for real"? he asked.

"Of course not, what kind of girl do you think I am"?

Mr. Inkman looked at Catalina suspiciously, and then went back to his girlfriend, not knowing that his blood started to change to vampire blood.

The inkman showed his neck to his girlfriend. "I think she might've actually bitten me".

"Holy shit"! his girlfriend shouted. "You have two bite marks on your neck"!

"Motherfucker! She really did bite me?! I'm gonna' sue this fuckin' place!

"I hope she doesn't have any weird diseases" said his girlfriend..

"Don't you worry honey, nothin' gonna' hurt me. I am gonna' sue their asses though"!

Later that night, a woman who seemed to be in charge of "Let It Bleed" approached Natalia and asked, "How's the cleanup preparation going"?

Natalia answered, "Right on time. Thank you for coming here. I would not have called for you if I had not had trouble with that band before".

The in charge woman walked on into the kitchen and took one of many vials of blood from the refrigerator. The blood bottles read "Gargirl" and had the Gargirl logo imprinted on them. She drank the vial of blood and hid the rest of the vials in a walk-in freezer, and then she waited in the shadows. Sure enough, Gargirl, along with the MC, showed up there.

The MC demanded, "Hey, where's our blood? Did someone move our blood"?

The in charge woman, said menacingly, "You know the rules. Safety first. You blowing our cover like tonight with that bounty hunter means that now he's the bounty. Or was. We picked him and his girlfriend up quite quickly".

"So no harm done" said the MC. "Now give us our blood".

"You will give me yours", said the woman.

The MC said, "Hey, who the hell do you think you are"?

The woman moved from the shadows. "You've heard of me. My name is Scylla".

Catalina was there and said, "Yeah right! Scylla coming from across the Atlantic to see us! Must like our music! Come on over here you little bitch. I'll just take your blood".

"As I just said, you will give me yours". She tossed her head, and the sound of shuddering crossbows releasing their arrows was the last thing the band and the MC and Catalina heard before they died. Out of the background came the club's waitresses, except now they were carrying crossbows, not trays. Scylla kneeled and stroked the faces of the MC and Catalina.

.

* * *

Two days after the plain flight, Natalia rented a car and drove for several hours to northern Hungary and the caves of Barad La-Domica. There was to be a memorial service for the members of Gargirl, who had been flown to Budapest on Elizabeth's private jet. The bodies of the MC, Catalina, and each member of the band were laid out on slabs. There were a hundreds of candles all around the caves. A vampire woman raised her arms, and the other vampires in the cave lowered their heads in response. The vampire woman was Elizabeth.

She said to the gathering of other vampires, "To lose one of our own is hard. To lose six is six hundred times harder. To lose them by our own hand because they were too weak to resist the temptation of male creation...that is hardest of all, because we all know what they go through. The urge to propagate the species, the vampire species. But we must remember that propagation, even of this sort, in the public view, is a dire threat to the existence of the vampire. We must adhere to our principles of "Turn thy sister, burn thy brother, in front of no other". The dead vampires' bodies were then burned till nothing remained but bones, which the gathered vampires buried in the forest.

# Chapter 16

Afah was driving to Jeunais' house. He was wearing a necktie, uncharacteristic for him, and he checked in the rear view mirror the evenness of the knot, He brushed a little fuzz off it. He looked concerned all of a sudden.

"Shit! Nose hair", he said. "And where's my mouthwash"? It was not in his experience to be so concerned about meeting a woman. He wiped some sweat from his temples.

Later on, at a local restaurant, Afah said to Jeunais, "I've been meaning to ask you. What perfume is that? It's like no other that...I mean...sorry. It's just that you smell great".

"It's okay Valentino" she said. I've kissed two or three men before you. But not a whole lot more than that". "Anyway, when I've worn perfume, it smells weird on me. Always has. I never wear any".

"And you're not wearing any now"?

"No".

"Well, your skin smells, like, intoxicating. Probably you've heard that. She nodded. Then she said, "I've been meaning to tell you. I met a woman who seems to be my great aunt. She's a little strange, and she has a magnetic effect on me. In fact, it's a sexual effect, even though I've never been attracted to women before. She bit me on my neck...and it didn't hurt. Look at the marks. Now I need to drink blood. Human blood. I've apparently been inducted into a vampire cult, the Cult of the Iron Cobra she called it. The Cult has a code or an oath or something:

'There is power in the truth.

There is passion in the power.

There is love in the passion.

There is truth in the love.

There is power in the truth.

I do believe'".

"This is too much of a coincidence" said Afah. "And you cannot be telling me that you need to drink human blood"!

"I am telling you exactly that! And she said most of the time the oath was a warning to hide the truth, because the truth about us - she said us - would be the death of us. And all I wanted was to be safe in your arms".

"I know. And you are, you are safe. You're safe in my arms and in my heart Jeunais". He took her hands and held them tightly across the table. "But it's too much to actually believe, even if it's what I tell others to believe. But it can't be coincidence, Cannot be".

"Of course it's not a coincidence!" Jeunais said. "She may or may not be Jolan's aunt, but Jolan is spying on you or Kavalek or both of you, and she's doing it for Elizabeth, that's her aunt's name, supposedly my aunt too, and she's scouting out girlfriends for Elizabeth. She spied on you and scouted me. And the blood, the blood...I have to get it from her"!

* * *

At Elizabeth's house in Great Neck, Jeunais was drinking blood from a wine glass. She finished it quickly, and looked relieved, but certainly not happy.

Elizabeth was in the living room with her, and said, "We place people where we need them...doctors, bankers, politicians, soldiers, electricians, cops, robbers...whatever we need, we, through they who are now us, can obtain. And in Jolan's case, a New York University admissions officer. As for men, we do not trust them, and we generally kill any prisoners if they are not useful to us. If there is one who has a skill that we need or knowledge that we can use, we keep him alive and our women know perfectly well how to keep him happy. If he decides still not to cooperate with our cause, then we show him what became of others who had that attitude at first. We especially value the cooperation of the funeral homes and their embalmers".

Jeunais gasped, when she saw for the first time on the wall, the "Earth, Air, Fire, Water" symbol that Afah had tattooed on his arm. "What is the significance of that?" she asked. Elizabeth gazed for several seconds at Jeunais and then for several more at the symbol. She walked to the symbol, and pointed at each letter.

"The night time earth when we throw off our daylight disguise. The smooth air that carries the sounds and scents of our beloved animal spirits. The warm fire that fights our enemies and softly lights the cold walls of our stone homes...and the water that I wish would wash us all away forever". She paused, then continued, "Jeunais my love, I have power over many, but not over myself. Fleeting pleasures of the flesh, but I have no soul to remember those moments. I live on a dark island that others call life. One day you may give up your struggle against yourself and hunt for your own blood. Until then, I will have all that you need. And I hope you will leave your male lover. It won't go well for him if you don't. You can have others, like my dear Scylla, but you can love none. And you will be one of my most trusted. One of the most powerful of my clan".

Neither of them knew it, but Jolan was listening from the open door of her room. Her eyes were teary but angry. She picked up the phone. "Hello Scylla", she said. She told Scylla of the conversation she had just heard. "One of my most trusted", she said. "And she's letting her have men".

Scylla responded with some anger, "No one has been more loyal to her than you or I. And this descendant of hers, this weak human, wields this power of love over her!? And no one, no one else but I, has ever been allowed to have male lovers! Elizabeth is our mother, but you and I Jolan, we are like sisters. And we need to do something about this Jeunais".

# Chapter 17

In Afah's apartment, Jeunais was saying desperately, "I can't live like this. If I stay with you, she'll kill you, or worse. If I leave you, I'll live as a torturously thirsty changeling, as my oh so beloved aunt sometimes calls us. I don't want her blood, I don't want to kill for it, I don't know what to do! I don't know where I'm going Ahi, and I don't know how to get anywhere. Maybe your friend Kavalek can help me".

"But telling Roland Kavalek is not the answer Jeunais. I tell him everything, but I can't tell him this. He'll hook you up to monitors and wires and tubes and scanners. You're his life's goal and his life's work. You can't live like that either, under my best friend's microscope".

"He is your _only_ friend Ahi. Except for me. But he knows that you have no others and he knows that you'll be crushed if he does with me what you say. And he's a decent man, a good man. He won't use me as a research project. It's my only hope Ahi. I don't want to live as a slave to a monstrous drinker of human blood. And I don't want to leave the man who makes me safe in his arms. I would just rather put an end to it all. All that happened before, all that's happening now, all that will happen. I just wanted to be safe in my hostile world. Is that asking so much? I guess it is".

Afah sighed, and said, "Okay, okay". He called Kavalek.

"Roland...you'd better come over here. You'll have even more to tell everyone after you hear this...I can't tell you now Roland...please, Roland, Roland, just come over. Now would be good my friend...Two hours? Can you make it sooner than that"?

Jeunais said, "Ahi, I'll definitely be okay for two hours".

"You sure"?

"Yes, I would tell you if I were in trouble".

"Okay, Roland. I'll see you when you get here".

Afah and Jeunais look at each other. Afah said, "We have two hours. Let's make the best of it".

* * *

Afah and Jeunais were in bed. Afah was kissing Jeunais on the cheek and whispering a conversation to her while making love. Afah slowly and steadily brought Jeunais to several waves of orgasm. They did not know that they were being recorded by Jolan, the scout and huntress.

* * *

At Elizabeth's mansion in Budapest, she was listening to a state-of-the-art voice recorder. On the recorder were Afah and Jeunais making love, with Afah in control and lovingly and teasingly interrogating Jeunais.

Afah said, "So she asked you about learning vampire physiology"?

"Yes", answered Jeunais.

"Were you able to tell her"?

"Yes".

"How come you were able to tell her"?

"Because I took good notes".

"Are you taking good notes now?" Afah asked teasingly.

"On what"?

"Well, you said she bit into you, so now you're part vampire. Are you taking notes on your own physiological reactions"?

"Aahhh, I, I can't take notes now".

"Why not"?

"Because you, you're, you're inside me, touching me".

"Did she ask you how you liked your instructor"?

"Yes, and I love my instructor".

"Did you tell her that"?

"No"!

"Why not"?

"She would be too jealous".

"So what did you tell her"?

"I said my instructor knows a lot of things...ahhh, ahh...and he's fascinating".

"Did she ask you what kind of things he knows"?

"Yes".

"What did you say"?

"I think I blushed".

"What did she say then"?

"She seemed to get angry. Started to...unnhhh, breathe heavily".

"Did she say anything else"?

"No. Just more, more, ahhh, ahhh, more deep breaths. Then she said maybe I ought to go".

"And did you go"?

"Yes, I said I had homework to do anyway".

"And then you left"?

"She said, 'physiology homework'? She said it kind of sarcastically. And her face got hard. Ahhh, not as hard as you".

"So we're back to learning physiology".

"Yes! Ahi! Ahi Afah, ahh...ahhh"!

"Are you having strong physiological reactions now"?

"Yes"!

"And are they stronger now"?

"Yes! Yes they are. Ohh...oh God...ohhh"!

"And stronger now"?

"Yes! oh God! don't stop! ohh...ohhhh...ohhhhhhhh"!

Elizabeth, almost whispering in her surprise, said to herself, "Cannot believe...cannot believe...certainly cannot believe that she would do that...so she could then not have done that...could not have, could not have...cannot have...cannot have...she did...but she did...cannot believe she betrayed me. She was my last hope for something in this life that would give me more than a fleeting pleasure. Seething hell of an unending life".

Scylla and Jolan were listening too, and standing tall, looking like soldiers awaiting orders. And Elizabeth threw the voice recorder into the fireplace, as Jolan looked on, both sad and angry. Scylla's demeanor was similar, but with decidedly more anger than sadness. Scylla stared at Jolan until Jolan felt the gaze and turned to Scylla. They seemed to be forming a silent understanding and agreement.

Elizabeth said commandingly, "I'm sure that he will be at the conference. Take him. Burn him at the caves".

* * *

Afah met Kavalek at a coffee shop in Brooklyn Heights. Afah was distraught even after making love. "So there you have it", he said after telling Kavalek about Jeunais' story. "It's amazing. It's amazing right? I mean there is no way this is a coincidence. She says this Jolan vampire is trying to spy on me and you or both of us. We have to do something for Jeunais. How can I take her to Budapest? How can I leave her here? I'll have to miss the conference, that much is certain. But how do I even get her a daily fix so she doesn't have to visit that monster?! Roland, can you do something, anything? And you know - of course - that we all need to do it quietly. I mean we can't have her, you know, in the glare of the world. You know we can't do that, right"?

Kavalek was silent. Still silent, as if he were searching his mind for a solution. He let out a sigh and rubbed his hands through his thick hair. He covered his eyes with his hands. He went to the men's room without a word, and when he returned, his lips were pursed. He sat down, looked out the window. Afah watched his stranger than usual behavior with concern. He wrote on a napkin, "God, don't let this happen. Oh God, don't let this happen". Kavalek stammers.

Kavalek mumbled, "Do you have any..."

"Any what"?

"Cyanide"?

"Roland, Roland. Don't even joke about that. You're not thinking what I hoped you wouldn't think"?

"I'm not going to kill myself Ahi, you know that".

"I do know that! And so why would you have said that? Because you _are_ thinking about what I prayed to God, just moments ago, you wouldn't think. Don't for a minute think I'll let the only woman I've ever actually been in love with go under the glare of every scientific spotlight that's been invented or will be invented just to take advantage of this sad sweet thing's utterly twisted tangle of fate"?!

"Ahi, this is not coincidence. Elizabeth Bathory is still alive and she spied on you, on me, on Jeunais. If Jeunais is of the Bathory bloodline, Elizabeth Bathory will want her to herself. But the Countess Bathory does not want any of us dead, othewise we'd be dead already. But she'll take Jeunais. From what you say, she's already started to". He paused and then said, "Do you want to protect her or not"?

Afah, a little angrily, said, "Of course I do! But what you're thinking of is not protecting her! She would for real rather leave this world than be in the one that you'd create for her in the glare of the scientific spotlight. And I'd rather leave it myself than see her in that world you would create for her".

Kavalek, also a little angrily, said, "Ahi, this is what I've lived for! You've got your women. You've always had something that people call fun, not that I would know about that word. Now you've got your true love! What do I have!? What do I have but this dream that is coming true in front of my best friend's eyes? I'll tell you what else I have! My only friend, my friend for 35 years who is betraying my dream because his girlfriend is afraid of a little publicity in the name of one of the greatest advances in physiology, biology, mathematics - you name it, she's ruining it"! He paused and then said, "I repeat, do you have any cyanide"?

Afah then spoke gently. "Roland, Roland, if I am your friend, it is God's unshakeable truth that you are my only friend, at least my only male friend. But that's not even the point here. Forget about me for a minute. Roland, in Junior High, you were the most interested in all the class about how life works. And yet you were the only one in class who wouldn't dissect an animal. An already dead animal! But you're willing to dissect this poor girl's body and spirit after all she's been through? She's a child of God just like you or me or that waitress or that dog outside the window. You wouldn't disrespect _any_ living thing. It's wrong you said. And you said, Roland, it was you who said when you were just a boy, it was you who said that nothing good ever comes from doing something bad".

Kavalek sighed long and heavily and sadly and resignedly. "That's the first argument you've ever won with me. Your sense of timing is impeccable". He paused. "There's a girl, Sondra. A student. Believe it or not, I think she likes me. That way. She asked me to a party. A party where her friends would be. She said she'd rather I came to the party than get an easy A in my Philosophy of Truth course".

"Roland, my friend, I'm certain she could discuss philosophy of truth for days with you in a conversation, but maybe that's not what she wants. What greater truth is there than feeling another human's affection? Affection from a friend, a parent, a big brother, a little sister? Or a lover? Be courageous with her and your feelings. I just was, with Jeunais".

"Thinking, thinking. Remember in 1995, I was working for that biotech company, Enzon"?

"Yeah, that's when I was on an early sabbatical in Egypt".

"Right, that's why I never had the chance to tell you much about my work there. You know I don't like the phone so much, and chatty emails aren't my thing".

"So what are you getting at? They have a blood bank there or something"?

"One of the clinical research studies we did there was on testing the safety of artificial blood, a particular formulation of hemoglobin enveloped by polyethylene glycol. The study was called PEG Hemoglobin for short. So I have a solution, albeit a temporary one. The artificial blood was to be used on the battlefield when soldiers were bleeding to death, and there was no way to get blood to them quickly enough to keep them alive. You take regular blood out of the fridge and it goes bad, so you can't take it to battle with you. This PEG hemoglobin blood didn't go bad. And it was safe. No one had any, well no life-threatening side effects anyway".

"So is this blood being used now or what? Can you get hold of some? Or a lot"?

"I didn't design that blood, but I did formulate it, I made it...and I can make it again. It will take a while, but in the mean time I can get many quarts of it, I'm certain. They made huge amounts of it, and they still have those huge amounts on ice; they never were able to sell it. I still have friends, well you know, respectful acquaintances there. They won't even ask me why I need it. They'll just ask me what type of research I'm doing, and they'll believe anything I tell them because well, you know...

"Because they know you're brilliant and they have biologically inquiring minds and they'll want to see what you come up with and when can you get hold of this blood, damn it? Sorry! Sorry Roland, I just need to..."

"It's okay. I'll have it within a few days. I have to say though, Ahi, I've never seen you so taken by a woman, or girl. It's like you really...like you...

"I know, it's strange Roland. Gotta' seem strange to you. It's strange to me too for sure, but - her skin smells so good, and I actually, um...umm, well you know I think I'm in love with her".

"So I save her and I lose you".

"No possible way Roland! No possible way! I'm with you till I'm dead! No third wheel, no awkward silences, no PDA's when you're around, no going home early after the second drink, none of that! It's going to be you and me still, but you and me and her, and if she can't accept - well look, she's not like that. She won't be possessive of my time, won't pull me away from my friends, not that I have any besides you. Look! You save her and you DON'T lose me, you SAVE ME too! If I lose her, I don't know, I have to tell you, it is weird, but if I lose her, I lose myself".

"I'll get the blood Ahi".

* * *

Just a few days later, Jeunais was hooked up to an intravenous drip with a quart of reddish yellow fluid. Kavalek and Afah were both observing her.

Kavalek asked her, "You'll be okay, Jeunais"? I mean if Ahi and I go for a coffee"?

"I'll be fine", said Jeunais, "except for one thing. I don't know whether to call you Dr. Kavalek or Roland or Dr. Roland or what".

Well, my mother called me Dr. Kavalek, so...

All three of them laughed.

"So have fun Roland", said Jeunais. "I'll be fine".

Afah said, "We don't have to go you know. We can just stay and -

Jeunais interrupted and talked hurriedly, "No, really! Go ahead! I'm feeling perfect".

Afah said, "You're kicking us out, huh"?

"Yes! Now go"! she said, as she passed gas audibly. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I'm so embarrassed".

Afah, laughing a bit, said, "Don't worry, girls do that too".

"I know, I know! Look, will you guys just go and (she passed gas again, louder and longer than before).

"Hey, okay, are you really okay, I mean..."

Kavalek whispered urgently to Afah, "Ahi"!

"What"?

Kavalek took Afah by the arm and pulled him towards door.

"Come on, it's starting".

"What's starting"?.

Kavalek called to Jeunais, "Don't worry Jeunais, it's a harmless side effect of the artificial blood. It's not dangerous at all".

Afah said, "You're saying that farting is a side effect"?

"Well yes, actually. It happened with every single person in the human research study. It's because the hemoglobin comes from cows", he said, as he opened the door and pulled Afah out of the apartment.

"What?! Roland, tell me you're joking"!

Kavalek was silent.

"You're serious", said Afah, "aren't you"?

"Look, if I had told either of you, neither of you would have wanted to do it. But it is perfectly safe; there were never any dangerous side effects that anyone ever had. It's just that every person in that big roomful of embarrassed farting men had what the nurses - very cute ones I might add - called "excessive, highly audible, and prolonged flatulence" (as a highly audible and prolonged fart came from inside the apartment).

Afah and Kavalek laughed loudly, and they heard Jeunais from inside the apartment yell, "Thank you very much"!

"Cow blood, how crazy"! said Afah.

"Yes, and it causes farting, a lot of it (as they heard another even more highly audible and much more prolonged fart from inside the apartment).

Afah and Kavalek laughed even louder.

And Jeunais, from inside the apartment, yelled, "Thank you very much children"!!

"We'd better go" said Afah, and they started to walk downstairs.

Kavalek said, "I brought the article from the government licensing journal. Here. Read it for yourself. You'll both just have to be grown up about it. Get used to this. But it does recede after a couple of weeks".

Kavalek gaves Afah the URL, which landed on the page regarding government licensing of the research: (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/blr.1994.13.493a).

"Be grown up about it"!? said Afah. She sounded like a sonata with an out of tune French horn and trumpet"! They both laughed loudly.

Afah asked rhetorically, "How the hell am I going to, to do the thing, with her like that?! I mean how will I keep from laughing? And how will she even want me in the room? I have someone I love and now how do I have sex with her"?

"With your trombone' said Kavalek. Both laughed again. They entered the coffee shop still laughing. Kavalek passed by a waitress. "Two coffees when you get a chance please".

"Sure, cream or milk"? asked the waitress. Afah and Kavalek laughed like two schoolboys. "Oooohh-kay", said the waitress.

"Sorry, private joke", said Afah.

"Must be a darn good one", said the waitress.

"Hooo, boy"! said Afah.

After the waitress brought the coffees, Afah said, "I'll just have to sit in front of the television and let her just kneel between my legs, and I'll just watch tv so I won't laugh, and she can, you know..."

"I don't think so", said Kavalek.

Afah got serious, and asked, "Why not"?.

"I didn't tell you about the other side effect".

"What other side effect"? said Afah, taking a sip of coffee.

"Difficulty swallowing".

Afah was not able to swallow the coffee because he burst out laughing, while spitting out the coffee uncontrollably".

# Chapter 18

At a museum near their hotel in Budapest, Afah and Jeunais were looking at exhibits. They came across the "Cosmic Serpent" and the "Wildlife Tours in India" literature. They saw that the "Cosmic Serpent" made a connection from the Fibonacci Sequence to human DNA to the serpent. The Tours in India involved listening to a snake charmer and seeing the snake dance.

Afah told his girlfriend, "There was a strong confluence of imagery with the cobra, the ladders to the heavens, the belief in just Earth, Air, Fire, and Water; and with Paganism. Elizabeth Bathory, for all the Holy Men she had trying to teach her their version of God, was a pagan. She followed closely in her ancestors' footsteps".

Elizabeth was prepared for their visit to Budapest, and she had female vampire spies following Afah and Jeunais. The spies picked out, through selective perception, much of what Afah and Jeunais were saying.

Jeunais whispered, "Those women over there" as she motioned with her head, "They're vampires. I can smell them. That means they can smell me too. They know that I know they're here".

At the conference center where C.R.E.A.T.E. was being held, it was the day of Kavalek's lecture. There was a temporary "Vampire History Museum" set up, which featured posters of, among other things:

1. Transformations: Laron Syndrome and Other Human Blood Mutations Throughout History

2. Biological Regeneration of Blood Cells: Summation of the Fibonacci Sequence

3. Nanotechnological Replication of Man Made Microscopic Machines

4. Roadmap of Human Cell Division to Vampyr Cell Division

5. Worldwide Spread of the VamPyr: the Silk Route, Building of Empires, the Atlantic Crossing

6. Nagathese Serpent, DNA Ladders and the Shamans' Foretelling: a Non-Cosmic Connection

7. Number Carpet of the Summation of the Fibonacci Sequence (∑F)

8. Why Humans Eventually Die (and how the Vampyr can live indefinitely)

There was also, in a guarded plexiglass case, a tiny piece of parchment. The title plate read "Countess Elizabeth Bathory's blood".

Different types of people were there, ranging from possible law enforcement to possible vampire spies to vampire impersonators to various scholars and researchers to journalists. They were reading the posters and punched in URL's on their phones from each one.

An hour later, inside the conference center's auditorium, the host was about to introduce Roland Kavalek, who was the featured speaker. His highly anticipated talk had generated much enthusiasm among the scientific community and vampire subculture. The host strode to the lectern.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen" he said, "the speaker who has benefited from receiving millions of euros and dollars each year in research funding, is going to be presenting the findings of his research. I am told that he has gotten very close to finding answers to questions that were, only a few short years ago, deemed by the scientific community too preposterous even to ask. Please welcome Dr. Roland Kavalek. There was a loud applause as Kavalek took the stage.

"Thank you, began Kavalek. Budapest, and I'm sure all of Hungary, is quite lovely. And as you will hear about, quite fitting for this occasion. Our master of ceremonies mentioned that our questions had been deemed preposterous. We asked them anyway, and now we have quite sensible answers. Exciting yes, but I'm afraid that tomorrow's lecture will be a bit dull and scientific. Today's talk is a small summary. Let's start with genetics. Are you aware that the unfolding of the Watson Crick DNA model resembles that of a Cobra dance? But try reading a textbook about DNA, even if you are in genetics. It can make for an excellent lullaby. But this is vampire DNA.

Hard to believe possibly, but consider this. Now, before it was actually observed, many times, that certain amphibians change their own sex if there are no others of the opposite sex in the close vicinity; before that was observed, would anyone have believed it possible? Of course not. Before Stephen Hawking detailed, in a serious article, the possibility of time travel, did anyone believe that it might one day exist? And yet Hawking wrote, 'a black hole...has a dramatic effect on time, slowing it down far more than anything else in the galaxy. That makes it a natural time machine'. Hawking went on about how the CERN Collider physicists have already approached the speed of light, and continued, quote, 'believe it or not, traveling at or near the speed of light transports you into the future'. These are Stephen Hawking's words". He waved his hand to a whiteboard behind him, where the actual internet link to that article was written.

Kavalek continued: "The list goes on and on. The first solar eclipse that a human encountered, the first tall and roaring tunnel of wind from the sky that we call a tornado. My God, the first set of Siamese twins, and then human Siamese twins! Who says that two heads are better than one? The first...well, you get what I'm saying. For years, decades, we've been working on or hoping for some sort of hard evidence of the vampire's existence. We have the evidence in the crime labs of New York City. Vampyr blood is of the pattern of the summation of the Fibonacci Sequence.

Unknown to Kavalek or anyone in the audience, Elizabeth, Jolan, and Scylla are all there and all in heavy makeup. Sitting next to Scylla is a young woman named Isis. She had with her a sketch pad and several pencils. She is Scylla's favorite lover. Isis looked sad and was very quiet.

Scylla whispered to Elizabeth, "As I told you my lady, it is what our network suspected, and it is what we feared; he may actually have found something in the police cadavers. The enemy may be anywhere soon.

Elizabeth, also whispering, said, "Take care of it. Tell me the details of your plans later. For now, I will stay and listen intently to this man. I may have an alternate use for him. I want him alive and unharmed. I'm beginning to detest this life of hiding. Maybe he can make me human again so I can die peacefully. And take your girlfriend with you. Her silence is not comfortable for me.

Scylla said to Isis, "Back to my bed. Draw me as you see me coming in the door. Not sad this time".

"As you wish", said Isis quietly.

As Scylla moved quickly on ahead, Isis walked slowly out of the hall and into the lobby. She stopped when she saw Priestess Arianna looking straight into her eyes. Isis walked to her slowly. She said, "I would like to draw your voice one night". Arianna was silent. Isis, on her way out to go back to Scylla's hotel room, took a napkin off a coffee cart, and drew the face of a reception desk woman. Though the reception desk woman was smiling, the drawing came out sad.

In the lecture hall, Kavalek was continuing his speech.

"I'm a professor of paraphysiology, and if I presented everything, there would be far too much physiology and not nearly enough para. But tonight I am going to give you what you came here for. This is what you wanted. He glanced over at the seats where Laurel, O'Toole, and Natalia were sitting.

The vampire was created by a very common occurrence in nature; a mutation due to inbreeding. One example of how widespread mutations are is that there are over 100 of them in human hemoglobin. But most mutations in fact die, or they are sterile, and so they disappear. But there are literally millions of mutations, so some will naturally survive and propagate. However, they need to evolve over thousands of years. And this mutation I have found was the result of inbreeding among the royalty of several ancient societies. It continues possibly to this day in sparsely populated areas. King Tutankhamun and other pharaohs, the Habsburg dynasty, much of European and certain families of Asian royalty were inbred. The genetics community strongly believes that inbreeding over several generations causes genetic weaknesses, madness, sexual perversion, and often, an intense bloodlust that at times has led to killings that went on unabated, due to the wealth and power of the killers themselves".

"But there is a quite infamous killer, known as the most prolific female serial killer in history, who ruled this very country of Hungary. I'm speaking of Countess Elizabeth Bathory. The Bathorys were interbred, and Elizabeth was not the only odd one, although she is the only one who tortured and killed 650 young virgin women and girls. Most accounts say that it was to drain their blood and bathe in it to retain a youthful appearance. She did apparently drain them of blood, but I postulate that it was for a different reason. Elizabeth Bathory was a very intelligent and learned woman, and it does not seem likely that she would have thought that bathing in blood would keep one's appearance youthful. She may have needed to drink large amounts of human blood though, as those with Renfield's syndrome do. That she preferred to drink from virgin female bodies was due probably to a psychosexual desire. But the Countess did not have Renfield's syndrome. You see, I have examined her blood. A sample of it, you may have noticed, is just outside this room on a small bit of parchment that is being guarded around the clock".

"Against the wishes of police agencies around the world, the Hungarian government has allowed me to retrieve a tiny amount of Countess Bathory's very own blood, taken from one of her diaries housed in the Budapest archives. I have analyzed that blood in labs built with state of the art equipment that my benefactors' enormous funding has provided. Countess Bathory's blood shows evidence of a highly abnormal cell division process. Instead of a geometric progression of cell division, there is instead one that is somewhat like, but not quite like, the Fibonacci Sequence. No, Countess Bathory's blood cells instead divided in the fascinating pattern of the summation of the Fibonacci Sequence, which you can see in detail outside, and in the chart behind me. Notice that the cell division progresses much more slowly here in the Fibonacci summation sequence than here in the normal geometric sequence. Because the body produces fewer blood cells, it needs to obtain more blood cells, or die. By ingesting blood from the human body, the Vampyr fulfills one of nature's two basic instincts; to survive. By then infusing its victim with its own blood, the Vampyr fulfills the other basic instinct, to propagate the species. The Vampyr does both in the same act, biting a human, who then becomes, instantly and simultaneously, both its victim and its child".

At a table in the audience, there was a nervous shifting of bodies. It was the crossbow archers from "Let It Bleed", on their guard for anything.

Kavalek continued, "The vampire developed over many generations, and reached its genetic strength in Elizabeth Bathory, who was born in the year 1560. It is said that she died as a prisoner in her own castle, but she was a clever woman who inspired an almost hypnotic cultlike loyalty in her maidservants. She was royalty after all, she enjoyed fabulous wealth and power, and her personality was known to be strong like iron, even though twisted like a snake. So did she die in her castle? There is an alternate theory. Would she have died from disease or so-called natural causes? Doubtful. The multidirectional and multi-permutative nature of the Fibonacci Sequence summation's sequential cell division allows that human body to arrange its cellular defenses in any form it needs, in order to ward off invading malicious cells, such as those that caused the centuries-long black death. These cells grew themselves into a greater and stronger muscle mass.

As Kavalek was speaking, two women in Kavalek's hotel laundry room were changing their clothes into room service uniforms. They inserted darts into blow guns hidden in their clothing.

Meanwhile, Kavalek continued, "Because this new form of human body needed to hunt for blood, it needed to become acutely aware of its prey. And this mutation's hearing and eyesight became sharper, its sense of taste and smell, extraordinary. Its touch cold. Its libido hot. Its ability to reproduce sexually; doubtful. There is much more. For the detailed analysis, please visit my web site, which you see written on the screen behind me. I want to leave you with one chart and one enzyme. The chart details induced genetic change, figure 24-17 from "Genetics, Second Edition" by Strickberger. A model of DNA recombination mechanism. As for the all-convincing enzyme, it is telomerase, which is found in large amounts in cancer cells. The supreme significance of this is that normal human cells divide 52 times, at which point they reach something known as the Hayflick limit and then stop dividing. But telomerase rebuilds the, what else(?) telomeres, which allows cell division to occur - indefinitely. And THIS is what, THIS is what allows the Vampyr to live indefinitely. This telomerase is what I have found in the dried blood sample from the diary of Elizabeth Bathory, the original and real vampire. Thank you".

There was a thunderous ovation for Kavalek. He was taken aback, stormed by a tidal wave of admiration, as had never been the case before in his life. Some of the female guests, dressed as vampires, threw their red or black bras on stage. As he was leaving the stage, Afah intercepted him. Those bras are yours Mr. Rock Star, and the women who through them can be yours too. I'll catch up with you later. And Roland, thank you for protecting Jeunais".

Kavalek nodded with a brotherly smile, and then characteristically, headed back to his hotel instead of following up on the now bra-less women. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Jolan left the lecture hall. Scylla, having already left the lecture hall, spoke crisply into her phone, giving orders to her soldiers. Having work to do herself, and also a tryst with Isis, she quickly exited the conference center.

When Kavalek entered the lobby of his hotel, he noticed that a man in a bellhop uniform had just taped an "Out Of Order" sign on both elevators. He headed for the stairs. As he ascended, he saw a beautiful, hot woman with sunglasses on descending them. It was Scylla, who, along with scouts placed near all exits from the lecture hall, had been tracking Kavalek. Kavalek saw the gorgeous Scylla, and now filled with confidence from his hugely successful speech, he said flirtatiously. "Do you always look like a movie star, or just tonight"?

Scylla laughed and said, "Oh, I don't know" and hoped for a response, which she did not get. "Well, take care" she continued.

"Of what"? said Kavalek.

Scylla laughed and said "It's just a figure of-

Kavalek, unusually bold for him, interrupted with "Take care of your dinner plans for tonight"?

Scylla laughed again, and said, "You're rather...immediate".

"Not really. I didn't propose marriage to you. It's just dinner". He paused slightly. "Let's make it a late drink. Very late. I might propose marriage to you after that".

Scylla said rhetorically, "Did you just say you might propose marriage to me after a drink"?

"Well, you can guard against that if you like".

"How, by not going for a drink with you"?

"Exactly".

"But I don't ever marry anyone who I don't know anything about".

"Yoouuu were laughing, so you know that I'm funny".

"Well, okay".

"So isn't that enough"?

"No. I don't even know your name".

It's Andrei", said Kavalek, using his middle name.

"Oh, are you French"?

"No, it's just that my parents like French names".

"And why's that"?

"Because the French appreciate a good late night drink".

Scylla laughed out loud. "All right all right! I'll meet you for that drink. But you don't even know my name".

"And I never drink with someone whose name I don't know".

"It's Scylla. Yes, like in Scylla and Charybdis. And it's the first time I've ever given my name to a flirtatious man without him even asking me directly".

"And it's the first time I've ever been flirtatious. OK. How's this for a direct question"? Kavalek took his phone out, and opened up "new contact". "Nooo, make it a direct request instead. Give me your number", and he threw the phone to Scylla.

Scylla caught it with a little yelp of surprise.

"Hey, you're a good catch", said Kavalek.

Scylla laughed again and said, "Especially when I feel like this". She tapped in a phone number, and threw the phone back.

"Call you later. See you later".

"Okay, ummm, when's the marriage'?

Kavalek laughed. "We'll see. But don't rush me. Definitely not tonight. I have a couple of things to take care of. And anyway, I don't know anything about you".

"You know I'm a good catch".

Kavalek laughed out loud, "See you later", he said.

"Bye Andrei". She took a couple of steps and then said suggestively, "Hey, it's 7 o'clock already. Do you just want to meet me at my door in an hour"?

"At your door"?

"Room 618. In one hour".

A few minutes later, Scylla entered her room and made a phone call.

Elizabeth answered, "Yes?"

"This will be even easier than we planned", said Scylla. I have allowed a dual seduction. The girls will be delivering Kavalek to the caves by midnight".

"You are spectacular. But I doubt that you are 'allowing' the seduction of Roland Kavalek". You simply like men. You would be almost perfect if not for that".

"My lady", said Scylla, "I know that you disapprove of my being with the male of the species, and I'm honored to be the only one of the entire Cult of the Iron Cobra to be afforded that privilege. You know I cannot help it, but I have said the words that my loyalty is and always will be to you. You have seen me prove it before".

'Whatever heart I have left, my dear, you will always be in it".

One hour later, In Scylla's hotel room, there was a bottle of what looked to be wine". Scylla heard a knock at the door. She opened the door to see a now nervous Kavalek outside.

"So if you're Scylla, then who is Charybdis, and what type of destruction do I have to fear"? he asked.

Jokingly, Scylla said, "Oh, complete and total destruction of course".

Kavalek said, "Actually, ummm..".

"Something the matter"? asked Scylla.

"Well it's just that..."

"You seem a little less relaxed than before. Don't worry, I won't hold you to the marriage promise", and she held out a glass of wine for him and took one for herself.

"That's not what I'm really worried about".

"There's nothing at all to worry about. Cheers Andrei".

Scylla tried to click the wine glasses, but Kavalek hesitated, and he quickly lost his newfound confidence. Scylla, not wanting to lose him, slyly and smoothly slid her hand past and around his so it hooked with Kavalek's hand. She took a sip of wine, and looked at Kavalek seductively. Scylla was genuinely attracted to Kavalek, and as Kavalek took a sip of rohypnol-laced wine, she was a bit sorry that they could not have had some fun first. Kavalek felt the effects in just a short time, and fell asleep on a chair, apologizing to Scylla that he felt unusually tired.

Scylla said to the sleeping Kavalek, "Pity, we could have had some fun. I'll have to take care of both of us while you're sleeping. But first she made a phone call. "Afah and Jeunais are both in 413", she said. Give me an hour though. She hung up, and looked hungrily at Kavalek with a devilish smile.

At the door of room 413, a room service woman ignored the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle, and used her card key to enter the room. Jeunais thought at first that it was Afah, but when she saw the maid with a blowgun in her mouth, she knew that things were not right. She reached for her phone on the nightstand, but the dart hit her in the neck, and she lost consciousness almost immediately. Darvulia's poisons had served Elizabeth's cult many times for over four centuries, and continued to do so. The room service woman waited for Afah, and when he entered the room, he was met with the same maid and the same poisoned dart.

The vampire maids wrapped Kavalek, Afah, and Jeunais in sheets, and dropped them into rolling linen carts. One of the maids made a phone call. "We will have all three at Barad La-Domica within a few hours", she said.

In Elizabeth's Budapest mansion the next day, she, Scylla, Jolan, Natalia, and Priestess Arianna were in conference. Elizabeth began, "We have completed the capture of Kavalek, and of Afah...and of my poor Jeunais. But we still have two other battles to wage. This should be no problem at all. I fought entire countries four hundred years ago. This is child's play. Guerilla warfare, as they have called it for the last century or so, but warfare nevertheless. Something I've always enjoyed and done well. Scylla, for both your skill at completing your tasks, as well as your trustworthiness I am most grateful".

She continued, "Natalia is giving our friends the detective and the reporter a short tour of the caves tomorrow. Scylla, turn our sister, burn our brother, and then give Miss Laurel Lee a taste of the bloodlust".

"It will be my pleasure", said Scylla.

Elizabeth said, "Natalia, you have never seen the bloodlust. After this, you will pray to the gods that it never happens to you. You are building a nerve center for us in America at "Let It Bleed". I am entrusting you to do that. If there is another Gargirl type of incident, you may get a taste of that bloodlust. Understood"?

"Understood, Countess. It won't happen again".

Scylla said to Natalia, "After viewing Miss Lee's torment, you will return to New York with Arianna. I need hostages in case our Dr. Kavalek is not cooperative. Jolan will provide you with the information Arianna. Where Kavalek's class is, what time it meets, and when you need to get the students to my Lady's Pan Hungarian Investments office, on the floor above Let It Bleed". She said to Arianna, "Natalia will bring the concoction that you voice these poor young students to drink. There will be a bus parked on the street, with a male driver. Yes, a male. They will follow your sweet orders onto the bus Arianna, and then they won't awaken until it's time for them to step off the bus and onto the plane. When they arrive back here, you will shepherd them to Ecsed Castle. Is everything clear"?

Arianna smiled at Scylla, who did not smile back. "Arianna, is everything clear"? asked Scylla.

Arianna turned to Elizabeth, and said, Everything will be as you wish my Lady. Scylla glared at Arianna, not liking to be ignored. Elizabeth put her hand on Scylla's knee, and Scylla calmed down.

Elizabeth said, "This sneaking warlike life is not one I chose for myself, and if truth be told, I no longer wish it for myself. If not for my power, you would fight amongst each other, and yet we are supposed to be a sisterhood. It has become so that I don't feel the sisterhood anymore, just the power. It is no longer enough for me. But while I own it, I command you all to act as one. Go now".

Jolan said as she was leaving, "Sometimes my lady, I wish I could comfort you as your beloved Darvulia did. Accept what you are, no worse than a human being".

Natalia was driving the car she had rented to get to Barad La-Domica for the funeral. She and Laurel and O'Toole were following the historical trail of Elizabeth Bathory to Lockenhaus, Austria, Ecsed, Hungary, and Budapest. Natalia acted as their guide. They stopped at a castle in Ecsed. The three of them were exploring. Natalia suggested, "Let's explore at night". It will fit the mood.

Laurel and O'Toole ignored that and continued to explore. Laurel got lost in a passageway, and fell down one of many holes in the ground to about one floor below. She dusted herself off, and said to herself, "I'm over my head". Then she yelled, "Natalia! O'Toole"!

Natalia answered, "I'm right here"! Natalia clambered down the fallen rocks to reach Laurel, and without warning bit her, simultaneously covering Laurel's mouth with her hand so Laurel couldn't scream. Laurel struggles, but it was no use; she passed out. Natalia rushed to where O'Toole was speeding to the rescue.

Natalia said, "You will both need to be rescued". O'Toole looked at her questioningly. Natalia suddenly let out a hissing sound, showed her fangs, and said, "I was being truthful on the plane about the vampire stuff". As she hisses, three well-armed vampire warriors appeared. Two pushed him against the wall and the third used a blowgun. There was nothing O'Toole could do.

# Chapter 19

In a cave near Ecsed Castle later that night, there was banging and a horrific vocal noise from inside a strongly built wooden cage. The voice did not sound human, but sounded like a wild animal in pain or rage. Across from the cage, O'Toole was tied to a stake with a stone gag in his mouth.

Natalia appeared where O'Toole was being held prisoner. "They say you are going to be an example for other policemen" she said. "The picture of your burned body will be all over the world. You will be famous. Unfortunately, you'll be dead. But not from the fire. And I'm sorry about the gag, but they tell me that it's necessary, because you know, our ears are very sensitive, and apparently your screams bouncing off the rock walls would be quite painful. Anyway, it's time. This will be a new experience for both of us. Did you want me to kiss you good-bye"?

She then gave O'Toole a kiss, put a knife to his chest, and slit a large "X" on it. Natalia then opened the wooden cage. A woman with a face contorted by horrible pain rushed out the door, straight to O'Toole's bleeding chest. She drank his blood while biting and scratching to open his wound more. She was like an insane wild animal. It was Laurel Lee, in the throes of the bloodlust.

Inside Detective Castillo's office, he was speaking with someone on the phone. "Nada", he said, "I can't reach O'Toole, and I can't reach that Kavalek guy he's going there to work with. And this Afah Ahi or Ahi Afah, he's nowhere to be found. I ain't goin' though, I can't. I called the US Embassy...no, in Budapest. They said no way I'm doin' police work in somene else's country. Said that'd be it for me as a cop, and said they wouldn't let me do it anyway...they said they'd kick me right the hell out of the country soon as I hit the Budapest tarmac".

It was the night of the new moon, a night of veneration, and Elizabeth's local cultists had gathered together at her cave at Barad La-Domica. Priestess Arianna prayed to the moon by calling it..."Goddess Ileana Sanzana, Queen of Flowers, Sister of the Sun, hear my sisters' spells.

The other vampires joined in with, "Please O mother, give me guidance to the path of your choosing. Please give me the strength and courage to follow that path, and the endurance to keep with it, though the road may be a long, lonely, dark, desolate, dangerous, strange and painful one. Please let me feel your spirits with me as I travel, and please give me hope for my own future. Please let those spirits help me to keep and grow my love for and my faith in you, O, my goddesses. And as we do love you, please let us love our own selves, though neither god nor human are we, so we allow good things for ourselves. And as we do have faith in you, please have faith in us, faith that we want to, can do, and will do whatever you want us to do, so help me O goddesses. But above all else, Spirits of my life and Deliverance of my blessed death, just please be with me to comfort me. Please be with me, my Goddess of the Moon, for - and this I promise, whether times be hard or not, I will be with you.

Inside her cave, Elizabeth had a bedroom that very much matched the bedrooms at her several castles 400 years prior. There were perhaps 50 candles lighting the carpet-covered stone walls. She looked at a drawing of her family tree. She said to herself, "A family tree with many branches...mostly growing back inwards. Brothers, sisters, cousins, fathers, mothers, freaks. For the sake of the goddesses and their genetic curses, for the sake of the devil, how can we exist? Is there no one strong enough to destroy us"?

She went outside to breath the night air, and saw the EAFW symbol outside the cave. She gazed at it for a long time, and then spoke to herself again, "The naked earth, where I throw off my daylight disguise;

the night air that carries the sounds and scents of our beloved animal spirits; the fire that fights our enemies and lights the strong walls of our stone homes; and the water - that I wish would wash us all away forever.

Inside one of the other caves at Barad La-Domica, Jeunais was naked, blindfolded, and bound tightly to an upright x-shaped cement cross that looked far too heavy for even a woman of vampire strength to move. She had a large stone stuffed in her mouth as a gag. She was unconscious. On the ground was a glass urn with a clear liquid in it. Elizabeth walked behind her and broke a smelling salt capsule under her nose. Jeunais awakened with a start, realized that she was bound and gagged, and started making grunting noises. Elizabeth grabbed her hair from behind, yanking Jeunais' head back so that her neck was exposed. Elizabeth bit clear through Jeunais' upper lip, causing her to scream through the gag. The Countess then kissed her prisoner softly. She dipped her hand in the urn, which as it turned out, was filled with oil of some sort. Elizabeth started to massage Jeunais' clitoris just as she could imagine that Afah had done.

Elizabeth spoke softly but jealously to Jeunais. "Is this how he was doing it? Teaching you about your own physiology, was he? Was it a pleasant lecture"? She then stopped massaging and talking, and suddenly slapped Jeunais strongly on the cheek with her open palm, slapped her other cheek just as strongly with the back of her hand. She took a whip from a nearby table, backed up, and then brought the whip down on Jeunais' body very hard. Jeunais screamed in pain through her gag. Elizabeth took a deep breath, then whipped Jeunais again. She took two deep breaths, then whipped her again. She then threw down the whip, and went back to Jeunais with the oil. They were both breathing hard, one in pain, the other in jealous rage. Elizabeth started massaging Jeunais again, while talking to her. "Our blood is much to sexual too feel anything besides pleasure if we are stimulated properly", she said. Your darling Ahi Afah may be very good at what he does, but I have 400 years more experience than he". And Elizabeth laughed maniacally. "Oh, don't worry about him. He is alive and well, not even in pain, still sleeping soundly. She cradled Jeunais' head in her left arm and kissed it softly as she talked hypnotically, and as she continued to massage her with her right hand. And you can rest peacefully now too. There's no need to worry, just surrender to the pleasure of the touch of another one who loves you truly. You're not doing anything disloyal to him. You can't help what you feel. And you deserve to feel pleasure, my dear Jeunais; you've seen such tragedy in your young life. Such tragedy that is difficult for most to imagine. But I can. I have felt much pain myself over the centuries. We should rather concentrate on the pleasure that we can give each other. Wouldn't you agree, sweet Jeunias? Jeunais was breathing more and more deeply, and then finally has an orgasm, as we see her fingers clench and unclench, clench and unclench, repeatedly.

* * *

The next day, Afah and Jeunais were both passed to another of the many caves at Barad La-Domica. Scylla and three other vampire women were sitting on animal skin rugs. Scylla ordered, "Prepare them for their last dance. I want them lovelocked in death just as they seem to be in life. One of you is well-versed in the mixing the sleeping liquid"?

One of the vampires answered, "I am, my lady".

And is one of you skilled in exciting a man while he is in dreamsleep?

A second vampire said, "Yes, mistress. He will be like a rock, though not conscious".

Scylla spoke to the third vampire, "And you with the pretty needles. You must be the seamstress"?

"Yes. What is your wish"?

"Pry her open. Insert him inside her. Then run your needles through their skin. Make their bodies tight against each other, so that he cannot withdraw without ripping apart their own flesh. Then lick the wounds closed. I want them to be alive, and awake, for their final painful bow on this Earth".

Scylla walked outside to see vampires filling a large grave with firewood and oil. Jolan was there. Scylla said to her, "There is no one more loyal to Elizabeth than myself. And yet, Arianna refuses to recognize my authority, and my Lady Elizabeth does nothing to discipline her. She will try to turn your mind and keep them alive".

Jolan responded, "I also do not trust Arianna. I will carry candles, and my torch will melt them, and I will use the wax in my ears, so that I will be shielded from any voices that she may use".

* * *

In the cave, Jeunais was tied down tightly with chains, and the first vampire woman approached her, holding forceps. Jeunais' eyes went wide with horror when she saw her beloved Afah also chained down. Jeunais screamed with pain as the forceps were forced inside her. The second vampire woman was performing oral sex on the drugged and unconscious Afah. Sure enough, he grew hard while still asleep. The vampire announced, "he is ready".

The first vampire said, "He certainly is. Would he wake up if you finished the job"?

"Not if I didn't want him to" said the second vampire.

"Did you ever do that before with a man"?

"Oh! There was a time when I enjoyed being a succubus every time I could".

The first vampire asked suggestively, "Could you do that same sort of thing, with a woman"?

The second vampire licked her lower lip seductively and said, "First this". And she pulled Afah over to Jeunais, who was struggling uselessly, and trying to scream through her gag. The second vampire poured oil from a glass bottle into her hand, and covered Jeunais' insides and Afah's hard penis with it. After that she inserted Afah into Jeunais. They locked Jeunais' arms tightly around Afah's back with handcuffs, and also locked his arms just as tightly around Jeunais' back. They fastened a double metal collar on their necks, bringing their lips close together.

The third vampire, the seamstress, said, "I can take over from here". She looked very cruel as she approached the two prisoners. She knelt down, put a finger to her lips, kissed it, and touched Jeunais' lips with her fingertip. She ran her needle down between Jeunais' breasts. She then looked toward their crotches. "We need to turn him over", she said. "I'm going to start down there". And she proceeded to sew together the genitalia of Afah and Jeunais, while Jeunais screamed in pain through her gag.

The three vampires wheeled them on an open cart towards the cave opening. They stopped by a young beautiful woman with a sad expression. She picked up a sketch book and a pencil, and started drawing Afah and Jeunais. It was Isis.

The first vampire said, "Isis; always sad, always curious about the faces of death, always stimulated. The second one said, "Scylla often takes her after she puts her through the bloodlust".

The seamstress said, "These two will see on the walls the scared and sad faces of those who preceded them through the ages. And this poor Isis, so young when turned, will be drawing sad pictures of death for 1000 years".

Sure enough, sad-eyed Isis had started drawing Afah and Jeunais.

Scylla approached her, and motioned to two guards. "Take her", she said. But don't give her blood when the lust is intense. Give her the man.

Isis protested tearfully, "My lady, it has not even been a month since I passed through that horrible drought, and now to kill someone for blood? Please? Please! You know I will do anything you want, but please, not that".

"I am here to watch you do so. I want you now. To the guards now, Scylla said, empty the blood of Isis so she'll be in need immediately. I want to take her strongly before the ceremony of fire". The guards took Isis and threw her in a cell opposite a male prisoner. He was tied to a post, and was very scared. The guards bound Isis' hands behind her, fastened a rope around her neck, and tightly gagged her, and then started drawing her blood. She turned noticeably less sad and then more normal and then mean-looking and then savage-looking and finally desperate like her thirst was making both her body and mind insane. The guards then unbound Isis and opened the male prisoner's cell door. Isis ran crazily to the man, tore out her gag, and then smelling the man's heart, she started biting his chest. He struggled and screamed and bit Isis' hair to try to pull her head up. She had ripped skin from his chest, but now as her head was pulled up, she sank her fangs deeply into his neck and finished the job. Soon, her thirst was slaked and she was lying on the ground, now sad again and crying helplessly. Scylla picked her up bodily and carried her away.

Scylla exulted, "Helpless, luscious, blood like honey. Just as he grabbed your hair, so also will I, and bring you down to me. The pleasure of your sex will be as exquisite as the intensity of his pain". Scylla and her prisoner left, Scylla breathing heavily.

* * *

Outside of the Barad La-Domica caves, Kavalek, with his hands tied behind his back, was led out by vampire guards to the proximity of an overlook, where he saw Elizabeth for the first time. The Countess said to him. "I trust that your present day forensic technology found that the DNA matches? From the archives and from the vial that I arranged for you to have"?

Kavalek defiantly said, "Yes, it does".

"You've been studying this for decades", said Elizabeth Bathory; you've been provided with more cadavers than anyone but Mother Earth herself has swallowed. You've put your faith in your numbers and in your genetics. Now that it all seems to be true, according to your evidence, are you prepared to believe that your own evidence is indeed the truth? Are you prepared to believe it, or does it seem now to be out of the grasp of your ability to conceive? To conceive that your vampire theory is 100% accurate"?

Kavalek answered, "I was prepared to believe it, but ironic though it may seem, now that I have the truth, I don't believe that I can look it square in the eye, and say, 'I believe you'".

"You are now oblivious to the obvious. I'm not surprised. You know who I am"?

"If I could look unblinkingly at the facts, I would guess that you are Elizabeth Bathory. But that all of a sudden seems impossible".

"Watching intently your dream slowly taking life, you believed. Faced with reality, you reject your own hard-won proof. I am Elizabeth Bathory. I take what I want, and it is rare that I have wanted someone as much as the girl your friend is apparently in love with, and she with him".

"My friend, Ahi!? Is that who you mean? Do not harm him, no matter who you are"!

Elizabeth slapped Kavalek very hard. "I said I am Elizabeth Bathory! And perhaps I do intend to harm this man, whose body my Jeunais loves. Jeunais, from my own ancestry, who has allowed my love out of necessity, but who desires so greatly the love of your friend. Why? Because he has something that I was missing when I first saw the light of this black pit of hell that we call Earth. Why was he, and she, and everyone else on this planet born with a soul, and yet I am born with no such soul in my being, just filth in my blood! Perhaps I will put your friend to death within a few short minutes of now".

Elizabeth did not notice that Scylla did not move. She continued, "There are so many decent ones of my kind that have joined this Cult. They hunt humans yes, but merely to survive, just like any other animal would. They are not sadistic like myself. They follow me only because they would not know how to survive without their Sisterhood; and they know that it is my strength and my rule that binds them together. It's tragic, isn't it, that the first ones of my kind are born from poisoned inbred blood? Incestuous, insane, insatiable".

Kavalek said, "You simply cannot be who I have studied about with horror! No one can be that cruel! I cannot believe that you will sacrifice a man for nothing. For nothing"!

"It is not for nothing. It is because he stole the only one on earth who I could possibly feel love for. And she will not have me while he is alive. He must die".

"Do not kill him! I will help you! I can help you"!

"Indeed, you are the only one who can".

"But I will not if you kill Afah! My hand to God, I will not help you if you kill him"!

"You _will_ help me. Because you do not want your other friends to die. Scylla, bring them out. Look"!

Elizabeth pointed to an amazingly horrendous sight. Brought out from behind Kavalek, as he was verbally engaged with Elizabeth, were his students from his Paranormal Physiology class. They were chained together by the neck, with their hands tied behind them. He stared in disbelief until the shock wore off. Scylla motioned for two students to be brought over to a nearby tree stump. Her soldiers had been told who to bring. It was Sondra and Carson.

"Do it"! commanded Elizabeth.

Scylla grabbed Carson and pulled him roughly to the stump. Two of her soldiers wrestled the helpless boy down to the stump, face up, while another grabbed his head and pulled it back. Scylla raised her sword with cold eyes and brought it down, and Carson was instantly decapitated. Sondra and Kavalek were speechless with shock for a moment, and then Sondra shouted "Oh my God! Carson! Carson! Carson! Oh my God"!

Elizabeth said to Kavalek, as she motioned towards Sondra, "She's next". Kavalek screamed, "My God in Heaven, where are you?! Stop this daughter of the devil! You horrible creature! Satan spit his venom into you, and you are in love with what you have become! But you are a horrific monster whose pleasure in life is causing the most unimaginable pain in others that your own Cult believes are God's children! You don't have to be like this! I can help you find a way out! Give me time! I will find a way to change you! My God, you don't need to be like this! Don't do this! Don't kill her too"!!

"Daughter of the devil!? Horrific monster? Do you think I want to be like this?! Don't you think I envy any poor human his humanity? Don't you see that they have joy in their lives that I cannot have, just as you also see the joy in their lives, joy which you yourself have had precious little of? Do you think that the part of me that God made wants to be a monster, a bloodthirsty savage whose thirst for blood will never be satisfied no matter how savage I am?! Don't you see that I am living an endless life of endless hopelessness?! That I cannot feel anything like what you call friendship?! That all I can do is kill my enemies, even as I hope that one day they can kill me"?!

"I can help you if you do not kill my friends! I will find a way"!

"And so you shall. Indeed, that is why you are here right now. You will help me because I cannot help myself. Because my own primal instincts will not let me snuff out the candle of my own life, will not let me shut down forever the cruel workings of this revolting machine that once was a human body! And my sisters are not able to take my life, even at my orders! And I cannot bear my own life! A life spilled out on the swiftly passing stage with no audience other than those who fear me or would despise and be horrified by me! To be reviled because I kill thousands for my food, and kill them quickly mind you, in a few brief hours or days, and yet your _loving_ God himself has allowed hundreds of millions through the years to live in torture, tears, and desperate rage for their entire lives, with their agonized screams and convulsive spasms of desolate despair imploring this loving God to let them free from his beautiful creation, his beautiful earth! And do his minions forgive him and even love him in spite of his forsaking of them?! Yes!! Yes they do!! But does anyone forgive me for following an instinct for the survival I do not even want? For ending a few thousand fleeting human lives on earth, while I spend an eternity in living hell?! No!! No they do not"!!

"You are asking me for my pity"!?!? Kavalek screamed. "You, oh most powerful one, who is so very weak that you cannot rid the world of the monster you are! Cannot do one good deed by ending your horrid existence because of your precious instinct to survive!? Give me that blood-soaked sword now, give it to me, and I promise you, devil's child, that you will suffer no longer! Please my Lord, create a hell for this hellish poison! Let me send her there for all eternity! Give me that sword and I will banish you from this world, and your soldiers be damned! Let them take me! Torture me, kill me! My God in Heaven, let me rid this world of this dragon of blood"!

Elizabeth spoke a bit more calmly now, "You will have all the money you need. You will have all the bodies you need, bodies of any kind. You will have any research facility you need. You must find a cure for my eternal life. Because although I would dearly like to die, I cannot let myself be killed by an enemy. But you will not be able to do what you need to do with the grief of your friend's death weighing on you. You will still have this little girl as your friend, but you need to lose your own soul.

She motioned to Scylla, who all of a sudden, bit Kavalek on the neck. Kavalek reeled in yet another shock.

Elizabeth continued, "You will also have something that you greatly desire, but have not had. You see, we have listened to your lovelorn yearnings". Scylla then turned Kavalek around to face seven beautiful vampire women, one of whom was Lissette and one of whom was Isis. Lissette looked dominantly happy. Isis was for once without her sketch pad, and looked sadder than ever. She was drawing a portrait of Kavalek in the dirt with her bare foot.

Elizabeth told Kavalek, "You won't even have to ask them. One by one, they will visit you each night to give you what you have so long desired. But the one thing you want most is for your friend, the hated one who stole Jeunais, Jeunais of my own blood, you want your friend not to die. But he will die. Your bond with him is too strong for me to allow it".

* * *

Jolan and Arianna were at the gravesite below the overlook. Jolan held a large flaming torch. Arianna was talking to Jolan with outstretched hands. Jolan ignored her. Jeunais and Afah were lying on a large net. The six vampires lower them on the net completely into the grave.

Jolan said to Jeunais, "My sweet Jeunais. I warned you that it could only end badly. Now your lips will be kissing his until they turn to ash".

Arianna spoke again to Jolan, this time with outstretched arms. when beseeching her to spare Jeunais, as Elizabeth would have wished. When Jolan ignored her again, Arianna spoke to the vampires who had lowered Afah and Jeunais into the grave, but Jolan had told them beforehand to fill their ears with candle wax as well. When Jolan tossed her torch into the grave, the oil caught fire immediately. The flames climbed over the lovers' bodies.

Elizabeth, on the ledge overlooking the grave, did not yet know that Jeunais was a victim of Scylla and Jolan's jealous plan. "Where is Jeunais, Scylla"? Did you not order her brought to me?

"It is too late for that Countess".

"What in the names of the gods do you mean by that"?

Scylla saw the smoke from the fire in the small valley. She said,

"See the smoke Countess! Jolan could not bear to feel your love flowing out of her and into another. She is nearly crazed with jealousy. And I, hearing that you will allow your progeny to be with men other than this one, hearing that you are taking her to your side so instantly, as a trusted one? After all we have been through together Countess, after we have survived and grown together, after we have made love together and made battle plans together? I cannot abide another who may one day take my rightful place at your side. Now she is taking her rightful place in a burning grave. Kill me if you must"!

Scylla stretched her sword handle toward Elizabeth, with Carson's blood still on it. She knelt in front of Elizabeth. The horrified Elizabeth rushed to the cliff's edge and saw Jeunais and Afah with the flames rising around them. She realized that it was too late. Kavalek too, upon hearing Scylla's words, regained his consciousness more quickly, and he himself stumbled to the cliff's edge. Everyone except for him is frozen by an enormously desperate, horrified, grief-stricken scream.

It was Elizabeth screaming, "Noooooo!! Jeunaaaaiiis!! My own blooood!! Oh God!! Send me with her"!!

Kavalek screamed, "Ahiii!! Oh my God oh my God oh my God. God be with you. Ahi my friend"!!

Afah and Jeunais were feeling the flames fiercely now.

Afah said to Jeunais, "I have never felt so loved before. And I have never before loved with all of my spirit. I love you now with my entire being".

Jeunais answered, "And I have never, ever felt so safe before".

Jeunais and Afah, loving each other at that moment more than anyone else on earth ever could, shared a deep and immortal kiss as the flames engulfed them.

From far away, the Cult saw the entirety of the love and the hate, of the life and the death: they saw the pyre of burning lovers, the mysterious but now sorrowful Arianna, the horrified Sondra and the dead Carson and their chained classmates, the seven vampire women trying to comfort the crying Kavalek, Jolan looking down at her rival for the love of Elizabeth, Scylla defiantly and coldly staring at Elizabeth; and for the first time in 400 years, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, on her knees, crying.

