The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

As the group marched toward the entrance of the abandoned factory, they wore masks of bravado when in fact they were as frightened as small children. One look inside the factory saw that it had been not been used for industry for quite awhile. A thick layer of dust covered everything as cobwebs connected the machines and equipment that had been left behind by the previous occupants. Boxes were stacked high and clutter lay everywhere.

But there was also something else about this factory, there was a chill in the air. A sense of doom and death had taken up residence in the building and had invaded every corner of it. The building was vast and dark with seemingly endless places to search. A long row of stairs extended to the top floor of the structure where the now empty offices stood.

“This is a really bad place,” Steve remarked in a low voice.

“They are violating so many different fire codes here,” Chris added as he studied the terrain.

“Well remind me in the morning and we’ll have someone come in and take a look,” Pete replied.

“How big do you think this place is?” Tom asked.

“Pretty fucking big,” Chris answered..

“That’s helpful,” Tom replied.

“Where is he?” Carly asked, “I was expecting an attack the minute we stepped through the door.”

“Maybe he’s not here,” Steve hopefully suggested.

“Oh he’s here,” Gordon stated, “He’s here and he’s waiting.”

When Arnie had woken up that morning he never could have imagined the way the day would turn out. He had foolishly assumed that a man coming into a morgue and breaking his arm would be the weirdest event of his life, but he was way off, way way off.

So here he was at the end of the day, babysitting four members of an insanely popular pop rock group while his fellow detectives went about hunting a vampire. This case was definitely one for the autobiography, Arnie decided.

Sighing, he turned and saw that the girls were all huddled together in conference.

“What’s going on over there?” Arnie asked.

“Nothing officer,” Mel C. answered.

“We were just saying what a wonderful job your friends were doing,” Mel B. added.

“I’m sure you were,” Arnie replied, a fair degree of skepticism creeping into his voice. “Look why don’t you just go back to your hotel or wherever you’re staying, we can handle this.”

“Why are you so mean to us?” Geri asked as the girls walked toward Arnie.

“We’re not being mean,” Arnie explained, “We just don’t want you girls to get hurt. This guy’s a madman. My friends are pros, they’ll get Emma out nice and safe.”

“See, I knew you were the nice one,” Geri said, “Those other Detectives are the mean ones. You’ll talk to us straight.”

“Maybe we can help your friends,” Mel B. offered.

“We’re very helpful girls,” Mel C. chimed in.

“C’mon, pleaseeeee!” Geri begged as Mel B. stroked Arnie’s cheek.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Arnie contended as he stepped back from the girls. “You see we can’t just let civilians go in and—”

But that was all Arnie got to say before Victoria smacked him on the head with a beer bottle they had found in the car. He yelped in surprise before he hit the ground, unconscious.

“Oh my God I killed him!” Victoria exclaimed, “I knew I’d hit him too hard!”

“Chill Victoria,” Geri said as she leaned down to check on Arnie, “He’s fine, he’ll just have a bump on his noggin and a splitting headache when he wakes up.”

“Besides that was our only of getting inside,” Mel B. contended, “Now let’s go rescue Emma, before those bloody cops shoot her full of holes.”

With that Mel B., Mel C., and Geri headed for the entrance. Victoria paused to lay down the bottle on the ground and lean in close to Arnie.

“Sorry,” she said to the unconscious Detective before joining the others.

“What do we do when we get inside?” Victoria asked her friends when she caught up with them.

“We’ll split up,” Geri said, “And whoever finds Emma will shout for the others.”

Meanwhile, the Detectives had already split up, with everyone getting into pairs and each searching a section of the building. Tom and Gordon searched the left side, Carly and Steve the right, while Chris and Pete climbed up toward a row of offices on top.

Chris and Pete climbed up the stairs as they headed for the top floor.

“Hey Chris,” Pete said, “Next time we go off to hunt a vampire, let’s pick one with a one floor hideout.”

“Or at least one with an elevator that works,” Chris gasped, “You’d think that one big flight of stairs wouldn’t be so much for us.”

“We should have exercised more,” Pete offered.

“Who knew,” Chris replied. “You think Daniel’s up here?”

“Top floor makes sense,” Pete reasoned.

“With our luck there’s another set of stairs after this one,” Chris remarked.

The search continued as each team scoured their floor. The Spice Girls had separated by then and were attempting both to search for Emma and stay out of the way of the Detectives.

Victoria crept up to the top floor with much more ease than Chris and Pete did. Keeping herself as silent as she could, Victoria followed a few steps behind inside the dark as Chris and Pete checked each office door. Victoria reasoned that all she had to do was stay behind them as they searched for Emma and if they found her, she’d just run up to help and make sure she wasn’t hurt.

Chris and Pete were mid way down the left hand side of the floor as they found empty office after empty office.

Chris tried to open the door to one, but found it was locked.

“Oh great,” he sighed, “Now what? I don’t suppose anyone left a key laying around.”

“Hold on a second,” Pete said, “I brought a master key.” With that Pete withdrew his gun and shot off the lock to the door.

“Pretty useful key you got there,” Chris remarked as they entered the office.

“It does the trick for me,” Pete replied.

The two were stopped cold as they picked up the scent that was all over the room.

“I think someone left the milk out too long,” Pete gasped.

“Whoa!” Chris added, “What the hell is that?”

“I have no idea,” Pete said, “But if I had to guess, this might very well be the scent of death.”

“Well whatever it is, that’s a stench I’m going to remember,” Chris replied.

“He’s got to be in here somewhere,” Pete said as he began to shine a flashlight around the room.

But a search through the room turned up nothing more than the bad scent.

“Maybe he’s in the next one over,” Chris suggested.

“Maybe,” Pete agreed as they walked out, the walkway surrounding the offices creaking as they did.

“These floors are none too sturdy,” Pete remarked, “Good thing I’m not fat.”

After Chris and Pete had looked into the next office, Victoria continued to silently move behind them. But as she passed the office the pair had just been in, Victoria thought she heard something.

The singer stopped in her tracks and a second later she heard the voice again.

“Victoria...” it whispered and Victoria recognized it immediately as Emma’s.

“Help me...” Emma softly cried and Victoria rushed into the office. Her eyes took a second to adjust to the darkness but when she did, she saw Emma sprawled out on the old desk that lay there. Her clothes were tattered and Victoria immediately noticed blood stains on them. The scent of the room then hit her, causing her to stagger a bit, but she quickly recovered and rushed to her friend’s aid.

“Oh thank God! Emma, are you all right?” Victoria cried.

“I’m okay,” Emma sighed as she hugged her friend, “He did such horrible things to me, Victoria.”

“You’re safe, now Em,” Victoria assured the girl, “Let’s go find the others and get you out of here.”

“No!” Emma cried as she pulled Victoria down to the desk with her, “Stay with me, I’m so scared!”

“It’s all right, Emma it’s all right,” Victoria said as she ran her hands through Emma’s hair, “He won’t hurt you now!”

“He’s out there!” Emma cried as she hugged Victoria, “You have to help me!”

“I will,” Victoria said, “We’ll get you out of here.”

“Thank you,” Emma sighed, “I love you so much Victoria.”

Emma then leaned up and kissed Victoria’s cheek lightly. The girls had kissed each other lots of times, but this time Victoria felt a chill run up her body. The singer couldn’t decide whether the chill was from fear or from something else, but before she could mull it over any more, Emma kissed Victoria on the lips.

Another chill ran up her, but this time Victoria knew that it certainly wasn’t from fear, Emma was turning her on!

“Did you like that?” Emma asked.

“Yes,” Victoria whispered.

“Then you’ll love this,” Emma promised as she kissed her friend again full on the lips. Emma’s tongue snaked into Victoria’s mouth, where it was happily accepted, and soon the pair were kissing passionately. But just as suddenly as it had begun, it ended when Victoria pushed Emma away.

“What are we doing?” she gasped as she sought to catch her breath.

“I think it’s perfectly obvious what we’re doing,” Emma replied with a grin.

“But we have to get out of here,” Victoria said, “We’re in danger.”

“Why don’t you just forget about that for a little bit and kiss me again,” Emma sighed.

“What’s wrong with you?” Victoria cried. They had to get out of here, and instead of running they were kissing.

“Nothing is wrong, Victoria,” Emma claimed as she began to gently stroke Victoria’s cheek, “Just relax and let this happen.”

“He’ll kill us,” Victoria protested, but by now she was fighting off her own raging desires as well. She found it harder and harder to resist as she stared into Emma’s shimmering blue eyes. The look of those eyes was driving Victoria wild and all thoughts of danger and death were pushed aside as she felt her pussy begin to moisten. Tiny fires seemed to flicker in Emma’s eyes and Victoria found herself unable, or perhaps unwilling to look away.

“We can’t...” Victoria softly said, but she didn’t believe her own words.

“Yes we can,” Emma replied and as if to emphasize her point she began to kiss Victoria again.

This time there was no resistance whatsoever as the pair began dueling tongues. They lay down on the old desk together as Emma began running her hands over her bandmate’s body, eliciting moans from Victoria. Emma reached underneath Victoria’s dress and slowly removed her panties. She then bunched the dress up at Victoria’s waist and admired her friend’s pussy.

“This is going to feel so good,” Emma promised before sliding a finger into Victoria’s pussy. The sensations began to hit Victoria immediately and she inhaled sharply.

“Oh God that’s amazing,” Victoria moaned as Emma continued to finger fuck her, “Please don’t stop.”

“I knew you just needed to relax a bit,” Emma said as she leaned in to kiss Victoria again. The blonde girl then removed her fingers from Victoria’s dripping pussy and, moving down her body quickly, she replaced them with her tongue.

Any concerns over maniacs were long gone and rational thought had long since ceased for the Spice they called Posh. Emma’s finger play had made her feel as good as she ever felt, and when she felt the blonde girl’s tongue begin to lap at her pussy, Victoria screamed in ecstasy

“Lick me Emma!” Victoria cried, “Lick my wet pussy! Please make me cum!”

The cries drove Emma on and she increased her speed. Soon enough her efforts brought forth a reward as Victoria came onto her face. Emma lapped up as much of her juices as she could before moving back up and kissing Victoria passionately.

“Oh my God Em!” Victoria sighed as she and Emma embraced, “That was incredible. I want to make you feel good too. Let me please you!”

“There’s no time right now,” Emma said sadly, “There are people here who wish to destroy us.”

“What?” Victoria asked as her quenched desire gave way again to the feelings of fear and confusion.. She looked and saw that Emma’s eyes had turned blood red and fangs had extended from her gums. Victoria suddenly realized that the man had been right, there were vampires, and she struggled to get away.

“Don’t struggle,” Emma hissed, “It only hurts for a second. Then we’ll be together forever. Give yourself over to our me and then we can join our Master. We’ll go and find the rest of our mates.

Victoria tried to resist but she knew that she couldn’t. The more Emma said the more it made sense. Victoria’s desires began to rage again as she thought about the bliss that would await her, her and the other girls. They could be sisters and lovers rolled into one. And their Master would protect them, Victoria couldn’t wait to meet him. He would be strong and beautiful, she just knew it.

“You know it’s what you want,” Emma urged and as soon as she saw Victoria relent, she buried her fangs in her neck. Victoria’s blood flowed freely into Emma’s mouth and she drank as much as she could.

Emma then heard a chuckling sound behind her and she saw that Daniel had joined them. Daniel had been fortunate early on to find the secret room that had been connected to this office. Who knows what the previous occupant had used it for, drinking scotch in the morning? Fucking his secretary? Smoking crack? It didn’t matter, all that mattered was that it made a good hiding place for Daniel and his brides.

“Did I do well, Master?” Emma asked as Victoria’s blood ran from her lips and down her chin.

“You did just fine, Emma,” Daniel said as he took off his shirt and cut open the wound on his chest, “But she must feed so she can cross over.”

“Master?” Victoria hoarsely asked.

“Yes, Victoria, I am your Master. You must drink now,” Daniel commanded and Victoria eagerly complied. The scars on his face were long gone, thanks to the boost he had gotten from Emma’s blood.

“You promise you won’t hurt my mates,” Emma asked as Victoria greedily drank from Daniel.

“I won’t hurt them,” Daniel moaned, “I will bring them over and they will never feel pain again.”

“Well that’s every office on the floor,” Chris sighed as their search ended.

“There’s got to be something up here,” Pete insisted.

“All evidence to the contrary,” Chris replied, “Let’s check in.”

“Good idea,” Pete said as he reached for his radio. “This is Pete, we can’t find him up here.”

“Nothing down here either,” Carly replied.

“I can’t find a soul,” Tom added.

“Let’s regroup down here,” Steve suggested, “I don’t like being split up.”

“Let’s do that,” Pete agreed, “He’s here somewhere, I know it.”

Chris and Pete then walked down the stairs and found everyone else gathered in a group.

“Where the hell can he be?” Carly asked.

“Maybe he had some kind of back exit or something,” Pete offered, “I can’t find any trace of him. Nothing up there but some weird smelling office.”

“What do you mean?” Gordon demanded.

“I mean it smelled like a dead animal or something,” Pete replied.

“Oh my God!” Gordon, “That’s where he’s been hiding during the day! You’ve got to take me there!”

“Yeah it’s right upstairs,” Chris began, but before he could go on he was interrupted by boxes being knocked over.

“It’s him!” Tom declared as he and Steve crept toward the source of the noise, but when they got there they saw that it wasn’t Daniel at all, it was merely Mel B.

“Oh great,” Carly sighed, “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Where’s Arnie?” Tom demanded.

“He’s fine,” Mel B. replied defiantly, “He’s just taking a little nap.”

“What the hell did you do to him?” Tom asked.

“We hit him over the head with a bottle,” Geri said as she and Mel C. came out of the shadows, “We didn’t want to, but we had to.”

“I ought to arrest you right now for assaulting an officer!” Pete stated, “We better check if he’s okay.”

“Wait a minute,” Mel C. interjected, “Where’s Victoria?”

“Yeah, she was following you two,” Geri said as she pointed toward Chris and Pete.

“We didn’t see her,” Chris declared.

“She was right behind you,” Mel C. insisted.

“Nevertheless, we didn’t see her,” Pete said in annoyance, “Tom go check on Arnie, make sure he’s still breathing.”

But before Tom could get toward the door, a deep mocking laugh began. Everyone jerked their heads up immediately to see Daniel standing on the walkway around the offices. As everyone stared, Daniel was joined by Sandra, Sarah, Lysette, Mary, Emily, Stacy, and Emma.

“Oh my God, it’s Emma!” Mel B. cried out.

Emma responded by smiling and baring her new fangs for her friends.

“The gang is all here,” Daniel said, “And it looks like you’ve brought some friends with you.”

“What did you do to her!” Geri screamed.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Daniel said as he grinned.

“Oh God, we’re so dead,” Steve stated in a panicked tone.

“Hold it together, Stevie,” Carly insisted.

“This feels like the end of The Wild Bunch,” Chris stated.

“Aren’t they all dead at the end of The Wild Bunch?” Pete asked.

“Yup,” was Chris’ simple reply.

“So this is how it ends,” Gordon declared as he and the Detectives formed a semi-circle to repel the attack.

“This is how it ends for you old man,” Daniel replied, “I am going to enjoy this!”

There was silence for the next bit, as the seconds ticked by as though they were hours. Each side seemed to be waiting for the other to make the first move.

“Enough,” Pete declared,. “Let’s kick some ass!”

So with that he hurled a vial of holy water up toward the walkway. It missed it’s target, but it did the job of breaking the tension. The eerie calm had ended and now it was time for action.

“YOU’RE GOING TO DIE!!!” Daniel screamed as he jumped from the walkway and lunged toward the humans on the ground. His brides quickly followed him and soon they landed and attacked.

Carly was quickly knocked to the ground by Lysette and dragged off into a corner.

“CARLY!” Steve screamed but his attentions were soon occupied by Sandra, who smacked the Detective hard across the face.

“You knocked me down before asshole,” she hissed as her fangs extended, “I’m going to make you pay for that!”

“RUN!!!” Mel B. screamed at her bandmates as they scattered to all corners of the building.

Daniel meanwhile had found Chris as his target.

“You killed Michelle,” the vampire spat out, “You’ll pay.” Daniel then lunged for Chris only to be stopped by Gordon.

“I’m the one you want Daniel!” Gordon shouted as he withdrew his dagger. “Why don’t I show you what an old man can do?”

The chaos continued as vampires battled humans.

“I can’t believe Stacy ever liked you,” Emily hissed as she pursued a fleeing Tom.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“Oh I think you’ll run into her very soon,” Emily said as she began to laugh, “She really wants to see you and finish what she started in the station.”

With Daniel’s attention grabbed by Gordon, Chris took the opportunity and tried to get away. But he couldn’t get very far before Mary leapt upon him and pinned him to the ground.

“Oh shit! Out of the frying pan...” Chris sighed as he struggled to get away.

“And right into the fire...” Mary replied as she lunged toward Chris’ neck.

But before she could get to it, Mary screamed out in pain as Pete ran up from behind and drove a stake right into her. Blood poured out from the wound as Mary lurched up and tried to pull the stake out.

“What the hell us going on?” A blood soaked Chris asked after he’d gotten up.

“I think I missed the heart,” Pete speculated as Mary continued struggle with the wooden shaft stuck in her chest.

“Guess we should try again,” Chris decided as he withdrew a stake. He took a long look at the snarling creature before him,. She was so far gone from the sweet girl who had been viscously murdered and whose soul had been corrupted.

As Chris grasped the stake, he flashed back to his meeting with Mary’s parents and the anguish and grief that had seemed to flow from them. It was time to give their baby the peace she needed. So without any further hesitation Chris thrust the stake into Mary’s heart. An unearthly scream emitted from the vampire before she fell to the ground, her face showing that peace had once again returned to Mary’s soul.

Carly was struggling with Lysette and the vampire seemed to have the upper hand. The Detective reached for her cross, but before she could, Lysette grasped her hand and began to squeeze. The vampire squeezed so hard that Carly began to hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking and blood began to leak from her hand.

Carly dropped her cross and Lysette took the opportunity to knock her to the ground. Lysette then pounced on the fallen Detective, digging a claw into Carly’s side. Carly screamed as the pain coursed through her body, blood was flowing freely from her side as she made a last ditch effort to survive.

The Detective frantically reached into her pocket until she grasped what she had been searching for, her cigarette lighter. As she began to feel Lysette’s hot breath grow closer to her neck, Carly flicked the lighter and set the sleeve of Lysette’s gown on fire.

“What the fuck?” Lysette asked as flames began to crawl up her arm. Momentarily forgetting about Carly she began to wave her arm around in an effort to stop the flame, but the added oxygen only made the fire worse and soon Lysette’s gown was completely on fire. The flames began to burn into the vampire’s flesh and Carly then knocked the vampire away and into a group of boxes and rags that quickly became part of the fire. Lysette’s screams echoed through the factory as the fire burned away at her.

The vampire leapt out of the fire, but the flames kept coursing over her body until it seemed as if she were a walking torch. But still Lysette attempted to attack Carly, only to be finally stopped when the Detective casually took out the machete Gordon had given her and sliced off Lysette’s head.

Blood continued to pour down Carly’s side as she limped away to find Steve. Her right hand was completely useless and her wound slowed her down considerably, but she continued to search for her partner.

But at that moment Steve was in a precarious situation. Sandra had him pinned to the ground as she licked her lips in anticipation.

“I think I’ll make you my personal slave,” Sandra hissed, “You will do my every bidding.”

Steve continued to try and struggle, but as Sandra stared at him he felt his will to fight decreasing. The pure weirdness of the situation overwhelmed him. A few days ago he’d been living a normal life, but now he was on the verge of being killed by, of all people, Sandra Bullock. Being killed by a movie star turned vampire was not how he had envisioned dying, but as he saw the fires in her eyes flicker it seemed a more appealing prospect. He momentarily relaxed, and Sandra took her chance and buried her fangs in Steve’s neck.

Steve gasped in pleasure/pain as Sandra’s fangs pierced his flesh. She drank freely of him, her attention occupied by the man she sought to do her first vampirization of. But the attention she paid to Steve allowed Carly to get the drop on her.

“NO!” Carly screamed, and as fast as she could she ran toward her fallen partner. Carly, who was operating on pure adrenaline at this point, pushed Sandra off of Steve and before the vampire could respond the Detective drove a stake right into her heart.

“God damn it! I think I’m getting good at this!” was all Carly could think of to say. But then she saw that she hadn’t jammed in the stake far enough and even though blood poured from the wound, Sandra was still alive.

Carly just watched as the demon died and the human soul regained control of Sandra. Her face softened as she grimaced in great pain.

“Please...” Sandra whispered as she gestured to the stake.

Wordlessly, Carly did what she knew she had to do as she jammed in the stake further, ending Sandra’s torment.

Steve was floating back and forth from unconsciousness and Carly stood in a panic as she saw her partner dying in front of her. A thousand thoughts at once swirled around her head and all of a sudden she seized upon an idea, it was silly, but then again this whole situation was bizarre.

Carly remembered a late night movie she’d seen years ago. It was called Brides of Dracula or something and she remembered a scene where Peter Cushing got bit by a vampire. He’d used a cross to close the wounds and since no other ideas came to Carly’s mind she reasoned that this was better than nothing.

She quickly used her one good hand to grab her cross and she held it up against the flowing wound on Steve’s neck. To her amazement, the cross began to burn into Steve’s flesh, cauterizing the wound. Smoke began to wisp up and Carly began to gag from the smell of burning flesh, but she held steady with the cross. Soon the wound had closed and Carly struggled to move her unconscious partner to safety.

“You owe me so big,” Carly grunted as she moved Steve away from the fire, which was beginning to burn with greater speed.

Gordon’s stab with his dagger, cut right into Daniel’s flesh, but missed the target of the vampire’s heart. Gordon tried again but this time Daniel caught the vampire hunter’s hand before he could strike.

The fire was raging and was slowly, but surely spreading around the factory as the pair struggled. Both were using all their strength to wrest control of the dagger from the other.

“If I don’t kill you, someone else will,” Gordon grunted.

“You have no idea of the forces at play here old man,” Daniel replied, through clenched teeth.

“Your kind will never rule again,” Gordon said.

“The war is starting here,” Daniel stated as he drew the extra strength he needed to grab control of the dagger and plunge it into Gordon’s chest.

Gordon fell back immediately, blood flowing freely from his chest.

“If you can’t stop me, who will?” Daniel asked with a grin. He came up to the fallen hunter and pushed the dagger in deeper.

“You will not win,” Gordon haltingly said as he drew in short, ragged breaths. Then with a gasp, he fell to the ground.

As soon as the battle had started, the remaining Spice Girls had run with two goals in mind. First to find Emma and Victoria and get out of there as soon as they could. The three had split up to search for their lost friends and as Mel C. ducked the carnage, she saw Victoria through the smoke.

Mel C. ran to her friend, but she immediately stopped when she saw the wound on Victoria’s neck and the hungry look in her eyes.

“Oh no!” Mel cried as Victoria crept closer to her. She wasn’t sure what the hell was going on here, but she knew that whatever had happened to Emma had happened to Victoria.

“Melanie,” Victoria sighed, her voice soft and full of love.

“What did he do to you?” Mel cried in fear and pain.

“It’s so wonderful Melanie,” Victoria said as she came up to her friend. “I resisted too at first but Emma showed me how beautiful the change is. I can show you such wonderful things.”

“Oh please Victoria no,” Mel sighed as her will to run began to disappear. “Don’t do this!”

“Kiss me,” Victoria sighed as she embraced Mel, “Then we can join Emma and our Master forever.”

Every lesson Mel had learned from the horror movies she had seen told her to pick up the piece of wood lying on the ground near them and plunge it into Victoria’s heart, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t kill her friend. And anyway as she looked deeply in Victoria’s eyes, it began to become clear to her. This was the path to eternal love and pleasure. Mel then offered no resistance when Victoria pressed her lips up against hers and began to kiss her passionately/

Soon their tongues were intertwined and as chaos reigned around them, the two continued to kiss. Mel’s arousal was at such a high point by then that she all of a sudden came in the middle of the kiss.

As the pleasurable sensations of her orgasm shook Mel’s body, Victoria’s fangs extended and she buried them in Mel’s neck. Victoria drank deeply, loving the taste of Mel’s blood.

Breaking away from her feast, Victoria then slipped down the top of her dress to expose her breasts. She then made a small cut on the top of her right breast and gently pushed the entranced Mel toward it.

“Drink,” Victoria commanded, and Mel complied as quickly as she could. Blood trickled out of the wound and Mel lapped it up, feeling the effects almost immediately. But before they could go any further, the pair was rudely interrupted by Pete who thrust a cross in Victoria’s face.

Victoria hissed in pain when she saw the cross. Mel slipped away from her body and collapsed on the floor. Pete then withdrew a stake and began walking closer to the frozen Victoria.

“Sorry,” Pete muttered as he rose the stake, but before he could his arm was grabbed from behind. The Detective quickly turned his head to see who it was. He was expecting a ravenous vampire, but he instead saw Geri.

“What the hell are you doing?” Geri demanded of Pete.

“I’ve got to kill her!” Pete shouted as he violently pulled his arm away from Geri’s grasp.

“Oh no you won’t!” Geri shouted back, “I won’t let you!”

“For God’s sake she’s a vampire!” Pete said as he continued to hold Victoria at bay with the cross, “Look what she just did to your friend!”

“We can help her!” Geri insisted, “I won’t let you kill my friends!”

“Fuck you!” Pete spat at Geri and once again lunged at Victoria. But, acting as quick as she could, Geri reached into Pete’s holster and pulled out his gun. She clicked off the safety and pointed it straight at Pete’s head. The Detective froze instantly.

“Put that gun down you stupid bitch,” Pete said, his fear masked by bravado again, “I’ve seen what these things can do! I have to kill them!”

“Let Victoria go!” Geri insisted as she kept the gun aimed at Pete’s head.

Meanwhile Tom had managed to corner Emily, and as she searched for a way out, he withdrew his stake.

“This is for Stacy,” he said as he moved forward, but as he did Stacy leapt out from the shadows and tackled Tom, knocking the stake right out of his hand. They rolled around for a bit before she pinned him.

“What’s the matter, Tom?” Stacy hissed her fangs extended and her eyes blood red, “Don’t you want me anymore?”

“Stacy you’ve got to fight this,” Tom pleaded, “Gordon says that we can save you! But you’ve got to fight his influence!”

Stacy laughed mockingly in response.

“Why would I want to fight this?” Stacy asked, “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me!”

“Let’s just kill him, he talks too much,” Emily suggested.

“No,” Stacy responded, “Let’s make him our slave! We can have this stud wannabee here licking our pussies every night!”

“That does sound good,” Emily agreed before she caught Chris in her line of sight, “I think I see my next meal in front of me, make sure and leave me some of Tommy Boy here.”

“You know I will,” Stacy said as she kissed Emily. Emily then darted off in pursuit of Chris.

“You’re going to love being a slave,” Stacy said to Tom before she lunged at his neck.

It was at this point that Rasheed Williams had finished up his night of work at Burger King. The teenager went out to his bike and saw that it had been stolen once again.

“Great fucking city here,” he sighed as he began his walk home. As he walked the streets, being careful not to make the wrong type of eye contact with some of the colorful drug dealers on the street who considered shooting you in the chest a sort of hello, he began drawing in the air around him.

At least it was a nice night for a walk, he told himself. Soon he’d get a car and wouldn’t have to put up with this bike shit anymore. But in this city, that car would probably be jacked the first night he had it.

But all of a sudden, Rasheed’s thoughts were interrupted by an unmistakable smell, smoke. Curiosity getting the better of him, he ran to investigate and there he saw that that old factory was on fire. It had been closed for years, what had they made there?

Rasheed began to search his memory, but all of a sudden he reminded himself that he shouldn’t be just standing there. He ran for a phone and immediately placed a call to the fire department.

After hanging up, he saw something else. There was a dead guy in the parking lot! Rushing over to try and find out what the hell was going on, Rasheed saw that the guy wasn’t dead at all, he was just knocked out.

“Wake up, buddy! C’mon mister get up!” Rasheed said as he pulled Arnie out of his state of unconsciousness.

“Deja vu all over again,” Arnie remarked as he shook off the fuzziness, his hand immediately went to the bump on the back of his head, which was swelling up very nicely. It was then that Arnie saw that the building he had watched his friends go into was ablaze.

“What the hell happened?” Arnie demanded.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Rasheed shot back, “You were here first. All I did was call the fire department.”

“You did what?” Arnie said as images of firefighters running into a massacre played through his mind.”

“What am I talking too fast here? I called the fire department,” Rasheed slowly repeated, “You know like you’re supposed to do when there’s a fire.”

“Oh God they must be dead in there!” Arnie declared.

“You mean there’s people in there!” Rasheed exclaimed.

“Hopefully,” Arnie replied as he tried to consider his next move.

“Oh my God, Gordon!” Chris declared when he saw the vampire hunter’s body. He rushed over just as Gordon was drawing his last breaths.

“Tell Eli...I’m sorry...” the vampire hunter croaked with his final breaths. He then coughed once and died

“Oh shit!” Chris said, this was not going well at all. The fire was spreading quickly and if the vampires didn’t get them, then the smoke and flames soon would. Chris knelt over the corpse and closed Gordon’s eyes. Chris’ gaze wandered down once again to the dagger and he remembered what Gordon had told him earlier about what it could do to a vampire.

Chris then pulled the dagger out and after wiping off the blood he grasped it tightly. They could still get out of this alive! But where was everybody? Where was Pete?

But before Chris could answer those questions, Emily leapt out of the shadows and toward him. Chris was knocked down, and when he saw the very hungry look in Emily’s eyes he raised the dagger in defense.

However, as the vampire neared him, another figure came out of the shadows and pushed Emily away. Chris looked up in surprise and saw that it was Mel B.

“Looked like you could have used some help,” the singer remarked as Emily recovered and lunged at her attacker. But once again the singer was able to fend off the vampire as she used a high kick and a punch to knock Emily to the ground.

“Self defense class,” Mel B. said as she took her little gold cross off her neck to hold Emily at bay.

“I’ll have to try a couple of those,” Chris replied, genuinely surprised at the turn of events. “Care to do the honors?”

“My pleasure,” Mel B. said with a smile as she took a stake from Chris. The singer then grasped the wooden object and slammed it into Emily’s chest. A small geyser of blood accompanied the vampire’s scream as she died.

“Gross,” Mel B. remarked as she futilely tried to wipe the blood off.

“You really are scary, you know that?” Chris said as he began to look again for Pete.

“Nobody hurts my mates,” Mel B. emphatically declared.

It was then that Carly emerged from the smoke, an unconscious Steve slumped over her shoulder.

“Take him,” the wounded Detective said as she began to cough violently, “He’s heavier than he looks.”

“What happened?” Chris asked.

“He got bit,” Carly answered as she leaned against a wall and continued coughing from the smoke.

“Is he okay?” Mel B. asked.

“He better be,” Carly said, ‘We’ve got to get out of here, Chris. We’re going to just burn up in a few minutes.”

“Agreed,” Chris said as he lay Steve down next to Carly, “Sumner’s dead.”

“Oh shit,” Carly said, “What do we do know?”

“I don’t have a clue,” Chris began before he a bit of smoke cleared away and he saw Geri holding a gun to Pete’s head.

“What the fuck?” Chris declared as he ran toward his brother.

As he ran, and was quickly followed by Mel B., the smoke overcame Carly and she slumped over.

Stacy’s fangs pierced through Tom’s flesh and quickly she was happily drinking his blood. Tom futilely tried to push her off, as he felt his strength being drained. But as Emily’s death scream hit Stacy she stopped and she began to convulse a bit as feelings of pain wracked through her.

Tom took this opportunity to push Stacy off of himself. He tried to close the wound in his neck by placing his hand over it, he saw that humanity had returned to Stacy’s face.

“Help me,” she gasped, before the demon seized control again and her vampire face returned.

“Disregard that last message,” Stacy then hissed as she lunged at Tom again.

“Don’t you get it!” Pete shouted, “If we don’t kill them, they’ll kill us!”

“I don’t want to hear from you anymore!” Geri cried, her actions steeped deeply in denial.

“I’d never hurt you Geri,” Victoria contended, “Blow his head off and we can be together.”

“Shut up!” Pete ordered Victoria, “One more word and I will ram this stake into you so quickly you won’t even have time to scream!”

“Don’t let him hurt me Geri!” Victoria cried, “Kill him now, before he kills you! He’s crazy!”

“Yes kill him Geri,” Emma said as she floated down from the upper level, “We love you.”

“Oh shit,” Pete said as he saw his situation worsening by the second.

“Who do you trust?” Emma asked sweetly, “We’re your mates and this guy’s a stranger who’s been awful to you. Do what we say!”

Geri felt her will weakening, they were her friends and they wouldn’t lie to her. Geri stared at Emma and Victoria’s eyes as they flickered through the smoky air. She felt the eyes drawing her in. She had to do this, then she could be with her friends. He was going to kill them all if she didn’t stop him.

Geri slowly moved the gun closer to Pete’s head as she prepared to fire, but before she could she found a gun directly to her head.

“Don’t even think about it!” Chris commanded.

“Took you long enough,” Pete commented.

“I had a little situation back there,” Chris replied.

“Oh and what the hell do I have here, a fucking tea party?” Pete shot back as he continued to hold Emma and Victoria at bay with the cross as Geri still held the gun to his head as Chris did the same to her.

“I hate standoffs,” Chris remarked, “Someone always ends up the loser.”

“Yes and you’re the loser!” Mel C. said as she suddenly awoke from her metamorphism and leapt at Chris.

Chris jumped back immediately and in the process dropped a vial of holy water that had been in his pocket. The vial shattered on the ground, spilling its contents everywhere. Mel C. continued toward him but when she reached the spilled water she stopped immediately and hissed loudly.

“We may have just lucked into something,” Chris said as he quickly took out another vial and spilled it so Mel C. was trapped in a circle. He then tossed another vial to Pete who quickly trapped Emma and Victoria with it. Pete then grabbed his gun away from Geri.

“Give me that,” he said, “Little girls shouldn’t play with dangerous objects.”

Geri then responded by slapping Pete hard across the face.

“FUCK YOU!!!” she screamed, “You’re not going to kill my friends you bastard, I don’t care what’s happened to them!”

“Let’s just calm down here,” Chris said, “We have a fire going and a master vampire who seems to have disappeared. We can’t waste time arguing with each other!”

“Oh my God!” Mel B. said as she came upon everyone and took in the scene. Emma, Victoria, and Mel C. were all in full vampiric form as Geri and the Detectives fought.

“Help us Mel,” Emma hissed. “He’s trying to kill us!”

Seeing her friends in the state they were in overwhelmed Mel B. with an agonizing heart ache.

“What do we do?” she asked Geri.

“We can’t let them kill them!” Geri declared.

“They’re not human anymore Geri,” Mel B. sighed, her heart as heavy as it had ever been.

“Whose side are you on?” Geri demanded.

“I’m on yours, but I don’t know! I don’t know what to do!” Mel B. cried.

“Let us kiss you,” Mel C. hissed.

“It’s so wonderful,” Victoria added.

“The guy we were with said that if we kill Daniel then there’s a chance they could be okay,” Chris offered.

“A chance?” Geri demanded, “How much of a chance?”

“We don’t know,” Pete answered.

“If there’s a chance then lets get this Daniel bastard!” Mel B. cried.

“Where is he anyway?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know,” Pete said, “But I do know that we have to do something quick, the heat’s making that holy water evaporate fast.”

“I know there’s still a part of you that’s human,” Tom cried as he backed away from Stacy’s advances.

“Not for long,” Stacy spat back, “The wimpy old Stacy is gone for good!”

“God damn it, you’ve got to fight this!” Tom contended.

“I don’t want to,” Stacy said harshly as she pinned Tom down again and prepared to finish the job.

“That’s right Stacy. Finish him off,” Daniel said as he emerged from the smoke, “Kill him.”

“With pleasure, Master,” Stacy said as her fangs extended. She lunged at Tom’s open neck wound and began to drink again, until she heard him whisper.

“Please,” Tom softly said, his eyes begging her to stop.

“Do it Stacy!” Daniel demanded.

Stacy paused as she struggled on the inside. Tom had been right there was still a part of her that was human and it was struggling all it could with the demon Daniel had put into her body.

Stacy began to softly cry out as her internal conflict raged. She was trying desperately to hold onto the facet of who she once was, but it was being overwhelmed by a desire to follow her Master’s commands. Tears ran down Stacy’s face as she struggled mightily to control her demon.

“DO IT!!!” Daniel screamed.

“Fight,” Tom croaked, his body and voice weak.

Stacy gazed at Daniel, looking for the guidance from her Master, but instead of love she saw his cold, cruel eyes and his face contorted with rage.

“NOOOOO!!!!” Stacy screamed at the top of her lungs as he human side regained control. She grabbed a stake from Tom’s pouch and slammed it into Daniel’s stomach, missing the heart.

The vampire screamed in rage and pain as he pulled the stake out of his bloody chest. He slapped Stacy hard, sending her to the ground and he returned her betrayal by pounding the stake right into her flesh. He then began to yell ferociously as he stormed away from his former bride.

“NO!!!” Tom screamed as he struggled to get up and run to Stacy’s aid. His strength was almost gone and he had to resort to crawling. He got to her just as her life’s blood began to slowly ebb from her lips.

“Oh God, I couldn’t fight him!” she gasped.

“You did fight him, Stacy. You saved my life!” Tom replied as he struggled to hold back tears, “Just hold on, we’re going to get you help!”

“My parents...” Stacy weakly said, “Don’t tell them...what he did to me...What he made me do.”

Then Stacy stopped moving as her eyes closed and her head slumped to the side.

The fire sirens wailed as the trucks pulled up to the factory. Arnie was in a panic, not knowing what to do. He couldn’t stand by and let this fireman head in to die, but he had to give everyone in their a chance to survive the fire. Vampires may have had a little tolerance to it, but humans certainly didn’t.

“Is there anyone in there?” A fireman shouted at Arnie.

“Yes!” Arnie replied after a split second of thought, “You can’t send your men in though!”

“Why the hell not!” the fireman demanded.

“I can’t explain,” Arnie replied.

“You’re crazy,” the fireman responded, “If there’s people in there, we have to get them out!”

“I’m a Homicide Detective,” Arnie said as he reached for his badge, “Detectives are in there now pursuing a serial killer, give them two more minutes before you go in! Your men could be at risk!”

“I don’t take orders from you!!!!” the fireman shouted.

“Do it or I’ll blow your head off,” Arnie said, changing tactics as he reached for his gun.

“One minute,” the fireman said as he relented and went off to fight the blaze from the outside.

The commotion between Stacy and Daniel had attracted the attention of Chris and Pete and they ran over to where it came from.

Daniel roared in rage when he saw them and he charged toward them. But instead of attacking, he merely knocked them to the ground as he sought an escape.

“There’s no way out!!!” Pete screamed. “You’re ours!!!!”

“MASTER! THIS WAY!!!” Sarah screamed from the upper level.

Daniel ran that way, with Chris and Pete right behind him. But before he could, Daniel’s lust got the better of him and he paused to grab Geri.

“One for the road!” he shouted as he bounded up the stairs.

It was then that the holy water evaporated enough for the imprisoned Spice Girls to break free. Emma and Victoria double teamed Mel B. and knocked her to the ground. Mel C., seeing that her Master was in danger, instead lunged at his pursuers.

Her attack hit Pete first and she pinned the Detective rather easily. Chris immediately changed directions and went to aid his brother.

“FORGET ME!!! GET HIM!!!!” Pete screamed at Chris and as he struggled to get Mel C. off of him.

Chris ran toward the stairs and began climbing them two at a time. He reached the top and as he continued to pursue Daniel, Sarah leapt in front of him. She attacked, but Chris was running on pure adrenaline at this point and he merely paused to pick up the young vampire and toss her over the railing. Sarah screamed as she fell quickly and right into the raging fire.

“YOU WON’T STOP ME!!!!!” Daniel roared as he prepared to plunge his fangs into Geri.

“I’m through watching people die today!” Chris shouted as he rushed toward Daniel. He pushed Geri away from the vampire and she fell to the ground, still slightly entranced. But she had enough of her sense to immediately run to other set of stairs that would take her back to help Mel B.

“YOU’RE GOING TO DIE!!!” Daniel roared as he squeezed Chris body with his brutal strength.

But at that moment an idea popped into Chris’ head and before he could reconsider he used all his strength to propel both himself and Daniel forward. Rational thought had ceased for the Detective long ago, he only knew what he had to do.

Daniel crashed through the railing and, with Chris holding onto him, the vampire was impaled on a metal hook dangling from a ceiling crane. The hook ripped through Daniel’s body as the two dangled in mid air.

“You’re bad at this, Chrissy. This can’t kill me!” Daniel laughed mockingly.

“But this will!” Chris said as he withdrew Gordon’s dagger and plunged it right into Daniel’s chest.

The vampire had only a second to react before searing pain ripped through his body. This couldn’t be happening! Not to him! His body began to spasm as blood poured out of his open mouth.

Mel C. screamed when she saw what had happened to Daniel and she pulled away from Pete. She then began crying in pain and she collapsed to the ground.

Moments later, and just as Emma’s fangs were about to meet their target, the same effect hit Emma and Victoria. Soon all three vampires were writhing on the floor as their Master died. Sharp cries of pain and violent convulsions followed as their remaining human sides fought for dominance again.

By now Daniel was screaming an unearthly scream, high and sharp. His flesh was literally melting off his body as the vampire seemingly began to liquefy. Before long he had slipped off the hook that had suspended him in the air. As he continued to scream Daniel shot straight to the ground, taking Chris along with him.

“This is going to hurt!” Chris shouted as he fell through the air.

“CHRIS!!!” Pete screamed when the pair crashed into a bunch of empty boxes stacked on the ground. Pete immediately ran over to the boxes and when he pulled the mess away he saw Chris laying silently and covered by an enormous amount of sticky goo.

“Oh my God!” Pete exclaimed, “No! Chris! Don’t die on me!”

“Stop crying and help me up,” Chris gasped, “This is even more disgusting than it looks!”

Pete then helped his brother up and, forgetting about the remnants of Daniel’s flesh, immediately hugged him tightly.

“Oh that’s gross!” Pete said as he pushed Chris away.

“Didn’t I warn you?” Chris replied. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

But before they could move, Daniel’s last move against them occurred. His coat fell from the hook and hit Pete in the head.

“Let’s keep it as a souvenir,” Pete suggested after knocking the garment off of himself.

“Maybe not,” he then said as he changed his mind and flung the coat to the ground.

Right then the fire department crashed through the doors of the factory. They were taken aback slightly when they saw a glimpse of the chaos, but they quickly pressed on. The unconscious pair of Steve and Carly were quickly removed from the building and the firemen began to shout for everyone else to head for the door.

“Are they all right?” Geri asked Mel B. as they stared at Emma, Victoria, and Mel C. as they lay on the ground, unmoving.

“I don’t know,” Mel B. said softly as tears began to form in her eyes, “I hope so!”

Firemen then grabbed hold of Geri and Mel B. as they rushed them outside.

“We can’t leave them!” Mel B. shouted.

“Don’t worry we’re going to get them out!!” a fireman said as he and two others in his unit picked up the unconscious girls.

“Tom! We gotta get out of here!” Chris screamed as the fire began to cause the upper structure to collapse.

“I’m not leaving without her,” Tom said as he stared at the unmoving Stacy.

Pete immediately picked up the Stacy’s body as Chris helped Tom up.

“Is he gone?” Tom weakly asked.

“He’s gone,” Chris said, limping heavily, as they headed to the door of the factory.

“Tom are you all right?” Arnie shouted as the trio arrived on the outside.

“I’ll be fine,” Tom sighed as Pete lay Stacy’s body on the ground. They were then swarmed by paramedics. Before they even had a chance to breathe fresh oxygen, the three were being rushed onto gurneys.

“We beat him, Pete!” Chris shouted to his brother as he was loaded into an ambulance.

“We beat him, Chris.” Pete agreed as the door to his ambulance closed. They then tore off for the hospital, their sirens piercing into the night.

No one was quite in the mood to relate exactly what had happened to them, so everyone was extremely gratified when they were treated, no questions asked.

Pete and Geri checked out just fine, save for a few nasty bruises and a sprained ankle for Pete. Mel B. had dislocated her shoulder and Arnie needed several stitches for the wound on his head. And in a testament to the ability of adrenaline to save off pain, Chris was informed that he had helped Tom out of the building on a broken leg.

The others required a touch more care as Carly, also suffering from smoke inhalation, immediately went into surgery to close the nasty gashes on her side and repair her severely broken hand. Steve, Tom, Victoria, Mel C., and Emma all had to have immediate blood transfusions because as a very surprised paramedic remarked, “They all seemed a quart or two short.”

Reporters soon were swarming the lobby of the hospital, wanting immediate information about the fire, the killer, and, most importantly, the damage total to the celebrities involved.

Lieutenant Lawrence Smith pushed through the sea of media members and soon found Pete as he attempted to fill out forms in triplicate.

“Do I want to know what happened?” he inquired.

Pete then looked up and looked his Lieutenant squarely in the face as he mused his answer.

“No,” he replied as he went back to the paperwork.

“Hey Lieutenant! Look I’m in a cast!” Chris excitedly shouted as he was wheeled past on a bed. “It’s really cool!”

“He’s on pain medication,” Pete explained.

“I see,” Lawrence replied.

“Make sure you come by and sign it!” Chris shouted as he was wheeled back to his room.

“You did good, Pete. I told you that you’d solve this one. My gut feelings are never wrong.” Lawrence said as he patted his friend on the back, “But how the hell are we going to write up a report on this?”

Geri sat inside a hospital suite and watched as Emma, Victoria, and Mel C. slept. IV’s were hooked up to them and they had all just received emergency transfusions.

“Are they all right?” Mel B. asked as she came in, her right arm in a sling.

“I don’t know,” Geri softly said, it was obvious she’d been crying. “They haven’t moved an inch since they got here and the doctors don’t know anything.”

“They’ll pull through,” Mel B. said, “I know they will.”

“This is all my fault,” Geri declared.

“Now how do you figure that?” Mel asked.

“I was the one who didn’t want all the extra security hanging around the stage,” Geri replied, “I was the one who was all gung ho about going in to the building. It’s my fault they’re like this.”

“Well you’re just being stupid,” Mel shot back, “No one could have foreseen this and we all wanted to go after Emma. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself. They’re going to be fine. I refuse to consider any other possibility.”

“But what if,” Geri began, but she stopped when she saw Emma stirring in her bed. Geri and Mel rushed over to her just as she woke up.

“Geri?” Emma asked, her voice weak and filled with confusion, “Where are we? What happened?”

“Oh thank God!” Geri cried as her malaise lifted instantaneously. She and Mel then tightly hugged their very confused bandmate.

“How you holding up partner?” Arnie asked.

“I’ve been better,” Tom replied from his bed. “How’s your head?”

“Thick as ever,” Arnie answered before veering to the real reason he came, “I wish I could say something here, but I don’t know what.”

“I just wish I could have saved her,” Tom sighed , “If I’d just been seconds quicker I could have gotten to him.”

“She’s at peace, Tom,” Arnie offered.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Tom agreed, “I just wish...”

“I know,” Arnie said, “I know.”

“How are Steve and Carly?” Tom asked.

“They’re going to be just fine,” Arnie answered, “Steve will be whining and Carly will be ragging on us again before you know it.”

“Can’t wait for that,” Tom replied, “I’m gonna try and get some sleep, man. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here,” Arnie said as he left, his attention immediately captivated by who he saw in the hallway.

Tom then lay there in silence. A tear began to run down his cheek, but he quickly brushed it away.

“YOU!” Arnie shouted, only to be immediately sshhhhhed by an army of nurses.

“I have ten stitches in my head, ten stitches!” Arnie said in a harsh whisper, “And it’s all because of you!”

“I don’t suppose it would help to say we’re sorry,” Mel B. offered.

“We didn’t want to hurt you,” Geri added, “It was the only way. We’re very sorry.”

“Very sorry,” Mel B. said, “Can we kiss it and make it better?”

“Well...I...uh...don’t know if that would help...and anyway,” Arnie stammered out.

But that didn’t stop Mel and Geri from leaning up to Arnie’s bald scalp and kissing his wound lightly. The detective then turned all shades of embarrassment as he seemingly began to blush everywhere.

“Garsh...” he then said with a silly smile, “You’re forgiven.”

“How long were those pills supposed to last?” Carol asked.

“Not that long,” Pete answered.

“But he’s okay right?” Amy demanded.

“As close to okay as he ever was,” Pete said, “Now he’s just a nut with a broken leg.”

“Does he always snore like that?” Carol asked.

“Yes,” Amy and Pete simultaneously answered.

Chris then began to stir and as his eyes came into focus he saw Carol and Amy at his bedside.

“And you two thought I was going to die,” Chris said, “Silly people.”

As the night continued to drift into the next day, Pete sat alone on a chair in the waiting room, staring out the window as he ran over the night’s events in his mind. It was close to 3 in the morning and visiting hours were long over. But no one really cared about that right now.

Pete needed this silence. He just needed to sit here, look out the window, and think. It had been an absolute miracle. They were all going to be okay. He didn’t know how they did it, but they did it.

The silence was then interrupted when Pete heard a throat clearing. He turned around and saw that it was Geri standing there.

“I’m sorry,” she said, almost whispering, “I don’t know what came over me in there tonight. I just couldn’t let you hurt them.”

“Are they going to be okay?” Pete asked.

“Yeah, they’re going to be fine,” Geri answered as a wide grin came over her face.

“No supernatural force can stop Girl Power,” she then joked, causing a quick smile to hit Pete.

“What you did in there,” Pete sighed, “I understand why you did it. I would have done the same if it had been my brother on the ground. I should have seen it from your eyes. I’m the one who should be sorry. Everything about tonight was just fucked up Fucked up from the word Go.”

“Maybe someday you’ll explain all this to me,” Geri sighed as she slumped down in a chair next to Pete.

“Maybe someday,” Pete agreed. The two then sat in silence, staring at the Washington D.C. night. From where they could see, it looked very quiet.

It was almost peaceful.

EPILOGUE

She was confused, horribly confused. A coat hood was pulled over her so that no one could see what had become of her. Her skin was burned and most of her hair singed off. She had no idea how she’d survived it all. She just remembered the fire lapping away at her flesh, but somehow she was able to get out of it. Instinct told her to get out and somehow no one noticed when she did.

He was dead now and she didn’t know what to do. But she felt herself being summoned, summoned home. Not that she really could even remember what home was, but she knew she had to follow the beckoning she could feel deeply within. All of a sudden she found herself taking money from some man she knocked over and she began walking toward the airport. There wasn’t much time and she had to act now. She walked up to the ticket counter and faced the woman behind it.

“I need a ticket to Los Angeles,” Sarah said softly, but firmly.