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 F O R   L O V E   O F   E V I L E                        by Gabriel
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 For Love of Evile is (C) Copyright 1996 William R. Muench. I hereby
 give permission to transmit the story electronically as long as
 nothing in the document is changed and no money changes hands.

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Chapter 5 - "Still Remains"

	Ethereal blue light shone down from the ceiling, giving a 
ghoulish cast to Benjamin's features. He moved the steel gurney to the 
center of the room and gripped the heavy black rubber of the bag atop 
it, opening the zipper. A metallic smell escaped from the cavity as a 
mangled body was revealed, barely recognizable as female.

	Limbs were twisted in unnatural fashion and bones protruded 
from her pale skin. With a slight grimace, the coroner went to work. 
The police wanted an autopsy done, wanted to know why a woman like 
Cassandra Chabot would jump from the top of the Empire State Building 
with her boyfriend. And, damn those pencil-pushers, they wanted it done 
now. The time lengthened into hours as Benjamin worked, making notes, 
piecing together the puzzle of her final moments.

                              ---/--/@

	Benjamin wiped a hand across his weary eyes and glanced with 
blurry vision to the clock on the wall. Past midnight. With a sigh he 
began to pack up the body, encasing it securely in its rubber sheath.

	The coroner pushed the gurney towards one of the large 
refrigerator units on the wall. He opened a compartment and slid the 
body bag inside, closing the door with a hollow thud.

	After cleaning himself up and putting street clothes on, 
Benjamin went into the work room to turn off the lights. As he closed 
the door, he thought to himself, <It's such a shame that a beautiful 
woman like her had to end her life so tragically. What a waste.>

                              ---/--/@

	Adam had searched all night by the time he found Lothar at one 
of his less frequent haunts: a little bar specializing in German beer. 
It was a quaint place with faded pictures hung on the walls. A dingy 
pool table sat in the middle of a circle of light cast by an old lamp. 
Against one wall ran a long and well polished wooden bar with a few 
patrons seated there. In the dim light he could see the hunched form of 
his friend, large hands cradling a mug of foaming beer.

	Adam pulled out a stool and sat next to him, signaling the 
bartender to get him a beer also. He almost laughed, thinking of the 
night before when their positions had been reversed and Lothar had come 
looking for him, only to find Adam cradling a beer. Now the positions 
were reversed. Adam just sat there and studied his large Teutonic 
friend. They went back a long way...

                              ---/--/@

	Lothar had found Adam a wreck nearly fifteen years previous, a near mindless heap following the death of Adam's wife. The ancient 
Were found Adam atop the Empire State Building, mourning over the body 
of Tatiana. She had been his wife for less than a year. The moment was 
etched indelibly into Adam's mind, the two minute holes on her neck 
weeping blood... She was cradled in his arms, her blonde hair splayed 
against his chest. His tears dripped upon her face and it was as if she 
were crying also.

	Lothar took him in and helped him, taught him everything he 
knew about being a hunter. In time his abilities blossomed as if by 
magic and soon he was able to hold his own against Lothar. One day he 
actually beat Lothar, armed only with a practice sword against Lothar's 
sheathed claws. That night he began the hunt for the vampire which had 
stolen the last light from his soul.

                              ---/--/@

	With a shake of his head Adam returned from his reverie and saw 
a slight smile on Lothar's face.

	"Reminiscing, Adam?"

	"No, just thinking about something. But to get to the point, we 
need to talk, in private. Now."

	"Ok, follow me." Lothar stood up from his stool, tossed a few 
bills on the bar and walked towards the back of the bar. He opened a 
door barely visible in the shadowy corner of the bar and Adam followed 
him through. The pair entered a well-furnished apartment and Lothar 
motioned towards a chair for Adam to sit in. Lothar then pulled another 
large and elaborately carved chair up and said, "Ok, what's so 
important? Did you find something out about Andromeda Enterprises?"

	Adam shook his head, "I wish it were something as simple as 
that. Remember telling me about that demoness that you locked up a few 
hundred years ago after Khan's war?"

	With a grunt Lothar replied, "Yeah, Lilith was her name. She 
was spying on Khan while masquerading as his second in command. After 
the war fell apart she left, and I found her. What about her?"

	Looking slightly uncomfortable, Adam said, "Did she happen to 
be beautiful with red hair and wear black armor?"

	A look of suspicion crossed Lothar's face. "She liked to appear 
like that at times, yes. How did you know? I never told you that."

	While Adam's features remained calm his hands began twisting, 
playing with a fringe on his chair. "I think that she escaped."

	Lothar leapt out of chair and shouted, "What! How could she do 
that? I locked her up so tight she couldn't get out even if she had the 
key!"

	"I have no idea, my friend, but earlier tonight I was up on the 
Building taking care of some personal business-" Adam's placid facade 
broke for a moment as pain flooded his eyes and then he resumed his 
tale. "Sorry. Taking care of some personal business when I heard a 
shout and found two humans, a man and a woman, fighting some sort of 
demoness. She was strong. She tossed the man off the building before I 
had a chance to get a shot off. She healed the first wound I gave her 
in seconds. After I shot her again she leapt off the building, taking 
the woman with her. By the time I got to the railing she had dropped 
the woman and was soaring away. Even if she isn't Lilith, we've got to 
take care of her."

	A look of distress crossed Lothar's face as he pondered this 
news. "It sounds like Lilith alright. She always was a bitch that 
enjoyed ruining peoples' lives. I've got to think about how we're going 
to go about this. We might not be strong enough to take her on 
ourselves. When I locked her away the first time I had the help of some 
very powerful people. Either way we're going to have to do something. 
I'll call you tomorrow night after I have some time to think, okay?"

	Adam nodded, "Sure, I'll let myself out. But think hard. We've 
got to stop this bitch before she kills more people. If we're able to 
take her we'd better because I'm not willing to have more deaths on my 
conscious."

                              ---/--/@

	After letting Gabriel out, Eve offered her hospitality to 
Sylvia. "Would you like to stay here today? I'm afraid that since I
work nights quite often I sleep during the day."

	"That would be quite nice, thank you. I've been working rather 
hard lately also, so I think that I may have to sleep today too," 
Sylvia replied.

	After setting up a pallet for Sylvia, Eve blew out the candles 
lighting the room. "I'll see you tonight, Sylvia."

	"Good night, Eve."

                              ---/--/@

	That night Eve awoke and took a quick shower. When she 
reentered the main room she found Sylvia awake and holding one of her 
books, a first edition copy of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. 
Hyde". Sylvia heard her enter and turned towards the sound. "I see you 
have excellent taste in literature, Eve. You know, I helped Stevenson 
proofread that story."

	Eve was about to comment when a thought struck her. "That book 
was written in the mid 1880's. Not to be indelicate, but you cut out 
your eyes hundreds of years ago. How did you read it?"

	Sylvia smiled slightly. Pushing back her hood, she pointed to a 
small piece of jewelry which Eve had overlooked previously. It was a 
thin silver head band with circular jewel roughly one inch in diameter 
centered on her brow. Looking closer, Eve realized that the jewel was 
actually three stones cut and joined so that they appeared to be one.

	Sylvia explained, "This is a rather powerful gift that was 
given to me by an old friend centuries ago. The stone is a combination 
of moonstone, tigereye, and luvulite that enables me to see normally. I 
don't know how long ago it was created, but there are inscriptions on 
the inside of the band that no one I have ever met has been able to 
translate."

	With an impressed look, Eve nodded. "I've been wondering why 
you always looked at me when I talked. Most blind people I've met don't 
do that."

	"And you wouldn't believe what immature people do when they 
don't think a person can see them," Sylvia said, smiling.

                              ---/--/@

	After a light breakfast they sat down at Eve's low table and 
resumed their previous night's discussion. After thinking for a few 
moments, Eve asked "Do you know where this creature of ours is?"

	Sylvia shook her head morosely, but inwardly was pleased that 
Eve was already accepting that her help was needed by referring to 
their creature as theirs. "I'm not totally sure. I can feel his 
presence emanating from Europe, but I can't tell where in Europe. You 
wouldn't believe how frustrating this is for me. I wasn't able to stop 
him all those centuries ago and so far I'm not doing too well stopping 
him now."

	Reaching across the table, Eve put her hand on Sylvia's 
shoulder. "We haven't even started yet, don't give up now." With a 
smile, she continued, "If you want to know where he is in Europe, I can 
find out. You know anything about the Eldritch Realm?"

	"The Eldritch Realm? I know very little about it, other than 
the name and legends. Why?"

	Eve replied with a smile, "Good, I get to tell you something 
for a change." She settled herself more comfortably on her cushions and 
continued.

	"The Eldritch Realm is more than a myth. It's a place of great 
power, unbridled and able to be controlled by a properly attuned mind. 
It has existed alongside our Earth since the beginning, along with many 
other realms. Here," she said, holding her hand out palm up, "let me 
illustrate." A blue and green sphere appeared, floating above her hand. 
Looking closer, Sylvia realized it was a miniature globe.

	"Here's the Earth," Eve said. A transparent white sphere 
appeared, enclosing the globe. "This represents one of the other 
realms, known by many people by various names: Heaven, Valhalla, et 
cetera." A smaller black sphere appeared in the center of the Earth, a 
shadowy orb visible through the crust. "This black sphere is a realm 
called Tartarus. It has come to be known by other names, such as Hell 
or Hades. I mention these two realms because they are the most widely 
known. However what is not well known is that these are but two among 
multitudes. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of realms parallel to 
Earth. The Eldritch Realm is one of the least known but most powerful.

	"All of the realms are similar to our Earth in physical 
features. They all have low areas corresponding to our seas and 
pinnacles complementing our mountains. However the inhabitants vary 
widely. Those demons that the creature recruited in his conquest 
centuries ago most likely were from one of these separate realms. The 
Eldritch Realm is special, it has no native inhabitants. Rather, it 
mirrors our Earth, both physically and mentally. People's thoughts 
leave psychic fingerprints all over this world, fingerprints which leak 
through to the Eldritch Realm. Because of this that realm is quite 
chaotic, with creatures popping up everywhere. They may have been 
created by people's minds, but they're quite real there. These 
fingerprints make it easy to locate people who are either incredibly 
evil or incredibly good. Passions leave fingerprints there like neon 
signs that can be found from thousands of miles away.

	"Another peculiarity is that when people dream they enter the 
Eldritch Realm. When they are there their unconscious mind creates 
their surroundings." With a sardonic smile, Eve said, "In other words, 
it's generally not a good idea to get near dreaming mass murderers when 
you're there."

	Sylvia had listened raptly throughout Eve's recitation, leaning 
forward slightly. As Eve paused, she sat back and took a moment to 
think about the implications of what she had heard.

	"So if we can get to the Eldritch Realm, we should be able to 
locate him safely and quickly." A slightly wondrous look crossed 
Sylvia's scarred face. "I had no idea that so many worlds existed. It 
staggers my mind to think of all that I have missed, hiding for all 
those centuries... Anyways, back to the problem at hand. How are we 
going to reach this Eldritch Realm?"

	Eve smiled slightly, "Why, through me of course. I can get us 
there, though it isn't easy. I just hope that you can handle the chaos, 
it can be quite... disturbing."

	Getting up, Eve arched her back and felt her spine crack. 
"Follow me, Sylvia." Eve moved towards a small oaken door which had 
remained closed and somewhat shadowed throughout Sylvia's stay. A 
respectful person, Sylvia had not entered the room and hardly looked at 
the door. As she got closer, Sylvia realized that the heavy oak was 
carved with strange symbols which she did not recognize. Foremost among 
these was a large pentagram, the ancient symbol of protection.

                              ---/--/@

	Gary Miller's heart was racing. His feet pounded the ground and 
he ran, trying to gain some cover. <Why, why does it always have to 
rain when I go jogging?> he thought to himself.

	Through the fog in front of him he could see a person ahead, 
little more than a blurry outline. As he neared, its form became more 
distinct. He could tell that it was female, and from her outline rather 
attractive. As she stepped into the glow of a streetlight momentarily 
he could see that she was more than attractive, she was stunning, although in a slightly alien way. Her hair was midnight black and her 
regal face quite pale. A billowing white robe covered her skin and with 
a shock he realized that she was not wet. Her hair was dry, and that 
robe should have been soaked through in seconds.

	He began to step forward until she passed out of the light and 
behind a truck. He could hear her feet click upon the concrete and then 
the sound suddenly stopped. Something was strange, he could feel it. 
Gary stopped where he was and stood, looking at the truck. A few 
moments later a small grey cat stepped from behind the truck and gave 
him a long look with its slitted yellow eyes. Those eyes contained 
intelligence, and a power that shocked Gary. With a gasp he stepped 
back momentarily, raising his hand to his head as a wave of dizziness 
passed over him.

	Gary stood straight and looked down at the grey cat. "Good 
pussy cat," he said, reaching down to scratch it on the head. The cat 
rubbed itself against Gary's leg, letting out a contented purr, and 
then moved off quietly into the night.

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