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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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 N O T E : The archive has changed location, if you have linked to the
 copy on my pages please update your links to the following address:
 http://thegarden.neonexus.com/fiction/floe.htm
 Thank you.
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Chapter 6 - "X-Ressurection"

	Cold... So cold... She felt a frigid, hard surface beneath her 
body, the chill warming her skin. A ragged breath passed her lips as a 
shudder wracked her reclining form. With a flutter her eyelids cracked 
open, and she looked at darkness. In moments her eyes adjusted and she 
could make out a black material encasing her body, could feel it 
surrounding her all the way to her feet.

	The material stretched and tore as she clawed at it, letting a 
pale blue glow filter through. Blinded momentarily, she covered her 
face with naked arms until she could see once more. Her eyes focused on 
a metal ceiling, covered in frost, a foot above her face. Tendrils of 
mist played through the air of the coffin-sized room, made ethereal by 
the luminescence above.

	Her neck cracked in protest as she looked up, past her head. A 
metal door. With tight muscles screaming, she pushed against the door, 
her only thought; escape from this metal tomb. An animal cry escaped 
her lips.

	As the cry faded in the enclosed area, a small scratching 
began. She cocked her head against the cold metal and listened. With a 
shudder and a small sob a picture forced its way into her mind. 
Twisting her neck painfully, she saw the inconspicuous latch, just as 
the picture showed. Reaching for it with a cramped arm, she flipped the 
release. The door swung open and she found herself looking into a pair 
of bright yellow eyes.

                              ---/--/@

	The heavy oak door closed behind Sylvia as she followed Eve 
into a wood-paneled room lit extensively with candles. Large and small, 
they were everywhere, from standing candelabras to candles arranged in 
lines around the perimeter of the room. In the center of the five sided 
room was a large circle with strange symbols inside of it. A large 
white pillar candle sat in the exact center of the circle, unlit.

	As Eve entered the circle it began to glow a dull red, casting 
a scarlet shadow across her face. A flame danced upon her fingertip as 
she reached forward to light the candle, and then disappeared.

	Eve sank to a sitting position upon the polished wood floor, 
crossing her legs. She then spoke, her voice distant. "Enter, Sylvia. 
Sit across from me. Open your mind."

	With a slightly nervous glance, Sylvia stepped towards the 
scarlet circle. As she stepped across the red line the room seemed to 
warp about her for a moment, as if some great hand had squeezed it and 
then let go. The blonde woman then approached the candle and sat facing 
Eve. She felt a slight pressure against her mind, no more than a gentle 
caress. From across the candle, Eve smiled reassuringly.

	Sylvia lowered her mental blocks. The probe returned again, a 
breeze flowing across her consciousness. She heard Eve chanting softly 
in Latin. The candle grew in her vision until it was the only thing in 
the universe. Then the universe exploded.

                              ---/--/@

	The woman found herself looking into two bright yellow eyes 
belonging to a cat. It walked forwards and batted at her hair with one 
gray furred paw, and then turned its back and started to walk away. The 
woman crawled forward on her hands and knees, untangling her legs from 
the rubbery material bunched around them. As she emerged from the metal 
coffin, her knees scraped on freezing tile. Standing, she wrapped her 
arms around her, realizing for the first time that she was naked. 
Goosebumps raised on her pale skin and she looked around the room. 
Against one wall was row upon row of metal doors like the one from 
which she had just emerged. Gurneys were arranged in a neat line 
against another. Her vision picked out a white jacket hanging from a 
hook across the room. She stumbled over to it on numb feet and slipped 
it on, covering herself and gaining a little warmth. Her teeth stopped 
chattering.

	The gray cat padded its way over to her and began rubbing 
against her leg and she bent down to pick the cat up. As she did so, 
her eyes met those of the cat.

	A sense of vertigo wracked her body and she stumbled, falling 
to her knees and gripping her head with her hands. A dark building rose 
in her vision, the moon etched against a black sky. The vision turned 
until she saw a stretch of pavement rushing to meet her. The vision 
changed. A man, kneeling, holding a ring. He began falling, mouthing 
words of love before he was swallowed up by the shadowy memory. A 
winged silhouette crossed her vision. She screamed.

                              ---/--/@

	Images assaulted Sylvia's senses. The small hut where she was 
born and raised, a large wolf, a bloody knife. White mists swirled 
around her, forming indistinct but suggestive shapes. Faces from her 
past drifted by. Sylvia felt fear rising in her throat. Where was Eve? 
She wouldn't abandon her, would she? As Sylvia was about to scream, Eve 
appeared next to her, floating in the mists.

	"Sylvia? Are you all right? I was worried when you disappeared 
for a few minutes," Eve said, looking quite concerned. As she spoke, 
the mist around them changed, changing to a rock-like appearance. 
Arches, pillars, and vaults appeared and suddenly the pair were 
standing inside a gothic cathedral.

	"God, I'm glad to see you, Eve. I've been floating around for 
what seems to be forever. I've been seeing all sorts of strange 
things," she says with a shudder. "Is this the right place?"

	An evil grin spread across Eve's face, "Oh, thou art correct, 
my love. This is exactly where we should be." Eve's features began to 
change, her cheekbones becoming more prominent, her skin paling, and 
black markings appearing around her eyes and mouth. Within moments her 
face had turned into that of a pathos mask, mouth downturned, a 
permanently sad expression upon her face. "Thou dost not think I would 
let thee escape quite so easily, dost thou? Thou art my creature: then, 
now, and forever!"

	With a scream, Sylvia turned and ran away from Eve's corrupted 
form, running towards an arched doorway. Eve appeared before her in the 
doorway, a mocking expression on her painted face. "Thou canst not run, 
love. I control this place. Thou hast no choice but to submit."

	As Eve spoke, a giant hand rose up from the ground below her, knocking her off balance. The giant fist closed around her body, 
squeezing the life out of her. An unholy screech escaped from Eve's 
mouth as she threw her head back in agony. Light shot from her eyes, 
nose and mouth, illuminating the farthest corners of the cathedral. 
Sylvia stumbled backwards, startled, and landed sitting upon the floor. 
With a final contraction, the hand crushed Eve. A silvery fluid 
splattered on the ground, quickly evaporating into the air. The hand 
withdrew back into the ground, leaving Eve's body on the stone. As 
Sylvia watched, it crumbled into a white powder which was scattered by 
a sudden breeze.

	Hard breathing came from behind Sylvia. She stood and saw Eve 
there, looking tired and disheveled. A sheen of perspiration covered 
her forehead as she stumbled forward. "Shit... Are you okay Sylvia? I 
lost you in the middle of the journey and it took a little while to get 
here."

	Sylvia's gaze went from Eve to where the other Eve had been 
standing, and back to Eve. "What the hell was that thing then? I 
thought it was you!"

	Shaking her head, Eve replied, "No, that was one of the 
predators who hang out in the Eldritch Realm. There aren't many of 
them, but they can be dangerous if you're unprepared."

	"Are you sure that's all it was? It looked like... the 
creature. It talked like the creature!"

	"You have to remember where we are. It's much easier to read 
people's thoughts here. Those predators often pick at a person's mind 
and extract their deepest fear and then torment their victim. They 
derive their personality from other people's terrors and phobias. 
Regardless, we need to get moving."

	Sylvia sat on the cool stone. "Just give me a moment to gather 
myself, that was rather a shock."

	Eve nodded, and sat herself. Closing her eyes, she held out her 
hands and a shimmering white katana appeared resting in her palms. Eve 
smiled at Sylvia, "Just in case."

                              ---/--/@

	Thunder rumbled as she closed the door. The cat had led her 
here, to a dojo. The moment she stepped inside the door she felt 
memories surfacing. Phantoms moved across her vision, their ethereal 
forms moving across the dojo floor in a deadly dance. At times she saw 
herself.

	The cat took a seat upon one of the benches and began grooming 
itself, carefully smoothing its fur after the rain. As the woman stood 
there and watched visions from her past, the cat looked at her with 
uncanny intelligence in its eyes. With an inaudible meow and a twitch 
of its whiskers, it leapt from its perch and walked towards the woman.

	In the middle of the woman's reverie a new phantom appeared. 
Tall and broad-shouldered, it stepped onto the mat with the woman's 
phantom twin. With a smile he began sparring with her, lightly. She 
took the offensive, kicking towards his head. He blocked easily, 
catching her leg, taking her down and pinning her to the ground. She 
struggled slightly until he planted a kiss upon her lips.

	The woman's mind tore, revealing her life. A storm of images 
raced through her mind as she relived her existence, from pre-school to 
her final night upon the Empire State Building. With a cry of anguish 
her fear and sense of loss returned as she crumbled to the ground, 
pounding on the dojo floor. In moments, however, her emotions were 
replaced by one thing. Cold rage.

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