Road Trip To Hell

Bad Medicine

Cover: Extreme close-up of two monsters... one wolf-like, one dinosaur-like... facing each other, snarling with fangs bared.

shley watched in awe as the thing continued its transformation. What had been Dr. Goode a few seconds ago was now a roaring, inhuman thing... a thing that grew larger and more inhuman with every flex of its bulging muscles. Its fur-covered body swelled and hardened as more bulk appeared... moving the thing further and further away from anything resembling humanity. At first Ashley thought the final form would be something canine, but the beast's metamorphosis began to encompass other animals into its shape. Ashley saw bear... feline... gorilla...things she couldn't even recognize. And in one final burst of de-evolution, a snarling snout erupted from its face and short, curved claws sprang from thickening fingertips.

The monster's blood-red eyes fixed on her as it reared up to its full height and roared in bestial fury. The thing was a living chimera... a patchwork creature composed of the most dangerous and frightening aspects of every predator on earth. Its shaggy head stopped just a few inches below the ceiling... its wide-open mouth was a nest of fangs the size of Ashley's outstretched fingers... and larger.

It was big.

It was ugly.

And it was pissed...

...at Ashley.

"GROOOOAAAAAAAA-"

The Goode-creature hunched down, and its powerful leg-muscles bulged as it leapt across the room.

"GET BACK!" Sebastian shouted. He came from nowhere, catching Ashley by the waste and slinging her out of the creature's path.

The huge monster... which must have outweighed Ashley by at least 400 lbs... landed with an eerie feline grace that belied its size. It crouched on all-fours for a second, then it spun and sprang at Ashley once more. Sebastian stepped in between Ashley and the beast.

"MOVE!" he shouted. He drew his sword.

Ashley moved.

She backed away quickly... her butt touched the wall at the same time that the creature reached Sebastian.

"SEBAS-" she started to shout.

Sebastian spun out of the creature's path while making a powerful slash at the thing's outstretched arm. Ashley halfway expected the flimsy-looking blade to just bounce off of the creature's fur... but she was wrong. The blade carved a bloody chunk out of the creature's wrist. The creature reacted immediately, lashing out with its other hand.

Sebastian ducked, and the deadly claw caught nothing but air. He struck again... The sword sliced a deep, bloody groove down the monster's forearm... opening up its fur-covered flesh from the wrist to the elbow.

Ashley wasn't sure... but the blood streaming from the wound seemed to be sizzling.

"ARRROOOOOOO!!!!!"

The monster backed away... cradling its injured wrist with its other hand. It stood there for a moment... howling... bleeding and vulnerable. Sebastian could have killed it easily. Even Ashley could see that.

But he didn't move.

Sebastian stood his ground... as the creature finished its howl... and then he took a few steps back.

"Fight it, Goode," Sebastian spat. "You're better than this. FIGHT IT!"

The beast growled. Loudly at first... but soon the monstrous lungs began to grow quieter.

"Eeeasy... easy now..." Sebastian continued. He was approaching the creature now... slowly. "Back it down... get a grip on it, Goode..."

He was talking to it. No, not IT... he was talking to Dr. Goode. That must mean that the doctor was still in there somewhere.

In that case...

Ashley reached out with her thoughts and touched the creature's mind. At first she was repulsed by the hurricane of animal thoughts... rage... pain... hunger... scents and sounds... instincts. A thousand animal impulses assaulted her like a swarm of angry wasps.

She stifled her revulsion and drove her mind deeper-

That's when the creature went berserk.

It reacted to her intrusion with surge of blind fury that nearly blasted Ashley right back out of its mind. And as Ashley struggled to hold on, the thing rose up and lashed out at the nearest object capable of receiving its wrath:

Sebastian.

The creature's fist caught Sebastian in the chest... the single blow sent the boy literally flying across the room, stopping only when he hit the wall. By the time Sebastian had slid to the floor, the creature was charging toward Ashley once again.

But Ashley wasn't too concerned about that. She'd found what she needed.

The creature leapt... and as its feet left the ground, Ashley latched onto Dr. Goode's psyche. I lay submerged deep within the animal mind. She got a firm grip on it...

...and yanked it to the surface with all the grace of a sock being turned inside-out.

Back in the physical plane, the effect was instantaneous:

FWUUMP!

In the blink of an eye, the creature transformed from monstrous beast to back into Dr. Goode...

...who was naked and still in mid-leap. Gravity claimed him-

WHUMP!

And he hit the floor at Ashley's feet.

"....unnnnngh..." he moaned. His naked and incredibly hairy body shuddered once...twice... then he sat up. "Ouch. What the hell was THAT!?!"

"You tell ME!" Ashley snapped. "WHAT are you!? Some kinda..."

"Werebeast," said Sebastian. He was getting to his feet. And he didn't look happy. "And YOU nearly got us both killed!"

"ME!?! I'M not the one turning into a monster trying to EAT people!"

"Didn't your mother tell you not to go screwing around in people's minds without permission?" said Dr. Goode.

"I'd thank you NOT to talk about my mother! And get some CLOTHES on! GEEZ!"

Dr. Goode's clothes were laying in shreds in the corner where he had transformed. They were ruined. But fortunately, he had more. The doctor got some fresh pants and a shirt from the closet. He put them on... dressing right in front of Ashley without any regard for his nakedness. Ashley turned away.

"What? You don't like what you see?"

"You're an ANIMAL!"

"Well," the doctor smiled. "MOST women don't say that until AFTER-"

"Eeewwwww! Sebastian, WHY didn't you tell me he was a werewolf!"

"Because it isn't any of your damned BUSINESS, THAT'S why!" said Dr. Goode.

"I wasn't talking to YOU!"

"Because it isn't any of your damned business," said Sebastian. "And it doesn't make any difference.... he's still the only person who can help Brooks."

"BULL! There are PLENTY of doctors-"

"But none of them are HERE, are they?" said Dr. Goode.

"Only because Sebastian brought us out here to the freaking WILD KINGDOM instead of going to a real hospital! With REAL DOCTORS!"

"It doesn't matter," said Dr. Goode. "Hospital or no hospital... everything that CAN be done for Brooks has already been done. The rest is up to him."

"Uh-huh," Ashley said sarcastically. She looked from Dr. Goode to Sebastian and back again. "Sure. Tell me another one..."
 

t was him.

Jason stared through the flames at an oversized, demonic version of himself.

The thing was taller... broader... the brown trenchcoat fell off of its shoulders like a sinister cloak with only shadows underneath. Jason's hat sat perched atop its skull. Its face was just a featureless expanse of darkness from which two sizzling red eyes beamed like lasers. Its monstrous, arms ended not in hands... but in twisted, semi-organic machines that were woven into its flesh like something out of a video game. One cybernetic arm ended in something resembling a bazooka, while the other terminated in a multi-barreled gattling gun. The steel machines glistened with blood and oil as the shadowy flesh surrounding them pulsed with power.

The cyborg stood for a moment on the far edge of the trench... then it leapt. Powerful legs propelled it in a tight arc that took it high into the air and over the flaming trench.... then it came down, striking the ground with a-

-THOOOM!!!-

It landed crouched on one knee, but it quickly rose. The gattling gun swung around... the barrels began to rotate-

vvvvrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRR-
-Click-

RAT-TAT-TAT-

Jason sprang from the round and leapt out of the line of fire as the bullets kicked up clods of dirt behind him. The stream of hot metal followed him... Jason ducked back, and began zig-zagging across the battlefield as fast as he could... staying barely half a step ahead of the massive gun.

"YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAA!!!" he screamed. He leapt over corpses and body-parts that littered the battlefield, looking for a place... ANY place... that he could seek shelter. There was an outcropping of rock ahead... IF he could reach it in time.

"HEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!"

Suddenly, the shooting stopped. Jason risked a glance back at the cyborg. The monster hadn't moved an inch since leaping across the trench... now it was a good distance away-

-Then Jason knew that he'd been had. The cyborg had chased him right into heavy artillery range.

The cannon-arm came up and swiveled around, but Jason was already leaping for safety.

KRA-BOOOOMMM!

His dive carried him only half-way to the rock... the shockwave from the blast threw him the rest of the way. If he'd been an inch closer... a second slower... he'd be a pile of bloody charcoal.

Jason rolled to a crouching position... then he ran. His cover was just a single piece of rock, but it was a part of some kind of weird design. Other huge stones jutted from the ground before him like teeth... or tombstones. Separately they were just large blocks of stone, but together they formed a maze that might just provide some semblance of safety.

THOOOOOM!!

The artillery blast turned the rock behind him into a deadly shower of speeding missiles. Fist-sized chunks of stone zipped past Jason on all sides. He didn't know HOW he avoided being hit, but he did. He made another flying leap...

THOOOOMMMM!

He hit the ground in a forward roll. He rolled PAST the nearest stone and ducked behind an adjacent one as another artillery shell hit. Jason looked behind him. More rock... huge blocks standing close enough together to form a corridor of stone. Jason was right at the beginning of the maze.... but there was about 200 feet of empty space between him and the entrance.

200 feet was a long way.

But he couldn't stay where he was.

Jason sprinted.... but not for the maze. He was smarter than that. He'd taken all of seven steps before an artillery round went off. If he'd run in a straight line for the maze, it would have been a direct hit. But Jason zigzagged frantically, changing directions at random-

KRAA-BOOOOOOMMM!

"D-AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The blast caught him in mid-stride and tossed him several yards before gravity finally re-asserted its hold on him. He landed in a painful, throbbing heap. A storm of pain erupted in his leg and seethed up his spinal cord to his brain. When Jason glanced down at his leg, he expected to see a bloody stump. The leg was still there, but it was a mess.

-crunch-
-crunch-

The thing's rock-crunching footsteps snapped Jason out of his pain-induced trance.

vvvvrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRR-
-Click-

Jason rolled.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-

Bullets bounced off the stone as he dragged himself to safety. But it wouldn't stay safe if he didn't keep moving.

-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-

The thing was following him in. Jason managed to stand, but running... or even walking... was out of the question.

Jason hobbled down the corridor of stone, leaving a trail of fresh blood on the ground to mark his trail.

"ou're paranoid," said Dr. Goode.

"It isn't paranoia when they really ARE out to get you," Ashley replied. "Or in this case, Jason. Werewolf or not, you're STILL hiding something-"

"Well why don't you take another peek into my mind and find out."

"I don't have to. You're going to tell me."

"Really." Dr. Goode folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes. You're going to tell me because there's no WAY Sebastian would let you live if you were as big a creep as you're acting like right now. You're going to tell me because there's an innocent man laying on that table-"

"I don't know if he's innocent or not. I never met the guy."

"-and you're a doctor. You're SWORN to do everything in your power to help people. You took an oath-"

"I swore to a lot of things," said Dr. Goode. "But getting your humanity ripped out tends to put things in new perspectives."

"So you're not a man of your word?"

"The man who gave that word died on a mountaintop forty years ago."

"You really don't care about Jason, do you?" said Ashley.

"No. I don't."

"You don't care about anybody but yourself."

"That's two in a row; you're pretty good. So now that we've established that I don't give a damn about you, Brooks, or anybody else except for Sebastian here, how about you cut all this psycho-drama and go wait in the other room."

"While you kill Jason? Not a chance."

"I'm not killing him."

"You're letting him die. It's the same thing."

"I TOLD you! I've done everything-"

"You're lying."

"And here we are, right back where we started. You gonna brain-spike me again, or what?"

"Are you lying?" said Sebastian.

"What... you TOO!?"

"When we talked earlier, I told you to do everything you could. You agreed."

"And that's exactly what I've done. The rest is up to Brooks."

"Ashley reads minds for a living. If she says that something's going on-"

"Oh, so you believe HER now!? You were STANDING right here beside me. You watched me treat him!"

"But is there something else? Are you holding something back?"

Sebastian locked eyes with Dr. Goode. They stared at each other like two prizefighters circling each other in the ring. Their brows wrinkled... their noses flared... Dr. Goode blinked first.

"Okay," he said, lowering his eyes. "Okay, there's one thing-"

"I KNEW IT!" said Ashley.

"-but you WON'T like it!"

"We'll be the judge of that," said Sebastian.

"Oh, I already KNOW you won't like it, Sebastian. That's why I didn't bring it up. I know you won't allow it."

"Allow what?"

"You sure you want to talk about this here?" Dr. Goode nodded at Ashley.

"I'm not leaving," she responded. "I want to know what other little secret you've been holding back."

"It's the same secret as before."

"Explain," said Sebastian. "Now."

"I've been working on a cure for myself. That's what all this equipment is for.... trying to find a cure. I think its pretty obvious that I haven't found it yet, but I HAVE made some progress."

"What does this have to do with Jason?" said Ashley.

"Forty years ago, an old Navaho medicine-man dragged me up to the mountains, promising me a cure for my terminal lung cancer. I got my cure at the expense of my humanity... not an even trade by any stretch of the imagination. But his 'cure' had some rather interesting side-benefits..."

Dr. Goode rolled up his sleeve and held up his left arm... the arm that Sebastian had butchered with his sword. There was a thin red line stretching from wrist to elbow. It wasn't even a proper scar... just a scratch.

"Beginning to get the picture, now?" said Dr. Goode.

"You want to bite Jason-"

"HELL no! This is the freakin' year 2001..." said Dr. Goode. He went to his refrigerator and pulled out a small vial of thick, yellowish-fluid. "I managed to isolate this compound from my blood. When I'm in animal form, my saliva is composed almost entirely of this stuff. This is what infected me... turned me into what I am. If we inject-"

"Absolutely not," said Sebastian. "ABSOLUTELY not!"

"You want to inject Jason with werewolf-snot and turn him into a monster!?"

"No! No, that's NOT my intention at all! In fact, Jason is probably the only person in the WORLD who can metabolize it safely. If he has the same mojo as Donovan, then his body is resistant to most magic."

"Resistance is not immunity," said Sebastian.

"EXACTLY! The serum should have just enough of an effect to heal his wounds without doing any permanent damage."

"Should," said Ashley. "In other words, you don't know for sure."

"No."

"We can't risk it," said Sebastian.

"This from a man who kills DEMONS for a living," said the doctor. "There's risk, certainly... but there's more of a chance that it won't work at ALL than of it changing him into... me."

"You want to experiment on him," said Ashley. "You want to use Jason to test your little theories... maybe get closer to a cure for yourself."

"Hey, YOU were the one going on about me holding something back," said the doctor. "You wanted to know what else I can do... this is it. We can inject him with this and wait until tonight-"

"What happens tonight?"

"It's a full moon," said the doctor. "The way this stuff works... it'll try to change him into the same kind of creature that I became. In the process, it'll heal all of his wounds... completely restore his body. But that'll only happen during the full moon. Tonight."

"With no lasting after-effects?" said Ashley.

"It doesn't matter, because we're not doing it."

"Look... your friend is in a coma. He might not wake up for days... or weeks... or years. Or ever. Now, you can prop him up in a corner and throw darts as him for all I care, but if you REALLY want to help him, you should at least consider my serum. Chance are, it won't even work, but its the only shot you have-"

"But there's also a chance it'll turn him into another creature like you," said Sebastian.

"A chance, yes. There's also a chance that a comet could crash into the earth right now and render this whole conversation moot."

"How likely is it?" said Ashley.

"What... the comet?"

"No... that Jason will become like you?"

"I don't know."

"Guess. What... twenty percent?"

"Less than that. Half a percent. Even lower, maybe. Like I keep saying... chances are that it won't have any effect at all."

"Okay. Do it."

"Hold on now, girl... you aren't giving any orders around here."

"We're not going to risk it," said Sebastian. "I wish you the best of luck with your cure... but this... we can't do it. It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous to what?" said Ashley. "To Jason... or to YOU?"

"What are you-"

"You don't get the power until Jason dies, right? Goode has something that can save his life... but now all of a sudden you've changed from 'sword-swinging psycho' to 'this is too dangerous, lets play it safe'? Gee... I'm not a werewolf or anything, but that smells an awful lot like BULLSHIT to me!"

"I'm surprised you'd even think-"

"I'M surprised you'd try to bullshit a psychic!"

"You're not reading my mind."

"I don't HAVE to... I've got a mind of my own and I know how to use it! I know a conflict of interests when I see one! But why don't you try reading your OWN mind for a change! You look yourself in the eye and tell yourself that the ONLY reason you don't want to do this is because of the risk. You might be able to lie to the doc. You might THINK you can lie to me. But can you lie to yourself, Sebastian? Do you REALLY believe that there isn't an ulterior motive locked somewhere in that tiny little brain of yours? Maybe you don't know it... but then, you haven't LOOKED for it either. Until now. So look. Look hard."

"There really isn't that much of a risk-"

"Shut up, Cujo. Sebastian?"

Sebastian tried to give Ashley the same evil stare he'd used on the doctor... but she wasn't having it. Her eyes were like mirrors, reflecting everything in his soul right back at him.

He looked away.

"Do it," he mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said do it. Use the serum."

"...onovan..." Jason whispered. "...Donovan are you there!?"

The only reply was the ragged wheezing of Jason's breath... and the steady, droning CRUNCH of the demon's feet on the loose rocks.

The demon.

The demon that looked like him.

"...donovan, please! Help me!"

Jason had managed to squeeze himself in between two of the huge stones that made up the walls of the maze. There was barely enough of a gap for him to squeeze through to the next corridor, but he decided to wait for a few seconds to try and listen for the creature. Was it following him directly... or was it finding its own way through the maze? He couldn't tell. The thing sounded like it was coming from everywhere... storming down every corridor... marching around every corner.

But WHEREVER it was... it was getting closer.

"...of course its close..." Jason wheezed. "The... the damned thing is ME! How can I escape from ME!?"

Maybe that was it. Maybe that was what Donovan had been trying to tell him.

This thing was some twisted version of himself... that much was obvious. He'd been running from it since before he even KNEW what it was... but what if that was the wrong thing to do? All it had gotten him so far was shot at and blown up. Jason could feel the ground vibrating with the demon's footsteps as it got closer... slowly homing in on him. It was taking its time. It knew that Jason couldn't escape. There was nowhere to run... the maze was just an exercise in futility even WITHOUT a bleeding leg wound. Perhaps a change of strategy was in order.

-crunch-
-crunch-

Yes.

-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-

A change of strategy.

-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-

The thing was at the end of the corridor now. It rounded the corner and proceeded down the passage with the same immutable pace... footsteps shaking the ground as it walked.

Jason tensed... trying to squeeze back the fear as he allowed the thing to get closer...

-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-

...and closer...

-crunch-
-crunch-

...and...

-cru-

Jason stepped away from the wall and confronted the thing... looking up into its glowing eyes at a distance of less than two feet.

The creature halted in mid-stride... one shadow-black leg hovering above the ground as it-

Jason didn't care WHAT it was doing. He threw himself at the demon, thrusting his shoulder into its abdomen while it was still off balance.

It was a good plan. An EXCELLENT plan.

Unfortunately, the plan didn't account for Jason bouncing off of the thing's gut and stumbling backward with a ridiculously surprised look on his face. Even unbalanced... even standing on one leg... the cyborg-demon was unstoppable and immovable. Jason one good leg slipped out from under him, and he hit the ground.

He looked up at the cyborg.

The cyborg looked down at him.

"Okay... so much for that..."

...whrrrrrrr....

Suddenly, Jason was looking down the barrel of the demon's gattling-gun. The thing was so close to his face that he could feel the wind from the rotating barrels. He could smell the powder and gun-oil. He could see the black veins pulsing where the creature's flesh merged with the metal. He could almost HEAR the thing's heartbeat...

click-THUMP.... click-THUMP... click-THUMP...

Jason grabbed the gun. He reached out and grasped it with both hands... and held it with all the strength he had... the spinning barrels stopped, and a loud rattling sound rose from the internal mechanism-

whirr-click-click-cli-cli-cli-

WHUMP!

The artillery-weapon caught Jason on the side of the head. The cyborg had hit him hard enough to send Jason sliding into the wall.

"UNGH!"

The world began to spin and turn a bloody haze began to settle over the world.

But all that ended with a sudden-

-click-

The first four bullets zipped past Jason's shoulder as he rolled to the side, then slipped through the crevice and into the adjacent corridor. The rest of the barrage ricocheted off of the walls and filled the hallway with flying shrapnel. The creature was caught in its own crossfire... but it didn't care. It kept shooting at the wall... and each tiny missile took a chunk of the stone with it.

Jason half-ran, half-dragged himself down further into the maze as the demon's bullets rapidly disintegrated the wall behind him.

shley flinched as the needle slid into Jason's arm. She flinched because she knew it SHOULD have hurt... but Jason didn't show the slightest reaction as the doctor pumped the serum into his flesh. He just lay there as motionless and inert as he had been for the past several hours. Ashley tried to peer into Jason's mind for what felt like the hundredth time. She got nothing... but she couldn't tell if that was because of his resistance to her probing, or because there was nothing left to probe.

"When will we know something?" she said.

"YOU'LL know something when the moon comes up. I won't be here."

"Why not?"

"You got some kind of memory disorder or something? Werewolf... full moon... any of that sound vaguely familiar?"

"But... you mean you can't control that?"

"No. And that little mind-trick you pulled earlier won't work under a moon-induced transformation. I know... I've had some psychics try it before. They were delicious."

Ashley gasped

"I'm kidding. Just a little werewolf humor."

"That wasn't funny!"

"No, but the look on your face was."

"So you're just going to LEAVE? I mean... don't you have a cage-"

"This house IS a cage. When the time comes, I lock myself in so I won't be a danger to anyone outside. I have a hell of a mess to clean up in the morning, but its better than the alternative. But now that you're here, I'll have to switch to plan B."

"Which is...?"

"I lock the two of YOU in here while I run free outside."

"You can't do that!"

"You'll be perfectly safe. If this place can keep me IN, it can sure as hell keep me OUT, too."

"But what about everyone else-"

"There is no one else. Everything around here is private property... MY private property. No campers... no hunters. There isn't anyone close enough to this cabin to be endangered by my little monthly rampage. And if they are... they're trespassing and they deserve what they get."

"That was a joke, right?"

"No. The sun will be setting soon; I'd better get moving."

Doctor Goode put the rest of his serum back into the refrigerator, then walked out into the living room. He grabbed a small backpack from the closet.

"What's in there?"

"Clean clothes, cigarettes, and water," said Dr. Goode as he slung the pack over his shoulder. "I'll hike a little ways out... give you guys a little peace and quiet before the beast makes it back here. Once he does, it'll get pretty noisy, so I wouldn't count on getting a good night's sleep. But don't worry, this place is sturdy. And if by some chance I do make it in... Sebastian knows what do to."

Sebastian, who'd been sulking silently in a corner since his earlier confrontation with Ashley, nodded silently.

"Secure this place as soon as I leave," said Dr. Goode. He stepped outside. "You kids have fun."

"What if something happens to Jason while you're... not here?"

"Sebastian will figure something out... " he started walking toward the trees. "...he always does."

Dr. Goode slipped into the trees at the edge of the clearing. He was gone.

"Close the door." Sebastian slammed the door and locked it. Then did the same for the room's only window... covering it with a thick metal plate and bolting it in place. Now Ashley realized why the cabin and everything in it was so rugged. And even with the furniture's sturdy construction, Dr. Goode probably had to replace it all every month.

With the cabin completely sealed, the only light came from the oil lamps that Sebastian had found in the closet. With the lamps lit, he sat down and didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry," said Ashley.

"For what?"

"For sticking my nose into your friend's business."

"You should apologize to HIM."

"Did he hurt you when he... threw you across the room like that?"

"I've been thrown across bigger rooms by bigger monsters. You learn how to roll with the impact and its not so bad."

Ashley chuckled.

"What?"

"Oh... that wasn't a joke?"

"No."

"Oh. So... uhhh..." Ashley was at a loss for something to say. Having a 'normal conversation' with Sebastian was a bit like having tea with a slug. In fact, Sebastian didn't seem to care if she spoke at all. "W-Where'd you meet him?"

"Goode is a friend of Donovan's," Sebastian replied. That was it. No further detail or explanation given. Ashley got the distinct impression that he wanted her to leave him alone.

"You don't like me, do you," she said.

"What's to like?" he replied.

"Oh, well THANK you! Thank you very much!" Ashley went back to the lab to check on Jason. He was still resting peacefully... assuming that comas were peaceful... with no sign of any miraculous healing or transformation. Of course, the sun hadn't gone down yet.

"Come on, Jason," she whispered. "Please wake up."

She watched him for a few moments. Her mind went back to Sebastian... to what he'd just said. He'd hurt her feelings, but instead of being mad, she was just... hurt. His opinion didn't even mean anything to her, but it still hurt.

"How is he?" Sebastian called.

"The same," said Ashley. "Not that you care." She returned to the other room and sat down... far away from Sebastian. She occupied herself by staring at the shadows on the wall.

Sebastian was staring at her.

"What?" she said.

"I don't know you," he replied. "I know almost nothing about you... other than your abilities. Therefore, I can't say whether I like you or not. Because I don't know you."

"Oh, was that some half-assed apology?"

"Clarification. You took what I said the wrong way."

"I ask you if you like me or not and you say 'whats to like'... how am I SUPPOSED to take that? And the reason you don't know anything about me is because the only thing you talk about is demons and swords and explosives. Hell,... I didn't know you even HAD any friends before we met Goode. And HE'S a MONSTER!"

"I don't have a normal life. I never have."

"And I do?"

"More normal than mine."

"Yeah, right. You can take off the swords, comb your hair, and put on some real clothes any time you want. Me-"

"You can stop reading minds any time you want. You just wake up and decide to stop doing it.. and then you're normal."

"Its not that easy. Sometimes things come to me whether I like that or not. And why should I shut off a part of who I am just to fit in with other people. I was BORN this way-"

"So was I," said Sebastian.

"Oh? You were BORN an asshole, then?"

"I was born into this life... and I will die in it. There is no chance of me ever being 'normal'. I accept what I am... the circumstances I was born into... and I live accordingly. Unfortunately, there isn't much in that life for small-talk and polite conversation. I'm not as good at it as everyone else."

"Gee... Donovan really screwed you up, didn't he."

"Its not his fault. He was deceived."

"Ummm... huh?"

"He didn't even know I existed until I was six years old. Then he rescued me, and I've been with him ever since. He trained me because it was the only thing he COULD do. He couldn't give up the crusade just because he had a son. And he couldn't turn me over to someone else because of the danger. Being a knight's son made me a target... the only safe place was by his side. And the only way I could be by his side was if I were fighting along with him."

"What about your mother-"

"I don't talk about her," said Sebastian. "She's dead."

"Sorry," Ashley was going to let the subject drop... but something was bothering her. "You said Donovan rescued you when you were six. Rescued you from who... her?"

"Yes. She tried to take me back when I was twelve. I killed her. We dismembered her, then buried the pieces in holy ground... in a grave lined with silver and filled with salt. She won't be back."

"Uhhh... s-sorry I asked. Really... really sorry. You wouldn't BELIEVE how sorry..."

"You see what I mean now," said Sebastian. "The events of my life aren't suitable for light conversation... so I don't even try."

"Well, ummm.... Yeah, I guess you're right."

Ashley tried to forget what Sebastian had just told her.

"Uhhh... so what happens if Goode's potion doesn't work?"

"We prepare."

"For?"

"Battle. Conscious or not, Brooks still has the Gifts. Wherever Jason is, he's a target. Demons and other evils will be descending on this place soon. He attracts them.... but he'll be unable to fight them. We'll have to fight for him while he heals."

"W-we?"

"Goode and I. We fight well together. It'll be safer for you if you leave-"

"I'm not leaving Jason."

"Why not?"

"What do you MEAN, why not? He's my friend! He's the only person who doesn't treat me like a circus freak!"

"That's because he knows you can't read his mind."

"Doesn't matter. He's my friend, and I'm staying here."

"I'll keep you as safe as I can."

"Gee... thanks. I guess. But what if Jason doesn't wake up? I mean..."

Ashley caught the look on Sebastian's face, and knew that she didn't want to know the answer to that question. They couldn't stay here forever, and Sebastian needed Jason's power if they were going to continue... whatever it was they were doing. There was only one way to get that power.

"When we first got here... you told Goode to do everything he could, didn't you?"

"We've been through this already-"

"Why? I mean... seems to me that you'd just let him die so you could get the goods. I mean... you were tempted, right?"

"I was. Goode brought it up... he asked me what I wanted to do."

"And you told him to save Jason. But you didn't WANT to tell him that, did you."

"No."

"So, why did you? It certainly wasn't for ME."

"Every day I do things I don't want to do. Some things because they're necessary. Some things because they're the right thing to do. That's what makes me better than the creatures I fight. That's what makes me a man."

"Well, at least you're honest. This time."

"I don't lie unless its necessary, Ashley. I haven't lied to you yet."

"For some reason, that doesn't exactly give me a warm, fuzzy feeling about you. I wonder why."

"Fuzzy?"

"Forget it."

"The real question," said Sebastian. "Is how do we pick up the trail. With or without Brooks... we've got to find whoever is distributing those cursed artifacts. We have to shut them down."

"We've got a trail," said Ashley. "We got a face, and we know he's in Mississippi."

"Do you know how many demons there are in Mississippi?"

"Uhhh.... do I want to know?"

"No."

"Whatever it is has probably moved on by now. Could be anywhere. Brooks might be able to pick up the trail. Or me, if I had..."

Sebastian glanced at Ashley and let the sentence drop.

"But who knows how long that'll take," said Ashley. "I think I can help."

"How?"

"I can do this thing with faces... pictures and stuff. I can... you know..."

"No, I don't know."

"Just gimme a few minutes and I can find out where this guy is and what he's up to. Assuming he's not protected or something."

"Is it safe?"

"Nothing's reached out and grabbed me so far."

"But you don't know what we're dealing with."

"This is a good way to find out."

"Do it," said Sebastian. "Get us a location."

"I'll be right back," said Ashley. She closed her eyes and stilled her thoughts. Random images flashed through her mind, but she ignored them until finally they ceased to come. She was alone. Her thoughts were empty.

It felt good.

She basked in the emptiness for a moment, then she dove into it... deeper... deeper into her mind...

The house.

It was as it always was... and would always be until she decided to change it. The house was her inner mind... and she walked the familiar halls with solemn respect for the power that dwelled within the walls. Doors opened and closed as she passed... more randomness attempting to distract her. She mounted the stairs... going up... deeper...

This new hallway was different. These doors didn't open as she passed... no, these were shut and firmly locked. Some were boarded over... sealed with thick chains. She tried to ignore them as she walked, but she never could. She always saw them... she always shuddered at what was on the other side of those doors.

The hall ended, and she found herself in a small room. The mirror was there. She stood before it and concentrated. Her own reflection faded, replaced by a milky fog. An image began to appear behind the fog... slowly coming forward... slowing coming into focus.

It was the face that she'd picked out of the deputy's memory. It was an oily face, with a large scraggly beard and small, sinister eyes. He had the look of someone who'd been trapped on a deserted island for too long... and had gone slightly insane because of it.

Ashley focused on the face. She concentrated... trying to expand the image...

The image wavered for a second... but nothing else happened.

She tried harder.

Again... nothing happened. There was nothing in the mirror but the face. Either the man was somewhere where her mind couldn't reach him, or he was protecting himself somehow.

Knowing that Sebastian and Jason were counting on her for results, Ashley did something that she rarely allowed herself to do. She dug deeper into her psyche... tapping into power that lay submerged... hidden...

If the image would not resolve... if the man was protected... then she'd just have to FORCE her way through to what she needed...

The house pulsed around her like a gigantic heart... a psychic organ pumping power into her mind. She locked onto the face once again. Other images began to take shape around and behind it... but they were blurry and indistinct.

Not good enough.

The house pulsed once more-

-and the man's face smiled back at her.

She didn't WANT it to smile,...it just did. Cracked lips curled up into a sinister grin... then parted to show a row of rotting teeth.

Ashley backed away from the mirror.

"Wannt to play hide and ssseek, little girl?" the man hissed. It was a real hiss... like a snake trying to form words. "Let'sss play. I'll go firssst-"

The mirror flashed and the image changed.

A street. There were expensive cars parked along the street, across from a gaudy-looking building with a bright neon sign that flashed "DOYLE'S." It was early evening, and there was a constant stream of people going in and out. Through the glass doors, Ashley could see a reception area, and a golden sign that read "Casino."

Ashley saw it all as clearly as if she standing right there, looking out through someone else's eyes. She WAS looking out through someone else's eyes. She/he turned to read the street-sign at the intersection...

...and the image froze.

Ashley memorized the names on the sign.

"Gotcha," she thought to herself.

But just then, the image changed again. It went back to what it had been before... the ugly man's face over a smoky background. Ashley jumped at the sudden change, and then gasped at what she saw in the mirror.

The face was different. The eyes... they were bright flaming yellow, with red, elongated irises... like the eyes of a giant lizard. The face warped and changed... the skin fell away, revealing thick white scales. The jaw lengthened into a snout... and then opened to reveal several rows of dagger-like teeth. In the blink of an eye, Ashley was staring into the face of a giant white dragon.

"NOW ITSSS YOUR TURN!" the dragon roared.

Ashley tried to break the connection, but she couldn't. A giant clawed hand reached out of the mirror and grabbed her. She struggled in its grasp as it pulled her toward the mirror... toward the gaping, tooth-filled mouth.

Ashley screamed... and suddenly she wasn't in the house. She was back in Dr. Goode's cabin. Sebastian wasn't there. She tried to call out to him, but she couldn't... she couldn't move. But she WAS moving... her head turned back and forth, scanning the interior of the cabin. And then... then she left her body and flew up through the roof! She looked down at the cabin below her... at the clearing... the woods... the mountain. More and more of the surroundings came into view as she soared higher. She saw the streets... roads and highways... a small town... rivers... lakes... larger cities... and STILL she went higher... higher...

She could almost see half the state from where she was.

Was that Birmingham? How high up WAS she!?

And then she fell.

Whatever was holding her just go. She dropped like a stone... the wind stung her... tore at her as she fell faster and faster. The ground rose up to meet her... the mountain... the woods... the clearing... the cabin...

She dropped through the roof and dove right into her body, which was still siting motionless in the chair.

She opened her eyes and gasped for air.... filling her lungs for a scream, but gaining control of herself before the sound could be made real.

"About time you woke up," said Sebastian. He was sitting in a different chair, looking at her. "I was wondering if you were going to sleep through the night or not-

"What? How long have I been out!?"

"Three hours. Its dark now."

"...my God..."

"Did you get anything?"

"Oh, my God..."

"What's wrong?"

"We looked through each other's eyes! It saw where we are!"

"What?"

"Don't you GET it! It knows where we ARE! It used me just like I used it... and now it KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE!!"

Sebastian was on his feet in an instant.

"You said there was no danger!"

"I wasn't expecting THAT!"

"It's located us," said Sebastian. "It'll come for us now. We have to be ready-"

"But I've been ASLEEP for three hours! It's got a THREE HOUR HEAD START!"

"Then whatever is coming... is probably already here."

"Dr. Goode is still out there!"

"The doctor can take care of himself."

"Jason-"

"I just checked him... there's no change. Goode's serum hasn't worked yet... if it ever will. Brooks can't help us. We're on our own-"

-THOOM-

The cabin shuddered.

"What was that?"

-THOOM-

The cabin shuddered again... a very unsettling occurrence for a building made out of stone. This time, the vibration was accompanied by the loud CRACK and SNAP of trees being shrugged aside by the passage of something huge.

Sebastian drew one of his swords. He frowned at the wall.

-THOOM-
-THOOM-
-THOOM-

The shudderings came again, this time in a continuous stream that got louder and closer with every impact-

"...is that... the doctor?" Ashley said timidly.

-THOOM-
-THOOM-
-THOOM-
BOOOOOOOOOM!

The entire cabin convulsed violently as something slammed into it from the outside. Dust and chips of rock flew off of the east wall. Large, jagged cracks radiated out from a single point near the center. The sound of cracking stone continued to fill the room even after the impact had passed.

"That's not good," said Sebastian.

"Doesn't look good to me, either."

"No... that's not Dr. Goode..."

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Ashley didn't know exactly what she was expecting. She saw the cracks in the wall... she heard the tremendous footfalls from outside... but, for some reason, she simply wasn't prepared when the enormous, monstrous THING burst through the wall like a wrecking ball through rotten wood. The demon almost resembled a dinosaur... a dinosaur that had been mutated by some child's nightmare. Its greenish-grey hide was covered in huge knots that had grown into sharp spikes along is back, neck, and scalp. The thing's head was much larger than its impossibly muscular body... with jaws large enough to swallow a grown man whole. Incredibly powerful arms hung like tree-trunks from its shoulders... which, in turn, bulged like boulders from its upper torso.

The thing's head came crashing through the wall... the horned monstrosity eyed Sebastian and Ashley for an angry instant... Its eyes glowing bright, bright orange as it glared at them.

Then the monster shrugged...and the rest of the wall came crashing down around it. It stood amid the rubble like a rampaging tyrant. The thing inhaled... then bellowed out a roar that drained every ounce of strength from Ashley's knees. Were she not too terrified to move, she would have collapsed on the spot.

"Wha- Wha- Wha-" Ashley tried to speak... but she couldn't even hear her own voice over the hurricane-roar of the beast that had come for them. The thing lowered its head and turned toward her... jaws gaping... row after row of dagger-like teeth glistening.

The creature's eyes blazed brighter. It took a step toward Ashley... and then Sebastian was all over it.

He came out of nowhere, sword slicing in an upward arc across the monster's open mouth. The demon's shriveled lips split open before the razor-sharp blade, and a few sparks leapt out of its mouth as the metal deflected off of its teeth... taking a few tooth-chips with it-

K-TANG!

The thing drew back instinctively, and Sebastian's blade came back around-

SHWACK!
SHLACK!

Carving deep gouges across the demon's throat and upper chest. Black blood spurted from the wounds like a fountain, but the creature didn't seem to notice or care that it had been injured. It's triangular head shot forward- jaws snapping shut around the empty space where Sebastian had been an instant before. The very SOUND of the jaws slamming shut rattled the furniture in the cabin... as well as every bone in Ashley's body. Sebastian spun and left his mark along the side of the creature's face. The demon's head twisted and snapped again. Sebastian yanked his sword... and his arm... out of the creature's jaws an instant before they clamped shut. Sebastian hacked off a chunk of the demon's snout, then leapt back...

...and dropped to the floor as a huge clawed fist slashed the air above him. He rose, twisted, and slashed at the arm as it passed... then rolled forward toward the demon. He came out of the roll in an upward thrust, driving the sword right up into the demon's gut. He immediately yanked the sword out and delivered a spinning slash that split the monster's gut wide open.

"AARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The demon roared in rage.

Not pain.

Not death.

Rage.

It threw itself at Sebastian, who leapt out of the way at the last second. He dashed around behind the thing...slicing its side and back as he went. The creature spun and chased Sebastian back through the ruined wall out into the clearing beyond.

Now that both the demon and Sebastian had room to move, the fight could begin. The creature swung its mighty arms, trying to flay Sebastian open with its claws. So huge and fast were the demon's fists, that one hit would have completely obliterated Sebastian... but Sebastian wasn't that easy to hit. The swordsman moved like the wind, attacking, dodging, and attacking again all in one fluid motion. He leapt, ducked, and spun away from the demon's fists with all the balance and skill of a dancer... yet he struck with power and ferocity almost shamed the monster that he fought.

Ashley watched the deadly combat in awe... because that's all she COULD do. She simply couldn't grasp that what she was seeing was real. The demon was huge... powerful... impossibly monstrous... and Sebastian was beating the hell out of it.

The demon was bigger and stronger, but as the fight began in earnest, it was clear that Sebastian was the deadlier of the two. Much more dangerous. He fought as if he had been fighting this demon for his entire life... memorizing its attacks and how to avoid them... studying its strengths and weaknesses. Sebastian's blade wove in and out of the demon's clumsy attacks with frightening speed... delivering two or even three blows when Ashley had sworn there was only time for one before the demon's jaws came around again. And when the jaws DID come, Sebastian was gone... just out of reach... already preparing for another assault.

In a matter of minutes, the demon's hide was a misshapen quilt of slashes, gouges, and missing chunks of flesh. Sebastian had carved, sliced, and impaled it dozens of times over. The ground was soaked with black blood... with more pumping out through every fresh wound that Sebastian dealt the beast.

But the beast would not go down.

Sebastian had sliced the monster's throat open four or five times... but beyond the initial gush of blood, there was no sign of any lasting damage. The wounds didn't close or heal... they just stopped bleeding as the monster fought on in complete disregard of the damage. Clearly the thing's anatomy was as alien as its appearance... injuries that would have killed a normal creature a dozen times over barely slowed this thing down.

Sebastian didn't seem to care. Maybe he hadn't noticed that the demon was unfazed by his attacks... or maybe he knew something that Ashley didn't. Ashley wanted to reach out and touch his mind to find out... but she knew better than to interfere.

There was a lull in the combat as the demon backed away from Sebastian. Its eyes shined like lanterns in the dark. Sebastian's gore-soaked blade glistened in the moonlight. Sebastian was watching the creature... studying its motions... waiting to see if it would fall or charge...

It charged.

Sebastian hesitated... watched... then dropped to one knee and lowered his head, allowing the demon's slash to pass over him. Then he was on his feet-

-right in front of the creature's snapping jaws.

Sebastian's blade became a fleeting flash of silver in the night... striking again and again...and again... carving flesh from the demon's face and neck in a furious assault. His sword moved so fast that he couldn't possibly be in conscious control of it. NO ONE could think and react that quickly with their waking mind... Then, unexpectedly, Sebastian spun and thrust the sword hilt-deep into the demon's throat. He reached for his belt, and in the blink of an eye he had a hunting knife buried in the soft flesh under the demon's chin....

...and then he was gone. Sebastian yanked both of his weapons out with a twist and backpeddalled... still watching and waiting.

The demon gave a roar that shook the trees and dislodged chips of rock from the cabin's stone roof.

Sebastian stood his ground and waited. He was visibly tired, but still determined to end this fight.

The demon roared again... pounding its bloody chest with its equally-bloody fists. The roar became a rumbling growl... then silence...

The monster charged again. Sebastian prepared to strike-

Ashley felt something enter the clearing. Something familiar.

"SEBASTIAN GET DOWN!" She shouted with her voice as well as her thoughts... sending the warning right into Sebastian's mind. Sebastian dropped flat on the ground as the Werebeast tore past him.

The two monsters collided.

The much heavier demon forced the werebeast back and threw it to the ground... but as its jaws came down for the beast's head, Dr. Goode's claws clamped down on the demon's neck and twisted. He rolled the larger monster off of him and tore out a large chunk of its throat. The demon's mouth snapped shut on the werebeast's shoulder-

-SNAP!-

Ashley heard bones breaking... but she saw Dr. Goode's other hand rake across the demon's face... peeling off long, bloody strips of skin with its claws. The werebeast ripped its shoulder out of the demon's mouth, leaving behind a good portion of its own flesh and fur. Oblivious to the pain they'd inflicted on each other, the creatures threw themselves at each other once more. The werebeast retaliated for its shoulder by biting off a chunk of the demon's neck... and eating it. It swallowed the bloody black chunk whole while the demon's claws slashed across its chest. The demon's claws came away red with blood and fur. It slashed again. The werebeast caught the demon's arm and brought its jaws down-

CRUNCH!

It bit down on a section of bicep and RIPPED it off.

"ARRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" the demon howled. It flailed wildly, and caught the werebeast with a back-fist to the head. The blow sent the beast tumbling into the woods with a chunk of the demon's muscle tissue still clasped firmly in its jaws. The demon roared again... then it caught sight of Sebastian, who was crouching in the darkness, waiting for another chance at the demon.

The demon growled... took one tentative step forward... and then-

-then the werebeast slammed into it from behind. The demon fell forward, and the beast rode it to the ground. Dr. Goode's claws sank into the demon's throat and peeeeeled the flesh open like an orange. The pain got the demon up onto its feet again. It threw its arm back, goring the werebeast in the gut with the sharp spike on its elbow. The demon twisted violently from side to side, finally throwing the werebeast off.

The beast landed with cat-like grace... and immediately sprang for the demon once more.

The demon wasn't expecting the attack. The impact rang out with a loud CRUNCH, and the beast's momentum carried them both across the clearing. They landed near the trees, where they began clawing and biting each other. The two behemoths rolled over into the woods... destroying several trees in the process. Even after the darkness swallowed them, Ashley could hear their grunts and roars... and the sound of flesh being torn... for several agonizing seconds before they got out of earshot.

Sebastian scanned the edge of the clearing silently... then turned to Ashley.

"Are you all right?" he said sternly, as if it pained him to ask.

"What was tha-"

"Achilles demon. Slow and dumb... but immortal. They have one weakness... a single spot on their body that must be pierced in order to kill them. Unfortunately, that spot is never in the same place from one creature to another. You have to hunt for it.... or keep hitting them and hope you get lucky."

"Dr. Goode....? Can he beat that thing?"

Sebastian didn't answer. He turned back to the clearing and watched the trees.

"Check on Brooks," he said.

Ashley didn't know what his non-answer meant. She almost read his mind... but decided to stay out of it for now. She went back into the doctor's lab, where Jason was still laying on the examination table.

He looked dead. His brown skin was dry and slightly gray. His eyes didn't move when she tapped him on the forehead. Red dots had began to appear on some of his bandaged. The wounds were weeping blood.

The serum hadn't worked.

The full moon was high in the sky overhead, but there was no change in Jason. In fact, he looked worse now that he had before her 'incident' with the dragon.

Perhaps if she took him outside where the moonlight would shine directly on him...

No. If that were necessary, Dr. Goode would have told them. And besides... that wasn't a very smart idea with two monsters running around in the woods.

But she had to do SOMETHING.

...something...

"It wasn't enough," she said to herself. She went to the refrigerator and got out the vial of Dr. Goode's serum... then rummaged through the drawers until she found his stash of hypodermics.

She stuck the needle into the vial and filled it with the yellow fluid.

Ashley was no nurse, but she'd been poked and prodded by enough doctors... and seen enough television... to know how it was done. She took off her belt and tied it around Jason's bicep, then tapped Jason's forearm until the vein was visible.

She stuck the tip of the needle into the vein, and injected the fluid into him.

She removed the needle and the belt, then gently squeezed Jason's wrist.

"Come on," she said. "Fight. It isn't your time to go yet. Trust me; I'm psychic... I know these things..."

Ashley heard something banging around in the other room. Not 'monster-rampage' banging... but 'Sebastian is up to something' banging. She went to investigate.

Sebastian was standing on a chair, reaching up over his head to examine the roof. The roof had been damaged by the demon's surprise entrance, and... while it didn't look like it was going to fall at any moment... it certainly wasn't good for Sebastian to be fooling with it.

"Ummm... is that safe?"

"No," said Sebastian. He hopped down from the chair and turned to face her. Sebastian had a strange-looking contraption hanging from a strap around his neck. There was also a small backpack sitting against the shattered wall... the backpack hadn't been there before.

"I got some thing out of the car," he explained. "Night-vision goggles. More weapons. One of those creatures is going to come back."

"Yeah, but which one?"

"I don't know. But I'm prepared."

"What if they BOTH come back?"

"Not likely."

Sebastian opened his backpack and dumped the contents out onto the floor. There were several metal rods about a foot long and an inch thick. All of them had screw-connectors on each end except for one... which ended in a nasty-looking barbed spearhead on one end. It was razor sharp... and it looked silver. All of the rods looked silver.

Sebastian started screwing the rods together.

"What's that?"

"It's a weapon," said Sebastian. "Is Brooks still alive?"

"Yeah. No change. But I'm expecting something to happen any time."

"Why?"

"Intuition. So... uhh... how'd you learn about Achilles demons? Doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd earn a merit-badge for in the boy scouts."

"I've fought them before. They're tough... but once you learn how they move, you can avoid their attacks while you search for their weak spot."

"So I noticed. You... you really HAVE been doing this for a long time, haven't you."

Sebastian looked up from his metal rods.

"You didn't believe me when I told you earlier?"

"Yeah... but seeing and telling are two different things. You jumped in front of that thing like it didn't even phase you."

"It didn't. I've fought worse. Much worse."

"So this demon-thing is sorta like... just squashing a big bug for you, isn't it."

"Not quite that easy-"

"AARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

The roar erupted from the forest like an explosion. Sebastian slipped the night-vision goggles over his eyes and gazed out into the tree line.

"Which one was that?"

"I couldn't tell," said Sebastian. He crouched motionless in the rubble of the demolished wall. The only movement was the slow turning of his head as he scanned the surroundings.

Nothing in the woods moved. There was no sound. No wind. Nothing.

"...its watching us..." Sebastian whispered. His hands slowly reached down to the final few metal rods. His fingers brushed across the silver...

...then he grabbed them and quickly began screwing the last few segment into the shaft. At the same instant, something HUGE exploded out of the woods and began galloping straight towards the cabin wall... straight toward Sebastian.

Ashley didn't even recognize the werebeast at first... so much of its skin and fur had been ripped off, and most of what remained was covered in blood.

But it was him.

Dr. Goode charged the cabin like a rampaging elephant.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" It bellowed.

Sebastian glanced up at the roof... then backed up a few steps. He waved Ashley back, but Ashley was already huddled in a corner and couldn't get any further back than she already was.

Sebastian crouched with his weapon... a ten-foot silver spear... laying on the floor beside him. He gripped the shaft firmly, but didn't make any move to raise it.

The werebeast was almost on him.

Sebastian crouched lower... and watched it.

Ashley could see the strips of gray demon-skin trailing from the werebeast's claws. When the beast roared, she could see the chunks of flesh lodged in its teeth.

Sebastian's fist tightened around the spear.

But he didn't move.

The beast leapt-

"SEBASTIAN!" Ashley shouted.

Sebastian hesitated another instant... still crouching directly in the beast's path. Then he snatched the spear from the floor and lunged, thrusting the spear upward and forward-

SHHH-CHUNK!

The silver spear-tip sank into the werebeast's chest just to the right of center. The base of the spear was pressed firmly against the floor so that the beast's own momentum drove the weapon completely through its body... the tip burst out through its back, carrying an large chunk of flesh with it. It looked like part of a lung.

The beast took several more steps forward... eyes wide with pain... fresh blood pouring out of its mouth... then it collapsed.

WHUMP!

It couldn't lay flat due to the shaft of silver protruding from both sides of its body. The spear propped it up on its side, where it gurgled weakly as more blood oozed out onto the floor.

Finally the gurgling stopped.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" Ashley shrieked. "YOU KILLED DOCTOR GOODE!! OH MY GOD!!"

"He's not dead," Sebastian. "I missed the heart. Intentionally."

"But-"

"Stand back."

Sebastian retrieved something from his pocket... it looked like a pager, but when he pressed the button-

POOOOM!

The small amount of explosive he had hidden in the ceiling went off. The shockwave brought half of the ceiling down... right on top of the beast. Huge blocks of stone piled on top of the injured creature, pinning it to the floor.

"That should keep him contained for the night," said Sebastian. "When its almost dawn, I'll yank the spear back out. He'll be fine."

"Won't that HURT?!"

"It won't hurt ME," said Sebastian.

he nurse's station was a very lonely place at 3:00am.

Amanda watched the clock's second hand sweep around towards the 12... wondering how many more revolutions it would make before Debra got back. She was already 15 minutes late getting back from break. And breaks were only 15 minutes long to begin with.

"C'mon, Debbie... I've got to pee..." Amanda whispered. She squeezed her legs together and shivered. She wasn't supposed to leave the station unattended except in an emergency, and somehow Amanda didn't think that too many cups of tea with dinner qualified as an emergency. Still... if Debbie didn't get back soon-

A door closed somewhere on the hall. It wasn't a slam... it was more of a surreptitious 'click' that instantly made Amanda suspicious. She slid off of her stool and carefully leaned over the desk to look down the hallway.

For a second...

...for the briefest instant... she thought someone was standing in front of the stairway. Or maybe two someones... she couldn't tell. By the time her brain registered the fact that her eyes had seen something, the man (men?) was gone.

"-huh?" Amanda grunted. She blinked and shook her head, which had suddenly started to hurt. "Debbie?"

The patient-alarm in Room 713 went off. Bed #1.

"Dammit," said Amanda. She slipped the uncomfortable shoes back onto her feet and-

The patient alarm in Room 714 went off. Bed #2. Then Bed #1. And both beds in Room 710.

AND in 709.

712.

The shrill sirens echoed painfully in Amanda's ears. She grabbed the intercom and pressed the button:

"EMERGENCY ON SEVENTH FLOOR! ALL DOCTORS REPORT TO FLOOR-SEVEN! STAT!"

Then she ran around the desk and sprinted down the hallway. She skidded to a halt in front of the room 709, the closest to the nurse's station.

WHAM!

She threw the door open and-

"...Oh my God..."

Bethany Mills had an inoperable stomach-tumor, for which the mostly-ineffectual treatment was almost as bad as the disease itself. Bethany looked very much like an animated skeleton with pale, mottled skin stretched tightly across the bones. On those rare days when she could even move, her activities never went beyond sitting up in bed and drooling on herself.

So, despite the facial resemblance, the person jumping up and down in the middle of the room could not POSSIBLY be Bethany Mills.

But it was.

"IT'S A MIRACLE!" the woman squealed. She was still thin to the point of appearing grotesque, but other than that, there was no sign that anything was... or had been... wrong with her. The sickly pallor was gone, as were the drooping, bloodshot eyes and the ugly dark splotches on her limbs. Her eyes... her face... her entire body radiated vitality in complete defiance of the medical chart that hung from the patient's empty bed. "I'm HEALED!"

"Mrs. Mills-" Bethany began. The words never made it. Bethany Mills shared a room with Norma Hann... brain cancer... comatose for 23 days. The terminal cancer patient who was not expected to regain consciousness was sitting bolt upright up in her bed, grinning giddily at Amanda. She looked like she'd just woken up from a short, but particularly refreshing nap.

"...what the-"

"Isn't it WONDERFUL!" said Mrs. Hann.

"...huh?"

A commotion from the hallway roused Amanda from her shock. Doors opening. Footsteps. Talking. Yelling.... screaming!

"AAAAAAA!!!"

"DOCTORS-!" Amanda blurted as she burst out into the hall. But it wasn't the doctors that greeted her. Patients jammed the hallway... pouring out of the open rooms like an angry mob. Gasps of surprise and shock turned to squeals of joy. Mr. Pennywory, the elderly skin-cancer patient from Room 710, pranced down the hall like a schoolchild. Gretta Barnes... breast cancer... had pulled off her gown and was giving herself a breast exam right there in the corridor. Lewis O'Neil, who was admitted with a tumor on his throat the side of a cantaloupe, jogged up to Amanda and showed her his neck. The cantaloupe was gone.

"HEALED!" someone shouted. Amanda should have recognized the voice, but the shouting, crying, and praying in the hallway was just too much. "HEALED!"

"It's a MIRACLE!" Bethany Mills announced as she strolled out of her room.

"What... what's going on!" said Bethany. "WHAT HAPPENED!"

"Angels!" Bethany replied. "Two ANGELS came to heal me!"

"YES!" another patient added. "They came to me, too! An old man and a little boy!"

"The old man touched me!" said Mr. O'Neil. "He touched me and took the cancer away!"

"We're HEALED!"

"A miracle!"

Talk of angels and miracles spread through the hall like a wave... a wave so powerful that it made Amanda swoon. She backed away from the jubilant crowd and staggered toward the nurses station. With every step, her mind kept rebelling against what she saw. Full remissions were a Holy Grail in the cancer-ward... something that someone saw once in a lifetime, if they were lucky. But now... standing in front of her... were TWELVE of them. Spontaneous Full Remission.

Impossible.

"...angel..." she whispered, trying to remember what she THOUGHT she saw when she first looked down the hall. Two figures? One was a man... the other... a boy?

Just then the stairwell door flew open and Debbie rushed into the cancer-ward

"AMANDA!" she screamed. "You HAVE to come with me to the children's ward!"

"Wha-"

"You HAVE to come see! It's a MIRACLE! A MIRACLE!"

orpses.

Jason wasn't sure WHAT he expected to find at the heart of the maze... but it wasn't this.

The massive stone blocks gave way to an open space the size of a football field... and in the center of the field was a mountain of corpses. Men. Women. Children. Animals.

A mountain.

Not a pile... not a stack...

A mountain.

The stench snatched the breath from Jason's lungs... and he refused to draw another until he absolutely had do.

It was an abomination. And Jason knew instantly that he had made a mistake. He hadn't been running from the creature... the creature was running HIM... chasing him into this place.

To its lair.

Jason heard the thing's footsteps behind him, and he knew that there was only one way to go. Forward. Into the core. There were other corridors leading away from it... although Jason couldn't see any. He just assumed that there were, and that all he had to do was FIND one and make his way back to the open ground.

But what if there weren't any.

What if this was it?

-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-

Jason started toward the mountain. He stepped carefully past the few scattered corpses at its base, but soon the carpet of meat became too thick. Jason was brushing past bodies... then stepping on them... then climbing over them...

-crunch-
-crunch-
-crunch-

Silence.

Jason looked back.

The false-Jason... the cyborg-demon... had paused in the entryway. Is dark, faceless head tilted toward him... eyes blazing from within the shadow of its wide-brimmed hat. The veins around its weapons were pulsing furiously. The eyes glowed brighter.

There was no place for Jason to go now.

So... which one was it going to be? The machine-gun... or the cannon?

Cannon.

The artillery gun snapped up with a sudden jerk. The cyborg's entire body turned slightly as the gun swung around-

Jason saw a puff of smoke... but he didn't see it clearly because he was already moving-

The heat from the blast set the bodies on fire. Burning clothes and melting human fat filled Jason's lungs with a smell that he swore he would never remember even in his worst nightmares. He scrambled away as fast as he could, sliding down the mountain of bodies... with no idea where he was going or what he was going to do when the next artillery shell hit-

KRA-BOOOOOMM!

Jason felt the wall of searing heat slam into him at the same time the ground... or corpses... vanished from under his feet.

"AAAAAAAAAAA-UNNNNGH!"

He hit the ground... bounced... bounced again... and rolled several times before a small pile of dead bodies stopped his progress. He lay still for a moment, trying to find out just how many of his bones were broken.

It felt like all of them.

I also felt like he didn't have any skin left on his back.

He could still move... but what would be the point?

-crunch-crunch-crunch-

The crunch wasn't rock this time... it was bones. The cyborg was walking toward him.... treading over the corpses as if they were seashells or pieces of driftwood. It was the slow, sinister march of a monster that already knew it had won.

"HELLLLLP!!" Jason screamed. "DONOVAAANNN! SEBASTIANNN!"

The only reply was the continuing 'crunch' of the cyborg's footsteps. Jason looked at the thing as it came. It was him. There was no denying it... the thing was some twisted representation of himself. But where did it come from, and why was it trying to KILL HIM!?!

-crunch-crunch-Crunch-

Jason knew that the thing had him. There was no way he could out-run it. No way he could fight it, with or without a gun. This was it. Donovan had tried to clue him in on what to do, but the ghost had been so damned CRYPTIC...

"WHO ARE YOU!" Jason screamed at the thing. If he was to die today, then he was determined not to die ignorant...

The creature answered. The searing, angry words ignited in Jason's thoughts and glowed like the pile of burning corpses not far away. Jason winced as the creature hissed/shrieked/growled directly into his mind:

"THE GIFT"

"GIFT!?! What the hell does THAT mean!?"

"SURRENDER. YOU HAVE NO WEAPONS."

It was right. Jason didn't have any weapons-

Suddenly, something Donovan had said came back to him:

"...Don't you think that odd? A soldier on the battlefield without a weapon? .... You've been given Gifts and weapons to fight an enemy... you're a soldier. Accept it..."

-and then Jason realized why he was unarmed. He had no weapons because the cyborg had them all... because the cyborg WAS a weapon. HIS weapon.

"YOU! YOU'RE-"

"THE GIFT."

"...YOU'RE MY GIFTS! MY POWER! But WHY are you doing this!? WHY are you killing everything!"

"BECAUSE YOU WANT ME TO."

"NO, I DON'T! STOP! STOP, please!"

"MAKE ME."

The gattling gun came around again.

vrrrrRRR-

Jason flipped over the short wall of bodies and crouched behind it-

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

The few feet of flesh between him and the cyborg offered only marginal resistance to the demon's weapon. Bullets tore through the grotesque barricade, splattering Jason with bits of gore and flesh-

"AAARG!" Jason several bullets pierced Jason's legs. Fiery pain erupted from his perforated limbs. "STOP! STOP! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!!"

"I CANNOT STOP UNTIL YOU DO."

-whirrrrrrrr-
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" A bullet shattered Jason's shoulder, sending bone fragments cascading though his chest cavity... "PLEASE! I Don't Want To Die!"

"YES, YOU DO."

"NO, I-"

-whirrrrrrrr-
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

"....unnngh...."

Jason fell over, blood gushing from a dozen holes in his torso. His arm stretched out... reaching for nothing at all... as he listened to the cyborg's weapon continue to fire. As the landscape began to fade away to nothingness, Jason realized that perhaps this wasn't such a bad thing....

"...why?..." something within him asked. "...WHY wasn't it such a bad thing?"

Because death was better than...

Life?

No. More death. Killing. Guns Betrayal.

Betrayal?

I have become an abomination. A traitor to my own memories. A traitor to my brother.

Because I kill? Because I use... weapons?

No. Because... for the first time... I WANTED to kill...

No.

Yes. I saw them die. And I liked it. I wanted it. I am evil. I must be stopped. This power has made me betray everything I am. Best to end it now before it goes any further. Pass it on to someone who can control it.

Yes.

Yes
(no)

Yes
(NO!)

Y-
NO!
NO!
NO!

I didn't kill them!
(...yes I did...)

They killed each other!
(...because I made them...)

I could have shot them... but I didn't!
(...you are corrupted... you enjoyed it...)

It was just a thought! ONE thought!
(...you have no control...)

I was injured! Dying! I DO have control!

...Prove It..."

Jason's eyes opened. He saw the pool of blood surrounding him... his blood....

He blinked, and it was gone.

Then he sat up.

-CRUNCH-CRUNCH-CRUNCH-

It was coming.

Jason stood and turned to face it.

"Hey," he said. "Looking for me?"

-whirrrrrrrr-

The machine gun began to spin-

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-

Bullets streamed towards Jason, but he didn't duck or run. He stood unmoving in their path. At the final instant before impact, the projectiles veered around him like startled insects. Dozen... then HUNDREDS of bullets came for him, but not a single one reached its mark. They drew curves and complex patterns in the air as they changed course to avoid their target.

-rrrrrrrr...

The spinning gattling-gun slowed... and stopped.

"You missed," said Jason.

The artillery gun rose and fired-

THOOOM!

The air screamed as the deadly projectile tore through it...

...but the screaming ended when the shell came to a halt two inches from Jason's nose.

The missile slooowly rotated to point in the direction from which it had just come. Then, without warning, it streaked toward the cyborg-

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

The explosion threw up a cloud of fire and ash so thick that it completely hid the cyborg from view for several seconds. But when the cloud cleared, the creature was still there. Waiting.

Jason walked toward it.

The cyborg took a step back.

"Yeah, you BETTER back away," Jason sneered. "Because I just figured you out... and now I'm PISSED! You're a part or ME... I control you! I don't RUN from you... I don't FIGHT you... I CONTROL you! You do what I SAY! So WHERE do you get off rampaging through my mind trying to KILL ME!!?"

The cyborg took several more steps back.

"Its bad ENOUGH that you get to live inside me... but that don't mean you can start trying to make me ENJOY it! That's not gonna happen. Ever. I do what I do because I HAVE to! Because I don't have a CHOICE! I DO NOT ENJOY IT! And you're DAMN sure not gonna go around SHOOTING at me! I run this show! YOU'RE just a TOOL! A freakin Power-saw! An electric SCREWDRIVER! That's ALL YOU ARE!"

Jason stopped in front of the cyborg... the top of his head came to the bottom of the monster's chest. Jason looked up into the thing's face.

"These are mine-" Jason grabbed the bazooka and the machine gun... and ripped them out of the cyborg's flesh. The weapons shrank and twisted in his hands... slowly morphing into the twin 454 Casull's that Jason always carried. He stuffed the weapons into the empty holsters on his belt. "And who said you could borrow my clothes?"

Jason reached into the coat that the cyborg wore. The monster's dark flesh retreated before his arm like shadows before the light. Jason slipped his arm into the garment and shrugged it up onto his shoulders. He adjusted the wide-brimmmed hat on his head, then got his sunglasses from the coat pocket and slipped them on.

The thing that had menaced him was now just a formless wisp of shadow that floated around his legs like a lapdog.

"Go back to whatever hole you came from," Jason ordered. "and STAY there until I send for you!"

The shadow vanished.

"...bout time I got some freakin' respect around here. DONOVAN! FRONT AND CENTER, YOU JACKASS!!"

"I'm glad you decided to stay with us," said Donovan... who was suddenly standing in front of Jason.

"Oh, NOW you come back?"

"This was a decision that you had to make alone."

"I made the right one," said Jason.

"There IS no right one," Donovan replied. "You chose what you chose. And now..."

The landscape around them began to grow dark. Very dark. The stone blocks began to sink into the ground, revealing a horizon that was quickly moving toward them... a black shadow flew across the land, erasing everything it touched...

"Hey! HEY! I chose to live!"

"You did. The worst is over. You're waking up now, but your eyes are still closed..."

"Oh." Jason looked away from the rapidly darkening sky. "Well... it was nice to see you again, Donovan. You've been just a voice in my head for so long, I almost forgot what you looked like."

Donovan laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Have you ever really WANTED to see me, Jason?"

"Well...no."

"That's why you haven't seen me."

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot something. There's one more thing before I go back..."

"What's that-"

Jason drew back and-

KRACK!

-threw a right-cross that spun Donovan and around and dropped him at Jason's feet.

"Consider that a down-payment on the ass-whuppin' I owe you-"

And then the darkness washed over them both...

t was almost dawn when the screaming started.

Sebastian was pulling the spear out of the still-inert werebeast when a terrible, blood-curdling sound erupted from the doctor's lab. It started out as a scream... a man screaming in abject agony. But almost as soon as the sound had left the man's throat... it changed. It deepened into the roar of some thing that couldn't possibly be human.

Ashley rushed into the lab to see what had become of Jason Brooks.

Jason was sitting up on the table... arms outstretched... head leaned back...

...body completely covered with dark-brown fur. As he roared, the lower half of his face elongated into a wolf-like snout while his throat, chest, and shoulders bulged with new muscle. That bandages fell away in tatters as the skin beneath them sprouted fur... then swelled as more mass began to build up onto his thickening bones.

"JASON!"

Jason turned toward her and snarled... baring the fangs that were still bursting from his gums. He reached for her... and she saw that his fingertips had already sprouted inch-long claws. Jason's eyes flashed with rage as he roared

"GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaoooooohhhhh...uhhh..."

In mid-roar, Jason's body had suddenly transformed back into human. The fur... the fangs... the claws... all vanished like smoke scattered by a stiff wind, leaving Jason's body completely healed.

"JASON!"

Jason looked at Ashley, then at himself. The sheet that had covered the lower half of his body was now on the floor. And without fur, he was completely naked.

"Where are my clothes?" he said.

"Oh! Sorry!" Ashley turned around.

"Sorry hell! Gimme my clothes! And where the hell am I?"

"Uhhh... that's kinda hard to explain. We're somewhere in Alabama."

"Oh, great... not those rednecks-"

"We got away from them."

"The dragon? My car?"

"Nope and nope."

"My clothes!?"

Jason's pants and shirt had been shredded when the doctor and Sebastian cut them off of him, but Ashley found a pair of Dr. Goode's tattered jeans in the closet. She tossed them to Jason, and he put them on.

"Are you... okay?" she said.

"I'm fine," he said. Then he stopped for a moment... "No, scratch that. I feel GREAT! Hell... this is the best I've felt since... EVER! MAN! Kick a little ass on the astral plane and all of a sudden I'm SUPERMAN!" Jason flexed his arms, and Ashley noticed that his muscles were more defined than it had been before... like he'd spent a few months at the gym. And there wasn't even a trace of his wounds.

"Astral...?"

"I'll explain later. Where's the kid?"

"Pulling his spear out of the doctor."

Jason just stared at her.

"I knew there was something freaky about that boy... but damn..."

"No, c'mere-"

Ashley lead Jason into the other wound, where Sebastian was moving some heavy stones off of the very-human Doctor Goode. Through the demolished wall, Ashley could see that sunlight was just beginning to filter through the trees.

"I can't believe you nailed me with that cheap piece of crap," Dr. Goode growled. As he climbed out of the rubble, Ashley could see that he was mostly uninjured. There were no gaping holes in his flesh... no missing chunks of skin... no lasting reminders of his battle with the demon. There were a few purple bruises from the stones that Sebastian had pulled off of him, but even those were beginning to fade.

"My stomach's full," said the doctor. He rubbed his abdomen... which was slightly swollen. "What'd I eat... not your friend, I hope..."

"No, he's fine," said Ashley. "Dr. Goode... meet Jason Brooks. Jason... meet the guy that saved your life."

"Thanks," said Jason. "Now put on some clothes."

Dr. Goode was naked.

"Feeling a little inadequate, are we?" said the doctor. "You're wearing my last pair of pants. I've got a lab coat-"

"I'll get it, I'll get it..." Ashley retrieved a white lab coat from the lab and tossed it to the doctor. He put it on.

"What the hell happened in here?" said Jason.

"Achilles demon," Sebastian replied.

"Really?" said Goode. "Who nailed it?"

"You did." Sebastian pointed to Goode's stomach.

"Wait a minute... wait just a damn minute," said Jason. "He ATE a demon!?"

"Probably just the juicy parts... which must have included the weak spot."

"Hell, we need this guy with us!" said Jason.

"Sorry, I work alone. And I work on a CURE... not on demon-hunting. I leave that stuff to Donovan. Well... to YOU, now. Are you feeling okay?"

"Great. Better than ever. What'd you do-"

"You don't want to know," said Ashley.

"Hmmm... we'd better make sure. Follow me into the lab."

"Why? What's going on?"

Dr. Goode went back into the lab, and Jason followed him.

"Here, take this" Dr. Goode held out an empty cup. Jason reached out to take it, but when his arm was extended, Dr. Goode slashed him across the forearm with a scalpel.

"HEY MUTHERFU-OUUCH!!! YOU CUT ME!"

A stripe of blood oozed from Jason's arm, just above the wrist. Jason tried to jerk his hand away, but Dr. Good caught his arm and held it. Tight. Jason drew back to punch the doctor, but Sebastian grabbed his other arm.

"HEY! LET ME GO! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

Dr. Goode looked at the wound... he smeared the blood with his finger... then he nodded.

"The wound's not healing. He's fine... if he were infected, it would be half-healed by now."

Sebastian let Jason go, and the doctor released his arm.

"Sorry about that," said the doctor. "Had to be sure. Here's a bandage."

"And here's a FIST-"

"HEY! I'm just making sure you're not infected, that's all. You're not. The serum worked... you're healed and you're still human."

"WHAT serum!?"

"You don't want to know," Ashley said again.

"The hell I don't!"

"And now I'd like to ask you a favor," said the doctor. "For my research. Your blood fought off the infection, just as I thought it would. There may be some... antibodies. I'd like to take a sample, if I could."

"A sample of what?" said Jason.

"Your blood."

"MY BLOOD!? After you just CUT me!? What is it with you and blood... you some kind of VAMPIRE or something!?"

"Well...no. I'm a werewolf."

"Huh?"

Ashley watched the shock on Jason's face give way to realization...

"...werewolf? Serum? Infection? No...No, nuh-uh, NO! NO! NO-"

"You're fine, Brooks-"

"NO! NO! NO! NO!"

"The power in your blood kept the curse in check... it let just enough of the transformation occur to heal you, and then eliminated the infection altogether."

"NO! NO! NO!"

"Jason, stop," said Ashley. "You're being hysterical."

"I bet this was YOUR idea, wasn't it, Sebastian!"

"No. I would have let you die."

"Die?"

"You were going to die, Jason," said Ashley. "Goode saved your life."

"But-"

"So give him some blood and lets get out of here."

"Just a little..." Dr. Goode already had a syringe in his hand. "Please. Its all I ask."

Jason looked at everyone in the room... sighed... then extended his arm.

"Cut me again and you'll be a werewolf with my FIST-PRINT on the side of your head..."

"Just relax. The worst is over. Hopefully for me, too..."

Dr. Goode drew a test-tube of blood, then pulled the needle out.

"I would take more... but I figure you people are in a hurry... what with demons to fight and everything."

"Yes. We're going to the casinos in Mississippi," said Ashley. "But Dr. Goode... what about you? That dragon knows where you are! If it sends another demon-"

"I wish it would... I need to re-stock my freezer."

"Once it knows the Achilles demon failed, it will wait for us to turn up in Mississippi," said Sebastian. "You have nothing to worry about, Goode."

"Damn. Well... I've got a cure to research, and a cabin to rebuild. So, if you don't mind... get the hell off my mountain."

"Gladly," said Sebastian. He and the doctor shook hands.

"Good luck with the girl," said Goode.

"Girl?"

"You know... the girl."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well," said the doctor. "If you don't know... I'm not gonna tell you." Dr. Goode tapped his nose with his fingertip. "But the nose knows. Stay in touch, kid."

Dr. Goode watched while Ashley, Sebastian, and Jason walked out to the car.

"So what exactly was in that serum?" said Jason.

"Werewolf-snot."

"Ha, ha. No, really."

"Really."

"Sebastian?"

"Its true."

"OH, COME ON! You've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! NEXT time just let me die!"

"Gladly," said Sebastian as he settled into the passengers seat and slammed the door.

r. Goode watched the Mitsubishi 3000GT roll out of the clearing and start down the mountain. It actually felt good to have company for a change... too bad their timing was so bad. He still wasn't too sure about the Brooks guy, though... he just didn't seem the demon-killing type. But then, neither did Donovan when THEY first met.

Sebastian, though... THAT kid was a natural.

The doctor returned to his lab, eager to examine the Brooks blood sample. He split the sample among several test tubes, and put all but one of them in the refrigerator. He ran the last one through the centrifuge to separate out the different components, then placed a dot of blood on a slide under the microscope.

He put his eye to the eyepiece.

"Hmmm..."

The doctor increased the magnification and squinted into the lens, trying to make sense out of what he saw.

"Hmmmmmm...."

He moved the slide to a more powerful microscope, and increased the magnification to maximum. He looked... looked again... then raised his head away from the eyepiece. He swallowed the nervous lump that was rising into his throat...

"Uh-oh."

[To Be Continued]

copyright 2005 by Dark Icon Entertainment