DeMoN NyTe
S.T. Rucker

CHAPTER ONE
  "Aidan Row speaking," I said, angling the game controller. I was playing Grand Auto Theft and enjoying every moment of it.
  "Row, this is an Obsidian call. I have an assignment for you. Fayte Oson is on vacation and you're next in line for duty."
  That was the charming voice of my boss, Rajah. I dropped the controller and bolted upright from my bored, sagging, laidback position on the couch. I hadn't had an assignment in six months. I was tired of training rookies at the academy. "Tell me why and where and I'll be there," I said quickly.
  Rajah laughed. "Eager are we?"
  "My brain has been rotting of boredom, video games, and booze. You'd be eager too if you were me." I could sense Rajah becoming serious even though I knew she wanted to laugh again. She explained the complexity of what lay ahead. Why? The usual. Vampires mixing things up when they shouldn't be. Where? Club Wrath in the Realm of Eternal Night pass Cross Realm's Cross. As it turns out, they sent several officials in to "contain the incident," but none of them came out.
  The secret agency that I work for, Obsidian, doesn't take too kindly to things like this. When they sent in people like me, it was only because I was a last result.
  I almost leapt from the sofa in my haste to put on my boots and leather jacket. I put on my black ball cap, which had OBSIDIAN stitched on it in bold white letters.
  I was out the front door of my condo, down the stairs, and in my trusty silver Blazer before I could even remember the directions to Cross Realm's Cross. There weren't many roads that led there, only four as a matter of fact. All of them were government protected even if they led from someone's home, which three of them did.
  I cut onto a dirt road, which led to a very high, barbwire gate. I typed in my "know or die" code and drove on through when the gate slid open. I passed down a dark road for a moment before reaching a pier over darkened waters. I cut the engine, got out, and immediately went around to the hatch(trunk). From inside I pulled out my favorite double barrel shot gun with my handy flashlight on top. This was all I needed.
  With it aimed and ready to let loose if need be, I started down the board walk. My boots clomped on the wood as the only sound besides the water below. The portion of the pier, which had been blown up in a hit-and-run involving one of our agents a few weeks ago, had been repaired. Cross Realm's Cross looked just like the end of pier might look, but it was a whole other story once you stepped into it. Without really thinking about it, I walked right on through, my shot gun raised and my flashlight in use.
  The streets were strangely quiet and dark. I went straight to the wide open doors of the club. I knew immediately that something was wrong.
  The bouncer wasn't at the door.
  The bouncer was always at the door when Wrath was open and Wrath was open all the time. I went inside slowly and cautiously, my shot gun poised, my hand on the trigger. The techno music was still loud and bumping, but there was no DJ, no one to dance to it. The strobe lights flashed around aimlessly in the smoke field darkness. Bodies were strewn across the floor along with large quantities of dust apparently the remains of 3rd World vampires. Only a few of them were human and from the half closed wounds on their necks, they had been killed before this happened. They had been lunch for the vampires.
  Well, I for one hoped they enjoyed their meal because it was apparently the last they would ever have, I though as I surveyed a female corpse of one of the vamps with her heart ripped out. I stepped over them, looking carefully into the dark crevices through my flashlight beam. It was hard to see with the strobe lights flashing around in the dark, but I managed, taking a moment to slip in my night vision contacts. I finished the first level of the club, finding nothing but bodies, then proceeded to the second floor.
  I went down the stairs, aiming the barrel of my gun around. There were no lights on in here. I could see with the help of my special contacts, but I wanted to see everything without having to look in that particular direction. I felt around and found the power switch. The light shown bright, flickering and stinging my eyes for a moment. I blinked to adjust my contacts to first person mode or back to regular vision to put it plainly. Down here was the most grisly sight I had ever seen.
  This was where the people that the government had sent had gone and perished. Their bodies littered the black marble floor around the steel cage (this level was the dueling arena where they held their competitions). Someone down here was still alive. Someone or something had to be or these people would still be alive. I walked down the rest of the stairs and to the landing. From there I went to the center of the steel cage, the door swinging on it's hinges. Blood was pooled beneath my feet from one of the bodies hanging on the side gate.
  Grimacing at the man's slit throat, I went over to look at the badge on his coat pocket. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed my hand. Startled, I tried to back away, but for a dying man, his grip was pretty strong.
  "It is here. Watch...out. It's somewhere in...here..." he struggled to say, blood dripping from his mouth, his tongue thick and red with it.
  "What? What's here?" The man died, releasing me after I got out my questions. I turned swiftly as something flashed in the corner of my eye. Something had just run up the wall. Whatever it was, it was quick. I was turning swiftly to see if I could catch a glimpse of it. I didn't. The soft hissing sound it had been making disappeared.
  I quickly did a scan of the building after checking out a sealed, password required key padded door. There was another level beneath this one, one people apparently or even other vampires weren't supposed to know about. I didn't open it. I didn't know what kind of booby traps might be on it. I headed back upstairs after searching the floor area and collecting the only data I could, which was a small hand held computer with a cracked monitor I would have to fix as soon as I got the chance.
  On the upper floor, the lights were on now, the music was gone. All the bodies and death could be seen more clearly now. What the hell had down this? What if all the creatures in here had been humans instead of vampires?
  "It is still in here." came a quiet voice form behind me.
  My heart skipped and I spun around, my finger tightening on the trigger of my shot gun.

CHAPTER TWO
  It was only Lucias. The guy was a good friend of mine and a special agent at Obsidian with me. Sometimes his quiet nature gave me the creeps. I don't blame him though. If I had seen all the things he must have seen in his life, I'd be that way too.
  Lucias was telepathic, but not in the way you might think. He could feel the vibes that came out of the earth, objects in general. He could "see" past events through almost everything that he touched. That's why he wore leather gloves on his hands. He told me once that when he was a boy, he touched his little sister. His parents hadn't been very responsible, his father was abusive. He saw all the things his father had done to her, every vile disgusting thing, he felt every bruise and hurt. We met when were teenagers, me, Lucias, and Sin. We've always been friends, always will be.
  I lowered my shot gun. "What is it, Lucias?" I wanted to know what was in here and I wanted to know now.
  Lucias closed his eyes. "She is still in here." He took of his gloves and kneeled down.
  "Lu, man, don't do that. You know what it does to you." I had seen it happen often enough and I didn't want it to happen again.
  "I will tell you what is in here, my friend," he said softly. He pressed his hands to the carpet. His head snapped back and his eyes closed tightly. A vein throbbed in his forehead.
  I ran to him and pushed him back. "Stop Lucias!" When he opened his eyes, he looked sad and a little scared. "What?"
  He shook his head slowly. "It is not natural. It is not natural. They created it. They created her."
  "They created what, Lu?"
  Instead of answering he pointed behind me. I turned around. The most bizarre creature stood there. It was a she, a woman or female or something. Her eyes were silver, her skin pale like lightly tanned frost. In fact, it looked as though she wore no clothes at all, but thick layers of frost and ice to cover everything that shouldn't be showing. Her hair was short and dark, deep brown. She hissed, revealing fangs. Nope, that wasn't lipstick she was wearing.
  It was blood. She had killed everyone in here.
  Whatever she was, she wasn't vampire or human. She was something completely different. She started to walk towards me. I poised my shot gun. "Freeze, lady!" She kept coming. I fired and she dodged it, knocking it away with her hand. What the fuck? I fired again and again until finally, she got towards me, knocked the gun out of my hand and threw me back into a wall. I slid down slowly and landed on the floor with a groan. My vision doubled, but I managed to see her standing in front of Lucias.
  He was looking at her calmly, standing completely still. She sniffed him like some kind of animal, licked the side of his face, then took off at a blinding speed. The last thing I saw before I passed out was her crawling up the wall like some freaky lizard. She turned her head at a full 180 degree angle before disappearing on the shadowed ceiling.

  "Wake up, Aidan," came a quiet voice from beside me.
  I jolted up, my body on full alert. We were still in the club. My gaze zipped around. "Where is she?"
  Lucias stood up. "She is gone."
  I shook my throbbing head and stood up. "Where?" He shook his head and I cussed. "I'm heading for the headquarters, Lu. I've got to tell Rajah about this and alert the staff." I started to walk and reached the door before Lucias stopped me. I turned back.
  "She was created, Aidan. She meant no harm. Nothing in her is human. She doesn't remember who or what she is. Remember that."
  I thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." On the way to Obsidian's main headquarters, I called the cleanup boys to make sure the club got taken care of.
  Most of the people I called for this meeting at the headquarters slept in the building where they practically lived their entire life. They were yawning and grumpy from being pulled put of their beds as they took their seats at the round table in the center of the conference room. The last to come in and fashionably late was Rajah in her tank top, furry slippers, and short shorts with ANGEL written on the ass of them. Every guy in the room snapped to attention, but had a little trouble keeping it that way when they saw her in nothing but her pj's. Seeming not, Rajah plopped down in her high backed cushioned leather swivel chair, stacking her on the table top.
  "Agent Row. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. What is the problem? Did you find something at Club Wrath?" Her tiger eyes were smiling though her face was serious.
  "We've got trouble. Don't fire me for saying this, Rajah, but while you all took your sweet pansy ass time getting down here, I was uploading the problem on the flat screen television. Now if you'll look this way-"
  "Who is this guy?" asked a man I had never seen before. "Who gave him the authority to just waltz in here like this? Does he even have a badge?"
  Rajah answered that one. She seemed offended that he should say that with such audacity. "This is Agent Aidan Row of the Obsidian Elite. He holds one of the highest ranks our people can have." She turned to me. "This is Agent Tate, he's with the FBI."
  The man still looked unconvinced so I flashed him my badge. He looked a little red in the face after being proven wrong by two people in one minute. He must be used to getting his way. "As I was saying, I fixed the computer disk that I found while inspecting the scene. I've made copies of the evidence for you all to review." I should have been shagging that blond who came on to me in the copying room, but instead I decided to be a good little boy and prepare for the meeting.
  "The disk doesn't contain everything we need to know, but it gives information on a project called Demon Nyte. Apparently, they created something illegal. We all know that under Section 3456 of the Realms Code, no creature or substance is to create anything on or over the Cross Realm's Cross. Whatever it was, I saw it and it is no joke."
  That rare serious gleam was in Rajah's eye. "Thank you for your information, Row. I am officially putting this operation under your command."
  I gave a rigid solute. "Thank you, ma'am. I will not fail you, ma'am."
  Rajah nodded. "You are dismissed Agent Row."
  As soon as I got home, which was at four o'clock in the morning, the phone rang. I stared at it on it's cradle on my coffee table. Who would be calling me this early in the morning? Figuring it was Rajah calling to tell me that creature was on the Empire State building, I walked over and picked it up. "Hello?"
  Instead of an answering voice, I heard a light breathing on the other end.
  "Who is this?"
  "Your city is very interesting, Agent Row," came a smooth, feminine voice that held a slight hiss.
  For some strange reason, I knew this had to be that woman or whatever she was from Wrath. It sounded like the kind of voice she might have. "Where are you?" I should have been asking what are you.
  "I'm close," she hissed.
  I wasn't going to stall. I wanted to get as much out of as I could. "What kind of power do you possess?" Like she would actually tell m anyway.
  She laughed. "Not much for conversation, are you?" Her voice became low and she sounded horny to me. "I can smell you. I can almost taste you my tongue, Agent Row."
  A chill ran down my spine. So she wanted to talk dirty. "Where are you?"
  She laughed again. "Close enough. I'll be calling back soon" Click.
  I put the phone back on it's cradle. Somehow she had danced me around in circles and I hadn't got a single answer out of her. I laid down on the couch and tried to fit her up with being a new breed of vampire. She was fast, she held all the physical allure of a vampire, she had the supernatural strength...but dammit the profile didn't fit the profile. She was something else and I knew the only I would find out was from her. As soon as I got back up, I was heading out. I had to find her. Whatever she was, it had to be dangerous.

  I went down to Sage and Rosemary's to have some coffee. For a long while, I sat at the table, thinking. We had no leads on what or who that creature was. I remember the frost and ice covering her body and I figured she must have been somewhere very cold. So maybe she was somewhere very cold right now.
  Come to me Aidan.
  I froze. My body seized up and I refused to move until I was sure I wasn't hearing things.
  Come to me Aidan. Let me taste you.
  Okay, I moved again. Slowly, I got up from my chair and the closer got to the entrance of the cafe, the louder the voice seemed to get so I figured she was telepathic. I knew it was her. I walked down the crowded streets of downtown, trying to find out where it would lead me.
  Stop. I'm here Aidan. Come and get me, take me...
  I turned to the left to find myself standing next to a building built rather like a temple. Bin Hondur.In the language of the fire nymph, it meant Hellfire. What the hellfire was she doing in here? The place was a fancy strip bar. How would I know? I wouldn't lie by saying hadn't been in here a few times. The place was great- Now down to business. As I stepped inside, two courtesans took my jacket, put it on a coat rack, and led me down a long hallway painted with mocking flames of dancing women.
  Soon, we entered a golden room with a bar and stage. In some places places there were chairs and in others their were fluffy pillows. I was thrown into a reclining chair before the two ladies dressed in nothing, but whisps of silk and sheer, veils covering the lower portion of their faces walked away. Other men were in the room getting lap dances, strips teases and whatever else they wanted (except things that should be done behind closed doors if you know what I mean). I relaxed into the cushioned chair, thinking that since I was here I might as well enjoy myself.
  Suddenly, the girls began to flock over to me. They danced on me, whispering all kinds of shit in my ear. They touched me and I suddenly began to feel very good about myself.

CHAPTER THREE
  The girls giggled at my obvious comfort and drug me from my seat. I couldn't get away as they led me up the short flight of stairs and onto the stage. I stood there as they bustled off and the lights dimmed. The gentle thrum of a guitar sounded over the sudden silence. The red velvet curtains at the other end of the stage opened and a woman danced out slowly. Her face was covered by a sheer veil and her hair covered by a silk head piece. Dressed like the others in pantaloons with sheer leggings and a tight bra with sheer sleeves, she moved towards me. It was her eyes that gave her away.
  They were silver.
  Everyone's eyes were drawn to the stage in a trance by the way she moved. If I didn't know any better I would have been caught up in her movements as well. Two of the women moved on either side of me and ripped off my shirt. Naturally shocked, I looked down at my naked torso as the women made off with my shirt.
  The female creature from Wrath danced against slowly as though she had all the time in the world. Her hands grasped my arms, barely wrapping around the thick muscle there. I felt a stirring in my genitals when she rubbed up against me with her backside. She turned to face me, her silver eyes changing metallic colors like she was some sort of alien or something. She became interested in the muscle that ticked in my chest every time she touched me. She traced it with her tongue. The lights came back on and she was gone.
  Murmurs of awe and excitement rose up from the men on the floor below the stage. Shirtless. I went down the isle. I knew she was quick, but not that damn quick. With no shirt to wear, I grabbed my jacket on the way to the door and threw it on.
  My eyes raced the streets for any sign of her as soon as I was outside. The only thing I saw were ordinary people. Men and women walking through the thick crowd. A line of monks in hooded, brown robes walked in a straight line toward the sancturary. One of them turned to me and put a finger to her curved cherry lips. Briefly the hand smoked before it was concealed beneath the heavy brown robes again. A rush of the crowd suddenly caused the line of monks to disappear. When the crowd dispersed, the line was missing the one. The exact one I had been looking for.

  For the next four nights I checked every meat locker and freezer in the city. I didn't find her in any of them. I was almost ready to give up on the fifth night until I saw one of the meat lockers on the list that I hadn't crossed off. Luckily, if she wasn't in that one either, I could head on home because it was right down the street from me.
   Making sure to listen to every sound, I took the stairs up. I kicked in the door to the main freezer. I walked through large pieces of dead cow hanging on hooks. It was a lot colder in here than any of the other meat lockers and freezers I had been to. The back door swung open and bounced against the wall. Knowing that I was right on her trail, I put my gun away and headed up the stairs that led to the roof. Experience had taught me that bullets couldn't harm her if she could knock them away with her bare hand.
  I wasn't expecting her to be standing there on the roof waiting for me. But there she was, wearing nothing but frost and ice again. "Not to big on clothes now are we?" I asled taking a few steps toward her.
  She only smiled and said, "You're very clever, Agent Row."
  "Not clever enough if it took me this long to catch up with you. Come peacefully and I won't have to take some seriously unnecessary steps."
  Her eyes gleamed and she took off for the ledge. She was going to jump. I raised my hand, my fingers crackling with static electricity. Being electrokinetic always came in handy for something, I thought as I sent a net of electricity flying at her. She dogded the first, but the second one hit her, wrapping around her and vanishing as it traveled through her body. She let out a deafening shriek of pain and I was sure that I hurt her badly. Obviously, electricity could harm her just like sunlight would without the affect of death. She gave a small whimper of pain and fell to the ground, unconscious and completely harmelss.
  And ass out naked.
  The heat of the electric charge must have melted the ice on her. I gave a low whistle as I stood over her. "Damn." I wrapped her up in my jacket and zipped it before picking her up easily and carrying her down to the Blazer. I fastened her seat belt and drove her back to my condo. When I got there, I would wake her up and demand some answers.

  She was lying in the center of my big four poster bed in the master bedroom of my condo. I left my coat on her, taking this time to get a good look at her. Sooner or later, I would have to turn her over tp Obsidian's science department. Figuring, I'd better get started, I pressed my fingers to her pulse and gave her a little shock. White veind of electricity ran over her. She was shivering and shaking as her silver eyes opened wide in the darkness of the room. She looked at me in fear.
  I took a seat next to the bed, two of my fingers on the raising pulse in her wrist. "I'm going to ask you some questions and if you don't answer me, then I'll have to shock you. Do you understand?" She only shook her head at me frantically. "What is your name?"
  She continued to shake her head, trying to break my hold on me. She was too weak to get away, I knew. Dirty bastard that I was, I had drugged her in her state of unconsciousness. Obviously, it was working so she couldn't be a vampire. When she still didn't answer me, I pressed my fingers into her wrist and veins of electricity shot into her. She cried out, closing her eyes tightly. "What is your name?" I asked again.
  "Kyo."
  "Okay, Kyo. What are you?" When she didn't answer me, I shocked her twice.
  Her back arched off the bed as she screamed. "I am the result of Project Demon Nyte," she moaned.
  We were making progress. "What can you do?"
  She relaxed when she realized I wouldn't shock her this time. "I have all the abilities of a master vampire; supernatural speed and strength, preternatural allure. I can hear, see and smell more acutely than the oldest of master vampires and way above that of a human. I am telepathic and telekinetic."
  "Are you in any way human?"
  "No, I am not. I was created by the mixing of vampire blood and vinoctu blood."
  Vinoctu, though no one knew how they were created, were like vampires with souls. They were like super humans. They could walk in the daylight and they could alternate between a vampire's digestive system and that of a human. When the blood of a creature of light and that of a vampire were mixed together, the result was never good. To mix something so pure and good with something so vile and evil was considered a sin in some places. "What was the purpose of Project Demon Nyte? What is your purpose? While you're at it tell me what happened at Wrath."
  "My purpose is to collect information."
  I shocked her again and she screamed. I continued to shock her. I didn't need her lying about this one. I needed to know the truth because this was the only question that really mattered. "What is your purpose, Kyo?"
  "I collect information!" she screamed. I shocked her again and again. "We were created to be superior to the vampire race. We were created to succeed them! They programmed us with their Psionics so we would have the instinct to kill. We were the first of their experiments for dominance here on earth," she cried. "Stop...hurting...me."
  I let go of her after she fainted, her eyes closed and face turned to me. Kyo. Her name was Kyo. I let her rest for three hours after I left the darkened room. I went to my study and started to take notes for meeting with Rajah and the staff. It was well over four hours latr when I went into the bedroom to see what she was doing.
  It was completely silent in the room. Moonlight spilled over the empty bed. I knew she was still here especially when I saw two small orbs of silver glowing in the corner. "Kyo," I said gently, "you mind coming from over there." The silver orbs, which were her eyes, moved from side to side as she was apparently shaking her head. "Suit yourself." I left the room, throwing up an electric shield over the doorway. Sleeping on the couch was going to be a bitch, but I could take it.

  I spooned up some of my Pops and ate them as I read the morning paper. Several bodies had been found drained of blood all over the city right before I found Kyo in that meat locker. There was every indication that she had done it. Think of the she-devil. The door to my bedroom opened up and I knew she was waiting for me to take down the shield. I waved my hand and it vanished. Still Kyo stood there.
  "You coming out or what?"
  As though in answer, the blinds in the room shot closed, blocking out most of the sunlight that threatened to shine through. She walked out into the room wearing one of my long sleeve shirts. It almost reached her knees. Almost. She had put one of my belts around her waist. Her short brown hair was done in slight spikes. I started to clap. "Who wins fashion statement for 'I have no clothes and I'm staying in this man's house' of the year? Kyo." I laughed when turned an icy silver glare on me. I guess she didn't know the rules of modesty because she bent over right in front of me. All I've got to say is underwear free is the way to be.
  My spoon dropped into the bowl as I stared. She pulled a pair of my bedroom shoes from under the sofa and put them on. My trance vanished when the long shirt dropped back over her bare assets. Maybe I should have expected her to attack me, but I think she was scared of getting shocked again. That seemed to be her only weakness. I finished my cereal quickly. "Got anything to tell me this morning, Kyo?"
  She didn't answer me. I walked to her and found her staring at the floor, a far away look on her face. I touched her shoulder and she jumped away from me, huddling in the corner. I looked at her, trying to hide my confusion as I tried to not to stare at the curve of her behind. "I won't hurt you. I realize I was hard on you last night, but I needed the answers, Kyo. You're the only one who can give them to me." I tilted my head a little. "Could you move to the left on your side?" She did and I felt like I'd been handed the crown jewels. "Sweet Jesus, what an ass!" I regained all control of myself and said, "I'll be back later, Kyo."
  "I will no be here when you return," heard her mutter to my back.
  "Oh you think so?" I raised my finger to the ceiling and electric veins shot from it, blocking off all the exits with electric safeguards. I kissed at her. "Bye honey, take care of the kids." I closed the door to the condo and locked it, hearing a vase crash against it. I smiled and shook my head.

CHAPTER FOUR
  This Aidan Row was a little more clever than I thought. He was also very handsome with access of muscular tissue, black hair, and blue eyes. I surveyed his dwelling with keen interest. I sniffed that leather jacket I had seen him wear on so many ocassions, inhaling his scent before sliding it on. I hadn't expected him to be electrokinetic. I cursed. Of all the weaknesses the creations of Project Demon Nyte could have had, it had to have been electric shock.
  I went to his compact disk player and turned it on. I could feel my cardiovascular
system leap in alarm as these people, Puddle of Mudd, blast in my hearing range. After my first shock, I finally fell into the words. They were quite beautiful, holding messages that most humans would probably never grow to understand. I listened to the song several times before I turned on his viewing screen to watch this Nickolodeon. Later, I was entranced by the realness of the human's Lifetime channel. I had never seen things such as this before.
  During a commercial after Strong Medicine, I realized that those trances I had were becoming more frequent. I remembered thing, a human's memories. I had to tell Aidan about them, I had to tell him that it wasn't me who killed all those people at the club, Wrath. He had to know. For some reason, it mattered to me that he didn't think I was a killer.
  The opportunity arose when he came home that night. I felt better with the moon in the sky. It would take a few days for my skin to get use to the light of day. "Greetings, human," I said as he passed by the sofa. He looked tired and stressed out. "Was your day not filled with pleasantries and women on fire?"
  He managed to give me a smile. "It's hot women, Kyo, and don't take the saying literally. One of my students at the Academy is new and she nearly shot my dick off at target practice today."
  "I have read that males of your species truly value their manhood. I'm sure it would cause you great sorrow to lose it."
  I was surprised when he laughed this time. "I'm going to lie down for a few hours, Kyo. Make yourself at home. You'll be here for a while." He closed the door to the bedroom and I heard him lie down on his bed.
  What I had to discuss with him could not wait. No. I got up and went to the bedroom door, opening it without sound. I have forgotten the human etiquette for broaching a converstion, but I hope it comes back to me before I get to him.

  I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes. Kyo was in the other room wearing nothing but my shirt and furry slippers. Great. Sooner or later I would have to turn her over to Obsidian. Would I do it?
  Something soft and warm laid on top of me. My eyes opened up and I nearly sat up, but I was forced back down. "Kyo, what are you doing?"
  "Please do not send another one of your electric current suppressors through my body, Aidan. I wish to speak to you."
  "Shouldn't we both be in chairs or something."
  She stiffened. "I apologize, Aidan. I should have thought through my request more thoroughly before I came to you-" She started to get up off me.
  I stayed her, quite comfortable in or current position. "No! It's fine. What did you wish to speak to be about?"
  She relaxed and snuggled on top of me. "I remembered something that I didn't tell you last night. Something important, Aidan Row."
  A little distracted, I tried to concentrate. "What?"
  "We were not created here. The experiment started in the Artic where it was very cold, cold enough for us to be kept out in the open," she whispered. "I keep having these flashes, these memories of being human. In my mind, I am demon, but somewhere else in me, I know I am human. I remember a man. I cared for him very much. I remember a big house, expensive vehicles. But the logical part of me only knows pain and suffering and cold. It only remembers being changed into this creature that I am. And I have this-" Sh held up her hand, showing me a golden band on her finger.
  A wedding ring.
  "So you think you were human before this happened?"
  "I don't know."
  "What happened at Wrath, Kyo?"
  "The vampires couldn't control us. We broke loose. You have to know, Aidan, that I didn't kill anyone intentionally. The thrill of killing, the bloodlust, was strong when I woke up to find myself freed. The others. They killed everyone. I admit that I am not completely innocent. I killed a few."
  "Why do you keep saying we?" I asked, almost already knowing the answer. "How many of you are there?"
  "There are nineteen of us, including me. Tajar was killed because he had too many memories. He grew angry and vengeful. He became resistant to their treatment. He got out of control one day so they killed him."
  Nineteen of Kyo? Running around the city? She had to be shittin' me. "The killings in the paper. Did you do that, Kyo?"
  "No," she said vehemently. "After the first night of being free, I never killed again."
  "Why aren't you with the others?"
  Kyo was silent for a long moment. "They don't want me. I refused to kill with them again so they exiled me. I can no longer be with the hunt."
  A part of me was relieved that she hadn't killed those people.
  "I'm happy that you understand, Aidan."
  Oh God, she's been reading my mind. I put up a couple of neat little safguards all over my mind especialy in those places that were XXX.
  It took a moment for me to realize she'd fallen asleep, but I didn't. I slid her to my side and tried to roll off the bed, but she grabbed me like I was her favorite teddy bear and held me tightly. At about five twenty three in the morning, she released her death hold on me. I got up, took a shower and dressed. I left her a note saying I would be back later and the electric safeguards were up. But somehow, I knew she wouldn't try to get away this time.

  For the next few days, I found myself growing attached to Kyo. She made me laugh with her naive ways and fast growing intellect. She seemed to soak up everything she saw like a sponge. It bothered me that she didn't remember whether she was or had been human or not, but I mannaged to get pass that. The answers would come when they felt like it. The more time I spent with her, the more I didn't want to take her to Obsidian.
  One day I came home from another day of rough training with the rookies down at the academy. The T.V. inside my apartment was turned up pretty loud. I heard guttural moaning from inside like someone was having sex. Frowning, I opened the door and stepped in. My mouth dropped and my eyes widened. Kyo was sitting on the couch, her legs unconsciously wide, silver eyes open and glossy with awe, her teeth biting her lower lip. She was staring at the T.V.
  A man had some woman on a bed, her legs spread wide open while he...well, you know, did whatever it is a woman and man do. Apparently, she got into my porno stash. I snapped out of my glazed mode, ran to the T.V. and cut it off. Kyo looked at me, her mouth gaping.
  All I could do was stare at her, speechless. "Maybe you should find something else to watch," I said finally. We flipped through the channels only to find that every one that we went to held sexual content. Two lions doing it. Two women doing it. Two men and a woman doing it. One man and a woman making out, but we all knew what that would lead to. I turned off the T.V. "Maybe you should find something else to do." I got up, suddenly hot as hell. As soon as I had my back turned to her, she flipped the porn back on. Moaning filled the condo along with the creaking of springs in a mattress and classic porno music. I clenched my fists and tried to bare it. Just when I thought I had it, she broke me.
  "You know those of us in the project were trained to mate in the way of animals. A male was to stand behind the female, smell her, and insert his most male part inside of her entrance. Rojon was to be my mating partner. I never, ever in my wildest dreams thought human mating would be like that. Aidan, look at the way he's putting his-" She was talking as though she said this everyday.
  I couldn't take it. I went into my room and closed the door as gently as I could. By the time I Kyo turned off the porn and I got to sleep, it was well pass nine. Five minutes into what promised to be horny free sleep, I heard something past the wall next to my on the right side of the room. It was the squeaking of a bed. It took a moment, but over that I heard a woman crying out in the throws of apparent passion. I groaned and placed a pillow over my head. I could still hear the headboard bouncing against the wall.
  I fell asleep a little while later, the pillow still over my face. I had dreams. Dreams of tumbling black silk, candles, and an endless supply of Trojan condoms. Of course, the object of my attentions was Kyo, beautiful hot Kyo. In my consciousness, I noticed something strange. The dreams continued to float into one another endlessly. It was a real struggle to pull myself awake. When I did, I was covered in sweat. The sheets had slipped down my chest to my waist. Sensing a presence, I turned my head to the left.

CHAPTER FIVE
  Kyo stood there, her eyes reflecting metallic colors like a cat in the darkness. She had been doing this to me. Causing the endless dreams.
  "Don't play games with me, Kyo. I mean it."
  She only stared at me with her eyes changing colors in the darkness. Her silence made me angry. She didn't even pretend to be guilty. I grabbed her and pinned her beneath me in the bed. I was naked under the sheets so I hoped she got a taste of her own medicine. I pinned her hands over her head and kissed her hard on the mouth. My other hand grasped the curve of her waist. I let go of her, grasped one of the sheets and wrapped it around my waist before jumping out of the bed.
  Kyo stared at me, her head turned in my direction, hands still above her head as though I held her there. The position made the hem of my shirt rise up her thighs almost to her crotch. My eyes traveled the length of her pale thighs. Her eyes continued to glow and she made feline-like noises in her throat. Glowing eyes and funny noises mean she's horny. Okay, I've got that. I decided to head to work early that day. I didn't need to be having sex with a demon.
  I kept away from Kyo for three days straight before she approached me again. I was watching the game in the living room when she stepped into the room, the shades snapped down it her wake. She got front of the T.V. I was in sag mode, my legs spread, eyes on the screen. When she stepped in front of the T.V., hands on her hips. I looked at her for a moment before moving my head to the left. She moved in the way away again. I looked at her silver eyes for a split second before leaning my head to the right. She stepped there too. For a moment we played slid to the left, slid to the right, then she finally cut off the television.
  "Are you doing this on purpose?" I asked. Before I even got the question out, she got onto to me, straddling my hips and cupping my face. She kissed me and I forgot all about the game. I grasped her hips, my fingers splayed across her bottom. She grinded her hips into mine. I swear to God, I had the biggest hard-on I'd ever had in my life. I groaned and kissed her back. She started to unbutton my shirt, but I grabbed her hands.
  "Oh god, what am I doing?"
  She tried to keep going. "Getting ready to fuck me."
  I couldn't have been more shocked. I grabbed her hands and made her look at me. "Where did you learn to talk like that, Kyo?"
  She sat back on her heels. "I learned from your T.V. This female said it to this male before she got down on her knees and unzipped his pants and put his-"
  "Stop please, Kyo. Just wait a minute." Why was this happening to me? I grabbed Kyo by her hips and lifted her up, placing her beside me on the couch. "We'll talk about this later, Kyo, okay?"
  "I want to talk about it now," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
  I got up and walked to the door of the room that doubled as my study. "I'll be in here if you need anything." If she kept doing this everyday, what would I do? Sooner or later a man has got to give in... With this meeting with Obisidian coming up, I couldn't. The meeting was the day after tomorrow. With any luck, Rajah wouldn't see through my preformance. There's no telling what could happen to Kyo if they get a hold of her.
  I stayed deeply buried in my notes for the meeting for hours. I wasn't really putting together the evidence of Kyo's exsitence. I was really trying to figure out how to protect her existence. Kyo came into my study, her face pale and serious. One thing I nearly missed was her glowing eyes. I was instantly alarmed.
  "What's wrong Kyo?" I asked, dropping my notepad on the table and getting up, pushing in my chair.
  "I'm hungry, Aidan," she hissed softly, coming towards me slowly.
  "Food is in the refrigerator, Kyo-" I stopped, remembering who and what I was talking to.
  "You kept me inside for so long. I haven't had a chance to feed in days. Arousal and hunger bad mix, Aidan."
  Through her parted lips I saw her fangs lengthen. She backed me up towards the wall and ripped open my shirt, running her hands over my chest. It was my fault she was hungry. As she had said, she hadn't fed in days. She smelled me and ran her tongue along my neck, laving at my pulse. I had never been bitten before, but it looks like I was about to find out what it was like. I groaned when she sank her fangs into my pulse. I grabbed her neck hard, needing something to hang onto. She literally began to suck my blood, gently though. I felt like I'd been drugged or something. It actually felt pretty damn good. She moved lower to the muscle of my chest and sank her teeth in there too. She smoothed her hand over my torso. Kyo closed both wounds with the swipe of her tongue. When she kissed me, I could taste my blood in her mouth.
  "Come to the bedroom, Aidan. I'll be waiting."
  Do you think I went? Nope, I slept on the couch, biting the pillow to myself from moving. The next morning, Kyo was very upset though. She kicked me awake. I mumbled incoherently for a moment, then opened my eyes to her tear streaked face.
  "Why don't you want me, Aidan?" she cried.
  "I do, I do." I sat up and rubbed my eyes agaisnt the loud sunlight pouring in. "I just can't right now."
  "I did everything protocol called for. I tried to act like your human woman and I even tried to be myself. What did I do wrong?"
  "You didn't do anything wrong, Kyo. I just can't have you right now."
  Kyo was beyond reason. She threw open the front door and ran outside. "Kyo, no!" I chased after her, my heart pouding in fear. She dropped to her knees on the sidewalk and threw her clenched fists in the air. Her scream was loud enough to break every window in the neighborhood as she began to sizzle and smoke. "Kyo, stop it!" I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back inside. She was panting, her skin a little red. I put my arms around her legs and lifted her up, kicking open the door.
  I rushed to the bedroom and put her on the bed. "Kyo, speak to me."
  "Aidan, I'll go away, I promise, if you ask it of me," she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.
  "No, Kyo. I don't want you to go way." I told her everything. I told her about my job, my boss, the meeting tomorrow, I even told her what would happen to her if I turned her in. For a moment, there was silence. When she kissed me this time, I kissed her back. When she drug me down on top of her, I didn't pull back. Do you think I resisted her this time?
  Uh, no.

  I never knew the alarm on my watch was so loud. I had always thought that the more expensive and flashy the watch, the less quality there was that was put in it (I only thought this about my watch). I was awakened by the sound of beeping directly under my ear. Muttering incoherently, I moved my arm and the sound faded a little. Looking down at my watch, I saw that it was nine o'clock. Why would I set my watch for nine o'clock? I sat up and looked around at the clothes scattered all over the place. Most of the clothes were mine while the others were the ones that I had hastily taken off Kyo the day before.
  I laughed when I saw my boxers hanging on the bed post. Kyo was still asleep next to me. It took a while for me to notice she was lying directly under a beam of sunlight pouring in from the window. Her skin wasn't burning or smoking. It was tan from yesterday's little venture sun-kill-me venture, but other than that she was completely fine.
  At that moment, she opened her eyes and looked at me. "What is it, Aidan? What's wrong?"
  I stared at her naked body. "You're not burning..."
  Kyo squinted at the sunlight filled room. "After a certain period of time, our demon flesh gets used to the light of day. Didn't you notice that I didn't have an burns or blisters yesterday after what I did?"
  "How do you know that?"
  Kyo looked down at the sheets. "When the others broke free and started killing, I was lookinh through the files on the computer in lab beneath the arena at Wrath where they kept us. At first, giving into consideration my lack of knowledge then, I didn't know what it meant. I've learned so much since then. I figured it out."
  I pulled Kyo into my arms. I frowned, another question coming to mind. "What was with all the ice before?"
  Kyo shrugged. "Being a wild creature with the mentality of an animal, your human garments were uncomfortable to me. The ice is used to regenerate me. Any wounds I might have are healed under a certain frigid temperature. If I am very cold, then icicles will naturally form on the surface of my skin. I prefer to be cold, but being warm with you is fine."
  The alarm on my watch went off again. Suddenly, I remembered my meeting with Rajah and the staff. I kissed Kyo's forehead and leapt from the bed, throwing on whatever I could get my hands on as long as it was clean and it matched.
  "What is wrong, Aidan? Have I not pleasured you?" Kyo asked and I could see the tears forming in her eyes.
  I slowed down a little. "Of you did, Kyo. You remember that very important meeting I told you about? It's today in thirty minutes. I've got to be on time or my boss will have me drawn and quartered. Not exactly Rajah's method for killing (she'd rather laugh you to death or when worst came to worst she chose the most horrible ways)." I watched as Kyo stood up, wrapping the sheet about herself.
  "I am coming with you."
(s)(s)I had to grasp the wall to keep from falling over as I put on my jeans. "What?"
  "You heard me, human. I am coming with you. My life hangs in the balance here. I should have a say in this."
  I was at a lose for words. This light seemed to surround as I though were supposed to fall to my knees in fear. The only thing that could scare me at the moment was Kyo walking through the security bounds at the headquarters and the whole thing going haywire. I looked at the stubborn tilt of her chin and said, "Alright." It would be a good idea for her to go. It might prove something.
  Kyo smiled. "You will not regret this, Aidan." She ran over and kissed me quickly. From under the bed, she pulled out a peach dress outfit with matching jacket. She looked at the shocked expression on my face. "I was thinking about it while I watched you sleep in night, Aidan Row. I knew that you would say yes."
  I tried not to smile as I watched her put on her outfit. This was going to be quite a scene when I walked into headquarters with my demon girlfriend.

  As I pulled into the parking garage, I kept looking at Kyo. Her outfit was a little bit tighter than I would have liked. That only made the wrap strap stilettos she had created using her power to materialize things look worse. She did look professional though, her short hair done up in nice curled bangs going back. When we got out of the car, we didn't say anything to each other. What could we say?
  We passed through the lower security bounds with were like large metal detectors. They could detect life forms that were not human and they scanned the badges of the employee. I was shocked when it didn't go off as Kyo passed through. Already, I could see the staff waiting in the entrance hall for me to arrive. I went through the higher level security bounds without so much as a beep.
  Suddenly, there was this loud beeping noise and red alarm lights went off inside the headquarters. I turned back to see Kyo passing through the higher level security bounds. She stood there for a moment and they short circuted, blew up, and smoked heavily.
  Unauthorized, unidentified life form has entered the building, said the computerized voice of our main security unit, Tech Zero.
  "What the hell is that?" yelled that guy from the FBI pointing at Kyo.
  I looked at Rajah, who's face was expressionless. "This is the final product of Project Demon Nyte. Her name is Kyo. As Tech Zero has notified us, she is an unauthorized, unidentified life form."
  "Get that damn thing out of here!"
  Rajah and I started to laugh at the same time. We were bent over with it. We grasped each other's shoulders, trying to stay in an upright position, but it was just so hilarious. We wiped the tears from our eyes. Rajah extended her hand slowly to Kyo, her face serious, her eyes laughing.
  "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kyo."
  Instead of just shaking her hand like any other person would do, Kyo's eyes filled with tears and has got down on bended knee. "The pleasure is all mine, Queen."
  "Charming," Rajah murmured, beckoning Kyo to her feet. "You can call me Rajah."
  "No I couldn't. Aidan Row has told me of your greatness. You are truly an excellent leader." I wasn't surprised to see she actually meant everything she had said and wasn't just sucking up.
  I was also realized that she had called me Aidan Row to be informal. I'm sure they would know I was soft (which I was) on her if she went around calling me Aidan or worse. She had also said I told her about Rajah when she had really read my mind. They wouldn't take very kindly to that either.
  We were lead into the private staff room after the guards were called off. There began to stress my case. I went over the main points of Project Demon Nyte with the new information that I had recently recieved from Kyo. I told them everything I could about the makeup of the demon's body and power, which was a key and strong point. But the most important was this-
  "Kyo has informed me, and I have no reason to doubt her, that she has human memories. I believe that Anarchy (the group of vampires that usually think this shit up) took human subjects and tore them apart, then started them up from scratch after injecting them with their blood poisoning. There is a very distinct possibility that the subjects of Project Demon Nyte were once like you or any other completely human person in this room."
  "What is it that you want us to do about Ms. Kyo, Agent Row?"
  "I want Realm's citizenship. Once you see that I am no harm to you and your people, you will notice that I can be an ally," Kyo answered for herself.
  Her comments raised eyebrows and murmurs of shock.
  Kyo looked at each and every face. "I no longer wish to be known as 'a product of Project Demon Nyte.' I want to be treated as an equal, no more, no less, even though I am superior to any human. I know in my heart that I was human once."
  The murmurs grew louder.
  "Quiet!" Rajah said sharply and there was silence. "I will take into consideration your demands, Kyo. Meeting is adjourned."
  Everyone bustled out of the room leaving Kyo and I alone together. I sank down into the nearest chair. Kyo had that glazed look on her face, the same look she had had when I tried to touch that first morning. "Kyo, are you alright?" I went over to her. Suddenly, she fell to her knees and grasped her head. Electric veins of light shot out of her and she let out a scream that was so loud and off the frequency thst it sounded faint. Of course it didn't hurt me, I was electrokinetic afterall, but it could hurt the next person who stepped into this room.
  I grabbed her hand. "Kyo-" Bad mistake. The current shot into me and I found myself connecting with her mentally. I saw everything, her memories, her emotions, her life. Her eyes had been brown once, not electric silver as they were now. Her hair had been long. A child running in bright green grass. School. A wedding, some guy, big cake. Big house, nice car. Happiness. Then someone took it all away from her. I could feel the coldness and I could see her waking her up in a freezing tube, waking up to the hunger for blood. The pain as Anarch's Psionics forced into her mind, altering it forever.

CHAPTER SIX
  I was unconscious for a long time. Flashes of Kyo's life kept jumping into my mind. I kept seeing her, normal like. I kept feeling her running inside of me like my very blood. When I finally came to, she was gone. I got up, finding myself in my own room on the upper levels of Obsidian Headquarters.
  Finding myself in nothing, but my boxers, I got up and went to my desk. That small computer found held the files that were documented for Project Demon Nyte. It had taken days to hack into them, but I finally got there. I hooked up the path links on that computer to my laptop. A blank came up. In that blank I typed "Kyo". Searching blinked on the screen. A picture of Kyo in her freezing tube with her eyes closed came up. The file held everything I needed to know.
  They had stalked her, recorded every moment of her life up to the moment they captured her. There were videos of her wedding to one Eric Grady, videos of her birthdays, pictures of her sleeping, at work. Her real name was Kelisha Monroe-Grady. A red button was blinking at the bottom of the screen.
  It said DELETE.
  Right now, I held the oppurtunity to destroy everything she had been once. I could take away the life she had had. I held all this in the palm of my hand. All but for this file Anarchy had deleted her from the government's system. No one knew who she was. No one that could do anything about it anyway. My cursor moved to the blinking red button.
  Jealousy was never really an emotion I had cared too much for. I felt it now as I looked at the picture of Kyo kissing Eric, her fiance at the time the picture was taken. I took the golden wedding band from the pocket of my pants, which on the back of my chair. I found in my bed earlier that morning and figured it must have come off when Kyo was sleeping. I rolled it between my thumb and forefinger. Tempted though I was to keep Kyo all to myself, the least thing I did was take down the address of the place where she used to live. I didn't delete her file.
  I got dressed ans went to my car in the parking garage. Aver Way was a long ways away from Obsidian, but I took the drive anyway. As I had guessed and seen from the photos and Kyo's memories, the house she used to live in with her husband was huge and fancy. I looked into the window with my enhanced contacts, not knowing what to expect.
  I saw a man, Eric Grady, sitting on the sofa in the spacious living room. A bottle of brandy was on the coffee table before him and he held his head in his hands. A picture of Kelisha, my Kyo, lay in his lap. I blinked to bring my eyes back into normal focus. I couldn't take Kyo's life away from her.