Subject: [ffml][Fic][Orig][Revised]Shadows without Light Chapter 1
From: Miashara
Date: 7/22/1999, 8:11 PM
To: FFML@fanfic.com

	Chapter 1
	There are more social places than the top of the Crysocom Tower. There
are more social times than four in the morning, especially when a
torrential storm had just died. Winds still gusting to twenty to thirty
miles per hour have a negative effect on conversation. There are safer
places then the rain slicked guard rail which separated the roof and the
hundred and eight story drop, especially considering the aforementioned
winds. 
	Thus it came as no surprise to Kyle when he emerged from the roof and
saw Damion sitting on the rail. His back was turned towards Kyle as he
watched the stars. Kyle walked forward, not particularly concerned about
the quiet but making no special effort to walk silently. He moved until
he stood behind Damion and to the left. He joined in the stargazing.
	"If you look hard enough, you can see Orion through the pollution. I
managed to make out his belt a few minutes ago, but it's gone now."
Damion spoke without preamble and did not turn. Kyle continued his sky
watching without replying.
	"Well, Kyle, what's up?" Damion still did not turn around. 
	"It's Carin. She had another dream again."
	This did succeed in making the man on the rail turn. In fact, he
pivoted, swung his legs over the rail, and stood up. 
	Damion would never be called short. He was about six feet tall, had
short cut black hair, and a hard, angular face. He had a look of
worldliness about him. In the relative darkness, Kyle could not make out
any further detail but he knew his face so well that he did not need to
see it to know it. Dark brown eyes, thin eyebrows, narrow nose, there
nothing much about Damion which was not thin. Currently he dressed in
dark colors, though at this time of night, pale blue would appear a dark
color. Damion appeared normal, but aware. Speaking with him gave one the
feeling that this man knew what was going on. He was a person to be
considered.
	Kyle was a whole different story. Physically, he was even less
imposing. Just over five eight, with mid-length brown hair, he was so
average looking many people had a hard time remembering him. His clothes
were, as always, loose and hung about him, emphasizing his small
stature. They also hid his body. Kyle had been very athletic for a very
long time now. Still, most people overlooked him, which was something he
liked. Kyle had a problem which made him enjoy being in the background. 
	"What was her dream about?" Damion began to walk along the rail, his
right hand resting on it. 
	"She saw the Earth. Then, slowly, it faded out and was replaced with a
gauntleted fist. The fist was a bright red, she was very specific about
that. Then the fist opened, reached for her, and she woke up." Kyle
walked with him, his gaze wandering around the roof, never staying on
anything for more than a few seconds.
	"When was this?"
	"About twenty minutes ago. I was in my office below when she called me
and I came up here looking for you."
	"I see." 
	"It may actually be a normal dream. She's undergoing a lot of stress at
the office and there is that new promotion she's bucking for."
	"But this is Carin we're talking about." Damion smiled wryly and turned
to see Kyle doing the same. "The girl who dreams twice a year. On May 17
and November 15. On May 17 she has the birds dream."
	"Ten thousand birds, all black, flying over the ocean. Then the water
parts and a giant snake rises out, it eats the birds." Kyle continued by
rote memory. "Then Green and Gray ships appear and fight the snake. Then
she wakes up before she finds out who wins."
	"And in November we have the rock dream. A black avalanche comes down
and is blocked by snowdrift. So it thunders around the snowdrift and
crushes the bush and the pile of ashes. Then she wakes up." Damion spoke
up again. 
	"Yep. That's why I came up here and told you. I don't think she's ever
had this one before and she can't remember it."
	"Well, let's go see her in the morning. We should let her sleep now."
	The shorter man turned and went back towards the door from which he had
exited earlier. "I'll call her and tell her we'll be there in," He
checked his watch, "two hours."
	"What time is it?" Damion was startled to find out it must be so late.
	"Almost four thirty." With that Kyle walked back into the building.
	Damion sat up on roof for almost another hour before he walked back
inside. The sun had not yet dawned.

	Carin stumbled out of the bathroom, holding the towel up with one hand
and making for her room with all do speed. Once in there, she dropped
the towel and began the serious business of getting dressed and ready
for work.
	Half an hour later she walked into her kitchen. When she opened the
door, she was assailed by the odor of eggs and pancakes. She went in.
	Inside the kitchen, Kyle and Damion were cooking up a storm. The table
was set, and a place was laid out with food, namely pancakes,
hashbrowns, toast, butter; drinks, namely orange juice and coffee; and
the New York times open to the business section. After a moment, Kyle
and Damion joined her at the table, plates piled high with food. Carin
always loved it when the boys came over for breakfast. Loved it as much
as she could love anything at six thirty in the morning. 
	"You know, I'm not sure whether I'm disgusted that you two are this
awake this early or happy. Pass the salt." Kyle obligingly did so. 
	"They ate in silence for about five minutes then Damion began. "Carin,
please tell me about your dream." Kyle stopped eating as well at this
point and turned and faced her too. She looked from one to the other,
then to the calendar on the wall, which proclaimed that day's date as
January 8.
	Carin was tall for a woman, being the same height as Kyle at five foot
eight. Her hair was long and brown, with natural red highlights. She had
tried to dye them out a few times but it had not worked. She had brown
eyes, the color of chocolate. She never wore makeup, and did not need
it, her lips being perfect and red naturally. She was one of the rare
natural beauties that make men sit up and take notice.
	"It started out with just the Earth. I was looking at it from outer
space. I couldn't see any stars or the sun, just the Earth. Then it
slowly began to fade to red. First it was just the shadows, then slowly
it was everywhere. I watched the last shred of blue get slowly tinted
red, and I abruptly realized, that it all was red. A bright, nasty, red.
As I watched, I became aware of the lines beginning to form from what
had previously been mountains and coasts. The lines grew darker and
darker until the globe was a maze of black and red. It was at this point
I noticed that it wasn't round any more, being rather square. After
that, I realized that it wasn't a square but a fist. A giant, red,
gauntlet curled into a fist. I just watched in shock as it slowly began
to open. 
	"This was the part where it began to get scary. The fist opened all the
way, then curled like it was reaching for something. Then it lunged at
me. 
	"I awoke screaming and abruptly realized it was a dream. I was rather
surprised by this as you can understand and immediately called Kyle,
knowing he'd be at his office. He was there, I told him about it, the
rest you know." Carin looked over at Kyle for a moment, then returned
her gaze to Damion. Kyle faced him as well.
	Damion, for his part, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Saying "I see." he looked up at the ceiling and thought for several
minutes. Carin and Kyle finished their meals in silence. 
	"Well, I will think about this at some length." He glanced at a clock.
"You leave in five minutes, yes?"
	"True." Carin nodded and went to gather her briefcase and papers for
the day. 
	"You're going to go to work with her?" Damion inquired of Kyle.
	"I was intending to." Kyle had been going with Carin to work every day
for a long time and saw no reason not to. He was slightly defensive for
some reason. "Why wouldn't I?"
	"Oh. No reason. Well, I shall see you two later. Page me if something
of import happens."
	Damion rose and assisted Kyle in disposing of the dishes. Then he
collected his coat and assorted other items. He bade farewell to Carin,
who was in the living room and left her apartment. 
	Kyle Holly and Carin Wellsferd left a few minutes later. They made
their way to the parking garage where the limousine was waiting. It was
after they had climbed in and were on their way when Kyle commented,
"Work is much easier when you're dating the president of the firm's
American branch."
	Carin looked at him. "Gold digger." She kept a completely straight
face. 
	"You know it. 'Course the fact that we were going out long before you
had this job means nothing." 
	"I have no idea what you're talking about."
	"Of course, Madam Boss."

	The day went fairly quickly for Kyle. Within half an hour of arriving
at his desk, he had lost himself in his work and was surprised when
Carin walked in to tell him that it was closing time. He started and
looked at the clock, twenty hundred hours. 
	"We got here at eight hundred. You've been working for twelve
straight." Carin was leaning against the door of his office, arms
folded, something of a smile hovering behind her lips. 
	"Wow." Kyle had a habit of doing this. He would start working and just
as he felt he was about to really get down to it, someone would walk in
and tell him it was time to go, that he was one of the very few left. He
was also one of the most productive people in his division. Of course,
he had a few advantages that were hard to equal.
	He gathered his stuff together and followed Carin out the doors and to
the elevator. She lead the way, Kyle still coming out of the
semiconscious state he worked in.
	Once in the elevator, they made small talk. They tried to at least.
	While the express elevator was passing the eightieth floor, there was a
thud on the roof. Abruptly a panel of the ceiling slid aside and two
feet dropped through. Legs, a body, and head followed, unsurprisingly.
Moments later Damion turned to face them, after reattaching the ceiling
plate. Carin hit him.
	"Don't do that!" She was still hyperventilating from the shock of
seeing him appear in such manner. "And you stop that!"
	"Sorry ma'am." And with that, Kyle continued to laugh hysterically.
	Damion was dressed as per usual, in fashions that had gone out several
years ago. He wore black, steel toed, combat boots which were covered at
the top by his gray, significantly baggy pants. These were belted and
perfectly pressed. He had a gray polo shirt on and a white sweater over
it. Over all this, he wore a gray trench coat. He was the single
strangest mix of fashions most people would ever see, as well as being a
designer's nightmare. 
	"I felt this would be quicker than waiting for you at the bottom."
Damion leaned against the wall. 
	"You do know security has this elevator under electronic surveillance.
By the time we're at the bottom, they'll have half a hundred security
guards waiting for us." Carin had calmed now and was alternating between
frowning at Damion and scowling at Kyle.
	"And you'll get us out of it. You run the building after all." Damion
did not appear particularly perturbed. "I have news. Kyle, stop that."
Kyle pulled himself together. He was still smiling broadly. "Do not go
home tonight Carin. I do not think it would be advisable."
	Carin stopped scowling at Damion at this point. Kyle's laughter trailed
off Both of them looked at Damion with questioning in their eyes.
	"Kyle, where were you last night from ten to six?"
	"Working." Kyle had a thousand questions hovering on his lips but held
them back.
	"Carin, in the past twenty years, how many times have you had different
dreams?"
	"Never. I always have the same ones." She bit back her own questions.
Damion knew very well her dreaming status. 
	"Kyle, when was the last time you slept?" Damion had passed his gaze
from one to another, his face gone suddenly hard.
	Kyle looked almost panicked as he glanced from Damion's suddenly
incredibly hard brown eyes to Carin's face. She turned and looked at
him, suddenly making a connection. Kyle turned back to Damion, panic
running rampage on his face, he opened his mouth to speak but what he
intended to say eluded him.
	He did not get to say anything though as Damion overrode him. "Exactly.
And Carin, don't ask about his rather, unusual, sleeping habits. We all
have our little quirks. I just say that it would not be advisable to go
to your house tonight. In fact, take the company jet to Chicago or
someplace else, far. Come back tomorrow."
	"I won't ask why now, but I want an explanation later."
	"I'll tell you this much. Tonight is not a safe night."
	Neither of the confused pair responded to this. They did not know what
to say.  
	"We're here." Damion turned and faced the elevator doors, which slid
open. Outside, some ten different security guards stood, guns trained on
the elevators occupants. 
	"Drop 'em guys. He's alright." Carin walked out first and waved the men
to lower their guns. They did so, reluctantly.
	"Yes Miss Wellsferd." That and such were spoken from the guards. Damion
smiled, waved, and walked out the front doors. 
	
	Carin and Kyle took his suggestion. There was never really a question.
That was the sort of person Damion was, when he suggested something, it
was in your best interests to do it. 
	Damion himself spent much of that night hanging from a gargoyle,
seventy eight stories up. He was directly across from Carin's apartment
and watched it, all through the night. Sleep wasn't really an issue. But
then, for him, sleep had not been an issue in a very long time. 
	Nothing happened, but he did not really expect anything too. With no
one in the apartment, there was no reason for what he was worried about
to arrive. Still, he was thorough and made a careful check of the place
before dawn. Nothing was there. 
	Damion himself spent the next several days roaming the city. He went
from the top of the tallest towers to the depths of the sewers. He spent
evenings in elevator shafts and mornings on milestones. Damion looked up
several people he had not spoken to in years and made business contacts
with people living in dumpsters. 
	Kyle lived his life much more repetitively. Go to work in the morning,
come home at night, occasionally go out with Carin, go back to work
about ten and work till four, which was when he would go home to shower,
change, and come back. He ate four meals a day, though where they were
would change frequently, and he did not sleep. He did not need to. 
	It was at four thirty one Thursday morning that a break appeared in his
routine. He was walking home from work. His khaki pants and navy blue
sports jacket were severely rumpled. The sort of thing that happens when
you wear the same clothes for twenty four straight hours. 
	He was passing through one of the more ritzy parts New York. It was
when he was passing an alley on his way to a metro station that he
figure stepped out in front of him. 
	Kyle was startled and stopped. The figure stood about five feet away
and stood at ease, non-threatening and passive. It was several inches
shorter than him, dressed in dark pants and shirt. After a moment of
observation, Kyle noticed that it was a woman.
	"Excuse me, you are Kyle Holly, correct?" The woman's voice was high
pitched and erased any lingering doubts Kyle had about her sex. It was
inquiring, and also definitely non-hostile.
	"Yes. I am. And you are?" Kyle was slightly on guard. Crime was very
uncommon in this part of town, but muggings were not unheard of. 
	"My apologies. I forgot. My name is Rose. Janet Rose. How do you do."
	"Fine Miss Rose. How can I help you?"
	"I'm looking for a mutual friend of ours, Damion White. Do you know
where I could find him?"
	"Uh, not really. We usually play poker on Friday nights and he should
be at the game tomorrow. Other than that I can't really say." Kyle
relaxed mostly. His was still wary but this woman made no offensive
gestures and did seem rather peaceable. Still, it was four thirty in the
morning.
	"Could you give me the address of this game?"
	Kyle gave her his address, indicating that it began at eight and ran
three or four hours, with a hint of nervousness, but nothing serious.
"If you don't mind my asking, this is a rather unusual situation. Why
are you looking for Mr. White so," Kyle paused here, searching his
memory for a word, "surreptitiously?" 
	 "It's a surprise. He hasn't seen me in years and I want to surprise
him. We're old college friends. I'd appreciate it you didn't pass this
on." The woman smiled.
Kyle saw no problem in this and said as much. The woman thanked him
again and walked off. 
	'Well, that was peculiar. Well, Damion is a rather peculiar person.'
Kyle shrugged and continued on his way. 

	It was at the poker game the next night Kyle came to the full
realization of what that insignificant conversation meant. It was about
ten thirty and Kyle was down twelve dollars. Carin was holding even,
give or take a buck, and John and Liz Cain, two of the other regulars,
were each down three and five bucks respectively. Damion was up just
over twenty. His luck had been rolling high and he was winning almost a
third of the hands.
	"Alright, I'll see your thirteen cents and raise you a dime." Kyle
gently pushed the quarter to the center of the pot and withdrew two
pennies. A low murmur went around the table, this was beginning to be a
interesting game. 
	Both the Cains called and then it went back around. Damion looked over
his hand, eyes hard and calculating. He looked carefully at the pile in
the center and at the pile before him. "Alright, I call." He slid the
small round coin to the center. After the others did as well, Kyle
finished the betting. "Carin, gimme one." Damion handed in his card and
took the replacement, no emotion could be seen in his eyes. 
	Kyle traded in two and hunched over his cards. John received a fully
new hand, displaying his ace, and Liz took two. Carin, the dealer,
stayed. 
	John folded. Liz folded. Kyle sneered at Damion and arranged his hand.
Damion let his eyes play over the cards before and met Kyle's gaze. He
was completely calm and raised one eyebrow, daring Kyle to fold. Kyle
just let his eyes roll over the pot. It had been a hard round of betting
and the pot was now just over two fifty. Kyle sneered back. 
	"Fifteen cents." Damion slid a dime and nickel across the table. He
looked long and hard at his opponent.
	"I'll see you, and raise you ten."
	"Boys, I'll see the quarter, and raise you," Carin paused for a moment,
allowing the tension to build. "A quarter."
	Damion hissed. The bet was up fifty cents now, half a buck. It was true
that with inflation and all a buck could barely buy a candy bar, but in
a nickel and dime game, he just didn't know. His hand hovered over the
pile before him and he pushed two shiny quarters to the center. His
looked back and forth, from Kyle to Carin, and he pushed a third quarter
to the pot!
	Kyle was sweating bullets now. He looked at his hand the two of spades,
two of clubs, two of hearts, jack of spades, and a jack of clubs, a full
house. He stared at Damion, his eyes boring into his head. 
	"What'sa matter? Can't ya take it? Getting too rich for yer blood?"
Damion wore a self confident smirk.
	"Fine. I call." Kyle slid the money into the center. Both pairs of eyes
slid to the dealer, trying to guess her next move. 
	Carin glanced back and forth. She too was beginning to sweat a little,
and she called.
She held her hand up and paused for a moment, then brought it down to
reveal, three aces.
Kyle laughed triumphantly and smacked his hand down. "Full House! Five's
over jacks! Beat that, Damion!"
	Damion just looked at his hand and at Kyle's full house. His face fell.
"Well, that sinks it. All I had was two pair." Kyle laughed again
triumphantly. A hand reached out as Kyle took hold of his rightful
winnings. "All queens."
	"No!" Kyle exclaimed in shock as the cards hit the table. Damion neatly
plucked the pot from his hands.
	Well, it seems you're out, mister Holly. I AM TRIUMPHANT!" Damion threw
his head back and laughed a deep, maniacal, laugh. 
	"You three are completely nuts." Liz Cain looked them. 
	"True, but Kyle's broke and you know what that means."
	"Ah crap."
	"Yes. Kyle, you must make, a beer run!" Damion shouted as he counted
out his winnings. "I'd like Red Man."
	"Fine. I'll be back in twenty minutes." Kyle rose and put on his coat.
	"Chips are running low too." Carin spoke up from her seat.
	"Gotcha. Anything else?" He looked at the four of them, all of whom
indicated negative. "Right. I'll be right back." So saying Kyle went out
the front door and made his way through the elevator and apartment
lobby. Since a twenty four hour supermarket was eight blocks away, he
had elected to walk instead of drive. It was as he was coming back  down
the street in front of his house, he met Miss Rose again.
	"Good evening Mr. Holly."
	"Good evening Miss Rose. What are you doing this late?"
	"Going to your apartment actually. Is Mr. White there?"
	"Yes." They had paused to talk by now. They were in front of a rather
decrepit building now with a large "Condemned" sign before it. Kyle knew
that the site had already been purchased. In this part of the Big Apple,
property move quickly. 
	"Could I intrude to go in to visit him?" Miss Rose had a peculiar
intensity to her voice when she asked that question. Kyle, for his part,
either ignored it or did not even notice.
	"Sure."
	"Good." Janet Rose smiled a dark, evil smile. Kyle had enough time to
be surprised and was approaching rather curious when her arm shot out,
grabbed Kyle by the front of his jacket, and threw him through the front
doors of the condemned building. Kyle was just able surge power into his
shoulders, back, head, and neck, before he sped through the several
inches thick ornamental steel door. 
	He landed and slid across the floor of what had once been a lobby and
impacted with the far wall. Pulling himself out, he fished to his feet.
He flicked his eyes around, muted obscenities coming to his lips. 
	Janet Rose walked out of the shadows of the building. Her previous
business suit rippled and reconfigured itself into an odd mix of a sweat
suit and a dress. She spoke a couple of quick sentences into her watch
as Kyle landed on his feet.
	Kyle decided to skip asking the whole series of 'What's going on?'
questions because it seemed pretty obvious to him that she was trying to
kill him. He threw most of his Gift into speed, diverting it from his
upper body and rushed the woman.
	He landed a few feet in front of her and began punching. When Kyle was
in his late teens, back in the sixties, he had gone on a martial arts
kick and taken Shao-lin Kung Fu for five or six years. Then he got
drafted and he never had time to return to it. He  continued to practice
and had taken a couple of refresher courses. Now, with his Gift
enhancing his speed, he moved on instincts that were dulled, but not
forgotten.
	He started with a series of straight jabs and snap kicks. Basic moves,
that were not difficult to block. The problem was he was throwing almost
eight or nine a second. The woman blocked eight, dodged twelve, and took
one. Kyle had not put his gift exclusively into speed though, leaving a
good bit for strength and endurance. The single kick which connected
threw Miss Rose sideways into what had once been a stone gargoyle. She
went through it, shattering it the rest of the way, and imbedded herself
in a wall. 
	This did not prevent her from pulling herself out and landing on her
feet. She smiled at Kyle, and then she faded out of sight.
	Kyle immediately turned around, seeing nothing, and then did it again
for good measure. Again, he saw nothing. Thus when she landed straight
on his head and knocked him to the ground, he was rather surprised. 
	He landed on his face and instantly attempted to roll to the right. He
had no sooner done so when the ground where his head had used to be
shattered. Rose pulled her right arm out and crouched for a second
before lunging. Kyle did a one-armed push up, flooding it with all the
power he could. He went into a crouch on the ceiling and pushed off from
there, landing on his feet. Rose ran across the floor, still in her
initial direction and jumped towards a wall. Kyle, expecting her to jump
from it and come straight back at him, shifted into a ready stance. 
	Rose faded from view the second she touched the wall and before Kyle
could move, she drop kicked him in the back. 
	He hit the wall he thought Rose was going to jump from and went
straight through. He impacted with the wall on the far side of the room
and with some effort pulled himself from that. 
	That kick had hit him when he had virtually no power acting as a shield
and had nearly broken his back. The direct movement through one wall and
most of another, again when he had very little power absorbing the
impact, left him in a world of hurt. He could barely stand and he
suspected walking was out.
	Rose faded into view. She emerged from the deep shadows of the corner
to his right and smiled again. Then she drew her right arm back and
lunged. The fingers on her right hand elongated and changed, coming to
points and long blades. 
	Kyle threw his Gift into his body, grasping for every bit he carried.
Encased in solid power he leapt up through the ceiling. Normally this
would of hurt, but not when he was running this high. He landed some ten
feet from the hole he had made in the floor. 
He could feel the power running through his veins. He could feel the
pulses of his cells, the beat of his heart, the movement of blood in his
lungs, all screaming in ecstasy. He could feel everything. He was
omnipotent.
	Rose shifted into view. She wasted no time and charged. Kyle rushed to
meet her. 
Rose slashed with her right claw, low and aimed at Kyle's torso. Kyle
brought his hand down, the back of his fist impacting on Rose's forearm.
Kyle had once broken a fire hydrant into six pieces with a blow. Here it
served to do little more than stop her strike.
	Kyle reciprocated with one of his own. He threw an open palm strike,
which was sidestepped, followed by a crescent kick, followed by a snap
kick. Both the kicks were parried and Rose slashed at his face. Kyle
took a step back and her blades swished through the air in front of him.
	They blows traded for several seconds before Rose connected with a
straight kick to Kyle's chest. He went through the wall behind him but
leapt from the one behind that. He shot back into the room he had just
been and took one step before going airborne again, twisting as he went
to kick. Rose pivoted backwards and Kyle met nothing but empty air. 
	As Kyle went by, Rose swung her arm and caught him straight in the
stomach. Her blades went through his lower body and blood spurted out
his back as the points ripped through his body. She pivoted back around
and smacked Kyle full in the face with a closed fist. The impact knocked
him backwards and onto the floor, more blood pouring down his body as
Rose's fingers turned knives came out. Kyle hit the floor and rolled
involuntarily, finally coming to a stop on his face.
	Rose laughed. The laughter fell from her face though as Kyle placed his
palms on the ground and threw himself into the air. He landed on his
feet and he stepped into readiness. Though five puncture wounds on his
stomach glowed bright white. They were not bleeding any more, and from
the light coming from them Rose's expression could be seen. Grim
determination took its place now. She stepped into readiness as well,
and again combat was joined. 
	Rose was almost as strong as Kyle was currently and about as fast. He
could not shift any more of his power to increase these as it was all
running through his system. He needed it to keep his back injuries
healing and the wounds on his stomach closed. Rose was able to deliver
massive amounts of damage with her blades, but she only connected rarely
and Kyle just kept going. 
	Their fight moved vertically for a while and they were now attacking
and defending almost twelve floors up. Kyle connected with a round house
and Rose went into an elevator shaft. She leapt upwards from a wall and
when Kyle came through looking to follow up, he did as well. Now the
fight moved quickly. The shaft was large enough for five different
elevators and their counterweights, so the two of them jumped from wall
to wall, always coming back to meet the other. When Rose finally managed
to knock Kyle back with a perfectly placed fist, he flew out through the
side of the shaft and into the penthouse. Rose followed.
	The combat moved fast and furious, advantage shifting and victory ever
just out of reach. At one moment Kyle was sure he had won when he kicked
Rose through a refrigerator and the broke it in half, but she fazed into
existence behind him and he was hard pressed to block her counter
assault. 
	Now they battled on the roof, eighty seven stories above street level,
flying kicks meeting whirlwinds of claws, fading in and out of the
shadows was countered by punches and kicks with enough power to destroy
a pickup truck. 
	'I need to win this now. I can't sustain a long fight and every second
that goes by she has a slightly greater chance of getting in a lucky
strike and taking off my head.' Kyle though in brief snatches as he
parried and dodged a particularly vicious series of attacks. Then it hit
him, beautiful in its simplicity. Victory was his.
	Rose ducked forward, body low and angled straight at him. Instead of
countering, he rolled across her back, seized her by the arm, and
jumped. His leap carried both of them high into the night, a twisting
mass of death and pain. Rose had managed to break free of his arm lock
and had a hand around his throat. Kyle was holding both her wrists,
keeping the pressure from knocking him out and her hand from
eviscerating him. It was then that Rose realized they had fallen passed
the roof and were over the street now, tumbling downward towards the
pavement many yards below. 
	"What the hell are you doing?" Rose screamed as the tried repeatedly to
either break free or kick him in the groin.
	"You can't teleport when I'm holding you. Now you die." Further
conversation was prevented now by Kyle, releasing both her wrists,
bringing both hands together, on at Rose's elbow, one at her wrist,
shattering her hold on his neck. Then, in her moment of shock, he
pushed. 
	His leap had been fairly well calculated. When he broke contact he was
no more than five feet from another building. His push made him crash
through its wall and he fell through six stories of department store
before landing in the women's department.
	Newton stated that for each action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. He also stated that momentum remains constant. So when Kyle
pushed himself away and into a building, Rose flew backwards as well,
straight to the middle of the street. She saw the ground rushing up at
fatal speed and tried to faze out. She did not make it in time.
	She hit the top of a drainage sewer. That was shattered upon impact and
she fell through to the bottom. There she lay, covered in the cement
remains and slowly being washed over by the runoff already in the
drainage system.
	Kyle burst out the locked front doors of the department store. He
looked around, frantically, eyes searching for his adversary. Abruptly
his gaze caught the hole and he rushed over.
	His fall through half a dozen floors had left him vastly injured and
barely able to move. That combined with the incredible amount of damage
he had sustained during the fight left him almost at the end of even his
considerable recuperating powers. Thus when he stood at the edge of the
whole and looked down on Rose's inert, dead body, he breathed a vast
sigh of relief. 
	"Die, Die My Darling." He quoted and kicked a chunk of cement in. It
hit her in the chest and there was no response. Then he made his way to
a stoop and sat down. 
He held his head in his hands for a minutes or two then stretched his
neck. When he was looking to the left, he noticed the two six packs of
Red Man beer he had dropped earlier when he was first thrown through the
doors. The chips lay forgotten next to them. 	Looking up he realized he
was sitting before the same abandoned building. Resting at the beginning
spot for the fight that nearly killed him, he cracked a beer and
collapsed. 
	He sat, beer in hand, for several more minutes. After he had caught his
breath, he looked at the hole which Rose had made with her impact. 'I
don't get it. Why did she attack me?' He ran through the occasion
mentally. He relived buying the beer, coming back, telling Rose where
Damion was- 'Wait!' Their first conversation had been about Damion.
Their second as well, and right after Kyle had gone through the door,
Rose had whispered into her wrist.
	Kyle leapt to his feet. The beer fell, forgotten, from his hands as he
ran back to his apartment. Checking his watch he realized five minutes
had passed since the fight began. Five minutes was much too much. He ran
faster.

	He sprinted the four blocks to his building at rather excessive speeds.
When he reached the alley which separated his building from the
apartment complex next to it, he ducked in and jumped. His leap took him
four stories up, and there he pushed off the wall and went up another
three stories. He ricocheted from wall to wall as he ascended the alley,
stopping when he passed thirty four by his count. 
	He came through a thirty fifth story window and landed in the hallway
which was central to the building. The glass shards did not penetrate
his skin and he took off, almost flying. 
	He went down the hallway at a full sprint, which was considerable for
the amount of power he had focused in his legs. He went around the
single bend and came within sight of his door. It was still standing
undisturbed.
	He skidded to a halt in front of it and seriously considered ripping it
off its hinges. He declined, figuring it would be bet not to give away
the element of surprise. He pulled his key from his pocket and flicked
the door unlocked. It slid open and he hastened through the foyer into
his kitchen. He was not openly running now, not wanting to fall blindly
into a trap. 
	Once in the kitchen, he saw Carin and Damion sitting around the table,
apparently in the act of betting on how many pieces of cheese Damion
could stack on his nose. The Cain's were absent.
	"Where's Liz and John?" Kyle spoke before either of the other two could
turn to face him.
	"At their place. Liz wanted to bring a casserole and John went with
her." Damion's eyebrows arched as he took in Kyle's turn clothing and
several open cuts. Carin leapt to her feet and came over. 
	"I got mugged. Her friends are probably on their way here." Kyle, fully
expecting to come right into a raging battle, was slightly unsure of how
to act and was dealing with far to much adrenaline.
	"Who?" Damion was on his feet at this point and was walking past Kyle
to check the front door. Upon finding it swinging wide, he closed it.
Carin was doing the more mundane job.
	"Janet Rose. She was looking for you. Said you were old friends. When I
told her where you were, she threw me through a steel door and tried to
kill me." Kyle did not know what he was expecting as a response to this.
	"Did she teleport?" That was not it. Damion's voice had turned
completely frigid. 
	"Yes." Kyle was startled by this. Carin, questions bubbling to her lips
to be bit back, had retrieved a first aid kit from the counter and was
opening it up.
	"Did she draw blood with her claws at all?" Damion's voice, while still
arctic, had an incredible intensity now. "Did you kill her?"
	"Yes to both. She's how I obtained these cuts." 
	"Damion, you've been poisoned. Even with you're advantages it's almost
always fatal. We're going to Colorado. Little Rock to be exact. It's a
ski resort but if we get there in time, you might be curable." Damion
jolted something down on Kyle's shopping list. "This is the address.
Carin, go pack Kyle's clothing and arrange to have to company plane
ready." Stunned silence was what Damion expected and he was not
disappointed. Carin got woodenly to her feet and went to the doorway.
Kyle stared at the taller man in shock.
	Abruptly Damion's head jerked towards the family room. He had time for
nothing else as the sound of shattering glass announced company had
come. "You two, run! I'll buy you time!" And he leapt into the other
room.
	Kyle surged to his feet and darted forward. He lifted Carin in one arm
and moved towards the balcony.
	That was apparently where the invaders had come from and the sliding
glass door was the source of the broken glass noise. In the family room
proper three forms moved. Damion and two women, one of whom was rapidly
fading out of reality. Kyle did not take the time to watch as he ran.
	He had only an instant to make the heart-wrenching decision. He could
flee with Carin or stay to help Damion. He was pretty sure Damion was at
least as old as he was, but still, he was otherwise ordinary. He stood
no chance against two of them. 
	But women had to be saved first. Kyle pushed off and sailed out the now
gaping doorway and out into the night, thirty five stories up. 

	'We're going to die.' Carin Wellsferd looked down the many yards of
nothing to hard asphalt below. 'We're going to die.'
	Kyle Holly was doing his best to prevent that from happening. His leap
would take them to the opposing building and from there he could make
his way down. His analysis proved correct.
	Kyle swung himself in front of Carin as they hit the wall. Kyle had
been hoping they would go through a window but he got six inches of
granite instead. He went through that and slid along the hallway which
was inside. He stopped about ten feet from the wall he had come in
through. Carin was still in his arms, held above his chest. 
	After several seconds of shocked silence, she pushed his hands away and
sat up. Shaking her head she looked around before realizing she was
sitting on Kyle's chest. She jumped off and knelt down next to him.
	"Kyle? Speak to me Kyle." He lay still, great ragged breaths coming in
and out, stretched out and with his arms crossed on his chest. The floor
around him was littered with bits of stone dust and it looked almost
like an angelic aura in the light from the hole in the wall. "Kyle! Say
something!"
	"Ow." He sat up. His back felt like it was on fire and he knew he had
cracked another set of ribs. "This'll hurt in the morning."
	He took stock of his injuries as he rose. Most of the lesser wounds and
scratches he had taken in his fight with Rose were gone now. The broken
ribs remained, they would take at least an hour to heal, the numerous
scrapes, abrasions, contusions, and concussion unless Kyle missed his
guess from the fall through the six stories earlier were still with him.
The impact and penetration of the wall had left him shocked now. He
needed to rest and focus all his Gift into healing. He could not do it
now though. Now they needed to get out of here. 
	He tried to take a step and nearly fell. He put all of his power into
his recuperation and staying upright. Carin was there he noticed,
putting one of his arms over her shoulders and one of hers around his
waist. The two of them wobbled towards an elevator.
	"We need to get a car and go to Little Rock." He looked down and in a
rather detached manner looked at the slip of paper with the address he
must have grabbed while making his exodus. 
	"You can't survive the drive. You need a doctor." Carin was amazed Kyle
could even keep going. His entire body was a maze of injuries, most of
him was bleeding, and the rest was lit with a pale white light emanating
from his injuries. "Um Kyle, you're glowing."
	"It's ok. I'll explain later." They were at the elevator now and Carin
hit the down button.
	Carin was one of a very small group of people. When Kyle said he would
explain later, she trusted him and shifted her curiosity to the back
burner. The elevator doors opened and they stepped through. Kyle hit the
button for parking garage three. 
	Roughly eight years ago, Siemanse and Rull, a building company, had
acquired three large plots of land. Two were on one side of a street,
and the other stood alone. Running right through the middle of the
street was a zoning line, separating high rise apartment and commerce
zones. Siemanse and Rull, not being to happy about this and failing in
their efforts to change it, had build one immense apartment complex and
one office building. They only made one parking area though, an
underground garage which was linked to both buildings and had a street
running over the top of it. It was to this that the heavily injured Kyle
and assisting Carin made their way.
	"You still need to go to a doctor." Carin may have been willing to let
the glowing slide for now but nor that.
	"I just need to rest for an hour or two. I heal faster than you do."
Kyle was leaning heavily on the wall, still supporting himself with one
arm on Carin. 
	"Kyle, you're almost dead!"
	"Carin, I have a Gift. The Gift." He continued to lean against the
wall. "My blood flows thick with pure magical energy. I have a vast,
though limited, reservoir of power. Right now I'm funneling all of it
into my healing system. These wounds will be gone in a few hours. It's
why I don't sleep. It's why I'm glowing."
	Carin stared at him, neither believing nor disbelieving. He was not
joking but how? He couldn't be right. But, he's, well, glowing. But,
but, how?
	Kyle sagged out of her arms and sat on the floor, his back to the wall
facing the door. He had told her. Finally, he had told her. He had kept
it a secret for the eight years he had known her. He had hidden it from
everybody for sixty years, ever since it had manifested itself when he
was twelve. No one else knew. Well, Damion did, but that was a special
case. Damion was older than he was and knew about the Gift on first
sight. 
	The elevator dinged at the first floor and they got out. They had both
been rather surprised that no one else had tried to get on, but they
were not complaining. They hobbled out into the garage and made their
way through the cement cavern to where Kyle parked. Carin still assisted
Kyle with walking though her mind was almost flat-lining. 
	Upon arriving at his car he punched a quick series on the door keypad
and unlocked all the doors. He then had Carin help him to the passenger
seat. He collapsed.
	Carin hurried around and sat behind the wheel. 
	"Keys?" She asked.
	"In my apartment. I have the thumb starter though." Kyle hit the pad
below the ignition and held his thumb there. Carin turned the ignition
itself and the car rumbled to life. 
	"Please tell me you know how to drive a stick." Kyle spoke up.
	"Never learned."
	"You see that lever? No, below that. Right, push it left. Good. Now
you're in automatic. Now move the clutch, that one, to there. Right.
That's drive, that's park, reverse, first, and second." Kyle pointed at
the different positions as he spoke. He thanked God that he had bought
on of the new BMWs. "Now, drive. We'll take the G. B. parkway south and
then go cross country."
	"Right." Carin did not mention that she knew the best route and did
know how to drive. She did not let it irritate her though. 
	She pulled out and was shortly on the road, leaving the apartment
complex behind. Shortly she went past a ruined storm drain where several
policemen were clustered around, holding a crowd of the curios back.
Something had fallen from a great height and shattered the drain's
cement top, but whatever it was was not there now. 
	In a darkened room, on a bed thick with sheets and blankets, a woman
lay, gasping for breath. After several minutes she reached out an hit a
button which would shortly bring guards and they would bring doctors. 
	'I still live.' She declared in the vaults of her mind, trying to speak
it aloud but lacking the power. 'I live.'  And she would heal.