The man’s face lights up. He attempts to speak but cannot form the words. Suddenly, his breathing becomes labored and harsh. He lies back and closes his eyes again. The machines connected to his body begin to beep and whir loudly. Finally, flat line.Attendants react to the cries of the machine, rushing into the room to begin life-saving procedures that will have no effect.Slipping past them in a rush is Delano. He is wearing a white medical smock as he makes his way to an open elevator at the end of the hall. No one pays attention to himNo one ever does. He enters the already open lift, his shoulders hunched, his head tucked. As the elevators close and he is alone, his body starts to shudder. He keeps his head down as the lift moves.He cannot hold it back any longer. His resolve is weakening, along with his “gift.” No one can carry out this undertaking without end, he was told by the Exalted. As usual, that foretelling was accurate. Grief grips Delano and he falls to his knees,

From outside the room, the sound of other tenants can be heard. The constant chatter of a TV. The steady thump of something against the wall. Somewhere else, someone is laughing way too hard. Accompanying it all is the continual sound of city life outside the dirty, cracked window of the room. Lloyd knows he’s not going to miss this shit. He dodged a proverbial bullet today and wants to put as much distance between himself and this city as he can. He has it all planned out, and if not for the mess today, he would have been well on his way to his final destination. That Mick asshole ain’t smarter than him, and he proved it. He’ll leave and set up shop, and with the money he has, he’ll gain the power he needs. Then he’ll return and wreck Jack and everyone else who crossed him.As Lloyd dreams and waits for his escort to finish in the bathroom, he believes he hears the tarnished brass doorknob of the room slowly begins to turn. He quickly looks toward the door. Nothing unusual.Lloyd aga

There were many more wounds and broken bones that had to be mended. There were also, she suspected, many sinister things she was not privy to that called her husband away for days and weeks at a time. And she dealt with it as a good wife should, she thought, even accepting it, more so after she became pregnant. She just knew that the coming of their first child would hasten his departure from that dangerous life he was leading. Even Jack Lawson could see that a child needs its father alive and hopefully in one piece. Perhaps, he would let Daniel quit the business … maybe even suggest it. Maybe.However, there were complications with the pregnancy (she was told there was damage from a previous termination procedure), and the baby was miscarried. This drove Amy into the deepest, darkest episode of her life. She was older now, and the trauma she had endured at the hands of her parents broke through the wall of repression she had constructed over the years. Dan was as busy as ever with hi

Maybe this lunatic just needs to get something off his chest. Maybe that’s all.“Talk, then go,” Dan says angrily.The man seems to relax and stands again. “It begins with Adam and Eve’s fall from grace.”Dan throws his hands into the air. This is beautiful! Some religious prick has just mugged him in his own house to deliver a sermon? It can’t get any better than this!“Oh, shit! A gangster Jehovah’s Witness! An evil one at that! I’ve already told you guys, don’t—”At once Dan is wracked with searing pain, much more intense than before. His head begins to spin, and he is sure he will black out this time. Clutching his stomach, he bends in his chair and dry heaves at the floor.“You will listen,” Delano bellows. The sound of it reverberates throughout the room and, even in his haze of pain, Dan is sure the sound is heard on the street. At least he hopes so.The stranger steps toward Dan, his fists clenched and shaking. Dan sees this and shrinks away. Oh, shit, he thinks. He’s going to

He is on all fours and moving with the grace of a powerfully built cat. The shoulder bones of his back protrude obscenely upward as he makes his way toward the frightened Alderman. His torso is longer, and Thomas can see the bones of his rib cage clearly. His hind legs have changed to accommodate the rest of his distorted body. They are shorter but look just as powerful as before. His face is drawn forward, his mouth in a wide, frightening grin. His eyes are white, unblinking incisions in a dark, bald, glistening head.Thomas begins to cry as the man-cat sits on his haunches in front of him. He closes his eyes tightly and turns his head.“Please don’t kill me please don’t kill me don’t kill me don’t kill me...”The cat-like creature begins to purr deeply, like a contented feline. The voice that comes out of his misshapen mouth has a gurgling nature about it.It chuckles. “I won’t kill you right now. For now, I only want your time.” Leaning closer to Thomas’s face, the creature, Etan,