Whoever would like to listen to the chants that echo through the first part of the chapter, please visit you tube, typing its url and adding /watch?v=1H0Y7WJqTs8 (or search there for "Gothic Choral" uploaded by KibikyToks )

Chapter 8

Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.
Stranger: Indeed?
Cassilda: Indeed, it's time. We have all laid aside disguise but you.
Stranger: I wear no mask.
Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!

~ Act I, Scene 2d (The King In Yellow)

____________________

The balmy touch fondled his soft palm, radiating streams of glow through and beyond him. The man that wasn't him insouciantly lifted up his eyes, beaming at the soothing presence by his side. The sunlight was flickering through a wave of hair , reflecting its splendor and blurring his companion's image. But the broad smile that was greeting him back was unmistakable and it was enough to soften every wrinkle on his heart. Expanded and undulated, the daylight was dulcifying every spirit honored to promenade beneath its majesty that fine morning, noun or afternoon , as time had vaporized before this essence of absolute tranquility. Fields of green extended to the vast horizon and the nature was fueling the atmosphere with various, fruity aromas as they were dashing down the hills.

Running. The man was running now, happy...free...past care. Feeling the cool air invading his lungs, only to steal a fragment of his core and unite it with the rest of the world as he exhaled. And then, in what couldn't be more than a blink of an eye, the scenery dissolved to something unholy. Once again, he was standing before the same abysmal cave. Once again, he was all alone.

The rough rock stood menacing and forbidding, veins of moisture skimming its coarse surface, but the graven letters above the Stygian entrance were now clearer. Mastering all his will power, he focused again and again, concentration compressing his temples, his eye brows meddling into a smudge above the crook of his nose...and then, while the mist was dissipating, he could finally distinguish what looked like an "R".

"Claaaark!"

The anguished blare pierced through the blackness the exact same time the canopies of the darkened sky were torn apart and hell was unleashed upon him. The man stood there, unable to even flinch, his body squirming in agony as the wailing storm of blood was penetrating his skin. His companion's cries were still reaching his ears through the torrential bedlam of thunders and howls, and, somewhere in the background of all this, powerful and mysterious chants were joining the sacrilege, their apocryphal sound magnifying the Apocalypse. Falling on his knees, the man couldn't take it anymore. He craved to scream his lungs out, to rend his own flesh, to...

Kal violently burst into awakeness.

The air was humid. Sat up on the cold, elevated marble in the middle of a round crypt, he passed his hand over his mouth and let his eyes get used to the pitch dark around him. This time he had managed to figure out one of the letters, but still , whatever his nightmares were trying to tell him, remained a riddle. Someone had kept calling him tonight, crying the name of the mask he had shaped for himself, but he couldn't even fathom if the voice belonged to a male or a female. These dreams were getting more and more intense. He could almost still feel those mysterious chants jumping out of his slumber and escorting him into reality.

Wait a minute....

Tuning into the mansion's vibe, Kal listened closely. From afar, the eerie vocals of a haunted choir were echoing through the silence, infusing the mouldy atmosphere of the crypts with magic. The chants had never been a ghost of his dreamworld.

"The Baptism. It has started."

Without pondering over it more, Kal El jumped off the small altar in less than a second. His gait was quick, however it wasn't the first time he had missed the beginning of the ritual; cobwebbed memories of him and Alexander belatedly sneaking into the Elders' Hall saluted him from the tatters of his childhood. Storming out of his crypt, he noticed a simple, black mask on top of a short, crimson tunic, both placed neatly inside a small wall niche. His fingertips fondled briefly the silky cloth before he smiled.

"Maxima..."

Taking off his clothes one by one, Kal El followed the Orphic chants as they were reverberating through the dim, underground passage ways. His confident strides were in perfect sync with the rattling sound of drums partnering the voices, and his gaze, untrammeled by his surroundings, was always nailed ahead as he was randomly scattering his clothes around. The moment he was past the crypts, the spiral staircase that was leading to the mansion made its appearance, but this time he chose to ignore it. Naked as the day he was born and still more gorgeous than ever, Kal El stepped through what it looked like a pitch-dark veil behind the staircase, where only the wall could rise as the ultimate dead-end. Only it wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Well hidden inside the obscure mist, the murky tunnel twisted and turned before him and the distinct sound of a gurgling stream declared the existence of water nearby. The underground channel lead to a medium-sized cavern that could be the forgotten trace of a fairytale that had once traversed that world. A shallow lake covered the biggest part of the cavern and lotus shaped candles were floating on its dark surface, illuminating the place with a pale and preternatural silver. Kal's reflection shimmered on the still waters as he crossed the arched bridge joining either side of the cave. Soon he found himself staring at an upright, sculptured tombstone which, though, was still a part of the caves' walls. The path seemed to come to an end there, however, Kal knew better.

Trailing his open palm over the carved Latin letters, he paused over "VENI, VIATOR" (come, traveler) and pushed. The letters faintly glowed red for a second and then, slowly, the heavy stone subsided to the right, revealing a whole different scenery before him. A long corridor cloaked with a rich carpet in which sapphire and burgundy red were mixed in ancient designs, illustrating medieval battles stirred to life, was unfolding in front of him. The chants resounded louder now, menacingly warning the intruders about an upcoming existence, so secret and unhallowed, as Kal continued through the ascending, royal hallway.

"Finally...took you some time."

Maxima suddenly slid on his right, effectively matching his step. A, similar to his own, crimson tunic was barely engulfing her feminine assets, making the torrent of her hair look even more fiery, one of the rare times she was deprived of her green wardrobe. Contrary to him, she had the black mask on.

"Thanks for leaving these outside the crypt for me."

"Well, someone has to look after you."

They walked together up to the golden, arched door with the imposing entablatures and pediments made of jade. Kal cast a brief glance at its two - firmly shut - huge leaves, and followed Maxima as she drifted through a narrow passage on their right. Soon they came across a small, secret entrance. Its cedren door stood slightly open.

"Looks like you weren't the only one delayed."

He smirked at her whisper, before putting on his black mask and sliding through the opening right behind her. They lightly pulled aside the heavy, velvet curtain and...there it was. The Elders Hall.

The place was like a magnificent auditorium. Ruby orbs, seemingly hanged from nowhere, levitated around shedding a numinous light towards every possible direction. Six large mosaic-covered columns supported the domical ceiling, while spectacular Gothic emblems and figures decorated the massive walls as far as the eye could reach. Countless levels of granite balconies were ominously enveloping the large arena, where a sea of men and women were currently glorifying the mystic ceremony with their dark chorals. The whole hall soared as a buzzing beehive of black masked vampires.

The ones crammed in the various balconies, as well as the majority of those standing in the arena, were dressed in flimsy, white tunics. However, the first lines shined in a dark crimson, as the vampires there wore tunics identical to the ones Kal and Maxima owned. The Elders. And this was their place, their temple, their shrine. In reality, the Elders Hall was a part of the mansion's interior. It was, however, so well isolated from the rest chambers, that one could reach it only through underground passages.

They slithered through the crowd as the chants were drumming their impressive climax throughout the hall, and finally approached the rest elders the exact moment the hymns surrendered to a magnificent death, allowing the temporary silence to spread all around. On what it looked like an elevated stage, Alexander stood silent, his eyes scanning the hordes of vampires hanging from his single word. Unlikely to everyone else, he was bare-chest , with a long black cloth covering his nudity from the waist and down. A heavy surcoat , with rows of rubies and a thick, fury collar was completing his extravagant appearance, while his evil blues were shielded behind a half faced mask. Lifting up his dragon head rod for a second, symbol of his indisputable hegemony, he hit it three times on the marble floor, letting the deep thumps hauntingly echo in the silence.

Instantly, from the back of the hall, the heavy leaves of the golden gate were dragged open, and a whirlwind of long-drawn out cries, chain rattlings and other sounds leaped into the air. The virgins. They were bringing them in. Diagonally to Kal, always present in the first line, Lana slightly turned her head and smugly grinned at him. Kal limited himself to a modest nod. Of course she was proud tonight, her own mouthpiece was turning to an elder.

In the middle of the grandiose hall and inside a circle one level lower than everyone else, a lonely figure waited with respect. His chest heaved with pride under his white tunic, bedewed with perfume as he stood, his sparkling eyes reflecting his eagerness. He knew well this was his night, his introduction to the higher ranks of his clan and craved to savor every minute of the unholy ritual. And, in his mind, he deserved it more than anyone. Having been Lana's loverboy for the past years, he had endured every little caprice of her snobbish company and had stood his ground against his own mother, which eventually had lead to Genevieve's absence from his own Baptism. However, blood ties were proved stronger than any past conflict as, tonight, Davis had been sent all the way from Europe to represent the fallen House of Teague. How Davis himself, the great vampire that everyone identified with such a horrific name as 'Doomsday', had ended up to France in the first place, that was a whole other story.

At the sound of the female laments, a smile cracked Jason's handsome face.

Around the circle, bare-chest male vampires were standing in a radial formation, each of them holding a burning torch. The whole impression given was that of a moribund sun, with Jason inside its dying core. High above them, the darkened vault of the hall crowned the center of the ritual. Random flutters were stirring its shadows into life, as a whole legion of bats nested within its cold recesses. And yet, the vault ended to a round opening, the only exit of that dim stronghold to the moonlit night.

Urged by a habit rooting back to his childhood, Kal El lifted mechanically his doleful eyes towards the vault.

"Damn, look at those women, Kal. So innocent, so fresh...their bodies buzzing with life. The blood...Come on, pay attention."

"Oh stop picking on him, Lex. He's only at my Lana's age, not more than twelve years old, and he is almost as tall as you."

"Sweet, young Lana...how's your mortal niece, Nell?"

"You and your father can dream on..."

"Haha...we'll see that. Eyes on the ritual, Kal... and stop staring at the bats up there, what's so fascinating about them anyway?"

"It's not the bats I am looking at...it's the sky"

The specters of the past paled away, the young face turning slowly to that of a handsome adult, but the azure eyes remained the same, longingly beholding the nocturnal sky with a need that could not be explained. It was Alexander's thunderous voice enchanting the ceremony with spells that made Kal El turn his gaze to the action before him.

"...evoco lunam, veni, defende mundi rectores tenebrarum. Fortius quam germanitas nullum est vinculum et nati sumus ad lucem evertendum..."

(I summon the moon, come, defend the ones who rule the world in the darkness. There is no stronger bond than brotherhood and we're born to raze the light)

Twelve virgins had already been chained on upright, wooden boards placed directly before each torch. Naked and with their dazed minds barely registering their surroundings, they still let their helpless moans resound as a cursed cacophony behind the casting spells. Like always, the next morning would find them safe in random alleys near their own houses, oblivious to what had happened to them and with the whole ritual fading in their memory under the disguise of a clouded dream.

Holding a medieval, sterling silver goblet with the one hand, and a Gothic, scull dagger with the other, a female vampire was approaching one by one the tied girls. The blade was momentarily sparkling under the shades of the crimson light, before marking their smooth flesh, each one on different body-part. Collecting the precious droplets into the goblet, the vampire continued her impious round until the cup was filled with the bloody nectar. Finally, she humbly handed the goblet to Alexander and withdrew to the shadows, completing her important role in the demonic tradition.

The moon had finally lined up with the opening of the vault, pouring its pearly halo around Jason, when Alexander raised the goblet.

"EX HOC MOMENTO PENDET AETERNITAS"

(eternity is hinged upon this moment)

At the sound of those words, Jason fell to his knees and, accepting the cup from its master, started thirstily gulping down the virgins' blood. The drums of rebirth thundered and the vampires began their sepulchral yet epic psalms once again. More blood started gushing from where Jason was still kneeling, as if the hall itself was mournfully bleeding, filling the entire circle and christening him with its warmth. The sun, bathed in blood, had finally been defeated from the moon's silver sword. And as Jason slowly stood to his feet, his once white tunic, soaked now in blood, was finally colored crimson. A new Elder had risen.

"Salvete, pueri singuinis"

(greetings, oh children of the blood)

Alexander greeted his clan with pride.

" Tonight, we praise a new guiding light into our clan, a new Elder to lead us along with the rest into eternity. We also have our brothers from Europe attending this special moment , for whom we are forever grateful." he raised his hand towards Davis and his entourage, who, with his turn, nodded respectfully acknowledging the honor.

"Together, we have come a long way and still a long way we have ahead. Drained by humans' vanity, the world once graced us with the greatest gift...immortality... in order to rule it through the ages and guide it towards a new era. This night, like every other night with a full moon, like our fathers, and the fathers of our fathers, and whole generations did back in time, we allow ourselves to celebrate our very own existence and taste the mortal life, own it and tame it once again...before returning to our nocturnal routine."

Feeling the hunger paralyzing his veins, Kal El watched his friend's speech ecstatic, while the beating of his heart was merging with the erratic pounding coming from everyone's chest. At that moment, If souls had their own sounds, the whole hall would be shaken down by their thunders.

"Follow me now as I proclaim the end of the Baptism and the beginning of the eternal Night!

Nil sine nobis! Carpe Tenebras!"

(nothing without us! Seize the darkness!)

The final beacon flared up with countless black masks flying into the air, as everyone revealed their faces in a symbolic embrace of darkness. And as the night cymbals continued their tune, hundreds of vampires were unleashed into a hunting race towards Metropolis.

______________________

Lois clung to the thin material of her jacket as she impatiently waited in the human line to Atlantis. Standing there for almost half an hour, she had already cursed the bouncers that couldn't do their jobs right, the damn weather that couldn't be less cold, her stupid idea to wear a leather cloth around her waist barely qualifying for a skirt, those annoying murders that were the reason she was there in the first place, Oliver who was embarrassing all males for breaking up with her....at some point it was obvious that if she stood there for a little more, her impatience would hit red alert and she would end up blaming God himself.

As famous it was for its services and its prestige, Atlantis was as much notorious for its tight door. Sometimes even members of the industry elite would find it hard to enter, even though the club itself was vast. For Lois, it wouldn't be the first time attempting to cross its snobbish gate. A couple years back, she and Chloe had the brilliant idea to celebrate there the latter's birthday, along with their one-moon escorts , only to bump onto the solid chests of two braindead giants effectively blocking the way for them. What had been even more aggravating was that the same morons had humbly opened the doors for the upscale couple waiting right behind them. casting Lois' anger to its zenith. Right then and there she had taken the, not very modest, decision that it wasn't her that hadn't been considered qualified to enter the club, but Atlantis the one that would never match her own style and taste, and for the past two years she had stuck to it, even though, later, Oliver's money and social profile could have got her in pretty easily, had she said the word. However, tonight, she was in need of a better luck, thus a drastic plan should take control over the situation.

Stepping out of the line, Lois distanced herself from the crowd and after taking out her cellphone, she braced herself and approached the entrance from the opposite side.

"...yes cuz, I'll be there tomorrow, now can we hang up cause I am chilled to the bone here and I want to go back to the club?"

"Excuse me, miss, the line is over there." A deep and charming voice halted her advance. Putting on her most innocent facade, Lois flashed a smile at the doorman and pointed at her cellphone.

"Oh, my friends are waiting for me inside. I was there when my cellphone rang and I had to get outside to take the call. Silly relatives always having the worst timing."

"I am sure that I would remember you if you had been inside." The man retorted calmly, still adamant to not let her pass.

"No, you misunderstood me. I was in, but I have been outside freezing and talking for like..an hour. Blame my cousin and her big mouth."

"Nice try, miss, but you aren't the first one that came up with the call idea for tonight."

"Shit" Lois cursed inwardly. Intuiting her annoyance, the man smiled coldly and let his eyes travel on her impressive - and pretty exposed that specific night - frame. Feeling him fondling her with his gaze, she took the hint and sighed a little more showily than she normally would, allowing her voluptuous chest heave dangerously. Truth was though that she wasn't sure if tossing her female curves into the game, would have any effect on him; for one thing, he didn't look like the bouncers she normally saw outside Atlantis and other similar clubs. He was elegantly dressed and his silky, blond hair was pulled back to a ponytail. He lacked the broad shoulders and intimidating height the usual bouncers of the club had, and his eyes emitted a more aristocratic than authoritative aura. Overall, he looked more like someone who would frequently visit the club rather than the guy that would guard its entrance.

"Come on..." she tried to not sound too desperate "...you won't let a girl like me out in the cold now, will you?"

"Actually no." His answer surprised her. "It's exactly girls like you that I am here to allow in tonight."

Casting a suspicious glance at him, Lois decided to not look a gift horse in its mouth and just accept her only chance to get in. Gracing him with her dazzling smile, she followed his proffered hand as it was introducing her to the nightlife of Atlantis.

The place was indeed vast. Expanded to various open levels, with a rather futuristic decoration where the metallic colors and the perspex dominated, Atlantis stood larger than its own name. The deafening music seemed to have a narcotic effect on the waves of bodies provocatively swaying under the blinding spot lights. Steel, globular cages, whose hanging chains were lost somewhere in the whirlwind of smoke and neon lights, floated high above, serving as the perfect overhead stages for the various drag queens and their outrageous feathers. Women in tight vinyl clothes, with barely any spot of their face left un-pierced, were tantalizingly dancing with trendy yuppies dressed in whatever the latest fashion ordered, girls disguised as sexy devils were heavily making out with angel-winged males in some sort of absurd masquerade and everyone and everything inside that place flirted with the surreal.

Lois blinked a few times. By the time she managed to reach one of the two large, glass bar counters, after cursing and pushing her way through the wild crowd, she already wanted to return to her flat's tranquility. Squeezing herself between a busted imitation of Marilyn Monroe and a man with a shaved head and red lipstick on his lips, Lois spotted the bartender who at least looked like a normal guy.

"Hey there, think you can get me a vodka & tonic?" she literally shouted out the words in an attempt to beat down the roaring loudspeakers.

"Sure, babe. First time in Atlantis?"

"That obvious, huh?"

The man laughed.

"Yeah, I can tell by your look. Here you go."

She grabbed the glass and took a few much needed sips, cooling down her throat. Maybe alcohol would add some sense to the whole night. She instantly felt better, and, as her journalistic acumen kicked in, she decided that there was no better source than a bartender to begin her investigation with.

"Thanks. So, yeah first time in this club, very...different. I had heard a lot about it though from a friend of mine, she was the one that actually recommended it to me. Haven't seen her in a while, but she likes partying here a lot...maybe you know her, Justine Nickols?"

The bartender shrugged nonchalantly as he was preparing a few drinks.

"Doesn't ring a bell, sugar. Loads of people pass by each night."

"Yeah, the place has quite the reputation. But she's a frequenter, I'm sure she's met the bartenders too."

"Not on my swift. Atlantis is a big club, there are many pals covering the place throughout the week. Maybe your friend met one of the rest, who knows?" he winked at her and turned his attention to an Asian beauty that had just approached the bar.

Lois snorted disappointed. Finding someone in there that would both have known Justine and be willing to share any information about her, was being proved a rather hard task. It was like searching for needles in the hay. Her gaze wavered around the enraptured men and women for a while. Nothing seemed to disturb the ecstasy the whole club emanated. Or...almost nothing. Her focus landed on a few very pretty - and very drunk as Lois mentally noted - girls that , at least from what it looked to her, were being half lured half pushed through an opening at the back of the club. The whole incident lasted less than a few minutes and , to Lois' surprise, once the girls disappeared from her sight, so did the mysterious entrance, since the "door" was practically a continuation to the decoration of the rest wall, offering the perfect camouflage to whatever was wished to stay hidden.

Nothing could hide from a Lane though. Placing her drink on the glassy counter, she moved towards that direction when, suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, leaving my company so early?"

Contrary to his smooth voice, the bartender's grip remained inexplicably tight for a second but his whole demeanor softened overall once their eyes locked.

"It wouldn't even cross my mind." Lois smirked seductively at him. "You were just about to lose me to the female restroom for five minutes."

"Which is to the exact opposite direction" he retorted with a smile of his own.

'Damn'

"Oh...I guess I am being a total noob here, aren't I?" she encouraged herself to play the dumb chick "Well, thanks... Won't take me long."

She left him with a tempting sway of her hips and sheered off towards where he had indicated, until she could feel no more his prying eyes nailed on her back. Mixing herself with the delirious crowd, Lois realized that a long night was unfolding before her.

___________________

Tearing his mouth away from the velvet flesh, Jason roared his pleasure in the air.

"Damn, this feels so much better than the cloned shit we get to feed on!"

The girl collapsed on the floor, blood oozing from the fresh cut on her neck. A white beast approached the exhausted woman and started fluttering its tongue over the tempting wound.

"Nefertiti, here!"

Letting a low growl to express her dissatisfaction, the tiger obeyed to her master's severe tone.

"Good girl.." Alexander stroked her silken fur before motioning at a black man in suit, standing a few meters away. " Wake her up, make sure she can count up to five and put her in a taxi."

The man lifted up the weak girl , who nuzzled on his chest, and carried her away from the VIP's room.

"Bye, love. It was a pleasure." Jason snickered, before burying his face between the creamy breasts of a vampire, whose loud cackles could raise up the dead.

Alexander examined him thoughtfully, without though halting his enjoyable game. Taking handfuls of blueberries from a porcelain pot, he was seeking pleasure in throwing them to a naked girl and a man in a gimp suit that were pathetically crawling before him.

"You know, Jason...if you became an Elder tonight, you actually owe it to that cloned shit. Who knows what the clan's future would have been if everyone continued blatantly mangling the mortals."

"Oh I know, Lex..." he panted out, momentarily breaking free from his sexual diversions "Just saying that, nights like this, make me wish we held Baptisms more frequently."

For a flashing second, Alexander's eyes hardened. Lifting his fine glass, he tasted the heady mix of French champagne with blood while a long moan echoed in his ears. On his right, a dazed blond was representing the bliss itself, as an orgasmic shiver ran through her body the moment Kal attacked the blue veins of her wrist. Remaining borderline apathetic to her ministrations on his throbbing erection, his eyes had sparkled crimson the moment the ignorant bimbo had put her fingers between his beautiful lips, trying to match his own thrusts into her mouth. Nights like this, it was hard for a vampire to resist.

The girl however seemed totally oblivious to what was going on. Lost in her own world, and with her head feeling lighter than ever, she kept flirting shamelessly with her own predator. Reaching at the back of her slutty skirt, she pulled out a tiny bag, all the while stupidly grinning. The white dope twinkled before Kal's face.

"Another junkie." Alexander shook his head. Darting his hand unexpectedly, he caught the little bag and swung it before its owner's hooded eyes.

"Hey Mr...gimme that back..."

"Ssshhh....it's ok now..." from afar, Kal's soothing voice reached her eyes, as his arms encircled her waist and his lips planted a feathery kiss on her weak pulse.

"What's wrong with you, people?" Alexander asked almost rhetorically. "You keep soaking your bodies in crap like this, allowing your misery to get the best of you. How petty...". His perfectly manicured little finger slid into the baggy, bringing some specks of cocaine to the tip of his tongue.

"Disgusting..." With a contemptuous grimace, he tore the little bag apart and sprinkled its deadly content on the floor, in front of the woman's saucer eyes. In a heartbreaking demonstration of the lowest human instincts, the poor girl escaped from Kal's arms and desperately dashed on the floor in all four, in vain struggling to gather the white death.

"Look at them, Kal...I pity them. They shall never change. How ironic, while we are feeding on life, they choose to feed on death."

Carefully stepping over the crawling woman, Lana, escorted by her usual mischievous mood, approached the luxurious, animal print sofa they were sprawled on. The bronze of her skin glistened under the intoxicant scent of the spread oils, naked as she was, with two rows of emeralds around her ankles and plastic, fairy wings adorning her back.

"What are you boys doing? Having fun?"

"Lana...you fed up with your girl slaves and came looking for some male action?"

"It depends, Kal...have you left me any?"

She cocked an eye brow at him and he chuckled in return. Noticing her alluring presence, Jason disregarded the comfort of his companion's arms and welcomed her exotic beauty in his embrace. As usual, she didn't disappoint. Straddling his waist with ease, her warm folds hugged his eager manhood , beginning a slow ride of thrusts and moans.

Pensively gazing at their sexual endeavors, Kal felt a strange sting of newfound wrongness worrying his insides.

"Don't you ever feel...I don't know, jealousy...a slight annoyance or a hint of emotion... when you see him with your wife?"

Alexander lazily followed Kal's gaze as he chewed on his juicy fruits.

"I didn't know the rest of us were monogamy defenders for Lana to be the exception."

"It's not about sex really... Jason is not her regular pet."

"Well..." he turned his face to him, letting his head fall on the large cushions "..I don't mind it when she is with you, do I?"

Kal wet his lips.

"That's different.."

"Why?"

"Cause it's not her I am loyal to..."

Their stares were engaged for one whole minute, emotions and thoughts channeling themselves through the suffocantingly small gap between their slow breaths. It was Alexander's smirk that cracked the spell.

"Is that some weird trace of sensitivity I detect or..?"

"I don't know..." Kal frowned at his own thoughts.."The funny thing is that I always considered you as the one with any sensitivities left...You could be with Lana anytime you wanted, but you still chose to marry her after all."

"My feelings for Lana weren't verified with our marriage, if that is what you're implying."

"No, look..." he momentarily closed his eyes, easing the pressure on the crook of his nose with his fingers " let's forget it, I am not even sure what I am implying. I think the tension of the past week has finally screwed my brain."

Alexander laughed.

"Take a step back and relax , Kal. Come on, do yourself a favor ...just pick another girl or boy and enjoy the night. So many luscious necks in here."

Kal spared an unwilling glance to the parade of men and women staggering around the VIP's room, lost somewhere between lust and reverie. For a wicked moment, the smell choked him.

"You know what...I'm going to the dance stage." He stood up and buttoned up his black shirt, purposely leaving the upper buttons undone. "I feel like doing my own fishing."

Alexander limited himself in an encouraging gesture, before spooning a few more blueberries from the nearby pot. Throwing them on the floor, he burst into laughter as his wretched slaves manically crawled and scratched each other to get them.

A few meters away, the loud music was offering the perfect contrast to their lair's privacy, as Kal El casually strolled up to the bar. A natural magnet, he didn't leave many pairs of eyes apathetic.

"Mr Kent, you are such a dangerous man for spoiling us with your good looks. "

An aged woman with excessive make up and the gold of the whole world translated into jewelery loading her neck and wrists, boldly proffered her hand to him. Taking it without hesitation, and with a small glint dancing at the corner of his eyes, he briefly placed his soft lips on the back of her gnarled palm.

"Always good to see you, Mrs Bruckheimer."

Stepping closer to him , she shamelessly toyed with one of his shirt-buttons.

"My husband would be very interested in doing business with you in our new industrial expansion over Metropolis. I could always arrange a dinner."

A reserved smile colored his impenetrable face. "I shall keep that in mind."

The woman looked pleased with his answer, before snobbishly walking away from him. That was the thing about his irresistible charm; he would spit and they would still leave him pleased.

"How's the night moving, D'andre?"

He leaned on the bar counter, casually addressing the barkeeper without taking his eyes from the frenzied crowd.

"Smooth, Kal, pretty smooth. Everything's going like clockwork. There was only that one chick that may have, may have not looked for trouble."

"Yeah what about her?" he asked rather nonchalantly, his orbs lazily traveling around.

"Well, she came here claiming she was a friend of that dead nurse..."

D'andre's words thundered into Kal's awareness, realization kicking him right in the guts. He instantly turned his face to the bartender, his alarmed eyes scanning his face for any traces of lie.

"What did you just say?"

"Exactly what you heard, she came asking if I knew her ...that's before attempting to get her butt closer to the VIP's room. Although that might as well have been a coincidence."

Kal straightened his back, readjusting his calm composure.

"Is this girl still around?"

"Yeah, I kept an eye on the chick. Thought you might want to have a look at her." D'andre winked mischievously and pointed towards the overcrowded dance floor. Somewhere among the rocking bodies, the outrageous outfits and the dazzling lights, a red shirt flashed and instantly blazed up Kal's insides. She was there.

He gulped.

"Ok , D'andre , let me handle her , I'll take from here. Oh and...no reason to make a deal out of it, such minor issue can stay between us."

In response, the man lifted up his left sleeve, revealing a thorny scar on the inside of his forearm. The mysterious mark got lightly flared up as soon as Kal's gaze engulfed it.

"To the grave. You know it."

Kal nodded satisfied before completely centering his focus on the moving mass before him.

Somewhere inside that mass, Lois was starting feeling dizzy. Failing to animate her journalistic curiosity with the bartender, she had wandered around the various stages of the club, trying to find some evidence for her case and at the same time struggling to not lose her balance due to the incontrollable human river around her. At some point, the light bulb above her head had been switched on, making her wonder why she hadn't already approached the classy doorman. He had been nicer to her, maybe his mouth would be nicer too and spill some information. The night had reserved for her more surprises though, as her advance to the exit had been abruptly halted by masculine idiocy, when two morons had dared to think a Lane could ever be cornered. She had once again cursed like a sailor and had been ready to mash some nuts, when they had wisely chosen to back away, obviously avoiding trouble in the middle of Atlantis.

All these though had ultimately led her to the ground zero she was currently at. Colors and laughters were creating a vortex with her as its core, while the howls of music were yelling inside her ears. The frantic atmosphere was shutting all the pores of her body and her head felt so loaded, as if she had been greedily consuming alcohol the whole night. And on top of all these, hallucinations must have started driving her mad because for a very rare second, behind all those souls and all this panic, an awfully familiar and painfully handsome face had flickered through the holes.

'Pull yourself together Lois, it can't be him'

She twisted and turned, her eyes frantically searching to exorcise her fears... To assure herself it was just her fantasy she left unlocked, which, with its turn, decided that a trip through her reality wouldn't be such a bad idea.

And then... she saw him. Standing there, in flesh and bones, perfectly still within the frenetic motion. More real than ever. Gone were his glasses. Gone the wild locks bordering his eye brows and the cute, student style she had learned to cherish. Gone was her Clark. But the man invading his body, the stranger living his life, was savoring her with the same turbulent passion, cursing her with the same feverish agony from which there was no visible escape. She could sense his magnetism isolating her from the crowd. Stripping her down to her soul to make her claiming even more absolute.

Uninvited bodies intervened between her and his impressive frame, the flowing of the dance swept her in new twirls, and he once again disappeared from her view. Just as magically as he had appeared. However, Lois was gratefully awake now and the voices inside her mind were screaming to her to leave, to run away from that fortress of debauchery the soonest possible, to just...

A strong arm encircled her waist, pulling her back flat against a solid chest. Almost simultaneously, a firm hand dived to the flesh of her exposed thighs, startling her body and, thus, effectively sneaking its way between her defenseless limbs. Instinctively. Lois' hands darted to block the intruder, but, to her shock , they only managed to press his grip firmly onto her crotch, sending a sudden rush throughout her system. This could not be happening.

"Have you ever done it inside a club...right here...on the dance floor?"

Lois' soul hitched inside her dry throat. The velvet of his husky voice titillated the side of her neck, domesticating her senses so easily that it frightened her. His vulgar invitation tip-toed delicately on her skin, awakening every part of her body and introducing her into the wildest temptation. His burning breath triggered every fiber of her body into motion, aiding his bold hand as it started its slow exploration above her silky panties.

"Everyone's moving around you...sweating...you get horny but...only cause you are not alone..."

His words were coming out in pants, colored by the epitome of the roughest masculinity. The bastard, he was doing it on purpose. He knew well how to toy with her hormones. And when his throbbing, denim covered erection , pressed eagerly on the small of her back, Lois' felt all her blood heading furiously towards her head.

"You move in sync to the music.. like them... only they don't know what you are really doing....they don't care...for them you are dancing...fervently...sweatily...in and out..."

She was losing it. Her hooded eyes were blindly glancing around the rocking bodies, her mind unwillingly picturing the forbidden scene he was unfolding. He thrust gently once more onto her firm, leather clad, buttocks and Lois almost surrendered right then and there, allowing her head to fall on the warmth of his shoulder.

"You live with the fear they'll discover you....you and your dirty, little self...but that excites you even more...and when you are there...coming...again...and again...they don't even hear you, cause the cry of your orgasm is lost in the raging music..."

She had to get a grip on herself, otherwise his so vivid imagery would become her painful truth. She had to. Mastering whatever common selse was left in the neurons of her mind, she forced him to loosen the pressure on her crotch , the exact moment his intrusive fingers were attempting to slide below her underwear.

"Only in your freaky dreams..."

Kal snickered.

"Oh in my dreams I do a lot more things to you, Lois. And you are right...they are freaky."

His tongue lapped on the shell of her ear, however his whole, muscular body seemed to relax behind her , even though his arms never abandoned the comfort of her waist. In response, Lois started fidgeting.

"I had no doubt you were a pervert, now ...let me go!"

"I have a better idea...let's go somewhere with a little more space."
Without warning, he shoved her through the crowd , manipulating her as if she weighed nothing, until her back contacted the cold, inhospitable surface of a wall. It was a shadowed corner next to the toilets' entrance, however the area here was more commodious and open to any prying pair of eyes entering or exiting the restrooms. Her body bumped on the wall with a small thump and Kal rushed to use his weight to trap her anew. What started as a grim stare on her part, opposite to his audacity, quickly grew into a melting ice-berg as soon as their gazes locked. Lois had to actually vehemently shake her head, in an attempt to banish the enticement served so bounteously to her.

"For someone that was all about secretly dry humping in the middle of a dance stage, you hurried a little too much to put an end on your little performance , buddy."

Sarcasm. This was the key to her liberty.

"I think you misunderstood me, Lois. I never said I like to secretly sex up. I, for once, prefer it when the crowd watches and..." he nuzzled her nose with his own , before pulling slightly back "...applauds."

Lois' smile almost faltered as soon as she realized he wasn't kidding. A brief glance around convinced her that, at that specific spot, the dangerous game they were engaging themselves in could stand as a stimulating spectacle for anyone.

"Well, Mr 'I study Latin' " she scoffed at his facade displaying her irritation "..I bet no one has rubbed this smugness off your face yet. Thankfully, for everything, there's a first time"

"I'm not so sure. Something tells me you're enjoying this more than you want to admit."

"Newsflash for you then; you're seriously fooling yourself"

"Really?..."

Out of the blue, his right hand vanished below the hem of her short skirt. The weak, tearing sound was drowned within the chaotic ambiance of the club, as he deprived her of her precious, silky undergarment with one simple flip of his thumb. Lois yelped. With a sinister smirk tangled at the edge of his promising lips, he lifted her panties to his face. Inhaling the intoxicant moisture, he let his tongue glide along the soft material, roughening it with his greedy touch.

"...then why your wet panties seem to disagree?"

"You son of a bitch" she spat out through clenched teeth.

He laughed at her annoyance, amused he had just proved his point and her own attraction to his ministrations. Crumbling the underwear inside his fist, he hastily shoved the loot into the back pocket of his jeans , storing it as souvenir.

"I'm gonna keep this for later examination..."

At that point, Lois realized that the situation was growing more serious than she had originally imagined. All of a sudden she was standing there, with her most intimate parts exposed to his inmost desires and her own spirit ensnared by her personal urges and his raw manliness. She could feel his hard muscles contracting under his heaving chest, flat as it was against her own perked nipples. However, underneath it all, a more appercetive part of herself that every time was mysteriously being awakened only by his presence, was signaling her that there were more solid reasons behind his explosive longing to dominate her.

"OK let's cut out the crap. What the heck do you want from me?"

Appreciating her forthright persona, Kal's emeralds pierced through her with unmatchable intensity. Leisurely, he trailed his finger on her inflamed cheekbone, his nail lightly grazing her smooth flesh.

"It's pretty simple, Lois. I want you to drop the case you're working on. Forget the dead bodies, go back to your daily routine and no one will get hurt."

"Come again?"

Immediately, she regretted she asked. His face inched closer and he provocatively allowed his warm breath caress every electrified pore of her skin.

"You heard me....Drop the case. I know about your investigation on the deaths... along with that kid, the photographer. You both stop playing Sherlock and Watson and stay away from everything."

Lois held his serious yet erotic gaze for a second, before bursting to derisive chuckles.

"You must be really naive if you think you can blackmail me. Open your eyes, buddy; the only scenario I am dropping this case is within those freaky dreams of yours."

Kal mentally rolled his eyes. This was being proved harder than he had estimated it. And the fact her delicious, female curves had been only in a breath's distance all this time, was making it excruciatingly painful for him to carry on with his act instead of...just tasting her. Her scent had invaded his nostrils ever since he had located her among the dancers, triggering his hormones into gear and threatening to overpower his reason all over again. Handing the reigns of his soul to impulse, he demandingly shoved his knee between her creamy thighs and , with one abrupt move, parted them. Lois' eyes widened before the sudden assault. She never managed to express any objection though, as he shifted his crotch and nestled more comfortably against the heat of her pelvis.

'And , oh my God, was he still hard?'

His tight grip on her, the one that was defining her as his captive, belonged already in the past. Lois had relaxed in his arms for quite a while now, but between their verbal fight and the scorching fire they were sharing, they had both failed miserably to notice. Secretly, his hands had begun a slow exploration and massage on her hips, as their chests moved together, mirroring the equal pounding of their hearts. Lois bit her lower lip, ignoring that the mere image of her worrying its succulent flesh was damaging any feeble control he had over his primitive need for her. The euphoria spread from her heart to every tip of her nerves had started dangerously resembling the medley of feelings she had experienced during her dream with him as her violator. And what was confusing her the most was that, somewhere among her fears for that unknown side of him and the verboten excitement he was gracing her with, Lois was witnessing her own sexual nightmare coming from the depths to haunt her.

"You're quite the stubborn, aren't you now?"

His voice was low and needy, as his words blew like a light breeze on the erotic barren her skin had morphed into. Kal El was on a lustful race of his own. The bells of danger and failure were chiming in, as tremendous voices in his head were scolding him, screaming he was jeopardizing his own plan. But it was when the carnal rapture finally overflowed him, that Kal arrogantly decided one thing; to screw the plan.

Hazel was merged into azure, creating a sparkling shade that nature had never laid eyes upon. His head leaned in, zeroing any remaining hint of gap between them, causing the nerves around the lower part of her body to twinkle in anticipation. His tongue sneaked out, its tip slowly wetting the outline of her sweet mouth...trying...testing and waiting...And then his lips followed, massive and warm...lightly touching her own, following the previous lead of his tongue.

"No...don't.."

Some forgotten crumbs of logic were desperately hinging upon her conscience, trying to tame her fierce awakening, but in vain....He ignored her weak plea. And like a sweeping monsoon he ruthlessly scattered and whirled the dust that formed her existence. His tongue found hers, even if their lips were still barely touching, and started gluttonously stroking each other , twirling together while keeping the rest of their mouths at bay.

Not wasting any time, his hand slid below her right thigh and wounded her leg around his waist, pulling their groins together. Eagerness forced her naked folds to grind hard against the rough material of his denim, all the while feeling through it his pulsating erection buzzing its own, sensual tune. He slightly bent his knees, providing himself with a better angle towards the center of her discomfort, and pushed again and again and again....until Lois smashed down all moral burdens and began moaning inside his assaulting mouth.

He would make her come. He would make her come and her chained awareness had no power to prevent him from doing it. Her lungs desperately sought for much needed oxygen, the moment he tore his mouth away from hers in order to flood her neck and chest with a torrent of wet, open mouthed kisses. Violently pulling her shirt down, he triumphantly unveiled her bra-covered, right breast, baring her under the wild, music beats of Atlantis. His fingers pinched and twisted her nipple while he sucked at the top of her breast, and every jolt of sharp pain sent through her system, he was rewarding it with yet another slam of his hips into her moistened core.

Within this haze of emotions and animalistic pleasure, Lois' mind barely registered how much exposed her body was to strangers, powerless as she stood, with her skirt rolled up over her thighs and her breast jiggling free of its clothing restrains. All it mattered was the ultimate satisfaction. The one that only his hardness was gifting her with, with his shaft exciting her clit , every time he bucked up his hips.

Her orgasm drummed its way from her throbbing core to the rest of her aroused body, disguised as a sudden, enormous wave that smashed into myriads of glowing crystals. And just as suddenly and promisingly it had started , as abruptly it ended, with the flat truth of Lois coming on Kal's clothed groin.

"Guess I have to change jeans now"

His low, cocky chuckle shattered whatever magic had been sprinkled upon their profound moments. As his male pride winked at her in the aftermath of her climax, embarrassment sank in. The devil had offered her the apple and she had just devoured it without hesitation. Healing her wounded modesty, she dragged down the hem of her skirt and readjusted her almost ripped off shirt.

At that moment, she hated him.

"So, about the case..."

The sharp, metallic sound of a zipper was enough to startle even his deadly veins.

Under the shady light of Atlantis, Lois could still notice his pupils dilating and questioning her back with what could be described as borderline panic. His hands had never abandoned her hips and now she could feel his claws instinctively ploughing into her skin. Paying him with the same coin , had never been so liberating. Her hand slipped inside his jeans, her capable fingers cupping his burning rod , interlacing around it like a net. The lack of boxers didn't surprise her. He had built this prestige of his, why ruin it with some cloth. She silently marveled though at the size of him and rushed to brush away the imagery that thought was already evoking in her.

"What...what are you doing?" he choked out.

"What does it look like I am doing...big boy?"

The waves of sarcasm radiating by the simple lifting of her eye brow, were more than enough for him to understand. Searching inside her depths, he chanced only upon bitterness, the receiver of it being someone he knew awfully well. And as his arouse threatened to already explode with her first squeeze on him, Kal El realized that life was certainly a bitch, which sometimes went by the name Lois Lane.

She began pumping him firmly, establishing a steady and gradually intensified pace. Decisively, she was reaching each time for the base of his cock and then squeezing her way up, occasionally twirling her thumb over the head as bonus. She wasn't allowing him time to think, she wasn't permitting him time to react. He would be dominated the way he had dared to dominate her , and no luxury would be granted as option.

Trembling under the weight of his growing orgasm, Kal hissed and unwillingly buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"Stop..."

His pleading was answered by her speeding up. Milking him harder, almost harrowing. However much he resisted, Kal couldn't help but revel in the sensations her angered touch favored him with. His emotions had jumped into a ferocious ride and his predator instincts that hadn't satisfied their hunger for the night, were coming crashing in.

"Stop, damnit..."

"If you want me to stop..." she panted out in his ear, mocking the weakness he was reflecting..." ..why your big fella seems to disagree?"

"You don't...don't understand.."

His forehead lolled on her shoulder, his sweat mingling with the heated droplets of her own , previous sin. And all the time he was pushing back in her hand, the sweet image of her large neck vein at the mercy of his thirst was clenching his temples like vice, urging the beast to sharpen his teeth.

"I think you like it....you like what I am doing to you, like it rough like this..."

His fist crashed on the wall, his force creating a large dent inches away from Lois' head. She didn't even flinch.

"You get even hornier like this, huh..." pumping harder now "...tell me, is this what you asked those girls.." more growls, more thrusts "...to do before you..." another squeeze "...you killed them?"

A lightning thundered in his foggy mind, mercilessly ripping his excitement apart. He fiercely detached himself from her fatal embrace, as if he was stung by a scorpion. They both stood two steps apart, panting erratically as their eyes casted venomous ribbons of flames at each other.

"You don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about..." he snarled. Suddenly he looked different. The smugness had been erased from his beautiful features. He was now cold. Threatening. "You have to drop the case!"

"And who is gonna stop me, you?! I am gonna dig to the bottom of that filthy pit and reveal whatever truth you are concealing. You have my freaking word on that!" she marched away from him , only to halt and turn around for a second, as disdain painted her facial expression. "And zip yourself."

Lois hastily stormed out of Atlantis, not even sparing a last glance behind. Her whole body was shuddering under the power of what she had just experienced and felt. So stressed she was, that she had failed to detect the plea cradled inside his threats, the hurt masked behind his anger...So stressed, she never even noticed that her two earlier offenders, both Lucas' henchmen, had stealthily followed her into the night.

Her step was treading on a wobbly line and , as the cherry on the cake of catastrophe, the moment she reached her car, parked in the misty back alley of Atlantis, she realized she had left her jacket somewhere inside the bar. Cursing her bad luck, she turned around again but...this time she didn't go very far. Bathed in the shadows, a man was leaning on the brick wall at the end of the road. And even though she couldn't see his face clearly, she was sure his interest didn't lie on dark alleys. Lois lowered her gaze and shook her head. This dreadful night seemed to have found the elixir of eternity , cause certainly it had no end.

"Look, if you want money, you just picked the wrong unemployed reporter here. There's a bank across the street, do yourself a favor."

The man laughed and took a few steps closer, entering the wan circle of feeble light that struggled to lit up the alley.

"Shit..."

His grin grew wider as soon as she recognized him and he showily opened his cashmere jacket , vaunting his elegant clothes.

"Honey...do I really look like someone who needs money?"

She was about to open her mouth and answer back, always ready to voice herself even in the most unsuitable moments, when another guy lunged at her from behind, effectively keeping her still. She tried to fight back, but he seemed impossibly strong and all she managed to do was to allow him an even better grip on herself. He forced her head to tilt on the right, pulling aside the cascade of her hair and exposing her luscious neck.

And then, everything happened too quickly. A blood-curdling creep reverberated through the alley and what for an instant looked like the floating, raven cloak of an abysmal shadow, fell on the cocky guy with the expensive clothes, drifting him down with it.

Lois screamed, trapped as she still was in her captor's stranglehold but she couldn't understand what was happening. A medley of cries, voices and beats seemed to have aggravated the shadows, as it was clear now that there were people fighting in the dark corners of the alley.

Suddenly, the guy appeared seemingly from nowhere, staggering towards them. He looked completely disorientated and huge, bloody furrows distorted his face, as if someone had flayed him alive. Instantly, his accomplice pushed brutally Lois onto the brick wall , ready to attack the bloodthirsty stranger. However, he , himself took a few steps backwards as abashment covered his features.

"What are you doing man? We didn't know..."

His phrase was cut short as a punch came flying straight into his face, sending him down on his bleeding companion. Lois watched thunderstruck the whole scene and she craved to dart closer to the fight, see the mysterious stranger that had unleashed chaos on her captors , when something really wicked caught her attention...the bleeding guy stirred and as he opened his eyes, what was reflected in them was anything but human.

It was then that she felt like being swept into someone's embrace and next thing she knew, the ground had sailed away from her and she was being dragged higher and higher and higher....The wind was hollowing around her, as it was clear they were leaping from the one balcony to the other, covering impossible distances as if they were simple steps.

The moment her feet touched solid ground again, it was on the top roof of a multi-leveled shopping center, not many blocks away from her parked car. She steadied herself and looked around, something about the manly scent lingering in the air was betraying to her who her savior was.

"Clark wait!..."

Kal paused at the edge of the roof. His back was turned to her. His shoulders seemed lightly bowed and...was he really trembling?

"I am not sure what happened down there but...you saved me."

A bittersweet thought crept into Lois' mind; maybe his name wasn't even Clark. Hesitantly, she dared one step towards him.

"Please...don't come any closer."

His cracked voice came out as a sob, making Lois freeze in her place.

"Ok...but, I don't understand. Those guys knew you?"

No answer.

"Please, look at me..."

The slow, negative shake of his head, didn't discourage her.

"It's ok, really...just look at me."

Quietly, Kal turned slightly around, and as the dark clouds dissolved allowing the glorious moon to stroll in the night sky, rays of silver lit up half his face.

And what was revealed, was unspeakable. The lurid gaze , blazed up in a mix of dark crimson and dazzling white...bewildered and inhuman...and the fangs...long and sharp...gleaming ominously as the body itself panted and quivered...

Lois felt her nerves abandoning her body, her skin paling out and her tired feet growing roots to the very prophetic spot she was standing. And the sad thing was that.... he didn't miss this change in her.

"What...what are you?"

A spark of agony flashed in his eyes, before he averted his face from her, for the first time repulsed of his own self.

"A freak"

Without a warning, Kal opened his wide arms and jumped off the edge. In vain Lois cried out behind him. Running towards the edge, she anxiously leaned over , her eyes frantically searching the void, only to be greeted by the suffused with light highway down...down below.