"What is this shit?" she remarked.

The scene was set before her and she was not happy.

"Property damage," she listed. "Unidentified humanoid reptile down, unknown civilian in catatonic state in center of street, unknown number of civilian witnesses, one agent in half-feral state, and all in broad daylight. If the council gets wind of this."

She pulled the van as close to the entrance of the Hat Trick as she could. The less distance she had to cover with the reptile the better.

"We don't engage the enemy in broad daylight!" Ariana fumed.

"So we let them kill innocents instead," Torrance Angus growled with his fangs and claws still very present.

"Calm down!" Ariana ordered. "Before even more people see your feral charms. Now explain. This creature attacked in broad daylight. Most creatures of the night wait until after sunset."

"This is no ordinary creature," Duane Barclay stated. "This is the Head of the Biology Department at Transverse University, Dr. Curt Connors."

"What happened to him?" Ariana asked.

"He found the Troglodyte eggs and used them," Duane explained.

"How do you know that?" Ariana demanded.

Duane shrugged innocently.

"We'll talk later," Ariana informed him. "Now load this thing into my van. Leslie start cleanup and hit these folks with a memory charm."

"Already done," Leslie Tiu-Yun-Chen responded.

Ariana nodded and climbed back into her van.

"Where does she take these creatures anyway?" Sedona Wade asked.

No one answered.

Daniel Ketch approached Spinner who was still sitting in the center of the street.

"He really came!" Spinner muttered. "He really came. He really came."

Daniel helped the young man to his feet and led him into the Hat Trick.

"Don't use your spell on this one," Daniel said to Leslie. "I may need to ask him a few questions later," he said this with no explanation as he headed into the storage room. Sensing that something was up, Sedona and Torrance followed him.

Daniel kicked aside the throw rug that hid the trapdoor and lifted it. Its hinges were well oiled and silent. Beneath the door was a ladder that led into an underground room.

"Leslie, we're going to need a light spell," Torrance called out.

"Be right there, Thor," Leslie returned.

"Human blood," Torrance sniffed.

A look of panic crossed Daniel's face and the blood drained from it.

Behind the altar was a decorative wooden podium. Leslie approached it ominously. Sitting on the podium was a single ancient page. Leslie was unable to determine the material of the page. She also couldn't decipher the runes that were written on it.

"Wait a second," Torrance said. "I hear murmurs over there."

Daniel rushed in that direction impulsively.

"Wait, Daniel," Sedona called out but it was too late.

The three followed after him expecting to find him locked in combat. Instead they found him staring at rows of metal cages. Most of them were unoccupied. Three, however, were not. Three of the cages contained nude petite blond girls.

"Jennifer?" Daniel said expectantly.

"Danny?" one of the girls responded.

"Thank God," Daniel breathed easily.

"He really came," he said again.

Leslie approached him with the ancient page. Spinner noticed it in her hand and stopped speaking.

"Speak only truth," Leslie invoked. A white light covered Spinner's open mouth. "Do you want to tell me what's been going on under the bar?" she asked.

"No, I don't want to?" Spinner replied.

"Literal truth," Leslie stated shaking her head. "What have you been doing under the bar?"

"I've been running a demonic cult," Spinner said dispassionately. "I've been telling my followers that the page was written by a demon that required blood. The blood of blond haired blue eyed girls."

"You've been killing people?" Sedona blurted.

"I've been sacrificing people to the page," Spinner responded flatly.

"What does this page say?" Leslie asked.

"I don't know," Spinner responded.

"You've been sacrificing to a page and you don't know what it says?" Sedona growled in anger.

"I made it up," Spinner replied. "I made it all up."

"Where did you get the page?" Leslie inquired.

"I found it in the tunnels beneath the town," Spinner answered.

"Something's not right about this," Leslie replied. "He says he made it up. Yet he also says he sacrificed to the page. He can't lie. So something's wrong here."

"Check the page," Grandfather's ghost suggested.

Leslie stared at the page for a moment. "That's it!" she gasped. "This page is radiating magic."

"It's not like research is their strong suit anyway," Leslie returned as she closed yet another oversized volume.

"We wouldn't be doing research if they had shown up," Leslie hissed. "I want some action."

"Be careful what you wish for," Duane quipped.

"Shove it, geekboy."

"Daniel wanted to spend time with his sister. That's understandable," Leslie defended. "Torrance on the other hand just wanted a night off. I think he has a date."

"Midnight Sons shouldn't date," Sedona groaned.

"Are you having any luck?" Leslie asked Duane trying to change the subject.

"Not really," Duane responded. "I've been through every runic language on the Lingua-Tech site. I haven't found anything close to those runes. We've discovered a new language, guys."

"Or a secret language," Ariana suggested. "Not every known language is recorded. Some cults keep their languages secret."

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation.

"Good evening, Ariana," Silas Androvich said pleasantly as the door was opened.

"Silas," Ariana returned, "I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can make some sense of this."

She led him over to the page and Silas received it from her. He looked over it slowly. His usually stoic expression changed. He was suddenly excited. His lips were moving as if he were reading the page. Then the sound of shattered glass disturbed him and Tygra burst into the room. Knocking Silas ferociously she took possession of the page.

Sedona leapt to her feet ready to engage her when the door burst open. Cole October entered the room followed by Michael Morbius. Morbius rushed Sedona hitting her with his full power. She fell prone as Morbius tossed her over his shoulder.

"Sedona!" Duane screamed running to her rescue. Morbius knocked him aside easily and headed out the door.

Leslie raised her hands in a somatic fashion preparing a spell when Cole October struck her. She fell before she ever had the chance to complete her incantation.

"Enough!" Ariana screamed as she reached into her desk and removed a revolver. Quickly she leveled the weapon and began firing. Though she missed every single target, she still cleared the room. Cole grabbed Tygra and the pair melted into the shadows with the page.

Then he saw Michael Morbius running down the street.

He's just running, Torrance thought. I don't have to stop him if he's just running.

Then he saw that Morbius was carrying someone.

It's just a random victim. What's one more victim? Torrance wrestled with the thought.

Then he realized that Morbius was carrying Sedona.

"What is it, Thor?" Julie asked.

Torrance gave her an apologetic look.

"You have to leave again don't you?" she said softly.

Torrance nodded.

"Go." She smiled knowingly.

Torrance bolted from the table and onto the street. As he ran he released his rage. Fur began growing on his arms and upper torso. His claws and fangs were soon opposed. He realized he was running faster than he had ever run before and he was loving it. Suddenly he closed in on the running vampire and knocked him to the ground. Morbius rolled back to his feet leaving Sedona on the ground.

Morbius swung around with a roundhouse kick that Torrance blocked easily. Torrance countered with a punch to the midsection. Morbius screamed and two vampires appeared on the street. Torrance took a defensive stance.

"What's going on?" Sedona mumbled as she regained consciousness. She looked around and it only took a moment to assess the situation. She rolled into action.

Seeing that he was no longer alone, Torrance took the offensive and attacked the nearest vamp. Extending his claws he ripped the vamp's head from its undead form. Dust filled the air. Sedona leapt at the second, knocking it back. She grabbed the limb of a nearby tree and snapped it. The vampire turned to run but was too late. The tree limb pierced his chest and he was gone.

"What happened to Morbius?" Sedona asked.

Torrance looked but Morbius was gone.

"He had business to take care of," Morbius replied as he entered the chamber. "Now where is the page?"

"Where is the girl?" Cole demanded.

"She had help," Morbius responded. "She got away."

"No girl, no page," Cole returned.

"I thought you might see it that way," Morbius stated and he snapped his fingers.

Two vamps fell from the ceiling wielding a net. It draped around Tygra trapping her beneath it. Frantically she tore at the strands while Morbius reached in and grabbed the page.

"Later," Morbius called as he fled with the page.

Dark projectiles flew from Cole's fingers decapitating the two vamps just as Tygra freed herself from the net.

"Should we go after him?" Tygra asked.

"No," Cole replied. "He knows the tunnels beneath the city a little too well for us to ever catch him."

"What was so special about that page anyway?" Tygra inquired.

"I don't know," Cole replied. "I bet I know who does though."

Tygra nodded and turned her back to him. As she turned, Cole noticed a change. Her hair now had a wide white streak.

"I can't believe I had another page from the Book of 'N' in my hand and lost it," he mumbled. "I've had an heir of Jehovah in my grasp twice now and she's managed to escape both times. At least October has no clue as to the location of the Dark City. He can't do anything if he can't find the city."

"All in good time," Cole October replied emerging from the shadows.

"What do you want, October?" Silas growled.

"Upset about losing your precious page?" Cole taunted.

"You can't read it anyway," Silas returned.

"And you don't even know what you have!" Cole shot back. "I'm not talking about the page." As he said this he melted into the shadows and was gone.