Melissa. The girl from your high school English class, the one you sat behind and fantasized about day after day. A petite blond with brains and a bod... to die for. Oh, she'd been nice enough to you, always smiling that pleasant little smile that told you she was too good for you. Always dressed so conservatively, so stuffy. You wanted so badly to grab that perfectly-styled hair and shove her over her desk, throw that skirt over her head and show her just what she was missing.You hadn't seen her. Since I have yet to make a living from my writing alone—hint hint—I usually go on a few workations (work vacations) to help supplement my writing income. I usually do this during the late part of spring and early in the summer. This year I spent the better part of four months working.My schedule looked something like this: Take a 1-2 week workation and work almost non-stop. This was usually followed by a rest period, during which I would return home and work like a maniac to write the. What if something else is going on? What if Lydia has tapped into something? You've never had this much trouble acquiring a new slave, not since--." Stop it," Victor snapped. "Halloween is part of a natural energy cycle, nothing more. There are no ghosts or ghouls. There are no wraiths or demons. I am quite disappointed in you, Charles. I thought you didn't buy into the pablum that I feed to the cultists."Charles was silent.I know what it is, came the thought of the Darkness in a tone that was. You have five minutes to put aside your arms and surrender to the Church’s authority.”I was standing on the other side of the door, so I figured that I might as well answer the Herald. “There is no chance that we will surrender to the demands of a foul and corrupt organization that claims to speak for God. Go away now or we will dump piss upon your heads. That is all that you will get from us except for death if you try to break in. I have said all that I am going to say to you. Now, go away.