The blood drawn by the talons of death seeped beneath my shirt, as I struggled to fight on.For eons we –the sword and me - fought the legions of the...damned, until there was literally, none left. The landscape became a newly occupied graveyard for the devils of hell and their ilk. The sword smoothly slid from my hand, hovered over the fields of death, and then seemed to bow to me, before disappearing.I stood alone in the center of a vast plain of death. The demons were gone. Only the barest hint. The smell of coffee stirred us awake. I slipped out to make water in our cozy head followed by Gina. She spoke to me as she slipped by.“Thank you for last night. I feel so close to you.” She disappeared after closing the door for privacy. Chuck spoke next. “How is my wife and c***d doing?” He patted my tummy that was showing the early signs of my pregnancy. “And, more importantly, how are you feeling about last night?”“I slept soundly, if that gives you an indication.”“No second thoughts,. She said I have to contact Francesca directly. I think she knew who Iwas by reputation, but not by name as she mentioned the Finn girls byname."That set off the others with Faye telling her, "She's not one to mincewords. That young woman is one of the best writers you will ever meetbut is one of the sharpest tongues and quickest wits around. If she isgoing to write it then she'll write it when she gets more informationabout it. She has all the time in the world to do it now that she'staking a. “Sure.”Rusty eyed Preston, then returned to her. “Wanna go with us? Back row, you know.”She flinched. Everybody knew about the back. “My stop’s coming up” she lied.Rusty scooted closer. “How ‘bout this for now?” and put a finger on the front of her cardigan.Retreating into the seat back was to no avail. Turning didn’t work either.Rusty grinned back at his buddy. “Think she likes me.”Nora looked for help, but knew that Negroes rarely look up. “Please don’t.”“Let’s have some fun, baby.”His friend.