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ONE

THE KEYS, CALDWELL, NEW YORK

There was a place in Axe’s life for urative to protect your soul, he was supree, after all, was power only if it gave you insight into your eneht was applied to you?

He’d rather have a knife to his throat

And everyone was his ene in a crowd of over a hundred sexually aroused humans, he was ready to feed his dark side--you know, toss some fresh meat over the chain-link fence of his sex drive and stand back as the er briefly satisfied

It never lasted But that hy he’d joined this club

The Keys was a private, , and there were only two rules No minors Alith consent

After those conditions were satisfied? You could scratch the itch of whatever sin you wanted: glory holes, gang bangs, girls on girls on guys There were roo, and every tie-up, chain-down, in-the-air you could ask for

Especially here in the Cathedral

Of all the spaces in the sprawling, est and the loftiest Filled with swirls of white smoke, pierced by purple and blue lasers, empty of furniture and fixtures except for the altar, only the hardest of the hardcore were allowed in here

And hts when the rest of the club didn’t require it

Through the eye holes of his fitted skull plate, Axe looked up, way up, to the altar

It was like a scene out of The Silence of the Lah above the floor, ar to the side, swaths of fabric fanning out like wings all around the torso The Hannibal-arisons ended there, though Not a man, a woman Not clothed, but naked Not real blood on the flesh, but a viscous wash that fell like rain fro over her stolistened under the rehts

Not dead, but very much alive

"Do you want that?" he was asked fros

None of them knew that he was an actual vampire And not as in a neo-Victorian Dracula-wannabe with cosh-heeled boots, and a fake black rinse through his already dark hair

As in the real deal Different DNA Different traditions and language Different biological i blood from a vampire of the opposite sex

Different sex drive

"Yeah, I’ll take her first," he said