"Oh, God," a man choked from inside a glass tube.

Rule number one of torture: never find out a victim's name. That's why Jim and Charles didn't know the man's name. They did what they were hired for - bring a live person, inject of bunch of wires and tubes into the body, and seal the person inside a glass tube. What was the man going to be used for? They didn't know nor did they care.

Jim and Charles stood in front of three massive glass tubes inside the high-tech laboratory. Each tube was about the combined size of Jim and Charles. Inside one of the tubes was the man they got. He was chained up inside, unable to move.

"You're at my mercy now, not His," a voice spoke from behind.

Jim and Charles faced the voice. Their boss stood before them. He was young, rich, charming, and wickedly powerful like his name Ryo. He was the one who hired them to bring the man. How their boss surprised them left them in wonder. Another useful rule: never ask the boss too many questions for curiosity kills more than cats.

"Sir, is there anything else you want?" Jim asked.

The boss ignored the question as he walked toward the glass tube the man was contained in. He examined the man with his cold eyes, making sure he wouldn't be missed. He could tell the person was not important to society. In a blur, Ryo faced his workers. They jumped a bit. Their boss startled at them.

"No, there is nothing else," he told them. "You may leave."

Far away where no one could see her, Jessica Guinn took secret pictures of everything in the lab. Spying on evil corporations was not her day job. She was a well-respected critic for a local television news station. She wouldn't want to give up either job.

She pressed and held a button on her headphones. "Ashley, time for the next step."

"Okay, preparing for step D," Ashley Gentry replied over the headphones. "Aubrey you ready?"

"You bet I am," she said. "Let's go."

Inside the control room, Ashley stood next to two dead guards she'd killed with her handgun. Comfortable in the hard seat, she typed "self-destruction" and it appeared on the monitor directly in front of her.

"Ten minutes until self-destruction," the security voice rang over the intercoms. "Ten minutes until self-destruction."

Special agent Aubrey Harris grabbed several concealed test tubes, files, disks, and other items and put them in a titanium briefcase. The security alarm didn't make her nervous, but the flashing red lights did. She kissed the ring on her right hand that had a cross on it for good luck. Slamming the briefcase shut and locking it, she raced toward the gray metal door. With her black gloves on, she punched the "Open" button on the wall and the door quickly slid up.

She ran out into the laboratory's simple hallways. She, Ashley, and Jessica had gathered up enough information to bring the organization known as Namleips down for performing illegal experiments on both animals and humans. As she ran through the empty hallway with flashing red lights, she pulled out her magnum gun from her slick black trench coat.

In a hallway intersection, she met up with Ashley and Jessica. Aubrey led the way since she was faster than they were. They turned down another hallway. A security guard was in the hallway. Before the security guard could reach for his gun, Aubrey shot him in the head. They didn't bother to look back at the guard as she ran passed him for another door.

"Eight minutes until self-destruction," the security voice rang over the intercoms as Aubrey opened a door. "Eight minutes until self-destruction."

She opened up a non-sliding door and they ran up the metal stairs, leaving the door to shut by itself. The stairs twisted several times before they reached the door to the rooftop. The building only had two floors, but they felt a little tired from running. Aubrey turned the door handle. It didn't open. Jessica made her way to the door. She raised her leg up and kicked the door down with one swift kick.

"Cheap door for a lab," Jessica said.

The light of the full moon shined, giving them prefect light to see the helicopter fly over the clam rooftop. A rope ladder plopped out from the black helicopter.

"Grab the ladder," the wavy brown hair pilot Corey McMichael said over the loudspeaker.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

The girls faced the voice. With charming evil, a man dressed in an entirely black business suit stood before her. His clothing made him appear as if he was hiding in the shadows. A demoniac grin crept across his pale face. With his red eyes, he glared at them with a burning stare of pure hatred.

Aubrey aimed her gun at the man, but in a flash, he vanished.

"What the heck?" Ashley said.

Aubrey pushed back her long red hair away from her eyes.

"Hurry up and grab the ladder," Corey shouted over the loudspeaker.

Focused on the task at hand, they turned around to the ladder. The man stood not far in front of them. They couldn't believe someone could move that fast. Aubrey raised her magnum at the man again. The man dashed forward and punched the gun out of her hand before she could fire. Quickly, he knocked Jessica and Ashley down and he lifted Aubrey by the neck, enjoying every moment of her pain and fear. It was the sweetest candy to him.

With her right hand, she punched the man in the face as hard as she could. Sizzling smoke came from the man's face and he let her free, screaming in agony.

Aubrey fell back on the roof and rolled away just as Ashley picked her gun up and she fired two shots at the man's chest. The man fell down as they ran for the roped ladder. Jessica and Ashley followed. They climbed up it as the helicopter flew away from the laboratory.

The instant they got into the helicopter, Ashley and Kim McCormack pulled the ladder up back into the helicopter.

"Nice job," Corey said. "What's your secret?"

Aubrey smiled. "The secret is to keep breathing."

Kim and Corey chuckled. Aubrey smiled to herself again as they finished pulling the last of the ladder inside.

The three of them had other lives. The sweet and kind Kim was attending college to become a doctor. Corey was a not-so-famous actor for plays, television commercials, and other media productions. Aubrey was, well, Aubrey. She was a bit weird, but most writers are weird. They all had been best friends for so long, they can't remember when they all met, but they stayed together after high school. They had one other close friend who helped them out in their missions, but he was back at the base waiting for them as back up. They were all in his or her twenties, with Aubrey and Kim having the same birthday.

"Well, if the stuff in this case doesn't harm them, then I'm going to beat them with a cat!" Aubrey joked.

"Then I'll kick them with a dog," Corey blurted out.

Jessica took off her headphones. "Then I'll poke them with a frog."

"What about smacking them with a bat?" Kim asked.

Bats. Hundreds of tiny black bats flew into the helicopter and in front of it before anyone could answer her question. The pilot tried to maneuver out of the way while the four girls swatted at the ones inside. It was chaos in its purest form. The pilot lost control. The girls were badly hurt from the bats.

The helicopter crash-landed onto the grassy ground as the bats flew away. Corey got up from his seat and grabbed a metal pipe to hit any more bats as the girls got out of the helicopter. They looked around the dark forested area for the bats as Corey got out. The bats were gone. Kim pulled out her cell phone and dialed Dennis' number.

"Batman here," he said on the other line.

"Dennis, this is Kim. Trace our location and come and get us. We had a little crash landing.
Everyone's fine."

"Well, that's just groovy" he said. "I'll be there before you know it. Over."

"Bye."

They hung up. Kim put her cell phone back into black leather jacket.

"I was hoping you would crash into a tree."

The special agents turned around at the sound of the voice. It was the same man Aubrey fought earlier. A tiny burn mark stained his face from where Aubrey punched him, but no blood rested on him from where he was shot.

"Who in the hell are you?" Ashley demanded.

It was beyond weird that the man was still alive and had followed them.

"I am the head chairman of Namleips, Mr. Ryo, and that's all you need to know," he said to them. "My power is limitless as my life span."

The man dashed toward Corey in a blur of speed. He rammed the metal pipe all the way through Ryo's chest just at the right time. The man stumbled backward and fell to his knees.

With one swift pull, the man yanked the pipe out from his chest. He stood up and bent the pipe into a boomerang shape. He threw the metal boomerang at Corey. Corey ducked out of the way and pipe crashed into a tree, leaving a massive dent.

A sinister grin surfaced on Ryo's face as he flew up into the air with grace and calamity that only a vampire could possess. He flew toward Jessica. She rolled out of the way and grabbed a small tree branch. The vampire landed on the ground next to her. Before the vampire could do anything, Jessica shoved the wooden branch through the vampire's chest.

"You missed my heart," Ryo said with sly tongue.

From behind, Kim rammed a branch into the vampire's heart. Ryo moaned and slowly faded away to ashes. The two friends smiled at each other.

"Good job, Kim," Corey said as he approached the girls. "I hope we don't run into any werewolves. It is a full moon you know."

"You're right," Aubrey said. "I have a feeling this night is going to bite if we don't get out of here."

"Speak of the devil," Jessica mumbled. "Werewolf at ten o'clock."

No longer in the shadows, the werewolf faced them. His yellow teeth reeked from eating. His fur was filled with twigs and dirt. His sharp claws gleamed as he stalked toward them. Drool flowed from his mouth. The friends stood still in panic.

A gunshot was heard. The werewolf fell over, dead.

"Always make sure you have some silver bullets," Dennis Spielman shouted from above the trees. He landed his green camouflage hover jeep by the crashed helicopter. His spiky black air danced with the gust of night wind from the massive explosion. It was nothing to worry about. It was only the destruction of the evil lab.

"Come, on guys," he said. "Let's go home."

Together, the friends got in the hover jeep. Together, they saved the day. Together, they flew off into the night. Together, they would die.


The End
Story (C) 2001 by Dennis Spielman
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