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A Deadly Kiss
by Pirate Turner
It was a cool Fall evening. Sean Cassidy and Emma Frost were out on a date. They were enjoying a candlelit dinner at a restaurant when a strange yet beautiful woman came in. She sat down in the booth across from them. Sean's jaw dropped open when he saw her. "Wow," he whispered.
"Sean, shut your jaw before you catch a fly," commanded Emma.
Sean acted as if he couldn't hear Emma. "She's gorgeous." He stared across the table at the woman.
The woman wore a long, black dress and black gloves that reached up to her elbows. Her boots were black and came up to her knees. She wore a silver necklace and a matching ring. Her long hair fell in shimmering pools of raven black that cascaded all the way to her waist. She wore no makeup, and her skin was pale white. Her eyes bore into Sean, as if tearing him apart to his very soul. She rested her chin upon her gloved hand and returned Sean's intent gaze.
"Well, if you think she is so gorgeous, then why don't you go sit with her?!?" Emma exclaimed angrily.
"Okay." Sean rose, walked over to the booth where the strange woman sat, and sat down. "Hellooo, beautiful!"
Emma stared angrily after Sean. She bit her tongue to keep from yelling. She stood up and marched out of the restaurant, slamming the door behind her.
Sean didn't even blink. He was totally abosrbed in the woman in front of him.
Emma reached her limousine. Her hand was still reaching for a handle when she was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown to the pavement. She struggled out of her captor's grasp. Standing, she fell back into a fighter's stance, ready to defend herself. "What do you want, stranger?" Despite the question, she was already reaching out to his mind.
"I mean you no harm," the man in black replied. "I simply wish to warn you of the danger your lover is in."
"Danger? What danger is Sean in?" Emma demanded, successfully hiding the concern that leapt in her heart from her eyes.
"That woman you saw in the restaurant was no ordinary woman, Miss Frost."
"How do you know my name, and what do you mean?"
"I know many things, Miss Frost. How I know them is not of importance to you. What is of importance is what that woman is. She is a Vampiress! She plans to make Mister Cassidy not only a slave to do her bidding but also a Vampire!"
Every single cell of her good sense screamed out against what the man told her, but at the same time, her telepathy told her he was speaking the truth. "No, that can not be!"
"Oh, but it is, and only you and you alone can save him!" With those words, the man disappeared into the fog.
"Wait!" Emma called after him. "How do I --?" It was of no use, though, for when the fog cleared, there was no sign of the man at all. Emma turned around and ran back to the restuarant as fast as her legs could carry her.
When Emma reached the restaurant, Sean and the Vampiress were already gone. She asked a waiter how long they had been gone.
"They just left," the waiter replied.
"Who is the woman?"
"The Countess Desmerelda."
"Where does the Countess reside?"
"In that old mansion on top of the hill."
"Which hill? What lane leads to it?"
"Devil's Hill. Blood Lane."
"Okay. Thanks. Here," Emma handed the waiter a five dollar bill and raced off.
It was nearing midnight when a limousine pulled up Devil's Hill. Emma directed Bumpkin to park behind a grove of trees, and the scared driver quickly obeyed. "Remember, Bumpkin, if I should fail to contact you within a half hour's time, go home. Do not stop. Go directly back to Xavier's, and call the Professor with the news."
"Miss Frost, are you -- ?"
"Bumpkin, you have always known better than to question my orders. Now should be no different." With that, Emma left the safety of her limousine.
Sneaking up to the front door under the cover of the deep shadows, Emma tried the door only to find it locked. She slipped a pin from her bodice and quickly unlocked the lock.
Silently walking in, she carefully brought the door to a silent shut behind her before continuing on into the huge foyer. She performed a swift but thorough scan of the mansion and its grounds. Sean and the Countess were upstairs, but she could only sense the Countess by looking through Sean's eyes. The rest of the building was empty except for somebody or something in the next room.
Emma silently walked into the next room which turned out to be a kitchen. There, she spied a little man bending over as he gazed into the stove. Emma's hand snaked out and firmly grasped a frying pan. Lifting it from the table, she walked over to the little man and struck him across the back of his head with the hefty, cast-iron frying pan. The little man crumbled to the floor, unconscious.
Ice blue eyes gazed down at the servant. Emma's lips parted to whisper softly, "One out. One to go."
When Emma reached the bed chambers of the Countess, Emma took off the silver cross that hung around her neck. She also carried a tree limb that she had had Bumpkin sharpen into a wooden stake. She opened the door only to see the Countess and Sean kissing passionately. The Countess was slowly working her way to Sean's neck.
"Hey, bitch!" Emma called out, her freezing voice shattering the quiet.
"Huh? What?" the Countess questioned, clearly startled, as she looked up. Her eyes fell upon Emma. "Who are you?" she demanded coldly.
"I'm your worst nightmare!" declared Emma as she used the Vampiress' moment of startlement to pull Sean away from the creature.
The Countess approached Emma and Sean silently, but Emma held the cross out to her. "Stay back! I'm warning you!"
The Countess only laughed. "Do you really think you can stop me with that little trinket?!?" She snatched the cross out of Emma's grasp and tossed it behind her. She then continued to advance steadily towards Sean and Emma.
"All right. I warned you!" Emma darted gracefully and swiftly forward, plunging the stake into the Vampiress' chest. "Now die!" The wood piereced the vampiress' black heart.
"Noooooooo!" the Countess wailed. "You can not defeat the Countess Desmerelda with mere wood!" The Vampiress clutched at the stake and made a feeble attempt to pull it out, but her weak effort was useless. She staggered and fell to the floor before finally exploding and sending a shower of dust raining over the room and its occupants.
Finally, Sean came out of the trance. "What happened, Em?" he quiered, blinking as he slowly took in his unfamiliar surroundings.
"It's a long story," answered Emma. "Let's go home, and I'll tell you about your ignorance on the way."
"Me ignorance? Nae again, Em!" Sean groaned aloud. "I swear I get tired o' ye beratin' me, lass! Can't I di anything right in yer book?"
Emma had already started out of the bedroom as Sean had began to protest. She cast a glance back at him over her slender shoulder. "Apparently not tonight," she said with a mysterious grin, "but at least, for this evening alone, it was not your fault."
"What do ye mean, Em?" Sean questioned as he followed her through the eerie mansion.
"You were under her trance . . . "
"Trance? Whose trance? Em, have ye been drinkin'?"
"Of course not, Cassidy," Emma snapped angrily before relenting a tad bit, "although a bottle of champagne certainly does sound good right about now." They continued to talk as Emma filled the confused Irish man in on the night's events as they headed out and home.
The End