ISBN 978-5-4498-4289-3

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      Special thanks to Elena Kozlova and Andy Crichton for their invaluable help in editing the novel and developing some of the story lines

      Part One

      A bolt of lighting flashed from the highest sky, exploding the dusk for a moment. The thunderstorm brought all its wild rage upon a small gray sedan, moving along an empty city street.

      What a night! a man, driving his family home, thought, worried. Dark as in the Devil’s stomach.

      He glanced at his wife, sitting next to him, then – in the rearview mirror, checking out his baby daughter, in the back, fastened into her child’s seat.

      “Momma… tired!” Yawned the little girl, trying to stay awake. She craned her neck in order to look out the window. She adored thunderstorms and never liked to miss them.

      “Awww, did you enjoy your birthday party, lil’ Mary?” The mother asked, turning back.

      She smiled as her child nodded and slowly drifted off to sleep. Her husband wasn’t so calm. The streams of heavy rain limited his view, and the wipers were almost useless.

      Driving under the sea would be easier, he mused, concentrating all his attention on the road. His wife touched his arm. “You’re doing fine, honey.”

      ***

      A luxurious black car, dark as midnight, was moving in the opposite direction. Wearing posh clothes, a slim man in his twenties was driving it recklessly.

      “Mister Noirson, sir,” sitting on the front seat, his companion, who looked visibly older, warned him. “Even humans know the rule – don’t drink and drive!”

      “You’re right, Roger!” The younger man laughed. “Humans.”

      “Oh dear me!” Roger rolled his eyes. “But your human body is under the influence now! Shit! We almost hit the bus! Let me drive for Satan’s sake!”

      “Don’t use the name of my Father in the same breath as a swear word!” The driver guffawed again. “The Third Commandment – let me remind you!”

      ““Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain’, you mean, eh?” Roger’s attractive lips curved into a weird, blood-chilling smirk. “And let me remind you, My Lord, that Your Father arranged me to watch after you, and in the situation, like this, you have to listen to me!”

      “Come on, Roger, I’m fine!”

      “Don’t mind him, Robert, honey!” A pretty young woman in a tiny black cocktail dress reached out to the driver from the back seat. She massaged his slender shoulders, and he tilted his head back, enjoying her gloved touch. He was looking forward to arriving and watching her lace hands work their magic elsewhere.

      The lights of the closing vehicles crossed, blinding the man in the family sedan.

      In both cars, the women screamed, and the drivers hit the brake pedals at once.

      Too late…

      Slipping on the wet surface, the cars had no time even to slow down. The impact threw the young woman from the back seat, and she smashed her face against the front window. It was a sickening thud, but that was just the beginning of her fate. The rest of her body followed it, twisting like a rag doll. Bulletproofed for an outside attack, the windshield had been designed for easy access from inside, and the woman fell out onto the hood in a fountain of fragments of broken glass. She rolled down and the car slightly jumped, running over her body.

      Like a killer whale, gnawing on a dolphin, the black car hit the unfortunate sedan, pushing into it with its huge mass, squashing it almost in half.

      The roof of the family car was lower than another one had, and now it thrust inside the vehicle, and the cross, dangling on the rearview mirror, was swinging between Robert and his companion.

      The vehicles finally stopped, and, swearing, the men rushed out as if someone splashed boiling water all over them.

      Outside they looked at each other, and Robert managed a confused smile.

      His companion cast a few quick glances around.

      “No witnesses and no police at least,” he said coldly. He pointed the dead woman. “Go ahead!”

      “If I do it, I won’t have any power for everything else!” The young man tried to argue.

      His companion did not avert his eyes, Robert did.

      Quietly cursing, he closed to the woman, and touched her. She sat up at once, and looked about with horror. “What happened?”

      “Shut up, and do what I’ll tell you,” Robert told her gloomily. He helped her up, and led to the cars.

      “Get it off,” he ordered, pointing the cross. The woman obeyed. Robert glared at her so she hurled the cross away as far as she could.

      Roger smiled. “Nice job, sir.”

      Not answering the mock, Robert returned to the car, and drove back a little bit. Clenched together, the vehicles didn’t separate.

      “Damn you, Roger!” Robert shouted. “Hold this fucking car!”

      “I can’t,” his companion replied calmly. “There are two more crucifixes inside.”

      Robert spat, and got out again. He was thinking for a while. The rain stopped, and clouds were gone, showing the moon, spying at the scene with indifference.

      “I liked this car,” Robert said with a sigh. “Oh well, let’s just set it in fire, and go home.”

      “There’s a child inside.” His companion pointed at the family sedan.

      “Alive?” Robert wondered. “Roger, I’m not human, I can’t kill an innocent one.”

      “Me either.” Came the cold response.

      Robert drew closer, and peeked in. The little girl was still sitting in her seat. The head of her parents were next at each side of her, but the child couldn’t understand the meaning of that.

      She tagged at her mother’s ringlets then stroked her father’s blond hair. Robert and his companion watched in unbelieving, as she reached out to him, and took a cross that her father was wearing around his neck then put it onto herself.

      “Mom, looky me!” she said happily.

      “Very impressive,” Robert dropped coldly. He addressed to his woman; “Get the girl out!”

      “Come here, little one!” The woman tried to fulfill the order. She unfastened the child, but when she took the girl into her arms, the baby started to wail, scratch and even bite.

      What a monster! The woman thought, struggling to hold the girl. She felt as if she was handling a wild porky-pine.

      Vexed, Robert looked around; on the empty street, the child’s voice sounded louder than any siren could.

      “Do something!” he shouted, stomping his foot.

      “I know!” Roger said and with a smile,