STORY----------- Lydia glared at the desk as Maddox walked out, shaking her head slightly only after he had gone. Sighing deeply she rose to close the door he had left open behind him. She stared in the direction he had gone for only a moment, why did he always seem to be so contradictory? As Lydia was turning to close herslef back in on her work a furitive movement caught the corner of her eye. Maddox had gone off in the opposite direction and no one else should have been in the offices this late. Lydia hesitated. If there WAS somewhere slinking around the offices late at night she should probably inform building security, but then....wouldn't that just make her out to be the "mealy worm for the dragon"? Stealing her resolve Lydia crossed the open front office toward the stairwell door weaving her way around the familiar desk and chairs that now seemed more like hiding places and obstructions than everyday furniture. Firmly grasping the doornob Lydia pushed through. Slamming the door wide in the event that the stranger was standing just inside. Suddenly something caught her amr and Lydia screamed in suprise. At least that is what she had intended to do. All that she managed to get out was a muffled groan. Something wet and damp had been clamped over her nose and mouth. A sickeningly pungent odor seemed to erase all thought. Lydia began to feel like a spectator in her own body. As the darkness descended she thought she could hear a sibilant voice coming from somewhere over her head. "Maddox should be well pleased. We took her so soon, and so easily." The last thing Lydia heard as she lapsed into unconciousness was the echo of squeeling laughter feeling the night darkened stairway. ----------------STORY Shweew, there we go.