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infringement intended.

Paradise 21-C


Lobo hated the Forbidden Places.  Even after all this time 
he still felt the fur on his neck stiffen as he descended 
into the darkness.  He could not remember anything from 
before that day he burst screaming from the depths, 
collapsing on the grass panting, shaking from fear.  He 
could not remember what he had been afraid of.  He did not 
want to remember.

The scents were old.  He easily followed the trail 
downward, feeling sweat trickle down his back.  He could 
smell Naga and Ursa behind him.  Ursa's scent revealed his 
own nervousness.  Naga as always gave forth a heavy scent 
of cucumbers that revealed nothing of his emotions, if he 
had any.  Rhino had remained above ground.  They did not 
need Rhino stumbling around in the dark.  Ursa and Naga 
could use scent almost as well as Lobo did, so no lights 
were necessary.  If someone was below they could approach 
without giving themselves away.

They quietly moved the barricade blocking the door shut.  
Lobo felt a faint shiver pass over his skin as he stepped 
over the bones in the doorway.  He always hated this part.  
His first trip back he had found four skeletons lying just 
inside the lab.  The scent of blood and fear had still been 
strong then.  He caught himself sniffing, searching for 
that scent again.  But all he smelled was dust, faint 
traces, hot oil... Hot oil?

He cautiously followed the scent.  As they turned a corner 
he saw a glimmer of light ahead.  So someone WAS down here.

Naga and Ursa moved close and touched his shoulders, 
letting him know they were in place.  He patted each hand, 
passing along the signal to follow.  Cautiously, he crept 
forward.

Blood.  He could smell blood now.  Piglet said he had 
killed a stranger.  Perhaps the little coward had told the 
truth.  Whatever he killed would have to be weak.

The light came from the right.  The scent of blood from the 
left.  Lobo touched his partners and signaled for them to 
remain here.

He followed the scent of blood.  Human.  The body was 
several days dead.  Someone had covered it with an old 
cloth.  He circled around it and found Piglet's scent.  So 
Piglet HAD killed a stranger.  

And there was the scent of gunpowder.  Lobo tried to locate 
the gun and could not find it.  Someone had carried it 
away, and Piglet seemed the likeliest suspect.  So Piglet 
had a gun.  Piglet was braver than they thought and now 
armed.  They would have to watch the pudgy little snitch 
more carefully.

Lobo trotted back to the other two Enforcers and tapped 
their shoulders.  They carefully approached the light.  
Pausing in the darkness just outside the room, they 
squinted as they gazed into the lighted room.

Three young girls sat huddled around an old oil lamp in the 
middle of the floor.  Numerous opened cans were piled to 
one side.  The remains of a fire were in a cleared area of 
the room.

Lobo smiled.  No weapons.  Young.  Female.  This would be 
easy.

*	*	*	*	*

Krista hugged her shoulders.  She knew what Hell felt like.  
It felt like this.  They were going to die in the dark and 
no one would ever know what happened to them.  She wished 
she had the courage to kill the others and then herself.  
At least then it would be over.

Simone was dead.  She vividly remembered when they found 
her body.  All three of them had screamed and held onto 
each other, crying.  They had been lucky Katie had not 
dropped the lamp.  They found an old tattered cloth in one 
of the rooms and covered Simone.  They held a short 
ceremony over the woman who had been mother to them all and 
gave her life trying to protect them.  But that was not 
when hope died.

Hope died when they tried to leave this hellhole.  Someone 
had jammed shut the door they used to come down here.  
Every exit they found was blocked so they could not get 
out.  The whole place was a maze, with empty rooms and 
skeletons and a foreboding depressing darkness that 
smothered all optimism.  

Their food was almost gone.  They had found where water ran 
down from above, a bitter tasting fluid they drank 
sparingly for fear of what was in it.

They carefully rationed their lamp oil, burning pieces of 
furniture instead to try to make it last.  They searched 
the rooms for burnable items, traveling further and further 
into the darkness in search of flammables or, even better, 
a way out.  Light was their one bit of comfort to hold 
onto.  None of them could take the endless darkness.  They 
would welcome Vinnie and Angel if they showed up.  They 
would welcome the Devil himself.

When the three men stepped from the darkness the girls did 
not scream, despite the obvious inhuman features on the 
one.  They did not say anything.  They just huddled on the 
floor and looked up at the men, their eyes empty of 
everything except fear.

"You will come with us," Lobo ordered.

The girls stood.  Katie picked up the lamp.

"Leave that!"  Lobo ordered, pointing at the desk.  "Place 
it there and blow it out."

Katie shivered.  "The dark," she whispered.

"We will guide you out of here," Lobo said as Ursa and Naga 
approached the other two girls.  Each Enforcer took a firm 
grip on the thin arm of one of the girls.

Katie set the lamp on the desk.  She gripped Lobo's hand 
tightly as she bent over and blew out the flame.

And darkness returned to Moreau's laboratory.

*	*	*	*	*

A howl rose and fell, frightening the jungle animals into 
silence.

Angel Rainelle cursed.  "I better go investigate that."

One of the men looked at Angel.  "Do you want some of us to 
go with you?"

Angle snorted.  "No.  You stay here.  I can handle this."

*	*	*	*	*

On the beach, Beth Rainelle paused as the howl faded away.
She shivered.  She knew she should not have borrowed the 
small boat and traveled here by herself.  It went against 
all the rules.

But there was the chance the Beast may have taken Des to 
another island.  Maybe she was somewhere on this island.

And she wanted to speak to her sister.  Alone.  Just the 
two of them.  She had never been that close to Angel, 
especially not after college and Angel's internship at that 
big corporation.  All Angel could talk about for months was 
the corporation and how she was going to get an executive 
position with it when she graduated.  Angel seemed obsessed 
with the company and it worried Beth.

Beth carefully pushed her way through the jungle, trying to 
remember which way the camp was.

*	*	*	*	*

The three girls squinted in the sunlight.  They had no idea 
how long it had been since they escaped underground.  They 
stood, tired and defeated, willing to accept whatever life 
tossed at them.

Lobo caught a familiar scent.  He turned and waited.

Angel pushed into the clearing.  "Just what was so ...Well, 
this IS important."  She folded her arms over her chest.  
"You caught three of them.  Where's the older woman?"

"Dead," Lobo said.  "Piglet killed her in the labs.  These 
three were hiding in Moreau's old study."

Angel sighed.  "I knew they'd gone underground.  I was 
hoping they'd be trapped and starve to death.  I convinced 
Vinnie they'd escaped to the other islands and he's being 
wonderfully paranoid waiting for Simmons and Stanley to 
come charging in.  He still thinks Simmons is just hiding 
out for some reason."

"Who's Piglet?"  Katie asked.

"Someone you may get to meet," Angel said with saccharine 
sweetness.  "Along with Dr. Xavier and a few other 
interesting people."  She glanced at Lobo.  "We can't let 
them go back with the others."

"We will take one to the ship," Lobo said.  "Minotaur will 
choose which one he wants and the other will go to Rhino.  
It's his turn."

Rhino grinned, an evil gleam shining in his eyes.

Angel smiled.  "Why not let Rhino have his now?  Minotaur 
won't care."  She pointed at Liz.  "Give her to him.  She 
won't know anything useful.  She always has been nothing 
but a crybaby."

Rhino looked at Lobo.  "May I?" he asked eagerly.

Liz stood, eyes vacant, emotions dead.  The words did not 
mean anything to her.  She felt like she was moving through 
a bad dream.

Lobo shrugged.  "Might as well.  We need something to 
occupy our time while we wait for Minotaur and Kong to come 
back."

Rhino grabbed the young girl and pulled her to him.  He 
roughly ran his hands over her body.  "Not too developed 
yet.  I like them bigger."

"Don't complain," Ursa told him.  "At least this way you 
get a fresh one.  Try not to kill her.  The doctor will pay 
good money if you can sell him a kid."

Naga's chuckle was almost a hiss.  "He can't keep any alive 
longer than a couple of days."

Lobo sniffed the air.  He faded back into the edge of the 
jungle and worked his way around the clearing, staying 
hidden from sight.  He tensed and sprang.

A startled scream brought all action in the clearing to a 
halt.

Lobo walked back in the clearing, a kicking female form 
over his shoulder.  He dumped Beth on the ground at Angel's 
feet.  "Another one."

Angel smiled coldly.  "Hello Sis."

"What is going on here?"  Beth demanded.  "Who and WHAT are 
these people?  You weren't going to let that man rape that 
poor girl!"

Angel sighed.  "You just became a liability I can't afford, 
'dear sister'.  I'm afraid you will just have to be 
disposed of."  She looked at Rhino.  "You say you like them 
bigger.  She's bigger."

"ANGEL!"  Beth screamed.

"And take your time," Angel told Rhino.  "I want to enjoy 
every second of this.  And when you're through, don't 
forget to share with your friends."  She smiled coldly at 
Beth as Rhino grabbed her.  "After all, you were quick 
enough to jump in bed with that old has-been drummer.  
Let's see what you do with a REAL man."

"Let me go!"  Beth struggled in Rhino's grip.

Rhino grinned.  "I like them feisty.  Maybe I'll keep this 
one."

"Won't last a week," Naga predicted.  "Never do."

Rhino ripped Beth's top off, his fingers bruising her skin.  
Unfortunately this meant he only had hold of one of her 
arms.  Beth twisted, ignoring the pain as his fingers dug 
into her skin, and kicked.  Rhino was armored in many 
places but not there.  He bellowed in pain and crumpled 
slightly.  He straightened and backhanded Beth.  Her head 
twisted as her neck gave a loud snap.  Rhino stood holding 
the dead girl up by one arm.

"Told you," Naga said.  "He never can keep one alive."

"You pathetic moron," Angel snarled.  "You killed her.  
Without doing anything to her.  You just gave her a quick 
death.  I could have done that months ago."  She yanked her 
sister's body away from the Enforcer.  "You don't get ANY 
of the girls.  Not now.  Not after you bungled everything!"

Rhino hung his head.  "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Angle informed him.

Lobo looked at Naga and Ursa.  "Gather vines.  We will tie 
up the prisoners and deliver all of them to the ship.  The 
doctor can choose from among them and then Minotaur can 
choose his."

"What about mine?"  Rhino whined.

"You don't get any!"  Angel snapped.  " I ought to have Dr. 
Xavier use YOU as a test subject.  I can order that.  You 
know I work for the corporation."  She was pleased to see 
fear in the Enforcer's eyes.  "I give the orders around 
here.  You collect the specimens I say.  I know what ones 
of the castaways will work in what experiments, what ones 
we want to leave on the islands, and what ones we just kill 
to get out of the way."

"There are others who work for the corporation among the 
strangers," Lobo said.

"But I outrank them all," Angel said, fire in her eyes.  
"And don't you forget it.  I am the corporation 
representative on these islands.  And what I say is law."

Lobo nodded, not about to argue but already planning to 
have a long talk with Minotaur about this one.  This woman 
could be trouble.  They needed to find out just how 
valuable she was to the corporation, and if there would be 
a reprisals if she just happened to disappear.

Naga and Ursa returned and tied the three girls' hands 
behind their backs.  They tied lengths of vine between 
them, forming them into a chain.

"Leave their feet free," Lobo ordered.  "We do not want to 
have to carry them.  They cannot run far or fast tied as 
they are."

"We better go down and check on what they were doing down 
there," Angel said.  "They may have found something 
useful."

Lobo felt the hair stir on his neck.  "They were just in 
Moreau's study.  That has been searched before."

"They were down there for some time.  They may have found 
something and carried it back.  Leave someone up here to 
guard the prisoners and we'll go down there and look."

Lobo reluctantly nodded.  "I will guide you."

"These brats aren't going anywhere," Angel snarled.  "Leave 
one guard.  The rest come with me."

Lobo glanced at his three companions.  "Rhino can not 
navigate the dark."

"Then he can guard the prisoners," Angel said.  She glared 
at the armor-plated Enforcer.  "And you know you are NOT to 
touch any of them.  You do and I'll see to it the doctor 
takes you apart slowly and painfully."

"I understand," Rhino said.

Angel headed for the hidden entrance to the underground 
laboratory.  "Come on."

*	*	*	*	*

Vinnie stood shaking.  He had followed Angel when he saw 
her leave the camp, curious where she was going in such a 
hurry.  He had crouched in the explosion of tropical blooms 
because it seemed a good hiding place: near but still out 
of sight.

When he saw the wolf-man he had been glad he was among the 
strong scented flowers.  That had doubtlessly saved his 
life.  Because he now knew exactly what Angel Rainelle was.

He carefully worked his way back towards camp, trying to 
stay silent.  His mind raced.

Corporation?  Experiments?  Ship?

He had to get away from here.  But he couldn't leave those 
young girls behind.  It was his fault Angel got her hands 
on them to start with.  Kidnapping them to try to force 
Gene and Paul into admitting they had cheated him was one 
thing.  Letting them be killed by those monsters, with 
Angel the most monstrous of them all, that was just too 
much.

He ducked into his tent and quickly started grabbing 
things.  He had to hurry but he had to make sure he did 
this right.  He only had one chance.  If he botched this, 
he was dead or worse.  He did not want to learn what kind 
of experiments Angel was talking about.

He slung the pack onto his back and disappeared back into 
the jungle.  It had seemed like forever for him to find 
everything.  He just hoped Angel and those other three were 
still gone when he returned.

They were.

Vinnie carefully moved around the clearing until he was 
near where Angel and the others had disappeared.  He took a 
deep breath and stepped out with an air of confidence.  "I 
understand you have some prisoners for the corporation."

Rhino frowned slightly.  "Who are you?"

"A colleague of Angel's," Vinnie said, continuing to walk 
toward the Enforcer.  "She thought it would be a good idea 
for me to help you watch the prisoners while she and your 
three friends were checking things out."

Rhino relaxed.  The man obviously was a colleague of 
Angel's if he knew what was going on.  He gave the man a 
hurt look.  "She doesn't trust me.  I wouldn't touch them.  
She said not to."

Vinnie nodded.  "I know.  You won't touch them.  I 
guarantee it."  And he brought up the pistol and shot Rhino 
point blank in the face.  He fired two more shots as the 
Enforcer crumpled to the ground.

Refusing to let himself remember what it looked like when 
the bullets tore into the Enforcer's head, Vinnie shoved 
the pistol back in its holster.  He was very grateful he 
had searched the supply tent.  The pistol had been hidden 
inside a box of paper towels.  And a few other useful 
things had been hidden, things he removed and hid in his 
tent until now.  He pulled out the machete.  "Hold still or 
I might cut you."  He quickly sliced through the vines.  
"Come on!"  He hustled the girls into the jungle.

"Why?"  Krista asked.

"I didn't know what she was," Vinnie said.  "I may have 
issues with Gene and Paul but I'm not siding with something 
like that, not even to get at Gene."  He put his arm around 
Liz.  "Come on, baby.  We've got to get out of here.  They 
could find him any minute now.  We've got to get off the 
island."

"Won't they follow?"  Krista worried.

"We're taking the only boat," Vinnie said.  "Hopefully 
we'll be long gone when their friends get back.  Now 
hurry!"

They dashed out onto the beach and found two boats instead 
of one pulled up out of the water.  "Push it in!"  Vinnie 
ordered, waving at one boat as he ran towards the other.  
"We'll take both!"  They quickly pushed both inflatable 
rafts into the water.  Vinnie made sure the one was firmly 
tied to the other, and then jumped in with the girls.  He 
started the motor and aimed south, towing the empty raft 
behind them.

Liz started crying.

"We're away from there," Katie assured her, hugging her 
close.  "They're not going to catch us now.  We're going to 
be safe.  It's over."

"Simone," Liz cried.  "Beth."

Krista looked at Vinnie.  "Where are you taking us?"

"To Paul," Vinnie said.  "With Gene gone, Paul's our best 
chance."