1 comments/ 32398 views/ 3 favorites My Story Sect. 01 By: Toons Section 01 The following story started out as a character project I had to do in high school. I liked what I came up with so much I expanded on it several times since then. Now nearly eight years later I am possibly finishing it. This is just the very beginning of this story as I have much more to post. I want to hear your reactions, comments, and critiques please. Tell me what mood it left you in and what questions you have as it comes to it's first stopping point. If a majority of readers like what I have posted so far I will post more and more of what I have as days go on. Enjoy... He sits alone in his two-story loft atop a building he owns on fourth street midway between Lombard and South Streets. Despite more than adequate insulation he can still hear the bustling activity one block away on South Street. Although he has friends in many places he prefers the solitude and comfort of his home. It is simply his way since he feels he share little in common with most of his friends. To be more accurate they are more along the lines of acquaintances then friends with maybe three exceptions. He sits in a reclined black leather chair illuminated only by his many plasma screens all showing different channels. It seems there is never anything but despair and acts of war before him on all the news channels so he concentrates on the four that are showing cartoons and comedy shows. The TV's are muted. Through small speakers built into the walls throughout his flat comes "Dicitencello Vuie" in an attempt to drown out the sound and commotion of the city. Despite the darkness of the room you can still see his features which nearly give away his preternatural being. They blue light given off by the plasma accentuates his pale skin. So smooth like ivory but not quite as white his fine skin shows no sign of wrinkles. Gravity and time have not taken their toll on him. To look at him you would swear he is no older than 23, 25 at the very most. His long blonde locks lay just beyond his shoulder. So many hairstyles in his long years but this it seems suites him best. His eyes are a chilling blue color but at times streaks of green and yellow invade his irises. Standing at a mere five feet and ten inches he is an average height today but seemed a giant not so long ago. Lost in his lonely stair he is brought out of his daydreams by a knock at the door. "Volume down, lights on," He says to his fully automated home. "Door view." With that a 13-inch screen besides the door shows it is one of his tenants. "Da?" he says through his intercom system. This system is merely a formality however. He knew before the knock came who was at his door. His precognition and ability to read minds is far beyond that of anything ever imagined or written about in any book or tale. He is able to turn this gift on and off. In the distant past before learning control it he was bombarded with others thoughts and visions. Now he is able to think and operate with no outside stimuli entering whenever he wants. "Meester Rowan," Says Nikolai the Russian immigrant with a heavy accent. He lives two floors below, "I have ze rent moneys zat I owe you." "Ahh priviet Nikolai, won't you come in?" He speaks in very fluent Russian, which immediately impressed his new tenant when he applied for the apartment. "Door open." With that his door slides to the side and Nikolai enters Mr. Rowan's lavish loft. Everywhere are antiques from nearly all time periods. He sees stuff he only read about in history books. The walls are lined with weapons from all cultures and eras. Amongst these weapons however are very few fire arms. The firearms present however are vary rare indeed. A large section of the flat is closed in but the glass is a weird light tan colour and nothing can be seen through them. These take up vast space in this primarily open room. The building itself takes up an entire city block. Of that block these rooms take up ¾ of that on the lower floor and only a hallway dividing the rooms is upstairs. After admiring his landlord’s apartment for a moment a brief friendly conversation is carried out in Nikolai's native tongue. Although Mr. Rowan's Russian is perfect, every now and then Nikolai hears an unfamiliar word and has never been able to place his exact dialect. It is almost like what you would read if looking at something written in the 17 or 16 hundreds but still fluent none the less. He excuses his tenant as it is nearly time for a business meeting between him and zoo keeper turned board member from the Philadelphia Zoo. After his tenant leaves he begins preparing for his dinner guest by showering and dressing in black silk pants and a fine blue linen shirt with a pair of black lamb skin quarter shoes. It is now time for him to prepare dinner consisting of wine basted Cornish hens and an assortment of vegetables. His many televisions now sit unpowered and only the sounds of a more upbeat violin concerto float through the air. This dinner guest is coming to hopefully accept another donation of funds and perhaps animals from our gentleman, Nicodaemus. He has been a benefactor to the zoo for quite some time. In 1995 when the primate house was ravaged by fire he donated nearly 1/3 of the funds to build the new three-acre state of the art facility. He also donated a few rare African Antelopes from a preserve he owns in Mozambique. And since Miss Gillian Kimber has been an employee of the zoo after a two-year internship all of Nicodaemus' dealings have been with her. Her very successful business relationship with Mr. Rowan was the catalyst to her here to for unheard of position on the Board of Directors for the Philly Zoo. No man or woman had ever been promoted so quickly. Despite her new position she still maintained her status as a zookeeper in the cathouse. Although her true passion was with these large carnivores she was well versed in nearly ever creature in the park and had a secret love for reptiles. As a child she took frequent trips to museums and fell in love with dinosaurs. This later translated into a love for reptiles. As she grew older she was drawn to the large predators of the jungles and plains and studied quite extensively at the University of Pennsylvania in all aspects of animal biology, husbandry, and health care. It was in her first year at the University when she had a near death experience. She and a girlfriend were taking a leisurely walk in the ninth street market when they were mugged. Being a fighter Gillian did not want to give her purse up and was rewarded with a gunshot to the chest. She lay dead by the time the ambulance arrived. She was miraculously revived on the way to the hospital and was up and moving around in under a week. The doctors could not explain how this her heart had healed so rapidly even after being pierced by the slug they removed from her chest. More amazing than that, by three months she had no scar and with out reading her medical records there was no indication the incident had ever occurred. It was this incident in 1993 that prompted Mr. Rowan to return to Philadelphia from his plantation sized estate in Ecuador. Upon reading about this occurrence in the papers he had sent to him weekly from the states he took an immediate interest in Ms. Kimber. In fact, unknown to her it was with his influence that she received her intern position at the zoo in only her third year of college above 1500 other applicants. Despite being helped along she more than earned her seat in this position and her following fulltime position as a keeper and now as a member of the board. Nicodaemus was snapped back to the present by the sound of the doorbell. He knew instantly who it was. Not because he could read the visitor's mind but quite the contrary, he could not. Gillian is the only person in all his years that had a mind completely closed to him. After checking his monitor he manually opened the door and welcomed her into his home. Until now all of their business meetings had been at various restaurants some at fine restaurants other little family places Nicodaemus frequented. The first thing to greet her was the warm smell of dinner that was moment away from being finished. She then turned her attention to all the weapons and vases and paintings that outfitted his city home. She has always liked history and found it very hard to believe all these objects could be genuine. Also on his walls were many photographs new and old along with old hand painted portraits with what must have been relatives in them. Perhaps uncles or grandfathers and distant relatives given some of the images content and aged appearances. Not wanting to seem too nosey, she then focused on her host for this evening. As with every time she had met him before this one she was enchanted by his beauty. He seemed such an elegant man. Every movement he made was graceful and deliberate. His eyes were very much like her own although her eyes had a slight almond shape. He reminded her of paintings she saw of ancient Greek artwork in museums. When she thought more about it he not only reminded her but also actually looked like some figures she saw in paintings from that time. She passed it off as him having a classic look. Classic and so seductive was his look she found it even harder to draw her attention from him. After she pried her eyes and thoughts from him she focused her attention on the odd glass rooms. When Nicodaemus realized the new center of her attention, he grinned. He walked towards the enclosures and flipped what must have been the only light switch in his home. This switch was no light switch she realized. When he flipped it down it opened the circuit that had been supplying electricity to the opaque tan windows. With electricity removed the substance in the glass began to clear up turning them crystal clear. The clarity was because the windows were not glass but actually two panes of clear acrylic with a liquid crystalline fluid between them sensitive to electrical currents. Gillian became breathless and nearly fainted when she realized what she was seeing on the other side of the various glass rooms. My Story Sect. 02 Well ok, I got a few good reviews so I decided to post more of what I have written. This picks up where the last section left off and is about one quarter of the way through the entire story. Please continue to read and vote and send feedback. Also negative feed back is welcome because I would like to know what I can fix or change(beyond typos that is). So once more, enjoy... He walked towards the enclosures and flipped what must have been the only light switch in his home. This switch was no light switch she realized. When he flipped it down it opened the circuit that had been supplying electricity to the opaque tan windows. With electricity removed the substance in the glass began to clear up turning them crystal clear. The clarity was because the windows were not glass but actually two panes of clear acrylic with a liquid crystalline fluid between them. Gillian became breathless and nearly fainted when she realized what she was seeing on the other side of the various glass rooms. Beyond the glass she saw numerous animal enclosures. All were designed to perfectly match each creature’s native environment to a level she had never even seen in any zoo. Some were jungles other matched the African plains while a few were desert-like. She stood there in amazement completely bewildered by what she saw. There had to be at least 30 different enclosures in front of her and she had not even begun to count the ones upstairs which also became clear to view by the flipping of the one switch. “As you can see each cage perfectly matches each of my charges’ natural habitats. I imported all natural plants and researched soil compositions from every area to make it perfect. Most even have a small insect population along with other locality specific bacteria and fungi to keep a perfect balance in every cage. The only thing that needs any outside help is some of the larger water holes that I filter with not only chemical and biological filters but are run through a UV filter to get smaller biotics that can’t be filtered by other means. Come on if you would like a tour.” “My God, how could you have this here and no one knows? Mr. Rowan, these cages are incredible.” “No please call me Nico.” “Who maintains these animals and does their veterinary work? What does…” her comments were cut short when she looked at one of the animals in the second cage she passed. “Well all the work on these cages and the ones at all my other facilities are done by different contractors and then are assembled at their final location by another group and I help out when I can. Every one is paid generously for their time effort and most of all their discretion. As far as veterinary work, in the rare event it becomes necessary I do it myself. Ahh I see u got a look at ole’ Bloke the VI” “It is not possible how can it be?” The cage was one of the forest types subtropical to be exact. In it was a strange dog like animal. It was lean and had a thick tail but this was no dog. The latter half of its body was striped like a tiger. ”Is that a..I mean do you really have a…” “Yes that is a thylacine.” “It can’t be. I mean they became extinct in 1927. Did you have one cloned?” “My dear it is and he is not a clone. Every thing here is 100% natural born and bred. That is why these enclosures are so immaculate and accurate. He is the eighth generation to be born here as a matter of fact. Come on a little further I have more to show you including the primary reason for you visit. I promise I will let you look at every thing for as long as you like and after tonight you may come back when ever it suites you.” As they walked she saw many animals that should not be there. There were dodo birds scurrying around a simulated rock wall and cliff. She saw what must have been the long extinct Carolina parakeets in a small aviary. Two large cat cages came next. Inside on cage was an odd looking tiger about the size of a Sumatran tiger but its striping was different. As a cat lover she was quick to realize it was another “extinct “ species, it was a Javan tiger. The other elongated cage contained three cheetahs. They were the very rare king cheetahs from South Africa. Only a handful of specimens had ever been seen and none could ever be captured so they have never been properly cataloged and classified. Mr. Rowan explained how the cats had learned to use the disguised heavy-duty treadmill as a form of exercise and recreation. After they turned a corner they passed several snake cages with species she did not even recognize and came to a group of tortoise enclosures. “Ms. Kimber…” “Mr., I mean Nico,” she quickly corrected herself, “if I am to call you by your first name than please call me Gillian or Gill if you prefer.” “Very good than Gillian, as you can see there are a variety of tortoise species in these enclosures all from the Galapagos Islands. I have seven of the sixteen subspecies here and I have a small colony of each subspecies like you see before you of the other nine at some of my other homes. See these fellas over here,” He pointed to a group mixed in sizes from six inches to some that were fully grown, ”because of them in the near future lonely George will no longer be so lonely.” “O.K., I realize it is pointless to figure out how you have so many species thought to be extinct or nearly extinct but I was under the impression that there were only ever thirteen subspecies of Galapagos tortoises. So my logical question is why did you say of the sixteen?” “Well Gill, something you will find on no modern map is a now missing island in the Galapagos chain. As you know the Galapagos Islands are plagued by seismic and very volcanic activity . In 1578 this island suffered a dual volcanic eruption and a massive earthquake the two being obviously related. As a result the island I speak of fell into the ocean from whence it came killing ever animal that inhabited it. Fortunately in 1538 on one of the early expeditions to this island long before Darwin’s a good number of the native wildlife was collected for food ad preservation. I noticed the difference in the types of tortoises and kept about 35 hatchlings for myself.” “What did you say? Did you just say you?” she laughed a little thinking he had made a mistake or was joking. “Ah yes I am sorry I meant my great, great grandfather” he quickly saved himself by saying, “did the collecting. I have heard the story so many times and they have been with me for so long that I sometime feel as if I were the one who collected them. “He” was also able to get a few of the lizard and bird species off the island prior to it’s demise that I still have alive.” “Oh I know what you mean I had a pet dog as a child that was the same way. I hope I get this right, now basically these tortoises’ ancestors came from an uncharted isle in the archipelago that was destroyed before any decent maps were made. So every animal and plant on the island was never known. I guess since no one ever knew they existed only thirteen different subspecies were eve classified.” “Very good Ms. Kimber. As I have known your intelligence and problem solving are impeccable. I shall give you an “A” minus” “An “A” minus?!?” she said in a jokingly mad tone. “Yes you said their ancestors; those four larger specimens are actually a few of the living hatchlings.” “That would make them 466 years old!” she said astonished. “Well correct give or take a year. With the proper care I have noticed many of these reptiles attaining ages that most zoologists would never imagine possible. I have a Chinese alligator that is over 200 years old and still as virile as one only 110 years old.” He said with a humorous tone. “to be perfectly honest all of my animals live well beyond twice their known and accepted age limits even the mammals.” He said showing extreme pride in his beasts. He than challenged her, ”Would you care to take a stab at why that is?” “Certainly,” she said not wanting to back down from a challenge. She never settled for an “A” minus through out school and she would not begin now. “O.K. most animals survive longer in captivity than they would or could in the wild because there are no predators,” she began, ”Unlike many zoos you have been able to create completely natural homes for them so there is not the added stress caused by captivity. With out this stress and on a diet enriched with vitamins as any good zookeeper would use they achieve respectively ancient ages.” Her tone was very sure of itself and indeed her ego was rewarded with an “A” plus by Nicodaemus. “Very good Gillian, back to your reason for coming to my humble abode,” they both snickered at his sarcasm. “You have in your possession at the zoo a single male tortoise of unknown origin that has been incorrectly classified for quite some time now. Do you see that lone female tortoise over there? I will give you a sample of her DNA and I am sure it will match that of the tortoise at your zoo of whom I speak. If I am correct than you have one of the descendants if not one of the original hatchlings representing the third species from the vanished island. You see despite the beauty and relative safety of my various sites they are not completely invulnerable. About thirty years ago one of my similar enclosure sites was broken into. The thieves vandalized the main halls, stole a large number of my animals and set a fire to cover their tracks. This site was the home to all of my specimens of that particular subspecies except for two females I had at a different site. Both were gravid at that time and I was trying to establish a new colony but as luck would have it none of the eggs were viable. I attribute this to the stress of moving them shortly after mating. As you know females can store sperm so I had been hoping to get another clutch. Two months ago my other female succumbed to a simple cold can you believe it. Well as you can guess, I have no time to spare. At 200 years old this lass is nearing the end of her prime reproductive years. Basically I need a sperm sample from your male but I cannot ask the zoo to lone him to me because they have no idea my collection exists and there is no other way to “borrow” him. That is where you fit in. Regardless of your decision to help me or not I am donating an additional 2.5 million to the zoo this year. That will be the cover story for our meeting tonight. I need you to get me that sample. Moving the animal here even if you could find a way to get permission would be too stressful and it would take quite some time to acclimate him before he ever mated not to mention possible pathogens he may carry. I need you to bring me a sample extracted from your fellow. I have the facilities here to check the viability of the sample and to implant it into the female. Of course it is not always 100% guaranteed to work so I may need future samples. If you would like you may even assist me if you can find the time. Well what do you think can you help me?” “Well, Nico, I would love to help you. I can’t wait to get a look at everything you have here. Wow wait until I tell…” “No!” his tone quickly changed. “In exchange for the privilege of visiting my animals and helping me if you would like I must insist on your complete silence on the matter. Now I plan on generously reimbursing you for you time, effort, and companionship in the procedures, but I can not stress the utmost importance of the secrecy. Less than a handful of people have ever had a look into any of my sites and no one has ever told any one of all they saw.” What she did not know was Nicodaemus has used his mental abilities to aid in everyone’s silence. It then dawned on him with out being able to enter her mind how could he ensure she would keep his secret treasures safe? Although unable to read or control her mind his was slightly put at ease by a feeling he got from her. A deep part of him knew she could be trusted whether she was paid to do so or not. “It is a deal. The earliest I can get you that sample though will be next Thursday when I am doing some routine health check ups on the tortoise groups.” “I know that Gillian which is why I decided to have this dinner with you tonight. I figured six days would be more than enough time to allow you to ponder everything and make your decision. I didn’t count on you agreeing so quickly. So in the interest of science would you accompany me to another dinner here in my home next Thursday afternoon?” “In the interest of science it would be my pleasure.” “Great it is a date mark you calendar so you don’t forget. Now however, I am famished lets eat tonight’s meal before thinking to heavily about next week’s shall we?” Over dinner he told her of how is “family” realized along time ago the plight of animals and understood the concept of extinction long before Darwin or Lineaus and decided to try to do something about it. His love and passion for the animal world was a trait he said that was passed onto him. Gillian asked about his remarkable resemblance to all of the people in the pictures and he told her his family had very dominant genes apparently. She tried to dig deeper because with the exception of a little facial hair here or there and differences in hairstyle he could be any one of the portraits twins. Even his unique skin tone and hair colour was present throughout the gallery of photos and paintings. She questioned him about this in a manner so as to not offend him. He told her that his family suffered from and odd mutation in their skin pigment leading to its current tone. All of these were complete plausible although a part of her still questioned the truth in his statement. Logically what other explanation was there. He told her how his family had been wealthy since probably the 1300’s and his forefathers were financial inclined explorers. She was amazed at how much he knew about his heraldry. It almost seemed once again as if he was there when telling a few humorous tales. His story telling, body language and soothing voice for the most part put her at ease. One thing that bothered her however, was the fact she could not hear any of his thoughts. Since her accident just over ten years along with gaining a second chance at life so it would seem, she also found that she her mind became sharper. All of her senses seemed heightened as well. Her thinking was much faster and she was able to hear people’s thoughts. Along with people she could also hear animals almost. She always had the ability to read her pets like no one else but now it was much greater. She secretly thought of herself as the lady Dr. Doolittle. If she concentrated enough sometimes she could move small objects. When she first met Mr. Rowan eight years ago her abilities were just budding so she thought nothing of the fact she could not read him. But as time went on he became the only person she could not get anything from. Aside, that is, from a warm smile and a gentlemanly laugh every now and again. After dinner he gave her a tour of his flat and showed her many more specimens unknown to the rest of the world to exist. From an unknown species of pigmy rattlesnake to a large web footed aquatic marsupial Diprotodon australis known as the bunyip by the aborigines. He also had a trio of the “extinct” tree boa species Corralus coprani. Only three have ever been found and preserved from the Sao Paulo region of Brazil. One enormous red tinted rattlesnake housed next to the unknown pigmy looked like an overgrown eastern diamond back. “Oh yes this is a known species. It is Crotalus adamanteus pleistofloridensis, the ancestor of the eastern diamond back.” He continued to explain,” When my family discovered a few of these creatures they were nearly extinct and as far as herpetologist and paleontologist knew from fossils they became extinct around eight thousand years ago as humans first began to settle in the Americas.” He never did tell her when his “family” collected the original specimens. Over here in this large cage is what I call the Congolese python. The cage measured an easy 30x20ft if not little more and inside it was a snake he claimed to be just over forty feet. “Nico, to the best of my knowledge no evidence of that snake even exists in the fossil record.” “You are very correct my dear and this snake did not come into my or this collection until the 1960’s and I have only found this one female. In 1962 a photo of a large snake taken by a German military reconnaissance team was circulated in the papers and later passed off as a phony. The snake in the picture taken in 1959 measured over fifty feet based on the objects around it. The snake in my collection was a mere twenty three feet upon it’s initial capture. So somewhere over there is his mommy or daddy and next year I am planning a trip to Africa to try and find a mate for Madame Bertha as I call her. And I have heard rumors of a few other animals I want to investigate. You see I operate in secret for two reasons. One, if I were to announce my trips and there goals before I left I would be laughed at. Two, once my expeditions were known successes you would have every over ambitious hunter in the world trying to kill or exploit what I have found. I am fortunate to have a large supply of money to privately fund my self and to make donations to various organizations to keep every one disinterested in me and happy.” He excused himself as they returned downstairs. She sat there trying to allow her mind to believe all she had seen and trying to memorize every thing she had seen so she could imagine it over and over once she left. As she watched him make a somewhat discreet phone call she tried once again to read him but to no avail. They had a few after dinner wines and exchanged some stories about their pasts. She eventually got up the nerve to ask him his age. “Well, how old do you think I am?” “When I first met you I swore you were no older than 25 and the odd thing is you still look almost exactly the same but you no longer have the goatee and your hair is a little shorter now. If you were 25 as I guessed then that would put you at 35 or 36 now?” she questioned. “Well if you would like to believe that than I am more than happy to be thought of as 35.” She tried to keep it going but he changed the subject of conversation. Her mind however was stuck on his age. “You know you don’t look very different from the day when I first met you well except you hair is longer and has a curl to it now.” She was flattered at his ability to remember such details about her and blushed as she replied. “I think I get that from my mother. She is 50 and does not look a day over 35.” A little more light conversation was exchanged and she decided it was getting late and asked to use his phone to call a cab. “I will not hear of you taking a cab after the stimulating night you have given me.” In his sweetest most gentlemanly voice he told her,” I have already called my car and driver and he will take you home.” She thanked him and walked to the door. He opened it for her and as she was leaving with the precious DNA sample she came to the realization she had left her keys somewhere. He was able to find them immediately on his breakfast bar and tossed them to her. As she exited his home he used his mind to close the door behind her. She noticed the door close despite his distance from it but again like everything else about this odd being rationalized it out to be the wine or his home’s automation. All though the night went very well and there was surely chemistry between the two, neither had really learned much about the other. The meat of their conversation had been about his extraordinary menagerie of beasts then some light banter about mutual acquaintances. For the first time in many, many years Nicodaemus was actually excited about a future event. His excitement stemmed partially because he was going to be able to breed one of his most unique animals but more so because of this woman. He was however careful to get his hopes up because every single time to present they had been swiftly struck down. Many times he had to settle and vowed never to settle again. He also did not want to endure another heartbreak. Something told him this might be worth it though. My Story Sect. 03 When she arrived at Nico's flat she was greeted by an open door and the smell of warm roast beef and freshly baked bread. She walked in to find Nico and people she later found out to be his tenants from this and several other buildings enjoying lunch during a tenants meeting. Nico acknowledged her and waved her into the hall where they were all seated around a large oak trestle table. She had not noticed this room let alone the door to it last time she was here but his home was different. She sat in on the tail end of this meeting and just looked around this room at all the artifacts lining the walls. More family portraits some of which even depicted the men with women were placed in this room. It then dawned on her that with the exception of these paintings; there were no females present in any other painting she saw through out his home. Even the simple chairs she sat in reminded her of something she would see in an old Robin Hood movie. It amazed her the care that was taken in all these objects. Many fine far eastern tapestries adorned the walls while fine rugs lay here and there clearly of Persian or middle eastern origin. His family certainly did travel a lot. After about 20 minutes the tenants meeting came to an end and Nicodaemus ushered his guests out and split most of the leftovers among them. The rest he first offered her and having already eaten she turned him down. He made himself one last hot roast beef sandwich and put the rest at least two pounds into a bowl. Once the last tenant left the door closed on it's own as it had done the previous week then Nico let out a banshee like shrill whistle. She then heard a loud thumping that turned into a galloping and from around a corner came a massive dog breed that she had never seen before. It had the height of a great dane or Irish wolfhound but the girth of a Neapolitan mastiff. He whistled again and two more similar dogs came tromping into the guest hall. Slightly smaller she correctly assumed they were females. They had huge broad heads with slight under bites and lots of slobber. The male was a light fawn colour with a black muzzle and closely cropped ears while the females were more of a red colour with natural floppy ears. Their paws were nearly as large as a dinner plates and they had five toes instead of four toes and a dewclaw. Although she thought better of being surprised after last week she could not help herself. "What are those?" "They are dogges." Nico told her. "I know they are dogs I meant what breed or mixture of breeds?" she rolled her eyes at what she thought was his clear attempt at sarcasm. "No, they are not D-O-G-S, they are dogges, D-O-G-G-E-S." "I feel kinda' silly her but I have never heard of a dogge before. Is it a German breed or Dutch maybe given the spelling?" "No," Nico began his explanation. "This breed if you want to call it that predates all other dog breeds and in fact is no even Canis familiaris. Besides 7 other secluded breeders world wide and myself you will never see or hear of these animals except in very obscure old science books and some religious texts. What we call dogs today are a mixture of these guys here and earlier forms of Canis lupus and other spitz type species. These are the direct ancestors to the ancient mastiffs used by the Romans and the many other early civilizations during battles and for protection. Oddly though they are African in origin. As you know wolves can not bark but dogs can. The ability to bark comes from their "side of the family". These pups are nearly a year old and still have some growing to do." "Pups?!? They are like three feet tall at their shoulders. My parents bred great danes and their largest make was only 38 inches at his shoulder." "Yes the males top out at around 42-44 inches at their shoulder and females around 39 to 40 inches and weight 350 to 200 pounds respectively. Unlike many deep chested dog breeds, dogges do not have proportionately small hearts and have twice the lifespan of a typical mastiff style dog. Ok enough about Brutus and his girls lets go up to my lab and get to work. Over the next few hours they ran first a DNA test to make sure they were the same species and began the insemination process once they confirmed it. Once more the chemistry and attraction between them was very apparent and each flirted with the other like to silly teenagers while they worked. They were almost naturally at ease with one another and even exchanged a few light friendly hits and taps at each other's jokes and lab pranks. It was early evening when they finished but being September it was still quite light out at 5 pm. He invited her out for a walk and suggested they walk the few blocks to Penn's Landing on the waterfront. She excitedly agreed and stated she could certainly use some fresh air after being at the zoo and in his lab most of the day. Once down there they just sauntered along and walked past the ice rink, which would be opening again later in the fall season. The two just talked about all his animals and she was in awe at his extensive knowledge. Secretly and kind of humorously they each tried very hard to worm their ways into one another's mind. He bought her a pretzel and a chili dog at a street vendor and by now was not hiding his mutual feeling of enamoration with this lovely creature. He had blocked out the entire world around him except for her, noticing every line, every curve, and little beauty mark on her face and neck. Instead of trying to look into her mind he was now looking into her eyes through the doorways to her soul. Her eyes creased as she began to laugh. She had spilled some chili from her mouth while taking a bite. She took off her top shit leaving her now in just a spaghetti strapped tank top. Nico then felt a slightly warm spray on his face. Gillian's expression quickly changed from happiness to shock then to fear and pain. Simultaneously a lot pop was heard. They both immediately realized what was happening, gunshots. While using all his mental abilities to study her and try to read her mind he had blocked out the rest of the world and did not know of the two rival punk drug dealers flanking them. How could he have been so careless? While taking only a fraction of a second for each to realize what was happening it was already too late Gillian had been shot in the right shoulder, the large caliber bullet going right through her and almost grazing Nicodaemus. She fell into his arms and he immediately began to feel rage and attempted to take action despite the consequences. He lay her down next to him and reached out for the gunman in front of him. He and the assailant locked eyes and the gunman began to now shoot directly at Nico. Sploosh! Splat! Two bullets went right through Nico's chest and exited his back splattering blood on Gillian who was stable but losing blood and consciousness. Nicodaemus clenched his outstretched fist and the gunman fell to the ground and balked over in massive pain. The rival to Nico's rear also began shooting. His bullets came from a slightly smaller caliber gun but pierced Nico's torso more rapidly. In front of her eyes Nico was being turned into a block of Swiss cheese as eight smaller bullets entered him but were not powerful enough to leave him. Nico spun around and this time Gillian was able to see what was happening. She could not believe he was still standing. As consciousness left her she saw clearly the large holes in Nico's chest through his light linen shirt. She saw the look of rage in his face as he glared at the second assailant. Just before she passed out she saw the second gunman's chest burst but heard no gunshot only saw Nico looking at him. In Gillians last moments of consciousness she felt Nico fall exhausted beside her and knew if she awoke he would not. She woke to the sound of approaching sirens. Cops hopefully an ambulance she did not know. Her eyes began to flutter open as she wondered how long she had been unconscious. She raised her arm to look at her watch and realized it had been less than ten minutes. A man in the forming crowd asked if she was alright and she did not reply. Wait a minute, she had just lifted her arm, her right arm to see her watch. Before passing out she felt the bullet go through her and knew her right shoulder had been shattered. Although very sore and still bleeding it was by no means shattered and she, despite some pain, could move it quite well. She looked down at herself. Surely the hole had been much larger but maybe she was in shock. She then looked over to Nicodaemus as sense began to return to her. His body lay dead on its side and slowly bleeding inches from her own wounded body. Through the crowd paramedics arrived to begin to administer first aid. "We have one male with one possibly two gunshot wounds to the chest and three to his back" the paramedic called over his radio. "Female victim appears to have an abrasion to her right shoulder or it could be blood from male victim." Abbrasion! She had been shot! What an incompetent fool. Not only was he unable to count the number of holes in her partners back and chest he could not tell a gunshot from a big scratch! Before speaking her mind and yelling at this idiot she looked at her shoulder and saw he was right. There was no gunshot wound. Not even a hole remained and her bleeding had stopped. Amazed she looked over to Nico and saw the paramedic's count was correct maybe even high. Other paramedics began pouring through the crowd one carrying a defribulator. Two medic were about to rip Nico's shirt in preparation for cardiac resuscitation when his body spasmed. Every one including Gillian jumped back a little at this and Nico sucked in a deep breath of air. Gilian saw what happened she saw the bullets go through him she saw the holes felt him fall. Surely it was not her imagination that made her pass out she knew she felt the hot sting of lead penetrating her shoulder then exiting her upperchest. "OH MY GOD!" exclaimed a newly arrived medic, "This man is alive we have to get him to a hospital! Ma'am are you ok do you want to accompany your boyfriend to the hospital?" "Oh he is not my..." she stopped herself in mid sentence. Wow her boyfriend it was a nice thought in fact moments ago she thought of Nicodaemus as her partner had she not. "Yes please let me ride with him." She was helped into the back of the ambulance and told to look out as the stretcher was rolled in. In amazing speed he was hooked up to monitors and I.V.'s were started to deliver much-needed electrolytes and sugars. "Hey I think this heart monitor is messed up. Man so is my blood pressure sleeve, Damn this stuff is useless." "What are you complaining about now?" a second paramedic asked. "All my equipment shows him being stable and having a very slow but steady heart rhythm and blood pressure." His temperature however was far above what any normal human could tolerate. At 112.3 degrees any human body would have shut down nine degrees ago not to mention the wounds he suffered to be in this ambulance. "Open his shirt up and listen with your stethoscope and time it with a watch, here use mine." When they opened up his shirt they were once again amazed. My Story Sect. 04 The large wounds from the first gunman’s shots were all but gone and bleeding had ceased and only large globs of coagulating and platelet filled blood remained. Six large bumps began to appear before the two attending paramedics and Gillian’s eyes. These bumps became red and pustules formed on them. The pustules burst open and six lead slugs pushed their way out of his chest while blood oozed as the holes quickly closed up behind them. The sound of the lead hitting the floor of the ambulance broke the stunned silence. A deep breath was taken by a body that should be dead, and Nicodaemus’ eyes opened. They were however not the normal ice blue but instead he displayed white irises flared with deep emerald green streaks. A few quick blinks and his body rose. It took Nicodaemus very little time to realize where he was and comprehend his predicament. Still the two paramedics in the rear of the vehicle and also Gillian stared in utter shock at this walking corpse. He was no corpse at all. Except for a highly increased metabolism to facilitate healing he was completely normal. “Well now isn’t this just wonderful!” As word escaped his mouth gasped escaped his audience’s. “You..your al..you should be…” A bumbling paramedic was able to slur. “Dead? Yeah I suppose one would assume such a thing.” He said as he looked down disappointed at his ruined shirt. He smeared away the globs of mostly scabbed blood from his chest. Beneath was a perfect muscular chest that showed no signs of even the slightest abrasion. "Yeah I know pretty amazing huh but unfortunately non of you are going to tell a soul. Agreed?” “Yes Mr. Rowan.” The two attending and one driving paramedic all said in unison. “Now drive the two of us to Fourth and Lombard Streets. You will let us out there and be on your way an not remember any of tonight’s events.” They gazed blankly and just nodded their head as the sirens died and lights went out on the ambulance. Gillian felt the vehicle change directions and simply could not muster any words at what she saw or what had happened to her. Nicodaemus directed them to his private entrance upon reaching his destination. Still in a slight state of shock he took her by the hand and led her from the vehicle to his personal elevator. She was at the same time scared beyond all rational belief but oddly she felt at ease when he took her hand. By the time they reached the elevator the ambulance was gone and soon no trace of the nights events would remain in their minds. With the power of his mind the doors to his elevator were opened and the two of them entered. When the door opened they were in a room in his apartment she had not seen the previous times she was there. This room was his bedroom she surmised due to the fact a bed was positioned not to far from her location. Next to the bed were three massive bodies of his dogges completely undisturbed by there presence. This room had many bookshelves with ancient looking books and a few glass podiums with petraglyphs on them. This room also differed in the fact it was the only non-modern looking room in the place. Sure there were many old artifacts every where else and some fine antique furniture here and there but his home had an overall modern look to it. This room however looked like a room in a castle from the fur rugs and blankets to the stone-faced walls down to the hearth. Only a skylight lit by the quickly receding evening sun illuminated this room. For the first time she saw large portraits with only ladies in them. Depicted were at least six different women. It was obvious the women were from different time periods easily set a few hundred years apart. The clothing of the ladies as well as the varied aged look of each painting told her so. Lying propped in a corner were a few unfinished portraits of Ladies but she could not tell if they were the same women as the ones she saw on the walls. He guided her to his oversized bed and pulled up a bucket style chair next to her. As she was placed on the warm fur blankets part of her wanted to break down and cry but the other part wanted to know what just happened and was any of it really real. His eyes had returned to their ice blue colour once more and she felt as if she would lose her self in them. She began to open her mouth but was quickly hushed but this mysterious being. “Well I did not want it to happen this way. Not at all. Now however I guess I owe you an explanation of what I am and .” He said very disappointed. Although he was upset at how she was introduced to the truth he so desperately wanted to share with her, he was at the same time anxious to begin his explanation and tale. “I suppose I should start with the basics if you can even call them that… My Story Sect. 05 "I was born approximately 60,000 years ago in the middle of what biologists refer to as the Pleistocene epoch. It was the beginning of the retreat of the glaciers. Where I was born however showed no signs of glaciers. I was born in the Euphrates river valley in what is modern day Iraq. It was much more lush back then. I still remember every detail; ever scent every sunrise and sunset from my early years. I was an oddity even before birth. I can still remember prenatal life even after all these years. I remember my very mortal mother's voice and feeling the sunrise and shine through her stomach. I was just a sentient at birth as I am now although obviously my mind was not able to comprehend every thing quite yet. "Even at my birth it was clear I was different and the tribal elders" a small laugh escaped pausing his story telling, "wanted me killed immediately so my mother fled." "Why did you laugh?" she asked, these being first words to leave her mouth since this ordeal began. "Well I called them elders, but you see they were maybe in their late twenties and early thirties but to the common human in that time they were very old and even began to look it. Wrinkles, graying hair and other signs not seen nowadays until the late forties were present in these men and the women too." "Well I can see your eyes are much lighter than anything I have ever seen," she interrupted,"and your skin and your hair are definitely pale but most babies look a little different at birth." "Come on now Gillian, you are smarter than that think about it. 60,000 years ago where I was born they were all very dark skinned and very dark haired not to mention it would be nearly 15,000 years before I ever saw a fair skinned person. So to all of these people I was an abomination. I still remember them looking at me in disgust. Although I could not understand the words they spoke just yet I could feel their intentions. They did not hate me; they just feared me and feared the bad luck I would bring them. This fear is something I would continue to see for the rest of my life. It has only been in the last few centuries that I can go somewhat unnoticed. Just like animals today, odd balls were shunned because back then, humans weren't quite at the top of the food chain. They did not want to draw attention to themselves with an, oddity like myself. So, in an attempt to preserve the "herd" I was to be killed. As luck would have it, being a human and having more feelings than instinct, her offspring's life was more important. "I grew at a slightly accelerated rate and began speaking and walking much sooner than any normal human. I was also able to read my mother's mind and, like today, I could also read animals and saved my mother and myself many times from predation due to this ability. She told me many stories and the history of our tribe as best she could remember and also when I was a young boy she told me about how we came to be separated from them. Even though I remembered it all I was never able to understand exactly what was happening. Being a child and lacking very good self-control I was always angered by these stories and vowed revenge. All the things going on in my head compounded my anger. I could hear her thoughts even as she slept, I could feel the animals all around me, from the wolves and large cats that we lived in fear of to minute bugs whose brains merely spit out orders and had no real thought. It was very hard being raised by someone who feared you. Although she loved me I could still see and feel the fear in her. I could here her when she had regrets about running off with me and her many, many what if thought trains. Sometimes when she had these thoughts I would argue with her and tell her she made the right decision, not that I knew any better. It was times like that when she really feared me. The first time it happened she never caught on to the fact I was reading her mind. When she did realize this, a cold fear spilled over her body. She was never completely at ease around me and when I was about ten years old and she knew I could fend for myself she left me in my sleep. She never made a plan to do it, as surely I would have known. She was there one night and gone when I awoke. "Hatred for her and all humans consumed me for many years. When I was about 14 years old I found the tribe from which I was born. I recognized a few of the elders as the ones who banished my existence and my blood began to boil. It was their fault I was all alone. It was these people's ignorance and fear that caused me to have not had any contact with other humans and grow up in the wilds. As all this anger and jealousy built, a few women carrying berries back into the village spotted me. Their gaze upon me was immediately followed by screams and fears. I read their minds and learned they knew of me and my birth. I was something like a fairytale or a boogieman almost. Their screams obviously drew much attention and soon men with spears and bolo's were heading my way. I was about to run when I saw the thing that sent my rage over the edge. From one of the huts came my mother. After four years of wondering what had happened to her and worrying that she may have been eaten or fallen ill I saw her looking to see what the commotion was. Her eyes immediately met mine. I saw shame at first then fear and even a little hate. In a flash I saw everything." "She made a instant decision to leave me that night and made her way back to the village. Very few people remembered her but she convinced the elders she had killed me and was held captive buy a rival tribe. She quickly realized they would banish her or even put her to death when the elders see me and figure out she lied to them. My attention was quickly drawn back to the armed men approaching me and yelling many words I never learned form my mother, but I easily understood them. This became the first time I killed another human. I was not able to concentrate because of my hatred. I now felt anger and I received a spear in my right thigh. I just focused all my anger at the man who had thrown that spear and he fell almost immediately. Soon two more spears were on their way to me and I moved faster than a human eye can comprehend to avoid them. Not quite understanding this killing ability I let it continue. One attacker's chest exploded while another's head imploded. The last to die was the most gruesome; he was basically torn apart on a cellular level and appeared to melt. Soon every one was looking to see what was going on and even they were trying to rid their village of my presence once all of the defenders had fallen. At first I was only defending myself but then as rage took over I was killing every one I could see. I then made the decision to not have my mother suffer the elders' punishment. Instead I made her gut hurt as bad as mine when I realized she left me that morning. Then I let her feel the pain I felt in my head as I channeled all the thoughts, fears and screams of every living being I had in my head into hers. This was too much for her fragile human body to cope with and she fell limp, grey matter oozing through her nostrils from her brain. I quite literally made her mind explode. To this day I still feel no sympathy or regret for that act. In just under what is now a half of an hour, I had eliminated every living soul in that village. "When I calmed down a little bit I found myself in the center of the huts with half a spear sticking out of my leg still. I slowly and painfully pulled the spear out of my leg taking a good piece of myself with it as the bone spearhead exited my flesh. Healing like you witnessed earlier tonight began immediately. This night sparked a very lasting hatred of all other humans and began what could have been the end, given enough time that is, of the human race before they were ever a real player on this earth. I roamed for centuries upon centuries. "I came upon many settlements and destroyed all inhabitants regardless of age or sex. Over the years I began to understand my killing ability and perfect my methods of dispatching them. That first night I really did not understand what I did, it simply happened. It took me nearly a century to be able to focus my efforts. It did not take me long to realize that no other human could do what I could. "I never bothered to read their minds or even give them a chance. In all actuality, often times their thoughts were a large jumble in my mind and even by this point in my life I was not yet able to pick out individual's thoughts very well. I killed them all because of the life they forced me into. They also put up good fights, futile as they may have been. While their bodies lay decomposing, my wounds healed quickly. Sometimes the wounds I received caused me to "die" like earlier tonight. I however always woke up, where as they did not. This spree lasted for over 1,500 years, and then I saw her.