When Worlds Collide

"No one will know Chad, and I have Larry and yourself to ensure my safety. This is the human world, it's not like you have monsters here."

"Ok Bolara. Since it seems you have this all figured out Susan, what's everyone going as tonight?"

"You can go as a baseball player. I think Xena could fit into my naughty nurse outfit from last year..."

"Oh I like that idea a lot! Can I have sex with a human?"

"No," Chad and Susan said at the same time.

"Mother and I can go as the royal family, since we are. Feather wants to be an archer, and Larry, well Larry can go as a tengu."

"Sounds like a plan baby. Now if you all don't mind, I need to go put some clothes on instead of my bathrobe."

"You don't have to go to any trouble on my account handsome," Xena said, as she brushed the palm of her hand against the side of her large breast.

Chad turned towards the stairs. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be some kind of weird orgy before we leave, or even worse, later tonight."

September's nightclub, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Adam Dawson led the small group over to a corner table and sat down. Seated next to him, was his lovely wife, Kristine. Her shoulder length auburn hair flowed nicely out of the emerald green witch's hat. Right behind them were Kevin Dvorska and Carl Werner, who pulled their chairs out and sat down.

"Kevin you really should have dressed up tonight, it would have been fun," Kristine told her friend.

"Oh come on Kristine, we went through this over the phone. I'm not much of a Halloween guy, the only reason I am here is because Laura's out of town."

"I'm glad I did Kev, its fun to be someone else for a night," Carl Werner told him.

Carl was dressed as a vampire. It was a little difficult to understand him as he tried to talk with fake fangs in. He had a large afro wig on with a black cape. Kevin wondered if Carl knew how ridiculous he looked. The movie, Blackula, was so old that probably no one had ever heard of it.

While Kevin tried not to laugh at Carl, the server came over to take everyone's drink order. He stared hard at the lovely woman. She had slender hips and average sized breasts, but the thing that struck him the most was her brilliant white teeth and glossy red lipstick. It made a complete package of the Snow White costume.

"Hi, welcome to September's. What's your poison tonight?" Kevin noticed her accent immediately.

Adam looked at her outfit and knew just what to say. "Nothing with apples in it, that's for sure."

"Got it, no apples for table seven," she mumbled as she pretended to write it down.

"Um -- I'm gonna have a gin and tonic," Kristine said.

"Budweiser for the rest of us," Adam added.

Carl turned in his chair, looking at Snow White. "So where are the dwarves tonight?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Kevin helped him out. "He has a minor problem with his teeth. He asked where the dwarfs were tonight."

"Oh the dwarfs, well I wore the little devils down today before work. They're trying to get their strength back for when I get off," she said with a devilish smile.

"That's a wonderful accent you have. Where are you from?" Kevin asked.

"Belgium actually, my husband runs an import/export business here in Virginia Beach."

"I love the sound of it. Say something a girl would say from Belgium."

"Ge kunt maar beter een goede tip achterlaten, luizebal," she said to Kevin with a smile.

"Wow, you didn't just try to hit on me did you?" Kevin laughed.

"Not really, it's Dutch. Translated, it means you'd better tip me well -- you flea ball."

The whole group laughed at Kevin, as he turned three shades of red.

Kristine leaned over to Kevin and whispered in his ear. "Do you think she knows you're a werewolf? Oops, there goes one now," she said, as she playfully plucked an imaginary flea out of Kevin's hair.

"That was -- that was great! What's your -- name lady?" Adam said through his gasps for air.

"It's Mokkelke, and I hope your friend knows I was just kidding. It was the first thing that popped into my mind. I'll be right back with your drinks."

"I think we just found a new hang out Boss," Carl said, as he wiped the tears off his face.

"Adam, I'm gonna head over to the raw bar and get us a snack. Try not to get into trouble while I'm gone," Kristine said, and then kissed his cheek.

"All good witches need an escort. I'll go with you Kristine," Carl said.

"Who said anything about being a good witch?" Kristine winked at Adam and blew her lover a kiss.

Kevin looked around at the people in the club. Most of the patrons were dressed in some sort of Halloween costume. He found it odd that in a beach community, there would be six John Wayne cowboys, including Adam.

When his eyes traveled to the entrance, Kevin saw a few more women walk in, but the one that caught his attention was a dark haired petite woman, who seemed to glide through the door. As she looked for a seat, Kevin saw her eyes. They were dark brown, and seemed to shine brightly with brightly with her makeup.

The black dress she wore went down just below her shapely ass. The large purple stripe that ran down the side flowed perfectly to her toned legs. The jet-black wings she had on stretched down to the floor. Kevin wondered how she was going to sit down without crushing them. The only things keeping them off the floor now were the deep purple 'come fuck me' pumps.

Her eyes stopped at a table next to the SEALs. As she slowly made her way over, every man in the large open area stopped what he was doing -- and stared at her. Even Kevin couldn't take his eyes off her movements. When she reached the empty chairs, she looked at the two men.

"Pardon me love, is this table taken?" the vision of beauty asked. Her accent only added to the overall splendor they were taking in.

It took a moment for the SEALs to recognize that she was speaking to them. Adam blinked a few times, and then cleared his throat.

"No not at all, feel free to sit down."

The woman spread her fake wings out to the side and gracefully sat down and crossed her legs. Just as she was about to say something, Kristine and Carl returned with a large plate of oysters and shrimp.

"Oh honey, you should see the raw bar, it's huge."

"I love your costume. Blackula was a uniquely different take on the vampire world," the dark angel said.

As Carl looked into her eyes, he almost choked on his shrimp while trying to swallow. At first, she thought he didn't hear her.

"I said, I love your costume," she said a little louder this time.

"Oh -- um -- thanks, my buddy Kevin over here didn't think it would look good. He has a thing about mystical beings."

The comment about mystical beings caught her attention, as she turned towards Kevin Dvorska. With a quizzical look, she cocked her head to one side and studied his face. The way she stared at him started to make him nervous as hell.

"I don't mean to be rude, but a few months ago, did you go through the London Heathrow airport at night?"

"Yes, I was on my way home for -- no, it can't be!"

"I thought I recognized your face, although it's pretty hard to forget someone who gave me such great advice. That, and the fact you turned me down that night," the woman said.

Adam stared at his friend as if he'd lost his mind. "That was before he met Laura, and he turned -- her -- down? How in the hell did he become a SEAL with only half a brain?"

"Um -- Kevin, you want to tell us what's going on?" Kristine asked quietly.

"Oh sorry Kristine, everyone, this is Jaz Cullen. She's going to be the next Stephen King. Nice to see you Jaz. I'm glad you took my advice about giving your vamp a soul, so to speak."

"Actually because of what you said to me that night in the bar, my friend mailed my story to a publisher here in Virginia Beach. The company sent me a letter to meet with them. The editor was out, but left me a message to meet her here. She said something about -- issues."

"I'd love to read it when it comes out Miss Cullen, what's the name of the book?" Kristine asked.

"It's called 'Fighting the Inevitable', but I'm not quite sure if it's going to be published. I don't know what kind of problems the editor has with it, so this may be just an expensive waste of time. I mean really, who would want to read a book that was written in an airport bar?"

"If she gets too harsh with you, you're in good company. These three gentlemen love to come to a woman's aid," Kristine said and then winked at her husband.

Adam reached over and grabbed Kristine's hand. As he squeezed it gently, he looked out at the different characters that were coming in. There were some pirates, a few fairies, and sure enough a ghost.

"Wonder how long it took that guy to think of a bed sheet with holes."

When the next group came in, Adam knew he wasn't going to enter and try to compete against those costumes. A large white male with a red beak, who had wings even bigger than Jaz's strolled in. A naughty nurse and two elegant looking women with flowers and baby's breath trimming in their hair followed him. A female archer and a baseball player escorted them. Adam figured the winged male would win.

Just behind them, an extremely stunning female in an Elvira dress entered. With a skintight black dress cut down the front to just above her navel, she'd give both Jaz and Kristine some competition in the attention department. She stepped out of the way of the incoming guests, and looked around as if trying to find someone. When she spotted Jaz's black wings, she slowly walked toward the group.

Watching Jaz strut her way over was a remarkable sight, but this mature woman was putting on a show. She had deep blue eyes that would rival any ocean on earth. It was like looking into someone's soul, and Adam found himself captivated by their sheer brilliance.

He blinked a few times to clear his thoughts, and then continued to watch her sultry movements. Adam hoped the vibrant woman didn't walk like that past a moving vehicle -- someone could get hurt.

Adam could see the sides of her tanned breasts and wondered how in the hell she was keeping the dress closed. As the woman moved, he could see the six-inch stilettos she wore. Adam's mind flashed to a vision of Jaz and this woman trying to escape the grasps of every man in the club, possibly some of the women as well.

Kristine looked over to her husband as Jaz and Kevin chatted with each other. When she noticed whom he was ogling, she pushed her elbow into his rib cage. Adam cleared his throat and looked at his wife.

"What? I can still look at the menu, I'm just not allowed to order off it," Adam said as he rubbed his side.

Just before Elvira reached the table, Mokkelke arrived with the drinks. She almost made the gorgeous cougar trip as she cut in front of her.

"Jesus lady, watch where you're going! You think it's easy to strut around in spikes, you Snow White wanna be!" Elvira thought.

"Sorry about that everyone. There was a mad rush at the bar for drinks, and one of our bartenders is running late," Mokkelke said, as she quickly placed the drinks down.

"Hey Mokkelke, if it's ok with you I'd like to put another round on order. Jaz, what can I get you, a Guinness?" Kevin asked.

"This is my first time in America, so I think maybe something elegant to match my dress. I feel like showing off a bit," Jaz purred.

"Very well then, Mokkelke would you add a bottle of champagne to the list please," Kevin said as he slightly bowed to Jaz.

"Got it, be back as soon as I can, lover boy."

"No you have it all wrong she's not my..."

"What ever, you keep running with that cover story. I've been doing this for a few years and I know how men look at women like it's their last meal," Mokkelke said and then ran off.

As Mokkelke moved out of the way, Kevin saw the mature woman dressed as Elvira standing right behind Jaz. His breath caught in his throat at the vision of the dazzling woman with one hand on her hip and staring at Jaz Cullen.

"Excuse me everyone. You wouldn't be Miss Cullen by any chance, would you? You're the only dark angel in the club," the woman asked.

Jaz turned her body as far as she could without damaging her wings. "Yes I am. You must be Miss T."

"May I join your group? I'd like to talk to you about your story, and I love your dress. That purple stripe really makes it pop."

Jaz turned to look at the three SEALs and Kristine. "Is it alright with everyone if Elvira joins us?" Jaz said with a giggle.

The SEALs just nodded with their mouths open slightly. Miss T slid next to Jaz and placed her clutch purse on the table. After checking her long black wig, she turned to the new author and wondered how she was going to take the news.

"I really want to start partying, so is it ok if we go over your story first Miss Cullen?"

"Oh please call me Jaz, Miss T."

"Actually it's pronounced MizT, with a z at the end. For some reason I just like the sound of it."

"So how bad is it? I had a lot of my friends read it and they thought it was pretty well written."

"First off, I think you're extremely talented Jaz. 'Fighting the Inevitable' has an intriguing story line. I have to be honest when I say it was sometimes difficult to follow. Your use of saidisms in the dialogue can distract the reader."

"Um -- my what?"

"It's called saidisms in the literary world. Some chapters have them when only two people have a dialog. I brought a few pages of the transcript to show you what I mean."

As the copyright editor reached into her purse, she pulled the pages out. They had yellow highlights on them, and MizT had rewritten some of the lines in red ink.

"Things like -- he said, she told him, he replied and so on. This is a common thing to new writers. Just between you and I sweetie, you should have read some of the stuff I did when I first started. My editors had to beat it out of me and I still find myself doing it from time to time. I still have the scars from them if you want to see."

"Oh I see, I guess I have some growing to do."

MizT placed her delicate hand on top of Jaz's. "It took me a long time and some sage advice from fellow authors. We all start somewhere and no matter how many stories you write, you strive to grow with every one of them," she said with a tender smile.

As the group listened to the critique from MizT, Kevin thought about his journey as a United States Navy SEAL.

"I wonder if Jaz would be interested in writing a story about a werewolf who becomes a SEAL."

"Now about your characters. I think a little more character structure would enhance an already wonderful story. Readers want to fall in love with the hero or heroine. You'll know when you have it correct, because your readers will start to believe that the character actually exists in the real world."

"I tried really hard to make Caleb enjoyable," Jaz said eagerly.

"No not Caleb, you have him written so well, that a few of us editors had to retire to the bathroom. We needed to um -- pause for the cause -- if you know what I mean," MizT said as she closed her eyes and licked her lips wantonly.

Jaz Cullen blushed at the comment, and then looked into the editor's eyes. She realized the lovely woman was truly trying to help her. Jaz only wished she could have told her this advice when she first started writing 'Fighting the Inevitable'.

"Well it was worth a shot. I guess I'll go back home in the morning and start going through it again. I do appreciate you taking the time to read it and giving me some feedback. Will it be possible to resubmit it to you when I'm finished?"

"Whoa, I don't think you understand Miss Cullen. Maybe this will make it a little clearer for you. I gave you that advice to help on your next book, not this one silly. The president of the company loved it and he can't stop talking about it. I'm going to make a few minor changes and I'll send the transcript back to you for approval."

"I don't understand, you said..."

The editor pulled out a thick envelope and handed it to her. Jaz glanced down at the packet, then back up at MizT who was smiling back at her. When Jaz opened it, she pulled out some type of formal document.

"That, Miss Cullen, is your contract. It gives our publishing company exclusive rights to all your books for five years. The company will receive the first twenty percent of all book sales, with the remaining profits going to a bank account of your choosing."

"Oh my dear Lord! I'm going to be..."

"A published writer Miss Cullen, and if I'm correct, a very popular one at that," MizT said.

Kevin looked at his new friend who was starting to tear up. He saw MizT reach over to her purse again and take another envelope out of her purse. She handed it to Jaz, who looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Another contract?"

"No Jaz, that's your retainer check. It's not a large sum, but you have to realize that you're just starting. You'll receive another one when it goes to print."

She opened it, and her heart stopped when she saw the check. It was to Jaz Cullen in the amount of seven thousand dollars. Jaz knew the tears that flowed down her beautiful face were ruining her makeup.

Mokkelke arrived just in time to see Jaz openly crying. When she set the champagne and drinks down on the table, she glared at Kevin.

"Why did you make your girlfriend cry? This is a Halloween party and people are supposed to have fun." Kevin shook his head in vain.

"I think she's crying because I just made her weekend. By the way, I could use a glass as well for the champagne, and don't ever cut a woman off when she makes an entrance. Thank you, you can go now," MizT said to Mokkelke with a wave of her hand.

Kevin poured Jaz a glass of the cold, golden liquid, and then raised his beer up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a toast. To the great Jaz Cullen, may -- 'Fighting the Inevitable' -- reach number one on the New York Times best selling list." The group raised their drinks and toasted the brand new author as Jaz wiped her face.

"If you'll excuse us everyone, I think I'm going to take Miss Cullen here to the powder room and see if we can't fix her make up a bit. Then I'm going to find a husband for the night," MizT said as she stood up and lead Jaz away.

Kevin set his beer down and looked out into the crowd. Suddenly, his werewolf senses went crazy inside him, as he searched the room franticly. Kristine knew something was wrong, and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"I know that look Kevin, what's wrong?"

"It's weird Kristine, I sense the presence of another animal," he whispered.

"Is it another werewolf?"

"I don't think so. Maybe someone brought in a service dog or something," Kevin said as he stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Just going to walk around a bit and check out the costumes," he lied to her.

**********

Chad Franklin sipped his rum and coke. He was still nervous about the idea of having real forest creatures running around in the human world. It just wasn't worth the risk if someone realized what his wife and friends really were. He looked over at Susan, as she tried to explain everything to her curious mother.

Feather on the other hand, was looking at every male that went by with a hungry look in her eyes. Chad was always astounded at her lack of delicacy when it came to sex. Be it male or female, she was blunt in letting a partner know what she wanted.

"Feather, will you please stop looking at everyone like a tiger who hasn't eaten in days. I really don't want to draw any attention to the group tonight."

"For the last time Chad, calm down. No one is going to know about us, trust me."

Susan leaned closer to Bolara and whispered in her ear. "That over there Mother is the raw bar. It has little servings of seafood and next to it is the veggie bar if you'd like some carrots and such."