Hunger. I opened my eyes. Complete blackness. Stillness. I lie motionless for a moment, listening. There was no one to be heard for miles in this city. This is bad, I thought. Could it have happened so fast? Everyone? I didn’t want to believe it. I left my blackened chamber and stepped out into the quiet night. Utter stillness. “What are you going to do now...”, I whispered to myself. *** The moonlight shown down …showed first 75 words of 666 total…

…showed last 75 words of 666 total…because he simply stumbled to the floor and lay there staring. He began to mumble in Italian. “...Vampiri...” “Yes, my friend, Vampiri, and all of the other meaningless names. Come, do not blame me for all of this. It is he, Black Death, whom you should accuse. Let us now together laugh in his face...” ‘Ahh...’ *** The moonlight shown down on the empty street. Now it is truly silent, except, of course, for my footsteps.