The scene seemed surreal after the discussion a few minutes ago. They all sat benignly around the table chatting about small things. Everyone was helping themselves to hamburgers and French fries while Natalie and Nick sipped politely out two black coffee mugs with a bottle on the table before them.

It was Tracy who shattered the scene.

"Why are we all here?"

"I think people have been asking that question forever." Quipped Darius sarcastically.

"Not like that silly!" Tracy kicked her husband under the table and he smiled at her sweetly.

Nick chuckled and replied. "It does seem rather odd that we are all here."

Schanke shrugged. Darius leaned forward and looked around at everyone gathered at the table.

"Why? Is this not...." he laughed. "normal? I think I got left behind again."

Natalie looked at Darius sympathetically. He was the newcomer in this bunch.

"Sorry Darius. I think we keep forgetting that you don't already know all the facts." Natalie continued. "The thing is, Nick and I are vampires. That's not....normal." She gestured at Schanke. "Don Schanke died in Toronto when his plane exploded shortly after take off. There was only one survivor, thanks to Nick, I was one of the coroners responsible for identifying the bodies. I...identified his body myself."

Nick squeezed Natalie's hand comfortingly and used their link to give her some relief form that memory. Natalie looked at Nick thankfully and continued after a few minutes.

"Tracy was hit when a bullet meant for Nick passed though him. She was pronounced dead shortly before I went to see Nick on a particularly fateful night."

"You were a coroner? But you're a vampire. How did you....."

Natalie chuckled weakly. "Vampire is what I am not my job. Besides, I was human then, I'm not very...old."

Darius leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. Then he started to chuckle and finally he started to laugh in earnest. Nick looked at him worriedly but Darius quickly recovered.

"I'm sorry....ha.... I just realized that everyone here is dead but me."

Everyone shared a smile.

"So, now I understand. Gosh. This is like an episode from the Twilight Zone."

Tracy looked quizzically at her husband. "We all agree that we felt called to come here so now we need to know why."

Just like Tracy, straight to business.

"I think the best way to start would be to explain how we all got here in the first place." Schanke admitted.

"I agree." Darius exclaimed, "and we should start with you, Nick."

Nick pushed away from the table slightly and sipped from his mug.

"Nothing too exciting really. After I thought you had died in Toronto Trace I packed up to leave. I was all set to go but for some reason I just couldn't let go. Natalie came by while I was wrestling with myself and I made some mistakes."

"We both did" Natalie added softly.

"Yes, we both did. Anyway, LaCroix convinced me to bring Nat across and so she became as she is now. We spent a few months away from people while she adjusted then we decided to rejoin the world. For reason I chose to return to New York. I thought it would be fun for Natalie but looking back I don't even think that was why. I knew I ran a risk of discovery but I felt like this was where we should go. And here we are."

Nick sat back and took a long drink from his mug.

Darius shook his head, puzzled. It was still so hard to believe that the two sitting before him were real vampires. Discussing it in class was one thing. Being friends with one was something different. But he pushed the disbelief away, they had to keep going.

"I think that takes care of Nick and Nat." Darius nodded in their direction. "Now I guess it is our turn Trace." Darius smiled at Tracy. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"My wife was in the hospital in Toronto at the same time that Tracy went in. My wife, she had...." Darius paused to wipe his eyes gently. "My wife had terminal cancer and it was only a matter of time.."

Tracy squeezed his hand again.

"My wife's condition got worse until she had to be put into the ICU. I would visit her everyday. Even after she stopped responding and slipped into a coma. Finally she was moved to the coma ward to live out her last few days."

Darius sniffed and Tracy had to continue his story.

"I was in the same room as his wife. After you guys left, I went into cardiac arrest but they managed to bring me back. After that I slipped into a coma for nearly three months. Darius would come and say hi to me everytime he came to see his wife. Or so I'm told."

Tracy smiled at her husband and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Darius continued. "Even after my wife....passed.....I still came to visit Tracy. It made me feel like I still had a reason to live. She really had no one else who came to spend time with her. In fact, I was already in love with her before she ever woke up. But when she finally pulled out of it I was the first face to greet her. Of course, it took a lot of sweet talking from me to make the nurses let me stay, but it was worth it."

Tracy smiled and finished, "We were married a few weeks after I woke up and Dar took a job in New York shortly after that. He wasn't going to take it but we both just decided that we needed to make the move. And here we are."

Everyone turned to Schanke.

"Your turn Schanke." Nick intoned.

Everyone chuckled nervously. For some reason, they all felt that they were on the right track, that this was something they had all been called there to do. It is a very odd and puzzling feeling; the feeling that you are just part of some plot; all characters in the hands of some unknown entity.

Schanke closed his eyes for a moment and began.

"I was just going to ask the flight attendant for some more peanuts when it happened. I saw a flash of fire and intense light and I could hear screams everywhere around me. I still hear them sometimes in my dreams."

Schanke looked down at the floor and pushed a crumb with the toe of his shoe.

"I don't remember much. I was in such pain for what seemed like hours but it was only a few seconds, if even that. I think I died in that explosion but I didn't stay dead. I woke up on a bed of silk, in some stupid tux and dead flowers in my hands. Five guesses where that was. You don't want to hear what it was like to crawl out of your own grave, believe you me. After I finally made it out I knew I couldn't go back. I just couldn't face my life again. So I left. I wandered all over. Until I felt this irresistible urge to come to New York. So, what else am I goin' do? You know? I came here. I stopped to get a hot-dog and the rest is history. "

Nick opened his mouth to offer comfort but he froze in mid-word. Natalie froze with the coffee cup halfway to her lips. Everyone was captured for a moment completely still. Trapped out of time. Behind Tracy a small figure started to materialize. She appeared to be about 17 and was were superman pajamas but without the fleece jacket because she didn't need it in that world. The small figure appeared and began moving through the frozen figures, headed for the.....