Mina realized with great exhaustion that this wasn't some ghost or hallucination that was wrecking about the room. She could see no faint lights in him or foggy exterior. No chains rattling or haunting echo's reeling from his mouth.

It was just Dorian Gray, plain and simple. Well, she thought as she still held to the curtain, not plain. There could be no imagination that could muster up a look of unattractiveness for him. She had tried. Many times she had trained her eyes to look upon him and call him ugly, but she had always been unsuccessful. His mind was hideous, but his face was terribly beautiful.

He had burst through the doors, but now he strolled across the floor, perching himself beside the crackling fireplace, his eyes lit with a hollow light from the flames, "Sorry to crash the party, lover." He said eyeing her darkly, his hand grasping at a poker and slamming it roughly into a log that had spilled out onto the floor at his feet.

Mina looked about at the other men. They all seemed to be contemplating what to do.

Tom was the first to react. All of a sudden he was standing beside Dorian with his gun to Dorian's head. She could see that his hand was shaking a bit and a light sweat had broken out on his forehead. He brushed a hand over his face, his eyes shifting about the room, "Just leave." He said in a harsh voice, "Leave cause I don't want to shoot you."

Dorian raised an ebony eyebrow at Mina and turned slowly to look directly into the barrel of the gun, "I really don't think you want to toy with me, Tom Sawyer."

Tom backed up a bit, now fumbling in his pocket for something while he still held the gun to Dorian's head. He was getting anxious, his arm beginning to quiver from the tight hold he had on his weapon. He could feel what he was searching for, but he couldn't get a good hold of it. Dorian stepped closer now, his head nudging up against the front of the gun.

"Silver bullets and a cross and you'll die." Tom said as he brought a tiny cross out of his pants. He held it up, the sweat from his forehead now sliding into his eyes.

Dorian grinned, "So now I am a vampire and a werewolf all in one?" he mused, "How interesting." He raised the fire poker now tapping at the revolver lightly, "You forget, dear boy, I can't die."

Skinner stepped up behind Dorian and quickly smacked him in the back of the head, "The boys an idiot." He said and backed up as soon as Dorian turned his way. He now raised the glowing end of the fire poker up to Skinner's face, the red heat of the tip throwing a strange orange glow over Skinner's painted nose.

"Idiot or not, at least he threatened me with a weapon. What is it that you have?" Dorian purred as he continued to push him further back with threat of the heated object.

"Cocky bastard is what ya are." Skinner said as he dodged the hot tip, "Mina told us you died, but 'ere you are looking good as new. Some sort of explanation is in order I suppose."

Suddenly something hit into Dorian and he faltered for a second. Just enough time for Skinner to duck and run over to the door by Jekyll. Now Nemo stepped up to Dorian, his beard the first thing to catch flame as Dorian pointed the tip against it. He leaped back, hitting into Mina, now setting the curtain afire from his beard. Screaming began and then Mina was crashing through the window, throwing Nemo down to the snow.

He buried his face in the white powder of the flakes. Relieved that he still had most of the beard still clinging to his chin.

Dorian now turned on the other two men still in the room. Jekyll had high tailed it out of the place as soon as Mina and Nemo had made their exit through the window. Now the only two in the room were Skinner, who was slowly retreating, and Tom.

Tom seemed to believe that he held some sort of magic to kill Dorian Gray. Skinner knew better.

"Tom!" Skinner said in a rough voice as he gathered up Nemo's boots, "Come on!"

Tom stayed. He was standing now in the middle of the room, one hand on his left hip and his other still grasping the revolver. He looked stupid somehow. Too brazen.

Dorian grinned, his eyes going to Skinner who stood motionless in the doorway, "I think your mother is in the doorway calling to you Tom. You may want to go, I wouldn't want you getting a spankin'." He rested the hot poker in the fire and looked to Tom again, "Or is that what you boys are into nowadays?"

Skinner made a deep groan, walked back into the room, but didn't make it too far before Dorian was threatening him with the poker again. And now it was red hot, the tip almost sizzling with the heat. Skinner stepped back, "Come on Tom, this isn't the time to loss it."

Tom turned slowly, "Mina's safe?"

"Yes." Skinner said, moving back toward the door now. Tom was moving also, his revolver still pointed at Dorian as if that were such a threat to the man.

And then they both ducked out the door and he could hear them thundering down his stairs. Soon he heard them outside right under his window. They were talking quickly. Something about the Nautilus. They were going to the Nautilus.

Dorian grinned to himself. If Mina had any hopes of voyaging on the Nautilus, then he knew she would be back for him.

And it seemed, from what they were jabbering about; he wasn't the only one back from the dead.