DISCLAIMER: All "Shaun of the Dead" characters belong to the dynamic duo of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Don't forget to rush out and buy "Shaun of the Dead" on DVD December 21st; it makes a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa gift! And now back to our story.

Dear readers, you might need to wear some eye protection. There's a lot of loose ends flying around in this chapter…

The next morning, the Council (or what was left of it) gathered in a smallish room of the Royal Marsden Hospital where the librarian Alexandra was still recovering from wounds received in Davrok's attack on the Council days before. Michael, Grayson and Sara brought chairs into the room and surrounded Lex who continued to work madly on a laptop.

"I gotta' say I'm not too keen on the new conference room," Grayson said. "And the coffee? Definitely sub-par."

"Don't knock it, it's free," Sara reminded, sipping at the bitter brown liquid.

"Right, now that we're all here…" Michael began.

"Wait, where's Shaun?" Sara asked. "It's not like him to miss a meeting. He totally ditched me last night, and now he's late. What is up with him?"

"Actually, Shaun won't be joining us," Michael replied. "I told him that his services were no longer needed since we'll soon be receiving reinforcements from abroad."

"You what?"

"Sara, I need the most well-trained and experienced people in the field when Davrok decides to act. I'm afraid Shaun isn't one of them."

"But Shaun has been a huge help to me. He's just as good a slayer as anybody else on the payroll," she argued. "Look, I trust him with my life. He's like my partner."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Your feelings for Shaun are clouding your judgment, which is exactly what I don't need in the heat of battle," Michael declared. "If we do manage to survive this coming apocalypse, you have my full permission to meet him for a pint. But right now, I need you focused on the mission at hand. Is that clear?"

Sara felt his stern glare and tried to avoid the awkward glances of Lex and Grayson. She decided it was probably best to play by the rules. For now. She would try to contact Shaun later and bring him up to speed. "Yes, sir."

"Now, Alexandra, if you'd be so kind to tell us your progress on the prophecy translation."

"Okay, so bear in mind that my grip on obscure ancient languages is tenuous at best. I mean, Sanskrit? Why did it have to be Sanskrit?"

"I'm fairly sure you're the most qualified person in this room to translate it, Alexandra," Michael stated.

"Right. Anyway, according to this, the ritual must be performed on the Lunar Eclipse. The blood of the troubled woman in white will be shed in order to open the great seal. A wave, or possibly burst, of light will issue forth from the seal which will rid the earth of its unclean masses and bring about an age of permanent darkness in which the soul-less demons will rule."

"Sounds like Las Vegas to me," Grayson remarked.

"So this wave or burst of light is going to kill humans and leave only vampires?" Sara inquired. "That doesn't make sense. Why would they do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"If they wipe out humanity, they wipe out their food supply. Believe me, they're not gonna' be happy feeding on livestock for the rest of eternity."

"Perhaps there's an error in the translation?" Michael suggested.

"No, no errors, Michael," Lex assured. "I've been over this a hundred times, using the most up-to-date translation codes."

"Well, what about this great seal?" Grayson asked. "What does it look like? If we find it first, maybe we can…I dunno, shut it off."

"We've no idea what kind of seal they're referring to," Michael said. "It could be pagan, Celtic, Catholic."

"If it's Catholic, someone in the Vatican would be able to tell us."

"I'm guessing if it holds some kind of light to rid the earth of unclean masses, it would be on consecrated ground," Sara offered.

"Davrok's a vampire. Why would he willingly go on consecrated ground?"

"If he wanted it badly enough, he'd probably swim through holy water."

"I'm afraid I can't find any further information on the seal," Lex said. "If we knew its proper name, we could trace its origin in the relics index."

Sara suddenly remembered the journal that she and Shaun had found. To her immense relief, it was still in her backpack. For once, she was glad she had procrastinated doing any cleaning or organizing. "Hang on, this journal was in Ryland's office," she said, handing the small leather-bound book to Lex. "He's been researching the ritual. I'm betting he has a record of where this seal is and what it looks like."

"Well done, Sara," Michael said.

"Actually, Shaun found it. Maybe you should thank him," she replied harshly.

"Well, we have yet to see if it's of any help."

Lex flipped through the pages for drawings or diagrams. Finally her eyes landed on a page with a circular drawing of complex intertwined knots and demonic faces. "Jackpot! La Trayectoria Luz."

"What does that mean?" Grayson inquired.

"The Path to the light," Sara answered. "Sometimes I am so stupid. This writing isn't Serbian, it's Spanish."

"Spanish?"

"It makes sense. When was the last time a Catholic sat on the throne?"

"It would have to have been before Henry VIII established the Church of England."

"Exactly. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was a Spanish princess and a devout Catholic. She was the last real bastion of the Catholic Church in this country."

"So you're thinking either the Catholic Church created this seal as retribution against the English heretics, or the English created it as a means to cleanse their country of Catholics," Lex elaborated.

"It's a reach," Michael doubted.

"But it gives us somewhere to start," Sara said.

"You said it would be on consecrated ground," Grayson continued. "So how many churches are there in London?"

"Within the city limits, around 50," Lex replied.

"Then we better get started." He tossed Sara her backpack and picked up his own. "Ladies first."

"If we split up, we'll cover more ground," she stated, not at all pleased at the thought of sharing a car with him.

"It's hard to cover ground when you don't have a car," Michael interjected.

"Oh, throw that in my face. Look, just drop me off at the Council and I'll get another car from the garage."

"Fine," Grayson agreed, grabbing the journal and heading for a copy machine. "The sooner we find this thing, the sooner I can be on my way to Finland."

"What's in Finland?" she asked.

"Stewardess convention."

"I think they're called flight attendants now," she corrected.

"Whatever. It's gotta' be more fun than looking for this seal of whatchamacallit...."

"La Trayectoria Luz," Ryland repeated, looking up from the unrolled parchment on his desk. "It was so kind of the Council to donate these blueprints to us. Makes my job a great deal easier."

"You have found the seal?" Davrok asked.

"Right where I thought it would be. It was damn foolish of me to lose my journal but I think I can piece the ritual together from these parchments. Certainly helps to have an exact location. I was getting quite tired of all this vague 'great seal' nonsense."

"What do we require for the ritual?"

"Oh, a silver dagger, the blood of the slayer to open La Trayectoria Luz, the words of a medieval Spanish monk, a one-way ticket to Cambridgeshire, and some vanilla incense."

"Does this incense have mystical powers?"

"No, I just like the way it smells," Ryland replied.

That day, Shaun was back at work at Foree Electric. He had chosen not to think about vampires or prophecies or anything supernatural anymore. Just focus on moving inventory and keeping his uppity underlings in line. He was in the middle of telling a couple about the advantages of the TK 421 model refrigerator when a very upset-looking woman entered the store. "Excuse me just a moment," he apologized. "Can I help you?" he asked, ducking behind the counter as she approached.

"Shaun, where have you been?" Sara asked desperately. "I've tried calling, I went round your house."

"As you can see, I am busy with work."

"What?"

"I'm doing my job, Sara. I'm sorry it's not as glamorous as fighting demons and all, but I have certain responsibilities here."

"Responsibilities? What about your responsibilities to the Council? Duties that are slightly more important than selling refrigerators. Our work isn't done."

"Actually, my work is. I was just a temp anyway. I'm sure Captain America or whatever his name is can pick up the slack."

"You mean Grayson? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm not the one who has a 'history' with him."

"And he's not the one I was kissing last night," she protested. "I'm sorry if him being here makes you feel insecure or something, but there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Grayson. What do I have to say to make you believe that?"

"Look," he sighed and leveled his gaze on her. "We are part of two very different worlds, Sara, and I just don't think it's gonna' work between us."

"Wait, what? Shaun, this isn't about us. It's about stopping the world from ending in two days."

"See, I think you're just being melodramatic. Everyone thought the world was ending on Z-Day, but it didn't. We're all still here."

She crossed her arms and stared at him, as if staring would somehow reveal the reason for the change in his behavior. "Why are you being like this?" she asked softly.

"Like what?" He dismissively shrugged.

"Like a massive wanker. What happened? Did I say or do something wrong? Did Michael say something to you?"

"He said that I was no longer needed."

"Oh, sod Michael. Since when did you start caring what he says anyway? This city needs you." She paused and tried to convey her next sentence with appropriate emotion rather than desperation. "I need you, Shaun. Doesn't that matter?"

He looked away and didn't want to face her. Of course it mattered. Liz never told him that she needed him. Now here Sara was saying that she needed him and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't say yes. "Look, I'm sorry that I can't be there for you, Sara. But I have a job to do here."

"Right," she nodded slowly. "Well, I hope that you enjoyed that kiss last night because it's the last one you will ever get from me."

"Oh, because you've gone off me now?" he taunted.

"No, Shaun, because the fucking world is going to end!" she cried. "Kinda' puts a damper on everyone's snogging plans now, doesn't it?" She turned and stormed out of the store, ignoring the shocked expressions of the customers.

"Have a nice day," he called after her.

"Bugger off, Shaun!" she shouted, slamming the door.

Returning his attention to the couple, he smiled cordially and said, "See, now that is what happens when you choose the wrong model of refrigerator."