The tension in the Fusion Offices was almost unbearable and the official announcement at the finance meeting was still to come. Erica's employees were being irritatingly smug about the whole thing… and as Kendal was out of the office, Madison and Randi decided to go elsewhere for a working lunch to gather their thoughts before the meeting.

They took a table in the corner at Krystal's. Randi pulled out her laptop while Madison perused the menu. She wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy talking but she had a real craving for bacon and mayonnaise… maybe with a chocolate brownie.

"So how do we compare on the numbers?" Madison asked after they had given Krystal their order.

"Midnight Shadow is nowhere near matching the income coming in from Erica's Origana range." said Randi, "Even if you go on percentages of profit versus expenses Erica is still coming out on top."

"Kendal is not going to be happy." sighed Madison.

"And you know the most irritating part."

"Erica was right to spend half a million on advertising?" quipped Madison.

Randi didn't look like she appreciated her friend's reply.

"No, the most irritating thing is those comics we gave out for free, are now worth a fortune online."

Madison remembered her mentioning it last week.

"Yeah, you said, five dollars a set."

"An issue." corrected Randi, "And that was last week… issues five and six are now selling for fifteen to thirty dollars each."

"Why would someone pay that much for a ten page comic?" Madison asked incredulously.

"You don't do much social networking do you? It's everywhere."

"What is?"

"We have created a phenomenon. You should see some of the stuff being written about Midnight Shadow online at the moment! She's everywhere!"

Madison shook her head.

"Even if that is true, how will that help us with today's finance meeting? The comic was great for PR and all, but how is it actually making us any money?"

…

In an office in L.A., Kit Sterling, the big time movie producer and director, was sitting behind a large mahogany desk, looking over his sunglasses at the two nervous young executives standing before him.

"Well, pitch." he said, in his best intimidating voice.

The first young man stepped forward. He was visibly sweating. Kit loved having this effect on his underlings, it meant they respected him.

"Picture the scene." the youth stammered, "There is a secret world unknown to humanity. A world that hasn't changed for centuries; with rules and attitudes set in stone. A world peopled by a wretched race of creatures lost in the shadows still believing themselves to be mighty and powerful. There is only a handful of them left but in their eyes they are gods. Next to them, the human race is simply cattle, put on the earth to service their needs. They believe that everything that humanity does is worthless and an abomination. It is a very dangerous and unbending society built on blood. I'm talking about Vampires!"

Kit's ears pricked up, Vampires were hot property in the box office at the moment.

"Go on." he said, leaning forward in his chair slightly.

The second young man, the one in Woody Allen spectacles, stepped forward, his expression slightly more confident now Kit was showing interest.

"Into this world is born a young vampire. She wants something more than the old ways and becomes fascinated with the forbidden world of humanity. You see her growing up, a child in the sixties, illicitly stealing a comic book from a camper van belonging to a family devoured by her people. This begins an obsession with superheroes… As a child she begins to realise her people are the evil monsters from her comics. She decides she would rather be the hero... then you jump to the present day when she finally finds a way to live in the human world."

"Vampires are long lived so it takes her a long time to grow up, so after fifty years she appears about twenty." explained 'sweaty guy'. "She is in almost all respects immortal, also super strong and super fast. But there are many things that stop her from living in the real world with humans the way she wants to. First, vampires have no reflection, physically she has an outline in the mirror only her features are a blur."

"But she discovers make-up is the perfect disguise." said 'Woody Allen specs', "Done right it can give her a human reflection – like a make-up mask that allows her to be seen in the mirror and on cameras and so on. The film then follows her as she tries to use her powers for good and become the hero she dreams of; all the while fighting against her instincts and her hunger. Keeping her new identity secret from her vampire clan and her true nature secret from her human friends.

"I'm liking the sound of this, vampires and super heroes, this could be box office gold!" said Kit. "How soon can you get me a story board together?"

"Um, one already exists," said the sweaty executive, putting a small stack of comic books on the desk.

Kit picked up the top copy.

"Midnight Shadow… I like it! Can you get me the rights? Who owns it… Marvel… DC?"

"Fusion Cosmetics." replied the sweaty executive.

"A cosmetics company? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"The company belongs to Kendal Hart-Slater."

"Erica Kane's daughter!" choked Kit. "That woman… that woman. She cost me a fortune, forcing me to pay royalties to her daughter's charity… 10 per cent."

Kit's face had almost turned green.

"I thought the Erica Kane movie was this company's highest grossing film to date," said 'Woody Allen specs', "And that advertisers were offering eight digit figures for product placement in the third film which isn't even in production yet!"

Kit took a deep breath; that was true…

He picked up the comic book again, it was too good a thing to miss out on.

He pressed the intercom button.

"Heidi, get Fusion Cosmetics on the phone. I need to speak to one Kendal Hart-Slater."

As long as he didn't have to deal with Erica in person…

…