#lilithverse

Christina trained with Lady Heather for a year, and while training, started outlining an ambitious plan.  She spent long nights on the phone with Jamie and Tommy, detailing what was blossoming in her mind.  The large number of clans, of weak vampires who needed protection, made her aware of a need.  A safe house, a complex where vampires could work, recover, and become reintegrated into society.  So many of them had been underground for so long, they had no modern paperwork.  Christina envisioned this safe house disguised as a working Las Vegas resort. 

Lady Heather gave her support to the plan; as Master Vampire of Las Vegas, her endorsement went a long way with the traditional vampire community.  Christina learned to play politics, both human and vampire, as she scouted a location for the project, worked with architects, engineers, building inspectors, and the hive of professionals needed.  In 2002, though, all the work paid off when Lilith’s Reign, a gothic, vampire-themed hotel and resort opened. 

Despite her work in the vampire communities and running Lilith’s Reign, Christina still missed her days as a dancer.  She’d had practice studios and a theater built into the resort, planning to bring in shows that fit the theme eventually.  It wasn’t uncommon to find her in one of the dance studios after-hours, running barre exercises, floor exercises, anything to connect with her simpler past dreams. 

In 2003, Evanescence released their debut album, Fallen.  Christina fell in love with the music, playing it in her private practice studio during her late-night sessions.  She started to weave a story around the songs, and after a while, contacted Johnny.  He was still with Anaheim Ballet, but was starting to strain under the creative restrictions.  She outlined her idea: a modern rock-ballet set to Fallen, telling the story she’d woven.  Intrigued, he came to Las Vegas and worked with her for a few days, falling back into the old practice habits.  They signed an informal deal after two days: Johnny would choreograph the show.  They worked on it for months, and the summer of 2004, they debuted Fallen as the first show in Lilith’s Reign’s theater.   The popularity of the show exploded, the music fitting the story of a young woman tormented by mental and physical demons, descending into madness and her slow, maddening climb back into a whole being.

In 2006, they added a dance club, Reign.  Every month on the full moon, there would be a special show, ReignStorm.  During the performance, Christina would absorb the sexual energy from the club, multiply it, and feed it back to the vampires in the crowd.  Word spread through the clans; it became common for the club’s audience to be filled with vampires on the full moon, making the pilgrimage to share a spiritual communion with their Queen of Queens.

This is the setting I use for Christina and Jamie these days.  Lilith’s Reign is the backdrop; Christina is still a dancer, but also a successful businesswoman.  She’s traded slip dresses for tailored business suits, sandals for stilettos, and her figure is a little fuller, due to the Mother of Vampires status, when she’s not actively training for a show.  Her hair, when unbound, reaches her waist, still as straight and dark as when she was a teenager.  Her eyes are still wide and blue, her skin still pale and clear, though she uses a light hand with cosmetics, enhancing her features to her advantage.  Her business and professional attitude, learned from Lady Heather, is cool and formal. 

Jamie lives and works at Lilith’s Reign, though she has boltholes and apartments scattered throughout the city.  Her hair is shorter now, styled in an angular, chin-length cut she finds easier to deal with.  Her primary responsibility is security, though she also worked on set design for Fallen.  Most of the time, she enjoys ordering her security staff around.  She never lost her dry, sarcastic sense of humor.  Her work wardrobe is full of comfortable, tailored slacks, silk shells and blouses, and short, fitted blazers with plenty of hidden pockets.  She also has a butter-soft ankle-length deep purple trenchcoat and matching trousers she brings out for “special” occasions.

Tommy also works security at Lilith’s Reign, training the security staff in martial arts and non-lethal takedowns.  More than one guest has swooned at seeing him sweeping through the halls in his dark suit and glasses, long hair now worn short and spiky, with a small, neatly-trimmed goatee.

There are two other characters of note at Lilith’s Reign.  Tiffany, a lush blonde, is Christina’s personal assistant.  A vampire, she’s ruthlessly efficient, a speed-typist, and a close friend of Christina since they work so close together.  She considers herself the last line of defense, and many, many people have been turned away, discouraged from their brief encounters with Tiffany.  It’s rumored she has a count on her keyboard drawer, a tiny gold star for every person she’s scared off.  No one’s been willing to check.

Ginger, on the other hand, is shorter, thicker, and a scientist to the core.  Her name describes her; her hair is pale red and slightly frizzy.  Despite being a vampire, she still wears glasses.  She was a weak vampire Christina rescued from a corrupt clan.  Ginger’s mind didn’t lend itself to the control of the queen; it was slippery and brilliant and impossible to grasp.  The queen didn’t kill her; it would have been a waste of intelligence.  Instead, they kept her locked in a small lab, occupied with tiny puzzles, unless they wanted some entertainment for the night.  Then, they’d bring her out, and amuse themselves with torturing the poor girl.  Christina took an immediate liking to Ginger; when they found her, it was after one of those terrible nights.  Ginger could feel Christina’s empathy and clung to her like a lifebuoy.  Christina set Ginger up in a research lab in a sub-basement.  When Lilith’s Reign was built, Christina had hopes of finding someone who could help resurrect Billy’s research and the Power Chamber.  Ginger’s mind seemed perfect for the task.  When Christina took Ginger down to the lab and turned on the lights, she swore there were stars in Ginger’s eyes and little hearts and doves circling the girl’s head.  She’d hugged Christina tightly before diving into the research, muttering and scribbling notes contentedly.

New Year’s Day 1997, Christina’s eighteenth birthday, dawned crisp and cool for Southern California.  The Zedden household woke to an official knock on the door.  Leslie answered it, letting in a strange figure in a blue-grey uniform.  The figure asked for Christina Collins, Jamie Zedden, and Tommy Oliver.  Jamie volunteered to call Tommy; Leslie offered their visitor coffee.  When Tommy arrived, his long hair still tangled from sleep, the figure told them its purpose.  It was an officer of the Intergalactic Police Force, sent to find those who defeated Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, and Master Vile.  Leslie rose up at this; there was no way she would let some alien police force arrest the kids for doing what was needed to survive.  The officer coughed and clarified.  It wasn’t there to arrest them.  It was there to disperse a reward.  Zedd, Rita and Vile had been at large for a very long time; the IPF had issued a substantial bounty on all of them millennia ago.  The bounty for Zedd and Rita was dispersed to Christina; the three shared the bounty on Master Vile.

The teenagers looked at the paperwork in shock.  The IPF had converted the Galactic Credit amount into Earth-American dollars; just one of the bounties shared three ways would have kept their descendants living comfortably for generations. 

With their newfound resources, they established a scholarship fund at Angel Grove, the Power Ranger Memorial Scholarship, for graduating seniors who best exemplified the qualities shown in their fallen friends: leadership, knowledge, community service, compassion, and charity.  Hank Cranston, Billy’s father, was appointed head of the trust; the rest of the Rangers’ parents served on the scholarship board.

They graduated in May; in April, Christina and her longtime pas de deux partner, Johnny, had auditioned for the Coast Ballet Company.  Both were accepted, and in August, Coast Ballet Company became Anaheim Ballet.  Christina took a light course load at UCLA during the rehearsal season, focusing on core classes she’d need for any major.

Jamie also went to UCLA, but took a full course load, focusing on her art and adding a minor in psychology.  Tommy stayed near Angel Grove, taking business courses at Angel Grove Community College, focusing on opening his own dojo. 

In September of 1998, Christina and Johnny performed two pieces at a fundraising event: the wedding pas de deux from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, and a modern pas de deux, choreographed by Johnny, set to Alanis Morrisette’s “Uninvited.”  At the reception and auction following the performance, Christina was sought out, flirted with, and asked to dinner by a wealthy member of the audience.  He outbid everyone for her toe shoes, danced with her, and kissed her on the balcony before the night was over.  Christina was cautiously optimistic about the upcoming date, about letting someone new into her life.  Her optimism sank when, on the night of the dinner, he never showed and didn’t answer her call. 

She didn’t have much time to dwell.  Her Lilith powers were starting to assert themselves again; she could feel other vampires in the area.  She started keeping an eye on crime reports, watching for anything similar to what happened in Angel Grove.  At night, after her classes, she’d spend hours meditating, seeking out the other vampire presences, sorting them, getting a feel for the minds around her.  It was early in 1999 when she felt the first distress call.

Being from the Lilith bloodline, Jamie and Tommy felt the call as well.  The three of them met at Christina’s studio apartment to decide what to do.  They were in agreement: they couldn’t ignore the call.  Tommy scouted the area the call came from, finding out everything he could.  The Lilith strain plus his Ranger powers let him map out the area and its inhabitants.  There was a minor queen in residence, holding court over a small clan of loyal vampires.  The distress call they’d felt was from one of the queen’s prisoners, a weaker vampire who didn’t share the queen’s bloodlust. 

This was the first clan they rousted.  There was no question of rehabilitation; vampires with that deep of a bloodlust could never be swayed from a path of death and destruction.  Christina’s powers allowed her to see the vampires’ true natures: those with good hearts were saved, those with evil, destroyed.  The prisoners were freed.  Christina finally knew what she was supposed to do as Lilith: destroy the evil that had taken root in the vampire race and reward the good ones by bringing them into the Lilith bloodline.  The Lilith bloodline wiped out their weaknesses, the susceptibility to sunlight and silver, the blood or sex cravings, and the infertility.  She would be able to call them when needed, and would know if they started to turn dark. 

Word leaked out in the vampire community; Lilith Reborn walked among them, meting out life and death to those deserving of each.  Good queens sought her out, pledged fealty to her, and received the Lilithblood for themselves and their clans.  Vampires who hadn’t seen a sunrise in centuries got to step out and feel the warmth on their skins.  Corrupt queens sent their best assassins to take out the threat and received a box containing the assassins’ weapons…and then a visit from Lilith Reborn and her two lieutenants. 

It wasn’t long before Christina knew that her Lilith duties were going to take most of her time.  She’d spend all night with Jamie and Tommy, exterminating corrupt clans, and be weary in her dance classes.  Johnny took her aside after one class and asked her what was wrong.  The whole story tumbled out, from the time she first became a Power Ranger, what happened while she was abducted, being Lilith, and the recent troubles with the clans.  Johnny listened, nodding where appropriate, and when she finally ran out of words, he just held her.  “You could have told me, any time, you know.  We’re partners.  You don’t have to carry this alone.”  He cracked a crooked smile, tilting her face up to meet her eyes.  “Heck, you could have converted me.  Chicks dig vampires.”  She slugged his arm, but laughed.

Junior year started the same way sophomore year ended: battling the threat of Lord Zedd, now teamed with Rita Repulsa, the original threat to Earth’s safety.  In October, though, Christina faced a new challenge.  LAPD officers showed up on the SCFAA campus, looking for her.  Her parents and younger brother had been killed in their Los Angeles home.  Christina had no idea why her parents, a CalTech physics professor and an inner-city high school English teacher, would have been targeted.  Investigations stalled; the case was shelved as a cold case, unsolved.  Jamie’s mother Leslie, a social worker in Angel Grove, had been named Christina’s guardian. 

November brought another death: Billy was killed in his garage workshop, much the same way Christina’s family had been killed.  Angel Grove PD treated it as a separate case, until three weeks later, Zack Taylor, another Power Ranger, was found dead in Angel Grove Park.  Trini Kwan went missing and was found three days later, inside a cave by the shoreline, dead.  Three deaths in Angel Grove.  A family killed in Los Angeles.  One girl linked to all six victims.  LAPD and AGPD started working together.  The media started calling the killings The Ballerina Murders.  January brought the death of Jamie’s boyfriend, Jason.  Christina and Jamie grieved together, sure in their belief that Zedd was somehow behind the killings, but unsure how to prove it. 

Valentine’s Day dawned unseasonably cold in Angel Grove and Stone Canyon.  Christina had plans to meet up with Kimberly Hart for a morning run in the exercise loop at the park.  Both girls were on alert; Kimberly was another Power Ranger, the last of the original five still alive.  They were ambushed on a shadowed bend: not putties, not Zedd’s typical minions, but an Earth-based threat.  Vampires. 

Christina and Kimberly both grabbed their morphers, but the vampires were stronger, faster.  Christina was held tight, arms behind her back, and forced to watch as three vampires fed on Kimberly before tearing out her throat.  As Christina screamed for her friend, she was knocked unconscious.

She woke naked and restrained to a metal framework.  Her arms were locked above her head.  A bar between her ankles kept her legs spread wide.  A band around her waist kept her torso from moving.  Frantically, she turned her head from side to side, trying to identify her surroundings.  The sight of a full Earth through a window made her freeze: she was on the moon.  There was only one place on the moon she could be: Zedd’s palace.

His metal faceplate soon filled her field of view, confirming her fears.  She learned that the attacking vampires had been hired by him; they were what had killed her family and friends.  They’d had orders to spare Jamie (being Zedd’s daughter) and Tommy (Rita’s greatest failure; Zedd wanted to destroy Tommy himself).  Christina was to be given to the vampires after he’d had the chance to break her.

For over a month, Zedd proved that despite his appearance, he was still in perfect functioning order.  His alien heritage gave him a markedly different anatomy from human: his penis appeared forked.  The metal bar between Christina’s ankles was anchored on a slide; Zedd shoved the bar up, locking it to the band around her waist, forcing her legs and knees to bow open, giving him unrestricted access to her.  That was how she lost her virginity, in a vicious dual-pronged rape.  Her Ranger powers increased her healing speed; every time he raped her, it was as if he took her virginity again and again.

Not satisfied with just violating her, Zedd also took to beating her, using whips, canes, and anything he happened to lay his hands on.  His goal was to see her spirit broken, to see her willingly submit to him, to beg for him to use her, abuse her.  Six weeks into her captivity, he threw her bruised, bloody body to the vampires.

The vampires had their own agenda.  Different from the typical vampires, this subset had a thirst for sex as well as blood.  While the typical vampires had a loose organization, surrounded by Masters and a Council, these were ruled by Queens.  An ancient prophecy foretold the coming of the Queen of Queens, Lilith Reborn, she who would unite or destroy their kind and give birth to a new, stronger race of vampires.  A knot of Queens had studied this prophecy for centuries, searching for the right girl.  They’d had some misfires, made some mistakes, but they were certain Christina was finally the perfect subject.  This was why they’d agreed to Zedd’s proposal.  They wanted Christina to breed their new race of vampires. 

Once again, she found herself restrained, this time to an elaborate altar.  The seven queens ringed her, two at her neck, one at each wrist, one at each thigh, and their ringleader at her heart.  At the signal, all seven bit in, feasting on her Ranger blood, injecting her with the vampire toxin.  The ringleader mixed their blood with a concoction in a silver goblet, pouring the mixture down Christina’s throat.  Her blue eyes shot open, glowing silver with power.  She strained against her bonds, but they held fast.  The queens knew their new Lilith would be strong; they didn’t want to risk losing her before she could be bred. 

They’d hand-picked the strongest warriors from their clans to sire their new race.  While Christina fought and struggled, she was used near-constantly; as one spent his seed, another eagerly took his place, hoping his would be the first-born.  Not wanting any risk of loss, the queens pumped Christina full of Earth-based drugs, enhancing the Lilith’s natural fertility. 

Weeks passed.  Spring dawned on Earth, but on the barren Moon, no one paid notice.  No one but the thin, drawn girl restrained to an ancient altar.  Her new Lilith powers felt the Spring and responded, swelling like a mountain stream after the snowmelt, touching her connection to the Morphin Grid, pulling, fusing with that power.  She waited.  When the queens brought in the studs for that day’s mating, she acted.  The restraints melted from her limbs; her very skin glowed with power.  Her blue eyes were circled with a blood-red ring; her dry, cracked lips pulled back from sharp fangs as she snarled a warning. 

The queens took no heed; they felt themselves stronger.  They were wrong.  Christina rose against her captors, taking a primal revenge for the acts committed against her.  Only one person left that room again, a thin, pale, naked girl.  Bloody footprints marked a path from the altar room to her next target.

Zedd tried to fight.  Christina smacked him down, tearing into him with all the force and subtlety of a pack of starving wolves.  Pieces littered the floor when she finished.  She turned to the window, staring at Earth with longing in her eyes.  She summoned her new powers, transforming into a shimmering silver-white figure; as she left the lunar surface, she sent a ball of white-hot energy to the alien palace.  It flared, briefly, before exploding in a cloud of dust.  No one left in that palace, alien, vampire or otherwise, survived.

She shot back to Earth in a streak of silvery-white light.  Her landing was hard, but on target: the outskirts of Angel Grove, a quarry Zedd often used for his confrontations. 

Not long after her initial landing, she pushed off again, touching the Morphin Grid to teleport into the Command Center.  The adrenaline finally seeped out; she collapsed under Zordon’s watchful gaze.  Alpha moved her to a recovery bed; Zordon called Jamie and Tommy.  Ten weeks had passed since Christina’s abduction, ten weeks that had been eerily silent on the alien attack front. 

Zordon kept Christina in a deep healing sleep while he ran scans on her body and mind.  Jamie sat vigil over her friend, watching the scenes Zordon pulled from Christina’s memories.  Low growls and hisses came from her throat as she saw what her father did to her friend.  Jamie gripped the arms of her chair, knuckles white as the vampire queens acted.  When Christina broke from her bonds, the armrests snapped in Jamie’s hands.

Jamie did what she could to protect the girl who was family to her.  When Zordon’s medical scans showed a pregnancy, she didn’t hesitate.  “Get rid of it.  Don’t ever tell her.  She doesn’t need this; she’s been through hell already.”