Episode Three (1/12/01)

When Lily Sloan stepped into Father Garibaldi's tub of holy water in his church's basement the water actually rained upward upon her--a reverse waterfall, as it were. Garibaldi wasn't nearly as shocked as she was by this, since it was more or less what the divine vision he had while in solitary confinement spoke of. But now Lily had to fulfill her destiny and step (of her own free will) into an adjacent tub filled with molten silver.

Gambling that the liquid metal would be as miraculously anthropomorphic as the holy water was, Lily closed her eyes and took the biggest risk she'd ever taken. If this is the end, Lily sardonically thought, it'll mean one less black lesbian with dyed blond hair in the world getting fired from teaching jobs for having too many ethics and principles.

Lily Sloan dipped her right foot into the swirling mass of silvery lava. At first, the tip of her shoe merely skimmed the surface of the pool of pewter. Then the holy water that had been soaking her stopped moving altogether and all at once splashed back into the tub or trickled onto the ground. The melted sterling suddenly leapt from its tub and pulled Lily in like a mini-tsunami. She screamed, but before any sound could escape her lips, the molten silver had completely enveloped her body with a life all its own, and even the divinely assured Garibaldi was a bit worried...

Lily awoke with a hangover from the dozen pints of beer she had at the bar, and actually didn't mind, because her first thought was that the aforementioned had all been a bad dream--until Father Garibaldi's pudgy face became the first sight Lily laid eyes on. "You've been unconscious for a whole day, and a lot has happened. If you can walk, you better come upstairs."

After a moment, Lily got to her feet and staggered up the stairs. She remembered there being a few dozen homeless people sleeping on cots across the main floor of the church where pews usually would be (Garibaldi was that radical of a priest) when they first went to the basement on New Year's Eve. Now there were well over a hundred crowded around a couple of pirate radio sets, and they didn't look to be any parish or congregation, they looked more like refugees on the run.

"What's this?" Lily asked, but was immediately hushed. Everyone was paying rapt attention to the static-laden broadcasts speaking of how swarms of vampires had descended upon the world's major cities after Y2K and took out the power and water supply. Of how military bases and police forces were scrambling for silver when they discovered the hard way their men were trying to hold off armies of werewolves. And of how civilians were being taken to sports arenas and never heard from again. Then a frantic teacher from the school she was fired from recognized Lily as her mind swam over the prospect of Garibaldi's prophesy coming true. "Lily, I saw them take your girlfriend, Rose!"

TO BE CONTINUED