Sam scratched his forehead before turning to his colleague.  “This must be part of the original tunnels that were built here over a hunert years back.  Lotta those plans don’t exist no more.”

Romero walked up to the wall and placed both hands flush against the rough side.  Lowering his head, he concentrated on the texture and mass of the block, trying to determine exactly how much would have to be dissolved before continuing.  A faint hum emanated from his body as his mutant power activated, granting him the ability to see through the rock as clearly as a glass window-pane.  As his vision bore through the solid mass, he came upon a void - a space within the concrete - that caught him by surprise.  Inside the void was a perfect vacuum and his low level mutancy could not provide him with the power to see through the nothingness enclosed within the material.

“There’s a space in there, Sam, a hollow of some sort.  Not sure of the size, but it’s not too big by my reckoning.”

Sam snorted.  “Huh.  Maybe we found where they put Jimmy Hoffa.”

They both chuckled at the age old mystery as Sam approached the wall and mimicked his partner’s stand.  Romero backed off to allow Sam’s mutant power to melt the stone.  The heat generated by the man’s power was minimal in the air surrounding them, but bit by bit the minerals melted into white hot liquid at their feet; the special boots created for just this reason protecting them from the almost lava-like flow.  With a suck of tunnel air that made the two men’s hair flutter and the skin on their bare forearms pimple, a small black hole appeared in the concrete; the long sealed cavern was once more open to the New York atmosphere.  As more of the concrete was removed the void began to give up its coffin-like shape causing the joke made earlier to take on a more grim tone. 

Within the space was a pod shaped sack made from a canvas-like material and almost perfectly preserved in time.  Both men cautiously approached, unable to stem their curiosity; finders-keepers being the operative word in their line of work. 

“Open it up Romero” Sam goaded in a whisper, grabbing his partner’s elbow to push him forward.

Romero yanked his elbow from the other’s grip, scowling at the older man as he harshly whispered back.  “I’m not gonna touch it.  You open it.”

“Dammit Romero.  You’re such a pussy.”  But even as Sam criticized his younger partner he was lifting a shaky hand towards the pod.  He gently touched one finger to the material and as he did so the pale white surface began to dissolve into ash right before them.

“What the fuck?” Sam exclaimed as he jumped back, slightly surprised to stand beside his partner.  They both watched as the fine white powder trickled away.  There, covered by a thin layer of dust, lay the outlined form of a body.  The two men involuntarily grabbed for each other and slowly crept forward.  As they reached the prone form Romero leaned forward to get a better view.  Without thinking he blew gently over its face.  The dust lifted in a small cloud causing the two to cough for a moment.  But as it settled once more, and they blinked away the irritation, looks of shear amazement passed over their faces.

The woman appeared to be sleeping; no wrinkles creased her angelic face. Romero stepped forward again, this time blowing lightly across her torso, his eyes brightening with lust as the shape of her body revealed itself through the gray cloud.  Her skin was seemingly soft and faintly glowing; a youthful physique with curves in all the appropriate places.  Her hair was flaxen, under the age-old dust, spreading like a blanket under her to reach her buttocks, but doing nothing to hide her beautiful figure in all its naked glory. 

Both men stared - mesmerized by her ethereal beauty - for what seemed like ages.  As they watched, suddenly Sam grabbed his partner’s arm.

“Do ya…do ya see that?”  He pointed at the figure with a shaking finger.  The soft, pale breasts of the woman began to move as she took in shallow lungfuls of fresh air.

The two men gasped, Romero almost turning to run as her eyes flicked open. With a feline grace, she slowly raised herself to a sitting position, like some suddenly re-animated corpse coming to life before their eyes.  Turning her head she fixed the two petrified men with soft aquamarine orbs and smiled as if everything was completely normal.  Her nakedness and the dust covering her skin seemed not to bother her as she lowered herself easily from the hard stone on which she had been lying.  She opened her mouth, but instead of words, a soft musical sound escaped from between her now pink full lips.  

Beckoning them to her with this hypnotic siren’s song, the two telecom workers approached, unable to resist the pale, full-figured angel they had released from her tomb.  Delicately and with such sensuality, she reached up to stroke their cheeks with her ice cold fingers, a low purr combining with the soft music.  She twisted and snaked her body, pressing lightly against each man in turn drawing them closer and closer to her nakedness, wrapping them into an almost trance-like state. 

Sam and Romero smiled at her, entranced by her otherworldly beauty, feeling all the urges any full-blooded man might with such a voluptuous figure pressed against them.  But then, without warning they watched her delicate smile fade and in its place her lips curled in a feral smile.  A strange glow began to emanate from her fingertips, surrounding and bathing both men in an unnatural blue light. 

They were blinded and frozen by the brightness of the glow as it grew in intensity, and did not witness the growing changes in the woman’s appearance.  But behind the light, her face began to change, distort, and twist.  The unusual blue eyes bulged out, and her perfect teeth grew jagged and long.  Her face widened to unnatural proportions as her ears developed a point at the tips.  Both men stared in horror as she stepped back from them and they beheld the transformation for the first time. 

They had no time to think as the she-beast sucked in a large lungful of air and let out a paralyzing screech, head flying backwards as her hands sunk smoothly into the sides of their skulls, drawing their life energy in gulps.  She howled in ecstasy at her first taste of human life for over a century as her precious reserves were replenished.  At last she was free from her imprisonment, only too aware of the amount of time that had lapsed in her forced stasis.  The humans of this new era were like none she had ever tasted before.  So much power….and she would have it all…..

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