Donald James Jensen JR. was a crackhead. A desperate one. He had been homeless for almost two weeks now, and couldn't really remember the last time he ate. He was needing a fix and needing food. With no money and no one from which to 'borrow' money peacefully from, he decided he was going to have to use a more insistent approach to 'borrowing'.

At one time, Donnie J (as his family called him) was just a normal kid. He had a more or less stable enviornment. Grew up in a lower-middle class neighborhood, attended school all the way to the 11th grade. This was when his crack habit took hold of him with it's bony death-grip and embraced him to it's emaciated chest. He stole from his family, quit school, got in trouble with the law several times, and susbsequently ran away from home for good.

He drifted here and there, holding minimum wage jobs, never for long, living with other people, or in a rented room, or as he did now, under a train trestle in a deserted section of the city. Currently, Donnie J looked out at the world through red, bleary eyes as he sat in an alley holding a piece of rusty pipe. His strategy was simple: He would slam the pipe over the head of the next passer-by and relieve them of all their valubles.

As he stood there clutching the pipe, he heard approaching footsteps. He tried to ready himself, raising the pipe and gripping it tighter in his sweaty, dirty palms. His thin body began to tremble with the anticipation of perhaps being able to buy some Rock in the near future. He was ready...ready...The footsteps stopped. Donnie J frowned.

Unknown to him; perhaps due to his desperate state, or perhaps just because he'd smoked away most of his braincells; the alley in which he chose to hide was backlit by a weak floodlight over a doorway. The light cast his shadow on the sidewalk in front of him making it clearly visible to anyone who paid attention. Also unknown to him, his intended victim was indeed paying attention, and had snuck up to the edge of the building, grinning and reaching into her coat pocket. Donnie heard a curious 'snick' and the pipe he held faltered. He was wondering if he was imagining this.

While Donnie pondered it, the not-to-be victim stepped quickly from behind the wall, just inches in front of him. She shrieked "GOTCHA!!" Donnie fell backward, the pipe flying upward out of his hands. He realized the person he wanted to hit and rob was a very tall woman as his butt hit the cement. She glanced up casually and snatched the pipe on it's way down. Donnie scooted backwards on his hands and feet, crab-like, eyes wide and staring. The big woman in front of him held his pipe in one hand, and a large switchblade in the other. She looked down at the pipe and threw it at him. Donnie barely ducked it.

"SALVATION!" The woman screamed gleefully at him, smiling a demon's toothy grin. She pointed the blade his way and said in a quiet voice, "I am your Salvation." She walked into the alley, closing Donnie in with her. "Your life sucks. doesn't it?" Donnie nodded. "My life sucks too. My family has this problem with trust. They don't seem to trust me. I don't think my baby brother, my little Bubby, wants to see me! Can you imagine THAT?" Donnie shook his head. "So what the f*ck can I do for you, you pathetic pile of shit?" she continued.
"Got any money? I could use some money. I need food. Yeah, food. I'm hungry!" Donnie stammered. Brain cells gone or not, he was still a pretty persistent fellow.
"I have something better for you." The woman walked towards him.

He actually began to smile and hold his hands out. All he really could think about was getting his fix. Maybe she WAS going to give him some money. He was still feeling hopeful when the switchblade bit into his throat and opened it from ear to ear. He wheezed and batted at the front of his shirt as it quickly became sodden with his blood. Matiya winked at him and said in a serious tone "F*cking-A Salvation, pal."

She watched Donnie fall back, making gobbling sounds and trying to hold the wound in his throat closed. He eventually stopped his struggles and became still. Matiya bent down and wiped her blade on his shirt before walking out to the sidewalk again, whistling a nameless tune.

Donald James Jensen JR, finally cured of his crack habit, lay in the alley with his eyes glazing over.

Dominic Salazar was ten years old. He lived in a very small apartment with four younger siblings, his mother and his aunt. At a time when most ten year olds were dreaming sweet, light dreams, or perhaps getting bedtime stories read to them, Dominic was wandering the street, looking for change, or soda cans or anything he might be able to turn into cash in order to buy food. Seems Dom's mother and aunt shared the late Donnie J's affection for crack and other drugs, and didn't pay a heck of a lot of attention to the little ones.

Dom was a very bright and intuitive kid despite his living conditions. He was also blessed with something else his Grandma in Mexico would call "The Sight". Dom couldn't exactly see into the future, or pick lotto numbers or horses at the racetrack, but he could see into people, see them for what they REALLY were. He could also sense danger well before he was too close to change his situation. This had kept him from falling victim to numerous predators many times, kept him alive to where he could continue to care for his siblings and himself.

This particular night took Dom down the same street on which Donnie J had just met his fate, only from the opposite end. At first everything felt as it always did, Dominic felt lucky to find a dollar bill stuck in a sewer grating, then a quarter in a pay phone. This night was starting well! He passed an alley and began to hum, then right before the next alley, his odd sixth sense kicked in and he stopped. There was something in this alley. In no uncertain terms, Dom knew it was a Great, Big Monster.

Dominic had encountered several 'Monsters' in his life, but this one was different. This one would kill you and eat you. He KNEW it! He went all the way to the curb, so as not to pass too close to the alley, he HAD to pass the alley though. He sure wasn't going all the way back and then around and miss this entire street! Crossing the street wouldn't work either, because he knew, once Monsters saw you, they had a way of following you. He steeled himself to walk right by that alley, hoping The Monster that was there had no business with a little dude like him.

As soon as he crossed in front of the alley he heard a low sinister voice say "Hey there, kid." His feet stopped, they totally refused to move anymore! He looked to his right and received so many visions and impressions he was paralyzed with them. The first thing he saw, was a scene from that Jurassic Park movie he watched at a friends house a year or so ago. He saw the two smaller dinosaurs, Raptors, he thought they had been called, stalking through the dark, looking for something to eat. To shred. He saw several unsmiling, silent, big-eyed little children playing in a grave yard. They were skinny and their clothes were torn. "Those are the Death-Babies" his inner 'voice' told him. He saw scenes of murder and blood. He smelled rotten, fly-blown things. The worst was what he felt. He felt the insanity and rage of a mind so far gone, no one was able to comprehend the atrocities It was capable of. Then, after all these sensations began to ebb away, he SAW the Monster.

It was crouched, looking almost like a gigantic frog, a few feet into the alley on top of a dumpster. It was mostly in shadows, but Dominic could see her eyes. Her? Yes, definitely a 'her'. The eyes were a dull, angry maroon with an ugly yellowish glow beneath them. "Hey, kid." she said simply again. "C'mere." The Monster hopped down from the dumpster and began to slide towards the mouth of the alley. "Are ya deaf? C'mere. I got something for you." As she got closer, Dom saw her face. She sneered around a mouthful of huge translucent teeth. It looked like all of her teeth were snake fangs. There was a heavy growling sound issuing from the Monster that sounded like an obscene parody of a cat's purr.

"Stay there! I don't need anything from you!" Dominic said firmly.
The Monster stopped. She snaked out a long finger, tipped with what looked like a large butcher knife, like the one in his kitchen at home and wiggled it in a "come here" gesture. "I got some money for you. Really...all you have to do is come here and get it. Free money!"

Dominic began to walk again, and he saw the dark shape stand up and start scuttling out of the dark at him. It was truly huge and terrifying. His heart hammered, and he picked up his pace again, not looking back over his shoulder. He felt the long knife-tipped fingers reaching for him. He knew it could reach him, and would draw him into the alley with it and eat him alive. At the second before the claws touched him, another voice spoke out. This wasn't just an 'inner voice', this was a voice that came through him, spoke through his mouth, used his voicebox, but what it said had no meaning to Dom at all. It said: "Burner of children! A curse on all your Generations! Your own kind shuns you!"

These words made the Monster bare it's horrible teeth, hiss and back up into the shadows. Dominic looked back and saw the hissing shadow-thing retreat into the dark. She was muttering words in a foul, blasphemous sounding language Dominic had never heard before and hoped would never hear again. He took off in a sprint, knowing he had escaped death by mere inches again.

Matiya sat crouched in the alley whispering her strange gibberish to herself. What the kid said had set her off in one of her rages, only this time it was almost totally introspective. She sat in a trance state, eyes wide but unseeing, rocking back and forth mumbling all the Words that somehow comforted her. When she came back to reality some unknown time later, she felt like getting back to her twin. What had began with beating Tori senseless ended with the words of a ten year old child. The in-between of which was a blood-streaked memory not even Matiya herself was sure of. All she remembered was wanting to slash up everything that came within her sight. She was rapidly losing control of herself altogether.

For some reason, all she could think of was Kane. If he forgave her, if he loved her, she would be pardoned. She would be able to have peace and the balance in her life that she craved. Even better, she would be back together with her family. Her own kind, and she would be understood and not alone anymore. She knew her twin loved her, accepted her, forgave her, but she needed the same from Kane. The very fact of his survival shook her to the core, but his unwillingness to have anything to do with her went against every ideal she had. To her, Kane's unacceptance of her was like a death sentence to her soul. She wouldn't rest until winning her little brother over to her side, and putting things back in balance. At least balance in her mind.

Kane sat quietly in his hotel room. At that point, he was unaware of anything that had happened to Tori, or what his sister was up to, or that she was really around. He knew his brother was at the same hotel, but was relieved that he hadn't tried to bother him further. After this time, he made up his mind to stay as far away from big brother as possible, and if SHE came around he'd...well, he wasn't sure what he'd do. He passionately wished he had kept away from his brother and wrestling and all this crap. It was bringing up bad memories and making him feel out of control. He had a deep need to feel in control of his own path.

He was watching a comedy on HBO when the phone rang. He answerd the phone in his raspy voice and then listened. His eyes widened when he heard what was said. He hung up and proceeded to turn off every light in his room before sitting in a chair by the window and staring out. Watching.

Undertaker was also in his hotel room. He laid sullenly on the bed and glared at the ceiling. He was waiting for Matiya to show up. He was so angry that she had again attacked one of his co-workers he almost felt like attacking her himself. That was a war he wasn't totally sure he could win. He had been initially happy to see her, he 'knew' she was coming for some time before she actually came along, but now he wasn't sure. It was obvious to him his twin was completely insane, and if not that, she was totally full of evil to the core. That didn't exactly intimidate him though. It took an awful lot to intimidate someone like him. He was more angry than anything else. He was ready to have some words with Matiya. Some pretty strong ones.

Matiya decided to get back to Taker, besides, Kane was at the hotel, and Kane was the real unfinished business. She headed towards the tall buildings she saw a few blocks up, knowing the hotel was nestled among them. She was beginning to forget the weird instance with the kid. What did he know anyway, the little shit. Probably just mimicking some crap he saw on TV. Maybe even The Lord of Darkness. This made her laugh and she had to stop for a second or two. After she recovered, she stalked along on her way back, cheerfully and brutally offing a would-be mugger, (his body would be found on opposite ends of an alley) and pausing in front of a liquor store, her personal favorite type of establishment to rob.

She decided to walk in and see what was going on, maybe pick up a little booze for twin bro and herself? She wandered up and down the aisles of the small store, grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels, still undecided if she should just pay for it (money was in no shortage to her now, she could always just make a little withdrawal from anyone she chose) or kill the clerk and liberate the dead presidents in the cash register. She was of the opinion that sometimes the world needed to pay her. Yeah. It sure did! She took the bottle up to the front and set it loudly down on the counter.

The woman behind the counter had her back to Matiya at the time, as she was stocking a display of aspirin and other rememdies. Startled, she turned around to stare up at her odd customer. She saw an extremely tall female with very long, deep red hair grinning insincerely down at her. All at once, the tall woman's expression changed and her hand shot out, grabbing the clerk by the collar of her shirt, "AH! Let go! What do you want?!" the frightened clerk stammered trying to shrink away from the woman.
"What's you name, sweetie?" Matiya asked, staring at the other woman with insane eyes.
"L-Lynne."
"Hi Lynne." Matiya's demeanor changed again. She became almost relaxed sounding and calm, her voice taking on a friendly tone, but her grip and the craziness in her eyes remained the same. "LOVE your shirt! Where are you from anyway, here?"
Lynne nodded.
"Had to work tonight eh?"
Lynne nodded again.
Matiya let go of Lynne's shirt, reached into her pocket and pulled out some cash. "Here. This is for the booze."
With shaking fingers, Lynne reached for the cash, not bothering to count it and definitely not asking for ID. She just wanted to see the ass end of this chick going out the door.
"You know Lynne, the pure are the only ones saved!" she smiled and reached out yet again to Lynne, who flinched. She caught Lynne gently under the chin with one slender finger and said happily "F*cking-A salvation, love!". With that she walked out the door, leaving Lynne stunned.

In the stress of the moment, Lynne couldn't even remember what shirt she had put on that morning. She looked down now to see what had fascinated her terrifying customer enough to spare her life, because she was sure the tall woman had been ready to shoot or stab her to death. She realized she was wearing her WWF Undertaker shirt.

Matiya finally reached the hotel and walked boldly through the front door, winking obnoxiously at the desk clerk and tipping the bottle of whisky, which she'd opened immediately after leaving the store, at the wide-eyed woman. She was completely unaware she had been observed by a pair of mismatched eyes, as she be-bopped up to the hotel. The owner of said eyes becoming very nervous as she approached. He knew exactly who she was.

She was about to pound on her and Taker's hotel room door when he snatched it open and pulled her inside. "Wha..." she began, the bottle of whisky falling from her hand, her jovial mood disippating. She followed up with, "Don't snatch up on me like that! Assh*le! What's your f*cking damage??"
"ME?! You show up at that arena, raise hell, almost kill that girl and then ask ME what my problem is? Do you want to go back to prison or what? You better calm the hell on down before you get caught. If you do get caught...then...there's nothing I can do to help you."
Matiya narrowed her eyes and looked at the face that was so much like hers, "Damn, you sure have got yourself on a high horse haven't you?" she said in almost bewilderment. "So I went to prison, so what? So I slashed up a few people. So I beat the shit out of a couple of your playmates. So f*cking what! What have you done with yourself? Got famous playing a dead guy turned pro-wrestler, oh MAN! Let me just bow down NOW!"

They faced each other, tension building, and then Taker turned around and walked over to the desk, sitting down and staring into the mirror over it. His lips were pressed tightly together and his eyes threw sparks of anger. "Well, you certainly didn't mind asking this dead guy for help did you? You still need me. If you keep screwing up like this, Matiya, YOU can f*ck off. You're the one Kane doesn't want to see. You're the one holding things up."

Matiya closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Her twin knew exactly how to get at her. He was the only one that knew all the buttons to push. She imagined herself slitting his throat wide open, even though in reality she would never do that, before calming herself down and walking over to him.
"I'm sorry. Taker, come on...you know I love you like no other! You're my other half!" she bent down and put her chin on his shoulder, leaning the side of her head against his. "Look at us, don't we just look so sweet?" Their eyes met in the mirror. Brother and sister. Fraternal twins. At this moment they looked so much alike that at a very fast glance, they could easily be mistook as the same person. Two identical pairs of green eyes stared in the mirror. Matiya smiled, Taker didn't. He just kept staring. "I just want to protect you." she whispered, continuing to stare in his eyes. "I want to protect you and Kane. want to love you and keep you both with me always." She kissed him lightly on the temple. "Please don't be angry with me. Sometimes I can't help myself. This is another reason why I need you two so much. You give me balance. Salvation." Her smile grew wider momentarily. Seemed there was lots of salvation going around today.

Taker put his hand over his sister's. If Kane had been in the room he would have fled in a hurry, and if asked why he would have said that Matiya had successfully passed Monsters to Undertaker and everyone needed to get the hell out of the way.
"So, you cut off Tori's finger?" he asked, his tone oddly dreamy.
"No. BIT it off. It leaves a much better impression." she giggled. He smiled.
"Kane isn't going to be happy you chewed on his girlfriend you know."
Matiya smoothed her brother's long hair and replied "He'll get over it. He better. She was a stupid bitch anyway." Matiya dismissed Tori with a shrug. "Blonde too. I hate blondes."

At this point, if both Matiya and Undertaker had been walking down that street, they would have both partaken in the act of killing Donnie J, and maybe little Dom Salazar would be digesting in the bellies of two monsters. Two identical, hissing shadow-things with sullen red eyes and butcher knife fingers.

Maybe.

"So, my brother, my twin...I'm assuming you know what room Kane is staying in?" Matiya asked lightly.

Of course he did.