“That’s the last thing we need. Zombys in a Vampyre story. Twilight of the Living Dead. Ugh!”

“When I saw the Twilight movies I thought being a Vampyre was so romantic. When my friends decided to be Vampyres it was so cool. We would do anything to be like Dwayne and Maria and the rest. I got what I wished for but I have no life to enjoy it with.”

“Why did so many teenagers fall for Stanley Horowitz’s tricks?”“These were impressionable teenagers,” Nick explained. “Many of them were devoted fans of romantic Vampyre stories. They over-romanticized what it means to be a Vampyre, and that gave Stanley a way to manipulate them.”“I’ve read Twilight,” Tamara said. “My daughter is a huge fan. Is she in any danger?”“The danger arises from wanting to belong to the in crowd so badly, you lose sight of what’s real and what’s fantasy.”“Surely today’s teenagers know that vampires are fantasy,” Tamara said.“Possibly. But remember, Vampyres are not romantic. Vampyres are dead. They are walking reminders of tragedy. Loving one is necrophilia. And wanting to be one is the first step on the road to catastrophe.”

“Remember, Vampyres are dead. While a female Vampyre can go through the motions of sex, since their flesh retains normal flexibility and warmth, they are unable to truly participate. So having sex with a female Vampyre is a cross between intercourse with an unconscious woman and intercourse with a corpse.”

“The only reason you need me at all, John, is because Magick actually works. If it were all just smoke and mirrors and stage magic, if the world worked the way religion or science says it works, then we wouldn’t have Vampyres in the first place. I’d be out of a job.”

“It seems you can’t go anywhere today without seeing some popular culture rendition of Vampyres. I went into a bookstore a few weeks ago and there was an entire section devoted to Teenage Paranormal Romance. Can you imagine?”

“Good, evil, these are human concepts, ways people have for understanding what it means to be alive,” Nick said. “Before people came along, this planet was teeming with life, fighting to survive, to live long enough to reproduce, completing the circle of life.”“I’m with you so far,” Elphaba said. “The circle of life is an essential Wiccan principle, in spite of The Lion King.”Nick ignored Elphaba’s bit of humor as his mood became more serious. “Precisely so. And in this circle of life, you have predators and prey. The predators must kill to eat. If they don’t, they starve. Are the predators evil?”“No, of course not. They’re simply acting on their nature.”“What is human nature, then? Are we a species that builds societies of trust and cooperation, or are we a species that seeks power over our fellow man, even if that means fighting wars or otherwise killing him?”Elphaba frowned, carefully considering her answer. “I’d like to think we are a species of trust and cooperation.”“Our entire history is a story of war, of murder and mayhem, of blood running in the streets,” Nick said quietly.“Yes, yes it is.” Elphaba leaned back, grimacing.“We are both,” Nick said. “A species of cooperation, and a species of strife. We fight wars, and we also establish the rule of law to mete out justice to the criminals in our midst. Humans are both good and evil.”