Yellow Wallpaper4 Essay Example For Students

Yellow Wallpaper4 Essay Nicole Walker English Paper #3Dr. MurrayOct. 28, 2000 Descent into Insanity In Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper, a nervous wife, an overprotective husband, and a large, dank room covered in musty wallpaper all play important parts in driving the wife insane. The husbands smothering attention, combined with the isolated environment, incites the nervous nature of the wife, causing her to plunge into insanity to the point she sees herself in the wallpaper. The authors masterful use of not only the setting (of both time and place), but also of first person point of view, allows the reader to participate in the womans growing insanity. We will write a custom essay on Yellow Wallpaper4 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In eighteen ninety one, when the The Yellow Wallpaper was written, women were often treated as second class citizens. They were, for the most part, dominated by a society controlled by men. The men were the leaders, ruling the home and the workplace; the women were under their authority. The wife, of whom this story is about, reflects this attitude society has towards her. Her husband even decides what furniture and things are to be in her room. She submits to those decisions, even to the point of agreeing with him. This is evidenced when she says, But he is right enough about the beds and windows and thingsI would not be so silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim(472). Wives like this were regarded as possessions of the husbands, and, in light of that, they had few rights. Just as was the wife, many women were believed to be good only for bearing children and running a household. Often times the husband retained a housekeeper or some such servant so the wives only bore children and did little else. In the case of the wife in our story, her husband, John, goes so far as to treat her like a child after the birth of their baby, as evidenced by his calling her my darling and little girl (475). He had even hired a housekeeper to take care of not only the house, but the baby as well. John also controlled almost everything in her life. In fact, the only thing he did not control was her journal writing, and even then she had to hide it from him since he did not approve of it. When he comes she says, I must put this (the journal) away he hates to have me write a word(471). Part of Johns problem 1s that he is a doctor. As a doctor, he controls his wifes health care, prescribing her medicines and her overall cure. As her husband, he is too emotionally involved to look at the case objectively, or if he had, he might have seen her mind going before it was too late. Not only that, the accepted cure at that particular time was ineffective and would only serve t o make his wife worse (473). This cure was the product of a certain Dr. Weir Mitchell; a nerve specialist whose theory of a rest cure for mentally unstable patients was later found to be unsuccessful. In the story, the husbands ill-advised attempts to treat his wifes symptoms drive her insane by taking all responsibility from her and forcing isolation upon her as a part of her cure. Gilman emphasizes the wifes isolation by describing to the reader where the story is set. The retreat John takes his wife to in The Yellow Wallpaper is a large, dilapidated Victorian mansion quite three miles from the village (470). It is surrounded by extensive gardens replete with large hedges, locking gates and winding paths. This sets the mansion well back from the road and creates many secluded spots; intensifying the idea that the main house is well away from any outside activity (470). In fact, the wifes first impression causes her to call it a haunted house and question why its available for leas e (469). Part of the reason for her first impression that the house is falling apart is because no one has been caring for it for some time. This is apparently due to legal trouble involving the heirs (470). The mansion has defied time and weather to stand in all its dilapidated glory. The mansions strength signifies that it could be a place of rest for Johns wife, just as he intended. However, that same strength could also be viewed as giving the mansion prison like qualities. Further evidence that this last interpretation is correct is found when his wife describes her new room, which is apparently an old nursery/playroom/gymnasium. While this room is large and airy with many windows to let in lots of sunshine, those very windows are covered with bars (471). With a closer glance, the reader finds that the room has a rather suspicious past. The wife describes the floor as being scratched, gouged, and splintered, the plaster of the walls as being dug out in places, the wallpaper as being torn off in spots and stripped off both at the top and the bottom; even the bed is portrayed as looking as if it has been through wars(473 ; 471). Oddly enough the bed is bolted to the floor and it is the only piece of furniture in the room till other furniture is brought up for her. There are rings and things in the walls and a gate at the top of the stairs(473 ; 472). All these details about the room are suggestive of a room in a sanitarium.This suggestion foreshadows the wifes eventual descent into madness. The wallpaper is the detail the wife becomes obsessed with; it serves to reflect to the reader her growing insanity. In the beginning she views it as horrid, committing every artistic sin (471). Even then, she goes into great detail in describing the wallpaper, more than she does any other part of the room. The wife depicts not only the papers repulsive shade of yellow, but also its sprawling, flamboyant pattern and very poor condition (471). As her mind grows more and more unsound, she follows the pattern by the hour, at which time she begins to see bars in the paper; then she sees someone behind those bars (474). The reader can see and feel the wifes insanity growing as she reacts to what she sees in the wallpaper. The attention she gives the wallpaper is partially due to the solitary setting of her room. She has nothing to do but stare at the wallpaper all day long. The room is located on the top floor of the mansion, away from all the everyday happenings of the household. Here the author develops her theme of isolation by shifting the scene from the forlorn setting of the mansion to the lonely setting of the room. This parallels the narrowing of the wifes focus from all the aspects of her surroundings to just the wallpaper, then, at the end, from the wallpaper to herself her freedom, or lack of it. There are no outside stimuli to take her mind off the wallpaper due to her husband/doctors edict that she is to rest and not have any responsibil ity. She is to have, she says, perfect rest.(471). Since she has nothing to do but study the wallpaper, she continues her search for something deeper in it until, finally, she sees herself trapped in it, the woman she sees stooping down and creeping about behind the pattern (475). It is at this point the wife notices the musty smell of the wallpaper as well as its shifting patterns and changing shades of yellow (476). Her noticing that the wallpaper has a musty, moldy smell shows the extent of her minds decay. At the end, she notices the women creeping in the paper, and all she desires is to free them (478 ; 479). The reader can now see that the wife has gone totally and irreversibly mad. Evidences that suggest her insanity includes creeping around the room, gnawing the bedpost in frustration, tearing paper off the walls, and then locking the door, and tossing out the key into the bushes (479, 480, ; 481). However, we as readers can only fully appreciate the progress of the wifes d escent into insanity and feel for her plight because we see the situation from her perspective. Also, because the wife has no name, the reader can put him or herself into the wifes situation. From this perspective we get a vivid depiction of what it is like to go mad. If the story had been told from a limited omniscient or omniscient point of view, too much detail would have been given. It would have cluttered the story, lessened the readers sympathy for the wife, and detracted from the central theme of the story (the wifes growing obsession with the wallpaper her increasing insanity}). A third person participant point of view would not work either. First, John, her husband and doctor, would deny that she had a serious problem, making the reader unaware of the true situation. And again, we would feel less sympathy towards the wife. Second, if the story were narrated by the housekeeper, Jane, the reader might be given a hint that the wife was going mad, but her state of mind would be uncertain until the end. In either characters case, the wallpaper would hold little significance to him or her. In seeing the story through the wifes eyes, we can see that her mental illness in The Yellow Wallpaper is inevitable. Between societys view of women at that time, the husbands attitude towards her, and his ineffective remedies, the wifes mental instability can only grow worse. The wallpaper lets the reader follow the womans regression into insanity as the story progresses. Only with the first person point of view (the wifes) can the reader follow this regression of the mind. All in all, this is a sad story of a womans struggle for sanity in an indifferent society. .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c , .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .postImageUrl , .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c , .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:hover , .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:visited , .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:active { border:0!important; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:active , .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u2941cdb4384f421168af57939567bc8c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Marine biologist (536 words) EssayIntro = talk about owl( barn owl and rodent natural historyDiscussion do percentagese and such B.S. Nicole WalkerComplete Outline In Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper, a nervous wife, an overprotective husband, and a large, dank room covered in musty wallpaper all play important parts in driving the wife insane. The husbands smothering attention, combined with the isolated environment, incites the nervous nature of the wife, causing her to plunge into insanity to the point she sees herself in the wallpaper. The authors masterful use of not only the setting (of both time and place), but also of first person point of view, allows the reader participate in the womans growing insanity. a) A time in society where the family institution was strict b) Women were possessions of men a) They are regarded as fit only to bear children b) They are kept from positions other than traditional ones a) Husband treats her like a child rather than a wife D. Inaccurate Medical Information a) The cure for her prescribed by her husband and brother only makes things worse b) They unwittingly aid her descent into insanity by the strict regimen they force upon her A. Older Victorian Mansion with a shady past a) It is a melancholy place with a sad sort of atmosphere b) Neglected and abandoned house c) Defying time and weather to destroy it B. Jail-like room in poor condition c) Rings and things in the walls C. Wallpaper pattern, color, condition and smell a) Pattern is sprawling, ugly, and repetitive b) Color is a dirty, off shade of yellow and very repulsive c) Condition is poor with ripped and missing sections d) Smell is symbolic of her decaying state of mind a) The lack of stimul us due to isolation feeds her obsession with the wallpaper b) The removal of responsibility causes her to lose her grip on reality as she is forced into uselessness c) Confinement to her room causes her to narrow her focus from the house to the room and then fromthe room to the wallpaper and its pattern. With nothing else to do she continues this search forsomething deeper and goes into the pattern of the wallpaper, from there to the wallpapers scent. a) This lets us see how and why she thinks and behaves the way she does b) If it were from another characters point of view we would miss many important details c) If it were just limited omniscient point of view the reader would not be able to sympathize so well with the main character and would see the husband in a different light B. Limited Omniscient and Omniscient c) Unsympathetic to wife and her situationa) Husband in denial and housekeeper unawareb) Too little information, unsympathetic c) Cant see relevance of wallpaper to storyBibliography:

Solutions to Nuclear Power Pla essays

Solutions to Nuclear Power Pla essays Solutions to Nuclear Power Plant Security Twenty-three percent of Americans think that nuclear power plants are the most likely targets for a future attack on American soil (Lake 1). The lack of security protecting our nations nuclear power plants is alarming. The only way to solve this problem is to upgrade the types of weapons used to protect the plants, better training, less work hours for the guards, update the design basis threat, and have nuclear security controlled by an independent government agency. One of the biggest problems in security is that the guards are not able to use a wider range of weapons. The type of weapons the guards use is vastly inferior to the weapons that terrorist are known to use. This is mostly to blame because some states have laws that restrict the kind of weapons and the ammunitions that can be carried by the private security personnel that protect the plants (POGO 3). The NRC, according to Meserve, have asked the states to give the security staff at the nuclear plants more leeway on the types of weapons they can use to protect the facilities (qtd. in Llanos 3). The guards should have access to a wider range of weapons to use like those terrorists are known to use like automatic weapons, M-16s, and grenades. This would create a more even situation between the security guards and the intruders The wider range of weapons would not be beneficial if the guards did not get the proper amount of training. The guards that are protecting the nations power plants are not being trained in using their weapons effectively. The NRCs says that, Each Tactical Response Team member shall requalify at least once every 12 months (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 73.46 2). This is all the training that the guards get is this once a year reunification, according to two former Seabrook guards they only received four days of tactical training, and three day...

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Addiction is a Brain Disease Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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The Invisible Gorila Essay Example for Free

The Invisible Gorila Essay A talent show is an event that participants perform their specific talents in order to win the first prize. Singing talent shows are quite popular lately because they don’t require participants to be in certain ages or professions. Talent shows are very entertaining so that people start to pay attention to them. In fact, in talent shows, not only contestants, but also judges and audiences, always project illusions. They misperceive something might not exist. In book The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons investigate six illusions that happen everyday in people’s lives. They use a lot of examples and scientific experiments to explain how different illusions affect people and reveal that human being’s thoughts are suffered from illusions. Among those six illusions in the book, illusion of confident, illusion of knowledge and illusion of cause have the biggest effect in talent shows. Contestants experience the illusion of confidence because they have unjustified confidence in their own abilities and they are not aware of their lack of skills. Some contestants don’t have skills but they act very confidently. Chabris and Simons state in Chapter 3, â€Å"In fact, those who are the least skilled are the most likely to think better of themselves than they should† (86). Least skilled contestants probably have never done anything relevant to music. They attend talent shows because they like singing or they want to be proved by aud iences. For example, in 2003, a student William Hung who was studying in civil engineering at Berkeley participated in â€Å"American Idol†. Since he couldnt sing and dance, his performance was funny and everyone was making fun of him. However, he was very confident and he thought he was doing his best. 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In 2007, there was a Taiwanese singing talent show called â€Å"One million Star. † Jam Hsiao was one of those contestants and he was quiet when asked questions. He told everyone that he wasn’t confident in communicating with other people. When audiences looked at Jam, they automatically thought Jam was not good at singing because he didnt show his confidence in front of other people. Nevertheless, He became totally different while performing and his beautiful and powerful voice attracted everyone. Since audiences are prone to believing a person is not confident, which may give a contestant an unfair disadvantage, but later when proven wrong may give the contestant a bigger advantage due to audiences having to compensate for the contrasting information. They become more likely to support contestants they doubt at the very beginning. Different with those least killed contestants, skilled ones experience the illusion of knowledge. People believe that they know things at a deeper level than they really do. Skilled contestants, who may have been trained for long time, have a lot of experience in performing in front of audiences. For instance, some of contestants who participate in â€Å"The Voice of China† went to musical universities before. As they said, they started learning musical instruments since they were kids and they have attended countless singing contests. They consider themselves as knowledgeable contestants for they have much experience. Compared to least skilled contestants, skilled contestants participate in talent shows because they think they know much about how to utilize knowledge they have learned than those who dont have many skills. Yet, knowing much about music doesnt mean those skilled contestants can definitely win contestants. The illusion of knowledge makes them not be able to properly determine their value because they are more likely to approve their merits and ignore shortcomings. Constantine Mouralis, who had a tony nomination before, participated in season four of â€Å"American Idol†. Constantine Mouralis started to improve his interest in music when he grew up. He sang in high school garage band and he appeared in Broadway roles. He was not only experienced, but also obtained a lot of awards before he competed on â€Å"American Idol. † He thought his ability was good enough compared to other contestants but he was eliminated at the sixth week. Although Mouralis was very skillful, other contestants who are better than Mouralis win eventually. In talent shows, judges project illusion of knowledge as well. Most judges are either famous singers or they are successful in the music industry. When they decide to choose the winner, they use their knowledge and experience to make decisions. They think the winner they choose will be successful after the show ends. Some contestants perform really well in talent shows and they fully show their talents to everyone and of course judges admit them too. After that, some of them are not famous due to all kinds of reasons. Foe instance, record companies decide not to give winners opportunities to release albums or winner contestants realize they want to do something else instead of being a singer. Judges make judgments because they think they know more about entertainment system than anyone else. The illusion of knowledge makes talent shows become unfair because judges are subjective when they make judgments. People are more interested in talent shows because some of them think that talent shows give them opportunities to be a professional singer. Apparently, these people are having illusion of cause. They infer causal relationships from coincidence. In entertainment system, parts of popular singers come from talent shows. They get a contract with record companies so that they can release albums after they win the talent show. Besides, since they are popular, they are invited to perform in many occasions. In fact, winning talent shows and becoming a famous singer are two different things so they have no causal relationships. However, people who want to participate in talent shows infer causal relationships from those coincidences. They believe that if they attend talent shows, they might win the first prize and they have a high possibility to be a famous singer. However, not everyone who comes from talent shows becomes famous. For example, in 2007, the champion of singing talent show â€Å"Super Boy† was really good at singing and he released his first album afterwards. Unfortunately, he wasnt popular and he never got the second chance to release other albums. Talent shows provide people opportunities to show their talents, but participating in talent shows and being famous have no causal relationships. Sometimes, the reason why contestants win talent shows is not only because they are better than anyone else. For record companies who want to make money, they prefer pick up contestants who have good appearance than those who have talent in singing but dont have beautiful faces. Thus, some factors which people think will cause contestants to win are not truly existed. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons’s explanations make me think illusions that happened in my life. People are beset by all kinds of illusions every day without noticing their existence. In talent shows, both skilled and least contestants have illusions since they are not able to determine their real abilities. People who win talent shows don’t mean that these people will be famous forever. On the contrary, people who failed in talent shows can still be successful. Besides, the reason why top singers and movie stars are famous is not only because talent shows give them opportunities to perform, other factors such as hard working and good luck can also be important for them. We need to pay attention to different kinds of illusions because sometimes they affect our decision-making. If we like singing and want to make music, we dont have to participate in talent shows because there are other ways for us to chase our dreams. After all, we should evaluate our abilities appropriately. If we are just interested in something but we dont actually have talent in doing them, we should have find out something else we can do to fulfill our dreams.

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I was at the kitchen counter when the security door downstairs opened, and when I turned around they were just, like there. Lord Flood called them the Animals, but now they were kind of the roadkill. And I like touched the snap on my UV jacket, just to make sure it was there. So I was all, â€Å"Hey, vampyre scum.† And the formerly black and now gray one, who was like their leader, was all up in my grille, like, â€Å"We need the money, where is the money?† And I was like, â€Å"Step off, undead-tard. There's no money.† And he was like, â€Å"Don't fuck with us. Flood and the redhead took like six hundred grand from my apartment.† And I was all, â€Å"Actually, its like five hundred and eighty-three thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.† And he was all, â€Å"Give it!† And all seven of them were like gathering around me – even the born-again one the Countess had thrashed – like they were going to do the massive gang-suck on me, so I had my finger on my light button all the time, in case I needed to flash-fry the motherfuckers. But I stayed chilly and I was like, â€Å"Are you high?† And he was all, â€Å"No, I'm not high. No one is high.† And they all started whining and whatnot, all, â€Å"We can't even take a bong hit. We can't drink a beer. Our systems won't take it. Being sober sucks. We are useless undead stoners.† So I was all, â€Å"Step back and behold, bi-atches.† And I'm all taking a bottle of Stoli out of the freezer, and mixing in a glass with some of the blood from the pouches, just like the ones we left for the Countess and Lord Flood, and they're all drooling when they see the blood, so I was thinking, Dont' make me fry you. But then I give the glass to the gray vamp, and he's all, â€Å"Sweet.† And the others are like, â€Å"Me, me, me.† So I'm like mixing Bloody Marys all around, and the greasy hippyish one is like, â€Å"Can we dunk pot cookies in this?† And I'm like, â€Å"Of course, stoner vamp.† And they're all, â€Å"You are a goddess. And we are not worthy. And oh please, may we have some more?† Until they started to drop. So like two minutes later there's like this big pile of passed-out vampyres in the kitchen, and I'm all, â€Å"Yo, Foo, I got your shit ready.† And Foo comes out of the bedroom, all cute, holding his UV floodlight like he's going to save me, then sees that they are all out cold and gives me a big kiss and is like, â€Å"You rock.† And I'm like, â€Å"You have no idea, my Manga-haired love toy.† And he was like, â€Å"The sedative in the blood, blah, blah, four hours, blah, blah, nerdspeak, geektalk – â€Å" And I'm like, â€Å"Whateva, studmumn. Handle it.† So it took like two hours for Foo to do all his medical stuff with the Animals, taking some blood and doing various medical nerdism stuff to it, then putting it back in, but finally he was done and I called Jared to tell him that we were on our way to get Lord Flood and the Countess. So I like made the other call to make sure everything was all in order and whatnot, and Foo was all, â€Å"Are you sure this is what you want to do?† And I was all, â€Å"Foo, theirs is the greatest love of all time. It's the only thing to do.† And he was all, â€Å"Okay, as long as you're sure. Because we can do them the same as we did the others.† And I was all, â€Å"No, that won't work. They have to be together. And you don't have to live at home anymore. We'll have a completely sweet love lair.† So we did it. Blue watched from the alley across the street as the Animals came out the security door, empty-handed, and stumbled into the street. She knew she should have gone herself, but that whole getting-burned-up thing had taught her that perhaps it was better to delegate. That they didn't have her money was bad enough, but that they didn't have her money and heat was coming off of them was disastrous. â€Å"Those dumbfucks can't get anything right,† she said to herself. â€Å"I'm going to have to kill them all over again.† â€Å"I don't think so,† said a voice from behind her. She whipped around, leading with her long fingernails in a swipe that would have taken off half a man's face. Elijah caught her hand. He'd found another tracksuit, this one powder blue. â€Å"It's time to let it go. The genie must go back in the bottle, I'm afraid.† â€Å"Let me go, I need to go get my money.† â€Å"No, my dear, you don't want to do that. The residents of that loft have recently developed a very unpleasant fashion sense.† â€Å"You're fucking with my income, paleface.† â€Å"You don't need to worry about that anymore.† â€Å"Meaning what?† â€Å"It ends here. Come with me, my dear.† â€Å"You want me to come with you? I don't even know you.† â€Å"Yes, but we share a special relationship.† â€Å"Special? You beat my face into the hood of a Mercedes.† â€Å"Well, yes. Sorry. To the innocent my behavior can sometimes be distasteful.† â€Å"Yeah? Innocent, I've fucked thousands of guys.† â€Å"Yes, well, I've killed enough to fill a city.† Blue shrugged. â€Å"Okay, you win.† â€Å"Revenge is a dish best served cold anyway, don't you think?† â€Å"Or not at all,† said a male voice behind Elijah. Elijah and Blue turned. Three of them stood there in their long coats, looking like sculptures, looking eternal, like they could wait forever. â€Å"Can just anyone sneak up on me now?† said Blue. â€Å"Time to go, Elijah,† said the African woman. â€Å"None of you would be here if it weren't for me,† Elijah said. â€Å"Yes, and we would have been hunted down and killed a long time ago if we hadn't adhered to your rules.† â€Å"Ah, my rules,† Elijah said, looking down now. â€Å"How many left to clean?† Elijah looked across the street to the loft windows, then at Blue. She raised an eyebrow, smiled a little. â€Å"She's the only one left.† He lied. â€Å"Then finish it.† â€Å"I'd rather not,† Elijah said. The Emperor of San Francisco wept for his city. He had done what he could, called the police, alerted the newspapers, even tried to take to battle himself, but by the time he'd gathered the courage to return to the Marina Safeway, it had been finished, and he could do nothing more than speculate to the uniformed police officers how the window had been broken and why the store was empty. They'd tried to track down the night crew, but none of them seemed to be home. And his city was plagued by vampires. Now the Emperor wept and consoled the troops, rubbing Bummer behind the ears and gently patting Lazarus on the ribs as he lay sleeping on the dock. The fog was coming slow off the Bay tonight, not windblown like it was so often here. He heard footsteps before he saw them, then there were five of them. The fiend, the three in the long coats he had seen come in the night before, and a blond woman in a blue party dress. They walked past, and only the fiend turned and paused. The Emperor held Bummer tight, afraid that he would burst into one of his barking fits and all would be lost. â€Å"Old man,† said Elijah. â€Å"The City is yours again.† Then he joined the others at the end of the dock. The Emperor could see their motor yacht waiting outside the breakwater – it had to be two hundred feet long, far too big to enter the marina. â€Å"Very well, then, shall we go?† said Elijah. â€Å"Can I get a coat like that?† asked Blue, nodding toward the tall blond man. The blond man said, â€Å"You'll get one when you learn the secret handshake and get your decoder ring.† Blue looked at Elijah. â€Å"Is he fuckin' with me?† â€Å"Yes,† said Elijah. He offered her his arm. She took it, and stepped down into the longboat. The Emperor watched the vampires disappear into the fog. Rivera had six uniforms in SWAT gear with a battering ram ready to take down the door, so he and Cavuto were more than somewhat surprised when it opened almost as soon as they knocked. A shirtless, sleepy-looking Chinese guy with spiky hair stood in the doorway. â€Å"Yes, can I help you?† Rivera held up the warrant. â€Å"I have a warrant to search this apartment.† † ‘Kay,† said the Chinese guy. â€Å"Abby, cops are here.† The skinny broken clown girl appeared at the top of the stairs in a kimono. â€Å"Hey, cops,† said Abby Normal. â€Å"What are you doing here?† Rivera said. â€Å"I live here, cop.† She popped the p. Rivera hated that. â€Å"Actually, it's my apartment,† said the Chinese guy. â€Å"Do you need to see ID?† â€Å"Yeah, that would be nice, kid,† said Cavuto. He whipped the kid around and marched him up the stairs as the kid read the warrant. â€Å"Do not bruise the Foo, cop,† said the broken clown girl. Rivera turned to the uniforms and shrugged apologetically. â€Å"Sorry, guys, I guess we got this one.† They shuffled away. â€Å"What are you guys looking for?† asked the Chinese kid. â€Å"Maybe we could speed this up.† â€Å"We're looking for Thomas Flood and Jody Stroud. He's the one on the lease for this apartment and the one down the street.† â€Å"Oh, yeah. I'm subletting,† said the Chinese kid. â€Å"Steven Wong,† Cavuto read off the kid's license. Rivera was feeling very, very bad about this. They had found one more body in the Mission with the blood-loss-and-broken-neck MO – the guy had been naked, supposedly someone had stolen his powder-blue tracksuit, so they logged it as robbery, but then, a week ago, the killings stopped. That didn't mean it was over. He'd made the mistake of thinking it was over with these two before. Rivera had finally gotten the Christian kid at the Safeway to file charges on the redhead for assault. After a long talk with the other stoners, they'd gotten the Flood kid on the arrest warrant for conspiracy. They'd also implied that somehow Flood and the redhead had gotten their share of the old vampire's money. Maybe they had left town. If they had, well, good, but he still had a slew of unsolved murders. â€Å"You're subletting from Thomas Flood?† â€Å"I never met him, actually,† said Steve. â€Å"We arranged it through the rental agent.† â€Å"Yeah, so step off, cop,† said the skinny girl. Rivera looked around the apartment. There was no need to tear the place apart. Obviously everything in here was new. Mostly decorated in Pier 1 Imports cheap wicker motif and some punky Urban Outfitter flair, which he guessed was the input of the creepy little girl. The bronze sculptures were out of character, though. A life-sized nude of a young woman, a large snapping turtle, and a life-sized bronze of a couple posed as if in Rodin's The Kiss. â€Å"These must have been expensive,† Rivera said. â€Å"Not really. I know the artists,† the Chinese kid said. â€Å"Some biker guys down the street.† â€Å"Foo's in biotech,† said the broken clown girl. â€Å"He makes like stupid money, cop.† â€Å"Yeah, that's swell,† said Rivera. He'd watched this neighborhood turn from a rust slum of repair shops and the odd ethnic restaurant to a gentrified hive of hipster professionals in remodeled lofts during the dot-com boom, and it had never turned back. The whole neighborhood was full of kids who spent the equivalent of Rivera's annual salary on a car they wouldn't drive a dozen times a year. This kid apparently was just another one. â€Å"So you don't know these people?† Rivera said, pointing to the warrant. Steven Wong shook his head. â€Å"Sorry, I've never met them. I send my rent directly to the rental agency. You might check with them.† â€Å"Okay then. Sorry to bother you.† â€Å"Okay then?† Cavuto said. â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"They're not here, Nick. These two don't know where they are.† â€Å"But, that's not enough.† â€Å"Yeah? You want to spend some time talking to Allison here, see what you can find out?† Rivera nodded toward the broken clown girl. Cavuto had tried to keep someone between himself and the skinny girl since they'd come upstairs, but now he looked at her full on and shuddered. â€Å"No, I guess that's it.† He turned and lumbered down the steps. â€Å"You need to check your girlfriend's ID,† Rivera said to Steve. â€Å"You may not be old enough for her.† Then he turned and left as well. â€Å"Chill, Foo,† Abby said. â€Å"They're gone. They won't be back. Let's go shopping.† â€Å"Abby, are you sure about this? It seems cruel.† He patted the life-sized sculpture of the couple embraced in a kiss. â€Å"I heard the Countess say once that it was like being in a dream. They just sort of float, all peaceful and dreamy. The main thing is they're together.† â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"Theirs is the greatest love of all time. It would be wrong for them to be apart, Foo.† â€Å"Well, I think we should just change them back. Now that we know the process works.† â€Å"Someday.† â€Å"Now.† â€Å"The Countess doesn't want that.† â€Å"It's wrong.† â€Å"How can it be wrong? It's my idea, and I am their dedicated minion and whatnot. I control the dark.† She ran and jumped into his arms. â€Å"I guess you do,† he said. â€Å"Okay, let's go shopping for stuff for our most fly apartment.† William arrived back at the loft just after dark, feeling very much rested and well fed from his hospital stay, but craving a sip or two of the good stuff, and terribly worried about Chet. He let himself into the stairway with his key, but when he rang the bell, no one answered, so he sat down to wait for the redhead and that guy to bring his bottle. He hadn't been there ten minutes before he heard the meowing at the door, and his heart leapt as he opened the outer door to find Chet, his red sweater still intact, purring outside. â€Å"Come on, boy. I missed you, buddy.† William scooped up his kitty and carried him into the stairwell. As soon as the door closed, Chet, the huge shaved vampire cat, was upon him.