Title: The Adventures of Bill, the Erotic Vampire Part IV: I Skipped
Part III
Author: bobwhite
Summary: Bill is introduced to Illinois's huge, underground vampire
scene, and finds that not all vamps have to drink blood.
Keywords: MC MD FD MF FF humor

The Adventures of Bill, the Erotic Vampire
Part IV: I Skipped Part III
by bobwhite

                          * * * * * * * * * *

"Look, I tried this once, it's just not going to work," Bill told Beth
and Jim.

Beth asked, "Did you try the chant? It helped me when I was new to
this."

Bill glared at Jim, who was already snickering. "Oh yeah, I tried the
chant. I can't believe 'Owah, Tanna, Siam' didn't work."

Beth smiled. "Sarcasm. I like it. But that's not the chant. I think
Jimbo here was just fucking with you because he's an asshole."

"Hey," Jim interjected. "What's that all about? You two ditched *me*!
It's not my fault you went to the only gay bar in Manhattan that has a
Leprechaun night..."

"And that's another thing," Bill said, interrupting Jim. "What's with
all the gay bars? Since I got here, I've been to three lesbian bars,
two gay bars, and a swingers bar on Lesbian Night. And I don't know
what I was thinking when I let you take me to HermAphrodites. Back in
Illinois, we have bars where men who like women and women who like men
go to meet..."

"Look, I already apologized about that," Beth said. "But the homo
Leprechaun attack at Little Brent Greenbritch's Pub was evidence
enough that you need to be able to fly. You can do it if you use the
real chant."

Bill sighed. They'd barely made it out of that bar alive. When the
seven-tier tall pyramid of Leprechauns began to close in on them,
doing jazz hands and blowing green steam from their vampire-hating
ears, it would have been easier to make their miraculous escape if he
could fly. Jim showed up at the last minute, as did the Whampire, and
that was the only reason that he and Beth were still alive. Uh,
undead. Whatever.

Bill said, "Let me guess. The chant is a series of words something
like this: eye, am, sofa, king, wheat, odd, dead?" Jim laughed out
loud, and Beth rolled her eyes.

"No, Bill. Look, I brought us to the Bronx Abandoned Warehouse
District because the large empty lots and empty parking lots will give
us the running room we need. Here's what we're going to do. We're
going to run in that direction," Beth said, pointing to a distant
building--there wasn't even a fence between them and the abandoned
warehouse. "When we get going, I'll tell you the chant, and you should
start flying."

The three vampires lined up. Right about then, Bill noticed that he
and Jim were both wearing tuxedos (Beth was in a sexy, black cocktail
dress) when they'd been in less conspicuous clothing a moment ago; Jim
assured Bill that the garments just appeared several times a night on
vampires for reasons nobody really understood. Beth told Bill that
vampire tuxedos were amazing suits and didn't interfere with any
physical activity.

"Go!!" Beth screamed, and the three were off. Vampires can run pretty
fast, and they all run at exactly the same speed, which was convenient
considering they had instructions and support to give Bill during this
impromptu flying lesson.

"OK, we're moving... let's do this!" Jim shouted. He lifted his arms
and turned into a small cloud of bats. An echo-laden voice called
back, "OK Beth, let's get him in the air!"

Beth told Bill, "OK, I want you to say the chant, and then envision
your body turning into a bunch of bats and flying away. The chant is,
'Na na na na na na na na bat man!'"

Bill looked at her as they ran. "You're kidding, right? Isn't that the
theme from the TV series Batma..."

Beth quickly silenced him. "Shhhhh! No, it's not! It's not 'Batman™,
it's 'bat man.' Two words. The meaning is clear. Do it!" Just then,
Beth went up in a flock of bats, just like Jim had done a moment
before. A few of them separated from the group and flew into each
other. There was a flash of purple light, and then Bill saw Beth's
head flying with two huge bat wings attached to it.

"Do it! I swear, it'll work. Then, we'll go and fuck some people.
C'mon. Do it!"

Deciding to trust the flying head, Bill closed his eyes as he ran and
shouted, "Na na na na na na na na bat man!!" Right then, he visualized
himself turning into several dozen bats and lifting off the ground. He
heard an audible "poof!", and then through 138 bat eyes (and they have
great vision, contrary to popular belief), he saw the ground getting
further and further away. He was flying!

"Holy shit!" his voice said, thick with the echo of dozens of bat
mouths. "I can't believe it! I'm doing it! This is great! Hooray for
the monthly New York Auto Bat Defense System Downtime for Maintenance!
This is amazing, I feel so alive or undead or whatever it is I am! I
can't belive... *(splat!)*"

*Splat! Splat! Splat, splat! Splat Splattity Splatsplatsplat!!  Thud?
Splatsplat!  Splat-splat; splata-splata-splatasplat! Chink, ritch,
klunk, rattle rattle splat splat splaaaaaat!*

As each of the bats Bill had changed into flew right into the side of
the warehouse he'd been running toward, Bill felt an individual burst
of pain. When he rematerialized, he was holding his head in agony; Jim
and beth flew down to him to help.

"Bill, you OK?" Beth said as she materialized.

Jim showed up next. "Yeah, man, you OK? You really splatted right into
that wall there..."

"Unnnngh... Oh, this hurts... yeah, I'm OK... it's just..."

"FREEZE!" a shrill voice called out.

Bill, Jim, and Beth looked over and saw a beautiful woman pointing a
gun at them. She was wearing a shiny, black latex catsuit that hugged
every curve of her voluptuous body. It even cupped her breasts and
hugged her skin underneath them; although it wasn't exactly like a
second skin it was definitely close to it and probably custom-
tailored. Her large, brown eyes stared the three of them down and
never wavered.

"Hey, you're cute," Bill said. The vixen blushed slightly (but
noticeably thanks to her creamy complexion) and ran her free hand
through her long, straight, black hair.

Jim fainted as Beth said, "Don't do it, Bill! She's a hunter! They
never travel alone...."

A blond muscle man dropped down next to the rubber-clad woman,
seemingly from out of nowhere. Flexing his muscles beneath his navy
blue, skin tight T-shirt, he held out a gun and said, "That's right.
We don't travel alone. You're all fucked now."

Bill and Beth giggled. Beth whispered, "I can smell that he's
straight. So is she. And, let me let you in on a little sceret..."

"Hey! No whispering!!" the male hunter shouted. "It's time for you all
to die for real. Wake up Sleeping Beauty there and let's do this."

"We need a distraction, and they're watching us like hawks... fuck, I
don't know if I can make him horny in time," Beth whispered as the two
knelt down to wake Jim.

"Fuck! Just my luck. I leave Illinois for the first time in years, go
to fucking God damn New York city, and..."

The woman put her hand on the man's gun and lowered it. Lowering her
own gun, she said, "Did you say, 'Illi-*noise*?'"

Bill stood up, letting go of Jim. Jim was too heavy for Beth to lift
by herself, so he hit the ground with a resounding thud. Bill looked
at her suspiciously and said, "And so what if I did? Yes, I'm some
hick from a state you can't even pronounce right. What, are you going
to make me say a chant, too?"

The two hunters looked at each other, laughed, and holstered their
weapons. The man spoke first. "Holy shit, an Illinoizer! Hey, sorry
about the whole 'time to die' thing. I had no idea. We're honoring the
strike our brothers and sisters in the Illinois locals of the UVWGH
are pitching against your state! So, we're not going to kill you or
your friends. Is the wimp OK?"

"His name is Jim, and he'll be fine," Beth said, walking toward the
man. "Oh," she continued, mentally caressing his cock from 20 feet
away, "do you two by any chance take those garlic pills?"

"Trent?" the female hunter said, worried about her partner. He was
having trouble standing up and looked confused, but mainly it was the
fact that there was a growing lump in the front of his pants that had
her concerned. "Are you OK?"

"Damn," he moaned. "Oh I'm just fiiiiine."

"Well," the huntress said, "I don't know why he's spacing out. I
should be worried about it, but us hunters never are. Anyway, no,
those pills are a myth. We go through special training so regular
vampire mind control won't work on us. Vampires are like car thieves.
Sure, some thieves will steal a secure car--but most go for the
unlocked, keys-in-the-ignition models. Vampires are the same way. They
usually control someone's mind and make them beg to be bitten... or
something like that. It's like they put them in a trance or something
and then bite. You know."

Bill decided to test this fact--it was something he'd read about, but
then again, he wasn't just another vampire. He was an *erotic*
vampire. And, when he saw that Beth was already working on Trent, he
figured he'd try to expedite things. Situations like these, he'd
learned, usually ended up with people fucking. And, Bill was feeling a
little... *hungry*.

Waving his hand, Bill said "Take off your skintight outfit." He said
it in a near monotone voice that, since he'd become an erotic vampire,
always demanded obedience.

She backed up a little, holding her gun tight. "Easy there, buddy. I
told you it won't work. I know they make us vampire hunters dress up
like porn stars; and honestly, looking sexy doesn't really help us do
our jobs in any way, shape, or form. But vampire mind control doesn't
work. I don't know why Lance is making out with your friend, but..."

"I thought you said his name was Trent?" Bill said, realizing that
even though direct mind control didn't work, his powers of seduction
should. And, he'd try some mental sexual stimulation, just to be sure.
'Maybe it's just the Jedi mind-trick thing that doesn't work.'

"Yeah, Trent. Sorry. I forget his name sometimes. Anyway... oooh...
anyway, just take it easy. We're off duty in a few minutes. Maybe
you'd like to... OOOH! ... uh, come with us for a drink?" She said,
yelping a few times.

Bill knew now that he could still have some fun with this hottie. He
sent another swatting command to her buttocks, and she yelped again at
the phantom spanking. He grinned at her and lifted an eyebrow. "You
seem to enjoy being spanked," he slyly said.

A little afraid and aroused, she asked, "How did you do that? You
can't control my mind, but no vampire I have ever heard of can do...
whoa, mmmmmmmm... now that's... niiiice...."

"And, you really like having your nipples licked and sucked. I think
you'll do. What's your name?"

"It's Cassandra. Oh, damn, that feels good," she answered as her
nipples suddenly perked up, making noticeable bumps on her shiny,
tight top. Bill increased the sensations and lowered them in a steady
cycle, making it so that the increased feelings went back and forth
between her tits. "You know, I've always had a fantasy, deep down
inside, about meeting a man who could control my body... make me do
things... funny how I met you."

"Yeah, things like that normally only happen in stories, especially
ones written by stroke writers who don't want to take the time to
build a plot that would avoid the obviously all-too-convenient
interactions like this one. I mean come on! In one night, I have this
much sex and meet a vampire hunter who I can't control directly but
who I can by toying with her body, something that she's always dreamed
about deep down inside? It's almost insulting. And certainly not
funny. But, whatcha gonna do?" Bill said.

"Hey, I didn't say we were going to do anything. It's against...
regula--lay--lay--lay--shuuuuunsss...." she said as she came. "Fuck...
that was good. Listen, let's just get some drinks. I'll even let you
pick up some other chick, but I'm off-limits."

"But... it's just so taboo, don't tell me you don't want to know what
it's like to be with me. If I can do this," Bill seductively said,
mentally causing Cassandra's pussy to feel like it were being licked,
"imagine what I can do when we get back to your place."

Had the skin-tight crotch on her outfit not been made of latex that
glimmered in the magical glow of the warehouse security floodlights, a
wet spot would have been visible. The few invisible tongues massaging
Cassandra's velvety folds were joined by a few more, and it wasn't
long before she was willing to do anything Bill asked to get him to
stop the sensations. Or continue them... she still wasn't sure.

"Fuck... OK, Brent?"

Trent stopped kissing Beth long enough so say, "It's Lance."

Beth reminded him, "You mean, Trent. Damn, you must be so horny you're
having trouble remembering your own name... let's take care of that at
your place, OK?"

"But I'm... married... maybe we should... oh fuck, it feels like
you're sucking my dick...."

"Don't worry about your wife. I'm sure she won't mind joining in.
Let's go."

They started to head off in the direction of his patrol car, which
looked suspiciously like a refurbished AMC Gremlin with "New York
Vampire, Werewolf, and Ghost Busters" stenciled on the door.

"I think Trent has his hands full. Let's go to your place... hmmm, if
they take a cab, how are we going to get out of here?" Bill said.
Then, a light bulb on a pole next to a warehouse behind him suddenly
lit up, right at the same time he had an idea. He closed his eyes and
thought, 'Bill calling Brandy, come in Brandy... Bill calling Brandy,
come in..."

Suddenly, a Ford Focus pulled up. Inside was Brandy, looking freshly
summoned.

"Hey, it works! Come on, Cassy. Let's go to your place. Oh, can I call
you Cassy?" Bill asked as they got in the car.

"Only if you have those mouths pay attention to my tits and ass while
they're on my pussy," she answered. "We hunters also conveniently
crave all kinds of sex, especially anal--if the person we're about to
fuck likes it, that is."

Bill grinned. 'She's perfect. Too perfect, but hey, it's all for the
stories,' he thought to himself. 'I hope the ghost writers are paying
attention.'

A transparent, glowing quail flew up to the car as it started to drive
off. "Don't worry, we are. Keep it going, I need some good feedback,"
it chirped, and then flew away.

Bill shook his head and suppressed a laugh. But, when he added a
mental rimjob and a tongue bath for Cassandra's tits, her squeal as
she reclined in the back seat made him chuckle.

                          * * * * * * * * * *

"Please... p-please tone it down a second so I can... can... can...
uuuuungh! Fuck, I just came, please stop! I'll never get the door
open...." Cassandra said as the sensations that had been racking her
body and growing steadily made her cum again. "Fuck it, just knock. My
rooooooooom! Ungh, roommate will let us in."

Bill knocked, and after a few seconds the door was answered by a tall,
thin woman with short, spiky hair. He tried his mental tricks on her,
but she wasn't responding. 'She must be...'

"Yes, I'm a dyke. I suppose you're here to fuck Cassy. Well, go ahead,
but don't be too loud--I'm watching TV," the woman said. She went back
to the living room and added, "Oh, I'm Amber."

"Honey," Cassandra whispered, "I need to take a shower. I'm all wet
down there and I want to be fresh for you. Watch TV for a minute.
Don't worry about her, she won't bite."

Cassandra ran to where Bill assumed the bathroom was, and Bill took a
seat on the couch. Amber was on the recliner, and said, "Hey, do you
want a beer or something?"

"You're not upset that I'm about to... well, you know..."

"Hey, she needs to get laid. So do I, really, but I don't like guys.
Not even vampires," Amber said, handing Bill a freshly-poured beer.

Bill almost choked. "How did you know? Aren't you afraid?"

The woman laughed. "No, not really. I'm not girly enough to be the
target of most of your ilk. And besides, het vamps rarely go after
lesbians. We just can't be seduced by men, not even undead men."

"Too bad. I've got a slave outside who I'd like to see a girl fuck,
and I'll be busy with Cassy. Interested?" Bill inquired.

"Look, just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm into kinky stuff like
exhibition. I like regular, ol' fashioned, lickety-split lesbo sex."
Right then, Brandy walked in and knelt in front of Bill, reaching up
to unzip the fly on his pants. "Besides, she's too girly for me. And
do you have to do that here?"

Brandy carefully zipped Bill's pants with no verbal command. "Sorry,"
Bill said. "I'm new to this."

Amber smiled. "Yeah, I figured. You probably don't even know that if
you bit me, I'd be your slave, and I'd even have to fuck whoever you
wanted me to fuck. And you could do the whole summoning thing, too.
I'd be more robotic, like her, but it'd do the trick. Hell, I don't
know why I'm telling you this, but if you turned me into your slave,
you'd be able to take over my body completely and possess me. You'd be
able to walk around in my body, using your powers on men, women--yes,
even lesbians!"

With a *woosh!*, Bill was behind Amber. He held her shoulders down as
Brandy pulled her shorts and panties down and off. Then, she wedged
herself between Amber's knees, spreading her legs in the process. When
Brandy's tongue found Amber's clit, Amber moaned, "Damn, I shouldn't
have told you that...." The corrupting pleasure of Bill's bite and the
lightheadedness associated with the removal of a small amount of blood
were the last things she remembered as a free woman.

                          * * * * * * * * * *

When Cassandra came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she was
naked and still wet from the shower... and from what Bill's mind was
making her feel. She saw Bill sitting in the chair with his eyes
closed; Amber was nowhere to be seen. "Bill?" she said. "Bill? Let's
fuck! I can't take... take take take... oh fuck yeah, lick that ass...
BILL!! Damn, let's get to my room... I can't take... much... more..."
she stammered. The sensations had not stopped and they were
threatening to drive her to a state of constant orgasm.

Bill shook his head. "Sorry, I was just licking Brandy's pussy. Her
tongue felt good on mine... uh, Ambers... Damn, is that what I've been
making you feel?"

Cassandra responded by pulling him out of the chair by his cape. She
dragged him to her room by the cummerbund, and the instant they were
in her room she threw him on the bed. "Like I... said... mmmmmmm, like
I said, you can't... controoooool... me... fuck, fuck! I'm going to
fuck you hard, Vampire Man. You won't forget... oooooooh," the
aggressive woman yelled, stopping once she had his shoes, socks, and
pants off. She liked what she saw jutting up from his crotch. His cock
was ten inches long, and to her, it was the most beautiful thing she'd
ever seen in the world. She had to have it... but on her terms.

'He won't control me,' she thought, straining to control her actions.
The mouths on her pussy, ass, and tits were driving her to the brink
of insanity, but she was not going to be fucked by a vampire. *She*
was going to fuck *him*.

She took his cock and pumped it a few times, coaxing a small amount of
pre-cum to the tip. She licked it slowly, but instead of blowing him,
she slithered up his body and positioned her hungry snatch right above
his member. She kissed him as she slid back down onto his dick, and
moaned into his mouth as it filled her. She slowly pivoted her hips in
that position, using her body to pin his to the bed and using her
hands to keep him from being able to touch or hold her. She squeezed
down on him with her cunt every so often, and finally, he started to
just go along with it.

But, the feelings of analingus, cunnilingus, and... uh, boobalingus
didn't keep Cassandra as lost as Bill thought. She slowly let go of
Bill's hand, using her arm to pin his wrist as she slid her hand over
to her nightstand. Sitting on top were two pair of handcuffs, one of
which she grabbed. In a flash, his right arm was bound to the well-
placed metal bracket on her bed post. When he realized what was
happening, she'd already got the other cuff around his other wrist.

With a few quick thrusts of her hips, she almost made him cum. She
didn't want him to cum, but she did need a few more seconds. And when
his eyes closed and he moaned, she had his other arm bound, too.

"What the fuck are you... doing... fuck, don't stop," Bill asked.
Cassandra had just shifted so she was sitting upright on his cock, and
in this squatting position, she started fucking him faster and harder.

"Honey, I'm not about to be fucked by a guy like you. I do the fucking
around here. Well, come on! Yell at me! Call me a cunt!"

"Look," Bill said, "this is actually kind of fun... Ow!"

Cassandra reached back to slap him again. "NOW!!"

"OK... you're a cunt! Ow!! What the fuck?"

"That's it... do it right...." Cassandra panted, hoping he got the
point this time.

"You fucking cunt! What the fuck?! You call this a fucking? I've, uh,
fucked--OWW! That hurt!!" he yelped as she slammed down on him with
her pelvis and hand.

"Do it right, little man!"

"Fuck you, cunt! You call this a proper fucking?? I've fucked
prostitutes who were better than this. Is this all you got? Fuck me!
Dammit, fuck that cock like you fucking want it, you fuckin' bitch!
What, you can't fuck any harder than... Oh fuck yeah, god damn, you
cunt!" Bill encouraged.

Cassandra stopped long enough to turn around, letting bill enjoy the
sight of her backside. He felt something next to his cock, a buzzing.
Then, Cassandra's hips started sliding back and forth quickly on his
prick, being careful not to allow him to slip out. Bill heard the
distinctive buzz of a vibrator, and in a few seconds, Cassandra's body
shook as she came. Her motions were so frenzied and her pussy so tight
that it made him cum, too.

Without lifting herself off of his cock, she slowly turned around, not
willing to let his monster loose. She lay on top of him and said, "I
love how it feels in me. It's still hard... I take it you'll be ready
for me when I have the energy to fuck you again?"

"It's hard when I want it to be," he answered. "You are going to let
me go, right? I don't want you to be made fun of by your coworkers
when they find out I've bitten you and made you my slave." He bared
his fangs in a strangely seductive manner.

She lifted off of him just enough to ensure he couldn't bite her. "You
won't do that. I'm a hunter; if you bite me it'll kill me or make me a
vampire. Not too many hunters become slaves. No, Bill, I think I'll
just rest for a few minutes." She slid off of him, his cock springing
free and standing at half-mast. She knelt down and licked him clean,
which made him hard again, but then she curled up beside him, just
outside of the short range of his fangs.

"I think I'll just take a nap," she added.

"Hey, you can't ignore my cock," he said, working his verbal magic on
her. "If you don't get back on, I'll... uh, make it so you feel all
those tongues again."

"Go ahead," she said. "I could use a happy dream." A few seconds
later, the only sound in the room was a snore.

                          * * * * * * * * * *

Bill reached out with his mind. He invaded Amber's body and licked
Brandy's pussy for a few minutes, but he was a little and worried
about the time. The sun might be up in an hour or so, so he had Brandy
look around for Trent's phone number. It was on the refrigerator. When
Brandy called, a breathy woman answered the phone. Brandy told the
woman to give the phone to the lady Trent had brought home, and the
next voice on the line was Beth's.

"So, are you finished?" she said, sounding a little tired and very
satisfied.

"Yes, you'd better come and get me. This one's a hellcat, and I'm...
well, you'll see."

"Sure thing, I'll be right there. I was just instructing Trent and his
lovely wife on the finer points of being obsessed with sex. I think
their marriage is going to improve, and..."

"Beth, the sun'll be up soon. Can we talk about this at your place?"
Bill asked.

"You're no fun. OK, I'll fly right there."

"How do you know where I am?" Bill said, wondering how she would find
them. Just then, he saw a group of bats converge just outside
Cassandra's bedroom window. There was a puff of smoke and Beth was
there, in a violet, bejeweled gown of taste and elegance. She laughed
at what she saw and walked to the front of the house. Once inside, she
went to the bedroom and unlocked Bill's handcuffs.

"Why didn't you just have Brandy... wait, I know that smell--you
enslaved someone else?" Beth asked.

"Yes, I took Cassandra's roommate. She's a lesbian, but I figured that
if I bit her, she'd be my slave and I could work around the whole
limitation on straight male vampires going after free-spirited lesbian
mortals..." Bill explained, stopping when Beth interrupted him.

"Wait... you figured it out? I like you and I think you're smart, but
how did you figure it out? Let me guess. The roommate told you, right?
And pull up your pants. Wait... that's why you wanted me here. You
wanted me to see your huge, delicious-looking cock."

Bill smiled. "Vampires can fuck, can't they?"

"Yes, and the sexual escapades of erotic vampires are truly a sight to
behold. But we have to go. Get Brandy ready to..."

Just then, Brandy--who three seconds before had been naked--appeared
at the door to the bedroom, dressed and ready to go. "Shall we,
master?"

Beth grabbed Bill's cock and gave it a playful squeeze. She whispered
to him, "If you think you can handle it, you can sleep in my coffin
tonight. It's big enough for several vampires. But you'd better please
me."

Bill put his pants, socks, and shoes on. Suddenly, he noticed the
distinctive feeling of a hot, wet mouth engulfing his dick and
sucking. He looked at Beth and she grinned. "Yes," she said. "We can
do it to each other, toooooo!"

Bill laughed. "Having trouble talking?" he said as he withdrew the
feelings of a dick sliding into her. Arm in arm, they headed to
Brandy's car.

She drove them to Beth's mansion, where Jim was waiting. As the three
ran inside to hide from the sun (which was going to rise in a few
minutes), Jim casually explained that vampires have the uncanny
ability to know where their vampire friends are at any given moment.
That way, he said, they wouldn't disturb each other when they were
getting their freaks on. And, he added, if a vampire was in trouble,
his friends could come and help out.

Bill commented that it was odd how Jim waited till the very end of the
night to say that, and how it seemed silly and hard to believe. Bill
was curious as to how the power worked, but Jim didn't want to talk
about it any more. He said he was tired and he wasn't so sure about
the ability himself. As he was shown to the guest coffin, Jim finished
his speech with something along the lines of "I don't know everything
about vampires, and don't quote me on that," and the lid was closed.

Beth and Bill retired to the master coffin. But, what happened in
there and how it affected the coed off-campus dorm next door is a
topic for the next chapter. Not the very next chapter--that's going to
be "Chapter III: The One I Skipped." No, I mean "Chapter V: Consensual
Vampire Sex and Its Effects on College-Aged Neighbors."


                          * * * * * * * * * *

(c) 2005, bobwhite.  All rights reserved.  All wrongs also reserved.
