The Keeper: Revenge
The Keeper Series # 2
O.L. Ramos
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ASIN: B00ERHTOUE
Number of pages: 296
Word Count: 112,930
Cover Artist: Dane Low
Book Description:
If the world you
lived in was someday revealed to be nothing but a lie, would you really want
the truth? Elizabeth McBeth did, and she's paid the price for it...
After almost 10
years since Liz's mother was taken from her, Liz finally found her mother,
Mary. But Mary has been forever changed, something that Liz will have to
accept. The beginning of happier times, one would think...
The conspiracy has
been exposed; Liz, Vincent, Mary and Michael had all thought that the vampire
plot had been destroyed. They should have never underestimated Klein.
Klein has
reinforced his armies, splitting the entire vampire species with the question...
is Klein the vampiric messiah? Unfortunately for the heroes and the world
itself, Klein has set in motion a plan that will destroy the world and recreate
it in his own image.
Will the group be
able to defeat Klein and restore the balance to nature? Or are they already
doomed?
Chapter 1
It had been several months since the uproar at the Coronam estate.
Klein had been deemed an enemy of the state for the entire vampire nation, the
ones that wanted to stay on Vincent’s good side, anyway. In all honesty, the
entire time since then had been both frantic and surreal. Vincent’s declaration
before the Coronam asserting that he was Cain’s enforcer had caused a massive
schism in the entire vampire race.
The bloodsuckers had always been a chaotic, selfish bunch. But at least
with a strong government like the Coronam reining them in, they were fearful of
getting tortured … or worse. The idea that mass executions could be a
consequence had never entered their minds, however. Yet now, that’s all anyone
could think about. The united stand made by Vincent and Michael had finally
broken the camel’s back. Some of the more fearful vampires, the ones prone to
paranoia, believed it was an example of what Klein had been warning about for
over a thousand years. They believed Klein to be the true messiah of Cain, and
Vincent to be a mere false prophet sent to lead them astray. This group of
vampires announced themselves as the Hand, a creepy mishmash of politics and
skewed religion.
They droned on and on about how Klein was the voice of Cain, and they
were the ones who would take action on Cain’s behalf. It was all pretty shady,
and there wasn’t a thing that we could do about it. Unfortunately, the entire
world behind the veil was becoming increasingly unstable. Vincent was forced to
allow Algarus to accept the Hand’s request for freedom of religion, even though
everyone suspected the whole thing was just a front for a terrorist
organization. But nothing could be proven.
Even the werewolves had ostracized Michael. Although he was never truly
accepted because of his close association with Vincent, Michael could at least
always request help in the past. Now, he was cut off from almost all of
werewolf society. Almost all of them resented Michael openly, dismissing his
claims that a werewolf was to blame for Klein’s success. They saw his actions
as the beginning for a total civil war amongst all supers. When dozens of
supers were caught acting as willing slaves for openly rebellious vampires,
Michael realized that there might be truth to the charges imposed against him.
This caused him no shortage of pain.
I often found myself staring outside my window wondering how things had
worsened so quickly. But then again, I wasn’t the same person I’d been before
all this started. I was now hardened by the experiences I’d been made to
endure, decisions I’d had to make. Things I truly hoped to repress.
In the past months, I had witnessed Mom, I mean, Mary, go through a
very thorough and intensive training regimen. The guys had run through
everything from battle concepts and strategies to weaknesses of almost every
super in existence. I have to say it that way because that was another key
point that Michael always stressed to Mary: to be ready for anything and
everything. That it was impossible to know of every super in the world. It was
crazy, considering Michael had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of thousands of
different kinds of supers. But after dealing with the Hela poison, I could
definitely see why he was being so cautious.
I guess that brings me to Bobby. Poor Bobby. His entire clan was ousted
from the slayer community, even the children who had never known combat. This
caused many fights to break out … even one Anvil clan member’s death. The
majority of Bobby’s clan blamed him for siding with a vampire and a werewolf. I
don’t know the specifics of what happened, but I’m positive that the slayers
were just trying to evade the wrath of Klein’s Hand and the Coronam, too. It
was generally agreed that the Hela poison was a threat to the entire world,
both supernatural or otherwise. Still though, an example had to be made. And so
Bobby took his entire clan and relocated all 188 of them to the only place they
could safely go. About thirty or so miles from Angel’s Retreat.
And I guess that’s why I’m keeping this diary. It’s cliché as all get
out, but for all my big talk … I’m terrified. Everything has changed. And I’m
not even sure it’s for the better either. The reality is—
A loud knock announces
the presence of a visitor. I turn in my chair to look at my bedroom entrance
and see Vincent. He has a curious look to his face as he leans on my door and
waits for me to say something.
“Hey Vincent,” I say with a bit of a sigh. “How’s it going?”
“Same old, same old,” he answers as he walks into the room and heads
straight to the balcony. He opens it up and sits on the guardrail. “How about
you, Goldilocks? You seem to be brooding on a Michael-esque scale lately. The
hell’s wrong with you anyway?”
“What do you think is
wrong with me?” I reply angrily, the sharp tone in my voice echoing throughout
my room. I give it a chance to linger before I continue. “You know … it’s just
that I really thought we won. Seriously. You guys kicked some major bad guy
ass. I thought that would be that. My mother could come home and be back with
Dad, I could have some semblance of an ordinary life, I don’t know.”
“Why be ordinary, though?” he asks with a brief turn to me before he
returns to browsing the outside scenery. “You were special before, you were
special during. You’re special now. Why all the teenage angst? So everything
didn’t end up roses … it sucks. We’re working on it, though. Besides, is this
the way you treat me after not seeing me for two days? That’s hurtful.”
He pretends to get
stabbed in the back, does a horrible silent death scene and then throws himself
off the balcony. I merely shake my head.
“Wow, tough crowd,” Vincent says as he floats up and hovers in the air
a little above my balcony. Such a strange sight, but I’m completely
desensitized to it. “You really are on a bummer aren’t you? What really gives?”
“Oh, I don’t even know …” I admit reluctantly with a deep sigh. “I
decided to keep this stupid diary. I thought it would make me feel better if I
could just write out my thoughts. Maybe keep them here, and the negativity
would only be here. In secret. Then I could go and live my life as if nothing ever
happened. But it didn’t work out like that at all. I wrote everything down and
it just upset me more. What good have we done? Everything is just so much worse
now. And this stupid diary is just a reminder of how much we’ve failed.”
“If it’s so bad, why not just throw it out?” He asks, as if the issue
was a simple one. “Besides, you know that things have to get worse before they
can truly get better.”
“If it exists, someone can find it,” I explain, already defeated. I
know there is little sense in what I am saying. But it’s the way I feel. “Maybe
someone can know the truth about what we really tried to do. If the world ends,
I mean.”
“What?” Vincent straggles his question with a chuckle. He stops his
silly flying and lands on the balcony. “Seriously, what happened in the two
days I was gone? This is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said to me. And
lady, you’ve had your fill.”
I shake my head slowly. I know he’s right. But what a person thinks and
feels aren’t always on the same page. I know I’m not helping things. But I
can’t just press a switch and change the way I feel.
“While you were gone, Bobby had to make an example again,” I explain as
I inhale deeply, hoping to forget about the trauma. “Three slayers came in and
tried to kidnap me, or kill me. I don’t know what they were going to do. Before
they even had a chance to touch me, Michael was on top of all three of them and
was carrying them out like a bunch of … I don’t know, rabbits or something.”
He looks at me in disbelief. He’s clearly angry, but my strangely odd
word choice has him a little off balance.
“Michael manhandled them, Vincent,” I say, irritated. “It just looked
weird. They were kicking and screaming and they just never stood a chance.”
“And how are you?” Vincent asks as he walks around the room examining
it. “The place seems to be all right, so I guess Mikey didn’t wreck the place
too badly. By your kinda crazy word choice I’m guessing he didn’t hurt them at
all, huh? Knowing him, he probably just dragged them back to Bobby by the nape
of their necks. Oh, I get it now; rabbits. Heh, pretty good.”
“Yeah, it was still mildly terrifying, though,” I answer as I start to
feel myself chuckle as well. The image in my head about the incident is pretty
funny, if you can get past the three guys trying to hurt me part.
“I’m sure it was,” Vincent says as he switches his attention and walks
towards me slowly with a warm smile on his face. “But you do know that between
Mary, Michael and I, there’s really no chance anyone can harm you, right? I
mean come on sweetheart, you’re stacked.”
I laugh a little more
before shrugging my shoulders.
“So what kind of example did Bobby make?”
“He killed the one who made the plan. Skyles was his name,” I report,
once again feeling the burden of the tragedy. “Did you know him? He expelled
the other two.”
“Skyles … never heard of him. Did they at least find out why or what
they were trying to do?”
“More or less,” I say as I look down at the ground and inhale deeply
again. “They were trying to take me to the slayer leadership and barter for
their family to live within their community again. Bobby came by and apologized
… he explained that no matter what, what happened had to happen. He said that
almost all of the slayer leaders know it had to be done. This was just—”
“Damage control,” Vincent says, finishing my sentence. “Yeah, politics
will kill you every time. I knew that something must have rained on your
parade, though. Want to go downstairs and get a drink?”
I chuckle. I don’t know if Vincent remembers it, but he drank the
entire house dry before he left.
“How are we going to do that, smart guy?” I ask playfully. It was good
to see him. Every time anyone leaves the house, I feel vulnerable and lonely …
and it was only getting worse. “You drank everything in the house before you
left on your little excursion.”
“A, it was not an excursion,” Vincent says with a mischievous smile.
“It was a fact-finding mission. Unfortunately, not much of said facts were to
be found. I’m kinda in a mood myself, now that I think of it. I did find out
that some of the smaller islands of the Dodecanese was hosting a Klein party …
the jerk. He’s even got Greek critters siding with him.”
“But why would he be doing that?” I ask, puzzled.
“Not done yet,” Vincent says as he raises a finger to hush me. “And B,
you should know better than to think I wouldn’t be prepared. I stocked
everything back up and even ordered an underground cellar to be constructed to
house our reserves.”
It takes me a moment to understand what he means.
“You’re talking about the booze?!” I say in shock. “Why wouldn’t you
just gloss over that and continue talking about what you found in Greece?”
“Far be it for me to allow my reputation to be sullied,” Vincent
answers sarcastically before stifling a laugh. “Besides, Greece has been there
forever; it’s not going anywhere. Booze has to be maintained and regulated
around here. It’s like an endangered species. And besides again, it’s a part of
Greece, but if you want to be technical it’s really a series of islands off the
coast of Greece. So I didn’t find it in Greece, I found it near Greece.”
I grunt in frustration before slapping him. I examine him to see his
reaction but he just turns his gaze up to me and smiles.
“Feeling better, are
you?” He asks knowingly. How I hate him and his sneakiness. “That’s more like
it. To thy own self be true. Silly, down on her luck Izzy. That isn’t Izzy at
all. Wow, say that five times fast. Anyhoo, stop being such a hard luck case
and focus on the task ahead.”
I continue analyzing his smile before I sit down again. He’s right. I
shake my head because I know that telling him that he’s right is about as
painful as a root canal. But not telling him he’s right becomes much, much
worse.
“I know,” I say as I admit my lack of options. “You’re right. I’m
sorry. It’s been hard. This last month we haven’t sat down as a family, or
whatever you want to call our group. Not even one Sunday dinner. We’re not
running this like a home. We’re running this like a prison.”
“Well, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” Vincent says as he
straightens out his dress shirt. “But have you told the furry boy scout
anything about how you feel?”
“No, I haven’t,” I answer with yet another sigh. I suppose it’s not
fair to be bothered if I haven’t even given the guys a chance to fix things.
But I just felt restricted. I shrug
those feelings off before continuing. “I know you both have your reasons to do
what you do. Klein needs to be found. The supers are all scared and getting
desperate. Everyone is afraid that the humans will find out the truth of the
world because the vampires all seem to be getting ready for a civil war. Mary
needs to be in fighting shape, my father needs to be watched and guarded, and I
need to be protected.”
“All while keeping the balance,” Vincent points out in a matter-of-fact
tone. “As you can see, it’s more than a day’s work. You gotta have more faith.
This guy had a ton of failsafe tools, people, and secrets to work on. It’s a
thousand years of this guy thinking that I was coming to kill him and take his
seat of power in the Coronam. He was ready before we ever even thought about
going. As much as I hate to say it, the guy’s smart. He was prepared.”
Vincent leans back and stretches his arms; he lets out a yawn. It’s the
worst fake yawn in the history of fake yawns. I suppose when you haven’t slept
or felt exhaustion in 1600 years, you forget these things.
“Man, this is boring,” he finally says as he snaps to attention. “I
feel like I should be asleep. I guess it’s been too damn long … Anyhoo, where
was I? Oh yeah, the Dodecanese. Thing about Greece is that it’s relatively
close to Romania and it holds a very important position in Europe. It’s a
brilliant strategic choice. If Klein wants to hit the Coronam, he can, rather
easily. On top of that, there are so many islands out there, not many are gonna
find him. I found him because I figure he has vastly underestimated my
information network.” Vincent smiles proudly before poking me softly in my
right upper arm.
“Come on,” he suggests with a nod of his head. “Let’s have a drink, you
could use one. I’ll tell you all about it. We also have to talk about what
we’re going to do to liven this personality of yours permanently. I can’t have
you slapping me every time you feel down in the dumps.”
I stand up slowly and look at his incredible, deep blue eyes.
“I don’t know why you say that,” I say slowly. “I have no problem
slapping you all day long if that’s what needs to happen. You gotta do what you
gotta do, right?”
“I suppose so,” Vincent agrees with several short nods of his head. “Of
course, you’re just going to end up breaking your hand.”
I laugh a little before I end up pushing Vincent’s chest. We walk out
of my bedroom and take the obscenely long journey to the common area of Angel’s
Retreat. The place is still as beautiful as ever. The décor is a very classy
blending of old European castle with modern Hollywood flair, but all of it
seems gray and blurred to me. It has become my prison over these last few
months. And I am really sick of it. When we finally make it to the bar, Vincent
urges me to sit. A change, and a rather drastic one, from me playing bartender
to Vincent’s regular drunk roles.
“Wow ... What a treat!” I exclaim as I sit on the barstool, something I
had become increasingly familiar with in times of stress. “I can’t believe
we’re having a drink and I’m on this side of the counter. Feels pretty
different. It’s nice. If I get Vincent-drunk, will you help me make it to my
bed like I always help you?”
Vincent clears his throat before raising his finger again. Oh geez,
here he goes again.
“Two things I have to
point out again. Apparently I’m gonna be doing this all day here,” he says as
he puts down the bottle of vodka he was opening. “A, again, is that you should
never make suggestive statements like that to me unless you want sarcasm as a
reply. You should know better than that. I.e. you want me to help you to bed,
don’t you?”
I slap him in midsentence just for the sake of slapping him. I have to
admit, it’s a strange relationship we share.
“And B, again,” Vincent says as he shakes the strike away from his face
and continues his rant. “Saying that someone is Vincent-drunk implies that I’m
nothing but a no-good drunk. That’s also very hurtful. Besides, you’re the
minor here. You should just be glad I’m even allowing you to drink.”
“You? Allowing me? That’s hysterical,” I say as I pick up the vodka cocktail
Vincent has slid over to me. “Admit it Vincent, you just love the company.
Michael doesn’t drink much anymore and you just want a drinking buddy.”
“Yeah, well, it’s all a part of my nefariously genius plan to get into
your barstool,” Vincent says as he raises his own cocktail to me. “And before
you think about it, I’m not gonna let you slap me again. You’ve used up your
limit for today. Now, as is customary we will follow the beautiful tradition
of—”
“Yeah, I know,” I say as I raise my glass and tap his with it. I answer
his smile with one of my own. “The beautiful tradition of blessing our drink.
It is a beautiful tradition. Salud, Vincent.”
“And to you, Izzy,” he says as he brings his glass to his mouth.
“Cent’anni.”
“One hundred years to you,” I say. Knowing him, this is probably a
test.
“Very good, you’ve been keeping to your studies.”
“No,” I point out a little sharply. “You just say it so often it’s hard
to forget.”
Vincent scratches his head and chugs down his drink. He grabs the vodka
bottle and drags it along the counter until it’s in between the two of us. He
looks at me longingly, licking his lips suggestively. It was good to see at
least one of us behaving normally.
“So, I was thinking about this anyway, before you even brought it up;
so was Michael,” he says as he opens the bottle and begins to pour himself
another round. “We both feel that a lot has happened in such a short amount of
time, we should probably reopen the discussion about what you should be doing
with your life in the meantime. I’m not going to say that what’s been happening
lately is normal for us, but it has happened several dozens of times in our
lives. But we can’t expect you, in your short nineteen years, to be dealing
with it anywhere near as easily as we have been. I’m surprised you haven’t
snapped like you just did before.”
“Well thanks a lot,” I say before chugging down my own drink and
snatching the bottle from Vincent’s hands. He only looks at me and shakes his
head. “If you knew I wouldn’t react well, why keep me here?”
“I don’t really know what you expected us to do,” Vincent admits almost
in frustration. “You yourself said you were never much of a social butterfly.”
“More like a social spider.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Vincent agrees before taking the bottle away from me
as I was helping myself to another drink. “Everything in moderation there,
drunko. What I was getting at was that we didn’t really have a lot of choices
here. We could have sent you back to the campus, and you could have kept
working, but for what? You never really mentioned liking it there. Besides,
everyone in town doesn’t even know you exist anymore. I could try to screw
around with their heads again and give them back their memories of you, but
that’s a real loose option. I don’t wanna do that if I can help it. It’s too
dangerous, even with my newfound powers.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” I answer in more evident frustration. The whole
thing sucks. He’s right and I know it. But that doesn’t really matter. It was
different when I was still searching for my mother. I had a plan and a goal. We
had achieved that goal and my mother was back and safe. Now all I did was take
alternating courses of education by the guys … that was losing its fun, to say
the least. “It was easy for me to not appreciate everything in my old life
while I had it, but it’s all I think about now. I even miss the shrink visits.
Don’t misunderstand me, I know what you’re saying, but there has to be
something better to do with my life. I love you guys, I always will. You both
have saved my life, you saved my mother’s, I mean … there’s no repaying any of
that. But when are we going to get off of terror alert red here?”
“I was just getting to that,” he continues as he pours himself another
drink. Wow, I never noticed he drank the one he had. Lush. “Michael and I have
been thinking about what we could do to make your time pass by a little easier.
Michael wants you to be protected and watched over at all times. I disagree
with that because you do need some level of freedom, or else you’ll end up resenting
the both of us.”
“I would never,” I argue in almost a scream. “I just want some fun.
I’ve watched everything I can on TV; I’m caught up on all my reading. I would
go back to studying all the supers that you guys know about, but what’s the
point? Michael is a rolodex of information on the subject. Maybe if I could get
my job back at Jack’s Place? Go back to the university, have a normal life? I’m
not going to do anything crazy.”
“You say that, but you don’t know what you’ll do,” he contends firmly. “I
don’t have you on a leash. None of us do. But what I’m saying is don’t take
this temporary phase of you being down in the dumps for more than what it is.
It’ll pass. Deep down you know what the right thing to do is. You can’t really
risk too much crazy behavior right now. I bet Klein thinks we aren’t anywhere
near here, especially with all the false information and dead ends we’ve been
leading him on with. But we can’t risk lives with that type of hunch. Jack’s
wouldn’t be so bad, because why would you have a job if you were with us? But
on the other hand, there’s nothing to do around here but visit Jack’s. Same
deal with the university. We gotta take this slow.”
“How slow?”
“Not very,” he assures me before pouring me a little more vodka. “But
reasonably slow. So why don’t you start thinking about what you want to do when
you grow up, huh? The choice is still yours, eventually. If you wanna walk away
from all of this when Klein’s dead, then you have that option open. It’s just
not open to you right now because we can’t in good conscience let you get
yourself killed.”
“So what are you saying, Vincent? Stop with the theatre and spit it
out.”
He grasps his glass and stares me in the eyes before presenting his
glass to mine again. “What I’m saying is, give us some ideas,” Vincent says
with a smile as he raises his glass. “And you’re free to go do whatever you
want. Just don’t skip town, huh?”
I smile back at him and I can’t help hugging him over the counter. He
was obviously not expecting this as I sense him almost jerk in place.
Now what should I do?
Book One The Keeper: Awakening is free everywhere:
About the Author:
From what I
understand, the first line of this thing is where I say something really
interesting that wins you over. After all, they say that you know within
seconds of meeting a person whether you like them or not.
So...yeah... I got
nothing. But if there is one thing I know, it's that through stories we
discover the world, learn about history and traditions; and in doing that, we
become who we are as an individual.
Since I was a very
young child, my only dream was to become an author one day. I wanted to reach
people with my words, maybe even entertain them. I wanted to touch their lives
and give them something to think about. After all, I am a loveable blowhard kinda
guy... that's gotta be entertaining, right?
In my life, I've
done many things; from supervising sales for a retail giant chain to being a
Deputy Sheriff. You would think that a person who had been shot at for a living
would be brave enough to write a biography without all the sarcastic quips.
Unfortunately no, that's one of my main flaws as the above mentioned blowhard.
Anyhoo, please feel
free to drop me a line! If you loved the book, I wanna hear about it. If you
hated every word of it, please make sure to let me know, but please avoid the
CAPS LOCK! The font can be a little... demeaning. Make sure to have fun guys!
They say you only live twice; and if that's true, we're at least half done.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kpftwin
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18373829-the-keeper
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Character Interview:
Michael Clark
a.k.a. Michael the Ironskin
Traits: Michael is a man from
a different era. As a man who was originally born in Italy, he maintains the
values of his upbringing. Honesty, honor, fair play and an emphasis on
strategy; all of these are held in the highest of regards for the decorated
werewolf. His nature and the role he plays in conserving nature’s balance make
him very careful in choosing his friends. Michael is truly one of the most
selfless beings ever to walk the Earth, but his role forces him to keep his
existence a secret.
What's the biggest challenge you have with your height?
It’s really hard to find clothing that fits. I’m also confined to only driving big trucks, or older style sedans. Beds don’t really fit me… I never really noticed it before, but it is a hassle being so tall…
What is the one thing that has been passed down to you that you want to pass on to your children?
My father always emphasized honor and honesty; in all things, always be honorable and honest. If I am ever blessed with children, I would hope they would inherit these values. They are important qualities that I believe everyone should possess. Perhaps if more of us were honest with one another, the world wouldn’t be in the state it is now.
What was your first thought when you knew that you were a werewolf?
It was very hard to come to terms with at first. My phasing was particularly hard to get under control. I was changing my form with the slightest change in mood. Even while just watching things on television, like football games. It was… inconvenient.
What's your favorite food?
I have a very serious love for steak and potatoes. Perhaps that is boring, but there is nothing tastier than that. A nice, rare filet with some baby red mashed potatoes… some cheddar cheese and bacon. I’m hungry just thinking about it. Although, if I’m being completely open, I usually am hungry.
In all the years that you have traveled the earth, what is the most beautiful place that you have seen?
There are many places that come to mind, all for different reasons. Mexico has some beautiful white beaches, Japan has a beautiful horizon… this is a question I could go on and on about. Truly, our world is a marvel.
What is the one quality in a woman that you find irresistible ?
To echo my previous statement, I love a woman with a good heart. As an empath, I can always feel motives in others… picking up on the intentions of a good woman is a very satisfying feeling. A good woman who you can talk to, that keeps you laughing… what could be better?
You are usually a very serious kind of guy, what makes you laugh?
Children and young animals make me smile uncontrollably… there is something about that level of innocence that is just awe-inspiring.
What's the hardest part to keeping the balance and the Veil hidden?
Ah yes… the never-ending battle. In this past century, the population of humans has increased exponentially. The supers aren’t really slowing either, it’s a powder key. A very dangerous one. Constantly keeping these two populations away from one another is extremely difficult. Keeping the humans ignorant of the existence of the supernatural community… that is nearing impossible.
Who has been your favorite famous person that you have met over the years?
Edison was a seriously funny man, although he did have a side of him that tended to be very pensive. My favorite though?... Most likely Jimi Hendrix. He was a very nice man, the music was always great and he was the life of the party when he got himself going.
Give me one piece of advice that you would give to mankind to survive?
No matter what happens, never panic. A person who panics is completely incapable of rational thought. It is during crisis that we must have our minds clearest. That is the only way out of these situations. The current problem is currently being addressed and will be resolved soon. This is not the first time the world has been in peril, and I doubt it will be the last. The world will survive, it always has.
Giveaway:
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