I, Vampire #18 is an issue of the series I, Vampire (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 2013. It was published on March 27, 2013.
Synopsis for "Dig For Fire"
While Cain prepares to raise his former love Lilith from the depths of Hell, Tig Rafelson turns on Andrew Bennett after decapitating Mary Seward, enraged by the revelation that it was he who killed her father. Disgusted with her ungratefulness, Andrew transforms into a wolf and tears out her throat.
Cain is disappointed when there is no sign of Lilith, despite all the flash and sparkle of the magic he has been using. John Constantine, bearing witness, realizes that they have been using a stone from the Tower of Babel as a catalyst, and that their amateur efforts have actually opened a celestial portal linking Heaven and Hell. This is far worse than simply opening a portal to one or the other. This is a hole in reality. Annoyed, he decides it is best to close up the doors to the House of Mystery and send it to some other reality for some future space monster to sort out. As John leaves, he abandons Deborah Dancer to face Cain, Charles Thompson, and the Keeper of the books alone.
When she turns to run, she finds Andrew waiting behind her, trying to decide whether to eat or turn her. When she threatens to kill him, it's settled, and he announces that they will all eat her before destroying the world. This last comes as a revelation to the others, who thought they were going to take over the world, not destroy it. Deborah takes their confusion as an opportunity to make a rush at them all, but she is soon pinned by Andrew. Instead of finishing her off, though, he finds himself under attack by Tig, who yet lives. She leaps onto his back, and tears out his throat. Angrily, he tosses her into his rebelling subordinates.
Cain turns to Andrew and remarks that while Andrew is turning out to be more man than he expected, he will still have to kill him. Despite Andrew's formerly noble and regal air, he has become much darker, the sire of all vampires remarks. Investigating, Cain realizes that inside Andrew lie the souls of all vampires. With his great power, Cain rips the souls from Andrews body, and finally locates the soul of his lost Lilith.
Meanwhile, the link between Heaven and Hell grows unstable, and Cain turns to the Keeper to stop it. Unfortunately, there is no way to close the gateway once it's been opened. Cain shrugs it off, knowing that his Lilith will soon be back with him. He takes up her soul, and throws it into the body of Tig, much to Charles' dismay, as she transforms before their eyes.
Within moments of Lilith's restoration, the gateway has a surge of energy that burns away the Keeper's body. Shielding herself, Deborah spots Andrew waking up - apparently back to his old self. He only now remembers all of the evil he has committed, and realizes that he must close this gateway, as impossible as it seems.
When he rushes toward the gateway, he is slapped away by Mary, who has also been restored. Angrily, she warns that for all that Andrew has taken away from her, he will not take away her martyrdom too.
Appearing in "Dig For Fire"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Mary Seward (Appears only as a corpse) (Also as a spirit) (Cameo)
Antagonists:
- Andrew Bennett (Corrupted) (Cured)
- Vampires
- Charles Thompson
- The Keeper of the Books (Unnamed)
- Tig Rafelson (Possessed) (Apparent Death)
- Vampires
- Cain
- Lilith (As a spirit)
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Prime Earth
- England
- House of Mystery (Displaced)
- Mesopotamia
- Babel (Mentioned only)
- Tower of Babel (Mentioned only)
- Babel (Mentioned only)
- England
- "The Afterlife"/"The Other Side" (Unnamed) (Behind the scenes)
- Hell (Cameo)
- Heaven/"Paradise" (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Silk Cut
- Tower of Babel brick
- Tig's Locket
Concepts:
- Magic
- Mark of Cain
Trivia
- The title of the issue is a reference to the The Pixies song of the same name.
See Also