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1.35 am Thursday, 12 December  4 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Rookwood Cemetery

Three of the coterie stormed towards the fenceline through Rookwood Cemetery, while Dominic stayed behind and called Bruce to pick him up. I was beyond his reach here, maybe anywhere.  Reaching for Alex as he fell into the Maelstrom in the centre of the Labyrinth had been a mistake, possibly a fatal one. In the Universe, there were forces that not even Dominic knew much about that cared nothing for a neonate Vampire, no matter how worthy he thought his motives were.

“I really should have expected that,” He repeated to himself as a movement in the shadows caught his attention, “Rain?”

Where the crack in the ground had closed, I stood looking confused and lost.  To his normal sight, I looked as I always had, but through his Dead Sight, he could make out a collection of dark lines crossing my body as if a fine mesh of ley lines were draped over me.  It was like I’d walked through a giant glistening spiderweb. 

I found myself standing in the cemetery, alone. I remembered reaching down into the crack after Alex and falling through the Maelstrom.  The scenes from my life had done their trick, breaking me.  I’d been…drowning? No, disappearing…disolving.  And then I was back, seemingly with no harm done, unsure what was real and what was my Beast’s illusions.  

 I looked up and saw the stars shining brightly in a clear summer’s sky.  They seemed real, but who could really say? I couldn’t touch them to confirm. To my left, I could just make out the group leaving in the car. I thought to call, and then didn’t…maybe if they don’t perceive me, I’m not real. To my right, a familiar man in black stood highlighted in moonlight, staring intently in my direction. He saw me.  

“Dominic?” I said, my voice no more than a whisper as I stumbled towards him and threw my arms around his very solid, very real corporeal self. A moment’s pause, and I felt his arms wrap me in reply, and I knew that this…Dominic… was real. 

“Welcome back, little black rose.  Now, are you going to stop saving every Tom, Dick or Harry? Are you ready to become your own person, and not exist merely for others?” I heard his voice and felt it vibrate through his chest and mine. I could have absorbed that sensation forever, but I knew how people felt about such things and broke contact.

“I’m glad you’re here. I have so…much to tell you.”
“Certainly, it should be a very fun story,” He said with a smirk akin to the one I’d last seen him wear above my grave. 

It wasn’t real…none of it was, I tried to assure myself, but I’d felt the moment of his blade’s penetration just as clearly as I’d felt his embrace. How can I really know?

“You have a lovely afterglow about you.”
“Do I?” I looked at my hands and arms, but my Dead Sight had faded, and all I saw was skin and cloth.

“I’m no artist, but I could make an attempt at some point,” He suggested, and then laughed softly, “But not in front of Aunty.”

“What happened?” I asked him. Maybe if I could understand how I’d ended up…there.

“In your normal bravado, you tried to save a spirit who was going through a harrowing.  A spirit who, I may add,  was in no permanent risk of destruction other than a little psychological damage.”
“Alex…I remember, but…I have no idea what is…was…real and what was…” I shrugged, words failing me.

“Well. Why don’t you start telling me about this story of yours?” He suggested, and I nodded.

I went through the scenes I’d experienced. Being a baby and discovering that my Father had forced my Mother to have child after child to sacrifice to his war of faith. The soccer game where my mere interaction caused death. Leaving and turning my back on that place and starting a new life in England. The busking scene, leading to Garcia’s revelation. I broke at that moment, the betrayal once again real and physical in my chest. I let the tears fall unhindered.

“I had to admit something to you, Dominic.  The first night, you asked us if there were people in our lives.  I guess you already know, I lied.  There was Lenny, of course, but there were others I was looking after, checking up on. The Prince had his….man, Cabolut Hazzim, kill and scatter them. I had to watch…I had to watch as Hazzim killed my friend and used his blood to leave me a message.  I’m sorry I didn’t tell you at the start.”

“There was a reason I took you to the table and asked each of you.  It wasn’t to be cruel, but for your own benefit. It was to protect the family you wished to protect.” He said quietly, without blame, just stating the truth.

“Yes,” And more tears flowed as I knew that not only was it my fault…I had stopped the only thing that could have saved them, “I know now.”

“It was never for my benefit, Rain.  Protecting or clearing your life was always for your benefit. It is always important that your family never appear weak.”

 Family.  God, how I’d longed for family…all my life. If he’d slapped me with one of his fists, he couldn’t have hit any harder than that one word.  Nothing…was more important than family.

“They’re gone now, “I replied, “They’re no longer a threat to the family.” 

“The brutality of your new life was never at the forefront of your thinking, was it?”

“Well, thank you for trying to look after us even if we don’t appreciate it.”

And then I stumbled through the last scene, the worst by far.  

You forced this upon yourself…we could have been great together…

“That’s very interesting,” Dominic said in curious detachment.

“That’s what I mean, that never happened…will it happen?…was it even real?  I don’t know…”I put my hand to my mouth to stifle the moan.  Dominic would not have appreciated it. “I thought I died, Dominic.  I thought I died.”

“And for a moment, you did die,” He said simply and that one phrase gave at least some sense to what I’d experienced. “In fact, I’d say you’ve been reborn twice now. First, when you were an ordinary Rose, born to be a distraction, and now you are reborn…as the Black Rose. The one that shows the beauty in the darkness. ” 

“You said that before…the black rose, “And its remembrance recalled the feeling of solidity…realness, “I like it.”
“It is you, “ He said, with a flourish, and I nodded agreement.

“I like it.”

“How about we go meet my driver and take a trip to Aunty’s so you tell her all about your adventure, “  He finally said, placating the child, tired and cried-out after a very exciting day, “And then, we can see about you getting dressed properly for the ball so Stallion doesn’t outshine you.”

1.35 am Thursday, 12 December  4 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Driving

Mads didn’t wait for the others. As soon as Stallion unlocked the car, she was inside and putting on her seatbelt.  She’d tried, she really had. She put a hand out in friendship and got bitten. She’d brought these…people out to see what had become the most important part of her life and…the crazy Italian had…done…whatever shit he’d done to her dead husband!  

Eclipse climbed in next, followed by Stallion, behind the wheel.

“Okay, where to?” He asked, taking a moment to enjoy the driver’s seat.  He didn’t get to drive the ‘boss’s cars’, and if Dominic knew anything, it was luxury vehicles, “Back to the Crow Bar?”

“Want a drink?” Eclipse asked Mads, who was typically always looking for the next drink. 

“That reminds me, “ Stallion turned to look at the two girls, “Could I have a drink of you?”

“Excuse me?!”

“What the fuck, Stallion! Both Eclipse and Mads rounded on Stallion in horror.

“You know….the kiss…” He qualified, as if that made more sense, “I just want to drink a bit of blood.”

“Stallion, respectfully, you are the last person I’m going to give blood to,” Eclipse said.

“What about you, Mads?” Stallion asked again; at least he’s persistent.

“No. Do you really think I’m in a frame of mind to fancy your bullshit?!”

“Here, this is what you need,” Eclipse held out what was left of the joint to Mads.  Stallion took it back instead.

“But, I’ve got plans,” Stallion said, again as if that explained the odd request.

“Well, my plan is to go home,” Mads replied bitterly. 

“Okay, Crow Bar it is, “ Stallion took a drag before handing it back to Eclipse and started the car.

“Madeline, you don’t want to have a drink?” Eclipse asked again, now they were underway.

“Respectfully, no.  It’s not exactly the greatest outcome that’s just happened, and…” She looked down at her ring.  If what she understood was true, Alex was now with her, bound to her by her ring for at least a year and a day. “Were you not watching?”

“It sounds like you need a drink,” Eclipse said again, and this time Mads couldn’t deny it. 

“Why are you pushing Mads to drink?” Stallion commented from the front seat, “It’s so unlike you.”

“But it is like Mads.  She drinks to cope with her feelings.”
“That’s true, she does seem a happy drunk.”
“I have something at home, you can join me, I suppose,” Mads said, half-heartedly.  

“Ooh, have you got any now? I could do with a drink?”
“Stallion, you’re driving high as it is,” Eclipse said, waving the joint around, “Let’s just make a quiet night of it.”
“What’s left of it,” Mads replied, and they turned left up onto Centenary Drive.

2.00 am Thursday, 12 December  3 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Driving

Fifteen minutes after the first car left, a second of Dominic’s cars arrived to pick up him and me. As the driver silently and pointedly paid no attention, Dominic patiently drew out the details of what he was coming to understand was my  Harrowing.

“You certainly did get used,” Dominic said as he acknowledged the gravity of my experience.

“Used?”
“Yes, unnecessarily so, from what you’ve told me.”
“But, as I said, I can’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.  At times, I’d look up and see fog around some of these…scenes, put on for my benefit. Does that even make sense?”

Dominic leaned back in his seat, contemplating my question, “A Harrowing, which is what I believe you experienced, is an event where a wraith, a spirit you understand, is broken by their Shadow by showing them passion plays intimately tied to their life.  You, being a Vampire, with some training as a Necromancer, can move between life and the Shadowlands.  It seems you have some sort of tie to the Labyrinth, which is where you were drawn, a back door, as it were. You almost went the way of the Harbinger of Skulls.  But, being a Vampire, a necromancer and…if I may say, your own resiliant nature, you came out the other side…with some sort of residue…background radiation, if you were.”

“I had seen the Labyrinth before.  I parted the veil…while I was…in torpor,” I explained brokenly, “I saw it, and saw the bane in that place. But it was just a moment.”

“Well, this time you dived right in.”

“I went to the Labyrinth this time? I don’t remember that…,” I rubbed my hands through my hair, as if trying to stimulate my mind into remembering, “I don’t remember any of that…I’m sorry, I’m not making a lot of sense, am I.  You said…we’re going to see…Lucretia?”

“Why yes, you did promise to share your information with her, don’t you remember?”
“I…I wanted to share with you. I knew you’d…understand.”

“Besides, we need to get you dressed up old school for tomorrow.”

The Succubus Club.  It had seemed so important only a few hours ago.  Now, it was just another night of enduring….when all I longed for at that moment was oblivion.

“I have my suit, I….it will do.”

“You don’t want to go see Aunty at the moment?”

I sighed, like I was carrying the whole Shadowlands on my shoulders, and tried to collect my thoughts.

“You don’t have to. We can go back to the bar and have a few drinks. You can regain your sense of equilibrium…”
“Honestly, I think I’d like to walk home and make an early night.”

“I’m not going to let you walk home in your current condition,” Dominic said gravely, “Let me offer you a lift home.”
I nodded and lay back in the comfortable leather seat, “Thank you. Thank you, Dominic,” And closed my eyes.

Dominic gave instructions to the driver, and as my apartment was only up the street from the old Pyrmont house, he continued on his way. 

2.00 am Thursday, 12 December  3 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Leichhardt

Stallion dropped Mads and Eclipse off at the hotel before returning the car to the Crow Bar and heading back on foot to join them in Mads’ room.  It was small, large enough for a double bed, a chair, a small vanity with mirror holding a television, an empty luggage rack and an ensuite.  Mads’ bar consisted of a bottle of Vodka and a bag of blood.  She mixed the two and made what at least looked like Bloody Marys.

Mads gave the space a baleful look as she sat heavily on the bed.

“I was trying to make friends, I really was.  I should have known it would only lead to pain,” She said, in a contemplative tone that didn’t match her miserable expression. Turning on her sharp hearing, she tried tuning into the lives of the unhappy and lonely around her.  A floor above and to the left, she could hear Chris and Samantha at it again, at least Chris at Samantha, again.  She sounded as hurt and miserable as Mads felt.  As Mads drank her drink, she gave Eclipse and Stallion a literal blow-by-blow commentary of the couple’s row.

“Neighbours in tonight, huh?” Stallion said, putting down his drink and standing, “I may take a visit.”

“Why Stallion? “ Eclipse asked, sitting cross-legged on the luggage rack, “The Crow Bar is just across the road.”

Mads, quickly dulling under the alcohol’s effects, gave the directions without complaint.

“Sweet! Tme for a bit of larceny!” And Stallion left, a gleeful smile breaking across his face.

As Stallion walked up the stairs, Mads gave her commentary, “ He’s up on their floor now.  He’s stopped, probably listening…ah, he gave her a haymaker, and she fell to the ground. Stallion’s heading in their direction.  He’s knocking…”

“What are you doing?” Eclipse asked, confused.

“What? You don’t hear the domestics breaking out all over this building?” Mads said before, slowly training her increasingly bleary eyes on Eclipse. 

“There’s domestics all over, do you think I spend my time just listening in?

“What else do you do in your spare time?” 

Hmmm, kidnap indigenous people to sacrifice to my snake god?

Mads hadn’t noticed Eclipses’ silence, “Reality is so much more interesting than fiction. Sometimes there’s not much to do but listen to the arguments.  Sometimes it’s soothing.  Sometimes they reconcile, and there’s a happy ending….Stallion’s going to ruin my entertainment, isn’t he?”

Upstairs, Stallion was knocking on the door.  The violent smacking sounds that had drawn him to the door stopped, and moments later, the door opened.  A fat man, naked from the waist up, was standing before him, a vein pumping in his forehead.

“What?!”  Behind him, a woman clearly lay concussed and bleeding into the hotel carpet pile.

Stallion smiled and reached in to Quell the beast.  As he contemplated whether it would work on humans, the man pulled back his big meaty fist and punched Stallion in the face.  Stallion’s ability kicked in, and the man quickly cowered from the predator in front of him.

“Now, I came to see if you had a radio, but now you can come with me.  I think I have something that can ease your night.” Stallion said.

“Yes,” the man replied automatically and joined Stallion in the hallway, his door left open.  Stallion, quietly closed the door on the bleeding woman and took his prize down the stairs.

“Now, that’s something new,” Mads commented, “Did you know he could do that?”

Moments later, Stallion returned, the man following.

“Why here?” Mads wailed at seeing the man.

“The party seemed a little dead.  I brought him to liven it up…ha ha…pun intended.”

“Er…sorry about the noise, “ Said the man to Mads, “ You know how wives are.”
“It’s fine, Chris,” Mads replied with a wave of her nearly empty glass, “Ah, thank Samantha for the Casserole.”

“Casserole?  What’s that fucking whore giving away now?”

“She’s a generous woman.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.  A little too generous.”

Mads turned back to Stallion, “Again, why did you bring him here?”

“So you can get to know your neighbours.”
“I already know my neighbours.”
“Ah, but do they know you, Mads?” He winked grandly.

“What?  That I’m a chronic drinker?”

“Exactly, a D-r-ink-er,” Stallion stretched out the word so his meaning was clear.

Mads’ head swivelled back to Eclipse, still crossed-legged and sipping from her own glass, “Is this the only script he knows?”

“Yes, but let’s put the stray back upstairs, Stallion.” Eclipse replied.

“What?” Chris said, confused.

“Huh?” Eclipse replied, in a teenage parody of the stupid fat man.

Deflated, Stallion turned to Chris the wifebasher, “Sorry, you’re unwanted by these two.”
“Yeah, I have that effect on women.  I’ll go back to the whore.  Goodnight.” and Chris let himself out. Moments later, the screaming resumed.

“Stallion, have you ever heard of the word ‘Discretion’?” Mads rounded on Stallion.

“I’ve heard of it.  But with a little Vampire flex… at some point it doesn’t matter, right. First comes dinner and then comes dessert.”

“I don’t shit where I sleep!”

“I don’t know what you’re worried about, “ Stallion waved away her concerns, “We have a deposit station across the road. The Crow Bar takes empties.”

“I don’t shit where I sleep,” She repeated tiredly, and poured herself another drink, “I just want to drink…and not that drinking.”

“And light up?” Stallion suggested, pulling out his ever-present bumbag.

“No…” Mads started to say, but she’d had more than enough of playing by the rules, “Actually, sure, why not?”

2.20 am Thursday, 12 December  3 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Pyrmont

‘Have a good rest, Rain,” Dominic said, winding down the rear window.

“Yeah,” I agreed, lost in my own contemplations.

“You’ll need it for tomorrow night.”
“Thank you.  Yes, tomorrow night.  I’ll be ready.”

The car rolled away, taking Dominic back to his own mansion.  I watched the car go out of sight before turning away from my apartment building and heading down a path that paralleled the Lightrail.  When I reached Wentworth Park, I crossed diagonally under the old viaduct and headed directly for the Fishmarkets.

At 2.30 am, the markets themselves were not open, but the industrial side of the fishing industry was well underway.  Fishing boats bringing fresh hauls back from outside the Heads, and trucks arriving by road from Interstate waters and even overseas, all unloaded crates and crates of death packed on ice.  I walked calmly through the centre of the Maelstrom, comfortable in the chaos around me, letting it wash through me. I fed emotionally on the energy.

 I walked to the end of the pier and leaned out over the railing to take in the dark waters of the Harbour. It had been an odd and difficult night.  It had started discovering the open cultural knowledge I’d been desperate for since the first night.  It had ended with my…death?  

I put my hands in my pockets, now empty except for a very few possessions.  My puzzle box and a red scarf was with Eclipse, my phone was at the bottom of the harbour.  I had a few coins, another scarf and a piece of paper in my jacket pockets.  I pulled out the paper.

Another real thing, my Spirit’s Touch has told me as much.  Now, its message had more meaning to me; its other meaning clear.  I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out the pocket watch.  It was still a beautiful thing, a work of art made by an artist…imposed on by a demon.  The demon was silent now, which made what I did easier.  I opened my hand, and the watch dropped through into the water.  It disappeared, the ‘plop’ not even perceptible over the noise of the docks.  I replaced the slip of paper into my vest pocket where the watch had once been, and headed back to the Old Mill.

2.40 am Thursday, 12 December  3 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Pyrmont

The party broke up soon after the joint was finished.  Stallion headed back to the warehouse in Smithfield to call his bat and feed it.  He contemplated how cool it would look to turn up to the Succubus Club the next night with his pet bat swinging from his yellow suit.

Mads, left alone finally, sat and finished the Vodka.  She idly played with the gold band on her hand and wondered what her husband thought of all this, now that he was here to witness it.  She still couldn’t talk to him without an interpreter, still couldn’t tell him how she missed him. 

“I’m going to fucking kill Giovanni!”

Eclipse was torn.  It would have been easy to stay with Mads and crash on her floor, but the Succubus Club was the following night, and her dress was at the apartment.  Stallion had said something about me using Obfuscate in the cemetery, and she knew I hadn’t learned it from her. Giving her apologies, Eclipse called an Uber and headed toward Pyrmont and the Old Mill.

I returned to the apartment block with Eclipse waiting for me at the door.

“Eclipse?  I’m sorry, have you been waiting long?”

“It’s time, Rain, we have so much of it.  It doesn’t matter,” She replied graciously.

 “I’ve got to get you that passcard.  Come inside.” I said, swiped us both into the foyer, we called a lift to take us to the penthouses.

“I guess you didn’t see much of what happened at the cemetery?” I asked, knowing she’d been left out of the chaos with Alex and the ring.

“I must admit I was a mile away.  I know something happened with Madeline’s husband and was upset about that, and I just thought the weed was bad, but then I realised where I was and knew the weed was good….and I had to leave.  Stallion said something about you going ‘poof!’?” She still sounded a little high and wondered where Stallion had got his latest stash.

“Yeah, the cemetery wasn’t a great place for you.”
“No, and it took me way too long to notice, which is obviously a miracle,” She waved her hands about in a very not Eclipse way.  Her high antics made me smile.

“Maybe this is a good thing.  A workaround at least, right?  A new process for dealing with religious symbols, walk in high?”

“But what happened with you?  You’re clearly…not right, right?” 

Right….and I did intend to tell her…I’d told her everything before…

“Um…I don’t really know.  You remember when I was staked?  I saw into death then, and looked into a place called the Labyrinth. It is an awful place, nowhere you want to end up. In the cemetery, in death, the ground opened up, showing the Labyrinth.  Alex was pulled in and…as usual, I didn’t think, I just did, and….”
“You got sucked into the beyond that’s beyond the beyond?” She finished for me, and I nodded gratefully.

“I did.” The words came out a whisper, and I swallowed hard.

“Somehow it worked out well enough for you to be here still.”
“Yeah, and…. it… Sorry, it doesn’t make a lot of sense…” My words were failing me again, and I eventually just gave up trying.  

She watched me for a moment, assessing the structure before her for cracks.  She made a decision, hesitated, and finally opened her arms to embrace me.  Twice in one night.  And all I had to do was…die. I melted into her arms, letting the tension that had been keeping me upright to finally release.  We stood like that until the doors of the lift opened onto our floor.

“Thank you. I’m hoping to have a good night’s sleep, and maybe tomorrow it will make more sense. At least I can imagine it was all just a dream.”

“Lucky for us, we don’t dream, huh?” She said flippantly, but the words haunted me.

“We do not dream,” I repeated, and knew, no matter how I pretended, it had all been real.  All of it.  I had to change the subject.

“Urr….do you want to share what Bobby wanted with you?” 

Again, I could see the thoughts churning behind her eyes before she spoke, “Bobby…wasn’t himself.  He didn’t have much of a prophecy for me.  Just told me to go off to the Opera House.”

“Huh…he was so.. adamant to see you.”
“Yeah, I thought it a bit odd, I thought maybe something happened in between?”

“Maybe…he is Malkavian.  Maybe wires got crossed.”
“Or maybe it’s too late to think about, ‘What if?’” And once again, Eclipse’s insight took my breath away.  

…we could have been great together…

Yes, it is far too late for ‘What ifs’.

“Come on, “ She called from the door of the apartment.  I’d frozen to the spot, and she’d taken the passkey and opened the door without me realising, “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Ah…yeah…okay…” And followed her into the apartment.

3.00 am Thursday, 12 December  2 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Pyrmont

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmstead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Thomas Becket:  Wearer of the Skull mask. A.K.A. Lord Campden a 5th generation Capadocian and former Seneschal of London under Mithras.  Talented necromancer.  Knew Sarrasine and Lady Stone in London. Distaste for Tremere and Giovanni.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Chucko: Malkavian clown from 2023 Earth.  Part of a gang called the Bozos.

Critias: Old gentleman kindred Rain has made a deal with to be a ‘playing piece’ in a game at the Succubus Club.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Jules Talbot: Seneschal to Prince Sarrasine of Sydney

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission.  Also known as: Lady Jennifer Stone and Lady Ophelia Meritt.  Consort to Mithras.  Exiled from London and wanted by the Ventrue. See also: The Red List or Kemintiri. Fourth Generation, Followers of Set. Suspected embrace, 1300BCE. Sire: Set.  Childer: numerous. Evidence points to her being the creator of the Children of Osiris.Known to be a master of disguise to rival even the best, to the point that even Nosferatu have a difficult time discerning her. Known associates:  Mithras, Set, Horus. Kemintiri is First on The Red List.  She is immune to blood blonds and Dominate.  There is no known exception. She is the only being known to have returned from Wassail.

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Paul Derrogard: Name given by Monday of the Days of the Week. Claimed to be Ventrue.

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Malkavian Time: a connections all Malkavian share to a greater network of knowledge and shared visions called the Madness Network

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

SchrekNet:  A vampire only Internet.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

Writ of Retication: Lineage of a Vampire.

Harrowings are surreal passion plays intimately tied to a wraith’s sense of identity.  They take place in the Labyrinth, are set in the wraith’s memories, acted out by Spectres and directed by the Shadow, all to the ultimate goal of disconnecting the wraith from the living world and eventually his own sense of self.

Harrowing

1.  I see my parents arguing.  Their words are muffled and incoherent.  I move closer, crawling along a threadbare rug to listen to what is causing the upset. 

“We’ve had this conversation many times before.  You know this is the way things are here, “ Says Father, angry…no, stern and determined, “He’s going to be in the battle. He has to be, as all of us have.”

“I can’t lose another one,” Mother cries, I can’t see her face, she’s using her red head scarf to wipe away tears, “I die a little bit every time.”

“That’s why this one is here!” Father’s voice rises, and Mother flinches as his hand shoots out and points at me.

Avel had mentioned this. The things she’d rather forget. At the time, I’d thought she’d meant when the soldiers came. Now I could see. I was just a replacement, one more created to throw into the fire of conflict. As small as I must have been, to my father, I was just another replacement fighter.  To my mother, another pit of pain and loss. 

But there had been others.  Other brothers, maybe in the Shadowlands now? More family…out there somewhere. I only had to find them. 

My Father was wrong, and my Mother was a victim, but I wouldn’t be broken by this truth. It meant nothing to me.

You have begun well. Let’s see what you make of the rest.

2. The scene changed.  I am running outside.  A game of football has started in one of the bombed building, abandoned and forgotten except by us kids. Our playground was a ruin strewn with broken masonry and exposed steel bars; our football was made of knotted rags. I’m young, maybe five years old, and I wanted in on the game with the much bigger boys. I may be small, but I’m fast and get my foot to the ball. A boy beside me drops to the dusty ground and lies still. The rest of the boys continue their game, oblivious. Only I see the kid, dead. 

I look around for what had caused the boy to fall, but we are surrounded by mist; there is nothing but me, the boy on the ground, and the football game.  I leave the boy behind and catch up with the game. I watch the game from the edges. No one else dies, no one else falls. Again, weaving through the bigger, slower kids, I get a foot to the ball and kick. Another boy falls dead, and as before, the game goes on.

“I’m killing them,” I realise, “Somehow, even though I don’t mean to, I’m killing them.” My interactions cause death. Intellectually, I knew that. Where else did the blood we drank come from? I’d seen the kegs, I’d even contributed to their collection. Even without intending to, my life has led to death.

I looked up, and the football goals appeared out of the fog, twisted steel bars draped with an old blanket.  

“It doesn’t matter, “ I say and once more catch up with the group, “Because we’re all playing this game. I could have been one of the fall, but I wasn’t. It is all part of the game.” I weave through the group and kick, sending the ball into the back of the blanket. 

All the children fall to the ground dead.  I did it.  I played the game and won, and people died.  

“So be it.”

Interesting.  

3. It’s not much later, a few months?  I am walking away from the ruin that was my home, following a soldier wearing a pale blue cap who speaks softly in another language.  My Mother was taken by soldiers.  My Father, dead in a pit where I left him and all the other men who were shot around me. I take one last look and see only the piles of bodies in the silent wood. I turn my back on it and take the soldier’s hand. 

Later, I wash, and wash and wash.  I wash in a plastic sink in a makeshift medical station. I wash in the rain of a country lush and green and full of water.  I wash in the ocean on the other side of the world, and slowly the image of the pit disappears.  I keep washing, and washing. Turning my back on the image until I finally leave it behind me. 

There are no questions, ‘Why me? Not them?’ I blocked their memory from my thoughts for years. Always walking away, always putting space between me and what I left behind.

Clearly, the past doesn’t affect you as much as we thought.  

4. I’m now on the street of a City, probably London. I’m in my element.  There’s colour and cards, and flash and banter, and I’m loving the energy and the attention. A crowd has gathered around me to watch, but they don’t seem pleased. Though more and more gather, no one is smiling. They silently watch as I go through my routine. Their detachment only spurs me on to greater stunts.  I start juggling sets of cards, flipping them in the air, changing the cards so only face cards show, then aces, then only queens are flipped and fly before their eyes.

I perform to them, the stonefaced crowd, I never once forget I’m performing before an audience. All the time I’m pushing myself, urging myself to do better, be more daring. I’m in love with the art of the performance and spectacle.

As I perform, the silent watching crowd grows.  Their attention is fine, but now I’m lost in the rhythm and movement of the stunts. Their silence is nothing; there is only the art, the cards and my hands. I’m now creating new stunts on the spot, things I’ve never practised just to see if I can. Their participation is no longer required as I come to an epiphany; this is life!

I finish with a flourish, throwing all the cards in the air to have them come together as a pack. I spin and catch them in the air with a snap and finally acknowledge the presence of the audience once more. The silence is broken by snickers. No applause, but laughter ripples through the crowd.  My performance was absurd, ridiculous, and petty. A thing of little worth…and certainly not worth wasting time on.

I’d given everything, more than everything, and it …isn’t enough.  It’s never enough. Their snickers and jibes sting, a thousand tiny lashes marking me as outside, outcast, unworthy. But I know the tricks were good, more than good, I could feel it as I performed. I know how long it took me to get that good, how long and hard I practised, did without and focused on the art. It’s not worthless.  I’m not worthless.

And so I  stand before them, and let their snickers and comments roll off me. I smile, make a self-deprecating joke and join in. The laughter continues, and I stay, resolute, sure that one day I will be recognised as great. 

Hmmm, that sort of defiance will have future ramifications.

5. The performance ends, and the audience melts away, leaving only one standing before me. He’s tall, impeccably dressed, with a thick wave of salt-and-pepper hair artfully sculpted.  His lupine smile and dark eyes on me and only me. Then I took it for interest, maybe even longing, but now understand it to be…hunger. I feel the flutter of emotions, the rise of heat in my cheeks as I am not just the centre of attention but seen…finally seen.  By Garcia.

Around us, the scene changes. We’re in a bar.  People everywhere, but none are paying attention to us. I am with Garcia, and he stares at me with his hungry eyes, and I am…his…gladly. I give everything I have, everything I am to be…with him. Nothing is more important than being called special by him, than my reflection in his dark eyes. 

And all he wants…is a meal.  

“You know, I’m glad I chose you. Because you provide such a good foil, a good distraction. You are the centre of attention where everyone looks, while I am free to do what I need. Anything expected of me, you have performed impeccably.”

“Before, in other situations, I would have been shackled with you for fifty years.  Teaching you the ropes. Making sure you were properly distinguished, making me look better.  But I didn’t have to do any of that, and I don’t have to anymore.”

“By each failing, by each mistake you make, I look better, and you make Dominic look worse. You’ve been a wonderful cuckoo. And I thank you for that.”

I stand, dawning horror seeping through me.  He chose me, yes, but not because I was special, gifted and worthy…but because I fumbled about and let him do as he pleased in the shadows of my spotlight. 

“Maybe I just need to try harder,” I say, trying to keep the plea out of my voice.  

“And you do. Making agreements you shouldn’t, power-brokering beyond your knowledge and station, requires.  Every mistake, you stumble upwards; succeed by failure. That is probably the only thing that makes you unique and exceptional.”

“I wonder, what will happen when you truly succeed? Will it be your downfall?”

“You won’t be there to see it, either way,” I smile urbanely and sip my drink, feeling the glass rattle against my teeth as my hand shakes.

He laughs as if I’ve told the most outrageous joke, “Ah, if I do, you won’t.” He threatens with the same hungry smile.

I have no comeback, no smart rejoinder to wipe that self-satisfied smile off his face. I swallowed, finding my heart constricting my throat. 

Yes, that one hurt, didn’t it? That one made it through.  Good. We can continue.

6. Garica’s laughter fades as the lights and people of the bar dissolve away. I am…floating, only a witness to a scene that I’d prefer to forget.  I’m back in the squat in Surry Hills as a man with dark skin stalks the abandoned rooms. I know him. Cabolut Hassim. I told him I would never forget his name.

He’s hunting. He comes across a body lying on an old mattress. A dog that had resolutely defended her owner her whole life, slinks away in fear at the predator stalking up to his bed.  The room was silent, but Big Bob awoke to the sensation of being watched, the power held at bay. He looks up and sees Cabolut looming and knows that this…man is his end. He knows he’s nobody, nothing worth…cleaning up. There’s only been one presence in his life that could bring such an end to one such as him.

“So, it’s finally happening. You know, I kind of wish he’d spent less time here. Every time he came, he’d bring his smiles, jokes, and gifts; lightening the mood for a while. But it was always self-serving; it was never for our sake. It was always for him. It was like he was collecting good moments to make up for something. This time, right?”

“He never really tried to help us. Get us out, make us better. Not one of us. Not even the boy he took with him. It was always to make Toby special, to make him look…good. Pure. I guess I’m just another one he’s…washing away? Well?  Go on. Do it! Let him know what happened.”  I heard Bob’s voice crack in fear as Cabolut quickly leaned down and slashed him across the throat. 

I saw his bright blood pump out, splattering the room and filling forgotten food containers, pooling on the sleeping bag that had until that moment kept him warm.  I watched as Cabolut leaned down a second time, dipping his index finger into the blood and, on the wall now splattered with blood, wrote the message:

When it rains, it falls on the rose petals.

His task completed, he looks up at the corner where I have watched everything. He says nothing, just nods recognising my presence, turns and walks away. 

 I am helpless and beaten, less able to act than poor Bob, slowly going cold. The grief for this moment now mingles with Bob’s last words, and it burned a hole through me.  I hadn’t just led them to their deaths; I’d never really been there for them at all.  What was my grief then, not that they had suffered but that I had lost. As before, when confronted by this scene, I wanted to flee, but was fixed in place, held aloft and unable to move.  I cried out into the mists around me.

Yes, you are death.  Face it. Yes, now we’re getting somewhere.

7. I can’t move. I’m lying on my left side in the foetal position, and I can’t move.  Panic flutters in my throat, and I realise I know this feeling. Topor. I’m staked, and trapped within my own body again.  From my right eye, I can see a night sky obscured by the dark boughs of trees.  I can feel the cool dampness of wet earth below me, seeping into my clothes, and as I watch, I can see the movement of five individuals above me.

Stallion, Eclipse, Dominic, Mads and beside her, Izac all look down from the lip of a hole, and I realise I am at the bottom. What had I done to deserve this?  I have no idea, but some…judgement has been made, and these five are here to see it done.

“Are we going to finish this, or what?” Izac barks, as moody as ever.

“I don’t know. He’s done worse, can’t we talk about this?” Stallion whines, unwilling to proceed.

“No, no,” Izac said with a practical air, “He knew the risks.  He decided his path, and this is the only way we can go forward, together.” Izac looks down at me, not with any anger or resentment. He’s just finishing up a dirty job, his mouth set in a grim line of determination.

“I can’t believe you don’t have a problem with this. You’re supposed to be the Vegetarian,” Stallion said, rounding on Izac.

“Yes, Stallion, but this was a line crossed too far. Something had to be done.”

“So we’re all in agreement?” Ask Dominic, looking like the hanging judge in some court case.

“Yeah, just finish it up,” Stallion finally laments, and kneeling down beside the hole I lay helpless in, he stabs me in the chest with something black that doesn’t reflect the light. A piece of night. Dominic is next.  He kneels on a piece of tarp to ensure he doesn’t dirty his suit. His sly smile appears as the blade of night in his hand digs into my chest, and he takes pleasure in the moment.  As he rises, Eclipses gets down on both knees and leans into the hole, her lips brushing at my ear.

“You forced this upon yourself. We could have been great together,” She whispers so low that I doubt even Mads’ sharp ears heard. She adds her piece of night to the others. Helping her up, Izac is next. He stabs, not even caring to look where he was stabbing. To him, the job is done, and now he can get on with his life.  Mads is standing to one side, almost a bystander, not really involved, but dragged into this by her own bad luck. She thrusts in the last blade of night down without enthusiasm and steps away quickly.

As I lay there unable to defend myself, I recognise the place. It is the small clearing where we buried Boofhead deep in the Royal National Park.  For all I know, this could be his grave. As each piece of night pierces me, I feel my life draining away, leaving only a husk.

This last is beyond crying or wails of betrayal. My mind is numb, and this time, as the scene dissolves, I let myself dissolve with it. I’ve had enough.  My life was…ash…poison to everyone and everything it touched, no matter how I persevered and pretended it would be better. 

“Let it be done with, “ I whisper with the last of my energy and accept.

Excellent. Well done. Now.  We can begin.

**********************************************************************

11.25 pm Wednesday, 12 December  7 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Opera House

ON MY WAY Eclipse sent a text. We were all outside the Opera house waiting when Dominic checked his phone 

“Eclipse is on her way,” He drawled, bored by the things he had to do for his adoptive childe.  Eclipse and I had only that night found out that some of the older kindred could request to hear our Writ of Recitation, our lineage by blood as kindred all the way back to our Clan’s founder. I may have caused a little bit of a fuss when Dominic returned from the theatre, prompting him into taking us to see the Seneschal, the Prince’s second in charge.

Like beautiful statues, our inhuman bodies slowly forgetting the automatic movements of life,we silently waited  as Eclipse climbed the stairs to meet us.  Her eyes alighted in Mads and she paused for a moment.  She was surprised to discover she felt no different about Mads since making her decision. That she was privy to the last few moments of Mads’ existence didn’t seem to affect her view of her friend in the slightest.  

“Eclipse, you finally made it,” Stallion drew our attention to Eclipse’s arrival as she walked up and stood beside Mads.

“What the fuck happened to you?” She asked, taking in the sculpted Stallion in all his new perfection, “So you can fix the way you look, but not the part that really shows?” She pointed to the hem of his robes, hiding the dainty donkey hooves.

“Baby steps,” Stallion replied unphased, “So, Eclipse, what have you been up to?” 

He’d forgotten that before we left, I’d mentioned Eclipse had an appointment with Bobby. Or at least forgot by design.  It was sometimes hard to spot where the idiot ended and the cunning began with Stallion.

“Wandering around the City,” She said with a shrug, and I for one wasn’t going to contradict her, “So why are we meeting with the Prince?”

“Do you know who your sire is?” Stallion asked, knowing full well she had no idea of his name. See what I mean.

“Fuck no.”
“Do you know who your sire’s sire is?”

“My Writ of Recitation doesn’t matter, “ Eclipse, realising what all the fuss was now about, brushed off Stallion’s argument with a wave of her hand, “I’m a nobody.”

Now we were collected, Dominic led us into the Opera House foyer of the Main Concert Hall where the Prince held court.  The Prince’s Seneschal was Jules Talbot, at least that’s what Dominic had told us, though I hadn’t had a chance to look him up on SchrekNet before my phone was destroyed. I was still sore at the loss of my phone, and was internally kicking myself for my stupidity. Distracted, I didn’t notice the other kindred already waiting to see the Seneshal until the creak of a door to one side caught my attention.  I was happy to see Alicia, a Toreador we’d met at the Crow Bar.  I was afraid I’d made a poor impression on her that night, and was pleased that she replied to my nod and wave.  As the door opened, signally the Seneschal’s readiness to see her, she entered and the door closed behind her.

That left the second kindred, an individual I had noted at the theatre the night Izac went missing.  He wore a human skull as a mask over his face.  He watched us curiously, wondering what the business such a large group could have with the Seneschal.  As by way of distraction, and because the silence was building to an uncomfortable degree, I decided to introduced myself to the mysterious individual. Mads pipped me at the post.

“Busy night?” She asked, which in the local accent runs together and is often misinterpreted by visitors.

“What?” Said the masked gentleman.

“I’m asking you, busy night?”

I noticed Dominic, playing along with Mads’ polite query, turning to watch the stranger incredulously.

“I would hazard a guess that my acceptance of waiting here…in abundance…has given you a skewed impression of my…bussiness.” The gentleman said stiffly.  I jumped in to save the party from making an enemy before we’d even started our social lives.

“Good evening, I’m Rain. I saw you at the theatre a few nights ago. I meant to introduce myself then, and am pleased to get a second chance.”

“Very pleased to make your acquaintance,” He said with measured and practiced drawl.  This was someone who had spent a lot of time in England, it was enchanting to hear…if not my mother tongue, my stepmother’s.

“Maybe you can tell me, can you recommend any of the fancier eateries in this place? Any place of quality where you can find someone to take a…bite.” 

Internally, shaking my head at the lack of any useful social information, I  admitted I hadn’t had the opportunity.

“Unfortunately no, though you are very welcome at our…that is to say, Dominic’s establishment, the Crow Bar.” Hardly fancy, but Dominic did try to make everyone feel at ease.

“Dominic who?”

“Mr Giovanni,” I introduced my adoptive sire and the gentleman’s mood chilled considerably.

“Oh, ur…and what kind of establishment is this? The usual Giovanni decadent enslavement to gold and marble? Tell me Dominic, is it everything your family proposes to be and have?” 

“It is a welcoming establishment where one can find rest, have a bite to eat. More of a homely vibe than high dining experience.”

“A tavern,” The kindred almost, not quite, scoffed.  He was polite.

“That is a more accurate description,” Dominic replied, grudgingly.

The kindred did laugh at that, a chuckle to make any evil genius envious, “Oh, a tavern!  And what’s your name, ladies?”

“My name is Luna,” Eclipse said, and though didn’t say anything, I wondered why for this stranger she felt the need to hide her name.  Did she, with all her extra reading into the powerful in influential of our kind know something I didn’t? 

“Mads. Pleasure,” Mads said with little pleasure in her expression. 

“Charmed, “ The kindred cooed, all polished charm, “I assume we have some time to kill, so, let’s kill some time together.  What is your business with the Seneschal tonight?”

As I was the main reason for us being here, Eclipse seeming disinterested in her Brujah sire (maybe she already knows all about her new sire’s lineage), and Stallion was happy enough with knowing White Sharks, I took that question.

“I don’t mind saying.  I’m here to see if the Seneschal’s office has my Writ of Recitation. It is an unfortunate predicament I find myself in; my sire did not seem fit to provide it.”

The kindred looked at me, shocked, dismayed in fact that such a thing should occur.

“I know.”

He shook his bony head, “We used to be something.  Some of us still are leaders of cities and of men, creators of civilisations and mythology.  And are you the only one? Are the rest of so so blighted?”

“Nah, I’m here for the pleasantries,” Mads said, dourer and stoney faced, “I’m here for the Succubus Club.”

“Oh.  I heard a recent story, I’m not sure if you’d have heard it, but it was about little people and a dog and coloured bricks on a road?” 

The Wizard of Oz?  What was he getting at?  I’d appreciated the imagery of some kindred still being leaders and shapers of community, but this?  Was he saying something about it all being an illusion?  Magic tricks and confidence men?

“Uh…” Mads replied, continuing the conversation while I thought, “I am familiar.”

“I’m just wondering which of you fits the bill.”

We were the wishmakers off to see the Wizard? Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.  I’d leave Toto for Stallion, though Scarecrow fitted him well enough…but I didn’t like my chances with the others.  Izac could have stood in for the Tin Man, if he’d been there.  Did that make me the Cowardly Lion? 

“I’m sure there’s a witch among you,” He said, glancing at Mads.

“I’m sure there’s  a Cowardly Lion here too, but I can’t pick who,” Mads quipped back, and I had to hold back a smile, “Still, they have more heart than they think they have.” I think that was the nicest thing I’d heard her say.

“Hmm,” The kindred replied noncommittally.

“Anyway, what brings you here?” Mads continued to steer the conversation and I could see us doing this act at the new bar, drawing out the customer while I watched and listened. Her brash, honest sounding and local, me smooth and charming and may I say, a little exotic. 

“Transations. Mercantile nature of my master’s.” I found this interesting.  This was the first of the visiting kindred we’d met who wasn’t working for himself.  Some admitted to belonging to factions, societies and cults, but this was the first to come out directly as say it. It made me wonder who his master was.

“Whose owing who?” Mads said and I could see her fifty years of training in this life coming to the fore.
“No, no owing.  I’m looking at items of antiquity to take home.”
“Oh, window shopping,” Mads supplied, and there was a twitch of irritation on the kindred’s calm exterior.

“I believe that’s the word they use nowadays. It used to be a thing to cross to the Orient Minor and collect wonderful items of civilisations past.” The Grand Tour.  When the cashed-up aristocrats sent their sons out to plunder the ancient world for its trinkets.  I guess we have differing views on that piece of history.

“We have planes now, so that sort of travel’s sort of lost its lustre.” Mads said, matching the kindred’s cool casual attitude.

“It has.  But the expedients of travel now, well, it goes without saying.”

“May I ask your name, sir?” I finally asked. As mentioned previous, I often find it more instructive to sit back and let other do the talking, but it seemed that this gentleman was one to watch out for.

“I am Thomas Becket,” He said as if announcing himself to the whole foyer…which was only us.   I knew the name, but I didn’t think this was the same Thomas Beckett, historian and diarist of renown. Still, I watched as Eclipse’s eyes grew wide in recognition. I would have to get her aside sometime tonight and find out what she’d read about our conversation companion.

What I didn’t know was this Thomas Becket was also known as Lord Campden or Roger of Camden. He had been Seneschal for Mithras, Prince of London and was his loyal servant.  During his time as Seneschal he saw both Sarrasine and Lady Merritt Stone, and may have created the Red list for her.  He has a strong dislike of the Giovanni and Tremere, the later more to do with Mithras than Becket himself. He was also a skilled necromancer, something I would have dearly loved to have known, but Eclipse kept it all tightly locked behind her pert red lips.

“And you, young man,” Becket now turned his attention to Stallion, “You appear to be…sculpted? Like you’ve had some professional work done.”

“Many services are available.  I found a guy at Mr Giovanni bar one day…night I should say, and we got to talking.”
“I am sure.  As with anything to do with the Giovanni, there are always generates, “He nodded his head urgiung Stallion to continue his story, while insulting Dominic at the same time.  All class.

“It’s a good place to meet up…like I did that guy,” Stallion said, stoutly defending his master.

“Hmmm, it sounds like you have a story to tell. Well, speak up…continue,” Becket, now sure of his place in the group, he now conducted the conversation.

“Ah, we went to a place. See…how would I best explain this without grossing anyone out?” 

“Be clear. Its alway best to have the facts stated as clearly as possible,” He urged Stallion on.

“Let’s see…as you said I was sculpted…and sculpted some more,” Stallion said, and suddenly I saw Stallion seemingly shrink and recoil from his own words and thoughts.  Oh, God, it must have been a harrowing experience to make Stallion cringe.

“I see you have a way with words,” Becket replied, and his tone was almost sympathetic. 

“You know, there’s always a little tongue in cheek.  A little tongue here, a little cheek there.” Stallion joked, but  we all understood the grisly truth now and shuddered.

“And you Dominic.  Why are you with this lot?”

“A simple task done for a favour or two from the Prince,” Was all he replied.  

“Always business, I see,” Becket said dismissively, the usually slight directed at Giovanni.  Yes, he was business, but family was business too and Dominic had shown himself to be a good family man. Whatever his failings, the Prince could not say Dominic had not kept up his end of the deal. 

“Oh, there’s something about Australia that’s very special. You should take a dive into the Umbra here. The spirits are absolutely…ancient.” Dominic changed the subject and I realised he was talking about the Dreaming and all things necromancy. 

“Hmm, food for thought that, “ Becket said and I had the feeling that he more than intellectual nourishment in mind.Was this guy a Necromancer? 

Before I got to ask, the door creaked open. Thomas Becket of London straightened his Saville Road suit, literally bid us all “…a good morrow…” and walked through the door.  Once more, the door closed behind him.

“I wonder how many besides that guy were here to see the Seneschal tonight?” Stallion wondered out loud.

“A whole cadre. At least ten, I should think, “ Dominic replied and we all realised how very interesting Sydney had become suddenly. 

“So, Shall we go in?” Stallion said, about to move for the door as both Dominic and I spoke in unison.

“No.”  Stallion stopped in his tracks.   I am under no illusions that it wasn’t under my influence.

“Mr Giovanni, have you ever drunk an elder vampire’s blood?  Does it taste nice?” Stallion asked, sounding like an eight year old who’s thought all their big thoughts and needs to share with the grown up.

“What the fuck, Stallion?” Mads said, sounding disgusted.  I kept quiet, recalling the moment the Prince had offered me his wrist.  A man can live on memories like those.

“Just the initial taste, “ Dominic replied thoughtfully. The sensation of Giovanni blood razorblades nad acid washed al lthought of the ‘bliss’ I’d received from tasting the Prince from my mind, “I imagine you don’t remember yours.” 

“What? Before I had to dig myself out of a grave?” Stallion said and that was one of the few things we could share, Stallion, Eclipse and myself. We were denied that memory too by the nature of being Shovelheads.

“Hardly an elder…our sire’s were only 11th generation, “ I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, “Hardly worth remembering anyway.” 

I looked to the door. I was getting pretty tired of waiting.  I had a string of eleven kindred to practise and memorise before tomorrow night and thoughts of Garcia once more sent me spiralling into angry recrimination. If I’d only known, that could have been his boon to me, and then, I could have been done with him. 

“Regardless, it isn’t something people speak about in polite society, especially within the Prince’s court,” Dominic said, taking the moment to expand our education.

12.22 am Thursday, 12 December  6 hours until sunrise, 1 days until the S.C. Opera House

The door creaked open, and we all turned to look.

“I believe this is our turn,” Dominic said, glancing around the foyer, checking it was empty besides us. Smoothing down his jacket, Dominic turned and walked to the door.  Stallion and I followed, I on Dominic’s right, and Stallion on his left, with the ladies following behind. As the last of us crossed the threshold, the door creaked closed again, and we found ourselves in a large, sparsely decorated room. Warm wood panelling that was everywhere in the Opera House decorated this room with no photographs or painting to marr its surface.  Bespoke carpet, also ubiquitous throughout the Opera House, lined the room from wall to wall.  At the far end, a large modern executive desk and chair sat empty as the man who they belonged to stood to one side.  Jules Talbot, a tall, thin man, decently dressed in a business suit, was standing in the middle of the room, welcoming us in.

“Come in, I assume this is a group meeting. What brings you all here?” His voice was cultured with a hint of the transatlantic accent I’d failed to catch.  He looked calm, confident and sure, exactly what you’d want for a second in charge of an entire city.

“Thank you very much for seeing us,” Dominic started, and Jules waved a hand as if dismissing Dominic’s thanks.

“Please, think nothing of it.  What can the Princedom do for you?” Slick move. On one hand suggest he is merely a servant here to help, the other, reminding us that he represents Sarrasine’s entire Princedom. I wondered if I would have been asked to work with Jules if I’d taken the Prince up on his offer.

“The childer would like to know their heritage.”
“That’s all?” He seemed surprised we would have come all this way for such slight information. Still, it’s like a man living with plenty…you never know what you have until its gone.

“That’s it,” Dominic confirmed.

“And when do you childer want to know this information by?” Jules turned his eyes to us, up to that point silently standing behind our adoptive sire.  

“Unfortunately, with the Succubus Club tomorrow night…tonight, as soon as possible,” I said, breaking the silence for the group.

“That’s true, but how to deliver the information,” Jules pondered, “Do you mind how you get the information?”

Dominic looked around at us, encouraging the group to speak.

“Probably best written down, at least for me,” Stallion said, showing wisdom.

“And Rain, on your phone?” Jules asked, showing he already knew all about my issue with technology that night.

“No, it’s fine. As you please.”
“You don’t want a written note to memorise?” Stallion asked me, and I shrugged.  Dominic stifled a chuckle at my expense. Learning patter and lines of dialogue was par for the course for me.  Did they think I couldn’t remember eleven names?

“So, one as notes, correct?  One delivered by Nosferatu…and you…Luna?” Jules asked, and it was interesting that he knew our names, but not that Eclipse had changed her…even if it was in the last week. 

“By Nosferatu is fine,” She acknowledged.

“Splendid.” Jules turned his attention to Mads.

“Mads, I haven’t seen you around in quite a while. What are you doing here?”

“I came back to town for the Club.  I’m…chaperoning, for the moment.” She said with a rueful smile.

“Who?”

“Oh, this group in general,” She said, thankfully, “Shadowing may be a better word.”

“You could always be my chaperone,” I said quietly, hoping her very clever ears picked it up.

“When did you start doing charity work, Dominic?” Jule asked , and we all tensed for the usual snide comments of the elder kindred.

“I mean, these are charity cases, I believe. It is a first, I’ll grant you that.”

“Hmm, “ He now studied Stallion, “Two Nosferatu and a written script will be delivered. We’ll probably have the note delivered by Nosferatu as well, if that’s agreeable with you, Stallion?  Someone as beautiful as you can sometimes take offence at being confronted with true, hideousness…” He stopped, his pale eyes flashing between Stallion and me. 

“Rain, aren’t you the Toreador? How is it that you let a Gangrel outshine you in beauty? How?” He was incredulous…almost incensed by the thought.  I looked at Stallion.  He’d done a good job, I grant it, but I was always happy with how I turned out every day and didn’t care for the comparison.

“He outshines us all…”
“You’re getting absolutely mocked by a Gangrel! How can a Toreador recover!” He interrupted, somehow blaming me for allowing it to happen. Dominic and Mads were both laughing at Jule’s words. Eclipse cringed at the mockery, but most surprising was Stallion.

“We’re each other’s wing man,” he came to my defence, which was…charming and disturbing at the same time.

“Stallion has made himself a…classic beauty, that is a fact.” I shrugged, really unconcerned by the Seneschal’s sentiment.  Maybe it was a good thing I was not in court more often.
“Fair enough, he has something of a…Gaston about him,” Jules chuckled, showing he knew pop cultural references… from the early nineties, “You shall have your answers by sundown.”

Sundown?  As in….…the night of the Succubus Club?!

“Today? “ I inadvertently blurted out. I was hoping we’d hang around a while and get it…tonight.

“Yes, is that not when the sun goes down? Before the Club. Does that satisfy?”

“Yes, thank you,” I said as if it were the most satisfying thing I’d heard that day, while I scrambled internally to work out how I was going to memorise this list of names at the Club.

“That would be most sufficient,” Dominic agreed.

“Dominic, was there anything you wished to enquire into, or was this purely for the childer?” 

“This was all purely for them, “ He agreed.

“Getting soft in your old age, I see.”
“We do need to give them a fighting chance.”

“Most sires push theirs into the lake and wait to see who comes out.”

Excuse, sorry, what?

“They did dig themselves out of their own graves when they came too,” Dominic acknowledged.

“Any shovelhead can do that. If the Sabbat can get theirs to do it, it can’t be too hard.”

“And what do you think the Sabbat would hope to gain from that sort of treatment?” I asked, against my better nature.  

“Gain by what?”

“Us?” I know it is a very bad idea to equate us with the Sabbat Shovelheads, but I was sure the Sabbat were up to something. The three of us together, on the same beach, the same night.  

“You’re not Sabbat!” He laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.

“No, we are not, “ I agreed emphatically.

“They haven’t tried to recruit you at all.” It wasn’t a question. He knew the Sabbat’s movements then?  They didn’t know about Eclipse.  What else didn’t they know?

“I”m merely referring to their barbaric practices. Their lack of finer education. Now, granted we are no Camarila, but we still hold true to…civility.  True, your sire didn’t want you, so we thought it fitting that you earn your place rather than wake up in a nicely upholstered bed, a cushion and a chat.  No?”

“Do you know why?” I asked, the moment too good to pass up, even if illadvised.

“Why what?”
“Why… I wasn’t wanted?” I said, and it was like the stake was back in my chest. It froze me to the core.

“I don’t know. The kine have plenty of kids they don’t want. Why would we be any different? Our Prince, for example, is known for his dalliances.  Some of them are more entertaining than others, but the right is his.” 

And that was it.  A one-night stand. Less than a love child. I couldn’t even fathom why Garcia bothered giving up his vitae.  He could have just left me to die like any number of bodies in Dominic’s stores. There was nothing worthy…nothing worth keeping…in me.

“Now Rain.  You’re worthy to yourself,” Jules said, almost kindly, but the sentiment was misplaced and saccharine. I had no ear for it.

“Yes, of course, Seneschal.” I replied automatically, “Thank you, Seneschal.”

“I believe that was all we wanted today, unless there is something I don’t know about?” Dominic asked the group. 

“You should give the children a chance, Dominic, come on,” Jule replied, now all good-natured General Manager, “How often do they get a chance to speak to a proper member of this society?”
Every day at the bar?

“I’m sorry, I’m quite…overawed.  As you say, it’s not often we get to meet a community member of your standing.” I said to fill the air with what he wanted to hear, and maybe the rest could get out of here without feeling like dirt.

“Quite right.  Luna, you’ve been awfully quiet.  Is that Brujah flame fluminating under the surface?”

“There’s always a fire burning. It’s only a matter of seeing the spark,” She quipped back eloquently. 

“A spark you say?  Well then, maybe you should take up one of the Prince’s habits, he has a wonderful blend.”
“I wouldn’t dare take from the Prince,” Eclipse said, and the comment lightened my heart. Dare she like hell.

“Even if freely offered?” Jules asked and from his jacket pulled a silver cigarette case, and flipping it open, displaying a collection of pink-stained cigarettes to her. 

“You make a convincing argument,” And with a slow and deliberate gesture one may use when going to pet a tiger, Eclipse reached out and took one.

In his other hand, the Seneschal produced a butane lighter and, striking a flame in front of every vampire there, lit Eclipse’s cigarette. I found myself not exactly fearful of the tiny flame, but entranced, as Jules held it out for Eclipse to light her cigarette.  She paused a moment, staring at the flame’s brilliance, then leaned in and drew in a breath, drawing the flame to the cigarette. She inhaled with difficulty, as if it was an effort to do the natural process that only a few months ago took no thought.  Eventually, she sighed, exhaling through her nose, and for the first time since I’d known her, a rosy blush appeared on her cheek. 

“Thank you, “She said with seeming pleasure.

“Nothing for you, Rain?  Stallion? Any lyrics you wish to share? Any teases for the big show?”

“Hmmm, “Stallion considered, “Let’s see…the Great White Shark is my sire, and all I bring is some great white blow, “ he shrugged somewhat embarrassed, “I’m working on it.” and continued to mutter the lines around trying to feel the rhyme.

“Hmm. Interesting enough. I guess if there’s nothing else?” 

“Just looking forward to tomorrow night,” I said, and hoped it was enough for us to leave.

“Splendid. Well, I bid you all a good evening.” And we were dismissed.

We made our thanks and filed out the back way, exiting near one of the rear doors of the Main Concert Hall, where the large windows of the Opera House looked out over the harbour water.

12.30 am Thursday, 12 December  6 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Opera House

“Well, I hope you get all the information you guys want,” Mads said as we all stepped out into the steamy Sydney night. “What’s next?”

“Where would you all like to be dropped off?” Dominic asked, and after that reception, I was glad enough to head back to my apartment and soak in a too-hot shower until I could feel it. There was nothing else I wanted from this night. Mads had other ideas.

“It’s still the middle of the night, ain’t it?” Stallion asked, turning to me, “Are you sure you don’t want a touch-up, Rain?”

“No, thank you.” Even as low as I was at that moment, I had no interest in Stallion’s Vampiric makeover.

“I can make a stop somewhere, I don’t know who wants to join me,” Mads said, and she looked sad. I had a feeling I knew where she wanted to go. The shower would wait.

“Mads, that sounds fine. I have nothing planned, and I have no phone.”

“The night is young. You can do whatever you like,” Said Dominic, pulling out his car keys.

“I want to take a trip to the other side of the city. You’re welcome to join me.”

“Why are you travelling across the City, Mads?” Eclipse asked, but she, like me, had to have an idea.

“I’m…catching up with some old friends.”

“We could also get a welcome back gift for Izac,” Stallion suggested.  I’m not sure, but aside from an overpriced bar or a tacky tourist kiosk, where would we find something to buy at midnight? Still,  I liked his sentiments. Fortunately, Eclipse and I had already got him what he needed.

“Already done,” I said, trying to pull back a glimmer of joy from the last hour or so, “Eclipse is keeping it safe.”

“So, what did you get, Izac?” Stallion wanted to know.  I was starting to see the beauty of Eclipses’ silence.

“It’s for him and him alone, Stallion. Let us at least surprise him with it first.”

“I believe he’s only enquiring as to what gift you’re giving our esteemed Izac.” Now, Dominic was curious. Yes, silence has its benefits.

“You’ll have to ask him when you next see him,” I shrugged, keeping the  secret.

“So, who’s driving?” Mads asked as we sauntered through the harbour at night and back down to collect the car.

1.05 am Thursday, 12 December  5 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Rookwood Cemetery

Unfortunately, Rookwood Cemetery was old enough to have gates that kept out potential body snatchers during the wee hours.  Fortunately for us, Dominic knew just the spot to hop the fence, across from the Armenian Section beside Weeroona Road. Rookwood is vast, more than three hundred hectares and containing a million burials. It is the largest Victorian era cemetery still in active service. At one time, the population of Rookwood would have outnumbered Sydney’s living population. Now, it was a massive park crossed and divided by a network of roads that helped navigation across the myriad rows of silent headstones.

Mads didn’t need help navigating help, and once over the fence, marched in a straight line across the neatly trimmed lawns dotted by massive specimen trees. It was under one of these trees that Mads made her first stop, at a neat modern headstone engraved with the name of Joel Mitchell. Joel had been a good guy.  As my first medium job, I was glad that the armless fellow haunting the walkway to a light rail stop was so genuinely friendly.  We stood beside Mads as she stared at the headstone, having her own private conversation with the dead. 

Dominic elbowed me, drawing my attention.

“Hey, put on your Shroud sight,” He said with the glee I had come to associate with this love of all things dead. Doing as I was told, the empty, silent park suddenly filled with spirits. Something like the crowds gathering for peak-hour trains and an ocean.  The spirits moved slowly in gentle waves around us, through the landscape rather than around it. Hundreds of millions of souls, more individuals than could possibly have lived in the young city of Sydney. Certainly more than the million purported to reside in the Necropolis. This was not just the home of spirits, but a venue, a place to congregate and meet up. A Spirit Marketplace. And what was almost disconcerting, not one paid attention to our little knot of visitors. It was awe-inspiring and not a little chilling.

Dominic giggled with excitement beside me.

After some indeterminate time, Mads moved on and, within a few rows, found her second destination, the grave marker for Alex Holmsted. Here, Mads’s mask of calm civility fell away, and an expression of absolute misery suffused her whole body.  She’d wanted to find him, talk to him once more, make sure he was…happy.  I hadn’t been able to help her back at the murder site, but as I looked around at the sea of souls, I couldn’t help but think that he must be here…somewhere.  

I drew on the blood again and, in Lifeless tongue, called out into the sea around us.

“Alex? Alex Holmsted?”
“What? You can actually see me?” replied a voice, and a spirit stepped out of the sea around us and formed beside his gravestone.  Like the rest of the ocean around us, Alex’s spirit wasn’t concerned with rock or tree or earth, and part of his body glided effortlessly through the stone of his grave marker.

 A little taller than Mads with a shaggy blonde mullet in a denim jacket and jeans, he stared at me, incredulous at being spoken to by a corporal being.

“Yeah, you. Who are you?”
“My name’s Rain. We’ve been looking for you,” I smiled and would have extended my hand to shake his, but hadn’t powered the ability to touch the dead so I discarded the futile gesture, at least for now.

Beside me, I could hear Mads, leap back in shock, swear and stumble where she stood. She was hearing my side of the conversation and realised who was standing less than a metre from her.

“Alex?! Is that you?” She asked in a strangled voice.

“Odd name for a person, but….what are you doing here?”

“I’d a friend of Mads.”
“Really? “I did wonder why she wasn’t here, “He said, referring within the dead, “What trouble is she in now?”

“She’s been looking for you.”
“I’m sure she fucking has,” He laughed harshly, as if Mads were desperate for a the ‘love’ of a good man. I tried not to wince.  It seemed Alex was not of a similar good-natured disposition to his mate, Joel, or even the straightforward caring nature of Mads.

As I turned to draw the distraught Mads into the conversation, Alex noticed Dominic standing beside me, watching him.

“Who is this wog with you?” 

Not many bodily functions survive becoming a vampire, but I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise at Alex’s casual racism and the thought of Dominic’s rebuttal. 

“Pardon me?” Dominic asked, having also charged his ability to communicate with the dead.

“You heard me fuckin’ spaghetti breath,” Alex smiled snidely, thinking himself beyond Dominic’s touch.

“Rain…?” My name was merely a breath in Mad’s mouth.

“Is there something you’d like to say?” Before Dominic makes lunch out your of your husband? I asked her, trying to ignore the string of racist slurs Alex had stored up over decades of disuse.

“Do you know how long….I’ve stood here waiting to hear…something and not so much as a fucking indication that he was here!” Mads’ voice rose in volume as the grief and bitterness of forty years rolled out of her.

“What’s the bitch saying?” Alex asked, ignoring Dominic for a moment to pay attention to my conversation with Mads.

“She’s very upset. She’s visited many times and never knew you were here.”

“I’m dead!  Where else would I be?”

“We met Joel in town…” I tried to explain, but even the mention of his best mate didn’t soften Alex’s attitude.

“Yeah, I’m sure that loser’s still there reliving it. He never could let go.”

Dominic was not still as Alex continued to berate the gentle soul I’d met. Glancing over at Mads, he noticed the gold band on Mad’s left ring finger and, drawing on his own blood, started a work of Necromancy.

“What are you doing?” Mads asked, having caught Dominic’s intense stare.

“Someone called me a filthy dago,” Dominic replied simply, not pausing in his ritual.

“No, I called you a fucking wog, I did.  Don’t put words in my mouth, you grease monkey,” Alex corrected smuggly, ready for a scrap.

“Yes, that was the one, “ Dominic replied and continued his craft.

Not knowing anywhere near as much Necromancy as Dominic, I had no idea what he had in mind, but it wasn’t going to be good for Alex, and by extension Mads.

“Is there any way I can get into this conversation?” Mads asked, sensing the tension.

“Ask something, I can pass it on,” I shrugged, with no better idea of how to calm the situation.

“I’m just surprised that you didn’t try to get in contact…” She said, “I’ve been coming here for years…decades and you’ve been here this whole time? And nothing? Really?”

I turned to Alex, who was now watching Dominic intently.

“She’s wondering why you never tried contacting her when she’s visited previously.”

“What?  Did she want me to go ‘Boo!’ and levitate a rock or somethin’?”

“You could have?”

“No, in fact, I can’t!” Alex’s voice rose in anger, “I’m not giving up plasm for parlour tricks.”

“Mads, “ I turned back to her, “He’s sorry, but he is unable to interact with the corporeal world. There was no way for him to let you know.”

Mads sighed in frustration as Dominic’s Necromancy failed at the effect he was going for.  Loosening his sleeves, he started another ritual as we continued to talk. 

“I just….didn’t know you were here,” Mads confessed, and the loneliness of forty years rolled off her lives waves. I translated the message to Alex.

“Everyone is everywhere.  You were just too busy living your life to care about any of us.” He waved his arms at the sea of spirits around him.

“He was here, Mads. He was always here, and he heard you,” I said, trying to comfort Mads. I certainly wasn’t going to give a verbatim diatribe from this jerk to the grieving woman in front of me.

“I’ve wanted to… talk to you again for such a long time,” She let out a breath, “Now I have the opportunity, I don’t know what to say.”

“What is this spirit’s name again?” Dominic asked. 

“Do you mean Alex?” I asked,  but he’d already found the name on the headstone.

“What do you want with my name?” Alex asked, squaring up to Dominic, “Are you going to try commit some fraud with it now?  My name does not come out of your lips, do you hear me wog? I’m shocked you can even read!”

“Respectfully, Mr Giovanni,” Mads said, now getting involved, “We’re not here for you.”
“No, we’re here for you, Mads,” Dominic said, as if all his efforts were for her benefit.

“Mads, I’m afraid Alex is being…abrasive with Mr Giovanni,” I tried to explain.

“I’m about to do you a big favour,” Dominic reiterated, and my message sank in for Mads.

“Mr Giovanni, I apologise for…my late husband’s attitude.  He was a man of his times, I’m sure you can understand.”

“Yes, I can understand, but I also understand that you don’t want him to leave your side.”

Suddenly, I understood what Dominic was going to do. Somehow, he was going to bind Alex to Mads as Avel was bound to me.  As much as I loved and cared for Avel, I also knew what it was to be haunted.

“Mr Giovanni, no, please. That’s not what Mads wants at all…”

“Hush, it will only take a moment, “ Dominic grinned at the power at his disposal and continued the ritual.

“Mr Giovanni, having experienced that myself, I’m sure…”
“What’s happening?” Mads, now desperately concerned, started reaching our for Dominic to stop him, but not having any idea what, held back from actually touching him.

Off to one side, Eclipse and Stallion looked on at the drama before them in stunned silence. Only privy to half a conversation and not a lot of the action, they shared the confusion.

“Eclipse, have you ever been high in a graveyard?” Stallion asked her, pulling out a joint.

“We need to break down that question, “ Eclipse said, “Being high would be a new experience. Do you know what’s happening over there?”

Shaking his head, Stallion lit his joint and took a drag before passing it to Eclipse.

“Is this how you’re going to make friends with me, Stallion?”

“Well fuck, we could always play hide and seek instead, if you prefer?”

Eclipse took the joint and, for only the second time in her life and unlife, inhaled the smoke.

Nothing could be seen of Dominic’s magic, but I could feel the binding begin to pull, and I reacted with a step back. 

“What horrific magic shit is happening?” Mads asked as in the spirit realm, a vortex-like wind focused its attention on the gold band.

“I’m just reuniting you with your husband, that’s all,” Replied Dominic, not taking his eyes off the spectacle he had wrought.

“No, I don’t want to be….I just want him to be happy!” She cried and blood tears flooded her eyes, overflowing and raining down on the dry earth of Alex’s grave. “Just…stop!”

“You don’t understand the dead as I do, Mads,” Dominic shook his head in incredulity, “They’re not happy.  They’re not anything.”

“You’re not going to make me pull out Lupara, are you, Mr Giovanni?” I asked, not as a threat to him, but in fear of the angry spectre he may make out of Alex’s spirit if he continued. We’d already faced one in his barn at the farm, but here, amongst possibly billions of other sympathetic souls?  I shuddered at the thought of all those angry spirits descending on us.

“Haven’t you learnt anything about Necromancy, Rain?” He turned to me, a surprised look on his face, “The ghost is either hanging out here, an easy target for some Necromancer or safe in a ring with their loving spouse, Mads.”

“But Mr Giovanni. She doesn’t want it, he certainly doesn’t want it…its no way to live!” I cried as Mads made another lunge for Dominic.

“I don’t give a shit about Necromancy! I just wanted to know he was safe!”
“And he will be,” Grinned Dominic, and the vortex on the ring started having its effect on Alex.

“Why would you do that, ya stupid dago?” Alex yelled, “She’ll be dead soon, she’s got to be as old as chips! We’ll be reunited soon enough.”

“You fool, can’t you see here right there, she’s not a day over twenty-five!” Dominic whirled on Alex, triumph in his eyes, “She’s not going anywhere for a very long time. All I’m asking for is that you be bound for a year and a day, that’s all.”  As Dominic said it, Alex’s spirit stretched…ironically spaghettified, spinning into a thread of psychoplasm that all pointed to Mads’ ring.  I started in awe and horror as I watched Alex’s presence amongst the dead wink out. I glanced up at Mads, speechless.

“There. Now, instead of being bound to his gravestone, he’s bound to your ring.” Dominic replied with complete satisfaction, oblivious to the trauma he was inflicting on Mads.

“You fucking what?!” 

“He’s…in the ring,” I blurted out. I was staggered by the sheer control and power over the undead Dominic had shown, and I found it hard to express what had occurred without turning to him and asking how it was done.

“Mr Giovanni has placed him in the ring.”

Mads blinked, comprehension slowly dawning, “ Yes, well…” she said before finally walking over and raising her hand to slap Dominic. With inhuman reflexes, Dominic caught her hand inches from his face.

“You had no fucking right to do that.”

“Your husband is going to be with you for a year.”
“It wasn’t what I fucking wanted! You didn’t even ask! You just take what you want, don’t you?  That’s the way it always is.”
“Well, you’re not wrong,” Dominic said calmly and slowly released her hand.

“ I came here…” She shuddered, “I came here in case it was the last time and now…?”

“Right now, you’re in a fantastic position to make sure that no other Necromancer fools around with your husband,” Dominic repeated, and Mads laughed bitterly. 

“Like the two I brought to his grave?! I wanted to say goodbye, not hold on any longer,” She said, the tear leaving black stains down her face in the moonlight. Now you’ve shackled him to me, so we can share the same fucking fate. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Dominic just laughed, “Nothing.”

“For what it’s worth, I hope someone drives a stake through whatever you have for a heart!” And stumbling away from the grave, Mads turned and marched back to the way we had come. 

Until this point, Eclipse had been careful to keep her eyes to the ground and away from religious iconography engraved on every headstone around them. As the drug had its effect, her concentration weakened, and she was suddenly aware of every cross, every crescent moon, every single weeping angel, no matter how small, all around her.  With a sudden turn, she followed in Mads’ wake, her attention on the woman’s heels in front of her, lest she spy one of the fearful symbols of faith.

To Dominic and I, the night still held one more surprise. At first, we heard it, the collapse of earth, the rumble as the world gave way below us. We watched in fascination as the ground beneath Mads’ feet suddenly began crumbling away. Under her, a gaping hole in the spirit realm opened up, revealing a roaring black storm churning down, straight down into a structure I knew well. The labyrinth I’d revealed in the Time Out room, the space where the bane and worse had lurked, looking for me. 

Out of the ring, a bright stream of psychoplasm swirled down into the storm, sucked into the heart of the labyrinth below. A silver thread, a lifeline connected him back to the ring, his fetter. 

“Huh, someone went into the Unbra,” Dominic said the hole started closing up again.

“No!” I cried and, on instinct, powered my spirit touch in an attempt to grab Alex before he was lost to that place forever.  It was a second; a moment. If there had been time for thought, it would have been something like, “No one, not even that arsehole deserve to be lost in that place.” 

But there wasn’t.  I reached out, attempting to stop…whatever was going to happen next.

“Who taught Rain obfuscate?” Stallion asked as I disappeared from the Cemetery, “Eclipse?” He looked around, but she too had disappeared.

“I probably should have expected that,” Dominic said, his eyes still fixed on the patch of ground now as solid as it had ever been.  Slowly, he pulled the car keys out of his pocket. “Stallion, please make sure they all get back safe.”

As Stallion walked away, Dominic started trying a few Necromancy rituals.  Pulling out a piece of chalk, he moved to the nearest piece of road and started drawing a ritual circle.  Even as he started it, he realised that even if he entered the Shadowlands from here, it wouldn’t get him anywhere near the Labyrinth.  I was in a part of the Umbra even he wouldn’t dare to go. Eventually, he gave up and pulled out his phone.

“Bruce, can you send a car to pick me up at Rookwood Cemetery, please?”

Harrowings are surreal passion plays intimately tied to a wraith’s sense of identity; they take place in the Labyrinth, are set in the wraith’s memories, acted out by Spectres and directed by the Shadow, all to the ultimate goal of disconnecting the wraith from the living world and eventually his own sense of self.

Harrowing, White Wolf Wiki 2026

1.35 am Thursday, 12 December  4 hours until sunrise, 1 day until the S.C. Rookwood Cemetery

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmstead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Thomas Becket:  Wearer of the Skull mask. A.K.A. Lord Campden a 5th generation Capadocian and former Seneschal of London under Mithras.  Talented necromancer.  Knew Sarrasine and Lady Stone in London. Distaste for Tremere and Giovanni.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Chucko: Malkavian clown from 2023 Earth.  Part of a gang called the Bozos.

Critias: Old gentleman kindred Rain has made a deal with to be a ‘playing piece’ in a game at the Succubus Club.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Rain’s sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Jules Talbot: Seneschal to Prince Sarrasine of Sydney

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission.  Also known as: Lady Jennifer Stone and Lady Ophelia Meritt.  Consort to Mithras.  Exiled from London and wanted by the Ventrue. See also: The Red List or Kemintiri. Fourth Generation, Followers of Set. Suspected embrace, 1300BCE. Sire: Set.  Childer: numerous. Evidence points to her being the creator of the Children of Osiris.Known to be a master of disguise to rival even the best, to the point that even Nosferatu have a difficult time discerning her. Known associates:  Mithras, Set, Horus. Kemintiri is First on The Red List.  She is immune to blood blonds and Dominate.  There is no known exception. She is the only being known to have returned from Wassail.

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Paul Derrogard: Name given by Monday of the Days of the Week. Claimed to be Ventrue.

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Malkavian Time: a connections all Malkavian share to a greater network of knowledge and shared visions called the Madness Network

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

SchrekNet:  A vampire only Internet.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

Writ of Retication: Lineage of a Vampire.

10.20 pm Wednesday, 12 December  9 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Dominic opened the door to his office, his cape swung over his right arm dramatically, to find me sitting in his seat at his desk.  It was fortunate for me I even looked up. I’d finally tuned out Stallion’s squelches and cursing by closing the connecting door and focusing on SchrekNet and its offerings. 

And oh, what offerings….

“Mr Giovanni,” I rose and shuffled out from behind the desk and took one of the visitor’s seats without taking my eyes from my phone screen.

“Trust you’ve had a pleasant evening,” He said, sweeping in to claim his seat.

“Educational, “ I said, “We finally met up with one of Eclipse’s new friends. Calls himself Paul Derogard, a Ventrue, but I’m not so sure.” Scanning through the list of Ventrue, there was no Paul Derogard.  

I got you, you bastard…

“You were saying you learnt a few things…” Dominic prompted, and I realised I’d been doomscrolling SchrekNet and quickly put the phone down… for a moment.

“Yes, have you heard about a Writ of Recitation? And SchrekNet…you never mentioned it before,” I said, more irritated than I meant to.

“Writ of…now Rain, that is a very old custom no one’s going to expect you to perform,” Dominic replied, looking a little surprised.  I noticed he was still wearing his cloak, but didn’t mention it; he seemed a little sensitive about his fashion sense.

“That may be, but there will be very old Vampires there, and what sort of idiot would I look if I didn’t even know what it is, let alone have some inkling of my lineage.” The thought of Garcia stung once more, and my eyes drifted back to SchrekNet and what it could tell me.

“Paul even made a joke that it would be better not knowing your lineage than being from a long line of Bobs…” I said, and part of my mind tinkered to the concept that Dominic himself came from a long line of Johns (Giovanni being John in Italian).  I giggled out loud at the thought that Paul was probably referring to Dominic when he said it.

Dominic leaned back in his seat. I could feel his cold stare on me, but if I could block out Stallion’s grunts, Dominic’s silent stare wasn’t breaking through.

“Hmmm, it does seem somewhat amiss that I was not informed of you and your siblings’ lineage when I was asked to adopt you.  Still, it is a simple thing.  We can pay the Nosferatu to find out, of course…but…” he pulled out his phone and sent a message to the coterie.

COME TO THE OFFICE. THERE IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO LEARN.

Stallion’s phone in the library rapped a line of something intelligible before the door opened, and in clopped Stallion.  

“You call, and I come.  What’s up, boss?” He said.  I took the opportunity of the door being open to sneak into the library and look for an old atlas on the shelves.

“Our social butterfly has got himself into something of a panic.  There’s a piece of old culture that would be worth all three of you learning.  We’re going to take a visit to the Prince’s people, the Seneschal.  He’ll have what we need.”
Stallion nodded along, “Okay, anything to look good in the Prince’s eyes. Maybe look on us with less disdain.”

“Leave your raps at home, and you should do fine,” Dominic assured him, before commenting on Stallion’s current state, “Stallion, what have you been up to?”

“Oh, yeah, what do you think?” Stallion said as I came back, flicking to the contents page and scanning the list of nations for India.  

Nothing. Only Pakistan and its famous Imam, Mohammad Ghandi, who liberated them from the British in the fifties. I had to scan the list twice to make sure, as it seemed odd even to me.  Still, it was just as Chucko had said, no India, but he is a mad Malkavian.  I looked up at Stallion’s question.

He was still bare-chested, but had seemingly completed his sculpting work.  Smooth tanned skin covered rippling abs (of which there were more than six) leading up to pecks of perfection, and a face that was more jaw than face. 

“Oh, ur…good job, Stallion,” I said truthfully.  Any gym-bro would have been jaudicously envious at what Stallion had been able to achieve in one short evening, “You’ll certainly turn heads at the Club.” 

Dominic’s eyes flicked to Stallion’s right hand, still gory with his own blood and viscera.

“This is your work?  When did you learn to do that?”

“I did my face first, “Stallion turned, showing his profile to Dominic, “And that went so well, I tried it on my abs…Didn’t I tell you about the guy?”

It seemed he hadn’t, as Dominic’s eye narrowed, “The work is…passable.”

“Yeah, I’m going to think of it as my secret workout routine.”

I went back to trawling SchrekNet.

“Well, regardless, we’re going to go see if you three don’t have a few skeletons in your closets, so possibly dress yourself before going out.  But before you do, do a little spin, I’d like to see the whole effect.” Dominic twirled his finger, and Stallion spun on the spot.

“I couldn’t reach my back, so I don’t know what it looks like,” Stallion said self-consciously. There was a flourish of fabric and Dominic finally leaned back in his seat having removed his cloak.

At that moment, the office door burst open, and Mads stepped in.

“Oh, hello!” She said, taking a look at Stallion’s handiwork before seeing who it was attached to, “Oh, its you.”

“Madeline, you haven’t seen Luna around, have you?” Dominic asked as Mads took in the scene.

“She goes by Eclipse, now,” Stallion informed him, unwrapping his robes to slip his arms back into the sleeves and return to his more public, respectable, monk look. 

“She will always be Luna to me.  Haven’t you had children? Oh, wait, of course you haven’t.” Dominic quipped in poor taste, though I must say it did say something about him I hadn’t thought to ask before. 

“Madeline, I wonder, do you know your Writ of Recitation?”

“Urgh…yeah, I do,” She said, unsure, “I guess I should probably get that shit sorted too.  I think I know at least five or six generations.  I was sired by Estelle McKee, whose sire was Niko Hutinshon, who was sired by Henrick Gonzales, sired by Khalani Deleon whose sire was Douglas Gill, who was sired by….ur…I’m not sure if it’s Alayah Wagner or Nasir Bernard next…yadda-yadda-yadda…who was sired by Brujah.”

As a lineage, it wasn’t much. It didn’t even end with Troile, who, by diablerizing Brujah himself, became the progenitor of the Brujah clan… at least its newer version.  The things I was learning scouring ShrekNet!  Though I guess in social settings it would be uncouth to discuss how your progenitor became third generation by eating their own sire.  

“Well, if you’d like to know, you can always make a trip to the Sewer Rats,” Dominic suggested.  It did strike me as odd that he didn’t suggest the Seneschal for her too, but then, Mads wasn’t official family, put together under the sight of the Prince. 

“Again, ur no thanks.”
“Again?” I asked, looking up from my study of the antedeluvians. What intriguing lives they led…lead.

“Hmmm, there’s a drain out the back of this place, you can probably get one to talk to you there.” She replied vaguely.  No guesses what she wanted from them.

“Well, we’re going to see the Seneschal, Jules Talbot.  I don’t know if he can help you, but you’re welcome to join us.”

She shrugged, “I’ve got nothing else to do tonight, sure.”

“What is keeping Eclipse?  I sent a message, and she hasn’t replied,” Dominic said, sounding put out.

“Ah, Bobby asked to see her,” I informed him, without looking up from the entry of Mithras of London.  Paul had mentioned Mithras in his recitiation and now I was working backwards. 

Dominic sent a second message to Eclipse, ONCE YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR APPOINTMENT, MEET US AT THE OPERA HOUSE, and grabbed his keys, “Let’s get to the car, shall we?”

Without a word Mads, Stallion and I trooped out of the office after Dominic. I still reading about our great ancestors, and Stallion, with his camera turned around, looking at his new self.

10.30 pm Wednesday, 12 December  9 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. The Rocks

Eclipse had taken an Uber down to The Rocks, what she was now contemplating as Uber Eats, and was already walking through the Barangaroo Reserve on her way to Bobby when her phone buzzed.  Reaching for it, a wave of dizziness hit her, and her vision blurred.  If she’d still been human, she would have felt ill, and her breath would have come in short, sharp gasps. As it was, she nearly sank to her knees under the feeling of the whole City sitting on her shoulders as a sense of impending doom formed around her. With what was left of her rational thought, she tried to pinpoint the source of the feeling, but the dread and rising panic seemed to be coming from everywhere.

Run for Bobby’s, you don’t want to be caught out in the open, she thought, then pushed herself forward, down to the waterline and the stormwater pipe.

As her hand reached out for the darkness of the pipe, she realised the voices, her constant companions and tormentors, were suddenly silenced.  In her mind, there was nothing but blackness, only highlighted by pinpoints of light.  Within the gloom, she slowly made out the form of Bobby, crouched on the ground, his left arm leaning on his knee, the hand hidden beneath him, his right hand knuckled down into the grime as he stared out into nothing.

He said nothing, did not move, nor even acknowledge she was there.  Taking a calming breath to still her waning panic, she kneeled in front of him, trying to catch his eye.  Bobby remained perfectly still, staring into some other place or time.  Slowly, she became aware that the blackness they were both in was not a physical space, but one between them.  Around her, the pinpoints of light resolved themselves into lidless eyes, others also watching the events that were only happening in her mind. 

Advanced Dementation? She thought to herself

Glacially, Bobby turned and made eye contact with her.

Hi, Eclipse,  He said , but his mouth did not move. His voice sounded calm, serious, not awkward, and didn’t contain any of the ticks or energy of Bobby’s normal speech. This was not Bobby, or at least not their Bobby.

Hi, Bobby,  she replied, unsure what to call the being in front of her.

That is his name, but it will do for now.  Thank you for coming. It is very rare for something like this to happen.  You have unfortunately been chosen for us.

I have been chosen? What?

You made it easier for us by making the decisions you did.  But the final choice must be yours in the end. There are two people you are familiar with, Madeline and Izac.

Oh, Eclipse heard her voice quaver on the syllable.  She knew what was coming, could sense it in Not-Bobby’s attitude, in the anticipation in the eyes watching all around. She now understood the dread she’d felt outside, the impending doom of some momentous moment.

During the Succubus Club events, one of these two must die; if not, a great tragedy will occur. You must choose one to die. Here and now, in this place. We will take care of the rest.

You’ve seen this tragedy?

Yes, many different ways. It’s a case of history repeating itself, but with the situation that Madeline and Izac have created, we can cut that particular story short, preventing the rest from unfolding. We will try to answer any questions you have to help you make a decision, but you must clearly ask them. You need not worry about time.  Time is not moving around us.  We sit here in a moment. Take your time.

Do you have any questions before you choose?

Has my answer not already been foretold?

No.  Not the decision you are going to make.  Your decision causes a fracture, preventing the event that was foreseen. Does that make sense?

Can you tell me how that event ends?

Death. Fire.  Blood for most of the attendees of the Succubus Club.

Am I a harbinger?

You could be. 

Does this happen on the first day of the Sccubus Club?

What we see the event can happen on any timer during the event.  Your choice prevents any chance of it occurring.

Who is we?

Eclipse looked around her and Bobby at the eyes watching and counted more than fifteen pairs floating in the mindscape.  This was the ‘we’ that Bobby was referring to.  

The Malkavian Network.

Is the fire you’ve seen black?

It is of all colours. 

No matter what, it will happen?

Unless you make your choice.

Is there anything else you’ve foreseen?

Not-Bobby shook his head, What is the question you want to ask?

Can I keep him safe?

You could always keep him safe.  The question is, will he stay safe or cause harm to himself?  You could, much like the Prince, keep him in a jar forever, if that’s how you want to keep him safe.

Who is his greatest threat?

Who are you referring to?  

Izac.  

I thought that was obvious, himself.  He is all trouble and danger.  It is what he was made to do.

What was he made for?

To create a moment.  Much like you are needed for this moment.

Who made him?

That is up to him to disclose.  It would be unkind of us to give you that information.  It still appears you have not asked the question you really want to ask. The question about you.

Is there any way out of this pit?

There are always ways out of the pit. Dying is easiest, but you could be born again; you have that knack.  You could rise above it all, or you could play a different game.  But with the decisions you’ve already made, that would be trickier to do.  You have obligations to the serpent.

Die, rise above it, which Eclipse took to mean Golconda, or play a different game than the one the serpent has for her.

How do I change the game?

You could acquire more power.  Gather allies who know how to deal with demons.  There is no guarantee of success, no matter how much you do. Far more powerful kindred than you have tried and failed. It purely a matter of what you expect to get out of all this.

Is Golconda possible?

Not for you.

I know that much,  In general?

Some have already succeeded.  Yes.

Does Madeline’s future end at the Succubus Club?

It could. There is no easy answer for you.  Both Madeline and Izac have difficulties continuing to exist.  Both of them have clear goals that will spell hazards for a multitude of beings. Both put themselves in very risky situations.  And either or both can easily die in the situation that is to occur.

What was I made to do?

Originally. To be a daughter, to live and give life and die.  You were reborn to allow for someone else’s misplaced desires, to bring pain and suffering on those you felt deserved it.  Then you were reborn to end things.  In some cultures, you’d be referred to as a Black Mother or Kali or Kali-Durga.  To make your choice easier, there is a simple reality you must accept.  Your acceptance is irrelevant. You will not have a happy ending.

If Eclipse had still been in her body, that simple statement would have floored her.  As it was, it left her mind numb of anything for a long….moment.

So, I must make a choice, and if I don’t?

You can choose not to make a choice. Then the tragedy will occur as foretold. You can choose Mads, you can choose Izac or you can choose nothing, and let the event unfold as it was meant to.

How does my story end?

More often than not,  it ends with you dying.  Nothing special, I’m sure you’re aware.

What doesn’t happen often?

Success. Whether that be a long existence, reaching the goal of the serpent and being freed, or realising you can choose to exist in other planes, outside of everything. Those happen less often. I”m sure you are aware that there is more than one kind of existence.  You have been to one, haven’t you?  

I’ve seen it.

You could start an existence there, away from all this, becoming something new. Much like other harbingers have done before you.

What is a Black Mother?

One that does nothing but kill to create new life.  It is an old idea…an old…being. There can be nothing new unless death comes to the old.  This is your current role.  Your…essence.

10.40 pm Wednesday, 12 December  8 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Opera House

“It’s all jaw, but that’s the thing, it’s all jaw!” Mads was still going on about Stallion’s new look when she stopped and shivered in her seat, “Oh, did anyone else feel that?”

“What?” Dominic asked.

“Like a cold breeze blowing through.”

“No, that was just you.”

“Odd.”

“HA!” I exclaimed, having found no trace of Paul Derogard in SchrekNet, “I knew he was a liar!”
“Vampires lie all the time,” Dominic drawled from the driver’s seat, “For the exact reason you are doing.”

“It’s just another lie to add to his many,” Or none, but I knew I didn’t like him.  On the Mithras page, Merritt’s name was mentioned among his associates, reminding me of my mysterious lady.  As if I could forget.  I went back to the start and search for Merrit and found two references:  Lady Jennifer Stone and Lady Ophelia Meritt. I followed the first.

Lady Jennifer Stone Consort to Mithras.  Exiled from London and wanted by the Ventrue. See also: The Red List or Kemintiri.

As she’d already admitted to being on The Red List, I bypassed the first reference and searched for the name Kemintiri.

Kemintiri Fourth Generation, Followers of Set.   Suspected embrace, 1300BCE.

I exhaled slowly.  I knew the Lady was old, but I’d never imagined that old. I continued reading.

Sire: Set.   Childer: numerous. Evidence points to her being the creator of the Children of Osiris.

The creator of a whole Clan…and not just a clan, Izac’s Clan. No wonder she was so interested in him!

“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I said out loud, gaining Mads’ bored interest.

“Yes, we understand, “ She said, “Stallion is breathtaking, but that’s not the point, “What are you reading, fanfic?”

“Wha? Ah…it’s…just impressive seeing what people have done,” I replied brokenly, as most of my mind continued to read the entry.

Known to be a master of disguise to rival even the best, to the point that even Nosferatu have a difficult time discerning her. Known associates:  Mithras, Set, Horus.

Gods!  Actual blood sacrifice gods!  Though in hindsight, doesn’t it just make sense? 

To the car, I said, “Well, everyone is coming to the party tomorrow night, that’s a fact, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone!”

“Here’s hoping,” Mads said, turned back to admire Stallion’s profile as he continued to admire his handiwork in his phone, “You seem…perturbed.”

“Perturbed? I’m way past perturbed.”
“You seem very energised about something, and it’s a little disturbing.  More disturbing than Stallion right now.”

“What’s disturbing about me?” Stallion asked, as if looking for criticism of his current great work.  I ignored him.

“What would you say if I said that gods were coming to the Succubus Club?”

“I say you have a very high opinion of people,” Mads replied.

“I thought you were going to say I have a very high opinion of myself,” I quipped back as Dominic’s eyes in the rear vision mirror flickered up to look at me. 

“Uncle Augies coming? Why is he coming?” 

“That would be a…a comfort if he was,” I admitted. 

“So, what lovely gods are we expecting?” Mads asked, now fully invested in my research.  But, I’d already continued reading.

Known facts: Kemintiri is First on The Red List. She is immune to blood blonds and Dominate.  There is no known exception.She is the only being known to have returned from Wassail.

“Where’s Wassail?” I asked the car.

“Kindred brain damage,”  Mads replied, “You know, you’re not much more once that happens.  It’s when you completely schiz-out, you know, totally give over to the beast. For good.  They’re usually called Wights.”

“Or as my family like to call them, Lunch,” Dominic joked, but I wasn’t seeing the punchline.

“And people don’t return from this…condition? Dominic, you’ve never heard of anyone coming back?”

“No,” Dominic and Mads said in unison.

“From being a Wight? No, once there, you are lost to oblivion.” Dominic added.

Ophelia Merritt. Lady Jennifer Stone. The woman who now held Izac, and I had spent a pleasant evening chatting with was the only known person to have returned from becoming a Wight. “Ah, we may get to meet such a person.”

“You had my curiosity, and now you have my attention.” Mads asked, now looking concerned, “What are you talking about?”

“What is a Wight?” Stallion asked. Everyone ignored him.

“Rain, who is coming to this damn party?”

I was suddenly very aware of who I was talking to.  I hadn’t mentioned Merritt to Mads out of concern for what she’d make about the information.  With only her unaware of who Lady Merritt was, I thought it might be best to come clean with her.

“Ah…okay…so, Mads…”
“Rain… you’re talking very slowly, it isn’t like you.”

“When Izac was taken, he was kidnapped by an individual called…ah…Lady Merritt, or Lady Jennifer Stone, Ophelia Merritt…she’s had a few names….heard of her?”

Mads’ face went blank as she accessed her years of training and knowledge on Vampire lore and society that I envied. She did not return empty-handed.

“Number one on the Red list? Anyone on that is kill on sight…if you can. It’s automatic reporting at the very least!” 

Mads’ response was disturbing. I looked back down at my phone’s screen and noticed the loading sign twirling in the top corner. An innocent little symbol, if I were streaming or loading data…but I wasn’t. It had been there the entire time I’d been on Merritt’s page.  If I thought my brain had shut down at that moment, it was nothing to what was coming.

“That….that…that’s a problem,” I stuttered, “Someone had tagged me…they know what I’m looking at.”

“Break it!” Mads exclaimed.

“It’s…it’s…too late…they know….”

“Are you using the burner I gave you?” Dominic asked without taking his eyes off the road.

“Yeah.”
He reached his arm back into the rear seat, his hand out for the phone.  I gave it to him without question. In one swift gesture, he cracked the phone over his knee, breaking the device. 

“It’s too late, Mr Giovanni.  They know. Sure, close the door, but the house is still burning.”

“They don’t know its you. It’s a burner, that’s what they’re for.”

“They’d had access to everything I looked at since signing in…”

“Wait…,” Breaking the phone hadn’t stopped the car. On hearing this, Dominic pulled over, “…you used your real name to sign into the account?”

“Yes.”

It was such a dumb arse, noob, stupid mistake. When had I ever used my real name on….anything? Ever!? But I’d been so desperate for that information, it hadn’t even twigged with me to create a false account. Dominic took out the SIM card with one hand and, with the other, pulled out his own phone, which was ringing for Bruce.

“It sounds like this is something important. What’s going on? Why did you break the phone?” Stallion asked, suddenly concerned. As for me, I was slowly melting into an innocuous puddle. Dominic waved Stallion to silence as the phone rang through.

“Because someone was doing what they shouldn’t have been doing, and what did I say the first night?  Don’t get caught!”
“Yes, boss?” In the silence of the car, we could all hear Bruce’s voice over the phone.
“The following SIM card, burn all traces,” He gave the serial number.

“Okay, can do.” Bruce replied, “Give us an hour.”

“Understood,” And Dominic hung up, glaring around at me, snapping the SIM card.

The puddle flinched.

He stepped out of the car.  We were very close to the harbour here, the water lapped lazily up onto the shingle and sand beach just below the road.  Pulling back his arm, he threw the phone and SIM card as far as he could into the cold blackness of the water, where it disappeared with a tiny ‘plop’.

“I guess you guys didn’t inform the Sheriff, huh?” Mads asked the silent car as Dominic returned and continued the trip to the Opera House.

“Vampires have Sheriffs?” Stallion asked, still oblivious.  

“It was all just there…out on the SchrekNet…how was I to know…” I was saying automatically, but even I didn’t believe it.  To know that sort of information, I would have gone trawling through every flagged term and more. My mistake was doing it without any thought for who may be watching. 

“It might be a good idea to come up with a believable story that’s at least mostly the truth,” Stallion suggested, suddenly gaining an astute understand on my position. It was good advice.

“Yeah. They know what I was looking at. I have to come clean. ” I searched my memory of what I had said or written on that phone that may pertain to the Lady.  I’d been careful, I was sure, to never mention her in a text or call, only speaking of her to the coterie in person.  Even the conversation I had with her had been recorded on a separate phone that was now long gone. No, this was my only mistake…as huge and idiotic as it was. There should be no other information linking me to Lady Merritt Stone. It was an isolated incident that needed a simple explanation. 

I’d been staring at the car floor mat for some time, and suddenly, my shaking hands came into focus.  I clasped them together quickly with a slap and looked up.

“Okay…so…on the Eve of the biggest night in my young life, I find out about the Writ of Recitation and went in search of my lineage…I got curious about all the interesting people in our history and…followed the links. As soon as I found this…woman, and that someone was watching my phone, I mentioned it to Mr Giovanni….and here we are.”

Yeah, that would do.

A Moment.  Sometime.  In the darkness.

You have a question?

(I’m just a baby, Luna whimpered)

What am I the Harbinger of, exempting the Serpent’s arrival?

Death.  You are completely and utterly barren. You can only take life. There is no life you can give.

Who must I stay away from at the Succubus Club?

For what purpose?

Survival.
What kind?

Not dying.

You would be wise to avoid: Madame Guil, a 6th generation, Pre-Camarillian authority known for her…zeal at finding traitors; Razor, 11th generation Malkavaian, you’ll know him when you see him; The Devil Brahmin; Malakai, also known as the Broken Rock of Constantinople, he wants to kill all Baali. 

Is happiness possible?

Moments of it are.  If you want to understand your problems, while at the event, you should find the Lion of Bactria. 

 In front of you are three paths.  Choose.

Have you foreseen a new prophecy for me?

No, you have not made your choice.  What is your choice?

Try as she might, Eclipse could not think of any other questions. She knew what her answer was at the beginning, and had put of this moment as long as she could.

Madeline will die during the event at the Succubus Club.

Thank you for making your choice.  Though many will not know it, we know you made the choice. Now its time for you to do what you need to do.

Eclipse found herself standing outside Bobby’s pipe, one hand leaning on its smooth terracotta exterior.  There was no pressure, no feeling of vertigo or dread. The darkness was just the night, the pinpricks of light merely stars.  She stood watching the stars for some time before remembering to check her phone.

COME TO THE OFFICE. THERE IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO LEARN.

ONCE YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR APPOINTMENT, MEET US AT THE OPERA HOUSE.

Unsure, she wanted to, Eclipse entered the pipe.  There was no Bobby, only the sound of dripping water and whimpers.  Walking further, she rapped on the ceramic pipe with her hand.

Knock, knock.

“Dark flame?” Came Bobby’s voice, sounding confused, “How are you this evening?”
“I’ve been better, Bobby. How are you?”

“I’ve not been myself…it’s confusing. Have we spoken already? I asked you here, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”
“You made your choice.” It wasn’t a question. Even though Eclipse was sure this Bobby had not been…present during the conversation in Malkavian Network, he knew nonetheless.

“The threads have been woven.” She nodded.

“Well, if anyone was to be part of the prank, I’m glad it was someone like you.  It needed a…darker touch, and you’ve been touched quite a bit.  Anything I can do to help wipe away those blood-stained tears?”
Eclipse raised her hand to her cheek and found it wet, though there was no blood on her hand.

“If it’s any consolation, myself and others will resolve the choice made. I just ask for one favour. Just for me.”

“Yes, Bobby?”

“I need you to not look away.  Take it in. See it, you need to see it. Understand that you made the choice and its important you follow through with it. Do you understand?”

“I’ve followed through every choice I’ve ever made.”

“I’m glad we had this talk.  I hope your next decision will not be as hard.  Your talk with the Seneschal goes wonderfully.  Get along to that.”

Eclipse went to turn and leave, only pausing a moment, “Do you know what it is to drown while walking on water?” she asked, her heart pressing into her throat.

“Every night.  That’s when they flush out the pipes.” Bobby replied with a sly grin.

Eclipse’ lips twitched, “Thank you, Bobby.” and she left.

11.25 pm Wednesday, 12 December  7 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Opera House

We left the car in the underground Opera House parking and headed up to see the Seneschal.   Dominic was stoic as usual, though there was a black wave of disappointment emanating from him. I was in a black mood of stupid regret, and Mads was keeping her own black counsel of what she’d learned in the car. Only Stallion showed any sort of energy for what was ahead.

“Hey Rain?” 

“Yes…Stallion, “ I was not in the mood for Stallion’s wisecracks at my expense, but there was little I could do but let it fall off me like sewer water off a rat’s back.

“If you’re that concerned about getting caught…I could develop my sculpting and change what you look like.”

I recalled the…squelching from the library, the hand wrist deep in his torso and shuddered.

“No.”

“You know, it’s not the worst idea,” Mads said, and I rolled my eyes in her direction.

“You know, if it gets as bad as that… it’s an option.”

“I will bear it in mind. Thank you for your offer, Stallion,” I said, thankful I had no gag reflex.

“Hey, I offered,” He shrugged.  It wasn’t anything to him either way. 

Mads shivered again, “Is no one else feeling this?”

“It’s just the ocean breeze,” Dominic replied, “Nothing more.”

11.25 pm Wednesday, 12 December  7 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Opera House

****************************************************************************************

What I am

You will not have a happy ending

A churning happens underneath her ribs. It was unnoticeable at first.

A light tightness that felt like something was being held back.

a tug, tug- snap

Luna stood in an inky abyss. She’s been in one similar, only a few weeks ago. Scales of unimaginable coloured glistened where there are now human eyes. Fifteen eyeballs flicker around her.

The muscles in her legs felt hollowed where muscles once stretched taught.

When was the last time she used them?

“Is Galconda possible?”

She knew the answer. A subtle pressure on her chest reminded her that redemption is-

“Not for you.”

A lost cause. A shadow of a shadow.

“I know that much,” the words burnt her tongue, “but in general.”

“There are those who have already succeeded, so yes.” The essence that puppets Bobby’s body seemed unmoved by this question. Almost unimpressed.

The arms around her were warm. The memories of them draped in a colour not even the Rainbow Serpent could express.

“Eclipse,” a dead name with an equally dead future, “you have three choices to make. You can choose Mads, you can choose Izac, or you could choose to make the event happen as it was meant to.”

Fate.

People bound in golden threads. Her hands shackled to the will of destiny. Now they make her their scapegoat. A voice box set up for their next sacrifice.

Or….

…does she have it all wrong?

The process is done in an instant.

Luna is tucked back behind her bones, safely trapped in her ribcage. The warm colours that hide in the refractions of a cold flame.

Fate is not cruel or kind. Events happen as foretold and any hidden are shaped by the choices made. Only a few are an exception.

One side of the exceptions stare at her.

She is the other side that stares back.

“What was I made to do?” The bodies she throws onto the slab are conditions to a deal she has made. The blood that fuels her is borrowed from the pit that their soul is now sealed in.

Bobby sits for a moment. No time passes. Only silence meets the audience.

“You were originally made to be a daughter, to give birth and die,” Eclipse waits for the rest. The parts that matter.

“Then,” Bobby’s eyes stare into the wet stone they rest on, “you were born to place disappear and suffering onto those thought to deserve it.” Bruja’s need a cause to fight for. A pawn on someone else’s chess board. Luna was a flame without fuel. “Then you were reborn to end things. That is your current iteration. Some would call you a Black Mother.”

This silence had a weight.

Eclipse kneeled down to the people that control the muscles of Bobby’s figure. The eyes around them follow.

“What is a Black Mother?” Ironic to ask someone about who you are. To explain what comes naturally.

“One that does naught but kill to create new life. It is an old idea. Nothing new can grow unless one gets rid of the old. That is your current role. That is your essence.”

‘This is what you were made for,’ an old voice, one lost to dusty and decayed books, speaks out from the back of their mind.

The chains dance along her wrists, licking at her forearms and tickling her fingertips. The golden threads of Fate beckon her to untie their knots. To pull, untie, follow and yield. The struggle, the conflict, the labour.

The choice.

“Madeline will die during the events of the succubus club.”

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Chucko: Malkavian clown from 2023 Earth.  Part of a gang called the Bozos.

Critias: Old gentleman kindred Rain has made a deal with to be a ‘playing piece’ in a game at the Succubus Club.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission.  Also known as: Lady Jennifer Stone and Lady Ophelia Meritt.  Consort to Mithras.  Exiled from London and wanted by the Ventrue. See also: The Red List or Kemintiri. Fourth Generation, Followers of Set. Suspected embrace, 1300BCE. Sire: Set.  Childer: numerous. Evidence points to her being the creator of the Children of Osiris.Known to be a master of disguise to rival even the best, to the point that even Nosferatu have a difficult time discerning her. Known associates:  Mithras, Set, Horus. Kemintiri is First on The Red List.  She is immune to blood blonds and Dominate.  There is no known exception. She is the only being known to have returned from Wassail.

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Paul Derrogard: Name given by Monday of the Days of the Week. Claimed to be Ventrue.

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Malkavian Time: a connections all Malkavian share to a greater network of knowledge and shared visions called the Madness Network

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

9.00 pm Wednesday, 12 December  9 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. On Route

The night was still young and Mads and I were on our way back to the Crow Bar after a…confusing chat with Bobby.  As she texted back and forth with Eclipse, I had a moment to contemplate the conversation.

You said,  ‘He’s fine, by the way’….Can you find this particular person?

Haven’t you found them yet?

Nope.

Initially, I thought she’d meant Alex…or that Bobby, in mentioning ‘he was fine’, had referred to Alex.   When Bobby had blanked on her query and asked, Haven’t you found them yet?, my thoughts turned to Izaac, our missing knight. Now, I wondered if my confusion wasn’t justified.

“Mads, what does Alex look like?” 

“I’m sorry? Alex?” she said, and she seemed  confused and off balance by my non sequitur , “Why?  Does it matter?”

“You just don’t talk about him, “I bluffed, shrugging, projecting nonchalant attitude to the subject, “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to find out what happened to him, but you never speak about him.”

“He..was just…a guy, you know?  Short blonde hair, hazel eyes…I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

The description was quite different to that of our Izac.  I changed tack and continued the conversation, putting my confusion at Mads’ past to the back of my mind, “There must have been good times.  Things worth remembering…? Sharing…?”

“There were plenty of good stuff,” She said rather defensively, “But it doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

Didn’t matter? As a woman who lived and defined herself by what happened to her in the past, that comment didn’t make a lot of sense.  Our Mads was certainly a contradiction.

“Doesn’t it?”

“Well…it’s gone, it was in the past. At least the good time are…”

“They’re still apart of you,” Trite, I know, but no less true. As she looked so sad and lost at that moment, I didn’t think a little triteness would hurt, “Those times…made you, who you are. They’re a part of the before times.”

She didn’t reply to that for a long time. I thought she’d dropped the subject.

“I don’t talk about him because he is…was dead.  On top of that, I haven’t know you for that long.”

That was true, we’d known her…a week?.  It’s amazing how long the short night’s stretch. Still, I persisted.  In my experience, tt was never the ticks of the clock that had mattered when it came to relationships.

“You asked me to look for him through the dead in your hunt for the one you believed murdered him…”
“And did murder him,” She flaired, her intonation clipped and sharp,  reminding me that she was indeed a Brujah, “Thank you. Remember to keep that information accurate.”

“Apologies.  My curiosity tends to get away with me,” I replied self-effacingly, and watched out of the corner of my eye as she slumped back into her chair.  

“Thank you for your help with Bobby,” She said, softly, looking out the passenger window, “It wouldn’t have been…easy for me to lure somebody in. I’ve had a bad run of it recently.”

I shrugged at that, “You would have found a way.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Regardless, I don’t intend to make you do all the work.” She said, and the thought made me smile, just a little. Did that mean she intended to stick around? Maybe our Mads’ did see a future afterall.

“I like that idea very much.”

9.00 pm Wednesday, 12 December  9 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

At the bar, my siblings were making best use of their night. Eclipse was talking to her friend in the lounge and Stallion was referring to a medical text book and moulding the fat, sinew and muscle in his torso to make his abs and obliques more pronounced.  Fortunately, for me at that time, Mads and I headed for the lounge.

Together, we slowly walked down the stairs, spying a bemused looking Eclipse chatting with one of the five…the ones that had darkened her.

“Oh good, I’ve been looking forward to this,” I murmured to Mads before making a beeline directly for their table.

“Heard of personal space?” Mads reply, as she veered off , heading for the bar, “Hi, can you give me something to get fucked up with?” She was given two glasses of Charlotte.

“What’s the vintage on this one?”

“Two hours.”

“Lovely.”

Eclipse only had eyes for her companions and didn’t realise I was there until I reached their booth, making my presence felt.

“Good evening, I’m Rain, Eclipse’s friend, “  I extended my hand for the man to shake. “I’m very pleased to finally get a chance tomeet you. I know you’ve been a great…help to our Eclipse”

“Paul. Paul Derrogard, “ He replied and he took it without question.  His hand, cold as all ours are, was hard…stony and completely lifeless. He was smooth as polished stone, not casually comfortable talking to strangers, which meant he was either socially practiced or old. Probably both. That was the frustrating thing about Vampires, it was often hard to tell which.

“I didn’t realise Eclipe was meeting with you, I would have stayed to greet you myself.”
“I feel welcome plenty, thank you,” There was a smile, but the voice and the hand spoke of an guarded individual, used to keeping to themselves.  Lovely. And don’t think I was unaware that he didn’t want me there…I was just ignoring it.

“Rain, was it?  A pleasure to meet you.” I’m sure it wasn’t.

“Deroguard?  Is that a French name?”

“Belgium, actually.”

“Ah, close,” I smiled, “So have you lured away our poor Eclipse?” I glanced at her. I thought she’d been mad, but she looked more curious than mad.

“Not to speak out of turn, but she has some unique abilities that…require a more extensive education. Dominic is a fine keeper, but he can not know everything. I’m sure you much know that,” Paul replied cooly, as if he were reading a script or a prepared text.  Nothing of this guy felt spontaneous…casual or spare of the moment.  He had plans and they involved Eclipse.  And inside, I shuddered.

“I understand that all too well. So you’re providing Eclipse with an education?”

“Yes. Not as heavy-handed.” And like he were made of stone, his head slowly turned to Eclipse, “Isn’t that right?”

“I’ve learnt more from you in the few night we’ve known each other than…how many months have we been with Dominic?”

Two. Long and eventful months. 

“She does me too much praise,” Paul gave her a quick smile in a way I found galling, “ In fact, I have come to understand from Eclipse… but I wonder if it’s the same for the rest of her siblings. Have you been educated in your Writ of Recitation?”

What was this now? Was this a distraction or one of the many other things essential to Vampire society that Dominic had failed to mention?

After a pause to collection my thought, I replied honestly, “I’d have to say no, as I have no idea what you’re referring to.”

“Pity. It may be something you want to brush up on before the Succubus Club or you may be mistaken for a Catiff.” He chuckled. I didn’t like his joke. Me? Mistaken for a no-clan? Ridiculous.

“Writ of Recitation?”
“If an elder wishes you to…introduce yourself, you do not only introduce yourself, but also your lineage…your pedigree. Imagine reciting your family tree.”

I felt seen, and not in the good way I appreciated. It was like this one knew my buttons, and where to push. Garcia’s betrayal rankled more at that moment than it had at any time, including when he visited the house.  Had Paul and his four cronies been investigating us?  It was likely, if their plans evolved around Eclipse they would have checked up on her siblings as well.  Still, the mention of lineage was a sore point.  

“Well, that’s a little bit of a problem,” I found myself saying more bitterly than I wanted to.

“Not for you,” Eclipse said, and I was reminded that her sire hadn’t even bothered to provide his name, “You know the name of your sire.”

“Well, it is,” As Dominic was fond of saying everytime I brought up the subject, …there are many Garcia’s, “But I don’t know his sire, or any of those that came before. He dumped me in the sand with everyone else.”

This wasn’t going the way I had wanted. But now it was out, I had to know about the Writ of Recitation and quick.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, “Paul said rather condescending, I felt, “It’s only something you can expect with the older ones. But you are expected to recite your lineage back to your clan founders. Of course, for a Vampire of a significant age or charm, it can be overlooked.” 

A reminded of how young we are? Yes, as I said, condescending.

“You can think of it as…what do you call it, Eclipse when you spar to gain status again Stallion…?  A shit-test?”

“A pissing contest?” Eclipse supplied.  I didn’t miss the mention of Stallion. Yes, this one knew all about us.  It was galling I knew almost nothing about him.

“So, as an example, what would be your Writ of Recitation?” 

“I am Paul Derogaurd. My sire is Fracois, his sire is Jack of the Appletons,who was sired by Frank Le Borche, who  in turn was sired by Mithras, Prince of London whose sire was Ventrue.” He supplied without hesitation, and with that pedigree, why should he?

Venture, the planning schemers.  That checked out, except for one thing. If Paul here was Eclipse’s new sire, he coudn’t be Ventrue, as she would be Ventrue as well.  Still, maybe one of the other four had sired Eclipse, there was no way of telling until I met them.

“Of course, everyone knows Caine is the first and everyone should know the Clan founders so it is only for you to show your lineage up to them,” Was that another dig at our supposed lack of knowledge?  At least, the Book of Nod had educated both Eclipse and I on that score.

“This would have been enlightening information a few weeks ago, “I admitted.  Right now, I’d be happy if the only boon Garcia fulfilled was who his daddy (or mummy) was.  But it was time to focus the subject back on him.

“So Ventrue? What do you do for a living?” 

“What are you, my Dad?” Eclipse said, and I smiled at the thought. I may have been precocious, but I wasn’t up to much beside practicing my sleight of hand at eleven, “Don’t you think this interrogation is a bit much?”

“We’re having a conversation,” I replied and Paul waved away Eclipse’s complaint with a gesture.

“No it’s fine.  Money moves, I let it.  Back before all this amazing technology I dabbled in smelting, a little dealing here and there, I invested in merchant ships gathering goods from near and far. But in these modern nights, if you have enough fortune it tends to make its own money.  I simply put my money in an S&P 500 and make money, apparently.” Again, he supplied smoothly. 

“Nice,” I replied. Not knowing anything about blue-chip stocks or the top 500 listed companies in the world, I must admit to falling back on scarcasm,“That does sound like something worth learning, Eclipse.”

“Would you care to tell us about what you do, Rain? Want to share your stories?” She quipped back, and I gave her my most disingenuous grin.

“Hey, I’m a layabout, I thought everyone knew that.”

Paul chuckled, but didn’t care to elaborate on what he thought was so funny. I hid behind a mask of interested imperturbability and ground my teeth.

“Well, if you need to learn your sire’s name you could probably go to any one of the local record keepers…anyone of knowledge, and they could probably fill in the details for you.” Marvelous, another debt to the Nosferatu…or maybe there was another way? Other record keepers?

“Unless of course, if they were a rather questionable, what’s the word…outcast…recluse of our society, then you should be able to find out.” 

Ha, that was a little more petty, I thought.  More like what I’d expect from a fellow Toreador.  Suggesting my sires were…undesirables.  I was a skinny little Bosnak foster kid from way back, forever the outcast.  He’d have to try harder if he was trying to get rid of me.

“Well, that sounds just like me.  As I said, a layabout, “ I smiled, unconcerned.

“Hmm, “ He didn’t seem pleased, “Well, at the very least, it keeps the records to account, make sure there are no stray kindred running around making a mess.” I wondered what he meant by that swipe.  I didn’t get much of chance to think it over as he continued with his soliloquy.

“Look on the bright side. You could have come from a line of fourteen Bobs, “ Assuming I was a 15th generation.  I’ve known a few Bob’s, including Big Bob from the squat.  I could have done worse than been sired by a schizophrenic homeless man with a dog that despised me.

“Imagine.  I was sired by Bob who was sired by Bob, whose sire was Bob, sired by Robert, also known as Bob…” He thought it was ridiculous, but it made me sentimental for the idea of belonging to a long line, like someone with numerals after their name. Hi, I’m Bob the 15th of that name.Though, I’d used Robert.

“Oh God, I’ve got to find the name of my sire,” Eclipse said, and I glanced between her and Paul.  No, maybe he wasn’t her new sire…but the angry Brujah we’d met on the stairs wasn’t going to be of use anymore. I sent out another wave of disgust for Garcia in sympathy for Eclipse’s position.  Yes, petty and unfair it may be, but I am a Toreador.

“I’m sure modern day kindred will understand, especially considering how…fresh you are. It’s just those with a bit more power will use that against you.” As if a couple of shovelheads weren’t already playing with a loaded deck  “I’m sure you’ve all met the Prince.”

“We’ve been introduced,” We had that one advantage.

“Some more thoroughly than others,” Eclipse said, taking a swipe at me.  The Prince.  I still hadn’t spoken to him. Our conversation would have to wait now.

“I’m sure you know what I mean…” He let he thought hang.

The Prince was powerful and seemingly all knowing. He had a harsh way of dealing with those who would go against him, reference Izac’s heart stealing here, and all the other hearts kept in that room. He’d certainly made Stallion look a fool…more of a fool than he was. He’d also had the squat…cleared…by Cabolut Hassim, but no one cares for the…cattle, do they.  Was he more cruel or on par with anyone else more than six hundred years old?

“I would not speak ill of the Prince but he is fond of his courtly….jests.” 

“Pranks,” Eclipse agreed. I nodded along.

“I understand.”

“Well, you’re one for a show, Rain, “ She said, trying to turn the topic back to me.

I gave her a querying look, wondering where she was going saying that in front of Paul. I am a creature of chaos, what can I say, but in front of this stick-in-the-mud?  She must be very annoyed at me for breaking up her date.

“I love a show.” I shrugged unconcerned.

“Sorry I took so long, “Mads now made her appearance, holding two glasses and handing one to me, “Here, a Charlotte.”

“Thank you, Mads. Paul Derrogard, you’ve not met our Mads. Mads,this is Eclipse’s friend, Paul.”

“Madeline, “ Paul welcomed Mads to the booth like an old friend, “Haven’t seen you for a while. What have you been up to?”

“What?” Mads stumbled, taken aback by the welcome, “I’m sorry, have we met?”

“Oh a decade here and there.  Ours is a small world.”

Mads took a moment to trawl her memory and came up blank, “I’m having a hard time placing the face, apologies. I mean, yeah, I’m alright.  How are you?”

“I’ve been splendid,” He said with a large toothy grin that would have given an American pause.

“Keeping up with your old tricks, I’m guessing?” And she was.  It was clear she had no idea who Paul was, but he did seem to know her, “Whatever those tricks were.”

“If only you knew,” And he laughed a genuinely evil laugh that I would have credited Dominic with before meeting Paul Derrogard.

“So, how do you know Eclipse?”

“Eclipse is my…I guess the best word is apprentice.” Paul replied. He being the master in that relationship? So,what sort of trade was Eclipse being instructed in? “Education is important. As Rain here as clearly demonstrated.” Hey, I resemble that comment!

“I’m a student at heart,” Eclipse said, almost like she was sucking up to teacher.  If she felt the need…

Now the spotlight was off her, Mads took the opportunity to slide into the booth beside Eclipse and slowly sip her drink.

“You could have at least brought everyone a glass,” Eclipse rounded on her. It was clear she was starting to feel…claustrophobic.

“Shit, I thought you had drinks. I’m sorry.”

“I haven’t touched this one,” I handed my glass to Eclipse, and stepped away, “I’ll get another couple.” I certainly welcomed the chance to step away and think about what to do next with Paul Derrogard.

“He’s a good egg,” Mads said to the booth in general. 

Eclipse shrugged, “Only when he wants to be.”

Mads sucked her teeth as if touching something hot, “Scathing! Eclipse.”

“Realistic.” 

“Ah, he’s helpful. He likes to give a helping hand where he can.”

“A guilty conscious always does,” Paul said over the rim of his glass. 

“Huh,” Mads said a little crestfallen sounding. 

While Mads was keeping Paul distracted.  Eclipse, ever curious, stirred the blood and tried to Discern the Sin on Paul. She felt herself rebuffed and learnt nothing about Paul or his darker secrets. There was something about Mads, though, a thought that she comes from a good place, but was lost and in need of direction.  It so echoed her own sentiment about the stray that she didn’t question it, or its origins.  As she saw it, Mads had two choices, two different endings…and endings are never good contemplation for a Vampire.

“And Mads, how about your choices? Do you think you’re on the right path?” Paul asked, making Eclipse blink. It sounded like he’d read her mind, though it was just an extension of the past conversation.

“We live forever, so the path is very long. It might look bad now, but it keeps going,” Mads shrugged, unsure why she was now the topic of interest.

“Indeed, it does.  I think Eclipse has learnt a bit more about this, haven’t you?”

“Time is a circle and a square and a triangle,” Eclipse replied cryptically, making Paul chuckle.

“How very Tremere of you.” Referring to the circles and squares of the Tremere clan symbol as well as to their way of seeming more mystical than they are.

“What are we doing for the rest of the night, Paul?” Eclipse asked as the conversation ebbed, “Do you have anything planned?”

“I’ll continue checking out investments, making sure they’re paying off, doing the rounds.  Making sure of those long-term investments.” He looked at her knowingly.

I was at the bar getting a couple of house reds, eager to get back to the table. FOMO is real and lives rent free in me. I quickly returned, and handed Paul the second glass, “Okay, what did I miss,”
“Mads was the topic of conversation,” Paul informed me, and Mads shook her mane of auburn hair in that appealing way girls do.

“Not for much longer, “ She said, and gulped her Charlotte.

“So Rain, what do you think about Mads? Do you think she’s taking the wrong path? That she’s misguided?” Paul turned to me, and though I thought the question odd, as I’d spent the last few hours thinking just that, I naturally had a decent answer to give.

“I know she has to find her truth, whatever that is for her.”
“Hmm, don’t we all,” Paul replied, and he sounded like a teacher. Teachers are often frustrated with Class Clowns.“We are creatures of deceit by nature, so I suppose it’s important.”

“Every good lie has a kernel of truth. You have to start with that.” I said, grudgingly agreeing.

“There…it is that little bit that keeps us going.”

“It’s what makes every thought…complete, every fiction…real….every story…honest.” I’ve lived my life by that statement.

“Speaking of complete…one of your members is missing, Eclipse?” Paul asked.  

“W’ere not missing the Eshay?” Referring to Stallion. Lenny had to teach me this one, as Stallion would be the dictionary example of an Eshay…if the word were found in dictionaries.

Paul’s lineless brow furrowed at the slang, “I am not familiar with that expression.”
“Stallion.  He isn’t here.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Our Stallion tends to go missing and do his own thing,” I explained for my own amusement as I assumed by now that Paul was well versed in the coterie and Mads was already well aware of Stallion’s antics.

I still wanted to grok the nature of Eclipse’s and Paul’s relationship, and so far there’s been a lot of jargon, but no real substance.

“So, you were saying before you’re educating our Eclipse.  I’d be fascinated to know,  but I’d understand if it’s something secret just between you, Eclipse, and your four friends.” 

“Broad strokes. Punctuality is important.  Working hard and staying on task.  Discipline. Keeping one’s word.” He said as if listing class rules from the blackboard. He didn’t bat an eye at the mention of the rest of his coterie. As I said before, smooth as a polished stone, and just as lively.

“They’re all fine qualities for anyone living in a society. But specifically, Eclipse doesn’t strike me as Ventrue material.”
“No, but she appreciates some of the qualities that our clan can offer.” It sounded like a business proposal, as if he were persuading her, though it was clear she’d taken the offer already. Even Bobby called her the Dark Flame, now. No.  She’d found her purpose, but this cold fish wasn’t the one to supply it.

“Like punctuality, “ Again, I glanced at Eclipse. Though she didn’t make eye contact, I knew that being on time wasn’t what got her moving every evening. Here was the rebel Brujah girl who fell for the black knight.  Who stole a heart right out of the Prince’s own collection and even now keeps it safe in her pocket.  So, I’m supposed to believe she was now a nine-to-five, law-abiding, straight-down-the-line, citizen? Give me a break!

“…and hard work, and co-mit-ment.” He said it like that, stressing each syllable. I could only assume her benefit. 

“Keeping one’s word,” Eclipse parroted, and that felt a little pointed. 
And who was supposedly not keeping their word?

“Exactly, “ Paul replied, having said absolutely nothing.  

“Well, the night is still young, I’m sure we can’t dominate Paul time as much we may like to,” Eclipse said, giving the man his release. 

“Hmm-mm, any parting gifts I can offer you two? Eclipse has had her share,” He offered generously.

Yeah, what did you do to my sister, you monster?

“Oh, I believe I’ve learnt a great deal tonight, thank you.” Both statements were true.  Only one was vocalised.

“I can see I’ll have to go hit the book tonight.”
“And Mads?”

“No, I’ve been pretty prodded and interrogated enough, thanks.” She gave a weak smile, “I’ll respectfully decline.”

“Fair enough, “ And Paul Derrogard rose from the booth, his glass empty, “I bid you all adieu.” Turning smartly on his heal he addressed Eclipse, “We will meet again soon, I’m sure.” And Paul left.  I took his seat at in the booth.

And then there were three.

“Funny little world isn’t it,” Mads referred to having met Paul previously.

“You have been around for a long time, though you may not act like it,” said Eclipse, condescendingly, at least for a nineteen year old.

“I’m just saying, my circles aren’t as big as I thought they were. Still, why couldn’t I place a name to a face.”

Maybe because that’s not his name, I thought, but said nothing.

“Did your trip to Bobby…please you?  Assuage your curiosity?” Eclipse asked Mads.

“No.”

“You went looking in the wrong place for answers.”
“It’s more to do with not liking the answers shes hearing and thinks if she keeps pushing she’ll get an answer she does like,” I played with Paul’s glasses, wondering if there was such as thing as Vampire DNA.

“Oh, good.  The interrogation continues,” Mads snarked, but there was no more interrogation, she was off the hook.

“No, no.  But, speaking of Bobby and trips to see him, he’s asked for you, Eclipse. He’d like you to go and see him.”
“Looks like I’m in demand.  Paul, you and now Bobby. I’m booked.”

“Yes, booked out until the Succubus Club, that’s right.”

“So, what will you two be doing?” She asked us and I felt the unspoken suggestion that she go alone to see Bobby. As much as I wanted to know what he had to say, I did have a lot of homework of my own.

“I feel it would be uncoothe of me to return to the scene of a crime three times in a row,” Mads said, “So, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing.  I’ve been told to hurry up and wait.”

“The Succubus Club will be here before you know it,” I said, drinking my own glass and feeling it effects.  I  understand that some kindred tire of blood, but right now I was still enjoying the taste of life it provided. It was like a more coffee shot, but more sustaining. The only thing better was tapping a source directly. “As for me, I guess I could take you out to the Rocks.”
That statement was met with a deadpan stare from Eclipse.

“Bobby’s not going to come here, you know this,” Even Mads read her expression it was that fierce.

“You could…” Eclipse replied, “But I’m sure there are better things for you do tonight.” 

“You don’t want me there. You can say it.”

“Maybe Stallion’s got it right about being a lone wolf,” Eclipse proclaimed and I nearly spat my drink across the table.

“Don’t be ridiculous.  Nothing worth doing was done by one person alone.”

“No, I don’t particular want my prophesy told in front of a crowd,” She said after a while, and somehow I’d become a crowd, and unreliable to judge by her earlier comment.  

”Eclipse, is there a problem with trust?”

“When a fate is spoken, a fate is sealed,” She replied, and even for our goth-doom-and-gloom-girl that seemed pretty final. 

“I don’t believe that either.  Bobby sees a future.  It is up to us to either make it a reality or change it.  The fates are there to be moulded by our choices. There is no destiny.”

“That said, you did go back to have your prophesy told again,” Mads interjected.

“If you recall, I didn’t. Ididn’t ask for anything for myself.” I’d gone both times to watch Bobby, to learn from him, not to confirm what he’d already told me.

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll shut my fat mouth then, “ She flounced making me smiled.

“Maybe you’ve had enough Charlotte for now,” Eclipse joked.

Mads theatrically swayed in her seat, “You know, so-ometimes a…girl has got to keep her secrets.” She did a good impression of being a drunk. She’d had enough practice.

“No, I didn’t ask for another prophesy. I’m still working on the first one. But what Bobby does, the mysticism of it…the theatrics…it fascinates me.”

“For someone who doesn’t put much stake in it, it seems odd it would fascinate you, “ Mads said, and could see her point. That didn’t mean I didn’t see the importance of it for others.

“Well, if I’m not needed as a chauffeur, which I must say I’m a little grateful for, I’m going to find out a little more about this Writ of Recitation. Rain, the shovelhead, sired by Garcia and who knows….” It seemed such a daunting task only hours away from the event where it could be important.

“At least you have Garcia, and Paul did say the record keepers could help.” 

“Yes, but who are they?  The Nos? As if I need another debt with them. Do you know where to start,Mads?”

“There’s always SchreckNet,” She replied simply, as if it were common knowledge. I shook my head in disbelief.  Once more, Dominic had failed to mention a significant part of culture…and he wondered why I was constantly frustrated.

“SchreckNet? Something online? Deep web? Is it passworded? Where can I find it?” I peppered her with questions. To her it was a new invention, being around virtually as long as the Internet itself, but SchreckNet had become an indispensable way for kindred to keep in touch over the years.

“Speaking of old people, Paul seems quite old. At least by his reckoning he’s….eighth generation?” I said, quickly counting through the Writ of Recitation he’d so helpfully supplied.

“Very old,” Eclipse agreed, “Older than Dominic. And he’s a lot more forthcoming with answers to questions.”

Yes, but what did you have to give up for those answers?  I thought, recalling the darkening madness of her aura. I said, “So, you swapped one old man for another. What is it about Paul and his friends you like so much?”

“You talk to your friends from a past time, I talk to them.  They’re intriguing.  Being in the same place, talking to the same people…it’s suffocating.”

“I can understand that,” It was my usual complaint about the bar.

“So why do you interrogate me so?”

“Beccause you worry me.” I said seriously and empathically. I know I’ve said it to her before, but it didn’t make it less true.

“And that worry is going to kill you. Because you worry about everyone but yourself.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d spent a lifetime anxious and constantly looking for when the sword would fall. I don’t think it’s habit you give up likely.  Maybe I’d just shifted the anxiety onto others. But instead of acknowleding her warning, I brushed aside her words with my own.

“The benefit of wearing a mask. Even I can’t see underneath it sometimes. But you do worry me.”

“No tears will be shed over me.”

“No tears?” Did she think so little of herself?

“No, this is no pity party.”

“They will be shed.” I said as sincerely as I could. She had to know her worth….to me…to Izac…Oh, Eclipse, “Do not doubt that.”

“Well, don’t worry too much. There’s a Succubus Club for you to worry yourself on.” She wasn’t wrong.

“Yes, one more thing to think about, hours out from the event.”
“Maybe a question for Dominic when he gets back?”

“Oh I assure you I will be asking Dominic about the Writ of Recitation, the Record Keepers, SchreckNet…. And maybe why these things didn’t seem…relevant to him.”

“I mean,” Mads joined in the Dominic bashing, “He did adopt you. Surely he kept a note of your sire’s names.  Yes, hi, I’m still here.”

I shrugged, “You know our history.”

“Not all of it.” She protested, as if she weren’t licking it up.  Now, now Mads.

“We three were left in the sand.” I said simply.  Dumped at at the high tide line for Dominic the beachcomber to find. 

“Don’t worry, Madeline.  You’re an open book,” Eclipse said.

“Ah, thanks. I guess.”

“Anyway,” It was time to change to subject, “I’m going to….I don’t know….send Dominic a text to see when he’s returning?” I glanced around the V.I.P. Lounge as if the answers would suddenly appear.  It was just after 9.30 pm and the Lounge was only half full, but there were some new faces that may be willing to share their knowledge. I was surprised when at least a few of them looked back at me, intrigued.

The first was an odd little fellow (yes, I do recognised the irony) wearing clown make up.  As a theatrical sort myself, I understood that some preferred the persona over the reality, and made myself know.

 “Good evening, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before. My name is Rain.” Closer up, I could see under the heavy makeup, he was very young, probably no more than nineteen. No problem, I was used to getting lip from a nineteen year old.

“Hello Rain!” He announced theatrically with a jolly laugh made for filling a theatre or circus tent, “It is a pleasure to meet you. I suppose, it’s one of those little things, legends in the making and such, but I’m just so surprised to see you.”

“You’re surprised to see me?” I smiled at his antics.  

“Yes!  It’s just one of those things.  You don’t expect to see your heroes in person.” 

Now…I think you know me well enough that I was enchanted by the thought of being known.  But, I’m not blind enough to think I have any real renown, even in Sydney.  Certainly not enough to be someone’s hero.  He had to be blowing smoke up my arse.

“I’m just a little starstruck.” He giggled merrily. I got the impression he was playing with me, but he certainly seemed to know something about me…or at least thought he did.

“I have no idea what I could have done to receive such praise, but…”
“But you will,” He grinned, which only made the richtus clown makeup spread further across his features, “And its going to be wonderful…yes!”

Going to…?

“How so? I’m so intrigued!” I mirrored his childish energy.

“That would be telling, but it will happen soon, don’t you worry.” He wagged a finger in my face dramatically, “It’s one of the great things about being in this time.”

“Yes, it is a glorious time to be here, “ I agreed with furvour, “It seems I’ve been waiting my whole life.”

“Most assuredly,” He chortled merrily and fussed with a fake flower in his oversized lapel, “But I must admit, I not quite used to everything here, it feels a bit…different from what I’m used to, but at least I got to meet my hero while I was here.”

“And where do you come from? Where do you normally practice the art?” Clowning can be considered an art, not one I’ve personally pursued so I found his words confusing.

“Oh I come from somewhere very far from here,” He admitted as if sharing a stage whisper, meant for the whole audience to hear, “You see, I come from the Year 2022. From the Free States, that was once called California.” 

He said it as if the year was a location, not a reference in time. Besides being still a few weeks into the future, how could you come from a year?
“California?” I latched onto the one thing I did understand.

“It was known as California…now the free states. It’s important.  Its a wonderful place, if you get a chance you should go to there it’s called Night’s City.”

“Nights City,” I repeated.  None of this was familiar.

“Yes, some people call it Night City, but they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s Night’s City.”

“I understand.”

“You see Night made the city.  It was his City. People do not understand!” He was getting agitated at the failure of communication, but still that huge smile persisted.  Yes, the was certainly one to treat carefully.

“Speaking of which, what’s up with those two sticks in the mud?  Are they your stilts or something?” Ha!  A short joke from the clown.  Ha. Ha. Of course, he was gesturing to Mads and Eclipse.

“Those lovely ladies are my props,” I agreed with him.  No reason to antagoise.

“Would you mind if I tried them out?”

I thought of Eclipse and Mads minding and almost laughed, “Oh, you may get splinters.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. Can I?”

“You can certainly try,” This had to be worth seeing, even if it did cost my immortal life.

“I’m a big fan of my cherry pie routine,” He boasted proudly, producing the mentioned projectile. This guys was the real deal. 

“Mads is more about giving that sort of thing than taking it,” I gestured to my auburn haired companion with a wave.  At least, that’s what Stallion had said, “As for me, this suit would not survive a cherry pie.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that to you,” He said, with what looked like genuine awe in his eyes, “It would ruin the moment. But which one should I pick?  Two lovely ladies.  Two choices.  What do you think?”

Oh, I wasn’t getting involved in shennanigans that upset either Eclipse or Mads, certainly not for this crazy fellow’s shits-and-giggles.

I laughed, “I think either of them would be livid.”

“But who would give a better punchline?”

“Both a very good a provide a punch.”

“I could always pick….” he said, and before I could suggest another target for his ‘sense of humour’, he threw the pie at Eclipse.  She was not expecting it.  Dozens of embedded razorblades cuts her face, neck and decolletage, leaving bloody streaks through the pie filling. I winced, in sympathy. Carefully, so not to drag the blades through more of her skin, Eclipse pulled the pie off her face and glared.

She recognised that he wasn’t from this place, time or universe.  He comes from a gang called the Bozos. He is kindred and insane.  Malkavian and a sadist, with many practical jokes as hilarious as the pie. Eclipse, feining indifference, wiped away the blood and took a sip from her drink. 

“That’s a bit disappointing,” Shrugged the clown, “Still the hard ones often break the best.  Toughened glass breaks better than sugar glass.”

“Both shatter quite effectively, but I rather not be near one when it does,” I confessed, thinking it may be better to move this one away from harms reach, or at least keep him amused enough that he didn’t feel the need for more pranks, “So, you said you were from 2022?”

“Correct!”

“Can you tell me about that?  How did you end up here?”

“Oh it was a wonderful time.  People replaced their arms for machine guns. Or replaced their eyes with laserbeams.  Police owned by private companies.  Night’s City was so much fun! But you know, one day you sleep in the wrong dumpster and next thing you know; I’m here!”

“But what do you mean by 2022? It’s only two weeks away and none of this exist…here…”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.  I do not belong here…”

“No, I understand.  You’re no of this…world…are you?”

That got him thinking, “No the world is still the same…though I don’t know why no one know about India.  Strange.”
India.  A lovely name, but as he just suggested, I’d never heard of it, “What’s India?”

“Oh no!  And they call me crazy!” He giggled. It was then I noticed he didn’t have a drink. 

“You don’t have a drink friend.  I should rectify that, “ Anything to fill his hand and stop another pie flying.

“No, I’m not old enough to drink yet.”
“Well, what would you like?  You certainly can’t eat your pies.” I gave him a cheeky wink.

“No, I just pick them off the street.  Isn’t that what you do?”

Ur…well…

“ You know.  Take them off the street, put a little drip feed into them and drink off the drip?”

Ur…oh…

He laughed.  At least he found me amusing.

“So who’s India?” I asked, intrigued.

“It’s not a who. It’s a what.  It’s a where! It’s a how!  It’s a why!!” His excitement grew with every repetition.

“In your world?”
“Yes, tell me, why is there no India in your world?”

A whole place? Missing?  How do you talk about a place that was never there as far as you knew.

“It is very strange.  There is evidence of an India, but no evidence of which to speak! A great disappearing trick!” 

“The greatest disappearing trick of all,” I mused.  I added a search on India to my list of homework.

“I know, right.  I’m jealous too!” He said, and as mad as he was, I had to agree.  What a stunt!

“I wonder what happens to Indian people now. Are they just…people? Do they go through their lives not knowing where they’re from? If I meet one I’ll be sure to ask them before I kill them.”

“What was your name friend?”

“Chucko!” He said with a flourished and bowed.

“Chucko!  You have expanding my ideas of what is possible in the…universe! A place called India.  The Free State and Night’s City. In a year we have yet to reach…so much to think about and possibly visit one day?”

“Me too!  So much to think about.  So many little things…like your other friend, Mads was it?”

“Mads?” And I too slow to to realise he had another pie.

“Mads! Think fast!” He cried and another pie sailed through the intervening space towards Mads., “This one is lemon!” 

Mads was a little faster and ducked. The lemon filling skimmed her head and smoke started rising from her scalp. 

“Hey! Bozo do you want to calm the fuck down!” She yelled across the Lounge.

“See, that was a great punchline. Though its better when people can feel it. Catch ya around, Rain!” And the odd little fellow winked out of existence.

“I can see you Motherfucker!” Mads yelled out, pointing across the room, followed by one of Chucko giggles.

I took the opportunity of Chucko’s exit to catch the eye of a elderly man no younger than sixty quietly reading a book while sipping his drink nearby. He looked…bemused by the antic of Chucko and looked as least a little sympathetic.

“Good evening, sir. That was a colourful spectacle,” I said conversationally.

“It was a performance. It is a shame that as the generations degenerate, so does their humour,” He said, nodding agreement.  Being thirteenth generation myself, I could have taken offence, but I was a man on a mission and this elderly gentleman could hold a few answers.

“I couldn’t help but overhear that you are in an…educational bind.”  Eureka!

“Oh, you heard that.  Yes, I have a lack of vital knowledge on the brink of possibly the greatest night for kindred the southern hemisphere will ever see. I do not know where I came from.”

“Who doesn’t, am I right?” Said the elderly professor like gentleman, “It seems we all have that in common, “ he chuckled goodnaturedly, “ But what is the particular nature of your ignorance?”

“I know a kindred, called…who gave me the name Garcia, he is my sire…”

“There are many Garcia’s around.”
“As I am led to believe,” I acknowledged with a nod.

“It does narrow the search a little. Have you tried asking someone more knowledgeable in our genealogy?”
“Until tonight I did not know there were such, or that I would have to consult them.”

“Oh, there’s kindred for everything. We even have kindred vets,” He chirped happily, and though he was no less dangerous than the clown, it was easier to talk to this old man.

“So, geneologies…record keepers.  Where would I go finding such?”
“The person who told you that were being…colourful with you.  You merely make a request for information, and you get it.”

So, the Nosferatu.  I could go cap in hand to them…again.  I’m sure they’re seeing me as a good investment these days.

“Though I do understand, “ The elderly gentleman continued, “That everything is a little more…digital nowadays. Maybe you should try that?”

“This SchreckNet right?  Only just heard about that as well.  I’m not adverse to a little surfing myself,” Dominic must have access.  Suddenly, I realised, I’d been rude, “Sorry, I’m Rain.  What can I call you, sir?”

“Are you able to keep a secret?” The gentleman’s eyes glittered, much I’d imagined Santa’s must.
“I keep many secrets,” I assured him  and he beckoned me closer.

“I am know as Critias.” Was his whispered message.  As in the philosopher? Not a methuselah I knew, though I didn’t doubt he was one…or at least as close to as made no difference.

“A distinguished name, sir.” I acknowledged.

“Keep it under your hat,” he said, his eye twinkling again.

“Thank you.  I will.” I smiled, “Will you be going tomorrow night?”

“I should be, I’m meeting an old friend. Or a rival.  It gets hard to tell,” His twinkling eyes now turned on me and I felt the..scrutiny. I’d imagine it was the sort of scrutiny something under a microscope may receive from a genius scientist.

“In fact, may be you’d be willing to do me a…service, since I’ve been so forthcoming with information.”

It was hard not to be intrigued, “If I am able, certainly.”
“I imagine you should.  This friend of mine, we have a game and it appears I did not come with all the pieces for my game. If you are willing to, I would humbly request that you would be one of mine for the game.” 

I smiled at the formal language, ”I find all this…very intriguing.” And yet…there was no doubt this man was far more dangerous than the clown who’d just attacked my friends.

“Would you be willing?”

“I’d…like to understand a little more about your game before giving my word.”
“Of course.  You will have complete autonomy.  It will not interfer with your…desires, at the event. There will just be moments when you and the other pieces will interact according to the rules of the game.”

“And will..this game…require the loss of life of myself or someone else?”
“No, not at all.  You don’t have a life to lose.” He replied, quite urbanely, as if describing a particular school of philosophy.

“This existence is all I have left.” I confessed. 

He shook his head as if there were no doubt, “I have supreme confidence that you will do fine. You are not the queen in my pieces so you needed worry.”

I was very sure I would be a pawn in a game of this man’s playing.  And yet I could see that being on this man’s side could be a very useful move if I was to make any impact within the community. I hated gambles where I didn’t know where all the cards were.  But a game, of people? personalities? cons?

“Pawns tend to go pretty cheaply though, sir.”
“Only for those who don’t know the game.”

“Am I not in that position? Not knowing the rules?”

“You will do perfectly fine as long as you don’t act out of turn.” The first rule? I made a note.

It was hard not to be charmed by his supreme confidence. At the very least, to work by his side would be an education. 

“I think I can do that.” 

“Marvelous.”

“So, I will see you at the Succubus Club?”

“Exactly. I will see you at the appointed time.  Enjoy your family studies.” And with that, he went back to his drink and I was dismissed. 

Shaking my head at the ridiculous deal I’d just struck, I turned to the task finding SchreckNet.  It seemed it was available to all kindred, but assumedly wasn’t part of the World Wide Web. As I left the Lounge, I pulled out my phone and took a closer look at the bloatware that all of such devices come with.  There among the utilities, the installed VPN and other none standard apps was one simply labeled with a green theatrical mask of tragedy, the symbol of the Nosferatu clan.

I climbed the stairs to the office looking for a quiet place, and took Dominic seat behind the desk, opening the app.

I clicked Created Account and the next screen asked for a Screen name, Known name, Parent name, and Password. I filled it the details and was taken to a menu where one of the items was ‘Major Clan’. I selected Toreador from the drop down menu and new screen flashed in being.

I stifled a giggle.  I almost wept. This was everything I’d been looking since my first night out of the sand.  Not a lecture by Dominic from his Giovannian perspective. Not a collection of musty books that were more dangerous than useful.  This was my society all neatly laid out in HTML. I felt like a five year old boy again, being presented with a small wooden puzzle box and an old dog-eared paperback book of magic trick as a Christmas present. It was all there, just waiting to be tapped through and I had only this night to delve into its secrets. 

 I was about to hit the Clan Members button when, from the Library, I heard a noise.  It sounded like…the farting, squelching sucking noise made by deep thick mud or oobleck with the occasion flick of pages and mumbled expletives. Leaning around the door frame, I peered in to see Stallion, shirtless, standing at the small desk.  In one hand was a medical textbook, one with full colour pictures and cutaways showing interior structures.  The other was…wrist deep in his own torso.  The sucking, glooping sounds were his own tissues as he pulled, pushed and moulded them into an impressive six pack.

“Stallion, are you okay?” I asked, not sure where anything like I was witnessing was ‘okay’.

“Huh, “ He distractedly looked up, his too symmetrical face staring back, “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be? Oh…I’m okay.”

“I just heard…”
“Ah…don’t worry about it.” He pulled in hand out of his torso and waved me away, blood, clots of fat and vicera flying across the room, “I’m just…getting myself into shape…for tomorrow.”

I nodded, he did seem to be doing that, and doing a good job at it too.

“Er…well done,” I said at a loss and what to add, “I’ll….leave you to it then.”

So, as Eclipse left to go talk to Bobby, Mads sat and waited in the Lounge, drinking,  Dominic returned from the theatre and in just seven hours Stallion was making himself a man, I leaned back into the leather upholstery of Dominic chair, and began to reading.

10.20 pm Wednesday, 12 December  9 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Chucko: Malkavian clown from 2023 Earth.  Part of a gang called the Bozos.

Critias: Old gentleman kindred Rain has made a deal with to be a ‘playing piece’ in a game at the Succubus Club.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Paul Derrogard: Name given by Monday of the Days of the Week. Claimed to be Ventrue.

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

7.20 pm Wednesday, 12 December  11 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Petersham

As time was of the essence, Stallion cantered around the building looking for the entrance to the kitchens. The only doors on that side of the building, however, were double emergency door with no external handle.  He looked around. 

Windows.  No.

Camera. Yes.

Climbing up on a nearby skip bin he knocked aside the camera aside before attempting a shoulder charge on the door. The door bulged inwards, just enough to give him access, but dislocated his shoulder in the process.  His right arm dangling uselessly, Stallion pushed the door aside with his leftand entered the building.

The room beyond was a leeway, a no man’s land of lockers and deep freezers. Beyond that, a busy professional kitchen was at full-service. Staff from the head chef to dishwashers scrambled to keep up with orders coming in from the hotel restaurant.  Stallion looked around.  No uniforms he could wear, no one to ask. He looked around and spotted a staff sign, and  made straight for it. Kitchen staff glanced up from their work as a tall young man in black robes and making an odd clip-clopping sound, marched through the kitchen and into the staff area. 

The hotel were a very considerate employer, he discovered. Instead of the usual Male and Female facilities, there were four: male, female, disabled and non-binary.  He picked the male one and found two stalls and the urinals as expected. The second stall was occupied, so Stallion took the first and closed the door.  Hoofed and armless as he was, Stallion balanced himself on the toilet seat and reached up with his left hand to grope inside the cistern. It wasn’t hard to find the timer and a large lump of grey plasticine floating in the water.  Harder was pulling it out without knocking the porcelain lid off.  He fumbled the device down and turned the timer to face him.

What was that number again?  Thirty? three-zero? He started to turn the dial to thirty before recalling Guiseppe’s words of just moments ago, Okay, so the number is five-zero.  He moved the dial to fifty seconds. Returning the device to where he’d found it, Stallion didn’t waste any more time. Heading back the way he came, he marched out.

He made it back to the car, where Guiseppe was already waiting, a look of exasperated impatience evident.

“Get in.”

Stallion did, and Guiseppe drove off.

7.35 pm Wednesday, 12 December  11 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

While Stallion was busy performing an act of terrorism, the rest of us were busy with our own pursuits.  I was driving Mads to The Rocks, Dominic was enjoying his night out at the theatre with Mother and Eclipse was waiting for her date.

She’d ordered two drinks, one for her and one for her guest. As she waited she sipped from her glass and looked out at the crowds slowing filling the V.I.P. lounge.  Across the room she spied Monday, a statue among the other more mobile statues in the Lounge. He was early, and though he’d seen where she was, still made no move towards her. 

He’s old. He’s probably waiting until the appointed hour or something, She thought, and left him to stand and sipped her drink.

7.40 pm Wednesday, 12 December  11 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. The Rocks

“Do you think he’ll require another sacrifice?” Mads asked as I found a parking spot on Hickson Road and stopped.

“Possibly,” I shrugged. He’d eaten well the night before, but as the flies were Bobby’s only payment for his services, I would expect it would be rude not to offer. 

“Shit,” Mads replied, and I had to agree.  The two the night before had given me a scare, and I wasn’t looking forward to marching another one into Bobby’s lair.  

“This is your show, Mads. What do you want to do?” I said, hoping she’d step up and hunt herself this time.

She stared around at the people enjoying the summer evening by the water.  Even individuals with their backs to her felt the cold shiver of death and moved away.  I sighed and, making a little distance between me and where she was scaring the flock, started searching for marks.

Someone alone.  Someone distracted, drunk or otherwise affected.  Someone others wouldn’t necessarily miss.

There were two.  An executive loudly talking on his phone on a park bench, and a young backpacker lining up a selfie with the Harbour Bridge in the background. I chose the tourist.

“Would you like a little help with that?” I asked the young man who was surprised, but not scared to be addressed by a stranger, “There’s a better view down further.”
“Hey, yeah, sure,” He nodded good-naturedly and together we walked along the waterfront, Mads trailing behind.

“This is very kind of you.  You know, it’s always hard to find a good spot for a selfie…I can take dozens of images trying to get a good one. It’s my lucky day that you came along,” He prattled, and I could only nod and smile and lead him to his death. 

“It’s all about making visitors to Sydney feel welcome,” I choked out, spotting Bobby’s pipe silhouetted against the water.

“Is this good here?”

“Yes…one here would be good.  A little further and the Bridge will…dominate.  As the bridge does dominate the harbour, you want to capture that…vibe.” Can you believe this bullshit? I cringed inwardly at my own drivel and took a photo with his phone.

“I can’t wait to show the family when I get home,” He said, happily and of course, my mind filled with the image of a grieving family looking over the last moments of their beloved son.

Stop it! Just get it done!

I looked ahead, willing Bobby’s lair closer than it was. All the while, the young man was thanking me for my help and heaping undeserved praise on me for being “…such friendly people…”.

A few photos later, and I was running out of pretext.

“I think that will do. Can I have my phone back?” He asked, and I stepped in, I placed the phone in his hand a stirred the blood for Presence.  His eyes glazed over and, at least until danger revealed itself, he was mine.

“I know an even better spot. Come with me.” And I took his hand and led him the rest of the way to the pipe.

As with the two the night before, the tourist’s sense of self-preservation kicked in at the black void of the pipe. “That’s dark.”

“It’s okay, I’ll show you,” I looked back over his shoulder for a helpful Mads. This was for her after all. Nothing, she was nowhere in sight.

I felt his hand clench in mine and he pulled back. I glanced back. Bobby was there, blood-soaked and lurching out into the night, more monstrous than even his spider-like appearance the night before. What he was doing there, I have no idea, but I took the opportunity and swung the poor tourist into Bobby’s waiting arms.  Bobby unhinged his jaw, the mouth gaping wide. It was quick and very final. I took back the young man’s phone before it fell to the ground.

“Sorry if we’re overfeeding you, Bobby,” Mad’s voice drifted out of the darkness as she now made an appearance.  Bobby, the whole of the young man’s throat in his mouth was oblivious. Caught in the ecstasy of the moment, he drained the young man dry before releasing him and realigning his jaw.

“What is it you want?” Bobby asked as casually as if we’d knocked on his door.

Thankfully, Mads knew what she wanted, “Clarification.  You mentioned last night about someone.”
“I talked about many someones…you have to be a little more precise.”

“In relation to me.  You said he’s fine, by the way.”

What? Who is she talking about? Alex or Izaac? I thought, but kept quiet, as I said, this was not my show.
“Yes, I probably said something like that.”

“Can you find this particular person?”

“Haven’t you found them yet?”

“Nope,” Mads said, which wasn’t strictly true.  We knew where Izaac was…approximately and where he’d be…but we couldn’t get to him until the Succubus Club.

“Huh.  I thought you did.  Or at least, you know where they will be.”

“Explain.”
“How would I go about doing that?” 

“Listen, you seem to know who I’m looking for, and you have that information. We’ve given you what you want, and now I want what I want.” 

I’d witnessed the lengths Mads would go through for this information before, but demanding the answers you want from a seer is just foolish. Many a suplicant to Delphi were happy with the information they received, only for it to lead to their demise.

“Mads, he doesn’t necessarily have that information, “ I tried to explain, but Mads was adamant.  Bobby was holding out on her.

“I see a few pages ahead of the story,” Bobby tried to explain, “That doesn’t mean I’ve read the book.”

“Then tell me as far as your story goes.”
“You knew where he was.  You didn’t tell me or anyone else, “ He replied vaguely, speaking of future events as if they’d already occurred.

Mads sighed, barely keeping up with Bobby’s thoughts, “Where do I go next?”

“You already know that.  Tick-tock.”  The one place we were all heading: the Succubus Club.

“This sounds like a bum-fucking deal,” Mads complained bitterly.

“Well, you started off with one. Why would it get any better?” Bobby quipped back merrily, only frustrating Mads further, “We were flesh and blood once, and now we’re just blood.  Sounds like a pretty poor deal, doesn’t it?”

“It’s not like I exactly asked for this.”
“Maybe you did, whose to know.  Maybe I didn’t, maybe he did,” And he gestured towards me.  I wanted to disappear into the dark, but was compelled by my own insatiable curiousity to stay and watch the story to its end.

“The Succubus Club then,” Mad finally relented, accepting the fact we’d known for days. 

“Do you think he asked for all this?” Bobby waved the limp body of the tourist at Mads as if it were a wet rag, “The asking ain’t got much to do with it. But you should know, one of the little whispers that are sometimes missed, when the Prince goes looking for the Princess, the story ends in tragedy. But, this time the Princess is looking for the Prince, so maybe it will end differently for you.”

“Maybe,”  Mads wasn’t convinced, and neither was I.

“You’re following the wrong story. In a way, the Petal here may understand it better, when Brunhilde looks for Sigfried, the story changes.”

I blinked.  I hadn’t expected a lesson on Norse literature.  In the story, the great hero Sigfried is brought to his end by the obsession of the Valkyrie, Brunhilde.  If this was the reverse, wouldn’t Brunhilde’s demise come at the hands of the hero, Siegfried? I shuddered and feared that the Succubus Club would not end well for Mads. 

“I’m not familiar with that one, but I’m sure I’ll be enlightened,” Mads replied, oblivious to my own state.

Bobby turned his luminous eyes on me, “Is there anything you want, Rain?”

“Ah, no,” I confessed.  As enlightening as visits to Bobby were, I thought I’d had my fill for at least a while.

“The next time you see the….shadowed moon, could you please invite her down to speak to me.”

Twice in two nights, he’d asked after Eclipse.  Suddenly, my curiosity flared again at what Bobby might reveal about our black flame.

“Sure, Mr Cryptic,” Mads said, her sarcasm firmly back in place.

“We did ask her, but she had made other arrangements, “ I explained, careful not to give too much away in front of Mads.

“She sure does,” Bobby agreed, nodding his shaggy head, “But nevertheless, I would like to see her, and she would like to see me.”

“I’ll let her know.”

“And now? If that is all, I would like to relax a little. There’s too much noise, too much happening. The City is getting loud again. Surely you understand what this means?”

“Yeah,” Mads said, thoroughly done with Bobby and his fortunes.

“No, “ I admitted.

Bobby looked at Mads in amusement, “Will you explain, great thinker?” 

“Nah,” She shook her auburn mane and started walking away.

“Would you tell me?” I was still curious to know how Bobby experienced the City.

“Would you like to know?”

“Yes.”

“The web gets ever more crowded.  One spider in a web is fine, but with many spiders in a web, every little movement sends reverberations and interference. Some things become obvious, some things get caught in the noise.” 

“I understand.” And I believed I did.  I’d not known the City before the imminent arrival of the Club.  He did, he saw the movement of all the International visitors through the lens of perspective I lacked.   His vibrations imagery rang true to me.  Was it these vibrations I was getting caught up on? I hoped I got a chance to put his perspective into practice for myself.

“That’s why I’m so pleased you brought me such an amount of food.  I can rest easy without making any more of a scene.”

“I’m glad it was good for someone,” I couldn’t help it,  my eyes flicker down to the young man who was.

“Don’t worry about the food,” He replied coolly, “You didn’t care when you were breathing, why would you care now?”

Bobby’s words were like a slap in the face. Of course I care, haven’t you all seen me angst every death? Once initial shock and sting subsided, I had to admit that was a lie. More disturbing still was the thought I had never cared?  I’d made a life of running cons, stole and manipulated to have my way. So why do I now? Maybe because now, I could see what I’d lost, and I found myself clinging to what was left of my humanity. 

“That’s true.” I said quietly.  There’s no point in lying to a seer.
“The eyes of the lamb, mouth of the wolf…” He said, the words trailing off into a whisper at the end as he slowly returned to his tunnel.  

If my heart still beat, it would have stopped in my chest at that pronouncement. Dominic liked to say we were all monsters.  Until that moment, like everyone, I wanted to believe we chose our course. I didn’t like the thought I had been a predator, destined to this life from the beginning.  At least since a grave in Srebenica.

Walking back to Hickson’s street, I distractedly dumped the phone into the back of a parked ute and continued to the car. 

8.00 pm Wednesday, 12 December  10 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Eclipse’s phone flicked to 8.00pm and Monday finally made his way across the room and joined her at the table. She handed over the drink and made an effort to smile.

“Sunday, what’s happening?” He asked, sipping his drink.

“Pretty slow. How about you?”

“Monotenous.  But this is a nice break. Is there something important you didn’t want to tell the rest of the family?”

“No, I just thought you’d have the answers.” She confessed, playing with the stem of her glass.

“Answers to what?”

“I was curious what the coterie will be doing during…the Event.”
“A bunch of things. Collectively, we’re checking in with cousins without drawing too much attention.” 

Eclipse wasn’t sure what Monday meant by ‘cousins’. Either they were the fellow Baali, family by blood, or those like the Padre who have the same goals, family by conviction. 

“Are there many cousins to see?”
“I’m not sure. There will be signs, of course.”

“Where were you yesterday?  I was hanging out for a while waiting for you,” Eclipse finally mentioned the reason for this meeting.

“I was pretty busy. Preparations, making sure there is always a fresh supply. And checking for those signs I mentioned. So much to do. Though we are all united by blood, we don’t all share the same mission…goal. So we like to look for collaborators whenever we can. As for the signs, certain people disappearing, cultist murders, those sorts of things…we don’t want a mess up like last time.”

Like last time? Eclipse knew the Baali had a volitile relationship with other clans, so finding out information about them without tipping her hand had been difficult. Whatever Monday could offer  would help her navigate her very dangerous new life.

“Tell me about it?”

“Have you heard about the Week of Nightmares?”

She shook her head. What she’d read about the Baali came from the Encyclopedia Vampirica. A Week of Nightmares hadn’t been mentioned in the entry.  

“From 28 June to 4 July 1999.  The clan was dessimated and we’re still feeling the repercussions. The werewolves went into a frenzy as they often do and we lost a country.  Do you remember a place called India? No, I guess you wouldn’t, no one remembered it afterwards. All that’s remembered is Pakistan and the sense of a tragedy. I’m sure you have questions.”

Eclipse contemplated his words.  Six months before Y2K, and the turn of the new millennium.  There must have been many who thought the Week of Nightmares was the beginning of the end for the world. It was a big concept to wrap her head around, and though she did have questions, working out what those questions were would take some thought.

“Some…but it doesn’t seem to be a fitting time to ask,”
“For our kind, it’s pretty common knowledge if you’re educated well enough,” He said casually enough, but Eclipse stared at him for the assumption she wasn’t educated, “Isn’t that why you brought me here? With all those beautiful words committed to paper.”

“Discoverable and traceable with my own fair hand,” She let the indignation subside. Yes, it was why she’d brought him here.

“Were you making preparations alone?”

“Everyone in the family has their role.  You’re still young, I didn’t want to burden you. You’re still transitioning after all.”

Eclipse was fed up with Monday’s patronising. That was another reasons she’d asked for this meeting, to see how she can be more involved with the coterie.

“Well, maybe there will be enlightenment before dawn,” She quipped back, “Is there anything I must prepare for? Besides the usual?”

“No, as I said before, don’t be foolish.”

“Do you think I’ve proven otherwise?”

Monday shrugged, “You haven’t bombed anything yet.”

“I don’t tend to make a scene.” Which was true, for the most part.
“Except that one time,” Monday said cryptically, and Eclipse narrowed her eyes. What indiscretion of hers was he referring to? The debacle in Redfern? That was hardly her fault. She shouldn’t be held responsible for the failings of others. 

“What did I say about enlightenment? How would you suggest I do that?”
“Sure, getting your food free-range is fine, but you can always refine the process. You could offer them a good supply of heroin, and you just pick one out of the blue.  You can create a charity so they come to you, which would also give you a reason to engage with your chosen type.  Make the gathering methodical without risk. Rather than stealing another generation, it could just be given to you.”

“They didn’t care the first time, I’m sure they won’t care the second,” Eclipse mumbled to herself, but Monday either didn’t hear it or didn’t deem to comment.

“So, any other business?” Monday said, seeming to be done with the meeting.

“I bought you a drink. It doesn’t always have to be about business.”

Monday smiled, leaning back into his seat and casually took a sip of his drink.

“It is nice to sit back and drink in comfort.  It used to be trickier…way back.  Only moving at night, stopping at a tavern or inn at a crossroads, only to have to move on again before the bodies were found. People would go missing, stories would spread.  Not like now…no reason to claw away the dirt.  How do you find this life?” Monday asked,  checking himself as he remembered that Eclipse was there.

“As trailing as the last, and the one before that,” Eclipse admitted, draining her glass.

“You’re young…and look it…I guess you lack perspective in both lives.  With age, you will realise there is always another tomorrow. Of course, when it comes to us,” He tilted his glass between the two of them, “We assure there will be another tomorrow.”

Eclipse smirked, “You take it very…slow, however.”

“When age isn’t a factor, there’s no reason to rush.  To it well and do it right in ten years  and never have to do it again.” Monday seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice, and Eclipse was in a mood to listen. Cradling her empty glass, she let him talk and soon he returned to discussing the good old days.

“Food is much easier to get now. It wasn’t always so.”
“When you were embraced?”

“Then and during. When the only people within two days’ travel of you numbered fewer than ten, it was hard to guarantee a meal. Cities were always easier when tens of thousands lived together; someone was bound to go missing. Now with cities of millions, it’s just expected that people would disappear. But I’m babbling.  Tell me about yourself.  Give me your fresh perspective to enliven the evening.”

“I found it interesting you decorated my room,” Eclipse said, thinking back on the work Monday had done to make her feel welcome.

“With age comes…habits,” He shrugged, trying to make light of the work.

“Others might call it consideration…even care?”

“Think more…appreciation..for the task yet to be done. Have you decided how to take your little trip?” Monday said, turning the conversation to her future trip to Lightning Ridge.

“No, the Succubus Club has taken up all my time,” She lamented, “A two-day trip is not a simple task. But I will get my own dagger.”

“I’m sure you will.”

8.15 pm Wednesday, 12 December  10 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Various

“What’s next, Guiseppe?” Stallion asked once several minutes and kilometres had been put between themselves and the soon-to-be exploding hotel.

“Yeah, you’ve done a pretty good job so far.  Now it’s your chance for some relaxation.”
“Are you talking about the place we went to before?” He asked, not sure he wanted to head there quite so soon.

“There or elsewhere, wherever you like. Where can I drop you off?”

Drop him off.  What?  Didn’t Guiseppe just say he’d done a good job.  Stallion had wanted to spend the night tooling around, and now after two job he was getting fobbed off.

“Ur…I left the bike at the carpark,” He said, not wanting to sound too desperate.

“The carpark it is,” Giuseppe said, then headed the car back toward the Crystal Street Carpark.  Once there, Guiseppe wished Stallion a good night and sped off without another word.

At the same time, Dominic and his mother were two-thirds through their show. There wasn’t as much death as Dominic would have liked in the performance, and thirty minutes from the last curtain, he started scanning the auditorium for kindred.  There were more than he’d expected, certainly more than he’d noticed before the arrival of the big event.  Two in particular, Dominic knew by sight.  The first was a stooped old man in his 50s, jowly and nondescript, among the cattle.  Known through the sixteenth century as Doctor James Howarth.  Dominic didn’t know his generation, but did know he usually avoided contact with other kindred as a rule, so it was interesting to see him at tonight’s performance.

 Dominic was also aware of a Nosferatu hanging in the rafters, above the audience.  He was a particularly hideous specimen of his blood and therefore had no way of blending in with the herd.  He did seem to be enjoying the show, having no interest in the audience at all.  Dominic wasn’t all that surprised, though it was like seeing a Gangrel at an Arts Exhibit.

“What do you think, Mother?  How are you enjoying the performance?” Dominic felt it was a little lacklustre, but Mother never complained.

I was thankful to fall back into the driver’s seat of the Audi and closed the door on the Rocks.

“You owe me,” Was all I could say.  No, I could have said a great deal more, but bit down on the string of expeletives that wanted loose. Instead, I pulled the car out onto the road and pointed it in a direction. Any direction.

“Yeah, consider it a favour,” Mads sighed.

“I just don’t know what you expected. The message doesn’t change just because you don’t like the what’s said.”
“I just wanted…my own answers,” Was all she could say and shrugged, “I want to know…I want to get what I’m owed.”

Owed?  That had an ominous sound. Answers that probably even Izaac can’t give? A pound of flesh? His heart? Regardless, I feared Mads was always going to walk away disappointed.

“Well, as Bobby said, Tick-tock.”
“Yeah, more waiting.”
“Not long now.”

“And yet, I feel I can be doing more.”

Speaking of which.

“What would you like to do? If you were free to do your own will.”

“Would it surprise you to know that I don’t know.  I’ve been doing this for a long time and once its over I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I wasn’t surprised.  I heard Inigo Montoya’s words from The Princess bride, You know, its very strange. I have been in the revenge business for so long,…I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”

And just like Wesley, I launched into my own, Have you ever considered piracy? spiel.

“I am at the start of a long term project, or at least what I would have considered a long term project only a few months ago.  Dominic has asked me to build a new bar, however I choose. He’d take his cut, but it would be, essentially, my first step into Sydney society.”

“Becoming your own man, so to speak.”

“Yeah. There could be room for you there, if you wanted.”
“There’s room for me in a lot of places, but if you’re offering, I’ll think about it.”

Lacklustre, but a start.  As she said, she’d spent forty years in the revenge business, it would be hard to adjust to a new way of thinking.

“I don’t know how this is going to end,” She admitted, and I think it was the first time she’d even hinted, that there may not be an after.

“I just want you to know there are options. A chance at a future.”

“Well, if that future does come…I’ll consider it. Thank you.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.  I tried a different tack.

“It’s a small start, I know,  but as Dominic keeps saying, I’m stuck under him for the next fourty years anyway…”
“We’re all stuck under someone.”

I shook my head, “I’ve never had to worry about being beholden before.  This is a new experience for me.”

“You get used to it after a while.”
Used to the cage? Used to the chains? Even the guilded sort? I physically shuddered, “Do I want to?”

“Never had a mortgage?”

“No. Never owned a credit card until I was embraced.” I thought back. Though I’d often gone without a great deal, there was always hope of something better just around the corner.  Now, I had a great deal and the struggle of just getting to the corner seemed the harder task than finding a meal.  I shook my head to snap out of the maudlin path my mind was taking and focused back on the subject at hand.

“Look, I know you’re intelligent, resourceful and charismatic…”
“Sorry, did you just call me charismatic. Even I know I’m sledgehammer…” Mads said with a smile and I had to admit her common crassness sometimes ground against her common sense.
“Well…maybe more charming. I find you charming.”

“People literally fled at my glance just twenty minutes ago…”
“We can work on that,” I smiled in return and for a moment, we drove in companionable silence.

“I guess we’ll see how the Succubus Club goes, and then, we’ll talk,” She finally broke the silence, bringing the thought of the club to the forefount of the conversation.

“Yes, that does hang like a huge raincloud over…everything,” My entire unlife in fact, “and I don’t know who’s going to survive the storm. Of what I’ve heard of these big group events…sometimes they don’t go so well. People don’t survive them. And I don’t mind telling you, I’m afraid.”

“I know some ones not going to make it through…one way or another.”

Oh God!  Was I going to have to choose between Izaac or Mads? My only solace, was in the end, it would probably not be up to me. But I’d have to be ready to pick up the pieces.

8.40 pm Wednesday, 12 December  10 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

While Eclipse and Monday chatted about ancient history, Stallion rolled his bike down into the carpark.  With the night he’d planned already over almost as soon as it had begun, Stallion moved to the next item on his agenda: finding a surfboard.

Climbing the stairs to the common room, Stallion spent some time chatting with locals asking if they knew of a surfboard for sale.

“Have you tried Facebook Marketplace? Ebay?” Said one helpful customer.

“I was hoping to pick up one from someone I knew, is all,” Stallion shrugged.

“Well, I’ll let people know,”  They shrugged in turn, unsure why one of the bouncers of the establishment would be talking to them, “Are we okay? Like, we’re not doing anything to get in any trouble…”
“No, not like that, “ Stallion waved away their concerns, only to compound them by asking, “So, how’s your day been?”

“Ah, well I’m here drinking on a weekday, what do you think?”

When his inquiries didn’t provide any results, Stallion headed up to the office and spent sometime doomscrolling Gumtree for options.

Much like Mads and myself, as we doom-cruised through the inner suburbs, desperately not trying to think about what tomorrow would bring and how else to constructively use the rest of our night.

“Well, I’ve been told to shut up and wait, “ Mads said bitterly, “Is there anything you want to do tonight?”

“I disagree. No one has told you to shut up. In fact, that’s part of your charm, you say what’s on your mind,” Which reminded me of Bobby’s request to speak to Eclipse, “I do have to message Eclipse, unless…could you text her and she’s available for a chat?”

YOU BIZZY? MR EUROVISION WOULD LIKE A CONVERSATION, Was the text she decided to send.  As I said, charming.

HE ALWAYS DOES, Came Eclipse’s quick reply.  It was like these people knew me or something.

SO R U 3?

GONNA COME GRAB ME?

SURE, WE’LL SWING BY.

9.00 pm Wednesday, 12 December  9 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

3.40 am Wednesday,  3 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. The Rocks

Mads was hanging back in the shadows watching me and the couple at the mouth of the pipe.

What’s he waiting for?  She thought, as I floundered.

My catch’s self-preservation had kicked in, and they bawked at the gated pipe entrance.  I could see the fear starting to form in their faces, the shared glances that all may not be what it seemed, and I felt their fear.  

What was I doing?  Luring these two to their deaths? For what?  Out of some obligation to Bobby?  I wasn’t even interested in a fortune for myself. I’d heard more than enough about where my future lay and was working hard to avoid it.

I almost shrugged and played the stupid tourist making a dumb mistake, when I saw Mad’s face form out of the gloom behind the two.

“So, this is where you got to?  Were you waiting for me?” She asked, sounding calm and assured.  It was exactly the support I needed.  Releasing the breath I’d been holding, I smiled.

“It is this way, isn’t it?”

“Yes, this way,” She replied, happily, and the couple, their fears assuaged by the charming young woman in their presence, stepped into the tunnel.

Inside, Dominic had already sent his drunk ahead.  There had been a whoshing sound, a breeze ruffled his hair, and a small cracking sound told him Bobby had caught his first fly.  My two followed, Bobby caught the first right at the entrance, where the light gave a glimpse of him striking from above, grabbing them by the head and ripping it off.  Hot blood slapped the third in the face, and they leapt back and ran, right into my arms. I held on long enough for Mads to grab their head and smash it into the wall of the pipe.  There was a crunch, as their skull cracked like an eggshell. 

“That wasn’t necessary,” Dominic dominated the now brain-damaged victim and pointed towards Bobby, “Go to him.” Bobby quickly dispatched them with a flick of their head and a crack.

“Hello, Bobby,” Dominic smiled as the Malkavian climbed down the side of the pipe like a spider to examined his catch.

“Yes, More flies?” Bobby asked, seeming pleased with our offerings.

“More flies.”

“You delivered quickly. There are fewer of you this time.”
“I’ll be joining in this time,” Dominic assured him, “The others have things to do,  and you’ve not met Mads, I believe.”

Mads nodded, and Bobby smiled, “Oh, we’ve met, just not yet.” 

“How do you do.  I’m Mads, “She completed the obligatory but obviously unrequired greetings.

“I know, Mads.  He’s fine, by the way.” Mads and I blinked.  This was obviously a reference to Mads’ Alex.

“You have some funny fucking jokes, don’t you?” Mads’ self-defence snark rose up. Bobby didn’t care.

“Do you want a funny joke?” He asked in all sincerity, “I know Rain would like to hear a funny joke?”
“I’m always on the lookout for original material, Bobby,” I said, but all my attention was on Mads.

“Three people go down a sewer looking to be good people. The cost; three good people.” Poignant, but not exactly funny.  I gave him his drum sting and it was down to business.

“Whose first?”

Dominic stepped up and stretched out his hand, palm up.  Bobby cut the palm with his fingernail and then waved Dominic’s hand back and forth, airing out the bitter-tasting blood to make it more palatable.

“Interesting. I guess your one’s a simple one. You’ve been expanding. Grand ideas. Been changing a lot of the world. The Ages are lazy,and so will this foretelling. Beware the ideas (ides) of March or Mars.”

“So, all is going as planned.  Thank you very much, Bobby.”

Dominic stepped away, and Mads took her place in front of Bobby.

“Hello again, old friend., “ He said and gently took her outstretched hand.  He lightly cut her palm, being careful not to hurt her too much. There was a familiarity in his movements, and I wondered how often Mads would come down here for Bobby’s advice in the future. He licked at the blood:

“You’ve seen much, you would do much more. But still, you are less than what you are. Not even a person yet, you’re just some idea of a person. Maybe when you find your other half, you’ll be more fulfilled. Maybe you can be a person then. Is that what you wanted to hear, Mads?”

“Thank you, I guess,” Mads stepped away, confused.  I think she had more questions, but didn’t have the bandwidth currently to process them.  I knew the feeling.  Bobby looked up at me.

“You know you don’t have to do this, Rain.”

“I didn’t intend to,” I admitted, “I only came as a support to my friend and to watch you.”

His too-white smile shone in the dark, “That’s right, you don’t want me to speak of what you’ve done.”

What? Poisoned my friend and then abandoned him with complete strangers? Made a deal with a devil? Killed a dog? Stole from the Prince and probably committed high treason?  Ha, in this company?

 “No, “ I said.

He nodded, “Most of our kind tend to have the phobias and hysteria of old night. Still tick-tock, the clock moves on, isn’t that right?” 

To the phobias and fear of old night, I was unsure what he meant, but the moving of the clock was ever-present.

“Yes, I feel it.”

“But how are you going to water it from this far away?” A reference to the garden?  I needed to get closer and cultivate a new society? Hadn’t I been trying to do that?

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Bobby,” I admitted, self-conscious that Dominic and Mads were listening in.

“Well, that’s a good start.  With most of our kind, ignorance is a very good excuse. A time-honoured tradition. Especially in all this Jihad nonsense.”

And now he hit on something that had been plaguing me. Dominic’s ‘do not get involved’ attitude was all very well, but was there anything that could be done to stop a Jihad before it begun?

“That I would like to know, “ I extended my hand, palm up, “Are we facing Jihad?”

He didn’t take it at first, “We’re always facing one, always facing someone. What a strange thing to ask.”

I qualified my question, “Is there a way to prevent the next one?”

This time, he did take my hand and, after cutting it, licked the blood away. “The world has changed.The world is changing. The world will change. Like layers of a fine lasagne It all just melts together until it’s shit.” I knew that one too.  History… existence was a lasagne, full of good and bad, layers of change, growth, and decay.  But pulling back, taken as a whole…it didn’t really matter.

“Is that the answer you were looking for?” Bobby asked, giving me back my hand.
“It is the answer I have, “ I sighed at the…futility.  Is that what a long life gave you, the perspective to see everything, even the good, as just the same pile of shit? God, help me. “Thank you, Bobby.”

“Exactly.” He concluded, glancing around the group.

 “Where is the black flame?”

No one answered. It was one of my many questions that had simmering on a back burner in my mind.

“I can’t answer that, Bobby,” I admitted, with regret.

 “It’s so much easier catching flies and moths with a black flame around, “ He said distractedly, and I couldn’t help but agree.  Maybe this was why they preferred to embrace the young; they didn’t have as many social hang-ups about becoming predators. 

“And still you may find your noble steed somewhere else too.” He added, and I almost laughed.  Not my noble steed…hardly noble at all. But it got me thinking.  No, not my steed.

“How about her noble steed? Her knight in shining armour? Do you see him?” 

“He looks like a knight to you? Shining sure…” Bobby laughed, a choking, guttural sound.

“We’re all tarnished in these nights…but, yes.

“His absence is seen. “ Shit, people have noticed he’s missing.  The Prince has noticed. It was astounding that neither Dominic nor I had received a summons. “He hasn’t decided what he is yet. It’s odd. It doesn’t happen very often.” I thought that odd, as I was fairly certain the last time we’d spoken, Izac had a very strong opinion of who he was.  Sure, something weighed on his mind, but I thought that was a conscience that drove his purpose.  Did his indecision now have to do with Lady Merritt? Or, even my small part in returning his heart? 

Or had I completely misread everything?  Or, as Bobby had said, did it really matter? Eclipse is right, I do over think things.

“Now, if there is nothing else, I am going to feast and sleep.  It’s a big night soon, and I have to prepare for the rest of the family.” Bobby said, breaking into my thoughts.

“Bon Appétit, Bobby,” Dominic said and turned to lead us out of the pipe.

“Dominic?” Bobby called, and Dominic stopped and turned, silhouetted in the mouth of the tunnel, “Family is what is important.  Not the blood.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

I can’t say I remember much of the walk back to the car. I absentmindedly healed my hand, and as Dominic held out his own, I healed with a licked thumb. As usual, a visit to Bobby left more questions than answers. He had been very illuminating regarding all three of our readings.  Dominic was a man of the times and made good use of others’ laziness.  Mads, a woman driven so singularly by a purpose that everything, even herself, was subsumed, and well….we’ve already discussed my steaming pile of history.

Family is what is important.  Not the blood, now that was an interesting thought to give a Giovanni.  The Family, or the Family?  Were the Giovanni the blood, or something else? That is to say, what was more important? The coterie or the clan?  I could imagine such a thought could keep a good Giovanni awake all day, but, what about Dominic?

4.05 am Wednesday,  2 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. The Rocks

“Well, that was enlightening,” Mads said, not sounding convinced by her own words. “What now?”

It was getting late.  Dominic said something about heading home, and I cadged a lift back to the apartment.  

“Mads?”

“If you’re extending the same courtesy, sure,” She agreed, and we all got into the car without a second thought and drove away. 

But we weren’t alone in the park near Bobby’s pipe. We had no idea that Eclipse was there waiting for us.  Her mission completed, she’d caught a taxi to The Rocks and searched Hickson Road for Dominic’s car.  When that strategy didn’t yield any results, she found a seat in the park and watched the night go by. Even in her short life, this stretch of the harbour had gone from forgotten wasteland and old working wharves to a gentle, urbane landscape. She’d never been through this part of the City when she was alive.  Dead, she’d been here twice in as many months. Drawing on her architectural studies, she amused herself wondering what it would be in another eighteen years?

Her mental meanderings were broken by a bark of laughter and the deep murmurs of voices at a distance.  Down the path, she could see three silhouettes: a woman, scruffy and worse for a long night and morning of drink and two men in suits by their appearance.  Stepping back into a loose scree of bushes behind her seat, Eclipse drew on the blood and became an unseen presence to all except the most perceptive.  As the group moved closer, she could hear snatches of conversation that told her this was not her coterie.  She let them walk by within ten paces of her hiding spot before returning to her seat to wait.  

Time slipped by without concern for the lone vampire waiting in the park. Early morning joggers, out before the sunrise, reminded her of the time.  Checking her phone, it was an hour before sunrise.  She had stayed too long.  Rising, she returned to Hickson Road and flagged down a taxi to take her to Leichhardt.

“What’s a sweet young thing like you here alone?” Said the taxi driver, in a tone that suggested her welfare was not his concern. 

“Crow Bar, in Leichhardt,” Eclipse said with disgust, but little concern, as she into the back of the taxi.

“The Crow Bar, sure I can get you there, I know that spot,” He replied and started off in a direction that may or may not have led in the most direct way. As it was, the seventeen-minute journey across the ANZAC bridge was a merry thirty-minute jaunt through inner suburbia.  Eventually, he stopped the taxi in the back lane behind the Crow Bar. As Eclipse left the car, the taxi driver tooked the opportunity to get a good look at his fair fare. 

“We’re here, “ He said and gestured to the fair, twice as much as usual.

Eclipse stared quietly at the driver. In a different life, she would have caused a ruckus, arguing the fare, only to be put off by the driver’s lewd glances.  Now…she could snap his neck, paralyse him and drive him back to the Days of the Week where he could wait until Sunday.  

Instead, she quietly paid the fare in cash and let the lecher go. It was late, and he wasn’t her type, after all.

“You be careful out there.  It’s a dangerous world for a sweet thing like you,” He said, pulling something from the console between the front seat and handing it to her. “Do you want my card?

“Thank you for your concern,” She said, taking the business card in two fingers, “Maybe we will meet again.”

Eclipse made it to the front of the Crow Bar just as colour seeped into the horizon, showing how small her world really was. For a moment, she watched the night disappear as dawn slowly made its approach.  The thought of standing there and waiting for the sun to make its appearance didn’t actively enter her thoughts, but it was nice to know it was always an option.

4.05 am Wednesday,  2 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Stallion had not been wasteful with his time.  With his bad leg propped up on the table, a book of anatomy open to the page outlining the muscles and ligaments of the lower leg, and another discussing medical procedures for that part of the body, Stallion was getting himself a medical education. 

By the time Dominic, Mads and I were heading home to our respective safe spaces, he was giving up for the day, putting his leg and the books away and heading back to the warehouse on his motorcycle.  The mould of mouldering flesh that was the old tramp who had made the mistake of taking refuge in the warehouse was still waiting for him in the bathroom.  He experimented on what was left of the tramp, comparing what he’d learnt with what he found as his fingers sank into the tissues of the man’s leg, now soft as funky as cheese. 

6.10 pm Wednesday, 12 December  12 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C.

Another night, and the coterie started gathering.  Stallion awoke first, his hands still partly in the rotting remains of the derelict.  Extracting himself, he pulled out his phone and called Guiseppe.

“Yeah, what?  Stallion?  What?” Giuseppe answered, sounding distracted and stressed.

“It’s been a while? Want to do something tonight?”

“Yeah…yeah, you can help.  What do you think about… reconstruction?”
Stallion knew nothing about whatever Guiseppe was going on about, but anything was better than another dull night at the bar.

“Ah, reconstruction… that sounds alright.”

“Okay…I’ll pick you up…I’ve just got to tie up some loose…not ends…openings.  Meet me at Crystal Street Carpark in Petersham.”

And because Stallion was still unsure of the Bronco’s status, and the bike was with him in the warehouse, he got on the bike and headed out for Petersham.

I awoke on a mission.  There were two things on my agenda, and the first was waiting for me at Crow Bar.  Pulling together and organising a file I’d been working on for what seemed like months (but was at most a few weeks), I took the light rail from the stop near my building and rode it all the way to Leichhardt.  

Dominic had no business outside the Crow Bar today.  After his usual routine at the mansion, he dressed and also made his way to the bar by car.  

Eclipse had spent the day ensconced in the library and even now started her night perusing the shelves for the Thaumaturgy books.  She found the one Stallion had put his dirty fingerprints through, and sat down to find out what all the fuss was about.

Mads, waking with Bobby’s words still spiralling through her consciousness, had to contemplate another day. Alex was fine. But what did that mean?   Fine as a living being? Fine as a vampire? Fine as a dead corpse without a care in the world? Bobby’s words had stirred something akin to hope in Mads, and after forty years, she wasn’t sure what to make of it. After lying on her hotel bed for an indeterminate time, she decided what she really needed was clarification. She needed answers.  Dressing, she made her way downstairs and across the road to the Crow Bar.

Mads was the first to arrive at the bar and spent much of that time looking for me. When I sauntered in twenty minutes later, she made a beeline.

“Look, I’m going back to Bobby…if you don’t want to come, I understand, but I need to ask him some follow-up questions.”

I was a little taken aback. It seemed the reading from Bobby had stirred something for Mads.  She was once more focused on her task, and there was no way I was going to miss that. Still, the plans burned in my hands. As far as I was concerned, they were long overdue, and I didn’t want to put them off any longer…tomorrow was the Club.

“Ah, yes…’ I started reorganising myself mentally.

“If you don’t want to come, I get it, but I’m going…just in case people need to know,” She took my reticence for a refusal.

“No, no, I’d love to go, but I…I need to speak to Bruce…as charming as that sounds.”
“I can wait another ten minutes,” She compromised and stalked away to the bar.

Grabbing the attention of one of the staff, I asked if they’d seen Bruce yet.

“You’re kidding?  The arsehole’s where he always is, in the fucking camera room,” They replied, and went back to their work.  The staff’s negative attitude to Bruce only added to my own as I climbed the stairs to the offices. The Security office door was ajar at the end of the hallway, Bruce’s evil giggles insinuating themselves through the gap.  Looking through the crack, I saw Bruce, laughing himself hoarse over two men…being intimate in a toilet stall. I knocked on the open door.

“I think you’ll get a kick out of this, come in,” He said, not turning around to see who was there.  It was a power move, but I was determined not to let it faze me.  If dealing with Bruce was what it took to get the nightclub up and running, so be it.  I stepped in, and watched the two men grunt and thrust themselves into hernias.

“They really should relax and just take their time. It can be…difficult…performing in public,” I commented. 

“Well, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Rain?” Now he deemed to turn around. Laughing. I went straight to business.

“I’m hoping to organise a time to talk to you about the new bar.”
“Does it have anything to do with this here?” He gestured to the screen.

“I’m sure it will happen, but not directly, no.” The joys of Nightclub management before I even have a lease on the building.

“Sure.  Speak.  More information.” He leaned back, and I opened my folder.

“Here’s the address of the building in question.  In Pyrmont.  I have ideas I’d like to go through with you if you have time.  It would be set up much like here with a basement VIP for Kindred but also a rooftop space, all connected by a private staircase…”

“How much?” he interrupted, probably another power move, “How much does this pay?”

“How much?” I had rough estimates on the renovations, equipment, and furniture, but payment for him wasn’t something I’d covered. I closed my folder in a motion that I hoped conveyed I wasn’t to be messed with on this.

“Mr Giovanni asked me to speak to you on this matter.  If you don’t wish to discuss it…I can always take it up with him.”
“I didn’t say that,” he backtracked, “I just wanted to know how much it paid. Are you saying Dominic will pay me?”

“It is an expansion of his empire.  Yes, he’s paying.”

That got his attention.  Lead with the cash, I should have known that when dealing with Bruce.

“What would you like to start off with?” He was now all ears.  I opened the folder and started going through the plans to acquire the site, the timetable for renovation and hiring of staff. He looked over the notes I’d given him, nodding, thoroughly engaged with the business at hand. I could see at that moment why Dominic had chosen this less-than-exemplary example of a human being to be his right-hand man.  If he had been family, they couldn’t have been more alike. 

“Hmm, okay.  I’ll be glad look over this, make a few notes and find ways to help. I’ll get back to you.”

“That’s all I can ask,” I said, feeling the relief of finally starting this project so long delayed, “There is no hurry. I need to get onto the matter of…management.  I will need someone resourceful, talented, and completely loyal to oversee everything… during the day. A partner, as it were.” I said, moving around the topic, unsure as I was of his attitude to his own ghouled status.

“A partner?  You would say that,” He replied, insinuating something more than business by his tone.

“I do say that,” And on this, I was firm, but I knew I needed help finding the right person. “What do you not call yourself in relation to Mr Giovanni?  Are you not his partner?”

“No, I’m his employee,” He replied, like it was self-evident.

“Then I need an…employee I can trust.”

He looked at me suspiciously, “Are you coming onto me?”  My first answer would normally be, Do you want me to?, but this was Bruce.

“Oh no, you are definitely Mr Giovanni’s man.  I need someone for me.“

“Hmm,” He closed the folder and stared at me for a moment, “You do go through them quick.” 

“I don’t know what you mean by that,” I replied, hoping I hadn’t rushed the reply in an attempt to stifle further discussion.

“Well, there was the dog, and then there was the other dog, and then there was that friend of yours…Lenny? Now there this woman…”   

“Neither of the dogs had anything to do with me…”

“You say that but remember, I have the cameras, I see all. I saw how you treated them.”
What? With a little kindness? With a little decency?  Yes, I know how you deal with people, Bruce, I have felt your hand…, I thought.

What I said was, “Woman? And who is this woman you’re speaking of?”

Instead of answering directly, he typed in the code to one of the security cameras, and a view of the V.I.P. Lounge appeared on the first monitor.  At what had become her regular table, Mads sat drinking.

“Mads, of course.”

I stood, watching her, my mind having now been taken to a new realm I hadn’t considered.  Mads. She was smart and talented.  She was experienced in living these nights.  If, even for a shortwhile while she sorted herself out, she agreed, it would be good to have her mind and energy behind the club. It could give her something to work on besides whatever grief inspired the revenge she had planned. That was, if she didn’t mind being an employee of Dominic’s.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Still, she can’t be a partner like…I need.  As I said, a day manager. I do look forward to your thoughts on my proposal, and if you have any ideas about a manager, I am open.”

“Give me a couple of nights. Hey, won’t that be the Succubus Club?’

“Yes, so after the club. Take as long as you need.”

“Sounds good.” And with that, I was dismissed.

Down the hall, Dominic climbed the stairs and entered his office to start his work for the night. It was a quiet night for Dominic, and after scanning through his emails, he started a search for what was on at the theatre. He settled on a Murder for Two at the Hayes Theatre in Potts Point.

Pulling his phone from the pocket of his jacket, Dominic sent a text message to the coterie.

PLANNING A NIGHT OUT AT THE THEATRE.  I AM BOOKING TICKETS NOW.  WHO IS AVAILABLE TO ATTEND? YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO RESPOND.

6.45 pm Wednesday, 12 December  12 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Petersham

It was 6.45 pm Giuseppi wasn’t anywhere in sight when Stallion rolled his bike into the Crystal Street Carpark. Five minutes went by before a nondescript late-model Ford sedan rolled up and stopped in front of Stallion. The door popped open, and Giuseppe was in the driver’s seat. He was alone.

“Get in.”
Stallion checked his bike was well parked before slipping into the passenger seat. 

“I hope you’re ready for this,” said Giuseppi, pulling out onto the road. “I don’t want to scare you, but these people are hard. They’ve lost limbs before today, and we need to get them out.”

“Oh, its an extraction job,” Stallion replied, now this was something he was familiar with.

“No, well…I’m going to tell them how it is, and they will take exception.”
“Yeah, and I imagine some of them will take a ride in the boot,” Stallion knew the score.”
“If worst comes to worst, but this is more of a message. Got me ?”

“Yeah, I got ya. I can be intimidating, “ And Stallion showed it by bulking out his shoulders, upper arms and forearms.

“Splendid.”

Mads was patiently waiting, which is a real achievement for Mads; patience wasn’t what she was known for.  Still, she was keeping her ears open for rumours.  Upstairs in the common room, Delith was working the bar; her drug of choice tonight seemed to be Rohypnol. Mads hadn’t stuck around and headed downstairs, where she was disappointed that there was no talk about the missing coterie member. 

Though Izac had been of some interest early on, it seemed that the average vampire didn’t care about the unknown stranger or his whereabouts.  There was some discussion about things starting to heat up with the Succubus Club just around the corner.  A lot of new kindred showing up daily, a lot of tension building in the air. None of that meant anything to Mads. 

To pass the time, she went to the bar to get a drink.

“Have you got any Marlo?” She asked. He’d been a good drop.

“No, sadly, ran out. We have a good, rich Frank.”
“What’s the age on the Frank?”
“Forty-two.”
“Forty-two? Got anything younger?”
“Isn’t that a bit scandalous?”

“Come off it, I’m not a Ventrue,” Mads scoffed, and the bartender checked again.
“Okay, well, we do have a five-year-old Ben.”

“Now that is out of my wheelhouse.”

“Too old, too young…come on, you’re not sleeping with it. That’s what we have, so what’s it gonna be?”

“Give me the Frank.”

And with her glass of Frank, Mads went back to her table and waited.

Eclipse hadn’t left the library.  She now trawled the shelves for books on vampires of note.  The Encyclopedia Vampirica was still missing, and the only books seemed to be on Dracula, including the famous semi-autobiography or a history of Woden that read more like a boy’s own adventure story. Instead of slogging through glorified slaughter, she returned the books and headed down to the VIP Lounge.

To the coterie, Dominic’s text arrived and was promptly replied to:

HEADING OUT WITH GIUSEPPE, Stallion sent to which Dominic replied.

HAVE FUN.  BREAK A LEG.

NO THANK YOU. Eclipse was sent without explanation.

Now on my way to meet Mads, I quickly sent off a text, PLANS FOR TONIGHT. APOLOGIES.

Even the stray received the message, RESPECTFULLY, I NEED TO PASS.  ENJOY! 

ENJOYING THE THEATRE ALONE TONIGHT, Dominic replied, and I cursed my luck.  All the time in the world, but still can’t be in two places at once.  Shoving my phone deep into my pocket, I went in search of Mads down in the V.I.P. Lounge.

Mads wasn’t anywhere near enough drunk when I finally caught up with her.

“Back to Bobby?”

“Yeah, I need to ask some follow-up questions about some things he said.”

“I can imagine,” I turned to start leaving and saw Eclipse gracefully step down into the Lounge.  I gave her a wave to catch her attention, and Mads called her over.

“You look like you’re off somewhere,” Eclipse commented. She looked like she wasn’t.

“Off?  No, no, I haven’t drunk near enough yet,” Mads said cheerily.  Eclipse didn’t even crack a smile.

I shrugged. Even knowing we were off to see Bobby again didn’t help me understand.  She seemed to be feeling a lot of shame and guilt.  Had Bobby’s comments the night before made her feel she hadn’t done enough to find Alex?

“We’re off to see Bobby again. You missed out on last night’s excursion. Would you like to come?” I asked, trying to give Eclipse some idea what might be up with Mads.

“Ah,” she said, nodding, “No, I’m busy tonight.”

“You’ve been keeping to yourself recently.” Mads eyed Eclipse. 
“I’d go with you if it didn’t conflict with established plans.”

“Ah, the best laid ones….they never seem to work out.”

“Well, be careful, they say when fates are spoken, they’re typically sealed.”

I didn’t like that statement in the slightest.  for Eclipse or for me. As Mads rose to leave, I left a little cryptic comment of my own.

“Have fun…with your friends.”

7.00 pm Wednesday, 11 December  12 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Petersham

The car trip through the inner suburbs was in silence. Stallion had never seen Guiseppe so tense and serious.  He parked the car beside a shitty little factory that had seen better days and said the first two words he’d said all trip.

“Come on.”

Stallion got out of the car, tied his robe down low at his hips and upbuttoned his shirt underneath. His now plastic form expanded to stretch the shirt just enough to show off his pecks as Guiseppe led them to a side door and pushed it open.

Inside, a group of half a dozen gangbangers lolled about in the ruins of an office space. Giuseppe scanned the room, noting each individual in turn.

“All still here?  I’ve told you, you can either join up or get out.  What’s it gonna be? Or do I have to bring in the big boy?” At this question, Giuseppe pointed to Stallion.  Stallion nodded and flexed on command.

It seemed enough.  

“All right. Said one who was nominally in charge, “Can we at least pack up our stuff?”

“Be quick about it. You have five minutes, Stallion. Keep an eye on them. I’m going outside for a smoke.” Giuseppe said coolly and walked away.

Stallion stuck by the door, keeping an eye not just on the group, but also any other exits from the room. They seemed to be complying pretty quietly and moving out, but there was something about their attitudes, the way they complied, that he didn’t like. They were ignoring him, the hired muscle, not worthy of respect.

Stallion didn’t like that.  There was such a thing as respect for the Alpha.  He drew on the blood and stared each one down as they passed him at the door.

One by one, there were clangs and clunks as each dropped knives, broken bottles, metal pipes and chair legs. It seemed they’d planned to give Giuseppe a bit of a going over, but now, they left as meekly as newborn lambs.  Stallion checked the inside of the building.  It was a dump.  An empty dump, but still a dump. Worthy of a quick spot of arson, and that was about it.

“Don’t worry,” Guiseppe said, as Stallion went to step inside and check further, “Getting them out was the main thing. It’ll be all fixed up in weeks. I have plans. Good work with the staredown. I didn’t realise they were the ‘Give in’ ones.”

“It’s the lot you play in this world,” Stallion shrugged.

“Too true, but I did promise you a bit of a Barney Rubble. Are you still interested, or do you have other plans?”

“Ah fuck, my plans were hanging with you for the night,” Stallion said with a self-conscious smile.

“Yeah, well, we can do the rounds. We could probably clean out most of the places if you keep this up.”

Stallion’s smile relaxed, and the two unlikely mates headed back to the car.

7.15 pm Wednesday, 11 December  12 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C.

Dominic, his tickets booked and dressed for a night out, went in search of one other piece of clothing to perfect his outfit. From a closet of clothes that Dominic kept for emergency he pulled out a short, shoulder cape, lined in red satin.  Clasping it around his neck, he checked his look in the full-length mirror before returning to his office. From her secret compartment within the body of his desk, he removed the head of his mother.

“You’d love a night at the theatre, wouldn’t you, mother?” He asked, and without waiting for a reply, he reverently tucked her under the cloak and strolled out of the office.

Mads and I were already down in the garage when Dominic arrived, his cape swinging stylishly around his body.

“Looking very… fine there, Mr Giovanni,” I said as I watched him awkwardly take his seat behind the wheel of the Mercedes.

“Enjoy the show,” Mads added, as she claimed the passenger seat of the Audi we were taking for the night.

“Yes, this is all the rage,” Dominic swung back the right-hand edge of his cape in a dashing way so he could drive the car without getting it caught in the steering wheel.

“Yes, it indeed was…in the seventeenth century.”  

“I know you jest, because I know this is the most fantastic outfit.  You should get yourself fitted for one.” 

“I’m of the Invincibles school when it comes to capes,” I said with a smile. How much more Vampire can you get?  So cliche.

He wasn’t going to let me get away with that little jibe at his outfit.  Fortunately for me, he was in a very good mood.

“Well, you know our tailor does an excellent line in bustles.” 

“When I go drag, I’ll let the tailor know.” 

“You do drag?” Mads asked, and she looked impressed.  I felt sorry to disappoint her. Can I help it? I’m very happy being a cis male.

“No.”

“Her friends do,” Dominic drove away, taking the last word with him.

7.20 pm Wednesday, 11 December  12 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Petersham

The second building was a little nicer, an old theatre in a forgotten patch of suburban strip shopping.  Giuseppe parked the car and seemed to try to recompose himself.

“This time we’re not going in hard.  This is a respectable place.” 

Stallion deflated enough to do up his shirt buttons and let his robe out for a more relaxed look.

“Are you ready, Stallion?”

“I suppose. I bet we can get up to some real hijinks here.”

“Hopefully not,” Guiseppe’s expression became serious, and he took a moment to look at Stallion, “Do you know how to turn a dial?”

“What sort of dial are we talking about? Heads or locks?”

“No, like an egg timer,” Guiseppe qualified, and Stallion nodded in agreement.

“Tick-tock, time’s up?”

“That’s right.” Giuseppe nodded grimly, “Okay, so the number is five-zero, right?  I’m going to go inside and go upstairs. You’re going to go through the side and through the kitchen. There’s a shitty staff area. Go through to the staff toilets.  It will be one with the tank above the seat with a chain pull. Inside, there will be an egg timer.  I will need you to turn it to…”
“Fifty, I got it,” Stallion nodded, impressed with Guiseppe and his planning. This was going to be sweet.

“Yes, five -zero, can you do that?”

“Yep!” 

“Splendid.  Ready?”

Stallion nodded, left the car and headed for the kitchen door around the side. 

7.20 pm Wednesday, 12 December  11 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Petersham

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

2.50 am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Tailors

As tailor fumbled with the ‘unusual’ material Lucretia had provided, my attention was drawn to Stallion and what I considered a radical change, though everyone else seemed to be accepting as normal.

Hooves? His face?

“And what’s with the limp?  Are you hurt?” Why hadn’t he healed himself? “Do you need help?”

“Yeah, do you want Rain to kiss it better?” Eclipse teased, as it was so like old times, I laughed, much to Stallion’s embarrassment.

“I could kiss it better…” I smirked.

“You want to kiss the leg with a horse hoof?” He replied, uncomfortably.

“Well…I was thinking of spitting on my hand…in saying that, why the hooves? Like, I understand now it’s a clan weakness but have you asked about it? Can you fix it?” 

“Have you asked physician?” Mads asked, facetiously, but I was serious.  Surely he didn’t want to go through a very long life with hooves.

“Are there vampire physicians?” I turned to ask Dominic, “You know a Tzimisce.”

“Oh, I know a few Tzimisce,” Dominic said without looking away from the rack of clothing he was browsing, “So does Stallion.”

“ I know a Tzimisce, “Stallion corrected.

Stallion knew a Tzimisce? I’d have to watch out for this one if he was getting chummy with the likes of Tzimisce.

“What has been happening?  Tell me all.” I knew Stallion had drawn away from us over the last few weeks, but all this came as a bit of a surprise.  

“It’s fine.  I just went to a club.  Second time I’d been there.” Stallion said, trying to underplay the whole event.  The boy had no idea how to tell a story.

“Oh? Which club did you go to?” Now, Stallion had Dominic’s attention.  I wondered if it was a personal or business enquiry.

“You know what?  I never did get the name of the place. Giuseppi took me there the first time.”

Ah, so that’s where Giuseppi had been hiding. Still, I would have thought an up-and-coming Giovanni would have had better things to do than entertain Stallion.

“That could be one of thirty clubs just in Sydney, “ Dominic said, now joining our conversation.

The odd placement of Stallion’s eyes made his attempt at introspection look like he was trying to make out one of those 3D Magic Eye images.

“Did you at least enjoy yourself?” Dominic asked, breaking the fixed stare Stallion had adopted, but that only led to more introspection.

“I don’t know.  Not so much the first time. But the second time I learnt a few things.” 

God save the world….Stallion learnt something…and remembered it.

“But you went and woke up with hooves for feet?” Dominic enquired.  Obviously, Stallion hadn’t shared everything with his best buddy and master.

“No, that happened a different night.”

I’d been gone too long.

“So, best buds with Giuseppi?  No wonder I haven’t seen him around,” I said, trying to draw more from Stallion the stone.

“Giuseppi is alright, never done me any harm,” Stallion replied, and for a moment, I wondered how much he remembered of my time chained up in the Time Out room. Not enough, as far as I was concerned. “Is there something I should know about him?”

“I just haven’t seen him in a while.” I shrugged, obfuscating my intentions. Not knowing what Giuseppi was up to was a small concern, nothing in comparison to what Eclipse and I had been up to, “But now I know, he’s been with you.”

Stallion made a face, only made worse by its current arrangement, “Actually, I haven’t seen him for a while either.”
“Giuseppi has been busy with his own project,” Dominic replied shortly, as if that topic was now closed. I remember Dominic mentioning the secret project to me when I suggested Giuseppi could help me establish the new nightclub. Even then, it was very clear he didn’t want me involved.

I dropped the subject, but surprisingly, Dominic had had a change of mind.

“You don’t want to visit him while he’s working on his projects?” 

“I thought you didn’t want my presence…confusing people,” I said, reminding him of that conversation. He shrugged, obviously the was less secret than I‘d assumed.

“You could always send him a text message.”

The mention of text message had me thinking about Brendan.  I hadn’t talked to him in days, and the big show was looming.  I pulled out my phone.

“I may just do that, “ I said and pulled a little aside to write Brendan’s message.

HEY LOVELY. THINKING OF YOU. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU BE ALL THE COLOURS. MAKE THEM QUESTION THEIR LIFE CHOICES. SEE YOU THERE!

Putting away my phone, I noticed Mads feverishly scribbling on napkins.  After my success at the farm with Lenny’s message, I had thought to maybe push the quest for Alex a little further.  While everyone else was busy browsing, I sidled up to Mads.

“Hey Mads, I was thinking about your search for Alex. I can try something else, but you’d need something of his. Would you have something like that?”

Mads’ wild scribble subsided as she thought about my suggestion.  She looked down at the plain gold band on her left hand.

“Technically, the ring he gave you may work, but his ring would be better.” But that was a tough call, seeing as though he seems to have gone completely missing.

“No, I don’t have that,” She said quickly, an involuntary swallow showing how deeply I had hit with my proposal. “What do you intend to do?”

“I can… try and get a reading off it.  Sometimes it doesn’t go well, which is why I wouldn’t do it here. Sometimes it works…spectacularly.  I had a little success recently, and I’d be willing to give it a go for you.”

The notes forgotten, her hands dropped to her sides as the depth of her grief took hold, “I’m just afraid of what we will find.”

“Hmm, “ I can understand. Still, I hadn’t taken her for a woman who was afraid of learning the truth. What did she want from our Izac, afterall? “ Well, you have to decide which is worse? Not knowing or finding out he’s lived a very long life without you?” 

 “I’ll  think on it,” She said, quickly catching the blood red tear before it broke and rolled down her cheek,” And thank you.”
“Just remember, I wouldn’t want to try this at the Succubus Club either, so it would have to wait until after, if not very soon.” 

That gave her food for thought. She started scribbling again.

“What’s with the napkins?”

“Oh, Delith asked me to write down everything I say,” She admitted. So the Princess of Mind Manipulation was at it again. I wondered what she did for Dominic that gave her such freedom? Or what she’d done to Dominic?  Surely not.  He was too much a master of domination himself to fall for her games.

“Just everything you say?” I got back to the subject at hand.

“Yeah.”

“Now, that’s funny.  So, not everything…we’re saying?” Gesturing to the coterie present. If I was concerned about Lucretia’s presence before, I was certainly thinking of stealing away those napkins.  Delith didn’t need to know about her, “Like I wouldn’t want Delith to…find out about my little proposal, say.”

“Yeah,…right, I see what you mean, “ She said, trying to muster the effort to stop writing.

I caught Dominic frozen in his browsing, listening to our conversation. I’m sure he had a similar thought to mine about Delith’s involuntary spy.

“No, thanks for the offer, Rain, but I think some things are better left unknown,” Mads said in a tone that suggested she’d made a momentous decision, but her face…I must have really hit a nerve because she looked almost disgusted at the thought.

“Oh, Mads, I’m sorry. It was a sincere offer of help. I didn’t mean to cause you any discomfort.”  I backtracked.  Sure, I’d offered out of my own curiosity, but causing her more distress did not help my cause.

“Maybe another time,” her expression softened to something more conciliatory and more…tired, “It’s been a busy few days.”’

And that reminded me of her and Stallion’s evolving relationship.

“Hey, yeah, what’s happening between you and Stallion?  I didn’t think you liked him.”

“I don’t like him… but he has… sort of dumb puppy charm about him that’s endearing.”

Now, if you’ve been on this journey with me for a while, you will know that there are many subjects that I can find…triggering. The thought of dumb puppy charm brought to mind the poor dumb dog we, as a coterie, destroyed and buried in The Royal. It was my turn to try hold back a look of disgust.

“No, I don’t see that myself, sorry.  But, as his brother, I thank you for spending time with him.”

“Don’t tell me you’re related by blood,” She said, and she didn’t need to look between Stallion and me to know that was not possible.  

“No, adopted brother.” 

“Oh, thank god, you scared the shit out of me.” That made two of us, “I was going to ask about the jaw…”
“Yeah, you don’t know what happened there, do you?” If Stallion wasn’t going to share, maybe his new friend could shed some light on the topic, “It’s not right.”

“Yeah, it’s not right, and it feels like iron when you punch it,” She admitted, shaking her right hand in remembered pain. Now this was more like it. 

“That seems more like a relationship with Stallion.”

“Unremitting violence?”

“The need to punch him…or something like that,” Violence is not my first recourse…it’s not even my second, but I understood the feeling. “I sort of wish I’d been there.”

“No, believe me, you wouldn’t.  It was a bit of an experience. Mr Giovanni fell through a ceiling.”

Now this I had to hear.  

“What? At the club or…”

“Technically, a roof.  The ceiling held.”

“A roof.” And I thought our museum heist was daring. Taking out rogue magicians, getting shot in the face, falling through roofs…Dominic was revealing himself to be a man of action. And I, for one, appreciated it.

Of course, he’s also not shy in blowing his own trumpet. He couldn’t help me add his own spin to the tale.

“Let’s just say, we were involved in a fight, the consequence being I crashed through a roof.” He said matter-of-factly.

“With each other?” I looked between Mads, Stallion and Dominic and couldn’t imagine anything the three of them would all want to fight for. “Can I know more?”

Dominic shrugged and left to help Lucretia with her dress design, “This was your caper, Mads. You tell it.”

“A good time was had by all, that’s all I’ll say,” Mads flung up her hands to stifle anymore questions, “Mr Giovanni came out well from it, Stallion got to beat me up…”

“Stallion, “ I rounded on the big lug standing in the corner looking at shoes, “You’re punching women now?  Come on, I thought you were better than at least that.” I know it sounds old-fashioned, but human nature doesn’t suddenly disappear when you’re turned.  Growing up, I was far more likely to be hit by a foster sister than to hit one. I always found it was easier to suggest the next morning over breakfast that maybe she shouldn’t have that second slice of toast and jam as her muffin top was showing over the waistband of her school skirt.  

“There’s more to the story than meets the eye. I didn’t know she was going to lean into it like that,” Stallion said in his defence.  It sounded like the defence of every wife basher in human history.

“Yeah,” Mads smiled at the memory, which was odd for the topic at hand, “I should have zigged when I zagged.”

At least they all seemed happy about the turn of events.

“Well, I guess I’m happy you’re getting out and having fun instead of hanging around  in the V.I.P Room and drinking all night.” I finally acknowledged it and was happy to let the subject drop. Stallion, on the other hand, felt his honour had been damaged.

“Let me just defend myself here. Mads and I were just…playing around.”

“Go on,” Mads said, an eyebrow arching in what everyone but Stallion knew was the beginning of the end.  I decided to end it.

“No, you weren’t because I know.”

“Know what?” Asked Stallion, as if he knew something I didn’t. That was particularly galling, coming from Stallion.

“See, dumb puppy,” Mads said, but by now I was too wound up to just nod and agree. 

“ That’s not what we do anymore, and I’m not sure how much you got up to before.” Cruel, I know, but consider it my haymaker.

“If I’d wanted to hurt Mads, I could have done more than what I did.” He replied, only confirming every stereotype given to him.

“Yeah, you tell yourself that, Stallion,” Mads laughed, a confident sound that difused the rising heat.

“Maybe I just don’t know my own strength.” Stallion shrugged.

“You are very strong,” I agreed and left it at that.

Throughout this conversation, Dominic kept scrumplously out. If he had anything to say on the subject, he was keeping it to himself.  Eclipse looked at Stallion, dumbfounded. To think, it was only a few months ago that they were beating three types of snot out of each other for fun. 

Thankfully, Stallion’s interest in the topic waned, and he changed the subject, calling out our sire for his opinion.

“Mr Giovanni, what are we going to do about these hooves, with my suit and all that?”

Yes, what can we do about hooves?

“I wouldn’t think it was hard, Stallion. Just buy a specialised shoe.  One that covers your current hoof but give the illusion of toes.” Dominic shrugged, disinterested in his childe’s petty needs.

“Couldn’t we just chop off his hooves and let his feet grow back…or would they return as hooves?” I asked innocently.

“Only one way to find out,” Mads added, and we both snickered like naughty school children.

“Can we not cut off my feet?” Stallion rounded on us. His patience with our needling was running thin.

“If you want a permanent solution, why don’t you just visit the twins and be done with it,” Dominic suggested, waving away the problem.

“Visit the twins…” I said, now here was an idea. Meet new and interesting kindred and solve the foot fetish in one ugly swoop.  

“Maybe they’ll wear off,” Stallion did not like the idea of ‘The Twins’, and if I was him, neither would I, but…

“Feet don’t usually wear off, unless you’re planning on doing a lot of walking.”

“That’s not what I meant.” 

“Surely all this is just penance, right?” Eclipse spoke from a corner of the shop she’d been leaning into all evening. ”Feet of an ass, it seems fitting.”

“Are you calling me an Arse now?” And he really did say it with the rhotic-r, a self-inflicted pun.

“If the hoof fits.” 

“Careful, sister, “ I said quietly as Eclipse she popped off the wall to stand up against Stallion’s postering, “Penance? Guilt? Your Catholicism is showing.”
“Old habits, “ She admitted.

“Just remind me not to help you next time you’re in trouble.  We’re still in the same coterie afterall.” He never could take criticism from Eclipse.

“I’m thinking of you, Stallion, “ I interrupted, trying to return to the topic at hand, “I’m here for you. If going to the mysterious twins would solve the problem, then I’d be right there with you.”

“I think you’re more interested in the twins than helping me out,” Stallion said. He had me there, but it never hurt to ask.

“I know nothing about them, but I do know you have the feet of an ass and that’s…disturbing.”

“How do you know they’re ass’s feet?” 

Again, he had me. I know nothing of horses, ponies or other equines and said so.

“Yeah, you’re right, what do I know? But they’re very…tidy…for hooves.” 

Stallion was fed up with our banter and went to pester the tailor about what could be done. This took a while because, even though he was a man with hooves for feet, Tailor was currently dealing with a powerful woman who had just brought in 25 feet of human skin as ‘inspiration’.  Try competing with that.

“You need a farrier, not a cobbler, “ The old man said after one look at Stallion’s feet.

“No, you know, something to cover the hooves to give the false sense that there are feet. Human feet.”

“Urgh…,” The old man moved over to a shelf of scrapbooks.  He took one off the shelf and flipped to a page, turning it around for Stallion to see a template for a truncated converse shaped and moulded to fit a horse’s hoof.

“That would look a little awkward, wouldn’t it?” Stallion asked, unimpressed by the option given.

“You’re the one the donkey’s feet,” Tailor shrugged, and flipped through his template book.

“Man, how does everyone know their donkey feet?” Poor, Stallion, this was not his night.  Of course, we naughty children in the corner thought it was hysterical.

“What about these then?” The scrapbook was turned around again.  This time, the template was a pair of Crocs again designed for horses.

It wasn’t much of a choice.  Stallion took the Converse.

After an hour of Tailor’s time, Stallion had chosen a yellow suit with a dark purple shirt that contrasted…spectacularly.

“You know, Stallion, if you want to stand out, we could just paint your nails yellow,” I suggested, taking in the huge six-foot blonde-haired banana. I was trying to be kind. In saying that, but I had been known to wear a yellow suit in my time…though I did it with more style.

Eclipse also took the opportunity to expand her wardrobe with the goth cupidoll and the dress that looked like she’d been dipped in blood.

It was getting late now.  The hardest part about being a vampire is that there is never enough night.  As we gathered the coterie’s purchases, Dominic said he would stay behind until Tailor was finished with Lucretia’s masterpiece.

“I may stay a while, dear nephew,” Lucretia said. Tailor was working on a calico mockup of her dress. She was going to be a while.

“Hmm, I have another concern, Dominic, “ Stallion, now heavy with a suit bag, a shoe box, and no place to put them on his bike parked outside, “My car was used in our little adventure.  It may be hot now.”

“Don’t worry, I covered up for any…indiscretions on our part,” Dominic said with complete assurance, “Let’s just say a group of gangbangers may have rampaged through that neighbourhood soon after we left. No one is going to remember your car.”

“Have fun, Aunty and do enjoy yourself,” Dominic said, giving Lurcretia a peck on the cheek.

“And please remember, we do need Tailor, “ I added, just in case it wasn’t obvious to Aunty.

“If you live as long as I have, young Rain, you will know that Good Artists should be allowed to live.” She replied, haughtly and I couldn’t agree more.  I bowed to her ancient wisdom and followed the others carrying their purchases.

“I suppose I’ll get myself a surfboard at some time, “ Said Stallion, “If anyone wants to join me, you’re welcome.” The non-sequitur was so unexpected, and out of nowhere, I nearly tripped in surprise.

“Surf…board?”

“I’m not saying tonight. What, you don’t like going to the beach?”
The last time all three of us had been at a beach, I had been left finding sand in crevices that sand does not belong.

“Ah, no.”

“Stallion, my dear boy, you should ask your ghoul to do those jobs in the daytime,” Dominic said, and I had a short, sharp feeling in the ribs that Dominic was going senile. Since when did Stallion have a ghoul?

“If by ghoul you mean a bat,” Stallion replied, and the world shifted closer to sanity.

“Appropriate for your bloodline, I’m sure,” Dominic did not seem impressed, “But you will need someone to do…things for you.”

As you may have thought, this conversation set of conflicting emotions in me. On one hand, there was Lenny, somewhere in Sydney with the Mages, soon to become one himself, and hopefully, never again my ghoul.  On the other hand, it reminded me I had to talk to Bruce about the new nightclub.  It was time I stopped putting off that discussion and ask his opinion on who I could get to manage the place. God help me. While I wallowed in my own self-pity, the discussion of ghouling an appropriate servant for Stallion continued.

“I did make some friends recently,” Stallion said.  Yeah, a bat it seemed.  What else? A galah for the day shift?

“Excellent. Just be careful who you ghoul.  Do a background check first.  You don’t want to find someone who’s going to call up the local Hunters, for example.”

“Why would I have to ghoul someone?”

“Because you’re going to need someone to do for you during the majority of the day.  It is especially important here in Sydney with its particularly dismal nightlife rules.” At this point, Dominic went from discussing the topic with Stallion alone and turned to the rest of us, “I know it’s an alien concept to you all, but you have a lot of time.  A ghoul is not just a servant. They are someone who…shares your life, and if you like, can also live a very, very long time.”

“Well, when I’m ready to head out onto the waves, I’ll go ask,” Stallion said, almost completely missing the point of Dominic’s lecture.

“You just don’t ask them.  You make friends.  Go to a surfer bar, perhaps, find someone like you, someone who partakes…as you do…someone you like, that clicks with you. Then maybe during one of your shared joints you discuss bloodplay…maybe even feed them a little and over time… bang, you have yourself a ghoul.”

“But won’t that make the Prince angry?  Like, we were…unsactioned and all that?”

Eclipse’s eye roll made grinding noises audible to those of us nearby, “Siring and ghouling are two different things, Stallion.”

“But I’m saying, we were kind of abandoned.” It was gratifying to know he sometimes listens to what I have to say.

“We can’t sire offspring, but you can ghoul people. Everyone has ghouls.”

For once, Dominic stepped in between my warring siblings, “As long as you don’t break the Masquerade with your choice of ghoul, you’re golden.”

“Right,” Stallion said, and we can all now look forward to a future where a little Stallion joins us at the Crow Bar. “Is that how you got Bruce?”

“Bruce was quite different. When I ghouled Bruce, it was a professional transaction. I had worked with him for years, and then one day I put a business proposition to him. Depending on how he answered, he was either going to become a ghoul or….supper. Bruce, of course, loved the idea. He was fully aware of what he was walking into, unlike most, and he’s been made very wealthy ever since.”

“Mads, do you have a ghoul?” Dominic turned the question to the second eldest of us in the conversation.
“No, I don’t have a ghoul,” Mads replied, somewhat insulted that Dominic should suggest it.

“Are you planning to get one soon?”
“It’s never come up.”
Dominic looked closely at Mads, surprised at her lack of initiative, “A bit strange.  You’ve been alive long enough to have made at least one ghoul.”
“I also spent a lot of time drinking,” She admitted, and I wished Dominic would just stop and leave the poor girl alone. It wasn’t something that should come lightly. I knew that now.

“Drinking and ghouling are not mutually exclusive.”
“It is for me!” And with that, Mads was adamant.  At that moment, I hoped whatever she wanted from Izac would give her the peace to move on. Fifty years was long enough to mourn.

Dominic, though, was on his soapbox, still teaching his childe the ways of kindred. “So, what you’re saying is you’ve never found that perfect person to ghoul.”

“No, I never did.” Mad’s supplied bitterly.

It was about this time that I thought Eclipse looked like she was going to snatch Mad’s stack of napkins away.  I was all for it; I just didn’t want a frenzied vampire, determined to fulfil their programming, attacking me and mine.  Fortunately, Dominic also broached the subject at the same time.

“I have noticed tonight you’ve been writing down everything you say.”

“Oh yeah, your little pet, Delith, broke your Elysium rules,” Mads said, scribbling down that little sentence, tearing the napkin.

“Ah ha, I will have to have a little chat with Delith. There are rules about using powers inside my Elysium, and everyone who enters the lounge knows it. Still, “ He turned to Mads, “Knowing her power and experience, I’m sure that particular…compulsion has worn off by now.”

“Probably, but that bitch is still in my brain.” At this time, we didn’t need to worry about the notes, as every subsequent scribble tore through more of the napkins she’d so carefully tended. They were going to be illegible by the end of the conversation.

“Look into my eyes.”

“No, first Delith and now you, no!” She turned, facing the night before succumbing to Dominic’s Dominate.

“You want to stop, don’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure I can, but it’s like…you don’t stop running just as soon as you cross the finish line.  Just… let me wind down.”

Then Dominic did the most extraordinary thing.  He smiled.  He smiled and began…giggling.  At least he didn’t offer to dominate her again.

“Mr Giovanni, why are you smiling…it’s unsettling,” Mads was also caught up in the same thrill of something not quite right as I was, and by her expression, Eclipse as well.  Stallion looked like he was trying to understand the joke.

“Oh, nothing.  Just a funny memory…you mentioned running….it was a very pleasant memory. You can probably stop writing now.”

Mads looked at her hands, which lay still on the napkins, “Hey, look at that, I’m cured.” She said sarcastically. I was coming to appreciate Mads more and more.  Which made me even more concerned about her Izac plans. I was beginning to worry that only one would make it out the otherside of that conversation.

“Rain, “ Oh God, it was my turn for the ghoul lecture.  This was feeling more like a very bad sex-ed talk, “I know you ghouled someone before. Have you got another person in mind?”

Oh sure, Mr Giovanni, I’ve already slipped Brendan a micky-finn of me in the hopes that it will keep them alive past the Succubus Club, funny you should ask, I thought.  What I said was, “I’m not quite sure who I would have.” I turned the thought on him, “Who would I have, Mr Giovanni?”

“Anyone you wanted to,” he said, obviously not sharing my reticence, “You could charm your way into anyone’s pants, littlelone a lick of your wrist.” I couldn’t help feel…seen by my adoptive father figure in that moment. I hated myself for it. And still…he had a point.

“I will need someone if I’m to open another bar.  I need that daytime shift. I need a partner,” I suggested, making the old man smile with pride.

“There you go.  We can probably help you with that,” And by saying “we”, he meant Bruce. “What about you, Luna?”

“I’m not interested in keeping loose ends,” She replied blankly, coldly, and I knew she was also referring to us.

“There’s wisdom in that also, but ghouls can be temporary as well as permanent.”

“Look, this talk of enslaving people is…fucking tops,” Mads interrupted, blessedly changing the subject, “but what are everyone’s plans for the rest of the night?”

“I’ll probably go back to the club and do some reading, “ Stallion offered. 

Dominic murmured something similar about having a meal at the bar before having a lightbulb moment.

“Or, if you want to do something a little bit different, you could always go and see the seer again,” Dominic suggested, and all my dismal thoughts of having a long conversation with Bruce went out the window.  

Bobby, I’d love to see Bobby do his magic again.

Stallion shrugged, “You have to take payment, just keep that in mind, “ as if anything came without some payment.  I didn’t always feel the Sword of Damocles over my head, but I knew it was still there.

“So, we could take some pints from the bar…” I suggested.  Clean easy to carry, and no one was going to notice them on CCTV.
“If you were to say bodies, I would have rolled my eyes at you,” Eclipse smirked.

“And how prettily they would roll too, but, no, I was thinking of something in a bag….”

“A body…” Mads added, adding to the smirking choir.

“Very true.” I acknowledged and remembered why I’d really wanted to see Bobby, “I did want to take Izac to see Bobby.”  It may have given him some…direction…some hope,  I thought, but kept it to myself. Instead, I sighed and added, “I guess I’ll just have a little walk back to the bar.”

“I rode my bike here,” Stallion said, self-evidently as she was standing beside it, awkwardly holding his purchases.

“No one wants to entertain the idea of Bobby?” Dominic repeated. He seemed to have warmed to the idea and forgotten about an evening bite and an early night.

“If other people are going, I wouldn’t mind going to see this Bobby,” Mads chipped in.  I thought that was a good idea.  She, too, could find some direction for her life in Bobby’s cryptic visions, “What’s this about payment, though?”

“If you want to take something as mundane as a bag of blood, but all means, but remember he enjoys…flies in his web.”

I thought I could probably lure someone down into the tunnel. I started plotting the way to Bobby’s tunnel from Hickson Street. The idea grew on me until I agreed with Dominic and Mads about a plan of operation.

“We can get a fly on the way there,” Dominic said, and it sounded so simple.  Of course, we could, powerful creatures like us.

“Luna, are you coming or are you doing something else?” Dominic asked, as Mads curled an arm around Eclipes’ arm.

“Yeah, Eclipse, are you coming?” 

Eclipse shook her head and pulled herself out of Mad’s companionable hold.  She was off to see her other friends, and a pang of jealousy stabbed through me. 

So, we all headed back to the bar, Stallion on his bike, the rest of us in the limousine, where we traded the luxury vehicle for the sedan and our current footwear for wellies.  Our first trip ended with me throwing away the only pair of dress shoes I owned. This time, Dominic was prepared.

As we drove out to the Rocks, I watched Eclipse out on the curb, waiting for her taxi.  In her pocket, protected in silk and wood, was Izac’s heart.  I hope she knew what she was doing, taking the heart to see her mysterious friends. I worried about what it would mean to him and her if it were lost…or worse.

3.00 am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. The Rocks

Barangaroo, once just a working dockland around from the Harbour Bridge, is now a growing urban centre with manicured park, underground venues and a high-rise residential and entertainment. And, jutting out into the harbour, Bobby’s stormwater pipe and his lair.  

“Well, this is your party, Rain. Where would you like to hunt?” Dominic asked as we left the car and joined the late-night walkers in the waterside park. My party?  Since when. I was a tag-along at best, a voyeur on other people’s visits to Bobby to watch the master at work.

“Um…well, Hickson Road and this park are a good place at this time. I was thinking of looking for a drunk enjoying the summer night, or possibly a couple, the darkness their friend…”
“Prowling it is then,” Dominic said and marched ahead in search of his token for Bobby.

Dominic started his search for a drunk, someone whom he could easily dominate and lead away. I was hunting for a hunter, someone who preys on the drunks, the women walking alone. A mugger, rapist or thug who would look at me and not see a threat.  Mads…she was my spare wheel, squeaking along and drawing attention. It was like she was six, up way past bedtime. It was only made worse when you consider she was with two men in suits…it wasn’t a good look, and people were noticing. There was so much attention, in fact, twe had the eyes of  twelve individuals staring at us. 

I sighed.  So much for going to see Bobby, ”Thanks, Mads,” Whispered  to her through a smile, “I’ll draw these guys off, you go ahead and see Bobby.” I took a few steps back, separating myself from Dominic and Mads and started my spiel.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, on a beautiful night like this, I welcome you to come and enjoy a little magic with me.”

Dominic circled the group, still looking for his choice of prey. Mads made a point of acting put out and stormed off into the shadows not far away to watch what happened next. And I, I did what I’ve always done, spun tails, told jokes and all the while made things appear and disappear.  Actually, I was pretty medicore. I hadn’t practised and my movements didn’t have their usual fluidity, I was missing my favourite silk handkerchief, and I couldn’t even fall back on my puzzlebox.

The crowd started dispersing, watching a second rate shuffler wasn’t their idea of a fun evening outing. I should have let them go, drift away and forget the silly woman and two men who’d made a scene, but this was what I did, what I was since I was five.  I wasn’t second rate, and I demanded they paid attention. The blood stirred inside me, compelling me, compelling them to stay.  And they did, transfixed to the spot, their eyes all on me. I had them right where I wanted them, those ungrateful mugs.  I could have stripped them of everything they had and they would have thanked me and applauded.  Instead, I started singing the Safety Dance, an old song even for me, and made them all caper and hop to the song’s ridiculous choreography.

At the back of the group, I spotted Dominic sail in like a hawk and pluck out his target.  My Presence was nothing to his domination and the man, disheveled and swaying followed him away without a word. Mads I could not see, I just hoped while I made a noise at one end of the park, she was able to slip away to the tunnel.  As the song finished I made my bow and let go the presence, making a beeline for a middle aged couple who looked like they were locals. 

“Hi, I’m a visitor here, is this your town?” I asked in a broken English I left behind me with matchbox cars and shorts. I wanted to be charming, a little lost and clueless.  I wanted come across as a ridiculous overseas tourist and the for the most part, the awe couple bought it.  We started walking down to the waterfront, talking about Sydney and  the sights to see. They offered to take me to an all night bathhouse in the City.

 “They have douce kits at the front counter, “ One giggled.  I knew the place, they had a Dom room.  I can’t say I wasn’t intrigued, but now I could see Bobby’s pipe and felt the goal was in sight. If I could just get them out of sight in the pipe then….well…they’d be Bobby’s to deal with. It was all going well, until we reached the gate on the pipe and self-preservation kicked in and they saw a dark sewer.

“What?  Is it not a tunnel.  It is dark, but does that not make it more thrilling?”

Unknown to me, Mads wasn’t that far away watching. 

3.40 am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C.The Rocks

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Tailor: Dominic’s Tailor who has a shop in Leichhardt

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Twins: A pair of Tzimisce of Dominic’s acquaintance.  The creators of Blanco Falzo the Dog??

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Tzimisce: Bloodline of Vampire.  Body sculptures. 

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

10.02 pm Tuesday,  8 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C.Crow Bar

The clock on Dominic’s dashboard read 10.02 pm as he drove into the underground carpark.  The talk was long overdue. 

 What were Rain and Eclipse playing at?  This was their chance to make or break, didn’t they realise that?  Irritated, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to all three of his childe.

MEET AT MY OFFICE.

Stallion was first to arrive, having only to climb the stairs from the basement lounge. 

“Take a seat, Stallion,” Dominic gestured to a chair, and Stallion sat down.

“You texted me?”

“You, Rain and Luna. We still need to have a conversation before tomorrow night.”

“Is this about theSuccubus Club, again?” 

“Yes, it is.”

“I might have a protective charm…”
“Keep that to yourself for the moment,” Dominic interrupted, engrossed in his own thoughts.
“Oh, okay,” So Stallion changed the subject, “That suit we’re getting made, could it have a pocket for hiding a wine bottle?”

“We’ll get to that later,” Dominic replied, his irritation showing.

Fortunately for Stallion, Eclipse and I arrived soon after.  We found Dominic seated behind his desk, a serious but otherwise unreadable expression on his face.   Gesturing to the empty seats, he did not bother with a preamble, but got down to business.

“Tomorrow night is going to be extremely important for your future.  The Succubus Club is indeed just a party, a soiree.  And at this soiree, you are going to be expected to behave yourself at the highest level.”

“Through tiny polite conversations you have with other people, there’ll be opportunities.  Now you will be staying with me for an apprenticeship for at least thirty years.  But after you’ve finished your thirty-year apprenticeship, you might want to go somewhere else.  Your curiosity might draw you…anywhere in the world.  And tomorrow night you will have an opportunity to speak with other kindred of all factions.  You’ll have an opportunity to find your way into a future with one of those sects.”

“So, it is very important that you hold your demeanour and not use any of your vampire abilities.”

Already uncomfortable at the reminder of a lifetime’s apprenticeship with Dominic, I squirmed at the thought of not being able to see the spectacle of the Sucubus Club without Auspex.  I said nothing. This was Dominic’s show, and I held my tongue. Stallion, on the other hand…

“So, don’t even use them before getting there?” It seemed our Stallion had a few plans of his own. 

“Yes, do not have anything active,” Dominic replied, glowering. Turning back to Eclipse and I, he continued. 

“Be kind, courteous and respectful of everybody. Because everybody there would be able to rip your head off in one go.  They won’t do it, of course, but every bad note you leave behind you will be another domain you won’t be able to enter in the future.”

He turned to me in particular, “As much as your silver tongue can open certain doors, Rain, it can also shut them.” He warned, and I nodded silently.

“So remember, you’ll be making deals, don’t deal something you’re not willing to lose.  And don’t make bargains for things you’re not willing to gain.”

He spent the next thirty minutes giving examples of how misunderstandings can occur between kindred from across centuries.  Though they may be fixed in the era they grew up in, language and customs have moved on, and we could get caught in the miscommunication. It would mean nothing to an ancient kindred if we didn’t understand them; it could mean everything to us.

I appreciated the lecture.  It was a useful reminder, and I took what I could from his wisdom. Still, I’d been swimming the waters of human society more than the other two combined and felt there was little I didn’t know about interpersonal communication. Vampire politics and society, on the other hand…thirty years may not be enough to cover it.

10.42 pm Tuesday,  8 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Lectures on language, deliberations on deals. We sat and listened to Dominic expound for forty minutes until he felt he’d bashed our ears long enough.

“Now, I have booked the tailors for the entire night if you wish to change your mind on the outfit you are to wear for the night. I will be visiting my Aunty and seeing if she’ll be going to the Club and if she wants an outfit made.”

“Any chance of me popping along with you to see Aunty?” I asked, then remembered his comment about not being family, “…Lucretia, I mean.” 

“You can come along if you wish, “He said after an extended pause that made me wonder what he’d had in mind besides his spoken intent. 

“Thank you,” I said, regardless, and I was grateful.  That would be another small job completed, and hopefully some of those brownie points Dominic was at such pains to discuss.

“Any more questions before heading to the tailors?” He turned to the other two, but it was me who had a head full of queries and plans.

He looked to Stallion.

“Ah, you already said to drop the disciplines, so that’s alright,” Stallion replied, caught off guard by Dominic’s stare, “I was just going to have a bit of a backup plan…a top line bottle of wine in my suit jacket.”

“There will be beverages at the venue,” Dominic drawled, as if explaining a party to a child whose only ever been to a birthday party for a ten year old.

“Yeah, but this would be a gift sort of thing,” he explained, raising Dominic’s eyebrow.

“A gift? To the host?”

“No, it depends on the circumstances.  It could just make me look nice.” At least he was thinking.  Still, I would imagine Stallion’s idea of a good bottle of wine would be something around fifty dollars.  To those who’d been alive when bottles now worth tens of thousands were first laid down, it would be like handing a bunch of weeds you’d plucked from their own garden.  I admired the thought, but wasn’t sure what the outcome would yield.

Dominic rolled his eyes, “If you really want to shock everyone, Stallion,  you could always change your demeanour. Talk eloquently.”
“Nah, I don’t want to sound too much like an uppity-nosed snob.” And it was my turn to roll my eyes.  

Oh, brother, My Brother!

“Well, it would certainly surprise everybody,” Dominic replied with a dry laugh.

“Maybe it would throw people off their game,” Stallion said, seemingly taking Dominic’s advice to heart.

“It would certainly give you an advantage you don’t currently enjoy.”

As Stallion chewed over Dominic’s suggestion, he now turned his attention to Ecipse and me.

“Oh, please, “ I gestured to Eclipseto go first, “I don’t want to dominate; I have so  many questions.”

10.42 pm Tuesday,  8 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Once again alone and drinking, Mads scanned the crowd.  It had grown since she’d arrived, but the kin that had given them the package had not made an appearance.  She did, however, spy Delith climb down the stairs and into the lounge, not as a staff member, but as a customer.  She moved around the room, greeting acquaintances as Mads desperately looked around for an exit.

“Mads!  What are you doing here all alone?  Where’s everyone else?”

Oh fuck! “Hi.  How are you, Delith?” 

“I’ve been enjoying this, Marlo. Have you had one?” She raised her glass.  It seemed half the lounge was enjoying the current vintage.

“Yes, lovely,” She tried smiling, but it came out like a snarl, “Look, I’m quite busy tonight.  I’ve got a place to be…”
“Be?  Where?” Fatal error, allowing Delith to think you’re doing something interesting.

“It’s just a little thing I’ve got to get sorted. I’ll…”

“A little thing?” Now Mads had Delith’s full attention, “Tell me?”

“I can’t. It’s a little job I did for a friend…look, I’ll tell you all about it later…okay?”

Delith silently scanned the crowd around them before turning back to Mads.

“No, tell me.”
“No,” Mads shook her auburn head, all signs of friendliness gone, “I’d really rather not.”

Delith’s social smile dropped, her eyes as predatory as the stray cats in the alley, “Tell me.”

It was like a switch had been turned on in Mad’s mind, and she couldn’t help but talk.

“In truth, I have nothing going on; I was wanted to get away from you.”

“Why would you do such a thing? I thought we were…acquaintances.”

Mads sighed, “It’s just that face, you know. It’s just that thing about you.”

“Hmm, we could do each other some favours and make it more beneficial.”

After the parcel incident, Mads was reluctant to do favours for unsavoury characters,  “Hard pass, sorry.  Not interested.”  

“Or you can be alone like the sad sack of shit you are,” Delith smiled maliciously.

“Ah, I see,” Gloves off, Mads said, forgetting all pretense of being friendly, “So you know about that, do you? Of course, you’d know; desperately trying to get the boss’s attention.”

The smile turned down into a snarl, “I have his attention. That’s the problem.”

“Ha!” Mads barked a mirthless laugh, “You keep telling yourself that, Delith. Just keep telling yourself that and who knows, one day it may just come true.”

“Well,” Delith had not good comeback, and Mads took that as her chance to escape.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see what the boss is doing.  You see, I’m allowed to go into the office. Enjoy serving drinks, you floosy!”

Delith’s eyes widened, her nostrils flared in indignation.  Mads had dared to belittle Delith’s sense of worth. Then almost as suddenly, Delith’s face softened, “Yes, you may leave.  Go to Mr Giovanni.” And though it was exactly what she wanted to do, Mads was surprised when her body turned and started up the stairs.  Her head felt…foggy…her senses not as sharp as she was used to.  Still, she continued to climb up the stairs to Mr Giovanni’s office.

10.45 pm Tuesday,  8 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Stallion was deep in thought, and Eclipse didn’t seem to have too much to ask, so it was my moment under the adoptive sire’s gaze.

“Polite conversation; I have that covered. First, are there any prominent people you know who will be attending that I should be aware of?  Their likes, dislikes?  What would interest them?”

Thankfully, Dominic did not dismiss my question, but moved through to the library and searched the shelves, “There is a book called Encyclopedia Vampirica…” But he could not lay his hands on it.

 “Ah, Aunty has it at the moment, “ He returned to the office and reclaimed his place behind the desk.

 “ Apart from the Encyclopedia Vampirica…I couldn’t say.  I don’t have a list of everyone who’d be attending. On that score, you will be flying by the seat of your pants.  You will be…”

“In my element,” I nodded confidently, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded.

“You’ll have to find out information using your natural charm.”

“Exactly.”

“And your personality.”

“Precisely.” 

So much for my first question.

I was about to ask my next question when Stallion interrupted.

“Speaking of which, I did find out some information on one person who will be there.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised that Stallion had bothered to find out such knowledge.  So was Dominic.

“Oh, well done, Stallion.”

“Yeah, a woman named Tar-Anis, “ Stallion supplied, only to trip up on her second name, “Per-see-phone.”

“Persephone?” Dominic asked, making the lady sound like the Greek goddess she was and not a mobile for the deaf.

“Yeah, she works for Pentax Security.  I believe she’s sixth generation.”

“Persephone, you will find, is a bodyguard to Harold Zettler, the chairman of Pentax Industries,” Dominic supplied, and I whistled low.  Pentax was one of those multinational companies with a finger in pies all over the world.  Much like Disney.

Dominic continued, “She’s a Malkavian of the Sabbat.”  

I couldn’t help but respond to the mention of the Sabbat. I squirmed in my chair.

“I will be honest,” Stallion said, drawing attention away again, “You have Mads to thank for that information.  She’s the one who made the deal; I just happened to be there.”

Mads. Well, at least that made sense.

“As to who will be there?  I can not say. There will be people from all over the world…vampires…kindred.”

“Will there be other creatures other than kindred?” Stallion was full of questions tonight.  Was my brother taking his position on kindred society seriously for a change?

“Very unlikely,” Dominic said and then reconsidered, “Unless of course they’re part of the entertainment. Sydney does have a very large population of werewolves.  There is a small population of Eastern vampires, unrelated to Caine and his kin.”

“Do we need to keep an eye on the Eastern Vampires?” Trust Stallion to bring up a race card.

“I don’t think so.  This is Elysium.  Once you’re there, you abide by its very strict rules. No one will be hiding anything. Everyone will present themselves as they are.”

So, you needn’t fear the Eastern Vampires more than anyone else there.  I wondered if that’s what Izac was.

“Don’t speak until spoken to… Agree with whatever they say…treat them like the old coots they are…” Stallion added to the rules, showing the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

“Ah…” What about treating someone as you’d like to be treated?  How about showing a little respect for those older and more powerful than yourself? How about using honey instead of vinegar?  But my interjection was overruled.

“Yes, they may take offence to being contradicted,” Dominic agreed.

“Exactly.”

 I nearly dispaired.

“Excuse me, gentleman,” I finally squeezed a word into the brofest manifesting in front of me, “You happened to mention the Sabbat? What are your plans in relation to them?”

A pin could have dropped.

“What do you mean?” Dominic asked sharply. 

What did I mean?  I took a habitual breath and tried to put my thoughts in a logical order.

“I now know why we’re here.  You’ve got to have guessed, Mr Giovanni.”
Mr Giovanni leaned back in his chair, a sure sign he was going to have to deal with something unsavoury.  Unfortunately, I think that was me.

“No, tell me.  Why are you here?”

“Well, we’re Shovelhead, aren’t we?” I couldn’t help keep the bitterness out of my voice. It was the Sabbat and their machination, but it was also Garcia and his abandonment all over again. “It’s a well-known Sabbat tactic to plant neonates in places without guidance.  We’re made with the express purpose of causing trouble, and upseting kindred society.  We were made as some sort of plot the Sabbat have underway, culminating at the Succubus Club.”

“Now, I for one am very pleased that you and the Prince stymied our roles, and I do not intend to be part of any more Sabbat shenanigans. So, while we’re all here together…do we have a plan going forward?”

More silence.

“Maybe you shouldn’t mention the Sabbat,” Stallion said helpfully. This is what comes from Dominic encouraging him to think, “Better the less you know and all that.  Unless you think it can help with a deal.”

“I’m not talking about deals, Stallion.  I’m talking about the destabilisation of kindred society, the fall of government structures. The Sabbat’s takeover of the Sydney domain. The Sabbat are in town, and they are warmongers.”

“They’ve always been in town,” Dominic replied, seemingly brushing aside my concerns.

“But you have to admit there’s been a great deal of unusual activity, and it all points at the Succubus Club,” I insisted.  Was I the only paranoid, conspiracy theorist here? Or did Sydneysiders feel they were immune to the wars and bitterness that plagued the rest of the world?

More silence.  This time longer.

“Has there not been?”  I asked the group, trying to elicit…something, “Please, inform me otherwise.  I would be glad to be wrong on this point.”

“It would be very foolish to try anything at the Succubus Club,” Dominic finally said, but he didn’t deny my fears.

“I would have thought that, while the whole of kindred society was together, would be the exact time to do it.”

“Don’t you think the Nosferatu wouldn’t know something was up?” Eclipse spoke up, the first since we’d arrived, “They watch everyone.”

“The Nosferatu will do well either way,” Though I had to admit they did well under the Prince here in Sydney.  Surely, the status quo was as good for them as it was for Mr Giovanni.

“I think you may have misunderstood what I meant by Shovelheads…” Dominic began.  

Oh no, he’d meant it as a derogatory term to belittle us. There was no misunderstanding on that score.

“I didn’t get this idea from you, sir. You’ve been…polite about the facts of our creation.”

“Most shovelheads come clawing their way out of the ground, thirsty, confused and with no idea what is happening to them. Some don’t even realise they’re vampires.  And,” he paused, stressing the word, “they’re usually buried very close to where they can cause the most trouble.”

Could that be said for Milk Beach?  A quiet little suburb for the rich and influential?

“Shovelhead, you may have been when you were created, but you are not now.”
“Ah, “ I said, hearing my argument fall into place, “That’s because of the Prince and you. You met us on the beach, gave us our first blood and took us in. You gave us the chance to be ourselves.”
Dominic’s lips twitched into what might have been a genuine smile. “I thank you for the recognition.”

“It is well justified,” I nodded, “And I don’t intend to waste the opportunity you’ve given. Regardless of it being very clear, to me, that our three sires are Sabbat…or at least dealing with them. I have no idea why Garcia would be working with the Sabbat, but he made me for a reason.”

”Or that’s just the lie you tell yourself.” Eclipse said under lidded eyes, not even attempting to look at me. 

I know my lies, I thought as Dominic regained control of the room. Do you, my sister? What lies have your new friends told you.

“I have a feeling that White Shark is more freelance to me,” Stallion said, proving my point.

“Rain, do you consider me to be your adoptive sire?” It was one of those questions meant to gain acceptance.

“Yes, of course. But it has to be acknowledged that Garcia made me for his own reasons, and I believe those are in line with the plans of the Sabbat.”
“Well, while you are under my roof and partaking of my tutelage, and as long as you consider yourself under me, we will defer to the wisdom of my family.”

“We are not part of the struggle between the Sabbat and the Camarilla. We do not participate in the Jihad. We have much better things to do than fight kindred over…theology and false power.”

“Even if they mean to overthrow a Prince?” I asked, genuinely curious.  He’d never spoken about the family like this before. He’d always been at pains to keep the Giovanni’s and us separate.  I wondered if the rest of vampire society would think as he did about our status.

“Even if they mean to overthrow a Prince,” He acknowledged, “If there is an exchange of power, then I will be staying out of it. My family has a long-standing agreement, dating back centuries, under the Convention of Thorns.  We do not interfere.  We’re an independent clan.  We do not get involved in anyone else’s business.  And they do not interfere in ours.” The last said with such finality that I knew Dominic wanted th discussion closed.

“The best way for you to foil the fact that you were shovelheads is to live well and not participate.”

“I don’t intend to.”  I agreed, in theory. “That’s why I wanted discussions on….how to move forward. How not to be their…pawns.”

Dominic straightened, and I knew some edict we were expected to follow was about to be pronounced.

“If, during the party, a fight breaks out, keep your eyes open, be aware, but do not participate. If you have to, exit and return to the car.  Give Bruce a call to get you out of there.”

I wasn’t imagining a fight. I expect it will be subtle, quiet and…deadly. As to Bruce getting us out.  He could, but we’d have to make it worth his while, I’m sure. I had a very bad feeling that we might be alone in this.

“If you want to survive a Jihad, “ Dominic continued, “You will have to get acquainted with those players.”

Right.  Find the players. And I knew just who to talk to first.

“Yes, sir.”

In the lull that followed, there was a small tapping at the office door.

“Before I answer the door, Rain, are there any more questions?” Dominic asked.

“Oh, I’m sure I can pick your brain on the trip over to Pyrmont.” I’d said my peace. The rest, as Dominic rightly said, I could find out for myself.

He turned to Eclipse, sitting silently, staring at her hands.“Luna?  Any questions?” 

“No, sir.”

“Sydney’s been good for a long time,” And there was the assumption I was most afraid of. Things are great, why would they change? From personal experience, I knew better. Dominic crossed the room and opened the door to reveal Mads, peering in at the four of us. “Ah, Mads.  What can I do for you?”

“Um…if it’s possible, I’d like to look at your video surveillance, please,” She asked, stepping into the room, the door closed behind. I could see her quick mind assess the scene.  She would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during our latest discussion.

“I’m afraid that’s no. That will not be possible.”

“Not possible?” She replied, taken aback.

“The security of my clients is my paramount concern. That is for your safety as well.”

“Understood,” she replied, disappointed. 

“If I can back Mads up,” Stallion interjected, “There is a person of interest that even I’m a bit curious about.”

A person they were both interested in? The two of them working together? What had these two been up to?

Dominic raised his hands to stifle any more discussion on the topic, “If there are concerns, talk to Bruce about who it is, and he’ll get someone to check it out. Other than that individual looking at the recordings, I’m afraid the answer will always be no .I don’t want anyone of you going in that room.”

Thanks, Mads, I thought bitterly. Before that pronouncement, I could have got in and found out what she wanted to know with the excuse that I did not know it was out of bounds. Now, I would be going against his express word.

It wouldn’t be the first time, a mutinous part of me smirked.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Bruce then,” Mads agreed.

“Hope you have better luck than me,” Stallion said.

“Hmm?  Sorry? Sorry, my heads been really…foggy since getting away from Delith.” Mads seemed miles away, and it wasn’t just me who noticed.

“Foggy?” Eclipse asked, “You talked to Delith?”

“Yeah, she was downstairs in the lounge.”
“She’s not allowed down there,” Eclipse whipped around in defence of Mads, and frankly, us.

If Dominic felt he needed to do something, he gave no impression. Instead, he grabbed his phone from his desk, checking for his keys.

“Rain, are you ready to go?”

“Yes, sir.  Thank you.” I stood to follow him out the door.

“Rain, text me when you’re at the tailor’s?” Eclipse also stood and joined Mads, ” I’ll be down later.”

“Can I tag along?” Mads asked, and though she did look…lonely, I didn’t want to try to explain Lucretia and the Pyrmont house to her.  As much as I sympathised, I did not trust her with that information. I looked to Eclipse, who was ready with an answer.

“Besides clearing your head?”
“A walk would certainly help with that.”

“Is Madeline invited to the tailor’s?”

“No, it’s fine,” Mads looked very uncomfortable at the offer, “I’ll sort myself out for the club.  There’ll be a Salvos open somewhere.”

“No,” Both Eclipse and I said at the same time.

“Join Eclipse for the walk to the tailors. I know you would be enchanting, properly dressed.” She pulled a thread for her jacket, and it began to unravel, “Not that you aren’t beautiful now, of course. A beautiful evening gown makes a pretty girl a princess.”

Mads snorted, “Do I look like a princess?”
“We’ll get you dressed up, relax,” Eclipse added as Dominic suggested something with embroidered butterflies.

“The best thing about clothes is you can be whoever you want in them,” I said with conviction. I’d made a life out of it. “Join Eclipse at the tailor. My shout.”

“Oh, if it’s your money, then.” She smiled broadly at the thought of making me pay through the nose.  Hey, what was sixty thousand dollars for?

11.30 pm Tuesday,  7 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Various

We took the limo to Harris Street.  It seemed it was Dominic’s intent to have Lucretia join us at the tailors. 

One more bit of gossip for the clever Mads, I thought.

After the meeting, Eclipse and Mads planned to go down to the V.I.P. room to wait for my text, but Stallion had ideas of his own.

“I’m going to get in touch with a contact if anyone wants to join me,” He said, pulling out his phone, “I want to organise some joints. What are you doing, Eclipse?”

“Hmm, killing some time,” She said, leaning into Mads, “What do you want Mads?  Go with me later or with Stallion? You haven’t poured a drink over my head, yet.”

“Sure, I can ruin that hair for you,” Mads smiled, “We’ll catch you there, Stallion. Eventually.”

Delith was still in the lounge when Eclipse and Mads arrived. 

“Ignore her,” Eclipse whispered, crossing the room to the bar.

Mads tried keeping the growing crowd between her and Delith, but luck wasn’t with her that night.

“Come here,” Mads felt more than heard. Eclipse turned to see Mads stumbling gracelessly towards Delith.

“Mads…Madeline…” Eclipse grabbed her friend’s arm, but it was like Mads was no longer there.

“Back so soon?” Delith said to Mads as Eclipse death stared here across the lounge.

“I got what I needed done,” Mads replied, much like her usual self.  Eclipse looked on, trying to think if she knew a way to break the domination.

“What’s Eclipse doing?”

“Getting a drink, I suppose.”

“Invite her over,” Delith commanded.

Eclipse glanced around the room, hoping to find someone she knew.  Though the lounge was busy, she didn’t see anyone, and eventually, she couldn’t ignore Mad’s genuinely friendly gestures, behind her eyes, the terror at the loss of control.

Oh Lord!  Eclipse mumbled and walked over to Mads and Delith, “Are you going to hog Mads all night?”

“Well,” Delith said close and low so only they could hear, “Just between us girls, you take what you want and leave the rest.”

“Last time I checked, she wasn’t your type.”
“No, but there are other things to feed on.  Knowledge, trade, secrets…”She smiled, but it never reached her dark eyes.

“And what’s a stray from Circular Quay going to tell you?”

“Oh, you never know. We all pick up fleas.”

Quietly, and without fanfare, Eclipse raised the blood and looked deep within Delith’s soul to see the sin lying there. Instead of the person who was Delith, Eclipse saw her myriad of character flaws, the delusion of grandeur, her ambitious nature, and her desire to kill, just for the fun of it. 

She wanted to be adored…and enjoyed killing for it.

“Well, you know, Delith, I’m sure you miss mixing drinks down here…and I can testify to how wonderful you are at making them.  Perhaps if we were to go upstairs, you could make Madeline and me a nice one?”

“I get to choose the drink?” Delith’s plastered-on smile softened to become something almost genuine, “See as I am an expert mixologist. I’ll make a drink to put that Kiasyd to shame.”

“Of course. I would expect nothing less, “ Eclipse graciously agreed.

“I suppose I’ll relinquish whatever hold I have on Mads, if you will indulge me,” And she leaned in close and whispered in Mads’ ear.  

“Write down anything you say for me.”

Eclipse dropped her eyes, so as not to give away that she heard the whole thing, and together they climbed the stairs to the common room.

Stallion was already on the phone to Nightrider.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s me, Stallion.”
“How ya doin’there my little ball of flesh?”

Stallion was thrown for a moment. What did Nightrider mean by that? 

“Pretty alright.  I was thinking about the Succubus Club, and I was thinking it would be a more enjoyable with a bit of substance. A few joints.”

“Anything else?  Something more potent, maybe?”

“Such as…?” For all Stallion’s drug use, his experience at the wide variety was limited.

“Some of these old-timers don’t mind a little opium.”

“To suck up to them…sure…”

“Sure. I’ll make you some Christmas trees.” Stallion had no idea what Nightrider was talking about, but it sounded good to him. Festive even.

“Now, I don’t need it now. If you need a night to secure the good stuff, I’m good until the Club.”
“Sure, what are you going to get for me?”

“What do you want? Money or…”
“I could do a minor boon…”
“Sure…”

“Of my choosing?”

“Within reason.”
“Of course!” Nightrider replied sharply. His limit of being friendly with Stallion was met, “Where do you want to get it?”

“I could come to you.” And Nightrider gave Stallion directions to Little Bay Beach.  

Retrieving the motorbike from the carpark, Stallion headed out to make his deal.

Meanwhile, Dominic and I were pulling up outside Pyrmont.  As I opened my door to exit the car, Dominic waved me back, “Stay here, I”m going to be quick.”

“I’m joining you.”

“We’re not stopping for questions.”

“I have something to give her,” I checked my pocket, and the slug of ghost goo was still there.

“It can’t wait for her to get to the car?” He was peeved that I was sharing his limelight. It didn’t get any better when the door creaked open, and Lucretia was standing there watching us both.

“Hello, Aunt Lucretia,” Dominic pivoted and put on his best family smile.

“Hello, nephew.  What do I owe this visit?”

“We’re off to the tailors to look at evening dress for the Succubus Club.  I was wondering if you’d like to join us?”

“Sure, and I see you’ve brought your childe.” Yes, I was cramping his style.  Like taking the four-year-old on a date, “And how are you doing? Looking for morsels?”

“Good evening,” I was careful to avert my eyes in case the Lady was watching.  I’m a polite four-year-old. I retrieved the slub from my pocket and handed it to her. “Actually, I have one for you. As promised.” 

She looked it over, inspecting something that was lost to me before it disappeared into a pocket of her dress, “Oh, interesting.  You delivered. Careful, nephew, this one is honest…enough.”

“I’d say this one is the most promising of the three,” Dominic agreed, and for someone with little experience at parental acceptance, the comments sent a thrill through my system. 

Lucretia, much to Dominic’s disgust, turned to me, “Could you do this again, by chance?”

“If the situation presents itself.  I don’t get too many spirits attacking my friends or me, ” I replied honestly.  

She frowned and shrugged, “Only in self-defence…I can work with that. Good, there’s some use in that, and I will ask you about it in the future.”And I felt a different chill, imagining what my next lesson with her may entail. 

“I was wondering,” Dominic interjected, reclaiming his Aunt’s attention, if you’d like to get yourself an evening dress, even if you aren’t joining us at the Succubus Club.”

“Sounds nice.  How is your tailor with…more organic products?”

Dominic smiled, showing a little pride in his choice of tailors, My tailor does do requests.”

“So if I gave him…say…sixteen feet of skin, he could make me something?” 

“Certainly. He’s worked with many materials in the past.”

“Do I need to be…lowkey?”

“Once inside his store, you can be as blatant as you like.”

Lucretia’s eyes lit up, “Splendid. When were you thinking of going?”

“We’re on our way. I brought the limousine.” Yes, he was desperate to impress.  I’d say he was in love…but we’re talking about Dominic Giovanni…though it would align with their reputation.

“Could you give me ten minutes to acquire the materials?” She asked, as if intending to drop down the local haberdashers.

“Certainly.”

Dominic and I entered the lounge, taking up residence while Lucretia left via the front door. We sat in silence for ten minutes as three people ceased to exist and were never seen again, or they would be; on her. When she returned, a long piece of fresh-cut skin lay draped over one arm. 

“Excellent!” Dominic said, leading the way back to the car, and holding open the door for his Aunty.

“Rain, are you coming?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” I replied, closing shut the door of the old Pyrmont house and joining Lucretia. 

12.00 am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Eclipse and Mads drank the drinks supplied by Delith with good grace.  Fawning over her good taste and skill as a mixologist had mollified her somewhat. Once the drinks were delivered, she left the two of them to their misery. Mads was actually enjoying hers, still under Delith’s Dominate. She’d grabbed a stack of napkins and pen from staff and between sips was writing down everything said. Eclipse, on the other hand, was watching the clock. The delay with Lucretia meant Eclipse was waiting on a text that never arrived.  

AT THE TAILOR YET? She finally sent and was ready when my response arrived, not long after.

ON ROUTE. SEE YOU THERE.

“Finish your drink. It’s time to go,” Eclipse said, leaving her own glass behind.

“Absolutely,” Mads quickly scrawled what Eclipsed said before polishing off her own drink and following Eclipse out the door.

The air was heavy.  Christmas was close, and the humidity in Sydney was a creature to itself, all paws and heavy breathing. They walked around the corner to Norton Street.  They spoke sbout nothing consequential, but everything, no matter how mundane, was documented for Delith’s edification.

“What am I going to do with you Mads?” Eclipse said, almost laughing at the lengths Mads was going to get every word down.

“I-don’t-quite-know,” Mads articulated as she wrote.

“How is your head?”

“Still-a-bit-foggy, but-it-will-go-away-in-time-I’m-sure.”

“Just stop writing on your skin.  Turn over the napkin if you’ve run out of room.”

“No-I-need-more-napkins,” She started another note in the corner of her current napkin, “Shopping-list.  Napkins.”

“Come on, or we’ll never get to the tailors.”
“This-sucks-by-the-way.”

“That’s compulsions for you.  Next time, you may listen when we tell you about Delith.” Eclipse gave in and waved down a taxi.

“So-does-it-get-lonely-in-the-big-city?”

“That’s irony coming from you.”

“I-just-want-to-give-Delith-something-juicy.  Some-big-drama-so she-feels-like-she-has-the-upper-hand.”

“Have you ever thought you might be the drama?”

1.47 am Wednesday,  4 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Stallion rode up to Little Bay Beach carpark to the sound of the breakers crashing against the shore somewhere in the dark. Also out there in the dark was Nightrider, living up to his name, surfing when most other surfers would fear to enter the water. Seeing the motorbike’s lights, he rode a set into shore and met Stallion on the beach.

“Thanks for that, mate,” Nightrider said, shaking sandy hands with Stallion, “I was worried you’d ‘dine and dash’ on me.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” Stallion replied, “You have the product.”

Nightrider shrugged, “Ah, some people think they’re owed a free meal,” and he pointed to a black velcro bag waiting for Stallion on the sand.

Stallion picked it up and felt its weight.  There were some good times ahead with its contents.

“I don’t want you coming after me or calling the vampire police, or whatever. With people so powerful, you’d better not make enemies.”

“Exactly,” Nightrider smiled, his white teeth almost the only things visible in the night, “So we’ll talk about that little boon later.”

Nightrider made to leave, “Anything else you need?  I’m going to catch some more waves.”

“You go ahead. You look like you’re enjoying yourself. Maybe one day we can catch some waves together.” Stallion said, though being from the Minto, he’d lived a life forty kilometres from decent surf and never learned, “Are the waves good here?”

“Yeah, they’re very good.” Not offering a spot on his wave.

“I’ll have to practise.  Don’t want to look like a complete idiot in front of you.”

“Hmm.”

With Nightrider’s noncommittal response, Stallion mounted his bike, waved farewell and left to join the rest of us at the tailors.

12.20 am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Crow Bar

Lucretia, Dominic and I were first to arrive.  Dominic, once more acting the gentleman, ran around to get Lucretia’s door so she could sail through, trailing her sixteen feet of human skin. 

WE ARE HERE, he send a text to the tailor who opened the door for his prestigious guests.

“Ah, good, good. How can I help?” The tailor asked, eyeing us all critically.  

“Suits for tomorrow, plus a special order for the lovely lady here.”
“Hmm, what did you bring?” The tailor asked, now taking in the ‘fabric’ Lucretia had brought, with some surprise.

“Just a little something,” Lucretia, equally silver-tongued as her nephew, stepped up and handed over the skin, “I’m sure a man of your skills and talent could do something with this.” I was disconcerted when the skin squelched when handed over, but the tailor didn’t seem ruffled.

“Yes, yes.  The rest of you, please, come in.” 

Eclipse and Mads arrived not long after and joined Dominic and I at the front of the shop as Lucretia and the tailor discussed her dress out the back. I browsed the clothes on racks, comparing what I knew of Eclipse and Mads with what was on offer.

Eclipse scanned through the clothes on display, but Mads looked out of place, standing back and not even looking at what was on offer.

“Maybe start with some new everyday clothes and work from there.” I pulled a couple of baby-doll gothic dresses that Eclipse took a fancy to.

“How about you?  Do you have your suit?” Dominic asked, me.

“Oh, I’ve had mine for a while. Even had it modified to fit Lupara.  You still think it’s a good idea to take her?” 

“No one will fault you for carrying a piece.  It doesn’t mean you have to pull it out.”
Lupara, as a sawn-off shotgun, was a little more than a piece, but I accepted Dominic’s judgement and made a note to say no more about it.

Dominic himself, on the other hand, seemed to have gone mad.  He pulled out a cotton medieval shirt, a slim-line vest and trousers that looked like they belonged on a rockabilly, all matched up with a long-line coat lined with buttons from the 1600s. I guessed he was trying to appeal to as many of the old-timers at the Club as possible, without appealing to anyone. My suit, on the other hand, said something about me that I believed everyone could interpret.

Vestis virum facit, or for the modern world, the clothes make the man.

Mads was starting to come round to the idea of owning something nice to wear, but turned up her nose at the dresses on offer. 

I showed her to a section with more business clothes, “ Tailor can make something in any material.  A beautiful blue brocade would go with your auburn hair.”

Digging around, she found a man’s tuxedo, tailored to fit a feminine figure and winced at the price.

“It’s two thousand dollars.”

I shrugged, “It’s about the person you want to portray, Mads.  Who do you want to be? If that suit is it…go for it,” 

“It’s a lie, but I guess it will work, “ and she was soon in search of a pair of stilettos to match.  

All clothes are a lie,  I thought to myself, but with this group, I didn’t want to muddy the waters with truths.

2.15 and 41 seconds am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Tailors

Stallion arrived late into the visit.  As he’d already been in the office when we arrived for the chat, I hadn’t seen his feet, and certainly didn’t pay much attention to his face.  He now limped in on small neat hooves only just hidden by this voluminous robes, and wearing a face that was only reminiscent of his original features.

“Stallion?  What the…what have you done to yourself?”

“What do you mean, what have I done to myself?” Could he really be so oblivious to hooves?  Or was he really turning into his namesake.

“You…have…hooves! You have a limp and …your face is weird.”

“Oh, the hooves…I woke up like that,” He replied just as casually as if he’d awoken with a large zit on his chin.

“You woke up with hooves!?  That can happen?!” And I used to worry about male pattern baldness.

“I think it’s one of those clan weaknesses Dominic was saying.” 

“That doesn’t happen to Toreadors, does it?  Mr Giovanni? Tell me that doesn’t happen to Toreadors!” 

“No, your clan weakness is more fixating on something you find beautiful,” Dominic assured me, and I accepted his word.  Fixating on the beautiful didn’t sound much like a weakness to me.

“Hey, that’s a point.  Maybe the tailor can do something with my hooves,” Stallion said and went in search of the tailor.  

I thought they should be made into glue.

2.30 am Wednesday,  6 hours until sunrise, 2 days until the S.C. Tailors

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of the six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: A ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador, current whereabouts unknown.

Francesco: a werewolf, part of the Spiral Dancers who investigated the Pyrmont basement. 

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of the homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Harold Zettler: Chairman of the board of Pentax multinational. Standing member of the Sabbat.

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Vampire Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire who has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Pentax: a multinational group that is involved in a secret project called Omega.

Persephone:  Sixth gen Malkavian who works security for Pentax an multinational company. Her sire is Harold Zettler. Something to do with the Spiral Dancer.

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Rumplestiltskin: A Kiasyn mixologist who uses fairies in his drinks.

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

Tar- Anis:  see Persephone.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation was the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kiasyd: Part of the La Sombre Clan.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.

8.00 pm Tuesday,  10 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Warehouse, somewhere in Punchbowl

I drew upon the blood and found the path out of my body simply enough. With Lady Merritt Stone’s face firmly fixed in my mind, I travelled, not as I had done to Woolongong, experiencing the distance as my mind sped across the physical land, but one moment I was detached from my body, the next was was in front of Merritt.  She was in a dark, abandoned warehouse room, empty boxes and pallets lay in untidy piles.  She was sitting by a table, an old office desk lit by a feeble desk lamp.  At my appearance, she turned, her black hair flowing like silk over her shoulder, her dark eyes finding mine.  If I’d had any breath, it would have frozen in my lungs. She was so lovely.  She rose, and as I’d noticed before, we stood eye to eye, the same height.

In the periphery of my vision, something large moved in the near dark to the right.  Without taking my eyes from Lady Merritt, I noticed a young cow, the red and white sort.  Beside it, seemingly taking care of it, was the tall, bedraggled frame of Izac. From my last visit, I knew that Izac could not detect me, and though I knew the Lady could see me, I didn’t know if she could hear me as well.  

I bowed in greeting and started my mime of gestures to go with my verbal message, “Good Evening, I (gesturing to myself) have (grasping something from the air and drawing it to me) the (pointing to Izac) heart.”

The Lady’s face slipped from a neutral curiosity to a wicked smile, full of fulfilled ambition and dark intent.  My heart knew nothing of the Lady’s intentions.  All it knew was that I had made her smile. 

In the corner, behind the cow, I could see Izac’s head whipping back and forward between Merritt and me. It was good to see him aware and engaged. It gave me hope of a happy ending to all this.  

“Is everything okay?” He asked Merritt, who glanced away from me at the sound of his voice.  

“Yes, some good news.”  Her voice, deep and melodious, was frustratingly not directed at me.  It was completely wasted on him, and I spared no time drawing her attention back to me. 

I brought my hands together, “Can we meet to handover the heart?” I clumsily grabbed for something in my chest and offered it to her.

She rolled her eyes, “I can hear you, you know.”

“Oh,” I hadn’t known and put my hands down at my sides, “Apologies.  That makes things a great deal easier.” 

Izac turned so he could watch the space where I was standing and the Lady Merritt at the same time, only a bystander to her part of the conversation.

“We’re on the road at the moment, and we’d like to drop the heart off with Izac before we return to the community,” I informed her and the triumphant smile dissolved as she considered our plans.

“Of course, I’d be happy to drop it into your current location, but when a Lady speaks of booby traps, I tend to pay attention.”  I smile, hoping my double entendre would reclaim her smile.  

She glanced down at her own swelling breast, and I did spy a rye smile.

Rapture!

“Who are you talking to?” Izac interrupted, and I was very pleased he felt safe enough to converse so openly with the Lady, but did he really have to cramp a brother’s style?

“Oh, one of your friends,” Merritt informed him, “He feels like he’s being helpful.” 

I didn’t much like the patronising sound of her reply.  I’d seen what getting the heart meant to her; she couldn’t tell me it wasn’t important.  She was trying to put me in my place…as long as that was by her side, I didn’t mind too much.

“It…can’t be….Rain?” Izac put it all together. I smiled, genuinely pleased to hear him say my name.

“That’s his name, yes,” She confirmed, and now I was happily the centre of attention, if only one of them could hear or see me.

“He’s here?” Well, we never said Izac was bright.  Eclipse was always the brains of that team. 

“In a manner of speaking.” 

Izac now tried to face me.  His eyes shot past me by a foot or two, but I did appreciate the effort.

“Rain, can you hear me?”

I turned to Lady Merritt, knowing if any sort of conversation with Izac was to occur, it would be through her and with her good graces.

“Would you mind translating for us, my Lady?”

“No.” A very definite and final negative.

“I got the heart.  Surely that’s worth one small inconvenience?” I tried negotiating with her.  She laughed, tinkling, cold and mirthless.

“For what we have planned it is,” She replied, and I was once more reminded of larger plans in place around us.  Pawns, less than pawn…that’s all we were, and I was finding the concept tiring.

“I’m afraid you’ll just have to demonstrate some patience.” She added, a little kinder, and I was once more pleased she could not read my mind.

“I know for one as young as you, it may seem harsh, but these things require…an opportune moment.”

“Very well,” I brushed off the idea as if it mattered not a jot to me. I wasn’t going to let her see my disappointment.

“Is he still here?” Izac asked.  He hadn’t given up hope of getting his message through.

“Does it matter to you if he’s here or not?” Merritt asked, and to me, hearing it out of context of what had gone on between the two of them, I wondered what nonsense she’d been putting in his head.

“Yes, actually.”
“Hmm, “ The Lady was not pleased with his reply.  I, on the other hand, was exceedingly happy to hear, “What would you like to say?”

Again, Izac turned to where he thought I was, “Tell her I will be there soon.”

I could have cried, except as an incorporal, there were no tears to shed. Lady Merritt had other thoughts on Izac’s message.  She shrugged uncomfortably and turned to look at me.

“As you say, we are young.” I shrugged back with a smile. 

“Tsk!” She sighed heavily, “The cliche of it all.” As if sending a message of love were a childish game and not the result of still having an emotional life.

“It’s romantic.  They’ve gained comfort and peace in each other.” I defended the star-crossed lovers.  One that would defy the powerful Lady who held him thrall, the other that would defy her Prince to see him whole.  If this wasn’t what the world was for, then what?

Unfortunately, my words stirred nothing in the Lady.  After four thousand years, it seemed the rub of just staying alive one more night had taken its toll.  She rolled her pretty eyes back to stare at me balefully. I wondered if I’d ever live to be so jaded.

“Maybe you just never found the right person, “ I suggested with a shrug. She didn’t think highly of that thought either.

“Well, can Izac be let out to meet with us?” I said, getting back to why I’d popped in.

“In two days it will be fine.  You can meet up then.  But you have to be patient.” 

This wasn’t a matter of patience; it was a matter of stealing from the Prince and walking around with the incriminating evidence.

“The heart is hot.  We really can’t go back to the coterie with the heart. We need to hand it off.”

“Of course its hot.  You decided to play the dangerous game, and now you have to follow the rules,” She responded without equivocation or shred of remorse, “Any good thief will tell you you don’t just palm them off immediately.”

I took offence at that statement.  I am many things, and one of them is being a good thief.

“A good thief always makes sure their fence is lined up, ready to receive. I had arranged a fence to take the goods, or so I thought. ”
“Well, all the same.” She demurred, accepting my argument, and I took that as a small victory. Regardless, it did not sway her, “It will have to wait.”

The idea of walking around for the next two days with the heart somehow reminded me of Eclipse’s horrifying suggestion.

“My co-conspirator has the idea of placing the heart within herself.  As distasteful as I find the idea, I wonder now if such an action would cause problems at your end.”

She shrugged as if I’d suggested placing the heart in a smalls draw for safekeeping.  

“It would probably be a problem for them…her.”

“Would it affect Izac?”

“No, but he will need it back.” And that was the problem.  It was one horrible idea to install Izac’s heart alongside Eclipses, but how do we get it back when we finally meet him?  I don’t think Izac would appreciate me cutting open his girlfriend at their reunion.  Even if I could.  Though I guess it would make a spectacle that the others at the Succubus Club could talk about for centuries.

“We’ll be at the Club in two days.  Didn’t you want the heart before the big event?”

“Well, we have it now, we know where it is, and we know where it’s going to be. In two days, it needs to be at the Succubus Club.”

“We need to take it to the Succubus Club,” I replied, deflated. “Is there no way I can persuade you to take the heart now?  This is not the arrangement we made.”

“Ah, but it is a good lesson learn,” And as lovely as she was, I could have told her exactly how I’d been taught that particular lesson all my life. I kept my word. I said I’d get the heart, and I did.  Was it so much to expect people to reciprocate?

“That people go back on their word?”

She sighed, as if reading my mind, “The desired result for all will come in time.”

Damn her. Two nights. Two more nights and all will be revealed.  We were still midway through the magician’s performance. The prestige was to come.

“It sounds like magic.”

“Exactly.  Impress everyone.”

“Oh,” I smiled, knowing more than ever that this was the truth that my life pivoted on, “I intend to.” 

There was nothing else to be said.  My mind already working on this new puzzle Lady Merritt had presented me, I disconnected from the image of her that had brought me here, and returned to my body.

***********************

In the warehouse, Lady Merritt Stone gave a silent shrug and returned to her seat at the desk. It seemed to Izac that I’d either gone or been dismissed.

Great, Izac complained to himself. And here I am stuck with the crazy four-thousand-year-old vampire again.

Still, he had a cow, and as he settled back into his own quiet comteplation he realised that the last few days had been the most peaceful and safest time since…ever. Had he ever felt so…calm?  

There’s always the calm before the storm, his treacherous thoughts supplied.

Yeah, well, there are two more days.  There’s still time.

***********************

My eyes opened, and I was aware of the hum of the car on the asphalt, the soft breeze of the airconditioning and the long stretch of road ahead.  I breathed in to speak, startling Eclipse.

“Can you try not to give me a heart attack?!” She exclaimed, though her hands on the wheel were steady. I had to admit, she was a better driver than me.

“Sorry,” I quickly apologised, then realised what she’d said, “Heart attack, funny.”

“I can joke,” She said, deadpan, belying her words.

“So, I have good news and bad news.”
Her expression darkened as she contemplated the worst I had to say.

“Okay, then, I suppose the bad news.”
“Change of plan.  Now that Lady Merritt Stone knows where the heart is, and that it is safely with us, she would like us to keep it until the Succubus Club.”

The silence was broken only by the soft hum of the car and the rasp of Eclipsed nails on the steering wheel.

“Great.”

“Yes.  She felt I needed to learn that people don’t keep their promises.”  I stopped before I said something I’d regret.  Being charmed by the lady meant I was even more deeply frustrated and disappointed with her.  She was perfection; why couldn’t she act like it?   I swallowed the bitterness and focused my thoughts on the second half of my message.

“Would you like to know the good news?”

“Okay.”

“Izac is very much alive, and he seems to be doing well.  He couldn’t hear me, but worked out I was there from Lady Merritt’s behaviour.  He said…he’ll be with you soon. His first thought was for you.”

I watched as a twitch of emotion flashed across Eclipse’s face.  It was hard to tell in the dark of the car, but I’m sure I saw a smile.

“So, now we’re back to planning what to do with the heart.  Do you really want to do that…in your chest thing?”

“Putting it in my chest cavity will be uncomfortable, and I’m sure it will hurt as much going in as it does going out.”

“I did ask Lady Merritt about you doing that.  She didn’t seem to have any strong opinion on the matter.”

“No, my body would just be a storage box, the same as the jar. The problem is getting it in and pulling it out, at the Succubus Club.” She spoke so matter-of-factly that I was almost convinced it was our best idea.  Then her words rang a bell in my mind.

“Box…” I started rummaging through my pockets. 

‘I’m sure there’s always a place to hide in the shadow….it would be risky but…” She continued as my fingers found what they were looking for, pieces of my old puzzle box.

I silently started putting the box back together, my fingers working each movement until it was as smooth as I remembered. When it was back together, I held it up so Eclipse could see it. A small plain wooden box, eighteen by seven by six centimetres in dimension, sitting open in the palm of my hand. 

“I’m driving.”

“No, but what do you think?  The heart’s pretty shrivelled… it should fit fine.  We could line it with something…”, and I pulled from a sleeve one of my many silk scarves and lined the wood interior.

“What do you think?  Then you can hold onto it.  Small enough to carry in your pocket. It has the added benefit that I’m one of the only people who know how to open it.”

“Okay,” She said after a lot of thought, “Then the only problem we do have is what effect will it have on him squashing the heart in that box?” 

“I understand as long as it’s not punctured…” I needed her to believe in this plan, “It’s just that even if we somehow get the heart into you tonight, “ I cringed with the effort of trying not to visualise that disaster, “I don’t know how we’re going to get it out of you at the Succubus Club…without a spectacle.”

Eclipse was quiet for a long time, “Okay, we’ll try the box.”  I didn’t need telling twice.  The black bag with the jar was at my feet. Placing the box on the dashboard, I opened the jar and extracted the heart.  I’d never held a heart in my hands before, certainly never one of someone I knew.  It was…awe-full, as in the old use of the word.  I was suddenly very aware of life I literally held in my hand. Putting down the jar, I picked up the box and carefully placed the heart inside, wrapping it in the red silk of the scarf before closing the lid and locking the mechanism. It closed with a smooth and satisfying ‘click’.

I smiled as I reached over and put the box in Eclipse’s jacket pocket, where she kept anything of importance. Promise kept.  

“There.  It’s all yours.” 

Now we just needed to live through the next two nights.

“Thank you, Rain,” Eclipse said quietly, and no higher praise did I want or need. 

“I hope it’s all worth it in the end.  Still, we’ve done our bit. Let’s go home.”

8.00 pm Tuesday,  10 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C.   Crowbar

Mads and Stallion were still in the bar.

“So do you think it’s going to bite us in the arse?” She asked, once more scanning the crowd for the kindred who’d given them the bomb.

“Depends how we play it, I suppose,” Stallion replied, unconcerned, with an air of boredom.

Mads turned her pretty blue eyes on her companion, “How do you intend to play it?  We blew up a theatre!”

Stallion shrugged, confident in his long life as a goon and thug, “Sure, there’s always a mastermind behind these things. We’re just a couple of chumps, heh?” 

“Suurre, but wouldn’t they just shoot the messenger anyway? Especially if that messenger was the one to dropped off a bomb?”

“A favour could be traded.  What’s your life worth in the hands of another?” he said it with such quiet confidence that Mads couldn’t help but take the thought seriously.

“You don’t want me to answer that question.” She went back to scanning the crowd, “Still, I am interested in seeing where that little bastard went.”

“You’ll have to wait for Dominic.  I tried to get in to see the Security Tapes, but Bruce blocked that, and I have no idea how to use the computer.”

Mad’s turned, her eyes flashing and a retort ready on her lips, then she thought better of it, “You know what, I’m going to leave that.  It was there for me to say and…I’m going to leave it. Can I have a drink, please?”

“Just pissing it up?  I have some things to discuss when Dominic comes back,”

“Sure, I’ll join you, but I need something to distract myself,” She said, holding out her glass.

He shrugged, taking her glass and standing, “I suppose you are a happy drunk.”
“Its better than being sober.” Somehow, this thought led Mads to think about us, “Where is everyone, anyway?”

Stallion stopped to think, its hard to do two things at once. “I haven’t heard from Rain or Eclipse…” How long had it been since we’d seen each other?  The night of the meeting?  The night I told Eclipse about the plan to steal the heart? “Dominic’s preparing stuff for The Night.”

“I haven’t seen them since I went into the sewers,” Mads mused out loud, the string of drinks making her forgetful of where she was and who she was with.

“They’re probably doing their own thing,” Stallion shrugged, unconcerned and once more not really caring.

“Is that normal for them?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re having a rendezvous of their own.”

The difference between me, Eclipse, and Stallion came in to clear focus for Mads at that moment. There seemed to be very little, if anything, that the three of us had in common.  To her, I and her drinking partner were on completely opposite sides of a social scale.

“How did the three of you manage to come together?”

“Buried at the same beach,” Stallion replied casually.

“That’s a strange coincidence,” The sharp mind of Mads broke through the alcoholic fog, and she smelt a story.

“Coincidence, yeah.  Such is life.” Stallion shrugged again.  

“Huh?  Ever wondered why?”

“There always seem to be more pressing issues. Like what I’ve become.” Suddenly, Stallion’s tone shifted and became more introspective and sullen.

“And what exactly is that, Stallion?”

“A vampire.” He said heavily as if dropping a slab of concrete.

Mads waved a hand as if to clear the dust created by Stallion’s pronouncement, “Look, after a while it becomes old hat, okay.  Give it a couple of years, and you’ll wake up, ‘Oh, I’m dead again, time for work.”

“I’m not that bloody gone.” Stallion replied, “I haven’t gone mad over it.”

“No, I haven’t either, but you kind of get used to your position after a while.”

“I suppose I can send a text to Rain and Eclipse, since you were asking, “ Stallion said, returning to the table with new drinks.

“I haven’t heard hide nor hair of them,” Mads agreed, and Stallion pulled out his phone.

AT THE CROWBAR.  WHERE YOU AT?  MADS IS ASKING.

STILL A COUPLE OF HOURS AWAY.  LOOKING FOWARD TO CATCHING UP. Came my reply a few moments later. He showed his phone to Mads.

“Well, if they’re coming back, they’re coming back.” She said, sounding disappointed. 

“They’re looking forward to meeting back up, so maybe they’ll spill the beans.”
“Maybe.  Maybe they’ll keep their little secrets. People tend to.”
“I don’t know what to bet on what they were doing?”

“I don’t know enough about them to make an educated guess, but…whatever it is, it’s probably best we don’t pry. I’d had to be implicated.”

8.00 pm Tuesday,  10 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Somewhere on the Great Western Highway

My phone buzzed, and I quickly flipped it open, sure it was another message from our adoptive sire.  I was surprised when I saw it was a message from Stallion.

AT THE CROWBAR.  WHERE YOU AT?  MADS IS ASKING.

“Our brother, “I sighed, unsure what to do with Stallion.  After his actions at Elysium, I was concerned about what he had planned for the Succubus Club.

“We usually don’t hear from Stallion,” She replied, and I had to agree.  Something had to be up for him to message one of us.

“No.  Things must be heating up.” I read the message again, “Oh, Mads is asking.  That makes more sense.  He’s not asking, Mads is. Of course it’s Mads.” She was far too clever for us and our machinations.  

“I assure you, Stallion would never ask for us,” Eclipse said,  “Unless he needs something, of course.”

“I’m disappointed with that,” I admitted with regret that maybe I should have done more, “I was hoping, you know, that first night we climbed out of the sand, that we’d make for ourselves a little family…nevermind.” I’d shared my home, and he abused it,  then promptly made himself forget all about it.  Fuck him.

“Don’t hold it against yourself, “ Eclipse said. She didn’t need to read my mind, “It’s his nature… it was the first thing we were told about him.”

“It was, “ I admitted with a shrug, “Bobby Listener…”

A gangrel you neither city or country.

A lonely lot you are.

The age may no longer be dark, but you’ve not darkened yet.

A rose that wants a garden is common,

Flowers are best alone.

I no longer found comfort in his predictions.  They were becoming all too true.

I texted back.

STILL A COUPLE OF HOURS AWAY.  LOOKING FOWARD TO CATCHING UP.

8.00 pm Tuesday,  10 hours until sunrise, 3 days until the S.C. Somewhere on the Great Western Highway

Notable NPCs

Abram: Ventrue, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Agaricus: Children of the Moon, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Alex Holmestead: Husband of Mads. Location and status unknown.

Alicia: Toreador Vampire met at the Crow Bar

Ambrogino:  5th Generation Vampire, Cappadocian and Elder of the Giovanni Clan.  

Avel:  Rain’s mother, a wraith.

Beelzebub: Fallen angel, demon entity in Rain’s pocket watch.

Blanco Falzo: A  man who had made into the likeness of Stallion’s dog for a time.  Now deceased.

Bobby Lisner: Malkavian seer who lives in an old Sewer pipe in The Rocks.

Brendan Virgil: A.K.A. Miss Divine Intervention.  Rain’s close friend.

Bruce: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni

Cabolut Hazzim: the name given by a vampire who cleared out the homeless at Rain’s old squat. Prince’s Assassin.

Days of the Week: Pseudonyms for members of the Baali group Eclipse (Luna) is now part of.  She is Sunday, and they are missing Wednesday. Tuesday seems to be their nominal spokesperson, though they seem to have no leader.

Delith: Ambitious Ventrue bar staff at the Crowbar.

Detective Woodman:  NSW Police ‘premiere’ detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia.  He currently has an assistant named Notetaker.

Doctor Willis Hodge: Ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.

El Torcedor: “The Twister” or ore accurately, “The Fleshcrafter” A Tzimisce from South America

Founders of Sydney Masquerade:  Those still alive:  Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Wollongong, Agaricus, Child of the Moon, Tasmania, Montague Layton, Toreador current whereabouts unknown.

Francis Tuttle: Name given in charge of the investigation into the deaths of homeless in Surry Hills.

Garcia: Sire.  Unknown location.

Giuseppe Giovanni: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni and nephew. 

Joel Mitchell: Mads’ friend. Deceased.

Kenneth Stahl: South African Giovanni (exiled)

Laibon: Clan out of Africa

Lady Merritt Stone: A very old and powerful vampire that has taken an interest in Izac.  Rain spoke to her about the Coterie and Izac’s mission

Lambach Ruthven: Kin met at the theatre.  Sire of Dracula. Drug addict.

Lenny: Rain’s Ghoul and artist friend, now with mages.  Location unknown.

Lucretia:  Childe of Ambrogino, now caretaker of the Pyrmont House and teacher to Dominic

Madeline Blackwell: Ghoul of Mr Giovanni, working at the State Coroners Court.

Montague Layton: Toreador, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Night Rider: Red-haired vampire?  Works for the Prince.

Pangea: a Nosferatu (tunnel builder)

Padre Craneo:  Nagaraja vampire met at the Crow Bar

Paul: a Nosferatu of the sewer rats

Prince Lodin: Prince of Chicago (until his final death in the 90s) and sire of Al Capone.

Prince Sarrasine (Sar-ras-seen): Toreador Ruler of Sydney*

Sebastian Melmoth: Kin met at the theatre.  Powerful Toreador. Oscar Wilde.

Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).

Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home

Sydney Sewage Pumping Station number one: Known access to Nosferatu waiting room.

Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.

The Prestiege: The speak for the four Tremere met at the Blavatsky Lodge.

The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain. Lady Merritt

Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.

Vida Goldstein:  an Australian suffragette, originally  interested in women and children welfare.  Malkavian. Diablerised by Dominic.

Wid: Nosferatu, and one of six founders of Sydney Masquerade

Glossary of terms:

Anarchists: a faction of Vampires.  Caused issues in Los Angeles recently, killed the Prince.

Antediluvian: from before the time of the biblical flood.  The third generation that were the progenitors of the thirteen clans of vampires.

Baali: A bloodline bent on keeping beings old before time from waking up and destroying everything. Eclipse and the Days of the Week are Baali.

Banu Haqim: Also know as Assamites, Assassins though sometimes just mercenaries for hire.  

Bone Gnawers: A pack of werewolves

Blood hunt:  A process to destroy a vampire who has broken a tradition.  Specifically mentioned in the sixth.

Blood worm: What a possessed vampire can turn into.  

Black Spiral Dancers: A pack of werewolves that worship a being of entropy.

Brujah:  One of the twelve clans of Cain. 

Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.

Camarilla:  a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes.  Believe in hierarchy and order.

Children of Osirus: Bloodline outside the Caine family tradition who practise Bardo, a discipline to control the beast. Izac’s current Bloodline.

Children of Seth: Bloodline the Prince is rumoured to be (originally?)

Clan or Bloodline:  From one of the children of Caine or subsequent established lines of vampires. 

Christopher Charlton: Rain’s pseudonym.

Marauder: A mage gone mad.  Living in his own pocket dimension that answers to the whim of his broken mind.

Diablerie : the drinking another vampire blood and soul

Favour:  How Vampires pay for things they want or need doing.

Fetter: A place, person or thing that binds a wraith to the Shadowlands.

Gangrel: A bloodline of vampire.  Stallion’s Bloodline.

Ghouls: Servants of a vampire who have been fed vitae.  They are loyal, stronger, and more resilient, and sometimes, they show other powers gained from the blood. They must receive the blood at least once  a month or they return to being human. Can be addictive.  

Giovanni: A vampire bloodline that keeps within genetic family ties. Dominic is a Giovanni.

Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves

Hunter:  Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church.  Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.

Kin: Short for Kindred. Vampires, a name among themselves

Kine: Humans

Marauder:  a rouge mage, often mad. They are likely to act in a way that exposes the Otherworld of the Masquerade to exposure. 

Masquerade : The rule that keeps vampire society safe.  Hiding ones nature from the world.

Nagaraja: A bloodline that are obligated to eat the flesh as well as the blood of their victims.

Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.

The Red List: a universal kill list of vampires.  Maintained by the Camarilla, anyone on the list can be mudered without question.

Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.

The Theosophical Society:  A private society of learning and tolerance based out of the Blavatsky Lodge, St. Leonards (https://sydney.theosophicalsociety.org.au)
Tremere Pyramid: A strict hierarchical structure that all Tremere are part of.  Every member knows their place within the Pyramid.  The antidiluvian, Tremere, sits at the top of this pyramid.Below him, the number seven is repeated through the clan’s structure.

Toreador: Bloodline of Vampire.  Rain’s Bloodline.

Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.

Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.