Thursday 10.35 pm 7 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
WITH REGULARS FROM THE BAR.
Izac mulled over Luna’s last text. He remembered being ‘one of the regulars’ himself, in a lifelong distance from this one, inside a taxi, trying to make sense of a five-word text.
He didn’t know any regulars from the bar, and he was pretty sure she didn’t usually hang out with any, either.
REGULARS FROM THE BAR.
There was only one type of regular at the Crow Bar, and normal people didn’t stick around long enough to become regulars there. The feeling that something was wrong was back, and he didn’t know why.
REGULARS
Izac’s black mood filled the taxi, stifling all chat between driver and passenger. Eventually, the taxi rolled up outside the Crow bar. Izac scrounged in his pockets for the twenty-nine dollars and sixty-five cents and silently cursed, having handed over all his money to Mr Giovanni.
The Crow bar looked odd without the familiar Stallion standing outside. Striding in, he glanced around the thinly populated common room where Luna usually sat, not finding her. The feeling rose in him like a tide rolling into a narrow straight, threatening to drown him. With trepidation, he took the stairs down to the VIP room.
He found almost instantly sitting at one of the circular tables in the centre of the room. She had on a rich red velvet witch’s dress with a slit travelling up her thigh, the jagged rent for a neckline exposing her decolletage. Though he’d never seen the dress before, it was soon forgotten as he took in the rest of the table. She seemed in charge of the little group of five who looked like the sort of seedy people he’d spent a living life either avoiding or brawling with on nights out. They looked like the bad kids, gawping at the ‘normal’ folk around them and snickering behind their glasses.
Eclipse saw Izac walk into the bar and stop to scan the crowd. He was out of place in this flimsily disguised room of predatory greed. His brow furrowed, his brown eyes earnest, he looked from face to face until he found hers.
You belong here…he doesn’t, Said Luna’s voice.
Eclipse felt nothing.
She didn’t stand or wave him over. She just watched as he carefully made his way through the crowd towards her.
“Hi, looks like you’re having fun,” He said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, “Friends of yours?”
“New faces, “ Eclipse purred and sipped her drink.
“Ur…we need to talk,” Izac dropped the uncomfortable pretence of small talk and then realised how offish he was appearing, “That is, if you have the time.”
Eclipse considered the statement. She found she had to consider everything these days. Instead of just acting, she had to imagine what Luna would have done in her place.
“Sure, “She finally said, picking up her drink.
Tuesday’s hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist. Izac’s eyes flared at the interaction, but he said nothing.
“If you need any help, just let us know,” Tuesday said, his eyes flicking up at the example of male dominance before them.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about from me, friend,” Izac retorted as he followed Luna out and upstairs to the library.
Eclipse led him upstairs, noticing the way Izac kept rubbing at the red and green skin of his hands or thrusting them deep into pockets alternatively.
“Is that paint? It’s not blood, “She could attest to that tonight, “Why is there paint on your hands?”
“Stallion planned a night out of vandalism,” He pulled his hand out again and examined the splotches of split paint.
“I would have thought that vandalism was out of your ballpark.”
“Yeah. Stallion. The man likes vandalism.” Izac made an embarrassed lopsided smile, “I left him and Delith to it.”
A raised eyebrow, “Delith? Not your crowd at all.”
He shrugged, which said more than a simple gesture would typically allow.
“Look, I know I’ve been cagey about things. I’m in a fair amount of shit and …well…you know I was sent here…to…” The poor good boy couldn’t even say it.
“Kill vampires, “She offered, and his head wobbled in half acceptance.
“Just one…or at least create an opportunity to kill one. I’m here to kill the Prince.”
“Bigfish.” She said without surprise or recrimination.
“I’m not equipped for it.”
She turned to look at the shelves and crouched beside a set of huge leather-bound ledgers. She flipped them back and forth and pulled them out to see behind.
“What is it?” Izac asked, querying this new turn of events.
“Killing the Prince will be hard without information. I know a book….but I can’t find it….”
Izac joined Luna, pulling all the books off the shelf to do the same to the one above and the one above that.
“No, it’s not where it should be. Sticky fingers. “ She finally said, sitting back on her heels, “It was an encyclopedia on Vampires. Good for you, I paid attention.”
Thursday 10.35pm 7 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
The Kauri Foreshore Hotel, like many in Sydney, was built when five pm meant down to the local pub for blue-collar working men, and at that time, Glebe was as blue-collar as they came. The main room held a long bar where you could imagine fifty to eighty dusty, sweaty industrial and factory working men standing around swilling beer. Late on a Thursday night seventy years later, the room was almost empty. A couple were eating a meal, a woman sitting and drinking alone, a few on the obligatory poker machines and that was about it. Even the lone bartender tidied behind the bar with an air of abandonment.
“So, you go sniff out someone that you fan,cy and I’ll join you,” Delith dramatically swept a hand through the air.
Stallion looked at the slim pickings on offer.
“And you’ll find someone to your taste? Anyone like that here?”
“There certainly is, “ She teased, not giving anything away, “But you first, then we can compare.”
“Double date it is,” Stallion said and seriously started judging the talent on offer.
Outside in the beer garden, the woman in her late forties with soft blond hair sat alone, looking out at nothing in particular. Like the place itself, it seemed she’d seen better times.
“How’s your night been?” He asked, casually walking up to her.
“Oh, what? Are you trying to hit on me?” Automatically on the defensive, she softened her tone when she saw a fit young man talking to her, “You could at least buy me a drink.”
“Sure, I was hoping you’d join me and my friend over there in a little competition,” Stallion looked back at Delith, who was staring back with hungry eyes.
“How much is it paying?” The blonde asked, seeing an opportunity.
Stallion pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, and she made it disappear into her bra.
“What do you need?”
“Nothing at the moment, we’ll have to wait to see what my friend finds. As I said, this is a competition.”
“Creepy, but sure. Well, do you have a place?
“We’ll stay here for now.”
“Well, why don’t you buy a girl a drink?” She drained the last dregs of the one she had and returned to staring at nothing.
Stallion went back inside to the bar and ordered two of whatever she was drinking.
“Vodka and Redbull?” The barman confirms forlornly before mixing the drink, “Double?”
“Yeah,” Accepted the poor excuse for a drink and paid. Delith stood in the middle of the room, drawing all the attention to herself. It was as if she felt there was a spotlight just for her, and she was basking in it.
Stallion shook his head and returned to the woman, handing over the fresh drink. She took it eagerly as Stallion took a seat beside her and caught Delith’s attention. He raised a thumb to tell he was set and waited for Delith to make her move. Instead of heading for one of the other customers, she headed straight over to where Stallion and the blonde were sitting.
“Hi, what’s your name, sweetie?” She asked in her saccharine sweet voice that women use on babies. The blonde turned to Delith and smiled faintly.
“Kasey, what’s your name you pretty young thing?”
“Delith, “ Not taking her eyes from Kasey, Delith took a seat.
“I thought you were going to bring your own,” Stallion said reproachfully.
“No, you picked so well,” Delith smiled, and Kasey tried to copy the expression.
“She suits your tastes, then?”
Delith brushed a soft golden lock of hair from Kasey’s care-worn face, “Oh, very much so.”
“So, what do you reckon? Head on out?”
“Yes, we should find somewhere nice and quiet,” Delith winked at Stallion, “Let’s go buy you a car.”
It took Stallion a moment to register what Delith was talking about.
What about the bike?
And then he registered the wink and understood the deception.
“Come on, the night is not getting any younger here,” Delith was now impatient to leave.
“Ah, sure,” He gulped down his drink and was surprised to see Kasey do the same.
Arm in arm in arm, they walked out of the bar and around the corner into the alleyway behind the bar. They shambled merrily, three drunks on their way home together.
“How rude of me, would you like to go first, or can I?” Delith asked as they stopped in the shadows behind the bar. Kasey’s bloodshot eyes flicked from her to Stallion.
“Ladies first,” Stallion said gallantly, instantly spoiling it a moment later.
“I’ve never watched someone…enjoy themselves in front of me before.”
Delith, the predatory hunger back in her eyes leapt at Kasey, misjudging her attack and barely scraped her teeth against the wattled skin of Kasey’s throat.
“What…what are you doing? What the fuck was that?” Kasey pushed Delith away, sending her sprawling on the dirty street.
Delith looked embarrassed and mad.
“Look, you have to work up to it,” Stallion said, stepping in and taking his turn, “You have to do it smoothly, work up to it.”
Taking Kasey’s hand, he kissed the inside of her wrist, the elbow, and her decolletage. Kasey leaned against the wall, relaxing into the feeling as Stallion…kissed her on the neck.
Kasey hardly struggled against Stallion as Delith picked herself off the grubby street and bit into the other side of her neck.
Stallion drank his fill and released the woman. Delith, her excitement building, almost climbed onto Kasey, tearing at her throat and clinging on like a ravenous creature.
“Hey, Delith… Delith, you can quit it now,” Stallion placed a hand on Delith’s shoulder.
With a growling snap of her teeth, Delith turned on him, her lower face covered in Kasey’s blood, “Don’t touch me!”
She returned to the ruin that had been the Kasey, and Stallion became very aware of how exposed they were. He looked around for cameras, overlooking windows and passers-by.
Finally, Delith let Kasey go, and the body slid down the wall to fall into a lifeless heap at their feet.
“Stal, don’t ever do that again,” Delith said, now a little more composed. She pulled a wet wipe from her pocket and cleaned herself up.
“Delith, we didn’t have a look out, someone could have seen. I was worried.”
“In Glebe?” She smiled, and though her face was now clean, her teeth were still stained red. In the darkness, they looked black, “Whatever for?”
“I don’t know,” Stallion was very uncomfortable with how things had turned out. Delith had turned into a ravenous monster, and now they had a body to get rid of. It was all just a little too much, “I thought I lost you there to your own hunger.”
“Look, check yourself, Stal. When I eat, I enjoy it, and I leave nothing behind.”
“Okay, so what now?”
“Well, I have to go back to work.”
“I thought you took a sickie.”
“No, just popped out for a quick bite, I’m sure Mr Giovanni would understand. Besides, I don’t want to disappoint him,” Now Delith looked at what remains of Kasey.
“Know any good ways to get rid of a body?”
“Usually six feet under with animal bones scattered on top,” Stallion replied, his eyes searching the ground. There was no loose ground to dig a hole here.
“Oddly specific. Oh, well, you look strong…”
“You want me to carry her?”
“Not very far. In a dumpster to be found a bit later, or pop her down sewer cover…” She pointed to a square metal plate in the alley behind them.
“Don’t the Nos live down there?”
“They don’t mind leftovers,” She shrugged as if considering the Nosferatu was… unsavoury.
With a half-articulated grumble, Stallion stalked over to the manhole cover. It wasn’t meant to be pried up by fingers, but his were more than able to lift the heavy metal plate away. He returned for Kasey, fished around inside her bra and found his fifty dollars and a few other notes besides. He then dragged and carried the corpse the short distance and stuffed it down the hole. It was a messy job, especially after Delith had finished with it, but once the shoulder was past the hole, the rest of her slithered into the darkness with a satisfying thud.
Delith was waiting by his bike when Stallion returned from replacing the cover. Delith had said she had a taste when it came to her food, but for the life of Stallion, he couldn’t see what Delith had seen in that loser, Kasey. And frankly, what did it matter? Delith was okay, a bit of fun, but she wasn’t a mate or anything. Besides, the expression on her face as she waited for him was bitter, as if Kasey had left a bad taste in her mouth.
Yeah, whatever, Stallion thought and mounted the bike.
In uncomfortable silence, they rode back to Leichhardt, the Crow Bar and their respective jobs.
Thursday 10.50 pm 7 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
“Prince Sarrasine, the sixth generation of the serpent, from the Sabbat, followers of Set. Eclipse, acting the bookworm Luna recited from her readings.
“Sixth generation…bigger than anything I’m capable of taking on…” Izac mused sullenly.
“Yeah, he was embraced during the Byzantine period, but the specific date is unknown. When the fall came, he travelled to England from there to here. He claims to be a Toreador, though that is just a mask, and he has a tendency for Ventrue power.”
“They’re just his mask, though. You said he was a follower of Set? The worst of the worst. No wonder the masks.”
“Interestingly, he overthrew the reign of six others, though I’ve only found the names of three.”
” I think I know where some of them are….from my meeting the other night…I talked to my sire.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me earlier?” A spark of frustrated anger caught in Eclipse’s question. A flash of something ignited in her expression. She looked almost offended.
“I didn’t want you involved…I didn’t want you in danger…”
“Look where we are?!” He hadn’t imagined that look. She was mad.
“I was trying to do this alone. I didn’t want to get any of you involved… I didn’t want to get you hurt.”
“Well, it’s a bit late, isn’t it?”
What did she mean by that? He thought.
Luna had always been a mercurial. He remembered when they first met. She’d launched herself at his neck because her beast had told her to. She was as changeable as the weather. It was part of what made her…her.
“Look, I promised to have your back, and to me, that meant keeping you out of this mess. Like…I’ve lost my heart over this…I don’t want to see that happen to you…or worse.”
Eclipse sat frozen, Luna’s voice in her mind pleading.
Please don’t kill him. I know you see him as something pathetic, but …he’s rare and special. He should be cherished.
Eclipse sighed.
“Well, I only know of three of the six. What do you know?”
Izac’s shoulders released the tension he didn’t know he’d been holding, “Abram, a Ventrue. He’s in Canberra. Agaricus is a Child of the Moon, they’re in Hobart. Wid is a Nosferatu, and he has something to do with the steelworks down on Wollongong. Montague Layton, a Toreador, was in Melbourne, but his child is in charge down there, so no one knows what happened to him.” The names and locations tumbled out of his as if they’d only been waiting their chance to be told, “The other two are dead. I have locations. I just need to find them. I need your help.”
“To kill a serpent?” Luna’s lips curled up in the mockery of a smile, “Sounds like my kind of time.”
Eclipse’s smile froze as a wave of cold shivered up her back. Though a familiar sensation from the time before, it was new to this life, giving her pause. Mocking the serpent was not such a great idea.
Sensing her shiver and thankful for her willingness to help, Izac shuffled closer, putting his arms around her.
“Thank you.”
Eclipse needed to think. Another ‘What-would-Luna-do moment’. In the end, she allowed herself to settle into his embrace. It seemed the best course of action. Threading an arm behind him, she
hugged him back. They sat entwined for a long moment, Izac grateful for the acceptance, Eclipse grateful he was a dull-witted oaf.
“By the way,” Izac broke the silence, “Who are your new friends?”
She was ready for this question. She’d had, had more than enough time to formulate an appropriate reply,
“I got bored. Three days in the same room is enough even for me. So I went downstairs. No Delith, the one time I needed her to make me a drink. They saw me alone and invited me over.”
‘“Nice enough, people?”
She was also ready for this one, “Not your crowd, but they reminded me of people I used to hang with…before these nights.” It was the right mix of innocent reminiscence and ‘you just wouldn’t understand.’
“Wel…I don’t have anything…I mean…you can stay with me…if you want?”
What? Now that you’ve finished all your boy’s talk and nonsense with Stallion? Eclipse thought to herself before she was interrupted by Luna.
Ah, just like a sweet, awkward nineteen-year-old boy…but then again, we kill nineteen-year-old boys, don’t we?
What are you talking about?
The first night, the sweet boy Mr Giovanni gave you to drink from and you….
Stop it.
Suddenly, she realised she’d been silent too long. The look on Izac’s face was shifting from a desperate need for her acceptance to concern.
“It’s just that I had a bad feeling…before. I felt something was wrong. Clearly, I shouldn’t have worried. You’re the smartest person I know, right?”
Oh no, nothing’s wrong, Luna sprung up again, full of snarky vitriol, we’ve come to a realisation, haven’t we, Eclipse?
Inside, Eclipse froze. It’s just a voice…just a voice, and I know the best way to silence it…
She looked around the books in the library as if considering her choices as she decided what to say next.
“I guess I can help you research.”
Instinctly, Izac’s hand went to the moon pendant around his neck. She was with him. His to keep.
“Research is the name of the game now, at least for the rest of this night,” Now he turned to the shelves, focusing on the occult section, “Seen anything about poisons that kill vampires?”
They looked directly for Vampire hunters’ guidebooks and indirect for information sources, including old stories where Vampires died in unusual ways. They found the obvious culprits: garlic, sunlight, running water, fire, silver and true love’s kiss. It seemed, though, that as long as you made sure of the job, a shotgun to the face was very effective. The problem with Vampires was they often didn’t stay down. In that sense, sunlight and fire were most effective. A nuclear bomb would be efficient, but so would a garbage compactor if you stayed there and made sure. And, of course, there was always diablerie.
“Your role is going to be a little more active than you’d like,” Eclipse said after a long search through the texts.
“I had a feeling,” Izac sighed, “What about encouraging the founders to come back? They would want revenge.”
“Unlikely. There was a split within the group themselves. They were already falling apart. Sarrasine just took advantage of the turmoil.”
“Yeah, but at the same time, when you get betrayed together, it’s the enemy of my enemy.”
“I think you’re putting too much faith in people who gave up decades ago.”
“Look, even one would provide leverage…something to balance the scales in our favour.”
“There would be others who want to kill the Prince,” Eclipse suggested.
“Oh, and you’re going to just ask around? Openly?”
She rolled her eyes, “I’m sure you know I know better.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“What about your sire? What side do they work for? What’s their angle?” She asked. Izac’s gloom extended out past him and into the room.
“Yeah, she’s made it quite clear that this is my quest. She’s offered…if I need something…to let her know, but I can’t get in contact with her too often, it will raise too many suspicions. If I’m going to ask her for something, I need to have the plan all setup and ready to go.”
“It has to be worth the ask,” She mused, and he nodded in agreement.
“And I’m running out of time.”
“No, you’re not. What does Mr Giovanni say, we have nothing but time.”
Thursday 10.50 pm 7 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
A bathhouse sounded ideal for a relaxing, fun night out when it had been suggested back at the bar. A few hours of steam, talking, and a little more than talking seemed about my speed. I had unfortunately forgotten a couple of truths about the Vampire body. One is they are cold to the touch. Sure, an ambient temperature of seventy degrees centigrade is going to warm up even a corpse on a mortuary slab, but there is no sweat, or internal heat adding to the warmth in the moment. My touch was forever…cool and, to Brendan, a little clammy.
The second truth I should have remembered from our first night. There is only one thing that arouses the Vampire body, and it does not require the use of…sex organs. Where an erection would be natural, accepted, and, in this case, encouraged…there was nothing.
For the former, I was forever adjusting, getting as close to the heat source as possible, making sure the wine (and whatever other substances Brendan wanted) kept flowing. An advantage of ghouling my best friend earlier in the night was he was very unlikely to die from an overdose.
For the latter, I fell back on what I knew, performance. I kept Brendan entertained, amused, aroused and satiated to the point where eventually, there was no room for thought. You don’t need penetration to fuck someone’s brains out.
And, I must admit, I was masterful. In times gone by, I would have had the old Greek men weeping into their beards at the beauty of my seduction. It wasn’t all one way, either. The colours that flowed from Brendan were like something I’d not experienced in the months since gaining Auspex. Even then, as Brendan lay spent, heavy with drowsiness, I took a moment or two to enjoy him. He was fit and lean, you had to be to fit into those dresses and strut around all night. Under chiffon and tulle, abs lay. I kissed them, taking a nibble and a sip. He moaned, and I kissed the pain away. I did it again and again. A bicep, a peck, an oblique, a lat. A kiss, a nibble, a sip, and wipe the pain and the bite away. Magic!
Why are you just going in for a nibble? Here’s the cake laid out…take it all!
That treacherous beast whispered as I started to sink into my own sensation-filled revelry.
No… I moaned in my own mind against the injustice, Just give me this, this small moment.
I continued to peck and sip, drawing the tiny mouthfuls of life one at a time, savouring the heat and the heartbeat and the rush every time. And the beast let me be, it too was satisfied by the action, the art of it, the restraint and release.
Brendan eventually fell unconscious. Satisfied myself, I just lay beside him, spooning against his warmth, the feeling of skin against skin in a quiet moment. I placed my ear against his back and listened to his heartbeat, the regular slow rhythm of his breath, even the surprising gurgle of his digestive system. I’d missed this. The moment when there was nothing but the two bodies together.
I lay there a long time, mindlessly enjoying the perfection of the human body, until I noticed Brendan shiver. I was making him cold. I couldn’t warm him as he warmed me. It was time to go.
Rising quietly from the bed, Brendan’s hand unconsciously reached out for me. It would always be like that now. I’d ghouled him, and he would always need me. I’d taken away part of his self-will, at least where it had to do with me. The thought was bittersweet. Though I had made a void in his soul, I knew that only I could fill it.
I checked he was still breathing easily, silently dressed, and left, the night’s enjoyment done before midnight.
Thursday 11.00 pm 6 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
On the Otherside it’s hard to judge time. There, time has no meaning as the wind howls through the landscape and in the distance, things move against the horizon. Dominic and Lucretia were standing on a low bluff overlooking all there was to see, at least all for Dominic to see.
“No, we can’t journey further in, we have no water of life for you,” Lucretia said to her nephew’s disappointment.
“I’m fine just taking in the sights,” He seemed content to stand on the bluff, kicking sand around and experimenting with time, sound and his senses.
“So, you want to learn a new path?”
“Yes, I want to extend my studies.”
“That’s good. And it seems you have a genuine interest, which is also good. I do have a favour to ask, but you have to promise to keep this a secret, even from Uncle. Even under punishment of being wraithed.”
The statement gave Dominic pause. He stopped running sand through his hands and gave Lucretia his full attention.
“As the others aren’t much interested in Australia, I feel pretty sure I can keep this a secret.”
“Good. Before I cease to be,” She gestured across the wastes to the land of the dead, “I would like to raise one of our family to some worthy level of recognition. Something that I can call mine before I go to a good death. Do you understand what I am saying?”
The words were plain enough, but the sentiment expressed was both daunting and disturbing. She would raise him up and teach him everything she knew. She would then allow the final death to claim her?
“I get what you’re saying,” He replied in his blunt New York. This didn’t seem like the time for beautiful language.
“So you could suffer for that?”
He paused again. He was no stranger to suffering. Over his many years, he’d suffered a great deal in order to be where he was. But was what she was offering worth the suffering? And was part of the suffering to kill her?
“I’m not sure what you mean by your death. Aunty, you’ve been around for a very long time. I’m pretty sure no one wants you dead…at least, not in the family.”
“Only me, dear nephew.” She replied simply, staring out over the plain, “The more you study this world and discover its sights, you realise there is an obvious line between what others believe is the normal world and…everything else,” She gestured to the world around them, the vast unchartered landscapes of death.
“After seeing all this, interacting with ghosts, dancing with wolves, and visiting the various hells, I can’t blend into conventional reality. I don’t fit in anymore. Look at me and your uncle. Unless we went to some fancy dress ball, we’d be staked within minutes of showing ourselves.” She turned back to her nephew, her face a mask of grave concern.
“For you to get where we are would take the same sort of suffering. You will cease to find your public face… adequate. Are you ready for that?”
And now he understood. The world, even to him, was only a small part of creation, how much more must there be for her? At the same time, she could no longer engage with normal life. She had no frame of reference to communicate reasonably with others, and her appearance now limited her socially. She was trapped in places run by the family, the same old faces, the same old politics, death and loss. Yes, there was suffering, but at least for him, what an opportunity!
“So, are you ready to start learning your lessons?” She asked.
“Yes,” He nodded, his eyes shining.
Thursday 11.00 pm 6 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
Delith stepped off the bike like a punk starlet at an opening night and walked into the Crow Bar as if Stallion didn’t exist. Though pouty and unhappy, Stallion had to admit she had a glow about her that only a good feed could provide. For his part, he quietly took the bike around to the underground carpark and started putting the registration plates back on.
As his body went through the menial task, he tried to work out what to do next. The boy’s night out was a bit of a bust. He didn’t even know where Izac had gone off to. No message, not even a goodbye. So, what else? Study? He’d had enough of study for a little while. What else was there? Work?
Shit.
Before, it had been easy. Sleep when you crash. Party with the guys, fight and let the suburbs know who was in charge. In between, do a little weed, forget and start the process all over again.
Shit. Good times.
The menial task was completed, and with nothing but reminiscing keeping him in the garage, Stallion took the stairs and headed for his position at the front of the Crow bar.
Upstairs, the darkening moon and the shining knight were still gathering information about how to commit regicide. Still, information gathered is not plans laid or enacted. At that moment, they were safe behind Mr Giovanni’s walls, safe under his adopted-sireship of Luna.
Thursday 11.00 pm 6 hours until sunrise. 9 days until the Succubus Club
It seemed to Dominic that Lucretia lived up to her reputation as a risk-taker. She may not be cutting her wrists and exsanguinating herself, but her extreme actions would have killed lesser immortals. Dominic found her lust for death intriguing.
His previous training had been in Stygia, the Kingdom of Iron. The Otherland available from the gateway was ancient and isolated, making it more like the Egyptian than it did any European or North American concept of death. The Dark Kingdom of Clay, another name for The Dreaming, differed from the Egyptian by having two layers. Like the society it was the shadow of it contained The desert or the Native lands, and The Cities.
“Those who live in the Cities live quiet lives, eking out an existence much as they did in life until they finally ascend. Those of the Native lands choose not to ascend and desire to stay with the land. The idea of the Dreamtime.”
“So when I have asked questions of the dead here, it has been a native being one with their land?” Dominic asked, thinking back to the head, who had answered his summons.
“But even here, they have heard of us, and none of the dead like us very much,” Lucretia explained, “It’s a rather sad affair. But depending on who you talk to, you’re bound here when you die.”
“What do you mean bound?”
“Well, you’ve heard the rumours about Ambrogino, haven’t you?’
He nodded. Sure, it wasn’t common knowledge that Ambrogino ate ghosts, but Dominic had heard the rumours. But what did that have to do with being bound to a certain afterlife?
“It was an old thing of Capadocians who wanted to understand death in order to rule it. Uncle…Uncles really, wish to become its kings, and they believe that if they eat death they can diablerise it. Odd, isn’t it.”
“It is,” Dominic agreed, but at the same time, such a revolutionary idea he couldn’t help but be intrigued.
“That’s why he’s here, of course. He’s looking for …pieces and sent me to find them.”
Pieces. Yeah, Dominic understood that. When people died, they took not just themselves, their souls and memories but also the things they revered in life. Lore, relics, trinkets, and images all pass to the Otherside with the dead.
“I’m here looking for pieces of forgotten knowledge,” She admitted, “Something that will help him in his quest. If I can find it, maybe he’ll let me pass on. But, right now, I’m too useful.” She said wistfully before focusing back on her nephew, “And before you ask, you can’t come. It would be much too dangerous a quest. You are not equipped for it.”
“Not yet,” He countered, and she had to agree.
“Not yet.”
They looked out over the not so empty desert for a moment of silent contemplation.
“Aunty,” Dominic finally asked, “How would you like to go?”
“Oh, in a blaze of glory!” She replied with more life than she’d shown all conversation, “I want to be remembered for a millennium! Most of us think we’ll live forever. Live to see the final sunrise, but that’s not how things are really. We exist, we have our moments, and if we’re lucky, we get to say how we go out. We just get a little more time than others.”
“I never thought about it that way before,” Dominic said after a long silence, “We’re fed the family line…”
“‘Get Smart, Get Useful or You die!’ ‘A useless Giovanni is a dead Giovanni.’” Lucretia supplied, and Dominic nodded.
“But many die of old age never receiving the prize.”
And to that too, he nodded his agreement.
Friday 12.00 am 5 hours until sunrise. 8 days until the Succubus Club
MISSED TALKING TO YOU. WHERE ARE YOU? I texted Luna while heading back to the Crow bar in a taxi.
Now I’d done what I could for Avel and Brendan, my thoughts turned back to Luna, Stallion and Izac. Stallion…he is my brother, we came out of the same sand together, and yet we’d never really seen eye to eye on anything. Luna on the other hand, had understood, had shared part of herself as I’d share my story. She had been there for me time and time again. We had been close, and I wasn’t sure what had gone wrong. Had I changed so much? I felt the change, like an empty beach after a long storm, I was still trying to pick up the pieces…of me.
LIBRARY WITH IZAC, Came the reply.
Izac. Someone else would feel threatened by the interloping good boy with the calming touch. And I had to admit, we didn’t start off well, but I could see his worth. So much like others I’ve known. So willing to give that they forget themselves in the deal. I knew that in whatever endeavour he set himself, he was likely to fail without help. The werewolf business was an example. In helping them, he’d lost his heart and weakened himself. The same could have been said for Boofhead. He’d compromised himself over Stallion’s sentimentality. It didn’t make him wrong or bad, just flawed…like all of us.
DOES THREE MAKE COMPANY? I texted back. I did want to see them both, but I also didn’t want to get in the way of their time together.
SURE, come the reply a short while later. Did they have to talk it over or something?
When the taxi stopped outside the bar, Stallion was there to greet me. He looked fed up, which was his usual expression while on duty. Still, he welcomed me, maybe not like a brother, but at least a friendly acquaintance.
“Hey, welcome back,” He held up his hand for a high five, and I never leave a brother hanging.
Anything interesting been happening tonight?” I asked, expecting things to have been quiet as usual.
“I just went out and had a snack. Pretty good night, even left snacks for the Nos, “ The boy needed to learn how to tell a story, but I was intrigued.
“You talked to some No….ur…our friends down below?”
“No, just Delith.” Was his cryptic reply.
“What about Delith?” What was that manic bitch up to now?
“We had a bit of a talk, and went out for a snack.”
So, wasn’t getting the love she thought she deserved from big daddy Giovanni she was trying it on with his childe?
“Uh, you went out with Delith?”
“Well, originally I invited Izac, but he had to be a spoilsport and leave halfway through.”
It still didn’t explain how Delith was involved.
“You do know the lad’s vegetarian?” I asked, not sure what he expected from Izac.
“Augh, na, we went out to do something else,” He explained. I waited to find out what the something was, but he didn’t initially feel that was important to the flow of the story.
“Right. Okay then, well, I’ll just head inside and see what’s going on,” I made to leave.
“I don’t know if Delith took any pictures, but we did some artwork you might appreciate. Seems like your sort of deal.”
“You went out with Delith and Izac to do art?” The whole sorry story was slowly coming out like a fractured kidney stone, one excruciating piece at a time.
I’d been a spotter for Lenny on more than one of his grand art projects and knew the thrill of running through the night having made your small mark on the world. Still, the idea of Stallion, Izac and Delith together tagging? It sounded like the start of a joke.
“I guess I’ll go see what she has, then,” I said vaguely, more interested in the conversations to be had inside the Crow bar than out.
“Yeah right. Have a good one,” Stallion waved me off, seemingly sorry the crumbling mess of a conversation was at an end.
“Yeah, you too, Stallion,” I replied, feeling a tiny ripple of sympathy as I left him to do his job and stepped inside.
It wasn’t hard to find Delith, she was always in the centre of things in the common room. I asked her what Stallion had meant by art.
“Oh yes, Stallion and Izac were having a good time, and I thought I’d learn more about the family and get to know the boys.”
Get to know the family? So, she wanted in the coterie now? Maybe she’d appreciate a Daddy Giovanni.
I continued asking questions about the night but turned on telepathy and focused on her surface thoughts
Of course, they were thrilled to have me along, who wouldn’t be? I’m the centre of the party, I just wish people with just come out and admit it. Like, Stal is cool, he put up his tag, but mine was art, baby, someone should knock down that wall and hang it in a gallery…
I asked about the boys and what she thought of them. The more the dialogue moved away from her, the more disturbance I felt in her inner monologue. It was less phrases and more images and sensations, the gnawing at a flabby neck, tearing of flesh and the taste of blood. Phrases like Slovenly and Waste of Humanity littered her scattered thoughts until I realised she wasn’t thinking about one sorry victim but hundreds over her time. All of them were torn, abused, drained and abandoned to feed her insatiable ego.
Her delusional image of herself and her importance was impressive, but nothing I hadn’t worked with before.
“Hey, Delith, I really appreciate how you spent some time with Stallion tonight, it was very generous of you to give your time. I don’t want to say he doesn’t fit in with the rest of the coterie, but…he has his quirks.”
“Well, he is gangrel after all. You wouldn’t expect a dog not to get a couple of fleas.”
I had thought of working with Delith. She’s lived years in these nights, she’s Ventrue and knows how to turn heads. She could have her spotlight, and I could work the magic of the spectacle from behind the scenes. Still, did I really want to fight for my share with Delith? She could make a good straight man, my stooge or patsy…I shelved the idea and went upstairs to find the two love birds.
I’m light on my feet and know every creak in the stairs heading up to the office. It wasn’t a surprise that I reached the doorway to the library, and neither Izac nor Luna had heard me. I silently leaned back on the door jam, enjoying the tableau of the two of them, head to head over an enormous leather-bound tome. As I had all that evening, I flicked on Auspex to voyeuristically experienced the moment with their mingled auras. Izac was as expected, a cloud of bitter brown, cut through with the pink of compassion for Luna and light blue calm. In contrast, what I saw in Luna’s aura made me gasp. Silver streaks of sadness, black hatred, distrustful light green and suspicious dark blue, all swirling together in a psychotic spiral. What was worse was that these weren’t for me. She didn’t know I was there. These were the colours she felt around Izac!
The gasp caught their attention.
“Oh, Rain,” Izac started. Luna’s eyes flickered up to see me at the door. She returned to her reading dismissively.
“I…you looked so beautiful…I didn’t want to disturb the…tableau.” I fumbled.
“How was your night?”
“Huh? Sorry, you asked something?” I replied, thrown by the complete change in the young woman I considered a sister and confidant.
“How was your night? It’s been a while,” Izac repeated.
“Yes, you did ask that,” I tried to gather my thoughts. What had I been doing? Oh, that’s right, “Ah well, it wasn’t what I was hoping….you can’t go back, it seems.”
“What?” Izac asked, now I was unable to tell a story.
“I have to find other ways of having a good time with what we are.” They didn’t want the details, and I really didn’t want to share them.
“Right,” Izac was not convinced.
“I went out to see Brendan,” I replied by some way of an explanation.
“Oh, Brendan, right, your friend.”
“Did you kill him?” Luna asked, not looking up from her page. It was the first thing she’d said to me all night, virtually the first thing in days, and nothing could have had more barbs in it than that short phrase from her.
“What, no…what?” I blurted out. Even Izac gave her an odd look of surprise.
“I don’t know, “She now deemed to look up, her eyes on me cold and distant, “You just seem to have that tendency when you go to see old friends.”
It was fortunate I was leaning on the doorjam, she nearly floored me.
“I…I..why would you say…what…do you think that’s what I do?” The group from the old squat, Lenny, swept through my mind. The guilt and loss all fresh once more.
“You’ve been taught so many lessons, I would have thought you would get it by now.”
“Friends? You’re a friend aren’t you? Do you expect the same will happen to you?”
“Old friends, friends from your past. Friends who are still human.” She retorted back and the scene of us on our first night, both her and Stallion talking about all those they were leaving behind. And I wouldn’t, not then, not now.
“Brendan is part of this world now. He was chosen by the Succubus Club.”
“Ah, but he’s not one of us, not of this world.”
“He’s not a vampire, but he is part of this world,” I left the thought hang. He was part of my world.
“What do you mean he’s part of this world…” Izac started but was overridden by Luna.
“And where will that lead him, Rain?” Her words were ones Luna could have used of old, but the voice, the sharp tone was nothing like Luna. It was like she suddenly didn’t give a fuck!
“Rain, I’m going to give you some advice, “ Izac said, bringing down his Fatherly words of wisdom, “When it comes to people from your old life, it is best to distance yourself as much as possible. It will hurt, but it’s better than the alternative.”
“What if this life is threatening his? Shouldn’t I do something about that?”
“And how did that happen?”
“He…,” I actually had no idea how they’d found him, “I didn’t do it. He already had the gig the night I came out of the sand.”
“You’re definitely not making it better.”
“How could I be making it worse? I’m trying to keep him safe.”
“He’s not safe anymore. All your efforts…they’re not going to work, “ Izac was sounding so reasonable, so practical, “You need to get him away from here…you need…”
“Yeah,” I knew that, “But he’s not going to run away from the Succubus Club, he sees this as his big break.”
“But Rain, at the Succubus Club, they’re going to break him open like a pinata!” This was the unreasonable Izac, “Putting him in that situation is killing him yourself.”
“I don’t have a choice!” I cried and could feel the blood tears, “He won’t give up what he sees as his chance!”
“There’s always a choice!” He bellowed back, and now I did step back, nearly tripping back into the office. I knew Izac was a man of violence, I’d seen it before. I accepted it as who he was, but I never thought I’d have to be on the receiving end again.
“He was chosen. It had nothing to do with me.” I replied quietly, and I saw Izac’s righteous anger crumble under some internal realisation. He clutched at his chest, where the Prince had stolen his heart.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve told you before,” With Izac flagging, Luna took up the banner, “Let him go. If he dies, he dies. He chose to accept the contract, that was his choice. You can’t keep taking that away from him.”
“No. No. No. While I can act, while I have a chance to do…something, I’m going to try even if it leads to the same conclusion. Even if the trolley is still on that track, I’m still going to try.”
We weren’t going to agree on this, it was pointless to argue. It was time to change the subject.
Luna had changed that was a fact. In one night, less even, she had evolved into a completely different woman. Where old Luna had been sullen, sarcastic and biting, this one was hard and confident. Where old Luna had been sympathetic at least and often kind, this one was….cruel and distant. The colours told me something fundamental had changed for her, something she was trying to hide.
“You’ve found something, haven’t you Luna? Have you found something to fight for, your spark?”
“Nice deflection, magician,” She bit back, but I wouldn’t be put off.
“Still, you’ve changed.”
“Everyone changes.”
“I’ve only been gone a night.”
“A lot can happen in a fucking night, huh Rain?”
“Yeah…yeah…it only takes a night.” I looked at Izac clutching his chest, my own brush with death, and now it was Luna’s turn.”But what is it? What’s happened? ”
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Luna. You have assurance in something. What is it? I said I’d be there to help, and I meant it.”
“I don’t need your help!” It was her turn to yell,” You can’t save me!”
“Do you need saving?”
“No, but you’ve always believed I couldn’t figure out my own way. Like I always needed some sort of help. I don’t need help.”
“I’m sorry you felt that way,” I pulled back. Whatever was going on with Luna was not going to be solved with a conversation, “I only wanted to support… whatever path you found. Wherever your passion led.”
“This life doesn’t come with a hand to hold.” She said, and I couldn’t believe this was the same woman who took my hand on the dock instead of attacking Izac. Who allowed me to take her injured hand after Dominic torturous punishment. Who grasped my hand when I saw what was left of a murdered friend. If there was one thing I’d learned in my life, if you reach out, there is always a hand to hold.
“If not our hands…then what…alone?” I looked to Izac, who had gone very silent, “Even Izac?”
Friday 12.35 am 5 hours until sunrise. 8 days until the Succubus Club
****************************************************************************************
Izac’s Scrawlings:
Revelations
The library feels the same but at the same time so much different. Once a place where to seek knowledge, now it’s a place to openly conspire.
I found her down in the VIP room. She had mentioned she was with some of the “regulars.” I didn’t recognise them. These new characters are a mix. Something about them rubs me the wrong way: they way they stared, the sense of superiority. The implication I was a threat; sure, they don’t know me, but that’s no reason to assume the worst of someone.
Hypocrite.
What’s more, she seemed both in and out of place in the room. Her usual is the library, pouring through the books looking for something.
Direction?
Purpose?
A reason?
I guess in a way she has one now. A purpose I am still tentative to provide her. I said as much, she was biting about that. Unlike the last time I confessed so much to her, she was strangely cold. I’m sure she can understand my reasoning, but its not up to me to have her agree. These last few nights must have been tough, maybe something happened, or some revelation has come to her.
Spoilt for choice but well out of the means to achieve them, we have groundwork to do, a lot of it. She is right in saying my role will be far more involved than I’d like. The other founders are still out there, it’s more a matter of whether they would care. I think its worth at least a shot, Luna is sceptical. At least once it’s over, we I can move on. For now, knowledge is power. But bookwork will only take me so far.
Rain is heading our way, maybe he could help as well, in a way. He was already invaluable as my eyes and to a degree I do trust him. At the same time…
A trip is in order, soon.
*****************************************************************************************
Luna’s thoughts:
Predator and Prey
“Call if you need anything.”
I saw the world silent.
For every thing it was and wasn’t. Izac’s squared shoulders, puffed chest, and sceptical look would have swooned Luna in the past.
Izac uses his morals as a compass. He is misguided by the unattainable qualities of said morals in an imperious society. He will sit and preach about the pathways he would travel to keep himself straight.
In that winding path, he has forgotten the point to his morals. In his sea of inaction, he lost the one worth the effort of paddling.
Will I save him or let him drown?
Sure, bring him into this. Ruin him too.
The pit was our choice. Every step you take is ours. You were but a shadow of me. Everything you touch you ruin. You suck the life out of every-fucking-thing. You can’t take him too. I won’t let you.
How insistent powerless voices are.
Same could be applied to the shell of a man next to me.
Following the whims of something you don’t believe in… how are those morals, vampire?
Are you worth the effort? Your head lays upon my shoulder as you scratch into your journal. I could give you something to believe in…
Are you worth the effort you never gave me? I would be setting us on different paths. Eternally damned.
Before the Club.
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
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.
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 Policed premiere detective and a sufferer of schizophrenia. He has an assistant currently called Notetaker.
Doctor Willis Hodge: Ghost acquaintance of Dominic Giovanni’s from the Coroner’s Court.
Founders of Sydney Masquerade: Those still alive: Abram, the Ventrue, in Canberra, Wid, the Nosferatu in Woolongong, 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.
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)
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*
Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home
Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.
Tom: A sleeping head awakened by Dominic in the Dreamtime.
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.
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.
Canaanites: Those descended from Cain, the first murderer and vampire.
Camarilla: a faction of Vampires closest to the Princes. Believe in hierarchy and order.
Clan or Bloodline: From one the 13 antediluvians.
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.
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.
Glasswalkers: A pack of werewolves Izac is familiar with this
Hunter: Members of the Society of Leopold, a branch of the Catholic Church. Fanatical vampire hunters and killers.
Kin: 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.
Men in Black: An international unit dedicated to controlling supernatural and alien entities.
Sabbat: a faction of Vampires that believe that the progenitors of the clans will one day awake and eat all their young.
Traditions: Six laws that vampires live by.
Vaulderie: A ritual where Kindred swear loyalty to each other.
*Sarrasine, a novella by Balzac. Sarrasine is a sculpture who is infatuated with an Opera Singer, Zambinella. She thinks herself cursed and deflects his advances. At a performance, Zambinella is revealed to Sarrasine to be a castrato. In a rage, Sarrasine attacks the singer, only to be cut down and killed by their bodyguard.
A Strange Life 