12.00 am Friday 9 hours until sunrise. 6 days until the Succubus Club Crowbar, Leichhardt
While a party with half the coterie was happening downstairs, Stallion was up in the library, studying. He’d learnt a new trick, a tattoo that would stay on a vampire. He was now sitting back in the wingbacked chair trying to imagine a coterie tattoo, something to bring the group closer together. He had to admit that his artistic talents did not extend to drawing. That had always been in rap and music, naturally. He needed help, but where was everyone else?
In the carpark, Bruce was busy with the current bags of inventory when Dominic found him.
“What do you want boss?”
“It’s time to go shopping,” Dominic replied, “A possible new supplier.”
“Where?” Bruce forgot about his crates of drugs and was now fully invested in the conversation.
“Here. One of the private rooms.”
“Mine or your forte?”
“I think we shall see,” Dominic replied and led the way to where the seller had been asked to display his wares.
The Ventrue was busy setting up his wares as Dominic and Bruce entered the room. At first glance, the product wasn’t as state-of-the-art as promised. Riot gear a few years out of date, second-hand assault rifles, shotguns, and assorted pistols. Dominic’s eyes dropped to a grenade launcher. Bruce caught his glance and raised his eyebrow in interest. Dominic inspected the items, picking each up expertly and breaking them down to look for wear, serial numbers and grime. He found all three, but also that all the items were intact, in working order and only needed a little attention to make them usable.
“These will have to come off,” He gestured to several guns with serial numbers, and Bruce quickly made a note.
As he made it to the end of the display, he waved to the small collection of semi-automatic handguns, the grenade launcher and M4s he’d put aside.
“A lot are no good. These are in reasonable condition and can be cleaned up, so where would you like to start?” He pointed at the grenade launcher, “What are you asking for this package?”
The Ventrue opened his stance, arms outstretched in the time-honoured expression of a salesman making an ‘honest deal’.
“This will be a big deal, and I don’t expect to see you anytime soon, so we should talk about accessories, miscellaneous parts and rounds before getting down to pricing. I can probably get you a bulk deal on the lot.”
“Sure, why not.”
Lists of rounds, normal and incendiary, types of grenades, suppressors, slings and harnesses were shared like simple line items on an Excel spreadsheet.
“No bayonets, of course,” The Ventrue said with a smile, “We’re not living in the dark ages.”
“No, indeed. That’s what my hands are for,” And Dominic flexes fingers that, even before turning, knew how to dispense damage, “Why use a knife when you can rip someone’s head off.”
The Ventrue’s eyes grew wide with the thought, and Dominic waved away his concerns.
“So, what is your price?”
“Sixteen mill.” He announced, and the room of three men was silent. Even at Australian prices for weaponry, the price was outrageous.
The Ventrue, however, was ready with his spin, “You want grenades, right? These are not available to your every day hunter, and as I said, I expect this to be a large purchase. You won’t want to see me for a while, and I can assure you, sixteen will keep me…cosy in whatever storm you’re choosing to start.”
Dominic surveyed his purchases again. What he was getting now may not be the full 16 mil, but with the chance he’d be able to make a similar one in the future, it seemed a decent deal.
“It’s only money, “ He shrugged and held out his hand for the Ventrue to take, “Deal.”
“Thank you. I’m going to take myself off and have a nice holiday.”
“Be sure to have a drink from our latest bartender before you go.”
“Maybe, but I hear Libera is good this time of year, so if I may, I’ll organise your order and be on my way.”
“Oh, we didn’t make a deal for the riot gear,” Bruce mentioned as it seemed the shopping was completed.
The Ventrue looked to Dominic, “Go on, no extra charge.”
The Ventrue left to sort out the delivery of the extras as Bruce and Dominic looked over the haul. Nothing spectacular, but it would sizably boost their arsenal.
“Make sure none of these are linked to any murders, and make it your priority to get rid of those serial numbers,” Dominic ordered, and Bruce nodded along.
“ Sure. We’ll take them out to the farm to repurpose.”
12.00 am Friday 9 hours until sunrise. 6 days until the Succubus Club Crowbar, Leichhardt
At a table in the middle of the V.I.P. lounge, Eclipse and Mads were quietly sipping drinks and sharing gossip.
“So what do you do to kill the time?” Mad’s asked, which had Eclipse thinking, What didn’t they do?
“This group doesn’t sit still. A night is never wasted, “ Eclipse replied casually, providing no details.
“You must have something on then.”
“We did. We left. A play by Dracula.”
Mads made a face, “Gauche!”
Mads leaned back and listened to the hum of voices in the bar. More than usual, her ears were able to tease out the diamonds from the dross of chit-chat. In a private booth with its curtain drawn, Rain sat talking to a couple, the sounds of crunching and slurping clear from behind the velvet.
“You seem distracted,” Eclipse said, catching Mad’s attention.
“I…hear things…I have a knack for it. I thought this place would be livier with talk.”
“Friday night, the common room upstairs would be livier, “Eclipse suggested, but Mad’s eyes were focused on the curtained booth.
“I think I’d like to see what Rain is up to. Would you care to join me?” Mads rose, and Eclipse was once more left with nothing to do. She looked around the room, hoping to find one of the Days of the Week that she could talk to. None of them were currently in sight.
Finally, she gave in and left the table with Mads, “Sure, but I can’t say I’ll stay the whole night.”
There was a small lull in the conversation at my table as Padre took a moment to eat. I was feeling pretty good. I did know that being a baby at the literal adult’s table had caused some upset, but I’d hoped I’d overcome any bad feeling by offering the Padre a place to eat in peace. I must admit the drinks made by Rumplestiltskin also had their desired effect, and I was just relaxing into the buzz when two attractive young women headed towards our booth. It took a second glance to realise that the women in question were Luna and Mads.
“Hey!” I straightened in my seat, “Friends, welcome!”
“Rain and company?” Luna said smoothly but didn’t take a seat at the booth beside me, preferring to stand.
“Padre and Alicia, this is Mads, a new acquaintance, and Luna, my sister in the coterie.”
“I’d thought you’d pin me as something different, Rain,” Luna replied and not the first time in our acquaintance, she had me gobsmacked. Was there a problem with me calling her my sister? She’d not mentioned it before.
The Padre, who had once more hidden his meal, seemed to be paying close attention to Luna. I knew that look. I make it every time I’m trying to discern someone’s aura. In reply, Luna seemed to take in the Padre over the rim of her glass.
“There is something strange about you, child, “ The Padre said. A man of few words, we all became silent to listen to what he had to say, “You are not of the major clans. What bloodline are you?”
I had to school my expression not to look stunned. She was labelled a Brujah from our first night out of the sand, but as I glanced over a Luna, expecting her to deny his assessment, she looked away. She was working out her options in front of this ancient, and I now realised what had happened to Luna a few nights ago. Her strange friends had somehow convinced her to change her bloodline.
“But Padre, “ I finally said as the silence became obvious, “She’s Brujah.”
“I may be straying, but I am part of the rebel clan.” She added unconvincingly.
“You may have at one time. But something has happened to you.” The Padre, now paid no attention to the rest of us and leaned across the table to Luna, “If I may, I’d like to take a closer look at you. My eyes are not as good as they used to be, you understand?”
“Does it matter where I come from?” Luna said, and Allica and the Padre scoffed.
The Padre gestured for Luna to come closer, and she obliged him with a step. He leaned in further, clearly wanting to whisper something to her. Of course, I heightened my senses, hoping this was the answer I’d been looking for. I saw Mad’s lean in with the same expectation, no doubt.
“We have some of your kind on our side,” The Padre whispered, giving her a knowing look. She nodded in reply.
What is that supposed to mean? Was she part of his church now? Some of her kind? What was she? And whose side was the Padre on? I was starting to feel the iceberg of vampire culture and history loom far larger than I’d imagined.
“Nice to meet you, Padre. Though I may have strayed , I know that not all of the faith are bad.”
“It’s good to see some that do in these dismal times,” the Padre nodded again in reply.
“Where do you come from Padre?” Luna asked
“Originally out of India. I spent some time there and on the Otherside. Met some nice people…you know there’s no bigotry on the other side. I learnt a lot, too.”
The Otherside, in Death. Right at that moment, I felt that meeting the Padre and Alicia was fate. I forgot about the drink, the lady, everything and focused on Padre and his story.
“But it’s not quite the same. It’s nice just to lie down and let it go. It’s nice to be in a city that is not rife with conflict. Nothing like Mexico. It’s very peaceful.”
“As I’ve been told,” Luna replied, “There’s no revolution to be had in Sydney.” Now, who had told her that?
“There’s revolution everywhere if you know where to find it. You can fight for cheaper food, freedom, or kindness. You can fight for anything if there’s enough people who want it.”
The Padre, who had slipped into a revelry for a moment, fixed his eyes on Luna, “There is a question that Alicia and I have been asking ourselves, and as you’re all quite young, I wonder. Have you found your purpose?”
“Yes,” Luna replied quickly, and I had to nod. Wasn’t that the first thing I’d asked her when I noticed the change in her? She hadn’t answered me then, but here for the Padre, she responded quickly and with assurance.
“Eternity is long, and you can’t spend it adrift, or else you tend to drown.”
I beg to differ. I’d spent almost my entire life adrift. A few more centuries bobbing on the currents of society sounded just my speed. But to each his own.
“That is a way of seeing it. You would have done well in the dark ages,” The Padre joked, and Luna laughed gently.
“Forever is not forever. It feels much longer. You will eventually change with things around you. How long can you stay a statue and not crumble without good foundations? This will become more apparent to you after a few centuries.”
Dark and profound. I’d seen something of that statue quality in Ambrogino and Lucretia. They were walking anachronism, out of step with everything around them. But where Ambrogino had his purpose, his mission on the Otherside, Lucretia seemed adrift, only tethered to the here and now by his force of will and ambition.
Still, the Padre only had eyes for Luna.
“One of you seems earnest. Luna, was it?”
“Eclipse would be more fitting,” Luna replied, and again, I was left breathless. Eclipse? Her living name? I didn’t like the sound of that. Whereas Luna was light in the darkness, a guide and comfort, the Eclipse was the blotting out of light, the purposeful absence. No wonder I’d been feeling cold in her shadow of late.
“You have a lot of potential. You haven’t thrown your hat into the ring now, have you?”
“No, I’ve been trying to keep out of things, but I tend to find trouble.”
There was a flash in the old man’s eyes, “It seems that way. There’s a darkness coiling around you. You’ll probably want that checked out and sorted.”
So the darkness in…her wasn’t permanent? It could be… exorcised? There was a time only a few nights ago when she thought she could exorcise me. I didn’t expect to do the same for her.
“Thank you, Padre,” She said respectfully, and the Padre turned his attention to Mads.
“Mads, was it? You definitely seem like a Brujah. Filthy, unkempt, with a sense of nobility.”
“Ah, a product of my upbringing,” she smiled.
“Whether boiled leather or picked cotton, it looks the same. Do you have a purpose?”
“Yes, for now. I have a drive that keeps me going forward. After that, who knows? I might find something else.”
Code again. This was only confirmed when the Padre replied.
“Hmm, well, happy hunting.”
And then the Padre turned his attention to me.
“And you, Rain?”
Everyone else had been so cryptic and secretive. I suspected he used Auspex or something similar when talking to…Eclipse. Still, I didn’t necessarily think there was much danger in revealing my vision.
“I want…to return the life to the nights of Sydney. That may sound like an irony for a…dead creature, but this town used to shimmer with nightlife and could again. That can only be good for our kind. Caine himself saw a role for us as leaders. Is it so wrong to want that again, here?”
Alicia winced at the name of Caine. I know he’s not the father of all that walk the night, not even all vampires. That didn’t make his legacy any less valid. We’re here. We exist, so why not enjoy what we have? Unfortunately, Padre cringed at the sentiment.
“You know surprisingly more than you should, but there is a part of that story you don’t understand yet. Sure, some of us led and ruled, but we were never too good at it. Not in the forefront, at least. As for vibrant or dead cities…after you’ve travelled enough, you start to get a feel for a place, and this place is old. Old before the city. It has seen plenty of death. Plenty of life. It has survived worse and will become something again. It just depends on how much death before… the soil is fertile again.”
Ominous. Things have their seasons and cycles. It was heartening to think it could become the Sydney I wanted…but how much violence and bloodshed would there have to be to make it happen? Maybe I needed to reconsider. So, I shifted the subject sideways to something I knew he’d be happy to speak on.
“As to what came before, I have an interest in that. The Dreamtime. The Otherplace.”
“You refer to my journeys?”
“Yes, your journeys. I would be fascinated to hear…I have only stepped a foot into the Otherplace, and I know there are cities full of beings out there. I have a…link to the death…have all my life. I don’t know if that’s my place, but…”
“You do have the stain of such…interesting…I presume you practise the same disciplines as myself?”
“Yes.”
“That’s very nice. When it comes to the other place, as far as you can travel in any direction, there is a lot you can learn. I knew a lot of this before…my change. It’s a shame. I was awakened once, and that’s now forever denied to me. That’s why I don’t keep to the same level of etiquette or protocol as the rest of our kind would.”
“You…were a mage?” It couldn’t be helped, Lenny sprung to mind.
“All those of my line are,” He replied simply.
“I wish I had met you before.”
“And now you have,” And he laughed, but there seemed very little joy in it, “There is a reason why our curse is so much stronger. We got greedy. We tried to take something that wasn’t owed to us and paid a high price. A group of us who worshipped death tried to take it onto ourselves…and we got it. And unlike the Tremere, we were never as…showy about it. But there was a cost. Most of us keep to ourselves. It’s easier that way. I know that some of our kind have an issue with killing. I don’t have that luxury. I spent a long time searching, and I did find a city, a very special one. At the moment, and I don’t know why, it’s been harder to find.”
“A city on the Otherside is now harder to find?” I wondered what Dominic or even Lucretia would say to that.
“Yes. Still, I’m stuck on this side for a bit until I can find it again. Until then, while I’m here, I’ll be an educator and mentor to those willing to accept.”
“Well, I’m glad I met you today, sir,” I said with all sincerity. He was a man looking at the world at the end of a long life, and unlike many, he’d been gracious enough to share, though I’d still stumbled around like a baby. Still, I couldn’t get out of my mind the idea some like Luna…Eclipse belonged to his organisation. Alicia had mentioned a group that she and the Padre had belonged. Besides the Sabbat and the Camarilla, I’d heard of no other groups (though one currently was holding Izac, that was definite).
“Alicia mentioned earlier that you are part of the same organisation. I would hear about it if that were something you could talk about?”
“We…do not subscribe to the two common sects, the Ivory Tower and the Sword. I’ll interact with the Sword if I have to, but I am not one of them.”
I quickly scanned my memory for the imagery. Ivory Tower. Camarilla. The Sword…the Sabbat?
“You’ve certainly come to the right place here. We don’t seem to have a lot of either.”
“You won’t see much of either in these dark days. It’s a shadow war they wage. Neither are willing to spend the resources on taking this place. “
“Well, I want it,” I found myself saying.
“If the Prince could hear, he would be much dismayed.”
“I would gladly work with the Prince,” So why wasn’t I? Hadn’t he offered a place by his side not once but twice? Because, even for me, it was too simple. Too easy a deal. There had to be a catch.
“And as with all great stories, the second in charge rises up and kills the king. To coin a phrase, they upgrade to a new model.”
This was not a conversation I wanted to have here in the V.I.P lounge, certainly not with Mads and whatever Luna was now.
“I don’t know about that. You mentioned about working from behind the scenes?”
“Yes, it’s just a case of how you wish to spend your time, “ He looked to Alicia, who was getting up to leave, “But we have spoken quite a bit, and it looks as though Alicia has things to attend to. I would like to feed if I may.”
Our time was up, “Thank you, Padre. Alicia, it was a real pleasure to speak with you.” I stood to let her leave.
“Thank you for your…time, Padre,” Eclipse said, “Do you plan to revisit?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” the old man replied, and from that, I took comfort in knowing that there were more chances to speak with this old man.
“Yes, well, so much to see, so much to do,” Alicia said by way of a farewell, “Time to see what the rest of the city has to offer.”
We left the Padre to his eating as Mads, Eclipse, and myself moved away.
“Rain, do you talk to everyone who walks through these doors?” Mads asked me.
“It would be impossible, but I try to,” I replied, wondering why Mads would ask.
“Socialite,” the now Eclipse said as if my complexity could be explained with one word.
“And what was all that with you? You changed your name?” Mads asked Eclipse as we returned to the bar and Rumplestiltskin. I said nothing. What I wanted to know was not that she changed her name, but why to that one.
“It seemed appropriate,” Eclipse said, not making eye contact.
“It’s a beautiful name,” I commented, and her eyes met mine for the first time since the introduction to Mads.
“Thank you, Rain. It means a lot coming from you.” For a moment, I felt maybe we could reconnect and make something new from what remained of our friendship.
“I am your friend. I just don’t know what that means to you anymore.”
Slam! The dark curtain fell over her expression, and whatever friendliness disappeared, “I’m sorry Rain. It seems I lost something along the way. I don’t necessarily want what I can’t give back.”
“Okay,” And that was it. We’d be dodging around it for days. I nodded to Mads, put my empty glass on the bar and left the V.I.P. lounge.
“Way to crush a guy’s heart,” Mads said to Eclipse as they watched me climb the stairs.
“What heart,” Eclipse replied cooly.
“Well, none of my business, “ Mads brushed the encounter aside, “I think I’ll rummage around here for a while and see what I can hear.”
Eclipse skulled the last of her drink in salute.
“Here, I’ll give you my number if you want to talk.” Mads suggested and numbes werey exchanged.
12.40 am Friday 8 hours until sunrise. 6 days until the Succubus Club Crowbar, Leichhardt
Stallion had an idea and he needed to share it with someone. He pulled out his phone and thought for a moment who he should ask first. Izac had gone AWOL, and Luna wouldn’t help out of spite. That pretty much left…
My phone rang as I climbed the stairs up to the office. A glance told me who was calling.
“Yes, Stallion,” I said, walking into the office. I spied a set of keys sitting on Dominic’s desk. They made it into my pocket. Habits are hard to break.
“Come in here,” Stallion said over the phone, though I was just next door. I stood in the doorway, leaning on the door jam, waiting as Stallion took a moment to work out how I’d responded to his call so quickly.
“You’ve been…not busy. What are you up to?” I asked.
“I’ve been looking up more stuff. See if I can help Izac in my own way.”
“Yeah?” That got my attention. Until that moment I hadn’t been sure if he knew or cared Izac was missing, “What have you got?”
“Not much, but I do have something to … help us…come closer,” He said, opening the book he’d been reading at a page.
I didn’t know if to be flattered or concerned, “What do you mean, ‘us come closer’?”
“I know you’re a little bit of an artsy fella, and maybe we could make up a design for a permanent tattoo…for the coterie.”
“What does it do?” I asked suspiciously. Stallion didn’t do anything unless it was good for Stallion.
“It’s permanent. It doesn’t go away. It doesn’t fade away like a normal tattoo with our bodies the way they are.”
I had just come from speaking of mages, the Otherland, organisations working within our society, and whatever Eclipse was, and here was Stallion spending hours of his unlife learning how to make a tattoo permanent on undead bodies. I sighed and was thankful that it kept him out of trouble.
“Sorry, Stallion and I’m not doubting your abilities with magic, but you’re not known for your artistic talents. And if this is permanent…”
“I’m not saying I’m doing it. I’m just saying we can work together on some designs and come up with something for the coterie. Then we get a professional to do it.”
That way seemed to lead to madness and the death of a good tattoo artist.
“It seems it’s quite common for neonates.” He read from his book.
As if I needed more labels proclaiming me to be a baby.
“It’s also seen as a sign of disrespect, depending on the branding.”
“Branding?”
“Yeah, some are like cattle, they get branded…There’s a bit of history behind the ritual, is what I’m saying.”
“Your selling this idea so well, Stallion, “ Like, I appreciated that the guy came to me with the offer, but how did I explain this without pissing him off, “The idea of being branded like livestock to look like a child forever….yeah, that sounds like something I want to do to my eternal body.”
“Nah, you know that’s not what I mean,” The book shut with a snap. When sober, Stallion was very thin-skinned.
“I’m sure you meant it with the best intentions,” I agreed. I have no problems with tattoos, and I have to admit to having a few ideas. But tattoos, like brands, made a stand. They told everyone where you belonged, and after tonight’s conversation…maybe after this entire week, I didn’t know where that was anymore.
I changed the subject and pulled out the keys from the desk.
“I’d be happy to help with a design, but speaking of talents, there’s something I’d like to try if you don’t mind watching on for a moment.”
“Talents?”
“It won’t look like much to you, I’m afraid, “ I spun the keys around a finger as I dragged up one of the other plainer, less comfortable chairs in the room.
Trying to get as comfortable as I could, I held the keys loosely between two cupped hands and drew on my Auspex. I had a hunch the keys were from Izac. I’d seen them once or twice before. If they were, they may give my abilities something to hook into. I let my thoughts slip away, and I fell…
…into a dark alleyway full of corpses, a woman crying could be heard behind… I turned to see Luna… tears streaming down her face…the feeling of being torn away from something…the vision repeated and repeated, cycling over and over like a nightmare I couldn’t wake from…
“Rain?” Stallion said, watching me in a rictus, frozen in my vision. It looked like I was being electrocuted, “Rain, is this supposed to happen? Maybe I should get Mr Giovanni in on this.” He picked up his phone for the second time in as many minutes.
RAIN’S FROZEN IN THE OFFICE
Dominic was also returning to the office after his shopping expedition. It wasn’t long before he was standing in front of my shuddering body, a smirk on his face. He noticed the keys clutched now between clawed hands and quickly pulled them out. He easily recognised them as the keys to Izac’s apartment. He looked down at his foolish child and didn’t think the stake was required this time, but I would be that way for a while.
“Yeah, he just pulled them out and said he wanted to try something, and then…he ended up like that,” Stallion said.
“Stallion, would you be a pal and ask the bartender for a drink for someone in a daze?”
“Oh, a wake me up.”
“No, after what he’s going through, that will be the last thing he needs. No, just a gentle knocking.”
“Right-o, “ And Stallion headed down to the V.I.P. Lounge while Dominic tried to make my body sit comfortably in the leather wingback chair.
He giggled, “I’ll see you in a couple of hours, ” and pulled a book from the library and made himself comfortable, “Hmm, the Personal Histories of the Giovanni. A little light reading.”
Mads was scouring the V.I.P. lounge for gossip, and Eclipse was at the bar as Rumplestiltskin made her another drink when Stallion came down the stairs.
“Hey Luna, it looks like Rain’s at it again,” Stallion said as she joined her at the bar, “Do you want to head upstairs and see what’s going on?”
“What? Did he do something he wasn’t supposed to?” She asked, interested but without concern.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve got Dominic in there watching him. He’s pulling this weird face like he’s stuck in time or something.”
“What are you doing down here, then?”
“ I was told to get him a drink.”
And this was when Stallion first noticed the seven-foot-tall luminous bartender. Stallion’s blonde eyebrows disappeared into his shaggy hair.
How long’s he been here?
“I need a drink for someone who just woke up,” He said, though dozens of thoughts about skin tone and gangly limbs went through his mind.
“Just woke up?” Rumplestiltskin said, his luminous brows creasing in confusion, “That’s a bit strange. Tell me more.”
“Hey, that’s what I was told, ‘Get a wake someone up drink.’”
“A drink to wake up or they’ve just woken up,” the bartender qualified again.
“Just woke up,” Stallion struggled to keep his expression straight and watched as the creature behind the bar put black orbs and fins, a white powder smelling of bone meal and blood, in a cocktail shaker.
“Here’s the drink, enjoy.” The drink was handed over, and with a smirk that meant trouble for someone, he turned to leave the bar.
“Hey, can I get in on this? Sounds like fun,” said the tall auburn auburn-haired Mad’s who had positioned herself right behind Stallion to hear the conversation.
“Who are you?”
“Didn’t we meet? The name’s Mads,” she held out her hand for Stallion to shake. He instead put two hands on the glass as if to keep it safe.
“It’s a restricted area. I don’t think you should follow,” He tried edging around Mads, who adroitly moved in front of him again. Eclipse just stood back and watched the social train wreck over her glass.
A flash of something came up Mad’s eyes, and her brow furrowed. She couldn’t make out what he was.
“You are an enigma.”
Not sure what to make of Mads advances, Stallion quickened his step, moved past her and disappeared upstairs with the drink.
Mad’s turned to Eclipse in shocked indignation. Eclipse rolled her eyes at Stallion’s awkwardness and continued to wait for the Days of the Week. She wondered what they were up to, who they were murdering and what she was going to do when Sunday finally rolled by.
I’m fucked.
Stallion carefully took the drink up two flights of stairs and placed it on the library desk.
“Well,” Dominic said from above his current read, “Give it to him.”
“I thought you wanted it for later.”
“I was the one who told you to get it.”
Stallion squeamishly looked over my frozen body, “I guess I could blindfold him and then feed him.”
“Oh, for the love of God and all the saints, Stallion, just give him the drink.”
“I was joking about the blindfold, “ Stallion said to my unresponsive body and poured the drink down my throat.
…and into a dark alleyway full of corpses, a woman cried and I cried too as knew I was now trapped forever in the spiraling nightmare of loss and self-recrimination. And then something new, a coolness, a sharpness, like a slap and the imagery, the feelings and sounds faded to black and blessed release.
I woke up in Luna’s chair, looking up at a grinning Stallion. The keys were gone, and I felt…like I’d run a marathon.
“Why am I here?” I looked around and saw Dominic in the chair I had been in only moments ago to me…or was that hours…
“Dominic…I…”
“You had an episode when you picked up this set of keys,” He held out the keys in his open palm before they disappeared into his pocket.
“Ah…oops!” I held my ringing head in my hands and waited for the bells to stop, “I thought they might have been Izac’s….I don’t know what I saw…I don’t want to see it again….bodies in alleyways and…Luna…Luna! They had to be Izac’s keys. He must have come back at some time.”
“What, Mr Squeaky-clean, wasn’t so clean?” Stallion asked with a snigger, which I didn’t appreciate. I could have done with another one of those drinks, but wanted to be part of whatever was going to happen next.
“Do you feel it was a past or future image?” Dominic asked and tried as I might I couldn’t tease out what the surreal nightmare scape had told me.
“Past and future,” I shook my head and regretted it, “Both, mixed going on and on…I won’t be doing that again in a hurry.”
Dominic giggled in his chair, and though some time I’m sure I too, would see the funny side of this experience. At the moment, I felt like last week’s ground mince, and even gave him a look of disapproval hurt.
“So what the point of all that, again?” Stallion asked, and I remembered he was also in the room.
“Sorry, I had thought to tell you what I was seeing, but…I botched the reading and…” I shrugged as I let my aching body sink into the chair, “I can confirm they are his keys, but as to where he is…” I gently shook my head this time.
“Where did you find the keys?” Dominic asked.
“They were on your desk. We must have missed them the first time we came up,” I had a perfectly good reason. One perfect woman. What was their excuse?
“They are the apartment keys I gave him,” Dominic confirmed.
“That means he came back to the bar. Sometime before we arrived in the taxi, he was here.”
“Well, he was here before the theatre,” Dominic replied to pick holes in my logic. I could almost scream, but Stallion came to the rescue.
“We could always check the CCTV to see when he was here,” He said just before I could organise my thoughts to speak.
“Yes. When did he come in? When did he leave? Did he come with someone? What car were they in?”
1.10 am Friday 8 hours until sunrise. 6 days until the Succubus Club Crowbar, Leichhardt
We went to the security room and reviewed the night’s recordings. We finally found him several hours earlier, walking through the club alone. While we were still at the State Theatre, he was calmly climbing the stairs and placing the keys on the desk before leaving again. He didn’t talk to anyone. He left no note. Nothing seemed to be making him do this, and he looked sort of at peace with everything for the first time since I’d known him.
I flipped to the external cameras and scanned for cars in the area. A dark blue Mustang pulled up in the side street beside the hotel, and Izac got out. I noted the license plate and zoomed in to get an image of the driver. A man in his 30s, calm and casually speaking with Izac, his skin was ebony black, and his eyes were a striking pale blue. It would be hard to forget such an individual.
I reversed the recording back to when they arrived. They came up the alleyway. Izac got out and walked first, not to the Crow Bar but to a block of apartments opposite the bar.
“Where is that? What is that?” I asked.
Downstairs, Eclipse was fed up with waiting for the Days of the Week. She finished her drink, waved goodbye to to Mads, still stalking the room and headed upstairs to go back to the apartment. The apartment she didn’t want to go back to because he wouldn’t be there…No, it would only remind her of him…No, sentimental claptrap, she just didn’t belong there anymore. But where else was there to go? She walked through the common room and out into the early morning air, unknowingly leading a following Mads straight home.
Dominic spotted Eclipse and Mads leaving the bar through the live feeds on the upper monitors.
“Hey, that woman tried to talk to me earlier,” Stallion pointed out Mads, clearly tailing Eclipse.
“The stray following the lost, “ Dominic said, gesturing for us to get up, “It seems our Mads has her own agenda.”
We rushed down the stairs and sauntered casually but with purpose across the common room and out into the night. I stepped back and held to the shadows while Dominic and Stallion tried to blend in by looking casual. Of Eclipse, there was no sight, but we could just spot Mads stepping into the apartment block across the road. Dominic nodded. That was the building, and we jogged down the street and caught the external door to the apartment just before it shut.
1.15 am Friday 8 hours until sunrise. 6 days until the Succubus Club 4 Phillip Street, Leichhardt
As Eclipse climbed the stairs, she thought about what to do when she arrived at the door to the apartment. If she had been lucky, Izac would have left the door unlatched for her. If she wasn’t, and the way the night was going, why would things change, she’d have to break it down somehow. She reached the door and tried the handle, and by some miracle of love or forgetfulness, it turned under her hand. She pushed the door open and stepped in, the door clicking as she engaged the deadbolt inside.
Mads, standing on the staircase, heard the click. Her perfect hearing told her just which door the escaping Eclispe had entered. With deliberate carefulness, she climbed the last few stairs to the landing.
Eclipse inside looks around the apartment. Besides a few clothes strewn on the ground of the bedroom, there was nothing to show that someone had lived there. Two someones. Her eyes scanned the room, not expecting to find anything, and landed on the small notebook sitting on the coffee table next to the TV remote. Pouncing on it like it was prey, she scrambled through the little book to read the last page:
I don’t know where I’m going.
I don’t know who I am.
I can’t be everyone’s tool anymore.
I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger.
That I wasn’t enough.
I failed you Luna.
I’m sorry.
Maybe I’ll see you again, its only eternity.
I love you.
The tiny notebook, crushed between fingers, and Eclipse shook. Much as I had less than an hour before, her body tensed and spasmed. It wasn’t grief! No. Grief was for those who didn’t already bear emptiness inside them. This was not loss. This was anger, rage in fact, for the one who presumed to love her and left her behind. She was incandescent, her beast threatening to burst out and destroy what remained of the human.
At the door now, Mads could hear sobbing, muttering and unintelligible noises of suffering. She could hear Stallion and Dominic climbing the stairs. Knowing she’d have little time, she quietly took the stairs up to the next floor and waited.
Climbing up from the street, Dominic now didn’t bother with stealth. He owned this building, and he had the keys to the apartment. Stallion followed close behind, his shadow in all things. I hung back and checked the dark spaces in case Mads had hidden herself. Old skills came to the fore, and I let the other two storm ahead, making noise and causing a distraction. Eclipse had made it clear she didn’t need me, but what was Mads doing getting inside Eclipse’s life? Making friends with all her associates? I was hunting a stalker.
Dominic and Stallion made it to the door. The sound of unbridled sobbing was clear.
“Where’s Mads? She was ahead of us?” I asked quietly, stepping into a doorway out of sight of the stairs and scanning the hallways. It was empty.
“We’ll get to that in a bit,” Dominic said, using the keys on the doors and walking in.
Eclipse, almost bent over sobbing, had only a fraction of a moment to hide the small notebook in her jacket before Dominic strode into the room and picked her up. She was a mess. Blood tears made black from mascara made rivulets down her face, her expression a contorted mess as she tried to hold back more tears. She was damned she’d cry in front of Dominic.
“We found footage,” He said quietly as if it were an apology or excuse.
“Of?” Eclipse said, wiping her face and trying to look more composed.
“Of Izac entering a car. We have the license plate and the car’s direction. Is that why you’re crying blood?”
“I can only hope to find him,” She said, her voice stifled by emotion too large to contain.
“I’ve got my men looking for him. We know the license plate, and the driver’s description. Why don’t you come back to the Crow Bar.”
Eclipse stood swaying on the spot, unsure what to do. What would Luna do? What did she want to do?
“There’s nothing for you here,” Dominic looked around the apartment saw the clothes and nothing else. In a voice almost caring, he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Eclipse shook her head, “It won’t bring him back quicker if he comes back at all.”
“What makes you feel he’s not coming back,” Dominic asked.
“I could call a dog if you like, track his scent?” Stallion blurted in. Eclipse pulled away, and Dominic turned to face Stallion, the moment lost.
“I think we’ll go with the other clues first if that’s okay with you, Stallion.”
Outside the door, I was listening. I knew Mads was here somewhere, but unless she somehow made it into an apartment, she had better skills at hiding than I did. I left my post and started down the hallway, trying doors to see if any were open. None were, there were no voices behind them. Coming back along the hallway, I spotted a door at the top of the staircase with a sign saying, ‘Roof Garden’. As it pays to be thorough, I made for the stairs and up to the roof.
Mads was on the roof, holding the door ajar. She’d been listening to the conversation below when she spied me, heading purposefully in her direction. She prepared herself, waiting until I opened the door.
I made it up the stairs and grabbed the door handle. The door flung open, and Mads was on the other side, her hand coming down like a vice over my wrist. With a strength far greater than my own she tried to pull me up onto the roof. Almost on instinct now, my experience in the Time Out room proving invaluable, I parted the veil and became incorporeal. Mads’ hand closed on nothing as I slipped through her grasp.
1.30 am Friday 7 hours until sunrise. 6 days until the Succubus Club Crowbar, Leichhardt
****************************************************************************************
Eclipses thoughts:
Flowers
He sees us.
Luna…
What if it’s not too late?
Luna..
What if we can still be saved?
Luna… please…
There is a darkness coiling around you.
It’s choking me. When can I lay my head down?
I had my bed. I could have laid down but I wanted to live.
Where is my fight?
Where is my fire?
It’s cold. So, so cold.
Where are you, my Orpheus?
Will you lead me out of the cold and dark?
I don’t know if this storm was predestined. My fate told of my darkness but not this emptiness. Not this despair. Not the fire gutted out of me.
I don’t think I can go back. You saw an afterlife but you haven’t seen what I have seen. You haven’t met the serpent. You don’t understand. How could you? I’ve become a monster. A harbinger of eternal night. No one can save me. Not even myself.
So, I’ll keep a hold of your note. A piece of myself that I cannot seem to shake. Cannot bleed out or run from. Your love follows me. It fucking haunts me.
I’m sorry, Izac. As much as I have tried I cannot cut you out of my chest. Not even the serpent could take that from me. No void within me can consume my love for you.
We’re doomed.
Let me shed these bloody tears for us. For who I was and what we once were.
I don’t know if you’ll come back. I don’t think you’ll like the version of me you’ll find sitting here. The ghost of the woman you once loved.
I’ll let her lay her head down.
I hope you don’t find me in this bed I have made.
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
Allicia: 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 a 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 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 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.
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.
Shara-had: Banu Haqim (Assamite).
Sparrow: a Nosferatu of the warren in Pyrmont, closest to home
Teeth of Titanium: Werewolf dingo met in Leichhardt.
The Woman: A powerful being of unknown name who kidnapped Izac and enchanted Rain.
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: 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.
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 