Chapter 6

~~Julias~~

It didn’t matter how many times Julias stood before the triumvirate, he never felt safe.

Viktor was old. Michael and Maria were there as well, and while they were older and stronger than Julias, it was Viktor that made his inner-beast recoil. Sometimes Julias wondered if his sire would try another torpor, before his strength grew to the point that he’d need Kindred blood to survive, and not kine blood. Every time he stood before him, he started to worry more and more about that possibility.

Natasha and Jessy were there too. Jessy was Michael’s childe, a Gangrel, and his right hand for the Invictus; she was just a bloodthirsty animal. Natasha on the other hand was a Mehket, and served as Maria’s right hand. Only Maria knew who Natasha’s sire was.

The three right hands and their three masters. They stood in the top floor of Xnomina, with a gigantic touch-screen on the wall. The masters were not good with keyboards, or texting, but they were quite comfortable managing complicated webs of notes, photos, hints and evidence. The huge touch-screen let them slide the nodes in the web quickly.

“Rebecca was seen at Julias’s, and attacked his childe before he was turned. Then was later seen at the building Julias was sent to to capture Vance or his data.” No titles, all business. Viktor was pacing in front of the screen, and his right hand would occasionally reach out to drag one of the digital images to the center of it, so it would grow in size for them to read or analyze. “She defeated Julias, who only managed to survive because the fire or sunrise risked Rebecca’s life.”

Natasha frowned, Jessy snickered, and Julias grit his teeth. Well, at least they didn’t know Beatrice had saved him.

“Julias managed to recover the situation. The next night, he observed that Rebecca had recovered the data, and overheard – with brilliant use of possession on a rodent, I might add – that in a months’ time from that night, in North Side, there would be a drop. Typical lingo of gutter trash.” Viktor gave a shrug. “Now, we have another piece of the puzzle to add to that.”

“Sir?” Julias said. He tried to hide the small smile he had over the earlier compliment. Jessy hated him.

“Natasha has come across some valuable information. Her childe has discovered that, not long after Rebecca recovered Vance’s data, her and, who we believe to be Tony, visited the Carthians.”

“S-sir,” Natasha said, barely above a whisper. She was a petite thing, long black hair, with a young but hard face. “W-we know the Carthians have a Mike Unknown working for them. He ... he is only five years embraced.” As the ridiculously shy Mehket spoke, Viktor turned around and pulled up Mike Unknown’s picture on the touch-screen. “He is a hacker.”

“A hacker? This-” Jessy tried to cut in, but Michael snapped her a look Julias only manage to catch a second of. Jessy’s sire certainly wasn’t happy. He was probably upset over Jessy’s lack of anything to contribute. Julias had to try hard to suppress his grin.

“A hacker,” Natasha continued, “who we believe has been responsible for several data leaks of Invictus trades.”

Jessy whistled. Even Julias was impressed. The little punk on the screen had balls.

“His antics have been nothing but meaningless jabs at Xnomina, with no major consequence,” Maria said, “and we have ignored them until now.”

The ghost lady walked around the conference room table and stood in front of the three right hands. They all stood up straight at her approach. Sometimes, Julias thought Maria looked like a freshly dragged corpse from the river. When she stepped up to him and looked at him, only a foot away, he could swear he could see bits of water drip from her skin before turning into mist.

“And you three, are going to find out what he knows.”

Shit.

Michael stepped up beside Maria. “We know this could spark problems with the Carthians if anyone finds out. The Prince has made it absolutely clear that we are not to disturb the peace, so...”

“So that means no one finds out.” Jessy punched a hand to her palm. She had really, really short blonde hair, was almost as tall as Julias or Michael, and looked more like a boxer than anything.

“Get the information by whatever means necessary,” Viktor said, “but if this gets back to the Carthians, someone will have to pay.” With that, the eldest of them all stood there, hooked his hands behind his back, and stared at the three of them. His gaze was cold, stern, and despite his young form, the furrow of his brow was heavy enough to carry centuries.

They were pawns, and pawns were expendable.

“I don’t understand why we don’t just beat him until he tells us what we need to know, and then dust him.”

Jessy was dressed in a leather jacket and pants, and looked somewhere between a Carthian’s love for street-wear, and an Invictus’s love for class. She was even wearing some slim sunglasses. At night. She’d seen The Matrix too many times. It fit the scene though, with the three of them kneeling on a rooftop and looking down at the streets leading into the Carthian half of South Side.

Julias rolled his eyes. “If Mike disappears, they’ll know he’s dead. Dead Mike means Garry gets suspicious. You think Garry won’t find out? Think he’ll take that shit lying down?”

“N-no ... he wouldn’t.” Natasha was beside him, dressed in a simple business suit with a knee-length skirt, blue color.

“Then what do we do?”

“Natasha?” Julias looked to her.

“We ... we could observe him. But he wouldn’t j-just make a stupid mistake. He’s smart. He’ll have l-locked everything, encrypted, and wouldn’t accident-tally say something out loud. He’s lived the digital world his whole life.”

“Fucking new Kindred,” Jessy said, and she clenched the rooftop’s edge hard enough to sink her fingers into the structure.

Much as Julias hated to admit it, the new Kindred had a huge advantage. They adapted to how insanely small the world had gotten, how connected and immediate it was. He grew up when the radio had just become a household item. Natasha and Jessy, barely half his age, grew up when TV was still young. The internet was absolutely nauseating to try and understand in scope.

He could only pity Viktor, on that front.

“ ... then I guess I’ll have to make him tell me, then make him forget.”

“What?” Jessy stood up and looked down at Julias. “I’m sorry, since when were you an Elder Kindred?”

“She’s r-r-right.” Even Natasha stood up and looked down at him. “We’re all Ancillae. You’re ... not that powerful. Maybe against a kine, but against a Kindred?”

Sometimes, when presented with the opportunity to be a jackass and a show off, you just can’t help but give in. “Watch me.”

Finding Mike wouldn’t be too hard. Natasha was a Mehket, and her clan held the power of Auspex. Nothing could be hidden from them for forever. The problem would be what to do once they had their hands on him.

Jessy and Julias followed Natasha around, out in the open streets of the night. Trespassing was allowed, but feeding in another covenant’s territory was not. And there were plenty of people around. The kine were everywhere; the smell of blood and the sound of heartbeats filled his nose and ears. These were the things he was about to risk his unlife for: food. Blood bags. A couple he recognized from Xnomina, and they nodded to him, cheerful and pleasant.

He really did envy them. All of them.

When they walked by, his eyes drifted down over their faces, down their jawline and to their necks. Even on a full stomach, he could feel the cravings force his attention to blood. Always back to the blood. Idly, he wondered how long it would be until he’d have to enter his first torpor, when his cravings would become too strong and he’d be forced to survive on the blood of other vampires. How long until he’d be in Viktor’s shoes?

Another woman he knew walked by; Juliette, he believed her name was, and an employee of Xnomina’s daytime activities. They’d slept together a few times, he drank her each time, and just walking by her was enough to make his insides tingle with desire for the warm, rich drink. She offered more than just a smile, and even reached out to let her hand graze along the sleeve of his suit as she walked by, complete with a glance over her shoulder.

“Food later,” Jessy said.

“Coming from you, that’s a laugh.” Julias gave a small snort.

“I’ll have you know I drank from both my ghouls before coming on this trip.” The Gangrel stepped up beside him, and even gave him a punch in the arm. Gangrel hit hard, and he couldn’t tell from the smirk on her face if she was angry or just being aggressive and playful. Animals were never easy to read.

“And again tonight, I imagine. Think they’ll survive?”

“Fuck you, I don’t kill my ghouls.”

He grit his teeth hard enough that his fangs were just visible. “You ne-”

“Quiet!” Natasha said. To hear the quiet girl snap at them with hushed but harsh voice was enough to make the two of them shut up. “He’s ... here. Alone.”

The three of them stepped into an alleyway, complete with hazy neon lights on brick walls advertising convenience stores and movie rentals. No one would ever rent a movie these days.

Natasha took them to a worn, dark green door. It was one of those metal doors they had on the back of small stores, complete with a numpad for inputting a door code. Jessy just gave a small chuckle, and pushed in on the door with a hand on the doorknob. The metal bent and cracked in effortlessly. The damn animal had the grace of an ox. Julias and Natasha both grimaced in unison, but when no alarm went off they followed Jessy in.

“What the fuck!”

A scrawny little Mehket with messy hair over his eyes jumped up in a panic. He was in the dark, with several computer monitors laid around the desk shining dull blue light over a keyboard, mouse, and a desk covered in dozens of ... things. Catalogs, little books, pamphlets, devices, smartphones, pens, and wallets. A classic example of a fresh Mehket in the new world; he lived in computers and, while a juggernaut in the digital realm, was a sad waste of skin in the real one.

“Oh shit ... shit shit shit. I’m sorry, I’m sorry I stole those blueprints. I’ll delete them right now! Just give me twenty seconds and you’ll have-”

“Shut up.” Jessy was on him in a second, with her fingers around his throat and slamming him back into a wall.

Julias grunted. Jessy’s antics were likely to get them all killed, but she didn’t hesitate, and that was useful. “Natasha, keep an eye open.”

“Of c-course.” The little woman stood by the door, and waited. Mehket were always valuable on missions as well; they could keep themselves hidden like nothing more than mist in the corner of the eye. One as powerful as Natasha could keep them all hidden.

Julias looked to Jessy, and she threw a glance back at him. There was a need in her eyes, like a cat who wanted to play with a mouse. She liked making the poor fool in her hands squirm and wriggle in fear.

“Mike. What did you learn from the phone?” Julias said.

“Phone? Phone what phone? I don’t have any phone, man. Come on, seriously, I’ll do anything you want! I’m sorry, Invictus won’t get anymore trouble from me.”

Jessy growled, and Julias stood over the messy desk. He idly flipped through the array of random things. The kid even had spare hard-drives lined up, plugged into what he guessed were servers running only God knows what.

“The smartphone. Rebecca or Tony gave it to you. You’re a hacker.” Julias rolled his eyes and walked up to the kid pinned against the wall. “How stupid do you think we are?”

Mike’s jaw dropped. “You ... you can’t ... we have a truce! The Prince won’t allow this.”

Jessy grit her teeth so hard, Julias could hear them grind. The kid was right, and this was all resting on the hope that they could convince the kid to keep this quiet, which would be impossible. Normally.

“Mike,” Julias said, and stepped even closer so he was standing over him.

“You’re all Invictus! You can’t do this, you’re ... you’re...”

“Look into my eyes, Mike.” He leaned in closer until only a foot separated their faces.

“I don’t ... know...”

The Gangrel would never know this feeling, neither would the Mehket. The Daeva could only make people adore them, and the Nosferatu could only make people fear them. The Ventrue though, they could make people obey.

From deep within, down in his core, into the blood that circled his corpse, he pulled forth his vitae. The energy rose like forgotten adrenaline. Unseen and overwhelming, his mind reached out and found Mike’s. The eye contact was the key. He could see straight into the weak Kindred’s eyes, and he could feel the twerp’s inner-beast fall to its knees. Mike’s eyes had gone wide, but they were now unblinking.

“Mike. Is there any surveillance in here monitoring us?” A test.

“ ... no...”

Good. His voice was dead and monotone. The fool was broken.

“What did you learn from the device Rebecca gave you?”

“There’s ... a drop...” Mike’s eyes stayed wide. All the subtleties of his movements were gone. Robots had more life to them.

Jessy gasped. Her grip loosened on the kid until he was standing on his own, while she stood there casting surprised glances between Julias and Mike.

“Where.”

“The abandoned ... textile mill ... North Side.”

“When.”

“ ... eight days.”

“What’s the drop?”

“ ... information.”

Julias narrowed his eyes. “What kind of information?”

“Didn’t say ... important to ... the covenants.”

God damn it. Julias couldn’t extract information that didn’t exist. He groaned and looked to Jessy, who was smirking at him.

“Impressive,” she said, “but I could have just beat that out of him. We’re no better off now either way. He’s going to tell Garry, or we kill him and Garry figures it out.”

Julias leaned in closer until only six inches were between his eyes and the tiny Kindred’s. Mike didn’t squirm anymore, and his eyes didn’t break contact. For a moment, Julias was sure he could see through the kid’s pupils and into his insides. Into blood and ash.

“Mike.” His voice practically echoed in the quiet. “We were never here. This conversation did not happen.” The vitae in his dried and withered insides rose higher. It filled him. He could feel the inhuman plague flow into his brain, into his eyes, and through the contact with his victim.

Mike never stood a chance. Like the rat, the child Kindred’s mind surrendered and collapsed.

Julias put a hand on the wall to steady himself. He wanted to fall over. Exhaustion washed over him, and so too the hunger. He’d gone from a full belly to the beast within knocking at the door, demanding he feed or it’d feed for him. He forced down a growl and brushed his hair back with his fingers.

“Let’s go.” Julias gave Jessy a nod and headed to join Natasha at the door. When he glanced over his shoulder, he could see Jessy blink at Mike before she turned to join him. Mike collapsed to the floor, but did not move; he wouldn’t move for a while.

Within five minutes, they’d broken down a door, interrogated a kid, and rewrote his memories. Julias smiled to himself as they walked out of the building, back into the street, and with the practice of decades, nonchalantly rejoined the flow of bodies walking the large sidewalks.

“Julias, you just re-wrote that kid’s memories.” Jessy grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

“Y-yes. That is ... how did you do that?” Natasha stepped in beside Jessy and looked up at him. She looked meek, but her eyes always had a layer to them. Whenever Julias met them, she looked away, but for just that glimpse he could see she was thinking fast.

“How do you think?” He met Jessy’s glare, but the Gangrel stared right back at him. Julias wrenched his arm free and started walking again. Damn idiots. You don’t stop to talk in the middle of moving crowds unless you actually want to look suspicious.

“I’m sorry, did you suddenly go Elder on us when we weren’t looking? Victor is the only Ventrue in the whole damn city who can rewrite someone’s memories.”

“Not the only one.” Julias gave Jessy a playful smirk, and to his satisfaction, she immediately growled and furrowed her brow in frustration.

“I’m not fucking kidding here!” The Gangrel reached out with a snap and yanked him into an alley. Before he could even say anything, she’d moved them well into the black of the alley and away from the crowd again. She’d pushed him against a wall, but he pried her hands away from his shirt.

So much for getting out of there quickly.

“Back off, Jessy,” he said.

To his dismay, Natasha stood beside Jessy, and she peaked up at him. “Julias ... we’re afraid of Victor.”

“You’d be a fool to not be.” Julias frowned down at the little Mehket. “Michael and Maria are scared of him too.”

Jessy finally let go of him. “We’re all afraid.”

“V-Victor ... he’ll need torpor again soon. If he comes back ... even worse than last t-t-time.” Natasha shuddered. “And if he doesn’t torpor, he’ll need to drink ... Kindred to survive.”

“ ... you want me to do something about it?”

“Yes,” they both said in unison.

“Pray tell, what am I supposed to do about my own sire?”

Both the scary Gangrel and the shy Mehket looked down, then at each other, and then down again. It was obvious they’d been talking to each other before this. They even shuffled their feet from side to side.

Then Natasha looked up at him, and her eyes hardened. “Kill him.”

~~Jack~~

It was the same damn music. Mindlessly repetitive and deep enough to give a headache purely by making his skull vibrate. How did people listen to this stuff? But then, that was probably part of the problem. The first thing he noticed was the music while everyone else here was noticing each other instead.

It had been a week since he was last here. He figured a week would be the likely schedule a figure like the Prince would follow. Businesses breathe in weeks. He could have come some other day, and avoided Antoinette, but here he was actually going out of his way to see her.

He had a death wish, he must have. Little fledgling that was he going to have a sit down with a vampire so powerful and ancient she might as well have been fictional. So why was he walking next to the walls of this place again, bathed in red light with his fingers on the railings? Why was he walking up that staircase again and up onto that second floor? Why was he scanning the room for the very tall woman with the white hair?

Why did he get excited when he saw that she was there?

She looked at him, and again he almost quaked in his shoes. It was a harsh reminder that he was no longer human, when the beast inside him reeled back with hair on end and tried to run away. Two predators that saw each other at a distance, except one was a god and the other was a house cat. But when the look on her face – he could swear it was almost sad – turned into a smile, he couldn’t help but smile back.