Chapter 27

Most people in the United Kingdom have heard the tale of Lord Lucan. Few if any know the real tale as I'm about to recall it. The official tale says that Lord Lucan was an unsuccessful professional gambler whose marriage collapsed in a bitter custody battle which left him spying on his family, including recording their telephone calls. On the evening of 7 November 1974, the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was also attacked; she later identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police began their murder investigation he telephoned his mother, asking her to collect the children, and then drove a borrowed Ford Corsair to a friend's house in Uckfield, Sussex. Hours later, he left the property and was never seen again.

From our point of view, we weren't interested in the assaults, other than confirmation of something our Seers had picked up on. Lucan had come in contact with some sort of magical group of non-humans and whatever it was they'd done to him had caused his actions.

"We need to identify this group. Did the Seers say who?" Róisín asked.

"No, they reported it as a chance encounter with no harm occurring," I replied. "It was only afterwards, with him displaying certain non-human characteristics, that an alarm was raised. It certainly was the use of magic, but not an emergence." I continued. "All we have is a location."

"OK, I'll inform Morgana and we'll go look," said Róisín.

It was a ten minute walk from the office to Eaton Row in London where the first incident of magical interference had taken place. Back in 1972 Lord Lucan had moved into a flat here after his separation from his wife and his mental state had deteriorated into one of paranoia at this spot or in his next flat in Elizabeth Street. Eaton Row proved a bust as not even Róisín could make out anything other than background and distant magical effects.

At Elizabeth Street we got our first clue as the area stank of magical use, though not one I recognised. It was concentrated in the cellar area of the house, but seemed to have no direct source and was too overwhelming for Róisín to do a subtle scan.

I called Morgana and asked her what she made of the barrage of sensations in the cellar and scanning through my mind she told us.

"Nosferatu," I said to Róisín. "He had a house with a bloody nest of Nosferatu."

Now contrary to popular fiction or indeed movies, Nosferatu are not blood crazed killers, nor are they undead. They don't burst into flames in daylight, crosses do not affect them and garlic is merely a minor irritant in the same way as a nettle sting is to a human. They are semi-nocturnal, they do exude a glamour to pass for human and they do drink blood, which makes them haemovores, although they need only a pint or so per day to keep them healthy. Their victims, for want of a better word, tend to be the homeless of major cities and they use a form of sexual pheromone to entice and get close enough to feed. After they've taken what they want they use their saliva as quick heal to seal a wound and you'd never know you'd just lost a pint as the pheromone also induces temporary amnesia. Nosferatu aren't particularly bothered if the human involved is having sex with them or not, they can't get or induce pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases with us even though they're a human sub-group. Generally they don't cross contaminate humans into becoming Nosferatu as this involves blood transference and a few esoteric biochemicals they extrude as needed. Occasionally though they would try and very, very occasionally it went wrong and the candidate went on a paranoiac schizophrenic killing spree. The last time it happened Morgana and Arch had been forced to go after the candidate known as Jack the Ripper and had a very difficult time of it as the candidates can screen themselves very effectively from Mages and will kill to keep one from getting too close. As it was they caught him dismembering Mary Kelly and removed the threat to London that he had become, even leaving several false trails to distract the press and police from what had really happened.

"So which tribe?" asked Róisín.

"Doubt it will be the Juwes. They learned their lesson after the Whitechapel murders," I replied. "But it's a good place to start, simply to get information on the tribes operating in London."

"Will they talk to us?" she asked.

"I believe so, we've gotten on pretty good terms with them since the 1870's according to what I've read," I replied as we made our way to a Tube station to head over to the east end of London.

Eventually we ended up at Aldgate East station and walked to the end of the platform, using avoidance spells to make sure no one was observing us and knocked loudly on a door that a mundane simply couldn't see.

"What you want, Mages?" came a voice through a slit in the door.

"I need to talk to the Țepeș concerning a candidacy gone wrong," I replied.

Nosferatu are weird, not just the haemovore thing, it's like they grab any vampire legend and twist it into their own mythology so the head of any Nosferatu Clan is called the Țepeș after Vlad Țepeș aka Dracula and the Confederation of Clans (as close as I can get) are known as the Drăculești, despite the fact they've been around almost as long as humanity. Currently according to Morgana they were getting big time into the Ann Rice novel 'Interview with the Vampire' that had been released the year before.

"What makes you think he wants to see you?" came the reply.

"Because I doubt he wants another Jack the Ripper incident even if 'The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing' does not run true this time," I said.

The door opened and we stepped inside nodding to the young Nosferatu who had allowed us access into their lobby. I said young as the youngest member was always the one on lobby duty. He may actually have been several hundred years old, though I doubted it, his trying to stall me at the door made it unlikely as a more experienced Nosferatu would simply have allowed us in and made us wait outside the Țepeș' chamber.

"I am the Varney," came a woman's voice from the other end of the room. "The Țepeș is expecting you."

We were led to a beautifully furnished room by the Varney who was the Clan's enforcer and not someone you'd care to mess with. Outwardly she looked like a beautiful young woman, due to a glamour. I could see past it to the strong musculature and the adapted jawline that concealed the retracting fangs. Nosferatu are roughly four times stronger than the average human, but rarely need it, using their pheromones to get by stealth what they need from humanity. They have accords with the Council of the Wise and generally we leave each other alone if they aren't killing anyone or otherwise making a nuisance of themselves.

"Greetings to you, I am the Țepeș and may I know who you are?" came a strong male voice.

"Greetings Țepeș I am journeyman Mage John and this is journeywoman Mage Róisín," I replied politely.

"And how may I help you?" he asked frowning, as we were not Mages as such and rather low on what he perceived as the Council's pecking order.

"We have been tasked by Mage Morgana to investigate what appears to be an incident of a candidacy going wrong and seek information," I replied.

"You suspect the Juwes of being involved?" came the voice of the Varney.

"No, most definitely not," said Róisín. "It happened outside your territory. All we seek is information from friends who would guide us to those who would know of such things."

I have to admit I was impressed. Róisín's use of the term friends conferred status on the Juwes clan as being favoured by the Department and hence the Council.

"Tell us where this may have happened," said the Țepeș.

I explained the Lucan case and the nest we found under his Elizabeth Street residence as well as where Elizabeth Street was. I also went over Lucan's growing schizophrenia and antagonism towards others and finally his assault on his wife and the murder of the nanny.

"It does appear as if he is a failed candidate and it will be best nipped in the bud," sighed the Țepeș.

"That is our thought too, Țepeș," we replied.

"The area where the candidacy appears to have taken place was under the control of the Orlok clan. However it is in dispute now with the younger more vigorous clan Lestat who formed barely a year ago and are seeking to increase their numbers to become viable," said the Țepeș. "I suspect Lucan is a failed Lestat candidate."

"This sounds most plausible," said Roisin respectfully. "And fits what little we know."

"Do you require any more assistance?" asked the Țepeș.

"A boon perhaps?" I asked.

"Go ahead journeyman, ask. The worst that will happen is I will say no," chuckled the Țepeș.

"Mages have great difficulty detecting a candidate; their thought processes are too alien to us and utterly unlike a full Clan member. Would it be possible to request the assistance of one of your members to aid us in tracking down Lucan?" I asked.

"Varney, you will assist these two. I wish no debacle like the Ripper affair to reflect on the Drăculești. I will also speak to the Țepeș of the Orlok Clan to counter the Lestat Clan's impetuosity," the Țepeș replied.

"Yes Țepeș, of course," said the Varney. "Please come with me John, Róisín."

She led us back to the platform, putting a pair of very dark sunglasses on to protect her sensitive eyes. Once outside the Clan's defences Róisín opened a portal and we stepped through to the office, causing a little consternation from security when they picked up our guest. We were immediately summoned to Morgana's office to explain ourselves.

"John, Róisín, Nell, I gather you have something to tell me," Morgana said.

"You remember me, Mage Morgana," said the Varney. "I am honoured."

"Of course, you were perhaps the only one, other than Richard, in the Juwes Clan to assist or even admit to the problem of the Ripper being your fault," Morgan said.

"Things have changed now, Mage Morgana. Richard is now the Țepeș and I the Varney after that debacle with the old Țepeș denying it was us when it plainly was our problem," the Varney said. "We are friends now?"

"Yes, we are friends now," said Morgana confirming Róisín's offer.

"The Țepeș of the Juwes has tasked me with assisting John and Róisín in tracking down this Lucan candidate and dealing with him. I believe you have problems detecting candidates whilst we do not," the Varney stated.

"I see. Well, we are thankful to your Țepeș and to you Nell for this unexpected assistance," Morgana said.

"The Juwes Clan will also move to contain and curtail the Clan we believe responsible for this abomination's loosing on human society," she said.

"That is most gracious of the Juwes," Morgana said.

"It is the least we could do for the honour of being your friends," the Varney said and gave a gracious bow to Morgana.

"Will you have a problem with food?" Morgana asked obliquely.

"No, Mage Morgana. I will do my best to feed away from the journeymen," she said.

"Thank you, Nell. Now if I could have a moment with John and Róisín, please," Morgana asked.

Mage Thomas came into Morgana's office to escort the Varney to a room where she could have privacy whilst Morgana viewed the pair of us in a manner akin to a predator observing prey.

"Good move the pair of you," Morgana said, finally relaxing after making the pair of us sweat for what seemed like a lifetime.

"Thank you, my Mage," I said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Still, next time you offer an agreement on behalf of the Department I want to know about it first, Róisín," Morgana said sternly.

"Yes, Mage Morgana," Róisín said apologetically.

"As it is, we've elevated the Juwes Clan's status in their arcane Confederation to that of a major player and gained them as allies should anything like this happen again. But it also obliges us to help them if they ask. Fortunately Richard, their Țepeș, is a very smart being and won't abuse it as the agreement only stands for as long as he and I live," said Morgana.

We left the office to pick up Nell the Varney and made our way to Victoria to get a train to Newhaven, the last known location of Lord Lucan, or rather where the car he'd used had been found. Other than the dark glasses Nell fitted in quite well with humans around her, though she attracted an inordinate amount of attention from males with her pheromone scent, which she assured us was turned well down. I did ask her if travelling in daylight was an issue for her, but she assured us that as Varney it was her usual working hours. Those whom she needed to discipline were often sedentary during that time and easy to accost and deal with.

"Much work?" I asked.

"More than you might think. Part of my job, as it were, is to make sure that we do not over hunt an area which is why the Juwes Clan's numbers are lower than others, although we are feared by those around us and now we have high status through our connection to the Council. We maintain about one Nosferatu per ten thousand souls in the City as essentially we are an urban social species as the countryside is too small to maintain numbers to serve us for company," she explained.

"Other Clans?" Róisín asked.

"Maintain greater numbers, but they lack the finesse and urbanity to thrive for too long as eventually their depredations cause your Council to react. One of the reasons Clan Orlok lost territory was due to your Security people removing several leaders in a cull and that allowed some survivors to form Clan Lestat. Clan Juwes has not faced a cull since 1888 whilst others suffer them every twenty years or so," Nell said.

"So why are the Juwes Clan feared?" I asked genuinely curious.

"Age, experience and maturity, John. Most of us are over one hundred years old, often a lot more and we do not suffer from the folly of youth by the constant loss of our elders via culls," she explained.

"So the value of an Orlok to say that of a Juwes would be?" I asked.

"Four to one, nearer to ten to one in the case of Clan Lestat," she admitted.