The time of thin blood There will come a time when the curse of the One Above will not be tolerated further When the lineage of Caine will end When the Blood of Caine will be weak And there will be no embracing for these Childer for their blood will run like water, and the potence in it will wither Then, you know in this time that Gehenna will soon be upon you (The book of Nod)
Prelude New York -WTC. September 11th, 2001Elizabeth yawned and stretched. The leather padding on her chair creaked slightly. She straightened hair glasses and run a hand through her brown hair. It had been another long night. And it looked like it wouldn't be the last. Her boss had dissapeared again, about an hour ago. She wondered if he always worked this late. Her previous boss had always stuck to the 9-to-5 rule, preferably less. "But then again, he wasn't running his own office in the world trade centre."She thought,with a little smile. She was better off this way. No more filing papers in dubious archives. Taylor Inc. was dealing in high-value antiques. The pay was better and the job was in her personal field of interest. She hardly ever saw her boss; mostly when she was working late. It had been on one of those evenings when Mr. Taylor had seen her work. When he offered her a promotion- asked her to become his private secretary. Elizabeth couldn't refuse, didn't have to -could't- think for a second. It was like her dream came true. Though Mr. Taylor wasn't available most of the day, she learned to handle his daiyly business very well; earning herself a substantial bonus every now and then. She only had one rule to follow: Mr. Taylor's office was off limits to anyone unless he called for you. Not that it happened much, anyway. She thought nothing of it. Once, he had explained to her he prefers to handle some business personally and therefore traveled a lot- maybe even leaving without notice. It would account for most of his abcenses. A familiar voice roused her. "Hey Beth, the old man having you run the graveyard shift again?" She smiled at the security guard, who just peeked around the office door. "Yes Karl, been at it again. Waiting for a call from Iran and searching the internet for some things. A waste of time, though." Karl frowned at her. "You look like you could use a cup of coffee. My treat, this time." He held up some loose change and smiled. Elizabeth chuckled. "If you put it that way... I'll be right there, just let me log off." "I'll be down the hall." Karl replied. He closed the door, and Elizabeth turned to her computer. A waste of time, indeed. Mr. Taylor seemed obsessed with finding some sort of ancient script. It was a sudden interest that started about a week ago. She remembered that night.
She was about ready to leave for home that night, when a wild-eyed stranger burst into the room. He could have been a businessman, but his clothes seemed worn and out of fashion. He worn a long, woolen coat, a ragged hat and leather gloves. Under his arm was a tightly wrapped, brown package. Not bothering to introduce himself, she stanger demanded ina rasping voice: "Where is Dylan Taylor? I must see him." He gave her a strong look, which seemed to look inside of her rahter than at her, and commanded: "Summon him for me." Elizabeth felt like she had no choice but to do as she was told. She knew Mr. Taylor was in the office today; She felt lucky for that. She turned on the intercom. "Mr. Taylor, there's someone here to see you. It looks urgent." A metallic version of Mr. Taylor's voice crackled back at her. "Very well miss blake, I'll be right there." A minute later, he was. Fine tailormade suit, stylish necktie, perfectly groomed brown hair, slightly greying at the temples. Wearing a comfortable smile at first, which quickly faded as he laid eyes on the stranger. "Lucius." He muttered. "What..." Lucius interrupted him, again with his raspy voice. "The cycle, Dylan." He held out the package. "As true as I stand here. It's a part of the damn cycle." Mr. Taylor stared at the package in disbelief, and seemed about to speak. Then his mouth snapped shut as he noticed Elizabeth still sitting at her desk, looking confused. "Miss blake, thank you for your help, this is urgent indeed. You've earned yourself yet another bonus. You can go home now, but I think I'll need you tomorrow night. So get plenty of sleep. Now please leave us alone." Elizabeth gathered her coat and purse ad left quicly and silently. The last thing she heard, before the door closed behind her, was Mr. Taylor's voice saying: "Is it authentic?" And the raspy reply: "Absolutely."
Elizabeth's legs stung from sitting down so long. A walk, a cup of coffee, maybe a sandwich- that was what she needed.Down the hall, Karl was already waiting beside the vending machine, holding a cup of steaming coffee towards her. "Plenty of everything in it, right?" She smiled and took the cup from him. "Yes, thank you." She took a careful sip and closed her eyes. It was just the way she liked it. She sighed. Karl smiled, betraying only a hint of worry. Finally he asked: "What's he having you do all this overtime for anyway? Are you uhm..." He didn't finish. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. "Nothing like that Karl, as if it was any of your business... But he told me he got a hold of a piece of very old text, and he's looking for the rest of it. He says it's worth a fortune when complete." "Uhuh." Karl said. He looked out the window absently. Then suddenly his eyes narrowed. "That's not normal, isn't it?" Elizabeth turned to follow Karl's gaze. From this height, in the morning sun, the big apple seemed peaceful. The traffic was to far down to be heard. But still, there was a strange noise, coming from outside. Then it caught her eye. An Airplane was flying close to the towers. Way closer than usual. Was it one of those drunk pilots she heard about on the news a while ago? It would be pretty stupid. Then the plane made a turn. Elizabeth couldn't move and hardly heard Karl whispering: "What the hell..." She saw only one thing.
The Airplane was heading straight for them.
The signs of Gehenna - canto 1 Quiet! Hear the raven's cry! The stillness of the wind rising hot on the street the towers hide the darkness of the day
Chapter 1 Kasur (East Pakistan border) -An underground cavern. September 14th, 2001Bormann was disgusted. Why, ofall places, did he have to meet with these cursed assasins HERE? He would have preferred not dealing with them at all. But it was an unfortunate necessity. The Assamite would not deal with representatives and avoided contact by telephone or writing. It meant there would be less to track. It didn't seem very likely they would ever be found here. Only the armed ghouls outside the cave gave away anything of their position. The remoteness of the place also meant the quality of english spoken sounded abhorrently to Bormann. Jamal, the man Bormann came to see, had little more vocabulairy than an average 8-year old. Sitting opposite of him, Jamal seemed relaxed, in a pile of fine pillows. The cavern was dimly lit but obviously richly appointed with silks and tapestries. It annoyed Bormann. "You can garuantee me that Dylan Taylor has met final death?" Bormann finally asked. Jamal smiled widely and nodded. "It was a succes. The Americans suspect it was all worked by our puppet. Nothing ties to us, and nothing ties to you. They believe it's a muslim attack against the west." Bormann nodded. He thought of how to simplyfy his next sentence. "The Americans will attack this country soon. You will have to leave, but remember the Lasombra will always be friends to you." Bormann leaned forward. He fixed a stern gaze on Jamal, and a cold gleam appeared in his eyes. The cavern seemed to grow just a little darker. Bormann whispered: "But tell me Jamal... You weren't really going to attack the white house with this little scheme of your were you?" Jamal started to look uneasy. His fingers started to tremble. "No...no, of course not. We wouldn't think of it." Bormann eased up. The shadows receded. "Good. Now remember; If you ever draw such attention anywhere near you like that again, Me and my friends will seek you out and suck you dry untill the very last drop, do you understand?" Jamal only nodded hastily.
