Sad Remains

by Lily Halliwell 

"We kindred are not allowed to love humans" says Leon to his beloved 
Darla "Our feelings are consumed by anger and hunger, hunger of souls 
that could fill our own spirit. But we cant fill someone elses spirit, because 
were empty" his eyes grow green in his anger and fear. Big trees 
surrounding them, but there is no place to hide. 

Darla was looking at him deeply, she was very scared, she didnt 
understand why her love had to leave her and run for his life. The young 
girl could only think in their love. 

"But... why? You dont love me anymore?" says Darla with tears in her 
eyes. 

"With all my heart and rotten soul" he responds, his voice breaking. 

"I want to go with you. I love you and I dont care what you are or what 
you did" she hold his hands into hers. 

"You dont understand. Im finished. Im dead now. Youre alive, and you 
need to be free" 

"I dont want to be free!! I want to be yours!!" she shouted crying 
desperately. 

Then, in the darkness of the night the lovers find themselves surrounded 
by a group of angry kindred who were called for a 'Blood Hunt'. Darla and 
Leon looked at them, then he stood up and said "My death will release 
you". 

A scream in the night was the only thing that left Leon, the Gangrel that 
killed his sire and a human exposing the masquerade, and the man that 
loved a human woman with all his heart, despite its beat had stopped a 
long time ago. 

******************** 

Julian was laying next to Caitlin in a king size bed, she was still asleep 
and he could hear her breath without have to look directly at her. 
Suddenly the Prince began thinking of Lillie, she has always be there and 
shell always be. 

He was sure that Lillie had been the past and will be the future, but 
Caitlin was the present "Will Caitlin become the future? A diferent 
future?" he thought, but in that moment Caitlin woke up and said "Mmmm 
good morning, its nice to wake up next to you, Julian" she hugged him 
and he kissed her. 

"I was thinking in a walk for today" she said "maybe we can take the day 
off and enjoy the forbbiden pleasures that nature brings" immitating 
accent. 

Julian laughted "I think I need to be harder with my employees, youre 
asking me a day off in the middle of the week?" 

"Im not your employee. Im your editor" she smiled and kissed him "And 
Ive decided that all the news in this day must be publized tomorrow" 

Julian woke from the bed and said while start dressing "Nice try, but you 
know I cant. Besides I have something important to do. How about this 
weekend?" 

"Yes, sure" Caitlin sounded clearly frustrated but she tried to disguised it 
"I cant believe this. I tought the workaholic was me!" she said smiling. 

"Well, Im a business man, and I like to be with a business woman so that 
we cant argue about who leaves who alone all the time" he kissed her 
good bye "Ill see you later" 

"Bye" said Caitlin. After Julian closed the door she sighed and woke up. 
After taking a shower she headed towards the San Francisco Times, she 
started the engine of her car but a woman dressed in a black gown 
stomped on her car. Caitlin got stunned, the strange woman was 
bleeding from all over her face and said something that the reporter 
couldnt understand before faints. 

Darla woke between smooth sheets, she put a hand on her head and 
realized that had a bandage on it, then she looked around, the door 
opened and a nurse went in with a tray of food. Right after the nurse was 
Caitlin coming in. She sit next to the woman and said "Are you ok?" Darla 
nodded. 

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" asked Caitlin. 

"I... I... my... my name is Darla... I was beaten by... youre not going to b... 
believe me..." she started sobbing. 

"Whatever had happened to you, you have to tell me. I swear that the 
person who did this to you will pay" she give her a pityful look. 

"Vampires!" she said clearly. The nurse looked at her amazed. Caitlin stay 
speechless for a moment and then she said to the nurse "Excuse us 
please" the nurse got out from the room and Caitlin looked at Darla for a 
long time before asking her again. 

"Excuse me, what kind of vampires?" 

"You dont believe me" said Darla angrily. 

"Its hard to believe" she smiled "maybe it was someone on a costume" 

"No! they werent wearing costumes!" 

"You mean there are more than one?" Caitlin was trying to keep a quiet 
attitude. 

"I know there are a lot of them... I know about them, they tried to kill me" 
her eyes shining "but my love save me. He gave his life... to save me" she 
started crying. 

"So those 'vampires' killed your boyfriend and tried to kill you?" asked 
Caitlin, still reluctant. 

"He wasnt my boyfriend... he was my fiancé" 

******************** 

Cash was working on his bike when Sasha came up to him, she covered 
his eyes with her hands and said "Who am I?" 

"The sexiest woman on earth" answered Cash smiling. 

Sasha uncovered his eyes and kiss him "You always know what to say" 

"Where have you been?" 

"Aaah, ya know. Hanging out with the guys" said Sasha while sitting on 
Cashs bike. She crossed her legs and left him see a new tatoo of a heart 
with wings on her thigh "You like it? I made it yesterday. It really hurt. 
Wanna kiss it to make me feel better?" 

Cash chuckled "Why the wings?" 

"It means that Im a wild spirit, you know, a free soul with a winged 
heart" she guided his hand to her chest "feel it, Cash. Its beating again, 
you made me feel alive" 

Cash looked at her voluptous breasts, then kissed her and said "Why are 
you so excited?" 

"Cause Im with you" she said without hesitating "No matter what clan 
you are, for me youre just Cash... the man I love" 

They shared a passionate kiss, but happiness never lasts enough and a 
young Gangrel yelled at Cash from a near distance. 

"Why has to happen every time?" Sasha complained. 

Both walked towards the man. He spoke to Cash calmly but with a 
warning look to Sasha "We found a Gangrel near the forest, seems like a 
'Blood Hunt' but Julian didnt call any. Maybe they followed him from other 
city, he was a flee kindred. This breaks the masquerade rules" 

"Where is the body?" asked Cash. 

"The cops get him. It was a big incident. The papers will intrude" 

"Dammit! how did it happen?" 

"Were not quite sure, but theres more the Gangrel was with a human 
woman, they try to kill her too but she escaped" 

"Wheres she?" Sasha asked curiously. The Gangrel shot her a cold look, 
then he looked back to Cash "We only know that shes still alive" 

"We have to find her before the cops, she probably knows about the 
masquerade" said Cash. 

"The Prince called for a Conclave" said the Gangrel. 

The three of them went to Julians house. 

******************** 

Julian already knew the notice. He was talking to Daedalus. Cash spotted 
him from the door and said to Sasha "Wait here, we may need you in the 
house" Sasha nodded. 

"Cash, Im glad youre here" said Julian. 

"What do you want me to do?" 

"After the meeting I want you to take care of Sasha" 

"But I thought... " Lillie came in before Cash could say anything. 

"Whats this all about, Julian?" she asked. 

"Have you seen the papers lately?" he handed her a copy of San 
Francisco Times paper, in the top of the page was the word 'Vampires' in 
big copperplate letters, and a photo of Darla at the hospital. The text 
below read: My husband was killed by a clan of vampires... Lillie didnt 
need to read the rest of it. 

"What are we going to do?" she looked concerned. 

"Thats what were going to discuss" rapidly Julian headed towards the 
Conclave room, all the Primogens were there except for the Brujahs. But 
Julian didnt like to wait for Cameron. 

"I dont want to waste my time with the how's and why's. I just want to 
know where, where is the woman and how much does she know about 
us?" 

"My men are looking for her through the woods" said Cash. 

"The cops already looked there" answered Julian. 

"She must know enough to destroy us" said Daedalus with his calm voice 
"The best thing to do is destroy her first" 

"Your words are tough, Daedalus. What has made you think that way?" 
Julian asked. 

"Our clans had survived by the masquerade rules. This obviously was a 
Blood Hunt called from a prince from another city, we dont know who or 
where but the rules were broken. This flee kindred was in San Francisco 
in the quest for a safe haven. The ones who did this were in the quest for 
a vengeance" 

"I have been informed that the kindred who killed this Gangrel were 
Brujah" Julian put his hands on the table looking straight into Cashs eyes. 

Cash exploded in rage, he stood up from the table and kicked the chair 
"Those Brujah bastards!!!" he shouted furiously. 

"Stay calm" said Daedalus. 

"How can you say that?? because of their stupidity were going to pay 
with our lives!!" 

"He?s right" said Lillie "Some Brujah from another city came to ours and 
break the rules. But I say we should not kill that woman, we better use 
her to catch and kill them" 

"You have to admit it, Julian" said Cameron standing in the door. He 
walked towards the table while saying "The lady has a point" he sit in his 
chair in the corner of the table, face to Julian. 

"Was your clan who did this" said Julian. 

"Yes, but they were not under my command. Anyway, I support Lillies 
idea" he crossed his hands and looked at Julian "kill them all" 

"Brujah pigs dont respect even their own blood!" said Cash still standing. 

Cameron smiled at him. 

"Take a sit, Cash" ordered Julian. Cash sit again without stop looking at 
Cameron. 

"Now that all the Primogens are present we can decide. First of all, 
newspapers have to stop printing these news. Ill contact Caitlin to 
interrupt the printing" Julian stated. 

"We dont want to create panic among people. What are we going to do 
about the persons that saw the news already?" asked Lillie. 

"Cameron, I want you to take care of that. Its early so only a few copies 
of the paper are sold by now. Just do what you need to fix this business" 
Julian was very reluctant to assign this kind of work to Cameron, but this 
was an emergency and they needed all the possible help "Cash youre 
going to find that woman, no matter how I want her here soon... and 
take Sasha to a safer place, shes Brujah shes in danger. Daedalus, when 
we have found the woman you will solve the problem that those Brujah 
represent" 

"It will be a pleasure" said Daedalus. 

"And Lillie, I want you to talk to Frank Kohanek and convince him to help 
us. He should know where the body of the Gangrel is" 

******************** 

Frank Kohanek was sleeping in his coach. It was 5:30 am. A warm breath 
on Franks face "Alexandra" he thought. But it wasnt his beloved 
Alexandra, it was Lillie Langtry staring at him with her icy blue eyes. He 
looked at her for a while, then she kissed him "Did I wake you up?" asked 
Lillie. 

"You really love to do that, dont you?" 

"What?" 

"Spontaneous appearances and disappearances... without a single 
noise" 

"Its a gift" she said smiling. 

Frank realized that Lillie was acting particularly 'kind', he knew for sure 
this wasnt a pleasure visit, but it felt good having a beautiful woman such 
as Lillie in his flat. 

"You want a favor" said Frank waking up from the coach. He fixed himself 
a cup of coffee while Lillie looked at him, she crossed her legs and said 
"Yes" 

"Julian sent you?" 

"I need your help, we all need it. Theres a woman out there who knows 
everything about us. She knows about the masquerade, the clans, the 
rules and shes mad. This woman has the capacity to send us to the 
deepest part of hell if we dont find her" 

"A world without vampires. What a nightmare!" he said sarcastically. 

"I know you think like that. But theres more involved here, Frank" she 
stood up and began wandering in Franks apartment, looking at his family 
pictures and trophies. She took a picture of Franks mother and began 
explain "Imagine the Inquisition: innocent women burned, hunged, 
tortured because of men foolness. If this thing goes its way , San 
Francisco will become Salem at XVI century and Im not only talking about 
killing vampires but also innocent humans. Because the anger is so deep 
there will be a day in wich you humans wont distinguish an evil Ventrue 
from an unwary businessman" 

Frank dealt with that thought for a small period of time "I presume you 
were sent here to get my help, no matter how" 

Lillie looked at him, her expression didnt change "Its an emergency. We 
need all the help we can get. Are you going to help us?" 

There was a long silence "What do I have to do?" 

"Just get from the morgue the body of the man that was found on the 
woods, his name was Leon" 

"Then what?" 

"Ill take care of him" 

******************** 

"But the news were printed already. Its in the first page, we cannot 
change it for the afternoon edition" said Caitlin after hearing the strange 
request from Julian. 

"This is not an appropiate story for the first page" 

"Why not?" 

"A woman whose boyfriend was a vampire? a clan of vampires that tried 
to kill her? I want to keep the integrity of the paper" 

"I understand but why do you want it to stop now? I mean, the paper is 
already distributed and is not a fake story, we have the same information 
as the police department" 

"The collected data is from a woman who suffered physical abuse, she 
may be perturbed for what happened and she may have created a story 
that hides the trauma of a rape or something similar. I refuse to risk the 
credibility with our readers" 

Caitlin knew Julian was relentless enough to keep arguing till next day, so 
she agreed "Ok, Ill see what can I do" 

"Thank you. I have something to do. Uhm, dinner at my house?" 

"Yes, of course" 

Julian smiled and left the office. 

******************** 

Detective Kohanek entered in his office as cool and usual as he could. He 
talked to William Aldham, the pathologist, and he agreed to let Frank see 
the body before the autopsy. 

There were two tables but only one had a body, Frank took off the white 
sheet and looked at him carefully. It seemed like a dead man, indeed. He 
began to think how much a dead human resemblance to a dead kindred. 
The body was stiff and the face was rigid in a hedious grimace that 
caused Frank nausea, but most humans have a pink tone on their skin 
while living, kindred have always a pale face. He carry the body through 
the hall, but he couldnt take it out because there were a few cops in the 
entry. "You need help?" this question made Frank gasp, but then he 
recognized the voice behind him "You have to stop doing that, Lillie" he 
said turning to face her. 

"Im sorry" she said "You dont have to do that, where is the incinerator?" 

"You going to burn him??" asked Frank puzzled. 

"Hes dead, Frank. We dont need him anymore. Its a dangerous proof of 
our existence" 

"Ok, this way" 

They took him to the morgues incinerator and burned him. The body 
blasted and bended just like a burning paper sheet but Lillie didnt give 
much importance to the repulsive show. 

"Thank you, Frank" 

"What are you going to do now? Are you going to kill the woman?" 

"Oh, Frank. You will always be a cop, always thinking to protect the 
innocent. For you we still are the bad guys" 

"She is a living proof of your existence, either you embrace her or kill her. 
I cant say which one is worse" 

"I have to go" she whispered to his ear "Dont worry about the girl" 

The next thing Frank knew was that he was lying on the floor surrounded 
by cops staring at him. 

"Are you ok?" asked Sonny. 

"Yes, I... " 

"What happened to you?" another cop asked. 

"I... " Frank realized that the woman was in danger, he thought that 
maybe he could find her and save her "I have to go" he stood up still 
feeling dizzy, Sonny hold him by the arm and said "Easy, partner. You 
need rest" 

"No, I have to go" he took his car heads to the hospital where Darla was. 

******************** 

"This woman is beautiful" thought Cash while looking at Darla. She was 
sleeping and the Gangrel could feel her heartbeats. She opened her 
green eyes and looked at him. 

"Who are you?" she naively asked. 

"You have nothing to be afraid of. I came here to protect you" 

Darla looked at him, but now her eyes were cold "You are one of them, 
dont you?" 

"Come with me" 

"Are you going to kill me?" 

"Are you scared?" 

"Not anymore" 

"Why?" 

She closed her eyes "Cause I have nothing to loose" 

____________________ 

Frank entered the hospital yelling "Wheres she? wheres she?!!!" 

The nurse asked "Who?" 

"The woman from the woods! her names Darla!" 

"Are you her relative?" 

"No! Im a cop" he showed her his badge "Shes in danger!" 

But when they arrived at the room there was nobody. 

"Its too late" said Frank. 

******************** 

Lillie looked at Julian from the door of the big room, he was trying to 
down Darla the fever. Sitting next to the dying woman the mighty Prince 
of the city looked like a worried husband. 

"She has your Clan tipe" said Julian without looking at Lillie. 

"You want me to embrace her?" 

"No. She doesnt want to be embraced" 

"Then shes going to die" 

"That will be the best option for all of us" 

Darla opened her eyes, she looked at the woman standing in the door 
wearing a black dress. 

"Who are you?" she asked. 

"Im Lillie" 

"You are a vampire too?" 

"Im kindred. Clan Toreador" 

"Oh, God. I didnt know they embrace women too" she looked at Julian 
"Why?" 

"Like humans we need to 'populate' the world with our own blood. We 
cannot have children so the only way is embrace people, even women. 
But we dont embrace kids" 

Darla looked back to Lillie and said "You wanted to be embraced? Do you 
like drink peoples blood? You like not be able to be a mother?" 

There was a long silence. For the first time in her life Lillie was 
speechless, all that she could manage to say was "There are worst things 
to regret than the loss of our humanity" 

"Darla, tell us who did this to you?" asked Julian. 

"You know who did it" 

"How do they look like? Do you know their names?" 

"I heard that Leon called one of them Byron. I think he was the leader 
or... how do you call them? Primogen" 

"Byron Kaldiff? He is the Prince in Los Angeles" said Lillie. 

"Yes, thats him Byron Kaldiff. Are you going to kill him?" asked Darla. 

"You have to rest now" said Julian. He put his hand on her face and 
immediatly she fell asleep. 

"Do you want me to take care of she?" asked Lillie. 

"Yes. But dont kill her until we are sure that Byron Kaldiff is the 
responsible for this" 

Lillie nodded and left the room. Julian called Cash and ordered to 
investigate Byron, Cash did it quickly and returned to say to Julian "Byron 
Kaldiff ordered a Blood Hunt due to a personal revenge to Leon Portlife, 
add that to the fact that Leon was a Gangrel" 

"Then we can proceed acording to the masquerade rules. Call some of 
your friends Cash, and arrange a meeting with Byron Kaldiff" 

******************** 

Byron and his Brujah comrades where invited to a party given by the 
powerful Julian Luna, although the Prince of Los Angeles was sure that 
Julian will try to kill him he agreed thinking in get the city of San Francisco 
by force. 

Julians house was huge, the dinning room was adequate to have a 
reception. The only humans in the house were Caitlin and Darla but the 
last one wasnt at sight of the Brujah, Julian had ask her to see if the 
persons who were there were the ones that killed Leon. 

Lillie raised her glass of wine and said smiling "I hope all the differences 
between us have a happy ending" all answered at unison "cheers!" 

"What a lovely hostess you have here, Mr. Luna" said Byron smiling to 
Lillie "in fact, I think this city has extremely pretty women" he looked at 
Caitlin. 

"Of course! Let me introduce you the editor of San Francisco Times: Miss 
Caitlin Byrne" said Julian. 

Caitlin said hello to all the businesses men that, she tought, looked more 
like mob criminals. 

"Miss Byrne, are you aware of the situation that took place in the 
woods?" asked one Brujah. 

Caitlin changed her expression "Well, yes. I didnt know that this kind of 
news travel so fast" 

"Oh! not at all Miss Byrne. Its just that as business men we liked to be 
informed about every little thing that happens in the country, including 
the more unusual" explained Byron. 

Caitlin only smiled and agreed. This kind of meeting was putting her 
nervous. Cash entered the room and walked towards Julian, there he 
whispered him something and Julian nodded, Cash left the room looking 
at Byron. 

Julian stood up from the table and said "Excuse me gentlemen, Ill be right 
back. Please feel at home" 

All nodded and Julian left the table. In a room Cash and Darla were 
waiting for him. Julian reunited with them and asked the woman "Have 
you looked at the men?" 

Darla nodded. 

"Those are the men that killed your fiancé?" 

"Yes" 

Julian gave Cash a sign and he nodded. When Cash left Darla looked at 
Julian and said "I think now youll have to kill me" 

"Youre going to be fine" 

Darla didnt say a word, just keep looking at Julian hoping that it would be 
a painless death. 

"Leons death will worth, trust me" 

"Unfair death is worthless" 

Julian saw in this woman the humanity he lost, but couldnt avoid thinking 
in embrace her. She was so smart and beautiful, she reminds him of 
Alexandra. Still she must die. 

"Lillie will take care of you, just wait here until she cames" his face 
showed condescendence. 

"Is it going to hurt?" asked Darla. 

"It never hurts" 

Julian left her sitting on the bed. 

Meanwhile in the dinning room the dessert had been served and Caitlin 
said to Julian "I have to go. Its almost midnight and I have to get up early 
tomorrow" 

"Sure. Ill walk you to the door" 

At the entry they kissed and said good bye. 

When Julian returned he said to the guests "May I have your attention, 
gentlemen? As you must know something occured in our woods, 
something that was perpetuated by a group of Brujah probably from Los 
Angeles" 

Byron stood up and said "All was a terrible misunderstanding. I hope we 
can discuss our differences like gentlemen" 

"I think that wouldve been right if you hadnt had tresspasing our 
territory" 

The environment was getting tense all the Brujah started to see each 
other and noticed that they were the only still sitting, Lillie was standing 
next to Julian and Cash was in a near corner. 

"What are you going to do Prince Julian? Are you going to kill us here? 
You know there will be revenge. I am the Prince of Los Angeles, if you kill 
me my people will chase you forever until your head had been chopped 
off" said Byron. 

"Of course I almost forgot your people. Tell me Sonny, what was the deal 
you did with Karl Wisdom? You remember him Byron. He wanted to rule 
Los Angeles" 

Sonny appeared behind Julian, he aproached to his side saying "I told him 
that well make him Prince if he didnt interfere when all of you were dead" 

"Sounds like a good deal to me" said Julian smiling. 

"You cant undone what is done. The papers already printed the news, all 
San Francisco is aware of our existence!" Byrons voice now showed fear. 

"Ah, right. Cameron did you take care of that?" 

Camerons voice came from the corner where Cash was "Its done, Julian" 

"Fucking bastard!!! You betrayed your own clan!!!" yelled Byron. 

"My Clan doesnt put my life in danger" answered Cameron. 

Byron jumped towards Julian to kill him but the Ventrue rapidly took him 
by the neck and threw him on the table, the rest of the men tried to run 
but three of them were intercepted by Cash who killed them with his 
phosphorous gun. Other three run and jump through the window but 
Daedalus was waiting them and he cut their throats, the last two run in 
the house but Cameron stopped them in a corridor and killed them cutting 
their heads. 

Byron throw Julian against the wall and took a sword from the hall, but 
when the Brujah was about to cut Julians head his hands stopped in the 
air and he looked down, in his stomach was a big hole caused by a 
phosphorous gun, Byron looked back and saw Darla holding the weapon 
in her hands after that he fell. She droped the weapon on the floor and 
stood still in front of Julian. 

He stood up and said "Thank you, Darla" 

"All this slaughter... and I dont feel better" she started to cry on Julians 
chest, he hugged her for a moment and then looked at Lillie, she 
approached and Julian said to Darla "Go with Lillie, she knows what to 
do" 

Darla continued crying on the Toreadors chest. Julian turned his back off. 
The girl suddenly stopped crying and the last thing he heard was the 
thump of a body after Lillie broke Darlas neck. 

******************** 

Julian was sitting in his desk, Lillie came from behind. He felt her from a 
mile away. 

"Tell me Lillie, do you regret being kindred?" 

"Not all the time. Do you?" 

"Sometimes. When I see my loved ones dying one by one... in body or 
spirit" 

"You could?ve embraced her" 

"She didnt want our life... Sometimes I think I am going to be the last" 

"Ill be at your side until the end of time, Julian. Remember that" 

"I will" 

The End