"Yes, but do tell me about yourself, about Josie."
Opal had a tone that I didn’t favor; one of a superior who knows exactly who you are and what you’ve done, but wants to trick you into telling them. I was sure she knew a great deal about Kindred, but then, if she was a Ghoul, that might make sense. Still, she had no right to address me as she had been, and I would soon rectify that.
"I came to this city about four months ago looking for my sister…"
"Hmm, Ta’jid Nox Miradies, yes," she interrupted.
"…only to discover that she’d been killed in a Sabbat attack. When I relayed this to my sire, he asked me to stay in Swarthmore for a while and tie off any loose ends that might have remained after my sister’s death. Since then, I have become quite involved with the people here, and will probably stay as long as I wish."
"But what about Josie?"
"She’s my daughter."
"I see, one of your childer?"
This had definitely begun to anger me. The woman obviously knew something about Josie, how much I did know, and was trying to goad me into betraying her past. That however, would not happen even if Caine himself were to awaken and ask me personally.
"No. But even though she’s not of my blood, nor my mortal family, she is still my daughter all the same," I replied.
"And her tour of Europe?"
"She told me that she had been singing there, but in as much as she’s a Toredor, I would expect that."
"You’re lying to me, she’s a Daughter of Cacophony and you know it," Opal pressed. Undaunted, I shrugged. "You’re also not telling me about her past."
"I know that she was molested as a child, and that scarred her, making her past hard to remember."
"But don’t you want to tell me about her, about who she used to be?"
"That’s all I know!" I exploded, "I know that she’s as lost as a Malkavian, but that’s not her fault. A lot of bad things have happened to her…a month ago she was raped by an enemy, so I don’t expect her to be clear on anything!"
"I know that she had a quite different ‘identity’, perhaps a Sabbat identity…" Opal purred, smiling.
"Woman, leave me in peace! She’s my daughter, that’s all I know! And if you try to harm her, I will not hesitate to hold your master responsible." I shouted, close to the edge.
She laughed, "My masters are the Inner Circle, the world leaders of the seven Camerilla clans, go ahead, hold them responsible. You will soon tell me what I want to know, or I will find out in other ways from other people."
"I have told you all I know," I repeated, and stormed back towards the house, under the influence of the emotion that I despise the most, anger. Standing in the foyer, I took a moment to calm down; Opal was just a Ghoul, and she was bluffing, she didn’t really know anything about Josie, and besides, she was obviously lying about being in the service of the Inner Circle. Why would they be interested in Swarthmore?
In the front room, Bastian was sitting alone on the couch, writing. I walked over and sat down next to him. For a moment he looked up, then continued scribbling words on the worn legal pad.
"Have you yet met Opal?" I asked.
"Not personally."
"She seems to know everything about everyone."
"Well, she doesn’t know anything about me, at least, I don’t think she does," he replied.
"Bastian, may I ask a favor of you? If I’m not around, could you keep an eye on Josie. I-I don’t want anything to happen to her."
"I’d be glad to. Eternus, you’re a Gangrel, right?" I nodded. "Well, have you ever met any other Gangrel who can attack with their tongues, you know, like a snake?"
I thought about that. Some elders of my clan had perfected Protean to the point where they could shift their form to an animal other than a wolf or bat, but I’d never heard of what the Caitiff described. Wait, I did remember my early days of learning about the clans and bloodlines; my sire telling me about snakes, about a clan of snakes…The Followers of Set, Eternus, are mostly evil, in fact, it is their mission to corrupt all things, some have the eyes of a serpent, others, the snake’s forked tongue. My childe, beware of the Setties.
"Well," I began, looking at the innocent face of the man, waiting earnestly for my response, "I…" Then, a strange feeling came over me, I felt a whispering in the back of my mind, a strange voice in my ears, "Don’t tell him."
"Actually, Bastian, I do not recall ever hearing of that type of power, but then again, it IS a magical power, so really anything could be possible. Why, can you do that?"
"Yeah."
"My friend, I doubt that you are a Gangrel, but I shall look into this, for what you describe could be quite useful," I said, tactfully.
True, I had not told him the truth, but did he really need to know? As long as Bastian thought himself to be Caitiff, what was the harm of it? Perhaps he could even be taught to go against his clan and believe in good. I admit, it might have been quite optimistic of me, but I needed a bit of brightness to lift my heart; the night had been extremely trying.
"Eternity, can I talk to you?" asked Marita, a Toredor Ghoul with a heavy New York accent. She was the servant of Sasha, the Kindred who’d arranged the wedding of Prince William and Yvonne.
"Of course," I replied as she pulled me into the foyer.
"I was standing right there when your wolf friend got all big and everything."
"Did you see exactly what happened?"
"Yeah, she was walking over to talk with Josie, then I saw Mike, Martin Oliver’s Ghoul, lean over and whisper to his master. I knew Mike, he never whispered. Then, they both stared at Sally, and her eyes went wild and she changed," Marita said.
"Hmm, I thought it had something to do with the Tremere. Surrey just doesn’t shift forms for no reason, nor would she have suddenly frenzied. By the way, do you know anything about Opal?"
Marita sucked in a quick breath, "She’s bad news. Trust me, Eternity, stay far, far away from her if you want to stay out of trouble."
I was about to comment when the door-bell rang. Marita opened it, and standing there was Slavo and a well-dressed woman that I’d never seen. We moved aside so they could enter, and held the door for a gaunt man dressed in the staple all-black. Two new-comers, this might not be a good thing.
I turned to address them. "Greetings, I am Eternus Hyperion, and you are?"
"Daedalys of Toredor," the man said, bowing quite elegantly.
"Yes, and I am Lady Allissa of Toredor, former Prince of this city," the woman stated.
I nodded in respect, and showed them to the back room where the Prince was. Though I had not yet been in the city, I did know of Lady Allissa. Ta’jid had been in Swarthmore when she seized power from the Ventrue Prince, Lady Mae. However, one of her advisors was a Gangrel Antitribu, and betrayed her, bringing in the Sabbat invasion in which my sister died for her city. Lady Allissa was in Europe during the fighting.
The atmosphere in the house was heavy, depressing, full of the hopelessness and anguish of the deaths of Catherine and Jack. I had to get out, had to forget. Sitting on the front step was Darby, so I took the place next to him. For a bit, neither of us spoke, and I reveled in the simple silence.
"Were you all right before, you had me pretty worried," I finally asked.
Darby sighed. "It’s been hard for everyone tonight, I guess that rubbed off on me."
"Is there anything that I can do?"
"Not really."
He went on talking, but for some reason, I can’t remember anything about the conversation, even though I know that I spoke as well. All I could recall was sitting there on the stone stairs, looking at the twig I was twisting and playing with. All around the two of us was a feeling of peace, of ancient secrets and goodness, of a light that I remember, but can neither categorize nor describe.
There seemed to be a great commotion a bit down the block, so went around to the backyard to speak with Surrey. She was conscious, and told me that she remembered meeting the eyes of a man in a pink shirt, then giving in to the wild frenzy, one which she couldn’t understand having. When I told Surrey about her attack and being subdued, she became upset, and kept asking me if she’d hurt anyone.
While I assured her that everyone was fine, she begged me to give her apologies to the Prince and to the girl she scared. I promised her that I would, and suggested that she return to the near-by caern. Before my eyes, Surrey shifted her shape to that of a wolf, and ran off through the warm night. Coming around to the front yard, I was met with a strange sight; Darby and Josie were peering at the sky and talking, but not to each other.
"Oh, OK. You’ve danced for us, now we’ll perform for you," the man said to nothing.
"Do you want me to sing?" Josie asked the same void.
"Um, Josie, who are you talking to?" I asked.’
"The fairies," she replied, not even meeting my eyes. Then, the two of them started singing what I could best call an Irish drinking song, and capered off to the backyard, seemingly entranced with things that I could not see. Curious and concerned, I followed. In the tress, grass, in fact, all over, Josie claimed to see pixies, satyrs, and all sorts of other things which were clearly not there.
The two Ravnos of the city were not present, so I knew that they were not involved, however, Darby might himself posses the ability to create illusions. The fact that he was mortal did not preclude him being a sorcerer. Perhaps this new sight was a power of Auspex that I’d just never seen before, or even, he was under the effects of alcohol or some kind of hallucinogenic substance, and Josie had fed from him. Whatever the case, what was going on was not normal, and I had to do something.
"Josie, how about you come inside now?"
"No, that’s OK, Eternus. I want to stay out here with Darby and the fairies."
"Darby, what have you done to my daughter?"
The man stopped jumping around and walked over to where I was standing. "Well, I don’t know how to explain this, but I made her able to see things."
"That’s quite obvious. Is she intoxicated?"
Darby hesitated, almost unsure as to what to say, "Well, enchanted is more like it, but don’t worry, it won’t harm her, and neither will I," and he danced off into the shadows with Josie.
Quite at a loss, I returned to the house. A loud argument was coming from the back room, so I once again sat down next to Bastian, who never seemed to move form his spot on the couch. A few moments later, Josie wandered through the room, her eyes on things that only she could see. There was nothing I could do to negate whatever power had been used on her, and besides, she seemed so happy, more cheerful than she’d been in a while. Still, seeing her like that deeply concerned me.
"I saw what you meant about Opal," Bastian said quietly.
"She’s dangerous to have in the city, for she revealed that she is a Ghoul of the Inner Circle, and what interest would they have in Swarthmore?" I spoke, almost to myself.
"I believe that it unsettles her that she knows nothing of me."
I nodded. "It would be best to get her out of the city as soon as possible, although she should not be killed,"
"Yes, I agree," replied Bastian.
"Perhaps if she were accused of some kind of crime…" I trailed off, and fell to watching Josie talk with what seemed to be invisible beings on the ceiling. "Do you know has happened to her?"
"It appears that she is under some kind of magic spell, or something roughly akin."
"This ‘enchantment’ has made her so happy, but it is a false happiness, and yet,"
"But is it really helping for her to be driven further back into insanity. Doubtless, she can hide there from the horrors she knew, but that just isn’t healthy," Bastian interrupted.
"Then there’s Darby, I’m just not sure about him," I put in.
"I don’t think he belongs here, and it’s best that he also leave the city as well."
"Hmm, I had a protracted conversation with him earlier, but I can’t seem to remember anything of what either he or I said."
"Maybe next time you should write it down," he suggested.
Antonine, one of the Caitiff in the city, came striding quickly through the room, carrying a bag dripping blood, one who’s shape strongly hinted that it contained a human head. I rose, put on edge.
"Pardon, Antonine, who’s head is that?" I asked, my calm voice masking my inner fear and anxiety.
"Fritz Von Steuben, a Caitiff, he broke the Masquerade and attacked the Prince, so the Sheriff killed him. They gave me the head for experimentation," he said almost cheerfully, sounding like a child given an unexpected present.
Curious, I went into the back room. Lady Meredith was unconscious in a chair, and Otto, another Tremere, was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. The hole from the stake was still bleeding. Prince William, Kyle, Chris, and Opal were in the process of interrogating him, while Lady Allissa and Daedalys sat on the couch, seemingly trying to ignore the unpleasantness going on at the other end of the room.
"What happened?" I inquired of the poet.
"I think that guy tried to kill Lady Meredith. It didn’t work though, and they’re probably going to execute him soon."
Antonine came back into the room, bubbling over the idea that since Garou can regenerate their wounds, their livers could be removed and donated, while the werewolf would need to rest for a few days, then grow a new organ and be fine. While it seemed a good notion in theory, I doubt that many Garou would line up for the procedure.
I regressed to the front room, joined by Antonine, Lady Allissa, and Daedalys. Slavo had taken a seat on the couch next to Bastian, and the rest of us found places to be comfortable, and soon an interesting and useful conversation sprang up.
The large Caitiff stated that he was intrigued by the physiological change that Nosferatu underwent as part of their Embrace. He said that he’d like to see a CAT scan of the nasal and cranial cavities of such a Kindred. Bastian contributed that all Nosferatu were different, each having been affected by their blood in a different way.
At that point, Slavo spoke up, and offered to lower his Mask so that Antonine might have a first hand view of his visage. The two Toredor in the room hastily went to the kitchen, loathe to see something that they did not deem ‘beauty’. Slavo showed us his true face, severely misshapen and deformed, and as he reassumed the one he’d worn before, I was struck with sudden inspiration.
"If you wish, could you appear to be anyone?"
He mused for a moment. "I don’t see why not, just so long as I’ve seen them before."
There indeed was an idea. If a Nosferatu with a Mask could do such, then the possibilities were endless. Perhaps Opal could be accused of a crime, one that she might not have committed, but one that a great deal of people saw her perform. Should I play this right, and plan correctly, the power Ghoul would cease to be a problem for me and the city.
From the back room, there came a burst of excitement, to which Antonine went to investigate, only to emerge several minutes later carrying another bag, which like its predecessor, was also dripping blood. It seemed that Otto the Tremere had ceased to walk undead.
While this was occurring, a sly-looking man had entered the front room, but I did not recall seeing him before; either at the party, or in the city. He watched Josie closely for a few minutes, seemingly amazed with her behavior.
"By the way, kid, your sire says hello," he finally said to her.
"No, Sara’s dead," Josie replied, her eyes still on the ceiling.
The man chuckled bitterly, "I assure you, she’s very much alive, and quite interested in how you’ve been getting along."
"Pardon, sir," I said, approaching him, "Eternus Hyperion, and you are?"
"Michael Morbious, and Josie’s sire also knows about you. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the young one, all right?"
Wanting to reply in some quick and acerbic manner, I refrained, and once more sought solace on the stairs. Unfortunately, such sanctuary was not to be had easily that night.
"Eternus, you cannot hide forever, soon I will know what you do," Opal oozed, having just entered the room, "I will know everything about Josie and her past."
"Woman, if you so much as touch her, you will have me, my Ghoul, and my sire, among others, to deal with, so I would advise you to consider if that is indeed worth it!"
Fuming, I stormed past her and into the kitchen, where Prince William and Chris were holding council. I held up my hands in apology and backed out into the hall. Josie came up behind me. Though I wanted her to be safe in Swarthmore, I had now begun to doubt if that would ever be possible. Yet, why was in the Inner Circle so interested in a crazy Daughter of Cacophony Antitribu antitribu? Was my daughter really that important?
"Kid, Opal knows everything," I stated sadly.
"Calm down, Eternus, I don’t think she can hurt me, and maybe she’s just saying that she knows," Josie responded.
I shrugged and crossed the front room on my way through to the back one. Lady Allissa was on her way out.
"Pardon, but did you have a fellow clan member in this city a while ago?" she asked.
"Yes, Ta’jid Noviev."
"Oh, the one who lost her hand."
"Lady Allissa, might I inquire how exactly that happened?"
"Of course," she answered, "This Gangrel, in an argument, drew her Wolfclaws at a party where a mortal was present. Though she then killed the girl, the damage was still done, the Masquerade still broken. My Enforcer, Tyler Nightshade, meted out the punishment, and took off the hand that’d slashed the throat of the mortal. He was lenient, the savage Gangrel should have been executed."
"Is that what you believe?"
She thought for a moment, "No, but that’s what your Prince William would have done, so I assume that’s how Swarthmore had been being run in my absence."
About to reply, I saw Josie and Mike out of the corner of my eye, arguing at the far end of the room. Excusing myself from the conversation, I left Lady Allissa to her devices, and came a few steps closer the two fighting Kindred. Mike had a devious grin on his face, one that I desperately longed to wipe off.
"For the last time, my sire is dead, she’s been destroyed!" Josie shouted.
"OK, if that’s what you want to believe…" he said, and started to walk towards her.
"If you take another step, I swear I’ll hurt you."
The man smirked, and deliberately kept walking. Josie sang. The note was one so high that I probably could not reproduce it, and I doubt any instrument shy of a piccolo could either. Mike clutched the sides of his head and sank to his knees. Silence ensued, and when he rose, blood flowed out of his ears. He opened his mouth to speak, but just grimaced and walked away.
A lot of people had left the party by then, so we who remained all flocked to the back room. Lady Meredith was once again awake, and everyone was, though they tried to hide it, frightfully conscious of the scorch and blood stain on the carpet, and the beautifully calm third eye of the Tremere. It had indeed been a long and trying night, I and for one would be glad to see its end.
Antonine prattled on with more of his theories, but not many people were still listening. Fatigue tore at me, and I knew that I would soon have to feed, for I was quite hungry after having healed myself. Fortunately, I did not need to make excuses for having to leave early.
"Attention everyone, it is a few hours before dawn, and I want you all out of my house in five minutes," Prince William declared. We all rose and said the parting pleasantries.
"Josie, I’m not going directly back to the orphanage, I have some business to take care of. What do you want to tell Nancy and the children about Catherine a-and Jack?" I asked, and even the saying of their names brought back all the fear, grief, and pain.
"I don’t know, I’ll think of something."
"Perhaps a car accident…" I suggested, and she shrugged sadly.
Bastian and Kyle both escorted her to the door, a fact that I found both interesting and heartening. "I’ll see you back home, Eternus," Josie said as they left.
I stepped into the shadows and became my wolf self as soon as I was outside. Thus, I ran through the dim streets of Swarthmore, finally finding a way-ward deer who’s blood, though not as satisfying as that of a human, would have to do for the night. The sun was beginning to crest the horizon by the time I reached the orphanage, so I slipped in and went to my closet, grateful for rest, but fearing for whom the midnight bells might toll the next night.
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