When I’d first heard of it, I’d declined, afraid for my daughter because of Wen Fu. Now that he was dead, and Josie appeared to be stable enough for me to leave for a few weeks, I knew I had to take the assignment, or risk demotion. Fortunately, since the staking of the Tremere assassin, there were a lot of extra hands around the orphanage. Also, I’d been planning on how to break this news to Josie.
Recently, she’d been feeding from me every night; giving the excuse that she was too tired to go out and hunt, had no time, or that the children needed her there. Obviously, she had become addicted to my blood, and I was afraid to leave her dry, so for the past three nights, I’d been going out and feeding first thing, filling small bottles with my vitae, then going hunting again for myself. I figured that there was enough of my blood stored to last her for at least a month.
Everything I would need was packed, and the only thing left to do was inform the Prince that I was leaving, and since it was a nice night, I decided to make it a personal visit. Josie, Nancy, and Zane were in the front room watching a video with the older children when I came up the stairs.
"Eternus, where you going?" my daughter asked.
"Just over to speak with Prince William, I’ll be back in an hour or so," I replied.
"Can I come with you?"
"Certainly."
Once out on the porch, Josie fed from me, then we were on our way. Actually, as I reflected on it, it was good that she was accompanying me; I could tell her gently that I was leaving.
"Josie," I began.
"Yeah?"
"I’ve got something important to tell you."
"What?"
Unsure, I hesitated. "My sire has called me back to Chicago on very serious business."
"You’re leaving?" she asked, sounding so forlorn that it was painful.
"It will only be for a little while, and you have Nancy, Kyle, Bastian, Zane, Eve, Raven, and many others to keep you company and help with the children. Besides, I set aside a great deal of my blood for you, so you can have some every night if you want," I explained.
"B-but how long will you be gone?"
My heart was cleaving. "As long as the business takes, but it won’t be longer than a month."
"A month is a very long time, it’s almost forever!" Josie cried, the look on her face making it clear that she thought I was abandoning her.
"The days will pass so quickly that you won’t even notice, trust me," I said, "and I’ll try to call as often as I can."
"When are you leaving?"
"Tonight."
"A-and you’re going to come back, right?"
I stopped walking and turned to smile at the girl. "Josie, would I ever leave you?"
"No, I guess not, well, not on purpose, but you were gone for a while before."
"Yes, but that was because I was injured and trapped, remember? It was not because I was leaving you or that I didn’t love you, I just couldn’t get back to the orphanage," I replied.
"Yeah, I guess so," Josie said.
At that moment, we arrived at the front door of the Prince’s estate, and were let in by one of his Ghouls, dressed impeccably in the uniform of a mortal butler. Well, it can be said for the Ventrue that they do, at least, have taste. William and Yvonne were in the study with a guest, a person who’s age I could not divine from looking at her; she seemed wise, yet a child.
"Ah, Eternus, a pleasure to see you again, and you as well, Josie," William said politely. We nodded in reply.
"Yes, welcome to our home," Yvonne put in.
"Hi," the woman/girl said.
"This is Hilde," said Yvonne said, introducing me to the guest, "Actually, we do have a bit of a problem…"
"Yeah, I can’t find Anya and Lord Carlos anywhere," Hilde stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh, I see," I replied, unsure of what that meant exactly.
Yes, Eternus, could we speak with you in the other room?" the Prince asked.
"Certainly," and I followed the two into the hall, "What is it?"
"It’s Hilde. She was sneaking around my house in Obfuscate, then tripped over a pile of books, revealing herself. Apparently she awoke tonight in the sewers, and sought out my residence because she believed fellow Kindred lived within," he said.
"So?"
Yvonne took over for her husband. "She’s looking for two of her companions, Lasombra, she said, who were with her when she fell asleep. The incredible part is that she went to sleep before dawn, on a night in 1180."
That got my attention. "Are you sure?"
"I read her aura, and everything she said was the truth. Hilde is actually a Malkavian from England, York was what she said, who was last active during the height of the Middle Ages," William confirmed.
"Any idea how she got to the sewers under Swarthmore?"
"None."
"I see, that is quite a problem."
"That’s why we wanted to talk to you. You see, it’s quite fortunate that you came, for we were thinking that Hilde could live at the orphanage for the time being," petitioned Yvonne.
"It would be a great favor to us, as well as to her. She has no one here, or I should say, now," William put in.
"My Prince, I would be honored to have Hilde stay at the orphanage, in fact, it would be someone extra to help with the children, which is why I’ve come to talk with you,"
"Oh? You’re understaffed there?" he asked incredulously.
"No, in fact we have many Kindred, um, helpers, staying while we host our Tremere ‘guest’. My sire has called me back to Chicago for a few weeks, just business really, but I wanted to let you know, and ask if you could keep an eye on the orphanage, that sort of thing," I said.
The Prince was about to reply, when one of his Ghouls appeared from around the corner, carrying a mobile phone. William tactfully excused himself to take the call, leaving Yvonne and myself to return to the study where Josie and Hilde were talking. I paused a moment and caught a good bit of their conversation.
"Which one are you?" the Malkavian asked.
"Huh? You mean my clan?"
"Yup."
"Oh, I’m a Daughter," Josie replied, "we’re like the Toredor, ‘cept crazier."
"Do you know Anya and Lord Carlos?"
Josie shook her head. "No, what clan are they in?"
"They’re Lasombra, but your Prince-man is wrong, ‘cause they’re not bad or nothin’," Hilde said.
"Um, I don’t know any Lasombra ‘cept Vincent, but he’s not here right now."
"Do you think that he knows them?"
"Gee, I could call him, but I don’t know," answered Josie. I took that opportunity to step in; the last thing I wanted was for Vincent to have contact with anyone in the city.
Saying the polite parting words to Yvonne, I took Josie and Hilde outside and we started to walk home. I’d told Hilde that she would be staying at the orphanage while Josie tried to find Vincent. The Malkavian accepted that, and continued to chat about the city she’d come from. Actually, it was a bit sad and sobering to hear her talk; she spoke about York and the Kindred population as if it still existed exactly as it had been the night she fell asleep for 800 years. I did not venture to say that the people she knew, even her beloved Anya and Lord Carlos, had probably met final death long ago.
When we reached home, Josie ran in to finish watching the video with Nancy, Zane, and the children. On the porch, I was trying to explain the goings-on of Swarthmore to Hilde, when my cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Yes, is this Eternus Hyperion of Gangrel?" The voice was extremely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.
"It is."
"Greetings. This is Gabrielle Gevonne of Ventrue, may I speak with the Malkavian please?"
"Who, Hilde?"
"Yes."
"Of course, Sir Justicar," I replied respectfully and handed the phone to my guest. "Here, someone very important wants to talk with you."
"Ok, where is he?" she asked. I realized that Hilde had probably never seen a telephone before, and it would be difficult to explain the concept and principles behind it.
"She is not here, but is going to speak to you by using a magical device, so hold this like that, yeah, so that part is next to your ear, and that part is next to your mouth."
After that, I went inside to prepare. Everything I would need had been packed and sent ahead of me two nights previous. If I left within the hour, I would reach the Philadelphia airport in time for my flight, which would get me to Chicago by 2:30am, time enough to report to my sire’s headquarters, and maybe even present myself to the Prince of the city. Nancy and Zane, as well as Larcen and Katrina, knew I was going, and I’d given them my cell phone number as well as my e-mail address in my sire’s computer network, should they need to send me information.
Now, all was done, and the only thing that remained was the part I’d been dreading for weeks; I had to say goodbye to Josie, if even only for a short while. Ever since I’d first met the girl the night I was made a member of DX, I’d never been far away from her, and I wondered how both she and I would take it. What if something terrible were to happen to her while I wasn’t here to protect her? Even worse, what if I were to be killed or harmed?
I tried to put those thoughts out of my head as I returned to the front room, where the children were asleep on the couch and the credits were running on the video. Nancy was carrying Stevie up to bed, and Zane was talking with my daughter about how she didn’t have to worry about the Tremere suddenly coming alive during the day and getting her.
"Josie, I’ve got to head out now."
"Oh." For a moment, there was silence in the front room, and a tear slid down her face.
"I’ll be back as soon as I can, so don’t worry, Ok?"
"I’m gonna miss you, Eternus!" she cried and hugged me.
"And I’m going to miss you too, but you know my phone number, so you can call me if you want. I’ll see you Zane, Nancy," I said to the two.
"Bye Eternus, see you when you get back," Nancy answered, carrying Lilly, who’d woken up.
"Yes, take care of yourself," put in Zane.
I turned, and as I opened the front door, I could have sworn I heard Josie say, "Bye, Mom."
Hilde was sitting on the front step holding the phone, which she gave back to me. There was a dial tone, for I guess not understanding technology means not having to worry whether or not you’ve hung up.
"Are you done talking to Gabrielle?"
"Yep. She wants me to do that thing," Hilde stated, completely satisfied with herself.
"What thing?"
"You know, that thing."
"I don’t know, what thing do you mean?" I asked, completely confused.
"You know, that thing where you talk to people and find out stuff," she replied.
"Oh, I see. What are you finding out about for her?"
"About that guy."
"What guy?"
"You know, that guy," Hilde insisted, taking the tone of an adult speaking to a child who is refusing to understand something, "that guy’s who’s all dead but not really, and he has a magic stick and a magic coat and he made that guy be all on fire and stuff. That guy who’s not dead all the way who’s in your basement."
"The Tremere?"
"Yeah yeah," she said, content that I’d caught on.
"Oh, well good luck. I’ve got to leave now."
"Where you goin’?"
I sincerely did not feel like explaining my entire situation to a Middle Ages-minded Malkavian who would probably forget it in a few minutes anyway. "I’m going to that place to do that thing after I go see that guy."
"Oh, Ok, bye," Hilde said, and skipped off into the house.
So, I left Swarthmore, bound for Chicago, wondering how long it would be before I saw my city again, pushing aside the nagging thought that it might be never.