Act Four Chapter Three - Halo

Mitch told Michael what he had learned from Baranski. He told him all of it, the presence of the new vampire in Blacksburg and what the mage community had learned of her origins. After that, Mitch departed, the sun rose, and Michael slept on this disturbing news he had received.

The next night, he emerged from his sanctum, fetched Donna, and headed out onto the water in his powerboat. Once a good distance out on the water, he took Donna and ravished her, fulfilling his desires of the previous evening and hoping it would provide some distraction from the unsettling thoughts in his mind. Now he was certain of what he had long suspected; Rebecca had indeed survived her sentence of death from Mathias much as he had. For reasons unknown, The Djinn had spared her from the sun. Now she had apparently earned a degree of freedom from her rescuer, enough to stake a claim on Michael's old stomping grounds around Virginia Tech university.

What did it all mean? Why would Mathias allow someone he had once condemned to be staked for the sun to lay claim to territory within his domain? Did Mathias even know it? Given what Michael knew of Mathias' most-notorious childe, his own Prince Maximilian, he found it highly unlikely that Mathias would be unaware of either Rebecca's presence or identity. So the question remained. Why then was Rebecca able to act so openly that the mages of Blacksburg had discovered her?

There was really only one answer that made sense. Mathias was out of the picture somehow. Perhaps he had entered torpor voluntarily. That was not unheard of in vampires whose blood had grown too potent to easily find prey. Michael knew the rumors of Mathias' great age as well as anyone. Perhaps it was time.

The alternative was a coup d'etat of some sort. But who was even capable of such a feat? There were so few vampires in the city of Roanoke. It was regarded a hermitage city, too small to support much more than a single vampire lord and his small retinue. Part of the reason things had imploded three and a half years earlier was because the city had grown too full; it held too many vampires for a stable society.

But among those handful there was one of enough power to challenge Mathias. It seemed almost an impossibility for The Djinn himself to turn on his master. But perhaps that was exactly what had happened. After all, he'd disobeyed Mathias by sparing Rebecca, so his loyalty to the great elder was clearly not absolute.

Regardless of how Mathias had vanished, Michael sensed the opportunity. Roanoke and Blacksburg were ripe for the taking, or at least far more vulnerable than they would be if both elder Nosferatu were still active there. There would never be a better time for Michael to fulfill his pledge and return to Roanoke to redeem his past failures.

While Michael could speculate on questions of Mathias and The Djinn, he had no knowledge at all of the final fate of his sire, Deborah Means. It had been her scheme to supplant Mathias that had brought Michael into darkness and it had been that same scheme that Michael had ruined by impulsively avenging his broken heart on Rebecca by embracing her without permission. It was likewise her scheme that Michael intended to resurrect in order to make amends for his sins. But that would be moot if in all this Deborah had met her end. Was she still alive? Had she died in the intervening years as Mathias' prisoner or was his departure into torpor or Final Death a moment of liberation for her? Michael had nothing with which he could even guess at these questions.

He needed more information.

Michael brought the powerboat back to the dock. He picked up Donna, who was sleeping soundly on the deck of the boat after Michael had fed from her. He began to carry her inside when he saw Sarah emerge and walk out to greet him. There was a look of dread on Sarah's face, as if she was bearing terrible anxiety about what was going to happen next. Michael knew why. Whatever choice he made regarding his return to Roanoke, it would have repercussions on his relationship with Sarah, most of them negative.

Michael said nothing to Sarah, but motioned for her to follow him back inside. He carried Donna to his bedroom and laid her on the bed to continue her recovery from Michael's feeding.

“You aren't usually so aggressive with your favorite pets.” chided Sarah mildly. “You're dreading what we have to talk about as much as I am, aren't you?”

“I didn't think it would come this soon.” He replied.

She walked out into the living room and sat down on the sofa. She gestured for Michael to join her, but he stood against the far wall instead.

“There's a simple solution to all this.” offered Sarah.

“Stay.” Michael answered for her.

“Yes, stay. Look around you, Michael, and beyond. You have a home here on the water that many a mortal would envy. You own a boat, a Jaguar car, a thriving night club on the waterfront at Virginia Beach. You are primogen and Master of Elysium here, the second most powerful vampire in these cities. You control the mortal world here from behind the scenes, controlling the police, the media. You have a judge in your back pocket, a prosecuting attorney also. Never mind the five women who will service your every lust on command. All this you'd have to give up to return to Blacksburg.”

“All of it?” Michael wondered aloud.

Sarah ignored Michael's speculation and continued. “And then consider what you'd be walking into.”

“I've spent the last two hours doing that. Rebecca's presence in Blacksburg can only mean one thing: Mathias is out of the picture. Whether by his own choice or by the hands of others, I don't know, but one obstacle to what I would set out to do is gone.”

“And what is it that you would set out to do?”

“You know the answer to that.”

“No, I don't, because I don't think you do.”

“I have to do something.” said Michael exasperated. “For almost four years I've been haunted by my sins. The twin sins of condemning Rebecca to unlife and then condemning Deborah to slavery under Mathias. I keep thinking if only I could reverse them, set things right, I'd earn some measure of redemption.”

“Michael, you can't reverse what you did to Rebecca.”

“You once told me that my quest for atonement was one of the most important things in my life. That it kept me grounded, kept me human. Now you want me to just discard it?”

“The circumstances have changed, Michael. You had almost nothing then. Now you've built an empire here. You have your harem, your business, and your position in Kindred society. So many new things to anchor you now that you didn't have before. Besides, it may be moot. Deborah could be ash for all we know. Prince Mathias' whole identity is wrapped up in the thought that he's some sort of 'holy vampire.' Do you think he'll long allow to live someone who proves that he's just as lustful and worldly as the rest of us?

“He made little secret of his intent during our trial. Doesn't seem to me that he was all that ashamed of his lustful weakness then.”

“Which, in many ways, proves my point. None of them are very predictable, Michael.” said  Sarah. “Rebecca's survival certainly shows that The Djinn is not quite what we thought. And I suspect that Rebecca is not quite what you think either.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Please don't be dense. You thought you knew her. You thought you loved her. You thought she loved you and yet she still found another practically the moment you set foot on Tech's campus. Truth is, that's not that unusual. She was a teenage crush that you elevated way out of proportion.”

“So my turning her was all the more unjustified. Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound.”

“That wasn't my point and you know it. No, she did something unexpected back then and it wasn't the last time either. I remember you told me how she changed when you made her a vampire. How quickly she embraced a form of sexuality you didn't think her capable of. You never once suspected that she might be bi or a lesbian and yet clearly she is. She's not who you think she is, Michael. You don't know her even a tenth as well as you think you do and I'd wager real money whoever shot you last night was sent by her.”

“Are you finished?”

Sarah's face darkened in anger at that question. “I've laid out more than enough reason for you to abandon this foolish crusade of yours. But there's one more reason...”

“Us.” Michael finished for her. “I'm curious about something, Sarah. If that argument is so important and so persuasive, why leave it unspoken?”

Sarah's anger vanished in a flash, replaced instead of a subtle look of terror. “I shouldn't have to.” she muttered sheepishly.

Michael regretted going down this road; he hated seeing that look in her eyes. “I'm sorry.” he admitted. “You're right. That was cruel of me to say that. But there is something I don't get, Sarah. Of all the arguments you could have raised, this one is the most important and the most convincing. Why didn't you just come out and tell me that you don't want me to go?”

“I didn't think it would be enough.”

Michael conceded in his own mind that she was probably right about that too. “Sarah, I love you. You are the heart and soul of me. There is no one in the world more important to me than you. There is nothing in my plans for Blacksburg that necessitate the end of our relationship.”

“That's not how I see it.”

“Why not? Isn't there ample evidence enough of my devotion? I turned Michelle down. I've opened my home to you. I declare you my consort openly among the kindred. Why won't you trust me?”

“Remember what I once said about Michelle? How all your mortal lovers don't count, but Michelle did. It's the same thing. Rebecca counts, Michael. I know she does, because I know the way you talk about her. I know how you think about her. Everything I said about her is true but you won't see it. You refuse to. All you can see is your guilt over how you ruined your dream of being with her forever. That's what this whole thing is about; that's the heart of your guilt over all this. And I don't know if you're genuinely ignorant of that truth or whether you know it completely and are just trying to bullshit me and everyone else that it's about something else. Neither of those answers gives me a whole lot of confidence in you, so I think my fears in this regard are justified. If you go back to Blacksburg, I will lose you forever. I know that. In my bone of bones I know that.”

She got up and walked out of the room, leaving Michael to ponder what she had said.

---

The drawing room was vintage 18th century France: gold filigree, oil portraits, elaborate furniture and carpeting. It would have fit right in as a room at Versailles, but instead it stood as the foyer to Guy du Savoy's apartment in Richmond.

Cranston stepped inside and stood patiently.  Opposite the entrance was another door, which led to a balcony overlooking the former capital of the Confederacy. Looking out from that balcony, his back to Cranston, was Guy.

The Prince of Richmond turned and retreated inside. He looked at Cranston briefly then spoke, “Report. What have you learned?”

“If Max knows anything of what has transpired in Roanoke, he's not saying. My guess is that he knows nothing.”

“A dangerous guess, considering his information network.”

“I'm beginning to think that network was more compromised by the ascent to the throne than Max wants to admit. Drake, it would seem, is the new master of secrets in Tidewater and there's no evidence he knows anything either.”

“Interesting. And what of Michael?”

“He's as much in the dark as everyone else. Although he is well aware that someone is gunning for him.”

“Did you torpor him?”

“You said no kill, no torpor, and so I did neither.”

“Good. Word will reach Michael soon enough about events in Roanoke. While it does not serve our purposes entirely that The Djinn has chosen to move against Mathias without our aid, it will still likely work in our favor. After all, an aggressive Djinn is a more convincing threat to Michael and will spur him to act.” Guy smiled. “It is time for the next phase of our plan.”

“The hunters.” said Cranston.

“Yes.” said Guy. “As many groups as you can find. I want them to descend upon Tidewater like a plague. I want Michael convinced The Djinn has seen him as a threat and I want Max so paranoid that he won't dare poke his head out for fear of losing it. Once they've both been dealt with, we can leave this ruin of a city to Calderon and claim one far better.”

“It will be done.” Cranston turned to leave.

“Just one thing.” said Guy. “Do keep a good eye on our plague, Cranston. It won't do for us to claim the throne of Tidewater only to have our own weapons come back to haunt us. Once the hunters have done their job on the kindred of Tidewater, I want them eliminated. Every last one of them.”

---

“Are you sure you want to do this? There’ll be crime scene photos in here.” Detective Harry Tyler paused with the large evidence box still unopened. The Hampton Roads cop had just been promoted, had just been given the authority to reopen old cases. One of the first things he did was to call up his brother Jon, who was a cop in Richmond.

Now Jon stood with him, looking down at the unopened box. Within it was a portion of the evidence the police had collected regarding one of the most gruesome crimes in Hampton Roads history: the slaughter of two young mothers and their children in a Hampton apartment in 1993. One of those mothers had been his daughter, Leigh.

Jon nodded. “I know this won’t be easy. Perhaps it’s what I deserve after the way I treated her.”

“We catch the monster that did this and maybe then you can sleep easier.” said Harry as he pulled the lid off the box.

“Doesn’t change the fact that she died thinking...well, all sorts of things about me.”

“I wouldn’t dwell on that now.” said Harry, reaching into the box and pulling out the material within.

Most of what was contained in this first box was documentation and photographs. They had left the actual physical evidence in other boxes back in the archives. There’d be time enough for that later.

Jon sucked in his breath as he reviewed the crime scene photos. As gruesome as the descriptions of the scene that he’d read were, nothing prepared him for what it actually looked like. He saw his girl, not just murdered, but literally torn to pieces. He choked back his emotions as he reviewed the material before him.

“Someone tampered with the body.” he observed as objectively as he could.

“One of the CSI folks notes that as well. It appears there were three individuals who intruded on the scene after the murder and then left without contacting us. They presumed, given all that was going on at the time, that...” Harry paused, not sure how to soften the blow of what he was about to say. “...they were killed to send a message and those who intruded later were the ones meant to receive it.”

“There’s indications that she had been pinned to the wall by something and that something was removed.”

“Yes. Leigh was the target, given that she was the most brutalized.”

Jon looked away, no longer able to contain his emotions. “You mentioned other things happening at the time.” he forced out, trying to keep focused in the midst of his turmoil.

“Mob violence." replied Harry. "One of the worst batches of it the Tidewater has ever seen. Most of it targeted at public officials. A DA, a judge, a Williamsburg police captain, all murdered over a two week period. Leigh’s death was the anomaly. She’s a nobody, yet her death was the most brutal of them all.”

“You talk about it so coldly.” Jon’s voice was cold with anger.

“She was my niece.” reminded Harry. “If we’re going to do this, we’ve got to keep our heads about us. Save your rage for when we find the guy that did this.”

“You’re right.” said Jon, calming himself. “I remember reading about all that in the paper. What happened to those investigations?”

“Like this one, shoved under the rug. Someone higher up pulled some serious strings to do that.”

“Probably our first place to look.”

“But who? The governor? The attorney general? No, we’d best start small and see what shakes out.”

“Alright.” said Jon. “Let’s assume she was killed by the mob. Why? What would have been her connection to them?”

“Don’t know. Says here she was just a cocktail waitress at the Fox Club. Wait a second...” Harry’s face lit up as realized something.

“Fox Club? What’s that?”

“A notorious bar out on Windmill Point. Right on the water. They got busted in a huge drug and pornography raid a few years ago. Shut the place down cold. Underage drinking, drugs, rooms with video cameras to film what went on inside. Big money operation. I wonder if the cases are related. I seem to recall it started with a tip that someone had been sexually assaulted there.”

“Leigh?” pondered Jon aloud.

“Maybe. Retaliation for ratting out the place, but that still doesn’t explain the three witnesses who found her body first and then left. Still, it’s worth looking into further. Let me go back down to the archives and see what I can find about that case. Probably not much, since the Feds handled most of it, but I’ll see what’s there.”

Some minutes later, Harry returned with another evidence box. Jon fetched up the documents from the first and put them away before Harry opened the second. They didn’t want to get the materials confused, after all.

“Not a whole lot here.” Harry observed as he opened up the box. “Initial complaint by the victim. A few VHS tapes, one of which is set aside from the others. Guess the Feds have the rest of it.”

“Who made the complaint?”

“Two girls. Felicia Mayfair and Nikki Martin. They say they were coerced into having sex with three Fox Club employees and that it was filmed.”

“So, not Leigh.”

“No, but I can guess that this tape is the one they referred to.” Harry got up and walked across his office to a TV stand with a VCR. He turned the system on and put in the tape. What came onto the screen was a scene in a dingy room with a mattress on the floor. Five people walked in: two girls in cat-girl get up, a young African-American, a tall pale blond teen, and...

“Leigh. Oh, my God.”

“I think we need to follow up on this. I wonder where we can find Ms. Mayfair.”

---

Felicia Mayfair’s address was on the criminal complaint document. As they drove across town, Jon and Harry both mused aloud at the oddity that was this case and the others around it. “I find it hard to believe that five murders just got swept under the rug like this.” said Harry. “It’s one thing for a case to grow cold or to run out of leads, but to just be turned off like this?”

“There’s a cover-up here, but by whom?”

“The mob’s got to have their hooks on somebody important.” said Harry. “The closer we get to who that is, the more dangerous this is going to become. If they killed a cop, a judge, and a prosecutor, they’ll have no hesitation to come after us also.”

“My daughter’s butcher is still out there.”

The Mayfair home was a somewhat generic suburban house on the east side of Hampton, not all that far from the Fox Club. The two brothers stepped out of their car. “It’s late enough. Should be someone home.” observed Jon.

They headed up to the door and pulled out their badges. They knocked. The door was opened by a sheepish-looking middle-aged woman, pale with haggard blond hair.

“Mrs. Mayfair, we’re with the Hampton police. We’d like to get in touch with Felicia regarding a criminal complaint she filed some years ago. It has bearing on a murder case we’re investigating.”

“Okay. Come in, Officers.” said the woman. She seemed a little out of sorts, as if not entirely certain what to do. “Felicia will be here soon.”

“She still lives with you then?”

“Yeah.”

She motioned to the living room. The two brothers sat down to wait. The woman said nothing more, but moved back to the kitchen, all the time walking as if in a trance.. “Strange.” mouthed Jon to Harry.

“Drugs.” replied Harry silently.

“Might explain a lot.” Jon broke silence to say that aloud. “Explains why a kid would end up at a place like this Fox Club.”

They heard a door open somewhere in the back of the house. Instinctively, both cops reached for their weapons. “Is there someone else here with you?” Harry asked towards the kitchen. He came back to his feet and move towards where he’d last seen the mother go.

Something rushed out of the hallway, moving so fast Jon could barely see it. It barreled into Harry and knocked him to the floor. Harry cried out in terror, but his scream was cut off. It had clamped down on his neck. It was biting him. Jon drew his gun and fired.

The bullet struck home and the thing tore itself away from Harry, violently tearing his neck as it did so. Blood sprayed upward from Harry’s severed jugular and Jon got his first good look at what it was.

A teenage girl.

Not just any teenage girl, but one of the two he’d seen briefly in the video. He recognized her. It was Felicia. It had to be, but she was not human. Her canines were longer than any he’d seen on a human being. His brain slowly registered what it was he was seeing. Something impossible. Something out of a fairy tale or a horror movie.

He was looking at a real life vampire.

He fired again as terror tore through his soul. The bullet hit Felicia again and then Jon ran. He ran out the front door and down the sidewalk. He yanked the car door open, jumped into the driver’s seat, and fired up the car. He floored it and didn’t stop until that house of horrors was miles behind him.

---

“This place seems familiar.” asked Sarah as they walked across the parking lot.

“It's an old TV studio, abandoned a few years ago.” said Michael. “Remember that show about 10 years ago they had on NBC about 'Bloopers and Practical Jokes.' Well, a local TV station tried something similar about 6 years or so ago, playing these elaborate pranks on local people. They had a Halloween episode. Brought this guy here for a good scare. They really pulled out all the stops, werewolf costume, fake blood, the works. What they hadn't figured on was the guy was packing. When the big scare occurred, he pulled out a .357 and plugged the actor in the werewolf costume six times. Suffice to say that was the end of that. The shooter went to jail for manslaughter and the station got sued out of business.”

“How pleasant.” replied Sarah sarcastically.

“You play those sorts of games banking on the flight half of the flight-or-fight response. Always dangerous when you guessed wrong.”

It was a scene of normalcy for the two of them. After their argument over Michael's potential return to Blacksburg, the two of them had slipped back into their comfort zone. There had been no more talk of Michael leaving, no more debate over its necessity or purpose. It was as if things had been settled, and in many ways, they had. Michael had conceded in his own mind that Sarah was right about everything. There was nothing to gain by returning and everything to lose. He was staying put.

“Flight is what I'd like to do right now.” she admitted.

“You're still not comfortable being in the public eye.” observed Michael.

“No, I'm not.” admitted Sarah. “I've spent most of my years in these cities lurking in the shadows of even our society. Out of everyone's way. Don't pay me any attention, I'm just little old Sarah. I look like a child and I'm as harmless as one. Now I live on the arm of one of the most powerful vampires in the city and it's a very intimidating change of pace. Besides, I hate having to play this game around mortals. 'Hi, I'm Michael's kid sister and no, we really don't fuck like rabbits when you're not looking.' Feels so fake.”

Michael leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I appreciate your sacrifice. I'm glad you're here.”

“You owe me.” she retorted.

“And that is a debt I'll gladly pay.” he said with a smile.

They walked inside together to the gathered crowd. It was a party, another fund raiser. This one for a new cancer center at Norfolk General Hospital. Dignitaries and business leaders from all over Hampton, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach had been invited.

They were stopped at the door by a stern looking older man. “Your invitation?” He demanded.

Michael fished it from his coat and handed it over, along with a check for a substantial amount for the new center. Satisfied, the doorman stepped aside. Judge Anderson Barrera was the first to greet him.

“Good to see you, Michael.” he said. Donna moved up beside him.

“And the two of you as well. Thank you for arranging the invitation.”

“It made sense. You're one of the leading business leaders in Virginia Beach. It seemed fitting for you to join us. I see you brought your sister as your date.”

Anderson, as a bound thrall of Michael's, knew the truth of course. But just as he, as a widower, could bring his daughter as his “date,” so too could Michael pretend Sarah was a relative.

“I do have some folks here that it would be good for you to meet.” added Anderson. Michael smiled. These sorts of society functions were perfect for vampires and other shadowy figures to pick up allies, contacts, and thralls.

“I look forward to it.”

“Well, I do declare what a surprise this is.” came a voice with a thick Georgia drawl. Michael knew the voice immediately: Damian Drake.

Anderson grinned nervously as Damian stepped in to take Michael's hand in a firm handshake. “I'll be around.” said Anderson, excusing himself.

“Hello, Damian.” said Michael flatly.

“And good to see you as well, Miss Sarah.” said Damian with faux charm. “You two don't seem very happy to see me.”

“Have I ever given you cause to doubt my affection for you, Damian?” replied Michael sarcastically. There was little affection between the two kindred, although both found their political alliance to be quite advantageous. “I will admit I wasn't expecting you here.”

“You should know better. I'm always mingling among the high-and-mighty. You might remember we first met in a setting similar to this. ”He paused and gestured to the assembled party-goers. “I love being in the midst of the upper crust. They're so full of themselves. In fact, you could argue that millionaires are the stupidest mortals of all. They, like all human, think themselves at the top of the food chain, but unlike the rest, they've come to believe their money somehow makes them immune to the whimsies of life. They think they deserve to rule by virtue of their wealth and by being rich they're untouchable and immortal. Well, they bleed just like all the others. A poor man at least has the wits to know he'll live his whole life as a slave. These fat cats...fools all.”

“You take more delight in being the smartest guy in the room even more so than Maximilian.”

“Our beloved Prince has abdicated his greatest advantage to rule. He's blind and deaf anymore.”

“Why do I get the feeling you've learned some new secret that Max is not privy to? What will it cost me to learn it from you?”

“Nothing.”

“My least favorite answer.” If Damian were willing to share something important without demanding something in return, Michael knew it had to be either a secret that would benefit Damian more by the telling or something so dire that it was too dangerous to keep hidden.

“Always.” said Damian. “There is word of great upheaval in the state of Virginia. A great elder has fallen, or so they say.”

“I had heard as much myself.”

“Ah, but do you know fully what happened to Mathias? It is said he was undone by a novice,  a fledgling vampire of immense beauty that the beast was so enthralled with her that he did not see the killing blow coming. That novice is said to be desired by another kindred and her master is now making precautions to prevent anyone else from claiming her.”

“Sounds like a bad soap opera.” replied Michael, pretending to be aloof from the story. He knew precisely who they were talking about. “This novice have a name?”

“Can you not guess?” said Damian with a sly smile.

“I've no interest in pursuing Rebecca anymore.” Michael admitted. Sarah shuffled next to him at the open admission. “Rumors of my interest in her are...out-dated.”

“Far be it from me to question the truth of that, but that's news to everyone else...” He looked at Sarah. “...even your own consort, I suspect. You came to this city seeking allies to return to Blacksburg and to reclaim what you'd lost. The Djinn knows that. Rebecca knows that. Quite frankly, everyone knows that. And while you may have truly changed your tune on that matter, I wouldn't expect your long-standing enemies to take you at your word. Even now, The Djinn's minions are in our beloved cities. They are gunning for you.”

“And you know this how?”

“I wouldn't normally reveal my sources so openly, but I'll humor you this once, Michael. Remember the agents I assigned to you to guard the Fox Club while you hid there from the Mad Bishop? They were part of a government agency known as Task Force Valkyrie, assigned to deal with threats of a supernatural nature. TFV has connections throughout the country with other such groups, both organized and not, that hunt the shadows of our world and there is a lot of chatter among them regarding Tidewater.”

“So why tell me this? Wouldn't it be to your advantage to see me go down?”

“Always presuming the worst of me, aren't you? I knew there was a reason I liked you, Michael. Yes, I am aware of the hierarchy here. You are the second most powerful kindred in the city after Maximilian and I am the third. However, there are two flaws in your logic. One is that vampire hunters are a rather indiscriminate tool. They will slaughter the lot of us to get to you. For all I know I could be among them.”

“And two?”

“It's entirely possible this is only the first wave. Killing you would likely weaken the Prince's position, make him vulnerable. And then all The Djinn would need do is bring in a puppet ruler or perhaps even himself, and the city will be his.”

Michael looked at Damian and considered his words. He supposed briefly that Damian might make a perfect candidate to be that puppet, but a number of things made that unlikely.  Damian was not fond of playing the game by someone else's rules. He was much happier being the puppeteer than the puppet. He was also surrendering a significant advantage to Michael by admitting the plot openly. No, Michael surmised, Damian was sincere in this. He was genuinely concerned about The Djinn's mechanizations.

Damian took his leave to return to his mingling, leaving Michael to his thoughts. Sarah gave Michael a supportive stroke on the arm. “This is not good news.”

“Hunters are always a danger to our kind.” Michael reminded her.

“One here or there are always a possibility. But a slew of them descending upon the city like a plague of locusts is unnerving. Damian’s right. We need to close ranks.”

“Am I mistaken or are you taking politics?” teased Michael.

“Survival.” She mused cynically.

“Michael!” came an interjection. Michael turned to see who it was had approached them. It was Rhea, the prosecutor and one of his harem.

“Good evening, Rhea.” Said Michael.

“I couldn’t help but overhear what Mr. Drake said to you.”

Michael cast a suspicious glance at her. He was not upset that she had heard. After all, she knew the truth. But others?

“No one else was nearby.” She hastily added. “There’s a piece of news you might be interested in.”

“What’s that?”

“A police detective in Hampton Roads went missing with his brother two nights ago. They were last seen at his precinct looking over evidence from two old cases: the raid on the Fox Club and Leigh’s murder.”

Michael looked at Sarah. “Seems that tragedy never stops haunting me.”

“The detective that went missing is named Harry Tyler. It’s Leigh’s uncle.”

“You said his brother is also missing.”

“Yeah. Leigh’s dad, Jon. He’s a Richmond beat cop. They were last seen together. My office has started looking into it. I didn’t think anything of it until I heard what Damian said.”

“If they started looking into Leigh’s death and the raid on the Fox Club…” Sarah began. “…they’ve probably run afoul of a vampire somewhere along the way.”

“Yeah, and I can guess who.” Added Michael.

----

Another of the manifestations of the newly lenient Tidewater was the business that had opened in Chesapeake on the site of the burned-down Aegyptus Nightclub. It was a lingerie and adult novelty shop named the Cat’s Meow, owned by two intrepid young women named Nikki Tores and Felicia Black.

Michael walked inside as the shop prepared to close for the night. Nikki stopped Michael at the door. Michael took in her appearance. She was just as lovely as that one night he’d been with her.

“You’re a little out of your own territory, Lord Michael.” She muttered with irritated growl.

“Where else can I find the right kind of gift for my dear Sarah?” teased Michael, ignoring the implied threat. “Truth is, I’m here for a different kind of business.”

“Of course you are. But we don’t answer to you.” Said Nikki defiantly.

“Cops are getting nosy again. They’ve linked my lover Leigh’s death to the Fox Club raid. Two of them have now gone missing. Do you know anything about that?”

“Why would we?”

“Because it was you who faked the rape complaint to get the cops to raid the club in the first place. There’s a paper trail that leads back to you.”

“We used fake names.” Said Nikki defensively. “No cop will find a trail back to us.”

Nikki’s tone raised plenty of red flags to Michael. There was no reason for her to be so territorial at the onset. After all, Michael might very well have been looking for some manner of novelty for Sarah. The youthful development of Sarah’s body necessitated Michael find specialists, which Nikki and Felicia claimed to be.

It was the sort of mistake Michael would have expected of them: giving away too much by getting defensive too soon. They were novice kindred after all, embraced by Michelle only a few short weeks before her destruction. They had a poor upbringing, mentored somewhat laxly by Valentin Thompson who spent most of his time and energy tending to his role as primogen. The pair were left to their own devices, but spent most of their time tending to their shop and feeding from its growing clientele. Like Sarah, they kept out of city politics and were largely regarded as harmless and unimportant.

But if they could tip Michael off so easily here, it would be no surprise to discover those two cops catching them unawares. Having their near-miss Masquerade breech discovered was embarrassing at best and potentially lethal at worst. With their lack of political savvy and the allies that went with it, Michael would guess the latter was more likely.

“What happened?” Michael pressed on.

Nikki looked at him nervously and said nothing.

“I can come back with Francois.” Now it was Michael’s turn to threaten.

“They came to Felicia’s haven. She must have used her real address back when we filed that complaint with the police. She killed one. His name was Harry. The other escaped.”

“Damn.” Michael wasn’t sure which was worse. Two dead cops whose murder would need to be covered up, or one live one who now knew what they were. A new hunter had been born.

Of course, maybe that was precisely what The Djinn wanted.

----

Fireworks exploded over the Hudson River. Their staccato explosions broke through the regular rhythm of Christian Drabek, primogen of New York City, from plowing in and out of the lovely young woman before him.

She seemed to good to be true. Actually they both did. Christian briefly glanced over his shoulder to the man in the corner. He shot a wicked grin towards him.

Earlier that evening, they had approached Christian at his swinger's club in Manhattan. They introduced themselves as the Wilkersons, Emmanuel and Sonja, a married swinger couple from West Chester who'd come to the city for the July 4th holiday. They told Christian they were looking for a third to help them celebrate. To sweeten the deal, Sonja spent the next hour shamelessly flirting with him. Christian could not say no. Two for the price of one was a better deal than this Daeva vampire usually got when hunting.

He led them back to his suite overlooking the Hudson. There more secrets came out. Emmanuel liked to watch. At that point, Christian didn't care what sort of kinky fetishes they embraced. He only wanted to satisfy his lusts, his carnal ones on her first and then his sanguine ones on the both of them after.

“Is this what you wanted, cuckold?” taunted Christian at Emmanuel. “To see me ravage your beloved? You're pathetic, you know. Can't do it yourself so you bring her to men like me to make her happy.”

That was all part of the game, part of the fantasy. Christian didn't doubt for a second Emmanuel's sexual prowess, but people like him got off on humiliation. Best to keep up the game until the moment to strike.

Emmanuel whimpered in the corner. He was naked like his wife. His genitals confined within a  cock cage, his arousal at his voyeuristic humiliation pushing the flesh hard against the metal. Christian smiled an evil grin as he felt his own climax coming on. Soon...

Christian grunted crudely as he erupted within Sonja. He bared his fangs and was about to sink them deep within her beautiful neck when a piercing pain shot through his back.

“I do hope you enjoyed my wife, vampire.” said Emmanuel, shoving the stake in harder, “but it's time for the real fun.” Christian went stiff and fell over backwards.

“Where should we begin, my love?” asked Sonja, turning around.

Emmanuel went and fetched his wife's purse. One by one, he began to pull out a variety of metal surgical tools. He waved them in front of the helpless Christian.

“Bit by bit, vampire, we will peel the flesh from your bones. And while you're begging for death at our hand, I'll be enjoying my own wife, thank you.” he said.

“I think he's frightened.”

“He should be.”

A buzzing noise came from within the purse. “Interesting timing.” commented Emmanuel. He reached in and pulled out a cellular telephone. He answered.

“Really? Well, what a coincidence. I'm sure Sonja and I would enjoy that. Send us the info and we'll make some plans.”

“What was that about?” she asked.

“The Abbey. Seems they've gotten word of another of these monsters. One like him, who thinks with his dick more than his brain.”

“Where?”

“Virginia Beach.”

“I could fancy a vacation.” said Sonja as she bent down and tore the skin off Christian's chest with a small flensing knife.