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If there’s one thing Vampires are good at, it’s ceremony. Fittingly, this execution is about as ceremonial as it gets.
It’s taking place in a community theater that’s been rented out for the night. A good number of vampires and ghouls occupy the chairs that stare at the stage where it’s all going to go down.
On stage are a number of vampires. The Sakima and as many Family heads as could make it take up chairs at the back of the stage, while downstage is occupied by a couple of people: Cynthia, bound and blindfolded, an executioner in a breastplate readying a sharp blade and, finally, the victim. Vincent.
The Sakima raises her voice. “Friends. Now more than anytime is a time of unity. Of us all banding together and functioning as one big Family. And yet. And yet, one of our number has decided to flaunt our city’s rules. My rules. It’s not hard to follow them! I ask very little of you all. And yet.”
She sighs.
“Cynthia, you stand here guilty of an illegal Embrace. Do you have anything to say for yourself before you face your final death?”
“Anything to say for myself?” She lets out a single bitter laugh. “This is what I have to say. Your era is over, false-prince. You and your sycophantic family heads. The Strix and VII are here to topple your empire of dirt. My one hope is that when we meet in hell, I get to laugh in your face.”
The Sakima gives a nod and the fair-haired executioner rears back and lops Cynthia’s head off with their blade. Her head tumbles to the ground before it and the rest of her body begin to rapidly turn to ash.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! Vincent screams in his head as the blond turns to dust, he's trying to make sense of what the hell is happening, one moment he's at a party, cute girl offers a quickie, the next he feels like someone hit him with a shovel, people show up and now he's just scared, thirsty, and know's he's about to die.
"Please," he starts saying with fear and desperation in his voice, "Don't kill me, please don't fucking kill me, I'll do anything, I didn't do anything!" he all but screams at the women clearly in charge.
The Sakima looks at him with a look of pity. “Oh, child. You’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you. You’re the victim in all of this. What kind of leader would I be if I killed someone for having a crime done to them?”
Vincent stares at her, in a combination of disbelief and hope, he then looks to the ashes of the bitch who ruined his life. . .the gears start turning.
"So. . .I'm not going to die. . ." he takes a look at the folks gathered, a strange mix of faces, he tries to read these folks but. . .his head isn't in the game right now and this damn hunger won't stop beating at his head, "What's going on. . .who the fuck was she and what is this?"
“You won’t die for a while yet,” The Sakima says, a warm smile on her face. “Before I start to tell you everything, how much do you already know?”
"Well. .. " he thinks, "Maybe I've seen to many horror flicks but. . . she said she's a succubus, which," he would blush if he could, "I would give credence to but I don't think demons are said to be killed that easy," he notices some folks seem paler then others and he's seen plenty of flicks where a certain monster turns to ash upon death, "I don't want to admit what I'm thinking." he finally says holding to the last hope that this is just some nightmare to wake up from, that he ate a bad cheeseburger earlier and that's it.
She sighs, wearily. For a moment she seems far older than she looks. “I’m sorry to inform you, but you’ve become a vampire. Once we’re done here, I’ll arrange for someone to explain everything to you in greater detail.”
“Perhaps, my Sakima, I could take him off of your hands?” One of the others on stage speaks up. He has a rich, practiced voice. He’s definitely had speech lessons. “It’s only fitting. Cynthia was one of mine so I should help clean up her mess.”
The Sakima nods. “Very well, Mr. Wright.”
Vincent looks at this Wright character and back to Sakima, name or title he'll have to figure out later before he can think of something to say the hunger comes back, a tad harder than before and he grips his head, "Fuck." he mutters
The Sakima claps her hands. “Now, unless anyone has anything to add, I think the excitement is done for the night. Everyone, feel free to go home.”
As the crowd begins to disperse, Wright walks over to Vincent. “Come on. Let’s talk.”
he gathers himself and looks at the man, nodding, "So. . .is Dracula a thing?" he asks, half making a bad attempt at a joke and 100 percent serious, "Is she like the Queen?" he says referring to Sakima
“Dracula was a thing, yes.” He says, not seeing the humor. “There’s someone in town who met him. And more or less. But the only term she accepts is Sakima.”
"So. . .what did you mean by she was one of yours, did you turn her?" he asks, trying to get some grasp of the situation
“No. I run two groups in town and she was a member of both. And, unfortunately, she had some secrets from one of them that she’s passed on to you.” He sighs and looks around, making sure no one in the dispersing crowd is directly focused on him. “That’s why I needed to talk to you. You are going to be an Invictus member and I’d rather that be willing.”
"Invictus. . ." he repeats, so vampires have clubs, "Is that like a club, government, am I vampire royalty or something?" he asks, this one not as jokey considering now anything seems possible, "And what secret, she barely got a few sentences in untill she got hauled away."
“I suppose it’s closer to a club. The All Night Society here is divided into a few different factions, though the important ones are your family and your covenant. I run both a family and a covenant. The family one I am more flexible on but I insist you join my covenant. And if you are unaware of what makes you special, I’m not going to tell you until you’ve fully committed. Information is leverage.”
Fuck, Vincent thinks, if their's something wrong with him, well more wrong than being a blood sucking monster, it would be best for him to know, but. . .something about this dude reminds him the entitled pricks he'd con but best not to mention that, "Ok. . . what's the Invictus then, sounds like an important outfit, pay well?"
Wright smiles at the mention of money. “We are rather important but woefully undervalued in this town. Anywhere else in the world with a Kindred population, you’ll find us as at the top. Here, I’m as close as my people come to the top. One of eleven and not among the more favored.” He brushes a bit of hair out of his face. “We do pay well though, especially once you get to our higher echelons. Provided, of course, you work for us and are not just a card carrying member.”
And that's where Wright hooked him, even in undeath seems the rule of haves and have nots prevails, and he's already lived one life as the latter. "So you're running the show. . . but not here," he says, trying to sound like he's considering not joining, he's already made his mind but if he's valuable for whatever reason, he needs to try to work that angle, "Why not here, and if not you then who runs the show, you already said this Sakima does but if she's not Invictus then whose she with?"
“We aren’t in charge here because our dear Sakima ran a coup d’etat and drastically changed things up. I won’t say it was for the worse; this town is much friendlier than others, and most everyone seems to prefer it to the alternative.” He shrugs.
“As far as covenant, the Sakima belongs to the Circle of the Crone, a group of witches. Family wise, she runs her own, though she doesn’t seem to favor her own family as much as you would think.”
"Witches. . ." he repeats, "Like John Constantine spells and sorcery?" he asks. . .then realizes he might not get it, "Um, nevermind, so if I do join Invictus, what do you want me to do, I don't expect it's just a fancy title. . .and what's a family, well for vampires?"
“You can go a number of routes. Just be a card carrying member that checks in every so often, start working your way up in one of our companies or hell, if you wanted you could start training to become a True Knight, like our executioner tonight.”
“As far as a Family goes, think of it like…” he struggles for a metaphor that doesn’t come to him. “Well, it’s who you’re with when the chips fall. If something goes wrong, you come to your family.”
he nods, Alice, I think I've found our meal ticket he thinks, "Ok, I'll look into someone to take me in but. . .sure, I'll join the Invictus, provided it's really what you make it out to be cash wise." he says nodding, "So how do we do this, some paperwork or pledge?"
“Both. You’ll have to come to my office for the paperwork but we can swear an Oath here. At my office, I can explain to you all about the kindred condition too, so you don’t walk off a building thinking you can fly.”
"Yeah sure, wasn't thinking that." he chuckles ok, nevermind, can't be a bat, "So what do ya want me to say. . .boss?"
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