As Vampires Go, They Went
Monday, 22 Sep 2014
Eliza's Mansion
Natchez, MS
Evening
Renny's car was waiting for them as they exited Eliza's mansion. The 1962 Mercedes 220SB hovered tenuously between antique and merely old but this evening's moonlight and a recent waxing pushed it toward the former at the moment. Despite the time and years Renny still approached the car with the slight trepidation of a teenager allowed to drive his parent's car solo for the first time.
The car opened to the scent of old leather and memories. Renny dropped heavily into the driver's seat and waited for Irina to get in. Habit and inclination almost had him open the passenger's door for her, but he knew they were still under observation. It would hardly do to see a vampire holding a door for a mere servant.
Renny closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment before starting the car. A pointless gesture when you didn't need to breathe but whether it was biology or mere habit it helped, it helped.
Only after turning off of the long driveway into the street did Renny risk conversation. "So . . . we gotta find a vamp for you to kill. You wanna do that before or after you get settled in?"
"Before," Irina said, sliding a look at him. "No need to shower twice. Head for Vidalia. Find someone about to kick it. We'll do it quick and clean. I'm sorry, Renny," she added, finally warming with empathy. "I know it isn't easy but God willing, you won't have to do it again."
That said, Irina nailed herself back into mission-mode.
"Nice ride," she said. "How big is the trunk?"
"Big enough," Renny said, not looking at Irina as he got a grip on his anger and fear. "But I'm not going to be making any vampires tonight. Let's see if we can find a vampish mark in Vidalia before we start talking about making anything."
"Fair enough," Irina said, keeping it cool to give him the space he needed. "You know Eliza better than I do. How fast does she expect results?"
"Well … Court's in two days. So we got two days."
"Fine."
Businesslike. Grim. Not too changed, but then she did do a "God Willing" she probably wouldn't've done before. I guess the Leos did teach her something. "Fine. You think you're up for this? I figure we find some Gangrel or something. Someone ain't gonna be missed. But you can take him? One on one?"
"Yes." You could almost hear the gears click in her head. "I've been gone two years. What can you tell me about Eliza?"
"Eliza?" Renny shrugged and threw up his hands momentarily before returning his hands to the steering wheel. "Eh. She's less bloodthirsty than Midnight and Cotton were, though frankly she's got a wider mean streak."
"How wide? How mean?" Irina thought for a moment, her eyes narrowing at the night beyond. "Tonight's directive, for instance. Is it atypical for her or business as usual?"
"Oh, that." Renny rubbed the bridge of his nose with his left hand, apparently not looking at the road. "Heh. That was just the latest salvo in a game of cat and cat that's been going on for a while now. It seems 'She who wants to be obeyed' feels I am insufficiently vampiric enough and wants to sway me to the Dark Side of the Coffin, as it were."
He shrugged again. "Also, she's a Ventrue. Makin' people squirm is one of their principal joys in unlife."
"Eliza is Prince." Irina frowned at the windshield as she drew the flow chart in her head. "Who's the next down? Evangeline? Any other Officers or heavy hitters? Has she appointed a Scourge or Sheriff? Or is she doing it all herself? How many ghouls does she have beyond her Butler? Which reminds me …," Irina paused and again her manner thawed perceptibly. "I know I left Natchez in a hurry but I never wanted to leave you and the others holding the bag. How are Caroline and Mason, Renny? How are you?"
"Hrm. Well below Eliza would be maybe Evangeline, maybe me. Boone is security, sorta sheriff, but then I do some of that too ... with a much lighter hand, as you can imagine. Beyond that . . eh, call it 'matrix managed' or maybe just chaotic. There ain't all that many vamps in the city and I think Eliza likes the flexibility created by the lack of titles. It keeps everyone on their toes."
Irina noted what he'd left unanswered and let it slide. She'd return to it. She stayed on task, arranging that flowchart in her head. The arrows were pointing to a lot of empty spaces, translating into a lot of unknowns.
"So .... Not by herself. Has a Gangrel halfway working for her. There might be room to maneuver there. How many vampires are there in Natchez?"
Renny turned off of Canal street onto a side road that was the shortcut to Junkin drive and the Mississippi bridge. "Eh, hard to be sure. The Vidalia side isn't well organized and the Gangrel aren't exactly known for keepin' it in their pants, as it were. Seems the Assassamite used to keep in practice by taking out their by-blows and that kept the population down over there. I'm not sure what Cotton and Midnight used to do about it. Maybe I should ask him next time I see him."
"All right," Irina said. Vamp count: Unknown. Great. "Ghouls?"
"Fewer than when we first got here. No one's been willing to try that racket after what happened. I don't think there's been more than a couple and the whole Caroline thing's been making the locals a little leery in that department."
"Caroline." Irina filled in the blanks and stuck to her shopping list, keeping Renny on track. "And Mason. How are they?"
Renny was silent for a moment. They were on the bridge now, the Mercedes going over the pavement separators with metronomic pairs of klops. The upper parts of the bridge were lightless and there was no other traffic, giving the drive a timeless, almost hypnotic quality. "Yeah that," he eventually said.
Irina eyed the dark metal passing overhead, automatically calculating distance, access points, and sniper nests ... and that was just for the human elements. There was no telling what use the supernatural would make of it. Someone forgot to pay the power bill. Fuckin' dangerous. Renny's tone penetrated her thoughts and made her turn to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that you've got two thick-headed biddies. . . Yeah, Caroline qualifies as a biddy in my book . . . who've basically decided to be hissy at each other. Neither one really thinkin' it through . . . or lookin' at the big picture, for that matter."
Irina frowned. She knew Evangeline had plans for Caroline and Caroline was treading a razor thin line. As a ghoul, Caroline would be addicted to the blood of her Regnant but for now could still maintain her daylight existence. As a vampire, she would be free of the addiction but give up the day. Both options would grant her effective immortality but both exacted a punishing price. As Irina saw it, Caroline would have to choose between immortality living in servitude or immortality living only at night. Some would consider it a fair trade for living forever. Others would not.
Irina knew which side of the line she stood, but this wasn't about her.
She pulled up what she knew from memory, tracing the Byzantine connections binding family histories to obligations met and unmet, and the possibilities thus formed did not bode well for Natchez. Evangeline and Eliza are a double threat. Nothing happens with one that doesn't involve the other, but don't theorize ahead of the facts. You need more data. "The Big Picture being?"
"The usual stuff, mostly, like I talked about in Boston: The Tremere and the Withchpantses, the Sabbat, the Giovanni, Boone and his pack gettin' uppity, the Vidalia situation, as I mentioned earlier."
They had exited off of the bridge and were now in Louisiana. Carter Street, as US 84 was called on this side of the river, was lined with convenience stores and shopping strips, all closed for the night. Renny slowed down and began looking for auras, and particularly the pale auras of vampires.
"Part of the problem is while Eliza is smarter than Cotton, but she's no ways scarier and she sure as heck ain't scarier than Midnight. When you're dealing in monsters, that lack-of-scary kinda encourages them to start nibbling around the edges."
"Vamp warfare would kill too many innocents. I'll kill Eliza first before I let that happen," Irina said, velvet over steel. "But before I do that, we need a replacement Prince who's better. Having no Prince is just as bad as having a weak one."
"It ain't that Eliza's weak," Renny said. "She's just projects differently. Also, I ain't the Princemaking business, not anymore anyway."
"I understand that it's a risky proposition but sometimes it's necessary. I've noticed that it's a rare Prince who nurtures a Domain instead of just harvesting it … or worse." Irina frowned and observed the landscape through the windows, looking for likely places they'd find their mark. Personally, she thought that a Gangrel, even newly minted, wouldn't stay inside the city limits but would take off for the wilder places at first opportunity. "I'm not against strengthening Eliza's position if she proves the decent sort. I haven't seen enough of her yet to be sure where she falls on the spectrum."
Irina paused, thinking over what she knew.
"She's Ventrue. That suggests structure and stability, rules and regulations she's willing to follow, even if they're only her own. What does she prefer for prey? Is it protected or vulnerable? Can it be used as leverage against her?" No matter how far off the mortal coil a vampire went, staying alive trumped everything. In that, they weren't different from mortals at all.
Most nights, she found the irony amusing.
"Well, yeah she's a Ventrue, so Order and Control are her big thing; well, that and making people squirm. And although you haven't directly asked, from what I can tell she only feeds on members of her extended family. Ventrue are all picky like that, as I hope you already know.
"As to better or worse? Look we got rid of Midnight, and that thing in his basement, then we got rid of Cotton, and Catfish, The Assassimite, and even Boone and Evil Ed, at least for a little bit, but think about it. Did we actually do good there? How much good compared to what we might've done just stayin' at home and sending money to starving kids in Bangladesh?
"I think Eliza is better than her predecessor. How much better?" he shrugged "Eh? Not so clear, but certainly she doesn't burn houses down with kids trapped inside, not at least while I'm around to alter the outcomes. She certainly beats all the likely replacements around here."
Renny Sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice. On a completely unrelated note, would you be interested in staying at my place, at least for a couple of days? Lonya would love the daytime company and I figure Eliza's going to notice if you stay in a hotel."
"I am. She would. Absolutely," Irina answered, by-the-numbers efficient. Stay inside your cover. Moscow Rules, Renny. She slid another look at him with a genuinely warm albeit small grin. "Thank you." The car slowed and she whipped her attention back outside, reaching for her weapon. "Target." That one word encompassed a warning, a query, and a command.
Lying down in a bus shelter was the sickly body and pale aura he'd been looking for. "Look, over there. That's our mark. Let's go make his day."
Irina checked her piece. Loaded. Back-up, too. She swept the man on the bench with a look and completed her threat assessment. He looked damned sick but newly minted vampires were often mentally disoriented, emotionally unstable, and physically unpredictable: a trifecta for disaster if she were unprepared. Irina inventoried the bag at her feet from memory, leaned down, and pulled what she needed. "Remind me to hit a drug store for colloidal silver. I'm running low."
Irina rolled up her sleeves and got ready for work.
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