Blood & Magic Ch. 22

Kirstin slept naked when she returned home, waking up the next night feeling well rested. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness in Sakeena's basement, she recalled images from the previous night's ceremony, she and Sakeena holding hands while they danced together. For a brief moment they could touch each other, sharing joy without Melissa stopping them, thanks to the embarrassing dance she was forced to do. Kirstin giggled at the memory of Melissa groaning while she covered her face, unable to stop her ass from clapping while she twerked.

The sound of loud banging from above caused Kirstin to rise from her mattress. Her blanket slid off her body. She took one step to the stairs, the swift movement evoking a draft of air touching her bare body. Covering her breasts, Kirstin searched for her clothes, jeans and a white v-neck shirt. By the time she got dressed and entered the hallway, Sakeena was already at the door, one hand over her waist to keep her robe together.

"Good evening." Sakeena smiled with a brief nod to Kirstin.

Kirstin reached out, only to clench her hand into a fist as she refrained from kissing Sakeena. "Hi."

Sakeena opened the door, revealing Katya on the other side with her hand held up about to knock again. "Oh good, you made it on the first knock, I hate wasting time." She lowered her arm. On this night she was dressed in black jeans, and a black hooded sweatshirt under a leather jacket. She wore her hood over her head to better shield her facial tattoos. "Is Kirstin here?"

Sakeena didn't answer, instead she pulled the door open and allowed Kirstin to step forward, "Yes?"

"We require your aid this evening, I'm afraid you'll have to cancel whatever plans you had."

Kirstin and Sakeena glanced at each other to smile before Kirstin answered, "I'm new to this whole undead thing so I don't have much going on. Who do you mean we?"

"Sheriff Tillman and I. As I recall from court, you justified your existence to Prince Hall by insisting you would aid in our investigation of the Brood following what happened at the hospital." Katya smiled, "Or was that also part of the mental spell that forced you to strip naked at court?"

Kirstin pulled the door so she could hide her body on the other side, "No that was me...I'm sure. I'd love to help, it'd be nice to have a job to do rather than just hunt."

"It's not just hunting Ms. Delaney, you will hunt until your Final Death."

Sakeena took Kirstin's hand and squeezed, she looked around the door and raised her hand, "May I ask where she's going?"

Katya leaned into the doorway to look at Sakeena, "Just some intel we obtained from my prisoner, nothing you have to be concerned with. Unless you're asking on behalf of Priscus Watkins?"

"No, sorry I didn't mean to intrude." Sakeena held her hands up.

"How is she after last night I wonder, is she home?" Katya slithered between Kirstin and the door to stand in the middle of the hallway and scan the area.

"I'm not sure where she is, I just got home from work to shower and she wasn't here. All she left was a note for Kirstin and I swearing not to speak of what happened at the ceremony to anyone outside the covenant."

Katya clapped her hands, sticking her pointed tongue out as she giggled, "Of course she did. I can't wait for the Crimson Walk!" she planted both her hands on Sakeena's shoulders, "Of course you'll help with arrangements yes?"

"I-if it's Priscus Watkins' will."

"It will because she has no choice." Katya cackled, "Especially after what she planned for my Crimson Walk."

"What did she do?" Kirstin blurted out, only to cover her mouth as she saw Sakeena's eyes widen, her head shifting slightly side to side, "Sorry."

Katya turned from Sakeena to face Kirstin, her Cheshire grin fading as she sized Kirstin up, "That's only something other Acolytes may know. Of course." she dipped her chin to Kirstin, "I could share my story if devoting yourself to the Dark Mother is of interest."

"I could help with that." Sakeena touched Kirstin's waist and smiled.

"As cute as this is to watch, I'm pretty sure Priscus Watkins forbid you two from touching." Katya folded her arms and turned to the doorway, "So I'll be generous and keep my mouth shut but Ms. Delaney better come with me now because Sheriff Tillman does not like to be kept waiting."

"Thank you Deputy Harding, I'm sorry." Sakeena looked down at the floor, but her smile remained.

"Wait." Kirstin held her hand up, the eye roll from Katya made her wince, "Sorry. I don't have a gun."

Katya snorted, "A gun? Oh that's so cute." She looked to Sakeena and then back at Kirstin, "We're hunting Brood sweety. Guns don't do shit on the undead."

"Well then I don't have a weapon at all. I don't know how much use I'll be." Kirstin's voice wavered, she would've blushed if she were alive.

"From what I have heard, you are quite strong for a neonate given your talents as a Succubus." Katya squeezed Kirstin's bicep, "The Sheriff might have an extra knife for you but we'll sort it out once we get there. Come Ms. Delaney, you can ride with me." Katya didn't stop to see if Kirstin obeyed or not, she simply walked out of Sakeena's house while making a come-hither gesture.

"Should I go?" Kirstin asked Sakeena, "I don't know if I'm supposed to see my Priscus or not."

"I wouldn't disobey an order from the Sheriff." Sakeena clenched her jaw, "I might not know the specifics about vampire politics but what I do know is if a seven foot vampire tells you to help him out, you help him out." She smiled and rubbed Kirstin's shoulder, "Besides, proving you're useful to the domain is a good thing. I'll let Melissa know. Good-" she leaned forward and puckered her lips and then froze, "-oh...well good luck babe."

Katya owned a black Jeep Wrangler. She waited for Kirstin to get in the passenger side before speaking, "It appears there may be a small coterie of Brood forming a new nest."

"Shouldn't we get Priscus Watkins and Lord Yemeni then?"

"It might not be necessary. We believe it's only three or four individuals, not a large nest like last time."

"Who told you this?"

"Our lone survivor from the hospital." Katya looked to Kirstin, "The one who stole your underwear. I would have returned it to you but sadly I got too excited and ripped them." She held up her hand, her nails were black, Kirstin noticed that they were not painted, but naturally black and pointed, almost as if they resembled sharp teeth.

"That's okay."

"Are you sure? They were very cute."

"Really, thanks I'm fine." Kirstin stared out her passenger side window, Katya drove through downtown Ann Arbor, "What made her confess?"

"Turns out she really doesn't like to be denied the ability to orgasm, it took me time to figure out what really pushes her buttons." Katya rolled her eyes, "Of course, Lord Yemeni has to be there and he was able to Dominate her into spilling everything."

"Why didn't he just do that to begin with?"

"Because the Brood have many ways to keep themselves hidden, which includes resistance to mind control. Elder members can use their own abilities to create mental blocks in their group to keep them from sharing information."

"How do you get rid of the mental blocks?"

"Like I said, once I figured out what turns her on, I teased her and then denied her that. I teased her for almost a week until she was begging and that's when Lord Yemeni stepped in." Katya stopped at a light and noticed Kirstin's legs crossed, left hand squeezed in between them. "You all right?"

Kirstin looked down and uncrossed her legs, "I'm fine. I thought vampires didn't care for sex. How come that was all it took?"

"I think you know that's untrue." Katya stuck her tongue out, "For some undead pleasure through the body, even a dead one, is some way we can remain connected to what's left of our humanity. For the Brood, the Scarlet Rite does like their indulgence, which makes them...less intense compared to other factions."

"How many are there?" Kirstin recalled the sea of bodies on the floor at the hospital, how the power of the Brood had a SWAT team naked on the floor giving into their desires.

"Many, the Brood is not an organized covenant so no one stops them from forming their own beliefs and ideals."

"How do you know so much about the Brood?"

Katya didn't answer immediately, she kept her eyes on the road as they drove away from downtown, crossing the railroad tracks into West Liberty Street, "I was once one of them."

The passenger side door locked before Kirstin could grab the handle. "Y-you're with them?" Kirstin tensed up, hands clenched while her jaw tightened.

"You don't listen very well, I said I was with them." Katya winked at her before looking back at the road. "It was a long time ago. Hence-" she waved her hand across her face, "My markings."

With her hand on the door handle and the other on the buckle to her seatbelt, Kirstin kept her eyes on Katya, "So you help the domain hunt the Brood?" When Katya nodded she asked, "How long?"

"For as long as I've been here, several years. Only when the Brood come into the domain."

"How often is that?"

Katya shrugged, "It doesn't happen often, at least it didn't until this whole Varnes thing started."

"What makes the Varnes case different?"

"I hadn't seen Belial's Brood...succeed as much as they have this time." Katya frowned, "Most of the Brood I encountered in Michigan were small groups that we easily tracked. This group was the first that caused enough damage for the public to see."

Seeing the concern on Katya's face relaxed Kirstin, she lay back in her seat and took her hand off the door, "I get that they're doing this to threaten the Masquerade. But what does that have to do with Satan?"

Katya snorted, "You have a lot to learn childe. Be careful with your assumptions, just because I was Brood doesn't mean I know the intentions of this group."

Kirstin didn't yell, but spoke louder than she ever had toward Katya, "Look, if I'm going to help the domain, I need to know the kind of enemy I'm up against. You know more than I do so what does this all have to do with the Devil? Why do vampires worship the devil anyway?

"We-they don't worship the Devil. They actually fear him. It's Belial they actually worship, who was a mortal they believe was sent by the Devil to help us undead see the truth."

"What truth is that?"

Katya threw her head back as she cackled, startling Kirstin, "Oh Ms. Delaney if I knew the answer to that I wouldn't have traveled across the country to freeze my undead ass in fucking Michigan."

***

Katya parked in the parking lot of a closed gas station. Kirstin recognized Sheriff Tillman's truck. "Where is the Sheriff?"

"He's nearby, he told me he would scout the area before we arrived." Katya fixed her black hair under her hood. She blinked hard twice before twitching her nose. "He's not too far."

"You can smell him? How? We're dead."

"With the Dark Mother's vitae we can use our senses."

"I know that but I don't smell anything." Kirstin activated her own body to inhale the crisp night air.

"Sheriff Tillman and I are Gangrel. Of the clans, we're more primal and closer to our Beast." Katya shrugged, "Tracking scents are one of our talents."

"Was he also Brood?"

"No, he's a member of the Lancea Sanctum. Total opposite of the Brood, they believe vampires are descendants of Longinus, the man who speared Jesus."

"I thought I heard him pray once...does he believe in god with a capital G?"

"Yes...it might seem odd but perhaps not, vampires must find some way of making meaning of their unlife."

"How did you two end up working together? Especially with you being part of the Brood?" Kirstin raised her eyebrow.

Katya led Kirstin across the parking lot to a metal fence that she began climbing, "Luckily I found the Dark Mother before I came to Michigan."

"Where were you before that?"

"Sacramento California. That's where I was embraced, by a Brood member."

Kirstin grabbed the fence and inserted one foot into the fence but stopped, "Like me."

Katya was at the top of the fence and looked down, "Yes, like you Ms. Delaney, I was embraced without being given the chance to decide if I wanted to the embrace. I stayed with my sire and her coterie until they were destroyed by the Hound of that domain." She leapt off the fence and crouched as she landed, "Fortunately, a group of Acolytes found me and let me stay with them. They helped me see a path that gave me purpose."

Kirstin made it up the fence and swung one leg over the other side, "So why'd you end up in Michigan?"

"I was still being hunted by the vampires of Sacramento. It was a city whose Prince was Invictus. I knew if I were to survive, it would need to be in a domain run by a Prince who was more open minded."

"So Prince Hall is that person?"

"He's a Carthian, the Carthian Movement strives for change and reform, within reason anyway." Katya gestured toward a small wooded area, "I can work with reason and that's why I aid the Sheriff in hunting The Brood."

"You said you ran from an Invictus domain." Kirstin followed Katya's lead, "That must be weird working with Dominic."

Katya turned and held a finger to her mouth, "I have my own thoughts about the Invictus but that's for another day. Remember, vampires have better hearing than mortals."

"Y'all keep whisperin yer gonna give us away." The graveled voice of Amos Tillman came from behind a large tree, tall enough to hide his seven-foot frame.

"Apologies Sheriff. I hope we didn't keep you waiting."

Sheriff Tillman responded by nodding his head past the tree, down a small hill and onto a small overpass under a bridge. A large orange glow came from a steel drum fire. Kirstin could see three dark shadows ahead. "Evenin Miss Delaney."

His voice startled Kirstin, her head felt heavy, she had to force herself to make eye contact. "Good evening Sheriff Tillman, thank you for asking me to join you. I wish I would've known I-I don't have any weapons with me."

Instead of a sneer or look of disgust, Amos blinked his eyes and looked to Katya, Kirstin felt shame similar to what she experienced being naked, "Well if'n we get to fightin, ah got a knife you can use. You know how to use blades Miss Delaney?" Kirstin shook her head, "Ya might wanna have yer Priscus teach ya how to handle one if'n yer gonna serve the domain."

"Do they appear dangerous?" Katya knelt down as she crawled on her knees to get a closer look, "I can't sense any Beast."

"Ah don't know." Amos leaned over Katya, "So far they just been talkin. Two of em were on the ground earlier but ah can't see what they were doin. Yer sure Mica told you this was the spot?"

"Positive, I was there when Lord Yemeni commanded her to reveal where she told other members to set up a haven."

"How come I can't feel that weird tension I feel when I see vampires?"

"Good question Delaney." Amos said, "Some kindred, like Priscus Watkins, can hide their beast from others so we can't sense it."

"So how do we know if they're vampires?"

"Listen, Kirstin." Katya lay on her stomach and held a hand to her ear, "Heighten your senses, we can at least pick up their conversation."

Closing her eyes, Kirstin took seconds to concentrate, the natural sounds of the wind and distant traffic reminded her of television static, fading out as the voices of the three cloaked members sounded clearer.

"Who do you pray for?" a voice spoke in a low, bass tone.

"The Morning Star." A woman said in a soft voice.

"The Morning Star." Another woman said, her voice sounding higher than the other.

"What is it you desire?" Kirstin thought she heard the low voice crack, a man's throat straining to maintain his bass tone.

"Power." The first woman raised her voice.

"Um...confidence." the other woman whispered. She was so quiet Kirstin had to cup her hand to her ear. She opened her eyes, with her vision augmented, she saw two figures in black robes kneeling on the concrete. Standing before them was another figure in a black robe, she could barely make out the ends of his long black hair. The three of them stood within a large red circle, two large triangles crisscrossed inside to form a pentagram. Laying in front of the man's black boots was a horned skull of a goat.

"What will you offer him for your desires?"

The woman kneeling on the right reached into her robe and pulled out a long, waved dagger. "My blood." She held it over her palm.

"The Dark Prince does not want your blood." he parted his robe, revealing his black leather pants and bare chest.

"What?" Katya rose to her feet.

"What's wrong?" Kirstin whispered.

"Besides the fact that Brood don't refer to Him as the Dark Prince, they always want blood."

"If'n that's the case then what're they doin Harding?" Amos bent forward to whisper.

"Wh-what does the Dark Prince want?" the woman kneeling on the right asked.

The man reached for his belt, pulling the tongue through the metal, horned-skull buckle. "You must accept his seed."

The woman on the right snorted, "Uh no."

"Focus Heather!" The man pulled his hood back, his eyes were decorated with black makeup. He appeared to have muscle tone but a second glance made Kirstin realize the contours over his body were due to his skinny build. "The penis is the source of all creation and you must accept my power first."

"Ew!" the other woman shook her head.

"Silence Morgan!" In shouting, the man's voice lost its deep tone to one that sounded more nasal.

"We're not sucking your dick Damien." Heather spoke in a normal tone, "Blood is actually part of the ritual."

"That's it! I've heard enough!" Katya marched down the hill.

The sound Amos made seemed inhuman, it reminded Kirstin of a canine, "Damn kids."

Kirstin remained on the ground, watching Amos and Katya heading towards the cultists, "Come on Kirstin!" Amos barked.

"Wait, what are we doing?" Kirstin scrambled to her feet, watching for Katya and Amos' hands. She expected them to pull out their weapons but was confused when they approached the three cultists unarmed.

Heather and Morgan heard footsteps and turned around. "Shit!" Morgan backed out of the circle, pulling her hood back, "It's the cops!" Her reddish hair was cut medium length, short enough so it barely touched her pale, freckled shoulders. Her eyes were dark from the mascara she wore but she wore no lipstick, allowing her thin lips to be their natural, light pink color.

Heather turned around, hiding the dagger behind her back, "We aren't doing anything!" Her hood fell back, revealing long, black hair down to the middle of her back. She wore dark eye liner and black lipstick.

Damien remained still, folding his arms as he tried to size the three vampires up. "Don't talk to them they have..." his voice faded into a whisper as he turned his head up once he saw Amos' full height, "...no...reason to arrest us?"

"Uh Cops?" Kirstin looked to Katya.

"Yes, we're patrolling the area." Katya glared at Kirstin before turning back to the cultists, "Just what were you three doing?"

"None of your business. We weren't doing anything." Damien said.

Amos tapped his boot on the pentagram, dragging it across the ground to see that it was drawn with chalk, "This looks like a lot more than nuthin boy." He looked to Heather, "That's quite the fancy blade ya had."

Heather covered her nose, "Dude you reek. What kind of cop are you?"

"Heather!" Morgan's eyes grew wide, she kept her arms tucked close to her chest.

Amos glared at Heather and bared his teeth, "Give me the dagger."

Heather stepped back, close enough for Damien to reach and take the dagger out of her hands, "Hey back off asshole!" he stood in front of Heather, pointing the knife toward Amos' face.

Kirstin expected Amos to fly into a rage, similar to what she'd seen at the hospital, instead, he smiled, "Ya really think yer gonna protect yer friends with that needle?" his hand disappeared within his long coat. A blur flashed across Damien's face, Amos' arm was raised above Damien's head. In his hand was a twelve-inch bowie knife.