My Little Ventrue Pt. 06 Ch. 16

"Yeah. Damien went to talk to them, but there's no chance they won't want my follow up, tonight at that." He leaned back in his chair and groaned, holding his forehead up with a few fingers. "They're not going to be happy with me."

"B-But you'll... you're..." His poor mom. She was worried about him, wanted him to stay, and couldn't wrap her mind around that he'd somehow become so involved in some sort of secret society. That he'd become a major figure in said society, must have seemed impossible to her.

He wasn't about to tell his mother what he'd told the others, that he'd awoken some sort of empowered entity inside him. He only told the others because there was no way to keep it secret, what with the army of crows, and that Damien and Antoinette had seen him. He'd have told Julias in good faith, and even Antoinette; they'd have kept it to themselves, for a while at least. But with no way to avoid having Maria and Michael interrogating him, it was simply not possible for him to keep his change a secret. But the fact it could talk to him, he could keep to himself. For now.

"I'm pretty high up in the Invictus ranks, Mom. Invictus being my covenant, my... political group, sort of. Lot of responsibilities. But hey, I make a six figure salary now." That got an eyebrow raise, and even a hint of a smile. Of course she'd be happy he was doing well. She'd throw herself under a bus if she thought it'd get him a raise at a fast food joint. "And Antoinette is beyond rich." That earned more eyebrow raises, bigger ones. His mom's first thought was probably that it was great Jack was potentially marrying into money, not that she'd suddenly have access to fortunes as well. It was going to blow her mind, once she realized she'd be able to buy anything she wanted.

Antoinette laughed, a deeper, heartier sound Jack hadn't expected. "True. And that brings us to the first barrier to your new life, Samantha."

"Barrier?"

"Oui. You are a vampire now, Samantha, and now bound by the Masquerade. Abandoning the life once you had, is your first barrier. Your home, your job, friends, family, these are to be left behind."

"Oh..." Sighing, she shrugged and looked down at her glass. "That's not so bad. I... I never made many friends, after James died. My job hasn't felt very important or satisfying anymore. And after Jack disappeared, the... the highlight of my day... the only reason I had to stay in that life... was Mary."

The breaking point. No matter how many new things they threw at her, eventually the painful reality of last night was going to crash into her pysche again.

She set her glass down on the table, and started to cry. The sound of her sobs ripped through Jack like a chainsaw, and he set his arm around her, over both her shoulders. His mom couldn't look up, but he knew what sort of face she'd be wearing, the face he'd seen through the window when spying on her, after his disappearance. Wrecked. Mortified. Devastated.

For now, he did nothing but sit with her, hug her, and wait. The Invictus could wait, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Damien~~

He gave his more, in-depth, detailed report as best he could, to Michael and Maria. They weren't satisfied. If anything, they looked like he didn't believe him. He didn't blame them. Julias dying, and Jack having unleashed some sort of ancient curse, in the same night, was a lot to take in.

While they waited for Jessy and Jack to arrive, they confirmed what Damien said about the crows, and the lack of Julias Mire's presence confirmed his death as well. The two council members looked confused, unsure, and that was a look Damien had never seen on their faces.

A couple hours later, all three Right Hands stood before the two remaining council members, within their main meeting room.

Jessy's jaw dropped. "Julias is..."

"Mister Mire... perished, last night." Maria, standing beside the table, had her side to the three Right Hands who stood in a row at the table's end. She was looking down, arms folded across her chest, while the big screen along the wall showed footage of the hospital. The corner showed live footage, while the main feed showed a recording she'd grabbed off the internet. Crows, thousands of crows, were swirling around the hospital, above it too, like some sort of concentrated hurricane.

"I don't understand. How? And, what's that? Who... the fuck did that?" The Gangrel pointed at the screen. A hint of envy, perhaps, over the insane display of Animalism that she wouldn't be able to manage for centuries.

The two elders looked to Jack, and waited. With a quiet sigh, Jack scratched his buzzed head, and looked to Jessy.

"I was visiting my mother in the hospital, after leaving my sweeper team... early." He looked to the two elders, probably awaiting warning of punishment. They said nothing, yet. "Julias came, to warn me about that sort of behavior, but also, to just... help me, help with my situation. Then a massive blackout happened, wiped out power for several blocks, and blocked all communications. The hunters must have been using some sort of spell; no way to do all that, in a specific area, with tech, far as I know."

"Holy shit." Jessy shook her head, several times, jaw dropping once again.

Jack nodded. "Angela showed up, with a small group of hunters. She wanted to capture my m—Samantha Terry, to try and force my hand. I... I don't think she's telling her hunters the truth. I think she's motivated by revenge at this point, and she used my mom as a lie to get hunters to help her."

Damien had only one short interaction with Angela, from a distance, and it'd been enough for him to see the woman was not quite sane. If the woman was actually deceiving her fellow hunters, that was a possible avenue of action. It also meant the woman was a maniac, and predicting or manipulating a psychopath wasn't exactly easy.

"My sire and I went to stop them. We were succeeding, but, using one of our thrall's blood, they drew a symbol on a wall, and created some sort of portal. Natasha Vola has explained to me that it's some sort of tunnel to a... flesh chamber? Something like a Begotten's nightmare chamber, something used by their shaman Elen. The hunters are using it to move around, we think."

The two elders nodded. Damien had explained this to them already, but Jack offered details he and they didn't know. It was painting a more detailed image, and not one anyone was glad to hear about.

"Elen, Sándor, and several more hunters came out of the portal, and... and we lost the fight." The kid couldn't help it anymore, and his eyes fell. His hands clenched, struggling to keep his sorrow suppressed, but everyone could see it.

"Council," Damien said, "I saw Mister Terry moments after the fight. The evidence upon his person, his attire, was clear. He tried his hardest to—"

Michael raised a hand. While Maria was a little further away, Michael stood at the end of the table with the Right Hands, sitting back against its edge, arms folded across his chest. He did not look happy.

"He looks fine now, Mister Burksen." It was true. Jack had no wounds, and a Ventrue his age shouldn't have been able to heal from the gunshot wounds he'd suffered in a single night, not that many. He'd also changed into a clean suit.

"That... leads me to my second point," Jack continued. "In the fight, something... happened to me."

Maria looked his way, expression blank. "Something the hunters did?"

The small Ventrue shook his head. "No, this was... something... something in my bloodline." That got some raised eyebrows from the two elders. "I saw glimpses of it, something connected to me, Mister Mire, Mister Honors... and... Kindred before. Something infected my great great grandsire, a long time ago, something I don't understand. Owls. Shadowy owls." Again, the two elders looked surprised, and Damien did as well. Jack had mentioned the dream and the curse, but he hadn't said owls specifically.

"... the Strix have touched you," Maria said. "Or rather, your ancestor."

"Strix?" the three Right Hands said together.

Groaning, Michael pushed away from the table, and stepped past the Right Hands. They didn't turn around, standing at attention. Michael paced left and right behind them, slow steps, along with some occasional, quiet grunts, as he contemplated. All in all, it was making Damien very nervous, seeing the two elders react this way. They'd been surprised when Damien had explained Jack was to blame for the crows, before this meeting, but now they looked hesitant, almost afraid.

"No one knows for sure what they are. They are dangerous, and they will haunt you, and ruin you, if you become the focus of their attentions," Michael said at last. "If you see these owls of shadow, any of you, run. Do not interact with them. Do not speak to them. Escape, and report."

Damien gulped, and saw his fellow Right Hands do the same.

"So, you have awakened this curse, Mister Terry?" Maria said.

"I... the circumstance did. Whatever it was the... Strix... did, was sealed away by a Sanctified centuries ago. And, I guess, over the centuries and across multiple childer, the seal weakened." Sighing, Jack forced his head up, and looked to the Nosferatu ghost woman with as much calm composure as he could muster. "I'm confident it's why — at least partly why — my sire and Mister Honors were unusually skilled Ventrue, and why I've managed the things I have; the curse was able to exude its power, despite being sealed. It... it awoke, fully, during the raid on the hospital. It violated the Masquerade."

A Sanctified, like Damien, had done something to seal away the monster inside Jack. It sounded like a fantasy, but after all the things that'd happened in the past couple years, fantasy was quickly become the normal. If Lucas could summon a bolt of magic lightning, then sealing away a strange curse seemed plenty possible.

"It?" Michael said, still pacing behind them.

"It... it can influence me. I suppose it's more accurate to say, I violated the Masquerade while under its influence."

Damien grit his teeth. He wanted to counter that, say that it wasn't entirely true, and defend Jack. The kid hadn't been under its influence, he'd been an entirely different person, possessed even. Damien hadn't explained it like that though to the council, keeping it vague, hoping Jack would fill in the details. That detail wasn't exactly what he expected to hear, but he said nothing. If Jack felt comfortable misdirecting the Invictus council, he must have had a good reason.

"This is an extreme circumstance," Maria said, turning her gaze back to the screen. The video was obviously taken by someone's phone, and while it didn't do a good job of capturing the insanity in the darkness, lacking detail, it was still obvious that there were crows everywhere, swarming in Biblical proportions.

"I agree, Madam Turio, and I expect to punished for this transgression."

The Nosferatu stood up, marched over to Jack, and stared at him, her small stature meeting him an inch or two below his. Jack winced when she leaned in, literal inches from his face, and his eyes looked down.

"Look at me, Jack."

Everyone in the room went rigid. First name. Uh oh.

Jack sighed, heavy, weary, and raised his gaze to hers. The corpse woman, dressed in her usual white, frowned at him for the first few moments, but the frown faded after a while. She set a hand on his shoulder, and copied his sigh as she pat it a couple times.

"How stupid do you think we are, Jack?"

"... I... what?"

"Michael and I, we are not Viktor. We are not so stupid as to think all situations are solved through fear or domination." Shaking her head, she stepped back, and set her butt to the table behind her, resting her hands against it as well. "Would you prefer we adopt a ridiculous stereotype, and rule as ruthless tyrants? You're a smart man, Jack. You should know how self defeating it is to dole punishment without concern for the details, the specifics, or to expect the absurd from our members. Your situation was extreme, by any measure. The death of Julias alone would have, at least to some extent, justified your measures of self defense, despite the Masquerade violation; a minor reprimand at most.

"But, the fact you know of the Strix, have seen Striges in this dream of yours, and suspect them of tampering with your lineage? Foolish would not begin to describe us, if we simply punished you." She managed a weak smile, and Damien found his eyes falling to the floor as well. Maria showing any weakness, even in a smile, was odd. It hurt to see it on her. "How did he die?"

"My... my sire died, single-handedly defeating Angela and a half dozen hunters with his mind, and Sándor in a fist fight. I didn't capture the Begotten, Julias did. I was just there to claim credit when... when my... curse, had had enough." Jack took a deep, useless breath, and Damien flinched as he recognized the wavering sound. His friend was fighting back the desire to cry. "Angela had the opportunity to attempt capture, but she ordered hunters to execute him instead."

"Harsh as that was," Michael said, coming around them to lean against the table beside Maria, "it may have been in our favor. If Mire had been captured, it could have been disastrous. Angela is proving to be an unpredictable, but unstable enemy. It will be her downfall."

Jessy threw up her hands. "I can't believe he's fucking dead. I got Damien's message, and I... I thought maybe..."

The small Ventrue looked to the woman at his side, managed a slow nod, and his head fell again. Groaning, Michael reached out and hit his childe upside the head with his palm, but it didn't have any of the force he would normally put into it.

"In the past two years," the elder Gangrel said, "our city has been upturned. I think we have all realized, for some time, that this little Ventrue before us is largely responsible." Damien and Jessy both leaned forward a bit to look at the small man between them. Naturally, Jack squirmed. Michael did not realize how correct he was.

With a small smile, Maria shook her head. "We are not blaming you, Jack. Change is inevitable, but we did not expect it to happen so abruptly. Not since the Purge has anything this extreme happened within the city."

"Viktor Honors was the most skilled Ventrue we have ever worked with," Michael said, "but he was falling deeper into madness, paranoia, and cruel lusts with each decade. Mire was... Julias was a surprise for us. We expected him to fall in his sire's footsteps, but he proved to be exactly what the city needed. He was reliable, trustworthy, and not heartless like his sire. We promoted him to the council, eager to see him replace the man we were glad to see perish."

Maria looked to her partner, shared a nod, and looked back to the three Right Hands. "We saw unusual skill in Julias, and Jack has managed to surpass even that, relative to his age. If this is entirely due to this strange curse that haunts your bloodline, we do not know. What we do know, is Julias is gone. The damage to the Invictus is immense. The damage to the city, and to us, for his passing, is also immense."

Michael returned her nod. "As such, Mister Terry will keep his position as Right Hand. Madam Turio and I will handle Julias's responsibilities, until such time a third can be appointed to the council; though that will be decades from now."

Damien almost thought they were going to promote Jack to the council. It'd fit right in with the lunacy that happened nonstop in Dolareido these days. Thankfully there was a limit to the insanity Dolareido was willing to accept.

"In the mean time," Maria said, "you three have only the one objective. Defeat the hunters. Use Madam Vola's report of their means of transportation, and hunt them down. Everything else is secondary, and meaningless by comparison. This talk of Azamel, and her ulterior motives, is to be set aside. Talk of Avery, and whatever she's doing in the Shadow realm, is to be set aside. Talk of Garry, and his attempts to push into our half of South Side with his manipulation of Terra Den, is to be set aside.

"We will be in contact with the Prince about the capture of the Begotten. And, Mister Terry?" She looked at the kid again, face softening into something that didn't match her cracked corpse face. "I expect you to be at the forefront of that matter. Your capture of the monster is perhaps, our first real step toward defeating the hunters. And considering your relationship with the Prince, and your role as intermediary with the other paranormals, you are best suited to be intermediary in this matter as well."

Jack nodded, and straightened up his shoulders a bit. "Will do, Madam Turio."

"And Mister Terry," Michael said, offering a gentle smile that Damien was sure the man probably hadn't made in decades, "we understand that the Prince has embraced your mother?"

"My... my mother, yes. I—"

Maria put up a hand. "Take a week off, and recover, Mister Terry. Learn about this curse, learn how it will affect you, and report to us anything else you can learn about it. But also, take this time to deal with the death of your sire, and help your mother come to terms with her new existence, and the death of her daughter. We are not so cruel as to expect you to trudge through this world of pain and misery, without time to recuperate, and the aid of others.

"And be careful upon your return, Mister Terry. For the time being, we expect you to focus on understanding your current situation, more than dealing with the hunters. You are useless to us if we cannot trust you, and if you feel the need to take more time to handle your unique situation, do so. While we will not punish you for the Masquerade violation, that only applies to this circumstance," the elder Nosferatu said. "It cannot happen again. Do we make ourselves understood?"

"Yes Madam Turio." Jack shifted in place a little, and struggled to keep eye contact with the corpse woman. Damien couldn't blame him. Her eyes carried a hint of something more than the kindness she'd shown seconds before. They were threatening, but also sad.

Her poker face was unbeatable. Damien was practically staring at her, running the conversation he'd had with her last night through his head, and she hadn't even glanced at him. Watch him closely Damien, she'd told him, just the night before. She'd put it on his shoulders to kill Jack if the kid ever crossed a line, and considering what happened last night, it might as well have been prophetic. If he turned into another Viktor, especially with this absurd power, Damien would have no choice.

Lord help him if it came to that. The Prince would tear the city apart on a man hunt if she discovered it was Damien who killed her lover. And if she learned it was Maria's order, she'd tear the Invictus to shreds with her bare hands. And, Damien did not want to kill his friend. Worst case scenario, on top of another worst case scenario. Could things get any worse? He dared not say such a tempting question out loud.

"And don't think I've forgotten about Eric," Michael said, looking straight at Jessy.

"Sire, we were goaded into that fight by the Carthians."

"You say that as if it matters."

"Sire! It was two on one, and that Caleb werewolf felt like he had to... to put Eric through a test, I guess, to make sure Eric could be trusted to stay under control."

"With good reason, based on what happened after I arrived."

Damien and Jack both raised eyebrows, and looked at Jessy. It was her turn to squirm.

"He... it... he was under control, until Caleb pushed it really far."

"A hole in the Golden Arch Industries office complex wall! Damage to several nearby vehicles, and to the street and sidewalks. Only a fool wouldn't notice the claw shapes everywhere. The damage I created, that I was required to create, is not identifiable, at least."