Lextalionis 10: Revelations

[janestarz]

Terms and stuff
Kindred - a vampire from the World of Darkness setting. A stake through the heart does not kill, but only paralyses.
Ghoul - a mortal having drunk Vampire blood. It makes them much stronger and more resilient; and also creates a bond.
Council of Primogen - A council, represented by each clan from the Camarilla, who leads the city.
Prince - The head of the Council of Primogen. Can be male or female
Camarilla - Seven vampire clans who work together to preserve the Masquerade so that humans should never know vampires exist. The Camarilla is world-wide and rules many cities. Contains Nosferatu, Tremere, Brujah, Gangrel, Ventrue, Toreador and Malkavian clans.
Sabbat - "Enemy" of the Camarilla, contains (usually) two clans and some independants. Can be summarised as being "the bad guys" although that would be an understatement. Contains Lasombra and Tzimizce clans.
Independants - clans not currently allied, though individuals from the clans could be. Ravnos, Setite, Assamite.
Obfuscate - A supernatural ability that changes the appearance of things or objects. Can also be used to become "invisible".
Auspex - A supernatural ability that allows a vampire to look through Obfuscation (when strong enough).

I was once called Vera

How can you see into my eyes like open doors
Leading you down into my core
Where I've become so numb
Without a soul
My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home

I lived a life in sin. Made vampire accidentally, drafted into an organisation quietly, and working ruthlessly. My nights were filled with violence. I left my sire's side as soon as the Prince gave me permission to, and worked my way up into the world of darkness. I was sent out to obtain useful people who could be drafted for our purposes, but my rage and boredom translated into violence. Soon, I delivered only bruised and battered people to my employer, Vera de Brandtz. It wasn't long after that, that some "died in transport".
Blood, delicious blood, that would nourish me could run freely. Pleading eyes, breaking voices, howls of pain.
It no longer mattered. I felt nothing.

The Prophet found me, and using only words forced me to my knees. He read to me from his bible, his voice carrying conviction and strength, and inside of me there was a feeling. I recognized the passage from my youth.
I felt again, for the first time in many years. I closed my eyes, tears of blood forming in my eyes. And I opened them and saw anew.
My life had been empty.

I looked up to him, and thanked him for opening my eyes, begged his forgiveness.
I asked him to grant me the Final Death.
"I forgive you." He said. "But I cannot grant you Death. That is not mine to give. For only God shall judge you, and your brothers and sisters. There are many like you;" he said; "There are many who do not see the light, but who deserve to open their eyes like you did."

I started working for the Prophet, finding my way into archives and other places of information. I spend thousands of guilders assembling data and information, playing it all into the hands of the Prophet. One night I found a particularly disturbing piece of information. A Nosferatu female named Belle had called out for help, and Prophet decided to lend a hand.

Fridaynight

Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become

I led the small team into the mansion Huis van Tuynen. It was the residence of the Prince of Dorestad, and there our quarry was. The Nosferatu followed Prophet, who stuck close to me. Gaining entrance to the outer buildings was easy. A staircase, a door, another door.
The cell was white, the tiles a stark contrast with the dark shapes standing so motionlessly. I checked the room, right, left. The beam of my small flashlight swept over the immobilized shapes. Once the room was clear, I checked more closely. A stake was in each person, paralysing them.
Prophet, Belle, Ernest, Frans did their thing, and I moved to the outer chamber, hugging the wall. The white tiles made my white clothes disappear into the background, but any movement would be seen through the old glass window in the door. Behind me, people stirred as their stakes were removed and the paralysis was lifted.

Movement outside the door! I alerted the others, and several people took up positions around the outer chamber. I hugged the wall next to the door, keeping my gun at the ready. A ghoul opened it, a tall man. Anton. I grabbed his collar and put the gun in front of his eyes. A second ghoul followed him, aghast that there were vampires in here. And they weren't staked.

I checked the staircase, but everything was quiet upstairs. When I turned back, a vampire was sucking on Anton's neck. I pulled him off, only to see a woman take his place. Three people I pulled off the unfortunate ghoul before they stopped trying to drink his blood. We took his bag.
We took another route out, an adjacent room had a window, and we made our way out of the mansion. I had no idea if the ghouls still lived. My priority was to get the Prophet to safety.
At the gates, we were held back by an invisible barrier. Not a single vampire could leave.
Prophet could.
"I am committed to my course." he said. "I will stay with you."
A carriage house near the gates was our only option. Several rooms, connected by small hallways. Three doors lead into the inner courtyard, and one door on the side of the gates. We barricaded all but one. For now, we were safe.

They asked many questions, and Prophet and Diana answered them patiently. I had expected more violence, and I stuck close to Prophet, but even the Brujah behaved. Everyone was very sceptical about it being the end of time, though.
I guess if I hadn't been touched by Prophet, I would have been like them.

The rules were laid out: The End is coming. Prophet was here to help us find salvation. One thing we could absolutely not do: Diablerie. It would destroy the soul of another, and it was a sin that could never be forgiven. It was worse than killing, which was also not allowed.

I tried to get through to the other Brujah. Rosa was sceptical, Kat and CJ nearly laughed in my face. The Nosferatu mostly kept to themselves, planning in the corner. A man dressed like a special forces soldier named Charles went out into the dark night several times to check the perimeter.
It would only be a matter of time before they would try and take us down. But for now, they had us exactly where they wanted us. Unable to leave, we were nearly as safe as if we had been in the cellar, staked and waiting for our soul to be destroyed. All they had to do was take us down one by one.
As we could do with them, if we had not been hindered by Prophet's moral code.

I counted the guns and ammo we had. I had only brought one semi-automatic pistol, and two pockets filled with bullets. There were a few more weapons -- where they had come from, I don't know -- but many kindred had held onto the stakes that had kept them docile prisoners.
It was with those weapons that we captured Sigurd. He was a Gangrel elder, allied to the Prince. It was just too bad for him that the Nosferatu were very adept at hiding from him with their Obfuscation powers.
It was a shame that "Ralph" could not hide well enough from the Auspex powers of the Toreador primogen.
CJ lead the negotiations, but Ralph escaped before we could deliver Sigurd to the Elders in the mansion. The "no killing" rule disturbed many of the younglings, but at least they were willing to follow our lead for now.

Kat turned out to be more of a problem. She openly balked at Salvation, and decided to play both teams. She would be a problem. She came too close to Prophet to my tastes, and she looked proficient with the large hunting knife she had picked up somewhere. It wasn't too long before she was staked, and she became a part of the negotiations. In the end, we exchanged her and Sigurd for a bucket of blood and Oriana and Spiegel.

Kat wasn't the only one playing both sides. A setite named Alex played both sides quite well, refusing to choose a side to ally himself with. He provided us with information, and I had no doubts he did thesame to the other side. It wasn't much of a choice: we really needed any info we could get, as tainted as it might be.

Ammo and guns wasn't the only thing we had a short supply of. We were low on blood as well, as Oriana had kicked the bucket over when she ran towards us, and people were getting wounded. One of the kindred had decided to take some of Sigurd's blood, but it was a risk. And we had only two ghouls to feed from -- and even their strength was failing. As for Prophet, well -- he was human, a Hunter even. But anyone trying to feed off him had to go through me, and my bulletproof vest, and Maverick and all my spare ammo.
Good luck.

At the end of the night, we finally managed to stage a heist. The Tremere had gathered info about the ward that was keeping us trapped near the mansion and one of the ward points that needed to be broken was in the armoury, on the first floor.
Carl Bakker volunteered to carry a backpack, and the few of us who had guns clustered around him. We stepped out the door, went around the mansion, to the back fire escape.

It was strange that Foresight Security had not placed more security, but then they were probably undermanned to start with. The fire escape creaked under our boots, and entrance into the mansion was easy. "This is the door." August opened it slowly.
The armoury was empty, and I could see that the last Brujah in, Sjors, was keeping an eye out. Carl turned around. "Quick, fill me up."
Several people started loading up the backpack with anything they could get their hands on. Bullets, pistols, a gas mask, even the antique pistols from the wall. I dropped two promising-looking packs in there, hoping it was C4 or another explosive. It might make creating a diversion easier.
The backpack filled up quickly, and we zipped it back up, sending Carl back outside onto the fire escape. I piled a sawed-off shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle into my arms, holding onto a gun in my other hand.
The Tremere quietly cheered. "The ward is down!"
"Alright, we're done here. Go, go, go!"
Two minutes, and we were done. We ran down the fire escape and circled around the mansion, back to the carriage house.
Our chances had improved greatly in those two minutes.

Some were worried about sleeping during the day. I agreed it would be too easy for the ghouls from the mansion to just blow up the carriage house or stake us during the daytime, but the Tremere had the answer. They created another ward, one specifically aimed at ghouls, so that none could enter or exit during the day. It also meant that our ghouls would not be able to leave, but they would stick with us nonetheless.

Saturdaynight

All of this time, I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul
Don't let me die here
There must be something more
Bring me to life

During their day's sleep, some of the vampires perhaps had some time to think about Prophet's words, because the second day their attitudes had changed. I could see that most of the kindred had actually accepted Prophet's rules, and they were more respectful to him.

Prince Arjan from Amsterdam, who had joined us the previous night and had also provided us with valuable intel and distracted the Elders from the mansion on numerous occasions, seemed to be the driving force that organised the group. The real leader was still Prophet, and I saw several of the younger kindred turn to him with their questions.
We assembled a council of sorts, representing each clan present except the Lasombra. The childe of Prince Laurentia had been discovered to lack a mirror image the night previous, but Verra Constanze as she was called, was still a victim just like us. Even the Setites had a representative. The only one who had once sat on the Council of Primogen was "Ralph", the Nosferatu.
He was quickly growing to be a leading force as well.

The Tremere said that the burden for the ward was getting too heavy to carry, and suggested a Sabbat ritual called the Vaulderie. Prince Arjan spoke against it. Some spoke for it. The ritual included drinking eachother's blood voluntarily, creating a minor blood bond.
Some asked if it was not similar to Diablerie.
Prophet agreed to perform the rite, reading from the bible about the destruction of Jericho, and asking each vampire to donate some blood. He then proceeded to let each vampire drink.
We had been weakened.
The lack of a food source, the mayhem that was going on in the world and the ward had all played their part. We had not slept well during the day, and the stress had taken its toll.
The blood from the bowl was delicious.
Five Brujah, the most tough of all vampires, save perhaps the Gangrel, closed in on Prophet holding the bowl.
I stepped in. August was at my side instantly, deciding to protect Prophet. He had not participated in the ritual, saying it was too much of a risk. "It creates Temptation." he had said.
The remainder of the blood went to the Tremere who needed to break down the wards so that we could escape. The Brujah backed off, licking their lips.

The Nosferatu and Gangrel dealt with the food shortage as best they could. Rats, ducks, even pigeons were caught. Anything to keep our strengths up. And we needed the blood. The Elders kept a close watch on the courtyard and at the least sign of trouble these stronger vampires would flock out.

Raiding parties went out. Some returned in a firefight. Others returned victoriously.
One by one the wards were failing.

Christiaan Ravenstein and his uncle Nicolai wanted to talk with Diana desperately. She was sceptical about their intentions, but adamant she wanted to go. A raiding party was assembled, and we walked with her to the dark side of the castle, near the basketball court at the front of the mansion. Nicolai and Christiaan stepped out of the shadows and sneered at our party. I clutched Maverick. Ordered Charles to keep an eye on the perimeter.
They wanted to speak to her in private.
Diana hugged me, whispered a message into my ear. "Stay close."
I said "Go with God, sister." to mask her message, and nodded.
We pulled back.
It was over soon. Too soon. Christiaan and Nicolai swiped Diana and Obfuscated. There was no way to know where they went, but August charged in, trying to grab something he could no longer see.
Diana was gone.

Christiaan's twisted plan was found soon after. The script for his "Christmas play" was found, and plans were made to interrupt him. The finale was to diablerise his sister on live television, so that he would become the next Jesus Christ.
We could not let this happen.

The lights began to flicker on and off and we knew that something was wrong. At first I thought the Elders wanted to invade our base of operations, but Prophet had said that nobody who had performed Diablerie could enter any more. It turned out to be much simpler. It was the Millenium bug.
At exactly 00:00 of the 1st of January of the new Millenium, things started to go haywire.
It also knocked out all of the camera's Foresight had.

We went around the back, and entered the mansion the same way we had fled the basement the day before: through the window of a side chamber. As we ran to the television studio where Christiaan would perform his play, I checked behind us. One of the ghouls had spotted us, and they had alerted the others.
We locked ourselves into the studio, and Prophet took care of Christiaan Ravenstein. Preaching the word of the Lord had immobilised Christiaan.
At the door, a shootout was commencing. CJ and "Ralph" piled chairs and tables in front of the door.
Damian found us an alternative exit. The window opened and it was a slight drop to the ground. Someone staked Christiaan and threw him out the window. Prophet jumped after him before I could stop him, twisting his ankle as he fell.
I glanced through the barricade and saw August, wielding one of the shotguns. They had spotted trouble and created a diversion so we could leave.
Prophet insisted we leave Christiaan behind. He was staked and left in the basketball court as we returned to our base of operations.

One by one, the wards were destroyed.
My attention was claimed by CJ, who wanted a heart-to-heart. He had seemed so overly ambitious, I doubted I was getting through to him, and his words, faltering as they came, sounded studied.
"Your doubt is in your mind. What does your heart tell you?" I asked. CJ tried to search his feelings, but he was not there yet. Perhaps he would never be.

And then it was time to finish off the final ward. Prophet prayed with us. He read from the bible, blessing us before we went in.
The wait was wrenching. We were eager to leave before the sun would come up.
August sat with his back to the wall and I joined him. He handed me his prayer book. "Opened at a random page." he said.
It was a prayer for the dead.
I clasped his hand and bowed my head.
"Our Father, who art in heaven..."

Time.
Everyone stormed out the door. The Brujah taking the lead, closely followed by the Gangrel, and not a hint more enthusiastic than the Nosferatu. We sat in silence.
Prophet raised his head. "We must go."

A feeling overwhelmed me.
We entered the chaos of the Great Hall. Everyone was fighting. Several of our side were staked, shot, wounded, bleeding. The Elders were no better off. It was a terrible slaughter, but Prophet strode out in the midst of it.

"Kneel!"
A young vampire grabbed a stake and smashed it into Prophet's chest, but Prophet merely turned his head. Without looking, he withdrew the stake and let it drop to the ground.
Everyone kneeled.
Sigurd was seething, Prince Laurentia averted her gaze. Several ghouls were bleeding heavily, and moaning.

Diana, Belle, Prince Arjan and I walked the crowd. We looked into their souls. There was nothing else I could do.
Prophet read from the bible again, and questioned the vampires. Each of us chose the ones to answer. I cradled the chin of young ghoul Paul in my hand, or placed a hand on the shoulder of Sam, the Gangrel. Each answered the questions of the Prophet. Some Kindred hung their head in shame. Others spat their answers.

It was over.
Those who had been found lacking still needed to be judged, and they needed to be judged by the others. We picked the ones who could be saved from the crowd, led them into another room. White banners hung from the tables, a final Council.
Then the others were brought in. Some growled. Some cursed. Others were silent, already losing hope.

I waited at the door. And then I heard the words. "I forgive you."
It was repeated by many.

Prophet led the line towards the hall. "This will be the final judgement, and I will lead you to it."
His steps down the staircase were sure, bible in hand. He prayed in a clear voice.
His steps faltered.
He fell to his knees.
"Why Lord?" he asked. "I have always served You."
He died.

Prince Laurentia, blinded by the light, her robes in disarray and her wig lost a long time ago, shielded her eyes from the glare, and ran down the stairs. She did not come far.
One by one they stepped out, facing their judgement. So many fell. No-one thought they could be saved anymore.
It was the Toreador who had come to us crying on the night before, after the Elders had diablerised her sire, that was the first to be saved. The blinding light at the end of the corridor flared and swallowed her.
Tears formed in my eyes.

Some went toghether. Some went with tears in their eyes. Others dared not look at the blinding light.
Many fell before the end of the hall.
Some were saved.
Project Nimrod.
Carl Bakker.
Reverend Daniel.
Sjors
Augst.
Ernest, Frans, Belle and Spiegel.
Oriana.

The Setites were last. Amon, who had been on our short-lived council refused to go, but with a bit of a push he decided to go after all.
Alex Great was another matter. He resisted my words, my soft hands.
But who was I to force another to meet God's judgement?

I turned my back on him. I was the last to walk down the hall.
I picked my way through the bodies, piled in the hallway. I didn't need to look at their faces to know they were sinners. Step by step I approached the unnatural light at the end of the hall. Slowly, I began to feel first the warmth, and then the cold.
I stepped over the last arm of a fallen vampire, and stepped into the light.
My breath misted in front of my face.
And I felt cold.

I breathed.
I was alive.

God had lifted Cain's curse, and He had granted me a second chance. I was welcomed with smiles from the others. August embraced me. "Thank you for everything." he said quietly in my ear.
When he let me go, I sank to my knees. I cried. I cried because so many were saved. I cried because God gave us another chance. And then, my tears faded, and I felt a happiness I had never felt before.

That morning, we watched the sun rise for the first time over our new lives.
God had given us a second chance.


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Lextalionis Portraits by Ork de Rooij
Lextalionis Pictures by Ork de Rooij

Comments

[zegnooitnooit.livejournal.com]

*snif* very nice written

[anemoona.livejournal.com]

Ik vind vooral de laatste twee foto's mooi, met die witte kleren aan geef je bijna licht!