Darkness Unvailed

My name is Victoria Trammel and this is my story. Well part of it anyway. I was raised by my Aunt Judy and Uncle Charlie in Charleston. My parents died in a car crash in Switzerland when I was a few months old. They had left me in the care of my aunt and uncle that year. Dad was driving when he lost control of the car and sent them plummeting to their deaths at the bottom of a mountain.
Judy doesn’t talk much about it, because my mother was her favorite baby sister. The other sister, Daise, is a black sheep and so Judy doesn’t talk about her either. I did find an old picture of Daise in Judy’s things. She looked beautiful. I envied her being able to get away from here and see new things.
I was an only child and so was doted upon but never spoiled. I strove to be the best in my class so I could follow Daise’s footsteps and get out of this town. I wanted to travel the world. When I was done with high school I went to Yale and got a doctorate in business. I figured that would be helpful to my goal.
A couple of years after I started working in my uncle’s consulting firm he retired and turned over the business to me. Oh how I hated him that day. He had effectively shut down all my plans to travel. I was stuck running the business. When I confronted him he just looked at me with eyes full of innocence and told me that I was the only one he could trust to not run the business into the ground. My relationship with Judy and Charlie grew distant as I threw myself into work to keep from killing someone.
I seemed to have an instinct for knowing when to sell and when to hold, so make money I did. The employees started joking about magic and witches telling me about the investments, but I paid them little heed as I tried to figure out how to get out of this town. I got the idea to expand my business and so set about trying to figure out good locations. I knew that I would have to run each new office for about 6 months to make sure it was not going to collapse so my dreams of leaving Charleston would come true at last. Over the next few years I opened offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Tampa, Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Chicago and New York.
It was while I was in Chicago that I ran into Daise. Well to tell the truth, she hunted me down. She was standing outside my building one night when I got off work. She invited me for a couple of drinks to catch up. I told her I would meet her at the bar and went back to my hotel to change. I got to the bar and went inside. It was dark, but quieter than most bars. It seemed to me the kind of place people did serious drinking, without a lot to distract them. I spotted my aunt at a table and walked over. On my way I saw several couples making out. It seemed that everyone was having a neck nuzzled by someone else and I felt myself blushing.
I got to the table and sat down and my aunt pushed a drink towards me. I took a sip while waiting for her to speak. We talked long into the night and I told her about my business. She suggested New York for my next office. She even knew someone who could help me get started. I liked the idea from the start. I had been told that New York had everything and it sounded perfect.
I told her it would be about a month before I could leave the Chicago area. She laughed and said that time was of no importance. I glanced at my watch and realized it was 4am. I told her I had to go and stood up. She said that she would find me again before I left town to make arrangements. I agreed and headed towards the door calling a cab on my cell phone.
A week before I could leave, Daise found me again and gave me the name of a bar in New York that I could find her when I arrived. I asked her to fly with me and she said that she had her own arrangements and just to meet her at the bar in ten days at midnight.
After I got everything taken care of in Chicago I flew out to New York and checked into a hotel. That first night I slept like a baby. The next day I headed around trying to find a place to set up office. I worked day and night, but couldn’t find a good spot. The night I was supposed to meet with Daise came and so I went to the bar. My aunt walked in and sat down at the table. I asked where the guy I was supposed to meet was and she said he would be in tomorrow night at midnight. She told me to be here then she got up and left. I stared after her in surprised that she would be so rude. I had second thoughts at that time, but I was having such a hard time finding a place that I figured it couldn’t hurt to meet this guy at least.
The next night I was seated in the back corner of the bar when I saw them walk in. My aunt pointed at me and then left. The guy started walking towards me. Watching him move towards my table I was reminded of a predator stalking its prey and I shivered. When he got to the table he sat down across from me. He had the most striking eyes I had ever seen. When I met his gaze it was as if he could read my every thought and was gazing right into my soul.
“So you’re Victoria”

You awake to find your sire in your place. After she notices that you are awake she just starts to ramble about how this is all Jacob’s fault, if he would have been stronger, more watchful, stopped Vern when he had the chance, not let that happen to Joan and now to Thomas, should have stopped it, should have been able to do something, will you help her do something, I need your kind of help right now. None of it make much sense, but she has been a good sire, so there is no reason not to.

You awake to find yourself and Sarah in a small room that doesn’t look at all familiar to either of you. The walls appear to be steel as is the door. A small camera in the corner and a speaker on the ceiling seem to be the only other things in the room. You hear a voice come over the speaker, “Now that you are both awake maybe one of you can tell me how you managed to have some of my files in your procession.”

You find yourself waking on the couch in Judy’s office. Judy is behind her desk peering at you as you awake. “So you have made some friends I see.” “Your gallivanting around this city has been interesting to watch.” “Do you even know what to do next, have you any clue what has been happening around you?” “With all of your resent travels have you stopped to notice that Vern is trying to push us all out of the city, or are your new friends just that much more important.”

You awake in your study, but not in the position that you are used to being in. As the master of this domain you are not the one who should be chained to the wall. The one bad part of this is knowing that these chains can take anything you mite try to do to them. Dianna has out one of your more favorite toys, a ten foot long whip. As you hear the first crack in the air by you head you remember that she does know how to use it. “This past week you have been causing more trouble then normal.” “You have started to lead some other down a path that they should not take as they have at lest shown some respect to their sires.” “Are your just trying to have me removed from what I have worked so hard to get?” “Are you trying to corrupt even more to your ill-conceived movement?” “Or do I just need to convince you that the Invictus is were you belong.”

You awake to find yourself not in your normal resting place, but in a storage room at one of Donald’s clubs just not sure which one. Donald is sitting on a chair in front of the door out. You feel the other two vampires that are just outside the door. The music from the club seems to be quite, so the walls in this room are almost certainly to thick to get through fast enough to get out of here. Donald asks, “What kind of plans do you have for your near future?” “Ever since that meeting last week you seem to be running away from same thing, or have you been trying to get to some thing.”

The next night you awake to find your sire has taken you from your normal resting place and locked you into a small room. You see that you are being watched from a far. You hear Robert’s voice come over a lousy speaker. “What is your goal?”, “What do you think you will find?”

To Your Holiness:

After the discovery that the sanctified holding cell had been found the only thing left to do was to take drastic measures. Though the tank was mostly empty setting it off made a big enough bang to level that part of the warehouse. The ensuing fire would make finding anything a challenge for the police. In this town that means little would be done about it. They just had to be careful not to let the fire get out of control. The poor sap that got caught in the blaze did not chance to get out, nor was he in any shape to. The damage done to the warehouse was minimal and was mostly in the office are, good thing all those records were backed up off site. The rebuilding cost will be small, but it is the price we pay for not making sure our sites are still secure for use. We still do not have any leads as to who found the site as there were very few who even know of its existence we should be able to narrow it down soon. As this step was taken in such haste we have not had time to make the normal arrangements with our day time friends though they will undoubtedly do the right thing as soon as they see the signals that we left for them. It is to bad that we learned so little from the traitor before this had to happen. We had hope to make an example of him and the next “Service”.

Your humble follower
Damon Wesman

Mekhat Invictus

Thomas finds himself using the time that he has been given to indulge in what ever project that currently hold his fascination. He has always searched for the truth in religion as he holds that there must be something greater out there. He has already been proven right once in his life when he was brought into the darkness. Spending all of his time within books has had some draw backs as he does get much respect from those around him and with the error of bring Hannah over he has had to try twice as hard to show his usefulness to the new order in New York so as to keep himself and her safe. This has lead him to make some very bad deals with the “wrong” crowd. This is not the first time this has happen to Thomas as for a long time he was a member of the Carthian Movement and only left after he found that the movement would no longer let him look into what his heart really wanted. The Invictus leader at the time told him that this was the main problem with those rebels; they could never chose a direction and stay with it. This made Thomas uneasy with them and started the move to the Invictus for him. Those shortly after her left the Carthians he found that the rules of the Invictus were harder to follow but at lest they did not change decade to decade. Though this move left him with out much support in the city it also left his estranged from his only other passion Stacy. He had brought her of into the night a short time after himself to have some to share his thoughts with and help him move forward in his research. They did have many years in which they both flourished, he had to keep moving in on his goals and she got more and more into the movement.

Donald has become fond for Christian’s little trips out to the local bars. He sees the potential in the contacts that he makes there, but he wishes that Christian would forget about his old life as it seems to be holding him back from the bigger things. Though Christian has taken to the Invictus, he does not seem to be a fervent member. The first year has gone by now and he doesn’t seem to have moved on that far. The more time he spends in these places the less time Donald has to show him the business. This may start to be a problem if he does not find a spot in the business he will not have anything to stand on while Donald is away, but being young and unconcerned with the long time ahead. That is very attractive way of “living.” Christian has not always seemed to be such a good choice for Donald. Christian when he first was brought over, wanted to go back to his old life and try to keep others from finding out. He is after all, the owner, so if he sleeps all day and is working all night no one would get suspicious of him. That was Donald’s first hurtle, to show him that going back was not a wise idea. Christian got the message, but still missed all of the interaction that being in a bar gave him. Now he is a frequent visitor to many of the clubs that Donald owns. Donald was not sure about Christian doing this until Christian started to make suggestions about how to make the places bring in more people. After that Donald saw that Christian was going to be useful and tried to make watching over the club Christian’s job. Christian was not going to have that as he already knows it loses it appeal after it became that only thing in your life. Donald continued to look for a place for Christian in his business and still does not know were to fit him in. Without knowing were to place Christian, Donald does not want to give him too much access to the rest of the business.

Paul found this beauty one night on the town and his path was set. Of course, she was just out for a drink. Paul caught her off guard with his good looks and relentless style. Slipping into his mind, she found that he had more usefulness than a one night toy. So, knowing that he could help move things along, she took the risk and showed him what real cruelty is. Shortly after the change of leadership took place in the city, a favor was repaid, making them safe. She takes care of his needs and he lets her live a little more. Though they both “see” other people, it is mostly to show up and hurt each other

At a late evening field trip to a historic church in New York, Hannah was spotted by Thomas, who had just been informed of the leadership change and his payment for his part in it. There was something he needed someone’s help with, but not anyone would understand his need for an answer. She looked like a good prospect, but he did not quite understand her. It was too late to go back as he figured out what a big mistake he had made. After a quick clean up job, done by a friend of his, he set his task to make her as happy with this life as he possibly can without stopping his search for answers. He hopes that as she leaves her old life behind and that she will start to be interested in his odyssey.

Ventrue Invictus

As an “up and comer” in the Ventrue clan, Robert has seen fit to start a takeover of any finances that he can get his hands on. With some of his resources trimmed when the old prince left power, he had this “bright idea” to start using others’ finances to get what he wants. Victoria was just coming up to visit with the last fun person in the family. That changed quickly as she was drawn into this plan of Robert’s. The death of her Aunt and Uncle couldn’t have come at a better time for Robert as this gave him even more money to play with.

Ventrue Invictus

A good looking girl is what tends to describe this lady wherever she goes. She has only been among the kindred for a short time and still longs for her mortal life. She had been getting lonely in the recent years so she seized the opportunity to “make” a friend for herself. She didn’t have to do much to get the “go ahead” for it – drop a few little words to the wrong person to change the leadership of the city. She did take a little time to pick someone out that she thought she could hold on to for a long time. It was someone she thought she would relate to and could get along with, not to mention that looked better then she did – so she could hide a little in public. As part of the Invictus, she hates to have to take part in anything and is more a member of convenience than for any benefits that may come of it. Ignored for the most part, she has little to do with her clan, either. She has hoped in recent nights that she could get closer to Gracey and find out what held her back in her mortal life, but the events that let her make Gracey have come back to make that hard.

Mekhat Invictus

Dianna has been able to climb the ladder in the Invictus due to good looks and the willingness to punish those that get in her way. As a lower member of the covenant, she had a great deal of responsibility. As she has moved up over time, she has been able to maintain a high level of respect for getting things done. She had been feeling a bit stagnated in the recent years and wants to move high in the covenant. After slipping up and making Paul, she knew that the current state would not let her get what she wanted and she feared falling backward. When the sanctified gave her a chance to change that, she jumped at it with all of her tenacity. It was a small matter of letting the right people hear the wrong things. It’s amazing what a little bad press can do to a leader’s support and, with the sanctified pushing from the outside and the support waning from within, the old Prince had no choice but to step down and thus take down those around him who all want their jobs back.

Ventrue Invictus

As leader of the Ventrue in the Invictus, Donald has had many run-ins with all of the other players in the city and has carved out his share, but sees that he needs some more to cement his position. It takes others of the right mind to take care of the little things that he no longer has time for. Christian’s determination to keep going with what he had back in Minneapolis, caught Donald’s eye. Donald had a chance to add to his brood, in return for selling some information that made it unsettling for the former Prince to keep his position at the top. So, he made Christian his newest partner in business, thinking that this would improve his position in New York, when the time comes to step down.