Chapter 16.
Another Friday night, another Vampire party. On the plus side it meant another night with Amelia wrapped around his arm, but to the detriment of as good of a feeling that was, Scott was here to hunt a killer. He hoped when this was all over he could meet Amelia under more normal circumstances, convince her to skip work for a night and get some dinner with him, maybe go to a club. Hopefully, he could show her how normal people got out and socialized. He had suggested hitting the Olive Garden sometime, but she shooed that idea away. She hated Italian food. What kind of girl hates Italian food? Maybe she just had more expensive tastes, what with the grand villas that Jacobin Hearsay showed her and the other so-called Vampires. No wonder the simple wares of a part-time police photographer could seem less than adequate to her. It was another mystery in the puzzle that was Amelia.
Amelia led him around with total control, like a little puppy dog obediently following his necktie leash. With legs like that he would follow her to the apocalypse itself, and with how this party talked about it, he just might. “There’s a very special presentation tonight,” she said, taking Scott through the house towards backyard.
They were in Myers Park again, just two or three streets away from the scene of the third murder. On his way here Scott noticed more than a few For Sale signs and wondered if in just a few days, Hank and himself would cross yellow tape into one of those vacant houses to find some new fucking freak show horror story to further spice up their nightmares.
Amelia was even more excited and seemed to be having more fun than usual, “Jacobin is making a speech tonight, rumor is it’s going to be a big one,” she said. Her voice took on that slithery, seductive and serpentine quality that melted Scott to mere putty in her hands, “Word is that the Dark One himself has been conversing with him, that he knows the true will of our depraved Lord,” she grinned, leaning in towards Scott. God damn, what was that shiver that ran up his spine whenever she talked to him like this? That power she had over him, as if she was his mistress, and he her faithful Damane.
“Can’t wait,” Scott said, faking excitement and laughing nervously.
As Amelia made her way through the party, it seemed she stopped to meet and greet with everyone.
“Resiven, so good to see you,”
“Talara, love your hair,”
“Oh, Lucy, you look amazing tonight,” Amelia turned her simple hobnobbing to direct attention.
Lucy took her skirt and gave Amelia a very admiring curtsies “Mistress Amelia, you honor me with your attention, you humble this mere Damane,” she smiled. Amelia was pretty deep into this game, but from what Scott had noticed about this Lucy girl, she was a true believer through and through. From their first meeting Scott saw that while a bit frumpy she could be cute if she tried, and she was trying. Brown hair in curled pigtails, she even looked like she had a shed a few pounds. She traded glasses and picked up a contact subscription which made her light, amber brown eyes all the more present in the look she was rocking, that plus the bump of confidence attending these parties and getting a taste of acceptance had gone a long way in making a mediocre girl into one almost any guy would be glad to have on his arm, “My mistress, Suvilia,” her voice was a bit timid, Scott couldn’t tell if it was worry or excitement, “She says the hour of my turning is near, soon I will have the privilege of ascending from mere Damane into a beautiful creature of the night,” she looked up smiling with a dreamy and lustful look in her eyes. Scott noticed she had a bit more confidence in her voice. Maybe this was the good part of the parties Amelia kept trying to sell him. Amelia explained that for some, the play pretend was a therapy of sorts. The goal of being a Vampire was really a goal of being accepted. The Depraved Covenant would give anyone acceptance, that’s what made it such a fun group, a group for people who just wanted acceptance. Scott could see the charm to it, and again the charm was sullied by the fact that he was 99% sure that their glorious leader may be a full-on psychopath, strangling and biting into drifter’s necks till they bled out while hanging on a god damned crucifix.
As Scott further investigated the Vampire Party, he saw more people like Lucy. It was likely that there were many people like her here, innocents who felt unremarkable in their own life. People who found something that gave them an excuse to cut loose. The more Amelia dragged him to these parties, the more fucked up shit he was seeing on the back end when he had to investigate murders. To that point’s counter, the more he saw people, innocent people, drawn into a world that accepted them, made them feel welcome. Leave it to a psychopath to draw people in like that.
Scott thought of Amelia. She was so good looking, why did she need this life? He had a few working theories. Was she fat in high school? Highschool had the capability of fucking everyone up in its own personal and customized way. Scott knew more than a few girls like that. They head off to a college dorm, money gets tight and college cafeteria food isn’t exactly appetizing, so they lose weight by happenstance. They fuck a few guys so they can find themselves, and before you know it, some frumpy ninth grader into Twilight and the Vampire Diaries is a god damn bombshell.
“I’m so excited, my ascension approaches,” she raised her eyebrows, carrying that same sexy confidence that Amelia could drag Scott around with. “At least that's what I’ve heard from the rumblings of the council,” she turned to Scott, “Word is that your name is being contemplated as well my fellow Damane,” she gave Scott a nod.
Scott brought out the actor in him, the one that one of his favorite professors taught him every good reporter worth his salt has in his back pocket when going after a story, “I would be honored to accepted to the ranks of the chosen, may the Dark One smile upon you, sister Lucy,” he grinned, raising his eyebrows.
Amelia grabbed his arm and squealed, “Oh, you’re learning our ways so well, my Damane, to wish the favor of the Dark One on someone is a high compliment,” she said.
“Best of luck in your ascension Lucy, I feel you will make our ranks all the prouder,” Amelia said, looking over Lucy with lust filled, almost hungry eyes. “We must be on way, come, Damane,” she said, teasing Scott as she tugged his tie to continue through the party.
“Who did Lucy say she Damanes under?” Scott asked, “Have I met her master?”
“You have, Lucy is Damane to Lady Suvilia, Suvilia as you know is currently Jacobin’s paramour, but she’s into girls too, in fact most of us are,” Amelia grinned, licking her lips as she gave Scott a lust filled look, Lucy followed them to the backyard.
Part of Scott hoped that this mad Vampire party having connection to a serial killer was just a silly coincidence that ment nothing. That it was just grim fun that the party had celebrating the deaths of innocent people. That’s how Amelia spoke of the pageantry of the macabre celebration, that’s all it was, a dark joke. If his worst fears turned out to be true, Scott hoped that could be a wake-up call for Amelia. Get her out of these parties, this lifestyle she said she loved. Show her she could be normal, show her how normal people could have fun, go to the bar, dinners at restaurants, a picnic in the park and bullshit like that. That gave Scott more motivation for his mission, find something to tie Jacobin to the killings, take him down, hopefully end these parties, and then he could have a normal relationship with Amelia, hopefully.
“Jacobin is going to make his speech soon, let’s get some wine,” Amelia said as she led Scott to the wine table.
“Oh, a ninety-seven, this is a good year, that’s Jacobin for you, always brings out all the stops when he wants us to have a good time,” she smiled, taking two glasses and handing one to Scott and one to Lucy before taking one for herself. Scott took a sip. A bit of alcohol to get his courage up sounded needed right about now.
“We’re so lucky to have him as our leader,” Amelia said, dreamy eyed. Scott wondered just how infused in the Vampire culture Amelia was. Jacobin may be rich, but he didn’t exactly have the build or even personality of a real lady-killer.
“He and Suvilia are true followers of the Dark One,” she smiled, lifting her glass to Scott’s, “To the coming return, and the rending of this boring human world,” she smiled.
“May he return our world to the state it should be,” Scott said, keeping up his character.
The setting for Jacobin’s speech looked a bit underdressed considering the theatrics Scott had seen since he started attending these parties. Just a large crucifix, unadorned, standing upside down with two walkway lights illuminating it in its simple sacrilege. Jacobin strolled in front of the cross, walking with cocky stride, wearing his millionaire tailored gothic clothing. That one black leather glove that was only made a fashion statement by the authority his office as head Vampire gave him.
“Children of the night!” He called out to a rancorous applause, “Welcome to our celebration!” he raised his hands and just took in all the love and admiration the other Vampires and Damane were laying into him.
“It is fitting, my children, that what the mortals call spring is upon us,” Jacobin was, of course, a showman “A season the mortals in their mortal concerns associate with petty gifts such as life, virility, bounty, rebirth,” he grinned, “it is fitting in a time of rebirth that our Dark master has made himself known,” Jacobin took a glass of fine wine from a sycophant who brought a tray to him. “We of our kind have waited thousands of years for his coming, for the coming that was promised to us the creatures of the night, those who see the moon rather than sun as their illumination,” Jacobin took a careful stride back and forth in front of the inverted crucifix as he sipped his wine.
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“This is a time of rebirth, a time for the Dark One, the one who promises, and gives us, our power in this mortal world, the one who promises the day will come we take our rightful place as its rulers, as the beautiful creature Vampire!” he called out, raising his arms and spilling a negligible bit of his, rather expensive, wine.
Amelia, Lucy, and all other Vampires in attendance cheered and clapped, enveloped by his speech, enveloped because soon it would be their way of life that would dominate the boring mortal world, hedonism and feeding would overtake silly prospects like nine-to-fives and rush hour traffic.
“We will take this world, make our presence known soon, my children. No longer will we be confined to our little gatherings, hidden away, treated as nothing more than a silly secret of the night that the mortals like to pretend doesn’t exist. Stones are being laid in the great precipice of our unveiling; the mortal world will know of our machinations soon. I am in talks with other Covenants, all over the land, the world, and I’ve heard from the Dark One himself, soon comes our hour children, soon comes the hour of the mortal’s discontent, a day of blackness and shattered shields when we bring the end times, the final battle!” Jacobin was really hamming it up right now. Scott had seen these Vampires were dedicated to the game, but even compared to Amelia, Jacobin seemed to be a real true believer.
“They will fight us, they will run from us, and then they will fall. The Hunters may strike against us, but their efforts will be but a drop in the ocean of blood we will rain onto their world. Their world,” Jacobin huffed, “The world that is so disgusted by our macabre beauty, gather your will children of the night, for when the battle comes the Dark One himself will lead us to victory, ten thousand years of darkness as the world of man comes crashing down. We will leave their so-called Savior with not a soul left to save. They, the Hunters, the Savior, they fight in the light, we fight in darkness, light needs power, energy, motivation, and darkness is the mere absence of that. To live in darkness is an effortless fate the Humans will resign themselves too when they see our true power. They call our ways unnatural, when in reality we are the most natural creatures who’ve ever lived in this world. I understand their bafflement, I like many of you was once a child of the light long, long, ago. I have been to the sermons of the So-called Savior, I ignorantly lived on the side of the sun before I was show the glory of Darkness, the strength, the passion, the pleasure,” A wide and eerie smile came across his face as Scott saw him, darting his eyes to Suvilia.
“They cannot win, not with the coming glory I’ve been privy to see awaits us, they cannot hope to win, I ask you, brothers and sisters,” Jacobin raised his hand and the party cheered, all the Vampires raising their drinks. Jacobin downed what was left of his wine and smashed the glass on the patio. “What has the world of the mortals given you, detest, rejection, callousness,” there was a bite in Jacobin’s voice as he spoke of the mortal world. It was more than likely that growing up Jacobin, or rather, Trevor Ellis had probably experienced that kind of life before he hit the jackpot of selling that app he developed.
“Take that rejection and compare it to what the life of darkness has given you, joy, acceptance, welcoming, dare I even say love?. All things the mortals have denied you. Some of them, the smart one’s, if they’re worthy they’ll be turned, but if they don’t quite live up to our standards, as we never lived up to theirs, they can serve us in other ways, we will be merciful,” Jacobin laughed, “To an extent,” he smiled.
“We’ll teach them the Dark one will accept you, the Dark One will be loyal to you, he gives you the love the Savior demands you work for without even lifting a finger, that’s what ours is, a life of acceptance, the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the Dark One will give you all of this and more. Take the Sacrament, embrace the dark, and you will be rewarded with an eternal debauchery that the Dark One will give those truly loyal to him,” Jacobin stood proud, strong, he stood in command of this would-be army of chubby girls and lanky men, “Follow the Dark One and all your desires can be obtained, power undisputed, pleasure beyond measure. Because after all, what is life in this mortal world if we are not here to seek pleasure, so on this night, the first night of many we celebrate a new age, the age of the Dark One’s coming, drink, be merry, the hour of our people approaches, it’s what I’ve been told, it’s what I’ve seen, the Dark One is coming to liberate us,” he said.
“Hail the Dark One!” Amelia cried out then turned to Scott, “Wow, Jacobin is really on fire tight, that’s so cool, I can’t wait to see where the game is going after this. I heard that Jacobin’s actually been funding the creators of the game to write a new scenario for it, this must be the opening for it, we’re so lucky, we’re probably the first people who will get to play it,” she smiled.
“Games getting pretty crazy, pretty interesting, I can’t lie,” Scott said, knowing it was his duty as both a reporter and a member of the Charlotte Police department, and as a boy raised under the teachings of a man as strong as his father, that he had to take this fucker down.
“Excuse me for a minute, I’ll be right back, had a bit too much wine,” Scott smiled, leaning in and giving Amelia a kiss on her forehead before heading back to the mansion. Most of the party had been gathered outside for the speech, which let him sneak through the mansion with little effort. Scott took a slow breath as he listened for anyone who might wander around as he made his way to the stairs. Hopefully, a few of the more senior members weren’t already up there getting into the debauchery Amelia told him took place on the second floor of these parties.
“Master bathroom,” he said to himself as he leaped up the stairs after checking if anyone was around to see him. In and out. That was the mission. He made his way through the second-floor hallway, looking into bedrooms, trying to find a bathroom, the master bathroom that Jacobin would have been using for himself. At the end of the hall he found an open door leading to a room with a king sized four-poster bed. With a cautious hand, Scott pushed the door open, sliding inside. The bed had some rose petals laid on it, and next to it on the nightstand was an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne. Scott approached it and looked at the bottle, “Dom Perignon,” he sighed, “God damn internet money,” he put the bottle back and contemplated just how rich Jacobin Hearsay was. He turned to the attached bathroom and made his way inside. He shut the door and locked it behind him, just in case the room had any visitors.
“Couldn’t find a bathroom downstairs, was already being used, that’s what I’ll say,” Scott told himself, rehearsing the story that a humble Damane would have if he was caught trespassing in the mighty Jacobin Hearsay’s lair. He turned his attention to the bathroom counter. Two sinks, lots of cologne bottles, perfume, typical bathroom wares, and of course the pomade that gave Jacobin’s other wise greasy hair its upscale styling. He spotted a comb, then remembered what Eleanor told him. Hair doesn’t have DNA, apparently. He needed something that would have saliva on it. He looked over the counter, toothbrush, he thought. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small plastic evidence bag provided by Eleanor. There were two brushes sitting by the sink. “Which one is yours, I wonder?” Scott said sarcastically, looking at a pink brush with a rubber flossing tip, and right next to it, a spiderman themed disposable toothbrush.
Scott carefully picked it up and slipped it into the bag, “Party all you want, get all your sycophants hanging on every word, and get laid as much as you can, but you’re still a fucking nerd,” Scott said, sealing the bag.
Scott took a deep breath, ready to get back to the party and back to acting naturally. Drink some more wine, make some more time with Amelia, and continuing to ignore the fact the party’s host might be a serial killer. As he reached for the door, a shot went up his spine as he heard a woman’s voice. “Fuck,” he hissed under his breath. He went back to the bathroom, seeing if he could find an exit that led out to the hallway. No dice though, he was stuck.
“Okay, think of a story, think of a story,” he said to himself as he paced around the bathroom. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, “Here goes nothing,” he said to himself as he pushed the door open. He was met with Jacobin on his bed, the beautiful Suvilia draped across his lap, caressing his chest with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“Sorry, I couldn’t find a bathroom downstairs, this was the first one I came across,” Scott said, “I was there for your speech, really cool man,” he said giving him a thumbs up, hoping that flattery could get him out of this.
Suvilia slithered off Jacobin’s lap as he stood up, “I recognize you, you are Damane? Are you not?” he asked. “I believe that you are under the servitude of the Dark Lady Amelia,” he said, still carrying that high and mighty tone the authority this little game of pretend gave him.
“Yes, I serve Lady Amelia,” Scott said, trying to reflect the serious tone of the conversation that Jacobin was setting, “I am but a humble Damane, I apologize if I’ve offended you, I meant no disregard,” Scott bowed and put his hand to his heart.
“Damane are not usually allowed on the second floor, it’s an unspoken rule of the party. I know that Amelia has been giving you certain privileges, I remember you from the sacrament we shared at the last meeting of the Covenant,” Jacobin said, smiling with a cocky grin.
The last party, where Jacobin bit his wrist, Scott resisted the urge to bring that into conversation, “Lady Amelia has shown me true wonders of this world, I, a humble Damane, have been very privileged, of course. I want you to know I don’t think that my privileges have made me spoiled, made me think that I’m special. I know my role is to serve Lady Amelia, was merely looking for a refuse to relive myself, I promise I met no offense,” Scott said, thinking that playing along, in character, was the best way to get out of this.
Jacobin straightened his shoulders, even one on one with another man he was still devoted to his character, “I hope you don’t think her fancy of you allows you to behave at our parties in such a manor without her supervision and permission, it was by Lady Amelia’s grace you, a simple Damane were allowed into a sacrament ritual,” he smiled.
“Forgive me, Lord Hearsay, I will excuse myself back to the servitude of my Lady Amelia, this won’t happen again,” he said, slowly backing away towards the bedroom door.
“See to it,” Jacobin said, waiving him off, “Do make sure that no one else from the party disturbs me,” he looked to Suvilia with lust filled eyes as she looked to Jacobin and licked her lips with a look of seduction in her eyes, “I’ve much to discuss with Lady Suvilia,” Jacobin grinned.
“Of course, my lord, may the Dark One see you do his work tonight,” Scott bowed, remembering what Amelia said, to bless someone with the name of the Dark One was a high honor. An honor he hoped Jacobin would appreciate enough to forget about this awkward situation he had just been in. Scott left the room, closing the door behind him and breathing a sigh of relief. He questioned that sigh for a second. What could Jacobin really do to him? Save if he was a serial killer, if he was, he could kill him. But if he wasn’t, he couldn’t really do anything to damaging, maybe give a bad word about him to Amelia, and that would suck. Scott patted the toothbrush in his pocket, hopefully this could be the next step to proving that Jacobin was the killer, and hopefully lead to him being taken down, and if it came out that these Vampire parties were connected to these, maybe he could get Amelia out of them, go on normal dates with her. He shook his head, steeled himself, and committed to just having a fun night with Amelia as he made his way back to the party.
