Author(s) Warning and Opening Notes: This chapter does not have a happy ending. Things will start to go back to how they began, on a more, light hearted note, but it's going to be at least a few more before that. But as far as this chapter's concerned, it gets pretty grim.
Chapter 10: Hail Set!
Yes, Hail Set, and all that crap, can we move on now? Please? Thank you. Okay, let's recap. I got myself kidnapped by Taweret, a Setite high priestess in the New York chapter of the Followers of Set, was subsequently starved, and brought back to sanity just so the bitch in question could cast immense doubt and worse on my former allies during this time. Catherine, Sarah, and Samuel all, were now, for all intents and purposes, enemies in my mind, and I was well on my way to being another snakehead, just minus the snake blood that makes true Setites different from the rest of us. And now, having foolishly accepted Taweret's offer to have someone show me just what I was capable of as a Toreador, I found myself in front of Antonio, the same man Catherine had publicly embarrassed via proxy, and to make matters worse, he knew exactly who was responsible and was looking at me with vengeful fury, misplaced as it might have been since I had had nothing to do with his public humiliation. Despite that, it should come as no surprise whatsoever that he took great pleasure in reminding me.
Pain. Often it was the last thing I felt when I went to bed, and the first when I woke up again. He didn't help me, not really. More like he charged at me and beat me senseless, all the while roaring at me to defend myself, with little to no actual instructions. Of course, Taweret stopped him every time she saw him treating me like that, she was my protector after all, a friend, a confidant, whatever I needed her to be as she was to everyone else in the sanctuary. Or at least it seemed that way. It was just another sham in a long line of them, one orchestrated and perfected to the point it might as well have been its own dance routine, but it got the job done.
Despite Antonio's mission to make me break or to 'accidentally' kill me, I actually did improve quite a bit under his heavy handed methods. Anger, as I've said before, is a good catalyst in unlocking our innate abilities, and I learned, on my own no less, how to turn them on and off at will after the umpteenth time of being slammed onto the cold, unforgiving concrete. Celerity made it possible for me to at least put up a good fight eventually against my newest tormentor, even if Antonio was far better in its use, and had far more combat experience in general. And Auspex? Well, while there's little combat use for this particular power, it did reveal quite a bit in terms of my new cult mates anytime I managed to walk out of the gym under my own power once I had started to improve. Seeing people's auras, and learning what the different colors meant, to tell if they were lying, being honest, among other things, made it practically unfair in social situations. And Presence? Well, that was its own can of worms that I learned had its uses in and out of combat.
Although that didn't mean much against some people. I learned the hard way that not everyone was as susceptible to my powers as I was led to believe. Presence is useful against the weak willed, to either draw them in or send them away screaming as I've said before, but it's virtually useless against our own clan, let alone anyone that's older than you are and has had time to master their powers, whatever they might be, or in Taweret's case, to ignore it altogether. And if you're skilled enough in certain magics, like Serpentis or Thaumaturgy, just to name two, you can hide your aura or blindside someone completely by appearing 'invisible' to such a deep, probing scan by someone with Auspex or similar abilities, which Taweret could do, making her true motives impossible to discern.
And when I wasn't being beaten like a cheap training dummy by Antonio, I was being 'educated' in Set's faith and those that followed it. I might not have bought the party line like many of the people already indoctrinated into the faith had, but again, the sense of belonging, the sense that I had a place here, made it hard to argue against their way of thinking. So I kept my mouth shut, even if I did not agree with them, so as not to sow dissent among my peers. Besides, I'll readily admit that they had some compelling arguments.
Snakes are everywhere in ancient religions and myths throughout the world, from your average Christian believers and the Garden of Eden where a snake, supposedly Lucifer although he'll say otherwise with quite a bit of zeal, tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, to Norse myth and folktales about the Midgard serpent. And the Followers of Set have a certain elasticity regarding their faith, allowing them to adapt themselves to whatever area they set up shop in, thus making themselves more appealing, more acceptable to whoever they come across. New York might be a cultural melting pot of every culture, every religion, but they've prepared for that as well, having examples of their supposed history from just as many sources ready to go for those more intelligent, academic minded believers. As for their goal? Well, that's easily answered. They want to bring back their god, Set.
Like so many of the other clans, although those among the Camarilla deny their existence, every clan has a founding father or mother figure after Caine began the curse of vampirism. Antediluvians, these vampire god like figures, according to the Book of Nod, a vampire bible of sorts that contains all kinds of prophecies and other nonsense of the same religious drivel you'd find in your everyday book of faith, are the founders of every clan. From their blood, the clans as we know them today were formed, all the way down the line to what they are now, and should an Antediluvian ever awaken, they'll go about hunting down their children, taking back what they've so wasted and squandered. Set isn't like the other Antediluvians however, or so the Setites would have you believe, in that he doesn't want to end his childers as the other Antediluvians do, or so it says in the Book of Nod, thus bringing about Gehenna, the end of Kindred life as we know it. Set wants to reshape the world in his image, which I guess is just another way to bring about the end of the world as we know it, but he doesn't want to do that through a pile of corpses and ash. He wants the world to be as corrupt and twisted as he is.
Thus therein lies the true problem with Setites. As you've seen with me, they twist and corrupt everything good in the world and turn it to dark purpose, per their god's wishes. As such, most Setites willingly fall into the roles of drug peddlers, brothel owners, gambling and drug den operators, and every other vice you can possibly imagine, they have their claws in. The masters of organized crime, and about the only reason they haven't been wiped out by the other clans is because they're a 'necessary evil', according to most of the other vampires who have most likely asked a favor from a Setite during some point of their immortal lives. A conflict of interest no matter which way you look at it, but it's just another example of how pervasive the Setites are as a whole.
While some Setites willingly fall into the scum of the Earth categories, true Setites are a class above the rest in every way. They hide in plain sight, they spin the webs, building contacts across the social spectrum, and they remember debts owed to them. They are everyone's friend, just as they are everyone's enemy, but to their fellow believers, they are akin to their lost god Set. True Setites are a force of nature all on their own, even 'young' initiates have access to powers that make some of our own abilities seem like cheap parlor tricks by comparison. Taweret was more powerful than most Setites you're likely to come across, even if you don't know you've seen one, and her power wasn't limited to the magic she had in her possession. The blood cult I had become a part of was just one aspect, one face of many, of her influence, and hers alone.
As for me and Antonio, my latest bout of getting my ass kicked ended differently about two weeks into my stay with the Setites. It started out the same way, with me on my back, his foot planted firmly on my throat, even though we didn't need to breathe, but he could still snap my neck and end me. The fact I could see him raging with the decision to do just that was what set me off. Fighting with him before that night had always ended the same way, with him eventually coming out on top, but not before I had made him work for the victory. Today however, seeing the look on his face as he thought, seriously thought of finally putting an end to the charade, was enough to send me over the edge just as he started to raise his foot to bring it crashing down on my throat. Except I was no longer on the floor when he brought it down, cracking the concrete instead of my pretty little neck. When he jerked his gaze to the right, he had all of two seconds to realize I was on my feet, and I was already swinging away for his dumbfounded face.
Celerity and its speed enhancing properties can only get you so far if you can't react in time to an attack, and I had caught Antonio, the artsy fartsy asshole, completely off guard. So for once, it was me on top as he fell to the ground, his jaw shattered from the sheer power behind my swing. I didn't give him time to retaliate as I straddled his waist and hammered him repeatedly across his face. The anger and pain and rage from the past week poured into my strikes, and I wanted Antonio to feel just a shred of what I'd gone through since being 'invited' into the sanctuary. A week of starvation, and now a week of being mercilessly hammered on by this prick would make anyone angry.
Catching an opponent off guard could give the advantage you need to win, even if your opponent is far more experienced. Even when Antonio managed to grab my hand, and pushed me away, he didn't get a chance to get far before I was right back on top of him again. Emotions could be powerful allies in a fight, or your worst enemy if you allowed them to cloud your thoughts and judgement, especially wrath, it's a double-edged sword. Although determination could prove just as deadly if you become too focused on beating your opponent, leaving you open to other sources of attacks. In my case, it came in the form of Taweret freezing us both when she seemed to appear out of thin air, but in reality she had simply hidden herself with Obfuscate, masking her presence completely until we were both in her line of sight. "Now that I've got your attention." She quipped, but there was no amusement in her eyes anymore as she glared dangerously at Antonio. "I expected more from you Antonio. Instead you let your rage at a past slight overrule your better judgment, against the wrong person no less." When she tapped at her right ear, and whispered a word in a language I had never heard before, Antonio paled, as much as he was able, and put a hand to his chest.
What happened next was….not pretty. He melted away, I mean that literally. Antonio's chest started to sizzle and give off smoke as whoever had been on the other end of Taweret's call followed through with her order, and Antonio burst into a pile of ash from the inside out. It wasn't quick either as I watched, horrified yet unable to look away, even if I had been able to move, as Antonio's pale flesh sizzled and turned to ash which quickly spread to the rest of him, yet not quick enough that he wasn't able to let out a horrified scream that was cut off when his throat turned to ash and smoke before the rest of him followed suit.
Taweret sighed and shook her head in disappointment before turning to me next, and I wondered if whatever she had just had done to him was about to happen to me. Instead she simply patted me on the shoulder, and I found I was able to move again. When I looked up into her face, she looked downright apologetic rather than angry at me, which for some reason made me even more nervous. "I'm sorry you had to witness this Alex, and that I didn't have someone else take charge of your training. I had hoped he'd have learned restraint, to have let go, yet it seems putting you two together was a mistake from the start."
"What… happened to him?" I managed to squeak out, my blue eyes as wide as saucers once more.
"He faced the only suitable punishment for attempting to kill a new member of our family. We Setites care far more about each other than most of those with weaker blood ever could. Attempting to kill someone of your own family… is an unforgivable sin." Huh….right, good to know, but notice she failed to answer my question. But I wasn't about to point that out to her as Taweret started for the door with me following after her. I was too terrified and curious not to follow now. "But to answer your true question, Alex, Antonio thought that by allowing us to remove his heart so he could store it safely away, he'd be the stronger for it, and he was, except he thought we wouldn't be able to find it once he had hidden it away."
"Why did you even look for it?" I asked, managing to calm down somewhat, but I don't think I was fooling anyone.
"Because I was concerned by his attitude, far too much ambition, too little loyalty. I had hoped that he would be able to overcome his flaws, but I was wrong." There might have even been some truth to that, I never did find out, only that I had a much greater, and fearful, respect for what the Setites could do to those around them.
Which naturally led me to ask another question, one I think Taweret expected when I noted the look on her face. "Why in the Hell would someone allow another to remove their heart in the first place?" I asked, although I had already figured out part of the reason. Wouldn't it be a surprise if you tried to stake a vampire, only to find out they don't go down when you know you hit the spot where their heart should have been?
Taweret only smiled and chuckled softly. "We do it out of necessity child. For it makes it far harder to destroy us, and our enemies are so numerous in these times…" She left that sentence hanging, and even though I didn't notice at the time, she made sure to paint the Setites as the desperate but ultimately good guys that were always besieged by the bad, uncomprehending masses. "That and as you know, one of the few sure ways to destroy a Kindred is to stake them through the heart. What good is that if there's no heart to stake in the body of your target? We can still be destroyed by more traditional means, but it takes far more effort, as you are smart enough to figure out." But as Antonio had already figured out the hard way, it was also a nice way to ensure someone was literally able to hold your life in their hands, and in his case, they had decided to end it. It might have been due to his own actions perhaps, but the truth remained the same, and that at least wasn't lost on me. It's also why I didn't feel the need to participate in that particular ritual of theirs. I like my chances exactly as they are, in my own hands, not hanging in the wind for someone to come along and kick around like a football. My luck is bad enough without giving someone access to my heart on top of it.
"Right….well, thanks for making sure I don't sleep for the next month." I retorted, but Taweret only chuckled at my fearful sarcasm as we made our way through the Setite sanctuary.
"I'll not ask if you'd like to undergo the same ritual then." She reassured me, before her amused smile slowly faded and she rubbed a hand across the back of her neck. "I didn't come down to the gym to merely stop Antonio however. I wanted to talk to you, to see how you were adjusting." She began slowly, playing the part of my 'repentant friend' to a tee. And while a part of me still resented her for that whole being trapped in a small room ordeal, and the revelation of my friends being bastards and worse, I had started to see her as someone I could lean on if not outright trust. Part of that might have even been true, but Serpentis shares a few similarities with Presence and Thaumaturgy, meaning she was manipulating me just a little, and I didn't even know it.
So naturally I shrugged and crossed my arms under my chest. "It's a little weird, being in a place like this." I admitted truthfully as I let my blue eyes drift over the hallway, where I could see more of the ever present mosaics and hieroglyphics on the walls that made no sense to me for the most part. "I might still hold a grudge with you kidnapping me, but this place intrigues me, and I'm kinda glad you insisted I talk to the others." And I meant it, because I had learned a great deal regarding my fellow cultists, just as Taweret had known I would. My curiosity was too great for me not to ask questions, in an effort to try and understand these people. I was one of the more academic minded initiates, or whatever they'd call me for having only just become a part of their ranks at least in name if not in spirit, so my questions weren't just tolerated, they were encouraged.
I hadn't even begun to scratch the surface though, and Taweret's approving, knowing smile sent shivers down my spine even if I had no clue as to how far this particular rabbit hole went. "I told you, we keep no secrets from each other here. Many have been through such darkness and hopelessness that their only hope was our guiding hands. Anyone else would have simply left them to die, or continued their torments." And in a way, that was even the truth, except Taweret forgot to mention a crucial detail in her 'comforting' lecture. I'm sure you can figure it out, but the horrible, dark truth of just what these people are will become apparent soon enough. As for not keeping secrets, that itself was a lie. The Setites keep nothing but secrets when it comes to their most sacred lore and history. What I had heard thus far was not even the surface of this particular rabbit hole.
But to get back to my fellow cult mates, Taweret had told me the truth, if only a partial one. Jason, the young man we had ran into on our first visit of only one of the dormitories in this place, had gotten himself into some trouble. The kind of trouble you can't talk about without being locked away in a drug rehab center, or prison, depending on how the trial might have gone for accidentally ODing alongside your girlfriend. The Setites had helped him get past his habit by saving his life, but they'd been too slow to save hers, so they showed him a better way in an effort to fill the void, their way. They had gotten him back on track to becoming a world class lawyer, or so he told me when I questioned him on why he was here. He had spoken with such vigor and gravitas that I hadn't thought to ask anything deeper, such as how he had gotten involved with drugs in the first place, and why he had used them at all. I might have noticed a trend with the other cultists if I had, one that started and ended the same way. As for Jason and his dreams of becoming a lawyer, I'm sure you can put together who he represents. I'll give you a hint, it's not the innocent.
Another story had a girl by the name of Danielle, who had ran away from home from an abusive uncle. Her real parents had died when a train derailed on a business trip, and he was the only one that stepped up to 'take care of her'. She was thirteen when the Setites found her, and she was one of the older, more experienced members of the faith, having been in the temple for five years. She often led the group chants and prayers to Set, and even taught a few lessons on Serpentis, the more basic spells and cantrips, to the younger initiates. She was also a pretty good dancer, and she had aspirations to be a dance instructor. Once more however, the Setites twisted that dream to include more 'private lessons' for a discerning audience with very particular tastes. As a side note, I should have asked what happened to her uncle afterwards. I'll give you three guesses, but you're only going to need one.
Every member of the faith had similar stories, even the newly Embraced member of this particular temple, the green eyed, short haired blonde that I had been introduced to during my first few days in the sanctuary. Daisy, as I'd find out during this time, might have been the slowest to convert and fully dedicate herself to the cause, even after being made a ghoul, but that just showed her promise because only the strongest, the most worthy of the Setites were ever given Set's dark gift of eternal life. Granted, she wouldn't be the only one that would be allowed to cross that final threshold, but out of everyone present, she had proven herself time and time again.
As for her history before the Setites found her, thus starting her corruption, Daisy's was rather mundane except for one little caveat. She had kept her sexuality a secret for most of her life. Sounds familiar huh? When eventually the truth came out, her parents had been furious and had wasted no time in throwing her out of their house. She had been fifteen at the time. To have your world suddenly turned upside down like that would make anyone hateful and full of spite. Even her brother had looked at her with disgust, her best friend in all the world, when the truth came out. Funny thing though, a little while later, Daisy learned that her brother was into other guys, and the Setites had shown her pictures they had managed to acquire. Makes you wonder if they hadn't encouraged him in some way, just so they could get the so called evidence in question, or if they had simply spied on him and caught him in the act. Either way, you can imagine Daisy's response when she found out the truth, or at least enough of it to truly go full on dark side of her own volition. The last I heard about her brother, Joseph Williams was still in a coma. They had found a venomous snake in his football jersey, an Egyptian asp to be precise. It's a miracle he's still alive at all.
At the time, I couldn't really blame Daisy for either arranging something so drastic or if she'd done it herself, but now that I know just how dangerous these snakeheads are, I can't believe how anyone could allow the Setites to exist. These days, I take great joy in smashing their faces in, or burning them, or blowing them up wherever I find one. At that time though, I started to consider joining them in every way they wanted. In retrospect, each story I heard I'd later realized was painted in the same way, of the Setites righting wrongs and helping those that the world had failed in so many ways. Even now, when we're starting to truly accept those that are different than ourselves, you can hear stories of hatred and worse happening all the time. And for every story you hear on the news or see plastered all over the internet, there's dozens more you don't. It's little wonder the Setites are still in business, if not growing stronger by the year. We give them all the followers they will ever need.
At the time though I took it at face value, for the most part, and let my arms drop to my side. "Forgive me if I still find it a little hard to believe."
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't question." Taweret replied sincerely, or so I still think even to this day. With a Setite though, it's impossible to truly know if they're lying or not. Still, she carried on, her slow, sedate walk through the hall allowing us ample time to talk before we reached wherever she was leading me this time. "As I've said before, you're a strong, independent woman who values her freedom because you've had so little before. That's why I have only shown you the way to true freedom, and I've let you decide whether to proceed further deeper into the Great Mysteries of our faith." Except that was a lie as well, to a point. What I didn't realize at the time was that my little ordeal in that gray room with its giant bed had been the start of what they call the Revelations of the Void. The Revelation I had been forced through was the Revelation of Terror. As the name implies, it's designed to scare someone literally out of their mind, to make them more susceptible to future indoctrination and conversion. And if there's one thing the Setites do better than anyone, it's breaking someone down so they can reshape them as they see fit. They've had thousands of years to master their craft, and while there are only nine Revelations, their 'paths to wisdom', it's all they have ever needed to accomplish their goals in gaining more souls for Set.
But I didn't know that. So I nodded and swung a leg listlessly before me before taking another step forward. "And I appreciate that." And I did, even if I didn't know the true danger right in front of me. "I might not believe, but I can see you're trying to help those that look to you." Right. Help is such a relative word when dealing with Setites. "It's kinda hard not to notice the reverent way they carry themselves whenever you're around."
"I simply do only what I was called to do." Taweret replied softly, soothingly, before she put a hand on my shoulder just as the unnatural glow from her eyes faded. Even I think the compassion and sympathy I saw in her eyes was true and real, even if there was a dark, underlying reason behind it, and that she truly believed her own words no less. "It has not always been so easy, to cause those that needed a firmer hand than others to suffer, to endure pain and withdrawal in an effort to make them see clarity and reason once more. They cursed me during such times, were revolted by my mere presence, but every one of them always thanked me after the worst had passed. You haven't yet, but I can tell you're grateful for what I deemed necessary to open your eyes. That is enough for me. But your journey has only just begun, Alex. If you would continue, I would be honored to still be your guide, even if we did start off on a bit of a rough patch."
When taken in that light, Taweret's abduction of my person didn't seem so bad. I still didn't like her for it, but in that moment, I started to wonder if I shouldn't be grateful for her telling me the 'truth' as she had regarding Samuel and the others. She had certainly gotten me to listen once I was able to think clearly again, and she had been there to put me back together, albeit in a slightly off kilter manner than where I'd been originally, although again I didn't know that had been her intention all along. The Revelation of Terror is one of the easiest to accomplish since everyone is afraid of something, even if they themselves don't know it at the time. Taweret had studied me long enough, either personally or through trusted allies, to know what made me tick, and how I had yet to take a life, among other things. So was it any surprise she decided to drive me to mind numbing terror by locking me away and starving me to the point of madness? Not at all.
Still, I stopped and stared long and hard at Taweret as I weighed the choice she had set before me. I had already started to feel wanted here, truly wanted, desired even in some instances, and so far as I could tell, Taweret had been honest with me where everyone else had wanted to use me for one reason or another. Juliet was probably shaking her head at me from the safety of her home when I finally answered the Setite next to me. "I…honestly don't know what I want anymore." I said at last before blowing out a breath. In for a penny and all that. "Even if I did find Eliza's killer, what then? What happens afterwards? I'm still….this." I gestured uselessly at myself, but Taweret understood. "There's no going back for me, and I can't ask Eliza why she did this to me because she's gone. Hell, I wouldn't even be out here if not for my mother."
Bad move on my part, mentioning my mother, because Taweret's interest was immediately piqued. So when she naturally asked, wanting to hear the story from my own mouth, I told her in my usual ranting and raving way that I tend to do when I'm upset or excited about something. Again, Serpentis and Presence aren't so different from each other, and I was under her influence, but I didn't need a lot of incentive to spill my guts. I had told Samuel and Catherine most of the story, what was one more person?
By the time I was done, Taweret shook her head in dismay before she did something I wasn't expecting. She showed me her human face, the one she had been born with before being brought into the Followers of Set's ranks. The slightest tingle in the air I had been sensing in her presence also faded about the same time as she dropped her Obfuscate completely. The snake like qualities to her face also disappeared, revealing her dark skinned, round visage with her blue glazed, brown eyes in all of their natural beauty. The reason why became apparent when she pulled down the right side of her ceremonial robes and revealed horrendous looking scars along her shoulder blades. "As I've said before, you have not known pain." She offered in way of explanation before pulling the clothing back over the old marks on her flesh. "I was a slave, from another age, another time, and my mistress was a cruel, sadistic woman. The Setites found me as they find so many, and set me free, but Set's gifts are not without pain and agony of their own as you've begun to learn yourself, but nothing worth doing is ever without tribulations. I did not bend however, just as Daisy has not bent, as so many of us tend to do before finding true enlightenment." Toreader master level manipulator for the win here folks.
Something in her voice and that poignant glimpse of her past without her magical illusions in place struck a chord, and I couldn't help but wonder just what else she had to show me, what else she wanted me to see and experience. Damn my curiosity, but I needed to know, and Taweret knew it. She hadn't lied to me yet after all. Note the sarcasm in my voice, and while this much at least was the truth regarding Taweret's scars and who had given them to her, remember what I've said before. The best lies have at least a shred of truth to them, just as every fictional story has the same within them.
So I did the only thing I could think of after that heartfelt admission. I don't think I need to tell you what came next, but I'll do it anyway. "What would you ask of me, Taweret?" I asked, not realizing the massive mistake I had just made as Taweret's human face pulled itself up into an all too eerie smile.
"I would ask that you give our ways a true, honest chance, Alex." She replied, making it sound so simple, yet it wasn't. I had no idea what I had just signed up for, but I was going to find out, whether I liked it or not, now that I had committed myself to the path Taweret had put in front of me. But she sweetened the deal, in typical Setite fashion. She offered me something more than knowledge, more than learning how to protect myself, or more than their twisted form of belonging. "If I feel you are making an honest effort to understand us, by following our ways through actions and not just words, I will give you what you truly want. I will give you Eliza's killer. But more importantly, I will do my best to bring you peace." How could I refuse that offer? Answer, I couldn't.
So, what happened next? What do you expect happened? I went through the rituals and lessons with an open mind, but more importantly, a hesitant but open heart as well. Eventually something began to change, it started to make sense, as much sense as the Setites are capable of making their dark faith anyway. And if everything before this hasn't already told you just how debauched and depraved these people are, then what happened a couple weeks after that fateful conversation with Taweret will hopefully convince you. If not, then you're utterly hopeless and deserving of whatever life throws your way.
Another of their Revelations is called the Revelation of Wrath. Take a guess what it involves. Go on, guess. If the name doesn't give it away, then let me spell it out for you. Just like Terror, Wrath is designed to draw out the initiate's passionate, cold fury to the point they lose all sense of self, not unlike the Beast taking hold of a vampire's mind until they're safe and sound at the very least. This murderous, all encompassing rage, while short and directed upon a specific person, often the Setite in question, is just another way the Setite can break down inhibitions, morality, and social restrictions placed upon the person since the day they could reason in order to reveal the soul of the initiate, so that they can shape it as they see fit. Each Revelation after the first just makes it easier to achieve their ultimate objective.
But my night started off as any other. While I was one of the few vampires that wasn't completely devout or anything along those lines, I had done my best to keep up my promise to Taweret. By then her praise had started to mean something to me, and I could tell she was happy with what I had been doing, limited and hesitant as it remained at the time, when I met up with her that night.
Most nights started with prayers to Set, a small sacrifice of beer and blood on his altar. Sometimes they ask the initiates to drink the offering from a specially ordained bowl. From there Taweret's temple was ran more like a twisted sorority or fraternity devoted to worship and study. "Classes' ran all night. Assignments and errands were doled out, and they were expected to be finished, no excuses. The academia side I handled quite well. I found I had a natural affinity for the ancient languages and texts needed to even read the liturgies, fables, and tales often told in every temple. All in all, there was nothing too out there that I came across during my days of 'study', but then again, I was a 'first year' initiate, so I hadn't seen anything that would make me run away screaming, beyond the Revelation of Terror I had already gone through without being aware of it. If I had known about the blood orgies that took place on their lesser holy days, where the cultists, vampire and ghoul alike, engage in ritualistic sex of the worst kind, I would have packed up and ran fast enough to leave a dozen speed mirages in my wake. But I was still too new for such knowledge, and the Setites just love to drag out the intrigue and mystery for as long as possible, yet another way they keep their followers on a short leash until it's too late for them to go back to who they were, if there's even a shadow of themselves to go back to by that point.
In any event, Taweret had asked for me, and I wasn't about to disappoint her now. It took a little bit to find her, since the underground temple was bigger than I realized, but one of the others was nice enough to point me in the right direction. As depraved and debauched as these people are, some are still some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Just don't take anything they say or offer you at face value, ever, but that should go without saying by now.
I had never been in her private quarters until that night, but rumors abounded among the other cultists that Taweret often times took new initiates into her bed. Whether that was true or not I couldn't say, but while I still wasn't ready to engage in anything of the sort, a part of me wondered what it might be like to engage in the horizontal tango with the Setite. Scars or not, snake faced or not, Taweret was still a beautiful woman. That and I had an….unhealthy curiosity regarding her more…. animalistic qualities, mainly her snake like tongue and certain parts of my anatomy….
'Ahem', moving on. She didn't want anything of the sort, that night, but what she did want was something I had no idea I'd be giving up until it was far too late to back down. Gingerly stepping into her room, kinda hard to miss given the intricate carvings of Set in all of his glory carved into the gold door, I took a moment to look around her chambers. Some Setites live simply, and while they accumulate wealth, they use it to further their goals before spending any of it on themselves or their havens, but some prefer to lavish themselves and their temples, purchased with their ill gotten gains. Taweret fell comfortably in the middle.
The temple was fully equipped to cater to their human and vampiric members. Dormitories, a fully staffed kitchen and larder for the humans, and a fully stuffed fridge full of blood bags for those emergency situations, but the latter was rarely used since it was encouraged that the vamps feed on their human followers. An infirmary, a fully stocked armory, and a large sacred library that only high ranking members of the cult, like Daisy and Taweret, were allowed to enter, and none of the materials within were allowed to leave. You read what you pick up with the watchful eyes of a librarian priest over your shoulder the entire time. As I said before, Setites love their secrets, both hoarding them and using them. Beyond that, most temples are the same since worship to Set is first and foremost, and the reason they even bother to set up shop in the first place, so obviously they center their temples around that simple necessity. The rest is just artifice the ones in charge deem necessary depending on how far they want to extend their reach, and the kind of following they wish to cater and be catered to.
So naturally, Taweret, being the 'nurturing' woman that she was, had set her chambers accordingly to lull a visitor into a false sense of security. Hers was catered to comfort and safety, of familiarity. While there were still artifacts from Egypt and elsewhere on prominent display, they were placed between the only computer terminal I'd seen, as well as a flat screen TV against one wall with all the trappings. Stereo, Blu-ray DVD player, speakers hanging on the walls, the whole nine yards. A similar, four poster canopy bed, draped with gold, sheer silk curtains instead of white, the frame engraved with hieroglyphics, had its own place in a room of its own, separate from the living space Taweret had situated for herself. The mirror hanging from the ceiling however, was odd, but I had a pretty idea why it was there. The rumors of Taweret taking initiates to her bed were starting to cement themselves in fact.
While nothing was truly expensive, it wasn't exactly cheap either. It was just another trap, another illusion, another mask, just one that most people were familiar with given the simple fact the rooms Taweret kept for herself were nothing like the rest of the temple, save for the artifacts from a time long forgotten by most, and the concrete walls on every side. In this case, it was all meant to make Taweret appear human and mundane to an extent, thus making it easier for her to extract useful information from those like me.
I found her just finishing up a Skype call with a Nosferatu, before she quickly deactivated her computer and turned in her high back, yellow silk covered, black leather chair and offer me a beaming smile. "Alex, I'm glad you're as punctual as ever."
"You asked for me, kinda hard to refuse you Priestess Taweret." Yeah….say it, I wasn't just drinking the koolaid anymore, I was guzzling it down.
As usual though, my quip had an amused smirk tugging at Taweret's lips as she stood gracefully from her chair. "You no longer flinch when addressing me with my title. That's good." She noted, although I hadn't noticed at the time. She did notice however, and her praise, as innocent as it was at that moment, still made me smile a little since as I've said before, her genuine praise or what I took as such, had started to matter to me. Before I could say anything, she had since closed the distance between us and put a finger to my lips. "I know what you would say, but you don't have to. Besides, you've come to me often, the fact you trust me at all is thanks enough." More fool was I for ever believing I could trust anything she said, but I only nodded once her finger was removed from my mouth. Once she was sure I was listening, Taweret gently pushed me to her chair and turned it so I was facing her computer. Leaning over me, I saw something….strange in her hazel eyes with their blue tint. The smell of some exotic perfume filled my nostrils that immediately had me thinking of….nevermind.
She noticed the slight lust filled haze in my blue eyes though and only smirked knowingly. "It's been awhile hasn't it, since you've satisfied your desires? Maybe later, we can….see about helping you with that." I gulped but tried to act like I hadn't heard her, or that I had misunderstood. Either way, Taweret let the matter drop, but the knowing smirk never left her lips as she continued to type away at her keyboard before she pulled up a live feed of a….metal container? I blinked and looked inquisitively up at Taweret's dark face, and she only smiled a little wider. "Shall we see what's in the box?" She asked, that husky, quiet tremor in her voice doing all kinds of things I shan't be going into detail here as I only nodded dumbly.
I will say this, there's a Revelation of Ecstasy and leave it at that, for now. Naturally, Taweret would have been all too happy to show me the way if I but asked, but let's get through this part first shall we? Then I might entertain your perverted fantasies about what might or might not have happened between us later. I will end this little rant however and say that for Setites, ecstasy doesn't automatically translate to pleasure. They use the Revelation as an excuse to inflict extreme sensations of their choice, a single, extreme sensation powerful enough to induce a trance and have the initiate experience visions of incredible intensity. So for all you know Taweret planned to slowly pull my limbs off one by one in an effort to induce said trance through unimaginable agony. It would be appropriately Set like, after all.
Anyway, I followed after Taweret, and as I did, I couldn't help but notice an almost eager spring in her step. There was something going on here, and I had since noticed that whenever she was unusually happy or very disappointed, it was usually a good idea to begin to worry for your continued safety, or sanity. Antonio's death was still fresh in my mind despite the two weeks between then and now, but my overactive imagination just wouldn't let me concentrate on where we were going. Thankfully I was able to distract myself with the….exotic view right in front of me as Taweret's heart shaped derriere swayed to and fro with every step. The smirk she shot over her shoulder said she knew I was looking, and once more I cleared my throat and coughed as I looked away in shame for staring like a drooling, pubescent teenager. "You needn't feel ashamed in taking pleasure from what you see, Alex." She chastised me gently, but otherwise remained silent until we reached our destination.
"Right, sorry Priestess Taweret." I apologized quickly, but Taweret only chuckled and shook her head in response as I saw we were heading for the stairs leading to a floor I hadn't seen since my arrival here.
I glanced at Taweret, silently asking where we were going. "You'll see. You'll enjoy this." Was all she'd say on the matter. Setites and their secrets, that's all I'll say about it. Annoying to someone like me, but practical from their standpoint, although I still wonder if Taweret just took pleasure from my continued frustration. It wouldn't surprise me, with what I know now.
As for enjoying what was coming, that depends on one's perspective doesn't it? Whatever the case, it wasn't long before we came to another grand hall in the upper wings of the temple, which in turn led into a storage warehouse which, naturally, the Setites owned. It was just one of countless 'legitimate' business fronts they had to their name. As for where she was taking me, it was hard not to notice where we were going because there was only one light on in the warehouse, and the bulb was shining on the metal container Taweret had shown me on her computer. In hindsight, the fact the rest of the warehouse and the metallic containers on every side were shrouded in darkness isn't lost on me now, but at the time, all I could focus on was the box, and the faint heartbeat I could hear at this distance. Whoever was inside the box was human.
The short, rapid breaths came next as we soon found ourselves in front of the gunmetal gray box. Beyond a shipping number or whatever it was called, there was no easily seen identifying marks, no way, for me at least, to tell where it'd come from or where it had been. Not that I looked very hard either, too focused on whoever was inside to care about such things, but it's still worth mentioning. Taweret's expectant gaze made me realize I was staring, and I shook my head and braced myself for whatever she had 'gifted' to me.
The lock was easily broken, freeing up the bar that went across the doors of the container which was just as easily moved out of the way. Taking a breath I didn't need, technically speaking, I pulled the left hand door out of the way. What I saw inside would have stopped my heart if it hadn't already ceased to function. Tied to a simple metal, folding chair, the woman looked up at me and Taweret with such loathing and hatred in her blue eyes that for a brief moment I thought she was about to go all heat vision on us both, but it passed just as quickly. That wasn't what had me frozen in place though. I recognized the face and the eyes all too easily, even if most of the older woman's face was obscured by her unkempt brunette locks that had streaks of gray throughout the otherwise abundant strands. The cloth gag in her mouth did little to stop the muffled string of curses she had started to spit in our direction. No surprise, my mother had always been spiteful and full of hellfire and awe inspiring terror for anyone that pushed her too far. Where do you think I got my temper from in the first place?
And yes, remember I said I shouldn't have told Taweret the story about why I was in New York in the first place? I was starting to understand just how long the Setites' reach was as I jerked my head to and fro, never lingering on one or the other for more than a few seconds before I finally settled on Taweret. She wasn't at all surprised by my abject shock as she walked up to the chair and leaned down so they were eye to eye. "Hello Mrs. Watson." She began politely enough, but I didn't need to see the malicious grin on her face to know it was there as the Setite stood straight once more. "I've heard a great deal about you from someone you know well. I'm finding it hard to imagine someone so hateful such as yourself could make someone so beautiful."
On that we could agree on completely, but I was still trying to process the fact Taweret had dragged my mother into this. But my mental paralysis came to a crashing end when she not only stepped to the side, but removed the gag, which I saw, was a pair of my mother's own military issue tighty whities. I say military issue, but my point being was that they were utterly drab and meant to do only one job, and the fact they had been used to gag her was just a massive insult to her considerably sized ego. But all that passed through my frantic thoughts at warp speed, and as soon as she had gotten the taste of old cotton out of her mouth, Maribelle Aimsworth Watson turned her cold, blue eyed gaze on me, and for a moment, just a moment, I saw something other than the monster I had grown up with. But it was gone just as quickly and the spiteful, hateful woman that saw nothing but sin and worse everywhere she turned had made a comeback. "Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower Alex. Now you resort to this?! Kidnapping your own mother?! What kind of sick game are you playing this time?"
Whatever fear, shock, or otherwise incapacitating emotion had been rooting me to the spot evaporated long before she had finished her rant. All I felt then was an all too familiar anger as I closed the distance between us far quicker than I had meant to, but I didn't care at that moment. Maribelle leaned back, her sunday, prim and proper attire crinkling a bit more as she recoiled at what she likely tried to rationalize as a trick of the light. Taweret had since left the container, but she was close at hand, playing the part of silent, 'morale' support to me, and unbeknownst to either of us, using a combination of Presence and Serpentis to rile us up just by being close at hand. While purposely inflaming our passions might have been considered underhanded, nothing is forbidden by the Setites if it gets the job done when it comes to converting potential souls to their cause. And this was her idea of orchestrating a Revelation of Wrath, by pitting mother against daughter.
I think now's a good a time as any to point out how Taweret's different from your average Setite. While she was still very much in the business of getting people to for all intents and purposes, sell their souls to Set, and become willing participants to their debauched religion, she does so differently than most. Normally, after a Revelation of Terror, the hopeful initiate is immediately comforted and guided out of whatever experience they had been forced to endure, and put in front of a statue of Set just as awareness comes back, thus making them forge a connection between themselves and this powerful god figure, which can be built upon rather easily. This can lead to problems however, if the initiate figures out it was the Setite that put the situation together in the first place. Taweret however, was more honest about her goals, to an extent. It was better, in her twisted logic, to beg forgiveness after the fact, than ask permission, playing the part of harsh but loving cult mother, of sorts. She doesn't bring Set into the picture like most Setites would, and while she doesn't make it a secret she's part of said following, she allows everyone to decide if they wish to go deeper, and very few people refuse her. Like me, most want to understand why someone would do something like that, and by the time they figure out what's really going on, they no longer care enough to turn away. Taweret worked in stages rather than going for the goal in one shot.
The worst part? It was working, and she didn't have to do anything here except stand and watch as we did the rest during this latest Revelation. As for her using a bit of her magic to help things along, she didn't have to do much on that front either because I had plenty of anger already clouding my mind and drowning out my better judgment. "What kind of game?! The only game I ever played was trying to get away from you!" I remember shouting back. My mother scoffed and tried to sit up as straight in her chair as possible, no doubt in an effort to try and intimidate me, but that wasn't going to work anymore. "For years, years, you have terrorized me, degraded me, and done everything in your power to make me a drooling lunatic like you!"
"A drooling lunatic?!" She had the gall to sound affronted by the idea she was the insane one, even though she very much was insane. "I'm a woman of faith, Alexandria Watson! You would dare-"
"Yes I would dare!" I roared, having gone through this particular routine before, but we had never been this upset with each other. The last time we had talked for any length of time had been before I had left for New York. I'm sure I don't have to explain the rest. "I would dare because I wanted nothing to do with your god, mother! No god is worth following if they're sadistic fucktards like the one you worship and love more than your family!" Ironic choice of words given the situation here, wouldn't you say?
"Blasphemous whore!" She roared right back, and struggled against her bonds with such strength that, for a moment, I thought she'd break free, but no such luck. I'd have loved it if she had because it would have been enough of an invitation to snap her neck like a twig. When it became apparent she wasn't going anywhere though, Maribelle resorted to glaring up into my face with every bit of righteous fury she could muster. Even though I was so much stronger and faster than her in so many ways, I still remember taking half a step back. You would too if you had seen the look on her face that twisted and contorted her visage into something almost inhuman. "It's bad enough you gallivanted about with that...that pale skinned bitch, you take the Lord's name and desecrate it with your every breath?! You're just like your father."
"At least he actually raised me. What did you do exactly?" I challenged, and I vaguely remember curling and uncurling my fingers several times, more because of what she had said about Eliza than my dad, but that hadn't helped anything. I was fighting the powerful urge to wrap my hands around her throat even if she was bound to the chair. I needed no help from my inner Beast, all of my rage and pain was one hundred percent my own, even if it was being encouraged by Taweret. "You were at every bullshit Sunday mass, every revival and church social you could find when you weren't working. When you weren't around, I was happy! Happy! No one should be happy when one of their parents aren't around. Because whenever you were home, it was the same bullshit lectures, the same bullshit prayers at the table-"
"I had hoped you'd have learned something from all that I did!" She yelled back.
"Oh I learned something alright! I learned to hate you and the god you preached of at every opportunity! And then when dad died-" I don't know what stopped me, but I bit back whatever heated response I had been prepared to let fly and instead turned away at last even as I remained rooted to the spot in front of my mother. My voice dropped several octaves at the same time, but my words were still loud enough to be heard by both her and Taweret. "When dad died, it was the worst day of my life, yet you didn't seem to care. You just continued on. Hell, if anything, I think you were overjoyed he hit that telephone pole."
"We might have had our differences, but I loved your father. But he made it impossible because he didn't believe anymore than you did." Maribelle replied just as softly, her contorted, hate filled face softening before her fury returned tenfold. "Don't ever say I was glad he was gone! Because he didn't believe, he's likely burning in Hell just as you'll burn if you don't change and quick!"
"And here we go again! Why can't we ever have one normal conversation?!" I threw my hands into the air and turned away from her.
"What's there to talk about, Alexandria? You would rather lay with whores than save your own soul from eternal damnation. That bitch you were all too happy to plaster all over your Facebook page has corrupted you beyond any hope of redemption." Yes, I still have a Facebook page, and no, I didn't take that insult lying down. Not by a long shot.
The moment the words left her mouth, I had since spun back around and was once more staring my mother in the face in the span of a heartbeat. "Don't you dare call Eliza that again." I hissed, and bared my fangs for good measure. She didn't seem to notice though, much to Taweret's mild surprise I imagine because Maribelle only met my infuriated blue eyed death glare with one of her own. Let me go on record and say that when two equally strong willed southern women are pitted against each other, nothing good can come out of it. "I loved her, she was the best thing that happened to me since dad died, so you don't ever, call her a bitch, or whore, or anything else. In fact, don't talk about her at all, mother." I spat out.
"So where is she?" Mirabelle asked, calm and smooth as you please.
"She's dead. She was murdered." I growled out between clenched teeth. My warning had apparently fallen on deaf ears.
"Good." It was the last thing she ever said as a cold, satisfied smirk appeared on my mother's face.
I think it goes without saying that even if Mirabelle had been untied from that chair, and had been in top physical condition, she still wouldn't have had a chance against me. Regardless, when she had uttered that single, contempt yet satisfied sounding word, something inside me snapped, and the next thing I know, my hand had since found its way into her chest. I vaguely remember her letting out a gurgled, strained gasp as my fingers wrapped around her twisted little black heart and turned it into pulp before I ripped my hand free of the gaping, bloody hole that ran red with bits of gore, bone, and her life's blood. When the reality of what I'd just done hit me like a semi however, I took one look at my hand and what I had just done to my own mother and fell to my butt, my legs giving out as the sheer horror of what I had just done drained the strength from my limbs.
Two things hit me at once. The first was the fact the Beast hadn't acted at all in that moment, which meant that the murder of my mother had been by my own hand, and number two….and it pains and shames me to say this at all, but a dark, primal part of my very soul had enjoyed crushing the life out of her as I had. Don't let anyone tell you differently, but we're flawed creatures from the day we're born until the day we die, no matter how we try to delude ourselves into thinking otherwise. It's little wonder the Setites are so successful in corrupting so many even if their targets have a picture perfect life. But as you just saw, my life had been anything but perfect, and Taweret was the best at what she did because she played a longer game than most of her brethren. So naturally, Taweret was there to guide me deeper into Set's dark embrace, which she did as she had post Revelation of Terror.
She wrapped her arms around me and let me shed my tears, all the while humming one of the more musical prayers to Set. That is how she got me at last. Instead of showing me an image of the dark god or anything of the sort, which wouldn't have worked on me due to my understandable loathing of anything that even hinted at shoving faith down my throat, she started to put me back together with a faux facsimile of the love I had never received from my flesh and blood mother. All the while her whispered humming filled my ears and found a new home in my destroyed soul, destroyed by my own hands no less. Say what you want about the circumstances that put me in that situation, but it still came down to me and my choices.
Eventually, I couldn't tell you how I found it in myself to stand, let alone walk, but eventually Taweret got me moving back into the temple. No one said a word, but I'm sure those we passed knew what I had just gone through, and gave me the space I needed as we shuffled past. She took me to her personal bathroom. Once again she disrobed me, cleaned me up from top to bottom with the tenderness of a mother taking care of her child, and dried me off before she took me to her bed. She held me throughout the rest of the night and the next as I shed my tears and every raw, painful emotion over the course of the next two days. I remember sleeping, but I did little else, save to listen to Taweret hum one tune or another and the feel of her arms around me. In those two days I also screamed and battled her at some point, but Taweret weathered the storm with patience and understanding, albeit in her twisted version of it anyway. She whispered soothing words when she wasn't humming, and eventually I started to return from whatever place my mind had disappeared to, but at the same time I wasn't 'me' anymore.
I do remember one thing clearly however. I remember looking up into that mirror above Taweret's gold silk covered bed, and I remember seeing an empty, hollow blue eyed woman staring back at me. What? You thought that mirror was just for the erotic, entertainment value? Nope. While that might have been its original intent, like everything with the Setites, there was always more than what appeared on the surface. Taweret knew what she was doing better than most, and every initiate she had converted to the worship of Set had likely seen the same thing after one of their own Revelations that had ended similarly to how mine had. There was nothing of my old self there anymore. Terror had cracked my identity, but Wrath destroyed it. As I've said before, Toreadors are their own worst enemies, and Taweret had figured out just what buttons to push. And while I could blame the cursed blood in my veins, or Taweret, or any number of mitigating factors, the choice was still mine. I could have just as easily as walked away, but I didn't, so the consequences of my actions, guided as they might have been, are still mine no matter how you try to look at it.
When I had regained a shred of my composure, a shred of my former self, Taweret was there. She said nothing as she wiped my face clean and kissed my forehead before gently pulling me to her personal shrine in her chambers. I wish I could say I snapped out of my delirium and bashed her fucking face in for what she had wrought, but that'd be untrue. I wish I could say I came to the realization that she had manipulated me, had used my weaknesses against me, and she would continue to use me until the end of time, but that'd be a lie. Instead, when she began that night's prayer to Set, I joined her on the floor before the altar in her bedchambers. There was no more hesitation, no more doubt, fear, or hatred for the god, as I had bore for my mother and her own false god. I had turned away from the light, and there was no turning back, not after what I had done.
So when the prayer came to its customary end, I think I managed the smallest of smiles when I met Taweret's gaze right before two little words left my mouth, but their significance isn't lost on me now. Take a guess as to what they were. As for my guide and friend, the one that had seen me go through this journey, whatever was left of my old self might have balked by the very satisfied gleam in the Setite's glowing eyes. Instead I felt….happy, comforted, loved, wanted. Everything I had ever looked for was right here with Taweret and her 'family'.
In short, I felt like I had come home.
End Notes: Vergil1989: I'll come right out and say that this chapter made me feel pretty dirty and unclean, doing what we wrote here, but at the same time it was a necessary evil because there was no easy or other alternative to get our point across. As stated in the opening notes, things will get better, but for a few chapters yet, we'll get to see Setite Alexandria and her new 'family' as they move against the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Anarchs, and anyone else that stands against them, most likely in that order since out of all the enemies the Followers have, it's the Camarilla that gives them the most trouble.
Nomad-117: I cannot say that I enjoyed putting Alex through that, for a person's mind should be left alone in my opinion. But at the same time we have to make sure that we don't change the universe we are writing about in such a way that it doesn't resemble the original anymore. The Setites don't share our concerns, so in order to accurately picture them we had to go rather dark. That said I think we did an adequate job of writing psychotic fanatic vampires. Hope to see you next time, until then.
Vergil1989: It was a first for me, I'll say that. Oddly enough, I found it rather easy to channel some of my personal past RL issues with my lunatic dad into getting the tone down for this chapter. Write what you know and all that as they say, and while he wasn't a religious nut or anything like that, let's just say he didn't make life easy for anyone and leave it at that. Needless to say, we're a lot happier that he's no longer able to harass my mother and my two brothers anymore, at least for now. But that aside, I'll just close in saying that while the truly dark stuff is mostly behind us, Alex is now officially Setite in all but blood, so don't expect a happy ending for a while yet. Besides, this is the World of Darkness, happy is a relative term. : P
In all seriousness though folks, thanks for your continued support, and we'll see you soon. Peace!