Buenos Aires, Argentina

"Thank you for receiving me on such short notice."

"Not a problem, Mr. Robbins. Though I must be honest, I didn't expect our school to be so well-known in the States that you want to write a book about it."

"Well, your school is one of the oldest educational institutions in Argentina. I'm writing a book about educational techniques in South America."

"Great, great!"

"First, tell me more about yourself."

"There is not much to tell. I am an English teacher since 1989. I love to teach and I love helping students achieve their potential. Though, with some, it is quite a difficult road."

"Why is that?"

"Some students are… let's say… aggressive. I don't want to scare you but our school has a bit of a reputation in the city."

"From what I've heard, some of your students are prone to bouts of violence."

"Yes. You know how it is… a student annoys another, the annoyed one fights back… like in every other school."

"I completely understand. Can I explore a bit?"

"Of course."

The teacher and Mr. Robbins left the office and wandered around the campus. The man noticed a shack in the middle of the courtyard. He said:

"What is that?"

"Oh, that is Rigoberto's room. He is our nighttime groundskeeper."

"I see."

"He's a nice man but a bit weird."

"How so?"

"He refuses to work daytime hours, even though we don't have enough money to pay both him and the day caretaker."

"Maybe he works in another place during the day."

"Probably. I don't know much about him. Principal Garcia could tell you more about him, she is here since 1971."

"Thank you for the advice."

The man's phone rang:

"Excuse me."

"Of course."

Mr. Robbins distanced himself from the teacher and answered:

"Yes?"

"Is that the place?"

"I don't know yet. Certainly, something strange happens around here. Kids are aggressive and they have a caretaker who refuses to work daytime hours."

"Maybe he's one of us."

"Yes, I think so. I will return here tonight. I'll call you if I find anything of importance."

"Do that."

Mr. Robbins returned to the teacher and, after he saw the entire campus, he left the school. Nine hours later, he returned and the first place he went after he jumped over the fence was the shack. The man used Auspex to try and locate Cainite auras but he didn't find anything. The shack's door was opened and inside, he found nothing strange, just gardening tools, brooms and a mattress with a pillow and a blanket. Suddenly, a man attacked Mr. Robbins with a shovel and then said:

"Maldito! Qué estás haciendo aquí?"

"Easy, easy!"

"Gringo? Who are you, stranger?"

"My name is Beckett."

"The… historian?"

"Yes, the historian. You know about me so you are Kindred."

"Rigoberto Martinez, childe of Lucius Aurelius Fitor of clan Ventrue."

"Fitor? You are a sixth generation Ventrue antitribu posing as a school groundskeeper in fucking Buenos Aires."

"Si."

"Why is that?"

"None of your business."

"If you seek the ancient, I'm seeking him too."

Martinez frowned but he threw away the shovel. He then said:

"Why?"

"I need his help."

"Estas loco! Even crazier than the Malkavian. That creature doesn't help anyone. It drives the kine children insane around here. Los niños son violentos. All due to Nicolaus and his fucking Dementation."

"He drives kids insane?"

"That monster is asleep. Yet madness oozes from it and poisons lesser minds."

"You didn't manage to find the tomb?"

"I did. Yet the door is magically warded. I can't pass through that."

"But your Sabbat sectmates didn't try to help you?"

"They did. Nothing."

"Well, if you take me to the door, I may be able to get past the wards."

"You? How?"

"I have a special talisman. It will extinguish the magic, at least for a time."

"I see… well, it seems only natural that I will take it for myself. Adios, Beckett!"

Before Rigoberto could attack Beckett, the Gangrel staked the Ventrue, moving so fast that not even the experimented Argentinian vampire could notice.

"I figured out you would try something like this. Now…"

Beckett took out a small stone from his pocket and put it on the staked vampire's forehead. He then closed his eyes and said:

"Good, now I know where the tomb is. Seems to me that this stone provided by Malkav really works. Sorry, buddy. If you would have played nice…"

The Noddist then entered the school. He didn't have to worry about security cameras, as Saulot's Nosferatu accomplices managed to hack them. He then entered an old, disuses classroom. Beckett took out a stethoscope and listened to noises coming from underneath the floorboards. He then ripped a few pieces of it and noticed a staircase below. Beckett then switched on his flashlight and descended the stairs. He then was in front of a massive stone door, covered in strange runes. Beckett then searched his backpack for a piece of pink paper covered in arcane inscriptions:

"Well, here goes nothing."

He touched the paper to the door and a bright purple light emerged from it, opening the door. Saulot said to him that the door will close after three hours, so Beckett believed he had plenty of time to retrieve the dormant vampire. Inside the tomb, a stone sarcophagus with a golden lid stood in the middle, flanked by braziers. The Gangrel lit those braziers and after their light invaded the tomb, he could see drawings on the tomb's walls.

"After I take you out of here, I will study the hell out of this place."

Beckett then took another piece of pink paper and put it on the lid of the sarcophagus. It opened, revealing a thin child with long auburn hair and pale skin, with a pug nose and purple lips. He was dressed in rags mirroring the dress style of Mexico during that country's revolution. Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes. They were bright purple. Beckett felt a sharp pain in his temples and fell on his knees. The boy arose from the sarcophagus and started to shout, but it didn't sound like a child shout. It was more an animal shriek. Beckett's ears almost burst and the mere shock of that shout threw him five meters away. The child was a fifth generation vampire, incredibly powerful and completely mad. How the Antediluvians hoped to tame this creature, Beckett didn't know. The Gangrel recomposed himself and said:

"Your sire needs you."

A powerful punch to the gut sent Beckett flying through a marble statue. He was hit by ancients before but this child's strength was far greater than anyone's he faced before. His vampire body started to heal almost immediately but another punch threw him into the wall. Suddenly, Nicolaus was distracted by the talisman on the door. He then ripped it, closing the tomb and sealing himself and Beckett in there.

"Oh… shit…"

Beckett realized that as a freshly reawakened vampire, Nicolaus was thirsty and human blood simply won't do. He feared the ancient Malkavian will drink from him. The boy grabbed Beckett by the throat and tried to bite him, however the Gangrel used his Celerity to escape to the other side of the sarcophagus. Nicolaus caught him and scratched him with his fingernails across the face. Beckett felt them as iron claws. Severely weakened, the Noddist entered the sarcophagus, closing the lid and using his last remaining talisman to seal himself in. He could hear Nicolaus screaming, trying to reach Beckett but the Gangrel was safe inside, hoping to regenerate enough in the three hours the talisman bought him. After a while, the screams and the hits on the sarcophagus' lid stopped. Beckett used his Auspex trying to detect Nicolaus and he realized the Malkavian is above ground, feeding on Rigoberto. The Gangrel immediately broke the seal, leaving the sarcophagus and ran towards the exit, hoping to stop Nicolaus before his strength could be replenished. Beckett realized that if he couldn't handle a weakened Nicolaus, a juiced-up Nicolaus would be impossible to stop. Not only that he will the Noddist but also he will escape into the city, breaking the Masquerade into pieces. Reaching the schoolyard, Beckett grabbed a wooden branch from a tree and tried to Obfuscate, hoping to stake Nicolaus from behind but his grasp on the Discipline was weak and the far more skilled vampire child detected him easily. He stopped drinking from the Ventrue and continued to beat Beckett. Now that he managed to feed, even a bit, Nicolaus was far more powerful than before and Beckett realized that he had only one last hope: to use Protean. He then turned into a wolf and tried to fend Nicolaus' hits with his claws and fangs. The Malkavian then decided to stop with the melee combat and proceeded to focus his Dementation upon Beckett. What the Gangrel felt is impossible to be described into words. Thousands of colors invaded his mind, some of which he didn't have a name for. Sounds, screams, music, even pain. He seemed to have been victim of a powerful sensorial overload produced by Nicolaus' Dementation. Beckett then focused, remembering the discussions he had with his friend and travel mate, Anatole. While not a practitioner of Dementation, Anatole knew enough about it to teach Beckett some counters. Beckett then reached inside himself and tried to draw out his inner Beast. He managed and the raving monster inside him broke the Dementation, freeing Beckett's mind. He was spent. His wolf form was dissipated and he spent almost all his blood on drawing the Beast out. He was on his back in the grass, looking at the sky. Nicolaus then appeared before his eyes, mouth opened to reveal his fangs. Beckett then realized it was over. However, the Beast inside him thought otherwise and suddenly, Beckett grabbed the child's long hair and proceeded to bite his neck. The moment his tongue touched Nicolaus' vitae, the Noddist felt like fire was entering him, like he was floating on a golden cloud. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't. He grabbed Nicolaus' shoulder with his other hand and started to drink deeper. The boy was screaming but it didn't matter for Beckett. Nothing matters when you drink ancient blood. It started as heat but it evolved into sweetness. For the first time since he was human, the Gangrel felt sweetness in his mouth, a sweetness that slowly made his way from his mouth through his long dead esophagus and into his dried out stomach, where it became fire again. If Heaven was real, this was it. Cappadocius wanted Heaven, Saulot wanted it even more but what did they know? Beckett now felt it. There is no heaven like having ancient blood in you, a blood that was almost finishing yet the Gangrel didn't stop. A while later, Beckett felt he wasn't drinking blood anymore, but something else, something that was not liquid, not even tangible. Something so intense and luminous that made even the sun feel dim. Nicolaus' screams turned to moans and the moans turned to silence. It ended. Beckett then passed out.

Paris, France

Beckett returned to unlife after a long sleep. He got out from the bed and noticed he was in the Paris hotel he met the Antediluvians days before. It was night. Saulot appeared before him and said:

"What have you done?"

"I… my head!"

Beckett grabbed his head in pain. Saulot said with a severe voice:

"Look into the mirror and you will see what you have done."

Beckett did as commanded and what he saw, it frightened him. His eyes, red as fire before, were now purple. He started to shake. Saulot said:

"I don't agree with your deed and neither my brother, but it couldn't be helped. It is my fault that I sent you there, unprepared to face one like Nicolaus. But now, you can face and defeat many enemies. Congratulations, Mr. Beckett. You are now a fifth generation vampire."

"Oh no…"

Beckett now knew why he felt so charged with power: he diablerized the boy.