November 5, 2020, Washington DC, United States of America, 20:47 local time

The president arrived before the adoring crowd of Cainites. He said:

"Normally, my presidency should begin on January 20, 2021. However, I believe it is not necessary nor good for America to wait another two months or so. Thus, after our former president's… immediate resignation, I am ready to turn America into what it needs to be. My first order as president is the immediate abolition of the United States' Constitution. Some of you may wonder: can the president do that? Well, I can do that! In this new world, there is no need for constitution for there is no need for rights. Food does not have rights. Food is made to be eaten. The only rights kine have is the right to breed. Be glad I didn't take that too. It would have been so easy to deprive you of your carnal needs. That is not my way. No! If you want to fuck, fuck! Increase your numbers for your numbers will need to be increased, for you are made for our consumption. Now, as for you, my heavenly children, the presidency is ours, the army is ours, all the secrets of the FBI and CIA are ours! The largest and most sophisticated military technology on this planet is at our disposal. As the other Cainites carved themselves kingdoms all over this blasted world, our kingdom will reign supreme for we have power beyond comprehension! Now, I, the President, declare that this country will no longer be called the United States of America. This country, as of now, is the Kingdom of Aaru, our Field of Reeds, our paradise! And it is I, your beloved president, that created Aaru for you. Who else saved this country from the nuclear devastation that wrecked so many other nations? Aaru will be eternal and no kine, no vampire, no other supernatural will take it from me. Oh, I almost forgot! Dear kine, my name is not Jefferson Williams. How… American this name sounds… remnant of a dead country. I am the Pharaoh of Egypt, I am the light that shines over this desolate world. I am the answer to man's prayers. I am Set and I am God."

June 5, 1992, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 19:40 local time

Gratiano removed his sword from the belly of the man he killed and, after draining the man's partner, he said to the third person:

"So, what's so special about this city? I mean, every Cainite Satanic group I know sent representatives here in the past few weeks. I am curious. What's going on?"

The third man spat at Gratiano, saying:

"The Antichrist rises tonight, Lasombra! You and the entire world will be consumed by darkness."

"The Antichrist? Do tell."

"There's nothing to be told, vampire. Know this: everything will change. Everything!"

Gratiano sighed and then used Dominate on the ghoul.

"Alright, let's see if you are now in the mood for a real talk. Who's the Antichrist?"

"The one that was born six years ago. At midnight, his destiny will be fulfilled."

"He was born six years ago on June 6, 1986, I suppose? Let me guess, his name is Damien and his mother was a jackal. What the fuck? Tell me the truth!"

Before the ghoul could say anything else, he started bleeding from his eyes and mouth and then fell on the ground, dying. The Italian Methuselah then said:

"Of course. Some demonic anti-Dominate juju, it seems. Well, I didn't come here unprepared, so…"

He produced a small bottle from his bag and before he drank the content, another vampire said to him:

"What's that shit?"

"This shit, my dear Sebastian, is some unique vitae. Taken from a three-months old baby boy on March 3 at 3 o'clock and then blessed by the Pope, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Then, it's mixed with some… unmentionables and here it is!"

He then drank the concoction. After a few moments, Gratiano's eyes became bright yellow. His childe said:

"What's that?"

"This sight that this vitae gave me will allow me to find this… Antichrist… ugh…"

"What is wrong?"

"I imbibed blood blessed by men with True Faith. In a Cainite body, this thing burns like all hells. A lesser vampire would have died immediately after drinking it but not me… Now, come with me! The effect won't last too long."

20:34, local time

The Methuselah and his childe arrived before a house in the suburbs of Chicago. Sebastian asked his sire:

"Is this the place?"

"Yes, it is. Now, go inside the house and slay the father."

"The father? Aren't we supposed to kill the devil's spawn?"

"For that, we need the mother, to employ this ritual I learned in Africa. We don't need a loving father trying to defend his family type of situation, do you understand?"

"Alright."

Sebastian entered the house and, after a while, Gratiano de Veronese could hear screams from inside. Entering, he saw a man with his throat slit, bleeding on the floor. In another room, Sebastian held a young woman at gunpoint. The Italian said to the woman:

"Where is the child?"

"Please! Not my boy!"

"Yes, your boy! Where is he?"

Suddenly, two men entered the room the three were in and proceeded to attack Gratiano de Veronese. The Methuselah used his tremendous power to kill them effortlessly with his sword. The Sabbat leader noticed that the murdered would-be-assassins had pentagram tattoos on their necks.

"Last chance, honey. Where is the boy? Tell me or you will end like those two cocksuckers."

"What… are you?"

The two Lasombra noticed they were in front of a large mirror.

"Ah, this. Well, we are… heroes! Heroes who will rid the world of the Antichrist."

"The… what?"

"The Antichrist. The Bringer of End Days, the Son of Satan, Damien Thorne, call him what you like."

"And you think my Adam is the Antichrist? You are mad! You killed my husband!"

"Sebastian killed your husband, not me."

"Good, tell her my name."

"Don't worry, she won't live too long. Come on, the devil's son is upstairs."

"Then why the hell did you ask her where's her son?"

"To see her reaction. She knows shit about her quote-unquote… child."

Upstairs, a young boy with blond hair and blue eyes watched TV. The two Lasombra vampires entered the room with Sebastian dragging the child's mother with him. He started to scream:

"Mommy!"

"Adam, run!"

Gratiano used Celerity to move behind the boy, stabbing him in the back with his sword. Adam started to scream but he didn't fall or even bleed. The Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro said towards the horrified mother:

"Still convinced your son is a normal, human child? Sebastian, cut her left breast."

Gratiano's childe proceeded to slit the woman's breast with the same knife he used to murder her husband. She screamed in pain but her torturer and his sire were unmoved. The Italian said:

"Bring me the titty."

He did as he was told. Gratiano then proceeded to stab it with a black dagger he took from his bag and then started to chant some words in a strange language. Adam started to convulse but instead of foam, black ichor gushed from his mouth. The Italian vampire said to his childe:

"Kill the mother and be on your guard. Now the hard part begins."

Sebastian slit the woman's throat as he did her husband but before he could assume a defensive position, a black serpent attacked him, biting his hand. Sebastian killed it.

"What the fuck is this?"

"The devil tries to defend his vessel."

After an hour or so, the entire room was devastated by the boy. The two vampires were battling strange horned creatures made of blood. Sebastian said:

"Holy shit, are those tentacles?"

"Shut up and cut!"

The next day, 21:15 local time

Beneath the rubble of the destroyed house, four arms rose towards the sky. The two shirtless men, with wounds all over their bodies. Gratiano said to his childe:

"Goddamned demon… Did you pay attention to the watch? When did he expire?"

"23:58. We did it. He died. Five years, 364 days, 23 hours and 58 minutes… Two minutes before ascension. Oh man… he put a hell of a fight."

"And he didn't ascend yet… Something like this should never be born again. Let's go, Sebastian. The kine probably said it was a gas explosion."

Somewhere in Eastern Europe, 449AD.

She felt tired. Of course she did. The lure of the dark daylight sleep was so strong yet she knew that only by mortifying her cursed flesh she would achieve freedom. Baba Yaga moved beneath the ground, avoiding the patches of sunlight the holes in the ceiling would let in.

"Soon…"

She walked in the caves until she reached an underground lake. In the middle, sunlight shone brightly. The Nosferatu Methuselah then used a small wooden boat she brought in when the ritual started, seventy-two days ago. Baba Yaga then reached the sunlit area. She extended her hands into the sun:

"Aaaaaaargh!"

She retracted her hands almost immediately, as they blistered and bled. After regenerating, she put them back again in the illuminated waters. The pain was unbelievable but she managed to get hold of some water. She proceeded to drink that water. Inside of her, the warm liquid felt like bile, like ashes. Baba Yaga kept her mouth shut to keep the water down.

You will never succeed, wretch. Chug on water as much as you want. It will take you nowhere.

Her sire's words burned through her head, already aflame with pain. She then opened her mouth and the water left her body. She was extenuated, but she kept on. She jumped into the waters. Soon after, she reentered the boat and reached the shore. She was tired and shaken, her rags heavy with water and her unnatural tiredness lulling her to sleep. The hag then walked towards another cave, this time with a sarcophagus in the middle. She then said:

"Do you see me, father? Of course you do… Your eyes are inside me. You look through me, watching my every move… oh no, no, no, not anymore."

I will always be a part of you, my wayward daughter. As your worst nightmare.

"Oh, no… I will be your worst nightmare! For no one on this accursed world loved you as I did. For you were my master and my maker, the moon that shone above me during my nights of bloodthirst. But now, I will get rid of you once and for all."

You will fail, crone.

His words hurt her, even more than she dared to admit. She… loved him. She hated him. She craved him. She abhorred him. Baba Yaga opened the sarcophagus and inside it, a man slept. His pale skin was proof of his Cainite nature. The Nosferatu Methuselah then took a flask from the pouch near her waist and drank from it. She winced in pain. A few moments later, she spat the substance she ingested.

"Do you see him? This man is a Hun. He raped and murdered countless women during his people's invasion. A witch cursed him to be haunted by the voices of those he damned to oblivion and not even our dark Embrace could not make them stop."

This murderer will not help you.

"Oh, he will."

Baba Yaga started to drain the Hun, her fangs penetrating his neck. With each passing moment, the Nosferatu woman felt pleasure more than she ever felt in her life and at the same time, she felt the pain of the blood bond fading away. The Hun was helpless. A few moments later, Baba Yaga fell on her knees, riding the aftereffect of her act. But soon after, she started to have visions. Visions of blood, of gore, of dead women, of raped women, of dead children, of eviscerated boys and maimed girls. She saw them in her mind and before her eyes, shadows that were translucent yet so bright at the same time, if that could be possible. She smiled, exhausted:

"At least, he is gone. I can exist with you."

Moscow, Russia, present time

"Did you see, worm? The possibility of freedom?"

Vasilisa couldn't hear anything but the deafening boom of the explosion near them and could see nothing but light.