Part 3

#

Sebastian Khan surveyed the assembled crowd of vampires with the air of a king inspecting his loyal subjects. Which was not too far off base, he mused. Vampires were a pretty hierarchical lot and most of them did not have the brains to do anything but follow the alpha male wherever he led.

Which suited him just fine, so he did not really have any cause to bitch about it.

These last few weeks his followers had made his presence known around town, rather pointedly telling the rank and file of vampires that it was a good time to pledge their loyalty to the new master in town. It had been a little less easy than he had originally thought. Many of them still waited for Angelus to reclaim his position as master of Sunnydale. Not out of respect, really, but rather a healthy sense of self-preservation.

Angelus was still in town, that much was common knowledge, but no one was quite sure whose side he was on these days. Most of the evidence seemed to indicate he was once again the Slayer's lapdog, but there was contradictory information as well. Such as the rumours that he had made the Slayer his slave, or blood junkie as the common term went. That did not really go together with the image of soul-having do-gooder, did it?

Well, it did not really matter all that much. Those that still held some loyalty to Angelus were a definite minority by now. There was another faction, of course, those that had thrown in their lot with the man Sebastian Khan had come here to destroy. Richard Wilkins was a powerful figure, that much was certain, but he was not a vampire. Therefore those that had thrown in with him were regarded as traitors to their own kind. Something Khan had been happy to point out in his PR campaign to make himself the new master of this town.

The warehouse he had chosen to make his first speech as the new boss was quite a distance away from the building he used as his daytime retreat. Most of the rabble gathered here really did not need to know where he spent the daylight hours. Vampires could be made to talk, especially by persistent Slayers and other vampire masters. No sense giving them anything to talk about.

About thirty or so vampires altogether, not counting those that flanked Khan on the makeshift podium he had his men built for this speech. Unlike the rabble he had picked up here in this town his followers were of a different breed. Warrior vampires, called El Eliminati. Originally a duellist cult more interested in fighting amongst themselves than killing humans, they had become his acolytes even before Khan had been made into a vampire. Now they followed him loyally wherever he led and one of them was worth ten times his weight in average Sunnydale vampires.

Not that he would tell the rank and file that. Employees, especially those who worked without payment, needed to believe that their employer valued their work.

"I am glad so many of you have made the wise decision to come here tonight," Khan began his speech. "It is nice to see that there are some among our kind that still know how to set priorities for themselves. It warms my heart, figuratively speaking."

There were some chuckles among the audience and Khan smiled broadly.

"I know that some of you have had some reservations, mostly regarding the former master of this town, Angelus. I respect that. Loyalty is a virtue, and not of the kind evil needs to eradicate." More chuckles. "But let me ask you, where is Angelus' loyalty to you? I hear he is still in town, but when was the last time he took care of you?"

He allowed that to sink in for a moment before he continued.

"Then there are those of you who have chosen to follow the leadership of a human. Has it really come to this? Have you fallen so far that you would allow yourself to be commanded by those who we usually prey upon?"

His followers were, of course, aware of the hypocrisy of these words. When Khan had become their leader he, too, had been human. It was not a state of being that had lasted all that long. Khan had not chosen to become a vampire, but rather become one out of necessity. It was yet another issue he planned to address with a certain former friend of his.

"We are the destined rulers of this world," Khan went on, the vampires now hanging on his every word. "Yet in this town, the Hellmouth, the one place on Earth where we should be ruling supreme, vampires are hiding in fear of the Slayer and allow themselves to be ruled by humans."

He leaned forward on his podium. "Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture?"

Sounds of assent could be heard from the listening vampires and Khan's smile grew broader.

"I intend to introduce some changes to this wonderful town. Changes that will make it a better place to live, figuratively speaking, for all vampires. Unfortunately it is not something that can happen overnight. Good things, no pun intended, always take time. With your help, though, we can make a start within the next two nights. We can take the first step towards reclaiming our supremacy. What do you say, people?"

#

The sound of applause followed Khan backstage as he left the gathering, quite content with himself. Most of what he had told his new followers was the truth. It was time to change things and they would be making the first step within the next two nights. So what if he had omitted a few facts? If he had told them that he fully expected all thirty of them to die within the next 48 hours it would only have depressed them. Depressed employees did not deliver quality work.

Elron, his faithful second, was walking by his side.

"An inspired speech, my Lord. I do believe you have them fully on your side."

"Thank you, Elron. It was quite catching, wasn't it?"

"Quite so, my Lord."

Khan shook his head with a smile. "People do not have enough appreciation for patience, have I ever told you that? It's always rush, rush, rush, even among our kind. One would think that, with eternity on our side, we would know better."

Elron refrained from commenting. He had served Khan long enough to recognize the start of a speech and knew that his lord and master hated to be interrupted. He was not averse to constructive criticism, but only if it was brought up afterwards. Interrupting Khan had cost more than one vampire his eternal life.

"Patience," Khan continued, talking to no one in particular, "is another of those virtues our kind would be wise to adopt, to hell with the whole evil issues. Good things are worth the wait, they certainly are." He looked at Elron. "Did I ever tell you how Dick and I came up with that whole Ascension plan all these years ago?"

"You mentioned it once or twice, my Lord."

"We knew it would take a while, yes we did. A century, give or take a few years. Now, most people would have abandoned a plan like that because they lack the patience necessary to pull it off. We knew better, though. A hundred years of waiting is more than worth it considering the payoff at the end, oh yes."

His smile grew wistful as they approached the exit, the limousine standing ready outside. Elron had already considered a route back to their daytime retreat that would allow them to pick up some hapless people on the way. Vampires had to drink, after all.

"Too bad you were so lacking in the patience department when it came to other things, Dick," Khan said with a nostalgic note to his voice. "I mean, yes, we both knew that only one person could reap the benefit of our plan, but still ... stabbing me in the back that early in the game? I would have waited at least another ten years before doing it to you."

He chuckled under his breath. "Only serves you right that your entire plan almost came crashing down around your ears thanks to that old fool Balthazar."

They reached the car and Elron opened the door for Khan.

"But I am patient," he sighed, settling back into the leather cushions. "Revenge is a dish best served cold, isn't it, Dick? I could have destroyed you at any time during the last 100 years, but that wouldn't have been fun, would it?"

His eyes focused on Elron again. "You know why I waited so long, right, Elron?"

Elron nodded. Of course he knew. He had listened to Khan recite his reasons often enough.

"You decided, my Lord, that revenge would be served best by letting your rival come within reach of his ultimate goal and then snatch it away from him."

"Exactly," Kahn said excitedly, snapping his fingers. "I imagine right now Dick is in a state of near-panic. Not only has he got his hands more than full with all the last-minute preparations, not to mention those pesky do-gooders calling his town home, but I'm sure he has also learned about my presence by now."

An evil smile crept onto Khan's face as his human mask slipped away and made room for his demon visage.

"Can you feel my cold breath on your neck, Dick? Can you feel my fangs at your throat?"

Throwing his head back, Khan laughed. Quite loudly so. One wouldn't be saying too much calling it a bellow. Elron endured his lord's laughter with the patience of a saint (he knew the value of patience, of course) and waited until Khan was finished.

"You did it again, my Lord," he then said.

"Did what?"

"Laughing out loud, my Lord, in a way more befitting a B-movie villain."

Khan slipped back into his human face, which looked a bit puzzled. "Maybe it's something about this place. I have to tell you, though, it does feel quite good. You should try it sometimes, Elron."

"I will give it consideration, my Lord."

"You do that. I trust everything has been prepared for our little event two nights from now?"

"Indeed, sir. All the cameras have been set up and concealed. We will be able to watch the battle live and in colour."

"Excellent. It's a great plan, isn't it? Simple, but great. I like simple plans. Less chance of things going wrong."

With a smile he was thinking of a particular plan, one century in length, that contained so many things that could go so wonderfully wrong. Especially now, this close to the finish line. Well, one thing after another.

"What do you think, Elron?" Khan asked, folding his hands behind his head as he leaned back. "Will our thirty unwitting pawns be able to cause any lasting damage?"

"A possibility, my Lord. Considering that they will be going up against two Slayers and a master vampire, though, I sort of doubt it."

Khan nodded. "Yes, I assume we can't exactly pray for one of them to make some sort of stupid mistake and get themselves killed. Well, that's not the point of this exercise anyway. Have you acquired the rest of the supplies we will need?"

"Certainly, my Lord. The large-screen TV will be delivered to the lair tomorrow, more than enough time to link it up. The new couch is already there and we have some snack runs scheduled for just before the event."

"Good. Very good."

Two nights from now Sebastian Khan would be getting his first long and thorough look at the opposition he was facing in this town. Thirty vampires should be enough to put the Slayers and Angelus through quite a workout. And if they should just happen to be killed, well...

Sometimes even vampires got lucky. Not often, but sometimes.

TO BE CONTINUED