I know by now, some of my readers are probably wondering, "Gee Nate, where in the hell is the "love" portion of primogen's love? Don't worry. It's coming, just not for a while. In fact I think this story may end up, "The Primogen's Love, Part One" because there's actually a whole other story behind it the love thing, and while it still involves the Tremere, it stands separately from where this story is going. Plus I hate uber-long stories with a bajillion chapters…

Chapter Eight: Two Steps Forward…One Step Back…

St. Johnsburry was as lively in the week before Christmas as it was any other day. But with tourism steadily on the rise it was that much more active. Benjamin's eyes were very weak during the day but he could sense the hostility that came from every Kindred he spotted.

"We can't stay here long," Gale said, her nervousness betraying her calmness. "The Gangrel are all over here."

Benjamin was ready to kill someone right now. Amanda for leading them here, Gale for continuing to speak out of turn, or even the brat that he had been saddled with. But more killing would draw attention to him, as he was certain Amanda had planned.

How did I let myself get drawn into her games? He asked himself. He considered the cell in his pocket. Would it be so bad if he threw it in the sewers now, left Vermont, and returned to Maine to tell Lazarus of all that has happened here?

But then there were his actions to account for. He'd all ready been here for too long, listening to Amanda's advice in the hopes of gaining his own power block. His ambitions clouded his judgment and in turn he became the tool for her ambitions. Lazarus would behead him in front of the Vienna Motherhouse personally.

Benjamin left the initiates to fill the van with gas while he took a long walk around the town.

St. Johnsburry was more spread out than most Vermont towns. It felt odd to be in such a large area, not hampered in by trees, cliffs, and mountains. And what often fascinated Benjamin was how much the Northeast Kingdom differed from Southwestern Vermont. Where as most of Bennington County's business came from retail outlets and huge corporations, the majority of business throughout the rest of Vermont came from the smaller locally run shops.

Benjamin turned a corner and found himself on a street lined with apartment buildings and houses. It was quieter here with school in session and most of the neighbors at work. But as he walked he suddenly caught the scent of other creatures in the area.

Shape shifters!

Out in the open in broad daylight Benjamin couldn't unsheathe his athame. But he was mostly comforted by the fact that they couldn't touch him.

"Filthy dogs," Benjamin cursed under his breath. He swung his head back and forth looking between alleys, atop buildings, in front of him and behind.

"Is that the killer?" He looked up at the direction of the whisper. No one was there.

"Don't know…But he's the one the vampires want."

"How much are they offering?"

"Sean said a million each for his companions, and a billion for him."

"Come out and face me!" Benjamin shouted. "If you want your reward you'll have to fight for it!"

Benjamin ignored the stares of elderly neighbors who glanced out their windows curiously. As far as they were concerned he was an insane vagrant. His challenge wouldn't endanger the masquerade, and the werewolves wouldn't either.

"I thought not!" He yelled out and started out to look for the others. But wherever he turned the pungent scent of dog fur and saliva reached his palate. He began muttering every protection chant and incantation he could remember, not feeling as confident about his abilities as he should have been, and losing the power in his magick.

Out in the open where the traffic was heaviest no one dared to approach him. Benjamin picked up the scent of his own and tracked them down to a Shell station. Gale was in the station filling up the tank while Dennis filled a large plastic cup with soda.

"In the name of Cain-" Benjamin was about to enter the station when a police car pulled up between him and the door. An officer stepped out with his gun drawn while his partner stepped out with the cuffs ready.

"You're not going anywhere," The officer said as Benjamin turned to the van. A second police car pulled in to block any escape. A few onlookers were gathering on the sidewalk and the patrons in the convenient store were also taking an interst. Benjamin saw Gale standing at the counter, unsure of what to do, but where Dennis stood there was now a half-empty cup of Mountain Dew on the counter.

Inside the store, Dennis was hiding between a rack of candy and a shelf full of cookies, chips and salsa. Running from the police was nothing new to him, but he remembered hearing that many Gangrel were on the police force.

"Hey, are they after him too?" A clerk asked, spotting Dennis.

Gale looked into the clerk's eyes.

"Forget what you've seen just now," she said. "Dennis, come with me."

Dennis scrambled to his feet and followed Gale to the large metal door of the dairy cooler. Just above the crates of milk and creamer was a small window. It wasn't big enough for a person to get through, but a bird of prey could manage well enough.

"Lay low in here," Gale ordered Dennis.

"What are you going to do?" Dennis demanded.

"You're not old enough to use all of your abilities. Stay low and I'll come back for you, I promise."

Gale picked up a bottle of soda from one of the racks and hurled it at the window. The glass smashed easily under its preternatural speed, and a hawk followed it almost instantly. Dennis rubbed his eyes as if he was imagining what he'd just seen. He quickly remembered what Gunn had told him about slipping away if things got rough. Things were getting rough enough for his tastes.

Benjamin struggled as the two officers held him down and cuffed him. The cuffs were bound with a spell, preventing him from breaking free with his preternatural strength. Four more cruisers pulled around the gas station to prevent the remaining Tremere from escaping.

"I suggest you come quietly," the officer said, keeping his voice low so that only Kindred could hear it. "Zarius will want you in one piece, but Sean will cover for us if you go to him in ashes."

Sylvan, Roen and Peter were cuffed and ushered into the other cruisers, remaining as calm as possible under the circumstances. Gale remained in the air, watching as Benjamin was placed in another vehicle. The cruisers drove off while a few officers remained behind to run spin control.

She couldn't risk saving Dennis, not now. Betting heavily that his mortal life as a runaway had taught him a thing or two about dealing with the cops, Gale wished him luck and followed the cruiser carrying Benjamin.


It was close to sunset by the time they reached St. Johnsburry. Trent was stopped by a policeman for "speeding", and subsequently Sean was informed that three of the Tremere they had been looking for were now apprehended.

"We had to pay a few werewolves who tipped us off," the officer explained. "And to top it off there's gonna be a lot of cover ups for some time."

"We'll take care of that," Trent promised. "Where did you take him?"

An hour and a half later they arrived at the warehouse where Tremere were being held for questioning. Brujah guards sneered at the sight of the Gangrel primogen on their property, but saved their comments for when they were out of earshot. Bastian was clear that they were to cooperate with Sean for the time being.

Trent was on the phone immediately, calling every Ventrue within a hundred mile radius to handle the spin control. He called up Mary, who then called in a few favors from the Toreador. Peterson ordered the Toreador that worked in colleges and universities in the area to try to discourage rumors about the occurrences in St. Johnsburry. Eric was quick to voice his opinion that if James Reed had still been Gangrel primogen this would never have happened. Mary was quick to respond that this had nothing to do with the Gangrel, and to please keep personal feelings out of this. Trent then called Zarius, on request from Mary, at his office.

Good work Trent. Keep me updated on the interrogation process. We've been rounding up quite a few Caitiff here as well. Tell Sean I hope we can have this wrapped up before the San Francisco Prince arrives.


Sean spent the evening and most of the night interrogating the initiates. There were seven of you, where are the other three? The gangrel didn't kill them, nice try. You face Final Death if you're found guilty of killing in this state. We have evidence of over six human deaths, all by Tremere, and seventeen Gangrel from the time you left Bennington till now. If you cooperate, I'll convince my prince to arrange escort and have you returned to Maine as a gesture of diplomacy to yours. Benjamin…and Amanda you say? I'm listening.

"Human officers arrested a boy later," an officer told Sean. "They say a man named Gunn came along to bail him out. We couldn't get to him in time." The officer glanced at two of the Brujah guards standing beside a holding cell. "Sir, do you need me for anything else here?"

Sean caught the implied tone in the officer's voice.

"Nah, get out of here."

"Thank you sir."

"According to the others, Amanda embraced this kid. If that was " Sean told Trent in a hushed voice. "But Gunn's an Assamite. Why would he be interested in helping out the Tremere?"

"What if it has something to do with Allen?" Trent asked, thoughtfully. "The Tremere put a curse on the Assamites once. What if Amanda put another curse on him which kept him on her leash?"

"That's possible. But then these initiates were innocent pawns."

"But what about Benjamin?"

"Benjamin was running his own show for a while," Sean said, recalling the statements of the initiates. "He's responsible for killing two of his own and one of our cops. But after that they were acting on orders from Amanda."

"So either way we have Benjamin under our leash."

"That's not all we have," Sean said, holding up a cell phone. "This was confiscated off of Benjamin. He's been getting his orders from 'Amanda' who apparently gave this to him."

"You sound skeptical all of a sudden."

"I believe that Amanda is behind all this, but I just don't believe it was her who gave Benjamin the cell phone. Allen attacked us at the plantation and it was another Assamite who bailed 'The Tremere Primogen's' childe from jail."

"Okay, think about this for a second. Gangrel don't normally work with Brujah, and in fact they're mortal enemies. But you're working with them."

"Because it's necessary, but-"

"Yes, for the Masquerade. But maybe the Assamites are working with the Tremere because it's necessary for what they want to happen?"

Sean nodded. "Excellent theory, but what's the motive? What to they gain out of their mutual alliance?"

"Well…I don't know." Trent shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "Can you give me a few minutes to think about it?"

"Take your time. Grab some coffee and relax for a while. I'm going to interrogate our friend Benjamin and see what he coughs up."


Gale hid within the shadows of some pine trees, forty-feet from the warehouse where the Brujah held her fellow Initiates, and Benjamin. Through her preternatural vision she could see that there were human and Brujah guards and the humans used prison-bred guard dogs to patrol the area. Four Kindred guards walked in a perimeter around the warehouse, each one about seven feet from the other. When one of them got close enough to sense Gale she took to the air and circled once before returning to her post.

The human guards went out in pairs, with a single dog leading the patrol, stopping to sniff every half foot. Gale noticed hand guns in holsters, strapped to their bodies. It was difficult to say what kind of bullets they were using, but she would have bet her life they were phosphorus. These humans must have known something about their employers and the kind of enemies they had.

The only way of getting to the others was by turning herself in. Gale was responsible for Gangrel deaths, and she would be damned if she'd be responsible for incurring the Brujah's wrath.

Gale returned to bird form and took to the air. Her only hope was getting a hold of Lazarus.

"You told me that my help to your clan wouldn't be forgotten," Sean said. Three Brujah guards stood behind the Tremere journeyman while Sean circled the table. "Killing members of my clan was one hell of a way to repay me."

"I was only following-"

"Orders? That didn't get the Nazis off," Sean stopped in front of the table and leaned forward, getting into Benjamin's face. "I showed mercy to your clan. In spite of the awful things you said against me, and in spite of the terrible experiments you've done to Gangrel over the centuries. Your clan thinks it has the right to manipulate and experiment on everyone, that it has the right to unlife and final death over other vampires. I'm surprised the Camarilla thinks you're one of them."

"My clan is not on trial here," Benjamin retorted, trying to muster his self control. Truth was if he were human, he'd be sweating right now.

"No, it isn't. My clan didn't commit any crimes, but we've still been punished." Sean stepped back a few paces. He turned his back on Benjamin and seemed to study the ceiling for a while. After another minute he turned back to Benjamin and pulled a familiar cell phone from his pocket. "I won't let your crimes against my clan go unpunished. We deserve retribution. But your final death won't bring that to us; otherwise I'd turn you loose on the hundred or so Gangrel who are waiting to rip you apart."

"What do you want from me?" Benjamin asked, a cold chill washing over him.

"Who's been giving you your orders? Where is the missing initiate, the one your subordinates said was missing?"

"The initiate ran off with the neonate at the first opportunity. Her name is Gale. The neonate went by the name of Dennis, and he was sired by the Tremere Primogen in this state."

"Amanda."

"Yes."

"So she was at the mansion with you?"

"I met her there," Benjamin explained. "She gave me the cell phone so she could keep me out of your reach. In Bennington I had nothing to do with the murder of the human girl, I didn't even learn about that until one of your officers interrogated me earlier."

"Then why didn't you return for questioning?"

"I…I was…"

"You were disillusioned. I bet you thought you could get away scot-free free if you killed the cop and ran. But then Amanda saw you as a distraction and she decided to have you cause a distraction up here."

Sean turned away again. Why hadn't he figured it out before? He turned to one of the Brujah guards.

"Do you have a van we can use to bring him back to Bennington?"

"We have several vans in the warehouse," the guard answered. "All of them have coolers for transporting beer and wine."

"Bring him to one of them and give me the keys. I'll have it returned to this warehouse as soon as possible."

"Yes sir."

Sean made a note of the guard's nametag, and resolved to alert Bastian to his helpfulness. He found Trent in the employee's lounge enjoying one of the cold Starbucks coffee drinks from the vending machine.

"Did you get anything out of Benjamin?"

"Oh yes," Sean said, checking out the vending machine. "And he should be more than enough evidence to prove Amanda's guilt."

"Maybe you should call Zarius and let him know."

"No. Amanda might find out he knowsand do something desperate. There's a reason why she's doing all this, and Benjamin doesn't know anything."

"What makes you so sure?"

"He's on a leash. Amanda wanted us looking after him while she played her game. You've seen his judgment so far. Stopping in a city controlled by Gangrel and our werewolf allies, killing his own subordinates and humans…plus the way he acted at the conclave…I think she saw him as the perfect patsy."

Trent was about to say something elsewhen the cell phone in Sean's hand rang. It was Benjamin! Eyes widened, Sean placed his finger to his lips and flipped it open.


"This is Elizabeth, I'm looking for Benjamin. Oh…you're one of the initiates?" Elizabeth looked to Amanda, confused.

An evil grin spread across Amanda's face. She had to hold back from laughing. She urged Elizabeth to go on.

"Okay…I need Benjamin to do one more thing for me. I think Sean, the Gangrel Primogen may suspect something, and I need him killed. Good."

"How could you?" Amanda shouted when Elizabeth hung. When Elizabeth and crossing the room in an instant. Elizabeth dropped the phone. "How dare you endanger this clan with your personal games?"

"B-b-but Primgoen I-"

Amanda withdrew her knife and plunged it into Elizabeth's heart. "This is the price of treachery young one. Such a pity. You'll never get to recite the lesson I have taught you."