Chapter 9: The Childe's Suspicions
"Well that's strange," Trent commented, when Sean hung up the phone. He had heard Elizabeth with his own preternatural hearing.
"Very," Sean responded. He seemed unsure of whether or not he was angry or confused. He placed the phone on the table and went to the vending machine. After buying himself an apple juice he sat down across from Trent. "Amanda's thought this out. There'd be almost no evidence against her now if she set that girl up."
"And who would believe a lowly initiate anyway," Trent added. "Amanda probably had Elizabeth call you so it would throw you off the trail."
"We still have Benjamin and the initiates' testimonies. I still want to wait until we can speak to Zarius in private. Let's allow Amanda to think she's in the clear for a while, it might make her slip up."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Return to Bennington with Benjamin. Mary's going to need you to help with arrangements at the resort. I need to take your car and see if I can find the Assamites. When you get to Bennington, let Zarius know that we suspect a traitor, and tell him why I won't tell him who it is yet. I think he'll understand."
"You got it. Just be careful with my car okay, it was a birthday present." As an afterthought he added, "I probably shouldn't go alone. I wonder if I could get the Brujah to come with me."
"I'll ask them to spare a guard or two. I'll owe Bastian a couple favors but it'll be worth it."
"Forgive me my Prince," Gale said over the phone. "I take full responsibility for our actions in Vermont."
"Don't worry about that now," Lazarus replied. "The situation Vermont Chantry is what we must deal with. You were right to contact me."
"I do not wish to speak against my superiors."
"A noble cause. But Amanda and Benjamin have endangered our clan and its integrity. They have violated our laws and the laws of Zarius' territory. If we do not handle the situation swiftly and silently the Tremere will have a war that it cannot win."
"What do you ask of me, my Prince?"
"I am authorizing you to locate and execute Benjamin. Once he is dead return to Vermont. We will deal with Amanda more subtly."
The conversation ended and Gale held the receiver for a long time before placing it back on the cradle. The darkness faded entirely from the sky now and she needed to feed if she was going to survive the sunrise.
With new cell phones-generously provided by the Brujah-Sean and Trent went in different directions. Two guards sat with Benjamin in the cooler while a third drove the van. Trent sat in the passenger seat wearing a bullet proof vest beneath his new business suit.
Sean accepted the offer of new clothes, but declined the vest and the gun; for fear that it would attract unwanted attention. He was going alone and at his own risk.
"I wish you would have taken a guard along with you at least," Trent admitted over the phone.
"The Brujah have done their part." Sean replied. "And if something goes wrong out here, at least we can keep them from being dragged into it. I gotta let you go."
"Call me when you get back?"
"Definitely." Sean placed the phone back in his pocket. He followed route seven, back to St. Johnsburry, where the neonate had been arrested. He thought about telling his Gangrel to detain the Assamites too, but that would have been pointless. Assamites were particularly apt at not being found, and they were very selectively sired. Only on rare occasions did one become forcibly embraced as with other clans
The roads were soaked as snow and ice ran off from the cliffs. Sean rolled the window down to let the cool air fill the car and rolled it back up quickly. The day was mostly clear, and Sean wondered if it would last through to Christmas.
Sean idly wondered if Mary would have to use fake snow for the skiers, and if she would lose much business to Killington and Mount Snow this year. He wondered how much Richard would spend on advertising this year, and what his thoughts were on keeping Kindred and humans from clashing.
I could use a vacation, He thought. It had been seven years since he took a break from the normal flow of life. In fact, the last time he'd had a vacation was the year before he was sired. The year made him think of someone he had known back then.
Jason, the name ran across his mind. Jason would have graduated from high school last year. A memory of a high school freshman came to mind. He was only a foot shorter than Sean with dyed blond hair and brown eyes. At times he could seem a little slow, but his talents with video production equipment and sound systems were outstanding. And Sean hadn't seen him for over seven years.
Since he never got to see his own funeral, Sean wondered how Jason had taken it when he "disappeared". He remembered the shock on Kyle and Andrew's face, when he approached them after becoming a vampire. Hell, he even remembered Trent's reaction after Mary embraced him. Would Jason be just as shocked if Sean approached him now?
An unearthly squeal emanated from the amp. A human might not have noticed it until many weeks had gone by and the problem had grown worse, but Jeff picked up on it quickly. In moments the tool kit was opened and the wires were being adjusted and replaced.
"I blew it, I just know it." Kyle groaned nearby.
"You must have done all right." Jeff said off handedly. "Mr. Peterson doesn't talk about you as much as he talks about Sean lately."
"Mr. Peterson always talks about Sean," Kyle pointed out. "Accept when he's reviewing some play."
Jeff examined a red wire for a minute. After deciding it wasn't the offending part he moved on to the speaker itself.
"How are you guys dealing with everything?"
"Most of us couldn't care less." Jeff answered, honestly. "I was thinking of writing a song about it. But Sean might not appreciate it."
Kyle's beeper went off. He asked Jeff if he could use their phone and excused himself to take the call. Mrs. Cabrall, one of his clients pulled a virus off the Internet. She needed to get it fixed immediately before it destroyed her work.
"I have to get going," He told Jeff. "So you'll be at the resort this Christmas?"
"Yeah, Eric's paying us a fortune. Says he wants to make the San Francisco's prince stay a memorable one. I think he just wants a chance to slip the prince and his girlfriend free tickets to Oldcastle so they'll donate money."
Kyle laughed and said goodbye. He got into his jeep and began the drive to Shaftsburry. There were times when he wished he had been sired into Toreador and not Gangrel. Even though his creative skills were limited to the computers he built and the video games he programmed, Kyle once had a longing to play the guitar professionally. At sixteen he even bought an electric one out of his own pocket. But like many of his dreams the fantasy of being a local legend faded away.
More or less, Kyle hoped Sean wouldn't regret leaving Kyle in charge of the clan. He wasn't entirely sure the rest supported him, and while Kyle was helpful in a crisis, he didn't have much confidence in his long term plans. If it didn't have microchips, wires, and plastic casing, Kyle was lost.
Typical Gangrel, Kyle chided himself as he passed the Green Mountain Christian Center. Let's face it; Sean sired you for a reason.
Mrs. Cabrall lived high on dirt road called Town Line West. The trees were thick on either side, accept where someone's lawn began and ended. Out to the left Kyle could see the snow covered Mount Equinox and the swamp and farmland that spread westward. The road itself got slippery in some parts, but Kyle was used to driving through rural areas so it didn't bother him much.
Almost immediately after finishing the job another call came through on the beeper. This time it was Zarius.
"Well, the virus is gone Mrs. Cabrall," Kyle announced proudly. "And I was able to get most of your work back. You have all your recent documents and some of your files going back three months. Everything else was deleted or too infected to save."
"Kyle, you're a lifesaver," Mrs. Cabrall praised.
"I hate to ask, but if I promise not to bill you would you let me use your phone?"
"Of course you may."
Kyle dialed the prince's number.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting-" Kyle couldn't say, my prince. Instead he substituted it for "Sir" and said it with equal reverence.
"That's all right Kyle," Zarius replied. "I need you're assistance here at the college. I can't talk about it over the phone."
"I can be there in an hour."
"Thank you."
Kyle said thank you to Mrs. Cabrall and made his way to SVC as fast as the law would allow. He took as many back roads as possible and tried to avoid areas where he knew traffic would be heavy. Kyle was glad that the new bypass had finally gone up, as it relieved the preholiday congestion a little.
The campus was still heavily covered in snow. Kyle stopped at the security booth but was quickly waved through. The roofs of the gymnasium and the dormitories were still partially covered in snow, and there were large piles of it built up around the cafeteria. Some students snowboarded on the hill; others built snowmen and had snowball fights. Kyle took the road up towards the mansion. Through the trees he could see the red tiled rooftops of the hundred year old building. He found a parking space and quickly made his way inside, not wanting to keep the prince waiting.
Zarius was in the meeting room along with the Tremere primogen, Amanda. Zarius sat at the head of the table while Amanda sat to his right. There was an empty chair at his left across from her.
"I hope I'm not late my Prince," Kyle said, nervously.
"Of course not, Kyle, but as interim primogen your presence is required." Zarius gestured to the empty seat and then turned to Amanda. "I'll let you speak."
Kyle took his seat and listened attentively.
"It is with great regret, and utmost embarrassment that I must inform you of the traitor within my clan's ranks." Amanda began, with sincerity. "I came upon one of our initiates speaking with someone, possibly one of the insubordinate creatures who trespassed into Vermont and violated the Masquerade. She had been…orchestrating the murders of Gangrel in the area in order to cover up for her own doings here. While your primogen has been chasing the Maine Tremere all over Vermont, Elizabeth was siring Caitiff who were also taking attention away from her."
"Why?" Kyle asked.
Amanda shook her head. "I have no way of knowing. When I confronted her she ran into a sunlit room and impaled herself. My experts say she had been starving herself for sometime, possibly as a means of escaping persecution."
"The point is, the evidence points to this Elizabeth as the one behind the murders," Zarius interjected. "She and some unknown accomplices killed the girl out by the high school, and now she is dead. Kyle, do you have any other questions."
Kyle thought for a moment. Sean would have had a million questions by this time, but they weren't coming to him. One did stand out though.
"How was this girl calling the guy from Maine?" He asked, looking from Zarius to Amanda.
"She was using a cellular phone," Amanda answered, producing the device and placing it on the table. "I don't know if you can sense her impressions on it yet, but the Prince has held it and he confirmed it was hers."
Zarius nodded.
"She must have given Benjamin one that only she knew the number to," she added. "But I can only speculate."
"Sounds like pretty wild speculation," Kyle commented. "I just find it hard to believe this girl could sneak around you like that. From what I've heard about Tremere you guys are pretty strict. Your initiates can't take a leak without you knowing about it."
Zarius didn't say a word, but kept his eye on the young Gangrel. Amanda didn't seem phased.
"She was particularly clever. The Tremere Clan has very few requirements for initiations. I won't go into great detail, but some intuitive qualities are major requirements for our clan and Elizabeth was an exceptionally talented childe. The Gangrel are known for their exceptional Kindred, are they not?"
Kyle shrugged. Something in Amanda's words bothered him, but he knew he'd have to wait for Sean to find out what it was. He looked at the phone.
"Can I take that?" He asked Zarius. "Sean might want to look at it later."
"I'll keep it safe until his return," Zarius answered. "In the meantime, you have a decision to make. Kyle Watson, as interim primogen you have the right to exact retribution from the Tremere, for the loss your clan has suffered."
"Retribution…" Kyle asked embarrassed.
"Revenge," Amanda clarified patiently. "Ask what you will of me, and I will do it, so that I may compensate your clan for the actions of the initiate."
Kyle nodded. He took a few more minutes to think about it. Something was too easy about all of this, and it all surrounded the cell phone. But he couldn't pass up the opportunity to do something really big for his clan that would earn their respect. He could only think of one thing.
"My prince, this is my request." He said, not sure if he was being ceremonial or not. "In…retribution…I would like it if my clan could make more vampires, uh, Kindred."
"Is that all?"
"No," Kyle said after some more thought. "That's only part of it. I would like it if Amanda could record what she said to me on tape, word for word."
At this Amanda was taken aback. Zarius permitted a small grin.
"My prince, this is a bit outrageous-" Amanda protested.
"I think it is a reasonable enough request." Zarius said. "I believe we have a number of recorders in the building, it could be done before much time goes by. As for the request for Free Embrace, Kyle, I grant you your request until the end of January. The Vermont Gangrel may embrace freely without my consent, but they will need either yours or Sean's. All other rules of the Masquerade apply."
"Thank you, my Prince."
"Amanda, will you be kind enough to fetch a tape recorder and return with it expediently? Professor Echelby keeps several in his desk."
Amanda couldn't refuse an order from her prince. So she left the room without a word, leaving Zarius and Kyle alone. Zarius broke the silence between them.
"If I may ask, what do you suspect?"
"Sir?" Kyle was caught off guard.
"Your questions, your request," Zarius said. "I felt like you were suspicious of something. That seems very unlike you."
"Oh, well…I mean no disrespect to Amanda." Kyle said. His nervousness had faded in the last few minutes, but he was still worried about stepping on toes. "But with all due respect, this just seems kind of convenient. I knew Sean before he was embraced, and you couldn't put much past him then."
Zarius nodded in recognition. He remembered James Reed's impressions of the young hunter and his own impressions the nights following Sean's embrace.
"Well, I think there's more to this than we're seeing. Something doesn't feel right to me, and what's weird is that I know Sean would have picked this up right away. I just couldn't figure it out so I couldn't say anything."
"You think Sean will discover something from Amanda's words?"
"Yes. If he listens to it just once."
"I agree." Zarius picked the phone up and looked at it. "As interim primogen, I can confide this in you. But I can tell that Tremere magic has been placed on this phone. The impressions are of the initiate that Amanda named, but the impressions are far too strong for a mere initiate. The Gangrel have been repaid for now, but if it turns out Amanda is lying there will be further retributions…"
"From the whole territory," Kyle finished.
"Yes. Will you be willing to help me?"
"Of course my prince. Let me do what I can with the phone, and I'll have evidence for you by the end of the week."
Zarius handed Kyle the phone. Kyle pocketed it swiftly as Amanda entered the room with the recorder.
"Now remember," Zarius said. "Kyle wants your speech word for word. And I have a very good memory, so I would like you to be honest."
"Yes, my prince." Amanda said with a heavy sigh.
