The scream was anguished and pained. The walls shook. Deep below the offices of Dave Batista was hidden the dungeon. It had been there during the days of Eddie Fiori, and Dave had seen no reason to get rid of it. In recent months, he hadn't found a need to use it. Now, with Morgana's warnings reverberating in his head, he was glad that the place still existed.

He called himself Kane. So long since his Embrace, no one remembered what his real name had actually been. His variation on the first primogen's name made him think more of himself than was actually there. Laying on the floor with Chyna's foot crushing his trachea, his own mortality was dawning on him.

Dave dropped down to the floor beside Kane's head. "Fiori loyalist!" He spat the words at him. From his station in Washington, D.C. as the primogen's second, Dave had been more interested in other clans in other cities than he should have been. His own primogen was never going to step down, and Dave couldn't find a way to get rid of him that wouldn't send the rest of the clans against him. So, his eyes set on the opposite coast, and he found Eddie Fiori.

As a primogen, the man was a joke. Though, by nature, the Brujah clan bucked authority, Eddie took it too far. He endangered the entire Masquerade with his overtly strong arm tactics. He threatened a war with the prince of the city. By the time Dave had decided to take his leave from D.C., Brujah in San Francisco were already seeking him out because their primogen was gone.

He had plans for the San Francisco Brujah. They would still run the music industry. They would still stand on their own when they could, but he wouldn't think that he alone could take down the prince. He didn't want to be prince. Dave likened himself to a Mafia capo. He was happy with his smaller family and didn't want the burden of every single vampire within the city limits. He would let Julian Luna lead his people, and Dave would forge forward with his own.

And now, this Kane was threatening to destroy it all. By Morgana's word, he was the leader of the sect within Brujah that wanted to revolt. He didn't necessarily trust Morgana, but he knew that she didn't have desires to be princess anymore than he wanted to be prince. He knew that she wasn't trying to destroy other clans. She was just trying to keep her boyfriend's powerbase strong.

Dave just wanted to keep his clan in one piece.

"You think I'll let you destroy my clan?" He shoved Chyna's foot out of the way and replaced it with his hand. He gripped Kane's throat tightly as he growled at him. "You think I came all the way here for you to give me my final death? Not fucking likely!"

Dave stood so quickly that a human would have missed the movement. It was like he just appeared on his feet. He threw Kane across the room and almost like a game of basketball, Chyna finished the past and threw him into the wall. She sneered at him and dug her nails into his neck.

Chyna had come with Dave from D.C. Brujah may have been muscle, but even Brujah needed bodyguards, and there was no one he trusted more than the muscular woman that stood at his side. Dave was her sire. Some fifty years prior, her raven hair and uncharacteristically muscular body had called him to her. She had welcomed his Embrace and been by his side ever since. Now, there was no way in hell she was going to let someone as low as Kane ruin this.

"I say we kill him now." She squeezed harder. Blood welled around her fingernails. "We get rid of him and the others will file suit."

"You know what Luna said, and for now, we'll go along with the prince's wishes."

"Do we go with his girlfriend's wishes as well? Do we torture?"

Dave smirked. "Well, Chyna... I thought that's what we were doing all along." He walked up to Kane and stuck the barrel of a 9mm in his stomach. "Torture is the best thing to do when you can't kill them."

He pulled the trigger. Two loud cracks, then Kane started to scream. Chyna dropped him, then she and Dave stepped back to watch him slide down the wall. He held his hands to his stomach. He watched the blood ooze around his fingers. His eyes rose, wide with astonishment, to his primogen.

"Next time, it'll be phospherous." Dave stepped up to him and kicked him in the side. He squatted down in front of him and sneered. "You tell the rest of them what happened here. I will bring every fucking one of them down here and tear them to shreds. I will collect your blood in a reservoir beneath the floor, and then the entire clan will feed on you. I don't give a damn what Luna says. He is not going to protect every rotten son of a bitch in every clan."

Dave stood as Chyna walked over. She brought her knee up, catching Kane in the throat. She looked down at him with her hands on her hips. "And I am the one that will personally bleed you. Hurt the primogen, you hurt me. And I can't stand to be hurt."

She shoved him out of the way, then jerked the door open. Dave followed her. He left the wrought iron door ajar. There was no point torturing Kane if his followers wouldn't know that he meant business. Outside the door, he adjusted his collar and straightened his suit jacket. Looking down, he saw a spot of blood on the black silk sleeve and groaned. "Fucking hell..."

Chyna looked at him and rolled her eyes. "You're not the only one." She rose her hand and looked in disgust at the blood embedded beneath her nails. "I've got to wash this shit off."

"Go up and get cleaned off. I'll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes. I'm sure Luna will be at Haven tonight. We can let him and Morgana know that our clan is taken care of, so they can back the hell off."

"Sounds like a plan."

Chyna nodded and headed off. Dave watched her walk away, then turned back towards the dungeon. Kane was moving towards the door and his bald, shining head was visible from the hallway. Dave grabbed the door and slammed it inward. The steel crashed into his skull and Kane went flat. He'd wake up, but he'd have one hell of a headache. "Fuck with us, will you? That'll teach you to make Brujah look bad." He spat on the floor by Kane's head, then turned and headed upstairs.