Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, congratulations, I believe, are in order. I know I gave them to you at the end of the last episode, but there's never an amount of compliments over a job well done that is excessive. If both of your victims are accounted for, and if they're not dead, they will soon be, with the yellow and orange flicker of flame glimpsing up through windows, soon to engulf the entirety of this once flashy institution. No vampires, no evidence of mischief, no problems for the Sabbat left behind.
Tell me. We'll start with Heather. How does one celebrate a job well done?
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Well, it's always nice to take a moment and reflect in our obvious superiority. And Maya has done such an amazing job today.
I think we could take our time, but just enjoy each other's company.
Maybe do a little redecorating.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Maya, seems to be that you're ahead of schedule so far as murders go.
You have a moment to enjoy Miami for what it is. Or a certain part of Miami, anyway.
[00:01:20] Speaker C: I really enjoy the rush of a job well done.
Almost as good as any drug ive ever tried.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: While it was over so quickly.
Just learn to savor it for a bit longer. I think youll find that it far surpasses anything that the humans can come up with.
[00:01:41] Speaker C: We have another target. Why not just ride the high a little longer?
[00:01:47] Speaker B: I think that maybe something as obvious as driving a very recognizable car from the scene of one incident directly to the scene of another incident might be one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: I was going to suggest not if we burn the car after we use it, but wow, you make fine. I'm not opposed to a little night in anyway.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: There's so many other. And anyway, that entire neighborhood is full of the kind of cars and material goods that you love so much. Treat yourself, Maya.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: No, you're right. I can afford to live a little.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Which means we are returning to the highway, crossing the city, back into the blood list of deep, ruby red and wealthy suburbs.
I regret to inform you that despite the time that has passed, the home is no more pleasant to look at than it was when you departed.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: And I'm gonna reach out as Maya is driving us to this abomination, let's just call it what it is and just run the back of my face. Fingers.
Lock her face into the crook of her neck.
Wrap a piece of her hair around my finger.
I'm so glad we get to spend this time together.
We've grown so much.
[00:03:25] Speaker C: I'll lean into it while she talks. It's nice.
So, if we're not going to continue business for the rest of the evening, do you have other ideas of what we can do tonight?
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Well, now that you ask, I do have a little surprise planned for you.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: You know I hate surprises.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Yes, but I think that this one will be absolutely worth it.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: I suppose if it's from you, I will happily accept it.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: I'm sure you will.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: Then I suppose it's time to park the car. Not on the street or in the driveway. Obviously, we're a long way away from the days of the surveillance state and cameras on every corner. But still, best not to leave the artifact associated with a crime in public. Plain view.
So, into the garage with its large fridge full of light beer. Something island themed, perhaps a band where they play a marimba. And into the home.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: As we step out of the car, I'm going to walk around the hood, almost a less of a saunter, more of a sachet.
All liquid curves.
Maya, why don't you scout out, go shopping for a bit for the ride that we'll take to the next location.
Give me a moment to freshen up inside and maybe you could.
You are feeling oh so generous towards me.
Bring in our two friends.
See if we can make things a little bit more cozy in there.
[00:05:17] Speaker C: I will lazily salute Heather as I watch her head into the house.
I'm certain I can find something that is up to my standards, if not hers.
And then, of course, as usual, I've been left with a little cleanup.
Easy enough. I'm sure there's an incinerator or a shovel in here.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: The latter more likely than the former, but I don't quite imagine that's what Heather has in mind. Her experimental urges don't. As far as I can tell, I don't think lean in the waste disposal. Waste management spectrum of mortuary science.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: Good old fashioned garbage bag. It is.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Of course, there is the question of the vehicle.
I believe Heather intended to allow you to steal that which makes your dead heart beat the fastest. I don't know if you can beat the car you have in front of you, but imagine for for a moment, reaching into the deepest recesses of Maya's ambition. What car would make the next crime that much sweeter?
[00:06:26] Speaker C: Call it a little nostalgia, but I would love to find a Porsche out here. Is that too much taste for this area? Maybe.
1974?
911? G.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: I think as you explore the neighborhood, you will be able to deduce fairly easily that you decided to murder the least popular people on the block. So far as taste is concerned.
All money in Florida is new money. But some new money is worse than others in that way.
So indeed, the vehicle you desire, it shall be yours.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: I have my eyes on the most adorable 911 Carrera.
As soon as I see it, and I know it's the one, I'm going to have to tell Heather so I can head back to the house.
Let her know immediately. I'll swing open the front door with a sitcom. Honey, I'm home.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: And Heather, what does Maya hear in return?
[00:07:40] Speaker B: I hit the button on the intercom from the bedroom.
Well, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.
You'll have to give me a couple more minutes. I'm not quite ready.
Take the time to just enjoy the anticipation. Put aside your impatience and know that your reward is on its way.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Maya, between the two of us, you've been dating Heather longer. What is it that comes to mind when she suggests a surprise?
[00:08:13] Speaker C: One of the things I love about Heather is her creativity.
And I will say, when Heather says she's going to slip into something more comfortable, she means it.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: Ah, you're imagining a different kind of body coming down the stairs. Eventually, a nice change of pace for most people means doing it in a new room of the house. Not, I have altered my bone structure.
[00:08:37] Speaker C: For you that if you're thinking small, there could be any number of things up in that room. And I'm not going to lie. I cannot wait to find out. I've never been good at following instructions. So I'm going to make a beeline to the bedroom.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Traveling surreptitiously or making enough noise to know that you're on your way.
[00:09:01] Speaker C: Heather knows me. If anything, her asking me to wait means she's asking me to head straight for her.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Well, then, let us go to the second floor for just a moment. Heather, is that true?
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Of course.
There's really never been a time where Maya has been able to wait a moment in her lesser life.
Or her better one.
I'm counting on it. In fact.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: As I round the stairs to the second floor, I can continue to talk. I don't need an intercom.
Heather, sweetie, how much time do you think we actually have?
Because, you know, if I had my way, we would take our sweet, sweet time.
At this point, I'm speaking through the door and I let the edge of my shadow leak under it, just for a moment.
So, is now a good time?
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Well, despite your impatience, I am ready for you.
Come in, darling.
[00:10:25] Speaker C: I don't need to be invited twice. I throw open the door.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: And pray tell, Heather, you've got all of us on tenterhooks, waiting to see the surprise you've cooked up. What does Maya see when she throws the door open?
[00:10:42] Speaker B: One of the many advantages of our first stop being a plastic surgeon's private suite is the plethora of scalpels available, and it would have been so wasteful if I hadn't brought some with me.
So there are three beautiful, perfectly sharpen scalpels flying towards her.
[00:11:10] Speaker C: Wait. What the fuck?
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Heather, will you please roll dexterity and melee for me?
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Two successes.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Well, in that case, Maya, what you see are finely made implements of stainless surgical steel embedding into the doorframe adjacent where you are standing.
[00:11:33] Speaker C: Heather, what the hell?
[00:11:35] Speaker B: You're slow on the uptake, but this is stretching the limits of credulity.
[00:11:40] Speaker C: Truly not the foreplay I anticipated, but certainly game.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: My darling.
I do like to mix my play with my work, which I'm sure you know about me by now, but I do so, so care for you.
So this will go so much easier if you just let me do the job I was sent here to do.
[00:12:13] Speaker C: You. You mean, um, the job we were sent here to do, right.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: No, the job I was set here to do is you. Our masters have found you to be extraneous.
[00:12:33] Speaker C: Since one hasn't mattered what our masters think.
[00:12:38] Speaker B: It has always mattered what our masters think when it is to my benefit to follow.
Well, for anyone who had the time to look around the room, they would notice that the mirror and the headboard of this beautifully lush waterbed is broken. It will come as less of a surprise when I slash out with a broken shard of glass.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Less of a surprise being one of the more important phrases that we'll speak tonight, because that is correct. Maya, you finally have the benefit of reacting.
I know that Heather is going to roll dexterity and athletics again. What are you going to do in response?
[00:13:24] Speaker C: Just get out of the way. I have to.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: Yeah, just dodge, then dexterity and athletics from you, and we'll see what comes next.
[00:13:34] Speaker C: Three successes.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: And I also three successes I is.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: The way that we play them, always falling in favor of the attacker, which means Heather lands a strike, perhaps not with the cleanliness or vigor that she desired, but enough to leave a glancing slash against the waxy pallor of Maya's skin.
Maya, if you were human, where would the scar be?
[00:14:02] Speaker C: Heather catches me from grazing the cheekbone into the shoulder and across it.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: With Heather having exhausted the surprise round of combat, we would now enter into initiative. Normally, fortunately, for those of us who are cinematically minded, you have the same dexterity score, which means we'll alternate who goes first, round by round.
In this round, Maya, the honor falls to you.
[00:14:36] Speaker C: I I just. Get out of there. I don't know if I can use that as a in combat, but I would like to put space between myself and Heather.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Mechanically. We'll call this a full defense action and let you narrow your way through the house as you see fit. But to determine how many steps you make away, if at all, that will be dexterity and athletics.
Heather, you see my, uh, turntail, what do you make of it?
[00:15:10] Speaker B: And not the self respect that I would hope to afford you.
But you were so much better than this, and I am going to throw another scalpel.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: Dexterity and melee from you as both weapons and insults hurled down the hallway.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: It's not that I don't respect myself or, you know, it's not that I'm worried about combat. It's more that I'm trying to give myself time to formulate a plan, and I can't do that while trying to dodge scalpels also. What the fuck? Heather?
[00:15:56] Speaker A: What the fuck, indeed. Although the amount of time we'll have to interrogate that decision together is going to depend how this next salvo of scalpels goes. Maya, your result.
[00:16:08] Speaker C: One success.
[00:16:11] Speaker B: And, Heather, five successes. A messy, critical hunger.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Die doing the heavy lifting. Interesting.
In the context of game, that means that you have succeeded beyond your expectations, but not through your own skill, not through your own agency, but because the beast has taken its leave of your body and done what it wants to do. So describe. Then you've hurled these blades. What about this moment allows that creature.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: To manifest in all our time together? Together. From the moment I saw Maya and I picked Maya, I believed that there was something within her, that she was worthy.
And at the first opportunity, she not only turns tail and runs away, but she's allowed everything to overcome her. She has nothing to say to me. She has nothing to give to me in this what is supposed to be the best moment of our time together, the most intimate moment of our time together.
Stop ruining it, Maya.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: Words delivered with a sharpness matched only by the scalpel that now embeds itself in your skin.
Five successes will round down to three. Superficial damage. But the critical hit. Oh, on any other person, it would have been a beautiful throw, the blade landing directly between the t six and t seven vertebrae, enough to leave the heart and lungs operable, but to paralyze everything else. Say what you will about the experience, Maya. But it's clear she cares about you.
[00:18:14] Speaker C: I'll try to take that into consideration as I continue to run.
I have two goals in mind right now. And the first is don't fucking die. And the second is figure out what the fuck Heather is doing. Both of which require time. And not dying for Lasombra means making it dark.
As I run, I'm going to call upon my connection to oblivion and plunge the space into as much darkness as I can get.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Supernatural, the way that the light vanishes, there's no pop of a light bulb. There's no slow dimming. And Heather, as you look forward, there's not even a shadow. There's just a wall on the other side of which is nothing. As Maya retreats into the inky, empty.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Black and there's a moment that I spend wrestling myself back into control.
This can still go so easily for both of us.
I can still give you the. The death that you deserve. The one that you've earned.
It can be so beautiful, Maya. Just like you. So beautiful for eternity.
[00:19:37] Speaker C: I can't help it. I have to talk to her.
I already got the death I deserve. I earned one I don't need. We don't need to go through this.
As I say that I'm looking for the next room I can duck into and trying to open that door as quietly as possible.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: I mean, it is unfortunate that. Well, for Maya, I suppose, that I know her so well and her abilities.
I knew that eyes would not be ever the way to track Maya down.
But I have control over not just the flesh of others, but my own.
Always my own. And so I will enhance my senses.
Smell, hearing, using vicissitude.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: In that case, Maya, your escape hinges on your ability to roll dexterity and stealth against Heather's wits and awareness.
[00:20:40] Speaker C: I would like to use my blood while it is still in my body so I will blood buff. That is two successes. Enough.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Depends on Heather's answer. Heather, how did you do?
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Against my five successes? Doubtful.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: No. No, indeed not. We've established it's not the site that you're relying on. But there is something that gives Maya away as she tries to throw you off the scent, or the sound, as it were. You are able to correctly identify the room that she has chosen to take refuge in. What is it that gives her away?
[00:21:18] Speaker B: Maya, I will always, always know the way that you just can't help yourself but scratch your nails a little bit against the door as you reach for.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: The handle, as Heather is not attempting to move in silence. Maya, you have no problem hearing their approach.
[00:21:43] Speaker C: As I can hear Heather approaching, I duck into a guest bedroom and I'm going to use the adjoining bathroom to see if I can double back.
But Heather, it.
Heather, I I I. What? What could I have done that is as bad or worse than the Tzmitsu we just dealt with? This is. This is. This is insane.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: It doesn't matter what you've done.
I was given an order, and I'm going to follow it.
[00:22:23] Speaker C: You didn't think maybe that could have been a test? Or that the order is wrong?
[00:22:31] Speaker B: Oh, darling, of course it's a test.
They're all tests.
If you weren't so focused on always being the one that's not like the other canines, the one that must be noticed at all costs.
I know that you're young, but it's all so exhausting. And truth be told, from a lasombra, rather lowering of you, Maya.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: I know there's more running away in your future, but as these words, they're landing on your ears, what's going through your head?
Is Heather right?
[00:23:12] Speaker C: I suppose upon a little bit of self reflection, I haven't been a paragon of dignity and quiet strength. But I would like to argue that an organization that prides itself on exacting power over others would maybe appreciate out of the box thinking or a little bit of mess.
Regardless, this is one hell of an employee evaluation.
I would appreciate it if so severance was less literal.
Heather. You know, I cannot quite appreciate the excuse. I'm just following orders.
[00:23:49] Speaker B: And I wouldn't expect you to because forward thinking has never been your strong suit.
But none of us do something for nothing, Maya.
[00:23:59] Speaker C: I would have assumed affection. Our long history of partnership trying to kill me right now does feel a bit of a slight against you.
You chose me.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: Yes. And that is why I'm trying to give you the dignity of a death that comes at you face to face.
I could have just shot you in the back of the head earlier. It would have been so easy.
But you worth more than that to me.
I want to preserve that perfect image.
Quirk of your smile, the way you have that little dimple in your cheek, the very color of your irises.
I will carry those with me forever.
And as I put them in the next vessel, and the vessel after that, and the vessel after that, it will forever be a tribute to my feelings for you.
But what the black hand demands of us, we are obligated to give.
You vowed to give the pack your life.
They are calling in that promise.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: I'm sure you have complicated feelings on the words just coming, but those words are closer and closer as Heather erases the distance between you. What's your next move?
[00:25:44] Speaker C: Negotiation would be a lot easier if she didn't keep trying to throw things me. Is there any wood in this space?
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Oh my. You of all people would know the seventies. That's the decade with the wood.
We're in a new glass and plastic and metal decade. There might be a bit of paneling here, maybe the leg of a stool or a lamp, something like that. It's going to be clumsy. It's going to be improvised first.
[00:26:18] Speaker C: These terrible people and their lack of taste.
I'll pull a framed painting from the wall and cast it aside as I realize this ornate framework is just fucking plastic.
[00:26:35] Speaker A: Welcome to your injection molded future.
[00:26:38] Speaker C: I understand how Heather, that there are things that have been promised and oaths made to the pack. Does that not mean anything to you? That we've our pack, our bond?
[00:26:56] Speaker B: You keep saying that but I'm telling you it does.
It means exactly as much as it is a letter to ever me.
[00:27:09] Speaker C: Im trying to see the flattery in that.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Heather isnt running out of monologue Maya, but you are running out of running room. There are only so many bedrooms on this end of the house, so many adjoining bathrooms and doors you can put between yourself. And as this conversation has proceeded, its becoming apparent that you are a bit boxed in.
There are only two ways I can see you creating more distance. One is the window behind you and that's a fairly steep drop. The other is directly through.
[00:27:45] Speaker C: Well, as much as I believe my body can handle jumping out the window, I don't think it would be a great course of action. So through Heather it is.
And I will try to take a wide berth as she enters the room to get around her and back through the door.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: Well Maya, that's dexterity and athletics from you Heather. I expect you're going to be surprised by this sudden turn of events and also literal turn in your direction. Not so surprised that you can't react. What do you do when you realize Maya's going to try to charge past you and into the hall?
[00:28:27] Speaker B: It would be a shame to waste all of that momentum. So I'm going to try to wrap her and swing her back around.
[00:28:36] Speaker C: Hopefully three successes will be enough.
[00:28:39] Speaker A: Heather, we're waiting with baited, not breath. Is three successes enough?
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Well this time it's a bestial failure.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Oh, very interesting.
Well this creates a predicament for you, Maya. You have succeeded. But for the wrong reasons, as I expect. Heather's intention was to use the leverage of flesh to keep you nice and cooped up inside the room. In that, Heather fails. Not because you have escaped into the hallway, though there's a struggle as body meets body. The doorway not wide enough to pass through. Two people can't go shoulder to shoulder. There will be physical contact. That's when you feel those surgeons hands on your body grasping at you, trying to control your presence. And for a moment, you feel like you're going to slip right by.
And that's when the pivot of Heather's heel digs into the too thick carpet and you feel yourself being pulled like a comet around the sun into another direction.
But where Heather had intended to use the momentum of your sprint to toss you onto the floor, or perhaps throw you into the bed, the beast has other plans.
Heather has already articulated the irritation your defiance has earned. And if there's one thing the beast resents, it is people who say no.
The very fact that you deign to survive when it has deemed you no longer worthy of doing so sends a boiling rage up from the base of Heather's spine, where that gift of cain lives and lurks and waits.
The force that follows is supernatural in ways that only kindred can understand. And you find yourself going well past the bed, across the carpet, to the sill of the window. And through it, you will see that red faced anger.
Those seething, hating eyes grow further and further away as you plummet the 10ft into the backyard.
That is another re superficial damage from the wound and the fall.
Which, if my math is correct, is bringing you dangerously close to aggravated territory.
[00:31:22] Speaker C: Deeply in ideal. But on the bright side, I have found the one wood element in this house.
A window frame.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: Finally, a weapon.
Something you intend to use against your would be assailant.
[00:31:42] Speaker C: Yes, but not in the way I assume you're thinking.
I'm hoping I have a little time before Heather comes down to check her work.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Now, the amount of time there depends on the methodology. Heather, are we feeling the stairs or the, uh, elevator?
[00:32:02] Speaker B: I am not taking my eyes back off of Maya.
She's led me a merry little chase.
But the end is here, and the quicker we get that over with, the better.
[00:32:18] Speaker A: Then a second kindred departing through the window.
Maya. That answers the question. How much time you have? What are you doing with it?
[00:32:28] Speaker C: Well, a quick glance around has proven that I have landed artfully in a pile of me and glass and a couple flimsy pieces of wood. But that is enough to position one in a way that looks as if I've taken a stake to the heart.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: Interesting. A little bit of sleight of hand, but not quite larceny. Let's call that wits and subterfuge.
[00:32:57] Speaker C: Yes, I intend on leveraging my strengths.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: Indeed. But this creates an interesting position, because whether or not your ruse has worked, you are going to behave as if it has. And Heather isn't going to have the opportunity to test that theory until Heather is, well, close enough that the results are going to be explosive in either direction. So, Heather, I will ask you to roll wits and awareness to see if you notice the subterfuge. But neither one of you are going to reveal the result until the exact appropriate moment.
Which means Maya pretending to be paralyzed amidst this house detritus and Heather approaching, scalpels in hand, is the scene.
Step after menacing step bringing the zamis closer to the lasombra. Heather, what happens next?
[00:33:57] Speaker B: The time for scalbles is over. And now it is time to end this.
But as one last nod to the affection that I have held for Maya, I take out the cutco cleaver that I have found in that garishead but oh so well equipped. Kitchen slices through anything, really, even spinal cords.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: Then that is what you see, Miss Lughazzi.
Your packmate, your partner, your lover stalking towards you with a look in their eyes that belies none of those things.
There's a glint of evil in the iris and the glint of the moon on the cleaver as Heather approaches.
[00:34:59] Speaker C: Heather wanted fucking self control. Fine. I'm using all of it not to say something right now.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: As I understand it, you're going to wait until the absolute last possible moment. Yes.
[00:35:12] Speaker C: Yes.
It seems that I can't talk my way out of a demise.
And if someone has to die, it's going to be her.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: Then what's the plan?
[00:35:26] Speaker C: I need Heather to get close enough to touch.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: And so we come to the conclusion of our dangerous gambit. Heather proceeding as if Maya has incapacitated her herself with the fall and Maya hoping that Heather doesn't know. Now is when we reveal the truth. Heather, what was the result of your wits and awareness?
[00:35:49] Speaker C: Rule?
[00:35:50] Speaker B: Two successes.
[00:35:54] Speaker A: I know how big Maya's dice pool is, but we also know what Maya's luck is like.
Maya, what was the result of your subterfuge role?
[00:36:06] Speaker C: Six successes.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Oh, Heather, no. You have no idea. As far as you are concerned, Maya is paralyzed and at your mercy.
So we will handle it. Thus, Heather, you tell me what happens next and narrate up until the very bloody end. As you so desiree Maya, you can chime in when you break your ruse and enact whatever surprise you're waiting to deliver.
[00:36:40] Speaker B: All of the rage that filled me as I flung Maya out the window, as I heard her body hit the ground, the tinkle of the glass.
[00:36:58] Speaker C: As.
[00:36:58] Speaker B: It fell beside her, shimmering in the moonlight.
Honestly, darling, I don't know that you've ever looked so beautiful.
I want you to know, before you go, that this is the closest to the mundane, pedestrian, all encompassing love that they've talked about for so long, that I've ever felt.
I care more about you than I have ever cared about another being that isn't myself.
And I kneel down to place one last kiss on that perfectly ravageable mouth.
[00:37:43] Speaker C: That's exactly what I'm waiting for.
As soon as I feel Heather's lips touch mine, I will wrap my hands around her in an embrace and with a piece of that window frame, drive the wood into her heart from the back.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Well, you have the benefit of subterfuge here, which means Heather will be caught by surprise, and that gives you a plus two dice. But bonus from there, it is strength and melee. There is no other way around it. You are forcing the wood through muscle and sinew and tissue.
It's not an easy thing to accomplish.
[00:38:29] Speaker C: Well, with the help of my blood that I can hopefully replenish later.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: Five successes meeting exactly the target difficulty, Henry will not have the opportunity to gasp with surprise as the very moment the tip of that shattered window frame pierces the flesh of your heart. You are conscious, capable of sight, capable of hearing, but utterly frozen. Else.
[00:39:07] Speaker C: Now, if I were a lesser person, I would use this time to monologue about how disappointed I am or how much I clearly love Heather because I'm taking the time to kill her. With respect, I will bring my other hand to Heather's throat.
Heather, we were gods. We could do whatever we wanted.
And I'm so sorry that I couldn't be enough for eternity with you and call upon my connection to oblivion.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: And then the power of that place, beyond that place of death and shades and silence and shadow radiates out from your palms, dead flesh withering away as you introduce them to the empty aeons beyond the stars.
You will see her face up until that very last moment when the head is severed from the body, after which there is only ashe.
[00:40:23] Speaker C: At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I'm just going to lay here a moment.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: Well, it's certainly premature to ask you what your plans are. I am very interested in what you're.
[00:40:35] Speaker C: Thinking, beyond the fact that one of the few people I had left just tried to murder me. The people I thought supported me ordered that murder.
So I guess now we go to the source of it.
Heather said that I was being a coward for running.
Fine. I don't have to run. I can tackle this problem head on. So I guess I get to take that really cute porsche that Heather had me pick out and back to the airport, wherever.
Thank God it's still the eighties and I can buy a ticket. Cash on site.
[00:41:21] Speaker A: Another first class flight back to San Diego.
We'll not bother ourselves with minutiae of travel. I assume, at the earliest possible opportunity, you'll be visiting.
[00:41:33] Speaker C: The bishop wouldn't want to sit in anticipation.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: Then the next scene unfolds in an Osferatu warren buried amongst the sewers and tunnels that stretch between San Diego and Tijuana.
A twisting, labyrinthine place home of the Sabbat bishop Cicatris.
The fact you can make it this deep into the warren without being challenged is testament to either a grand lapse of security, which is most unlikely, or a degree of consent from your superior to your presence when you finally arrive in what passes for an audience chamber in this domain. The bishop is waiting for you, sitting on a garbage throne, eyes staring at you entirely. Black fingers with long, twisted nails, steepled with anticipation.
[00:42:36] Speaker C: I have not bothered to change. Was still covered in ash.
I will give him a sweeping bow.
Well, you surprised Maya Lugasi.
[00:42:53] Speaker A: You're not supposed to be here, but you know that.
[00:42:59] Speaker C: If it makes you feel any better, I brought Heather with me.
What's left of her, and I will throw essentially a dime bag of heather at his feet.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: You can watch his eyes follow the arc of the baggie as it lands unceremoniously a few feet from you.
The room fills with a twisted, chortling laughter. A chuckle forced through malformed vocal cords.
Hmm.
Maybe we were wrong as to which of you had more value.
Ah, well, no matter.
One sabbat is as good as another when it comes to proving worth. And if you have earned your survival, then who am I to go against Cain's will? That the fittest shall continue?
[00:43:54] Speaker C: To be honest, I was expecting a little more kerfuffle.
I murder your murderer and you applaud me?
[00:44:08] Speaker A: Why wouldn't I? We are who we are. The sabbat is strength. The black hand doesn't guide with light touches.
You've proven yourself to be worthy of the curse that is in your veins.
Tis to be celebrated, isn't it?
[00:44:27] Speaker C: I appreciate knowing the extreme value you place on my skillset.
[00:44:35] Speaker A: It speaks for itself, Maya.
There's no need to interrogate the concept further.
But unless you intend to test your strength again and you can see him leaning forward, hands on his thighs, ready to stand up, if you decide to answer this question incorrectly, I suggest maybe you go to your haven, enjoy well earned rest, and politely await that which the Sabbat has next in store for you.
[00:45:08] Speaker C: I really, really am considering letting him do what he thinks needs to be done. Because maybe if I'm this bothered by these circumstances, then I'm not.
I'm not Sabbat. I'm not a good follower.
But I don't want to give him that dignity.
The only person I would have ever allowed the honor of killing me is now dead.
So I nod and I will leave.
I would hate to be a disappointment.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: There's something about the way he smiles at you.
Beyond, of course, the twisted abomination of Nosferatu countenance.
There's an admiration of your gusto, your bravado. There's a certain respect for your strength.
But there's also that lingering hint of distrust. One predator watching another.
You killed Heather.
You might have thought about it a great deal at the time, but you certainly feel strong enough to come and challenge the bishop to his face.
What else might Maya Lugasi challenge? Have given the opportunity, no doubt. That is a question that we will ask several times over the decades before this lasombra makes her way to Chicago. But for now, thats a story for another night.
