Canticles of the Prophet Zachariah:

Be Forgot

Notes by Anthony

“I opened my eyes. For a moment, I thought I was at the Temple. Water rained down. People screamed. Alarms blared. George was at the Crossroads, but he hadn’t arrived alone. Gwen was right behind him. She had pulled the fire alarm, yelling “he’s got a gun!” That accounted for the water on my face. The crowd had panicked and rushed for the exits. I was panicking, too. I felt for the strands of the Cobweb leading to Joan and Cedric. I yanked as hard as I could. I hoped it would be enough of a warning. 

“Later, Ben told me that when I disappeared, he had run downstairs to find Rose. That’s when George Dominated Ben: “it’s too dangerous here. Return quietly to the Temple. Go where you are safer.” Fortunately, Rose was nearby and slapped Ben awake before he got far.

“Does it surprise you, listeners, that George’s first act was to make Ben run away? Not hurt him, or use him as a hostage, but protect him? I thought the George I knew was just a lie to make us trust him. Was I wrong to abandon him? Was my friend still in there? Could I still reach him? 

“Meanwhile, Asa had run upstairs to look for me. I dropped Obfuscation and Asa lifted me to my feet. I could feel him shaking. Ben was right behind and hugged us both. I imagine George expected to find the three of us alone. Ben and I had been so lost without his guidance. He hadn’t anticipated we ally with a former S’eth A’dar or a woman commanding an army of ghosts and ghouls. Outnumbered, George tried to disappear into the crowd outside. That’s when one of Gwen’s ghosts possessed him. I ran to the window and looked out. I saw George shake and then go unnaturally still. Two ghouls grabbed his shoulders. I met George’s eyes and fell into his mind.

“It was chaos. George was being pulled from me. I tried to convince him to stay. “You left me again. I need you. I can’t do this alone.” It was only half a lie. Everything was spiraling out of my control. I wanted the certainty I had felt in following George’s footsteps. And part of me still believed I needed to trick him. It seemed impossible that this wasn’t some sort of cunning ploy. He was the smartest, most powerful person I knew. He’d tracked me across three cities. He’d killed Dr. Gavreau with ease. How could we have defeated him so easily?

“A familiar presence jostled me: “Zachary? Is that you?” It was Birthday. Curious. Confused. Scared. Just like in the graveyard. But now Birthday was trapped in George’s mind. George had been at the cemetery all along. We’d released Birthday right into his hungry jaws.

“I thought of Immanuel, immolating himself rather than betray me. Nikoli and Samal, my faithful acolytes, following me across the globe only to be trapped in the Bubble with Ruth. Desirée and Thaïs, driven insane by my blood and hunted by all of Alexandria for it. Were they even still alive? How many more would die because of my carelessness? Or worse, how many more would I sacrifice because the Future version of me saw no other way to save the world?

“I couldn’t wallow in self-pity for long. George’s voice broke through, straining against the cries of those he had devoured. “Silence! Silence…Too many voices. Silence.” But he could not control them, and now his possessed body was being dragged by Gwen’s ghouls into the van. I pulled away from George’s mind and nodded at Asa and Ben. It was time to go. 

“Most of the party-goers had made it outside, but a few cowered under tables and behind the bar. Asa helped lead them outside. Some were injured, but the heady sweetness of blood hadn’t filled the air. A few cuts and sprained ankles, maybe. We had gotten very, very lucky.

“George was lying in the van. Rose had staked him and was drinking his blood. His skin went ashen, but she didn’t kill him. Her lips quivered strangely. It reminded me of how Sascha moved the skin of my arm. A moment later, someone knocked on the van door. Gwen’s ghouls raised their guns, but I had already unlocked it. Cedric had felt my pull on the Cobweb and ran over as soon as he could. It felt like hours had passed, but it was only ten minutes past midnight. 

“I told Gwen the Temple was under attack, and she ordered the driver to go as fast as possible. I asked Cedric to Obfuscate the van. Rose and Gwen began removing George’s clothing. I protested, but they said there could be occult tracking sigils on him. There were old scars on his chest and arms. Knife marks and bullet holes. He must have been a soldier before the Embrace. Gwen said there was a mark on his neck. A “kill switch.” I didn’t know if George, the Tremere, or both could activate it. I covered his lower half with my jacket. I hated seeing him so helpless.

“We were eight minutes away when I felt another tug at the Cobweb. I checked who it was this time. Joan. She said “he” was at the Door. The Temple was awakening. The pulsating heart had begun beating below. I told her to close the door and take the Temple somewhere safe. I would be there in a few minutes. She said nowhere was safe if we didn’t get there in time. I didn’t want to let go, but I knew she needed to focus. I was terrified it would be the last time I spoke to her. 

“Meanwhile, Gwen was visited by the Three Ghosts of New Year’s Terrifying Present. First: Prentiss. She’d overheard a phone call between Number Four and Vittorio Ghiribaldi. Remember him? He’s the creepy “Seneschal” who harassed Thaïs for harboring someone on the Red List. Vittorio told him reinforcements were coming and to find “the Salubri and the Malkavian.” Vittorio also said Number Three had been “disengaged,” and Number Seven was to be “neutralized.” Then Number Four used some magic to force Prentiss out of his haven. Prentiss had to “feed” before returning. I don’t know what she eats, listeners, and I don’t want to know.

“Next, Paolo. Listeners, you might remember that only a few hours ago he was a living ghoul and not a ghost. Gwen had told Paolo to watch her cousin, Griselda. Up until this point, Griselda had only whispered orders from her wheelchair. Paolo had found her sitting beside the “blended up” corpse of another ghoul. But Paolo had gotten too close. She reached out with unnatural strength and agility and ripped his leg off. Then she and her ghoul, Domenico, stabbed him to death. His ghost watched as Griselda ripped her own head off and placed it in Domenico’s hand. A man’s voice emanated from her mouth, though it was no longer attached to a throat or lungs. He said “Come now. I am here. I shall be whole. Tell your missy: thank you for everything. Thank Zachary, Rose, and Asa. I knew I could count on you to find the source.” So, Paolo did what every Giovanni Cousin apparently does upon death: find the next senior family member and report.

“The last was Wally. He’d been listening to the Sisters, Nana Kahenta and Vousette, when up skipped a pretty little girl in pigtails and a schoolgirl outfit. Jinx. One of the Giovanni ghouls shot her, but the bullet transformed into a snowball and splashed harmlessly on her shoulder. Another stabbed at Jinx with a stake, but it melted on her chest as an ice cream cone. She squealed in delight: “Mmm! My favorite flavor!” Then she put her lips to his neck. More of the Giovanni guards collapsed. They rolled around and laughed hysterically, hardly able to breathe. Montbatton came up to her side and said: “use your special power, my girl. Find your grandmother now.”

“We sped past the farmhouse gates. Two of Gwen’s ghouls lay on the ground. Their mouths pulled into a grimace that might have once been a smile. A man I didn’t recognize lay in the road with a stake through his heart. Rose grabbed him through the van window and sunk her teeth in. I could see his skin withering as his blood flooded into her. Bones littered the ground. They were covered in the ashes and blood of kindred. Gwen’s skeleton army had done their work.

“We slammed on the brakes just before the Temple doors. They stood open. The archway was smeared with blood. I had thought Joan safe since only Gateways could open the Temple. But Jinx was the Gateway of Chaos. Immanuel told me so the first night I awoke as a vampire. Had he thought we’d be friends, listeners? Would we have been, if I had found her before Ruth did? Was there another world where we stood, hand in hand, and faced down the demons and darkness together? But now Jinx was here. Between me and my…

“Hysterically, I thought of Moses telling the elders to slaughter their lambs in offering to God. “For when the LORD goes through to smite the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the lintel and two doorposts, and the LORD will pass over the door and not let the Destroyer enter and smite your home.” Blood of the faithful should have protected Joan. Instead, it let the monster in.

“I told Cedric, Comet, and Ben to stay outside the Temple. I know listeners, I know. If we lost the Temple, then we lost everything. Nowhere would be safe, as Joan put it. But I couldn’t bear to send them into danger. Joan could already be dead. I couldn’t risk our strange little family.

“There was no one in the control room. The walls hummed. Blood filled some of the tick marks. Laughter and chanting echoed from below. Someone was at the Heart of Irad. Rose raced down one staircase in Celerity, with Gwen taking the other. Asa and I followed Rose. I jumped in one of the shadows and Obfuscated. I needed the element of surprise.

“Below, Jinx stared at the pulsating heart of Irad. She looked hungry. Grizelda’s body stood. Her limbs looked barely able to support her weight. She moved like a puppet. As Paolo said, her head was gone. On her shoulders rested the demon head Jinx had carried from Roosevelt Island. Its eyes blazed with fire. Domenico lay on the floor. I could tell he was dead.

“But none of that mattered compared to the body slumped on the floor. Joan. She had been bound and gagged. Blood covered her dark dress. She had to still be alive, right? When Ruth killed her, Joan turned to ash before she hit the water. Asa and I ran for her. 

“On the stairs, Rose pulled a bow from her backpack. A wooden arrow flew at Jinx’s heart. Unlike the bullet and the stake, it struck her shoulder and punched through. Rose jumped and landed at the base of the stairs. Jinx’s eyes went wide. For a moment she looked terribly hurt. Not from the arrow, but that Rose had shot her. Then, she laughed: “I don’t need anyone.” Rose smiled sadly. She said, “sorry, angel, I just wanted you to sleep through it.” On the other stairs, Gwen pointed at Domenico’s corpse and yelled: “stop them!” It rose up and stumbled towards Jinx. 

Rose knelt and put her hands on the Temple floor. The room shuddered, and the tick marks surrounding her glowed blue. A cloud billowed up from the floor, rising nearly six feet in the air. From it stretched wolf legs, a snake tail, and a lion’s head. Like a spiritual cockatrice or griffin. The Demon wearing Grizelda’s body looked afraid. He turned to Jinx, calling out “Run, child!” She gave a petulant frown: “But Xazil!” The Demon pulled his head off of Grizelda’s neck and held it up to the Griffin spirit. They stared at one another, ready to do battle. 

“The confusion was just what we needed, listeners. I was a few steps ahead of Asa and knelt before Joan. Her eyes were open but empty. Just like when Dr. Gavreau staked her. I had to wake her up. The ropes and wooden gag were covered in strange symbols. I didn’t have time to decipher them. I dropped Obfuscation and I pulled my knife from my pocket. I cut the ropes, praying they wouldn’t explode in my hands. She bled where they touched her. I hoped she was too out of it to feel the pain. The ropes fell and Asa scooped her up in his arms. His shield would protect her. I hadn’t lost Joan. Not yet. Not today.

“Jinx’s eyes darted around the room. Asa and I had Joan. Rose blocked one staircase. Gwen another. The corpse of Domenico shambled forth, its arms outstretched. She looked like a trapped animal. Then, she laughed. A bright, manic energy filled her voice as she called out: “I am the Gateway of Chaos!” And that’s when she pulled the stake from the Heart of Irad.”