Canticles of the Prophet Zachariah:

Bloody Guests

Notes by Anthony

“Rose and the Sisters led us to a cave partway up the mountain opposite the one we had descended. Fortunately, no one tripped this time. A campfire crackled in the center, filling the chamber with smoke. I flinched in expectation of the Beast’s reaction, but the fire did not trigger the same, instinctive fear as the Sabbat bonfire, or even the Hanukkah candles I had lit the night after my Embrace. A dozen or so women sat in a rough circle around the campfire. Mountain lions lounged beside the women as they talked in low voices or stared silently into the flames.

“An elderly, Native American woman stood at our approach and gestured for us to join the circle. Gwen sat by the entrance, while Rose sat beside a woman whose eyes glowed the same, animalistic yellow. Asa, Ben, and I sat together on the opposite side of the cave. Ben was like my shadow, or maybe I was his. His arm brushed mine with every step. He was so warm beside me. I should’ve appreciated that more, listeners. I should have told him how much it meant to me that he was alive and human. If I had, maybe things would’ve been different. Maybe he wouldn’t be –

“Apologies, listeners. I’m getting ahead of myself. The elderly woman introduced herself as Nana Kahenta. She threw a stick into the fire and it blazed blue-white. She explained it was the Sisterhood’s custom to introduce yourself and ask questions of the Sisterhood by telling your story. I assumed the explanation was for our benefit, listeners, but perhaps it was part of the ritual itself.

“Nana Kahenta started us off. The spirit of the land told her of a great power far to the south. She had sent Rose to find it and follow the scent of death. She had also spoken to someone, or something, named Ya-HAH-whey. I wanted to ask if that was Yahweh, but didn’t want to interrupt. Next was Vousette. She was missing an eye, and there was a large, angry scar down the side of her face that disappeared beneath her white dress. She had tracked something with Nana to a place called Pentex in West Virginia. Nana had to withdraw, but she and the other Sisters did ‘what had to be done.’

“Next was Asa. He was quiet at first, but his voice rang with honesty and filled the room. Asa was lost and confused. Lonely. His teacher had given him the directive to follow the Prophet, but she had been taken. Asa pulled his beanie off and introduced himself as a Salubri. His third eye opened and cast the cave in an ethereal blue.

“Ben patted Asa’s shoulder and introduced himself as the Herald of the Prophet. His purpose was to protect the Prophet during the day and document all the apocalypses the Prophet foresaw. The Prophet would save the world. Ben had faith. 

“I was speechless for a moment. I wanted to, I don’t know. Lean against him? Hug him? Cradle his face between my hands and – but it was my turn. I told the Sisters I was known by many names. The Prophet, Zachariah, DJ. But I was just Zachary. A Malkavian named Abraham put something in my head when I was born. It gave me nightmares and visions of the future. But Ben kept me sane. Kept me human. We hoped to use the power of the Temple to stop the apocalypses.

“Next was Gabriela. She was scarred like Vousette, though her flesh was blackened and bubbled. She and her daughter had been Union workers, but her daughter was killed in the strikes. Maybe a reference to the Pinkerton union busting? Gabriela had been taken by the Sabbat but later saved by the Sisterhood. She and other Sisters had tracked the Garou who followed the Black Spiral. The Garou had killed Maria and Thaia. The Sisters wailed in response to this news, but Gabriela gave them only a few moments to grieve. Her voice was full of venom as she said the Sisters had taken their pound of flesh in return. Next was Luna, the one with yellow eyes like Rose. She had traveled North to stand with the Sisters there. The spirits were worried. 

“Rose spoke next. She had been a Gangrel and top lieutenant for the Seth A’dar in Georgetown. A Dog of the Camarilla. Then Sabbat attacked, and Rose found herself far from her friends and all she knew. The Sisterhood took her in, and she had been transformed. Nana tasked the reborn Rose with finding the Temple and the scent of Death, where she also stumbled across Asa and I. Rose could see the Temple like she could the spirits, while Gwen saw it using her ghost sight. Rose confirmed I had seen the same things as Nana. The Spirits had recognized Gwen as connected to death, while I had read the symbol formed by her blood as the Gateway of Entropy or Death. Similarly, Asa was the Gateway of Light and Rose the Gateway of Spirits. 

“Sandra had followed the Sabbat as they charged south from their strongholds in upstate New York. I gathered this was the start of the Sabbat invasion of D.C. Paulette told us she had been Embraced in Russia. A Hag had stalked the vampires as they lay trapped behind the Iron Curtain. It reminded me of something Nikoli had said, though I could not place it. Paulette had found her way to America after the Iron Curtain fell and was Embraced by the Sisters.

“Gwen’s introduction was simple. She was Gwenevieve Rossellini, a representative of the Giovanni. She was here to investigate the Temple and looked forward to working with the Sisters. 

“A few Sisters spoke after, but I admit their stories washed over me. I was thinking about what I had not yet shared. What I needed to share. Nana Kahenta interrupted my spiraling thoughts. Spirits had whispered of things changing. Things not acknowledged by kindred, who were blind and deaf to the land. Nana promised the Sisters would help Asa. He was precious. A life boat for our spiritual future. Olivia, one of the Sisters, would share what she knew of the Salubri with Asa.

“Nana asked Rose to look into the fire and pull on the energy within. As Rose stood up, I activated my Auspex to observe. A large ball of…something glowed white at the center. Rose gracefully moved her arms, coaxing strands of light from the flames and around her fingers. Nana then asked Asa to open his third eye, and for Gwen to use her ghostly sight. I watched the light danced around Asa, but Gwen seemed to pull and tug at something unseen. She burned her hand, but such a minor inconvenience did not stop one as dedicated as Gwen for long. Nana turned to me. Clearly, I was also expected to manipulate the energy. I tried my best, but I had nothing. No connection. I laughed and sat down. Turns out, for once, there was nothing special about me at all! 

"Nana instructed Asa, Gwen, and Rose to circle the fire and draw the energy with them. The ball of light lifted into the air and began to pulse and glow, forming what looked like a star. Nana Kahenta clapped, telling us they had formed a multi-planar connection. Rose speculated that it had been formed from Death, Light, and Spirits. If there was an astral plane and a land of the dead, perhaps this node could connect us to some other land or plane. Gwen sat down and began to pet something I could not see at her feet. Nana smiled and waved to the Sisters. They shuffled and began to disperse. Clearly, the meeting was over. 

“I leapt to my feet, surprising myself with how fast I moved. I apologized, but I had one more story to tell. I told them that Ben kept me sane and human, but I hadn’t done the same for him. I had given him my blood so that he could stay with me. But neither of us knew how my blood would poison him. Change him. Bind him to me. But the Sisters had purged Rose’s blood of an evil spirit, right? Couldn’t they do the same for Ben? I looked at the Sisters as I spoke. Some were impassive. Others stared back with undisguised pity. None had any kind of hope in their eyes. Nana shook her head. There was no magic ritual. We would have to take the long way.

“I turned to Ben. I could not bear to look at him while I spoke, but now I couldn’t help it. He was furious. What the fuck was I talking about? Was I trying to make him leave? Did I want to him to leave? How dare I make this kind of decision for him? Didn’t I need him?

“I managed to keep myself from crying, but it was a near thing. I tried to explain that I was trying to save him, to protect him, but the words wouldn’t come out. Rose and Gwen appeared at our sides. Asa was nowhere to be seen. Later, I found that he and Olivia left to discuss her history with a Salubri named Helena, who Olivia helped find shelter in Montana. 

“Rose asked if she could tell us about Henry. Ben said ‘no,’ but I nodded. I didn’t want to hear it either, but we had to. Henry was a Nosferatu in Rose’s old coterie. He’d been ghouled and Embraced by the Nosferatu Bottleneck. Bottleneck had seduced Henry while he was a ghoul, and their relationship continued after Henry’s Embrace. They had sex and drank each other’s blood night after night, forming a mutual blood bond. They were obsessed with each other. They believed it was love. But Bottleneck had been a vampire for decades, and Henry was only a fledgling. Henry didn’t know what it meant to share blood, or the inevitable fallout. Bottleneck did.

“When Henry joined Rose’s coterie, Bottleneck became consumed with jealousy. Every second Henry spent away from Bottleneck enraged him. One day, a mission kept Henry above ground longer than expected. Bottleneck stalked and attacked Henry, trying to drag him away. Rose had to intervene, nearly killing Bottleneck. Henry begged for Bottleneck’s life, and Rose let him go. The bond took years to fade. Later, Henry regretted not letting Rose end Bottleneck’s life. 

“I was shaking. If I kept Ben as a Ghoul, would he be like Bottleneck, ready to hurt me out of a misguided sense of possession and love? If I Embraced Ben, would I be Bottleneck, dragging Ben into a life and relationship he didn’t understand and could never have consented to?

“Gwen spoke next. There was no going back for Ben. I should either Embrace him or kill him. Or I could wipe his memory and let him face months of withdrawal on his own. It would be more painful than any addiction. Worst of all, Ben would have no memory or context for why he felt that way. I shook my head. I couldn’t make that decision, I told them. I couldn’t decide.

“Ben spoke up. He was still angry, but there was something else in his voice. Desire? Hope? It was his life. Didn’t he have the right to make the choice? Gwen repeated that Ben was dead and damned. Ben said if that was true, then he wanted to be with me. He wanted to be Embraced.

“Gwen led Ben to the entrance of the cave. They began to talk in a low whisper. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I wanted this all to be a dream. A terrible nightmare. I would wake up in Ben’s lap and he would hold me and tell me everything was alright.

“I heard a gasp. The scent of fresh blood filled the air. I turned to the source. It was Ben. His too-pale skin and blonde hair glowed almost white in the moonlight. His hands clutched his chest, but no, they were clutching something on his chest. He took a step back and fell. His hands dropped and then I saw it. A dagger hilt was buried in the center of his chest. I watched as the blood rhythmically spurted from his chest. He had driven it through his sternum and into his heart.

“I was on my knees beside him before I realized I had moved. Distantly, I noticed I was screaming his name. Ben would drink my blood. He would heal. He would be another step bound, yes, but we could worry about that later. All that mattered was that he didn’t leave me. I looked around for something, anything, to cut myself open with.

“All I saw was the knife. I pulled it out, and by some miracle it followed the same path out that Ben had pushed it in. Later, I realized how easily I could have killed him. I sliced my wrist and shoved it in his open, gasping mouth. With my other hand, I pressed down on his wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. I could feel him swallowing my blood, but the wound did not close. His heart continued to beat, forcing his blood out from between my fingers. My own blood mingled with his as it poured down his chin and across his chest. 

“He was dying. Whether the injury was too much to be healed, or Ben was choosing not to use the blood, I could not know. I turned to Rose. ‘How do I Embrace him? I don’t know how to Embrace him!’ Her voice was calm as she responded. All I had to do was feed him my blood. I remembered Immanuel Embracing me in Ben Brenman Park. I was given a choice when I died. I could have let myself drift into the light. Abandoned this world. But I had chosen to stay.

“I lifted my hand from Ben’s chest. The blood was only a trickle. I stroked his forehead and cheek, smearing his face with our mingled blood. ‘Don’t leave me. Please, Ben. I can’t lose you.’ Behind me, I heard Asa shouting. But he was too late. Ben lay lifeless on the floor of the cave. I had failed. Ben was dead, and it felt like the world had died with him. 

“Then Ben was grabbing my arm, pressing my wrist to his lips. I sat cross-legged and cradled his head in my lap as he drank. A shadow fell over me. I looked up to see Asa. His expression was cold. ‘You’re responsible. This is your mess to clean up.’ He walked past me and out of the cave. Nana Kahenta was speaking to Rose. ‘This is why we don’t allow men in our cave.’ She didn’t sound angry, though. Bitter, maybe. Resigned. Rose offered that perhaps this was the way things were meant to be. I could not hear Nana Kahenta’s response as she and Rose walked down one of the narrow tunnels at the back and out of sight.

“The world was beginning to fade at the edges as Ben drank. I could see his whole life stretched out before me. It was not dissimilar to mine. A little poorer, and his parents more distant. My presence shone brightly. He looked up to me. I was fun. He enjoyed my company. He didn’t mind helping me through my nightmare as roommates in college. He liked taking care of me.

“But his feelings had changed with my blood inside him. The way he looked at me when I slept. When I showered. That desire and love were all new. None of that had been there before. I smiled to myself as I stroked his hair. It was nice to have confirmation. Better to know it was not Ben who loved me, but my blood inside of him. I could live with this heartbreak. 

“Then the two of us were standing on a grassy hill. Somehow, I knew it covered the whole planet. The blades cut our bare feet and pulled on our blood, drawing it deep into the soil. It didn’t hurt. Little children rolled down the hill and played in the grass. With every motion, the grass left tiny cuts on their skin. They didn’t seem to notice as their blood dripped into the dirt. The world pulsed beneath us. It was a single entity. A unity. It drank from everyone.

“I awoke and pulled my arm from Ben’s lips. I was drained, but the Beast’s hunger felt distant. Unimportant. Ben’s eyes opened, but he did not meet my gaze. He whispered ‘I see it. I see it all.’ Then he began to shake and shudder on the ground. Like he was having a seizure. He vomited. First blood, then organs. When Ben wasn’t choking on his own organs, he was babbling nonsense. Like speaking in tongues. Much later, when the frantic babbling and vomiting slowed, Ben opened his eyes. They were filled with bloody tears that dripped down his cheeks as he turned his face to the sky at the cave entrance. He sounded far too calm as he spoke again: ‘I did not know, but now I understand.’ I held him close to me, listeners. It was all I could do.”