Canticles of the Prophet Zachariah:

The Would-Be Prince

Notes by Anthony

“I woke to Asa slapping my face. It stung. The pain distracted me from the ravenous Beast screaming within. I sat up. Ben had shoved his wrist in his mouth and bit down. He flinched and pulled away, leaving pink crescent marks in the pale flesh. He hadn’t used his fangs. 

“I was so hungry. But this time it wasn’t for Ben’s blood, though I could still sense that soft warmth just beneath his smooth throat. The beating heart below drowned everything else out. It was hot. Vibrant. Brimming with power. I wanted to dive down and drink and drink and drink. 

“Asa must have seen the desperation on my face. He told Ben to ask Gwen for blood bags. Once Ben left, Asa said: “It’s okay. Now I’m the only target.” I shook my head: “I’m okay. At least I didn’t want to eat Ben this time. Just the heart.” Ben returned with two bags. Gwen must have been feeling magnanimous in her triumph. I took one and pushed the other into Ben’s hands. Ben tried to tell me he didn’t need it, but I could see the desperation in his eyes. I told him to shut up and drink. I leaned against his side and rested my head on his shoulder.

“Outside, Gwen took stock of her remaining forces. Five were dead, though their ghosts hadn’t stayed. Two were lost in that laughing madness. Our driver was sleeping after Gwen fed on her. Another guarded George in the Temple Storage Bay. Gwen put the bodies of her slain ghouls there as well. Given how she zombified Domenico, I imagined she had plans for their corpses. 

“Rose, meanwhile, had turned into a bird and spoken with the Owl spirit that merged with Nana Kahenta. As far as we knew, that hadn’t happened before. Vampires don’t transform into nature spirits when they die. Most just…end. A rare few like Prentiss become ghosts. Something to do with force of will or strong emotion, maybe. The Owl spirit flew off, and Rose went to see Vousette. Black wounds smelling of sulfur marred much of her skin. Comet stroked her hair. For all his bluster and insults, Comet is a lot kinder than he lets on. Vousette had healed as much as she could after Comet and Cedric’s donation. She would survive the day.

“We met in the Temple. It was a long discussion, so I’ll try to sum up the highlights. We’d stay the night inside the Temple, as Vousette was too weak to maintain the fire. Meanwhile, the ghouls would burn the Farmhouse. If the Tremere picked up one of the objects inside, they could scry our conversations. Tomorrow, Gwen would go to the Embassy and “inform my superiors of our success at the Temple.” She’d bring more staff to replace those she lost. Rose, Ben, and I would meet Sascha in Gaithersburg. Sascha believed my prophecies and wanted to stop the Apocalypse. Perhaps she had a plan to take out our mutual enemy, the Tremere. Maybe she’d even help us rescue Diane from Andrews Airforce Base. Asa would stay at the Temple to heal Vousette and guard it along with Joan, Cedric, and Comet. 

“Despite the danger we’d put them, none of the Malkavians wanted to leave. Cedric said: “I am following the Prophet.” He sounded so confident. Comet shrugged. Joan was still distressed, though, saying: “My life is a mistake. Anything I do now can cause utter destruction.” It hurt to see someone so important to me express such doubt in herself. Cedric shouted that we couldn’t leave her to die. It didn’t seem to comfort her.

“As for the day after tomorrow, well, things get more complicated. We had four Thinbloods still in our care: Allie, Pam, Malcolm, and Chris. They’d hid in the Temple during the battle. We couldn’t set them loose, as the Tremere would find them and read their minds. Asa said he’d try to convince them it was in their best interest to stay with us. None of us wanted to be their jailers. We’d keep George staked in the storage bay until we figured out what to do with him. 

“As for deciphering the Coordinate Consoles, Cedric offered to bring in Dr. Ziegler and some math professors from Gallaudet University. I imagined Cedric traveling from university to university, debating history and art and philosophy with the brightest minds in America. Was that the kind of life a vampire could lead? Focused on the pursuit of knowledge without fear of aging or death? I felt a pang of regret for having dragged him away from his haven. But the apocalypse wouldn’t spare any of us. At least this way, Cedric had a chance to protect those he cared for.

“That left the four staked Malkavians. Gwen and Rose had already drained two dry. The two that remained were a light-skinned woman and a Black man. Asa told me he’d drunk from the man. I could tell it troubled him, but he said this was war. We only had ten blood bags left. We couldn’t afford to let their blood burn up in the sun. That’s the other decision we made, listeners. There was no way we could leave Ruth’s Malkavian cultists alive. What else could we have done? Set them free? Kept them staked inside Temple they had nearly stolen? It was too risky. 

“I knelt beside the woman. Ben and Asa sat with me, ready to pull me back if I drank too much. We couldn’t risk me accidentally committing diablerie. She had a shaved head and wore a brown skirt and black blouse. I leaned over and pressed my fangs into her neck.

“She had been an office worker in Baltimore, but she wanted to be a typist. She had studied hard. Spent a whole paycheck on a used typewriter, just to practice transcribing movies on her little box TV. And she had succeeded! She had been hired by…she could no longer remember the company name. Just the pride she’d felt at being the first one in her family to have made it.

“But something troubled her. Someone had been following her home from work. The night she got the job offer they grabbed her and a boy she was seeing. They pulled his head clean off. She cried as they shaved her beautiful, curly red hair. They tortured her. Then they buried her. But she didn’t stay dead. She clawed her way out. Someone tried to bite her. She bit back. Blood filled her throat and gave her strength. She survived the night and joined the Sabbat. 

“At first, she missed her life. But the Sabbat demanded sacrifice. She watched the people she loved die. Then she killed one herself. It felt good to be bathed in their blood. Montbatton and Darius took an interest in her. Darius gave her blood far more powerful than any she had drunk. He took her to the Lady in the Lake. Power and purpose filled her. Strength. She’d thought she was strong enough to take on anything for the Lady. But Vousette had been stronger. 

“I tried to reach in and find her name. She hadn’t deserved any of this. The least I could do was make sure she didn’t die nameless. Sinéad. The Sabbat called her that for her shaved head. Listeners, we don’t play it often on WRXL 102.1 FM, but you should give I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got a spin sometime soon. Remember there are still people who care out there. Who see all the monstrous things in the world and fight back any way they can.

“My teeth nicked Sinéad’s throat as strong arms dragged me away. A drop of blood trickled down. Rose had pulled me out. Asa and Ben couldn’t on their own. I babbled out everything I saw. Rose looked at the staked man. We both knew I needed to drink from Darius. There was so much I could learn. Feeding was better than any interrogation. I said I was okay. I could control myself. 

“Darius was older than Sinéad, both in life as well as death. He liked to dance. He’d tried to make his way performing, but that was a hard thing to do as a Black man in the 1940s. He’d made his way north to Baltimore, but it was hard to stay under one roof for long. A couple nights with low tips and he’d be out of the boarding house and on the street for a week. Darius had fallen in with a gang, more for shelter and company than any desire for violence.

“Darius crawled through hard dirt. He didn’t remember how he’d gotten there. He reached for the light. Insanity fractured his mind. A voice called to him. Darius was special, it said. He could do so much more with his life. It told him of Caine and the Antediluvians. Caine would rise and eat the disobedient Childer of his Childer. Montbatton took Darius and a few trusted others to the Lake. I searched Darius’s mind for the other cultists. Most had died on Roosevelt Island. There were only a few left. Damien had led them here. Damien was to be the Prophet. He would teach the Lady of the Lake the truth of the old ways. Damien had a Voice of True Power within him.

“The last of Darius’s blood slipped past my tongue. I retracted my fangs and licked the wound closed. Darius and Sinéad were victims. First, the Sabbat had tortured and murdered them. Then, Montbatton had betrayed them with poisoned blood. They had been bound to Ruth. But there wasn’t anything I could do. I couldn’t purge Ruth from their souls. And even if I could, they had spent years delighting in the torture and suffering of humans and kindred alike. There was no redemption. No second chance. We could only grant them the release of death. A final rest. 

“It was getting early. We each found a place in the Temple to sleep. Ben and I took the bedroom farthest from the door on the first floor. Asa and Vousette took the room next to us. Ben pulled from his backpack the Walkman, our headphones, and a CD of Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual. He lay on the bed against the wall, leaving enough room for me to lie beside. I put on the muslin shift and climbed in beside him. He pressed play as I rested my head on his shoulder. The last thing I heard was Cyndi Lauper crooning “If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me / Time after time / If you fall, I will catch you I’ll be waiting / Time after time.” The last thing I felt was his arm pressed against mine.

“I floated in a throne room. The City was a war. Servants scurried in and out. Someone was giving a sermon. Spear. Wood. Death. Quiet. The King left the stone chamber. Outside, the air was thick and humid. Tropical trees bent and swayed in heavy rain. Shadows moved from behind and struck the King. He died in its arms. The Mighty King fell in darkness. Laughter echoed. I tried to get closer but was pulled into the sky. The King’s spirit rose with me. It dissipated into the night.

“I looked down at the City. It was before Marcus had fled, but after Irad’s murder. I looked for the Temple and found the Fourth Circle. The buildings were tall and glowed like neon. But I didn’t stay here. There was something I had to do. After tasting the madness inside Sinéad and Darius, it would be beyond cruel to leave someone to suffer it when I could help. I reached for Jordan. The would-be Prince of Georgetown. I had tackled him out of Damien’s arms. I had relived the last day of his unlife. I had felt the madness slither out of Montbatton and take root in his soul.

“Jordan floated beside me, awake. He was in the same cheap suit Damien had dressed him in. A wooden stake protruded from his sternum. The flat end was nearly as wide as my palm. The narrow end poked through his back. It looked sharp enough to scour steel. But it didn’t seem to hurt Jordan. In fact, he didn’t notice it at all. He spun to gawk at the thunderstorm surrounding us. Then he looked down and flailed like Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff. It would have been comical if he hadn’t been so scared. Words fell from his lips in a language I did not recognize, yet understood instantly: “What is going on? Oh, my Lord!” Later, Gwen told me it was Middle English. Jordan met my gaze and visibly tried to contain his terror. I waved. 

“Introductions were made. Zachary aka Zachariah aka DJ Prophet of WRXL 102.1 FM. Illegal Malkavian embraced a month ago, warning all who would listen of Gehenna. Jordan introduced himself as Jordan Bingham, Ventrue Primogen of Alexandria. As he did so, he switched to Latin. Somehow, I did the same. I told him I was here to help. My brother, Damien, had placed a madness deep within him. I had brought Jordan into my dreams to purge it. I told him I didn’t ask for anything in return. But I did have some questions, if Jordan wouldn’t mind answering. He might know something that could help us save the world.

“Jordan agreed. I don’t know if he believed my offer was genuine. I did have him dangling a mile above an ancient city in the middle of a thunderstorm, after all. You know, listeners, I don’t know if I can hurt anyone in the Dreaming. I haven’t tried. Hopefully I won’t have to.

“I asked: “why does my brother want you?” Jordan replied: “Damien said he knew he had to come for me one day. He helped me in a spot back then. I didn’t suspect he was still around. The Malkavians had been cast out of our domain.” I knew there was more, but it was hard to read his face. As far as I knew, Malkavians had been illegal in Alexandria for about as long as Damien had been a kindred. How had they met? Had they been friends? Something more?

“I asked if he knew why Damien called him “Alexander.” Jordan nodded. It had been his name long ago. Jordan’s eyes unfocused as he whispered: “My sire, Christopher. He led me to so much.” That didn’t answer my question, listeners, but I know more than most how brains make funny connections at times. I didn’t pry. I could feel something hot curling at the edges of Jordan’s mind. I didn’t want to risk losing him in to ancient, painful memories. 

“I asked what he remembered of the night the Sabbat attacked. Jordan gave a dry, bitter laugh. It had been going so well. He’d defeated George. Jordan took no great pleasure in taking him down. George was a sad man who had lost himself a long time ago. Someone hit Jordan from behind. Then Damien slid the stake from Jordan’s chest and told him to be his true self. Jordan had been in a dark place. There was rage. Strange visions. Damien pulled him from place to place, telling Jordan “you will go back with me.” Then Jordan woke up here with me.

“I was grateful. At least this projection of Jordan held few memories of the madness. I know Cedric remembers. I do, too. I assumed Damien meant to take Jordan into the past. Was it because Jordan could speak many languages? Did Damien not absorb them the way I could?

“But that wasn’t my focus now. Jordan was. I said: “I know the last thing you want to do is trust a Malkavian, but if you let me in, I will try to wake you up.” Jordan laughed again. It was a beautiful laugh, listeners. I could tell why Damien liked him. “Well, it can’t get any worse, can it?” I closed my eyes and focused on Jordan’s house. Specifically, his bathroom. Not the most dignified location, but it had been the only place I’d seen when I performed psychometry on his hair tie. I wanted to take us somewhere familiar and safe. 

“Jordan jumped as the storm faded, replaced with immaculate porcelain and tile. We stood before a large mirror. His eyes focused on the stake for the first time.  I gestured for us to sit cross-legged in front of each other on the plush, grey bath mat. I told him: “listen. You have no reason to believe anything I say here. I get that. Sometimes, I don’t even know if what I’m seeing is real. But my visions of the end of the world are real. It’s coming. The Antediluvians are rising. The Tremere are hiding it from Alexandria. They want to shut me up. But shutting me up won’t stop what’s coming. I’m not asking you to help me in exchange for helping you here. You got caught up in something way bigger than you. If you want to walk away from it all, I’ll respect that. But there may be a time when we’ll need your help to save the world. If we do, I hope you’ll listen.” Jordan nodded. He seemed to be taking me very seriously, though I have no idea if that was real, or a front to placate the insane, unemployed former radio host that had captured his mind. 

“I took Jordan’s hands in mine. They were callused. More so than I would have expected of a man who lived in such luxury. I told him to close his eyes and let go. Let go of all the madness locked inside him. Let it flow into me. I could feel something rushing inside of him. It sounded like a freight train. Or a flood. Jordan squeezed my hands tight. Then his eyes flew open. He gasped for air like he’d been drowning. The stake fell from his chest, and Jordan was gone before it clattered onto the porcelain before me. The edges of the bathroom began to flicker and burn away. I was losing focus. Something was building inside me. Something bad. And all I could do was ride it out and pray something would be left of me when it passed.”