“Don’t you get it? You’re special. Important. You killed two vampires. You don’t just do that and go home . Home no longer exists for you. How could it?”
Dan clenched his fists in frustration.
“I got lucky, don’t you get it? Those things weren’t expecting me to attack them and they hesitated. That’s all there was to it.”
“Except that they don’t hesitate,” Herb snapped, “and in records stretching back thousands of years, nobody has ever got lucky; not once. So what’s special about you, huh?”
“The only thing that was special about me had her fucking head torn off right in front of my face. If I’m special , how come I couldn’t stop that?”
Herb shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever your life was before—it’s over now. The others will come for you, and one way or another, they’ll find you. You’re too important.”
“Others?”
Another pathetic question.
Dammit!
Herb stared at him thoughtfully for a moment before responding.
“This is a lot bigger than my family. There are nests across the world, families just like mine. Our ancestors realised the value of cooperation a long time ago. The Order is the product of that realisation. They—we—have people everywhere. Resources you can’t begin to understand, and when they find out about the Oceanus, they’ll be coming. Going home and pretending this isn’t happening is not an option.”
Dan stared at him dubiously. “So it’s a global conspiracy, then? A vast secret which hundreds of people are keeping? Or is it thousands ?”
He made no effort to conceal the disbelief in his tone. Dan had spent two years locked in his apartment, and that equalled plenty of time spent on the internet. The web was full of conspiracy theories; it was almost impossible to avoid them. He didn’t necessarily disbelieve them all, but still, he had serious doubts that a secret such as the one Herb described could be kept for so long, by so many people. It just wasn’t possible. Maybe it had been centuries earlier, but now, when information was so freely available?
Herb caught the sarcasm. “You think being tasked with killing thousands of people doesn’t offer opportunities? Families like mine have been around for centuries, benefitting from their relationship with the vampires. People keep secrets for two reasons. One: keeping the secret is advantageous to them personally. Two: they fear the consequences if their silence is not maintained. If both of those statements are true, who wouldn’t hold their tongue?”
Herb shrugged, as if there was nothing more to say on the matter.
Dan shook his head. “What possible benefit could there be to what you people do?”
“Money. Power. You know how many politicians were given complementary tickets for the Oceanus? How many heads of corporations? Celebrities? Even a member of the royal family. If you want to murder someone important, what better way than to put them at the scene of some tragic disaster? Then they are just another poor victim of circumstance.”
Dan rubbed at his forehead.
“I’m not following.”
“This is how things have always been done,” Herb said with an impatient sigh. “You know all those wacko theories about the people lurking in the shadows, controlling the world?”
“Sure,” Dan said wryly. “The Illuminati.”
Herb snorted. “Call it whatever you want. Whatever label you come up with will be about as accurate as the word vampire. We refer to ourselves as the Order precisely because the word is meaningless. Virtually every family within the Order has accrued wealth and influence you can’t imagine. Old money. Power handed down for generations. When the vampires rise, the families under their control rise right along with them. My father called it a truce; our family’s tragic duty . I call it an alliance, and I want no fucking part of it.”
Herb took a deep breath and paused, apparently aware that he was beginning to rant.
“But we
Dan clenched his fists in frustration.
“I got lucky, don’t you get it? Those things weren’t expecting me to attack them and they hesitated. That’s all there was to it.”
“Except that they don’t hesitate,” Herb snapped, “and in records stretching back thousands of years, nobody has ever got lucky; not once. So what’s special about you, huh?”
“The only thing that was special about me had her fucking head torn off right in front of my face. If I’m special , how come I couldn’t stop that?”
Herb shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever your life was before—it’s over now. The others will come for you, and one way or another, they’ll find you. You’re too important.”
“Others?”
Another pathetic question.
Dammit!
Herb stared at him thoughtfully for a moment before responding.
“This is a lot bigger than my family. There are nests across the world, families just like mine. Our ancestors realised the value of cooperation a long time ago. The Order is the product of that realisation. They—we—have people everywhere. Resources you can’t begin to understand, and when they find out about the Oceanus, they’ll be coming. Going home and pretending this isn’t happening is not an option.”
Dan stared at him dubiously. “So it’s a global conspiracy, then? A vast secret which hundreds of people are keeping? Or is it thousands ?”
He made no effort to conceal the disbelief in his tone. Dan had spent two years locked in his apartment, and that equalled plenty of time spent on the internet. The web was full of conspiracy theories; it was almost impossible to avoid them. He didn’t necessarily disbelieve them all, but still, he had serious doubts that a secret such as the one Herb described could be kept for so long, by so many people. It just wasn’t possible. Maybe it had been centuries earlier, but now, when information was so freely available?
Herb caught the sarcasm. “You think being tasked with killing thousands of people doesn’t offer opportunities? Families like mine have been around for centuries, benefitting from their relationship with the vampires. People keep secrets for two reasons. One: keeping the secret is advantageous to them personally. Two: they fear the consequences if their silence is not maintained. If both of those statements are true, who wouldn’t hold their tongue?”
Herb shrugged, as if there was nothing more to say on the matter.
Dan shook his head. “What possible benefit could there be to what you people do?”
“Money. Power. You know how many politicians were given complementary tickets for the Oceanus? How many heads of corporations? Celebrities? Even a member of the royal family. If you want to murder someone important, what better way than to put them at the scene of some tragic disaster? Then they are just another poor victim of circumstance.”
Dan rubbed at his forehead.
“I’m not following.”
“This is how things have always been done,” Herb said with an impatient sigh. “You know all those wacko theories about the people lurking in the shadows, controlling the world?”
“Sure,” Dan said wryly. “The Illuminati.”
Herb snorted. “Call it whatever you want. Whatever label you come up with will be about as accurate as the word vampire. We refer to ourselves as the Order precisely because the word is meaningless. Virtually every family within the Order has accrued wealth and influence you can’t imagine. Old money. Power handed down for generations. When the vampires rise, the families under their control rise right along with them. My father called it a truce; our family’s tragic duty . I call it an alliance, and I want no fucking part of it.”
Herb took a deep breath and paused, apparently aware that he was beginning to rant.
“But we
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