THE ERADICATION OF VICTOR TRENT

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF SYLVIA THE VAMPIRE

By Ronald C. Tobin

E-Mail: guildmaster@worldnet.att.net

As we attempt to return to the scene at the nightclub on the night of 8 June, 2001, to hear Aurea?s narrative of the events in San Francisco on the night of 31 December 2000, our signal is captured and redirected to a small studio that could be -anywhere. Looking at us is a positively ancient vampire, though he does not look a day over 35. After studying us, he relaxes and begins to speak, to hopefully offer an explanation for this odd behavior?

"Yes, do pardon my intrusion and my singular lack of manners. My name is Dennitizo Vasa Zolan, but feel free to call me Dennis. I am the grandson of Maurana, who by the termination of Kristano Pa Anovas and a couple other elders is now the de facto leader of the glorious Order Ruby. That, however, is a small matter at present. The big matter is why I chose to intervene and not have you listen to Aurea's version of events of the night of 31 December. It is not because she is not telling the truth - she is - rather it is because I can provide you with a more concrete, clearer picture than can my dear friend."

Dennis pans the camera and shows us a rather odd looking flat screen attached to what looks something like a desktop computer. "This, friends, is a time dilation viewer. It can see nearly any past date and time. It does not allow for time travel, but it does allow the user to see and hear it all. It is an amazing tool, one that we should be able to duplicate very soon."

The screen now dominates our view. It is presently dark and silent, but as soon as Dennis finishes inputting exact date and location information, the screen comes to life, and a sharp, clear picture emerges. Dennis points at the cloaked figure walking purposefully through the milling crowds at Golden Gate Park near Haight St. "That, ladies and gentlemen, is one Klaus Boorlorn. He was the 'focus point' assassin of Victor Trent. That is to say, because he was able to get to Trent, this man's associates were able to eradicate him. Had Boorlorn failed, the world of the Vamphyri would be a much more cheerful place. His success meant that three layers of security failed. Granted, Boorlorn did not survive the mission, but that was never the intent of this man or his handlers. He knew he would not survive the encounter."

The screen now shows Boorlorn walking down Haight St. towards Ashbury at about 11:30PM. The crowd simply moves out of his way without being conscious of it. "I will now use an enhancement device, one that breaks through the cloaking Boorlorn was using that evening. Had he been just broadcasting thoughts like normal, security would have caught him long before he even reached the club, never mind actually getting up and touching Victor Trent. This will show why Boorlorn was such a success - officially, his kind had been utterly destroyed back in 1294 CE. So this was supposed to be-impossible."

Dennis flips a switch and suddenly the scene changes. It is exactly like sitting in Boorlorn's head. You see the crowds and the buildings as he saw them on that fateful night. You also feel the chill that was in the air, and the actual tastes and smells. You note that Boorlorn had horrible breath. "It was never his custom to brush his teeth. Most vampires are meticulous about this," Dennis stated.

At 11:35PM, Boorlorn approached the door to the basement nightclub called "The Crypt," near the corner of Haight and Ashbury. He snickered a bit at the name. The people watching the door just let him in, it was an open party unless you were on the persona non grata lists, which he was not. "Now comes the time for my Redemptionist masters to get their revenge, and for me to avenge the destruction of my Order," Boorlorn thought. "Yes, my Order was a dismal failure, but we did not deserve to be hunted down like prey animals. Thankfully I was among the ten saved by the Alliance of Redemption, but the creeping insanity of the Amethyst eventually left only me. I could tell my time was coming, so fortunately the Redemptionists had this assignment available. I will perish doing something worthwhile."

Boorlorn made passing note of the dancing and revelry swirling throughout the club, the elaborate decorations, but made sure note of the vampires that were on guard, watching for anyone who would dare harm their glory boy, Victor Trent. Amazingly, not one of them was over 700 years old, so none of them would know what he was by sight. He did feel the presence of a few in the 800 to 1000 year range, but none of them were guards. They were just having a great time. "As decadent Order Ruby vampires always seem inclined to do," Boorlorn thought, sneering a bit.

At 11:40PM, Boorlorn was to be next to be introduced to Victor Trent. "Only five people were behind him, because at 11:45PM the limousine was to arrive and take Victor to a house just below the Jesuit run University of San Francisco (a quaint little place on Cole Street), where at the stroke of midnight he would be transformed into a Order Ruby vampire by no less than Maurana herself," Dennis stated. "So you see, the timing was crucial. The Redemptionists figured they had a ten minute window to get at Trent and by all the gods of Atlantis and anyplace else, they succeeded."

At 11:42PM Boorlorn shook Victor Trent's hand with a firm grip. "A pleasure, sir," Trent said, very formally. "I am your DOOM, sir!" Boorlorn snarled. At that point a 910-year-old male vampire looked and shouted, "Stop that man! He's Order Amethyst! He'll kill Victor!"

It was too late then. As soon as Boorlorn said "DOOM," about fifty Redemptionist Sapphire vampires sent destructive psychic energy right through Boorlorn as the focal point (hence focal point assassin) and into Trent. It was simply too much, too fast. Trent's wife Heidi threw herself in front of the initial blast in a vain attempt to save him, instead she simply became the first to go.

"I am FREE! I am AVENGED!" were Boorlorn's last thoughts as he saw Trent and Heidi get vaporized and then was consumed himself. And thus the screen goes blank for a moment until Dennis adjusts it to simply be watching the mayhem in the club after this disaster.

"Actually, let's get another inside a person's head view of what happened that night," Dennis said as he made some adjustments to the machine's settings. Suddenly we are looking through the eyes of a man standing at the front of the club, at a point when all appeared to be having a marvelous time. Could we be sitting in the head of - "Victor Trent? Yes, this is him, and I think I have us at around 11:15 PM. This will let you see and savor some of the spectacle. It WAS, by all accounts, a simply amazing party until Boorlorn showed up and ruined all those plans by vaporizing Victor, just as Victor had done to Carlos Sandoval de Mendoza back in the late 1980s." Dennis sighs. "So much died with Trent that night."

Dennis then sat back down and you see and hear and taste and feel the club through Trent?s eyes. "I figure I have exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with over two hundred people tonight. Not much longer now," Trent thought, looking at his watch and seeing 11:25PM. He started down the club, noting it was easily holding 1000 people, in addition to the 100 security personnel, half in plain clothes, half wearing the formal security garb of Orders Ruby and Emerald. Only three Sapphires were present, one being his old friend from Charleston Terry Tilburtson. The other interesting one was Franklin Blake, a longtime friend of his Ruby friend Marcus Nestor. The third, Trent thought with the shake of his head, was some high level Sapphire Security officer from Sancia's personal bodyguard, here to make certain that, if something DID happen, that Order Sapphire would not be automatically blamed for it. As if that would help, Victor thought with a derisive snort.

Just before 11:30 PM Victor noted the approach of his sister Patricia Ann and his wife Heidi. Pat was working Security, would not take 'no' for an answer when the subject came up. "Ever my protector, dearest Pat," Victor thought, grinning slightly.

With a look of concern, Pat said, "You look rather troubled, brother dear. Not having second thoughts now that the time draws near?"

Heidi also looked at Victor with concern. "I can tell you are anxious, beloved. We can stop with the handshaking and happy platitudes and just wait for Aurea to get here in the limousine. She'll be here in less than fifteen minutes."

You watch as Trent actually gave the suggestion some consideration. Sighing, he says, "No, beloved sister, cherished wife. There's but a few more, and besides, they came from all around to see me."

Patricia Ann nodded and walked back into the dancing throngs. Heidi stayed at Victor's side, which he found comforting.

"It's 11:40, beloved," Heidi whispered. "Aurea is on her way, and we can get you transformed and you can finally abandon this mortal coil and be one with us."

Victor nodded, thinking about his years among the Vamphyri. The tumultuous first few years in the late 1980s, the rather peaceful 1990s in which he fathered and helped raise his two children, Marcus and Alicia, with Caroline Pratt. Poor Caroline died in 1998, victim of a rogue Ruby yet to be found. The children were fine, fast asleep back at home. "Overall," Victor thought, "they have been rewarding years. Time for the next stage."

Then a rather odd, intense vampire came up to shake hands. Otherwise preoccupied, still wistfully thinking about the past, Victor simply reached out with his right hand and shook hands with Boorlorn. Looking at him, he said, "A pleasure,sir."

Suddenly he was transfixed by Boorlorn's stare, paralyzed as the vampire snarled, "I am your DOOM, sir!" Looking into those eyes filled with hate and insanity, it was like another fifty vampires were staring back at him. "My God!" Victor thought in horror. "They found a way through! I'm going to be vaporized like Carlos was!"

Through the corners of his eyes, Victor could see several vampires running towards him, attempting to stop the blast. He could have told them this was a useless gesture, but he could no longer speak. In horror he watched as Heidi threw herself between him and Boorlorn as the psychic blast first started, disintegrating her instantly. "Well, back to the oak paneled office to figure out the next one," he thought as he was vaporized. Then the screen went blank again.

You detect a tear rolling down Dennis' cheek, which he wipes away before he speaks. "That part always gets me, how Victor accepted his fate with such grace, almost nonchalantly. That was the kind of man that he was, though. After his rather intense and lengthy past-life regression sessions with my grandmother Maurana from 1989 through 1992 and again a couple times in 1999 and once more in 2000, Victor had no fear of death. Granted, I don't for a minute believe that this is what he wanted to have happen. I know that he was looking forward to being a vampire again. He wanted to visit the base in Cydonia on Mars and to study the Atlantean Archives. Victor was even able to speak to the reclusive head of Order Emerald, Satchna, at some length in 1994. Prior to that, and ever since, he has only talked to my grandmother's good friend Sybille, known as 'First Speaker' among the Emeralds."

Dennis sighed and turned the machine back on, showing the state of pandemonium in the club as Aurea and her retinue entered. "I'll let you see some of this, it is constructive after a fashion. Ah yes, there were but three terminations that night: Victor Trent, Heidi Stossner-Trent, and, of course, Boorlorn. A couple Security people were slightly burned by the edge of the psychic blast zone. Patricia Ann Trent, Victor's true sister, fell into a state of catatonic shock and remains so to this day. Unusual for a vampire, but not unheard of.

I'll give those Alliance bastards credit - it was a clean strike. Had Heidi not jumped in front of the blast, she would not have been harmed. They wanted Victor, and only Victor. Not that they had any illusions about being able to avoid retribution against the Alliance, or against the whole of Order Sapphire. That came very close to happening.

"Meanwhile, let's watch in the club as Aurea first sees that aftermath of what she heard telepathically," Dennis said as he sat in a chair.

Aurea and her retinue (consisting of Paulina Van Trent, Oscar Martin, and Police Detective Jackson - all from Order Ruby, and one Order Emerald vampire, name of Cassius Ephesus, a true ancient at 11,432 years old). Some inside the club were screaming, most silently weeping, some stood there, stunned, unable to comprehend how this could have been allowed to happen. Keeping her legendary composure, Aurea walked up to the stage, where not five minutes ago Victor and the last Amethyst vampire, Klaus Boorlorn, had shared their fatal handshake. An Emerald Security officer handed her one Ruby ring and one Amethyst ring.

"Well, this accounts for Heidi's ring, and this Amethyst ring is authentic, so the focal point assassin was indeed part of Order Amethyst," Aurea said with a sigh.

"I guess we should have had at least a few of the Security people over 800 years old," Cassius stated. "It would have at least given us a fighting chance."

Several Emerald and Ruby Security officers escorted the Sapphire Security official over to Aurea. The man bowed stiffly and said, "Madame Aurea, I trust that you do not for a moment believe that Order Sapphire as a whole is responsible for this despicable act. My Lady Sancia had nothing but respect for him and his accomplishments as a mortal were nothing short of extraordinary!"

It was quite clear to all assembled that Aurea would have liked nothing better than to throttle the Sapphire idiot and tear his heart out, but she kept her cool. "Your presence here is an act of good faith on Sancia's part, whether she realizes that or not remains to be seen," Aurea said.

At the stroke of midnight, when Victor was supposed to be undergoing the transformation, the team that was going to do just that arrived at the club. Maurana and Sybille entered first, followed by His Excellency the Vitzameri Kristano Pa Anovas and his recently transformed reincarnated true sister Francesca DeWitt.

With the arrival of these true ancients the party attendees started to calm down. As did the Vamphyri community at large as the telepathic crescendo of outrage - and elation - passed. Sybille was on the phone with an Emerald enclave near Sancia's compound in Spain. Once she finished her conversation, she walked over to the Sapphire Security Official and said, "Call Sancia. Advise her to surrender herself and the compound to the protection of Order Emerald. A small group led by one Iditntozo Fasa Nilons, who is 21300 years old and thus is clearly capable of seeing to her protection."

"And if My Lady Sancia refuses this protection?" he sneered.

Then just about everyone in the club looked at the Sapphire and said, in eerie unison, "Then Order Sapphire as a whole will be held responsible for what happened here tonight."

Taken aback, the Sapphire guard made that call. After talking to Sancia about two minutes, he bowed low to Sybille and said, "My Lady Sancia accepts the terms. We will provide all assistance in identifying and eliminating the Alliance bastards responsible for this." Handing Sybille his gun, he continued, "I also was instructed to surrender myself to your custody."

Sybille nodded and had the Sapphire Security official escorted from the premises to a safe house.

At that point Dennis turned off the monitor and said, "Sure, a lot more happened, and if you want to see it sometime give me a call and I'll arrange it. To wrap this up: It took until the end of March 2001, but all fifty of the Alliance members who took direct part in the eradication of Victor were found and destroyed. No evidence of any other Amethyst vampires still being kept alive, so now that chapter is truly closed. A renegade Emerald and Ruby were also terminated when it was shown that they were accomplices of this treachery."

Rubbing his eyes, Dennis then continued, "That only leaves the story of Kristano, why he chose to let go and recycle on 7 January, 2001. It seems that he held himself personally responsible for Victor's death, saying that he never should have left those kinds of holes in Security. That night, about 11PM, he was with Maurana and his sister reborn Francesca. He stood up, hugged them both, said 'no reason to go on, time to turn the wheel,' and simply disintegrated into a pile of ash. The great elders can do that. I suppose I fall into that category now."

Standing up and shaking our hands, Dennis says "It was grand spending the evening with all of you. Next time you will be back with Sylvia and company. The next episode takes place on the disastrous day of 11 September. Stupid mortals and their silly governments and the wanna bes that run the various terrorist organizations! It's almost enough to make a few vampires cross the line and get the record straight about Afghanistan and Bin Laden and his pals. We shall see. Until then, take care and remember - Atlantis was real and there was indeed life on Mars!"

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