NOVEL WEB Chapter 37: 37
Karen was a neophyte with only a few decades of non-life, but the information she had about the current situation of vampires was of great help to Pablo. Currently, vampires were divided into three different factions or councils. In Africa and in western Asia, the Savath council reigned, they did not follow clan structures, anyone could create their nest, feed freely in the multiple wars of innocent victims, the only rules were not to be discovered, not to attack the territory of another bandit, and that no vampire affiliated with another council could arrive without an invitation, to be able to go one had to renounce their previous clan and be subjected to quarantine until having the approval of at least three vampires.
The great Masters existing in that faction were only of the eighth and ninth generation, Karen for example was of a nineteenth generation hence her diluted blood. In Asia and Russia the Akami Council reigned, seven main clans lived together in different parts respecting their territories without sharing spaces, the Barahi in India, Weng Fu in western China, and the Nine Sons of the Dragon in the west, Phi Kon Koi in Thailand and Southeast Asia, Jiang Shi in Korea, Satoris Oni in Japan, and Medrascas in Indonesia and the Philippines.
It was not relevant information for Pablo but it never hurt to know it, the most important thing was the situation in Europe and America.
Since the Second World War all of Europe had been declared neutral territory, the great ancient clans had to live together in old Europe with the new clans, wars between vampires were not allowed, the old clans that continued to operate were the Arcani, Nosferatu, Inferni, Vulturi, Illuminati, and the Bruhyja. The Selimans were destroyed in the Second World War, and Karen had never heard of the Justicars except as a legend or a warning of what not to do, the Bathory had been destroyed long before, in the 19th century after the revolutions that devastated the world.
These ancient clans shared the United States, Central America and South America, but there each one had its own fief or territory, only Europe could accommodate cities where everyone lived together, including the clans that emerged at the end of the Middle Ages such as Caeles and Mervas and the new clans that emerged after the First World War, there were many of these minor clans, but the most important were the Markovitz, who collected all the vampires of Jewish origin after the Second World War, the Taranis with origins in northern Europe, and the Fedal, who were said to have inherited part of the knowledge of the disappeared Bathory house.
Basically, in Europe, any vampire with the power to support themselves could form their own clan. It was neutral territory, but the rules of the old vampire council, now called the conclave, still applied on the old continent. They were not to betray vampires or do things that would be discovered, and above all, the actions of the offspring affected and were the responsibility of the entire clan.
Many small clans with little discipline had been wiped off the face of the earth by the mistake of a neophyte who had not been able to control his hunger or had had uncontrolled offspring.
For Pablo it was the same old shit but with a different wrapper, already in his time there were free territories, shared areas, and clans that rose and fell within a few centuries. Everything had changed but nothing really.
"And here in Barcelona who operates and where?"
"Well, big cities are divided into districts if you see them as territories, but really there are many operators, many companies controlled by the old clans with people on their councils, but if you think about the first thing, mine are in Sans, in Gracia the Bruhyja, in the Gothic centre and Rabal there are many small nests of new clans, in the Ensanche the Volturi and Illuminati operate mainly, but if you want to find the real power you have to go to the upper part, the Arcani in that area of the city, they are really the ones who command here"
"What about the poorest areas? Guinardó, Horta, Poble Nou?"
"Think of all the poorest neighbourhoods as a big hunting ground for raising cattle, if a posh kid goes wrong it attracts attention, if a poor guy does it, it is always thought that he has lost himself in drugs"
"I understand, can you not give me names, I don't say your teacher, but of those who are really behind the shadows?"
"I only know those from my clan, and you know that I can't betray them, it would be my death sentence, and about the rest I don't move in those circles, I can tell you that the master of my clan is an eighth generation, that's why we are so powerful, and the rest are worse, but most of the old glories are dormant or dead"
"Does the name Seth or Isbalaen ring a bell?"
Karen put on a thoughtful face, beyond mythology the name of Seth didn't ring a bell in the world of shadows, but Isbalaen sounded more familiar to her, as if he were someone whom the master of her clan had once named with terror, and it was rare for that being to be scared by anyone.
"If I'm honest, I don't know who the first one is, but about the second I know who can tell you something"
"Someone from your clan?"
"Haha, no, we are interested in today's world, not history, but if you want to buy something in Barcelona, even if it's information, you have to go see Tomeu, in Rabal, it's a second-hand bookstore, but it will help you in many things, let's say that Tomeu is independent and everyone respects him, he's old, very old."
Pablo knew that he wouldn't get anything more useful from Karen, he wouldn't betray his people, he couldn't give him anything from eight centuries ago, but perhaps this Tomeu could help him. The girl was looking at him with a confused look, that being seemed on one hand as strong as an ancient, but he was alive as if he hadn't transformed or had stopped his change in some way.
"I've told you my part, tell me Pablo, who the hell are you?"
"Ha ha ha, telling you what and who I am would bring you nothing good Karen, run far away, and don't cross my path, that way we'll be at peace, if you try to avenge your companions I'll destroy you"
"Fuck, you always have to have a threat in your mouth"
Pablo simply shrugged his shoulders, for Karen it was clear that he was like a neophyte who knew nothing about the current world of vampires, and on the other hand he seemed like a master coming out of his lethargy after many years of rest, the girl went to one of the furniture in the living room and grabbed a pipe that she threw at Pablo.
"If you don't want to tell me your story for my sake, but use this when you go out in the sun, it won't let you be at the beach at midday but it will work for long exposures, you can ask Tomeu about the rest of things, and now if you don't want anything else get out of my house"
Pablo had nothing else to do, she wouldn't go and report him to her clan even though they would sooner or later investigate where those damn offspring were, the only thing that could worry Pablo about that night was when the police found the bodies, although he was almost sure that no front camera had recorded him, the incident at the disco and those corpses could be easily related. The problem with Gisela and the rest could be solved with an apology.
"Do you have a car?"
"A 4x4, are you going to steal my car?"
"You don't need it if you're going to run away, and I have to get rid of some corpses..."
"Ha ha ha, you come, you screw up my life, and on top of that you want to keep the car?"
"It was more your fault than mine, so don't fuck with me, if you're thinking of selling the car tomorrow to get cash we can do something, help me and there won't be any problems"
"Do you have a place to throw away the trash?"
"Not yet, but I can think of one that's not very busy"
Going to the road that went up to Montjuic, carrying the bodies between the two of them and putting them in the car took them an hour, then they headed down the road to Castelldefels, with their new physique and Karen's powers jumping over the fence still loaded with the bodies and taking them to the chapel was easy, there wasn't even a night watchman there.
When Karen went down to the secret crypt, to the old nest of the Justicars, she froze.
"What fucking century is this from and how do you know of its existence?"
"It's from the 10th century and I was there when it was inaugurated"
The 10th century? Was that young man whose heart beat at will and who had the strength of an ancient vampire over a thousand years old? The girl would have liked to have met Pablo in other circumstances to have asked him more questions, but their relationship did not start well, and now she only thought about getting rid of him and running away. Although Karen had doubts and questions about this enigmatic pseudo vampire.
When they got into the car to make the way back to Barcelona, the young vampire seemed to have a question in mind.
"Ask, if I can I will answer you"
"Why didn't you take the opportunity to kill me?" You could have done it in my house or in that crypt, but it seemed like you had already lost interest"
"Ha ha ha, think about it this way, if I kill you it's true that I'll eliminate a witness and participate uncomfortably in what happened tonight, but if I let you live I know that I can use you in the future, it's better to be a pawn out there than to go blindly in this world, besides you don't have the power to kill me or threaten me and it's not worth it for you to do so, let's say that you owe me and don't worry that I'll collect it"
"You have the romanticism of a stone, you son of a bitch, and I thought that you had taken pity on me"
"What are we going to do, it's our nature, right?"
Deep down, going to another world would also give her freedom, she only hoped that her people wouldn't look for her and give her up for dead.
The farewell was a simple stroke of luck, Pablo stayed watching as Karen's car left in the distance and only then did he return home. By the time he lay down and entered his house it was 10 o'clock on Sunday morning, but he didn't go to sleep, his body was asking for food right now, a huge amount of it.