They knocked on the door, and after a moment, Charles answers the door, stepping aside to make room for them to enter.
“Come in please. Have a seat. You are…?” he asks, looking at Jett.
“Jett.” he responds somewhat flat, taking a moment to look around, scarcely believing he was actually going through with this.
“Charles. Nice to meet you. Oh, I see you got some sandwiches. Good. Do you like them?”
“Yeah.” he said, taking a seat at one of the chairs in front of the desk, avoiding the couch entirely.
Petra gives a small wave. “I’ll wait outside the office, I just wanted to make sure he showed up.”
“It’s fine.” Charles said with a smile. “Feel free to look around. I mean, if nothing else, people around here can always use a friend here to listen to. Use some help in the kitchen. We’re always looking for volunteers.”
“I’ll figure out where my skills could best be used.” she said, exiting the office.
“So, Jett, what brings you here?” he asked as he made his way to his chair behind the desk.
“I have no idea what Petra told you, but I know she’s worried.” Jett began.
“She said she saw some fresh cuts. I assume that’s your stress relief method. She’s worried that you might try to go a little further with that.” he said, setting into a semblance of professionalism.
“She’ll kick my ass if I don’t show you.” Jett said with a sigh. He brought up his left arm, undoing the cuff from his wrist, and then showed Charles the scars, leaving his arm out for two or maybe three minutes for examination before pulling it back and reattaching the cuff.
“Yeah. All right. You’ve been honest with me and point-blank, so I’ll be forward with you. Have you thought about killing yourself?”
“Yes.” Jett answered honestly, though he left out how often he thought about it.
“Recently?” Charles asked.
“Yes.” Jett said, though he gave no indication just how fresh the newest scars were.
“Maybe we should talk about why. In case you haven’t figured it out, I am a vampire. So there’s nothing you can tell me that I won’t -”
“She did me the favor of mentioning that. And also that you were an Independent, in case that mattered.” Jett interrupted.
“If it makes a difference to who, I am a Setite. I know my clan gets a bad reputation. I like to be honest, though.”
Jett shrugged. “She seems to trust you.”
“Her, Brandon, Endrik, several other folks around here. Nick. Before everyone got killed off, a good number of the members of Elysium, the Prince’s court, so to speak. I saw a lot of people. Vampires have problems, too. Heck, a lot of them have more problems than most. The realities of their existence tends to mess with the mind. So what’s going on? Do you want anything to drink? Eat? I’ve got sodas, pasta, beers, whatever. Your call. Russian vodka, whatever.”
“Sure. Hand me a beer.” Jett answers after thinking for a moment.
Charles reached into a mini-fridge, removing a bottle of beer a moment later – what appeared to be a local craft brew. Jett popped the top off and took a swig before answering the prior question.
“To put things in as brief a sentence as possible, I’ve been under the sum of a vampire my entire life.” Jett began, his tone rather matter-of-fact.
“I see.” Charles said, waiting for him to continue.
“I’m not a revenant. Don’t come from one of those families.”
“But, he got a hold of you early on.” Charles guessed. “Groomed you.”
“I’ve never known a day in my life without him. Correct.” Jett confirmed.
“I take it not the most pleasant of masters.” Charles offered.
“He has an affection for me that I don’t return.” Jett answered after a moment of thought.
“And yet, because of the blood bond, you find it hard to resist.” Charles stated.
“I find it hard to push back too much. Believe me, I try. But lately I feel like I don’t have any more fight left.” Jett admitted.
“The blood bond’s a motherfucker, that’s for sure. You wouldn’t believe half the clients I have in here, that’s the root of their problem. What’s worse is most of them don’t even realize or know it – they came to me for something else. But the blood bond’s strong enough; they’re happy-go-lucky. Oh, yes. I love the master. Licking his feet brings me so much pleasure. It’s twisted. It’s why I try not to do it to anyone. There are exceptions. Ryan is more than likely going to become bound to me, very soon. I don’t know a way to make him a ghoul without it, though. If knew now if there were enough people around here that I trusted to circulate, but even then, eventually he’s going to get three from the same person.”
“I’m aware of the problems of being an independent, too.” Jett said, momentarily recalling times he’s had to scrounge and beg for blood. Not a life he’d wish on a ghoul – it was hard. Being a ghoul was far from easy, in any capacity.
“You’ve tried?” Charles asked.
“I’ve tried. And Marcus had a habit of – “
“Marcus?” Charles interrupted, a little surprised.
“Yeah. You know Marcus?”
“I met him briefly. Know of him would probably be more appropriate.” Charles responded.
“I’m…his.” Jett said, defeat clear in his voice this time.
“Ah. Well, first of all, stop that language. You’re labeling yourself as his property. Don’t do that. It’s defeatist.” he gently chided, then waited for Jett to continue.
“Be that as it may, that’s the way he sees me, both as property, and as a lover. He has spent a good chunk of my life trying to teach me, trading me to others to be taught, who didn’t always treat me so well. He’s been abusive, all varieties except physical. He has this habit of letting me go for a while, letting me figure things out on my own, but still being there as a fallback. Anytime I think I’m good, that I’ll be okay, that I won’t have to deal with him, he comes back into my life. Either I’m summoned or he just shows up.” Jett said, tightening his grip on the beer bottle in front of him before chugging back a fair amount in an effort to avoid the emotion that threatened to choke its way through.
“Sounds like a twisted parent, almost with creepy implications.” Charles confessed. He was trained enough to know what Jett was doing, but he opted not to comment on it for now. No reason to push buttons this early, after all.
“Last night I was summoned because I had come to town, and he’d heard about it. He’d written me saying he was trying to move on from me, and I don’t buy that. My intent was to find who he had his sights on and warn them.”
“And so you found Nick.”
“How do you know about that?” Jett asked, surprised.
“The whole entourage over there with Brandon. Nick works for Brandon. As do several of his friends, they’ve been rather prolific in their presence in town lately. They almost saved the Prince from destruction. Things would have been a lot worse if they hadn’t showed up. Killed off a high ranking member of the Inquisition, too.”
“Wow. Helluva thing for mortals.” Jett said, genuinely impressed.
“Some morals might be a stretch. Mages hired by Brandon to save Petra. He could not find a solution to her curse. He couldn’t track down the man who had cursed her, and he couldn’t make open movements without causing a lot of hubbub politically, so to speak. It’s a Camarilla town, or at least it was. And showing up here, being who he is, just stomping around, would have caused riot. So he hired locals, asked them to track down the man who hurt her.” Charles explained.
“Yeah. She said that Nick and his friends were responsible for curing her. And that they even took care of the guy who did it?”
“High ranking Tremere, yes. They killed him just recently.” Charles informed.
“That puts them in a different light in my eyes.” Jett admitted.
“Nick you mean?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know anything about him before, other than Marcus knows him and that he served. That’s all I was able to really discover.”
“It’s not my place to tell you too much about him. Suffice to say, I think he’s a good man at heart. As his fair share of problems, like anyone else.”
“I’ll take your word on it. I trust it more than Marcus’s.” Jett said.
“Why is that? Does he lie to you? Manipulate you?” Charles asked, returning to the reason Jett was there in the first place.
“Yes, and he usually gets what he wants. And last night…” Jett stopped. His voice cracked, and he just picked the beer back up.
“Take your time. I’ve cleared my schedule. We’ve got all night. I’m sorry I couldn’t meet with you in the day. Sensitivity issues. Burn easy, as it were.” Charles said with a little chuckle. “Not enough SPF in the world.”
“I feel like he’s playing games again with me. He says one thing, but I’m fully expecting another.” Jett finally continued.
“Do you think, in general, that people are capable of change? That if they try, they can change?” Charles asked.
“Yea.”
“Were vampires not once people?” Charles continued.
“I don’t know if you can remotely call Marcus a people anymore.” Jett said.
“I think the older they get, the more set in their ways they get. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It just means you’d have to try harder. So, like, for instance, Brandon and his attempts to change.”
“Brandon’s attempting to change?” Jett asked, disbelief clear in his voice.
“Oh, yes.” Charles responded with a smile.
“Did hell freeze over?”
“Not exactly, but according to the rumors, he was visited by a demon.”
“Uh-huh.” Jett said, clearly not believing it.
“Some sort of soul quest?” Charles continued. “ I don’t know. I’m not familiar with the details, and even if I were, it probably wouldn’t be my place to share them. But from what I have heard, he was visited by an entity claiming to be an angel and taken on some sort of vision quest. He disappeared for a few weeks, came back sporting a white suit and hugging everyone, trying to make a new lease on life, do good for the world, be a force for change, that sort of thing. I know that Nick and the others had quite an impact on him, Sayuri, especially. She joined his pack, as I understand.”
Charles paused, waited to see if Jett commented, and when he didn’t, went on. “She gave up being a mage to become what he is. Go figure. Then there’s the Billy kid. I would say that Billy makes him feel young again, because Billy is about as mature as your average seven-year-old. Smart as a whip. But Billy is Billy.”
“Fair enough. I think I know which one you’re talking about. I met a couple of them.”
“Sounds like a surfer?”
“Yeah.”
“Were-something or other. Not the wolves. One of the others. I’m not sure which, I don’t remember. But yeah, he’s the one that hired the other two. Did the head-hunting, so to speak.” he added, though paused, noting that Jett seemed lost in thought.
“You want to be free of Marcus, yes?”
“Yes. But even if what he said is true, what he said he was going to do is true, I’m still not going to be free of the blood bond for a very long time, and that’s if he stays away.” Jett said, sounding defeated again.
“What about breaking the blood bound?” Charles asked.
“I don’t even know if that’s possible.” Jett said.
“Sabbat do it all the time. The act of joining a Sabbat pack, the ritual that they prepare, breaks previous bombs rather readily.” Charles mentioned casually.
“I didn’t know about that.” Jett admitted.
“Being Independent has its benefits. You get to learn a little from everyone. Hell, ask Vince about it. He’s played both sides of the field, as I understand. Of course, it seems like you know Brandon as well. I’m assuming through Marcus somehow.”
“Yeah.” Jett said, nodding slightly.
“And one of his old pack mates is recently back in town. They dug him up in Rome somewhere. Endrik”
“Don’t know that name.” Jett confessed.
“Apparently he helped make Petra’s sword, I know that much.” Charles admitted.
“Oh, god.” Jett said, shuddering slightly.
“I’ve never seen the sword, but I’ve seen a similar reaction from Vince.”
“Vince is very strong in some of his reactions.But, uh…. he primary reason I don’t think Marcus has changed much…” Again, he gets a little choked up.
“Can you tell me about what happened last night?” Charles asked. It was a potentially dangerous prompt, but if he could relay what happened, he’d be more able to provide him with the help he needed.
There was a long silence in the office, the only sound being that of Jett’s breathing, and occasional drinking. Eventually, with an unsteady voice that threatened to crack with every few words, he told the tale of the previous evening.