BotC - Ch.37 - Conference Call (T) (Patreon)

"If we're ready, I'll make the call." Reuben said as he looked at me and Sam.

My girlfriend nodded, "May as well get it over with."

He tapped the number and waited. His phone was on speaker so all three of us could listen and participate in the call. 

It was Wednesday evening and we were back in the managers office in the club. Reuben had another email from Jess, she asked for a phone call so we could all talk rather than rely on text.

We heard it ring twice, then Jessica's voice as she answered "Hello?"

"It's Reuben," the tall muscular vamp stated. "I have you on speaker. I trust you're alone, somewhere private?"

Jessica replied "Yes I am. Nobody's around to overhear, I've taken precautions. Who else is with you?"

Reuben looked at us, and Sam spoke up.

"Hello Jessica. It's Sam, and Tara's here too."

There was a brief pause before she replied "Hello Samantha, and hello Tara. Thank you both for agreeing to hear me out."

After another pause Sam stated "Jess just say what's on your mind, don't keep us waiting."

"Sorry," our former colleague sighed. "This is difficult for me, I'm very torn about how to proceed and what I'm about to say."

Sam looked at me and rolled her eyes.

Reuben suggested "Jess, I think your best bet is to get to the point."

We heard her sigh then she replied "Very well."

There was another pause before she started talking.

"Samantha, you were an excellent leader when you were the top enforcer. I know we didn't all like you, but all of us respected you. The Family needs you. You were capable and confident when you were in charge of a dozen of us. You're even stronger and more capable now. You have the knowledge Isabelle shared with you, and you're obviously incredibly powerful since you had those vials of ancient blood she left for you. I'm asking you to return and take charge here. We are without a matriarch, without any effective leadership at all. We need you. You can save us."

She continued, "Reuben said you were asking about remuneration. If you take charge you'll have it all. Everything will be at your disposal. The mansion, the property, all the money and resources of the Family. It will all be yours."

My eyes widened slightly as we all listened. Jessica's email last week sounded a little desperate, but having her offer Sam the position of matriarch was beyond anything I expected.

When I glanced at my girlfriend though she didn't look surprised or impressed. She looked bored. She was picking at some loose threads in the hem of her t-shirt.

When Jess finally stopped talking, Sam didn't even take a moment to act thoughtful. She simply replied "Nope. Not interested."

Jessica sighed, "Samantha we need-"

"I'm not leading that family," Sam interrupted. "I'm not coming back there to live like a slave, even if you're offering me the job of top slave. I'm not going to be the warden of that Family's self-imposed prison. I'm not going back to eating your shitty plastic blood and pretending it's better than what we were meant to consume. I don't care how posh the prison cells are and how much flash the cars and toys are there."

"But -" Jess tried to speak up before Samantha interrupted again.

"What you don't seem to understand Jess is we have a life here. Me and Tara and Reuben. We've made something here. We're free, we're actually living and enjoying what we've got. We have plans and goals and ambitions, and none of that was possible with the Family. I spent thirty-three years under their thumb and that will never happen again. You're a good enforcer Jess, you're strong and capable. If you're so dead-set on saving the Family, then step up and take charge yourself. If you don't think you've got the leadership skills, take an online course, or read a fucking book."

Jessica was quiet for about a minute after that. Finally she asked, "Tara, are you there? I don't suppose you feel any differently than Samantha on this subject?"

Sam looked at me and rolled her eyes again. 

I grimaced but shook my head, "Hi Jess, I'm here. And no, I agree with Sam a hundred percent. I know I was only there a few years, but in that time I was almost universally hated. I experienced harassment, prejudice, and routine threats. You can try and tell me that was just a few people who're now dead, but the fact that it was allowed to go on without anyone else saying anything tells me it's there and it's systemic. And it wasn't just me, the same things were happening to Sam. Think about that, Jess. Above and beyond all the stuff Sam just said, we were harassed and ostracized for years by the Family because we're trans. Now you're asking her to drop everything and come back to help those same people, the same organization, that treated us both like trash?"

All of us were silent again after my little tirade.

Finally my girlfriend looked across the desk and asked "Reuben, we haven't heard from you yet. What do you think? Would you want to move back to Toronto and take over?"

He looked thoughtful for a few moments, then shook his head and replied "No. Sorry Jessica but I agree with Sam and Tara. We're free here. We have lives here, and a bright future. I've lived more and achieved more in four years here, than I did in nearly six decades with the Family. You're asking us to come back to a gilded cage, after experiencing what it means to live free. I'm sorry Jessica, but that's never going to happen."

"Jess?" Sam asked. "Why are you so reluctant to take charge? You're strong enough. You're top enforcer now, you're stronger and tougher than anyone else there."

Jessica sighed deeply, "As long as Julian and Olivia are here, no-one would accept me or anybody else as leader. As useless and ineffective as the two of them are, they remain our surviving elders."

My girlfriend frowned, "So when you were asking me to come and take over, what you were really asking was for me to come back and kill them?"

"Yes," Jessica replied with another sigh. "I suppose so."

Sam stated, "You should have just said that in the first place Jess. Put a price on their heads. How about five million for the pair? Two and a half million apiece to eliminate two vampire elders? Or perhaps two Slúag Marb, I suppose you still don't know what they are for sure."

There was another longish pause then Jess asked, "Are you serious?"

I looked at Sam and had the same question on my mind. I was sure Reuben did too. 

She looked back at me and Reuben and shrugged, then looked at the phone and nodded "Yeah, why not? Pony up five million dollars, me and Tara will think about coming back to town to bump off your last two problems."

"I uh, I really have to think about this Samantha."

Jess was obviously uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken, even though she was basically asking us to do this from the start. But putting it into words and sticking a price on it seemed to make her uneasy, while she was comfortable trying to manipulate us into doing it without actually telling us.

Reuben said "Jessica, I'll make this suggestion and offer again. Walk away, leave it all behind. Come here, I have a place for you. I can teach you what you need to know. Then once you've learned, if you really want you could return to Toronto and pass that knowledge on to the others."

"Reuben I can't do that," Jess sighed. "You're asking me to give up my life, my home, everything I have here."

He stated "I'm not asking you to do anything you haven't been asking of us."

She went silent again after that.

We all sat quietly for a little while, till Sam broke the silence once more.

"Hey Jess? Will you tell me why you betrayed us? Why you turned us in to Isabelle that night?"

Jessica stayed quiet for a few more seconds, then finally agreed "Very well Samantha."

"I was affected by that batch of tainted blood. I gave in to the hunger and ran out of rations about ten days before the next delivery was due. I contacted Cynthia and Isabelle. I was brought to the mansion for a private meeting with the two of them. They told me it was a test of loyalty, that they needed to be sure those of us who lived outside the mansion remained loyal to the Family and still honoured the Covenant. Isabelle said neither you or Reuben had contacted them about the problem, which led them to be suspicious."

She continued, "I was given a supply of unaffected blood, and ordered to report if I heard or discovered anything incriminating from any of the three of you. After a week without hearing anything, Isabelle suggested I reach out to either Reuben or yourself, to find out why you weren't affected."

Jess sighed, "I spoke with Reuben, found out he had a stockpile and hadn't been drinking the tainted blood yet. That wasn't against any rules, but it was frowned on. Then you and Tara turned up unexpectedly. When you admitted to breaking the Covenant, I sent Isabelle an alert through my phone."

She sighed again and concluded, "Then you told Reuben and I what was really going on. You showed us that letter, and Isabelle's journal. By the time I understood the danger we were all in, it was too late. I'd already sent her the signal."

Samantha nodded to herself, "Ok Jess. And that's why you told her we broke the covenant, but didn't say anything else. You had to tell her something to keep yourself out of trouble."

"I'm sorry Samantha. And Reuben, I'm sorry I betrayed you both."

I rolled my eyes but didn't remark on being overlooked again. She turned me in too, but she probably just saw me as Sam's sidekick back then rather than a whole person. She probably still thought that now. And from what she said earlier, she obviously still didn't know Sam gave me half of the ancient blood. I was sure Sam wanted to keep that information private between the three of us, so I just stayed quiet and listened for now.

Sam spoke up again, "That's what it comes down to. The Family controlled our food, controlled our lives. Me and Tara looked elsewhere for nourishment because we didn't trust the Family. And Reuben's precautions meant he was already prepared. If nothing had happened, he'd have faced the same hunger a couple weeks later but he had a cache of reserves. He'd have survived without contacting the Family. You went to them and they asked you to dance for your dinner. And you did it Jess. You're still doing it now."

Jessica didn't have a response for that.

After another little pause, Sam finally said "I think we've covered everything. You have my answer Jess. Five million and we'll consider taking care of the elders so you can take over the Family. Or you can come here and accept Reuben's offer. It's up to you."

"You know I don't have access to that kind of money Samantha," Jess stated quietly.

Sam laughed, "Then what the fuck were you offering me ten minutes ago? All the money and property? Is the family broke?"

Jessica sighed, "The money is there of course! I just don't have access to it."

She tried once more, "Samantha are you really going to turn your back on all of us? They didn't all hate you! What about Daniel and Kathryn, you worked with them. Or Eric? He helped you that night, he gave you information!"

My girlfriend laughed again, "Seriously? Kathryn was in Cynthia's clique. You know she treated me and Tara like shit. Daniel kept his mouth shut and turned a blind eye when that was going on. And Eric didn't do anything for us we wouldn't have found out in ten seconds ourselves. The keys were in the ignition? Like we wouldn't see that by looking in the car windows? Come on! He obviously knew he was taking us to be executed and he didn't say fuck all about that!"

Sam continued, "You know that's where Carlos and Sally probably died right? And Marcus, Anthony, Gwen? They all lived in the mansion Jess, it's a no brainer to realize they were probably led into the garage and killed there. Eric lived upstairs, he'd have known what was going on and he had plenty of opportunity to speak up. He told us the bare minimum to cover his ass, without betraying Isabelle."

Jess sighed, then finally responded "Ok Samantha. I'll consider your er, price. And Reuben's offer. I'll be in touch. Thank you for your time."

Reuben replied, "Take care of yourself Jess."

He ended the call then looked at me and Sam and asked, "Five million to bump off a pair of elders? Seriously?"

Sam shrugged, "You think I should have asked for more?"

Reuben shook his head and rolled his eyes.