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Isabelle nodded, thinking about her next words. After a few false starts, she began again.

"I was caught and collared in El Salvador and brought here by members of this coven."

"The Pelican Squad."

"Yes!" Isabelle became animated at this and thought to ask Edgar how he knew, but of course he would know. Notwithstanding his status as elder of his coven, the Pelican Squad was infamous across covens over centuries. "They were rough with me when I was captured, though now I know why; they were much kinder once I'd earned my way off the collar. Ceres was always kind." Isabelle's eyes wandered around the dining hall, drinking in little details as she related her story. "This space was off limits. That was normal for us younglings, though a lot of the others were angry about it. I never really gave it much thought. I guess now I understand why they were upset."

Isabelle described her arrival at the manor as nothing more than a caged animal, with only a small awareness of her former humanity. The hunger gnawed at her; she had ravaged the countryside where she was found, having spent her first few months as a vampire moving from one village to the next. Word had quickly made its way to the Manor of the horror in the south, and the hunters came. They were practiced, this Pelican Squad; finding her and bringing her in was handled with precision. She would learn later on of the high priority and importance placed upon the capture and preservation of wild younglings, at least for one faction in the Manor, comprised of the remaining members of the original coven. She would also come to learn how the coven used to operate out in the open.

"I'm still a little foggy, but I remember something pushed everyone underground, or into hiding. One of the Pelicans explained it to me: everyone knew we were vampires. But there was an attack, or a virus, or something making its way across the earth. Algo gigante." Something huge. "It's right on the tip of my tongue. I was out of sorts when it happened; it was all explained to me but I'm having a hard time recalling it."

"The other coven was already here when you were brought here."

"Yes."

"And Penelope and Don Roberto?"

"I don't remember. I think they were gone already. There was a lot of chatter about them, but it was all kept quiet. En secreto." In secret. Isabelle recalled the hushed tones, and the steering away from members of the other coven, when the former elders were brought up. "I figured out pretty quickly who was loyal to who."

"Whatever drove everyone apart, this happened before you arrived?"

Isabelle nodded.

"Were you human when it happened, or were you already turned?"

"I don't remember."

"I see."

"Since I can remember, everything seemed a little strained. Everyone was walking on eggshells, and there was a whole lot of mistrust between different groups. There was a dividing line--us and them--and then there were groups within the covens. And then factions popped up from members of both." Isabelle swept her gaze along the length of the table. "Faction leaders wanted a seat at this table."

"The coven leaders wouldn't let them in."

Isabelle shook her head.

"They made excuses, trying to put off the faction leaders. I think they hoped the factions would fizzle out."

"But they did not."

"No, the faction leaders just got angry. Everything blew up around that. I don't know what happened. I was asleep when Ceres stormed into my room. There was a small group of hunters with her, maybe six or seven of the other Pelicans."

Edgar understood the Pelicans would have posed a threat to power structures in the coven. Isabelle explained Ceres' and Titus' efforts in managing the group and keeping them out of internal politics. This is what kept them alive and off the radar of those scheming for power.

"They whisked me away with a few others," Isabelle said. While the rest of the residents tore the manor and each other apart, they had stolen down back passages, paths otherwise known only to the human help who had long since abandoned the Manor. "That's all I remember. The others are all sleeping in the room you pulled me out of."

This was a bit of a revelation for Edgar. The names listed in the database for those in hibernation were unknown to him. If it was true they were there in those lockers, they had obscured their identities.

How interesting.

Continued after the break

The destruction of the manor at the hands of competing factions came as no surprise to Edgar. He had spent most of his waking life managing the hotheads, the delusional, the entitled in the coven. Everyone, it seemed, required a proper dose of humility at some point in their newfound existence as a vampire. Of the three elders, he was the only one with a firm and steady hand to execute such lessons effectively. Don Roberto was too weak, and Penelope was unhinged; their talents lied elsewhere. He had often wondered how the coven would fare were he to take a long nap, and now he knew.

He stood up and stretched, letting out a long and deep yawn, one he had fought to hold as Isabelle told her story. When finished, he opened the small door in the lamp's chimney and blew out the flame, plunging the room into darkness. Following Edgar's lead, Isabelle rose and stretched. She waited while her night vision took over and she could see well enough before addressing Edgar.

"Should we go and wake the others?"

Edgar was thoughtful. He turned to her after a moment.

"No. Esperamos." Let's wait on that. "It is not wise to act without knowing what drove everyone into hibernation in the first place." He began walking to the set of doors they had come in through, Isabelle close on his heels. "We haven't been outside yet. And we haven't finished scouring the Manor. We must determine if the threat has passed. No sense in raising the others only to be driven back into the barrows."

He led them back to the [[The Manor#The Column|Column]].

"Kind of hard to believe this was all here when you arrived," said Isabelle as they began their descent.

"Strange, isn't it? It was abandoned, as if the builders just changed their minds and left. The mechanisms for running water and operating with low level power were intact and quite sophisticated, considering how long ago this must have been built."

"Maybe they got spooked and left like our coven did."

Edgar stopped and turned to look at Isabelle. He then looked around.

"That is possible," he said, as he continued down the stair.

They arrived at the first sub-level. Four rooms were built into this level, with the eastern room serving as the armory. They headed toward the vault-like entry.

"The locals all feared this place," said Edgar. "They said it was created by monsters for monsters. Seeing as how we're monsters, we thought it appropriate to appropriate it." At this, Edgar laughed to himself.

They approached the armory entrance and Edgar stopped at the keypad beside the door. He punched in his code and was met with an abrupt buzz indicating failure.

"Ceres said they changed all that before the new coven arrived. They didn't want all the munitions getting into the hands of strangers."

"How did they change it?"

"They made it so only one person knew the code, and then they killed him."

Edgar stood dumbstruck for a moment. This was certainly an effective way to keep munitions out of the hands of strangers. It was also an excellent strategy to keep munitions out of the hands of anyone. He let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Vamos." Let's go.

He led them down another level and into an open corridor that ran the length of the level from the [[The Manor#The Column|column]] to the outer wall. Toward the rear stood a nondescript door with a simple handle on the outside. Edgar grabbed hold of it and opened the door, gesturing to Isabelle to enter.

"Ladies first."

Isabelle rolled her eyes but walked through nevertheless. Having lived in a collar and forced to serve her masters by way of curbing her appetites, she had grown accustomed to managing all things for herself and others. Chivalry was not prevalent in modern vampire culture. It seemed only the elders held to old world ideals.

Edgar walked in behind her and let the door close on its own. They walked for some time in a great arc, the layers of dust on the floor swirling around their feet at the disturbance of each step. They arrived at a stair, and Edgar climbed without pause, kicking up more dust despite his lithe steps. Isabelle followed closely to avoid a face full of the smut being dredged up in Edgar's wake. They entered another hallway at the top, which continued moving in a great arc, passing numerous doors set into the inner wall. They crossed another hallway that appeared to be a dead end, and Edgar stopped at a door on the other side of it. He tried the doorknob but found it was locked.

"Excuse me." He rubbed his hands to remove the dust he picked up from touching the knob, then gestured for Isabelle to stand to one side as he stepped away from the door. Raising a leg straight over the knob, Edgar brought his heel down over it with as much force as he could muster. The knob broke off, part of it bouncing down the hall, while the rest of the assembly hung askew, held there by the interworking of the lock mechanism. Edgar chuckled. "I've always wanted to do that."

He peered into the hole. Reaching in, he released the tab holding the door in place. With a click, the door swung open. He and Isabelle walked into a rather spacious janitor's closet. Everything was organized along one wall, leaving an open walkway across the closet to another door. They approached the door and Edgar pushed it open. They stepped across the threshold and Edgar walked toward the front of the large space where the door with the keypad stood sentinel, Isabelle close behind. Light from the hallways was too low to make it very far into the closet area, leaving the main space without any illumination. Still, they were able to make out the outlines of obstacles lying in their path, which they skirted without issue. Edgar paused at the main entrance and felt along one side.

Low, blue light rose at two ends of the giant room. It was just enough for the vampires to see with clarity the major structures and furniture around them. Isabelle turned, taking inventory of what she saw: racks upon racks of weapons ranging from medieval melee equipment to the more modern digitally enhanced weaponry with which she was much more familiar. She paused for a moment before turning on Edgar.

"You mean anyone could just walk into this place through these hallways?"

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