Tori Vordenburg's plane had stopped over at JFK Airport. As impatient as Tori was to get to Stokerville, she was relieved to be able to get out of that damn flying tube for a little. She, Erzulie, Fiona, and Megan were sitting in the airport Starbucks. Overnight, Erzulie had used her witchy know-how to hastily assemble an Amulet of Daywalking for Megan. Otherwise, all that dawn that came spilling in through the plane's windows a few hours ago would have spelled doom for the vampire fledgling. Thanks to the Amulet, she had survived the dawn and was able to freely disembark from the plane into the airport.
Fiona gazed around the Starbucks and the wider airport in awe. "Jings!" the Scotswoman gasped. "This steid sure is futuristic, isnae it? Does time truly shift sae slowly oan th' Isle o' Ronay?"
"It's pretty isolated," Tori shrugged. "Yeah, it's a bit of a time capsule. Welcome to the big city, Fiona. This is New York, biggest city in America, crossroads of the planet, and center of the global economy."
"Sort of the opposite of Ronay," Erzulie chuckled.
"Tis lik' nowt that ah've ever seen afore," Fiona marveled. "Is this whaur ye'r fae?"
"Erzulie and I actually live in New Orleans," said Tori. "That's really far down to the south of this place. Erzulie's a native, and I moved there for work. New Orleans is the most goddamn haunted city in the United States, perfect for a professional monster hunter. No fewer than six vampire clans live down their, along with regional branches of four international mega-clans. The worst and best part for me? Half of those clans are completely rogue, especially the branches of Clan Tepes and Clan de Rais."
"That's actually how we met," Erzulie added, tucking a stray dreadlock behind her ear. "My mother and her entire Voodoo coven were killed by a Clan Tepes vampire, and I hired Tori to help me get some justice. We took that bastard down and fell head-over-heels in love along the way." The dark-skinned witch gave Tori's hand an affectionate squeeze.
"Something I don't get, Tori," said Megan. "You're always treating me like a bomb that could explode at any minute, and at the same time you're dating a witch. Do you hate supernatural creatures or don't you?"
Tori glared at Megan. "Don't you dare call Erzulie a creature, leech! Especially after she was nice enough to make you that Amulet of Daywalking at such short notice, just so your pasty ass wouldn't fucking roast in the sunrise!"
"I didn't mean it like that!" Megan apologized. "I was just wondering how you can hold me at arm's length and say I'm a dangerous freak of nature because I'm supernatural and still share your life with a witch. What's the difference?"
"Witches are humans, the same as me or Fiona," Tori said. "They have free will. Having the gift of magic doesn't change that. Vampires are corpses animated by the powers of primordial Night. You honestly sound like you have a lot more in common with demons than humans. How can I be sure you still have free will? Dad was pretty sure leeches lose their souls after they're turned. He always saw killing fangs as doing them a favor, since he was freeing their souls."
"No disrespect meant to your dad," said Megan, "but I think I'm in a position to understand vampires a little better than him. My moral compass is just the same as when I was a human. Remember when I slipped into the bathroom to feed? I had to feed from six freaking people just to fill up without having to take enough blood to make anyone so much as woozy! It would've been way easier to feed from a single person and kill them or put them in a hospital, but I couldn't live with that. Vampires don't have to be monsters. Some are, sure, but there's always a choice."
Fiona thoughtfully ran her fingers through her red hair. "Ah think she micht be richt, Tori," she said at last. "Ah wis a vampire fur mair than thirty years afore ye cured me 'n' ah hated Clan nic Ṛnaighach 'n' its evil matriarch. Ah wis a vampire whin ah helped ye slay her. Mibbie vampires are juist fowk lik' us. Nae better, nae worse."
Erzulie muttered a quick spell to reheat her espresso before weighing in. "Perhaps Fiona's right, Tori. Maybe its time to let go of our grudges and move on. Not every vampire we meet is goddamn Dracula, and Megan's been nothing but nice."
Tori thought about it for a minute. She took a deep, long swig of her mocha and finally spoke. "Yeah, I guess you're all right... up to a point. Some vampires do struggle against their evil nature and win. I guess you're one of them, Megan. Friends?" She extended her hand for Megan to shake.
Megan shook Tori's hand, grinning. "Friends! I still think you're being kinda hard on vampires as a whole, but I'm glad you can finally see I won't snap and turn into a bloodthirsty cannibal."
"I think you'll find I'm right about other vampires," Tori said. "You'll soon get a chance to meet some. There's a clan of vampires in Stokerville, and they're prime suspects in the Beck case. I know those von Karnstein creeps, Megan. I lived in Stokerville before moving to New Orleans, and my family's had bad blood (if you'll excuse the cheesy and possibly racist pun) with the local clan for generations."
"What are they like?" asked Megan.
"They're led by a matriarch named Countess Carmilla von Karnstein," said Tori. "She's a lesbian, so she only turns girls who are lesbian, bisexual, or pansexual. She's been plaguing the Vordenburg family since the time of my ancestors in central Europe. She killed my ancestor, the first Baron Vordenburg, in the 17th Century. The poor baron actually thought she was in love with him, but, you know, lesbian. Don't think I'm knocking lesbians. Hell, I am one! But the Vordenburg family records make it sound like she seduced him. Anyway, the Baron made the mistake of accepting a job from another vampire patriarch to stake Carmilla's matriarch, so the bitch hunted him down and killed him!"
"It wasn't exactly unprovoked," Megan observed.
"Then why did she seduce him?" Tori countered.
"You say you got the story from Vordenburg family journals," Megan mused. "Maybe they're biased? They were written by the Baron's descendants, after all."
"That does mak' a bonnie bit o' sense," Fiona nodded.
"My family wouldn't lie," Tori said with conviction. "They're the good guys. Anyway, we played cat-and-mouse with Carmilla and her clan for a couple of centuries, but she mostly stayed out of trouble... until 1863. She'd set her sights on seducing Laura Hollis, the daughter of an Englishman who'd accepted a post in the Austrian Empire's military. She came to the Schloss where they were living and insinuated herself into the lonely girl's life, all while preparing to turn Laura into a vampire against her will. Well, Laura and her father caught on, and they sought out the help of the present Baron Vordenburg to defend her. With his help they were able to kill Carmilla... for a little while. Several years later, Carmilla somehow returned to life and turned Laura. The poor girl is now Mircalla von Karnstein, Carmilla's brainwashed consort."
"How do you know it wasn't consensual?" asked Megan.
"My dad told me," answered Tori, "and he's a man of his word. A few decades after the Laura incident, Carmilla decided she'd had enough of Austria and relocated her clan to the Pacific Northwest, not unlike Dracula Tepes' ill-fated move to London. Okay, maybe Carmilla wasn't trying to found a continent-spanning vampire empire like Dracula was, but still! Coincidentally, a branch of my family also immigrated to America around that time. Dad isn't sure if his ancestors were deliberately following Clan von Karnstein, but we found those fucking fangs again just the same."
"That reminds me," said Erzulie, "you never did tell me if there's any of your family left in Europe. Is there?"
"Sure is," Tori answered. "That's actually the main branch of the family. They're based in Vienna and led by Baron Georg von Vordenburg. They keep tabs on Clan von Wisborg and the Clan Tepes brood down in Transylvania. Dracula's death didn't make Clan Tepes any less dangerous."
"Clan von Wisborg?" asked Fiona. "How come does that name sownd kenspeckle?"
Megan raised an eyebrow. "Kenspeckle?"
Tori glanced at her Scots/English dictionary. "It means 'familiar.' And that name should sound familiar, Fiona. The vampire who forced you to spend so many years undead, Drusilla, was a von Wisborg. That was the clan whose patriarch, Count Tiberius, hired my ancestor to kill Carmilla's old matriarch in the first place. We have never forgiven the old bastard for that. Vordenburg monster hunters killed most of his rotten clan ages ago, but Count Tiberius himself managed to escape. But trust me..." Tori's face grew ferocious with alarming speed. "...there WILL be a reckoning someday! Mark my fucking words!"
"Try not to cuss so loudly in the coffee shop, honey," Erzulie advised, putting a calming hand on her fuming girlfriend's shoulder. "People will hear you and complain."
Megan tried to steer the subject back to the von Karnsteins. "So, what've the von Karnsteins been up to in America?"
"The usual cat-and-mouse with my family," Tori shrugged, trying to tame her spiky blonde hair. "They're pretty good at staying out of trouble. Oh, they sometimes turn a girl, but we haven't been able to prove any of them were non-consensual. The worst time was when Carmilla somehow managed to turn my dad's aunt, Lisa Vordenburg, into one of her vampire brood."
"Really?" asked Megan.
"Yeah," Tori muttered bitterly. "Lisa was my grandpa's youngest sister. The year was 1969. Lisa was just getting started in the family business, and she wasn't really taking to it. She was a total hippie, and killing things made her uncomfortable. Dad says Aunt Lisa was always going on about how it 'wrecks her aura' and Sixties crap like that. One day, she went to a love-in and met a free-spirited vampire named Claudia. Claudia'd been one of Carmilla's brood since the Roaring Twenties, and she convinced Lisa that they were kindred spirits. next thing Dad and Grandpa knew, Aunt Lisa was a vampire calling herself Liesel von Karnstein. It's a shame she isn't a monster hunter anymore; she had psychic gifts. She's Clan von Karnstein's seer now."
"Did she consent to the change?" Lisa asked.
"We've never been able to get close enough to ask her," said Tori. "That alone makes me suspicious. I hope we can ask her when we investigate tomorrow."
"Me, too," said Megan.
"Thanks," Tori smiled as she straightened her leather jacket. "You really are one of the good vampires, you know. Now let's go and stretch our legs a bit before we board our second flight."
"Agreed," Erzulie said. With a whispered word and a flick of her hand, all of the group's plastic cups vanished. "Nothing like a little witchcraft to keep our planet free of garbage."