33. Plea For Help (S)
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"Thanks for coming in," Reuben said as he relaxed in the big leather chair behind the desk.
 
I smirked, "It's no problem you know? Technically we work here too, I don't mind coming in when we're needed. I'm sure Tara doesn't either."
 
Me and my girlfriend were sitting across from Reuben in the two guest chairs. It was a Thursday afternoon, the place didn't open for a couple more hours and generally neither Tara or me would be here on Thursdays anyways. We were here most Fridays, and almost every Saturday though.
 
"What's up?" Tara asked the tall muscular vampire. "Is there a problem with the club?"
 
I added, "Have you had more undercover cops snooping around? Or are they getting more direct about things?"
 
Reuben managed Club Nocture for us, and he handled pretty much all the day-to-day operations and decisions. There wasn't actually much work for Tara and I to do, so we mostly got to relax and enjoy being the bosses without a lot of stress or hands-on involvement.
 
We already told him all about that Constable Onesky from Saturday night, and we knew he'd pass that on to the doormen and bouncers and everyone else. Not that we weren't strict to begin with, but all the staff would be a lot more careful about checking IDs while we were dealing with extra police scrutiny.
 
The cop said it was some kind of crack-down, that they were looking into all the licensed establishments, so I didn't really expect them to be back here too often. If they were singling us out though, that would make me a little more concerned. But as far as I knew, we hadn't stepped on the toes of any cops or city officials. 
 
That's not to say we didn't step on any toes, but the ones we did were very much on the other side of the law. When you want a few million to set up a cosy new life, you don't steal that money from the bank. That gets the humans and the police all riled up. You steal that kind of money from people who won't go to the cops. And needless to say, you only did that sort of thing if you were confident you could handle those sorts of people yourselves. 
 
Which Tara and I were, and did. For a few months we had more fresh blood than we needed, and the fish of the Assiniboine and Red rivers enjoyed a little more protein in their diets. Those few months coincided with a sudden shortage of street drugs in and around the city.
 
Ironically that was our only involvement with organized crime. Not participating in it, but robbing then subsequently eliminating the upper echelon of one such organization.
 
"We had uniformed cops here last night," Reuben replied in his smooth deep voice. "A pair of them insisted on doing a walk-through and spot-checking IDs. They didn't find anyone underage of course. We're checking ID at the door, and at the bar. But it's disruptive, it spoils people's fun."
 
Tara asked, "Do we have to let them in? I'm assuming they don't have a warrant."
 
He sighed, "I've already complained to the city. I got told the same thing you did, it's a city-wide crack-down. Hopefully they won't bother us again, since they've been here twice and come up with nothing. Anyways, that's not why I wanted to see you both." 
 
Reuben turned his laptop around so the screen faced Tara and me. "I got an email this morning from Jessica. I thought you two should see it."
 
Tara and I exchanged a glance. When the three of us fled the Toronto family almost four years ago, we were worried at first they might come after us. We thought they might want revenge. After all, we killed their matriarch, two of their elders, and their 'top' enforcer. 
 
It was self-defence, the Family's leaders had been infected or possessed by creatures that fed on vamps. We never found out for sure how many Slúag Marb there were, and we had no idea if the two remaining elders were possessed or not.
 
Apart from Jessica, nobody else in the Family knew about the Slúag Marb. They'd only know that the three of us killed the matriarch and elders, then stole an SUV and fled the province.
 
In the end nobody came after us. Nobody from Toronto came hunting us or even tried to contact us. We were able to relax and focus on establishing ourselves here. We put all of that behind us as we settled into our new lives here.
 
Then last year Reuben received an email from Jessica. We weren't sure how she found him, but the club's website had his picture and email address since he was the manager so we figured that was it. Perhaps she was doing web searches on our names, and came across him that way.
 
Her emails weren't threatening, they were strictly of a personal nature. I had a feeling she and Reuben were in a relationship back before we fled the Family, and it turned out I was right. They'd kept quiet about it, but the two were a couple.
 
Then Jessica betrayed us to Isabelle. She also helped us escape afterwards, she gave us a good supply of blood to help us get away, but we left her behind. We spared her life, but we left her with the Family.
 
Now she and Reuben were corresponding, but it was personal and we trusted him enough to know he'd alert us if anything more serious came up. And that's what he was doing now.
 
Me and Tara both leaned forward as we quickly read the email our former colleague sent this morning.
 
 
To: Reuben, Manager, Club Nocturne
From: Jessica
Subject: Please Help
---------------------------------------
Dear Reuben,
 
I've debated for three days whether or not to send this email. I know I have no right to ask this of you. I have even less right to ask it of Samantha or Tara. But I will ask nonetheless.
 
As you know from our previous correspondence, things have been bad here since the three of you left. It started off chaotic, and in the years since your departure the situation has only grown worse. I worry that the Family is in the process of falling apart completely.
 
Despite being our surviving elders, neither Julian or Olivia are effective as leaders. What little respect they held as elders has eroded with every blunder and misstep they've made. I do not know if they are affected the same way that Isabelle, Molly, and James were. If they are, they are nowhere near as militant or capable as those three.
 
I have been placed in charge of the remaining enforcers, but it is a meaningless distinction. Of our original crew, only myself, Daniel, and Kathryn remain. The three of us are simply not enough to keep the peace or enforce the Covenant.
 
Reuben, the Family is falling apart. We are splintering into factions. I've never known exactly how many of us there were in the Family, and now a census seems impossible. Some seem to be missing, but I have no way of knowing if they were killed years ago under Isabelle's reign, if they've been killed more recently during the current chaos, or if they've simply abandoned the Family and fled to find a safer home.
 
I don't even know if the Covenant still stands, or if some of us have taken to feeding on humans. Nobody knows who our liaisons were among the humans, but we no longer receive reports from them. If humans are being killed or drained, they're keeping that information to themselves.
 
We continue to receive deliveries of blood, but no-one seems to know who handles those arrangements and if the deliveries may at some point stop. And if that should happen, I fear there will be open rebellion and perhaps civil war.
 
I'm asking all three of you, begging you even. Reuben, Samantha, Tara. Please, come back and help me put this house in order. 
 
Sincerely,
Jessica
 
 
After reading it, I leaned back in my seat and frowned as I thought it over. Tara looked equally uncertain as she glanced at me.
 
Reuben watched us both, then finally asked "What do you two think?"
 
I considered for a few more seconds, then finally shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't owe that Family anything. I won't speak for you Reuben, you had a very different relationship with the Family than either me or Tara did."
 
After a moment I added, "We've built ourselves a good life here. I like what we have here. I like this city, I like our home, and I like this club. There's no fucking way I'd give all this up and move back to Toronto and live under their Covenant. And I don't want to get into another fight with any of them either."
 
From the look on his face, I could tell Reuben wasn't terribly surprised by my response. Maybe a little disappointed though. I wasn't sure how close he and Jessica actually were, but if Tara ever needed my help I'd do whatever it took to make her happy. I wouldn't expect anyone else to do that for my girlfriend though.
 
Tara asked, "Do you trust Jessica? I mean, would you trust her enough to be certain she's not just trying to lure us back so the Family can execute us?"
 
He shook his head and sighed, "I trust Jessica. I don't know that I trust her enough to put my neck on the line though. And emails can be faked, forged. It does sound like her writing, but..."
 
"She betrayed us once before," I said, finishing his sentence. "She could be coerced or manipulated again."
 
"Right," Reuben nodded. "I'd be comfortable saving her. If she could get away on her own, I'd even be comfortable meeting her somewhere. She could get a bus part-way and I'd go pick her up."
 
He added after a moment, "But I wouldn't do that without your approval. I wouldn't bring her into our city without both of you saying it was ok."
 
Tara pointed out, "If she could take a bus halfway, then she could take a bus all the way here. No need for you to drive part way out to pick her up."
 
I agreed, "I'd be leery about meeting anywhere like that. It could be a trap."
 
Reuben's expression showed he knew we were both right, though he wasn't happy about it. 
 
Tara added, "She's writing you at your Club Nocturne email address, she obviously knows where to find you. If she wanted to, she could get on a bus and just walk in through the front doors one night and ask for you."
 
"I think she honestly does want to save the Family," Reuben stated. "She still believes in it, and the Covenant. I don't think she'd abandon them unless she felt her life was in danger and she had no other choice."
 
Tara asked, "How does she think we can help? They certainly won't welcome us back and install us as their new leaders. None of us are elders, we're all criminals as far as they're concerned. Me and Sam especially, they hated us even before we killed the matriarch and broke the Covenant."
 
Reuben shook his head, "I don't really know what she thinks we can do. I assumed she wanted us to take up our old jobs as enforcers, since there's only three of them left now."
 
I frowned and rubbed my forehead as I thought some more. Finally I stated, "Ok. First off, I'm not going to make any decisions right now. This is something that's going to take time. We have a life here, responsibilities. We're not going to just drop everything and run back there without a lot of planning and preparation. So if she's desperate for an answer, the only answer I've got right now is we'll think about it and get back to her."
 
Tara suggested, "Reuben, if you're going to write her back I'd ask her what she expects us to do. Or how she thinks we can help. I mean, none of us have experience leading a big vampire clan like that. Me and Sam don't have their respect. It feels like there's not really anything we'd be bringing to the table, other than three former enforcers who most of them hate."
 
"One more thing," I added. "What's in it for us? She wants us to go back there and help a Family where half of them barely tolerated me and almost all of them openly hated both me and Tara ever since I turned her. She wants us to leave our comfortable cosy life here and put our necks on the line. What's the payout?"
 
"All right," Reuben nodded. "I'll get back to her, but not right away. And I'll make those points, and ask those questions."
 
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