Vampire the Masquerade: Genesis

1. Red Wine, Reminiscing & Reunion

It was a warm Sunday evening in early September and the breeze stirred through the trees outside the window. Such insignificant things were ignored as Alexander Wentworth sat in the study of his Spokane Valley estate, tending to his assets with a glass of red wine in hand. Just as he did every Sunday evening.

It had been a particularly busy night- he'd had an audience with a visiting Toreador Justicar, approved several candidates for the embrace and there had been an hour-long meeting with the Primogen council he would've rather skipped. It had been a long time since he'd last fed, and 'the beast' was growing restless. He'd see that it was taken care of- just as soon as he finished reading the week's gains and losses.

He didn't get enough credit for what he did on a nightly basis. He mediated the never-ending Clan disputes, attended countless meetings, ran the entire city from the shadows, and protected the 'Masquerade' at all costs. Should the world ever learn 'Vampires'- such a distasteful name for the Kindred- truly existed, his job would only become that much harder. Whether the world knew it or not, he was the prince of the city.

It was on nights such as this he simply wanted to sit in silence and reflect.

Humanity had come far in the last one hundred fifty years; transportation had certainly progressed. Wars were just as deadly, if not more so. Medicine had advanced beyond the crude procedures in the mid-eighteen hundreds; the technology had changed significantly in that span of time. Alexander would know- he'd been around for the invention of the telegraph. And while technology continued to improve, he found it ironic that the social expectations and daily disputes had changed very little; mankind had changed very little.

The cities were growing more and more restless, Kindred and Kine alike. The age-old conflict between the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the Anarchs (largely ignored by humanity) went on unnoticed- perhaps because of the rumors of Gehenna that had been floating around the city as of late. Even the best of cities fell into chaos when Gehenna, the foretold 'end of the world', loomed nearer.

He wondered absently if the last twenty years had made a difference or not. He'd brought stability back to the border city during the fall of Seattle in 95'. Though no small feat by any means, he couldn't help but wonder if it was enough.

1995 was also the year he first became acquainted with Ulysian Thrace on a 'professional level'; the man he now essentially called his 'boss'.

Thrace; the prince shuddered inwardly. The long years in the early twentieth century under the North American Ventrue Justicar had been brutal and anything but pleasant but had made him into the capable man he was today, even if the job of "Prince" had its occasional drawbacks.

Growing tired of reminiscing his past, Alexander reluctantly returned to his work; aware of the unusual visitor who stood just beyond the closed library doors.

The stranger's presence unnerved him, but he refused to show it, instead choosing to call the trespasser in.

With a sigh, he grounded the half-finished drink down on his desk and recomposed himself- no use letting the inevitable get the best of him.

"Elijah," Came the stern, commanding voice that put many Kindred to fear.

With a chuckle, the doors opened and an overconfident teenage boy sauntered in, taking his own sweet time as if he owned the place. He'd been there less than a minute and Alexander's patience was already wearing dangerously thin.

Oh how he'd wished he'd indulged for once and fed before finishing his paperwork- the boy before him was trying his self-control.

"What's up Alex? No extravagant 'welcome back'? No 'I've missed you' after all of these years apart?" The blond-haired teen smirked, leaning heavily against the doorframe.