My apologies.

I have faithful readers hiding out there somewhere, and I feel the need to apologize to them. As a result of my extended absence, this post may run a bit long, even as I attempt to simplify it.

The Black and Gold Security Firm - Here we have the modernized version of ancient groups that have hunted vampyres for centuries. Two groups, to be precise. The Brotherhood of Steel and the Grey Hand. The former was an offshoot of the Ordre du Temple, or Templiers...more commonly known as Templar Knights. Primarily French, this group discovered the existence of vampyres, saw these creatures as the epitome of evil, and took new vows to wiping out creatures of the night. Pope Clement V allowed them to become completely disassociated with the Templars in 1305, thereby saving them from the downfall of the Templars in 1307. What's more, the vows of these new knights were aligned in such a way as to eradicate all previous commitments.

The Grey Hand was very different. Unbeknownst to historians, Bushido (Way of the Warrior) was founded long before it was properly recorded in Japan. One of the reasons for this was that several dishonorable acts were still permitted, and Heaven forbid the Japanese allow their most high-strung history allow for the ritualistic murder of babies for mystic power. Founded around 220 A.D., the Grey Hand took its name from the idea that they did evil for the sake of good. They were "demon fighters" of the East, and very few in number...

Which is why neither of these groups saw so much as a footnote in history. Their members were too few. They were so obscure that our records, which hold nuggets of history you will never find, regardless of how you search the Internet, took several days to find, get digitally scanned, and faxed over from Europe. They hadn't even been copied into out computer archives because, at a glance, they were meaningless.

Funny how a little torture can make a man break his vows that are centuries old. You don't send new members to spy on Eddie Verdone, especially when such reconnaissance is to be used in a strike against the vampyre population of California. An experienced criminal can spot a "tail," the best of the best tails, given enough time. Add a few extra decades of experience and supernatural abilities, and said tail might as well hold a neon sign above their heads that reads, "I'm following you!"

The boy that Eddie caught was, believe it or not, the "son of a blacksmith." Actually, he was the son of a design engineer, and we learned about a few new weapons that would definitely had made our unlives a disaster. Like breakaway stakes. Because of the lack of proper aerodynamics, the projectile had to be fired at close range using a crossbow. The head was loosely connected to the piercing portion of the stake, and should someone try to simply grab and pull, the head would pull away from the body, leaving the stake buried inside. This meant a gory expedition into the vampyre's chest for remove the whole thing. And if you're in a situation where stakes are being fired, and there just might be someone on hand to remove such a projectile, usually the situation is so tense that there's no time to go digging. The truly terrifying aspect of this weapon was that they knew just what of which to make the stakes.

Most important was the learning of a joining of forces in 2001. For five years prior, these two groups had been trying to reach one another. Two underground organizations seeking one another out? Take two people - deaf, dumb, and blind - and start them out on opposite sides of a warehouse, with instructions to find the other. Then wish them luck. That's what it was like for these groups.

Just like my example, they found each other via accident, because that was really the only way it would happen. An agent from each side was following the same mark when they bumped into one another. Their bosses were soon deep in discussion as to how to operate together without tainting the others abilities. Holy knights consorting with people who ritualistically killed children? That was bad. People who held to moral middle ground exposed to men who existed "in the Light" could be equally as bad. The final arrangement: combine information, but no cooperative teams.

My apologies, again. By leaving out details, I'm misleading you a bit. It is important to note that the Brotherhood of Steel is strictly comprised of men. The Grey Hand is not so sexist in their membership. Though both are founded in specific areas of the map, they now have agents from around the globe.

Big Trouble in The Big Apple - "Batman" thought that a few weeks of hiding would be enough before he resurfaced. He really must be new to our ranks, because he failed to realize that vampyres, due to their extended existence, are a patient breed, as well as being able to hold a grudge for decades. I...

What I really want to do is find the dolt that created this vampyre and introduce him or her to something we call the long burn. This requires a staked vampyre, one knitted quilt, a thick blanket, and a day-runner. The vampire is stripped of all clothes, wrapped in the quilt, then wrapped in the blanket, and dragged to a sunny spot. Just because there's a stake in the vampyre doesn't mean it can't feel pain. Once an hour, the day-runner takes off the thick blanket, allowing bits of sunlight to poke through the quilt. This is done in five-minute intervals once an hour. The process starts at sunrise, and continues until an hour before sundown, at which point the blanket and quilt are removed to finish the process, if it hasn't been completed by then. This extended agony is reserved for our highest crimes, and siring a moron that can't be put down quickly is one such crime.

Eddie escaped this because he and I were right on the problem the moment Sean McCullough went blew all mental circuitry.

So Batman surfaces and gets right back to killing criminals. If you could track every vampyre in New York City, you'd see them converge in one spot. The same could be said of the two hunting groups I've mentioned. Though they were staging a theater of war here in CA, they still had plenty of agents in NY. The result was a blood bath the likes of which haven't been seen since the World Trade Center came down. Vampyres, hunters, and over 527 people who had nothing to do with any of those groups became part of this mess, including police, fire fighters, and paramedics. For 15 blocks, 6th and 7th Avenues were strewn with bodies, including 47 headless vampyres and 22 hunters.

Nigel Wentworth knew there was no hiding this disaster, and so we coordinated a tale of Batman sparking a "vampire" massacre in the streets of NY. "Mass hysteria" was cited in many articles around the world. But, ohhhh, what I wouldn't give for the infamous "flashy-thing" from Men in Black. Any witness that came forward to tell the "truth" was tracked down and eliminated. We left it to the mortals to clean up most of the mess. Our only effort was to remove the vampyre bodies. We couldn't risk someone connecting 47 corpses, all of which appeared to have hemolytic anemia. That would be too coincidental.

I will leave it to your imagination as to how much more we had to do to hide the true vampyre presence in this mess. And if you happen to know something about any of this, I HIGHLY recommend that you never say a single word about it, not even to your favorite pet. Bury it in any way you can. Let your life be destroyed by drugs or alcohol for all I care. The alternative is to have your life erased completely.

Meanwhile, back at home... - The hunters made a mistake by announcing their presence with six of the seven deadly sins. They must have thought that we'd become scared and limit our activities. Instead, we increased security without letting it show. We are the masters of the night, not them. If we were new to this game, we might well have ducked our heads as low as possible. The result was us going about our regular business, with hidden extras hiding in nearby shadows.

And whom did they choose to strike? Me, of course. The Brotherhood of Steel paid me a daytime visit in the hopes of catching me at my weakest. But as I've mentioned in previous posts, my home has been designed for me to be able to do what I must, even while the purity is high in the sky. They waited for Shay and Tina to leave for school, and then they moved in.

I confess that they were well armed and prepared for their venture into my house. They must have studied blueprints for weeks before dropping by. The phone lines were cut and a signal scrambler was set up about mid-property so that cell phones were useless. They were quick, but cautious...all ten of them. What they didn't know was that I was no longer alone in my home, nor were any of us sleeping during the day.

Ten vampyre hunters, armed with their holy Light and weapons, were greeted by five stalkers of the night, including myself. It was a fairly straightforward fight. They came in, moved with rapid stealth down the sub-levels of my home, and found Eddie, myself, and a few friends playing Poker. (I was down $50,000!) While some of us were hurt rather badly during the fight, they never managed to kill any of us. When they were down to two men, the survivors opted to escape. They knew about the doors and windows of my estate; intruders activate steel curtains that cover all paths of egress. It's why they attempted to use a grenade to blast a hole in a wall on the ground level to escape.

Surprise! What is not on public record to anyone looking at the schematics of my home is that between the insulation and drywall are thick sheets of iron and lead. Put simply, my home is a metal box with a great deal of dressing to make it look aesthetically pleasing. Thus, the grenade destroyed the pretty parts, but did nothing to help them escape. While the damage inside is being repaired, the exterior of the house looks fine. Thus, all the remaining hunters know is that ten men went in and none came out.

This drama is sure to continue. After the attack on me several nights ago, they may try again or take more extreme measures. Since I am growing unfortunately attached to Tina and Shay, I am breaking my own rules and temporarily moving them into the main house. I have also called the school to inform them we will all be out of town for a funeral. Not only are they displeased by being "grounded" for their protection, but I also had the school send over a package with extra work for the girls while they are "away." This prompted Tina to explode into a tirade, mostly in Spanish, often referring to me as "el Diablo."

"Yes," I said when she was finished. "Decadent amounts of money, orgasms during breakfast, and the most diabolical of all...homework!"