Keys to the Repository Part 2

FAMILY RECORDS:.

FORCE.

Charles Van Alen changed his family name to "Force" after his bondmate and twin sister, Allegra Van Alen, broke their blood bond to bond with her human familiar. From his actions we can only conclude that he no longer considered himself a member of the Van Alen family, and thus we have created a new family record to reflect his new allegiance.

JACK FORCE.

Abbadon, Angel of Destruction, Twin Angel of the Apocalypse, the Unlikely, Destroyer of Worlds Birth Name: Benjamin Hamilton Force, known as "Jack" Origin: June 7, 1991, New York, New York Known Past Lives: Henry Searle (Newport), William White (Plymouth), Louis d'Orleans (Versailles), Valerius (Rome) Bondmate: Madeleine Force (presumed broken) a.s.signed Human Conduit: None List of Human Familiars: Kitty Mullins (2006) Physical Characteristics: Hair: Blond (platinum) Eyes: Green Height: 6'2"

As a child, Benjamin Force was known for his uncontrollable temper tantrums and was given the nickname "Blackjack," which was then shortened to "Jack." In elementary school, Jack was a whirlwind of activity, unable to sit still or concentrate, and was diagnosed by human psychiatrists as having Attention Deficit Disorder and was prescribed copious amounts of antianxiety medication. His symptoms disappeared once the Transformation took hold, however, and since then he has been a model student.

Intern report #102 Jack Force is captain of the lacrosse team; lead in every school play (Konstantin in The Seagull and Melchior in Spring Awakening ); described as "painfully handsome" by most of the female population (the usual: tall, platinum-haired, chiseled good looks, piercing green eyes, athletic, graceful, etc . . .). Jack performs at a stellar academic and athletic level. He is a natural leader to his peers, and only in comparison to his more loquacious twin does he come across as reticent and taciturn. Those who know him well describe him as funny and charming, and never to be found without a book in his hand. Jack is a frequent visitor to the Repository library.

(Renfield's notes continued) At the Four Hundred Ball, Jack was revealed as Abbadon, the Angel of Destruction, a position traditionally known as G.o.d's Enforcer, the hammer blow, his duty and burden to remind man of his mortality. In the current cycle, his bondmate, Azrael, was revealed to be his twin sister, Mimi. Known together as the Angels of the Apocalypse, the Force twins are of one mind, two sides of one coin, blood bound in Heaven, and destined to find each other and renew their vows in every cycle. Reports of Abbadon's infatuation with Gabrielle are unfounded but persistent. In any event, for centuries innumerable, he has remained true to Azrael. Jack took a sabbatical from d.u.c.h.esne for a year, and reports recently made available to the Repository indicate that he was on a secret Venator mission with Charles Force to hunt Leviathan in Paris.

Jack has been missing since the day of his scheduled bonding to Mimi at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. While he was feared lost during the Silver Blood attack, conflicting eyewitness reports state that he was spotted emerging from the glom, critically injured but intact. He then allegedly performed the Sacred Kiss on none other than Schuyler Van Alen, whose mixed blood, we can safely a.s.sume, saved his life. The next day he was observed again in her company at the international terminal at Kennedy Airport. If we are to believe the intern reports, Jack had been conducting a secret affair with Schuyler for several months.

Breaking his bond with his vampire twin is in direct violation of the Code of the Vampires, and if spotted within the territory of the New York Coven, he must immediately be brought to justice, and faces a sentence of death from his twin.

Current Status: Missing. Believed to be in the company of Schuyler Van Alen and to have sought refuge in the European Coven.

MIMI FORCE.

Azrael, Angel of Death, Twin Angel of the Apocalypse Birth Name: Madeleine Alexis Force, known as "Mimi" Origin: June 7, 1991, New York, New York Known Past Lives: Eliza Whitney (Newport), Susannah Fuller (Plymouth), Elisabeth Lorraine-Lillebonne (Versailles), Agrippina (Rome) Bondmate: Jack Force (presumed broken) a.s.signed Human Conduit: None List of Human Familiars: See pages 8488 in records of Human Interaction for full list. (Too many to mention here; number in possible violation of the Code.) Phyiscal Characteristics: Hair: Blond (platinum) Eyes: Green Height: 5'9"

Dubbed "the most beautiful girl in the history of New York City," Mimi Force is a social luminary, a tabloid favorite, and a local celebrity. A file on Mimi Force would be remiss if it did not include a description of her comely physical attributes: long platinum hair, skin the color of fresh milk, sloe-like emerald green eyes, and that famous twenty-two-inch waist.

At d.u.c.h.esne, Mimi is an indifferent student, but has consistently shown promise as one of the most talented in the new generation of vampires. However, she can be arrogant and regularly bends the rules concerning human familiars, putting them at risk for Full Consumption. The queen of her social circle at d.u.c.h.esne, Mimi reportedly took Bliss Llewellyn into her acquaintance at the orders of her father. Mimi concerns herself with superficial pursuits and can often be found at pricey clothing stores or in the banquettes of the latest nightclub.

Blood bound to her cycle brother, Jack, Mimi has been observed to exhibit frustration, desperation, and rage at her twin's increasing (alleged) obsession with Schuyler Van Alen. Mimi was the prime suspect of the Venator investigation in the attack at the Repository and the murder of Warden Priscilla Dupont. She was cleared at a blood trial when Venator Martin was shown to have called the Silver Blood.

Mimi's frivolous facade obscures the fact that Azreal is one of history's most fearsome hunters of Silver Blood sp.a.w.n. As the Committee's newest minted Venator, she is a talented Truth Seeker and joined the team that found the remains of Jordan Llewellyn in Brazil. During this tenure she was rumored to have conducted an intimate affair with her commanding officer, Venator Martin.

However, the veracity of this gossip is doubtful, as upon her return to New York, Mimi took no time in enthusiastically planning her bonding to Jack. When her father resigned from the Conclave, Mimi claimed the family seat and serves as her family's voice on the council.

Mimi survived the attack at the cathedral, but her brother's sudden disappearance and rumored liaison with Schuyler Van Alen has compelled her to call for his execution, as proscribed by the Code of the Vampires. The punishment for breaking a heavenly promise is eternal death. The Castigatio Mortis can only be called for by the bondmate. While Charles Force did not call for this punishment on Allegra Van Alen, Mimi has no qualms in her decision. She has been overheard saying, "If I ever see Jack again, I'm going to kill him."

Current Status: Conclave elder. Venator emerita.

CHARLES FORCE.

Michael, Pure of Heart, the Valiant, Prince of the Angels, Supreme Commander of the Lord's Armies, Archangel of the Light Birth Name: Charles Edgar Van Alen Origin: August 24, 1969, New York, New York ( Blue Bloods: Repository Record #101 lists his age as sixty. This is incorrect and possibly the result of Charles's hair going prematurely silver.) Known Past Lives: Myles Standish (Plymouth), Ca.s.sius (Rome), Menes (Egypt) Bondmate: Allegra Van Alen (broken) Cycle Wife: Trinity Burden a.s.signed Human Conduit: Virgil Hazard-Perry (recused from service by CF, 1990) List of Human Familiars: Georgina Guest (19871988), Susan King (19891991), Charlotte Pittman (19921995), Desiree Hutch (19911994), Sidney Cohen (19951999), Aspeth Heimann (2000 2003), Gina Dupont (20032006), current human familiar unknown Physical Characteristics: Hair: Silver (formerly black) Eyes: Gray Height: 5'10"

Charles Force is the latest reincarnation of Michael, the Blue Bloods' leader since time immemorial. In this cycle he divested his share of the Van Alen trust to build a new multimedia company. His Force News Network spans the globe and wields an incomparable influence upon every aspect of human interaction, from news to politics to sports to entertainment. He serves on the board of several Fortune 500 companies and was instrumental in the election of Forsyth Llewellyn to the U.S. Senate. As Regis, he expanded the funding for the New York Blood Bank for medical research on blood-borne diseases; founded the New York Inst.i.tute for Policy Research, a conservative think tank; and is known as a major donor to the Republican Party.

Educated at Endicott Academy, Harvard College, and Harvard Business School, Charles Force's life has been marred by the inexplicable breaking of the bond between himself and his twin sister, Allegra Van Alen. All reports of their early life together indicated that they were ready and willing to commit to their union, as they have for centuries past, until the jarring and unfortunate decision on Allegra's part to elope with her human familiar, Stephen Chase.

After Allegra broke their bond, Charles engaged in a human marriage with Trinity Burden (Sandalphon), who lost her bondmate in the Great War. In 1990, he pet.i.tioned the House of Records to allow him to call up the spirits of Azrael and Abbadon as his twin children, Mimi and Jack Force.

Charles Force recently won a custody battle in the Red Blood courts that allowed him to overturn Cordelia Van Alen's pet.i.tion to make Schuyler Van Alen an emanc.i.p.ated minor. For a time, Schuyler Van Alen was fostered in his home.

After he was deposed as Regis, Charles withdrew from Blue Blood life, and was reported to spend his days locked in his study.

After Lawrence's alleged death, Charles disappeared but was sighted at the Bal des Vampires at the Hotel Lambert. If Venator reports are to be believed, he was last seen locked in a furious battle with the demon Leviathan and was lost when the Silver Blood released the subvertio.

Current Status: Missing. Believed to be lost in the White Darkness.

TRINITY BURDEN FORCE.

Sandalphon, The Angel of Silence Birth Name: Trinity Amelia Burden Origin: February 11, 1971, New York, New York Known Past Lives: Janice Adelaide (Melbourne), Sorina Sedlak (Prague), Claudia Caepionis (Rome) Bondmate: Salgiel (deceased) a.s.signed Human Conduit: None List of Human Familiars: Greer Chapman (19891990), Oswald Hefferlin (19901995), Paul Thornton (19951997), Simon Lawlor (19992005), Boone Mitch.e.l.l (2005present) Cycle wife to Charles Force and cycle mother to the twins, Trinity Force was instrumental in the founding of the Committee and is well known in New York society for her exquisite taste and good breeding. She lost her bondmate, Salgiel, during the Great War in Rome and was free to marry Charles, in the Red Blood sense, after Allegra broke her heavenly bond. Theirs is a marriage of convenience rather than true affection, and it was rumored that Charles chose her as his bride for the considerable dowry she brought to the marriage.

Until Charles's disappearance led her to take leaders.h.i.+p of the Force News Network, Trinity was like many a Park Avenue matron-a benefactress of the arts, opera, and discreet plastic surgery.

Current Status: Committee warden Author's Note: This is a companion story to Revelations . It details Schuyler and Jack's final encounter, from Jack's perspective.

Schuyler has come back from Rio and has agreed to meet Jack at the Perry Street apartment. The Committee is in disarray. Lawrence and many of the top-ranking members of the Coven have been murdered. This event happened before the epilogue, in which Jack and Mimi reunite.

THE LIE THAT CONCEALED THE TRUTH,.

OR "THE LAST MEETING"

Jack's Story It is my turn to wait. Funny that in all these months we have been meeting, it was always she who waited for me. It was never my intention to make her wait, but my path to this place has always been the more complicated one.

I flip through the pages of Anna Karenina. The book I had slipped under her door before she left the country. The book that I found in my locker this morning, returned to me. A sign that she wanted to meet. She has never done this before. The light is good here-I can see all of downtown from the windows. The city is still and quiet outside. There are no cabs honking, no dogs barking, no ambulances wailing; instead, all is silent. An eerie calm.

The door opens slowly. The moment I see her face I know something is wrong. I expected it, and yet I am still wounded by it.

She does not fly into my arms as before, and her eyes are clouded and gray. She displays none of that happiness to see me that I took so much delight in for so long. Only a grim acceptance.

"I am sorry about your grandfather," I say. "Your loss is shared by all." Words are not enough; they can only do what words can do.

Lawrence was more than a friend; he was a mentor, an ally. I grieve his loss deeply.

When the news came-that Corcovado had broken, that Leviathan walks the earth once again-I did not react as many of us did, with shock and fear. Instead I felt the old blood in these veins stir with vengeance. We will avenge each of our lost brothers and sisters. Worldbreaker is waiting. We will not despair or retreat. We will fight. And we will win. War has come to us once again, and this time we will vanquish our foes for eternity. I am almost looking forward to it.

"Do not worry, my love, we shall have our vengeance. I promise it. Lawrence will not have died in vain."

Her eyes become bright. She nods curtly. "He died because of me."

"He died to protect you. It was his duty."

She stands so still at the doorway, as if she doesn't know what to do or what to say. And yet I know already. She will tell me we must stop meeting because the Coven will need me now, and that she will be saving me by taking herself away. . . . She could not be more wrong. Everything in my life depends on her being part of it.

When we first met, I was struck by her resemblance to her mother. But contrary to what many thought about my relations.h.i.+p with Gabrielle, we had a deep and affectionate friends.h.i.+p, nothing more. I loved her as an ally, and because she was our queen. I love her daughter in a completely different way. I love her because she has become something more to me. She has become my life.

"Come here," I say gently. "Sit down."

She shakes her head. "No. I . . . I can't stay."

"You want us to stop meeting." I have to say it because she will not.

"Yes."

"Because you think it is dangerous for me. Someone has told you something-my sister, perhaps." I cannot say Mimi's name in her presence, and vice versa. I cannot think of Mimi without thinking of the pain I am bringing her, and therefore choose the easier path: to not think of her at all. I am a coward.

"No."

"No?"

She walks over, closer to the fire, and addresses her words to the flames. "I can't meet you anymore, Jack, because I would be lying to myself for the reasons I'm here."

"And what is that reason?"

"That I love you."

"And that reason no longer exists, is that it?" My voice is light, playful. She is not a natural flirt; she is so serious always, my love, it amuses me a little. Of course she loves me. She is doing this precisely because she loves me.

"Yes."

"Another of my sister's ideas, isn't this? 'Tell Jack you no longer love him. It is the only way to set him free.' As if I were a caged bird or a pet lion." I smile. Schuyler is so brave and full of courage, my darling. She will lose me to save me. She is ready to make that sacrifice, but I want her to know it is not necessary. I can fight for both of us, and I will.

"No." She looks at me, and her face is full of anguish. "No, that's not it."

It has been centuries since I have felt fear. I do not know fear. I do not have this weakness, and yet something in her face, in her voice-frightens me. This is no girlish deception, no halfhearted attempt. I marvel at my fear, at the novelty of it. It is like ice in my throat. It is lodged there; I cannot breathe. I cannot swallow.

Before I can say anything, she speaks, and the bluntness of her words strikes me as nothing has struck me before.

"I don't love you anymore because I haven't been honest with myself. And I haven't been honest with you. I love someone else. I always have."

A cruel joke. I want to laugh but I don't. I want to crumple to the ground but my pride will not let me. I have never heard these words before. I do not understand them. Someone else? There is someone else? This is a trick. Another deception. Another excuse Mimi has planted . . . Surely she cannot be . . . She is lying. . . .

Schuyler is telling the truth.

Of all the vampires in the world, I should know. I do not need the blood trial to find out. I can sense it-the truth is written all over her face. Her sadness. She is sad for me. She feels sorry- for me! I find her pity more disturbing than her words. It is ghastly and unimaginable.

How did she have time for someone else? I know our meetings were too few and far apart. But it was necessary, to keep her safe. If I'd had a choice-but I did not-we would have been together always. I lived for those moments when we were together, those few times in my life that I actually felt alive. Centuries I have slumbered until we met. And I had a plan for us. I had a future in mind. I wanted to share it with her and was waiting for the right moment.

But the best-laid plans of mice and men . . .

I am not too proud to ask. "Who?"

"Oliver."

Her familiar. The human. I want to leave the room immediately so I can seek and destroy the mortal. He has no chance. She can see it.

"Please don't-don't harm him. I love him. I always have. I just didn't want to admit it." For the first time this evening she reaches over and touches me. She puts her small hand-so tiny, really-on top of mine. I flinch, as if her fingers were engulfed in flames. So this is pain. So this is wretchedness. So this is misery. I never knew.

I have nothing to say. I can feel it-the truth. The truth of her love for him, it s.h.i.+nes all over her face, and I can sense his presence on her very skin. Such is the way with the familiars-their blood brings us life, but they are not meant for us in this manner. I am sickened by jealousy and rage.

"Leave me." I am ashamed of the strangled cry that flies out before I can control myself.

"Jack . . . I . . ." She is standing by the doorway. I have hunted down the Croatan, I have endured the tortures of h.e.l.l, and yet I cannot find the strength to meet her eyes. I have to force myself to do so.

Her hand is on the door handle. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I lied to you all this time," she whispers.

"GO!" It is a roar from my throat. I cannot contain myself. I am transformed. I am Abbadon. Transformed into the demon I am.

What does she see? What am I doing?

I see the fright in her eyes, taste her fear, revel in it, and with brutal effort I catch myself before I get carried away. I am dangerous and flailing. It is I who needs to leave. I am gone before she can close the door.

From the street I watch as she leaves the building. I need to go back. I want to destroy that place. I want to destroy every memory it brings. I want it obliterated from the landscape. But when I return to the apartment, I am not alone.

Mimi is here.

When Schuyler left the building that evening, she thought she would feel at peace. Instead she felt more conflicted than before. The lie she told Jack had worked because she had wrapped it around the truth of her love for Oliver. Because it was a lie. She still loved Jack. She loved him so much that seeing him sitting there alone, in the dark, waiting patiently for her, made her love him even more.

She almost hadn't gone through with it. She didn't know what he would say or if she would be strong enough to see it through. It hurt her so much, seeing him look at her that way. She had never seen him so lost or confused.

I take it back! she'd wanted so much to say. I take everything back. I love you. Let's go away. Just the two of us, together.

But she'd had to do it. She had to let him go. Or give him a reason to let her go. It was the best choice for the two of them.

And it had worked.

She should feel relief-maybe even victorious.

So why did she feel so dead inside?

As if she had killed the best part of herself.

She walked slowly up to the avenue to catch a cab. She was moving back to Riverside Drive. She would not return to that town house on Fifth Avenue ever again.

FAMILY RECORDS:.

LLEWELLYN.

Due to the sensitive information contained in this file, most of it speculative in nature, this record is cla.s.sified CONCLAVE LEVEL ONLY.

The Llewellyn family has risen to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the Coven. They ama.s.sed a great fortune by their monopoly of the New York and New Jersey seaports. A branch of the family moved to Houston during the oil boom during the late nineteenth century, and the majority of the family has been based there since.

BLISS LLEWELLYN.