Chapter 19: Family

The square hall at the left of the entrance was buzzing with life. People nobly clad were moving in and out amongst themselves, chatting, laughing, and clinking their tall glasses with the many different liquids in. Thomas stood at the steps leading down and gave a nod to each and every guest. There were the prominently clad Asian Darklighters with their kimonos of flowing silk and all their pearls and opal jewellery; there were the Egyptian Darklighters, the Germans, the Dutch, French and Indians. Too many it almost seemed.

He saw Aenriques and Marcus walking towards him. All three clad in the usual uniform of the Darklighter agents. They met at the steps. Short nods as greetings.

"So, seen anything?" Thomas asked.

"Nothing, it's all peaceful," Marcus said.

"What's with the detective-business?" Aenriques asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Disappearances again, but she's been taken care of," Thomas said with a sly smile. He had been the one to work out the nasty business, he had proven to be worthy of the Lord's trust.

"Not quite," a voice said behind them and they all turned to see Carl Van Bornhuus, the head of the Dutch Darklighter-firm department. He, too, wore the uniform of the agents.

"Carl," a sneer formed around Aenriques' lips. Thomas and Marcus exchanged dark glances. Carl, the proud and ambitious agent, who thought one day he'd rise in the hierarchy. He came to a halt not far from them and studied them shortly each.

"I, personally, think it's a too risky way to deal with mortals if they appear a threat to us," he said. "A phony autopsy. Fiddled-with reports. Dodging prison."

"If that's what's necessary to protect the Lord, we will do so," said Aenriques. Thomas kept quiet. He thought himself too good to begin an argument with Carl.

"Ah, but that's not the point. What had caused her interest? What had started all the commotion?"

"Listen, Carl, that doesn't matter. We kept the story out of the media," Marcus sneered. "Besides, what interest would you have in depicting our Lord in the media as a villain?" he stepped closer and his voice dropped as his eyes studied him intensely from head to toe. "Perhaps you were thinking of betraying his trust?" he tilted his head and the mouth was drawn to a spiteful, thin line. Carl looked back at him with his head still held high, careless that one of the most reputed Darklighter agents dared to talk to him in such a degrading manner. He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

"Marcus, Marcus, Marcus," he shook his head with a sad smile. "I'm not the one with moles in my soil."

"We never dreamed that anyone would betray us, especially not Cato and Angelo," Aenriques hissed and took a step closer. Thomas put a hand on his chest and pushed him back from Carl.

"Marcus," he said sharply. Marcus and Carl had locked gazes, a test of will power and domination. Carl was, in the end, defeated.

"We had never dreamed that they would," Marcus repeated spiting at Carl when a voice called them to a halt. They turned and saw Zacharias stand not far from them with his arms crossed. Clearly, he had seen everything from a distance, and now he walked closer. The four of them backed up on line and bowed their heads. Arguing with their Lord's personal lawyer would ruin their career opportunities entirely. He stopped in front of them and looked darkly at them.

"No one should argue against the Lord's wishes. The way things are dealt with is the way he wants them to be dealt with. Carl!" his eyes landed on the Dutch agent who lowered his gaze to the floor. "Your department members are waiting in the hall." Carl bowed his head and left without another word. "And you three," Zacharias turned to look at the agents. "Keep your damn mouths shut or at least try to smoothen things instead of this... childish bickering."

"Yes, Mr. Darklighter," they muttered with one voice.

"Good," said Zacharias and left them at the steps. As the last guest had sidled in, the agents surrounded the hall. It was actually a rather small hall, but still there was room enough for almost 200 people to stand side by side. From the left of the hall the crowd parted and Matthew entered followed by his body-guards, Shade and Nathaniel. As he rose to the platform, the entire crowd knelt with their heads bowed. The silence was all of a sudden deafening when the rustling and shuffling of their robes and dresses came to a halt. Matthew stood at the platform, his head held high, admiring the view of more than 200 loyal servants kneeling at his feet.

"Rise," he said with a light gesture of his hand and they all rose again to look up at their Lord. No one spoke a word for a few seconds. His eyes scanned the crowd, met the bright eyes, saw perfection in each and every creature.

"Welcome, friends and family from far and wide," he began. "I'm glad to see that you all were able to arrive in time and join us in these days of prosperity and success. Tomorrow, many years of hard labour will be over, and we, the Darklighters, will have yet another reason to cheer as we take another grand step up the ladder of society and plant our name on yet another monument, undeniably the greatest since the restoration of this very mansion, our home, our cradle." Pause for applause. The ever-lingering smile in the corner of his mouth was tricked by the dim illumination; he could as well have been staring at them, wishing them a pleasant death, as well as smiling while he watched them all die. No one ever knew.

"Some of you have come from afar and are vaguely familiar with our customs. Others live here day in and out, serving the house as a righteous member of the family should do. I know many of you have heard of the on-going internal investigation of two younger family members, who have betrayed the trust that their lords and masters put in them, and not only delivered information to our enemies but also tried to undo the decisions taken by their leaders to strictly educate former family members in how you cannot escape the consequences of your actions. I implore you to reconsider, in every aspect, the consequences of disloyalty. Pride is a disgrace, to think yourself above your masters, those whom you should regard as the very key to your existence, and we are deeply traumatized that two such brilliant family members are now ostracized from our midst to go and join the deceitful and unfaithful ones." There was a short, silent pause. Many bowed their heads and closed their eyes for a few seconds to show the last respect for the two members, who were practically dead in their eyes now. Matthew continued in a more light-hearted and cheerful tone:

"The reason that you've all been invited here to gather around is the opening of Darklighter Tower in central London. Tomorrow, the construction team will be finished and it will be the symbol of our achievements in the times yet to come. The building itself shall become the headquarters of our rapidly expanding cooperation of which you are all a part." Pause and applause.

"Another pressing matter has also reached our ears. We've learned that the Butterfly Order is getting more and more aggressive." Silence, dark looks were exchanged; Matthew did not smile anymore. His face was grim and determined. "As you probably know, their dealings with S.M.E. are of our deepest concerns, as well as their attempts to recruit members of the Rayfair family. Take everything from them and give them nothing in return. Their emissaries are jesters and jokers of the worst kind and their intentions have always only been those of hate and jealousy. If ever they learn our secret, if ever they learn of our community, hidden under the wraps of the mortal society, we will be forced into exile from a world, which is rightfully ours." Acknowledging words sounded from all over the crowd. Matthew raised a hand to silence the tensing atmosphere. He saw the light in their eyes, shining with vigour to go out and deal with this loathed enemy once and for all; he saw the will to make a change and rewrite history such as many of them dreamed of.

"I stand here before you today, as a man of vision, a man of power. I have come this far, but not alone. Not without your help. If you join me under our banner, if we in our equality and superiority can stand together, we will be able to bring down our worst enemies and our darkest fears. We will not be afraid anymore -" loud cheers of excitement; the atmosphere was growing "- knowing that we have each other. We will not care if we should live today and die tomorrow. Our goal is set, our role is clear." Slowly a murmur rose from the crowd, a rhythmic hum, 277 voices all at once, reciting The Common Family Verse:

"In Darkness we confide,

Our trust we put to the night,

When the stars are strange and the moon is gone,

We come to your cradle to sing our lullaby-song.

Death we serve:

Your darkest fears

Are whispered at night into our ears;

When light breaks shadow and dawn becomes day

We avoid the strongest sunlight ray.

We drink and toast in the blood of your child

We dance and sing, make your mind go wild

When door is opened and night is gone

Your beloved will know that Death has won."

Matthew smiled at them as he listened to their voices, each perfect in incantation, syllables and pronunciation. He allowed the silence to linger for a moment.

"Finally, I have a request to meet with the heads of each department at my office," he said. "We have things to discuss, matters to catch up with. The rest of you, feel free to explore the area. Those of you who wish to go into London can ask for a driver from Zacharias, who will deal with all requests. Let us dedicate these next days to celebrate our origin, our beings. I also encourage you to visit London at night. My son and nephews and nieces would sure be happy to show those of you, who'd wish a more cheerful time here, around in the streets at night." He lifted his glass and they all imitated. "All hail the Darkness."

"To the Darkness, may it be yours," they replied in one voice before toasting and applauding as their Lord descended the platform. Voices grew again as he went through the crowd, shook hands, greeted as many as he could. The heads of the departments followed his steps as they went out of the hall and disappeared up the stairs to the upper floors and the office.

Thomas stood at the steps, Aenriques and Marcus at each side, arms crossed across their chest.

"All right, guys, let's spread out," Thomas said in the microphone by his collar. He exchanged glances with his colleagues, and they were off into the crowd, searching for doubtful expressions that questioned their leader's words.