Page 51 of Sinistram
Travis shrugged. “They’re beyond retribution from the elders. Maybe there’s something they want to get off their chests. I can still hear Confession.”
As Travis meditated to prepare, Brent went through the familiar checklist of assembling what he would need to recover afterward: water, orange juice, a muffin, and peanut butter crackers to provide sugar, protein, and hydration.
After several minutes, Travis opened his eyes, and Brent sat across from him again, taking both of his hands. Just in case the spirits were not friendly, Brent had salt and iron handy to break Travis’s connection.
“Ready?” Travis felt certain that Brent could see the hesitation in his face. He didn’t mind doing a séance, but he had little desire for contact with Sinistram members, living or dead.
“No, but what the hell.”
“They’ll talk to me, and I’ll relay what I hear, but you won’t hear the actual ghosts,” he reminded Brent.
“Which is creepy as fuck, but I get it,” Brent replied.
He had referred to the spirits speaking through Travis as being a sock puppet on more than one occasion, and Travis had to admit that his partner wasn’t completely wrong.
“Priests of the Sinistram, hear me,” Travis said in deep, measured tones. His eyes were shut, leaving it to Brent to keep watch for any real-world threats. “I wish to speak with you.”
They sat for a moment in silence, and then he spoke again. “Brothers of the collar, I seek your wisdom,” Travis said. “I need to know who has corrupted the Order.”
He was taking a chance making that leap, but he gambled on two things. First, that the ghosts no longer feared retribution, and second, that those who had been with the group long enough to die of old age might deeply resent major changes that ran counter to their mission.
I knew you, Travis Dominick. You left us. Why do you seek us out now?Travis heard the voice in his mind and repeated the comment for Brent’s sake.
Travis recognized the man, whom he knew as Brother Benjamin, one of the senior priests who presided at his acceptance into the Sinistram back in the day.
“Because I believe something fundamental has changed, and people are dying,” Travis replied out loud, unwilling to get bogged down over old differences. “Is it true that vampires have infiltrated the brotherhood?” Travis sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for the ghost to answer. He wondered if the ghost would feel guilt over betraying a secret, even if he opposedthe change, or whether he might see this as a way to right a wrong.
Yes. It is true.
Two other ghosts had joined them, elderly priests Travis vaguely remembered from his time with the group, Brother Andrew and Brother Frank. They would have been ranked high enough to be in the governing body and privy to its secrets. He described what he saw to Brent.
“What happened, and why was that permitted?” Travis tried to word his questions neutrally, avoiding blame to keep from pissing off his ghostly informants.
Those at the very top wanted more power,Brother Andrew replied.They sought out the vampires, and many of them permitted themselves to be turned. I refused, spoke out against the change, and died.
Brother Frank’s ghost nodded.They sought power beyond death. And they wanted to finally be rid of the hunters who interfered with the supremacy of the supernatural.
The phrase “supremacy of the supernatural” sent a chill down Travis’s spine. “They wanted to dominate those without abilities?” he clarified aloud.
Yes. They felt it was their due since they were powerful with magic, and then deathless after being turned,Brother Benjamin replied.They resented that independent hunters defied reporting to the Sinistram and doing their bidding, and they were angry that “mere” mortals dared to kill creatures and rein in supernatural abilities.
Travis had braced himself for exactly that kind of admission, but hearing it confirmed made him simultaneously furious and heartbroken at the treachery. He remembered the fragmentary images he had picked up from Shane’s ghost and suspected he now knew why the CHARON agent had felt betrayed. Brentlooked shocked and angry when Travis relayed the ghosts’ words.
“Did the Sinistram put a bounty on hunters? And did that include killing members of CHARON?” Travis asked.
Travis had been speaking his questions and the ghosts’ answers aloud for Brent’s benefit, and on this last inquiry, he felt Brent’s hands tighten on his.
Yes. It was discussed before my death and implemented afterward.
Travis felt sick to his stomach. “Everywhere, or just the Pittsburgh Chapter? Does it go all the way to the Vatican?”Several tense moments passed before the answer came.
No. Other chapters were not involved yet. Neither was the Holy Father, although there might have been some traitors in Rome who knew and did nothing,Brother Andrew said.
One problem at a time. And Pittsburgh’s chapter is a big enough battle without taking on the Vatican,Travis thought.
“How do we stop them?” he asked.
Saving our chapter is beyond hope, I fear,Brother Frank said.But if you can expose them, it may stop the rot from spreading to other cities.
