Read Online Joe Pitt 1 - Already Dead by Charlie Huston - Free Book Online
Authors: Charlie Huston
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when
the Hood seized everything above 110th and Terry formed the Society and took the East Side
turf from 14th down to Houston . That left the island's bottom cut off from the rest of
the Coalition. Now all that turf down there is run by minor Clans and Rogues. As for the
Outer Boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx? From what I hear, it might
as well be a jungle once you cross a river. Who knows what the savages are doing out there
in the bush? And who cares? But the real turf still belongs to the Coalition. They took
some lumps in the sixties, got whittled down a bit, but they still control everything
river to river between 14th and 110th.
They have the big turf because they have numbers. They find a role in their Clan for any
Vampyre who wants to join, and keep all their members supplied with a ration of blood
equal to their contribution to the Clan. And that's their real power, all that blood they
get their hands on. Somehow. They'll keep you supplied so you don't go Rogue and feed on
your own and cause any trouble, but only as long as you toe their line. And their line is
invisibility. They cultivate influence in the uninfected world, but only to protect the
Clan and its interests. Or, as Terry would say, the interests of the Secretariat.
Terry gave me the history and he explained his own philosophy,
his plans to unite all the Clans and bring the Vampyre above ground. How this could never
be done until the Coalition's power was broken, and that their ultimate power lay in their
control of a vast and secret supply of blood. So I fought the fight, did what I could to
bring all of us under one banner so we could step into the public consciousness together;
undeniable and deserving the same rights as any uninfected person. I went to the meetings,
helped to organize, and to find the new guys before they got themselves killed. Spent a
lot of time huddled in basements talking newly infected fish off the ceiling. Spent a lot
of time in those same basements hiding out from Coalition agents. Those were rough years
at the end of the seventies. The Society was still coming together. The Coalition had
lost
control of the turf, but that didn't mean Terry had
taken
control of it. Wasn't until the mid eighties that he had enough of the smaller Clans
pulled together into something big enough to be a major Clan. But now that turf is Society
through and through. Me, I went my way when I figured what Terry had me lined up for.
Started with a couple jobs taking care of Rogues who were on the turf but didn't want to
join the Society. Then there were some new fish that had trouble making the transition and
needed to be put out of their own misery. Then there were members of different Society
affiliates who maybe didn't always want to do things Terry's way, and they needed taking
care of, too. So I took care of them. A lot of them.
One day I show up at a guy's place, a guy I know and like. I'm there to see if he wants to
grab a beer, but when he sees it's me, he gets a look on his face; a look like he doesn't
want to turn his back. That's when I got it that Terry was turning me into his whip, his
cop. And I ain't no fucking cop.
I went Rogue, left the Society and tried to make it on my own. But you can't make it on
your own as a Vampyre. You can't because the Clans don't want you out there on your own
where you might cause trouble. So I kept running errands for Terry because I wanted to
keep living on Society turf.
And when the Coalition came calling with their first little job, I did it. Because I know
what's good for me. They knew about me going Rogue just like they know most things. And
they knew I could move around below 14th. They figured to get an agent, a turncoat in the
Society's house. They offered to pay for it, pay well. I counter-offered. So now they like
to
the Hood seized everything above 110th and Terry formed the Society and took the East Side
turf from 14th down to Houston . That left the island's bottom cut off from the rest of
the Coalition. Now all that turf down there is run by minor Clans and Rogues. As for the
Outer Boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx? From what I hear, it might
as well be a jungle once you cross a river. Who knows what the savages are doing out there
in the bush? And who cares? But the real turf still belongs to the Coalition. They took
some lumps in the sixties, got whittled down a bit, but they still control everything
river to river between 14th and 110th.
They have the big turf because they have numbers. They find a role in their Clan for any
Vampyre who wants to join, and keep all their members supplied with a ration of blood
equal to their contribution to the Clan. And that's their real power, all that blood they
get their hands on. Somehow. They'll keep you supplied so you don't go Rogue and feed on
your own and cause any trouble, but only as long as you toe their line. And their line is
invisibility. They cultivate influence in the uninfected world, but only to protect the
Clan and its interests. Or, as Terry would say, the interests of the Secretariat.
Terry gave me the history and he explained his own philosophy,
his plans to unite all the Clans and bring the Vampyre above ground. How this could never
be done until the Coalition's power was broken, and that their ultimate power lay in their
control of a vast and secret supply of blood. So I fought the fight, did what I could to
bring all of us under one banner so we could step into the public consciousness together;
undeniable and deserving the same rights as any uninfected person. I went to the meetings,
helped to organize, and to find the new guys before they got themselves killed. Spent a
lot of time huddled in basements talking newly infected fish off the ceiling. Spent a lot
of time in those same basements hiding out from Coalition agents. Those were rough years
at the end of the seventies. The Society was still coming together. The Coalition had
lost
control of the turf, but that didn't mean Terry had
taken
control of it. Wasn't until the mid eighties that he had enough of the smaller Clans
pulled together into something big enough to be a major Clan. But now that turf is Society
through and through. Me, I went my way when I figured what Terry had me lined up for.
Started with a couple jobs taking care of Rogues who were on the turf but didn't want to
join the Society. Then there were some new fish that had trouble making the transition and
needed to be put out of their own misery. Then there were members of different Society
affiliates who maybe didn't always want to do things Terry's way, and they needed taking
care of, too. So I took care of them. A lot of them.
One day I show up at a guy's place, a guy I know and like. I'm there to see if he wants to
grab a beer, but when he sees it's me, he gets a look on his face; a look like he doesn't
want to turn his back. That's when I got it that Terry was turning me into his whip, his
cop. And I ain't no fucking cop.
I went Rogue, left the Society and tried to make it on my own. But you can't make it on
your own as a Vampyre. You can't because the Clans don't want you out there on your own
where you might cause trouble. So I kept running errands for Terry because I wanted to
keep living on Society turf.
And when the Coalition came calling with their first little job, I did it. Because I know
what's good for me. They knew about me going Rogue just like they know most things. And
they knew I could move around below 14th. They figured to get an agent, a turncoat in the
Society's house. They offered to pay for it, pay well. I counter-offered. So now they like
to
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