The Anatomy of Vampires: Volume 1 by Alistair Vlain Page B

read the letter:
     
    Dearest Mortal Friend,
     
    Firstly, we, the Elders of the Parliament wish to congratulate you for becoming the only mortal in Occult history to be considered a friend and respected colleague of the divinely damned. We also wish to thank you for your efforts to bring forth the ugliness of the day to light, and to rid our world of oppression by being unafraid to pursue the truth.
    It has come to our attention a dear member of your family has recently joined our ranks, and we wish to assure you due to your valiant efforts, your wife will be protected with our finest care. She will be hidden from the Regime and the wretched genocide that they will impend unto our world in the decades to come. You have our word.
    We recognize your mortality will provide you with some limitations, and while you still breathe, we would like to respectively request your studies and findings with the intention to publish as an official, informative text of the Occult and of the Order of the Parliament. For you see, it is rare members of our kind will heed the word and warning of one such as yourself. Your words will reach more, and help more, if they are placed in our capable claws. To those who misunderstand us, your studies will provide certain enlightenment, and perhaps, help bring forth peace and understanding.
    Once again, we thank you with the utmost sincerity. Upon completion, you may seek a trusted ally to help with the delivery.
     
    With the best of intentions,
    Cicero Dell’Orta
    Parliament Liege
     
    The Parliament. In all my time researching, seeking answers, speaking to the strangest of creatures, I’d heard only bits and pieces of the secret society who hid from the Regime. They thrived under the earth. They kept their location a secret. There existed an opposite equal to the Regime. As they ruled the light, the Parliament did so rule the dark. And what of their steep request? Did they really believe I would just give it all up so easily into the hands of beings I’d never met?
    This only brought about more research to be done—only brought about more answers. The Parliament. Cicero Dell’Orta. But who would have the answers to my questions? Who would introduce me to the oldest, and perhaps most dangerous Vampires on this Earth? And would I publish my work for all to read?

 
     
     
Chapter Nine
     
    The Parliament
     
     
    “I do vow on my blood I am of the living-deceased and of the fatally cursed.”
    ~ Parliament incantation
     
    I was in Paris at the time I realized there were only a few pages left in my leather-bound journal of secrets I’d been keeping, a crude work that to me, seemed invaluable. I think I’d read Cicero’s letter nearly a thousand times, mulling the words over again, flipping back to my notes, and then reading the letter once more. It was one particularly warm, summer eve when I realized…if I wanted to discover the gears of what made such a secret society tick, I would have to visit the place for myself.
    The Saint James was lovely that time of year. It was throbbing with the life of the rich and well-to-do. I felt very out of place, but was grateful all the same to those who worked to keep me comfortable. It did not come without a price, however. I knew exactly what they wanted in exchange for the luxury, and I gripped it in my fist. The bellhop who had shown me to my room was a tad peculiar, I’d noticed. As he carried my bags, I glanced over at his pallid skin and the way he kept his eyes angled down at the floor as he walked.
    “So, have you worked here long?” I asked, lifting my eyebrow.
    I was not surprised, nor offended when he didn’t answer me. I knew what he was and why he was there. He was different than the chap in London, this one with blond hair and a more boyish quality. He left me at my door and said simply, “Let me know when you are ready.” And he turned and retreated at a human pace back down the elegantly dressed corridor with fine carpet, crystal