Clan Percival

Why couldn’t I have fun again?

What about that game I used to play?

I couldn’t go back, but I could start again.

Turns out there was a gaming club a few blocks from my apartment—the exact game I used to play, even if it was a few editions later.

Sure, why not.

I arrived early as the place was easy enough to find: a recreation hall attached to a community center.

Standing in front of the doors, I could hear a dozen or so voices talking just inside. I paused for a moment before entering, reflecting on what happened the last time I walked through a set of red doors.

The head of the club knew I was coming and was friendly enough. They met twice a week to play, and if you didn’t have an army yet, they had a few loaner sets.

Was I familiar with the game?

I was.

In a previous place and time, I was a tournament champion.

Of course, that was a long time ago, but the mechanics were still familiar enough.

Welcoming me to the club, he put me in the care of one of the long-time members—a veteran player like myself who also played the old edition back in the day and could get me up to speed.

Bishop was maybe ten years older than me, but we both started the game at the same time. He was impressed at my command of the lore and other artifacts from that time, and "there was only one more test to pass," he jokingly said.

When I replied, "Lobo," we became battle-brothers right there.

I quickly got back into the game and started to build a reputation for myself at the club. Bishop was one of my favorite opponents, win or lose, as we always had a good time—although I lost more often than not.

When he wasn’t around, I often played with KJ.

He was maybe ten years younger than me and spent so much time with Bishop that, at first, I thought the two were actual brothers. Games with KJ were also fun, but he always seemed to be involved in some sort of drama at the club.

When we weren’t playing, KJ would often ask me about the old lore or how the game used to be played, which—while a genuine interest—only made me feel even older around him.

That night, it was a friend's rehearsal dinner that just happened to be taking place a few blocks from the gaming club, along one of the main streets in the city.

Restaurants, clubs, and nightlife were all along a series of old industrial and converted buildings. I had forgotten how busy it got at night, and I had to park in one of the more remote lots far from the restaurant.

At 3:00 AM, on my way back to my car, I passed through a crowd gathered on the street waiting in line to get into one of the techno clubs on the block.

It was there that my eyes locked on them, and once the surprise wore off, their eyes locked onto mine.

There was that moment where I thought if I just kept walking, maybe it would be so fast nobody would notice.

Taking a step to the left, I put more of the crowd between us, figuring they wouldn’t step off the line to say anything.

By the time I got to my car, I wondered if indeed it was them.

The next week at the club, I was again playing Bishop with KJ hovering nearby, and I knew it was indeed both of them, as everything between us was too normal not to be.

Why not cut to the chase?

"I saw you guys last week, and well, whatever was going on, it was all good as it obviously has nothing to do with the club here, and either way, I couldn’t care less."

Bishop was listening intently, and KJ was nervous.

"I’m not going to tell anybody here…"

And before I could finish, Bishop looked past me to KJ and commented in a lower, different voice, "This could be the way for the bloodline not to die out."

KJ just shook his head in silence.

During the day it was a game, but at night it was more than a game—especially on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Bishop was the Elder of the group, KJ was one of his trusted lieutenants, and the clan numbered about twenty or so others, with two other clans in the area, all ruled by a Prince.

"Why are you telling him this?"

"Because the moment he walked in here, he was already turned."

We had been in the shop a few hours as KJ helped me pick out three different outfits and the appropriate accessories. Green wasn’t my color, black was too predictable, and red was his color, so purple would do.

Three outfits in purple, with different colored laces, high-topped lace boots, and rose-colored glasses to complete the set.

Since my hair was already long, we could skip the wigs, but I might have to dye my hair.

Looking at myself, how ridiculous did I look?

My first impulse was "completely," but on the other hand, how did I look in the dojo dressed in a hakama with a set of swords across my waist?

Satisfied enough, KJ signed off, and I was ready for my debut this Friday night.

We had the back of the top floor of the club; the music was still incredibly loud despite being removed from it.

Bishop sat in the center holding court as KJ waited to be acknowledged.

Was it even Bishop?

KJ was the one to introduce me, as I still wasn’t completely set on my backstory:

"Clan Percival has a new member, an exile of clan Brujah, and a very much-needed street enforcer."

The game was always in play, always in character, but if you met anybody else before sundown, you didn’t acknowledge it.

Once the sun set, that was a different story.

The first few weeks were mostly spent going to the same clubs along the main street, dancing and hanging out.

What about the other clans?

Things were building, and they would be happening soon, but for now, Bishop wanted to keep my entry to the community a secret.

It didn’t take me long to realize that the clan was a bit down on its luck, having lost a few long-term members to real life, and now the other two clans were vying to take over.

They needed a warrior, and Bishop felt I was somebody he could trust.

Bishop was brooding all night; the exchange didn’t go well, and two of our clan defected to one of the other clans. Rumors were spreading that the Prince was going to disband Clan Percival and split us among the victors.

Maybe that was the plan all along?

Bishop was hoping I was going to do some of that "martial arts stuff" and turn the tide.

I asked him how far he was willing to go. As our Elder, what was he ready to do?

I explained my plan, and immediately KJ opposed it.

It was going to work because it played outside the game without actually doing so.

Wasn’t one of the rules that the game was always in play, even during the day if not acknowledged?

So what was the problem?

The problem was that KJ liked Stephen outside of the game, and if it worked, Stephen might be angry with him…

...or he might like KJ more and would now be a member of Clan Percival.

If he wasn’t going to ask him out in real life, there was nothing to worry about if it blew up.

Bishop agreed and gave the order; only the three of us would know. The rest of what was left of our clan would have to find out after the fact to keep it believable.

That, and we didn’t know who else might turn on us.

The letter was easy for me to write; it was irresistible and complete poison at the same time. Bishop forbade KJ from reading it so he wouldn’t give away any subtle cues; there was only one shot at it.

In real life, Stephen worked at one of the local comic shops, and KJ would frequently stop by to pick up his pull list and flirt with him.

The command was to do the same thing this week, only flirt a little bit less, and when you put your comics away in your bag on the way out, drop the letter on the floor.

Make it look like it fell out.

Walk away and don’t look back.

That Saturday night in our usual spot, Bishop was in better spirits.

At least something had been done, and I felt for him as he perceived the last few years of his life in the game were slipping away.

By the next week, something had happened, and one of the rumors swirling around was that the Prince had to personally get involved.

When four opposing clan members showed up unannounced and pledged their loyalty to Bishop, the silence was confirmed and the momentum from that letter was too much to stop.

Clan Percival was back.

Just when things were looking up and next steps were lining up, Bishop confided in KJ and me that he had to go away for six months.

He would be out of the game for a bit and was putting me in charge.

KJ was hurt, but once Bishop explained our next step, he softened up and understood. KJ in charge as Bishop's most trusted lieutenant made sense and was expected.

Me in charge looked like a mistake and presented an opportunity.

I immediately moved our clan to a different club, one more upscale, and quickly started spending our money as fast as I could.

Entertainment, bribes, and spectacles—the clan tripled in numbers as word reached the city. 

The numbers were much needed for what was next, and if we lost most of them once it was done and the money ran out, that was to be expected.

For now, we had the image of increasing while the other clans decreased.

On the numbers alone, we wiped out the first clan and had a lavish party in honor of the Prince to put the second clan on notice. When Stephen lingered at the party, this was the pivotal point, as he had nowhere left to go.

I left it up to the benevolence of KJ if he wanted to accept Stephen into the clan or not.

When Bishop returned, he found the clan in a much different state and wasn’t sure what to say.

I had surpassed his wildest expectations.

Our numbers had grown so large that now we occupied almost the entire wing of the club and were the only clan of prominence on the main street. Even the Prince had to acknowledge our maneuvering, as whispers from one of the Princes from an opposing city had started to take notice.

In that moment of his return, Bishop and I standing together, the expectation among those attending the party was that he would raise me to first lieutenant.

First, even before KJ.

Did I not deserve it?

Had I not earned it?

Expecting a speech, instead, Bishop pulled out a carved stake and drove it home.

Laughing, he noted that the sun would be rising soon and that KJ should take me up to the roof and leave me for the rising sun.

There on the tallest building in the city, KJ was in tears, real tears, as he turned to leave me.

Breaking canon for some flair, I called him over.

Why was he crying?

I told him there was more to the plan, and that some people had to be kept in the dark about it for it to be convincing.

For the clan to grow and thrive, I could not be allowed to live, and Bishop had to consolidate his rule through a mixture of fear and loyalty.

Bishop brought me into the clan, and once we saw the books, there was no other way. 

Either I died at some point along with all of you, and the past four real-life years the two of you spent were gone, or somebody like me comes in and "dies" so the two of you and the clan lives.

Either way, I die.

And somehow, it actually all worked out.

Clan Percival was at the top, Bishop was back, and KJ got the guy.

All I asked for in return from Bishop was that anytime there was a party, an empty seat was left for me in honor of the game.

After all, we were vampires, not werewolves.