How Riel’s success is a failure.
Katherin’s path involves slaying the seven generations above Melody – that will give her the choice to free herself. Really, Katherin is only using Riel for very potent food and to create a power vacuum that she can fill. When Melody’s sires are killed, she does get a choice – to free herself from Riel, which she takes. Katherin spirits herself away, leaving Riel alone and weeping.
Point:
Katherin sings:
What’s new, Pussycat? You’re delicious, and nutritious. What I’ll do, is hold you down and have you for dinner, Pussycat, Pussycat, I’ll eat you!
Point:
Katherin says:
Riel’s purpose in life is clearly to be food for a vampire. He wants to do something more heroic, like save lives? He already is! Think of how many of the human sheep he’s saved just by sacrificing himself for Katherin, much less the ones that came before her. His delusions of a call to vampire slaying only prove what she’s saying – he’s meant to seek out vampires.
It’s clearly foolish to believe that Mary is really appearing to him. Even if Christianity was real (and it isn’t), it has no business with vampirism. Vampires aren’t associated with the devil. There is no devil, though there are creatures Katherin has heard of and even seen that could give the devil a run for his money. There is no God, or at least not like Riel imagined. And whether there was a Mary or not, Katherin can promise him that she certainly got knocked up like any other sensible lady, and probably has re-incarnated 30 times since then and didn’t once remember anything about being the mother of God. (More lies and half-truths.)
Point:
Katherin keeps a massive geneology on vampires, and knows her place in it. She uses it to show Riel which points to knock out to save Melody, but Riel’s investigation of it is what shows Riel Katherin’s plan for domination (he decides to investigate it when she gets mad when he looks at it.)
Katherin knows that Riel is onto her – she knows a lot about him, but she’s been pimping him out for several weeks, and one of the women, not a vampire he realizes after the fact (he’s learned enough from Katherin to be able to smell the difference in vampires) – a Turkish woman named Ekin – who Katherin brings to him almost every night for two weeks (Katherin and he have a kind of contract, so he’s required to produce for her) has been impregnated.
Riel completes the removal of seven tiers above Melody, and she takes her choice to be free – free of her masters, free of him, free to continue as a vampire. Riel is distraught and furious. He goes back to Katherin’s crown to find it locked and empty. She gave him a secret back entrance before so he wouldn’t be connected to her, so he’d have a safe home free of reprisals. No-one at the tower knows he lives there. When he breaks in, he sees that his crime is being recorded on newly installed security cameras. He goes crazy, and begins destroying the cameras. Katherin was his get out of jail free card. He hears sirens and knows they are coming for him. He foolishly tries to go out the secret exit, and finds instead that he is trapped inside. End of story.
Point: One of Katherin’s sources of income is the fashion line, Adonis. Their trademark is replacing faux fur in their designs with silk flowers. For example, a black silk brocaded jacket, with crimson roses inside the hood and on the sleeves – cost $750.
Point: While Riel is bunking with Katherin, he still works on his music, soloing Refinery. His manager in LA tells him that there’s a NY rapper who wants to do an album with him – Urbal-T, who does 80’s throwback rap. One day as they’re working together and Riel’s wearing his scarf on a warm spring day, Urbal says Girl Trouble? Riel nods vaguely. No, no – GIRL trouble. Urbal crooks his fingers to imitate fangs. Riel is surprised. How did you know? Man, I always end up working with the freaks. Well, if you get in over your head, I gotta friend. His name is Jonas. I’ll bring you his card tomorrow. he keeps a whole stable of girls, so he can help you out of whatever trouble you’re in.
Point:
One night, when Riel doesn’t go out hunding, he watches Katherin from the shadows – sees her with a man she brought back to her condo mansion. They’re sitting on the couch together, fully clothed, and the man is in a stupor. Katherin is drinking slowly from a shallow (non fatal) wound on his neck, and her hand is in his crotch, outside of his pants, but stroking him to arouse him. She’s got him hypnotized, and she’s narrating to him what he’ll remember – a hot woman took him back to her hotel room, where they had great sex – right up until he told her he wanted to try on her underwear, and she freaked out and slapped him and sent him packing. That’s so out of character for him – he’s not sure why he did it, but it was far too embarrassing to tell anyone. But it does explain the big hickey she’s leaving on his neck.
Riel emerges from the shadows – do you ever do that to me? Shh… She puts the man into a deeper sleep and leaves him on the couch. Plan memories in my head after the fact. No, no… of course not. Your mind is too strong for that. That’s what I was afraid of. So al those times we’ve had sex – we’ve had sex. yes, dear. And I’ve been mixing around with god knows who else – probably have godknows how many diseases. Is that what you’re afraid of – venereal diseases? Come on over here, and I’ll administer a blood test. Seriously, we don’t get diseases, and we can’t really carry them. You know, diseases like that like warm, moist places. Well, warm and moist on me is just me being hospitable. When I’m not expecting guests, I’m cold and dry. And any little bugs I catch inside of me – well, they’re miniscule, but scrumptious in their own way when I notice them.
Still, Riel doesn’t like her bringing people here. It makes it harder to seperate her from their enemy. Well, there’s a simple solution. You could be my personal bloodbank? I only need a sip from you, but you have to promise daily deposits. I won’t promise to be chaste now – that’s not my style – but I’ll be discrete and away from here. No more take out. Deal?
