"Evil, huh?" Julian said. "Everything we do is terrible, Tomumy. We're supposed to make peace with it so we don't destroy ourselves. I wasn't religious in life, you know. Maybe I'm still not." He lapsed into silence for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Anyway, we agree. We can't keep doing this. Even if we're monsters and we don't have souls, we have bodies that the Camarilla will grind into dust the moment it's convenient to them. We need to make plans."
A hot desert wind whipped Julian's black hair around his head as he counted the gallons of water. The Camarilla gave you a job they considered necessary, even vital. Desperate migrants stumbled through this part of the desert, fleeing violence in Mexico and Central America for the promise of a better life in the States. Without water, many died. Aid groups dropped water and supplies for the migrants.
The year before, the Camarilla had infiltrated and supplanted one of those aid groups, replacing their members with…you and Julian. Your job: position the water above the scattered lairs of the Nosferatu elder, the one known only as Reremouse. The victims he claimed would give him enough blood to prevent his full awakening.
"This sucks," Julian said as you checked the GPS coordinates on the physical map you carried with you, since the Garmin kept glitching out. "I mean, I know what we are. I know what we do to survive. But this is just so…so stupid! It's inefficient and wasteful. This was how the world ran two or three centuries ago, Tomumy, before anyone invented flowcharts or assembly lines."
It was horrible work, but what choice did I have? It was either that or be destroyed myself. Though I will never forgive the Camarilla for compromising me like that.
It was ugly work, but more people would have suffered if the elder woke up. So I went back to work.
They were just food. Why care? It needed to get done, and maybe the smart ones knew enough to escape.
The work was intolerable. I convinced Julian that we needed to find something better to do with our unlives.
I couldn't do it anymore. I made up my mind to ditch Julian, and this horrible work, the moment I got the chance.
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