Chapter 24
New Orleans was a city plagued with vices and corruption, and the underworld controlled most operations. The network of vampires was expanse, leaving little room for an outsider to gain footing. The only option for most was to start at the bottom and work their way up. My sister had no intention of following protocol. Our reunion with Angie was cut short on the docks only two minutes after we stepped foot onto American soil. The man, a vampire of American-Slovak decent, ordered us to register our names in the official log of New Orleans vampires. When my sister refused, two more vampires joined him. They would back down that evening, but our descriptions were circulated among the Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood was a society of male dominant vampires that worked more like a modern day crime ring. Angie was fully aware of the organization, and gave us every detail about their operations. Women, no matter who they were, were expected to take their place as servants and submissives. Angie had avoided such a fate only because she belonged to the more tolerant Miami district of vampires. That said, she was allowed very little freedom in the city of New Orleans, or in the state of Louisiana itself.
Harassment became the standard as we spent our nights getting oriented with the city. Violent threats were common, and so were the promises of rape and abuse. As quick to anger as my sister could be, she remained patient. Debra's plan was was to make the King of the Americas come to her. She took great steps towards achieving this goal the night she wore her crown publicly. She also referred to herself as Mistress as well as Queen. The Brotherhood was predictably outraged. They sent numbers to subjugate my sister or worse. Although there were twenty of them, the Brotherhood never took into account one simple fact. They were dealing with four vampires who's combined age was over fifteen hundred years. You could say the Brotherhood was greatly weakened that night.
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