PLOT

[MARGOT BAUDIN,]

( THE AFTERMATH )

"JE M'EN VAIS,
MAIS L'ÉTAT DEMEURERA TOUJOURS."
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THE ERA OF LOUIS XIV WAS THE GOLDEN AGE OF FRANCE. THE COUNTRY STOOD AS ONE OF THE
LEADING POWERS IN EUROPE, AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. THEIR COLONIES AROUND THE
GLOBE WERE GROWING RAPIDLY IN NUMBERS. LITERATURE, ART, AND SCIENCE ALL THRIVED
AND FLOURISHED. FRENCH JESUITS COULD BE SEEN AT THE COURT OF EMPEROR KANGXI OF
CHINA. THE CITIZENS OF FRANCE WERE WARM, FED, AND WELL TAKEN CARE OF. BUT LIKE ALL
GOOD THINGS, THIS DID NOT LAST.

BEFORE LONG, LOUIS' DEBTS BEGAN TO CATCH UP WITH HIM, AND EVEN THE FINANCIAL GENIUS
OF HIS ADVISOR, JEAN-BAPTISTE COLBERT, COULD NOT PATCH UP THE IMMENSE HOLES IN
FRANCE'S PURSE. THE BUILDING OF THE CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES, THE EXTRAVAGANT
SPENDING OF THE FRENCH COURT, ALL OF IT WAS TOO MUCH. LOUIS XV SAID TO FUCK IT ALL,
LET'S PARTY, AND "APRÈS MOI, LE DÉLUGE." HIS SON, LOUIS XIV, DID NOT DO MUCH BETTER. HIS
WEAKNESS AND EAGERNESS TO PLEASE HIS FRIENDS ONLY LED FRANCE FURTHER AND FURTHER
INTO DEBT. THE MEMBERS OF THE THIRD ESTATE HAD THEIR TAXES RAISED HIGHER, AND AS THE
PRICE OF BREAD SKY-ROCKETED, THEIR ANGER BEGAN TO STEW. THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE WERE
STARVING, AND REVOLUTION WAS SOON UNDERWAY.

THE REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY.

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BROTHER, IF YOU'RE HUNGRY,
BUT NOT WOUNDED.
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IT IS THE YEAR SEVENTEEN NINETY-THREE, AND THE ROYAL FAMILY IS DEAD.

SIX WEEKS AFTER THE EXECUTION OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, 120 BODIES WERE FOUND PILED UP
BEHIND THE NOTRE DAME DE PARIS. IT WAS MIND-BOGGLING, THIS MASSACRE. NO ONE HAD
HEARD A SCREAM NOR ANY OTHER SOUND THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. YET HERE ALL OF THESE
BODIES WERE, DRAINED OF BLOOD AND NOT A SCRATCH ON THEM. WELL, NOT QUITE. UPON
CLOSER INSPECTION, TWO SMALL, NEEDLE-LIKE HOLES WERE FOUND ON THE LEFT SIDE OF
EACH VICTIM'S NECK.

THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AND THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY TRIED HARD TO KEEP
THIS UNDER WRAPS, DISPOSING OF THE BODIES IN THE FORESTS OUTSIDE PARIS, BURNING THEM,
AND SO ON. BUT THE RESIDENTS OF PARIS SOON FOUND OUT THAT THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS AND
FRIENDS WERE MISSING, AND WHEN A LITTLE BOY FOUND ONE OF THE BODIES BEHIND A FOREST
TREE, THE WORD SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE.

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CALL ME CRAZY,
BUT THEY ARE AFTER US.
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THE PEOPLE WERE CONVINCED THAT ONLY ONE CREATURE COULD HAVE DONE THIS, A
CREATURE MEANT TO STAY IN THE SHADOWS OF NIGHTMARES AND MYTHS: VAMPIRES. IT MADE
THE MOST SENSE, BUT A FICTIONAL CREATURE? MADNESS. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AND
COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY SAID IT MUST HAVE BEEN SOME SORT OF RELIGIOUS CULT, OR A
PACK OF ANIMALS. THE PEOPLE INSISTED ON HAVING SOMEBODY PROTECT THEM FROM THESE
MONSTERS. THE GOVERNMENT REFUSED. WHAT DO YOU DO TO STOP SOMETHING YOU DON'T
EVEN KNOW EXISTS?

SO THE PEOPLE TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS. A BAND OF YOUNG FRENCH MEN AND
WOMEN CAME TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT AND EXTINGUISH THE EVIL. THEY
CALLED THEMSELVES THE SLAYERS, AND IMMEDIATELY SET OUT TO FIND THE ABOMINATIONS
OF NATURE WHO TOOK THE LIVES OF INNOCENT, GOD-FEARING PEOPLE. BUT WHAT THEY HADN'T
ANTICIPATED WAS THAT THEIR ATTEMPT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER, WOULD IN FACT MAKE
THINGS SO MUCH WORSE.

BECAUSE WHEN WE'RE GONE, WHO WILL DEAL WITH THE AFTERMATH?

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