[CENTER][B]GIOVANNI[/B][/CENTER]

Samuel Giovanni looked up at the dark skies before turning his gaze towards his wrist watch. Midnight. He drew a deep, silent breath, filling his lungs with unwanted air. There was an unmistakable chill this night. A cold, harrowing breeze tugged its way through the dark, sweeping over the specks of grass and caressing the old gravestones. Straightening the sleeves of his grey jacket, Samuel silently looked on as a male ghoul dug his way into the cold, hard ground. They would soon reach the casket. Beside him, Julie Giovanni spoke in a mild, gentle tone Samuel thought reserved for him.
"Are you certain this is necessary?"
"Yes. Certainly." he answered matter-of-factly. Julie remained quiet a few seconds, then spoke again.
"And what do you - [I]we [/I]- do if the Camarilla finds out?" she asked. Samuel turned his head towards her, met her hazel eyes. There was hesitation in them, as there was in her voice. Julie was a blunt and unabashed woman, but she was [I]not [/I]an idiot. Angering the Camarilla tended to be an unwise move by any vampire, especially if said vampire's only backing consisted of memories of the past. Before Samuel answered, the ghoul whistled, and as Samuel spun around he clearly saw the casket. He nodded at the human, who cleared the rest of the dirt and opened the box. The three of them quickly gathered around the casket and looked down on a decaying body. The ghoul hurriedly covered his mouth, clearly taken by surprise by the powerful odor. 
"That's him, alright. Get the fucker in the van." The ghoul, still covering his face, used one strong arm to lift the thin body up and hoist it over his shoulder. He then strolled past the two Kindred and opened the back of an oxford blue van, before placing the corpse in a wooden casket of decidedly cheaper make than the one in the grave. After closing the back doors again, he walked back to the now empty grave.
"Can you vampires like, uh, sense that the corpse is gone? 'Cus if so, the guys we're stealing this from might find out, y'know." Julie's eyes seemed to turn bright with fire upon hearing the insolent, human word for Kindred. Samuel reached into his jacket.
"You cannot steal a corpse. The truly dead belong to no one. And no, thankfully I am not aware of such a power." Samuel's hand came out in the open again, this time with a pistol, and he attached a silencer with quick, practiced ease. "But I am careful." He shot the ghoul twice in the face, who neatly fell dead into the grave. Samuel walked over. "Well what do you know, a perfect fit." he said coolly. He then picked up the shovel and watched Julie coming over. "The Camarilla will never learn of this, but they'll fucking wish they had."

[b]One week earlier[/b]

Passing through the open gates, a black sedan slowly rolled up the entrance to the Giovanni mansion. Situated in Burbank, it had long been the base of operations for the Giovanni family in the Los Angeles area, and ultimately California as a whole. The building had been built hundreds of years ago, and it had been grand. Huge in size, filled with hidden rooms and large catacombs amidst the expensive dining rooms, library, gathering halls and similar, excessive rooms.

Now, however, the once proud mansion was reduced to a shambling corpse. The east wing was completely collapsed, and repairs had seemingly stalled, leaving the mansion half in ruin two years after the Fledgling tore it apart. Samuel got out of the car and shook his head in disbelief. Julie followed him out of the car and sneered in repugnance. The couple briefly looked around at the desolate area, before entering the mansion through the unlocked main doors.

The sight that followed left Samuel practically tearing at the seams in disgust. The main hall was strewn in smashed furniture, broken statues and busts. Moreover, dried blood stained floor and walls alike, all lit up by the moonlight through a hole, high up in the ceiling. The electricity seemed to be off or not there at all. After simply standing there, taking in what was left of this Giovanni legacy, a loud noise was heard as a creature suddenly crossed the hall from left to right.
“You!” Samuel shouted. The creature suddenly stopped and turned to face Samuel. It approached quickly, and Samuel recognized it as Henry Putanesca, the supposed proprietor of this shithole. Henry looked surprised. Surprised and horrified.
“Mr. Giovanni? W-what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here until Thursday!” he exclaimed, forcing a smile.
“I am here now. My mansion is not. Explain.” Samuel answered through clenched teeth, venom practically dripping in his response. Henry desperately started rambling. 

Samuel and Julie listened for a good five minutes as the Putanesca, too scared and caught in the act to lie, told them about the in-fighting following the attack, the lack of hope as the chapter’s leadership fell apart and the general downwards spiral of violence and decadence that had lead them to where they were now. Initially, the survivors had banded together and blamed the Camarilla for what had happened. Trying to get revenge, the Giovannis had put together a plan only to have it backfire, with most of the survivors ending up killed as well, this time indeed by the Camarilla’s hands. After this, the remaining Kindred were all higher gen, inexperienced and none of them had been part of those Giovanni who handles outside contact. As time went on one by one holed up in the mansion and turned away from the outside world, to the point of hardly leaving the grounds at all, sometimes even leaving the gates to the property open and unguarded. The Giovanni interests had crumbled along with the Kindred, and few local assets remained. The last week, the electricity had been cut off, presumably some sort of power failure. No one had bothered fixing it. A mere handful Kindred remained, all of them 11th gen and above. 

Henry Putanesca himself claimed he had been too afraid to let the elders know just how bad the situation was, and figured he didn’t need to either, as Los Angeles had been viewed as a lost cause up until now, completely disregarded as the Hidalgo family south of the border had been wiped out as well.
“In truth, it is good you came now. If the situation gets any worse, it may get completely out of hand. It could be irreversible, then.” Henry finished. Julie couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
“May? It is well and truly fucked, you filthy, rotting waste of flesh and bone.” On Samuel’s order, Julie then proceeded to lunge at the Putanesca, literally tearing the pitiful man limb from limb. When done, Samuel stepped forward and lifted Henry’s head off the floor, tossing it out the front door. He grabbed his cell and hit a number. Things would change, and they would change fast. He’d bring every damn asset he could to town, and he’d hit the locals hard. If there was anything he despised more than the Camarilla and Sabbath, it was facing his own clan’s inadequacies.