For all of my Anita Blake fans out there, I am so sorry I have neglected her. It’s high time she got some more of my spotlight. To start righting my wrong, I am going to tell you about some of the organizations in her world. Even though Anita’s world is very much like our own, many things are still hidden. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
The Regional Preternatural Investigation Taskforce (RPIT), most is often called the Spook Squad if their acronym isn’t being pronounced as rip-it. St. Louis’s answer to the supernatural forces that were revealed, like vampires and any lycanthrope animals, ghouls, and zombies. They are an extension of the St. Louis police department and are supposed to keep the peace between the humans and the supernatural communities. They investigate crimes of a supernatural nature, whether against a human or another supernatural. It usually isn’t great for your career to be moved to RPIT. It means you pissed someone off. Though later, it wasn’t so bad. The squad is headed by Dolph. Though when Dolph goes off the deep end, Zebrowski steps in until his return. The expectation of this new squad was that no crimes would be solved but under Dolph’s command, they have a great success rate. It is in large part because Dolph had the foresight to have Anita help the team. To be part of the RPIT squad, you must have faith. Without it, you are crippled against vampires. They have even taken to using people with psychic abilities or who are at least sensitive. Not only is Anita a consultant to RPIT and federal marshal, but Larry Kirkland is also part of the team. Tammy Reynolds Kirkland is a witch that is a detective on the team.
Even though they are two separate entities, Humans Against Vampires gave birth to Humans First so I will talk about both here. As you can imagine, not all humans were thrilled about the legalizing of the supernatural community, so they want to make them illegal again and able to be killed on sight. They do this in an aggressively peaceful manner. It’s an oxymoron, I know, but still true. They use legal means and the media to try to accomplish their goal. Some of the members of Humans Against Vampires didn’t like the results, or lack thereof, from the group and wanted to do more to stop the preternatural community so they split off and formed Humans First. Their mission is to destroy all vampires. They feel the ends justify the means. They have no problem killing to meet this goal.
The Vampire Council enforces the laws of the vampire world. It was started by Marmee Noir, who Anita calls Mommie Dearest, who is the mother of vampires and lycanthrope. She is darkness itself. Though she is the head of the council, she has been sleeping for centuries. Located in France, the council is comprised of the first vampires and oldest vampires, all of whom are the most powerful of the vampires. They absolutely hate each other. The Harlequin is an extension of the Council. The Mother of All Darkness created their ranks to serve her and the council. To say their name without them contacting you is a death sentence. After the death of Mommie Dearest, the members of the Harlequin have joined her and Jean-Claude.
The Church of Eternal Life is exactly what it sounds like- a church of vampires. Malcolm is the leader and owner. He is a master vampire in his own right. Malcolm is supposed to make his followers take a blood oath to him, to tie them to him. He has not. Jean-Claude and Anita are pushing the issue. Malcolm’s church looks very much like any other Christian church, just without the religious symbols. They do indeed have church services, though I am not really sure what a church service sounds like there. The Church of Eternal Life is the fastest-growing congregation in America.
Lastly, is the Coalition for Better Understanding Between Humans and Lycanthrope Communities, which is also called the Furry Coalition, is a wonderful organization. They help any were-animal with emergencies, spread true information with humans rather than rumors or misinformation in all manner of media, and share information within the different members and groups within the coalition. Anita is the head of it and Micha is the Chief Officer and takes care of the day to day stuff. He travels all across the country to do interviews and share how the Coalition works. Many groups are part of the Coalition. The following are the groups so far:
Werewolves
Wereleopards
Wererats
Werehyenas
Weretigers
Werelions
Werefox
Weredogs
Werebears
Werecobras
Swanmanes
They have a hotline and offer to counsel current and new lycanthropes as well as their families. They even have monthly meetings for the families. The Coalition truly cares for its people. They will even give a member a ride to work or pick them up from the bar.
Did I miss any important groups? Let me know in the comments below. While talking to my husband before starting this article, I realized Anita is part of Marvel. She could potentially fight Deadpool, or team up with the X-Men. Who would you like to see her fight or team up with? Let me know in the comments below. Until next week…
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