Author's Rating- PG
I sit in the parlor on a soft red velvet chair, my legs crossed and staring into the fire as Lestat enters.
"I am going out now. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" he asks slyly, knowing full well how I feel about the whole thing.
"No, but thank you for asking." I say in my usual polite manner.
He just laughs inwardly and leaves with a flutter of his cape. I resume my concentration on the dancing flames before me. I do this from time to time, lose myself in some object staring at it for hours on end. I cannot explain my reasoning for doing it, but it's comforting in some way.
The night is still young and I have not yet silenced this craving. I rise from the chair and gather my coat from the rack by the door. It is a long black coat with buttons all down the front. It being winter it is somewhat chilly so I put a scarf around my neck so that even the most trained mortal eye would not think anything of my white skin in contrast to the deep black of my coat.
I walk down the stone steps and push the iron gate open with a long, drawn out creak. I shove my hands into my pockets and begin walking the same stretch of sidewalk that I do everynight. For a change of scenery I decide to cut through the park and see what people are up to there this eve. As I walk I see lovers taking midnight strolls and artists painting the scenery with the moon shining down upon it all. Then, I hear the faint sound of footsteps behind me. I would recognize Lestat's step anywhere and these footsteps do not belong to him. They are a sound foreign to my ears. I walk a bit faster in practical mortal fashion, but I realize that the steps stay in time with my step throughout. This frightens me a bit so I take a turn and walk into a coffee shop. I walk to the very back of the shop and seat myself at the nearest table. My pursuer sits down across from me.
It is a man, but I can tell by the way he kept time with me that he is no mere mortal. His hair is short and light brown, his eyes match that color almost exact. He smiles at me and I am put at ease.
"You are probably wondering why it is I followed you?" he says in a youthful voice.
"Yes, why did you follow me" I ask curiously, "and what is your name?"
The waiter brings us each a coffee. He puts a sugar packet and a milk in his then stirs as he speaks.
"My name is Michael. I sought you out because I have heard of your life." At the mention of that book I cringe and he notices this.
"I'm sorry, I sense that you are not fond of that book?"
"No, it was of my own doing, but I don't like the idea that people the world over wish to seek me out as a result of it."
"My apologies then, but I came to you out of distress really."
At this my attention is brought back to this man before me.
"Oh? What kind of distress?"
"I once worked as a lawyer in L.A. that's where I met her. She captivated me as no other woman ever had in all my years living in L.A., now you can imagine all the models and stars I've laid eyes on. None of them compared to her, she was a real beauty. One night she invited me over to her apartment and we had dinner. Afterwards we started fooling around on her couch, but nothing happened. Then, in the middle of that same night I wake up to find her somehow in my room. She comes over to me, whispers seductive things into my ear, then proceeds to disrobe me of all my clothing, kissing me all over, then, finally, she penetrates my throat with her teeth. She bites her tongue and slips it into my mouth. I taste her blood on my lips and savor every moment of that whole exchange." He pauses slightly to look up from his cup of coffee to me then he takes a sip of his cup and continues.
"I was enthralled with her from the beginning and revelled in this whole exchanging of eachothers blood. But the thing was, she never finished the process. I am not wholly vampiric. I still have half of my old mortal blood mixing in with the new vampiric blood. That is how I am able to sit her and drink this cup of coffee like any other mortal man and yet follow your footsteps exactly like any vampire could do." He takes another sip of his coffee then sets it back down on the table before him.
I pause for a moment, taking all of this information into my head and processing it before I speak. "So, what do you want from me?" I ask somewhat hesitantly.
"I want you to finish the process."
"What!" I shout aloud incredulously.
Michael cringes as I become quite irritable.
"If you have read that book then you know my feelings towards this whole little game! I won't stand for doing that again! I don't want to live my immortality to bring more happy mortals into this hell of eternal damnation! No!"
With that I slam my money down on the table and barge out of the shop. Michael, thankfully, does not follow.
I rush through the iron gate and up the steps leading to our flat. I open the door, fling the keys on the countertop and hang my jacket on the rack. At that moment Lestat comes out of the bathroom having just showered and only in a towel.
"Something wrong?" he says, knowing full well that there is, but is polite enough just to enquire at first.
"Yes! and no I don't want to talk of it!" I say angrily and walk out to the blacony leaning against it, my hands on the railing as I look out to the river. How could that man be so dumb? If he read the book as he said he did then he would know I have no wish to make vampires out of anyone.
After a while Lestat comes to stand next to me, brushing his blonde locks and fixing his white blouse. He leans against the railing and looks at me with his curious eyes.
"No.." I say still seething mad.
He holds up his hands in defeat and says, "Alright, I just wanted to make sure. Goodnight, Louis." With that he goes back inside. After he is gone into his room I immediately begin inwardly cursing myself for having childishly withheld my anger from him, letting it fester inside me only to get worse.
I walk into the parlor and close the balcony doors behind me. Seating myself in the same red velvet chair I stare into the fire, drowning all of my angering thoughts in those dancing, flickering flames. Eventually I tear my focus away from the fire and walk to my room, change, and climb into my coffin to sleep until evening.
*~The End~*
Copyright © 2000 Property of Lady Mercareth