Luminary [Interview with the Vampire]

Another one like you

And yet, everything in him was begging her to never stop. To drain him till he couldn't walk, couldn't breathe, couldn't exist.

Roaring with all the strength left, he grabbed her by the head and pulled her off, spinning her around as he flung her as far as he could. Breathing heavily, he watched her fall gracelessly, as she sank into the dark, hidden by the short bushes and the murky swamp. He touched his neck and felt the puncture holes. They should have healed by now. But her bite had poisoned him. He was dizzy and bleeding and his body was begging to be fed on.

Falling to his knees, he held up, listening to her growl in the distance. She should never have gotten that close. Louis had grown soft. He'd been fooled by her seemingly human visage, the picture of a young, defenseless woman alone in the forest. No doubt, all that pretense was gone now. With the rumbling of her breath, her true nature revealed itself as the screeching, fanged beast she was. He didn't need the light from his phone to show the dead, flakiness of her skin or the yellowness of her eyes. Louis had seen Lestat in the thralls of feeding enough times to know what Madeline would look like if he could see her.

When she moved, Louis was waiting for her. As soon as she leaped out at her, his hand shot up, knowing where she was coming from. He caught her by the neck, and stomped her right into the ground as she snarled, holding him hand, sharp nails scratching at him to wound him.

He wasn't healing. He was only getting weaker. But he didn't let go.

"How did you get in here?" he roared as his grip tightened.

She snarled at him, too drunk on his blood to calm down or think clearly. All she cared about was feeding and the fact that he was still bleeding wasn't helping her regain her sanity.

"Let her go, Louis."

He felt Lestat, mere seconds before he heard his voice. Louis should have sensed him sooner. He was slipping, losing the connection between them. If Lestat could sneak up on him, and get this close without alarm bells going off in Louis's head, then he was in more trouble than he knew.

"It was you," he said, voice shaking as he strained to hold on to the struggling vampire while accommodating Lestat. "You brought her here."

"Do you want me to heal you?" Lestat asked.

Unable to handle both of them at the same time, Louis pressed one hand into Madeline's face, while the other remained on her neck. Giving a sharp, hard twist till her neck snapped. She froze and went still.

With a little more clarity, he turned to Lestat.

"I want you," he said. "To tell me why the fuck you brought another vampire into my town!"

"I was going to tell you," Lestat said, walking closer.

Louis stepped back over Madeline's body, keeping it between the two of them. It was a feeble attempt at protection but anything between them would always be welcome. Even if it was the body of a girl who'd just attacked Louis.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"She's my ward."

"How old is she?" Louis asked, pointing at her. "Twenty? Twenty-five."

"She's well into her thirties," Lestat said flippantly.

"You've doomed this poor, young woman to a lifetime in the dark."

"I didn't have a choice."

"Are you speaking to me about choices?"

"Louis-"

"Please stay where you are," fighting the pain and dizziness.

Lestat stopped moving. "I'm trying to explain."