Luminary [Interview with the Vampire]

Another one like you

"Explain from over there."

Louis ought to stop antagonizing Lestat. He knew this. And yet, he couldn't help it. A part of him wanted to see how much he could get away with before Lestat snapped. But the other part of him took comfort from being away from Lestat, being out of his reach. The fact that Lestat let him speak this way was so far removed from reality that Louis felt like he was dreaming.

"I left to find a suitable place to rest," Lestat explained. "We needed some time apart from each other."

He'd made that decision without informing Louis. Lestat had left him, unfettered, confused, and lost. He'd scoured the entirety of Lestat's estate and every inch of Lumiere Noire, looking for Lestat. If he'd known any other acquaintances that Lestat had, Louis would have gone in search of them. Unable to travel in his condition, Louis had sent people to Lestat's other properties in Louisiana and Mississippi. Even his most obscure residence in Arkansas and Texas that he hadn't visited in decades. Just because he wanted to see a man who'd walked away from him.

Yet here he was talking about "some time apart" like they'd agreed to it.

"I wanted to give you a couple of decades to live your life however you want."

Lestat paused, looking at Louis like he was expecting a reaction.

"I'm sorry," Louis said. "Do you expect a round of applause?"

"I was trying to do what's best for you."

"And yet here you are, only four years later." Louis touched his neck and winced.

"Let me heal you."

"I'd say I'm owed sixteen more years," Louis said, ignoring Lestat's offer.

Lestat lowered his head, sneering.

"You've grown bold in my absence."

"If you want me quiet, tell me to shut the fuck and I will."

As soon as he said it, Louis regretted it, realizing that Lestat might just do that. He used to do it all the time. He'd pretend that he wanted to have a conversation, then command Louis to bend to his will. Which was fine. Louis used to be okay with it. But it had been a while and Louis had grown to love his free will.

"I need your help," Lestat says.

An uncomfortable coil in Louis' stomach began to grow.

"Madeline and a few friends stumbled upon me while I slumbered."

"So you turned all of them?" Louis asked. "That's why you're here? You're looking for a blood bag to feed your nest of brand-new, bloodsuckers."

"Don't be nasty."

"I CAN'T FEED THEM!" Louis screamed. "I'm not human, Lestat. I can't just tap a vein for any vampire and survive. You and I are-"

"I don't want you to feed them."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Lestat rubbed his hand over his face, pacing between the trees. Critters and night crawlers were waking, hissing through the bushes, creaking in the dark, as if eager to join Lestat's and Louis's conversation.

"I know fairies are rare to come by these days, but you're not the only fairy in Lumiere Noire."

Louis could not believe the audacity of Lestat to make such a request.

"You cannot be serious," he said as he crossed over Madeline's body, his anger winning over his fear.

"Calm down. Listen to me."

"You want to bind the fairies to your new vampires. For life."

"It will make them immune to their bound vampire's venom."

"It will also take away their free will."

"You've been bound to me for a hundred and sixty years. Look at you. Healthy and strong as ever."

"That's not the point."

"Exactly, Louis," Lestat said, meeting him, looking into his eyes like he was excited that Louis had approached her. "The point should be that I am asking."

"As what? A command?"

Louis was operating on limited eyesight. He wasn't a vampire so he didn't share Lestat's ability to see in the dark. But he'd known Lestat so long that when Lestat's breath hitched and he minimally moved away from Louis, Louis knew Lestat was backing down. A rare occurrence, but one Louis had been opportune to witness.

"The fairies in Lumiere Noire are barely at the beginning of their lives."

"I could make their lives longer."

"At the cost of being vampires' slaves?"

"You seem to be doing just fine."

"I'm doing fine because you've been gone for four years."

"Mind how you speak, Louis."

Louis opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't. Not really. It was such a simple command, but Louis felt it in his core.

"I am... responsible... for every fairy in this town."

Even as he spoke, the command was messing with his head, causing him to bow. And Louis hated it. Hated the bond. Hated Lestat.

"Ask them if they are interested," Lestat said.

"How will that look?" Louis asked, resisting Lestat's command. "Oh, I know I'm supposed to protect you but I'd like you to surrender your futures and your bodies to be mutilated and drained because Lestat couldn't control his thirst for blood."

Lestat slapped Louis.

Louis staggered back. He couldn't speak anymore. Lestat didn't need to tell him to shut up. He could feel the command, keeping him from moving his lips or uttering another word.

Standing there, tears fell from Louis's eyes. Angry and powerless.

Lestat held him by the collar, forcing their eyes together as Lestat bit into his own hand.

Louis shook his head and tried to pull away, but Lestat held him by the neck, pressing his bleeding wrist into Louis's mouth as Louis succumbed and knelt before him. He didn't want to. He really didn't. But Lestat's blood was as much an intoxicant to Louis as Louis's blood was to Lestat. Unwanted benefits of a bond that he thought he could resist. Clutching at Lestat's hand, he drank till his eyes cleared and the dizziness receded.

When Lestat took his wrist away, Louis was ashamed that he reached forward.

"Please," he begged, before catching himself and pulling back, while Lestat stood.

"I'm back now, Louis," Lestat said, towering over Louis. Asserting himself as Louis's superior in the worst possible way. "I meant it when I said I wanted to give you space." He straightened his shirt. "But you will not deny me again. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Louis whispered.

Moving behind him, Lestat knelt and picked Madeline from the floor. He put her over his shoulder as he got up and walked away, leaving Louis in a spiral into renewed chaos, as he fought with himself, hating himself for the weakness that he knew had returned.