Louis and David

Chapter Four

They wandered about the mall for perhaps two hours more. David opened gates and locks, then deftly closed them again once they had finished. Louis bought a few books and CDs, always leaving the correct amount near the cash registers, or the safe, having seemingly brought an ungodly supply of cash with him.

"Isn't it going to cause some stir when so many different stores report finding piles of money about?" David asked him.

"It may," Louis answered. "It is easier to purchase things when the shops are actually open. But many of them will not communicate with each other about what has occurred. There is no such camaraderie existent in these malls as there used to be among shopkeepers in marketplaces. But even if they should, it will be nothing but an unusual mystery. They will not wish to publicize that someone was able to access this establishment, and so many shops within it, without breaking any locks, nor setting off any alarms. Not only is it bad for their business, it would probably destroy the reputation of the hotel. People do not wish to sleep where they feel they are not safe. No real crime has been committed, so they will let it slip through their bookkeeping and hope it doesn't happen again. Don't worry, David."

David was regarding him with awe. "You have great insight into the modern human mind, Louis."

"The human mind, and human motives, have remained a constant, in my experience."

"Really? In my own lifetime, I feel that I have seen a marked decrease in honor, loyalty and courage, coupled with a distressing increase in greed, violence and deception."

"Non, David. The balance in fact remains the same, it is only that is had begun to be expressed in ways which more and more affected your life, your station, and the level of security which you thought you possessed, simply in being who you were," Louis said.

"How do you mean?"

"Allow me to draw a broad comparison. When you were in your twenties, this is the 1930's, yes?" Louis asked.

David nodded.

"At this time your world was, in fact, quite safe. You were among the British upper class. You could certainly leave your house and automobile unlocked and walk anywhere you pleased unmolested. But at the same time, these areas in which you lived were quite unsafe for members of the British lower classes. They would be spotted immediately and interrogated as to their purpose in such an area. It could be quite dangerous. You, of course, were able to travel and stay as you wished. But unspeakable things were happening in places where you did not wish to go."

"Yes, of course I understand that privilege affords a greater amount of safety. But these places you mention are still dens of violence and crime, and it has now crept into the places which formerly were safe. So indeed it is growing," David said.

"I see that it is only in the way it is expressed. You see the danger has been reduced for those in the lower classes going into upper class areas. They are no longer allowed to be accosted simply for being in the inappropriate area. Their freedom of movement has increased. Though it is true that crime seems to have spread, it is because you are losing benefits, and do not see the benefits gained by others. There is not a direct correlation, in that, say, in this area, we could go without locks, but now we must be more secure, but in this area where it was not safe, it now is. It is much different, gaining one freedom for the loss of another. Of course there has always been jealousy and hate and the bitter results of these, but it is not increasing, if you look at the mortal world as a whole."

"I disagree Louis. I feel that, even as whole, things have worsened. One cannot count upon mercies of simple human decency any longer. Mortals are raping, pillaging and killing each other with little or no provocation now. The acquisition of material gain has far surpassed the concern for the well-being of one's brothers. Fathers do not take care of their children. Children do not care for their elderly parents. There is no patriotism, and I do not mean propaganda, I mean true belief in the ideals of one's country. There is no community. People fear to offer help in a situation, in case that it may be a trap. They could be attacked, or sued, or suffer any other such terrible outcome from this basic human kindness of helping someone in trouble. There is no trust in the world, Louis. There has been a slow elimination of the principle of respect for others. For their property, for their livelihood, for their right to justice. If tragedy befalls a person, it is generally considered to be his fault. Something he shouldn't have done, but did. Something he should have done, but didn't. The responsibility has been taken off of the perpetrator and put on to the victim. It results in this isolationist society that has no compassion for it's members."

"David, I do see that, but it has always been so. Is it more evil for one man to send thousands of others into war, or for one man to rape one child? Is it more evil for one man to be killed in a duel over a matter of honor, or for that man to run from the duel, therefore decreasing the sum total of honorable men in the world? Which is the greater good, to participate in an unfair social and economic situation, so that one may provide safety and shelter for one's family as is one's duty, or to give all of one's money to charity, for those in less fortunate situations, and in doing so, reduce the resources of one's family? Good and evil are at war David, always have been, but it is never possible to determine which side has won a particular battle. What is good for one is bad for the other and vice versa. Don't you see? This is the riddle of the universe. Why are we called to do good when our survival depends upon evil?"

"But Louis, our survival does not depend upon evil! Certainly not. There is a universal good. There is a family of man, and human beings can discover it and live within it and make it work. Do you not see? If there is enough food in the world, then why can it not be distributed evenly? Out of concern for one's fellow man? This is my point. This is the goal that humanity is slipping away from."

"David, that goal will never be reached. But humanity is no farther from it now than they ever have been. I am not saying that it is not possible to feed the world. Of course it is. But to do so , one will have to give up some power, thereby making those closest to him vulnerable. Who will give the food? Who will distribute it? Will this power do it without expecting some return from the people it feeds? Will it enslave them in debt? Will those who have their needs met take their new strength and use it to rise against others? Yes, I believe that the human world can find peace and security. I believe completely in their ability to do so. However, in order to achieve this, they must recognize and accept the evil that is caused by every action."

"So you believe that evil cannot be eradicated?" David asked.

"No it cannot. It cannot even be identified. Nothing can be eliminated because there is always some good that will be eliminated with it, therefore causing more evil. Nothing is truly evil, that is the frustration of it."

"Not even vampires?" David looked at Louis steadily.

Louis sighed. "Non, David, not even vampires. Even vampires can love. Lestat's survival in the sun, is it good or evil? Perhaps evil for the mortals he has fed upon since then, but a great good for me, for my own survival. And for Armand, and Gabrielle, and Marius, and everyone else who loves him, who would have been sent into despair. Was it for you good or evil?"

"Good," David responded immediately.

"Yes. I thought so. But you see, Lestat's evil was in not taking responsibility for that, for whom he would hurt, for the evil he would cause. It is a common mortal mistake as well. Was it evil for me to refuse to make him inhuman once he had achieved humanity?" Louis asked.

"Ah, but that is only for you to answer. Was it?" David questioned.

"It was evil for me. If I had lost him to mortality, I do not know what would have happened to me. I do not know what effect it would have had upon the others. But, I felt it was good for Lestat. I wanted Lestat to have everything he had missed. To have human love, human children, human maturity and finally a release of his human soul," Louis explained passionately.

"But he did not want that. It was an evil to him," David said.

Louis nodded.

"And if the reverse had been true? If it had been you in the human body and Lestat still the vampire? Would that have been good?" David asked.

Louis smiled. " No. It would not. Lestat would have taken me again without hesitation. And I would be in the same situation still. But I would never have even tried to be human again. I know that it is not what I want. But I also know that, were it to happen, I would not willingly become a killer again."

"Louis, why have you never sought a release for your own soul? You know the methods. I do not say that I would encourage it, I do not, but I wonder why you continue, feeling this way?" David inquired gently, curiously.

"David, it would not be responsible. That is the answer. In the beginning, I wanted to find out the reason for beings such as ourselves. Then I had Claudia to take care of. After that, I did not want to leave Armand, as he was being so patient with me, and so kind. When he left, I was without much feeling. I did not have the passion in me to commit suicide. I was too apathetic to act. Soon, Lestat resurfaced, and I needed to contact him, then Akasha, then the body thief, and now you. I have to be honest with myself, whether I completely comprehend it or not, I have to acknowledge that Lestat needs to know that I am existing somewhere, in order to pursue his own paths. Whether I approve of those paths or not, I cannot hurt him. I have a responsibility to him. I owe him for giving this to me. I am in debt to him for giving me Claudia. He deserves my gratitude and my concern for him in that he has never exacted retribution on me for the things I have done to him. I am honor bound to him, and any of the others, to not cause them this loss or this pain. I do own property and companies. I have mortal employees, they are my responsibility. I try not to interact very much with the mortal world, but there are a few unavoidable instances. It would be cowardly and dishonorable for me to go into the sun, only because I feel I have had enough. I was looking to do it to my mother and my sister, but I was young and I was wrong. And I do not intend my own guilt to again hurt those that I love. I cannot say that what I do is right, but I will not deprive Lestat of the one witness he has to those sixty-five years and everything that happened. He doesn't always admit it, but that little coven has such a force in him, such a strong and unfading memory, a triumph for him, he feels. Why else would he feel so close to New Orleans, to regard it as his home? Why restore the town house as he has? I cannot take any of it away from him, not even myself."

"You love him, Louis. It is the strength of love that keeps you here." David put his hand on Louis' shoulder.

"It is," Louis admitted. "And you feel it as well."

David lowered his eyes from Louis's for a moment. "Yes."

They stood for a long while, each lost in his own thoughts, watching the fountains and the patterns the moonlight made in the atrium.

Silently, Louis began walking to the doors, and David followed. As they reached the doors, David opened them and the two walked out into the New Orleans night, carrying their bags and their burdens home.


By the time they turned onto the Rue Royale, their mood had changed somewhat and they were chatting, amiably. Louis unlocked the door out of habit, knowing of course that David could have done the same without a key. Louis showed David to the guest room, but David noticed he was not referring to it that way.

"Let me show you your room," Louis had said. And when they had entered it, "There should be plenty of room in your closet. If not, your dresser is empty, so you could store some things there as well."

"Thank you," David had said. He wanted to say so much more. He wanted to express his joy and his gratitude at being accepted so completely and so immediately into Louis's life. He wanted to explain that he knew how difficult all of this must certainly be for Louis. He wanted to show how deeply touched he was by Louis's effort in masking any jealousy or pain or confusion he must have felt, all in order to make him welcome and at ease. He wanted tell Louis of his happiness, and his respect ,and his growing affection for him. But all David could get out was "Thank you."

Louis had smiled pleasantly and then went to his own room to store his new books.


David removed his new clothes from the bags. He removed the tags and various pins and stickers and put everything away in an orderly manner. As he was pulling the small box of cufflinks from his pocket, his hand had struck something else. Cool, smooth, oval in shape. He knew what it was. He had retrieved it because he knew that sooner or later, Lestat would regret throwing it into the surf. 'But how much greater will Louis's happiness be at seeing it?' David mused. 'I will give it over to him instead. He will cherish it. It belongs with him. And it is something which I can give him that may convey my thankfulness for all he has done for me. Yes, I will give it to Louis.'

David found Louis putting the CDs away in the front parlour. David approached him.

"Louis?"

Louis turned around. "Yes David?"

"Louis, I have something for you. Something that I want very much to give you." David took Louis's hand and opened his over it, dropping his gift onto Louis's palm.

"Merci," Louis said, automatically. Then he brought his hand to his chest and looked. A gold chain, a locket, so familiar. 'Non, it isn't,' Louis thought. 'It won't be, stop thinking that it could.' Louis took the locket in his fingers and pressed the small latch. She looked at him.

Louis gasped. Tears came to his eyes, his hand shook. He closed his eyes and opened them again. It was still there. It was real.

"Doll," Louis whispered. Then he smiled at the small porcelain portrait of Claudia, his daughter, his lover. "Doll, Doll."

Louis looked up at David. "Where has this come from? The Talamasca?"

"Yes, we have had it locked away in a vault for some time. I thought it would give you more pleasure here." David smiled at him.

Louis nodded, looking back at Claudia. Her innocent blue eyes, her pink perfect mouth, her golden curls. He found he had sunk down into the chair at his desk. "David, this is quite astonishing. I had thought this was gone, ruined or destroyed. I cannot tell you what it means to see it again." Louis set the locket against his inkwell, opened, and sat back in his chair and regarded it with wonder. "It looks just as she did, just as it did, rather." Louis stood and took David's hands between his own. "Thank you, David. I cannot thank you enough."

It warmed David's heart to see the locket received this way. "The pleasure is mine, Louis."

They smiled at each other and the moment stretched. The feeling was palpable. It occurred to each that the other might embrace him, but neither did. Louis broke eye contact and gave David's hand a soft squeeze and released him.

"I am afraid I must bid you good day now. I am going to my room," Louis said.

"I'll come with you. I think I feel a bit tired, myself," David answered.

As Louis left the room he looked back at the locket on the desk. He ran his fingers through his loose, dark hair and shook his head, as if he could not quite fathom it being there. David knew he had done the right thing.


The next night Louis awoke to find a note telling him that David had left to hunt and would be back shortly. Louis took this time to bathe, listen to one of the new CDs and contemplate his present state of affairs.

It was quite obvious that David had irrevocably become part of the dynamic between himself and Lestat. If Lestat returned, would he wish to keep them together here? Form a new coven of sorts? If not, what would he do? Would Lestat leave the house to himself and David? Not after he had put so much effort into restoring it. Perhaps he, himself, should leave and allow Lestat to locate him if he wished, once he returned. But does David still need his help? He would miss David's company, but there are things between David and Lestat that will have to be worked out, and that might best be done if the two of them were alone. The issue of his forgiveness from Lestat, or his relationship to Lestat or whatever it was now, would be of secondary importance in Lestat's mind until he had resolved any guilt he had over David. Will Lestat see it as abandonment if he left before Lestat's return? Lestat may not be planning to let him know if he was forgiven or not. Ever. So there is no need to wait for a confrontation which most probably will not come.

'This is my home. I owned it before Lestat. I have lived in it as long as he, and if he wishes that I buy it back from him, I shall, but I am not leaving,' Louis decided. 'If he wants me out, he will throw me out. If he wants David out, I will not allow it. If he wants us both out, then there is nothing I can do. But I will not second guess him. I will wait for him to tell me what he wants. Besides, I admit, I cannot wait to see his face when he sees David here. It may be childish, but I cannot pass it up.'

Louis finished bathing and let the water out of the tub. He stood drying himself in the ridiculously large bathroom Lestat had insisted upon decorating with black marble and silver fixtures. It was entirely too extravagant for a room that was hardly even necessary. All of the porcelain was black. The tile was black enamel with emerald green borders. The towels, all green, had been monogrammed with LdPdL in silver or black. Louis nearly had a fit of nausea when he saw them.


~~~~ "Lestat! This is the product of unbridled narcissism! What is the point of it? No one will ever see this room! What are you thinking?" Louis had demanded impatiently.
Lestat had laughed and laughed and finally kissed his mouth. "But Louis, look at it! It is SO . . . .YOU!!!"~~~~


Louis dried his hair with one of the silly towels. He regarded himself in the mirror. He thought of cutting his hair. He was just opening a drawer to find the scissors when he heard David at the door.

"Louis! Lestat is in New Orleans! He is going to collect his dog, he'll be here shortly!" David yelled to him. Before he could answer he heard David's door close.

'The black velvet suit,' Louis thought, and smiled to himself.


David was dressed and in the parlor in less than five minutes. Louis joined him not ten minutes later, wearing a dark grey, tailored, Armani suit, a black collarless shirt, and a vest of deep forest green velvet embroidered with silver thread in a fleur de lis pattern. He had donned black leather shoes, shiny and modern, with laces. He walked up to David, looked down at himself and shrugged, as if to say, 'Well, this is it.'

"Dazzling!" David commented.

Louis looked down again and laughed, when he raised his face, David could see he'd been blushing.

David, of course, was wearing the black velvet suit.

David looked off into space. "He has left with the dog."

"How do you know?" Louis asked.

"I can see it in the mind of the woman who keeps the dog. He must be very close."

Louis could see the sparkle in David's eyes. He was quite excited. Whatever it was he thought would happen when Lestat arrived, he seemed sure he would enjoy it. Louis wished he could feel so sure about it. They heard Lestat and the dog mount the back stairs. They looked at each other simultaneously, nodded a mutual understanding, and then David went back to his room so quickly that he seemed to disappear. Louis heard Lestat and the dog enter the back parlour. He walked to the doorway and waited.


Lestat entered the hall, Mojo following him. He saw Louis.

'What fresh hell will Louis put me through when he learns of David?' Lestat thought. 'If I truly deserve nothing but misery, then who better to dish it out to me? But, I need not be concerned with that now. Let me look at my home, my beautiful home. So perfect, it seems to have come right through time to me, as if I had only left it for a night, rather than a century. Look at the wallpaper, the carpet, every detail so perfect. Right down to my gorgeous fledgling standing in the doorway.'

The sight of Lestat sent a shock of feeling through Louis. It was strong, but it was a pleasant pain. This had happened before. He remembered the first time it had happened, when he saw Lestat for the first time, after Lestat had drunk from him. Then, Louis had thought the shock was a result of the blood loss. Every time thereafter he had thought it was some reaction caused by Lestat having made him, that Lestat could somehow cause this overwhelming feeling in him by a power that he had not revealed. It was not until he had felt it upon meeting with Lestat in Carmel Valley that he realized it was generated by his own emotions, his own deep and utterly consuming love for Lestat. It came from the depths of his soul. Lestat saw him, looked him in the eye and began walking toward him. Louis thought Lestat might greet him, but instead he heard -

"Don't ask me where I've been or what I've done." Lestat said it in his most commanding voice. He walked past Louis, moving him aside easily without missing a step, and looked around the front parlour.

Louis knew that tone meant, 'You'd best obey me, I am in a terrible mood.' So, of course, Louis answered, "I know where you've been, and I know what you've done."

Suddenly David appeared at Louis's side, he gave him a small grin. It was just what David would have said.

"Oh?" Lestat asked, his back still to them. "And what's to follow? Some stultifying and endless lecture? Tell me now so I can go to sleep."

David was watching Louis. Louis did not allow any expression to cross his face in acknowledgment of this insult. David folded his arms and leaned against the door frame and copied him. This is what Lestat saw as he turned to face Louis: both of them, standing there, looking at him blankly.

Lestat was taken aback. He stared at them, from one to the other. He studied their faces, their clothes. He looked slightly up to David, and then slightly down to Louis. He looked hard at Louis's suit. He blinked twice. He was quite obviously speechless.

'David here? Here with Louis? David and Louis, together? In my house? What? My god, they're beautiful. My lovers, my darlings, my difficult and rebellious sons, so they have joined forces in their disapproval, have they? How unexpected, how unimaginable, and how miraculous. How did this happen? Who has been telling tales to whom? I cannot believe Louis is wearing this suit! Stunning, beautiful one, you have surprised me again. Is it David's influence? How did David find him? This isn't the color of draperies I ordered at all! But look at them, standing there together. They seem like brothers. They seem to share some inner family resemblance. What is it with me and dark-haired men?' The thoughts tumbled through Lestat's head in a confused stream.

Though he showed no sign, Louis was enjoying this little moment immensely. He was trying to fix in his mind each flabbergasted expression Lestat showed, so that he would always remember it. He hadn't seen anything like this since they were running out of the Cow Palace and people started exploding. He was unlikely to see it again in the near future, so he was mentally storing it away now, to be cherished again and again.

Finally David said, "The carnival starts tomorrow in Rio. I thought we might go." David had said it evenly and pleasantly, but Lestat was obviously suspicious.

Louis could see that, as he had thought, these issues between David and Lestat would have to be settled before either could think of anything else. He realized that his presence was not only not required, but most likely not wanted. Without a word, he turned and walked to his room.

Lestat watched him go, listening to the sound of Louis's walking. It seemed to be a melody from long ago. He knew the pattern of those steps and the noise they made in tandem with the wooden floorboards. He knew how many steps there would be, and in what rhythm they would fall. He knew that after seven steps he would hear the turning of the doorknob, then another step, and the closing of the door. It was exact. It was perfect. It was an echo from the past, restored to him along with the silver damask couch and the little spinet. It made Lestat's head spin, it made the years seem to disappear and then return full force as he looked to David. He sat down and called Mojo to him. The feel of Mojo's fur under his hands, and the soft pressure of Mojo leaning against him, somehow grounded him. It stilled the nostalgia so that he could think.

Louis and David - Chapter Five

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