Spoilers: up to _The Vampire Armand_, I guess
"Broken heart keeps on going to beat but it never stops bleeding." -- X Japan
Lackluster by Lyntek
He has been almost as withdrawn as Lestat when the latter had situated himself in the chapel in St. Elizabeth's. I have known him for only quite a while, true, but I doubt if his current condition could be called "normal" under any circumstance.
He goes out only to feed, and even that lasts a mere five minutes, then he is back again without a glance or a soft word to anyone. He will not speak unless he was spoken to, and the response would usually be monosyllabic.
I find myself thinking of him more often.
It is dangerous to think too much of Louis. One sees more beauty with each passing glance, with every word spoken and remembered.
How many have fallen under his spell? No, there is no need to count...the very fact that Armand had been completely taken a hundred years ago proves my point. And I can't blame him. Louis reminds me, always, of a piece of emerald. Even now, with his silence and withdrawal, he seems to capture the very essence of that gem.
I have known, through my dealings with rocks and gemstones in my life as a Talamascan, that emeralds seem dull and lifeless without light. I could remember being taken by a small piece as I gazed at it in a brightly lit room, finding it one of the most beautiful rocks I'd ever had the pleasure to encounter. Yet, as I discovered later, it looked nothing special when I turned out the lights, unlike other gems like diamonds and topaz, which seem to have an inner glow, always bathed in a light that makes them show their beauty.
Was this the Louis that Armand had once abandoned? Dead outside, unreachable within, his thoughts, emotions, life, and laughter far away and out of reach? If it was so, then I could sympathize with Armand. Completely. What would it have been like to not only witness such an absence of feeling in him, but to even be the cause of it?
Unbearable, obviously. Armand _did_ leave him, didn't he?
I had been out of the chapel for almost three minutes. I didn't know why I left, I just felt a need to look for my dark brother. Compelled to, actually. As I said, I was very worried for him.
I saw him almost immediately, a few streets away from the chapel. Walking beneath the shadows of buildings, hands in coat pockets, head bowed, his image showing nothing but grief. Still beautiful, but sadly so, having almost none of the human emotions that were half of his beauty on his face and movements.
He paused abruptly, his long coat billowing slightly at the sudden stop, and stared at the wall beside him. I walked sideways to take a better look of what he was looking at. It was an old Vampire Lestat poster, torn at the edges, part of a graffiti marring the bottom half. Lestat's animated smile was still visible despite the poster's unfortunate condition, and it was this that had drawn Louis and had made him stop in the middle of his walk.
I couldn't see Louis' face then, but I didn't have to. He raised his right hand, hesitating for five brief seconds before touching the outline of Lestat's face, starting from the cheek down to the chin, then dropping to return to his side. I couldn't help but wonder, then, if there were tears on his face, or if he gave a soft sigh. He stood there a few seconds longer, seemingly frozen as a statue, then resumed his walk down the lonely street.
I was about to join him when I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye. It was brief—perhaps a mere play of light. When I turned to look, there was no one there. I paused, certain that I had seen something, but when I thought it would not reappear, I saw it again, though this time more clearly.
Another vampire.
A weak one, but still rather remarkable, considering that he had not been destroyed by Akasha, yet his blood was weak. There was strength there, a little telepathic ability, but not flight. What alarmed me was that he was following Louis.
I kept to the shadows, unknowingly mimicking the other's pose, and curiously observed this stranger. He sported a pierced ear, torn jeans, and a sleeveless black shirt that was frayed at the edges. He was probably made that way. His gaze was intense on Louis' walking form, and with a start, I realized he was reading Louis' mind.
A feeling of protectiveness swept over me then—Louis had never been so roughly treated by an elder of our coven, and this young vampire had the gall to do so. Without hesitation, I scanned the vampire's mind, searching for his intentions and motives for following Louis.
I found it quickly. _Weak, pathetic creature,_ were the thoughts I gathered, _Lestat's fledgling._ An intense feeling of malice at the thought, and of power. _I could bring home a little souvenir, after all._ Images of manhandling, imagining shocked, beautiful green eyes, thoughts of drinking sweet blood...
I was suddenly aware that I was emitting a low growl, a rumbling from the back of my throat as these thoughts flooded me, but I ignored it. A vampire from off the streets, uncouth, _trash_ laying hands on Louis, who never intentionally hurt a soul...
Despite my growing anger, I scanned deeper, looking for his powers. Yes, he was more powerful than Louis, but far less powerful than myself, definitely. Without a second thought, I rushed to him, seeming to vanish to mortal eyes, and situated myself between him and Louis' walking form.
His slanted eyes grew wide as he saw me. They narrowed again as he tried to think of who I was and what I could be doing there. I felt rough prying and amateur attempts at reading my mind, which I easily blocked and answered with a strong mental bolt.
I was a bit surprised to see him physically fly a few paces backward, as if suddenly hit by an invisible force. I had never used my powers in such a way before, but I had no reservations from using them then. His eyes were shut tight, his hands clutched at his head, trying to deal with the pain.
I remained standing where I was, waiting for him to regain enough sense to be able to understand and remember what I was about to say. When the pain became bearable enough, he opened his eyes and glared at me from the pavement, sending thoughts of threats and an image of a very pissed-off maker to his future rescue.
I watched him grow warier as I sneered at these thoughts. Every second I spent with him proved my earlier deduction, and strengthened my resolve to not let this vampire survive the night with his intentions of pursuing Louis.
"Go back to your maker," I said calmly. He shrank back at my words. "If you so much as think of harming Louis again, I will hunt you down and destroy you."
His eyes grew wide in shock and fear. To prove my point, I sent mental images of fire and headless corpses into his wretched brain, bombarding him even as he tried to block them from me. Grimacing in pain, he stood and vanished back into the night, leaving only a silent mental cry to me, "will not harm."
I sighed, then rubbed my forehead to ease the sudden pain there. The hot pressure behind my eyes told me that I was a few moments shy of setting something on fire, and I was sure that if that young vampire had been here a few seconds longer, he would have been running for the river.
I turned my attention back to Louis, who had turned a bend and was probably already a few blocks away. I hurried, searching for him. I found him still walking with his hands in his coat pockets, eyes on the pavement, as if he had never paused a few minutes ago.
Breathing a quiet sight of relief, I silently joined him. As I slowed my pace to match with his, I saw that he didn't seem to have noticed that I was there, and I wondered if he was still thinking of the poster that he had left behind.
"Louis," I said, drawing his attention.
He looked at me slowly, as if drawn out of a quiet reverie. Recognition was in those green eyes, and a small welcome look. I absorbed both, feeling somehow rewarded for the little incident a few minutes ago.
"Mind if I walk with you back to the chapel?" I asked quietly.
He shook his head, and we both lapsed into silence as we made our way to St. Elizabeth's. He looked cold—he had gone out, true, but I don't think he fed. Was he about to before I met up with that vampire? Or, more likely, was he about to before he saw the poster? He was paler than usual, and his breath was misting. I was glad, at least, for the coat he bothered to wear.
"Are you alright?" I asked automatically, the question out of my mouth before I could think.
He looked up slightly as I spoke, but no expression settled on his face. His gaze was distant, and I have a feeling he had not heard me at all. But then the head bowed slightly again and his gaze settled back on the pavement in front of us. "Do I look alright?" he asked quietly.
I hesitated, not knowing how to answer. No, he definitely did not look alright, but do you really say such a thing? Hesitation led to silence, and if I spoke then, it would have been awkward.
Louis didn't seem to have noticed. He gave a soft sigh, barely audible, and I heard him whisper, "I don't feel alright. I'm not sure if I am."
The chapel loomed in front of us. I chose not to say anything further, he seemed even more distracted than usual.
Something caught my eye—there were several figures surrounding the doorway, and, to my utter surprise, were gaining entrance. Vampires. Most were in groups of three's or four's, and were speaking with each other in hushed voices. They all seemed vampirically young. Some even looked mortal—as if they had just been made recently. They had not seen us yet. I kept my pace slow, not wishing to cause a commotion, and tentatively sent a mental inquiry within the chapel, aiming it toward Marius and Maharet.
Louis saw the other vampires a while after I did, and his reaction was far more uncontrolled than mine. His eyes grew wide in disbelief, and soon, in anger. His pace grew faster, each step increasing his fury, and I could not help but fall back at his sudden shift of mood. I had never before seen him like this. His hair flew away from his face, his eyes were flashing dangerously. His mouth was set in a stubborn frown, bordering on a disdainful sneer. The moment reminded me, for some reason, of walls on fire, the swing of a scythe, and several vampiric screams piercing the night.
The rogue vampires at the door had sensed him, and had parted instinctively when they saw Louis before he could even reach them. I followed close behind, afraid of what he might do, for him or of him, I was not sure.
We entered the chapel, and were soon among the other members of our coven. To my dismay, the nameless vampires were being let in intentionally, watched over closely by Maharet and Khayman. Louis saw this as he entered, and he immediately set himself in the middle of the room, staring incredulously at the oldest ones of the coven.
"What is this?!" he shouted in anger, breaking the few murmurs with his voice, soft though it was, filled as it was with unleashed anger.
Such fury. I believe I was not the only one who was taken aback by the sudden, intense rage that emanated from his mind and presence. Jesse had instinctively stepped back, her eyes wide. Maharet and Marius went forward on impulse, quickly protective, set on calming him down and explaining the situation. The others watched warily, looking at each other in wonder and at Louis in quiet amazement. There was a slight tinge of panic in the air, a tension brought about by his sudden fury.
Marius looked at me briefly, and sent me a mental summary of what had happened. I nodded slightly, and Marius turned his attention back to Louis.
Within the few minutes that Louis and I had been out, several of the weaker vampires, like the one I had encountered earlier, had incidentally chosen that moment and approached the chapel and kept circling it, crying out for entry. The noise was bound to have alerted humans to the chapel, and to avoid it, a consensus was gathered that they all be let in, so as to know what they wanted.
There had also been a slight anxiety about making the decision without the two of us, Lestat's fledglings, especially Louis, who had been the most dedicated. Only Gabrielle had been there, and she was among those who opted to wait for us to return. But the moment was swift, and there was an impending need to keep humans out of the picture, so the decision was made.
It seems either Maharet or Marius had explained everything to Louis, for he stood quietly, looking perplexed. He didn't like it one bit, it was fairly obvious. Now he was angry as well as sad, far be it for him to feel anything more positive. He was silent again, quietly seething, and he quickly walked toward his corner of the room. Marius and Maharet let him go, then conversed in a low tone, casting brief glances at the other gathered vampires.
I walked over to Khayman, intending to ask of the weaker vampires' purpose. He seemed concerned, even distracted, but when I approached, he indulged me. In the middle of our conversation, however, I saw him glance past me and his expression darkened considerably. He made a barely audible growl, and I turned to look at what had made him so angry.
Louis' path had been blocked intentionally by one of the other vampires. They were now glaring at each other. I realized with a silent panic that here was another vampire stronger than Louis, and if he chose to attack, Louis would not be able to hold him off. Louis didn't seem to be backing down, however, and his demeanor grew more angry with each passing second.
Their mental conversation had of course been initiated by the other vampire. Just as I was about to eavesdrop, the vampire grimaced, showing his fangs, and Louis allowed himself a contemptuous sneer.
I was nearest to the two of them, and even as I heard Maharet's mental request, I wasted no time and walked nearer, sending quiet warning signals to the other vampire. The two continued to glare at each other, unwilling to break the tension. I stood beside Louis, intentionally looking first at Louis, then at the nameless vampire.
"Is there a problem here?" I asked. My voice seemed to echo within the sudden silence in the room, and it sounded more threatening than I had initially intended.