(http://digitalmidnight.simplenet.com/archive/sosindex.html) by Lady Black Death, © 1995 [EMAIL PROTECTED] PC POLICE STANDARD WARNING: this spec contains language some may find offensive as well as spoilers to most if not all the Vampire Chronicles. OFFICIAL STATEMENT: This is a non-profit, amateur effort and does not intend to infringe upon the rights of Random House/Knopf, Lestat de Lioncourt, Howard O'Brian or any other copyright holders which I may be unaware of. LdL "Why are you doing this?" DM "I don't know. Habit maybe. It's interesting." LdL "Trying to steal a little of Lestat's thunder?" DM "His thunder? He stole the idea from me! Little bastard even stole my pen name!" LdL "What do you expect from the Brat Prince?" DM "Whoever gave him that nickname ought to be shot. It gives him something to live up to, you know." LdL "Hum. It was either Marius or Armand." DM "Marius I think." LdL "Yeah. Well, what do you want to know?" DM "Ok. Let's start with your name." LdL "Laura de Lioncourt." DM "You're really going by his name now?" LdL "Um hum." DM "Why is that?" LdL "Well, thinking about it now, it wasn't really the best choice I could have made. But it means a lot to Lestat, believe it or not." DM "What's wrong with your own name?" LdL "Laura _is_ my own name." DM "I mean your last name." LdL "Bad memories." DM "From before?" LdL "Before I met Lestat. I had another life back then, but it's over now." DM "What was so bad about it?" *silence* DM "Laura, are you Ok?" LdL "Yeah. You know how, as you get older you make the same mistakes you did when you were younger? It's just that as time passes, you can see the mistakes coming. You know what's going to happen next, what the end result will be. It doesn't stop you from making those mistakes, but at least you can sort of chart how bad it's going to be. There's some comfort in that." DM "You're talking in riddles." LdL "I do that." DM "Care to get specific?" LdL "No. Ask me something else." DM "Fine. How do you like being a vampire?" LdL "You should know! You've been one just about as long." DM "I know, but this is your interview. Quit laughing! Jeez, you're such a flirt! I'm serious! Share with posterity." LdL "I _am_ posterity! Oh, alright. Um, Ok, how do I like being a vampire?" DM "That's the question." LdL "The things that are most obvious I enjoy least." DM "What does that mean?" LdL "Oh, like how we look, for example." DM "You're insane. You don't like how you look? You're gorgeous!" LdL "That's just my point. No one really looks like this! I feel like a caricature of myself - like a cartoon. I hate mirrors." DM "Why?" LdL "I never looked like this when I was mortal. My eyes were brown, now they're this weird amber color." DM "Tiger eyes. Let me get this straight - you're unhappy because you're beautiful?" LdL "Not unhappy, just uncomfortable. I can't really explain it. I feel I'm looking at someone pretending to be me, like in a made-for-TV movie. They hired someone who resembled me, caked them with makeup, put them on a diet, did the hair, the nails, and created this... facsimile. While the real me just sort of watches from the sideline. You know what else I miss?" DM "What?" LdL "Getting drunk." DM "Now you're talking!" LdL "There's nothing like that anymore - you know, no caffeine to wake up by, no Nyquil to go to sleep by, no Bacardi to party with." DM "I know what you mean. I miss cigarettes." LdL "Oh, yeah, I can imagine. Must be awful not to have anything to do with your hands!" DM "There's not a pen on the Island I haven't chewed to pieces. Do you miss food?" LdL "Sometimes. My favorite food used to be strawberries. We used to grow them. I mean - well, never mind. Anyway, I'd pick them and they were still warm from the sun. Sheer heaven. But now... Well, there's a good side too. No food to budget for, you know? I never have to worry about what to cook for dinner. Lestat handles all that now." DM "Lestat?" LdL "Yeah. Don't tell him I told you. He's learning how to cook." DM "Why?" LdL "I have no idea. Just for the hell of it, I suppose. He's tried everything from lasagna to Coq a Vin." DM "What does he do with it?" LdL "I'd swear he's trying to eat it! But mostly he just dumps it in the trash." DM "What about kids?" LdL "Kids? No, he doesn't cook kids." DM "Get real. Do you miss kids?" LdL "Never had them." DM "Ever want to?" LdL "That's funny. I never really thought about it until..." DM "Until Lestat?" LdL "Heck no. He'd have no idea what to do with kids. He's having enough trouble with me underfoot! I can only imagine what he was like with Claudia. I was thinking of Louis - he'd make a great father." DM "Except that he's a vampire." LdL "Sad, really. What a waste of a great gene pool." DM "OK. What's surprised you?" LdL "About my new life? Just the little things. The big stuff is a lot easier to take. I hate being cold all the time." DM "Not _all_ the time." LdL "True, but often enough. Waking up, and I'm freezing, that sucks. And forget electric blankets and the like - nothing helps. It's a cold that's totally unshakable until I hunt. I don't like that at all. DM "Anything else?" LdL "Um, I think it's interesting that bath water turns brown - the color of rust almost." DM "Does it? I'm a shower man myself." LdL "It does. And bubble bath..." DM "... turns pink. Yeah, that one I knew about." LdL "You should have seen us in Las Vegas. There was a hot tub in our room, and I bought some bubble bath..." DM "Oh, man!" LdL "You can see this coming, right? Well, anyway, we jumped in and I added some, and immediately the place was just flooded with bubbles - only we hadn't even showered yet, and so the bubbles turned pink from the sweat in the water. I thought Lestat would die laughing. You should have seen him and Louis, covered with nothing but pink bubbles!" DM "Actually, the mental picture is kinda scary. So not everything about being a vampire is bad, then." LdL "Oh, no! I mean, how can you argue with eternal youth?" DM "Right. What else do you like about it?" LdL "Well, I don't have to worry about heath insurance anymore. That's nice. No more contacts to fiddle with. It's kinda cool to wake up and see beyond the blankets, even if I am freezing to death! Um, I can fly..." DM "That's a neat trick. I can't fly." LdL "It's the blood of Akasha. Anyone Lestat creates now will be nearly as strong as he is, though I'm no match for David." DM "He's stronger than you?" LdL "Stronger, faster, jumps higher, the works. But he can't do anything with fire, and I can. That's interesting. He can call animals - so can Lestat. I can't." DM "What about Louis?" LdL "What about him?" DM "How does he compare to you or David?" LdL "He's much prettier." DM "Would you get serious?" LdL "Ok Ok... I don't really know. Louis is... hum. He doesn't like to dwell on his abilities, and doesn't show off. I know he can fly now..." DM "That's new!" LdL "Oh, yeah. You didn't know?" DM "No. What happened? He finally take blood from Lestat?" LdL "No. Me." DM "Ah..." LdL "Don't read anything into that. I mean, it wasn't an act of passion - more of desperation. We needed to get to Lestat in White Sands. The only way was for Louis to fly. So..." DM "He drank from you." LdL "Right." DM "I'll bet Lestat was furious." LdL "I would have thought so too. I know it hurt him, but he didn't say much about it." DM "What else can Louis do now?" LdL "I have no idea. He hides it pretty well." DM "The most human of us all." LdL "And the deadliest. The rest of us go back and forth between the Little Drink and out and out killing, but not Louis. You were far luckier in your first meeting with him than you could have dreamed." DM "Story of my life. Laura?" LdL "Yeah?" DM "How do you cope with killing?" *silence* LdL "There's no way I could have predicted how hard it is. Night after night, deciding who lives and who deserves to die. I thought it would get easier. Instinctive or something. And it is, once I start to drink. But for every so-called criminal Lestat kills, he leaves behind an orphan, or parent, or sibling, or widow... It's maddening, sometimes." DM "That's one thing I don't get about Louis. He's the most human - of us all he's the closest to mortal. And yet I keep hearing about how he's the deadliest killer of all! How can he do it?" LdL "Oh, simple. He's totally convinced we're all damned. And so who he kills simply doesn't matter. His doom is certain - killing becomes a means to an end. He doesn't agonize about it like I do - like Lestat does." DM "Lestat worries about killing?" LdL "You don't really know him, do you?" DM "No. Tell you the truth, he scares the shit out of me." LdL "Oh, that's Ok. Armand scares the shit out of _me_, so we're even. But about Lestat - he worries about it in his own way. He and I have to find a way to justify our kills - she pissed me off, or he's a drug dealer; whatever. Any excuse will do. That way we pretend we're doing society a favor. Don't buy into this "I am pure evil" routine. Lestat searches for salvation like the rest of us. But Louis plays no such games. In that way he's a lot braver than us - and quite a bit more troubled." DM "Wow. You're right. I was lucky." LdL "You've got to be the first mortal to survive crossing his path in decades. Alright, my turn." DM "Your turn for what?" LdL "To ask a question." DM "Oh, no! This is your interview. I ask the questions." LdL "I'm changing the rules." DM "You're becoming more like Lestat every day." LdL "I take that as a compliment." DM "God, you even grin like him. Alright, what?" LdL "What are you getting at?" DM "What do you mean?" LdL "I mean that you suggested this interview for a reason. I don't believe for a moment that it was to find out if Louis can fly of if I like the color of my eyes. So what is it?" DM "Busted." LdL "Yep. Spill it. What's on your mind?" *silence* LdL "Daniel?" DM "The question... I feel sorta guilty." LdL "Why?" DM "Armand gave me all these powers, all these gifts, and it wasn't easy to convince him. I know it wasn't easy for you either. You had to fight Louis, I had to fight Armand - they were both dead set against our creation." LdL "Interesting choice of words." DM "I had to beg Armand for years - nearly had to kill myself before he'd do it..." LdL "I know. Daniel, what's wrong? Talk to me." DM "Do you miss the sun?" LdL "Ah." *silence* LdL "Who's going to hear this?" DM "I don't know. Why?" LdL "Because if Louis is going to hear this, I decline to answer." DM "Think it might upset him?" LdL "It might." DM "Ok, I promise not to play it for Louis." LdL "Do _you_ miss the sun?" DM "Hey, you got your one question." LdL "Oh, come on. We're the only Generation X vampires left. If we can't talk to each other..." DM "I'm not Generation X - I'm a Baby Boomer. So's Jesse." LdL "Good point. Quit stalling - answer the question." DM "Are you going to answer the question?" LdL "Alright. My last trip to San Francisco..." DM "You were in San Francisco?" LdL "Briefly. I went to see Lestat's concert. You were there, right?" DM "Right." LdL "It had been raining the week before the concert - just cats and dogs. But the day of the show was spectacular. The sky was crystal blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds, and sun from horizon to horizon. It was about 70 degrees. We spent the day at Golden Gate Park... DM "We?" LdL "Me and some friends of mine. It's not important. Anyway, we went sunbathing and looking at the flowers. Everything was in bloom! Then we went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner - Pier 39. We had a table by the water, and I watched as the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge. The sea lions played in the bay - sailboats streaked across the surface like miniature rainbows. The mountains across the water shaded into amber, then pink, then violet, and finally indigo. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. I watched it all with the sure knowledge that I'd never see it again. Every moment I committed to memory." DM "You knew even then that you'd be a vampire?" LdL "Not specifically. I... simply knew that I'd never see the sun set over San Francisco Bay ever again. That night we went to the show. I didn't see you or Armand but I saw Jesse and Louis..." DM "Everyone saw Jesse!" LdL "Isn't that the truth? DM "You haven't answered the question." LdL "Do I miss the sun? Gods, yes. I miss it more because I know I can't have it. If I knew I could walk into the sunlight anytime I wanted, I'd be a night owl by choice. But now, because I _have_ no choice..." DM "Would you do it again?" LdL "Become a vampire?" DM "Right." LdL "I don't know. It seemed a good idea at the time..." DM "And now?" LdL "Reality strikes. This is no novel - no work of fiction. I am a killer, and sometimes it eats away at me. It's not my victims, really, but their families... I know they have loved ones who will miss them..." *silence* LdL "I'm Ok just as long as I don't think about it too hard. Now, you tell me. Do you miss the sun?" DM "Yeah, I really do. A lot more than I thought I would. Until I look at Armand." LdL "Right. Nothing can replace that bond - not even sunlight. It's as though Lestat and Louis are a part of my soul." DM "Absolutely. Laura?" LdL "Hum?" DM "Why'd you change your name?" LdL "You really want to know, don't you?" DM "I really do." *silence* LdL "I did it for love." DM "Love? I don't get it." LdL "I can't tell you any more. Not right now." DM "It's got to be hard, keeping something like that bottled up." LdL "Yeah, well, maybe I'll tell you someday. When he's dead." DM "Who?" LdL "The guy the story's about." DM "Same one you went to San Francisco with?" LdL "Yeah." DM "It's a date." LdL "You know what? I'm hungry. In fact, I'm starving. What do you say we hit the town." DM "Ok. Look, I'm sorry if I upset you." LdL "You didn't. Let's eat."
