The Feast

Chapter 16

"Hey, where did Lestat go?" I asked as I slowly walked down the stairs. The others looked at me and back at each other. They had no idea where he was.

"We thought he was just in his room with you. We had no idea he left," Armand said and walked up to me.

"I can go out and look for him," Louis said and disappeared with the blink of an eye. Marius nodded and he, Pandora and Armand disappeared too. Everyone was out searching for Lestat, while Evelien and I stayed.

"I think it's over, Evelien," I said and sat down next to her. She looked at me and shook her head. She moved the hair out of my face and grabbed my hand.

"There is no way Lestat would give up on you, not now." I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. I felt tears cloud my eyes and I blinked them away.

"How would you feel if you learned that you were lied to the whole time you knew someone? How would it feel?"

"I would realize you were just trying to protect me." I nodded my head and I sat back on the couch.

"And how do you think Lestat would see it?" Evelien was silent and I nodded my head, knowing the answer.

"He would probably see it... very differently."

"Yeah."

Lestat walked into the studio, looking around in confusion. The place had been fully cleaned, unlike how it was the day before. He slowly stepped in and saw Hazel standing there. She smiled at him and looked around before looking back at him.

"Jog any memories yet?" He stared at her with anger and boredom of some sort.

"No, why would it? Have I been here before?" Hazel laughed and nodded her head. She walked up to the glass case that was in the studio and pulled something out of it. She walked over to Lestat and handed it to him.

"Look familiar, Prince?" Lestat looked at the book, staring in confusion. Why was it there of all places.

"Yeah, it's the original copy of... The Vampire Lestat, why is it here?" Hazel laughed and walked over to the case again and put a recorder into Lestat's hands.

"That's the original recording of Interview with the Vampire too. You must be so confused, I'll try to give you a hint." Hazel walked over to a closet and opened it, revealing a room full of paintings. Lestat slowly walked up to the closet and looked in. He picked up the paintings and looked at them. He could recognize the work anywhere without even looking at Emma's signature in the bottom corner. They were all paintings of Lestat. Hazel walked over to the wall and grabbed the ownership paper and handed it to Lestat.

"What... what are you trying to say?"

"This is Emma's studio and those are Emma's paintings. You gave Emma the original copy of your book back in 2002. You knew each other." Lestat stared at Hazel with confusion and suddenly... something was coming back to him.

"I couldn't find Lestat," Louis said and sat back down with me and Evelien. I sighed and nodded my head.

"Maybe he is just feeding somewhere." Louis grabbed my hand and held it. I knew it was over but I tried to hold onto some semblance of hope... for everyone else's sake.

"We couldn't find him," Marius said and they all sat back down. I nodded my head and decided to... do something that might have been a very bad idea.

"I can find out where he is. You guys just... need to be silent for me, please. It helps me concentrate." They nodded and so I sat on the floor. I crossed my legs and I heard Evelien come up behind me.

"You shouldn't do this. You haven't done this in God knows how long." I looked up at Evelien and I stared at her as she stared down at me.

"Did I ask you to question my actions, or did I ask you to please be quiet?" She was about to say something but decided against it and just sat back down. I sat there and I closed my eyes, relaxing my body as I tried to escape from reality to my mind. After a few minutes of relaxed breathing and complete silence I slipped away and to Enkil.