Belle Vie

Death's Promise

Marius had followed Celeste's trail to New Orleans in the hope Akasha and Enkil may have followed their fledgling. This assumption would prove to be false, somewhat. Yet he continued to search the area in the nights that followed his arrival, deterring his inevitable solitude for as long as possible. Not to mention, he did a fine job at masking his scent from Louis and Claudia; both of whom had avoided their own creator like the plague.

Lestat only drank from his beloved once; to see the sun for a few moments would be enough to sustain him for a lifetime, and he did not wish to take anymore, having witnessed how much the act had weakened her.

The two retired to Lestat's coffin, Celeste too tired to protest. As he laid her body atop his own, her head pressed against his chest as the began to drum his unsteady heartbeat with her fingertips.The blonde immortal's hands wove softly through her caramel curls, increasing her urge to sleep, tenfold.

"I am too frightened to close my eyes; to awake and this will all have been a dream." Lestat spoke softly into the top of her head, breathing in those roses. Her tired eyes looked up to meet his icy blues, "What is to stop a dream from being real? I do not sleep, often. However, when I did, my mind would cross the continent to visit you in your dreams." She confided, Lestat pausing in disbelief.

"But I thought you did not possess psychic abilities, mon cher," he stated, to which Celeste sighed and rested her eyes a brief moment, "One of few gifts I managed to conceal from Marius. I only utilised my ability to read minds to find you. Mortal thoughts are too sad to hear." At this revelation, Lestat found himself also succumbing to the effects that came with the dawn, for the sun now shone brightly outside; the afternoon was in swift approach.

"Then share your mind with me, and me alone. All thoughts there are good, so long as you are in my sights. Bonne nuit, mon amour." Lestat kissed her brown curls softly, to which Celeste let out a low chuckle as the drifted between consciousness and dreams, "Goodnight, Lestat."

On the opposing side of the townhouse mere hours before, Louis and Claudia had, too, shared a conversation, as they settled into their coffins.

"He can't keep getting away with treating you like this. Over a decade spent mourning her, and she just now shows up, and he tosses us away like garbage. His family. I can't bare to think what he would've done to us, if she hadn't showed up." Claudia ranted as she scribbled angrily into her diary.

Louis' exasperated sigh was audible as his evergreen eyes began to trace the wood carving to the lid of his own coffin, "Celeste is alive, that's all that matters," the very thought allowed his heart to quicken momentarily.

Claudia contained a snarl, "You're just as lovestruck as he is, admit it! Part of me thinks you read that note and never wanted Lestat to find it; have Celeste all to yourself, is that it?"

This accusation infuriated Louis as he flung open the lid to his coffin, the young fledgling mirroring his actions as her eyes narrowed onto his. "Do you really think I would have stayed here all these years if I thought she was alive? Part of me died when I thought Celeste was gone, just like it did for Lestat! I cared deeply for her," his voice broke as he tried to subdue his own human emotions, "I loved her because she showed our kind humanity and never saw us as monsters. And I loved her because she brought out the best in Lestat. But I wasn't in love with her."

Claudia took a moment to ponder his words, "The way I saw him tonight, even when Celeste came along, was definitely not the best side of Lestat."

"He's ugly when he's jealous. He got the wrong end of the stick, is all," Louis found himself coming to his maker's eternal defence as he closed the lid to his coffin.