"You are no MAN!"
“You’d better get inside.”
Tiana turned and hurried into the castle, her heart in her mouth. She knew, she was sure, that she could trust Lestat not to harm her sister, but even so, she pressed against the door to listen.
“You’ve corrupted her, you leech!” Esme hissed. She didn’t let go of the spear, and nor did Lestat.
Lestat smirked. “Tiana’s made her choice on her own. I tried to dissuade her-”
“Don’t give me that!” Esme tossed her head, defiantly. “Don’t pretend that you’re on the side of good!”
“I don’t,” Lestat replied, smoothly, and then with one swift yank he pulled Esme closer to him. Esme blinked, startled, up into his eyes, hypnotising as they were. “But I am a man of my word and I did promise Tiana that I wouldn’t kill your boyfriend and given that you’re her sister, I can’t kill you either.”
Esme scoffed. “You are no MAN!”
With a defiant shriek, she whipped a stake from her belt and struck him in the chest. Lestat, automatically, let out a yelp, and hearing him, Tiana threw herself out of the door, pelting towards him. “No!”
With lightning speed, Lestat was at her side, protecting her with one arm as with his free hand he removed the stake. Esme’s jaw dropped as she watched the wounded flesh knit together and heal again. Remembering what Lestat had taught her about stakes, Tiana relaxed.
“You...” Esme’s eyebrows knitted together as she fixed them both with an icy glare. “I will find the way to destroy you scum, don’t think that I won’t,” she spat, turning her eyes upon Tiana. “And you too; you’re no better than the rest of them.”
“I’m your sister,” began Tiana.
“Not anymore.” Esme shook her head, her curls flying violently around her head. “I will take your kind down, even if it takes me the rest of my life. Someone in this wretched little town must know the way and I will find it. I will take you down one by one and I will not rest until you’re both just ash at my feet.”
“No, Esme,” Tiana begged, stepping forwards. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Vampires...they’re just misunderstood...we’re really not that different.”
“Not that different?” Esme laughed. “You really have turned to the dark side, Tiana.”
Tiana felt a rush of anger and she stepped out from under Lestat’s arm to face her sister. “That’s not true! You were the one who ran away from home! You never came back, even when Daddy died! You just thought of yourself, always, never anyone else! All I did was fall in love!”
Esme’s dark eyes locked upon her sister’s, and for a second Tiana dared hope that she was about to relent. Then, Esme spat at her. Lestat made one advance forwards, and, sensing she was beaten for now, Esme turned and ran out of the garden.
“You ok?” Lestat asked, his eyes still watching Esme run.
Tiana wiped the spit from her face, and a few tears as well. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
Lestat hesitated and then said, turning to her “You should know by now that you can’t keep anything from me.”
Tiana managed a weak smile. “When I’m a vampire...” She paused to wipe back a few tears, “Can I stop you from reading my mind like that?”
“Oh, Tiana,” Lestat murmured, softly, pulling her close. “I’m so sorry you had to get mixed up in all this.”
“It’s not your fault,” she insisted, pressing closer to him. “Just...why can’t I make her see...like I made the others see?”
“Your friends are more accepting because they’ve never lost anyone to a vampire,” Lestat replied, wisely. “Alright, so Smith only got a knock on the head, but it’s wiped his mind and that must have hurt your sister deeply.”
Tiana said nothing, just pressed closer to him. Finally she felt Lestat sigh and he drew away from her. “We need to wake and warn the others. It’s not safe here now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Esme knows you’re here. She’ll be back. We have to move.”
This was getting too much for Tiana. “Here isn’t safe! Home isn’t safe! I wish this would just...stop! I’m tired of being scared all the time!”
Lestat offered her a wry smile. “I know. The thing is, I don’t know how to stop Esme. Ordinarily with a vampire hunter, well, we could just...” He mimed, drawing a hand across his throat. “But this time we can’t.”
Tiana took a deep breath, unable to believe what she was about to say next. “It may come to that.”
If Lestat could blanche, he would have done so at that point. “Tiana, she’s your sister!”
“I know.” Tiana struggled to explain what she was feeling. “But if she finds a way to destroy you and the others, she’ll be unstoppable, and unless there’s another way...in the heat of battle...”
She couldn’t finish. “Don’t,” Lestat said, taking her arms. “Don’t let me corrupt you to the way I used to think.”
Tiana looked away from him. “Let’s find the others.”
“Right,” said Adam, the second Lestat had finished telling him, Belle and Meg what was happening. “So...we need to find a new base. But where?”
“Somewhere safe and secure,” Belle suggested. “Someone a vampire hunter might not think to go.”
“That rules out any of our houses, then,” Meg observed, pointing all around the group. “Where else?”
Tiana thought and then took a deep breath. “The bar.” Everyone glanced at her and she explained. “The Blue Moon. I have the keys. Down in the cellar, there’s a whole load of tunnels. I don’t know where they lead, but...I doubt Esme knows about them.”
Everyone looked at one another, and then Adam looked at Lestat. “What do you say?”
“I say that’s a good idea,” Lestat replied. “But we’d need to stock up for a while.”
“Oh, the cellar’s full of food,” Tiana replied.
“Would there be a bath?” asked Meg, wearily.
Tiana smiled. “We’d think of something.”
“What about Facilier?” asked Belle. “Is he going to be happy about us staying under his bar for a while?”
“Probably not,” Tiana winced. “But...maybe we don’t tell him. I have keys for the whole building. If he does come across us, well, I’ll improvise.”
“It’s risky,” Adam said, thoughtfully, “but it sounds like our only option.”
Lestat nodded. “It’s settled then. Pack a few bags with essentials and then we’re out of here.”
Everyone promptly did as they were told and then it came to leaving the castle. Lestat went first, using his senses to search for anyone hiding in the shadows. He found no one, and so the others followed him, and together they made the long trek to the bar.
“We’ll see it again, won’t we?” Belle murmured to Adam, shooting one last glance over her shoulder at their castle.
“Yes, of course we will,” he replied, giving her a reassuring hug.
Tiana felt guilty for having dragged them and Meg into this, and she vowed that the second it was over she would do all she could to make it up to them.
They arrived as the sun was beginning to come up. Tiana unlocked the doors and let them in, making sure to relock them behind her so that Facilier wouldn’t get suspicious. Then, she led the way around to the back of the bar and then down into the great cellar. The place was set out like a kind of labyrinth with many nooks and crannies down the tunnel way, perfect for anyone to hide in for about a month, or even longer.
“This is good,” Adam said, admiringly. “We’ll have to keep very quiet though.”
“Facilier rarely comes down here himself,” Tiana replied. “It’s mostly me and Smee, and usually that’s just for the storage room, so we’d be pretty safe down here for a while.”
“I wonder where these tunnels lead to,” Lestat mused.
Tiana shrugged. “I’ve never been down much further than this before.”
Belle looked down the tunnel and shivered. “Looks spooky.”
“Perfect for a vampire,” Lestat quipped, with a smile. “I’d like to know how far they go.”
Meg looked around and then sat down. “Well, I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you. I think I’ll stay here and make this place look a bit more lived in, seeing as we’ll be here for God knows how long.”
“Me too,” Belle added, retrieving a load of blankets from one of the bags.
Adam nodded. “Yeah, one of us had best keep an ear out in case anyone comes.”
Lestat smiled. “Well, my vampire senses will pick up on that, but I understand if you want to take precautions.”
“I’ll go with you,” Tiana said, quickly slipping her arm through his. “We’ll be back soon, guys.”
Together she and Lestat made their way quietly and cautiously down the tunnel. The place was well lit with electric lights hanging above, and Tiana found herself wondering whether Facilier knew about these tunnels or whether they had been built by someone else long ago. The walls felt cool and the air was dry, but she kept glancing over her shoulder every now and again, paranoid that she could hear dripping or footsteps.
“Scared?” Lestat asked, drawing her closer to him. Tiana nodded. “You don’t need to be. I’ll protect you.”
They had just reached what Tiana was sure must be the end of the tunnel when...
“What is that?” Tiana exclaimed in a stunned whisper as she pressed closer to Lestat and pointed to what lay ahead.
Lestat swallowed, hard. “Not good, that’s what.”
“What is that?”
