Lestat's Winter's Breath

As you approached your home, your mother appeared in the doorway.

'Muirin! Where HAVE you been? Your father and I have been extremely worried!" she yelled.

"Sorry ma. I guess I lost track of. You should be glad I actually did come home. If I had any common sense I would have taken the opportunity to run away from the two monsters in this house," you said, giving her a hard look.

"Either way, get inside. It's late," she said and pushed you towards the door.

You father was sitting in the living room watching the news. Your mother went in and sat down with him. You gave a disgusted sigh and headed upstairs to take a shower before bed. As the hot water washed over you, you thought back to Lestat. You wondered when you'd see him again. You found yourself unable to think of anything other than Lestat. It was if he was consuming you from the inside out. Once the hot water ran out, you stepped out of the shower and went to sleep. You suddenly felt drained and you were asleep as soon as your head it the pillow.

That night, as you slept, Lestat appeared to you in your dreams. Yet again, your human mind could not do him justice. He didn't seem as magnificent as in waking life but your heart rate still sped up at the very sight of him. In your dream, Lestat spoke to you. "Mon amour, Je vais te protéger de tout danger. Je promite Je t’aimerai toujours," he said. (Translation. My love, I will protect you from all danger. I promise I will always love you.) He leaned towards you and whispered, "Time to wake up, Princesse."

Your eyes snapped open and you found yourself sitting up in bed. You looked around, feeling disoriented, your breathing slightly erratic. That's when your mother came in.

"Muirin, dear, get up and get dressed. We're going shopping," she said and left the room again.

You jumped up and quickly got ready. You knew how bad your mother could get if you weren't ready fast enough to go shopping, or in your case, be a pack mule, with her. As you descended the stairs, you heard your parents arguing.

"That little bitch will be the death of us, you know that! She has to go!" you heard your father say.

"She's taking me shopping. she can't go yet," your mother's voice rang out.

"That's right. If she goes you lose your pack mule and have to carry everything yourself, stupid prostitute! I don't know why I married a thing like you!" your father cried.

"It was convenience and nothing more! if I hadn't have been pregnant by a stupid basket case like you, I would have been something by now!" your mother screamed.

Your father bellowed like a raging bull and the sounds of fighting reached your ears. You immediately got nervous and shrank back up the stairs to hide. The last thing you wanted was to be forcibly involved in a fight that had little to do with you and everything to do with your parents going off the deep end.

"Muirin, hurry up! we're going to miss all the great sales!" your mother's voice drifted up over the stairs to where you where hidden.

"Coming ma!" you called and ran down the stairs to meet her.

"There's a good girl! Let's go!" she said and led the way to the malls.

As usual, you were the one carrying everything and buying nothing. As you are passing a store, you notice a beautiful pair of baggy red cargo pants and an awesome low cut blue shirt that would look great with them. As you are staring at your current dream ensemble, your mother gasps.

'Oh great. The bitch saw something else. Can't she see how loaded down with her shit that I'm practically bent in half? And she's thinking of buying more? Good grief! I should have refused when I had the chance!' you ranted mentally.

"Come on Muirin! I just saw this gorgeous dress! I have to buy it!" your mother said happily.

You roll your eyes , send her a death glare and do your best to keep up but find it impossible. "Stupid, mindless trollop," you mutter under your breath and glare at her as your mother takes the dress and tries it on.

"What do you think?" she asks excitedly.

"You look great," you said without much enthusiasm.

"I thought so! I'm buying it!" she said.

You groan loudly but she didn't hear you and you began a lengthy mental rant about how terrible a mother she was. As she handed you the latest bag to carry, you felt as though you would topple over. As she leads the way out of the shop, you trip over a sales rack and head for a face plant into the carpet. 'Oh fuck! She's gonna make me pick all this shit up' you think as you fall. That's when you realize your not falling anymore. You look up to see a bunch of stunned faces around you and that none other than Lestat has caught you and saved you from total embarrassment. He lifted you back to your feet and smiled benignly at you.

"Let me take those, mon chere," he said and took the bags from your aching arms.

Before you can blink, all the shopping bags are in Lestat's arms and you can feel the blood rushing back into yours. Your face began to turn as red as your hair as you realized you were in Lestat's embrace. But the embarrassment turned to anger as you realize that Lestat saw you playing pack mule to your horrible mother. It was completely humiliating! How dare your mother treat you like that?!?! You silently fumed as you left the store to see your mother standing there, waiting for you.

"Ah Muirin, you horrendous klutz! What the hell took you so long?" she asked angrily.

"I believe it was me. I am Lestat de Lioncourt at your service," Lestat said and bowed gracefully to your mother. As you watched, a slight tick had developed under your left eye.

"Well, thank you. How would you like to come over to my house for dinner? It's the least I can do to thank you for saving my dreadful daughter from making a fool of herself," she said.

Your face flushes with anger and the tick under your left eye becomes more pronounced. You glance at Lestat and noticed he had tensed up as if he was resisting the urge to slaughter her mother right there and then.

"I'll see you at 6:30," your mother said, taking the heavy bags from him and thrusting them into your arms. You glared angrily after her.

"I guess I'll see you at 6:30 then,' you said and reluctantly followed her, muttering scathing comments about your good-for-nothing mother under your breath.

When you got home, your mother ordered you to put away. After an hour of putting all your mother's waste of money away, you went to the bathroom to clean yourself up. Your arms and shoulders were covered in red marks from the bags. You wouldn't be surprised if you developed bruises during the night. After you had finished, you went downstairs and sat on the love seat in the living room with the intention of reading a good book before you could be interrupted. But before you could even think to get one, you noticed Lestat was sitting next to you with two cups of coffee. He passed you one and kept the other. You weren't overly fond of coffee, but you would at least try to drink some for Lestat's sake. Your parents joined you both and began asking Lestat questions and degrading you in the process. God, how you hated them! All they did was cause you pain all to make themselves look good in front of others. Lestat would say the occasional "Yes," "Mm-hmm," or "Of course" but he really didn't say a great deal.

The timer went off in the kitchen, announcing dinner is ready. You had completely lost your appetite and your temper was close to the surface. You didn't want to risk opening your mouth and say something only to get a severe beating.

"Dinner is now ready!" your mother announced as she got up with a flourish.

Lestat also stood up.

"This has been fairly pleasant but it is time for me to go. It is getting late," he said.

He turned to you and took your hand in his and gently stroked his thumb on the back of your hand near your wrist. He bent forward and kissed it lovingly. Then he turned and fled through the door, leaving your mother and father staring after him, looking confused. You smiled slightly, feeling happy that Lestat couldn't stand your parents either. That's when you noticed that there was something in your hand. You immediately shoved both hands in your pockets to avoid your parents noticing and causing a bad argument. You tried to get out of the living room without them noticing but you weren't fast enough.

"He's too old for you Muirin. He's no good! I don't like him. You can never see him again!" your father said gruffly.

"Fuck you!" you screamed and ran to your room.

You ran up the stairs and into your room. You slammed the door and fell on your bed, on the verge of tears. You pull the mystery item out of your pocket to see that it's a note.

It read: "My dearest Muirin, I will be waiting for you by the Big Pond. as soon as you can get away from those dogs come and we will talk. Hurry, mon chere. Je t'aimerai toujours, mon chere."

You immediately jump off your bed and headed towards your door. You opened it and listened carefully. You heard nothing and quietly closed your door again. You opened your window and stepped out onto the first floor roof and crept down to the edge. You looked down and gasped. It was high, really high. You hated heights. Your heart rate accelerated as you slowly sat down on the edge and struggled to grasp a column on the bridge that would allow you to get down. Your breath came in ragged gasps as you slowly lowered yourself down. As your foot touched the rail, you breathed a sigh of relief. You were almost there. You edged along the rail and gently lowered one foot as you clung tightly to the square wooden column. As soon as both feet were on the flat surface of the bridge, you stalked off. Once you were far enough from the house, you bolted for the Big Pond. As you got closer, you stopped and looked back. No sign of your parents just yet. You continued onward, your heart pounding out of your chest and as the pond came into view, you saw Lestat and the panic that was building calmed. He turned as you approached him and he looked at you with such compassion. He understood now what you had lived through your entire life.

"I'm so sorry, mon chere. It is difficult for me to be around those monsters that are your parents," he said.

The voice of your father returned to your mind and you couldn't take it anymore. The tears you had been holding back for so long streamed down your cheeks and you just broke down. Lestat held you tightly as your heart was finally set free to loose the pain it had been holding back for what seemed an eternity. He gently stroked your hair as he sat you down on a rock. He held you until your tears ran dry and you could cry no more. As you sat with him, the ache ebbing away, he pulled out a small dark blue velvet box from his pocket and gave it to you.

"What's this?" you asked, your voice sounding as if you had a terrible cold.

"Muirin, I wish for you to always have a part of me with you. Even when you can't see me. i want you to have this, to remind you that I am always here for you," he said and handed you the box.

You took the box and opened it. What you saw inside made you gasp. It was a small rose, the petals were made of gold and the stem of emerald. It was attached to a blue silk ribbon with a silver clasp.

"Lestat, I don't know if I can. This must have cost you a fortune!" you breathed.

A hurt look crossed his magnificent features for a second and then it disappeared.

"Muirin, I really want you to have this. Cost is nothing compared to you," he said and kissed you on the nose.

You blushed as he put it on your neck. In the distance, someone called your name. You looked at Lestat and looked in the direction the calls were coming from. "I'm gonna have to go. I'm sorry Lestat," you said and without a word he was gone. Your heart ached to see him again, to make sure he was okay. But you ran back to your house, your hand, clutching the golden rose Lestat had just given you. As you arrived, you saw your mother standing in the doorway. You could see it was not going to be good.

"Well, Muirin, this was a pleasant evening," she said, sarcasm seeping from every syllable she spoke. "Why don't you go wash up and get to bed? Your father is already asleep."

You step carefully around your mother and bolted up the stairs to the bathroom. You washed quickly and ran to your room. You got ready for bed and waited for sleep to take you. Once it did, dreams of Lestat played in your mind. Your mind replayed the whole evening with Lestat, his every feature clear as day in your mind. Suddenly, an intense pain erupted from your back. Your eyes snap open and you see your father standing over you.

"Hush, you little tramp! I had to wait for your mother to fall asleep before coming here. You will never bring another man into this house, do you understand me?" he asked, malice lacing his every word.

That's when the worst beating of your short life began. Pain shot from every inch of your body. Tears form in your eyes from all the pain but you force yourself through it. You turned to your father after he stopped to catch his breath. You looked him straight in the eye and spoke to him.

"Your just pissed that Lestat is 100 times the man you'll ever be and ever were! Your afraid he'll beat you and make you look bad because he's not scared of you like everyone else!" you said in a harsh voice and you mustered up your strength to spit at him.

The fury on your father's face was the worst you had ever seen but you weren't afraid. Then a loud crash hits your ears. Lestat had jumped through the window to save you. You smiled as Lestat fought your father to protect you. After only minutes, your father is laying on the ground, bloody, broken, and dead. Lestat walked over to you and gently picked you up.

"It's okay now, mon chere. I will protect you now," Lestat whispered in you ear and as he held you close, his scent surrounded you. You could smell him and it was an intoxicating scent. Even though you were broken and bleeding, you couldn't help but be happy that he was with you.He picked you up and spirited your broken and bleeding body to his home. You were placed on a soft, warm bed and You heard Lestat's voice as you drifted into the darkness of unconsciousness.

"You are safe now, mon amour. Now and forever, you are safe," he whispered just as darkness overtook you.

Three days later, you woke up to your new surroundings. You lay in a king sized bed with red silk sheets. As you studied the other details of the room you occupied. It was your dream room. As you tried to get out of bed, you realized you couldn't. You were too weak still from the beating you had received.

As you tried again to move out of bed, Lestat entered the room.

"Mon chere, please do not move so much. You could risk further damage. I do not want to lose you. I came so close these past three days. You are so strong, mon amour, so strong. Be comfortable. Rest," he said gently.

"I want to get on the go," you slurred. Apparently, you were worse off than you thought.

"I could turn you," he volunteered.

"Let me think about that," you slurred again and drifted off to sleep once more.