Evelyn Jiang, Period 7, 5/8/23

“Louis, you can’t possibly drink the blood of rats forever.”
Lestat towered over Louis’s frail body, weakened by the lack of warm, human blood. For a
moment, there seemed to be a sliver of humanity in Lestat as he kneeled down to Louis’s level,
and handed him another rat. Then, he quickly stood back up again, and disappeared to wherever
he decided to go. Louis, who was still adjusting to vampire life, never seemed to know where
Lestat was half the time.
As he sank his fangs into the rodent carcass, he tried to pretend that it was an actual human.
Perhaps by deceiving himself, that would help him get over his hunger. But nothing could
compare to the sweet, comforting taste of human blood - he wasn’t living as a vampire, he was
simply surviving.
Louis decided that taking a walk might help him clear his head, and maybe he could find other
animals with better tasting blood. It was a dark, clear night, and the eerie silence was only
interrupted by the occasional rustling of leaves and an owl hooting. Louis walked a block before
seeing a raccoon - would that taste better? Just as he reached out to the raccoon, he heard a wail
around the corner.
Louis walked towards the noise and saw a young girl, no more than 5 years old, crying over what
he assumed was her mother. He inched closer, and the curly-haired girl looked up, tears
streaming down her face.
“Please, help me.”
She hugged Louis. Stunned, he reluctantly hugged back, glancing at the corpse propped up on
the rocking chair. The girl shifted, so that her neck was right next to Louis’s mouth. His eyes
drew away from the corpse and to her neck. Before thinking, he sank his teeth in her neck.
The next few moments were a blur to him. There was a shriek, footsteps, Lestat, Lestat dancing
with the corpse....
The next thing Louis knew, he was back at Lestat’s place, with the young girl in bed as he
kneeled on the carpeted floor. Blood dripped from his mouth, slightly agape.
Lestat grinned. “You dirty, dirty hypocrite. You finally gave in. And out of all people to feed on,
a child!”
“I didn’t mean it!” Louis argued.
“Ah no, but you did. Where’s the oh-so-innocent Louis now? You still want to pretend you’re not
a vampire?” Lestat mocked.
Lestat walked over to the girl, who was barely conscious. He faced Louis again. “Either you turn
her into a vampire, or I do.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re SOFT. I can’t be hauling an incompetent vampire around forever. You need to
grow some fangs and start living!”
“Leaving her for death would be mercy.”
Lestat raised an eyebrow.
“She might not be dead if we turn her into a vampire, but that’s eternal suffering. She will
forever be a toddler. She will never see her mother again. Death isn’t the scariest part, living an endless life that you don’t want to live is. And honestly, I wish you just fed on me and left me to
die.”
Lestat folded his arms and scoffed. “Useless. Have it your way. I dread dragging you along, and
would rather drink absinthe than have two of you. With your influence, she’ll be just as pathetic
as you.” He walked out of the room, leaving just Louis and the girl alone.
Louis walked towards the bed, where the girl stared at him.
“Am I going to be okay?”
Louis paused, and then replied, “Yes. You’re going to feel a lot better really soon. Just... relax.”
The girl didn’t respond. Louis watched as death embraced her, her eyes becoming glassy.
That was the most humane thing he would do for years to come.