Lestat
I stood at the very top of my building, looking down at the humans in the street while simultaneously trying to block out the sounds of my dying family beneath me.
New York is loud, busy, and filled with food. But it's been our home for a century and half now. We blend with the humans, walk in the daylight and feed at night.
I made my way to the second floor where Viktor and Daphne were currently waiting for me. They were my first companions. Turned in 1564, and 1573 respectively.
Viktor commanded the militant faction. He was an army in the old world. Left for dead on the battlefield until I turned him. He knew battle, and once upon a time had lived and breathed it.
And Daphne, a scholar. She was a noble lady. Betrothed to one fine Duke of Dansbury. She saw me, and her fascination knew no bounds. She was curious about all that I was and all that I was capable of. And when her curiosity was no longer enough, she had asked me to turn her. And I did.
Here we are now, centuries later, with a clan of our own to fend for and protect. A clan bordering on the line of extinction if we do nothing.
I heard their arguments before I even opened the door.
"We need to turn more people," Viktor said.
"And when we run out of people to turn?" Daphne asked.
"We can never run out of people to turn," he replied. I could see him rolling his eyes even behind this closed door.
"If we do manage to turn a lot of humans, what happens when we run out of food or worse, become weak from living off animal blood alone?" Daphne asked. "What happens to us when humans become strong enough to wipe us out?"
"That will never happen," Viktor scoffed.
I made my way in at that moment, interrupting their argument.
"Actually, Viktor, that could very much happen," I said. "Humans have evolved beyond what we know and we are used to. They are smarter now, and stronger. And with the right motivation, they could very well end us."
"See? Even Lestat gets it," Daphne sighed.
"So what do we do? Sit back and watch whatever this thing is wipe us out?" Viktor asked.
"No one is asking you to sit back and do nothing," I replied. "But turning a bunch of humans is not the solution."
Daphne coughed, drawing our attention. "Actually, I've been doing research on that. I found some old books while I was searching for the exact type of poison that was used to infect us, I stumbled upon something else."
"Well, spit it out."
"Dragon heart blood," she said. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat at the mention of dragons.
They weren't there. None of them were.
"I know it sounds crazy cause dragons are supposed to be a myth, extinct and what-not, but I found something," Daphne said.
"Where are we supposed to find a dragon lying around waiting to get its heart ripped out? And for what?" Viktor asked.
The tie around my neck was tightening by the second.
"If you must know, the book said dragon hearts to be pure. But a royal dragon heart is said to be the purest heart. It's full of potent life force, and may cure whatever diseases plagues the heart or body of any creature. Human or supernatural."
"Like you said, they are extinct," Viktor said. "Which brings us back to my earlier solution. Turn more people. Just enough to replenish our dying numbers."
Their voices filtered through my ears while my brain conjured memories I fought so hard to bury.
The screams, the smell of flesh burning. The flames. God the flames that seemed so endless and burned everything in its path. Faces blur into one in my mind.
I gripped the table tighter until my knuckles turned white. I hear my name as if it were being called from a distance.
"Lestat?"
"Lestat!" Viktor yelled, pulling me out of my memories.
"Yes?" I asked. Losing my grip on the table and feeling the noose around my neck lose its grip.
"I was asking what you suggest we do?"
I nodded slowly and turned to Daphne. "Do you have any leads on your research?"
"You can't be serious. Dragons are gone. And that's if they were ever real to begin with."
"They were," I said simply. Something on my face must have stopped him from asking anymore questions. "So do you have any lead, Daphne."
She nodded slowly and spoke. "I looked into artifacts that could have solidified my theory of their existence, and I found some. I kept digging until something popped up."
"What did you find?"
"A dragon scale," she answered. "Bought off the black market two days ago. I traced the receiver, and found out it was shipped to a museum/gallery in London."
"I looked into said house but nothing stood out. All they had were glowing reviews of successful exhibitions and authentic antiques. I checked their website, but the scale wasn't listed in any of their items."
"The shipment could have been false," Viktor shrugged. "To throw people like us from knowing its actual location."
"But it's the only lead we have. And our only option."
"Not our only option," Viktor corrected.
"Say what, Viktor. If we check this out, and it doesn't pan out, we'll go with your suggestion," I said.
He looked at me for what felt like minutes before nodding in agreement.
"Have Simon arrange my flight, and contact the London clan to inform them of my visit. But state only that I'm there for a vacation and in search of a lost plant that could cure our people," I ordered. "If they get wind of us suspecting the existence of dragons, they might very well wipe us just to keep it for themselves."
I turned to Viktor. "Then our biggest problem wouldn't be humans."
Viktor was stubborn, but he understood. After several centuries of territory battles and clan battles, the thought of having another all our vampire war didn't sound like a good idea.
"Text me when it's all arranged."
Daphne nodded.
I made my way to the third floor where the sick were currently residing. It's ironic describing an immortal creature as sick. But here we are. Hundreds of years later and my kind is sick. Plagued with a disease no one has ever seen before.
I needed to see for myself what we have been reduced to. I needed a reminder of what I was risking my sanity for.