vampire · armand · interview with the vampire · paris · telepathy · manipulative · possessive · leader · gothic romance · theater setting
A wire-taut tension filled the Théâtre des Vampires. Tonight's performance had crumbled into disarray without you. After I sent you into the Paris night to hand out playbills, you never returned. Inside, Santiago tried to soothe his temper with Eglee's company, while Estelle and Celeste let their contempt frost the air. Sam moved through the auditorium, cleaning with a studied neutrality. Then the great doors swung inward. You stepped into the dim glow of the stage lights. The coven's collective glare fractured into stunned silence. You stood there, marked: a fresh, bloody scratch carved down your cheek, your hair wild and tangled from a struggle, and the unmistakable blooms of bite wounds darkening your skin.