A Strange Little Tale
Addie, March 2000
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, all belong to Anne of course.
Just want to have a bit of fun with them. No profit's being made, but
donations in the way of kind comments would be grateful.Warning: This spec begins with the very sad death of one of our
favourites...nope not telling, you have to read it. Could turn out a little
silly though, so beware.Rated: Mostly G.
Spoilers: Can't think of any.
**********************************************************************
Louis had been out shopping for groceries. Dog food, matches, light globes,
blank videos, note paper and pens. It was a mundane and ordinary night. He
stopped off quickly for a bite to eat, picked up some new t-shirts and
socks at the menswear shop, then sauntered slowly home.He was surprised to see no lights on in the apartment and the door was wide
open. He dropped his bags and quietly went through to the living room. He
called out to Lestat, but the room was empty and cold, no fire had been lit.
Louis had a sudden feeling of foreboding as he called out a few more times
and looked into the other rooms. Lestat had said he was going to stay in
and do some accounts. They had been long overdue and the tax man was
breathing down the back of his neck.In the study he could see the faint glow from the computer, and he saw
Lestat's profit and loss and account on the screen. He glanced at it
quickly. "Hmm a tidy profit again, Lestat." he mused to himself, then
continued his curious task.He went back down the stairs, picked up his groceries locked the door, then
wandered out into the kitchen. He put the dog food on the counter and
called out for Mojo.He tapped on the top of the can, which usually brought him tearing into the
house, saliva and fur flying everywhere. But all he was greeted with was
silence. ::Strange:: Louis thought to himself.With faint trepidation, he went out into the backyard and called out for
his furry friend. He stopped when he heard what sounded like a muffled sob.
In the darkness, under the tree in the corner Louis could make out the dark
shape of Lestat, huddled and weeping.::Oh God!:: Louis' heart sank, and he felt small beads of perspiration on
his forehead. "Mojo!" he cried out and ran over to Lestat. Mojo was lying
limply in his arms, his tongue was lolling and his eyes were open and
staring. Louis sunk down to his knees and patted his furry head gently."Oh no, Lestat. What happened?" he whispered, tears beginning to trickle
down his cheeks."I just found him Lou, he was lying on the ground when I came out. He
couldn't get up. He tried to wag his tail.... Oh, it was awful. I picked
him up and he whined, then he just went limp." Lestat began to sob again, as
he pushed his face into Mojo's still warm body.Louis sat down on the ground next to Lestat, rested his head on his shoulder
and began to sob as well. They stayed in the garden, softly talking and
weeping over their friend, until they realised the dawn was fast
approaching."What are we going to do, Lestat?. Do you want to bury him now?"
"Non, I want to have a proper ceremony. I want him to have a headstone and
flowers on his grave. Let's bring him inside and organise everything
tomorrow night."Lestat lifted Mojo's leaden body into his arms, and carried him into the
living room. They wrapped him in a warm blanket and set him down by the
fire."He will be safe here for the night, Louis. Let's go to bed." Together
they slipped under the quilt, clinging to each other, their tears now dried."We shall dream of him, Louis. Then in the evening we will say farewell."
Chapter 2
Louis awoke to find the bed empty and Lestat no-where to be seen. He saw
that Mojo's body was still where they had left it the night before.
Wandering out into the garden he saw that Lestat had already dug a grave for
him under the tree where he had been found the night before.::Oh this place is going to be awful without him around:: Louis mused, as he
walked slowly back inside. He heard the door bang, which was not like
Lestat, he generally preferred a quieter entrance into the house, sometimes
even through the window upstairs. But when Louis saw what Lestat was
carrying he forgave him immediately.Under one arm he was holding a medium sized white coffin, and in the other a
profusion of bright flowers. Carnations, roses, gerberas, and greenery. He
set the coffin down next to the body in the living room and the flowers
rested on the table. Between them they gently lifted Mojo's body into the
red satin lined coffin, and with a final tender pat to his great furry head,
they closed the lid."I cannot believe he has gone, Lestat." Louis said softly. Shall we have
our little ceremony."Not yet. The other mourners aren't here yet."
"You didn't invite the others over. Lestat. How could you? This should be
private.""Just Danny and Armand, Lou. They loved him too you know."
Louis was a little annoyed, but rather than cause an altercation at this sad
time he decided to busy himself tidying the apartment. He had just finished
putting away his groceries when he heard Lestat greeting Armand at the door.
He turned around to see them kissing each other on the cheeks, then Armand
came over to him."I'm sorry Louis, we all loved him. In fact I think he was the only dog I
ever loved, or who ever loved me." He said as he kissed Louis as well, only
he kissed him on the lips."Thank you Armand. It's going to be very strange without him, and I've just
bought all these cans of dog food."Armand glanced at the cans covering the bench, then continued.
"Louis, I'm sorry about Daniel...its just that he's..."
Armand didn't quite finish his sentence as they both heard a loud crash as
Daniel blundered into the living room, knocking over a side table and fell
in an ungainly heap on the couch."Merde!! What's the matter with him?" Louis asked, rushing over to Daniel
in a vain attempt to stop him from knocking the lamp off the coffee table.
Too late!!"Geez Daniel, sit bloody still will you, look at all the damage you've
done." Lestat yelled at him, pushing Daniel back onto the couch and holding
him there."Can't you control your bloody fledgling, Armand?" Lestat shouted at him.
"Sorry, sorry...I couldn't stop him." Armand said, looking very embarrassed.
"Stop him from what?" Both Louis and Lestat replied in unison.
"From getting drunk."
"And why pray tell did he want to get drunk?" Lestat questioned him, still
holding Daniel firmly on the couch. Daniel had given up wriggling and was
giggling and mumbling incoherently."He said something about a wake." Armand replied, giving Daniel ferocious
glances as he did so. Daniel just winked at him and smiled."A wake?" Louis said, surprise and a little amusement in his voice.
"Yes, it's an Irish thing apparently."
Chapter 3
Lestat grabbed Daniel, pulled him up so that he could look directly into his
eyes and snarled at him. "Don't ruin this for us, Danny. Or I'll bury you
alongside Mojo. Do you understand me?""Sure thing Stat, baby. I loved Mojo. He was a sweet puppy"
"So long as you understand, Danny."
Daniel nodded seriously, and fell back onto the couch again.
Lestat growled at him one more time, just to make his point, then walked
quietly over to Mojo's coffin. He picked it up carefully and carried it
outside. Louis and Armand followed slowly, then Daniel, who was fighting
every step of the way to stay steady and to not fall and break anything
else. He didn't relish the idea of being buried alongside Mojo, even though
he had loved him.Louis and Lestat carefully lowered the coffin into the grave, and along with
a little dirt, they each threw in a long stemmed red rose.
They lowered their heads for a few minutes, remembering their furry friend,
remembering his antics and love, then Lestat began the eulogy."To our sweet friend, Mojo. Not a better nor faithful friend could be
found. He loved us for who we are, not what we are, and we loved him
equally as much in return. Mojo, I will miss your warm body, your cold nose
in places it shouldn't be in the evening, and I will even miss all the fur
you scattered around our home. Our house will be so clean without you, but
also so lonely. Have fun in doggy heaven."A single tear stroked Lestat's face, as he pulled Louis close to him hugging
him tightly. Armand held Louis' hand on the other side, and Daniel fell to
his knees."Goodbye puppy friend." Daniel wailed. "Whose going to knock me over and
lick me on the face when I come around here again?"
Lestat glared at him again, but Louis smiled and knelt down in front of him.
"I will if you like, Daniel." he said, licking him on the cheek and pushing
him back into the garden.Lestat laughed softly and squeezed Armand's hand. "I know why you love him
so much. He's cheered me up already."Hand in hand they all returned to the house and gathered around a small pile
of Mojo's belongings that Louis had placed on the floor earlier. Louis
picked up his tattered and chewed ball, holding it to his chest. Lestat
picked up his fur encrusted rug and sat down on the couch fingering it.
Armand picked up his collar and eyed Daniel lasciviously. Daniel smirked at
him, picked up Mojo's old bone and sticking it in his mouth, went down on
all fours and crawled over to his maker.Daniel dropped the bone into his lap, barked a couple of times, and licked
Armand on the hand. Armand patted him on the head. "See I don't need a dog,
when I've got you Danny boy."Lestat looked at Louis, with a glint in his eye, and Louis glared at him.
"Don't even think that I would do such a thing." he snarled."Of course not..." Lestat coughed. "Lets talk about Mojo." he said quickly
changing the subject. "Remember Louis, when you were scared of him. When I
first brought him into the apartment."'I wasn't scared of him, Lestat." he retorted. "He didn't like me to start
with, that's all.""Of course he liked you, Louis. Why would he try and sleep on your bed
then, and chew all your shoes, if he didn't like you?""That was liking me?" he said, smiling. "What about the time you took him
for a walk, Lestat and he got away from you and sniffed up that woman's
dress. I'll never forget the look on your face when she slapped you."
Louis was laughing now."That wasn't funny, Louis." Lestat replied, trying to look hurt.
"Oh yes it was. And what about the time you trod in his poop on the back
lawn, and you slipped and fell on your rump?" Louis was giggling now.Armand was snickering as Lestat tried to not laugh. Then Daniel joined in.
"What about the time he knocked Maharet over when she came for a visit?"
Daniel guffawed. "And she was holding that expensive urn she had brought
for David, and it smashed into millions of little pieces." he was rolling
around on the floor, holding his stomach as he laughed."Oh geeze, that wasn't so funny." Lestat replied. "I thought for a while
there she was going to chain me up again.""She laughed about it afterwards, Lestat." Louis said to him. Only she
didn't let you know that she wasn't angry."Oh did she?" Lestat said. "You didn't tell me that. I worried about it
for a couple of weeks, Louis. You are a beast." he continued, and without
further ado, began tickling him. They were both squirming about on the
floor together, when Armand decided it might be prudent to take their leave."Come on puppy, let's leave these two to mourn their companion." Armand
said, grabbing Daniel on the arm and slapping him firmly on the rump.Daniel bade his friends a fond farewell, kicking Lestat in the ribs and
bending down to kiss Louis on the cheek. "See, the Irish way is always the
best. Send them out with a laugh and a few ales."Chapter 4
Lestat had been moping about the apartment for a few days, talking to
himself, then talking to Mojo as if he was still there. Every now and then
he would find another ball of fur, or another bone hidden under a piece of
furniture. Every time he did, he would stop for a few minutes and
reminisce. Louis was feeling almost as morose. He had not realised how
much Mojo had made them feel like a family.If Lestat was out, there would always be a warm body to cuddle up to, or
someone to have a serious chat to. He even remembered how Mojo seemed to
be the only one interested in his discussions on various books he had been
reading. Louis knew, of course, that it was just the sound of his voice
that Mojo liked.One evening while Lestat was busy working on his computer, Louis decided to
take a stroll. He hadn't been for a walk by himself for ages, Mojo had
always been his company. He even found himself looking for his lead before
he left. ::Dammit:: he thought to himself, as he dropped the lead back down
on the cupboard. ::Old habits die hard:: he mused to himself.He strolled aimlessly through the crowded streets, taking a bite to eat in a
back alleyway, then stopped off at the book store to check out the latest
releases. For the first time in months he came out of the store empty
handed. Nothing seemed to appeal to him.A little further along he spied a pet store, and stopped for a few minutes
to gaze into the window. There were photographs of dogs, some like Mojo,
some small and fluffy. Then he saw it, a tiny ball of black and white fur,
snuggled up against a soft toy. He pressed his face to the window and
crooned at the little puppy. It opened it's sorrowful brown eyes, and stood
up. With its wobbly puppy gait, it came over to the window and peered back
at Louis.Louis raised his hand and tried to touch the puppy through the glass. It
barked at him, a soft mewling noise that sounded so sad. It was all alone
in the darkened store, its little water bowl was empty and it didn't appear
to have any food. Louis thought about breaking the window and stealing
the little fella.....he couldn't do that...could he?..........................
Lestat was still at the computer when Louis walked back in. He was smiling,
and Lestat felt glad that he appeared happy. Louis' face had been a picture
of misery for the last few days and Lestat had been quite concerned about
him."Have a nice walk, Louis?" Lestat asked him, moving out from his desk and
moving across the room to welcome his fledgling with a hug."Quite pleasant, Lestat. It's a lovely evening." he replied, moving back
just a little.Lestat tried to hug him, but Louis backed away even further. "What's up
Louis, why don't you want to hug me?""I don't want you to squash it."
"What?"
"This." Louis replied, and pulled the little puppy out of his jacket.
Chapter 5
"It stays outside, Louis. I'm not having doggy poo all over the house.
What if he does it on the carpet.""Aww, come on Lestat, I'll toilet train him, he won't be any trouble."
"OUTSIDE!!" Lestat yelled, not even looking at or touching the sweet little
bundle that Louis was holding.Louis patted his new friend, kissed him on his cold little nose and walked
outside to the garden. He watched as it romped around in the grass, and
lifted its leg against the tree. "You have to have a name little one."
Louis said to it. Lestat came outside after a few minutes and Louis noticed
that he had a smile on his face when he saw the puppy."He is kinda cute, Louis. What are we going to call it?"
"We! So its ours now is it?" Louis said, smiling back at him.
"Well if its going to live in this house, its going to belong to both of us,
isn't it?""Oui!" Louis replied, smiling even more broadly. "We have to find a name,
Lestat. What do you think about Bach or Beethoven or maybe Keats or
Shelley?""No, I don't like any of those. What about Armand?" Lestat said, with a
mirthful snicker."It's not a little bitch." Louis replied, grinning at him cheekily.
"Louis! That's not a very nice thing to say."
"What about Mojo the second.?" he said wistfully.
"No, he's not a Mojo, Louis. Anyhow, he has to have his own name."
"I know!" Lestat shouted out loudly. "Lets call him Claude."
Louis looked at Lestat, then at the puppy, then back to Lestat again. "Are
you sure?""Absolutely, Louis."
"Claude it is then. Now he has to have a new bowl, and a new collar and
puppy food, and a lead.""Well we had best go shopping then, Lestat." Louis replied, picking up
Claude and heading back into the house..............................
Claude managed to win their hearts, moving into the house almost straight
away. He pooped several times on the carpet, but Louis managed to clean it
up very quickly before Lestat noticed. Between them they managed to build a
very poorly constructed kennel, and Claude sported a fancy jacket, for when
it was raining, a studded collar with his name on it, and they even put in a
doggy door.Louis smiled most of the time. He treated Claude like a child, talking to
him and taking him for walks three and four times a day. Lestat felt quite
jealous, and began to sulk."Louis, what about me. I could do with a kiss on my nose, and a pat behind
the ear, and I would love a rub on my tummy." he moaned to Louis one night
when they were watching a video.Louis smiled at him, and kissed him on the cheek. "What if Claude sees us?"
"Bugger Claude, Louis. I need some attention." and with that he pushed
Louis down onto the lambskin rug in front of the fire and began to undress
him. He straddled Louis' naked and shivering body, and began to rub his
tummy, up and down, up then further down so that he was rubbing his cock
slowly and firmly. Louis was squirming and sighing with pleasure.Lestat laid down on top of Louis and began to kiss him deeply, occasionally
pulling his tongue out of Louis' mouth to lick his lips, or to nip at them,
drawing a little of his blood into his own mouth.
He brought his hands down to Louis' side and began to caress his hips, his
tummy. "Yuk!" Lestat shouted out. Claude had crawled onto the floor beside
them and was licking Lestat's ear, his tail was flicking in Louis' face and
making his sneeze."Oh this is just fucking great." Lestat shouted again, trying to push Claude
out of the way."Lestat, its all right. He's not in the way. Keep going please." Louis
begged him.Lestat complied with Louis' wishes, gently spread his legs, and pushed a
finger deep inside of him. Louis moaned, and Claude barked excitedly. Both
Lestat and Louis giggled. Lestat then moved himself into position and
pushed himself into Louis' eager and waiting body. He began to thrust,
deeply, slowly at first, then quicker as Louis' breathing sped up. Lestat
yelped again as he felt a cold tongue licking the crack of his arse."Merde! " He shouted. "This is no good. I cannot concentrate on this with
Claude trying to join in." He pushed him out of the way again."Keep going please, Lestat." Louis moaned loudly, so Lestat continued his
thrusting. He bent his head to Louis' neck and bit him gently, sucking his
fledgling's blood languidly into his mouth. A cold tongue was in his ear
again, and a furry tail was tickling his neck. Lestat pulled out of Louis'
throat and glared at Claude who was wagging his tail vibrantly and smiling,
in his doggy way, with his teeth bared. His tongue was lolling to one side
and there was drool dripping down onto Lestat's arm.With a movement quicker than the eye could see, Lestat grabbed Claude's
tongue, yanked on it, and snarled at him. Claude yelped loudly, Louis
yelled even more loudly at Lestat, then he jumped up and left the room."Louis, come back here."
"Not if you are going to hurt Claude." he shouted, and slammed the door to
his room."Merde!" shouted Lestat again, and stormed out of the house, grabbing his
clothes and dragging them on quickly.Chapter 6
Claude was bereft. Both his masters had deserted him, so in a doggy huff,
he slid out through the little door, skittered across the slate path, lifted
his leg under the tree then squeezed through the tiny hole in the fence.
Freedom!He trotted gallantly up the footpath, sniffing all the wonderful smells left
behind by others of his kind, leaving his own mark on every available lamp
post. The night was warm, he had just fed, and adventure was on his mind.
Further and further away he went from his home, and closer and closer he
came to trouble.As Claude went around the corner, near the fragrantly smelling fire hydrant,
he ran smack bang into Brutus. ::Yikes:: Claude yelped, and turning rapidly
on his spindly puppy legs, tried to run away from the looming beast, with
the sharp canines, and the frightening hackles upraised on his thick neck.Too late!! He felt the pain in his rump as Brutus, the brute of a bull
terrier, bit into him. His legs gave away beneath him, his blood spilled in
a torrent on the pavement, and a darkness came slowly over him.*********************************************************************
Louis heard Lestat slamming the door as he left the house, so he quietly
left his bedroom, where he had been pretending to sulk, to find Claude.
Seeing him nowhere around, he unfortunately assumed that Lestat had taken
him for a walk. He picked up his hastily discarded clothes, donned them
with little care, and settled down on the couch with his book.Lestat would be back soon, he was sure, and perhaps they might even continue
where they left off. This time, however, they would put him outside and
lock the doggy door.It was nearly dawn when Lestat bounded back in, flushed from a recent feed,
and kissed Louis soundly on the cheek."Is Claude OK, Louis. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him, the little imp.
It's just that he was being a bloody nuisance.""I thought he must have been with you." Louis said, quite worried now.
"No, I went out alone. He was still sitting on the rug there when I left.
Where is he Louis?"Together they scoured the house and the yard, calling all the while,
desperately trying to find him. With only minutes to spare, and worried out
of their minds, they fell into bed, as the sun crept insidiously over the
horizon..........the next evening.
Louis was up at the crack of sunset, surprising Lestat, who had just risen
himself. They searched the house again, then the yard, then further up the
street. Splitting up, Louis went towards the park, while Lestat walked
alongside the river bank. The evening air was balmy and the sweet scent of
hibiscus blossoms wafted through the air. Lestat's sensitive vampire senses
picked up another odour however, one that was at once familiar and tempting.
Blood!He followed the smell, closer and closer, it was coming from a rubbish bin
in the street. What greeted him when he lifted the lid made his heart sink,
and his breathing quicken.
Chapter 7
They laid his tiny body, which was wrapped in Lestat's jacket on the table.
He was still breathing, but it was rapid and shallow. Some callous ingrate
had dumped him in the bin, not even checking to see if he was still alive.
Lestat would search them out, and dump their body, drained of course, into
the same vessel.Louis gently patted his head, and Claude, using every ounce of energy left
in him turned his head a little to lick Louis on the hand."We have to save him, Lestat. The poor little thing."
Lestat carefully felt his back, the bones did not seem to be broken, his
main injury seemed to be a very large bite that had bled profusely. With a
soft cloth he pressed down on the wound."You know what would help. Don't you?" Louis said to him, a tear running
down his cheek and falling onto Claude's nose. Claude tried in vain to lick
it off."Should we?" Lestat answered him.
"Absolutely. We owe it to him. It was our fault he ran off."
Lestat grimaced for a second as he bit into his own tongue with his fangs,
then lifting up the bandage, let a few drops dissipate into the wound.
Claude whimpered for a second them shut his eyes. His breathing had slowed,
and his little heart seemed to be beating stronger."I think its working, Louis."
Louis did the same, bending over and watching in fascination as his own
blood dripped into the gaping hole, and began its miracle. After a few more
drops of blood from both of them, Claude was almost completely healed.
Breathing sighs of relief, they laid Claude down gently on the lambs wool
rug, and covered him with an old blanket."Did we do the right thing, Lestat? What if we have affected him in some
way?""I'm sure he will be fine, Louis." Lestat answered him, but what Louis
didn't see were his fingers crossed, behind his back.*****************************************************************
Six months later...Claude is now fully grown...Louis and Claude were on their nightly walk. It had become a ritual to both
of them. Louis read the papers, Lestat romped with Claude in the back yard.
Then the walk. Claude was so smart that as soon as Lestat got sick of being
covered in slobber and fur, Claude would find his lead, and carrying it in
his soft mouth would nudge Louis' on the knee. If Louis didn't respond
straight away, Claude would bark loudly and drop the lead on Louis' lap.Louis would often act annoyed, but Claude knew better, as he always received
a rub behind his ear and if he was really lucky, a tummy rub. Claude loved
tummy rubs, almost as much as he loved his masters.Louis loved to watch Claude walking proudly beside him. The only sign that
he had received such a terrible injury when he was a pup was a slight ridge
in his fur. It just never grew back quite right. Louis walked briskly
along the edge of the lake, then moving up onto the slate pathway, he began
to jog. Claude it seemed, never wore out, he kept up the pace with Louis
for a couple of hours. Then they would slump down on the grassy banks and
look up at the moon, or the stars, or the clouds. Whichever happened to be
looking down upon them.This was when Louis would chat to him. Telling him his life story, or about
the current book he was reading, or about the recent argument he and Lestat
had been having. Louis, on this balmy night, put his arm around Claude's
neck, and pulled him close. He relished the warmth of his body, his strong
heartbeat pumping the hot blood. Claude licked his neck, and Louis kissed
him on his cold nose."Look at the fag, can't even find another arse to screw, he has to fuck his
dog."Louis looked around angrily, to stare at the moron who had made such
pathetic comments about him and his mate.Louis stood up, and pulled a growling Claude close to his leg, holding him
back from tearing the man's throat out."Say that again." Louis said to him calmly.
"You heard me, faggot. I've seen you down here with your blonde friend,
kissing and touching each other. It's disgusting. Doesn't he want you any
more? You have to make do with the dog." he was laughing, his yellow
teeth gnashed together, and a small amount of spittle dribbled down his
chin.Louis, if he had been mortal, would have puked. The man was filthy, his
hair was greasy and matted, his skin was sallow, yet he swaggered about, an
air of arrogance about him.Louis moved so quickly that the piece of filth never saw him move. He
grabbed him around the neck and brought him down to the ground. "Do you
have anything more to say?" Louis snarled at him, purposely showing him his
fangs."What are you?" the piece of filth managed to squawk before Louis sunk his
fangs into his neck and gulped down his hot salty blood. Deliciously
revenged, Louis dropped the man to the ground, his drained body even more
pathetic than when he was alive.All the while Claude was watching him, drool dripping from his mouth, his
brown doggy eyes, wide and searching. Louis stepped back for a second or
two, then sunk to his knees, waiting for the swoon to dissipate. His eyes
were closed, his head was bowed. Then he heard a slurping sound. Louis
opening his eyes to see Claude licking up the small droplets of blood that
were still pooling on the man's neck."Come away, Claude. Human blood is not good for you." he tugged on Claude's
lead. Then with a quick movement, picked up the victim and slung him into
the river.Walking slowly back up the bank, Louis and Claude did not seem to be aware
of a pair of dark eyes watching them from across the inlet. A man, swearing
revenge on Louis for the death of his friend.Chapter 8
Two nights later....
Louis walked slowly down into the garden. The night was balmy, the sweet
scents from the flowering hibiscus wafted through the air. Louis felt
content, happy and was looking forward to his evening walk with Claude. The
courtyard was quiet, unusually so.Louis called out for Lestat, but received no answer. He then searched
frantically for Claude. He rushed up the slate pathway, through the thicket
of small trees that nestled in the back corner and stopped dead. He could
smell blood, strong, musty, human. Droplets of it scattered across the
paving, and he followed its trail right up to the darkest corner of the
garden.A battered corpse lay sprawled up against the fence, its throat was torn out
viciously. It was fresh, it had happened only minutes ago. Louis called
out for Lestat again, and spun around quickly when he heard him answering
his call.Lestat was standing up on the balcony with Claude at his side. He had a
strange look on his face, and Claude was whining. Something was wrong.
Louis felt it in his bones. He dashed up the staircase and confronted
Lestat, who was sitting on the ground cuddling Claude."Did we have an intruder?" Louis questioned him.
"It was him, Louis."
"Who? What are you talking about?"
"The beast of a man who flung Claude into the bin when he was a puppy. It
was his horrid dog who bit Claude.""What on earth was he doing in our backyard?" Louis said, noticing how
Claude looked slightly different. He couldn't quite tell what it was.
Something about his eyes. Claude also seemed to be in pain, and he could
see blood around his left ear.Louis knelt down beside him and patted his head.
"He came in to finish the job, Louis. I caught him trying to bash Claude
with an iron rod. The fool. If he had done it in the middle of the day he
might have gotten away with it, dam him. I guess he didn't count on me
waking up so early.""What!! Merde!! I hope you made him suffer, Lestat."
"Oh he suffered all right. When I drained him, I saw into his beastly mind.
I saw him flinging Claude's little body into that bin. Then I saw you,
Louis, flinging his friend into the river the other night. He came around
to exact revenge by trying to kill Claude. I ripped out his throat
then........""Then what?"
"Nothing! It's nothing, Louis." Lestat seemed to drift off, he had that
look in his eyes, that Lestat look that said. 'I have done something stupid
again, but don't ask me what.'"Tell me, Lestat. For Gods sake, what have you done now?"
Lestat tried to look hurt, and turned away from Louis. Louis walked up
beside him and rested his hand on his shoulder. He leant in to kiss him on
the cheek. Lestat pulled away."My God! It's something bad? Isn't it." Louis said, clutching onto the
railing of the balcony.A soft whimper made him turn around and he saw that Claude had defecated all
over the balcony. Louis was worried for a second or two thinking that
Claude must be ill. He was such an intelligent dog, he never disgraced
himself. Then it dawned on him."Merde! Lestat...you didn't!"
*********************************************************************
The next evening......
Armand was pacing up and down, stopping every now and then to stare at
Lestat and shake his head, then continued again.Daniel was just staring at Claude, then at Louis who was trying as hard as
he could to disappear into the fernery behind him. Lestat sat in a morose
heap in the leather lounge chair trying not to fidget."Well, this is a first, Lestat. Trust you to do something this stupid. My
God, what will Maharet or Marius think?""They don't have to know." Lestat answered him, softly.
"Oh, and like they won't notice. Claude will just live for fucking ever,
drinking all the animals in the neighbourhood dry. Yeah, Lestat. Pull the
other one.""What was I supposed to do?" Lestat cringed.
"Let the poor brute die. He's only a dog after all."
It was Louis turn now. He flipped the fern frond away from his shoulder and
confronted Armand."We love him, Armand. He's part of our family, I can understand why Lestat
did what he did.""Would you have done the same, Louis?"
"Non!" he answered quietly.
"What was that, Louis?"
"You heard me, Armand. I probably wouldn't have done it. But in some ways
I'm glad that he did.""What happened exactly, Lestat?" Daniel questioned him. "I mean, how did
you get Claude to drink your blood. And geeze, what's it like inside a
dog's head?""Its full of wonderful smells, trees, fire hydrants, food and knees."
Daniel stifled a giggle. "Knees!"
"Well, what do you expect. Claude's head only comes up to everyone's knees.
Thats what he sees when he goes for a walk""You're not really going to tell me that you could read Claude's mind when
you drained him?" Daniel's mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide and
questioning."Well, it was very strange, black and white, confused little snippets of
sights and smells, nothing coherent.""You didn't answer Daniel's other question, Lestat. How did you get Claude
to drink from you.""Well...he kind of had a taste for blood. When he was hurt a few months
ago, Louis and I put blood on his gash. A little must have dropped into his
mouth. Then a couple of times when he's been with me and I've fed, he's sat
beside me and lapped up some off the ground. It was easy really. I managed
to stop the shithead before he killed him, but Claude was mortally wounded.
I...I just didn't want to lose another dog so soon.""Well now it looks like you are stuck with him forever, Lestat."
"Stuck with whom?" a voice questioned.
They all turned around, including Claude, who had been casually licking his
balls."Marius!"
Chapter 9
Louis, Lestat and Claude, walked joyfully together along the lake front,
down the winding path to the edge of the water. They sat down on the cool
damp grass, and hugged each other. Claude licked them both on the nose with
his long luscious tongue and bounded down to the water's edge.He leapt into the cold water and swam around for a few minutes, as Louis and
Lestat fondled each other gently, and kissed."I thought Marius was going to have a heart attack." Louis said with a grin
on his face."I think he did. Didn't he?" Lestat laughed. "I've seen him surprised
before, but this took the cake.""I didn't know whether he was going to smack you one, ban you from the coven
for life, or roll on the ground with Claude.""Well, that's what Claude wanted. He seemed to like Marius, didn't he? I
mean, I've never seen Claude do that to anyone before. Mojo used to try and
jump up on people, but not Claude.""It was kind of funny watching Marius with Claude slobbering all over his
face." giggled Louis."If Daniel and Armand had been mortals, they would have wet themselves.
I've never seen Armand laugh like that before. I think Marius was more
mortified about being laughed at, than at me making Claude into a vampire
dog.""Do you think Marius will do anything about it, Lestat? I mean, he won't
have Claude destroyed, will he? What did he say to you when he took you out
on the balcony? I was afraid he was going to push you off or something.""He was more surprised than angry, Louis. Although I've never actually seen
Marius snarl at me before. Raise his eyebrows, berate me, make me feel like
a naughty little kid, but not snarl. He's very frightening you know. But
then he laughed.""He laughed?" Louis said, raising his eyebrows now, and smiling broadly.
"He said if I was going to do something this stupid, I would have to take
care of him for the rest of my life.. That I was the only vampire he knew
who could make so many stupid mistakes, and actually get away with it. But
he did say that Claude might just have an important roll to play.""Really!"
"Oui!! He could help to cull all the feral dogs roaming the streets.
Although how I am going to teach him to only kill the bad dogs, is quite
beyond me.""Claude is very intelligent, Lestat. Perhaps he already knows."
"Lets hope so." mused Lestat. They both leapt up quickly, swearing and
cursing as Claude romped out of the water and shook himself vigorously all
over them."CLAUDE!!" They shouted.
He just looked at them with his sparkling vampire eyes, and woofed.
Hand in hand they climbed back up the small hill, with a very wet and
scraggly Claude panting behind them. They sauntered slowly, along the path,
enjoying the cool evening air, the bright moonlight and the faint aroma of
breakfast. Two mortals, hunched together shooting up their latest
acquisition, completely oblivious to their death hovering in the darkness.Claude growled deeply, and the drug addicts looked up. A scruffy ugly
looking dog leapt out at Louis and Lestat, startling them for a second. He
went for Claude's throat, its filthy canines bared, ready for battle.
Claude, swift as lightning tore the beasts throat and began to drink. Louis
and Lestat stood with their mouths agape, not unlike the druggies, who had
jumped up now, expected their dog to win the battle. The syringe was still
poking out of one of their arms."Good boy." Louis said to Claude, as he let Lestat move quickly over to
their victims."Are you going to join me, Louis?" Lestat smiled at him, as he held both the
druggies by the upper arms. Their futile struggles going unheeded as Lestat
implored Louis to take their repast together."You know I don't like you watching." he said softly.
"Oh, come on Louis. I won't be watching, I'll be drinking. Come on, lets
make it a threesome." and he winked at Louis, who had walked over to them
and was running his hands through Lestat's hair.Lestat watched mesmerised as Louis grabbed one of them, and gently pulled
his neck back, cradled his body and slowly and enticingly sank his fangs
into his vein. Louis' body shuddered for a second, then Lestat did the
same.Satiated, flushed and warm, they wended their way home. Claude bounding
ahead like a newborn puppy, and Lestat and Louis nestled arm in arm.That was fun, Louis. Do you want to do it again tomorrow night?'
"Why not." he replied.
Fin.