Jesse and Daniel (Aftermath)
© Nicole
Nickle82@aol.com
October 1999Disclaimer: No infringements are meant towards Anne Rice, her publishers, the City of New York, Fifth Avenue, Saint Patricks Cathedral, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Starbucks Coffee Company, or any other things that may be mentioned within the lines of this story that have been taken from else were.
Spoilers: up to and including MtD
The cold came early this year. I walked quickly down Fifth Avenue towards Saint Patricks Cathedral. The wind blew my hair around. I tucked my chin closer to my chest and continued the walk. A chill ran down my spine as I continued to walk.
The crowd of people had not died down since Veronica's Vail had been delivered by an angel; Lestat. That had been a week ago. Every one of our kind knew of Lestat's latest adventure. Some, like Mael and Armand had gone into the sun at the sight of Lestat's "gift". Others paid no attention to what commotion he has caused this time. I wouldn't had come if not asked to.
As I grew closer to the steps of the cathedral I had to push my way through just to get by. Slightly annoyed by the amount of mortals I had to weed though I began to wonder why I agreed to met him here. And on the steps no less. I was about to leave when I heard my name being called.
"Jesse!"
I turned around, to the best of my ability to see a young man making his way through the assemble of believing public. His ashen hair was speckled with white snowflakes, and he wore no outer coat. He grew closer until he was practical pushed onto me.
"Jesse. Thank god you came. If not I would have felt really stupid coming out here on a night like this." he said greeting me.
"My God Daniel you may not be stupid but you are crazy! Aren't you cold at all?" I asked. He glanced down at his attire and laughed, "Can we please talk some place else? I do believe the crowd is getting restless." I yelled.
"Sure!" he replied taking hold of my arm and dragged me out of the sea of mortals.
Leaving the scene was harder then getting in. The though of salmon ran though my mind. Always going against the current. It seemed that my whole life I was going against the current that was the mortal world. I must have laughed out loud at this thought because Daniel turned around quickly and asked what was so funny. Nothing I told him. Easier to do that then explain why salmon would make one laugh.
It wasn't until we reached the Museum of Modern Art that we finally had room to move. It was then that Daniel began to rub the upper part of his arms with his bare hands. I took the scarf from around my neck and gave it to him. It wouldn1t do much but it was better then having nothing.
"Thanks." he said with a smile and wrapped the fabric around his neck.
"There's a Starbucks not far from here. We can go there are you can explain exactly why you wanted to met with me." I said pulling the collar of my coat up to where the scarf once was.
"Fine with me." he said beginning to walk back towards the cathedral.
"Ah, Daniel," I said. He looked over his shoulder back at me, "it's the other way."
He slightly laughed, turned around and began to walk in the other direction. I shook my head and followed after him.
We carried our seven dollar cups of coffee to a table in a dark, hidden corner of Starbucks. Daniel grasped his cup tightly, desperately trying to warm himself. I continuously moved the plastic stirrer in circles within the mocha colored liquid. The small snowflakes on Daniel's hair began to melt under the fluorescent lights leaving droplets of water on his head. He tapped his foot, as if he was impatiently waiting for someone to arrive.
"Dan, what was so important that it caused you to call me and leaving your apartment without a coat?" I asked breaking the silence.
He looked up at me with a questioning look on his face. With a quick, deep inhale he leaned back in his chair and spoke as if he was thinking aloud.
"You think Armand is really dead?" he asked.
This did not catch me totally off guard. Besides news of Lestat's "discovery" the news of Armand and Mael both going into the sun had spread though the vampire community like a brushfire. I had taken all the events in the past week very lightly, not giving too much though on any given subject. Except that of Mael's death. I didn't believe that Mael would kill himself over a religious object that was not even from his religion. Druidism and Catholicism were practically polar opposite beliefs. Armand had been another subject. Very few knew about his past, and from what has been written about so far in those damn books Lestat insists on writing, Armand himself knew little of his past. But was he dead...
"I don't think so Dan." I answered after a long silent moment.
He leaned forward and smiled with this news. He looked out the window and saw a group of people running towards Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Mothers pulling children by their hands. The children slipping on the packed snow covering the sidewalk. Daniel sighed and looked back at me
"They have no idea what the cause of this... this miracle is and yet most of them don't care." he said absentmindedly, "Have you seen it Jesse?"
"No. I don't see the point. I never was very religious to begin with." I confessed.
"Oh. It's actually very beautiful, if you like that kind of stuff." He said staring down into the coffee.
"There's something bothering you Dan. Besides the whole Armand... you know." I said not wanting to actually say Armand's death.I dug through my pocket producing a cigarettes. I lightly head it between my forefinger and middle finger in my left hand, "So let it out."
"First off, since when did you smoke?" Daniel quickly asked looking down at my hand.
Glancing down I replied, "Secret little addiction. No one knew about it. I guess old habits are hard to break."
"Tell me about it." Daniel laughed. I knew he would understand about the addiction of smoking. Although I was unable to, it didn't feel natural at times not to a pack at quick disposal. Also I had found this drew attention away from me. It makes me appear mortal I guess.
"Now what's bugging you Dan?" I asked again.
"I want to know what happened. With the vail and all. I want to find Lestat and know if what he saw was real. Did he really drink from Christ and if that's really Veronica's vail you know. And if Armand it really... err... yeah." he told me also staying away from using Armand and dead in the same sentence. I must have giving him a strange look because he then added, "I guess all those years at an Catholic school haven't worn off yet." we both slightly laughed at this.
"But why did you feel it necessary to call me?"
"Well it seems Maharet is 'watching' over Lestat and no one can get near him. Except Louis and David that is. I was thinking maybe you could talk to her and see if you can get me in to see him." he said leaning back in his chair again. So that is where Maharet had gone. She had left a letter saying she was going to be gone for a few days, not saying where she would be. "So will you help me?" he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, "Why the hell not. Nothing to really do here anyway. The whole damn city seems to be at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Along with the rest of the Tri-State area."
Daniel smiled excitedly, "Gr... Great! Um... I guess we can leave, is tomorrow night too soon for you?"
"Tomorrow is just fine Daniel."
"All... all right then. I guess I can met you in front of Rockefeller Center. Okay? Okay." he glanced down at his watch, "Aw shit! I had to be somewhere twenty minutes ago. I got to run Jesse. Thanks again." he stood up and began towards the door.
"Hey Daniel!" I yelled.
"What?" he asked with an annoyed tone of voice.
"The scarf. Remember it's cold out there."
"Oh yeah." He said coming back for it, "Thanks again Jess. Bye!"
And with that he left.
I waited for Daniel in the cold again. I dug my hands into the large pockets of my leather coat. Although the snow had stopped, the temperature had not improved. I was glad to be leaving this horrid weather. One would believe growing up in a cold climate would makes one use to the temperature. Not true.
Ice skaters went around in circles in Rockefeller Center, and people continued to rush towards Saint Patrick's Cathedral to see the vail.
I took my hands out of my pockets, cupped them around my mouth and breathed into them. I kept an eye out for Daniel, hoping he would return my scarf. I had thrown a few things into a duffel bag to bring on this trip. Figuring that if I had forgotten something I could buy it, I had forgotten to bring an extra scarf. Finally I saw Daniel running towards me with a brown bomber jacket, and a backpack swinging back and forth over his shoulders.
"Damn it Dan, it took you long enough!" I said as soon as he was in ear shot.
"I got a little tired up. They're not letting one get through at Saint Pat's. You try getting through that mess." he said, almost out of breath.
"Why not just take Sixth Avenue until you got pass that mess? At least you got a jacket this time, but some times I don't think you were born with any common sense." I said
"Look, lets not fight this early in the trip. Let's save it for when we're really pissed off at each other." Daniel suggested trying to lighten the situation, "By the way, here's your scarf. Thanks for lending it to me."
I took the scarf and quickly wrapped it around my neck.
"So how exactly are we going to get to New Orleans Dan?" I said as we began to walk towards Fifth Avenue.
"I got a BMW in a garage a few blocks away. We could take that. Much easier than hitchhiking. I'll tell you that much."
I waved my hand telling him to lead on. very little was said between Daniel and I while we made the trek towards the BMW. I was just thankful that is was in the opposite direction then the church. It seemed that each night the crowed of believers grew larger and larger. It was everywhere on the television, ruining the regular news broadcasts. It find local news you practically had to make it yourself. The whole city had shut down.
"Lestat, once again, you've caused chaos among the masses." I though to myself.
"I heard Mael had gone into the sun as well." Daniel said innocently enough.
"Uh, oh yeah. I heard about that to. I don't much believe it myself though. He was a Pagan for Christ sakes. It seems very unlikely that something such as a vail from a religion he never belonged to, or believed in for that fact, would cause him to go into the sun." I blurted out. I didn't want to think about Mael right now. Until Daniel contacted me, he was the last one of our kind I had seen.
"Oh." Daniel replied, a little bewildered by the quick and long response to a simple comment, "If it's any consolation to you Jess, I don't believe he's dead either. Beside what you've stated, he's been immortal the same amount of time as Marius. I don't think he could die by going into the sun if he wanted to."
I put my arm around his shoulder, "Thanks Dan. Now how much further is this damn garage? I'm freezing!"
"Ah... It should be on the corner of..." he looked around us until he spotted a building diagonal from our position, "... right there!"
We ran towards the darken structure. It would appear that there was no one present to let us in, or the car out. I looked over to see Daniel waving for me to come towards him and in through a doorway. The whole place seemed abandoned.
"Armand bought it for me while I was still mortal. I never had a real use for it, so I just used it for storage." he explained to me. I nodded my head to show I understood what was going on. He took hold of on of my hands and led me blindly in the dark towards, what I could only guess was the BMW.
"Ouch!" he yelled. Apparently he had ran smack into the car without realizing it. All I could do was giggle a little, "It's not funny. That really hurt." he told me.
"Right, right!" I quickly agreed.
He opened the drivers side door, and with the car lights the whole placed illuminated with a pale white light. Thousands of boxes were all over the place, stacked upon each other, touching the celling.
"I told you I used it for storage, now come on, I want to see how far we can get in one night. I'm hoping we'll at least hit D.C. before dawn." he said getting in the car and leaning over opening the passenger side door.
"Sounds fine to me driver man." I said throwing my bag in the small backseat.
"Dan, ever thing of how you're going to get the car out of this building?" I asked once comfortably seated.
"Ah ha!" he said pulling out a small remote control from underneath his seat. He pressed the button, pointing the controller in front of us. Suddenly the wall began to move sideways to reveal the street. Lookers on stood stalk still as the saw the wall moving, revealing a room with a car in the middle of it. Daniel turned to me, "Garage door opener my dear Jessica."
Without even waiting for the people to clear out of the way of the door Daniel floored the car swerving it onto Fifth Avenue. I held onto the dash board while Daniel maneuvered his way down the street.
"Shit Dan, slow down!! It's not even that late, don't go so fast!" I screamed at him. With that he slammed on the breaks, bring the car to screeching stop and a red light. He turned to me and began to laugh, throwing his head back while doing so, "What's so funny?" I asked catching my breath.
"Aw Jess, you got to see the look on your face. It's priceless!" he said in between laughs.
I shook my head at this comment, "It's green now Dan. Drive, and try to remember there are speed limits here. Humor me if nothing else"
"Fine, but you're taking away all the fun from driving." he said as the car began to move forward and reach the thrity-five mile per hour speed limit.
As we drove he fooled around with the radio trying to find a station he could stand to listen to for more than thirty second. I started blankly out the window at the streets of New York City. Even though I grew up here, with my vampiric nature, everything seemed more beautiful, more mysterious. Suddenly the sound of incoherent words and hard rough beets flooded the car.
"Damn it Dan. What the hell is this?!" I yelled over the sound.
"Hot 97."
"Rap?! Oh no Dan, please not rap. Anything but rap." I pleaded.
"My car, my music. When you drive you can listen to what you want." he responded just barely audible.
"Can you please at least turn it down? I can't even hear myself think." I said
"I can." he said with an impish grin.
"This is so childish Dan."
"Sorry." he said as he leaned forward and lowered the sound, "That better Miss Jess?"
"Better." I replied.
Daniel maneuvered the BMW towards the Lincoln Tunnel which would lead us into New Jersey. From there it we would take Interstate 95 into Washington DC for the day and plan our next moves from there. I hoped that we would leave the vicinity of New York stations quickly so I wouldn't have to put up with the "music" much longer.
"If you begin to sing Daniel, I can't promise I won't kill you." I though to myself.
"Was that a threat Jesse?" I heard Daniel say.
"Yes it was. And don't test me on that either" I grittily replied.
We were a quarter of the way though the Lincoln Tunnel when the radio signal was lost. All there was was static, but it was so peaceful. What people saw in rap I would never understand. And what Daniel, someone who should be forty by now saw in it even eluded me more.
"Damn it! We lost the signal. This is just great!" Daniel said hitting the radio with the ball of his palm.
"Just relax Daniel, don't break the damn thing. You'll be even more pissed off then. As much as it pain me to say this, but it will come back as soon as we get out of the tunnel. Just sit back and drive."
Once we left the tunnel it was ten in the evening. The radio once again worked and the lights of New York were becoming distant. Daniel kept the beet of the "music" with his hand on the steering wheel. As we drove our speed increased; forty, fifty, sixty, seventy. At first I did not notice anything. I have never been good at judging speed while on highways or freeways. It was only when I glanced over to the speedometer and as the needed nearing eighty that I said something.
"Dan, I know you want to find out if Armand is really dead. I totally understand that, just could you slow down a bit? You never know where a cop could be." I suggested.
"Nonsense Jesse! It's late in there evening. I don't any cop are out here now." he said trying to reassure me that nothing was going to happen. And with just our luck sirens were blaring behind us, "Damn it!" Daniel yelled as loud as he could.
He slowed he speed down and pulled over to the shoulder of the highway. Daniel folded his arms on the wheel and placed his forehead on them I just shielding my eyes from the window, searching for a pair of sunglasses, I didn't find my pair, but I did find an old pair of Mael's that would work for Daniel.
"Pst... Dan. Put these on." I said sliding them into his lap. He did as he was told. I continued to look for mine.
"You were going a little fast there sir." The officer said as he reached the window shining a light into the car. He was in his late thirties, with blond hair, brown eyes, and of average high.
"Gee I'm really sorry officer. I won't let it happen again." Daniel said look up at him, sunglasses on. I frantically looked for mine.
"Well I'm going to have to see your license and registration sir." The officer told him. Daniel opened the glove department and quickly threw something into my lap. It was his pair of sun glasses. There were a little big for me but they would work. I quickly took them and put them on, "Are you okay miss?" he asked.
"Who me? Yeah I'm fine. Just a little tired." I said as looked at him.
"It's a little dark to be wearing sun glassed don't you two think so?" he asked.
"Here you go officer." Daniel said producing registration and a license.
The officer inspected the papers for a long time, "Well Mr. Molloy, the speed limit here is only fifty-five, not eighty. I'm sorry but I am going to have to give you ticket."
"Um, excuse me officer, but you see we're on our honeymoon and we were in such a rush to, ah, consummate the marriage that we kind of, ah, didn't realize how fast we were going. Don't you think we could just let us slide this once? I'm sure you know how it is. You do have a wife don't you?" I said leaning over Daniel's lap to see the officer.
"Jesse, what the hell are you doing?" Daniel asked.
"Saving your ass for getting a ticket. Now shut up and act like you love me!" I replied. Daniel placed his hand on my ass, "Get you hand off my ass!"
"But you said..."
"I know what I said, just... aw forget it!"
"Actually I'm not married." The officer confessed.
"I can't believe that!" I said playfully.
"It's true I know. But I think maybe just this once I'll let you slide. Just remember to go the speed limit next time. Okay?"
"Thank you very much officer. And we'll obey the law. We promise!" I yelled after the officer as he left. Once he was gone I turned my attention to Daniel, "What the hell were you doing putting you hand on my ass!?"
"You said act like I love you."
"And hand on ass is the first thing that popped into that head of yours?" I was desgusted by this act.
"Well yeah. That's what I did to show my girlfriends I love 'em in high school."
"And did they like it?" I asked afraid to know the answer.
"I guess so. I mean I never asked. Anyway just about every girl in school knew I "loved" them, if you know what I mean."
"Oh my god, you little male slut! I'm glad I didn't know you then! You know, I just want to get to DC. So just drive... at the speed limit too. That's the last time I'm covering your ass."
For the rest of the night we drove in silence.
TBC...