This story is an alternate ending to the final scene between Armand and Louis in Interview with a Vampire. It’s what I wished had happened…

Armand's Seduction

"You didn't even warn them, did you?"

"No."

"And you knew what I would do?"

"I knew. I rescued you, didn't I? From the terrible dawn." For the first time tonight, Armand's tone was playful. If I had glanced his way, I would have seen a small smile dance briefly across his face.

"You were their leader. They trusted you."

Armand's pace slowed. "You made me see their failings, Louis. They were doomed - stuck in their decadent time. They had forgotten the first lesson: that we must be powerful, beautiful and without regret."

"And you can teach me this?" I already knew the answer.

"Yes."

"To be without regret?"

"Yes." He answered before I finished asking.

"Then what a pair we could make."

Armand chuckled softly, then we both fell silent; I was consumed by thoughts of what had happened to me during the past forty-eight hours. Claudia's passionate demand that I 'give' her a companion was followed immediately by our capture at the hands of the vampires from the theatre. The panic I felt as I was locked in the coffin was matched by my terror at the thought of what was happening to my daughter.

The first sight I beheld when the coffin lid was opened was Armand's face. His pale skin, luminous eyes and full lips looked the same, but he was breathing heavily from the exertion of tearing down the wall. Despite his repeated pleas to the contrary, I ran to the room I knew Claudia to be in.

The sight of them took my breath for a moment, before I composed my face back into a mask and walked away.

I suppose I was in shock; I remember little about the fire except the sense of peace I felt as I destroyed all the creatures who had participated in the destruction of Claudia.

All except Armand, of course.

I knew that he had knowledge and acquiescence of the act, even if he did not actively participate in it. In my initial outrage, I wanted to destroy him along with his followers.

But as I collapsed into the back of the hearse, which was sealed against the ever-encroaching daylight, all my emotions dissipated into emptiness.

And now, as Armand and I strolled slowly down the hallway of his house, I cursed my absence of emotions and longed to be able to summon even a small theatrical outburst, in the style of Claudia. Or Lestat.

When I pulled myself out of my thoughts enough to look at my companion, several emotions were fighting for control of his face: concern and worry were there, as was something else.

Desire.

That's what I would have seen, had I allowed myself to *really* look at him. And to remember Claudia's words: 'He wants you as you want him'. It was the same look that was in Armand's eyes the previous evening as he reached out to caress my cheek, only to stop himself before he touched me.

"Louis?" For the first time I realised I knew what Armand was thinking. It was as if he was speaking: 'Scream at me, strike me, try to destroy me if you must... but don't shut me out. You need me as I need you.'

"Do I?" The concept of communicating via thoughts didn't appeal to me. I preferred words.

Armand nodded.

"Armand, I cannot speak of this now. My head is still spinning from all that has happened..."

"Of course. Take all the time you need, Louis. The room you woke up in tonight is yours for as long as you choose to stay. Come and go as you please - no one will disturb you. When you are ready to see me, I will be there." When he finished speaking, Armand turned his back to me. Pausing briefly, he squared his shoulders and walked back the way we had come in.

I spent the next five nights in solitude, leaving the house only to feed. I sat for hours and thought about Lestat, who was responsible for what I am, but whom I had long ago ceased hating. He was too arrogant to admit that he had made a mistake in thinking I would be like him someday. I thought about Claudia as well: the pain of her loss remained, but it was slowly being replaced by the realization that she should never have been made and would have suffered forever for Lestat's and my mistake. Finally, I thought about Armand. 'You would leave me for Armand if he beckoned you,' Claudia had said. I disagreed with her, but my words sounded hollow, even to me. Claudia was nothing, if not perceptive; she knew, before I did, that I had finally found another immortal that understood me better, even, than I understood myself.

And so it was no surprise to find Armand waiting for me outside my chamber door when I arose on the sixth night. No words were spoken aloud as we made our way out of the house and across the garden, to a tower. It looked ancient in the pale moonlight and I feared the bricks and mortar would crumble around us. Once inside, my companion led me up a steep, narrow staircase. The room at the top of the stairs was empty; the stones in the middle of the floor were black, as if they had been burnt.

'What is this place?' For the first time, I consciously sent out a thought to Armand.

To my surprise, he spoke aloud. "This is the place where Lestat was made. Afterwards, Magnus threw himself into the fire there," he pointed toward the blackened stones. "Lestat gave me this tower and the land, along with the deed to the theatre, when he left Paris. That was many years before he found you." Armand smiled wanly. "Would you say it is ironic? That Lestat created the theatre and you destroyed it?"

By the time Armand stopped speaking, I could only think of one question: "You said once that you knew Lestat well enough not to mourn his passing." Armand nodded. "Why would Lestat give the theatre to his enemy?"

In less time than it took to draw a breath, Armand was just in front of me, his eyes blazing. "We were never enemies. More like... rivals." Looking past my face, Armand seemed to be gazing at something I could not see. He spoke slowly. "Imagine my surprise when I learned that my old acquaintance's child was here in Paris. And Lestat was nowhere to be found." A sly smile was turning up the corners of that sensual mouth ever-so-slightly.

"Is that why you came looking for me?"

Shrugging slightly, Armand said, "Perhaps..."

I took a deep breath, feeling the stirrings of anger inside me. "What better revenge against your rival than to steal his most prized possession?"

Looking down, Armand spoke softly. "It was not the *only* reason--"

"What other reason was there?"

Armand took a step back, his eyes averted.. "I was curious, Louis. I wanted to see this vampire from the New World... that Lestat had spent so many years with. And I thought about what it would do to him if I could prevent you from returning to him." Armand continued to talk to the floor. "That was before I learned of Lestat's... misfortune--"

"Careful, my friend," I warned. "You do not know what happened--"

"Yes, I do." Armand was suddenly standing directly in front of me again. We were - almost - touching. "I know it was an accident, Louis."

"How do you know this?" The anxiety I felt must have shown on my face. Armand's gaze seared me, leaving me unable to move.

"You told me." Reaching out his hand, the vampire touched the tip of his finger to the side of my head, trailing it lightly down the length of my hair. I was still unable to move; his nearness had me spellbound. "It is true that I wanted you because you once belonged to Lestat. It may also be true that I wanted you because of what you *did* to him." Armand made a small noise in his throat, which might have been a laugh. Or a sigh. Or a moan. "But that is not important now." He smiled slightly, showing his strong, white teeth. "Once I saw you, I wanted only to keep you here with me - to own you as Lestat had owned you."

"What do you mean?" I was afraid I knew the answer and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it, but I had to ask the question anyway.

Armand hesitated for several seconds; he took a deep breath, then continued. "I fell in love with you, Louis, on that first night. And I loved you more each time I saw you."

His confession, along with the look of raw need on his beautiful face, was more than I could bear. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. "Why are you telling me these things?"

"I am telling you the truth about everything so you will not find out later, and have a reason to leave me. I love you, Louis. I want to keep you here with me... always." Armand abruptly turned, walked to the window and gazed out.

Making my way over to stand behind the elegantly-clad figure, I looked past him at the serenity of the countryside. "If I escaped from Lestat the way you say, then why would I allow myself to be kept by you? Would I not seek my freedom?"

Armand turned and faced me again. "Alone?" I nodded. "No. You are not a solitary being, Louis. You need companionship."

"I *had* companionship. For years."

"Lestat is not a suitable companion for you--"

"And you are?"

"Yes. I will never try to make you into something you are not, Louis. I understand you as Lestat never did. I can make you happy as he never could..."

Armand's voice was hypnotic. I felt as if I was losing control of my will.

"You are sure of yourself, Armand."

Armand put his arms around me, pulling me close to him. "For almost four hundred years, I searched for a companion. When I saw you, I knew my search was over." Leaning his head toward me, he touched his forehead to mine and whispered, "Do you not agree, Louis, that four hundred years is long enough to be alone?"

I closed my eyes and opened my mind to Armand, asking him to tell me what he wanted of me. Moving back slightly, he tilted his head sideways. Without saying a word, he planted a single command in my brain: 'Drink!' I could no more have resisted him than I could have cut off my right hand. My fangs sank into the soft flesh of his throat and his blood pulsed into my mouth. I do not know how long I drank, as his body writhed under my hands. Then, in one swift motion, he pushed me away and against the wall; he was upon me in an instant, taking my blood as I had taken his. I had not felt this way since that night, almost one hundred years ago, when Lestat had fed from me the first time.

Armand and I gave and received each other's blood several more times; each time I felt Armand's teeth sink into my neck or his blood splashing over my tongue, my passion increased beyond anything I'd ever known.

We remained in Lestat's tower until the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon, putting an end to our revelry. "We cannot make it back to your house, Armand. It is too late..."

"Come with me." Grasping my hands, Armand pulled me away from the window and toward a large stone in the wall. Pulling it back to reveal a passageway, he helped me crawl inside, before following me into a smaller, window-less room. There was a large sarcophagus on the floor. "We will sleep here and return to my house tonight."

I examined the ornate box. It was very large, but was it big enough for the both of us? "It is only for one day." Armand must have been reading my thoughts again. "I will leave the lid off." As I continued to hesitate, he said, "Would you prefer to sleep on the floor?"

"No." I stepped inside as he was sitting down.

It took less time to arrange ourselves than I feared and it was more comfortable than I thought it would be. We lay on our sides, our bodies touching and our lips centimeters apart. My eyes were closed but I knew that Armand was not yet asleep. "Did you mean it when you said you wanted me to stay here with you?"

"Yes." It was said so softly that I wasn't sure if it was a word or a thought. "Take your time, Louis. I do not need an answer now."

"What if I have already made my decision?" I opened my eyes and saw a look of fear on his face. His thoughts were in chaos. He believed I was going to leave. "I will stay with you, Armand, as long as you will have me."

Armand's eyes were open now, gazing at me; I felt myself being swallowed up in their dusky depths. "You are sure?"

"Yes. There are many things I have yet to learn from you. And perhaps I can teach you as well."

Armand sighed deeply. "I want to share everything with you, Louis." He wrapped his arm around me and closed his eyes again. His face was serene.

"What a pair we will make..." I brushed my lips across Armand's mouth for a brief second before his tongue forced itself into my mouth and began an intimate inventory of the interior. He shredded his tongue on my fangs and I allowed his blood to flow down my throat. Not to be outdone, I thrust my tongue against his teeth and let him drink from me one last time before sleep claimed us.

As I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness, I moved my head slightly so that my mouth was almost touching my lover's ear.

And I whispered the words I had said before, but had never meant.

Until now.

"I love you."