Sorsha sipped gingerly at the absinthe. Her throaty cough and
general green coloring brought a roar of laughter from her
company.
"Now you see why we don't like it," Lestat joked,
patting Sorsha on the back.
She coughed once more and smiled wryly. "Why ever do I
accept your dares, Lestat?" She pushed away the decanter and
tumbler, then put her head between her knees. "It tastes
like turpentine."
"You've drunk turpentine?" Jesse asked incredulously,
bounding over to her fellow redhead with a glass of water.
"Here, drink this, and I promise it's not Everclear."
Sorsha looked up, still greenish and queasy. She took the glass
and downed the cool water quickly. Handing the glass back to
Jesse she noted, "Don't think I have forgotten that last
little prank, Jesse. You'll get yours."
"Big words coming from a little mortal," the redheaded
vampire chided playfully. "But you know, I could change that
mortal thing-"
"No, that's perfectly allright," Sorsha interrupted,
quite accustomed to Jesse and the other's Dark Gift innuendoes.
If she ever said yes, they'd probably all go underground from
shock. "I kind of like this eating business. I'm
particularly fond of Fetuccine Alfredo."
Sorsha walked past the congregation of vampires to the terrace.
She could hear the dull roar of Bourbon Street not all that far
away. Suddenly she had a terrific idea--
"Speaking of Fetuccine Alfredo," a voice came from
behind her. She turned to face Marius, decked out in white apron
and chef hat, carrying a plate of steaming pasta. "I have
prepared some for you."
Sorsha smiled warily. "Um…thanks, Marius. Cooking
again?" She sat at the small side table where her meal was
to be set. A glass of chilled white wine awaited, and Sorsha
thought that she might need the whole bottle after one bite of
the food. Marius was a dear, and she loved him tremendously, but
he couldn't cook! Sure, the food looked good, but yech! Phooey!
The taste could be compared to cardboard.
Marius proudly placed the plate before Sorsha, then stepped back
to await her opinion. She wound the pasta around the fork, using
a soup spoon to help, then placed the small helping of creamy
noodles into her mouth. Her eyes widened to the size of lemons as
she chewed deliberately.
Swallowing finally, she said with surprise, "That's
delicious! Where ever did you get that recipe?"
"From me." Armand came out of the kitchen covered in
flour and Parmesan cheese. Sorsha stifled a giggled as he
continued. "Marius finally asked for some help then left me
there to do the job by myself."
Marius winked and nudged her with an elbow. Sorsha couldn't
refrain from letting a small chuckle escape. "You look
mighty sexy in that cheese," she bellowed in her best Mr. T
voice.
That sent the rest of the vampires into hysterics, except for
Armand. "Ha ha…ha ha ha," he mocked.
"Marius," his tone was not amused, "would you mind
helping me clean up at least?"
Marius nodded and followed Armand into the kitchen. As the duo
disappeared, another wave of laughter swept through the room,
with mimics of Sorsha's "You look mighty sexy in that
cheese" circulating. Then Sorsha remembered her terrific
idea.
"Hey, I've got a great idea!" she remarked giddily.
"How about I arrange a scavenger hunt: mortals vs.
immortals?"
"How would that work?" Louis asked, finally putting
down the book he had been skimming.
"Well, I suspect we could both come up with items that are
reasonably attainable by us all, merge the list and vwahlah…a
scavenger hunt to beat all scavenger hunts."
"Well, we have a formidable team already," Daniel
stated. "Lestat, Louis, Jesse, Armand, Marius and me. Not to
mention any others that happen by along the way. Who is going to
help you, Sorsha?"
"Good question. Who can I recruit to help?"
"What about the ex-TVC posters?" asked Jesse suddenly.
"I've missed them all so much since it closed... we all
have."
The other vampires nodded sadly, a sudden gloom descending on the
party at the mention of TVC. Lestat's eyes flashed and he
muttered something under his breath.
Sorsha meanwhile sat up straighter in her chair, her loaded fork
hovering halfway to her mouth, and her aqua eyes lit up.
"Jesse, that's a great idea!" she exclaimed, jumping to
her feet, fork clattering as the meal was forgotten.
"It would be a wonderful opportunity to get together with
them," agreed Daniel, his violet eyes warming. "I'd
especially like to meet some of the newer posters...ones we were
just getting to know."
Sorsha had begun to pace, thinking rapidly. "I'll e-mail
everyone tonight to see who's interested--"
"But how will they get here?" demanded Louis, always
the practical one. He leaned forward in his seat, green eyes
gleaming with interest.
Sorsha stopped pacing and gave him a slow, innocent smile.
"Thank you, Louis. I'm so glad you brought that up,"
she purred. "I thought that maybe you vamps, in your
wonderfully generous nature, could delve into those bottomless
bank accounts of yours and chip in on airfare."
At that moment Marius poked his head around the corner.
"Sorsha, did I hear you say something about a scavenger
hunt?" he asked quizzically.
Sorsha nodded and had opened her mouth to reply when Armand's
voice came from the kitchen. "Marius!" he yelled,
"get back in here. You can hear everything just as well as I
can from the kitchen while we clean it up." Marius didn't
budge, merely crossed his arms and listened with a smile. Armand
continued, "Yes, Sorsha, I'll help pay...but only if the
scavenger hunt is a good one."
"Don't worry," called back Sorsha confidently, "it
will be."
The other vampires nodded their ascent as Marius demanded,
"How many are you going to ask?"
"As many as I can," replied Sorsha. "Anyone who
talked with you on TVC and has stuck around since then..."
"Marius, if you don't come and help me clean up the mess you
made *now* I'll force pop rocks down your throat!" growled
Armand from beyond the door.
Marius sighed. "Excuse me," he said apologetically.
"I'm married to a Coven Master." He turned around and
headed back in, his voice floating back to the others,
"Darling, of course I'll help...but I recall that *you* are
the one covered in cheese..."
Sorsha grinned, then turned back to the others. "All
right," she said, thinking quickly. "We should have
rules...hmm…" She thought for a minute. "All
right, for starters, no seducing the mortals to distract them
from the scavenger hunt." She looked pointedly at Lestat.
He smiled slowly, eyes wide with shock. "Really,
Sorsha," he said with mock indignation, "why are you
looking at me? I'll behave, don't worry."
"Mmm." Sorsha arched one eyebrow, unconvinced. Lestat's
smile widened. "Okay, rule number 2: No telepathic mumbo
jumbo to help you find stuff. You should have to search for
things just like everyone else."
"No, Marius, not there. I said put it in the dishwasher,
*not* the microwave," came Armand's exasperated voice from
the kitchen. Daniel chuckled.
"Rule number 3," went on Sorsha, heedless, "No
flying. Everyone goes on foot, or by car, whatever. Rule number
4: Everything happens at night. No problem for you guys,
right?" she teased. "The scavenger hunt ends at dawn
every day until it is done." She paused. "So, is
everything agreed?"
Before they could respond, a cloud of flour exploded out the
kitchen doorway with a soft *poof*.
"What the--?" demanded Jesse, coughing as she breathed
in flour.
"MARIUS!!!!!" roared Armand at the top of his lungs. He
sounded quite...ummm, well, pissed. The elder vampire darted out
the kitchen door, unscathed, and stood back, arms crossed over
his chest, laughing silently as Armand emerged, enraged and
covered with a fine white layer of flour from head to foot.
Lestat snickered, Sorsha snorted and Louis hid a smile as Jesse
grinned widely. Armand stood stock-still, trembling with fury and
glaring at Marius. Then he slowly raised one floury arm and
pointed one shaking finger at his maker.
"You," he said quietly though clenched teeth,
"have gotten the entire kitchen covered...in...flour."
"Yes, darling?" said Marius sweetly. "Your point
being?"
"I just cleaned the kitchen yesterday from your last
experiment." Armand took a deep breath. "Do you know
how impossible it is to clean up flour? Mop it and it turns into
a paste. Sweep it and all you do is spread it around."
"You should have thought of that before you pulled Coven
Master on me, beloved," replied Marius gravely, his blue
eyes twinkling. "What have I told you about respecting your
elders?"
Lestat was going into one of his laughing fits, and the others
seemed likely to join him. At this point Daniel, who had been
struggling to keep a straight face at his lover's sublime
appearance, intervened.
"I'll help clean it up," he said, moving gently between
the two. "It's all right, Armand...I've seen worse. Believe
me. You weren't here when Marius tried to make a flambe, were
you?"
He touched Armand's long curling hair, comfortingly. A cloud of
flour rose off it. Daniel lost his composure. Armand simmered,
and then turned and stormed off to the kitchen, muttering
something under his breath.
Sorsha gasped for breath between laughs. "Okay, okay, so the
rules agree with everyone?" The others nodded through
chuckles. "Then I'll go e-mail everyone." She rose and
started for the computer.
Armand appeared at the doorway. "Darling," he said to
Marius with an angelic smile.
Marius turned to him. "Yes, beloved?"
*Poof*
Sorsha rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder at Marius,
who glared at his delighted Amadeo. She sighed, shaking her head,
and booted up the computer, settling down in the comfy chair in
front of the desk, as Marius said firmly, "Amadeo, that was
most childish of you."
Armand went up on his tiptoes and gave his maker a floury kiss.
"But, Marius, I *am* your child," he murmured
seductively, slipping his arms up the blond vampire's chest.
Marius' eyes brightened.
Meanwhile Sorsha had quickly logged on and was typing out the
header for the e-mail: "ATTENTION: Scavenger Hunt for all
interested". Louis came up behind her and read as she typed,
sliding his arms around her waist as she typed quickly, "To
any and all interested: The vampires and I are planning a
scavenger hunt down in New Orleans, Mortals vs. Immortals, and I
need a team. Anyone interested, contact me. They are willing to
pay airfare...And it's gonna be a blast!" Louis kissed the
nape of Sorsha's neck. She misspelled her name.
"Sorsha, I hope this works," he murmured.
She turned to face him. "Of course it will," she said
with a smile.
Lestat smirked as he came up and read the message. "Sorsha,
darling, you know of course that your team will lose. You don't
have a chance against us," he purred, checking his manicure.
Louis slipped away silently. She smiled quietly. "$200 000
says you are wrong," she said softly.
Lestat looked up, blue grey eyes gleaming. "Sorsha, you
always lose dares..." he warned with a charming smile.
"Not this one," she said, aqua eyes flashing.
"I will make you pay up, " he warned.
"Deal, " replied Sorsha firmly.
They shook hands, and Lestat grinned. "Darling, I don't
usually take suckers quite that easily..."
"Lestat?" It was Louis' voice. The vampire looked up.
*Poof*
"Louis!!!!!" exclaimed Lestat in a fury, blue eyes
blazing as he gazed at his flour covered suit. "That was
Italian, handmade." Louis grinned.
"Hey, everybody!" yelled Jesse. "Flour
fight!"
Sorsha groaned as the room filled with the soft fall of flour and
tussling vampires. "God, this is going to be
interesting..." She shook her head.
From the corner Armand and Marius looked on in amusement. Armand
then said quietly, in a low, heated voice, "Want to go to
bed? "
Marius smiled. "Of course," he said, composed except
for his blue eyes, which flared as he looked down at his
fledgling. They left the room.
******************************************************
Catherine burst through the front door, throwing down her book
bag and tossing her army jacket onto the coat rack. Behind
Catherine her mother entered more sedately, smiling as Catherine
twirled around the living room, yelling, "I'm done! I'm
free! IB exams are over!!!!" She slipped a CD into the
stereo system on her way by and spent the next ten minutes
dancing around house, and then she ran pell-mell to the computer
room, jumping up and down as she booted up the computer.
"Catherine, you're not going on that darn Internet
again!" yelled her mom from the kitchen as the dialer went
off.
"Yes!" she yelled back with a grin. "And don't
gripe at me, Mom! I'm done with exams! And I promise I won't talk
to any rapists!"
"Catherine," said her mother, shocked, poking her head
into the room.
"I'm teasing, Mom."
Her mother frowned. "Catherine, don't joke about stuff like
that. You heard about the girl last night on the news..."
Catherine sighed. "Yes. I did. I'm sorry. It's just, the
people I talk to, I trust."
"But you don't *know* for sure who they are," said her
mother.
"No, I don't, but--"
"Yes, but." Her mother sighed. "Just be
careful."
She headed back out to the kitchen. Catherine scowled, her good
mood squelched. Both her parents had a fear that the Internet was
full of evil people who were out to corrupt her or who had nasty
designs. She typed in the addy for "Moonscrolls" and
hit "open". Her mother would freak if she knew about
"Moonscrolls" and "Blood Tears." Then again,
she'd freak if she knew about those Vampire Chronicle books up in
the drawer of the desk in Catherine's bedroom...or her vampire
stories she kept in her blue binder, or her book of vamp
poetry... let alone the fact that she had been a poster on The
Vampire Connection.
The Moonscrolls logo appeared on the screen, and she was again
struck with the familiar pang, remembering that it was Louis who
had designed the page... and that she would never speak with him
again. Catherine had discovered TVC on February 13th, the day it
had closed for renovations, and had made friends at Lamia. And
when the new TVC had reopened she had gone right over and started
talking to the vampires. How many weeks had it been? Two? Three?
One? She smiled to herself at the memories. Talking to Marius
about Dulce, reading his stories, discussing the Crucible and
Roman religion...and he was always so warm. And her conversations
with David...his compliment about her name, their common interest
in history...and of course her brief talks with the other
vampires...and Louis and Lestat.
Catherine bit her lip, blinking rapidly and shaking her head.
God, this had affected her *way* too much. After TVC had closed
she had been a wreck, and she had had to hide it from her parents
because they didn't even know about the site. And still she would
sometimes find tears in her eyes and sit and brood. Her only
consolation was the fact that she had had the chance to talk to
them, short though it was. To know that Lestat was really all
right, that he was still alive and well and pulling pranks on the
other vamps...to have talked to him...watched his name come up in
response.
And then it was gone forever. No explanations. She sighed, moving
down the screen to her last post of "Innocent Child" to
read the responses. That was the worst part, not knowing why. She
didn't blame the mods, she knew that it had hurt them as much, if
not more, than the others. Catherine smiled as she read the
responses...Mindi, Beverley, Katrine, Rebecca...hey, and Sorsha!
It was wonderful how everyone had pulled together.
She typed out some quick responses, and then surfed over to her
Hotmail address. She frowned as she read the header to a post
from Sorsha: "ATTENTION: Scavenger Hunt for all
interested." She clicked to read it and the color drained
from her face in shock. Oh, my God. She re-read the message. She
printed it out and re-read it again. Oh, MY GOD! And then she
e-mailed Sorsha.
"Sweetie, this isn't some sick prank you are pulling on me,
is it. If not, then YES!!!! Umm, now to convince my parents...
*smiles* Catherine P.S. Is David involved?"
And then she logged off and sat in silence, staring blankly at
the screen. To be able to meet them, to see them face to
face...AHHHH! She had to go, she had to, even if she just got on
the plane and phoned from New Orleans. Catherine got up and
slowly walked to the kitchen. Her Mom was busy getting supper,
and her Dad had just come up from the basement, removing his
clergy collar. He smiled at his daughter, his brown eyes warm.
"So, you're done with exams!" he exclaimed. "What
are you going to do with all this spare time you have?"
Catherine smiled weakly. "Ummm..." She tried not to
hyperventilate, her head was swimming. "Uh, okay, I'm just
going to blurt this out. I love the Vampire Chronicles by Anne
Rice and I hang out at a web page called Blood Tears and I met a
bunch of people there and I talked to Louis and Lestat and Armand
and Marius and David and Jesse and Daniel at a place called TVC
and then it closed and now one of my pals from Blood Tears has
set up a scavenger hunt with them in New Orleans and can I
go?"
******************************************************
The next afternoon Catherine sat back in her seat on the plane to
New Orleans and thought back to her parents' response.
"Yes" was definitely not what she had expected. But
they had been quite calm about it, suggesting it would be a
graduation present and stipulating that she would have to phone
every day. Catherine had received a reply from Sorsha confirming
her place on the team and saying, "Yep, it's the real
deal." Catherine only wondered how long Sorsha had been
hangin' with the vamps... Well, in an hour she could ask her in
person! She was as exited about that as she was about meeting the
vampires. Not to mention her other fellow ex-TVC posters.
She had picked up her pre-paid ticket at the airport (courtesy of
Armand, Sorsha had said. He would have sent his private jet, but
that was picking up Beverley and David in England that evening.
David was acting as something of a moderator for both
sides...being the most levelheaded of the vampires). First class
was hard to beat, thought Catherine snuggling back in her comfy
seat and munching on the huge chocolate chip cookie they had
brought her. Even the cookies were bigger in first class!
Catherine sighed and swallowed the last bit. Then she switched on
her Walkman and closed her eyes.
Catherine stepped out into the blinding sunlight of the New
Orleans airport, gazing through her oval sunglasses at the crowd,
shifting her backpack on her shoulders. Her faded green army
jacket was thrown over one arm, and the other was hefting her
heavy suitcase. She ran her hand through her short dark brown
layered hair, which gleamed with red highlights in the sun, and
stretched, enjoying the feel of walking after the long hours of
sitting on the plane. She brushed her slate blue-grey T-shirt and
glanced down at her faded blue jeans. The silver cross at her
neck glittered. She frowned. Where was Sorsha? She had said that
she would meet Catherine at the front entrance of the airport.
Suddenly she heard her name being shouted at the top of someone's
lungs.
"CATHERINE!!!!!!"
She glanced up, startled to see a redheaded girl charge through
the crowd and her face lit up in a smile as Sorsha threw her arms
around Catherine, screaming, "POUNCE!"
Catherine laughed and hugged her back, hazel eyes sparkling.
"I gather that this is the infamous Sorsha," she said
as the redhead pulled back to look at her.
"Yep. It's me! Oh, girlie, it is so awesome to finally meet
you!" she said, still yelling. "God, I was terrified I
wouldn't find you in this crowd." She grabbed hold of
Catherine's free hand and yanked her through the throng, still
talking. "Good thing I got those pics of you! I *love* your
new haircut!"
Catherine grinned, feeling rather like a whirlwind had struck.
"Um, yeah, I just got it cut again yesterday by my
hairdresser James. He is, like, the biggest sweetheart in the
whole wide world."
They approached a sporty red convertible and Sorsha piled
Catherine's things inside, letting her in and revving the engine.
They were off. "You are going to LOVE my new house!"
she said as the wind whipped her red hair. "It's gorgeous-I
mean, I positively drooled when I saw it-you're staying with me,
by the way." Catherine smiled, still a bit shy. "I've
gotten a huge response. I spent the entire day answering e-mails,
but we've gotten a basic team together I think."
"Who's coming?" demanded Catherine eagerly.
"Well, there's Beverley, and Monique Michelle, and Gina, and
Miss Hyde, and Patrick and my friend Lizette. There's still room
for maneuvering, of course."
"Awesome!" Catherine's eyes gleamed. And then asked,
"So, Sorsha, darling, how long exactly have you been hangin'
with the vamps?"
Sorsha flushed. "Umm, well, they kinda found me after I
moved here..."
Catherine grinned. "And you wanted Louis all to yourself,
right?" she teased.
"Of course!" Sorsha flashed Catherine a smile.
"And I would if Lestat weren't there..." she went on
slyly.
Catherine laughed as they pulled up the driveway to Sorsha's
house. "You're right, it is gorgeous," she said as they
entered and brought her things upstairs to her room.
"Impeccable taste as always, Sorsha, dear. So, what's the
game plan?"
Sorsha sat down on the bed. "Well, you are the first one
here," she said. "The others should all arrive today
sometime, except for Beverley and David, who will arrive later
tonight. And then, after you meet the vampires and the rules have
been laid down, I thought we would have a quick spin around New
Orleans to orient those who haven't been here before." She
paused, eyes gleaming. "The vampires can't wait to meet you,
you know."
Catherine's eyes went huge. "Really? I mean, I didn't really
have much of a chance to get to know them, because I was there
for such a short time."
"Really," replied Sorsha. "Especially Marius. And
David. And all of them were, like, puppies waiting to go for a
walk when the responses started coming in. Gosh, it was so funny
to see them. They are ten times more exited than everyone
else."
"So," said Catherine slowly, brimming with excitement.
"Now all we have to do is wait, right?"
"Mm-hmm," replied Sorsha with a smile. "This,
Catherine, is going to be a blast."
******************************************************
"Come on!! You promised!!" she whined as Eddie shock
his head, crossing his arms trying to look as stubborn as
possible.
"I said I would give you a drive to the airport and that was
all!" He paused looking Monique up and down, her child-like
face all scrunched up, her long gold hair clipped back making her
face look even rounder. "I do have to work."
"No! EddieEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Come on I can't go to New Orleans
by my self. What if I get lost or . . . . .or what if I see some
wonderfully tanned guy, whom I just can not resist, and I fall
madly in love, and never pay you back the money I owe!"
******************************************************
(On the Plane to New Orleans)
"I am real glad you decided to come Eddie," Monique
giggled as she put on her little mirror glasses. She had known
Eddie since she was in third grade. He never could say no to her,
they were best buddies, but he had no clue why she was going to
New Orleans. If she had of told him that she was going to meet
people over the Internet, he would have thought her mad. If she
had of told him, that she was going to go to New Orleans to meet
a bunch of Vampires and spec writers to go on a scavenger hunt,
she would be bouncing off the walls in a rubber room.
"You're a brat, you know," Eddie grumbled as he glared
out the window of the airplane, trying to ignore her.
Once they had landed she had sent Eddie to go find their rental
car. She had a few phone calls to make and a few things to pick
up. Looking threw her handbag, she grinned as she saw the bottle
of blue hair dye…it was for any Vamp who decided to cheat on
the game. Wiping the phone receiver with a Kleenex, she dialed
the number to Sorsha. She got the answering machine and left a
short message, trying not to bubble over with joy as she left the
information of where she was staying and the number. Sorsha
picked up the phone before Monique hung up, out of breath from
running to answer the phone. After speaking with her about
directions, Monique and Eddie finally obtained a rental car so
they could possibly figure out the detailed directions given by
Sorsha.