Old Friend
by
Catherine Maguire

cont...

That business would be to rescue her long lost maker from disastrous folly. Daniel had come to New Orleans in the early twentieth century for a change of scenery after his bitter split with Maria. And it was not long before he determined to make New Orleans his own. He has run the city ever since. No vampires came into town, and no new children were made without his blessing. Any trouble makers must answer to his judgment. No one dared cross him except for Patrick, a vampire who Daniel had called brother for two centuries. They shared the same maker, and were taught together the legends and lifestyle, the laws and code of their kind. However Patrick never seemed to measure up to Daniel. He possessed a power that Patrick did not, a natural talent to charm anyone, even his elder vampires into doing his bidding. In his mortal life he came from wealthy Protestant family in Northern Ireland. He was well on his way, making connections, with all the right ears at his attention. He could have been anything he wanted to be. Then one night he was stolen away from the world of light and delivered unto darkness.

Patrick was of humble beginnings, a Catholic with much reason to curse the English throne, and was dying of starvation in the little run down shack where his family lived when their maker took pity on him, giving him immortality simply because he was a beautiful young man. So the stage was set. While Daniel loved his brother dearly Patrick always felt a deep resentment towards him. And his agonizing case of little man's syndrome was about to become deadly. Blinded by affection for his brother Daniel didn't even see it coming. Luckily for him his best friend, Connor did. And so he made a visit to Maria at her home in Mexico City to plead with her to put the past behind her and come to New Orleans to the aid of her maker. Reluctantly she agreed.
She arrived at the bar where she knew she would find him. It was a little run down hole in the wall which had the feeling of a cave, a place to hide from the every day world. The hypnotic music and the glowing black light were enticing to her. The heavy scent of alcohol mingled with sweat and cheap perfume and cigarette smoke filled her senses. Emotions of fear, and longing, of lust and sorrow jabbed at her sharply. The entire atmosphere brought her to a state of ravenous desire. Yet she struggled to repress her hunger, knowing she must focus on the business at hand.

Maria made her way past the bar to the dance floor and there hiding in a darkened corner was Daniel. She felt a tugging in her heart that nearly took her breath away when she looked at him. And as she moved in closer she saw the tears that ran down his ivory cheeks as he opened his arms to receive her. He held her tightly, almost roughly, and all she could think was how much she had missed him. She missed the feel of him, the taste of him. She remembered the first night he came to her. She remembered how painfully beautiful he was and how she felt she would give way to madness from the powerful intimacy of his dark kiss.
They fell in love on the beaches of Mexico, and the three of them, Daniel, Patrick, and Maria were a happy little coven for a while. However it did not last long. Patrick began to complain that he did not want to stay there. He was tired of wandering. He said he wished to see his homeland of Ireland once again. Daniel promised they would go soon. He only wanted to spend a few more months. They had all been so happy there. Patrick agreed but remained ill tempered and over time it would become apparent to Maria that his longing for home was but an excuse. His real gripe was of a much more insidious nature. It was a jealousy of his brother's power and more particularly in this case, a jealousy of his relationship with her. The situation became volatile one night when Patrick asked her if they might take a walk alone. He said he was concerned about his brother. He seemed so sincere. Yet once he got her alone it was all too clear what his true intentions were. She fought with all her might but she was only a young vampire with no chance of matching his strength. He forced himself on her in a vicious attack. And when it was over he left her there in the dirt, broken and bleeding, and lost. She disappeared from sight without leaving any word for Daniel. She could not tell him the truth, that his own brother raped her. She couldn't face him. After her disappearance Daniel decided he could not bear to be in Mexico, the place where they were so happy together, without her. He needed to go away somewhere where he could start fresh, where he could find something to amuse him again. Even though he had promised Patrick they would return to Ireland he felt he wanted something new. Perhaps a trip to the United States could give him what he needed, he thought. Maybe New Orleans, Louisiana that charming decadent city he had heard so much about would be a good place for him to forget. And of course Patrick put up no protest. So it was that he came to his new home in the midst of the roaring twenties in an atmosphere he thought would more than provide a cure for his broken heart. As for Maria she would wander alone eventually making a world for herself in Mexico City. Her pain would serve to give her the strength of an elder vampire, making her a force to be reckoned with.

There they were in each others arms so in love even after all this time. The time they had spent apart seemed to not exist as far as their hearts were concerned. Daniel didn't even bother to ask why she left or where she had been. He only knew that she was there in his arms and for now that was all he needed to know. Maria knew she would have to tell him the truth in order to make him see what his brother really was and the threat he posed. But for now she would just hold him as if they were the only two people in the world.
Daniel pulled back from her a little and softly ran his fingers through her raven hair. He looked a long time into her golden brown eyes almost unable to believe she was really there. "It is so good to see you. I couldn't imagine what happened to you. When you left all those years ago I searched and searched for you until Patrick convinced me that if I could not find my own child who shares my blood then you must not want to be found and I should let you go." Maria cringed at those words, feeling such incalculable rage she thought she would combust. She sucked it up and calmly said to him, "There is much you don't know my love." He kissed her forehead reassuringly. "Let's not do this here. I have a place nearby. We can talk there. But right now before we go any further I want to make it clear that I am not angry with you, only grateful that you have come home to me at last."

On the way to his place they were caught in a thunder storm and Maria couldn't help noticing how incredibly beautiful the French Quarter looked in the rain and lightning. The two of them were not even bothered by the weather. They just walked on casually, swept up in the euphoria of the love they both thought they had lost forever. By the time they reached the apartment in Jackson Square they were a couple of drowned rats. Daniel pulled her to him, kissing her full ruby lips with a passion that bordered on desperation. Maria looked into his forest green eyes, grinning impishly. "We really should get out of these wet clothes don't you think?" With that Daniel lost all control, pinning her against the wall and shredding her clothes simultaneously. Maria responded in kind clawing at him, then pulling his thick mane of red hair out of the way to expose his creamy white throat which she sank her fangs into hungrily. They feasted on each other for hours, and when it was over they lay curled up together completely satiated.

After a while Maria decided it was time to tell him what was going on. "Daniel I think we've put this off long enough. I need to tell you everything, why I left, why I stayed away, why I came back." He squeezed her hand and nodded for her to go on. "Your brother is not who you think he is. He does not love you. He is jealous of you and plans to be rid of you for the purpose of…" Daniel interrupted, his face contorted with anger. "Not you too! I don't know where you and Connor get such crazy ideas. Daniel is my brother, my blood who has always been by my side, which is more than I can say for you. You who left me cold with no explanation. What makes you think you can just show up here after all this time, and how can you claim to be concerned for me when I obviously have not been a priority in your life before?" By now Maria was sobbing as she looked up at him and said the words she had never spoken to anyone, purging the truth out of her self as if she were exorcising a demon. "Patrick raped me. Your brother raped me!" Daniel was stunned. He felt as though his heart had been ripped from his chest. Maria went on. "I know this is hard to take in but I must tell you more. I must tell you what Patrick has planned. Connor came to me with this information and it is the reason I came back, the reason why I now have the courage to tell you what really happened in Mexico, because I know I have to in order to make you see, in order to save your life. Patrick plans to rise up against you. He is creating a following of cowards like himself to over throw you. Daniel he plans to destroy you." He stared dumbfounded and before he could speak a loud crash rocked the apartment. It was Patrick with two of his followers.

They broke the door down and came barreling in. Maria immediately sprang into movement, pouncing like a wild cat onto her assailant and with amazing strength she tore out his beating heart before ripping his throat wide open. Daniel grabbed his sword and took care of the other one, separating his head from his neck with one swift blow. Then the two turned to face Patrick who by now was cowering like a child. "Take pity on me brother. I never meant to let things go this far. But I did hate you. You always had everything. I always had nothing and it was your own people who saw to that. And then to watch as you attained power I could not reach when we should have been equals, to watch you attain love I could not receive…" He broke off giving way to tears. He blubbered like a baby. "I don't know why some have and some have not. And certainly I know it is a horrible crime what was done to your people. But I cannot change it, and I have moved on from it. It was a separate life time. In this life we now live we are brothers. The same blood runs through our veins, and I have always loved you as an equal. I'm sorry for what you endured in your mortal life but I will not take responsibility for it and I certainly will not allow you to burden my child. She did nothing to you and you violated her in the worst possible way. And now after all this time I will bring her justice."
Patrick did not even bother to struggle as Daniel lifted his sword. He only kneeled and bowed his head at last ready to receive punishment for his crimes. Maria stepped back and watched resolutely. Even though she wished to tear him apart herself she knew that he was Daniel's to deal with. He must clean up the mess he made as a result of his denial. He carried out the execution, and as Patrick's head rolled on the floor Maria breathed a sigh of relief. In a peaceful state she said, "At last it is done." Daniel dropped the sword and took her in his arms. "Never again my love, never again." He said these words to her while choking back tears.
They cleaned up the mess of blood and gore left behind with unnatural speed, disposing of the bodies in the river, and then made their way hurriedly to Daniel's resting place, racing against the sun rise. As the first rays of light filled the morning sky Daniel pulled the lid to the coffin closed over them. They fell into a death like sleep as they lay locked in a warm embrace.