A/N: Thanks to Freakk66, Master of the Boot, fishey6478, and ocmamii1992 for the reviews and alerts! Hope you enjoy the second chapter!

P.S. I realized I forgot to put a disclaimer for the first chapter. So this disclaimer will count for the whole story: SINCE THIS IS A FANFICTION SITE, I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES. Times infinity.

Vampire Legions

Chapter 2—Encounter

Lestat's POV

Ah, France! What a glorious country! The history, the culture, the scenery! No one, not even the French, knew all of the wonders that France held. One could step out of a beatnik coffee shop in Paris and run into an ancient and beautifully crafted museum, or walk out of a castle ruin in Auvergne just to stumble into a deep and dangerous wilderness! In fact, it was at the edge of this wilderness, the forest and mountains just outside my boyhood home, that I stood, breathing in the brisk forest air.

I had come to France to search for my mother, Gabrielle. I yearned for her presence, for her wit and curiosity about the world. Not only did I crave having every bit of her by my side, but I also wanted to make sure she was alive and well, physically and mentally. She had always been an exceedingly independent woman, a natural roamer, and could take care of herself; but I had not seen her since she helped me and the other Children of the Millennia defeat Akasha, and even then I did not get a chance to inquire into her well-being and learn the tales of her 200 years of traveling. To be frank, I missed my mother. Yes, I, the Vampire Lestat, the Brat Prince himself, missed my mom. So, I traveled to France, intending to begin my search in the country where our lives intertwined the most. It would also be nice to visit the places of my past and reminisce.

However, something larger than the search for my mother and my nostalgia brought me to France. I felt myself pulled to it, pulled to the edge of the woods where I killed the wolves as a mortal all those years ago, pulled to the trees under which I was now standing. It was as if something was calling me, as if France itself was calling to me, begging me to come to this very spot.

But why? Oh, yes, I had pondered over that question ceaselessly on my way to France. Why was I being drawn there? Who—or what—was calling me? Was it my mother, or something more sinister? What would I find? Perhaps some ancient magic? An evil force? Or just some trees and wolves? I did not know the answers to any of these questions.

But did that matter? Of course not! I was the Vampire Lestat! I could go where I wanted, when I wanted, and for whatever reason I saw fit. I was simply going to France to reminisce about my good ole' human days and, hopefully, find my mother. So, with this in mind, I broke into a sprint and dashed into the forest.

Oh, the exhilaration of preternatural speed! After all my adventures over the last few decades, what with defeating Akasha, switching bodies to become mortal, and traveling to Heaven, Hell, and back, I had nearly forgotten how thrilling and relaxing just running could be. The sheer freedom of it! To just forget your worries, your obligations, your fears, to just leave yourself behind and run!



But, in an instant, everything changed after I took in a whiff of the cool night air that was blowing from the east. I stopped running so suddenly that I fell flat on my face—not an easy thing for a vampire to do, I assure you. But that did not matter to me. My entire being, my thoughts and fears and desires, came crashing down on me instantaneously, and a split second later my brain retched it all out like vomit. The air molecules I had breathed in utterly consumed me, for they carried on them a scent that I had never come across in all of my 256 years of existence. There was nothing repulsive about the scent, nor was it delectable. It was just…different. No, "different" is too mild a word. It was…foreign…alien. Yes, "alien" was the right sensation. A flood of emotions overtook my reason: curiosity, anxiety, anger, fear—a fear like I had never felt before—all centered around this alien scent on the wind. I was drawn to it, yet every fiber of my being told me to run in the opposite direction. You don't want any part in…whatever this is, my instinct told me. Whatever is out there, it is not human, it is not animal, it is not vampire, and it is not any being from Heaven or Hell. You have no control over it, you have no idea what it is capable of. Just run! But I couldn't run. My mind rooted my feet to the spot, ordering me to not be a coward, reminding me how drawn I felt to the source of this scent. And, in the end, my curiosity won.

I started walking at a normal human pace towards the east. I cast out with the Mind Gift, trying to determine anything at all about this thing. After an entire minute of silence, it finally hit me: this alien source is impervious to the Mind Gift. I had never come across anything that the Mind Gift could not penetrate, except, of course, inanimate objects and plants. Was that what this was? Some species of plant or an object from another planet?

I could see that I was approaching a clearing. That must be where this smell is coming from, I thought. Just a few more steps and I will be able to see through this dark forest into the moonlit clearing. Three, two, one…

As the clearing came into view, I had to stifle a laugh. The only inhabitants were two teenagers in a loving embrace! But there was no mistaking the scent that was wafting from them. How could mere love-struck teenagers produce this alien smell? I kept walking toward the clearing, as it was obvious that they had no clue I was here. But, as I stopped directly at the edge of the clearing, that suspicion was proved wrong.

At the exact moment that I stopped walking toward the couple, the young man, who was the closest to me, turned around with inhuman speed and took up a defensive crouch around the girl. He was snarling like a maniac, and it was obvious that one more step on my part would send him into a frenzy. The girl looked scared, but was standing strong and holding her ground. They couldn't have been older than 17 or 18, yet both possessed an ethereal beauty that was beyond their years. Their skin was pale—very much like my own—and their eyes were pitch black. The girl's long brown hair was flowing in the wind, and the boy's tousled bronze hair looked like it was always windswept. They were obviously both human—on the exterior, at least. The strange scent still emanated from them, so I knew that there had to be something alien about them. I could have bolted then and there, perhaps even used the Cloud Gift to escape; there would be no way that either of them could catch me. But I was drawn to them. I had come this far; I had to know who, and what, they were. So, instead of running, I very slowly raised my hands into a 

defensive position. The girl understood that I meant no harm; she softly touched the young man's back, and he responded by and softening his growls.

The couple took a step back together, and the girl said in a strong and beautiful voice, "Who are you? Show yourself." I kept my hands up and did as she asked, taking a step into the clearing that matched the length of the stride they had taken backward. Surely, now that I was in full view, they would see that I was inhuman and would run for their lives. Yet that strange aroma wafted into my nostrils and I remembered that this couple was possibly as or even more inhuman than I. The young woman whispered something to her lover, and he stopped growling and relaxed his crouch. They both took me in, and they certainly seemed puzzled and curious, but not as afraid as they were moments earlier. They stared at me, yet each gaze held a different meaning. The girl seemed pulled in to me—as she should be—and gazed at me in wide-eyed wonder. The boy, on the other hand, concentrated intensely on me, as if he thought my mind would split open under the pressure of his gaze and he would be able to fully know who I was. I felt extremely violated under his stare, and was immensely happy that over the years I had built up a wall in my mind to prevent others from using the Mind Gift to get inside my head. Speaking of the Mind Gift, why wasn't mine working on this couple? Each moment my suspense grew. Who were these teenagers?

I figured that they wouldn't reveal their identities until I revealed mine. Well, I had revealed my identity and those of my vampire cohorts to the world at large a couple decades ago; what was the harm in telling a couple kids? So, I took the plunge and said, "I was born Lestat de Lioncourt. I am 256 years old, and I live off the blood of mortal humans. I am the Vampire Lestat."