A/N: I want to thank everyone who commented on my last two chapters. If it weren't for you guys, I'd only be half done with this. I also want to apologize for this taking way longer than I had planned. Hopefully, I can get Chapter 5 up faster. I've made some changes to the previous chapters, as well, if you want to see those. Thanks again, guys!!

Disclaimer: Except for Faith, these characters are not mine. They belong to the one and only Anne Rice.

Chapter 4

Lestat put his hand back on the bed and diverted his eyes to avoid hypnotizing her.

She continued to stare at him, a look of disbelief spreading over her soft features.

"You don't believe me," Lestat said, glancing up at her, and quickly back down.

"No…it's not… well… no, I don't."

"You don't believe me? You don't believe that I, Lestat de Lioncourt am an evil, murderous demon?" He let out a slow breath. "You don't believe me," he whispered. "Give me your hand." He looked up at her without making eye contact and held out his hand.

Faith hesitated a moment. She started to place her hand in his, but pulled back. "Wait… why?"

"I'm going to prove it to you," he answered patiently.

Slowly, she placed her hand in his. He wrapped his cool fingers around it, and brought it up to his mouth, which he opened, revealing two long, sharp incisors. She gasped and gripped the quilt beneath her.

He took her index finger and gently pierced the skin with one of his fangs. A small squeak emitted from her mouth as several drops of blood spilled from her finger onto the bed. Lestat ignored the bloodlust that rushed over him in a wave with its scent.

He licked the blood from her finger, before penetrating his own, and rubbing the red liquid over her wound. It healed instantly. He released her hand. She brought it back to her and held it to her chest.

"Now do you believe me?"

She only nodded, and studied him with a look of mixed fear and curiosity.

"Now," he began, "You asked of Louis and Claudia?"

"Yeah," she whispered as if she was afraid to speak.

"They are my fledglings. Louis, I created out of pity, and a desperate need for companionship. Claudia, I created to soothe Louis after he nearly drained her and left her to die. We rescued her, brought her home, and made her one of us. She is our daughter, the porcelain doll- the porcelain demon doll. That was over two-hundred years ago."

"Holy- wow," Faith mumbled.

"Now, we had our disagreements, as most families do. In fact, not even a century after our coven was formed, Louis and Claudia became restless, and desperate for answers to why we exist. I couldn't give them what they wanted to know, so twice, they tried to kill me- obviously without success- and sailed to Europe in search for the answers they craved.

"When they came to Paris, they met Armand and the Theatre des Vampires, who gave them as much information as possible. However, they disapproved of their attempts to kill me, and the creation of Claudia in general. In the end, they tried to kill Claudia, again, to no avail, and Louis was left to wander the world alone.

"Meanwhile, I was recovering from the failed attempts at my murder.

"Years later, Louis and I rejoined each other's company, after rarely seeing each other since Claudia's death. This was only about twenty-five years ago, and it wasn't for another ten years or so that Claudia, too returned.

"Since then, we've been a happy family- for the most part."

Faith nodded to signal that she understood, but was lost in all of the information she had just learned. It was all beginning to sink in, and frankly, it exhausted her.

Seeing this, Lestat began to stand up. "I should let you sleep, Cherie. You've had a rough couple of nights. I shall see you tomorrow evening," Lestat said to her softly, but loud enough that she could hear. She nodded again, stifling back a yawn. He took her hand and kissed it, before setting it gently next to her, and drawing the canopy closed. He exited the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

In the main chamber, Lestat found Louis and Claudia reading peacefully in front of a roaring fire. Louis sat comfortably in an armchair reading a worn book that Lestat couldn't quite make out the title of. Claudia was sprawled on the floor on her stomach, surrounded by several books she had gotten bored with. Spread in front of her was a work of Aristotle.

When he entered Lestat entered the room, Louis looked up as if to acknowledge his presence, then back down to his book.

"Did you kill her?" he asked quietly.

"No," Lestat responded, taking a seat in a large black chair and closing his eyes.

Louis looked up. You didn't kill her? You didn't kill her? Have you lost your god-forsaken mind?"

"No," he replied calmly.

"Then why did you bring her here? Are you just going to prolong your torture to that poor girl? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" Louis spat.

Lestat smiled. "My mother plays with her food as much as I do, if not more. Thank you. And no, I'm not planning to torture the girl. I'm considering giving her the Dark Gift."

Claudia looked up from her book, a look of horror in her sweetly demonic eyes. Louis gaped at him with a similar look.

"You're not serious," Claudia gasped. "Lestat, tell me you're not serious," she nearly pleaded. Her perfect white cheeks colored slightly with anger.

"I'm only considering it, Cherie, calm yourself. Besides, she could be like a mother to you."

"I don't need a mother, Lestat," she pushed herself up, and sat on her knees. "We tried that with Madeline. It didn't work. I need my fathers, and my fathers alone. Please, just kill the girl so we can continue with our lives.

Lestat was silent. Louis had settled back in his chair, but Claudia was sitting straight up with her feet under her, glaring at Lestat.

"I need to hunt," she said suddenly, and with a slight rustle of her skirts, she was gone.

Louis stared after her. "She shouldn't be out alone," he said, leaving the room almost as quickly as Claudia.