The Truth

The next morning, Giselle woke up to an empty bed. She looked around but couldn't find Louis anywhere. So she got out of bed and dressed into a nice, light blue sundress. Then Giselle headed downstairs.

"Louis, mon amour? Where are you?"

She found him in the kitchen, drinking a glass of A positive. She sat down at the island bar, across from him.

Placing a hand on his wrist, Giselle asked concerned, "Is everything okay?"

He looked up; his eyes were dazed. Giselle retracted her hand in fright. She had never seen him like this before.

"Mon amour?" she asked quietly.

He remained silent, staring past her, at the wall.

"Louis, what happened last night?"

His eyes finally moved to stare straight at her. She gave an involuntary shiver under the intensity of his gaze.

"Giselle," he whispered. "I-"

The ringing of the doorbell interrupted him.

"I'll get it," Giselle said.

She got down from the high-top chair and went towards the front door. Just before she touched the handle, Louis appeared in front of her, after using his vampire speed to beat her there.

"Go back to the kitchen, I'll take care of this," he said.

She gave him a confused look before nodding and turning around. Her footfalls were heard as she did as Louis asked.

Louis opened the door. Some random woman was on the front porch.

"Can I help you?" he asked annoyed.

"Yes, I'm Maisy LeBrie, your next door neighbour. I noticed that you had a party last night."

"Yes, a Halloween gala for my company."

"Anyways, I was just wondering if your lady would like to come shopping with me."

"Why?"

"To get to know your neighbours, that's all."

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that Giselle and I have plans for today."

Louis was just about to shut the door on the prying neighbour when he caught sight of René and Adelene.

"Ahh, René, Adelene! I am terribly sorry about last night. I hope the penthouse was suitable?"

They nodded and entered the home. Louis then shut the door on the nosy neighbour. He returned to the kitchen where Giselle was waiting for him.

"What happened last night?" she asked him again. "I want the truth."

"Not here. Let's go to the cellar."

She nodded and followed him down to the cellar. There, he shut the sound-proof door behind them.

"There's a reason I told you to not say anything to the boss."

"Why?"

"Giselle, he was a vampire. But you knew that. What I didn't tell you was that Gabriel was the Vampire King."

She gasped in horror. "So he was trying to hunt me?"

Louis nodded.

"He threatened to kill me and take you as his mate. That's why I joined LeMonde Oil and why I moved us to New Orleans. I wanted to keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn't get to you."

"I tempted him last night, didn't I?"

Louis sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Yes. Very much so. That's why I sent you off with the Noirs to the hotel. I didn't want you getting hurt."

"So what happened?"

"Gabriel and I got to fighting. It got close; we both were armed with wooden stakes. But finally, I came up behind him and drove my stake through his frozen heart. I killed Gabriel Le Monde."

"But wait... doesn't that mean-?"

"Yes. I am now the new Vampire King," Louis said darkly.