Pleased to meet you

I am a phantom who moves from place to place: Paris, London, the American West. We presently live in New York. Who is the ‘we’ you ask? Michel Baptiste and I. My dearest friend since childhood. The man I followed into darkness in the year of our Lord 1757. I was twenty years old. What did I know of consequences? I simply feared losing my best friend. Neither of us could comprehend the repercussions of our choice. All we knew was the beautiful and sensual Gabrielle, our lover and our maker. She was the guide who led us on a journey of lust and blood as we wove our way into the fabric of French society.

How can I impress upon you what it i’ like to be a man and monster, seducer and slayer? The beautiful Gabrielle ruled over the Parisian vampires with Gaétan, a much older vampire. What they could not control with their beauty, they destroyed. All succumbed to their demands of loyalty and subservience, or died. I have never been good at subservience nor indiscriminant murder. I had Michel and I was happy to co-exist with my friend. I was also a painter. I immersed myself in the world of canvas and color.

Nevertheless, things always change. Her name was Josette and it was the summer of 1787. She was a young mortal, married to a minor aristocrat name Luc Delacore and the mistress of Gaétan. We had all heard the rumors of her exotic beauty but nothing prepared me for our introduction.

Michel and I met them one night, strolling arm in arm on the Pont- Neuf. As I gazed into her emerald eyes I realized how lost and lonely I had become. I was barely able to say much more than hello. All the rumors were true and as the ground shifted and time stopped I fell in love with her. Not long after, both of us forsook our vampire lovers for one another. Gaétan grew to hate me even more and Gabrielle felt I had abandoned her for a mortal; and even then Michel was my guardian, forever watching out for others who grew more jealous of me.

The war of the mortals affected even the undead, dividing us and straining the tenuous bloody bonds that held us together. I had always hated politics and avoided war just as Michel and I ignored the feuding of our own kind, but when the revolution was upon us, life as I knew it was over.

Josette had a daughter, Solange. She was a beautiful little girl with dark hair and green eyes. Fearing their arrest she asked me to take the child and give her to a family that could provide for her. Reluctantly I honored her request. I knew of many French families fleeing to England. I would have no difficulty finding one to take the child.

Many nights I debated whether or not to turn Josette, yet to become immortal was something I swore I would never bestow upon another person. Great power is great responsibility and I feared both. To this day I cannot understand the logic that kept me from turning her and being happy. For she is the love of my life and I still feel responsible for her death.

I assured her Solange would be safe but I had no idea what was to come for any of us. Life is never what it seems and despite being vampires, Michel and I became victims of fate and time, just like you with your plans and dreams, hopes and wishes. I had no idea where my commitment to Solange would take us, but I invite you to come join us on our journey.

Christian Du Mauré