Chapter Text
The walls felt damp, as if the concrete was beginning to sweat. As if the structure itself was rejecting the evils housed here. His bed had become sticky and the sheets clung to his skin when he moved in the night. An overbearing weight of air on his body pulled him further under the spell of the cage. Armand kept him here, though he would not outright admit to holding him captive. He was a silent warden.
At night the winds picked up and the groan echoed through the halls. He rarely left his room, fearing to see the spikey shadow of the vampire slip across the smooth walls. It was like seeing a ghost. All that he had known to be true, all the presuppositions about his body and mind, they had flown far from here. Now, they glided, alight on the air above the endless sand.
Each memory returned to him, every quick intake of breath. It was like living twice over. He could not reconcile the two stories in his mind. No amount of journalistic training could prepare him to hold two, irrevocably different lives as one truth. Was his life (the one he left in New York not even a month ago) real? Could those memories be true, even if they had been planted and tended like budding flowers?
Even now, knowing the falsehoods that he had left in his mind, Daniel could feel the pull towards Armand. It felt like his brain was burning. Was this a symptom of his Parkinsons? Perhaps his brain was bleeding, leaking from his ears. That would be preferred. The alternative was too hard to accept.
Daniel opened the door to his room, feeling more warm air wash over him. The humidity was thick and made him want to gag. The air clung to his nose and throat as he breathed. He found the living room empty, but all the windows open, sun screens turned off. Armand was cooking them alive. The light was blinding and violent.
The dining room was dark, and Daniel noticed the cool air immediately. It seemed to stream across the floor, like walking in water. A faint glow came from beneath the door to the kitchen. He hadn’t had anything to eat in a day. The fear that kept him in his room also kept the hunger at bay. But now he felt overwhelmed with the need to eat.
The only light in the kitchen was cast by the fridge. It’s door open, food spilling onto the floor. It seemed to spoil right in front of his eyes. Rotting away, leaves wilting and molding over.
A soft, almost delicate snapping came from behind him. Turning around, he saw Armand. The vampire stood in the door frame, backlit buy sun. His hair seemed to float around his face. An angel sent from god to torment him. What sin had he committed that destined him for such punishment? The price for knowing the gods living on earth was to know the fury they incurred.
“You haven’t had anything to eat in some time, Daniel.” The voice was just as remembered, from all those years ago. It was not the same voice he heard alongside Louis’. This was a tone, a song, just for him. The ancient song of love spilling from the mouth of the devil. For a moment he thought of his home, of his children. A world away, a reality apart from him. The dreams he’d had the night before felt more real than the touch of his ex-wife, brushing her hand along his jawline. The lights of Paris above them, brilliant and gold. Reality was no longer a home for him.
“I haven’t been hungry,” he lied. Armand tilted his head to the side. This was his tell, letting Daniel know that the jig was up. Even though he knew lying was useless between them, it was some kind of compulsion. Part of him loved knowing there was someone he could never hide from. “The heat. It’s too much.”
“Yes,” Armand replied. His eyes were completely still, his mouth moving just enough for the air to pass through. “I quite like the heat. Humans are so sensitive to the realities of this earth. Shocking how long you have lasted.”
“Your kind are vulnerable to the sun. I think that is quite a drastic disadvantage,” his mouth was dry enough for the words to click their way out. The muscles in his face had begun to resist use. “Are you trying to kill me? Do you want me to beg you for mercy? How much of your life has been spent hoping someone would beg you to stick around?”
The words seemed to punch through the vampire's skin, settling in his musculature. His stance changed, slightly bent over and unnatural. A single flicker of regret passed through Daniel’s mind, to be replaced with sick satisfaction.
“Is that why you want me around, you think I might be the one to finally give in and love you?” Armand was still. His body had frozen in place, the whole of the vampire suddenly crumbling, turning to ash not in the sun but in the presence of genuine disgust. Was this cruelty in his voice something new?
“Daniel,” the vampire’s weak voice came creaking out of a body that seemed determined to fold in on itself, collapse completely. His head tilted up, enough for their eyes to meet. “All I want from you is understanding.”
“You want me to understand?” Daniel’s voice spiked. “I can’t begin to understand why you did this to me, especially if I’m dead, Armand.” Sweat was still pouring out of him, he could feel it in his shoes. His head was beginning to spin, the darkness of the kitchen seemed to stretch on endlessly and the world started swirling around his field of view. He wasn’t sure if the heat had finally overtaken his senses, or if it was the proximity of the vampire.
“Daniel,” Armand whispered, his voice melting into the groan and the sound of wind from the other room. Dust and sand seemed to flight along the gusts, reflections of sunshine kaleidoscoping across the black walls. He felt like he was back in New York, seeing the towers collapse again. The paper from the windows like glitter on the air. “You need to rest.”