I never knew what life was until it ran out in a red gush over any lips, my hands!

I am the Vampire Lestat. I'm immortal more or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire-these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not.

In the spring of 1988, I returned to New Orleans, and as soon as I smelled the air, I knew I was home. It was rich, almost sweet, like the scent of jasmine and roses around our old courtyard. I walked the streets, savoring that long lost perfume.

What if I could give you your life back; pluck out the pain; and give you a world of unimaginable beauty that would be for all time.

And then there came the pounding of another drum, as if another giant were coming yards behind him, and each giant, intent on his own drum, gave no notice to the rhythm of the other. The sound grew louder and louder until it seemed to fill not just my hearing but all my senses, to be throbbing in my lips and fingers, in the flesh of my temples, in my veins.

Then, are you master of us all? You didn't teach her that. Was she supposed to imbibe it from my quiet subservience?

Our language needs endless synonyms for beautiful; the eyes could see what the tongue cannot possibly describe.