THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
Sinners x Interview with a Vampire (2022)
Fanfic written by Rosetta Sun
Ships: LouStack, StackMary, LouStat, Vampire Smoke x Human Annie, Sammie x Vampire Pearline
Warning: Explicit violence
As Claudia, Lestat, and Louis make their way across the Mississippi Delta in search of vampires, they come across Club Juke. A night spent among their people, dancing and sweating, it almost made them feel human.
‘Til a cultish vampire by the name of Remmick slithered his way to the gates of the paradise. Upon reading his mind, Louis, Lestat, and Claudia are made aware of Hogwood’s nefarious plot to slaughter Club Juke’s patrons come sunrise. Louis stays behind to deal with the shady vampires at the Juke Joint, while Lestat and Claudia go and eat their fill of racist fuckwads.
Mary still manages to turn Stack into a vampire so get ready for some messy Loustack, StackMary, Loustat, and more!
“You gon’ let me in? Or just sit there blockin’ the door?”
Mary slipped her way past Cornbread and back into the warm, golden light of the juke. Passion, adrenaline, and blood swept quickly through Mary’s veins. Something more exciting, more ferocious than she’d ever felt before was now coursing through her body all at once. Mary’s own heart pounded in her ears. Only Mary's heart was finally in tune with the music around her. She was among her people, their music, their food, except now, she could finally give something back. She could give them freedom – Heaven! Right here on Earth. Mary figured that this burning feeling underneath her skin had been a gift, and she'd be selfish not to share it.
As Mary crossed the dance floor, she walked with the confidence of a woman who truly belonged. Far beyond a red velvet curtain, Mary could hear the pulse of her lover quicken. Stack was gambling, or rather, he was losing. Mary drew the curtain back.
The words of her maker lingered in her mind. “Go on in there and show ‘em what real love looks like,” Remmick had a smile like the crescent moon, ear to ear, all unnatural like.
As Stack met Mary’s eyes, she finally spoke.
That was enough to pull Stack from his seat.
Smoke caught a snake trynna slither his way out of the juke joint after swindling folks outta their money. Smoke rolled the loaded dice between his fingers. Yup, the man was definitely cheating. Can’t have that.
“Take care of this fool,” Smoke sealed the snake’s fate. The stompin’ of the dance floor smothered the man’s cries as he was jumped by the other patrons. Sammie caught Smoke’s ice cold, unfeeling glare in the corner of his eye. He shivered, hoping his cousin wouldn’t sniff out his lies too. See, if anyone had asked Sammie, “Are you scared shitless right now?” He’d have to say no, seeing as Smoke was right there. But that would be a bold faced lie if he ever told one.
“Go get my brother,” Smoke ordered. He got a yes sir from Sammie right away.
On the way, Sammie crossed the front door. Cornbread was still sittin’ there guarding the entrance. Of course, that wasn’t unusual. What was unusual – and what made Sammie stop dead in his tracks – was the trio smiling up at Cornbread underneath the pale moon light.
“I wanna scream, scream.”
It wasn’t those creepy white folks either, nah. These three had a different kinda creepy laced in their Louisiana suits and ties. A little girl, not too much younger than Little Sammie, glared past Cornbread with a pair of cold, dead fish eyes. Sammie flinched – she was staring at him. Her eyes sliced right through him like he’d somehow offended the young lady.
“Sammie,” Annie brushed a soft hand along his back, pulling him out of his trance. “Where’s Stack?”
“I was just about to go lookin’ for him, Miss Annie,” Sammie said politely. “But..” He trailed off, pointing at the door.
Annie sucked her teeth. “Them again?” Those South Carolina freaks were real persistent.
Sammie shook his head. “No Ma’am, it’s not the same folks from before. These people… they’re different…”
“You sure y’all in the right place?” Cornbread laughed awkwardly.
Claudia huffed impatiently. Her voice echoed in Louis’ head. “It’s cold out here, Daddy Lou. I wanna go inside and watch the pretty lady sing.”
How could Louis say no to his little girl? Especially now, as they took their first field trip out of Storyville. The world was now her oyster and Claudia could go anywhere she wanted.
“We got money to spend, Sir,” Louis smiled real soft and talked real smooth; that usually worked.
“Yeah,” Cornbread snickered. “That’s a tale I heard before.” Seriously, this is the second time tonight that a creepy trio with funky eyes came crawling their way to the door. Could Cornbread not take a piss in peace? Goddamn.
“Mon cher,” Lestat’s cold, pale hand crawled up Louis’ shoulder. “I believe my presence is… unwelcome here.” Lestat was pretty dim, but he wasn’t ignorant to the nuances of race. This was not New Orleans. Surely not, as Lestat had never heard such passionate, raw talent come from a hidden gem such as Pearline. Lestat was overtaken with reverence for the singer as she crawled across that stage. To see a musician in their element was to witness Mother Nature at work. Truly, it would be a sin of him to interrupt the singer as she cast her spell across the crowd. Pained as he was, Lestat was willing to appreciate Pearline’s magnificent art from outside if it meant she could sing uninterrupted.
“Go on without me,” Lestat reassured. “And Claudia,” he raised a stern brow. “Be good for your Father. Let him enjoy this.”
Claudia giggled, “Yes. Uncle Les!” She would pack up her mischief for tonight.
“Can we come in now?” Louis whispered, sewing his irritation behind a smile.
“Ain’t no love in the heat of the sun.”
“Goddamn, where the hell is Stack?” Smoke burst out of the gambling room with Bo Chow in toe. “We need all hands on deck.” As the drinks kept pouring, trouble kept on stirring. Fights were brewing from every corner of the juke and the excitement was starting to boil over far beyond what Smoke could handle on his own.
“You sent Sammie out to go gett’im,” Bo recalled.
“Motherf– where the hell is Sammie then?!” Smoke was losing track of everyone and everything far too fast. This was a two man job and he was missing his second pair of arms. Pearline had the crowd stompin’, and while it was great for business it wasn’t great for Smoke’s nerves. Annie wasn’t at the bar and neither was Grace, leaving fresh Italian wine and Irish beer unattended. Too many lights, too many sounds, nothing was where it was supposed to be–
Smoke’s voice nearly trembled, “I need a goddamn cigarette.”
“Sing my song when the day is done.”
A cold air swept the back of Smoke’s neck. He swerved ‘round, hand on his holster. His own reflection smiled back at him with ghoulish, red eyes.
“Stack…?” Smoke squinted. “Your eyes are red.”
Stack expected him to be blunt about it. “Yeah, I uh, I been drinkin’.”
Smoke looked him up and down. The mojo bag tucked deep in his suit felt warm on his chest. “You good?”
“Yup,” Stack smiled wide, flashing golden grills under the warm, glistening lights. “Never better.”
“Good.” He didn’t have time to press Stack about it, even if his gut was sounding off an alarm. “Now get the fuck back on the floor,” Smoke ordered. “I need you out here, Stack. Not wherever–”
Mary wiped her mouth as she came out from the closet. Smoke’s blood ran hot.
“I thought I told you to get rid of her.”
“Cmon now,” Stack wrapped his arm around Smoke. Stack could hear just how hard his brother’s heart was working just to keep him from flying off the handle. “We all family in here, you remember that. Ain’t that what your Annie said? Go on ‘n find her. I’m sure she’s lookin’ everywhere for you.”
“...” Smoke glared cold daggers at him. “You sure you alright, Stack?”
Stack offered no reassurance, just a freshly rolled cigarette and a Cheshire Cat grin. “Yup.”
Annie, Sammie, and Grace watched those two peculiar folk waltz on into the bar.
“They give me the creeps,” Grace muttered.
“Wait a minute!” Grace gasped, nearly offended. “Is that a child? Is he bringin’ a little girl in here?!” She watched as Claudia twirled giddily beneath the ceiling lights. Louis let himself laugh a little, lookin’ around with his hands in his pockets.
“I can’t tell how old she is…” Sammie shared his piece. “But she was lookin’ at me real mean earlier.” He likened it to the way that white man was staring at him earlier. That same curiosity, that same hunger– suppose if Sammie could put his finger on it, he would call it jealousy. Of course, he couldn’t imagine why a doll shaped girl and a creepy white man would be jealous of him for any reason.
“You stay beside me, alright, Sammie?” Annie gave him another soft pat on the back. “Somethin’ ain’t right here.”
The crickets sang, though not nearly as sweet as the singer on that stage. Lestat put up a fair protest when Claudia begged that they slug all the way down to Mississippi in search of vampires. New Orleans was Lestat’s mistress, his new home; a perfectly blended mix of French art and African American culture. Mississippi had never been on his map, he hardly recognized the name when Claudia began spouting about it and the series of vampire sightings around the Delta.
“Vampire hunters! Isn’t that something? That mean there's gotta be more, Daddy Lou!” Claudia had been ever so convincing back in New Orleans, with her puppy dog eyes and incessant whining. “Pleaaaase!”
While Lestat refused to entertain her ramblings about Romanian counts and French covens, Louis insisted that they support Claudia’s interests.
So, here he was. Lestat de Lioncourt, the most feared vampire in France, sitting on a rock swatting away mosquitos. Pearline’s song had long ended. Now, the only sound was–
Lestat was too content staring at his nails to address the obvious stalker in the woods. “No,” Lestat sighed. “No, I am not interested in the cultish musings of a gaudy old vampire.”
He finally tilted his head back, staring at Remmick boredly. “Hmm, I do apologize but I am under oath. You see, I made a promise to my husband and daughter that I would let nothing disturb them as they indulged. If you planned to turn this place into a hunting ground… then you are sorely out of luck.”
“Huntin’? Nah, nah…” Remmick looked genuinely offended by this. “We ain’t lookin’ to feed on these lovely people. We just want to– to warn them.”
“My family poses no threat to them tonight,” Lestat stood.
“Oh no,” Remmick shook his head. “There’s sumn’ far more dangerous lyin' in wait once this party’s over. Sumn’ far more vicious than vampires.”
Thank you so much for reading this first chapter! I’ve been yearning for more LouStack and overall messy but not heartbreaking Sinners content XD. I’m having lots of fun with this fic so let me know what you think!
PLEASE consider leaving kudos and love on the ao3 version!
Link here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/81827071#main
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