Hannah Liang, PD 7, 5/16/23

 A little girl sat in the dark room hugging and crying for her dead mother. Her voice was getting more and more hoarse each minute. Then, she saw the door creak open. A shimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. A man with black hair and pale skin walked into the room.

“Help me, please. Help my mother, please. There must be something you can do to help,” she cried. She turned her head back to her mother and said “Before the plague came, we had to take the ship. My father is waiting for us.” The little girl looked back at the man with tears streaming down her face. The man just stood there without any movement for a long time, lost in thought. The little girl continues to cry when suddenly her wrist is grabbed and she is thrown into the man’s chest. A hand circled her waist as something sharp touched her neck. It pierced her skin and the man started to drink her blood. Her head started to feel nauseous and all her strength began to leave her body. Her body went limp into the man’s hold. Soon after, she was thrown down and fainted as she weakly stared at the man.

As the little girl regained consciousness, she felt someone was carrying her while running. She opened her eyes and saw the same man from before. He said, “Lestat, what are you doing? Where are you taking her?” And she lost consciousness again.

When she woke up again, she was on a bed. She saw two men in front of her. One of them is the same man she saw before, and the other is a blond and pale man. The two men were talking to each other. She stared at them, not having a single clue what they were talking about until a black-haired man came toward her and pierced her neck again with his teeth and left her half-dead. The blond-haired man then came to her. He called her Claudia and said to listen to him and drink his blood. Claudia began to drink the blood and heard the black-haired man shout angrily at the blond-haired man. Soon after the blond-haired man tried to pull her away, but she locked her hand on the wrist and growled at him. He then used all his might to pull Claudia away. Soon after, Claudia started to feel that her whole body was slowly coming to a stop. Her heartbeat is getting smaller by the second. Her teeth sharpened into fangs as her skin began to become pale. The blond-haired man brought in a child and offered the child’s wrist to Claudia. She dives straight into the wrist and sucks the blood as the blond-haired man guides her on what to do. After she was done, she asked softly, “Where is Mamma?”

The blond-haired man hugged her and said “You are our daughter, and you are going to live with us now.” He walked toward the black-haired man and continued saying, “This is Louis, and I am Lestat.

“But where is my mamma? I want my mamma.”

“Your mamma left you with us. She knows we can make you happy.”

“I want some more.”

“No, not tonight.”

“Are they sick?” asked Claudia as she watched Lestat pull the cover over 2 women and the child. 

“Yes. They are sick and they are dead. You see, they die when we drink from them,” Lestat said and then turned toward Louis. “Louis here was going to leave us, but now he isn’t since he wants to stay to take care of you.”

“But, I’m not your daughter. I’m my mamma’s daughter.”

“No dear, not anymore. You are our daughter, Louis, and my daughter. Now, you should sleep with Louis,” said Lestat. After Claudia becomes a vampire, Lestat brings her out to hunt for humans. Claudia saw Louis never join them on their hunt. She turned to Lestat and asked, “Why did Louis never join us on our hunt.”

Lestat replied, “He never wants to suck their blood and resort to animal blood.”  Since then Lestat will often bring her out to hunt humans for blood during the night. Claudia uses her child's appearance and lures the human in. She stands in the square during the night, looking very lost. She is waiting for an adult that will comfort her and carry her out of the square. She then sucks the blood from their neck once the street is empty.

As years passed by, Claudia started wanting her coffin. Just like how Louis and Lestat have their coffin, she wanted one too. She also began to realize her body was never aging. It is stuck in the 5-years old body. Even though she knows she is maturing, her body isn’t getting any taller. Why isn’t she aging? Is it because she was a vampire? Then who made her into a vampire? It should be either Louis or Lestat. However, Louis has a picture of his mortal sister so he was a mortal in the past. It leaves only Lestat. Lestat must have been the one who made them who they are. Claudia became cold to Lestat. She started to stare at him instead of talking to him, which angered Lestat. One day, Claudia went out on the street. She saw many white flowers on the stand. She went up to the vendor and asked, “Why are there so many white flowers today?

The seller replied, “Tomorrow is the Feast of All Saints. You will go to the cemeteries to care for the graves. You will bring these flowers along and place them on their tombs. Do you want some?”

“Yes I would like some to bring back,” answered Claudia. The seller gave her a bouquet of white chrysanthemums. She thanked the seller and walked back to the house slowly while examining the flowers. She walked into the room with Louis and Lestat and asked, “Do you know tomorrow is the Feast of All Saints?

“Yes,” said Louis. 

“I brought some from the vendors.”

Lestat angrily talked back to her. Claudia took one step toward Lestat and another while she was looking at him. She looked between Louis and Lestat and coldly asked, “Which of you did it? Which of you made me what I am?