The Dark Proposal (The Claire McCormick Trilogy) (21 page)

“You’re clearly upset,” her father was saying. “You’ve had a lot of people you know be killed lately, which is kind of bizarre. Maybe it would be best if you did come home.”

“No, Dad,” Claire said. “It’s not like someone is coming after me. Besides, Monica and Samantha are not going back home either.”

“So, you’re going to do what your friends do?” her mother said. “That’s not very smart.”

“Mom, Dad, please don’t turn this into an argument. I don’t need to get even more upset than I already am.”

Her parents stayed quiet until they arrived at the pan-Asian restaurant. As they took their seats inside and opened their menus, Claire felt a heaviness in her heart as she knew this will be the last time she will see her parents for a very long time. Too bad the visit would end poorly due to the news she about to break.

She waited until her parents were halfway done with their meal. As she told them about her recent articles and how well things were going with her freelancing, her father brought up Daniel. The last time she had mentioned him was when Theresa Palermo was killed, and she told her parents she had broke up with him. She had not updated them since.

“He helped you with your freelancing, correct?” her mother asked. “I know you two broke up, but have you spoken to him since?”

Claire took a deep breath. “We actually got back together.” Seeing the surprised expressions, she hastily continued. “Back then, we decided to give each other some time and we decided getting back together was best. And also…I’ll be moving in with him later this week.”

It was as though someone had pressed the pause button on her parents. Her father was lifting his teacup while her mother had a her fork halfway to her mouth. They stared at her for half a minute before her mother slammed down her fork and snapped, “Are you serious? Are you really going to do that?”

“Mom, we’ve reached that point in our - “

“Don’t give me that!” she shook her head. “Are you two planning to get married? So soon? Is that what it is?”

“Judith,” her father said, though his attempt to calm down his wife were half-hearted. He looked disgusted.

“No, we’re not looking to get married.” When Claire’s mother’s eyes widened even more, she went on to explain, “We’ve reached that point in our relationship. Besides, it would be better than traveling into the city to see him.”

“Claire, don’t you realize how wrong this is?” her father said. “By moving in with him, chances are, Dan will not marry you.”

Before she could respond, her mother interjected, “He’s playing with you, messing with your mind. I knew he was a problem when you first said you were dating a college professor.”

“Mom - “

“Don’t
Mom
me!” A few patrons from other tables glanced over but her mother didn’t pay attention. Her nostrils were flaring. “Don’t move in with Daniel, Claire. He’s only going to hurt you.”

How true that was, but in a different way. Claire noticed her head was tilted down as if she was ashamed. She raised it and said, “This is my life and I’m not a child anymore.”

Both of her parents let out disgusted sighs. The three of them didn’t speak to each other and instead sat in loud silence, poking at their food. Finally, her father called over the waiter for the check.

When they drove her back to her apartment, her mother sat in a scowl while her father asked a few questions. “Where exactly does Daniel live? Where in Manhattan?”

“TriBeCa, in lower Manhattan. You’re welcome to visit if you want.”

“Not with him around. Your mother and I don’t care to see Daniel again, not after this.”

Claire didn’t protest. She wouldn’t want them to see him either. Who knows how he would be around them? She doubted he would be the nice guy he came across as when they first met him.

 
Then she noticed her father was looking at her through the rearview mirror, with a confused look underneath the disdain. “You don’t seem that thrilled to be moving in with him.”

“Because I knew you guys would get angry,” she said almost in a whisper.

As they pulled up in front of the house, Claire asked if they would come in. “Please don’t disown me because I am doing this!”
 

Her parents looked at each other, nodded, and followed her into the apartment. Samantha was home for the day, surfing the Internet at the kitchen table, and could tell Claire had told her parents the news. But she kept to herself as Claire brought her parents into her bedroom.
 

Her dresser and desk were from the furniture ensemble she had back in Bedminster, while her bed was given to her by the Palermos’. Her parents were not pleased that they were going to have bring back the furniture just months after dropping it off at the apartment. The idea of that made them try to talk sense into their only daughter.

“Honestly, Claire,” her mother began in a calmer tone. “You’ve only been dating Daniel for less than six months. Are you sure you’re ready for this kind of commitment?”

“Yes,” she responded. “Like I keep telling you, we’re ready for the next stage.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why are you looking away from me?”

Claire flinched when she realized her eyes were slightly downcast. She raised them to look at her mother and glance at her father, who looked at her suspiciously.

“Because I know you’re not happy about this and now you hate Daniel!” she said louder than she intended.

“We don’t hate him,” her father interjected. “We’re just don’t think this is a wise idea. Your mother and I were not happy about you dating an older man. Now that you’re moving in with him, we both think he is playing around with you.”

“You guys are just so old-fashioned!” She threw her hands up. “Please, let me be!”

“Maybe we are a little behind the times, but we can both tell you’re not that thrilled about moving in with Daniel,” her mother said. “Look at yourself. You’re snapping at us, you’re not even looking at us in the eye. Are you sure this was your idea or Daniel’s?”

Claire could feel her fear and pain rising, but she quenched and said, “We both agreed on this after we got back together. And there’s nothing you can do about it. We’re happy together, and that’s how its going to be.”
 

Her parents paused before they shrugged at each other. They had no use arguing with her. It was as if they could feel the lack of insincerity in her aura, but they had no way for her to admit it. She had won, or maybe Daniel did.

Her parents left a half hour later. As she was hugging them good-bye, she invited them to come to TriBeCa to visit her and Daniel. They declined, but before Claire could protest, they wondered aloud why she wasn’t letting them go.

“Honey,” her father said. “You’re almost crushing me.”

She let go immediately and blinked back tears. When he asked about them, she said she was upset. “I want to spend Christmas with you two, and you don’t want me to?”

“Why can’t you come see us?” her mother asked. “There’s a train from Manhattan where we could pick you up.”

“Well…” Claire struggled for answer before blurting out, “New York is the place to be for Christmas, not small town New Jersey. And I just can’t go out. If you won’t see me, then I won’t see you. How’s that?”

Stunned, her parents stared at her. Her mother was about to answer back, but her father stopped her. They then waved good-bye and left the apartment.

As she closed the door behind them, she hit her forehead against it a few times. How could she do that to the very people who brought her up? Never before had her parents been so precious to her, and never before had she been so mean.

Daniel had poisoned her with his vampiric blood already.
 

While she was feeling sorry for herself inside the apartment, Samantha was outside going through the mailbox. As the McCormicks’ walked by, she heard them asking themselves what had Daniel done to their daughter.

“I don’t know exactly what,” Samantha said. They turned to look at her. “But Claire’s been acting strange ever since she got back together with Daniel. It’s like she’s a different person now.”

Frank and Judith McCormick glanced at each other, and it was Frank who told Samantha, “If you can, keep an eye on her. Let us know if anything happens, anything bad.”

Samantha nodded. “I have your number on the refrigerator. I’ll put it in my cellphone just in case.”

For the rest of the day, Claire began packing up by sorting out her belongings. Surprisingly, Samantha didn’t protest and instead helped her. She even walked a few blocks to the mini-supermarket to get some boxes for the packing.

The two packed Claire’s clothes, and then moved onto to her jewelry, books, and photographs. When Monica came home, she also did her bit helping out. Claire knew her friends knew something was up, but had no way of telling them. She was simply going to enjoy these last few days with the girls she always considered to be her sisters.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

After dinner, she took the ferry into the city. Classes were over for Wednesday nights, so Daniel told her it would be a good night to meet someone very important, though he did not specifically say who. Claire didn’t have any idea who this person was nor did she care.

He met her at the terminal and from there, took a cab to Upper West Side. Their ride was mostly quiet, though Claire mentioned how upset her parents were about moving in with him.

“It really hurts that I won’t see them for a very long time,” she said.

He shrugged. “Not much you can do about that.”

As they got closer uptown, Daniel said softly to her, “You’ll be meeting Casames tonight.”

She frowned. That name sounded familiar.

“He’s the youngest of Brothers. He’s been living in New York for the past ten years.”

She flinched as fright struck her. One of the Brothers, someone who could make her a slave if he felt like it.

Arriving at the townhouse, Daniel was rather nervous. He was taking deep breaths as he walked up the stairs, Claire behind him. When he knocked on the door, he folded his arms and cleared his throat.

It was Michel who opened the door and escorted them into the living room. There, the rest of the vampires sat around, including Hilde, who’s eyes narrowed at the sight of her. When Claire stepped in, she saw, sitting on the couch, another vampire whom she had never seen before. He appeared to be about twenty years old, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He held an air of authority around him, one that made even Hilde sit quietly on one of the dining room chairs placed in the living room.

“Master Casames,” Daniel bowed. “This is Claire, the one I would like to join us.”

Casames nodded slowly, examining her. So this was one of the Five Brothers Daniel had mentioned. The original vampires, the ones who brought such creatures into the world millennia ago.

He rose to his feet and stuck his hand out. Claire hesitated and then limply shook it. Casames looked a little annoyed but brushed it off and said, “Claire McCormick. At last we meet. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.” After that, he sat back down.

Michel brought over two chairs for Daniel and Claire, and they sat down. Everyone waited for Casames to speak.

He folded his hands at his chest, eyes downward for a few minutes before raising them and saying, “As we all know, we are to soon have a new member of our kind. It’s been a long while since we’ve created a new one like ourselves, so this is to be a major event.”

He cleared his throat and continued. “Deciding someone to be like us is not easy. There has to be something special about that person, something that would say this human is willing to leave behind his or her previous life as he or she knew it. Therefore, the one who proposes a human to be transformed must be trusted with making such a request.

“We all remember what happened with Henry, how he wasn’t an appropriate choice from the beginning, but we thought that would all change. Well, it didn’t, and Henry became undisciplined, not obeying our laws and doing as he pleased. Perhaps it was best that he destroyed himself before we did him.”

Casames looked at Daniel, who was sitting beside Claire. “I believe you are trustworthy, Daniel. I have known you for many centuries. You’ve never proposed someone to be like us, so for you to ask Claire to join means you know full well what it takes and that you have taken her into careful consideration.”

“I have, Master,” Daniel said.

“You also realize we cannot have a repeat of Henry, who almost destroyed all of us?”

“Master, I believe Claire is an exceptional person who would make a valuable addition to our kind,” Daniel answered. “I would not fail where Henry’s maker did.”

“Good,” Casames nodded, looking at Claire, who was stiff in her seat. She was trying to relax, but being in the presence of one of the leading vampires terrified her more than the night Daniel revealed himself to her. She knew Casames could see her fright, and she wondered why he wasn’t mentioning it. Maybe he was delighting in it.

“But before I formally ask Ms. McCormick if she wants to be one of us, I believe she should know who we are.” Casames paused, his head directed at Claire, but his eyes were distant, as if going back through the many years he has been wandering the earth.

There was a shift through the room as everyone seated got themselves ready for the head vampire’s story about how he and his four brothers began the path to immortality.

They were born five millennia ago in what today would be called Marseilles, their tribe located just on the precious blue waters and golden beaches of an area that had near perfect climate all year round. The waters were abundant with fish and the land was arable. They and their people were blessed.

Their tribe numbered about fifty people, living clustered together in small huts. The men hunted and fished while the women took care of the crops. Girls were groomed to be mothers and good wives, while the boys were trained at an early age to be men. There were priests who oversaw the spiritual practices of the tribe, and a chief who oversaw everything else.

The chief was their father, yet most of them had different mothers. The chief, named Antolos, had a couple of wives and several concubines, in order to produce as many sons as possible. Life was uncertain in those days. Pregnancy could spell death for many women, and children were lucky to survive their first years. Even though he was elected to be leader of the tribe, Antolos needed as many sons to secure his tribe and his status as chief. His people needed to see his strength and have many future warriors to protect them.