Pacifying Claire

"Claire, wait!!" Garrick yelled as he chased after her up the stairs.

She climbed up to the hallway and was about to get into her room when Garrick sped to her front and blocked her path.

"Get out of my way!!" she muttered angrily and tried to push him away but he didn't even move a step away.

"Calm down, Claire… tell me what the problem is," Garrick tried to pacify her.

"What isn't the problem? What do you think you are doing, inviting Vampires into the house where your daughter lives?" she yelled.

Garrick looked around to see if anyone was close; there was no one in sight. "Claire, what is wrong with that?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Like seriously, what is wrong with that? You might be thousands of years old but you are never going to grow up or get some sense. I have been hiding and protecting our daughter's identity for twenty long years but just two days after you show up, the news is already circulating that the great Garrick Verne has a daughter. Don't you see what is wrong with that? You are exposing her to threats, do you not get it?" she yelled.

"Relax, she is my daughter, I will protect her, and it's not even like anybody can…"

"That is exactly your problem," Claire interrupted him. "You can protect her? She wouldn't even need protection if you never showed up and let everyone know that she is your daughter. I have kept that hidden for years but you have ruined everything." She yelled.

Garrick tried to hold her shoulders to calm her but she pushed his hands off her. "Don't touch me!!" she warned and stepped back.

"Claire… relax okay. What I am doing is best for her because she would never be comfortable pretending to be who she isn't. She needs to embrace her identity, she might be part human but she would never fit among the humans, she would only find comfort among her kind. " Garrick insisted.

"Oh, for real? And you know that because you have been with her for the past twenty years?" Claire fired back and folded her arms with her eyes burning flames.

Garrick sighed. "No, I have not been with her for twenty years but in the two days that I have been around, I can tell that she isn't happy. She is depressed and filled with sadness, there is so much darkness in her and she needs to embrace the light."

Claire laughed mockingly. "Look who is talking about embracing the light? You haven't even found the light yourself, what makes you think you can help your daughter find it? I am her mother, I have been with her for twenty years and I have learnt as much as I can about your kind. Exposing her to the vampire society is a very big risk and don't tell me you will protect her!!"

Garrick groaned and hit his palm on his face. "Why exactly is it a danger for other vampires to know her? She would have a lot of fun with her kind, I don't need to remind you that vampires know how to party, they are fun people," he argued.

"Fun people you say? What about the hundreds of enemies you have made along the years? What do you think would happen when they find out that you have a daughter? If they can't take their revenge on the father, they will come for the child. You are endangering our daughter and you know it!!"

Garrick didn't see this argument ending any time soon but he needed to prove to Claire that he was capable of keeping his daughter safe. Clarisse would never truly be happy if she lived in secret, and for how long would they be able to keep her identity as his daughter hidden? Vampires would find out sooner or later.

"So let them come, they couldn't beat me, they can't beat my daughter either. They are going to find out about her anyway, she has a long life ahead to live and she can't live it in secret. The best thing is to equip her with the right allies and also prepare her for the inevitable. If they should come for her, she should be fully aware of what she is up against and she would be ready for them," Garrick insisted.

"You keep comparing her with yourself but you tend to forget that not only is she young but also half human. Unlike you, Garrick, she can die!! She is not immortal!!"

"What are you talking about? Of course we can all die, but it takes a…" Garrick suddenly paused as the real meaning of her words dawned on him. "Wait, what?" he queried with furrowed eyebrows.

Claire sighed and covered her face with her palm. "I see your friend didn't tell you. Clarisse doesn't possess vampire immortality, she would die the moment her heart stops beating, and there will be no resurrection after that. She has just one life, one human life!!" she explained.

Garrick was shocked to hear that, he never knew that his daughter wasn't like the others. The other vampires could die, right! But not like humans, they can't be killed by human weapons and even if their heart stops beating for any reason other than the use of the special vampire vanquisher, they will be resurrected after a short while and continue life from where they stopped. Like an automatic reboot and so in other words, they were immortal!!

"How do you know this?" he asked calmly.

"You should ask your friend, he will explain better." She replied coldly and tried to walk away.

Garrick grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Even at that, this is the best thing we could do for her, she deserves freedom and I can't do this without your permission. I promise I will protect her; I love just as much as you do and it is okay if you don't believe me, but trust me, Claire. Trust the love that we shared, trust the memories that we shared, please," he begged.

Claire sighed and looked away, she then turned back to face him. "Do whatever you want, but I will hold you responsible if anything happens to my child, and I won't forgive you." She put forth.

"Claire," he called softly. "Why do you have so much hatred for me?" he asked soberly. "What of the feelings we used to have for each other? The feelings you had for me?" he added.

"Garrick, those feelings died twenty years ago when you abandoned me and your child." She said coldly and then she pulled her hand off and walked inside her room.

Garrick stood there and watched her lock the door, he was worried and then he turned around and headed back into the dining room. He decided to keep her secret to himself, he shouldn't let anyone know that Clarisse wasn't like the rest of them and he also needed to understand more from Connor how this was possible; his friend had been with Clarisse the most.

Garrick arrives in the dining room and meets Albus and his son standing. "Sorry about that, I needed to take care of something," he said and forced a smile.

"Oh, it is no problem old friend, it was great being your guest. Amazing food and amazing discussion with your daughter. I personally enjoyed her company." Albus replied with a smile.

"Okay, I guess you are leaving," Garrick muttered softly. His mood had changed ever since he found out that his daughter could die a human's death.

"Yes, my son and I have somewhere that we should be, thank you for welcoming us into your house and it was nice seeing you again, welcome back once again," Albus said.

Garrick smiled and hugged him. "Anytime old friend, see you soon. I will walk you out," he offered.

"It was nice to meet you, Clarisse. Thank you for your time and entertaining our annoying questions, I hope to do this again," Chase said and Clarisse smiled nervously. She figured that he didn't talk much, but he was a fun guy.

She was also looking forward to spending time with him some other time, at least he was one vampire she knew that wasn't centuries old. Maybe he could help her out with vampire stuff without it being cringe.

To be continued!!