Chapter #7: Claudia's desire
It was still very shocking for me to know that Lestat was afraid of me. It had already been months afterwards, but I still felt that shock when I thought about it. It was a warm night, and I had already went out hunting with Claudia for prey. Of course, I only ate animals while Claudia went for humans. I knew it pissed Lestat off, which is part of the reason I did it. The other part was that I , like Louie, hated taking someone's life and it took away part of my soul.
Anyways, I needed to comb my hair, and someone had taken my brush. I knew it had to be Claudia, since she always borrowed my things. I went to her room down the hall, and knocked lightly. " Come in," she said in her sweet voice. I opened the door and walked in, leaving the door still open. " Do you have my comb?" She looked down. "Sorry. It's on the stand."
"It's alright." I sat down at the stand and began to comb my hair while looking in the mirror. It was a huge hassle, mostly because my hair was so long. I still curse Lestat for that.
Claudia began to draw a woman on her pad of paper, and looking in the mirror, I noticed that it was that woman Claudia had been talking about. Luckily, she shut up about her after her and Lestat got into an argument and he threatened her. I was thankful for that since she always started our conversations with how I felt about my body and how I liked my curves.
I saw Lestat come over to me in the mirror, and he bent down and put his head on my shoulder. I still didn't tell him of Louie and I's conversation, and I believed him to have no idea. He grabbed a velvet box from his coat pocket and opened it. I saw him pull out the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It was sterling silver with a purple diamond heart incrusted with gold. It's the same one I wear today. He clipped it around my neck and I felt it. Utterly beautiful.
I guess this was his way of saying ' I'm sorry' about how he wasn't there for my mother and I when I was younger. I knew he would never actually say it. " It's beautiful." He smiled and I turned around. "Thank you." He nodded and I turned back around, admiring the necklace in the mirror. He always got me a piece of jewelry on the same day of the year. It was my birthday AND the day I was turned.
He went over to Claudia and pulled a glass doll from a box. He made the doll kiss the tip of her nose, and she stopped drawing. " Another doll? I have dozens, you realize."
Lestat looked at her, but she ignored the stare. " Oh. I thought you could use one more."
"It's always on the same day," Claudia said. Lestat looked at me in the mirror. I stared back at him. I could feel his thoughts in my head. Claudia's also. He was getting agitated and so was Claudia. She wanted an answer. Yes, I could read minds like my father. I didn't like it though because it invaded people's personal space. I guess he knew what I was thinking becase he raised an eyebrow , turned away, and said," Now what do you mean?"
" You always get me a doll and Penny something on the same day of the year."
" Oh. I didn't realize." That was a lie. It was the day we were turned.
" Is it our birthday?" Lestat licked the corner of his mouth and looked at Claudia. " You dress me like a doll. You make my hair like a doll. Why?" He didn't respond. Instead, he tried to change the subject. He pulled on a doll and looked at it. "Some of these Claudia are so old. Tattered. We should throw them away." Lestat got up and Claudia threw down her pencil and paper.
" FINE THEN I WILL!" Louis opened the door to Claudia's room and stood in the doorway as she threw a 'tantrum'. She began to throw dolls every which way, and one of the dolls hit my forehead and split it open. Luckily, since I was immortal, the wound healed fast. Lestat turned around and I looked at the bed. I saw a figure appear. Oh no. It was the the woman from that room. 30 YEARS AGO. Lestat grabbed her wrist and yelled," CLAUDIA WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"
She struggled and yelled back," WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO DO!"
" Leave a corpse here to rot?" Louis said, walking around the bed.
" I WANTED HER! I WANTED TO BE HER! I WANT TO BE LIKE HER!" She pointed at me during the last sentence before pushing Louis out of the way and storming out. That was unexpected and expected. I followed her out of the room, not knowing what she would do. " SHE"S MAD!" Lestat said before running out of the room. I gave him a death glare. He knew I hated it when he called someone 'mad'.
" Claudia?" Louis said. " MAD AS THE VERY HOUSE WE LIVE IN!" Lestat said.
Claudia pushed over a vase, which landed on me and knocked me over. " DO YOU WANT ME TO BE A DOLL FORVER?" She began to cut at her hair like wild. " Claudia don't," I said. She turned to me, anger burning in her eyes. I had never seen her this mad. " WHY NOT? CAN'T I CHANGE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE?"
She began to cut her hair until she had no more locks. I had gotten up, dirt on my arms and dress. I brushed off slightly, more focused on Claudia. She threw down her scissors and stormed past Lestat, mocking my death glare. She had picked that up from me. I always did that when I was really pissed. She ran into her room and slammed the door. Louis ran over to it, clearly frustrated. I heard her scream, and Louis opened the door. She pushed past him, and I noticed her hair was the same as it was before. " WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT? WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT? WHICH ONE OF YOU MADE ME WHO I AM?" She stopped in front of Lestat. HE was sitting down. " What you are is a vampire gone insane who pollutes its own bed." I gave him another death glare. I REALLY hated it when the word 'insane' was brought up.
" And if I cut my hair again?" Claudia said. " It WILL grow back again.."
" But it always wasn't so. I had a mother once and Penelope had a mother and two twin step-sisters. And Louie, he had a wife. They was mortal the same as them and so was I. You made us what we are didn't you?"
Lestat mumbled something, so I read his mind. He was thinking of...my mom? And companionship? Interesting. " Claudia," Louie and I said in unison. Claudia had a letter opener in her hand and she said," Did you do it to me?!" She cut both sides of his face, suprising me to the edge. The cuts automatically healed, and Claudia said," How did you do it?"
" Why should I tell you? It's in my power."
" All yours alone. Tell me how it was done!"
" Be glad I made you what you are." Lestat moved at supersonic speedand grabbed Claudia's throat. " You'd be dead now if I hadn't like that damned corpse. Now get rid of it." He pushed her back and she said," You get rid of it!" She threw down her knife and stomped away.
" Well that was an... interesting turn of events." Lestat sighed, frustrated, and headed into Claudia's room. I followed him to help him remove the body. He picked up the body and I said," Lestat?''
" What?" he asked, still frustrated. I rolled my eyes a bit, used to his temper. " I can read your thoughts. You were thinking about mother earlier. Why?" I asked. We stopped in the hall and he turned to me. " You can read thoughts? Why haven't you told me?"
" You never asked. Now why?"
We continued down the hall to the kitchen as he said," Claudia never mentioned...him. And I believed you to be happier with me. I guess I was wrong." He walked faster, but I caught up.
" Lestat, I am happier. I just miss them is all. I mean, I'll never see them again." We entered the kitchen, and I went over to the oven and opened the door. Lestat shoved the body into the oven and said," Oh really? I thought you to be happier there."
" You'd better be joking. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead."
" Whatever," Lestat said as he walked away." You're being DRAMATIC!" I yelled. He threw his head back in laughter and turned around. " Trust me, Honey, you haven't seen anything quite yet." He turned down the hall.
" 'I haven't seen anything quite yet' yeah, yeah, whatever."
" I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!" I heard Lestat yell. " GOOD!" I yelled back. I rolled my eyes and headed out the door.
I had sweet-talked a young woman into coming with me, and I led her down the alleyway. I hugged her, pretending to thank her for helping me. I bit into her beautiful neck and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. I laid her on the ground, but when I did, I bit into her neck harder. I felt her flesh rip from her neck, and I was forced into tasting it. It wasn't actually that bad. I guess being a different type of vampire causes different taste. I swallowed the skin. I felt the urge for it, so I ripped more flesh from her body. I finally felt her heart stop, signaling for me to stop.
I left her body and saw patches of red on her skin from where I had eaten. It was nearly sunrise, so I headed home. I jumped through the window to my room and went outside of the room. I headed downstairs to Lestat's coffin. He was getting ready to hop inside when he noticed me leaning on the door ledge. " Oh. it's you." Lestat said.
" Sorry I bothered," I went to head out of the room, but Lestat stopped me. I looked at him. " Sorry I miss mom," I said, a blood tear streaming down my face. Lestat wiped it away and licked his thumb. He surprisingly pulled me into a hug. I guess he missed her too...? I'll never know. " Come now. We need to slumber."
Lestat go into his coffin, and looked at me as if saying ' are you coming?'. I walked over to his coffin. I laid down beside him, my head resting on his chest as I fell asleep.
