A/N: as promised, this chapter is all about shedding some light into Delphine's past.
Many thanks to my beta, she did a fantastic job in this one.
Delphine lived a sheltered life in her early years. She never knew how privileged they were until her entire world crumbled to pieces. Only then did she realize that her whole life had been a farce. But no one can really blame her parents, Delphine certainly didn't - not for that, at least. What parent doesn't want the best for their children? And if they have the means to provide, even better.
It's true that Delphine's childhood came in a time when the world was in turmoil. She was only seven when society discovered that there were a few more species in the world than initially thought. Being so young, Delphine doesn't remember the hysterical news anchors looking in disbelief at camera lenses while breaking the news to the world; or the way society fractured when, after the initial shock had faded, discussions about what to do next began. But years later, a dark sense of curiosity led her to search for old videos and newspaper clips which gave her an idea of what life was like while having to deal with the drastic change in world view during that period.
Adding to all this was the fact that Delphine's arrival into the world was completely unexpected. Her parents had given up on having children after trying for years, so much so that they'd adopted a four year old boy who was twelve when Delphine's parents were able to surprisingly conceive a biological child. The young boy immediately took to the new member of the family and despite their parents' fears, there was never a moment when the adopted child felt left out. In fact, a strong bond between the two siblings developed. Clement was incredibly protective of Delphine, playing the role of the older, bigger brother to a fault. There were no biological ties between the two of them, but they were family in the true sense of the word. Delphine grew up knowing that her older brother would always have her back - he was there to cheer her up when she was sad; he supported her in times of need; and he even played with her as if he was still a young child himself even if he's already a teenager with his own circle of friends.
Her family was well established, both socially and financially. A staple in Parisian society, her family can trace back its lineage to the times when kings still ruled France. Private schools with carefully selected students and chauffeurs were the summation of Delphine's childhood. Suffice it to say that the discovery hadn't truly changed Delphine and her family's lives that much. They found false comfort in the certainty that their place in society granted them the safety that lacked the common mortals' lives especially in those early years of turmoil.
It was foolish, but it was what they believed and her father in particular held on to it the strongest. Jacques Beraud was a good family man: he loved his wife, Louise, and both his children unconditionally. He put them first in every decision he made, both in his private and professional life. He truly believed that when he left his comfortable position as a high ranking officer of the French army and accepted the position of Minister of the Interior, he was doing what's best for his family. And when he adopted the most extreme view about how to deal with the two new species that had surfaced, he believed he was doing his best to keep not only his family but also the people of France safe.
A man with the resolve of steel, Jacques would not abandon his strong convictions even when the debate in the society started to shift to the moderate camp; not even when voices against his extremist views were raised from inside his own party and the government; not even when threats against him and his family came from the other extreme. Perhaps that was the only time when Jacques Beraud allowed his pride to blind him which placed his family in real jeopardy for the first time since society shifted.
His steely resolve which earned him a reputation became irrelevant in the long run - his axing and dismissal were only a few days away when patience for his incendiary speeches ran out. It had been a particularly rough week, mostly spent in interviews and press conferences as the media coverage intensifies due to his impending firing. It was never said quite so bluntly, but it was well implied that he had lost the confidence and political trust of the Prime Minister.
Delphine was only thirteen, but the traumatic memory was never forgotten even if the details that preceded and instigated the attack were only known to her years later upon her own research.
She remembers her father coming home, his mood sour, his patience thin. It was not exactly something new - for the last few weeks the atmosphere at home had been tense. While her father was never the kind of man to raise his voice to his wife and children, he kept his distance by locking himself in his office every time he was home, which had become less and less. Gone were the days where he would spend time with his family after dinner, making sure to make time to tuck his young daughter into bed while gently kissing her forehead whispering "fais de beaux rêves".
That night had been nothing like that as Jacques remained locked in his office after dinner. During the small period of time before she was told to go to bed, Delphine remembers hearing her father talking on the phone - his loud and excited voice echoed through the ground level of their spacious house even though the door to the office was closed as per usual. Her brother, then 21 years old and an Economics student, had gone out with his friends so it must've been a Friday or a Saturday night. She isn't sure because she doesn't remember if she had gone to school that day. Whether she had no classes or her parents decided that it's best for her to skip school, she couldn't remember.
Delphine was not a rebel, when they told her to go to bed, she would. However, whenever her brother went out, she'd stay awake - only being able to sleep once he returned. She doesn't know why that was, but that night like many nights before, she heard him get in - climbing up the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms were located. When she eventually heard the door for her brother's bedroom across the hall closed shut, she finally felt safe enough to close her eyes.
Delphine was not fully asleep yet, trapped in the empty space between slumber and barely awake, when she realized something was wrong. Her ears picked up on the sound of the front door opening and it made her heart jump in worry for she remembered that her brother was already home. Whoever was in the front door couldn't be him. A few moments later, there were several pairs of heavy steps flying up the stairs, followed by the sound of a door at the end of the hall being violently kicked open. There were shouting, lots of shouting. Ironically, she couldn't understand what was being said - but it seemed clear that her mother was screaming in terror while her father shouted commands as if his demands still counted for something.
Delphine's impulse reaction was to hide under the covers, pushing them over her head, but the sudden silence terrified her even more. As quietly as she could, she slipped from under the covers and moved to the small gap between her bed and the floor. She curled up on herself, making sure every part of her body was hidden, all the while keeping her ears open to the heavy footsteps approaching her bedroom door.
They did not kick it in, instead they opened it slowly and she covered her mouth with her hand, silencing her whimpers so as not to give away her hiding spot. From under the bed she saw boots getting close, heard the covers of her bed being pushed back with a quick tug, and a curse when whoever it was found it empty. Delphine kept watching through tearful eyes as the person walked around her bedroom, opening the door to her closet - another louder curse cussed out when it only revealed neatly folded clothes.
It had felt like hours, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds when another wave of shouting from the other side of the hall emanated - they'd broken into her brother's bedroom. It was then that Delphine couldn't control her screams any longer, revealing her position. The man in the room turned around instantly and lowered himself to reveal to the young girl a face covered in blood - his crystal blue eyes seemed to have a light of their own while a sinister smile showed unusually long canines. It took her a few seconds to recognise the man whose face had been disfigured by rage. It was her father's driver/bodyguard who Delphine had known her entire life. He'd driven her to school almost daily.
"Viens ici, peste de merde!" She heard in a voice filled with hate that didn't seem to belong to the man she knew.
She could only scream louder as a strong hand clamped around her ankle and pulled her from under the bed. She tried to wiggle herself out of his grasp, but he was much too strong and she was but a skinny child. All her feeble attempts to break free induced an amused, maniacal laugh from the man. In the struggle, Delphine ended up face down against the wooden floor, her own screams mixed with the yelling that was coming from her brother's bedroom. She only stopped screaming when the weight of the man on top of her forced the air out of her lungs. Terrified screams were trapped in her burning lungs while she fruitlessly tried to fight back against the crushing pressure on her small body.
She heard the back of her pyjama top rip and she immediately felt a sharp pain on the back of her right shoulder, her fragile skin tearing with a bite of a creature who truly didn't know what he was doing. His clumsiness made him angrier and in his frustration, he started to claw Delphine's back, who was paralyzed and slumped with terror. She doesn't know how long the attack lasted, but all of a sudden she could breathe again. Still, she didn't dare move an inch.
"What do you think you're doing?" Another male voice from behind her said to her attacker. "We don't have time for that, you idiot!"
The weight on her body disappeared and she heard a loud noise when something heavy crashed against a wooden material. Delphine didn't move and she remained perfectly still, the only thing she couldn't stop were the tears falling down her cheeks.
"We have to go!" Another voice spoke with urgency.
"You've got the boy?" The first voice asked.
"Yes! What about the girl?" The second voice said again.
"Leave her, she's too young," a female voice said.
"She's still alive." The second voice noted.
"Not for long…"
And this was the moment when Delphine blacked out.
By the time she opened her eyes again, Delphine was in a hospital bed while a doctor talked with her grandmother, saying how it was a miracle she survived after losing so much blood. She was laid on her stomach and when Delphine tried to turn around, a blistering pain shoot up her back as if it was on fire. The grunt she released made the adults stop their conversation to turn their attention to her.
When she was strong enough to leave the hospital, she moved to her grandmother's house in a quaint little town, which felt like a completely different world even if it wasn't very far from Paris. She was homeschooled and any contact with strangers was limited to the absolutely indispensable and important.
Even if her grandmother hadn't insisted on these conditions, Delphine would've have preferred it. She distrusted strangers - rightfully so after what happened - and keeping herself secluded was the only way she could manage the days. The nights, however, were terrible, the seclusion not helping her at all when the sun goes down. After hours of tossing and turning in her bed, her eyes and brain would give out, but her slumber lasted only for a couple of hours before she would wake up screaming and drenched in sweat as her grandmother rushed to her bedroom to try to calm her back to sleep. It took months before Delphine was able to sleep through the night, and years before she felt safe enough to fall asleep in a dark room.
As for what happened that night, her grandmother refused to answer any questions about it. Whenever a growing and curious Delphine asked her anything about it, the old woman would just say that she should be thankful for the miracle of her survival and that she should try to just move past it. Delphine knew it was a painful subject for her grandmother too - after all she lost a daughter and a grandson in the attack, so she knew not to press further. But it was impossible to keep her curiosity at bay and she knew exactly where to get her answers.
Something so big made headlines not only in France but all over the world. The reporting about the murder of a prominent figure like her father was extensive, and along with his death, his wife had also perished that night. Her brother's body was never found and he was either presumed dead or was taken by the group of vampires that carried out the attack. Delphine knew his fate, remembering the conversation between her attackers, but she never said anything about it to anyone - not even to her grandmother knowing that it would only cause her unnecessary pain. There were details regarding the attack that were missing from the news coverage, the reality of the carnage which took place was vaguely represented in the articles she found. There were also no mentions about her own fate in the news clips and Delphine suspected that the omission had something to do with the influence her family name still had.
Even so in the weeks that followed after the attack, news reports continued to emerge and what had become known as the "Beraud Doctrine" had gained a second wind. The clamor for those behind the gruesome massacre to be brought to justice was intense for a while, but nothing ever came out of it. As the attack got lost in the news cycle, there was the belief that those vampires involved were mostly likely long gone. Pretty soon, the macabre attack on Jacques Beraud and his family became no more than a footnote in the grand scheme of things and contributing to that was probably the fact that Delphine's father was never really a universally liked man. Admired, perhaps. Respected, absolutely. But also feared. Besides, bringing up such events would only hinder the negotiations that were on the way with the vampire community. Why risk the prospect of peaceful co-existence on the account of the actions of a few zealots?
When it was time for Delphine to go to university, most of the entire ordeal had been forgotten. Still, she didn't feel safe returning to an environment that calls for more open socialization in her own country. Taking her grandmother's maiden name and the decision to pursue her studies in the States were the only things she could think of to thinly protect herself from the haunting memory of her childhood. However, taking on a new last name and moving to another country didn't mean she was ready to move on and leave the past behind. The fate of her brother was a constant concern - she couldn't just forget about him knowing he was out there somewhere.
That became her goal - to find her brother. It was her motivation when she chose an area of expertise she knew would likely be useful. She was relentless in her studies, determined to become one of the best. And when she felt too tired or burned out to continue, it was her brother's smiling face that kept her going - the choice memories of Clement pushed her to not allow herself to give up.
It's true that for several years after the attack, Delphine's heart yearned and needed vengeance. She wanted those who stole her life from her to pay a grievous price, to make them suffer as she did. But as she matured with the passing of time, so did her feelings towards the creatures who changed her life. Instead of hating them, Delphine became increasingly obsessed with understanding them. After all, her brother was one of them, and the idea of helping him once they're finally reunited became her goal.
When she agreed to work for The Company, she did so knowing that it was the quickest way for her to infiltrate DYAD and get access to its extensive database. She had no contacts within the vampire community and in order to conduct her own investigation, she needed to tap someone else's network and DYAD was by far the most complete. Besides, their reach is worldwide with branches in all major cities throughout the planet and it was not only the American government that secured their services. Every country which chose to catalogue the species had a contract with the Institute and that includes France, even though Delphine doubts her brother is still living in his native country. Or maybe Delphine just wants to believe it, hoping that if her brother was still close, he'd do everything to get back together with his sister. But the truth is that Delphine has absolutely no idea what became of Clement since the attack and the chances of him still living are slim - even if she seldom admits that to herself.
The fact that The Company was controlled by vampires came as a surprise to her, but not an unpleasant one at that. No longer could she complain about lack of contacts within the vampire community and this was an opportunity she couldn't just throw away, even if she might've jump the gun in the Council's meeting.
Cosima is right, she should've chosen her moment better, negotiate more intelligently. But when an opportunity like that presents itself, it'd be foolish to waste it.