Claire snapped to look at the bathroom mirror.

There was a question in her blue eyes, and a tangle in her golden hair. She had heard something downstairs, but couldn’t tell what. She wondered about the sound as she drew a brush through her hair once again. She had already changed into her favorite heart pajamas and was preparing to go to sleep even though she definitely wasn’t tired. Stupid bedtime.

The sound came again and her whole body tensed in reaction. Was that an explosion? Worse than hearing it, she could feel it now. A rumble in the floor which sent all her fun lotions and makeups clattering onto the marble tiles. There was muffled shouting in the rooms downstairs and Claire started to get very worried. 

This was followed by the piercing ring of gunshots.

Claire screamed and dropped to the floor, covering her ears. She curled into a ball as more questions piled up in her thoughts. Was Daddy going to be okay? Where were her sisters? Did security know this was happening? The shouting grew louder and the shooting continued and Claire cried like a baby. She didn’t care why it was happening. She just wished this terrible night would end.

“Claire!?” a familiar female voice called from the bedroom.

Claire looked up at the bathroom door with worry. She imagined it was her sister calling, but she was still too startled to make a sound. She sat up, brought her knees to her chest, and watched the door. Shortly after, someone opened the door and Claire was relieved to see her sister, Nina.

“Oh my god, Claire!” Nina said.

The tall brunette woman closed and locked the door before practically diving ontop of her younger sister. Nina hugged Claire around the head and shoulders. Claire barely reacted; she was too scared to move.

Nina pulled away and angled her head to see Claire’s face. “Hey, look at me. Are you okay?”

Claire gave a weak nod as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Hierarch is with security, they’re going to take care of it,” Nina said.

“No!” Claire cried. “Daddy should be somewhere safe!”

“I know, Claire,” Nina said. “But, he’s stubborn like that.”

There was a lull in the shooting. A strange quiet followed; gunshots replaced by paced footsteps. Nina and Claire looked to eachother, both silently wondering if the ordeal was over.

Another shot rang out, this one much heavier and louder.

Nina and Claire screamed in unison.

There were another few steps. Claire listened closely and could recognize her adopted father’s dress shoes on the hardwood floor near the front door. She heard a metallic racking sound. Then she heard another heavy gun blast.

Claire clung to her older sister and cried, hoping her dad didn’t get hurt. They sat that way for a while, wondering and waiting and hoping. Then Nina’s phone rang. She brushed aside her blazer to reach her skirt pocket.

“Hierarch!” she answered.

“Daddy!” Claire climbed onto her sister to be closer to the phone.

“Get some sleep, girls. Everything is under control.”

Nina was about to say something before a tone played from her phone. She looked at the device to realize the call had ended.

“Well, he seems fine,” Nina said.

Was that all he was going to say? He expected them to just go to sleep after that? No way! What if something bad happened and he was just trying to be strong and hide it?

Hierarch’s dismissive words left Claire dissatisfied. She huffed and pushed up from the floor. She lunged towards the bathroom door, slipping out of Nina’s grasp as she reached to stop her.

“No, Claire, wait!”

Claire nearly toppled over her dress mannequin as she ran through her bedroom and into the hallway. She could hear Nina’s heels clicking on the wood floor behind her, but she didn’t slow down. She kept running through the long hallway and down the stairs. There, she caught sight of her father standing in the foyer, wearing his typical three-piece striped suit.

She flung herself at him. Once her arms were wrapped fully around him, Claire finally felt safe again. She buried her face against his stomach and hugged him as tight as she could.

“Daddy, oh my gosh, I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do-”

“It’s over now,” Hierarch said. “Take a deep breath.”

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Claire looked up at her adoptive father with tears in her eyes. He was almost twice her height and the stripes only made him look taller. There was blood splattered across his fair skin and faded hair. A stern look behind his square glasses, as if some memory was bothering him. But that look was always there; this event had not made it any better or worse.

Hierarch stroked Claire's hair as she stared up at him. It had a soothing effect on her and, once she had calmed down, she realized that Hierarch’s other hand was caught within her hug. Not only that, but within that other hand there was a large hard object between them. 

Claire took a step backwards and looked down to see it was a large, ornate shotgun. It was longer than her arm and plated with engraved gold. Her eyes went wide with a mixture of curiosity and awe. She had never seen anything like it, especially not one so… pretty.

While looking down at Hierarch’s gun, Claire finally caught sight of the dead bodies strewn about the floor. She was so concerned for her dad that she hadn’t noticed before, the perpetrators of the attack on their home, laying broken and bloody on the hardwood. Claire brought her hands up to her chest as she spun to look around the foyer. She found more dead intruders, collapsed in the destroyed doorway or slumped against the bullet-ridden walls.

They were all wearing various combinations of red armor and black gear, with a symbol crudely painted onto the glassy visor of their helmets. Claire couldn’t tell at first, as most of them were shot and shattered beyond recognition. However, after scanning each attacker with morbid curiosity, she pieced together the symbol to be a skull. They were Skullface mercenaries, a villain gang which Claire had heard of on the news.

But this wasn’t just on TV or somewhere else in the city.

They attacked her dad. They attacked his home.

Claire frantically looked at the bullet holes and broken windows and scorched furniture, beginning to feel overwhelmed. She wiped her eyes and turned around in time to see Victor, the leader of the security staff. He wore grey ballistic armor from head to toe and was holstering a pistol while walking over to Hierarch.

“All clear,” Victor said. “Perimeter is secure, no more hostiles.”

Hiercarch didn’t look at him, his eyes still fixed on Claire. Instead, he raised the gold shotgun up to his side. “Return this to the vault.”

“Yes, sir.” Victor nodded his head and took the weapon.

Claire watched as the shotgun changed hands. When Victor glanced at her, she lowered her gaze in reflex. However, when Victor turned to leave, she looked at the shotgun again, staring after it until Victor was gone.

What vault did Daddy mean? Was there a place for weapons in the estate? Were there other golden guns that Claire had never seen?

Other members of security arrived soon after. They began checking the Skullface bodies, securing their weapons, and taking pictures of the scene, before finally dragging the dead mercenaries out of the house.

Heirarch took a step towards Claire and lowered to one knee in front of her. He brushed curls away from her face. Claire sniffed her running nose and wiped her wet eyes to look better for her Daddy, if only slightly. She looked at him and could tell from his stern face that all her questions would have to wait until tomorrow. Though, even if he wasn’t in a bad mood, Claire didn’t have the energy to be as inquisitive as usual.

“Don’t worry about the house, Claire. All of that can be replaced. What matters is that you and your sister are safe.”

“And you!” Claire insisted. “You have to be safe too!”

Hierarch chuckled. “You’re right, and I will. But sometimes, danger finds you.”

Claire whined and shook her head.

She looked over at the last Skullface on the floor, a bloody mess of bone and metal where his head once was. “So… you… shot them?”

“They’re bad guys,” Hierarch said. “They got what they deserved.”

Claire tilted her head at that response. A question formed on her lips, but before she could ask it, Hierarch wrapped his arms around her and stood. He picked her up in the same motion and Claire realized in that moment how tired she actually was. Once she was off her feet, the adrenaline drained out of her. That emergency strength was no longer needed while in her daddy’s arms.

Claire rested her head on her dad’s shoulder. He carried her up the stairs and the comforting rocking motion almost put her to sleep right there. She was fading into unconsciousness, barely able to hear Nina once they reached the upper hallway. She turned towards Hierarch with her phone to her ear.

“It’s Gravegirl,” Nina said. “She asked if you wanted her to come home.”

Hierarch shook his head. “We’re fine here. She can stay out.”

“What? No~” Claire whined, trailing off. Gravegirl was Roxxane, their middle sister. Claire would have much preferred her to be home tonight, not out in the city fighting criminals. However, she was too tired to protest any further.

“Contact Director Cross and Lady Tarsotti,” Hierarch said. “I need to meet with them as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir.” Nina nodded her head. She reached up and straightened Claire’s hair before turning to head downstairs.

Hierarch resumed walking, carrying Claire to her bedroom.

Claire traced a finger along the stripes of Hierarch’s vest. “Who’s Lady Tarsotti?”

“An old friend,” Hierarch said. “She can help me deal with the villain behind this.”

Claire had met Director Cross when he visited sometime in the past. He kept saying something about “The Consortium”, whatever that meant. She didn’t pay much attention after that. Just some old guy in a suit who was mean and boring. Without much else to go on, Claire imagined Lady Tarsotti was more of the same; some boring friend who took too much of Hierarch’s attention away from herself.

Hierarch reached Claire’s bedroom and walked inside, taking care to avoid stepping on any of the many plushies and toys scattered about the pink carpet. Bright theme music played from the monitor of her gaming computer, which filled the room with purple accent light.

“Clean up your room tomorrow, okay?”

Claire nodded her head against Hierarch’s chest. She loved the feeling of her Daddy; all wrapped up in his strong arms. She loved the way his beard tickled her skin and his cologne made her crinkle her nose in the best way. She clung onto him for as long she could until he placed her down in her princess bed. She curled up on the silk sheets and watched Hierarch step away through the glittery satin veils around her bed.

“I love you, Daddy~”

“I love you, baby.”

Heirarch walked over to the computer and logged out of the game before switching the machine off. He turned around and walked back to the door, taking one last glance at Claire before he left. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was calm. She would fall asleep soon and get some rest from this traumatic night. However, she still had one last conscious thought; thinking of what Hierarch told her before…

They’re bad guys.

They got what they deserved.