When Claire did officially reopen the tavern, it was just as busy as it had been the first time she had opened the place to the public twenty years earlier. The hour was nearing midnight when she still found herself staring somberly at the floor from her place on a stool behind the bar where she had been seated for nearly four hours now. When the door finally opened, she half expected it to be some member of her household asking her if she was ready to give up and return home. Not that she would be doing anything at home other than staring at the floor and mulling over those dark thoughts as she had done for nearly a decade and a half now; which she could easily do in either location, obviously.

“This is new management, huh?” Kristofer’s voice greeted her, shaky though it was.

When Claire’s head snapped up at the sound of that voice, a million different thoughts and emotions passed over her still young and beautiful features. One of those many thoughts was that he was just as handsome, now aged forty; though he did look worn down and stressed and plagued with so many of his own deep emotions that had taken their toll over those dozen years since the two had made love under the dock… strange and terrifying and traumatic as that entire night had been.

Claire was at a loss for words as her eyes just moved over him. She was desperately trying to grasp the fact that he hadn’t met his fate that night at all; despite having convinced herself that that had to have been the reason he had never sought her out to answer all of the questions and get an explanation for that emotional pain that she had to have left him with.

“Let me guess; the story is that you’re actually Claire’s and Sean’s daughter, or some other relative, or some such thing?” he asked her in the same shaken tone.

“You’ve had twelve years to ask me all of those questions… and more” Claire returned as her own voice shook just as much as his.

“I’ve had a few other things to deal with since the last time we saw each other” he told her with the same tone that showed nothing more than his otherwise obviously distraught state.

She readjusted to see his aura and found nothing there other than the fear, confusion, and sadness that were easily inferred even without her psychic abilities. “For twelve years?” Claire asked weakly.

Kristofer sighed as he finally pulled his eyes away from her, and held them to the floor as he hesitantly moved toward that stool that he hadn’t sat on for fifteen long years. Once he finally took that seat, he still had a bit of trouble looking toward that flawless youth and beauty that she still possessed, even after those dozen years.

“I had a few decisions to make; very tough decisions” he stated after taking another deep breath.

“And those decisions apparently came down to not coming after me to demand all of those answers?” she returned quietly.

“I guess it’s very hard to know what someone like me could ever possibly say to someone like you; especially after… the last time we saw each other” he decided on sadly, his eyes still having a great deal of trouble staying on her for long.

Claire let out her own heavy sigh before she finally moved from her long held seat to get him his drink of choice that she still remembered as though she had served it to him only a night ago. Once she silently poured and slid the drink to him, she finally spoke again, “but you’re here now.”

“Honestly, I didn’t know that I would actually find you here” he stated in the same near whisper as he looked at the drink for a long moment, took a deep breath, and finally gave into taking that sip, wary though it was.

“No, I didn’t put my blood in it” she offered as she saw his obvious hesitation. Though her words only caused him to swallow another lump in his throat before he took another sip. She then sighed as she continued, “well I’m sure you looked through the window tonight and saw me here; but you still stepped through the door. So, I’m guessing you must want those answers now, after all?”

“Truthfully, I probably shouldn’t be here at all. But I find myself passing by this place so many nights… So I guess part of me must want those answers, even if I know that I should just stay away forever. Well, I guess it wouldn’t be forever for me; just a few more years, at the most” he added in a bit of a mumble.

“I guess knowing what I am is a bit terrifying for someone like you… after what you’ve always been taught to believe about us” Claire stated as her own eyes moved down to hide the sadness in them.

Kristofer just shook his head as he finally forced his eyes up to her, “how did you even know what my family was? That’s the one… well, not one” he corrected, “but that’s a big part I never managed to figure out.”

“My kind is pretty perceptive” she decided on, “one look at you and Sean knew all about the people you were related to. That’s why he did his best to make sure you wouldn’t want to be in my life anymore. It wasn’t jealousy; I didn’t actually lie to you about our marriage that night that we kissed. But after he found out what your family were… he knew he had to try and make you lose all interest in me; so you’d never lead them to us” she finished with another sad sigh.

“But I did anyway” Kristofer let out his own sad sigh, “and for years I thought my brother had killed you” he added more quietly. He then looked up at her quickly, not able to force back his next sentence, “but I honestly did think you were dead… right up until you showed up at my door… and…” he just let his voice trail off at that as he cast those deep brown eyes downward again. He then took another deep breath before continuing, “knowing what kind of creatures that I had ties to, why didn’t you just let me keep thinking you were dead? Why did you come to my door and make sure I knew you weren’t. That I don’t understand at all, Claire. Why would you give up the safety of me thinking you were gone and risk yourself that way… after all that time… just to…?” Kristofer’s voice then trailed off again.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“That’s a little harder to explain” she attempted with a slight sniffle.

“Well unlike you, I don’t think I can waste another decade and then some not knowing; so just tell me why you did it at all” he asked her desperately.

That was when Claire tried to gather all her strength to find any way at all to explain the events of that night. She finally decided on the simplest explanation, though she knew it would only cause more confusion, “I was forced to.”

That answer did catch Kristofer enough to look back up her with even more questions as well as fear in his eyes, “forced to?” he repeated, buying himself time to even process her words.

“Some of us… not all… but some of us Kindred… vampires; some of us really are the evil monsters that your family has always taught you to believe we all are. And one of those monsters forced me to go to your house that night, and to do what I did with you” she sniffled, having more than a bit of difficulty recounting the story at all, let alone to him.

Kristofer was torn between fear and disbelief then, but he had to ask, “forced you how?”

“Some of us can force our will on others; force them to do whatever we tell them to. People like Sean and I…” her voice then stammered a bit at the mention of Sean, but she soon forced herself to move on, “most of us usually only use it when our very lives depend on it. The monster who used it on me; he did it just for the…” another heavy sigh, “just because he was trying to get me killed by forcing me back into your life and to your door that night.”

Kristofer was silent for another long moment as he tried to take in all she had just said, as impossible as that even was. He then took another deep breath, “Sean used that on me, didn’t he?”

That was when Claire whimpered a bit as she quickly moved her hands to her eyes to head off any of those red tears before they could terrify him even further.

“I take that as a yes?” Kristofer returned, his own voice sounding strangled.

“He thought it was the only way to keep me safe from your people… your wife” she choked out the confession. She then shakily forced herself onward, “We hoped that it would never actually come to that; which is why we continued letting you believe I was dead after all. And then when I was forced to go to your door that night, against my own will…” it was then Claire’s voice that trailed off as she turned away to hide more tears.

“And then Rose knew the moment I went back to the house. And she was going to kill you” he finished in a whisper as he looked down once more, “and then I had to do what Sean told me to do… to save you.”

“We never wanted it to ever actually happen. We wanted to just let you think I was dead forever. And then that monster ripped all of our fears about you right out of my head and he used them. He wanted both me and your wife dead; he didn’t care which of us. So he forced me to go to you… just to get rid of at least one of us” Claire finished in a whisper.

“So he should be the one who is actually dead” Kristofer added in a raspy whisper.

“He is. After what he did to me… to us… we sent him off to someone who was powerful enough to end him” she sniffled again as she finally forced herself to turn back, “but by then, all the damage was already done.”

There was another long moment of silence, both of them staring downward, both at a loss for anything to say at all. Finally, Kristofer spoke at last, “you and Sean made it possible for me to even be a doctor at all. I never could have done it without the help you gave me. You gave me my degree. You gave me my home. And you never had any real reason to help me at all; but you did anyway. I need to know why you helped me” he asked yet another question that he had never been able to find any answers to.

Claire almost smiled, but didn’t quite get there. She then sighed once more before giving the only answer she could, “I just wanted to help you. I just wanted to do something good. I just wanted to feel like I wasn’t the monster that your people hate so much.”

Another long silence followed as Kristofer appeared to be biting back several emotions of his own. Finally, he spoke, “if you want to do something good, then I need you to tell me something.”

“Tell you what?” Claire asked as she looked back up at the sound of the desperation in his voice.

“Could it happen again?” Kristofer asked her in that same pleading tone.

Claire was a bit caught by that and needed clarification, “could what happen again?”

“Could I do it again? Could I still kill one of them to save one of you?” he asked in desperation.

That was when Claire bit back another whimper, “there’s more here?”

“Is that a yes?” he choked out.

“If there are more of them here, and they do ever get anywhere near me or my kind… they will try to kill us on sight. That’s what they do, isn’t it” she stated as more a fact than a question, her own voice desperate as well as full of fear and regret.

“And am I still brainwashed to kill them if they do come after you?” he asked again.

“So there are more?” she asked again, her eyes full of fear then.

“You’re not answering me, Claire” Kristofer returned.

“And you’re not answering me” she responded, though her voice was weak.

“’Cause I don’t fucking know; not yet anyway” he sniffled.

“You don’t know?” she repeated, “not yet?” she nearly choked on the words.

“It takes… I won’t know ‘til…” he couldn’t even finish as his tears welled up, though his aura was flooded with the blinding colors of fear and terror and despair so brightly that it forced Claire to have to shield her eyes.

That was when it suddenly became clear to her; the only thing that could cause the terror and despair she was now seeing in him, “Oh my god… you have a child don’t you?” she sniffled as those red tears finally broke through.

“And now I might end up killing…” he choked.

Claire was nearly panicking as much as Kristofer then, though she forced herself to quickly find any solution at all for him, “Ok, ok… I can fix this” she attempted to sound more confident than she felt.

“You can?” Kristofer breathed the words, the tiniest fraction of hope in his eyes and aura then.

“Well, not me but” then the panic quickly returned to his face, “but Sean can!” Claire quickly assured.

“Sean?” he whispered.

“I can’t undo Sean’s powers of persuasion; he’s stronger than me. But he can undo them himself” she promised.

Kristofer scoffed, “and you’re sure?”

“Yes, of course he can” Claire assured again.

“But will he?” Kristofer asked with another sniffle.

“If I ask him; then yes, he will” she promised.

“He only did this to me to save you though, didn’t he?” Kristofer pointed out, the despair still coloring all of his words.

“I will tell him that he has to undo this. I will make him fix this, Kristofer” Claire assured once more.

“But him undoing this… it will put all of your kind, and Sean, and you… right back in all the danger that he did this to save you from. Do you honestly believe he would ever willingly let you be in that kind of danger ever again; especially after he’s gone this far just to make sure that you never would be?”

“I will not let him force you to kill your own child. I will make him see. I will not let that ever happen.”

Kristofer just shook his head, “even if you could somehow convince Sean to undo this; that means that you’re willingly allowing the possibility of there being something out there that could end all of you… and the only thing I do know is that you aren’t the monster all the Garou think you are. So, assuming Sean would even agree… then what choice is it that I’m making here? I either have to let myself someday possibly kill my own child, or else let them grow up and possibly kill you… what kind of choice is that, Claire?”