The New Family In Town

Back in 1821, Louis de Pointe du Lac took young Claudia with him to Paris and after learning that a coven of vampires were ready to punish him for killing Lestat de Lioncourt, not only was he able to turn a grieving mother named Madeleine into a vampire, but he even managed to send her and Claudia away while fighting off as many other vampires as he could.

“Run, Claudia!” Louis yelled as the other vampires began to drag him away. “And take your new mom with you!”

“I’ll never forget you, Louis!” Claudia shrieked as Madeleine had to take her away.

“Come with me, new daughter of mine!” Madeleine cried out as they managed to flee to their safety.

Louis must’ve risked his own life to protect Claudia and Madeleine by sending them away to their safety and they had been in hiding ever since.

~183 Years Later~

A young boy back in suburban Fairfield was playing roller hockey with the kids whose parents happened to be his neighbors when they noticed a large moving van arrive in front of the driveway of one of the houses, followed by a Lamborghini Gallardo sedan. A woman was the first to step out of the car, followed by a little girl, and with the help of the movers, they had to bring everything into their new house.

“Uh, Lloyd, are you okay?” Ricky, one of the neighborhood kids, asked.

“Uh, never mind,” Lloyd said, “let’s get back to hockey for now.”

The kids then continued to play hockey until it was time for dinner, and then they all had to go home. As soon as Lloyd went home, what he was having for dinner at this time was some steak with potatoes and broccoli on the side...and yet all he could do was stare at his meal, barely able to stop thinking about the new girl.

“Lloyd, is something wrong?” asked his mother.

“Some weird lady and a little girl moved to our neighborhood,” Lloyd said, “and I can’t stop thinking about them.”

“Well, I’m sorry you feel this way,” his mother said, “but you should at least eat something.”

That was when Lloyd started to eat the dinner afterwards; after dinnertime, his parents allowed him to be alone in his room and yet when he looked out his bedroom window, what he saw was the same girl who moved into a new house earlier. She ended up tapping her window in an attempt to get his attention and when she saw that he was confused, she wrote “Meet me in front of your driveway at midnight tonight if you dare” on a piece of paper with a black marker prior to holding said sign in the window...and that was when he realized what she had wanted from him.

When midnight came, Lloyd got up from his bed and put his clothes over his pajamas (plus shoes) prior to carefully opening his door and checking to make sure that his parents were asleep. When everything was in the clear, he carefully tiptoed downstairs towards the front door, after which he cautiously opened the door prior to walking out...and that was when he saw a familiar-looking girl.

“So you must be my new neighbor,” the girl smirked.

“Yeah,” Lloyd stammered. “Who are you?”

“I’m Claudia,” she said. “Claudia Short. And you?”

“I’m Lloyd Stevens,” Lloyd answered. “What brings you here?”

“Easy,” Claudia grinned. “Well, back in 1791, when my old mom died, those two vampires decided to turn me into one of them. Then thirty years passed and one of the vampires was still treating me like a doll and I got sick of it, so I asked the other vampire to help me kill him, after which we fled to Paris, where Louis found a lady who not only decided to adopt me, but even asked him to turn her into a vampire, which he did. Then more vampires came and even though they probably killed him, at least he saved our lives, so we’ve been hiding ever since. After all, we’ve spent 183 years in hiding while moving from Paris to Madrid, then Venice, then Lisbon, then London, then Berlin, then Moscow, then Athens, then Canada, then Hawaii and many more places. Then one day, while we were in Brooklyn, my new mom decided that we should move to Fairfield and that’s why I’m here.”

Then as Claudia rambled, Lloyd noticed that she was wearing a simple t-shirt in addition to a pair of ripped jeans and sneakers combined; therefore, he never knew that she used to wear those beautiful dresses that were fashionable back in the 18th/19th century.

“Who’s Louis?” Llyod asked.

“You won’t know him,” Claudia said nonchalantly. “That was Louis de Pointe du Lac. That guy had a wife once until she died. After that, that no good dirty rotten bastard named Lestat de Lioncourt came along and turned him into a vampire. Anyway, Louis was the one who saved my life.”

“Gee, I’m sorry to hear that,” Lloyd said sympathetically. “Anyway, how did you move during the day?”

“Well,” Claudia stated, “my new mom got sick of only being able to come out at night, so she took me to some weird witch, whom she asked about how we could venture out during the day, so the witch gave us those special jewelry that could somehow protect us from the sunlight.”

As if on cue, she took out her necklace and made Lloyd look at it. Well, not just any necklace, but it happened to be a Daylight Amulet with a beautiful lapis lazuli pendant that had long since managed to protect all vampires from the sunlight.

“Wow, that’s pretty,” Lloyd marveled.

“Yeah,” Claudia agreed, “and don’t even think that I’m the only one who has one. My mom has hers too.”

Then the next day, Madeleine managed to enroll Claudia into Nelda Mundy Elementary School and with the help of one of the Daylight Amulets, Claudia was able to go to school without having to worry about being burnt into ash in front of her teacher and classmates. Meanwhile, Madeleine got a new job as a winemaker and was able to found a winery somewhere in Sonoma. The secret? A little bit of blood, which Madeleine proceeded to mix with juices from grapes.

Anyway, Claudia was chatting with Lloyd during recess when they spotted a young girl getting bullied by a boy, so Claudia ran up to said bully in anger.

“Stop right there!” Claudia yelled. “You’re never touching this girl ever again!”

“Hey, she’s my sister!” the boy retorted. “I can do what I want to her! Even my dad said so!”

“Oh yeah?” Claudia snarled as she lifted up the now terrified boy by the collar with both hands (which just surprised Lloyd). “If I ever see you doing this ever again, I will personally bite your neck and drink your blood while your mommy and daddy watch! Get it?!”

As the boy swiftly nodded in fear, Claudia let go of his shirt and let him fall down on the ground, after which he ran away in fright.

“Wow, I didn’t know you were that strong,” Lloyd gasped.

“I learned from the best,” Claudia admitted. “My mom and I learned to be tough so many years ago.”

“Uh, thank you,” the girl said shyly.

“Whatever,” Claudia groaned. “What is your name, can I ask?”

“Sophia Löwenström,” the girl said. “Do you have a name?”

“Yeah,” Claudia said, “I’m Claudia Short and this is my new neighbor and friend named Lloyd Stevens.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sophia said. “The boy who bullied me is Edvard, who sadly happens to be my brother.”

“It sucks to have a brother like that,” Lloyd said.

“I know,” Sophia said.

“Well, maybe I’ll teach you how to fight back too,” Claudia suggested.

“Uh, I’m not sure,” Sophia said doubtfully. “He’s stronger than me and so is my Daddy. And Daddy is no better, since he beats his wife too.”

“Anyway, you still need to learn to fight back!” Claudia snapped. “And after school, I’m going to teach you how to fight back! All you’ll have to do is come to my new house after school! Get it?”

“Well, okay,” Sophia sighed in defeat, “but it’s not going to be easy.”

Little did they know that Sophia’s mother was going to encounter Lestat, who would turn her into a vampire in addition to helping her fight back.

A few days passed and Madeleine was about to take Claudia to her own winery when someone knocked on the door and yet as soon as they answered, they saw a familiar man standing on their doorsteps.

“Louis?!” Claudia gasped in shock.

“What are you doing here, sir?” Madeleine gasped as well.

“Well, I get you don’t recognize me anymore,” Louis stated. “Anyway, I’m Louis and I saved your lives, remember?”

“I thought you were dead!” Claudia stammered.

“Actually, I survived,” Louis admitted. “Those other vampires locked me up and left me there to die and yet I figured out a way to escape, after which I had to set the whole theatre on fire to kill them back in Paris. After that, I’ve been hiding everywhere since.”

“Well, we’re sorry to hear that,” Madeleine said. “Anyway, we’re going to my winery today. You can come with us if you want.”

Louis obliged and they ended up driving from Fairfield to Sonoma, where Madeleine proceeded to give Claudia and Louis a tour around her winery.

Meanwhile, Harriet Löwenström was going shopping at Walmart with Sophia when they bumped into another familiar-looking man.

“Hi there, ladies,” Lestat said with a mischievous smirk on his ever-handsome face.

“Who are you?” Harriet asked fearfully.

“Well, ma’am, I’m Lestat de Lioncourt,” Lestat said, “and I’ve been a vampire my whole life since the 13th century. Anyway, I’ve been looking for Louis for many years. By the way, why are you so scared? You think I’m going to drink your blood or something?”

“Well, I just don’t want to get beat up anymore,” Harriet confessed.

“Who beat you up?” Lestat quizzed.

“It’s my husband,” Harriet said. “His name is Wilhelm and I only married him because I thought he would be a good husband, but I was wrong. He not only beat me up, but he beat my kids too. And I’d like to file a divorce, but I’m too scared because what if he’ll find out? He might kill us all!”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do,” Lestat said. “Also, can I have your name?”

“I’m Harriet Löwenström,” Harriet said, “and this is my daughter named Sophia, whose brother is Edvard.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Lestat said.

“Same to you,” Harriet said.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Sophia smiled.

Later, when they got back from their shopping trip, they were about to put their groceries in the refrigerator when all of a sudden…

“HEY, WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?!?” Wilhelm yelled from the living room. “DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO COME HOME EARLIER?!? NOW I’LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR A LONG TIME FOR DINNER!!!”

“But Wilhelm, I can explain—“ Harriet tried to say before Wilhelm slapped her across the face.

“SAVE IT, YOU CUNT!!!” Wilhelm roared as he began punching her.

“Run, Sophia, and go to your room!” Harriet yelled, prompting the girl to run upstairs to her room prior to locking herself inside.

As Wilhelm continued to beat his wife, he didn’t know that Lestat was watching. However, as the vampire managed to bust down the front door, he arrived a bit too late; as he saw Harriet lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, Lestat got very angry and began attacking Wilhelm, knocking him out instantly. Lestat then walked over to Harriet.

“Harriet, are you okay?” Lestat asked prior to realizing that Harriet was about to die. “Oh shit! You don't look so good! Here, let me turn you into a vampire!”

“Y-yes, please,” Harriet moaned, after which Lestat began biting her and drinking half of her blood before he slit his arm and made her drink half of his blood; afterwards, when he decided that it was enough, he eventually yanked his arm away from Harriet as the transformation began to take effect on her.

Just then, Wilhelm came to and charged at Lestat, and that was when the brawl began.

“Women are supposed to be servants to men!” Wilhelm bellowed between punches and kicks. “After all, I don’t beat my wife and kids for nothing!”

“Well, you’re not supposed to!” Lestat yelled back between punches and kicks. “Women are people too and they’re not made as slaves!”

As the brawl went on, Wilhelm gained the upper hand as he grabbed an empty vase prior to hitting Lestat on the head with it, knocking him down instantly. Then as he was about to finish off the vampire with an ax, Harriet came to and suddenly hit him on the head from behind.

“You don’t mess with us ever again!” Harriet snarled and she began attacking her husband, not only for trying to kill Lestat, but for putting her and her kids through hell. Then all was said and done, the cops came.

“Freeze, Mr. Löwenström!” one of the cops yelled as Wilhelm put his hands up in the air.

“You’re under arrest, sir!” another cop said in agreement as he handcuffed Wilhelm prior to taking him away.

Then when they eventually had to go to court, it turned out that Wilhelm not only beat his wife and kids, but he turned out to be a real serial killer (the cops had been mistaking Lestat for a serial killer all this time until now), even kidnapping, raping and killing several women everywhere in the Solano County; so he got 50 years of life in prison. Afterwards, Harriet got a divorce and married Lestat, even going to a honeymoon with him at Spain (all the while sending Sophia to stay with her cousin Beatrice and her parents for six weeks while Edvard had to go to his grandparents, who had to teach him how to clean up his act).

Meanwhile, Madeleine married Louis and sent Claudia to stay with Lloyd and his parents for six weeks while they were on their honeymoon somewhere in London. And everyone lived happily ever after (except Wilhelm and, to a lesser extent, Edvard, that is).

(Author’s Note: This book includes characters from “Interview With the Vampire” and “Överenskommelser (Arrangements)”, respectively, and may contain a few “The Vampire Diaries” references.)