The Dark Proposal (The Claire McCormick Trilogy)

by Megan Cashman

  Claire watched him from the corner of her eye. Was he thinking of hurting them? If he really was what he said he was, were one of those kids his next victims? Did he really drink blood to survive? But he had eaten and drank normal food in front of her whenever they ate out. No vampire does that.

  But then, whenever they had sex, he insisted on having the lights off. Or rather, demanded. The one time they did with the lights on was their first time together, and even then he didn’t want her to touch him very much. He always wanted to do the work. What did that mean? She already knew he had almost pure white skin. Well, except that first time. Back then, his skin was a more normal color. By the morning, however, it was back to being white.

  Claire closed her eyes, wishing she could end the madness she was experiencing. Maybe this wouldn’t last long. Maybe she would wake up tomorrow and everything would be okay. Somehow.

  The ferry docked. Daniel pulled her up from her seat and directed her towards the bus stop. She didn’t need to ask or protest him coming with her. He was going to stay with her for as long as possible.

  On the bus, Daniel maintained his same behavior: arm over her shoulder while looking away. Claire remained nearly hunched over, staring into space with her arms folded across her chest. Neither said a word. They looked like a couple who just had a fight.

  After fifteen minutes, their stop came and they both got off. As they walked the three blocks to her home, Daniel leaned in close to her. “I’m giving you time to think about everything, that’s why I didn’t do anything to you yet. I’m letting it sink in, so you would fully understand the choice you will make.”

  Claire murmured something and he asked her to say it again.

  “You told me earlier if I don’t become like you, I would regret it. How is that a choice?”

  “Well, you could say yes right now.”

  She shook her head. “No, no. I don’t want to be like you.”

  “But you still are in denial over what I am.” He leaned in to hiss into her ear. “A vampire!”

  She shuddered. “Please, don’t.”

  He pulled away and they kept on walking.

  They reached the two family house where her apartment was. No lights were on except for the outdoor light and the light over the kitchen stove. Monica and Samantha were still elsewhere. Claire fumbled for her keys but was able to find the right one despite her situation. Opening the door, she looked up at Daniel who simply looked back. She entered and he followed.

  Turning the kitchen light on, she set her keys and shoulder bag on the kitchen table, and Daniel helped remove her wool coat. After he put it on the hook near the door, he turned to her. “What are you going to do now?”

  “I’m going to bed. I’m tired and worn out,” she told him.

  “Okay, let’s get you to your bed, then.” He reached to put his arm around her again to guide her but she backed away.

  “Please, I think I can take care of myself.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded. She just wanted him to go away.

  Shrugging, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his forehead against hers. “I know this is a lot to take in, and I’m sorry. But it is best for you and I.” He lightly kissed her lips. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be traveling to New Jersey tomorrow. My brother is picking me up in the morning.”

  “What about at night, after you’ve eaten everything?”

  “No, its…this is too much.” She wanted dearly to tell him to never call her or speak to her again.

  “Okay,” he removed his arms from her. “I’ll call you over the weekend to see how you’re doing then.” She mumbled her agreement and he squeezed her shoulder. “I love you, Claire,” he said as he turned to leave.

  She watched him go, closing the door behind him. She quickly locked up and pressed her head against the door. The sobs finally came, first in simple spasms then in heaves. She was choking again, this time from her own grief and fear.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Claire sat on the couch in the living room the next morning, still in her pajamas, watching the Thanksgiving parade on TV. A cup of hot chocolate was in her hands, but she barely noticed its heat or aroma. She couldn’t even see or hear the parade getting started.

  She was staring blankly at the TV, her eyes burning from the amount of tears she’d poured out during the previous night. She somehow was able to get herself into her bed, but she barely slept. Instead, she either wept or replayed what happened at Daniel’s apartment. She had searched her brain and even her heart for any doubt that the man she loved was a violent person, let alone a vampire. Nothing made sense to her anymore. It was as if her life was abruptly replaced by someone else’s, someone she did not know or recognize.

  The phone started ringing, but Claire didn’t get up to answer it. She could barely hear it in her clouded thoughts.

  After two rings, Monica emerged from the bedroom and grabbed the phone on the coffee table in front of Claire. It was Theresa Palermo, the landlord’s wife upstairs, wishing the tenants a happy Thanksgiving. She figured all the girls were up since she heard the television on.

  “Oh yes, Theresa,” Monica shot a confused look at Claire, who was slowly starting to let reality register. “Only Claire was up. Sam and I got in late last night. But thank you for calling! Enjoy your Thanksgiving!”

  She pressed off the phone and put it down, staring at her roommate. “Didn’t you hear the phone ring? It was right in front of you.”

  “Sorry. I’m still half asleep.” Claire answered absentmindedly.

  Monica examined Claire slumped on the couch with puffy eyes. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Claire forced herself to sip her hot chocolate. She looked at Monica who had sat down next to her. “Daniel and I had a fight last night.”

  Monica’s eyes widened. “Really? About what?”

  She took a deep breath and tried to say something, but ended up sputtering. After pausing, she tried again. “We just…had a disagreement about where our relationship is headed. He wants me to move in with him. I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

  “I thought you were,” Monica said. “Didn’t the two of you talk about it before?”

  “Yeah, but I think it’s too soon,” Claire looked down at her mug, tracing its brim with a single finger.

  “Claire, what else happened? You’re holding back.” Her friend lightly touched her forearm.

  Sighing heavily, she tilted her head back. “It was just a nasty fight. I saw an ugly side of him, really ugly. I mean, it really turned me off from him.”

  “How bad was it? “ Monica asked.

  “We were practically shouting at each other. He got really riled up. He scared me a bit.” Claire hesitated from going on. Would Monica believe her about Daniel baring his fangs and even choking her? Her bathrobe collar was placed around her neck to hide the few bruises and she intended to wear a couple of turtlenecks for the four day weekend.

  Monica raised one eyebrow a bit. “Sounds like you had a bad night.”

  “Yeah, I did.” Finally looking at her friend, Claire said, “I really don’t want to talk now. Dan and I are giving it a few days before we talk again.”

  Monica shrugged and got up to fix herself breakfast.

  Silently, Claire started cursing at herself. Why did she lie? Why didn’t she tell one of her best friends the truth? She literally just protected the man who abused her last night. Never had she tolerated an abusive guy before. When she was in high school and even college, any guy who showed signs of being abusive she dumped immediately. She knew better than to let someone hit her. So why was she defending Daniel?

  Was it because he claimed to be a vampire? Because of how he weirdly darted around his apartment and showed her his fangs? Did she really believe vampires existed?

  Turning to her roommate, who was buttering a bagel, she suddenly asked, “Hey Monica. Has someone ever told you they were a vampire?”
>
  Monica completely froze for a few seconds before looking at Claire. By the way she had asked her that question, Monica seemed to think her friend said the sky was purple.

  “I mean, seriously,” Claire said, putting her mug on the coffee table. “There are wackos out there, aren’t there?”

  “Yeah, that’s what they are. Wackos.” Monica shook her head and went back to her bagel. “Why are you asking me that?”

  “Because while we were out, this guy came up to me and Dan said he was a vampire.” Claire shrugged. “I don’t know, it was just bizarre to hear him say that.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine, Monica. Just had a lousy night.”

  “Well, you better not let it ruin today. What time is your brother picking you up?”

  “At eleven. I’ve got time.”

  “No.” Monica laughed a bit “Samantha will be up soon and needs to get her hangover off her. Better get into the shower before she does.”

  “Right, I’ll do that.” Claire finished off her hot chocolate, put it in the sink and made a beeline to the shower.

  Her brother, Zachary, stopped by a couple of hours later. Claire was quick to get into his car rather than have him spend time at the apartment. That was odd according to everyone, since they expected that he would relax a bit before spending another hour driving back to central New Jersey. But Claire was insistent that she leave immediately. She didn’t care how odd she was acting; she just wanted to run from her troubles for a few days.

  As Zachary drove her, she mostly talking about her freelancing. She had two assignments lined up, but she had plenty of time to do them. She tried to avoid talking about Daniel, but Zachary, being her big brother, wanted to bring him up.

  “How are things going with you two?”

  “Oh, fine, fine. He’s sorry he couldn’t make it, but he’s got assignments himself.”

  “Yeah, understandable. Maybe he could call us later today?”

  “Maybe. He didn’t mention it.” Claire quickly changed the subject to her niece, Ava. Her brother discussed how she was trying to crawl. That brought a smile to Claire’s face, something that felt odd after spending hours looking glum.

  As they got closer to Bedminster, the town where she grew up, Claire began to think about how her parents raised her here and not in a larger city, even though the family made trips to either New York or Philadelphia regularly. They always told her it was because of the crime in those places. They were worried when Claire announced she was going to Richmond College, and even more so when she told them she would stay on Staten Island after graduation. Back then, she’d laughed it off as small-town people’s fears. But now, she began to wonder if maybe they were right with their fears. Maybe a small town was best, where no vampire or any mad man could create turmoil for someone.

  That led her to think about how it was possible for a vampire to haunt a city like New York, and not get caught. How were the killings done? How come no one spoke about them? Plus, how could someone be alive for centuries, yet no one questions their youthful appearances?

  She tried to shake off her thoughts as Zachary pulled into the driveway of the colonial house where their parents still lived. She couldn’t be focusing on Daniel or anything vampire related during Thanksgiving dinner, even though she had questions that needed to be answered.

  Fortunately, her thinking changed when she stepped into the foyer and saw her sister-in-law Kristina holding baby Ava. Delighted, Claire went up to the two and gave them a big hug. Ava took hold of her hair and began to tug at it. Though the tugging hurt, it made Claire snap out of her dark thoughts and pay attention to her family.

  Thanksgiving dinner was served an hour later, and it went well. Claire barely thought about the previous night. If anyone asked about Daniel, she simply said things were fine and moved on to the next subject. She wore a black turtleneck, so no one would see the bruises on her neck.

  Later in the evening, when they were all done eating and watching classic holiday movies, Claire excused herself to her old bedroom, which was turned into a guest room. Closing the door, she went through her shoulder bag and pulled out her smart phone. She sat on the bed and turned it on. Because the Thanksgiving feast was over and there was time for relaxation, what Daniel said and done to her came back to her mind. She felt anxious to do a little research.

  Once the internet service was loaded, she typed in “New York vampires” into the search engine. It took a few seconds for the list of website links to appear on the screen. The links were mostly for articles on vampire movies and books; very few gave any hints of discussing real vampires or related deaths.

  Claire thought for a moment and revised her search, this time using the terms “vampire bite marks on neck”. The results were many conspiracy theory websites, some of them claiming vampires were real, though they had little proof. But exploring those sites led her to research the history of vampires which went back to the advent of human history, and rumors of their existence in each and every culture worldwide. She even came across evidence of vampirism, and what she found made her heart thud rapidly. According to those conspiracy websites, vampires were capable of moving in the sun though depending on their age, they needed permission to enter mortal’s homes, could slide through window and door cracks, read minds and even erase whatever a person was thinking.

  Claire felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Permission to enter people’s homes? She remembered back when she first brought Daniel to her apartment, he had weirdly hung around outside the doorway, looking like he was fascinated with the rust marks on the stairs. When Claire asked if was going to come in, he replied, “Is it all right?”

  “Yeah,” she said, one eyebrow arched.

  That was when Daniel stopped acting weird and stepped through the doorway. Monica and Samantha were not home at the time, so they didn’t see the bizarre scene.

  But the part about clearing minds made her breathing more shallow. When they had been at their first meeting at the coffee shop, she had felt as though her mind was erased. It had happened when she was feeling insecure around Daniel, and then that thought escaped her mind like a light had been turned off. How did that happen?

  And the same thing had happened the previous night while he was taking the ferry with her. He had been reading her mind and blanking out her thoughts. For all she knew, he could be reading her mind right now.

  She glanced down at her phone. Part of her wanted to call him. She wasn’t sure why. He both terrified and infuriated her. And besides, she was with her family for the next few days. She shouldn’t let anything about him interfere with her time with them.

  Her phone suddenly rang. Gasping, she dropped it on the carpeted floor. It kept ringing as she stared at it. Brightly lit on the screen was Daniel’s phone number. He was calling her. Maybe he really did just read her mind.

  Claire clasped her hands over her head as if to block him from hearing her thoughts, and then took them away. How pointless was that? He was already calling her, he knew what she was up to.

  The phone rang again.

  Taking a deep breath, she leaned down and picked it up. Slowly, she pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Claire?” Daniel’s cultured accent sounded. “I was just calling to see how you’re doing.”

  “Okay,” she said weakly. Clearing her throat, she tried to sound stronger. “Daniel, it’s Thanksgiving Day. I don’t think this is a good time.”

  “Oh, I know. I was just thinking about you and wondering how your day is going.”

  “It’s going well, really. I was just watching a movie with my family.”

  “That’s good, good to know. Well, I won’t keep you away from them for long -”

  There was knocking at the door just then. Claire told Daniel to hold on and stood up to open the door. Her father was standing there, eyebrow raised in an annoyed way.

  “Hey Dad, I’ll be right the
re. Just let me finish this phone call,” she told him.

  “Who is it? Daniel?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Her father wordlessly took the phone from her and put it to his ear. “Hi there, Dan. How’s it going?”

  Claire was aghast as she watched as her father had a good chat with Daniel, sharing a few jokes with him. She knew her father was under the impression that her boyfriend was an all-around nice guy, and this phone chat further proved it. There was no way Daniel was being sinister with him.

  As her father laughed away, Claire’s mother came up to see what was going on. She overheard her husband say Daniel’s name and she asked to speak to him. Claire tried to stop her, but there was no hope. Her father passed the phone to her and then she was charmed by the man who had choked her daughter last night.

  After a few minutes of saying hello to him, Claire’s mother gave the phone back to her. Putting it back at her ear, Claire said calmly, “Well, sounds like you’re one of the family.”

  Daniel laughed. “Perhaps I am!”

  “I really have to go. My battery must be running out now. I’ll see you next week?”

  “Absolutely, dear. How about Monday?”

  Claire felt her knees buckle and hoped her parents did not see. “Sure. Sure, just let me know the time and place.” Her voice weakened.

  “How about after I’m done with my class? We’ll take the express bus back to my place for a more cozy ride?”

  “Yeah. I’d like that.”

  “À bientôt,” Daniel whispered and the two hung up.

  Claire sighed heavily as she put her phone on the bed. She would have avoided seeing him if her parents were not standing right next to her. How come they never gave her much privacy? That was another reason why she stayed on Staten Island after graduation. But now, she wanted their protection more than ever, even though they were being intrusive.

  “Claire, is everything alright?” her mother asked.

  “Yeah. I’m fine, why?”

  “Your face is flushed and you look kind of upset.”

  “Now Judith,” Claire’s father said. “She’s a young woman in love. Let her be.” Putting his arm around her shoulders, he said to Claire, “Come on. You’ve already missed too much of our movie.”