Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name Name

Claudia (her last name is never given) was a young girl who lived in the poor, plague-ravaged quarters of 18th century New Orleans. She lost both of her parents to the plague, and is first introduced as a crying child of four or five years old in her house, next to her mother′s dead body. She is small and delicately shaped, with golden ringlets for hair and pale skin. She is found by Louis de Pointe du Lac, the protagonist of Interview with the Vampire, and begs him to “wake” her mother. Louis instead feeds on her, much to his self-disgust, and her life is temporarily saved by Lestat de Lioncourt, Louis′ maker.

Claudia is taken to the vampires′ townhouse in the heart of New Orleans, and there she is turned into a vampire by Lestat. Lestat tells her that she is his and Louis′ “daughter” and that now that she is in their family, Louis will not leave them. Though Louis is at first horrified at the thought of a vampire child (and indeed he accuses Lestat of condemning Claudia to hell), he and Claudia become very attached, and the three form a vampiric “family” for decades.

Although the three vampires spend many years in happiness, Claudia begins to grow more and more detached, insisting on self-sufficiency and even gaining her own coffin so that she does not have to sleep with either Lestat or Louis during the daylight hours. Claudia becomes self-educated and philosophical under Louis′ tutelage and also an indiscriminate murderer under Lestat′s guidance. She would “appear to her victims as a little angel” and lure them to their deaths.

As the years pass, Claudia becomes increasingly dissatisfied with being constantly “dressed as a doll” by her two fathers, and her frustration leads her to kill a mother and daughter and leave them to rot in the kitchens of the townhouse. When her deed is discovered by Lestat, she flies into a rage and informs the two that she has been damned to a body never able to grow old, that she wants to be a grown woman and will never have that chance, and that she hates them both more than she ever thought possible.

After driving a wedge between them all, Claudia remains attached to Louis and increasingly cold toward Lestat. Obsessed with finding out the origins of vampires and finding “her own kind,” Claudia questions Lestat on his maker and on creating other vampires, of the creation of the first vampire and any other subject, though Lestat refuses to say a word. Finally through with her “dark father,” Claudia poisons Lestat with the blood of a poisoned young boy and gashes his throat, having Louis leave Lestat′s broken body for dead in the swamps.

Claudia and Louis escape New Orleans and head to Europe, where Claudia′s research has indicated vampiric activity. They are embittered and disillusioned when the only vampires they come across are mindless beasts who′ve been left for dead in their coffins, and eventually head to Paris to embrace civilization. The wedge between Louis and Claudia grows larger than ever as Claudia spirals even further into maddened fury at the thought of being trapped within the body of a little girl forever.

Everything changes when the two find the Théâtre des Vampires, a group of vampire mummers disguising themselves as humans playing vampires onstage, and she and Louis meet Armand. Armand and Louis fall in love, and Claudia hears Armand telling her telepathically to leave Louis to Armand. Feeling threatened by the vampire Santiago′s claim that the only crime punishable by death to vampires is the killing of their own kind, Claudia sinks into a sort of paranoid madness, finally forcing Louis to create his first vampire, a woman named Madeleine, to care for Claudia when he is gone, severing the ties between them, seemingly forever.

Shortly after this, however, the Parisian vampires abduct the three of them and take them to the Théâtre des Vampires, where it is revealed that Lestat is alive and has sought punishment for Claudia′s crimes. Though Louis′ life is spared, Claudia and Madeleine are left to die in a room where they cannot escape exposure to the sun. Claudia is burned to death, and her death spurs Louis into a rage that inspires him to take vengeance on the vampires, torching the Théâtre des Vampires and killing all inside before escaping with Armand. It is Claudia′s death that finally turns Louis cold and away from his “mortal passion,” a death that Armand mourns.

More of Claudia′s relationship with Lestat is revealed in Lestat′s eponymous autobiography, where he describes her fondness for playing with her victims as he did, and his sorrow at the turn their relationship took. Still, he reiterates his statement made at the end of Interview, that Claudia “should never have been one of us.”

When Jessica Miriam Reeves, at the time an investigator of paranormal activities for the Talamasca, received the assignment to purchase and uncover the townhouse of Lestat′s coven in New Orleans, she finds Claudia′s room as well as a diary kept in secret by Claudia, revealing more of her inner thoughts about her love/hate relationship with Lestat in particular, as well as hints of her growing rage and confusion at being an adult woman trapped forever within a child′s body.

It soon becomes clear to Jesse that Claudia′s ghost, or at least a psychic imprint left behind after her violent death, is haunting the townhouse. Claudia′s ghost realizes that Jesse can see her, and haunts her all the way back to the Motherhouse when Jesse is taken off of the assignment. Jesse sees her as a little girl playing with a woman-shaped doll, sitting outside of her window and watching her, and decribes a feeling of menace and anger radiating from Claudia. When Jesse is turned into a vampire by the end of the novel, she loses the ability to see and communicate with spirits, as is usually the case with vampires, and thus loses the ability to see Claudia.

Claudia′s ghost again makes her presence known to Lestat in The Tale of the Body Thief, where she haunts him mercilessly in an attempt to make him feel the pain she believes he inflicted upon her when he turned her into a vampire as a child. Claudia′s ghost and the ensuing guilt that Lestat feels drives him to a half-hearted suicide attempt in the beginning of the novel, and Claudia does not appear to Lestat again.

In The Vampire Armand, Armand tells his own story of what happened in the Théâtre des Vampires leading up to Claudia′s execution: Claudia offered to leave Louis if Armand could give her the body of a woman, no matter how painful or violent this effort would be. Armand agreed to Claudia′s demands, and decapitated her, attempting to place her head – and thus her mind – on the body of another vampire woman, believing that the healing powers of vampire blood would allow Claudia to heal herself. The attempt failed, and, with Claudia near death and Armand seeing that he could rid himself of her and have Louis to himself, he simply locked her in the air shaft with Madeleine and left them both to die

Merrick, the eponymous character Merrick Mayfair – a powerful witch and one of the descendants of the opulant witchcraft family described in Rice′s The Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy – is contacted by Louis to seek out the ghost of Claudia. When Merrick summons her, Claudia returns with a vengeance and takes her rage out on Louis. Claudia attempts to drive a stake through Louis′ heart and kill him. When Louis survives, Claudia disappears, apparently put to rest by taking revenge upon both of her vampire “fathers.”

Merrick goes on to theorize that Claudia had already forgiven Louis, and that some of Claudia′s rage during her reappearance was projected onto her by Louis′ overwhelming guilt at her fate.

Claudia is never seen nor heard from again throughout the rest of The Vampire Chronicles, and it seems that she has been put to rest.

Mortality.

Please wake Ma′ma, Monsieur?
I had a mother once.

One hour, than another. It had seemed the whole day had gone by. Papa still was not back from buying the medicine. He took Daniel and promised to get the doctor for her and Mama. See, her and Mama were both ill, and Papa promised to get the medicine. Thoughts raced through the child’s head, as her blue eyes watched out the window.

Where was he, when was she going to be able to feel better and play with the other children, again? When was Mama going to get better? All these questions raced through the little girls head. It worried her. The poor girl was sitting on a wooden stool, which stood by the window. Her dirty feet dangled, just above the soot covered ground. “Mama, when is Papa coming back?” the little child asked, as her tiny fingers began to pull at the yarn strands on top of her doll’s head. “Soon mon Cherie, soon” the woman spoke, as a cough came after. The truth was, the child’s father had left.

His wife asked him too. She was infected with a vicious illness that had killed most of the people in the town. She asked him to leave their daughter and herself at home, taking their son away from the illness. The daughter and mother were both already infected. It was a sad turn of events, but it was better if the little girl did not know. For she was only the tender age of four. But, her mother had a plan. She knew they were both going to die. There was no cure for either of them. She did manage to gather a poison from someone in the town. A poison which would put them both to sleep. It was a kinder death, than the one which her daughter would later endure.

Away from her child’s sight, she poured half the poison into a wooden mug. She filled it with what little water the family had, letting it swirl around. Once it was mixed, she swallowed the last of poison from the vile, by itself.

As the child sat, her headache was getting more painful as the hours progressed. A small cough came from the child’s lips, than another and another. Finally it came to a harsh cough which, caused the child to jump off the stool and land on her knees. Coughing so much, the child gagged herself, releasing saliva from her mouth; which fell to the soot covered floor, along with bits of Flem.

Tears rolled down her tiny cheeks. “Mama!” she cried. The ill woman rushed towards her daughter’s side, with the little strength she had. “Mama it hurts, it hurts!” she cried. The woman cradled her daughter in her arms. The two mortal’s both had high fevers, but the child’s mother chose to ignore hers and take towards her daughter’s need.

Holding her daughter tightly, brushing the soot from her head, the little girl cried. ”Mama, Mama Mummy!” she sobbed. The only thing the mother could do was place her daughter delicately into the bed. She kissed her feverish head and brushed the soot from her cheeks. “My beautiful little girl. Shh, don’t cry child. It will just make you more tired!” The child continued to cry as she sniffled, rubbing her eyes. “Claudia, Claudia!” she sobbed, reaching past her mother. The woman nodded and began to hum, to sooth the child.

The woman reached for the yarn stuffed doll, which had fallen on the floor. She blew on it, brushing the dust off. She handed the doll towards the little girl, whom cradled it with hope. “Mama, Claudia is ill too?” she asked with a simple sniffle.

The woman chuckled slightly, trying not to cough and nodded. “Oui, Claudia too.” Clearing her throat she took a deep breath, as she tried not to cry. “I have some water for you!” She breathed, handing her daughter the mug with poison. “Drink up. It will ease your cough” the child nodded as her mother held the mug towards the little girl’s lips, helping her hold it. The little girl’s blue eyes rolled in the back of her head as she swallowed, like a baby drinking from a bottle. Finally finishing the water within the cup, she breathed heavily. The mother smiled, taking the mug away. “Now sleep child, for Papa will be back soon.”

The child took a deep breath in difficulty, as she coughed. “With Daniel?” she wheezed. “Oui, with Daniel. And Once Papa is back, we will have our medicine. And by next week you will be playing outside with all the little children!” the woman, spoke as she continued to stare at her daughter admiring every quality in the child. “Promise, Mama?” the little girl asked with a small sniffle. “Yes, I promise!” the woman smiled brightly as tears rolled into her eyes, filling up her lids. Soon they flushed down her face.

“Mama, why are you crying?” the child asked quickly as she squeezed her doll. The woman gave another smile as she wipped her tears with her skirt. “You are just so beautiful my darling Cherie.” Her bony fingers began to gently brush the oily locks from her daughters face. “Like Mama?” the child asked with a bright grin. “Yes” The woman nodded. “Like Mama.” She finished. Soon, the woman’s voice began to seamlessly sing.

“Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Din, dan, don. Din, dan, don.”

Staring up at the woman, the child did not blink. She was mesmerized by her mother’s voice. She had forgotten her urgency to see her father and brother, her need to get better. All the child wanted was to be just like her mother, when she grew up. She was so beautiful, with blonde ringlets around her face. Her mother was perfect in her eyes.

Finally the woman stood on to her feet she looked down on her daughter, whom lied snug in the dirty bed. “Now keep Claudia close, for she will keep the bad dreams away.” She ordered softly. This caused the child to smile and coddle her doll. Her blue eyes were puffy and they slowly began to get heavy. The woman gave her daughter one more kiss on her head. “Je t′aime, ma petite fille” she whispered. “Je t’aime Mama” with one sudden cough the child closed her mouth and coughed again, snuggling up in her bed. Closing her blue eyes, the girl’s mind began to slow down, everything got warm and her breathing slowed down. She was falling into a deep sleep.

What seemed to be hours or days later, the child did not know. But she had a woken from her slumber in a hot sweat. “Mama, Mama!” she cried in tears. Her blue eyes opened. The room around her was dark. She knew where she was. She was inside her one room home, lying on the bed. She gave a quick cough releasing the yarn covered doll from her arms. “Mama?” she asked with a simple whine. No one came to her aid. “Papa?” she called out. No one answered. Worry filled the child’s blue eyes. Rising up, within the bed, she noticed her mother sitting still within the chair; in front of the bed. “Mama?” she asked, pulling the sheets off her muddy feet. There was still no answer. “Has Papa come, has he brought us Medicine?” There still was not an answer. “Mummy?” she asked with a slight smile, as she walked towards her mother. “Mama, stop playing!” she smiled. That is when she tugged on her mother’s arm.

The movement caused her mother’s head to fall back. Her eyes were white and her mouth was full of flies. “AH!” the child screamed. “Mama!” she spoke with an uneasy tone to her voice. “Mama Stop, you are scaring me!” the child demanded. “Stop it! Wake up!” she ordered. Her mother still did not move. “MAMA!” she yelled, shaking her mother’s arm roughly. “MAMA!” she screamed. Still there was no movement. “Mama, please! You said Papa will come back with Medicine, Please wake up Mama!”

The child was becoming frantic, as she crawled onto her mother’s lap. She beat on her chest and pulled at her hair. “Mama! Please! Mama please Wake up!” she sobbed. Tears flooded down her soot stained cheeks. Snot and drool began to cover her mouth and nose. “Mama!” she cried out again. “MAMA!” she screamed loudly, as a screech escaped her lips.

Hours went by, and nightfall had come. The child grew tired as her screeched cries became dull whimpers. Her golden head lye on top of her mother’s chest. She coiled her small fingers around her mother’s oily hair. “Mama, please…please…please...wake up. Please.. Please... Mama… wake up…please?” she begged as soft tears rolled down her cheeks.

Soon there was shuffling near the door. The little girl sniffled and turned her head towards the door, in hopes of her father’s return. A man walked in. He was dressed like a prince. His hair was combed back in a nice bow, though he looked tired.

The little girl crawled off of the woman’s lap and took quick steps towards the man. She sobbed as she gripped his knees in a frantic hug. “Please Monsieur, Please Wake Mama?” she begged burying her tear stained face within his knees. “She has not woken in hours!” she sobbed.

The man bent down towards her height and he quickly cupped her face with his hands. His hands were cold, like ice. The child enjoyed it, for she had a fever running inside her. Her face was hot and red from crying. His was as white as her mother’s, if not whiter. His eyes were a deep green, which seemed to glow within the darkness. “Please wake Mama, Monsieur?” the child pleaded again.

He said nothing. Only glanced at the woman in the chair, than back at the little girl which sat in his arms. His eyes were glowing, almost like a monster in those fairytales her father used to tell her. Memories of her father flashed in her mind, as she stared in his eyes. Memories of Daniel and her Mother, all of which played in her head in a fast motion. Every beautiful moment in her life remembered.

She felt dizzy and hot. Her knees felt like pudding and she could not think properly. That is when he pulled her into an embrace. The Little girl was so thankful to be held by someone so cold and soothing. Her blue spheres closed as she quickly placed her cheek against his, tightening her grip.

With one sharp pinch, she cried out. Her eyes shot open. She did not know what was happening, but she felt as if she was getting more tired with every pinch. He was clutching her tightly, so tightly she could not even feel her chest. She could not breathe. Everything was a musky blur. The only thing in which she could see properly, was her doll; Claudia, which lay on the bed, tangled within the sheets.

The sensation she was feeling continued to weaken her. She did not struggle away from his grip. She felt a psychedelic rush of peace. The child was drunk off a sensation she never knew existed. She felt lost and confused.

With a sudden thud the child dropped to the floor. Her sights landed towards the bottom of the bed, as she lied on her side. She heard noise with fuzziness as there seemed to be a commotion around her. Within moments her blue eyes closed slowly. “Claudia?” she muttered.

Put whatever you want here.

IMORTALITY

May flights of devils wing you to your rest.
I want some more.

Things were a blur. The child felt a sudden gust of wind as she seemed to feel numb. Her eyes stayed open, to resemble glass eyes; as they stared off into the night sky. She saw nothing but a drunken blur of dizzy waves, filled with light. She did not know what was happening, nor could she process anything. The child’s words of the name Claudia rang in her head on repeat. Visions of her father, brother and mother fluttered in an out of her memory. She felt cold and numb. Although the fever was still pumping through her veins, it was very little. As her eyes rolled up, she spotted a blur of golden curls, flapping within the wind. Was it her mother? The child did not know. She could only recall her mother’s blonde curls. “Mama...” she whimpered softly, hardly making words.

Quickly the child’s blurred vision altered towards a dark room, with a dimly lit candle. Although it was blurry, she still noticed that she was in a bed. A blonde man stood over her. He had blonde curls, which resembled her mother’s. This gave the child as sense of comfort, but why she did not know. As he stroked her face, the child said nothing. Her blue eyes stared at him in a daze. He looked so kind, was he her father? She did not remember. He murmured something which her ears did not catch. Wheezing heavily she watched as the candle dimmed out and the man disappeared. “Mama…” she wheezed.

She lied in blackness as fear engulfed her. Although the dimly lit candle rested at her bed side, it only caused her to hallucinate. The flicker of light began to dance and make shapes within the blackened spots, within her sights. Her breathing was heavy and wheezes came from her mouth. Her blues eyes turned a dark grey. Her chest hurt, her body felt paralyzed. She did not know what to say. She wanted to cry, but she was too week. She wanted to scream, but she was too weak. She waited in darkness as traces of light danced into shapes within her sight.

Before the little girl could count the time passed, though it seemed hours of floating in limbo; a man arrived. He began to mumble words. A warm grin was plastered on his features. Something the little girl remembered from before. As he hovered the candle before her face, she took in a heavy breath. Wincing from the fire, she shivered. Within moments the light dimmed and her eyes relaxed. She felt his cold fingers grace her features. His words were somewhat muffled, but the one thing she did hear was Claudia.

Her blue eyes opened slowly, with weak effort as she took recollection to the name. Was that her name? She did not know. But she remembered the name.

With slow attempts, she saw an arm above her. It was blurry, as was most of her sight. Quickly the child felt, the wrist of the arms pushed against her tiny lips. She did not fight it, for she was only confused. That is when she felt hot liquid roll onto her tongue, filling up her mouth. Her only instinct was to swallow. When she did, she felt good. She felt alive. The liquid was warm, for she was cold. It was salty and sweet, like nectar honey.

She wanted more. Gripping her nails into his wrist, she swooned. She felt her insides bubbling and her empty stomach filling up with hot liquid. She loved it. She had never felt so engulfed with health and full of life. Closing her eyes, with force, she began to suck on the wrist. She slurped as if her life depended on it. Gnawing at the skin with her tiny teeth, she began to open the wound even more. She tasted the metal flesh within the cut, digging her tongue into the tear, for more. The sweet salty taste of liquid mercury filled her mouth and down her throat. She felt empowered. But, what the child did not know, she was going mad with taste. She felt a high sensation, with every gulp. Gripping the man’s wrist, she held the cut to her mouth. Refusing to release him, she growled softly as she continued to suck the vein dry. With harsh words, she felt him resisting. She refused to let that happen, as she wanted more. With on final pull from his arm, she released it; falling back against the pillow.

Taking quick heavy breaths, she whined. Her body felt immense pain and pleasure all at once. She was at a loss of what was happening. Heaving her chest up and down with immense amount of air, she clenched her tiny teeth together. She did not scream nor resist. Her mind was flashing from bright lights to darkness. Things around her began to change. Quickly her nails dug at the mattress, tearing the sheets. She felt as she was literally leaving her body. She did not want to. She would not let it happened.

That is when she let out a groan and her sweet face morphed into a wrinkled demon. Only for a second as the pain filled her veins. Her head tingled all the way to the bottom of her toes. She cried out in harsh wine. Her teeth seemed to have been ripping through her gums and the wrinkles in her skin faded to a soft translucent porcelain color.

Quickly, everything stopped. The pain, the feeling of exploding and jumping out of her own skin. The flashes of light and darkness stopped. Her sight gathered rapidly. It was as if nothing had happened. She lied still for about two minutes. Blinking thrice in unison. She glanced towards her sides, to notice, clean and taught blonde ringlets. Touching her hair with her own palms, they felt so soft and clean.

As she glanced up at the man aside the bed, she rose to a seating position. She crawled out of the bed sheets, sitting on her delicate knees. Everything around her felt new and clean. She felt strange and hungry. She glanced at the man with the golden curls and pouted, letting her weight rest on her wrist; which lie on the bed. “I want some more?” she asked with disapproval. She was still hungry.

Home Add Message Comment Photos Blogs

Put whatever you want here.

Put whatever you want here.

Put whatever you want here.