15 Years Later

“Come on! Kick harder! Watch your left! Your other left!!!” Jack rubbed a hand over his face, his frustration coming to the surface.

Claire ducked just in time as Zach threw a punch towards her face. “Two hours of sparring and you are just now coaching me?!” Claire huffed and pushed the flaming red locks out of her sweaty face.

“If only you could move as fast as your mouth.” Jack chuckled. He loved seeing how stubborn his daughter could be when she was angry. 

Watching her train with her “big brother”, Jack knew she was special.  After only two years of combat training and weightlifting, she could hold her own in a fight. 

Claire dodged another kick, grabbed Zach’s leg, and tripped him. She ended her move by sitting on top of his chest and punching him perfectly in the middle of his face. “Fuck sis. That shit hurts!!” Zach griped. Even after 15 years, Jack’s adopted daughter surprised him. Who knew a simple human could get the best of a vampire?

Zach was a full foot taller than Claire, with broad shoulders and an even broader stance. He had trained his entire vampire life to be a Guardian. As Guardians, Jack and his “family” were sworn to protect the Mythicals and humans from each other as per The Council. Mythicals shouldn’t interact too often with humans, and humans shouldn’t even know about Mythicals, let alone be raised by them. 

But Claire was the exception. From that first moment he held her, Jack just couldn’t let her go. 

“That’s enough for today. Claire, you stink to high heaven. Get on out while I talk to your brother.” Jack nodded his head towards the door, dismissing her.

“Sure thing Pops. I don’t think Zach could take more, anyway.” Claire replied with a wink at her brother. She gave Zach a hand as she helped him stand up, while sticking her tongue out at him. She made her way towards Jack, stopping to kiss him on the cheek, before heading out of the training room.

“She’s getting the best of you. You need to step up and train harder, son. And where’s Steph? Training is mandatory. Attacks are rare, but they can still happen. We need to stay vigilant.” Since retiring from the police force, Jack had been devoting his time to training the other Mythical clans, preparing Zach and Stephanie for his succession, and raising his daughter.

Zach shrugged his shoulders. “You know Steph never was much of a fighter. She’d rather talk her way out of any situation. I think I saw her over at Lockwood’s place last night. She’s probably sleeping off whatever they were drinking.”

That girl is going to be the death of me.... again. Jack rubbed his temples. He was really getting too old for this. After 262 years, he was feeling his age. “I’ll talk to her about it later. I’ve got a Council meeting to attend. It shouldn’t last long and then I’ll be down to give you a real challenge.” 

Zach got a twinkle in his eye as Jack walked away. “I’ll be ready, old man.”

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Claire wanted to keep her good mood flowing and thought she could grab a quick shower, then call Quinn to see if she wanted to come over for a movie night. Saturdays were the only days where she had no big plans. School work could usually wait for Sundays, and softball season wasn’t here just yet. Quinn was always down for anything and since the weather outside was rainy and dreary, anything would be better than just sitting around the house by herself.  

She walked into her room to find Stephanie going through her closet. “Don’t you have your own room and clothes?” she jokingly asked.

Stephanie poked her head out of the doorway. She was the complete opposite of Claire: tall, slender, golden skin, long raven black hair, and brown eyes. Your typical beauty queen. Even though Steph was almost 70 years old, the vampire genes made her appear to be about 20.  She kept herself in great physical condition and the boys around town noticed. Hell, the men around town noticed. And she loved the attention.

“I need something for my date tonight. Brad asked me to meet him at his place again. Bonfire and, of course, some lovin’ time. Soooooo, I need some of your boy clothes. Mine are too nice to be covered in smoke and dirt,” Steph replied.

Claire just shook her head, handed Steph one of her black Columbia zip ups. “Pair this with a silk cami, skinny jeans, your boots and a high ponytail, and you should be good to go. He’ll love it.”

“Thanks, sis. Remind me in a few years to hook you up with someone when you finally get boobs. Hahahaha” Steph said as she kissed Claire on her forehead and immediately wrinkled her nose. “Eww... You really need a shower. You smell like ass.”

Claire rolled her eyes, “thanks butthead.”

“So, what are your plans for tonight? Gonna just stay home and read another book?” Steph asked.   

“Maybe. I think I’ll see if Quinn is up to anything. Maybe order a pizza and just veg out. I don’t really feel like doing much of anything.”

“Boring. You’re never gonna get a boyfriend if you just stay home all the time. I’m just going to head out. If you need anything tonight, ask Zach.” Steph replied as she sauntered out of the bedroom.

Claire tried her best to keep up with her siblings, both physically and mentally, but she knew it was a lost cause and just tried to keep the humor alive between them. They literally had decades on her and, of course, they were vampires, while she was just a boring old human.

Better boring than trouble.

She shook that idea out of her head as she made her way to her shower. She scrubbed away the sweat and grime and used her signature Lavender/Vanilla body wash to relax. Stepping out of the shower and looking towards her bathroom mirror, she compared her body to Steph’s.

Claire was maybe 5’2” with her shoes on, fair complexion, freckles on her nose and shoulders, medium length red hair, and since she was still a teenager and human, curves that were appearing but not prominent yet.

One of the few things she knew they couldn’t compare was their eye colors. Claire’s vibrant green eyes had gotten her fair share of looks from the boys, but she really didn’t pay too much attention to the boys around town or school. Training to one day be able to help her family, school, softball, and her best friend, Quinn, took up much of her time.

She made her way to her closet, grabbing her favorite pair of skinny jeans and her favorite black Batman T-shirt.

She grabbed some plain diamond studs and her only necklace. The long silver chain and pendant had definitely seen better days. It was about the size of a half dollar coin, with an opal in the center. The intricate details of the metal around the opal always fascinated Claire. It appeared as if the metal was actually woven around the opal, holding it in place. She hardly ever took it off. It was a part of her.

Jack said she was clinging to it when the police found her. Pops never told her much about that night, but the one thing he did talk about was her holding the necklace.

Was it my mother’s? Was it a family heirloom?   Her thoughts started racing again. 

Claire always had questions involving her past. The police reports only gave so many details: Jane and John Doe, an unknown minor, car accident resulting in an attack by an unknown animal. Even through all the red tape and hidden secrets, the little opal pendant gave her some comfort when she had nothing else.

Her stomach growled, breaking her train of thought. She bounced her way down the stairs to the kitchen for a quick bite.