Name: Clare Ellen Bennet

Nicknames: Clare-san, Clare-Chan, Clare-senpai, Bennet-san, Bennet-senpai

Birthdate: June 30

Astrological sign: Cancer

Age: 21

Occupation: Paranormal Researcher

Height: 5’8"

Weight: 140 lbs

Race: Human

Ethnicity: American/White

Languages: English, Japanese, French

Themes: Blood Teller by Faylan, Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy

Parents: Charlotte and Charles Bennet

Siblings: Mary and Daniel (younger)

Eye Color: Blue-green

Hair Color: Medium brown

Music: Rock, punk, electronic house, indie, goth

Food: Chicken alfredo pasta, sushi, burgers, sweets

Animal: Dogs, foxes, birds, owls, crows, reptiles

Color: Green and dark grey

Season: Autumn and spring

Style: Casual, lots of sweaters, workout gear

Hobbies: Fencing, hand-to-hand combat, knife combat, firearm combat, paranormal researching, occult dabbling, reading

Fears: Spiders, bugs with too many legs, open spaces, abandonment

Familiar: Henri

Personality: INFJ

Very shy at first, but quite boisterous and humorous when she makes friends

Quiet unless she’s being spoken to or reading to Subaru

Very loyal and protective of people she cares about

Has a demure and ladylike side (she gets along very well with Reiji)

Is very motherly and patient

Has very strong control over her own emotions, very rarely shows negativity

Forgiving to a fault

Very outwardly polite, tries to be kind to everyone

Does her best to learn what others are like so she can adapt to their personality

Loves dark humor

Vents frustrations and anger through sparring

Backstory Summary

Born into a unique religious sect, Clare was raised as a paranormal hunter. She and her siblings were trained in various forms of combat, and were taught paranormal lore, paranormal history, and both Catholic and Protestant values. Clare was homeschooled until high school, but graduated from a normal high school with average grades and above average sports prowess. As a test of her abilities, she summoned Henri to be her companion and familiar early into high school. After her twenty-first birthday, church officials approached her and told her that she was to be sent as an ambassador to live with a very powerful family of vampires, and that she would likely marry one of them, if she survived. This was the plan for Clare all along, and she accepted her fate with grace. So she was given to the Sakamakis, as a way for the church officials to make peace, and for them to have an agent on the inside.

The Sakamakis were told that she was a gift from the church and was not to be killed. Going into her situation knowing what she knew, it wasn’t so hard to adapt to. On her first night, she managed to avoid the triplets (sans Kanato) and run into Subaru, whom she sat with and read to. Subaru ignored her at first, but began to take an interest in her, which Clare noticed. Clare quickly became attached to Subaru, relating to the fear of abandonment she sensed in him.

As she has graduated high school, she made a deal with Reiji that she wouldn’t have to go to night school if she continued her paranormal research as well as assisted him with his own research and the upkeep of his lab.

Analysis

As she was trained from infancy, Clare is very strong and capable. She learned to rely on herself, utilizing her quick wits to get her out of situations that her muscles couldn’t. She has very strong mental and physical endurance, and this coupled with her strong will, makes her very had to stop. Having two younger siblings brought out her motherly and nurturing instincts, and these and her church teachings spur her to help others. She has a very cheerful attitude and tries to do whatever she can to make people smile. However, being surrounded by her family and the church and then leaving them suddenly caused her to develop severe abandonment issues and depression. She views these feelings as burdensome, and does not speak of them to anyone, burying them under her cheerfulness and a kind smile. But being twenty-one, she often tries to alleviate these feelings with alcohol (Where does she get this booze? No one knows) and sparring and work-outs to keep herself in shape.

Moving into a house full of powerful paranormal beings brought Clare face-to-face with her own mortality. While she has the strength and skill to kill the occasional paranormal creature, she’s aware that any of the Sakamakis could destroy her with zero effort. After moving in with them, she observed the brothers and then adapted her behavior to pacify each one. Doing so and sticking close to Subaru has kept her alive thus far, and she intends to stay that way. Clare does not have a very strong feeling of self-worth, as she views herself only as a vessel of God through which He helps others. Because of this, she tends to live for others, and not for herself. However, because of her religion, she is not afraid to die and views her fate as trials from heaven.

Relationship with Subaru

Rocky is an understatement. It has taken a lot of work, patience, and blood loss for Clare to make any progress with Subaru. Spending most of her time with him has definitely helped. After the first night of reading together, Subaru allowed her to read to him most nights—if she gave her blood in return. Subaru was never a reader, but he seemed to enjoy (or at least tolerate) Clare’s presence and excited reading, and she always picked books that she thought he would like. Subaru’s frequent breakdowns and bursts of anger were hard to deal with, as anything Clare tried would just make him angrier. Showing any fear was a bad idea, as it just turned his anger into sadism through which he would violently suck Clare, or it would make him feel like a monster and make him angrier. Clare quickly learned to ride out these outbursts in silence, giving Subaru his space until he calmed down enough for her to try to console him.

Knowing that Christa was the main source of Subaru’s pain, Clare plotted to kill her. She managed to infiltrate Christa’s tower and begin a fight with the vampire, but the arrival of Subaru stopped the fight, distracting Clare enough that Christa was able to throw her out of the tower. Thanks to Henri’s magic, Clare survived but broke her back in the fall, causing her to be bedridden for a while. Subaru killed Christa for injuring Clare, but almost killed Clare for her brazen actions. Though she only tried to kill his mother to help Subaru, it severely impacted their relationship. It took a while to mend their relationship to what it was before, but on nights when Subaru was in a particularly decent mood, he would read a bit to Clare when she was still bedridden.

Once their relationship improved and the two were much closer, Subaru began to join Clare in her sparring and workout sessions. While it’s much more helpful for her to practice on someone so strong, Subaru still has to pull his hits and she still ends up with quite a few cuts and bruises after each session. Their post-workout routine usually involves rough relations and a hot bath to finish off.

While Subaru still has outbursts and sucks her pretty hard, he and Clare are much closer now. She has learned how to console and help him, and he opened up more and began to trust her when he realized her feelings for him and that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Relationship with Henri

Henri is a poppet and Clare’s familiar. As Clare previously dabbled in the paranormal and occult, it seemed fitting to her that she have a familiar. He’s different from the vampire familiars, more of a companion and protector than a servant. He’s basically Clare’s Teddy. He can’t speak, but communicates with Clare through a rudimentary form of telepathy (she can understand what he means, but cannot understand coherent thoughts and speech). He also communicates pretty effectively through actions and gestures (lots of tiny clowny bunny tantrums). He’s very close to Clare and very protective of her. He has a very childish personality, as he likes to joke around and play pranks, but he gets very moody when things don’t go his way.

It is unknown how Henri came about, as Clare is very tight-lipped about his origins. What inhabits him is a mystery. Ghosts? Demons? The souls of the damned? A tragically murdered circus clown? We just don’t know.

Fun Facts

She’s a competition-winning sharpshooter and fencer

She has a collection supernatural and paranormal objects and feathers

She’s scary good at blackjack (for the love of God don’t play for money with her)

She’s a less-than stellar cook and can only make apple pie without ruining it

She prefers to be bitten on the shoulder, as she has a secret fear of being bitten in the neck

She loves paranormal horror but hates slasher horror

She actually gets nauseous at the sight of excessive gore

It was cold. 

When Abigail had arrived back in September, it was warm and wet, the rain becoming a constant companion for her. It still rained most of the time, but the soothing sound of water hitting the window was now accompanied by the bite of the January air. She wasn’t complaining, she loved the weather, but the chill settled deep within as she stood in her room. Dark, empty, silent. 

Cold. 

‘I need to stop before I end up depressing myself any further. Honestly, why do I do that?’ 

She shook her head, shutting the window, and wheeled around to leave her room on the quest for some hot cocoa. ‘Or coffee. Coffee would be good too, as long as Ayato didn’t switch out the sugar for flour again.’ 

She had only made it halfway to the kitchen before Kanato appeared in front of her. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, but she still startled. 

“You weren’t in your room. What are you doing?” 

Abigail smiled, sighing lightly. “Sorry, I was going to go make some hot chocolate since it’s so cold. Do you want some too?” 

He paused before nodding, turning to walk ahead. “Okay. But hurry. Someone’s arriving soon and I don’t want us to be bothered.” A

bigail titled her head, jogging to close the distance between them. “Who’s coming? Nobody ever comes here.” 

Kanato glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Does it matter? You’re not to talk to them or interact with them in any way, do you understand?” 

She blinked, looking forward again. “Alright, I won’t.” 

They were in front of the kitchen. Kanato stopped, raising his head in silence and looking past her. 

“…What’s wrong?” 

“…Nothing. Come on, make me cocoa.”

She furrowed her brow, but entered the kitchen without protest and began to work. Kanato stood by, wordless, watching the door. 

Feeling unnerved, Abigail rushed to complete the task, finally setting two mugs on the counter. 

“You took a long time, now we’ll have to pass everyone. Just follow me, and be quiet. Remember what I told you.” She inclined her head slightly, gripping onto her mug and trailing behind him in silence. 

She wasn’t sure why he was acting this way, but she’d rather do as he said than risk anything. The walk towards the foyer was soundless save for the pattering of rain & the two soft pairs of footsteps. 

As they grew closer though, the muffled sound of voices became clearer. Abigail walked faster, closer to Kanato. The opening of the doors ceased any conversation in the room as the pair entered. 

The first thing Abigail noticed was the lone girl in front of the manor’s doors. She nearly stopped walking, staring wide-eyed at the stranger, who mirrored her own look of surprise. The rest of the brothers had turned to look at the two, Reiji being the most disapproving in his glare. Kanato returned it, huffing as he grabbed onto Abigail’s wrist and pulling her along faster. She pursed her lips and pointedly looked away from the girl who had been trying to smile hopefully at her. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t give you that. For your sake, you should give it up now.’ 

As they stalked out of the foyer, she could hear Reiji speaking again. “…And that was Kanato, with his ward, Abigail.” The door closed before she could begin to make out what the girl had started saying.  

Kanato kept his grip on her wrist, tugging her along as she struggled to keep up without spilling anything. “I told you not to interact with her.”  

Abigail looked up at the back of his head. “I…” Her words died off. ‘I didn’t talk to her, I only looked at her…I can’t say I’m sorry though, he hates it when I apologize constantly.’

She settled for for slipping her hand back to rest in his, squeezing it. They didn’t talk the rest of the way. 

‘He must not be that mad...otherwise he would have stopped to yell.’ 

She thought back to the girl. ‘Who was that? Why is she here? Is she just food for them?’ 

Abigail bit her lip. ‘I can’t do anything. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to. I feel bad, but I’m not risking how far I’ve gotten with Kanato just because of some stranger. If she tries to talk to me...she’ll learn soon enough that she won’t get anything out of it.’  

Somewhere far behind her, a door slammed, but was drowned out by the thunder.

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A few weeks had passed since the new girl had arrived. Abigail kept referring to her as just that, because she still didn’t know her name. While a slight inconvenience and social faux pas to never use her name, Kanato had been rather adept at keeping the contact between them to the absolute minimum. Every time they chanced upon the girl he would either glare at her until she left, or would take the initiative himself and exit the area with Abigail in tow. The few times she had encountered the girl without Kanato, Abigail would flee as quickly as possible. Those times were becoming more and more frequent, a bit to her annoyance. 

‘Why hasn’t she gotten the hint yet? It’s easier for both of us just to keep to ourselves. Is she that stupid?’  

She sighed, shaking her head. 

No, that wasn’t fair. The girl was in a bad situation, and she just wanted someone to relate to and talk with. ‘That still doesn’t excuse her blatant disregard for possible consequences...’ 

Abigail looked over to the window, having lost interest in her book. It wasn’t raining for once.

The sky was surprisingly clear, and she could see the moon peeking out from behind a curtain. She smiled, closing her book and getting up quietly, trying not to disturb Kanato, who had fallen asleep beside her on the bed. Of course, being him, he immediately grabbed onto her arm to stop her from moving. 

“Where are you going? To see someone else? To see that human?” 

Abigail shook her head frantically, settling back down on the bed and leaning over to him. “No, of course not...I was just going to go look at the sky. The moon looks lovely tonight.” Kanato narrowed his eyes, shifting up to be face to face with her. 

“You’re not lying, are you?” 

She met his stare evenly. Earnestly. 

“No, I’m not. I promise..” 

He relaxed his glare, laying back down. “Although...would it be okay if I dropped by the library to switch books? This one’s boring me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” 

The glare returned, and his nails dug into her arm. 

“Why don’t you spend your time and attention on me instead of those books? Am I lower than those?” 

Abigail grit her teeth, looking down before settling fully on the bed next to him. “No, no, of course not. You’re more important to me than anything, I just…” She trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it without upsetting him. An idea struck, and she met his eyes. “What if I brought a book you like? Whatever you want. We can read it together.” 

Kanato scoffed. “What good would that do? Stop suggesting stupid things.” 

She cast her gaze away, chewing on her lip. A beat of silence passed. 

“…Fine. Go find a blue book with a silver diamond on the cover. I don’t know the name of it. If you bring back the wrong one, I’ll have to burn them all.” He smiled, too innocently. 

Abigail swallowed, heaved a shaky breath, and got off the bed. ‘No pressure, no pressure, just find the exact book he wants or the library will be set on fire.’ She pulled her cardigan closer around herself as she walked down the hall. It was still cold.

Reaching the library, she was granted a small comfort in the warmth of a lit fire. She smiled, but let it drop as she took in the room in its entirety. ‘A blue book with a silver diamond…okay…’  

The search began in the fiction section, her logic being that it would be some sort of a fairytale. The guess was correct, to her joy, as she plucked a book from the shelf. Caught up in relief, Abigail didn’t notice the presence of another until she turned around with the intent to leave. Her eyes widened and she backed up against the bookshelf, clutching her find to her chest. 

The girl smiled, waving hesitantly. “Hi! It’s hard to catch you, I think this is the first time we’ve actually met…I’m Clare.” She held out her hand. 

Abigail blinked, unsure of what to do. ‘I’m screwed. I’m so screwed…’ She set her jaw & met Clare’s eyes. 

“Please don’t talk to me. You’ll get us both in trouble.” 

Clare’s hand withdrew, held near her mouth in shock. “Wha-..why? Oh, wait!” 

Abigail didn’t stay to risk being looped into a conversation, stalking past her as quickly as she could. 

Clare stood in place, staring after her. Abigail stopped before shutting the large wooden doors behind her, glancing back up. “I’m sorry. Just…its better for both of us.”  

The door fell closed, and a heavy thud rang throughout the room.

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Clare was confused, to say the very least.

This whole situation had been a whirlwind of confusion; and, to be frank, fear. Being uprooted from her home at the behest of her church, to be an ambassador to a foreign family and marry a foreign man. It was all just a bit confusing. But she guessed that’s why the church was so insistent that she learn Japanese from a young age.

Be an ambassador? Sounds fun. Marry someone? Eh, she was single, and less work for her. Vampires? She knew they existed, and after years of studying the occult and paranormal and being trained in combat, she wasn’t particularly afraid. These things she took in stride. It wasn’t like her life at home was very exciting. No, all of this was relatively easy to handle. What was most odd to Clare was the other girl in the mansion. Abigail.

Every time Clare caught a glimpse of the honey-haired girl (and it wasn’t often), she was either ushered away by the vampire Kanato or slipped away on her own before Clare could speak to her. It was beginning to get a little disheartening. Clare was very persistent, however. And she now had plenty of time on her hands.

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“So…” Clare fingered the pages of The Count of Monte Cristo nervously. “What’s the deal with that other girl? Abigail?”

She was perched on the window seat across from Subaru. It had been about two weeks since she arrived at the Sakamaki mansion. She had read with him every night, and she was really starting to enjoy the boy’s company. Anger issues and all.

“What do you care about her for? She belongs to Kanato anyway.” He scowled.

Clare tugged on her hair. “I know. I just thought it’d be nice to have a human friend.”

“She’s none of your concern. Besides. You still have to pick someone to be your keeper.” Subaru looked back out the window as if this had been on his mind for a bit.

“Oh…” Clare closed the book. It was obvious there wouldn’t be anymore reading. “Well, I was kind of thinking you would be my keeper, Subaru. I really enjoy spending time with you. I mean, if you don’t want to I understand…” She trailed off helplessly.

Subaru looked back at her, a grin slowly spreading over his face, accentuating his sharp fangs. “Heh. That’s right. You already belonged to me, anyway.”

Despite his words, Clare could tell he was pleased. Even if these vampires had a penchant for dominance and sadism, there were some human emotions in them somewhere. Somewhere. Before she could say anything else, Subaru fastened a strong grip on her wrist and pulled her to him, his lips ghosting over her throat.

“You’re mine. Your blood is mine. Your soul is mine. Everything you are belongs to me.” His fangs slid into her flesh, stinging at first, but evening out into a slightly pleasurable numbness as he drank.

Clare sighed inwardly. There would be no learning about Abigail from anyone else. She would have to take matters into her own hands.

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The library door slammed hollowly, the finality of it dampening Clare’s spirits. What did Abigail mean by “get us both in trouble”? She knew the vampires were super strict, but was Kanato really that bad? Or were friends forbidden?

Well, Clare thought to herself, I’ll just have to up my game then.

She began writing little notes and slipping them into books for Abigail to find. They weren’t much, just a little “Hi!” or “How long have you been here?”. Short little notes that she would place in the front of books that she would then leave out.

Slowly but surely, she began finding notes as well. “Hi…” and “Kanato doesn’t want me around you…” This puzzled Clare, but she maintained the notes. Soon, they were corresponding regularly. Clare was thrilled to have a friend, even if she was a secret one.

From the notes, Clare learned that Abigail had been there for several months, and was also an American. She had picked Kanato fairly early on, but the two had grown close over time. Abigail really cared about him, but she feared the consequences of appearing to favor someone else over him. She was still very careful, but she was getting more comfortable with talking to Clare. Clare herself was cautiously optimistic. She was elated to have a friend, but she too recognized the danger of upsetting the vampires.

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Clare made her way towards the mansion’s library, humming cheerily. Henri sat on her shoulder, swinging his little legs. She and Subaru had finished The Count of Monte Cristo the night before, and though he didn’t say it, Clare could tell that he enjoyed it. It was now her mission to find another book he would like. Her heart was set on Wuthering Heights, and she was hoping they had it. She had just placed her hand on the library door when a shrill voice sounded on the other side.

“What is this?!” She recognized Kanato’s voice.

“N-n-nothing,” she heard Abigail stammer. “Just a note from Clare…”

“I told you! You were not to go near her! You deserve this!”

Clare pushed the door open just as Abigail let out a muted shriek. Kanato had Abigail forced against one of the tables, a hand around her throat, Clare’s latest note crushed in his fingers. His eyes darted to Clare when she entered, and a sadistic grin lit his face.

“You’ll be punished too, don’t worry. But for now, you get to watch.” His gaze returned to Abigail and he tightened his grip.

Clare reached for the daggers at her back as she slowly advanced into the room. Henri patted her neck excitedly, eager for a fight. Abigail’s eyes widened when she saw what Clare was doing, but the hand clamped around her throat prevented her from speaking.

Before Clare could do anything, a strong hand grabbed her wrist. She spun to see Subaru behind her, scowling as usual, but this time it was directed at his brother. He looked back at Clare. “Oi. You were supposed to come let me suck you.”

Clare looked at him pleadingly, praying that he would help her out this once. “Help. Please. I’ll do whatever you want. Just help.” She whispered, hoping that only Subaru heard.

He looked like he was on the verge of arguing, but he saw the look on her face and growled. “Tch. This is stupid.” He stepped towards Kanato and Abigail. “Hey, runt. If you kill your food you can’t suck her anymore.”

“This doesn’t concern you!” Kanato snapped. He looked almost lovingly down at Abigail. “Abi-san is mine to punish as I want.”

Clare moved forward again, but this time she held out her hands towards Kanato. “Please, Kanato. If you punish anyone, punish me. It was my fault. I just wanted a friend here. She would never care about anyone but you. She wrote all about it.”

Kanato paused and raised an eyebrow. “She did?”

“Yes! She did!” Clare scrambled to dig out Abigail’s last note from her pocket. Thankfully, Abigail had written about how much she had come to care for Kanato, that she had very strong feelings for him.

Clare’s fingers closed on the paper, and she eagerly handed it out for Kanato, who snatched it and immediately read it. After a moment, his face softened. “Abi-san, is this true? Did you mean this?” He relinquished his hold on her throat and she nodded, still out of breath.

“I don’t want to steal her from you, Kanato. I belong to Subaru. I just want to be her friend.” Clare moved back to stand next to Subaru.

Kanato huffed. “Fine. But I’m still sucking her blood for disobeying.” He took Abigail’s arm and led her out of the room. Abigail met Clare’s eyes and gave her a small smile.

After the pair had left, Clare breathed a sigh of relief and gave a little joyful bounce. She had a friend! Almost lost a friend, but she had a friend! Clare turned and threw her arms around Subaru, burying her face in his chest and murmuring her thanks.

The vampire stiffened. “I-I didn’t do that for you! That damn runt gets on my nerves. He needs to be put in his place sometimes.”

Clare looked up at him and smiled when she saw the blush on his face. “Of course. Now, weren’t we going to do some reading?”

Subaru smirked. “Do what you want, but I get your blood.”

“Deal.”

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As she rounded a corner, she froze. The white-haired Sakamaki brother was reclining in a window-seat just a few meters away, staring moodily out into the night. Before she could sneak back around the corner, he looked up and noticed her, giving a small scowl. Great. She had been noticed. She swallowed and continued walking, heading right for the vampire.

Well, she reasoned, surely it wouldn’t hurt to befriend one of them. Maybe if he likes me, he’ll protect me? Right? That sounds totally reasonable.

Clare walked as casually as she could up to the vampire. His eyes narrowed as he watched her.

“H-hello. You’re Subaru, right?”

“What do you want?”

She shifted nervously from foot to foot and gestured to the book in her hands. “I-I was just looking for somewhere to read. Would you mind if I sat here? It seems like there’s a good bit of room, and the moon is very bright, and um…” She trailed off. Henri patted her neck encouragingly.

Subaru looked back out the window. “Don’t bother me.”

Clare took that as a tentative yes. Not exactly a no, at least. So she quietly hopped up onto the other end of the window seat and began to read.

After a few minutes, she felt eyes on her. She stretched her thoughts to Henri. Is he watching me? The little doll answered in the affirmative. She raised her eyes to look, but Subaru quickly turned his head back to the window.

“Would you mind if I read out loud?” Clare asked quietly. “It’s a really good book, The Count of Monte Cristo? It’s about a man who’s wrongly imprisoned, so he breaks out of prison and gets revenge on the people who betrayed him.”

Subaru didn’t look at her. “Tch. Fine. Whatever.”

Again, Clare took this as a tentative yes, so she began at chapter one. After a few pages, she noticed Subaru slowly turn his head to watch her while she read. After a chapter, she relaxed and let herself be immersed in the story. And, without realizing, Subaru’s presence.