A Living Shadow ➣Gellert Grindelwald X Reader!Daughter

Chapter 9 ➛True Colours

I tried to pull myself free from her friends that were holding me back. But then I saw something glistering in her hand, reflecting the faint moonlight, and I redoubled my efforts to get free, now driven by panic. Claire hated me enough to kill me, I knew that. ''Tell me what you want and we'll give it to you,'' she said sweetly as she traced the knife down my face and arm, to my hand and fingers.

I swallowed feeling the sting of the blade against my skin. ''Eventually,'' she said with a dark chuckle as she laid a little more pressure on the knife. It bit my skin and I could feel a drop of blood sliding down my finger. ''Tell me what you want!'' she yelled as she pulled down hard, creating a deep gash across the back of my hand. I gasped, doing my best not to scream; not in pain, but anger.

I pulled it from her grip and watched her with a withering look. She chuckled once more and slapped my face. ''You're worth nothing, freak. The fact that you have to return here every summer is only proof that no one wants you. Not even that school for freaks,'' she grinned widely as she licked my blood off the knife.

The girls behind me pushed me down on the ground, hard. ''What you are, is a piece of trash. You worthless little shit. No one wants you. Not your parents, not anyone. People like you would be better off to have never existed. Or dead,'' she stated as she glared at me.

I clutched my bleeding hand which had now turned completely red, covered in blood. ''Leave me alone,'' I murmured at the ground as the pain of the wound was finally breaking the numbness. ''Sorry, did you hear something?'' she asked the girls behind me.

They started barking with laughter and I could feel the anger bubbling up inside of me. The world seemed to slow down, everything was moving in slow motion; the trees outside, the heaving and rising of the girls' chests, their laughter fell away into silence.

And as I glared up at them, I could feel something was about to burst out of my chest. And suddenly, there was no way back, it was climbing out. And as it went, I stood up, staring at them with a deadly look as I screamed, ''Leave me alone!'' They were blasted backwards by an invisible force and slammed into the wall behind them.

The knife clattered as it hit the floor and I watched them slumping down onto the ground as I took a step backwards, shocked at what I had done. Had I killed them?

There was the faint sound of a Raven coming from outside before I realized there was another sound with me in the room. A rustling behind me, footsteps. It was without another thought that I threw myself backwards and swung at them, my fist connecting with their nose.

Suddenly my eyes opened and I realized I was sitting upright in bed, someone groaning beside me. I immediately grabbed for my wand as a reflex. Robert was making frantic noises and ruffled his feathers. I had no time to wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and as I cast Lumos, I gasped at what I discovered.

Gellert Grindelwald was standing there, bowed down, clutching a bloody nose. ''Oh my god,'' I gasped as I watched the blood seeping from the fissures between his fingers.

''What are you doing in my room?'' I asked him, alarmed. He squinted at the light of my wand and held his nose closed with his fingers to stop the bleeding. ''Hello to you too,'' he said as he watched me with an uncomfortable look. ''I was only here to check something,'' he said.

I took a deep breath and watched him tiredly before I threw the covers off and walked to the dresser. ''What a way to get yourself into a situation,'' I said as I took a towel and filled a bowl with water. ''Your face is covered with blood, dammit,'' I said as I set down the chair in front of the bed. ''Sit.''

He frowned, but I glared at him and he obeyed. I sat down on the edge of the bed and started cleaning the blood from his face. ''What was it that you so desperately needed to check?'' I asked him as I helped him stop the bleeding. My eye caught the long scar on the back of my right hand and I blinked the vision of my dream away. Or memory. Whatever you'd like to call it.

''Did you know that you talk in your sleep?'' he asked as he looked into my eyes. ''I don't,'' I murmured as I wiped the rest of his face clean before passing him the bowl so he could clean his hands. ''Who's Claire?'' he asked, looking up into my eyes.

For a moment my breath caught in my throat and I couldn't breathe. I hadn't heard her name spoken out loud for years.

Then my ability to breathe returned to me and I looked at him with a glare as I said, ''I asked you something. What was it you so desperately needed to check?'' I asked again, a hint of mock in my voice.

He hesitated momentarily before softly saying, ''I believe you possess something that is connected to my past.'' I took my wand, to which he flinched at first, but slowly relaxed and I started healing his nose.

He looked into my eyes and I frowned at him. ''You know you could just ask, instead of creeping into a girl's room in the middle of the night. It's a bit creepy. Just a bit,'' I said sarcastically.

He sighed. ''I'm afraid this is a matter which I cannot discuss with you,'' he stated. ''Well, you better. Or I'll tell everyone about your little break-in,'' I whispered with a sweet smile. Now it was his turn to glare.

''Fine,'' he said as he rolled his eyes and sighed. ''I believe that your bracelet belonged to someone I cared about a lot,'' he said as he looked into my eyes. But I refused to do the same and I remained silent as he continued, ''It's leather with a metal tree emblem.''

I sighed and looked down at the water in the bowl, the rippling surface reflecting what I was feeling on the inside. My disguise was starting to waver.

''I know what you mean. I wonder what you want with it?'' I said softly as I returned the bowl to the drawer, glancing at his reflection in the mirror before me. ''All I need is to take a look at it,'' he said as he dried his hand on the clean part of the bloody towel.

I swallowed and watched him intently. He was having suspicions. I couldn't keep it a secret from him forever, it would come out one time or another, and I was afraid that time might have come.

I could feel my hands trembling as I said, ''It's on the nightstand.'' I watched him reach and my throat constricted as he was examining it intently, pulling out his wand for extra light. He looked from the bracelet to me and stared at me. For a moment I thought he knew, but then he returned his gaze to the bracelet and muttered, ''I could've sworn.''

I turned around and looked at him. ''Is something wrong?'' I asked as I watched him from a distance, hoping that this was not his reaction to finding out I'm his daughter.

''No, never mind,'' he said as he watched it uncertainly as he put it back on the nightstand. ''I have to go,'' he said as he stood and was about to walk away before he looked at me. ''Don't talk to anyone about this,'' he said, threateningly. ''I wouldn't dare, boss,'' I said as I threw my hands up innocently. He glared at me before striding towards the door. ''Besides, just the knowledge I have broken the great Gellert Grindelwald's nose and survived is enough for me,'' I said with a sweet smile as he passed.

Another glare and I couldn't help but grin as he left the room. Leaving me laughing from stress as I realized that he had not found out about my secret, and it was still mine to share.

I sat down on the bed and sighed tiredly as I rubbed my eyes. The light from my wand was reflecting from Robert's beady eyes and I watched him. ''Do I really talk in my sleep?''

He watched me knowingly and cawed with a subtle hint of amusement. ''And thank you for your support,'' I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes and extinguished the light, pulling the covers over me as I stared at the ceiling.

The scar on my hand was itching and it reminded me of the dream, of the memory; of all the horrors I had been forced to endure and which would always be mine to carry.