The girl no one spoke about
She was the girl no one spoke about. Shanes broken heart he wouldn't admit needed fixing...Michael's best friend he never looked for...Myrnin's past he kept in the dark and Amelie's secret that she never spoke about. Who is she and what is she doing in Morganville?
Claire's POV
It was a regular sunny morning in Morganville Texas. I had gotten up rather early to head to Myrnin's underground lab to work on my latest invention – a device I hoped would one day replace the one Myrnin kept a brain in. When I arrived the door was unlocked. It was odd; Myrnin usually keeps it locked. Instinct kicked in and I grabbed for the knife in the front pocket of my backpack. I creeped into the dimly lit room but there was no sight of Myrnin or anyone else for that matter. The room looked rather untouched.
"Myrnin" I called out. My voice was shaky; you would think I would be over the nerves by now. The door off the end of the room opened and I instinctively leaped into action. A hand wrapped around my wrist stopping it mid air before my knife could make contact.
Everything seemed to stop, time and sound. Her eyes were dark...brown but so dark they were almost black.
"Claire!" Myrnin exclaimed slicing through the silence.
"Myrnin..." she somehow managed to stretch his name out but still make it sound abrupt. "you told me she wouldn't be here."
Her voice was firm yet sweet matching the density of her eyes perfectly. Her skin was a perfect golden olive almost as though it were fake; but I somehow got the feeling she wasn't that type of woman. She was young – Shane's age perhaps – but she held herself as though she has years of worldly knowledge and wisdom. She wore a low cut royal blue top with a black high wasted skirt that stopped just above her knees; fitted just enough to show off her perfect hour glass figure. She looked perfect with not a hair out of place. I couldn't imagine a single reason why such a woman would be here with Myrnin.
Myrnin looked uneasily between the two of us before stuttering over some words that barely made sense "well...ah...you see...dear...this...Ah..."
Her grip on my hand suddenly gave way causing my arm to drop to my side as though I suddenly caught on fire. "Fix it."
She moved about the room picking up objects that I hadn't even noticed didn't normally belong.
"I've already done it twice, must I do it again?" Myrnin pleaded as he followed her around the room.
"She's Claire Danvers, so yes." She picked up a bottle of red liquid I assumed was blood and held it up to the light before placing it into her bag.
"Does it really matter so much? Can't you just stay?" I had never before heard Myrnin sound so needy; so child like.
The woman glanced past his shoulder at me for a moment before sighing and zipping up the bag she slung over her shoulder. "You care too much for her...she can keep her memory but I still can't stay"
She placed a kiss on his cheek before turning and leaving in a blur.
"Who was that?" I asked after a moment of silence. And suddenly Myrnin was back to himself moving around the room as though the last 10 minutes hadn't happened.
"You can put the knife away Claire."
"Who was she though? What did she want?"
"So many questions...don't you have work to do?"
"Why did you say you've fixed it twice before? What have you fixed?" deep down I knew the answer. I didn't want it to be so but the sinking feeling in my chest suggested it was.
Vampires have powers or glamour's as they call them and Myrnin's was to change memories. With just his words he could make you forget and make you remember whatever he wanted you to; things that never even happened. That's why Amelie chose him to keep surveillance on Morganville. Once someone leaves they lose all memory of this place and the people in it. It made sense to me; I understood why they needed to do it; to protect their kind.
"Have I met her before?" I asked
"And you probably will again..."
"Who is she?"
"Someone that's of no concern to you." He picked up a bottle from the table beside him. It was full of a red liquid and had a white name label on the side but no writing to indicate what it was. "Perhaps you should take the day off today, I have much important work to do."
"But I have so many unanswered questions..."
"Go away and you can ask her whatever you like next week" he put his glasses on and started inspecting the blood closely.
"She'll be back next week?"
"Claire!"
"Right...I'm going" I picked up my bad and headed out the door. Something wasn't right...I could just tell.
When I arrived home Michael was sitting at the coffee table with the paper in front of him while Eve made coffee in the kitchen.
"Morning Claire Bear, what are you doing back so early?" eve said bring two steaming hot mugs from the kitchen
I dropped my bag on the sofa and took a seat across from Michael "The weirdest thing ever just happened"
"We live in Morganville, isn't everything weird?" Michael asked taking a sip of his coffee
"I just ran in to a woman..."
"So?" eve said
"In Myrnin's lab..."
"Wait, wait...Myrnin has a girlfriend?" Eve asked in shock and interest
"Well I don't know...The whole situation was weird. Apparently I've met her before but I think Myrnin has wiped my memory of it. She's only your age but she is beautiful. I think she might have glamoured him but I can't work out why"
"What did she look like?"
"Slim but very curvy; she had brown wavy hair and really dark eyes. They were almost black"
Michael suddenly closed his paper and stood from the table. "I wouldn't worry about. If Myrnin's blocked your memory of it before than he probably doesn't want you to know, so you should just forget about it."
"What?"I asked in bewilderment. Without another word Michael left his coffee and walked out the front door. "What was that about? Did I say something wrong?"
"I have no idea..." eve said staring at the door
Michael's POV
It was her...it had to be. I got in my car and drove around town not sure of where I was going. I noticed everybody and every face on the street – looking for her, searching for those eyes – but I didn't find her. I went by her house, the only empty house in Morganville and just sat in my car. Her father's house was still and dark. The lawn was over grown and vines had started to make their way up the dark bricks. The windows were boarded up and a family of pigeons looked to be nesting in the guttering. Paint had started to peel and the driveway starting to crack.
She had never lived here, not even before her father died. It was the only thing her father had to leave her in his will. But since she was barely a toddler when he passed possession couldn't be hers til she turned 18. She turned 20 last week, it should be hers and she should be living here. Why isn't she here?
When I returned home it was already dark. The only light in the house was the TV Shane played his fighting games on. He sat there eyes wide while his fingers bashed the buttons on his control.
"Want a game?" he asked without shifting eye contact.
"sure." I sat beside him and grabbed a control. We were well into a game before either of us spoke again.
"Did Claire tell you about the girl at Myrnin's today?" he asked completely unphased.
"Yeah..."
"Who would have thought he would find himself a girlfriend...maybe now the creep will leave Claire alone."
"Yeah, maybe" he had no idea it was her...how could he not remember?
Claire's POV
I had just finished up my cup of coffee at common grounds when Michael entered. He seemed to be searching the room when he spotted me and rushed over.
"Hey, you're going to Myrnin's right?" he asked in a rush
"Yeah, why?" I asked
"That woman's going to be there again today isn't she?"
"What's your interest in this?"
"I'll take that as a yes, let's go, I'll drive" he picked up my backpack from the floor beside me before I got the chance and started heading out to his car. I followed as quickly as I could and he sped off the second my door was closed.
"What's your interest in this woman?"
"Just coming to make sure you're safe" no conversation was continued until we stepped foot into the lab.
Myrnin was standing at one of his metal lab tables with his spider tank in front of him. He poked around inside with a pen
"Have you seen Bob?" he asked "he seems to have escaped again"
"No, I haven't" I replied putting my belongings down. Michael eyed Myrnin nervously. "What time will your friend be here?"
"She's late..." Myrnin mumbled under his breath. "She won't be happy once she knows he's here..."
"Why?" I asked but before anyone had the chance to answer the door opened and in she stepped. She closed the door behind her and paused for a moment with her back towards us as if preparing herself before walking down the steps.
The only sound in the room was her heels clicking on the floor as she walked. Her dress was a pale purple but still low cut and fitted. Today she had her hair up in a high pony tail, it suited her I thought. She looked familiar; more so than she did last week but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
She walked to Myrnin first and placed a light kiss on his cheek before joining him in staring into the tarantula tank.
"You're late." He stated.
"I was being followed; I needed to lose them before I crossed the border." There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke again "I should have known she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut" there was a hatred in her voice.
"Take it easy dear, your hatred's not with them" Myrnin said in a relaxed tone
She sighed and stepped out from behind the bench. She stood across from Michael and for a long while they just stared at each other. A frown formed on her brow as she put her hand out to caress his cheek. She paused short not quite touching him and I heard her whisper under her breath "what have they done to you?"
(Hey peeps! So I read the Morganville series a little over a year ago and loved it! I still find myself thinking about it...so lately I've had this idea floating around in my head and have now spent months trying to work out how everything could fit so I figured I would just write and see where we go. This story line fits somewhere before the last 2 books I think...before Michael becomes human again. It's been years since I have written anything though so please be kind? Hope you like it. Xo CH Xo)