AN: I don't own anything.
So, this is a non-linear oneshot. There aren't any others in this fandom, I don't think, but those of you familiar with Harry Potter should probably find them all the time.
For those of you who don't know, it's basically, it's a story that is complete in its meaning, and in this case, ends at the very end, but the events are jumbled up, and so parts of the end may be next to the starting section, or whatever.
"She's dead, Myrnin."
He doesn't respond to these words, doesn't stop staring at Claire's body, trying to will it back to life, though he knows that the blood that circulates in his body is hers and that there is far too much of it in him for her to be still breathing.
"She's not dead." And, more quietly, "she can't be."
/
Their lips collide together, and it's the most intense moment of his life, and probably of hers as well, because he never expected this. It never occurred to him that she would feel the same way as he does, that she wouldn't be repulsed by his advances, because she loves him back.
(And she loves him enough to cheat on Shane, he notices with relish, though that doesn't mean anything, not really.)
/
"You wanted to see me, Myrnin?" Claire's voice is confused as she walks into the laboratory through a portal that wasn't there three minutes ago. "At least, I think that's what your text said…I couldn't really decipher it."
He turns around from the machine he's using, and flashes her his trademark smile, the one that shouldn't make her heart beat just that bit faster, but it still does. (It always does.)
"Yes, yes, come here, I have something to show you." His tone is slightly more impatient than his facial expressions would suggest he is, and so Claire moves faster in his direction than she normally would. "You'll be interested I'm sure."
/
Amelie moves to kneel next to Myrnin, her fingers resting on Claire's neck, where her pulse ought to be.
"She's dead," she repeats her earlier words, "her human life is over." She wonders if he hears her next words. "You can bring her over, if you want."
(She doubts it.)
/
"I don't get it." Claire's confused as she tries to understand the invention Myrnin has created: it's mean to make you smell the things you love the most – like the spell in Harry potter, where she thinks he's gotten the idea from – because all she can smell is him. "Are you sure you haven't addled it, or something, because I can only smell you…and books…and, strangely, the smell of ammonia. But nothing else…not…not…" she trails off, and he knows that she wants to say Shane's name.
"I'm sure that it works, Claire." his tone suggests finality about it, but he still continues. "Amelie tested it out, and she could smell Sam."
That's when he's sure that Claire loves him.
/
His fangs rip into her neck of their own accord, because he's thirsty, and he didn't realise this before. Kissing her isn't enough; he wants her inside of him, to be able to taste her in his throat as her blood slides down his neck.
She doesn't resist. He wishes she would, though.
It would save her life.
/
He doesn't speak to Amelie as his wrist presses to his lips, the fangs there ripping through the skin as though it is really paper; he doesn't say a word, even as he forces Claire's mouth open and watches the blood gush in.
Not even when the wound has closed up and been re-opened three times, does he say a single word.
It's time.
/
"So…you're saying that I love you?" Claire's not entirely sure what's going on, because she's now being told that she loves Myrnin, even though she's dating Shane, as apparently, the things she smells are the things she loves. And Shane definitely isn't on the list…but Eve and Michael aren't, either.
Myrnin hesitates, not wanting to put words into her mouth, and not wanting to make her run away because she doesn't want him. "I'm telling you that this machine allows you to smell the things you love the most. It isn't…it isn't exclusive, yet the things you smell you know you can't live life without."
(He doesn't mention how all he can smell is her.)
/
The contents of her bag spill all over the floor as he throws it to one side, the passion in the air infectious, because she finds herself unbuttoning his shirt with the same intensity. It's so wrong, she knows, but it feels so right, because apparently he's the one she can't live without. And the forbidden nature of kissing her boss – kissing anyone, when she's with Shane – is sort of the thing that propels her to carry on what she's doing, however unlike Claire Danvers it is, because she deserves to live a little more than she normally does.
(And she loves him, so it's technically ok.)
/
In her final moments, she thinks back to a time when she was sure that he was going to kill her: underground, when Ada had ordered him to kill her. Back then, she was scared.
Now, she's sure that whatever happens will happen, and whether she dies or becomes a vampire, it only shows that Myrnin and herself were meant to be.
/
"I love you."
These are the only words it takes for him to be pressing his lips to hers, because it's all he's ever wanted to hear issued from her mouth.
/
"You'll never forget this, you know." Amelie's savage with her words as she watches Myrnin wait, and wait, to see if Claire will come back. "She may come back, but you'll never forget that you killed her before you made her one of us.
"You'll never forget that it was you who ended her life."
(Myrnin knows that Amelie's speaking from personal experience, but it doesn't make him feel any better.)
/
He's thirsty.
/
Somewhere across town, Shane is wondering where Claire is, Michael's planning on calling Amelie to see if she knows where Claire is, because the damned seventeen year old isn't answering her phone, and Eve is under the impression that Claire'll be at university, learning.
She's right about the learning, but not about the location.
Because at the same time as her housemates are thinking about her, Claire is realising that everything she has ever thought is wrong, is actually right, and that she's been living a lie: she's had her soul mate since she signed with Amelie, really. It's just taken almost a year to realise it.
(It's sort of hard not to, when you're kissing the fallen angel you're never going to leave again.)
/
Her body falls to the ground and he stares down at her in horror, unable to believe what he's done; he's killed her, for no reason other than thirst.
"Myrnin, where are— oh!" Amelie's voice looms, and he doesn't understand, because he was sure he'd locked the portals, but evidently not. He doesn't really care, not really, because Claire's on the floor and she's dead and it's all his fault, so however Amelie got in isn't his concern.
"I did it." His voice is devoid of emotion and of anything that makes him Myrnin, because he's not himself, not now he's killed the only reason he lives for. "I didn't mean to, though. She's still alive; she's not dead!"
(He's pretending that his ears have gone wonky and that he can't hear anything other than voices.)
/
She doesn't wake up.
/
Claire's smiling against his lips; he can feel it twisting her mouth, making it more interesting to kiss her, and it's certainly something that makes him happy, because it shows that she's enjoying herself. She's probably enjoying herself as much as he's enjoying himself, which is hard, because this is the most exhilarating moment in his life since before Morganville, since he fell in love for the first time.
(Who knows? It could even be better than that.)
/
They hold her funeral on the following Monday, and he doesn't dare to sit near the front to pay his respects. That's Shane's job, after all, because he was nothing more than her boss, as far as the majority of the town were aware. All he's required to be is Myrnin, the crazy boss who controls the town for the Founder, and isn't really anything special.
(But Shane knows. Shane knows, even though the official cause of death is a heart attack, and the bite holes were covered up by Amelie, in an attempt to save her friend from death.)
/
Amelie's attempt doesn't work.
She finds Myrnin in his laboratory the following morning, almost in the same spot she found Claire, a stake in his heart and a note beside him.
I'm sorry for leaving you.
But I couldn't be without her.
AN2: please don't favourite/read without reviewing, thank you.
-Vicky xx