Chapter One

Shane POV

It had been a week since Morganville had returned to normal. Well as normal as it ever could be. And a week since my dead dad had died to save me and the people I cared about. The only honourable thing he'd ever done which made it even worse. If he'd have died the drunken, hateful man I'd known throughout my childhood I probably would have been able to get over faster.

A hell of a lot faster than I got over Alyssa and my mother. I say over. You never really get over the loss of your loved ones. No matter how hard you try. And I tried. Drugs, alcohol, anything that would make me forget. But not this time. It wasn't just me I had to think about. I had Claire now. Slipping down that road again would hurt her and that would be the worst thing I could ever do.

I'd been trying to act as if everything was okay for just that reason. I knew seeing me in pain would do just that to her. So I acted as if I wasn't affected by Frank's death. But nonetheless, I felt Claire slipping away from me. She'd been distancing herself lately. Never wanting to spend time alone with me. I had no idea what I'd done. Perhaps she'd seen through my façade and just wanted me to be able to grieve on my own terms without having to hold back.

We were all watching a movie one night. Claire, Michael, Eve and I. Michael was sat on his chair with Eve curled up on his lap. About twenty minutes in I tried to put my arm around Claire. She shied away from me and shuffled a few centimetres down the sofa. It physically hurt me to not be able to touch her. Michael must have seen the pain cross my face because from the corner of my eye I saw him give me an apologetic look. I pretended not to see though and continued to pretend to watch the movie.

As soon as it finished, Claire mumbled something about needing an early night and ran for the stairs. Eve and Michael followed shortly after. I however opted for a different approach. I couldn't take much more of this. I instead went into the kitchen, took a beer from the fridge and sat down miserably at the table.

After three beers and a lot of reflection, I decided I needed to see Claire. I made my way, slightly stumbling up the stairs. But when I got to Claire's door I chickened out. It was already slightly open so I quietly slid down the wall and just sat there, trying to here her breathing. I could, it was slow and steady. She must have already been asleep.

I was falling asleep myself when a phone began to ring, jolting me upright. It was coming from Claire's room. Rubbing my eyes I looked at my watch. It was two in the morning. Who would be calling her at this time of night? I listened intently to try and find out the answer to my question.

"Hello," she said sleepily. After a short pause she said. "What do you want Myrnin?"

"No," she said. "I told you today. I'm not having any more to do with it." She sounded angry and that worried me. "I don't care." Her voice was thick and she sounded as if she wanted to cry. Automatically, I stood feeling the need to go to her. "I can't lie to him anymore." Who was she talking about?

From the back of my mind a niggling voice told me that I shouldn't be listening to her private phone calls but I easily silenced it. I was eager to find out why she sounded so upset. "No Myrnin. He thinks his dad is dead. I've seen how upset he is. You'll kill me before you get me to work with Frank again. I can't do this to him."

I froze. My dad. She was talking about my dad. And me presumably. If there was anymore to the phone call I couldn't hear it because my head was swimming with thoughts. Without being able to help myself I threw her door open so hard that it hit the wall and compacted with a large bang!

The noise made her jump and spin around. She'd been staring out of the window but now she stood facing me. From the glow of the hallway light I could see that she'd been crying.

"Shane," she said taking a step towards me. I put a hand up as a gesture for her to stop because I couldn't seem to form words. I could feel a tear fall down my face as well. It must have been obvious that I'd been listening to her conversation because she did exactly what I wanted her to.

"Claire," I said after a few moments. "I'm really hoping that this is some kind of sick joke and that Eve and Michael are going to burst out of your cupboard yelling 'surprise.'"

"Shane-"

"Because the only other alternative is that my dad, the person who I saw get blown into a million pieces, is not dead. So which is it?"

"Shane I'm so sorry."

"Oh my God." I fell to my knees and Claire instantly rushed over and put her hands on my shoulders. I saw the remains of him. Something like that meant that not even a vampire could stay alive. So how could he be?

Then it hit me. Claire's crazy boss Myrnin had once put one of his assistant's brains in a jar. I didn't need Claire's super intelligence to figure this one out for myself. Myrnin… had put my dad's brain in a jar.

I felt sick. I rushed to my feet and ran to the bathroom where I couldn't help but retch my guts up. Claire was beside me the whole time. Running her hands through my hair and asking me if I was okay. After another few minute of vomiting, I managed to pull myself up to the sink, clean my teeth and rinse my mouth out.

Without looking at the one person who I thought that I could always count on, I started down the hallway. "Shane wait," she said pulling me to a stop. "Let me explain."

"No," I shouted. My raised voice scared her. Especially since she wasn't use to it being directed at her. I never intentionally shouted at Claire. "There's nothing you could possibly say that will make any difference whatsoever."

Michael appeared in the hallway as I pulled free of Claire's grip. She was crying and it broke my heart. "What's going on?" Michael asked me clearly concerned.

"Ask. Her," I said separating each word.

"Shane please," she sobbed.

"No. Fuck you Claire." I stormed past a shocked Michael and went straight into my room, doing what Eve called a classic Shane and slamming my door shut, locking it as well.

I was going to leave this as a one shot but does anyone think I should write at least a couple more chapters?

Let me know in the reviews.

Paige :)