Updated A/N - THANKS to all of you who have pushed this story along with your favs/follows and reviews! If you like this story, be sure to check out my other MV Fanfic: 'ALL THE QUEEN'S HORSES'. It is NOT related to this story as far as the plot, however it is a Clyrnin (if you're into that sort of thing. smirk.) and quite delicious. Much love-
Chapter 1 - Claire's POV - "A New Day"
Claire kept a brisk pace as she headed toward TPU. Texas Prairie University sat right in the middle of what seemed to be a quiet ordinary town - unless you knew what to look for. During the day people didn't linger; and during the night they didn't come out at all - not unless they wanted to be on the menu. Morganville was run by vampires; a concept which might seem bizarre and frightening to most people, but Claire had become strangely accustomed to. It just felt normal now - how twisted was that?
Shifting the weight of her backpack to her other shoulder, Claire continued toward the campus. A familiar eagerness swept through her; heightening with every step that brought her closer to what she loved most: learning and physics. College had been quite a cultural shock to her in the beginning. She knew her young age of sixteen had contributed to her initial uneasiness and inability to really connect to her class mates. By the time she was a sophomore in high-school, Claire had already aced every advanced placement class available; leaving them no choice but to graduate her early.
Claire had been surprised to find that even her college studies felt 'easy', leaving her a bit unsatisfied. She enjoyed the interactive lab studies most and occasionally had a professor, like the one who taught her first period class, who was engaging and even funny.
Claire silently ran through the outline points of her upcoming class. Statistical mechanics intertwined probable theory into a mechanical system to determine the anticipated average behavior or outcome. Basically, math equations to fill in the blanks between fundamental mechanical laws of nature and the reality of the practical experience, which lacked the exact knowledge of how each molecule, would carry out the process in the moment of transition. Claire felt there was a striking similarity between this spliced section of theoretical physics and chemistry, to the portal system that her crazy boss Myrnin had created.
As if he could hear his name mentioned in the ramblings in her head, Claire felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. A quick look down confirmed it was Myrnin. "What now?" Claire's annoyance over being distracted from her studies seeped into her voice. She wasn't sure if he recognized her impatient tone or just didn't care, probably the latter.
Myrnin's frenzied words tumbled out, "Claire! I need you!"
So far - nothing new.
"Myrnin, I'm late for class. I can't talk right now, I have to run."
"No! Wait! I have a problem. I can't find yesterday!" he cried.
Claire stopped in her tracks. "I'm sorry, but what...what did you just say?!"
"Yesterday! It's gone!" he snapped.
Claire sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose; her irritation building in exact proportion to his lack of sense. She wondered how he could be so brilliant in the middle of all of the chaos running rampant through his mind. Trying to keep her tone even, she replied, "I understood the words, but have no idea what the hell you are talking about. Care to elaborate?"
"There's no time. I need you here now!" She heard the phone click in her ear as he hung up.
Torn, she looked longingly toward the campus building where her class was going to start; then moaned and starting walking in the opposite direction toward the lab. There was something off about his tone. She couldn't put her finger on it but it bordered on panic. And as crazy as he acted, she knew him well enough to know - he never panicked; quite the opposite in fact. He was cunning and thrilled when faced with any challenge.
Claire began her apprenticeship with Myrnin over a year ago at the insistence of the town's founder, Amelie. Since then, he had pushed her - sometimes kicking and screaming - to open her mind, to new and shocking potential. From him, she had learned far more than anything she'd been taught in her college studies. Experiencing how his mind worked was both breathtaking and terrifying; it all depended on what mood he was in that day.
She had worked next to him long enough to recognize and anticipate when his dark side settled in - but she had chosen to stay. Sure, it was not really her decision; whatever Amelie ordered, stood. But she knew in her heart that her choice was to stay with him, to learn from him. She had never met anyone who so completely shared her depth of hunger for knowledge, or understood how that need was as vitally necessary to her as breathing. And he was the only person who had ever been able to satisfy that need in her. But even more than that - he provoked her to think and expand beyond her own expectations. However the inescapable outcome, of her choosing to learn from him, was literally risking her life on occasions. Claire supposed she should consider herself lucky to be alive. His last three assistants weren't quite as fortunate.
Her phone sounded again and she yanked it from her pocket. "Myrnin, I'm on my way!"
"Of course you are. Just don't take a portal!" He hung up again.
Argh! If this is not life and death important, I am going to KILL him, Claire thought as she slammed her phone back into her pocket. She tapped the side of her backpack for good measure, satisfied with the way the daggers she'd tucked inside, clinked and chimed against each other. Not that she would ever intend to hurt Myrnin. It wouldn't end well and she'd probably be the one dead, but one could never be too prepared.
As she neared the alley entrance to the lab, Claire noticed Gramma Day sitting in her usual spot on the porch, eying her speculatively, and gave her a silent wave. Claire was relieved Gramma Day didn't invite her to stay and chat. She normally loved the old woman's cold lemonade, with just the right amount of freshly squeezed lemons and sugar, but Claire couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach and wanted to get to Myrnin as quickly as possible. Damn him for being so needy...and adorable...and brilliant...and bloodthirsty.
Gramma Day was the one who had warned her about the 'Trap-Door Spider' at the end of the alley; told her to cover her ears and never get close. Because that was how he hunted. He would lure his unsuspecting prey with his mind - and they would come. Claire shivered when she remembered how he had done it to her before she knew him. He had whispered softly into her mind, and she couldn't distinguish where her thoughts ended and his began. It scared her to think what would have happened if Gramma Day had not been there to snap her out it. He had never invaded her mind again after that, but it unnerved her; knowing he could speak directly into her consciousness and even compel her if he chose to. She suspected the full scope of his mind-bending abilities, went well beyond even her understanding.
Yet, here she was, walking willingly to this man-monster who had somehow become her best friend. She shook her head at the undeniable truth that she had to be nuttier than he was, for not only putting up with his crazy bag of tricks, but actually enjoying herself - when she wasn't terrified out of her mind.
Claire stopped at an unremarkable, broken-down looking shed. The exterior gave no indication to the world contained inside. She wasn't sure how and when it had happened, but this was her safe haven, a world she had grown to love. As irritating as he could be sometimes, she couldn't imagine her life without the wonder of learning from him and the completely unpredictable fun of being around him. Of course, that was on his good days.
To say Shane was not thrilled with the arrangement would be a definite understatement. He felt Myrnin was overly attached to Claire. And maybe Shane was right, but Claire was sure it was out of a mutual respect and enjoyment of the things only they could share together - books, science and philosophy. It did bind them together in way that even she couldn't really explain.
As she stepped down the last few steps, she waited impatiently for her eyes to adjust to the semi darkness. She knew he was a vampire, but why the hell couldn't he use just the tiniest bit of modern appliances, instead of his crazy-ass wall sconces and string lighting?
Claire had made the mistake of driving him to the only home-improvement store in Morganville a few months back, where he danced like a giddy school girl, when he found the garden section full of string lights. He insisted Claire buy all of the ones with the little paper globes around them. Thankfully, Amelie had supplied her with a credit card ahead of time, and Claire found herself loading thirty-two boxes of string lights into the car, and then carting them back to the lab. She had left it up to Myrnin to put them where he wanted them, and they were now strewn across the ceiling, bookcases and furniture; like someone had tried 'rolling the place' with them (US prank consisting of throwing rolls of toilet paper all over the trees and property of another).
"Myrnin," she spoke softly. She knew he would be able to hear her. Hell, he had probably heard her heartbeat when she came in the door; making rudimentary social graces like speaking completely unnecessary.
There was no response and she fought back her natural survival instinct to fight or flight. Neither would do any good here. She knew that any sign of fear from her would have a very bad effect, immediately triggering his hunting instincts that he so desperately tried to keep locked away, especially from her. He had come close, more than once, to hurting her when he was lost to that side of himself. In one moment he terrified her, but in the next second, it broke her heart, to see the shame and sadness that came to his face after the realization of what he'd done. Yep, she was definitely the crazy one between the two of them.
"Myrnin?" she called again tentatively.
"Claire!" he exclaimed. "What took you so long? It's been almost twenty minutes!"
Claire exhaled slowly and rolled her eyes, deciding not to dignify his question with a response. She turned to see Myrnin standing at one of the tall lab tables. He had a stack of open books and was deeply engrossed, flipping pages. He suddenly slammed the top one shut and muttered, "Why, why, why?!" She guessed he didn't find the answer, because he just continued his mad dash through the next book.
Claire began, "Myrnin, tell me what you meant when you called".
"What?" He didn't look up but she could hear confusion in his tone. That wasn't good.
"Earlier...When you called, you said yesterday was lost." She waited patiently for him to refocus.
He finally looked up to meet her eyes and she was so startled by the tortured expression reflected back at her, she couldn't help herself - she rushed to him, overwhelmingly alarmed about his wellbeing. He blinked wide and she saw his features transform in an instant. His eyes shifted crimson and he sunk lower into a stance she immediately recognized, and desperately wished she hadn't triggered, by her sudden advance.
He was hunting her now.
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