Chapter 2-The Fourth Resident

"Hey. Shane." Michael said "How was the date?"

"Laura was good at bowling. She beat me." Shane said. "I don't think we'll meet again."

"Shame." Michael said. "Wonder which girls next to fall victim to Shane Collins." He picked up his guitar and began strumming.

"Hey! I didn't have sex with her! She wouldn't let me!" Shane protested.

"Whatever, Man." Michael shrugged.

"A girl came today to look at the room." Shane flicked on the TV. "She seemed real banged up."

Claire. Michael thought. He'd watched her a while, wondering how she'd got into that mess and who'd beat her up. Until Sunrise came, and he quickly departed and painfully reformed in his bedroom.

"What did you think?"
"She's good." Shane shrugged. "Eve liked her too."
"Is she going to be another Shane Collins victim?" Michael muttered.

"Hey!" Shane protested.

"Whatever, Shane. So where is she?"

"Asleep. Like I said, she was pretty banged up. When she wakes up, she'll talk to you." Shane said. "I think you'll like her thought."

That's not the problem. She's underage.

Michael strummed his guitar. Thinking. He didn't want to evict her, but he couldn't take the risk keeping her here.

He put the guitar down, and grabbed his beer. "And Happy birthday to you, man." he muttered. He took three sips, then put it down. "And here's to house arrest. What the hell. Own it, or get owned."

He was talking about his current-situation. He didn't know if he'd age or not. Would he still be doing the same pattern everyday-still eighteen whilst the others grew old. The other's believed him when he said he wasn't a vampire, but would they when he didn't age. Or would he become an old man, still doing the same thing everyday? Could he ever die of old age? he was still using his body so what would happen to it then? Would he become a real ghost? Would he be forever stuck like he was in the day?

Behind me, someone coughed. Michael turned, noticing that Claire was standing on the stairs. She looked better.

But he knew what he had to do. He had to evict her-not that he wanted to.

"Oh. You're the one Shane said wanted to talk about the room. Hey. Come on down."

She walked down the few stairs, obviously trying not to limp. She looked batter, but he could still see bruises.

"I'm Michael." he said. "And you're not eighteen so this is going to be a real short conversation."

"I'm in college." she protested. "I'm a freshman. My name is-"

"Don't bullshit me and I don't care what your name is." Michael answered. "You're not eighteen. I've got a good bet you're not even seventeen. We don't take anybody in this house who isn't legal. Not that you'd be signing onto the orgy central, but sorry, me and Shane have to worry about things like that. All it takes is you living here and somebody even hinting something's going on-"

"Wait!" Claire blurted out, sounding desperate. "I wouldn't do that. Or say that. I'm not looking to get you guys in trouble. I just need-"

"No." Michael didn't like saying it. He was the oldest around here, and at times like this, he didn't like playing the adult. Maybe if it wasn't Morganville he'd have taken her in, but this was Morganville, and things could get dangerous if you didn't play by the rules. "I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. House rules."

Michael watched Claire. He felt sorry for her, he really did. Her lip was trembling.

And then she did something surprising. She took out her wallet from her back pocket and started counting out notes. "How much?"

Michael stared at her. Part of him wondered how much she'd pay to be able to stay here.

"Is three hundred enough? I can get more if I need to."
Michael frowned. "How?" he asked.

"Get a job. Sell stuff." Claire shrugged. "I want to stay here, Michael. I really do. Yeah, I'm under eighteen, but I swear, you won't have trouble from me. I'll stay out of your way. I go to school, and I study. That's all I do. I'm not a partyer, I'm not a slacker. I'm useful. I'll-I'll help clean and cook."
She really meant it. And she was desperate too. Claire seemed like the kind of person that just went to college, came home, studied, and basically just wanted to be left alone in life. And he didn't doubt that that was all that she'd do.

But the risk...

"No. I'm sorry, kid, but it's too much of a risk."

"Eve's only a little bit older than I am!" she protested.

Yes, but Eve got thrown out onto the street by her parents, because she wouldn't let Brandon bite her. Michael thought. Although he supposed that whoever had punched her had probably chased her out of college to. Or at least scared her away.

"Eve's eighteen." Michael said. "You're what? Sixteen?"

"Almost seventeen!" She said. "I really am in college. I'm freshman. Here's my student ID-" she held out a card. Michael didn't take it, or even glance at it.

"Come back in a year." he said. "We'll talk about it. Look, I'm sorry. What about the dorm?"
"They'll kill me if I stay there." Michael looked surprised when she said that. He knew that she'd been beaten up, but he'd never suspected-

But then again, this was Morganville.

"They tried to kill me today." she finished off.

"What?" Michael said.

"The other girls. They punched me and shoved me down the stairs."

Michael walked over to her, and felt in her hair. Yep, the bump was there. She wasn't lying. There was no way that he could send her back there in good conscience, even if this was Morganville.

"What else?" he asked, looking at the bruises.

"What?"

"Besides what I can see? You're not going to drop down dead on me, are you?"
"I'm ok." she said. "I saw a doctor and everything. It's just-bruises. And a strained ankle. But they pushed me down the stairs, and they meant it, and she told me-" she paused, as if she was remembering something, and a look of horror came on her face. "The girl in charge, she told me that tonight, I'd get what was coming to me. I can't go back to the dorm, Michael. If you send me out that door, they'll kill me, because I don't have any friends and I don't have anyplace to go!"

Michael looked at her. Vampires did go to college from time to time-mostly to the night classes, or they stayed in the shadows. And some of the older ones could stay in the sun for a few seconds. "These girls." he asked. "Do they go out in daylight?"

She blinked, surprised. "You mean, outside? Sure. They go to classes. Well, sometimes."
"Do they where bracelets?" If they were protected, then they'd get away with stuff like that. After all, Monica Morell had managed to burn down Shane's house, his sister inside it, and had gotten away with it. As far as Michael knew, she was in some college elsewhere, probably unable to remember burning down Shane's house.

"You mean like this?" she picked up Eves abandoned bracelet. "I never noticed. They wear a lot of stuff." Then she looked like she was trying to think, trying to remember. "Maybe."
"Bracelets with white symbols?" Michael asked. "Do you remember?"
"No. Does that mean they have protection?"

Michael pretended to be surprised. She was an out of town student, unprotected. She shouldn't know.

But she was smart, he could tell that. She'd put the clues together. What Eve had told her, Michael asking whether they wore bracelets or went out in the sun...

"You mean Condoms?" he said "Doesn't everybody?"

"You know what I mean." her cheeks were burning. Even if she wasn't staying here, it was better for her not to know. At least then she could leave at some point.

"Don't think I do." he said.

"Eve said-"

Michael looked up, all the anger at Eve telling her earlier suddenly showing. "Eve need to keep her mouth shut. She's in enough danger as it is, trolling around out there in her Goth gear. They already think she's mocking them. If they hear she's talking..."

"Them who?" Claire asked.

"People." Michael looked away. "Look, I don't want your blood on my hands. You can stay for a couple of days. But only until you find a place, right? And make it fast-I'm not running a halfway house for battered girls. I've got enough to worry about keeping Eve and Shane out of trouble."
Claire laid down the three hundred on the table. Michael looked at it, jaw square. "The rents a hundred a month. You buy groceries once a month, too. First month in advance. But you're not staying past that, so keep the rest."

Claire swallowed. Michael counted out a hundred, and pushed £200 aside. Claire quickly took it. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me." Michael said. "Just don't get us into trouble. I mean it."

Claire got up, and walked into the kitchen. Whilst she was gone, Michael thought. What would have happened to her if he'd thrown her out. Would the vamps have got her? Would she go back to the dorm and take her chances? Or would she try and room with somebody else.

Still, she was here for a while. Safe. Michael wouldn't have her death on his hands. And Eve and Shane-

They liked Claire. Shane had said she was ok to stay here. What would they think if Michael had thrown her out to die?

Claire returned from the kitchen with two bowls of chilli. She gave one to Michael, sat down on the floor, and began eating hers. Michael took a bite of his, and was relieved to find that there was none of Shane's sauce in his chilli.

"Shane made it." Claire said. "It's pretty good."

"Yeah. Chilli and spaghetti that's pretty much all Shane can make." Michael shrugged. "You know how to make anything?"
"Sure." she said.

"Like?"

"Lasanga." Claire said. "And, um, a sort of hamburger hash thing with noodles, And Tacos."
Taco's. It'd been a while since he'd had Taco's. And Taco's would be a nice change from chilli.

"Could you make Taco's tomorrow?" Michael asked.

"Sure." Claire shrugged. "I have classes from eleven to five, but I'll stop and pick up the stuff."

Michael nodded. "I'm sorry." he said. He felt slightly guilty about the way he'd treated her. He needed to protect Eve and Shane, but still...

"About what?" Claire asked.

"Being an asshole." he admitted. "look, it's just, I can't-I have to be careful. Really careful."

"You weren't being an asshole." Claire said. "You were trying to protect yourself and your friends. That's okay. That's what you're supposed to do."
Michael smiled. So she understood. That was good. She didn't hate him and feel resentment towards him, based on earlier.

"If you're in this house, you're my friend." he said. And then, he knew her name anyway, but he had to act like he didn't. "What's your name, by the way?"
"Claire. Claire Danvers."

"Welcome to the Glass house, Claire Danvers." Michael said.

"But only temporally." Claire said.

"Yeah. Temporally."

Michael and Claire shared an uneasy smile. Then, Michael got up and grabbed the plates, and quickly washed them up in the kitchen.

When he went back, Claire had gone upstairs. He took a quick glance at his alarm clock. He still had a few hours before dawn. But Shane and Eve wouldn't be back by then.

He grabbed a piece of paper, and a pen, and wrote.

Shane and Eve,

Claire is going to be staying with us for a while. She's underage, and she's a freshman at the college. Some girls at school threw her down a staircase. Whilst she's staying with us, I want you to look out for her. She's new to Morganville, and you know what could happen if she doesn't play by the rules.

Michael paused and stared down at the letter. He quickly added "The girls have threatened to kill her." and wrote his name down on it. He left it on the kitchen counter, where Eve might see it, and went back into the living room, and picked up his guitar.

He only wished that he was practising for a performance. He even pretended he was.

But he knew different. The second he left the house, he became smoke.

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