Chapter 2

Shane's POV

God, I love killing zombies. I know they're just pixels and all but somehow, those pixels can be the only thing keeping me sane. I miss Claire. She's always at Myrnin's lab now. She barely comes home and when she does, she just goes to bed. She's always so tired. And she's really pale these days. I'm really worried about her. If she knew I was, she'd probably hit me. She never worries about herself. Ever. Only other people. I love that about her, but right now, it's driving me insane. She doesn't even eat anymore. I think I've seen her eat a granola bar in the last two days. She's working way too hard. I just hope she's ok.

The front door slammed open. "Helloooo! Anyone home. Put your clothes back on."

Oh, it's just Eve. "Hey Gothica, what's up? Anything happen today?"

"Nope, nothing. Unless you count Oliver being a whiny bitch about my amazing coffee-making barista skills. The usual" Eve works at the Common Grounds café and her boss is the second-most powerful vamp in vamptown. He's always been a bastard.

Eve's choice of outfit today would shock anyone who didn't know her, but me...nah, I'm used to it. A tight black camisole with sheer red top over it with black roses embroidered on it and a knee-length black skirt, tattered at the hem, draped with chains and covered in silver skulls. A black,tight choker with inch-long silver spikes, a black leather jacket, black and red striped tights and huge black biker boots completed the look. As for her make-up, ghost-white pale face, heavy-rimmed black eyeliner and deep red lipstick and her black hair was tied up in pigtails with little skull-shaped hair bobbles.

"So where's Claire? said Eve.

I gave her a long look.

"Ah, at Myrnin's place I take it. She's always there these days. I feel like I rarely see her anymore."

"Tell me about it", I sighed.

"So what about Michael. Is he here?"

"I think he's sleeping"

"Oh..well...I'll just go check on him then." And she ran up the stairs.

Jesus, could you be a little more subtle, I thought. I shrugged and continue killing zombies.

Eve's POV

I really am concerned about Claire. She's never home and she hasn't been looking very well for weeks. Shane's not looking so good either. Worried about Claire too, I guess. I need to sit her down and have a talk with her when she gets home today. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

I'm almost up the stairs. I can't wait to see Michael. I know it's not been that long since I last saw him (about 6 hours), but I still miss him.

I knocked on his door. After a minute he said "come in", so I slipped in and closed the door behind me.

Michael, pale and perfect, was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, hands behind his head , but as soon as I shut the door, he looked up at me. His perfect blue eyes melted my heart like butter and he extended his arms to me. I climbed into them, happily, ran my fingers through his blonde hair and said "hi".

He smiled, laughed a bit and whispered "and hi to you too".

I love kissing Michael. It's always the best part of my day. It's like...floating. On a wave of happiness. Nothing else comes close. Well, almost nothing else.

When the kiss ended, I sat up. "Hey, are you worried about Claire?"

He nodded slowly and sat up too. "Yeah, I am. She's never home and she's always working."

"Yeah, I know. I'm worried too. Have you noticed she's getting paler all the time. We need to talk to her."

"I've noticed, all right. She never eats either. Says she's not hungry, just tired. You're right, we should talk to her."

Michael lay down again and pulled me down with him. We were kissing for all of five seconds when the phone rang.

Michel groaned and told me to answer it.

I grudgingly reached over and pressed answer and the speaker button.

"Hello," I said.

"Hello, Glass House? It's Myrnin. You have to come to the lab. Quickly. Something's wrong with Claire."

And he hung up.