Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I'm trying to stick to a deadline of one a week, but my internet went off and so I was unable to upload.
I want to say 'look on the bright side, now there'll be a shorter wait for my next chapter'. But I can't because I've just started my count down to exams, so if all goes as planned and I actually do some revision, then the next few chapters will be posted less frequently. I'll upload them as soon as I've wrote them. Please review and enjoy.
With much effort Sylar walked out of Claire Bennet's house. He stayed standing outside her front door for several minutes, unable to move away from her. Looking down at himself he sighed; his dark jeans were fine, but his black shirt was stained with drying blood, had a large rip where the knife had caught him and was even buttoned-up wrong. He also wasn't wearing his shoes but holding them, preferring to be able to leave while he still could.
The sound of her quiet sobs drifted through the air to him, he leaned back against the door and closed his eyes. With his enhanced hearing automatically switching on, Sylar could hear each tear slide down her cheek, everyone of them cutting him deeper than the knife ever could. He listened to her until he couldn't take the pain anymore.
He placed his shoes on the floor and re-buttoned his shirt, there was nothing he could do about the blood but he'd turned himself invisible the second he stepped outside and no-one could see him. He began to put his black shoes on when something pink caught his eye. It was inside his right shoe and he picked it up, looking at it with curiosity before a smirk crept on his face. The pink fabric was Claire's panties. He turned towards the door, his hand on the handle, but he couldn't go inside. He wouldn't be able to see her crying and not do whatever it took to make her happy again.
He pondered this for a moment before placing her underwear in his pocket and shoving his feet inside his shoes. Then, with one last look at the house he'd came from, he left, leaving behind the sound of Claire's erratic breathing and uncontrollable sobs.
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Noah Bennet's eyes, full of anger and concern, wondered the room before they met Claire's. Then his face hardened and he turned once again into the Company man that he was. He reached for his gun and rushed towards his daughter, placing his hand on her shoulder and leaning down so their eyes were at the same level.
"What happened? Who hurt you?" His voice was composed but he spoke just a little too quickly to hide his worry.
"No-one." Claire began to lie before giving up, 'if he figured out she lied then he would be suspicious'. So, she reluctantly decided to tell him the truth, or as close to it as she could bare to say. "... It was Sylar..." Her father's eyes turned dark "He was here, it's his blood. I stabbed him, then he left" Noah couldn't help feeling proud of his daughter, in the past she had played Company Agent, but she was his naive little girl who was simply acting out. She didn't have the instincts needed to work for the Company, he'd hoped she would never need to have them. But it relieved him to think that, in a world where Sylar could be around any corner, she was able to handle herself.
"Your dress?" Claire looked down, shocked to see that it was covered in blood, her mind raced as she attempted to come up with a believable lie.
"He... He fell against me when I stabbed him". Claire resisted the urge to have a real look at herself, hoping desperately that there were no blood stains to be seen on the bare skin of her thighs where Sylar had caressed her body. Her father nodded once, apparently satisfied with her answer. He scanned the room, still holding his gun.
"I'm just going to check the rest of the house" he said before heading upstairs. Once Noah was out of sight, Claire's rushed to find her underwear, thankful that her father hadn't seen them. She found her bra behind the sofa and put it on underneath her dress but couldn't find her panties. Her heart beat was uncontrollably fast as she heard her Dad come back down the stairs.
She immediately stopped looking and hoped that he wouldn't be able to read the expression on her face. Noah carried on inspecting the rest of the house then returned to Claire in the kitchen, satisfied that they were alone. He began to talk to her while they tidied up, but she wasn't listening, her eyes still scanning for the remainder of her underwear.
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Claire's eyes fluttered as she slept. She dreamt of a better, simpler life. She dreamt she was Claire Petrelli... That woman's problems were no where near as serious as her own. There was no incredibly attractive serial killer who had taken to terrorising her and then shown up in the middle of the night and broken her heart. There was no Sylar. Only an equally attractive, if not dorky, watchmaker named Gabriel, a man that could never hurt anyone, who was so thoughtful that he often took her breath away.
She dreamt of Claire Petrelli's life, loosing herself in memories that never happened.
A sharp beeping sound brought her out of her dreams. She groaned, groggily opening her eyes and blinking away the bleariness. She took her phone out from under her pillow, someone was ringing her. Claire squinted at the number that popped up on the, all too bright, screen and hated herself for recognising it. Just another thing it add to her growing list of self-loathing's.
"What?" She snarled down the phone, not liking being woken up.
"Good morning to you too, my love" his voice conveyed all the humour that he felt from her outburst and after hearing it, all her annoyance dissolved and her heart gave a small flutter. 'Something else to add to the list...' After a short pause, Sylar continued. "So... What you wearing?"
Claire held her lips together tightly, refusing to smile, even if he couldn't see her. After a few moments with no response he sighed.
"Talk to me Claire"
"I have nothing to say" she replied stubbornly. In truth she had too much to say, she didn't know where to start.
"Well, I find that hard to believe" Claire bit her tongue to keep her from talking, Sylar was trying to get a rise out of her but she wasn't going to make it easy for him. "I have a feeling this conversation is going to be a little one sided..." he got that right "Okay, fine" he sounded like he was giving up, but that wasn't right, Sylar never gave up. "You have my number, Claire. And avoidance doesn't solve anything, so, call me when you decide to talk" He waited for a short moment before he finished "See you soon, cheerleader".
The taste of blood filled Claire's mouth as she bit down harder, it wasn't until after he hung that she allowed herself to talk.
"See you soon, watchmaker". She stared down at her phone. Claire knew that she had to talk to him, the longer she waited, the less likely that he'd want to talk back... Before she thought it through, she flipped her phone open and began to text Sylar.
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Sylar's heart was beating much faster than normal as he stood, invisibly, outside the cafe that Claire had suggested. He wasn't quite sure why he wasn't letting anyone see him but it had turned out to be a good idea. Because the second that his eyes found Claire, he couldn't stop staring at her. It was like the first day back in the alternate reality all over again.
He was lost in her eyes. He attempted to shift the lump in his throat by swallowing but it was no use. And then she walked past him towards the door, and the scent that was purely Claire drifted his way. Butterflies caused havoc to his abilities and he sensed his invisibility slip. He felt ridiculous.
'I guess that is just what love does...'
He strolled into the cafe and stood just behind Claire, bending down and bringing his mouth close to her ear before he whispered to her.
"Hello, cheerleader" she stayed facing forward, her only response being a slight smile and one whispered word to acknowledge his presence.
"Watchmaker" he smiled and pulled away.
"Technically, I was a Timepiece Restorer"
"Yeah... But that doesn't have the same ring to it" that was when Claire realised that she was flirting, she held her breath as she stepped away and slid into an empty booth, Sylar following close behind with a smirk on his face. They stared at each other for several moments without speaking until the waitress came over.
The girl was tall, blonde and young; around eighteen maybe. Her name tag read 'Debbie'. She looked at Sylar, running her eyes up and down him in approval, then she turned to Claire and stared at her with disgust. Sylar instantly hated this woman. Debbie scowled at her for a moment longer before turning to Sylar.
"What can I do for you today?" She smiled at him, resting a hand on her hip and pushing her chest outwards. Claire tried to keep her expression neutral but couldn't help the strong knot of jealousy in her stomach.
Sylar looked at the waitress, she was pretty, slim, had legs that seemed to go on for miles... But she was arrogant and bitter, he could sense her hubris, her self admiration from miles away. He'd always hated that type of girl. His eyes darkened when he took in the Debbie's posture, he knew exactly what she wanted to 'do' for him. His hunger crept up on him, pushing its way into every muscle in his body until he ached to dispose of this pitiful waste of air standing in front of him.
He saw Claire from his peripheral vision, heard her breathing. She was angry. 'Was it at him? Could she tell what he was thinking? No. She wasn't angry at him... She was angry at the girl'. Sylar's intuitive aptitude had aloud him to work this out in a mere second and he forced down his hunger, for the time being.
"Erm... a coke please. And do you have any apple pie?" The girl smiled, placing a hand on the table in front of him and leaning on it, she flicked her hair in an obvious attempt at flirting and Sylar heard Claire grinding her teeth opposite him.
"We sure do"
"Great. I'll have a slice of that as well... with custard" The girl scribbled his order on a piece of paper and winked at him. He sighed, annoyed by the girl's constant flirting. He had to do something to make her stop. Sylar smiled pointedly at Claire.
"What abut you, my love?" Debbie's jaw set as she turned to glare towards Claire, who returned his smile sweetly.
"What you ordered sounds good" her eyes flicked towards their waitress and turned to ice "I'll have the same". Debbie gave Sylar one last smile before she stomped off. He shook his head.
"Pitiful" he whispered under his breath, Claire laughed. "I take it that you know her?"
"Yeah, she erm..." Claire paused and he reached across the table to touch her hand. "She was the captain of the cheerleaders at my new school. I played a bit of a prank on her last year. She wasn't happy about it".
"What kind of prank?"
"Erm, lets just say that it involved a masked flying man picking me up and dropping me to my death before chasing her off" he stared at Claire wide eyed for a moment before bursting into a laugh, she joined in.
"And Nathan went for that?"
"No, it was a friend" Sylar's eyes darkened for a moment as Claire realised that she just told him that there was an easier victim out there with an ability he was after. She mentally shook herself and pulled her hand out from under Sylar's. 'This isn't a date' she reminded herself 'you came here to get answers'.
The blonde sat up straight and was about to start asking questions when Debbie showed up holding their drinks.
"Your pies will only be another moment" she spoke only to Sylar, but he paid her no attention, his deep eyes staring deep into Claire's. After a moment Debbie walked off and returned with two apple pies and custard. "Anything else I can get you?" she asked Sylar, he just shook his head. Her shoulders slumped and she span away. He heard her mumble the words "wasn't interested in you anyway" as she walked off and he laughed silently at the tingle that the lie caused.
"So" Claire started, suddenly nervous "the last time I saw you, you were burning in the Primatech fire with a piece of glass in your 'off switch'. How did you survive?"
"I guess the glass melted" she nodded, accepting the answer.
"Okay. Yesterday... You showed me something. What was that?"
"You'll have to be more specific... I showed you a few things" he laughed as she glared at him. Sylar dipped his head slightly and leaned towards her "I could show you a few more things, if you'd like" his smirk grew on his lips. Claire shook her head in disbelief.
"How had I ever thought you would be serious?" she asked as she reached for her bag, fully intending to leave. Sylar raised his eyebrow.
"That is a good question. Surely you know me better than that" he picked up his spoon and continued to eat his pie but never took his eyes off her. She stared right back at him, "fine, I'll play nice... Ask away"
"What did you show me?"
"An alternate reality. Well, actually it was an alternate universe" She dropped her bag and reached for her drink, holding it between her hands while he ate his food.
"What's the difference?"
"Well, there are millions of alternate realities. They're almost exactly the same as our reality, the only differences are caused by one singular choice. However, alternate universes can be very different, there's no real idea as to how many of them there are and they aren't effected in any way by our choices. We apparently saw an alternate universe that is quite similar, except that our abilities didn't exist. No-one's abilities existed" She nodded, kind of understanding.
"Well... How did I see it?"
"I had the ability, I simply lent it to you "
"You can do that? Just give people abilities?"
"Apparently" his eyes lit up as he smiled at her "do you want to keep it? 'Cause, I only gave it you temporarily. I'm pretty sure I can give it you permanently" she shook her head.
"I'm still trying to deal with the ability that I have" for a moment she thought he looked disappointed. But she couldn't tell. They sat for a while in silence as they ate, but it wasn't awkward. Occasionally Debbie would walk their way and bring them more drinks and after an hour she got bored of Sylar turning her down.
"What time are they expecting you back?" He asked Claire as they stepped outside of the cafe and into the darkening evening. They started walking together towards her house.
"Not for a while. I told them that I was meeting up with a friend... Though it would probably be best to get there earlier rather than later... They're a bit worried after last night". Sylar froze and Claire stopped to see what was the matter.
"What did you tell them?" He asked, his voice was dark and reminded her of the monster that he was.
"I... erm... I didn't get all the blood cleaned up in time. So, I had to tell them that you were there..." Her heart began to beat faster as his eyes turned black, "I... I said that you showed up and I stabbed you and you left".
Sylar was angry. Claire had told her family that he was in town. Bennet would be after him. He most probably already was, he could be watching them right now... Sylar's fingers twitched with anger, with hunger, and a light down the street flicked off. His eyes met those of the petite blonde in front of him and his hunger changed.
Claire wasn't sure what to do, she saw the rage in his eyes but didn't feel the need to run from him. She looked down at his hand as it grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. Their lips were pushed together as his other arm wrapped around her back to keep her close. She gasped as their kiss broke, but neither moved away. Sylar's eyes stared into her own, but now it was lust that filled them.
She couldn't help thinking of her dream from the night before. Yes, Claire Petrelli and Gabriel Gray fit together perfectly, like two jigsaw pieces. But Sylar wasn't Gabriel. Claire's eyes traced his face.
'God, you're gorgeous'. She thought to herself. 'Attractive, but dark and dangerous. No, not like Gabriel at all'. she pictured Gabriel's face 'sweet, sensitive Gabriel... He looked just like Sylar but so completely different. Where Sylar is darkness, he was light. He was love'. Claire heart began to ache.
"You're not Gabriel" she whispered. His eyes looked at her, but she couldn't tell the emotions behind them as she came to her decision. "I can't be with you..." She couldn't tell, but Sylar was scared of loosing her. He knew she was right, they couldn't be together, but he wasn't going to just give in easily.
"You couldn't resist me before. What makes you think you can resist me now? Like I said yesterday... life repeats itself" he shook his head "we have a connection, you couldn't help but throw yourself at me at that party..."
"I'm not Claire Petrelli either. And she only did that to annoy Nathan" he shook his head again but realised that she wasn't lying. She continued, "He saw us - them - talking and thought they were a together. He told her to stay away from Gabriel, that he wasn't the right type of guy for her... She got angry and decided to get her own back, so she dated him. She was going to brake it off after the second date but he was too god damn sweet that she couldn't hurt him... She could have resisted him easily, she just didn't want to"
"You are her Claire. You bake cakes when your happy. Your favourite meal is English pancakes. The reason you love cheerleading is because its consistent, it's always there and it's always the same... Is any of that wrong?" she stared at him, amazed.
"Well, yeah. I've actually never had an English pancake in this universe" she smiled as Sylar grabbed her and pulled her in for one more kiss. Then he brought his lips to her ear and whispered to her.
"I can be that man as well, I was that man before my abilities..." she leant into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing her eyes "we could still have that life. We could leave together, see the world, get married in Vegas -"
"- But..." Claire's eyes swung open and she pulled away from Sylar, "it won't be the same" her eyes turned to ice as she stared at him "it can't ever be the same. Because, you killed Meredith!" She took a step backwards, tears welling in her eyes. It had taken him talking about their wedding to remind her of the wedding dress, Gabriel had been so sweet and thoughtful, but Sylar was not Gabriel. And her mother wouldn't be there for her like she had been because he'd killed her.
She started to walk away but Sylar stopped her using his telekinesis, which just made everything worse.
"Let me go Sylar!" she screamed. He turned her to face him and wished that he hadn't. Her eyes were daggers digging into his. Sylar dropped his arm and released her. She shook her head, how had she thought that he was different? Neither of them were the same people that they were in the other universe. Everything that Sylar had mentioned about her had been true, but it was all trivial, their personalities were completely different and she had to start acting like herself again. She took a deep breath and calmed herself "I'm going to leave now. And the next time we meet... I'm going to kill you".
TO BE CONTINUED...