Disclaimer:
I do not Own Heroes, I'm just borrowing some of the characters. 3
Author's Notes:
Well it's been a long week for me. I've been super busy with work and study.
I wanted to write more.. but couldn't get around to it till today. Tonight I plan on lounging about and writing another chapter.
and can I say THANKS! one more time.?! seriously! The comments I've been getting, have rocked serious balls.
It means a lot to me. xD Thank you.
After about 2 hours and 45 minutes of driving, Sylar stumbled across the West Woodland Motel.
Not exactly the accommodations Claire would be used to, he was sure, but he and Luke had slept in worse.
.
As he pulled in, he realized that his was 1 of only 3 cars parked in the entire parking lot.
One of them, he assumed, had to belong to whoever was working there, and the other probably belonged to the motel's only other guest. No doubt some drunkard, too inebriated to make it home to his nagging wife.
.
He woke Luke silently, shaking his left shoulder, and told him to keep an eye on the girl while he went and made arrangements for their stay.
Luke groaned audibly, and looked like he wanted to kill Claire for causing this night of consistently interrupted sleep, but he agreed to watch over her while he went in, and fought the temptation to fall asleep again.
.............
The woman behind the counter was a soft spoken, plump woman, with beautiful curly brown hair, and a heart of gold.
Her name was Amber, and she was reading one of those steamy romance novels with a picture of a half naked man on the cover.
Lorenzo was just about to take Jessica's, much-sought-after, virginity, …when Sylar walked through the front door.
.
He looked like, absolute, sex on a stick.
.
Just as fate would have it, "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye started playing on the radio station she was listening to. One of those jokes, life seems to play on you when you least expect it.
Her cheeks went bright red, like two tomatoes about to explode.
She stumbled while trying to turn down the volume on her radio, cursing softly under her breath.
.
"Good Evening sir, and welcome to The West Woodland" she tried hard not to stare at his extremely handsome face, while reciting her well rehearsed spiel.
"What can I get for y'all this evenin' ?" She pulled out her guest log and pretended to look for possible vacancies.
.
Sylar couldn't help but notice the way she had glanced at him, and was honestly quite flattered.
He cast her a charming smile, and handed her a roll of 20's.
Her smile stretched and she almost let out a small giggle.
.
"Since there's 3 of us in total, could I perhaps get a room with 2 beds?" he leaned over the counter casually and grabbed a free candy from her dish.
As he unwrapped the candy, he gave Amber another big, charming smile.
"Oh, sure thing." she blushed a deep purple.
"Name sir?"
"Gray, Mr. Gray. But you can call me Sylar, if you like" It was almost creepy how his lips oozed false charm so easily.
And sure enough, Amber ate it up. Every last drop, like honey from a beehive.
She bit her lower lip.
"I'd like to keep the room for 2 nights if that's alright … …Miss?…Amber?" he read from the name-tag attached to her voluptuous bosom.
Still leaning over the counter, he winked at her. The devil.
She couldn't help but giggle now, and quickly handed him both his new keys and his change.
"That's room number 6 Mister Gray." And, Y'all have a good night." She gave him one last glance as he headed back out the door, waving goodbye as he exited.
His mouth full of candy and his smile as wicked as the devil himself.
.
'was that real'? she couldn't help but think as she eyed her romance novel suspiciously.
A huge grin plastered on her face.
...................................
Sylar went straight to the car. His face, once again serious and without visible emotion.
It was like, the false charm he was oozing vanished, the second he stepped out the door.
.
He opened the passenger side door and unbuckled the sleeping Bennet, lifting her into his arms once again.
Luke begrudgingly got up out of the back seat and followed lazily behind. His eyes, heavy and dry.
.
As they made it up the stairs and into their new room, Sylar placed Claire onto the first bed.
"You can have the other one." he nodded over towards the other bed.
.
Luke was extremely grateful, but baffled at his companion's sudden generosity.
He had assumed that he'd be on the floor tonight, or sleeping in the bathtub, now that she was with them.
He was glad to be mistaken however, and flopped down, exhausted, on the other bed.
'Finally….Sleep.' his entire body shut down within minutes.
.
Sylar on the other hand, had been trapped inside his thoughts for the last several hours.
His mind was racing, sleep was impossible.
He pulled a tacky, green, re-upholstered chair out of a corner and leaned it up against the door.
He stretched his legs out, propping them on the end of Claire's bed.
His eyes tried to focus in on anything but the girl.
.
'Had I been 5minutes earlier…..no …10... ' his fingers drummed impatiently on the arm of the chair.
'How could all of this have happened?'
His eyebrows knit together in thought.
.
Several minutes had passed in silence.
.
Eventually his eyes rested on Claire's shivering face.
He mentally chided himself for not thinking to cover the poor girl.
.
His black sweater fit her loosely. Her hands made little fists inside the long sleeves of the cashmere.
She was admittedly adorable, even Sylar had to admit.
.
Slowly, he grabbed a spare blanket from the linen closet and draped it over her body, making sure not to disturb her while she slept.
.
Silently Sylar stood there, at the side of her bed staring.
'I'm not cut out for this.' he ran his left hand through his hair.
'I can't take care of her'
.
'I've never even owned a pet goldfish.' He quickly returned to his chair, attempting once more to relax.
'what the hell am I supposed to do now'? he let out a sigh
.
.
(beep-beep-dingle-ding)
--incoming text--
..................................
"She still needs you…
And you need her.
Don't give up"
- rebel
................................
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.
.
Reply click
..............
"What do you mean?"
.............
---send--- click
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.
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(beep-beep-dingle-ding)
---incoming text---
................................
"she's your ticket,
off your father's path"
- Rebel
..............................
.
.
.
Sylar pondered the truth within that last text.
Claire really was his only hope.
If his life was going to have meaning, he'd need to share it with someone.
True, Claire was many things that Sylar abhorred, and naturally he assumed the feeling was mutual,
but one thing he always respected in her, was her honesty.
And Sylar had a feeling that Claire felt much the same about him.
.
She hated being lied to.
She hated that everyone around her assumed, that she'd be better off 'left in the dark'.
They treated her like a child.
And Claire HATED that.
With Sylar, though the answers he gave often upset her, she could at least count on them being true, if not a little warped by his twisted personal views.
.
Perhaps this was the best place for Claire right now.
At home, she'd be coddled, and told that everything was going to be fine.
They'd keep her even more sheltered than before.
Taking away what little freedom the girl had left.
And in the end, it would heal nothing.
.
As for Sylar, the fear of spending eternity in solitude was overwhelming.
He needed a companion. Someone to share his life with.
He needed purpose.
But all of that was easier said than done.
Old habits die hard, and making new friends wasn't exactly high up on his to-do list.