Meh, I don't really update this. Sorry.


Chapter 9:

Claire's POV:

Standing in Oliver's office, opposite the female vampire who I've never seen before, is pretty disturbing. Add into the equation Oliver knows her, she seems pretty mad that he kept her waiting and she's new in town…this can't spell out anything good. Worst case scenario: her plan is to, with Oliver, overthrow Amelie and try and pull a Bishop. Best case scenario: she's just a nice, normal person, besides for loving Oliver, and she's here to try and be a godmother to one of Amelie's children. That would be a nice change, to be honest, because all the fighting? All it does is give me a headache.

"Um, hi," I find myself saying, keen to break the silence that only seems to grow and grow. Perhaps it's just in my head that it's getting more and more awkward, or maybe that there's a desire for the two of them to be alone, but it is definitely something that requires me to break the silence. As soon as I speak, the raven haired female vampire turns her head in my direction, her lips twisted into a smile that doesn't seem right. After all, do vampires normally smile at people they want to kill?

Too late after thinking this, I remember that I am a vampire, and generally, vampires don't kill other vampires.

"Hello," the vampire – Vitzy, I think her name is – replies.

"My name is—" I begin to introduce myself, but Vitzy lets out a laugh that startles me, and holds a hand up to make me stop.

"I know exactly who you are, Claire," she says, an amused edge to her tone. "You are very widely spoken of in this town, young one. I just am yet to see…whether this is a good thing, or not."

As she speaks, Oliver somehow manages to unfreeze himself, his eyes managing to tear themselves from Vitzy's face and I notice him giving me a brief look of disdain. Evidently, our dysfunctional relationship ceases to be of any interest to him when the girl he's loved for however long – now I see how utterly absurd it is for him and Amelie to be having an affair – has returned to his presence, and is in Morganville…wait…how does she know who I am?

Before I can ask this, however, Oliver speaks. "That isn't an answer, Vitzy, and you know it." Something about his tone suggests that he isn't going to take no for an answer – or any further evasion from the question – and, yet, it almost seems as though this isn't their first time of meeting in the past however many hundred years it's probably been. It sounds stupid…but it almost seems as though it is being staged. That's not possible, though. I mean, Oliver has never acted like this before, not even when he heard that Amelie was dying, so I don't know why I would think he would be a good enough actor to fake meeting his long-ago girlfriend. At least, I presume that they once dated; someone wouldn't come by for Oliver and wait without having been involved with him would they?

"I am quite well aware of that, Oliver," she says in response, the same humorous edge to her tone. "I'm here because I grew bored, roaming the streets of London alone. You promised that you would be coming back, and you never did. So I decided to find you. And I discovered that my dear sister, Amelie, is alive."

Whoa. Sister of Amelie? Or is this the vampire sire sister thing, like between that other blonde – Naomi, I think it was – and Amelie, because that would make more sense. Amelie shares nothing in common, features wise, with this girl, so the latter does make more sense.

"Ah," Oliver says, as though it explains everything. "You have been to see Amelie already, naturally."

"Of course," Vitzy replies, and the attitude she has, it almost seems as though she's from this time period. With her outfit, her attitude and her mannerisms, it almost seems as though she is; either she's not a very old vampire and so therefore decided that the modern day is better than dressing like a nutter, or she's very old and decided that blending in is good and it's just gotten a bit more permanent than she wanted, but I don't really care why. She's pretty normal, and though that probably makes her more dangerous, to me, it makes her seem much more approachable and less likely to kill me.

"What did she say in regards to your presence in Morganville?" Oliver asks, an almost shiver running through him, before he lifts one of his hands and begins to fidget as a human normally would. "I take it she was…surprised."

"More than surprised; I think she would have had a heart attack, if it wasn't for her heart being immobile," Vitzy laughs, herself moving to take one of the seats in front of Oliver's desk. The way she sits is pretty modern, unlike Amelie's careful positioning – she's definitely not that old. "However, I cannot say that her grip on one of those children – the girl, I think – was particularly suggestive that she wants her children to live longer than the early stages of infancy."

"And what did she say about you remaining in Morganville?" it's almost as if I'm not here, because the conversation between the two vampires is completely segregated – I'm left out of it, now that Vitzy has mentioned that she knows who I am. "Are you to be given a home, or anything specific?"

"I have arranged to have a flat in the estate in the northern sector of the town, and I've already managed to procure a car," she replies, her fingernails drumming on the desk ever so lightly. "I have no need for you to interrupt and try and sort things out for me, Oliver; I am more than capable of doing it myself."

"I wasn't going—" he begins to protest, sounding slightly…whiny? Is this really Oliver, the hardened Mafia boss, sounding as though he wants to grovel to the woman before him?

I must snort or something, because he soon turns back to face me with a look of disgust on his face – disgust at me or at himself for acting this way with me around, I'm not certain, but he wants me gone. "Alright, alright, I'm going!" I hold my hands up in defeat, walking towards the portal in the corner, because I don't have my car. "Nice meeting you," I direct towards Vitzy, "certainly not nice seeing you, Oliver, and if I see you again before next century, that's a century too soon."

Whatever he mutters in response, I don't quite catch as I step through space and time to come out in the laboratory area of my house, expecting to see Myrnin here. But no; evidently, he's remembered that there is another part to our home – namely, our home – and he's either there, or not even here, because he's certainly not in the laboratory. The traces of his scent are suggesting to my untrained nose that he hasn't been in here for a good three or four hours – possibly since Amelie met Vitzy for the first time in however long it's been – and that's strange in itself.

"Myrnin, are you here?" I call, knowing I could quite easily ascertain the knowledge by actually listening, but that takes too much effort. I'm probably the world's worst vampire, as I never use the senses that are supposed to be heightened, and spend more time acting human than acting as a vampire, but there you have it; there's always one – or more – in every species. "Myrnin!" I yell again, deciding actually to use some senses and listen for him – but no, absolutely nothing.

He's not here.

Part of me wants to go call a search party, because he was supposed to be here, but the rest of me thinks that it's a perfect time to be using the laboratory for experiments I want to do, rather than wait for him to say, "oh yes, well, we're finished doing my fifteen hundredth in a row, so it's finally time for yours." So that's what I'll do; I won't call him and ask him to come home, or even find out where he is – in this town, he's either begging Amelie for money, discussing the visitor, or having a debate about something that happened before I care to consider history beginning – because I want to do something for myself.

~x~

As ten pm approaches, I ignite the splint which will test to see whether I've managed to create beryllium dichromate, a substance I've never really seen used (or even, really, heard of) because that's what I challenged myself to make. I've had three failed attempts thus far, and part of me wants to admit defeat and to ask Myrnin if it's possible, but I'm determined to do something entirely by myself. I don't need someone to tell me if it'll work or not, because I can find that out, but it's getting quite annoying, the way that the power keeps dodging up just when I want to use the Bunsen burner to set the substance on fire.

"It isn't going to work, you know." the voice of Myrnin startles me slightly, and I involuntarily jump into the air, the splint burning out.

"How long have you been standing there?" I demand, lifting the substance in the pot into my hand, in order to prevent anything being thrown along the desk at it, which is always possible in this laboratory, for some reason. The way that Myrnin is standing, leaning against the door suggests that he's been there for quite some time, as well as the cocked eyebrow.

"Long enough to know that you're trying to make something and are going to fail quite miserably," he replies, causing me to sigh loudly. "Whatever is the matter, dear one?"

I don't reply, merely relight the splint and dip it into the solution, but no, nothing. I've failed again. Something tells me that I can blame Myrnin for failing this experiment, simply because he interrupted me – damn science and logic, because if there's something he can take the rap for, he most certainly will. "It's all your fault!" I try to make my voice whine, setting the beaker down on the lab bench as I move across to Myrnin. "If it wasn't for you, I would have—"

"Failed anyway," he finishes for me, though uses completely different words to what I would have used. As I move nearer, he moves away from the door and reaches out to pull me into his arms, his lips pressing into my hair. "How are you, my darling? Did you discover anything from Oliver?"

I hesitate for a moment, though hopefully not a perceptible pause, because I plaster a rueful smile on my face and shake my head. "No, not about Amelie, or anything that could be going on in the town," I say, and he looks dejected – evidently, his hopes were built up to be knowing something now that he didn't know before. There is something going on, but I'm not going to tell Myrnin without there being more substantial proof.

"I know nothing either; I have spent the entire evening with Amelie and Samuel, pretending to enjoy one of those brats clambering all over me, and it has fruited no information other than something about a vampire I doubt you know." he sighs deeply, frustration evident in his tone, and I smile ever so slightly.

"You mean Vitzy?" I ask, and watch as his head shoots up in confusion, looking me in the eyes. "I met her earlier, when she came over to see Oliver. Is that not good?"

As soon as I mention Oliver's name, a grimace slides onto Myrnin's face, and I get the feeling that it's something to do with Oliver and Vitzy. Maybe they're the dream team – the dream team for destroying rulers, that is. And that would mean that they would be fighting to destroy Amelie.

"Is that not good?" he repeats my question, a slight edge to his voice. "Oh, that is, potentially, very not good, Claire. I cannot say whether they are disloyal whatsoever, and you say there is little sign of it, but if they are, then that could spell disaster for life as we know it."

I shiver as he murmurs in my ear, "even you could be destroyed, beautiful Claire. Everything could burn."

I won't lie that this scares me more than slightly.


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