Hey! I didn't mean to take so long uploading. Blame for all of this. I've been a bit more busier than usual. I will make sure to upload at least once a week from now on. Enjoy!

Chapter 6:

SHANE

I paced around the living room, coughing occasionally, because my throat still burned. We were supposed to go to the damn hospital, but Claire disappeared. I went to check if she was okay, about 10 minutes after she skipped up the stairs to grab her shoes. Her door was closed, so I knocked. There was no answer. I got scared that she had passed out from the gas I had created. I opened the door and she wasn't in there. Her shoes were on the floor. I checked the bathroom, my room, Eve's room, Michael's room, even the secret room. She wasn't there. I started to freak out then. I yelled at Eve to call Michael. Maybe the crazy bitch, Myrnin ,came and took her. He's done it before. I took Eve's car, not stopping at stop signs and driving way over speed limit, until I got into the alley where he lived. I bailed out, not even taking the keys from the ignition. Nobody wants to steal a goddamn hearse, I figured. I ran down the alley, with my cell phone at my ear, calling Claire's phone. It rang and rang until finally someone answered.

"Claire! Where the hell-" I started but was cut off.

"Shane. Shane!" Eve's voice said through the speaker. "Her phone's here. She left it."

"Did you talk to Michael?" I asked , kicking the door of Myrnin's shack.

"Yeah, he said- Are you hitting something?" she asked.

"I'm breaking a door down. What'd he say?" I finally knocked the door off its hinges. I practically flew down the stairs.

She continued as if that wasn't the craziest thing she's ever heard from me, but I realized it wasn't. "Amelie called all of the vampires for a meeting. She figured the ones who didn't show had something to do with the zombies."

"And? Who didn't show?" I asked, flicking on lights only to find the place empty.

"Everyone showed. Except for Jason and Oliver."

"So, it's one of them. Shit. What if they have Claire?" I spun and took the stairs two at a time.

"They don't," Eve tried to comfort me, unsuccessfully. "She's probably just with Myrnin or something."

"She's not with him, Eve. I just busted his door down and no one's there." I got it in the car and put it in drive.

"Shane, just come home. Michael's here. We'll figure something out."

I would've refused, but I had no other idea where she was. I drove home, pissed off. The sun eventually set, and Claire still wasn't home. Eve was sitting on the couch, biting her nails. Michael was watching me.

"I'm gonna go look for her." I said.

"No, it's dark. I don't want you out there alone. Especially with those zombies out there." Michael said.

"She could be out there alone!" I yelled. "She could be dying somewhere and we're just sitting here!" I stalked to the front door and stepped out into the cool night. Just as I was about to slam in shut behind me, in true Shane style, the phone rang. I sprinted back into the house, and snatched the phone out of Eve's hand.

"Hello? Claire?" I asked, hoping.

A female voice answered, "Uh, no. It's Devin. This is Shane, right?"

I deflated. It wasn't Claire. I remembered Devin from high school, she was a junior when I was a freshman.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Thank god. Listen, I just dropped Claire off at the hospital. She showed up at my door looking like a mess. She was bleeding and she looked like she got punched in the face. She wanted me to call and tell you where she was."

"Thanks." I hung up the phone, as my stomach clenched and grabbed Eve's keys. "Let's go. She's in the hospital."

Standing outside the door of Claire's room was the crazy old bat, Myrnin. I pushed past him, but he grabbed me.

"The Founder is in there. You must wait." he said.

"Get out of the way." I said, yanking my arm from his grip. It didn't work; he was still holding on to me. I glared at him, and he only stared back. I wanted to hit him in the face, so bad. My hands were shaking.

The door swung open, and Amelie stared, waiting for me to move. I stepped out of the way. She looked infuriated. Without saying anything to us, she turned and walked down the hall; Myrnin was on her heels.

I rushed into the room, and stumbled when I saw Claire. Bruises painted her cheek and eye purple. The parts of her face that weren't bruised were pale.

"Hi," she said, waving awkwardly, like the first day she came into the house. "Are you okay?" she asked, when I coughed.

"Am I ok?" I asked, incredulously. How could she worry about me, when her eye was practically swollen shut. I pulled a chair as close to the bed as possible and sat down. "What happened?"

Her eyes flicked to Eve then back to me. She shifted to get more comfortable, wincing. Eve sat at the foot of the bed,

"Claire, who did this?"

"It's Jason. I'm sorry, Eve."

Liz xox and Alicaaa98