Alone

Chapter 3

Claire's POV

Everything was going in slow motion. The children playing on the swings... were they supposed to be going that slowly? Surely that was breaking the rules of gravity? I calculated everything in my head, and surely enough, no, they weren't supposed to be going that slowly. That dog that just caught the Frisbee in the air...why was he staying in the air for such a long time? Again, breaking gravity rules. I'm seeing humans, but not the humanity we all praise. The usual game of football, the usual arguments over who gets what flavour ice pop from the shops and the usual, 'be careful, you'll hurt yourself." What did parents mean when they said that? 'Be careful, don't want you getting hurt now, do we?' Was that advice for that moment in time, or for life? Either way, children took no notice in it. It's only in adulthood when you realise you should've listen to your parents sooner.

I wish I did.

The grass underneath me suddenly felt rock hard, as if I were sat on pebble stones. I looked around, it was normal grass. I stood, shaking of the intense thoughts that were swimming around my head. Should get back, I thought to myself. They'll be waiting for me.

And so I went. I let me legs carry me in any direction they chose, and they chose Pete's house. I felt myself open the door and close it behind me. My face set as stone. Everything's thing. Nothings wrong.

"There you are!" Shane was suddenly in front of me, wrapping his arms around me. Too slowly. Why? "Where'd you go?" He frowns as he held me at arms length. I pushed him away and carried on walking down the hall. I felt his eyes burning into my back as I walked.
"Claire!" Shane called after me. I shook my head and sat on the sofa beside Eve. "Hey sweet pop." She winked and nudged my shoulder. Your friends are wise Claire, but you are wiser. One of my father's famous quotes.

Shane walked into the room, glaring at me with his eyebrows narrowed. "Hey?" He stood in front of me. "What?" I snapped.
"Jesus, Claire. What the hell happened to you?"

"Fuck you." I stood up, everyone was staring at me. Literally everyone in the whole house had their eyes on me. I didn't have time for this shit. I walked straight out of the house. Straight out of their lives.

Shane's POV

"Who was that and what did she do to Claire?" Eve muttered after Claire slammed the front door shut. I stared after her. What the hell did I do? Did I annoy her when she came in? Where did she go? I had too many questions. What really did happen to Claire?

"That was fucked up." Michael shook his head, looking confused.
"There is a reasonable explanation." Myrnin said, a little too calmly. He sat fiddling with a tiny spider on the floor.
"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows. "And what do you know about my girlfriend that I already don't know, bloodsucker?"
A small laugh escaped his lips. "Child." He smiled. "You must know that I am well aware why Claire is acting out of the ordinary. Something terrible has happened." When he said that, his whole expression had changed. He did look cocky, now he just looked sad.

"Okay, you better start talking now or I swear to go-" He cut me off.
"Her parents are dead." He said sternly, staring into my eyes. I instantly backed away. Eve gasped, throwing her hands to her mouth.
"No they're not..." I mumbled.
"Yes, they are. Car accident. Terrible tragedy. Young Claire just had to go identify the bodies-"
"AND YOU KNEW ALL OF THIS?" I shouted. Anger bubbled all over my body. I just couldnt believe what I was hearing right now. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ANY OF US THAT'S WHERE SHE WAS GOING? YOU LET HER DO THAT ON HER OWN?!"

"She needed to." Myrnin raised his eyebrows. "I could feel the depression coming of her when she walked through the door. I suggest you talk to her before she does something stupid to herself."

I instantly got my phone out and dialled Claire's number. She answered on the first ring, but didn't say anything.

"Claire?" I spoke.
"Mm-hm?"
"Claire, baby... I'm so sorry, are you okay? Where are you? Please, just come back, okay?"
"You know the stars?" She said calmly, I frowned and slowly pulled the phone away from my ear, checking I actually did diall Claire's number. I placed the phone back to my ear. "...Yeaaaaah?"
"They're lucky, aren't they?" She sighed. "I want to be a star. They can see everything. They never feel sad, they never get hurt, they never have to die. They just sit in the sky... watching."
"Like your parents are." I didn't know whether it was the right thing to say or not, but I cringed after I said it.
A croaked laugh came through the speaker of the phone. "Yeah, whatever. I want them back. I want to be with them. I'm going to be with them, soon."
I didn't say anything. I didnt know what she was hinting at, but I didn't want to take any chances. "Claire, you know I love you, right?"
Another laugh.
"Claire?"
"I know. But I need to be with my parents right now, they're waiting for me. Among the stars."
"Okay, Claire, listen to me. I love you, I love you more than I can put into words. I know you're feeling like absolute shit right now because of your parents, I understand, I dont have my parents either. And I know this is worse for you because your parents loved you and you loved them. But Claire, it's all going to be okay, it's hard right now but it's all going to be so much more better when you realise that you have so many people that love you and care for you. I can't live without you Claire, if anything ever happened to you I would never be able to cope with myself for letting you out of my sight. I couldn't live without the way you are. I love the way you... you comb your hair before you go to bed because it won't be as notty in the morning... I love the way you use a knife and fork when eating a ham burger, I love the way you put your left shoe on before the right shoe... I love the way you cuddle up to me in bed even when you're boiling hot just because you want to hug me, I love every little thing about you Claire, please don't take all of that away from me. We can help you baby, I will help you, I promise. Just please come back..."
"I love you Shane." She was crying now. Sobbing so hard I could hardly understand what she was saying. "I'm sorry."
"Baby, pl-"

The line went dead.

I worked quite hard on this chapter so I hope you liked it! Sorry for not updating in forever! Please review x