Enigmatical

By wired2damoon

Chapter 20: Displaying Ignorance And Demanding Proof

Part 2

A/N: Still dedicated to Mindy Ann! Hope you all enjoy! There are shockers ahead! Don't say I didn't warn you!

- Quil's POV -

"So…Embry told Erin huh?" I asked, trying desperately to keep my emotions under control as I drove towards Claire's house.

Claire hadn't said a word since she saw me and Suzie in the…awkward position fifteen minutes ago. She merely nodded at the question and kept her head angled to where she was gazing straight ahead of her, her body utterly still and uptight.

I knew by her body language that she was totally uncomfortable (obviously at what she'd just seen) but I doubt that now is the time to explain everything, especially with her sister in the backseat, glaring daggers at her.

But I was relentless, I was determined to keep talking to Claire (and keep ignoring Suzie) until we'd safely arrived. "So…what exactly does Jake want me for?" I asked for the second time since she'd arrived.

At this, I saw a little of the normal Claire come out as she rolled her eyes and scolded (a little harsher than usual), "I told you already Ateara! He wants you there purely for a little back-up proof."

I nodded in understanding, a little baffled at the way that Erin reacted to the news of Embry being a werewolf. I would of half expected her to run for the hills screaming her head off, or at least get completely freaked out and demand he stay the hell away from her…but this? This I was not expecting, and neither was anyone else, I gather.

I heard Suzie snort in the backseat, mumbling something that sounded like, "she probably is used to weird creatures with leprechauns and all…" before she clamped her mouth shut as Claire whirled around and shot a look of pure and utter fury at her. "Keep that mouth of yours shoot too Suzie or so help me I won't be held responsible for what I do to you…" she growled so threatening that even I felt a little pity for Suzie as I saw the look on her face.

I think we all knew that wasn't the real reason why Claire was so worked up.

I don't think I'd even been so relieved to see Claire's front yard as we finally pulled up. "Well here we are," I almost sang (and cringed at the unadulterated, pseudo-cheeriness to my tone) and barely had another breath out before Claire slammed the car door in my face, already half way across the lawn. I jumped out of the car and caught up with her in a second however.

"So…this should be interesting, right?" I asked, getting extremely desperate for her to talk to me in a normal tone but, just as I suspected she merely glared at me and stormed into the house.

I shivered as I felt fingers trace across my back and turned to see Suzie smirking evilly, blowing a kiss at me before following Claire.

I shook my head tiredly, trying to get my act together. I was needed now…I trudged into the house, my head hung lowly.

Here we go…

- Claire's POV -

"CLAIRE! OH CL-AIRE! GET UP SLEEPY HEAD," a loud , yet melodic voice called, successfully waking me from my slumber. I groaned, turning over my side and refusing to open my eyes. Not today, any day but today.

"Go…away…Nessie…" I murmured softly, yet irritably, into my pillow. I knew she heard me, though. Stupid vampire-enhanced senses. Today was Friday, October 9th, my 17th birthday. And I sure as hell wasn't getting out of bed for something as insignificant as that, no matter what she or Erin did about it.

"Oh come on Claire! It's your birthday! You have to get up! C'mon I know you aren't that big into it, but, I don't allow my family to celebrate my birthday anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't torture you with yours!" I snorted at her explanation, so this is why she really wanted me to get up. To get some sweet payback for all the years I helped Alice and the rest of the Cullens go all out for her birthday.

Well, I was not going to make it easy for her.

"Nope! No way am I getting up now, knowing that you have a hidden agenda," I murmured, my back still turned to her as I snuggled deeper into the mattress. I could almost feel the frustration coming off her and got an idea of what it would be like to have Jasper's gift. I seriously underestimated my best friend however, because what she did next almost gave me a frickin' heart-attack.

"NESSIE!! PUT ME DOWN!" I screamed as suddenly I was snatched up from the bed and suspended several feet in the air.

Nessie merely smirked as she held me in her arms like a baby, "aww…you're so adorable I could just pinch your cheeks," she laughed, setting me down on my feet and feigning fear as I whirled around and glared at her. That's when I realised that we weren't alone in the room, Erin was standing there, mouth hanging open as she looked at the two of us in awe.

"Wow…you really are strong…" she whispered, looking completely dumbfounded. It had been a week since Embry had proved his were-wolfishness (okay, so that's not a real word, but just go with it) and of course he had told her all about the Cullens. Erin had yet to see them first hand, only seeing smidgens of Nessie's weird 'quirks' the last few days.

"Yeah…I guess I am," she replied off-handily, before throwing the first items of clothing she'd seen at me (she certainly didn't share her aunt's love of fashion) and pushed me into the backroom. "Now hurry up and get ready Claire, we're going on a little road-trip…" she informed me, her voice full of mischief.

I groaned as I started to get dressed. Don't get me wrong, I love Nessie and all, but unfortunately, she did inherit something from her father…her tendency to drive extremely FAST!

Some road-trip this was going to be. Oh well, you know what they say, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger…

"…So…is there any particular reason why you've brought us to Port Angeles? 'Cause I know its definitely not to shop…" I muttered, remembering Nessie personal vendetta with anything loosely related to the art that is walking around malls and buying various, vast amounts of items.

"Well…I just thought that you'd like to get away for a while you know, we could go get something to eat for lunch, talk a little, you know, I've hardly seen you the last few days, I thought we could all catch up," she replied in a light-hearted tone, the same tone that wasn't fooling anyone.

"Uh huh," I agreed sarcastically, narrowing my eyes at her, "now would you like to tell me the real reason why you're keeping me away from La Push for the entire day?"

Nessie and Erin exchanged defeated looks before Nessie sighed, "I knew we wouldn't be able to fool you…alright, alright we'll tell you, but first you have to promise that you won't get mad."

I rolled my eyes, but by the looks on their faces I knew I'd have to play ball. "Okay, okay, I promise I won't get mad," I assured them, knowing I so wouldn't keep it once I knew what was up.

My two friends exchanged one last look before Nessie rambled quickly, "your mom is throwing you a surprise party and she told me to keep you occupied for the whole day so you wouldn't walk in on anything or interrupt their preparations! It wasn't my idea so please don't be mad, I had to do what she asked because your mom but me in a tight spot and-"

I held up my hand to make her stop her insane ramblings. I sighed as I took it all in. A surprise party, well that's just frickin' perfect!

"It's alright, I know what my mom can be like sometimes…so how big is it going to be, like ten, fifteen people?" I asked as we sat down on the near-by benches. Nessie looked a little worried and I instantly tensed. "I-It's not more then fifteen people is it Ness? 'Cause you know I can't stand big parties…"

At her continued silence I got more and more uneasy. "Ness, tell me how many people are coming!"

She bit her lip, looked away from me and mumbled something under her breath. I frowned, "what? I didn't catch that…"

Bowing her head, she turned around to face me and said a little louder, "well, I don't know how many people are actually coming, but your mom invited about…150."

My god. I think my heart just stopped.

"She-she invited one hundred and fifty people to my birthday!?! WHAT!?! I wasn't even aware we knew that many people!" I spluttered, slightly exaggerating my hand movements as I got more and more worked up.

This is not good. This is not good at all!!

"Deep breaths Claire, deep breaths," Nessie tried to calm me as she fixed my hair in front of the mirror, hours after my little outburst in the mall. We (meaning Nessie, Erin and I) were now sitting in front of the one mirror in my room, fully dressed and preparing our hair and make-up for the big shin-dig tonight.

I'm not supposed to know anything about it of course, so I was just told (very obviously) by my mother to 'dress up a little' as we were going out for a 'meal'. So, I was now dressed in a light purple, knee-length skirt and black tank-top (modest, classy and casual all at once, according to Alice with whom I talked to on the phone today, apparently she had seen a vision of me wearing the exact clothes) applying a little bit of eye-shadow to my eyelids as Nessie fixed my hair.

I really don't go into all this girly stuff, but I suppose I ought to make the effort, if I'm supposed to look half-decent in front of over a hundred people. Oh god, I'm panicking just thinking about it!

"Relax…" Nessie cooed, as if she had her father's gift, "it'll be fine. Just a little party that's all…"

I arched an eyebrow at her, "little? One hundred and fifty people, Ness! I hardly call that little! And don't talk crap, I know for certain that if it were you, you'd have run all the way to Canada by now!"

She threw me a small smile, signifying I was right.

"…So…have you…talked to Quil?" she asked gently, and I could tell she'd be trying to boost up her confidence to ask me for a while now.

I nodded, not elaborating, but at the look she and Erin were throwing me, I did. "He called, wished me Happy Birthday, you know, as he does every year if he can't make it over straight away…he said he'd see me tonight," I finished, stepping up and away from the two of them, to grab a jacket from my wardrobe.

I feel there gazes burning into my back, but hastily ignored them. I could already tell what they were thinking. After I caught Quil and my sister…I shuddered, hardly able to think about the way I found them, I had vented to Erin and Nessie about what I saw.

Nessie had assured me that it was all Suzie's doing, (Jake had seen so in Quil's head once he phased) but I still felt extremely awkward and confused around Quil after the night where I think he might have tried to kiss me. (That was the part I failed to mention to either of them.)

Quil and I were fine for the most part, neither of us mentioned what happened on either awkward night, which was fine by me, and more so adapted to a somewhat ignorance of anything being wrong. Which was true, there was nothing the matter, we just nearly kissed and then I found him almost completely naked and wet with my sister wrapped around him.

Like I said, there's nothing the matter.

"Just c'mon and do this!" I grumbled, irritated all of a sudden, startling both my friends. I was already out the door, down the stairs and listening to my mother gushing about how beautiful I looked before either of them could respond to me.

This was going to be one hell of an annoying night.

"Why are we stopping at the beach?" I asked, hoping that I sounded surprised (Nessie begged me to) as we pulled up in the parking lot opposite the beach (which happened to be a lot fuller than usual, humm…I wonder why that is?). My mom turned around and smirked at me, "we've got a little surprise for you, birthday girl," she beamed before practically jumping out of the car.

I rolled my eyes when she turned her back to me, and followed, pretending to be completely confused as to what was going on. I walked behind her obediently, noticing that the street lamps that usually filled the beach with a soft glow were somehow dimmed so that I could hardly see anything. Suddenly, my mom turned to me, took my hand, pulled me towards her and placed her hands over my eyes. I really didn't know what to expect now.

I mentally prepared myself all the same.

As I drew closer, I peered between the gaps in mom's fingers and I could just make out tables and chairs and if I listened extremely intently, I could just about make out hushed voices over the lapping waves. I took a deep breath, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

My mom removed her hands from my face and before I even had a chance to open my mouth I jumped a mile in the air as I heard many people shout a loud chorus of "SURPRISE!"

I glanced around me and saw loads of beaming faces staring back at me as the beach was now flooded with light from car headlights, portable lamps and flashlights. I must of looked hilarious, just standing their gaping at everyone because suddenly everyone was laughing and joking around.

Again, I tried to say something but now I was being enveloped in hugs. Aunt Emily somehow materialised by my side and managed to hug me first, but I could hardly hear what she was saying to me over everyone. Nessie wasn't kidding when she said a hundred and fifty, there was definitely around that amount of people, geez, if I didn't know any better I'd say all of La Push and half of Forks were here!

It took nearly a half an hour for all the hype to die down and for everyone to begin to get in true party mode, getting food, setting up the bonfire, dancing to the music, idly chatting etc. and that's when my eyes finally settled on the one person I'd been dying to see all day.

"Quil!" I called loudly, as he smiled at me from a little to my left, waving off whoever he was talking to and walking towards me. He looked devilishly handsome, I admit, wearing a nice black shirt with some loose-fitting jeans. Classy but casual. Alice would definitely approve.

"Hey Claire-bear, happy birthday," he beamed, leaning down and hugging me tightly, before lifting me off my feet and twirling me around. I laughed, half-heartily slapping his shoulder and trying desperately to ignore the image of my sister in a very similar position to this, (well, a little less raunchy) with him a few days ago and yelled at him to put me down.

When he did, I swayed a little and looked up into his face. Suddenly, it felt like everyone had simply vanished and Quil and I were the only people left on the beach. Flashbacks of Wednesday night, him hovering above me, barely an inch from my lips, came flooding back to me and suddenly the urge to lean up and kiss him was over-whelming.

Snap out of it Claire! I scolded myself for what felt the billionth time in the last few months, this was really beginning to get ridiculous! Someone cleared their throat behind us and I was spat out of my reverie.

"Uh…hey Claire…" came a familiar voice I haven't heard in a while. Slowly, I turned on the spot and was met by Cody smiling down at me. I thought I heard a low growl coming from the vicinity of Quil and quickly snapped my head back to glance at him, but he looked innocent enough and shrugged at me.

"Oh…hey Cody, h-how are you?" I asked nervously, looking at a spot to his left, where I saw Suzie was beginning to slowly approach us. Ha! Yes! I knew exactly how to get myself out of this conversation!

"Oh I'm good, the guys have been really helpful with like helping me fit in and stuff so its good," humm…did he always sound this stupid? "oh and happy birthday!" he finished as an afterthought. I fought the urge to roll my eyes but saw that Suzie was almost here and I rushed forward, grabbed her arm and pulled her over to where Cody and Quil were standing.

"Oh Cody have you met my sister Susannah?" I asked, practically shoving Suzie towards him, anything to avoid this utter awkwardness.

I kept my gaze on Susannah who immediately brightened when she saw how good-looking Cody was and only noticed how quiet Cody was being when I heard Quil mutter softly, "oh…no…"

It was then that I looked up into Cody's face and saw a very familiar expression.

Oh shit. You have got to be kidding me!?!

"MY SISTER! MY OWN FUCKING SISTER!" I half-screamed at the startled looking Quil as I paced back and forth at an alarming speed in the parking lot adjacent to the beach.

"I MEAN THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF LAW AGAINST THAT! HOW IS IT FAIR, THAT A GUY CAN DATE ONE GIRL, TURN INTO A WEREWOLF AND NOT IMPRINT OR HER, BUT ON HER FRICKIN' SISTER?! AHH!" I was absolutely fuming with pure rage, screaming at the top of my lungs, (I wasn't even bothered to worry about if someone heard me - besides the music and waves practically drowned me out to every human) ignoring Quil as he tried to calm me down.

"Claire just-"

"-And you know what?" I hissed, whirling around and almost walking smack into Quil, who grabbed onto my shoulders and held me at arm's length. "What?" he asked softly, looking down into my eyes. I fought not to get lost in them, I was too damn pissed!

"Not only is Susannah getting at me by being a complete tramp and practically trying to rape you, but now…now she has stolen my ex-boyfriend! How classy is she?!" I finished, gritting my teeth so tightly that my jaw was really beginning to hurt as I tried desperately to not let the angry tears that were forming in my eyes, fall. But fall they did. One, solitary tear after another…

Quil, hearing the sadness laced in my tone and reading my face, pulled me into his arms, lifted me up and put me sitting on the hood of his truck. He stepped into the space between my legs and continued to hold me close to him, muttering reassurances into my ear. I immediately began to calm down.

"Shh Claire-bear, don't cry…its alright…so what if Cody's not for you huh? He's a dumbass anyway, he and Suzie are perfectly suited for each other, neither are smart enough realise how unbelievably amazing you are," he smirked, hearing my soft sob turning into a snort of laughter as I pressed my face into his shoulder.

As I continued to laugh, he stepped back from me a little, his arms wrapping around my waist and I couldn't help but notice how close he was standing to me, how gorgeous he looked in the moonlight or how good he always seems to make me feel…

"Quil I-" I cut off, not knowing exactly what I wanted to say to him. There were so many things running through my mind at that very moment. I wanted to tell him that he was the most important person in the world to me. I wanted to tell him that he was the only person I'd ever dream of giving my heart to and that I was just being a stupid teenager with Cody. I wanted to tell him that (even though I claimed never to believe in it) I fell in love with him, hard and there was no going back now…

But instead, as I sat on the hood of his car, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, my knees digging into his sides as I stared up into his beautiful hazel eyes I did the first thing that came to mind, not even stopping for one second to think of how incredibly, one hundred per cent, utterly stupid it was.

I kissed him.

Full on the lips. I mean, I just reached behind his neck, pulled him down so that his face was directly above mine, leaned up and brushed my lips against his.

As soon as our lips came in contact its as if the entire world just exploded. There was a complete igniting in my heart, where it felt like I was floating on air, I had never felt so amazingly giddy and soaring and wonderful as I did when I felt his lips began to work against mine.

He was kissing me back!

I felt his hands tighten on my waist and he leaned further down, our kiss growing more heated as I felt his tongue trace my lower lip. I gasped at the sensation it was stirring within me, still not quite believing what was happening, but opened my mouth a little and my god I nearly died right then and there.

Why the hell have I not spent the last three hundred and sixty five days kissing this guy? Am I a total idiot!?!

As our tongues danced I was beginning to feel light headed. I'm not quite sure if it was due to the intensity of the kiss itself or whether it was lack of oxygen but I knew if we didn't stop now I'd surely pass out.

So, reluctantly, I brought hands down from where they now were, entangled in his hair, and rested them on this chest, pressing against him. I knew I'd never have enough force to actually push him away, but thankfully he got the message.

Unfortunately, as soon as the kiss broke and our lips were no longer in contact, happened to be the very moment when I'd realised just exactly the seriousness of what just happened.

Oh holy mother of fuck! What the hell did I just do?!?!?!?!?!

Gasping heavily, I bravely looked up into the face of the person I'd fallen in love with and saw that his eyes were still closed. But that wasn't what bothered me, it was the little crease between his eyebrows, the frown that was beginning to form, the way his teeth were now clamped down on his bottom lip, (the same lip I had caressed moments before) that worried me terribly.

"Q-Quil," I croaked nervously, beginning to shake (and definitely not from the cold), "Quil…are you-" I was cut off abruptly as he held his palm up in the air to silence me, his eyes still closed. I frowned, he had never dismissed me like that, ever before. Oh crap, what the hell have I done!?!?!

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinked twice and brought his head back down so that he could look at me. For the first time in my entire life, I had no idea what he was thinking, I couldn't read the expression on his face if my life depended on it. This deeply scared me.

The silence was really beginning to get to me now, I was almost at my breaking point, my hands were visibly shaking , so I clamped them into fists and held them tightly at my sides. I would not let Quil see how badly this was affecting me, if he was going to be all 'Mr-Hide-My-Emotions' then I would too.

My eyes searched his desperately, trying to find some trace of anything that I recognised, but nothing worked, he was just unreadable. I was beginning to feel very frustrated at the impending silence that was engulfing us, so, me being me, I decided to break it.

"Are you just not going to-"

"-I have something to tell you," he interrupted me, speaking suddenly, turning away from me and beginning to pace back and forward.

Oh, no. Why did I suddenly just get a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach?

"Uh…shoot…" I mumbled, not knowing how exactly to answer him. We were in such dangerous waters here, I'd do anything to make it right again.

He laughed then, loudly, so loud in fact that I actually jumped, utterly startled.

"If only it were that easy," he murmured, seemingly reflecting on something. I frowned at him, he was acting weird…well, weirder than usual. I wasn't quite sure how to take to it.

He was still pacing back and forth as I remained silent, watching him intently. Whatever it was that he had to tell me, it was something that was eating up inside, I could definitely see that.

And there's that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach again. Wonderful.

"I-I just something…uh…I-I don't know where to…ah…Claire why did you kiss me?" he asked determinedly, his pacing halting abruptly, his eyes burning into mine.

I forgot how to breathe. He was staring at me in such a peculiar way and his question was so horribly terrifying I just sat there, gaping at him, my eyes widening by the second. How the hell do I answer something like that?!?!

He took a step closer to me then, slowly making his way back to where I still sat on the hood of his truck. I merely watched in amazement as he came as close to me as before, only this time he leaned forward a little and rested his two hands on either side of my thighs, effectively trapping me.

"Why did you kiss me?" he asked again, sounding a little more confident, a little more mischievous, and that unnerved the hell out of me.

"…Uh…I-I…I don't know…" I mumbled, not looking in his direction, already feeling the blood rush to my cheeks, burning with fresh embarrassment. Oh god, how could I have been so stupid!?! Quil is my best friend! Of course he's going to tease me over kissing him! He probably finds it extremely funny! DAMN!

"What-what do you want to tell me?" I asked, trying to sound more confident than I felt.

I saw Quil's face dramatically change, from almost emotionless to downright fearful.

"I-I wanted to tell you that you're-"

But what Quil wanted to tell me, was something that I wasn't going to find out, as suddenly I heard the horn of a car honk at me, from the entrance of the parking lot, effectively cutting him off.

We both whirled around at the noise and I saw immediately that it was Kara, late as usual. Sighing, I slowly turned my head back to Quil, to find that he had moved away from me again, and was now standing with his back turned to me, his hand rubbing his neck.

"I-I…Kara wants me to come with her to bring her car back to my house…I-I'll be back soon and we'll talk then…okay?" I asked quietly, hating the fact that I'd have to leave things like this between us, even only for a few minutes.

He half turned his body and nodded. I took that as a yes and turned to go, walking briskly away from him and closer to Kara's black Mini Cooper. I didn't know whether to smile at her or glare at her as her face came into view.

"Hey Kara," I decided to leave my face passive as I opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat.

"Hey Claire," she replied, a little stiffly. Humm…I wonder what's wrong with her? She's not the one who just had probably one of the most important conversations interrupted.

She began to reverse and I just had enough time to take one last glance at Quil before we drove away. He was turned around now, facing me, his hand held up slightly, in a half-wave, his face looking a mixture between sad, anxious and totally elated. Man that guy can confused the hell outta me!

I lifted my hand and half-waved at him too, offering him a small smile I knew he could see before Kara turned the car around and he was out of sight.

As we pulled out of the parking lot and drove steadily for a few minutes, I couldn't help but notice that Kara seemed a little quieter than usual, in fact she hadn't spoken one word. I frowned at her, noticing that she was gripping steering wheel extra tight, so that her knuckles were turning white.

"What's wrong Kara?" I asked worriedly, barely noticing where we were as it was so dark.

She barely had time to shoot me a panicked glance however, before I felt something draw across my neck and pulled me back into my seat as a low, hushed voice whispered into my ear, "not one scream now, or I'll slit your throat…"

I gasped as I felt the coldness of what surely was a knife of some sort, being held at my throat. I saw that Kara was silently crying now, shooting frantic looks at me before returning her eyes to the road. It seemed that we weren't going to my house after all…

"W-Who-" I stammered but the person in the backseat merely growled so I shut up. It seemed that they were now giving directions to a terrified Kara.

"Just up here on the right, red-head, remember, don't try anything or your little friend here will meet a sudden end…"

I desperately tried to think of tactics to get us out of this mess, but before I could think of something, Kara was pulling over. I felt the arm around my neck tighten to almost an unbearable hold.

"Now Red, we're going to take this nice and slow okay? What I want you to do is, park the car here, get out and come over to open my door and the passenger door. Remember, no funny stuff, or your friend will have me to answer to," the menacing tone continued to whisper.

I frowned, trying to make out the voice. I couldn't even figure out if it was a man or a woman, the whispering made it almost impossible and they were wearing gloves too so I couldn't see their hands. With one last look in my direction, Kara did as she was told, turned off the engine, opened her car door, stepped out - without bothering to close the door behind her, walked quickly around the side of the car, opened the back door and then mine. When she was finished, she stood, rooted to the spot, waiting for the attacker to speak again.

"Very good Red, now you stand there like a good girl, while I get out. I needn't remind you what I'll do if you move a muscle. Same goes to you, Claire."

My heart stopped as they said my name. Oh God, they know my name! I thought frantically before my brain caught up, of course they know your name, they heard Kara calling you Claire!

Suddenly, I felt the pressure around my neck vanish, but my relief was short lived as I now heard what sounded like a gun being cocked. I whipped around to find the attacker, dressed in all dark clothes, wearing a hockey mask, pointing a gun at Kara.

"Now…Claire, its your turn. Get out of the car, slowly, hands raised…"

Taking a deep breath, with shaking hands I unbuckled my seat belt and got slowly out of the car, holding my hands up on front of me. As soon as I was upright, the attacker lunged at me and grabbed my arms, pulling them behind my back.

They rested their arm on my shoulder, pointing the gun at Kara.

"Now, Red, what I want you to do, is get down on the ground and put your hands over your head and do not attempt to move until your friend and I are long gone, do you hear me?!" the attacker snarled, Kara whimpered and nodded her head.

Meanwhile I was panicking. This person was kidnapping me? Oh God…

"Do it, now!" they hissed, and Kara leapt down onto the ground, lying face down in the dirt, placing her hands on the back of her head.

I barely had time to blink before I was shoved towards a black jeep (I was too distracted to notice before) whose back doors were wide open.

"Get in the back and lie down on the floor!" they ordered me, roughly shoving me into the car. I did what I was told, not even daring to glance over their shoulder to see if Kara was okay.

As soon as my back hit the floor, I felt my legs being tied together. They told me to sit up then, and they put handcuffs on me and tied a blindfold around my head. Suddenly, I was plunged into darkness.

I heard the doors close and a muffled voice speaking, (probably the attacker telling Kara not to move) before I heard the driver's door open and someone slip inside and turn the engine on. I didn't have time to take a breath before the car swerved around wildly, and speed away at an alarming rate.

"Phew!" a voice called, speaking in a louder tone once we were driving for a full three minutes.

"That was a lot of hard work right?"

I froze. That voice. It was so familiar. I'd recognise it anywhere.

A high-pitched giggle pierced my ear-drums as I audibly gasped.

"…Courtney?…"

-Quil's POV -

Claire had been gone almost twenty minutes now and I was already getting anxious. I was back on the beach, sitting down on a log beside the bonfire, trying desperately to ignore the shrill giggles of Suzie as she and Cody chatted.

I couldn't block what had just happened out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. Claire kissed me. Claire kissed me. I kept saying it over and over in my head and it still sounded ridiculous, a stupid fantasy, and yet, Claire actually did kiss me!

Oh and how it felt amazing! It was beyond describable how wonderfully blissful it was, finally, FINALLY being able to kiss the lips of the girl who captured my heart all those years ago. It felt like nothing out of this world!

And yet, this wonderful, elated feeling was tainted now, by Claire's speedy departure. I was yearning, aching to have her back with me, so I could kiss her again and finally tell her what I was in the middle of telling her before her friend rudely interrupted.

I was in love with her. She was my imprint. My soul-mate, my other-half, my better half, my true love, my world, my universe, everything.

But now, now I had to wait until she came back. That is, if she ever comes back…

That's when a fearful thought struck me! What if she never wants to come back? What if she's at home, packing her bags, planning on moving to Australia because she can't bear the fact that kissed me? Oh man, I think I'm actually losing my mind.

Faintly, I can hear hurried footsteps, scrambling towards me from across the parking lot. Someone was definitely in a hurry, but I was too engrossed in my thoughts to pay much attention to them. That was, until I heard my name being called.

"QUIL! QUIL!" the voice screamed desperately, between gasped as the figure raced towards the beach. It seemed that the person had attracted the attention of most of the people at the party, not just me. I leapt forward, instantly worried and ran towards the person.

I could feel others follow. I pushed through mounds of people and saw that it was Kara, Claire's friend who was screaming my name. I frowned. What was she doing her? Where the hell was Claire?

"QUIL!" she screamed again, looking downright wild and stumbling towards me. I caught her and stopped her from falling. She was beginning to sob heavily now.

"Kara, Kara what is it? What's going on? Where's Claire?" I asked, the questions just tumbling from me as a familiar sense of worry began to form in my gut.

Kara's sobs only intensified as I asked that and she yelled something completely incoherent.

I looked around myself confusedly, noticing that the many people who were crowding around us hadn't the faintest idea what she said either.

"Uh…sorry…say that again?"

Kara pulled away from me then, and I saw that she was covered in dust, a little scratch on her cheek had a bit of blood oozing out of it. She really looked like a wreck.

She took a deep breath, looked around at the many concerned faces for a moment, before finally resting on me.

"It-it's Claire, Quil, she-she's been kidnapped."

A/N: DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!! Ha, told ya it was going to get a little darker! Well, there you go! Oh and after all that scariness, just a fun fact : I wasn't originally going to have Quil and Claire kiss, my fingers just sort of pushed the buttons on their own accord.

Now, please, please REVIEW. My fingers have lost all feeling at all the words I've written today (over 13,000!!) Please help my fingers feel again! (Eww…that sounded…weird) but you know what I mean!!

Thankies!!

~wired2damoon~ xx