Chapter 4 – Sam
The TPU building hadn't changed at all. Every poster that hung in the corridors contained the same information that I had read day after day for years when I went here. The only difference was outside. The grass seemed less looked after, not that it was being looked after much before. Unfortunately, living in Morganville pretty much guaranteed that you wouldn't see rain... ever. Well, unless you're unfortunate enough to be killed by a master draug when a never-ending storm appears and leaves the town in chaos. And it's funny, because even with the storms and the possible death of every human and vampire in Morganville, having Amelie disappear was much worse. Having no leader to tell you what to do is like a basket of newly born babies left stranded in the desert with nothing to help them survive. Even when that exact leader is transitioning into a master draug herself, at least you know there's still hope.
Looking at the small amount of faces in TPU, I could see the worry and concern, the need to hope. For these people, Amelie probably wasn't the thing they were worried about, but without her, who knows what vampires will decide to begin their ultimate Christmas feast.
"It's so quiet," I whispered. Not a sound disturbed the silence that surrounded the six travellers, the silence that swallowed them whole.
Shane whispered back, "I know." He was looking at the bookshelf beside him that contained an abnormally large spider web, fortunately there was no spider at the moment – because I was 99.9% sure that the spider would be massive.
"What are we looking for?" Michael whispered.
"And why are whispering?" Eve shouted. Well, she actually said it in a normal voice but after all of the silent whispers, the sound of a normal voice made me jump.
"Good point," Shane and I said together; which made Eve and Michael laugh.
"You two spend way too much time together," Eve chuckled.
"Children, we did not come here to discuss the matter of how much time Claire and Shane spend together," Oliver reminded. "We are concerned for Amelie and Amelie only." The man that had talked to me on the phone earlier was long gone. This was big bad Oliver, the one nobody could break.
"Right," I sighed, and continued to walk to the bookshelf that I had visited so many times in the past.
"Why do we always listen to him? Well, when I say me I mean you," Eve started, clearly annoyed. "I learned a long time ago to not listen to a single word that comes out his mouth."
"We're listening because he's right. We came here for Amelie, so let's find that journal – because if we stay longer than we need to, I'm pretty certain that we will be meeting with the enormous spider that wove the massive web over there." I pointed towards the spider web that hung off of the wall at the far corner of the room. "And that web and that web and that web..." There were a lot, and it felt strange that I hadn't noticed it sooner. Come to think of it, two minutes ago that web wasn't there, and neither was that one...
"It's probably watching us right this second, waiting for the perfect time jump out at us," Shane joked, but I wasn't laughing. I wasn't laughing because he was right, whether he knew that yet or not. Whatever was weaving those webs was in this room, watching us, tricking us. And it was big enough to create gigantic webs in seconds.
"Would it seem strange to you if we formed a circle? You know, tallest people spread out so that they could tell the smallish ones what they see, like, everywhere?" I knew that I sounded a little bit nervous, but with a bit of work I managed to speak with a voice that only wavered ever so slightly. Even though I wanted to warn them of – something – I couldn't find the words to say it.
"Claire, are you okay?" Myrnin had been standing in the background, observing everything from a short distance, but he seemed to notice that I was a little spooked.
And when he spoke that last word, I felt it. A giant blast of familiarity mixed with a spark of terror. And then, finally, a sigh of relief – well, relief wasn't exactly the word for what happened next.
"Bob?" Myrnin whispered. "Little Bob?"
"He's not all that little anymore, Crazy Clogs," Eve remarked. And for the first time that day, I let my attention stray to Myrnin's choice of outfit.
He wore a really clean shirt and tie, silk black trousers... and a pair of clogs. They weren't even black, they were a pinkish neon colour – where he'd gotten those from were beyond me. But the suit – that was stranger. It was like he was off to a wedding, or a funeral. What you were feeling at the time would probably determine how you described it. And where his face had before been mainly concerned with a slight edge of sadness, it was now a painted portrait of concerned, serious, amazed, curious, and surprised.
Looking at Myrnin now, he was probably the most colourful person that I had ever seen –figuratively, that is. He walked toward the spider with a smile that would brighten the darkest nights, and held his hand out to stroke the colossal spider.
And then I felt a shift in the air. Where before it had been familiar, now it felt alien; like something I hadn't ever encountered before.
"Myrnin, don't touch it!" I cried, and stumbled toward the dazed Myrnin in a hurry.
But he didn't seem to hear me. He wasn't with us anymore, the spider was his main priority and all he wished for was to stroke it like he once had – although it had been much more miniscule at the time. And when his skin came in contact with the hairs of the spider, a mask of pain took over Myrnin's face and he fell to the floor with a silent scream.
"Myrnin!" I bellowed as I ran for the fallen vampire, but a voice stopped me.
"You come faster than I would have expected, dear children; and with your vampire protectors – how smart."
I spun on my heels and tried to locate where the voice had come from, but truthfully, I had no idea. It sounded like a house cinema system, the echo coming at you from all directions, and I had no idea where to look.
"And may I ask what the name of the person speaking is? If you don't mind, of course," Oliver noted, twirling on the spot and looking at all of the possible locations that the person speaking could have been.
"If I told you that, this game would be a lot less fun, don't you think?"
"What we think, Mr. ButtHeadBasketF..."
"What Eve means to say," I interrupted, "Is that we don't really have time for games. You see, the Founder of Morganville is..."
"Gone?" The voice interjected. "Yes, I know. Well, considering I was the one who took her." There was a slight pause before Michael broke the silence.
"What did you say?" he demanded. "Who are you and what the hell do you want with Amelie?"
"Language child! And to answer your question, I am exactly who she said I am, 'an old friend.' Although, I don't know where she got that from."
"How do you know about Amelie's letter?" I enquired.
"Because it was me who wrote it," the voice replied.
"No," Oliver stated. "The handwriting on that letter was Amelie's; I saw it with my own eyes. There was no mistaking the fact that..." He trailed off into silence, and every face turned to look where he was looking – apart from Myrnin, who was still passed out on the floor. Well, that was what I hoped had happened to him.
"Amelie?" I asked along with the others. And now that I thought about it, the voice had been female, and listening really closely proved that it was Amelie's. But it wasn't hers, not really. But it really was at the same time.
"I am not Amelie, boys and girls. I am Sam, Amelie's former lover."
"Sam?" Michael breathed.
"Not that Sam, you fool! That Sam compares in no way to my good looks and brilliant taste in clothes – although you are clueless in that department as I am currently possessing Amelie's delicate little body."
"You get out of her body at once!" Oliver demanded.
"That will not be happening any time soon, I assure you. And your friend on the floor will be inhabited very shortly also."
"What are you talking about?" Shane demanded. "He patted a spider, for crying out loud – and not even a small one, what's that about? Anyway, how's it possible to go from Myrnin to... well, not Myrnin? I'm sorry, Sam, but I'm not buying it – any of it."
"Very well; I do not expect you to understand it all with such a small amount of information being given, but you must at least understand that what I am saying is no lie. I can see it when you look at me – and even though you see Amelie, you can tell that it is not her. I must say, I think that is rather sweet, but only a small amount of people will notice the difference, and those people will be dealt with appropriately." The confusion on everybody's faces would have been amusing to me, had it been about a silly physics equation that I was trying to help them understand how it was solved. But this wasn't some silly physics equation, this was real life.
But that was real life, to me anyway. It was an equation; an equation that always had a solution, you just had to discover how to solve it. And that was exactly what I was going to do.
"You will let us out of here at once!" Oliver started, "And you will get out ofAmelie's body right this instant!" He kept shouting out requests, commands, anything that would allow him to order the man inside of Amelie's body around.
And the others tried to stop him before he made Sam take 'drastic measures'. But trying to stop Oliver when he was so angry was an impossible job.
"Well, if you won't shut up, then I guess I shall have to make you."
I felt the darkness surround me like a ball smacking me in the face. Then nothing...