I stumbled through the portal brushing ash off me. My boss was getting crazier everyday. I pulled my hair from its ponytail on my head, laughing to myself as I made my way to the kitchen. Eve and Michael were sitting at the dinner table, Eve eating chilli and Michael drinking… something from an opaque cup.

Eve looked up and smiled. 'Hey Claire, how was your day?'

'Pretty crazy… Myrnin decided to burn the paper he didn't want and nearly set Bob on fire. When I left he was sat in the corner cradling him and crying.' I replied while smiling at the memory. 'Hey is Shane home yet?'

'No… I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. What time did he get home last night?' Eve asked me.

'I don't know, I must have been asleep.' I said while avoiding eye contact. Neither of them knew that he didn't come home last night and by the looks of things he wouldn't be home tonight either. I attempted to smile at Eve and excused myself to shower.

Shane had been acting really erratic lately and I had no idea why. Every time I confronted him about it he got angry and said it was nothing and I should stop being so sensitive. To be honest, I was scared. I had never seen him like this before. Sure, I had seen Shane angry, but nowadays it seems like he is angry all the time.

A week ago I came home and Michael asked me how work was. I told him about mine and Myrnin's escapades and Shane went off on one, accusing me of only ever talking about him and how I was oblivious to my boss' feelings towards me. He stormed out of the kitchen and out the front door. I didn't see him again until the next morning when we met in the hallway when I was on her way out of the bathroom. He didn't so much as look at me. Eve said it was just a phase and all guys did this. But you didn't see Michael getting aggressive for no reason.

I pulled my phone out of her pocket and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I had dark circles under her eyes. I had been loosing sleep, worrying about Shane, worrying about college, everything. When MIT had called the first thing I wanted to do was tell Shane, but when he got home he just ate dinner and went straight to his room. It wasn't until I heard him sneak out of the house after midnight that I knew something was seriously wrong.

This had become a regular occurrence for Shane. If he wasn't sneaking out at night he was sneaking in. The few times he had woken me up I could tell he wasn't himself. He was either so angry that she could feel the rage rolling off him in waves or was so drunk he didn't even notice she had opened her door to look at him. Now he wasn't even coming home.

Maybe I could get Michael to talk some sense into him. No. That wouldn't work. He would end up hitting Michael and becoming defensive. I knew deep down that he still hadn't accepted Michael as a vampire.

I dialled Shane's number. It rang three times before I heard his pre-recorded voice. Perfect. So now he was hanging up on me.

'I give up' I said out loud. 'I don't know how much longer I can do this.

I turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up before stepping under and letting the heat uncoil my ever-tense muscles.

My eyes shot open when I heard a bang. Someone was in the house. I looked over at my clock. 3:30 am. I listened again. They were in the kitchen. I could here the footsteps. The cupboards were opening and closing. Shit. Something wasn't right… I could feel it. I grabbed a hoodie from the end of my bed and my phone from my nightstand. I dialled 911 but didn't press the call button. Surely Michael would have heard the noises. I got out of bed trying to stay as quiet as possible. I could hear voices coming from downstairs. Maybe Michael was already down there.

I opened my door a crack and peered down the hallway, clutching my phone in my hand. I looked around for something I could use in self-defence. Shit. Why did I get rid of that baseball bat? I slipped out into the hallway and looked towards Michaels door. Should I wake him? I walked along the hallway towards the stairs. The voices got louder but it wasn't what I thought. They were coming from the television. I walked down the stairs only to see Shane lounging on the couch, a beer in his hand.

'Shane?' I whispered. He turned his head towards me and his eyes found mine for a few seconds before they turned back to the TV. I walked around to the front of the sofa ready to confront him. When I got there I was shocked at what I saw. I couldn't see before because the lights were out, but now in the light of the TV I could see the state of Shane's face. And it wasn't good. There was a dark bruise forming along his cheekbone and a long gash above his eyebrow, dried blood surrounding it. His eyes were so bloodshot they looked naturally red. He had been fighting and drinking. Not a good combination.

'You scared the shit out of me.' I said, in shock from the state of his appearance. He lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a slow sip.

'I was out' he said, eyes never leaving the television.

'Till 3:30 in the morning?' I challenged. His eyes came to me, looked me up and down before returning to the TV. 'You're drunk aren't you? For Gods sake Shane! And getting into a fight? Smart move.' I said sarcastically.

Something flared in his eyes and his head snapped towards me.

'That's none of your business, Claire' he said through gritted teeth, managing to keep eye contact with me for more than a few seconds.

'You can just disappear for days and not answer my phone calls. You cant just turn up in the middle of the night with bruises and cuts on your face Shane. That's not cool with me. You know better than most of us that it is not safe out there at night.' I was raising my voice now, getting angry at his bluntness and ignorance of the situation. He just continued to stare at me. 'Whatever. I am going back to bed. I will see you tomorrow I guess.'

His eyes just stared at the figure on the television screen. I was halfway up the stairs when he spoke.

'You don't control me. No one does.' I looked back at him but he hadn't moved. I made my way back up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me. Sleep didn't come easily after our conversation. I was too busy being angry with Shane. Tomorrow I would talk to him properly when he had sobered up. Things were going to change. And I didn't care if I hurt myself doing it.