Chapter 11:

Reviews are permitted from last chapter, as the site went down :(

Claire's POV:

They take her away in an ambulance, the lights flashing blue to show just how much of an emergency it was. Once she has gone, it doesn't take long for the police to show up.

"Claire, can you tell me what happened?" someone called Detective Lowe asks me gently, his hand on my shoulder in a comforting position. Oh, why can't Michael or Shane be here? Why can't Shane come back? He managed to be freed by Oliver – can't Oliver do something to make Amelie forget why she was angry, angry that Shane was the first human to ever escape the cage?

"I… I was upstairs," I am sure of it – otherwise, I would be shot like Eve. "To be honest, it's all a blur. I remember rushing down the stairs to find her like that and then I tried to help her before calling the ambulance, who took her away. Oh god, she is going to be ok, isn't she?" I ask, so worried for her. God, why did poor, perfect, wonderful Eve have to be shot? Couldn't… no, I don't even want Monica Morrell to have been shot. Couldn't just nothing have happened, or they tried to shoot Michael but he would be fine because he is now a vampire so can't die unless they're silver bullets, which I doubt.

"She should be fine, Claire… Eve is, has always been, a fighter – she won't let this get her down," Lowe says with a grim look on his face. "We'll catch the bastard that did this… hey, is that a gun?" he says suddenly, looking into the corner of the room. I follow his gaze and spot a gun that I've never seen before – could it be the attempted murderer's gun?

Lowe and his partner (I didn't quite catch his name, what with the circumstances) move towards the gun but don't touch it. However, they seem able to identify it from just standing a distance away.

"That's Jason Rosser's gun and it matches the size of the bullet that she was shot with," the partner whispers, trying to keep me from hearing. But I do anyway… Eve's brother shot her? Oh god, this can't be happening. Not only has Eve been shot, it was her brother that did it, I think.

"Claire, what's going on? Why are there police cars outside?" Michael's worried voice hits me and I turn around to see him standing behind me. Instinct takes over and I wrap my arms around him for comfort, tears escaping my eyes again. "Why is there blood everywhere?" he asks, more urgently, into my shoulder.

"Michael, it's Eve… I was upstairs and I heard a shot and I came downstairs and... And she was lying there. Michael, I did everything I could, I swear," I break down and only his comforting keeps me standing up.

"Come on, if the Detectives have finished with you, let's go to the hospital," he says quietly, looking over at the duo for confirmation.

"Yeah, we need you to leave anyway - thanks Claire, and Eve will be fine," Lowe says to me, smiling albeit wan and not entirely convincing.

Michael half drags me out of the house and into his car, which is as dark as the night. I curl my legs up and the silver bracelet of Oliver's digs into my skin, an unwelcome reminder. Maybe this is some twisted and sick way to get back at me for joining with Oliver. Oh god, I hope it isn't, but now the thought is in my mind, it won't leave. I can't believe that someone would do this to Eve, however, just to get back at me. It isn't fair and it most definitely isn't right. God, why can't everything go back to how it was before? With me and Shane, Eve and Michael, Oliver and control of Morganville – everything could just return to being near as dammit perfect.

Michael zooms towards the hospital, ignoring every single traffic restriction – I can't actually tell how fast we're going, since I can't see out of the windows to gauge the speed, but it must be fast. He's grim and determined to get to the hospital so that he can be with Eve – but he is a new vampire and she has been shot. Will they let him in, with all the blood?

Time will tell.

"Come on, Claire," he urges me and I realise with a jolt that we're at a standstill. So I pull myself up and clamber out of the car with the new car scent still, hoping desperately that Eve will be ok.

We're parked in the underground car park and Michael jabs the button for the lift to take us up to the reception so that we can find out where she is. I walk into the lift with him, silence wrought with tension, and we travel up to the ground level, the a&e department actually near as dammit empty.

"Hello, we're here about Eve Rosser, she was shot," I say tearfully, when it becomes apparent that Michael won't approach her – she'll be scared of him.

"Eve Rosser," the receptionist (who looks rather tired) repeats and types her name into the computer. Something pops up and she swallows hard before turning back to me. "Ms Rosser has been gravely injured. Her doctor, Dr Johnson, wishes to speak with you most urgently. He is in room 210, please head there right now."

I slump down slightly – whenever the doctor wants to see the relatives/close friends, it is never a good sign – and Michael comes and takes me through to the room. I look at his drawn face and see that he is in slight pain from the blood, but probably more for Eve. Surely he will be able to hear her now? Then again, maybe not; he is a new vampire – perhaps his senses are so much weaker than the others. After all, Amelie is only so powerful because she is over a thousand years old.

But why am I thinking about this now? I need to concentrate on Eve and see what is wrong with her, other than having been shot.

"You are here about Ms Rosser, I take it," the tall, semi good looking, doctor comments as we barge straight into the room without knocking. After all, why would we knock when we could have lost our Eve?

"No, we decided that we were bored so would take a prank trip down to the hospital and barge in to find out about someone we don't even known and pretend to be her concerned friends," Michael says sarcastically, his anger even more pronounced because of the fact that, hello, he is a vampire. "Of course we're here about Eve," he clarifies, when the doctor's cool gaze makes him feel slightly ashamed – good to know that there are the humans out there that can make the vampires feel ashamed.

"I quite accept your apology," Dr Johnson comments, even though none was actually issued. "In regards to Ms Rosser, she is in an extremely dangerous predicament. She was shot through her back, which caused possible paralysis, and narrowly missed her heart. She lost a lot of blood and bloodflow to her brain was ceased for a few moments. She is currently in a coma, but for how long we are not sure. I am sorry to tell you this, but there isn't a strong chance of her getting better in the foreseeable future," he finishes finally. My stunned brain takes a long time to register his words; even when I do, Michael is still trying to process it through his thoughts.

"Can we see her?" I ask through a rough voice and the doctor nods. He beckons for me to follow, and I drag Michael with his arm, and we head through a double door to see a pitiful sight. Eve is hooked up to about a million machines and she looks so weak, so vulnerable, in a hospital gown with no make up or smile on her face. She looks scared and not able to hold her own.

She looks almost dead.

My mobile suddenly beeps and the doctor looks at me admonishingly from his retreat from the room. Michael doesn't seem to notice, instead stroking Eve's hair back from her face, so I look at the caller id. It's Oliver. Yay, just what I wanted – the man who has me under his control, body and soul, forever is on the phone to talk to me when my best friend is lying in a bed and probably going to die. Just fricking brilliant.

I turn away from Eve and face the wall before answering the phone.

"Yes, Oliver?" I question in the nicest possible tone that I can possibly muster at this time.

"I heard about Eve, is she ok?" he surprises me by asking, seeming actually concerned for her.

"She is in a coma and could be paralysed… they don't know how long she will be out for," I whisper, barely able to actually confess this.

"I need to see you, Claire, but it can wait until sometime tomorrow, if that is easier," he says in the most pleasant voice I have ever heard him use. "I mean, if that is ok," he surprises me again by saying, actually sort of giving me a choice in going. not that there really is the choice – he is only making it seem as if it is more optional.

"Noon should be ok," I think it through, this meaning that I can spend the night asleep, the morning with Eve and then go to Oliver. Then I can go to the police station and find out if they have any more leads and links to Jason attempting to murder his big sister before returning to the wonderful hospital…

"Noon it shall be," Oliver easily agrees – this is too easy. Has he perhaps got an ulterior motive or something that I don't know? I cannot comment; I am too worried for Eve. "My condolences for Eve – pass on my get well wish to her, if you wouldn't mind," he says before hanging up the phone without even a goodbye.

I do the same and take a deep breath, wondering why the world seems so damned determined to destroy me…

Oliver's POV:

She did exactly as I asked her. She harmed her in a way that will keep Eve unconscious for rather a long time (if she woke up, she could identify Claire as her assailant and then my entire plan would have been ruined) but didn't kill her – after all, the piece de rèsistance is for the end, the finale… or even just before, in fact, if my current plan continues to play out as it is doing at the moment.

It took all my effort to appear concerned for Eve, when inside I was jumping with glee that this has happened as smoothly as I thought it would. I heard through the police grapevine of people I have that Jason has already been arrested, his prints being the only ones found on the gun, and he didn't have a solid alibi meaning that he was the only suspect. After all, who would really suspect little Claire of the attempted murder of her best friend?

I lean back in my chair and shut my eyes, knowing that I can relax a little, before Common Grounds opens for business.

Phase one of my plan has now been completed. It has begun the seed of doubt that must already be springing up in Amelie's mind – why someone would attempt to murder Eve in her home – and I expect a visit from her highness herself shortly. After all, she must be beginning to suspect me, no?

I smile to myself as I slumber, knowing that I have all the cards here. Amelie is powerless.

Whatcha think? I hope you enjoyed it!

Please review! I can just not update for a long time... It's gonna be good for my revision... so please, when you read, REVIEW!

Tell you what... I'll make the same deal I am for other stories... we're on 72 reviews, right? So if we get to 80 on this chapter - WE GOT 12 THE FIRST CHAPTER... IT IS POSSIBLE! - I will put all the reviewer's names into a draw and the winner will be informed next chapter - so non-account holders can enter - and you can then tell me what oneshot you want writing. Sound like a plan?

Vicky xx