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Claire was released the next with strict orders to, "take it easy", as if that was possible in Morganville. Everything seemed, pretty normal, but there was an underlying layer of obvious tension that they all did their best to ignore. The truth was things weren't the same and they all knew it, no one wanted to confront it though. On the second day, Claire couldn't take it anymore. She throws off the blanket and hops off the couch while everyone else is in the kitchen making breakfast.
As she comes down stairs, freshly showered and dressed, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and heading towards the door, she is intercepted by Shane, making her jump in surprise. She had forgotten how fast he had become.
"Where are you going?" Shane asks, arms crossed and frowning. "You're supposed to be resting."
"Work," Claire replies. "I'm tired of resting."
"Claire…" Shane begins and she knows he's about to initiate a conversation she so doesn't want to have right now, or actually ever.
"Shane, just stop," Claire says cutting him off. "I know we need to talk but I don't want to do this right now, I can't do this right now." For a second, Shane looks completely crestfallen, and it breaks her heart, he quickly covers it up with a hard, blank, mask.
"Fine," He says in almost a monotone. "Be safe." And without another word, he turns away.
"Shane, wait." She says desperate to fix this, to make it alright. But he keeps walking. Claire can feel the tears welling in her eyes and she quickly wipes them away. Why did her life have to be so complicated?
She walks quickly to the alley by the Day house under the blazing hot Texas sun, trying hard to block out her problems with blaring music from her I-pod. Gramma Day is sitting in her rocking chair on the porch and Claire waves before heading down the dark alley that narrows as she goes till she reaches the rotten, decrepit wooden shack that leads to Myrnin's lair.
She unlocks the door and heads down the steps to see Myrnin feverishly working on something a table. He's wearing a typical Myrnin outfit; a bright red vest over a Hawaiian shirt, threadbare jeans and of course, his vampire bunny slippers.
"Claire," Myrnin says looking up sounding surprised. "I didn't expect you for days. You do know that you are excused from work considering your…ah, accident."
"I was bored, and Eve was driving me nuts hovering over me all the time asking if I needed anything." Claire says plopping her backpack by the stairs in an easy to reach position in case of an emergency.
"But Claire, are sure that you are well?" Myrnin persists. Claire frowns at him; it was unusual for him to remain focused on one thing for so long, especially when it came to someone else.
"Yeah Myrnin, I'm fine. What are you working on?" She asks, trying to get off the uncomfortable topic of her. Myrnin's face immediately lights up.
"Oh yes! It's quite fascinating, let me show you." He says bounding over to the cluttered table as Claire trails behind. Just as he's beginning to explain some complicated completely crazy theory on the relationship between a carrot and a centipede, Frank's two dimensional, black and white, tough biker picture appears, making Claire jumps surprise.
"What's happened to Shane?" Claire hears Frank's staticy voice say as it comes through her cells speaker.
"Frank," Myrnin says coldly. "Now is not the time for this, get out."
"Well I say now is the time for this leech," Frank says with a sneer. "And I want to know what's happened to my boy, now. Also, I wasn't talking to you; I was talking to the girl," He says facing Claire. "What the hell happened? What did you do?" There is so much hate and anger in his voice that Claire backs away, like he could actually hurt her, the saying if looks could kills comes to her mind because Frank looked completely murderous.
"You mean you don't know?" Claire asks in disbelief. "You haven't talked to him?"
"No, I haven't talked to him, I've tried but he just leaves every room with speakers. I have heard rumors all everyone is talking about is that Shane is a God dammed vampire. You better tell me that's not true Claire, or you're not going to like what happen."
"Are you threatening her," Myrnin asks, voice deathly quiet. "Because if you are, you're going to regret it." Claire didn't like where this was going, not at all, she had to intervene and fast.
"Myrnin, Frank stop, he has a right to know," She says when Myrnin begins to protest, then she turns to Frank. "It's true, Shane—Shane's a vampire. There was an attack on Common Grounds you probably know, along with on the police and Amelie. So, there was no one I could call but him and Michael, they came and some crazy vamp named Henry who said you killed his girlfriend, he—he turned him to get back at you Frank." Claire chokes out, barely able to say it without crying. Frank freezes, she sees it him that it's his fault and it's awful to watch, Claire turns away.
"Where is the bastard?" Frank growls. "I have a job to finish."
"With what hands Frank?" Myrnin asks coldly. "Have you forgotten who is the master here? I will not permit you to kill anyone…well for now. You leave this girl alone now before I decide to reprogram you."
"Fine," Frank hisses. "But this isn't over leech," He turns to face Claire. "And you better fix this. He can't lose you, it'll tear him apart. Maybe you and that Goth freak should just turn vamp too, finish the job this nightmare of a town has started." He finishes with a bitter leer before disappearing with a wave of static.
Claire stares after him, completely baffled. Frank wanted her to become a vampire? Where did that come from? He wanted her to do it for Shane? Because, honestly, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had told her to get a stake ready. He definitely wasn't father of the year by any means.
"He has a point you know," Myrnin says quietly. Claire whirls to face him, and she can't help her jaw from dropping in shock. Myrnin agreed with Frank? "It may be for the best if you became a vampire. Think of all you could learn all you could accomplish. I know I offered this to you before and you refused, but you weren't in your right mind then if I remember correctly, and now you have time to think on it."
"No Myrnin, just no, that's never going to happen." Claire says firmly, though she knows her voice shakes a bit.
"Really?" Myrnin says not taking his off of her. "Are you sure? Because eventually, you will grow old as will that Eva girl."
"Eve," Claire mutters out of habit. "Her name is Eve."
"Potato Potatoh, as I believe they still say," Myrnin says with a wave of his hand, dismissing her. "You will grow old and Shane will leave you, and you will die and he will forget you and move on. Is that what you really want Claire? Or would you like the opportunity to live, to learn forever?" His eyes are shining feverishly bright and intense. He was completely serious and it terrified Claire.
"I-I can't do that Myrnin," Claire says trembling and desperately trying to stop. "I couldn't be that. There's so much I still want to do, MIT… I want to leave Myrnin. I can't be stuck here forever."
"Do you think Amelie will ever let you leave with all that you know? With all that she can make you do for Morganville? She is considering letting vampires leave, for a designated amount of time. But only vampires and only the most trusted, humans are not trust worthy enough to be set free."
"So we're just a bunch of animals in a cage that you can do what you want with right? A farm where you get your food." Claire says bitterly. She had always known this, deep down, but to hear him actually say it.
"You are not hearing what I'm saying," Myrnin says with a frown. "If you were a vampire, you would be allowed to leave for an allotted amount of time, and then you would be escorted back. You could go to your MIT, maybe live in the world for many years. There is much now that can be explained with makeup, hair-die and that rubber surgery. You could all leave, Michael, Shane, Eve, and you Claire."
"It's plastic surgery and no Myrnin, I can't. First off, none of them would ever allow it, second I couldn't be a vampire Myrnin, I couldn't be a killer." But Claire couldn't lie to herself; the idea of learning forever was daunting and dazzling. She could learn so much; do so many things, things that could help people. But the consequences…she would lose herself, become a different person, no, a different species entirely and she didn't know if she could handle it. In the end, it was better to lose an eternity with Shane and countless opportunities than herself, no matter how much it hurt. Or at least that's what she tried to convince herself.
"Just think on it my dear," Myrnin says quietly as she grabs her backpack and starts to leave. "I'll always be here in case you do decide it's for the best, which I do hope you will see." Claire bounds up the steps, desperate to get away, to leave the thoughts swimming in her head behind with Myrnin and the endless future he offered.