**Claire**

Claire wakes up as Shane carries her up the stairs to the house. She must mumble or something because Shane looks down at her and smiles. "Hey sleep head."

"Hey." Claire whispers back relaxing into his arms again. She was way too tired to give up the free transportation. A minute or two later, she is gently deposited onto her bed and Shane turns to leave.

"No," Claire says managing to sit up. "Please stay."

"I thought you were too tired." Shane says with a grin.

"I am tired," Claire agrees. "And we're going to bed."

"Oh you're no fun." Shane says but he comes to sit on the edge of the bed, kicking his shoes off and Claire does the same before they both lie down, Claire's back against Shane, his hand draped over her waist. She turns to give him a kiss goodnight and somehow, she keeps kissing and kissing him although she really had intended to go to bed. They kiss long, and slow, and sweet and when Shane's mouth lingers on her neck, she puts her hand onto his head and guides his mouth down again. She knew by now that he knew when to stop.

The initial sting always hurt but after that, she was in a dreamy state, completely happy knowing that she was making him happy. And just when she became light headed, he'd pull away, but this time, something goes wrong. Horribly wrong. Because when Claire starts to feel light headed and floaty, Shane doesn't pull away. She struggles to remember if he had fed today and she can't remember him ever doing it.

"Shane," Claire says as loud as she can, trying to push him away. "Shane stop, you're taking too much. You're going to hurt me," Shane growls in response and pulls away a moment, to Claire's relief, but all she sees are his blood red eyes filled with an infinite hunger, there is no recognition, no love, no Shane in those eyes. He snarls again, his teeth and mouth stained scarlet with her blood. "Please Shane; you don't want to do this! This isn't you!" Claire says desperately her fear building.

"Mine," Shane growls and pulls her tight into the steel cage of his embrace. "Mine. My prey."

"No Shane, please." Claire begs, tears spilling over although she knows how dangerous it is to show weakness to a vampire.

"Hungry. Thirsty. Burning." Shane says as if in pain.

"I can get you blood in the kitchen Shane," Claire says, desperate to reason with him. She'd never seen him like this and it completely terrified her.

"No. Warm. Fresh. Mine. Shhh." Shane says before sinking his fangs back into her neck. Claire cries out weakly and tries to struggle but even without his vampire strength, he'd already taken too much for her to really put up a fight. How could he do this what happened? Why when things were finally good? Claire thinks as she feels the pain in both her neck, and her heart.

"Shane, please." She whispers again, before she grows too weak and succumbs to the overwhelming darkness.

I didn't recognize the warm delicious thing in my arms, although I vaguely realized that she kept saying my name and that bothered me, something was trying to surface, something important…but I push it away. All that mattered was that the burning in my throat stopped, that my hunger stopped. And I don't know why, but I tell her this, almost hoping that she would understand.

What are you doing? A distant voice roars in the back of my mind. That's Claire you idiot! You're killing her!

Prey. Mine. Hungry. Thirsty. I answer it, willing it away.

So what, no you're reduced to one word sentences like a caveman? Come on man, we're stupid, but not this stupid! That's Claire and she's going to die! It'll be all your fault. I'll die with her. You've got to stop this! That didn't make sense, the voice was not me, I was me, why wouldn't it go away? It made my head hurt to think about it, so I didn't, I just drank and drank that marvelous burning hot liquid that soothed my aching throat.

You f-ing idiot! Stop! STOP! STOP!The voice roars and I snap out of it. He scrambles away from Claire's limp body gasping. Oh God, What had I done? Was she—was she even breathing?

I stumble towards the bed and tentatively put a trembling hand on her wrist to take her pulse. A first I don't feel it, and if I had a heart that was currently beating, it would have stopped, but then I hear it, incredibly faint the drum beat reduced to a barely playing da- dum-da-dum. I had to get her help, fast. I lean down to pick her up and I see the two, ragged holes in her neck that sluggishly leak blood and I freeze in horror. Oh God, he'd done that. Oh God, oh God, what was happening to me?

I had to leave, right now, I couldn't stay now, no I had to leave. I was dangerous, I was a monster, there was no more denying it. I could never be with Claire. But I couldn't think about that right now, Claire…Claire needed me one last time.

"911 what's your emergency?" Her voice is business like, while trying to be comforting.

"It's Claire—Claire Danvers, she's at the house. Hurry."

"Sir, I need to know what happened," She says voice clipped now with an underlying layer of fear and tension. "Do you need an ambulance?"

"Vampire attack, she's nearly gone. God dammit hurry!" I shout the last part and throw down the phone, it smashes into pieces.

I give Claire one last look, knowing that this is the last time I can see her. Help was coming; they'd get here much faster than Eve's monster of a car. I go and give Claire a light kiss on her lips, that are white and rapidly becoming blue. But I still hear the faint drum. Claire was a fighter, she'd make it, and if she didn't, I'd shove the stake in my heart before Eve or Michael could.

I go to my room and take a duffel bag from my closet and I begin shoving clothes in along with weapons. I see the few pictures that I have sitting on my dresser and hesitate before grabbing a small one of all of us on the porch of the house. Claire's arms are wrapped around me from behind with her head peaking over my shoulder laughing while Eve sits next to Michael with his arm slung around her, we all look so happy.

I go to the front door as I hear the wail of sirens from down the street. I shove my feet into my boots and sling on my coat ignoring Eve and Michael's questions.

I walk out into the black night, and zip away vamp speed just as the ambulance screeches to a halt in front of the house. My feet pound on the sidewalk, thud, thud, thud, as I race away from my problems.

Then I realize something, if I wanted to I could just shove back all of my fears, worries, pain and regrets and replace them with hate, anger, revenge. It would be so good not to have to feel all of that, such a relief to be free from my past, to start anew.

So I do it, I force back all of my worries, fears, responsibilities, regrets, but along with them go all of the good feelings, the love I feel for Claire, the happy memories from when I was a kid and at the house. I desperately try to hold on to those feelings, those memories, they're the only thing that keeps me going, but they slide through my fingers like water. I distantly hear the voice from before, yelling at me, calling me an idiot, telling me to stop.

But this time, I don't listen; I let in my anger at the town that was slowly consuming everything good that came into my life, at my dad, at Monica, at that God damned vampire Henry who turned me. The happy thoughts seem light years away. It is so much better; I think to embrace the darkness. I grin into the night, showing my fangs, this was a new Shane, a better Shane, a Shane who didn't have things like love or friends and family getting in his way. No, I could do what I want, be who I want without any regrets or consequences. It felt good. I felt strong. Powerful. Able to face anything. I liked it.