Chapter 5:

Wow, here already!

And this is the third chapter set in pretty much the same couple of hours. Seems weird!

*Lindsey, thank you for your review! *is shocked* is it better than my trilogy (soon to be saga if I get more reviews - hint hint -) of Claire/Myrnin's? *is hurt* loool... it isn't as long... yet... lol. thanks again & I am glad you like it!

Claire's POV:

"Let me go and grab her – but she isn't going to be happy about being disturbed in the middle of her party, Richard," I say grimly, unable to believe it. Seriously, nine people missing in the same place in a week? That just doesn't happen… not even in Morganville.

I begin to walk towards the door to get out of the bathroom when he responds. "Unfortunately, Claire, I don't see that a party can be more important than the deaths of nine people in the same place in such a short time," he responds to my statement about Amelie and her social bee status without a qualm. "I have to say, I don't think that I have seen the residents of this town this up in arms since… Bishop," he barely says Bishop's name, it being a whisper compared to the rest of the sentence.

"Well he wanted to destroy everyone… but surely this isn't as bad as then?" I ask, my brow furrowing in confusion. I mean, come on. This may be bad… but at least we don't have some medieval vampire, thought to be dead, back and trying to control everyone. Oh, and managing to for six months whilst Amelie and her followers were in hiding.

He laughs, albeit extremely grimly and slightly sarcastically. "They don't see it like that, Claire, not out there. We know that Bishop was the worst thing to happen to this town but to them, all they knew was that there was someone more powerful than Amelie and that they were a vampire. Nothing changed for them besides the name of the ruler. No more humans died and the only reason they got worked up was because of the final night of Bishop's reign… but this. Here, they are losing loved ones and there is no reason for it: since Sam died, there was supposed to be more equality not the other way around."

I can see his point… truly, if I hadn't had to be so involved in the intricate plans of Bishop and Amelie, being a pawn for the latter for the entire time, I wouldn't have noticed pretty much any difference.

The only major difference was the death warrants. But even they could be resolved… but now, with Amelie back in power, it's supposed to be safer. However, with nine people dead in a week in the graveyard, that isn't good. That really isn't good.

"I'll go get her. Give me two minutes," I say hurriedly, opening the bathroom door. He doesn't respond, simply waits for me to go find Amelie to hand her my phone… not that I expect to be getting it back or anything. Her self control when it comes to breakable objects like phones seems to be a little on the low side…

As I walk out of the bathroom, it hits me how normal everyone is. Well, as normal as vampires can be. They're just sitting and chatting and having a normal time, like you would at a ball. None of them know anything strange is going on… even though one of these is probably the culprit behind the murders. Or a bunch of them in here, I don't know. But they are the murderers, not me… yet the way that the music (soft and classical, exactly Amelie's style) is still playing makes me almost think that I have dreamt this entire conversation up,

I return to my table and see Myrnin turn to look at me with a rather harried and embarrassed expression. Whether or not I want to know what has caused him to show these emotions so readily (not usually the case for Mr Myrnin) is a matter for another day.

Amelie doesn't react as I approach the table, not even when I walk around the wrong way as I head for her rather than my seat. She simply continues to talk to Oliver and blank my ever nearing existence, until I am merely half a metre behind her. Then she talks, "Claire, I believe you have misapprehended your seat. It is over that side of the table."

I clear my throat and hand my phone out to her, evidently confusing her because why would I be handing her my phone?

"Richard wants to talk to you – it's important," I say quietly, as so that the other vampires in the room don't hear. Still, Oliver and Myrnin instantly zone in on Amelie, who turns to look at me with an angered expression.

"This is a ball, Claire, there is no need to work: Richard knows it is a life or death situation only for him to contact me," she hisses, barely audible over the loud music. I'd have thought the vamps would have it all quiet; not like they have an issue with hearing it, is it?

"Amelie, let him at least explain; it could be life or death," I urge, leaving the phone by her hand. She sighs, her face adamantly annoyed with me, but she takes the phone from my hand.

"Yes?" she questions Richard in her harshest tone as I slide around the table and into my seat. As soon as I am seated, Myrnin grabs my arm and pulls me in closer to him… something about the closeness of this contact causes a shiver to run down my spine, making me instantly more aware of every single bit of skin that his hand is touching.

I breathe heavier as I process this through before his words disrupt my thoughts. "What's going on?"

Oliver snorts; breaking the tension I only just realise is present between me and Myrnin. It's as if we were in our own little world; the music had died down and the only thing I could think of was Myrnin and the way that his hand was on my arm. It worries me that I am thinking like that… it's sort of proving Shane's point but for one thing: I haven't acted on those emotions and I'm not going to.

"Listen," I point to the phone which is pressed against Amelie's ear, her expression not changing one bit as she listens to Richard informing her that there have been nine deaths in a week. She isn't saying anything but I know Myrnin and Oliver must be able to hear the other side of the conversation…

They both listen intently to Richard, letting a little shock into their expression as he evidently relays the information: what he is saying, I don't know, but it cannot be good.

"I shall deal with it tomorrow, goodbye Richard," Amelie says coolly before hanging up the phone. She then hands it across the table to me, her eyes glazing over slightly with anger and authority – probably showing to me that she is in charge and will decide when things are done. If she wants her ball, so be it. Just if the town goes poof in that time, don't blame me.

"Amelie, I'm sure you ought to do something tonight," I say in an extremely low tone, so nobody can hear. But she ignores me, simply standing up and rolling her eyes before motioning to someone, which makes the room fall instantly silent…

Myrnin nudges my arm as she begins to speak about how wonderful it is that they are all here and that they are going to have a brilliant time dancing throughout the night. I turn to him, wondering what he wants, when he suddenly averts his handsome face from my eyes and focuses on writing a hurried note on the cloth napkin with the fountain pen he insists on carrying around. It's broken so many times he has had to buy about five million replacements (each one, amazingly, worse than the last) but he doesn't 'believe' in using a biro, therefore he won't.

Claire, how much do you know?

I frown at him as he hands me the cloth and the pen, wondering what he means. It can only be to do with the entire nine murders, as what else is there to know about? It's not as if I know that he is planning on… erm, blowing up the town with a bomb.

I know that there have been 9 deaths in the graveyard in a week & that the humans are getting pissed. Apparently we're not far off of an uprising. Is there more?

I push this back to him and this time he frowns before hastily replying as Amelie is still talking.

Yes, there is more. When she has finally finished talking, I will take you in the back and explain. It is vitally important… I can't believe… actually, this is Amelie

He descends into his usual ramblings, but something about his words shows he is worried for her, but also for something else. I can't describe it… but if Myrnin is worried, then we all ought to be running away. After all, he is always so upbeat and insanely happy, however now he… he seems as if he has done something and he is regretting it.

I'm about to push this on, when I realise he has focused in on Amelie, so I do the same…

"…now, this is the time for the annual ball to reach the dancing stage, so if you would all like to take your partners to the dancefloor in the other room, we can begin," she calls, a proud smile on her face. It's as if she can only be happy when she is in the public eye and so utterly regal. But she has worried me; I thought she was more human now, since Sam died, that his death had invoked the inner human. However, the way she has just brushed aside the deaths of nine of her residents 'for another day' suggests that, no matter what she said, her people come first.

There is a flurry of movement and people begin to move around, heading towards the ballroom. Amelie throws me a look of contempt, probably for attempting to get some focus on humans, before taking Oliver's arm and walking through with him. the way that they are walking makes me want to gag; it's as if I'm seeing the few moments I saw Sam and Amelie together but with less love there, as if the love has only came about because of the experiences shared in the past.

"Are we going?" I ask Myrnin, who is still seated in the chair and shows no signs of planning to move. My words seem to jolt him out of a reverie and he looks up at me, his expression worried once again. The way he continues to be concerned for these events suggests that there really is something to be worried about, that Amelie is being stupid in not doing anything whatsoever.

He moves suddenly, his hand shooting out to grab my arm. It's similar to when he touched me earlier, every nerve aware that his hand is on me. It's strange though, because I never get that with Shane… however, unlike earlier, his grip is almost too tight and I get the impression that he is trying to regulate his strength. Yet the worry is causing him to lapse back to the way he was before, when he was ill, and he isn't being careful enough. I wince and he realises that his grip is too tight, releasing me to almost free but still being in control.

"Come with me," he says, slipping out with me out of the tabled area and in the opposite direction of all the perfectly dressed vampires. The way that I'm dressed in this absolutely perfect dress, but running away, sends the strangest feeling of elopement through me – strange, right?

We rush into the far corner where there is a small room, the door of which Myrnin holds open for me so I walk through. He closes the door behind himself and for a second we are in the pitch black, something which scares me because, well, being in the dark with a vampire isn't the best idea! Even a vampire I sort of trust, like Myrnin, isn't the best idea, since they can see everything that is around whilst I'm just entirely in the dark. Literally, I'm a standing duck if anything went on.

With a sudden snap, Myrnin reaches out and turns the light on, to reveal a small room, grand but almost forgotten about. It's small but cosy… and there aren't any monsters in here. That's always a bonus.

"You, of course, know that there are nine humans dead and there is a possibility of a revolution?" Myrnin gets straight down to business, not bothering with his usual tirade of unnecessary ramblings.

"Yes," I respond quietly, looking straight into his face. I want to make sure that he isn't going to fob me off or tell me untruths… but why would he have brought me in here if he wasn't going to tell me something else? I mean, it was easy enough for him not to have even told me and I would have thought that there was absolutely nothing else than what I already know.

He sits down in the chair and looks away from my face, but I know that there is no point in him lying. So he's going to tell me the truth…

"Claire, the bodies are all appearing in the same place in the graveyard – there is not one body that has been discovered in a place more than 10m from the first body," he says gravely – what does this mean? Surely that means that it will be easier to find the culprit.

"So that means that we will be able to find them quicker?" I ask Myrnin this, ignoring the perfection of him as I focus on those dead humans. I can't do anything right now that could do anything to disrupt my attempts to get justice for them.

He doesn't respond to this, simply stares into the corner, seeming hallowed by the knowledge he has. "That doesn't help us whatsoever, or at least Amelie," he finally says, his voice low. Then he turns around to face me once again, his face matching his voice. "Claire, as well as the humans going missing, there is something else. Sam's grave is open and the coffin in pieces," he finally gets to what he was going to tell me…

Oh.

My.

God.

Sam has been stolen; someone has stolen the body of a dead man!

"What?" I gasp, staggering backwards in shock. Someone has stolen Sam, the dead saviour of this town. He died for us all; he isn't there anymore…

"It doesn't look as if any foul play is involved," Myrnin adds, which confuses me as I can't comprehend anything.

"Myrnin, the damned body is gone: I doubt a dead man is able to do that," I snap at him as soon as I can move my lips again. The rest of my body, however, is a lost cause.

He turns away from me and whispers, "I knew I shouldn't have done it for him," which confuses me. I don't see the point in what he said, but I get the idea that I wasn't supposed to hear it.

"What does this mean then?" I ask him quietly, not able to get what is going on. "Wait… Amelie knows this. Why isn't she doing anything to try and get him back? I mean… has Oliver managed to replace Sam that much in her mind?" I continue, my shoulders sagging slightly. She has truly abandoned the one who loved her so dearly, if this is the case.

Myrnin shrugs but takes my arm, causing the tingling to return in my arm. I deliberately avert my eyes from his so that I don't end up doing something I know I will regret: after all, I have a boyfriend. That's a pretty big thing, to be honest.

"Let's go to the dance or she'll have a search party out for us," he suggests, but this only causes me to glower.

"Yeah, she'd waste the people she should be using to find out who killed all those people and stole Sam on locating us," I agree grimly, stalking out of the room without waiting for Myrnin. However, his grip on my arm means that I can't get more than about a metre away from him before he is caught up with me – vampire speed.

"Relax, little one," he instructs me gently, managing to wipe the fear and worry from his face for the first time since he heard the phone call earlier. It's as if the entire saga never happened: he's back to how he was when we were waiting to be announced to the vampires. It's a strange thing, but it helps me to relax. After all, I need to appear as normal as possible before I verbally attack Amelie – as quickly as possible, I think, otherwise I'll loose my nerve.

We walk slowly, well slowly for Myrnin, towards the room where I can hear a band playing soft sounding music. As we approach the door, I can see the movement of bodies; every single person in the room is dancing and appearing to be having a good time. I have to say, I have never seen some of these vampires having such a good time before… strange, isn't it? That they can all be having a good time, that Amelie can be having a good time, yet humans are dying. They can be having a good time when there is a chance that the humans are going to be launching a revolt on them as soon as tomorrow morning.

"Relax, my Claire," Myrnin instructs me, the words seeming almost too intimate. The word 'my' suggests as if he is trying to make me his, something which is entirely impossible because I am already dating the love of my life. It isn't because he is a vampire, not particularly, but Shane is the one who I love.

We move into the ballroom and onto the edge of the dancefloor. Here, he takes my arm and places it on his waist, putting the other one on his shoulder, whilst one of his wraps around my waist and the other around my upper torso. It's so romantic but it's how you dance, especially when his face peers down into my own. All I can see is his face, see his almost black orbs for eyes boring into my own. His, as usual, are unreadable as he begins to dance, pulling me along with him. What a surprise; he knows how to dance perfectly in time with the music, sweeping me around the room in huge movements that end up taking centre stage.

Of course, Myrnin wouldn't be able to keep out of the spotlight.

People begin to notice us as we dance, the momentum increasing as my breathing does. I am entirely locked in his face, observing every square inch of the perfection that is his skin, looking at the way that his features are in perfect proportion to each other. His hair is bouncy and utterly loveable and every thought of anything but him drifts out of my mind as I contemplate how perfect this dance is.

I can just about hear the music changing and I can tell from something in his face, that he is preparing for a big finale. Everyone now has stopped to watch us, including Amelie and Oliver, and as the music reaches the peak before the end, he throws me high into the air. It feels fantastic to be free of everything, to be higher than anything else in the room. Even as I fall back to earth, I don't feel worried because I know Myrnin will catch me without fail.

Finally, I land in his arms, him clutching me to his chest carefully. I look up and lock into his eyes which, for a few seconds, I can read. I see everything that a part of me wants to see: love, adoration, intensity… everything I know I must be showing him. An abstract part of me can hear the vampires clapping but I can't see anything but Myrnin, be able to do anything but stare into his face.

After what feels like an eternity and a second at the same time, he sets me down on the floor and bows to me, kissing my hand in a gentlemanly fashion. I blush and smile back – at least, I think I smile back since I have no control over my facial expressions – as the music starts up and people begin to dance again.

I look over the other side of the room and see Michael staring intently in my direction. His expression… it's as if he thinks he has seen something which confirms a prior knowledge that he had, something which afflicts nothing on his emotions but just to know something, if that makes sense. He doesn't register my looking at him, simply turning away to whisper something to Eve. For the first time, I wish I had vampire hearing to be able to find out what he is saying… but I don't want to be a vampire and I'm not going to be something that Shane hates. I am not.

"Drink?" Myrnin suggests with a smile, motioning to the small table which is probably just for me... after all, the other humans here aren't exactly ones that register on Amelie's radar. I nod, amazed that Amelie hasn't ordered it to be removed since I angered her so about the entire speaking to Richard on the phone thing.

I take a long, slow gulp of water from the bottle and regulate my breathing as much as possible whilst looking around the room. Embarrassment floods me as I realise just what I did with Myrnin – the entire pose – with the entire population of vampires watching! I studiously ignore him as I look at various couples dancing before focusing in on Amelie.

Her tangerine coloured dress fans out around her as she dances with Oliver, entirely unconcerned as to Sam and everything else that is going on. Yet the dance ends quickly and I see her looking around for someone, as if she doesn't want to spend anymore time with Oliver.

However, then she turns back to him and smiles, a smile which rips me to my inner core. She is supposed to be loyal to the damned man who died for her. Generally, people stay loyal to the ones who do something so generous, after spending every day of their vampire life loving her. But no, she 'loves Oliver' now. Of course she does.

"Myrnin," she greets him coolly and I start to realise she is standing in front of us without Oliver. I was focusing so much on how much she has betrayed Sam that I never realised that she had moved positions.

"Amelie," Myrnin replies in the same tone of voice, sharing a look with her that I doubt I want to be able to read. Conversely, I can't see it anyway so that isn't an issue… but… surely, since she is alone, I can drag her away now and yell at her about Sam?

Her attention turns to me as soon as I realise this, her expression frosty and cold to me. My bracelet tingles as her anger spreads through her into me through the connection we have because she owns me. If she wanted to, she could order me to jump off a bridge and I would have to do so, or die.

"Claire," she says my name in a voice that could probably make ice seem as if it was boiling… which isn't good.

"Can I have a word with you?" I ask her in a polite voice, inclining my head towards the small room I know is in the corner of this room. Myrnin, of course, looks horrified and I get the idea that he isn't supposed to have told me. Obviously: vampire business is vampire business; I may have saved them all a bunch of times but that still doesn't make me an equal.

It simply makes me a very stupid human.

"I think that that would be a bad idea," Myrnin hisses, turning to me, trying to make me not go with her through the power of his eyes. Yet it doesn't work: I think I deserve the chance to push her about why she is doing this to Sam, to give Sam's argument even though he isn't here.

She shakes her head and smiles, albeit it controlled and entirely without emotion. "The child wishes to speak to me, therefore she shall," by calling me 'the child', I get the idea that she is more than a bit pissed with me. Ahhh well, I'm more than a bit pissed at her so we're equal.

But something tells me that her pissed is more important than mine. Figures.

She strides away towards the room I pointed out without a word and I am about to follow her when Myrnin, once again, grabs my arm. "Don't tell her anything about what I told you, Claire, otherwise…" he trails off as I shake my head.

"I have to, Myrnin. See you later."

With that, I follow Amelie towards the room and scuttle inside, shutting the door behind me. It is slightly bigger than the other room and better furnished but she doesn't turn a light on, simply uses a candle to light her face. It casts the majority of herself into shadow and I swallow loudly.

"Speak, Claire," she orders me harshly as I am silent for almost three minutes.

"Sam's body has been nabbed and you don't care!" I explode at her, my voice like knives cutting through the air as I verbally attack her. She flinches back involuntarily at the venom in my voice and I use this power drive to continue. "Not to mention the fact that there are nine of my people dead! You promised when Sam died that we would be more equal but we're not. You don't give a toss about a human in this town, do you?" I continue.

She stands still and silent for a moment before speaking so deathly quietly that I regret every single word when she says one. "Is that it?"

I want to agree here and say yes, but there is one more thing I have to say.

"No."

Her eyebrows raise but she motions for me to continue, probably going to kill me when I'm finished. Still, if these are my final words, I don't think I'll care.

"You may have loved Sam but now, I think you love Oliver more. And that's disgusting: you let him die for you and now you've all but forgotten him, not even bothering to get his body back?" I say my final piece, shrinking back from the growing anger in her eyes. The emotion breaks through her mask, scaring me more than I would care to admit.

"You are one very silly girl," she snarls at me, her fangs falling down effortlessly and only reinforcing how inhuman she is. "You think that I don't care for Sam? You think I don't love him, don't miss him every second of the day? You dare to insinuate that Oliver has more of a place in my heart… oh, I would really not want to be in your shoes now," she continues, growling from deep in her throat.

I step back from the anger in her voice, stumbling over my shoes as I lean against the door.

"I'm sorry," I whisper but she doesn't seem to hear me, her expression entirely feral.

She throws the candle across the room but it doesn't catch fire, simply makes the room descend into darkness. I can no longer see her expression, for which I am grateful, but the flash of her fangs scares me even more. She reaches out and grabs my arm, squeezing it with more force than even Myrnin did earlier, causing me to wince and gasp in pain but she doesn't seem to notice. Or if she does, she deliberately keeps her grip tight to cause me pain.

"I have already sent my people to the graveyard, Claire; do you really think I don't care for humans, not to mention Sam?" she says, her voice so much softer. That is until it hardens when she continues, "However, my love life is absolutely none of your business. I don't care whether or not you thought you were vilifying Sam, never interfere with my love life again," she hisses the last part at me and I shudder, wishing I had never said anything. I can see that she does still love Sam but she also loves Oliver… complicated.

"I'm sorry," I repeat and this time she seems to hear me.

"For this, you and Myrnin can take charge of finding out what is going on," she snaps at me, pushing me away from her gently. By gently, I mean gently for a vampire. I still fall into the wall on the other side of the room, the impact causing a painful shock through my already tender arm. "I can tell that he knows something more in this situation and he shouldn't have a single idea… therefore, you two are in charge of finding my Sam. If you don't… then I will not be responsible for my actions," she continues, her tone entirely threatening.

Oh shit.

So, whatcha think? Ideas about what's coming up?

Please review! 10 reviews and I will update… nothing less. BUT, if I get the 10 reviews, I'll put the names in a hat and the winner can choose a oneshot: running this again on all stories, I think.

Vicky xx