Brandon growled harshly, grabbing a fistful of Claire's hair, "Foolish girl! You shouldn't have done that."

Just then, Claire heard the loud footsteps of her friends barreling up the stairs. Before she could even react to Shane's shouting and banging on her door, she was hit with a flashback.

She was stepping out of her class and into the sun, enjoying the feeling of it on her face, but suddenly, got a very bad feeling. She stopped and looked around hesitantly; she'd learned that it was best to trust your gut in this town. Claire didn't like the intense uneasy feeling she had in her stomach and decided it was best to probably get home. She had already taken her exam and there was nothing important going on in the rest of her classes, not like she didn't already know what they were teaching, anyway. When she decided that home was her best bet, the feeling that had formed in the pit of her stomach had loosened and she sighed in relief, looking forward to being safe in Shane's company, once again.

Claire started her short walk home and wondered if she should make a quick stop by Common Grounds to see Eve and decided it couldn't be so bad. Eve would be there, she'd be okay.

As Claire started toward Common Grounds, she saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye a few feet behind her—

Claire snapped back to the present, her memory cutting off, as her door was kicked down and suddenly the painfully tight grip on her hair was released. Shane ran in, grabbed Claire's arm, and pulled her up to stand behind him, stake in hand.

"Don't touch her!"

The words came out of Michael's mouth in a sound that terrified Claire and she never wanted to hear it again. She cowered behind Shane, gripping the back of his shirt. There wasn't much she could do, the pain medicine hadn't worn off yet and she was still a little woozy, but holding on to Shane helped her stand straighter, firmer, like she wasn't scared, when in reality, she was ready to curl into a ball and cry.

As her heart began to race, Claire reminded herself of the countless vampires she'd faced down, scolding that she'd faced worse. Claire stood a little straighter and looked Brandon in the eyes as he hissed, "This isn't over!" and disappeared.

"GODDAMN IT!" Michael growled and disappeared as well.

Shane quickly turned, cupping Claire's face in his hands, then moving them while he frantically interrogated her body for injury, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? I swear, I'll kill that son of a bitch if he laid even a finger—"

"I'm okay, Shane." Claire said quietly. Not only had her adrenalin rush worn off, but she was also feeling the effects of what Brandon had made her eat. Put those together and she thought she would throw up. She mumbled something to Shane and quickly lied down. Eve was nowhere to be seen and Claire guessed she had gone to find Michael, while Shane crouched down beside the bed, looking into Claire's eyes and stroking her hair, "Don't feel well? You're getting pale again." His tone was sad and worried.

Claire only nodded and Shane seemed torn between standing guard and trying to make his girlfriend feel better. He compromised by sitting on the edge of the bed, alert, but also focused on Claire, rubbing her back, stomach, hair. Anything he could reach that would relax her but Claire knew something was wrong, "Shane?"

He looked at her, guilt written all over his face, "I'm sorry, Claire. I should have been there. If I had just stayed with you—if I hadn't gone downstairs— you would have— this wouldn't have—"

Claire cut him off, rescuing him from his sputtering, "Shane, its okay. Nothing happened, I wasn't hurt."

Shane nodded, still looking grim, "I don't want him to touch you. I heard about what he did to Eve, to her screwed-up brother. I can't imagine that being you." He hesitated for a second, "Do you remember anything? He didn't— I mean…"

"Not that I know of." Claire admitted quietly. That was what she was worried about earlier. Was there something she didn't remember? She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Shane sigh in relief. She looked into his eyes, that were slightly less worrisome now, but that was quickly replaced with worried curiosity, "What do you remember, Claire?"

She explained about the small flashback she'd had just moments before, and a little of what happened when she woke up in that dark place, but she didn't want to upset him. That, and she was starting to get tired again. Shane noticed her growing fatigue and cupped her cheek with his hand, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me, but you can if you ever need to. I'll always be there to listen. Go to sleep, I won't let him hurt you." Claire smiled and started to drift off, but not before she heard voices.

"…can't find him…disappeared…"

She noticed it as Michael's voice and realized they were talking about Brandon. They hadn't found him? Claire felt a small bout of panic before sleep took her under into oblivion.

Awe, little bit of Claire/Shane fluff there ^.^ but of course, always likes Shane to blame himself. Did you catch it? A little foreshadow to look forward to there at the end ;)… well, a lot of this chapter is courtesy of Clairebear97, she gave me the ideas, so thanks to her and to all of my lovely reviewers J keep reviewing and don't stop reading or writing. Remember, "If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."