New Horizon [Morganville]

Chapter Thirteen

Claire banged on the wooden doors for the hundredth time. Her fists were starting to get extremely sore, and her throat hurt from the tears she'd managed to hold back.

"You can't just keep me in here!" Claire called out. She had no idea if anyone was waiting on the other side of the door, but with the vamps crawling all over the place, she didn't doubt that their super-vampire hearing couldn't hear her. She let her forehead fall against the wood, and she gave the door one last hit before she gave up. She sighed and turned, leaning against the thick door. It was a nice room, she had to admit that. She was somewhere in Morganville City Hall, and the room must have belonged to Amelie. Claire shivered. Maybe even Oliver.

The walls were painted dark red with a mahogany paneling, with matching wooden floors and rug. The bed and lounges, well everything really, were all Victorian styled, and it reminded Claire of the Glass House. Just a little. There was a large bookcase stocked with what must have been at least fifty books. Some of them famous, others Claire had never heard of before. The room was completed with a small Gothic styled bathroom and kitchen. Claire sighed and sat on the bed, then she heard voices outside the door.

"Hey!" Claire called again and made her way to the door. She started pounding on it again, ignoring her sore fists. "This is stupid, I can look after myself." The whispers stopped, and she heard someone walking away. Claire kicked the door. "You could have given me some entertainment if you're going to keep me locked in here, you know?" The door opened, but it shut almost immediately. Myrnin stood there, his face blank. She banged on the door.

Again.

"No, wait! Take him back! I know you can hear me! Take him back!"

"Claire, you're only irritating them." Claire ignored him. "Honestly, I don't understand what your problem is. You're protected here, you're safe."

"The problem is that I'm not with my friends, Myrnin!" She spun around to face him. "Shane, Eve, Michael! You know them, right?"

"You'll see them as soon as we've found Naomi," He said. "It's not a big deal-"

"It is! I'm not some... Pet that you can lock away. I'm a human being, and I have feelings! Or have you forgotten what those are?"

Myrnin blinked, and his face was set hard. Claire walked straight past him, and to the other side of the room.

"You're trying to upset me," Myrnin said finally. He turned to face her, arms folded. "Because you don't want me in here."

"No. No I don't want you in here." Claire's hands balled into tight fists. "Do you know why? Because you bit me!"

"Claire -"

"No! I trusted you Myrnin. You promised me," Claire's eyes watered. "You promised me that you'd never hurt me again!" Myrnin walked towards her, but Claire took steps back. She held her hands up and tried pushing him away. His eyes held a steady gaze on her neck. "What?" Claire asked. "Planning on biting me again?" She knew that he wasn't thinking about biting her, he was simply staring at the bite mark. His eyes were dark. Maybe he felt pain, sorrow? Regret? Good. He deserved to feel that. 

"Please, I never wanted to hurt you." His voice was low.

"But you did," Claire shoved him. He didn't move that far. "You could have killed me."

His eyes shut tightly, "I couldn't control it, Claire."

"You never can though, right?"

His eyes opened. "But Claire, this time, I had no choice."

"You always have a choice Myrnin. Always."

"Mine was taken away from me."

"What?" Claire shook her head, annoyed. "What are you even talking about?"