If she waited, she was going to lose her nerve.
It was only a little after noon. Plenty of time to get to school, do the rest of her classes, stuff some clothes in a garbage bag, say enough hellos to make everything okay, and get home before dark. And it was after dark that was dangerous, right? If they were serious about the vampire thing.
Which she was starting to believe, just a teeny little bit.
She opened the front door, stepped out, closed it, and walked out onto the porch. The air smelled sharp and crisp with heat. Eve must have been cooking in that coat; there were ripples of hot air rising up from the concrete sidewalk, and the sun was a pale white dot in a washed-denim sky.
She was halfway to the sidewalk, where Eve's big car lurked, when the door slammed behind her.
"Wait!" Eve blurted, and came hurrying after with the leather coat flapping in the hot wind. "I can't let you do this."
Claire kept walking. The sun burned on the sore spot on her head, and on her bruises. Her ankle was still sore, but not enough to bother her that much. She'd just have to be careful.
Eve darted around her to face her, then danced backward when Claire kept walking. "Seriously. This is dumb, Claire, and you don't strike me as somebody with a death wish. I mean, I have a death wish - it takes one to know one - okay, stop! Just stop!" She put out a hand, palm out, and Claire stopped short just a few inches away. "You're going. I get that. At least let me drive you. You shouldn't be walking.
This way I can call Shane if - if anything happens. And at least you'll have somebody standing by."
"I don't want to get you guys into any trouble." Michael had been pretty specific about that.
"That's why Shane's not coming. He's - well, he attracts trouble like TV screens attract dust. Besides, it's better not to put him anywhere near Monica. Bad things happen." Eve unlocked the car doors. "You have to call shotgun."
"What?"
"You have to call shotgun to get the passenger seat."
"But nobody else is - "
"I'm just telling you, get used to the idea, because if Shane was here? He'd already have it and you'd be in the back."
"Um..." Claire felt stupid even trying to say it. "Shotgun?"
"Keep practicing. Got to be fast on the trigger around here."
The car had slick vinyl seats, cracked and peeling, and aftermarket seat belts that didn't feel any too safe.
Claire tried not to slide around on the upholstery too much as the big car jolted down the narrow, bumpy road. The shops looked as dim and uninviting as Claire remembered, and the pedestrians just as hunched in on themselves.
"Eve?" she asked. "Why do people stay here? Why don't they leave? If, you know...vampires."
"Good question," Eve said. "People are funny that way. Adults, anyway. Kids pick up and leave all the time, but adults get all bogged down. Houses. Cars. Jobs. Kids. Once you have stuff, it's easy enough for the vamps to keep you on a leash. It takes a lot to make people just leave everything behind and run.
Especially when they know they might not live long if they do. Oh crap, get down!"
Claire unhooked her seat belt and slithered down into the dark space under the dash. She didn't hesitate, because Eve hadn't been kidding - that had been pure panic in her voice. "What is it?" She barely dared to whisper.
"Cop car," Eve said, and didn't move her lips. "Coming right toward us. Stay down."
She did. Eve nervously tapped fingernails on the hard plastic steering wheel, and then let out a sigh.
"Okay, he went past. Just stay down, though. He might come back."
Claire did, bracing herself against the bumps in the road as Eve turned toward the campus. Another minute or two passed before Eve gave her the all clear, and she flopped back into the seat and strapped in.
"That was close," Eve said.
"What if they'd seen me?"
"Well, for starters, they'd have hauled me in to the station for interfering, confiscated my car...." Eve patted the steering wheel apologetically. "And you'd have just...disappeared."