Claire shut the door and locked it, leaned against the wood for a long few seconds, and tried to get her head together. She knew her friends would bombard her with questions -- where had she been, was she crazy being out alone in the dark -- but she couldn't answer them, not without violating some order from either Amelie or Sam.
They're dying. It seemed impossible; the vampires seemed so strong, so frightening. But she'd seen it. She'd seen the way Myrnin was decaying, and how afraid Sam was. Even Amelie, perfect icy Amelie, was doomed.
Wasn't that a good thing? And if it was, why did she feel so sick?
Claire took a few more deep breaths, willed her mind to shut up for a while, and pushed off to walk down the hall.
She didn't get far. There was stuff piled everywhere. It took her a second, but she recognized it with a shock of horror. "Oh no, " she whispered. "Shane's stuff. " It was blocking the hallway. Claire shoved a path through the boxes and suitcases piled there. Oh, crap. There was the Playstation, unplugged and looking mournful, in a heap with its game controllers.
"Hey? Hey guys? What's going on?" Claire called, edged around the barricades. "Anybody here?"
"Claire?" Michael's shadow appeared at the end of the hall. "Where the hell have you been?"
"I -- got held up late at the lab, " she said. Which wasn't a lie. "What's happening?"
"Shane says he's moving out, " Michael said. He looked deeply angry, but it was covering up hurt, too. "Glad you're here. Maybe you can talk some sense into him. Eve's not having much luck. "
Claire heard the indistinct buzz of voices upstairs. Eve's voice, high and strident. Shane's rumbling low. There was about a sixty second delay, and then Shane came down the stairs carrying a box. His face was pale but determined, and although he hesitated for a second when he saw Claire was back, he kept coming down.
"Seriously, dumbass, what the hell are you doing?" Eve demanded from the top of the stairs. She darted around and got into his path, forcing him to back up and try to get around her. "Yo, village idiot! Talking to you!"
"You want to live here with him, fine, " Shane said tightly. "I'm going. I've had enough. "
"You're moving at night? Do you have a head wound?"
He faked Eve to the right and moved past her to the left.
And ran into Claire, who didn't move. She didn't say anything, and after a few seconds of silence he said, "I'm sorry. Got to do it. I told you. "