Once Upon a Steamy Night

Green eyes.

"Claire! Claire!! Claire!!!"

She blinked at the fingers snapping in her face and she scowled at the owner of the hand.

Liam.

"What do you want, Liam?"

Liam shrugged. "You zoned out the moment the new teacher came in and I couldn't let you fall under the same spell with these girls."

Claire looked around and saw that all the other girls were drooling at their new teacher and she didn't blame them.

Her supposed dad, Adam was handsome and so was this guy.

He had dark-olive skin with jet black spiky hair and his sparkling green eyes with black irises which seemed to darken the moment he gazed at her.

He was the same guy who had appeared in her history class except he looked a bit older than them, he seemed to be around Scot's age.

He looked away from her and continued looking at the other students before his eyes rested on her again, he winked at her and looked away.

Claire's face heated up immediately and she looked away as the blush crept up her neck to her cheeks. She wasn't the only one that noticed his attention towards her because the girls were now glaring at her while Liam eyed her suspiciously. "Do you know that guy?" He asked.

Claire glared at him. "Why are you behaving like my boyfriend when you aren't even my friend?"

"Because you won't give me a chance to be your friend and now you're fraternizing with a stranger!" He snapped.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Hudson?"

Claire felt butterflies flutter in her stomach when he spoke. His voice was the same as when he had told her the answer In her History class.

Liam looked like he wanted to say something, but he shrunk under the stern gaze of Kol.

"No," he snapped.

"Then allow me to start my class."

For the first time since her parents died and since she started high school, she enjoyed her class and wished it would never end.

But sadly, the class came to an end when the bell rang. The girls grumbled as they shuffled out of the classroom while Claire took her time packing her books hoping she could speak to him. Unfortunately for her, Liam hung around till she finished packing before they headed out. She decided to speak to him another day, but the moment she got to the door, his voice stopped her. "What's the matter?" Liam asked.

That was when she realized he was speaking to her in her mind because he barely glanced at them.

Smart girl.

It was his voice, as clear as it had been when he was talking aloud.

Meet me in my office after school.

She saw his eyes briefly glance at her before she headed out of the classroom.

"What was that inside the class?" Liam asked as she trudged to her next class.

"What was what?" She snapped irritated.

"Claire, what did I ever do to you?" He asked, dragging her back.

"Let me go!"

"No, you have to talk to me and tell me if I did anything wrong."

"I said let me go!"

Liam released her immediately and exclaimed like somebody who's been burned.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?!" He exclaimed.

"Do what?"

"Your bracelet burnt my palm!"

She looked at his palm and saw a small bruise, she knew her powers must have done this because she had felt the warmth inside her when she screamed.

"I'm sorry, it has a special button that does that. It's for protection," she lied smoothly.

"Well, you owe me lunch for this," he said.

Claire sighed. There was no point in pushing him away when he just wanted to be friends and if she kept on yelling at him then he was going to have a lot of bruises.

"I suppose I could buy you lunch," she agreed reluctantly.

He chuckled and they headed off to class while her mind kept reeling with different thoughts. She had no idea why she couldn't get her mind off Kol and how she had burnt Liam's palm.

For the rest of the class, she couldn't concentrate as she kept thinking of why she was thrilled with Kol, maybe because she had seen him before Adam made his appearance but whatever the case, she was going to find out.

***

"They are here! Our worst nightmare is finally coming true."

"Let's not panic remember we still have a hold on their most prized possession."

Once again they were all huddled in a dark room, each one airing their opinion on the events happening.

"We do not stand a chance against them."

"Especially now that Ricci is dead."

"We are doomed!"

"Don't panic. I have a solution."

***

Scot frowned as he knocked twice on the Captain's office. He could have sworn that the man hadn't left his office since he arrived so why wasn't he answering the door. Scot pulled the doorknob when a constable saw him.

"Scot, let him be. He doesn't want to be disturbed!"

Scot nodded. "Tell him I stepped out for a bit."

The constable nodded and Scot headed towards Claire's school. Now would be the perfect time to talk to them at the same time about the strange event that happened. He took a quick shortcut and arrived at their school just as they rang the bell for lunch.

His ID card made it easy for him to enter the school as he headed towards the cafeteria. Luckily for him, Claire and Liam were seating together and having lunch. "Hey, guys!"

He approached their table and sat down.

"What are you doing here?" Claire asked.

He could detect from her tone that she was slightly irritated.

"I came to check on you, Claire, and to speak with Liam," he replied.

"Speak with me?" Liam asked, "What for?"

"I heard you saying something in the bar about the town being frozen."

Scot watched their reaction. He saw that Liam looked impressed and slightly uncomfortable but Claire, she was scowling.

"Scot, can you just drop it!" She snapped.

"But Liam saw them too. The whole town was frozen," he said.

Liam's eyes widened in surprise and relief. "You saw it too? That means I'm not a nutcase!"

"Yes, I did, and Claire wasn't frozen either with her uncle," he replied.

"I didn't see anything!" Claire snapped.

"So, this means that the whole town was frozen except me, you, Claire, and Adam?" Liam asked.

"I don't know. Maybe others weren't frozen," he replied.

Liam shook his head. "No, I'm the only one who saw them there's no one except you guys."

"I wonder how Claire didn't see anything when three people were frozen in her sitting room," he mused.

Liam stared at Claire, surprised. "Three people were frozen in your sitting room and you said you didn't see anything."

"Because I didn't, and I was in the garden with my uncle at that time!" She snapped and did what every other suspect did.

She walked away.

***

Claire groaned as she slapped her forehead in anger. She was upset and panicking won't help the situation, but she couldn't help the feeling of cold dread that crept up on her threatening to engulf her whole being. She had seen the look Liam had given her and she knew he was onto something. He wasn't going to let this go and she was scared because she knew she had something to do with it.

Her lips quivered at the thought of what the townspeople would do to her if they ever found out she had powers.

There was no point In denying it again. They would label her as a murderer and a freak then tie her to the stake and burn her.

Oh my God! I'm gonna die. They're gonna kill me!

Claire's breathing quickened and she clenched her hands tightly, her fingers digging into her palm. She could hear the clap of thunder as everything else faded.

She could only hear the screaming voices of people as they condemned her to death. Somewhere in the background, she heard a scream that sounded like her voice.

Out of fear, she shut her eyes tightly and she heard another thunderclap, it sounded dangerously close to her.

"Claire!"

She could hear the distorted voice of Liam calling her as he shook her repeatedly.

"Claire, can you hear me?!"

"I'm a freak," she mumbled.

"What are you saying, Claire? We have to move!"

He was yelling about something dangerous but the voices of the people screaming in her head drowned his voice. "Kill her!"

"Murderer!"

At least, she couldn't see their judgmental eyes now that she had shut her eyes.

"Claire! Open your eyes, damnit!!"

"I'm a murderer," she whispered.

"No one is judging you, Claire. Now, move!"

Still, her feet couldn't move, and neither did she open her eyes as the voices continued and the thunderclap increased.

Suddenly, everything faded away and all she could feel was the softness of something sweet on her lips.

When she opened her eyes, she was staring into Liam's green eyes.

He had kissed her.

Liam fucking Hudson kissed her!

And it was amazing.

"Move, Claire!"

He barely shoved her out of the way when the locker collapsed. Fortunately, he had been able to twist himself out of the way, but his left leg hadn't been so lucky.

Claire stared in bewilderment at everything around her. Everyone stood in shock too as the mysterious rainstorm and thunderclaps ceased.

Claire gasped quietly. One part of the hallway had been destroyed by lightning and she stood in the middle of it all, she could still feel the power humming in her veins, and Liam... "Liam! Oh my gosh!! Somebody call a fucking ambulance!!!" She screamed.

Her voice seemed to awaken everyone in the hallways and soon the jocks had succeeded in pulling Liam out of the wreckage.

"Liam!" She cried holding his hands.

"Don't cry, I thought you hated me," he murmured with a wince.

"Shut up. The ambulance will be here soon."

He wiped the tears trickling down her cheeks and groaned slightly in pain.

"I'm so sorry, Liam. How are you feeling?"

"Well, I just kissed the most beautiful girl in the world, so this pain is nothing compared to the joy in my heart," he replied grinning slightly.

She chuckled softly as the siren of an ambulance filled the school compound.

"Alright, go home kids, nothing to see here. School Is over."

Claire wiped her tears and stood up as Principal Jenkins approached them with some paramedics.

"You can go home now, Claire. We'll take care of him," he said softly.

Claire nodded, blinking back tears as they placed him on the stretcher. He waved at her as they carried him out, he was still grinning.

"Do you know what happened here, Claire?" The principal asked.

She shook her head. "I had a panic attack."

"From what the students are saying, it looks like Liam rescued you and got hurt. I hope you can come to see him in the hospital as a form of gratitude."

She nodded as the principal left her heart filled with grief. She had hurt someone.

Suddenly, she remembered she was supposed to see Kol today. Maybe he might have an explanation for what happened here, she thought as she raced to his office. She pushed the door open, panting.

"Something weird just happened and I think..."

She trailed off when she saw It wasn't Kol standing in the office.

"Yes? How may I help you, Ms. Ryes?" The teacher asked.

With her mouth hanging open in shock, she took a step back and fled from the office.