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When the Guild heard word of what had happened they were furious. Even more furious than when they had ambushed the legacies meeting and failed to kill a single one of them but got Guild members killed instead.
One of their own being turned was a complete embarrassment, they said. Cal being friends with one was a betrayal of their code.
If only they knew how much deeper than ‘friends’ it had been.
And so they punished the Burns. No new assignments. No weapons. No secret missions. And certainly, no new house in a new location.
That meant Calliope is stuck having to attend Lancaster Academy- with Juliette, which is the last thing she wants right now after what happened.
The first couple of weeks after the incident were quite easy. With everything that was happening with the Fairmont family, Jules seemingly decided to take some time off school to let things calm down a bit. Probably for the best, with her sister being revealed as a serial killer.
They’d just about managed to gather up enough money to post her bail and so only two weeks after her arrest, Elinor was back at home, albeit under house arrest.
The day after her release Juliette returned to school.
Things seemed to be going from bad to worse with the Fairmonts though. Mr Fairmont was fired from his job after the embarrassment of an employee and his own daughter being arrested for the very murders they were trying to solve. On top of that, intel from her dad suggested that the rest of the legacies were not happy with the family as worries about the well-being of their precious snake grew.
Anyways, in the first two weeks, the school became a sort-of safe space for Cal. There was no Juliette or family to worry about and the constant stream of work and people meant her mind was too preoccupied to even think about either of them while she was there.
She’d even started to make some new friends. Ben either hadn’t been told about their breakup or Juliette had told him but had also told him the reasons behind it because he stuck with Cal while Jules was off and introduced her to some of his friends.
Those two weeks were glorious. Well- as glorious as they can be for someone who had just had their first heartbreak and watched their brother turn into a bloodsucking vampire.
Once Jules came back, her little bubble burst. Ben obviously went back to hanging out with his best friend and it turns out Jules was friends with most of Cal’s new friends as well. Then there was the fact that they shared classes together and Juliette also seemed to always be somewhere close- the other side of the cafeteria, down the corridor, even on the same bus.
She’d joined track though, which was something. She’d never been at a school long enough to join a club before.
She runs around the orange tarmac, trying to push out the thought of bumping (physically) into Juliette in the corridor just a few minutes earlier.
As much as Cal hates to admit it, it was her fault. She was running late, so she paced down the corridor toward the track with her only focus on making it in time not to get shouted at by Coach. It didn’t help that Juliette isn’t tall enough to be in her eye line either.
When she rounded the corner of one of the corridors, she didn’t even notice the girl standing by a classroom doorway. She didn’t even notice the girl’s identity till her hand was fully outstretched to help her up off the floor Cal had pushed her onto.
Of course.
Of course, it has to be Juliette. The one girl she wishes more than anything she didn’t have to see right now. The one girl who would now linger in her head for the rest of the day as she recants the memory. No, it couldn’t have possibly been anybody else in the entire thousand-student school. Some higher power had it out for her.
Juliette took her hand before Cal could retract it and pulled herself up. God knows why she let it happen, but for a few moments, they stood silently facing each other, hand in hand until Jules' mouth moved. “Cal..”
Calliope snapped back to her senses at the voice.
She ripped her hand out of Juliette's. Whatever she was going to say, Cal didn’t want to hear it. She shoved past the smaller girl with ease and carried on towards the track, making sure to wipe her hand off against her leggings while Juliette was still looking.
Just like she’d predicted though, the memory would not leave her mind as she ran around the track. More specifically, Juliette wouldn’t leave her mind.
She pushes herself harder. Her feet hitting the ground with a defined thump as she leaps over the hurdle in front of her.
It felt a bit like the bite connection again with how all-encompassing Juliette’s presence wrapped around her thoughts. Except now, instead of the lust and adoration that filled them before, they were tinged with that same familiar anger that had plagued her since that night.
Her brother’s gone. Mentally, and physically. She is never getting him back.
Her mother still refuses to tell the rest of the family where she had taken Theo. It was to keep him safe, she pleaded as her husband grilled her from the moment she’d returned. He didn’t deserve safety now, he had rebutted, he’s a monster. And a turned one at that. One they know how to kill.
Cal still doesn't know what to think. Usually, her parents are so united on things like this- it’s as if they share a mind sometimes. Now, she’s torn. Each of them so steadfast in their beliefs while she and Apollo are being pulled through the middle.
All Cal knows is the very real, visceral fear she felt that night as Theo broke free. The rabid look in his eyes was all she could see when she shut her eyes at night. He would’ve killed them without a second thought- drained them, drop by drop. It haunted her.
And it was all Juliette’s fault.
The cold air scratches its way up her nose and claws its way back out. She’s not getting enough oxygen and she knows it. Still, she pushes on. She needs this for any chance to clear her head today.
Her nightmares are back.
This time though, the monsters are no longer strangers. They’re Theo coming back to get his revenge on them for being so ready to murder him. They’re Juliette coming to take the rest of Cal’s family away from her. They’re Elinor, kidnapping her and tying her up again to be sacrificed to whatever knew vampire needed their first kill.
Sometimes the dreams would merge. All three would turn up in the same horrific mix. Elinor would tie her up and she’d be forced to watch Theo drain their dad while Juliette turned Apollo. They would set Apollo on her once he was strong enough and have him be the one to kill her.
She’d always wake up the moment before he managed to sink his teeth in her.
Her foot hits the hurdle all of a sudden as she goes to jump over it. Now it’s her turn to be the one knocked to the floor.
She’s not sure if she blacked out or if it was just all too fast to remember but the next thing she remembers is feeling an unfamiliar wetness gushing down her face. It seems that is all the blood is limited to. As she pulls herself back to her feet, she notices it trickling down from her palms to her elbows and from more grazes on her knees.
The whole team runs over to check if she’s okay and she manages to mumble out that she’s going to the medical room through huffed breaths.
Her nose will not let up even after she wipes the blood down the back of her hands several times. She tries to cup it instead but by the time she’s only halfway to the first aid room, her hands are nearly overflowing.
She notices the toilets just up ahead and dashes toward them before too much blood hits the floor. She’s already left a little trail behind her as is.
When she opens the bathroom door and sees it’s empty, she lets out a breath of relief for the first time in months. She isn’t really in the mood to see anyone in this state.
Her hands let the puddle of blood they’re holding drop down the sink and she looks at her reflection in the mirror. Her nose won’t stop bleeding and the blood is coating her lips and chin and further down to her now stained gym top. She’d never had a nose bleed before.
The cuts on her knees seem superficial, at least, but there’s too much blood on her arms and palms already to see the extent of the cuts there.
Right, nose-first. She tilts her head back and pinches the bridge of her nose. This is what you’re supposed to do, right?
Okay, hands next. With one free hand, she turns on the tap and tries to rinse the blood off her arm. She can’t do any more than just put it under the water.
She switches hands and almost instantly realises how little she thought this through. The blood-tinted water on her arm is now just dripping down onto her face, catching the dried blood on her chinning and pulling it further over her body.
The door swings open and all Cal can think is ‘fuck’.
She turns away from the door instantly and whoever just came in stands there unmoving.
She must look like a lunatic right now. Blood over her face, arms, legs and front, water dripping down off her arms onto her.
For the first time today, she thinks she might cry. Everything just seemed to be going wrong. One thing after the other, for nearly a month straight. There’s nothing that could make this day worse.
Then she hears a sharp intake of breath and suddenly realises the one thing that could make this day worse.
She slowly turns her head to look, only to find her suspicions confirmed.
Of course, it has to be Juliette.
She’s stood there with that dumb look of concern across her face, mouth slightly parted, eyebrows furrowed, head tilted to look up at her. Her hands, clenched at her side, betray her inner feelings- fighting against the overwhelming blood lust.
“Cal..”
“Go away.”
She ignores her. “What happened?”
“I said go away, Juliette.” She snaps. She’s just too done with everything right now to even entertain this conversation.”Just leave me alone, okay?”
Jules just walks closer. “No-Cal, you're covered in blood and from the looks of it when I walked in, you're not exactly doing the best job of cleaning yourself up so I’m not just going to leave.”
Tilting her head back, Cal ignores her and returns her hand to her nose to pinch off the blood.
Juliette steps toward her and Cal instantly takes a step back. The hurt that flickers across her face is obvious and Cal can’t help but feel a sick pleasure at causing that reaction. If she could get Jules to feel even the slightest amount of the pain she’d caused Cal, then staying in this shit-hole town would be worth it.
A sigh escapes the vampire's mouth, “You're doing that wrong, you know?” She nods towards Cal’s attempt at stopping her nose bleed. “All that’s going to happen is you’ll end up with a belly full of blood and we both know how much you hate people who drink blood.”
“What am I supposed to do then? The stupid thing won’t stop bleeding.” She snaps, not impressed with Juliette’s attempt at a joke.
They aren’t friends. They aren’t anything. She isn’t going to stand here and act like they are.
“Keep pinching your nose and sit up here” She pats the dry counter next to her, away from the mess Cal had made earlier. “Tilt your head forward, not back, I know it sounds counterproductive but it works. I’ll go get you some tissues.”
Reluctantly, Calliope listens, hopping up onto the counter and following the rest of her instructions. She waited until Jules had turned away to grab some tissue out of one of the cubicles to do it though.
When she returns from the cubicle, she hands the wad of toilet roll in her hand to Cal for her nose and heads towards the door. Cal lets out a sigh of relief, obscured by the tissue on her face- she’s leaving, thank God.
Except, she’s not heading toward the door. She’s heading to the paper towel dispenser by the door.
She wets the towels in the sink next to Cal and moves to stand between her legs. “Is this okay?” she hesitates, hovering her hand and the towel above Cal’s torn-up knee.
This must be a joke. A literal vampire is offering to clean up her bloody wounds.
She can see how hard just the sight of the blood is for Juliette: dilated eyes, shaky breaths, fists still clenched. Her whole body is tense in its posture, standing up rigidly straight and unmoving.
The paper touches her knee and she instantly flinches her legs away from the cold touch. Juliette must’ve taken her silence as a go-ahead.
“I can do that.” She remarked the second Jules’ questioning eyes met hers.
“Look at your palms, don’t be stupid. This is going to sting enough with only one cut being clean at a time. Besides, you need to focus on stopping that nosebleed.”
As if on cue, the grazes along her palms bit out with pain, not dissimilar to the sensation of pins and needles. She doesn’t want to admit it but Jules is kind of right. Still, she’s not giving over that easily.
“What about the, you know, the… the blood?”
“The hunger’s not as bad when the blood’s dried and is no longer fresh. You don’t have to worry about me biting you, Cal.”
“Well, you’ve already bit me once, nearly bitten me multiple other times and turned my brother into a monster like you, so you don’t exactly have the best track record to support that statement.”
A frown passes over Juliette’s face. “I’m sorry Cal. You know I am and if you don’t, then I’ll tell you it every day until you do. Just, right now at least, let me help you.”
Fine, if Juliette wants to be her nurse then so be it. She’s the one with the power in this situation so she might as well use it. At least, that’s how she tries to justify how quickly her resolve weakens at the softness in her voice.
She nods and shifts her knees back to their original position.
“How have you been?”
Calliope ignores her. She’ll allow Juliette to do this for her, but that doesn’t mean they have to talk, she decides. Luckily, Jules takes the hint with only a small sigh.
The towel starts at her knee. It dabs at the dried blood around the cut with delicate precision, sweeping away the crusts of crimson. Once the excess blood from the scrape is clear, the tissue moves to wipe away the trail of red down her shin.
It glides along her skin, leaving behind a trail of goosebumps from the cool feel of the damp paper against her freshly shaven legs. The blood, now tinted brown from its age, camouflages itself against her skin. Yet, every last trace is cleaned away.
The dirty towel is thrown in the bin and Jules wets a new one before folding it into a square. “What happened?” she asks, through gritted teeth. The corner of the paper towel meets one of the track lines in her cut and carefully nudges a little piece of stone out. While it does sting, Cal knows there’s a reason it’s only mild.
The gritted teeth aren’t from annoyance, as far as Cal can tell, which means one thing: Jules is struggling not to go full vamp on her. Her free hand clutching the edge of the counter next to Cal’s leg is only further proof of that.
If Jules is putting in this much effort just to help clean her cut then Cal can afford to give some effort back. The bare minimum though. “Tripped in Track”
“On what?”
“Hurdles”
“Hurdles?” she laughs, “Aren’t you tall enough to just step over them?”
“Hey!” She pushes Jules lightly by the shoulder but she still stumbles slightly. Her hand comes down to rest on Cal's thigh to steady herself.
This time it’s Juliette’s turn to flinch away. Almost a second after the hand was placed, it’s ripped away. Heat there and gone again in an instant.
A sheepish expression spreads across her face and Cal nearly doesn’t stop herself from thinking how adorable she looks. Nearly.
Jules turns around to bin the dirty paper towel and the thought is blocked from Cal’s head before it’s even fully formed.
With a fresh towel, Jules begins to clean the other knee.
She asks why Cal decided to join the track team and this time Calliope doesn’t even need to think before answering. Anything would be better than sitting here in that awful awkward silence.
Plus, it would help take Juliette’s mind off the blood hopefully.
Still following the earlier instructions, she keeps her head tilted forward. While it feels like it’s helped the bleeding to stop, there’s one drawback- she’s forced to watch Jules’.
Her words fill the air and now and again Jules will look up at her with a little smile on her face and nod or make a little comment to show she’s still listening. She’s moved on to talking about the upcoming races to qualify for State when she realises Juliette hasn’t looked at her knee for a while.
“Why didn’t you stop me? I’ve just been sitting here rambling on at you for however long.” Cal wonders, half embarrassed, half curious. Both her knees are clean and the blood on her legs vanished. Nothing she’s saying is even important- she’s just talking for the sake of talking.
“I like listening to you talk… I don’t know when I’ll get to again.” She laughs with false cheerfulness as if the response didn’t half break Cal’s heart. “Anyway, let's see how your nose is now.”
Calliope decides not to linger on the comment. With a small smile on her face to reassure Jules, she takes her hand, and the tissue, away from her nose and tilts her head back slightly to give the girl a better look.
It doesn’t go unnoticed that Jules moves onto her tiptoes, hands pushing up on the counter on either side of her thighs to get to Cal’s face height. Their faces are a few inches apart. Even on her tiptoes and with Cal sitting on the counter, Jules is still smaller.
Her eyebrows are furrowed as her eyes examine the damage to Calliope’s nose. Juliette’s head tilts slightly, moving close by a fraction, tongue peaking at the corner of her mouth in thought- oblivious to the fact she’s being watched.
Cute, Cal lets herself think.
The smile on her face turns genuine at Juliette’s almost puppy-like expression as she tries to suppress a giggle. She clears her throat to disguise it. Jules’ eyes immediately dart to hers and her face flushes when she realises the proximity. “Jules, this isn’t working. I think we need to s-”
“Wait no!” Juliette interrupts, stepping back. “Please Cal, I’m so sorry-”
“-switch places…” Both girls trail off. They look at each other for a second, Calliope curious and Jules letting out a sheepish “oh.”
After a moment of silence, Cal hops off the counter and settles for leaning back against it instead, folding her arms across her chest. “I wanna hear what you were going to say.”
It’s not a request or a question, but Calliope still thinks that Juliette will try to worm her way out of saying it now. Yet, with just a deep breath, Juliette continues talking, surprising Cal for the multiple today.
“I didn’t mean to stand so close then. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. And, “ she pauses, looking up from her hands to Cal’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you that night. When I found Theo lying on that bathroom floor, I didn’t think- I just reacted even though I knew what could happen. He’s not a monster, Calliope, he’s still your brother. But I’m sorry for taking him away from you. I’m so sorry.”
What a difference a month can make.
That was pretty much the same speech Juliette had given her the night it happened and yet, it no longer fills her with rage. She understands why Jules did what she did.
Now, she just wants her brother back- monster or not. Although, Jules is pretty good proof not all vampires are monsters.
“I know you might never forgive me. I can’t do anything about that, what's done is done. But this- helping you here- is something real I can do.”
Calliope steps forward and grabs Jules's wrist, guiding her to the countertop she was just sitting on. When she nods towards it, Jules gets the hint and pushes herself up onto it.
“Let me just wash off the blood from my hands quickly,” Cal states before they can slip into silence again. “How are you being so okay around it anyway?”
Cal hadn’t even noticed how much Juliette’s breathing had slowed and evened out until she said that. When she really looks, she realises how much Jules’ posture, in general, has relaxed to the point that she’s unclenched her hands from their near-permanent position.
“I’ve been training with Oliver. He may not understand it but, he’s helping me get used to being around blood without vamping out. He went through vampire puberty years ago so now, he’s in full control of himself around blood. So far, my best is five minutes before my fangs slip.”
“Not anymore- we’ve been in here for way longer than five minutes.”
“Well, the blood is dry and once the water starts to rub it away, it becomes diluted so it’s a lot easier to manage.” She grins, “Plus, I’ve got a pretty good incentive not to lose control.”
Cals laugh lightly at that. It’s nice to see Juliette comfortable enough to make comments like that again.
She steps over to the sink next to Jules and when she goes to turn on the tap, Juliette reaches down and does it for her- much to Cal’s grateful grazed palms delight.
A hiss escapes her mouth as the water beats down on the cuts.
“Does it hurt?” Jules asks, a concerned look painting her face.
However nice Jules is being, Cal doesn’t want to be perceived as weak. “Nah, it’s just cold” She lies, slowing her breathing to try and control her heart rate. Racking her brain for something to change the subject to, she settles on: “Tell me about vampire puberty then. Hopefully, it’s better than human puberty.”
Jules leans back against the mirror, eyes still locked onto every slight change in Cal’s countenance but she doesn’t question the grimace on Cal’s face anymore.
“Well, it’s kind of like human puberty actually, just longer and rather than the blood involuntarily coming out, it’s voluntarily going in. Instead of uncontrollable moods and emotions, it’s uncontrollable blood lust once your fangs come in. Umm.. what else?”
Listening to Juliette speak is a welcome distraction as the cuts along her palms scream out at being used to scrub the dried blood off her arms.
“Impulsiveness…Staying awake for longer periods. Our cells slow down, which is uncomfortable at best, but the reason why we age slower than humans. That’s pretty much it, I think. Oh! I nearly forgot the whole turning into bats things.”
Cal splutters. “Wait, vampires actually turn into bats? We got told that’s a myth in guild training.”
“I’m just joking.” Jules chuckles and Cal reluctantly joins in. “Good to see the guild taught you well though.”
“So, you're telling me you finish normal puberty and then within a year, you start some next level extreme puberty? I could barely take one.”
“Yep, pretty much. Except, hopefully, this time I’ll be less cranky.”
The laughter carries on and even intensifies when Cal adds, “I can imagine you being a properly moody teenager.”
It’s nice being able to laugh like this with Jules again.
Cal’s arms are clean and she shakes them off before moving to stand back in front of Jules who pulls herself forward and off the mirror. They lapse into silence again. This time, though, it feels heavier somehow. Eyes locked, breaths disorganised from the giggles.
A coy smirk rises on Juliette’s face. “You know,” Her voice sounds lower and there seems to be a teasing lilt to it. “You’d make a pretty hot vampire.”
Cal almost chokes on the guffaw that burst out of her mouth.
Both the comment and Jules’ forwardness leave Cal staring with disbelief at her. Juliette just nods towards the mirror with a grin.
When Cal’s eyes meet her reflection over Juliette’s shoulder, she kind of understands the sentiment.
Blood covers the lower portion of her face- dried but with the effect of it still looking like it’s rolling down her chin. Like she’s just off a kill.
The richness of her brown skin draws out the deepest shades of crimson and mahogany from the blood, contrasting just so perfectly against the whiteness of her teeth. Her chestnut eyes look almost black with how blown out her pupils are. Soulless almost. She chooses to ignore the reason why they’re so dilated to begin with.
For a moment- a few fleeting seconds- a sense of power washes over her.
Yes, she would definitely make a hot vampire. She wouldn’t make a good vampire though. That feeling of pride that came with imagining herself be a monster was all too much proof of that.
Jules is a good vampire.
Goodness is just as core to her as being a legacy vampire. The two exist side by side, harmoniously, in her.
Here she is, skipping lessons to help Cal when Cal has not spared her a second of her time for the last month, even to apologise. Jules, although did so misguidedly, tried to help Cal in her time of need and save her brother from a slow, painful death. Jules against her nature is wiping away her blood from fresh cuts without a fang in sight.
Jules who trusted her (a known monster hunter) in the first place not to harm her. Jules who lied for her. Jules who protected her. Jules who killed for her.
How could those be the actions of a monster?
No, the guild is wrong. About Jules. About Theo.
Maybe they’re the exceptions. Or maybe they’re the rule, and monsters like Elinor are the outliers.
This is one of the moments Cal loves when everything just seems to click into place.
A hand touches her face, cupping her chin and she pulls out of her thoughts and back into her body. Her head is tilted back and Jules produces a new paper towel seemingly from thin air.
The majority of the blood is wiped off with a few strokes but Cal can tell Jules is struggling more with this than her knees. Perhaps it’s because of their proximity to each other, or the amount of blood that’s coating her nose down to her chin and below, or even just due to how long she’s been having to suppress it- Cal doesn’t know. What she does know though is Jules won’t give up now. She thinks she has something to prove.
So, she puts one of her hands onto the knee of one of Jules’ crossed legs and gives it a quick squeeze. Reassurance would be essential right now.
Juliette’s hand stops still. Her eyes move to meet Cal’s, giving her a soft smile before carrying on.
From then on Jules seems to avoid Cal’s eyes at all costs, yet Cal can’t seem to take hers away. She’s content with watching her at work.
With one hand guiding Cal’s head to the right angles and the other in control of the wet tissue, Jules cleans away the blood until only a few specks remain. Tender hands carefully brush at the hard-to-get spots around Cal’s lips, under her chin, around her nose, gentle in every action.
Unsurprisingly, it feels rather intimate.
“All done,” Jules murmurs, eyes finally flicking back up to Cal’s. Cal steps away from the countertop, putting some distance between the two.
If she wasn’t already aware of just how close they were stood together, the rush of cold air replacing the warmth from Juliette’s body would’ve made it painfully apparent.
She misses it instantly.
Jules slides down off the counter and looks at Cal almost expectantly. When nothing comes, she turns toward the door.
They both know if she leaves that door with whatever’s happening with them being left like this then it’s truly over.
At the beginning of the day, she would’ve watched her go and been happy. Now though, something is different. Jules is different. More in control, in tune with her nature. It’s not just Jules. Cal is different as well. She understands.
And she can’t let their growth be for nothing.
She lurches forward catching Juliette’s wrist, pulling her back slightly and away from the door.
“Jules” She moves her hand down to Jules’, interlocking their fingers. “Thank you.”
Who could manage to win back the trust that they had so completely and utterly broken? Who could make her start to fall again in a day? Who could make her forget everything she’d ever been taught about good and evil, people and monsters?
With a deep breath, she leans forward, her lips placing a delicate kiss on Jules’ cheek. She doesn’t need vampire powers to tell how fast Jules’ heart is going right now. Her's is going at the exact same speed.
She knows the answers. They all have the same one.
Of course. It has to be Jules.