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5 times Calliope wasn’t afraid of Juliette’s vampirism + the one time she was.
- Blood pills
The first time, Calliope wasn’t afraid. No, she was angry.
She’d been flirting with a pretty girl, or someone that she thought was a pretty girl. It’d been cute to watch Juliette stutter out an invitation to a party, watch her face crinkle up in a smile when Calliope had said yes.
Her heart had beat faster when Juliette grabbed her by the arm, telling her to ‘wait’ and carefully extracting a bee from Calliope’s shoulder.
‘Make a wish?’ Juliette had said before releasing the bee.
Calliope had laughed.
‘I think that only works with eyelashes.’
And then she’d watched Juliette walk away, a strange leaping feeling in her chest. She hadn’t felt like this since Tess. Calliope had let herself bask in the moment, feeling the thrill of a new crush.
Oh. She’d thought to herself. Juliette’s left a pill behind.
Crouching down to take a closer look, she’d realised the pill was full of blood.
And Calliope was angry, so angry.
Because Juliette was a vampire, a monster, and she’d let herself get sucked in by a monster that appeared human, yet again.
- Pantry
The second time, Calliope was distracted.
She’d waited until Juliette walked up to play spin the bottle, told her ‘cheers’ as they both downed a shot and then followed Juliette into the pantry.
The stake felt like it was burning a hole in the back of her jeans. Calliope was focussed, ready for the right moment, ready to make her first kill.
Then Juliette had kissed her, a brief brush of lips against lips.
‘Can I do that again?’ Juliette had asked, nervously looking down at the floor.
Calliope’s first thought was: great, get her to come closer for a better kill shot. So she’d told Juliette to ‘come here’, her mind on how to work her stake out of her jeans without Juliette noticing.
But, their lips had met for the second time and she’d forgotten the stake in the back of her pocket, forgotten why she’d come to the party and agreed to a stupid game of spin the bottle. She’d forgotten that she was desperate to make her first kill, to finally become a fully fledged Burns.
For the first time in longer than she could remember, Calliope Burns stopped thinking.
All she felt was the need to get closer to Juliette, to keep kissing her, to press her up against the wall of the pantry, kiss her neck, brush her fingers under her shirt.
The feeling of fangs in her neck rudely jerked her back to reality.
Calliope started thinking again, she remembered the stake.
Juliette was a monster. Calliope was a monster hunter.
So she’d batted Juliette’s hands away from her neck, and made a perfect kill shot, staked Juliette directly in the heart.
Juliette didn’t disintegrate.
Calliope was confused. What the hell just happened?
- First kill
The third time, Calliope was relieved.
She hadn’t meant to hurt Cook. But, she’d been frightened, feeling his hands on her, trying to push her into a van. Am I going to see my family ever again? She’d thought, tears welling in her eyes.
And then she’d been there.
Juliette, who’d she’d thought was a monster but was also a pretty girl who rescued bees.
And so Calliope hadn’t hesitated. When Cook had threatened Juliette she acted without thinking, swinging a kick into his head with as much force as she would’ve used to kill a monster.
His head made a sickening crack as it hit the ground.
Oh god, what have I done, what have I done, what have I done.
‘What did I just do?’
Her thoughts blurred together in a panic until a cool hand gently touched her wrists, removing the tape Cook had roughly wrapped around them.
‘Grab his legs.’
‘And then?’ Calliope choked out.
‘We figure it out.’
On the drive to Ben’s house her thoughts had been a mess.
She’d killed a human. Not a monster, no. Just a horrible, horrible human.
How would she live with herself?
She’d been out of it almost completely when Juliette talked to Ben, their words blurring together. She’d barely registered Bunny Wheeler’s appearance.
But, as it turned out, her kick to Cook’s neck hadn’t killed him.
And before she’d known what was happening, Juliette was leaping on Cook, driving him to the ground and sinking her teeth into his neck.
The thing is, Calliope had known she ought to be afraid of Juliette this time. She’d known that she should have grabbed Juliette, and stopped her from draining the life out of Cook.
But it had all happened so fast. And before Calliope knew what was happening, Juliette was lifting her face from Cook’s limp body, an expression of total, blissful relief on her blood-covered face.
Calliope felt the distant echo of that same emotion in herself. She hadn’t killed a human.
She hadn’t killed Cook!
Calliope Burns was a monster hunter, not a monster.
She was so, so relieved.
- Bloodlust
The fourth time, Calliope was devastated.
Painting the set of Romeo and Juliette had felt like a dream. She’d spent the whole day smiling and flirting with Juliette, Juliette who it felt like she’d known for years and that she’d told everything to in the space of a few short hours.
But life, as it does, had a way of bursting the bubble.
There was a zombie on the lose. And, as Calliope and Juliette were hunting it down, their daydream broken.
‘I hope Ben didn’t get too close to that monster.’ Juliette had stuttered out, fear in her eyes for her friend.
Calliope had felt that cold focus she’d honed in years of training slide into place. There was a monster in the school and she was a hunter.
‘Hey, hey. Try to focus ok? Stay light on your feet. It’s an urban myth that zombies are slow-moving. Real zombies are mad fast and deadly.’
She’d grabbed an axe, smashing down the emergency glass. When they’d found Noah, his spine ripped out, lying in a pool of his own blood she’d told Juliette ‘you’re safe with me.’
And before she’d known what was happening, Calliope had her own first kill, beheading the zombie in one fluid motion.
She’d been on such a high, her heart racing. She’d wanted to dance and sing, spin the girl she was starting to love around in a circle, kiss her and scream to the heavens that she was FINALLY a full Burns.
And Juliette’s eyes had lingered on the long, scratch down the side of her shoulder.
‘That’s a lot of your blood’ Juliette had choked out.
‘You okay?’
‘I was fine with Noah’s blood, but yours is, it’s bad…’
Oh.
Sometimes, Calliope forgot that Juliette was a vampire. But now, hearing Juliette’s voice lower, pupils dilating, she remembered.
Yet, Calliope wasn’t afraid.
‘I know.’ Calliope had said, gentling cradling Juliette’s head. ‘But you don’t want to hurt me, I know that too.’
And Juliette had pulled back, helped Calliope to move the zombie’s body in the woods, watched it disintegrate. Had taken, a slow deep breath.
‘You have to go.’
Calliope had begged her to fight it, to fight the bloodlust that was telling Juliette to hurt her.
She’d begged Juliette to remember the bee, told her: ‘you wouldn’t hurt that bee and you won’t hurt me.’
But the bloodlust had won. Juliette had roared at her to ‘just…go. NOW!’ showing her fangs in all their glory, steadily stalking towards Calliope.
Calliope still wasn’t afraid.
No, Calliope was devastated.
Because she’d let herself believe, for a few hours, that Calliope and Juliette could live as if they weren’t monster and monster hunter. As if they were just Jules and Cal. And watching that dream slip away from her erased any trace of fear she might have had as Juliette advanced towards her.
- Fangs
The fifth time, Calliope was very, very amused.
Juliette had snuck into her room and they’d spent a lazy Monday night lying side by side and making out on Calliope’s bed instead of doing homework.
Calliope had decided to heat things up, rolling Juliette onto her back, pressing down on her and deepening their kiss.
Only to have Juliette pull back, close her mouth and start blushing furiously.
‘Hey.’ Calliope pulled back and looked down at Juliette, brushing a few strands of hair out of Juliette’s face. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘This is really embarrassing’ Juliette muttered, her voice rasping with a slight lisp. ‘But you took me off guard just then and made my fangs pop out.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t make me say it again’ Juliette muttered, and this time Calliope could see the barest hint of a fang poking out of Juliette’s mouth.
‘Wait, so you’re telling me, that I overwhelmed you so much that you got a vampire boner?’
‘CAL.’
‘Wait is this why you bit me when we first met when you said you didn’t mean to? Did I give you a vampire boner?’
‘STOPPP’ Juliette had lisped out around her fangs, throwing a pillow at Calliope’s head.
Calliope wasn’t afraid. She couldn’t stop laughing. How could she have ever thought that Juliette was a monster?
+1
This time, Calliope is afraid.
It’s been ten years since Calliope saw Juliette Fairmont. Since she yelled at her that she was a special kind of monster who should stay away from her.
When Calliope enters the bar, she’s not expecting to see Juliette sitting at a table, leaning over to whisper in a blonde woman’s ear, a smirk curling at the edges of her lips.
Juliette hasn’t noticed Calliope yet.
Calliope lets herself drink Juliette in, notice how Juliette has lost the softness and innocence of their high school relationship. She's missed Juliette so much over the years, though she wishes she didn't.
There’s something different about Juliette now. She’s wearing a black leather jacket, red lipstick and a smirk. She seems sharper, harder.
Calliope feels her heart start to race, her monster hunter instincts telling her that there is danger.
But it’s Jules, her ex, the woman she's still a little bit in love with and Calliope wants to talk to her.
Calliope watches Juliette for almost an hour, nursing a drink she’s only pretending to drink, waiting to make her move.
Juliette finally stands up, brushing her hand lightly over the blonde’s before moving towards the bathroom.
And Calliope follows, pushing the bathroom door open.
Calliope barely has a second to realise that the bathroom appears to be empty, before Juliette is on her, pushing her back against the bathroom wall by both her wrists, her full body pressed up against Calliope’s, holding her immobile.
Juliette leans into Calliope’s ear and whispers.
‘Did you really think I didn’t see you?’
Calliope feels the barest hint of fangs scrape her earlobe.
‘Juliette, let me GO!’ Calliope tries to prize her wrists free of Juliette’s grip, but Juliette laughs and presses her more firmly against the wall as if she weighs nothing.
Calliope starts to feel afraid. The Juliette she knew fought against her vampire instincts, would never have pressed her against a wall without Calliope’s permission.
This Juliette is different, darker. Scarier.
‘You know Cal,’ and the nickname hurts coming from someone who looks so much like her former love yet doesn’t act like her at all ‘you’re not doing a very good job at killing me.’
‘I’m not here to kill you Juliette, I just want to talk.’ Calliope once again tries to free herself, to no avail. Juliette just looks at her, as if she barely notices her efforts.
Calliope never realised how much Juliette must have been holding back before. She does now. Her heart races, and, much to her embarrassment, she finds herself warming up to the feeling of Juliette’s body against hers.
‘Hmm where did I hear that before, Cal?’ Juliette smiles at her, showing her fangs to their fullest extent. ‘Oh yes, right before you chased me up onto a rooftop and tried to stake me for the second time, that’s right.’
Calliope feels the fear rushing through her, obliterating the warmth. Something isn’t right.
‘Jules why are you being like this?’ She tugs at her wrists. ‘What happened?’
Juliette smiles that fanged smile. ‘I just realised it would be easier, if I just stopped pretending to be someone that I’m not. If I just turned off my humanity and lived and let live so to speak. It hurts so much less this way. If only humans could try it Cal, I’d really, really recommend it.’
She laughs, but it’s nothing like Juliette’s old laugh, which made you want to join in. It’s cold, no trace of real emotion in it.
Calliope’s heart dropped. Juliette had mentioned when they’d been dating that vampires could chose to suppress their emotions. But she’d never, ever thought Juliette would take such a drastic step.
‘Anyway this has been fun’ Juliette says, tightening her grip on Calliope’s wrists. ‘But,’ she leans in to Calliope’s ear once again, ‘I can’t wait any longer to taste you, love.’
And with that, Juliette leaned into Calliope’s neck and bit down.
The first time Juliette had bitten her, Calliope hadn’t been afraid. She’d had a plan, a way to get out of the situation with the stake in her back pocket.
This time, she was completely helpless, pinned to the wall with no way of freeing herself.
All she could do was feel the soothing venom Juliette’s bite was releasing into her bloodstream, the high it was sending through her body.
But cutting through the high was fear. Because this wasn’t her Juliette, and Calliope might not survive this.
Her vision starts to get blurry, black spots dancing in front of her eyes when she feels Juliette pull back, letting Calliope slide down the wall.
Juliette crouches down in front of Calliope.
‘Don’t come after me again, or I won’t be so nice the next time.’
Juliette leaves and Calliope is left sitting on the floor, her heart racing with mind numbing, all consuming terror.
Yes, this time, Calliope Burns is afraid.