Summary:
Twisted
Prologue
Midland, Texas: 10:30 p.m.
Juliet Reed sat on the floor with her legs crossed while she fidgeted with her ponytail in front of a full length mirror. After the fifth time of trying and failing to get her wild hair pulled back neatly, she dropped the brush with a frustrated sigh.
"Mom!" She called out, her voice cracking embarrassingly. "Ugh, puberty is the worst!" She muttered to herself and fell back onto the floor with her arms draped over her face. Juliet thought turning eleven would be a good thing, junior high, getting older, finally noticing boys, right? Wrong. She didn't have these kinds of problems last year.
"Jules? Are you alright?" Her mother answered worriedly, her face appearing from behind Juliet's door.
"I can't get my hair right!" Juliet growled, throwing her arms up in frustration.
Her mother simply chuckled, and let herself into the small bedroom. She closed the space between them in two easy strides and picked up the hairbrush her daughter had let fall to the floor.
"Sit up, honey, I'll fix it for you." Juliet answered by pulling herself up and faced the mirror, staring daggers at her appearance.
As her mother began combing through her hair, Juliet let herself relish in the feeling.
Sally Reed was one of the most kind, caring, and self-sacrificing people Juliet had ever known. She worked long hours at the hospital as a nurse, but somehow found the time to volunteer at the homeless shelter and help arrange races for charity.
Juliet eyed her mother as she began pulling her curly blonde mess into a perfect ponytail. She thought about how much she envied her mother for the long, flowing brunette locks that fell straight down her back.
Actually-scratch that, she envied almost everything about her mother. Where Juliet was tall and lanky for her age, her mother was only five-four or so, and moved with such grace that could make grown men weep, where Juliet seemed to trip over her own feet most of the time. The only trait she seemed to have have gotten from Sally was her striking blue eyes.
"Are you two almost ready in here?" A deep voice asked before a knock sounded at the door.
Her father, Charlie Reed, pulled the door open and leaned his shoulder against the frame. Charlie was a handsome man, with strawberry blonde hair like his daughter. He had a five o'clock shadow stretched across the lower half of his face, and his soft brown eyes had crinkles on the sides as he watched his family with a smile.
"Wow, don't you two look beautiful?"
Sally maneuvered one bobby pin into her daughters hair to hold down a stray, then kissed Juliet on the cheek. She tucked herself under the arm of her husband, and sighed in content. This was their family, a family who loved each other to no bounds, despite the secrets they kept. Sally and her husband had always done their very best to keep their daughter's…"gift" a secret.
"I'm ready! Are you sure you can't come with us, daddy?" Juliet asked, trying her best to hold the pouting face as long as she could without laughing.
Charlie tilted his head so it rested on Sally's. "I wish I could sweetheart, but I have a meeting with our contacts in Russia at eight a.m. their time, so I'll be on the phone while you two are at the movies."
Sally patted her husbands chest, and took Juliet's hand. "Daddy will take us to the theater and pick us up though, so we can tell him all about it!"
Juliet laughed and latched onto her father with her free hand, "That's fine, we can spoil the ending for him!"
Charlie shook his head. "Sweetie, it's the last Harry Potter movie, remember I'm the one who introduced you to the books. I know exactly what is going to happen," he said, poking her nose for emphasis.
As they climbed into the car, Charlie made sure Juliet's seatbelt was on, and kissed her forehead. "I can't believe I am missing the midnight premiere though, you will both have to promise to see it with me next week when I'm off work."
It wasn't a far drive, and Juliet's excitement level rose with every mile. Her father held his wife's hand as he watched her jump up and down in her seat from the rearview mirror.
When they reached the theater, Juliet scrambled out of the car without waiting for her mother to follow. Sally shook her head with a smile on her face. "Remind you of anyone?" She asked her husband.
He gave a low chuckle, "I have no idea what you are talking about, dear. I was never that headstrong!"
She leaned over for a kiss. "You still are, honey. I'll see you when the movie is over? Will you make sure to pick us up right after? I don't like waiting out here in the dark."
"You can count on it. I love you, Sally."
XX
Midland, Texas: 12:45 a.m.
"Sammy, get your ass off the computer, and help me soak these arrows." Dean Winchester grunted, throwing a wadded up paper take-out bag at his brother's head.
"I'm coming, I'm just checking on any John Doe's that have turned up in this area." Sam ran his fingers through his messy brunette hair, eyeing Dean.
"Dad's not missing, he just doesn't want to be found, so stop looking." Dean walked over to the small table on the far side of the crappy hotel room and slammed the laptop shut. "He sent us to these coordinates, so we need to just do our job."
Sam sighed in frustration, and stood up to help his brother. "I still don't understand why he won't just call us. We haven't seen him in months."
Dean didn't answer, and instead twirled the razor-sharp arrows in between his fingers. He dipped the edge into a dirty jar filled with a murky red liquid. "Dead Man's Blood. I can't wait to nail these blood sucking sons-of-bitches right between the eyes."
Sam prepared the two crossbows, and stuffed them in a duffle bag. Once they soaked at least twenty arrows, Sam and Dean tossed their gear into the trunk of the Impala and took off towards the abandoned warehouse.
"We've been doing surveillance on this place for a few days now, and there were at least twenty vamps to watch out for." Sam warned, "We need to be careful."
Dean rolled his eyes, "Careful is my middle name, Sammy. We got this."
"Sam. My name is Sam," he grumbled towards his brother. "Alright, so we shoot them with Dead Man's Blood, then what?"
Dean flashed a dark smile, "Then we cut off their heads. It's the only way we can kill them for good."
Sam shook his head, "That's going to be a lot of bloodshed, Dean. "
Dean just shrugged. Monsters were monsters, they all deserved to die. His family just helped them get there.
As they approached the Warehouse, Dean pulled over about a mile out and cut the engine. "Let's go."
They grabbed the duffle bag out of the trunk and quickly, but quietly, made their way towards the back of the warehouse. Once outside, they stocked the crossbows, and tucked their curved cleavers into the back of their jeans.
The brothers made their way towards the entrance, and once they were in position, signaled an understanding of their plan. They nodded once, and together Sam and Dean Winchester did what they do best, and all hell broke loose.
XX
As Sam listened to his brother behead the last vampire, he went around collecting the arrows that protruded from the dead vampires. "Eighteen…" he muttered to himself.
"What was that?" Dean grunted, wiping off the blood that had splattered across his face.
Sam looked up with a worried look, "We used eighteen arrows Dean. Eighteen arrows for eighteen vampires. There are still two out there!"
"We killed all the vamps who were here, Sammy. The other two must have gone out before we trashed the joint." Dean cleaned his cleaver off one of the dead vampire's clothing.
"Dean, they probably went out hunting…" His brother started, realization flashing in his eyes.
Dean cursed under his breath. "Shit...then we need to find these sons-of-bitches and kill them before they hurt anyone else."
The brothers left their kills behind in the warehouse, and tore off towards the Impala.
XX
Midland, Texas 2:35 a.m.
As a hundred people filed out of the old theater, Sally had her arm wrapped around Juliet, who was desperately trying to sleep standing up.
"Daddy will be here soon to pick us up, then you can go to sleep. I'm proud of you for staying awake through the entire movie!" Her mother chuckled, looking down at her daughter who kept dragging her feet.
"Mhhmm….They finally killed Voldemort...stupid snake...good job Neville…" Juliet muttered, her eyes drooping down in flutters.
They made their way outside, the rough dirt underneath their feet crunching. The theater was basically a construction site, the city wanted to attract more people, so they were redoing the sidewalks and parking lot. Sally craned her neck, seeing if Charlie's car was waiting for them.
Sally led her daughter underneath the lone streetlamp, and pulled out her phone to call her husband. After the fifth ring, Charlie answered. "Hi honey, are you on your way?...Well...get here as soon as you can, okay? It will be empty here soon."
Juliet looked up at the worry in her mom's voice. "What's wrong?"
Her mother shook her head, but smiled uneasily. "Daddy's work call ran late, he's leaving soon."
After another fifteen minutes, they were alone. The parking lot was empty, and Sally had waved goodbye to the teenage manager who had locked up behind him.
Juliet could feel her mother grow more and more uneasy. "Is Daddy almost here?"
Sally didn't answer, but dialed Charlie's number again. "Have you left yet, dear?" Relief flooded her face, "Good, good. See you soon. I love you."
Her mother turned back to her, "He's on his way now." Juliet nodded sleepily and laid her head against her mom's side. She had almost fallen asleep when she felt her mother tense.
"Wha-?" Sally pressed her hand against Juliet's mouth, gesturing for her daughter to stay quiet as she pulled them out from underneath the light.
What's going on? Juliet thought, trying to glance around her mom. Just before the street lamp flickered off, she caught sight of two tall men rounding the corner of the theater. They seemed to be searching for something...or someone. One of them took in a deep breath, and hit the other in the arm, saying something Juliet couldn't make out.
Together, they turned in their direction. Juliet willed her heartbeat to slow down, almost positive that the two men could hear it from a hundred yards away. Sally pulled her daughter behind her, and backed up towards the stone walls of the dark theater.
Juliet could almost feel the real fear rolling off of her mother, which in turn caused her to panic. As the two men got closer, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears, and a trail of sweat had begun to slowly roll down the side of her face.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" One of them asked. When they were about five yards away, Juliet could make out their appearances as her eyes adjusted to the dark. The one who talked was bald with black eyes, and sported a black leather jacket with dark jeans and combat boots. The other was more handsome, with spiked up dark hair, and a cut-off jacket with black skinny jeans.
Juliet breath caught with the way he was looking at her, with a deep rooted hunger that made her shiver in fear.
"I think the rest of the crew will be pleased, it looks like we found our dinner." The bald man said, his white teeth flashing in the dark.
"D-d-dinner? Please, just leave us alone." Sally's voice rose as she began to speak, trying to be brave in front of her daughter. She had her arms out in front of Juliet protectively.
"Now, now, you don't need to be afraid. It will only hurt if we want it to hurt." The bald man laughed darkly, but the one with the spikey hair hadn't taken his eyes off Juliet.
"You can take me, but please, leave my daughter alone!" She pleaded, letting one hand slip into her purse so she could grab her only line of defense.
"I don't think so. Jared here seems to be pretty fascinated with her." The bald man shrugged, gesturing towards his partner. Juliet's fear was bubbling over the top, and she desperately tried to keep the tears out of her eyes.
As the two men took a few steps closer, Charlie's car rounded the corner, and light flooded the scene. Juliet screamed as a set of fangs dropped down from the roof of their mouth. Vampires, she thought hurriedly, Vampires don't exist!
Sally pulled out her can of pepper spray and emptied it into their eyes, causing the two men to cry out in pain. She pushed her daughter towards the car, screaming for her to run to her father.
Juliet didn't need to be told twice, and took off towards Charlie, who was scrambling out of the car with a wooden baseball bat. "Get in the car, call 9-1-1, I'm going to go help your mother!" He yelled, thrusting the cell phone into her hand, and rushed off towards his wife, who was desperately trying to twist her arm out of the bald man's grasp.
When their eyes cleared, the two vampires were in a rage. The spikey haired one turned to find his target, who was closing in on the car. I don't think so….
In a flash of movement, he closed the distance between the two and grabbed Juliet around the waist, who was kicking and screaming for her attacker to let her go.
The bald man lashed out in anger, and used his strength to push her up against the stone wall. "You're going to be sorry, bitch!" He roared. Charlie finally reached the two, and smashed the bat across his head. To his horror, the man didn't even flinch. He turned around slowly, flashing his second set of teeth so that Charlie would know what was coming.
The roar of an engine gripped everyone's attention, and a Chevy Impala sailed onto the scene. Two guys in their early twenties shot out of the car, each carrying a set of crossbows with them. The taller one shot the spikey haired vampire right between the eyes, who had yet to let go of Juliet.
The shorter one, roared at the bald man, who had hit Charlie across the jaw, sending him flying. He moved quickly towards Sally, who was struggling to stand. The man with the crossbow fired, and hit his mark perfectly...but not before the vampire had slashed Sally's throat.
Charlie's screams were deafening, and he rushed towards his wife, scrambling her body into his arms. The man with the crossbow's jaw was set tight, and he dragged the paralyzed vampire away from the couple, and cut off it's head.
"Dean!" The taller one called out. Dean twisted around, and went to help the man tear the vampire's arms off of the little girl.
"Please, please help me!" She cried, tears falling from her face. She looked up through a haze to see the tall man's soft brown eyes lock with hers, trying to provide comfort.
"We are going to get him off of you, but I need my brother's help though, alright?" He said softly, trying to calm her down.
"What's going on, Sammy? Why can't you tear it's arms off her? He's paralyzed!" Dean asked in a rush, dropping to his knees with Sam.
Sam shook his head, "I don't know, it's like he's locked down. I need your help."
Together the two brothers yanked and pulled, but couldn't get the vampire's arms to unlatch from the girl. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?"
"Kill it, please, just kill it!" Juliet pleaded, grasping Sam's hand.
"Hey, hey, calm down, we aren't going to let it hurt you. But we can't kill it with it attached to you, okay?" Sam squeezed her hand in reassurance.
Dean grunted in frustration. "Damn right, we can't cut off it's head with you so close."
Juliet's sobs caught in her throat. "You have to cut off it's head?"
Sam nodded slowly, "It's the only way to kill a vampire."
Charlie's heartbreaking sob made Juliet freeze in her place. "Is my mom okay?" She asked, struggling wildly again to break out of her attacker's frozen arms.
The two brothers looked at each other sadly. Dean put a hand to his face, "I'm sorry...I couldn't get there fast enough."
Juliet stopped struggling, and looked back and forth between Sam and Dean. "Are you telling me my mother is dead?" She asked, barely a whisper.
They couldn't answer the girl, who looked completely broken and helpless in front of them. They returned to trying to detach the vampire's arms from around the girl's waist.
We were attacked by vampires.
My mother is dead.
My mother is DEAD.
My MOTHER IS DEAD!
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Juliet roared, causing the brother's to stumble back in surprise.
"Wha-?" Dean started, scrambling up from the ground. Sam grabbed his brother's jacket as the ground around them started to shake.
Juliet felt the pull in her stomach, and could only think about how she needed to get to her mom, needed to see it for herself. She let go of the emotion she was taught at a very young age to control. Juliet screamed in fury, and felt the ground beneath her answer her call.
Three razor-sharp rocks protruded from the ground in a flash, two piercing the vampire's arms, releasing her from it's grasp, and the other drilling right into its neck, separating it's head from the rest of the body.
She scrambled to her feet, not bothering to see the horrified looks on her rescuers' faces. Juliet ran towards her dad, who hadn't even looked up from his misery to see what his little girl had done. He was rocking his dead wife back and forth, muttering apologies in between sobs.
When his daughter placed a hand on his shoulder, he seemed to snap out of his trance. "I-I-I'm so sorry, Jules...H-h-ow…" She didn't answer, but threw her arms around her dad, grasping her mother's cold hand.
After a few seconds like that, Charlie shook his head furiously. "They were vampires, you were attacked by vampires!" His voice rising an octave.
"They're dead." Dean called out, sorry to break up their grieving. Charlie snapped his neck towards the brothers, scrambling up and placing himself between his daughter and the strangers.
Sam threw up his hands slowly, "Woah, we just want to help. We killed the vampires-or at least one of them, we aren't going to hurt you."
Charlie's eyes swept across the scene, and saw the remnant of the second vampire. Realization flashed in his eyes, and he slowly turned towards his daughter. "What...happened?"
"Yeah, that's something we would like to know too." Dean scowled, crossing his arms with a hard look on his face.
Juliet looked down in shame. "It wouldn't let go of me, daddy. Sam and Dean tried to get it off of me...but it just wouldn't let go…" She flinched as she touched the spots across her waist that now had the first stages of heavy bruising.
"And then mom….I had to get to her. I'm sorry…" Juliet stepped away from her father, guilt racking her for losing control like that.
Charlie fell to his knees and wrapped his little girl in a hug, "Honey, honey, I'm not mad. You did exactly what you should have done. You did a great job."
Sam walked up slowly and knelt down, "And what exactly did she do?"
The man wiped his eyes, and turned his daughter to face her rescuers. "Juliet is special. She has this power, that up to this point has been dangerous because she can't control it."
Dean stepped behind his brother. "What kind of power?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
Charlie sighed and looked at Juliet. "Well...she can move anything that comes from the ground. Dirt, rocks..she can bend it to her will, well if she concentrates hard enough."
Before they could ask any questions, he held up his hand and stood up slowly. "You two killed those vampires, how did you know how to? How did you know they existed?"
The two brothers looked at each other. Dean shrugged, "It's what we do...Saving People, Hunting Things. It's our job."
Charlie looked back at his dead wife that lay on the ground behind him, and then towards his strong, wonderfully alive, eleven year old daughter. He gave a sigh of resolution, then faced Sam and Dean Winchester.
"Teach me."
XX
Six Years Later
Beacon Hills, California: 9:45 p.m.
Charlie and Juliet Reed pulled into the driveway of their new home after a twenty-six hour drive. When the car came to a stop, Juliet was out the door before her father could even turn off the engine.
"Young lady, don't even think about entering that house without checking it first." Charlie called out a warning to his daughter, who had reached the front door.
Juliet flipped her long, strawberry blonde hair across a slender shoulder, and held up her spray bottle of holy water and her EMF reader. "Don't worry Dad, I'm not stupid."
She entered the simple, one story home with a flutter of butterflies in her stomach. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to come to Beacon Hills, California, but it was like something was calling her here. Her dad had argued with her for weeks, but it was her turn to choose where to live, so a deal was a deal.
Juliet swept the empty living room, kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and every closet she could find with her tools, and was content that they were "Paranormal Free," well, herself excluded of course.
She came back to the front room to see her dad dropping salt along the lines of the windows and doors, and she grabbed her own bag to help him seal off the rest of the house. Sure, it was strange, and weird, and every other crazy name in the book, but at least ghosts and demons couldn't find their way into their home.
After her father was content that they had thoroughly protected the house, he brought their luggage inside.
"Here, why don't you set up the two air mattresses, and I will start unloading everything." He asked, tossing her the pump. She got to work on filling up their make-shift beds, and waited for him to join her in the front room.
"Tomorrow we can go to the store and get some furniture, but I need to get some sleep after that drive." Charlie said with a yawn, dead bolting the front and back doors before stumbling onto his mattress.
"I still don't understand why we had to come here. It was so far away from Kansas CIty…" Her dad muttered, draping an arm across his face.
She shrugged and found her toiletry bag so that she could brush her teeth and wash her face. Juliet stood with a shoulder against the door frame brushing out her long hair. "Honestly I'm still not sure. It was like, I don't know, something was calling to me." She turned off the lights and tried to ignore how crazy that sounded.
Her dad stared at her in the dark, and then abruptly got up from his spot. "What? What's wrong?" She asked, immediately on her feet.
Charlie shook his head, "Nothing's wrong. I'm just not taking any chances with this new place, I'm calling Sam and Dean."
Juliet groaned. "Dad, you do not need to call the Winchesters! Everything will be fine, I'm fine!"
"I'm not going to tell them to come, don't get all riled up. I'm just going to let them know that we moved...and you know, ask if they have heard anything." He added sheepishly. Charlie loved the two boys like his own sons, and he knew they were fiercely protective over Juliet ever since the night they saved her. He also would be lying if he said he didn't want to see a friendly face after the rough year they had.
He stepped into one of the empty bedrooms and dialed Dean's number. After a few rings, he heard a gruff voice on the other end of the line.
"Yeah?"
"Dean, it's Charlie."
Charlie smiled when Dean didn't miss a beat, "Is Jules okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine. I just wanted to let you guys know that we moved out to Beacon Hills, California."
Dean groaned, "Charlie, thats so far away, why did you let her convince you to move so far from us?"
Charlie chucked, "She has a mind of her own, Dean. She's seventeen now, and it was her turn to choose."
"Doesn't mean we have to like it." Dean grumbled.
"I agree with you there. I just wanted to keep y'all informed, and will you let me know if there are any..talks...about going ons here?" he asked quietly, hoping Juliet wasn't listening.
A few moments of quiet laughter. "I see that southern twang of yours hasn't quite kicked it, aye Charlie? But sure, I'll talk to Sammy and see if anything weird has been going on over there."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "It's only been six years brother, I couldn't kick it even if I wanted to."
Dean chucked on the other end. "Don't want to. Stay safe, I'll call you back if we have something."
"You too, thanks Dean."
Charlie hung up the phone and carefully crawled into bed, trying not to make too much noise in case Juliet had fallen asleep.
"What did Dean say?" She asked with her back turned towards him.
"Stay safe." He answered shortly. It was a silent plea to stay alive until they saw each other next.
Juliet grumbled her frustration as she tried to drift off to sleep. She loved the Winchester boys like her own brothers, they had done so much for her and her dad. After...after that night, they took them to Bobby's, and got them all caught up on the Supernatural. At the time, they were looking for their dad, so they weren't around too much, but they would always call to check in.
Every few months or so, they would find each other, and Sam and Dean would be attached to her hip, trying to help her become a better hunter, and to help her control her, "gift" as her dad called it. None of them knew anything more about it, but she had grown enough to be able to control her emotions enough to channel whatever power she needed, when she needed it.
The brothers had helped her become stronger, and had turned her dad from a business man into a world class hunter. But they weren't needed here in Beacon Hills because Juliet and her father wouldn't be in any danger here.
At least that's what she hoped.
Of course, she was wrong.