Dinner of that same day came and everyone took their usual seats, Julia seated far away from Barnabas and Josette. The moment the two feuding vampires were both in the room, ever other person in the room could feel the tension in the air so thick they could cut it with a knife. As the orange-haired vampiress began to eat her food, she looked over at Barnabas to see if he was being all lovey-dovey with Josette. To her immense displeasure, they were smiling and joking quietly to each other. Not wanting to torture herself more, she looked back down at her plate.

No sooner had Julia looked away than Barnabas looked up at her instead. She was looking like her usual self. She had the glazed over eyes that come with a hangover but otherwise looked pretty neutral. If it wasn't for the altered appearance, he would think she was back to normal. Josette called his name and broke his attention, his gaze shifting back up to her.

They continued doing the same thing, each staring without the other noticing, for most of the meal. After a while, their gazes finally met, and neither could look away. Julia, at first, began panicking internally. After a few moments, a small smirk crept across her face. She took a bite of her food, and pulled the fork out slowly, sucking on it loosely as she did so, then licking off whatever was left on it. Barnabas' eyes went slightly wider and he, shameful as it may be, was strangely aroused by what she was doing.

"Barnabas!" Josette said in a loud whisper, nudging him in the arm to break his attention away from the woman sitting just a few seats down.

He quickly turned to her and snapped suddenly back into reality. "Oh, I'm sorry, my love. I was thinking about something.

"You weren't thinking about her, were you?

"No no, not at all." He reassured her, even though it was a complete and total lie, with a small smile

Julia grinned again as she spun her fork around on the plate, setting her elbow on the table and resting her chin on the palm of her hand. She caught Barnabas glancing at her again a few moments later. Her grin grew and she bit her pinky, which made him hastily look down at his food again. Finding the obviousness of the whole situation amusing, she quietly laughed a little to herself.

The rest of the meal went by more as usual: mostly quiet, uneventful, and extremely awkward. When she finished, Julia yawned, stretched, then stood up. Without a word, she took her leave and went out the front door. She went for a long walk and, on the way back, heard a noise within the trees around her home. Sensing an opportunity, she followed the noise, rustling and giggling from both a man and a woman, and discovered a young couple being intimate, both fully unclothed. She cleared her throat to announce her presence and they both looked up at her, their eyes glazed over, their mouths opened in large, stupid grins. "Oh heyyyy! Who are you?" the man asked.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Julia raised part of her lip in disgust.

"We're just showing our love, man. Nothing wrong with that." the girl said, laughing a little as she spoke.

"Hey!" The man looked like he had just had a great epiphany and stood up. Julia's eyes went a bit wider and she couldn't help but look down. "Why don't you join us, huh? There's always room for more with love!"

"Yeah!" The girl flipped over and laid on her stomach, holding herself up with folded arms. "Come oooon. It would be fun!"

Julia sat speechless for a moment, unsure of what to say. After she realized how well she could take advantage of this situation, she smiled and looked at the man again, this time at his face. "Sure. I guess it couldn't hurt." The couple cheered as she walked towards them, blissfully unaware of what she had in store for them.

After they finished, both women laid on the man's chest, one on each side, as he had his back to a tree. He puffed on a roll of the very thing that had caused them to act like this in the first place, then passed it to the girl. Once she got a puff, she coughed then passed it to Julia, who took it and inhaled deeply. "That was soooo fun." Julia said, acting as if the substance was affecting her more than it really was.

"Yeah. It was." The man agreed.

Julia put her hand on his chest then looked up at him. "Can I do just one more thing?"

"Sure thing, babe. What?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just..." She sat up and kissed his neck, then quickly bit down. Too out of his mind to figure out exactly what was happening, he just winced.

"Whoa, lady, that's a little too rough for me!" He looked down and saw the blood running down his chest, then shouted. The girl sat up and saw it as well, then screamed from sheer terror as the man's eyes drained of life and he fell limp and lifeless before her. Julia's head shot back, her mouth dripping with blood, as she let out a slight moan. The feeling of draining someone's life like that was far more pleasing than what she had just done with them only moments earlier. She licked a little of the blood that had trickled onto her hand, then shifted her gaze to the trembling girl sitting on the ground only a few short feet away from her. She was frozen, unable to move, too scared of what this strange woman might do. Julia pounced on her, pinning her to the ground, and licked her neck to tease her. The girl was trembling like a leaf during a hurricane and Julia grinned again before biting her as well. Within moments, she was just as far gone as her lover.

Julia stood up and licked her lips. She looked down at the lifeless corpse of a young woman beneath her, then noticed that the girl had been lying on her clothes, which were now stained with red. Her grin faded, as the girl's clothes were hideous and she wouldn't be caught dead in them. "Damn." She sighed then got herself dressed again before returning to Collinwood, expecting that everyone (besides maybe Barnabas and Josette) would be asleep, so she should be able to sneak in without being noticed.

As expected, Julia did slip in without seeing anyone, unaware that one pair of eyes did catch sight of her. She made it to her room and shut the door without turning back, only to hear it stopped by someone. She turned and saw Barnabas standing in the doorway with his usual puppy dog-like look. "You've killed again."

"Yeah. So? It's not like this is a surprise to you. Now could you shut the door before someone hears you?"

"I suppose it is best not to risk worrying the family." The old vampire slipped into the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Julia grabbed a lighter and a cigarette from off a dresser then sat on the bed cross-legged. "I take it you're going to lecture me again?" She put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it, then blew a cloud of smoke into the air in front of her.

"I only wish to ask you one question."

She held the cigarette between two fingers and switched her crossed legs around. "Shoot, bat boy."

Barnabas swallowed hard and couldn't help staring as she moved her legs, her dress being rather short. He cleared his throat then walked a few steps closer to her. "Why do you continue to kill others?"

The vampiress took another puff on her cigarette and sat silently for a few moments as the smoke slowly leaked out of her mouth, looking up at her visitor. "I don't fight my natural impulses."

"Why? I fight it every moment that I still remain living, and Josette has yet to even taste the blood of man. Would you rather be a monster?"

"Look. Just because you would rather supress what you are and live in denial doesn't mean I would. If I'm going to live forever, I'd rather enjoy myself."

"But that will only guarantee your damnation should you ever actually die."

Julia stood up and approached the vampire, taking another puff and blowing it in his face, making him cough. "Just being what we are ensures damnation. We feed off of blood, the very life force that keeps both humans and other creatures alive. We literally drain the life of our victims every time, no matter how much we take."

"You do not even wish to try?"

"What, and give up that amazing, wonderful feeling as I sink my teeth into the warm flesh of someone's neck, tasting the delicious, crimson blood that flows from the wounds, then watching as the last light of life leaves their eyes?" She bit her lip and shuddered from the very thought of it. "That is the greatest pleasure in the world."

Barnabas took a step back and reached his hand out behind him, attempting to grab the doorknob but still being too far away. "It is not as wonderful as you say if it is followed by immense guilt."

Julia moved towards him as quickly as he moved away. "Are you saying you don't enjoy it, Barnabas?" She flicked the cigarette away and held her hand behind her back, balling into a fist so tight that her claws dug into her own skin. "That you don't enjoy...this?" She lifted her hand up and held it in front of his face, then let her fingers glide lightly down his cheek. Instinctively, he held onto her tiny little hand and held it to his mouth, sucking on the open wound. Within moments, however, he realized what he was doing and snapped on her. He launched himself at her and pinned her to the bed, his hand firmly around her throat. "Do not tempt me, you vile woman!"

Though it was extremely strained, Julia managed to somehow speak. "If I can tempt you, you're not as innocent as you think." She winced as he tightened his grip, her voice becoming even more strained. "Please...not again..."

In that instant as she begged for her life, the old vampire realized what he was doing, and that he was only sinking back to her level. He eased his grip and released her, but remained silent. She laid still for a few moments, breathing heavily, then sat back up. "It's really pointless, Barnabas. You think you can fight it, but you can't. You will never be rid of your true nature, even if Angelique is gone. Fight it all you want, but it will always be there, no matter how much you try to deny it."

Barnabas still remained silent, her words catching him off guard. She spoke the truth, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He knew full well that he would be forever fighting his murderous impulses as long as he lived. He had thought it worth it, but she mentioned the one part that had never crossed his mind. Angelique, who had brought the curse on him in the first place, was now dead, and her curse had not been undone. Now, without her, there was no possible way to ever break it. Could he really fight against himself for so long? His mind now reeling, he quickly left the room without another word.

Julia rubbed her neck where he had held it, then stood up to grab another cigarette. She stared at it for a moment and eventually put it back. All she could think about now, after having him choke her, was that same question she had already asked herself a million times. Why did she still love him? Why would she still be in love with a man that had killed her once and had attempted to kill her at least once since then?