A/N: Just a quick disclaimer, there are some lines of dialogue that I took pretty much directly from the PP script (which I found online), and I don't own those.
+ VIII +
Beca wouldn't say she was necessarily one for a lot of study - as a human she hadn't done much schooling, and even after she'd been turned there was a bit of a limit to what she put the effort into researching. Of course, she had to know how to change with the times, and be current on what technology was being created, how people talked to each other, those kinds of things. Point being, she wasn't one for seeking out random answers.
And yet she also made a few exceptions. There were things that grabbed her interest, and if she was being totally honest, myths were something she wanted to know more about. She was a vampire - which had to mean that there were other creatures out there that existed despite supposedly being fictional, right?
Naturally she had started with the existence of werewolves. Beca hadn't grown up around a lot of other vampires; the woman who sired her disagreed largely with most vampire politics, and around the time she turned Beca she had been in the middle of a time of solitude. So, as a young vampire, Beca had only been around her sire. Therefore she didn't know a ton of vampire culture, which led to her researching some of it on her own - when she and her sire went back to civilization, so to speak, Beca had been old enough to decide she didn't really need the crash-course that had been a little neglected to her after turning.
But when she realized there might be other creatures out there she knew she had to figure some things out. Her sire had explained some of it to her; for example, she was intimately aware of why vampires and werewolves didn't like each other. There had been feuds and even wars between them, their differences ranging from hunting or territory issues to more simple disagreements just based on how varied they were as creatures. Beca knew that, while both vampires and werewolves could just eat mammals like deer, they both preferred humans. It was a little... strange, at times, to think about. Vampires were no longer entirely human and they enjoyed drinking human blood. That was simpler to understand in Beca's mind, but that was only because she was a vampire. Werewolves on the other hand were still half-human, yet Beca was told that they would rather eat human meat. Still, eating animals such as deer was a much easier substitute for werewolves than they were for vampires.
Beca knew that quite a bit of the hostilities between them had died down for the most part a few decades ago. She had been there when her clan and the ruling pack of werewolves had signed a peace treaty - it was actually what had inspired her sire to become more involved with politics. She was tired of running and wanted to make a difference. Beca respected that, and it honestly didn't bother her that her sire was so busy as a result of that, because she always made time to be with her sired.
Still, Beca wasn't entirely sure how to discern a werewolf from just a human; her sire hadn't gone that far in explaining, because she thought Beca would probably never come across a werewolf. Even after the treaty had been signed (especially after the treaty, actually) werewolves and vampires had kept their distances from each other. For decades.
Now, though, Beca wished she'd asked more questions regardless. Being certain that they existed wasn't really going to help her much now. She knew enough to figure out why Chloe was acting so weird, but that was due to the fact that she already... well, believed in all that. It would just soothe her anxieties if she was prepared for things Chloe might do. There was no way in hell she thought the redhead would put any of her friends in danger - and especially not the Bellas - but as far as she was concerned, werewolves were known for having way less control over themselves when compared to vampires.
When Beca looked at Chloe now she realized she just wanted to know more about her - about her kind. Perhaps that was a bit insensitive, but she figured it was a way they could become closer, even if that seemed to exclude Aubrey. It also seemed unfair of her to be aware of Chloe's secret while Chloe wasn't aware of her own. But could she risk letting someone else know? Would she?
That question ultimately took her straight to Jesse's dorm around two in the morning.
She knocked as lightly as she could, hoping to not disturb her friend's roommate. Jesse was a light sleeper so she figured he would still wake up. And just as she suspected, a few moments after knocking the door opened a crack and Jesse poked his head out.
"Becs?" he yawned, squinting at her. "What are you doing here? Geez, do you have any idea how early it is?"
"I know, and I'm sorry," Beca whispered. "I just really need to talk to you."
Jesse blinked a few times and shook his head vigorously to wake himself up some more. He slipped the rest of the way out of his dorm and gestured down the hall a bit so they would be away from all the doors. They sat with their backs against the wall; Jesse rubbed his eyes for another moment and Beca sort of just stared at him anxiously. When he finally turned to her a brief look of shock crossed his features, but it was gone before Beca could even really be sure it was there. He took in her entire appearance and arched an eyebrow.
"You know, if anyone saw you running around campus this early in the morning, covered head to toe in blood, you'd probably cause mass panic," he drawled.
Beca rolled her eyes and growled lowly. "I know, Jesse."
He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying, Becs. I may be used to it, but if anyone else saw..."
Scowling, Beca glanced down at herself self-consciously. The majority of blood on her was smattered around her mouth and running down her neck and chest, which would have ruined her shirt had it not been designated for hunting (it seemed smarter than ruining outfit after outfit). Her hands were also mostly covered. She gazed at Jesse imploringly, not sure if she could say what was on her mind but really wanting to, and also seeking for a tiny bit of acceptance from her best friend. He said it didn't bother him - and it helped him to know it was just deer or some other animal's blood - but Beca could still see in his eyes that there was just some... hesitance he developed whenever he saw her in her true form.
And she had even reverted back to her "human form" before coming to talk to him.
Jesse's gaze softened in response to hers and he shifted a tiny bit closer, placing his hand on her knee. "What's going on?" he asked gently.
"I... okay," Beca sighed, glancing away momentarily, "let's say - hypothetically - that someone I know is... both like me, but also not."
"What?" Jesse said, frowning. "What does that even mean? Like another vampire?"
"Except not. Hypothetically."
Jesse rolled his eyes, but the look in them was mostly affectionate. "Okay, so, hypothetically there's this person you know, and they're not a vampire, but they're like one?" Beca nodded. "I don't get it," he huffed.
"Like a werewolf, Jesse."
His eyebrows shot up to his hairline and Beca's anxiety just increased. For a few moments he just stared at her. Then he said, very slowly, "Hypothetically?"
"Yes. And, hypothetically, let's say I know this about them, and I'm pretty sure they know I know, but I don't know how to actually come out and say that. I don't want to be careless with their secret 'cause I know how important it is to keep things like this hidden. And, I, uh, like... I don't know if I should tell them about me." Beca sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair. Now that she said it out loud she felt quite a bit better, even if the anxiety was still pressing down almost painfully on her chest. At least it was just centralized there - earlier she had felt it all the way down to her feet, making her a bit clumsy during her hunt.
Jesse nodded a few times, regarding her with a serious expression. Of course he knew she wasn't actually talking in hypothetical's. "So which issue is really bothering you more?" he asked, giving her knee a small squeeze.
"I think it would be really nice to be able to tell someone... about me," Beca huffed, tone mixed with another growl. She was still a little wired from her hunt, and it was taking quite a bit of self-control to keep herself grounded, despite the time she had taken before coming to calm down. "And I don't think it's fair for me to know this about this person and not tell them that I understand how they must feel. I mean, we're both hiding ourselves from the people around us - from our friends. That can get really lonely... even if you're surrounded by others."
"Then just tell this person," Jesse murmured. He paused and stared into Beca's eyes longer than he probably meant to just because of their hypnotic quality. "Are you gonna tell me who this person is, by the way?"
Beca shook her head. "No, sorry, dude. It isn't my place to say."
Jesse smirked, almost sadly, and nodded. "That makes sense. But it seems like you care about them, so I really do think you should tell them that you know, and if you think it's the right move, tell them about yourself as well. It's really up to you, Becs."
"What if they don't care about me as much as I care about them...?" Beca whispered, mostly to herself, but Jesse heard her anyway.
"You said it yourself - hiding your true self to everyone can get tiring and lonely," Jesse said. "They'll probably at least understand where you're coming from, and I know that you try to not outwardly care for people when they don't show the same care for you." He shrugged in response to Beca's confused frown. "The way you're talking about this person leads me to believe you and them are pretty close. Just sayin'."
"Okay," Beca huffed. "I mean... yeah. I think, uh, they'd say we're close, too."
Jesse nodded, his expression becoming thoughtful. "And are you absolutely certain this person is a, uh... werewolf?" He chuckled and shook his head. "Geez, that's weird to say."
Beca pushed him lightly. "I'm like 99% sure," she sighed. "Did you hear all that howling the other day? I'm pretty sure there aren't legit wolves on campus, and I disagree with what Aubrey told me about it just being a bunch of assholes in a frat playing a prank on everyone."
"Oh, right," Jesse said, lips quirking up into a smug grin. "You hung out with Aubrey, didn't you? And with Chloe."
The direction he was going in now was not one Beca wanted to join him on, and she felt herself blush as much as she was able. "Yeah?" she growled. "So? I can hang out with other friends besides you, can't I?"
"You don't have a crush on me. Or other friends."
Beca stiffened slightly. "I'm a few hundred years old," she snarled, "and a vampire. I don't get crushes, Jesse."
"But you told me you feel different about them," Jesse said patiently. "You said you don't feel like you just want to - I dunno, have sex with them - you just want them. And I seem to recall quite a bit of what you explained to me about mating, and that's exactly what this is sounding like. To me, anyway."
Beca hated it when he was right about things she should know about without his help. Yes, she'd told him all of that - but she was far from ready to acknowledge any of that. It wasn't the fact that she had two potential mates that gave her hesitance (that wasn't exactly unheard of), it was the fact that Chloe was a werewolf. That, and could they both mate with Aubrey, much less each other? Unfortunately, Beca realized she was going to have to ask her sire about it. Her anxiety practically tripled with that thought. "Um... okay, sure, maybe they're both my potential mates," Beca growled, avoiding Jesse's brown eyes. "I don't think I can deal with anything like that right now. You got me in this whole college mess, so now I have a lot more on my plate than I otherwise would have."
"Come on, Becs, you can deal with it all. You know that." She glanced over briefly to see the fond, loyal glimmer to his gaze. "It's still all up to you, though. Just do whatever you think is right in the moment. I know nationals are coming up, so you and the Bellas must be really bearing down in rehearsal-"
"Oh, you have no idea," Beca interrupted with a chuckle. "Aubrey is going absolutely nuts - and she still won't listen to any of my mixes."
Jesse grimaced in sympathy. "Are you worried about nationals?"
"I'm worried we're gonna lose," Beca admitted quietly. "I don't care a ton about winning, personally, but I know it means the world to Aubrey." And it probably meant quite a bit to Chloe, too, but the redhead wasn't being as crazy about it as the blonde was.
There was a slight pause and Jesse hummed. "Can you at least tell me if this werewolf you met is part of the Bellas?" he asked.
Beca just nodded.
He whistled and she snorted a little in laughter. "Alright. Well... good luck, dude."
Smiling, Beca rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, Jesse."
Beca thought she was going to be sick just from the way Aubrey was looking at her, so full of betrayal and confusion and anger. The rest of the Bellas stood behind the blonde, awkwardly shuffling as they watched. Aubrey had stormed up to her the second they were off the stage and Beca was just barely holding on to her visage of not caring as much as she really did; her response to Aubrey's yelling had been instinctive defensive sarcasm.
"In case you didn't notice, everyone practically dozed off during our set," she said, glad that her voice didn't waver, but she could feel her fingers trembling at her sides. She really did not like the idea that she had disappointed and upset Aubrey. At the same time she knew what she had done was in the best interest of the group. How else were they supposed to go on to finals when none of the judges liked their set, and Aubrey was too stubborn to let there be any changes to what they did?
"It's not up to you to decide what we do!" Aubrey snapped. Her face was flushed in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Why don't you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?"
Behind her the rest of the Bellas - including Chloe - shuffled more, averting their gazes from their small group member. Beca wished one of them would just say something if only to pull Aubrey's attention off of her for a brief second. She looked to Chloe and her hopes were abruptly dashed. Chloe had been so weird around her ever since the two of them had hung out with Aubrey, and Beca had made it pretty clear - at least, clear enough - that she knew what Chloe was. Now when she looked into those bright blue eyes she saw how... afraid Chloe was. Like Beca was just seconds away from blurting her secret just to get the attention off of herself. Beca would never do that, but it was obvious Chloe was worried about it, especially right now when all the brunette really wanted was just a little help to assuage Aubrey's rage. Instead, Beca turned to Amy, figuring the Australian girl was a good second choice. "Fat Amy?" she said.
"I mean, it was cool and all, but..." Amy sort of trailed off, still not looking Beca in the eyes, and certainly not looking anywhere near Aubrey. "I guess it sorta took us a little by surprise," she added, and the others mumbled a little in agreement.
"A lot by surprise," Aubrey growled.
"Aubrey," Chloe began timidly, even drifting closer to the blonde.
"It's okay, Chloe," Beca interrupted angrily. All her anxieties and even frustrations had snapped to a head before she could even realize exactly how she felt. "You don't actually think you have a say in the group, do you?"
Chloe visibly stiffened in offense, but it only lasted a second before her expression became one of confusion. Aubrey, on the other hand, looked even more pissed. She advanced on Beca so she was standing right in front of the brunette, towering over her with her height advantage. "Your attitude sucks," she snapped.
Beca still noticed how her voice seemed to waver. She shook her head, though, and ignored everything but her instincts, and her instincts were telling her to just run already. "Is this what I get for trying?" she growled, lower than she meant to - Aubrey flinched. "You know what? I'm done." She loosened the Bella scarf around her neck, yanked it off, and shoved it in Aubrey's hand. The anger in Aubrey's expression suddenly slipped away and she opened her mouth to say something, but Beca was already on her way out of the performance hall. Tears prickled at the edges of her vision and she took an unneeded deep breath in a futile attempt to calm herself, before anything could leak out.
She heard someone call her name as she was leaving, but since it wasn't Aubrey or even Chloe she ignored them. Amidst the feelings of frustration and hurt there was also guilt - by leaving now she wouldn't get to see the Trebles perform, and although she figured that would just add a little salt to the wound (Aubrey hated it if any of them were so much as near a Treble without a good reason) she felt bad for leaving without seeing Jesse perform. He was her best friend, after all. But her body had made up her mind for her; once she finally blinked through the unshed tears swimming in her eyes she realized she was outside, and a decent bit away from the performance hall already. She stopped and bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to just make everything feel okay again.
Why was Aubrey so mad at her? She had only been trying to help, and it absolutely was not her intention to make the blonde mess up a little choreography. It was just - nobody was even remotely interested in the Bellas, and if Beca hadn't done something then there was no way they would have any remote sort of chance. Aubrey would thank her when they advanced on to finals, just like she wanted.
Except... Beca realized she didn't want them to go on to finals, even after the stunt she had just pulled, and the fact that she had pretty much just left the Bellas. Aubrey seriously just needed to realize that something had to change if they really wanted to win. Because what they were doing now just didn't cut it, and Aubrey was too damn stubborn to figure that out.
Beca hissed in more breaths through her teeth; she felt out of control now more than anything, and it was familiar enough for her to grasp onto just to forget about everything else she was feeling underneath it. She was hungry, and she needed to fix that soon. Her last real hunt had practically been ages ago, and blood bags seriously didn't do what fresh blood did.
She moved to the closest cover she could find - a stretch of bushes on the other side of the road from the parking lot - and hid amongst them, body shuddering as she morphed into her less-than-human form. All she needed was a moment to figure out what she was going to do, but a sudden sound reached her ears and gave her pause. Slowly, she turned over her shoulder a bit, peering past the cover of foliage to look back at the entrance to the performance hall. Aubrey and Chloe were standing outside it; Aubrey was pacing, and it looked like Chloe was talking to her, just still too quietly for Beca to hear. It looked like they were arguing, and Aubrey seemed to be looking for something.
The fleeting thought that they were looking for her crossed Beca's mind and she shoved it away. Why would either of them want to talk to her right now? She had put off talking to Chloe about anything, and that had damaged their relationship already. And what she just did during their performance? She would be lucky if Aubrey ever forgave her.
Gritting her teeth, she turned her back on them, stood quickly, and ran. Her speed got her to some fast-food restaurant in about five minutes flat. It was late enough that there were hardly any cars in the parking lot, and nobody was in the drive through, but Beca didn't care about any of that. She was there for the same reason they were - for some fast-food. Something that wouldn't take too much effort to hunt down.
She picked a car, popped the lock open - a little trick she'd taught herself to aid in some hunts - and hid in the backseat to watch the doors, waiting for the person who owned the car to come out. Fortunately she didn't have to wait too long before a man, middle-aged and probably on some sort of night shift, came and got into the car. She waited until he shut his door and placed his food on the passenger seat before she acted.
It was always disappointing to her how little most people fought for their lives.
She didn't even really need to use her speed; she lunged forward and curled her body around so she would have a decent access to his neck, sinking her fangs in. The man let out a startled, confused cry that morphed into a pained scream as she started sucking his blood out through his jugular vein. He tried a few times to hit her, but they were feeble attempts, and Beca was working fast enough that he was soon too weak to do much of anything. His hands gripped meekly at her hair, pulling it out of its bun, and tugged at the collar of her shirt. It was over sooner than Beca would have liked.
Disengaging from his neck, Beca licked away the blood that had dribbled past her lips. She looked at the man - his skin was now horrendously pale, even a little gray, and his features were hollow - and then her gaze flicked over to the rearview mirror.
It wasn't true that vampires couldn't see their reflections, and although Beca didn't know why that was or anything, she did know that she had probably never loathed herself more than she did in this very moment. There was blood on her face and she was still in her true form; her eyes were a bright, smooth silver, seeming a bit more sunken in than they actually were, the irises outlined with a little red but mostly black. The bones in her face were a bit sharper, the bones of her jaw longer, and her cheeks were sort of hollow, quite like the now-dead man's. Her skin was even paler than it usually was and gave off a very faint grayish glow. Looking down at her hands she saw her fingers were a bit longer and her nails had become something akin to claws, long and sharp, able to easily slice through flesh. She looked back into the mirror. Her lips were a very pale kind of pink, but her fangs glistened a bright, clean white. And, poking out from her hair, were the tips of her pointed, sort of bat-like ears.
She glanced away quickly in shame. She wasn't sure if she had ever felt like she did right now, so embarrassed of what she was and hateful towards herself. Tears once again sparked up in her eyes and she hurriedly got out of the car, barely remembering to make sure the man didn't fall out and make sure no one saw her get out. Without really thinking she turned in one direction and just ran.
In hindsight she wasn't all that surprised with where she ended up, even if she didn't realize just where that was until she was knocking on her sire's door, Barden now about two states behind her. She blinked a few times and wiped away any remaining tears that hadn't been dried up by the wind hitting her face while she ran. A few seconds ticked by before the door was opened and her sire stood silhouetted in the doorway; the older, slightly taller woman frowned down at Beca in confusion.
"Beca?" Nadine said, her soft, thick French accent coming through prominently just from uttering the one word. "What are you doing here, chérie?"
"Um," Beca sniffled, "hi. I'm sorry, I just..." Her words got clogged up in her throat and all she could manage was a small whimper, before the onslaught of sobs she was so desperately holding back tumbled past her lips in full force. She stepped forward and into Nadine's arms, feeling a little calmed by the soft cooing noises her sire whispered into her hair.
"Oh, mon petit papillon," Nadine sighed. "Come inside and tell me all about it."
Beca could only nod mutely and follow her in past the threshold. She was guided over to the couch in the living room; Nadine disappeared from her side as she sat down, only to reappear with a glass of water that she placed on the glass coffee table in front of them, on top of a coaster. The older vampire just sat beside Beca and gently rubbed her back while she continued to cry a little while longer. Eventually Beca was able to calm down enough to get a few words in, to explain why she was there without any warning.
"I messed up, Nadine," she whimpered. "I was just trying to help - everyone was, like, dozing off during our set so I started singing a different song that I thought mashed well with the one we were doing, and it seemed to help, but Aubrey got mad at me and Chloe wouldn't even help me out and-"
"Slow down, Beca," Nadine interrupted her, gently but forcefully. "Aubrey and Chloe... the two girls you think are potential mates for you?"
Beca nodded. That was about the extent of what she'd told her sire - she was too scared to say anything else, namely the fact that Chloe also just so happened to be a werewolf.
"Well, if that connection is real, they must feel it, too," Nadine murmured. "They'll come around, Beca. However, you should also come around and apologize to them as soon as you can - otherwise they may feel as if it wouldn't be worth their time."
Again, Beca nodded, feeling mute. It was probably now or never if she was going to come clean to her sire. "There's something you should know about Chloe," she whispered under her breath, hoping Nadine wouldn't hear it, but of course she did. The older vampire gave her a supportive, go-ahead nod, gaze swimming with sympathy. Beca realized she had neglected to shift back into her "human" form, but that hardly mattered at this point. She tried to steady herself a little, glancing away briefly before locking back onto Nadine's eyes, which were such a dark brown they were practically black, but warm nonetheless.
Beca sat up a bit straighter and squared her shoulders.
"Chloe is a werewolf."
A/N: OH BOY YOU GUYS. I am sooo excited to write the next chapter, and I want you guys to be excited too, because so many good things are gonna happen in it. With that being said, it might take me a tiny bit longer to get that chapter up - it also might not - just because I'm no longer ahead of myself. Just a warning in case that does happen.
But yeah, tell me what y'all think of this chapter! I hope you guys like being introduced to Beca's sire, and she's gonna come up more later of course (same goes with Chloe's family and her pack). Also if anyone notices that any French I use isn't correct it's because I just used google translate - I don't personally know, like, any French. If you want, please correct me!
And please let me know if the description of Beca's vampire form makes sense. I figured most of it does, except maybe one or two parts... just tell me if anything confuses you!
