Disclaimers: NW concepts and characters belong to LJS. Everything else is mine.
Summary: Jakob Redfern was a psychotic vampire killer brought down by Circle Daybreak vampire hunters. His innocent soulmate Juliet is trying to forget the monster that was her one and only. But someone doesn't want her to forget. Someone who blames Juliet for what her monstrous soulmate did. Juliet must find out what's going on, before she joins Jakob eternally.
Part 1
The scream echoed from her throat, high enough to shatter glass. Tears of rage and anger streamed down her cheeks. She clung to the body, dead eyes would have been looking at her...if they eyes had been left in the head.
The heart was gone as well.
He always took the eyes and the heart. It was one of the trademarks of his kills.
But was about to pay.
* * *
Jakob Redfern was a psychopath. He knew he was and didn't give a damn. It was the high light of his long miserable life. He tossed the eyeballs away and held the heart of his victim up high. Too small. You couldn't eat something like that. Disappointed, he tossed it away too. Maybe next time he'd do better. The murder hadn't been as fun as planned. There were always things that could have been improved upon.
Lost in thought he didn't hear the hunters come up behind him. And before long. He was surrounded. Annoyed, he looked at them. They all stood there, torches in hands, along with stakes, and anything that could kill him.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" he asked, rather irritated.
And the next thing he knew was they were upon him. As the mob tore him limb from limb, he laughed and laughed. Spoiling his fun. But it didn't matter.
He'd be back.
* * *
Juliet looked out the window, trying not to shudder as the mob closed in on him. She felt her skin turn icy as she heard him laughing as he was slaughtered. But it was all for the better, really.
"He's dead now," Erin Morrigan said comfortingly. "He can't hurt anyone anymore."
Juliet just nodded, hoping Erin was right. Yet she had the feeling that Erin might be wrong. Death wasn't always the end.
* * *
~200 years later~
Juliet woke up fro the nightmare, the sweat pouring down her forehead. She looked at the clock and groaned. 5:54. She sighed and shook her head, deciding she might as well get up. She didn't know why, even after all this time she was still afraid. Jakob had been dead for two centuries now. He was gone. Gone.
She had moved away from their town of Moon Bay, but now, she didn't know why she was back there now. Boxes were still all over the floor as she hadn't finished unpacking yet.
Maybe it was being back here that had started the nightmares. Why had she come here? She had thought that maybe if she came back, then she could finally accept the fact that Jakob was long dead and couldn't hurt anyone anymore.
She was a lot luckier than the other girls he had hit on. But not so lucky, soulmated to a monster. She shuddered. He's dead, she told herself firmly. Dead. Get yourself together. You have a new life to start.
Settling down here again was going to be hard enough. Juliet sighed, deciding she might as well get up. If she went back to sleep she would only have more nightmares.
She didn't know the nightmares wouldn't stop when she was awake.
* * *
She had one hell of a nerve! After that monster of hers that little bitch thought she could just waltz back in here as if nothing had happened? Oh no.
No.
That wouldn't happen.
Juliet was the one who should have died. She should have paid along with that monster of hers.
The figure watching the house felt their lip curl. She would make sure Juliet paid for what her *soulmate* had done.
* * *
As Juliet walked down the crowded halls of Moon Bay High she was more nervous than she could remember being in a long time. She kept expecting someone to recognise her, remember that her soulmate had been a psychotic monster and had slaughtered half the town, and blame her and come running at her and kill her too...
She shook her head, trying not to focus on the past. The present was hard enough. She found her locker without too much trouble and deposited her jacket. She glanced at her schedule, finding her first class.
She felt shy as she looked for somewhere to sit, seeing curious eyes inspecting her. She knew what they would see, someone who looked delicate and fragile, a mane of pale gold hair cascading down her back, eyes that shifted colour like the lights in a glacier, traits of her Redfern heritage.
Juliet found a seat at the back and sat down.
"Hey, are you new?" a friendly voice said.
Juliet looked up to see two girls had sat down in the seats next to her and in front of her. "Yeah. Juliet Redfern."
The one girl's eyebrow raised. "You're a Redfern?"
Juliet was a little wary, she knew that talking about the Night World was forbidden, but simply nodded carefully. "And you are...?"
"Athena Harman," the girl said, sitting down. "This is Sirena Blackthorn."
Juliet brightened a little, recognising both the surnames. But she wasn't sure if they were Daybreak or Night World.
"We're..." Sirena started, but stopped, looking over at Athena, who just shrugged.
"We're Daybreak," Sirena said in a soft voice to avoid being overheard by the other students.
Juliet felt a wave of relief. She could deal with Night Worlders, but Daybreak was her preferred choice. They had been a big help with her problems in getting over her psychotic soulmate.
"Oh, that's good, me too," she said. She spent the rest of the day learning her way around, and how to fit in, Athena and Sirena were a big help, and introducing her to the other Daybreakers. There was Shannon Keller, a leopard shapeshifter and Dellon Redfern, a made vampire. He was kind of cute, in Juliet's opinion anyway.
But something was bothering her, apart from past memories. It seemed everywhere she turned she could see someone glaring at her, her expression cold with hatred and fury. The girl was tall, with skin like marble, eyes of shining silver, raven hair cascading down her back. Juliet didn't understand why the girl was giving her such horrible glares.
"Who's that?" she asked Dellon in a soft voice as they headed out of last period English, after seeing the girl glaring at them again.
Dellon smiled a little. "That's the Wicked Witch of the West," he said.
Juliet gave him a look. "Seriously."
He sighed. "That's Vega Nightshade, a lamia," he muttered. "Resident Queen of Bitches. Leader of a Night People gang."
Juliet didn't say anything. Why was she glaring at her like that. This time Vega walked over to them, the heels of her high black boots clicking on the floor. Her long leather skirt made swishing noises. Her revealing top showed a rather daring amount of cleavage. She stopped in front of Juliet, arms folded.
"You don't belong here," she said in a husky voice that set Juliet's teeth on edge.
Juliet blinked. "Excuse me?"
"After what that monster of yours did, do you think we're just going to let you settle down here like nothing ever happened?" Vega's dark lips were curled in contempt.
Juliet stared at the girl, feeling a stab of terror starting to rise. "I..."
Vega laughed harshly. "You're gonna wish you'd never been born." And with that she sauntered away.
Dellon was looking at Juliet, a frown on his face. "What was that all about?"
Juliet shook her head. "I don't know," she lied. "I have to go now." She grabbed her stuff from her locker and fled.
* * *
Vega Nightshade smirked, in a very good mood now. She enjoyed scaring the wussy little excuse of a vampire. She hadn't even known how Juliet had managed to survive for so long. She shook her head in disgust. It didn't matter anyway.
She was getting even.
She had her Night World spies watching Juliet's every move, and her plan was already set in motion.
"What do you want to do with this, Vega?"
Vega turned, smiling as Dace Redfern brought in an unconscious human. "Would have been better if the bitch was conscious," Vega said. She shrugged. Couldn't have everything.
"You never said anything about being awake," Dace snorted. "You're impossible." With that he turned and walked away.
Vega stared after him for a moment, and shook her head. Jerk. She only put up with him because he was cute. Dumped the unconscious human girl on the table set up in the basement of the house she and her Night People lived in.
With a cruel smile she plunged her hand into the girl's chest, ripping out the heart. She could feel a warm rush as blood seeped out over her hand. The ribs were annoying, but easy to break as she tugged on the heart.
She put it in a small gold dish lying next to the victim's head. The thrill of death would have been more fun if the girl had been alive and screaming. But it wasn't this particular girl that Vega most wanted to hear screaming.
Next came the icky task of gouging out the eyes. Using her razor sharp nails she dug into the soft flesh around the eyeballs and pulled, wincing as she saw the skin ripping.
As she continued to mutilate the body, flashes kept flowing through her mind. Darkness. Coming home. Blood. Body...her sister...Morticia...dead...no eyes...bastard!
Vega shook her head furiously, shaking away the memory. No. She wouldn't think about it. All she would think of was her revenge. It would all be worth it to force Juliet into killing herself.
She smiled once she was done with the eyes. Juliet was going to get a little surprise in the morning.
* * *
Juliet was unhappy the following morning as she arrived at school, plagued by nightmares all night. She hadn't thought of Jakob in over two hundred years., up until she'd come back here.
As she headed towards her locker, she could see Vega and her Night People friends hanging out near by, glaring at her furiously. She tried to ignore then, cheering up a little when she saw Athena and Sirena heading down the hall towards her.
"You look terrible," Athena said brightly.
Juliet smiled dryly. "Thanks a lot," she muttered, heading in the direction of her locker. The other two fell into step with her.
"Seriously," Sirena said. "Are you okay?"
Juliet sighed heavily. "Bad night," she said quietly. "Bad memories. I don't want to talk about it." She didn't want to scare them away from her was what she meant.
They reached her locker. Juliet wasn't sure why she could feel a tingling apprehension at the back of her neck. She looked at her arm to see all the fine hairs were standing on end.
She frowned a little, wondering what was going on. It almost seemed like a premonition. Premonitions were a witch thing, weren't they?
She opened her locker.
And screamed.
Inside, on the little shelf, was a heart and two dead eyes staring at her. Fear washed over her, and she could see other students coming to see what was going on, screaming at the sight too. Juliet stood frozen to the spot, not really seeing what was going on around her anymore.
Because the heart and eyes were what Jakob took from his victims. What did that mean? That Jakob was back? Considering the situation, Juliet did the only sane thing she could think of.
She ran.
* * *
The night was dark and shimmering with stars. Morticia Nightshade danced around the cemetery in a very good mood. She had been waiting so long for this and now everything was ready.
She slided over to the grave she had made, baring the name and dates of birth and death of one handsome Jakob Redfern. It was her opinion that Jakob deserved to be remembered.
She smiled dreamily, kneeling down in front of the little shrine she'd made, placing down a bouquet of dead roses tied with a black ribbon. Black candles were burning.
Her raven hair shimmered strangely in the lighting, her midnight eyes sparkling. She had loved Jakob. But he had died. He had gone. Her lip curled into an unhappy pout.
But then the pout lifted, and Morticia smiled radiantly. It didn't matter anymore. Everything was ready and prepared.
She was going to bring him back.
* * *
Athena wondered vaguely if there was something going on that Juliet wasn't telling them. Why Vega despised her so much was a mystery, and the heart and eyes in the locker...more than a little disturbing.
"So someone's putting hearts and eyes in Juliet's locker," Sirena said as they headed to the local Daybreak office. "And why is it that someone should do that?"
Athena frowned. "That's what we're trying to find out. It just doesn't seem...right. Vega's taking this hatred thing a little too far."
Vega putting the...objects...there really wasn't much of a surprise. But what was her problem, anyway? There were other, older Daybreakers in town who seemed to look at Juliet with such distaste.
Juliet seemed like a perfectly nice person, but what did the word "nice" actually mean when it came to describing a person? Anyone could be, well, anyone. No matter how well you thought you knew someone, you never really knew another person.
So maybe Juliet wasn't as innocent as she seemed. And that's what they were going to find out at the research room. Every town had a Daybreak resource centre in it. And for times like this, they could actually be useful.
But the research itself was hard, and seemed to come to a lot of untied ends, there were quiet a few Juliets in Night World and Daybreak history, but there was one who had lived in the town of Moon Bay when it had just been forming, almost two hundred years ago.
"Look at this," Sirena said, pulling out an old book. When the town had been formed at first, it had just been full of Night People, and they had taken a name and a drawing of everyone who lived there, since cameras and photography hadn't been invented yet.
Athena looked at the drawing that Sirena was pointing at. Clearly, their Juliet Redfern.
Sirena was shaking her head as she read the accompanying text. "Poor Juliet," she said sympathetically. "Apparently her soulmate was no Romeo. He was a vicious psychotic vampire killer, Jakob Redfern, wanted by everyone cause he was..." She trailed off, searching for a word.
"A psycho?" Athena supplied.
Sirena smiled without humour. "Yeah. A group of vigilantes got him in the end. One of his victims was..." She studied the list of names. "Morticia Nightshade..."
Athena raised her eyebrow. "Relation of Vega?"
Sirena turned and looked at another book, information she'd found on Vega and the Nightshade clan. "Yeah. They were twins."
Athena sat back in her chair, studying the info on Jakob. Hearts and eyes were his trademarks, they were what he'd taken from his victims. "So Vega wants revenge against Juliet? Simply because Jakob was her soulmate, even though she was terrified of him?"
"Crazy, but true," Sirena said with a frown. "But what if..." She trailed off.
Athena looked at her, eyebrow raised. "What if...?"
Sirena shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "Well, what if all this has brought up a lot of bad memories for Juliet, and she's lost it and has started killing like he has, or what if he's been reincarnated and he wants her back?"
Athena frowned. "Vampires can't reincarnate, and I would certainly say that psychotic ones can't. As for Juliet's memories taking over...maybe she doesn't even realise what she's doing?"
"Or maybe this is Vega doing it and this is what she wants to make us think," Sirena said flatly. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, sighing heavily.
"I'd go for that one," Athena said dryly. "But my guess is we just watch ourselves. We don't want another psycho back."
* * *
As Juliet walked down the school hallway the following morning she could hear the whispers as she passed by. Everyone kept looking at her, then whispering to each other.
No one seemed to want to talk to her directly. She kept her head high, and tried to ignore the stairs and whispers. The heart and eyes in her locker hadn't been her fault.
Yet she wasn't too sure...Had she been thinking of Jakob enough to subconsciously act like him? She shuddered. No. No way. She had hated him, he had terrified her. She didn't care that they were soulmates.
But maybe this was the essence of the principle, coming back to get her for that. Your soulmate was supposed to be the one person meant for you more than anyone else.
You were supposed to be incomplete and feel empty without them. But she had been *glad* when Jakob had died. He was a psychopath! Nobody wanted a psychopath for a soulmate!
Was she being punished for feeling this way? It seemed like it. During the morning classes, she hid at the back of the classroom, trying to avoid the eyes and whispers.
It was hard to ignore it when you knew everyone was talking about you. When lunch came she headed into the cafeteria, looking to see if anyone she knew was around.
She spotted Sirena and Dellon at a table and headed over to join them. She was a little upset to see them both exchanging glances as she approached.
"Hey, what's up?" Dellon said unenthusiastically as she sat down.
Juliet flushed a little. "Not much," she said.
Conversation was noticeably lacking, making her feel like an intruder. She had thought she was becoming friends with these people, and now they were acting distant.
She looked around and saw Vega and her Night People smirking. Her expression darkened a little. What was that little bitch up to?
* * *
Vega felt better than she could ever remember feeling in a long time. She could see the effect that the discovery of the heart and eyes in Juliet's locker had done to the student body.
They were all afraid of her, she could almost smell the fear in the cafeteria at the possibility of a crazy person amongst them.
Her plan was going very well. With any luck they'd have Juliet driven out within a few weeks at the latest.
But Vega didn't know she wasn't the only one with a plan that was going well.
* * *
Jakob Redfern blinked. His vision wasn't quite right at first. The last thing he had seen was that mob of damned Daybreakers coming after him...
And now, he was here, in a cemetery, and a beautiful girl who looked like the essence of darkness was smiling at him, grinning from ear to ear. Her perfect lips were emphasized with blood red lipstick showing bright against her marble like skin.
"Morticia?" he asked, afraid to believe in case the illusion would shatter.
Morticia threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, kissing him for all she was worth. It had been too long since he had had a girl in his arms. Being dead certainly did have some disadvantages.
Morticia pulled back slightly and looked at him, smiling seductively. "I brought you back."
He nodded, looking around the cemetery and the ritual she had set up around his grave. Even he had to admit, he was impressed.
"I'm hungry," he said.
Morticia clapped in delight. "I knew it!" she said brightly. "Let's go into town and paint it red, and blue, and other pretty dark colours." She danced around the grave site.
Jakob smiled slightly, letting her pull him off in the direction of town. Morticia always did have a screw lose somewhere in her head. But she did know how to have a good time.
It had been too long since he'd last killed. A scent of something caught his nostrils. He held up a hand and Morticia stopped, standing still as a statue.
The sound of high heels on concrete caught his ears. He looked around, spying a girl walking down the path that led between some of the graves. Small, with shimmering fine pale hair and violet eyes, glinting faintly in the moonlight.
A Harman witch. Should make a nice snack. Witch blood always gave him an extra little thrill. He sauntered over to the girl, stopping in front of her. She gave him an irritated glare.
"Get out my way," she snapped at him
Jakob stared at her, and she stared back at him. Looking down at himself Jakob realised he was still dressed in 17th century clothing. He guessed quite a time had gone by, this girl was looking very different than the girls had looked back then.
"So rude," he said with a sigh. Before the stupid witch could do anything he'd reached out and grabbed her shoulders, he could hear Tish laughing as the witch screamed when his fangs went into her throat. The hot blood gushed into his mouth, filling him with a pleasant tingling sensation. Having drunk his fill, he pulled his teeth out, and looked at the body critically. With a smirk at the dying witch, he plunged his hand into her chest and ripped out a perfectly shaped human heart.
"Don't forget the eyes," Morticia pointed out, coming over to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
He grinned at her. "Why don't you do the honours?"
Morticia smiled evilly and with her long black nails, proceeded to gouge out the Harman witch's violet eyes. "Now let's go have *fun,*"
"That was fun," Jakob said brightly, but let her drag him off to town anyway.
~I said I'd come back~ he thought with a smirk.
* * *
Summary: Jakob Redfern was a psychotic vampire killer brought down by Circle Daybreak vampire hunters. His innocent soulmate Juliet is trying to forget the monster that was her one and only. But someone doesn't want her to forget. Someone who blames Juliet for what her monstrous soulmate did. Juliet must find out what's going on, before she joins Jakob eternally.
Part 1
The scream echoed from her throat, high enough to shatter glass. Tears of rage and anger streamed down her cheeks. She clung to the body, dead eyes would have been looking at her...if they eyes had been left in the head.
The heart was gone as well.
He always took the eyes and the heart. It was one of the trademarks of his kills.
But was about to pay.
* * *
Jakob Redfern was a psychopath. He knew he was and didn't give a damn. It was the high light of his long miserable life. He tossed the eyeballs away and held the heart of his victim up high. Too small. You couldn't eat something like that. Disappointed, he tossed it away too. Maybe next time he'd do better. The murder hadn't been as fun as planned. There were always things that could have been improved upon.
Lost in thought he didn't hear the hunters come up behind him. And before long. He was surrounded. Annoyed, he looked at them. They all stood there, torches in hands, along with stakes, and anything that could kill him.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" he asked, rather irritated.
And the next thing he knew was they were upon him. As the mob tore him limb from limb, he laughed and laughed. Spoiling his fun. But it didn't matter.
He'd be back.
* * *
Juliet looked out the window, trying not to shudder as the mob closed in on him. She felt her skin turn icy as she heard him laughing as he was slaughtered. But it was all for the better, really.
"He's dead now," Erin Morrigan said comfortingly. "He can't hurt anyone anymore."
Juliet just nodded, hoping Erin was right. Yet she had the feeling that Erin might be wrong. Death wasn't always the end.
* * *
~200 years later~
Juliet woke up fro the nightmare, the sweat pouring down her forehead. She looked at the clock and groaned. 5:54. She sighed and shook her head, deciding she might as well get up. She didn't know why, even after all this time she was still afraid. Jakob had been dead for two centuries now. He was gone. Gone.
She had moved away from their town of Moon Bay, but now, she didn't know why she was back there now. Boxes were still all over the floor as she hadn't finished unpacking yet.
Maybe it was being back here that had started the nightmares. Why had she come here? She had thought that maybe if she came back, then she could finally accept the fact that Jakob was long dead and couldn't hurt anyone anymore.
She was a lot luckier than the other girls he had hit on. But not so lucky, soulmated to a monster. She shuddered. He's dead, she told herself firmly. Dead. Get yourself together. You have a new life to start.
Settling down here again was going to be hard enough. Juliet sighed, deciding she might as well get up. If she went back to sleep she would only have more nightmares.
She didn't know the nightmares wouldn't stop when she was awake.
* * *
She had one hell of a nerve! After that monster of hers that little bitch thought she could just waltz back in here as if nothing had happened? Oh no.
No.
That wouldn't happen.
Juliet was the one who should have died. She should have paid along with that monster of hers.
The figure watching the house felt their lip curl. She would make sure Juliet paid for what her *soulmate* had done.
* * *
As Juliet walked down the crowded halls of Moon Bay High she was more nervous than she could remember being in a long time. She kept expecting someone to recognise her, remember that her soulmate had been a psychotic monster and had slaughtered half the town, and blame her and come running at her and kill her too...
She shook her head, trying not to focus on the past. The present was hard enough. She found her locker without too much trouble and deposited her jacket. She glanced at her schedule, finding her first class.
She felt shy as she looked for somewhere to sit, seeing curious eyes inspecting her. She knew what they would see, someone who looked delicate and fragile, a mane of pale gold hair cascading down her back, eyes that shifted colour like the lights in a glacier, traits of her Redfern heritage.
Juliet found a seat at the back and sat down.
"Hey, are you new?" a friendly voice said.
Juliet looked up to see two girls had sat down in the seats next to her and in front of her. "Yeah. Juliet Redfern."
The one girl's eyebrow raised. "You're a Redfern?"
Juliet was a little wary, she knew that talking about the Night World was forbidden, but simply nodded carefully. "And you are...?"
"Athena Harman," the girl said, sitting down. "This is Sirena Blackthorn."
Juliet brightened a little, recognising both the surnames. But she wasn't sure if they were Daybreak or Night World.
"We're..." Sirena started, but stopped, looking over at Athena, who just shrugged.
"We're Daybreak," Sirena said in a soft voice to avoid being overheard by the other students.
Juliet felt a wave of relief. She could deal with Night Worlders, but Daybreak was her preferred choice. They had been a big help with her problems in getting over her psychotic soulmate.
"Oh, that's good, me too," she said. She spent the rest of the day learning her way around, and how to fit in, Athena and Sirena were a big help, and introducing her to the other Daybreakers. There was Shannon Keller, a leopard shapeshifter and Dellon Redfern, a made vampire. He was kind of cute, in Juliet's opinion anyway.
But something was bothering her, apart from past memories. It seemed everywhere she turned she could see someone glaring at her, her expression cold with hatred and fury. The girl was tall, with skin like marble, eyes of shining silver, raven hair cascading down her back. Juliet didn't understand why the girl was giving her such horrible glares.
"Who's that?" she asked Dellon in a soft voice as they headed out of last period English, after seeing the girl glaring at them again.
Dellon smiled a little. "That's the Wicked Witch of the West," he said.
Juliet gave him a look. "Seriously."
He sighed. "That's Vega Nightshade, a lamia," he muttered. "Resident Queen of Bitches. Leader of a Night People gang."
Juliet didn't say anything. Why was she glaring at her like that. This time Vega walked over to them, the heels of her high black boots clicking on the floor. Her long leather skirt made swishing noises. Her revealing top showed a rather daring amount of cleavage. She stopped in front of Juliet, arms folded.
"You don't belong here," she said in a husky voice that set Juliet's teeth on edge.
Juliet blinked. "Excuse me?"
"After what that monster of yours did, do you think we're just going to let you settle down here like nothing ever happened?" Vega's dark lips were curled in contempt.
Juliet stared at the girl, feeling a stab of terror starting to rise. "I..."
Vega laughed harshly. "You're gonna wish you'd never been born." And with that she sauntered away.
Dellon was looking at Juliet, a frown on his face. "What was that all about?"
Juliet shook her head. "I don't know," she lied. "I have to go now." She grabbed her stuff from her locker and fled.
* * *
Vega Nightshade smirked, in a very good mood now. She enjoyed scaring the wussy little excuse of a vampire. She hadn't even known how Juliet had managed to survive for so long. She shook her head in disgust. It didn't matter anyway.
She was getting even.
She had her Night World spies watching Juliet's every move, and her plan was already set in motion.
"What do you want to do with this, Vega?"
Vega turned, smiling as Dace Redfern brought in an unconscious human. "Would have been better if the bitch was conscious," Vega said. She shrugged. Couldn't have everything.
"You never said anything about being awake," Dace snorted. "You're impossible." With that he turned and walked away.
Vega stared after him for a moment, and shook her head. Jerk. She only put up with him because he was cute. Dumped the unconscious human girl on the table set up in the basement of the house she and her Night People lived in.
With a cruel smile she plunged her hand into the girl's chest, ripping out the heart. She could feel a warm rush as blood seeped out over her hand. The ribs were annoying, but easy to break as she tugged on the heart.
She put it in a small gold dish lying next to the victim's head. The thrill of death would have been more fun if the girl had been alive and screaming. But it wasn't this particular girl that Vega most wanted to hear screaming.
Next came the icky task of gouging out the eyes. Using her razor sharp nails she dug into the soft flesh around the eyeballs and pulled, wincing as she saw the skin ripping.
As she continued to mutilate the body, flashes kept flowing through her mind. Darkness. Coming home. Blood. Body...her sister...Morticia...dead...no eyes...bastard!
Vega shook her head furiously, shaking away the memory. No. She wouldn't think about it. All she would think of was her revenge. It would all be worth it to force Juliet into killing herself.
She smiled once she was done with the eyes. Juliet was going to get a little surprise in the morning.
* * *
Juliet was unhappy the following morning as she arrived at school, plagued by nightmares all night. She hadn't thought of Jakob in over two hundred years., up until she'd come back here.
As she headed towards her locker, she could see Vega and her Night People friends hanging out near by, glaring at her furiously. She tried to ignore then, cheering up a little when she saw Athena and Sirena heading down the hall towards her.
"You look terrible," Athena said brightly.
Juliet smiled dryly. "Thanks a lot," she muttered, heading in the direction of her locker. The other two fell into step with her.
"Seriously," Sirena said. "Are you okay?"
Juliet sighed heavily. "Bad night," she said quietly. "Bad memories. I don't want to talk about it." She didn't want to scare them away from her was what she meant.
They reached her locker. Juliet wasn't sure why she could feel a tingling apprehension at the back of her neck. She looked at her arm to see all the fine hairs were standing on end.
She frowned a little, wondering what was going on. It almost seemed like a premonition. Premonitions were a witch thing, weren't they?
She opened her locker.
And screamed.
Inside, on the little shelf, was a heart and two dead eyes staring at her. Fear washed over her, and she could see other students coming to see what was going on, screaming at the sight too. Juliet stood frozen to the spot, not really seeing what was going on around her anymore.
Because the heart and eyes were what Jakob took from his victims. What did that mean? That Jakob was back? Considering the situation, Juliet did the only sane thing she could think of.
She ran.
* * *
The night was dark and shimmering with stars. Morticia Nightshade danced around the cemetery in a very good mood. She had been waiting so long for this and now everything was ready.
She slided over to the grave she had made, baring the name and dates of birth and death of one handsome Jakob Redfern. It was her opinion that Jakob deserved to be remembered.
She smiled dreamily, kneeling down in front of the little shrine she'd made, placing down a bouquet of dead roses tied with a black ribbon. Black candles were burning.
Her raven hair shimmered strangely in the lighting, her midnight eyes sparkling. She had loved Jakob. But he had died. He had gone. Her lip curled into an unhappy pout.
But then the pout lifted, and Morticia smiled radiantly. It didn't matter anymore. Everything was ready and prepared.
She was going to bring him back.
* * *
Athena wondered vaguely if there was something going on that Juliet wasn't telling them. Why Vega despised her so much was a mystery, and the heart and eyes in the locker...more than a little disturbing.
"So someone's putting hearts and eyes in Juliet's locker," Sirena said as they headed to the local Daybreak office. "And why is it that someone should do that?"
Athena frowned. "That's what we're trying to find out. It just doesn't seem...right. Vega's taking this hatred thing a little too far."
Vega putting the...objects...there really wasn't much of a surprise. But what was her problem, anyway? There were other, older Daybreakers in town who seemed to look at Juliet with such distaste.
Juliet seemed like a perfectly nice person, but what did the word "nice" actually mean when it came to describing a person? Anyone could be, well, anyone. No matter how well you thought you knew someone, you never really knew another person.
So maybe Juliet wasn't as innocent as she seemed. And that's what they were going to find out at the research room. Every town had a Daybreak resource centre in it. And for times like this, they could actually be useful.
But the research itself was hard, and seemed to come to a lot of untied ends, there were quiet a few Juliets in Night World and Daybreak history, but there was one who had lived in the town of Moon Bay when it had just been forming, almost two hundred years ago.
"Look at this," Sirena said, pulling out an old book. When the town had been formed at first, it had just been full of Night People, and they had taken a name and a drawing of everyone who lived there, since cameras and photography hadn't been invented yet.
Athena looked at the drawing that Sirena was pointing at. Clearly, their Juliet Redfern.
Sirena was shaking her head as she read the accompanying text. "Poor Juliet," she said sympathetically. "Apparently her soulmate was no Romeo. He was a vicious psychotic vampire killer, Jakob Redfern, wanted by everyone cause he was..." She trailed off, searching for a word.
"A psycho?" Athena supplied.
Sirena smiled without humour. "Yeah. A group of vigilantes got him in the end. One of his victims was..." She studied the list of names. "Morticia Nightshade..."
Athena raised her eyebrow. "Relation of Vega?"
Sirena turned and looked at another book, information she'd found on Vega and the Nightshade clan. "Yeah. They were twins."
Athena sat back in her chair, studying the info on Jakob. Hearts and eyes were his trademarks, they were what he'd taken from his victims. "So Vega wants revenge against Juliet? Simply because Jakob was her soulmate, even though she was terrified of him?"
"Crazy, but true," Sirena said with a frown. "But what if..." She trailed off.
Athena looked at her, eyebrow raised. "What if...?"
Sirena shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "Well, what if all this has brought up a lot of bad memories for Juliet, and she's lost it and has started killing like he has, or what if he's been reincarnated and he wants her back?"
Athena frowned. "Vampires can't reincarnate, and I would certainly say that psychotic ones can't. As for Juliet's memories taking over...maybe she doesn't even realise what she's doing?"
"Or maybe this is Vega doing it and this is what she wants to make us think," Sirena said flatly. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, sighing heavily.
"I'd go for that one," Athena said dryly. "But my guess is we just watch ourselves. We don't want another psycho back."
* * *
As Juliet walked down the school hallway the following morning she could hear the whispers as she passed by. Everyone kept looking at her, then whispering to each other.
No one seemed to want to talk to her directly. She kept her head high, and tried to ignore the stairs and whispers. The heart and eyes in her locker hadn't been her fault.
Yet she wasn't too sure...Had she been thinking of Jakob enough to subconsciously act like him? She shuddered. No. No way. She had hated him, he had terrified her. She didn't care that they were soulmates.
But maybe this was the essence of the principle, coming back to get her for that. Your soulmate was supposed to be the one person meant for you more than anyone else.
You were supposed to be incomplete and feel empty without them. But she had been *glad* when Jakob had died. He was a psychopath! Nobody wanted a psychopath for a soulmate!
Was she being punished for feeling this way? It seemed like it. During the morning classes, she hid at the back of the classroom, trying to avoid the eyes and whispers.
It was hard to ignore it when you knew everyone was talking about you. When lunch came she headed into the cafeteria, looking to see if anyone she knew was around.
She spotted Sirena and Dellon at a table and headed over to join them. She was a little upset to see them both exchanging glances as she approached.
"Hey, what's up?" Dellon said unenthusiastically as she sat down.
Juliet flushed a little. "Not much," she said.
Conversation was noticeably lacking, making her feel like an intruder. She had thought she was becoming friends with these people, and now they were acting distant.
She looked around and saw Vega and her Night People smirking. Her expression darkened a little. What was that little bitch up to?
* * *
Vega felt better than she could ever remember feeling in a long time. She could see the effect that the discovery of the heart and eyes in Juliet's locker had done to the student body.
They were all afraid of her, she could almost smell the fear in the cafeteria at the possibility of a crazy person amongst them.
Her plan was going very well. With any luck they'd have Juliet driven out within a few weeks at the latest.
But Vega didn't know she wasn't the only one with a plan that was going well.
* * *
Jakob Redfern blinked. His vision wasn't quite right at first. The last thing he had seen was that mob of damned Daybreakers coming after him...
And now, he was here, in a cemetery, and a beautiful girl who looked like the essence of darkness was smiling at him, grinning from ear to ear. Her perfect lips were emphasized with blood red lipstick showing bright against her marble like skin.
"Morticia?" he asked, afraid to believe in case the illusion would shatter.
Morticia threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, kissing him for all she was worth. It had been too long since he had had a girl in his arms. Being dead certainly did have some disadvantages.
Morticia pulled back slightly and looked at him, smiling seductively. "I brought you back."
He nodded, looking around the cemetery and the ritual she had set up around his grave. Even he had to admit, he was impressed.
"I'm hungry," he said.
Morticia clapped in delight. "I knew it!" she said brightly. "Let's go into town and paint it red, and blue, and other pretty dark colours." She danced around the grave site.
Jakob smiled slightly, letting her pull him off in the direction of town. Morticia always did have a screw lose somewhere in her head. But she did know how to have a good time.
It had been too long since he'd last killed. A scent of something caught his nostrils. He held up a hand and Morticia stopped, standing still as a statue.
The sound of high heels on concrete caught his ears. He looked around, spying a girl walking down the path that led between some of the graves. Small, with shimmering fine pale hair and violet eyes, glinting faintly in the moonlight.
A Harman witch. Should make a nice snack. Witch blood always gave him an extra little thrill. He sauntered over to the girl, stopping in front of her. She gave him an irritated glare.
"Get out my way," she snapped at him
Jakob stared at her, and she stared back at him. Looking down at himself Jakob realised he was still dressed in 17th century clothing. He guessed quite a time had gone by, this girl was looking very different than the girls had looked back then.
"So rude," he said with a sigh. Before the stupid witch could do anything he'd reached out and grabbed her shoulders, he could hear Tish laughing as the witch screamed when his fangs went into her throat. The hot blood gushed into his mouth, filling him with a pleasant tingling sensation. Having drunk his fill, he pulled his teeth out, and looked at the body critically. With a smirk at the dying witch, he plunged his hand into her chest and ripped out a perfectly shaped human heart.
"Don't forget the eyes," Morticia pointed out, coming over to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
He grinned at her. "Why don't you do the honours?"
Morticia smiled evilly and with her long black nails, proceeded to gouge out the Harman witch's violet eyes. "Now let's go have *fun,*"
"That was fun," Jakob said brightly, but let her drag him off to town anyway.
~I said I'd come back~ he thought with a smirk.
* * *