Have I lost my mind?
Is this paradise?
Or a darker side?
Candy coated lips
You're the sweetest kiss
But a bad trip
Twisted fantasy
In your ecstasy
You're no good for me
Just behind the wall
It's not a dream at all
It's a free fall
Wasteland – Against The Current
Glee filled me for one heart-wrenching moment as I was thrown back to only a small number of weeks ago. I stamped out the embers of joy within myself, snarling at the emotion in warning before it disappeared all together, having only been an echo of the real thing in the first place.
I had to consider my response carefully, seeing a fork in the road before me and wondering which path to take.
"Look," Scott began, taking a step forwards that made me flash my barred teeth at him, clearly telling him to back the fuck up. He held out his hands placatingly, as though I was a wild animal he was trying to domesticate. "I know your 'humanity switch' is turned off right now," he said the words without the weight that should have been behind them, as though he was mentioning that I'd simply dyed my hair. "But the real Jules is still in there somewhere – she has to be."
"Well she's not," the words were dripping with condescension. "You really don't get it, do you?"
"Turning it back on is a lot harder than turning it off, Scott," Deaton warned him as though I wasn't even there. "Perhaps this is a waste of our time."
"For your sake," I interjected. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just call me a waste of time." I turned back to the alpha, tilting my head as I considered him. "Are you really asking this because you know it's what Stiles would want, or are you doing it because there's lower chance it'll kill him? We all know how unreliable wolf bites can be," I tutted like a teacher lecturing to her class. Scott opened his mouth to answer, and though I was genuinely curious, I didn't allow him to speak. "It doesn't matter," I interrupted sharply, clicking my tongue and leaning my weight back against the counter behind me. "Either way, I'm not going to turn him."
Lydia looked furious, while Scott and Deaton remained calm, eyeing me with matching calculated gazes.
"So you're just not going to do anything?" she demanded, and for a split second I was thankful she hadn't grown into her abilities yet – a true Banshee attack stung like a bitch. "You're just going to let that thing use him like a puppet?"
I pretended to think about it, pressing my forefinger to the dimple in my chin. "Yes."
She looked about ready to scream, and I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet, preparing to defend myself in the event of an attack – no matter how pathetically weak it would have been.
"Jules," Scott spoke quietly while Deaton laid a hand on Lydia's shoulder, silently telling her to calm down before she wound me up – a wise move from the enigmatic emissary. I turned my attention to the teen wolf, my head tilting as my green gaze fixated on his face, taking in his puppy-dog eyes, wishing once again that my compulsion worked on wolves. "You turned it off because you couldn't handle seeing Stiles possessed, right?"
I snarled, practically spitting venom at the boy, who did no more than blink in my direction calmly. "Don't pretend to know a thing about me, little boy," I growled warningly, and though his heart sped up a tad, he otherwise gave no reaction.
"We will find a way to bring him back," Scott told me, sounding so sure of himself that for a brief second even I believed him. "And when we do, do you think he'll want to see you like this?" I said nothing, keeping my eyes locked onto his face, narrowing with thoughtful irritation. "The Nogitsune doesn't care about you, Jules," he added, and I couldn't help my flinch, though I masked it by pretending to lean away. "It's using you. But Stiles – Stiles loves you. More than anything."
There was a low chuckling from the other room. The sound was muffled by the tape covering Void's mouth, but it was unmistakeable. It was also enough to jolt me out of my self-pity and back to the right path.
The giggle that escaped my lips was beautifully unhinged, and it made the group of do-gooders wince. "That was cute," I sneered. "But it'll take a lot more than that to make me waver." I paused, cocking my head inquisitively. "What's to stop me from taking him and running?" I asked, genuinely curious. "I'm faster than all of you combined. It wouldn't be difficult."
"You won't," it was Lydia that spoke that time, and though I wanted to ask why she thought so, I refrained from doing so.
"Listen," I said flatly, my gaze clearly less than impressed. "The only way you're getting my blood down his throat, is with some kinky restraints and a hell of a lot of power-of-will." Reaching my hands back up so they were in view, I cracked my knuckles, the harsh sound echoing around the small kitchen. "No takers?"
They remained silent.
"Then I'll see you again soon," I smirked, the expression making it obvious that I knew something they didn't, and with a gust of wind and a blink of their eyes, I was gone.
Oak Creek.
That was all the message said, but it was more than enough. I had concerns about not getting inside the creepy, looming building that was Eichen House and consequently being stuck pacing the barrier like a tiger in a cage. But I should have known Void was too smart to let that happen.
I broke the lock on the fence and wandered up to the front door, unsure what my purpose for being there was. I was getting real sick of keeping my hands clean; I decided to give Void until sunrise to show me why siding with him was a good idea – otherwise I was ditching this woeful town and it's pathetic residents.
I knocked three times in quick succession, the sound echoing beyond the door, bouncing off the walls all around me.
I heard no heartbeat on the other side of the door, so I was surprised when it was pulled open a moment later, revealing Void standing with his head cocked, eyeing me with exhausted, bloodshot eyes.
I moved to take a step, only to pause when I realised I wouldn't have been able to get in.
Void smirked, and I longed to taste the expression for myself. "Come in, Juliet," he ordered quickly, almost innocently, stepping back to allow me room to slide into the lobby of the building.
Curiosity bubbling within me, I hesitantly inched forwards, pressing my fingers into the place where the barrier should have been, only for them to pass straight into the room.
"What did you do?" I asked gleefully, taking a step inside, feeling absolutely no resistance. I breathed in, only to cringe at the foul stench that seemed to be stained on the walls.
"I killed the owner," he said simply, like we were discussing the weather.
The pout that appeared on my lips made him grunt. "Without me?" I asked sorrowfully, blinking my wide green eyes up at him.
"Don't pout," he snapped, letting the door bang shut behind him as he led me deeper into the dark, still rooms of the nuthouse. "It's not becoming for one your age."
"You're one to talk," I muttered back, shooting a grimace at the back of his head, wondering silently when the fun would start. "There're still people here," I added, cocking my head as I listened to the faint beating of hearts from floors above us. The floor we were on was completely empty, but the building itself wasn't.
"I didn't kill everyone," he sounded like he was correcting a toddler on the alphabet – condescending and impatient. "Just the necessary parties. Nobody will know he's gone for weeks."
"You aren't worried they'll catch us?" I questioned as he led me through a door that led to a large, pitch black staircase.
He said nothing, only taking a beat to peer back at me over his shoulder, a beautiful mischievous smirk sitting comfortably on his lips.
"Where's your heartbeat?" I asked suddenly, once more remembering the absence of the rhythmic sound. "Did you kill him?" Even I couldn't have helped the note of accusation and seething rage in my tone.
Void waved off my hiss with a lazy gesture, not even glancing back at me. "The boy and I have separated," he informed me, like it was an afterthought, and not vital information that I needed to know. "We are now two separate entities entirely. I am merely using his face for convenience sake."
"Is that so?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the familiar shoulders before sliding my gaze over the stone walls of the staircase he was leading me down. I wondered if he was going to try and kill me; that would certainly be an exciting change of pace. "So where is he now?" It was obvious who I was referring to.
"Planning our destruction, no doubt," he told me flippantly, coming to a stop outside a door and finally turning to face me. The honey brown of Stiles' eyes was gone, pitch black replacing it, dead in a way I'd only seen twice before; on a corpse and in the mirror. "Here's a riddle for you," he began, leaning forward, leering at me in a way that made me preen. "What can sense death, has red hair and an annoying moral compass?"
He didn't wait for me to answer, instead pushing open the door, revealing Lydia Martin spread out on the cold, damp floor, her skin ashen and pale.
"Actually," I began bitterly. "It's strawberry-blonde."
Void was silent for a beat. "What's with the tone?" he asked snidely. "From what I've gathered, this exact scenario is your greatest fantasy."
"What? Having a banshee knocked out on the floor of an asylum?"
He tutted impatiently, cracking his neck almost as an afterthought. "Having Lydia Martin in a broken heap at your feet," he corrected sharply, sneering across at me, our eyes meeting through the shadows. "It's no secret you hate her. Especially now."
I was silent, quietly contemplating his words. It was true, there was a time I would have loved to have Stiles' dream-girl, little miss perfect, at my mercy. It should have been even more so now that I was soulless – but I realised I was trying to force the pleasure. Instead I just felt a flat detachment.
I'd forgotten the price of the switch. I might not have been able to feel the bad things, but that meant I couldn't fully enjoy the good things either.
I only felt numb.
"The correct response to such a thoughtful gift is usually 'thank you'," he muttered snidely, cocking his head in Lydia's direction and watching her with black eyes.
"I would," I murmured, the sound slightly bitter, "but I get the feeling this wasn't a gift for me so much as it was a strategic move within this dangerous game of chess we're playing."
"It isn't chess," he snapped through a sneer, not taking his eyes off the strawberry blonde on the ground.
"What is it then?"
He didn't answer.
"She's waking," I murmured after a long minute of tense silence, focused on the wet pumps of her sleepy heart, idly wondering what banshee blood was like – would it be nicer than werewolf? It certainly couldn't be better than human, that was for sure.
"You can't eat her," Void said flatly, hands balled into tight fists at his own words. "I need her. For now."
"I didn't hear you say 'never'," I smirked gleefully, a cold eagerness spearing through my gut. Maybe I'd get to find out just how her blood ranked on the board.
"Leave me," he hissed abruptly, tossing a hand up in a dismissive gesture that made me growl.
"But-" I began to protest, endlessly curious about his plans for the slowly waking banshee and not wanting to be left out.
"Now," he snapped, finally turning to look at me, a furious snarl on his gorgeous but stolen face.
I grit my teeth, anger rearing it's head in my stomach and my hands curling into irritated fists at my sides. I stopped myself from biting out a sour 'fine', turning instantly on my heel and leaving the damp corridor, my footsteps echoing on the concrete as I moved out of sight, heading for the exit. I stepped out into the morning air, hidden in the catacombs of the asylum.
By the time Void finally let me wander back in, I was bored, and most importantly, I was hungry.
"They're going to find me," Lydia was chanting, the words desperate and breathless as she gripped at the doors, shaking the metal as hard as she could – but it was no use.
I purred, making sure the sound was loud enough to reach the panicking banshee. She jumped, whirling around to stare up at me with wide green eyes, the colour much less pronounced than my own.
"Juliet," she gasped, wisely taking two very large steps back until she was once more pressed to the door, shaking hands gripping the metal bars. "You...you're-"
"Hm?" I hummed, glancing down at myself distractedly. My shirt was coated with blood, and as I licked my lips, I deduced that my face too was smeared with the delicious red substance. "Oh, yes," my words were murmured, light interest dripping in my tone. "I always was a rather messy eater."
She seemed to find her bearings, breaths slowly as she pulled herself together. "You can stop this," she hissed, glancing over her shoulder at out the barred door as though expecting Void to appear at any moment. "Let me go, right now, and this will stop."
She almost seemed confident I was going to do it; the right thing.
She also thought too highly of me.
"Why would I do that?" I asked with genuine curiosity, head tilting to the side as I observed her closely, eyes roaming her exhausted, shivering form. Idly I wondered again what her blood tasted like – I knew Void would disapprove, but I couldn't find it in me to care. "A demon of chaos, strife and pain wants my help in bringing upon the destruction of all that I loathe?" there was practically a skip in my step as I descended the stairs separating us. "That sounds like one hell of a good time."
"All that you loathe?" she asked shakily, pressing herself against the gate as her heart began to pound within her chest.
"All of you, of course," I answered her simply, coming to a stop a few steps from the bottom, breathing in her scent and considering my options.
"This isn't you talking, Jules," she tried to get through to me as they all had. "This is your lack of humanity. It's controlling you. He's controlling you. Can't you see that?" She was desperate now, grasping at straws in an attempt to plant the seed of doubt, make me question what I knew.
But I wasn't so easily swayed.
"Maybe I like being controlled," I suggested sincerely, a wicked gleam in my eyes and a smirk flickering like flames at my lips.
She was scrambling for something to say. "But you don't like being told what to do!" she gasped, urgently trying to stop my descent. "You say that all the time! You hate it! So what changed?"
Her heart was beating so fast, it was like a song to my ears and my gums ached with need. "Shut up for once, you insufferable child," I sneered, taking the final step closer, allowing my nose to part her thick hair, sniffing delicately at her throat.
"What are you doing?" she squeaked, and I detected the salty scent of tears as they began to drip down her rosy cheeks.
"Sh," I hushed her impatiently, drawn in by the pump of her blood. "Just a taste..."
"Juliet!"
I froze, the deadly tips of my fangs a mere hair away from sinking into the skin covering her lovely jugular. I groaned, pulling back with a pout and tossing my ratty hair over my shoulder, glaring up the staircase at Void, who had his arms crossed, face arranged into a frown of disapproval.
"Why do you always have to ruin all the fun?" I asked through a whine, knowing I wouldn't get a serious answer. He jerked his head, and with a quiet snarl I detached myself from the whimpering Lydia, climbing the stairs only to stop in the middle, collapsing ungracefully onto a cold, hard step, draping myself across it and letting my head tip back against the wall.
"They're going to find me," Lydia was whispering over and over with her eyes squeezed closed, a chant to keep herself sane.
"You think so?" Void asked, propping himself up on the top step, elbows rested on his knees. "I myself was kind of wondering what they're doing right now; what useless lead they're chasing. I wonder if maybe some of them have bigger problems to deal with right now. Are they really spending every minute looking for you? Or, are they waiting for nightfall? Focused on some hopeless gesture to pass the time..." he trailed off, his voice disappearing into nothing, leaving the spaceless hall feeling impossibly colder.
Her eyes opened, wide like a child's, and shining with tears. "What do you want?" she asked, gaze focused on Void.
"More."
"More what?"
"The trickster stories are all about food, Lydia," Void began, pushing himself to his feet and beginning to make his way down the staircase. I purred again, the sound contented as I watched him walk towards me, an eager smirk stretched across my lips. "The coyote, the raven, the fox. They're all hungry."
He paused at my step, glancing down at me briefly before returning his burning gaze to Lydia.
"I'm the same...I just crave something a little different."
I giggled hysterically, the sound bouncing off the concrete walls. I grasped playfully at his thighs as he past me, but he batted me off as if I were no more than an irritating insect.
"I eat what you feel...and I'm insatiable."
Everything was deathly silent, the air still and stale. Then I heard the sound of an engine from above us. "Void," I spoke quietly, not sure if he could hear what I could. He glanced over his shoulder at me, hesitating for a beat before nodding his head in the direction of the entrance to Oak Creek. "The plan?" I asked tightly, keeping my eyes focused on the fox, refusing to glance over at the teary banshee.
I could sense he was worried, I could see it in the way he was holding himself – filled with buried anxiety that he would die before admitting to. Nonetheless he glanced back at me, a somewhat wicked anticipatory smirk set on his sinful lips. "Raise hell."
My interest peaked, and I hummed lowly. "By any means necessary?" I hardly thought I had to ask, but I'd rather know for sure than be chewed out for murder later on.
"I want pain, I want chaos, and I want strife," he sneered quietly, eyes dangerous and dark. "Can you do it or not?"
I laughed, the sound not quite as carefree as I'd intended it to be. "I'd better get going then," I muttered impishly, my own eyes narrowed up at him in pleasure and excitement. "I've got some hell to raise."
I thought they hadn't gotten into the building yet, but I found out quickly that I was wrong.
"This way!" Scott called over his shoulder, jogging along in front of Stiles, who paused for a brief moment to catch him breath, disappearing around the corner without waiting for his best friend to catch up.
I pressed myself against the wall, my dark clothes hiding me within the shadows of the abandoned building. Stiles seemed to freeze, his heart speeding up from underneath his sternum. He winced, rubbing his chest as he looked up sharply, warm caramel eyes sliding over my hiding place.
He could sense me; I could tell.
I didn't dare move a muscle. I could tell he wasn't doing well. He looked sallow and gaunt, dark circles under his eyes that matched Void's. I could feel the distinct absence of emotion. It was like a lost limb – I could feel where it should be, but I couldn't move it. I wondered if it would be that way forever.
"Jules," he breathed suddenly, his eyes more alive with one flicker than Void's had been since I'd known him.
If I hadn't known better, I'd almost say I missed him.
Disgust coated my insides, and I did what I do best and ran away. I was nothing more than a gust of wind blowing past his face, and I didn't hang around to see the reaction it got.
"When I looked at the game, I could see who I was actually playing," Kira's voice floated over to me as I approached the door. "You."
"Well, isn't this lovely?" I sneered, stepping from the shadows and watching with glee as every single weapon swung around to aim directly at me. I wasn't worried; I couldn't see any wood, so an attack would be no more than a slight inconvenience. "Mother against daughter," I pretended to sniff, wiping at the nonexistent tears under my eyes.
"Jules," Allison spoke, her voice strong and steady but her eyes pleading with me to see reason.
"Jules," I mocked childishly around my exposed fangs, scrunching my nose in her direction.
"What you're doing is wrong," the raven haired hunter said levelly, the tip of her shining silver arrow angled at my unbeating heart. "You know that."
"Do I?"
"You're my friend," she said imploringly, dark eyes just begging me to put the fangs away.
"Not anymore, darling," the word was dripping with condescension, my dark eyes glaring daggers across the courtyard at her, a silent but very real threat.
"Don't make me do this, Jules," Isaac spoke up suddenly, shifting so he was ever so slightly in front of Allison, flicking out his wrists and allowing his deadly sharp claws to slip into view, glinting dangerously in the moonlight.
I laughed, noticing with glee that Kira shivered at the sound. "Come now, Isaac," I sang through a devilish grin. "We must play nice." He seemed to relax slightly, believing that I may not have been there to start a fight. "So, who should I eat first; the swordsman or the archer?"
Isaac swung into motion with all the speed of the average wolf. It was more than easy to duck under his attack. I grasped his arm in two places twisting it behind him and making him cry out in pain. The giggled that escaped could never have been controlled, and it only got louder as I cracked the bone in half, making the mutt shout in pain.
"Heal that, dog-breath," I spat, watching him drop to the ground and hold his arm to his chest in agony. I was distracted, and heard the sound of the arrow being released a moment too late. The arrow pierced my shoulder and I flinched, reaching around to grasp it and yank it unceremoniously from the muscle, blood pouring out after it. "That was rude," I commented through a sneer, letting the arrow drop harmlessly to the concrete.
She cocked another one as Kira slid her sword from it's sheath. I cracked my neck in preparation, stretching my fingers as I readied myself for a fight.
I wondered what a kitsune's blood tasted like.
Kira's mother gasped from where she stood, a sound that distracted us all. We all turned to see her opening her dainty hand to reveal a small puff of black smoke evaporating into the cool night air.
"Mom!" Kira murmured worriedly, no longer focused on running me through with her blade.
"What is that?" Isaac added through a snarl, struggling to get to his knees as his bone slowly began to heal. "What does it mean?"
"It means there's been a change in ownership."
The voice was definitely very welcome. I cackled with delight, standing between the group in one breath, only to appear beside Void in the next, turning to look over my shoulder giddily at the Oni, who were deathly still and silent from behind their masks.
"Now they belong to me."
I wasn't sure who moved first, but within the span of probably three seconds, blade was meeting blade in an ear-aching clash. The scent of blood filled the courtyard, making me feel intoxicated and fired up as I leapt into action.
Isaac ran for me – apparently still holding a grudge for breaking his arm or whatever – and this time he wasn't so easily stopped. He anticipated my sidestep, lunging one way only to snap the other way, grasping me as I slid around him.
His hand wrapped around my throat, his sharp animalistic claws digging into my skin, and I grimaced as blood dribbled down past my collar.
I lifted my knee, slamming it into his crotch and forcing him to leap back from me, gripping himself with a pained groan. Two punches to the face wasn't enough to get him off my back, but just as he was about to respond and make things interesting, an Oni appeared between us, sufficiently distracting the bastard and meaning I had to turn my attention elsewhere.
Not wanting to be stuck doing nothing, I instantly found somebody new to harass. Kira was grunting from effort as she struggled to hold off the Oni's attacks. She was distracted, and I was hungry – not a good combination.
"Watch your back, little girl," I jeered in her ear, and she flew around, sword slicing through the air with a ring. I ducked under the weapon, darting back up once it was safe to and easily slipping my fangs into her arm, biting all the way through her leather jacket to do so.
Her blood was electric, and I found myself disappointed when she ran me through with the katana. I hissed with agony, releasing her arm, her blood dripping down my chin.
"You little bitch," I snarled, struggling to breathe with the bloody weapon wedged through my still, dead heart. She looked pained and slightly ill, clearly thinking she'd just killed me. I sucked in a lungful of air that only really filled them with my own blood, but I cared little, reaching down and wrapping both my hands around the blade, squeezing as I slowly and painfully began to tear the katana out of my chest.
Kira watched in morbid fascination as I pulled it inch by torturous inch from my heart, the blade cutting into my palms, rivers of blood flowing down my chest. After a long, drawn out moment, the katana dropped to the ground. I took the surprise-filled pause to crack my neck again before slamming my fist into the little girl's face, hearing the bone crunch under my knuckles.
She fell back in shock, and I grinned, just about to slam it into her again when the ground seemed to shake. Briefly wondering if we were really having a fucking earthquake right fucking now of all times, I spun around just in time to watch as one of the Oni stabbed a sword right through Allison, the tip appearing clear as day on the other side of her body.
I froze – we all did.
The scent of the hunter's blood filled the courtyard, and though it was one-hundred percent human and should have made me hungry, I felt nothing but repulsed. Bile rose up my throat, but I stubbornly swallowed it down, staring at the scene with dark, hardened eyes.
I didn't feel anything. Why didn't I feel anything?
This was wrong. It was all so wrong.
"Time to go," Stiles' voice said from behind me, and I reached out blindly, searching for his hand; searching for the comfort only he could give.
Instead cold, hard fingers wrapped around my wrist, harshly yanking me backwards and away from the tragic scene.
"Juliet," Voice hissed, and I realised that it had been him all along. I felt a laugh bubble up my throat, but it was more hysterical than anything else, and to my horror it could almost be misconstrued as a sob. I didn't quite feel disappointment, instead reality came rushing back and that familiar, blissful numbness filled me to the brim.
Suddenly I was completely and utterly fine. I watched as Scott caught Allison in his arms, but I couldn't stay to watch, Void was impatiently tugging me from the scene, yanking me back into the shadows – where we both belonged.
A/N: Hello beautiful people, I just wanted to let you know that I'm working on season 4 as we speak, but I'd still love to have your input about which direction you think the next season should take. Please send me a review or message and let me know your thoughts and theories – they help shape my plot :)
On another note, just wanted to give a birthday shoutout to "nicolecantwrite" - it was your review that made me decide to update today. Thanks for marathoning my story, I'm honoured, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a very happy birthday :) xx
