"It's all horrid, if you ask me." Juliet commented at supper that night. "It's all blood and gore, never really anything they could do to stop the murder at all."
"Judith, elbows off the table." The mother reprimanded her.
She scowled before sitting up straight in her chair. Her father gave her a wink and patted her hand. "I need help out in the stables after supper. Would you like to give me a – "
"I think not!" Her mother cut him off. "Judith has to clear the table. The stable is not a place for a young woman anyway." She gave her daughter a firm look.
Judy sighed, "Yes, mother."
The family ate the rest of the meal in quiet. Afterwards, the two of the girls went to their room for bed, the mother sewed in the den, the father went out to the barn and Judy cleaned.
Judy knew that her boyish ways bothered her mother severely. She often heard her ask why couldn't she and Gerty be more like Juliet. However, she also heard her father argued with her that Juliet wasn't an angel and that she had two other daughters to look after too.
When she finished, she walked out to the stables to bid her father goodnight. Her mother had long since retired, not even biding a goodnight to Judy or her father. Judy didn't mind; it wasn't an unusual thing for her mother to do.
"Papa? You can come inside. Mother's gone to–"
The barn was completely empty. Not even the horses were in their stalls. She wasn't sure if he'd taken them out to the pasture for a late night grazing or possibly accidently let them out.
"Strange…" She wondered out loud. She picked up the hem of her skirt to climb to see if they were lying down or something. When she gazed over the side, she held back a blood-curdling scream as long as she could.
The horse was dead, it's throat gauged out. A black haired man was down on his knees by it's side, emitting the sort of sound Judy had heard when a boot was pulled from mud.
Before she could jump down and run, he looked up. His face was as smooth and pale as marble but twisted to a positively demonic look with yellow eyes peering out. She gasped in paralyzing fear as it morphed into the face of a handsome man with dark brown eyes, almost like her own. He stood up, and wiped the blood from his face. Not a drop was spilt on his suit.
"Well, Hello!" He grinned evilly. "Who have we here?"
She whispered, "I know what you are."
He let out a short bark of laughter. "Oh really?"
Judy attempted to jump down only to have him behind her in a flash. He grabbed her by her upper arms and held her up as if she were a toddler. She stared at him with absolute terror, not even having the power to scream.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to spy, child? It's very rude."
She kicked her legs. Her foot decked him in the chin, distracting him enough to drop her to the floor. She fell on her back, sitting up in time to grab a shovel and pushing it behind her.
The man cracked his neck. "Well, someone should teach you some manners.
The shovel whipped out, connected to his head with a loud clang!
"NO!" She jumped to her feet, her makeshift weapon still in hand. "No!"
"No one tells Angelus no, missy. I always get my way." He marched forward, blocking her into the stall. She could feel herself growing more and more terrified by the second.
She looked for a route to escape.
"Well, Master Angelus, I believed I just did." With that she ran towards him. He opened his arms to catch her only to have the child duck and slide between his legs, running out the barn door.
She struggled breathe, panic setting in like never before. She bolted across the yard, trying not to trip on the hem of her skirt. Secretly, she wished she had her work clothes on so she wouldn't fall and get caught like a fool.
The front door was locked. She screamed as loud as she could.
"OPEN THE DOOR! PAPA! GERTY! JULIE! MAMA! OPEN UP-"
The door swung open and standing there was the one man she was trying to escape. He grabbed her by the collar of her dress, yanking her inside the house.
"You shouldn't be so loud, little one. You'll wake up your parents." He mockingly scolded her.
She kicked and squirmed. He held her to him tightly.
"Wow, we got a fighter. I love it when they fight." He commented almost gleefully, taking her to the family's den. Her mother was on the sofa, her throat covered in blood. Her father was on the floor; he too, had the bloodless complexion.
"How? You can't come in unless you're invited! You're a vampire!" She cried, her eyes burning with tears. She squirmed harder only for Angelus to lower himself to her level on one knee. His hands gripped her shoulders in a vise-like grip.
"Oh you stupid girl! Papa! You can come inside!" His voice was high-pitched mocking her. A thump sounded upstairs above their heads. "Who else is in the house, girl?"
She glared at him angrily, her lips pressed together tightly. He gripped her shoulders even tighter, shaking her before repeating it again:
"Who else is in the house?" He demanded. She spat in his face. His eyes flashed back to yellow for a moment before he slapped her.
"Manners! Don't forget those manners! You really should consider it." Screaming sounded as well as thudding down the stairs. He gave her a mocking grin. "There's Darla now. Let's hope she found nothing, hmm?"
A woman entered the room. She was as beautiful as an angel with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hands had Judy's sisters' the collars of their nightdresses.
"What have we here?" Angelus whispered in Judy's ear. "Triplets eh? All the more fun for us."
"I say, love, one for each of us. Take the third?" Darla looked at all three of the girls.
"The only thing is, which one?"