Gerty looked to Judy. "Judy, what's going on? What's wrong with Mama and Papa?"
Angelus shook Judy's collar. "Yes, Judy, tell her." Judy looked to Juliet, who glared angrily at her sister. "Tell her."
"They're dead. She killed them. He killed the horses."
"Tell them what else. Tell why they're all dead." The woman spoke softly, her voice almost melodic. Juliet kicked her legs only to have her jerked back. "Listen to your sister, Julie."
For the first time, Judy's voice broke.
"I invited them inside. It's my fault."
Juliet began to scream at her sister while Gerty burst into tears. She sobbed loudly as her sister screamed as loud as she could at Judy, fighting the hand on her neck.
"You stupid vile idiot! You awful cretin! You killed them! It's all your fault!" She shrieked. Darla bent her head down and bit Gerty's neck, cutting off her sobs.
Julie started screaming uncontrollably as her body collapsed to the floor. Angelus' hand clapped over Judy's mouth to prevent her from crying out as well. Gerty's eyes looked blankly up at the ceiling.
"Darling, wasn't that a bit hasty?" He laughed. Judy stomped on his boots to have him cry out in pain and release her. She slipped out of his arms and bolted.
She made it ten feet before she felt the familiar icy hands around her shoulders, yanking her back.
"See? This one's a fighter, hard to break. Could be a fun one to have around?"
Darla reached with her free hand to touch Juliet's hair. "Yes, but this one could make a fine daughter with her feminine ways and such. She could bring them in like flies to honey."
Juliet whimpered as Darla's hand clamped down on her hair. "Would you like to live with us? You could live forever, just the three of us. One big happy family."
"Judy…." Her eyes connected to her sister's, wide with fear.
"Oh no! She can't come. She has a prior engagement with Angelus. Dinner, if I'm correct. Would do you think, child?"
"Take me!" Judy blurted. "Take me instead. I'm more sturdy, I can handle animals, I don't eat much, I'm smaller and easier to hide – "
Angelus' hand returned over her mouth. "Child, you're going to wish you never said that. You're sisters are the lucky ones compared to what we have stored for you."
Darla gave a small smile and winked at Judy. "What can I say? You sure can pick them." With that said, she bit down on Juliet's neck. She gave a small gasp, her eyes rolling back in her head. Darla casted her to the floor as if she were an old rag doll.
Judy's eyes widened in shock. She screamed against Angelus' hand on her mouth as loud as she could until her throat felt like she would never speak again from the pain. Angelus' arm lifted her around the waist as he whispered in her ear, making her realize just how alone she was.
"Things are about to be a wee different, lass."
His fingers pinched a nerve in her neck, turning the world into darkness.
XOX
Angelus and Darla watched the little girl that sat unconscious between them in the carriage. The driver knew better than to ask questions when they paid him a substantial fee to get them as far away as possible from the town the docks about forty miles away.
The girl, Judy, was small, alright. She was ivory skinned, but not as white as her captors. The two knew that she would pass as their child but they had to get away from the town first to know that no one would recognize her.
Her hair was straight and black as a Raven's feather, falling to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her dress was torn and dirty from her struggling. On the side of her neck was a bright purple bruise.
She would make a great subject for their experiment.
"You know if she sleeps all night, she won't sleep during the day." Darla said this in an almost mothering way, her small smile across her face. Angelus wrapped his arm around the little girl sitting between them and shook her gently.
XOX
Judy awoke to the sound of a kind voice whispering to her over her pounding headache.
"Wake up, sweetheart. You're not going to sleep all day!"
For a moment, Judy thought the night's horrors had been a horrible dream. That maybe she had knocked herself out by slipping on the kitchen floor and would wake up in bed to her Papa saying good morning and her sisters having to be nice to her like when she had fallen off her horse last spring.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and gasped.
No such luck.
She shot to her feet, making a dash to grab the door handle only to be yanked back to her seat by rough hands. Angelus' arm returned around her shoulders as she yelped in pain.
"Where do you think you're running off to?" He tousled her hair in a fake gesture of endearment. "You'll get lost or get your pretty little neck broken from the fall." His hand slid to the back of her neck. "I could do that right here and now too if that'd be better."
"Angelus…"Darla's voice was warning but her face was smiling. "Don't be so rough. She's just a child."
"I've killed hundreds of children before. What's one more?"
She looked away out the window. "You are right…." Angelus bent his head down to Judy's neck only to have Darla's hand stop him mid-way. "But you're not killing this one. She's special."
Judy looked between the two people who now were in control, literally, of her life. She knew what they were and that they wouldn't let her leave since they knew too.
"Wh-where are you taking me?" Her voice came out rough and weak from all her screaming. Both of them looked down at her as if surprised she even knew English.
"Romania."
Her heart sunk to her toes. She wasn't getting away from these two anytime soon. Where could she go in a foreign country and they wouldn't find her? They were vampires after all, and smart ones at that. She whimpered softly, pulling her knees to her chest under her dress.
Angelus rapped the top of her head with his knees. "None of that crying. I won't tolerate it."
With an almost non-existant amount of courage, Judy snapped back at him, "You don't know what it's like. You didn't lose your family!"
Angelus look to the girl with a raised eyebrow and grinned. "I know I didn't. I didn't lose them. I took them. They tasted just like chicken: my father, my mother, my little sister even." He looked her over. "She was close to your age when I killed her. So don't push your chances, child. You won't like the outcome."
Judy scowled and stamped on his foot. He yelped in pain before yanking Judy's hair, pulling her head back to expose her neck. "Big mistake, brat."
"You won't kill me! Darla said not to!" She retorted, her voice more calmer and firm than what she felt. His hand loosened on her hair but not by much. She pushed it away only to look Angelus fully in the eyes with a boost of confidence.
"I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid of you either!"