"You alright, son?" Jack questioned in a low voice despite knowing for a fact most of the other inhabitants of the house he was standing in could hear everything he said no matter how low he spoke.
Ever since they'd left the search of the forest Apollo had been... Different. Quieter. Even by Apollo's usual standards. Talia took charge once again seeming to make a point of keeping father and son apart sending Jack to shadow a heartbroken Bunny while she took charge of seeing Apollo safely to the vampire den. Cal predictably and against her father's wishes decides to shadow her vampire back to the waiting cars.
And the way Apollo's eyes kept tracking his sister as he'd sat virtually unmoving on the Fairmont sofa since being invited onto the literal 'vampire's den' it was- unsettling to say the least.
if only Jack could figure out why. Why Apollo was suddenly looking at his sister as if she were someone completely foreign to him.
"Fine, Dad." Apollo answers but it was mechanical at best. Reactionary, not a genuine reassurance as again the young hunter's eyes home in on Cal newly returned from the house's upper floors.
"She wanted to be alone," Cal told the others earning twin looks of sympathy from Talia and Margot as both mothers move in near sync to comfort the sad-looking teenager lingering at the bottom of the staircase.
Jack quickly picks up on the way Apollo's eyes are now flickering between his former brother currently attempting to talk in low voices with Sabastian in the Fairmont kitchens and his sister still at the stairs as if the pair were some intriguing tennis match, he was intent on studying.
It was a small movement, something that if he hadn't been watching himself, Jack would have missed in the small incline of the monster pretending to be his son's head, then Cal's seemingly answering smile as she leaned against her mother's hold.
Then just as suddenly the one who looked like Theo but wasn't in Jack's mind had seemed to teleport to his former sister's side at the same moment Cal gives a warning "She wanted to be alone." in more of a growl than Jack could ever remember hearing from her when Oliver made a move to head up the stairs himself.
"Might want to watch your tone, young one." The legacy chuckled at the show of upset. Not that Jack could see his face considering his currently turned back but given the hardened set of his daughter's shoulders Jack could only guess the vamp had his fangs bared as they glared one another down.
"Don't talk that way to my daughter." Jack warned once again needing to watch his wording considering the yet-to-be-clued-in group of meager hunters that were a handful of MAAM members dotting the separating space between the hunter and the vampire talking out of turn to his little girl.
"Well, I'd like a chance to talk with my baby sister." Oliver answers evenly turning just enough to meet the angered father's gaze.
Jack noticed out of the corner of his eye the way Apollo shifted his weight in his son's small attempt to keep his sister in sight when Oliver made a rather pointed move to cover Cal from easy view of the pair on the sofa. Why Jack couldn't fathom but whatever it was seemed to have also caught the eye of Margot who quickly moved to cover her mouth as if to cover a cough as she caught Cal's eye.
The fact his daughter gives a rather poor cough as she follows the motion as her eyes find Theo's for another of his daughter and the monster's oddly unspoken talks in a single look before Cal feel ready to lower her hand from her mouth has another soft ring of unease going off in the hunter's mind as Talia steps up to give a deciding "Callie, let him pass" decision as she rest a hand against their daughter's shoulder.
"Sarah should be back by now, shouldn't she?" Bunny asked from the Fairmont kitchen "You don't think…" she trails off "How long does it take to go out for a bag of hamburgers anyway?"
"Sheriff did say they were tightening testing points I'm sure she's just got held up at one of them." Sebastian offers quietly replacing the mother's yet-to-be-touched tea mug with a warmer one as he watches as Cal grudgingly stood aside to allow Oliver to pass her and head up the stairs towards his sister's closed bedroom door.
The night air was cool against her skin as she savors the chilly feeling against her skin just a little longer as she watches her prey just a little longer from the shadows.
True the human had tried her hardest to cover the scent. Scrubbing her skin to a near raw state in a shower and more noticeably in changing her clothes before rejoining the search. the watcher chuckles humorlessly to herself when she notices the way the returning human had even tried to cover that unique flavor by masking it behind other flavors from the food bags she'd just retrieved from the car's backseat as the car door was nudged closed with her hip.
The watching shadow does visibly wince when the sounds of a car alarm scrapped against her sensitive ears like sandpaper "Need a hand?" she asked in a low hum considering the few meager food bags the human woman was struggling to keep hold of as she fumbled to push her car keys back into her pant pocket after seeing her car was properly relocked.
As she'd privately hoped the human started a little in surprise at her sudden appearance.
"I—uh—I didn't see you there." The woman says attempting to regain a cooler composure under her appraising gaze.
She dips her head in a shy guilty smile. "Bunny and the others were worried for you. They all went back to the Fairmont house, but they left me here as… well as a welcome community you'd say." She hums taking a few bags into her arms as she smoothly falls into step beside the newcomer.
"Sarah."
"You can call me Mal." The dark-haired woman answers holding out her hand in acceptance of the human's getting handshake.
"Any news?" Sarah questioned
"Not yet, I'm afraid." Mel sighs taking another deep breath of the night air. "but we're hopeful someone will step up soon."
"We?" Sarah echoed puzzled.
Seemly glowing green eyes flicker more into the darkness around them as the dark-haired woman pauses beside the still-growing peach tree, she'd been quick to guide the human woman towards.
Sarah's heartbeat started a more rabbit-worthy beating against her ribs when the younger of the two stepped into the small halo of light just reaching them from the parking lot lighting.
"Hello, Sarah." Juliette greets her fangs on full display as she meets the human woman's eyes.
Sarah started to back away despite the teenager not moving to advance on her in the darkness.
"Leaving so soon?" the one Sarah knew to be Mal asked in a more hissed pout as she stepped behind the retreating woman stopping Sarah's attempted escape. "We only have a few small questions to ask." She hums.
Sarah's skin prickled when instead of fingers gripping her throat it was more the slowly tightening grip of a serpent coiling around her neck as she stars unblinking into Juliette Fairmont's glowing blue-green eyes.
"We're going to play a game, Sarah," Juliette says with a proud smile.
"A drinking game." Mal hums from behind the now paralyzed-feeling human woman "Isn't that exciting?" was added along with the ticking flick of a forked tongue against the panicking human's ear
"I won't be partaking this time." Juliette agrees "Someone has to ask the questions after all, and besides I've already fed for the night."
"I on the other hand." Was hissed into Sarah's ear "well let's just say you will be my first decent meal in quite some time, my dear." The giggling hiss of a voice hums from behind her as the tightening band Sarah's more rational mind told her was coiled around her neck at the moment.
"I'm nothing if not an attentive Keeper." Juliette smiles before her eyes slid back to Sarah's own widening ones "You're going to tell us everything you know about where my best friend is." Juliette clarifies "and for every answer we don't like, or for every answer, we think you're lying about…."
Sarah whimpers at the stinging prick of fangs striking out against her neck earning the smallest first dribbling of her blood to slide down her throat.
"I do hope you don't run out of blood before you run out of lies." Mal's giggles as more of the soft peach flavor of the overhead tree blends with the fresh stab of Sarah's fear in the air.