"You're welcome," Apollo says making a point of keeping his voice low whilst Cal concentrates even harder in slathering the toasted bread slice she'd just pulled from the toaster with a hearty mess of strawberry jelly. The attempt yet again to trick her vampiric cravings into accepting the tasteless thing for blood until she could safely pop one of the blood pills tucked into the pocket of her sweatshirt.
"For what?" Call questioned taking a larger-than-needed bite of her stand-in meal as her eyes lift to meet Apollo's unhappy ones.
"Saving your ass with Dad for one." Her bother says bracing his back more against the countertop beside his younger sister as the two talked, "or would you rather he'd have found out not only that you snick out last night but that you also stayed out all night?" he expanded reaching for the second toasted bread slice only to jerk his hand away with a hissed "Damned Callie since when have you liked toast that hot?" Apollo complained running his reddened fingers under the cold tap to ease the burnt sting just the smallest of contact with the over toasted bread slice.
Cal's unfocused gaze breaks from the tempting line of her brother's throat to his eyes as she slowly chews her latest warmed bread bite having polished off the first and already reaching for the second with a natural shrug of her shoulders. "Just hungry I guess" it wasn't a lie what with the harder-than-expected run from Juliette's house back to her own had used a surprising supply of what she'd agreed to take from Juliette before parting from her girlfriend the few separating hours before they could see one another again during school.
"Come on finish up then come help your mother and I finish setting up the basement." Jack grumbles pausing just long enough to steal a few swallows of the juice Apollo had just finished pouring out for himself. "and you're not going to school today, after what happened this morning I don't want you anywhere other than here with us where it's safe."
"What? No? Dad, I have to go to school." Cal argues "Juliette…."
"No arguments, you're staying here and you sure as hell staying away from that vampire." Jack snapped back matching Cal's glare with one of his own.
"You can't keep us apart." Cal fires back needing all her willpower to keep her fangs hidden at the very idea of being separated from her other half. Although why it took actually dying for her to realize just how deeply she loved her tiny, feisty vampire but now Cal could truly see that Juliette was more than her maker or her girlfriend.
She was….
"Over my dead body will that, that monster…." Jack thundered only to taper off at the shrill ring of his cell phone as Cal's teeth gritted even harder together in an attempt to hold off her more vampiric side at the continued refusal to let her be with her legacy.
The sudden weight of a hand against her shoulder both startles yet grounds the struggling 'baby vampire' as all eyes that weren't her own fall on the one essentially holding her back from actively taking her bloodied revenge on the man keeping her from the one, she loved.
"Deep breaths Callie." Theo says his thumb now rubbing small circles against his sister's shoulder "in and out, come on now." He prods when Cal doesn't stop the truly enraged glare she was giving their father.
"Come on Cal." Apollo agrees his hand falling onto Cal's other shoulder. "You don't want to do this." He reminds when his sister's angered gaze flickers to find his own out of the corner of her eye whilst Jack moves into the living room to take the interrupting phone call.
the not so quiet flushing of the first-floor toilet signals the return of Talia to the world outside the smaller of the house's accommodating bathrooms. The Burns mother made one last self-conscious dabbing at the corners of her mouth with the dampened paper towel she was carrying. "Theo?"
Theo manages a shy smile at the surprise layering his name. "Hey, Mom." He greets keeping a grounding hand against Cal's shoulder as his adoptive mother makes a slow crossing towards the refrigerator. Apollo stalled her by sliding over the remaining few swallows of juice from Cal's other side.
"Mom please tell Dad that I'm going to school today," Cal says doing her best to keep from listening in on whatever the hell stupid reason her father was using to keep her from leaving the house.
"Actually, Cal I agree with your father on this one." Talia answers after graining the juice glass and holding it out for a refill "to a point that is." She goes on catching her daughter's less-than-pleased glare at her words as Theo reaches over to tug the orange juice jug back out of the refrigerator. "I think it would be best if Cal goes to school for the day but also that she stays over a few nights with Bunny while the Guild is here at the house."
Cal's eyes widen more than a little at the news whilst her father rejoins them in the kitchen. "I'm suggesting the Guild sterilize every house belonging to one of those silly MAAMs members after what happened." Jack clarifies tossing his phone back onto the countertop. "Can't be too careful what we let into our houses nowadays." The doubled meaning is not lost on any of them as Jack's eyes flicker towards Theo despite the father not being able to fully meet his son's gaze.
"What are you talking about?" Cal asks the golden band of the serpent bracelet Juliette had entrusted to her before parting that morning growing cooler against Cal's heating skin as a little more of her anger drops at the sudden news.
"That MAAMs newbie Sarah." Apollo offers. "Some joggers found her this morning."
"Found her as in…." Cal couldn't even stomach saying the words let alone think them.
"She's alive, but in rough shape." Her mother calms moving as close as the unmoving barrier that was Apollo would allow her to slide her hand into her upset daughter's hair.
"Rough doesn't begin to cover it. Honestly, it's a downright miracle she survived the night with the state they found her in." Jack steps in "although the police aren't so sure just what it was that attacked her other than some incredibly strong snake-like thing given the bite marks." He goes on again making a point of avoiding looking in Theo's direction as he spoke. Really Cal was genuinely surprised her father hadn't tried to kick her elder brother out yet given he couldn't even look in Theo's direction since reentering the kitchen.
"Alright then, if I'm not allowed to go to school the least I can do is go to the hospital and I don't know sit with her something." Cal decides still attempting to keep her anger in check when she notices the equal anger tick in her father's jaw at the offer.
"I'll go with her." Apollo steps in
"No, I will. I have an appointment anyway and Cal and I need some girl time." Talia cuts in her arm now draped in a loose hold around her daughter's hard-set shoulders.
"Seriously T? Girl time?" Jack scoffed only earning a glare from his wife in quiet answer.
"We're going. End of story." Cal's mother snaps then catch Theo's eye and jerks her chin towards the back door with a prodding. "Come on, Thee you can ride shotgun," earning a grateful half smile from her vampire son as Talia carefully guides her visibly grumpy vampire daughter out towards the car.
They only make it to the end of the block before Cal doubles over in her seat with a yell that almost has her panicked mother crashing the car to hear. Theo wasn't faring much better from the backseat either although his agreeing cry was muffled by the seat cushion he'd sunk his fanged teeth into.
"Callie? Theo? What? What can I do babies?" their mother sobs as she can only watch helplessly as her vampire children writhe in what could only be the picture of agony in their seats.
"Jules."
"Cal we can't." Theo groans "That's why she gave it to us to protect. We can't just take it to them."
"We can't let them…." Cal argues blood red tears spilling thick and fast down her cheeks.
"They need her alive if they want the true Malkia, Callie you know that." Theo reminds through locked teeth whilst Talia finds the most shadowed street corner, she could find to pull the car over in some attempt to help her pained children.
Then the driver's door was wrenched open with a snarled "in the back human." From the glowing-eyed woman strong-arming her out of her seat before Talia had even registered the order had been spoken.
The dark thorn covering the woman was wearing in favor of true clothes almost broke the skin when Talia stumbled into the unnamed woman bluntly pulling her from her car.
"Mother."
Jealously curled inside Talia's stomach at the purred title her daughter was giving someone who wasn't her as the unknown woman now sitting as cool as ever behind the wheel reaches over to run a calming hand down Cal's blood-smeared cheek. "I can see why my Keeper chose you to give her heart to. You make her stronger, and for that, I think you." again Taila feels the cawing stabs of jealousy along with a returning flash of nausea at the motherly sweetness of the stranger's tone being directed at her daughter "First, we get you all safe, my young ones." The dark-haired woman says making even Talia in awe of the truly motherly tone in the voice before the full force of the literal glow of the woman's emerald green eyes flashes in the reflection of the wind mirror. "then we make them pay for defying me." She growls stomping her bare foot down as hard as she could against the gas pedal making the car lurch into a tire-burning spin before the car shoots off down the roadway.