Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Fjord had been missing for a month.

Just over that, actually, but Beau avoided the whiteboard in the kitchen that told her the exact date. Jester started it as a joke, so she could show Fjord when he got back, then it turned to anger, and now it is an unbreakable habit.

The police had come and gone. Since he’s an adult, and he had no family, an orphan under the government's jurisdiction, there wasn’t much they could do. Especially with every body they kept pulling out them Thames.

( “At least”, one of the officers had said, “at least he is not one of the bodies.”

The “yet” had been left off, but was heard by everyone in the room)

Beau struggled. They both did actually, Fjord’s jobs were what kept them paying the rent. She had been able to snag his job at the pub, a shitty little local one full of middle aged men that only looked at the TV and her tits. Not as good a pay as his fishmonger job, but they had got a new guy the moment Fjord went missing. The pub wasn't that good, but it was a good way to keep up with the football.

Jester said she had to keep finding the positives. There were so few at the moment.

After her shift at the pub, which didn’t finish till midnight most nights, she’d go the ring. It was underground, and even this late had a good crowd.

This was how she made her money.

A punch. A kick. A twist of the arm. Take a couple hits, give more back. This she knew, this she understood. This, this didn’t change.

By 3 am she was stumbling home, winning all but the last fight which had left her with a broken nose before she called uncle. Usually, she would have taken more, so much more. But the guy was twice her size and thrice her weight. He could have killed her

She wouldn't die. Who would Jester have then?

So it was 3 am, her nose taped, the lower half of her face cleaned up. Dairon, though she ran an illegal fighting ring, always made sure to fix up her fighters afterwards. The lift in the block was out again, and to be honest still smells like piss so Beau ends up climbing the 7 flights of stairs to their flat. The flat wasn’t too bad on the inside, Jester had dragged her and Fjord into decorating it when they first moved in. The hallway leading to the living room was a deep purple with soft, deep indigo carpet. Jester’s mother had paid for it, wanting her “little sapphire” to be happy. The living room was painted a lighter colour, to contrast the darker colours of the sofa-

Which someone was currently sitting on.

Other than Beau, Jester and Fjord are the only ones with access to the flat. Jester has a class at 9 am and had texted Beau when she had gone to bed at 11, so it couldn’t be her. It also wasn't the right shape, much taller, much broader too. Beau slung her bag over her shoulders to leave both her hands free and slowly, keeping away from the walls, walked towards the front room.

As she got closer, she got a better view of the person sitting on the sofa. Their hair was on the shorter side, but long enough that it hung over their ears and just above their eyes. The only light source came from the hallway and the window in the front, meaning colour was hard to distinguish but the person had a dark skin tone and black hair. They were hunched, broad shoulders curling in and their arms were wrapped around their knees, their head resting on them. Beau was facing the person from the side, so details on their face were hard to make out.

The person seemed to be distracted, something was obviously on their mind, so Beau used that to her advantage, softly moving so that she would be able to come at them from behind.

Grab their hair, push their face into the knees to break the nose, force them off the sofa and onto the ground as quickly as possible. Trap them between the coffee table and the sofa. Jesters hot chocolate mug was on the table. She’ll be pissed, but grab it and knock them out-

Beau was so distracted by her planning that she forgot about the side table Jester puts her flowers on, knocking into it. She caught the vase, but not before making a sound.

The person slightly unfolded themselves, just enough that they could turn their head and grab the back of the sofa to look at her and -

“Beau?” She would recognise that fake southern drawl anywhere. She dropped her stance and placed the vase down.

Relief filled her, any anger lost weeks ago, “Fjord, for the love of god, where have you been?” She walked to the sofa, dropped her bag behind in and flung herself over to sit next to Fjord. “We thought you were dead!”

Sitting next to him, she got a better look at her best friend. His hair was longer, wherever he’d gone he hadn’t cut it, and his skin had taken an almost ashen look to it. His body language was the strangest of all. For the 3 years, she’d known him, Fjord had always been calm, it was his main kind of emotion. A small smile, a soft voice. That was Fjord, always the keeper of the peace.

This wasn’t that Fjord. He was scared, Beau noticed near tracks that stained his cheeks and Jesus she had never seen the man cry. He was still curled up, knees to his chest and arms wrapped around them. He had given her a smile, small, no teeth. It looked broken. Hurt.

“Fjord?” She reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, but he flinched backwards, much quicker than she’d ever known him to be able to do. “Alright, no touching. Just tell me who did this so I can murder them.”

That got her a laugh. Well, less of a laugh and more of a smile and a quick exhale of air. But the smile quickly dropped as he turned more towards Beau.

“I… I don’t feel too well.” Alright, so she was definitely fucking killing someone. Fjord never admits he’s sick, to the point where Jester locked him in his room last Christmas when he got the flu and they had caught him trying to climb out the fire escape, all snotty and feverish. He had been so out of it he had almost fallen down the stairs.

Fjord had opened his mouth, revealing his teeth which-

Which some were now fangs.

“Holy Fuck”

“Please tell me you don't see them.” He whispers back, his voice breaking ever so slightly. Though he was now facing her, he had slowly been backing up toward the other end of the sofa, away from her.

She reached back out towards him, wanting to comfort him but he flinched away again, causing her to huff out in anger.

“Look Fjord, I ain’t going to hurt you, you know that.” She reached out again, but he ended up pulling himself onto the armrest to get away from her. “ Fjord, bro, it's alright-“

“It's not you that might hurt someone.” And god didn’t that hurt. The broken voice and she can tell as he raises his head a bit that he’s crying. What hurts her the most though was that he was afraid of himself.

When they had first met, Beau didn’t really trust Fjord. He was secretive, kept his door locked, and he had a soft smile that was supposed to calm her down but actually did the opposite. When you pair this with Jester “what is privacy, I'm just going to walk around naked” Lavore, it's unsurprising who she felt most comfortable around first.

But then they got closer, Fjord gave her socialising lessons, and they started opening up to each other. She learnt that Fjord liked to keep his privacy because he had never had it, in the orphanage he had to share everything from rooms to toiletries to beds. She also learnt that Fjord wouldn't hurt a fly, to the point where she had come home multiple times to find him on random pieces of furniture playing “I saw a big spider and I don't know where it went”.

So it hurt, now, when Fjord was afraid he’d hurt her.

This time she didn’t reach out, just turned to face him, bringing her legs up to tuck underneath her. She brought one arm up onto the back of the sofa, and the other rested in her lap.

“Fjord,” her voice was steady, calm and as warming as she could make it (which, thanks to Fjord, was much more than a couple months ago). “First things first, if you were really going to hurt me Fjord, you wouldn’t be so worried about it. Like, seriously bro-“

“But you- you can see them, can’t you.” Fucking Hell, what has happened to you, Beau thought. She tried to think of a good reply, but soothing words were not her strong point, so in the end, she settled on a small nod of her head.

At this confirmation, Fjord broke out into actual sobs. He brought his hands up to his face, one specifically to cover his mouth while the other furiously rubbing at his eyes to stop himself from crying.

“Fuck, shit, bollocks,” oh she had messed this up, “ Fjord, Bro, calm down, its okay, its okay.” She brought her arms in front of her, palms up and flat to try and calm him, but not too close to him so that it seems like she’s trying to touch him again. “Just- damn it, I am not good at this. I need you to-“ Fjord was just getting worse and worse, his breathing had picked up and he had started using one of his nails to pick at his fangs. He wasn’t listening to a single word she was saying, not that they made sense, she thought.

Fuck this. “Fjord, stay here, breathe, I'm getting Jester.” That got a reaction, his arms suddenly dropped before reaching out, waving in front of him. 

“No no no no, don’t.” He sobbed out. “I don’t want to hurt her, what if i hurt her.”

But Beau had made up her mind. She grabbed a cushion, thrusting into Fjords arms. “Cry into that, i’ll be back in a sec with someone better at comfort.” And she walked off to Jesters room.

——-

Jester, at first, had been overjoyed to hear that Fjord was back. But as Beau explained what was going on, why Fjord had gone missing, by the time they had returned back to the front room Jester was silently crying to.

Now, they were back, Jester sat where Beau had been and Beau now sat cross-legged on the coffee table. Fjord’s state hasn’t really changed, his breathing still too fast, but he had slid down off the armrest back onto the sofa again, and he was currently crying into the cushion Beau had given him.

“First things first Fjord, we’re going to get your breathing back on track.” Jester spoke softly, softer than Beau had done, and it was clear that the calmness was getting to Fjord a bit, his back relaxing slightly. “So we’re all going to breathe together okay! We’ll start at a pace a bit close to yours and then get slower. In for 4, hold for 2, out for 6. Okay? Okay. In 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold 1, 2. Out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And again.”

They did this for about 2 minutes, both Beau and Jester joining in, until Fjords breathing matched the timings perfectly and each breath wasn’t paired with a sob. They then stretched out the timings, “in for 6, hold for 4, out for 8. Okay?”, and by the time they had done, no one was crying and Fjord was obviously a lot calmer.

A comforting silence settled over the three of them, the distant noises of the 3am traffic and their breathing the only sounds in the room. So Beau was taken aback a bit when Jester talked.

“So Fjord, I hear you’re a vampire.” Jester’s tone wasn’t happy, but when it came to her any tone but the joy was hard to distinguish from each other, the bubbly girl having a bit of a problem dealing with other emotions. Her straight forwardness startled both Beau and Fjord, and the man (vampire? Are those even a thing?) just ended up staring at Jester is shocked.

“Jester, what the fuck happened to subtlety!” Beau shouted at her, because they had just gotten Fjord out of a panic attack and they really don't want a repeat of that.

“What? He’s got fangs,” she used her left hand to gesture towards Fjord, “he must be a vampire. Oh! I wonder if you sparkle in the sunlight-“

That got a laugh, a short, desperate thing as Fjord brought the cushion closer to his chest. “Since…” he started, his voice hoarse for the tears and he ended up coughing a bit to clear his throat, “since all the other stories about- um, them, have going into the sunlight and dying, i think we’ll avoid finding out.” And that was her Fjord, taking control, making sure no one does anything stupid, always the barrier for common sense. Though this thing had happened, she could still see he was himself underneath.

“We should talk about this shit though,” Beau said, “because, like, do you need blood? If you are a- a vamp. Where the hell are we going to find blood?”

She looked between the two of them, Fjord looking back at her whilst Jester was staring down at her hands in contemplation.

“We could ask a butchers?” Jester suggested, wringing her hands together. Beau could see the situation was hard on Jester. She had insisted on being on the couch, on being close to Fjord, but the man’s usual acceptance of Jester’s hugs and general tactile nature had left with his-

Well, his vampirism.

No point denying it, she thinks, even though she desperately wants to 

But Jester’s entire comfort system is based on hugs, which for Beau and Fjord had always worked because their shit childhoods had left them touch starved. But of course, that's not working now.

“Ah yes, because that would work, “hello mister butcher, can we have a couple pints of blood?” What the hell are going to tell the guy?” Beau pointed out.

“We could say it’s for an experiment!” Jester says, “we get lots of animal body parts for my classes, i'm sure they won't question it that much.” She then waves her hand in a nonchalant gesture, “It’ll be fine.”

“Do you think i’ll even be able to drink animal blood?” Fjord says, which is an important point.

Jester shrugs a little, “oh it worked in twilight.”

Beau brings up her right hand and points her forefinger at Jester. “We are not basing everything on twilight Jester!” Beau says, with each word she prods her finger towards her. “No. We should do some actual research. At like, an actual place.”

Jester reaches out to Fjord, just resting a small hand on his knee. It's clear he tenses up a little under the touch, but as she made no movement further, (and neither did he, which is probably what he fears most) Fjord slowly relaxed. Beau put both feet on the ground, leaning towards the two of them, unconsciously wanting to be part of this little moment between them. Jester must have realised what she wanted, and placed her other hand on Beau’s shoulder.

“Tomorrow,” Beau started, and then struggle to continue, lapsing into silence for a bit, until Fjord picked it up.

“Tomorrow, we’ll do some research,” he said, his voice much stronger than it had been when Beau had first found him, “look online, go to some of the bigger libraries in the city. Well- you two can go out.” At that, he stuttered to a stop, the moment he had to pretend he was in control gone.

Beau reached out slowly with her left hand, placing it on his other knee to complete this small circle of there's. “It's going to be okay.” She said, firm but calming, grabbing the control Fjord desperately needed. “We’ll go to the library, while you go on the computer. It’ll be good.”

Fjord looked at the place where both their hands were, and slowly lifted his own to lie on top of them. “It’ll be okay.” He whispers, loud enough for Beau and Jester to hear but it was clear it was for himself. He does not look away from their hands.

“Does vampire erotica count as research?”

“ Jester!”

Yeah. It’ll be just fine.

Chapter Text

"A vampire is a being from folklore that subsists by feeding on the vital force (generally in the form of blood) of the living." Fjord read. "In European folklore, vampires were undead beings that often-"

"Fjord, are you just reading off the wiki?" Beau said, a little loudly if the other library patrons shushing her were anything to go by.

"Oh! oh,- Fjord. Scroll to the bottom to the references and use those links." Jester said, also far too loudly as more students shushed them.

They were in King's College Maughan library- they thought where best to research than a university's library, and apparently, Jester is banned for UCL's. (Beau had pressed for a story, but Jester refused). The two were currently at a side table, surrounded by books as they "researched"- which means Jester read more vampire erotica while Beau basically cried into old texts. They had earphones connected to Jester's phone, so they could talk to Fjord while researching.

"It's all books-wait here's a link to a paper." Fjord said, ignoring Beau's sobbed "no more books", the link, however, proved almost futile. "353 pages on the Slavic Myth of Vampires... I am not reading all this."

"Oh no!" Beau mock shouts, hands up to her cheeks as her voice drips with sarcasm, "353 pages! That's so much! Nothing like this 1000 page book here that I'm currently trying to read!" she slowly drags her hands down her face, stretching it out before slamming them against the table, spooking one young student into dropping her books. She mumbles an apology before face-planting into the book. She can just hear Fjord's own apology. "It's like-its like it's in another language or something," her voice muffled by the book.

Beau feels her head being moved as Jester lifts up the front of the book to read the title,  and hears her snort a little. "Beau, you silly billy, it's in German."   She lifts her head up to stare at the text and realising Jester's right. She hears Fjord's laughter down the phone, and though she's embarrassed, she is glad her friend is laughing again. "Vampire belief and Vampire legends in the Balklands," Jester translated, "probably very useful, if you spoke the language." She started to loudly giggle then, getting more glares.

Beau pushed the book away, reaching for another book- The vampire encyclopedia- sounds promising, and English. She had just opened it when she heard someone clear their throat behind them, and she twisted around so hard she knocked the earphone out her ear.

There stood a rather stout man, the top of his head completely bald but on the sides large tuffs of pure white hair that stuck out. He had eyebrows to match, giant caterpillar-like things that you could only just see the parting between. He had a large cherry red nose that had miniscule glasses on that he squinted through. He was wearing smart clothes and had a name tagged on that was too small for Beau to read from here.

Oh, Beau thought, the librarian.

"This zone," his voice was quite high pitched, and had a derogatory tone to it that put Beau on edge immediately, "is the 'quiet zone', for 'quiet study'. I have had several complaints from students here who are trying to study. Many classes are having their end of term tests and people cannot revise with the two of you yammering on. Either quiet down or move to the discussion zone on the other side of the building." He ended his statement by folding his arms and sticking his chin up, glaring down at the two women.

While making direct eye contact, Beau slowly stacked every book on the table into one large pile before picking it up. The pile was very heavy, but not one to back down, Beau leant back to rest most of the books on her chest as she slowly walked, basically waddling really, towards the direction the librarian had said. Jester at this point was laughing, covering her mouth to try and be quiet but it wasn't really working, as she gathered her own notes, the erotica, and her phone, securing her earphone as she goes. She waves at the man, a smile erupting on her face so large that to anyone else it would be slightly condescending but all of her close friends (which were only Beau and Fjord, though she insists that one backpacker she had shared lunch with once was her friend) knew it was just her being friendly.

As Beau walked she could hear Jester explaining the situation to Fjord behind her. Beau struggled under the weight of the books, but she wouldn't give up now. she was questioning where she was going to sit when she looked out a window and noticed it was dark outside.

"Jester?" As Beau turned, she didn't go it slow enough and three books fell off the top of her pile. "Fuck, shit- what time is it?"

Jester looked down at her at her phone and made a couple of taps before looking back at Beau.   "It's 9 o'clock. Oh my god, it's 9, how did it get so late? Well, I guess it took us a while to get here, and I had classes late this afternoon, oh! And we had to have dinner-" Jester continued to prattle on about the timings of the day, and spoke about how "late" it was when since Beau worked on almost nocturnal hours anyway, she considered it early. Beau went to lean down to grab the fallen books, but Jester saw what she was doing and picked the books up, placing them back on top.

Beau leaned towards Jester's phone, where the screen showed Fjord was still on call. "Bro, since its dark come join us. We'll be in the discussion zone." If her hands where free she would have paired the last two words with air quotes. She started to lean closer, but the books on top started to shift so she stopped and stage-whispered, "Save me from the princess."

She couldn't tell Fjord's reaction, but Jester scrunched up her nose and pouted heavily. "I'm sad you said 'save me', buuut," and just like that the upset look on her face dropped into a blinding smile, "You called my Princess! So I'll only do this," and she leaned over, knocking the three books at the top back off, before skipping away towards the tables leaving Beau behind mumbling swears as she slowly inches towards the ground.  

------

Fjord arrived about an hour later, the buses running less at this time. As he made his way through the front doors, a man was just sitting down behind the front desk, pinning a badge on. Probably just starting his shift. The man was in his early 30's, auburn hair braided back into a short bun, the braids full of fabric flowers. He had piercing blue eyes that looked at Fjord with curiosity.

"Can I help you?" The man called out, his voice held a thick German accent.

"Um.." Fjord started, slowly walking towards the front desk. "I'm looking for the discussion zone?" As he talked, he reached up to his mouth, rubbing over it as if in contemplation, but it was truly to hide his fangs. He had spent the day looking in the mirror- which he could do, apparently- testing out how noticeable they were when he talked. Letters like d and t, (plosive letters, according to Jester), showed them a bit, but unless he bared his teeth people were unlikely to realise they were fangs.

Fjord had always had trouble with his appearance, being the tall black kid he got a lot of prejudice, and as the years went by he turned that prejudice in on himself. These fangs made everything worse.

The man- Caleb, according to the name tag- looked him up and down. There was an intelligence in those eyes probably wasted in a library night shift. Caleb did not seem to find what he was looking for and went to shuffling his desk about.

Caleb did not make eye contact at all, when he did look towards Fjord he stared just over Fjord's shoulder to give the illusion of it. At first, Fjord thought it might have been him, but then he noticed the spinner ring on his finger, how he fiddled with it, and how his pale skin had very few freckles even though it looked like it could take more. Probably doesn't get into the sun much, Fjord thought, paranoid, doesn't deal with people well.

Fjord had always been good at reading people, a talent he had honed while working in the pub. He could tell Caleb was probably bad with all social confrontation.

"Well, sir," Caleb finally said, "I would avoid that area tonight. I have been informed by my colleague that there are a pair of girls there making quite a lot of noise."

Fjord felt a sudden rise of embarrassment. "Ah-those girls are my friends." As he spoke, he reached up to scratch at the back of his neck, before once again shifting it back in front of his mouth. "Sorry about them. They are a bit of the handful."

Caleb let out a short quick breath, which is what probably counted as a laugh with him, before giving him directions towards the area. "Please calm them down. Even though it is an area designated for louder study, this is still a library, and it is gone 10 pm." The man reached down into his bag, and Fjord started to leave but it seemed the librarian remembered something, raising his hand to get Fjord’s attention. "Ah! if you need me, I am either here or returning books. Do not be afraid to ask." The sentence seemed very rehearsed, something his manager probably made him say because Fjord believed this man was the last person who would want social contact,

Fjord just offered him a small smile, before heading towards the girls.

------------

For the next 3 hours, they researched hard, picking between different fictional and nonfictional texts about vampires to try and see what features match and what doesn't. At about quarter to one, Jester had gotten bored of reading them steamy excerpts from Vampire Erotica and had fallen asleep on the table.

"Pick out the important ones," Fjord whispered to Beau, trying not to wake Jester up, "These are all in Spanish so I'll put them back. Don’t wake her up yet." Fjord gathered the books, a couple fiction, couple non, and started to return them to the shelves. Luckily, most of the non-fiction was in the same area.

Thank you Dewey-Decimal system. He thought, rounding a corner, where he collided with the librarian from earlier.

The man's head was at chest height, and Fjord had been carrying the books under his arms, so Caleb, who had had a pile of books that towered over his head, collided with his sternum. Fjord, though not strong, was bulky, and so the skinny German bounced straight off him and onto the floor, spilling everywhere.

"Oh shit!" Fjord exclaimed, kneeling down and placing his own books to the side, "I am so sorry I didn't see ya- you can be real sneaky ya'know?" Caleb offered his own small apology before starting to gather his books, ignoring Fjord. Probably his worst nightmare, he thought, before helping him out.

Fjord saw one book open flat on the ground, and as he picked it up he saw a piece of the writing. "A vampire may only go out in sunlight if they have drank human blood in the last 4 days (102 hours)."   Now that was promising. The book seemed old, and was handwritten. A quick flick to the front showed it wasn't one of the library's own books. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Caleb had his back to him, so it was quite easy to slip the book into his own pile, and went back to helping him.

When they finished, both men stood, Fjord making an effort to hide the stolen book from the other man, Caleb's face was once again blocked by the books, but Fjord noticed his nose peak out to check for any books not collected.

"That's all, sir," he spoke, hoping the obvious lie hadn't fallen through. The stack of books turned so Caleb could look at him, though still no eye contact , Fjord noted. His eyes searched up and down Fjord, stopping to look over the books, but it seemed he had hidden it well, as Caleb ended up shifting back around, and Fjord found himself letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Danke," Caleb whispered, and then slowly walked past Fjord, repeating the word before disappearing back into the rows of shelves in the direction of the front desk, and Fjord himself went to return his own books.

By the time he returned, Jester had woken up and Beau had whittled her large pile to only 6 books, 2 of which seemed to be Jester's Erotica.

As Fjord passed Jester’s bag, he slid in the stolen book, and gathered half of Beau's pile into his arms. He was twitchy, wanting to get out before the man realised a book, his book probably, had gone missing.

"Come on, " he said, patting down his pockets to check if his wallet was still there, "Let's get a taxi home, it's gone one now." Jester let out a loud groan, pairing it with a face plant into the table. She reached up her arms and made grabby hands towards Fjord. "No, Jessy, I ain't carrying you." That got him another groan, and a very deep pout as Jester stood up and started to gather her own things, throwing her backpack on before straightening out her dress. Beau meanwhile picked up the other half of the books and started heading towards the front desk.

When they reached it, no one was there, but the pile of books Fjord saw the librarian with was set down to the side. Strange . Beau walked up to the desk and found a small bell with the sign 'ring for assistance!' in front of it. A small smirk grew on her face, as she raised her hand and slammed it down as hard as she could on top of the bell, ringing it loudly. the ring was followed by a loud thump and then a "Scheiße" from under the table. Very quickly, the top of Caleb's head came out, looking over the three of them before the man stood up.

Beau leaned forward, elbow resting on the desk as she placed her books down in front of her. she looked the man dead in the eye, but he only stared at the books. "Hiding something?" She asked, slowly leaning forward, far enough that one of her legs started to lift up behind her.

"Alright, don't terrorise the librarian," Fjord called out, yanking on the back of her collar to pull her back a few spaces, stepping into the gap himself and placing his half of the books on the table. Poor man, probably only took the night shift to get away from as many people as possible, and now had to deal with them. "I'd like to take these out please." Caleb pulled the books towards him, checking each book briefly before reaching his hand up towards Fjord.

"Library card?" he asked, and Jester bounded forward and passed him hers. He scanned each book, stamping each with a return date. It seemed he wasn't really paying attention to the books, till he came upon the german one, where he stopped, looked over the others, and then back down at the book in front of him. "Lots of books on vampires here." And for the first time that night the man looked Fjord dead in the eyes, the piercing blue eyes felt like they were looking into his soul. Fjord started to stumble over his words, and he's usually so much better at this, so much more composed, but these last few weeks have him shaken and so has this man. Luckily, Beau noticed and swooped into save him.

"Jester," she said, pointing at the girl in question, who waved and smiled, "She's big on the erotica. Ya know, twilight, true blood. That sort of thing. We wanted to look into how much was actually true- to the legends- and how much was just horny women in their 40's having a midlife crisis."

"At 1am?"

Beau shrugged. "We're students."

Caleb stared at her, then Jester, then back at FJord, who had used the time Beau had had his attention to compose himself, and shot Caleb one of his winning smiles. He squinted, like he did not buy it, like he knew they had his book, but Fjord guess this much social interaction was getting to him, as he continued scanning the books.

"They are due back on the 27th, please return them by then, or renew. Though renews are not guaranteed if another patron asks for them." As Caleb talks, he starts to retract back into himself.

"Are you from Germany?" While Fjord was focused on Caleb, Jester had snuck into his side, looking expectantly at the librarian.

Caleb spluttered, confusedly looking towards her (or over her shoulder, Fjord noted). "I... I lived in Berlin until I was 7? Then i came here.... May I ask why." Caleb's shoulders started to hunch, and he started to push away from the table.

"You're an immigrant? I am an immigrant! I moved from Bulgaria 3 years ago so I could study medicine at UCL and..." As Jester talked and talked, the man continued to recoil, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. Fjord, taking pity on the man and also seeing an opportunity to leave without further questions, gathered the books and grabbed Jester’s arm.

"Leave the man alone, Jester," he started to tug at her and leads her towards the door. "Thank you, sir." he gave a small nod to Caleb, who returned it, before gesturing to Beau to follow.

Once outside in the cool night air, he took a few steps away from the door before stopping.

"He seemed far too interested in our vampire boo-" Jester gasped mid sentence, hands raised to her face. "You don't think he's a vampire do you?"

In all honesty, the thought had occurred to Fjord. The journal, those eyes that made him struggle to move. He never even smiled, so it would have been impossible to see his teeth.

Before he could reply though, Beau caught up with the two of them. "If we're grabbing a taxi- drop me off at Darions?" She asked as the three started to head towards a nearby taxi stand.

"You know I don't like you doing that shit Beau," Fjord said, "It's dangerous- not to mention highly illegal." This argument was old, one that had started quite soon after they became friends. Eventually, they agreed to disagree, Fjord would mention how much he disliked it, and Beau would go anyway.

"Bro, right now we need the money," she replied, "the bar is good pay, and Jester picked up a job at the local bakery-"

"I get to eat the leftovers!"

"-right, but it's still barely enough to cover the rent. Until we work out what shit you can and can't do, you shouldn't have a job, so I have to do this." She stopped next to a taxi, and before she got in she raised her hand to grab his shoulder. "This- fighting- is what I am good at. I'll be fine." Fjord let out a long sigh in defeat, and Beau patted his cheek before climbing into the taxi.

Chapter Text

The third Thursday of every month was movie night. It was a tradition that went back before they were even truly friends when they had first moved in together and Jester had wanted to "bond"; an event which had lead to them practically(and one time literally) being tied to the sofa to watch whatever movie Jester could find on Netflix. Not even last years Flu escapade had stopped it, or the one time that Beau got food poisoning which was now referred to as "the shittening". They hadn't even cancelled it when Fjord had gone missing, but of course, that night was not as happy as it usually was. The girls would usually curl into his sides as he fell asleep 10 minutes into the movie. It was that night that it hit them that Fjord was actually gone.

Nothing, no wind, no rain, could stop movie night, so Fjord's new vampire state didn't stand a chance.

"Gary Oldman was so hot, what happened?" Jester cried out, hands stretched out towards the screen.

Beau frantically grasped at Jester's knee, before shouting out "He got old-man!" causing both girls to collapse into hysterical laughter as Fjord sat between them wondering what on earth made him become friends with these two.

They were curled up on the sofa, Jester on his right side and Beau on his left, all in their pyjamas as they watched Bram Stoker's Dracula for "research purposes". The girls had been nitpicking the movie, pointing out untrue facts compared to the legends, as well as complaining about Keanu Reeves’ attempt at a British accent. The lights were off, but Fjord had taken out a torch so that he could read the Journal.

From what he can tell it was written in the early 20th century by a married couple, one of whom had been turned against her will and forced into the 'life of the night'. Both husband and wife were scientists and so they used this unfortunate event to test out what actually was a vampire, and find out how many of the myths were true. Which was good for Fjord, if the 20lbs of garlic powder he had had to remove from the shopping list was anything to go by. He also noticed that some of the pages had extra notes on them, much newer, which spoke of biological reasons that would not have been known back then. Perhaps it was that librarian.

He was on the 19th entry of the journal, having had nothing to do all day but read. The woman was writing - at first Fjord thought she was describing their sex which was not what he was interested in, and he was about to skip when he spotted a specific line. "And as my husband laid there, skin pale and almost lifeless from the lack of blood, I took the knife to my thigh, creating a cut and forcing him to drink my blood." And Fjord-

Fjord remembered.

It was bonfire night, the sky clear although few stars shone due to London's light pollution. It was late but people still lit fireworks occasionally, and those lights had encouraged Fjord to walk home so he could admire them fully.

As he walked, he took the longer, safer route home along the side of the Thames, avoiding the alleyways that could end with a knife in his guts and his pockets a wallet and phone lighter.

With each step, he watched the water shimmer, small waves caused by a cool breeze that hinted of winter. The lights of the buildings looked beautiful on the river, making a normally bland sight breathtaking.

Just as he spotted the London Eye in the distance a large firework shot up to his right, filling the sky with red sparks. A second went up, green this time, and as he saw the sparks spread out he could almost pretend they were stars, shining down on him.

Fjord had never left London. He had never seen a shy will a sky full of real stars.

Before the sparks dissipated he closed his eyes, determined to keep the memory of the fake stars in his mind forever. As the smell of gunpowder filled his nose he reopened his eyes, and though the sparks were gone he could still see them in his mind.

That was when he was attacked.

He had had his back to the water and that was where whoever had attacked him had come from. He should have known, bodies had been found here, he should have realised this route was no longer safe.

The person shoved him into a wall, forehead first and suddenly he was seeing stars, but not the good ones, not real ones and- he was push chest flat to the wall, in such a way that he struggled to grab at his attacker. The person grabbed at Fjord’s scarf, ripping it out of the way and Jester had made him that. Fjord reached for it, grabbed it before it could hit the ground, holding it tight. He felt the person lips at his neck and he screamed. This was London for God's sake, someone must hear him and- and suddenly he was overwhelmed by indescribable pain. So powerful he could no longer scream, his whole body locked up and the pain was all he could feel, this person's teeth as they dug into his neck and-

-he dropped the book like he'd been burnt. It fell onto his legs and he was so desperate to get away from it, from that memory, that he kicked it to the ground as he scrambled up the back of the sofa. He heard the girls shout, vaguely saw Beau get up and reach for something, and he was sat on the back of the sofa as suddenly he was blinded by a bright light. He reached his hands up, trying to shield his eyes from it, and as he backed away he started falling, back landing flat and winding him and-

-his attacker turned him around, slamming his back to the wall, winding him. Some time had passed now, Fjord felt himself go from pain to pleasure to just a numbness. Fjord felt so drained. He struggled to get his breath back as the person- the being- the monster, dove back in. Fjord felt tears on his face as he sobbed into the darkness, no strength left.

He closed his eyes and thought of the stars.

When opened them again, he saw Jester.

He was laying behind the sofa, head on the floor as Jester reached down to wipe away his tears. She was smiling at him, that one smile of hers that she did when she was sad but wanted others people to be happy. He flexed his hands, pulling at the soft carpet, before doing the same with his feet, and found they were raised up. When looked down, Beau was holding his feet in her lap. They were here. He was safe.

He started to sit up, Jester holding his shoulders to help, as they spun him slightly so he could sit with his back resting on the sofa. Once he was settled Jester passed him a cup of water and the two girls sat next to him. Jester on his right, Beau on his left. Movie night.

"I am so sorry about-" he started, but was quickly shushed by Jester who grabbed one of his hands. He twisted his hand around so he was holding it properly, and Jester let their grasped hands drop to the floor, where she softly ran Fjord’s knuckles across the carpet. He found it comforting. He dropped his head forward. "I ruined movie night." He glanced up to look at Jester and saw one tear fall down her cheek.

"It's okay it’s okay." She leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on Fjord’s forehead. "You didn't ruin anything."

"Yeah, we paused the movie anyway." He had forgotten Beau was here.

"Beau! What the fuck?" Jester exclaimed, drawing back from Fjord as the tender moment was ruined.

"What? I was trying to comfort him! You were the one that told me to pause the movie!" Beau started to gesture rapidly as she defended herself, as she realised she’d fucked something up.

"Only after I knew he was okay and settled."

Fjord felt a laugh, desperate and broken, spilling up his throat as his two best friends, his family, bickered in front of him. The two continued, back and forth, until Fjord’s desperate laughter had stopped.

Beau reached up, placing a hand on his shoulder, and Jester shuffled in, leading the hand he was still holding behind her neck so his arm was around her. A small moment passed, before-

"I remembered," he whispered. "That night- when I was attacked. I-" He broke off and sobbed, not knowing how to continue. Jester used her other hand to bring Fjord’s head down to her shoulder and hug him closer while Beau herself brought her arms around Fjord to hug him.

"Do you feel comfortable telling us what happened?" Jester whispered into his hair. "It’s okay if you don't want to."

But he did. A lot of it was blurry; the hit to the head saw to that. But key things, the scarf, the fireworks, and key feelings. The pain, excruciating pain at first. Then the pleasure.

"Pleasure?" Beau said, obviously confused. "Now I ain't one kink shame but Fjord, that's one hell of a-" Before he could speak up for himself, Jester pulled away from him and exclaimed.

"THE EROTICA!"

Both Fjord and Beau looked at her, completely confused and stunned. Jester looked at them expectantly before sighing.

"In some of the stories, it spoke of vampires having this almost venom on their fangs which makes it more pleasurable to feed. At first, I put it down as them having to have an excuse to have biting during sex, which if you need an excuse-" She leant forward and used one hand to make a half cone, stage-whispered " weak " before leaning back and continuing on, "but it makes sense, you know? If they are in pleasure, less likely to fight back, easier to draw blood." And isn't that a dark thought. " Anyways - this means that the erotica, and therefore me, was right!"

Beau groaned, leaning forwards and headbutting Fjord’s shoulder. "She is never, ever going to let this go," Beau whispered to him, and he gave a small laugh in reply. She leaned back and waved to grab Jester’s attention. "Doesn't answer some of the bigger questions though, does it?" she pointed out. "Like, what can you eat? Can you eat normal food or-?"

"The books states that I no longer have a digestive system," Fjord said.

"I'm sorry- what? But those- those organs do so much more! How?" Jester stumbled through her thoughts.

Fjord leaned forward and recalled what he had read. "The infection, as it was described, starts out in the liver and releases a lot of the stored glucose there into the blood, causing the person, in this case, me, to go into a coma. Like if a diabetic eats too much sugar without taking their insulin. Then while you "sleep" your body slowly digests the unwanted organs like the stomach and the intestines. It also creates these-" and he points to his fangs "-which act like straws basically, and are hooked up to my kidneys, which acts as a filtration device to keep all the good things in and bad things out."

Both girls were silent for a while before Beau piped up. "Can you drink animal blood? Or just human?" Jester nodded along, agreeing with the question.

"Yeah, like in Twilight. "

Ignoring Jester, he continued. "According to the book, I can live off of animal blood, but it’s like eating mcdonalds all the time, its not healthy. And human blood does... extra stuff."

"What do you mean?" Beau asked.

"Well, I'd be able to walk in sunlight. My senses would be better as well. It... it also spoke of a power? I couldn't really understand it."

"It might have to be animal blood," Jester said. "Where would we be able to get human blood?"

"Easy," Beau said, and looked confused when the other two stared at her in shock. "Ain't it obvious? Blood bank."

--------------------------

Apparently, when you suggest an idea it is then your duty to do it.

It might actually be about Beau's... previous experience with breaking and entering, but she's still allowed to be annoyed.

The blood donor centre was not in the main hospital, and was instead a smaller building to the side. Beau had spent the day doing loops around the building to look at the security of the place, and even went in and signed up to donate so she could check out the layout.

The interior, as she expected, was less about security and more about sanitation. Jester had said they kept very few drugs in donor centres, so the only thing of worth in the building was blood. And who would want to steal that?

Currently, Beau.

The interior door system worked by keycard and, according to a conversation she'd overhead from two nurses earlier on a break, it stayed online after they close because the building is old and turning off the doors meant turning off the fridge where the blood was stored.

So the plan was simple; she had stolen a keycard off the last nurse to leave, who had locked up. She had run into her, slamming them both to the ground, before apologising, grabbing the key card and running off in direction of A&E. Beau then left the hospital compound and waited till dark before throwing up her hood, wrapping the blue knitted scarf Jester had made her for her birthday around her neck, and making her way back to the donor centre.

She didn't know where the fridge was, but the lack of staff meant she had time to search. In one loop of Beau's scan, she had noticed a window to an office at the back didn't close properly. Beau used a large stick from a nearby tree to shimmy it open just enough that she could slide through head first, landing on her hands before rolling onto her feet.

The office was simple, nothing fancy or of note. Two doors were in the room, but one was tucked to the side and so Beau assumed it was a storage cupboard. She walked to the other door, resting her ear on it and listening to the corridor outside. Nothing. Beau smirked, and reached up for the door handle.

Which was locked.

No problem, She reached for the key card she had slipped into her pocket, but as she looked for a place to scan it, all she noticed was a key hole

Motherfucker.

She turned around, looking over the office, before making her way to the desk. Beau searched the drawers, looking for a key or something she could pick the lock with. One drawer was filled to the brim with office supplies. Post-it notes - some blank, some with little 'I love you's and doodles -, there were staples, a giant pile of pens, and most importantly, paper clips.

Beau picked up two before bending them on the side of the desk, sliding the drawer shut before tip toeing back to the door. She kneeled in front of the lock, sliding the paperclips in before unlocking the tumblrs one by one.

With the lock picked, Beau raised her ear to the door once again, but there had been no change. So she slowly opened the door and was-

Greeted by a storage cupboard.

Beau looked over at the other door, tucked into the corner of the room. On the door, she saw a place for the keycard.

This was going to be a long night.

-------------

Very little happened after that. The fridge was placed in the middle of the building, the door heavy and it took Beau a good 10 minutes to open it, realise you couldn’t open it from the inside, find something to prop it open with, accidentally let the door close, open it again, and then grab the blood. There was also a point where she almost got her arm stuck in a vending machine trying to grab a packet of Quavers. It was a stealth mission; she didn't bring any money.

By the time she got home at 2 am she had two bags of disgusting red gloopy shit, and one bag of cheesy goodness.

They were now sat at the kitchen table, the two bags sitting on a plate in the middle. Both Fjord and Jester were still in their pajamas whereas Beau had not changed out of her stealth gear. The three of them were staring at the blood bags like they expected them to do something.

"What... what do we do?" Beau said, reaching over and poking one. It looked absolutely awful, and Fjord was going to have to eat that.

"Put it in the microwave?" Jester suggested. "What? Human blood is warm, that is not."

1 minute and 30 seconds later, one of the blood bags was set back on the table, the other wrapped in a leftover shopping bag in the fridge. The girls looked expectantly at Fjord, who slowly dragged the plate towards him and picked up the blood bag. Now it was warmer, the blood was running at a thinner consistency, but it didn't make it anymore appealing.

Here goes. Fjord thought.

He bit into the bag.

And he drank

And drank.

And drank.

The girls stared in curious horror as Fjord consumed the blood at a rapid pace. Squeezing the bag between his hands, he got as much of the blood out as possible. Then when he could get no more he ripped the bag in half, licking at the insides, desperate to eat.

When he was finished he dropped his hands back to the table, a half of the bag still in each hand. He licked around his lips, getting any remaining blood.

He looked between Jester and Beau, and said "I... I think i was hungry."

"No shit!" Beau said, then used her thumb to gesture over her shoulder at the fridge, "Want the other one?"

Fjord shook his head. "No, we don't know when we're going to get another one."

"You know Fjord, you don't have to be a qualified nurse to be a phlebotomist.” Jester said. "I have a few friends in my classes who didn't originally get an offer for medicine; instead of finding another course they took a gap year and worked at a blood bank! That way they had more experience and were more likely to get an offer the next year!"

Beau pointed her finger at Jester. "That... might actually be a good idea. You work at the blood bank now that you can go outside, and every couple of days just skim a little off the top."

Fjord went to scratch at the back of his neck but realised he head blood under his nails. "I feel a bit bad about that," he said. "People donate that blood to stop others from dying."

Beau leaned across the table to slap her hand onto Fjord's shoulder. "Well, it just means the person they save from dying is you, bro. You need to eat too." With that Beau stood up, stretching out a bit. "Now I need a shower and to dispose of a key card, night!"

The next day, Fjord applied for a job at a donor centre.

A week later, he had a steady supply of blood.

Chapter Text

March was one of Fjords favourite months. The air was cold but didn’t have the bitter edge it did during the winter. The sky was cloudy but did not promise rain. The trees started to grow blossoms, and the local parks grew flush with woodland flowers. There weren't even any massive holidays. It was a month a peace, of rebirth.

It had been 3 months since he returned home, and once he had secured the job at the donor centre, life had settled. He worked 9-5, and every couple of days his pack would be slightly heavier. He still sat down with the girls at meals; they still watched movies, played games together. All that had changed is the slight increase of vampire merchandise they had because Jester thought she was funny (though he was rather fond of his "BLOOD" mug). Life was good, peaceful even. Like March.

It was Tuesday and it was Fjord's turn to lock up the centre. Waiting for the cleaning staff without his phone was awful. He had forgotten to put it on charge last night, and since his alarm was on his phone he’d overslept and so didn't have time that morning to chase around for Jester's power bank. Once the staff were done, he watched them leave from the receptionist's desk, pointedly ignoring one woman's clear attempts at flirting. He did one final loop of the building before leaving and locking the door.

One of the abilities Fjord had gained since becoming a vampire was heightened senses, and though he can see how they would come in handy, normally it just makes everyday life overwhelming. Even the sun, when it’s high, can be too much; too hot and too bright. He can see why, even though vampires can walk in sunlight, they choose to stick to the night.

His heightened senses also make large groups of people unbearable. This is why he walked the extra bit to the next bus stop along, instead of waiting outside the main entrance of the hospital which is usually full of crying and/or ill people that just set him on edge.

About a month into working here, he had found a backstreet that was for ambulances only but had a small pathway for pedestrians. The backstreet led straight to the road where his bus stop was.

The backstreet was lined with trees and bushes, and beyond them were back gardens where he could hear children playing, people laughing. It settled his nerves as he walked down the empty street.

The evening was beautiful. The sun had just reached the horizon, threatening to set, and the sky was slowly turning the oranges and reds of dusk. It was cool, but warm enough that he hadn’t needed the new scarf Jester had made him. It was Tuesday. It was March. It was peaceful.

The footsteps behind him shattered that peace.

Ever since that night, Fjord had been paranoid of all strangers, to the point where he had once crossed the road to avoid an old woman and her chihuahua. He tried to tell himself that he was being ridiculous, that it was stupid, but his mind would just keep repeating the same words. What if.

The footsteps sounded like they were quite a distance behind him, but they were getting closer. He didn’t want to speed up, didn’t want to clue them into the fact that he knew they were there.

He was being stupid, it was a public path. It's probably just someone who lives close and was using it to walk home. Another random pedestrian. But that same thought ran through his head.

What if.

He reached for his phone but mentally scolded himself when he remembered he’d left it at home. He used the slight change in his rhythm to speed up a bit. He could see the end of the road now, saw people walk by. Surely if he was attacked now they’d hear it, see something? But that's what he’d thought that night, and no one had come.

Fjord increased his pace, his finish line in sight, but he could hear nothing but those footsteps as they got closer and closer, he couldn’t even hear his own breath, when suddenly-

-suddenly a car was honking at him as he had almost walked into the road.

All other noises slam back to him; the chitchat of other pedestrians, the cars as they whizzed past, his own laboured breath. He looked about the chaos-ridden street and felt safe. Once he had caught his breath he turned towards the backstreet, hoping to catch sight of the other person. But it was empty. Not another being in sight. He attempted to look further, but as he did he caught sight of his bus in the corner of his eye. With one last glance, he sprinted to the bus stop.

Fjord settled into the back of the bus, next to the window on the side where the backstreet would be. He placed his bag on the seat beside him and rested his head on the window as the bus pulled away.

The bus stop was not far from the road, so it was still moving slowly when it passed. There, a few feet back in the backstreet stood a woman.

She was tall, with black hair pulled into a bun and extremely pale skin. She held herself elegantly, with her chin held high showing off her long neck covered in jewels. And as she looked over the bus, she made direct eye contact with Fjord.

She smiled. A truly terrifying grin that Fjord had only seen before in movies, as the Villain finally revealed their evil plans. His ‘what if’ had been right. He was being followed.

Sat at the back of the bus, his mind supplied him with all sorts of terrible images. This woman, breaking into the flat, stood over his-Jester’s-Beau’s bed. Watching as she slowly drained the girls dry, hearing them scream as he had that night. By the time the bus reached his stop he had wound himself up into such a panic that he didn’t get off, worried she’d followed him. He couldn’t lead her to the flat.

He stayed on the bus past 6 more stops before getting off at the 7th. This road was empty of other people, and once the bus turned the corner at the end of the road, he closed his eyes and listened. Not a single person around.

So he walked down the road to Dairon’s Ring.

Fjord had only been to the Ring once when he and Beau had finally gotten along and she had invited him to one of her matches. The man she’d fought had been twice her size, and in the first 10 seconds she was thrown on her back and Fjord could watch no more. He’d fled the room in search of the toilets but had stumbled across Dairon’s office instead. She’d sat him down, made him a cup of tea, and gave him a place to stay until the match was over. He and Beau had argued that night (she said she was fine, but three broken fingers and a dislocated shoulder wasn’t fine) and then they didn’t speak for a week. That was 2 years ago.

The reception was exactly how he remembered it. White walls with red tape to mimic a ring, the floor hard lino. The walls had several photos on them; pictures of major matches, local newspaper clippings. Even a few of Dairon with her champions over the years, standing tall and stoic. Beau was in a few too, looking bloodied and battered.

He did not recognise the man behind the desk. He had long platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was rather thin and looked more at home in a library than a fighting ring.

The man had glanced up when Fjord had wallked in, and was now looking him over in deep scrutiny as he reached for something Fjord couldn't see. The fact that Fjord was still very twitchy, curled in on himself and fiddling with his hands, certainly didn't help calm the man down.

"May I help you?" The man's voice was far to upper class for a place like this.

"I... I am here to see Dairon? If that's alright." What if she's not in? What if she doesn't remember him? What if he's made to leave? All these thoughts flooded Fjord's head as the man continued to study him.

"I am afraid Dairon is very busy." He said, and oh no, this was his only chance, he couldn't go back out there, she was still-

"Xenoth it's alright." A deep female voice spoke, and in a doorway stood Dairon herself.

Dairon was a tall woman, taller than Fjord, with similar dark skin and a shaved head. She was covered head to toe in scars, from nicks with knives to bullet wounds. She was stoic, stubborn, and had the worst case of resting bitch face Fjord had ever seen. In short, Dairon was the toughest woman in the world.

Dairon was ex-marines and had been honourably discharged about 6 years ago when she discovered she had breast cancer. She was fully recovered now, but the marines would not take her back so she made a living her running the Ring.

Currently, she was in a sports bra and cycling shorts, with fighters bandages around her hands and her bare feet. From the cut above her eye and her laboured breath Fjord guessed she had just been in a fight.

"Fjord here is a friend of Beau's." She said, and at the mention of Beau's name, Xenoth scowled in shock and revulsion. Obviously not friends.

Dairon slowly walked towards Fjord, unwinding her hand wraps as she goes and throwing them into a bin. Once she reaches Fjord, she places a hand on his shoulder and looks him dead in the eye.

"Are you okay Fjord?" Her voice was calm. Not soft by any means, and definitely demanding an answer, but the steadiness of it eased him. He shook his head, a firm no.

She shifted her hand from his shoulder to the top of his back, palm flat. She turned away from him and towards Xenoth.

"We are going to my office, make sure no one bothers us," the way she spoke made sure there was no arguing with her. She pushed on Fjord's back and started to guide him out a door behind the desk.

They went up a set of stairs, down a corridor which had a window covering one side that looked over the ring. Two people were in the ring; a tall man of pure rippling muscle covered in tribal tattoos was currently fighting a much smaller woman with blond hair plaited into a bun. The fight seemed more friendly than an actual match, and as he watched he saw the man lift the woman off her feet and over his shoulder, walking her around the ring as she laughed. The pair started to leave the ring as Fjord and Dairon reached the end of the hallway and Dairon's office.

Dairon's office was very different from the rest of the of the building; it had a soft carpeted floor, plush sofas, and the back wall was covered in shelves full of binders and books. The wall to his right had a small window that looked over the ring, and next to that was a small kitchenette. On his left, the wall was covered in more photos, these depicting more of the nighttime fights held here. The was a gap in the photos surrounding a door that led to a bathroom and then the rest of Dairon's apartment. A large desk sat in the middle of the room, bare bar a phone and a pencil pot.

Fjord was lead towards one of the plush sofas and he stepped away from Dairon to settle into one of them. They were comfortable but still firm enough that he  didn’t feel like he was going to fall through.

Dairon walked over to the small kitchenette, filling the kettle with water. "Tea?" She asked.

Fjord  was going to say yes, but then remembered he physically can't drink it anymore. Fucking Fangs, he  thought, before shaking his head and raising his hand. "No thank, you ma'am."

She looked Fjord over, before shrugging and going about the motions to make herself a cup. A silence fell over the room, and it gave Fjord time to collect himself. He practised the breathing techniques Jester had taught him, In for 6. hold for 4, out for 8. By the time Dairon was sat at her desk he was much more composed.

"So," Dairon said, breaking the silence, "I thought you hated this place." She brought the mug of tea up to her mouth and softly blew on it to cool it down, before raising an eyebrow.

Fjord leant forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. "It’s not that I hate it. I just disagree with what you do."

She softly shook her head. "What you disagree with is the danger you believe Beau goes through when she comes here."

Fjord had no reply to that, because it was true. He knows the girl can handle herself, better than he can to tell the truth. But every time she comes home bruised and hurt there's that small voice in the back of his head. What if?

Eventually, Fjord just shrugged his shoulders. "Can't blame a man for worrying?"

She took a sip of her tea before placing it on the table and leaning back in her chair, one arm resting on the back of it. Similarly to how Beau sat, Fjord noted.

“No, I guess I cannot, but know no one has ever died in that ring. No one has ever had a life changing injury. I will not have that, I run an underground fighting  ring, not a battle to the death.” She lapsed into silence, staring into her tea. “You… You are good for her. When she came here at 18 she was a scrappy girl was daddy issues up to her hip and a thirst for blood. Now she is calmer, more patient. And she”- Darien cuts herself off with a little short laugh “-she actually takes constructive criticism, which back then would have gotten you a broken nose.”

Hand over heart, Fjord said to Darien. “I’m extremely flattered but Beau…” He struggled to continue. Beau was so many things that words could not describe. She was stubborn, but knew when to compromise. She was harsh but tried to be kind. “Beau did it all by herself. Every step was her own doing.”

Dairon looked at him curiously, studying him, but Fjord just smiled. She drank the rest of her tea.

“So, enough about Beau.” She said. “Why don’t we talk about what you are so clearly trying to avoid- you are good with words Fjord, but not that good.” Damn, He thought he could just make small talk for a few hours before making a polite exit. “Why are you here?”

“I…” God, how to explain, Some creepy woman smiled at me from a side street where she definitely wasn’t before and I was scared she followed me? Because that sounds sane.

In the end, he stayed simple. “I had nowhere else to go.” Which was true. His closest friends lived with him, and all the other people he knows are either in prison or he doesn’t know where they live. Beau trusted Dairon, and though he didn’t like her, it meant Fjord trusted her too.

Dairon looked almost shocked to hear this, but before she could reply a loud burst of static came from her desk. She opened one of the drawers and reached in, pulling out the walkie-talkie.

“Dairon,” a voice spoke through the device that sounded similar to the man at the desk, but the machine distorted it enough that Fjord wasn’t 100% sure.

“Yes, Xenoth? Over.” She replied back, almost hissing out the last word to remind him to say it when he’s finished.

“Oh, ahem, yes, sorry, my apologies-” he seemed to realise he was over talking and cut himself off. “There was a woman, she’s passed by the door three times and this is not an area  where people do that.” He stopped talking and Darian sat tapping her fingers on the desk waiting until a hurried “over!”

Fjord had finally been able to calm himself after the events of the evening, but as the conversation continued between Xenoth and Dairon and the woman’s appearance was talked about, he realised that she was the one in the backstreet. Fjord tried to hold it together, but all he could think about was her smile; how she had grinned at him as their eyes met.

The next thing Fjord knew, Dairon was knelt in front of him, her hand on his chest as she coaxed breaths out of him. She looked wide-eyed and worried, and the moment Fjord calmed down a bit, she brought the walkie-talkie up to her mouth.

“Xenoth, the moment the woman comes back, send out the man from the Crucible- Grog is his name. Oh, and send out his friend with him. She can be quite scary too. Over and out.” When she finished, she threw the walkie-talkie to the side and crowded into Fjord’s space. She didn’t speak, but she started breathing loudly, trying to get him to copy. After about 10 minutes he was calm again.

“This woman doesn’t happen to have anything to do with the fact you went missing in November does she?” Dairon asked.

“Possibly?” Fjord doesn’t truly know what she wants, but currently, the signs point to that. What if she was the one who turned me. What she wants to control me and-

Less terrifying thoughts Fjord, come on.

That last thought sounded far too similar to Beau’s voice for his liking.

Dairon stared at him, trying to discern any more details but Fjord had none. Sat under her gaze he was reminded of how scary she is. Beau had told him war stories of hers, what she did as a marine. Right now she thought he’d led a random, possibly dangerous woman to her ring and endanger her employees, and okay that was exactly what he’s done. Out of fear, yes, but he had done it all the same.

At least this vampire state made him harder to kill… Or did it?

Well, either Dairon kills him or the lady does, quite frankly he doesn’t know which he prefers.

Dairon stood straight and looked down on Fjord. “I am calling Beauregard.” She said and turned back to her desk.

---

Beau was working that evening at the bar, so it was a couple more (phoneless) hours before she got there. Luckily, the woman was not seen again. At about 11, Dairon left to go down to the ring to organise the night’s fight. After she left, Fjord felt his anxiety peak, now he was left to his own thoughts. There was not much to study in the room; the photos were about it unless he went snooping in the files (which he felt was wrong, and he didn’t want to get on Darians bad side.) He pointedly avoided the window.

Beau arrived at about 1:15, announcing her entrance by slamming the door open and running in, quickly closing the door behind her, by the sounds of the shouting, right in Xenoth’s face. She quickly ran to look at Fjord. “What was this about you being followed?” She was out of breath, sweat dripping down her face and neck as she walked over to Fjord. She looked worried.

“There was… A woman.” He stuttered out. “She followed me to the bus, then was seen here not long after I turned up.” With Beau here, he felt much safer. Safer than he’d felt with Dairon.

“I’m going to wash my face. Cool down a sec.” Beau said, going to the side bathroom and propping open the door with a couple of towels. As she washed her face, she turned to Fjord. “Tell me everything.”

And he did, how he was followed down the path but when he looked no one was there, her smile as he passed on the bus. When he finished, Beau was sat next to him on the sofa one hand covering her mouth as she thought.

“There is back entrance to the place.” Beau said. “It goes on to the main road, and if we follow that for two blocks we come across a taxi stand.”

“I dunno,” Fjord started to lean into Beau’s side, who without question wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He loved his friends' easy comfort. “We could just call a taxi? Get a private one.”

Both shook her head. “Can’t. Private companies avoid here after one guy was so pissed he lost a match he broke a taxi drivers nose.“ She patted Fjords thigh as she wriggled him off and stood up. “And anyway, don’t worry bro.” And from her pack, she pulled a wooden stake.

There were multiple things that worried Fjord about that, and that worry must have shown on his face, because Beau quickly said “No no, it’s okay I ain’t-” she spoke the next bit quieter “I ain’t carrying again.”

Beau had quite the troubled childhood; bad upper-class parents which were extremely trans-phobic meant that her rebellious teenage years were more than justified. But once she left home at 17, that streak turned more into a personality, which led her to a couple of bad people. Beau picked up many habits from them, one of which was carrying knives. Even after joining the rings she didn’t stop.

When Beau first moved in, she was skittish and so full of hate that Fjord even suggested to Jester they look for someone else. But through movie nights they got to see past that, the Beau who loved bad jokes and loved women more. The night Fjord found out she was carrying, his first instinct was to shout, demand she tell him what the hell she was thinking. But they sat down, talked, and by the end, she threw the thing in the bin. It was the first big step into their friendship. Beau struggled, but Fjord was there.

“I’m not carrying,” she said again, stronger this time, “It’s just- if I get mugged in a back alley I can take them out. You know, pop pop pop.” she matched each ‘Pop’ with a punch in the air. “But you can’t pop pop pop a vampire. And-” Fjord stood, cutting her off as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I understand.” He said softly. “Just no knives.”

She gives him a small curt nod. “No knives.”

He smiled at her, then ran his hand through her hair to mess it up, causing her to shriek and bat it away. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

A curt nod (And a death glare) to Xenoth and a thank you to Dairon later, they were hurrying out the back entrance. The road was as busy as you can get at midnight on a Tuesday; a few cars pass occasionally, and the street lights wash the road with an unnatural yellow glow. According to Beau, the taxi stand is about ‘three song walk’, because of course, she measured it in song length. With Beau, he felt a lot safer, but he knew the woman had followed him here and that she could still be around.

The street had other roads coming off of it, a few alleyways as well, and every time they passed one, Fjord visibly tensed as he listened for any sign of the woman. But with every one they passed, and the closer they got to the taxis, he slowly relaxed, though he never let his guard down.

His guard was useless in the end.

They had just passed one alley, between a kebab shop and a co-op, when Fjord suddenly sensed movement from behind him, but he was too slow to react. Before he could speak, someone had a hand in his collar and was dragging him backwards with inhuman strength into the alleyway. The man, and it was a man not the woman from earlier, threw him to the ground where he landed on his back. He started to scrabble away, but the man stalked over to him.

---

Beau rounded the corner, stake in hand, and ran at the man. The man swiped at her with a big, lumbering swing, but Beau dodged easily. She slipped under his arm and aimed the stake at his heart. He swung again, and she swiftly ducked underneath it and away from his reach. She cursed herself quickly though, as she realised it meant she had lost her ground towards the man's heart

She dodged another hit, and as she did she landed her own hit on his shoulder joint. Usually, this kind of hit would make the area numb and the arm slower, but this seemed to do nothing, and instead he just threw another punch back at her, this one clipping her hip slightly. As it hit she felt the strength of the man, and how unnatural it was. She was lucky it was just a clip, for it could have broken the bone with how much force was behind it. In the ring, Beau would usually wait to tire them out with opponents like him, ones with more strength and power behind each hit, but that was against human beings. She aimed for his heart again, trying to finish it quickly, but as she did he lunged for her arm. With the swing, he left an opening, so after dodging the hit Beau brought her foot up and kicked him in the nuts.

His reaction was slightly weaker than she was hoping. Vampire constitution. Over the man's shoulder, Beau saw Fjord finally get up off the floor, and it seemed the kick was a good distraction, as Fjord ran at him in a shoulder charge. Beau jumped back, but Fjord was only able to push their attacker a few feet before the man grabbed his shoulder and threw him away. She saw out of the corner of her eye as he landed in a nearby dumpster. Beau took advantage of this  and ran at him with the stake again, but he caught her wrist and opposite shoulder in a painful grasp and shoved her against the wall. She heard something in her face crack.

“Stay out of this, puny human.” He spat out, and it was obvious he was annoyed at her. The man had a thick Italian accent, but from which part she couldn’t pin. He punched at her again, but she dropped to the floor and his fist met the wall instead. A thunderous crack echoed, and Beau felt brick shower her. This was a bad position, there were only so many punches she can dodge from this angle.

Beau looked over at Fjord, but he was only just climbing out the dumpster, covered in leftover lettuce and kebab meat from the shop. The man grabbed her shoulder and that unnatural strength kept her pinned.

“Hey, you motherfucker. Eat this!”

A new voice from the other end of the alley shouted down, causing all parties to look. Beau used the distraction to break out his grip, taking a couple steps back towards Fjord who was stood in a (very bad) defence position. The man reached out to grab her again and as he did he stumbled. And screamed.

Sticking out of his shoulder with a thick piece of wood. It was dark in the alleyway but as the man stumbled it gave Beau a chance to look at the new comer. Short, shorter than Jester, a lithe form, and holding what was quite possibly a hand crossbow. They were loading it again, and raised it to take a second shot. This time the man ducked, avoiding the bolt by inches. It almost would’ve hit Beau if Fjord hadn’t pulled her back, doing it so quickly he knocked the two of them together and he ended up in the dumpster again.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of another person, the man ran off into the road, almost getting hit by a passing car as he disappeared into another alleyway.

Beau helped Fjord back out of the dumpster, and they stood there as they collected their breaths, leaning on each other for support.

“So what was that about, eh?” The appearance of the third voice shocked Beau so much she jumped into Fjord’s arms, who took a few steps back towards the entrance of the alley in response. Here the street lights lit up the opening, and they both watched as the figure stepped into the light.

She was young, mid teens. She had long, straight brown hair that hung to her hips with a couple of braids in it. She had tan skin and if pushed Beau would say she was of Hispanic or Latino heritage. She wore a worn leather jacket, big black boots and black jeans, with a Fall Out Boy tour T-shirt. She look like a teenage goth kid, beanie and all. This was not what Beau expected from their saviour.

“Erm…” Both her and Fjord were confused and still in shock from the whole situation. The girl sighed heavily, before reaching out her hand.

“I’m Nott.” She said.

“Not what?” Beau asked, which just earned her a deep sigh.

“No. My name. It’s Nott. Two T’s.” She moved her hand about, showing she wanted to shake hands. Since Fjord still had an armful of Beau, she moved her hand forward and shook it.

“I'm Beau,” she said, then used her thumb to point at Fjord, accidentally poking him in the eye as she did, “sorry- this is Fjord.” Nott studied the two of them closely, glancing between the two before zooming in on Fjords mouth.

“Are you a Vamp too?” Her tone was harsh, But she made no move to her crossbow. In a panic, Beau raised her hand up to cover Fjord’s mouth, trying to conceal his fangs.

“What? No!” She stuttered out, “that other guy was a vamp! But not him!” Nott looked unimpressed, and Beau could feel Fjords mouth moving under her palm. She glanced up at him and seeing that he was trying to speak, she slowly lowered her hand.

“Thank you Beau, for your marvellous deceiving skills.” he said, voice with laden with sarcasm. It was then that he slowly started to lower Beau to the ground. Once she was on her feet, Fjord turned all his focus to Nott, and reached up to put his hand over his heart. “I promise I won’t hurt you Nott.” He said.

Nott snorted before crossing her arms. “Bitch you could try.”

Oh. Oh, Beau liked this one.

Fjord sighed. “We’re making our way to the taxi stand. I’m sure you’re more than capable- you scared off that one guy real easy- but I ain’t alright leaving you all alone. If you want to jump in with us, I’d be happy to pay for it.”

Nott looked… Confused. And to be fair, if that’s how she reacted when she met a vampire, Beau is pretty sure she didn’t get many still acting nice to her. Beau put her elbow on Fjord’s shoulder, which was higher than her so it made her a bit unstable. But she worked with it.

“Big guy here is alright.” She said. “He’s new to all this fang malarkey.“ At that, Nott turned her head to the side and she looked up at Fjord, squinting as she studied him. Beau was suddenly hit by the thought of how much Nott reminded her of a cat.

“New? When were you turned?” Nott asked

“November. I- I ain’t even met another vampire before.” That we know, Beau thought, thinking back to the librarian. That fucker could’ve been one.

“ So you… You don’t know anything about what you are? No one to teach you lore or modern day shit?” Nott said, and it was softer, almost pitying.

“Well-” he turned to Beau, and the two made a ‘sort of’ gesture.

“We did some research. Found some informative books.” Beau said.

Nott thought for a second, before her face lit up. “I could help! I know lots of shit about vampires! My carer taught me a lot because he is very paranoid. And smart, supersmart. Maybe he can teach you some stuff too!"

Beau and Fjord looked to each other. In fairness, they know Nothing with a capital N truthful about vampires. Everything is guesswork and hope. The journal for all they know is one of those ‘fictional non-fiction’ books. A silent conversation passed between them before they turned back to Nott.

“Do you know where the Maughan library is?“ Fjord said, and Nott nodded. “Can you meet us there on Saturday at 12. In the day.” Again, a nod. “Good. We’ll meet up then. But first come on, let’s get you home.”

“Oh yeah, Jesus I got like 60 texts from Jester when you didn’t come home.“ Beau said. And shit, They were both in so much trouble.

“Who is Jester?” Nott asked.

“A friend.” Beau replied, and then looked Nott up-and-down. “Oh, she’s going to love you.”

Chapter Text

After they dropped Nott at her place (a 3-bed bungalow near the Natural History Museum), they made their way back to the flat. Since the lift was still out, they had to climb the seven flights of stairs to the flat; by the time they made it to the top Fjord was out of breath, leaning against the wall trying to catch it.

“I thought vamps were supposed to have super stamina?” Beau said, smug. Fjord responded by batting at her, but even that was half-assed.

“It’s been a long day is all.” He said as he straightened up, a wave of dizziness flowing through him suddenly, causing him to stagger in his movements. “Just tired.” And hungry probably.

You ate 2 days ago. Shut up stomach. Wait, could he still say that if he didn’t have a stomach?

He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn’t notice they’d made it to the front door until he heard Beau jingle her keys.

“Shush,” Fjord said as they stumbled through the front door, bringing his forefinger up to his lips to emphasise his point, “Jester’s probably asleep by now.”

Click

Sat in the solo chair was Jester, one hand reached out to turn on the lamp while the other held a teddy bear in her lap. She had on her fluffy dressing gown, pastel blue with pink spots and hems - she had her hair tied up how she usually wears it to bed, and she had thick black marks on her face where her mascara had run.

“5 hours.” She said, her voice still watery with tears. “I got a text 5 hours ago from Beau saying “I’ve found him.”” The last bit was spoken in a very mocking tone. “Then nothing else. No “I’ve got him!” No “we’re on our way home Jester!” No nothing!”

“Jester-“ Fjord started, but he was cut off.

“Shut up!” She had started crying again. “I’m mad! I’m angry! And I’m shouting at you!” She furiously rubbed at her eyes, which just spread the mascara more.

Fjord gently made his way to Jester and knelt down in front of her. She squinted down at him slightly before she placed her feet in his lap, nudging him in a way that said she wanted a foot rub, to which Fjord gladly obliged.

When Beau realised what was happening, she snorted and gave a very deep bow. “Would the lady like a back massage as well?” She said in the poshish accent she could muster.

Jester giggled before she held her head up and said “The lady would love one.” So Beau made her way behind the chair and started on her back.

No one spoke for a few minutes, the silence falling over them like a blanket. It was comforting. Once the tears on Jester’s face had dried, Fjord spoke.

“I’m sorry Jesse.” He said softly. “I would have sent you something, but my phone was here. I left it behind this morning.”

“Oh,” her voice was small. “Well, you may have about 24 missed calls and a good hundred ‘where are you’ messages.” He laughed and went to put the foot down, but she kicked him. “Uh uh, not forgiven.” So he continued.

Beau hummed, “How do we get you to forgive us?” She said face scrunched up as she thought. “Oh! We made a new friend. Her name is Nott.”

“Nott what?” Jester asked. “She’s not someone from the rin is she?” Jester turned to look at her better, so Beau removed her hands from her shoulders and rested them on the back of the chair.

“Nah- too young. She’s a teen. She knows a lot about vamps though. We said we’d meet her on Saturday at the library so she could help us out.”

Jester was smiling now, excited about meeting someone new. “Do you think she likes pastries? I could get some from work!”

“Can’t bring food into the library Jester.” Fjord pointed out and she grumbled as she crossed her arms.

She looked between the two of them and sighed. “Fine, you’re forgiven.” Beau made a fist bump gesture to Fjord who returned it with a smile.

After that, they made their way towards their individual rooms for the night. Before Beau entered her room though, she turned to Jester.

“Your makeup is always the first thing you take off when you get ready for bed, so why do you have mascara marks but everything else is bed ready?” She asked.

Jester just gave a sly smile. “When I realised I was crying, I put the mascara back on- the non-waterproof one as well so it runs even more- to make you guys feel worse.”

They both looked at her stunned.

“You dramatic bitch,” Beau said, astounded.

Jester just blew her a kiss as she walked into her room.

——

They told Jester the events of the previous night and the trio ended up taking a sick day, curled up on the sofa for an early movie day (or Movie Day: The Prequel according to Beau). With his friends by his side Fjord felt safe, and as they watched whatever romance film Jester had put on he felt sleep wash over him.

When he woke up, it was late. The lights were out and he was alone on the sofa with a blanket thrown over him; the clock said it was just gone midnight.

He stood up and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. He shuffled towards his room and stumbled through the dark, but as he passed Jester’s room he heard a noise - a very distinct thud.

He stopped and tilted his head, trying to listen for anymore sound but his hearing was dulled for some reason. Jester’s door swung open with a creak, and as he turned to greet her he found not his friend but the woman.

He could not focus on any part of her but her face, her smile. That grin. It was horrifying and stretched across her face and it dripped with blood.

Fjord looked over the woman’s shoulder and saw Jester’s dead body on the floor, one hand tangled in her sheets and the other held onto the small bat she kept by her bed. The bat was snapped in half, splinters covered the floor and he even saw some in the woman’s hair.

Fjord tried to move, but he was trapped in the woman’s gaze. She made no movements herself, and only the drip, drip, drip of blood -Jester’s blood- as it landed on the floor could be heard.

She reached out one long finger and tucked it under his chin to lift it up. She ran her finger along his neck and traced his bite mark, now healed and barely there. She grabbed his chin forcefully and dragged him down so they were eye to eye. She opened her mouth and whispered one word.

“Boo.”

Fjord bolted up off the sofa as he awoke from the dream, he kicked Jester and squashed Beau in the process before he fell to the floor between the sofa and the coffee table.

He felt a cool hand on the back of his neck which gently guided his head between his knees. He distantly heard Jester’s voice telling him to take deep breaths and his body instinctively followed, but his mind- his mind was racing. Every time he tried to focus, tried to compose himself, he just thought of her, that smile, that word.

He took in his surroundings slowly. The curtains were closed, but bits of sunlight filtered in where someone hadn’t shut them properly. The credits from the film rolled on the screen, a soft love ballad played over them. There was a small pile of popcorn in front of the tv where (presumably Beau) had thrown it at the screen and a larger pile of tissues were on the table in front of Jester. As more of the world came back, he realised Jester was talking.

“And then Oskar rode in on the back of his horse and scooped her out of the crowd and then they rode off into the sunset together.” Unlike most of her dramatic retellings of stories, this time Jester’s voice was softer, almost a whisper. Fjord realised she was just giving him something to focus on. When he looked up, she was laid down on the sofa, head by his own. Beau was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m-“ he went to apologise but Jester stuck her hand over his mouth.

“Bad Fjord.” She whispered. “No apologising. Not allowed.” And then she brought out the sad smile that had the ability to break his heart.

He smelt the blood before he heard Beau’s footsteps as she walked around the sofa and knelt in front of him. She placed the plate with the blood bag down in front of him.

“Go on, drink.” She said, but he couldn’t. It’s their spare, for if he ever got too hungry, or if he had to skip work for too long. He’d never had to drink the spare, he’d never been hungry.

When he shook his head, Beau let out a huff. “You’re hungry.” She pleaded. The two stared each other down for a second, but Beau gave up and reached to pick up the bag. However, instead of taking it away, Beau surged forward and forced the bag into his face, which surprised him and caused the bag to split on one of his fangs.

Fjord sprung backwards away from her and he looked up at Beau, but she was just frowning at the blood bag on the floor.

The empty blood bag.

“I told you-you were hungry.” She said softly. But he wasn’t, he would know, right? But here was the evidence. He picked up the bag and stared at the two bite marks he’d made before he dropped it back on the plate

Fjord stood up, and now he’d eaten he could feel the difference. He no longer felt dizzy, or out of breath. He heard a fly buzz in the kitchen, heard birds as they whistled outside the window, heard the two kids from down the hall stumble in from school.

He fell back onto the sofa and stared down at the empty bag.

“But I didn’t feel hungry.” He looked between the two girls. “I would know, right?”

Jester looked at him curiously, a clinical look on her face and it reminded him of forensic scientists trying to figure out how someone died. It sent a shiver down his spine as he felt more like a problem to be solved than a person.

Jester grabbed his shoulders suddenly and shook him, mouth agape in realisation. “You don't have a stomach!”

“Erm, No-no?” Fjord stuttered out, finding it hard to speak as she shook him. He reached up to grab at her arms so she stopped. Jester looked at him, eyes wide and she was smiling. She moved her hand in a “carry on” gesture but Fjord had no idea what she was talking about. It must have shown on his face as Jester sighed.

“Our digestive systems, our stomachs,” and she reached out to grab at the area where Fjords once was, “has special ways of telling us when its full. Hormones, cell signalling, etc. But you don’t have a stomach!”

Beau slammed her hands down on the floor beside her before she pointed her finger up at Fjord. “You wouldn’t feel the same hunger pains!”

“Bingo!” Jester cried and then shuffled closer to Fjord, grabbing his hands in hers. “What’s probably happening is you’ve been thinking that your hunger signals are actually “I guess this how vamps feel” things, instead of what they really are.”

“Yeah like that time Jester thought her appendicitis was period cramps,” Beau said and wasn’t that one hell of a week.

“Well - what about the time you got trapped wind and you thought you were growing ovaries!” Jester retaliated.

“I was HIGH!”

“Not very!”

“OKAY!” Fjord shouted, cutting them both off. The two were hell when they were sick and if they were just going to sit there and list every incident they would be there all week. “None of this bickering helps with the situation. Even if I am hungry, I can’t steal any more from the blood bank.” The centre hadn’t noticed yet, but if he took more…

“You can’t starve Fjord,” Beau said softly. “I’ve noticed recently you’ve been more tired. Jesus for 3 years you juggled two jobs, one of which got you back at midnight, the other got you up at 5. With about 6 hours of sleep including naps, you did all that and hang out with us without even a yawn. Now with a basic 9 to 5 job you’re tired all the time. You struggled to get up the stairs last night, don't you deny it.” He looked Beau in the eye. She was never good at conveying emotion, but here he could see one pure feeling in her face. Worry.

He sighed. “I can- I can start taking 3 a week.” The other two tried to protest but he silenced them with a wave of his hand. “I cannot take more. It’ll be too noticeable.”

“Okay,” Beau said. “But we’re reducing your house duties so you don't waste food.”

He shot her a small smile. “Don’t see me complaining.”

Chapter Text

The next few days were tense. Fjord’s list of chores was severely depleted when he woke up the next day, to the point where it was ‘Laundry’ and ‘Dishes’ and not the usual page and a half. Beau took up most of his usual jobs since Jester’s timetable was filled with school, including one day where she performed an autopsy on a human.

“Definitely human,” she said, “he had a stomach.”

By the time Saturday rolled around he was feeling… better. He started to catalogue what may or may not be hunger signs and would take breaks when he got too tired instead of pushing through. He fed again Saturday morning while Beau watched him to make sure he did.

The library was empty when they arrived, not many people wanted to study at midday on a Saturday. They settled into a corner in the ‘discussion zone’ while they waited for Nott. Beau glared at the rather stout librarian that he did not recognise as they passed.

Nott arrived at 12:15. She had a large rucksack on, a doughnut in one hand and an iced coffee in the other. When Jester spotted the food, she glared at Fjord and grumbled, crossing her arms, but the anger quickly passed as she got a better look at Nott. The librarian did not notice Nott as she snuck past him towards them.

Jester stood excitedly, brushing off her dress before she reached out her hand towards Nott. The girl looked at Jester before she looked down at her hands which were full. A split second decision found Nott shoving the doughnut into her mouth and she struggled to chew as bits of jam and sugar fell onto her chin and lap.

Note to self, Fjord thought, do not allow Nott and Beau alone together.

Nott reached out to grab Jester’s hand, who clasped it between both of hers and shook hard enough that Fjord saw Nott’s body shake with the force of it.

“Hi! I’m Jester! It’s lovely to meet you I’ve heard so much about you- well not that much obviously because you only met my friends about 3 days ago but I’m still so excited!” Jester giggled and jumped up and down as she spoke. She continued to babble, complementing Nott’s hair and clothing. Nott stood stunned, unable to interrupt due to her mouth still full of dough. Fjord ended up taking pity on her and stood between them.

“Alright Jess,” he said and he grabbed hold of her shoulder and directed her into sitting down. He turned back to Nott and gestured for her to sit in a chair away from Jester.

Nott settled in the seat, rucksack in her lap. She washed the doughnut down with her iced coffee before she placed the drink on the table and used her sleeve to wipe away the jam and sugar from her mouth.

She opened her rucksack and pulled out a truly enormous book, about the size of her torso. It looked heavy, and Nott more dropped it than placed it onto the table, causing a loud thud to echo as well as a small cracking sound coming from the table that had them all worried. Nott slowly pushed the book towards Fjord so he can see the title. The Fey and Monstrosities of the Night- by Bryce Feelid. The book looked older than the Journal.

“This book is basically an encyclopaedia to all creatures,” Nott stated, she leant over the table and then pointed at the cover. “Bryce Feelid, from what I understand, is a very famous vampire who spent the better part of 200 years studying everything and compiling this book.” 

“Wait wait wait,” Beau said, face scrunched up in confusion, “you’re telling me it ain’t just vamps?” Nott just stared at her, before she glanced at Fjord and Jester. The two were stunned and stared back. She turned back to Beau.

“No, it’s not just vampires.”

Fjord was… well, it was difficult to describe how he felt. If you would have told him this news 6 months ago he would have been shocked and surprised, probably wouldn’t have believed you but now… now it was just a deep wave of fear.

Nott turned away from them and to the book, practically climbing onto the table and now h he was really worried about it breaking. She flipped open the book and searched for a certain page. As she did, Fjord saw detailed drawings of all sorts of creatures, from Banshees to shapeshifters to what looked like a Minator until she reached a page in the back titled “London”.

“As well as splitting the so-called ‘supernatural’ into Fey and Monstrosities, we also split them into ‘Born’ and ‘Turned’. It’s self-explanatory. Born are your faeries, your pixies; most Fey are born. Whereas your turned beings are like you; vampires, werewolves, sirens and mermaids” as she said the last two Jester’s hand shot up. Nott looked at her for a second before she pointed her finger at Jester. “Questions at the end.” Jester frowned, but it didn’t last as Nott continued. “Now old cities like London, and I do mean old. Rome, Athens, the ancient cities from the old empires, are full of turned beings. Because back then these beings wanted to hold onto their humanity but when they failed- some! Some! Sorry-“ she said and placed her hands up between her and Fjord in an apologetic way, “sorry. Anyway, when some failed, they turned a lot of the population. Also, back then lots of humans feared the wild, so Born beings were not disturbed and stayed to the woods, allowing the Turned beings in the cities to thrive.

“Now,” she pokes the word London in the book, “London is very special, in the case that it has both vampires and werewolves. Most older cities have one or the other. Take Rome, for example. Unlike what Twilight says,” Fjord could feel Jester’s pout, “It’s full of werewolves-“

“Cause of all the crosses right?” Beau said. She was swinging on her chair, feet up on the table as she listened to Nott. “Vamps can’t go near them.” They didn’t actually know that it wasn’t mentioned in the book, but Fjord had avoided them nonetheless.

Nott shook her head. “Though the Legends of vampires didn’t come up until the 17/18th century, vampires pre-date Christianity in all its forms. I don’t know how vampires came about, no one does, but I know that they originated from Greece. The reason why Rome is full of vampires is that when the Goths attacked-“

Beau burst into laughter and almost fell off her chair as it rocked dangerously back. “The Goths?” She shouted, wiping tears from her eyes. Fjord chuckled slightly before he looked at the other two and saw they were dead silent. “What did they do? Run at them with their black eyeliner?” Her laughter continued until she noticed the other's silence and the laughter trickled away. Nott, who was fully sat on the table at this point, let out a deep sigh, but it was Jester that spoke up.

“Goths,” Jester said and leant forward onto her hands which were clasped on the table, “were from southern Scandinavia and places like Denmark and Northern Germany. They attacked Rome a lot, and some historians say they were the reason Western Rome fell!”

Beau nodded and looked sheepishly down at her hands. “Yeah sorry. Didn’t listen in history.” She mumbled.

“It’s okay,” Nott said. “Anyway. Werewolves originate in the forests of what we now call Germany, and the Goths used this to their advantage and a lot of their warriors were werewolves. Now, of course, Rome would keep pushing them back, but it only took one bite to turn a soldier or a civilian, so even though the Goths lost they left their mark on the empire.” She stroked her chin, “we have a book on the history of the werewolves of Rome, I should have brought it. Anyway,” she stopped for a moment and looked at Fjord, “what was I talking about?”

“London.” He said.

“Yes!” She shouted, clicking her finger at him. “London! Right. As I said, it's special because of its high population of both major turned Monstrosities- yes vamps and werewolves are Monstrosities, don't ask why- which is SUPER rare because they do not get along. In London, the territory is split by the Thames; the Northern half is vampire and the southern half is wolf. Oh! Say goodbye to anyone you know who lives on the south side because if you go down there then they will tear you to shreds. Literally.”

Fjord looked between his friends. “We don't do anything in the south do we?”

Beau shook her head as Jester scrunched up her face in thought. “There’s a couple of nice shopping places, but nothing important. Not like you’d go with me there anyway.”

“Good,” Nott said. “Now, a bit offtopic, but I need to point out that my carer won’t let you take this book with you, he’s very… possessive of them. But if we spend the rest of the afternoon looking through it, and also if you took some pictures and notes, I can take it back with me and it’ll be fine.”

They all nodded and got to work.

—-

At about 5 pm they all bustled out of the library, the sun slowly made its descent towards the horizon. The area was manic; it was central London at rush hour. Fjord started to feel overwhelmed as he heard every conversation, every footstep, every heartbeat-

And he heard one much slower than all the rest.

He hadn’t recognised it as a heartbeat at first as it was masked by the others, all much louder and faster. But as he concentrated he was able to mute everything else. Dun dun. A few seconds. Dun dun. He searched through the crowds, trying to find who it was with that broken heart beat. And as he glanced about he caught sight of the grin.

Across the road, not moving as the traffic blurred by her, was the woman. Still dressed in the same finery, with her hair pinned up and her chin held high. She was grinning and looked straight at Fjord before she turned and disappeared into the crowd.

“Fjord?” Jester’s voice distracted him for a second and when he tried to find the woman again he couldn’t. He listened, tried to find that irregular heartbeat. But it was lost. “Fjord?” Jester called again, still loud but with a softer tone. He felt her hand on his shoulder.

“The woman.” He said and reached out for Beau, who had been looking at her phone and hadn’t noticed Fjord’s state till now. “The woman- from the other night. She was here. I saw her.” How did she keep finding him?

“But I thought it was Benny the other night,” Nott said and the other three looked at her.

“You know the dude who attacked us?” Beau asked.

“Well, know is the wrong word,” Nott replied. “It’s more an ‘I’ve crossed his path at 3 am’ before. He likes hanging out behind clubs for drunkies, and I like shooting him with my crossbow.”

Jester waved her hands between the two. “I don’t care about this ‘Benny’, he’s not the one here now.” She turned to Fjord. “Are you alright?”

“I saw her.” He whispered. “But she never came close. Never does. It’s like she’s taunting me.” The group settled into silence at that as they thought about what it meant. Nott was the first to speak up.

“I’m sure she’s gone now.” She said, but it did not calm his nerves. Nott coughed a bit to clear her throat. “I’m sorry but- my bus is going to be here any minute.”

“Oh!” Jester exclaimed before she reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled on it, using her hand as a rest before she passed it to Nott. “Here’s my number. Shoot me a text when you can and we’ll talk about other times we can meet up yeah?” Jester nodded and smiled as she talked and Nott couldn’t help but copy her. The girl took the paper from Jester and said goodbye before she turned to join the crowd.

Fjord took no notice of this though, too focused on trying to find the woman. She had to be about somewhere but he saw no sign of her. He felt Beau rest her hand on his back.

“Come on bro,” she said softly, “let’s go home.”

He slowly walked down the steps, missing the glance the girls shared behind him.

——

Nott had decided that these people were, by far, the weirdest people she had ever met.

For one, these people watched her shoot a vampire, with a crossbow and then asked her if she wanted to hang out with their vampire friend so they could ask her questions.

And she thought she was desperate for friends.

But the afternoon had been fun, and as she got off the bus outside her home she was very excited about what their next meet up had in store.

Their bungalow was surrounded by others similar to it, but the overgrown state of the garden made it seem completely separated. The garden had been planted by Caleb’s mother, a woman Nott had never met. He did not speak of her much and when he did it was accidental, a side comment that caused him to clam up after he said it. Though Caleb hated the garden and never touched it, Nott loved it. The pebble path to the front door was lined with lavender, which held strong against the mint that had started to choke some of the other plants. Rose bushes formed the edges and the once distinct colours have now blended together and gave an assortment of shades, which produced a barricade against the rest of London. All sorts of other flowers filled the garden; an array of crocus surrounded a small Adams Laburnum which was just starting to blossom, and there were daffodils under the windowsill where they would get the most sun. It was an oasis in the concrete city, one that Nott helped to thrive.

The inside of the house was far drabber than the outside. The walls, once white, were now a light grey and it was obvious where many photos once hung. There were a few present, but they were replacements; none of the old photos remains. Nott did not know what pictures once covered the walls, for they were gone before she arrived. Another memory of Caleb’s family he threw away. As she walked in, she jumped up to touch the Mezuzah by the door and saw one of the few photos as she did. It was her and Caleb from a trip to Disneyland a couple years ago. The two stood outside the haunted mansion, happy and smiling.

The bungalow was very plainly planned. There was one corridor that led all the way to the back, and there were three rooms on either side. Nott snuck along the hall to the guest room, which also served as Caleb’s library. She couldn’t hear him but he had said he wasn’t leaving today, so he had to be around.

Caleb had… many issues surrounding vampires and the supernatural, none of which Nott knew. He had taught her what he knew to keep her safe; a protection charm here, a layer of silver there. As she approached the door for the guest room she saw the carved runes in the frame that warded away evil spirits. Caleb Widogast was nothing if not paranoid.

Though the guest room was basically a library, there was still a queen size bed in one corner. Not that you could see it since it was completely covered in books. In fact, most of the room was. Stacks of books up to Nott’s shoulder littered the floor, and bookshelves sagged under the weight of them. She slowly walked between the stacks to reach the bookshelf where she had taken the encyclopaedia from that morning. She placed the book back on the shelf without issue, but as she turned her elbow clipped the side of the stack, causing a few to fall to the floor with a loud thud.

“Nott?” Caleb called from what sounded like the kitchen. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me!” She called back. She started to gather a few of the fallen books into her arms but as she did she knocked moreover, creating a bigger mess.

A few seconds passed. “Can you come here please?”

Fuck.

Okay. Technically she hadn’t done anything wrong. Sure when she got on the bus she noticed a few missed calls, but she had been on the way back so didn’t bother ringing him- but it’d be alright right? He was probably more mad that she’d let her dinner go cold.

She walked down the hall to the kitchen where the door was slightly ajar. The kitchen was easily the biggest room in the house. Countertops lined two walls with cupboards and drawers beneath and above them. A large table was tucked in the corner which could easily fit 6 and pushed fit 8, but currently only had 2 mats set up.

Caleb was loading the dishwasher as Nott walked in, but turned to look at her when he heard her enter.

Caleb was a man in his early 30’s, and though his age was easily seen by the way he looked, his personality and fashion sense spoke of a man much older. He was always slouching and curling in on himself, and though he actually stood at a good 5’10” he looked shorter. His clothing was always plain browns and greys, completely contrasted by the fiery red hair and beard he had. He kept as clean as he needed to, but never went over the top with his appearance. His beard was scruffy, and his hair reached his shoulders. When he looked at her, he did not make eye contact, but his icy blue eyes studied Nott as she stood in the doorway.

Caleb had three emotions; worry, impassive, and glee. Nott had rarely seen the third emotion, in fact, she could count the times she’s seen Caleb happy on her fingers. As she looked at him she saw the panic on his face, deep lines that faded and gave way to a small smile as he saw she was okay. Fuck, she thought, I really did worry him.

“I’m sorr-“ she started but was cut off as Caleb ran across the kitchen and fell to his knees, gathering her up in his arms. He held her there for a few seconds before he moved back, hands still on her shoulders.

“Sorry,” he said softly, “I should not be so worried. You are a strong girl now.” He looked her up and down, checking for injury and when he found none he stood. “Did you have fun with your new friends?” He asked as he gestured to the table for Nott to sit, before walking towards the oven.

“Oh yeah!” She replied. “It was so much fun! We talk all afternoon about lots of stuff. Oh and we played a prank on Ooglin!” That had been fun, messing with the librarian. Apparently, the man had pissed Jester and Beau off the last time they were there and they wanted their revenge. Nott, who also had to deal with Ooglin when she went in, was more than happy to help.

She heard Caleb snort as he pulled a plate out of the oven. It wasn’t on, but it was probably still warm from when he’d cooked. The dish was covered in tinfoil to keep it from drying out.

“Ooglin can be…” he clicked his tongue as he tried to think of the right word. “...difficult? No. Worse than that.” He placed the dish in front of Nott and removed the tinfoil, revealing a seasoned piece of fish and a rice side. Usual Saturday dinner. She started to eat when she noticed that Caleb had settled in next to her to watch.

“Yeah?” She mumbled around her food.

Caleb rested his chin on his hand, elbow on the table as he watched her. His face was devoid of any emotion. “So… how did you meet these people again?”

Oh no. She thought. He knows something.

Nott was good at many things. Sneaking out was one of them, though the fact her carer took the night time shift made it very easy. She was also good at chasing away vampires, a skill she has honed over the last few months.

The one thing she was truly terrible at was lying, especially to Caleb.

She searched for an excuse, but as time passed and Caleb just stared at her it was clear she had nothing to say.

“Nott.” He said slowly, emphasising each part so that it made the word 2 syllables. “Why did you take my encyclopaedia?” So that’s how he knew.

“My- my friends were interested in it.” She stumbled over her words. “They didn’t think it was real though, don't worry! Just thought it was some fancy fake myths and legends book!” But it was clear that he saw right through her lie as he looked her dead in the eye.

“Are you hanging around with hunters?” He asked, and she could hear the concern dripping from his voice. It was obvious Caleb had assumed the worst, and Nott tried to speak up but he kept talking.

“Hunters are dangerous. They do not understand the morality of humanity half the time, let alone the difference between the good and bad supernatural. Getting caught up in those sorts of groups will get you hurt; either by revengeful beings or neglectful allies.”

Caleb continued and his concern was warming even if misplaced. Eventually, Nott was so overwhelmed with the guilt she ended up shouting out. “I’m not with hunters! My friends a vampire!”

The face Caleb made was not of worry, not of glee or indifference, but one of pure shock. His eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of something to say. Nott used this opportunity to speak.

“He’s a vampire and he’s really nice though I was a bit scared- though not too scared, you know me- when I first met him. He knows nothing about the vampire world so I was telling him about it! I met him and his other friend the other night when I went out to scare off vampires- fuck I shouldn’t have said that BUT don’t worry I don’t kill them or go near them I keep a distance away because- well remember that kids crossbow you got me for my birthday the other year? I kind of modified that to be a proper crossbow. So don’t worry I’m careful! In fact, I saved their lives! This really scary woman is after them but I didn’t see her.” The truth spilt out of her as she continued to talk, and Caleb could do nothing but stare. Every secret she had been bottling up for a while falling out of her mouth. Eventually, she mumbled to a stop and looked up at Caleb, waiting for his reaction.

He took one breath, two, before he spoke.

“We… we are going to take that apart piece by piece.” He said slowly, obviously holding back an array of emotions. “First, let us start simple.” Another deep breath. “You have a friend who is a vampire?”

Nott nodded. “His name is Fjord.” There was a flash of familiarity on Caleb’s face, but when he made no comment she continued. “He was turned in November. He knows very little about being a vampire and nothing about how they work in London.”

“Does he know who turned him?” Caleb asked.

Nott shook her head. “I don’t know what happened to him, just that he has never met another Vampire.”

Caleb stroked his beard and stared down at the table, eyes unfocused as he thought. “This is bad. Especially with this woman after them. Oh, this is bad. Very bad.” There was a visible change in his body as his mind drifted to another topic. “But not as bad as your nightly escapades.”

Nott brought up her hands together in a pleading motion. “Oh please forgive me. Please. I’m sorry I went out I know it was kind of stupid-“

“Kind of!” Caleb shouted, but quickly brought his voice down to a lower volume. “This is dangerous Nott! Deadly! You could have died, or been turned, and I would have not known where you were or what was going on! How could I have helped you then?” Nott bowed her head, listening to Caleb’s words. A few seconds of silence passed before Caleb grasped her chin and tilted her head to look at him. He rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed. “I know- I know you are a brave young woman. Strong too.” He whispered. “But you are 15. And there is much you don’t know about the vampires of London.”

“Then why won’t you tell me?” She whispered back. She knew that Caleb had secrets, ones that caused him to stay up for days on end.

He leaned back then, making brief eye contact before looking at his thumb as it stroked her cheek. “Because I know you, Liebling. You are like me.” He tapped a finger on her forehead. “You are smart. Curious. Once you know one thing you will want to know ten thousand things. There is so much I know, so much I have seen, that I would not wish on my greatest enemy, let alone you.” He stood up and pressed a kiss to her hair. “When Ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.”

He started to walk to the door but turned back quickly. “You have your friends number, ja?” She nodded. “Good. Invite them round for dinner next week, I wish to speak with them.” He mumbled something about a stolen book but it was too quiet for her to hear anything else. He motioned to her plate. “Eat. Before it gets too cold. Ich liebe dich.” He said the last part with a smile.

“Ice- itch- ichy- I love you too.” She said back, and Caleb smiled wider as he walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

Jester had gotten multiple texts later that evening from Nott, explaining how her carer now knew everything. Apparently he wanted them to come over for dinner one evening. To ‘talk’.

“Well that’s not ominous at all.” Beau mumbled around a crumpet.

They were sat around the kitchen table, Jester’s phone placed in the middle. Nott had gone to bed a few hours ago and so now the three were looking over the conversation they’d had. It was mainly Fjord and Beau, as Jester was supposedly revising for a test on Monday.

“I’m sure he is super sweet!” Jester said as she doodled another moustache into her anatomy book. “Nott didn’t say much about him, but apparently he cares a lot about her, and he’s very protective. Which is probably why he wants to see us. You know, to make sure we’re good friends for his little girl.” Beau moved the phone closer to herself, so she could read the messages more easily. As she was distracted, Jester moved in and took one of her crumpets, shoving it into her mouth; Fjord began to laugh, which was the only thing that made Beau catch on. She glared at Jester as she wrapped her arms protectively around the plate.

Fjord gave Beau’s shoulder a quick pat before bringing to phone to himself. “Of course he’s going to be a little ominous.” Fjord said. “He’s a guy who knows about vampires and the supernatural - he’s not exactly going to be normal.”

“We know a lot about that and we’re pretty normal.” Jester said, causing the other two at the table to burst into laughter. Beau swung back on her chair, hand on her chest as she laughed so hard she was basically silent. She swung back down and grasped Jester’s shoulder with one hand.

“We’re not. The fact that you are the most normal person at this table proves that.” Beau said.

-------

3 people in one apartment- which only had one bathroom- meant that when they had gotten comfortable with each other, they had gotten comfortable . Fjord had always considered himself a private person, but since moving in with these two his boundaries had sort of become lax, especially with Jester “I paid a lot of money for these nipple piercings and also I just feel hot today” Lavore. 

The bathroom was the main hub of this behaviour. The door didn’t lock and everyone had long since forgotten the word knock. Eventually “whoops didn’t know you were in here” turned into “hey I know your in the shower but where’s my jacket” to “Fjord Beau wants to compare dick sizes.” (Fjord had exactly 3.2 inches on her. He knows. Jester had a ruler). There was no such thing as shame in the bathroom. 

Fjord was currently in the shower, the curtain closed to keep the water off the floor more than for privacy. He knew Jester would eventually pull the curtain back to ask a question. He could hear the two girls talk as they stood by the mirror. 

“Jester, do my boobs look bigger to you?” Beau asked. 

There was a pause. “Well they definitely feel bigger. That’s HRT for you.” Jester said. 

“Hmm. I like them like this. Not to big that they’re in the way, but they are definitely th- Jester I love you but please get your face out of my boobs.” 

“But they’re so comfy.” Jesters reply was suspicious muffled.

There was the sound of a slight scuffle before he heard the distinct noise of someone blowing a raspberry. He pulled back the curtain just in time to see Beau flinching back away from Jester, who was now doubled over and grasping at the sink as she laughed.

“Fucking hell Jester! What the fuck?” Beau complained as she wiped at the suspicious wet patch on her left tit.

Jester pulled herself back to standing before she reached forward and pet Beau’s breasts. “Definitely bigger. Got a good fart noise from that one.” There was a small pause, before the three started to laugh. Fjord leant against the wall to keep himself upright, but the floor was slippery and he ended up almost slipping, saving himself by grabbing at a small shelf. The other two noticed and just started to laugh harder, and in his shame he closed the shower curtain again.

He continued to shower until he felt a slight draught on his back, and when he looked over his shoulder he saw Jester trying to grab at his ass. When she realised she’d been caught she backed away a bit, but didn’t close the curtain.

“Do you know where my pink cardigan is?” she asked, not making eye contact and instead looked to where she could just see part of his crotch.  He lifted his leg to block her view.

“In the basket by the dryer- I put it through this afternoon.” He said, hoping she’d disappear now. He knew Jester was into him, and honestly so had he been before he’d been turned. But Jester wasn’t looking for a steady relationship, and Fjord was, so neither had really made a move. It didn’t stop either of them appreciating the view though.

“You do have a very pretty dick Fjord.” She said, and Fjord shut the curtain in her face.

--------

Beau thought that if a paranoid, ominous man who knew a lot about the supernatural lived anywhere, it would be here. 

The bungalow was small, she had seen it when they dropped off Nott the first time after she had saved them. But in the darkness of the night she had not truly seen the horror that was their garden. 

It was overgrown, all sorts of different plants choking each other to try and grow in such a small space. A rainbow of colours that clashed and didn’t match made it difficult to look at. There was a small tree that was just blossoming and many plants had taken shelter beneath its branches, but it was clear that come summer when it’s leaves grew, the plants beneath would die due to the lack of sunlight. The pebble path was full of weeds, and the rocks looked too sharp to walk on. The variety of plants all had different smells that, combined into one, smelled truly awful. It was a disorganised mess that had no pattern to it and it put Beau off immediately.

“I don’t like it.” She said to the others. Jester paid her no attention, too distracted by the horrific sight to care about Beau’s worries. She went around, pointing out some of the flowers from their view next to the gate. Of course she would like it.

“Look,” Fjord said, “The guy knows far more about vampires and other beings than we do. Think about how much we learnt on Saturday- and this is the guy that taught Nott.” the sound of a door opening stopped their conversation, and the three looked up to see the girl in question. Jester waved and Nott gave a small wave back, opening the door wider and gesturing for them to come in. Jester ran forward and brought Nott into a big hug, the two talking about something to quickly for Beau to catch on to. Fjord gave her a quick pat on the back before he made his way into the bungalow as well. Or, tried.

When Fjord tried to walk through the doorway, an invisible barrier stopped him. It caused him to bash his head on it and step backwards, almost standing on Beau’s foot as he tried to dispel the brief dizziness. The two looked at the doorway and Jester and Nott just inside who had not noticed what was going on, instead Jester was asking Nott how her day of school had been, and Nott was complaining about her many annoying teachers. Beau walked forward and slowly reached her hand out to touch the barrier, but her hand found nothing and fell through empty space. While she stood in the doorway, she saw a box attached to the frame.

She pointed it out to Fjord, but before either could speak, Nott saw them standing awkwardly and sighed, hitting herself on the forehead before speaking up. “Sorry! I forgot. We don’t really get many vampires visiting.” she said the last part to Jester, who giggled slightly. “Fjord, you may enter the house.” Nothing seemed to happen but as Fjord slowly walked up to the door again, he raised his hand, expecting resistance, but, just like Beau’s, his hand fell through empty air, and he was able to walk into the house.

The four gathered in the hallway, squashed up and constantly elbowing each other as they tried to move around the small space to remove their shoes and coats. Multiple times Beau accidentally hit Nott in the head, and Nott “accidentally retaliated” by elbowing her junk as well, since she was at the perfect height for it.

“Did you bring that book you mentioned?” Nott asked Jester, who nodded.

“Yeah! I’m really surprised your carer doesn’t have a book about the turning process, since he seems to have a book about everything else.” Jester replied.

“Maybe it was because his book about it was stolen.” a new voice was heard and there, stood in one of the doorways, was the librarian.

Out of the smart-casual clothes he wore for work, the man seemed very unthreatening. He wore a cosy cardigan that was too big for him, the sleeves covering his hands as they held a cup of tea to his chest.  He had long cotton trousers on that could pass as normal trousers but were probably pyjama’s, big fluffy grey slippers, and a cat was draped around his neck. He was looking between the three of them, glaring at them all.

Jester went rifling through her bag, pulling out all manner of things and shoving them back in before she pulled out the small leather bound journal that had been their guide over the last few months and sheepishly handed it to him. “Technically, we probably needed more than you. Because, you know, our friend had been turned, we knew nothing about it, then BOOM Fjord found-” a harsh look made her correct her wording “-stole, sorry, the book and we learnt so much! It was fate or something.” the man took the book from Jester and, after giving it a once over, tucked it into one of the very large pockets of the cardigan.

“I suppose you might have needed it more than me.” he said, and Beau let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. If this guy didn’t like them, then there goes all hope of them learning anything more. Also Jester seemed to get on well with Nott, and it would be a shame to end that. The man cleared his throat and stuck out his hand towards Jester. “I do not know if Nott has told you, but my name is Caleb, and I am her carer.” jester took his hand and shook it hard enough that the man spilt a bit of his tea, and he quickly dropped her hand and retracted it back towards his chest.

“Well my name is Jester! I’m a medical student at UCL, though don’t worry I prefer your university’s library. Oh Nott! You wouldn’t know- we kind of stole the book from your Dad like, months ago. Which you probably caught from the conversation-”

“I’m Fjord.” he said, cutting Jester off quickly before she could start rambling. “I’m the -ahem- the vamp.” the word caught in his throat for a second. “And this is Beau.” at the mention of her name she lifted her hand in a short wave and gave a nod.

Caleb offered a small smile, and Fjord got the impression he didn’t smile often. The man gestured to the room he had exited from, which on further inspection seemed to be the living room. “Come, sit down. I will start dinner soon. I hope you are all fine with curry?”

The room was very cosy, two large sofas with a matching chair dominating the room. They were old, patched together in places and some of the cushions looked re-stuffed, but they look well made and soft to the touch. There were lots of blankets and cushions covering all the furniture, and many looked handmade. They held a colour to them that did not really fit the theme of the room. The walls were a deep blue, the paint peeling in places. There was a small, electric fire that the sofas all faced, and an average sized flat screen was on the wall. In the corners there were two bookcases, filled to the brim with different books, and in front of the sofas there was a coffee table, also covered in books. Looks like the library doesn’t have all the books he needs.

Caleb goes over to one of the bookcases and slots the journal in before sitting in the solo chair, slowly sipping at his tea. He gestured for them all to sit. Nott and Jester took one sofa, while Fjord and Beau took the other.

“So, I know Nott has told you a lot about your kind and how they work in London.” Caleb said, placing his cup of tea on the coffee table before he leant back, arms crossed. “But her view was more of one of an outsider. One who attacked random vampires in the middle of the night.” though he was looking at Fjord as he spoke, it was obvious his words were directed at Nott, who curled up on the sofa and pulled one of the many blankets around her shoulders. “But I know much more, and I have experience with vampires.”

“But you’re not one yourself?” Fjord asked, and Beau could hear a bit of hope in his voice, but saw Fjord’s face drop when Caleb shook his head.

“I am not going to go into why, for that is my personal business, but I have a history with many vampires in the city. I know a few, and if you wish to stay as innocent as you are I would recommend you stay far from them all.” Beau hated loose ends, hated not knowing. This guy cannot dangle a fruit like his past only to refuse to let her taste. She goes to say something, but Fjord elbows her in the ribs to stop her, giving her a very distinct ‘oh no you don’t’ look. She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back into the sofa and putting her feet on the coffee table.

“I don’t know if Nott told you,” Fjord said, “but on Saturday there was a bit of an… incident. I’m being followed by a vamp- I know she is, she had an irregular heartbeat - I heard it. If I describe her to you, will you be able to tell me who she is.”

Caleb sighed. “I do not know all the vampires in the city- and it has been many years since I have been deeply involved with them. I cut that part of my life out when I took Nott in off the streets. But I could try.”

So Fjord described the woman, every detail he could remember. And Beau watched as Caleb’s face turned from curious, to confused, to concerned. So concerned in fact that he was almost shaking, fidgeting with his hands and a spin ring on his finger.

“You know her, don’t you.” Beau said, and Caleb nodded slightly. “From the way you’re shaking she’s not good.”

“Ah- there are not many older vampires that are.” He stated, going for his tea but when he saw his shaking hands he decided against it, pulling them close to his chest. “That is not my worry. My worry is the fact that she is here at all. She was exiled from England about 10 years ago now.”

“Who is she?” Fjord asked. “Why was she exiled?”

“Her name is Astrid. She murdered a human in a neutral zone, and was therefore exiled from the country. She is very dangerous, but again she is old and all of them are at that age, especially those of Sthenos.”

“Sthenos?” Beau asked. Caleb got up and walked back to the same bookcase, and picked up another small leather-bound book. He handed it to Fjord.

“There are 5 types of vampires to go back centuries.” Caleb said, now standing and gesturing as if giving a lecture. “You have your Sthenos, those of inhuman strength. Astrid is the eldest of the Sthenos, because she killed all those older than her. There is then the Ambrosios, the ‘immortal’” he gave a shaky laugh. “That is technically just a direct translation of the name. These beings are much more indestructible than the others, and though they are still weakened by the same things like silver and garlic, they can resist them for much longer as well. Their skin is thicker, harder to pierce, and it is said that one stake will not bring them down, but multiple must make it to the heart to bring them down.” as he continued to talk nothing but facts, Caleb seemed to slowly calm down. “Because of this, the Ambrosios are the most common type of vampire.”

“These names come from greek.” Jester said, making everyone suddenly aware of her presence as up until now she had just been curled up with Nott listening to them talk. “Ambrosia was the food of the gods.” as she saw everyone looking at her she sheepishly looked down at the table. “I know a lot about the classics, my mum made sure.”

Caleb just smiled softly at her. “The classics should be known. Getting back to it though. There are then the Anaxagoras, masters of speech. The silver tongued. Many of the oldest vampires are Anaxagoras, for they are the best at getting out of situation.” he looked almost fond as he described them. We’ll make a note of that, Beau thought. “Then there are the Mnason, the ones who remember. Extremely clever and never forget a thing. You do not really find old Mnasons, many go mad with the inability to forget. Though I have heard of one who dates back to 100CE who managed to avoid every major incident in history after a village in rural India threw him in a hole and fed him their recent dead for 1500 years. The last are the Podarge. A strange name i know, but it means Fleet Footed. These beings are fast, can cover miles in minutes. There is, however, only one in existence. They have never killed a human with their bite, and never turned anyone. Some even say that They are the original Podarge, but I find that highly unlikely.” he points at the book still in Fjord’s hands. “That book goes into it more, their abilities and what not, as well as famous members of each type. Um.” he shuffles about for a second. “Excuse me a moment, I need to make a phone call.” and he walked out the room.

Beau made eye contact with Fjord, and after a series of “oh no you don’t” and “Oh yes I will” gestures, Beau climbed over the back of the sofa, leaning out the door slightly and catching sight of Caleb as he went into a room at the end of the hall.

“What are you doing?” Nott asked, finally emerging from her blanket cocoon that Jester had been slowly building around her.

Beau just gave her a steady look. “Your carer is hiding something from us about this Astrid vamp. I wanna know what it is.” she went to leave but quick as a flash Nott was behind her and tugging her back into the room.

“If Caleb is keeping something from us it is for a good reason.” She gave Beau a small smile. “You know, ignorance is bliss?”

Beau crouched down a bit so she was eye to eye with Nott. “I have never been blissful in my fucking life.” and she turned to creep down the hallway. Nott was obviously slightly curious, as she did not stop Beau as she did.

The room that Caleb was in was at the back to the left, probably his bedroom. Beau crept along the corridor, staring at the eerily mostly empty walls. When she reached the door he was in, she leant up against it, ear pressed to the wood.

“...I need you to check something for me. About an older Vampire called Astrid, her file should be at the club.” the club? What club? Evil vampire club? Well probably not if the person on the phone didn’t know Astrid. “She was exiled before you even came to England so you wouldn’t know her Molly.” Molly, well at least we have a name. “Nein, I have not been able to more look into it. I’m sorry this thing with Nott and her friends-” a pause, and some noises of surprise. “You do not think- this may be linked to Astrids arrival.” what is linked. God this is the worst eavesdropping session she’s ever done. “This is not good. Not good at all. I will come round tomorrow and see you after I drop Nott off at school, we’ll talk more then. Look into Astrid, it may answer some of our questions.” there was some mumbled German that she didn’t understand before the Caleb said goodbye and she quickly made her way back to the living room.

“So?” Nott was on her the minute she came through the door, so like she suspected she was just as curious as Beau about what Caleb was hiding. Useful to know.

“Didn’t get much.” Beau said. “Do you know someone named Molly? Has Caleb ever mentioned them before?” but Nott just shook her head.

“He doesn’t tell me much about why he knows all this.” Nott said, shoulders sagging slightly. “He said it’s for my own protection- but I’m strong! I’ve shot vampires and made them run from me.”

Fjord stroked his chin as he thought. “He said he found you on the streets- how long ago was that?”

Nott smiled at the memory. “Technically not the streets. I’d run away from my orphanage. They weren’t very nice. I found this place- he has a shed in his back garden and it was overgrown and there was so much fruit and veg! Thats where he found me, and we went through all the things so he’s my legal guardian. That was about 5 years ago. There was… an incident when I was 12. Caleb had told me not to go out after dark, but I’d forgotten to tend to the small plum tree we have so I snuck out.” she shuffled about, rubbing her hands up her arms as she remembered. “I was attacked by something, not a vampire we don’t actually know what, but luckily Caleb had been in his room and saw it and saved me. He told me about vampires and everything else that night. Told me about what I needed to do to protect myself. I started taking the fight to them about a year ago but… I’m not doing that anymore.” Beau looked at this slightly terrifying little girl and suddenly had the utmost respect for her, going through all that and still sneaking out at night to fight them off.

Beau slapped her hand on Nott’s shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. “Well mister “I cut that part of my life out” was totally lying and we are going to find out about what.” she looked Nott dead in the eye, who eventually started to nod.

“Beau I don’t think it’s nice to be not only eavesdropping but investigating a part of the man’s life he doesn’t want us to know.” Fjord said.

“I dunno Fjord.” Jester said, siding with Beau, who fist-bumped herself when she realised she’d won. “The guy is hiding something, and this woman is after you. We should investigate- if that's alright with you Nott!"

“Well… I would like to know more about what Caleb has been through, so I can help him.” she said, and with that it was settled.

“I’m going to get started on dinner! It shouldn’t be too long!” Caleb called from the kitchen. “Keep reading that book- it’s very good!”

-------

Dinner was a quick affair. It was a simple curry out of a jar and some microwavable rice, but there were vegetables and other herbs mixed in from the garden. Nott went on for a good 10 minutes on how she kept the garden in good shape, and Caleb mentioned how “though he hated it, he was proud of how well she was doing with it”. By the time they were getting ready to leave, the sun had fully set. On their way out the door, Beau mentioned the little box on the frame.

“How does it do it?” she asked. “How does it create the weird barrier thing that kept Fjord out?” both Nott and Caleb looked very confused.

“That...is my mezuzah,” Caleb said. “I am Jewish, we have them in our doorways- does that not happen when you enter your home?” Caleb’s tone of voice turned very concerned as he continued to speak, and as the three all shook their heads. “Who owns your home?” he points out Fjord. “Is it you?”

Fjord shook his head. “It’s a council flat sir, we just rent it.” Beau felt very worried now, and more worried about the fact that Caleb was worried and not explaining why.

“But- but how would you not know?!” Caleb shook his hands in Fjords direction. “Your work, surely it has a private area how do you get in?” Caleb was winding himself up, shoulders curling in on themselves as he thought himself in circles.

“I have a keycard- Caleb, sir, what is this about?” Beau could hear the fear in Fjord’s own voice, and felt more than saw Jester shaking against her side.

In the end, it was Nott that spoke up, a calm figure in all this. “Vampires need to be invited into a home or private place unless they or another vampire own it.  This means there must be someone in the council that owns your flat that is a vamp, so you don’t have to be invited inside. The keycard must act as an almost invitation of sorts.”

Caleb was still thinking himself in circles, talking to himself in German as he tried to work out a solution. “You will stay here.” now that was a surprise. “It is too dangerous for you to go home right now.” he waved his hand about in the air. “We will get your stuff in the morning- hmm. Nein. I was supposed to do an errand but it will have to wait. We will get your stuff in the morning, and you will stay the night here.” the other two were in uproar, and though Beau tried to act just as upset, she saw an opportunity here. If she stayed here, she would be able to investigate his shit while he worked.

“Look, sir,” Fjord said, “I appreciate the offer but I just don’t see the need. And-” he was cut off by Caleb as he ran forward, grasping hold of his shoulders as hard as he could.

“If she is after you, then you must be protected.” Caleb looked Fjord dead in the eye and Beau could feel from here the intensity of it. “She will kill you. And if not you, then your friends. She is careless around humans. And I will not let her kill anyone. Not again.” The human death that got her exiled, Beau thought, he must have had something to do with it, some sort of connection. Caleb let go of Fjord’s shoulders and moved back into the front doorway. “You are welcome inside Fjord. For however long you need.” and with that Caleb fled down the hallway to the backrooms.

The 4 stood in silence over what had just occurred, broken by Jester.

“You know what this means, right?” and she turned to Nott. “Sleepover!”  

Chapter Text

Caleb called in sick for work and said it was bad enough he probably wouldn’t be in tomorrow as well. Jester thought he wasn’t very good at faking being ill, if it was her, she would have thrown in a few sneezes and definitely at least one cough, but they bought it. She got the feeling he didn’t take many days off anyway.

She was very excited about this new turn of events. Sure, she was a bit sad that she’d have to leave her room behind, but Caleb said they could get their stuff tomorrow. They would probably have to look for a new place, somewhere they would own and not some vampire councilman,sucking the blood out of their taxes. However, that would take a long time to work up enough money, and the three didn’t have the best credit score between them. So for now she’d be bunking with Nott on an airbed while Fjord and Beau shared the spare room.

Nott’s room was painted a deep green and the carpet was black and grey with a brighter green shag carpet. The wall next to her bed had a string of lights in the shape of leaves that were currently turned off. There were a few posters on the walls, liked you expect for any teenage girl, but these were all of animals. An educational poster talking about the ocean and what creatures lie in its depths hung by her bed, and the food chain of the Serengeti was stuck to the door. There were drawings too, stuck to the wall next to her desk. More animals, sketches from what seemed like a Zoo trip, but also some basic ones of Caleb around the house. They weren’t the best drawn, but Nott had obviously put a lot of effort into them. There were more plants in here as well, filling up the windowsill. Jester recognised a Venus Flytrap and an aloe vera plant, but that was it, the others completely foreign to her.

Nott walked in with the airbed as Jester was stroking the Aloe Vera plant, smiling as she saw her. “It’s got a nice feeling doesn’t it.” the girl said. “Caleb will stand there and stroke it too when he comes in, even though the views awful.” It was of one of the paths down the side of the bungalow, next to a large bush. “I did, however, see a buzzard swoop down and catch a mouse once. It was so cool!” she rolled the bed out and attached it to an electric pump, turning it on and wincing at the loud noise. She left it be and ran over to stand next. She tried to speak but the pump was too loud and masked what she was saying, so the two just stood side by side waiting for it to finish, Nott occasionally pushing down on the airbed to check how full it was. When it was done she turned it off and packed away the pump.

“You really like animals, don’t you,” Jester said, gesturing to all her pictures. Nott followed her hand, looking up, and smiled softly.

“I want to be a vet someday,” she said, “or a zoologist, or a marine biologist, or a- I don’t know.” she played with her fingers a bit. “Animals get me more than people do. They’re usually kinder too, and if they’re not it's because they’re scared. I understand that.”

Jester sat down on the airbed and, after bouncing on it, pat the space beside her for Nott to sit down. When she did, Jester wrapped an arm around her. “Do you not have many friends Nott?” she asked, and Nott nodded slightly.

“Every time I tried to, they didn’t like me.” she whispered. “It's a posh all-girls school- I had to take a test to get in and I was one of the best! But, even in schools like that you get the popular girls and the nerd girls and the weird loner ones and- I was one of the weird loner ones. I get on well with the Biology teacher though. His name is Mr Clay and apparently he used to be a mortician. He has a teapot in his office and I eat lunch with him. He also keeps lots of different types of bugs! Which are a bit creepy but also cool.” as she talked, Nott snuggled further into Jester’s side almost unconsciously, but Jester noticed and just smiled.

“Well Nott.” Jester said joyfully. “I don’t know about the others yet but you have at least one friend now!” she waved her hands in the air before she pointed at herself.

Nott’s mouth dropped open, before it slowly transformed into a large toothy grin. Jester didn’t know if the slight shine beneath her eyes was tears or a trick of the light, but she didn’t get time to think before the girl was diving into her arms, holding her tightly. Jester hugged her back, stroking the back of her hair. “This does mean we have to do all the girly stuff people do at sleepovers. Like braiding people’s hair, painting each others nails, gossiping.” at least, that's what she thinks people do at girly sleepovers. Jester and Beau’s “girls night” have been the closest she’d ever gotten to one, but those usually were the two pulling a prank on some random shop owner at 3am before stumbling home to an upset Fjord. Beau was a girl, but she wasn’t a girly girl. Didn’t paint her nails, didn’t gossip about people she liked. And before Beau the only woman in her life was her mum. Her mother was the only person in her life.

Nott broke out some nail varnish that had come with a magazine and a few hair bands she had lying around and the two girls talked and talked about different things while painting each others nails. Jester talked about her home in Bulgaria, and about her mother who phoned once a week. Nott talked about all the animals she liked, and gave random facts about them. Now Nott was knelt between Jester’s legs, back against the bed, as Jester braided her hair.

There were already a few smaller braids in, beaded at the ends, so Jester was careful not to ruin them and instead incorporate them into the two long braids she was making. Nott’s hair was slightly greasy and had a few split ends. She probably could do with a haircut, but Jester refrained from saying anything.

“Do you really think Beau is right?” Nott said quietly. “About Caleb still being involved with vampires?” Jester paused her braiding and thought for a moment.

“I don’t know much about vampires,” she said eventually, “even though one of my best friends is one, but I think the real question you should be asking yourself is is it an issue that Caleb is still involved with vampires?”

Nott pondered that as Jester finished braiding her hair, ending each one with a bow out of the ribbon from her own hair. Nott played with her fingers as she thought, staring down at the newly painted nails (Green, obviously). Finally, she spoke up.

“Caleb once told me that his history is something he would not wish on his greatest enemy.” her voice was strong, showing that no one would change her mind on the subject. “Earlier he said that Astrid had killed an innocent, that was why she was exiled, and then while you were going he said that he couldn’t let her kill anyone, again. That just means that he was involved with whatever she did, or at least knew the person who died.” she turned to Jester and looked her in the eye. “I can’t let him get hurt, I have to protect him. Maybe he is involved with the vampires still, and so I need to know what they are like so I can make sure he is safe.”

Jester smiled sadly down at Nott. “It’s not your job to protect him- honestly it's the other way around.”

Nott shook her head. “He saved me, twice. Once when he found me in the shed and stopped me from having to go back to that stupid orphanage, and again from the vampire in the back garden. That’s why I learnt how to fight for myself, so that if it happened I could save Caleb too. And I need to know about this Astrid, just in case she’s after my Caleb.”

Nott yawned, stretching out her arms, and looked over at the clock on her desk. “Oh shit it’s almost midnight- I have school tomorrow.” Jester stood up and manoeuvred around Nott, before flinging herself onto the airbed.

“Ooo this is actually quite comfy.” Jester said, pulling the blankets given up and grabbing the small stuffed toy Nott had lent her for the evening. Nott turned the lights on by her bed before she turned the main light off, and the green leaf lights made everything look a deep shade of green. Jester watched as Nott tucked herself into bed. “Nu night Nott.” she said softly.

“Night Jester.”

She heard more than saw Nott’s smile as they both fell asleep.

~~~~

Breakfast was a quick, quiet affair before all 5 of them were bundling into Caleb’s car. They dropped Nott off at school, wishing her well, before they drove straight to their council block. The elevator was finally working, but when the door opened and the smell of piss and… other bodily fluids wafted over Fjord, he turned and walked straight towards the stairs, making the others follow. Jester had gotten used to the seven flights of stairs that led home; the strange graffiti that painted the wall  (some of which was hers), and that one step on the 4th flight that wobbled that Beau always forgot about and tripped on

“Alright.” Fjord said as they reached their floor. “We go in, we grab the important stuff, Jester.” he glared at her, and in her defence she had been only planning on grabbing the important stuff it's just... everything is important to her. “and we just have to-” he stopped talking, staring mouth open and as Jester followed his gaze she found their front door. Wide open.

The 4 stared in horror at the door, and it was Beau who made the first move, pulling out - was that a wooden stake?- and walking towards the door. At the threshold she stopped, listening out, but after pausing for a few seconds she continued to walk in, making a quick gesture over her shoulder for the rest of them to move in. Fjord followed behind her, and Jester after him. As she walked down the hallway, she looked behind her and noticed that Caleb had left a sizeable gap between them. She turned back when she saw him close the door.

Their flat was ransacked. The TV was smashed and on the floor next to the overturned coffee table. There were claw marks all over the sofas and some of the cushions were ripped to shreds. The kitchen table was broken in half and so were a few of the chairs. It was awful.

“It looks like a tornado blew through here and then asked a hurricane along for a party,” Beau said, picking up the broken pieces of the vase from the side table.

“Or, it looks like a vampire had a fight with a werewolf,” Caleb said, picking up one of the fallen cushions to reveal a blood splatter.

“But I thought it was against the rules for Wolves to come above the Thames?” Fjord asked.

“Ah yes, but just like how a teenager disobeys their parents, do you think these beings do? No, just like the rest of the world they live by the old Spartan way.” he paused, seemingly only for dramatic effect. “It’s only illegal if you get caught.”

“But why would a wolf be here!” Beau exclaimed. “I understand the vamp thing, that's probably Astrid. But what did we do that caught the attention of a werewolf?”

“Possibly you did not.” Caleb was much calmer than the three of them, but then it wasn't his flat that had just been broken into. “Astrid has many enemies throughout the city, and you will not be the only ones that she has decided to check on. It is possible an enemy wolf she has made followed her here and decided to attack.”

“Let's just grab our stuff and leave.” Fjord said, rolling his shoulders “I don't like it here anymore.”

Fjord and Beau left the main room, heading to the bedrooms to see what survived there while Jester searched the cupboards in the kitchen.

“We don't need to bring food do we?” She asked, pulling out Beau’s 5 packets of instant noodles. “We can just pay you when you go shopping?” She turned to look at Caleb, who had been walking around the living room, mapping out the scene like an episode of CSI. He stopped what he was doing and looked over, face scrunched up in confusion.

“Was?” he asked, and it took Jester a second to realise he was speaking German.

“Oh, I asked if-”

There was a knock at the door.

They made eye contact, but Caleb quickly looked away. She had noticed he wasn't good with looking people in the eye; he preferred to stare just over their shoulder or at the bridge of their nose. Jester placed the pile of noodles to the side and made her way to the front door. When she peered through the peephole she saw two figures in police uniforms.

What had Beau done now? She thought, before opening the door.

One of the figures was a short, burly man with a thick scruffy beard. He had a lot of muscles and his uniform was tight enough to show them. The other was someone Jester recognised from when Fjord had gone missing. Officer Feelid. They were tall and skinny, with a thin face that showed off some killer cheekbones. They had bright blue eyes (though, Jester noted, not as piercing as Caleb's) and long platinum blonde hair that was always braided tightly back. When they saw her they smiled.

“Hello again Jester,” they said softly. “I'm sorry to disturb you but we had a call out that said someone heard 'extreme fighting' from this apartment and that when they passed by the door was hanging open. Is everything alright?”

Think Jester think. “Erm well it- it- It was just Beau! She was watching some wrestling programme really loudly and then- and then we got into our own little sparring match in the kitchen!” Perfect.

The other officer scowled at her and crossed his arms. “The call said “sounds of extreme pain”.” oh no he had seen through her ruse.

“WELL um that was- we just got a bit too into you see.” She was looking between the two, smiling at them but never meeting their eyes. “Chairs were thrown, Fjord’s were injured in the crossfire.”

The other officer didn't seem to buy what she was saying, but Officer Feelid held up their hand before he could say anything. “Thank you for clearing this up Jester. I'm sorry for bothering you. How is Fjord? Where did you say he had gone again?”

Shit. It wasn't Jester who had told the police that Fjord was fine it was Beau. At the time she was dealing with a very panicky Fjord while poking at his fangs.

“He was... Backpacking! Obviously.” She nodded as she spoke, trying to make her point more believable. Hopefully they weren't the ones that Beau had talked to over the phone, or at least had forgotten. “In Scotland.”

The expression on Officer Feelid's face was hard to describe. Their head was tilted, and their eyes narrowed as they looked down at Jester like they knew she was lying, but he didn't want to let it on that he knew.

“Eric.” They said, turning to the other officer. “I have this. Can you give me some time alone?”

“But- But Bryce-” Bryce. Now, why did that ring a bell? “The boss said not to do things alone after-” Officer Feelid- Bryce- placed their hand on the other's shoulder.

“Don't worry.” They said before they pushed at their shoulder to send him on his way. Bryce and Jester both watched as Eric went down the hall and to the stairs, and once he had disappeared around a corner Bryce turned back to her. “Jester, am I allowed to enter your home?”

The way that Bryce said that, so specific and without margin of error, was what brought forth the reason why Jester knew that name. The Fey and Monstrosities of the Night- by Bryce Feelid. She looked up at Bryce- up at the person she now knew was a vampire and it was so obvious now that she knew. The way they smiled but never showed teeth. The fey like positioning of their bone structure - was getting killer cheekbones something that happened when you become a vampire or do only people with good cheekbones become vampires. She stared, mouth wide, up at them.

“Jester?” they asked. “Are you alright?”

“Holy fuck,” she said, before grabbing their arm and pulling them through the doorway. They were surprised, obviously, when they passed without restraint, and the two met eyes. “You wrote the encyclopedia.”

“And you know I'm a vampire.” They said astonished. “how-”

“Fjord,” she said as she pulled them into the flat further and closed the door. “He- he is a vampire. That's the real reason he went missing for a month.”

“So he owns the place? That's why I can enter?” Bryce asked.

“No- no its a council flat. We think a higher up must be- we only found out yesterday that the rule was actually a thing when we were visiting a new friend. We're moving in with them- someone is after Fjord.” She said the last bit softly, almost so quiet that is Bryce was human they wouldn't of been able to hear it.

Bryce put their hands on Jester's forearms. “The fight, what was it really.”

“There's a person after Fjord and we think it was them- and that they were attacked by a werewolf. We don't know why the wolf was here- come on, you should meet Caleb.” She pulled them along into the front room, where Caleb stood fidgeting with his fingers and the ends of his cardigan. “Bryce this is-”

“I know who this is.” They said, walking towards Caleb and held out their arm. “It has been a while though, Caleb.”

Caleb physically relaxed when he realised the person who was at the door was Bryce and grasped their arm at the wrist. “It is good to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances. How have you been Bryce?”

The vampire sighed. “I have good days and bad days like everyone. You look much better since the last time.”

“The years have been kind to me Freund.” Caleb said. “Though you have not changed.”

Bryce laughed. “I wonder why.” It was then that Bryce finally took in the state of the room; the blood stains, the shredded sofa. They turned back to Jester. “I can see why you’re moving in with Caleb.”

Jester just shrugged. “Tea, anyone?”

~~~~~

The three stood in the kitchen drinking tea and listening to Fjord and Beau shuffle about. Eventually, Beau walked out with her suitcase behind her.

“Hey it would have been nice-Officer Feelid!” She stood shocked. Beau glanced around at the ransacked room before her eyes returned to the trio. “What the fuck.”

“They’re a vampire!” Jester exclaimed, gesturing to them. “They wrote that cool encyclopedia Nott brought us!” Beau just stared at them before she dropped her suitcase and turned back around.

The three shared glances before Beau returned, Fjord in tow. At Fjord’s arrival, Bryce put the cup of tea down on the counter and walked over to him. They held out their hand. “It is good to meet you Fjord. My name is Bryce Feelid and I am an officer of the law. I am sure Beau has already told you that I am also a vampire.” Fjord tentatively grasped his hand and shook it. “I am glad you met Caleb, he knows a lot and can help you. But he doesn't know everything.”

There is a scoff from Caleb as he sips his tea. “Ja well we can't all be 500-year-old Mnason vampires can we.” Bryce just smiled and pulls out their notebook, writing something on it and passing the paper to Fjord.

“If you need something, send me a text. Caleb is right- I have been alive for a while and remember it all.” they walked back to the counter and picked up their tea, downing the rest of it. “Right I should be off- Eric is probably still waiting in the car.” he looked at Fjord, the smile leaving his face and turning serious. “Stay away from the Thames if you can Fjord, I don't want you to be the next vamp we pull out.”

“Wait, what?” Beau said. “You're pulling out vampires.” Bryce looked between them all, finishing at Caleb who looked as confused as the rest of them. They slowly nodded.

“Not just vampires, werewolves as well. But there have been no human bodies found. I... I swore neutrality when I became a police officer, back when they first were formed. But I fear from how we're finding the bodies, from where. That this is the start of a war between the two sides.” they paused, and everyone was silent as they took that in. Jester didn't know what that would mean her them, she and Beau were human of course, but Fjord may be hurt. And she couldn't lose him. “I am sorry for dropping that bomb and then having to dash but I really must leave.” Caleb nodded and pat them on the back.

“Go- and thank you for telling us,” Caleb said and Bryce nodded to them all before exiting the room. The stood in silence until the heard the front door close.

“What do we do?" Jester asked in a small voice.

“We grab our stuff and leave,” Beau said, and so they all got to work.

Chapter Text

It was a strange feeling, packing up her entire life. Beau had done it twice before; once at 17 when she had run away from home, and again at 21 when she had moved in with Fjord and Jester. Except for those two times she had very little with her; two changes of clothes, her phone charger and about £200 in cash. But it was here that she had built her life. She had photos nailed to the wall, dirty clothes covered parts of the floor- she had even painted the room just as she liked it. It was hard, judging what parts of her life were okay to bring to Caleb's and what parts she should leave behind. She had her suitcase in front of her as she folded items of clothing as tightly as she could so she could fit as much as possible in. Caleb said it would be unwise to return again, especially after the fight last night.

She had at first thought her room untouched, but as she went through she had noticed small things wrong. A picture askew, the bed an inch to the left, even a few clothes in the wrong drawers. What had probably happened was Astrid had searched their rooms before going out to the living room and fighting the wolf. The idea that Astrid had been in her room did not help ease the strange feeling.

While she searched through her bedside table, she found a photo buried beneath tissues and pens. She had completely forgotten about it, had stuffed it in there when she first moved in. But there she was, at 4 years old, sat on her mother's lap with her dad's arm around her mother's shoulders, smiling. She had short hair and blue dungarees on, a big toothy grin and she had both hands forward, blurred as she tried to wave at the camera. Both her parents were laughing at her antics, and she could almost remember how her mother's laugh sounded, but not her fathers.

Never his.

She brought the photo up to her face and then methodically ripped her father out of the photo. She fucked up a few times, but eventually, it was in two halves, her mother and her in one, her father in the other. She placed the first half into the suitcase, making a mental reminder to buy a small frame for it, and then tore her father in half. And then tore him again. And again and again and again until there was a small pile of unrecognisable paper in front of her. She stared at the pile for a while, before she blew at it, scattering the pieces.

She turned back around, catching sight of the other half. I wonder where she is. Neither of her parents had cared well for her, but her mother had tried so hard. But she also tried to be a good housewife, cleaning around the house, making dinner, all while trying to keep her husband happy. And ever since an 11-year-old Beau had tried to tell him she was a girl, he had never been happy.

As she stared at the photo she remembered one time she had gone shopping with her mother in town. It was boys section after boys section and sure, that was the kind of clothing she liked, but it wasn't because she liked it that they were there. She was staring in the mirror, at her face and she was so scared because she knew it would change soon, knew things would happen that she wouldn't like. Beau had been so distracted she didn't notice when her mother came up beside her after paying, and she only realised when she felt something wrap around her wrist. She watched her mother walk past her before she finally looked down. It was a bracelet, probably plastic, and had the beautiful little green gem flowers on it. Definitely not the type she's going for, but the label was still on, and it glittery letters it said “Girls Bracelet.”. Beau had cried that night, and as she looked down at the bracelet still wrapped around her wrist, she felt a tear fall down her face.

She heard a knock at the open door and quickly wiped the tear away before turning to see Fjord, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame. He also had a screwdriver in his hand.

“Who gave you one of those?” She said accusingly. She remembered the last time Fjord had been given a screwdriver and the wreckage that had been Jester's latest bedside table.

“I thought it'd be nice to bring one of our chest of drawers or wardrobes.” He said, holding the screwdriver to his chest. “And yours are the only ones that are flat pack.” He started to move towards her chest of drawers, now mostly cleared of items, but Beau intercepted him and snatched the tool away.

“Uh-uh.” She said, jabbing him slightly with its point. “I do the DIY round here Fjordy.” Fjord went to protest but just got another jab to the ribs by the screwdriver.

“Just because you’re a butch-ass lesbian doesn’t make you good at DIY.” He said as he pouted.

“Maybe so, but it makes me better than you.” She goes to jab at him again, but he quickly parried the hit and slapped her arm. It was light and didn’t hurt, but to Beau, the small hit was a sign of war. She dropped the screwdriver and slapped Fjord right on the cheek, harsh and loud and that was just the sound Fjord made in pain, the slap itself echoing in the small room. Fjord tried to bring her into a headlock but she easily dodged and hit him again, this time midribs. Beau usually got a bit… enthusiastic in their play fights, and usually her friends would quickly back down, but Fjord was taking hit after hit. He wasn’t as good at giving as he was at taking, Beau was the trained fighter out of the two, but he wasn’t tiring at all, just grinned with every hit, his fangs glistening in the light as they rested on his lower lip.

Beau dodged a badly thrown hit and rounded to Fjord’s back, where she kicked the back of one of his knees, causing him to fall to it. The usual foot of height difference dealt with, Beau easily pulled Fjord into a headlock and started giving him a noogie.

“Ehem.” Coughed a voice from the doorway, and they both glanced over to find Caleb, eyebrows raised as he looked over the scene. Beau dropped Fjord’s head and he fell quickly to the floor, surprised at her actions. “Can one of you tell your friend Jester that her entire stuffed toy collection will not fit in my car.”

Beau picked up the screwdriver and backed up slightly, towards her chest of drawers. Fjord sighed and went to stand, but the knee Beau had kicked buckled and sent him forward, collapsing into Caleb who looked like a small breeze could knock him over let alone Fjord and his 6ft 2 inches of mostly fake muscle.

The loud crash as the two fell made Jester leave her room, running over to make sure everyone was alright because Beau wasn’t doing it, bent over and laughing so hard it hurt. When Jester had finally pulled Fjord off of Caleb the look of pure shock that was still on his face made Beau laugh even more, now leaning on the soon to be dismantled chest of drawers for help.

Fjord leant against the doorframe and pointed his finger at Jester who was now helping Caleb up off the floor. “Three cuddly toys.” He said, out of breath.

~~~~

The rest of the day quickly flew past. Dismantling the chest of drawers was much easier than she thought it would be, but then reassembling it in the spare room was difficult, even when Caleb started removing some of the stacks ( stacks, there were so many books in here) there was little space to put it. But by nightfall, they had mostly moved in, and Beau and Fjord collapsed into the queen-sized bed, half on each other.

Beau was woken by Fjord when he rolled out of bed for work. She heard him shuffling about the room, occasionally knocking over one of the remaining stacks of books before she was able to get back to sleep. Her plan to sleep until the afternoon was ruined, however, when Jester ran in at half past 9 and jumped onto her back.

“Jest- umph!” Any sound she was going to make was shaken from her as Jester grabbed her shoulders and shook her, a large grin on her face. Beau was able to wrestle her off her and off of the bed, where she fell into one of the stacks that Fjord had badly remade this morning. “No. Too early.” She said, before grabbing the edge of the duvet and curling back underneath it.

There were a few seconds of silence, before Beau heard Jester sneak up to the edge of the bed, a dip-formed where she leant on it. “Guess what,” Jester whispered loudly. Beau grunted back. “Caleb told me he has an errand to run, and he won’t be back till he picks Nott up from school.” That piqued her interest, and she turned over to look Jester in the eye. “You know what that means we can do?” She shimmied her shoulders slightly, before both Jester and Beau spoke at the same time-

“Sex!”

“Snooping!”

“Wait- what?”

“Jester.” Beau sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I am not having sex in some random guys bungalow who I’ve only known for 2 days.”

Jester crossed her arms and pouted heavily, but Beau ignored her as she got up out of bed and started getting dressed. “Since when did you have dignity?” Jester asked.

“Since 5 minutes ago,” Beau said, pulling on a pair of jeans. “Anyway, snooping comes before sex. And I'm not much in the mood anyway.” Beau had always hated the term “friends with benefits”, hated the movie more, but there was no better way to describe what Jester and Beau had going on. Beau found Jester hot, Jester found her hot, and both of them really, really needed to meet new people.

She opened the door to the hallway and looked around, making sure no-one else was in. She found no other person, but she did find Caleb’s cat.

Frumpkin was a tabby cat, a few years old, and had golden eyes that Beau felt could look into her soul. He was curled up in front of Caleb’s door and was almost daring her to try and enter. Beau, never one to back down from a dare, opened Caleb’s bedroom door and stepped over the cat.

Caleb’s room looked nothing like you would expect. The wallpaper on the walls depicted flowers of all sorts of pastel colours crawling up the wall. The paper itself looked old, but it was applied well and of good make so it had clearly lasted a long time. There were multiple hung paintings but most of them were covered with sheets. There was a vanity table issued, tucked into one corner, with many photo frames faced down, and the mirror there also had a sheet over it. Everything surrounding the vanity was covered in a layer of dust. On the opposite side to the vanity was a large bed. It was plain, the bedding a simple beige, and beneath it was lots of drawers. The wooden drawers were painted white and had blue and orange flowers painted on it, some of the flowers were well done while some looked to be painted by a child. Next to the bed and just left of the door was a large wooden desk, a few books were stacked neatly next to a pen pot and the meticulous way it was lept reminded her of Dairon's own desk. There was a large window to their right, the curtains perfectly matching the wallpaper, that looked out into the overgrown back garden.

“This is not his room.” Beau said. “Or at least it wasn’t always.” She made her way to the vanity, and turned over one of the photos, coughing at the cloud of dust. It was of two people in front of the Brandenburg Gate, a woman and a boy. The woman was knelt down, arms wrapped around the child and her head was on his shoulder. She had bright auburn coloured hair with flowers braided in, and her clothing was also very flower. She was smiling, but not as much as the boy who was just a smaller, happier, Caleb. He was about 5 or 6 in the picture, he was wearing an oversized cardigan that made his arms look at least 3 inches longer than they were. He looked cute. She looked through the other photos, all of Caleb and what was probably his mother. A picture of Caleb in a school uniform, taken in the kitchen of this bungalow. He looked about 11/12, so probably his first day of secondary school. She removed the sheet from the mirror, and there were more photos stuck to the frame with bluetack. Most of these had writing on the back. “Caleb, 13, at his Bar Mitzvah” “Caleb, aged 16, straight A’s in his results.” “Caleb, prom night, both of us curled on the sofa eating ice cream and watching Countdown” “Myself, outside the bank”

The last one was of Caleb’s mother, trying to look much younger than she was, dressed in skimpy clubbing clothing as she had a cigarette. There was something off about it, the woman in the photo gave off a completely different energy to the one in all the others. For one she looked sick, extremely pale, dark veins going up her arms, and very thin. She looked like a drug addict.

Maybe it's not just tobacco in that cigarette. Beau thought, looking back over the other photos again. This photo seemed to be the newest out of them, dated 2001. There was something else about the photo that was off, and Beau then noticed the scarf. It fit in with the outfit, not well but it wasn’t entirely out of place, but in every other photo the woman was devoid of one, and in this one, she was wearing one that covered her entire neck.

“Holy shit.” She said out loud. “Jester. This- Caleb’s mum was a blood bag. You said people could get addicted to this stuff like in the novels and that’s what’s happened here. It's why Caleb knows so much about vampires!” She turned around to Jester and found her not there. “Jester?” the woman in question slowly leant into view from where she was sat on the floor in the hallway. She leaned back and showed off Frumpkin who was lying comfortably on her chest as she stroked him. “Jester, I am over here making breakthroughs!”

“Yes,” she said, stroking Frumpkin slowly like a bond villain. “And I am over here playing with a pussy because someone won’t play with mine.”

Beau sighed and turned back to the vanity, now heading for the drawers. Most of them were filled with jewellery, earrings and necklaces and bracelets of all different colours and styles. A few had more photos, older ones. She found one of Caleb’s mother while she was pregnant, stood with a much older couple either side of her. Grandparents. They were in none of the England photos, so they probably stayed there- or died before they left? Maybe that's why they moved.

In one of the bottom drawers was a velvet black box, covered in more dust than anything else. She slowly pulled it out and sat down on the floor to inspect it properly. Inside the box was an intricate silver choker. A wide silver chain link weaved to look like vines held in place a floral metal work piece made of different coloured metals to give it depth. A large pink flower made up most of it, but it was surrounded by smaller, white flowers to create the circle.

“Carnation,” Jester said right by her ear, causing her to almost drop the thing. “Specifically a pink one, meaning ‘love of a woman or mother’. The flowers circling it a white heather, which means ‘protection’ and also indicates that ‘wishes will come true’.” Beau turned it over to look at the back of the floral piece, where words were engraved.

To my dearest Caleb. I have not protected you well, so may this succeed where I have failed.

“She regrets introducing him to the vampire world,” Beau said softly. She looked up at all the photos on the vanity, at how happy Caleb looked, and thought of the man she knew today. “I think she was right to regret that.”

“But she was an addict.” Jester stood and looked at the one photo of Caleb’s mother outside of a bank. “It's a hard life.” Beau packed everything away, putting it all back where she found it and then covering it with the sheet.

“Hopefully because Caleb doesn’t come over here, he won’t notice the missing dust.” She said, before moving onto Caleb’s own desk.

One of the books on the table was the journal they had given back, and the others seemed to be of similar type. She flicked through one and found a detailed book on how to kill a vampire, made by some wanna-be Van Helsing in the 1800s. Nothing she didn’t already know: stakes, sunlight, silver, decapitation- you know, the usual. The other book was in ye olde English so Beau put that down immediately.

She then went through the drawers and took extra care making sure she left each one exactly how she found it. The top drawer was filled with pieces of paper with notes all over them that made zero sense, mainly because most were in German and a couple other languages, probably to make it indecipherable. A few words stood out. There were mentions of a club, probably the same one that he talked about over the phone. More talks of a bank, but which one? There were loads of different banks with hundreds of branches all over London. There were details of a beach trip by the looks of it- talk of water and mollymauks- they were a sea bird, right? God Caleb seemed like the type to go bird watching now she thought about it. But nothing conclusive.

“This is Caleb’s necklace,” Jester said. She had moved from the vanity to the bedside table, probably, knowing her, trying to find porn, but instead had come across Caleb’s necklace. He was always wearing it, it was silver, and had a Jewish symbol of protection on it- what was the name? It began with a K?- it was an open right hand, with an eye in the palm. Jester looked between Beau and the necklace. “He wasn’t wearing one when he left, no necklace at all.”

Beau looked down at the piles of paper and realised they were going to get nothing from this. Caleb probably assumed they would snoop, and made sure she wouldn’t be able to get anything from it. Which means anything he didn’t want us to find, he would have thrown away.

“Jester. Grab some washing up gloves. We’re going bin snooping.”

~~~

Beau may hate the council for fucking over the bin collection dates on a usual day, but it meant that it had been at least a week since someone had taken Caleb’s rubbish. Both the green and brown bin sat tucked beside the bungalow, and both were quite full.

Beau pulled on the washing up gloves they’d stolen from Caleb’s kitchen and then turned back to Jester. “Since this is my idea, you can take recycling.” Jeter gave a quick nod before making her way to the green bin.

“So what are we looking for?” She asked as she opened the lid, revealing plastic milk cartons and flattened cereal boxes. Beau’s bin was much less pleasant, filled with bin bags that had food waste and other unpleasantries that attracted flies the moment she lifted the lid.

“Papers- if Caleb cares about the environment they’ll be in yours but I don’t want to chance it.” She split open the first bin bag, revealing last nights dinners leftovers. It was fresh, so didn’t smell too bad, but she had the feeling it would stink as she got further down.

Beau navigated through the larger bin bags from the kitchen, trying to find smaller ones from other rooms in the hopes that maybe she wouldn’t have to go elbow deep in food waste. Least it wasn’t shit again. Near the bottom was a smaller, blue plastic bag. From how deep it was Caleb had probably thrown this away a few days before they’d moved in, but it might be something.

“Didn’t you say something about a bank?” Jester asked, and as Beau pulled herself out of the bin she saw that Jester had a few pieces of paper in her hands. “This piece here says “go to the bank and see Mollymauk.”

“Why is he going to a bank to see a bird?” Beau said. “You could go literally anywhere else. Banks are boring.”

Jester scrunched up her face as she studied the paper more closely. “Maybe it's not a bird? Mollymauk isn’t a common name these days but its still a name none the least.”

Beau dropped the plastic bag to the floor.

“Jester you fucking genius!” She ran over to where Jester stood and picked her up, swirling her off her feet. Jester was at first delighted but then horrified when she remembered where Beau’s hands had just been. She quickly demanded to be put down after that, but that didn’t stop Beau’s concerningly happy expression.

“Okay, I’m a genius. But why?” She asked.

“Right. So, when I overheard Caleb’s conversation on the phone, he was talking to a Molly, and he also mentioned a club. Now in all the notes, we found it always calls it the bank. Not a bank. The. I never connected it to the conversation before but- in Chelsea, there's a club called The Bank. I tried to get in once when I was younger but they guy saw through my fake id.”

“And what better place for vampires to live but a club called The Bank full of drunk young adults who are high on so many things that they don’t notice the symptoms of blood loss!” Jester continued for her. This revealed so much to Beau. As she had said she hadn’t been able to enter The Bank (and obviously its run by vampires. The Bank .) but she had heard many stories. How the mere air in there makes you high (thinking about it, probably just sneaky vampires), how it's so dark and loud (so vampires can hide) that you can only move by touch through the sea of bodies (half of which are hungry vampires). It had been around for decades but had never changed. It just ticked box after box after box.

And somehow, Caleb was wrapped up in this.

“Hey- what’s all that?” Jester said, pointing to the open bag that Beau had dropped. She looked down and saw- bandages. Not many, and they were more of the thick plastery type than actually wraps, though there were a few of those too. She picked up one and found blood soaked into the material. She picked up another, and this one had less blood on. Beau would not call herself an expert on blood (no, that would be Fjord) but this dried blood was at least a week old. No more than two though, the bin men would have been by then. She looked over to see what Jester was making of the situation and found her holding what was probably the most recent of the bandages, and on it were two distinct blood dots. Like bite wounds.

Holy fucking shit.

The two looked at each other and said at the same time-

“Caleb’s a blood bag.”

Chapter Text

When Caleb returned home a few hours later with Nott, the two tried to mask their emotions; something which proved difficult for Beau. This man had told them he’d left this lifestyle behind, and yet he was still in it. He was looking after a child and he still did it. Jester kept saying that they had only known him for a few days, that he’s probably lovely and kind and he had been lovely and that he had been kind but Beau kept thinking about the necklace buried in the vanity.

To my dearest Caleb. I have not protected you well, so may this succeed where I have failed.

Caleb had been through that. Caleb’s mother put him through that, and now here he was, with his own kid, getting himself involved with that sort of thing. Beau was not the best at reading people, but you had to be both blind and deaf and also never have ever encountered another human being, and not know how they work for you to not notice that Caleb was heavily traumatised. And here he was, forcing Nott into the same fate.

Okay maybe that last line was a bit dramatic, and sure, the fact that he had saved Nott, took care of her, and she knew nothing about this club puts a few points in his corner but still.

Nott was 15. Nott was running about chasing vampires and saving people. Nott should be in school, learning science and maths and shit, not what she was doing. Okay she was doing that as well but…

Beau thought back to a phrase Dairon often said to her.

You either know happiness, or you know truth.

Because Caleb had introduced her into this life, he had prevented her achieving true happiness, no matter what information he keeps from her. Nott can pretend she was “blissfully ignorant” but happy people don’t run around in back alley’s shooting vampires with a modified crossbow.

Caleb left around ten for work, by which time Nott had already gone to bed. Beau had - at first - thought that when Nott had said she was “going to bed” she meant “sneak out her window to kill vampires” but apparently Nott had a biology test the next day and had wanted to get a good night's sleep.

Kids these days, getting actual sleep before their tests. Maybe that was why Beau did so badly at school.

Once Caleb had gone, Jester and herself told Fjord about what they had found today.

He was very disappointed.

“I cannot believe- no I can believe you did it but Jester.” he said, arms crossed and doing the I am disappointed in you stare . It did nothing to Beau, who was very much immune to it from her dad, but Jester was not.

“I’m sorry! I just wanted to have sex- Beau dragged me into it!” Jester said. She had never been good under pressure, but at least she wasn’t quite crying, though Beau was pretty sure that was because she had already taken her make-up off and couldn’t be as dramatic as she wanted to be without her mascara.

“We will- we’ll talk about that later but Beau.” he put his hands on his hips and frowned down at her.

“Look.” she sat forward and leaned her elbows on her knees. “We needed to know what he was up to, and now we do. I am not going to apologise for finding out the truth.”

“No- that is not what happened. What happened is that you found some random things in a private room and have drawn outlandish conclusions from them! I don’t even know why you would do this!” he was shouting now, and though Jester was trying to get them to calm down Beau would not be shouted at like that.

She stood up and met him chest to chest. “I did this for you.” she spat out, thrusting her finger into his chest. “If we have to live here and the guy is being shady as shit, then I wanted to make sure the two of you are safe. So yes I snuck about, and my conclusions are not outlandish for fuck sake you’re a vampire Fjord! Things are weird now! All the evidence points to this. The fact that he left his necklace his silver necklace -behind today, on the day we know he’s going to visit “The Bank”, a club that’s known to make you feel like you’re drugged the moment you go in, to meet a man with a very old name. That with the bandages basically proves that Caleb is a fucking blood bag so-”

“He’s a what?”

They had been shouting, and of course Nott had heard them, she was only in the next room over. She stood there in her pyjamas as she looked between all of them and then focused in on Beau.

“What.” and as she spoke she didn’t sound scared like Beau thought she would, no she sounded angry. “Do you mean?”

Beau had never been afraid of a 15 year old girl, but she’s getting close right now.

She looked at the other two, but Fjord threw his hands up and stepped away and Jester was looking down, not making any eye contact, so it was obvious it was on her. She sighed and stepped towards the girl, who just glared at her.

“Me and Jester- well really just me- did some snooping today and we found… well we found out Caleb is what in the fantasy world is called a blood bag.” and fuck was she going to have to explain what that is?

“I know what that is. I know what your talking about.” and she looked so angry and Beau was actually afraid Nott was going to shank her right now- did she have something for that? Probably. She had a crossbow she probably had a shank or something. “What I have trouble comprehending is that Caleb is one. He’s not an addict, he doesn’t disappear mysteriously, he doesn’t hide a lot, he doesn’t…” but as she spoke she slowed, thinking over her words carefully. Analysing them, comparing them to memories, and Beau realised she had her. That Nott was realising it to. She thought about hiding her smug face, and decided fuck it and turned to Fjord to give him an ‘I-told-you-so’ look. He sighed, like usual.

Nott looked them all over before exiting the room.

“Well that could have gone better.” Jester said.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next two days pass without incident. It was only Caleb and Beau home on Friday, and she avoided him for the entire day. That evening, he went to the Synagogue for Shabbat, and Fjord made them all dinner while he was out. Nott was silent and refused to talk to any of them, and once dinner was eaten, she left, and Beau went to work at the bar.

Though she told Fjord she wouldn’t, she went to the Ring that night, and beat her frustrations out on anyone who dared fight her, which after she took 3 guys down wasn’t many. She stayed awake till morning, caught the first bus back, and crashed on the sofa, not to be woken till dinner that night.

They all pretended to be civil on Sunday, but with Nott’s silence, and the fact that Caleb wasn’t stupid and knew something was up, it was quite hard.

“I’m going out.” Caleb called out at around 8 that night. It was still spring, and the sun had already set, and if that didn’t make Beau suspicious then the fact that Caleb was obviously not wearing his necklace was.

The moment he was out the door she had her things and started to follow, throwing on a coat and keeping an eye out the window to make sure she wouldn’t be seen. She opened the front door but was stopped by Fjord.

“Move.” she said to his chest, not meeting his eyes.

“No.” he said, as he pushed her back away from the door, but even in his vampire form he was not as quick as her, and she slipped under his arm and down the path. She heard footsteps behind her, but they were not as quick, and so she set about following after Caleb. She could see him in the distance as he made a left onto the main road that their street came off of, and she hurried to catch up. When she made it there, she came face to face with Nott.

She was wearing similar clothing to what she had on the day they first met, blacks and greys and large hoodie with the hood pulled up. In one hand she had her crossbow, and had a mismatched quiver on her back. She did not say a word, but stepped out of Beau’s way, gesturing her to move forward.

Beau smirked and led the way.

The two followed Caleb along the main streets, and he wasn’t leaving them, avoiding back alley’s and dark residential streets and instead staying in the somewhat populated areas. They just watched Caleb turn onto the street that Beau knew that The Bank was on when a taxi pulled up beside them, and Fjord popped out the side.

“First of all fuck you.” he said, as Jester jumped out the other side and thanked the driver. “Second of all, Nott go home.”

The young girl started sputtering, and for the first time that night she spoke. “You can’t tell me what to do- you’re not my dad!”

Fjord sighed, and Beau took her chance to run off before they lost Caleb. She doubted he went into the club properly, he didn’t seem the type, so he probably used some sort of back entrance. She turned onto the main street, hearing her friends footsteps behind her and that was not going to help with their stealth approach. She saw the sign for The Bank, neon lettering occasionally changing as blood dripped off a pair of fangs in the logo. There was a long line of people outside, slowly showing their ID to the bouncer, but she caught sight of Caleb’s coat going into an alleyway a couple buildings before the club.

She rushed after him, turning into the alley and-

-and came face to face with Benny’s fist.

If his other hand wasn’t holding onto her arm, keeping her in place, she knew she would have been sent flying, but instead she felt as her nose and cheekbone broke under his heavy hit. What was worse was she felt as though he was holding back. He turned and flung her deeper into the alleyway, and she skidded across the floor before she was stopped by a dumpster. He stalked towards her and she watched as his coat- similar to Caleb’s, it was what she saw she’s so stupid- moved with an absent breeze. Can all vampires do that? Make their cloaks swoosh?

In the mouth of the alleyway she saw Nott appear, and it was just like last time as the girl notched her crossbow bolt and shot it. Except this time it was intercepted.

A figure dropped from the roof and caught it midair before they snapped it and threw it to the ground. The figure turned towards Nott, and fucking growled, and the two watched as their bones shifted and it grew taller. If Beau didn’t have a hulking vampire about to eat her she’d be more worried about the werewolf as it charged at Nott. Oh yeah hulking vamp-

She must have a concussion from the hit, because her reaction was slow as he punched down at her. She moved quickly and she felt the ground shake slightly as Benny punched the ground where she had been milliseconds prior. He swung wildly behind him, and she only just dodged it. He turned and smiled at her, but he did not look her in the eyes, no he only had eyes for her blood as it dripped down her chin.

Oh fuck.

There was only one way to describe the look in his eyes were hunger and he dove at her, fangs out. She tried to pull out the stake she kept in her coat pocket but she couldn’t do that and move out of the way so she ended up failing both. He was on her, pinning her to the ground as she felt his hot breath on her face. She tried to move but he was to strong, and kicking his crotch did nothing to move him. The stake she was trying to grab fell away out of her reach, and now she was truly at his mercy as he leaned down and licked a long stripe up her face, removing some of the blood. She watched as her own blood coated his tongue and it fell down his chin, and she felt sick.

Actually, the nausea might be her concussion.

As if on cue, she was sick all over him, and though it was hard for her to aim she tried to get as much of it on his face as possible. Take that heightened senses. It was a disgusting sight, especially as some of the blood had gotten mixed in. She tried to use this to her advantage, tried to pull away, but was unable to, his grip still strong.

However, someone else used the distraction for her.

A figure, someone that in her dazed state she could not pinpoint, jumped onto Benny’s back and plunged something deep. His reaction was instant, he arched his back, trying to get away, and Beau used this to finally slip from his grasp. She stumbled up just as the new figure was thrown back by Benny, and it was in then that Beau recognised the figure as Caleb.

He came for me. She didn’t know what to make of that. Benny had pinned Caleb to a wall with one hand and was talking to him but Beau couldn’t make out what. He was pinned by a single hand at his throat, nails digging in so hard Beau could see blood dripping down his neck. There was a knife embedded in Benny’s back, probably what Caleb had dug in to distract him. Caleb had one hand grasping at the one at his neck, and every so often she watched as he took in a deep gasping breath and she knew he was struggling to breath. Stake. Where was it? She had dropped it while she was pinned, so it can’t have gone far, but she couldn’t see-

She watched as Benny screamed, but it cut short as his hand fell from Caleb’s neck and he stumbled backwards. Caleb kicked him and he fell onto his back, embedding the knife deeper in and also showing off to the world Beau’s stake in his chest.

Beau tried to go to him, but ended up stumbling sideways and leaning on the wall for support. Caleb moved to her and pushed up her chin, and she looked him in the eye.

He looked worried. That was the first thing that hit her, and she had known people to be worried about her before, Fjord and Jester were all the time. But this was a man she didn’t even know- in fact had snooped on and had come here with the intention to spy on, and yet he was worried. Worried about her. If she wasn’t trying to stop herself from vomiting again she would think on that. Caleb finally started to inspect his own neck, which was bleeding quite a bit, when the two heard a howl. The werewolf.

She quickly turned, ready for another fight, and as she spun her head felt like it spun further and she couldn’t focus on anything, suddenly not ready for a fight. Luckily the scene before her was not one she expected.

The werewolf, still in the strange hybrid form, was currently trapped in a headlock that Jester had seemingly performed with ease. The being did not seem to have the same unnatural strength that the vampire had, and anyway, any time they made an attempt to break out, Nott focused her crossbow on them more, the silver tipped bolts occasionally digging in to the beings snout. Beau tried to start to walk to them, but found it hard to put one foot in front the other, and just as she was about to fall, Caleb was by her side, pulling her arm around his neck and guiding the two towards Nott and Jester.

Jester let go of the wolf and they scarpered off into the night. Seeing the two of them, she waved before her smile fell at the sight of Beau.

“Your friend is in need of medical attention.” Caleb said, and Beau was passed from Caleb’s arms to Jester, who gave her a slightly more detailed once over. Caleb focused in on Nott, who suddenly looked like she very much did not want to be there. “When we get home we are having words about what you think “no more going out at night” means.” she shuffled her feet and looked like she was about to reply when a loud groan interrupted her. Beau turned and watched as Fjord climbed his way out of another dumpster. What was it with bad guys and throwing people into dumpsters?

“Are you alright Fjord?” Nott asked. She hooked her crossbow onto her belt as she started to walk towards him. “You took a nasty hit- which you shouldn’t have, you know, for me. That was dangerous and-” she was cut off when Fjord fell to one knee, clutching his stomach. “Fjord?!” she squeaked, and turned to look at the three of them, holding her hands towards him in a ‘do something’ gesture. Beau tried to move, but she was leant too heavily on Jester and she wasn’t moving.

Caleb moved instead, kneeling next to Fjord and reaching his own hand towards were Fjord had his. When Caleb pulled it back, it was covered in blood.

Vampire blood was thicker than normal, and had a darker colour to it, a bit more purple than human blood. Caleb spread his hand out and the thick drops fell from his fingers and to the floor. He studied the wound more, before stepping back and pulling Fjord to his feet.

“He will survive the trip home, but he will need a pack of blood immediately- where do you keep his stash?” Caleb asked, and looked over to Beau and Jester.

“He doesn’t have one- he gets his blood from work. Eats it there.” jester said.

“You mean-” a look of realisation dawned on Caleb’s face. “-when was the last time he ate?”

Beau shrugged. “Like, 2 days ago? He’s been, been eating more since just after we met Nott? But he can’t steal much from the blood bank.”

Caleb took in Fjord as he leaned heavily on him. Fjord was not talking, seemed absent from the entire conversation and was instead looking at the ground. The look on Caleb’s face suggested he was a mix of impressed and deeply worried.

“Come on.” He said, and started leading them deeper into the alleyway from where he came. If Beau wasn’t concussed she’d hit herself over how long it took for her to realise they were going towards the club.

“No.” she put her feet into the ground to stop moving, but Jester just kept pulling her along. How is she so fucking strong. “No.” Caleb paused, turning to look at her.

“No?” he looked confused, and more and more concerned as the blood continued to flow from Fjord’s wound.

“I won’t- I won’t let you take him to the club. He- he won’t feed from people.” Caleb looked more and more confused, and Jester was trying to shush her but Beau would not listen. She wrangled herself free from Jester and took a few steps forward. “I won’t let him feed from blood bags. From people like you.”

Caleb looked genuinely shocked, and he almost dropped Fjord in surprise. “You think I’m a-”

He was cut off though, by the door right next to Beau opening and filling the alleyway with white blinding light. As Beau looked into the doorway and at the figure stood in it, she could only think of one way to describe the new woman, and that was angelic.

She was tall, taller than even Fjord, and built like a brick wall. She had a sleeveless shirt on (oh no she was meeting all of Beau’s standards) with black jeans that had chains hanging from the belt. The belt was stocked with weaponry, stakes, knives, a thick long sword was hanging off at one bit. She had full lips and two different coloured eyes. And she looked like heaven had finally answered Beau’s calls to send the hottest woman they could find.

“Are you- are you an angel?” Beau stuttered out, completely forgetting the previous conversation her and Caleb were having, too focused on this woman. She turned her head at the question, and her confusion was so damn adorable. Beau went to reach out but instead grabbed her stomach, and if it wasn’t for Jester’s quick reaction, she would have thrown up on the poor woman’s shoes.

The woman stepped back at that and- no don’t go - turned to look at Caleb, who looked as surprised as she did before shaking it off. “This one- he’s hurt and he hasn’t eaten in 2 days.” he walked forward as he talked and the woman took Fjord from Caleb’s arms and into her own - god I wish that was me-. She pulled him inside and Caleb stood in the doorway, gesturing for the others to follow.

Once they were inside, Beau could hear the deep bass of the club through the walls as they stumbled down white corridors, leaving a trail of red. They occasionally passed people, some that Beau was quite sure weren’t human, but if any made any motion towards her she didn’t notice, and quite quickly they were on the second floor.

The second floor was different. The floors were carpeted in a deep red, and the walls had a dark purple wallpaper on them. It made Beau think of every period drama she had ever watched. They were lead past doorway after doorway, all different types of wood that look like they had been carved by hand. The two lead them past a large double door, with handles made of pure gold and marble embedded in it, and instead they went to a slightly smaller doorway, where the woman did not knock and instead kicked open the door. It was only then that Beau remembered Nott, and she turned to look over her shoulder and found the girl still following, and looking terrified.

They all made their way into the room, and found it a large office. A beautiful carved mahogany desk was in the centre of the room, and behind it where hundreds of filing cabinets. There were multiple chairs, all plush and still fitting the very Victorian theme. There were two doorways on one side of the room, one seemed to be a big metal refrigerator door, while the other was a simple wooden one. The woman deposited Fjord onto one of the chairs near the door, and Jester helped Beau sit down in another.

Just as she started to collect herself, the most garish looking man she had ever seen came through the wooden door. He had tanned skin, and bright purple hair that had even brighter highlights. He was covered in jewellery, and had an intricate peacock tattoo up the side of his face. He was wearing a sewn together patchwork coat that was made up of hundred of different colours that, in Beau’s concussed state, could not deal with. He had entered the room almost like a ringleader would, arms wide and a smile on his face but it quickly dropped as he took in Caleb, then Beau, then Fjord.

“He needs blood.” Caleb said, from where he had pulled Nott to the side, and before he had even finished the man was opening up the fridge door and going inside. He returned quickly with a bag, and knelt down beside Fjord. Now released of her charge, the woman went to the desk and pulled out a first aid kit, coming over to join Jester and Beau.

Jester took it from her hands. “I know what I’m doing its okay. This isn’t the first time Beau has ended up like that.”

“If you’re sure.” and her voice was so soft, like raindrops on a window and- okay how concussed was she that she started thinking like that?

Fjord had eaten the blood, and for it he looked much better. His head was up and he was looking around and the wound, by the looks of it was healed. Okay why does he get super healing? The man was asking Fjord questions, simple one as he came back to himself.

“You feeling better now?” the man asked, and he had a slight Irish accent, probably hadn’t been home in a while.

Fjord smiled up at him. “Much, thank you Mister…?”

“Mollymauk.” It’s him. And she watched as the small smile on the man's face turned slightly dark, as he grabbed at Fjord’s collar and dragged him up the wall. “Now you’re feeling better, you are going to tell me why my boyfriend is bleeding.”

Chapter Text

A lot of things happened at once. Most of those things were shouting.

Fjord couldn’t really focus on the things going on around him, because he had a snarling vampire in his face that had pinned him to the wall.

The man- Mollymauk- didn’t have the unnatural strength that Benny had, but he had enough that he had dragged Fjord from sitting to meet him face to face. The man’s fangs were down, and he was growling at him- growling the word boyfriend-

“Mollymauk!”

The entire room froze, and the vamp looked over his shoulder at Caleb who was now stood in the middle of the room. He stood straight and gave off an air of authority that Fjord never thought could come from the quiet man. Mollymauk dropped him back onto the seat, and for the first time he was able to look around the room.

Nott looked confused, looking between Caleb and the new man, trying to work out what was going on between them. Beau looked… well she looked like she was trying to be angry but she was also being pinned down by a very buff lady and she had a concussion - it was hard to tell which was winning out. Jester looked like she was going to cry. Which was honestly not unusual.

Both Molly and Caleb looked like they were going to speak, but the tall woman got their first. “If you two are going to have a domestic you can have it in the other room.” Her voice was stern, but soft. The two men shared a look before Mollymauk stalked back into the room he came from and Caleb followed. Nott tried to go with them but Caleb stopped her.

“Stay here.” he said, and he spoke with the soft and calm voice everyone was used to but now, seeing all this, the voice did not have the calming effect he had wanted to; Nott stayed anyway, but not without staring daggers after Mollymauk.

Caleb’s boyfriend.

If the guy had not just threatened him, Fjord would have found the entire situation hilarious. Beau had gone to all this effort, all this pain to prove that Caleb was a bloodbag and after all that it turned out he was just dating a vampire - oh shit Caleb was dating a vampire.

“What, the everloving fuck is going on?” Nott demanded, facing the tall woman with no fear in her eyes.

“You’re Nott.” she said, and she started to hunch over, almost like she was trying to hide her height and seem less threatening. It didn’t really work, but she slowly reached out her hand towards Nott. The girl made no move to meet it, and the woman just moved her hand up and down. “You are supposed to shake it.” and she made the gesture again, a small smile this time.

“I don’t even know your name.” Nott said, crossing her arms, and the woman finally realised that Nott was just refusing her and pulled her arm back.

“Oh. Of course, Caleb said he wasn’t telling you about this yet.” Her voice was surprisingly soft for someone so large - like someone had taken the voice of a Pomeranian and put it into a Tibetan Mastiff. “My name is Yasha.” and she gave a small wave.

“She’s adorable.” Beau whispered to Jester, or thought she had whispered but it was loud enough for Fjord to hear so he’s pretty sure Yasha heard it too.

“Um.” She turned to Fjord. “You are not part of the club are you? We should set you up with a thing.” She went to walk towards the filing cabinets at the back but Beau spoke up.

“I won’t let -” she leant forward and went to rest her elbow on her knee as she pointed her finger at Yasha, but missed her knee entirely and would have fallen off the chair if Jester hadn’t caught her. “Thanks - Fjord isn’t going to go drinking from random unsuspecting young adults who are drunk off their asses.”

Yasha looked very confused. “We don’t - we don’t allow that here. It hasn’t been allowed since Caleb was made manager.”

“Caleb’s the manager?!” Nott screeched.

“No - no not anymore. I-” she honestly looked scared of Nott as she shouted, putting her hands up between the two of them to try and calm her down. “I don’t - I don’t know how much you know.”

Fjord stood up, cracked his back and pulled a bit of rotten vegetable from his shirt. What is it with me and dumpsters. “Let’s assume we know nothing - and what we do know are harsh assumptions made from little evidence.” he shot a look at Beau, but she currently was hunched over with a hand over her mouth. “Can we get her a bucket?” Yasha quickly nods and rushes behind the desk to pull out one of those cardboard buckets you get in first aid kits.

“I used to think this was a cowboy hat.” Yasha said as she passed it to Beau, and Fjord swore he heard her say “so adorable” again as she leant over the thing and hugged it to her chest.

Yasha made her way to the filing cabinets and pulled out a stapled stack of paper before sitting down behind the desk, shuffling the chair forward and then gesturing for Fjord and Nott to sit.

“Okay where to start, where to start.” she started to flick through the stack before closing it and looking up. “I don’t know much about Caleb - where he comes from, why he is involved with vampires. I’ve only known him the last few years since him and Molly have been getting serious. But he’s - he’s a good friend. We both don’t deal well with people.” She laughed to herself a bit. “But um. He used to manage this place - the only human to ever do so. But when he - when he found -” and she pointed to Nott. “You changed him a lot - apparently. At the time Molly barely knew him, Caleb had saved Molly’s life and gotten him set up here and that was about it. But you - Molly started to see something in Caleb’s eyes after he found you. How he acted - Molly is an Anaxagoras, he’s good with people, can tell a lot about them with a glance. Molly helped Caleb uproot from here, made sure he never had to come back, and took over his role as manager.”

“Why would he do that?” Nott asked.

Yasha shrugged. “I think at the time, Molly had a bit of a crush and Caleb….Caleb hates it here. He doesn’t come here unless he needs to - when he wants to see Molly he comes to our flat. And Ithink Molly saw that unhappiness and didn’t like it.” She smiled softly to herself. “That’s my Molly, always trying to make things better. The two didn’t talk for a while after Caleb left, but one day Molly got a text asking to meet up, and they went on a date the next week. It was a little after that I met Caleb.”

She pulled a pen out of nowhere and started to fill in some of the stack of paper. “What’s the date today?” Yasha asked when she paused on a line.

“Uhh the 23rd?” Fjord said, looking at Nott who shrugged her shoulders.

She continued to fill out the papers, before sliding both them and the pen to Fjord. “We have a system in place - put in by Caleb actually - where we have agreements with things like blood banks and humans that know about the supernatural world - this goes from parents and families of people who are turned to even witches and the magical side. They give us blood and we give them either money or others things they need.” She gestures to the papers. “To get on the system where we will supply you with blood you need to fill out all those forms. I would read them, you don’t have to give them back straight away but we cannot give you anything until you hand them in. It’s basically the rules and regulations of the club. How old are you?”

“Uhhh 27.” Fjord replied.

“You’ve been a vampire 27 years and you haven’t joined the club?” she looked very confused.

“No - no um - I got turned in November.”

“Oh. Okay. So that means you should be on a pint a day. Just for reference - from now on if someone here asks your age, you go from your turning date okay?”

Fjord heard giggling from behind him and turned to find Jester leaning heavily on Beau as she laughed. “Fjord! That makes you a baby.” Beau started to join in, giggling, before she stopped and held her head.

“Uh I think we should take her to A&E.” Yasha said. “I have my car here if you need a lift.” Beau perked up a lot as Yasha talked.

“I’m not leaving without Caleb.” Nott said sternly.

“Um no I think we should go.” Fjord said, using his thumb to gesture towards the door. He looked at Nott and tried to make a face to tell her to give it up. She wasn’t looking at him, but maybe he had developed telepathy when he turned. She made no move.

“I am not leaving the building without Caleb.” She started to lean forward in her chair, and she might of only been just over 5ft but she gave off a terrifying air. Was Fjord just surrounded by scary women? Was that his destiny?

“Why would you be leaving without me?” And with that Caleb was back in the room, followed quickly by Mollymauk. Both looked relatively more at ease than when they left.

“Beau needs to go to A&E.” Jester said.

“No I don-” but Beau interrupted herself by throwing up into the bucket. “...yeah I do.”

“Did you two make up?” Yasha asked as she stood.

“Did you two make out?” Jester asked. Caleb shot her a dirty look, but Mollymauk smiled, clicking his finger at her.

“I like you.” He said, with a shit eating grin.

“I like me too.” Jester replied.

“You two are never allowed alone in a room together.” Caleb said, cutting off their conversation.

Yasha reached into her back pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “I should be able to fit everyone into my car, it might be a squeeze.”

“Hey - you’re supposed to be my lift home!” Molly cried out.

“Molly you don’t get off for another couple hours.” Yasha sighed. “If you want me to give you a lift home you need it so that our timetables match. You do realise you make them right?” Molly said a few words in a language Fjord didn’t understand, before shooing her away from his desk. He looked down at the stack of papers in Fjords hands.

“Fill those out so you don’t starve yourself like an idiot.” He said. “And I’m sorry for dragging you halfway up a wall. Though you must admit it was pretty impressive.”

“Molly.” Caleb sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but the annoyance quickly faded as Molly skipped forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek and a smile broke out on his face. Caleb looked up and over everyone. “Perhaps Yasha you take these three to A&E and me and Nott go home, ja? I think the two of us have a lot to talk about.”

~~~~~

Nott, despite what everyone suspected, was not that upset.

Okay, she was quite upset. She was mad that Caleb had hidden all this from her - no matter each excuse, this was obviously a major part of his life that he hadn’t shown her. But…

Every time she would try and be angry, she remembered the small, tiny smile on Caleb’s face as Molly kissed his cheek.

Caleb deserved a lot of things, even though he refused to believe it. And one of those things was happiness. She had tried to give him that- and had, on a few occasions. She had won them a trip to Disneyland and the two had spent an entire weekend running around and she got to see Caleb be a bit of a child. She would cook them dinner, read him books. She would tend to the garden and though the smile he had when she did was bittersweet, it was a smile nonetheless.

The two sat across from each other on the kitchen table, having been dropped off by Yasha on the way to A&E. Caleb had silently made a pot of tea as Nott fiddled with her fingers, waiting for him to speak. With warm tea in their hands, the silence was overwhelming. Almost suffocating.

Caleb took a sip.

Nott took a sip.

“I suppose you have a lot of questions.” Caleb said, not looking at her, but down at his tea.

“Not really, Yasha explained a lot of it.” Caleb nodded.

They fell back into silence while they both finished their tea.

“Why did you never tell me? About him? About the club?” She asked, and Caleb sighed.

“I told you many times why I keep things like this secret Nott, because no matter how strong or smart you are, you are 15. You are not a Disney princess ready to go out and face the world of monsters, because the monsters are big and scary and will crush you and your innocence.” He looked up then, not into her eye but just over her shoulder as he leant forward and grabbed her cheeks. “It happened to me. That club took me and broke me and I will refuse to let it happen to you. Because you are my little girl and my little light in the darkness. You are strong and brave where I am not.” It took Nott a second to realise that Caleb was crying, and she quickly rushed around the table to his side. He pulled her into his arms and up onto his lap.

The two rocked back and forth for a few minutes, until Caleb spoke into her hair. “I was going to tell you. But when you were 18, and could make decisions for yourself. I was going to introduce you to Molly and the light he has given me. But as much as I love him - and Nott oh how I love him, you will always be the biggest light of my life.”

She curled tighter around him. “If he hurts you I will take my crossbow and shoot him in the dick.”

Caleb laughed. “Oh he knows.”

Chapter Text

There was something very satisfying about pulling weeds from the ground, and by that Beau meant it was very satisfying watching Yasha pull weeds from the ground while Beau stares in awe at her rippling muscles.

They were in Caleb’s back garden. Nott had been insisting they had to deweed the entire thing so that she can plant all the vegetable seeds before summer came along. Beau didn’t really want to be doing this, but when Nott had mentioned it to Yasha, the woman had spoken about how much she had loved gardening and said that she would help, so of course Beau agreed as well.

Yasha confused her. It was very clear from one look at her that she was terrifying and could break a man’s skull with her thighs, but it was the second time you looked that caught Beau off guard every time. How those wide, bulky shoulders were always hunched in an attempt to hide her height. How those rough, calloused fingers held each flower petal with so much care. How her eyes which seemed to have seen so much, always held a small smile. Everything about her confused Beau, and that’s why she stared, nothing to do with a crush or whatever Jester seemed to think she had.

The last couple of months had been very, very weird, but since meeting Nott the weirdness levels have tripled in size. First the girl had saved their lives, then they had to move in with them, then Caleb was an ‘addict’- okay looking back maybe she had jumped to conclusions a bit- and now Molly and Yasha had appeared in their lives.

Yasha she could deal with- very well actually. But Molly. Mollymauk was an asshole and if she wasn’t afraid that Nott would kill her in her sleep for getting rid of the one thing that was currently making Caleb smile she would have impaled a stake in the man’s chest days ago. He was lucky.

“Unpleasant one!” Molly shouted, snapping his fingers from where he was sunbathing- sunbathing- like not only was he a vampire, but it was also March. Who sunbathed in March. “You missed a spot!” and he points at an area behind her where one plant had been left. One that she had already seen, and was going to go back to.

Very lucky.

It was just the three of them in the garden at the moment, the others were out at work or school (except Caleb, who was catching up on sleep after working last night). Mollymauk had discovered a very old lawn chair covered in cobwebs in the shed and had laid it out towards the back fence where there was the most sun. He had a large pitcher of “a cocktail your little human body wouldn’t be able to handle” and he currently had his fang stuck in the straw as he drank it. The jewellery Molly wore sparkled in the sunlight, and his tattoos and clothes were so garish that Beau could not glare at him for as long as she wanted to.

So since there was nothing else in the garden to look at, Beau watched Yasha. For that reason only, no other motive. Nope.

“Mollymauk!” Caleb shouted from inside, and the man in question jumped out the lawn chair and followed the call, leaving behind his pitcher of blood. That was another thing that confused Beau. How on earth had Caleb, the quiet, secretive, librarian with a shady past, fall in love with Molly. They were so different, and yet they doted on each other and apparently Caleb trusted Molly enough to allow the vampire to drink his blood.

With Molly gone, the tension that Beau had fabricated in her own mind settled over them. Yasha continued to pull weed after weed from the ground, throwing them into a wheelbarrow so they can add it to the compost bin.

“You know,” Beau said, and Yasha tilted her head in Beau’s direction but did not stop, “You never did answer my question.” That got the woman to stop, turning to Beau confused.

“I do not remember you asking me one.” She replied. Her eyes left Beau and she stared at nothing as she thought, trying to remember what Beau asked.

Beau leaned back onto her heels, hands clasped and placed on her chest as she rolled her shoulders, trying to show off her bare arms. She put on her ‘flirty’ smile, which was apparently less terrifying than her normal one. “I asked if you were an angel.” She was sure that, when she was concussed, she actually thought Yasha was an angel. The shining light from the doorway had given the woman a celestial glow to her as she had stepped into the alleyway. Now, of course, Beau knew she wasn’t an angel- do angel even exist? Maybe they do- vampires and werewolves do so it's a possibility that angels do- holy shit what if Yasha is actually an angel.

Yasha tilted her head at her again in confusion, and she looked very adorable as she did; like a puppy. “No, I am not.” She said. “I am human- I know an angel if you wish to talk to them? She’s pretty young but she knows a lot.”

Yasha obviously didn’t understand that Beau was trying to flirt with her, and her obliviousness was both cute and frustrating. She tried to work out a reply but nothing came up, so Beau did what she did best. Evade.

“It’s fine- I’m going to go grab a drink if you want one?” Beau made a gesture with her thumb towards the bungalow as she spoke.

“Sure! Just a- is it too early to drink beer?”

“Nah- it's gone lunchtime. I’ll grab you and me one and we can take a break, yeah?” she didn’t wait for a reply, just made her way into the house where she paused by the back door. God she was so awkward, the conversation wasn’t even that bad and yet she felt so worried about what she was saying and what Yasha would say back. Why was she so nervous?

“If Bryce is right and it is just the supernatural being pulled out then this is far bigger than both of us.” She heard Molly say. She stepped closer to Caleb’s door, pressing her ear to it so she could listen in.

“That is true, but that doesn’t mean we can stop investigating.” Caleb replied, and Beau could hear his sigh loud and clear. Caleb was almost as good as Fjord at the “I’m disappointed in you” sigh, probably because he’s raised Nott all those years. “The increase in bodies-” the what, “- over the last week has been concerning to say the least. I know I am not supposed to meddle in these things but something has to be done, and with Astrid’s return it may give us a- what are you doing?” and as he said that, Molly opened the door.

“You know Beau, it's nice to know you have a heart but you should really keep it quiet while you going around snooping.” Mollymauk’s smile stretched across his face, his fangs long and reaching past his lips, obviously done to piss her off. The man was garish enough that he was hard to look at even when she didn’t have a concussion.

She didn’t reply, just flipped him the middle finger and went to move on, going to grab the drink she promised Yasha.

“Beauregard, wait.” Caleb called from inside his room. Her and Molly shared a confused look before she shuffled backwards so she can see Caleb. He gestured for her to come in, and pulled out the desk chair with his foot so she could sit. “You deserve to be part of this conversation. From now on I want there to be no secrets in this house, at least not between the adults. And-” he narrowed his eyes in her direction “- I do not think any secret would be hidden from you for long.” She turned the offered chair around and sat on it backwards, resting her chin on her hands as she waited for the others to speak first. When neither of them did, she sighed.

“I know about the bodies- and I know what they are. I was there when Bryce told you.” She hadn’t thought much on it- she was concerned for Fjord of course but there was a lot of other things that were going on at that point. She looked between the two of them. “So what are you going to do about them?”

Molly sucked in a deep breath from where he stood with his back to the door, the fangs causing a loud hissing noise as he did. “The thing is, legally I can’t do something, but legally I have to.”

“Well that makes no fucking sense.” She heard Caleb snort from the bed.

“The peace treaty-” Molly started, but was interrupted by Caleb.

“It is not a peace treaty, it is more like a cold war.”

“They had paperwork and treaties during that time. Just because it's not a happy peace - anyway, the agreements we have with the werewolves state that I - as manager and overseer of the vampires of London - cannot investigate anything involving the Thames or the southern side of the city. The Thames itself is neutral ground, as well as all the bridges that cross it. The concerning thing is that the person who is doing this knows it’s neutral ground, so that no investigating can legally be done, so all that happens is a lot of rumours and anger. However, it is part of my job description to go and investigate an situation where more than ten vampires have been killed. So, I can’t look into it because the only common ground between all these murders is the Thames, but I need to because else the big guy upstairs will have my head.”

“God will have your head?” Beau smirked as Molly turned to her and scowled.

“No Molly meant that as a - oh you were being sarcastic.” Caleb curled into himself slightly as he realised he hadn’t understood the situation. Beau saw Molly smile softly at him before he turned back to Beau. Ugh. Love.

“Okay, I have a couple of questions.” Beau said as she leant back in her chair, almost going to far as she realised the back was in front of her and she had to quickly catch herself, ignoring Molly’s snicker and Caleb’s sigh. “One, who made you manager of all vampires in London.”

“Caleb.” Molly replied quickly.

She turned to Caleb, wildly gesturing towards Molly, and she got nothing more than a shrug in reply.

“Okay question two, or theory two - could this be Astrid?” As she spoke the name she watched a shiver go up Caleb’s spine.

“Possibly.” Molly said. “But there's little evidence to support it.”

“Being in the city already endangers her” Caleb’s voice was quiet, and he was looking towards neither of them, eyes looking beyond them both to another place. Someone has history. “Why would she cause these attacks? What reason would she want for there to be all out war in London?”

“Complete and total control.” Beau said, and both turned to her shock. “Why do you look so shocked? The woman seems like a complete Cersei to me.”

“You are true in that statement.” Caleb said. “But you do not have all the facts. Even if this is a long con to get complete control over London, killing off werewolves and other fey as she goes, she would still not be on top. There is someone who would still be in charge of her. Artaud.”

There were names that, when spoken, just held power. No matter how they were said, in a joking matter or quietly whispered, the simple name itself held a heavy wait. Caleb spoke the name with the true meaning of awe: fear, mixed with respect.

“Imagine,” Molly said, “the most chaotic person you know.” Easy, Jester. “Then times that by 3. Add a dash of being alone for at least one millennia. Then make them a traditional vampire. That is the being that Artaud is. There are even rumours that they are the original Podarge- and have never turned a single soul. They control all of Europe, possibly other places as well I don’t know. There is no way that Astrid in her right mind would challenge them.”

Caleb ran his hand through his hair, pulling at the ends. “This could all just be some trained hunter using the Thames as a way to not be tracked.”

“My luck never allows for ‘this could just be’.” Molly said.

“Have you talked to Bryce?” Beau asked Caleb, who shook his head.

“I should, but we will have to be careful what we tell them. If we mention Astrid, then it is their duty to tell the werewolves of her presence, and then we’ll have them breathing down our necks to sort out the fact we have an exiled woman in our midst, something I have been assured,” and he glanced at Molly, who nodded, “is already being done. And let me tell you, werewolf breath stinks.”

“So talk to Bryce, ask them more about what they know about the bodies- maybe bring up Benny? And the werewolf that attacked us?” Beau said, and Caleb nodded.

“I’ll text them now - I still have their number somewhere. You two go continue to help Yasha with the garden, Nott will be quite upset if that is not done.” Caleb reached round to his bedside table and pulled out his phone. When neither of them moved, he waved his hand. “Go on, shoo. Don’t kill each other on the way out.” Molly sighed and turned, pulling the door open and strutting out, quickly followed by Beau.

“So.” Molly said in the corridor. “Back to staring at my best friend’s muscles?”

Beau elbowed him and made her way to the kitchen to get the drinks.

Chapter Text

Fjord had once had a run in with a terrifying woman down in the docks. She had taken a shine to him, asked him to join her crew on her ‘fishing’ ship. Looking back on it now, Beau was pretty sure Avantika was some sort of fae. She had met the woman once, and was banned from interacting with her ever again after she took one look at her, fucked up everything she tried to say, and then fell into a crate full of fish. Jester later diagnosed her as “the gayest disaster lesbian she had ever met. Like seriously.”

Looking at Yasha in nothing more than a sports bra, add weight after weight to the dumbbell, and then effortlessly lift it, made her feel like that again. Except this time she tripped over some poor guy trying to do push-ups and face planted into his mat.

The mat against her face did not judge her, it welcomed her even. The guy she tripped over however, wasn’t as comforting.

The two had been kicked out of the bungalow by Molly and Caleb - and by that she means Molly dragged Caleb off to the bedroom after lots of eyebrow wiggling, and Yasha had suggested they leave before the two do anything “too loud”.

“I share an apartment with Molly, and Caleb will come over during the day sometimes.” She had said. “Molly has no shame and Caleb hasn’t got the ability to say no.”

So she decided they’d take a trip down to Dairon’s ring.

During the day, it was nothing more than a rentable boxing ring with a small gym attached. It was quiet, a stark contrast to the late night crowds Beau was used to fighting in front of. Yasha had sunk into her element straight away, going straight to the weights. Beau, not used to using them, didn’t even know the names of half the equipment Yasha was using - though it wasn’t them Beau was staring at.

Every curl, every press, made Yasha’s biceps flex and relax, showing off every muscle the woman had obviously taken years to build up. Yasha didn’t have the stereotypical “washboard abs” aesthetic Beau saw with most bodybuilders, but the toned, bulky stomach, the large thighs, and the wide arms of the genuine weightlifters that she saw occasionally pass through. That she occasionally fought. Those that were ‘shredded’ often were just for show, and Beau knew how easily she could take them down. Yasha’s type was the kind of type that would pick her up and throw her out of the ring without a second thought.

“Quite the woman you have brought - is she unemployed?” Dairon’s voice shook her out of whatever trance Yasha’s muscles had put her in, and she shot up onto her feet. Dairon raised an eyebrow at her actions, and smiled knowingly.

Beau cleared her throat before speaking. “She’s a bouncer at a club. She’s good as well, you probably couldn’t afford her.”

“No, I probably couldn’t. But then on your pay? Neither can you.”

“Oof, harsh.” Beau raised her hand to her chest and took a step back as if Dairon had hit her.

Dairon made no further comment, instead heading towards the empty ring in the centre of the room, making a small gesture for Beau to follow. “Come on, you have been gone for a while. I want to see what ‘improvements’ you’ve made by yourself.”

Beau looked over to where Yasha was still focused on the weights, doing rep after rep. If she was lucky she could fight Dairon, lose badly, and then go back to what she was pretending to do on the mats while watching Yasha without the woman noticing. There was no getting out of a fight with Dairon, she just had to make sure Yasha didn’t see her get her ass handed to her.

They both slid under the ropes with ease, making their way to the centre of the ring. Beau took her shoes off and threw them out of the ring, narrowly avoiding the one guy she had tripped over earlier, who shot her a very nasty look. Dairon, already barefoot, just stood, back straight with arms behind her. Waiting.

Beau had learnt a couple fighting styles on the street, but most of them utilised weapons other than her fists. When she first broke down these doors kicking and screaming at 18, demanding to learn the best ways to fight, it was a harsh transition, but one she eventually got used to. Working with her hands felt better and worse at the same time. You had more control, but it felt more… close. Intimate. Strangling a man is worse than shooting him dead, she found. Though of course, Beau never killed anyone in the Ring. Dairon had strict rules about that - the street not so much. Moving in with Jester and Fjord had been a lifesaver; just mostly that life wasn’t hers.

She took a defensive position, left hand in front of right. Block with your weaker hand. An old voice said in her head, one from the street. In a fight your gonna take damage, it's the weaker hands job to take that, so you minimise damage to your more important shit.

Swing. Out of nowhere Dairon brought her right hand forward, two fingers extended in a clear jabbing motion aiming for her neck. Beau blocked easily, but Dairon had been using it as a distraction, bringing her left hand forward through the gap Beau had made with the deflect. One, two, three, hits to her throat, and she could feel the tremble run through her nerves. Bitch.

“Why did Fjord come here? And why have you not been back since?” She asked, and Beau knew what she had done. Knew extort truth because Dairon taught it to her herself.

Instead of answering, Beau swung her foot out, but Dairon easily jumped over it and used the moment to bring her left foot up to kick at her stomach, but Beau easily dodged it. It was obvious Dairon didn’t truly wanted to fight, that she just wanted answers, and like this Beau couldn’t lie to her.

In truth, Beau didn’t want to lie to her - Dairon had been her mentor since she was 18, had taught her to control her anger and turn it outwards, onto those that truly deserved it. But what did she tell her? Dairon was smart, she knew that whatever Beau said under this would be the truth, or at least true from Beau’s point of view. But there's telling the truth and then telling your mentor vampires exist and your best friend is one.

She took a step back, took a simple defence pose, left in front of right. “It is very complicated, and much bigger than me.” When she realised that Dairon was just listening to her and not moving to attack, she relaxed a little. “I don’t- it’s so hard to explain without previous knowledge about the shit Fjord’s gotten himself into-”

“I know your friend is a vampire.”

“... what?”

“Fjord. When he came, it was clear.” Dairon raised an eyebrow at her. “What? You think your friend is the first vampire I’ve met?” She looked smug, the kind of face that told Beau that if she wasn’t emotionless she would be laughing right now. “I’ve met many vampires, killed many more. I have told you before, the things I saw in the military was the shit of nightmares. Sometimes those nightmares are things adults fear - betrayed by a friend, being locked away for months without anyone. Sometimes, those nightmares were more… childlike. Monsters rising up from lakes, werewolves howling by the moon, witches coming to eat you whole. I quickly learned how to spot the difference between man and beast.”

The way Dairon talked about the supernatural put Beau off slightly. How she called them beasts. How she called them the stuff of nightmares. Are they? Beau hasn’t met many supernatural beings but Fjord still folded his socks and laughed at Jester’s bad jokes. Sure, Molly was an ass, but no more than her?

But what about Benny? The more sensible, smart, Fjord voice said to her. He tried to kill you, twice, does that not make them evil? Is Benny the exception, or are Fjord and Molly?

It was too early for these questions. So she punched Dairon instead.

The woman clearly assumed Beau was still stuck in her own head, so did not move out of the way in time to dodge her hit to the jaw. She heard a small pop sound, and when Dairon turned to face her her jaw was hanging slightly, obviously dislocated. The woman glared her down, keeping complete eye contact as she reached up to pop it back in place.

Beau didn’t last two minutes.

~~~

“The black eye makes you look… very strong.” Yasha said as she helped patch Beau up in the back room.

Beau had been… off since she had limped out the ring, and not just in a ‘I lost a fight badly way’. Yasha had watched the match intently, and both seemed to be incredible fighters. At the start they had been talking, occasionally throwing a punch or a kick, but something Dairon had said had kicked Beau off. Yasha was enamoured by the way they both seemed to know the human body so well and were able to use each other’s strength against them. Her own fighting style was much more simple; no fancy flicks or dodges just… hit, repeat. Beau, despite obviously being a good fighter, went down quickly, left with a developing black eye and possible broken fingers where Dairon had stepped on her hand.

Beau had left to a little side room with a sign that said “first aid” written on it. The fact that she just ‘left’ and not stormed was what first caught her off guard. She had seen Beau storm away from many arguments over the last week, mainly with Molly, and it felt wrong that Beau didn’t for this one. She had found Beau trying to open up the first aid kit, hard with her broken fingers. She took it off her, and it was only then that Beau had noticed she was in the room. No words were passed for a while as Yasha taped up her fingers.

So that was where they were now, Yasha badly complimenting her bruise as Beau just sat solemnly staring at the floor. The taller woman didn’t know what to do; she was never good at comforting people even when she knew what was wrong. Did she hug Beau? Or would that be weird? They have only known each other a week, so maybe it would be a bit weird. Maybe just a pat on the shoulder? No, that would also be pretty strange. Molly would know what to do - maybe she should text him? But that would be rude, especially since her phones in her locker so she’d have to leave Beau here. She’d just have to think like him. What would Molly do?

“Do you want to go get ice cream?”

Yasha watched as Beau’s entire body and mind just froze. She’d never been good at reading people, but in that moment it was very clearly shocked by the question. Shit, had she offended her? Is it some tradition Beau’s family had that Yasha accidentally insulted? Before she could apologise though, Beau nodded.

“That would.. That would be cool.” she said softly, before a small smirk appeared on her face. “Ha- cool.” Yasha groaned at the pun, before helping her to her feet.

~~~

“I’ve never had ice cream before.” a little soft voice said to the man braiding her hair. “It sounds cool.”

He raised his eyebrow at her. “It’s the coolest.”  

~~~

“So how long have you known Molly?” Beau asked around a spoonful of ice cream.

It was the middle of the day in April, so there wasn’t many people in the small ice cream parlour they picked. The were sat across from each other in a booth tucked towards the back, slowly making their way through their respective ice creams. Yasha had black forest, while Beau went with rocky road, and Yasha couldn’t help but see the story. A rocky road through the black forest.

~~~

“What’s a little one like you doing alone in the black forest?” this man was tall, long ashy brown hair. He reached for her, but she curled away.

“Gustav, don’t you know not to pick up small children? She could be a changeling.” There was a red skinned woman by him, eyes of flame. And the girl curled deeper away.

“Orna look at her.” A third voice said. “You’re fae, you know what changelings look like. She just looks like a lost girl. Weren’t we all the same once?” she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched but didn’t move away. When she looked up there was another man in front of her who had seemingly pushed the other out the way. He had long purple locks and a beautiful bird tattoo up his cheek. He lifted his hand from her shoulder and held it out. “My name is Mollymauk Tealeaf - Molly to my friends. Are we friends, little one?”

~~~

“I’ve known Molly since I was very small. We were in a circus together.” Yasha said softly. She had very fond memories of the circus, all of them were her second family. She remembered birthdays that actually got to be celebrated, eating cake and opening actual presents. She remembered the first time she won a bar brawl in Germany, and sure they got kicked out the bar but they quickly went to another one to celebrate. She remembered curling up with someone when she was sad, and curling up with them when they were sad too. It was give and take, and though they were all weird, they were weird together.

“That explains so much about Molly. Like so much.” Beau had perked up after they had gotten here, and Yasha was glad. It felt wrong seeing the woman sad, like the world was off kilter for a second. Oh god if that’s what Yasha felt when Beau was sad, what would happen if Jester became sad? She didn’t know if the woman was even capable of a frown. Yasha hadn’t murdered many people, but she would murder for Jester. “It must have been weird-” Beau talking cut her out of her thoughts “him being supernatural.”

“Actually, I was the only human.” It had been weird at first - she had grown up in an environment that knew about the supernatural, so it wasn’t a huge shock, but before she had only met a few fae, and then she was the only non-one. “Molly and the ringleader, Gustav, were vampires. Then there was Ornna, who was a fire faerie- she wasn’t the only faerie, but I never knew really what Desmond was. Molly just described him as “Puck but depressed” and I never questioned it. The twins were shapeshifters - it’s very weird when you wake up one more to see yourself staring down at you. Bo - with an O, it wasn’t short for anything. Except “Bo the Breaker”. He was a werewolf. And then there was little Toya, she was an angel- quite literally.”

“You all sound… really close.”

She nodded in agreement. “Gustav always used to say you are closer to the family you find than the family you leave at home. He wasn’t the smartest, and certainly wasn’t the wisest, but I live by that.” Beau’s eyes grew distance for a moment before she looked at Yasha and gave her a soft smile.

“He sounds pretty smart to me.”

“The circus failed because he got found out for tax evasion.”

“Or not.”

Yasha ate another spoonful of her ice cream and the two settled into an awkward silence. Neither really wanted to speak up but both didn’t want to be quiet. Beau broke first.

“I- uh- I feel the same way about Jester and Fjord.” She didn’t meet Yasha’s eyes as she talked, just swirled her ice cream round as it melted. “I’ve known them a while and they- my parents weren’t the best, and because of that I wasn’t the best. But Fjord and Jester showed me family- how it was supposed to be. Or at least Jester shoved it down my throat and dragged Fjord along.” Yasha saw in them what she had seen in the circus. How playful they all were with each other, and how none of them knew personal space. She often came round with Molly to find Jester sat on one of them, or Fjord with his arm wrapped around them. Beau was less… soft with her signs of affection. Punching someone’s shoulder (something Jester could take and Fjord could not). Ruining hair with noogies, something she had seen her start to do with Nott as well.

“I am happy you found them.” Yasha said, when he phoned pinged loudly from her back pocket. She pulled it out to see she had a text from Molly.

Sfe 2 cum back.

She laughed, and showed the text to Beau, who sighed in relief.

“Thank fuck I want my noodles.” She quickly scooped up the rest of her ice cream and ate it. “Those fucks better not have - oww-” she cut herself off, head in hands as she suffered the consequences of eating ice cream. Yasha slowly finished the rest of hers, not wanting to end with the same fate as her companion. By the time Beau recovered Yasha was done, and the two left the parlour after leaving a tip on the table.

Yasha had bought her jeep- the only one out of them who could apparently drive, though driving through London was hell. The two of them got into the car, but before Yasha could pull away Beau stopped her.

“We should- um we should do this again sometime.” She stuttered. “Except, uh, maybe not ice cream.”

“Oh okay. I know this really nice Mexican place just down the road. We could go there? Maybe the others could come to.” She’d like that, a big group meal. It would give her a chance to get to know Nott a bit more too - she wanted to get to know her, she was important to Caleb and Caleb was her friend.

“Yeah- sounds like a good idea.” But the way Beau said it made it sound like it wasn’t a good idea. Oh did she not like Mexican? “Or. or. Just the two of us? Maybe? You know like a- a buff gal’s thing!”

“I’m pretty sure Jester is buffer than you.” Yasha said confusingly.

“Okay then a gym thing. Yeah! We could do this after we go to the gym, make it a weekly occurrence.”

“I like the sound of that.” She had enjoyed today a lot, but she was a bit concerned about the events with Dairon - did that happen every time Beau went there?

The woman made a fist and hit Yasha’s arm, a gesture she had seen her do to Fjord many times. She thought it was okay to do it back, since Fjord usually did, and so she hit Beau in the meat of her shoulder. Beau smiled, and shot her a thumbs up. Glad with the interaction, Yasha turned away back to the steering wheel, not noticing how Beau grabbed her shoulder in pain as she drove away.

Chapter Text

There is no better feeling than ruining the mood by putting on a very bad accent and saying “I vant to drink your blood!” to your boyfriend before trying to bite his neck.

Molly may not have many years to his immortal life - a mere twenty to some’s two thousand - but he has seen many beautiful things. His years travelling meant he had seen all the wonders of Europe, from mountains to monasteries. And yet, in his eyes, there was nothing more beautiful than Caleb when he laughed.

He supposes, that that was what love was.

His boyfriend was currently sat nicely in his lap as Molly sat with his back against the headboard. Caleb was topless, small little bruises and nips already adorning his neck. The man had straight out refused to start anything before they had heard the telltale sound of the front door slamming shut, but Molly had been able to wiggle him out of his shirt at least. Personally, Molly didn’t care if the girls stayed or went. If they’d gone, he could call Beau a wimp, and if they’d stayed, well there's a bunch of things he would have said to Beau and the first thing would be to ask if she’d enjoyed it.

“I hate you,” Caleb said around a laugh, completely nullifying the meaning behind the words. His boyfriend's happiness caused him to smile, wide and bright, and he leaned forward to begin pressing kisses into his neck, focusing on the fading scars that covered it.

“These-” kiss “-say something different.” and he let his teeth worry over an older one, not daring to pierce the skin. There was not an inch of Caleb’s neck and shoulders that did not have a bite mark on it; Molly had made sure of that.

Though there was one, a rather uncareful one, right over the pulse point on the left side of the jaw. Molly never asked about it, having plenty of similar scars that he knew nothing about, and Caleb never offered an explanation.

Caleb pulled him up from his neck and into a kiss. It was nothing deeper than his lips pressed to Molly, but the vampire could feel the smile on Caleb’s face as he kissed him. There was no better feeling than making his boyfriend smile, he found.

Molly leaned back and held Caleb’s cheek, rubbing along the bone there with his thumb. Caleb grabbed the hand and pressed a kiss to the thumb, and then to each finger. Molly smiled as the feather-light kisses tickled.

“Can I ask you something, Caleb?” He felt the man freeze up slightly, something he knew would happen with such a question, so he continued quickly. “You don’t have to answer now, dear. I know how you like to take time working over your answers. Or even ever. But… Who is Astrid to you?”

Mollymauk was very much a need to know kinda vamp. He didn’t need to know all the gossip (though he did love to hear it), he didn’t need to know every dark secret hiding in closest. He’d travelled around with the circus for 15 years; he knew when it was best to just keep quiet. And Caleb was a man of many mysteries; he was the only ever human manager of a club that was the central hub for all vampires of London, and Molly still doesn’t really know why. He doesn’t need to know, never has. He helped Caleb get out of working there, taking the job for himself since he had nothing after the Carnival collapsed. Anything he did need to know, Caleb told him. He told him everything about Nott, about his work at the library, and other than that these days Caleb’s life was pretty boring. He would spend his days around Molly’s while Nott was at school, curled up in bed together or just hanging around the apartment. Caleb had nothing to do with vampires other than Molly, so Molly didn’t need to know.

But now Astrid was back.

He had researched her when Caleb had called, and what he found was pretty sparse. A powerful vampire of the Sthenos, and eldest of them as well. A little murder happy and cared little for others that were not vampires, and did not care much for her own race as well, especially when they did not agree with what she said. She was exiled around 10 years ago, but very little information about why was there, just that she had murdered someone, someone innocent.

He didn’t need to know, because Caleb knew. Because her exile notes were in his handwriting.

“Give me…” Caleb started, before falling silent. His eyebrows scrunched together and the small smile that was on his lips had vanished, now more a pointed frown. Molly reached up to try and wipe it away, unable to bear seeing Caleb sad, when the man continued. “I will tell you. I promise.” there was something about the way Caleb spoke that suggested he wasn’t fully in the room right now. “But-” and now he focused back on Molly, briefly meeting eye contact before staring at the bridge of his nose, “-I need time to… structure it. It is a long story. And we are not the only ones in it.” as he said that, he reached up absentmindedly to rub at the old, rough bite mark on his neck.

“Well.” Molly said, clapping his hands together and making Caleb jump, “now I’ve ruined the mood twice, shall we get back to it.” Caleb looked relieved at the change of topic, and Molly ran his hands up and down his arms in a soothing gesture.

“It is not your fault your question was hard to answer,” Caleb said softly.

“You know what else is hard?” Molly was grinning wickedly, and Caleb let out a loud groan.

“If you are about to say your-” before he could finish, Molly flipped them, Caleb now pinned beneath him.

Molly pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “Now I’m very hungry… and my boyfriend is a feast.”

“I hate you,” Caleb said, without meaning a single word.

~~~~

Bryce’s house was nothing like Beau expected.

She expected a big, old Victorian house with oil paintings and taxidermied animals. What she got as a simple open planned, two-bed semi-detached house with a nice big garden. Maybe she shouldn’t have watched What We Do In The Shadows last night.

It was just her, Molly, and Caleb. Yasha had “something she needed to deal with”, which everyone else had been suspicious of but Caleb and Molly. Jester had decided that she would take Nott to the park, for some fun, and Fjord watched her gather her paint supplies and decided said fun should be supervised, so he went along with them.

So it was just the three of them, drinking tea (or ‘tea’), sat in Bryce’s living room. The curtains were drawn but were made of a thin material that allowed light to come through, and they were sat on very soft fluffy sofa’s that she swore she saw in the DFS sale catalogue last month.

“I’m afraid,” Bryce said over their cup of ‘tea’, “due to my position, there is not much I can tell you about the murders, but I can answer your questions as much as possible.” they turned to Molly, “I know you have a duty to look into this, Mr Mollymauk.”

Molly smiled at them. “Unfortunately. And Molly’s fine, none of this mister stuff.” Bryce seemed put off slightly by the other vampire, which Beau could relate to and shifted most of their attention to Caleb.

“How many bodies have you pulled out of the river in total?” Caleb asked. They had made a list of questions on their way over here, which he had in front of him.

“42 vampires, 7 other creatures, and I can not disclose to you the number of werewolves we have pulled out for legal reasons but I will say they are of a similar number.”

“Fucking Christ,” Beau said, “how the hell are you keeping that under wraps?” The press did know about the bodies, and in every paper since they started being pulled out there was a section dedicated to them. But they were much smaller numbers, and it hadn’t been front page since the first one was found.

“That would be to do with one of Artaud's men.” Bryce said as they took a sip of their ‘tea’. It was weird watching them drop their fangs into the liquid, but at least they were a little more subtle about it than Molly, who was loudly slurping at his. (Beau couldn’t help but notice the new bandage on Caleb’s neck after they came back last night). “I do not know his name, nor his face, but he is one of the Anaxagoras. Very powerful, very old. He has been-” and they moved their hand wildly as they tried to work out to word it “-charming people. Magically- that is what his kind do. Making most people forget, but letting some slip through so it is not as if suddenly the murders have stopped.”

Caleb was writing every word of what Bryce said, and the scratching of pen on paper filled the silence as they waited for Bryce to finish.

“And how did they die? Differently? Or has there been some common themes?”

“Ah,” Bryce placed their teacup down on the table and then folded their hands on their knees, “We don’t know how they died. Each body has been magically altered so that nothing can be learned from it - there are no signs they even drowned. ”

“You can do that?” Beau asked, and even Caleb looked confused. Molly, however, shrugged.

“Witches can do all sorts of shit,” he said plainly.

“I don’t know the specifics of the magic,” Bryce said, “I’ve never really had a good grasp on that, but yes, ‘Witches can do all sorts of shit.’”

“Would you then say a hunter is out of the question?” Caleb asked, and Bryce just shrugged.

“Not entirely. Most hunters, the dark and awful ones and not the better ones that just hunt the worsts our kinds, would not even talk to witches no matter the fact that they are technically human. But some would seek their help. But there are very few witches in this city, and less so that would do something like this.”

“Um, I might have a - it’s suspect for detective shit, right? Yeah - I might have a suspect for a hunter.” Beau said, and all eyes turned to her.

“You tell us now?” Caleb said accusingly.

“It came up yesterday!” She raised her hands, “And you were being all icky yesterday I wasn’t going to tell you then!”

“Icky?” Molly said with a laugh. “We had sex Beau I’m sorry you have a-”

“Okay - okay” and Caleb leaned over to cover Molly’s mouth. “Let’s not talk about that in front of Bryce, ja? They don’t need to know about our sex life Molly.” and looking over at the vampire in question, they had their fingers in their ears trying to block them out. Caleb gestured to them and they lowered their hands. He then gestured to Beau to continue.

“Her name’s Dairon. She’s my… teacher at the ring.” Beau sighed. “I didn’t even know she knew about all this vamp shit till yesterday. But-” and Beau leant forward, almost as if she was trying to hide the fact she was talking even though they were in Bryce’s house, “she talked about the supernatural as if they were wrong which - I’m still getting used to the fact they’re not but my best friend is one so I’m sucking it up. And I trust her - or trusted. I don’t know.”

“You like this woman,” Caleb said softly.

“She’s helped me through a lot.” Beau did not meet anyone’s eyes. “She’s a good fighter, an ex-marine. If anyone could kill that many… it would be her.”

“I’ll look into her,” Bryce said, “thank you. A lead is a lead, and the fact that I have not heard her name and she knows of our existence is not the greatest thing, even if this is not her doing. Was there anything-”

Suddenly, from Beau’s pocket, her phone started playing loudly the chorus of That Boy Is A Bottom, disrupting any speech. She scrambled for it as Caleb and Bryce looked at her in horror, and Molly fell out of his chair from laughing so hard.

She quickly answered the call and brought the phone up to her ear. “Fjord, dude, I’m still at Bryce’s.” At the mention of Fjord’s name, Molly let out another loud laugh from his position on the floor, and Caleb just sighed as he placed his head in his hands.

“I- fuck- I know,” Fjord sounded out of breath, and there was what almost sounded like crying in the background. She immediately sat up straight, and the others in the room noticed her shift in posture, Caleb kicking Molly from his position on the floor.

“What’s happened?” She asked.

“Nott’s been bitten by a wolf.”  

Chapter Text

Sometimes Fjord would watch as Jester laughed, or played, or did anything really, and wonder how she did it. How she could dance as if the entire world wasn’t watching. He knew she could dance well, and yet here she was dragging Nott into the fountains in the park before doing the robot, faces and all. It’s then he remembered, that she did know the entire world was watching, and that’s why she did it. To make the world, and more specifically now, Nott, laugh.

Jester was very close to Nott, even though it had only been less than a month since they’d met her. He didn’t know much about Jester’s childhood, but he knew it was a lonely one, and he believed that Jester might see herself in Nott a bit; the young, lonely girl who just wants a friend. And it warmed him a little, knowing that Jester is trying to be that friend for Nott.

Even if her attempt to make friends meant he had to chase her out the house to stop her vandalising the statues in the park. Again.  

“Alright!” Fjord called out to the two of them, “you better get over here before I eat your ice creams!” or at least he would if he could eat, and then he would only really eat Nott’s since she’d only gotten a small vanilla one. Jester’s was covered in so much strawberry sauce and hundreds and thousands that it was giving him a sugar rush just from looking at it.

The two ran out of the fountains, now soaking wet as they charged towards Fjord. Jester yanked hers out of Fjord’s hands, almost breaking the cone, before taking a big bite out of it. He just raised his eyebrows at her.

“What?” she said around her second bite, “what’s that look f-” she cut herself off as she curled over, holding her head with her free hand. “ Brain freeze,” she hissed, and Nott laughed so hard that she almost dropped her ice cream.

The park was quiet for a weekend, but Fjord wasn’t complaining. Since he’s been eating more his senses have been far better, and they get overwhelmed so easily. Even now, with no-one around, all he can smell is sweat and body odour from joggers and wet dog.

Why did Jester have to choose the park?

A small child ran into view from behind a couple trees, being chased but what looks to be their parent as they catch up to them and pick the child up, the two laughing and giggling. The kid let out a sharp shriek and it shook Fjord’s senses, causing him to stumble and almost trip over Nott.

“Come on,” Jester said, pulling on both his and Nott’s sleeves, “let's go to the lake.”

~~~

The lake was just a really, really big pond, but then, according to Nott, that’s all any lake is.

“So a sea is nothing more than a giant pond?” he teased and she just crossed her arms and scowled at him.

“Of course not, why would you say that?” She spat out.

“Because you said a lake is-”

“But a lake and a sea have different water in it. A sea is the smallest container of seawater-”

“What about estuaries?” this was just too funny.

“Oh fuck you.” So much fun.

The lake was surrounded by trees, and if you angled it just right you couldn’t see the city skyline and it instead felt like the middle of a deep forest. Fjord loved places like this, hidden gems that let him forget London. Maybe now they live with Caleb he can get the man to teach him to drive, spend a weekend away in some forest somewhere where he’d be alone with nothing more than his tent. And probably Jester and Beau.

He leaned up against one of the trees, watching as Nott and Jester chased each other by the edge of the water. He closed his eyes and felt calm, instead focusing on the sounds and smell of the area. Removing one sense helped the others become stronger.

That's why he heard the twig snap.

He rolled forward just in time to feel the earth behind him shudder where he once stood, and he quickly got back to his feet, facing the being.

It was different seeing a werewolf in broad daylight; back alleys didn’t seem to do them justice. The beast stood a good two feet taller than him, with broad shoulders that split through the shirt they wore. Long thick claws on both their hands and feet and a long drooling snout full of yellowing sharp teeth. It took a step towards and he instinctively took one back, hands shakily coming up before him to protect himself. What was it Beau had taught him about bigger foes? Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge? Wait no that was dodgeball.

Sometimes, too many senses override each other and block each other out. That’s Fjord’s excuse for why he didn’t fight back when the beast jumped on him.

He fell straight to the ground, the weight of the beast far too much for knees. Where his hands were before meant he was able to grab its snout, which was the only thing keeping it from biting into his neck. He dared not look at what the other two were doing, afraid that he’d get distracted again. Instead, he pulled his feet up and positioned them flat on the beast stomach and pushed, using the momentum to roll the both of them over so he was now on top.

“Oh shit! Oh no! It’s a Gruffalo- werewolf!” Jester’s joke at least meant he knew they were okay, but certainly did not help in this situation. Sat on the beasts hips so it couldn’t do what he did to him, he slowly began to pull the jaw apart, fighting back against the strong muscles in its jaw. He felt the beast rake its claws across his back, but he did not stop. Please be a strong vamp, please be a strong vamp. He thought, and he kept ignoring the harsh pain from his back as he kept pulling and pulling and-

In a second he was thrown, the beast grabbing his shoulder and just hauling him away from it, almost dislocating the shoulder in the process. He tumbled, landing badly and between that and the pain from his back he struggled to get up.

Then someone screamed.

It was loud, it was painful as it pierced his ears, and the total fear in that scream was what set him off the most. He looked up and saw Nott, stood next to the thing, with her silver hunting knife buried deep in its thigh. But it was not the beast that was screaming, but her. As she stared down at his jaws around her arm. He watched as she pulled the knife from its thigh and buried it in its shoulder, and he could see the pain in its eyes but there was no way it would let go. She did it again and again and again and still, it would not let go.

Fjord could not get there fast enough. It felt like seconds but also hours as he sped to Nott’s side, grasping back onto the mouth of the beast. With both of them there it did not know who to swing at, and he could see Nott keep stabbing the creature. He eventually was able to pull the mouth open enough for Nott to roll free, rushing off somewhere he couldn’t see. It growled at him, deep and loud as it echoed in its chest. And Fjord growled back, dropping his fangs and leaping at its neck.

The blood tasted awful in his mouth but it did not matter, what mattered was how the beast staggered, how it howled in pain. He bit deeper before pulling away and taking most of the shoulder with him.

“How. Dare. You.” It was difficult to speak with his fangs dropped but at that moment he did not care. All he cared about was Nott’s safety and bringing this fucker down.

And he had created one hell of a distraction.

“Yippie kay yay motherfucker!” Jester yelled as she jumped up onto its back, her thick thighs surrounding its waist as she wrapped her silver necklace around its neck, digging it in where the open wound is. It howled in pain, it’s back arching in such a way that it was almost a mockery of an old western ending. The howl echoed in Fjord’s head, and only then did he remember they were in a public park. Jester, however, did not.

“How does that feel, bitch?” she spat into its ear. “Does it hurt? Does it burn?” As she spoke he could see the tears falling down her face and, keeping one eye on the situation here, he turned to Nott.

She was curled up only a few feet away, clutching her hurt arm tightly to her chest. He ran to her, kneeling by her side.

“Let me see it,” he said gently, ignoring Jester in the background who was now insulting the beasts mother. Nott slowly revealed her arm to Fjord and there was so much blood. He took a deep breath and pulled off his jacket, wrapping it tightly around Nott’s arm and softly apologising to Nott when she whimpered.

“I don’t-” her voice was quiet, “I don’t want to-”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he insisted, knowing it wouldn’t quite be.

“WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?” Jester’s voice broke into their conversation, and Fjord tucked Nott closer before turning back to look at the fight.

The werewolf had gotten no closer to breaking free, and it switched between clawing at the necklace now sizzling against its neck to trying to bat at Jester on its back. The loud howls had now turned into small, constant whimpers and whines, and Fjord watched it open and close its mouth like a goldfish.

“L-L-Lorenzo.” Fjord had never heard a werewolf speak, but the obviously different in vocal cords and mouth shape meant the voice was much lower than a normal human’s. Another name, another suspect. If only it could have been Astrid, someone they knew was in the game instead of another player they knew nothing about. He gathered Nott in his arms, holding her tight to his chest as he stood.

“Jester,” his voice was flat, he let no emotion leave him as he stared at the beast. “Are you going to end it?” He watched as Jester pulled tighter on the necklace, and the beast whimpered but it was obvious that as painful as it was it wouldn’t kill it.

“P-please!” it cried, “please I won’t- I told you- just let me go.”

Fjord felt the blood on his hands as he held Nott. he felt the blood seeping from her wound onto his chest. He felt the blood around his mouth from the beast's neck, slowly dripping down his chin. He bared his teeth, turned, and walked away.

~~~

Caleb arrived quickly after they called for him. Only Caleb, no Molly, no Beau. He did not pay attention to either Fjord or Jester, just Nott. They had tucked their way into another part of the park, close enough to the entrance that Caleb could get to them easily but far enough away that people won’t accidentally stumble across them covered in blood. Nott was still bundled in Fjord’s arms when he arrived, but she quickly scrambled away and to Caleb, clutching onto him the moment he was near.

“What happened?” There was only anger present in Caleb’s voice, completely contrasted by the way he stroked Nott’s hair gently as he held her to his chest.

“A werewolf jumped out of a tree and attacked Fjord,” Jester said, “there was a big fight and Nott… Nott got bit.” They watched as Caleb took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he let it all out. When he opened his eyes, he was focused on Fjord.

“You let her get bit.” there was no question to it. He pulled Nott tighter to his chest, wrapping his arms around her almost like he was protecting her from Fjord. He leant forward and went to speak up for himself, but as his mouth moved he felt his fangs drag against his lips, felt the blood slowly drying against his hands and chin, and knew what Caleb saw. “How- how could you let her get bit?” he looked disgusted. “How-”

“Take her to the hospital,” Jester interrupted, “tell them she got bit by a very large stray dog and they’ll disinfect it and also probably give her a rabies shot and any stitches if she needs them.” he’d never really heard Jester so calm and stable, taking over the situation with ease. She stood up and walked over to the two of them, pushing them towards the exit. “Don’t worry about us, I’ll get us home.” With that, they turned and left.

“He’s right,” Fjord said, and he curled in on himself, holding his head in his hands. “I let her-”

Jester shushed him, kneeling down beside him. “This wasn’t your fault.” she stroked his hair as she spoke. “Caleb was just a bit panicky that’s all.” she reached into her bag and pulled out her makeup wipes, handing Fjord a couple before making a start on cleaning his face.

“You were very brave today Jester,” he said softly. “Jumping up on its back- I could never do that.” She wiggled her shoulders, something she had only started doing recently since hanging out with Nott. A small sign that she was chuffed with herself.

“I was pretty awesome wasn’t I,” she said, pulling out another wipe to continue cleaning. He refused to look down at the other wipe, didn’t want to see how much blood was there. What was he thinking? Dropping his fangs and jumping at it. He could have been seen- and sure, the person on the massive wolf hybrid probably wouldn’t have drawn as much attention as the massive wolf hybrid but it was still dangerous. It horrified him how much damage he had done to the beast, how it howled and whimpered in pain as he drove his fangs into its neck, how-

“Are we going to have to have the monster talk again?” he had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice when Jester stopped cleaning him. She was looking at him with her big puppy dog eyes, full of sadness and pity. He hated it when she looked at him like that.

When Fjord had first been turned, she had that face a lot. When he would stare into the mirror like his form would flicker and disappear, she would slide up next to him and shake her head. The “monster talk” was something they had when Fjord first turned when he was still working out what he was and what he could do.

“Do you know the story of the scorpion and the frog?” she had asked from where she stood next to him in front of the mirror. He had been picking at his fangs again, and he could see the disappointment.

“The one where the scorpion stings the frog halfway across the river and paralyses him, killing them both?”

“No, the better one. Where the scorpion doesn’t sting the frog, and when they reach the other side the frog asked “but what about your nature?” and the scorpion replied-

“I can’t control my nature, but I can control my actions,” he whispered to himself, and he felt Jester squeeze his shoulder.

“You bit the beast and did a real number to it too, but when you went over to Nott where she was bleeding out, Did you bite her? No! Because you’re not bad Fjord, and you control your own actions.” she stood in front of him, hands on hips. “Let’s go home Fjord, and cry into Beau’s arms. Or maybe Yasha's- have you seen Yasha’s arms?”

“I share a room with Beau, Jester, I know everything about Yasha’s arms.”

~~~~

Molly was pacing around Caleb’s tiny kitchen. Nott was hurt and here he was unable to do anything. If he had a stomach he’d be sick, but right now his struggle was keeping the tears at bay.

He turned to Jester, who wasn’t in a better state. She was sat at the table, phone in front of her as she tapped her nails loudly in nervousness. Occasionally her phone would vibrate and they would both rush to look, but each time it was something else; an email, a game notification, the occasional tinder message.

After one such false alarms, Molly collapsed into the chair across from Jester, arms crossed and head resting in them. He felt a warm hand pet his head and as he looked up he saw Jester smiling softly.

“I feel like I'm going to cry,” Molly said, reaching up to rub at his eyes to stop himself. The girl doesn’t even like him why is he so wound up about it.

He knows. Because she’s Caleb’s girl. The girl he’d cancelled their first ever date about. The girl that, when they were curled up in Molly’s bed, would cause him to run out in a hurry with a chaste kiss and a brief apology. Molly knew the moment he started dating Caleb she would come before him, and these last few weeks have made feel something similar. Little Nott, with her hair braids and her emo bands and the fact he’s sure she’s stolen a total of six of his earrings since they’d met. Little Nott had grown on him. And now she was in the hospital.

“Don’t cry without your mascara on,” Jester said, and she sounded so sure about it, it was like she was telling you the sky was blue.

Molly looked at her confused. “Won’t that just run?” He asked.

She gave him a short nod in answer. “If you really want to make someone feel bad, make your makeup run so it stains your face. It shows how badly it has affected you.”

Molly stared at Jester, this ball of pure chaotic energy and he suddenly saw how smart she really was.

“You evil genius,” She just smiled.

“Alright,” Beau said as she walked into the room, “I finally got Fjord to eat something and wrestled him into bed.” she collapsed into the chair next to Jester, placing her feet up onto the table.

“Does he really blame himself for this? It’s obviously not his fault,” Molly said, and the two girls shared a look.

“One time,” Jester said, “I stubbed my toe so hard on the kitchen table I broke it, and he blamed himself because apparently, he’d nudge it by accident a few days before moving it out of place. He did my laundry for two weeks to try and make up for it.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

They sat in silence a little too long, the tick tick tick of the clock on the wall was just out of time with tap tap tap of Jester’s nails on the table. Molly could hear every breath, every drip from the tap. If he focused he could hear Fjord shuffling about in bed a few rooms down, the sounds of the leaves rustling against the walls of the house, the sound of-

“I need a drink.” he stood too quickly and the chair fell down behind him, the loud thud echoing through the room. The two girls stared at him as he scampered across the room to the fridge, searching from the spare bags he keeps there.

“Oh!” Jester said, and Molly looked over his shoulder as he poured the thick liquid into a cup, placing it into the microwave for two minutes. “We might have a new name for the list of people doing the murders! Someone we know nothing about! Isn’t that just great!” it was strange hearing Jester so sarcastic, but he supposes it’s been a day for them all. “You see, I don’t know if I told you but today I rode that-”

“-werewolf like I was at a rodeo, and I don’t mean the good kind of riding,” Beau finished for her. “Yes, you may have mentioned it. And then Fjord mentioned it. And then you mentioned it again.” instead of replying, Jester hit her on the arm.

“That was very rude Beau,” Jester said, pouting heavily. “And what I did was very cool, could you have done that?”

“Yeah Beau,” Molly chimed in, “Could you have done that?” he crossed his arms and leant back against the counter top.

“Fuck you, Molly,” Beau spat at him.

“Hey! I was just repeating what Jester said, why don’t you fuck her!”

“I do. A lot.”

Before he could reply to that statement the microwave dinged behind him, and he quickly opened it up and pulled out the cup of blood. AB, sweeter than sugar-coated cherries and maybe Caleb’s blood type, but that's for him and his boyfriend to know.

“Anyway,” Jester said, “before I was rudely interrupted, I was going to say that I asked the werewolf who they worked for and they said the name Lorenzo.”

He dropped the mug before he could even have a sip.

“You know when you said that we know nothing about this guy,” Beau said over Molly’s cursing, “think you might’ve been wrong.”

“Molly?” Jester asked as she rushed to his side. He was on the floor picking up the bits of the ceramic mug and damn that man, ruining a good cup of AB. He waved Jester away.

“I’m fine, just give me a sec,” he said before moving to the bin, throwing away all the bits of the mug he’d collected. Where does Caleb keep the dustpan and brush, he thought as he turned around, and already found Jester sweeping up the smaller bits, a cloth in her other hand to wipe up the blood. “Jester you don’t have to,” but now he was the one being waved off.

“Sit down,” Beau said and nodded back to his chair. He dropped into it, looking over the table at Beau. she waved her hand as if to say, get on with it.

“You know how Astrid's not allowed into the city?” a nod. “Well, that was all official. She murdered someone and then tried to stay in the city, so her exile was actually put down on paper because that was her punishment. Werewolves… aren’t so kind. Lorenzo was supposed to be killed for what he did but was able to flee the city before he was found.”

“What did he do?” Beau asked.

Molly raised his hand and counted each point on his fingers. “He kidnapped people from the south side of the city and sold them to high-end vamps here on the north side. He spent a full moon outside his home but inside the city- a big no-no in the wolf community. He turned people into werewolves without their permission. He came to the north side of the city which, okay loads of people do but it's still illegal. And he tried to kill a vampire.”

“Wow,” Beau said in astonishment. “That’s a list and a half.”  

Molly sighed, “tell me about it.”

“Was the vamp he tried to kill important?” she asked, leaning forward onto her hands.

“The vamp he tried to kill… was me.”

“Fuck.”

“Tell me about it.”

Jester rushed to his side, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and bringing him in close. Bear hugs like this were rare to him; Caleb prefered softer cuddles in bed and Yasha only gave hugs like this when she came back from a long trip away, something that had decreased lately as she now worked at the club. It felt good to be wrapped in Jester’s arms, she was warm and soft and she stroked his hair as she held him. He pulled back a bit to look up at her.

“I’m fine, Jester,” he insisted, “it was a couple years ago. I’m over it.”

“Could he be working with Astrid?” Beau asked.

He sighed, pulling fully from Jester and turning to Beau. “ I don’t know. She was already gone by the time he started his so-called ‘business’. But it’s possible they met outside of London.” if Molly wasn’t so terrified at challenging the fates, this is when he would say to fateful lines of This couldn’t possibly get any worse. Which was always how things became worse.

Lorenzo. Molly was too stupid to fear, at least that’s what Caleb said. But Lorenzo, the thought of that man towering over him, stake in his hand, made him shake with terror. Let’s make an example out of you he had said as Molly spat in his face. He doesn’t remember much after that. Just the morgue, and waking up with a hole in his chests.

He rubbed over his heart where Lorenzo had staked him, more memories of that month flooding back. Yasha going missing, contacting all those he could, uncovering their entire network of kidnappings, chasing after them alone, Yasha’s scream as he was overpowered.

You should not blame yourself for things you can’t control Mollymauk. Caleb had said when he next saw him. He’d been in almost as bad a state as Molly was in, the worrier. You uncovered so much, leave the rest to the officials.

So he did, and they found Yasha. But Lorenzo got away.

His thoughts were interrupted by Whitney Houston.

He scrambled for his phone, ignoring the girl's comments of why does he phone you not- oh wait, you're his boyfriend and why the fuck is your ringtone “ I will always love you” that's so dumb as he answers.

“Mollymauk,” Caleb sounded like he needed to hear his voice just as much as Molly needed to hear his.

“Caleb,” he said, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “How’s Nott?”

“Asleep.” of course she was. “She crashed into the back of the car and was out in a second.”

“What did they do?” he stepped around the girls and into the corridor, shutting the door behind him before they could follow.

“Exactly as Jester said.” he heard Caleb’s head hit something and knew he was leaning against the steering wheel. “They cleaned it up, gave her seven stitches, and then a rabies shot.” he sighed, long and loud down the phone. “Molly-”

“Look, dear, come home. We’ll get some sleep, and start bright and fresh in the morning.” He knew after a day like this Caleb would struggle to sleep, but it was the most comforting thing he could think of.

He heard the sound of the car starting. “Don’t run any red lights driving home to me.” the soft teasing came easily to Molly, even when he was stressed.

He could hear the smile in Caleb’s voice as he said, “I’ll drive carefully, don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll leave all the worrying to you.” he heard Jester lean against the door behind him. “I love you, darling.”

“ Ich Liebe Dich,” Caleb said back before hanging up.

Molly turned around and threw open the door, causing Jester to stumble to the floor in front of him. He looked up at Beau. “We mention nothing of Lorenzo to Caleb, not tonight.”

“Why not?” Jester asked from the floor, “it’s a pretty big thing obviously. We should tell him.”

“Nah, Molly’s right,” Beau said, before pointing her finger at him, “don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“Jester’s my witness.”

“Fuck you.” he thought she paired it with a scowl, but that might just be how her face is. “Caleb’s been through enough today, we’ll leave that bombshell till tomorrow.”

“So what do we do now?” Jester asked.

“We wait.”

~~~~

Jester tiptoed into the kitchen. It was late, very late, but she knew someone would be up. And she only wanted to speak to him.

“Caleb,” she said as she spotted him by the kettle. As she spoke his name he jolted from surprise, almost dropping the mug he had in his hands.

“Jester, what are you doing up?” he asked. He placed the mug on the side and made his way towards her. There was a softness to his face that she had only ever seen directed towards Nott. “You should be in bed.” It was obvious Caleb was just as tired as she was; his accent was thick, and every time he blinked he kept his eyes closed for a moment too long.

“I have some questions that I wanted to ask you,” she replied. He looked confused but guided her to the table anyway.

“I was making myself some hot chocolate, it usually helps me sleep. Would you like some?” she nodded, and so he poured another mug of milk and put it into the microwave.

“I’m sorry about what happened today.” she watched as Caleb’s shoulders tensed as she spoke. “We should have been more careful or-”

“There was nothing you could have done, and it’s definitely not your fault.” He paused, before making his way to her side and pulling out the chair next to her. “That werewolf should not have been on the northern side of the city. It is his fault- I know I got angry at Fjord earlier but I was worried about Nott. This should not have happened at all.”

She raised her hand and put it on his shoulder. “Fjord blames himself easily. I don’t wanna sound pushy but Fjord really does blame himself about this and if you could-”

“I’ll apologise soon,” he said, “I - um- like to go over my words lots before so just give me some time to do so before I do.” the microwave went off just as he finished. He pulled the mug out and added the hot chocolate powder, and then brought both his and Jester’s over to the table. It wasn’t special hot chocolate, just normal instant, but it tasted good. She subtly tries to lean into Caleb’s side, placing her head on his shoulder. He tenses for a second, but eventually relaxes and lets her stay.

“What’s gonna happen with Nott?” She asked. “She’s a werewolf now, and we live on the northern side of the city. Are we gonna have to move?” she didn’t want to move again. Though it was cramped, she loved the little bungalow. The beautiful overgrown garden, the way the entire back of the place smells like books. She knew they would have to move out anyway, once they have the money for a new place. But there was a nice couple down the road that has been looking for a bigger place so they can have kids and Jester’s not saying she’s looking into moving in there once they go but…. She’s looking into moving in there once they go. And Nott… she was so scared today, especially once she got back when all the adrenaline had worn off and what had happened had finally hit. She was so scared for her new friend.

Caleb placed his mug on the table, fiddling with the handle and thumbing over the pattern. “I- no. We won’t. It wouldn’t be the first time a werewolf has been on the north side of the city, obviously given today. We just have to keep her secret. She goes to school on the south side anyway, and there are enough wards on this house that no one would be able to tell who lives here.” He sighed, and he left the mug alone and started picking at his nails. From the looks of them, he did it often, so Jester reached up and grabbed his hand, holding it in her’s. She didn’t look up at him, just squeezed it gently, taking a sip of her drink with her other hand.

“I know you’re concerned, just tell me,” she said softly. She felt his soft sigh against the top of her head.

“I do not know what is going to happen to her,” he said so quietly that the only reason why Jester could hear him was that she was so close. When he took another breath it rattled with a sob. “I know nothing- nothing about werewolves and how they work. Is the transformation painful? Will she be able to control it outside of the full moon? Can she even control herself when she turns?” He didn’t continue, but she knew he had more questions, as did she. She squeezed his hand gently.

“You’ll find out,” she reassured him, “you’re a librarian, you have access to so many books. And Bryce, who knows werewolves right?” She pulled back just in time to see him nod, and he quickly hid his face to hide the tear tracks. Jester placed her head on his shoulder so he could have more privacy. “She’ll be fine. We’ll be fine,” she said like there was no over option.

Silence settled over them comfortingly, like a warm blanket someone had thrown over them as they curled together- or more correctly, Jester curled closer to Caleb and he put up with it. They savoured their hot chocolates and watched the clock on the wall as the time passed from Very Late to Very Early.

“Did you have any other questions for me, Jester?” Caleb asked.

“Just one- it’s kind of a compound one though.”

Caleb made a gesture with his hand as if to say go ahead.

“You mentioned, when we first came here, that there was only one Podarge right? The fleet-footed guys?” Caleb nodded. “Who are they?”

“Their name is Artaud, and they are… have you ever played dungeons and dragons?”

“No, but I know a bit- also I am really not surprised you have.” she laughed as Caleb hit her thigh gently in return.

“You know chaotic neutral?” she made an affirmative noise, “that is them. Pure chaotic energy. I- knew them quite well once, when I was the manager at the club. They… took care of is the wrong way to say it, but they watched over me. Made sure I didn’t fuck up while also making sure no one else fucked me up. They are… terrifying.”

“Even more than Astrid?”

He nodded. “Astrid is pure evil- but you know what she wants- power. But Artaud… standing in their presence is like being reduced down to your basic instincts.”

She didn’t like the sound of that, not at all. “Do they live in London?” she hoped not, but she needed to know.

Caleb shook his head. “No, they have not been to London since I retired- Molly has only met them once when he took the job. Artaud rules all of Europes Vampire’s cities, that's how powerful they are. They’re probably in some hot Greek city playing with their underlings- and no not like that,” he was too late though and Jester was already laughing. She looked up at Caleb and noticed a smile on his face. One day you’ll laugh with me.

She felt such relief hearing all this, and showed this by downing the rest of her hot chocolate and then hugging Caleb. She could feel him quickly tense up and this time she didn’t ignore it, pulling back almost as quickly as she’d dove in. “Thank you, Caleb,” and was out the door, ignoring all of Caleb’s questions coming behind her.

She snuck into her and Nott’s room, finding the young girl still fast asleep as she’d left her. She tiptoed across the room to her air mattress, and gently laid down, pulling the blankets up around her shoulders and snuggling in.

This was good news, right? If this Artaud hasn’t been to England in 5 years, then what she saw today must have been her imagination, or maybe something to do with hitting her head. Fjord probably didn’t get flung as far as she had thought. Sure, she was sure that Fjord had gotten thrown a good 10 metres, and then when she blinked it was like he was there again. She probably just kept her eyes closed. If Artaud hasn’t been to England in 5 years, then Fjord can’t be like them.

Right?

Chapter Text

Caleb had always struggled to sleep at night.

He blamed working at the club; even if they aren’t technically allergic to sunlight, the vampires there always prefered to work by night. And shifting from that job to the night shift at the library meant he kept his nocturnal sleeping pattern. But he knows it goes further back than that, staying up later and later, waiting for his mother to return from who knows where. He’d sleep at school, curled up in the library or in the back of classrooms. His teachers would scold him for it, but he never got a low grade so, in the end, they did nothing. And he’s never broken from it.

It became useful with Molly.

Once he got out of the club and started dating Molly, his weekdays would stick to a routine. He’d get back from work about 3 am, crashing out for a few hours before waking Nott up for school, and once he’d dropped her off at school, he’d go to Molly’s. Most days they didn’t do anything but sleep , curled up in Molly’s giant bed that was covered in all things soft. Some days, when Caleb had the night before off, they’d go on dates around the city or, if Yasha was out, more ‘fun’ activities.

It was still strange waking up in his own bed with Molly in it.

For the last five years, he had split his life into two parts: Nott, and Molly. Molly understood why he kept them separate, and Nott never knew to ask why, so it was easy to do. But now they know each other, now each half is combined, it still feels a bit weird. Seeing Molly asleep in Caleb’s bed with his hair spread behind him, snoring softly with Frumpkin half on his face, made up for that weirdness.

He turned to look around his mother’s room. Not his room, hers. He never changed it, left most of her stuff be, it had felt wrong to mess with it. This place was one of the few places they had been happy together.

His mother had failed to protect him when he was younger. She had told him everything, told him about the vampires she would see, what the club really was, and in doing so she had fated him to a broken life, something he had only just been beginning to fix. He rubbed at his neck, over the one bite mark Molly didn’t make and thought of Nott’s own bitemark. How blooded it was where the beast had dug as deep as it could go, the strong jaws almost breaking the bone. He had tried to protect her, telling her little and keeping her in the dark. And it still didn’t work.

He felt bad for leaving Molly and Beau at Bryce’s without an apology or helping them get home, but at the time he’d been so worried about Nott, about the fact that she was bitten. How she-

“Hey,” Molly said from behind him. He rested his head on Caleb’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around him. “You’re thinking too loud. The cat and I are trying to sleep.” He slowly began to lean backwards, pulling Caleb down with him. Caleb turned in Molly’s arms, tucking his head under Molly’s chin and burying his face in Molly’s chest and he-

He started to cry.

He felt Molly’s arms tighten around him, one of his hands shifting up to stroke his hair soothingly. Caleb felt drained, and the tears did not come in sobs but just slow waves. There was no energy left in him, the last twenty-four hours had drained every drop. Every breath rattled in his chest, and all he did was try and hide deeper in Molly’s arms, away from the rest of the world.

The hand in Caleb’s hair left, and after a few seconds, there was a heavier pressure on his back. One that was very warm, and was currently making some very sad noises about being woken up and moved. Frumpkin settled quickly, curling up between his shoulders and falling back to sleep. Caleb felt Molly chuckle beneath him, though it was tight.

Something was wrong.

If something was wrong with Caleb like right now, Molly was always calm and tried to play happy. He was very good at it too, helping him through panic attacks and nightmares. Caleb was, unfortunately, used to how Molly was when he took care of Caleb. This was something else.

“What’s-” he started, and his voice came out hoarse from the crying. He swallowed, and lifting his head up, being careful not to jostle Frumpkin but getting into a position where he could look Molly in the face. “What’s wrong?”

There it was, the pained smile. Molly rarely smiled like that; it was either cocky or soft. Cocky when he was playful, when he was trying to get Caleb into bed, when he was dancing around his kitchen in nothing but his underwear and knew Caleb was watching. Soft when he was kissing him, still in awe that Caleb would love him, when he watched Frumpkin play with his tail, when Caleb would bring him a cup of warm blood in the morning.

This was neither of those. This was Molly trying to pretend, trying to act like nothing was wrong. Now, to most, Molly could do this with ease- it's in his blood to charm, quite literally- but he never could to Caleb. He blamed all sorts of things- Caleb knowing so much about Vampires already, blood bonds etc. but when it came down to it… Molly would not lie to Caleb.

Molly opened his mouth and stopped short; whatever bullshit he had thought up getting caught in his throat by the fact that he could not tell Caleb a lie. Molly pulled him down a bit, meeting him halfway and resting his forehead against Caleb’s. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With the exhale, he whispered:

“Lorenzo.”

There are name’s that strike fear into Caleb’s heart- many names, he was a very paranoid person. But Lorenzo and the memory of what he had done did not make Caleb afraid. It made him angry.

He had never met the man, his reign of terror occurring after Caleb had cut himself out of the vampire world. But Molly had met him, Molly had dealt with him.

Molly was almost killed by him.

“The wolf from last night-” he asked it like a question, one he already knew the answer to.

“Not him, but one of his,” Molly replied. “Apparently Jester got it out of him when she ‘rode him like a cowboy at a rodeo’” Molly laughed at that, but it was panicked and scared. Molly always chose laughter over crying, even when he knew he shouldn’t. Jester was a good egg, Caleb thought. He remembers what she did the night the other’s had met Molly, where she had tugged another werewolf into a headlock before her and Nott sent it on its way. He wonders if she’s not 100% human after all.

Caleb moved his hand from Molly’s face to his chest and softly touched the area around his heart. Even through the thin shirt, he could feel the scarred skin. The stake had gone deep, but not deep enough to kill Molly- only paralyse. He was so thankful for Lorenzo’s own narcissism, so full of himself he didn’t notice he didn’t actually kill Molly as he left the vampire in a back alley.

Frumpkin moved off Caleb’s back, jumping off the bed and up behind the curtain so he could sit in the sun. Without the cat, Caleb had more movement and brought them both onto their sides, curling his arms around Molly as he curled his arms around Caleb.

“Do you think he’s the one doing the murders?” Caleb asked. But why? It could be revenge, but many of the people who had ruined his work were still alive, and many of the dead had no involvement in it. He was too intelligent for this to just be mindless murder.

Molly scrunched his face up in thought, and despite the gravity of what they were talking about Caleb couldn’t help but think how cute it was. His wrinkled nose made him look like a bunny, and as he stared over his shoulder it showed off his long neck, smooth, even where the peacock lay. It was intricately done, the tattoo; beautiful with no mistakes. He reached over to stroke along one of the feathers, imagining it feeling like a real one.

“What?” Molly asked as he finally caught Caleb’s eyes again. He relaxed his face and Caleb found it just as cute as before. In fact, any face Molly makes is beautiful. Except for that one where he tucked his chin into his neck and made that weird shape with his mouth. That was rather ugly, even if it was funny.

“Nothing,” Caleb replied, and his hand began to follow the peacock up to his cheek. He stroked his thumb along his cheekbone, caressing it lightly. Molly leaned forward into the hand and the forward more, closing his eyes, and the distance between them.

One kiss, two, then three, before Molly shifted to pressing a kiss to his cheek, then his eyelid, and then his nose. Caleb used his hand to tug Molly down for a proper kiss, and he could feel Molly’s lips curl into a smile.

The vampire pulled back barely an inch, and whispered into his lips; “What were we talking about again?” he was trying to be sly, or sexy, or both, but it just reminded Caleb of what they were talking about.

“Lorenzo.”

Molly sighed- by the pained look on his face in that soft moment he had forgotten as well. He pulled back, laying flat on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.

“Jesus fuck that’s a way to ruin the moment.” he reached up and rubbed at his eyes.

“What did you think would happen?” Caleb asked with a raised eyebrow, “a morning quickie?” Molly shot him a glare over his hand to say that that was exactly what he had been expecting, and Caleb couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. He shuffled his way into Molly’s side, the vampire’s arm wrapping around him and pulling him as close as he can get. Caleb rested his head on his chest, hand once again reaching up to caress the scar.

“If Lorenzo is indeed in this city,” Caleb whispered into his chest, “then we will find him. There has to be information in the club. About his old friends; the ones he sold people too. We will find him. We will find those hiding him. And we will kill them.” he felt Molly take in a deep breath below him.

“Caleb-”

“No, I won’t hear otherwise. Men like him deserve to die,” Caleb promised.  

From this angle, Molly had the perfect view of the deep bite mark on Caleb’s neck, the one he didn’t make. The one with no story.

“Yeah, they do.”

Chapter Text

“Okay,” Caleb said, “This should be easy. The files are in alphabetical order-”

“Eh,” Molly interrupted him, shaking his hands, “maybe not.”

Caleb turned towards him, a stern look on his face. “Do you know how long it took me to alphabetise all those files?”

“You’ve been gone five years!” Molly said, waving his hands about in mock anguish, “that’s a long time for me to fuck things up!”

They were scattered around Molly’s office in the Club. It was strange to be here during the day. Such a place feels wrong when it's so quiet; no bass pulsing through the floor. Just the click click click of Molly’s heels against the laminated floor in the corridors, the occasional giggle from Jester as Beau leaned into her side and told a bad joke. They were all here, even Nott and Yasha. Caleb was too afraid to leave Nott home alone, so she was tucked away in one corner with a comic book and made bad commentary on what they were all doing. The thick bandage that covered her right arm seemed to glare at Fjord every time it caught his eye. Yasha herself was downstairs in security, playing lookout.

They were here looking for Lorenzo’s file, hoping to find any information they could about where he could be hiding and why he was doing this. That was always important in cop shows, Fjord thought, the ‘motive’. There were hundreds of files, all on different beings that lived in the city. Fjord was sure he had a file in here.

“Found it!” Jester shouted, and they all turned to her, only to see her stand up with one of her earrings in her hand. “Sorry,” she said, curling in on herself as she looked sheepish.

Everyone seemed to have their own method of looking. Caleb was taking the longest, as with each file he pulled out he was trying to put them back in some sort of order. Molly, in contrast, was making a bigger mess. Instead of putting any of the files he found back, he was just chucking them on the floor next to him, free papers flying loose from folders that would probably never find their rightful homes again. If Fjord was feeling philosophical , he might have thought about how the way they contrasted made them so good for each other. However, he wasn’t feeling philosophical. He was feeling fucking bored.

The files had been interesting at first when he was reading more than a name. He had read files about faeries and witches and shapeshifters and creatures he couldn’t name. However, it was taking to long, and now he was doing a method similar to Molly’s, but at least he was keeping his in a nice pile instead of...whatever Molly’s was.

They all seemed to be doing better than Beau though, who had started fine but as time wore on with little results she grew more and more frustrated. He doesn’t even think she’s reading the files anymore, just yanking them out in bulk and throwing them behind her. He’d had to dodge a few of the more harder throws. If anyone could make a file deadly, it was Beau. Jester herself had started to just search through the wreckage of Beau, giggling over photo’s she would find and double checking that Beau hadn’t missed anything important. It was probably not the best way for her to spend her time; if Beau would just do her job properly then Jester could help somewhere else. No one was going to say that to Beau’s face though, especially not as she kicked a dent into the filing cabinet.

Another hour or so passed with little results. The filing cabinets grew emptier while the piles beside them grew larger. Jester had switched her approach and was now just lying on the ground, legs kicked up behind her as if she was in a teen movie reading vogue, but instead, she was reading about different beings and how many people they had murdered. Occasionally, she would find something interesting and tell the group. A werewolf that had adopted 36- 36!- other people into her pack. A vampire that had used his skills to identify blood poisoning in patients. And more noticeably-

“I didn’t know you were in a circus, Molly!” she exclaimed from her space on the floor, gesturing to the file in her hand. Molly turned to her, a smile on his face at the joy of having a distraction for a second. He nodded vigorously.

“Yeah! That’s how Yasha and I met,” he explained.

“Wait-” Fjord said, “Yasha was part of a circus.” That didn’t make much sense, as much as he liked the woman, she didn’t seem like the best person in front of crowds. In fact, from what he’d seen, she would shy away from them. “You, I can see, but Yash?” he shook his head. Molly just shrugged.

“She was the bouncer.” Now that he could see.

“Why did you quit?” Jester asked. “Was it not fun? I would have loved to be apart of a circus. All the colourful lights, and the funny people.” Molly opened his mouth to reply, but Beau got there first.

“Owner got done for Tax Fraud,” she said, not turning to look at any of them, and instead throwing the file in her hand over her shoulder, narrowly missing Jester. Molly stared at her, confused.

“How the hell do you know that?” he asked.

“Yasha told me.” Molly raised his eyebrow at that, a smirk growing on his face, but he left it be and turned back to the filing cabinet before him, and the room settled back into the frustrated boredom of before.

It took another hour. Another long hour of thrown papers, stupid comments, and general frustration before Molly called “Found it!” at the same time as Beau shouted, “Fucking finally!”

Fjord dropped the file in his hands, immediately turning away from his filing cabinet, thankful to be free of that hell. He looked at Beau, “What you get?”

“Astrid’s file,” she said, thumbing through it. It was thin, unfortunately, and the relief that showed on Beau’s face was short lived. “All this says is she isn’t allowed in the city- it doesn’t even tell us who she fucking murdered to get kicked out!” Fjord turned to Molly, who from the way his shoulder’s bunched up as he read through the single page that was Lorenzo’s, was seemingly getting the same result. Molly looked towards Caleb, who pressed his head against the filing cabinet, dropping the file in his own hand to the ground.

“At this moment, we are gathering information we already know,” Beau said angrily. She clenched her fists and brought her shoulders closer to her ears, bristling like a cat. “All this information tells us that Astrid isn’t allowed in the city. That Lorenzo isn’t allowed in the city. And yet both are in the city . Both are wandering around attacking us-” she raised her hands and motioned to Nott and Fjord. “And we have no fucking clue why and even if it links to the murders!” she moves towards the centre of the room, waving her arms wildly. “This could not possibly get worse!”

As she said that, the door behind her swung open, slamming hard against the wall. Yasha stood there breathing heavily. She ignored everyone else and made direct eye contact with Molly.

“Artaud is here.”

In less than a second, Caleb had grabbed Nott by her good arm and started to drag her towards the side room. He ignored her shouts, as well as Jester’s when he grabbed her as well. He pushed the two of them into the room before he looked over to Molly. Molly stood almost shellshocked behind his desk, still holding the file on Lorenzo in his hand. The paper began to crease as he balled his hand into a fist and it shook. Instead, Caleb turned to Yasha, who was now striding into the room, tugging on Beau and, when the woman refused to move, picked her up and threw her over her shoulder, giving Beau a great view of her ass.

Fjord picked up the sounds of footsteps- multiple sets, making their way up the stairs. Molly obviously heard this as well, and it shook him out of whatever fear was driven into him by the name. The name had never been mentioned in front of Fjord but whoever they were, they were obviously dangerous. Yasha carried Beau across the room and Fjord noticed the tension along his best friends back that was her inner conflict over needing to help and the big hot woman carrying her.

Yasha paused at the doorway, turning towards Caleb. “If you stand in front of the door-”

“Their senses are too strong for one person to be able to stop them sensing the lot of you through the door. But I will still stand here, and stop them. Whatever reason they are here for.” He gave a weak smile. “Who knows, it could be good.” Yasha’s face suggested it probably wouldn’t be. She nodded at Caleb, before making her way through the door.

This left Fjord in a state of utter confusion in a silent room.

The sound of footsteps down the hall was like a timer ticking down. He wanted to ask- who was this Artaud, why they were so terrifying, but he himself was afraid to even open his mouth. Caleb was across the room from him protecting the door and was not turning away from the main door, a look of pure concentration on his face. And Molly- he had schooled the fear, pushed it down and instead he grasped the edge of his desk and faced the doorway.

One breath. Two.

Fingers appeared, grasping to the frame. Long and thin with nails so long they could be counted as claws. The nails themselves were painted a deep red. The hand pulled a figure into view- only a shadow where the light stops short. Tall, taller than Fjord but not unnaturally so. Wide shoulders and an hourglass figure. The being reached its hand out to grasp the other side of the doorframe and made their entrance into the light.

Fjord had never seen anyone walk the line between pure class and feral so perfectly before and he believed it was all to do with Artaud’s face. The skin was pale- and though the height was natural this colouration was not. In fact, most vampires Fjord had met would have been able to pass as human. This one would not. And they seemed to like it that way.

A line of well-kept stubble that defined the jawline. Undisturbed black lipstick that seated long permanently out fangs that reached down to the chin. The cheekbones were sharp, and an obvious line of blush was painted on them that contrasted their pale skin in a beautiful way. The eyes themselves were… wrong. Thick black winged eyeliner made it so they looked like they were set slightly further back into the skull. The iris was a deep red that matched their nails, and what should have been the whites of their eyes were pink. The pupil was not round, but long and thin, like a cat’s. Their hair was a natural red that tumbled down one side past their shoulder but shaved on the other, revealing a heavily pierced ear. All piercings seemed gold or silver with gems glistening in the light. They wore a rather modern suit that helped accentuate their hourglass figure, black as night apart from golden buttons that stood out. To complete the look, they wore a green and gold silk scarf, wrapped twice around their neck.

Artaud stayed in their position in the doorway, blocking any exit or entrance as they surveyed the room. Their gaze settled on Caleb, first. When they realised who it was their head tilted in surprise, but the shift was so quick it was almost like a jolt- one second the head was straight, and then almost horizontal. Caleb met their eyes and lifted his chin in defiance. Artaud only grinned. They looked Caleb up and down once more before they moved their gaze to Molly. This time, when Artaud met his eyes, Molly looked immediately down. Again, the smile stayed.

When they made eye contact with Fjord, he felt a jolt through his body. Those eyes seemed to both try and pull him in but also push him away. A feeling of need to be near them and also a feeling to run as far as he could. He felt a shiver spread through him that grew into a shake as his breath started to come faster and faster until it felt like he wasn’t breathing at all. He felt like he had no control over his body as an almost paralysis took over his body as he stood in the gaze of this being. In those eyes, he could see centuries of life, of death. Of Destruction.

And then they turned away.

Behind the vampire, someone cleared their throat, another figure hidden by shadow, but Artaud only hissed at them. There was a scoff, and murmuring between two other voices.

“So,” Artaud said, and their voice did not fit their body. It was… soft, almost. “I did not expect to see you here Caleb.” They still blocked the door.

“I am helping Molly research the dead bodies that are being pulled out the Thames,” Caleb said firmly. Fjord had to respect the man, even he felt like cowering under the weight of Artaud’s gaze, and yet Caleb seemed to refuse to be bent. He saw a sliver of movement from him, saw Caleb’s hand shake as he raised it to hold onto the door handle. To stop Artaud getting in, Fjord thought, or to stop the girls getting out.

“And those behind the door?” Artaud said. It sounded accusatory, but the face never shifted from amusement.

Molly spoke up then, “They’re just friends helping out.”

Artaud pouted- actually pouted- at Molly, and looked like they were going to say something before the being behind them cleared their throat, again. They sighed, obviously frustrated with them. They growled out a play nice before stepping into the room and out of the way. Two figures stepped into the room.

The first was one Fjord did not recognise, but from the way Caleb held tighter to the door, Fjord knew that he did. It was a man, with darker skin and long dark brown hair that hung to his shoulders. He smiled as he entered the room, and it was far more comforting than Artaud’s smile. He looked much more human than his boss, his fangs were tucked away, and his body language was relaxed and calming. He also wore a sleek black suit, with a red ascot to tie it all up.

The other one was Astrid.

She looked as terrifying as every other time Fjord had seen her, her long black hair tied up in the same bun and her chin held high to reveal a lattice of gold and gems. She wore a dress that was straight from the Victorian era, long and black that hid everything about her form. She probably liked it that way- a memory of Caleb telling him that she was a Sthenos, the eldest in fact- super strong and could probably break them all in half. When she walked in, she looked Fjord up and down and offered a wink. She then glanced at Caleb, both of them did actually. The look the man had was sad as he looked over Caleb, offering a soft smile that was shot away by a glare on the other man’s part. Astrid did not look sad, she just looked hungry. And Artaud ignored this all, focusing on Molly.

They stepped towards Molly’s desk and in a blink they were in front of it, putting both hands on it and their fingers splayed as they leant forward into his space. Molly jolted backwards in surprise, cursing as he held onto the chair for support.

“Don’t worry about these two,” they said with a gesture behind them, “they are helping me investigate. Edowulf here-” and they point to the man, who was gently closing the door behind them and looked up suddenly at his name, “has been… charming the local populace. Working with the police force to keep hidden the number of bodies we are pulling out. Astrid here-”

“Has been exiled and should not be in the city-” Caleb cut them off. Artaud scoffed and shot a dirty look towards the human. It was weird- this being had to be centuries older than everyone else in the room, and yet they acted so childishly. As Jester would when she didn’t get her way.

“And here I was hoping you’d missed me,” Astrid said. She spoke with a thick French accent, but a twinge in certain vowels and consonants suggested it had been a long time since she’d been home. Her voice was silky, almost as if it dripped from her mouth. Her lips curled around her words into a smile. She took a step forward, towards Caleb, and everyone else but Artaud moved as she did, almost trying to block her motions. It was Edowulf that stopped her.

“We realised the best way to investigate these murders,” Edowulf said, “was to go undercover.” his accent was similar to Caleb’s, and as he talked a wave of calmness seemed to settle over the room as if his words were coated in honey. “Now, with everything going on, every vampire is being accounted for, so we needed someone who people wouldn't think was in the city to do the job.”

There was something about the way Edowulf spoke that made Fjord sure he was right. There was no way he was wrong, and how he smiled at each of them, softly with a kindness behind his eyes, made him sure of it.

Caleb, however, wasn’t.

“I do not care why, especially since she’s at the top of our suspect list.” The woman in question hit her hand to her chest and gasped dramatically, an I’m hurt dropping from her lips. Artaud leant further on the table, one leg kicking up, and said rather obviously “Keep her there.” This got a more serious reaction from Astrid, a dark look shot their way, but with a simple raise of Artaud’s eyebrow, she retracted into herself.

“Who are the other’s on the list?” Artaud asked.

“We have two others,” Molly said, passing the piece of paper towards Artaud, “a human boxer called Dairon who knows of our existence and is apparently quite disgusted by it and-” he was cut off by Artaud, who had finally read the paper in their hand

“Lorenzo is exiled from this city.” The childishness was gone. They stood straight, stoic even, and it radiated so much seriousness that Fjord felt his own back straighten. He watched Molly do the same, standing away from the chair now. Caleb just laughed from the doorway.

“Well so is she,” he said, offhandedly gesturing to Astrid. “And yet one of his wolves attacked my- attacked Nott yesterday. If not for Fjord here and his friend Jester, she might have been killed.” There was no talk about how the werewolf had been after him, that if he hadn’t been there then the wolf wouldn’t have been either. But Caleb wasn’t focusing on that right now.

When Fjord started to get to know Caleb, a mere few weeks ago, he pinned him down as a paranoid man who avoided conflict. As time went on, his opinion on him changed- especially after he watched him kill a vampire outside the club when it attacked them. Caleb was a reserved man, but he was terrifying when let out of his shell. Sometimes those haunted eyes would be washed over by anger. That is what Fjord saw now.

“She should not be in the city-” Caleb said, and when Edowulf went to cut him off, Caleb raised his hand to stop him. There was shock in the vampires' eyes as he did that, both Astrid and Edowulf reeling from it. Not Artaud. No. They looked proud. “I do not care what use she is to you, she is exiled , and the moment the werewolves find out about it, there will be an uproar much worse than the situation right now.”

Fjord watched as Molly shifted closer to him from behind the desk, stepping away from whatever confrontation was going on. It made Fjord feel a little better, that he was as much out of the loop as he was. If Fjord wasn’t so terrified for his life, he might ask if there was any popcorn around.

“Are you disrespecting one of my own decisions Caleb?” Artaud asked. It was clear that the vampire knew the answer, but as they cocked their head towards Caleb, the real question was obvious. Are you prepared for the consequences? “When I was last here, a mere 5 years ago, I helped you. You were scared then, for your little Nott. I remember you talking about her. You trusted me then. 5 years before that, when your life went up in smoke, when your mother-”

“Don’t,” Caleb said before he could stop himself. For the first time that evening, Caleb dropped his head. It was clear that by cutting them off, Caleb had fucked up, severely. And as Fjord turned to Artaud to find out what that meant, he didn’t see what he wanted. He didn’t see shock, he didn’t see annoyance.

What he saw was amusement. And that scared him more than anything else could.

Astrid appeared at Caleb’s side then, placing her hands on his shoulder and leaning her chin on them. Molly made to move towards them but Artaud just raised their hand to stop him. Fjord could hear Caleb’s breath come quicker, but he didn’t raise his head and acknowledge her presence.

“You really fucked up now, didn’t you Caleb,” She stage-whispered, “oh you always thought you were better than us, better than everyone here. You tried to make us better , that's what you would say. When you would come in with your notes on how we could run a blood bank out of this place, stop using live sources. Wulf should have known better than to let you in, keep you safe. You weren’t better than us, you’re not even on par with us.” She lifted one hand from his shoulder and placed the thumb under his chin, pushing it up. From the tensions in his muscles, it seemed that Caleb was trying to protest, but she was so much stronger than him. “You belong under our thumb.”

It took Fjord too long to realise what was about to happen. It took Molly closing his eyes and looking away. It took Edowulf stepping forward, saying Boss. It took Artaud raising their hand and stopping him.

It took Astrid sinking her fangs into Caleb’s neck.

And then he was there.

One moment he was across the room, hidden behind Molly, and the next he had ahold of her shoulder and was pulling her off. A part of him that sounds very much like Jester and her knowledge of wounds, tells him he’s probably making it worse but he doesn’t care. He has her pinned against the wall in a second.

It takes him too long to realise that he had done it in a second.

The room was frozen around him, even Astrid was looking up at him in shock. He didn’t know how the others looked, too afraid to turn from her less she bite him too, but there were no words behind him. It was so quiet, he could hear the piece of paper hit the ground where it had fallen from Artaud’s hand. He glanced sideways to where Caleb was still leant against the door, grasping at his neck as blood began to pool between his fingers. He made eye contact with him briefly, saw realisation dawn on Caleb’s face, before both their eyes shifted back to Astrid.

She grinned at Caleb, making a show of showing off her fangs as she ran her tongue through the blood. Her grinned dropped as she tasted the blood again. Then her face twisted in disgust.

“You bonded ?!” She screamed, and then shoved Fjord off her. It couldn’t have been her full strength, as he only ended up halfway across the room instead of through the wall and in a dumpster. Why did he keep ending up in dumpsters anyway? He almost fell over as he was shoved, but a hand caught his arm and kept him from falling. A clawed hand.

He looked up to see Artaud looking down on him, almost as confused as Fjord was. He seemed to look him up and down twice before he schooled it and looked back to Astrid and Caleb. It hit Fjord then, like a tonne of bricks, what all this meant.

Artaud was the only Podarge in the world. And yet Fjord had just moved across a room in less than a second. The being with the tight grip on his shoulder was the being that had turned him into this.

A sudden image of that night flashed in his head, being pinned up against that wall as the fangs dug into the meat of his shoulder. But the being behind him was no longer a faceless shadow in the night. It was Artaud, with their long hair that Fjord remembers sticking to his shoulder from the sweat. Their long nails that dug into his hips and arms to keep him still.

He felt lightheaded, and if those nails still digging in, he would have collapsed to the floor.

“You bonded !” Astrid screamed again, shaking Fjord from his thoughts. He looked over at them again, noticing Molly had moved up to Caleb’s side. He looked pained, staring at his boyfriend as he raised his hand and held it over Caleb’s on his neck. Caleb shifted his other hand into Molly’s, squeezing in comfort.

“And?” Molly asked. There was conflict in the way he moved, like he wanted to pull Caleb away from the door and in turn Astrid, but knew by doing so he would leave the girls at risk. So he stayed, keeping as close to Caleb as possible. Astrid went to open her mouth, but she turned to Artaud instead.

“You knew ,” unlike Caleb, she curbed her anger slightly, and though Fjord could see the boiling rage beneath her skin, she was careful at how she addressed Artaud. The being just smiled and shrugged.

“As Molly said, ‘and?’ what has another vampires relationship got to do with you?” The smirk that grew on Artaud’s face was wide and rivalled the Cheshire cat. They had regained whatever footing they lost during Fjord’s stunt, even if they did all of this while keeping Fjord up and steady.

“Bonded?” he heard scoffed, and suddenly Fjord remembered that Edowulf was in the room. What did they even mean by bonded? That sounds like some sort of vampire erotica talk. Then again, it could be argued his entire life right now was vampire erotica. He wonders when the sex would start. Looking at Artaud’s hand still on him, he really hopes not now.

Caleb pressed Molly’s hand down harder onto his neck as he moved his own, pulling down his collar to reveal dozens of bite marks. He looked proud to wear those marks, especially when the vamp turned away. Some history there then, Fjord thought to himself.

“This is what will happen,” Artaud said, finally dragging all attention away from the trio at the door. “Wulf will go back to his duties with the police, while Astrid and I will investigate Lorenzo- do not tell anyone I’m in London. It will ruin a lot of things. You and your friends-” they gestured to the door behind them “-will investigate this other woman and Astrid if you see the need.” The woman in question scowls at this but they wave her off. “Oh, and another thing- the actual main reason we came tonight. Boy did we get off track. There is a meeting next Sunday, on the millennium bridge, between us and the wolves. I, since I’m not ‘in London’, cannot attend. A few other vampires from across the city will be, and so will some very high up wolves, as well as Bryce and a few others from the neutral group to keep everything pleasant. Molly, you have to attend, and you can bring Caleb and this one,” they pointed at Fjord, “but don’t bring your other friends. Don’t.” their voice became strong and firm for that one word as they pointed at Caleb, “let them find out about your Nott. That is something we do not need right now.”

They let go of Fjord, and for a second he thought he would be fine, but as soon as that thought settled in his brain, he dropped like a sack of potatoes, crashing to the floor. Artaud bent down beside him, picking up Lorenzo’s file before turning to him, concerned. The look did not stay though, and they stood, stepping over Fjord’s form and heading towards the door. They called for Astrid and Wulf to follow, and they were gone.

With the three of them alone, Molly finally pulled Caleb away from the front of the door, starting to pull him towards the desk when it swung open. Beau stood there, fists ready, when she saw Fjord collapsed on the ground, and Molly and Caleb holding onto Caleb’s bleeding neck.

“What the fuck did we miss?”

Chapter Text

The kitchen table was covered in Chinese takeaway; a comfort food Jester had insisted they get after today’s escapades. Though it wasn’t that much of a comfort, Fjord thought, as he watched Jester curl up and hold onto her stomach after eating an entire bag of prawn crackers.

There was no talk about what happened today, nothing more than passing murmurs as they drove back to Caleb’s. Not that Fjord had been paying attention.

Fjord was too caught up in his own mind to notice anything. He hadn’t noticed Nott try and kill Molly after she realised what had happened to Caleb. He hadn’t noticed Beau yanking him out the room and out of the building. He hadn’t noticed Yasha carrying Nott over her shoulder, or Molly refusing to leave Caleb’s side. He hadn’t even noticed they had gotten home until Beau was shoving him in a chair and placing a cup of the red stuff in front of him.

It’s not his fault. There was just something, just a teeny, tiny thing, on his mind.

Artaud had turned him.

There was no other explanation; Caleb himself had said that Artaud was the only Podarge in the world, had made sure it stayed that way. Yet here Fjord was, (un)living proof that Artaud wasn’t the only one. And it made Fjord scared.

Obviously, Artaud must have known of his existence. There is no way you just bite and turn someone and then forget about it the next night, going on your merry way. So why abandon him? Was he a mistake? Fjord doesn’t know much, but it feels like Artaud wasn’t the type of person to make mistakes. They seemed like they thought through every possibility and every outcome until they get the one they want. Which means that there is a huge possibility that Fjord was turned on purpose, and honestly, that scares him more than the idea that Artaud is going to sneak up on him one day and kill him.

The world around him came in slowly, bit by bit as he began to focus on more than his mug. Caleb was across from him, in a similar position. He had his hands in a death grip about the mug before him which, from the smell of it, was calming tea. Molly was stood right behind Caleb, needle in hand as he sewed up the bite mark. It was nasty, and Fjord can’t help remember the way he probably made it worse. Jester had recovered from her prawn cracker pain and was now stood behind Molly, holding onto a neat pile of bandages while directing the vamp in his actions. From the occasional bickering, he assumed it wasn’t helpful. Yasha was sat next to Caleb and seemed the most unfazed by this all. Even Jester, who was babbling on about nonsense, seemed stressed out and in need of a distraction. But Yasha had a book out, hunched over it and trying to reduce her massive form into something less threatening (Impossible, he thought, even if the book was on flowers). Nott was still eating, but with every bite she glared at Molly, chewing more aggressively every time he glanced her way. It had been like that ever since the door had opened when she noticed Caleb clinging to his bleeding neck. Whether she believed that it was Molly that did it or another vamp, Fjord didn’t know. Beau, however, was who he was most worried about.

Beau had taken up the end chair and was sat up straight. No feet on the table, no feet on the chair. She wasn’t even leaning forward onto her hands. She was sat, back straight, staring out at the table and those sat around it. She was waiting, it was clear, but for what, Fjord didn’t know.

Molly and Jester’s bickering quietened when they were finally finished sewing Caleb up, a thick bandage wrapped around his neck, which would probably be hard to hide. As Molly settled into the seat next to Caleb and Jester next to him, reaching towards the other bag of prawn crackers, Beau finally spoke up.

“So,” she said, crossing her arms but still sitting unnervingly straight, “are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”

“Which one?” Jester asked with her mouth full, “there’s about 6.”

“The one,” Beau said, dramatically pulling out a piece of paper from her jacket and slamming it on the table so hard Fjord jumped and Yasha looked away from her book. Fjord glanced at the paper- Astrid’s file. “About Caleb knowing Astrid, and being the one who exiled her in the first place.”

Silence.

“Oh I didn’t know about that one,” Jester said, “that means there are 7 elephants.”

Caleb took a long swig of his tea, and Fjord could tell the man was almost praying for it to be something stronger, before turning towards Beau. “I don’t think you quite understand the meaning of that phrase,” he said, avoiding the question.

“Is that really what you’re going to point out? You’re just going to ignore everything else I said?” she curled up her lip, and pointed at him, “You were the one that said no more secrets. That we deserve to know the truth, and yet I’m in the dark right now! I don’t know what went on in that room, because everyone has been too worried about the fact that you were bitten! By Astrid! And not only did that happen, but Fjord has been out of it since we came out and he’s only just come back, so obviously something happened in there!” As she shouted, she stood and leant forward onto the table, her hands balled up, and there was a slight shake to them. Fjord realised then, that Beau was not angry; though she shouted and spat and shook, this was not that. This was fear.

Beau didn’t like being afraid; she hated showing any weakness. She covered fear with blind stubbornness and a refusal to die. She shoved the fear deep down beneath copious layers of anger and bluntness. There were moments, in the dead of night, with no one but Jester and Fjord by her side, that she removed some of those layers, but he’d never seen her bare of them. Yet here she was, shaking like a leaf, and there was a softness behind her eyes that made Fjord’s heart ache. So he reached out, placed a hand over her balled fist, and when she turned to look at him, he gave her a soft, encouraging smile, and squeezed her hand. She faced Caleb again.

Caleb turned back to his mug, and as he curled around it Fjord was reminded of the man they met in the library. Who would not meet their eyes, who stuttered through conversation and felt glad when they left. It felt weird, to be reminded of that man when Caleb was obviously so much more than that. Fjord had seen him kill a vampire, insult the most powerful vampire in all of existence, and stand his ground even while being bitten. But beneath all of that, he was just like Beau. He was scared.

“But you know, don’t you,” he said softly, “you’re a smart woman. You already know so much, and though the file is sparse it gives you enough to tie the details together.” Molly placed his hand on Caleb’s shoulder and the man leaned into it heavily, taking the emotional support. Fjord glanced over at Molly and saw his face held as much confusion as the rest of the table. He doesn’t know either. And wasn’t that a thought, that Molly was as out of the loop as the rest of them here. “It says what she did was an accident, that she didn’t mean to take that much blood from the addict. But that was just to get out of being killed for it, and getting away with exile. But she killed her out of revenge.”

Jester reached out now, holding onto Caleb’s arm and then blindly grasping behind her to grab at Beau, who helpfully placed her hand in Jester’s. “Who did she kill?” Jester asked, but it was not Caleb that answered, but Beau.

“Your Mother,” She said, softly, and Fjord watched as Caleb’s face broke.

The man curled inwards but did not get far before Molly was pulling him into a hug. It obviously hurt Caleb to acknowledge it - and Fjord realised then, that if Molly hadn’t known, and Nott didn’t either, then Caleb wouldn’t have had anyone to talk to about this. He would have mourned on his own, and not only that but still worked at a place with people like the person who murdered his mother. No wonder he wanted to get out.

Nott appeared then, having snuck under the table, and wrapped her arms around Caleb’s other side. She avoided Molly, still glaring at him when they caught each other's eyes, but for now, she only wanted to hold onto Caleb.

“Why?” Beau asked.

Caleb shook his head, “It’s a long story,” he said.

Beau sat back down in her chair, letting go of their hands so she could lean back and put her feet on the table. “We have all evening, I don’t mind.”

Molly looked at her from over Caleb’s head, “I thought you wanted to know what happened today? When did this become ‘lets drag all of Caleb’s secrets out into the light’?”

Fjord leant towards Beau and counted off the events on his fingers, “Artaud came in with Astrid and this guy called Edowulf, we tell Artaud about our suspects, they tell us to keep investigating Astrid and your friend Dairon and they’ll take Lorenzo. Caleb accidentally insults Artaud, Astrid takes a bite out of him, I got in the way and she threw me across the room.” He conveniently left out the bit where he got in the way by speeding across the room, and from the look Molly sent him, it was clear it didn’t go unnoticed. But that’s okay, he wanted to talk to Molly about it before he mentioned it to everyone else. “Artaud mentioned a meeting between the vamps and the wolves, and then dragged the other two out the room. Also, there was something about ‘bonding’? Which sounds like something from vampire erotica.” The snort that left Caleb was what he was looking for, the middle finger from Molly was not.

“Wait, another thing we don’t know about? Does that mean there's another elephant?” Jester asked.

“Yeah, I’m going back to what Caleb said earlier,” Fjord said, “You don’t know what that phrase really means, do you.”

“Maybe we could use other animals?” Yasha suggested, finally speaking for the first time that night.

“Then we could have a zoo!” Jester said excitedly, clapping her hands together. “Oh-oh-oh! I want a weasel!”

“A weasel ?” Molly asked. “Why those?”

“Because they’re cool, Molly!”

“Is it too soon to mention wolves?” Beau said, and from the hiss sent from Nott, Fjord decided it was.

“We have gotten very off track,” Caleb said, but from the smile on his face, it seemed he appreciated it. He moved into such a way where he was still tucked into Molly’s side, with his arm still grasped in Jester’s hand and Nott still clung like a limpet to his left, but his body language was slightly more open (it was never fully open with him, he just wasn’t one to be like that). He took a deep breath in, but it was shaky, and Fjord watched as all three of those clinging to him held tighter for a second, offering support.

“The other man, Edowulf- um,” he stuttered out, “he- well. I’m- where to start?” His hand began to shake as he raised it to his face. “My mother- as you most eloquently put the other week, was a blood bag. An addict. She- she loved me. A lot. But there is only so much you can do when you’re like that. When we first moved to London, she made a little deal with the vampires here- with- with Edowulf. He was the manager of The Bank at the time. She offered-” he waved his hand to make it clear what she offered without having to speak it, “- and while she was there, I would… be hidden away upstairs.”

“Wait,” Beau said, “she took you there? How old were you?”

Caleb looked down at his mug, almost ashamed as he nodded. “I was about… 8? A little after we moved here from Berlin.” Fjord looked around the room and saw everyone wearing a similar pained face. Except for Nott, she looked like she wanted to stab someone, so not too dissimilar to how she usually looked. “I didn’t meet any vampires until I was 20 though- while I was younger I used to hide away in the human’s staff room. They used to teach me all sorts of tricks- its how I learnt how to fight. As I got older though, I got my own office- I used to do their accounts.

“Edowulf visited for the first time on my 20th birthday. Apparently, the news had reached him from some of the other staff, who had brought me a cake and a card. He just came in, and gave me a card- I didn’t even know he knew I existed. He began to visit more; always alone, and always when he knew I was alone as well. He was… I was a very lonely man, the only company I knew being my mother, and here was one of the most charming people in the world, coming into my office. I began to look forward to when he would visit. He was my only friend… and he knew that.” Caleb rubbed at his neck, seemingly absent-mindedly, but from the way Molly sucked in a breath, Fjord thought there might be more to it. “One day he took advantage of that, and he- he-” the words kept getting caught in Caleb’s throat. For a second, he closed his eyes. “He tried to turn me.”

Silence cannot echo, and yet it seemed to after those words. It filled the room and vibrated through his body. Caleb leant sideways into Molly, using him as not only emotional support but now physical support too. He took another deep breath, and with the main point out the way, the words seemed to come easier. “I was lucky, Artaud caught him, stopped it before it went too far. They relocated Wulf not too long after that- sent him to someplace in Eastern Europe. I owe them my life- and as today showed, they sometimes like to remind me of that. I didn’t know at the time, but Astrid and Wulf were close. She didn’t like the fact that Artaud picked some human over Wulf, and she took that revenge out on my mother.”

“Caleb,” Jester said softly, and Caleb tore his eyes away from his mug to look at her. As he looked up, Fjord noticed tears in the corner of his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Caleb shook his head. “It’s been years,” he said, “I was- what? 22? 23?”

“Yeah but trauma like that doesn’t just go away overnight though, does it,” Beau said in a moment of wisdom. “And I bet you never saw a therapist about it.” She ignored Fjord’s side comment about how she’s never been to a therapist either.

Caleb smiled at her, a small one that was more about comforting someone and not about being actually happy. “It’s okay. Just- the two of them being there today, it brought some things back.”

“Oh, and you know, Astrid biting you,” Nott said bitterly, “that also happened.”

Caleb’s smiled widened then, and he reached up to ruffle Nott’s hair. “You don’t need to worry about me, Liebling.” His hand shifted, and he took her cheek between his finger and thumb and squeezed, causing Nott to recoil away.

“Yeah, Caleb’s been bitten a lot ,” Jester said, nudging Molly in the side, who nudge her right back, and in two second flat the two were catfighting, neither really looking where their arms were flailing. With Caleb’s story complete, and the air clear of most of the tension, Fjord finally decided to breach a topic he’d wanted to talk about since he got here.

But first,

“Molly?” he asked, and it took a second for the vamp to turn away from his kerfuffle with Jester, and in doing so, got slapped in the side of the face. Fjord ignored the glare sent towards him and continued on, “Can I talk to you about some… vampire stuff? Just something I wanted to ask about that… came to light today.” Molly tilted his head to the side for a moment before his eyes widened in realisation and he began to nod.

“Sure!” he clapped his hands together and stood, squeezing Caleb’s shoulder as he made his way to the door. “Come on, we’ll go to the front room.”

Beau and Jester both looked at him as he stood as well, and he just shrugged, trying to get them off his back. Beau seemed to take it, instead turning towards Yasha, who had also stood and was making her way to the sink. It gave Beau a perfect view of her ass, not that she’d ever mention it. Jester, however, did not look so convinced. Fjord just smiled and followed Molly out the door.

Time to get some answers, he thought.

Chapter Text

Fjord followed Molly out of the kitchen and across the hall into the front room. Molly held the door open for him, and Fjord thanked him as he sat down on the sofa, the other vamp shutting the door and making his way to the single chair in the room. The sat in silence for a few minutes; each one of them occasionally opening their mouths to speak but no words came out. Eventually, Molly held his head in his hands.

“What the fuck?” he said, airing the single question that had been running through Fjord’s head for the last few hours. Fjord couldn’t help but let out a panicked laugh. “You’re,” he started, gesturing to Fjord, “oh fuck.”

“Not really filling me with confidence Mols,” Fjord said, digging his fingernails into his palm, “Caleb said there is only one podarge in the world and-”

“It’s Artaud.”

“Yeah.”

Molly took in a deep breath and dragged his hands down his face before he stood and came over to sit next to Fjord. “What do you remember about the night you were turned?” Molly asked.

Fireworks, filling the sky like stars.

The river, reflecting the city lights in blurs like a painting.

An unseen figure attacking him from behind, pinning him to a wall.

Pain. Pain and then nothing.

“Not- I didn’t see them,” Fjord answered and Molly just shook his head and looked away, catching his eyes on different objects in the room as he thought. Molly looked- well the best way to describe it would be panicked. Not the same as he had when Astrid had Caleb pinned to the wall, but there was worry there. And Fjord was never the best at reading people, but it was rather obvious what had him worried right now.

Artaud had turned him.

“Why?” Molly blurted out, “why you? Why now?! Millenia of being the only one and they choose now to change that.”

“So you think there is a purpose?” It was as Fjord had feared- some bigger picture he didn’t know about, and he was being used as a pawn.

Molly nodded. “There is no way this was a mistake. They never ever make mistakes.” He started to curse under his breath, and none of this was helping Fjord. Why would Artaud turn him? Before he was turned, Fjord was just a random guy who held two jobs to try and pay for the shitty council flat he lived in with his friends. Even now, Fjord knew very little about the vampire world- couldn’t even control whatever power he owned. And why would Artaud want him? What could they be planning that they would need another podarge? Needed a hand the other side wouldn’t know about?

Molly and Fjord met eyes as they came to the same conclusion.

“Oh fuck,” Molly said, just as Fjord said,

“Artaud is the behind all this.” He’d been turned by a murderer.

“We can’t tell anyone- you can’t say anything to your friends,” Molly insisted. Fjord tried to argue, Beau had spoken all evening about no secrets, but the other vamp was having none of it. “If Artaud is behind this, then there is nothing- you hear me? Nothing we can do. And if they find out we know then they will make us pay.”

“But- but they need me! For something- for-” stuttered Fjord, but Molly just shook his head.

“Sure, they may need you, and they like Caleb, but do they need me? Do they need Beau? Or Jester, or Nott, or Yasha ?” Molly replied, “and what’s to say they can’t replace you? No, we keep quiet, we keep this to ourselves. We continue to investigate Astrid, we pretend like nothing is different. I don’t even know if Caleb saw what you did earlier, how quick you were to his aid- thanks by the way.”

“He would have done the same,” Fjord replied, and Molly just smiled.

“Yeah, he would, the self-sacrificing bastard.”

Fjord didn’t like this, not one bit. He didn’t keep secrets from Beau and Jester- it was rule number 2, right after ‘socks on doors when you’re doing something private’ . But Molly was here insisting in- even planning on keeping it secret from Caleb, which is going to be a feat. So Fjord would keep quiet; it would be difficult, and if Jester brought out the ‘tears and mascara’ method again he wasn’t quite sure he’d succeed. But for his friends? He’d do anything.

There are too many lonely memories for Fjord, too much staring out of windows like a child from a Dicken's novel as he watched the other kids play. When they find out- and there is no doubt that they will- they might be angry. But an angry friend is better than a dead one.

Now onto the next item on his mental agenda.

“So on Sunday when we having this meeting-”

“Oh no,” Molly interrupted him, “you’re not going to the meeting on Sunday.” Fjord sputtered before Molly continued. “Look- You were not in control last night and as I said this is something we need to keep under wraps. We can’t let it get out- especially not to the Lorelei’s.”

“The who?”

Molly sighed and Fjord was reminded of just how little he knew about the world he has been forced into. “The Lorelei’s,” Molly said, “are quite possibly the hottest people in all of London, barring myself and Caleb of course, and if it were not for the stupid laws of vampire and werewolves crossing onto each side, I would have fucked every single one of them.” Fjord couldn’t help but laugh at that, at how quickly the conversation had turned. He shouldn’t be surprised; in the little time he’d know Molly, the vamp had shown his skills in derailing conversations, but only when they were getting tense and distressing. Which, those two words perfectly sum up everything Fjord’s been through for the last 4 hours. “To answer correctly, the Lorelei’s are a family of werewolves, one of the very few born into the curse- yes it can happen, no don’t ask me how I’ve got no fucking clue. There are 5 of them, though my guess is only the younger three will appear on Sunday. The eldest two don’t really agree with ‘civilization’ and ‘power’. Portia does though, and she’s terrifying. And they won’t be the only powerful people there. The De Rolo’s, the Clay’s; all the big families, and all the big names.”

There was a knock at the door, interrupting their conversation.

“Keep it secret,” Molly emphasised.

“Keep it safe,” Fjord replied, though by the look on Molly’s face he didn’t get the reference, but the door had opened before he could explain it.

Jester stood there, with a very bored look on her face. “Are you finished yet? Caleb won’t let us get out the ice cream without you - even though you can’t eat it, which is completely unfair.”

Fjord thought the moment he’d see his friends, he’d be compelled to tell them, but in this instance, seeing Jester in all her innocence and hearing Beau complain as well from across the hall, he knew he wouldn’t say. He couldn’t lose his friends; they had been through so much - are still going through so much. Maybe it was a bit selfish, but after what he’s had thrown his way since November, Fjord thought he was allowed to be. For them.

~~~

To say the last day had left a bitter taste in Molly’s mouth would be an understatement. In fact, he felt like he’d bitten into a lemon and couldn’t find the tequila to chase it. If Artaud was behind all this, then they were as fucked as he’d told Fjord. Molly had only met the vampire once before today, a little after he’d been made manager, and the memory of the vamp leaning over the table to whisper Don’t fuck it up had been embedded in his mind ever since they’d disappeared into the night. Molly had heard worse stories over the years of what they had done; mutilations, maiming, murders- all the fun m’s. When you looked up the word vampire in a mortal dictionary, right next to Dracula there was a picture of them. And probably one under monster too.

But, that wasn’t all Molly had to think about right now.

Laying in bed, he watched Caleb shift about the room. The bandage wrapped around Caleb’s neck seemed to haunt him, showing where he failed. Even Fjord- in over his head and young- had stood up for Caleb. Accessed a part of him he had no clue he existed to help Caleb. Molly, however, had stood shocked, unable to move, with only the memory of Don’t fuck it up racing through his head. Whether or not he did is up to debate.

Caleb finally came to bed, curling into Molly’s side like a cat with no reservations. It had taken them a while to get to this point- months of going to sleep on opposite sides of the bed and waking up in each other's arms and the two of them finally came to the conclusion that if they started in each other's arms, it would save sleep them a lot of trouble. Molly pulled Caleb as close as possible, tugging the covers up over them and, in seconds, Caleb was asleep. The day had been long, far too long, and even now he looked so pale; the blood loss helping with that. Astrid hadn’t drunk much, Fjord made sure of that, but the wound had been jagged where he’d ripped her out.

Molly placed his fingertips on the bandage, tracing lightly where he knew the wound was and a scar would form. The memory of her pinning Caleb to a wall would forever be embedded in his mind, and after earlier, when he believes she might not be to blame for all this? That when they go looking, they will find nothing but dust and shadows because it had been Artaud all along? The fact that they might not actually be able to punish her for what she did? There was nothing Molly could think of that would be worse.

Well, maybe one thing.

His traced the bandage higher, too an older scar. One that already lay on Caleb’s neck far before Molly had taken him to bed. Edowulf.

Where Astrid had been infamous for what she had done (even if the details had been vague), Molly had never heard of Edowulf. Yet this man had been close with Caleb, had tried to turn him-

Caleb had been through so much- had been attacked by a vampire, had had his mother killed by one, but still, he shared Molly’s bed. Still loved him, took care of him. Still was willing to-

Let Molly turn him.

Of course, they were going to- a couple of years down the line, when Nott had moved off to university and was getting a job. Caleb was going to sit her down, tell her everything; about Molly, about The Bank. But it was going to happen when she was older, maybe 18? 19? Molly doesn’t know. Caleb was going to tell her, and then he and Molly were going to run off into the sunset, explore the world before Molly would lie him out on the most expensive bed in Las Vegas, and then turn him.

Molly ran his fingers over the old bite mark again. When Molly had asked, when he told Caleb he did not want to live through whatever future he’d live without Caleb, the man had not hesitated in saying yes. He then stuttered, mentioned Nott, and together they made their plan. And yet, Caleb had been shaking as he spoke of how Edowulf had attacked him, wanting to turn him against his will. Did Caleb truly want to be turned? The lack of hesitation suggested so, but… it was not a thing to be taken lightly. There is no turning back. Quite literally.

~~~~~

No matter what was actually happening, Beau wasn’t crying. She wasn’t. She didn’t cry. She didn’t cry when Fjord went missing, or when he returned different in all the wrong ways. She didn’t cry when they were attacked- the first or the second time. She didn’t cry.

And yet her cheeks were wet, and her throat felt hoarse, and there were so many other signs that she was crying but she wasn’t. She didn’t cry.

The sun had set, and now she was hidden away in the back garden; the awful, overgrown back garden that she was working with Yasha to fix. There were no outdoor lights and with the curtains drawn and the backdoor shut, it was almost pitch black, if not for the general light that filled London. Bright street lamps, distant tower blocks; all offered a little bit of light. From where she was, leant against a rotting fence that was slowly being consumed by ivy, which might be the only thing keeping the thing upright, she looked over the tiny garden. There was a small pond with so much algae and moss on the top that anything that once lived in the water had probably suffocated. There was a cracked stone path with hundreds of different weeds growing through it leading from the back door to the shed. The shed itself had once been brightly coloured, but the paint had flaked and faded so much that the colour was impossible to tell. Next to the path was the patch that Beau and Yasha had worked tirelessly to prepare for Nott’s plants, and she could see some small stems from the seeds the girl had planted. Molly’s sunlounger was still out, unmoved from where the vamp had left it.

When she had first shoved open the door to see Fjord splayed out across the floor and Caleb leaned into Molly’s side bleeding heavily, she had been angry. At first, at Astrid and this ‘Artaud’ figure, neither of whom she had seen face to face. Then, at Molly and Caleb for trying to keep this all a secret, hiding it away from them when they first tried to talk about it when they arrived here. Then, at Wulf. She didn’t get on well with Caleb; apparently sneaking through a person’s stuff and then accusing them of shit wasn’t the way to becoming best friends, but she liked him and hearing about the horrors that had been pushed on him in his past had riled her up.

Now though, the only person she was angry at was herself.

She could have done something, anything, but she had just hidden in that room for the entire time. She knew it would probably go south from the moment that Yasha had chucked her over her shoulder, and yet she didn’t even try to get the door open till she had heard Caleb shout. And now he had a deep wound on his neck from the woman who had been stalking Fjord for god knows how long. Fjord himself had been acting off all evening, and the fact that he had talked to Molly before she or Jester hurt. She should have done something.

“You know, that fence will not support your weight for long.”

Beau jumped out of her skin, turning and throwing a punch to the intruder. Her hand was easily caught by a much stronger one, and she glanced up to see the softened face of Yasha looking down on her.

Oh god, her eyes are different colours. How had she not noticed that before?

Yasha squeezed her hand gently before letting it drop, not saying a word as she studied her. Beau didn’t know how she looked right now; not-crying in the dark had that effect, and she hoped that the dark offered her some semblance of cover. From the soft, sad smile on Yasha’s face, she didn’t think it worked.

“Perhaps- um,” Yasha scrunched her face up in thought, trying to find the right words. Beau hoped she wasn’t going to try and comfort her right now, she doesn’t know if she would be able to deal with that. Eventually, Yasha found what she was looking for. “Gym?”

Beau had been trying to deal with her feelings in other ways than fighting recently; Dairon said that anger leads to blindness in a fight. But right now Dairon was on their lists on suspects, even if a background idea, so what the hell.

“Not mine,” Beau replied. Yasha shrugged and moved away back to the house.

Beau broke a few too many faces that night, but Yasha broke more so Fjord was not allowed to tell her off.

Chapter Text

I thought that, since i did at one time put a lot of effort into this fic (60,000 words holy fuck) I'd give it a true send off.

This fic is officially abandoned.

Too much in canon has changed and though I always hoped that maybe I'd come back to this, I just don't feel connected to this as much anymore. I mean, I came up with this idea before we found out Caleb's backstory. Mix that with Molly's death (RIP) and the fact that, in this story, Nott's a kid and that is very much not true in Canon, it just felt to weird to carry on. I do however know that a lot of you guys were invested in this as much as I was, so I thought that now I've officially decided not to come back to this, I'd dig up my old chapter plan and post it here.

Chapter 20- Wolves and Vamps (ANd CAleb!) meet on millenium  bridge. Bryce moderates as well as a neutral werewolf (NILA), and they talk about the recent murders. Both sides deny. Gets a bit heated. Caleb speaks up. “This is obvious just someone playing a trick. One side attacked first, but neither knows who. So they both believe they are in the right. Someone is trying to start a war.” clay comes forward “he is right. We have been at peace this long, and obviously someone wants to stop that.”  (caleb, internally, “WHAT THE FUCK IS NOTT’S TEACHER DOING HERE.”) Bryce and Nila call it to an end “Obviously no side is to blame, but there are individuals. I suggest you look inside your own groups for them, instead of trying to pin the blame on the other side.” Caleb refuses to look away from Astrid for that entire speech. After it is over he talks to Clay, who invites Caleb and Nott over for tea the next day to talk to her about it. 

Chapter 21- meet up with Clay! FUCK NOW I NEED TO SCIENCE THE SHIT OUT OF THINGS AGAIN. 

Chapter 22 YAsha and Beau break into Dairon’s place. Possibly its own chapter. 

Chapter 23- Fjord is on his way home from work when he’s pulled aside by Artuad. They talk. LORE. LORE.  They were doing their own investigation when they pulled themself out of the river, hungry, and attacked fjord. Artaud doesn’t like using people anymore and felt bad so they turned him instead, and then left him at the club. However, FJord didn’t wake up at the club, he woke up in a room probably slightly drugged and then broke out a window. So who was that? HE tells artuad about astrid following him and Artaud guesses that she knows Fjord is a podarge, and wanted to control him. It was probably her that took him from the club. Why though? Artaud has always been weary of her powerhungryness and her hatred of the other races. Possibly she caused the infighting, and wanted Fjord to have a podarge on her side. 

Chapter 24- Bryce gets an anoynmous tip for the group, and they all go to the library again to meet up with… SHAKASTE! He was the wolf that attacked Astrid in their appartment, he had been following her around for a while after he noticed her talking to some of the… not so nice wolves over the thames. He has photographic evidence of Astrid attacking people and throwing them over into the thames- not just wolves but vampires as well. Many times she is not alone in these photos, accompanied by vampires and werewolves a like.

Chapter 25- They call Bryce and Clay and all of them bar nott head to where they believe AStrid to be staying. She is there with a group of her own, and a fight ensues. JK NOTT DIDN’T STAY AT HOME! She breaks out her crossbow and attacks and kills a few of the vampires however when she’s not looking AStrid charges at her, but Caleb gets in the way, killing her with a stake. The others quickly cut off her head to make sure, and only molly notices as CAleb falls to his knees, large knife sticking out of his stomach. Clay drags Nott away from the chaos and, a Caleb’s request, leave the two alone. Nott cries about how they should call an ambulance, somebody, when Yasha takes her into her arms and tells her that caleb isn’t going to die. As caleb screams into the night. 

Chapter  26- they end up going back home. All staying in the house. They do not need to invite the other vampires in so it shows it worked. Yasha gets a text from molly saying he’ll take caleb out of town for a month for the turning process. Girls sleepover in Nott’s room. Shakaste disappears into the night and so does Bryce, but Clay and Fjord sit up all night talking about VAmpires and Werewolves. 

Chapter 27- Nott is the only one in the house the next day, everyone else with things to do. Artaud sneaks in and the two of them talk. Caleb is brought up. Artuad hands her the deed to Astrids old town house. They all them go over the next day and start moving in. BEAR THE BEAR. NICE PAINTINGS. WEIRD VAULT WITH LOTS OF MONEY.

Chapter 28- one month later. Nott comes in after having Tea with Clay. she passes beau and yasha making out in the living room and runs downstairs to greet Fjord and JEster, who are cooking. Fjord is talking about his new boyfriend, Sabien, who is a vampire he met through the club. Jester keeps prying for answers. Switches to Beau and Yasha, they are talking about something i don’t know- PLANTS. YASHA IS GOING TO BRING SO MANY PLANTS INTO THE HOUSE. Knock on the door. Yasha answers: its Molly and CAleb! Yay! Molly talks to yasha a bit but Caleb beelines to the kitchen where he can hear the other three. All conversation pauses, before Nott dives into Caleb’s arms. “You are cold.” “Ja, but i am here.”

Anyway, sorry about abandoning this. It taught me a lot, mainly don't post multi-chapters until after you've finishd writing them :D