Chris
Marcus, Kubra, and I moved unhindered through the compound's science building, making our expedition much easier than I had anticipated. I thought we needed to come over a full moon because we would have to bust into the place. The elevator went down into the mountain and stopped at the bottom floor. We made our way inside, where the chief scientist showed us around and what they were working on. When he was done, he hadn't really shown us anything. Having studied the plans, we knew there had to be more floors; it took some convincing for him to reveal a secret passage they hid really well.
Another elevator went even further down into the ground and eventually opened onto a dark space; as we walked and moved, lights automatically came to life. The area it revealed was a massive open floor with several glass cubicles on either side of the hall. In each, there was a person… or thing that seemed to me like what Louis and Juliet had described the first time when she had saved the werewolf cub. Each one was rabid. Violent. Some were foaming at the mouth. Red glowing eyes. Others' flesh was rotting like Juliet so feared would happen to her. Yet not one looked like either of them; no leather skin or white eyes. I stopped at one… who did have on a mask. The control cover Juliet had told me about. I was going crazy seeing what Rodrigo was actually working on; things that could happen to us or to humans, experiments leading to infected vampires who lived forever and couldn't go out into the sun. The werewolf toxin created unpredictability. What Qadir wanted with his experiments all of a sudden, I could only imagine, would be catastrophic.
We slowly made our way down the corridor, where there was only one light on in a room in the back. The walls were covered with bottles with body parts drowned in an orange liquid. The adjacent glass cubicle was filled with cages containing a lot of exotic animals. Last but not least was the freezer door in the back of the room and the table in the middle.
My skin crawled at the cruelty of it all, and because Juliet was once on Rodrigo's table, the person I would see was the cause of her suffering. When Rodrigo came through an open door and saw Marcus, he was visibly startled. His fear-drenched face stared at us in disbelief. The silence went on for a few moments. "We're here about Juliet," I said to get the conversation going. Kubra went to sit on the table, hands clasped in his lap.
Rodrigo's shoulders lowered. The hair on my arm stood up straight… Why was Rodrigo so afraid of Marcus? I was probably naive to think Marcus, at one stage, wasn't a little more like his father than he would want to admit, and fear crept in that Louis knew something he wasn't sharing with us… Things about Marcus. At the fighting cages, there was such animosity between Qadir and his son… but when Marcus was told what to do… he obeyed without complaint.
"Poor little Juliet… How is she? Why is she not here for the cure?" Rodrigo asked.
"She won't come back." He bobbed his head, busy buffing a glass flask with a paper towel. "We were hoping you could just give it to us."
He scoffed and chuckled as if we were dumb, "Who are you anyway? Last time, there was a French guy with her."
I held out a hand to him, "Chris… Nice to meet you."
He shook it, "Interesting… The company that little girl keeps."
I still didn't know what to call Juliet in my life… They were right; I had not made anything official with her. I loved her—I would never leave her, and yet our whole situation didn't really have a title. "She gave birth to my baby," was all I could come up with.
Rodrigo stood back, lifted his torso, and peered down at me, "So you're the riphath… Would love to see your manifestation. Take a blood sample… You know the Earth is the only place that has infected vampires… So it's not like we can see alien species." Rodrigo glanced up at Marcus, "All there is for us is service." Marcus was still standing close to the exit; maybe the problem went the other way… Did Rodrigo torture Marcus?
"I'll oblige if you like… I don't care what I have to do if you will give me what I need to save Juliet." I went to sit on the steel table next to Kubra and rolled up my sleeve.
Rodrigo scoffed and chuckled again. Irritated, I wished he would get to the point. He moved towards me and prepared to take my blood. "Without what I gave her… Juliet never would have gotten pregnant in the first place. She was not supposed to be able to produce viable offspring from another species."
I was taken aback.
"There are no other vampires who have ever carried a riphath baby… There is a price to pay for that."
My heart beat faster when he spoke about a price to pay. She was paying, not me. "You told Louis there was a cure."
"There is… But it's here. It's intensive and of long duration. It's not a little red pill, and all her problems go away. And if she does get it .. she will never be able to carry your child again… If I were her, I would let the formula take its course."
"How can you say that? Juliet ate a person and was controlled by a human. She is turning into," I pointed to one of the cubicles.
Rodrigo shook his head, walked to the side, and tapped on the glass of a room on the other side. It was the only female not doing anything, quietly standing there with a large metal thing over her mouth. I frowned, "What do you mean? Juliet was infected before we slept together."
He smirked, "Uh-uh," shaking his head slowly. "What I gave her was Lucky number 5." Scared to know what would have happened, I turned to where he was pointing. The woman was half-werewolf, half-monster, rushing into the glass, challenging her opponent next door.
I manifested and grabbed Rodrigo around the throat, "How do I kill an infected vampire."
He gripped my arm and easily bent my hand off his neck, displaying all the strength he had, "Nothing as easy… Fire. Or rip off my head." Rodrigo nervously glanced at Marcus—again. Bachelor number two was still waiting at the door, standing with his hands at his side. The look on his face was unreadable. I rolled my eyes. Marcus was this badass until he wasn't. How were we supposed to know who would pitch up for the day? Rodrigo was taking in all of me, feeling my frame, walking around me. "The mouth plate and control is for whoever holds the magic button. The eating of people is a riphath trait, no? Werewolves do it every day… Juliet has spunk—she won't be put off by eating someone."
"She's still changing into something else—dying… Her skin is like—"
"Leathery snakeskin… Yes, I know. I designed it that way so it doesn't putrefy like lucky number 3 over there," he gestures to another woman. If you could still call her a woman. "The skin… I am working on it."
"So what you're saying is she will change, but she will… what? I don't understand what's going on!" Irritated, I came back to human and sat again, stretching out my arm.
"Look, she will still be Juliet… only different… permanently… She can always come back and go through the reversal process. It takes only a year or so."
"She won't be able to transform back and forth?" I asked.
He shook his head slowly from side to side, "Not without the button. Right now, she has only spells… Why haven't you brought her back?" I glanced over to Marcus. "Oh yes, this place doesn't conjure fond memories for some of us. I didn't think Juliet would fit in here."
Kubra's eyes were nailed to the floor, swinging his legs slowly back and forth next to me. "What is this magic button you're talking about?"
"Mind control tech to manage her when she's in a fit of rage... She will have so much strength and speed and… maybe other abilities… Can't just let her loose, you know."
"Why are you working on all this… if you have a sure way of creating a secret army."
He scoffed and chuckled again, "No, the men in this place want to control… not give women more. And this secret potion… is only for women. It was an experiment to see if I could make a species interbreed… However, it meant I needed to change so many things in the chromosomes so the pregnancies would be viable… And that was not my goal; I had other plans before my recapture. And, of course, hybrids like a mule can't have babies… Vampires hate other races… The werewolves want nothing to do with anybody else. So the only thing I had left to work with was… the idea of you… and making them believe it was possible."
Rodrigo took a breath and had by then put away three vials of my blood, "I can't tell you everything, but one thing I will say is," he leaned closer and whispered into my ear, "Qadir doesn't know she will live. He thinks she will turn into a monster."
For only a moment… sometimes… everything was too much for me to wrap my mind around. Little Juliet in her school dress will turn into what? I should've been happy that all she did was disappear back then—was eighteen and liked me.
"Look… I don't know all the rules that would apply… This is the first and only time this has ever happened. You three species are inadvertently half-human divided by location… meaning environment… Your habitats were never supposed to intermingle… Nevertheless, being in human form makes you sexual all the time, with a cycle every month… On your planet… it might not work like that… Then, of course, the sexual attraction factor," he flashed his eyes at me.
"Wait, you're telling me—my x-wife didn't sleep with me—because we are not the same species."
He bobbed his head and shrugged, "Werewolves are a funny species."
I laughed lightly, "How could they have been so stupid to think… Everybody thought I… was Juliet? That you gave that stuff to me?" Wow, mind blown—I snorted.
"The word about my research quickly went around. In the end, there was too much speculation… The legend of the hybrid was there for the kids and the ignorant on the planet… So they didn't know what was going on... About other planets… They just didn't know who went through the process. They still don't… I was off the compound when you were born."
"Why does everyone think Juliet could carry my baby?"
"They think it's a fluke because of my interference. They didn't know she had a good Samaritan… who cared enough and changed her treatment."
"The werewolves on Earth know Palmyra had cut all ties with them. Every now and again, more criminals are dropped off. Unfortunately, that's the punishment… Exile… So, they wanted a cure for their declining numbers. They became desperate. They actually still think you are the link to interspecies pregnancy."
"Charlene had a baby."
"Fifty-fifty… Humans are kind of neutral ground… but… the vamps in exile were a little smarter than the wolves. They evolved quickly and because of Qadir and the way they controlled their woman. The way of living. The compound is now so strong… he will be taking over the Earth… in a matter of… mmm, well, I only need one more cub… maybe then?"
My hands rubbed over my face and through my hair. Frak! I needed to get out of there. We came all this way… At least we knew she wasn't dying or going to be locked up in a glass cubicle. "Wait, what about Juliet and me?"
A few emotions ran over his features. He sat down on the counter behind him, hands perching himself by his sides. He regarded me, "I honestly don't know… Maybe love can really go up against even mother nature."
***
Charlene
"Who is going to be your next husband, Charlene?" I choked on my drink, messing some on my chin. "Is it going to be Francesco, or should I introduce you to Sita's cousins… Maybe if you have two werewolf husbands, you could definitely go back with Ben."
I was still coughing while Juliet rambled on. "I'm human. We only do monogamy… Look at your parents, Juliet! They are so happy. How you ended up like this—only you would know."
"Oh, pleaasse. So, sleeping with a different guy every weekend I met at a bar, year after year, is okay? But I can't sleep with the same three once in a while."
I shrugged. She got me there. There really wasn't any law to morality. Not in this world, anyway… We were sitting on the patio outside, spring settling in. It was already late in the evening. "It's not only about the sex... What about the love aspect," I asked.
Juliet watched me through narrowed eyes. "Chars, you've never had a serious boyfriend—not one! You've never even been in love… Every time you've spoken about Ben… It's been about him and how he feels. You have not once said you liked him… let alone love him… At this point, me loving three guys is better than you… waiting for?"
Juliet had hit the mark. All Ben and I were doing was seeing where we could go. I also didn't believe in one soulmate for everyone. I didn't even know what I was waiting for… It was going well. I enjoyed his company. He was great with Miné and me. Ben and I had even gone away for a week and used Louis Yacht for some alone time. We hadn't been apart for a day or even an hour except for full moons, and I still couldn't think about uttering any kind of words of affection or love. Neither had Ben.
There was another full moon the following day; Ben and the guys had already left. The plot and atmosphere were so quiet on the patio. Liam, Louis, and Carl were watching football inside with both babies. "Cheers to graduating early, you guys," Cindy came over, and we clinked glasses. "I'm really proud of you two. Doing what you guys have done this year is impressive."
We smiled; Juliet and I had really worked our asses off those last couple of months. I yawned, and Juliet soon followed me, putting her hand in front of her mouth. "Why don't we call it a night. I'm wiped," Juliet suggested.
"Yeah, me too," I stood, and we moved into the house. Juliet locked the door behind us, which was odd. I walked toward Carl and stood in front of him to take Miné. He fleetingly met my eyes, "Give me two minutes; the game is almost over." I glanced at the TV. They always said a few more minutes; half an hour later, overtime kept going. Since we had come to France, Carl had really embraced European culture, learning languages and watching what Louis watched so they would have more common ground.
"You literally have to hand her over to me. You don't even have to look away from the screen." He shooed me away with his hand. I ignored his shoeing and bent down to take her. His flat hand came up and covered my face, stopping me. I paused mid-air, lifting up from his hand. He and Juliet laughed at me. He winked at her and kept watching TV.
"Carl… Give me my freaking kid." He shook his head. He was playing with me. "Aaa man, I'm so tired… I just want to go to bed." Carl's head jerked towards me, and hastily got up—still not giving me my baby. It always worked with him… I only needed to complain, and he did all he could to help me.
"Okay, guys… we're out. See you all tomorrow," Carl said while picking up a baby blanket.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"You said you're tired, so we're going home." I cocked an eyebrow. His lips pressed together, realizing what he had said. He tried to correct himself, "I mean… I'm going home with… you." He put his hand over his face… I snickered. "I mean… I'm going to sleep at your house because Ben isn't here." His voice raised slightly, "Chris and Marcus aren't here."
"You don't have to—I can take care of myself."
"I know you can, but I want t—" he bit his lip. Our eyes locked. I eyed him; my BS meter was ticking in the red zone. "Oh, for heaven's sake… Not that I want to take care of you," his teeth clenched—he didn't mean it the way it came out… The whole room was so quiet watching our interchange; you could hear a pin fall—on the carpet. "I mean, I want to… F— it," Carl left the room with Miné.
I followed and stood at the front door, staring after him walking down the road… I frowned a little bit… There was a tugging in my chest—a truth revealed—a warmth spread over me. A squishy feeling of being liked by a guy after the first confession, and you didn't even know. "Did he just cross a line? His reaction was peculiar… Or am I making too much of it?"
The room was still so quiet. No one said anything, and it confirmed what had happened. I was the only one who didn't know how stupid I was. Carl was with me all the time. He was with me before Ben even came… Carl said it was because Juliet had so many people to help her… Juliet had asked who my second husband would be… Was she trying to tell me something? Fishing? I slowly walked out the door—Louis and Juliet giggled naughtily. "At freaking last!" Louis said.
"Argh, s—!" I whispered to myself. Down the stairs I went, hands in my back pockets, walking towards the house Carl helped Louis finish. I thought he was lonely. He had never had a girlfriend. "Shoot!" I was the reason?! Had he liked me since we met? I opened the front door, and all the lights were still off; it was deadly quiet, "Hey, Carl! C'mon, man, I know you stuffed up, but I didn't peg you for a coward." He didn't say anything. I flipped the switch, "Mrs. Rheed!" Juliet was going to kill me for saying that—it was a reflex. Sita was at my house, holding a gun, pointing it straight at Carl's head. A man was sitting on the couches facing away from the door. A chill ran down my spine. There was only one creature who could make you afraid without doing anything. Yeah no! That was not what was going to happen to me—my hand moved—I slapped the wall again—the lights went off. The room was pitch black. I fell to the floor immediately, hoping that's what Carl would do. I heard a scuffle, and a shot fired. The bullet hit the wall right above my head. I cursed inwardly. We had practiced being shot at—outside, and the initial bang wasn't so loud; in the house, it caught me off guard and left me immobilized.
Carl would take her and run. Baby first—parents second. I squeezed my eyes closed—we'd even had that conversation. He was referring to him and me and not what Ben and I would do… Juliet would hear the shots. They would come and help. I rallied my guts and, knowing the house, slowly crawled to where Sita was standing. I heard movement, hoping no one knew where anyone else was—unless she manifested. The lights would be on soon. I moved as fast as I could. The night sky was bright outside, and I couldn't go out the front door again.
***
Carl
I couldn't believe it! The truth was out; Charlene knew I liked her. Didn't I tell Louis she would never know… Never say never, I guess. And there I was… going to find out what she thought about the idea. My heart was pounding, gripping onto Miné. I kissed her little head on my shoulder—anticipation building. The house was dark. When we left earlier, it was still afternoon; we had a good day, only the six of us. It was either going to get better or worse. I heard a sound before the cold steel of the gun pressed against my head. Worse it is! The person clutched my upper arm, pushed me into the room, and made me stand still. I didn't know what to do—I had a baby on my shoulders. Charlene was behind me and would walk through the door any minute.
Charlene was brave and quick. I was proud of her. She killed the lights. I pushed the gun forward toward Charlene—it was the only way. Away from the baby was all I cared about. I fell to the floor when the gun popped, moved into the hall, crawled into Charlene's room, and closed the door. I made for the window and got the hell out of there. Baby first, or Charlene might have killed me herself. The most important people in the house were the two kids.
***
Juliet
"What was that?!" I got up off Louis's lap. He followed, and we stood at the front door, looking down towards Charlene's house. "Do you think she shot him for liking her?"
Louis flicked me on my forehead. "Carl wouldn't be practicing shooting at this time of night… Maybe a gas leak?" Louis said.
The sudden white of a figure in the woods was no longer something new; regardless, when Michael walked out towards us, my stomach flipped. Louis and I stood gaping at him. Michael didn't stop or even glance up at me. He went into a run right past us. Louis turned to me, "I don't think he wants to marry you anymore. He's dumping you." I laughed. Louis's sense of humor was coming back. Since Chris and I had made up—I was better—everyone seemed better. I nudged him in the ribs. We both followed Michael into the house.
My mom and dad were bewildered coming towards us. "I don't think he likes you anymore, Julie," my dad whispered. I snickered. Louis gestured to my dad and towards the hallway. Michael had gone through the house. Our smiles soon fell when he had Caleb in his arms, holding him like he was the most precious thing on Earth. Michael walked past us into the undergrowth and disappeared. The four of us followed him outside. "Juliet… I know you trust the guy, but he just stole our baby..." Then we saw Carl running into the woods with Miné… Louis grabbed my hand and pulled me back in behind him. Goose flesh covered my legs, and dread crept into my gut.