Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > Crawling Towards the Sun
Chapter Four: The Phrase That Pays
“What’s your name?” Pete asked pacing back and forth in front of the vampire tied to the chair before him. After a moment with no response Pete took a step closer, “I asked you a question,” he said biting his lip to stay calm, “What is your name?” The vampire still had no response but to spit on the floor next to Pete’s feet. Pete’s hands clenched into fists as Joe came into the room.
“Dude,” he said eating out of a bowl of macaroni and cheese, “You should have totally grabbed blondie when you had the chance, she would talk,” he muttered leaning against the wall.
The vampire looked up, “Blondie?” he asked quietly.
“You know,” Joe said taking a few steps forward, “Blonde chick, blue eyes, pretty hot and has a pulse.”
“Oh,” the vampire said, looking back towards the ground.
“You know who she is?” Pete asked quickly.
“Of course, just like I know who you are Pete,” the vampire said with a grin.
“Well then,” Joe said shoving a spoonful of pasta into his mouth. Patrick and Andy joined in by coming into the room, curious to what the vampire knew.
“William’s little pet,” the vampire said slowly, “quite the little bitch but she’s a firecracker for sure.”
“Her name,” Pete growled, “What is her name?”
“What importance is she to you?” the vampire challenged, “You’ll never get to her, William keeps a pretty short leash on his pet.”
“Her name,” Pete asked again, his voice filled with anger.
“Juliette,” the vampire said, “Her name is Juliette. That is all I know.”
Patrick and Andy looked over at Pete who nodded. The two of them rushed over to their computers and began looking up all missing persons by the name of Juliette when finally Patrick made an announcement, “Juliette Edwards, age twenty, blonde hair, blue eyes.” Pete and Joe looked over at each other and locked the vampire back up in the closet. They walked over to join Pat and Andy as he brought up all the information on their girl.
“Reported missing by her sister Jessica Edwards a little over a year ago,” Patrick said, scrolling over pages of information and contact numbers.
“Whoa,” Andy said putting his finger up to the screen, “She went AWOL from the military when she came home on a visit.”
“Well that explains why she’s good at hand to hand combat,” Pete said scanning over the information with his eyes. “This doesn’t give us anything though, we need to get to her sister.”
“That might be a problem,” Joe said finishing off his pasta. He used his fork to point at a paragraph on the page, “Says here her sister is locked up in a mental asylum for delusions of sorts.”
“Bradbury Mental Institution for Teens,” Patrick said, googling the location he printed out the directions and hours, “We can go tomorrow, during the day. Pete you’ll have to stay here for… obvious reasons and see if you can’t get more from the vampire.”
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Juliette woke to find a rose on the pillow next to her with a black satin ribbon tied to a note. Sitting up she grabbed it and slid the note open, “Sorry for my behavior last night. Forgive me. ~ William”. She sighed and stood from her bed, holding the rose in her hand she wandered to the dresser. She set the rose down and admired it for a moment as she got dressed into a pair of black jeans and black button down shirt. It was still midday but you could never tell as all of the windows had layers and layers of velvet curtains to keep out the sun. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, her hand tracing the edges of the necklace she had gotten the night before.
“Today is for learning” she told herself as she slipped on a pair of shoes and walked out of the room and through the hallways. It was nearly empty, most of the vampires preferred to sleep during the day because they disliked being cooped up inside like prisoners. Juliette loved walking around during the day hours because even though she was forbidden to leave the mansion she occasionally sneaked a peek out of one of the windows and tried to feel the warmth through the glass.
She made her way though the maze of hallways until she ended up exactly where she wanted to be, the library. Unlike all other libraries Juliette had been to this had no military training manual nor any contemporary literature. This library contained two main categories – vampire history and legends and classical literature. Usually Juliette would spring for a good Jane Austen or Emily Bronte book but today she was researching vampires. Mainly she was researching the relationship between fledglings and their creators.
After a few hours of skimming Juliette came to a few conclusions. One was that fledglings and their creators had a very carefully balanced relationship. The creator was always respected and obeyed while the fledgling was either a) extremely obedient to the point where they crave their creator’s attention and praise or b) extremely hateful of their creator and strive to destroy him/her. Juliette wondered exactly how many vampires William had created himself, knowing only of Brendon as one of them. Juliette heard the door open and quickly shut her book, placing it on the stack next to her she stood from the table.
“No need to get up,” Brendon said with a grin as he traced his fingers along the aisle of books.
“Well if I knew it was just you,” Juliette said sitting back down, “I wouldn’t have bothered.”
“Ouch,” Brendon said pretending to be hurt. He simply let out a laugh and pulled out one of the books and examined it before putting it back in it’s proper place.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” Juliette asked propping her head onto one of her hands, “It is very much unlike you.”
“Well let’s just say that favors have changed,” Brendon said walking over to the table across from Juliette, “What you did last night, rejecting William’s advance, has put me back into the running as his favorite.”
Juliette looked confused for a moment and stood from her chair, “Is that so?” she asked, slightly concerned. She knew it pissed him off but after the rose she figured it was all okay, “When did you last speak to him?”
“Right after you stormed away. I was right there to plant the seed of hate towards you Juliette,” Brendon said triumphantly. Juliette couldn’t help but grin, he had no idea about the flower. She decided not to burst his bubble so she walked past him and looked at the spines of some of the other books. “So what are you looking for?” He asked quickly, concerned at her behavior.
“Something that I could do to win back William’s affection would be nice,” Juliette said pulling out a dusty book entitled ‘Vampire Courting Rituals’ and showed it to Brendon, “Probably something from in here.”
Brendon cleared his throat, “Don’t get your hopes up, he holds quite the grudge.” Brendon smiled and came up behind Juliette putting his hands on her shoulders, “But me on the other hand,” he said and kissed her neck, “I am the kind of man to forgive and forget.”
Juliette’s fist clenched against the book and by reflex she swung back and smacked Brendon across the face. “Now, now Brendon,” she said biting her lip, “watch yourself.”
“I like the fight,” Brendon said pulling at his tie and throwing it onto the table, “William’s never going to take you back, he’s focused on furthering me in the vampire world, like he was before you came into our lives.”
“Is this what it is about?” Juliette asked taking a challenging step forward to him, “are you jealous of me?”
“You are nothing but a toy that has stayed past its use,” Brendon spat out slapping her across the face, “How dare you even think yourself on the same level as me.”
Juliette felt blood trickle from her lip and Brendon stepped closer, “So fragile,” he said with a grin, “I could break you so easily. It would be quite fun for me.” He licked the trail of blood from her chin and lingered on her lips, “You stand no chance.”
Juliette cringed at the feeling of Brendon so close to her and took a step away, “I think you need to leave now, Brendon.”
“I don’t think so,” Brendon said, his eyes beginning to glow red from the small taste of blood. “I promise this won’t hurt,” he murmured and took a step closer to Juliette. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, pinning her to him. William had never used his full force on her so this caught her off guard. In battle she expected it, was prepared for it, but in the library during daylight hours? Never.
“Brendon stop,” she ordered. Brendon didn’t respond but brushed her hair from her neck and sniffed the air around them. “Stop!” Juliette called out again as she tried to fight against him. Brendon had one arm twisted behind her back and the other across her stomach, paralyzing her from making any useful movements. She struggled as much as she could as she let out a last ditch effort scream which was quickly muffled by Brendon.
He bent down and she could hear his fangs grow and felt them reach the surface of her skin. She felt him take a deep breath and prep for the plunge when a booming voice came form the doorway, “Brendon!” Brendon immediately threw Juliette down to the ground and turned to see his creator, William standing in the doorway. “What is this!?” he ordered, taking a few elegant steps towards Brendon.
“W-w-william,” he stammered, retracting his fangs.
“Well?” William asked taking a few more steps, closing the gap. He threw a glance down to Juliette and then back to Brendon, “Leave now,” he said stepping past him, not even looking Brendon in the face, “I don’t wish to see you.” Brendon was obviously offended and hurt at his creator’s shun and quietly stepped from the room, knocking stacks of books down onto the floor as he went.
Juliette lay speechless against the bookshelf, her hand grasping her neck. She had never come so close to actually being bitten before and had never been so close to death that she wasn’t sure how to react. “William,” she said slowly, looking up at the man who stood before her.
William crouched down and placed his hand on her cheek, “You okay?” he asked concerned. Juliette simply nodded and took William’s hand. He pulled her from the floor and wrapped his arm around her waist. He used his other hand to cup her chin as he turned her head from left to right to see if Brendon had left any bruises and sure enough he had. “Tsk, tsk Brendon,” he muttered to himself, smiling at Juliette. He pushed back her hair, “I’m so sorry he did that… you have to understand that he has been the only one who has held my favor in the last fifty years. He’s a bit needy and clingy.”
Juliette stayed silent but as William moved in to kiss her she muttered, “I think I would like to go back to my room now…” And he paused.
He kissed her on the forehead, “But of course,” he said, offering her his arm.
“No thank you,” she declined, “I think I need to go by myself and… think..” she murmured. She didn’t look for a response or approval but left William standing alone in the library.
William’s fists clenched and after a few minutes he stormed angrily out of the library and found one of the servants, “get Brendon to my office NOW!”
“What’s your name?” Pete asked pacing back and forth in front of the vampire tied to the chair before him. After a moment with no response Pete took a step closer, “I asked you a question,” he said biting his lip to stay calm, “What is your name?” The vampire still had no response but to spit on the floor next to Pete’s feet. Pete’s hands clenched into fists as Joe came into the room.
“Dude,” he said eating out of a bowl of macaroni and cheese, “You should have totally grabbed blondie when you had the chance, she would talk,” he muttered leaning against the wall.
The vampire looked up, “Blondie?” he asked quietly.
“You know,” Joe said taking a few steps forward, “Blonde chick, blue eyes, pretty hot and has a pulse.”
“Oh,” the vampire said, looking back towards the ground.
“You know who she is?” Pete asked quickly.
“Of course, just like I know who you are Pete,” the vampire said with a grin.
“Well then,” Joe said shoving a spoonful of pasta into his mouth. Patrick and Andy joined in by coming into the room, curious to what the vampire knew.
“William’s little pet,” the vampire said slowly, “quite the little bitch but she’s a firecracker for sure.”
“Her name,” Pete growled, “What is her name?”
“What importance is she to you?” the vampire challenged, “You’ll never get to her, William keeps a pretty short leash on his pet.”
“Her name,” Pete asked again, his voice filled with anger.
“Juliette,” the vampire said, “Her name is Juliette. That is all I know.”
Patrick and Andy looked over at Pete who nodded. The two of them rushed over to their computers and began looking up all missing persons by the name of Juliette when finally Patrick made an announcement, “Juliette Edwards, age twenty, blonde hair, blue eyes.” Pete and Joe looked over at each other and locked the vampire back up in the closet. They walked over to join Pat and Andy as he brought up all the information on their girl.
“Reported missing by her sister Jessica Edwards a little over a year ago,” Patrick said, scrolling over pages of information and contact numbers.
“Whoa,” Andy said putting his finger up to the screen, “She went AWOL from the military when she came home on a visit.”
“Well that explains why she’s good at hand to hand combat,” Pete said scanning over the information with his eyes. “This doesn’t give us anything though, we need to get to her sister.”
“That might be a problem,” Joe said finishing off his pasta. He used his fork to point at a paragraph on the page, “Says here her sister is locked up in a mental asylum for delusions of sorts.”
“Bradbury Mental Institution for Teens,” Patrick said, googling the location he printed out the directions and hours, “We can go tomorrow, during the day. Pete you’ll have to stay here for… obvious reasons and see if you can’t get more from the vampire.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Juliette woke to find a rose on the pillow next to her with a black satin ribbon tied to a note. Sitting up she grabbed it and slid the note open, “Sorry for my behavior last night. Forgive me. ~ William”. She sighed and stood from her bed, holding the rose in her hand she wandered to the dresser. She set the rose down and admired it for a moment as she got dressed into a pair of black jeans and black button down shirt. It was still midday but you could never tell as all of the windows had layers and layers of velvet curtains to keep out the sun. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, her hand tracing the edges of the necklace she had gotten the night before.
“Today is for learning” she told herself as she slipped on a pair of shoes and walked out of the room and through the hallways. It was nearly empty, most of the vampires preferred to sleep during the day because they disliked being cooped up inside like prisoners. Juliette loved walking around during the day hours because even though she was forbidden to leave the mansion she occasionally sneaked a peek out of one of the windows and tried to feel the warmth through the glass.
She made her way though the maze of hallways until she ended up exactly where she wanted to be, the library. Unlike all other libraries Juliette had been to this had no military training manual nor any contemporary literature. This library contained two main categories – vampire history and legends and classical literature. Usually Juliette would spring for a good Jane Austen or Emily Bronte book but today she was researching vampires. Mainly she was researching the relationship between fledglings and their creators.
After a few hours of skimming Juliette came to a few conclusions. One was that fledglings and their creators had a very carefully balanced relationship. The creator was always respected and obeyed while the fledgling was either a) extremely obedient to the point where they crave their creator’s attention and praise or b) extremely hateful of their creator and strive to destroy him/her. Juliette wondered exactly how many vampires William had created himself, knowing only of Brendon as one of them. Juliette heard the door open and quickly shut her book, placing it on the stack next to her she stood from the table.
“No need to get up,” Brendon said with a grin as he traced his fingers along the aisle of books.
“Well if I knew it was just you,” Juliette said sitting back down, “I wouldn’t have bothered.”
“Ouch,” Brendon said pretending to be hurt. He simply let out a laugh and pulled out one of the books and examined it before putting it back in it’s proper place.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” Juliette asked propping her head onto one of her hands, “It is very much unlike you.”
“Well let’s just say that favors have changed,” Brendon said walking over to the table across from Juliette, “What you did last night, rejecting William’s advance, has put me back into the running as his favorite.”
Juliette looked confused for a moment and stood from her chair, “Is that so?” she asked, slightly concerned. She knew it pissed him off but after the rose she figured it was all okay, “When did you last speak to him?”
“Right after you stormed away. I was right there to plant the seed of hate towards you Juliette,” Brendon said triumphantly. Juliette couldn’t help but grin, he had no idea about the flower. She decided not to burst his bubble so she walked past him and looked at the spines of some of the other books. “So what are you looking for?” He asked quickly, concerned at her behavior.
“Something that I could do to win back William’s affection would be nice,” Juliette said pulling out a dusty book entitled ‘Vampire Courting Rituals’ and showed it to Brendon, “Probably something from in here.”
Brendon cleared his throat, “Don’t get your hopes up, he holds quite the grudge.” Brendon smiled and came up behind Juliette putting his hands on her shoulders, “But me on the other hand,” he said and kissed her neck, “I am the kind of man to forgive and forget.”
Juliette’s fist clenched against the book and by reflex she swung back and smacked Brendon across the face. “Now, now Brendon,” she said biting her lip, “watch yourself.”
“I like the fight,” Brendon said pulling at his tie and throwing it onto the table, “William’s never going to take you back, he’s focused on furthering me in the vampire world, like he was before you came into our lives.”
“Is this what it is about?” Juliette asked taking a challenging step forward to him, “are you jealous of me?”
“You are nothing but a toy that has stayed past its use,” Brendon spat out slapping her across the face, “How dare you even think yourself on the same level as me.”
Juliette felt blood trickle from her lip and Brendon stepped closer, “So fragile,” he said with a grin, “I could break you so easily. It would be quite fun for me.” He licked the trail of blood from her chin and lingered on her lips, “You stand no chance.”
Juliette cringed at the feeling of Brendon so close to her and took a step away, “I think you need to leave now, Brendon.”
“I don’t think so,” Brendon said, his eyes beginning to glow red from the small taste of blood. “I promise this won’t hurt,” he murmured and took a step closer to Juliette. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, pinning her to him. William had never used his full force on her so this caught her off guard. In battle she expected it, was prepared for it, but in the library during daylight hours? Never.
“Brendon stop,” she ordered. Brendon didn’t respond but brushed her hair from her neck and sniffed the air around them. “Stop!” Juliette called out again as she tried to fight against him. Brendon had one arm twisted behind her back and the other across her stomach, paralyzing her from making any useful movements. She struggled as much as she could as she let out a last ditch effort scream which was quickly muffled by Brendon.
He bent down and she could hear his fangs grow and felt them reach the surface of her skin. She felt him take a deep breath and prep for the plunge when a booming voice came form the doorway, “Brendon!” Brendon immediately threw Juliette down to the ground and turned to see his creator, William standing in the doorway. “What is this!?” he ordered, taking a few elegant steps towards Brendon.
“W-w-william,” he stammered, retracting his fangs.
“Well?” William asked taking a few more steps, closing the gap. He threw a glance down to Juliette and then back to Brendon, “Leave now,” he said stepping past him, not even looking Brendon in the face, “I don’t wish to see you.” Brendon was obviously offended and hurt at his creator’s shun and quietly stepped from the room, knocking stacks of books down onto the floor as he went.
Juliette lay speechless against the bookshelf, her hand grasping her neck. She had never come so close to actually being bitten before and had never been so close to death that she wasn’t sure how to react. “William,” she said slowly, looking up at the man who stood before her.
William crouched down and placed his hand on her cheek, “You okay?” he asked concerned. Juliette simply nodded and took William’s hand. He pulled her from the floor and wrapped his arm around her waist. He used his other hand to cup her chin as he turned her head from left to right to see if Brendon had left any bruises and sure enough he had. “Tsk, tsk Brendon,” he muttered to himself, smiling at Juliette. He pushed back her hair, “I’m so sorry he did that… you have to understand that he has been the only one who has held my favor in the last fifty years. He’s a bit needy and clingy.”
Juliette stayed silent but as William moved in to kiss her she muttered, “I think I would like to go back to my room now…” And he paused.
He kissed her on the forehead, “But of course,” he said, offering her his arm.
“No thank you,” she declined, “I think I need to go by myself and… think..” she murmured. She didn’t look for a response or approval but left William standing alone in the library.
William’s fists clenched and after a few minutes he stormed angrily out of the library and found one of the servants, “get Brendon to my office NOW!”
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