Jues Is Back (open)

[Fel]

The black corvette pulls up outside Castle and idles by the curb. The driver looks back over his seat at the girl he's been with for the last 10 hours on various planes and rental cars. She has changed her hair and eye color, and sometimes her heigh, a few times now but he has learned how to recognize her. His own daughter goes to Havens so he is used to teenagers with their gifts but what throws him off is how she hasn't said anything other than 'yes' 'no' and 'thanks' to him since they left the east coast. She is so thin that he would normally suspect her of having an eating disorder, but he had seen her plow through three subs from Jimmy's while they were driving, and her brown-black hair is in some kind of exotic braid down he back, long enough to go past her waist. Only a few loose strands hang limply by her pale face. There are dark shadows under her eyes and she's wearing no makeup but despite her current state the driver wouldn't hesitate to call her a pretty girl. "Juliet, we're here." He says softly.

The girl jumps slightly, she must have been lost in thought or something. "Oh. Thanks." She mumbled. Her voice wavers slightly over the words as it changes pitches and tones. Under her breath she hisses "Stabilize voice. Original. Lock." Juliet pulls her back over her shoulder and slides along the seat towards the door.

"Your bags will already be in your dorm room, here are the papers with all the information you'll need." The driver hands her a pile of papers almost half an inch thick. She glances at the first one before getting out the door and slamming it behind her. The driver sighs and presses down on the gas. Juliet watches it go, all alone again. They had not permitted Trip to go with her to Havens, he was not old enough to be at a high school, so the little boy could not help her face her old friends again. She pushes her hair out of her face and starts to walk up the ornate path that lead to Castle. This place is so different from the Havens in her memories. This could be New York's richest building while Haves seems like a third-world country slum.

Juliet doesn't know how to deal with this. She stares straight ahead while she walks towards the main office. She's sure that if she looked around she could find plenty of familiar faces but she doesn't dare. Most of the people she used to know are really nothing more than memories to her now. Trip had told her that it was his fault, when he had tried to recover her memories he had damaged them so all of the emotions and thought behind what had happened were erased. She can remember every moment clearly but it is like watching a movie she doesn't care about. The helpful lady at the office tells her that she arrived during dinner and that she should go wait there before heading back to her dorms. With a wink she explains that students aren't allowed to be in the dorms outside of free hours because of some strange incidents that have been happening, though the lady assures her that it isn't anything serious. Juliet decides that she couldn't care less if it was serious or not but she smiles and nods. "Thank you, I'll head to dinner now." She says, overly polite.

As she steps into the cafeteria room, something that reminds her of a five star buffet-style restaurant than anything that could be associated with school, the self-conciousness sets in again. She wonders if she'll be recognizable to these people though she had told herself that she didn't care about any of them she doesn't want to be that person with absolutely no friends. A brief image of a girl with black hair sitting by herself at a table sketching in a notebook flashes through her mind. She can put a name to that person, Raven. Pushing it away, she sits down without getting any food. "Program SS start." She mumbles. Juliet pulls out her itouch an resolves to spend the rest of the dinner listening to music and ignoring the people that she possibly knowns.

Word Count: 750

[Margaret Fox]

Margaret had been in the room for a while now, pushing her spaghetti around with her fork. She liked to food hear on most days, it wasn't your everyday public school food, she knew something wasn't going to look back at her. "Quit playing with your food." Holly said to her younger sister. "Meh." Margaret replied. Holly rolled her eyes, than went a bit bug eyes as she sat up straight, and scanned the room. The thoughts of the lunch room flowed through her brain. She moved around them, passing the ones she knew hadn't set off those mental alarm bells. "Hello..?" she thought aloud, so any mind readers could hear her that were sitting nearby. As far as she knew, she was the only student that was a mind reader at Castle. "Hey.... I'll be right back." she mused dully. Emily looked up from were she had been sitting, her mouth full of red spaghetti, most of it on her face not in her tummy. "Mommy," she said and began to try and follow Holly like the little baby duck she was. Holly smiled, and took a napkin and wiped Emily's face. "Stay hear Emmy, Mommy'll be back soon." Emily nodded and sat back down, and began to eat again. Holly patted her head, and walked down the long isle of tables. She continued to look around, shifting through thoughts. She knew she was probably crazy, to even think that the person she was looking for was hear, or still alive for that matter. She knew Juliet was dead, but only because she'd been told. She had in fact, been present when Raven had died, hell, she'd carried the body to the forest, and after that, after sitting there with the already dead, or still dieing girl, it was all blank. She didn't remember much from that day. She'd lost her two sons, and carried a body of someone she knew disliked her with a fiery passion. She looked around, and saw her, and filched when she did. The thoughts matched, the appearance... well...Juliet could look like anything, or anybody. "J-Juliet..?" she thought, looking at her in disbelief. She didn't know what she thought of Juliet. She knew Juliet never liked her. At all. But it had been a some what civil, the hatred between them as far as Holly knew. "Juliet..?" she said aloud, still a bit shocked. She was in a state of being stunned, as this girl was supposed to be dead. Than again, this was Juliet. This girl just wouldn't go the way most would want her too. She was a fighter, defiant right to the center of her core. And for that, Holly held a respect for her. It had been a shame she had never gotten to know Juliet. She had in fact all ways wanted to.. well... be at least on 'Hi' basics with her. She was a nice girl, so long as you were nice to her. Holly thought of what to do. "Do.... You know who I am?" she asked. A person never walked scratch free from the Havens. The schools foundation was made of pain, and suffering for teh most part. Nobody came out of there the same.

Words : 540

[Gwen Rosalie]

Gwen burst through the doors and shouted "WHAT UP PEEPS?! GWEN IS IN THE HOUSE!" She laughed, while some just shook their heads, they were basically used to her. She twirled and skipped over to where Holly and Margaret were originally sitting. She was full of mixed emotions. She had been watching from a upstairs window where Juliet had come back. She had heard of rumors of her dying in the fire. She wasn't totally sure, and had a feeling that a soldier like Juliet wouldn't be brought down that easily. And that the rumors were full of bull. She giggled as she was right; she watched over Emily and took a plate of spaghetti and ate it while conversing with Emily between bites, and said "So what was all that about? Oh, and Jules is back. Tell Holly she owes me $50." She continued to eat. She could taste the tomato and juicy noodles which if she could image project. Many could be seeing worms wiggling on their plates. But of course that would be mean, and she had a plan for actual meal worms to be put in the meat pies. Where people couldn't see it until they A) ate one or B) Saw one or C) dig through their pie. She laughed at the idea. Then stared at Emily for her answer.

(228)

[Fel]

Juliet shivers and pulls on her red jacket. Even though this place is richer than most schools it was still freezing cold. She stares at the wood of the table and the length of red cloth running down it's center, the ceiling and it's deadly-looking chandeliers, the walls, the random people who're eating food that actually looks good. She starts to wish that she had gotten some pizza or could at least smoke a little bit. She eyes the line but decides against it, she's not even hungry and getting into the habit of eating unnecessarily would be bad for her in the long run.

A face suddenly jumps in front of her and Juliet jerks slightly, a violent reaction for her. She shivers as all of the memories that are associated with the face jump to the front of her mind. Her eyes go slightly unfocused as she's pulled out of the present but after a few seconds the memories finish with her. She frowns slightly, wishing that she could remember more of the reasons behind what had happened.

"Yes. You're Holly Fox. You're sisters with Margaret, Gwen, and Tiffany. You are a telekinetic and you can also read minds, right?" She blurts out, pretty much without thinking. She wants to make sure that her memories are correct, but she hadn't meant to go about it like that. Since she used to read minds she still remembers a lot of secrets people had and she doesn't want to mortify someone. She studies Holly's face, trying not to be creepy about it, and tries to summon up any feelings towards the girl. She's rewarded with nothing.

Words: 288

[Margaret Fox]

Holly nods slowly. "Uh, huh.." she said. Holly looks back Juliet, searching though her mind, with her own. She only got so deep. In the simplest of terms, When she got to a certain point in the girls head, there was a a huge wall....with a moat infested with sharks.. and an army of imagery soldiers keeping any body away. Holly , while in Juliet's brain, could see Juliet trying to access what ever was behind that wall. Maybe this was just Holly doing this, imagining what she was seeing. A thought within a thought... Okay, Holly really need to stop playing psychologist with her self. Starting... tomorrow.

"Juliet..?" Emily asked Gwen, then looked at her down at her bowl, and it was empty. She did a pout-duck face like thing with her face and hopped out of her chair and skipped to Holly.

"E-Emily, go eat."

Emily smiled, as she was already next to her very, well... she didn't know, but she knew Holly no longer looked like she had before. She grabbed a chunk of Holly's skirt, and wiped her mouth with it. Holly flinched, as she didn't exactly want the entire student body looking up her skirt. When she was done using Holly as a dish towel she looked up ate Juliet. She racked her brain.. name... connect.. with FACE! She knew that face! Juliet = That Person. Emily slid a back pack of her shoulders on the floor, and retrieved a hat. Her little horns she had, had previously were gone now. She picked up the hat, and looked down at it in her hands. She remembered Juliet had been really nice to her, so she smiled, as she realized she was going to be nice - like Juliet. She walked over, and reached up, forcing the hat on top of Juliet's head. She smiled up at her and said, as she adjusted the hat to her own personal idea of perfection "You look pretty now." she loosened her smiled, and decided to do what her Mommy had done. "Do you know me?"

[Gwen Rosalie]

Gwen rolled her eyes as she shook her head at Emily's antics. She skipped over to Juliet, standing next to Margaret. She stuck her hand out in front of Holly's face palm up and said "You owe me $50, since I was right. About Juliet's return!" Then she turned to look at Juliet with her hand still outstretched in front of Holly, and said "Sorry about making a bet about your return. Many thought you were dead. Then again, most thought I was dead while lost in the space time continuum. Anyways happy to have you back. I'm quite sure that many would be happy to know your back, at least of the survivors." She smiled, watching Juliet. Waiting for an answer, she could be taking a gander in her head, but since they only just got her back, she wasn't gonna be rude and have her leave on them just after they got her back. She was overall happy, joyful, but also confused and wondering. She wondered what happened to Alucard. And if he was still alive, after all the only true people she's seen here were her siblings. You could live at this school for a week and pass by people you don't recognize until a second glance but they're gone by the time you try.

(226)

[Fel]

Juliet watches Emily put the hat on her head. She freezes and looks up at it. She wants to rip it off her head but since Emily is such a little girl she decides that it would seem unnecessarily cruel to do something like that. She bites on her lip and plans how she's going to answer. She's all to conscious that these people expect her to act like the Juliet that they remember, the only trouble is that she doesn't remember how to act like that to well.

"You're the little girl. From the bathroom." She says after a while, her expression blank. To late, she remembers to smile but the it feels wrong so she stops trying. She doesn't remember being to close to the girl so hopefully she won't notice.

When the other girl, who's name is Gwen according to her memories, comes up Juliet realizes that they aren't going to leave her alone quickly. She takes her headphones out and the song plays loudly for a moment.

music playing

Even though she's surprised that they had bets on her living, with such large amounts of money too, she doesn't react other than to shrug. "I don't care."

Words: 210

[Margaret Fox]

Emily smiled, unfazed by Juliet's lack of emotion. She was just kind of happy at the fact that she knew who Juliet was in the first place, and being so young, she didn't really dwell on anything for too long. She stayed by Juliet for a few more seconds, mostly just thinking if tonight was bath night... Oh gosh, she didn't want that. She made herself forget that, and walked back over to Holly, trying to climb up the front of her body, and Holly soon gave in and picked Emily up, resting her baby girl on her hip. She pressed her lips together, studying Juliet, trying to disguise it as best she could. There was something off, well, off wasn't the right term... Juliet had never been spot on. No one was, but there was that awkwardness that felt more apparent than before. She resisted the urge to elbow Gwen in the stomach. That girl had no sense of social direction.

Of course the first thing you say to a person is how much their life is valued at in a bet. Gwen had gotten her off guard, and Holly had ended up betting 50 bucks just to shut Gwen up. Holly bit her bottom lip and looked to the side, stopping short as Emily had laid her head on her shoulder. She managed to look far enough to see Zachary making his way over, and he soon took his position as the sky-scraper among the group. Zachary looked on at Juliet. "Hi." he said, standing by Holly, slightly in front of her. He was bland, he was a man of few words, to put it in a nice way at least, and he was more so the one to jump in front of a bullet, not the one to stand behind a podium and give a speech. He was simple and straight forward. Somehow, without either Holly, or Zachary noticing, Margaret popped in, her eyes glued to Juliet. She had in fact, probably been closer to Juliet than the rest of her siblings, but had never been able to really connect with the 17 year old. And now, from the fact that Juliet hadn't b*tch slapped Holly, that she was going to have to start all over again.

Rather this was a good thing, or bad thing was still to be determined. Margaret managed a smile. "Hey JuJu." she said, giving a slight wave in her boys uniform. Margaret did have a hope that maybe Juliet would know her, and know her 100%. She didn't want to be a 'Yea... I know your name, moving on now.' like the others had apparently been. She dreaded being brushed off as such, but had grown used to hiding it. She was contemplating on rather or not she wanted to hug Juliet, that being the more drastic moves. So, right now, she stood a little closer to the 17 year old she once knew. She stood there, biting the inside of her cheek, wondering if Juliet would catch on that she was in boy’s uniform, and not in a girls. Margaret thought back to the days when she and Holly had kept that 'she's abusive..' thing up.

That was to all and all to get everyone to just leave Holly alone, because at that time, being left alone was a thing Holly deeply desired. She remembered one night, were she had took it a step further, and asked Juliet if she could sleep on her floor. Juliet didn't really seem to care to much, told her to be quiet, and lay down. She did, right by Juliet's bed. She had fallen asleep, and had been woken up getting her butt kicked, literary. Followed by being ordered to get out, and go get dressed. Than, the memory went blank. In Margaret's mind, Juliet had been one of the more solid people for say at the Havens. She was like a f*cked version of a good kid. After Margaret thought about it, Juliet wasn't a good kid, she just had the super natural ability to be in the right places at the right times, and might as weel have been Karma's undoubting servant of justice. But that was her past memory of Juliet. Her new opion, was all to new, and confused to really understand what the new Juliet was going to be like

Words: 700

[Fel]

Juliet hunches her shoulders uncomfortably, realizing that a crowd of people is circling around her. She can name names and recognize faces without any effort but she still feels completely lost. Juliet watches Holly out of the corners of her eyes, aware that the girl is analyzing her. Even though she knows that she would be a hypocrite for getting irritated about something like that she can't help but be pissed off. Juliet pushes the feeling away and tries to focus on the two new people. She nods hello to Zachary, remembering him as a quiet person who hadn't given her a reason to dislike him. She doesn't know much else about him.

When the girl, Margaret, starts talking Juliet realizes that she's in trouble. She remembers that the other people were in her memory only briefly but Margaret is one of those people that had made a lot of appearances. Before coming Juliet had promised herself that she would do her best to hide the fact of her memory loss. Actually, it was more of emotion loss. If people find out then she'd likely be sent to a therapist, something she isn't okay with.

The modifier smiles briefly, having to force the action. "Hey, girl in a boys uniform." She mumbles, trying to make her voice hold more emotion than she feels.

words: 232

[Margaret Fox]

Holly felt slightly irritated. "Good grief... Somethings never change.." she thought. She didn't plan on telling anybody about Juliet's...little loss of emotion. She had read that much into her, but that wall built she had built, or someone else had bit for her, was protecting something... What she didn't know. She could in fact find out, if she really wanted to, but that would take time, patience, and actually telling Juliet that she was going to f*ck with her head, more so than it already was from a mind reads stand point. She forced a slight pity like smile. "Good luck." she thought to Juliet. "If ya need anything... uh.. just...heh...message me." that was a pretty bad joke. She had in fact used to mind reading abilities to check on Margaret, and others, and they all knew how to send her a message, which meant thinking her name repetitively. If Juliet decided, which Holly highly doubted she would, that she needed something, she figured she'd let her figure it out her self. "Good luck Jues," she thought again. "And...just so ya know, you used to own a lot of people's ass's." with this, she cracked a bit of a wider smile, fighting to urge to laugh, even lightly seemed a bit inappropriate right now. She directed her gaze to Margaret. "Okay, lets give the girl a break." she said.
"But-" Margaret began to protest
"Come on, lets go." Holly's decision was final, and Holly was soon leaving, Zachary followed, and Holly hooked her elbow with Gwen's, forcing her to follow. Margaret sighed as she looked on at her siblings, all leaving just because Holly said so. She looked at Juliet. She only did for a few seconds, as she knew she wouldn't offer her any help. Juliet was... Like a nicer version of Raven. here was no point in trying to befriend her. People like Juliet liked being alone, and pushing people away was easy enough. Margaret didn't smile back at Juliet, as she knew it wasn't genuine. She gave in and half smiled before walking away. "If you want solitary confinement for the rest of your life... than so be it..." Margaret thought.

Words: 380

[Gwen Rosalie]

Gwen groaned and squeaked as Holly dragged her away without warning. She finally was able to get her balance and footing back and walked beside Holly and asked "What was that about?! Could of at least warned me that you were gonna drag me away. I wasn't doing anything, you ain't the only one here that knows Juliet's secret. Forget something?" Then taps to her head as she reminded Holly about her seeing visions and being able to pick up some telepathic messages if she tried hard enough. She had seen that look Holly had. Of course, being who she was she had to snoop. She couldn't really believe that Juliet had somewhat amnesia though it was more emotional. So memories but without the emotion to them. She guessed that Juliet was sort of lucky, since they had all experienced bad things and had them as bad memories. Without the feeling of fear, Juliet definitely be the first to not have a hard time sleeping that night. Gwen got the look of concentration, and unhooked her elbow from Holly's and walked briskly to her original spot at their table and continued eating her now cold spaghetti.

(201)

[Fel]

Juliet's eyes widen slightly at the sound of Holly's voice inside her head. She had known that she could do that but it was still a bit shocking. "Stabilize and lock." She breaths instinctively to prevent herself from accidentally releasing her gift. Unless she said the lock command out loud all sorts of things happened. She had become so dependent on these 'programs' that she was beginning to use the verbal commands for everything. It let her live without constantly keeping her gift in check, she could forget about it and nothing would change unless she spoke the words that unlocked the modifier gift.

"Oh, goodbye." She says politely, watching the other students go. She thinks about what Holly had said, unwilling to agree with her on the 'badass' part. Even if she'd used to be a badass she certainly isn't one anymore. Sure... if I ever need help. She thought back hesitantly. She doubted that she would need anything, though. She had already 'died' once and pulled through extensive brain damage so it couldn't get much worse for her. All alone at her table she can feel eyes boring into her from the other students. She doesn't mind most of them because they don't expect much from her but it still makes her uncomfortable.

words : 224

[Shin-sama]

Omniscient from the shadows of the ceiling in the Great Hall, a dark presence hung unnoticed over the unfolding scene. From the safety of his hiding place Alucard could see Holly, Emily, Margaret, Zachary, and Gwen talking to the newly arrived Juliet. He hardly focused on the conversation; mainly he was concerned about re-memorizing her features, lest she suddenly disappear again. Juliet had been missing for about a month or so. She looked like the person he remembered, but seemed strangely different.

Her countenence was held with ease, faltering only a barrage of questioning and coversation as her fragmented memories slowly regained themselves. As he continued to watch from his perch, Alucard's mind began to drift, questions and thoughts bouncing off each other like sound bouncing off walls, creating the singular thought, how many more are out there still? He recalled the first time he read Mr. Talbot's letter, and the self-pitying thought of it was all my fault tugged painfully at his soul. He was swept up in a wave of guilt. It was strenuous on Alucard's conscience to carry this burden every day, and this alone could drive him to tears in the late hour as he pondered what it might have been like if he had never been born.

This was the reason he was becoming increasingly elusive. Despite his brother, Radu's, best efforts, it seemed like nothing was working. Mainly because the younger sibling of Alucard had no idea of this malicious guilt eating away the life of his estranged older brother, or the cause of it. No one knew the whole truth about the person many had looked up to. It was such a stalemate; if Alucard continued to keep his secrets, they would hate him if they found out later, and if he told them now, they may or may not hate him.

As Holly and her siblings departed, Alucard seemingly manifested out of thin air a few feet from Juliet. One of his many preternatural habits. He didn't meet Juliet's gaze at first; his body language suggested he was ashamed of something. Eventually, Alucard raised his head and stared at her. "Juliet," he said slowly, afraid his voice wavering, "You..you're back."

---

//word count: 432
//muse: For The First Time by The Script
//notes: The poor thing. Ever since he found out the truth about things, he blames himself for everything that's happened.

[Fel]

(Yeah, Alucard does seem to always have it rough. Poor guy.)

Juliet laces her fingers together and stares intently at them. For some reason, she had always found hands interesting. Skin and muscles and bones, all tied together with ligaments and kept living by the purplish-blue veins that spidered just underneath her pale skin. After a few minutes she separates her hands from each other and taps each finger on the wood of the table. Slowly, she starts to make the quiet noise into a pattern. Juliet laughs at herself, is she three? It was really very funny how easily amused she was.

With her heightened sense of hearing, Juliet has no trouble hearing Alucard say her name over the sound of the music in her ears. Alucard, seeing him with her own eyes is something of a shock, there's a lot of memory data to process. The girl named after the bird, Raven, who had been her best friend, if such a thing existed, had dated this person before she died. He was a vampire, he could read minds, he was also the reincarnation of 'dracula'. Judging from her memories, Juliet should smile and say 'Alucard! I missed you! Are you okay?' or something along those lines. Then she should hug him and maybe tell him that she was sorry that she couldn't save Raven.

Instead... "Alucard Grimseley, always in the thick of things." Juliet says, her voice unfeeling. Here he is, another person to judge how damaged of a person she is. In front of all these people, it turns out that all she is is someone who's not quite up to expectations. She feels a little bad that she's not giving him the Juliet he wants. Only a little, though, and that's not very much.

She probably looks very different too, the past-Juliet had always had a soft spot for boy-ish simplicity. Instead, the present-her is more reminiscent of the child from The Scarlet Letter with her more elegant way of dressing herself. It would be hard to mistake her for a boy now, in the obvious curves in her skinny body that can just be noticed through the emerald and silver cloth dress that touches her skin only lightly and the soft red jacket wrapped around her arms. In reality, the sloppy way of dressing with to-big t-shirts and jeans that were faded soft and wrinkly from hips to ankles suits her tastes better. She misses dressing for no one but herself and her own now expectations. However, she had wanted to make it obvious right from the start that she wasn't their 'Juju' or 'Jues' or whatever they called her. Juliet's grey eyes trace over Alucard's features, determined to read what he's thinking despite her loss of mind reading ability.

"It was a hell of a journey, but somehow fate dragged me back here." Those words weren't unlike what she would have said pre-apocolypse, she would sound almost like herself if she could just put some emotion behind them. As it is, all she resembles at the moment is an intelligent rock. Juliet bites her lip while reflecting on the last month. She and that little kid, Trip, had somehow made it across the entire united states only to be sent back across to California. Poor Trip, he's bound for this place when he gets older, but until then she has no idea where he is. She kind of wishes that she could just smuggle that little punk in, he was always easy to talk to and due to his gift he never misunderstood what she said. It would be cruel to do something like that, though, for all it's wealthy spank Castle seems like just another Havens to her.


Words: 640

[Shin-sama]

Alucard wasn't surprised by the unseeming lack of emotion in Juliet's voice. He'd already observed and heard the conversation between her, Holly, and Holly's siblings. Still, it bothered him just a little bit. "Alucard Grimseley, always in the thick of things," she said. Sure. He supposed he was.

"Yeah, I guess so," Alucard replied, with the faintest trace of a smile. Juliet and he had been through thick and thin, and had fought side-by-side in certain circumstances. In that moment, Alucard felt a rush of affection for his friend. But he contained it, for her sake. No need to overwhelm. It was just..seeing her face again after all that time was uplifting to him.

Against his better judgement, Alucard allowed the flow of Juliet's thoughts drift around in his mind. Apparently she thought he was there to judge, like perhaps the others did. After the thought passes he notices her tracing his features with her eyes. Trying to read him, maybe. Alucard didn't mind.

"It was a hell of a journey, but somehow fate dragged me back here." He bet it was. "Yeah?" Alucard replied. Fate was kind, if it brought her back here. "Well, I'm glad. I missed you." He talked in a tone that suggested maybe they could talk about it later. Besides, someone had to inform her about Castle, and the goings-on within its walls.

Leaning a little closer, Alucard said quietly, "I never intended to judge you. Whatever happened, it probably wasn't your fault."

---

//word count: 310
//muse: This Is Your Life by The Killers
//notes: Sorry the word count's slightly low.