Daughter of the Devil - r. peters // 2

𝟻. 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜? 𝚗𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖.

What the hell was she doing?

Callie stood at the door of the Orpheum, the lifers walking through her, chattering excitedly about the "girl and the cute holograms" that were performing tonight.

She sighs, shaking her head, pulling the hood of her hoodie over it, before poofing into the building.

Immediately she can see how full the audience is. No seats open at all. She can't blame anybody, the band was good. More than good. That's why she was here.

Definitely not the fact that she wanted to see the boys.

She sighs again, poofing over in the sound box, looking at the stage. Nah, too high.

She can't sit right up front. That'd be too obvious.

Backstage?

She hums. Backstage could work.  She just couldn't be back there when they were.

Screw it.

She waits for Julie to take her spot on the stage, introducing herself, before gesturing to a spot behind her, then the three beats of the drums as Alex appears, smiling, before setting his sticks down. But he doesn't disappear.

He's not playing...

Before she can even think anymore about it, there's the deep, familiar sound, and the bassist appears, clad in his black leather jacket, smile on his face.

It was like the air (if she had any) was being punched out of her. It's been months since she'd seen him, and... She forgot about how pretty he was.

But there's really no other way to describe him.

As soon as he glances a bit in her direction, she poofs away, to backstage, where Luke had just poofed away, also grinning and waving. She noticed most of the crowd screaming at seeing him again, and had to bite back a scoff. Horny teenagers.

And then they start playing, and she recognizes the first song, having gone to a little bit of that performance, but not the second one. Julie couldn't help looking at each of them when they played, though, and she knew by the look in her eyes that this song was important somehow.

She smiles a bit, tugging lightly on the strings of her hoodie, listening to each of them, watching them enjoy themselves.

They were lucky.

All of a sudden, the guitarist glances over in her direction, and her eyes widen. Shit...

But Luke merely smiles, giving her a small wink, before turning back to the crowd.

She takes a small breath, smiling a little bit, before they all bow, the boys poofing away, back to backstage.

Luke catches her eye again, and she smiles softly, before poofing out of the building.

Reggie catches Luke's gaze, darting his own eyes over, but sees nothing. "Dude, what is it?"

Luke looks back at him. "Hm? Oh, nothing, just zoned out."

But the boy looks back out to the crowd, hoping to catch another glance of the girl who saved them. But she's already gone.

///

When she gets back to the club, she pulls her hood tighter over her head, poofing up to the roof to avoid waiting eyes.

She didn't expect to see anyone else, though.

"What- you shouldn't be here!" She hisses, stepping up to the boy, who sits on the edge of the roof, looking down at the darkened streets of Hollywood.

Luke smiles a bit, shrugging. "Figured I'd come by and talk to you for a few minutes."

She sputters. "But- you-"

"Relax, Cal. Already talked to Willie. He's got his eye out." He says softly, patting the spot beside him.

She hesitates, but sighs, stepping forward to sit next to the boy, his shoulder brushing hers. She can feel his gaze on her.

"Y'know, you aren't looking very good."

"I'm aware." She mumbles, rubbing the back of her hands and down to her wrist, tracing the purple emblem underneath her sleeve. "But, it's nothing I'm not used to."

Luke sighs, reaching over, lightly taking her hand in his, not squeezing, but interlocking their fingers together. "Princess, you and I both know that's a lie."

She takes a breath, before shaking her bead. "Yeah, I'm not doing very good." She mumbles.

"A little better." He hums, nodding, looking back out at the streets. "So... You came to watch us play."

She swallows softly. "Yeah... I did."

Luke looks at her. "What made you come tonight?"

She takes a hesitant breath, before shrugging. "I don't know, I... Never really got to see the full show I went to, and-"

"That's not true." He shakes his head. "Great is a good song, one of my favorites, but that's not the reason you came to watch us, is it?"

Callie sighs. "Alex is rubbing off on you." She mutters, earning a scoff, before shaking her head. "I just... I wanted to see you guys, I guess. I... I missed you."

Luke smiles a bit, putting a gentle arm around her shoulder, tugging her closer to him. "We miss you, too. All of us." He takes a breath. "But... What about Caleb? He just... Let you come?"

"Actually... He gave me the day off. Wasn't feeling good, or something." She shrugs. "Weird, but I wasn't fixing to say anything about it."

"That's... That is weird." He frowns, before looking at her, sighing. "Don't worry, Princess. Me and the guys... We'll get you out of this." He nudges her lightly. "Promise."

She swallows, looking down at her hands. "You can't promise that." She whispers hoarsely.

He shakes his head with a small grin. "Try me. Me and the guys, we'll figure something out. All of us, even Julie. We care about you, you saved us-"

"Luke, I'm okay." She says firmly, shrugging. "I've made peace with it. It's been a part of me for almost ninety years, I... Think I can handle it."

Luke bites his lip, shaking his head, before snapping his gaze towards her. "When you were... Alive... Did you have a... Goal, or a dream, of sorts, but... But you couldn't get it because life was in the way?"

She looks back at him, then shrugs. "I dunno, I... I guess I loved cheering. But... The girls made fun of me because... I was a little on the poorer side."

"Did you blame anyone for getting in the way?"

The question surprised her, but she nods tentatively. "I mean... My dad was always busy with his magic shows, and I helped him all the time... Most of our money went to his showcases and tricks..." She mumbles, but shakes her head. "But I enjoyed helping him. It was my favorite thing."

"But... You also loved cheering?" Luke says softly.

She looks at him, shaking her head again. "Where are you going with this?"

Luke bites his lip, before standing, holding his hand out to her. "Come with me. I wanna show you something."

She hesitates, but lets the boy take her hand, poofing them off of the roof.