⋆ The Disappearance⋆

word count: 3656

Stiles typed away on his laptop, planning on stalking any form of online media that the girl Juno Clarke had. He found himself smitten when he first saw her, hearing her name in her breathy accent made his jaw drop on the first day back at school. Her first interaction with him, shielding her mouth and nose as she stepped away with him was definitely not what he expected, which only made him want to know more.

But Stiles still had to repeat to himself in his mind over and over that this was just a little crush, and his ten year plan to make Lydia Martin fall in love with him was still ongoing, although it may need to stretch to fifteen...

What Stiles found was something unusual. A photo of a woman who looked almost identical to Juno in a knee length dress with polka dots, holding onto a thin cigarette carelessly, laughing alongside Elvis Presley. The photo was in black and white, and there were a number of people surrounding them which Stiles assumed to be paparazzi. He furrowed his brow, confused at the photo and clicked on the source link.

Elvis Presley with high school sweetheart, Shirley Clarke. 1956.

Stiles couldn't believe his eyes, it was almost as if they were the same person. Stiles then searched for Shirley Clarke, and was stunned to find nearly nothing about this woman, except for multiple photos of her spending time with celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, and going to parties. Juno Clarke's relative was best friends with celebrities and she didn't tell him? Stiles chuckled as he closed his computer and got ready for school. He began mentally preparing probably a thousand more questions than originally planned for Juno. He didn't know why he had so many questions, maybe it was because she seemed so mysterious, or maybe it was because he just enjoyed to listen to her talk because of her accent.

-

"The only reason you feel unable to control is because you let the scent overtake you," Cyrus instructed. He looked down at Juno who was sitting on their couch in the living room, listening carefully to Cyrus' 'lesson'. "I think maybe you just need to take a few days off, then go back to school and just face your obstacles."

Juno looked at him wide eyed, "that's it? That's supposed to be you teaching me?" She asked in disbelief. "How do I make it stop feeling like I'm intoxicated? I couldn't focus when he was near me, Cyrus. I just have this undying urge to just drink and drink until there's nothing left."

"I met someone far before you were born, all I did was become used to their presence, eventually I was able to resist the urges." Cyrus said.

"Then what happened? You were able to live normally?"

Cyrus laughed, "no, if anything becoming used to their scent made me want to be around them all the time."

Juno groaned, "you know I don't like doing that-"

"You've done it before June, and just because that didn't go well doesn't mean it'll happen again. You'll be fine, maybe occupy yourself with something if he's nearby, distract yourself from the scent. If you feel like you're about to get dizzy or whatnot, think about garlic." Cyrus instructed. Juno was about to protest, wanting to know how the thought of garlic would do anything, but she just sighed and nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with him. He looked up at the clock on the wall and picked up his set of keys from the coffee table in front of Juno. "Right, well I've got to head off. Just stay here and don't drink everything in the fridge. I'll try and bring back more B positive for you."

Juno nodded, "thanks." She watched Cyrus leave, sighing as soon as she heard him lock the front door. She groaned and laid back on the couch. At times like this, she wish she were human so she could just sleep her problems away.

-

Stiles had been listing about a million questions in his mind for Juno. He had told himself multiple times to calm down and be casual about it, but his brain couldn't do it, not even after taking his Adderall. There was something about her that was untrustworthy, yet something about her that wanted him to investigate her and know everything about her.

Scott had felt the same way about Stiles, that Juno seemed very mysterious and 'off', but Scott McCall would always try to see the best in people and give them a chance, so he wasn't worried about her being 'untrustworthy'.

"Dude, you're like, obsessed. It's only been a day," Scott said, taking his books out of his locker.

Stiles scoffed and tried to brush off what Scott said with a laugh, "aha, whaaat? No I'm not obsessed! Sure she seems kinda bizarre and all but I mean I'm just trying to make the new girl feel welcome!" Stiles defended.

"Sure Stiles," Scott sighed. He laughed as he watched his best friend frantically search the halls, looking for the blonde. "Chill out she could just be late."

Stiles sighed, closing his locker then walking towards he and Scott's first class that day which Juno was in. "You know I just want to know if she's trustworthy that's all..."

"She's just another new girl, Stiles, you don't have to like, investigate her," Scott laughed.

"Okay but what if I want to investigate her?" Stiles urged, he opened his mouth to continued, but cocked his head to the side in confusion, "that didn't sound right..." The bell rang, and Scott and Stiles both entered their classroom, sitting at the very back where they were with Juno the day before. Stiles leaned over to Scott's desk, keeping his voice low.

"Okay I know you're probably sick of me going on about her but I found some pretty crazy stuff this morning," Stiles whispered. Scott sighed as he watched his best friend pull out printed photos of 'Shirley Clarke' being cozy with Elvis Presley, and hanging out with multiple other celebrities from the fifties.

Scott raised an eyebrow, "what are you trying to show me?" He asked.

Stiles rolled his eyes and pointed to the woman, Shirley, in each photo. "Do you not see it? She looks just like Juno! Her name is Shirley Clarke, and guess who also is a Clarke? Juno!" Stiles urged. Scott grabbed the photos to look at them closely.

"Maybe the genetics are just... Really strong?" Scott shrugged, handing Stiles back the photos.

Stiles sighed as he shoved them back into his back. He furrowed his brow, this only made him more interested in her, and what her story really is. No one just looks completely identical to their grandparents, or great grandparents even, it just doesn't happen most of the time. Stiles groaned as soon as Coach walked in, already starting off the lesson with a lecture. Stiles kept his eye on the classroom door, waiting for Juno to walk through.

But she never appeared. Stiles went through the whole day checking his surroundings occasionally when no one was talking to him, wondering if he'd even catch a glimpse of the head of blonde hair that belonged to her. He never did.

The next day, Stiles continued looking around. It was as if he couldn't focus on anything else other than where she could be, and why she suddenly wasn't at school. Did he scare her off? Did he really smell that bad?

A whole week went by, and Stiles never saw her. He began to question his sanity, if maybe Juno was some sort of figment of his imagination. It made sense to him, since he couldn't really comprehend how a simple seventeen year old girl could have so much grace and poise.

Stiles shook those thoughts from his head. No, he was in love with Lydia. He had a 10 year plan, his heart belonged to Lydia, and he didn't want that to change at all, but somehow, Stiles kept doubting that.

-

Juno never felt more powerful. It was like her break from school was a sort of 'cleanse', being away from the scent that made her weak only empowered her. She hated to admit it, but she knew that Cyrus was right, and that she just needed time.

She felt much less reserved than before. She threw on a floral green dress with a brown, leather jacket over it to cover her arms. Juno looked outside and grinned at the cloudy sky, thanking the gods that she wouldn't have to wear leggings that day. Of course, she took the precautions and still smeared the clear gel all over her face and legs and wherever she had skin showing, just to be safe. Juno sighed as she looked at her reflection that wasn't there, instead she saw an empty bedroom. She marched up to her mirror on the wall, knocking on the glass in a rhythmic pattern.

The mirror's edges began to glisten like her skin did in the sun. Only for a few seconds could she see herself, but it was all she needed. It was odd living most of her life rarely seeing her reflection, but it wasn't as difficult for her than it was for Cyrus, who's vanity had been suffering for hundreds of years.

Juno ran down the stairs with a big smile on her face, she had never felt more ready to seize the day, even if it just meant going to school and concentrating on work she already knew without the distraction of someone's blood.

Cyrus looked almost horrified as he stared at her. He was in his surgeon's uniform, sitting on the living room couch with a glass of cold blood straight from the refrigerator in his hand. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" He asked, taking a swig from his glass after he did so.

"I just feel a lot more refreshed, I don't really feel like I can be weakened now."

Cyrus downed the rest of his blood in one gulp, then placed the glass down. "I told you so, although I could have done without you running out to the woods in the middle of the night." He sighed.

While Juno was away from school, during the night she snuck out of the house. Vampires didn't sleep, so Juno needed something to do while she had all of this refilled energy from her break. She didn't hurt anyone, although there was a report at the police station, coming from someone who saw a pair of glowing eyes.

Juno just shrugged and walked out of the door. She waited for Cyrus who was deliberately taking his sweet time to annoy Juno. He smirked at her scowling at him, he always did find it funny to annoy her, it was just too easy. He unlocked the car, and Juno got in at lightning speed.

Cyrus got in also, and started the car. Before driving off, he looked over to Juno who stared straight ahead, eager to leave. "Ready to try this again? I won't give you more days off if it doesn't work out," he warned.

Juno nodded, "ready."

-

Juno waved Cyrus goodbye as she got out of the car and walked up towards the school building. Unfortunately, as she kept her eyes on Cyrus driving away, she wasn't able to see the boy who was also distracted, and accidentally bumped into him.

The books he was holding fell onto the concrete. Juno gasped, apologising as she knelt down to pick them up. The boy also knelt down, causing her to look up and see him staring right at her with a smile on his face. She could smell something familiar on him due to their closeness. She tried not to scrunch up her nose at the scent, last time she showed discomfort she had the boy stalk her. 'Dog,' Juno thought, recognising the scent. 'How many bloody Werewolves go to this school?' she thought. Juno stood up, handing the boy his books.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't really-"

The boy with striking blue eyes and curly brown hair laughed, "it's fine, I wasn't looking where I was going either," he said. "I haven't seen you around, and you definitely don't sound like you're from around here."

Juno nodded, "yes, I'm new," she sighed. "I'm originally from London."

"Ah, couldn't quite pin point that lovely accent of yours," the boy said with a wink. If Juno could blush, she would be doing so that moment. But of course, she has no blood pumping through her body. The boy held out his hand for a handshake, "I'm Isaac Lahey," he introduced.

Juno accepted his handshake, "Juno Clarke." He raised in eyebrows in surprise, never hearing of the name before. The two looked up as the bell rang.

"What do you have first?" Isaac asked.

"History."

"Well I have English which isn't too far from where the History classes are. Mind if I walk with you?" He asked.

Juno shook her head, "not at all." As they walked into the building, Juno noticed Isaac's footing was off. He limped slightly, but was still able to hold himself up. "Are you alright?" She asked, looking at his legs, "you're limping a bit."

Isaac shrugged, "yeah, got into a bit of a motorcycle accident," he said with a cocky tone, trying to impress Juno.

"Should have been a bit more cautious then," she sighed, completely disregarding his flirting. Isaac walked alongside Juno in silence, occasionally glancing down at the shorter girl, admiring her beauty.

Across the hall, Stiles was standing on his tip toes, trying to look for Juno through the large mob of students. She had been gone for a whole week. Stiles knew that the two barely knew each other, he knew that she didn't owe him any explanation of her absence, but he still needed to know.

"Dude she's been gone a whole week, I don't think she-" Scott was cut off by Stiles frantically waving his hands in front of his face and shushing him. Stiles saw Juno in her green dress, walking with Isaac. It was if it were a reflex to glare at Isaac for being next to Juno. Stiles quickly stopped glaring as he realised what he was doing. 'Stop being so possessive over a girl you don't know!'  he thought. Scott smirked and nudged Stiles' side. "Whipped," he muttered as he entered the classroom.

"Oh hey, I see you've made friends with good ol' Lahey here," Stiles joked, with a hint of sarcasm when calling Isaac 'good'.

Juno looked at Stiles with a puzzled look. She looked back at Isaac who looked like he was ready to hit Stiles, while Stiles just had a stupid grin on his face. "Well I'm sure you got from one end of the hall to the other quite safely in Isaac's presence but you're not in this class, so uh... Scadaddle," Stiles said, shooing Isaac away. Juno covered her mouth to silence her giggles at Stiles' silliness. Isaac shook his head and walked away.

As Juno inhaled, she felt as if she were floating on clouds. Stiles' scent was something of a wonder to her, for some reason it smelt better than on her first day of school, although that could be partially due to being absent from it for long, or being around a Werewolf all morning.

She felt herself swoon over the scent, acting like a lovesick young girl over it. Could she really have fallen in love with just the smell of Stiles? Juno came back down to Earth and shook the thought from her mind. Stiles just smelt good, and was a little funny. That was it.

She sat all the way at the back of the room, next to Scott McCall. Stiles was almost running to the seat on her left. Another boy had gotten there before him, but Stiles was clicking his fingers and pointing him to get out of the seat. "Danny come on," Stiles mumbled. Danny looked at Juno, then back at Stiles and shook his head as he got up and moved seats. Stiles then sat down next to Juno, giving her a little wave once he was seated.

Before Stiles could ask her about her absence, Juno spoke up about it.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here all week, my parents moved from London to Washington, and I went up to visit them," Juno lied. Her and Cyrus had both come up with an excuse to tell the school and for her to tell anyone who asked. "My brother stayed back here because of his job, but I just went up on my own."

Stiles' mouth hung open slightly, he wasn't expecting Juno to explain why she was gone without him asking. "You don't have to be sorry, it's fine," Stiles said with a smile.

Scott however, was starting to be the one with trust issues, unlike Stiles. "Why would your parents move to Washington, why can't they just live with you and your brother?" He asked. That question had put Juno on the spot, she didn't have an answer for that. Stiles furrowed his brow and stared at Juno, interested in what the answer would be.

"They're uh, you know..." She hesitated, trying to think of something. Scott tried to listen for a heartbeat, but couldn't hear anything from everyone talking in the class. Juno shook her head and sighed. She put on an upset expression, "I'd rather not talk about it actually..." She said quickly. She kept her eyes down, staring at her twiddling thumbs in her lap.

Stiles and Scott both had an argument with each other just by their eyes. Stiles giving him a look, saying 'what the hell now you made her upset!' Scott returning a glare that said 'I didn't think that would happen!'

Stiles groaned and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he looked at Juno who was practically frozen in her seat. She wasn't actually upset, but keeping up the act would mean the boys wouldn't ask about her parents again.

Well, at least Stiles wouldn't.

"Hey do you know Elvis Presley?" Scott asked Juno. Juno looked over at Scott as if he had three heads. Behind her, where she couldn't see, Stiles was frantically waving his arms around at Scott, mouthing obscenities at him while giving him death glares.

"Yeah, he's a dead American singer from the fifties..." She trailed off, "why do you ask?"

Scott had managed to be sneaky and take Stiles' pictures that he printed from his bag. Stiles' eyes widened, then he began to frantically search his backpack. "Who's that in the photo?" Scott asked.

Juno froze as she saw the photo of her and Elvis Presley, the first boy she ever had 'dated'. Of all her years being alive, she tried to stay away from dating, because being a vampire in love meant that you would leave your partner and outlive them, or turn them, and eventually fall out of love. The fifties were a rough time for Juno, Cyrus was rarely home, and the music and films of that time period were Juno's favourite, so she pretended to not be supernatural for a few years, and ended up getting into all sorts of life threatening shenanigans.

"That's my great grandmother, Shirley," Juno lied. She had many photos of her and Elvis hidden away, along with multiple gifts he had gotten her. Their relationship ended horribly, he had almost found out about her Vampirism, causing her and Cyrus to completely flee Memphis, and move to an entirely different country all together. After that, Juno found that being close to people was too risky, and learned her lesson and continued to distance herself. "The Clarkes have incredible genetics. Some say my brother looks just like one of my relatives from World War One," she said.

Scott was skeptical, but he did assume it was just strong genetics. He shrugged his shoulders and put the pictures away. "That's pretty cool though, that your great grandmother was friends with all those celebrities."

Juno laughed, "she was a bit of a party animal as people would say..." Juno and Scott stopped talking, and payed attention to their History teacher that had finally arrived. All eyes were on the teacher, except for Stiles'.

There were so many more things he wanted to know. What happened to her parents? Why was she really gone and where did she really go? Why does she seem like such an open book, but at the same time completely unreadable?

"Stilinski!" The teacher called out. Stiles quickly snapped out of his trance and cleared his throat, waving at the teacher to signal that he was listening (but of course he wasn't). "Can you stop drooling over the new girl and pay attention?"

Juno didn't know where to look. Should she look at Stiles who had now turned red as a tomato, covering his face? Or turn to look at Scott, who she heard had face-palmed so hard she began to worry if he had broken his nose.

"Will do," Stiles mumbled, giving the teacher a thumbs up. Juno looked over at Stiles apologetically, feeling bad that he had been called out by the teacher. She gave him a thumbs up for reassurance, mimicking him in a way. She didn't know why, but it made a small smile appear on Stiles face, followed by his cheeks becoming an even deeper shade of red than before.

Juno didn't know if it was his sweet scent or not, but she felt something odd that she had never felt before. Stiles felt this same feeling too. It was silly, small, but it was something...

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