HEMICORPORECTOMY
A surgery in which the body BELOW the WAIST is AMPUTATED.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

a series of unfortunate events

Something had changed in the air. Something had changed in Juliette. She was no longer the naive doe eyed girl who had not a clue of what lurked in the darkest hours of the night—no, not after the spine chilling anecdotes her dearest friends had shared. The paranoia had entered her human body like a parasite, she could no longer ignore the stinging sensation of eyes on the small of her back that she convinced herself was real. She was only human. Only human. She wasn't like the selenophile beasts hidden in her small town. The fangs of those monsters could penetrate her skin, rip her alive, hear her cries and the thumping of her heartbeat fade as they feast on their prize.

As the daughter of a cop though, Juliette could not ignore the cooling sensation of the switch blade she gripped for dear life in her coat pocket. A gift she now made sure to always carry, from said cop father. The gift that had almost made its way out of her brown leather jacket and into the abdomen of her guidance counselor. Ms. Morrell, who did not allow for Juliette to leave in the car she had left on school grounds since the winter formal. The dance that had been on Friday, two nights ago. The evening when she had experienced the rage of substantial mythology...

     "What exactly are we here to discuss?" Juliette asked impatiently to the woman who sat across from her, in the present counselors office. The sun had begun to set, and the girl knew she was no match for the wrath of the night.

     Morrell gave the girl a faint smile, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a manila folder with Juliette's name on it.

     "Well, I see you're in quite the hurry, so I suppose we can have a session on what you went through the other night another day.", the older woman gave the girl another overly fake smile, likely to attempt to earn the trust of the young girl before her.

     "I'm fine," Juliette scrunched her eyebrows together, sure everything had been disastrous to say the least, but nothing traumatic enough to leave the need for a therapy appointment. ",Lydia is the one you should be talking to." Her defiance was rewarded with another false smile Juliette had been growing to be annoyed with.

     "I see," the woman tore her eyes from Juliette's, her dark brown eyes scanning over the now open folder laid out in front of her. ",would you like to talk about how you have absolutely no fine arts or extra curricular credits as a sophomore then?" Morrell smugly looked up towards the girl again, Juliette groaning as she sunk further into her seat.

     Juliette, being as witty as she is, had somehow for the past year danced around having to choose any extra curriculums or needed courses for her graduation requirements. Instead, pulling the strings to give her more free periods than she should have. Unfortunately, her luck had been cut short as Morrell altered the girl's schedule, putting her best effort to make sure Juliette would earn the credits she was currently behind on.

     A groan escaped her mouth as she looked over the printed paper Morrell had handed her. "What does sport management even mean? And art, seriously?"

     "Calm down now Ms.Cortez," Morrell had laughed. ",Sport management is just the title I had to come up with for your new first period. I spoke with your internship coordinator, we came to an agreement that you spending time with helping coach Finstock with his team—files, prep, medical assistance, you name it— will earn you hours while at school and give you course credit. As for art, don't act as if you didn't take a single fine art your freshman year."

     The girl cringed, she had forgotten how much time she spent convincing Morrell to remove art from her schedule the previous and current school years. The brown haired girl only hoped she got switched into classes with people she knew in the upcoming week.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

Juliette rolled her eyes as she watched Stiles mumble and drool in his sleep, astounded that he could even manage to drift off in the hospitals most uncomfortable of chairs. Stifling a laugh, the girl shook her friend awake, his hands shooing her face as he got up disorientated and clumsily. As much as she could tease him for his behavior, she knew he was sleep deprived from Lydia finally being stable and conscious now.

"Good morning sleeping beauty!" Juliette joked as she pulled him up, Stiles was not amused in the slightest. He groggily ignored her as he dragged his feet to the nearest vending machine as the girl followed. Stiles yawned, his reflection on the glass of the food filled machine staring back at him tiredly— he had been at the hospital the whole weekened, not even Juliette was there that much (lies). She watched the boy push his coins in the slot, hungrily awaiting his Reese's cups to fall from the very top of the vending machine. The shorter girl beside him snorted as said candy had gotten stuck between the mechanical springs. Stiles cursed at her under his breath, telling her to fuck off.

"Seriously, come on." He had muttered to himself, now resorting to banging on the glass. Juliette rolled her eyes, offering to go get the front desk worker to come and open the machine door for them, Stiles only refusing and insisting he can get it himself. She had forgotten how stubborn the boy could be. The next step in his brilliant plan? To grab the vending machine whole and shaking it. Though, he couldn't exactly shake the large piece of metal as he probably weighed less than half of what he tried to carry.

"Stiles, seriously I can just go get Janice and—" Juliette had not been able to finish her offer as her friend, who evidently had a singular brain cell, had gotten angry and toppled the vending machine over. The large thud caused her to step back, narrowly avoiding being pancaked with shards of glass. The girl in gray scrubs threw her hands to her face, cursing at Stiles in both English and Spanish, she was so done for.

As the pair tried their hardest to stand the box back up, their necks snapped to the sound of a screeching cry. It didn't take even a millisecond later for Stiles to yell Lydia's name, knowing it was the girl he had crushed on for years who was in danger. The two sprinted to the red head's room, Stiles pushing past Lydia's father and nurse—who just happened to be Scott's mother, Melissa McCall. All of them piled into the restroom, being met with a running shower, and no Lydia in sight. Juliette noticed Stiles turn to the side, the window in the restroom being wide open, nothing but darkness and the woods visible past the dim hospital lights. The girl could've sworn she heard a distant scream, she only hoped it was her imagination.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

It didn't take long for Lydia's parents and the hospital to call for the authorities. Both Stiles' and Juliette's fathers were gathering information, questioning Mellissa on descriptors for the missing girl. Juliette face palmed as Stiles stood from where they sat to interrupt his father, "5'3, green eyes, fair-skinned, and her hair is actually strawberry blonde."

It was unsurprising when Sheriff Stilinski pulled his son to the side for yet another scolding, it had been twice and in the same case that Stiles had intruded in. As the father and son duo spoke in private, Juliette watched as her own father this time, continued where the sheriff got cut off. From behind the deputy, she could see Stiles urging for her to follow him. Once she had made it to him, he asked her to stand on lookout while he retrieved the hospital gown Lydia had just been wearing.

"Stiles, that's creepy even for you." Juliette raised an eyebrow, a little uneasy about her friend stealing Lydia's clothes. The boy rolled his eyes. "They're not for me! They're for Scott to use to track her, shut up and watch the door."

"Absolutely not, I'm not being a witness to this crime. I still have two hours left here." She could not fall behind on schedule, God knew she needed more free time for herself.

     "You can't be serious." Stiles deadpanned, he could not fathom how much the girl before him worked. "Well, gotta go. I'll update you if we find her."

     He started walking away as she waved her goodbyes. She sighted to herself as she went to look for nurse McCall, smiling softly as she found her tending to an elderly patient.

     Melissa McCall was Juliette's second mother. Since her child years, the girl had been stuck with Stiles and Scott. Juliette's mother had been a nurse with Melissa for years, and her father had worked under Noah since she could remember. Most of time, with their parents busy work, the trio found themselves in the Stilinski household. Claudia Stilinski always treated each like her own, reading the children stories and playing pretend with them. In her death, as heartbroken the three were, grew closer in grieving. It wasn't much later when Juliette's own mother died. Melissa going through her own mourning of her closest friend, had to be strong for the girl. The woman was there for Juliette's first everything's— hell she was the one who helped with the girl with winter formal dress shopping. Which is why for Juliette's last two hours of her schedule, Melissa had taken on the more challenging duties. She had seen the dark bags under her favorite girl's eyes, she couldn't help but want her to finally go home and rest without more worry.

     And go rest is exactly what the girl did. As Juliette arrived home to her father waiting on the couch watching television, she couldn't help but fall straight to sleep as she sat next to him, a hello slipping her lips.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

Somehow, Juliette had woken up in her own bed without any recollection of getting there. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as her father knocked on the door for her to wake up and get ready for school. The girl cursed to herself, getting ready in a hurry. She still wore her gray scrubs from the night before, quickly stripping of them and searching her closet for something to wear. Her goal at school was not to impress, she opted for a striped sweater and mom jeans. Her other necessities such as brushing her teeth and hair not taking more than five minutes. She slipped on some uggs, grabbing her backpack and heading out the door.

     The several unread messages from Stiles on her phone telling her they had no luck finding Lydia. She sent back a sad emoji, and an additional message telling him she would see him at school in a bit.

"Good morning!", the girl had stepped into the kitchen yawning, her dark eyes scanning the cabinets for a quick morning snack. Her father had taken a notice to his daughter's tired demeanor, feeling pity. "Hey kiddo, why don't I give you a ride to school?"

Juliette smiled, that meant she didn't have to drive and fight for a parking spot. "That's great with me!" She said excitedly as she chewed on a granola bar.

The pair was almost halfway to school, a little early too, as the deputy's phone rang, his forehead wrinkle creasing. "I'm sorry Jules, Stilinski's calling, asked if I could stop by the graveyard."

She couldn't have been more than ecstatic, maybe they would take so long she would miss her new first period! "No dad it's alright, maybe it's an emergency, let's go!" The man shook his head, knowing she had ulterior motives.

Juliette, being as nosy as she was, approached the towns sheriff as he spoke to surprisingly one of her school peers.

"It's Lahey. Isaac Lahey." The tall brunette boy spoke to Noah, glancing at the girl he sat next to in English class. They had never really spoken though, the boy was too closed off, and Juliette—god awful at talking to people she didn't know.

"You work for your father Isaac?" Noah asked, getting his basic crime scene witness info.

"When he's not in school. Which is where he needs to be in twenty minutes." Isaac's father answered for him, the boy taking an interest to the ground under his feet than to any of the people there. His quiet and shy composure juxtaposing his intimidating exterior.

"Yeah, I understand that. But I've got a missing teenage girl and our K-9 unit led us here. She's not wearing any clothes, and if she's out here tonight and the temperature really drops.." Noah pressed, stressing his need for an answer on the missing girl. Juliette watched as her father wrote key points of the conversation on a note pad next to her.

"I'm sorry, I.. I didn't see anything." Isaac confirmed softly. But what Juliette didn't expect was his father's unneeded response.

"Trust me," The man with glasses laughed. ",If he saw a naked girl outside a computer screen, he'd remember."

Juliette looked away as Isaac cleared his throat, the air filling with tension as Noah tried to change the subject. "How'd you get that black eye, Isaac?"

And suddenly, the air really changed. Silence lingered as Isaac's father turned to him, waiting for the boy's response as well. Juliette had not noticed his black eye, she was never one for eye contact. When neither of the son and father duo answered, Noah continued. "School fight?"

"Nah, lacrosse." Isaac said calmly. His remark seemed to lighten the mood as Noah was reminded of his own son. Excitedly he asked, "You play for Beacon Hills?"

"My son plays for the team. Well, I mean he's on the team, he doesn't typically play. Not yet anyway, it's.." Noah's rambling was cut short as he noticed Isaac glance behind where he, Juliette, and her father stood. The three of them turned to look at where the boy's eyes had been. Their sight was met with a plethora of trees. "Something wrong Isaac?"

"No. Oh, no. Sorry." He apologized to Noah, "I was just remembering I actually have a morning practice to get to." Which reminded Juliette she in fact had to also attend that same early practice. Sheepishly, she turned to her father. Him being the man that he was could sense that something was up with his daughter. He handed the notepad to Noah as he finished off the questioning.

"What is it?" He asked jokingly, knowing something was up. The girl covered her eyes. "So, you remember how my counselor changed my schedule against my will? Now I also have morning lacrosse practice to get to."

"She put you in lacrosse?!" Her father asked surprised, knowing Juliette was far too small to be out getting slammed to the ground. The girl groaned, "No! It's complicated, I'll explain later."

     As Juliette and her father waved goodbye to Noah, they walked to the car, nearing a rushed Isaac trying to undo his bike lock. Juliette turned to her father who had stopped, rolling her eyes as she saw the look on his face. It was the look he always had when he was up to no good.

      "Hey John! We're going to give Isaac here a lift to school!" Her father yelled out, not even asking if it was alright with him. Typical Charlie and his need to help others she thought to herself, her cheeks burning of embarrassment as Isaac looked to her. Just as embarrassed as her to add. He waved over to said boy, "Come on now, we have room!"

     Juliette could see red peek from John's face, as the man couldn't even refuse since her father was already pushing a reluctant Isaac in the car. Anxiously, she got in the seat behind her father—he had used her passenger seat for Lahey's backpack and lacrosse stick.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

     They were on the road now, a sickening silence filling the car. She could see her father's eyes throw the rear view mirror flicker to the two awkward teens in the back. He did his best to ease the tension.

     "So tell me Jules, why are you going to lacrosse practice with Isaac?" He chuckled a bit, "Don't let her tackle you too hard Lahey."

     "Dad!" Juliette groaned, glancing at a sheepishly smiling Isaac. "Morrell changed my schedule, apparently i'm 'not earning my required credits'"— she said with air quotations, ", so now I have to do some intern hours at school with lacrosse."

     "Well good luck kiddo, 'cause we're here!" The car had come to a stop now, Charlie twisting his torso to wiggle his eyebrows at the two "Isaac, keep an eye on my daughter won't you."

     Juliette's cheeks burned, and with pure embarrassment she said her farewells to her father and practically jumped out the car. Dramatic wasn't she?

     It had occurred to Juliette that she had no possible idea where the lacrosse team even met. With much, much, much, reluctancy; she had to ask the boy she just arrived to school with where in the hell his team was. And that is how she ended up having to follow Isaac like a lost puppy to the boys locker room.

     "Can I even go in there?" Jules asked the boy, panicking as they watched his teammates side glance them as they walked into the room. Unfortunately, the bell had rung and that meant the two had to hurriedly walk in—allowed to or not in Juliette's case.

     "Gather round! Quicker! Danny put a shirt on," Coach Finstock said this while pointing to the only girl in the swarm of teen boys, Juliette's entire face going red to this attention. ",everyone put a shirt on! Cortez is our new team manager, Cortez over here. Now!" She had taken a final glance to Isaac, rushing to stand next to Coach. Luckily, Juliette and Coach were on familiar terms, she was in his afternoon P.E. class.

     "Listen up." He started his announcements, "Police are asking for help on a missing child advisory. It's a sick girl, running around, totally naked."

     Juliette rolled her eyes as she witnessed the team laugh and whistle at that statement. Coach also did his best at ignoring them.

     "Now, it's supposed to get below forty degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but the last time it was that cold and i was running around naked.." Oh wow, Juliette didn't think even the players wanted to hear that. ".. I lost a testicle to exposure. Now, I don't want the same happening to some innocent girl."

     The girl furrowed her eyebrows, "Coach women don't-" He waved her away, "So police are organizing search parties for tonight. Sign up, find the missing girl , you get an automatic A in my classes."

     Again, the room filled with cheers from the boys who had more brawl than brains, everyone lining up to sign up for the search party. From there, the crowd disbanded and everyone went back to doing their own thing. Juliette spotted Scott and Stiles talking to Jackson in the back corner. Deciding she did not want to talk about the supernatural this early, she made her way to Coach's office, where he handed her a clipboard, a couple papers, and a pen. He had told her, "Knock yourself out with these!", then shooed her out of his office. Something about needing to find everyone's economics homework he lost?

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

     Fortunately for Juliette, Coach had canceled lacrosse practice to indeed find everyone's homework he misplaced. She now sat in chemistry, with the devil himself Mr. Harris. As the girl tried her best to memorize the periodic table for the test sitting in front of her, the voice of the one and only Stiles Stilinski filled her ears. From the girls seat next to Danny, she could not figure out why on earth her friend couldn't wait another thirty minutes to discuss matters. Undoubtedly, it ended with detention from Harris.

     "Stiles, have you ever learned how to be quiet?" Juliette asked, already knowing the answer to that one. She rolled her eyes as Stiles feigned being hurt, a hand to his chest as he retorted "Jules, have you ever learned to have free thinking?"

     "Whatever" She mumbled as she waved goodbye to enter her english class.

     Her friendly demeanor transforming into rigid and awkward as she approached her seat next to the blue eyed boy she had been with in the morning. Juliette hid her face as she scribbled mindlessly on her paper, waiting for the teacher to start the lesson.

     "Uh.. did you do this weekends homework?" A voice from beside her asked, a slight stutter in the beginning. She looked up, surprised Isaac had decided to speak to her.

     Processing his question, she silently cursed at herself and face palmed for forgetting the homework. "No, I totally forgot. Did you?"

     "Yeah, you can copy it if you want. It's the least i can do for the ride here." He seemed a little nervous as he held the paper out the girl. In contrast, the girl smiled and thanked him, quickly writing down her own slightly tweaked version of the work.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

    As Juliette enjoyed her time off watching television in her living room, Scott and Stiles had other plans as they called the girl to tell her they were outside. Sadly, the tired girl got up from the couch and made her way to the powder blue jeep awaiting her, knowing by now that if either of her friends appeared it meant nothing but chaos.

     "Is there a reason why you guys have interrupted my me time?" Juliette asked as she settled herself in the back seat, placing her coat on her lap and watching the scenery change to forest and leaves.

     "Lydia attacked an ambulance, we have to find her." Stiles responded frustratedly as he swerved into the greenery, more or less hiding his jeep in the wilderness a few feet from where the said accident was.

     The trio left the vehicle, crawling closer to the active crime scene of the crashed ambulance. Juliette gagged as she took a look at the inside of the emergency vehicle, vile threatening to come up if she didn't look away. And even then, the image of the mangled man and blood stains painting the ambulance walls filling her sight as she blinked. She mentally cursed at the two dirt covered boys next to her from dragging her along for this one.

     She watched as Scott left, presumably to find Lydia. She turned to a worried stiles as she patted his back, reassuring him Scott would find her.

     "Thanks Jules, but you're getting dirt on my flannel." His friend rolled her eyes, seeing through his sarcastic façade and knowing he was truly worried for the poor girl wandering through the woods as they spoke. Even if Lydia had never thanked Juliette for saving her life, she still felt empathy for the red head.

     "C'mon, let's go join our dads." Juliette nudged him, both of them standing up and brushing the dirt off their pants, walking towards the flashing red and blue lights.

     The two had been pestering their fathers for a bit, asking questions they knew the answers could not be shared. They had given up trying to pry for info and had opted for a game of i spy, it being Stiles's turn.

     "I spy with my little eye—" he had gone rigid and did not finish his sentence, instead staring past Juliette. "—Lydia?"

     Juliette gave him a puzzled look as she slowly turned around to see what he was looking at, "Stiles are you daydreaming again, Lydia is— oh my god, Lydia?"

     Before them, a shivering and trembling clothing optional Lydia stood, her hair tangled in leaves and dirt smudged all over her body. The poor girl doing her best at covering herself, had slowly came to her senses.

     "Well? Is anyone gonna get me a coat?" She desperately asked.

     Stiles, god bless his heart, had tried to remove the coat off his father's torso but ultimately fell on his face as he was in awe and distress by Lydia. Typical men, Juliette thought. Instead, the girl quickly rushed to the girl her age and pulled her own oversized jacket over Lydia's shoulders, comforting her as they walked together to a different ambulance that did not have a dead person in it. If the thought of the ambulance murder scene wasn't horrid enough for Juliette, she would later actually throw up as Scott described Allison's grandfather cutting a person in half. Alive.

˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷

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The first few chapters are boring sorry!!!
Trying to make Jules a relatable teen girl with personality (?!)