“Spencer, for once in your life can you stop acting like an idiot” Lassiter growled out, his teeth clenched. Shawn, currently standing on the restaurant table sat at by their current suspect, turned his head slightly to grin widely at him. “Come on Lassie, I was just getting to the good part.” Earlier that day, Shawn made the connection between their suspect and the restaurant he frequently visited after sneaking a look at the credit card information that was left open on Juliet’s desk. One psychic revelation later, Lassiter and Juliet along with a team of officers were hopping into their cars and heading to catch their suspect at his weekly lunch, Shawn and Gus trailing closely behind.

At the beginning of the week, a young man in his late twenties was found dead at a local park by a late-night jogger. The coroner at the scene concluded that the cause of death was due to severe blood loss. What was strange, however, was the cause of the loss. One large wound was located on the victim’s neck, which Shawn happily announced was eerily close to a vampire attack. This idea was immediately dismissed by an annoyed Lassiter, who then proceeded to kick Shawn and his side kick Gus out of the crime scene. By the time Shawn and Gus made their way back to the station after stopping for smoothies, a name for a suspect had already been determined. Apparently, the suspect was sloppy and put no effort into hiding evidence, leaving DNA all over the body. Will Benedict was a cashier at the local Starbucks, having abruptly quit his job a week previous. According to his coworkers, Will was a stand-up worker whom everyone loved to work with until recently when he started to act different. He became withdrawn and short tempered until one day when he stopped showing up to his shifts. Juliet and Lassiter had just pulled up his bank statements before Shawn was announcing to the entire station that he knew when and where Will Benedict could be found.

This led them to the current situation. While Lassiter and Juliet were outside setting up a perimeter before confronting their suspect, Shawn and Gus snuck through the back door and spotted Will sitting alone at a back table. Without waiting for backup, Shawn climbed up onto Will’s table and began spewing nonsense about vampires and murder, to the complete surprise of the man sat at the table. After a minute, Lassiter and Juliet led their team inside and surrounded the table, guns pointed at their suspect and glares directed at their psychic.

“Shawn, please just get down” came Juliet from beside her partner, her voice soft but stern. Shawn turned his attention to his girlfriend, the grin on his face not faltering. “But Juless, I’m almost done.” He opened his mouth to begin to speak but was cut off by the table being pushed out from under him. Will, taking advantage of the distraction, stood up and shoved the table, causing Shawn to lose his balance and fall backwards, crashing into the suspect. Will grabbed Shawn by the shoulders and threw him down, quickly jumping on top of him. Before anyone could react, Will bent down and shoved his head into Shawn’s neck and bit down, hard. Shawn’s eyes widened and let out a scream, arms swinging up to try to push the man off of him. After a moment of shock, Lassiter raised his gun and shot the man in the shoulder, but Will didn’t even flinch, his jaw instead clenching down harder. Shawn’s surprised scream turned into one of terror, his arms failing to pry the man off of him.

Juliet, momentarily frozen in panic, followed Lassiter’s lead and pointed her own gun at the man, shooting him in his opposite shoulder. This finally caused a reaction, Will releasing Shawn’s shoulder to clutch his shoulder and glare at the officers behind him.

“Put your hands up and don’t move” Lassiter shouted; his glare fixed solely on their suspect. Will glanced back at Shawn, a smirk forming on his face as he watched Shawn clutch at the wound on his neck, his eyes clenched in pain. With her gun pointed at their suspects head, Juliet followed her partner as he approached Will, finally handcuffing and detaining the man. As soon as the handcuffs were tightly secured, Juliet holstered her gun and ran to her boyfriend, dropping to her knees as she replaced Shawn’s hands on his neck with her own.

“Oh my god Shawn, are you alright?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Just peachy, Jules. Can we confirm my vampire theory now?” Shawn asked quietly while giving her a weak smile. Juliet rolled her eyes and instead leaned down to place a kiss on Shawn’s forehead. Gus, who had thrown himself behind one of the officers as soon as things took a turn for the worst, was now leaning over Juliet’s shoulder, his eyes locked on Shawn’s face to avoid looking at the blood seeping out between her fingers. “Dude, we were so right. You were just bit by a vampire!” A second passed before a look of fear spread across his face, Gus immediately stepping back to hold up a small wooden cross in front of himself. “Gus” Juliet growled out. “That isn’t helping. Where did you even get that?” Beneath her, Shawn let out an amused snort. “Come on, Jules. Did you really think we’d show up to take on a vampire unprepared?” Gus, taking another step back, smacked his lips together in agreement. “You know that’s right.”

Lassiter, having just finished reading Will his rights, was now leading him past the group towards the exit of the restaurant when the man suddenly let out a loud, disturbed laugh. “You have no idea what’s coming. Good luck, psychic.” Will called out, continuing to laugh as Lassiter forcefully dragged him away and out the door. Frowning at the man’s words, Juliet glanced down at Shawn, concerned, before calling out to the officer behind her to call an ambulance.

After the paramedics arrived, they immediately got Shawn up and into the ambulance waiting outside. They wanted to bring him straight to the hospital, but Shawn simply waved them off, stating that a couple stitches and some Tylenol was all he needed. “I really think you should go to the hospital, Shawn. That man bit you, they need to test you to make sure you didn’t contract anything” Juliet said as she leaned against the opening of the ambulance. “Jules, im fine. Actually, im already feeling so much better, it barely hurts anymore. I’ve had my fair share of people biting me. And by people, I mean Gus in the second grade, but that’s just semantics. He’ll deny it, but Gus definitely went through a biting faze.” Gus, who was standing only a short distance away, began to defend himself but Shawn waved him off.

Juliet scanned Shawn’s face for any sign of pain, but she had to admit that he did look better. Now that the blood was cleaned off, the wound on his neck looked shallow. She could have sworn it was deeper, but she wasn’t really in the right mindset at the time for her memory to be reliable. “Fine” she finally relented. “But if you start to feel worse, or if it looks like it’s starting to become infected, I’m taking you in. No complaints.” The EMT patted Shawn’s bandaged neck a final time, signaling Shawn was free to go, allowing him to jump down from the truck and smile brightly at Juliet. “Come on, Jules. Gus. Lassie’s probably already booked our vampire by now and I want to be there when he’s interviewed.” Shawn reached for her and pulled on her hand to lead her away towards her patrol car.

“Actually Shawn” Gus said hesitantly. “I think I’m going to pass on that. I mean, we have our suspect now and I still have to make my rounds for today.” Shawn rolled his eyes at the look of fear still on his friend’s face. “Gus, there’s no need lie. Jules won’t think any less of you if you just admit that you’re afraid of vampires, isn’t that right Jules.” Juliet held back a laugh as she glanced over at Gus. “Leave him alone Shawn. If Gus doesn’t want to come because he’s scared, then he doesn’t have to.” At the embarrassed look on his friend’s face, Shawn let out a loud laugh. “You’re right, Jules. I’ll ride with you to spare Gus from having to get within a square radius of the big bad vampire.” Shawn continued to pull Juliet towards her squad car, leaving Gus to return to his own car alone.

On the way to the station, Shawn started to feel a little weird. He began to feel cold, his mouth becoming dry and a burning sensation starting to form at the back of his throat. Not wanting to worry his girlfriend, Shawn began to shake his leg up and down and remained quiet. After ten minutes, they arrived at the station, Juliet pulling into her parking spot near the front door. Before she even had time to pull the car into a complete stop, Shawn was jumping out the door and up the steps leading to the entrance.

Juliet parked the car and shut off the ignition. She took a couple minutes to calm herself and shake the fear that had been growing in the pit of her stomach ever since she watched Shawn first fall off the table. After she felt composed, she walked into the station and straight to her desk. She wasn’t too keen on going down to see their suspect just yet, so she instead sat at her desk and began the incident report covering Shawn injury.

While Shawn wanted to go straight to the interrogation room to watch Lassiter question Will, he first made a stop at the water station. The thirst burning in the back of his through had only grown on the way back to the station, to the point where he was desperate for something to drink. After downing six cups of water with no relief, Shawn threw his paper cup into the trash bin with a frustrated groan. What is going on with him? He rubbed his throat a couple times, hoping to relieve some of the weird sensation he felt, before heading towards where he knew Lassie and Will to be. Once he entered the observation room, Shawn’s throat was practically on fire, no amount of rubbing or swallowing seemed to help. After a couple minutes of half paying attention to Will ignoring all of Lassie’s questions, Shawn marched out of the room and threw open the door to join the two men.

“What did you do to me” Shawn demanded, the door slamming behind him with more force than he thought he exerted. “Are you starting to feel it?” Will asked with a knowing smirk on his face, to the annoyance of Shawn. “I feel like I swallowed a hand full of hot coals if that’s what you’re talking about. Now answer my question, what did you do to me?” Shawn yelled out, a feeling of pure anger blossoming in his chest.

“I think you know exactly what it is, psychic. You spent minutes spewing out random facts about it back at the restaurant. If you’re really as smart as you say you are, it shouldn’t be that hard to connect the dots.” Will leaned back smugly, thoroughly enjoying the situation. Shawn felt a wave of fear roll through him, thinking back to exactly what he had been accusing Will earlier at the restaurant. “No, that isn’t possible.” Shawn whispered loud enough for only himself to hear. Will, however, smiled brightly at the comment, clearly hearing what Shawn had just said. “Oh, but it is. And you’re about to find out just how real it is.”

Lassiter, who had stood silent for the past couple minutes watching the interaction between his suspect and Shawn, finally had enough as he turned his glare to Shawn and pointed at the door. “That’s enough Spencer, now get out of my interrogation room before I force you out. You’ve screwed this up enough already, I won’t stand here for another second and listen to you spew your idiotic nonsense to my suspect.” The anger growing in Shawn’s chest suddenly spread across his entire body, and before he even realized it, he was across the room and holding Lassiter against the brick wall, hands around his throat. It was then that a sweet smell reached his nose, his mouth suddenly salivating. Shawn’s eyes dropped to the vein he could see pulsating in Lassiter’s neck and he felt a strange urge to lean in and bite at the exposed skin. The anger that Shawn could feel moments ago faded away and was replaced with a burning thirst.

“Spencer, what the hell!” Lassiter called out, surprise clear in his voice. Shawn could hear Will laughing behind him and was aware that he currently had Lassiter up against the wall by his neck, but he couldn’t seem to care as he continued to focus on the detective’s neck. Lassiter took advantage of this distraction and shoved him backwards as hard as he could, Shawn only budging just enough to lose his grip on Lassiter. Now that his head felt clear, Shawn took a larger step backwards, creating more distance between them.
“You’re lucky he didn’t kill you, very few have that kind of restraint in the beginning.” Will interrupted. Lassiter momentarily took his eyes off the psychic and glanced over at him. “What do you mean by ‘the beginning’? What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s transitioning now. When I bit him earlier at the restaurant, I started the process.” Will said, sounding bored. “Im not an idiot, don’t even start with the whole vampire thing. Now if you don’t tell me what you did to him right now, I swear I’ll…” Lassiter began but was cut off by Will pulling his arms apart and snapping the cuffs around his wrists like they were made of paper. He stood up and took a step towards Lassiter, his eyes black and his mouth pulled up to show off two pointed, fang like teeth.

Lassiter shouted in surprise and fear, jumping away from the man and towards the door. “Holy shit” he whispered quietly to himself, hand reaching behind him in search of the door handle, eyes never leaving the man. “Now leave, I need to have a nice talk with our Shawn here. And I would suggest locking the door, I doubt he’ll be in control for much longer.” At the sound of this, Shawn finally moved out of his frozen state and whipped his head towards Lassiter, pleading with his eyes not to leave him. Lassiter held his stare for a couple seconds, fear still visible in his eyes, before quickly turning and leaving the room, the sound of the lock echoing throughout the room.

The first thing Lassiter did once he locked Shawn and… that creature … in the interrogation room was head straight for the stairs leading up to the bullpen. “Chief” he screamed out once he entered the room, not bothering to walk the short distance to her office. “I need you downstairs. Now.” Juliet’s head whipped up at the sound of the terror she clearly heard in her partner’s voice. “Is everything alright Carlton?” she called out to him. Lassiter didn’t bother to answer her, but the grim look on his face told her everything she needed to know. Something bad had happened during his interrogation with their suspect. She quickly stood from her desk and marched over to him, a couple steps ahead of the Chief who also had a confused look on her face. “What’s wrong? Is Shawn with you?” At the mention of Shawn’s name, Juliet could see terror flash across his eyes before he masked it. She suddenly felt her heart drop in her chest, the concern for her boyfriend flaring. “Detective Lassiter, what do you need?” Karen asked once she caught up to her two detectives. “I’ll explain on the way down” he replied, quickly turning towards the stairs once again.

Juliet wanted to laugh once Lassiter finished his explanation. “Are you messing with us Carlton? I expect this kind of thing coming from Shawn, but not you. Are you really trying to tell us that our suspect is a vampire, and that Shawn is now turning into one too?” Lassiter stopped his march and turned towards her, his mouth pulled into a grim line and his eyes serious. “O’Hara, you know I don’t make jokes. Ever.” He then turned his attention towards the Chief, who had remained silent throughout his entire explanation. “Chief…” He began but paused and shook his head slightly. “Karen, this is no joke. What I saw in there happened. The situation is bad.” The chief opened her mouth to speak but Juliet cut her off.

“Carlton, im sorry but there’s no way I believe that my boyfriend, a person who can’t even do one pullup, was able to hold you up against the wall with one arm. And not even that but is turning into a vampire. I mean, come on, do you hear yourself.” Juliet glared up at her partner, her arms crossed in denial. “Are they still in there now?” The chief asked, her voice stern. “Yes, I locked the two of them in there so I could come get you.” She nodded her head twice, her brows furrowed in thought, before she met Lassiter’s eye again and nodded toward the observation door. “I believe you, at least for now detective. While this sounds absolutely absurd, I have never been one to disregard anything you have told me. Now come, let me go check out the situation before I come to a decision.”

Karen walked passed the detectives and into the observation room. Juliet followed right behind her before she stopped, noticing her partners hesitancy to follow. He stood there looking towards the interrogation door, his brows pulled down in fear. “You coming Carlton?” She asked quietly, a little thrown off by how odd he was acting. Juliet couldn’t recall a time when her partner had openly expressed fear like he is right now. After a couple seconds, Lassiter masked his features and followed the two females into the observation room.

“Ah, finally” Will said, looking towards the one-sided glass. “Our company has returned. Didn’t want them to miss anything now did we?” he questioned, returning his attention back to Shawn. Will made his way back to the table and sat down, nodding his head towards the chair across from him. “Sit” he demanded, his black eyes staring daggers at Shawn. He wanted to refuse, but the burning sensation in his throat was still as persistent as before, making him feel a bit dizzy. Sitting was probably a good idea at the moment. “So, vampires are real?” Shawn asked as soon as he sat down. “Yes, have been for a while now. Humans are just too stupid to realize what’s been around them this entire time.” Shawn paused, searching through his memory to analyze all the interactions he’s had with people his entire life. He couldn’t think of one time where he suspected someone to be different, at least not seriously anyway. “Why’d you do this to me? I mean, why turn me into one of you instead of just killing me?” Will leaned back and smiled at that.

“That’s the beautiful part. While you were standing up there like an idiot, I knew deep down you were just trying to show off how smart you thought you were. Get everyone’s attention on you, show off, then point the cops in my direction so they could arrest me so I could go to jail for doing something that’s just a part of my nature. Not that you knew that at the time. I could have just killed you and escaped, but then I thought, how funny would it be if I turned you instead. That way, you would have to spend the rest of your life doing the exact thing you despise the most. Killing people.” He paused for a second, leaning in slightly. “There’s one thing amidst all that nonsense you were going on about that was true. Vampires drink human blood to survive.” Shawn could feel his hands began to shake.

“That burning feeling you feel in your throat, that’s your body telling you that you need to feed to complete the transition. The longer you wait, the more painful it’ll get, until eventually you’re so blood thirsty that you’ll kill the first thing nearest to you, regardless of who it is.” Shawn heard a gasp from somewhere behind him, which was impossible since there was no one else in the room with them. He didn’t just hear someone in the observation room, did he?

“So that’s my only choice, drink human blood or die? Maybe I’ll just drink animal blood, that way your dumb little plan fails. Cause there’s no way im every going to hurt someone.” Will laughed, his eyes wide with humor. “Are you sure about that? Look at what you just did to your detective friend. You felt the smallest feeling of hunger and instantly had the man by the throat. Imagine what you’ll do once you experience what true hunger feels like.” Shawn’s shoulders dropped in shame, sending an apologetic look towards the mirror where he was sure Lassiter was watching. “You do actually have one other choice. All vampires do, actually.” Shawn turned his attention back to Will, his eyes questioning.
“You ever heard of a soulmate?” Will asked, the color returning to his eyes slightly. Shawn nodded his head, urging him to continue. “Well for vampires, we all have a mate, or soulmate as you humans like to call it. To ensure that our kind doesn’t die off, we all get one mate to pair with for the rest of our lives. Not only are we stronger in pairs, but mates can also feed off one another so that humans aren’t really a necessity anymore. Since you won’t have to rely on human blood anymore, the blood lust will be gone, and you’ll once again have control. So pretty much, you only have to feed off of humans until you find yours, which I hate to break it to you, is harder than you’d think. I’ve been looking for mine for centuries.” Will finished quietly, Shawn sensing that this is a sensitive topic and probably a bad topic to comment on.
“So, what you’re telling me is that not only am I now a vampire who has to drink blood to survive, but that soulmates are real, and I’ll pretty much have no choice but to feed off people until I find mine?” Will nodded “Pretty much, which plays into my plan perfectly. Sure, one day you’ll find your mate, but up until that point, you won’t have enough control to be around humans unless it’s to feed off of them. And you know what that means?” He asked, the evil look in his eye now returned. “You’ll have to say goodbye too all your little friends and family just to keep them safe against you because during the next couple centuries you’ll spend looking for your mate, you’ll have no control when you’re around your precious human family. They’ll all die long before you regain control.”

“No” Shawn yelled, pushing away from the table and standing up. “I would never hurt the people I care about. There’s no way im going to abandon my friends and family just because you’re saying I’ll kill them without a stupid so called “mate”. Plus, I already have an amazing girlfriend who I love that I would never leave for some random chick.” Will snorted at that. “Actually, you would. When you meet your soulmate, nothing, and I mean nothing else will matter. In an instant, your girlfriend will become nothing to you, all past feeling completely washed away. Vampires mate for life, we’re literally designed to abide by that. The day you meet her, she’ll become your everything.” Once again, all aggression left Will and he almost seemed sad.

From behind the glass, tears began to form in Juliet’s eyes. Her eyes have been locked on Shawn’s body since the moment she stepped into this room, concern for the man she loved outweighing the fear she felt from the situation. Hearing that Shawn had a soulmate out there that could ruin their relationship in an instant broke her heart. Yes, the knowledge of Shawn becoming a real-life vampire was terrifying, but anyone who is in love knows that you would do anything for the person you love, and she had no plans of abandoning Shawn now. Lassiter, who had been standing next to her throughout the whole conversation, took notice of her tears and placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s probably for the best O’Hara. It’s not like you guys are going to work out now. This should help you move on.” Juliet took a step away and glared up at him, hurt by his quick dismissal of their relationship. What she didn’t know, however, was that Shawn heard his comment too.

Shawn felt the white, hot anger return to his chest at Lassiter’s words. “Here we go” he heard Will say amused as his hands clenched in rage and he shifted his eyes to the mirror behind him. It all happened so fast. Just like before, one moment Shawn was standing feet away from the mirror and in the next, he had broken the glass with his hands and jumped through the opening, eyes focused on the tall detective. Shawn’s ears were ringing as his attention was focused solely on Lassiter, enjoying the look of fear on his face. A shard of glass from the shattered window must have flown across and hit Lassiter’s arm because it took only a second for Shawn to notice the small trail of blood now running down the detective’s arm. “How could you say that detective? Do I already mean nothing to you?” Shawn growled out through his gritted teeth. Using his new found speed, Shawn approached Lassiter and grabbed him by the arm, throwing him to the side easily, causing him to hit the nearest wall and fall to the ground.

“Ah yes, I didn’t think you’d cave so soon Shawn! I thought it would be days before you gave in to the thirst, but im pleasantly surprised by this turn of events.” Will called out in glee. A small part of his mind registered that Will was ecstatic that he was about to hurt one of his friends, but the anger he felt deep in his chest was unforgiving. Shawn took a deep breath, smelling the blood that was now streaming from the fresh cut made to Lassiter’s arm, his eyes now completely focused on the human. Shawn was just about to take a step forward, tongue reaching out to trace the newly sharpened teeth, but a soft voice from behind broke through the haze. “Shawn?” Shawn turned his head towards Juliet, ready to tell her to stay back, when his eyes latched onto hers. Her eyes were wide in fear, tears streaming down her face, but that’s not what was important at the moment. It was the calm feeling that swept through his body the moment their eyes met. The anger and thirst he felt not moments ago were gone, and in its place was a feeling of pure, unaltered love. While he loved her before, this feeling was something completely different. In that moment, Juliet stopped being just the woman he loved and shifted to becoming the most important thing in his life. The words Will used to describe this moment completely paled in comparison. Shawn felt the fight leave his body in that instance, his tense body relaxed. These new feelings were completely overwhelming him, he had never felt so inclined to wrap Juliet in his arms and never let her go. Shawn had remained doubtful even after Will had described the concepts of mates to him, but all that doubt was now gone as he stood there and stared at his girlfriend.

“Shawn?” she asked again, slightly confused, the sound of her voice almost dropping Shawn to his knees. “No fucking way. This wasn’t supposed to happen! How is this even possible!” Will screamed in anger and disbelief, everyone in the room besides Shawn confused at the current situation. Slowly, as if not to scare her, Shawn approached Juliet until she was standing right in front of him. Shawn reached out with his right hand and cupped her cheek, thumb stroking up and down her soft skin. “Jules, god you’re beautiful. I love you so much.” Shawn whispered, the emotion running through his body almost too much for him. Juliet frowned in confusion for a second, unsure of what was happening, before a look of realization dawned on her face. She reached up and cupped Shawn’s hand, eyes sparkling while her mouth pulled into a wide smile. “Shawn, am I your…”

“Mate” Shawn finished, eyes never leaving her own. He then leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, his other arm snaking around her hip to pull her closer. Now that the blood lust was gone and his head was once again clear, it almost felt like everything was right in the world again. That’s when he began to feel the shame at what he almost did. Releasing Juliet’s cheek but keeping his arm secured around her, Shawn turned his head towards the other two occupants in the room. Karen had made her way over to Lassiter and had helped him sit up, using part of his shirt to stunt the bleeding of his arm. Lassiter was conscience and aware, his eyes trained on Shawn’s arm around his partner. “Lassie” Shawn started shakily. “I am so sorry. God, I didn’t know what I was doing, it was like something took over and I had no control.” Lassiter grunted in pain as the Chief pulled the fabric wrapped around his upper arm tight, his eyes never leaving Shawn’s. “I promise im good now, not that that changes the things that I just did to you. Will...” Shawn paused, glancing over at the angry man still sitting at the interrogation table “was right when he said that I would be in control again the moment I met my mate.” Shawn took that moment to send a loving smile to Juliet who returned it fully before looking back at his friend. “What I felt before is gone, and I know what I did is unforgivable, but please know that from here on out, I will never hurt you again.” Lassiter stared on quietly for a couple seconds before he, with the help of the Chief, stood up weakly. “I should shoot you Spencer for what you just did to me. But, speaking from experience, I know what it’s like to lose control of yourself.” Shawn’s mind flashed back to that time when Lassiter almost killed Gus with a samurai sword during that case when he was drugged. “So, for this one time, I forgive you. Try it again though and I will shoot you.” Lassiter threatened.

“Thanks Lassie” Shawn said, smiling apologetically at him. Shawn let his eyes leave Lassiter and instead scanned over the room around him. The events of the past hour returned to him, causing him to turn his body to bury his nose in Juliet’s shoulder. The smell emanating from her skin smelled amazing and the burn in his throat returned slightly, but he was in enough control at the moment to ignore the feeling. “Holy shit” he tilted his head up and whispered in her ear. “Is this really happening?” Shawn asked. Juliet wasn’t sure if he was referring to the soulmate thing or the vampire thing, or both, so she just nodded her head and whispered back “Im having a hard time wrapping my head around everything too.”
The moment was interrupted by the sound of a table being flipped. Will had once again used his strength to throw the interrogation table across the room, his chest heaving up and down in barely controlled anger. “This is bullshit. I’ve spent centuries looking for my true mate and it took you all of maybe ten minutes. This wasn’t part of the plan, you were supposed to suffer just like me!” Shawn used his grip on Juliet’s waist to pull her back slightly so that he was standing in a protective stance in front of her. “I guess im just lucky then” Shawn replied, his body tense. Will, his face pulled into that of pure anger, simply glared at Shawn, the tension in the room so high that even Lassiter felt a shiver run up his spine. “So, what happens now” Shawn questioned, breaking the silence. Shawn held Will’s glare, his body tense in a protective stance as he stood his ground in front of Juliet. If the man wanted a fight, Shawn was ready to give him one. Not that he knew how to fight whatsoever, but some primal instinct he felt deep within him probably meant he could hold his own now.

“What going to happen is that I’m going to walk out of here and you guys are going to let me. As you’ve seen, the human’s weapons don’t really do much damage to me and Shawn, and no matter how you feel, you’re still weak, meaning that if you were to try to stop me, it would end badly for all of you. Maybe you’ll see me again, maybe you’ll wont, that’ll be your problem to worry about. For now, I’ll leave satisfied knowing that I’ve at least changed the whole foundation of your life.” Without waiting for any response, Will threw open the door and was gone.

“So” the chief started, eyes still focused on the spot their suspect just stood “I think we have a lot to discuss. And I think it would be better if we moved to a location less…” she paused as she quickly surveyed the room. “Chaotic,” she finished. She then turned so that her attention was on Shawn. “Mr. Spencer, do you think you’re currently up for it? While im still finding it hard to accept what I just learned and witnessed, one thing I know for sure is that I need to know that you are in full control over your emotions.” Shawn nodded quickly, sending her a reassuring smile. “Im feeling right as rain, chief. Scouts honor” he replied, moving his hand up to his forehead to give her a quick solute.

Juliet could tell, however, that her boyfriend wasn’t being completely honest. Since they were standing so close to one another, she noticed the way Shawn’s eyes would dart down to her neck every couple of seconds, his hand twitching slightly as if he was restraining himself. Juliet gasped slightly as she remembered Wills words from moments ago. He told Shawn that he needed to feed so that he could complete his transition into a vampire, and with the change in status of her relationship with Shawn, that meant that he was probably restraining himself for her sake. Before Shawn could follow her partner and the chief, who had just taken their first steps towards the staircase, Juliet tugged on his arm and beckoned him to stay. Lassiter, who had noticed this exchange, also stopped his movement, sending her an annoyed look. “O’Hara, what are you do…”

“Shawn” Juliet interrupted. “Will said that in order to complete the transition, you need to feed.” Juliet watched as a look of hunger passed across his face before he schooled his features to an impassive look. “Jules im fine for now, we can deal with that later.” he begged, attempting to pull her forward but she stood her ground. “What if we don’t have time to wait til later. Will never gave you a timeline on how long you had to complete the transition and I for one don’t want to find out the hard way.” Lassiter stood silent as he waited for the two to follow, but at the hidden suggestion in his partners last sentence, he balled his first and slammed it into the door beside him. “If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, there’s no way in hell im going to let Spencer get anywhere near you!” Lassiter spat angerly. Juliet returned his comment with her own glare. “You heard what he said! If Shawn wants to avoid feeding off a random person and potentially killing them then the solution is for him to feed from me. And the quicker we get this over with, the faster we can deal with this mess.”
Juliet looked behind her partner at the chief, who was watching the whole ordeal with a frown on her face. “I think detective O’Hara is right, this seems like the most logical solution to keep everyone safe.” Lassiter opened his mouth to argue but the chief sent him a stern look, silently ordering him to stand down. “Fine” he eventually gritted out. “But im not leaving, and if at any point things go too far, I won’t hesitate to put an end to it.” he finished angrily, glaring intently at the psychic.

Shawn, who had said nothing during the entire debate, stood frozen, eyes directed at the wall, body still directed towards Juliet. Taking note of his tense stance, Juliet extended a hand forward and cupped his face, finally drawing his attention back from where his mind had wandered. “Shawn, its ok, I promise that im completely on board with this and I trust that you won’t hurt me. Plus, this apparently is something we’ll both have to get used to so we might as well get it over with.” Throughout her speech, Shawn had unknowingly drifted closer to Juliet, body bending slightly until his lips were hovering over the crook of her neck. At the feeling of his warmth breath on her skin, she felt her own breath hitch and her heart rate picked up slightly. Strangely enough, an unexpected feeling of anticipation began to spread throughout her body, her head tilting to the side slightly so to give Shawn more access.

“Im nervous, I don’t know how to do this. I don’t want to hurt you Jules” Shawn whispered quiet enough for only her to hear. He could practically hear the blood pumping through Juliet’s veins, the burn in his throat returning at full force. His lips were a hairs length away from her skin, only a small movement needed to close the gap. He felt Juliet reach an arm up to snake around his back, pulling him closer to her. “Im ready, just do it. Follow your instincts”. Her reassurance was all it took for Shawn to open his mouth and clamp down on her neck, teeth breaking the skin. Blood pooled in his mouth immediately, the liquid acting like ice water to soothe the ache in his throat. While Shawn was expecting her blood to taste repulsive, like iron, he was surprised when the thick liquid tasted better than any food he had ever eaten, almost sweet. What surprised him even more though was the noise Juliet made when he started to drink. As soon as he bit down, Shawn had waited for the moment that Juliet would tense up and cry out, arms working to push him away from her.

The last thing he expected from her was to let out a loud, pleasure filled moan. The arm snaked around his waist tightened, bringing him closer to her warm body, her head tilting even more to the side to give him better access. He couldn’t help the feeling of arousal that shot through him as he continued to drink, the moans emanating from his girlfriend lighting a flame in his lower gut. After a couple seconds, Shawn finally pulled his teeth from her skin, taking a moment to press a light kiss to the wound on her neck. To his surprise, the skin around the puncture marks began to close, her skin healing right before his eyes. After five seconds, her skin was good as new, minus a faint scar marking where he had just bit. “Woah, that’s cool. It’s gone” Shawn said to himself, reaching a finger up to trace up and down the freshly made scar. Shawn then pulled back slightly so that he could look down at Juliet’s face. Her face was still scrunched up in pleasure, her mouth opened slightly as she worked on controlling her breathing.

“Are you ok Jules?” Shawn asked, concerned he had hurt her. “God Shawn” she replied breathily. “That felt amazing” She finally opened her eyes and met his, the two staring intently at each other for a moment before Juliet stood up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. Shawn responded eagerly, running his tongue along her bottom lip as she opened her mouth so that they could taste one another. As things became more heated, the sound of a throat clearing behind them caused Shawn to pull away abruptly, Juliet whining slightly at the loss of contact. She turned her head in the direction of the noise and met the chief’s stern, if not slightly uncomfortable, stare. A blush ran up Juliet’s cheeks, realizing she completely forgot about the other two occupants in the room. “Are you feeling better Mr. Spencer?” she finally asked, eyes now directed at Shawn. Shawn focused on his throat, the burn he once felt now dissipated and the thirst satisfied. “Im all good Chief.” She nodded her head once before turning around to continue her way to the bullpen. Lassiter still stood in the middle of the hallway, his hands balled into fists at his side and his body tense, the noticeable blush on his face causing Shawn to smirk. “Sorry Lassie, was that too much for your virgin eyes?”

“Spencer…” he growled out, his left eyebrow twitching slightly. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s not like that was the first time Jules and I ever did something like that. Well, maybe without the blood part. Defiantly the biting though” Shawn grinned, amusement in his voice. Lassiter took a step towards Shawn, his hand inching towards his gun, causing Juliet to put herself between the two. She shot Shawn a glare, warning him to stop talking, before grabbing Lassiter’s arm and tugging him away from her boyfriend. “Ignore him Carlton, now’s not the time for this. Come on, the Chief’s waiting for us.” Lassiter grumbled under his breath but reluctantly followed his partner. To the annoyance of Shawn, Lassiter made sure to position himself between Shawn and Juliet on their way to the Chief’s office. A quick flash of anger shot up through him before he shook it away. Lassiter wasn’t a threat to Juliet and himself, but these new feelings he had easily made him annoyed by the effort the detective made to put some distance between him and his mate. There was that word again. Mate. While a day ago Shawn would have laughed at the thought of using the word in reference to Juliet, or anyone for that matter, but now so many things have changed and for some reason the word felt right.
Karen was already in her seat when they entered her office, the blinds pulled shut. Shawn closed the door behind him and joined the two detective standing in front of the Chief’s desk, brushing his hand across Juliet’s lower back as he took his spot to her left, Lassiter to her right. “So” she started, her hands folded on her desk as she studied the three people in front of her. “The past couple hours have been a little shocking to say the least. While I had my doubts in the beginning, after that… interaction between the two of you”, Karen paused, giving the couple a pointed look, “I don’t think I can refute the evidence anymore. The problem im presented with now is what should be done about this whole situation. I think we can all agree that this should be handled delicately, keeping this information between us for now. In terms of you, Mr. Spencer, I think it might be best for you to take some time away from the station for a while, at least until you get better acquainted with your condition.”

“But Chief!” Shawn spoke up. “The only thing that’s different is my change in diet. It’s not like this thing is going to have any effect on how Gus and I do our job.” Speaking of Gus, we’re going to have to have a long conversation sometime very soon, Shawn thought to himself. “Besides, there’s no way you’re going to keep me away from Jules, I have to make sure she’s safe.” At that, Lassiter barked out at laugh. “Really Spencer, you’re usually the one that puts us in dangerous situations, she’d be safer if you weren’t here.” Shawn used his new ability to sprint across the room, the three detectives whipping their heads in his direction, eyes wide in shock. Shawn then reached out and grabbed the corner of the Chief’s filling cabinet, lifting it a foot off the ground like it was nothing. After a couple seconds he put it back down and returned to his original spot, amused as he watched Lassiter struggle to follow his movements. “Things are different now Lassie, I think im very capable of holding my own”.

“You just want to use my partner as your personal blood bag!” Lassiter screamed suddenly. At this, Juliet finally had enough. “Carlton, enough! Shawn didn’t choose for this to happen so stop acting like this is all his fault. Whether you like it or not, this is my life now, and Shawn is always going to be a part of my life, so please stop making this harder than it needs to be.” Juliet then turned her head towards Karen. “Chief, with all that’s going on I understand your hesitancy, but I’ll personally make sure that Shawn controls himself if you let him stay. And if you still think that he should distance himself from the station, then im going to have to step away too. As unconventional as it is, I’m the one thing keeping Shawn from becoming like Will so it’s probably best if we stay close by each other for a while”. Shawn opened his mouth to protest but Juliet quieted him by reaching over and squeezing his arm gently, her eyes shining with support. Shawn was upset that not only will he be kicked out of the station, but Juliet was offering to leave too. At the same time, he was surprised by the amount of devotion to him Juliet was showing. He couldn’t believe that she was putting his needs over the needs of her own when it came to doing the job she loved.

The room was silent for a minute while the Chief mulled over her options. “Ok” she finally began, leaning back in her chair slightly. “Shawn, I’ll agree to let you continue working cases as long as you promise me two things. First, that you’ll follow directions and listen to my detectives. Your new situation doesn’t change anything, I don’t want you rushing into things because you think you can now handle it by yourself. Second, you need to keep your urges under control. I will not tolerate harm coming to any of my detectives or officers, so you need to make sure you have some sort of plan say something arises while you’re in my station. One slip up and I’ll make sure to rethink my decision. Do you agree to these terms Mr. Spencer?” Shawn nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yes sir!” She nodded her head curtly in acknowledgement. “Good. Now detectives, im giving you both the rest of the day off. This has been a weird day and I want you both clear headed for your shift tomorrow. Now go home, you’re dismissed.”

“But Chief…” Lassiter began to argue but cut himself off at the stern look Karen sent his way. “Detective Lassiter, your arm has barely stopped bleeding. You need to go to the hospital and get that stitched up. Now you are dismissed, leave my office.” Lassiter sent an angry glare at Shawn, that of who sent him an apologetic look. Lassiter grumbled as he turned towards the office doors to leave without a second glance to anyone else. Juliet reached over and gently grabbed Shawn’s arm, shooting the Chief a thankful look before tugging him out the door. “Come on Shawn. Let me grab my stuff and I’ll drive us home.”

Shawn silently followed Juliet to her desk and waited as she shut off her computer and collected her things. He took a second to take a deep breath, taking in all the new senses he was now aware of. Shawn could practically hear every sound emanating throughout the bullpen, from the two officers quietly talking in the break room to the sound of the Chief typing on her computer in her office. He also noticed that he could smell every person in the room. When he really focused, he noticed that every person had their own unique scent. He was momentarily overwhelmed by the onset of scents hitting his nose at one time, the burn in his throat returning for an instant before dissipating as he moved his eyes back to Juliet. Just being in her presence made it easier to ignore the other people in the room, keeping his thirst at bay. Once Juliet had slipped on her coat, she reached down and grabbed her purse and keys before turning towards her boyfriend. Juliet noticed Shawn’s eyes flicker to the group of officers sat at their desks beside them before flickering back to meet her own. She once again reached out to lace her fingers through his, leading him towards the staircase that led them outside.

Once they were settled in her car, Juliet pulled out of the station parking lot and began to drive towards the apartment they shared ten minutes away. “Im sorry about all of this Jules. I never meant to drag you into something like this” Shawn spoke quietly. Juliet glanced over at him, taking note of his slumped shoulders and clenched fists. “Shawn, as much as I was mad that you didn’t wait for backup earlier today, I could never blame you for what happened to you. Hell, none of us thought any of this was even real. So please don’t blame yourself, I promise you I’m not mad.” Shawn let out a long sigh, reaching over to give her knee a small squeeze before returning them to his lap, his eyes remaining focused out the passenger window. The rest of the ride back to their apartment was made in silence, both deep in their thoughts. Once Juliet parked her car outside their home, they climbed out and walked together to the front door, Juliet using her keys to unlock the door to let them in. Finally inside, Shawn ditched his shoes and moved to slump down on the coach, his hand lifting to rub his eyes slightly. Juliet followed close behind and sank down next to him, lifting her feet to curl underneath her legs as she leaned her body forward to press into Shawn’s side. He responded immediately, moving his arm so he could wrap it around her slender shoulders to pull her closer to him.

After a few seconds of peaceful silence, Juliet tilted her head up slightly so she could see Shawn’s face.
“So” she began, her voice breaking the silence. “Can I ask you something?” she questioned quietly. Shawn glanced down at her, meeting her curious gaze. “You can ask me anything Jules” he responded with a slight smile. “What does it feel like?” Shawn frowned slightly. “What does what feel like?” Juliet shrugged her shoulders slightly. “Everything I guess.” Shawn took a deep breath, his mind searching for the best explanation. “Well, first off, this whole vampire thing is going to take me awhile to get used to. I mean, it’s like I feel the same and different all at once. In one instance I feel completely normal, but in the next its like I’m hyper aware of everything around me. Not only can I hear and see everything clearly, but I can smell literally every person nearby. In addition to that, I feel so much faster and stronger than I was before. I actually have to put some effort into moving the way I did before, I never thought it was going to be so difficult.” Juliet nodded her head, absorbing all the new information Shawn was giving her. “What about this mate thing. What is that like?” Juliet asked, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she broke his gaze to look at their intertwined hands. A warmth blossomed in Shawn’s chest as he focused on the woman pressed against him. “God Jules, im not even sure I can describe this.” Shawn took a moment to squeeze her hand, waiting for her to meet his eyes again before continuing. “The moment I looked at you, it was like nothing else mattered. All the stress and anger I was feeling in that moment was just gone and all I could focus on was you. You know how they say that an instant love forms between a parent and their child the moment they meet? That only partially describes it. Not only are you now the most important thing in my life, but I also feel this strange need to keep you close and safe.” Shawn tightened his arm around Juliet’s body to pull her completely flush against him, allowing him to lean down and press a soft kiss to the crown of her head. “I will never let anything happen to you Jules. I love you so much and im going to spend the rest of my life making sure you’re protected and happy. Nothing else matters.” Juliet pulled back slightly to tilt her head up and lean forward to press her lips gently to his. Juliet kissed him for a couple seconds before pulling away, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I love you too Shawn, so much.” Shawn smiled down at her as he brought his hand up to wrap around the base of her neck, pulling her mouth back to his. He sucked on her bottom lip before sliding his tongue past her lips and into her mouth. Their tongues met as their kiss grew more heated, Shawn tugging on Juliet to pull her into his lap. When they finally needed air, Shawn detached himself from her lips and began to trail kisses along her jaw and down her neck. When his lips pressed down on the faint mark left behind by his teeth earlier, Juliet’s back arched into him as she let out a breathy moan. “Bite me” Juliet groaned as she tilted her neck and pressed herself closer to his mouth. “Jules…” Shawn breathed out as he began to pull away, Juliet however tightening her grip on him to prevent him. “Shawn, you barely had any back at the station. Plus, I can ensure you that it absolutely does not hurt. Please.” Her plea was all it took for Shawn to close the gap and press his open mouth to her neck, his teeth elongating as they pressed into her skin. As Shawn drew blood from her neck and into his mouth, Juliet threw her head back and let out a low moan, her grip on his body relaxing slightly. “Oh god, Shawn” she moaned out, her voice weak. As Shawn continued to suck, Juliet’s moans become louder and more frequent. It was when Shawn felt her hips press down into his that he pulled his teeth from his neck, again amazed as he watched the small wound immediately close until only a pale mark was left.

At the loss of his lips on her neck, Juliet moved back up to press one more heated kiss to Shawn’s mouth, lingering for a couple seconds before pulling back so she could lean her forehead against his. “Are you ok Jules?” Shawn asked gently, his brows pulled down in a slight frown as he studied his girlfriend’s face. “God, Shawn. I’ve never felt something like that before.” She met his eye, her eyes dark with arousal. “I want you” She whispered seductively in his ear. A shiver ran down Shawn’s spine as he restrained himself from lifting Juliet in his arms and taking her to their bedroom. “Jules” he whispered weakly. “You have no idea how much I want you right now. God those noises you were making.” He had to take a second to take a breath, clearing the images that had formed in his mind. “But I think we should wait. I still have so much to learn about what im capable of now, and I don’t want to risk hurting you because I lost control.” Juliet stared at him silently, her eyes showing the confliction that he felt, before she sighed and let her body collapse onto his, her head sinking down until it was resting against his chest. “I love you” she repeated, pressing a kiss to the exposed skin above the neckline of his shirt. “I love you too Jules.”

They stayed like that for the next couple minutes, Shawn using his hand to rub a soothing pattern up and down Juliet’s back. It wasn’t until her body became completely relaxed and breath evened out that he tightened his hold on her body and lifted her up. As careful as he could, he maneuvered his way through their home and up to their bedroom. He had to use his foot to kick open the door and move into the room, his new found abilities making it easy to see through the darkness. Once he reached the bed, he used one of his arms to press Juliet to his chest as he used his other to move back the covers, finally setting her down on the mattress and pulling the blankets around her sleeping body. Juliet remained asleep as she adjusted to the new space, immediately sinking into the bed, and subconsciously wrapping an arm around the corner of the blanket to pull closer to her body. Shawn moved around the bed and slid under the covers on his side, exhaustion hitting him as soon as his head hit the pillow. He felt grateful that this whole ordeal didn’t take away his ability to sleep. Reaching across the bed, he wrapped his arm around Juliet’s waist and pulled her sleeping form closer to him, his body barley taking any time to join her in sleep.

It was the sound of Juliet’s ringtone that tore him from his dreamless sleep. Juliet, who had shifted in her sleep to rest her head on his chest, let out a low groan of protest as her phone grew louder. Through his eyelids, Shawn could tell that it was still early, the sun only high enough to cast a small amount of light through the room. Juliet must have been tired because instead of answering the call, she remained in her spot next to Shawn, body still relaxed in sleep. The phone rang for a couple more seconds before ending, silence falling within the room. The quiet didn’t last long as the phone once again began its persistent ringing, this time drawing out a reaction from Juliet. Shawn felt Juliet tense before she rolled away, leaning up slightly against the headrest as she snatched her phone from the night stand and aggressively pressed it against her face. “Hello?” she answered, her voice laced with sleep, Juliet barely concealing the annoyance she felt at this early morning intrusion. “O’Hara, we got a body. I’ll text you the address, meet me there in twenty” came Lassiter’s voice from the phone, hanging up before Juliet had a chance to respond. “We have a case?” Shawn asked as he cracked open his eyes to look over at his girlfriend. Juliet, who was now sitting up with her legs swung over the side of the bed, looked back and gave him a small smile. “No, I have a new case. You get to go back to bed.” At that, she stood up fully and stretched her body a little before moving towards the bathroom to get ready for work. When she came back into the room, makeup done and hair pulled back into a low bun, she noticed Shawn was no longer laying in their bed and instead had moved his way to their closet to change, jeans already on his body as he worked on buttoning up his plaid shirt. Juliet met him there, reaching into the closet to pull out a light grey pants suit. “Shawn, I hope you know that you’re not coming with me.” Shawn finished his last button before turning towards her, a frown forming on his face. “But Jules, I have to come with. What if you need me?” Juliet threw her pajamas in their hamper and moved out of the closet to her nightstand to retrieve her gun and badge. “Shawn, im not banning you from showing up but you can’t follow me to every crime scene I have to go to. I’ve been doing this job for a long time now and I’ve never had an issue.” Once she had her badge hooked to her waist and gun holstered, she returned to Shawn and stood on her toes to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Finish getting ready, go get Gus, and I’ll see you in about an hour.” Juliet pulled away but Shawn quickly reached out and pulled her back to him, resting his chin on top of her head as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Jules, I seriously don’t know if I can let you out of my sight right now. It’s like every cell in my body is telling me to stay near you.” Juliet pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes, her face pulled into an understanding look. “I know this is going to be hard Shawn, but I promise that I’ll be careful. This is going to be a learning experience for the both of us, but we have to start somewhere. I think acting normal in all senses is the best move, starting with me going into work by myself. We can revisit this if its truly too hard, but I think for the first day, we should just try to do things how we normally do it. You understand?” She asked softly as she reached a hand up to gently brush away the hair that had fallen along his forehead. “Ok Jules, I’ll try. So, you better go before I change my mind. I love you.” Juliet flashed him a smile and leaned in to press one final kiss to his lips. “I love you too Shawn. See you later.” Pulling away from him, Shawn watched as Juliet tugged on her jacket and walked out the room, leaving him standing there alone. He remained still and listened as she moved around the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast before heading out the front door, the sound of the front door locking announcing her exit.

Shawn took a couple deep breath, focusing on the air flowing in and out of his lungs in an attempt to ignore the tension that had washed over him. His whole body was screaming at him to follow Juliet, but he knew that she was right. Following her everywhere she went is not going to work and it was better for him to learn how to fight this new urge right away. After five minutes of focusing on his breathing, the tension in his neck began to loosen slightly. The need to follow her was still at the forefront of his mind, but he now felt more confident in his ability to resist. Leaving the closet, Shawn walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. His eyes sought out the pineapple that he bought earlier that week, hoping that eating his favorite food would help settle his mind. Shawn let out a groan of frustration when he picked up the spikey fruit and held it in his hand. Pineapple has always been his comfort food, it never failing to make his mouth water and his stomach grumble. To his complete frustration, Shawn had no reaction to the food that was once his favorite.

Shawn let out a long sigh. Pineapple has long been his go to food, but now all he felt was indifference as he held the large fruit in his hands. That’s just one more thing to add to his growing list of changes in his life. Dejected, Shawn placed the pineapple back on the counter and turned slightly so he could rest his back against the counter. Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, he used his thumb to light up his screen. 7:37. It was defiantly earlier than when he normally wakes up, but he figures that his best friend should already be awake and ready for the day. Got a case. Meet at Psych in 15 minutes he texted Gus quickly before slipping his phone back into his pocket. Pushing off the counter, Shawn walked across their small living room to where his shoes laid by the front door, bending down and slipping them on quickly. He reached over and flicked the lights off before marching out the door. His motorcycle sat parked along the street of their house, his helmet left strung across the handle bars. It took his brain a second to process that he was already standing by the seat, the normal 8 second walk to the street done in one. He’s going to have to be more careful about his movements. The Chief was clear on her threat to kick him out of the station if he didn’t keep his new abilities in check. His mind was still focused on his frustration with the pineapple and his control over his speed must have slipped. Slowing his movement, Shawn swung his leg over the seat and sat down, his hand flipping the ignition switch while his foot kicked the motorcycle to a start. Foregoing his helmet, not that he needed it anymore anyway, Shawn pushed off the curb and pulled into the street.

The drive to the psych office took longer than expected, early morning traffic often bringing him to a standstill, so he wasn’t surprised to see the blueberry parked outside the office when he finally pulled in. Killing the ignition and pushing the kickstand down, he hopped off the bike and walked to the door of Psych. Gus was already sat at his desk when Shawn walked in, his friend slouched in his chair as he typed away on his computer. “Gus!” he screamed, cracking a smile as he watched his friend jump completely out of his chair and spin towards him, the small cross from the day before held out in front of his chest. “Shawn, you know you’re not supposed to scare me like that. You never know how many more vampires are out there.” Shawn’s shoulders drooped a little at his friends’ words. “Sorry buddy” he replied as he reached up to scratch at his head gently. Gus noticed his friend’s standoffish mood immediately, fear beginning to creep up his body. “Shawn, are you ok?” He smiled grimly before signaling to Gus’ chair with his hand. “You might want to sit down Gus. I don’t need you passing out when I tell you.” Gus started at Shawn, taking note of his tense shoulders and furrowed brow before slowly sinking back down is his chair.

As Shawn retold the events of the previous night, he watched as Gus’ face morphed into that of confusion and fear, before settling on horror. When he finally finished his explanation, the room fell into a long silence. Gus opening and closing his mouth, his words continuing to die on his lips. “Look” Shawn began, finally breaking the tense silence. “I’d understand if you want me to stay away for a while, but come on buddy, isn’t this a little cool! Think of all the opportunities this opens up for us!”. Shawn’s voice sounded confident and excited, but Gus could hear and see the underlying fear.
“Dude,” Gus finally spoke. “You better not get any ideas about drinking my blood. You can steal my cloths and take my money, but that is where I draw the line.” Shawn clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in mock annoyance, however his whole body relaxed at his friend’s blatant acceptance of the situation. He could tell Gus was still internally panicking, but he appreciates the man’s absolute loyalty to their friendship. Shawn’s phone buzzed in his pocket, announcing an incoming text. He reached down and slid the phone out of his pocket, flipping it over and lighting up the screen. 486 Flanders Creek Lane the text read, his girlfriend’s name appearing at the top of his screen. “Jules sent us the address. You ready to go?” Gus nodded his head and turned his body to shut his computer and pull his coat off the back of his chair to put on his body. When Gus went to walk past Shawn, he reached out and gently grabbed his arm to pull Gus to a stop. “We’re good?” Shawn asked hesitantly, releasing his arm. Instead of answering, Gus made a fist and held it out to his friend. Shawn grinned and formed a first to lightly fist bump his friend. Now that that was all settled, Shawn led the way out the door and walked towards the blueberry while Gus held back to lock the door. Once settled in the car, Gus took off towards the address Juliet gave them.
The drive was quick, the house located not that far away from the Psych office. When they pulled up to the house, the crime scene was already taped off and multiple squad cars lined the street. Shawn jumped out of the car as soon as Gus parked, forcing his friend to jog after him to catch up. Buzz was standing at the edge of the tape, his hand waving them over once he caught sight of the pair of friends. “Buzz, my man! How are you doing buddy?” Buzz grinned wide as he clamped the psychic on the shoulder. “Hi Shawn, Gus! I’m doing pretty good. It’s working up to be a pretty hot day today, but Francine stopped by earlier to bring me some of her iced tea so im feeling much better!” Shawn smiled at the tall man. “Im glad Buzz. We don’t need you passing out on us.” Shawn made a move to duck under the crime scene tape but was stopped by Buzz positioning himself to block his path. “Sorry Shawn, but I got orders to keep you outside” Buzz said apologetically. “But Buzzzz. Jules asked me to come so don’t worry.” Shawn pulled out his phone and showed Buzz the text he got from Juliet. After reading the message, Buzz looked back at the house then back at the pair hesitantly. “I don’t know Shawn, Lassiter was pretty clear…” Shawn shoved his phone back in his pocket and waved his hand dismissively. “Come on Buzz. Jules wouldn’t have sent me the address if she didn’t want me on the case. Lassie’s just being his normal grumpy self.” Buzz laughed before finally stepping aside and lifting the tape up for Shawn and Gus. “Ok guys, go ahead. If Detective O’Hara wants you here, then there shouldn’t be a problem.” Shawn slapped the man on the back before ducking under the tape, Gus following close behind. “Thanks Buzz!”

As he was walking up the path to the house, Shawn noticed a sweet smell emanating from the opening of the building, so he took a deep breath and held it as they entered. Of course, a crime scene means that there’s going to be blood, so this is another things he’s going to have to learn to deal with. The door opened up into a large living room, the furniture and massive Tv on the far wall of the room indicating that the victim was wealthy. Shawn took a second to study the room, his eyes flickering between each object of the room, attempting to find anything that seemed out of place. To the left of the tv was a window, the glass pulled shut and the lock appearing to be clamped down. Shawn studied the window for a second more, about to dismiss it, before his eyes glanced down and noticed a small pile of dirt collected on the hardwood floor beneath the window. His eyes followed the trail as it led away from the window and into the adjacent kitchen, which by the flashing lights and quiet chatter coming from the entryway, Shawn assumed the victim would be found. “Come on Gus, im feeling a psychic revelation coming on” Shawn said excitingly, flashing his friend a huge grin before throwing himself in the direction of the kitchen. Shawn began to take a large breath as he stepped into the room, preparing to make known what the “spirits” have just shown him, but the words died on his lips immediately as the sweet smell from earlier filled his lungs, causing him to take a step back as if he’d just been hit in the face. Shawn’s eyes widened in horror as he took note of the condition of the room. The kitchen, which was once a pristine white, was now painted red with their victim’s blood. In the middle of the room lay the body of a small female, her blonde hair completely soaked with the large amount of blood pooled around her head, the large gash on her neck crusted crimson with the blood that had spilled out of her slit throat. While the blood pooled around the victim’s body was to be expected, the blood smeared on every surface of the room was not. It was clear that the murder was not one of passion, but instead showed obvious signs of rage. Whoever killed the woman made a long cut across her throat, deep enough to sever major vessels and cause a large amount of blood loss. The killer than took the time to smear the victim’s blood over every surface they could reach, including the floor, cabinets, counter, dining table, and appliances.

Across the room stood Lassiter and Juliet, plastic shoe covers wrapped around their shoes as they stood next to the dead body and were talking quietly with an excited looking Woody. It was the deep growl that pushed its way out of Shawn’s lips that finally drew their attention away from the dead body to the two men standing at the entrance of the large kitchen. Shawn could feel the two detectives staring at him, but he couldn’t get himself to tear his eyes away from the dark pool of blood laying by their feet. A painful burn began to form at the back of his throat as he continued to fill his lungs with the sweet smell that surrounded him. His whole body tensed as he felt his control start to slip. “Spencer! What the hell are you doing in here” Lassiter growled out as he marched over to Shawn and clamped his hand down on his shoulder. “I don’t know how you two idiots got in here, but you need to leave.” Lassiter attempted to pull Shawn away from the victim but was shocked when Shawn’s body didn’t budge. Lassiter released a surprised gasp as Shawn quickly moved his hand up and grabbed the hand clamped on his shoulder, his finger’s painfully tightening around the detective’s hand. Lassiter tried to pull his hand away, which caused Shawn to tighten his grip. “Sweet Jesus Spencer!” Lassiter cried out as he felt fingers creak painfully under the pressure.

It wasn’t until Shawn felt something warm grip his arm that he was brought out of the haze that he had fallen into. Shawn blinked his eyes a couple times as he tried to reign himself back in. “Shawn, can you hear me? You need to let go of Lassiter’s hand, you’re hurting him.” Finally Shawn became aware of the death grip he had on Lassiter’s hand, quickly dropping it as if he had been burned. Lassiter took no time to take a large step away from the psychic, his eyes narrowed in a hateful glare. Soft fingers on his face brought his attention away from the lanky detective and back to the woman standing next to him, her brow furrowed in concern. “Come on sweetheart, you shouldn’t be in here” she said softly as she pulled him away from her angered partner. Unlike last time, Shawn followed Juliet willingly as she led them out the kitchen and down a long hallway adjacent to the living room, finally stopping when she pulled them into a small bedroom and closed the door behind them. Shawn wasted no time and pulled Juliet into him, her arms quickly wrapping around his waist as she pressed her cheek into his chest. He leaned down and stuck his nose into the top of her hair, taking in her scent as he tried to force his body to relax.

“God Jules, I’m so sorry” Shawn sighed into her hair while he tightened his arms around her body.
“No, im sorry Shawn. I should have texted you and warned you. This isn’t your fault” Juliet rubbed her hands up and down his back in a comforting pace.
“Isn’t it? I promised Lassie I wouldn’t hurt him again, and that’s exactly what I did. If I can’t control myself after seeing a little blood, I don’t know how im ever going to be able to do this.”
Than hands on Shawn’s back paused and Juliet pulled back a little so she could look up at him. “A little blood? Shawn, almost all of that women’s blood was smeared across that entire kitchen. I wouldn’t consider that a small amount. Im actually surprised you held yourself together the way you did.”

“That’s the problem Jules, I didn’t hold myself together. I was so caught up in the smell that I didn’t even realize I was hurting Lassie until I heard you. That’s not ok”
“No Shawn, that’s not ok” Shawn’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “But that’s why we’re going to figure out how to make this easier. You said that your head cleared when I was near you, so maybe I’ll just stay close to you when you come to crime scenes for the time being. Or maybe you should feed more often, especially right before coming to scenes.”

“Jules, no. This whole mess is on me to figure out, not you. Im not going to use you just to make my life easier.”
“You wouldn’t be using me, Shawn, I want to help. You’re more important to me than my job so don’t even try to use that as an excuse. If it makes you feel any better, I can talk to the Chief and see if we can work something out, but you need to get it through that thick skull of yours that I would do anything for you because I love you.”
“I don’t deserve you” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

“Yes, you do” She whispered back, her hand reaching up to gently cup his cheek. “Now come on, I’ll walk you outside and you and Gus can head back to the station while we finish up here. We’ll meet back up with you once we’re done.” Juliet stood on the tip of her toes and pressed a soft kiss to Shawn’s lips. Leaning back down, she reached out and laced her fingers with his and pulled them out the bedroom and back towards the living room. When she started walking towards the front door, Shawn tugged on their laced hands and pulled them back in the direction of the kitchen. “Shawn, what are you doing?” Shawn glanced back at his girlfriend, her brow furrowed in confusion and concern. “I want to take one more look before I leave since I didn’t really get the opportunity before.” He paused at the entrance of the kitchen and turned slightly so he could better face her. “I think ill be ok if you stay next to me. If it gets to be too much, I promise I’ll leave.” Juliet studied his face for a few seconds before nodding her head slightly. She unlaced their fingers and turned her body so that their arms were pressed up against one another. Shawn shot her a grateful smile before taking a step into the kitchen.

The sweet smell immediately flooded his senses, his body tensing slightly. Unlike last time, Shawn was able to ignore the smell by focusing on the warmth of his girlfriend pressing against his side, her scent more prominent than that of the blood surrounding them. Shawn moved his eyes over the crime scene, first examining the body laid out on the floor before moving over the rest of the room. Besides the gash on the women’s throat, he didn’t notice any other signs of abuse, meaning that she probably was taken off guard and didn’t have time to fight back. The blood smeared about the room didn’t seem to have any pattern. Shawn noticed a blood soaked rag sitting on the middle of the island in the center of the room. With the amount of blood soaked into the material, this was probably how the killer moved the blood from the floor to the rest of the kitchen. “Are you picking up on anything” Juliet whispered to him. He pursed his lips as he continued to look over the room. He was just about to shake his head when he noticed something odd. Blood was smeared over every surface in the room, all except the windows which remained completely spotless. At least they appeared spotless. With his improved vision, Shawn noticed a small dot of something dark colored in the middle of the window, so small that the human eye would overlook it.
He reached to his right and grabbed two pairs of protective shoe covers, handing one over to Juliet before bending down to slip them onto his own feet. Once they were both ready, Shawn led them over to the window, stopping once he was inches away from the glass. Now that he was closer, he could see that the dot was actually a small smear of blood. The dot was slightly smeared, almost like it was smudged with someone’s finger. Lassiter, who had been keeping his eye on the psychic ever since he stepped back into the room, approached the pair and stopped an arm’s length behind Shawn. “There’s blood on the window” Shawn finally spoke, reaching his finger up to point at the small smear. He felt Juliet lean in closer to get a better look while Lassiter just scoffed behind him. “Really Spencer, that’s what you’re looking at? If you haven’t noticed, there’s blood everywhere” Lassiter said, his voice filled with disdain. Shawn rolled his eyes slightly, not at all thrown off by the detective’s tone. “Lassie, the killer took the time to smear the blood everywhere, but he clearly avoided the windows. And if you look closer, this isn’t blood that got splashed up. The drop is smeared down, almost like someone ran their finger through it on purpose.” He leaned forward slightly so that his nose was an inch away from the glass and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, allowing the smell of blood to flood his senses. While the blood covering the room smelled sweet, making his throat burn with thirst, the blood on the window has the opposite effect. He recoiled slightly at the bitter scent, his eyes opening as he studied the smear. “This isn’t the victims blood.”
“And how would you know that?” Lassiter asked accusingly. Shawn turned his head towards him and gave him an annoyed look. “Come on Lassie, are you really asking me that?” He opened his mouth in a retort, but quickly closed it again as his brows pulled down in a frown. “Demmings!” Lassiter called out to one of the officers currently working to process the room. “Take a sample of the blood right here and make sure its cross matched back at the station”. The officer stood up from his spot knelt by the body and grabbed his bag and eagerly nodded at his superior. “Yes sir!”

Shawn couldn’t resist the temptation to return his eyes back to the body laying in the center of the room, focusing on the open wound. He felt ashamed that he was even having these thoughts about the poor woman. He should be more focused on figuring out who killed her, not on what her blood tasted like. Disgusted with himself, he forced his eyes away and looked down at his shoes. Juliet, who was slightly pressed into his side, noticed his change in mood and moved her body so that she was better facing him. “Hey, look at me.” she urged quietly. Shawn flicked his eyes up so he could focus on her blue eyes. “You’re doing great Shawn. Without you, we wouldn’t have found this lead.” Juliet smiled at him, support shining in her eyes. Shawn held her gaze for a moment before the corner of his mouth lifted. “Thanks Jules.”

Their moment was ended by Lassiter clamping his hand down on Juliet’s shoulder, causing her to jump back, creating more distance between them. “O’Hara, this isn’t personal time. Don’t forget we actually have a job to do.” Shawn noticed the look of discomfort on his girlfriend’s face. Something deep within him didn’t like the detective’s hand pressing down on her shoulder so he took a step closer and released a low growl, his eyes glaring daggers at the tall man. Lassiter’s eyes widened slightly at the unnatural noise coming from the psychic, his hand on his partner unconsciously tightening. Juliet, quick to react, shook her partner's hand off her shoulder and moved herself back into Shawn’s space. “Shawn…” she pleaded with him, trying to draw his attention away from her partner and back to her. When his glare remained trained on the man behind her, she reached her hand up and gently cupped his face. “Why don’t you head back to the station now. Gus is probably waiting for you outside and i'll meet back up with you there when we’re done here.” His eyes finally returned to hers when he felt her thumb lightly trace up and down his cheek. He leaned his face into her hands and closed his eyes. He really needs to get a handle on his emotions. He’s only been here for a half hour, and he’s already snapped at Lassiter twice. “Ok, that’s probably a good idea. I should probably go check on Gus anyway. I doubt the iron stomach is holding up very well at the moment.”

Juliet gave him a meaningful look before pulling her hand away and taking a step back. Shawn gave her a small smile before stepping past her to the door, shooting Lassiter an apologetic look as he passed. Once outside, it didn’t take long to find his friend leaning against his car along the street, looking pale and queasy. “Come on Gus, this is just getting embarrassing.” Gus pushed himself off the car and crossed his arms. “It was just stuffy in there Shawn. You know how bad my allergies get.” Shawn rolled his eyes. “Oh ya, cause it was definitely dusty in there. I must not have noticed.” Gus went to defend himself, but Shawn cut him off by throwing open the passenger door and hopping in the car. Gus followed his friend and got in the car, making sure his seat belt was secure before pulling away from the curb and onto the street. “So did you see anything?”

“Well, as you saw before you ran away like a little baby, someone clearly came in through the window in the living room. I don’t think it was a random break in though. The killer clearly made sure not to break the window and even locked it once they got inside to avoid drawing any attention.” Gus nodded his head in agreement. “And there were no signs of blood in the living room so they either left somewhere in the kitchen or made sure to clean his feet before leaving.”

Shawn clapped his hands in excitement. “Yes, good eye buddy! Now to the interesting part. I didn’t really pick up on anything in the kitchen, but thanks to my newfound abilities, I could tell the killer left some of his blood on one of the windows. But dude, there’s something weird about it. Normal blood smells sweet, but the killers smelt rotten.” Shawn turned to look at his friend and noticed his face was once again pulled into a grimace, but thankfully he ignored Shawn’s description of the blood.
When they got back to the station, Shawn walked past the Chief’s office and threw himself into Juliet’s office chair, leaning down to rest his head on her desk. “Dude, are you doing ok?” Gus asked as he sunk into the chair on the opposite end of the desk. Shawn kept his head down but moved his hand slightly to wave him off. “I'm fine Gus.” Gus wanted to say more but decided to keep his mouth shut on the subject for the time being. “So, what’s the plan now?” Gus asked quietly.

“Our only lead at the moment would be to look into the blood drop I found on the kitchen window. They should be running it for a DNA match now so hopefully we’ll have our suspect’s identity soon.” Shawn sat up in the chair and leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“But Gus, I swear something was up with the blood. From my experience, blood has a sweet smell to it.” Shawn noticed the nauseous look on his friend's face. “Sorry buddy but it's true. When I smelled the blood on the window, it was disgusting. I think that means something important but I'm not really sure what. Maybe the suspect has some sort of disease that I can smell?”

“Maybe the suspect is dying and he murdered the victim because he has nothing else to lose?” Gus suggested.

“Nice thinking buddy, I’ll think of a way we can spin this into a psychic revelation” Shawn said as he uncrossed his arms and threw his legs up on the edge of the desk.

“Speaking of that, with all this vampire stuff, what are we going to do about psych?” Gus asked, slightly concerned.

“Nothing’s changed Gus, we’re gonna go on like normal. I'm not dropping the psychic charade, I’ll just be an upgraded version of my old self. Psychic 2.0” Shawn grinned, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

Gus opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the arrival of Lassiter and Juliet. At the sight of his girlfriend, Shawn felt his whole demeanor relax as he met Juliet's eye from across the room. He didn’t even notice how tense he was until he felt all his muscles instantaneously relax at the mere presence of Jules. That peace lasted only a couple seconds before he noticed who was trailing behind the detectives; his father. Why his dad decided to show up at the station, he has no idea. They just got this case so he didn't think the chief would already want to call in his dad to assist.

Shawn's focus left his father as he glanced over at the Chief's office. He could see Karen sitting at her desk through the window, her gaze already directed his way. Shawn flicked his eyes to his father then back to her, pleading with his eyes to help him but the Chief simply shook her head slightly, a guilty look flashing across her face before she masked it and looked back to the papers on her desk. She totally tattled on him.

The detectives arrived at Juliet's desk first. Lassiter stopped at the edge of the desk to the right of Gus, his eyes narrowed at Shawn's feet that he still had propped up. Juliet, however, came around her desk and stopped right behind him, using one hand to scratch the back of his neck gently before settling it on his shoulder, giving him a loving squeeze. Reading the distress on his face, she leaned down so her mouth was right next to his ear.

"Your dad pulled up right as we got here. We didn't say anything to him so I'm not sure what the Chief told him. Just take a deep breath sweetheart." Her soft voice was soothing, the tension he felt loosening slightly. Shawn tilted his head to press the side of his face against hers. Juliet gave him this moment, moving her head to nuzzle his cheek before she gave his shoulder another squeeze and stood back up. She left her hand on his shoulder though, and a warmth spread through his chest at the effort.

"Shawn" the condescending voice of his father finally broke through the peace as he approached the group. He stopped short of the desk, choosing to instead lean against the nearby pillar to cross his arms disapprovingly at Shawn. "Can you ever just stay out of trouble, kid? For once in your life can you stop making things up and just be serious?"

Shawn felt his anger begin to increase at his father's words. The Chief had clearly given his dad a run down of what conspired yesterday. Naturally, his dad's first instinct was to believe his son was making this all up for some sort of personal gain. The least he could do was give him the benefit of the doubt in the situation, especially when it was the chief that called him.

"Dad" Shawn began but his father cut him off.

"No Shawn, I've had enough of this. You're coming with me so we can talk about this somewhere else." Shawn felt his hands tightened into fists as he tried to keep his annoyance in check. He narrowed his eyes into a glare as he locked eyes with his father, silence falling upon the group as the two men stared each other down. After a moment, Shawn could see that his father wasn't going to stand down. Letting out a quiet sigh, Shawn swung his feet off of the desk and planted them on the floor, moving his hands to the arm rests to push himself up to follow his father. Right as he was about to push himself up, he felt the hand on his shoulder tighten, his girlfriend pushing down slightly as she held him in place.

"No," she said sternly. Henry's eyes flashed up to hers in surprise, not anticipating the steely tone in her voice.

"Excuse me, detective?"

"We have a lot to talk about with you, and I understand that you have questions, but Shawn's not going with you right now. We can meet up later tonight after we're done with work." Henry huffed, his brows pulled down in annoyance.

"You're really going along with this new charade of his? He's already caused enough trouble as it is, I'm not going to let him disrupt this station anymore. Shawn, let's go."
Next to Henry, Lassiter noticed the agitated look growing on the psychic's face. Taking a second to observe the man, it was hard to miss the strong grip Shawn had on the handles of the chair, the plastic being crushed under the pressure.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but O'Hara's right. We're in the middle of an investigation and we need Shawn" Lassiter winced as he spoke. his voice sounding pained.

Henry directed his annoyed look to Lassiter before finally rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up in frustration. “Fine, I don't want to be dealing with this right now. Shawn, I expect you to come over for dinner tonight, and don’t even think about making up an excuse this time.”

Shawn watched as his father pushed off the column and stormed across the bullpen. The lack of his presence did nothing to calm the fire burning in his chest. He closed his eyes for a couple seconds and took some deep breaths to calm himself down. When he opened his eyes, he looked over to his best friend and noticed the fear that Gus was doing a poor job at hiding. Now he felt like panicking. His best friend was actually afraid of him. Shawn tried to get his breathing under control but his breath hitched, causing him to make a choking noise. He could feel everyone's eyes focus on him as he desperately tried to calm down.

“Shawn” a soft voice called from above him. The sound of her voice cleared his head slightly, but his heart would not slow down. He was teetering on the edge of a panic attack. Juliet’s face suddenly appeared next to him as she kneeled down and put both hands on his knees to rotate the chair so they were facing one another. “Just take a second Shawn. Breath with me, in and out. Nice and slow.”

Shawn kept his eyes down, staring at her hands on his knees as he matched Juliet’s breathing. After a couple seconds his heart rate began to slow and his breathing settled “There you go, sweetheart.” Juliet said, smiling up at him. Shawn grinned weakly back at her.

“Thank you Jules, I love you.” Juliet’s smile widened, her eyes flashing with affection.

“I love you too”.

A throat clearing next to them interrupted the moment. The couple’s gaze broke as they turned their attention to the lanky detective glaring at them from the side of Juliet’s desk.

“I didn’t tell Henry I wanted you to stay just for you to make love eyes at my partner. We have work to do.” Lassiter looked disgusted as he stared down at the pair, but Shawn knew that he was grateful that Juliet was able to diffuse the situation. He hasn’t really proven to the man that he’s in great control over his emotions since this all started.

“Sorry Lassie, I guess I’m not handling this as well as I thought I would.” Shawn looked at him apologetically. Lassiters eyebrows furrowed in sympathy for a second before returning back to his classic scowl.

“It’s fine Spencer, at least this time you managed to keep your hands off me.”

“Carlton!” Juliet said disapprovingly but Shawn simply laughed. He stood up suddenly, grabbing onto Juliet’s shoulders and half picking her up to plop her down in her chair.

“Ok, I'm right as rain now. So, did you hear back from the lab about that blood sample? The spirits are telling me that the blood came from our suspect".

"Well you can tell the spirits that they're going to have to wait because they're still running tests," Lassiter said, rolling his eyes.

"They loaded up the body right before we left so Woody should hopefully have something to report by now. Do you want to come down with us?" Shawn smiled sweetly at his girlfriend, ignoring Lassiter's annoyed look that he was shooting his partner. "Why of course Jules" he offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted, and pulled her back up. He squeezed her hand once before releasing it, motioning his hand in front of him.

"Ladies first."

Woody was sitting at the head of the autopsy table writing notes in a notebook when they walked into the room. He had a pen in his right hand and a half eaten beefy jerky stick in the other, but at the sight of the two detectives, he ungracefully shoved it in his pocket and stood up.

"Detectives, Shawn, Gus! To what do I owe the pleasure? I was just finishing up some notes on this beautiful lady you guys brought me!" Juliet wrinkled her face in disgust at his words.

"Have you determined COD?" Lassister asked, getting straight to the point. Woody smiled excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"This is a fun one. I'm not done running all my tests, but from what I can tell, this lovely lady doesn't show any signs of abuse or defensive wounds. No broken bones, puncture wounds, or lacerations of any sort. We'll, besides the obvious cut to her throat. Interestingly, that injury was sustained post mortem. She had already been drained of blood before the killer slashed her throat."


"How is that possible? Her blood was everywhere" Gus spoke up, his voice wavering slightly.

"I can confirm that the blood found on the victim was definitely all hers. After she died of blood loss, the person who did this then slashed her throat and smeared her blood everywhere"

"So you're telling us that our victim died because she lost too much blood, but that is somehow not related to the massive gash on her neck" Shawn asked, slightly confused.

"Yup, pretty much." Woody shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you give us anything else to go on" Lassiter asked annoyed.

"We'll, when I was examining the body, I did find this mark on her neck." Woody rounded the table until he was standing by the victim's head. He reached over and pushed the woman's hair to the side, exposing her neck. His motioned the detectives to move closer and he pointed out a faint mark marring the victims skin.

"It almost looks like something bit her here, but the skin is completely healed over. The skin is too smooth to be scar tissue, but the pattern of the mark is too unique to be a birth mark. I don't think I've seen anything like it before."

Shawn felt his heart drop in his chest. Smacking Gus to get his attention, he tore his gaze away from the familiar looking mark and locked eyes with his confused friend.

"Dude, what?" Gus whispered quietly. Oh wait, Gus wouldn't recognize the mark. He wasn't there.

Looking over to the two detective, he saw that Juliet was still observing the victim quietly. When he turned his head, Lasseter's intense stare met his. Lassiter saw what Shawn did. He watched as the detective’s eyes glanced down to stare at his partner's neck, her skin exposed as she craned her neck to see what the coroner was still pointing at. When Lassiter's eyes met his again, he was sure that they came to the same conclusion.

"Woody?" Shawn asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"What's up Shawn?" Woody said cheerfully.

"Did they say anything about the second sample of blood that they brought in." Woody stood up straight and clapped his hands together.

"Oh ya, I knew I was forgetting something! I can't give you an ID yet, but you were right Shawn. The blood they found on the window definitely didn't come from our victim. All I can tell you right now is that the blood came from a man"
Shawn could feel his hands start to clam up, a slight tremor causing his hands to shake nervously.

"Thanks Woody, you were very helpful like always." Woody smiled at Shawn, moving closer to clamp his hand down on his shoulder.

"I was born to serve Shawny."

With a tight smile, Shawn moved away from the coroner and looked over to Lassiter, tilting his head in the direction of the door.

"Why don't we go talk in the conference room. I think im getting something." Lassiter nodded his head grimly, taking the lead to head out the autopsy room and up the stairs to the bullpen. Juliet followed right behind her partner while Gus stayed behind with Shawn.

"Did you see something" he whispered to Shawn quietly as he followed his friend up the stairs. "I'll tell you in a second buddy."

Once they were all settled in the break room, Shawn shut the door behind him and closed the blinds. "Shawn, what's going on?" Juliet asked confused. She noticed the troubled look on her boyfriend face.

"Jules, we've seen that mark before" He finally said once he said down next to his friend, the two detectives sat across them. Juliet looked over at her partner and her frown deepened when she noticed he was nodding in agreement to Shawn's statement. "What do you mean?"

"Well, let me rephrase that. You haven't seen the mark before but we have." Shawn smiled sympathetically at her, moving his hand up and tilting his head to the side slightly to point at his neck. Juliet still didn't get it, her eyes moving away once again to glance at her partner. It was when she noticed his eyes focused on her own neck when she finally connected the dots.

Her hand rose up the press into the crook of her neck, fingers lightly pressing onto the spot she remembered Shawn's mouth pressed to not too long ago. "Oh" she whispered quietly.

Gus sat quietly and watched his friends as understanding settled on all their faces. "Can someone please explain to me what I'm missing."

Shawn put his hands back down and turned to his him. "Sorry buddy, but I may have left out some important details earlier." Gus nodded his head, waiting for his friend to explain. Shawn took the next couple minutes to explain the entire story to Gus. By the end of it, his face had paled considerably.

"Wait, so you…" he paused to clear his throat. "You bit Juliet and drank her blood" he asked, sounding appalled.

"Yes he did." Lassiter said angerly, glaring at Shawn. Shawn threw his hands up in front of him.

"Hey, in my defensive, it didn't hurt her. Actually, if I remember correctly, she enjoyed it immensely." Shawn grinned, loving the flush of red forming on his girlfriends cheeks.

Gus leaned forward in his chair and stood up slightly to get a look at the female detectives neck. Juliet turned her body and tilted her neck so Gus could have a better look. With the light of the conference room right above then, the mark on Juliet's neck stood out against her pale skin.

"That looks just like the one on the victim."

Shawn's smile fell off his face as he nodded. "Exactly. And I have a feeling I know exactly what happened to her." Gus flinched slightly, his hand slowly rising to cover his neck as he grimaced.

"Do you think it was Will?" Juliet asked, her question directed at Shawn.

"That's the only thing that makes sense. I know there could be other vampires out there but this is too much of a coincidence to not be connected."

"Great, this is exactly what we need to deal with right now" Lassiter grumbled.

"Why do you think he did it?" Gus asked nervously.

"Will didn't seem too happy when I found out Jules was my mate. He wanted someone to suffer like he was but clearly that backfired on him. My guess is he's trying to get back at me somehow."

"Actually, that's not too off base Spencer. Now that I think about it…" Lassiter paused to glance at his partner. "That woman looked a little like O'Hara. Maybe he's trying to send a message."

Shawn growled, his teeth clenched together as his fingers dug into the table. "Sorry O'Hara, but this man might be targeting you. I think you have to take a step back from the case. We can assign you a protective team until we catch this son of a bitch."

Shawn suddenly slammed his fists into the table angrily before pushing his chair back and standing up. Using his new speed, he quickly rounded the table until he was behind Juliet's chair. He placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her chair, bending his back slightly so he was hunched over her protectively.
"I'm not trusting anyone with my mate. No one touches her, no one gets near her." Shawn's voice was low, his voice sending shivers down Lassiter's spine. "

Spencer, if this man is after her, O'Hara will be safer with a protection detail. That way there will be back up in case Will tries anything." Shawn turned to the detective, his eyes narrowed in a deadly glare.

"We don't know what Will is capable of. Plus, this situation is different. Any team you put together won't know what they're dealing with, meaning they won't be prepared to stop him. If he's going to try anything, he'll have to go through me." Lassiter couldn't help but scoff.

"Spencer, if today has proven anything, it's that you're barely in control of yourself." Shawn straightened out his back to his full height.

"I'll admit, it's been hard controlling my emotions. One thing I'm sure of though is that I'll kill anyone that tries to hurt Jules."

"Shawn" Juliet started but he quickly cut her off.

"You don't understand. Will was right, I feel this instinctual need to protect you no matter what. I don't care who it is or what I have to do, I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you."

Lassiter studied the tense posture of the younger man, noticing the murderous look in his eye. "Fine Spencer, we'll do this your way. But if anything happens to her because of you, I won't hesitate to shoot you." Shawn released his grip on Juliet and took a step towards Lassiter.

"Are you saying I'm incapable of protecting my mate?" Shawn growled.

From across the table, Gus met Juliet's eye, his eyes wide in panic. They could both feel tension growing between the pair. Before things could escalate, Juliet stood from her seat and threw herself at Shawn, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and pressing her cheek against his chest. Shawn responded immediately. He stretched his arms around her body and pulled her closer to him. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he took a couple deep breaths as he kept his eyes narrowed at the other detective.

"Maybe it'd be best if we split up on this case. Lassiter and Gus can take the lead on the investigation here while we lay low at home. I'll even bring my laptop to the apartment so we can tap into the station's system from there and work the case. For the time being, I think it's best if it's just you and me for a while." Gus made a noise of protest but Lassiter surprisingly nodded his head in agreement.

"Are you sure that's what you want to do Jules?" Shawn asked quietly, releasing his grip on her slightly so he could lean down and look her in the eye. Juliet smiled up at him gently.

"I'm sure. For now, I think this would be the best for all of us." Shawn studied her face for a second before nodding.

"Then it's settled, Lassiter you're taking point on this and I'll be lending assistance from home. We'll make sure to keep each other updated with anything we find. That sound good with you partner?"

"Works with me O'Hara." Lassiter stood from his chair and looked over at Gus. "Ok Guster, you're with me. We've already wasted enough time as it is, let's go." Gus shot Shawn a bewildered look before scrambling up to follow Lassiter out into the bullpen.

Once the two men were gone, the tension Shawn felt melted away. "Hey Jules" he asked, a mischievous look in his eye.
"Yes Shawn?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"Does this mean I can get out of dinner with my dad tonight?" Juliet barked out a laugh, shaking her head at her boyfriend as she rolled her eyes. "Come on Shawn, let's go home."

When they got home, Shawn led Juliet by her shoulders to the couch, gently forcing her to sit before she even got a chance to take off her shoes. "Shawn, what are you doing?"

"I know we should start on the case, but it's been a long day and we deserve a break. I feel like so much has happened these past couple days that we haven't really had that much time to do normal things. So you're going to sit here and relax and I'm going to cook an early dinner for my amazing girlfriend." Juliet smiled up at him as she bent down to slip her heels off her feet.

"You really don't have to. I'd be perfectly fine with ordering take out." Shawn waved his hand dismissively as he moved away towards the kitchen.

"Nonsense, you need to eat real food every once in a while, Jules."

Juliet shook her head lovingly as she let herself sink into the couch. Instead of turning on the tv, she positioned herself so she could watch her boyfriend dance around the kitchen as he cooked for her. Every once in a while, she would call out remarks to Shawn when he was being a little too messy or getting distracted by his insistent dancing, but other than that they stayed in a peaceful silence as the food cooked. After a while, the smell of the food began to drift into the living room, making Juliet's stomach grumble. Lassiter and she had a quick snack on their way back from the crime scene, but she wouldn't consider a muffin and a small coffee a filling meal.

When the food was ready, Shawn filled up Juliet's plate and brought it to her, forgoing the kitchen table to eat in the living room. When he set the plate in her lap, Juliet groaned appreciatively when she saw he made her favorite, chicken alfredo. "Thank you" she told him before taking a large bite. It only took her a couple minutes to scarf the food down, her empty stomach quickly filling with the delicious pasta.

Once she was finished, she leaned forward to set the plate on the coffee table before pressing herself back into the couch cushion, her hand resting on her full stomach. "That was delicious Shawn." It was then that she noticed that her boyfriend didn't have his own plate in front of him. Instead, he leaned against the armrest with his arms crossed as he watched her. "Not hungry?"

Shawn let out a long sigh. "Sadly, my taste for real food didn't make it out alive." Juliet's brows pulled into a frown as she noticed his slumped shoulders. Sitting up from her spot on the couch, Juliet positioned herself so she was right next to her boyfriend, turning her body slightly so that she could crawl into his lap and press her head against his shoulder.

"Well, since you fed me it's only fair that I feed you." Juliet began to tilt her head so that her neck was exposed but Shawn's hand on her chin stopped her movement.

"I was serious when I said I'm not going to use you Jules. You're more than just a food source, I'm not going to turn this into your life."

Shawn tried to push her away gently but she reached up to wrap her hands around his neck. Sitting up straighter in his lap, she leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his, her lips slowly caressing his bottom lip. Shawn reciprocated immediately, his hand leaving her chin to grasp her thighs, repositioning her so that she sat facing him, her legs now wrapping around his waist. Juliet opened her mouth as Shawn ran his tongue along the bottom ridge of her lips, allowing his tongue to explore the inside of her mouth. Their tongues clashed as she deepened the kiss, her hands reaching up to tangle in his hair. After a couple minutes, Juliet slowed the kiss before separating her mouth from his, their foreheads pressing together as they each tried to regain their breath.

"I'm going to say this one more time to get it through your thick skull. You're not using me Shawn, I want to help you. You didn't choose any of this, so I never want you to feel guilty. I love you so much, and I would do anything for you the same way you'd do anything for me. So never feel bad when you're hungry." Juliet leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his, sucking hard on his bottom lip before pulling away and bringing her mouth to his ear. "Plus, I love it when you bite me. God Shawn, it feels so good." She seductively whispered in his ear.

Tilting her head again, she used her position to press her neck closer to his mouth. "Make me feel good Shawn" she said, her voice filled with arousal. Shawn's arms tightened around her back and he suddenly pulled her closely and brought his mouth to her neck. He pressed a soft kiss to her skin before he allowed his teeth to grow and bite down on the exposed flesh. Juliet moaned loudly in his ear as he began to suck gently, the sweet taste of her blood on his tongue soothing the burn that had slowly begun growing in the back of his throat. Shawn took his time, drinking slowly as the moans from his girlfriend filled the apartment. Every 30 seconds, Shawn would let go and tilt his head back to kiss her, the taste of her blood on both their tongues as their mouths met. When their kiss broke and Shawn bit down on her skin again, Juliet's breath caught as pleasure shot through her entire body.

The pair was so distracted that neither heard the knock at the door or the sounds of the spare key in the lock. It was the surprised gasp from next to them that finally broke the moment. In an instant, Shawn had let go of Juliet's neck and flipped them around so that she was pressed into his back as he blocked her body from the intruder. It took a couple seconds for the blood haze to clear and for him to notice he was looking into the surprised eyes of his father. "Dad, what the hell are you doing here?" He practically growled out, his body still tense in a protective stance.
Henry's mouth was agape in surprise, his eyes struggling to take in the scene in front of him.

"You didn't show up for dinner so I decided to come here instead" his father stumbled on his words, his face still pulled in shock. "What the hell is happening here?"

"Oh you know, Jules and I are into rough sex." Shawn felt a hard punch on his back as Juliet squirmed out from behind his back so that she was sitting next to him on the couch. Shawn shot her a grin as he met her glare, his smile widening at her disheveled appearance. Her hair was a mess and her shirt was out of place, streaks of blood surrounding her lips from their kiss.

"Henry, maybe we should have that talk now." Juliet said gently, her voice soft as she noticed the fear and confusion on the older man's face. His father didn’t move from his spot, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with something to say as he stared intently at his son.

“Earth to Henry. Are you having a stroke” After a couple more seconds of silence, Shawn began to fidget nervously.

"I think we broke him Jules" he whispered quietly. Juliet raised her hand to swat at her boyfriend but faltered when she took a look at his face. His eyes were completely dilated and blood had trickled down the sides of his mouth, the red a stark contrast to his pale skin.

"Shawn" she said as she tugged on his sleeve gently to get his attention. Grabbing her napkin from dinner off the coffee table, she grasped his chin lightly and quickly wiped off the evidence of what just happened.

"Is this a joke" Henry finally spoke up as Juliet was cleaning the last remnants of blood off his face.

"I'm afraid not padre. We would have explained this to you earlier if you hadn't come storming in the way you did."

"Really Henry, you should sit down" Juliet tried again, using her hand to motion to the recliner across from them but his father instead took a step back.

"Really Shawn, you'll do anything to get out of owning up to your mistakes. When are you going to grow up?"

Shawn's body tensed as anger flashed through his chest. "You just walked in on me drinking Juliet's blood and you still think I'm making all this up? Please explain to me how you think I'd fake that."

"You're not four anymore Shawn. Your little Halloween tricks aren't cute. This isn't the first time you've tried to use the fake blood scheme on me. Can you for once take things seriously and stop acting like a child."

"Ok fine, how do you think I would fake this?" Shawn stood up and moved so he was in front of his father in a second. He then opened his mouth wide and focused on his teeth, the sharp edge of his elongated canines now dragging across his bottom lip.

Henry's mouth once again dropped open in surprise, his eyes moving away from his son to look back at the couch he was just sitting on a second ago. When his focus moved back to his son, the fear was evident in his expression. "You're really telling the truth?" His father asked weakly.

"Shocker, I know." Shawn said sarcastically, annoyance still flowing through his body.

"Shawn" Juliet chastised him before getting up to join the two men, stopping so that she was standing at Shawn's side. "I know it's a lot to take in Henry, trust me it hasn't been easy for any of us. Why don't I make us all a cup of coffee and we'll explain what happened."

"No," Henry said as he began to move for the front door. "Dad, where are you going?"

"I don't believe this. I'm leaving." Shawn stood there in disbelief as he watched his father frantically shove his arms into his jacket. Juliet took a step to go after him but Shawn wrapped his hand around her arm and tugged her to a stop. Juliet reluctantly stopped and watched as Henry finished putting on his coat and threw open the door, slamming it behind him in his brisk exit.

"Shawn, are you sure it's a good idea to let him leave like that? We did just dump some big news on him."

"Just let him go, Jules." Shawn stared at the door for a couple more seconds before turning away to face Juliet. "Would it be ok if we just go to bed? I know it's early but I'm tired." Juliet studied her boyfriend's slumped shoulders and stress lines on his face. He looked drained.

"Of course sweetheart, come on." Juliet held out her hand, which Shawn took, relieved. She led them both to their bedroom, pushing Shawn towards the bathroom first. "Go get ready for bed, I'll grab your sweats." Juliet moved towards the closet and stopped in front of his drawer, grabbing a pair of sweats for him and boxers and a t-shirt for herself. Once she slipped out of her work clothes and into her pajamas, she flipped off the closet light and walked back to the bathroom. She set Shawn's sweats on the counter next to where he was brushing his teeth before grabbing her own toothbrush.

Shawn peeled off his clothes and slipped on his sweats, setting his dirty clothes in the hamper by the door. His hand brushed against Juliet's hip in gratitude as he passed her on his way into the bedroom.

Shawn ripped the covers off their bed and slid under the cool sheets, letting his head sink into his pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. Not long after he watched the lights flick off, a warm body quickly slid into bed next to him and pressed up against his side. Juliet's arms slowly wrapped around his torso while her head rested against his chest, her arms tightening to pull herself closer to him.

"Try not to think tonight, Shawn. Everything is going to be ok. I love you." Shawn maneuvered his arm so that he could wrap it around her small body, holding her close to his body.

"I love you too. Goodnight Jules."

For the second night in a row, the sound of a phone ringing tore Shawn from sleep. The insistent buzzing filled the silent room, the noise grating on his sensitive ears. Sighing, Shawn gently lifted Juliet off his chest and onto the pillow next to him. She groaned quietly as he shifted her, curling around the corner of the pillow as she was laid back down. The phone was still ringing by the time he was able to sit up in bed and glare down at the object. Shawn quickly grabbed his phone and pressed the call button, shoving the phone up against his ear.

“Hello?” he asked, his voice low so as not to disturb the woman next to him.

“Hello Shawn.” The familiar voice sent shivers down his body as he felt his muscles tense. “Did you enjoy my present?” Shawn grit his teeth, his fingers tightening around his phone in anger.

“Is that why you murdered that girl? To show off?” Will simply laughed.

"I just wanted to show you what our kind does. You can pretend all you want that nothing has changed, but you’re just like me.”

“I am nothing like…’

“You enjoyed it, didn’t you? The smell of her blood was appealing to you. I bet you couldn’t keep your eyes away from her, imagining what it would be like to just have a taste.” Shawn flinched at his words. Will wasn’t completely off base with his accusations. As much as he hated to admit it, he remembered the hunger he felt when he first saw the dead woman. In those first couple seconds, he actually wanted to taste the sweet blood that was still leaking out of her body.

“How did you get my number?” Shawn asked, ignoring Will’s comment.

“That’s a funny story. I was in the area and going to pay you a visit when I ran into someone you may know. Bald guy, panicked look in his eye as he was walking back to his truck. Ring any bells?”

Shawn sat up straight in bed, an image of his father flashing in his mind. “Stay away from him.” He growled quietly into the phone, his eyes glancing over to Juliet to make sure she was still asleep.

“Did you know that blood tastes sweeter when a human is scared? That’s my favorite part, you know? The fear in their eyes as you drain the life out of them. Old people make it so easy. Their bodies are disgusting and weak, pathetic really. They always give up so easily.”

The phone creaked under the pressure of Shawn's fingers. Anger shot through his chest as he struggled to calm his breathing. “Where is my father, what did you do?”

“He almost made it to his truck, so close to freedom. Funny how things can happen so close to home yet you can still have no idea it happened.”

Shawn threw the covers off him and ran to the window. Using his new eyesight, he scanned up and down the dark streets. Right at the end of the block he caught sight of the back of his fathers pickup. “He went down pretty hard, but who knows, maybe he's still alive.” Shawn abruptly hung up on Will, shoving his phone in his sweats before running out his bedroom. Shawn ran down his stairs and towards the front of the house, throwing the door open without taking time to put on his shoes. Shawn ran as fast as he could, only a couple seconds passing before he was standing besides the old truck. He frantically looked around for his father but couldn’t see him. When he rounded the truck, he noticed the body on the ground right outside the driver’s. Shawn ran to him and dropped to his knees, grabbing his fathers shoulders to roll him over so that he was laid on his back.

“Oh God, Dad are you ok?” He frantically shook his shoulders to try to wake him. Looking over at his father, he couldn’t see any obvious wounds on him. He took a deep breath in and was relieved to find that he couldn’t pick up the smell of blood.

Henry let out a painful groan as his eyes flickered open. He looked around dazed for a second before his eyes came into focus on his son. “Shawn?”

Shawn's shoulders dropped in relief as his dad began to regain consciousness. “Oh thank god, are you alright?” Henry looked relieved for a moment before his eyes widened in panic. "Shawn, you need to go back." His father pushed at his arms as he tried to sit up, shoving him away frantically.

"Woah, dad slow down. What are you talking about?" Shawn helped his dad sit up straight and lean back against the front wheel of the truck.

"That man is using me as a distraction, you need to go back and get Juliet."

At the mention of his girlfriend, Shawn released the grip he had on his father and quickly stood up. He glanced down at his father apologetically before sprinting back to his house. The guilt of leaving his injured father alone would consume him later, but at the moment all that mattered was Juliet.

When he reached the house, he threw open the door and ran up the stairs to their bedroom. Shawn could hear Juliet whimpering in fear, making him increase his speed. Inside the room, Shawn's eyes were first drawn to Juliet. She was still in bed, her body now up straight as she leaned her back against the headrest. It was the man standing above her that fueled his rage. His chest expanded and constricted as he took deep breaths, trying to keep his emotions under control.

"Get away from my mate" he growled, his voice deep taking on a dangerous tone. Will didn't move from his spot, his smile widening into a grin as he took in Shawn's stance.

"Took you long enough. Juliet and I were just getting acquainted." Will reached out a hand and stroked Juliet's cheek with his finger, causing Shawn to let out another threatening growl.

"If you touch her again, I'm going to fucking kill you."

"I wouldn’t move if I were you. The human skin is so fragile, it only takes a little slip of the finger…” Will moved his finger down Juliet’s cheek to the side of her neck, pressing his nail into the skin of her neck and drawing blood. Juliet cried out when he cut her skin, her eyes wide as she looked at Shawn in fear. The smell of his girlfriend's blood filled the room and Shawn suddenly saw red. His mind completely hazed over as his eyes narrowed on Will. The man stood there with a smug look on his face, his eyes challenging as he smiled at Shawn.

Letting his instincts take over, Shawn lunged at Will, the surprised look taking over his face before Shawn grabbed him by the neck and threw him across the room. Before Will could react, he lunged on top of him and began to punch him repeatedly in the face, using all his force to slam his fists into him. After he was satisfied with the pained look on his face, he uncurled his hands and instead wrapped them around his neck.

“You can’t kill me” Will choked out, a pained but smug look still on his face.

“I don’t know about you, but I'm pretty sure even vampires can’t survive without their head.” Finally, the smug look dropped from his face as fear took over. Shawn tightened his grip on his neck, enjoying the panic growing in the man's eyes.

“I wouldn’t kill me if I were you.”

“And why is that?” Shawn asked, letting his grip loosen slightly.

“Because the drug I gave your mate should be kicking in anytime now and when it does, she’s as good as dead.” Shawn released his grip on Will immediately, his head whipping around to find his girlfriend. Will, taking advantage of his distraction, shoved Shawn off of him and disappeared.

Shawn didn’t pay Will’s sudden absence any notice, his attention now fully on Juliet. He shot up and moved so he was now leaning over her on the bed. Her eyes were fluttering open and shut as she fought to stay conscious. “Oh God, Jules” he whispered in horror, raising his hand up to cup her cheek gently and turn her face towards his.

“Shawn, I don’t feel good,” she whispered quietly, her voice weak. Her eyes shut for a couple seconds before they shot open again, fear settling over her face.

"No no no no, Jules you need to stay awake.” Juliet reached a hand out and brushed them against his cheek, smiling up at him as she stroked the skin below his eye.

“This isn’t your fault Shawn, I love..”

“No! Juliet, don't say that, you’re not going to die. I'm going to call an ambulance.” Shawn went to search for his phone but Juliet used her hand to grab his shoulder, keeping him in place. “Sweetheart, I don’t think they would make it in time. Please, just stay with me.” Tears formed in his eyes as he looked down at Juliet, her eyes drooping as she struggled to keep them open. He had to do something, he could never live with himself if he just stood here and watched her die. He could pick her up and carry her to the hospital, but even with his abilities he probably wouldn’t make it in time since the hospital was on the complete opposite side of town.

Panic shot through him when he noticed that Juliet’s eyes had fluttered closed, her face relaxed as she finally lost consciousness. “Oh god, no Jules. Please wake up.” Shawn shook her gently but her body was lax. Shawn felt like a part of him was dying as he stared down at his girlfriend.

A burning sensation in his mouth tore him out of his grief. He reached his hand up to feel his teeth and noticed his canines were extended. The burning in his teeth grew, almost to the point where it was painful. Shawn began to feel an urge to bite something as he glanced down to Juliet's neck. His mind flashed back to a couple days ago when Will had thrown him off the table and bit his neck. He had turned barley an hour later.

Shawn's grip on his girlfriend tightened when he suddenly came to a realization. If Will could turn him into a vampire, why couldn’t he do the same with Juliet. Determined, Shawn repositioned himself so that he was hovering over Juliet's still form. He leaned down and pressed his mouth against the soft skin on her neck, kissing it gently. “I’m sorry Jules, you’re going to be ok.” He let his teeth sink into her skin, ignoring how her body didn't react in the slightest. For a second he didn't know what to do. He remembered Will biting his neck, but anything beyond that was a blur.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the burn in his gums. It wasn't like the burn in his throat when he was thirsty, but instead felt like something needed to come out. Keeping his teeth deep in her neck, he tensed the muscles of his jaw until he started to feel a cool liquid pour out of his mouth, the burning sensation lessening. After the burn was gone, he relaxed his jaw and let go of her neck, kissing the skin softly before leaning back.

"Come on Jules, wake up." Shawn repositioned himself so that he sat on the bed with her, moving her body so that he sat behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, holding her close to his body.

"You have to be ok." He said quietly in her ear, his voice defeated. He could feel the tears sliding down his cheeks but he didn't care. He didn't know if he could live without Juliet. This was all his fault. If he had just listened to Lassiter a couple days ago none of this would have happened.

"I'm sorry Jules. I'm so, so sorry." He held her close and rocked them back and forth, resting his chin on the top of her head and closing his eyes.

"Shawn?" Juliet's voice interrupted his apologies. Shawn felt Juliet shift in his arms so he loosened his grip slightly. "Thank God, I thought I lost you." Juliet reached a hand up and grabbed the arm around her stomach, squeezing it gently.

"What happened?"

"He got away, Jules. He drugged you and I had to choose between him and you so I chose you. I don't know what he gave you, but you died Jules." Juliet's hand tightens around his arm.

"If I died, then how am I here? I felt a little groggy when I woke up but now I feel fine." Avoiding her question, Shawn tilted his head so he could press a kiss to the top of her head.

"Are you sure you feel ok?"

"I promise I feel fine Shawn. Maybe a little thirsty though. Do you think you could get me a cup of water." Shawn cringed at that, his mind searching for a way to tell her what he did.

"About that. Jules, you were dead. I was so scared and I didn't know what to do. You stopped breathing and there was no way I could have gotten you to the hospital in time."

"Shawn…"

"God Jules, I'm so sorry. I panicked and I didn't know what else to do." Shawn heard her gasp when she grasped what he was implying. She struggled in his arms for a second before he gave up and loosed his hold on her so she could turn slightly to face him. When they're eyes met, Shawn watched as Juliet's eyes widened in surprise, her gaze quickly shifting into awe.

Juliet quickly rotated in his arms so that she was straddling his legs, her body now facing his. She leaned her head forward and Shawn met her half way, their heads meeting in the middle. Juliet snaked her hands around his neck as their foreheads pressed together, their noses brushing together in the proximity.

"Oh my God, I understand what you mean now." Shawn furrowed his brow.

"About what Jules?"

"It's like nothing else matters anymore. God, I love you so much." Juliet closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to his. Her lips were gentle as she sucked on his bottom lip. Shawn gladly returned the gesture, her soft lips sending sparks down his body. Juliet broke the kiss and instead moved to feather kisses across his jaw, trailing a path to his ear and down his neck, eventually stopping to suck on the spot between his neck and shoulder. Shawn hummed contentedly, tilting his neck slightly so she had better access.

Fire shot up the back of Juliet's throat suddenly, causing her to abruptly pull back and look up at Shawn in fear. Shawn smiled down at her in understanding, his face sympathetic. "It's a strange feeling isn't it. Go ahead Jules, just let your body tell you what to do. It's weird the first time, but I promise it'll make you feel better."

Juliet held his stare for a couple seconds before nodding her head. She moved her head back down so that her face was pressed in the crook of his neck. She could smell something sweet emanating from his skin, causing her teeth to ache. Juliet closed her eyes and let her body take control, opening her mouth and biting down. The newly acquired teeth sliced through his skin, blood now pooling in her mouth. Shawn's moan matched hers as she began to drink his blood. Pleasure coursed through his veins as she drank, his eyes momentarily slipping shut as he focused on her soft lips on his neck.

Juliet released his neck with a sigh a minute later, her chest heaving as she regained her breath. She watched in amazement as the puncture wound closed before her eyes, healing until only a faint mark remained. Juliet leaned back and pressed a final kiss to his lips. When she pulled away, she reached her hand out to cup his cheek, using her thumb to brush under his eye. "I honestly don't know how you managed to do it Shawn. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to leave you."

Shawn laughed, causing Juliet to smile lovingly at him. "You know Jules, I would never be opposed to that." Juliet joined him in laughing, her smile lighting up her whole face.

"I don't think Lassiter would like that."

"All the more reasons to do it. He and my da… oh god, my dad!" Shawn carefully picked Juliet up and set her on the bed next to him so he could stand up.

“What’s wrong with you dad?” Juliet got off the bed and walked around the side until she was standing next to Shawn who was frantically typing something into his phone. She reached out and touched his arm in confusion when he pressed his phone against his ear, his eyes wide in panic.

“My name is Shawn Spencer and I need you to send an ambulance for my father. He was attacked outside my house and he’s hurt.” Shawn met Juliet’s concerned gaze as he rattled off their address before ending the phone call.

“Will attacked my father after he left our house last night. He used him to get me out of the house to get to you. I left him on the ground outside his truck when he told me Will was coming after you. Oh god, I just left him there.” Juliet grabbed his hand and began tugging him towards the door.

“Come on, we’ll go sit with him until the ambulance gets here.” Shawn let her tug him down the stairs and out their front door. He dropped her hand once they were outside so he could run in the direction of his dad's parked truck.

When he reached the truck, he noticed that his father was no longer on the ground and had managed to pick himself up to sit in the front seat. Henry was slouched in the seat with his eyes closed, but Shawn let out a breath of relief when he noticed his fathers shoulders moving up and down as he breathed. He was alive.

With Juliet standing behind him, Shawn reached his hand out and placed it on his fathers shoulder, giving it a gentle shake.

“Hey Dad, can you hear me?” Henry groaned as his body moved. He turned his head to his son and opened his eyes, his face pinched in pain.

“Is Juliet ok?”

Shawn nodded, leaning to the side so his girlfriend could peek her head over his shoulder. “I'm fine Henry, we’re here to make sure you’re ok.” Henry grunted as he sat up straighter in the seat.

“I’ll be ok, I think I threw my back out when the bastard knocked me out though. Who the hell was that man and what does he want with you two? What did you get yourself into now?”

Shawn rolled his eyes. Of course his father assumes all of this is his doing. “I would tell you, but with the way you reacted earlier, I’m not sure you want to know.” Henry opened his mouth in protest but closed it soon after, simply nodding his head in agreement.

The sound of the ambulance cut through the silence of this night, letting them know it was nearby.. His father had closed his eyes so Shawn turned around and leaned his body against the side of the truck. Juliet placed herself next to Shawn, resting her weight on the truck as she leaned her body slightly into Shawn's. Unable to resist, she let her hand fall until it was level with Shawn's, reaching out to intertwine their fingers together. Shawn squeezed her hand before glancing down at her with a grateful smile. They stood together in silence, eyes keeping surveillance as the sounds of the siren grew closer.

Shawn had to let go of her hand a couple minutes later when the bright lights of the ambulance finally appeared at the end of their street. He stood in the middle of the road and waved his arms until the bus came to a stop in front of him. “My dad’s in his truck here. I think he hurt his back, but other than that he seems fine.” Shawn called out to the paramedics as they approached him.

“We’ll take it from here. We’ll make sure your father is well taken care of.” He nodded gratefully at the man and returned to his side next to Juliet. She had moved away from the truck to give the paramedics more room to help Henry out of the car, so now they were huddled together on the sidewalk watching the men work on his father.

As Henry was being loaded into the ambulance on a stretcher, another car approached the scene and came to a stop behind the emergency vehicle. “What are Carlton and Gus doing here?” Juliet asked as the two men got out of the car and began to walk towards them.

“I texted Gus right before I called 911. The Lassie thing is a surprise though.” He really wasn’t sure why his best friend was with the detective. It was currently well past midnight and his friend isn’t one who likes to stay up past his designated bed time.

“What the hell is going on here Spencer. The whole point of you two going home was to keep you out of trouble.” Shawn held out his hand to fist bump his friend before turning to Lassiter and shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s not my fault that Will figured out where we live. I promise I did exactly what I was told to do. Isn’t that right Jules?”

Juliet rolled her eyes at his tone but nodded her head. “He’s right Carlton. Will attacked Henry after he left our house last night and then used him to lure Shawn away from the house. He tried to hurt me but Shawn stopped him before he could do anything.”

“Not anything” Shawn whispered, his shoulder’s dropping at her words. They weren’t entirely true. Juliet almost died tonight, and the only reason she was standing here with them right now was because he decided to turn her too. While he was beyond grateful that she was still alive, he wasn’t sure how Juliet was really feeling about all of this.

“What do you mean, Spencer?” Lassiter's eyes bounced back and forth between the pair before finally landing on Juliet. She appeared fine, her hair was slightly disheveled and her eyes looked tired, however that was nothing out of the ordinary for the hour. Lassiter was about to look away when he froze, his attention quickly drawn to a red stain on his partner's chin that hadn't completely faded.

“Tell me you didn’t” Lassiter said slowly as he turned a hard glare at Shawn. The guilty look on the psychic's face told him everything he needed to know. “Son of a bitch, you turned my partner into a blood sucking freak too. I’m going to shoot you.” Shawn flinched as he watched Lassiter reach for his gun. He deserved whatever Lassiter was going to do to him.

“Don’t even think about it Carlton.” Juliet growled out, her voice dangerous as she glared at her partner. Lassiter’s fingers halted as they grazed the top of his gun.

“O’Hara, you can't seriously be defending him right now.” Lassiter took a step towards him but Juliet moved herself so that she was standing in front of Shawn, a dangerous glint in her eye as she stood in a protective stance.

“None of this is Shawn’s fault. I would have died if Shawn wasn’t there and I'll be forever grateful for that. Don’t even think about laying a hand on him or I swear Carlton I will hurt you. If you thought Shawn could be scary, I promise you I’ll be worse.” Lassiter’s mouth fell open in surprise as he took his hand off his gun and took a big step away from his partner. He had never seen the small woman look more dangerous than she did in that moment.

“Woah, ok O’Hara calm down. I won’t touch the imbecile.” Juliet took a couple deep breaths, reaching her hand back to find Shawn’s, her body relaxing when she felt him squeeze her hand gently.

“Great, now we have two of you to deal with.” Lassiter whispered to himself, earning a hard glare from his partner.

Tugging on their joined hands, Shawn began to pull Juliet away from their two friends back towards their house. “Come on Jules, Will’s gone and my Dad’s going to be ok. It’s the middle of the night and there’s not much we can do right now. We should just go back home and then we can head into the station bright and early tomorrow and get to work. And you two can go back to whatever you were doing this late at night” Shawn teased, causing Juliet to laugh quietly.

“That sounds good to me.” Juliet agreed, quickly cutting off Lassiter's retort. She glanced over her shoulder at her partner as they began to walk back to their house. “We’ll see you at the station tomorrow. Goodnight guys.”

When they got back to their house, Shawn made sure the locks on the door were all locked before moving to the living room window to check those too. Juliet stood to the side and silently waited for him. When she saw that Shawn looked satisfied with the locks, she walked towards him and grabbed his hand, giving him a small smile when his eyes met hers. “Everything’s locked up Shawn, Will’s not coming back tonight. Can we go to bed now?” Shawn squeezed her hand and nodded, tugging on her hand as he led them back to their room.

Juliet slipped straight into bed and sunk into the cool sheets while Shawn walked around their room and checked the locks on their bedroom door and windows. Once he was done, he met Juliet at the bed and slipped into his side, immediately wrapping his arm around Juliet's body and pulling her against him. Juliet reciprocated by turning her body so she could curl around his chest and press her head into the crook of his shoulder. She stretched one arm around his body and tightened her hold, pressing herself as close as she could to his warm body.

Shawn began to move his thumb in an up and down motion against her back, staring down at the top of her head in concern. It felt like she had a death grip on him. “I’m really sorry Jules” he whispered into her hair as he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head.

She loosened her grip on him slightly but kept her head pressed into his shoulder. “You have nothing to be sorry for Shawn. I promise I'm ok. It’s just that… ” She paused for a moment, pressing her nose into his shirt and taking a deep breath. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I was dismissive when you told me you didn’t think you could handle me going into work on my own this morning. I didn’t understand how hard that would be for you, but god Shawn, I never want to let you go.” Shawn felt a smile grow on his face.

“I wasn’t mad about that Jules, I understood where you were coming from and I respect your job. I would do anything for you, regardless of how it makes me feel.” He felt Juliet press a kiss to his shoulder, causing a warmth to spread over his body.

“And I would do anything for you” she whispered back, her voice sounding like she was fighting off sleep.

“Go to sleep Jules. I set our alarm for six thirty so we only have a couple hours until we have to be up. Then we’ll head into the station together.” He felt her nod her head in agreement before she released a breath, her body relaxing more against him.

“Goodnight Shawn. I love you.”

“I love you too Jules.” He whispered back before finally closing his eyes, allowing the soft breaths of his girlfriend to lull him into a deep sleep.