Rather than being active during the day, two of their little trio were roaming at night. Olivia and Jacqueline lives revolved around the moon, so they naturally were the ones up at night.
Iris was a wild card when it came to her activity, sometimes she needed sunlight and roamed during the day, but sometimes she wanted to hang near her lovers and made an effort to be up at night.
That night wasn't one of those nights, and she laid asleep in the girls’ shared bed as the others roamed their little cottage in the woods, away from civilization, away from humans, away from danger. It was what kept them safe and out of harm's way.
But the damage has already been done. It became more obvious than ever then.
Olivia had been reading a book she picked up when she made a run to the nearby town to get enough food to last them a while so they wouldn't have to risk going back anytime soon. Jacqueline was taking a shower in the bathroom after running around in woods, she found it helped blow off steam. Iris was asleep in bed, or- She should've been.
The sound of the bedroom door creaking open and sniffling brought Olivia’s attention away from her book and towards the door. She didn’t like the sound. As often as she heard it she never liked that sound. But she waited.
Iris appeared in the doorway, visibly upset, and when she spotted Olivia and her concerned expression she bursted into tears, getting to her before collapsing into her lap and roughly sobbing.
Olivia was startled. Scared because she's never seen Iris get this bad, scared because she could feel the fear radiating off of her. She took shaking hands, gently raking it through her hair.
“Shh...shh….you’re here now, together with us again. Don't worry…” She spoke, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. She liked to think that she always knew what to do but she didn't. When Iris remembered and had these terrors it wasn't her who calmed her down, it was Jacqueline. She'd just hold her close to her and sooth her with the warmth of her body and the sound of her heartbeat. Olivia would've done the same if being a vampire didn't mean she was undead and therefore was cold as ice with a heart that didn't beat.
Iris continued to cry, which made Olivia's heart ache. She shifted her eyes to the door, when-
Jacqueline came in, probably having heard Iris’ sobbing, her hearing was impressive, and being only in the next room it wasn't hard.
Her eyes flicked between Iris’ trembling form and Olivia's terrified expression before shifting over to sit on the couch and wrapping up the smallest girl in her embrace, gently rocking her from side to side while murmuring softly.
By the time Iris had calmed down and fell back to sleep, Olivia was up and nervously pacing. Jacqueline gave her a look, speaking in a whisper.
“She's having them more often.”
“She can't keep having them, Liv.”
“I know!" Olivia snapped and sat in the nearby armchair, putting her head in her hands. “I know….she shouldn't have them, none of us should have them.” She murmured, it was the first time she had acknowledged that Iris wasn't the only one being haunted by the past, even though it was obvious. Jacqueline would wake up in cold sweats with tremors going through her, and Olivia herself would have to be woken up from her own nightmares at times. What happened back then was far from forgettable.
“Jacqueline, if I could make this better I would but I can't.”
“Why not? You have the powers to do it!”
“And I don't know how to control it! I could do more harm than good! I-I could cause more scarring or-”
“Olivia.” Jacqueline eased Iris onto the couch and stood, striding over to Olivia before enveloping her in her own hug. “It's not your fault.”
The smaller girl hiccuped, letting a few of the tears that had gathered into her eyes escape and roll down her cheeks. “I-I didn't mean to hurt you…”
“You thought we'd be safe.”
“But we didn't. Liv- Liv. Look at me.” Using a gentle hand she forced Olivia's eyes to meet hers quietly, expression soft.
“You do what's best for us. That's why we come to you when we have problems. Iris can't keep going through this, we can't keep going through this. You don't know how to properly use your powers but that doesn't mean you can't learn. It'd help us all, more than just forgetting.”
Olivia sniffled and nodded, wiping her eyes. “Y-You're right, I'll...I'll look into how to control them soon…”
Jacqueline smiled down at her, leaning down and pecking her lips, “Good. I love you.”
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