Calliope Burns

**Calliope "Cal" Antigone Burns** is a main character in the first season of the Netflix original series, *First Kill*. She is portrayed by Imani Lewis.

Cal is a fearless and headstrong Monster Hunter in training. Behind that strong veneer is a vulnerable young teen torn between her duty to her family and the secret yearnings for love.

## Biography

### Background

Cal was born to Jack and Talia Burns of the Burns family of monster hunters. She is their youngest child and only daughter, with her old brothers Theo and Apollo well on their way to becoming monster hunters before her. She was trained to be a hunter and conditioned to kill any monsters that came her way.

She was meant to complete her honorary first kill at 15, but failed in her task, as she was tricked by a monster who made itself look like Talia. Since then, she was put on lookout while her brothers went on to hunt. Her family moved every few months on assignment from the Guild, never settling long enough for Cal to establish friends or girlfriends. She had previously lived with her family in Paris, Alaska and Tokyo. She briefly dated fellow monster hunter Tess, though they agreed to remain friends following their amicable breakup..

## Throughout the Series

### Season 1

The Guardian Guild reassigns the Burns family to Savannah, GA, to determine why monsters are back in town after having been chased out 25 years ago. Cal tags along with her brothers Theo and Apollo to a monster hunt in the cemetery, where they are chasing ghouls. She is put on lookout once again and calls out where the creatures are lurking. She sees a third ghoul but her brother has lost his ear piece, so he doesn't hear her warnings. She leaves her lookout position to help her brothers, but is quickly overwhelmed as the monster is a vampire, not a ghoul. Her brothers end up saving her once again.

Cal, being the new girl in town, catches the eye of Juliette Fairmont, who is unaware that Cal's interests are anything but pure. She identifies Juliette as a vampire and tests her theory by "accidentally" dropping her silver bracelet in front of Juliette's locker. Cal spies on Juliette as she picks up the bracelet, her suspicions confirmed when the silver burns her hand. She places herself in spots that Juliette will see her, though they serendipitously run into one another outside their school. Juliette invites Cal to a party that evening, nervously admitting she doesn't really enjoy parties either, but hopes to see Cal there. She suddenly grabs Cal and gently scoops a bee off her shoulder to keep it from hurting her. She tells Cal to make a wish, but that only works with eyelashes. Juliette releases the insect then leaves. Cal finds blood capsules that Juliette had dropped on the ground.

The girls continue to stare at one another in class, even as the teacher forces Cal to read a passage aloud to the entire classroom of students. Cal sneaks out to the party in the hopes of completing her first kill and impressing her skeptical family. Ben rigs a game of spin the bottle so the girls can end up in a closet together. After an awkward moment, Juliette kisses Cal then admits she's wanted to do that for a while - and wants to do it again. They make out in the closet, even breaking a bottle of cherries. The more they kiss the more Juliette loses control. She bites Cal's neck who reacts by staking her in the heart. She watches Juliette fall to the ground before fleeing the room.

The lights go out in the house so Cal runs home, avoiding police cars as she does. She hops on a bus and feels her neck for the bite mark, but it's since disappeared. She returns home to tries to explain the situation to her mother, who is angry Cal snuck out of the house. She reprimands her then reveals that a Shambler broke into their home that night. Cal explains that she thinks she killed the vampire but isn't sure as she didn't disappear. Talia brushes it off as not having been a vampire. Later that night, Talia awakens Cal and takes her to the training area to reenact what happened between the girls. She is astonished first by the precarious positioning, and moments later, by Cal's perfect form.

The next day, a group of students host a vigil for the girl who did die that night, Ashley. Talia and Cal attend together, though Cal refrains from pointing Juliette out to her mother. After the vigil, Cal tries to confront Juliette, though the girl runs from her. They end up on the roof where they argue. Juliette didn't mean to bite her, but Cal doesn't believe her. They start fighting but Juliette matches her blow for blow and even throws Calliope off her fighting rhythm and balance. Cal remarks that they've both had training, though Juliette was born this way. Juliette begins to cry blood as she has yet to feed. When Cal hits Juliette's face, her hand becomes paralyzed from the blood. Juliette assures her it will wear off eventually, apologizes once more, then runs away.

The next day, the girls get in trouble for going to the roof and their mothers are called down to the school. Juliette sparks a lie about being upset over Ashley, with Cal only coming to the roof to comfort her. The principal dissents at taking the girls' story at face value - stating that their presence at the school's rooftop that night could be easily interpreted as something else less tasteful. Talia immediately suspects that Juliette is the vampire Cal staked, even texting to ask her, with Cal's silence being confirmation enough. The principal lets the girls go with a warning.

Once outside, Cal criticizes Juliette for being a shitty liar, as she thought monsters are good at deceiving humans. Juliette surmises she isn't very good being a monster, then. As they talk, Cal admits that Juliette was the first one to welcome her. She smiled at her and made her feel a certain way, but that was all before. She found Juliette's tells because she couldn't keep her eyes off her. Juliette knows Cal planned to kill her at the party, but just wanted to kiss her in the pantry. She didn't mean to bite her. Cal claims she still would have staked Juliette if she hadn't bitten her, but Juliette merely smiles until Cal inquires. Juliette can hear her heartbeat - it races when she lies. Realizing that Juliette has the advantage over her this time around, for their last confrontation together, unlike the one before, ended with Juliette walking away from an incapacitated Calliope, Cal turns her back on the vampire and walks off, not seeing a gratified Juliette maintaining her giddy expression before walking away herself.

Cal goes home where her family and other Guild hunters have gathered. Cal is happy to see her friend Tess and her parents Mike and Sarah. Her father is also back from his hunt. Talia reveals that Cal was right about the girl being a vampire, though she's a Legacy vampire, and that's why she didn't die. Legacies are born, not made, and their bloodline stretches back thousands of years to the Garden of Eden. They're hard to find and even harder to kill. But thanks to Cal, the hunters know where the Legacies are, and now each and every one of them must die.

## Relationships

### Juliette Fairmont

*Main article: Calliope and Juliette*
From the moment Cal saw Juliette, she knew she was the kind of monster her family warned her about; the kind that looked human but wasn't. She planned to kill Juliette and finally complete her first kill. She had everything planned and structured, even her attendance at a party that night. Calliope didn't anticipate Juliette kissing her, or that she would kiss back. Juliette lost control of her vampirism and bit Cal, who staked her in return. She began to have vivid dreams of Juliette and couldn't stop thinking about her. She still wanted to complete her first kill as she saw Juliette as a monster. Juliette asked if Cal would have staked her if she hadn't been bitten, but sensed Cal's answer of "yes" was a lie - she could hear her heartbeat, after all. When Cal's family attacked Juliette's during the latter's consecration ceremony, Elinor kidnapped Cal and tried to bait Juliette into completing her first kill on Cal. Juliette refused and ultimately freed Cal, which triggered their alliance.

They later ran from their families who both sought to control the girls and keep them apart. They retreated to Lancaster Academy where they bonded, discussed their histories, and shared a bed on the Romeo and Juliet production stage. Juliette asked if her heart would be safe with Cal, who admitted it would be - forever.

## Trivia

* When Cal and Jules wakes up at the theater together, Cal wakes up first and watches Jules sleep. When Jules wakes up, Cal pretends to be asleep.
* Cal doesn't wear the silver bracelet again after baiting Jules with it.
* Despite getting her first kill, Cal doesn't receive her arrow tattoo.
* Cal's favourite ice cream is mint chocolate chip
* The text on the wall in her room says: MAMBA CHICK | /’ mämbə /tʃik/ | *a constant quest to be the best version of one’s self..* | “If you do not believe in yourself, no on will do it for you.” KOBE**BRYANT**

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Schwab, Victoria (writer) & Wilkinson, Jet (director). (June 10, 2022). "First Kiss". *First Kill*. Season 1. Netflix.
2. ↑ Hudis, Mark, (writer) & Tapping, Amanda (director). (June 10, 2022). "First Severing". *First Kill*. Season 1. Netflix.
3. ↑ Hudis, Mark, Schwab, Victoria (writers) & Wilkinson, Jet (director). (June 10, 2022). "First Blood". *First Kill*. Season 1. Netflix.
4. ↑ Nolla, Miguel (writer) & Tapping, Amanda (director). (June 10, 2022). "First Love". *First Kill*. Season 1. Netflix.