Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cyrus

     The sun is high in the sky, almost blindingly bright as it glints off of the glass windows of the small convenience store. He wasn’t planning to even leave the apartment, but he finished the milk and figured he should replace it before Bob gets home. She’ll get home a little early today, about one or two in the afternoon, so he’s out early. It’s also quite nice to be the only one in a store. Well, he’s not exactly the only one in the store, there’s still the two employees and one other customer, but it’s close enough.

     He’s humming along to the tune playing over the store speakers when he takes his goods to the register, some metal song, he’s not paying attention. The register isn’t working properly, not scanning the milk and then not taking his card as payment. He knows he’s got money on it, so he’s sure it must be an issue with the machine. The worker apologizes while texting his coworker, but Cyrus shrugs. He’s not in any hurry.

     “Look, dude, I haven’t a clue why this isn’t work-” The worker looks up while apologizing again, but freezes; jaw hanging open. The employee is staring, terrified, at something behind him. Cyrus raises a confused brow but doesn’t have a chance to react any further.

     Something very clearly humanoid slams into his back, sinking claws into his shoulders and teeth into the side of his neck. He can’t reach his attacker well enough to remove them, so he uses his magic to detach the attacker and slam them hard into the ground. There’s a sickening crack that sounds from the body, and Cyrus guesses it’s probably from their spine snapping from the force of the throw. The body is that of a demon, very human looking- possibly a hybrid.

     Cyrus’ hand flies up to the bite mark on his neck, pulling it away covered in blood. He quickly heals all three injuries, shrugging it off. He’ll have Bob look at it later. He notices something glimmering on the demon’s face, and crouches down to get a better look. The glimmering is coming from tiny, barely-there iridescent crystals poking out of his skin. It’s on his hands and in his mouth, too.

     “What..?” Cyrus murmurs, brows furrowing in confusion. Maybe it’s a genetic thing for this demon? He’s never heard of anything like this. So, maybe something magical? Glamour subsides after death, and dude’s not breathing.. Cyrus hums. Whatever. Cyrus grabs the milk he came here for, barely noticing the employee is now missing, and saunters out the door.

Chapter Text

JC

     JC readjusts a strand of hair on their head in the mirror, meticulous with it. They smile at themselves in the mirror, beaming brightly. Nicole pokes her head into the bathroom. “Are you ready?” She asks, her tone monotone as usual, but JC knows her well enough now to pick-up on the slight inflections of affection in her voice.

     “Yup!” JC says brightly. She takes their hand as they leave her townhouse and climb into the car so the two of them can meet-up with Patrick and Janine. They drive to the museum, making comments about the sparse cars on the road and lack of people walking around. It's a small town, but not small enough for this to be normal. It's kind of creepy how empty the streets are. JC shakes it off as they reach the museum and the other couple.

     They exchange pleasantries and then head inside. It’s a museum of nature and science, so the four of them end-up running around like lunatics from exhibit to exhibit. They take a moment to laugh at some of the inaccuracies in the magical creatures exhibits before stopping in the cafeteria for a snack. JC and Nicole grab some drinks, and Patrick snags some cheese fries. Janine says she's not hungry and just sits to chat with them.

     “Did you guys notice how empty the roads were?” Patrick asks, licking cheese from his fingers.

     JC almost spits out their soda from how quickly they jump to answer. “Yeah! I thought it was so weird. I've never seen roads this empty.” Janine raises her eyebrows in interest. JC rolls their eyes and ignores them. “Where do you think everyone went?”

     Patrick shrugs. “Dunno. Maybe everyone just coincidentally decided to stay inside today?”

     “That'd be one hell of a coincidence.” JC grumbles as they finishe their drink. It's more than just the roads, even the museum is oddly empty. They've hardly seen any staff, and only a couple handfuls of ten or twenty other people throughout the entirety of the museum. The eeriness of it all makes JC's stomach turn. They finish their snacks and then start their way out to their cars, chatting the whole way.

     Patrick stops suddenly part-way through the museum, and the others fall quiet as they stop as well. “Pat-” Janine tries, but Patrick stops her with a raised finger. His fluffy brown ears twitch, as he turns his head to listen to something in the health exhibit to his right. JC strains his own ears to see if he can hear anything, and only picks up a quiet snarl before Patrick snaps back into himself. He grabs Janine by the hand and tugs her into one of the other nearby exhibits, shouting for the others to follow.

     The four of them duck behind a counter display of the different stages of amethyst growth, and then turn concerned to Patrick. “Patrick, what's going on?” Janine whispers. Patrick looks.. startled. Something JC has never seen on the usually calm and collected military man. He doesn't answer, instead just peaking over the display and pointing towards the health exhibit. Nicole looks over as well, while Janine and JC poke their heads around the side.

     Meandering out of the health exhibit and into the great hall of the museum is a person. But they look.. weird. Odd crystalline growths stick out of their skin, and they even seem to still be bleeding in some places. They stumble into the hall, snarling and sobbing. JC stares wide-eyed at the distorted person, frozen in place. It's nothing like anything they've seen before. This must be what's got Patrick so on-edge. Another one joins the first, and JC realizes that neither of them are actually bleeding- they are covered in blood.

     “I think they're vampires..” Janine breathes, hurt and shock clear on her face and in her voice. Are they the reason everyone is missing? Is there some kind of vampire group running around terrorizing the town’s inhabitants? What's with the crystals then? JC squints at the pair incredulously.

     “We need to get out of here.” JC whispers, nudging Janine out of their way. There's a hallway to their right that leads deeper into the rocks and minerals exhibit, and if their memory serves, it should loop around back to the main hallway and they can slip out a fire escape without alerting the vamps of their presence. JC nudges Patrick to get his attention and motions at the other three to follow them. The four of them have to crawl to the hallway opening, and then take-off running once the threat is out of sight.

—

Nicole

     “Nicole!” JC’s loud whisper pulls her attention back to him from the pair of crystalizing vampires. They take her hands between theirs, shaking just slightly. “We can handle this.” Nicole rests her forehead against JC’s. She’s not quite sure, but she’s got a sneaking suspicion that her partner is trying to reassure themselves more than her.

     “I know.” She whispers back. The four of them are huddled against the bottom of the museum stairs, JC keeping himself between Nicole and the other couple so she doesn’t become too overwhelmed. The fire exit they are aiming for is just down the main hall in the opposite direction from the vampires and only thirteen feet away, but they’ll need to step into the vampires’ lines of sight and an alarm will sound the second they open the door; so they need a distraction or to find something the threat won’t get to so quickly.

     Patrick and Janine are working on possible attack strategies if they become a necessity and putting together their shared knowledge of the museum for another possible escape route, while JC is watching the vampires to make sure they don’t get too close, and Nicole is brainstorming how she could use her magic to get them out of this situation. She’s still got her protection charm, but it’s in the bag she forgot in the cafeteria.

     Nicole leans in to whisper to JC again. “I left my bag in the cafeteria, and my protection charm is in there.” JC exhales, and Nicole can see the gears turning in his head. They turn to Patrick and tap him on the shoulder before whispering to him. Once Patrick responds, after sharing several looks with Janine, JC leans back over to Nicole.

     “They don’t think it’ll be safe to go to the cafeteria right now. Can you make another one really quick?” They ask hesitantly, peering at her gently. Nicole shakes her head. She doesn’t have any of the necessary materials for the job, nor the space to complete it. JC looks downtrodden but puts on a brave face and returns to eavesdropping on the other two. Nicole’s attention is brought back to the crystals sticking out of the vampires’ bodies, glimmering in the sunlight filtering into the main hall through the large windows that make-up the entry wall. Something dark flashes in the corner of her eye, and she realizes that there is another person hiding around a corner, between the vampires and the front door.

     Nicole nudges JC and points out the other person, who then does the same to Patrick and Janine. All four of them watch as the woman- dressed in the black uniform of the museum staff and sporting a set of wolf ears and a tail -darts out of her hiding place towards the front door. Her footsteps are too loud, echoing through the dead silent entry hall, and she’s immediately pounced on by the vampires. Both Patrick and Janine wince, but they shove the other two towards the fire escape door. The alarm sounds behind them and blares through the parking-lot, but they make it to their cars unharmed.

     JC starts up the car and peels out of the parking-lot, Patrick and Janine’s car just behind them. In the side mirror, Nicole spots more creatures covered in different amounts of those same crystals popping out of the bushes and from around cars.

—

Janine

     “Are you alright?” Patrick asks, eyes still glued to the road and the car in front of them. Janine isn’t sure how to answer. She’s just witnessed two vampires, her own species, rip someone apart. This shouldn’t be affecting her the way it is- she’s in the military and has lived a long time. She’s seen worse, but for some reason this is affecting her more than she’d like. She realizes that Patrick is still expecting an answer, and snaps out of it.

     Janine shrugs. “I will be. Are you okay?” Patrick shrugs too. “I know that probably wasn’t easy on you.” She adds, voice soft as she references what they witnessed back in the museum. The werewolf’s grip tightens on the steering wheel, whitening his knuckles. He glances at Janine’s worried expression, and sighs deeply.

     “I’m fine, Jean. I’m just.. worried about you guys. We don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t want you to get hurt because we’re unprepared.” They stop for a red light, and Patrick takes a moment to look over at her, his brown eyes so warm and sincere. He offers Janine an elbow to hold since he needs both hands to drive, and she takes it happily. Janine takes a moment to look out the passenger window, mood immediately souring as she notices the plethora of other magical creatures with those same crystals all over the street. Dwarves, goblins, vampires, werewolves, even some demons wander the street, accompanied by scattered human bodies. All of their attention turns to the only two cars rolling through, and some of them look utterly distraught. Janine is just glad she doesn’t recognize any of the faces in the crowd.

     Patrick’s phone rings and Janine picks it up, hearing JC’s voice on the other end. “Are you guys seeing this?” They ask, bewilderment in their tone.

     “Yeah, I don’t think we couldn’t if we tried.” Patrick chuckles at the absurdity of the situation.

     “Hm. I think the cars bring in too much attention, so we should ditch them at the hotel once we’ve got our stuff.” JC suggests. “It’ll make getting home take longer, but I think it’ll be safer.”

     Patrick thinks it over and then nods in agreement before remembering that JC can’t see him. “That might be our safest option. Have you gotten a hold of Bob? Or Cyrus, or any of the others?”

     “Nuh-uh. Nothing from anyone. Nicole can’t either. Whatever is causing all of this might be interfering with communication.” They think for another moment, the same question popping into all of their minds.

     “Then why can we still communicate?” Nicole asks before anyone else can get to it.

     “Maaybe it’s a vicinity thing?” JC suggests, and Janine swears she can hear them shrugging and can imagine the look they’re probably giving Nicole.

     “Maybe. We’ll have to stay close then. I’m going to let you guys go and focus on the road.” Patrick says and then hangs up the phone. He gives Janine a look that makes her uneasy. Fear is so rarely seen on her boyfriend’s face, that it’s very scary when it is.

     She takes his hand and gives him a supportive smile. “We can handle this.” She hums softly. She lovingly caresses the back of his hand with her thumb and presses a kiss into his skin. “I love you.”

      That gets Patrick to smile. “I love you too, Jean.”

     Patrick pulls into the hotel parking-lot, just behind JC. He quickly shuts off the engine, and then he and Janine jump out and the four of them rush up the stairs. There’s luckily no-one in the area, living or otherwise, so they face no push-back when getting to their rooms. Once they are packed, they meet in JC and Nicole’s room to make a plan. Patrick lays a map of the state out on the bed, and uncaps a marker; holding the cap between his teeth.

     “Okay, we are here-” Janine points to the town they’re in on the map, and Patrick marks it with a dot. “-And we need to get here.” She then points to the city CaFae Latte is in and he marks it with an ‘X’. “So we just need to plan our route.”

     “We should avoid large cities, as they’ll have larger populations and pose a larger threat.” JC says, and Patrick puts a line through all of the big cities between them and home, and then spits out the cap so he can make his own additions.

     “We’ll most likely need to stop for food and water, so we should hug the highway and stop wherever we need to.” He traces the line that marks the highway and circles the smaller towns and cities that would be better hits or where they could possibly get help. Though, with how quickly this has appeared and then spread, Janine isn’t sure that’ll be a genuine possibility. More like a hope drenched in desperation. “Nicole?” She’s tapping each of her fingers to her thumb in order, the way she does when she’s over or understimulated.

     “Have you got a protection charm?” Patrick asks, also noticing her stress-tapping and instinctually adjusts his posture to be more subconsciously comforting, despite her inability to pick-up on it. Nicole nods and holds up the unicorn horn charm she’s got clutched in her non-fidgeting hand. “Good. We’ll need that.” Suddenly, Patrick’s head snaps around to look at the door to the hotel room sitting slightly ajar, and everyone falls silent.

—

Patrick

     Something scratches along the plastered wall of the hall just outside, snarling and drooling and stomach grumbling- the same or at least very similar sounds to those that belonged to those vampires back at the museum. “Lock the door.” Patrick says, no louder than a whisper. JC rushes around the bed, closes the door as softly as they can, and locks it with a soft click. Some of the tension in Patrick’s shoulder’s dissipates. They don’t know what these things are capable of, so they need to take every possible caution.

     “We should go out the window.” JC whispers, and everyone nods in agreement. Patrick goes out first after gathering up the map, closely followed by Nicole, and then Janine, and then JC. The four of them sneak around the side of the hotel building, Patrick in the lead to keep a careful ear out for approaching threats. He keeps picking up snippets of JC and Nicole’s hushed conversation. Little ‘I love you’s and generally reassuring words. It makes his chest ache with worry and he looks around for his own partner.

     Janine is just behind the other couple, watching the rear. Patrick motions her to join him, but she shakes her head. “ I need to keep an eye out back here. ” She mouths, pointing her thumb over her shoulder as she signs along. Patrick droops, having to force his ear to stay in the air to catch sound. Janine smiles warmly and rolls her eyes playfully. “ You’re fine. I’ll be fine. ” She taps her thumb on her chest a couple times with an open palm, and then motions for him to face the front again. Patrick pouts, but it also makes him more determined to do a good job at protecting the group.

Chapter Text

Rethu

     Rethu's head pops up from where he's taking inventory crouched behind the counter at the sound of people outside. It's been quiet all evening, and they're closed now, so he hopes he won't have to deal with entitled people looking to get in after closing. There's no-one there, though, confusing him further. Rethu sighs as he stands up and makes his way over to the door. It unlocks with a click of his key, and he steps out.

     He looks left, and then he looks right, and he doesn't find anything. Now he's even more confused. Where'd the people he'd heard go? Was it an echo from Husniya and Drek, or was he just hearing things after a long and busy day? He ponders it for a moment, and then something snarls just to his left. Rethu barely has time to turn his head before someone lunges for him and sinks their teeth into his arm.

     He shouts, flailing his arm and flinging his attacker across the empty street. His attacker appears to be a goblin or maybe a dwarf, something small, and lays motionless in the alleyway. Rethu observes his injury, a bloody bite wound on his forearm. It'll need to be cleaned, but he's not concerned about it. Another snarl sounds to his right, and then another two to his left, and one steps over the body out of the alley across the street; and Rethu finds himself surrounded. He knows he could handle this, but Husniya and Drek are still inside and unaware of what’s happening and he needs to prioritize their safety right now.

     Rethu whips around and retreats into the café, quickly locking the door behind him. He takes a minute to close the blinds on the windows and door and pile up some of the seating and tables in front of them for extra fortification, and then hurries to the back to warn his coworkers. Husniya’s brows are already furrowed in concern when he gets into the back. She's drying her hands on a green towel after helping Drek finish up with the dishes.

     “Rethu? What's going on, we heard shouting.” She worries while folding and re-hanging the towel. Drek also looks concerned, but he's acting more like he's trying to eavesdrop than actually listen.

     “I- I don't know. Someone attacked me, and then more people started to gather.” Rethu explains, feeling a little out of breath. “Drek, lock the back door.” He tosses the Goblin hybrid his keys, and Drek listens immediately. “We need to get a hold of Bob and possibly the authorities.” He says to Husniya. She nods and pulls her phone from her pocket, dialing for their boss.

     Rethu then returns to the front to make sure no-one's gotten in, and to also grab the first-aid kit from under the counter. He quickly bandages his bite wound, hopefully tight enough to stop the bleeding, and then throws on his jacket to keep it hidden. They have enough to worry about, they do not need to be worrying about such an insignificant injury.

—

Husniya

     Husniya's worry only grows when her call goes to voicemail for the third time. Bob is usually very good at answering her calls, especially during work hours, so this on top of what Rethu just experienced is very concerning. She sighs before she puts her phone away and turns to Drek who's peering at her expectantly.

     “It's going to be fine, Drek. Why don’t you finish up with the closing, and then come join us in the front. Okay?” She says gently.

     Drek nods. “Okay.” He says quietly, and Husniya is worried for him. She needs to check-in on Rethu, though, so she leaves the Goblin to his work. She finds Rethu sitting on the front counter, leg bouncing with anxiety and the first-aid kit open on the counter. She closes the kit and puts it away while she scans the dragon's form for a hint of the bandaged injury. He's wearing his jacket, though, so it's probably hidden under that. Husniya will need to interrogate him about it later.

     “Are you alright, Rethu?” Husniya asks, drifting around the counter to stand beside him. Rethu shrugs.

     “I dunno. I'm.. worried, Husniya. This whole situation feels so wrong. ” He says quietly. “Anything from Bob?”

     He looks down at her now, and it's her turn to shrug. “Nothing. I called three times and it went to voicemail every time.” A knock on the cafe’s glass door startles the both of them, making them jump, and Husniya shares a slightly scared look with Rethu. She approaches one of the windows, having to stand on her tiptoes to peek through the blinds over the chair and table in front of it, and then is immediately startled back as something slams into the window.

     The ‘something’ is a person, a vampire, and he's pressing his forehead into the window like he's trying to phase through. “Please, we're so hungry. ” He whines, hand padding at the glass. Something on his face glints in the dying sunlight, so Husniya squints at his face and realizes there's something hard and pearlescent poking out of his skin. Dried blood crusts the skin around the protrusions and he periodically scratches at it.

     Husniya glances back at Rethu, who's now standing and observing her concernedly. The vampire slams his fist into the glass, screaming erratically and spooking her back. “Let me in!” He screams. “Please!” His face twists between flat-out rage and a desperation that stabs Husniya to her very core. She can feel Rethu reach out to grab her by the arm on instinct, but he hesitates and clears his throat to get her attention instead.

     “We shouldn't get too close to the windows.” He says, putting himself between her and the glass.

     “Can we help them at all?” Husniya asks. A single look through another set of blinds reveals the twenty or twenty-five others surrounding the cafe, their protrusions all in different stages of growth. Husniya can tell from some of the larger ones that the iridescent things are crystals of some kind. She also notices that the only people out there are magical creatures. Not a single human stands out there with them.

     Husniya can feel Rethu's growing irritation, and she steps away from the window. “I think the only ones affected by this are magical creatures, and it's from some kind of crystal.” She informs him. He starts to worry the end of his jacket sleeve- the fabric catching on his claws, his wings twitch, and his tail lashes. He's not usually the fidgety type, so the behavior immediately sets off alarm bells in Husniya’s head. Just then, Drek comes out of the kitchen, kind of hiding behind the door. He doesn't say anything, but the fear is clear on his face.

—

Drek

     “Hey, Drek. We're going to be stuck here for a while, but hopefully Bob will get here soon and help us out.” Husniya says. She's smiling, rather warmly too, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Drek’s grip on the heavy door tightens with anxiety, and all he wants to do right now is run home to his parents and never leave again.

     He nods in understanding at Husniya’s words. “What’re we gonna do in the meantime?” He asks meekly. “What about our families?”

     Husniya thinks for a moment before answering. “Both you and I were going to get a ride home from Bob, so we won't have people coming for us. At least not immediately.” Her brows furrow with worry. She's probably thinking about her own family, her husband and kids. Her kids are so little- Drek thinks the twins are still under a year old. He doesn't know what's going on, but it can't be very safe for them. “Hopefully Bob will get here soon and help deal with this.” She says rather suddenly, snapping from her thoughts to reassure Drek and Rethu. Rethu, who's twitching with what looks like anxiety, but something deep in Drek's belly tells him it's something worse. Something more dangerous.

     “Uhm, why don't we gather up some snacks and drinks and find a good corner to watch a movie?” Husniya says, clapping her hands together lightly. Drek nods and dips back into the back room. He's seen zombie movies, so while he's gathering snacks and drinks he starts filling up as many empty containers of water as he can find. They may need it later if the water stops running. He also plugs-in his phone. Just in case.

     He finds Husniya using the chair cushions and whatever other soft stuff to set-up a comfortable spot behind the counter, and Rethu flicking through the streaming platforms on his phone. Drek tucks the snacks and water onto a shelf behind the counter. And then the three of them settle in with an animated movie, both boys careful not to touch Husniya.

     Drek can let himself relax just a little bit and enjoy the movie without stressing too hard. He's already so tired- after a long night before with friends and an early morning start -that the small warm space behind the counter and comfort of his friends start to lull him into sleep.

Chapter Text

Erik

     Erik pokes his head out of the solitary cell, wondering why it just popped open. All of the guards disappeared in a panic over an hour ago, so.. The other prisoners step out of their own cells all along the common area, sharing bewildered looks that quickly turn into glee. The two prisoners on either side of his cell, a sixteen year old human and a goblin, are still sleeping lightly, or at least pretending to be asleep so he won’t bug them about the missing guards anymore. Should he wake them for this? Two extra brains would be really useful right now, but he could care less. He bangs on the cell doors a couple times as he’s leaving, though. He’s not a complete monster.

     Erik doesn’t pay any attention to the other prisoners, just shooting to get out as quickly as possible. He’s not sure where he’ll go, he can’t go back home cause Bob will kill him, and his parents certainly won’t take him. He’ll be on the run for the rest of his mortal life, and Bob will probably curse him the second she finds out he’s free again. As long as he doesn’t have to spend the rest of his life in that cement box of a cell. He felt like he was going to lose his mind and bash his own head in if he had to sit in there any longer.

     He reaches the courtyard, only realizing he’s being followed when someone catches the heavy door behind him. Erik and six others- he only recognizes three of them -step out into the silent courtyard. It’s unusually dark, only one big spotlight is on, and isn’t even moving; just pointed at the far-end fence, and it’s a new moon so they don’t even have that. As he’s scanning the fence, he notices a break in the razor wire that lines the top of the outer fence. They can climb out that way, and then book it.

     Their shoes thump on the cement of the courtyard as they all run over to the fence, and the cement walls reflect the cold breeze back at them, making Erik shiver. They all climb over, some dropping onto the sidewalk between the fences, some just reaching over to the outer fence and scaling it that way. Erik takes a minute to enjoy the feeling of the grass beneath his shoes after nearly six months of solitary confinement. He wishes he could see the stars as well, but there’s too much cloud-cover for that.

     The fence rattles behind him, but it shouldn’t be because he was the last one to climb over, so there shouldn’t be anyone.. His thoughts trail off as he turns around and watches someone leap from the guard tower to the fence, and then hit the ground running. Erik can only watch with abject horror as they slam into one of the still nearby human prisoners, taking him to the ground, and beginning to tear into his back. He’s rooted to the spot as he watches the other prisoner’s ribs go flying once they’re stripped of their meat, and still can’t manage to move even after the attacker is done with his kill.

     Erik’s breath catches in his throat as the attacker stands and turns to face him. He’s a guard, or was, his uniform soaked in the blood of the prisoner he just killed and dried blood from before. Sharp crystals have replaced his eyes, and are even sticking out of the sockets and the skin around them. He’s completely blind, relying on the wolf ears on the top of his head. Erik realizes the werewolf guard is trying to listen for him, and freaks out because he’s not sure if werewolves can hear breathing or heartbeats.

     When the guard doesn’t immediately find him, he decides to take his chances and start backing away. If he can get to the front entrance and the parking-lot, he can hopefully either hardwire a car or follow the road back to civilization. Erik waits for the guard to shuffle a little further from him before he turns on his heel and sprints around the side of the prison. The werewolf guard takes off after him with a snarl, and it doesn’t take long for him to catch-up. He’s hot on Erik’s tail, and he swears he can feel his claws reaching for him. He does reach the parking-lot, sliding to a stop in the grass and slapping his hands over his mouth so the blind guard will lose his trail.

     Unfortunately, he’d slid to a stop next to the torn-apart body of a human guard. Fortunately, though, this guard has a ring of keys clutched in one of his fists, and one of them is a car key. Now he just needs to figure out which car it belongs to and get in it without getting caught. The werewolf guard is prowling nearby, ears perked up and twitching to try and find him again. Erik slowly pushes himself to his hands and knees, and reaches over the dead guard to snag his keys. He grits his teeth in concentration as he very slowly and very carefully takes the car key off of the key ring while also taking the collection of keys and clutching them to his chest to keep them quiet.

     Erik presses the unlock button and the lights flash on a truck parked just on the other end of the parking-lot. He grimaces every time tiny rocks or the asphalt digs into his knuckles as he crawls through the parking-lot. He uses one of the keys to scratch into the door as he passes a car on his way, setting off the alarm and using the distraction to run straight to the truck. He slams the door behind him, jams the key into the ignition, and speeds off. He doesn’t care to stay on the dirt road that leads out of the parking-lot to the actually paved road, just plowing through the countryside plants and dirt.

     He can finally relax a little bit once he’s on that main road and there’s nothing in front of him for miles. Just flat plains. He has a moment to wonder what the hell is going on, and if it’s isolated to the prison or not. If it is, he’ll head for the café. They wouldn’t turn him away at a time like this, right? He can only hope.

Chapter Text

Cyrus

     He itches all over, and it hurts. Cyrus has never been this uncomfortable before, and it’s pissing him off. Every tiny little thing is getting under his skin and dancing on his last fucking nerve. He’d like to get under his own damned skin- peel it off so he can get to the itchiness. It’s in his bones and he’s going to fucking break them. Cyrus bangs his head against the drywall of the apartment he shares with his boss and grits his teeth with the effort it takes to keep himself from ripping into his own skin. The apartment starts feeling hot and stuffy so Cyrus fumbles over to the living room window and opens it to let in the autumn air.

     His attention is immediately snapped to a human huddled in the apartment garden, shoulders heaving as he catches his breath. He must’ve been running from something for a while with how hard he’s gasping for breath. One thought rings loud and clear through Cyrus’ mind as he stares down at the human: Hungry. Cyrus leaps out of the window, landing a short ways away from the human and making him jump. He wastes no time in lunging for the human’s throat.

     He blanks out everything from the moment he reaches the human to now, only realizing what he’s done when his vision clears and he comes to. He’s covered in blood, his nerdy D&D shirt sticky with it and he can taste it in his mouth. It drips from his face and adds to what’s slathered over his hands, and he can’t bring himself to look past his hands at the damage he’s done. Cyrus has never killed in cold blood before, he could never. He’s not like that. Hot angry tears well up in his eyes. He’s pissed at himself and pissed at the world for letting this happen. He can’t help also being pissed at Bob for not coming home when she was supposed to and helping him with this.

     The grief and guilt is quickly overshadowed by that rising anger and the pain and itchiness under his skin just keeps piling on. He pushes himself to his feet, wobbling slightly, and starts walking down the street. He misses Rethu, maybe he’ll go see them.

Chapter Text

JC

     The sun is just barely peeking up above the edge of the plains behind the group, casting long shadows on the road ahead of them as it sets. The highway is dead, a few cars found scattered here or there, but they are always either unaccompanied or are now only home to the cold remains of their owners. They’d stopped just outside the city so they could rest for the day, only waking up a few hours ago in order to keep moving. They had also decided to only travel at night, so they are harder to be seen by threats and so they aren’t wasting away under the hot autumn sun, so now they have to deal with all of their sleep schedules being upturned.

     Not that JC’s had one for very long, but they are trying, damnit. Their grip tightens unconsciously around their girlfriend’s hand, and she pats theirs gently. “How are you feeling?” Nicole asks softly.

     “Fine.” JC hums, shrugging. “Getting a little hungry.” Nicole blinks at them for a moment before pulling her hand from theirs so she can dig in her bag. It’s smaller than a satchel, but not quite a purse and she usually only uses it for transporting general witchy materials; but she’s also carrying snacks for the two of them. It’s not always easy or smart to distract Patrick and Janine, so they have to keep themselves satiated. JC is honestly just glad that their phone still works. It’s nice to be able to listen to music on these long walks, like they are with Nicole right now. After a minute of digging, Nicole hands them a bag of beef jerky and they happily rip into it.

     Just ahead, Patrick pauses in his walking, Janine catches on a moment later and turns around to face the rest of the group. JC pauses their music and all three of them go still, watching Patrick intensely. He turns to look behind Nicole and JC, confusion scrawled all across his face. His head tilts and his ears and nose twitch, and then the confusion turns to disgust. “Diesel.” He grumbles, scrunching up his nose. Now, the sounds of a truck have become audible to the human’s ears, coming from the west.

     They watch as a truck, the white paint splattered with blood and embedded with those dangerous bloody crystals, comes up over the highway overpass over the small-ish river and approaches them. It stops just before reaching them, and JC squints into the tinted windshield to try and see something about the driver. Everyone goes tense, ready to pounce as the driver’s door opens, and he climbs out.

—

Nicole

     “Erik!?” JC shouts, and Nicole’s hands fly up to her ears on instinct to protect against their yelling. Patrick has to get in-between them before JC can beat the ¼ demon into the pavement, and Janine happily takes Nicole’s place closer to the scuffle so she can sink into the background far enough so she can still listen in and not get too overwhelmed. “What the hell are you doing out of prison?” JC interrogates, trying to wrench their arm out of Patrick’s hold so they can pummel their ex-friend.

     “What do you think? Have you been living under a rock for the last twelve hours!?” Erik shouts back. “There’s crystal fuckers all over the place you-”

     “Erik.” Patrick cuts him off before he can go into a cussing tirade at JC, blocking Erik’s view of the other while JC has to be pulled away by Janine. Nicole isn’t sure if they are easy to move because of Janine’s strength, or if they’re not entirely unwilling to be removed from the situation. Nicole lets them rest their chin on her shoulder and, and they grumble about Erik being a traitor over her shoulder while she holds their hand. “Erik, explain what’s happened from your end.” Patrick says stiffly.

     Erik sighs, groans, and then his shoulders sag. “The guards disappeared and during the escape one of those freaks ate someone right in front of me and I just barely escaped. More of them were on me when I got into the city, too.” He turns around and pulls up his white t-shirt to reveal healing scratch marks across his back. “Got out of it with these.” Everyone is immediately put on edge again from that revelation.

     Nicole thinks back to that werewolf woman that they’d watched get attacked by the crystalized vampires, and how she saw her wandering around again just hours after. She was acting the same way the other crystalized creatures were, erratic and twitchy. Nicole was the first to spot her, flopped over sobbing hysterically over a human body, and hadn’t even realized it was her until she’d stood up and her ears perked up to find another hunt. Nicole made the others aware of what she’d seen, and her thoughts on the consciousness of these creatures. From that information, they’d also come to the conclusion that the crystallization must be some kind of infection, spread through bites and possibly other contact with the infected.

     Patrick and Janine share a concerned look while Erik fixes his shirt, and JC doesn’t look much better. Their face hardens, though, and they approach the other three again; pulling the switchblade from their back pocket and flicking it open. “How do we know he’s not infected?” They ask Patrick as they point the blade right at Erik’s face. 

     “We don’t know if he is, either.” The werewolf firmly grabs JC’s wrist to stop them if necessary.

     “I say we put him down just to be safe.” JC practically growls. “As far as we know, this only affects magical creatures and he’s one-fourth demon so he could be a risk.”

     Patrick shakes his head. “We cannot just go around killing anyone who has a chance of infection without actually knowing if they are.” He forcibly lowers JC’s hand and has to pry the blade from their hand. “Besides, it would be useful to know how quickly the virus presents itself and the beginning symptoms just in case any of us get attacked.” He says ‘any’ but he really means him and Janine. If JC and Nicole get attacked, based on their evidence, they would only have to worry about getting torn apart.

     Nicole shudders at the thought of JC getting attacked, and she’s grateful she gave him her protection charm. The unicorn horn glints slightly in the dying sunlight where it hangs around their neck, looking from afar a lot like the crystal infection. She doesn’t want to think about what kind of an omen that might be.

—

Janine

     Janine watches Erik intently while Patrick works on de-escalating JC so this encounter doesn’t turn into a bloodbath. He looks rather tired, the beginnings of bags under his eyes and sagging posture indicate such. He also looks genuinely scared of what JC might do to him. She gets why JC is so upset right now, she was there helping Patrick when Cyrus was faenapped. The betrayal of trust on top of the fact Cyrus could’ve been killed would make anyone want to gut him just to show him a modicum of the fear Cyrus’ friends felt that night.

     “JC, why don't you take a deep breath and step back?” Patrick says, more of an order than a suggestion. JC shoots their ex-friend one more glare before following Patrick’s instructions and stepping back. Nicole comes up on their side, resting a hand on their shoulder. “Now, I think we should take him with us. Ah-” He stops JC from butting in with a raised hand, and JC’s mouth closes irritatedly. “We’ll keep an eye on him and keep him at arms-length, but it could come in very handy to have the extra man-power.” He explains himself. JC looks like he wants to retort, but he sighs in resignation instead. Patrick holds an open hand out to Erik, who pouts at it before pulling the truck keys from his pocket and handing them over.

     The truck is only a four seater, so Erik gets banished to the sheltered bed. They’re nice enough to throw him a pillow, but JC would throw a fit if they offered up anything else to the traitor. Patrick tosses Janine the keys and she takes the wheel, Nicole takes the passenger seat, and JC and Patrick take the back. She first checks the gas before starting up, sighing in relief when it’s hardly moved from ‘full’.

—

Patrick

     JC’s head rests on Patrick’s shoulder, snoring softly. They had tried to stay awake, but they’d gotten zero sleep earlier in the day or the night before- being too scared and excited respectively -so the poor thing is pretty sleep deprived. Nicole doesn’t look much better, and Patrick doesn’t feel any better either, but he’s keeping himself awake to keep Janine company. The plains have now entirely turned to woodland, and the moon is out now. Or, would be if it wasn’t a new moon recently.

     The stars are beautiful, though, twinkling brightly in the cloudless sky. He would roll the window down so he can feel the crisp autumn wind on his face, but he doesn’t want to disturb JC. “How are you doing back there?” Janine asks, her tone light and playful. Patrick looks up and makes eye-contact with her in the rear-view mirror. He smiles warmly and she matches it.

     “You’re so pretty.” The words just kind of fall out of his mouth throwing them both off a little.

     Janine’s surprise quickly melts into just pure warm affection. “So are you.” Patrick’s heart swells the same way it always does when they share these sweet little moments. It’s dampened, however minimally, by the knowledge that both of them are at a severe risk of bodily harm from the infected. He doesn’t want either of them to get hurt or hurt their friends. The situation has gotten so out of control so quickly and is so dangerous.. He gives Janine another smile through the mirror before resting his head on top of JC’s. He should get some rest too. He’ll need it to be a good look-out.

Chapter Text

Rethu

     Rethu stares annoyed at the tiny pearlescent crystals growing from the bite wound he’d sustained days ago. Bob never came back, and the crystalized creatures have completely taken over the city. At least they don’t have to worry about food or water. Husniya is a great cook, so she’s been using JC’s ingredients to keep the three of them fed; and surprisingly enough the water is still running.

     His annoyance turns to anger at the crystals. Husniya and Drek think it could be some kind of infection spread through contact, and Rethu is inclined to believe them based on the simple fact that he seems to have contracted it through a bite. Thankfully, though, these stupid little crystals are incredibly fragile when it comes to heat, so any time he starts feeling something he suspects to be a side-effect of their presence he just ups his body temperature until it goes away. He does just that now, watching as the tiny little crystals crumble and fall apart.

     Relief replaces the irritation and rising fury as it rolls off of him and lifts a weight from his shoulders. Rethu isn’t sure how long this will work, but he’ll grasp at any straws that will keep his friends safe. They could very well be the last people he’s got. As of right now, he’s sitting on the building roof after getting too antsy and having to leave before he blew-up on Husniya or Drek. He was originally just going to lock himself in the bathroom like usual, but he figured the fresh air and open space would be good for him. None of the other infected seem interested in getting him either, so it’s a win-win.

     Rethu decides he can kill two birds with one stone and walks over to the edge of the roof and peers over it. There’s only a small cluster of infected gathered by the cafe’s front door, all looking like an AI who’s path-finding was interrupted. He breathes in deeply, heating the air in his body until he can see smoke coming out of his nose, and then blasts the infected with a torrent of fire. He sneers down at them while they scream and burn, their own crystals crumbling into ash and dust under the extreme heat and blowing away in the wind. Rethu watches them burn until they all either clear out or fall lifeless, and then jumps down and looks all up and down the street to see if there are any others in the area.

     Standing in the block’s alleyway, mostly hidden in the shadows of the closer building, is another infected. Rethu squints at him, gaging if he wants to bother dealing with it. The hand resting on the corner of the brick building is the only part of him in the light, and Rethu freaks out immediately after spotting it. Paper white creates a marbling pattern across sky blue skin, but it’s hidden under both dried and semi-fresh blood. Rethu approaches slowly and tentatively, not wanting to startle this specific infected. Rethu finds exactly who he suspected.

      Cyrus stands with his forehead resting against the building, those same crystals glittering from the back of his neck. He cracks an eye open, and then both of them fly open as he stands up straight. “Rethu?” He croaks, throat sounding dry. He’s probably so dehydrated. Rethu is at a loss for words. He’d never think Cyrus would end-up infected- he’s too competent for that.

     His mouth flaps open for a moment in shock before he can force out any words. “What.. happened?” He asks, squeakier than he’d like.

     “I could ask the same thing.” The faerie chuckles lightly. “You’re.. One of us..” His voice slips into just a confused and scared murmur.

     Rethu nods, swallowing thickly. “Yeah. got bit early on.” He uses a shaking hand to cup Cyrus’ face and pull him in close. “ It’s going to be fine.” Rethu says, like he’s trying to forcibly will it into the universe. Cyrus hugs him back tightly, and he’s pretty sure he can feel his tears soaking into his shirt. They stay like that for a while before Rethu pulls away and takes Cyrus’ hand to lead him somewhere safer. He’s too much of a danger like this to take back to the café, but he also doesn’t want him wandering around to possibly get got by another survivor. It also won’t be very good for him to let him keep killing the way this virus pushes them to.

     “If we survive this, would you like to go up to Lake Superior with me some time?” Cyrus pipes up at some point, blinking his beautiful but tired eyes up at Rethu.

     “Of course. Because we are going to survive this.” Rethu says, squeezing the faerie’s hand encouragingly.

—

Husniya

     Husniya raises a suspicious brow at her dragon coworker as he slinks back into the café through the back door. He jumps when she clears her throat to get his attention, whipping around like a startled cat. “Husniya!” He says nervously, glancing around the kitchen. “Where’s Drek?”

     “He’s having his lunch in the front. Why?” She uncrosses her arms and shifts her weight to lean a little closer to the door separating the kitchen from the front. She wouldn’t be able to stop Rethu if he really wanted to get through, but she could at least give the kid a warning. She doesn’t want to have to think like this, but with how Rethu has been acting lately it’s become a necessity to prioritize Drek’s safety over everything else.

     “Uhm, no reason. Just making sure you guys are alright.” He shrugs nonchalantly, but she doesn’t miss how Rethu’s expression changes as she makes those changes in her stance, some of the nervousness dropping into guilt.

     Husniya holds her hand out and Rethu drops the keys into her open palm. “What were you doing out there for so long? Did you get attacked?” She questions, digging for information.

     He shrugs again. “I was just getting some air on the roof and torching the infected.” Husniya presses her lips into a fine line in concern as she stares at the dragon. ”I’m gonna go eat with Drek.” Rethu says quickly, slipping around her and disappearing into the front of the café. Husniya hums to herself deep in thought while she locks the back door.

     Rethu has been acting really weird these last couple of days since this infection has popped up, erratic and aggressive and jumpy. He’ll be fine for a few hours and then both she and Drek can feel the irritation slowly building in their coworker and then something small will set him off and he retreats to the bathroom for a little while and then he comes back fine and the cycle repeats. He said he was attacked that first day, and they’d figured this is some kind of infection so was he possibly infected? She never did have a chance to sit him down and check-in that first day so it’s a possibility..

—

Drek

     Rethu stares off into space straight into the covered windows, fidgeting with the glass dice-shaped beads on the wire bracelet Cyrus had gifted him a few months back. He’d offered him a bite of his sandwich, but he’d declined, just getting himself a glass of water in the cup that he’s currently tracing the rim of. His leg is also bouncing where he sits in his booth across from Drek. Drek can practically feel the anxiety radiating off of the dragon, and the concerned looks Husniya keeps shooting the two of them don’t help anything. You could cut the tension in the café with a knife.

     Drek’s parents don’t fight often, but this reminds him of the aftermath of the few they’ve had. When everyone is tense and wondering if one of them will continue the argument. That feeling. He misses his parents, his mom and dad. Their warm hugs and loving words. He misses the feeling of safety and security he had with them. Drek can only hope they’re okay out there. He glances over at Husniya- who’s wiping down the counter and muttering to herself with furrowed brows -and then over at Rethu again.

     Drek isn’t sure what exactly prompts him to do it- a need for connection, probably -but he slides off of his seat, walks around the table, and slides in next to his dragon coworker. Rethu is a little surprised, startled out of whatever he’s thinking about, but he happily wraps an arm around Drek and lets him rest his head on his chest. He can feel Husniya’s worried smile over his shoulder as he settles in. They’ve another who-knows how long holed up in the place, it’s best to make the most of it while they can.

Chapter Text

Erik

     His head bumps against the truck bed wall every time they hit a rock or move too suddenly, and he slides around with every turn and change in speed. He’s stopped bothering to brace himself at this point, just subject to the tides of the highway. He’s thinking of just making a run for it the next time he’s let out. He doesn’t even care anymore- he’ll figure-out how to survive on his own. He doesn’t need these fuckers.

     “How ya’ doing back there?” JC says through the truck’s back window, and Erik doesn’t even have to look to feel like he’s being mocked.

     He shoots his ex-friend a glare over his shoulder. “What.” He demands. He’s only met by sincere shock at his outburst.

     JC puts their hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just checking in. No need to get all hostile.” Erik narrows his eyes. “We’ll be entering our city in about an hour.” They inform.

     “Leave me alone.” Erik grumbles. The window slides shut, and he’s left on his own again. Something JC said won’t stop nagging at his brain, though. Our. JC said our city specifically. They could’ve said ‘the’ city, but they didn’t. Erik isn’t sure what he wants to believe, but he does believe that his ex-friend was just referring to themselves and their current friends. Erik hugs himself a little tighter and gets angry when tears prick his eyes.

     He shouldn’t be crying. It is his fault, after all. Won’t stop him from being jealous of the attention JC gives to their real friends. He just wanted to be accepted by his family, and lost possibly the only real family he’s ever had in the process.

Chapter Text

JC

     It’s late into the night when they reach the suburban outskirts of the city, and JC can already feel themselves getting drowsy. “I think we should find somewhere nearby to hunker down for the night.” They suggest. They make eye-contact with Janine in the mirror while Patrick sleeps soundly on her shoulder, drooling a little bit.

     “I think that’s a good idea. You can pick the house.” She agrees and then turns her attention to her boyfriend to start the process of waking him. JC glances over at Nicole and is startled to find her staring directly at them. There’s something so warm and genuine in her dark brown eyes like sunshine on a cold winter's day. They wish they could just disappear with Nicole and never have to deal with this stupid infection or whatever society might’ve survived it. They offer their hand and Nicole takes it and intertwines their fingers.

     They turn into a street lined with very large, expensive looking houses, and JC leans in slightly to whisper to Nicole. “Which house should we spend the night in?” They ask. Nicole takes a moment to observe the houses as they roll by before pointing to a white two-story house with a balcony.

     “There. It’ll give us plenty of space. We’ll get our own rooms.” She reasons. JC grins and pulls into the driveway. The four of them climb out and JC and Nicole head inside while the other two haul Erik out of the truck bed. The house entryway splits off into the kitchen and the living room and then a set of winding stairs that presumably lead up to the bedrooms. JC can’t help the giddiness bubbling in their chest as they clear the living room despite the possible danger. They’ve never been in such an extravagant house. It’s not a mansion by any means, but it’s very much upper-middle class. They used to dream about buying a house like this when they were young. JC steps into the house’s kitchen and the upbeat mood drops.

     Standing in the kitchen by the stove is an infected. A dwarf, so he wouldn’t be very threatening under normal circumstances, but they’ve seen other subterranean species go absolutely buck-wild when infected. JC freezes in the doorway, and tries to motion to Nicole to do the same, but they are unsuccessful.

     “JC?” Nicole’s voice rings out through the silence of the house, alerting the infected dwarf. He turns slowly to face the two humans, the crystals under his eyes glittering in the beam of Nicole’s flashlight. All three of them stare at each other for a good long moment before the dwarf adjusts his stance and then lunges for JC’s throat.

—

Nicole

     A scream rips itself from Nicole’s chest, and she’s still frozen in place. She can’t bring herself to move. Why isn’t JC wearing the protection charm? Why didn’t they wait for Patrick and Janine to come in with them? Why isn’t she stepping in?  She has to watch while JC uses one arm to block the dwarf’s bites and claws from reaching their jugular, while they grab for the blade in their back pocket.

     Janine busts in through the front door, shotgun cocked and loaded, and Patrick isn’t that far behind. Nicole ducks back into the living room, hands clamped firmly over her ears, and then the gun goes off. And again. And again. She counts only three blasts before her ears start ringing and she can’t hear them anymore. It’s so loud. Her head hurts and she sinks to the living room floor to curl into a ball against the couch.

     A soft but hesitant hand rests on her shoulder and she shrugs it off. “Nicole?” His voice is quiet and doesn’t dig into her head. She pops her head up to find Patrick crouched by her side. The house is quiet again. A little too quiet.

     “Where’s JC?” She whispers, still not feeling all there. Patrick’s face twists into what Nicole recognizes as remorse. “Where is JC?” She asks a little more firmly, shakily pushing herself up onto all fours and then to her feet. Patrick makes a half-hearted attempt to stop her from rushing back to the kitchen to find her partner unconscious on the kitchen tile. Janine holds one of the kitchen towels to one of JC’s ears, and Nicole notices the spot of blood soaking into the cloth when she pulls it away to see if the bleeding has stopped. “What happened?” Nicole asks quietly, kneeling down beside them.

     “I think we fucked up their eardrum with the gunshots. They were right over their head..” Janine murmurs, trailing off. “Patrick, can you grab some cotton balls and a Q-Tip, please?” She looks up to Patrick over Nicole’s head, and then she can hear Patrick running up the stairs to find the bathroom. When Nicole looks back down to her partner, she realizes they aren’t unconscious anymore.

     Honey brown iris’ squint up at her, and she’s happy to find no irregular behavior in their pupils. She’s worried for JC’s safety in the past, what with the egg-napping and faenapping, that she started looking extensively into concussions: their signs and how to deal with them. “Why aren’t you wearing the protection charm I gave you?” Nicole demands, careful to keep her voice low so she doesn’t hurt JC’s head.

     They make a face, and Nicole is immediately scrutinizing. “I may or may not have accidentally broken the clasp and didn’t want to tell you so I left it in the truck.” They say sheepishly. Nicole sighs and runs a shaky hand through their hair.

     “You should’ve at least kept it on you so that stuff like this wouldn’t happen.” She chastises gently. She’s not upset with them, just relieved that they’ve survived this one. The five of them have been attacked before, and Janine and Patrick can handle themselves but she gave JC the charm to keep them safe because they just seem to enjoy running off into danger.

—

Janine

     Patrick finally returns with a bag of cotton balls and a small container of Q-Tips, setting them down beside her so she can easily access them. “Nicole, I’m gonna need you to hold them still.” She orders. Nicole nods, not looking up at her, and then holds JC by their forehead and chin. Janine makes quick work of tearing a cotton ball into little pieces and stuffing it into JC’s ear canal with the Q-Tip. They squirm a little, hand flying up to grab onto Nicole’s wrist, but even in their pained state they don’t fight back.

     Once the ear is packed and Janine isn’t so concerned of the human sustaining an infection, she pulls away to clean up the materials used. She spots Erik standing in the front doorway, staring down at JC’s basically motionless body. She’s not sure how long he’s been standing there or how much he’s seen, and she can’t quite decipher what he’s feeling about it. His face is such a mix of emotions and thoughts that it all kind of blends together like mixing all the colors and just getting sludge. She does pick out a couple flashes of what’s maybe guilt, but she can’t be sure.

     “Erik.” His eyes snap up to her and his gaze hardens. “Get over here and help me clean this up.” She orders, gesturing to the dwarf’s viscera splattering the wall. The ¼ demon watches Patrick scoop JC into his arms and carry them up the stairs, Nicole following close behind, before he steps into the house.

—

Patrick

     Patrick very gently and very slowly deposits the injured human onto the bed of the room Nicole picked out, the one with the balcony attached to it. JC winces as they turn their head and put pressure on their injured ear. “I’m gonna go help Janine, will you two be okay up here alone?” He asks, not quite willing to let go of JC’s sleeve just yet. Nicole sits on the other side of the bed and takes her partner’s hand.

     “We’ll be alright. Thank you.” Patrick nods in understanding before leaving them alone in their room and closing the door behind him. He finds Janine very forcibly guiding Erik in the clean-up, the poor man looking ready to split his own head open. Prison definitely hasn’t been kind to him. Patrick joins in with the clean-up, feeling a little guilty for splitting off to deal with Nicole and leaving Janine to deal with the infected alone. She did a great job, though, all of her shots on point with minimal divergence. Patrick hopes they won’t really need the shotgun later because she used about half of the rounds they had, and he doesn’t know when they’ll be able to acquire more.

     Once the cleaning is done and you could feasibly hide the remaining evidence from the cops, Erik is sent off to pick-out his own room with an eye roll. “I’m a little shocked he didn’t just run away when he was alone out there.” Patrick muses to Janine, quiet enough so Erik doesn’t hear it.

     “When we ran inside? Yeah. I was ready to just let him.” Janine agrees while washing her hands. “Let him be someone else's problem.” Patrick nods.

     “Is he acting kind of weird to you?” He asks hesitantly. Janine raises an eyebrow at him. “Like, infection weird?” He expands. Janine’s lips press into a fine line and her brows furrow.

     She turns her gaze from the sink up to her partner, concern shining in her ruby eyes. “I.. don’t know. I definitely think he’s acting a little weird, but I’ve been telling myself it’s just stress or from his time in prison.” She pauses, sighing. “I don’t want to think about that possibility right now. With how quickly we’ve seen these things turn he would’ve already been one by now, so it shouldn’t even be a concern.” She trails off again. They still don’t know if someone is contagious before they start showing symptoms, and if they are..

     Patrick thinks about the still un-bandaged wound on his hand and what it could mean if Erik is infected. He’d only been trying to help him untangle the sleeve of his prison jumpsuit from a snag in the truck bed when Erik bit him out of frustration. The ¼ demon wouldn’t have been able to break his skin if he hadn’t instinctively yanked his hand away. Hardly any blood was drawn, and Erik said he hadn’t tasted any, but skin was broken. He hasn’t told Janine and doesn’t ever plan to.

     He pulls Janine into a hug by the arm, holding her close as tightly as he can without hurting her. “Let’s go get some sleep.” He murmurs into her hair. She nods, and he takes her hand to lead her up the stairs. They have to pause, however, at the sight of Erik standing in the other couple’s doorway watching them sleep. His face is remorseful, and Patrick follows his gaze to find it trained specifically on JC. He jumps when he notices the two of them standing there, shoving his hands into his pockets and retreating down the hallway to his own room. Patrick closes JC and Nicole’s door before he and his own girlfriend find their own room for the night.

Chapter Text

Cyrus

     The jewelry and gems that are still on display glitter in their cases in the morning light, casting specks of rainbows across the walls. It’s oddly tranquil. Cyrus enjoys tracing the tips of his fingers around the colorful splotches, and creating his own colorful sparks with his magic. He’s  not in control of his magic anymore, though, it now just does whatever his deepest desire is. Like, he blasted a hole through one of the displays just by thinking about wanting to. He wasn’t actually intending to, it just happened. That’s not the only example, either. His magic- something he’s not exactly a master of but he takes pride in it nonetheless -keeps getting away from him. His ability to control his magic is escaping him just like his mind is.

     He’s spent hours that feel like days just laying on the jewelry shop’s floor thinking about Rethu and his parents and his friends and boss, and it’s like all of his memories and thoughts keep getting reflected and bounced around in his head. Like the light in the jewels. He’s sitting on the floor currently, watching the pretty lights on the walls and waiting for Rethu to come check on him. He said he’d see him in the morning.. He hopes Rethu is okay. He’s everything Cyrus is holding onto right now.

     He’s hungry too, hasn’t felt full since that first incident. His stomach has stopped even growling at this point, just stabbing at him to convince him to keep eating. He doesn’t want to. He couldn’t stop himself when he was alone out there, but now there’s things in the way that even his muddy brain can recognize as an obstacle and he doesn’t have to fight it too hard. He’s not as itchy anymore, or as angry, it’s all kind of accumulated into hunger. A never-ending, incessant, stabbing hunger for human flesh. Nothing else even seems appetizing to go after.

    The bell on the shop’s front door rings once and then again with the forceful sound of the door closing and Cyrus pops his head up over the display he’s hiding behind to see who’s just entered his little hide-out. Bob, his boss, his protector, stands by the door pulling her face-covering off and shaking out her hair. No. no, no, no. Cyrus doesn’t want to, he really doesn’t want to, but he can’t stop himself from standing up and jumping at her over the glass display. Cyrus becomes frozen in mid-air, arms outstretched and mouth open to sink his teeth in and spread the crystallization.

     Bob looks about as shocked to see him as he is to see her. “Cyrus?” She breathes, shocked. “What are you doing out here- you of all people should be smart enough to know to stay inside when everything starts going to shit.” She scolds, more concerned than anything. He’d already been crystalized when he went out, and before that.. Well, he doesn’t remember much from the hours before that first incident. “That doesn’t matter right now. I think I’ve figured out how to reverse the effects of these crystals. Do you know if any of the other’s are alive?” Cyrus can only blink at her. “Right. Blink once for yes, twice for no. Okay?” Cyrus blinks once.

     “Perfect. So again, do you know if any of the other’s are alive?” She asks again. “Cyrus blinks again. “In the café?” And again. “Okay, I can get my findings over to them, and we can figure out how to fix you.” She steps forward to very lightly touch the crystals growing out of the back of Cyrus’ neck with gloved hands. “We’re going to figure this out. Don’t you worry.” She reassures. Bob uses her magic to lower Cyrus to the ground and keep him frozen while she finds a rope and ties him up with it. “I’ll be right back, Cyrus. I promise.” She says finally, and then she leaves, the shop bell ringing hollowly behind her.

Chapter Text

JC

     JC swears they can smell the café the moment they turn onto the street. Nothing’s been baked or is baking inside of it for a while, but that won’t stop the scent of fresh muffins and cookies from clicking into their brain every time they even read the street-sign. The café rolls up on their right after they pass yarn granny’s shop, the jewelers, and the vampire bar some ways back. JC jumps out of the back seat by hopping the window, and then practically drags Nicole out behind them. They bang on the front door of the café, shouting to let them in. Rethu, Husniya, Drek, and Bob were the ones supposed to be working, if JC can recall correctly, and hopefully at least one of them is still here so they don’t have to go chasing them across the city.

     The lock can be heard clicking on the other side of the door before it swings open to reveal Rethu. “JC?” He asks, a little shocked, but doesn’t get to expand on it before JC throws themselves into Rethu’s arm and squeezes him in a tight hug.

     “Rethu! You’re okay!” They exclaim brightly. Rethu hugs them back just as tightly.

     “Yeah.” JC realizes Rethu is watching Patrick and Janine as they also clamber out of the truck, the werewolf almost falling on his ass when his foot gets tangled up in his seatbelt. “You guys are okay?” Rethu asks, attention turning back to JC.

     They nod vigorously. “Yeah.” They say happily. A relieved smile crosses his face finally, and a lot of the tension in his shoulders and wings subsides. Husniya steps into view behind the dragon, the worry on her face melting into joy and relief, and Drek isn’t far behind. The four of them hurry into the café so they can be somewhere not so out in the open, sharing hugs and stories and even some tears. Bob is with them too, the rare smile on her own face.

     “So, none of you guys were infected?” She asks once everyone is fed and watered and settled in the front of the café.

     “Yup. Everyone got out okay.” Janine says. “JC suffered a possibly torn or ruptured eardrum, but we’re hoping the hearing loss won’t be permanent, and we’re a little tired and dehydrated but we’re alright.” She intertwines her fingers with Patrick, but JC notices both Patrick and Rethu looking a little uncomfortable. Rethu is probably a little upset that Cyrus isn’t here as well, but they can’t decipher what Patrick would have to be so weird about.

     “That’s good. I’m glad you all have survived this.” Bob says. Her face drops a little, and the tone of the room tanks as well. “I can’t say the same for Cyrus, unfortunately.”

—

Nicole

     “Earlier today, I found him in the middle stages of the infection. Luckily I believe I have discovered a way to reverse the effects of this crystal infection, so we can fix it.” Bob explains. Rethu perks up a little bit at that revelation, something sparkling in his eyes.

     “Cyrus is infected?” The question echoes around the room from several of the gathered people, Nicole included. She watches as everyone’s shock melts into what she recognizes as relief from the two revelations, but then notices Rethu’s jumped immediately to relief that turns to something akin to guilt. It’s odd, but she files her suspicions away for later.

     “Yes, I found him in the jewelers down the street, where he will be safe. He’s tied up, and I’m not sure what kind of motor skills he still has, so hopefully he won’t be able to get out even if he escapes the rope.” Bob says, her foot tapping against  the café’s tiled floor. She’s putting on a brave face but must be terrified of her fix not working and Cyrus being stuck letting the infection ravage his body until it completely destroys him and they are forced to put him down.

—

Janine

     Cyrus was never- for as long as Janine has known him -been the type to kill unless he or his loved ones are threatened, so all of the guilt of eating and infecting others must be getting to him. Poor thing. Janine’s species has a horrible reputation for eating people, and even that weighs on her. She could never imagine having to live with all of that. Janine leans into Patrick, resting her head on his shoulder. 

     “But, wait, where have you been all this time?” Rethu pipes up, brows furrowing in suspicion at his boss. That creates similar looks on the faces of his coworkers, all turned to Bob.

     Bob sighs. “It’s a long story, but I’ve been working on the cure in the jeweler’s.” Her employee’s faces don’t change and she sighs again. “Okay. What I know is that one of the human workers at the jeweler’s shop brought a small amount of those crystals home, and accidentally infected all of his non-human coworkers who went and spread it before any of them even knew what was happening. The jewelry made with the crystals was sold and continued it’s ability to spread.

     “That human employee found me that day I went out for errands, and begged me to help. I figured you all-” She pointedly looks at Drek, Husniya, and Rethu. “Would be safe in the café or safe in your homes when everything went insane. I knew I couldn’t stop it from spreading, but I could at least help find a way to cure it.” She explains. JC looks deflated. They had friends at the jewelers, and were probably holding out hope that they would be fine.

     Husniya looks around at all of the faces in the café, and then speaks up as well. “We should focus on curing Cyrus, and then we can work together to start clearing out the infected that are too far gone and helping those we can.” That gets agreeing nods from those around the room.

—

Patrick

     “If I’d been here..” Patrick murmurs. Grip tightening on Janine’s hand. “I could’ve helped protect Cyrus, keep him inside maybe.”

     Janine takes his face in her hands and presses their foreheads together. “This isn’t your fault.”

     “This isn’t any of our faults.” JC jumps in on his left. “We had no clue any of this was happening, and were all just living our lives.” JC and Janine both hug him while Rethu appears to his right.

     “There wasn’t anything anyone could do.” He says quietly. “But I get where you’re coming from.” There’s something sad in the dragon’s face and voice, accompanied by the same guilt Patrick is feeling. Cyrus’ condition would be impacting him too. As far as he knows, they were still deciding if they wanted to be official just a couple weeks before everything went to shit, but they were always very close. Still in the honeymoon phase and all that. Something nags at Patrick, something different. Like they’ve forgotten something..

     “Erik!” The name is out of his mouth before he can think about how Rethu might react. “We forgot him in the truck!”

     “ Erik is here?” All of the guilt and grief in Rethu is quickly overshadowed by rage. Rage about what that man did to Cyrus and a need to blow-off some steam about the whole situation. He storms out of the kitchen, throwing the doors open as he goes, and JC runs after him. Both of their footsteps and shouting can be heard as they take-off down the street.

     “Patrick! What is going on?” Husniya asks concernedly, stopping him in the front of the café.

     “They’re going after Erik!”

Chapter Text

Erik

     Erik can hear the angry shouts of the dragon giving chase behind him, and he pushes himself a little harder. He just needs to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can hide until Rethu loses his scent. He turns the right corner, not exactly sure where he’s going. Up ahead is the sign for a jewelry shop- they’ll have lots of things he can hide behind, right? He shoots for that, praying under his breath that Rethu won’t catch him before he can duck inside. He doesn’t make it, unfortunately, before the door to the jewelry shop slams open and falls off of it’s hinges and someone stumbles out.

     Erik stops dead in his tracks, and he can hear Rethu come to a halt behind him as well. The person before him struggles to his feet, blue and white marbled skin splattered with pearlescent crystals all along his arms and neck and pointed ears glittering in the almost midday sun twinkling in Erik’s eyes. He doesn’t think he really has any chance to outrun the faerie, and even if he did, he’s sure Rethu would happily risk getting himself infected if it meant he could hold Erik down while Cyrus tears him apart. Dark, hungry eyes turn up to him, and Erik has only a split-second before he pounces.

     Sharp teeth sink into Erik’s throat like razors, and claws hook into his shoulders to pin him to the ground. Cyrus is much more athletic than Erik is, and the strength the crystals give only builds on what he already has. Erik has no chance of escape, so he doesn’t fight it. He squeezes his eyes shut as blood starts rising in his mouth and he starts choking as his trachea and esophagus are destroyed. He can feel the blood running down the sides of his neck and can hear the tearing and crunching as Cyrus rips into him. His vision is fading as is his hearing, but he catches Rethu and possibly JC’s shouting at the faerie above him before everything goes black and he slips into sweet nothingness.

Chapter Text

Bob’s Journal

      Things have certainly straightened in the last few weeks. We were able to help Drek track down his parents, unfortunately his mother didn’t make it but he has his father at least. Husniya’s husband hunkered down with their three children, so they have been reunited and are safe. JC has easily slipped back into their role as baker working with Husniya to keep everyone fed, Nicole made sure the Stoughton Street coven was okay and we have created a line of trade between our two businesses.

     Patrick and Janine have stuck close just helping to keep the cafe’s wards safe by ridding the surrounding area of infected too far gone to help. Rethu went full scorched earth to find his family, ultimately only finding his sister and her child. Patrick came to me about concerns of being infected, as did Rethu. Rethu was confirmed infected and said he couldn’t tell that Patrick was, but I administered the cure to both of them just to be safe. I allowed them the choice to tell who they like, and only Rethu confessed that he’d been hiding his infection since that first day to Husniya. Husniya was not happy at all, but she seemed relieved that he was okay.

      Unfortunately, Cyrus ran after tearing into Erik, and we have not been able to find him since. Everyone is on the lookout, but based on how this infection progresses he may already be too far gone to be saved. All I can do is hope that I will still be able to help him if we do find him. I can’t help feeling like I failed my ward by not looking for him sooner. But, everything seems to be looking from here, and Nicole has everyone armed with at least one good luck charm so we will hopefully stumble upon him eventually. Rethu is leading the charge to find Cyrus while I am busy curing whoever I can and helping the other survivors to rebuild the city around us.

     We still have a lot of work to do, but we are healing. Slowly.