i'll live now cuz the bad die last

They smiled at him, and their eyes flashed gold. “We got this,” they told him right before he took off for the booth again. Jace turned and wadded up one of the napkins, stuffing it into one ear. With their free hand, they pulled out their phone and hurried to the bathroom to make their call. They fought their way through and met Gabe there, quickly filling him in on what was about to happen. 

“Great,” he said, wiping sweat and blood from his brow with his forearm. He looked exhausted. “And the police aren’t answering?”

Jace, who still had their cell pressed to their ear, shook their head worriedly. “They’re probably overrun with distress calls.” Gabe’s attention went to the hall, his eyes a little distant. Tae had started to sing, but they were too far away to be totally affected. Jace put their other makeshift earplug in. “Hey, asshole,” they banged the crowbar against the wall and Gabe snapped out of it. “Eyes up! Have you seen Shay?” 

Gabe shook his head, eyes widening, “She’s not with you?”

She was in the crowd. She had been hiding under one of the tables near the dancefloor, only now she was glassy eyed and pressed to the far wall with all the other innocents, helplessly watching the vampires lumber toward Tae.

tae’s eyes glowed gold as he sang. the magic coursing through him worked. he saw the others come back inside. good, gabe was safe. now they had to find shay, and then... what? if no one was coming, was he supposed to keep the vampires here all night? he could perform for a couple hours, sure, but any longer than that and he would definitely lose his voice, magic or no. he gestured at jace and gabe, sweeping his arm in a wide motion, wordlessly asking to move all the non-vampires into the next room. at least from there, they’d be out of immediate danger. then they could figure out what to do with the vampires. he wondered if he could lull them to sleep. 

Jace found Tae’s siren form terrifying and beautiful like he was straight out of one of the many horror musicals they’d loved growing up. A beast fitting of Little Shop of Horrors. more than once, Jace had joked that if they ever turned to a screamo band, he could be their mascot.

Nothing about him or his powers scared them, and so the plan was a no-brainer. “Sing!” they urged. They were in the thick of the crowd now, that Jace was trying to organize into a retreat, but they had no exit point. The vampires were pouring in from all sides. “Sing! Tell us all to freeze and lie on the floor until help comes. Tell us to sleep if you have to.” They yanked him toward them as he was almost flattened by somebody panicked nearly flattened him. Jace turned and set their pursuer’s shirt on fire, their hand outstretched. “You have to find Shay! Gabe’s holed up by the bathrooms protecting a bunch of humans, get to him too.” They took his hand and started to run back to the dj booth. Jacelyn shivered; falling under the song’s spell would feel strange. A mix of vaguely painful, and cold, and dark that leaves you weak and needy after– Tae had never done this to them, but they had dealt with sirens before. But that was better than the alternative. The fighting had to stop, their friends needed to get out, and they needed to find out what was happening.

Jace found a hollow laugh in the bottom of their gut. “Your incredible sense of denial only makes me love you even more,” they said, as if that were possible. They swung with the crowbar he had given them and beamed an oncoming vamp so hard that they crashed to the floor, unconsious and immobile. “Set me up!” they shouted, and they came down hard on another vamp that thrashed in Tae’s claws as he obediently swung them around. A ripple of screams and the sounds of more shattering glass echoed from the warehouse. Jace ran for the door. “I got it!” they said, but as they wrenched open the doors, they realized they most certainly did not have it.

well, shit. he saw jace open the doors. he wanted to go with them, but he couldn’t turn his back on the vampires outside, even though most had backed off to find easier pray. well, now was as good a time as any to find out if his siren song worked. he shook the frightening siren visage from his face. tae took a deep breath. he began to sing. the haunting melody froze the vampires in place. it lured them in close, tae’s words instructing them. holy shit it works. game changer. hopefully nothing would shock them out of the spell before they followed through on his instructions. the group wandered off, piling into a near by storage closet. once in, he shut the door. he’d have only a few moments before the spell wore off, so he worked quickly. he picked up a lead pipe, then slipped it through the handles. 

Jace had fought a vampire before but that was just one, and he had been quite blood-drunk, so it wasn’t even much of a fight. This would be different. Plus, Tae was here, and though he didn’t need their protecting, Jace would fret for him anyway. Their teeth were bared. They dedicated themself to casting a sleuth of buffs on them both, their hands moving quickly and erradically. Armor of Tuatha made them both shine blue for a moment and instilled them with a little extra strength, and a temporary shield that would inflict cold damage to the first enemy to touch them. Death Ward, which was a spell that would grant them a short second wind if they were close to dying. Jace was hopeful Protection from Poison would stop a vampire’s venom from turning them so they cast that too.

There wasn’t time for more, because the vamps were finally upon them. The one in front with the shattered chin spat viciously on the ground, but the gathering of others were undeterred. A body scrambled over the fence and careened into Tae. The armor spell went to work and ice started to surge up its arms.The vampire screamed as the ice fell away, taking bits of both arms with it. Jace kicked the monster in the chest and it staggered away, still screaming and waving its new stumps in the air. 

Now that they were closer, the gravity of the situation had hit them. The flurry of fangs nashing against the gate as more clambored over were terrifying– there was a whole nest of them, gunning for civilians. Finally, Jace really started to feel afraid. “I love you,” they said shakily to Tae, exchanging a meaninfgul look. They lobbed a fireball at the fence and took several steps back.

Jace’s priorities were more selfish than Tae’s. They’d wait until the last possible second to reveal to a stranger that they were magical. They would blow their cover for a short list of people, but Tae was on that list. So was their sister and Gabe, both of whom were inside the warehouse. It seemed it a fight was inevitable, they’d have no choice. And what then? What would happen after? “We should go talk to them,” they suggested seriously, “And if they mean us harm, we blow them to kingdom come.” A fire was born in the palm of one of their hands. They held it out and sent it forward to illuminate the newcomers. They were all dressed in black, and the appearance of magic didn’t seem to slow their approach. When Tae left, they started forward, anxious but resolute. They took the crowbar when he handed it to them and marched over towards the ominous figures. “Not to be that guy or anything but this throw-down is invite-only.” They twirled the crowbar once. 

The closest figure, a tall grey-faced woman, lowered her hood and bared her fangs. “You thought you were exempt from the culling? How naive.”

tae nodded. a wicked grin spread across his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “you know i’m always down to kick some teeth in.” it was certainly true, but this was quite different from his usual back alley scrap. he’d never fought a vampire, and this wasn’t just a fight. they were fighting for their lives and the lives of everyone in the warehouse, most importantly shay and gabe. not a single undead motherfucker was getting past him.

“check out the brains on brad!” he jeered. “those are some five dollar words, huh?” he nudged jace with his elbow, sneering at the vampires. “sorry you guys missed out on your twilight auditions.”

the vampires snarled and yowled. “we’ll rip you apart!”

Jace’s expression went from distant interest to alert. At Tae’s suggestion, the got their own phone out and went to chrome. “What am I looking for?” they asked, but before he could answer, Jace got a text. They swiped down for their history to find that they had several texts from friends they knew that had gone to the gala. Texts like the bathroom on the fifth floor is clear and safe if you’re here then meet me and I can’t get outside, they’ve blocked the windows. Who’s they? Jace texted back and exited to chrome again. They googled the gala’s venue. Everything was normal on their official website, but when they backed out to the live feeds, they were all down. One article ominously titled Vampires, Run stood out. When they clicked on it, they found it was on a local’s personal blog. It was only a sentence, tagged with the venue. Help us, the police aren’t on their way. Jace turned the phone so that Tae could see. When they looked up, they saw figures in the distance– a cluster of them. They nodded. “Are we expecting any more people?” they asked, starting to feel anxious. Underneath the pulsing music, the sound of breaking glass from inside made the witch jump. “Heard that?”

tae squinted a the screen. his blood ran cold. “no,” he replied, darkly. “fuck.” he glanced at the figures coming towards them, then at the warehouse doors. his mind raced, working quickly. often, especially since they’d begun playing larger venues, he’d thought a lot about what they would do if someone tried to turn one of their shows into another statistic. he’d expose himself as a siren if it meant saving his audience, friends, and crew. “what do we do? you think one got inside? if they’re coming for us, i don’t wanna just barricade us all in there and wait for them to bust in.” it was just a warehouse, all it had going for it defensive were windows thirty feet off the ground, and deadbolts on the doors. that wouldn’t stop rampaging vampires for long. he thought of mads and lyra, and all the other people inside. he was responsible for them. he had to protect them. he grasped jace by the shoulders. “i have to get something inside. i’ll be right back.” tae darted inside. after a long moment, he returned, his brow dotted with beads of sweat. he carried his trusty steel bat, the one he’d begun taking everywhere for the last seven years. “i warned the crowd. told them to stay inside and lock the doors.” he handed jace a crowbar. “brought a spare.” tae wore an uncharacteristically dark expression, painfully serious, eyes alight with a flame wholly unlike his usual spark. as far as he knew, his siren song might not work on vampires. the bat crackled with electricity. at least he still had that.

jace radiated magic with how many enchantments they’d worked in the past six hours. as co-host they were in charge of decorating the venue, which meant they needed lights, floating speakers, giggle water– the works! the two of them had pulled out all the stops for this one. jace was still vibrating a little from all the adrenaline casting imbued them with. added with the booze, they were feeling right as rain about now.  “you throw a great party,” they admitted, hands in the air, “and you know how much I hate agreeing with you.” jace cupped his face in one of their hands and went on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “muah! you’ve created a masterpiece! you’ve made this boring town of assholes a little less boring.” 

the boy that was on the phone had slid down the warehouse wall. a moment later, he jumped to his feet, dropped his phone, and ran to the sidewalk. jace detached themself from tae’s side to scrutinize the boy as he sprinted away. “huh….wonder what that was about.”

with jace kissing on him like that, he forgot about the distressed young man. reluctantly, he tore his gaze from jace to the person racing down the street. “he left his phone. who does that?” he went over to the phone, picking it up. “if he doesn’t come back for it, we can sell it,” he shrugged. “oh, he didn’t hang up.” the phone was still in the middle of a call. whoever had the other end was awfully loud. he listened for a moment. “what is that? it’s so loud? is it someone at another party or what?” the more he listened, the less it sounded like a party. “jace--- jace that’s screaming. check your phone, check the news.”

tae’s anti-ball warehouse rave was a total hit. those who came were having a blast, enjoying the freedom of not having to wear anything formal, drinking whatever they wanted, imbibing whatever, without the judgmental gaze of any old founders. needing to catch a breath of air that wasn’t filled with the various smokes of various herbs, he headed outside. he wasn’t the only one who’d had the idea. along the wall of the warehouse were a couple of folks making out, and another young man talking on the phone. he seemed a little panicked. tae hoped distantly everything was fine. the door opened behind him again as jace walked through. he beamed. “hey babe. do i know how to throw a party, or do i know how to throw a party?

“I was kidding, I haven’t fucked her.” He shook his head, people will believe anything when you’ve lived long enough. “It’s 1988 of course. Good year all around, my ripper side had a lot of fun.”

tae squinted at him. “your ripper side? like, your jack the ripper side? or your “rippin’ and the tearin’, rippin’ and the tearin’” single sixty-five year old at a spring break party side? cuz, either way, gross.”

    he squints,  lifting himself up on his toes to peak behind and around tae  —  at the completely empty store.    at the absolutely no one else he could be talking to.    “  oof  —  sorry to disappoint.    there’s no one else here blasting sub-par tunes through the aux.  ”

tae huffs and rolls his eyes. “that’s because no one buys cds anymore. if we had external speakers, people would actually come inside. that way we can keep posers like you out and attract some customers, too.”

Jace laughed and shook their head at him, the telltale ‘you idiot’ glance-and-scoff. When they were apart they never realized how much they missed him. Now that they were together again, all they wanted to do was hold him. Spending the day with Tae was the cure for even their sourest, most tempestuous moods. “I love it! I love you! We should bring our gear and jam on the docks,” they suggested, voice comical because their tongue was still kind of lolling out of their mouth. They went in for another mischevious ear peck, but it turned into a kiss on the lips. Jace put a delicate hand under his jaw. “This isn’t about you, this is about tiring me out,” they reminded him pointedly, wiggling to stand and tugging him up too by his shirt.

“Yea,” Rudi said, “they shot The Lord Of the Rings there, but, like, who doesn’t know that in this day and age.” He waved his hand dismissively and went on, “Yea, they’re such an…..not acquired taste, I’m just. Bitter about how much praise Gravity and The Revenant got because lowkey I didn’t get those either. Hirsch was good in that Bonnie and Clyde remake, have you seen it?” Rudy scratched his head as he shook Tae’s hand, trying to figure out where the hell he knew him from.

tae was only distantly aware of where those movies were filmed. he loved a good fantasy epic as much as the next guy, but he liked action-comedies or horror films more. he snorted. “they’re the taste you outgrow, right? like when you’re a kid and your parents still, like, tell you who to like in movies, you like them. dicaprio was so memeable. now you’re like “eh,” he gave an exaggerated shrug. “nah, i haven’t. historical stuff isn’t really my thing unless it’s, like, a musician biopic, or, like, peaky blinders where it still feels badass and modern.” the guy didn’t seem to know who he was, which was always a bummer for tae. he wasn’t exactly their target demo, apparently, but he still dreamed of getting recognized wherever he went.

lyra: i've never seen a horror movie so that doesn't apply

lyra: they look really gross nd u know i don't like blood

lyra: my hero !!

lyra: oh he's leaving ... sad. anyways can we still meet !! i want ice cream

tae: you should def watch some they're not all bloody!

tae: sure i'm down for ice cream

tae: where should we go

tae: wait

Alec stared at Tae went on his long winding speech about god knows what, so when he finished, he simply glanced over at him. “Can’t I just read my book in peace?” He held up the book in his hands. “Besides, Barbara is great in the sack.” Alec returned to the book.

“nah,” tae said, without missing a beat. “that doesn’t surprise me in the least, but way to reduce a legend to her sexual history. “great in the sack? who fuckin’ says that, what year is this?” tae didn’t actually believe him, but he saw an opportunity to be even more irritating, and took it.

Anise placed the drink in front of the man and listened politely as he ranted on about something she didn’t fully grasp the concept of. She smiled at him and shook her head, laughing quietly at his enthusiasm towards the acting choices of the film. “I am sure that the casting company took his gravitas into account when they decided upon him” she replied “however, I am afraid that I have no idea what you are talking about. Can I get you a pastry or muffin to go with your drink?”

“he’s the director, so he probably just picked himself,” Tae snorted in obvious disdain. “don’t sweat it. not many people these days have seen the original movie. you should, though, it’s pretty good.” tae collected his drink, popping the lid off so he could add more cream and sugar. “nah, i’m good. thanks for the drink.” 

Jace had a major focus in telekinesis and fire magic. They used the former almost daily; what was the point of magic if not to be utilized? “I’m happy with that,” they assured, echoing Tae. “Some Shape of Water type fun. Kinky. That lab tech does fuck that fish boy in the movie right?” They added, “or else what’s the point?” They’d been meaning to see it, but when it had come out the two of them were in different states, and their favorite romantic drama thriller parter was him. “I do wanna go swimming, but you can pick another thing for safety,” Jace said, writing down some ideas of their own and depositing them into the hat; Go for a run, jam, dance battle, ice-skating date, etc. When they couldn’t think of anything else they started to distract and annoy Tae by tugging his hair and threatening to stick their tongue in his ear to get a rise out of him.

Rudi groaned and put a hand to his chest. “I saw him play in New Zealand a month before he died. Isn’t he an experience?” He almost swooned at the memory of it. “What a good question, my dude. I have some thoughts on this,” he said conspiratorially, looking around to make sure they weren’t being overheard to really sell his commitment. ”I know that it’s kind of a slap in the face to Norman since Vickie Lester 100% banged him while they were still together, but I think whoever plays Maine should have that Sinatra pastiche, you know? Clooney, DiCaprio, Emile Hirsch maybe. I want a Martin Scorsese-like stink on this movie– I need it, or what’s even the point?” Rudi smiled. As much as he teased him for being a snob, Rudi was just as much of one too. “I’m Rudy,” he added, holding out a hand to shake.

“holy shit, that’s cool. in new zealand? damn.” tae always thought himself well traveled, so whenever he met someone who’d gone further than he had reminded him how much of the world he had left to see. “seee, i could definitely see any of those dudes doing it, but i really don’t want clooney or dicaprio, so i guess? emile hirsch? he at least kinda looks like chris christopherson.” tae grinned, reaching out to give rudi’s hand a solid shake. “i’m tae. good to meet you.”