𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚.

        𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞  ;  the scorching hot thirst in his throat was proof of that.  the moment grizz came face to face with him,  edward felt the overwhelming desire to feed,  which only added to the inner disgust he felt towards himself.  whatever this version of him was,  he hadn’t ASKED for it.  “  i don’t know,  “  he practically growls,  animal instincts fighting to overtake the human ones he thought he’d only ever known.  “  i don’t know how to control myself.  “  in an attempt to separate himself from grizz,  he paces backward at an inhumane speed,  uncertain,  now,  how to safely be in the presence of another without feeling the need to rip their throat out.  if he listens hard enough,  he realizes,  he can hear his boyfriend’s pounding heart.  it’s beautiful and human  ;  unlike the creature he found himself to be.  “  just  ---  stay AWAY from me for now.  i can’t control myself around you.  “

        𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞,  robb’s first instinct when it comes to any sign of danger is to protect his family.  with poe and kore already within an arm’s reach,  his next order of attack is to check in on his siblings and son.  he drove to fatalité,  speed limit be damned,  avoiding several monstrous-looking dogs along the way,  until he saw his sister’s house come into view.  “  ana  !  “  fists pound against door,  desperation thick on his tongue as he waits for her to open the door.  he was sure every stark had a lot of explaining to do  ;  as for himself,  he was almost certain that his son was actually his biological brother,  and that,  somehow,  he had previously been married with a child on the way.  “  let me in,  please.  “

        𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬,  and despite their messy breakup,  eury’s immediately filled with worry over her ex’s newfound appearance.  dark veins highlighted by even darker hair only add to her growing confusion regarding the transformed aurora they seem to be occupying.  “  you don’t look so good,  jose.  “  she’s not the same happy-go-lucky josie that eury once knew,  that’s for sure.  “  i’m almost too scared to leave my apartment.  i don’t have any of the magical powers that people keep talking about.  “  an utterly defenseless human,  that’s what she is.  a demodog would have fun with her.

        𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝  to be repeating itself.  if the visions and nightmares that kept her awake at night were true,  then this wasn’t their first incarnation together.  though similarities remained  (  she was a street urchin,  he was a bus boy,  she felt neglected and left him  ),  it appeared that their relationship was merely a foundation of what it had once been.  she remembers hadestown,  the clinks of hammers against iron,  and the dictator who runs it.  more pressingly,  she remembers orpheus  ;  always writing that damn song,  leaving her in the cold,  hungry and fending for herself.  she won’t will herself to trust him yet,  but she feels a pull to him  ---  to his embrace,  and to his music.  and then he’s at her front door,  his voice music to her ears as she flings the door open before taking the time to check their surroundings and make sure it was safe to welcome him into her home.  “  orpheus.  i think i remember.  “  and then she’s throwing herself into his arms,  heart pounding in her chest at a million miles an hour,  feeling an impending doom hovering above them.  “  i remember what we used to be.  “

        𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫.  one minute,  eurydice was being confronted by her ex,  and the next morning,  the entire city was taken over by some sort of supernatural shroud.  her curiosity led her outside,  wandering into the abyss and observing the sheer panic influencing other residents.  her own nightmares had appeared in the silhouette of a powerful man  ;  bricks,  lots of them,  and a long wall.  metal clanging against clay,  slowly chipping away at her own sanity.  hadestown.  as she ventures deeper into the darkness,  faces pass without a second glance.  but then she catches a glimpe of a familiar blonde  ---  her best friend,  elle woods,  in her peripheral vision.  eurydice approaches her,  anxiety thick on her tongue as she wraps her arms around the girl.  “  oh my god,  elle,  are you okay  ?  “

        𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬,  and as he approached padmé’s doorstep,  he only hoped that she felt the same way towards him.  the previous night had brought some sort of supernatural curse to aurora,  and if that wasn’t disturbing enough,  he could no longer deny the burn in his throat  ---  the burn that craved an immeasurable amount of blood.  yes,  being around his sisters was dangerous  (  and mainly the reason why he had been avoiding their calls  ),  but he had grown desperate enough to find himself knocking on padmé’s door,  the simple gesture strong enough to knock the structure of the building out of place.  while his trust in the twins was strong,  he couldn’t deny the fear that filled his head  ---  what if they reject him for what he is  ?

        𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧,  edward wasn’t sure what to do with himself.  he felt a thirst inside of his gut that was overwhelming,  but he knew better than to act upon it,  and so he instead found himself downtown,  where the cafes and restaurants muddled together.  the square looked the same,  but different  ;  almost as if taken over by an evil force.  everything was dark,  but his eyes had changed overnight somehow,  rendering the glasses he previously wore useless and his eyesight now perfectly restored.  “  what’s a guy gotta do to get a cup of coffee around here  ?  “  he wonders aloud,  approaching what used to be an ordinary looking restaurant,  but now had a demented and gloomy look about it.

        𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲  paints the town,  but edward amidala can’t remember a time he’s felt more like himself.  red eyes dart between the civilians in their own states of panic,  his body feeling strong enough to run a marathon without needing a break,  but his mind torturing him with visions of the past  ---  his past,  he presumes.  it all seems otherworldly  ;  like a part of his mind has been dormant all these years,  and it was finally waking up.  “  excuse me  ---  “  too caught up in his own mind to notice a man dressed to the nines approaching,  he slides out of the way at a superhuman speed.  “  well,  you look like shit.  “  given by the way the stranger carries himself,  edward figures him to be some sort of government official.  “  let me guess,  trouble sleeping  ?  “

        𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐦,  a whole new world of darkness emerged and swallowed edward whole.  as if the past few weeks of his life hadn’t been hellish enough,  now he was branded with an uncomfortable and dangerous desire :  blood.  crimson red eyes representative of the monster he finds himself to be lurk throughout town,  an uncontrollable thirst always distracting him from his ultimate goal  ---  finding his boyfriend.  his sisters would worry too much  ;  they usually did when it came to him,  but he would confess his sins to them later.  as unusual as it was for edward to venture outside of his usual path around aurora,  he was desperate to reach grizz’s apartment,  nearly knocking the door down with the simple slam of his fist.  “  GRIZZ  !  “  he prays,  perhaps foolishly,  that grizz is inside and not finding himself in any similar sort of situation.  “  baby,  something’s  . . .  something’s seriously wrong with me.  “