#korneli

Things were going pretty alright for a while. Casual. Ellie would come back to stay at Axe's apartment for the most part on the weekends and they got in a nice rhythm.

At first things were okay but with Axe being back on his meds, he definitely noticed a difference. He was in a deep haze again. He wanted to be himself... to be a good boyfriend. But he found himself barely able to respond and he hated that.

He slowly started to lower the dose of his sedative. Just a bit at first. Ellie didn't need to know. He just wanted to be more awake. He wanted to be more of a person. He wanted to be who she liked. She seemed to enjoy it too as when she came to visit he started surprising her with attention.

He was still feeling a little groggy though... it was so tempting to keep on lowering the dose. As the weeks went on he kept going down... until one day he stopped taking them all together. He told himself again that Ellie didn't need to know. He didn't need the sedatives. He was okay. He could handle this.

That summer was nice. Axe and Ellie were closer than ever and now that graduation was over it seemed like the both of them could let out a sigh of relief... but really it was just the calm before the storm.

Ellie had gained eyes on her ever since she had started doing presentations and pushing forth her proposition about making artificial unicorn tears into a real product that could help people. Not all of the attention was good.

Some people were indeed interested in the idea of unicorn tears but saw a lot more value in her as a commodity and making her their own. She was ignorant of the darker side of the underground of the city and didn't realize the vulnerable position she'd put herself in. MonstroCity has all types of people from all kinds of worlds, good and bad and all gray area in between. The city does it's best to manage it but they have a thriving underground that can be pretty dangerous if you're not careful.

Unfortunately Korneli and Axael found that out the hard way when Ellie got kidnapped.

Axael was able to rescue her but... he lost control in a way that was frightening to everyone involved, most of all himself. He'd been off his meds for months now by this point and while that meant he was more alert and attentive in his daily life it also meant he struggled with strange urges that he was constantly ignoring and in denial about. Urges that he was fully not able to control in his anger that day.

As soon as he'd figured out where Ellie had been taken he tore into that room like... well. Like a monster. Ellie had never seen him like that in her life. His eyes which were always blank were expressionless wide circles and his thin blue stripes were glowing. She didn't know he could do that. But what was terrifying was how he just grabbed and tore and killed people without hesitation. People shot at him and he didn't even flinch.

Then most horrifying at all he bit into someone and started eating them.

Ellie just stayed perfectly still while this was happening, terrified of drawing attention

Axe slowly calmed down and his growls turned into horrified sobs.

Ah... I wouldn't say that. I've always really wanted to help people. Ever since I was a kid it's almost felt like an obligation I guess? Like because I can help that I should help?

Maybe it speaks to some deep issues or something. I'll probably need therapy eventually. Who knows.

One night Axe was in the haze of sleep, arms wrapped around Ellie holding her. he could hear her heart beat. Calm and steady as she rested.

She smelled so sweet as she always did. His dreams had been intense. Filled with biting flesh. Tearing. Eating. There she was and that voice inside told him to consume her as it did many times in the past few weeks. In this state he couldn't resist. He didn't want to resist. Ellie woke to the feeling of his tongue on her neck. She immediately started to realize what was going on. Tried to call out to him. Get through to him. But the Axe she could reason with wasn't there. Much worse the pepper spray she kept with her for emergency situations like this was tucked away in her bag. They'd been safe for so long she'd stopped keeping it near by a long time ago

That's what he bit into her. Hard.

She fought and tried harder to reason with him, only resulting in him biting harder, with the crack of bone

She managed to put her horn to good use and stab him in the eye hard enough to startle him and make him let go.