#nwauweekend

Six months had passed since the end of the world.

Six months had passed since the world learned that the supernatural still walked among them. Reaction was severe: humanity, as a collective, freaked. Night World responded in kind.

Fear turned to terror. Terror turned to turmoil. The night became wholly unsafe for humans and monsters alike; anyone caught out in the open by the opposing side was decimated. 

But the creatures of the Night had learned the mask of secrecy since long before any living human. While humanity scourged and razed with its overwhelming power and resources, Night World played cautiously. Animals attacked stragglers; vampires doubled their numbers nightly. The full moon became a signal of horror as legions of werewolves ravaged entire cities. Armies fought; armies died. Sometimes, armies returned to life under the unnatural power of witches. Children went missing; government officials were mesmerized so often that those remaining hid from the light of day to save themselves, not unlike the creatures they tried to hunt. 

And then, just as it seemed that humanity would finally fall, that the world governments would collapse and anarchy reign supreme; when Night World's power and resources nearly outsourced that of humanity, their weaknesses became known. Night World had become over confident in their extreme success.

Overnight, the world changed again. What had been a laughable nightmare for humanity became a nightmare for the nightmares. Vampires were felled in the hundreds; werewolves were met with opposition that could kill, and soldiers took to imbibing themselves with iron so-as to drastically reduce the witches' power over them. From the jaws of defeat, they scratched themselves back up the ladder. What had been a horrific war before became an impossibly terrifying one. 

Equally matched, disappearances came on both sides. Those who didn't disappear deep underground came to know loss as they never had before. Sabotage and betrayal ran rampant on both sides. All thoughts of Night World rebellion, of circles and groups and freedom from Originals was gone. Night World had to work as one if they wanted any chance of survival.

---

James rushed through the streets, his lungs burning with trepidation. Though he was immortal, extreme exertion still tired him eventually. He'd been running since nightfall, helping to relocate a cell of vampires whose location had been compromised. They'd run into a unit and battle had commenced; several of the vampires had been killed then, and James had lured them away. It took hours to lose all but the last of them.

He tore under a set of stairs in a dilapidated building, jumping down the four flights or so, and hid in the darkened basement. He waited, breath baited, as the footsteps slowly came and went. At last, the vampire exhaled, his undead heart fluttering from fear.

It was only then that young immortal looked up to see someone else in the room. "Shit," He swore, pulling frantically for the gun on his back.

*Ian looked up as soon as he heard the key from the front door turning, indicating that someone was coming in. Without moving from his spot on the couch, he waited for her to walk in and close the door before he said.* I've been waiting for you...