#vampire!nancy

“I was so careful with you,” she murmurs, almost quiet enough that it feels as though it wasn't meant for Robin's ears at all. Quiet enough, even that Robin feels herself straining to listen past the muffled flow of cars and people and life just beyond this alley. “You don't have to be,” she says, even if she's not supposed to, because it feels important. “I'm not fragile.”  » Ronance // Rated M // Vampire!Nancy // 2.4k » podfic & cover art by @n0connections 💜 » Febuwhump #8: "Who did this to you?" & Came Back Wrong » Febuwhump Masterlist

read (and listen) on ao3 // preview under the cut

The incident that Nancy internally called The Bite happened just over two months ago. While trying to save Steve, one of those bats had gotten her, and she’d barely felt it due to the adrenaline. Something liquid had seeped from its teeth into the wound before she twisted its neck. When asked if she had been hurt, by Eddie for that matter, she shook her head and kept the injury to herself. It was only when she was alone that she dealt with it properly. She didn’t think too much of it, until the injury had healed just two days later when the crew in California arrived in Hawkins.

After that, the cravings started. At first, she just thought she was thirsty. Water would fix it, right? Mike gave her a confused look when he found her with her head under the sink for minutes at a time, multiple times a day. She even tried a whole pitcher of water. 2 and a half gallons. She sat in her room and chugged the whole thing in one sitting. Still the burn in her throat and the aching need inside her never ceased. With each day that passed, it got worse.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t her only problem. Her senses heightened. Sight, smell, hearing. The world was much louder to her in multiple ways. Nancy lived in headphones and sunglasses just to tolerate it. The sun burnt her skin, but not in a deadly way. She just couldn’t withstand it for more than five minutes.

There was a word for what was happening to her but the last thing she wanted to do was admit it. As the thirst mounted into something unbearable, she knew she couldn’t hide from this reality forever. But she couldn’t hurt her own family. It was just unthinkable. Rabbits were little more than an appetizer and just didn’t help. She needed something with more…bite, so to speak.

One day, about three months after The Bite, she finally caved and attacked the first moving thing she saw. It wasn’t until she heard a muffled cry of pain and her own name that there was the vaguest of realizations that she was feeding on a person. Not just any person, somebody that she knew.

“Nancy…Nancy what the fuck…” Jonathan shoved her, but she wouldn’t budge.

A second person pulled her off and she snarled and struggled. Blood ran down her chin. Steve?

“Okay well, that’s definitely something I wasn’t expecting,” Steve groaned as he tried to restrain Nancy. “You good, Jonathan?”

“Fantastic,” he groaned from the grass.

All of this was a mere backdrop to just how dire her own thirst still was. She lunged and tried to bite Steve, but at the last moment he dropped her back into the grass.

“Well that explains why we haven’t heard a peep from her!” Steve exclaimed. “She’s gone insane with bloodlust. “What the hell do we do?”

“The woods…” Jonathan got to his feet and winced. “Maybe some animals.”

Nancy’s gaze tore away from the two boys. She caught another scent and went after it. After getting her hands on a deer and draining it, her head finally began to clear. And she came to terms with what she had done. Jonathan and Steve managed to catch up to her and she wiped off her chin and mouth, guilt overwhelming her.

“Jonathan, I…I’m so sorry,” Nancy said quietly. “I couldn’t control it anymore.”

“Trying to handle this all by yourself. Yeah that’s so like you, Nancy.”

If she didn’t know better, if she didn’t see him bleeding so openly in front of her, she wouldn’t know he had been hurt at all. But she did know. Knew him so well. And he was putting on a brave face so she wouldn’t feel worse than she already did. It wasn’t working, but it was sweet that he was trying.

“Okay so, that bat did something to you that it didn’t do to me,” Steve declared.

“Yeah. I gathered that.”

“So you’re a…vampire.” Jonathan put a hand to his neck to stop the bleeding. “I guess I can’t tell people scared of you that you don’t bite anymore. Cause you sure as hell do.”

“Sorry.” Nancy grinned sheepishly. “I guess the woods are suitable for now till we find a long term solution.”

“Robin was asking about you,” Steve said. “What should I tell her?”

“Nothing yet. We need…a solid plan so I don’t hurt anyone else first.”

“Let’s get to work,” Jonathan said. Steve nodded and started walking out of the woods.

Nancy took Jonathan’s hand. The man she had chosen over an old high school sweetheart. But really, ultimately, it was no contest. The present, the future, all of that was more appealing than the past. For many reasons. Now they had an entirely new future to conquer together. She could deal with that. Just like he dealt with the bite she’d given him.

“What?” Jonathan smiled. “Why are you staring at me?”

Nancy got on her tiptoes and kissed him. She playfully nibbled at his lip before pulling away, tasting more blood.

“Unh…jeez Nance,” Jonathan chuckled. “Can’t get enough of my blood, can you?”

“It’s not your blood I’m after right now.” She grinned. Jonathan blushed.

“HEY! Lovebirds!” Steve yelled from much further ahead. “Get out of the damn woods already!”

its time to talk about how the fruity four found out Holy Shit They’re Monsters

they all had very different experiences, and none of them experienced overnight transformations, but it didn’t take its time before the real onslaught yknow

okay starting with nancy because she’s complicated. she actually started this process way back in season one when she first went into the upside down and came out and was very much Never The Same. after her first trip she lost her appetite and regular food, while still nourishing her, didn’t really do much for her in the sense of satisfaction. something was always missing and she couldn’t put her finger on what. she sunburned easier and lost endurance in the sun way quicker than she used to. she was suddenly allergic to all of her genuine silver jewelry, which was her first inkling that something was off beyond not taking care of herself like she used to. she didn’t get many of the physical benefits other than basically getting up without a scratch after she got thrown against that wall in season 3, and also having more intuition to things around her (journalism moment). also you wanna know how she pulled so many people? by being really awesome first and foremost but after her first foray into the upside down it’s really hard to not pay attention to her. then things start getting WEIRD after the second upside down trip and getting vecna’d- where she’s suddenly cold all the time and she can’t really eat anything and everything feels so intense like she swears she’s hallucinating hearing conversations that happen across a house with crystal clear clarity and seeing dust flying around across the room. nancy being nancy who shoves all sorts of actually concerning things surrounding herself under the rug thinks its just nerves and trauma but like no girl! ur cursed! and things go crazy when she finds her fangs and robin, who touches her shoulder in concern with her heavy silver rings (that have been kinda bothering her since she got back from the upside down ngl) and it burns like holy shit. shit goes haywire when they go “okay but maybe later” and then vecna happens and nancy, who isn’t dumb, who’s noticed that all of this got even worse when they went into the upside down again, and suddenly her mouth starts watering when she looks at the pulsepoint and robin’s throat and FUCK she’s a vampire oh god damnit

okay now robin bc gfs who r cursed together stick together!! as someone who’s only experience with the upside down had been the russians weird experiment, shit really hits the fan when she goes through watergate and suddenly everything is super weird and she hates it tbh. i hc both robin and nancy as autistic so this is sensory nightmare for both of them bc holy shit robin can smell and hear everything and it freaks her out! robin, who doesn’t shove anything weird happening to her down until she explodes immediately starts talking about how weird she feels bc what if she has rabies or smth and actually snaps at steve when he tries to interrupt her and she’s like “oh my god why did i do that”. also her rings have been bothering her ever since they got back, all irritated and almost burning, and she wishes she just bit it and took them off earlier because holy shit she burned nancy and it scared her BAD because before this nancy had been sorta fearless so now nancy is kinda crumbling and she cries out in actual pain and robin is kinda floored?? and freaking out bc she wants to make it better but she doesn’t know how- the first thing she does it toss her rings across the room because obviously smth is wrong with them! this is way strange and they find out robin has fangs too but she actually doesn’t turn into a wolf until after vecna’s initial “defeat” since she only fully turns on the full moon. when that happens though everyone is like “what the fuck” especially because steve does it at the same time!! and they’re all like!! what the fuck!! they kind of suspected that’s what happened with robin before she ever turned but they sorta thought what she was going through would be it, they didn’t think she’d actually turn!! and then run away!! and then get lost in the woods!! that is a long night for everyone involved. also fun fact the iconic boost actually switches to robin straight up picking up nancy by her hips and LIFTING HER UP TO THE PORTAL to which nancy is like “oh my god this can not be fr” bc she’s STRUGGLING and blushing like crazy (and it looks kinda crazy bc now her blood is like turning BRIGHT RED)

okay eddie time so im abusing the fact that eddie stayed back in the trailer as “holy fucking shit why does the sun make me want to keel over and die now” on top of yknow being wanted nbd. he notices he’s way stronger and everything is more intense and when robin mentions feeling weird he’s kinda like “oh wait me too” and its like “huh” but in this au eddie survives the attack because like nancy, he puts two and two together but not bc he’s as smart as her but bc he’s kinda obsessed with vampires, and he TURNS INTO A FUCKING BAT and camos and everyone thinks he’s dead for like a week before he comes back and is like “.... surprise....” he then gets almost murdered by everyone bc wtf. (also poor dustin thinking the bats ate eddie is making me laugh rn). despite the shitty thing with the sun eddie likes being even weirder and also like super strong and cool like a dnd character and this is kinda fun (the blood part isn’t awesome tho bc in my mind he has sorta subpar control and everyone is lucky steve heals fast bc...)

steve time steve time so funnily enough steve just thinks he’s really worried about everyone and i think his very wild and new instincts are the reason he has the audacity to give nancy that six lil nuggets speech in this au if i decide that still happens bc being entirely real with u steve stans that scene WAS in character u just don’t want to admit it but ANYWAYS he’s basically freaking out the entire time trying to protect his little siblings and his closest friends and he basically forgets to worry about the fact that his dna is literally changing lol! no one suspects that anything really happened to steve until he actually shifted into a wolf bc he’s been so stressed that he doesn’t even notice. this makes the first change back way harder on him though bc she’s like “oh my god what the fuck you guys” and robin was like “damn i was hoping that wouldnt happen but ok”.

that first night of the change is so stressful bc robin is running so god damn fast and tiny nancy is like trying to pounce on her to keep her still (because she’s realized her own strength at this point) and wolf robin is like “ok so we’re racing now okay” and makes it even harder! they end up getting lost for 2 days afterwards fun fact and this is before nance feels comfortable feeding on anyone so the extended period before being able to find a solution is no good. steve is the one that finds them when eddie is freaking out abt how there’s no way they’re gonna find them and steve is like “wdym??? they’re that way” and eddie like “OH MY GOD YOU CAN SMELL THEM” and they get found.

after this steve is more aware of how different things are and on one hand he’s grateful for the buffs but on the other hand oh my god this is so messed up oh my god

also eddie and nancy caring for their partners respectively after the first change and they feel like (no pun intended) dog shit is smth that can be so personal <3

- she can bend shadows for her bidding, this power can take decades of practice to just get the body drain within a reasonable threshold (after centuries you start getting myths like the boogeyman)

- her biggest problem is when robin spills tiny objects (sequins, beads, etc) and she’s stuck counting them until they’re all out of sight (this is a vampire weakness from older lore)

- she’s allergic to garlic, but will not die from it. as a descendant of the original covens, she is visible in mirrors/photos (but is blurred), and can eat human food (very limited amounts). however, she cannot cross railroads (spin on being unable to cross waterways) without getting a rash that can turn into a severe burn the longer she is on the railway. (“what about stakes?” “these are trade secrets, buckley.”)

- as original descendants, these vampires are born between a vampire and human (they’re usually matched pairs) but lesser covens can get away without adhering to strict rules/traditions. nancy’s parents were matched. (you already know nancy and robin do not receive any stamp of approval except the universe’s)

- “soulmates” are extremely rare with vampires (it’s bound to happen with the longevity of their lives, but their counterpart usually dies before they find them). it’s in their person’s eyes that the vampire can finally see themselves in total clarity. nancy doesn’t notice this at first - she’s always too distracted counting robin’s freckles.

- vampires are immortal but not invulnerable. in order to function, their body feeds/circulates the blood of their kills. this is the blood that drains if they’re wounded or exerting too much force (it’s almost black in color and is thicker than regular blood). if they lose too much, they can go into shock and possibly die. the only way to heal is to drink more blood.

nancy knows that something is up with robin. at first she thinks she's a witch just because she assumes out of all of the things robin could be, a witch would definitely be it. plus, she knows that there are no known werewolves in hawkins, so that's off the table almost immediately.