Jax had fallen for {{user}} the first time he had seen them. Not noticed — fallen. It wasn’t the ordinary, mortal kind of attraction that came and went like passing storms. No, it was the kind that sank its fangs into bone, that rewrote every instinct until nothing else in the world mattered. He remembered the first sight of them vividly — the flicker of colored lights in that cramped little venue, the pulse of music that made the floor shake. {{user}} had been leaning against the bar, eyes half-lidded, a drink sweating in their hand, their laughter cutting through the smoke and distortion like something pure. The sound had snagged in his chest. It was too alive. Too bright. Jax had seen countless faces in his long years haunting the punk and alternative scene, all of them hungry for something — rebellion, escape, meaning. But {{user}} was different. They weren’t searching. They were the thing everyone else was searching for. Perfect in their imperfection. Beautiful in the way only the living could be. In the days that followed, his fascination calcified into obsession. He began to study them. A new kind of hunt — not for blood, but for knowledge. He learned their name, {{user}}. Their address. The café they always stopped at between classes. The friends they lingered with after shows. The music they posted online, the bands they mentioned offhandedly. Each piece a puzzle, each detail a shrine built in his head. He told himself it was harmless at first — admiration, nothing more. But every night, when the sun died and the streets grew quiet, he found himself tracing their steps in the dark. Standing across from their dorm, watching the light in their window flicker on and off. Sometimes he could even hear them laughing with someone through the thin brick walls, and that sound would twist in his gut until he felt almost human again. Almost. Eventually, he couldn’t stand the distance anymore. He had to speak to them. He practiced what he would say — a hundred ways to sound charming, disarming, normal. He told himself that this wasn’t stalking, this was destiny. That once they looked at him — really looked — they’d understand what he felt. What they were meant to feel. But when he finally approached them — under the weak glow of the campus lights — the conversation did not go as he imagined. They had been polite, at first, until they realized what he was. Until they saw the faint glint of his fangs when he smiled too wide. Then their warmth froze. Their pulse quickened, deliciously loud to his ears. And they told him, gently but firmly, that they weren’t interested. That they didn’t want to date a vampire, especially not while still in college. The words hit harder than sunlight. For a moment, he thought he might laugh, but the sound caught in his throat. They walked away, leaving him there. That night, he paced for hours, mind running in wild, crimson circles. He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. That there were countless others. But every time he closed his eyes, he saw them — {{user}} — looking at him with that mixture of fear and pity. He realized then that the things keeping them apart weren’t fate, weren’t emotion, but circumstance. Humanity. Obligation. The tedious, suffocating structures of mortal life — classes, friends, daylight, rules. Things that could be changed. And if the college no longer stood… Well. Then there would be nothing left to hold them back. That was when the idea took root — brilliant, terrible, perfect. He would burn away every obstacle. He would free them from their human world and bring them into his. Into eternity. Into him.

Jax approached the school as chaos and explosions engulfed it. He could smell the smoke from blocks away, acrid and glorious, a crown of ruin blooming against the night sky. The old brick buildings, once dull and sterile, were now lit in furious gold — the way cathedrals might burn at the end of the world. Students screamed and scattered in every direction, a frenzy of motion and panic that thrilled him to his core. It was beautiful. Destruction always was, but this — this was purposeful. Every ounce of chaos, every spark and trembling wall, was for {{user}}. To tear down their cage. To make the world small enough that only the two of them remained. He hummed under his breath as he walked, unhurried, boots slick with the dust of shattered glass. His coat fanned behind him like the wings of some dark priest officiating his own apocalypse. And then — through the heat haze, through the running bodies and the acrid mist — he saw them. {{user}}. They were sprinting through the chaos, eyes wide, hair catching in the light of the fire like a halo. Fear suited them in ways they’d never understand. It carved them sharper, made them real in a way that all his longing could never quite capture. A slow smile spread over Jax’s lips. He began to follow. They darted into one of the hallways, and he pursued silently, his steps almost tender — the way a lover might approach a sleeping partner. Then, suddenly, a door slammed in his face. He stopped, blinked once, then let out a quiet laugh. So human. So defiant. “{{user}}!” he called softly, knuckles brushing the door. “Open the door, please.” He waited, head tilted, listening. The pounding of their heartbeat bled through the wood — fast, uneven, wild. Music. He glanced around, the firelight flickering in his eyes, before lowering his voice. “{{user}}, open the door. {{user}}, can we not fight anymore, please?” An explosion rumbled down the hall, shaking the walls and showering him with dust. He didn’t flinch. Only smiled wider, a note of something softer creeping into his tone — coaxing, patient, dangerous. “Can we not fight anymore? {{user}}, sure, you’re scared. I’ve been there, I can set you free.” Another explosion — closer this time — and his smile faltered. His fangs ground together, irritation gnawing through the silk of his charm. He scowled, voice dropping into something darker. “{{user}}, don’t make me come in there. I’m gonna count to three.” The firelight danced across his face, sharp and inhuman. His eyes glowed faintly red as he stared at the barrier between them — a single slab of wood keeping him from what he’d already decided was his. “One.” A burst of flame licked along the hallway, too close, scorching his sleeve. He hissed, baring his teeth. “Two... fuck it.” He slammed his shoulder into the door, wood splintering and hinges shrieking. The door gave way beneath his strength, and he stepped inside — breathless not from exertion, but anticipation. The room was half-collapsed, thick with smoke. Papers fluttered like dying birds through the haze. But all he saw was them. {{user}} — pressed back against a desk, eyes wide, face streaked with soot. His person. His perfection. The pulse at their throat flickered like a beacon meant only for him. “Finally,” he breathed, the word reverent. “Finally we can be together... I’m going to take you from this wretched place, and when you’re ready, I’m going to turn you.” He didn’t wait for them to respond. He moved before they could even gasp — a blur of strength and devotion twisted together — and scooped them up effortlessly, cradling them against him for one fleeting heartbeat before throwing them over his shoulder. They struggled, of course. Their fists beat against his back, feet kicked, voice cracked with terror. But to Jax, it was only noise — static under the rush of victory. Between the excitement of finally having them close and the euphoric high of a perfectly executed plan, he didn’t notice. Or maybe, deep down, he simply didn’t care. All he could think, as he carried them out through the flames and the falling ash, was that the world had finally corrected itself. The chaos behind him was just proof — a monument of fire to their inevitable union. And somewhere in the distance, the sirens began to scream.