RUN RABBIT

𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖔𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖓, 𝖌𝖔𝖙𝖙𝖆 𝖕𝖆𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖈𝖊

[runrabids]

𝖔𝖍!  forgive  me,  lord. 𝖔𝖍!  i'm  a  good  girl.  i'd  never  hurt  a  fly,  but  i've  got  walls  to  climb.  𝖔𝖍!  forgive  me,  lord.  𝖔𝖍!  a  minor  chord.  you  put  me  in  this  house,  𝖎  𝖍𝖆𝖉  𝖙𝖔  𝖈𝖑𝖆𝖜  𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙  𝖔𝖚𝖙.

♡ surviving with @ashesofhome.

[77343]

"Yeah?" There's an everlasting trace of insecurity that weaves itself within the word. He can hear it. It's too distinct. "I dunno," he shrugs, shoulders feeling the tension of repressing so many of these memories. "I used to drive my brothers around in my shitty old car, and I'd let them take turns picking songs to listen to. We'd just drive around the middle of nowhere, and I don't know why I think about it so often, but I do. It was just a quiet escape, even for just a few hours, that we were able to get away from everything for a while." The smile on his face doesn't quite reach his eyes, plagued with a grief that feels too large to name. He shakes his head, letting his eyes meet hers. "Tell me about your brother."

[runrabids]

there was something heartbreaking about the tenderness in his voice, and the way his smile appeared only in his mouth, never quite reaching the lines around his eyes. adelaide understood that well. she wanted to reach out, though she wasn’t sure how, or if she should. instead, she settled on what she did know. “it must be a special memory, for it to come up often.” she shrugged slightly, gaze soft on him. “even if you do not quite realize it.” a sigh escaped her, and she looked away toward the treeline. “when we were younger, and i was bigger than him, i used to pick him up and run around the lake. when i got tired, i would throw us both in.” she laughed then, quiet and fond, the memory warming her face for half a breath. “there was not always a lake, but when there was, it was the same thing each time.” adelaide turned back to him, and the softness in her expression gave way to something more distant. “i wonder if he is still out there. i have not seen him… in a long time.”

[ashesofhome]

the alarm bells that had been going off inside of his head earlier were silent as soon as she stepped forward and pulled him into her embrace. her scent isn't the same and there's no longer a wolf that can be sensed, but peace still washes over him. his shoulders relax as he rests his chin on top of her head, pressing a kiss to her hair. it's weird, being taller than her now, but so much time had passed since he had last seen her - it was bound to happen.

"it's okay. it's okay. we're okay." he's quick to soothe her. even if it wasn't smart, there was no way he was losing her again, not when he had just gotten her back. so many years had been spent mourning the loss of her and their parents. how badly he wished that he had been there, to die alongside his family. instead, he's been haunted ever since.

"addie, you had no choice. you said it yourself. the desire, the hunger - if you would have stayed, then i'd imagine something bad would have happened. as much as i would have loved to have you around, i don't know if you could live with the fact that you brought harm to me." he pulls away for a moment to study her face. it's different than what it was, but it's still his sister. "please, do not apologize. i don't want to hear any of that anymore, you hear me?"

[runrabids]

the kiss to the top of her head made her chest hurt. her heart no longer beat, not unless her veins were full of borrowed blood, but she could feel it then, hammering against her ribs like it still belonged to her. his words were a comfort, even if they couldn’t untangle all the fear inside her. she was dangerous to him – perhaps not now, but then. perhaps not now, but one day. she didn’t know. what she did know was that now that she had him back, she wouldn’t let him go so easily. when he pulled away, her hands rose to press against his cheeks. adelaide smiled weakly, searching his face like she was trying to memorize every part of it. “you look like papa.” such a simple thing, and still it struck her straight through the chest – the set of his brow, his eyes, the shape of a face that had somehow carried pieces of their family forward without her there to see it. she blinked hard against the tears, vulnerability sitting sharp and uncomfortable beneath her skin. a small part of her wondered if her vampiric friend was still there, watching, or if he’d left them to their reunion. the thought of an audience made her anxious, but even that couldn’t pull her fully from roman. her gaze found him again. “i hear you.” her hands dropped, and so did her forehead, resting against his chest like she could anchor herself there. “it is not fair that you are taller now,” she murmured, and another weak laugh slipped out of her. “how dare you grow up.”

[nopartyinvitations]

⋄ ⋄ ✏️ ⋄ ⋄

Colby's stomach had made a nest in her heels. There was no escaping this. "Maybe I'm saying it because I love you," the blonde argued. "You deserve better than this, Addie. Better than me." She shouldn't get caught in the typhoon that was Colby, and the wave coming to destroy all in her wake. The girl was too special, too good to get hurt by her own inevitable stupidity. All she'd ever do was let her down. "I'm no good, you know it, I know it."

[runrabids]

“that is not for you to decide.” adelaide’s voice stayed quiet, but there was steel threaded through it, something steady despite the ache sitting heavy in her chest. she’d spent years running from her demons, from her past, from everything that had been left behind in blood and hunger and grief. it was a miracle that she had found solace in wren at all, and then found roman again, some impossible second chance she had never thought the world would be kind enough to give her. what she hadn’t expected was this – someone who made her feel whole in a way she had long since stopped believing possible. she would be a fool to let that slip through her fingers just because colby had convinced herself she did not belong there. “what i know,” she continued, taking a careful step closer, “is that you have been a light in my life the entire time i’ve known you.” her expression softened then, hurt slipping through despite how hard she tried to keep herself composed. “what have i done to make you think that i do not want you?” a beat passed, her gaze searching her face. “because i do. i want you here. i want you with me.”

[runrabids]

she looked over the little bottles lining the shelf, a smile slowly spreading across her face. “do you simply add the ingredients, or are there words you must say?” adelaide was fascinated by the idea of potions. she’d never had the opportunity to spend much time with a witch before, and now that she had, she found herself utterly enthralled by him.

🕯️attn: @aperturcs.

[fassylovergallery]

[runrabids]

she didn’t understand how one person could make her stomach feel so terribly knotted. adelaide had survived a violent betrayal, albeit against her will. she’d survived the loss of her family, the loss of her wolf, and somehow, she still stood tall. none of that compared to the strange feeling in her stomach now. “i understand why you own a restaurant. you are a very good cook.” oh. he made her nervous. so nervous that she suddenly couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

🕯️attn: @fcllenstar.

[ashesofhome]

roman is definitely the kind of brother who will threaten anyone that tries to get close to adelaide, teeth and all @runrabids

[runrabids]

adelaide tilted her head, sniffing toward the intruder. "you are different. why do you smell like that?" it wasn't unpleasant... just different. her earlier hostility had softened into curiosity, though her guard was still up. she didn't understand why he smelled like a wolf... and yet... didn't. though, she was in no place to question the order of the world. had she thought she would come back from death? no, yet here she was.

🕯️attn: @aperturcs.

[mournfulroses]

Anna Akhmatova, from a poem titled "White Flock," featured in An Anthology of Contemporary Russian Women Poets

[frankensteinfemme]

do you wanna kiss covered in blood? can we kiss covered in blood? when are we gonna kiss covered in blood?

[fcllenstar]

@runrabids

[ashesofhome]

consistency wasn't something roman knew. even now, settled into a place he had decided to call home years ago - he knew better than to get too comfortable. something would happen. someone would find him. and then he'd have to run again. at least when it had happened when he was a child, he had his sister. now, he had no one.

it makes sense and he hates that it does. he wants to be mad. wants somewhere to place the anger that had been boiling inside of him since his loss. but it was never her fault, was it? if anyone should feel guilty, it's him. he had let him into their home. had trusted him, only for it to be spit back into his face. roman never made that mistake again.

he should feel threatened by her, after what she had admitted. that there was a hunger there, a hunger to consume what remained of her family - but he wasn't. instead, he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her like he used to. he's taller than her now, appearing older despite being the younger sibling. constantly being on edge aged you, apparently. "i don't." and it might be a lie - his wolf might still be on edge, but it still recognizes familiarity. comfort. something it hasn't felt in a very long time. roman swallows the lump in his throat, taking a step towards her. "i've missed you, addie."

[runrabids]

addie. she hadn’t been called addie in a long, long time. the sound of it hit somewhere fragile, somewhere buried so deep beneath hunger and death and all the ugly things she’d become that she thought it had rotted away with the rest of her. adelaide closed her eyes and drew in a careful breath, but her face still twisted with emotion before she could stop it.  “i have missed you so, so much,” she said, voice breaking around the shape of it. “i’m sorry.” he took a step closer, and she sucked in another breath before closing the rest of the distance herself, pulling him into her arms. he was taller than her now, and somehow that hurt too – another reminder of all the time they wouldn’t get back, all the years she hadn’t been there to watch him become this version of himself. the itch stirred in her chest, quiet and cruel, but all she could think about was the sound of his heartbeat. he was here. in front of her. alive. she’d never known if he’d managed to escape death that night.  maybe he hadn’t been home, but she hadn’t heard from him. hadn’t seen him. of course, she ran, but the whispers didn't bring his name to her. the fact that they had somehow ended up in the orbit of the same person felt impossible, almost merciful. perhaps there was some being out there that did wish for them to have a second chance. her fingers caught tightly in the fabric of his shirt, tears soaking into it as she shook her head. “i’m sorry,” she whispered. “i shouldn’t have left you.”

[runrabids]

“it’s lovely,” she said quietly, gaze flicking past the treeline. there was something gentle about the place, something that made the ache in her chest feel less sharp for half a breath. her eyes moved over the branches, the fruit tucked between leaves, and after a moment, her voice softened further. “do you make things with the apples?” adelaide’s shoulders dropped slightly, the question pulling a memory up before she could stop it. “i remember having cider with my little brother when i was younger.” a small, fragile thing settled across her face, not quite a smile, but close. it was a memory she cherished, one she wished she could hold in both hands and step back into, if only for a moment. “it was one of the sweeter things.”

🕯️attn: @commonmonsters.

[runrabids]

"you... i have seen you in my dreams. and yet, you are here now? in front of me?"

🕯️attn: @redemptioninterlude.

[runrabids]

"i am sorry. your story... that sounds very hard. to have your friend come back and then..."

🕯️attn: @likecavities.

[runrabids]

"if you love me, you would not say these things to me."

🕯️attn: @nopartyinvitations.

[runrabids]

"...ash?" she turned around, eyes wide, staring at the person she thought she'd lost years ago.

🕯️@attn: @nopartyinvitations.