One more day resisting the call. The nightmares and daydreams started to cascade into a kind of hell she couldn't escape. Only now could she truly see what Varian must have gone through in his corrupted days. She didn't see the obvious signs like before, but it was on her back now, just waiting for Luz to fall. Luz's methods weren't working anymore either, as the curse continued to work its way into her mind, reminding her of things left behind, of people she'd never see.
That day Luz stayed in bed, a mess of crying and mumbled pleas that this would go away. And it was in this moment Luz found herself in the darkest moment of despair, where there was no fleeing any of this, where she had to accept something would have to break with her now. She got up and walked up to the roof of the house, gasping and shivering, the cold biting into her but letting her feel SOMETHING, a definite reprieve from her mental and emotional distress. In this moment, the cold licking at her exposed skin, she tried to clear her head, clear her mind, bring her mind rest.
And then she saw them all. Clementine. Margot. Eda. Her mother. All of them fading, fading away as she stayed here, enjoying herself.
Luz let out a howl. It shook the house with how painful and frenzied she sounded, and she lowered herself to her stomach, feeling the change working over her.
It hurts! It hurts!
Not the change, but her thoughts, all that pain, all the things she tried to keep at bay surfaced now, rocking through her and solidifying her loneliness here. Who could she cry to? Who could get rid of this? No one. And in that final, desperate moment, she could see Doorway, waiting, quiet and waiting and knowing that the wait could take forever, and that pain finally rocked through Luz and she felt her body hollowing out, her back curving and the last coherent parts of her slipping away.
The Change
That day Luz stayed in bed, a mess of crying and mumbled pleas that this would go away. And it was in this moment Luz found herself in the darkest moment of despair, where there was no fleeing any of this, where she had to accept something would have to break with her now. She got up and walked up to the roof of the house, gasping and shivering, the cold biting into her but letting her feel SOMETHING, a definite reprieve from her mental and emotional distress. In this moment, the cold licking at her exposed skin, she tried to clear her head, clear her mind, bring her mind rest.
And then she saw them all. Clementine. Margot. Eda. Her mother. All of them fading, fading away as she stayed here, enjoying herself.
Luz let out a howl. It shook the house with how painful and frenzied she sounded, and she lowered herself to her stomach, feeling the change working over her.
It hurts! It hurts!
Not the change, but her thoughts, all that pain, all the things she tried to keep at bay surfaced now, rocking through her and solidifying her loneliness here. Who could she cry to? Who could get rid of this? No one. And in that final, desperate moment, she could see Doorway, waiting, quiet and waiting and knowing that the wait could take forever, and that pain finally rocked through Luz and she felt her body hollowing out, her back curving and the last coherent parts of her slipping away.
And the beast took hold.