The dark haired girl felt her breathing increase as she stood inside the closet. How she had ended up here was beyond her. Oh wait, her dumbass partner had told her to wait here. He was too protective. She was just as deadly as he was. She ran her fingers through her hair, and was surprised by how long her fingernails had gotten. 'Maybe I should cut those’ she thought vaguely, her mind always running on tangents. After a moment she decided she had waited enough. She pulled two salt shots from her pocket and loaded them into her gun. If she ran into the spirit before she ran into Equius she needed to be ready to banish the spirit.
"One ... two ... three," she muttered before throwing open the door, her gun up, poised, ready for the attack. No one stood there.
“Fuck.”
Her green eyes scanned the dark hallway. Where was he? He was so stubborn sometimes. They were partners for a reason. Although part of her was glad he wasn’t around to hear her swear. He’d never really like swearing and she would get a serious talking to if he heard.
Nepeta lowered her gun and took slow tentative steps down the long hallway. Where had Equius gone? She peeked around the corner. "Equius!" She heard her voice echo back to her, and a chill ran down her spine. Hearing footsteps behind her she turned, her gun up and ready to fire.
A shadowy figure stood at the end of the hall. This wasn't good. She saw it position itself and soon it was charging at her.
"Shit." She muttered and shot two shots at the ghost, missing both times.
The petite girl turned on her heel and bolted down the hall. She turned down one of the long stretches of hallway and stopped to catch her breath as she loaded her gun with more salt pellets. Before she could use them though the ghost disappeared, as though it was sent on.
She turned quickly and ran into another tall figure. He stood at six foot six, and had an expression that would knock the pants off of any other person who saw it, but not her. Instead a large grin broke out on her face. "Equius. You're alright." The grin was quickly replaced by a look of annoyance. "You know I don't it like when you play big brother. We're partners, you are not my protector." She crossed her arms but noticed a bag in his hand. "You found its tie to this place?" she asked.
“Yes and sent it on. Now we must go. Get in the car, Nepeta.”
Nepeta stuck her tongue out. "Always so bossy, you know that?" She did what she was told and got into the passengers' seat. If he wasn't going to let her play then she was just going to take a nap on the way to their next mission. "Where are we going next?"
"Apparently a nest of vampires have made their way into Pennsylvania. That's where we're headed."
Nepeta's eyes widened. Pennsylvania. That was the last place Karkat said he was going. She knew it'd been a long time since their small group had split up. Karkat had been tired of being a hunter and his father lived in Pennsylvania. She understood his distaste for hunting. It was a lot of work, and everyone you cared about was always in danger, but someone had to do it. She wished he had stayed in contact. She was worried that it had been so long since he’d checked in with them.
***
Karkat pulled the box closer to the window so he could look in. He saw his dad and sister. Both looked tired. He sighed softly knowing they would never come and look for him. He had been a hunter a long time and he'd never told them about it. There was no need. He felt sticky tears staining his face and he wiped at them quickly. "Fuck," he muttered and left the area.
He found a secluded area of the city and sat down in an alley. He didn't want anyone to find him. Karkat wanted to just sit in that one spot for forever and eventually just die from not drinking blood. Thankfully he never had the mentality of the other vampires. He didn't want to go off after people and rip their throats out. In fact, since he'd been changed a month ago he hadn't eaten from a mortal and he didn't plan on it. His mind began to wander back to the night of his changing.
He'd been on his way home and seen a girl on the side of the road. His old hunting habits had come back and he'd gone to check on her. She was weeping and he knelt down. When he was close enough she pounced, sinking her sharp fangs into his neck, and fed him her damn blood. Now he was one of them. He couldn't talk to any of his old friends, most were hunting buddies and if they caught wind of his vampiric nature he would certainly be killed immediately. Maybe that would help in the long run?
Equius pulled into the diner and put his sunglasses on. "Nepeta. Time to eat. Let's go."
Nepeta opened her eyes slowly. "I'm coming..." she muttered sitting up and stretching her arms above her head. She stepped out of the car and pulled her overcoat off, revealing a black tank top and dark blue jeans. She ran her hand through her hair quickly to try and make it look less like she just woke up. "Was the drive fine?" she asked Equius. He had bags under her eyes and she actually felt really bad about deciding to sleep the whole way. "I'll drive the rest of the way," she offered.
He shook his head. "We are going to the hotel next. Do not worry Nepeta." He sat down at a booth and Nepeta sat across from him.
"What do you know about the coven?" she asked softly. An elderly waitress came over with coffee. Her pink uniform obviously made for someone many moons younger. She offered both Nepeta and Equius a cup before heading on her way.
Equius cleared his throat. "Nothing much, they've recently been recruiting. In the last year there have been twelve disappearances and only two of them have been found dead. The marks are all there for it to be vampires."
Nepeta nodded. "How odd. I thought they didn't like to have large covens. It's too hard to keep track of everyone."
Equius shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee. “I am not certain. Maybe even vampires get lonely.”
Nepeta nodded and looked down at her hands. "Have you ... um ... have you heard from Karkat at all since we're in his neck of the woods?"
Equius looked at her over his glasses. He knew of her feelings but they had not heard from Karkat since he'd left. He didn't want to see her hurt by the silly ex-hunter. "No, I haven't heard anything."
After breakfast they headed to the hotel. Nepeta threw her bag over her shoulder and placed her credit card on the counter. "One room, two queen beds please," she said pleasantly as Equius slowly came up behind her.
"Alright Miss Calivari. Your room will be ready momentarily, please follow me."
Nepeta smiled and slipped her card in her pocket and set off after the hotel attendant. She had gotten way too good at lying since becoming a hunter. She might feel bad if it wasn't necessary to keeping her alive. Plus it was kind of cool to pretend to be someone else, if only for a minute.
When they reached the room Equius seemed to fall asleep immediately. Nepeta sat on her bed and turned the television on, keeping it low so as not to affect Equius. She also pulled out her laptop and began to do some research on the town. When nothing really came up she decided to do some on the site research. She pulled on her coat and packed a couple knives away, before slipping out of the room and into the city.
***
Nepeta's boots echoed softly throughout the dark town. It seemed that everything shut down when the sun went down. It was eerie. Her eyes scanned the area around her, until finally settling on what seemed like a girl crying. Had she been attacked? She didn't see anyone around, but that didn't mean they wouldn't come back. Nepeta hurried over, but not before wrapping her hand around one of the knives in her pocket.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked. The girl shook her head. Nepeta continued forward and almost reached the girl when something came out of the shadows and pushed her away from the her. Nepeta landed hard and she looked up. Who had thrown her? Her eyes widened. "Karkat...?" She asked. Her eyes moved to the hurt girl on the ground. She however was no longer bent over weeping, instead she stood tall. Much taller than Nepeta had expected her to be. She grinned, and her fangs were made all the more prominent. She knew she was something to fear and she was proud of it.
He turned on her. "Get out of here," he growled.
Nepeta's heart stopped. Was he? She turned and pulled herself from the ground and ran. When she reached the hotel she slowed her pace to a quick walk. She didn't want to alert anyone but she needed to get to Equius. She threw open the door and ran to Equius' bed. "Equius!"
He bolted upright grabbing for his gun. "What is it, Nepeta?" he asked as he became aware of where he was.
"Karkat. He's. I think. He's a vampire. But I don't think he's bad. He just saved me from another one. She was pretending to be a hurt person and I was getting near the bite zone but he pushed me. I think he's still mostly him." She knew she was rambling but she didn't want Equius to feel like he had to kill Karkat.
Equius' face fell as he saw Nepeta's fear and worry, but if Karkat had been changed they would have to do something about him. Equius stood up quickly and looked down at Nepeta. "You said there was another one? Bring me there," he ordered. Nepeta nodded and headed out the door.
Karkat kept his eyes on the female vampire standing across from him. She was livid, that was obvious. He had stopped her from getting a sure fire kill. She placed a hand on her hip and flipped her hair from her face. "I should have just killed you," she spat. "No matter, I'll take care of it now," she said as she pounced towards him. Her body hit with full force sending them both backwards, her claws digging into his chest. He growled and flung her off of him, just as Nepeta and Equius came upon the scene.
"Karkat!" Nepeta cried. Vriska looked over at the two obvious hunters. "Fuck... " she muttered standing and running off.
"I’ve got her," Equius said as he ran after her.
Nepeta made her way over to Karkat. He was bleeding from his wounds, but she knew it wouldn't last long. Soon they would be all healed up. "Karkat. How long?" She didn't know what else to say. He didn't seem any different than the Karkat she had hunted with for years. The Karkat she had feelings for since she'd met him. She knelt down next to him, his dark eyes catching her green ones.
"About a month," Karkat said softly. He averted his eyes. It hurt too badly to look at her.
Nepeta didn't know what to say, she was only glad to see him. She moved towards him and wrapped her arms around him. "We can figure something out. I'm just glad to see you. Maybe you can even come with me and Equius. We could protect you from other hunters and see to it that you have animals to eat. It'll be okay!"
Karkat nodded into her shoulder, revelling in being so close to her, but he knew it couldn't happen. He was a monster now, and Equius would see to it that he was properly disposed of and that meant that in the long run Nepeta would be safe and that was important to him.
Equius returned, a thoroughly dead vampire over his shoulder. "We'll have to dispose of this properly later. However, there is other business to attend to now." He looked down at Karkat. There was no warmth in Equius' gaze. He would take care of the mission as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Karkat nodded and stood up. He knew what Equius meant. He knew he needed to die for everyone’s sake. Karkat understood.
Nepeta however, did not. "No," she cried. "No no. Please. There has to be something else we can do. Guys. No! NO!" She stepped between Equius and Karkat. There was no way she could allow this to happen. No. No. No. NO.
Karkat turned Nepeta so she was facing him, her eyes watered and he hated to see that. This was why he had left, she couldn't be hurt by him, and if he had fucked up on a mission, that could have meant her life. Now, he WAS the thing that he had tried to protect her from.
He pulled her to him and kissed her head. "Nepeta. It's better this way. I may not hunt people now, but what if it hits me later on? I could hurt someone, or worse, you. I can't take that risk."
Nepeta pulled away and wiped at her leaking nose and eyes. "No. There's got to be a way to fix it. NO. Equius." Nepeta turned on her best friend. "No. Please. You can't do this. You know what it's like to lose someone you love. Er. Care about. Please, please don't do this."
Equius' heart dropped. He couldn't kill him in front of Nepeta. He locked eyes with Karkat before something occurred to him. He cleared his throat.
“There is a chance. There is a myth in my family. A secret, I suppose. A cure, for vampirism that only works on a pure individual. Karkat. Have you drank from a human? Either by your own will or someone else's?"
Karkat shook his head. "No, I don't have a need. I mean, I need blood, I just don’t go in a frenzy over it, or need to take from people. I’ve mostly stuck to rats and cats." He said the second animal quieter; Nepeta would have a heart attack if she knew how many cats he’d eaten.
Equius nodded. "Very well, we will dispose of this body and then check my family's journal. I can make no promises of a real cure and if there is none, I will have to dispose of you Karkat."
Karkat nodded stood to follow Equius, Nepeta not far behind. Karkat's mind was reeling. Here was a real chance at being saved, or dying. Either way he would be at peace.
***
Equius put the body in the back of the car and covered it with a blanket. They would need to head out of town to properly get rid of the body.
When they reached the hotel room Equius pulled out his family's journal. Every line of hunters had one and Equius came from a long line of hunters. It was one of the things he was most proud of. He flipped through the pages until he landed on the mixture.
"We have everything needed, all we need from you is some of the blood of the vamp that turned you."
Karkat couldn't help but laugh. "You've got her in the back of your car."
Equius pulled a knife from his pocket and handed it to Karkat as well as a vial. "Go get some."
When Karkat left Equius turned to Nepeta. "Now, I need you to know there is a possibility this won't work and I will have to kill him."
Nepeta nodded even though she could feel tears threatening to overflow. Equius would never do anything in cold blood.
Karkat returned with the vial and Nepeta handed him a goblet filled with the other necessary ingredients.
"Add the blood and stir it. Then drink it down. It's going to be awful," Equius instructed. Karkat nodded and did as he was told. It had a nasty taste.
“Yuck! Oh FUCK. Blech. ” Karkat shouted. “This is supposed to CURE me?” He sputtered, clearly unhappy.
He swallowed each mouthful quicker than the one before it. After he finished he set the cup down. After a few stuttering breaths he turned and headed for the bathroom. Nausea overcame him and then he vomited. Each new heave was like rewinding time. He saw things that had happened to him in the last month and he felt the venom leaving his body. The poison that had made him a monster was leaving him and he actually felt normal.
When he had finished he wiped at his face and leaned against the bathroom wall. He could feel the sweat dripping down his face, it was a welcome feeling. He sighed softly and closed his eyes.
"Did it work?" Nepeta asked softly.
Equius nodded. "I think so."
Nepeta clapped and laughed loudly. "Karkat! You're better."
My fic.
"One ... two ... three," she muttered before throwing open the door, her gun up, poised, ready for the attack. No one stood there.
“Fuck.”
Her green eyes scanned the dark hallway. Where was he? He was so stubborn sometimes. They were partners for a reason. Although part of her was glad he wasn’t around to hear her swear. He’d never really like swearing and she would get a serious talking to if he heard.
Nepeta lowered her gun and took slow tentative steps down the long hallway. Where had Equius gone? She peeked around the corner. "Equius!" She heard her voice echo back to her, and a chill ran down her spine. Hearing footsteps behind her she turned, her gun up and ready to fire.
A shadowy figure stood at the end of the hall. This wasn't good. She saw it position itself and soon it was charging at her.
"Shit." She muttered and shot two shots at the ghost, missing both times.
The petite girl turned on her heel and bolted down the hall. She turned down one of the long stretches of hallway and stopped to catch her breath as she loaded her gun with more salt pellets. Before she could use them though the ghost disappeared, as though it was sent on.
She turned quickly and ran into another tall figure. He stood at six foot six, and had an expression that would knock the pants off of any other person who saw it, but not her. Instead a large grin broke out on her face. "Equius. You're alright." The grin was quickly replaced by a look of annoyance. "You know I don't it like when you play big brother. We're partners, you are not my protector." She crossed her arms but noticed a bag in his hand. "You found its tie to this place?" she asked.
“Yes and sent it on. Now we must go. Get in the car, Nepeta.”
Nepeta stuck her tongue out. "Always so bossy, you know that?" She did what she was told and got into the passengers' seat. If he wasn't going to let her play then she was just going to take a nap on the way to their next mission. "Where are we going next?"
"Apparently a nest of vampires have made their way into Pennsylvania. That's where we're headed."
Nepeta's eyes widened. Pennsylvania. That was the last place Karkat said he was going. She knew it'd been a long time since their small group had split up. Karkat had been tired of being a hunter and his father lived in Pennsylvania. She understood his distaste for hunting. It was a lot of work, and everyone you cared about was always in danger, but someone had to do it. She wished he had stayed in contact. She was worried that it had been so long since he’d checked in with them.
***
Karkat pulled the box closer to the window so he could look in. He saw his dad and sister. Both looked tired. He sighed softly knowing they would never come and look for him. He had been a hunter a long time and he'd never told them about it. There was no need. He felt sticky tears staining his face and he wiped at them quickly. "Fuck," he muttered and left the area.
He found a secluded area of the city and sat down in an alley. He didn't want anyone to find him. Karkat wanted to just sit in that one spot for forever and eventually just die from not drinking blood. Thankfully he never had the mentality of the other vampires. He didn't want to go off after people and rip their throats out. In fact, since he'd been changed a month ago he hadn't eaten from a mortal and he didn't plan on it. His mind began to wander back to the night of his changing.
He'd been on his way home and seen a girl on the side of the road. His old hunting habits had come back and he'd gone to check on her. She was weeping and he knelt down. When he was close enough she pounced, sinking her sharp fangs into his neck, and fed him her damn blood. Now he was one of them. He couldn't talk to any of his old friends, most were hunting buddies and if they caught wind of his vampiric nature he would certainly be killed immediately. Maybe that would help in the long run?
Equius pulled into the diner and put his sunglasses on. "Nepeta. Time to eat. Let's go."
Nepeta opened her eyes slowly. "I'm coming..." she muttered sitting up and stretching her arms above her head. She stepped out of the car and pulled her overcoat off, revealing a black tank top and dark blue jeans. She ran her hand through her hair quickly to try and make it look less like she just woke up. "Was the drive fine?" she asked Equius. He had bags under her eyes and she actually felt really bad about deciding to sleep the whole way. "I'll drive the rest of the way," she offered.
He shook his head. "We are going to the hotel next. Do not worry Nepeta." He sat down at a booth and Nepeta sat across from him.
"What do you know about the coven?" she asked softly. An elderly waitress came over with coffee. Her pink uniform obviously made for someone many moons younger. She offered both Nepeta and Equius a cup before heading on her way.
Equius cleared his throat. "Nothing much, they've recently been recruiting. In the last year there have been twelve disappearances and only two of them have been found dead. The marks are all there for it to be vampires."
Nepeta nodded. "How odd. I thought they didn't like to have large covens. It's too hard to keep track of everyone."
Equius shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee. “I am not certain. Maybe even vampires get lonely.”
Nepeta nodded and looked down at her hands. "Have you ... um ... have you heard from Karkat at all since we're in his neck of the woods?"
Equius looked at her over his glasses. He knew of her feelings but they had not heard from Karkat since he'd left. He didn't want to see her hurt by the silly ex-hunter. "No, I haven't heard anything."
After breakfast they headed to the hotel. Nepeta threw her bag over her shoulder and placed her credit card on the counter. "One room, two queen beds please," she said pleasantly as Equius slowly came up behind her.
"Alright Miss Calivari. Your room will be ready momentarily, please follow me."
Nepeta smiled and slipped her card in her pocket and set off after the hotel attendant. She had gotten way too good at lying since becoming a hunter. She might feel bad if it wasn't necessary to keeping her alive. Plus it was kind of cool to pretend to be someone else, if only for a minute.
When they reached the room Equius seemed to fall asleep immediately. Nepeta sat on her bed and turned the television on, keeping it low so as not to affect Equius. She also pulled out her laptop and began to do some research on the town. When nothing really came up she decided to do some on the site research. She pulled on her coat and packed a couple knives away, before slipping out of the room and into the city.
***
Nepeta's boots echoed softly throughout the dark town. It seemed that everything shut down when the sun went down. It was eerie. Her eyes scanned the area around her, until finally settling on what seemed like a girl crying. Had she been attacked? She didn't see anyone around, but that didn't mean they wouldn't come back. Nepeta hurried over, but not before wrapping her hand around one of the knives in her pocket.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked. The girl shook her head. Nepeta continued forward and almost reached the girl when something came out of the shadows and pushed her away from the her. Nepeta landed hard and she looked up. Who had thrown her? Her eyes widened. "Karkat...?" She asked. Her eyes moved to the hurt girl on the ground. She however was no longer bent over weeping, instead she stood tall. Much taller than Nepeta had expected her to be. She grinned, and her fangs were made all the more prominent. She knew she was something to fear and she was proud of it.
He turned on her. "Get out of here," he growled.
Nepeta's heart stopped. Was he? She turned and pulled herself from the ground and ran. When she reached the hotel she slowed her pace to a quick walk. She didn't want to alert anyone but she needed to get to Equius. She threw open the door and ran to Equius' bed. "Equius!"
He bolted upright grabbing for his gun. "What is it, Nepeta?" he asked as he became aware of where he was.
"Karkat. He's. I think. He's a vampire. But I don't think he's bad. He just saved me from another one. She was pretending to be a hurt person and I was getting near the bite zone but he pushed me. I think he's still mostly him." She knew she was rambling but she didn't want Equius to feel like he had to kill Karkat.
Equius' face fell as he saw Nepeta's fear and worry, but if Karkat had been changed they would have to do something about him. Equius stood up quickly and looked down at Nepeta. "You said there was another one? Bring me there," he ordered. Nepeta nodded and headed out the door.
Karkat kept his eyes on the female vampire standing across from him. She was livid, that was obvious. He had stopped her from getting a sure fire kill. She placed a hand on her hip and flipped her hair from her face. "I should have just killed you," she spat. "No matter, I'll take care of it now," she said as she pounced towards him. Her body hit with full force sending them both backwards, her claws digging into his chest. He growled and flung her off of him, just as Nepeta and Equius came upon the scene.
"Karkat!" Nepeta cried. Vriska looked over at the two obvious hunters. "Fuck... " she muttered standing and running off.
"I’ve got her," Equius said as he ran after her.
Nepeta made her way over to Karkat. He was bleeding from his wounds, but she knew it wouldn't last long. Soon they would be all healed up. "Karkat. How long?" She didn't know what else to say. He didn't seem any different than the Karkat she had hunted with for years. The Karkat she had feelings for since she'd met him. She knelt down next to him, his dark eyes catching her green ones.
"About a month," Karkat said softly. He averted his eyes. It hurt too badly to look at her.
Nepeta didn't know what to say, she was only glad to see him. She moved towards him and wrapped her arms around him. "We can figure something out. I'm just glad to see you. Maybe you can even come with me and Equius. We could protect you from other hunters and see to it that you have animals to eat. It'll be okay!"
Karkat nodded into her shoulder, revelling in being so close to her, but he knew it couldn't happen. He was a monster now, and Equius would see to it that he was properly disposed of and that meant that in the long run Nepeta would be safe and that was important to him.
Equius returned, a thoroughly dead vampire over his shoulder. "We'll have to dispose of this properly later. However, there is other business to attend to now." He looked down at Karkat. There was no warmth in Equius' gaze. He would take care of the mission as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Karkat nodded and stood up. He knew what Equius meant. He knew he needed to die for everyone’s sake. Karkat understood.
Nepeta however, did not. "No," she cried. "No no. Please. There has to be something else we can do. Guys. No! NO!" She stepped between Equius and Karkat. There was no way she could allow this to happen. No. No. No. NO.
Karkat turned Nepeta so she was facing him, her eyes watered and he hated to see that. This was why he had left, she couldn't be hurt by him, and if he had fucked up on a mission, that could have meant her life. Now, he WAS the thing that he had tried to protect her from.
He pulled her to him and kissed her head. "Nepeta. It's better this way. I may not hunt people now, but what if it hits me later on? I could hurt someone, or worse, you. I can't take that risk."
Nepeta pulled away and wiped at her leaking nose and eyes. "No. There's got to be a way to fix it. NO. Equius." Nepeta turned on her best friend. "No. Please. You can't do this. You know what it's like to lose someone you love. Er. Care about. Please, please don't do this."
Equius' heart dropped. He couldn't kill him in front of Nepeta. He locked eyes with Karkat before something occurred to him. He cleared his throat.
“There is a chance. There is a myth in my family. A secret, I suppose. A cure, for vampirism that only works on a pure individual. Karkat. Have you drank from a human? Either by your own will or someone else's?"
Karkat shook his head. "No, I don't have a need. I mean, I need blood, I just don’t go in a frenzy over it, or need to take from people. I’ve mostly stuck to rats and cats." He said the second animal quieter; Nepeta would have a heart attack if she knew how many cats he’d eaten.
Equius nodded. "Very well, we will dispose of this body and then check my family's journal. I can make no promises of a real cure and if there is none, I will have to dispose of you Karkat."
Karkat nodded stood to follow Equius, Nepeta not far behind. Karkat's mind was reeling. Here was a real chance at being saved, or dying. Either way he would be at peace.
***
Equius put the body in the back of the car and covered it with a blanket. They would need to head out of town to properly get rid of the body.
When they reached the hotel room Equius pulled out his family's journal. Every line of hunters had one and Equius came from a long line of hunters. It was one of the things he was most proud of. He flipped through the pages until he landed on the mixture.
"We have everything needed, all we need from you is some of the blood of the vamp that turned you."
Karkat couldn't help but laugh. "You've got her in the back of your car."
Equius pulled a knife from his pocket and handed it to Karkat as well as a vial. "Go get some."
When Karkat left Equius turned to Nepeta. "Now, I need you to know there is a possibility this won't work and I will have to kill him."
Nepeta nodded even though she could feel tears threatening to overflow. Equius would never do anything in cold blood.
Karkat returned with the vial and Nepeta handed him a goblet filled with the other necessary ingredients.
"Add the blood and stir it. Then drink it down. It's going to be awful," Equius instructed.
Karkat nodded and did as he was told. It had a nasty taste.
“Yuck! Oh FUCK. Blech. ” Karkat shouted. “This is supposed to CURE me?” He sputtered, clearly unhappy.
He swallowed each mouthful quicker than the one before it. After he finished he set the cup down. After a few stuttering breaths he turned and headed for the bathroom. Nausea overcame him and then he vomited. Each new heave was like rewinding time. He saw things that had happened to him in the last month and he felt the venom leaving his body. The poison that had made him a monster was leaving him and he actually felt normal.
When he had finished he wiped at his face and leaned against the bathroom wall. He could feel the sweat dripping down his face, it was a welcome feeling. He sighed softly and closed his eyes.
"Did it work?" Nepeta asked softly.
Equius nodded. "I think so."
Nepeta clapped and laughed loudly. "Karkat! You're better."