Rey woke up with a headache that pierced both of her temples and a taste in her mouth that could only be described as ferocious and nasty. She felt herself being rustled around, as if she was being carried, but she couldn't yet grasp her consciousness fully enough to realize who was carrying her or why. She tried to struggle, but her great effort only came across as a small bit of a squirm. Whoever had her in hand had a firm grip on her, and whatever Phasma had done to her had left her unable to function for the time.

She was in and out of it, the pain in her head making it hard for her to keep her eyes open. She also found she couldn't speak, as it felt like her mouth was full of sand. Finally, she was dumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and she felt the pain of it rattle through her shoulder. It didn't dull, and she realized she had probably injured it. She heard his voice before she saw him, a rasping sort of noise that fell on her ears and made her feel sick. She'd heard it before, she realized. In the theater. He was berating whoever had been carrying her.

"You fool!She was meant to come here of her own volition,"

"I'm sorry, lord," The woman said. "I misunderstood your instructions..."

"Misunderstood my instructions?"

Rey turned to try and look at the scene that was unfolding. She was able to get her eyes open far enough to see Phasma's head snap so far back that she might have been able to see her backside before she fell to the ground. There was no longer any life in her, and Rey watched with unease as her body melted away into ash. She had not been human then. Rey groaned, trying to shift herself up. She had no thought, other than that she had to get out of there. Her body was heavy, and it didn't respond to her command, but she was able to begin dragging herself away. The man laughed, bending down into her vision. The man with the caved in face. The man with the rolling, strange eyes.

"Don't you want to stay a moment?" He asked, as if he were hosting a party. "Stay a moment and find out where your precious Ren is? And what of the other girl? What about her? Are you going to leave them both?"

Rey stopped in her movements, the moment he mentioned Rose. She might have thought that Ren could get out of whatever situation he was currently in, until she realized that she was the reason he was in it. Rose, though, she hadn't meant to get Rose involved. She had thought she would be safe, far away at her parents. Apparently she had been wrong.

"Phasma's made sure you won't be walking, for awhile," He said, bending down to drag her upwards by her arms. She let out a cry of pain as he twisted her injured shoulder. "Wouldn't be too surprised if your vision didn't fail completely within a few hours. But I want you to see this, before it does,"

He held her up, though it took her a few moments to realize where she was. It was SoloTech, and they were on the top floor. They were in Ren's office. She saw Ren, recognized him immediately by his dark mop of hair. He was strung up with something that held him firm, and it was burning black marks into his wrists. He didn't appear to be awake. She saw Rose next, bound and gagged. She was awake, her eyes wide with terror and the shock of seeing what should only be seen in fairy-books and stories to tell in the dark books.

"Rose," She managed to fumble out. "Let her go, she doesn't have anything to do with this,"

"Doesn't she?" He dropped her back to the floor, another groan escaping her. "Ragdoll, ragdoll," He laughed out, seeming to enjoy her pain.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, through clenched teeth.

"Thought you might have figured it out," He said. "I'm going to take that power you have, right from your bones," He said, dragging out the last word ominously.

"I don't have any power,"

"Now, now, don't try any of that," He said. "I need what you have, so I will take it," She tried to keep an eye on him as he moved about. There were others, but Rey was too foggy to catalog them. "This is old myth and legend, but it's worth a try. If it doesn't work, at least I'll have rid myself of him," He derisively sneered towards Ren. "I will take his place,"

"His place? Keeping vampires from killing one another? Who are you?"

"Oh noooo," He said. "Didn't he tell you? He's the Prince of this city," He grinned. "I'm just an old relic of an age long gone. You can call me Snoke,"

Rey didn't know what Prince meant in vampire, but she guessed that Ren was responsible for a little more than what he'd said.

"Even a blood hunt can't rip him of that, but by the old way, if someone challenges him and wins, they can take up his place," He picked her up after readying something she couldn't see. He placed it in her hand. It was a blade of some kind. "You have to kill something you love," He said, as if he were teaching math. "Then, I get to kill you,"

"So just kill him," She said. "Why involve Rose in it?"

"It's not that simple," He said. "Blood rite says that the woman he loves must be the one to slay him. He won't die if you don't," He pointed to Rose. "And if you refuse, I will kill her. If you do as I ask, she'll go free," He hemmed. "It's rather fortuitous you two found one another, isn't it? But don't worry, Rey, once you kill him and I kill you, I get to bring you back again,"

"He doesn't love me,"

Snoke laughed.

"You're no good at lying and besides, I can see right through him, our pure-hearted Prince," Snoke looked at Ren. "You've been here before, you know," He said simply. "Star crossed as you are, it's no wonder you always end up killing one another," He sighed. "But without him, you're nothing. And without you, he's much the same,"

At any other time, she might have found it amusing that he had called Ren 'pure hearted', but she was too angry and too scared to see the humor in it. She was confused, but she began to remember the drawings she'd done, and how Ren had told her he had seen her before. Was it possible she'd come back to live another life because of him?

She watched him as he moved over to Rose, pulling a pin out of her strange, leathery bindings. They started to tighten. Snoke looked at her with that awful, mocking pout, and Rey realized she'd never wanted to hit anyone more...except for maybe Ren.

"You're running out of time, now,"

Rey held the strange blade in her hand, and wondered if she should just try attacking Snoke. She could barely use her legs, though, and she doubted that it would end well for anyone. She dragged herself over to Ren as well as she could, and like a wobbly deer, she managed to stand up in front of him. She got a good look at his face, and realized he hadn't been asleep at all. He'd heard the whole conversation. His eyes were muddy black, the faint red pinprick fading in and out each time he looked at her.

She realized she was crying. She reached up, pushing his hair from his face. She knew by the look on his face that he was expecting her to do this. Her face crumpled, and she heard Rose begin to make noises of discomfort. She didn't know how long she had, but she realized it wasn't long enough.

"Just do it, Rey," He said, his deep voice haggard from whatever he'd been through since he'd disappeared.

"I can't," She said, through her tears.

"You have to," He said. "Don't be afraid,"

"There has to be something else we can do,"

"There isn't," He said, simply. "Even if you get me out of here, he'll kill your friend before we manage it. Do it,"

Rey saw by the look on his face that he had come to terms with this, whatever it was. Maybe he had been alive for such a long time that the advent of his death didn't scare him, but she could only feel sorrow. She didn't want him to die, selfishly, she wished she had had more time. She swiped at her tears, trying to call on whatever it was that she'd called on before. She found her gut woefully empty, and her heart aching in such a fierce way that her tears began rolling more quickly down her cheeks.

"In the heart," Snoke said, gleefully. He was waiting with bated breath.

Rey leaned up and kiss his mouth, and he reciprocated as best he could, though she could tell he was in pain. Whether it was his own binds, or something else, she didn't know. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, but she found she didn't have the words. She didn't need to have them, she heard him whisper into her thoughts.

I know, Miss Beckett.

She caught a small smirk on his features, but it was fleeting. It didn't make it any easier when she reached up and sunk the sharp blade into his chest. She let out a sob, and then another, and watched as the black blood ooze down his chest. She felt the irrational need to gather it back up and try to put it back where it belonged, but she knew it was no use. She felt him go, his presence had been so strong that when it began to abate it was hard to ignore. She wished she could reach out and keep him, but after an eternity had passed within only a few seconds, she realized he was gone.

Snoke let out a cheerful noise of glee once the act had been done. He released Rose, as he promised. He told her she was free to leave, but when Rey moved to go along with her, she was stopped. Rose tried to get back to her, but Rey watched helplessly as the thugs lifted her off of the ground and forcibly ejected her from the room. She looked at Snoke, feeling her hate for him gather up in her belly like a snake.

"You said,"

"I said I get to kill you," He repeated. "Silly girl,"

He didn't give her much time to rebut him. He was fast, faster than Ren, and Rey realized with all of her human clumsiness that she would never get away from him. She felt the fangs sink into her neck, and the pain of it gave her a shock. She'd never thought that Ren had been masking the pain, somehow. She went rigid, clawing and scratching. He held her firm, his small frame deceptively strong. Her protests became weaker the more blood he drained, and she became calmer. It was peaceful, almost. She felt herself leave the physical, and she realized she remembered this feeling from the theater.

She thought she might be able to catch up to Ren.

The peace was not to last.

Rey woke up a long time later in a bathtub.

It was full of cold, dirty water, and someone had just tossed her in there with her clothes on. She was so hungry that she couldn't see straight, her stomach fearsome in it's demands for something...but what? She sat up, finding that her aches and pains were all gone. She wasn't dead. She reached up, testing the spot where Snoke had drained her dry, and found that not even the puncture wounds remained.

It was during this search that she realized she could hear someone breathing. When she listened, she realized she could hear their heart beat thundering away in their chest. Her eyes followed the sound of the noise. It was Rose. Rey could smell the fear rolling off of her. She could smell the food she'd eaten the day before. She could smell her skin.

Oh no.

"Rose," Rey said, her voice foreign even to herself. "What happened?"

"I hid," She said. "I saw them carry your boss out," She said. "And then you. They put you in here. You've been asleep for days. I thought you were dead until I realized you were moving,"

"You should have left," She said. Her voice was deeper than she remembered it being.

"Rey, you're my friend, I couldn't leave you here,"

Rey shifted, standing from the tub. She saw Rose flinch, and she knew, instinctually, that something had been fundamentally changed within her. Maybe it was denial, but she couldn't put words to it.

"We have to go," She said. "Your dad was worried sick about you,"

"I called him and told him I was okay, and I'd be home in a few days,"

"We should still leave,"

Rose was injured. Rey could smell the blood on her as surely as she could smell the other scents clinging to her. She wondered at the newfound sensitivity, but she was trying not to think about it. She knew how she had survived, but she wanted to deny it. She remembered that Ren was dead, as her first thought was to ask him...surely he would have known. With a fresh crack to her aching heart, however, she realized she had killed him. For what?

Rey felt the blood calling out, and she brought up all of her stubbornness to ignore it. At least she still had that. They made their way out of the wrecked building, which looked now as if it had seen years of decay and abandonment. The windows were busted, the desks vandalized. It was almost as if Snoke had thrown a party. Maybe he had. Rey was just glad Rose was still alive.

They limped their way out into the street. By a habit she didn't realize she had, she blindly went out into the sun. It would have been a true test, but Rey realized after a few long moments that nothing happened. She didn't curl up in a writhing little ball of pain and dissipate into ash. She reached her arm out into the light, expecting to see her skin burn away. Nothing. She was confused, she had been so sure that she was now what Ren had been. This was a conflicting signal. Rose looked at her curiously, confused at her sudden interest in her arm.

"We should go to the hospital," Rey said, firmly. "And call your father,"

"We have to call the police. He'll want to call the police,"

"And tell them what?"

"I don't know," Rose said. "The truth?"

"Rose," Rey said. "Just tell them what you know. You were abducted,"

"You're not coming with me?"

"I'll come with you to the hospital,"

The night was to prove to be a long one. The hospital was a bad place to be when one was hungry. Rey didn't hang around to be questioned by the police. Once Rose's dad showed up, she managed to sneak out. She left Rose a little note, that she'd call when she could. She went back to SoloTech with the idea that she might find something, anything that might indicate that Ren was still alive. She could find nothing, and each time she reached out for him she felt nothing but a hollow emptiness. She couldn't believe he was gone. And what was she, now?

She couldn't find Snoke. She couldn't understand why he would do this to her after he'd gotten what he wanted.

All of the relics of her human life were destroyed. She went back to her demolished apartment, and wondered what happened to Luke and the others. She showered, put on clothes and boots, and dug out some change from her desk drawer. She gathered anything she might have thought was useful, but most of it had been lost or destroyed. She realized she still had Ren's billfold in her pocket. The thought of it was a wound anew, and as she pulled it out of the dirty sweatpants, she held it delicately, as if the thing would bring him back.

She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come.

She called Luke from the only payphone she could find that still existed. He didn't answer. She didn't know what she was expecting. Was it possible they were dead too?

Rey realized her emotional responses to everything felt bland. She felt numb, as if a switch had been turned off within her. As if she wasn't really living, but making a mockery of it instead. She knew she had to find out what happened to Luke. She knew she still cared, even if he might turn his back on her now. She took to wandering aimlessly, her feet carrying her in the direction of Ren's apartment. Old habits die hard.

It wasn't before long that she realized she was following someone, a young woman who was on her phone, chatting with someone. She was oblivious to Rey being behind her, and Rey realized she could make it so. She could mask her own presence, and move with such a quiet that she was unsure she even knew herself anymore. She followed her for a few blocks, though when the woman ducked into an empty alley way, Rey moved quickly. Her instincts took over, and would brook no refusal from her. She stunned her, keeping her from moving too quickly before she sunk her fangs into her arm. Fangs.

The blood came rushing out of her, and Rey found it was too fast for her to contain it all. She was not as graceful as Kylo Ren had been. Still, the act of it sated the gnawing hunger in her stomach, and she could no longer doubt what she was. The woman grew weak, and faint, and Rey realized she might have taken too much. She had never seen Kylo Ren kill a human, or feed, but she realized she couldn't kill her. She drew back, almost horrified at what she'd done. The woman stumbled, catching herself against the wall. Rey ran, more quickly than she'd ever run before.

Rey's feet kept on their path to Ren's apartment. She wiped the blood that stained her mouth as best she could, pulling her hoodie up to try and hide the fact that she was bloody. The doorman recognized her, and let her in without much fuss. She took the elevator up. She stood in front of his door for a very long time.

The realization that he wasn't in there was a hard one for her to swallow. Finally, she tried the knob. It opened, as if he was inside, as if he was home. She hoped that she would find him there, but her hopes came crashing when she found that the apartment was empty. The tears finally came, salty sweet and flowing freely. She remembered the weight of the blade in her hand, and how it had felt plunging it into his chest. She remembered what he had said, or thought.

I know, Miss Beckett.

She released another sob, finding her way to the bedroom. She might have cried until she was sick, but her world went dark from exhaustion once she had cried out all of her possible tears into a bed that smelled vaguely of those scents she came to associate with him.

It wasn't sleeping. It was torpor.

There were no dreams, no thoughts. It was pure, animal blackness. She started awake when she heard something slam in the apartment. She crawled out of the bed quickly, moving towards the door. She was still hopeful, and she called out his name.

"Ren?"

It wasn't him, though. The woman intruder turned to look at her.

"Amalia,"

oh boy, i told you this one was going to hurt, didn't i? this isn't the last chapter. donut fret.