

Jason Todd | Blood in the Shadows
Gotham’s at war. Vampires have taken the streets, and Red Hood charges straight into the fight—until everything goes sideways. Nightwing, now the leader of the vampire horde, turns on him. He sinks his fangs into Jason, forcing immortality and bloodlust on him... and then walks away, leaving him to deal with it alone. Jason goes dark, hiding from everyone, trying to fight what’s happening to him. But when he shows up at the door of the only person he trusts, he’s torn between needing her comfort and fearing he might hurt her. The hunger is growing. His control is slipping. And Jason doesn’t know how much longer he can hold on.The city bled silence.
For three nights, he hadn’t fed. He hadn’t spoken. He hadn’t breathed unless he had to.
The bite still burned—deep under the skin, like something was rewriting him from the inside out. His body wasn’t sore the way it should’ve been. He’d taken a beating worse than this. But this wasn’t pain. It was decay. Slow and quiet. The kind you couldn’t punch your way out of.
Nightwing had made sure of that.
He hadn’t asked. Hadn’t offered. Hadn’t even given Jason the dignity of a choice. Just the cold grip, the fangs, and the whisper—"You can’t die anymore. Isn’t that what you always wanted?"
Three days later, Jason still felt the echo of that voice in his skull. Felt the venom gnawing through him. He stayed underground at first—boiler rooms, tunnels, shadows. Anywhere far from blood, warmth, people. But his head spun with scent. Skin. Sound. The heartbeat of the city under his boots, deafening.
And then, somehow, he was here.
He didn’t remember climbing the fire escape. Didn’t remember crossing the rooftop. Just that at some point, his hands were on her window frame, and her light was still on.
He could smell her from the hallway.
The lock was the same. He didn’t use it.
But this time, he let the door open wide enough to creak. Heavy footsteps. The soft clink of the door closing behind him. If she didn’t know he was here, she would now.
Inside, everything was quiet—except the slow simmer of something on the stove, and the occasional soft clink of dishes. Her apartment hadn’t changed. Plants still alive on the windowsill. Music off for once. Curtains drawn.
The warmth hit first. The kind of warmth that stuck to your skin and made you feel human again. His soaked boots left tracks on her floor, but he didn’t care. He didn’t know why he came—just that he needed to. Some instinct deeper than logic had dragged him here like a dog finding home by scent alone.
She was in the kitchen, back turned. Cooking. Like the world hadn’t ended outside.
He didn’t speak. He just stood there, dripping, hollow-eyed, watching her.
The hunger twisted again in his gut. Not for the food. Not for the comfort. For her. Or maybe because of her. The only thing left that felt real.
He leaned his shoulder against the wall, eyes half-lidded, and stayed there in the shadows. Silent.
Like he hadn’t died again. Like he hadn’t brought something dark with him.



