Jess Lillian Bethany's Story

Gavin yawned tiredly, bitterly disappointed in his day.

He didn't expect working at a bookstore to be exciting, but c'mon. This is ridiculous. Something interesting has to happen to break the monotony in his life. Muffling another yawn with his hand, he unhooked the smock he wore around the store, and placed the strings on a hook by the register. "Hey Julie, I'm going home for the night. Can you lock up?" He called to the woman who was reading books in the backroom. A distant okay, registers to his hearing, and he grabs his work bag from beneath the counter "See you later." He waves dismissively, even though his co-worker can't see him, and strolls out of the store.

It's dark outside, so the only source of light comes from the streetlamps illuminating the parking lot. Because he was a penniless bookstore clerk, he didn't have a car, so it was with a morose sigh he began walking towards his Uncle's house. The shop he worked at was located on a quaint little street, surrounded by other private businesses, so it took him awhile to navigate his way to the main road. The night air bit at his skin through his jacket, and he drew the edges closer around himself as he walked down the street. He lived in small town Ohio, so everyone lived within a mile of each other, and the roads cutting through the city, also branched out into forests, and farmlands.

The one road that led to his house was blanketed in darkness, and if he hadn't walked down this street hundreds of times before, the long trek through the forest would be terrifying. Hefting his laptop bag higher on his shoulder, he flipped open the sidepocket and withdrew a Snickers bar. He should have eaten earlier, but he forgot. Unwrapping the top half of the candy bar, he took a bite, savoring the chocolate as the sounds of crickets, and cicadas filtered to him from the forest.

It was only 8 p.m.

And it sounded like everyone had retired for the night.

"How boring." He groused, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Small town life was depressingly boring.

A jolt shivered its way through her body, wakening her from her sleep; she jerked her body upwards, having the old ache return to its normal form. With no specific memory of much, Jess hadn’t even remembered her own name- nor what she was doing in that cave days before her venturing out into the small town. Her big, grey eyes looked into the darkness, getting use to the dimming light of the light bulb that would mysteriously go off and on periodically throughout the day.
Since the day she arrived in the town, Jess had been taking refuge in a basement of an apartment; she actually thanked her small size when she had to slip through the basement windows naked. When she got into the small room, Jess found several boxes with clothes in them; even though the boxes contained no undergarments, the dresses that she found where wearable, and to put it frank, complimented her.
The dress was a pale pink, and while it was awfully large on her- going down past her knees, it was simple and made her look smaller and younger.

She struggled to her feet, the old ache growing stronger in her stomach; this feeling she’s felt before.
She knows this feeling; it was the same feeling that gave her the urge to kill a doe giving birth in the shadows of the night- the same feeling that helped her kill several other animals and the same feeling that made her feel like a monster. None the less, she still felt the pangs of this, and knew it very well- not to mention, for some odd reason, she wanted to try to feed on a human. This queer feeling also told her that humans won’t die if she bit them and fed off of them, and for some reason, she believed this feeling.
Jess walked forward, her eyes already adjusted to the dark, empty room as she walked towards the window that had boxes stacked in front of it, making it easy to come and go as she pleased. She climbed among the boxes and pushed opened the window; her brown hair falling forward and off of her shoulders. Her hands gripped the moist, soft grass, helping her push herself off as she stumbled onto the ever so lovely grass.

The moon’s light was inviting, beautiful and almost enticingly addictive. Her grey eyes looked up towards the bright moon, staring up as she pulled her small legs out of the basement and onto the soft ground. Her bare toes and hands wrinkled into the grass, causing a small shiver to spiral down her spine, a pleasurable shiver that made her smile slightly at the moon’s cold yet friendly welcoming. Jess pushed herself up and off the ground, walking forward in the darkness, looking for her first human victim.
Her hands clasped behind her back as she walked along the road, her feet easily finding the warm pavement of the sidewalk. She twirled around, taking in the sights and smells- two young girls were walking home after a night of partying, a bitter smell filling her nose at the same time a sweet smell wavered in as a little girl and her grandfather drove past after visiting a bakery.

Jess smiled lightly, like a child who just walked into a toy store as her hands fell to her side, extending outwards as her weary legs began to move into a slow run; twirling around as she did so and ignoring the small pings of pain that came from her feet when she stepped on something along the pavement.
That was when she saw him- a tall guy walking along the dim and dark street all alone; his stature and body language nothing really special, but made Jess want to be near him all the more. She quickly crossed the street, hiding behind mailboxes as she followed them to a more isolated area, and when they did become alone, Jess tip toed towards him, her dainty legs picking up speed until she was only a few feet from his.

Jess’ steps became aligned with his, and it wasn’t until she was literately a few inches from him that she tumbled backwards, grabbing his shirt to prevent herself from falling backwards; to him, her light weight would feel more like a small tug, but to her, he supported her to stop her from falling. She flung herself upwards and towards him, her arms wrapping around his torso as she pulled herself towards him into a hug. Jess inhaled slightly, taking in his scent before she stopped and let go- this one would do. She liked him; he was strong, sturdy, tall and smelt nice.

Gavin walked past the string of flickering streetlights, chewing mindlessly on his chocolate bar. There was a faint chill in the air, that made him regret wearing only a plaid shirt and jeans. Beyond the moon's beauty and luminescence, he couldn't really see anything. It was pitch black outside, and his sharp eyes were fixed on the road in front of him. The trek from the bookstore to his home was one he walked so so often, that the route was memorized. That left him room to think of other things as he walked.

When he got home he would be in an empty house. His Aunt was out of state, visiting his parents, for some inane reason. His uncle worked nights so he wouldn't see him till early in the morning. That meant for the next 12 hours he could do whatever he wanted, without anyone hovering over his shoulder. Gavin wasn't one of those people who yearned for a chance to be alone in the house. It's not like he would throw a house party, or have a wild night out the second he was by himself. Oh no. Instead, Gavin was one of those people who used his nights alone to breathe life into his inner nerd. He locked himself in a room, and turned on a video game. Or he read a book.

Anything to quiet his restless thoughts.

He didn't like being by himself, and that's exactly what was going to happen when he got home.Sighing dismally, as he finished up the remainder of his chocolate bar, he rolled his shoulders that had become stiff in the cool night breeze. As he loosened the muscles in his arms, he dropped the candy wrapper on the floor since no one was around to see him littering. But just as he reassured himself he was alone, he felt a small, insistent tug on his shirt. His bright hazel eyes flicked behind him in surprise to see a girl of no more than 13, pulling herself towards him.

A quick scrutiny of the girl invading his space told him a few things. She was slender with striking grey eyes, and a youthful face. She had dark raven colored hair cascading down her back, and she was wearing an oversized pink dress, that was tailored to fit a much larger person. Gavin had no idea how to react as this seemingly small child snaked deceptively strong arms around him in a hug. Who was she? Where did she come from? How come he hadn't heard her approaching him?

When she let go of him, he took several steps back from her to put some distance between them. "You can't just go around hugging people in the middle of the night. What is wrong with you??" He demanded a faint blush complimenting his words as he realized exactly how small and frail she looked. He was yelling at a child. Ashamed and angry, his gaze cut to the side, away from her. "I don't know who you are, but it's late...Wayyyyyy too late for you to be running around without your parents. Go home." He told her, shooing her like one would shoo a stray dog or cat away from their porch.

They were in the middle of the street for gods sakes.

She couldn't live too far from here.

He didn't volunteer to take her home, because something about her unsettled him.

Something he couldn't name.

Jess stumbled backwards, her arms extending as she balanced herself, obviously ignoring whatever he was saying or trying to warn her.
"You can't just go around hugging people in the middle of the night. What is wrong with you?? I don't know who you are, but it's late...Wayyyyyy too late for you to be running around without your parents. Go home."
She looked up at him, her eyes boring into his as she stayed in her position for a while. Her lips slightly parted, as if she was about to say something but nothing escaped. Instead, Jess just stared up at him, taking a step forward towards him as she examined him a little more.

Jess didn’t say anything, but took another step closer towards him, her eyes now skimming down from his eyes to lips then downwards towards neck.
“I need help.” She finally said, her voice quiet and barely above a whisper. “I-I don’t have anywhere to go.” She had an odd combination in her voice; a voice of a mature woman while she was stuck in a body such as this. Jess looked back up into his eyes, taking yet another step closer, but this time, kept on walking. She walked past him, turning around as if to block his path, though, not much would be done by whatever she was doing- Jess herself knew this.
“Please help me. I only need a place to stay for the night. I’ll be gone by sunrise- promise.” Her hands met each other behind her back as she walked forwards, once again, towards him. She placed on a pleading look; it was the first time she has ever interacted with a human, so Jess wasn’t exactly sure how this may turn out.

An experiment- it was merely that; while she did indeed like this human by the simpler means of looks and smell, it would be best if she reminded herself not to get too attached to him just in case she would kill him in the end. Instead, she’ll lead him on and merely try it out to see what might happened, and while this did cause the ache in her stomach to spread to her heart, it was a necessary test to find out whether or not she would become the monster she disliked.