Devoured Senses

Chapter 4

When Andrew first stepped back into his room, he was hoping that ‘Jessica’ had disappeared; that he’d been imagining her due to lack of sleep and a good night’s rest would take away his sick hallucination. – But at the same time, he felt strangely excited at this stranger in his life. She was different... she was so different it was hard to even consider her human. And that thrilled him. For the first time since his existence he was beginning to contemplate whether the hole in his soul was actually getting any smaller.

But that thrill almost dried up and died with the last of his sanity as he opened the door to an empty bedroom. The sheets had been creased, the covers pulled out all over the place. It seemed as if Jessica had wrestled with her own sanity when trying to escape from his bed. He couldn’t help but grin to that.

His ear pricked to the sound of running water in his ensuite bathroom. Jessica must have felt dirtied in her hospital gown, and he couldn’t help but agree with her. She had been covered with a thin layer of dust, no doubt from the mixture of concrete and the high levels of pollution in London. God knows where she had been before he had found her. At least she was making herself feel at home...

The shower shut off, the sounds of liquid dripping from the faucet made themselves known as he heard a towel being hurriedly pulled from a pile. And with one brief click of a door, there she was. The strange, alluring, barely human Jessica standing there in nothing but a towel. Her blue and blonde hair a mess on her head as she rubbed at it gingerly with a smaller hand towel.

Andrew swallowed, his eyes widening as he saw the beauty behind her red eyes, fangs and dangerously sharp nails. Her features were smooth, her nose slight and small. Her face was thin and dainty, and though her eyes seemed to reveal something of a darker nature... there was something deeper screaming out, begging to be known. Blinking restlessly, Andrew held out the nightie; his mouth opening slightly in awe.

Jessica nodded her thanks as she took the article of clothing in her hand. She held it out in front of her, inspecting the material with a serious gaze. Without a second thought, her fingers twined through the top of her towel cradling her chest as she began to remove it.

For a moment Andrew considered whether this was a bad thing, but fought against his primal instincts of the child deep inside willing for her to undress in front of him. Quickly averting his gaze, he held up his hands in surrender, “Whoa no. Don’t do that, you can use my bathroom to change in.”

Jessica cocked her head to one side, deeply confused with the request, “wouldn’t it be simply easier if I were to change here?” she asked robotically.

Andrew frowned, “Well yes... but no.” He had to choke out the final word, hating himself for doing so.

“Why?”

“Honestly?” Andrew breathed through his nose, exhaling in deep frustration. “Because it would be awkward.”

“Awkward?” The word was alien to Jessica’s vocabulary; her eyes had squinted in frustration, her towel still midway down her body.

Andrew rolled his eyes, his fingers forming fists as he pursed his lips impatiently, “I’ll explain later, but for now... you should go in there.” He glanced innocently in the direction of the bathroom, forcing himself not to look in the direction of his guest. He used the clever insinuation that he was much closer to asking out a girl in his class to force his eyes to stay focused on the floor until a very agitated Jessica had stormed back into the bathroom.

Just as Andrew was adjusting to having a girl with no sense of pride or boundaries in his room, his heart almost leapt out of his chest with her next request.

“Am I supposed to wear under garments with these?” was the muffled question from behind closed doors.

Andrew almost hit himself. The one thing no self respecting teenage boy should do was to raid his own mother’s underwear drawer. Oh God he was stooping low. He almost flushed red in embarrassment. It was truth or dare all over again. He blamed his mates all the way for that one. Still, with one last kiss of his dignity, Andrew took a deep breath, “I’ll go get you some.” He replied, his voice coming out in a husk whisper as he left the room, head in hands.

When Jessica had finally finished changing and Andrew had convinced her to use his hairbrush to try and untangle the mess that was sitting on her head, he allowed her to sit back in his bed.

“Isn’t this where you sleep?” Jessica asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.

Andrew glanced away awkwardly, “I thought you’d be more comfortable there, I can sleep downstairs. It’s no problem.”

“Please don’t.”

Andrew looked up; his face becoming blank at her request. She had sounded feeble... almost afraid. What was she so afraid of?

“I don’t know...”

“Please, when your mother returns from the hospital I’ll leave and never return if you just stay with me tonight.” Her eyes begged him to stay... but his gut knotted on instinct. How had she...?

“How did you know that?” he asked darkly, “I never even told you where my mum worked.”

Jessica’s eyes seemed to reflect the same confusion he was openly sharing. Her body shuddered slightly, her hair falling in front of her face as if to shroud the shame beneath. “I do not know, I was not informed. I don’t know a lot.”

“Clearly.” Andrew breathed out tiredly, folding his arms. He was too exhausted to ask yet. He’d just add it to his list. “I’ll stay on one condition.”

“I shall do anything you wish.” Jessica replied solemnly.

Andrew had to bite back the urge to laugh at her seemingly innocent insinuations, “Promise me you won’t make a disappearing act tomorrow morning and I’ll sleep in this room with you.”

Jessica frowned, “complications could be dangerous, I am not what you make me to be I-”

But Andrew cut her off, his eyes staring at her with all seriousness. “It doesn’t matter, just promise me.”

Jessica bit her lip, her small fang-like teeth hardly leaving a dent on her delicate skin. With a final nod, she accepted his requests.

And with that dilemma cleared, Andrew arrived back to his room with a blanket and pillow for his uncomfortable night’s sleep on the floor. Jessica smiled warmly towards him as they settled down for a well deserved rest. Although it was reaching six O’clock and half of the world was awake already, Andrew and Jessica made an exception. With a flick of a switch both teens fell into a fitful, healthy slumber.