16. Janie
Chapter 16
Janie
I sunk into my couch and sighed. They called the cops after Rick left. We all had to talk to them about the attack. My heart pounded in my chest as I talked to them. What if they suspected? Rick was dead, and it was my fault. Loneliness crept into my soul as I sat curled up on the couch. I felt frozen with anxiety. Who could I possibly tell about the weird things happening in my life? I grabbed my phone and started to absentmindedly flip it in my hand. What could I google? Shadow monster ? Shadow people ?
The door opened. I shrieked as my phone flipped in the air. I jumped in my seat. Peeking over the covers, the monster walked into my apartment. He was wearing his human face. At least it wasn’t Rick’s. He dropped a bag by the door. “What are you doing here?” I yelped.
He shrugged. “I live here.”
“No, you do not,” I argued.
“I’ve lived here for months.”
“As a shadow. I don’t think that counts.”
He pulled out a wallet and threw an ID in front of me. “This says I do. ”
My mouth fell open as I grabbed the ID in front of me and looked at it. I examined it in front of the light. His handsome human face reflected back at me. It looked real. “This is a fake? It looks real.”
“I don’t know how the magical community does it. My other paperwork will be mailed to this address. Have you eaten yet?”
I stood up and threw the ID back into his face. “You cannot just thrust yourself into my life like this!”
A dark tentacle shot out of his back and grabbed the ID as it floated in the air. He shook his head as he put it back into his wallet.
My eyes widened, and I flopped back onto my spot. “Those come out of you, too?” I whispered. “Like Slender Man?”
He smiled and laughed. “Yes. Maybe Slender Man was inspired by my kind. And I’m within the shadows themselves. Are you hungry? You haven’t been eating much these last few weeks.”
“I haven’t been eating well because you have been scaring me out of my home,” I mumbled as I stabbed my pointer finger to his chest. “Do you even eat human food?”
“Yes. Come on.” He reached out for my hand. I sighed and grabbed his hand. The warmth of his hand shocked me. He pulled me up.
“Your body is warm, but your shadow thingies are cold sometimes.”
“I am the shadow. They are the heart of the shadow.”
“I don’t understand. Magic and all of this is weird.” I grabbed my purse as he pulled me toward the door. He tugged me toward the stairs. I tried to pull back and turned. “I have to lock up,” I said .
“No need.” Shadows enveloped my doorknob, and I could faintly hear the lock click.
“I could have locked that myself,” I said. “What did you do with all of Rick’s stuff?”
“I sold the car to someone who could get rid of it. I grabbed some of the gaming consoles he had and then I reported a robbery at his place.” He opened my car door. I sat down as he walked around the car.
I put the key in the ignition as he sat down. “Where are we going?”
“That coffee shop that Urien showed you the other day. I know you enjoyed it,” he said.
“How do you know?”
“You know, I have been following you since I saw you.”
“How . . . much have you been watching?”
He smiled. “I’ve seen everything. The very rare times you’ve masturbated. Every moment you’ve cried. Everything.”
I groaned as I reversed and steered the car toward the cafe he mentioned. “I don’t know what it is like in your monster world, but following me is not a cute look.”
“I was protecting you. I watched out for you. In order to gain strength and reshape myself, I fed from you, absorbing your essence.”
I parked the car in the small parking lot behind the cafe. I turned to him. “How is that appropriate? You used me.”
“I was really weak from years of not feeding. You are my mate.”
I stepped out of the car and slammed the door. “I’m human. Mates don’t have a meaning in my world. You’ve been stalking me for months. Making me scared?— ”
The man standing on the other side of the car had disappeared. By the time my brain realized he was gone, I felt warm hands on my hips as he pressed his body against mine. I could feel his warm breath on my throat. I pressed my hands against the top of my car. “You enjoyed many of the times I fed from you,” he whispered. A chilly tendril slipped underneath my pants and glided up my leg. My breath caught in my throat. Another tendril snaked up the other pant leg. They wound around my legs till the tips were teasing the edge of my panties. My heart pounded in my chest.
“We’re in public,” I whispered.
“You’re still wet. You’re soaking for me.” One tendril slipped underneath the fabric, sliding across my lips. I couldn’t help pushing my pelvis into the faint touch of his tentacle. He chuckled against my throat. “I don’t need to feed from you anymore. I could pull you into the shadows and have my way with you. I have all my magic now. We have so many options, my dear. I can’t wait to show you everything I have to offer you.”
As I rocked against the tentacle underneath my panties, I couldn't help but bite my lip in anticipation. A moan escaped my mouth.
“I have made sure you enjoyed every time I’ve touched you in every way. Your body responds to mine so well. I guess it’s fate.” He sighed as he stepped back. The tentacles disappeared. I blinked, swallowing as I turned around.
“What the fuck?” I couldn’t tell what was upsetting me so much. Amping me up, doing it in public, or leaving me unsatisfied? Emotions are tricky when you're soaking wet in need of a monster cock or tentacle.
A grin spread across his face. “You need to eat. You’re going to become skin and bones. I personally love every inch and curve to your body. Come on,” he said. Meical grabbed my hand as he tugged me toward the back door. I tugged slightly and a slight shadow covered my hands. The chill of the shadows clung around my hand and wrist. He turned his head and winked. I sighed as I grumpily followed along. Meical walked to the counter. He rambled off an order without asking me what I wanted. I huffed. The shadows dissipated off my hand and I put my hands on my hips.
“You didn’t even ask me what I wanted!” I exclaimed.
Meical’s brows furrowed. “I ordered exactly what you like,” he said.
I made a face as I huffed. I glanced at the ground as I pouted because he did . “Yeah, I know. But what if I wanted to try something new?” After a few moments, the barista called my name, but Meical grabbed our drinks before I could move. He led us to a small table in the corner.
“So, what are you?” I asked as I sipped my coffee.
His head tilted as he looked at the ceiling. “We don’t have a name.”
“What do you do? I don’t really understand anything.”
“There’s a lot to talk about. Want to start small, with me? Then we can go with the paranormal community.”
“You first.”
“My people can see the shadows in a person’s heart. Or their soul. We can get rid of that stain on humanity. That’s how we feed and fuel the magic.”
“What you did to Rick was . . . like your job?”
“Essentially. But the other people in the community don’t like us. We were hunted for a time. Imagine seeing your favorite uncle get eaten when you didn’t know he hurt others? You blame the creature. Plus, when we move and manipulate the shadows, it looks like a shade.”
“I heard them mention shades the other day.”
“Yeah. Bad stuff. Spirits that don’t go and just rot in the Earth realm. I’m different than a shade.” The door dinged as someone walked into the cafe. Meical’s head tilted as his eyes narrowed. His human eyes shifted to the inky black of his monster form. “I’ll be back.” He stood up and walked over to the man. They started talking amicably. People who could chat like that with strangers astounded me. I wasn’t like that.
The barista walked over with the food. This wasn’t the barista from the other day. Her tag read Cindy . She placed my plate in front of me. I smiled at her. “Thanks! I could have grabbed it if you called my name.”
She gave me a tight smile. “You’re the human that sent the pictures for the chat? Urien’s friend?” she whispered.
“Uh, yeah, I guess I am.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at my neck. “And you’re fine?”
I shrugged. “Urien is my friend.”
Cindy pursed her lips. “I don’t think he has friends like that.”
“Okay. Well, he does now. We’re bffs now.” I sipped my coffee.
Her eyes darted to Meical. “Who is your friend? Is he like Urien?”
I looked up and narrowed my eyes. I tilted my head. “Excuse me. Are you asking me a question? Or are you asking me a question ?”
The woman tsked. She glanced toward Meical as he talked to the man. The lights above them flickered and a slight bit of panic crossed her face. “Look, you seem to hang out with the wrong folk. I can introduce you to a nice wi—man.”
I waved my hands. “No. Do you know how many nice men have hurt me? Women in general? What is that stat? One in four? Or is it one in three? How many of your friends have gotten hurt?” I pointed to Meical. “He saved me from the last ‘nice’ guy.”
She huffed and Meical walked back. “Everything okay here?” he asked with a threatening smile on his face.
The barista pursed her lips. “Fine. Enjoy your food.”
His smile widened. “We will. Thanks.” He handed her a twenty. “Here, your tip.”
Cindy grabbed it and turned. “Thanks.”
Meical sat beside me. “That didn’t seem fine. I can feel how upset she made you.”
“What were you doing?” I said. I needed to change the subject.
“Showing you what I do. We don’t always eliminate a person right away. I can take years off a person.”
“What’s his crime?”
His eyes shifted to his monstrous eyes. The inky black ones that seemed to glitter as the light shined on them. “I don’t want to make you sad. It’s not as terrible as Rick. Minor crimes versus big crimes. You seemed angry when I walked over here.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“You’re lying. Just like you lied to your friend last week.”
My eyes flickered toward the barista cleaning the counter. “Nothing for you to worry about.” I shoved my sandwich in my mouth. He pursed his lips as he grabbed his food.
“How can you be the jury and judge?”
“There are base things in most cultures that are not good. I stole a few of his years. Others I would drain right away. And some that night.”
“So what is she? ”
“Witch. This is a witch cafe. And you went to an orc-owned pizza place the other day.”
“Why did I get glimmers of . . . his green skin?”
“My bite. It’s letting you see more of the glamors that my kind use.”
“You don’t have a glamor.”
“My magic recreates a face. It’s not a facade. Orcs use witch charms. Most non-shifting people use charms. You went to the witch store the other day. Did you ever question some of the weird jewelry names?”
“No. I don’t know. The vibe was off. I needed to get out of there.”
“Cause of the bite. And the older one knew.”
I looked into his human brown eyes. “Are you in danger?”
He shook his head and a tendril crawled up my ankle and calf. “I’ll be fine. I’ve lived longer than most.”
We finished the meal in silence. Was I safer with this monster than anyone else?