Night Creatures

it was not a decision that was made in the spur of a moment. or at least, that’s what eden would like to think. the rumors circulating around the campus, even people she didn’t know talked about it. whenever she walked by, people stared at her like she was some kind of freakshow. and in some way, wasn’t she? what kind of girl had intimate relations with her own father? there was no way she could go back there anymore and frankly, she didn’t want to. the shame she brought upon their family; she felt more ashamed than anything else that swallowing all those pills seemed to have been the easy way out. and it was, until she finally began to stir into consciousness.

green hues slowly fluttered open as the light staring back at her almost blinded her. blinking a few times as she adjusted to the brightness, her first thought was if this was the afterlife–if she may have succeeded. her mind was still quite hazy with the sedative she was under, still familiarizing herself with her surroundings. little by little, she began to realize that this was not hell or the purgatory at best. the drab walls in front of her, the wires connected to her and the sound of the machine monitoring her heartbeat.

glancing on her side, her eyes landed on her father who was sitting next to her bed. if she wasn’t already pale enough, the color would have definitely been drained from her face right now. she opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was too dry to even form words. instead, she just ended up making a grunting sound.

The grunting sound made him look her way. The doctor had said he wasn’t sure when she was walking up, so he had stayed in her room waiting, making sure that she had what she needed, that if a beep on the machine was strange he had a nurse checking her right away. Christopher was angry with her, he sure was, but he still wanted her to be cared for. His wrath wasn’t getting in the was of the protective side of him. 

Walking to her, he brought a glass of water with him, and a straw. They said she would be dehydrated, a side effect from cleaning her up. Putting the straw to her lips he used that same hand to pet her hair. She was there, she was awake and alive. The relief that wasn’t over him pushed the tense nod on his neck away. Christopher hadn’t slept, not properly at least, ever since they got into the hospital. He had paced the hallways waiting for someone to tell him she was okay. He had watched over her as she slept in that same room. He yelled at people, was rude and for a second there he let it all go away. She was there, she was awake and alive. 

But then the memory of her doing such a thing came rushing back. Not only had she tried to take her life, but she had also done it in her room, the same room they shared countless nights. The room they laughed and enjoyed each other. She had the nerve to do such a degrading act in that room. He was not happy, most of all he was disappointed and angry at her. And he had no intention of hiding that from his face.  

Jubilee had been scamming and scheming for as long as she could remember. A subtle touch here, flutter your lashes and a quick brush of the body, and she had men eating out of the palm of her hand. Men were so stupid… and she loved them for it. There were so many tactics she used to get the money she wanted, and she never regretted it. If the men were foolish enough to just come for sex, she would teach them a lesson; a lesson is what she taught his friend. He was a simple man with a rather interesting taste, and sickly Lee enjoyed blackmailing him with a video. She wouldn’t have usually taken that route, but Lee loved a bit of entertainment. 

The woman had taken everything in her departure a little over a year ago. She never stayed in one place long, but her new target had a family here. The pair had just finished off dinner when Lee decided she didn’t want to pretend for the rest of the night. With a kiss near the man’s mouth and sweet smile, she slithered her way out of nightly activities. The beauty had strict rules about not sleeping with the targets, and so far she had kept her end up - the men, on the other hand, had been put into compromising situations. 

Her curvy figure was tucked into the corner of the bar, trying to unwind for the evening before heading back to her hotel room. That was until she spotted someone eyeing her. A playful smirk appeared as she drank from her wine glass. 

“That’s fine, but don’t expect much. It’s been a long day,” she giggled. A few sleek strands of hair were tucked behind her ear as she continued to eye the man. He could be a potential target down the line; he looked like he had money. Vibrant red nails toys with the stem of her glass.

She wasn’t the type of woman he would go after or even worked to get. First of all, she was actually a woman, not just some girl. Christopher mostly went after the girls that screamed daddy issues, that liked older men and found them fascinating, and were so desperate to have someone fill the role of caretaker that he would have them call him daddy before the first drink was over. It was easy enough, but he already put so much of his energy into his work that sometimes he just wanted a willing body under him. Who cared if they had nothing between their heads, most time he just wanted what was between her legs and be done with them. 

So Christopher had never been the type to peacock and display all his wealth to get a girl. He found that most time he would only get golddiggers or con artists, but this time he was actually after a con artist, so he had to do things differently. “Let's have a wager” he pushed his black credit card to the bartender to cover the expenses “If your day was longer than mine... I will let you go to your well-deserved rest...” he twisted his wrist pulling her attention to his watch, another no in the attention gathering rules “But if in the next five minutes we come to the conclusion I had the worst day... then you let me buy you lunch...” he smiled, that sweet charming smile that gets him everything.

of course she’s happy to see him. she loves him. well, loved. up until he claimed abigail and left her to rot in a cell. charleston gets closer and alex tenses. she doesn’t lash out at him like she would if he was someone else — even though he technically is someone else. she doesn’t know that, though. she just turns away. her hands tremble and hot tears cloud her vision. “i loved you, asshole. everybody told me you were a monster, but i wouldn’t listen.” to the point where anybody who called him that within earshot of her got the shit slapped out of them. slaves and masters alike. she feels pretty stupid about that in hindsight, but what’s done is done. “i needed you then, but i don’t need you now, so just… leave me the fuck alone, all right?” despite her words, she still feels warm and fuzzy when she looks at him. she remembers the way he made her feel like she was the only person in the world when they were together. that’s why she refuses to look at him now. she doesn’t want to go down that road again.

Whatever was going up in that little head of hers clearly had good warning instincts. He was, in fact, a monster but she had loved him never the less. Well, not him, some version of him with a strange name. The craziness in her was making his mouth-watering. This was proving to be a far more interesting endeavor than he had initially thought. 

“Don’t lie to me...“ he moved closer, reaching for her hand to pull her closer to him “I know you need me...” his fingers rubbed her palm, he intended to keep her calm, and even remember her of the love she had talked about. It wasn’t all the time he had a chance to get into someone's head without doing the flirting and seducing before. She was already in love with him so why not take advantage of her. 

alex hates it here. she hates the smell and she hates the orderlies and she hates the fucking doctors — if you can even call them that. they’re no better than the masters. they’re at pennbrooke to hurt, not to help. alex doesn’t trust them. she doesn’t trust their so-called medicine, either. those pills make her head hurt. it becomes more difficult for her to remember the last four years and three months, too. as bad as luke, dying, and hell was, she doesn’t want to forget because it happened. because it was real. that’s why alex doesn’t take her pills. she pretends to so the hacks leave her alone, but in reality, they go straight from her mouth into the toilet. she’s gotten pretty good at ‘cheeking’ them, but the staff might be catching on because her case file is given to a new doctor. alex, stubborn as ever, is more than ready to tell him to go fuck himself. then she gets a look at his face and her heart flutters in her chest. “c-caleb?” she squeaks out. he looks… younger. like he might have if they’d met on earth instead of in hell. the resemblance is still uncanny, though. “what are you doing here?”

His head tilted to the side as she called him by some other’s name. Looking at the file he finds the little he knows about the girl. The name ‘Caleb’ is mentioned a couple of times, but he can’t figure out the full story because the damn doctor wrote like a maniac. If Charleston knew the man was this careless he may have broken his hands as well before pushing him. Had this ‘Caleb’ been a boyfriend, maybe, but her file did mention a Luke as well. He figured since he has to play doctor, might as well play into her fantasy. 

“I’m here to see you...“ he gave her a small smile taking a step closer to her bed. The file did mention her red wrist band and the fact she liked to attack anyone that got too close, but he figured if she did he could just take care of her. And if she ended up hurt, oh well, these things had a way of happening. “was I supposed to let you go like that?!“ he still wasn't sure how to play it, but he was certain his words had been a safe bet.