A dull headache greeted Jessica as she woke up that morning. Although it was faintly hard to tell if it was morning for the sun had barely reached the horizon, and the day was still gray with the night's remaining fog.
She arose slowly from her place, but her body growled with protest as her brain began to process the previous evening's activities.
But never the less she found herself in front of her bedroom mirror and somewhat distressed by what she saw. Her hair oily and flat hung on her head as though it wanted to be anywhere but on her scalp, and her face seemed annoyed with the smudged eyeliner and flake foundation, then the left side of her cheek: swollen and tinted with a slight purple color that matched her bruised legs.
She hadn't bothered to wash her face from the previous night once she had returned from her less than fun adventure. And rage began to boil in her soul when she recalled how she had come running into the house with the place nearly empty, and began searching for life. She saw the empty gin bottles and dirty silverware on the stained tablecloth. And it was clear as she walked into the kitchen that the caters had gone home long ago.
Tears began to flood her eyes as she called her mother and father's name with a raspy voice.
But there was no answer.
And as she made her way to the living room she was beginning to see why.
On the surface of their sea blue carpet lay her father, the middle-aged man looked almost peaceful lying there on his stomach with the stench of alcohol strong in the room.
She wanted to run up to him! Shake him or splash water on his face! Then have him wake up and grab her in a hug and tell her how sorry he was, and how much she had worried him, how things were going to change...
But she didn't do any of that. She simply stood there for a moment more and quietly walked away letting the tears take over her once more.
He hadn't even realized she had been gone.
The dizziness was now beckoning her to sleep. So she painfully made her way up stairs not bothering to guess where her mother was. And not even bothering to turn on the lights as she walked into her room. She climbed into bed and let her sobs rock her to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What in the hell is the matter with the people in this house! I was gone! Out of sight for nearly three hours! No one knew where I was... then I felt guilty and decided to come home! Home! What a damn joke. I thought a home was suppost to be a place where you felt safe and secure and all that other stuff... god..." Jess rambling was cut short when she heard a soft knock at her door. She was hesitant to open it but when she realized to the odds of it being someone in the household was unlikely because of the early hour.
"Yes?" She answered with a stiff expression
She was pleasantly surprised to see the small Spanish women standing in her doorway known as Celia. Their housekeeper and Jess's only friend at the moment, and the minute she saw Jess her face paled with worry and she immediately rushed over to Jess with panic in her voice.
"Ms. Jessica! Oh my lord what in the world happened to you? I searched for you after the guests had left but you were no where to be found, and oh look at your face! What happened?"
Jess remained silent as Celia's questioning continued. And it was with this short time she had to observe Celia as something other than a name on her parents payroll. She did indeed have a chubby face and a short body but she was far from petite. In fact she was particularly large in the stomach, and Jess had guessed she was maybe in her mid fifties with her intense brown hair with several natural gray strands circling her face (Many of which Lizzy and I have caused) she thought. And smilied at the distant memories of her and her sister's trouble making. Upon the smile she looked up into Celia's flawless face and noticed the concern in her large green eyes.
"I-I'm OK Celia." She quickly replied. But it was clear that Celia didn't believe her. And gave her a stern look to tell her the truth. She knew Celia always knew when she was lying so she recalled her whole story about the night before everything from her father's words to waking up in a strange building fearing for her life.
And to her own surprise Jess didn't cry as she repeated the words with a unemotional voice. And after she finished, Celia looked older than when she first walked into the room only moments ago.
"Oh I thank the heavens you were so lucky." Was all she could say.
"Lucky? what do you mean?" Jess was thoroughly confused at her statement.
"Well you were so lucky that someone came along and stopped those men from doing something further It could have been so much worse... but did you even know this person?"
Jess's thoughts were becoming flooded with more questions than answers at this point. And you know she hadn't really thought about it. Why was it those men had stopped when they had? There was defiantly someone there... but then why were THEY trying to protect her?
She had remembered the small tattered blanket that had been laying on her when she awoke in that dusty old building, and a person in the rafters. She was so afraid he was going to hurt her, but if he wanted to wouldn't he have followed her? Or stopped her in some way? Why would he have given her a tip on how to open the door?
Ceila could see her confusion and stopped her interrogation. It was clear to her the girl had been under terrible stress and needed some peace and quiet.
"Oh those silly things don't matter now." She said quickly. "What matters is... she paused before saying this. is it could have been a lot worse.
And Jess knew that she was right. The fact was someone had saved her life last night. But who?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kurt's thought boggled him as he stared out into the sunrise. He couldn't help but think of that poor girl he had run into the night before. She had seemed so helpless and he couldn't have just left her there so upon returning to his dusty home he placed her on the ragged mattress he had so humbly called his bed and covered her with a small blanket. It was after all cold in the January weather. He had gone up to the rafters to retrieve some medical supplies when he heard a sudden cry. And upon looking down below he saw the young girl with a fierce determination to get out of the room.
He had tried to calm her down but when she had heard her voice her terror grew. He began to descend to her but realized it was probably not a good idea for her to see the creature he was. She was after all scared enough as it was. And with her horror her told her the best way to get out of the building. But he did not let her go alone, instead he followed her until he saw her go into a house with almost no lights on. And even then her had rested in a tree close by, and waited In case she came out.
"What is the matter With you!" Kurt said slapping himself on the forehead before he teleported into the lower part of the home.
'Honestly what were you thinking man! She was just some girl who was probably more trouble than she's worth!'
But the moment the thought entered Kurt's mind he immediately regretted them. She was a person just like him... And although she had made his life undoubtedly more inconvenient. It bothered him to see her cry so... Her face looking lost and scared as though she had made a scary realization. And he knew better than anyone that reality was a scary thing.
He kneeled over and rested his head on an old alter while mumbling quiet words in German:
"Himmlischer Vater komme ich her und bitte Sie um Bewachung über ihr..."
He didn't know why it was important to him that she was safe. But he knew... he hoped she would come back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The smell of fresh cookies floated up to Jess's nose as she walked along the cold street. Only there because of her dire curiosity, she had decided to find this savior of hers. Because after Celia had left her with her thoughts she found herself in the shower thinking more and more of the mysterious person who had saved her. And in more ways than one.
So once her mother had gone to the beauty parlor and Liz had been dropped off at a friends house, Jess ventured out despite Celia's protests to the building where she had been the night before. She remembered the back road to get there and the day brought new light on the neighborhood with people walking their dogs and pushing babies in carriages Jess felt somewhat safe, yet kept her head down and her eyes to herself when she saw someone giving her a questioning glance.
The cookies had been Ceila's idea. Jess had kind of figured the cookies were kind of lame up a good excuse to meet the stranger and thank him. She stopped short when she saw a small church in the distance. An old Christian church from what she could tell although several windows had been broken and the door was plastered shut.
She felt a shiver craw up her spine when she thought of the fear that found her when she woke up there and realized that this was probably the most stupid idea she had ever thought of, yet she still found herself walking up the small path that she recognized from the darkness of the earlier night.
She gently slid open the door that she had broken earlier but it was clear to tell that someone had attempted to fix it. But still she ignored the danger her mind was telling her she was in... Yet when she stepped inside the doorway to get away from the blistering cold she saw several candles lit in a respectable sense, and recognized the small mattress she had awoken on before. And she somehow felt confort in that... looking around she also noticed the beauty of the old church: the broken pews, the dusty beams, somehow as trashy as the place seemed. It was almost kind of peaceful. But her body stiffened as she walked more so inside the church... she heard voices. A soft voice that was barely recognizable and the voice seemed to be speaking in German?
'Guess I found the right place' thought Jess.
She walked even closer, close enough to brush her hand up against a old chair that begged to be cleaned. But one step closer however proved to not be the best decision as the floorboard beneath her made a loud creaking noise. And the voice was silent now and a loud BAMF could be heard from the distance.
Jess's heart pounded in her chest yet she was determined to speak.
"Hello? i-is anybody here? I'm sorry to bother you... but I was k-kind of looking for someone..."
Jess's voice died down as she realized her stupidity What was she doing anyway? This person could be dangerous, and her she was going to offer him thank-you cookies?
"God Jess how stupid are you?" She mumbled scolding herself.
But as she turned to leave the floorboard she had encountered earlier began to squeak more so and as Jess stepped on it she saw just how rotted the floor was. And before she even had time to think the squeaking noise became a strong crack and proceeded to hurled her to the floor, the sudden pressure must have been to great because before she knew it the floor gave out from under her and left her to revile herself hanging on to a single board of floor with a 12 foot drop under her.
Panic gave it to Jess as she briefly looked down to see a basement that looked older than the church itself filled with pipes and things of that sort.
The fall probably wouldn't have killed her... But it surly would have come close.
It felt as though her heart was trying to break through her chest. Her breathing had quickened as she attempted to pull herself up but the floorboard she was attached to now didn't hold much promise of saving her either as it too began to crack.
Jess suddenly thought of her sister and the look her face would hold when someone told her sister's body was found in a near by church and tears began to swell up in her eyes at the picture. moments felt like hours as Jess frantically tried to pull herself up.
She suddenly wished she had practiced pull-ups in gym class like her teacher suggested.
Less than a second later as Jess was looking down once more to her fate she felt a warm hand touch her own and suddenly she felt a great pressure pulling her upward. The board fell to the bottom just seconds after Jess was pulled to a safer place.
But for some reason she wasn't in the same room that she had been in. Instead she was in a much warmer room surrounded by more candles and a small fire in a furnace nearby. She left-lightheaded and nauseous and even more so when she looked over her shoulder to see just who had pulled her out.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was afraid to move more than he already had for fear she would scream. He had heard the floor board crack as she walked in a stopped his almost silent prayers to teleport to the rafters where he could see her in full vision, and he caught her just in time to see her call herself stupid and almost fall through the floor. He had made several attempts to fix the boards before but had miserable fail, so instead he molded himself to avoid the spot. But now he saw how much of a mistake it was to not have try harder to fix the boards.
So without hesitation he bamfed the girl out of the area just moments in time before the final floor board she clung to gave way. And now he stood her with her a small distance away from him she looked so incredibly confused and before he knew it her feet gave out from under her. Teleportation can have that effect on humans. he thought.
But of course he grabbed her arm as to keep her from going to the ground and helped her keep herself steady.
He was afraid to speak but decided to could hold in the question in no longer.
"Are you all right?" He asked quietly
The girl didn't answer just looked over her shoulder to the direction his voice was in. But as she did so she quickly scrammed away.
The fear was clear in her voice, as she backed off to the other side of the wall never taking her eyes off him, not even long enough for her to blink.
I-I think so..." she managed to mumble.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
OH god, oh god oh god! Screamed Jess's mind with fear as she looked at the creature in front of her.
'Is that a tail! OK he has a tail but what about that skin it's blue! three fingers on each hand, almost bird-like feet...'
Jess examined the creature's body and pure fear ran through her as though it was the only thing she ever knew. Yet her fear stopped short when her eyes met the eyes of the creature. They were a pale yellow, and yet for some reason seeing them lightened Jess's horror slightly until she realised her grab on the wall she didn't even realize she was holding on to. Her brain cleared up as she realized he must have been a mutant. She had heard terrible things about mutants: setting senators houses on fire, killing random people, and some even controlling other people's minds with her own.
She should have been more afraid of him but she wasn't. If HE was one of those "evil freaks" as some people called them, why had he saved her life twice already? And she felt shame when she saw a brief glimpse of hurt in his eyes as her saw her expression.
She swallowed hard, and steadied herself, fixing her scarf and matching hat. While making a better attempt to be friendly.
"Sorry," she claimed. "...Just kind of startled me."
He tilted his head up, but didn't remove his eyes off her.
'Is she actually talking to me?' he thought. 'It was only a second ago when she was ready to flee out of here.'
He noticed her noticing his stare and immediately looked away feeling the red submerge in his cheeks.
'Is he actually blushing?!' she thought
The small action gave Jess more confidence that just maybe this guy wasn't some crazy killer or something. So she took a small step closer and extended her hand.
"Hi... my name is Jessica."
He seemed confused at the action, and hesitated to take her hand for his own hands were actually shaking.
Yet he stepped out of the shadows and smiled slightly taking her hand into his own.
"Wagner. Kurt Wagner."
She arose slowly from her place, but her body growled with protest as her brain began to process the previous evening's activities.
But never the less she found herself in front of her bedroom mirror and somewhat distressed by what she saw. Her hair oily and flat hung on her head as though it wanted to be anywhere but on her scalp, and her face seemed annoyed with the smudged eyeliner and flake foundation, then the left side of her cheek: swollen and tinted with a slight purple color that matched her bruised legs.
She hadn't bothered to wash her face from the previous night once she had returned from her less than fun adventure. And rage began to boil in her soul when she recalled how she had come running into the house with the place nearly empty, and began searching for life. She saw the empty gin bottles and dirty silverware on the stained tablecloth. And it was clear as she walked into the kitchen that the caters had gone home long ago.
Tears began to flood her eyes as she called her mother and father's name with a raspy voice.
But there was no answer.
And as she made her way to the living room she was beginning to see why.
On the surface of their sea blue carpet lay her father, the middle-aged man looked almost peaceful lying there on his stomach with the stench of alcohol strong in the room.
She wanted to run up to him! Shake him or splash water on his face! Then have him wake up and grab her in a hug and tell her how sorry he was, and how much she had worried him, how things were going to change...
But she didn't do any of that. She simply stood there for a moment more and quietly walked away letting the tears take over her once more.
He hadn't even realized she had been gone.
The dizziness was now beckoning her to sleep. So she painfully made her way up stairs not bothering to guess where her mother was. And not even bothering to turn on the lights as she walked into her room. She climbed into bed and let her sobs rock her to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What in the hell is the matter with the people in this house! I was gone! Out of sight for nearly three hours! No one knew where I was... then I felt guilty and decided to come home! Home! What a damn joke. I thought a home was suppost to be a place where you felt safe and secure and all that other stuff... god..." Jess rambling was cut short when she heard a soft knock at her door. She was hesitant to open it but when she realized to the odds of it being someone in the household was unlikely because of the early hour.
"Yes?" She answered with a stiff expression
She was pleasantly surprised to see the small Spanish women standing in her doorway known as Celia. Their housekeeper and Jess's only friend at the moment, and the minute she saw Jess her face paled with worry and she immediately rushed over to Jess with panic in her voice.
"Ms. Jessica! Oh my lord what in the world happened to you? I searched for you after the guests had left but you were no where to be found, and oh look at your face! What happened?"
Jess remained silent as Celia's questioning continued. And it was with this short time she had to observe Celia as something other than a name on her parents payroll. She did indeed have a chubby face and a short body but she was far from petite. In fact she was particularly large in the stomach, and Jess had guessed she was maybe in her mid fifties with her intense brown hair with several natural gray strands circling her face (Many of which Lizzy and I have caused) she thought. And smilied at the distant memories of her and her sister's trouble making. Upon the smile she looked up into Celia's flawless face and noticed the concern in her large green eyes.
"I-I'm OK Celia." She quickly replied. But it was clear that Celia didn't believe her. And gave her a stern look to tell her the truth. She knew Celia always knew when she was lying so she recalled her whole story about the night before everything from her father's words to waking up in a strange building fearing for her life.
And to her own surprise Jess didn't cry as she repeated the words with a unemotional voice. And after she finished, Celia looked older than when she first walked into the room only moments ago.
"Oh I thank the heavens you were so lucky." Was all she could say.
"Lucky? what do you mean?" Jess was thoroughly confused at her statement.
"Well you were so lucky that someone came along and stopped those men from doing something further It could have been so much worse... but did you even know this person?"
Jess's thoughts were becoming flooded with more questions than answers at this point. And you know she hadn't really thought about it. Why was it those men had stopped when they had? There was defiantly someone there... but then why were THEY trying to protect her?
She had remembered the small tattered blanket that had been laying on her when she awoke in that dusty old building, and a person in the rafters. She was so afraid he was going to hurt her, but if he wanted to wouldn't he have followed her? Or stopped her in some way? Why would he have given her a tip on how to open the door?
Ceila could see her confusion and stopped her interrogation. It was clear to her the girl had been under terrible stress and needed some peace and quiet.
"Oh those silly things don't matter now." She said quickly. "What matters is... she paused before saying this. is it could have been a lot worse.
And Jess knew that she was right. The fact was someone had saved her life last night. But who?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kurt's thought boggled him as he stared out into the sunrise. He couldn't help but think of that poor girl he had run into the night before. She had seemed so helpless and he couldn't have just left her there so upon returning to his dusty home he placed her on the ragged mattress he had so humbly called his bed and covered her with a small blanket. It was after all cold in the January weather. He had gone up to the rafters to retrieve some medical supplies when he heard a sudden cry. And upon looking down below he saw the young girl with a fierce determination to get out of the room.
He had tried to calm her down but when she had heard her voice her terror grew. He began to descend to her but realized it was probably not a good idea for her to see the creature he was. She was after all scared enough as it was. And with her horror her told her the best way to get out of the building. But he did not let her go alone, instead he followed her until he saw her go into a house with almost no lights on. And even then her had rested in a tree close by, and waited In case she came out.
"What is the matter With you!" Kurt said slapping himself on the forehead before he teleported into the lower part of the home.
'Honestly what were you thinking man! She was just some girl who was probably more trouble than she's worth!'
But the moment the thought entered Kurt's mind he immediately regretted them. She was a person just like him... And although she had made his life undoubtedly more inconvenient. It bothered him to see her cry so... Her face looking lost and scared as though she had made a scary realization. And he knew better than anyone that reality was a scary thing.
He kneeled over and rested his head on an old alter while mumbling quiet words in German:
"Himmlischer Vater komme ich her und bitte Sie um Bewachung über ihr..."
He didn't know why it was important to him that she was safe. But he knew... he hoped she would come back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The smell of fresh cookies floated up to Jess's nose as she walked along the cold street. Only there because of her dire curiosity, she had decided to find this savior of hers. Because after Celia had left her with her thoughts she found herself in the shower thinking more and more of the mysterious person who had saved her. And in more ways than one.
So once her mother had gone to the beauty parlor and Liz had been dropped off at a friends house, Jess ventured out despite Celia's protests to the building where she had been the night before. She remembered the back road to get there and the day brought new light on the neighborhood with people walking their dogs and pushing babies in carriages Jess felt somewhat safe, yet kept her head down and her eyes to herself when she saw someone giving her a questioning glance.
The cookies had been Ceila's idea. Jess had kind of figured the cookies were kind of lame up a good excuse to meet the stranger and thank him. She stopped short when she saw a small church in the distance. An old Christian church from what she could tell although several windows had been broken and the door was plastered shut.
She felt a shiver craw up her spine when she thought of the fear that found her when she woke up there and realized that this was probably the most stupid idea she had ever thought of, yet she still found herself walking up the small path that she recognized from the darkness of the earlier night.
She gently slid open the door that she had broken earlier but it was clear to tell that someone had attempted to fix it. But still she ignored the danger her mind was telling her she was in... Yet when she stepped inside the doorway to get away from the blistering cold she saw several candles lit in a respectable sense, and recognized the small mattress she had awoken on before. And she somehow felt confort in that... looking around she also noticed the beauty of the old church: the broken pews, the dusty beams, somehow as trashy as the place seemed. It was almost kind of peaceful. But her body stiffened as she walked more so inside the church... she heard voices. A soft voice that was barely recognizable and the voice seemed to be speaking in German?
'Guess I found the right place' thought Jess.
She walked even closer, close enough to brush her hand up against a old chair that begged to be cleaned. But one step closer however proved to not be the best decision as the floorboard beneath her made a loud creaking noise. And the voice was silent now and a loud BAMF could be heard from the distance.
Jess's heart pounded in her chest yet she was determined to speak.
"Hello? i-is anybody here? I'm sorry to bother you... but I was k-kind of looking for someone..."
Jess's voice died down as she realized her stupidity What was she doing anyway? This person could be dangerous, and her she was going to offer him thank-you cookies?
"God Jess how stupid are you?" She mumbled scolding herself.
But as she turned to leave the floorboard she had encountered earlier began to squeak more so and as Jess stepped on it she saw just how rotted the floor was. And before she even had time to think the squeaking noise became a strong crack and proceeded to hurled her to the floor, the sudden pressure must have been to great because before she knew it the floor gave out from under her and left her to revile herself hanging on to a single board of floor with a 12 foot drop under her.
Panic gave it to Jess as she briefly looked down to see a basement that looked older than the church itself filled with pipes and things of that sort.
The fall probably wouldn't have killed her... But it surly would have come close.
It felt as though her heart was trying to break through her chest. Her breathing had quickened as she attempted to pull herself up but the floorboard she was attached to now didn't hold much promise of saving her either as it too began to crack.
Jess suddenly thought of her sister and the look her face would hold when someone told her sister's body was found in a near by church and tears began to swell up in her eyes at the picture. moments felt like hours as Jess frantically tried to pull herself up.
She suddenly wished she had practiced pull-ups in gym class like her teacher suggested.
Less than a second later as Jess was looking down once more to her fate she felt a warm hand touch her own and suddenly she felt a great pressure pulling her upward. The board fell to the bottom just seconds after Jess was pulled to a safer place.
But for some reason she wasn't in the same room that she had been in. Instead she was in a much warmer room surrounded by more candles and a small fire in a furnace nearby. She left-lightheaded and nauseous and even more so when she looked over her shoulder to see just who had pulled her out.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was afraid to move more than he already had for fear she would scream. He had heard the floor board crack as she walked in a stopped his almost silent prayers to teleport to the rafters where he could see her in full vision, and he caught her just in time to see her call herself stupid and almost fall through the floor. He had made several attempts to fix the boards before but had miserable fail, so instead he molded himself to avoid the spot. But now he saw how much of a mistake it was to not have try harder to fix the boards.
So without hesitation he bamfed the girl out of the area just moments in time before the final floor board she clung to gave way. And now he stood her with her a small distance away from him she looked so incredibly confused and before he knew it her feet gave out from under her. Teleportation can have that effect on humans. he thought.
But of course he grabbed her arm as to keep her from going to the ground and helped her keep herself steady.
He was afraid to speak but decided to could hold in the question in no longer.
"Are you all right?" He asked quietly
The girl didn't answer just looked over her shoulder to the direction his voice was in. But as she did so she quickly scrammed away.
The fear was clear in her voice, as she backed off to the other side of the wall never taking her eyes off him, not even long enough for her to blink.
I-I think so..." she managed to mumble.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
OH god, oh god oh god! Screamed Jess's mind with fear as she looked at the creature in front of her.
'Is that a tail! OK he has a tail but what about that skin it's blue! three fingers on each hand, almost bird-like feet...'
Jess examined the creature's body and pure fear ran through her as though it was the only thing she ever knew. Yet her fear stopped short when her eyes met the eyes of the creature. They were a pale yellow, and yet for some reason seeing them lightened Jess's horror slightly until she realised her grab on the wall she didn't even realize she was holding on to. Her brain cleared up as she realized he must have been a mutant. She had heard terrible things about mutants: setting senators houses on fire, killing random people, and some even controlling other people's minds with her own.
She should have been more afraid of him but she wasn't. If HE was one of those "evil freaks" as some people called them, why had he saved her life twice already? And she felt shame when she saw a brief glimpse of hurt in his eyes as her saw her expression.
She swallowed hard, and steadied herself, fixing her scarf and matching hat. While making a better attempt to be friendly.
"Sorry," she claimed. "...Just kind of startled me."
He tilted his head up, but didn't remove his eyes off her.
'Is she actually talking to me?' he thought. 'It was only a second ago when she was ready to flee out of here.'
He noticed her noticing his stare and immediately looked away feeling the red submerge in his cheeks.
'Is he actually blushing?!' she thought
The small action gave Jess more confidence that just maybe this guy wasn't some crazy killer or something. So she took a small step closer and extended her hand.
"Hi... my name is Jessica."
He seemed confused at the action, and hesitated to take her hand for his own hands were actually shaking.
Yet he stepped out of the shadows and smiled slightly taking her hand into his own.
"Wagner. Kurt Wagner."