So turns out falling to my death was taking a lot longer than I thought it would.

They made it look so simple in the movies. One short fall and a theatrical scream later and it would end with a pretty final sounding thud. They never lasted this long. Then again, movie-falls weren't from this high up. I hadn't been dropped from the top of a building or falling from a waterfall to the thrilling crescendo of an action movie soundtrack; I was falling from the fucking SKY.

Oh right-

Where was I?

Falling to my death. Of course. How could I forget? Silly me.

OH MY GOD. WHAT DO I DO? WHAT TO DO, HELP, FUCK, I'M FALLING AND THERE'S NOTHING TO GRAB. WHATDOIDO?! WHAT DO I DOOO!?

How had it come to this? What had I done to deserve this fate? Was this karma? Had the planets aligned to tell me to go fuck myself? Was it just my time to go? And if so, where was I going to go asides from down? Would I go to Heaven? Would I be reincarnated? Is there EVEN such a thing? Had we been lied to? What if there was nothing?! Then what! What about my family? Is this what Chucky had meant? What a mid-life crisis felt like?

My brain wouldn't shut the fuck up and funnily enough neither would my mouth, because I was right back to my favorite pastime: Screaming uselessly.

All of these questions with no answers. Did I know anything? I had no idea where Creeper was. Maybe he was still somewhere above me, laughing into the wind. The only thing that seemed certain was the fact that I was falling, faster and faster every moment it seemed. Everything was so wildly out of my control. Was there anything that I could control about this? Fuck, I needed to think. I needed to put a lid on the panic and THINK.

WHAT'S THINKING GOING TO DO!?

Probably nothing, but I'd take whatever I could fucking get. So I clamped my mouth shut and squeezed my eyes closed. Naturally that made all of the terrible sounds crystal goddamn clear, but at least I couldn't see myself falling past the clouds, inevitably getting closer and closer to the ground. But now a new problem-

I CAN'T BREATHE.

Trying to breathe forcefully through my nose wasn't working with the speed at which I was descending. I tried to put my hands over my mouth to create a space to draw breath, but the wind was too powerful, too forceful. It pried my hands away with every attempt, crumpled the fleshy oxygen bubble I tried to create. My high-pitched whines of concern made the panic worse. FUCK, DO SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

Anything? Could I do anything really? It occurred to me that I still had control over my limbs. Could I change direction? Face away from the gust of air pushing against me?

DO I TURN?! DO I FORM MYSELF INTO A BALL? WOULD THAT HELP? I'M GOING TO DIE! I'M DYING! I'M FUCKING DYING, BALL OR NOT! THIS IS IT! OOOOAAAH MY GOOOD.

I could still move. I forced the fact louder than my screaming mind. Doing something had to be better than doing nothing. What was I going to do? Just give up and let myself fall to my death? Give up on my family members? Let the monsters in my house have them?

NO!

Fuck right I wasn't.

I wriggled and jerked my shoulders, trying to throw out my arms to turn mid-air. What was a backflip like? My eyes popped back open so I could see if it would work. The ever declining view made me feel dizzy. The need for oxygen overpowered how much I hated the sight. Backflip. Backflip!

Lean forward, back, and tuck your legs into your chest. I did just that with the little I could, and bingo, tucking in my legs was what did it. With the weirdest, most unpleasant feeling of freefalling, I managed to flip myself so that I was staring up at the sky above like a falling ragdoll. My hair outlined my head as if there was a large fan behind me, but now the wind wasn't preventing my breath. I inhaled as much air as I could. The tiniest morsel of relief reached me. I can breathe. I'm breathing. The thought went hand-in-hand with a grateful sniffling sob. Good. That's good. It was, but I couldn't celebrate just yet.

Now what!?

God, it was so cold. I was positively freezing. Would I ever feel warm again? There I went, giving into the panicked turmoil of negative thoughts. I screwed my eyes shut a second time, the wind screeching in my ears. Against everything, against what was instinctive, against what my body was feeling, against what my doubt was telling me, I tried to be calm. My arms sought myself. The self-hug helped some pitiful amount. With my arms latched around my chest, I spoke to myself in the most reassuring voice I possibly could. It was the very same I used on Alysson every time she had been scared. I used my 'Big Sister' voice:

It's okay. Nathaniel said I wouldn't be hurt. It's just a lesson. They're teaching me a lesson. It's just to scare me, not to kill me. I'll be fine. I just have to endure this. I have to be patient. It'll be over soon! Ignore the wind. Think of something else. Anything. Anything to pass the time. Do it, Jennifer. Think. Imagine. Right now.

Even as I was attempting to create peace, the other half of my mind was countering at every opportunity to create anarchy.

What if they were wrong? What if they accidentally kill me by doing this? What if that was the plan all along? Just to get their kicks and drop me like a stone? I could die at any moment. How far was the ground below me now? Was it one hundred feet away? Fifty? Ten? What the Hell do I even think about? I don't know what to think about! I don't know! I can't do-

Swwoossh!

What was that?

Everything in my head went quiet. There had been a noise. Some sort of gust of air or something in the midst of the constant whistling of the wind. Had I imagined that? Had I finally lost it?

Whoosh!

There! That! What is tha-

I was astounded that my heart didn't straight up jump out of my mouth when I was suddenly yanked off-course from my nightmare flight plan. Something had wrapped itself around my left ankle and was currently pulling me to the right. The rude change of direction had me arcing into an entire upside-down swing. My arms came away from myself to hang outwards for some chance at balance. No longer falling, gravity remained a cruel tease to have my hair cascade down from my scalp. While the descent had been stopped, my hanging body was being jostled in the rhythmic flap flap that I had unfortunately gotten to know. My eyes snapped open to see what the Hell was happening. Creating the most unflattering double-chin, I craned my head down to look up.

Creeper!

Who I had thought had condemned me to die, now floated my knight in shining leather. While he hadn't ridden to my rescue on a valiant steed or sported any charming chainmail, the once unwelcome sight of him had become a godsend.

He had come back for me! You glorious, glorious…Gloriously terrifying monster-man-thing that he was! I could have kissed him! Kissed his hands, his weird bird feet, and go on to make the biggest fool out of myself imaginable. All would be forgotten and forgiven if he just let me down!

One arm held me aloft by my ankle. He was by no means an angel, but the view of him now could have convinced anyone otherwise. The moon's radiance both clothed him in shadows and its silver beams. His wings were spread wide, like an accidental heroic pose that kept going. The line-up of the moon with him was too perfect; The picture above me gave its own honest-to-God Bram Stoker seal of approval to deem him an honorary creature of the night.

The only thing that made it less graceful was the fact that my eyes had to go to his crotch first before they could go farther up to his face. It was more of an awkward string of places that my eyes had to travel: Consisting of legs, crotch, stomach, and head. Next to that mounting discomfort was the fact that my tank top had risen to expose my stomach. Relief came first, my embarrassment could fucking wait.

"Creeper!" The thump of my heart felt equally as hopeful as it did painful. My voice had become hoarse again, but that didn't matter. I was so happy. I couldn't refrain from sounding relieved. Had I ever felt this happy in my life? Happy didn't seem like a strong enough word; Even terms like joyous, exuberant, and euphoric fell short.

"I'm so glad you're back!" I was practically cheering it, utterly out of breath. I was just thankful to see him again, the only way back to normality, my only salvation. See! It's over! He'll take you back to the house and everything will be fine! Lesson learned, whatever! I told you! He gazed down at me, a leering smile giving me chills. I was too drunk off the sudden shot of hope to interpret that properly.

So one can only imagine just how shocked and confused I was when he swung me up into the air like a fucking beanbag.

The obliged smile melted from my face into one of pure terror.

"CccrreeeeEEEEEPPPEEERRR!"

If I got any shriller, I was going to turn into a squeaky toy. My body spun rapidly, doing entire cartwheels in the air as I ascended, no doubt making my fresh screams sound warbled and funny. My limbs flailed and punched all at nothing. The world that I had been introduced to was whirling. One second the clouds were up, then they were down, after that they were flying everywhere in all cardinal directions. I lost all sense of everything: Up, down, left, and right, made off for the fucking Bahamas and were never coming back.

Feelings of betrayal and stupidity weren't quick enough to fester. The cartwheel of doom hadn't even gotten to live through all of its spins.

The strange noises of the air shifting came into my dazed senses and he caught me again, this time by my elbow. I didn't have time to make plea attempt number four-hundred seventy-two, because he flung me across the sky with a swift turn of his body. I spun away from him across the air like an enraged ice skater in a twirl, shouting garbled exclaims. After the rapid, neck-breaking spin, it officially sent me into another shit-inducing freefall.

OH MY GOD! HE'S PLAYING WITH ME! LIKE I'M A FUCKING TOY! HE'S PLAYING FUCKING CATCH WITH ME!

Was this what I have become? A human-shaped ball to throw around for a flying devil dog? How long would this torture go on for? Minutes? Hours? Whenever he got bored of slinging me around?

Was this how I was going to die?

My life flashed before my eyes. It wasn't quite like the cinematic movie reel that showed up in the films. There weren't any remembered sounds or smells; No specific memories that I cherished the most. The only thing that I could think of as I watched myself fall was my family.

Mom. Dad. Alysson. Max. What were they doing right now? Were they alright? What were they going to do when they found my broken, mangled corpse sitting on the lawn in a mess of bloodied bones and skin? Would I even land in my own yard? Or would my shattered carcass pelt one of my neighbors' roofs? Riley's roof? Would I even be recognizable falling from this height? What were they going to do without me?

Both of my ankles were caught this time around, rendering me upside-down once more. My hair was back to becoming a hanging curtain, and I was right back to pursuing another squish of my chin to my neck to yell at him; "STOOP!"

The mid-air sit up was miserable and I whined with the strain; "I fucking mean it!" I tried to get closer up to him to hit him, but the positioning was impossible and unfair. His expression insisted that he knew it. His smile was just as wide as it had been when he originally dropped me. My fists missed by a mile and my body drooped down to rock and huff with defeat. I squirmed when my top fell half way. "UUAARGH!" My torso twisted with an indignant bellow, but the building anger melted away when my head hung to look at the ground.

We were noticeably closer to the Earth. The blood rushed to my brain at the realization, and just like that, the panic was there to welcome me with open arms.

Then he started to swing me.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Each motion built with increasing momentum. It felt perversely like I was being played with. "CREEPER! Creeper, don't! Don't you fucking-" I squeaked when a particularly large swing made my stomach flip. "Fucking dooo it! Quit it!" His chin shook with almost soundless laughter. It only encouraged him to do it more. The action was uncomfortably similar to someone pushing harder and harder on a swing set, gaining more and more height.

Who was going to help Max put together his telescope? Who was going to read Alysson her nightly bedtime stories? Who was going to be there for my siblings when mom and dad were busy? I thought about all of the things that I would miss: Alysson and Max getting older, getting their first relationships, their first jobs, missing out on their dreams and their goals and their achievements. How many Christmases and Halloweens and Thanksgivings would I lose out on? Would they use my room as a shrine to remember me? Would they eventually stop visiting the memory of my death altogether? What was going to happen?

"You goddamn asshole!" Tears stung my eyes and made it so hard to fucking see. My face scrunched in growing aggravation and despair, and I wailed. Some of my hair was sucked into my mouth; "You big stupid green bastard. I haaate you! I hate you! Ihateyouso-"

At the peak of the swing, his hands released. "MUUUUUUCCHHH!"

My wrists were caught. Like some cruel circus act, he had swung me by my feet to catch me by my hands. I bawled and cried and shuddered, trying to ignore his low snickering. I turned my face away to rub the tears and hair away against my shoulder with my cheek. His laughter became deep inhaling.

A morbid scene played out in my mind, being that of my funeral: My family dressed in black, their faces long and forlorn in front of a lone white coffin. Others surround them, most being nondescript save for the neighbor boy Riley, Mrs. and Mr. Frankie with their son Stephan, and people I had known from my old school. Alysson approaches my casket with a single red rose, softly crying as she whispers; 'I love you, Jenny.'

I tore myself out of the daydream with a sob. My eyes went to his. He was getting lost in the pleasure of my fear. I hated him. I hated him as much as I needed him. I needed him to return. To my life and to my family.

I missed them. I missed them more than I could put into words. I wanted nothing more than to wake up from this god-awful nightmare so I could be with them again, so that I could take my life back and live it with them; With all the people that I loved and cared about most in the world. I wanted to hug them, to hold them, to tell them how much I loved them and did they have any idea just how fucking much, to be near them again even if just for a moment. And while I was going on my rant about what I missed most, I missed my room, I missed my books, I missed food and I missed eating it, I missed the luxury of physical stability, I missed the ground and I missed walking on it.

"Please." It was a hiss. A hiss sharp enough to have him return my cold gaze. Sharp enough to remind him that he wasn't done toying with me, so he dropped me again.

I felt a sickness I hadn't before.

Death.

The one word seemed to come alive, achieve sentience with how much it was choking me with the plausibility of it becoming a reality. And just how unbelievably cold I was, made death seem all the more possible. My body was entirely numb. The only thing I felt was gravity, an odious, terrible force pulling me down, down, down to my doom. All of these emotions hurtling at me at the speed of light, combined with the height, was making me feel lightheaded. Vomit threatened to emerge. I think I would have thrown up if the concept of my own bile floating up to hit me wasn't present.

A dark shape soaring towards me caught my attention. Just as quickly as I registered it, it had grabbed me from under my armpits. Creeper was once more pulling me into another tight grip, flying up to regain some of the height that we had lost. I shook my head violently, attempting to kick and hit him despite the fact that he was behind me; "No, no, no!" I knew he was going to drop me again. I knew it with the confidence of someone condemned to die. After all, I was a ball of fright. Chucky had said Creeper was a fear junkie and that he got off on it. I probably stank to high Heaven of it. He was enjoying this.

"Please, Creeper! Don't drop me!" I begged, clutching at his arms like they were support ropes. Why did I bother to beg? Begging wasn't working.

What does someone do when their prayers aren't answered? Keep waiting on their god to help? Keep begging belligerently and fervently? Hoping that just one more extra little 'please' might convince them? Might earn some grace and some pity? A helping of mercy?

Or do they help themselves?

I could feel my blood rushing through my veins at nauseating speeds. The decreased amount of oxygen swirled inside my brain and lungs. This time around I couldn't plead with him face-to-face, not that it would have changed anything. His mouth sat right next to my ear and I could hear him: Inhaling and breathing me in, savoring every ounce of my fright, using me. Stop. STOP. STOP IT! I didn't know what else to do. I headbutted him backwards.

I don't know if it really hurt him, but it definitely surprised him. The snuffled huff of his breath with the animalistic noise he had made confirmed it. Either way, he ended up dropping me right after. I slipped through the loop of his arms, now feeling the start of a new, yet familiar emotion. One of which had been building this entire time.

Anger.

Fuck you. Fuck you all. They need me. My family needs me. I can't die yet, I won't! I'm not dying today! I'm not! Someday I'll go, but not today! If I needed to become their little maid just to see my family again, then fuck it. So be it. That's exactly what I'd do. Nathaniel and Creeper had their twisted moment of fun. Whatever lesson they had wanted to teach me? I considered it fucking learned.

"ENOUGH!"

I yelled the word as loud as I could, my voice half carried away by the wind. Between having been strangled by Michael and now screaming my lungs out, it was nothing short of a miracle that I hadn't completely lost my voice by now. In any case, Nathaniel was magical. He had to be listening. He had to be able to hear me if only to monitor the situation. There was no way he had just sent me to die as somebody else's chew-toy. It would have been a waste of his wishes otherwise.

I let out a startled cry when I felt arms wrap around my waist. Creeper had surprised me, coming out of nowhere like that. "Fucking put me down. Now." I growled. It likely didn't come out as serious and intimidating as I wanted it to be, but I didn't care. I was over this. I was done. Despite my demand, he wasn't descending…But he wasn't ascending either. My stomach did another flip when he released a growl of his own. What did that mean? Had I upset him? Well tough shit. He deserves it! Well even if he did, what would happen now?

I felt the presence of his head lean closer to mine. I tensed. What is he do- My thoughts stalled as I felt hot air touch the side of my neck. My face warped while I frowned. Hot air? Then it hit me. Not hot air: His breath. The nape of my neck tingled intensely with the feel of his hot breath covering more and more of my neck, getting hotter the closer his mouth came. I began to wriggle, my eyes almost owlish with how wide they had gotten. "Wh-What are you doing?!" I tried to rear my head away as far as it could go. He let out a janky, hissed laugh in response. Is he going to eat me!?

I never thought I would be so ecstatic to hear Nathaniel's voice.

"Are we ready to come back home?"

"YES! YES! I'M READY! GET ME BACK. NOW!"

I hadn't cared where it came from, but now with the admission out of my mouth I searched for him. Stupid me, where was he going to be all the way up here? In the middle of the sky? On a fucking magic carpet? Creeper was looking around curiously as well. The heat of his breath had been reluctantly pulled away from my throat to do so. Thankfully Nathaniel had interrupted him just in time to stop him from whatever he had been intending to do.

Nathaniel's laugh could be heard from all around, unapologetically entertained by the desperation in my voice. "Now, now, where is that charm and humility I had hoped to hear?" Oh, the things I wanted to fucking say to this guy. I curled and uncurled my numb fingers to quell the things I wanted to spew at him. Teeth chattering from the cold, I said as amicably as I could; "Y-Yes, please. I wo-wo-wouuld like to come back in-inside now."

He hummed, sickeningly pleased before saying; "Very well. Bring her back in."

My eyes fell closed in consolation, all the tension in my body drifting away while I went limp in Creeper's arms. God, is it finally over? Please, please be over. I never ask for anything. Just this once. Please. Pretty please with sprinkles on top and everything. There was no turning back now. While I was still in Creeper's deadly embrace, I didn't have the strength to be on my guard anymore. I sagged against him and simply let him support all of my weight. Just in case he was still listening, I whispered to Nathaniel with a sigh; "Thank you."

With one great motion of his wings, I felt the both of us begin a path back downward. While I was absolutely exhausted, I had to open my eyes for this. I just had to. I had to see with my own two eyes my neighborhood and house come back into view, just to further cement the fact that I would be safe and sound. As safe and sound as one could be living in a house full of malevolent beings, but beggars and choosers and all that, whatever. I didn't have the energy to correct the expression. Instead I summoned the remaining amount of my strength to heave my eyelids open and blink away the salty sting.

We were no longer above or around the clouds. Our elevation had massively decreased along the way. The blessed visage of the neighborhood was in fact coming into view. Not only that, but the once two-dimensional landscape was now filling out and becoming three-dimensional as it should have been. With these mouth-watering views came the most heavenly of all: My house was swooping fast into recognition. If I had had the willpower to do so, I would have shouted a 'hallelujah' and a 'hell yeah'. I decided some nice quiet tears were a suitable replacement.

Soon enough I could see the figure standing at the window. He remained too far away to properly see, but with the familiar look and color scheme, it was undoubtedly Nathaniel. He had been clearly watching and waiting for our return. Has he been there this whole time? I wondered. We had been too high up for him to see anything anyway. I don't know why he bothered waiting up. Maybe to gloat in my face and rub in the punishment that I had taken? Likely.

Whatever his reasoning, the sight of us returning appeared to satisfy the genie. He turned away from the window and left the space of it. I suspected the action was to make room for our landing.

But we didn't land there.

And we weren't getting any closer either.

I would have been content just to hang out in his arms for the sake of conserving energy, but this change of plans immediately leapt to the top of the priority list. Also honestly? I really did not want to be in his arms right now. I wanted my bed. I wanted the ground.

The silence had my body go rigid against him. I knew I didn't have to raise my voice for him to hear me so I didn't bother; "Why aren't, why aren't we going ba-back in?" He didn't answer. I forced the next sentence, hoping it would be the reminder for him to get his shit in gear; "H-He said we could go back in."

When he still didn't say anything, I knew right then and there we weren't going back inside.

I fought against the shift of his arms, weak at first, but speedily gaining strength; "No, no, don't, you mother fucking-" I batted at his arm while his hand sought one of my own. The hug was maneuvered to hold me by the meat of my upper arm. All too soon he had me suspended and facing him, dangling slightly below. My only free arm punched and knocked at his bare chest. "It's not funny, I'm not fucking amused, you horrible, god-awful-" The slew of cursing had him smiling. More lips than teeth amazingly, but I wasn't in the mood to marvel at it. He held me further away while I went on my tirade.

"Oh, you're going to drop me again, huh?!" His eyes lit with mirth and he made an overexaggerated show of nodding his head yes. Seeing that pissed me off profoundly more. "How fucking original!"

His grasp widened enough to make me slide all the way down to my wrist before he tightened it again. My weight bounced at the sudden stop, but I paid it no mind. I happened to be a bit too engrossed in trying to swat and hit him to care.

Creeper's facial features put on a play for his captured, livid audience. His head angled and along arrived different teasing glimpses of expressions. Those eyes widened and the hand holding me rose. Then went back to normal. And repeated. Only to soothe itself. Afterwards to start up again.

It was every bit a stitched together presentation to taunt; 'Oooh, I'm going to drop you! No I'm not. Yees I aam! Oh! Oooh! Gonna droop yooou! Ooh! Uh oh! I'm gonna! I'mm gonnaaa droop youu!'

Had Ghostface felt like this when he had been manhandled and strung about? No wonder he had been so angry! Though to be fair, I think I had way more of a right to be furious right now. The phantom had deserved it. I didn't deserve any of this shit!

My anger continued to evolve and grow watching his stupid silent performance; "You know what I'm gonna do to you once we get back down?" His eyebrows lifted with playful curiosity, as if asking me what I was intending to do to him, and imploring me to tell him more.

I snarled up to his amused face, my available arm flopping and directing the threat at him; "I'm gonna rip those fucking wings off and use them as goddamn toilet paper! I'm gonna wipe my ass with those! And they're gonna smell like shit! It's all you're going to be able to smell anymore by the time I'm done with them!"

His eyes closed and he nodded with a purse of those dark lips; Sure and condescending as all Hell. As if I were a toddler shouting up promises that I couldn't deliver. It very much oozed; 'Of cooursee you wiiilll.' Which I knew I couldn't, but all the same, I did not appreciate it. The burn of my skin being pulled down by my weight in his hand had the fury elevating.

"S-So you better enjoy this while you still can, you fucking fuck!" Some far away little part of me was both appalled and in awe of the spit that actually hurtled from my mouth with the aggression. "This is going to be your last flight! It's over! Done! You fucking hear me?!"

Surely he did fucking hear me, but he appeared pretty convinced that he didn't care. Not even a teensy bit as the hand not holding me came up. It climbed high enough to rest next to strangely shaped cheek. Making absolutely sure that it was in my line of sight with his green palm showcased, Creeper gave me a ridiculously sarcastic goodbye wave while I threatened and raved. His fingers folded down in time with his head to nod 'bye-bye' at me.

"YOU FUCKING DROP ME ONE MORE TIME AND YOU'LL BE SORRY!"

Of course he dropped me one more time.

And judging from the broad grin that came just after…He wasn't sorry at all.

I know I said I wanted the ground, but not like this!

It was a straight vertical fall. I was bound to land horrifically on my feet. It wasn't worth the effort to multitask or try to save myself because the height had been considerably shortened. My poor relationship with math had the distance not able to be discerned. All I needed to know was that it was high up enough to break both of my legs and then some.

At least I was going to die in the comforts of my fenced-in back yard.

I could not look away from the ground. Faster and faster it came straight at me. Hurtled and raced to meet me like falling from a dive board into a pool with no water. The seconds brought it closer and my heart slammed like a banging fist.

It was exactly like the nightmares I had of me falling. The difference here was I wouldn't wake up right before I hit the ground. My eyes screwed shut as I braced for the impact of my legs shattering and collapsing. One last scream poured from my mouth-

It didn't stop when I was abruptly grabbed to hover by my elbow.

But it did stop when my feet gently touched the grass.

My eyes flew open to look above me-

Directly into Creeper's enthused expression.

You gotta be fucking kidding.

Still smiling, his hand relinquished the grip on my elbow. I was too stunned to stand on my own. My legs gave up and I fell to the ground on my ass, arm still lifted in wonder. It sank into my lap and rested on my thigh. My dazed gaze found the grass around us. Two seconds later and my brain finally made the connection.

I WAS SAFE! Safe, with no broken body parts, and on the ground again! I HAD SURVIVED! I WAS ALIVE!

My weight dragged me down to have my back plop on the dark grass. The house loomed above and the sky stayed where it was meant to: Far, far above. A delirium settled in and I celebrated like an overly happy, thankful idiot.

"I'M ALIVE!" It broke me into a laugh and I started to make literal fucking grass angels. My legs and arms swept along as if I were playing in snow and not on a dry, cold floor. The laughter continued, spurred on by my actions. Harder and louder than ever. Thankful tears slid down my face. Even to me the laughing fit sounded crazy and ludicrous, but I didn't give a flying shit.

I sent both hands on their own tasks to rip up the greenery and clench it in my fists, before throwing them up like green confetti. Again and again, I tore up blades of grass and tossed up the remains. Grass rained over me and I giggled and gasped, positively giddy.

It wasn't until I heard an amused huff of breath that I realized that my hysteria-filled celebration was being watched.

I grew still. The smile that had been on my face froze into a bared display of terrified cringe. With my hands full of yet-to-be-thrown bits of lawn, I rose from an early grave into a sit.

The whole time I had been celebrating, Creeper had been crouched, silently watching. His chest lifted and fell deeply. He sat on his haunches with his coat like a trailing cape behind him, both legs splayed outwards in the deep squat of the position. His hands hung limply in the middle between both of his inner thighs. Once my gaze found his, I discovered the look he had been giving me.

An intense scrutiny. An uncomfortably unchanging expression with his head in a downwards tilt. His lips were parted, not quite a smile, but with some inkling of amusement. However, there existed something else in those facial features. Something darker. More serious. The Creeper was thinking about something, and it wasn't hard to determine who the topic of thought was.

Thus him staring at me and being back on the ground came with its own realizations. Like how I literally threatened the flying monster that I'd rip his wings off and wipe my ass with them; A no doubt very cherished part of his body.

So how long did I have left to live?

Well according to my piss-poor calculations and the current way he was looking at me…Not very fucking long.

I swallowed noticeably. Normally he probably would have shown some reaction to such a thing, but he didn't. The staredown had a hazy adrenaline kicking in. My hands fidgeted and twitched in my lap like antsy insects; "So," A thin laugh weaseled its way out of my throat. "A-About all that stuff I said.."

Nothing changed on his face or in his posture..

My anxiety tightened around my neck like a scarf. "I…I didn't mean any of that." Another half choked, half prematurely swallowed laugh came into being; "You know that, right? I-I could never. I mean, re-really just.." My grass-clenching palm became grubby with sweat as it gestured between the both of us; "Look at you and look at me. You're so much uh, bigger than.."

A long, silvery spool of saliva reflected moonlight as it sllloowwlly slid down the corner of his mouth and chin.

I watched the thread of it wind its way down the side of his chin into the deep crevice of his jaw. It ensnared all of my attention. I watched it cascade into another stream off his jawline and hit the ground beneath him, like a perverse drop of rain. The last part of my sentence left in a soft, startled wheeze; "...me.."

He started to move.

So did I. A clumsy, highly distracted backwards scuffle-slide to put space between us. One kick, two, grass-filled hands helping me get away with the press of my knuckles to the lawn. Meanwhile, Creeper moved slowly and surely like a prowling panther. His hands went out ahead and the rest of him followed. One green hand on the ground, followed after the other, coming to me on all fours. He tracked me with a gaze that refused to be torn away.

"Creeper.." I tried.

He continued to advance. My hand missed its escape placement to lean lopsided on one elbow.

"Creeper, stop!"

His hand soared forward and grabbed my calf. It pulled me closer while the other pawed its way nearer. I launched my opposite foot at his face but he snatched it just in time. "CREEPER!" The foot was used to pull me in, in unison with the other leg. My ass went sliding across the grass and I was slotted against him. My shouted plea went out to the maniacs hiding in my house; "GUYS! GUYS, HELP!" One hand threw the debris of lawn at him and he snuffed the flying cloud of it away. My head twisted up to scream; "HEEEL-"

The large hand gripping my calf dove right for my mouth to smother it with an equally as large palm, my legs trapped underneath while he sat over my waist. My scream became considerably muffled behind it and I threw the other handful of grass at his face. His head shook like an offended horse. The palm pressed against my lips had me realizing just how close he suddenly was. Practically on top of me, his weight crushing me into the dirt. His hair was all white and silver at his nape, outlined by the moon high above. So close. Too close.

Excluding the recent tense moments between my awful roommates and I, no one had ever been this close to me before. Had ever been on top of me before. Never had someone else's body so near to mine. Christ, I hadn't even held hands with a boy. Not to mention, I had never touched anyone like this before either. I had never felt the skin of someone's bare chest underneath my hands. Creeper's state of half-undress had my body flushing red at the thought. This new experience brought hordes of many different emotions to the forefront. Fear. Anger. Regret. Confusion..

Fascination.

Deep, deep down, I couldn't look away because I didn't want to look away.

That terrified me almost more than he did. I let myself focus more on the fear, and less on whatever the hell I was beginning to feel.

Both of my hands beat and smacked at his chest with renewed passion. He was too broad. Too strong. My head wriggled and thrashed as much as it could with his hand on my mouth. Why?! What did he want!? WHERE WAS NATHANIEL!?

Creeper leaned himself back, as if he were about to let loose a howl to the moon. Shadows fell over the raised bumps that decorated his pecs and torso. The scant, cascading light emphasized how fit he appeared. How much stronger and bigger than me he was. Instead of howling, his bare chest rose with an immensely deep breath. My hands struck pathetically at him all the while. His head pulled up and up. The inhale segmented into exhales and divisioned itself into a faster rhythm. What was up with this thing?! Why was my scent so fucking important to him!?

If he thrived off smell, he could have just asked for a bottle of my perfume! Not that I had been fucking wearing it, but come on! Anything but this!

His face peered down at me and I saw that third nostril flapping in earnest. His head shook with what I could only assume was hunger. Oh shit. Oh God, what does that even mean?! Whatever it meant, surely it didn't mean anything good for me. He hunched over me so quickly I didn't have time to be alarmed. The closeness rendered my hands even more useless than before. All I could do was try to push him away. His mouth roamed over the temple of my forehead. His neck pulsated in front of my eyes. The built muscle of his chest felt like an unmovable barrier against me. His nose combed along the line of my hair as he gruffly drew and expelled breath, something so vocally harsh and deep, its animalistic nature sent a shimmer of fright down my spine. The aggressive inhaling almost felt like he was trying to tear my own scent off of me. Warm air rushed and spilled over my scalp.

Then the hand on my mouth pushed my head up and our eyes were aligned.

I attempted another weak, muffled scream. Still keeping eye contact, Creeper snatched up one of my hands and extended it taut between the two of us. His head dipped low towards the inner flesh of my forearm and I squirmed. DON'T EAT ME! DON'T EAT ME! The tip of his nose ran a soft line along the veins of my wrist and he sniffed all the way up.

I had never been touched so intimately..

The fascination crawled its way back.

No, no! I tried to push it down, but it swam to the surface when his mouth opened. Those lethal teeth were back on display to be afraid of, but my eyes went past the danger to spot his tongue. My eyes bulged at the same time the slimy, wet sounding muscle of it emerged. The warmth of the appendage slid along goosebump covered skin, coating a path of heated breath where it trailed.

A long, low moan of horror and confusion couldn't make it past the green palm.

So I knew that the noise hadn't been what had made him stop.

What had made him stop had been the combination of a light flicking on one back yard over with a shout of; "WHO'S OUT THERE?"

Creeper ripped his head away from my wrist in the direction of the neighboring call. And just like that, he was up on his feet. I couldn't even blink before he bent double at the waist to clutch my tank top in his hand. I was amazed it hadn't shredded off entirely when he hauled me straight up the ground in one yank. My feet stepped over themselves in the rapid scuffle to keep myself standing upright. The opposite hand of his again went to cover my mouth and before my brain could process, his wings left his coat and we were shooting up.

Straight up into the attic window.

Creeper slowed his flying, allowing us to smoothly come in through the damaged frame. His feet touched the floor first, followed by mine. He took a few steadying steps into the attic before letting me go. I fell out of his grasp half limp and collapsed onto the floor. I barely heard the sound of his wings settling themselves back into place under his coat.

I lay there gasping and coughing, cheek crushed against the floor, my breath pushing past crazed strands of my hair while I stared at nothing in particular. My face felt like it had been emptied of all color. I was shaking, covered in goosebumps yet sweat had matted some of my hair to my body and face. What the actual fuck had just happened? The race of my heartbeat thundered inside of my head. Its only competitor was that of my raspy breathing.

I knew I was lucky to be alive. Lucky not to have fallen to my death, and even luckier not to have been eaten. They very well could have let me die but they hadn't. Even though I knew it had only been because I was useful, I was beyond grateful that they had let me live and that Creeper had additionally been interrupted in whatever the hell that had been about.

I don't know how long I spent quivering on the floor like that, but eventually it occurred to me that Nathaniel had been waiting for me to recover: At least long enough to be able to speak to me. It was damn good that he had. I could tell I was still wrapped up in shock like it was a cozy blanket. So much processing of the events prior still had to be done. All of a sudden, I had way too much to think about.

When at last he deemed me capable of conversation, he spoke;

"Did you two enjoy the ride?"

I wasn't strong enough to shoot him a glare, so I just ended up scowling at the patch of hardwood directly in front of my vision. Apparently that was amusing. He chuckled and leaned over me. How did I know he was leaning over me? Because his red garments came into view alongside his shadow. My hazy mind struggled to comprehend his movements. It seemed as though he was to my right.

A rough exhale tore itself from my mouth when I felt some of his fingers caress over my cheek. My eyes darted up towards him to blink furiously. Nathaniel knelt over me with his back to the window, dousing me in his shadow. His green skin tone became muted in the dark but as always the fire of his eyes could still be seen. "There, there," He cooed, brushing my hair away from my tear streaked face with a claw. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" The gentle action was condemning and comforting. I swallowed thickly, my tongue burning with all the things that I wanted to say.

Where had Creepy gone?

As if to answer, Nathaniel's head inched up and he said in a tone that left no room to argue; "Leave us." Creeper didn't leave us immediately. Nathaniel had to give him another ushering expression before the sound of what must have been Creeper's feet began to stroll away. After a few moments of his footsteps growing quieter and quieter, I heard the creak of the door before it shut. We were alone. Giving it some more time still, I watched Nathaniel's eyes lower and return to mine.

"You understand I had a role to play, yes?"

A role? Fuck off and fuck you. A role! A role my dick! That had been seriously unbelievable for it to have just been some made-up shit he had gone along with. There was no way he made up that entire story about some poor fuck falling to his death one thousand years ago just to sell this whole thing. I wanted to roll my eyes. "You s-sure seemed," I drew a breath, my eyelids floating down lazily. "To be enjoying yo-your role," I muttered. "M-Makes me wonder if it was even a role at all." My gaze went to his accusingly while my teeth chattered.

He clicked his tongue and shook his head. The other hand went to his chest while the same hand continued to stroke my hair softly. I both wanted to jerk myself away from him and let him continue. "I am sorry I had to deceive you, Jennifer," He crooned. "But it will be to our benefit. You will see. After all, I cannot have the others thinking I am conspiring with you, now can I? That would get us nowhere."

Goddamnit if he didn't have a point.

My quivering mouth set into a hard line. He waited for me to seek reassurance; "So you just made all that up?"

"It was only told to scare you."

I sighed. At least there was that.

"But di-did you have to be so convincing?" I whined, cozying up against the floor. Ahh, the floor was so nice. So sturdy. So reliable. Maybe I can curl up here for a little while.. While I normally wouldn't have liked the thought of sleeping on the floor, right now it was nothing short of blissful. His grin was big enough to see from the corner of my eye. "I'm afraid so." I groaned quietly.

"Gather yourself," The hand petting my tresses lifted away as he returned to a stand. I rolled sloppily onto my back, my eyes slowly grazing over to him. With how weak and out of it I was, they felt like pool balls rolling around in my sockets. "The others are expecting you." The others? It was more of a whine than a question. The last thing I wanted was to be around them right now.

As he was saying this he was waving his hand at something unseen on the other side of me. My head drunkenly lulled to the side to see what he was doing. The bits and pieces of glass that were still on the floor were being swept away by an invisible broom, clearing a path for me to eventually walk. I noticed Creeper's hat was missing. Regardless, I must have looked perplexed by the gesture, because Nathaniel's voice addressed it;

"I did say you would not be harmed. I like to think I am a.." There was a murmured snicker. "Genie of my word." Cute. Real funny.

Also harmed? "I was almost fucking eaten, Nathaniel." It sounded just as tired as I wanted it to.

"Really," He looked on momentarily in the way of the door. Despite this, he did not sound nearly as half as concerned as I wanted him to. He returned my gaze; "Yet you are in one piece. How fortuitous."

I pressed both palms of my hands to the floor and hefted myself up into a sitting position. A whole bunch of ick swam around in my head, causing me to screw my face up sourly. One hand covered the side of my forehead and I grumbled; "Thanks for the concern." Yup, that definitely felt like a headache manifesting. Fuck me. Hopefully that bottle of Tylenol wasn't empty yet.

Despite being the wicked gentleman that he wanted me to think he was, Nathaniel didn't offer to help me up from the floor. I had to be the one to put myself back on my own two feet and it was rough. My legs felt like jelly. The first time I got into a stand, I fell right back on my ass. I had it by the third time though. Wobbling like a baby deer on ice, I hobbled my way across the dark attic space-

Only to stub my toe.

"Shitting fucking god!" I yelped, doubling over on all fours. My hands fell onto various items that had fallen from boxes. Some of it was smooth, some of it was cloth, and some of it was metallic. I didn't know what the fuck I had whacked my toe into, all I knew was that it hurt like a fucking son of a bitch. OF COURSE I HAVE TO STUB MY TOE, BECAUSE WHY NOT RIGHT? I growled out my frustration and pain while I worked to fumble blind for my foot. I cradled my wounded toe, working to rub away the sting. I could hear Nathaniel making disapproving tuts at me. It seemed as though he had a cat's vision because he was moving perfectly fine in the blackness.

"I did not think you to be so clumsy."

"I can't fucking see!" I snapped.

So much for not being harmed.