Makes Him Feel Young Again

[400yearsofsurvival]

As the shadows grew longer across their little suburban development, a young girl freely texted with a monster, thinking him her boyfriend. Said boyfriend was completely safe, off on some trek somewhere, probably having to do with what he assumed to be a concert they were supposed to go to. Only that boyfriend had "lost" his phone the night before. He'd heard the kid yelling about it, asking if his mother had seen it, as he turned his bedroom upside down. He'd find it. Eventually. Maybe.

Now, as the sun started to dip below the horizon, the monster waited, listening for a car. A familiar engine belonging to the one he longed for most. By the time she arrived, twilight would have started to settle over the desert. The perfect time to strike.

Can't wait

A simple text he'd sent. Teenagers were so...gullible sometimes.

Comments

[ripefruit]

Something had seemed off about the text Amy had received in response from Charley. She wasn’t sure what it was, exactly. Maybe something in the tone? Her worries were quickly swept aside, though, and she was made to believe that she was just overthinking things. After everything that had happened she’d been worrying too much, always looking over her shoulder. If there was anybody she could trust herself with it was Charley. She knew him so well.

Didn’t she?

So she cleaned herself up quickly and hopped in her car to drive over to Charley’s house, parking on the road by his mailbox. Hopping out of the car, she shut the door behind her and tossed her keys from one hand to the other, making a jingling noise as she approached the Brewsters' front door.

[400yearsofsurvival]

Leaning against the outside wall of the neighboring house was a figure, not easy to see from the street. He just casually ate an apple, watching the car approach, as if there were nothing going on here. When she stopped, he didn't move. Nor did he move when the door opened. Yet sometime between there and her reaching the door, he vanished from that spot. He didn't even need to move fast, with the pace she was going. Unafraid of what lurked so close by.

"Oh, I'm afraid they stepped out for the night," he said, right behind her, having not made a sound on his approach.

[ripefruit]

The smile vanished from Amy’s face. That voice was unmistakeable. She turned to face Jerry slowly. It dawned on her that she’d been right all along and she mentally kicked herself for ever doubting her intuition. The text hadn’t been Charley. Of course it hadn’t been him.

She wanted to run, but she doubted it would do much good. He was too fast. Besides, she had to know…

“Did you hurt them?” Amy’s voice shook just slightly. The thought made her stomach turn. She really did love Charley and his mom was practically family to her by now. Thinking of either of them as vampires was the stuff nightmares were made of.

Her eyes drifted from his face back to her car, trying to judge how long it would take her to get inside and speed off. Even if she got to the little green car, though, it was a convertible. It would provide little protection. Her gaze shifted to the next house over. She knew better than to think there was safety in numbers, but getting inside a building would at least buy her time. The wheels of her mind were turning desperately fast. There had to be an escape from this situation.

[400yearsofsurvival]

Slowly and casually, he planted a hand on the wall beside Amy's head, leaning closer. His other hand rested on his hip, angling his body so she had a seemingly clear shot at the car. But if she tried to run, he was ready to stop her before she completed the first step toward her car.

He didn't answer her right away, instead following her gaze, as if simply wondering what could ever be so interesting over there. "Oh, they're fine..." he finally said, slowly. He turned his gaze back to her. "Like I said. Stepped out." He titled his head, eyes dipping lower, over her throat and chest, lingering for a moment before sweeping back up. "They shouldn't be gone long. You're welcome to wait over at my place, if you want." He managed to sound almost like a friendly neighbor just doing a simple favor.

[ripefruit]

[ ooc: It occurred to me that this isn’t post-canon, so I’m going to sneakily edit my post so it fits better. Lalala, nothing going on here. Move along folks… ]

Jerry was so good at acting normal. Too good. Why was Charley so convinced that something was up with him? The goosebumps on Amy’s arms still told her to run, to get the hell out of there, but a bigger part of her told her to ignore her instinct to flee. It just wasn’t polite.

She froze like a deer in headlights, seriously considering his offer. He’d been kind to Mrs. Brewster, why wouldn’t he be nice to Amy? It only made sense. Amy slowly nodded her head. Maybe she’d been wrong to jump to conclusions. Charley read too much science fiction and he had a creative mind. The two combined were bound to come up with some interesting results.

“Sure. Just for a little while.” The corners of her mouth pulled into a nervous smile. In spite of pushing her fears aside, Amy still felt trepidation regarding entering Jerry’s home. Even if he was an okay guy, she knew Charley wouldn’t like it. “Thank you, by the way.”

[400yearsofsurvival]

Perhaps it was the simple fact that he was standing far too close and inviting a rather young girl into his house, alone. Or the fact that his gaze seemed keen to creep well below her eyes, almost to the point of fixation. But hey, it was normal, right? She was a very attractive girl. He was a rather handsome man. He was perfectly well meaning. Totally. There were just certain things a man couldn't help around someone like her. Just as society dictated.

This time as his gaze dipped lower it was to where he could hear her nervous little heart. Like a frightened little bird trapped in the cage of her ribs. The rushing sound of her rapid pulse. Had he not reigned in his impulses centuries ago, he would have found it difficult to resist something so alluring. Instead, he stepped back with a rather pleasant smile.

Gesturing toward his house, just on the other side of the driveway, he said, "After you." He wanted her in front of him, in case she tried something ridiculous, like ducking for her car on the way.

[ripefruit]

If there was one thing Charley had done, it was to totally wreck her miniature crush on Jerry. Now there was nothing but suspicion there. Even as he invited her into her home with no apparent ulterior motive, her instincts were telling her to just go back to her car and wait there. Still, he seemed like such a nice guy. What harm could it do?

She smiled, a slightly nervous twitch of her lips, and stepped in front of him, walking towards the door. Amy wondered what his house was like on the inside. The papered-up windows kind of blocked any view anyone might have of what was going on past those walls. She imagined him as a minimalist, a typical bachelor pad. Thinking about furniture calmed her down a little bit.

Still a touch nervous, she looked back at him with that tentative smile. “I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”