Prolonged - How I Met Phil
*TRIGGER WARNING*
-sexual harassment
-attempted sexual assault
-violence
-talk of rape and attempted rape
𐂂𓆱𐂂
-1924 Chicago-
I inhaled a deep breath of the cold damp Chicago air, "this place is the perfect hunting ground. Now to search for my next 'victim'. I might just save someone tonight." I put my hands on my hips like a typical superhero. I hopped over to the roof to my right and proceeded to saunter along the edge while I sniffed the air around me. I sighed, "I was wrong. All I smell is smoke, car exhaust, and some alcohol." How do people breathe here? Damn, my sense of smell. I groaned and jumped down into a dark grungy alley.
I was kicking an empty soda can while I walked, "how do cops find bad guys every night? What do they do while they wait?" While I was talking to myself a metal door was slammed open behind me, I was too busy grumbling to myself to pay attention. A large man, who looked like a stereotypical mob boss, dragged a young woman out of the "club" they were in. I think it violated too many health codes to be considered a place of business, plus it couldn't legally sell alcohol. "Let's see if you will keep being a tease when we get back to my place," the man disgustingly licked the poor sobbing woman's cheek. "Please let me go, just let me go," the girl begged. He chuckled as he started to bring his hand under her skirt, "Let's go ahead and start here then. I like it when they fight ba-" I couldn't listen to his filth anymore, I wrapped my arm around his throat and pulled him away from the woman. She screamed from the sudden disturbance. While the creep struggled in my grasp I looked to her, "It's ok. I'll handle him." I flashed her a warm smile. "Why don't you run home? I'll call the cops." She was shaking from the experience, but after a few seconds of contemplation, she nodded her head. She must be too shaken up to question why another young woman was holding him like he was nothing. As she was walking away she was mumbling several thank you's under her breath.
I dragged the struggling creep farther into the dark alley. "Do you have any idea who I am? You crazy bitch," he seethed. Yes, I do. First name lunch and last name dinner. I sighed as if I hadn't heard this a thousand times, "I don't care." I felt all my teeth elongate and sharpen, I spun the creep around so he could see me, and just as he was about the scream in horror I sunk my teeth into his throat. As I was chewing his larynx he was gurgling and coughing up blood. I leaned in close to his face, "I have a love/hate thing going on with people like you. I hate what you do to other human beings, but I love the way it makes you taste." As I was continuing my meal in the dark alley I didn't hear the light footsteps coming up behind me. Someone cleared their throat behind me, "If I didn't know any better I would think that you wanted to get caught." I spun around and glared at the man standing behind me. He wore a black trench coat, he had a dark hairstyle that I had never seen before, and dark sunglasses on. He doesn't smell human. "Isn't it a little redundant to wear sunglasses at night?" I quipped back. He grinned, " I never take them off." I tilted my head at him, "What brings you around these parts Shades?" He grimaced at the nickname, "I was passing by when a young lady seemed to be in distress. She frantically told me that another young woman saved her from a man who tried to-" he scratched the back of his neck, "but she said that she abandoned her savior and wanted me to come help." He leaned to look around me at the pile of bloody clothes and body parts, "but it seems that you don't need my help. A shower and new clothes, perhaps." I chuckled at him, "I never need help subduing a meal." He nodded and cleared his throat, "Then why don't I help you get cleaned up? You look like you haven't had a proper home in a long time." I looked down at my ripped and mud-stained dress, which now had blood down the front, "I wandered around in search of my food. I've never needed a place to set roots." He frowned, "sounds like a lonely life."
After several minutes of denying the man's kindness, he finally managed to get me to agree to a shower and clean clothes. His apartment was rather small. The living and kitchen were in view of the front door. There was a curtain off to the right. "The curtain is my bedroom, they do not provide proper housing for people like me," he motioned for me to move behind the curtain. The bathroom was behind a separate curtain. "That sounds dumb. Do they know that you're not human?" I rubbed my chin while I looked around. He stiffened while he retrieved some towels, "no they don't know. It's because I'm colored." I shrugged, "everyone tastes the same." He grimaced, "do you only care about eating?" I nodded. He sighed, "How do you know I'm not human?" I rubbed my nose, "you're smell." He sighed again while he turned on the shower, "Let's get you cleaned up first and then we will discuss that."
I walked out from behind the curtain while rubbing the towel through my hair. The stranger was reading on his couch, "Oh good. I hope you didn't use all the hot water." He looked up at me and choked on air, "Why are you naked?!" I scoffed, "You threw away my clothes. What was I supposed to do?" He shielded his glasses, "you're supposed to use the other towel to cover yourself!" My mouth made an O shape, "oh, I was wondering why you gave me two." He shooed me away back behind the curtain, "Just stay there until I get you some clothes." I heard him shuffling through some drawers, "How long has it been since you've been around another person?" I shrugged and rubbed my chin in thought, "I think maybe thirty years. I usually stay in wooded areas. Animals don't care if I'm naked." I could hear him mumbling under his breath, "I care." He pulled the curtain back long enough to throw a white button-up shirt and dark grey pants on my head, "do you remember how to dress yourself?" I snickered at his embarrassment, "I used to steal clothes from campers."
I returned to his living room in just the shirt that swallowed me, "the pants wouldn't stay up." He sighed again, in relief, "I didn't realize how short you were with those heels you had on." I plopped down on the couch next to him, "it's alright. Now start talking shades." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, "My name isn't Shades. My name is Philander." I nodded while lightly bouncing in my seat, "Alright Phil. Now tell me why you didn't freak out earlier." He smirked, "it's not the first time I've seen someone murdered. You see I'm a Gorgon." I gasped excitedly while his weird hairstyle turned into a bunch of long black snakes. A few of them hissed at me while one licked my cheek to smell me. "That's way better than what I can do. I'm just strong, fast, and I have shark-like teeth," I pointed at my sharp teeth while his snakes flinched back. He pushed his glasses up, "What is your name and what are you?" I gave him a toothy grin, "My name is Ramsey Erin, I'm a Wendigo. But unlike the legends I was born one. There has only ever been like hundred born ever." He nodded in thought, "Does that mean that you're different than the legends?" I put my index finger and my thumb close together, "a little bit. I don't have to eat humans to survive. It just means that I won't be hungry for a few months. I can live off venison once a week if I have to. I also only turn into what humans have depicted us as when I'm starving. A lot of those artists are close to what we look like." He nodded at my small information dump, "How old are you?" I lightly punched his arm, "It's rude to ask a woman her age. But if you must know, I was born in 1691. My family lived in a small cabin in the Appalachian mountains. They were also wendigos, but they lived in the cabin to avoid suspicion." He snickered at me, "You're younger than me." I grinned excitedly, "Oh let me guess. You remember what the dinosaurs look like." He frowned at that, "I'm not that old." My excitement deflated a little. Dinosaurs are cool though. He patted my head like I was a child. Just because I'm five feet tall doesn't mean I won't bite off your hand. "I was born in 432 BC," he said with no humor in his tone. I gapped at him, "BC?! Did you say BC?!" He sighed and rubbed his temple at my outburst, "Yes I did."
After a few hours of explaining how we both ended up in Chicago. Phil wanted to increase his education for the thousandth time. I wanted to see what a big city looked like. I was disappointed. I couldn't fight the yawn that pried its way out of my throat. Phil gently pulled on my sleeve so I would slump onto the couch as he stood up. "I'll let you get some sleep, you earned it after you saved that woman," he laid a blanket on top of me while I grumbled about just grabbing dinner. He smiled down at me, "I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship."
