#anyways . yes i think no one got a full set except hun so far today

[btsrmono]

Trial & Error | chapter 14

Main Pairing: (jimin): student/idol x (main): foreign student  Side Pairs: main x (nct) jaehyun

PART 13

“Wait, so you mean to tell me you actually believe in spies?”

You nodded your head, positively. “Dude, they’re totally real, I’ve done my research.”

“You’ve done your research.”

“Yes, there’s plenty of articles and documentaries on it.”

“What, on the dark web?” Jaehyun teased you. “There’s no way it’d be that easy to find.”

You rolled your eyes. Yes, it took you some digging to find, but you weren’t lying!

He laughed at your semi serious appearance and tapped you lightly. “Come on, I’m just joking y/n.” He looked at you for a second before deciding to pour you both another glass of wine.

When you had first arrived, he took you to the rooftop of his building and had a whole set up for you two laid out. A few candles and more than enough layers of blankets laid upon the ground, which was quickly dried up from the rain earlier, to your surprise. He didn’t fail to have some snacks and a small meal prepared.

To be quite frank, you weren’t expecting anything more than chilling inside with him, maybe watching some T.V but no, he actually arranged a real date with you. You couldn’t help but get butterflies upon the idea of his thoughtfulness.

You chuckled at the silly conversation as you picked up the glass, thanking him. He picked his up too and looked at you. “Cheers?”

“Cheers.”

After clunking the glasses, you both took a sip of the bitter yet smooth wine. It was pretty strong so you were getting a good buzz from it, allowing you to be more relaxed with him.

“You’re the type to believe in aliens too, I guess,” Jaehyun spoke, taking another sip.

“Sweetie, I believe in those more than I believe in spies.”

He almost choked from laughing too hard and you couldn’t help but to join him.

“Our next date should be at the movies. We should see a sci-fy together.” He laid his back on the ground, the pillows supporting his neck.

You smiled at the idea as you decided to get cozy and lay next to him. “We should,” you agreed. “What’s your favorite genre?”

Looking you in the eyes and smiling brightly, he took an arm and wrapped it over your waist. “You can’t laugh,” he told you.

“I won’t, I promise.” He stared at you and you could tell he didn’t want to say it. “Goodness, don’t tell me it’s romance.”

“What if it was?”

You accidentally chuckled before quickly shutting your mouth and trying to keep a straight face for the sake of his dignity. In response, he lightly gripped your side as he giggled. “You promised!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it just happened. There’s nothing wrong with you liking romance, hun.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.... What about you?”

You sighed, resting your arm across his chest. “Thrillers, horror, action.” His eyes widened upon hearing this. “I like the suspense,” you explained. “And the unrealistic realities of it all. As crazy as it may sound, it’s an escape from the real world.”

He nodded his head in understanding as you continued.

“For me, I’m not the biggest fan of romance because it sets unrealistic standards. It’s a let down, none of that stuff happens in real life. Love is... more complicated than what they show.”

He stared for a while, trying to read you when the wind lightly blew, causing your hair to fly. He took a second to enjoy the view of your messy hair before pushing it out of your face and behind your ear.

“It is,” he whispered.

You bit your lip, feeling that maybe you were looking at it too deep. “Sorry, I—”

“You wanna know why I like it?” he asked. You nodded. “Like you said, it’s unrealistic. It’s also my escape from reality.”

“Yeah except it’s in the guise of what’s supposed to be reality, that’s what annoys me. They’re nothing but a bunch of impractical projections.”

He laughed, his dimples deepening more than usual, causing you to blush. “Something tells me you were on the debate team at your last school.”

You playfully slapped his chest. “Shut up!”

“It’s just.... they give me hope. It’s okay to wish for the best in a relationship, y/n. Maybe with time, you’ll see that.”

He was right, maybe you were looking at it from too much of a negative stance. You couldn’t help it when most of your relationships ended bad. It was safe to say you did hold a grudge against love for a while and it’s okay to admit that.

You let out a breath, feeling defeated. “You’re not wrong, Jaehyun. You’re not wrong at all.”

While he laid, staring at you, you started to realize just why there was a romantic spark in him. You mean, the date alone showed how he viewed dating and to you, it was... adorable?

Before you noticed, you were staring right back at him. “What are you thinking?” he asked you in a hushed voice.

You grinned at him, placing your hand on his soft face. “You’re so pretty,” you said, stroking his cheek with your thumb.

Next thing you knew, he was kissing you. Small pecks at first. Once, twice, then three more before it progressed intensely, yet he still managed to be gentle. You remembered that he was a good kisser but now that you were more sober than before, you were in actual awe with the way his tender lips molded perfectly with yours.

You both went on like this for a good while and didn’t stop, you didn’t think you ever wanted to. But when he groaned softly, he knew it was time to pull away.

You pouted your now puffy lips at him. “I was enjoying that,” you whined.

He grinned from ear to ear, taking his eyes off of you and glaring at the night sky. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where that came from.”

“Ooh, is that a promise?” You mimicked his moves, looking up at the sky too. It was more beautiful than usual that night.

“It is,” he replied. “And unlike you, I know to keep a promise.”

You jokingly nugged his leg with your knee and you both let out a blissful laugh and enjoyed each other’s company until 1’oclock hit and you had no choice but to end the date and go back home.

The bar might have been low for you due to your dating history but you could easily say that was your best first date ever.

~~

You were shocked when you woke up for school and made it to the bus stop on time. What you almost forgot about for a split second was Jinsoul’s existence until you saw her sitting on the bus bench by herself for once.

When her sight landed on you, she froze as you rolled your eyes at her and looked the opposite way. You were so not in the mood to deal with her right now.

Suddenly, you saw Jimin coming from around the corner, putting you in a semi happier mood. When he saw you, he smiled brightly and you waved from afar. As he got closer, you realized he stopped by a 7-11 on his way.

“Hey, sleepy head!” he yelled.

“How’d you know?” you rhetorically asked as you took the plastic bag out of his hands to examine the items he brought.

“The eye bags explain it all.”

“You asshole!” you shoved him as he laughed and then you picked out an item: samgak kimbap. You unwrapped the food and started to eat, enjoying it more than usual since you skipped breakfast that day. “Thank you,” you said with a full mouth as you handed the rest of the food back to him.

He scrunched his nose in disgust but shook it off quickly and threw you a grin. “You’re so cute when you’re hungry.”

You turned up your face, pretending to be disgusted by the compliment. “Anyway, loser. Where’s Tae and Jungkook?”

He laughed, taking out some food for himself to eat. “Those idiots missed the first bus because they were up all night playing video games. They thought Winter Break started today, not tomorrow.”

Sad to say you weren’t surprised by this at all, it definitely sounded like something they would do. But on the other hand, you couldn’t judge. After everything yesterday, you felt like you didn’t have school either.

You shook your head, giggling at the situation. “I still can’t believe you guys have to catch two buses before this one. You all live so far compared to everyone else.”

“This area is too nice for our company to afford, I think.” He forced a smirk as he bit into a beef jerky stick and looked around at the other students waiting.

You knew it wasn’t his intentions but now you felt slightly bad and it was only 7am. But you quickly waved it off and continued to eat when you saw Jimin look behind you.

“I think someone wants to speak to you,” he said.

For a second, you were confused. But when you turned around, you saw Jinsoul walking your way. You sighed and dismissed yourself from him as he said he would just go chat with Minho.

“Y/n,” Jinsoul spoke, now standing in front of you. “Can we talk?”

To be real, you didn’t want to but you knew it wouldn’t be fair to not hear her out. So you nodded, approving of this request.

As she ran her fingers through her blonde hair, she let out a small sigh. “I had no idea about any of the things Heejin said to you yesterday.”

“Yeah, right—”

”You gotta believe me!” she pleaded. “Not to brag or anything but keep in mind that Jimin was my friend first. The only reason you know him is because of me, y/n. Do you really think I would be okay with someone using you and him for some clout?”

You licked your lips, almost at a loss of words. She was proving some points with that one. Now you just felt like a fool.

“I hardly know those girls, I only just started talking to them the other day and that was only because they were with you.” She paused, staring at you for a second, then she grabbed your arm lightly. “I know this might be hard to believe, given our circumstances but... I kicked her out right after you left. Y/n, you’re one of my best friends, I would never be okay with someone doing that to you.”

You tilted your head, looking at her adoringly. “You still consider me a best friend?”

She chuckled, squeezing your hand. “We never stopped. We just went through a small bump because I got so caught up with...” Jinsoul was now looking at the pavement, a somber expression taken over her face and you instantly knew the reason behind that.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about him, are you okay?” You still couldn’t believe that Jacob would cheat on her. She liked him so much and as far as you were concerned, he liked her too. Everyone knew they were the cutest couple, him doing that was a complete shock.

“I wish I could say I was over him but it’s not that easy,” she replied.

“You’re strong and independent, you’ll be okay.”

“Eventually.” She looked back up at you and cracked a small smile. “Fortunately, I’ll be busy with training now so that’ll take my mind off of it.”

Just then, the school bus pulled up and you all hopped on and got ready for the school day. You knew you had some consoling to do so you linked arms with Jinsoul and sat on the bus with her as the two of you caught up on the ride to school.

~

Right before home room, Jimin insisted on walking with you to your locker when you realized you left your Chemistry textbook in there by accident but you assured him you’d only be a minute so he stayed behind.

As you exited the class, you began to put you hair in a ponytail when you were caught by surprise to see Heejin standing in front of your locker, clearly waiting for you.

You immediately rolled you eyes but continued to your destination to open your locker. “What do you want?” you asked, an annoyed tone hinted in your voice.

Heejin didn’t seem nervous. You can see that she looked apologetic but also, she wasted no time to start talking.

“I shouldn’t have told you any of that,” she spoke.

“You guys shouldn’t have done any of that, Heejin.”

She sucked her teeth. “It wasn’t me, y/n. And I’m not excusing anything. It was wrong, no matter what way I try to look at it. I just regret not telling you sooner.”

You shook your head, breaking eye contact from her to look for your book. “I don’t care, Heejin. It is what it is.” Your eyes laid upon your Chemistry 102 and as you grabbed it, you just realized that you were over it. Completely over it.

“Y/n, I was in a really bad mood the other night and I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I was mad at Kayla and was mad at you for defending her—”

“Which was childish,” you spoke, cutting her off as you now closed your locker. “Kayla is your best friend, Heejin. And I love Jinsoul but you can not let other people’s personal opinions about your best friend control you like that. Ever.”

Now she seemed regretful as she bit her bottom lip and clasped her hands together. “And I realize that now. I plan on talking to her. In the meantime, this is my apology, y/n. Please don’t be mad at me?”

You sighed, knowing you were going to have to face Kayla during class today as well. With so many confrontations happening today, you knew you had to persevere your energy and that started with forgiving people.

“I’m not mad at you, Heejin, I’m dissapointed. I just feel I need some space for a few hours... or days.”

With a nod, she agreed. “That’s understandable.”

That being said, you knew what you needed to do next. You walked back to home room and went right to your seat, turning to the woman whom sat directly behind you, still finishing a half eaten bagel.

“You need to talk to Heejin.”

“I know, she’s been acting really funny towards me lately?” She swallowed the bite that she was chewing before sitting up straighter and looking at you curiously. “Wait, is she acting weird with you too?”

You rolled your eyes. “Kayla, I’m not getting between this, just talk to her.”

She shrugged, not seeming too bothered. “I guess. Anyway, you wanna hang out tonight?”

It was very clear that Kayla had no idea about the situation at hand. And yeah, if you were upset at anyone, it was her. So, if anything, this put you in an even more annoyed state.

“Can’t. Ask Jimin, maybe he can spare you some company.”

At first, she looked lost but then she quickly shook it off, asking you if you really thought he would hang out with her.

Guessing that Jimin happened to hear his name being said, he turned back to look at you. Even though he wasn’t sure what you two were talking about, he had a feeling that you said something petty.

“Don’t,” he mouthed to you.

Sighing, you decided to take Jimin’s advice. Now definitely wasn’t the time or place and to top it off, it was just way too early for all of this. So you turned fully around just as your teacher walked in, prepared to start class.

~

By time lunch came around, you noticed you were one of the firsts in the cafeteria. As you stood in line, waiting to be served your tray, you felt an arm cling over your shoulder and you didn’t even need to look to know who it was. The scent of his godsent cologne gave it away, making you immediately blush.

“I think,” the voice to your left began to say, “we should start sitting together.”

You looked at Jaehyun, cocking your eyebrow conceitedly. “Someone moves fast,” you teased.

“Is that a ‘no’?” He grinned at you as you gently took his arm off you.

“Where in that sentence did you hear a ‘no’?”

“Nowhere, so I’m taking it as a yes.”

You giggled at his boldness but deep down inside, you felt flattered. “I take it you’re used to getting what you want.”

“You’d be suprised.”

You shook your head, opposing this statement. “Actually, I would not. And something about that makes me want to play hard to get.”

His jaw dropped in a joking manner as he tried to keep a poker face but couldn’t help but to let out a laugh. “You’re evil y/n.”

“And you’re lucky you’re cute.”

He playfully shoved you with his elbow and you followed by poking his dimple. The both of you smiled at each other sweetly as the line moved up.

“Y/n, we didn’t get to talk about that date.”

“Yeah, we didn’t,” you replied, suddenly getting butterflies as you thought about last night. “I had a good time.”

He smiled, relieved to hear you say that. “I’m glad you had a good time because I would like to take you on another one. A proper one... If that’s okay with you, I mean.”

A proper one. You weren’t sure what exactly he meant by that, as to you, that was a proper date. Especially considering your age and his schedule. Was the timing of the date messed up? Maybe, but he did what he could. And that alone, was the sweetest gesture.

You were about to respond but before you could even get the chance, you saw Jinsoul walking over to join you two in line as she looked at you both skeptically, arms folded in suspicion.

“Oh, hey—”

“What are you guys talking about?” Jinsoul cuts you off.

Jaehyun took a quick glance at you before looking back to Jinsoul. “I was just telling y/n that you guys should sit with us today.”

The line moved up.

“Sit with ‘us’? As in you, Jungkook, Eunah, Mingyu, Kyle,Hyeri and those other freaks?”

Jaehyun took the name calling very lightly as he cocked his head, chuckling at her. “Yes, me and those ‘other freaks’,” he confirmed.

“I’d rather choke on rocks,” she deadpanned before turning to you. “Y/n, if we sit there that means we’ve officially hit rock bottom, people are going to think we belong to a clique. Do you want to succumb to that?”

Jaehyun huffed. “You would know, little miss perfect, not too long ago you were sitting with us. And you know we’re not a clique, we’re friends with everybody. Come on, you say it like we’re not all still friends with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is Jacob there?”

Jaehyun sighed, seeming to suddenly remember that night. “No, he’s been sorta M.I.A. He’s been telling people he’s sick to get out of things.”

“Once a liar, always a liar,” Jinsoul scoffed, shaking her head in disgust. “Whatever, it’s up to y/n.”

You smiled, shaking your head in approval. “We should!”

“Then I guess we have no choice.”

After taking your trays and paying for your lunches, you all began to walk to Jaehyun’s table where some of his friends already sat, as you noticed Taehyung sitting at your usual table, distracted on his phone as he waited for the others to arrive.

You hadn’t seen Taehyung in a while and knew this was your chance to finally chat with him.

You slowly stopped walking as you got closer and closer to passing him. Jaehyun and Jinsoul looked back at you, curiously. “I’ll be there in a minute, you guys.”

Upon hearing this, Taehyung looked up and the other two shrugged this off and kept it moving. You looked over at Tae, whom was now smiling at you as you approached him completely. “Taehyung,” you greeted.

“Wow, she’s talking to me,” he jokes.

“I know you’re not speaking. I haven’t even gotten so much as a text message from you, this goes both ways!”

He pursed his lips together before blowing out an exhausted breath. “Well, I don’t know if you know but we’ve been preparing for a comeback. I know it’s not an excuse but—”

You chuckled upon hearing the news of this. “Wait, comeback? Oh my god, when?”

He grinned, shrugging a shoulder. “We’re not exactly sure yet, we’ll know officially in a few weeks the comeback date.” He raised an eyebrow. “Jimin hasn’t told you?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Taehyung let out a chuckle before looking back at Jaehyun’s table. He paused in thought, momentarily. “Why aren’t you with your friends?”

“I’m not gonna beat around the bush. I thought it’d be nice if you and I have a little chat about what happened. You’re always disappearing, I don’t know when we’ll get this chance again.”

He sighed and by the looks of it, you could tell he saw this coming. “You’re right,” he replied, nodding. “We should talk about it.”

You sat your plate on the table and took a seat next to him.

“Look,” he started. “I’m sorry I kissed you like that. In my head, I was mad at myself for ignoring you for so long that when we finally talked things out, I couldn’t hold back my feelings. But in reality, it shouldn’t have happened.”

“Your feelings?” you questioned, to which he then cocked his head, looking away as you saw him poke his tongue in his cheek.

“You’re really gonna make me say it, huh?” he asked, a grin on his face.

You started smiling, teasingly, as you realized what he meant.

“Yeah, I, uh...” Tae ruffled his black hair, getting slightly nervous before looking back at you. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a small crush on you, yn.”

You froze for a second, trying not to burst out into a fit of laughter but you couldn’t help it. As you laughed, Taehyung joined in, blushing deeply.

You weren’t stupid, you had your suspicions the day he asked you on that “date”, him kissing you just confirmed it. “I kinda knew,” you admitted. “I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t kind of have one on you too.”

He looked you dead in the eyes. “I knew, also. You’re not the only one who sucks at hiding their feelings.”

Now you were the one blushing.

“But if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been actually seeing someone. So you don’t need to worry about our past getting in the way of our friendship.”

He gave you a reassuring smile but all you could do was drop your jaw in response. Seeing someone? “Whhaaattt?”

He chuckled. “She doesn’t go to either of our schools and she’s not an idol or anything of that sort. But I actually like her. I’m gonna give it a little more time as of right now but then I’ll bring her around to meet you and everyone else.”

You pouted in happiness at this news. Taehyung was an amazing person and he deserved to be happy and loved.

“So going forward,” he continued, “I don’t want things to be awkward between us. I don’t feel weird and I hope you don’t either.”

You shook your head eagerly. “Of course I don’t, Taehyung! And I’m happy for you. We’re still gonna be besties. I love you, you know this.” You gently gripped his arm to let him knew you meant what you said.

“I love you, too.” He stifled a small laugh. “It’s good we’re both over each other. Plus, I think Jimin—”

“You think I what?”

You both turned to find Jimin walking up towards you guys, Jacob, surprisingly, following right behind him. You rolled your eyes.

“Aish, nothing,” Tae waves off.

Just then, you heard your name being called. You turned your head to the source of the voice, which was no other than Jinsoul’s, of course. She looked annoyed. Must have been Jacob’s presence being there. You couldn’t blame her.

“What’s the point of being over there when we agreed to sit over here today?”she yelled.

You sighed, standing up to get ready and go back over. As you began to pick up your tray, you suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yeah,” you started. “So my parents are going to Japan next week. My fathers company is having a conference there and my mom decided to tag along, I decided to stay behind. Anyway, I’m gonna have a small sleepover with my close friends, nothing crazy. Think you guys will be able to come?”

Jimin and Tae both looked at each other then looked back at you and simultaneously shrugged. “I don’t see why not,” Jimin spoke.

“We’ll be there,” Tae added. “Hopefully. We have to check our schedule but we’ll most likely be there.”

“Okay.” Then you looked at Jacob, who was shamelessly hiding his face from the side that Jinsoul could see him from. “Oh, and Jacob.” He looked up at you. “Just to clarify, you’re not invited. I’m sure you knew but I just had to make it clear.”

You gave him a smart ass smile as he squirmed in his seat before you turned on your heels to join Jinsoul, Jaehyun and his friends.

PART 15

A/N: bruh i can't believe it took me this long to update sjldjs my bad I've been so busy working everyday. capitalism is sickening! I'm at the point where i really dont think I'm cut out to work like someone pls make me a house wife at this point, i’m begging! skfslkfs anyway lots of small confrontations this chapter, let me know what you guys think, ily!

[princessofthedarkrealm]

These Violet Delights ~Chapter 1 (an Eddie Brock/Venom story)

(yes I meant to put violet instead of violent lol)

She splashed through another puddle of water. She didn’t know why she was coming this way. Too dark. And this was San Francisco after all. She turned a corner between the two buildings. Dead end. She heard movement behind her. A hissing sound. She whipped around. A shadow loomed ahead of her she glanced up. A large, black, slick looking creature clung to the building. It opened its mouth revealing large, knifelike teeth. A long tongue, covered in saliva, lolled out of its mouth.

She screamed. But when she turned and started to run, black tendrils shot out, grabbing her arms and torso and pinning her to the brick wall. The creature loomed in front of her. Milky white eyes stared at her. Her heart pounded as a cold, sick dread filled her stomach.

“You smell delicious, sweet one. We wonder if you taste as nice as you smell.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but let out a gasp instead. “P-please don’t eat me.

The creature looked taken aback. “Eat you? Who ever said about eating you? We only want a taste.”

He opened his mouth and brought his head down towards her. She screamed.

Nessa Clark sat up in bed, covered in a sheen of sweat. This was the third time she had had this nightmare—the alley, the creature of black goo. She pulled herself into a better sitting position. She had had some strange dreams before, but this… She pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed. She went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. Sapphire blue eyes stared back at her. She dried her hands and ran them through her dyed, chin length black hair. She really needed to gain some weight. And the fact that that she was barely over five feet didn’t help either. She looked like a gothic fairy. Nessa yawned. She used the bathroom and then shuffled along back to bed. As she pulled up the covers, she glanced at the clock. 3:50. Three more hours until time to get up for work. Not that it mattered what time she got up at. She got back under the covers and closed her eyes, trying to even her breathing. Surprisingly, it didn’t take her long to fall asleep.

**********

“Palm readings for twenty dollars! Tarot readings for thirty!” People kept passing. Nessa swallowed the dryness in her throat. She would have to take a break for lunch soon. “Palm readings for twenty dollars!”

“You think someone would want to have their palms read.”

Maria plopped herself on the sidewalk next to Nessa’s chair.

“You mean besides you?” Nessa gave her a sweet smile.

Maria chuckled. “You’ve had what, two customers so far today?”

Nessa sighed. “Yeah.”

Maria patted Nessa’s thigh. “It’s morning. It’ll pick up soon.”

“Yeah,” Nessa repeated. Then in a more chipper voice she said, “Hey thanks for letting me share your space.“

“No problem, hun. And speaking of which, I need to get to work. Holla at ya later.”

“Bye.”

Maria stood. Nessa watched her walk down a ways to the free newspaper dispenser. The homeless woman then took them out and plopped them down on the sidewalk against the wall. Nessa shook her head. She couldn’t help but pity the older woman, but Maria took advantage of people. At least Nessa was trying to earn money honestly, however shady her work was. A couple of young women stopped in front of her table and glanced around at what was on it.

They were unsure, but Nessa could also feel their excitement.

She grinned at them. “Care to have your palms read, loves?”

**********

Carlton Drake, head and founder of the Life Foundation, started at the dead body through the glass of one of the containment rooms.

He sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “Another mess to clean up.”

A middle aged Middle Eastern woman pushed up her glasses nervously. “Sir, we are running out of volunteers.”

“I know, Dr. Skirth.”

At that moment, a tall, burly man stepped forward. “Mr. Drake, there’s something you need to know.”

Drake watched the symbiote slithering around inside the containment room like a pile of living slime. “What is it, Treece?”

“Chavez here says he knows someone who knows the streets; hangs out with the homeless.”

Drake finally regarded his group of men. “Really?” He glanced at a shorter, Latino guy in the group.

Chavez gave a nod. “It’s true, sir. I used to have a buddy of mine. He’s got a girl, well…they’re not together anymore. She has these abilities.”

Drake raised his eyebrows. He placed his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to Chavez. “What kind of abilities?”

Chavez glanced back and forth between Treece and Drake.

“The kind that can help us find exactly what we’re looking for.”

**********

Nessa was furious. Someone had trashed her table. Again. Maria was supposed to be watching it for her. Luckily Nessa had taken her crystal ball and cards with her when she had gone to grab a bite to eat. She placed her drink and bagged sub sandwich on the table and grabbed her sign that said “Miss Violet’s Palm and Tarot Readings” that was lying on the sidewalk a foot away. She stuck it under her table. She glanced down the way and saw Maria sitting in her usual spot next to the adult store. Nessa grabbed her drink and food and started walking in that direction. The sidewalk was jammed packed. Nessa made her way around a group of people who were too busy talking and laughing to watch where they were going. She was almost to Maria when a man walked out of the adult store. Nessa stopped just in time. Her drink sloshed in her hand.

“Woah, watch it, girl.”

She held up her full hands. “Sorry. I am so sorry,” she told the man as he walked off the way she had come from.

She took a couple of steps backwards and turned around…

And slammed into a wall of muscle. Nessa dropped her drink and food. She stumbled backwards. The guy caught her forearms. As soon as she touched her, her vision was overtaken.

A man stumbled around, his face and grey hoodie he was wearing drenched in sweat. He grabbed his head. The vision shifted to show the same man in what appeared to be an apartment punch a man in some kind black military garb. Except the hand that had punched the other guy hadn’t been his own, but was instead large, black and slick looking.

Nessa stumbled again as the vision went away. This one had come on hard and she probably would have fallen had the guy not been holding on to her.

Maria was on her feet. “Eddie, why don’t you watch where the hell you’re going?”

Nessa stared up at the guy in front of her. He was same one from her vision.

“You alright? I’m so sorry.” He told her.

“Yeah,” she replied weakly.

“Here, let me get this.” He bent to pick up her stuff.

Maria was looking at Nessa funny. “Ness?”

Nessa didn’t answer.  What had been wrong with this guy, or rather, was going to be wrong with him? Why had his hand looked like it was made out of the same black stuff as the creature she had been seeing in her dreams?

The guy stood with her drink, or what was left of it, in his hand.

“Aw shit. I’ll buy you another one.” He handed her sandwich. It was still in its bag, unscathed.

She still stared at him, not saying anything.

“Jeez, Eddie.” Maria put her hands on her hips. “Ya happy? You just knocked her senseless.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Eddie told Nessa. “Just tell me where you got this,” he held up her cup, “and I’ll get you another one.”

“Maybe uh…maybe some other time.” Nessa gave him a ghost of a smile. “It’s getting late. I should head home anyway.”

“You sure? I don’t mind.”

Nessa sighed. The guy was cute. And it had been a while since she had actually hung out with anyone. “My table’s over here.” She gestured with her sandwich.

She and Eddie started walking.

“So you uh…sell things?” he asked.

“Well not exactly…things. I’m uh…” She picked up her bag with her ball and cards. “I do tarot readings.”

Eddie gave a nod. “Nice.”

They got back to Nessa’s table. She set her stuff down. “Look, don’t worry about the drink. I’m sure that’s not the first time that’s happened.” She glanced back down the way they had come. “I’m sure you didn’t get that paper for free either.”

Eddie made a noise that sounded like a cross between a grunt and a laugh. “I take it you’ve known Maria for a while.”

Nessa shrugged. “Long enough. She’s good to have around though. We look out for each other.” She leaned back against the table and crossed her arms over her chest. She was dying to ask this guy who the hell he was.

“So will I see you around then?”

Eddie shrugged. “Don’t see why not. I pass this way to go home. I’ll be sure to stop by and say hi again, Miss…”

It took a second for Nessa to realize he wanted her name. “Oh. Vanessa.” She pointed to her herself. “I’m Vanessa. But everyone calls me Nessa. Or if you want to, you can also call me,” she reached under the table and pulled out her sign.

Eddie read it. “Miss Violet. Sounds pretty cool.”

Nessa shrugged. “It’s my middle name. It’s what the general public knows me as.”

“Well then I’ll see you around, Miss Violet.” He waved his paper at her. “And I will pay you back for that drink.”

She nodded. “I’ll hold you up to that. Oh and, Eddie…” She stepped up to him with her right palm out in a calming gesture, “please, please be careful out there. I know San Fran isn’t the worse city, but…” She wanted so badly to tell him about her vision, about her gift, but that would have to be for another time. “Just be careful.”

He gave her a smile and a wink. “You too.”

And then he was gone into the night.

@seachelle-the-tideborn  @grotesquegabby  @iwatobiswimbros  @vengealis  @badel-bite