Untitled Book, Chapter Three

This is one of the worst days ever, Ally thought grumpily.
First she’d been called an idiot by Hill and Ms. Blair. Hill was not unusual, but it was annoying to have a woman she didn’t even know imply she was a moron. Then she’d had to turn down one of the interns, Geoff, again. The boy couldn’t take a hint. Then she had to stay in late. Without pay. Finally, to round it all off, she’d missed the bus and was walking home. In the dark. In New York City.
Under her breath, Ally cursed Jackson Hill, Ms. Blair, bus companies, and New York City.
Ally heard a rustling noise. She glanced behind her. There was no one there. She sighed. She was going crazy. Not a good idea at 25.
She continued to walk, thinking. Few more nights, she thought. Few more nights and then I’ll see Cassie.
Cassie was devoted to her Aunt Ally. This would be because Ally would generally spoil her rotten on the nights she watched her. Ally would put her to bed only a few hours (or minutes, same difference, really) before her mother got home. They’d eat junk food and watch lots of TV. Ally, too, subscribed to raising Cassie on sci-fi and fantasy. She was planning on watching Labyrinth again. Labyrinth was exactly the kind of movie Ally wished she had seen a million times growing up, because she knew she would’ve loved it to pieces when she was Cassie’s age.
Ally loved being with Cassie, too. Cassie was actually a smart, sensible young girl, and very quick to pick up on plot strands that Ally hadn’t noticed yet. Just a few more nights.
There was that noise again. Ally spun around. I did hear it, she thought. I know I did.
“Okay,” she said in a flat voice. “If you are a: creepy stalker, b: rapist, c: all of the above or d: other, I know martial arts, so back off unless you’re not particularly fond of your limbs being all nice and intact.” Actually, Ally didn’t know any martial arts, but she’d learned that if you said it convincingly enough, people believed you.
The noise continued. Something stepped out from behind trash bins.
The thing resembled a human loosely in its shape and build, but that was where the resemblance ended. Its entire body looked like it was made of a gelatinous brown… goop, and its face was twisted, marred.
Impossible. That is impossible. I refuse to believe it.
“Yeah, right!” Ally said loudly. “Nice costume, mate, very funny. I’d say you had me there for a minute, but you didn’t.”
The thing advanced towards her. Ally suddenly remembered a dark thing, strangling her, choking her, and a young man saving her from it…
No. He doesn’t exist. This isn’t real.
“I don’t believe this,” Ally shouted. “Take the mask off, or I swear to God I will break your arms!”
The thing took another step towards her. Something opened in the region of a mouth. In this mouth, there were long, sharp, needle-like teeth.
Screw it.
Ally turned around and ran. She could hear footsteps chasing after her. She blindly turned into an alley- a way out- dead end-
She spun around. The thing was standing between her and the way out. It was grinning. It wasn’t moving particularly fast. Why should it? It had her in its sights.
Ally flattened herself against the dead end. So this was how she was going to die. Killed by something that resembled the Gingerbread Man’s skinnier cousin with bigger teeth in a dead end in New York City.
The thing took another step towards her. Ally took a deep breath, closed her eyes…
And felt a whoosh of air as someone dropped down next to her. Ally whipped her head around and felt her jaw dropped.
Impossible. He looked no different. Utterly impossible. No different. Not even his clothes.
“Jude!” Ally gasped, suddenly thrust back to her dark bedroom where she cowered in her bed filled with a fear only a child can truly experience- fear of the monster under the bed.
Jude barely spared her a glance. “That’s what they call me. You-“ he pointed at the creature. “Back off the chick.”
Even through the shock and fear, Ally registered indignation.
“Back off the what?”
“Saving your life here,” Jude said out of the corner of his mouth.
“You could be marrying my sister and I wouldn’t give a damn, I am not the chick!”
“If you don’t give a damn, you want me to leave?”
“You gonna?” Ally couldn’t believe she was daring him like this. Jude scowled, not taking his eyes off the creature. “You are a self-righteous pain in the ass, you know that?” He returned his attention to the thing. “Now, look, I don’t want to hurt you- actually, that’s a lie, I want to hurt you very much, but I don’t have to if you back off the chic- girl. So beat it.”
The thing’s grin only got bigger. It lunged for Ally.
Suddenly, Ally had the unpleasant sensation of being completely immersed in brownie batter. This may sound pleasant. But it’s actually very unpleasant and very sticky, and what Ally was actually immersed in was nowhere near as delicious as brownie batter. Not to mention she was drowning in the stuff. She thrashed and thrashed, but her limbs only seemed to get stuck. She screamed, surprised she could do that.
“Help! God, get me out of here! Help!”
No one was responding- she kept thrashing- panic was going to choke her before this brown stuff-
Suddenly the brown stuff all dropped off her, and Ally landed with a bump on a sewer grate. “Ow,” she coughed, bringing up some of the brown goop.
“You alright?” Jude asked, kneeling in front of her. Ally nodded.
“How did you know my name?”
“We’ve met.” Ally spit out the last bit of brown goop. “God, I’m never eating fudge again.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I said. How can you look the same age?”
“Let me look at you.” He stared intently into Ally’s face. Ally returned his gaze steadily. His eyes widened.
“Alexandrina Celeste Smith,” he breathed.
“Ally.” She started trying to brush the goop off of her. It was sticking to her jacket. She groaned.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I live in New York City. What’re you doing here, Welshie?”
“Here on a business trip, Limey.” Jude stared at her. “What’re the odds that I meet you?”
“Slim, probably.”
“Huh.” Jude stared keenly at her for another moment. Then he jumped up. “Well, see you ‘round.”
“Whoa, wait!” Ally jumped up too and followed him as he set off. “You can’t just leave me here!”
“Sure I can. I’m doing it right now. Later.”
“I want an explanation.”
“I gave you an explanation when you were seven, you want another, that’s greedy.”
“I’m not seven anymore!” Ally shouted. “I was nearly killed by that thing, you don’t look a day older, you’re not even supposed to exist, I want an explanation, Jude!”
Jude stopped and turned around, stopping abruptly. Ally nearly walked into him. “No you don’t. You don’t want to know about any of this. You want to go back to your flat, have a bite to eat, tell yourself it was just a mugger that nearly killed you.”
“Sorry to contradict, Obi-Wan, but I don’t, actually.”
“Trust me. You’re better off not knowing. This is dangerous.”
“So? It’s dangerous when you get out of bed in the morning. It’s dangerous when you take a bite of food.”
“This is more dangerous.”
“I want the truth. I want to know I wasn’t crazy all those years when I believed in a boy who saved people from monsters under beds.”
Jude stared into Ally’s face, then abruptly turned on his heel and started to walk off again. Ally followed him.
“I could make you stop following me,” he said flatly.
“Or you could slow up a bit and wait for me to catch up.”
Jude sighed in frustration. “Come on, then,” he muttered. “It’s not a long walk.”