High School Sweethearts: BLOODLUST

25: Protege I

*This is a boy band I'm lowkey obsessed with MiC LOWRY😍

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Omnipresent

It was a bright, summer evening and the Nelson-Thirlwall kids were in the backyard of their building, playing with some neighborhood kids. They were playing a game similar to Man Hunt, but their version was a little different.

They borrowed a fake knife from Karl's Halloween costume and would "stab" instead of catch. Surprisingly, the one that came up with the rules was young Jesy herself.

She was "it" and was searching for her last victim; little Jade.

The giggling three year old was watching her from in a tree. Her tan long sleeved turtleneck under her dark green corduroys made it harder to spot her in the thick, lush leaves.

But before Jesy could call the game quits because she's been looking for Jade for nearly 10 minutes, a familiar deep voice calls for her.

"Jeed! Time to go!" She peeks through the leaves to see her father.

The man was dressed in a spiffy, gray suit, carrying a black, leather briefcase. "Dada!" She says excitedly, getting down safely.

"Hey, that's not fair! You can't hide in the trees!" Jesy crosses her arms over her chest with a scowl. Mr. Thirlwall scoops his youngest child in his arms, looking down at the little girl. "Hey, Jessica," he greets, smiling at her and moving some of her dark, curly hair back.

Jesy looks up at him with a toothy smile, "Hi, Uncle George," she says in her high pitched voice. "Say bye to your cousins, Jade," he says, now averting his gaze to his daughter.

"Bye," she waves to the children as her dad carries her back over to the lavish car.

In the passenger seat was a man Jade's never seen before. He was also dressed up with slicked back blonde hair and dark colored eyes. He was rather young looking, no older than 25.

The man opens the door and places the child in her booster seat. After she's buckled in, he pokes her tummy and she giggles.

The man smiles at her then closes the door.

When he got in the car, the strange man up front turns to look at her. "Hey, there," he greets in a light Scottish accent and Jade stares at him, sizing him up. The way the child looked at him annoyed him. He looks over at his friend, "What's the lassie's problem?"

George glances at the girl in the rearview mirror to find her eyes shifted in the stranger's direction. "Jeed," she breaks from her glare, now looking at her father. "Are you okay?" She nods and puts her head on the window.

"She's shy around new people," her father says and his companion gives her another look. She squints her eyes at him and he looks away, deciding the girl is just weird.

———
Jade doesn't know how long she's been asleep, but when she woke up, she found herself to still be in the car. It was dark out now, the sun had set maybe half an hour ago.

Groggily, she lifts her head, rubbing her eyes with her tiny fists.

She looks around, eyebrows furrowed when she realizes she's alone in a dimly lit alley. There was a sketchy building to her left with a red door and blacked out windows.

A single lamp illuminated the door, showing the words 'The Candy Man' written in black, daunting cursive. The little girl perks up and unbuckles her seatbelt in excitement. Like any child, she loves candy and was pretty sure her father was on the other side of that door.