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jessie-the-lost-kid-story · 1 month

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The day Jess woke up

Awake

Jess groans and clutches their head. The first thing they notice is that their head is pounding, and they can’t quite remember what happened to them. The next thing they notice is that they are laying on something hard, like cement.

Jess forces their eyes open and they see they are in an dark, messy alleyway.

How did I get here?

A hint of worry enters their mind as they push themselves up to get a better look at their surroundings. Putting a hand down they notice something sticky on the ground and on their hands; a black liquid with colours shimmering on its surface. Jess stares at the liquid for a while, finding it quite pretty how the colours subtly shift and shimmer before trying to scrape it off their hands. It plops into the puddle but their hand remains an inky black. As Jess watches more liquid seems to well out of their hand which they scrape off again to the same result. Instead of being scared or freaked out, Jess seems really excited.

“Oh wow! Cool!”

Jess leaps up onto their feet, ignoring the puddle of the unknown liquid under them. They spot a trash can and punch their hand towards it with a *HIYA!* as if they expected to be able to force-punch it or something.

Nothing happens and Jess looks down at their hand with disappointment.

“What do you do then?” They mutter to their hand.

They walk up to the trash can and touch it with their hand. It leaves a black handprint and Jess frowns at it, waiting for it to do something. When it doesn’t, they press their hand onto the trash can and wait to see if anything happens.

Nothing does.

They stand up slightly frustrated.

“Well what powers do you give me? I can’t just be covered in you and you do nothing.”

Jess looks around again and spots a park at the end of the alleyway across the street. They are filled with excitement again, forgetting their frustration as they run over to the park.

Jess intends on finding their friends and showing them the cool power that Jess has gained, even if they can’t figure out what the powers are right now.

The street is clam and empty, nobody seems to be out right now. In the park there is a playground in which Jess can see a couple families are currently enjoying.

Jess crosses the street happily. They will show everyone their powers and they will be a superhero and everyone will like them!

As they approach they slow down. Jess isn’t sure what they are feeling, but they think they are feeling they other peoples minds, or at least their emotions.

Is this my power? This is cool! Jess thinks as they approach the kids playing at the playground.

None of the adults notice them, but one of the kids do. He is a few years younger than Jess, maybe 8 or 9. He is staring at Jess with a hint of fear but mainly curiosity.

“Hello!” Jess says cheerfully.

The boy smiles, the fear shrinking and says hello back.

“What are you?” He asks, approaching Jess.

“I’m a human, but with super powers! I can read your emotions!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You are curious, and happy, and a little afraid” Jess says confidently.

“Wow! That’s-“

The boy is cut off as he stumbles over a rock.

Jess lunges out and grabs him, stopping him from falling on his face. When they touch him however a shock of cold hits Jess and the boy simultaneously. A confusing flood of emotions flows between the two, fear, joy, annoyance, all coalescing into immense confusion and terror. Jess let’s go in surprise, and the boy immediately falls backwards and starts crying, cradling the arm that Jess touched.

The adults are immediately alerted to the crying and the parents of the boy rush over and scoop him up, shouting aggressively at Jess to “stay back you monster!”

Jess scrambles back, looking around at the chaotic scene with confusion as more adults start rushing to their kids, some screaming and some crying. When Jess’s eyes rest on anyone they begin to feel dizzy so they just close their eyes, black oily tears dripping down their face. Strangely enough, even with their eyes closed Jess can tell where everyone is.

The confusion and fear unknowingly flooding from Jess makes everyone feel more confused and terrified or aggressive. Some of the men are making a half-circle around Jess, acting as a physical barrier between them and the rest of the people while shouting.

“I- I di-didn’t mean t-to” Jess sobs helplessly to ears deafened by fearful wrath.

The black liquid starts forming a puddle under Jess, causing the adults to be more apprehensive. Some of them take a step back, uncertainty blossoming in their minds.

“Stay back!” “Get away from my kids!” “Monster!” “Demon!”

“Get back!” One women yells, piercing Jess’s mind with the desire to flee.

Before they even realize what their body is doing Jess is up and running away. Some of the men give chase, quickly gaining on Jess. One reaches out and grabs Jess’s arm but releases it with a yelp. Jess can feel that he is in pain and runs faster. They can feel the men hesitate before stopping their pursuit.

Jess dashes across the road and down the alley with no thought other than escape, leaving a thin trail of the black liquid behind them. They take turns at random, the fear eventually subsiding as Jess grows exhausted. Black tears are still streaming down their face and their eyes feel sore from crying.

Jess slumps down against a wall of a random building nestled between a large trash bin and some cardboard boxes, wondering what happened. They know they hurt that kid somehow, and that adult. Can no one else touch the liquid? Can no one else touch *them?* They curl up into a ball as the black liquid pools under them.

“I must be a monster, then” Jess sobs.

This time the tears keep flowing as Jess’s mind slowly slips into unconsciousness, the events playing over and over again in their mind.

Cop

Jess startles awake, heart pounding. They are confused why they are afraid at first before they realize they can feel someone approaching from around the corner. Focusing in on the person, Jess can feel that they are bored and irritated and something else Jess has never felt before. Whoever it is Jess doesn’t want to meet them.

They stand up, eyes still hurting and look for a place to hide. This alley although messy, doesn’t have anything large enough to hide Jess. They can feel whoever it is getting closer so they decide to run for it. The unknown person is immediately alerted to this and Jess sprints harder.

“HEY STOP! POLICE! Stop running!” The man shouts.

Jess can feel a flurry of emotions from the police officer before it settles into concern. Jess has the feeling he doesn’t want to hurt them, but he hasn’t seen Jess yet. What if he reacts the same way the other adults did?

“Hey kid stop!”

The cop is chasing after Jess now, but Jess makes it to a street before he can catch up.

THUD! Jess runs into someone at full force, falling onto their back.

“What the-“ the lady looks at the large black stain on her coat before staring at Jess in horror and shock.

Jess stares back, equally as mortified. The eye contact makes Jess extremely dizzy so they look away. A few people are also gawking at the scene, seemingly frozen in time.

The lady snaps everyone out of it with a scream. A storm of emotions paralyze Jess with a massive headache. They blindly scramble away from the pain but trip over their own feet.

When Jess is able to make sense of their surroundings they feel the cop standing over them, terrified. A quick glance shows that he has his gun drawn and pointed at Jess.

“DON’T MOVE! S-STAY DOWN!” The shear panic the man is radiating makes Jess immediately freeze in place, staring at the man. He stares back, he can’t seem to look away. Jess becomes extremely dizzy, then acutely aware of the cops emotions; fear, disorientation, and something else Jess doesn’t know. Even with this strange experience all Jess can think is am I going to die?

They think of their mom and dad, of their tabby cat they named Sprinkles when they were 6, of how they might not get to see any of them again.

Something within the man shifts, Jess recognizes it as a mix of sympathy and confusion.

Jess blinks and the connection is broken, throwing them back into the real world. The cop has lowered his gun and is blinking, dazed. Jess takes the opportunity to get up and run away, weaving through the onlookers and dashing into a parking lot.

“Hey- hey HEY! GET BACK HERE!” The cop bellows as he attempts to chase Jess.

It is too late however, Jess has ducked behind a row of cars and is making their way to another one of the various back alleys. Jess can faintly feel the cop’s apprehension and the exact moment when he decides that chasing Jess is not worth it.

Jess does not relax, they can’t relax. They are not safe here, but where can they go?

Home.

The single word echos through Jess’s mind. Yes, they need to go home, their mom must be worried sick! Jess doesn’t know how long they’ve been gone, it could have been for hours, or even a whole day!

With this new objective Jess begins to walk through the unfamiliar back alleys and quiet streets, searching for something they recognize without being seen, hoping to stumble their way back home.

Home

By some miracle Jess managed to find a supermarket that their parents frequent. By following the roads and almost getting lost several times, Jess is now walking down their gravel alley where they would play ball with other kids. The back alley is thankfully empty and Jess is able to locate their backyard without any problem.

The large wooden gate was always a struggle, Jess had to practically climb onto the fence to get to the pull cord to release the latch. With well practiced movements Jess is quickly able to open the gate, although they smeared it in the black liquid that has long since soaked Jess’s clothes.

Closing the gate behind themselves, Jess begins to relax. They are home, safe and sound. On habit Jess begins calling for their pretty brown tabby cat, pspsps-ing and calling their name. Sprinkles hops over the fence and down, meowing and trotting towards Jess.

Tears spring to Jess’s eyes, they didn’t realize how much they missed Sprinkles nor how much they needed to see their precious kitty. It had been a really long and emotional day, all they can think about is holding Sprinkles and being licked by her rough tongue like she always does when Jess is upset.

Sprinkles sees the goop-covered Jess and pauses hesitantly, but Jess doesn’t notice. They walk up to Sprinkles and scoop her up, snuggling their cat with tearful joy and relief.

“Sprinkles, I’m back! I have so much to-” Suddenly Sprinkles starts yowling in what sounds like pain, scrambling to break free from Jess’s arms. Shocked, Jess drops her and she sprints away still yelling bloody murder, soaked in the black liquid.

“S-sprinkles?” New tears prick Jess’s eyes.

Did I hurt her? They are frozen, unable to process what just happened, mind lingering on this thought.

The yowling cuts off all of a sudden, and Jess is filled with alarm.

Oh god I killed Sprinkles oh god-

A terrified scream breaks through Jess’s panicked thoughts. Their head snaps towards the source and sees the horrified face of their mother. Jess can immediately sense that Mom doesn’t recognize them and even worse, she is scared and disgusted by them.

The rest of the world seems to fall away. All Jess can see is the terrified face of their mother, a look directed at them. Jess starts trembling and backing away, wanting to speak, to explain that they are Jess and that they are fine, but their throat has closed up from the intense hurricane of emotions swirling in Jess’s mind. All that comes out of them is a pitiful, fearful whimper.

Jess trips over a toy and falls hard onto the ground, stunning them for a moment. They look back up but Mom has already ran into the house shouting for Dad.

Every part of Jess is telling them to run, run away from the hurt, run to some place where they can do no more damage.

Before Jess realizes their body is moving they have run through the partially melted gate and is sprinting down the alley. They no longer care where they are going, they do not care if they fall over and trip, all they care about is getting away from this, from everyone, from the black liquid.

Alone

Jess ran until they physically couldn’t anymore, collapsing onto the ground in a puddle of the black liquid. It now has a bluey-purpley sheen, dripping onto the ground having thoroughly soaked through Jess’s clothes long ago. They don’t know where they are and they don’t care, as long as they are away from everyone, from the pain. They crawl underneath a bush, tearing holes in their clothes and pricking their skin. Jess doesn’t even feel it, too over saturated with emotions to care.

Their whole body is shaking, wracked with grief, guilt, and sorrow. Their insides feel like they are on fire from the intense emotions. Shuttering sobs leave Jess’s body that feel like it should make the whole world collapse around them.

But it already has, hasn’t it?

Jess can never go back, never see their family again, never see their friends again, or their house, or their room, or Mom. And Sprinkles-

Jess’s mind refuses to think about that as they sob harder then they thought possible, curling into themselves in an attempt to hold themselves together. They hurt people. People are scared of them, they almost died.*

How did I think anyone would like me? I am a monster.

The liquid dripping off of Jess has made a small pool underneath them. Unbeknownst to Jess, it has started melting all the dead leaves on the ground along with any dried up sticks or twigs.

Mom didn’t even recognize me, I scared her.

Jess replays the moment over and over; Both of them staring in horror, their mothers fear, running, the melted gate.

Jess blinks. The gate was… melted? They didn’t have time to process it before but the gate was definitely melted, covered in the inky black liquid.

Jess looks down in horror, expecting there to be a giant borehole where they sit. There is only the pool of black liquid and Jess scrambles out of it panicking, getting caught in the branches of the bush.

“Oh god oh god-“

They think that it will melt them too, forgetting in their attempt to get out of the puddle that they have already been sitting in it for quite some time.

Jess looks down at themselves waiting to feel burning pain as their body is dissolved away, but nothing happens.

They start shaking again, this time anger is mixed into the sorrow.

“Why? W-why me? Why did I th-think this was c-cool?” Jess voices shakes.

Hot waves of anger roll through Jess as they clench their fists.

“How c-could I have been so s-stupid?”

The emotion is too much for them and they punch the ground, hard. It feels like some of the anger and sorrow got sucked into the ground, so they do it again. And again, and again.

They take their anger out on the ground, the anger at the unfairness, themselves, and the world. Each blow makes them feel slightly better, slightly lighter, the burning wrath channeled into the ground until a thin line of smoke makes Jess stop.

Their fists still feel hot but are cooling down quickly, black liquid streaming off of them. The ground where Jess was punching on the other hand looks like someone threw a small fireball, the grass and leaves burnt.

Jess blinks numbly. Waves of exhaustion are washing over them now, making their mind slow down to a sluggish pace. They can’t really understand what they are seeing.

Was there… a campfire here?

Their body is aching, they just want to crawl back under the bush and stop thinking. Before their tired brain can catch up, they already dragged themselves under the bush. The liquid is gone but they barely even notice before their eyes close and they are dragged off into a nightmarish land of pain and black liquid.

#Jessie the lost kid #story #oc #original story #creative writing #writblr #writeblr #jtlo #fiction #original character

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