"I'm...curious"

"I'm...curious."

The moment the words had left her lips, Jessica regretted them. The hunter started towards her, stopping right against her, his body pressed into hers. Her senses were filled again with the smells of tobacco and sweet vinegar, and she couldn't help but notice the heat rising from his body. His leather trench coat pressed upon her and rubbed against her bosom, calling to her attention that her nipples had remained erect this whole time. She clenched her hands tighter against the bottle of whiskey and the lighter, keeping them in front of her at stomach level and between the hunter and herself, which just so happened to be right above the belt for his trousers.

The hunter stooped his head lower towards hers, stopping only when inches away. She did not know why she hadn't moved, or retreated, or even stepped back. Something inside her told her only to stand her ground, and to learn more. She had to learn more. She needed to learn more. The smell of the dried blood on his coat sang to her.

His green eyes pierced hers; searching for what, Jessica knew not. The hunter whispered low, as if his words were carried by nothing but his breath on her face and so no one could hear but her.

"You're curious? For the knowledge of a madman? For an unspoken truth?"

Jessica found herself trembling against this man. Frightened, yet aroused. She was afraid, but she would not back down. She steadied her gaze and looked him directly in the eyes.

"I'm curious because I want to learn. Because I want to help myself and others." Because I'm so excited and I need to know more, she thought.

The hunter and Jessica looked at each other, neither backing down. With each passing moment, Jessica became more and more sure of herself, trembling less, and steeling her gaze more. For what felt like an eternity, the hunter said nothing. Then, the lips of his mouth widened into a disconcerting smile.

"I see," the hunter whispered. "Then perhaps I can teach you a trick or two." Pulling himself away, the hunter withdrew his heat and sweet smells from Jessica; she could not help but to shiver without them and long for them to come back. However, the hunter then roughly grabbed Jessica by her upper left arm and pulled her along with him, and she could not help but to feel terrified and aroused yet again as she clung desperately to the whiskey bottle and lighter and moved quickly to keep up.

The door to the bar still stood open, and the corpse of the beast still lay in the doorway. The bar flooded the dimly lamp-lit square with warm candle light as the hunter led Jessica into the dark alley the beast and hunter had come from originally.