"Where we're going, you're not gonna need one, sweetheart."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Elara felt that knot in her stomach tighten as Offenderman took another step closer, her breathing hitching as she raised the toothbrush once again, although it took everything to keep her hand steady while doing so.

"Back o-off..!" she growled.
But before anything else could happen, a loud shrieking noise blared through the bedroom.

She yelped, startled so badly she actually punched forward as a reflex, the toothbrush inches away from Offenderman's face. A thick white tendril had wrapped itself tightly around her wrist, stopping her from actually hitting him.
Again.

Elara let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, feeling her heart pound against her ribcage, her eyes wide, the noise drowned out in her ears, her gaze glued to the white tendrils that came from his back.

The Wikipedia page did say something about tentacles... It was yet another reminder that he might look like a man in most ways.

But he was far from human.

"So jumpy~" he purred.

The tendril loosened its grip enough for her to yank her wrist free, but not without goosebumps forming on her arms as she felt the muscles of the appendage caress her skin when it slid off.

She peered past him into the bedroom, the noise of her alarm clock still attempting to wake up her neighborhood.
Offenderman, seeing her hesitation, shrugged, stepping sideways to allow her to walk past him, although he never moved from his spot in the doorway.

If she wanted to move past him, she needed to get in real close to do so.

Her eyes still fixated on him, Elara tried to step forward with confidence, not wanting to grant him the satisfaction of seeing her scared.

It felt like time slowed down when her shoulder nearly brushed against his muscular yet slender chest.
The young woman felt the hairs on her neck stand up, his nonexistent eyes watching her every move.

Once she was past him, Elara reluctantly moved her gaze over to her alarm clock, shutting it off before running a hand through her messy brown hair.
The silence that followed rested heavily in the air, almost making her regret shutting it off at all.

She had classes that afternoon.
Great.

How was she supposed to do anything for school, much less attend classes with this... creature eyeing her like a piece of meat?

Elara turned her head back to where he stood, but he was gone.

Silent alarm bells went off in her head.
She spun around, panic invading her mind until she saw him at the other end of her room, rummaging through her boxes of clothes.

Well... more specifically, her underwear.

Earning an annoyed look from the student.
But then she furrowed her eyebrows, looking at the doorway he had stood in before and then back at him.

"H-how did you..?" she trailed off, her question obvious.
She didn't hear him move.

And her room wasn't really that small, even for someone like him. She didn't have carpet either. By all means, she should've heard him move...

But thinking back, he did something similar the night before.
He had taken her home without as much as taking a single step...

"Well, if there's something I've learned from Trendy, it's that the perfect lingerie makes the first time so much more exciting~" Offenderman said, lust dripping over every syllable as he held up her most expensive red padded bra.

Elara glared at him and crossed her arms.

"I'm not up for grabs like a fucking sex toy," she growled. "And you know that's not what I meant."
Although the idea of actually having sex with him still felt heavy in her gut.

"Of course not, flower~" he grinned. "No man shall touch you. That's my job, and my job only~"
His tone lowered for just a second, his deep voice rumbling in a broken, distorted way, sending the growing anxiety in her chest climbing.

A shiver ran down her spine while she watched him lay out her underwear before rummaging through the next box of her clothes as if he had just commented on the weather being cold.

She rubbed a hand over her face.

She didn't have the time or energy to worry about his antics.
She looked down at what she was actually wearing.
It was still the uniform from her work.

Well, the "uniform" was only her work shirt and normal pants.
Her name tag was missing, but she was sure Richard could replace it.

Richard.

Her stomach dropped.

Oh God Richard.

Richard must be worried sick.
She ran out in pure survival panic, leaving the place without locking up. And he said he'd drive her home.

Elara let out a long sigh, looking around her bed for her phone.

She had to let him know she was okay.
She flipped her pillow, checked around her nightstand, even looked under her bed, but alas, it had disappeared into the ether.

This day couldn't get much worse...

The young woman sat down on her bed for a moment, her head in her hands as she breathed deeply through her nose.
The headache was getting a lot better thanks to the medication kicking in, yet sadly it did nothing for the exhaustion that plagued her frame.

Richard would have to wait.

For now, she should focus on getting to class.
Glancing back at Offenderman, who was now inspecting one of her more... revealing dresses, Elara rolled her eyes and, against her better judgment, got up.

Walking closer, she pulled out a random pair of underwear from one of the boxes, as well as pants, socks, and a shirt.
Just as she went to walk to the bathroom to change, Elara suddenly felt the clothes disappear from her arms as Offenderman pulled them from her grip with one of his tendrils.

The action resulted in Elara flinching away from his touch.
She turned to look at what he was doing.
He looked at the outfit and shook his head, clearly disappointed.

"Such a perfectly delicious figure and that's what you're gonna wear?" he asked, grinning from nonexistent ear to nonexistent ear.

"Well, for class it'll have to do..." he mumbled.
Then he looked up, a more thoughtful expression washing over his featureless face.

"Flower, my dear~" he purred, turning to face her fully now. "I will have to prepare something. Be a good girl and come straight here from school, yes~"

Before Elara could even open her mouth to protest, he simply vanished.

She blinked, her gaze scanning the room but finding it empty.
Did he just... pop out of existence?
How did he...?

"The fuck just happened?" she muttered to herself in utter disbelief.