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It was a late, cloudy night, the young child could barely see her own hand in front of her, due to the lack of moonlight. If she looked back into the city of Miami, she could see streetlights and cars, but not at this dark, gloomy harbor. As unsettling as the darkness was though, she oddly felt... safer, there was no one here, or so she thought. She hung her feet off the dock, dipping it into the cool water, it felt nice after walking so much, the cool sea air was also peaceful, allowing her to forget her troubles for awhile. The water captured and reflected what little light there was, allowing her to see out on the ocean at least.
Just as the young one started to relax though, she heard the sound of an engine and saw a mid sized boat pull up to the docks. She gulped and slowly stood up, wondering if she should make a run for it or maybe just quietly walk down the harbor a bit. When the boat parked, she couldn't see it as well, as all the boats were just dark shapes against the water. There was a ton of boats here, she could easily get lost among them and not be found if she had to hide.
But then there was that nagging child curiosity, the pure social side of her that hoped maybe she could make a friend instead of hiding. It sucked being alone, besides her parents all the time and maybe whoever it was could also be lonely too. Most people would probably call the cops or at least be wary of someone out and about boating in the dead of night, but she didn't think of it that way. She did have a small old flashlight in her my little pony shoulder pack with a few odds and ends. But she didn't want to use the light unless she had to, she wasn't sure how long the batteries would last in it or where to get more. So she walked carefully along the docks towards the mysterious boat that pulled in, hand in her little bag ready to pull the flashlight out if she felt she should.
"Hello? Is anyone there? " The young one called out, unsure if she was at the correct boat, before spotting a dark shape move on the boat in front of her, but couldn't make out any details without a light. She should have probably obeyed her parent's rule of don't talk to strangers and she was a little nervous about it, but sometimes a child's curiosity knows no bounds. Hopefully she'll find out whether this person was a stranger to worry about or not before too long.
Once she spoke though, the figure froze and there was silence for... longer than it should have been. "Uh, yes? " It was a man, his voice held an awkward, unsure tone, almost like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. It sounded weird and the child felt this certainly warranted use of the flashlight, so she clicked it on and shined it at him, watching him put his arm up as she shined it right in his eyes. "Oh sorry! " She lowered the main beam to his chest, letting him lower his arm as she took in his features. He wasn't overly tall, not quite breaking 6', but he was fit, his auburn hair was a bit messy and unkempt and she thought he had green eyes? Maybe hazel, she couldn't quite tell.
"It's okay kid. " He answered after another pause, shifting uncomfortably on the deck of his boat before he went to tying it on the dock, avoiding eye contact with the girl. "What are you doing mister? " She asked, before she quickly clarified. "I mean, out in the water, it's dark and scary out. " She watched as he paused again, before making an exaggerated shrug. "Nothing, just sightseeing. " He answered while tying the rope off and climbing up onto the dock. The child took a small step back, this man was strange, he acted weird and for some reason it set off deep, instinctual red alarms. His answer didn't make any sense, how can anybody sightsee when it's pitch dark out?
Thankfully he didn't come any closer, in fact in a sense she kind of had him cornered by blocking the way to the main docks. His awkwardness kept showing as he scratched the back of his neck. "So uh, what about you? This isn't a place for kids. " He did have a good point there and it seemed like a fair question. "I... needed to get away for a bit. " She admitted, lowering her flashlight and her gaze to the ground as she thought about what brought her out here. "Mom and dad were fighting again and I just... wanted somewhere peaceful to go. " She kept herself from crying in front of this stranger, but it really did wear on her.
There was another pause of silence, before she heard him speak up. "I'm sorry, kid, I mean at least now they can stop fighting and be worked up looking for you. " He said in a almost… callous tone, which hurt as she shined the flashlight at him again, looking at his face with this perfectly friendly smile on his lips. It didn't seem threatening or malicious, but there was something off about it, like it was too perfect perhaps. But a smile was a smile to her, plus he was being plenty weird up to this point so it seemed to make sense his smiles would be weird too.
She wiped her left eye quickly, as she felt a single tear forming from his earlier words, he's probably right they will be freaking out about her. She felt that he probably didn't mean to hurt her feelings, or cause her more stress, but he did. "I don't think they'd come here…. " She muttered as she looked around with the light for a sign or something to indicate where 'here' was. She hoped they wouldn't come anyway, she left home before sometimes but came back soon enough, before they noticed. But this was the first time she left for this long and this far away.
"Probably not, this is Bay Harbor, most people are too worked up about the Butcher. " The man said and when she moved her flashlight back to him, he was a little closer. The girl hadn't decided yet if he was actually threatening or just weird, so far he was the latter. She gulped nervously at the mention of the Bay Harbor Butcher though, was this really the same harbor? "I-I didn't know that was here… " It was hard not to overhear the news about it, or adults gossiping about it but there was a lot she didn't know. All she knew was that he was a scary man that hurt people and he had something to do with this harbor, both of them should be careful she thought.
The man was silent again for a few seconds before he spoke up. "None of his victims were children, so don't worry. " The strange man attempted to comfort her, but it didn't really work. The child gave him an unsettled look, eyes wide and head tilted to the side a little as she tried to figure out why he thought that helped. "Mister that isn't very comforting. " She pointed out and he shrugged after another second too long, for a fluid human response. He didn't seem to care, or at least wanted to brush it off, perhaps it was for the best that they do. "So what's your name? " He asked instead, sort of out of the blue. The girl blinked, he switched gears suddenly. "My name is Amy… mister you're weird, like, my mom's old computer. "
She felt kinda bad saying it, but it was true! Everything had a faint second or two delay with him, just like the old computer. It wasn't really a big deal, but it was odd. She never seen anyone act like him before, and she really didn't understand why. The child didn't deem him threatening yet though, otherwise she would have ran off. In the end though, she did appreciate the change in subject, both from her parents, and the Butcher.
He did give her a funny look, an old computer? What… why? "Like an iMac?" He asked, oddly not denying it, or even seeming offended, just maybe finding what she said weird. She giggled when he seemed to go along with it and didn't even seem offended. "Yeah! " She agreed. He might be weird but at least he wasn't mean, so she felt a bit more comfortable around him. He hesitated again before giving a slightly awkward smile, followed with a soft laugh along with her.
The child began to feel more at ease with him, he didn't seem bad, just a little weird. "You know my name now, but who are you mister? " She asked curiously, wanting a name to put to his face in her head besides boat man or something similar. "Call me Dexter. " Was her reply, this time without such a pause. The name wasn't what she expected, but it didn't raise any alarms either. "It's nice to meet you Mister Dexter! " Amy held out her free hand to him, for a handshake.
Dexter looked at her hand, quickly running over the few known correct responses to such a gesture. A high five? No she was holding it out to him not upwards, a handshake, that's what she wanted. So he gently took her hand into his and shook it a little too slowly, offering a friendly smile again. "Pleasure to meet you too, Amy. " As friendly as he was being, the child didn't know that he actually didn't want her here. 'She shouldn't be here, it's dangerous, for both of us.' His inner thoughts told him, but he couldn't bring himself to be too mean about it.
The kid was nice and all, but he wanted to get home before anyone else wondered why he was out here. Thankfully she caught him coming back and not pulling out, but it was still not ideal for him. It wasn't her fault by any means and it's not like he disliked kids or anything, but now wasn't the time to socialize. As he was working on coming up with a reason to leave, or get her to leave, the clouds decided to make themselves more known, as there was a not so distant flash of lightning behind Amy, soon followed with the haunting, familiar boom of thunder.
To Dexter, it was nothing new, he didn't startle easy and Miami had a lot of storms, but he soon found out that Amy didn't feel the same. She yelped in fright and whirled around, taking a step back as she shined her light around, indirectly backing closer to Dexter. "It was just lightening. " He casually pointed out, since she seemed to act like the sound came from something in the dark, wanting to jump out and eat her. Of course right after that, the flashlight was soon back in his face, though thankfully not for long when she lowered it a little. "T-that's not good! I-I should get home t-then! " She admitted, startled at the idea of being caught in a thunderstorm. "Probably, yes. " He agreed, this was perfect, he didn't have to scare her off or anything now.
Just then, her flashlight began to dim, then flicker, struggling to continue providing the child light. "Wha? No no, c'mon not now. " She pointed the light down and began to lightly smack it against her other hand, panicked at the thought of being left in total darkness like this. Dexter sighed and patted his pockets in an effort to see if he happened to have any batteries with him, highly unlikely but it was worth checking. 'She won't be able to get back home without that flashlight, not without getting lost, or mugged, or worse. ' He reminded himself, but what could he do about it? Soon the flashlight died entirely, leaving them both in darkness, not that Dexter minded, he could still see her well enough. But Amy... Amy wasn't used to it and gulped nervously, shivering as she slowly tucked the now dead flashlight into her bag, a small whimper escaping her.
Another lightening bolt flashed behind Dexter this time, off into the sea, far enough to not hurt anyone but still startling, especially with the loud rumbly thunder afterwards. It proved to be too much for Amy to handle and she cried out, launching herself into Dexter and wrapping her little arms around his waist, burying her face into his nice smelling button up shirt. At first Dexter almost reacted defensively, like an animal would to being attacked, but he realized she wasn't attacking him, she was terrified and seeking comfort, seeking protection.
'Why would she hug me? She doesn't know me, is she going to start crying? ' He was a bit overwhelmed by this as he held his arms up, unsure how to deal with this. He wasn't really a cuddlier either, in fact he wasn't much of a fan of physical contact in general. "Hey uh, don't worry, lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, right? " He said to her awkwardly, but the girl just tightened her hug around him, burying her face deeper into his stomach. She clung to him like he was a life preserver and maybe to her, he was, but he really didn't understand why, or what he should do about it.
Another lightening strike boomed and this one was closer, louder, enough to make even Dexter flinch a little, while poor Amy let out a muffled cry. He needed to do something, he couldn't just stand here and expect her to get over it, because she clearly wasn't going to. But what? He couldn't take her onto his boat, plus it didn't seem like much comfort was to be found there. 'She needs somewhere to stay where she can't hear the thunder, that somewhere being warm would be better too, she's cold against me. ' He looked down at the young girl and soon realized he should do something while he thought to himself, so he awkwardly patted her head with one hand and just then, it dawned on him, somewhere warm and where she couldn't hear the booms was close, very close.
Dexter smiled with a bit of pride, he solved it! Now to just proceed without freaking her out. "Hey, uhm, if you let go, I'll take you somewhere away from the storm, okay? " He offered as he lightly tugged at her hands, not trying to pull her off of him by force but maybe just a little bit of encouragement. Finally she removed her face from his stomach and looked up at him, though she couldn't really see him, he could still see her. "Really? Please mister Dexter, take me there? I want be away from this storm, it's so scary! " She exclaimed at the end with a whimper. 'She's desperate, but she has no idea what she just agreed to, she probably wouldn't be so eager if she knew. ' He almost felt bad for her, almost, but it was to help her, so it was far better than it could be. That and he didn't really feel bad about anything... ever. "Okay then, well, let's get started. "
He clapped his hands casually above her, but that caused her to jump and she finally let him go. He blinked and realized his mistake. "Sorry. " Came the simple muttered apology, though it was reflex and didn't really hold any heart in it. She didn't seem to mind and just smiled shyly at him, probably feeling silly at being freaked out over a simple clap. "So where are-are we going? " Amy asked, looking around nervously as she saw another flash, this time doing her best to not cling to Dexter when the boom came. But she did yelp and hugged herself, waiting for an answer. "Oh, me? Nowhere, but you are going somewhere. " Dexter responded casually, before he reached towards her to lift her up. He picked up his wife's kids before, so it was sort of familiar as he slid his hands under her arms, lifting slowly to not hurt her.
Amy was quite baffled on that, how can she go somewhere but not him? Yet he was still helping her? She gasped when he picked her up, having not expected that and she put her hands on his arms, not pushing but a little unsure on what was going on. "Where is somewhere? " She asked him, trying to look into his eyes to see if she could spot any form of malice, but it was just so dark, he was just a shadow holding her. She felt him bring her closer, a warm puff of air washing over her face, like his breath? Her head was then soon engulfed in somewhere warm, damp and enclosed. Outside noise was muffled a little, but it was little comfort when she figured out what he was doing.
Dexter hoped that the girl would remain trusting for this, but he started head first in case she panicked, hopefully no one would take notice. He felt her raise a hand from his arm to touch his cheek which was currently stretched a bit to accommodate her head being in his mouth. The child's confused hand pawed around his face and he winced, especially when she almost poked him in the eye by accident. But he didn't want to come across as aggressive or forceful, so he let her put the pieces together at her own speed. Thankfully, she soon lowered her hand back to his arm, now seeming to be trying to keep her balance or something, and he felt that it was okay to proceed, so he swallowed.
It was... strange wasn't really a strong enough word for this, but it was all she could think of. Her head was literally in this man's mouth, oh god she hoped he didn't bite down. Her wish was soon answered when, instead, he swallowed, soft, slick muscle lurched and flexed, engulfing her head in his gullet while her shoulders slipped into his jaws next, causing her to lower her arms further so she didn't stress his cheeks too much. Amy wasn't sure why but she didn't feel too afraid, a little nervous maybe but so far Dexter was being gentle about this, and another thunderbolt struck, she could hear the now muffled boom afterwards and it wasn't as scary or imposing. It boiled down to the thunder being scarier than the inside of Dexter, at least to the child. Plus she understood now why he was doing this, he wanted to hide her from the thunderstorm, block out the noise so it wouldn't scare her so much.
Dexter really wasn't expecting her to be calm about it but so far, she wasn't putting up a fuss. He didn't really want to delay either in case someone happened by, so he soon swallowed again, and then again, repeating a smooth rhythm of gently devouring the child, gulp by gulp. He wasn't sure what he was going to tell her after he was done, he'd try to cross that bridge once they got there. It didn't take much longer before gravity was helping him, especially once he tipped his neck back and swallowed more loosely, letting the last of her slip down his throat. Thankfully she had a fairly scrawny frame, so even once she was fully in his stomach, she wasn't too heavy or stressful on his shirt. Soon his mouth was empty, just in time for an accidental burp to escape his lips. "Excuse me. " He repeated almost like he had it on record, ready to play, but not an actual reflex, as the record took a second to read before playing.
Normally she might be stressed about how dark it was inside of him, but it was so dark outside too that not much has changed. Plus it was just his stomach, what could be in here? Besides well... acid, and she didn't want to see that. Suddenly with that thought, her heart skipped a beat and she pressed a hand on one of the stomach walls, once she was curled up inside. Maybe going along with this wasn't such a good idea, she kind of forgot a pretty critical detail there. "U-uh, Mister Dexter? " She called his name nervously, hearing his belch and delayed response, she was almost getting used to it now, except she had more pressing issues on her mind. She didn't think he'd purposely hurt her, but he was pretty weird, was he even human? He just gobbled her up whole after all, and maybe he didn't realize it could be dangerous?
As the young girl called his name, one of his hands was rested lightly over his middle, feeling the muscles of his stomach gently ripple and knead around the child, followed with the occasional groan or gurgle from his gut. "Uh yes? What Is it? " He asked awkwardly, hearing the nervous tone in her voice, giving away that she probably wasn't quite sure about this yet. "Am I... going to be okay? " He heard her ask, her voice hopeful, shy, but understandably still nervous, at least she wasn't full on panicking. As if on queue, his stomach rumbled softly, in a soothing way, as if it was trying to comfort Amy. "Yes, you are going to be just fine, I'm just... uh, holding you? " He couldn't really come up with a decent term for it, except maybe 'hiding' instead of holding.
Amy didn't feel any discomfort or anything yet, in fact the man's tummy was quite cozy thus far. The muscles rippling and such almost felt like his body was cuddling her nicely and she was getting used to the soft rumbles. So when he told her she'd be fine, she believed him, there wasn't a reason for him to lie so she began to relax. Her nervousness began to fade with a soft smile on her face, curiously touching the walls of her soft, warm confines. The girl could still hear the distant thundering booms outside if she listened, but it was so muffled and faint that it didn't scare her any, she was safe from it in here. She wiggled faintly in his belly to get comfortable, resting her head back and letting her eyes droop. She knew she'd have to go back home soon, but deep down she did wish she could just, hide in here, safely nestled away from the fighting and yelling. "Thank you mister Dexter, it's... comfy in here. " She nicely told him, glancing upwards, towards his heart.
Dexter wasn't sure what to do now that he had nestled the poor girl away, but it helped that she seemed fine with being curled up in his stomach, she even said it was comfortable. He probably shouldn't keep her inside overnight, namely for his own safety, but it was so tempting to. There was something... pure about holding a life in his hands, but not taking it, or even having any intention to. "I-I'm glad. " He answered, still in a bit of a daze from all this. He shook his head and crouched down to finish tying up his boat to the dock, feeling better with making himself busy. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to move around, despite containing an entire child. "Can I... sleep in here? Please? I'm tired... " Amy soon asked, shifting softly in his gut.
As she asked, he fully tied the boat up and stood, his heart skipping a few beats. 'I should say no, I shouldn't keep her overnight, it's kidnapping, even if she's willing she's just a kid, I can't take the risk.' Not that he deemed it wrong, but more so he was worried about his own safety and not wanting to get in trouble with the law. But his belly let out a content gurgle, a gentle reminder of just how nice it was to be full and as if on queue, the little one even snuggled against one of his stomach walls, which oddly felt nice to Dexter. "Uhm, yeah sure, I guess. " He ended up saying, common sense giving him the side eye already.
Amy was so glad he said yes, happily snuggling against his warm, cozy innards some more, getting comfortable in the process to sleep. "Yay! I promise I won't be any trouble for you! " She almost cheered to him, before letting out a long, tired yawn as she let herself sink back into the warm, slick flesh around her. "You're a good person, thank you for helping me mister... " She said sweetly, in a tired, calm voice as she allowed herself to drift off into a deep sleep. 'No, I'm not a good person, I'm a bad person doing a good thing, for a change. ' Dexter thought to himself with a soft sigh to her words, and even then it was still a bit selfish on his part. But she was happy, if she wasn't, he wouldn't keep her in there, so no real harm done.