Magic and chaos

Peter- I nod nervously and tell her that all she has to do is put certain, easy to find substances in the traps, and it would catch the creatures. And if the flow of creatures got thin, she could move the traps. And there were, of course, 4 cages, so there was up to 1600 creatures daily.

"What's to stop me baiting the traps with your organs?" asks Jessica. "Now that I know about the traps, I have no incentive to keep you alive."

Peter- "Because I haven't told you the location of the traps. And they're hard to find, trust me."

"Okay," says jessica. "Now you're bargaining."

Peter- "So, how about you leave and I leave, I go to the edge of the forest and drop some random maps, and one of them shows where the traps are, and I go back to civilization. And in return, you don't bother me.

"No dice. You give me the maps, and I follow you to 'civilisation'. I'm either going to find employment or food there... Or both."

Peter- "No. As soon as I give you the maps, you'll eat me."

"You don't get this. I take the maps, and you leave. i follow you to the city, and do whatever I want in the city. To find the city, I need you alive. This at least gives you a chance at survival."

Peter- "Alright. Plenty of fat, clean humans, vampires, werewolves and such in the city." I pull a dirty map out of my pocket and give it to her.

"Delicious," replies Jessica. "Now let us find your city, or I might just hunt you for sport."

Peter- "if you do, kill me quickly. I don't have much to live for, anyway. Besides, I probably taste like dirt, mud, sweat, bark, and such. And I'm not very fat. And you'd also have to find all the knives and darts hidden in various spots on my person." With that, I climb down the tree.

"lean meat often makes a change, and I'm always game to try new flavours," smiles Jessica. "But I will abstain from devouring you for as long as I can."

Peter- "Great." I say, and start running towards the city. I have no doubt that she can keep up, but I want to get there as soon as possible.

Jessica lopes along behind him on all fours. Occasionally a long thin black tongue wets her lips and her eyes.

Peter- when we finally get to civilization I stop. "Here." I say, tossing her a coin. "You should probably buy yourself a new dress if you want to fit in."

"Thank you," replies Jessica. "I'll be seeing you around."

Peter- "No offense intended, but I hope not."

"You might change your mind. It depends how we meet, really."

Peter: "I suppose so. Well, I have to go sell some things. If you want to come, you can, but dontg feel obliged."

"I will," replies Jessica, and lopes along the street behind him, green hide showing through rents in the pale skin.