Petra sighed as she walked up the street. All things considered she was likely looking at a full wardrobe change, which even with thrifting would still cost a pretty penny. Thankfully it looks like her past spending had been relegated to only food and rent. Which is quite convenient for a new girl trying to figure herself out.

Her biggest concern then wasn’t how much it would all end up costing, but what it even was. Fashion was never an interest Petra had taken to. For reasons that had only become understood very recently.

Clothes were a gateway, a confession of sorts. If Petra had showed interest, then she would have had to say something, in turn making it known that she cares about her appearance. Caring about such things was feminine and that was unacceptable to the little boy Petra once was. If people found out, they might start to have ideas, ideas that would force Petra to have to admit why she felt jealous of those who primped and preened trying on all sorts of outfits and styles.

As Petra entered the first store she made a mental note to try to keep things simple, solid colors, just things that all worked together and could be interchangeable.

A solid plan, that lasted all of ten minutes. Petra had much to her own chagrin, collected a small tower of clothes with no consistency or stylistic through line. Various skirts ranging from long and simple to short and way to frilly; crop tops, tank tops, blouses, dresses. Far, far too many things for just one person. That was the only thing that had stopped Petra from purchasing the small hoard that she had gathered.

The reliance on public transit forced her back into her original, or at least a version of it. Petra had forgone the simple aspect of the plan, but after rotating through the dresses and shirts and pants, she had found a series of outfits that just felt like her.

When Petra went into the changing room, she was once again perturbed by her unnatural reflection. If the mirror wouldn’t show who she really was, then it served no purpose to her. She did her best to avoid the mirror as much as possible, which made it difficult to gauge whether something properly fit or not.

A few were a bit flashy but they also made Petra feel strangely confident, a feeling she was not aware clothes could provide.

Despite the fact that bras were what prompted this trip to begin with, Petra had put it off as long as she could. She knew nothing about sizes and would have to get measure which meant talking with someone.

It filled her with an intense anxiety. Her form was fresh, newly developed by the whims of her subconscious and the affliction she obtained only a week ago. What if they knew, what if they saw through her facade and revealed her to be a fake? That she wasn’t a real woman, in fact she wasn’t even a human.

When she reached an attendant Petra stood silently for a while, just smiling awkwardly at the girl who was hanging the things she needed.

The girl eventually caught Petra’s eye’s looking at her and spoke up.

“Can I help you?” she said.

“I um, need a fitting?” Petra said almost to quietly.

“Sure,”

That was it? Petra was not expecting it to be that simple. She was relieved of course but part of her felt that she should be questioned. That it should have been more. Petra had amped and worked herself up for nothing.

The attendant guided Petra back towards the changing rooms.

The mirror.

Petra shifted herself in front of the attendants sight, getting almost uncomfortably close. She absolutely could not let this girl see her in the mirror. The girl thankfully seemed unphased by the physical proximity between them.

The attendant pivoted to the inside of the changing room, putting the mirror safely behind her. She pulled out a tape measure and asked Petra to remove her shirt.

From one uncomfortable situation to another.

“Is that really necessary?” Petra asked. Petra would be naked without her shirt, a terrifying vulnerability.

“Don’t worry I do this all day I’ve seen it all before,” she said. Her words were not as reassuring to Petra as the attendant might have hoped.

Clearly the attendant realized this because she backpedaled.

“You know what? You’re probably right, I’ll just adjust it afterwards,”

Petra let out an audible sigh.

The attendant was quick and efficient. Petra had been told to raise her arms one second and the next the attendant was saying strange things about letters, numbers, and cups.

“Looks like you’re about a 32C,”

“And that is the…” Petra tried to figure it all out in her head.

“The size?” the attendant looked at Petra curiously. “The tags will have that on them.”

“Cool, cool,” Petra nodded her head. “Yes, that makes sense. Thank you.”

“No problem,” the attendant leaves and returns to the floor.

Petra cautiously walked down the rows of bras, searching for ones with the size the attendant had mentioned. Before she could even find the right size Petra had noticed that bras, were really expensive. Which did not make any sense to Petra what so ever. Why was such a small garment as expensive as one of the dresses she had picked?

Lamenting the cost, Petra found a few in her size, tried them on to double check, and went to the register to buy her finds.

With a lethal blow to her wallet, Petra headed back towards her apartment to unload. She was completely emotionally drained. While waiting on the train, Petra was struck by hunger. An unease had been slowly spreading through her body all day, but Petra had been unable to place it until then.

She hadn’t eaten anything this morning. How had she forgotten? It was such a simple easy task, that she had done her whole life.

Her whole body growled at her, twitching at the slightest sound of movement around her. Her senses had switched to some type of predatory instincts.

Petra clenched her jaw shut, and dug her fingernails into the sides of her legs. She was just two stops away, that wasn’t that far, she could keep her composure until then.

The train stopped, everyone but her steps off, one gets on; one stop left.

The man sits down across from her. He scans her up and down, before quickly looking away.

“Finally decided to show off your assets huh?” the man says, gesturing to her bags.

Petra ignores him.

“It’s always a shame when women like you try to hide themselves behind men’s clothing, it’s unflattering and unsexy,” the man leans forward. “And with a body like that you deserve only the best.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“I mean, I have a wife but she doesn’t have to know. Come on it’ll be fun,”

“What the hell is your problem?”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that. I can see you want this, the hunger in your eyes,” he flashes a grin at her. “I might even throw in a little something, make it worth your while if your going to be difficult about it.”

Petra bit back her tongue. There was no one else here, she could feed, just a little. Then again all of his blood was currently elsewhere, in places Petra didn’t want to go near.

The train rattled forward. Just a little further and then Petra could get off, leave this asshole behind and eat.

“Going silent now? Thinking over my offer?” he moves across to the seat next to Petra. “Better think faster, longer you take the less that reward is going to be.”

The train slowly screeched to a halt, as the man slowly tried to reach around Petra’s shoulder.

Petra stood, trying to maintain her composure. He stood and followed her to the door which had not yet opened. He reached and grabbed Petra’s shoulder. Her brain overrode her inhibitions.

Petra turned her head and snapped at the man’s hand her teeth piercing through the tendons and soft flesh. The man yelled in pain and tried to extract his hand from her teeth. Instead his hand was split open, as Petra’s teeth carved the gaps between the bone.

The sound of the door brought her back to the present. She savored what little blood managed to get into her mouth and stepped off the train.

Pasta-Gal

Ok, so I know that this is perhaps a strange place to cut it, but it is where I shall be stopping(temporarily of course). The story is at a point where characters are here and they are doing stuff but I clearly need more time to figure out what stuff that exactly is. Fear not for I shall be returning soon to this story and in the mean time I will be shifting back to posting chapters for my other story. Thank Y'all for reading and I shall see you again soon.