Side note: I started this blog one year ago today. Happy birthday, little bloggie.
*****
“How is it I’ve been with you all day, but I feel
like I haven’t seen you?”He ran his
hands over my shoulders, massaging into the muscle.The soft material inside of my hoodie rubbed
against my skin with every roll of his strong fingers.
“You’re the answer guru.You tell me, oh wise one.”My hands met his arms, finding the solid
strength I’d missed all day.“You always
know what I’m thinking anyway.”
“Most of the time.”He wet his bottom lip, taking a step forward to effectively line our
bodies closer together.“You’ve been
thinking a lot today.”
I put my arms around his neck.My fangs started to crowd my mouth.His delicious scent called them out to
play.“Can you blame me?”
“I can’t blame you for thinking, but once again, you
were thinking too hard.I know it’s tough to go with the flow,
Cade.”He put his forehead to mine.“But you have to chill out or you’re going to
make yourself crazy, and take me down the rabbit hole in the process.You can’t fix everyone, and you sure as hell
can’t fix what doesn’t need fixing.”
“I guess you missed the parts where I was thinking
about you.”Our cheeks rubbed together,
marking each other.His day old stubble
scratched my cheek, but I pressed closer anyway.“I thought about you more than anything.”
“I know.” He smiled.“Confession, I sat in
the front seat on purpose.”
“I was wondering about that.”I kissed his cheek, which was more of a slide of open
lips across his jaw.
He responded, grinding against my leg.“Separation makes the heart grow
fonder, or some bullshit like that.”
“So you tried to keep yourself from me on
purpose?How did you think that would
go?”I pressed my nose into his neck,
dragging in his smell.
“Just like this," he purred.
"However, my ideal outcome would have involved nudity by now.Not sure we have time for that, though.”He gripped my ass with both hands, firmly pushing my groin into his.There was no
doubt in my mind, he was definitely happy to see me.
“Everything is always about sex with you.I’m glad I wasn’t around when you were a
teenager.My ass would have begged for
mercy.”I laughed into his neck.Every second seemed to tick by too fast, closer to
the inevitable, the conclusion I wasn’t looking forward to.I wanted to stay here, with him.Sue me, I wanted
to play house a little, lounge around naked and do whatever the fuck we wanted,
but it wasn’t going to happen.He was
right, we didn’t have time.So I kept
things light.I didn’t want to go into
this mess on a bad note.I needed him
behind me with his full support.
Micah snorted.“You’re right.Beautiful,
wealthy, with a little attitude, I would’ve probably mistaken you for one of
those country club types, and not even given you a shot.I had a thing for boys from the wrong side of
the tracks back then. Bad boys."He held onto me
tight, moving from my ass to my back with his hands, and I knew he knew what I
was thinking.“But things change.People change. I'm glad my taste improved.”
“We were all different back then,” I said, strangely
void of emotion. My thoughts drifted away from the conversation.
“Stop.”His
fingers dug into me.“I’m okay,
Cade.I really am,” he grit. The invisible time bomb in my head dinged, and I lost my optimistic facade that had only been hanging by a thread.
“I’m not
okay with it.”I pulled back.“I don’t want to do it, Micah.You have to believe if there was another way,
I wouldn’t do this.But I have to,
because like you said, it’s not about me.It’s about them, and if I’m supposed to lead, I have to have people to
follow me.”
And like I was some kind of monster, he put distance
between us, pacing the room with clenched hands. His dark blue eyes slanted at me as he whipped
his head around. “They’re
criminals," he roared. "I don't want their dirty fucking hands on what's mine!”And there it was.He wasn’t okay at all.
It was a few hours later when Samuel came into the Control Room
looking completely frazzled, but not just everyone could see that.They continued to assault him with questions
from every angle.Ryan watched him visit
all the screens at every desk with the technicians before gathering them in
front of the big screen.They huddled
around him, nodding as they listened to whatever his instructions were.The meeting lasted a couple of minutes and
everyone dispersed, seeming to have new orders that needed to be completed in a
timely manner.Samuel’s eyes met his,
but that was about it.The Commander
turned around and that was that.
Ryan leaned back in his seat.A frown touched his lips.“He’s just busy,” he muttered, looking at his
screen.
“Huh?”Jarum took his
eyes off the bustle of activity below.
“Nothing.”Ryan pulled
his headset back on.“Avery said there
was nothing we could do.We have to
finish these last few assignments.”
“Fuck that.I want to
know what’s going on.Maybe we could
offer a different take on the whole password thing.Maybe they’re overthinking it.”Jarum studied the big screen.
“Jarum, no offense, but we can barely type.What makes you think we have any business
offering them our opinion?”Ryan shook
his head, rather irritated, but knowing he was just being sensitive about Sam
blowing him off.His… whatever he was,
had a job to do.He couldn’t let one
look get to him.It was nothing.At least there was a look.
“Okay, smart ass, I just figured you’d be down to solve a
puzzle.You were always good at that
shit.You know, solving those mysteries
in your little books before the end of the story?You’d always tell me what was going to happen
after maybe two chapters and ruin the whole damn thing before you read the rest
to me.I just thought you’d…”
“The only mystery I’m trying to solve is why you aren’t
still working on your assignments.If
we’re going to be any help to them, we have to learn this first.Baby steps, Jarum.”
“What is up your ass?”Jarum plopped into his chair, spinning on the seat until he stomped his
boot down to get Ryan’s attention.“I
thought we were friends again.”
Ryan sighed.“It’s
nothing.I just want to get this done,
eat something, and go to bed.”
“I’ll just bet you want to go to bed.”Jarum waggled his brows. The look of death
burned into him.“Whatever.You’re the smart one, Ryan.I’ll be lucky to work in the garage one
day.They aren’t going to give me a
fancy name plaque on one of these desks.”He rested his chin in his hand.“You on the other hand, if anyone can solve this mystery… it’s you,
bro.”
“No, I can’t.People
around here have spent years trying to figure out what Sam’s father changed the
password to.No one, not one of these educated people, including
Sam himself has been able to find it.It’s some binary code thingy, and I don’t get it.”Ryan geared up the next assignment.
“Pssh.” Avery snorted and pushed off her desk, rolling over
to them.“You really do read too
much.Binary code is only made up of
zeros and ones.Even if you intended to
create a ten digit code out of binary, it would involve a hell of a lot of zero
and ones, more than the password would allow.But it was a creative answer, right category, and while not the correct
term, you seem to retain a lot of stuff you read.Maybe you boys could help me out with something.”
“What?”Jarum
straightened up. Ryan had never seen him so ready to work in his entire life.
“The base has a few storerooms full of documents.Just a bunch of old data the technicians and
Commanders compiled over the years.But
I’m starting to think we may have to start going through all of it.There’ll be a lot of hours involved, but it
would help you see just what we do here in black and white, and get you out of
here for a while.I’m used to it, but I
can remember getting a head ache from all the craziness in the beginning.Plus you two are like wild cats and being set
loose might be just what you need.”
“In short, you’re trying to get rid of us because we’re in
the way.”Ryan delicately put his
headset on the desk and powered down his screen like Avery had shown him.“You don’t have to sugar coat it, Avery.It’s not your fault you got stuck with us.”He slipped his hoodie on and stood from his
chair, careful to push it into the desk.
She sighed.“God, I
forget how young you are.”She twirled
her hair around her finger, checking over her shoulder at the beeping on her
screen.Nothing new there, she turned
back to them.“I’m not trying to ditch
you, kid.Sure I have a ton of things to
do, but I don’t half-ass train anyone.Part of my job is to scan for the password.I’ve hit a dead end on the trail and I
actually was going to go down to
storeroom and check things out, but if you still think I’m trying to get rid of
you, I’ll just have to do it myself.”
“Hell no,” Jarum practically shouted, hopping to his
feet.“Ry, you wanted to be a part of
all this.”He gestured around with his
hands.“What if we found the freaking
password in that load of crap?We’d be
like heroes, right?”
“Mm hmm,” Avery hummed.“Precisely.”
Pulling on the strings of his hoodie, Ryan’s brows furrowed
in thought.He hated being the fragile
mess of a topsider that the entire base no doubt thought of him as.Hell, even Sam probably had the thought from
time to time.Looking over at his… yeah,
whatever, he looked at Sam and saw the utter exhaustion on his face.He thought of the room filled with crazy
combinations scrawled over the walls, and all the hours Sam had spent trying to
better the fucking world.What hurt
could it do to look through some papers and leave Avery to do the important
stuff?At least he’d have tried for Sam,
to relieve a little of the burden.And
what if they really did find something?Sam would be over the moon.The
entire base would probably see him in a different light.Oh, and the world would be saved.He smiled.
“Yeah, okay.Where
are we headed?”
Jarum gave him a mischievous grin.“Cool.”
Avery rolled her eyes.She laughed under her breath while putting a tiny black card into the
computer tower.Ryan watched the process
with curiosity.“You’ll head past the
mess hall until you hit the big letter E.Take a left and tell the guards Avery sent you.I’ll call ahead and give them instructions.Oh, and Ryan?”
“Yeah?”The blond
chewed his bottom lip, nervous at the sudden appearance of adult on her face.
She smiled.“Go and
give Sam a hug or something.He looks
ready to slap someone or fall asleep on his feet.”
Blushing, Ryan looked away.“Uh, I’ll try?”
“Good boy.”She
abruptly turned, shooing them with her hand before clicking away on the
keyboard.
“Do you do tricks, too?”Jarum asked, leaning into him.
“Fuck off.”Ryan
pushed him away.“Let’s get going.”
They bounded down the steps and into the crowd of
technicians.Benny looked up from his
clipboard and frowned.“You two aren’t
off the clock yet.”
“Nope, we have a mission,” Jarum boasted, standing
tall.
Ryan shook his head.“Avery
asked us to run an errand.”
“Oh, yeah?Where to?”Benny cocked a brow, grinning at Jarum.
“The storeroom.She’s
got us on paperwork detail.”With something
to prove to his man, Jarum kept his cool, even though he knew the teasing look
on Benny’s face like it was his own.“It’s
important.”
“I never said it wasn’t.”Benny went back to his clipboard.
Jarum huffed.“That’s
it?You don’t want to know more about
our mission?”
Benny never looked up.“A good soldier never reveals the details of his mission unless
completed, and only if granted permission.It seems I already know too much.”He cracked a smile. “Proceed with your errand, Jarum.”
“Fine.I get it.We’re a joke, huh?”Jarum hid his eyes behind his hair.“Whatever.Come on, Ry.”
Ryan looked between them, feeling the tension grow.“Uh, maybe you should… while I go find Sam a
sec.”
He ducked out of Jarum’s grasp and headed to the other side
of the room.Benny smirked, walking away
without a word.He headed for the narrow,
lavatory hallway, whistling under his breath.Jarum, stark raving mad went after him.He followed Benny into the bathroom with a forceful hand to the swinging
door.
“Seriously?Is this
how it’s going to go?I finally get
excited about something and you turn it into a joke?”Jarum’s mouth fell open when Benny only went
to each stall and pushed them open, one by one.“What the fuck, Benny?I thought
we… what are you doing?”
“Being careful.”
“What?”Jarum simply
stared as Benny walked over to him, slammed the door to the hallway closed and
locked it.“What is going on with you?”
“I don’t make jokes without a punch line.That’s just stupid.You’re not a joke.”He pulled Jarum to him and devoured his
mouth.The clipboard fell to the
floor.“I—don’t know.”Benny gasped.“How I… ah fuck, can’t do this much longer.”He opened his mouth, accepting Jarum’s tongue
while being slammed into a metal partition.
“Do—Do what?”Jarum
pulled the snaps of the redhead’s technician jumper apart.He reached inside, fisting Benny’s cock.
“I can’t hide you anymore.”Benny grabbed Jarum’s hair, pulling his head back to suck at his
neck.“I can’t stop thinking about you,
damn it.”
“Then don’t.”Jarum
pushed his leg between Benny’s spread thighs, teasing him for a second before
pulling away.“Don’t hide me.”
Benny gave into the urge and sank to his knees.He looked up, the fluorescent light hitting
his eyes just right.Deep gold lit up
the rings of his irises.“Accept my
apology?”
Jarum undid his buckle so fast he didn’t remember doing it
until metal clanked around his ankles.“Only
if you make it up to me.”Benny wet his
bottom lip as Jarum put a hand in his hair.“Hurry it up, I got shit to do.”
“Fucking bossy.”
“And don’t you forget it,” Jarum husked, guiding that sweet,
sweet mouth to the head of his cock. The
minute Benny swallowed him he put his hands against the partition and
groaned.“Ryan’s gonna kill me.”
*****
“Hey.”
Sam looked at him, trying to smile, but it looked to be too
much to handle.“Hey.How’s training going?”
“It’s—”
“Commander, we need you over at terminal eight.China seems to think they can contact Brazil
and patch us through.The line seems
promising if we have the code right.”A
technician noticed Ryan and sputtered for a response.“I… I’m sorry to interrupt, sir.”He stepped back.
“No, no it’s okay.Go
on ahead.I’ll be right there.”Sam watched him go.He turned to Ryan, regretting his next
words.“I wish I could stay, but—”
Grasping his forearm, Ryan nodded.“It’s okay.I understand, really I do.I just
wanted to say hi and tell you Avery sent us to the storeroom on an errand.We’ll be there for a while.I didn’t want you to worry if you found us
gone.”
Sam’s eyes were thoughtful.He smiled a little at that.“Thanks.I probably would have, huh?”
“I figured.”Ryan
looked around, sneaking a quick kiss to his cheek.“Love you,” he whispered.“I’ll see you later.”
Before Sam could reply, Ryan was already maneuvering through
the techs, looking for something… or someone.Sam smiled in spite of his mood before going over to terminal eight.
*****
Armed with a clipboard of his own, Ryan walked the tall rows
of document boxes in the storeroom.Jarum had finally showed up, over an hour late, and had barely touched
one box.He was now fast asleep, cheek
plastered to a table near the door.Not
that Ryan really cared, as long as he wasn’t technically alone in the huge room
by himself.He checked the clipboard
again, looking for the previous Commanders’ section.The list in front of him directed him to the
back.
He had to wonder why no one had thought to start here.But from the sounds of things while talking
to the guards, it was just a bunch of printouts that really didn’t mean
anything.The guards themselves were
only standing there to look after the weapons storage next door.They could care less about the boxes of
nothing Ryan was currently surrounded by.But his inner book sleuth was on the case.He’d already exhausted the files from every
technician’s report from the past ten years.Those turned out to be nothing, but personnel documents and log sheets
from every computer in the Control Room.Finally he felt like he caught a break when he spotted the Commander
category on the bottom of the room’s breakdown.
A wall of metal file cabinets made up the back of the
room.Seeing the locks on every one, he
grabbed the tiny key ring the guard had given him and looked over the seven
cabinets.The first one seemed too easy.Everyone always picked the first door or
drawer when searching for something in the books he’d read.But then again, his mind wandered, the last
door was where someone was usually hiding from the killer.His book brain conjured imagery to go along with
his logic.The two end cabinets were
out.The middle one was directly across
from the opening of the aisle.He
imagined the taunting treasure of a secret cave, how the pirate would easily be
faced with faux jewels as a booby trap and thought better of the center
cabinet.
That left four cabinets.“Just pick one, you idiot,” he whispered to himself.That was when he turned and the light caught
the residue of an oily handprint on the top corner of the second file
cabinet.If that wasn’t a sign, he didn’t
know what else to ask for.
Curious, he swiped his finger over the handprint and rubbed
his thumb and forefinger together.A
greasy texture glided between his fingers and he inhaled the scent of whatever
coated his skin.No idea what he was in
for, he unlocked the cabinet and opened it.
“So much for that,” he groaned.He read over the bottles and containers.Cleaning supplies, grease that looked to be
for… hinges and doorjambs or something, and a few other things he assumed were
for the base’s janitor.“Damn.”
His super sleuthing got him nowhere.He’d been so sure, more like hopeful,
something was in this cabinet.Overlooking the bottom shelf, he went to the next cabinet and found
smaller document boxes with corresponding Commander names and dates.The first shelf revealed dates as old as the
Digital Age.That would be a no he
concluded, and bent over to the next set of shelves. A recently familiar piece of hardware sat on
the second to the last shelf.Through
Sam he’d learned that the strange device from the treasure room, other than the
stereo, was called a projector.
He hadn’t had time to ask Sam if they could play with it
yet, but now that he had the chance, he salivated with the thought of actual
moving pictures, or movies Sam had called them.He knew he had to keep working, but a few minutes wouldn’t hurt
anyone.It didn’t look so hard to
work.There was a plug.There was a fitting hole in the wall near the
last cabinet.But there was also… one of
those slots like Avery had used on her computer.That meant there would be a little black disk
somewhere with a movie. He frowned,
sitting back on his heels.Why would
Avery be watching a movie in the Control Room?
Shaking his head with a smile, he had to hand it to
her.She was smooth if that’s what she did
with her time.He would never have
noticed.From the way Sam talked about
the movies, they were very special.That
had to be hard to hide in plain sight, the joy of something so precious.Thinking about Avery’s little secret made him
jealous, and fueled his search for his own black card thingy to watch.He hoped it was as good as Sam said.If the music was any indication to Sam’s
taste, Ryan just knew this was going to be awesome.
Tossing aside the clipboard, and his job, Ryan hopelessly
searched the first cabinet for a card.He pressed his face to the floor, looking through the very bottom
shelf.“Come on,” he muttered.The door of the second cabinet was in his way
and he got to his knees to shut it.From
the bottom shelf of the cleaning cabinet, he spotted a little black box.If he hadn’t been at this height, he’d never
have noticed it in the first place.The
bottom shelves were only about six inches tall and looked like they had been
taken down the adjustable pegs to accommodate the size of the document boxes a
while back.
Pulling out the maybe six-by-six box, he put it in his
lap.Made of a dark plastic, there was a
lift up latch.His fingers clicked it
open.Upon lifting the lid he discovered
a square of dark grey foam with twelve plastic squares neatly tucked away.His frown deepened as he pulled one from the
foam.The frown turned upside down
quickly.A little black card was encased
in a clear plastic holder.
“Bingo.”He
squinted.“S D Card.Huh.”
His fingers trembled.He managed to get the tiny case undone and the black card fell to the
floor.Gently, he plucked it off the
ground while looking over the case it came in.In tiny handwritten letters was written Samuel’s Graduation.
“What?”
No.Probably a
coincidence, he thought.But just in
case it wasn’t, he pulled out another clear case and flipped it over.Samuel
& Benny - 5 years.“Holy mother,”
he hissed.Disk after disk, he ravaged
through them.Samuel & Mona.Samuel 1st
Day of Training.Samuel Bedtime – 7 years.Ryan stared at the box with all the
overturned cards.His inner sleuth was a
bit on edge.
“What is this?”
He thought about getting Jarum, but something told him he
had just found the biggest clue of all.Secret card thingies in a cleaning closet?A random projector in a document storeroom?He glanced to his right and barely a foot
away was a chair and old can tucked into the last darkened aisle.Scooting over, he looked into the old coffee
can and dipped his fingers inside.When
he pulled his find out, he stared at a fragile, yellowing box of herbal
cigarettes.The only person he knew who
smoked—this kind in particular—was Samuel.
If you already read the previous intro to this last night, I'm sorry if I offended you. Sometimes it's hard to translate my sense of humor into text, and it's even harder to know that you took it wrong. I didn't actually mean that my readers were whiners. I was referring to the lot of you that sent me tweets and FB messages and emails over the wait time, expressing your excitement for the next installment. It was merely a joke. If you took it wrong, again, I'm sorry. As my personality doesn't seem to come across in a sweet enough manner for my readers, I'm no longer going to post intros to my stories. This isn't me being pitiful, dramatic, or asking for you all to comment with sweet nothings. This is just me being frank in a damn if you do, damn if you don't situation. It stresses me out to know that I've pissed off my readers. Furthermore, it makes me feel like absolute shit. I know you guys love my stories, and I'm sorry for ever expressing my opinion in a manner that upset you or made you think that I don't value each and every one of you. Like I said, from now on, I won't be commenting on a personal level unless the post requires it. Sorry again. Night Instead of my usual intro to a story, here is the playlist from this installment. Kate Boy - Northern Lights (Superhumanoids Remix) Crystal Castles - Celestica
and (Caution: Turn down your speakers a bit)
Male Model: Marcel Castenmiller as Botis
(Marcell Castenmiller for Calvin Klein)
TAMING FIRE: WEEK 3
“Damn,” Emile whispered.
He didn’t scare easily, but lately everything he knew about
himself was kind of turning on end.Right now, he was a bit freaked out.The night air was crisp, nipping him through his hoodie.The steep driveway had him out of breath, and
the house itself gave no light to show him the way.So he winged his way around the walkway,
slowly keeping his balance as he carried a bag in each arm and attempted to
drag the third.By the time he made it
up the wide, stone stairs of the porch, he felt ready to collapse.
It didn’t help that he felt eyes on him the whole time.Someone was watching him through the darkened
windows.How he knew for sure was beyond
him, but he wished he didn’t. Ignorance was truly bliss, he thought. The
wraparound porch was empty, at least that he could see.No cars were in the drive, but he had noticed
the pavement continued around the house.There could be a garage.He
hoped.Man, he thought, I hope someone’s
here.He could always call Lim and get a
ride, but seeing the hot jock again so soon after, yeah… had him on edge.Their parting words freaked him out.The whole Harry Potter bit with the bags
still shook him.This whole situation
was fucked.
“Hello?”He asked the
door.Duh, Emile, he thought, rolling
his eyes.The door isn’t going to just
open itself or talk to you.Setting his
stuff down, he stared at the iron door knocker that looked to be… oh,
yeah.Those were fangs.Seriously, what the fuck?Pulling up his big boy britches, he
tentatively slipped his fingers around the knocker.Metal hit metal three times and he stepped
away quickly.
Something shuffled behind the door.The lights still didn’t go on.Maybe they had a dog.But dogs always barked when someone was at
the door, didn’t they?Fuck.He took another step back.“Hello?I’m… I’m here for the housekeeping position.My name is…”
The knob rattled and the door swung open a few inches.“Um… hi?I’m Emile?”He swallowed, leaning
to the side to get a better look at what was on the other side.“Hello?”He whispered.
A hand snapped around the door from inside.Eyes wide, Emile gasped.Even in the dark, he concluded that not even
a ninety-five year old woman had hands that ghastly or nails that sharp.He backed away, step by step, until his back
hit a post on the porch.“Hello?”His voice was strangled.
Nails scratched down the wood, bringing his hands to his ears
at the sound.Run, he thought.Leave your shit and run, Emile.Heart racing in his chest, he watched the
door fling wide open, completely frozen to the spot.People always thought they’d run in a
situation like this, but Emile found the terror incapacitated him.He was helpless.A few
seconds went by.Emile continued to have
a staring contest with the darkened doorway.A breeze blew in, rustling the leaves around the porch.
He held his breath.The light from inside flicked on and Emile let out a blood curdling
scream.Screw masculine.Screw being an adult.He was going to have a heart attack.He clutched his chest as a corpse like figure
opened its jaws and roared a sickly noise.Black sockets where eyes should have been made his eyes roll back into
his head.Body going over the railing,
Emile felt the wetness on the front of his pants, and scrambled to find his
feet.He was getting the fuck out of
here.
“Oh fuck!Oh my God!”He shrieked, rolling around like he was on
fire until he could grasp the concept of using his hands and feet.On his knees, he screamed, “help me!There’s a fucking zombie!”
“Oh, dear.It’s
okay.You’re going to be okay.”A voice made him choke on his own
breath.“Are you all right?”Someone ran down the steps.
“Stay away from me!”His hand pulled a rock from the border of the hedges, making out a
silhouette in the dark.“I’m armed.”
“With a rock?I’ve
never been threatened to be Fred Flinstoned to death.”The female crossed her arms.“Bo, would you turn on the porch light?The housekeeper is here and I think he pissed
himself. I can smell it.”
Emile covered his groin in a hopeless attempt to hide his
shame as the front light flicked on.A
tall, thin brunette was illuminated a few feet from him.Gorgeous and harmless looking, Emile whirled
around.“No, no, no.This is not happening,” he rushed.Where the fuck did it go?His nostrils flared and flattened over and
over as he searched the bushes, the side of the house, jogged over to the
drive, and even back up the porch steps.“Did you see it, that thing?It
was just here!”
When he turned back to the door, a purple haired man lounged
against the frame.He held up a lit
cigarette in surrender, cocking a brow.“We don’t usually tolerate alcohol on the job, but if you can still
manage to sweep the floors and dust, I could a give a rat’s ass what your
poison is.I assume you’re from the
college and probably accustomed to a certain lifestyle, but you’ll find we live
as adults around here.Class it up a
tad, would you?”Botis’s eyes traveled
down.“And you might want to
change.Can’t very well have a
housekeeper covered in piss, now can we?It’s not sanitary.”
Emile choked out a girlish noise.“What… No.It was here,” he whispered.
“Give him a break, Botis.”The brunette handed Emile one of his bags.“It’s dark outside.You never know what lurks in the night.”Her cruel smile and light eyes scared
him.The way she said ‘lurks’ scared him
even more.
“There was something out here.I don’t just go around… pissing myself, if
you must know.I swear to God, I just
saw a fucking corpse.”Emile took the
bag away from her cautiously.
She looked at Botis seriously, and they both started
laughing.“Well, aren’t you
amusing?”Botis purred.“See dead people, do you?There is
a cemetery a few blocks down.Maybe one
of them needed a break from their nap.”He sputtered smoke, chuckling.
“I’m not a liar.I’m
not drunk.And I just saw a
monster.”Emile studied them both.“I don’t know if this some new housekeeper
hazing ritual, but you can count me out.This is fucked and I can tell you both really don’t care.I’ll call a cab.This ain’t worth the money.”
“It’s not?”Botis
stepped forward.“Everyone has a price,
Emile.And I would think our offer
exceeded your expectations or you would not be on our doorstep, would you?”
Emile barked a laugh.“What offer?Room and board?I’ll take one room and a pot to piss in over
this freak show.” He slung one bag over his shoulder, slumping under its
weight.
“You didn’t inform him in the email, Mosey?”
The brunette shrugged. “Might have slipped my mind, it was rather
late.”Her eyes slid to Emile under her
thick lashes.God damn, she looked ready
to eat him with her eyes.“My bad.”
“Yeah, you seem pretty bad to me,” Emile said, no
hesitation.“What offer?”He flicked his eyes to… “And who are you
people?”
“Botis.”He put a
hand to his chest with his version of a warm smile.It didn’t translate to Emile.He still had the creeps doing the mambo under
his skin.“And that’s Mosey.”
“And?What do you
do?You don’t look older than me, and
you have this huge house.You guys into
drugs or something?I don’t do drugs,
and I’m not about live in a crack house.”
“Right to the point.”Mosey wrapped her fingers around her tight hips.She tapped the toe of her knee length boot on
the step.“The house is a family
property.We just live here.No drugs.No whores.No crack.”
“You guys brother and sister?”Emile raised his brows, waiting.
Mosey snorted.“No.And excuse me if we don’t
answer any more of your questions.Our
resume doesn’t concern you, yours concerns us.Or am I wrong in thinking we’re the employers here?”
“I didn’t agree to anything yet.”Emile narrowed his eyes.“What’s the offer? And I’ll warn you, a house
this big, and the work that comes with it isn’t cheap.I’m pretty sure I’ll have to put up with some
serious crap too, if I’ve got the gist of things.”He eyed them both from head to toe.Oh yeah, they were that type.Rich, snotty, do
as they damn well pleased.
“Mouthy little one, aren’t you?”Botis met Mosey’s eyes as he descended the
stairs.“I think we got off on the wrong
foot, Emile.”
“And how do you know my name?”
“Because you sent it to us?”Mosey chuckled.“He’s ridiculous,
Bo, a true comedian.”
“And couldn’t we all use a few laughs around here?”Botis jingled as he walked.Chains wrapped around his boots.Spikes jutted from the toe, and his leather
trench flickered with metal off the porch light.“You would work exclusively for Raven
House.Cook, clean, and tend to our needs,
and in return, we offer you a full ride to school, the use of a car, and some
money in your pocket at the end of the day.How’s that sound, corpse caller?”
“Corpse… what!”Emile growled.“I’m not stupid.No one offers a free ride for playing house.What do you really want?Let me guess, this is all some big ass joke
on me, right?That stupid fuck, Bee, did
this, didn’t he?What is up this guy’s ass?He probably wants to get back at Lim for the
other night, and me because I blew smoke up his ass.Or was it those pricks from the gym?How did they even orchestrate this?Ah man, this is so fucked!”
Mosey was now standing next to Botis.The two of them looked straight out of a
magazine.Glamorous, dark, and sexy, but
outside the hypothetical glossy pages, they were freaks.Botis flicked his cig to the ground.Mosey toed it out.Neither of them left Emile’s worried stare.“What do you know of Bee, Emile?”Mosey’s eyes did that eat-him-for-supper
thing again.Emile gulped.
“He’s just this prick I ran into last week.He tried to start some shit with me, but I
told him to step off.Why, do you know
him?”
“Step off?You told Bee to step off?”Botis grinned.“Seems you have balls of steel or a missing
brain, Emile.Either will do as long as
you can spray a can of Pledge.”
Mosey blindly reached out to take the cig Botis
offered.“And you seem to be acquainted
with our dear friend, Lim.Another bonus
point for you, Emile.”She cocked her
head to accept the flame of his lighter.
“This is like the Addams family.”Emile turned around.“Look, this sounds too good to be true.But…”
Botis whipped his hand forward, shutting the top to his
flashy Zippo.“Like I said, we all have
a price, Emile.You need the cash
badly.You need to save money and we
offer you a room for free.You have no
transportation.Your clothing leaves
little to be desired.And we seem to run
in the same circles.Whatever could you
have to question?”
“Something tells me you guys are way deeper than I can
handle.”He glanced over his shoulder,
startled at how close they were now.
Mosey ran her hand up his shoulder, curling her black nails
around it.“We don’t have to be enemies,
Emile.We can be good friends.”Her voice was so soft and velvety.He shut his eyes after the first syllable.
“Yes,” Botis agreed, pressing into his back.Yes, Emile thought, shivering.“We can take care of you like you take care
of us.There’s nothing to worry about,
Emile.It’ll be so much fun.You’ll meet new people.”
“You’ll gain connections,” Mosey added.The two looked at each other.She pointed to the cross around Emile’s neck
and their hands slid back a few inches.
Botis’s breath was hot on his neck.“You’ll experience things no one ever gets to
see.Come work for us, Emile.”
“Come inside, Emile.It’s warm in there, very, very hot.”He could almost feel the flames of a fire place from the heat of her
palm, even over his clothes.Shit, he
felt warm all over.Tingly too,
everything was so tingly.
As much as he wanted to say no, it was too perfect to turn
down.He needed what they offered.He’d always wanted more friends.He definitely wanted a car.How did they know he didn’t have a car?Oh well, the thought slipped his mind.He smiled.“That sounds good,” he murmured.
“Of course it does.”Mosey
pet his shoulder, running her other hand into his hair.He practically purred as nails gently grazed
into his scalp.“We know exactly what
you want,” she whispered.“Be a good boy
and go inside.”
Emile rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had fallen asleep on
his own two feet.He blinked a few times
and stepped away.He faced them.“Uh, okay, but on a trial basis for now.I’ll give it a week.”
Botis smiled, and gestured to the house.“Whatever you like.”
“And what kind of name is Botis?”
“What kind of name is Emile?You sound like a spray-tanned tour guide.”Botis lit another cigarette.
Emile smirked.“Touche,
I guess.And you know smoking is bad for
you, right?”
“And I love to do bad things.Fits me perfectly.”Botis winked.“Run along now.You have lots to
do.”
“But I don’t where to put… or where the stuff…”Emile gathered they wanted a minute by the
look he was given.“Right.I’ll be inside.”
“Of course you will.”Mosey smiled all-too-sweetly for him.
This night could not
get any weirder.Saw a creature from the
dead lagoon.Screamed like a girl. Peed
his pants.Met the heads of the Goth
society.Agreed to stay at a haunted
house and be their man-bitch.Now had
school paid for… Check, check, and double fucking check. He stopped on the
porch, looking at the drive.
“Sweet baby Jesus,” he muttered.“Where did you come from?”The porch light bounced off a sleek black
sports car with red rims.Emile’s mouth
watered, and if he weren’t half traumatized, his dick would be hard as
rock.Feeling their eyes still on him,
he continued on inside to wait for his new employers.Weird didn’t even cover the last hour of his
life.That car had not been there before.
Botis made sure Emile was inside before setting his eyes on
Deumos, aka Mosey.“Was that walking dead
bit necessary?We could have had him
dusting by now and I would have been able to catch the end of Top Model.”
“You’re growing soft, Botis.”Her eyes caved in, leaving black holes in
their place.Two sleek ivory horns grew
out of each temple and a silver crown bled into a solid halo around her
head.Skin like rotted leather peaked
out from under her leather jacket.“You
used to be so much fun back in the day.”
“Forgive me, beautiful, if I don’t share your tastes.”The tongue of a snake slithered out from
between his lips, black and wet as it tasted the air.His red eyes narrowed.“We will
keep this one, Deumos.Promise you won’t
eat him.”
“He’s too big, but he does smell good.”She took his arm.Purple and black markings appeared over his
hands, an exquisite scale pattern that she knew ran over his entire body in
demon form.“And I prefer—”
“Children.”He rolled
his eyes.“Yes, I know.It’s such a waste, though.The souls go straight up there.No points for our side and all that.”
“Who the fuck cares about points?They taste like chocolate truffles and
brandy.And their screams sound like an
Italian opera while taking a bubble bath.”She put her head on his shoulder and a piece of flesh flaked away from
her face.“Yummy.”
“You’re absolutely wicked.”He lifted her hand and kissed it.“But let’s try to be nice to our new friend.Who knows, he might just be the ticket for
Xavier’s terrible mood.Emile is the
pretty and doesn’t know it type.Xavier
loves pretty coupled with low self-esteem.”
“It’ll take more than one back-talking human with a tender
ass to set Xavier right, but I’ll try.Pity though, you and I both know the boy is part of Bee’s little game.They always are.”They stayed just out of the light.“And when the news of Xavier’s little mishap
trickles down the well, I’m sure things will get… mm, ugly?”
“No doubt the game has begun if Erelim’s made himself known
to Emile.Such a risky move, if I do say
so myself.I have to wonder now exactly
how much our new friend knows if Erelim is actually involved.It’s against the rules to interfere with the
game personally, but I guess he could have just been persuading.Funny that Lim has started to use our
tricks.That’ll surely piss Bee right
off.”Botis’s scales faded as the light
hit him.His eyes bled back to a dark
chocolate.When he turned to Mosey, a
pretty human face looked back at him.
“And what of Xavier, now that he’s out of commission?”She looked around, scanning the
premises.Finding nothing out of the
norm, she sighed.“Do you think Lucifer
will put him down?”
Botis’s straightened up.“Whatever happens, Deumos,” he uttered quietly.“Xavier is ours to protect.”
“You would put yourself between him and…”She swallowed.He didn’t move a muscle, even as her phone
vibrated in her pocket.“Understood.”
“Do you, Deumos?”He
leaned in, eyes flashing red.“They may
play their game, but when it comes to Xavier, he is not to be touched.It is not his fault how he was born.”
“I understand,” she squeaked.
“Good.”He
turned.“Now that we have that cleared
up, I think we have things to do.”
She slumped and walked past him inside.“You’re no fun, Bo.”
“Oh, darling, but I am.”He closed the door with a fanged grin on his face.
*****
Xavier gripped the bathroom counter, looking at his
reflection with a scowl.He glanced over
at the waste basket, cursing the box of black hair color silently.Another failed attempt at covering his
Cruella-do was setting him up for disaster.The mismatched eyes were one thing, an easily explainable birth defect
to the human who didn’t know shit about him.But the unnatural split in his hair color, the shit that grew right out
of the root, a shocking white on one side, was not so easy to explain away.One side black and the other side white, he
looked exactly what he was.One eye the
lightest grey and the other dark as night, he was now an official freak.
Being part demon had always lent him a certain higher
quality of allure, but this was too much.This wasn’t allure.This was
gawks and stares on the street, and drawing attention when he already felt like
he would explode with anger.He wasn’t
ever leaving this house again.Fuck the
world.He couldn’t go out like
this.He couldn’t let the human see him.
Running his demon hand over his hair,
the water steamed from his locks, leaving him with a perfect mop of disheveled
sexiness.Oh, except for the fucking
skunk hair, he thought, throwing the towel across the room.It landed in tub, slinking into the puddle of
water lingering at the bottom.
“Fuck my life,” he hissed to his reflection.“I’m ruined.”
His fingers drifted to the small of his back, rubbing over
the jagged scar that stopped just shy of the back of his neck, where his
mother’s present had erupted from skin just days before.Footsteps in the hall outside made him
queasy.He had to face the music.He had to bite his tongue and stay in
line.He may be part demon, but the pain
was too much to face again.He couldn’t
go through it.He had to be good.A half-demon who had to be good, he thought,
pulling on his tank top.What a joke.
Uneasy, and still pissed off at the universe, Xavier flicked
off the light and cracked the door.The
sweet smell of human perfumed the hall, masking the dank, old scent of the
house.He growled, irritated that he was
hiding from the inevitable.Slipping
into the hallway, the thud of his own boots caused his heart to race.
“And this is the attic stairwell.”Botis stopped in front of a door, tapping the
wood.“The third floor is all yours.”
“A whole floor?”A
deep voice asked.Xavier groaned.Yes, the whole floor, you idiot.It’s an attic.
“Indeed.You’ll have
to forgive the draft up there.It’s an
old house, and what it lacks in restoration, it makes up for in charm.”Botis’s eyes slid to Xavier.His lip curled up.“Ah, Emile, I’d like you to meet the last
resident of our little home.”
Xavier waved his hands, eyes wide with panic.“No,” he hissed.
A tall, young man with the shoulders of a linebacker walked
into the hall from the stairwell.He
turned his light eyes on Xavier and dropped his beat-up bag slowly.A nervous hand combed through his coppery
hair.“Hi.I’m Emile, the new housekeeper.”
Xavier scanned the human up and down.His breathing came louder.His hands began to sweat.He had so many things he wanted to say in
that moment, but whether he was fearful of the consequences or whether he was
actually speechless, he didn’t know.The taste of his own lust coated his tongue.His lids became hooded.
“Do come say hello, Xavier.It’s rude to just stand there.Don’t you agree?”Botis’s twisted
smile was etched deep into his face.His
eyes flared red behind the human.
“I, uh… cool hair.”Emile swallowed, obviously unsure if the compliment would be well
received.The guy just stood there,
looking crazy and… okay, slightly sexy.
“Thank you,” Xavier grit. He could feel the mad contortion on his face,
still human-like, but rightly pissed off.“I like your…”Stain?Xavier eyed the man’s groin, “sweatshirt.”
Emile looked down at his well-worn college hoodie and
averted his eyes.“Hand-me-down from an old
roommate.No big deal.”
“You’re supposed to say thank you.”Xavier vibrated with the need to coax the man
into his bedroom or slap him shitless for being the catalyst to his oncoming
breakdown.A bolt of pain zipped up his
spine.
“I’m sorry, thanks.Um, are you all right?You don’t
look all right.”Emile leaned to the
left a bit, watching Xavier bend over.
“No shit!”Xavier
fell to his knees.His knees buckled
under the excruciating pain.
“Bad Indian food, I’m afraid.”Botis turned Emile away from Xavier.“He’ll be fine.You have plenty to do and not a lot of time
to do it.”He pulled a roll from his
trench coat, letting it unravel to the floor.But Emile didn’t even look. His eyes were glued to Xavier over his shoulder.Xavier palmed his way up the wall until he
was on his feet again.The pain was now
a dull throb once he’d gone through his list of happy things; puppies, kitties,
cupcakes, roses, and… sweet, young human cock.Their eyes locked.A strange heat
radiated between them.
“Uh, Botis, he looks pretty bad.I know how to…”
“No, you don’t.”Botis
snapped his fingers, disengaging the mistake before it happened.“Earth to Emile.I was informing you of your duties?”
Emile whirled around, regaining his senses.A twinge of pink flushed his cheeks as he
eyed Botis.“Sorry.I’m listening.”
Botis opened the attic door and flicked on a light.“Listening will get you everywhere,
Emile.You’d do well to remember that.”
“Right.”He eyed
Xavier one more time before he slipped past the door and up the stairs behind
Botis.
Xavier breathed through the fading moment of sexual tension.No, that wasn’t lust, that was a ‘wanna tap
that until you scream my future children’s name’ kind of moment.Up until this point, he’d never had a moment
like that, but now that he did, that’s what he was going to call it. “What the fuck was that?”
*****
Mosey slipped out the back door, closing it behind her.Walking away from the house, she kept going
until the back hedges shadowed her in darkness.From between the shed, and the fence of greenery, appeared Bee.Smoke curled from the end of his cigarette,
lighting the tip a fiery red.
“Spill it, Deumos.”His yellow eyes glowed.“Well, I’m
waiting.I know Botis is holding out on
me.”
Deumos bit her lip.Under
any other circumstances, she wouldn’t be afraid of another demon, but this was
Beelzebub, the fucking Prince of Demons, son to Lucifer.“I, well…”
“You, well, uh…” Bee spat, lolling his tongue out his mouth,
mocking her.“Spit it out, you fool.”
“Erelim is involved now.”She held her hands behind her back.
“Oh, what the?Come on, Deumos.It wouldn’t take a mere flea an ounce of
brain to figure that out!”He flicked
his eyes to the house.“Don’t make me
throttle it out of you,” he growled.“Why
is the boy special to Erelim?And what
the hell is going on with Xavier?Healing?That’s a crock of shit,
spoon fed to me straight from Botis and we both know it.”
“The boy made it sound as if Erelim had warned him about
us.He wears a cross, Bee.Not just any cross, a cross.”Deumos squeaked,
shoved up against the shed.Bee’s eyes
burned bright.His stubby horns bubbled
to each side of forehead before sharp points of gleaming silver pierced through
his skull.Razor sharp teeth in the same
silver snapped open.
“Tell me of Xavier.”He dragged his claws down the rotting wood.Her eyes shifted back and forth.
“He’s been punished by the Archangels, forced to bear pain
if he mistreats a human. He can’t… he is unable to… he has to be good!”She slapped her hands to her face.
Sharp claws delicately plucked her fingers from her
eyes.Yellow orbs of anger were mere
inches away.“He what?”Bee’s voice came like
the wind which made hair everywhere stand on end, a ghostly chill that only the
Prince of Demons was capable of.
Mosey’s eyes bled black, hollowing into empty sockets.“He’s… they broke him.”
“Botis said she’d punished him,” Bee spat.“But this is worthy of revenge.She oversteps her boundaries!”His silver teeth chattered together in rage.
“It isn’t his fault,” Mosey argued.
Beelzebub pushed off the shed and paced, casting his yellow
eyes to her every few seconds.“No.It isn’t.But…”
“You won’t kill him then?You will protect him from them?”Her lips twitched with the need to be free of her human form.
“You will inform
me of everything that happens from now on.I want hour to hour details about that human, of everything he does, and
of Xavier.I need to pay a visit to my
father.”
“But you’re won’t kill Xavier?”
He licked his lips.“If
he is truly one of us, he’ll show it.Or
else… he sides with them.”
“But he’s half and half!”A hand locked around her throat, pushing her up the side of the shed.
“I will decide which half he is loyal to.No demon of mine walks around being… good.”He threatened her, opening his jaws to reveal
the hell within his mouth.The screams
of hundreds of thousands of souls echoed from his throat.“You will find out what I need to know, and
we’ll see if Xavier is worthy of keeping his place among us. Until then, you
get to know the human.Something stinks
here.This is no longer a game.This is a war.”
He let her go.Her backside
thudded to the ground.Mosey scrambled
to standing, rubbing her neck of ashes left behind from his palm.“My prince?”
“What now?”He
whirled around.
“Can I have him when you’re done?”
“Who?”He cocked his
head.
A slimy black tongue licked her lips.“Erelim.”
He smiled, a laugh bubbling behind his lips.“When he falls, you may have my leftovers and
then some.”
Staring at her prince, Mosey watched the flames engulf
him.He vanished into thin air, leaving
only a wisp of ash on the night wind.She looked up to the attic where a light flicked on.
“Oh, Emile, you have no idea what lurks in the dark.”She grinned and went into the house.
