Chapter Ten : The Projection
Justin wished he had Blake and Nathan’s telepathic skills, although he could
already decipher through Ryan’s troubled face expression what ran through his
brain. Like him, Ryan must have been recalling the disturbing event that
occurred not even a full hour prior.
“Are you okay?” Justin asked.
Ryan stared vacantly out the windshield. The radio, turned down low, played some
rap song Justin had not heard in years.
“Huh?” Ryan said absent-mindedly.
“I asked if you were okay. The answer is clearly no.”
Ryan shifted his eyes away from the row of hulking cranes of the Oakland Port
on the opposite side of the embankment. The cranes’ blinking red lights
resembling eyes at the end of each side of the thin planks, and the metallic
structures, gave them the appearance of massive, robotic dinosaurs.
Many people in Alameda referred to this little strip of the old Alameda Naval
base, right next to the water overlooking the Port of Oakland as the “Dinos”.
This area was usually populated at night with other cars, parked along the
embankment. Tonight, Ryan’s car was the only visible vehicle in sight.
Justin and Ryan usually came to the Dinos to smoke weed, drink, have sex, or
just relax and gaze at the smooth, black water, and watch the shapes of lonely
seagulls fly through the night air. They came to this spot, typically two times
a week because of its close proximity to their work. Ordinarily, Justin enjoyed
the serenity of this place, the way it seemed so isolated from the rest of the
world, when in reality, they were only a few blocks away from all the main
roads. Tonight, however, the quiet and the darkness terrified Justin.
“What the fuck was that shit back there?” Ryan inquired.
The same question had been going through Justin’s head since they left.
“I don’t know,” Justin whispered.
“Yeah, you do."
Justin never heard Ryan use that sharp tone of voice with him before. He was
always used to Ryan’s laid-back demeanor. “I swear on everything that I don’t
know.”
“What about the storage room?” Ryan asked. “What was that about?”
“It’s kinda hard to explain.”
“Go ahead and do it anyway. I wanna know.”
Justin took a deep breath, wondering how he would even begin trying to verbalize
any of this.
“Um, have you ever seen the movie, Carrie before?”
Ryan looked perplexed. “What the hell is that?”
“The girl who can move things with her mind? Killed hella people at her high
school prom?” None of these things seemed to register in Ryan’s mind. “Well,
anyway, that’s what I do.”
“You killed hella people at your prom?
“No…even though I kinda wanted to…I can move things by thinking about it.”
Justin knew how ridiculous that sounded. The look on Ryan’s face confirmed it.
“So what you’re telling me is that you’re like one of those people off X-Men, or
some shit? You’re like Professor X?” Ryan asked.
“More like Jean Grey.”
Ryan did not say anything for a minute. He reached behind him in the back
seat and retrieved a small paper bag. He pulled out a pint of Hennessey,
unscrewed the top, and took a long drink from it, before handing it over to
Justin.
“People can’t do shit like that in real life,” Ryan said. It seemed like he was
saying this more to himself than to Justin.
“Well, this is real life and I can do it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. It just happens if I think about it. I"ve been able to do it
since I was little.” Justin took a quick swig from Ryan’s bottle. The liquor
tasted sweet and warm in his mouth, but burned going down his throat. He took
another shot from the bottle and handed it back over to Ryan.
“I mean, did you learn it from somewhere or were born with it?”
“Both, I guess…” Justin replied. “Nate says everybody’s got some kind of mental
power, but most people don’t know how to use it. Or they just don’t wanna use
it. He would be the Professor X of the three of us, if you had to compare.”
“Your roommates can do the same thing, too?” Ryan asked, shocked.
Shit, Justin thought. Why did I even bring that up?
Nathan always warned Justin about telling people about their abilities and
displaying them to others. He claimed it was safer for all three of them if few
people as possible knew what they could do. Now, Justin had gone and completely
shattered their anonymity. While Justin knew Ryan fairly well, Justin did not
know if Ryan could be trusted, particularly with this sort of information. If
Ryan told anyone at work, things would definitely go from bad to worse.
But really, who would believe him anyway?
Also, Ryan never came across as a person who would go and tell other people"s
secrets, especially when he had a secret of his own to protect.
“Nate and Blake are telepathic. Blake’s also a little bit telekinetic. I think
Nate can do other stuff too, but I’m not too sure.”
After taking a long swig from the bottle, Ryan handed it back to Justin. “I
don’t know what the hell any of those words mean. Break it down for me."
“Telepathic means you can read people’s minds and have conversations in your
mind. But both of you have to be telepathic to do that last part. Telekinesis is
what I have…I mean what I can do.”
“So you can’t read my mind?” Ryan asked.
“No.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
“"Cause I’m not. I wish I could , but I can’t.” Justin took the bottle out of
Ryan’s hand and drank the last of the alcohol. He knew it would not be too much
longer before his buzz set in.
“What was that black ghost thing?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen that before.”
Justin could tell that Ryan thought he was lying.
“I’m being honest with you right now, Ryan. I don’t know what the hell that was.
I came home and it was already there. I wish you hadn’t come over and saw that…”
“Yeah, me too,” Ryan responded.
They sat together in silence for a long time.
***
It took a few minutes for Blake to remember everything. When he first saw
Nathan and Russell’s faces hovering above him, he gawked at them like a baby
seeing the world for the first time. His mind was still in recovery mode,
rebuilding pieces of what transpired before.
“He’s awake,” Russell said softly. Or maybe he had spoken softly. His voice
sounded so muted, he may have not been speaking at all.
Blake realized he was lying in his bed in his bedroom. The ceiling light burned
his eyes and when he opened his mouth to speak, his tongue felt glued to the
bottom of his mouth.
Can you hear me? Nathan asked.
The sound of Nathan’s voice filled Blake’s brain. He was grateful to hear
that sound. He nodded his head, wincing from the stiffness in his neck.
Nathan grabbed Blake’s hand. The numbness that overtook his body earlier still
remained, though not as severe. Can you move?
Blake wanted to shake his head, but it was too agonizing to do so. Barely…feels
like I’m paralyzed.
It should go away soon.
Nate, what the fuck was that?
Blake had never seen Nathan appear so petrified before. It was a Shadow…I’ll
explain everything to you later.
You know about this thing?
Nathan nodded his head. His eyes were glossy, like he could cry at any
moment. Like I said, I’ll explain everything to you later.
Why the fuck is Russell here, Nate?
Blake, just go to sleep, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.
I don’t want to go to sleep. I might not wake up.
You will wake up. Trust me.
That was the last thing Blake heard before drifting back into unconsciousness.
***
“You’re sure he’s gonna be okay?” Russell asked
They stood in the hallway, right outside Blake’s bedroom, with the door ajar so
Nathan could look in. Nathan was so fixated on Blake, sleeping so serenely in
his bed that it took him a while to hear Russell’s question.
“Yeah, he will be…he should be fine.” Even he had a challenging time fully
convincing himself.
“And whatever that thing was, it attacked Drew, too?”
“Yeah,” Nathan replied sullenly.
“What the hell is it?”
Nathan could not answer that question without being reminded of his brother,
Caleb. He forced the images of him out of his mind. “I call it a Shadow.”
“This happened to you before?”
Nathan’s eyes remained on Blake, instead of turning to see Russell’s questioning
stare. He nodded.
"Yeah. My brother, Caleb can create Shadows. He used one to kill my mother."
Russell looked astonished, “You told me she died in a car accident."
"I told you she died in a "crash". Nothing about it was an accident."
"You never told me that."
“There’s a lot of stuff I never told you, Russell.”
“Obviously.”
“That’s not the kinda stuff you would want to know about.”
“Well, I guess I gotta know about it now, since it’s happening to me. Whether I
want to or not. Tell me what this thing is, Nate. Is it a person? A ghost?”
“No,” Nathan responded. “It’s a projection.”
Russell was evidently and justifiably confused. “A projection of what?”
“Let’s go downstairs to the kitchen. I’ll tell you there.”
“I thought you wanted to look after him…in case he wakes up or something.”
Nathan took one last look at Blake before gently closing his door. “I’ll know
if he needs me.”
Russell and Nathan headed downstairs into the kitchen. Nathan could still feel
the residual imprint of energy leftover from the Shadow as they walked through
the living room and into the kitchen. When they entered, they saw some of the
cupboards were wide open and shards of glass littered the floor.
“Shit,” Russell whispered, “what the fuck happened in here?”
Nathan opened his mouth to reply when his phone rang. Justin, he immediately
thought, even though the number on his caller ID did not match Justin’s.
“Hello?”
“It’s me,” Justin answered. “My phone died. Using Ryan’s phone. Are you home?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Where are you?”
“Coming from the Dinos. Ryan is driving me home right now. Is it safe for me to
come back?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“You don’t sound too sure…”
“Justin, just come home as soon as you can. There’s stuff I need o talk to you
about.”
“Ok…we’re only a few minutes away.”
Nathan said goodbye and hung up the phone. He closed his eyes, trying to calm
down, trying to make sense of all the bizarreness of the last few days. When he
opened his eyes, Russell was staring at him, still waiting for an explanation
that he would probably not even understand.
Suddenly Nathan found himself wishing he and Russell never reconnected. It would
have been better if he spent another year wanting to see Russell instead of
actually being one-on-one with him in his home, under these unusual
circumstances. Nathan wished he did as Blake asked him the night before: to
ignore Russell’s phone call. In his imprudent decision to help Russell, he had
put himself and his roommates into danger, whose magnitude still remained
unknown.
“Are we gonna talk, or are you we just gonna look at each other all night?”
Russell asked. “Tell me what this thing is and what it wanted with you and
Drew.”
“It’s a physical projection of psychic energy,” Nathan said stiffly. “Depending
on how strong the psychic capabilities of the person who creates it, it can be
used for all sorts of reasons.”
Nathan could tell Russell had a hard time comprehending the information.
“What kind of reasons?”
“Usually to get something out of someone’s mind or place something in their
mind, or to do something they wouldn’t normally do.”
“I don’t get it. So this thing doesn’t kill you?”
“No…I mean…like I said, depending on how strong a person’s psychic abilities are
they can use it for whatever purpose they want. A Shadow can’t directly kill
someone, but it can create enough damage to indirectly cause someone’s death.”
“What do you mean by indirectly?”
“Psychosis. Suicide.”
“You’re sayin this thing could’ve made Drew commit suicide?”
“Well, I’m not saying that exactly,” Nathan responded. “But a Shadow can get
into your head and make you think things you would’ve probably not have thought
of before…bad things…or it can enhance whatever depression or negative feelings
you already have in your head.”
“You didn’t really answer my question, Nate,” Russell sharply stated. “Do you
think this thing came to my apartment last night all night?” Russell asked.
“Tell me what this thing is and what it wanted with you and Drew.”
"I don’t know."
Russell did not believe Nathan divulged the whole truth. Nathan saw heavy
accusations in his eyes. “How do you get rid of it."
"Usually three ways," Nathan replied. "The person who created it can rescind it.
The second way is if the person affected by it has a moment of pure thought. The
third way is to just transfer it to another person."
"What happens if it"s transferred to another person?" Russell questioned.
Before Nathan had the chance to open his mouth to speak, he heard someone at
the door. He peered out of the kitchen into the living room to see Justin
entering the apartment. It was just the distraction Nathan needed.
“Justin, thank God you’re home.”
Justin sauntered toward the kitchen, his eyes scanning his surroundings. He
looked like he expected something to pop out at him at any moment. Nathan did
not blame him for feeling that way. When Justin entered the kitchen and saw
Russell standing there, he stopped in his tracks and an expression of both shock
and anger blanketed his face.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“There’s a lot of stuff we need to talk about,” Nathan said.
“Um, no shit,” Justin retorted. His eyes continuously switched back and forth
between Nathan and Russell. “Let’s get to it.”
Nathan explained everything to Justin from the vision he had the night
before, Russell’s call for help, up to when he and Russell returned home to find
the Shadow in the apartment.
Justin gave Russell the most abrasive look Nathan had ever seen him give to
anyone before. “So this is all because of you?”
“Don’t come in here blaming me for all this shit!” Russell screamed.
“And don’t fuckin yell at me!” Justin retorted in the same thunderous tone of
voice. The kitchen table trembled slightly and the windows rattled.
“For a whole goddamn year me and Blake had to sit around and listen to Nathan
mope around and complain about your dumb ass. And now you’re here in our fuckin
house and this shit happens! You better be lucky nothing happened to any of us.”
Nathan knew Russell was fuming with rage, struggling to contain himself.
“Justin, all of this isn’t Russell’s fault…
“Of course you would say that, Nate. You’re still fuckin obsessed with him.”
“Justin, you need to check yourself right now. Don’t blame Russell.”
“Why are you even helping him?” Justin asked. “He dumped you and now you’re
helping him find the dude he left you for…do you know how stupid that is?"
Nathan wanted to punch Justin right then and there, but not in front of
Russell. He managed to keep his mouth closed.
“I’m gonna go,” Russell broke in. “Nate, I’ll talk to you later about this.”
Russell brushed past Nathan and Justin out of the kitchen, striding toward
the front door.
Nathan followed him all the way outside to Russell’s car.
“Wait up a minute.”
“Just go back inside, Nate.”
“No. I still need to talk to you.”
Russell whirled around. “What the hell is there to talk about, Nate? Justin"s
right. I shouldn’t have called you. I shouldn’t have asked you to get involved
in all of this. I shouldn’t have bothered you. We should’ve just kept things the
way they were. I should’ve just stayed away from you.”
While there was plenty of truth to what Russell said, it still hurt Nathan’s
feelings. “What happened to Andrew isn’t your fault, Russell.”
“I should’ve been there. I could’ve got there faster.”
There would be no persuading Russell from believing that he could not have
prevented Andrew’s disappearance. “Russell, I don’t think you should go back to
your apartment tonight. It’d be better if you stayed here…at least until the
morning.”
Russell scoffed. “Yeah, and have Justin bitch at me all night and Blake try to
whoop my ass? I think I have a better chance with this Shadow thing.
“I still wanna help you.”
Russell looked stunned by Nathan’s response. “Why?”
“I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to help you find Andrew.
It wouldn’t be right to just stop right now.”
“Nate, this thing followed you because of me. If you hadn’t come over to my
place tonight, it probably wouldn’t have come here.”
“No. I think it would’ve come here anyway.”
“Why do you think that?”
“That’s what I need to figure out.”
Russell put both hands to his head and sighed. “I don’t know what to do
anymore. None of this shit seems real to me. I don’t see how you could look at
this so fuckin normally.”
“Believe me, I don’t.”
“Like I said, Russell, I think it’d be better if you stayed here tonight. You
could sleep in my room…”
“And where would you sleep then?”
“…With Blake. I’ll sleep with him in his room tonight. Just to make sure he’s
okay.”
Nathan picked up on a shred of jealousy emanating from Russell’s brain. “No,
that won’t work,” Russell decided, shaking his head. “But thanks anyway.” He
turned around to walk away. Nathan ran up to him and grabbed him lightly by his
muscular arm. Despite the cold air, somehow, Russell felt warm.
“Don’t go," Nathan pleaded.
He’s making this too hard for me, Nathan heard Russell think. He saw
flickering images of both himself and Andrew in Russell’s mental eye. In one
scene Russell kissed Andrew passionately in his car. Nathan could not tell if
this was an actual memory or a created one. In the next instant, Russell
imagined himself kissing Nathan right then and there in the cold, quiet night.
Nathan let go of Russell’s arm and took a few steps back. He could barely
breathe or stand up straight.
“Good night, Nate."
It almost took a full minute for Nathan to regain his voice.
“Night, Russell.”
Nathan watched, still awestruck, as Russell got into his car and drove away. He
waited until Russell’s car vanished from view, before he headed back into the
house. As he entered the apartment, closed the door and locked it, a single
thought scorched his brain:
He still loves me.
*** Chapter Eleven
The Change
Upon awakening, it took Blake some time to realize that he was in his bed.
His eyes stung from the light, even though it was dim. He still felt a lingering
numbness in his hands and feet. It seemed almost impossible to rise into a
sitting position, but he managed. Blake expected Nathan to be there, anxiously
waiting for him to wake up, but he was not.
What the hell happened here? Blake looked at the clock on the night stand
adjacent to his bed…almost midnight. How long have I been out?
Blake could only remember fragments of what happened earlier. He recalled coming
home, his brief argument with Russell outside of the apartment. Was that asshole
really here, or did I just imagine that? He also recalled going inside, and up
the staircase…after that, Blake’s recollection faltered.
It took forever for Blake to get out of bed. Once standing, he thought he
might collapse to the floor. His knees buckled and he had to hold on to the bed
to keep from falling. He closed his eyes trying to settle the dizziness that
swirled through him like a tornado.
Nate, where are you?
Blake waited for a reply but did not get one.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason at all, Blake thought of Kyle, the boy he
had met earlier that day at the gym. He remembered seeing Kyle in the shower,
the way the water made his smooth, taut body shimmer, the way Blake’s dick
hardened as he admired Kyle’s perfect ass. That image lingered in Blake’s mind
before finally vanishing to nothingness.
Blake felt like a man three times his age as he ambled to the door and stepped
out of his bedroom and into the hallway. The overhead hallway light was on and
it burned Blake’s eyes. He had the feeling that something bad happened here, but
he could not remember what exactly. As he moved closer to the staircase, that
negative sensation intensified, but he still had no recollection of it.
Down below, in the living room, Blake heard voices: Justin and Nathan’s. From
the high, animated pitch in their voices, Blake knew they were arguing.
“What if I got killed?” Justin demanded. “Or Ryan?”
“You weren"t gonna get killed,” Nathan replied.
“That’s "cause we managed to get outta here before the shit really popped off.
Dude, what the hell did you bring into this house?”
“Justin, why are you blaming everything on me as if I’m the reason?”
Both Justin and Nathan stopped talking as Blake stepped down the staircase and
entered the living room. Nathan’s face rapidly switched from anger to surprise.
“Blake, you’re awake," Nathan marveled.
Blake nodded, holding on to the edge of the staircase railing for support. His
vision was a bit hazy as he looked back and forth between the two who were
standing a few feet away from each other. “What are you talking about?”
“You should probably go back to sleep, Blake,” Nathan urged.
“What happened to you?” Justin asked. “You look like shit.”
“I don’t know,” Blake answered.
“It attacked you,” Nathan grimly answered. “I told you to stay downstairs and
you didn’t listen to me. You came upstairs and it attacked you.”
The silence in the room was a like a fourth entity.
“How did it attack him?” Justin asked; his voice thickly coated with fear.
“Ghosts can’t attack people.”
Nathan inhaled deeply. “First of all, it wasn’t a ghost. We call it a Shadow.
And when I say ‘attack’, I don’t mean a physical attack. I mean a psychic
attack.”
“What’s the difference between a physical attack and a psychic attack?” Justin
asked.
“Attacking someone"s mind is much worse than attacking someone"s body,” Nathan
explained. "Sometimes the wounds never heal."
Blake and Nathan shared eye contact for a few moments.
“What do you mean by ‘you call it’?” Justin questioned.
It was crazy how one little word could change the course of a conversation.
“Me and my brother, Caleb,” Nathan finally answered, after a deliberate pause.
“That’s what we called it…it"s a physical projection of psychic energy. It’s
almost like an astral projection.”
“You never told me about any of this,” Blake said
“I didn’t think I would have to.”
Justin scoffed. “Well, you just put us all into a position where this
information would’ve been useful and you didn’t. And now one of us got
‘attacked’ because of it. Fuck this, I need a drink.” Justin stalked off to the
kitchen leaving Blake, Nathan, and the awkward silence between them alone.
“Is it still in the house?” Blake eventually asked.
“There"s imprints of energy still in the house,” Nathan said.
“But where"s the actual thing?” Blake pressed. "In me?"
“…Yeah.”
Blake gripped the staircase railing tighter. “What the fuck is it gonna do to
me?”
“I don’t know…yet.”
“Russell’s got something to do with this shit, right? I didn’t make up that part
that he was here.”
“Yeah, he was here. He left a little while ago.”
“Why was he here?”
“Russell called me last night and told me his boyfriend went missing. He
wanted my help, to see if I could find out what happened to him. I went to his
apartment earlier tonight to see if I could find any clues to what happened. I
was able to pick up on a few things…Russell was taking me home when Justin
called to tell me that there was something in the house.”
Blake’s face was strangely calm throughout Nathan’s explanation. His eyes bore
into Nathan’s with an intensity that left Nathan feeling a bit unnerved. The
most disturbing part of all though, was that he could not read Blake’s thoughts.
He tried to sift through the barriers of Blake’s mind, but it seemed as if a
steel wall had been put up, blocking any psychic access.
“Blake, isn’t that the dumbest shit you ever heard?” Justin asked. He
strolled back into the living room, holding a glass filled nearly to the brim
with his favorite alcoholic concoction: Hennessey and Coke. His face was still
tense with bitterness.
“This weird shit is in our home because Nate’s out there trying to find the dude
that his ex-boyfriend dumped him for?” He chugged half the glass in a few
seconds.
“You lied when you told me you were home earlier,” Blake said. “You were with
him the whole time.” A sharp pain flared across his skull.
“Blake, if I told you that I was with him…why I was with him today, you wouldn’t
have understood.”
“You’re absolutely right about that, Nate. I wouldn’t have. But you still
should’ve told me.”
“How much is Russell paying you to find his boyfriend?” Justin demanded, adding
heavy emphasis on ‘boyfriend’.
“He’s not paying me.”
“Oh, hell no!” Justin screeched. “Are you fuckin serious?” He finished his
drink and hurriedly went back into the kitchen to refill it.
Blake sauntered past Nathan and plopped on the couch. “You weren’t gonna tell me
about this. You were gonna keep it a secret.”
“No…that’s not true. I mean, all of this happened so fast…I just got the call
from him last night, Blake.”
“Why do you need to get involved in this, Nate? If something really happened to
Russell’s boyfriend, he should be going to the police, not to you.”
“This is not something the police could help with.”
“And you thought you were gonna be able to find this guy by yourself? Do you
even know if the dude is alive or dead?”
“I think he’s still alive. I just don’t know if he’s hurt somewhere, or if he’s
still in the area, or anything like that. I only got a little information from
Russell’s room.”
That fiery rage reappeared in Blake’s eyes when Nathan mentioned Russell’s
bedroom. “You were in his room?”
“Yeah…that’s where Andrew was when he got attacked…”Blake closed his eyes and
covered his face with his hands.
“Justin brought up a good point,” he said after a minute. “If Russell’s not
paying you, then why are you doing this? You gotta have some sort of motivation
to get involved in this shit.”
“It’s because he’s hoping this will be his way of getting back with the
asshole,” Justin declared, leaning against the kitchen doorframe. “Nate, you’re
not really that interested in finding where this dude is. You just wanna fuck
Russell, so he can screw you over like he did before.
And then me and Blake are gonna have to be the ones to pick up the pieces
when he drops your ass to the curb—again.”
Nathan flipped Justin the middle finger. “Shut your drunk, dramatic-ass up,
Justin. You don"t know what you"re talking about.”
Justin flung his drink to the floor, spilling the brown liquid all over the
carpet. “Fuck you, Nate. For a fuckin whole year, we’ve have to hear and see you
mope around and complain about him and the moment he calls you and asks you to
do some off the wall shit that nobody in their right mind would agree to do, you
do it, all for a dude that probably didn’t like you too much to begin with.”
“That’s a really fucked up thing to say, Justin,” Nathan replied.
“Well, you wanna what’s really fucked up, Nate?” Justin asked. He pointed to
Blake. “He actually likes you. He actually cares about you. But you don’t care
about him. So many dudes would line up around the block to be with Blake—hell,
me included, but all he sees is you. All he wants is you and you don"t even
care.”
Justin marched across the living room, bumping past Nathan as he stomped up the
staircase. “I’m going to bed.”
Tears formed at the corners of Nathan’s eyes and he felt incredibly small and
embarrassed. He looked at Blake who sat speechless and expressionless on the
couch. There was nothing that they could say to each other after that.
Blake slowly rose from the couch. “I need to go back to bed. I’m tired.”
Nathan reached for Blake’s hand. “I can help you upstairs to your room if you
want.”
Blake looked at Nathan’s hand, but did not accept it. “No, I"m cool. I can do
it on my own.” He walked away from Nathan, trudging up the staircase to his
bedroom.
Nathan waited until he heard Blake’s bedroom door close before he moved. His
eyes centered on the brown stain Justin’s drink left on the carpet. It still
looked wet. Nathan walked into the kitchen and grabbed a damp dishtowel from the
sink. Returning to the living room, Nathan continued his effort not to cry. Yet
as he vigorously scrubbed the carpet, his silent tears fell to the floor, mixing
in with the stain, which Nathan knew, as hard and long as he tried to clean it,
would probably never go away entirely. There would always be a trace.
***
Justin hoped it had all been a dream.
The sunlight coming through his window burned his eyes as he opened them. His
head ached, his throat dry, and his stomach grumbled horrifically. He checked
the clock next to his bed: a quarter past ten in the morning.
How long I been sleep?
After his argument with Nathan, Justin remembered going upstairs to his room. He
sent Ryan a text message, saying:
Sorry bout what happened last nite. Didn’t mean 4 none of that to happen. Pls
txt me in the mornin so I know ur alrite.
But when Justin checked his cell phone, he saw that Ryan had not replied to
his message.
Maybe he’s still asleep…that’s why he hasn’t called me back yet...Though for
Justin, there was a more logical conclusion: Maybe he just doesn’t want to be
bothered with me anymore.
What other outcome could there be in an occurrence as crazy and terrifying as
the one the night before? It would be idiotic to think that someone like Ryan,
who had most likely never experienced anything paranormal before in his life,
would be able to accept something like that—particularly a life threatening
situation.
Although Justin and Ryan had not been together for a long time, and while
their relationship could not be fully classified as deep and intimate, it pained
Justin that they would not have a chance for an intimate relationship. Last
night killed any chance of that.
Justin considered sending Ryan another text, but decided against it,
predominately because he could think of really nothing to say. Besides, he would
see him at work in a few hours. Hopefully by then he would be able to think of
something meaningful and convincing to say.
Maybe I should call in sick today.
That would have been a good idea, but it was Friday, and Justin needed to go
pick up his paycheck. He remained in bed for another fifteen minutes, too lazy
to get up, but too alert to go back to sleep. Every time Justin closed his eyes,
memories of yesterday’s calamity tumbled around his head. He recalled the bitter
things he had said to Nathan. Although he did stand by his comments, he did feel
some remorse.
Justin mulled over whether he should go to Nathan’s room and apologize, when he
remembered that it was past ten o’ clock. Nathan would have already been at work
by now.
What about Blake?
Blake did not start his bartending job until six that evening. Justin
wondered if Blake would even have the strength to even go to work, given what
happened to him. Justin crawled out of bed, dressed only in a pair of basketball
shorts and a baggy tank top and stepped out of his bedroom.
As he walked out into the hallway on his way to Blake’s room, Justin had more
flashbacks of the prior night. He felt that same chill, that same strange
tension in the air he experienced before. Nathan had said it was an imprint or
whatever he called it. For all Justin knew, this Shadow could still be in the
apartment, watching him right now, waiting for the right time to attack.
Something grabbed Justin’s shoulder from behind.
Justin shrieked and whirled around. He had expected to see the shadowy figure
standing behind him, but what he saw was more bizarre than he expected.
Blake stood before him, fully naked, hulking over Justin, and still as a statue.
His threatening stare made Justin feel more than uncomfortable. Justin tried not
to gawk at the beauty of Blake’s body: his hard pecs, the stunningly perfect
abs—the giant dick, which looked semi-erect, but it was almost impossible.
“Um…what are you doing?” Justin asked, not wanting to stare directly into
Blake’s eyes because it scared him a bit, but not wanting to look down either.
“Going to the bathroom,” Blake responded. His voice sounded cold, almost
robotic.
“Oh…I was just about to head to your room.” Justin took a step backward.
“For what?” Blake took a step forward.
“To uh, check up on you.”
“Why?”
Justin’s heartbeat began to quicken. “Because of what happened last night.”
Blake narrowed his eyes. “What happened last night?”
“I don’t know…I just um…I—”
“You look nervous, Justin. I’m not making you nervous am I?”
“Um, to be honest, yeah you are. You should probably put on some clothes.”
“Why?”
“"Cause your dick is distracting me.”
Blake gave his penis a tug. “Why?”
Justin wanted to go back into his room, but he would have to go past Blake to do
so. “Something’s wrong with you. I should go call Nate.”
“Fuck Nate.” It was the first thing Blake said that seemed to have any kind of
emotion behind it. “That’s what you said last night, right?”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“Yeah, you did. You meant all of it. You’re right. He doesn’t give a fuck
about me. He’s more interested in that dumb fuck, Russell. There’s no reason I
should give a fuck about him.”
“Blake, he does care about you. I was just saying that "cause I was angry and
buzzed.”
“Too late. Doesn’t matter now.”
“What are you talking about?”
Blake grabbed Justin by the back of the head and kissed him, rough and hard.
With his other hand, Blake slipped into the back of Justin’s shorts, squeezing
his ass, fingering his asshole. Justin, totally not anticipating the gesture,
did not know how to respond initially. He never envisioned a sexual encounter
between him and Blake ever coming into fruition. He conceded long ago to the
idea that Blake was only attracted to Nathan and never to him.
But this was not Blake.
Justin managed to break away from Blake’s hold. “What the hell are you
doing?”
“This is what you want,” Blake whispered. “I know it. I’ve seen it in your
mind a million times. You think about sucking my dick. About riding it. About me
fuckin you until your eyes roll back and your toes pop and I bust my nut inside
this sexy ass of yours. I’d be a liar if I said never thought about sneaking
into your room when Nathan went to sleep, ripping your underwear off and pound
your ass until you were sore. Let’s do it now.” Blake moved in again, but Justin
recoiled.
“Back up, Blake. I’m serious. I don’t wanna have to hurt you.”
Blake laughed. “Hurt me? You?”
“Yeah. I’ll send you flying down the stairs if you don’t back up.”
“Try it. You’re not even strong enough to push me a foot.”
“Fuck you.” Justin felt the psychic energy swell in his mind. He focused the
energy on Blake’s solar plexus and released it. Blake stumbled backward a few
inches, almost tripping over his feet, but it was just enough for Justin to get
past him and back into his room where he slammed the door shut. There was no
lock on the door, so Justin had to keep it closed mentally, but that drained too
much of his energy. He expected Blake to try and get through the door, but
Justin heard only silence on the other side of the door. He listened for a
minute or two before slowly opening the door and looking out into the hallway.
It was empty.
To be continued... Email me at Mikeskbooker at gmail dot com for more info on
how to get the full book. Thanks!
