Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 19:44:28 +1000
From: jack daley <mmjasd@hotmail.com>
Subject: 'Running with the Pack' ch. 1 Gay Fantasy

CHAPTER 1

Everything is changing, in a constant state of flux. From the moment we are
born our bodies are contorting and shifting, adapting and aging until we
are dust and one with the earth once again. Madame Lucia had told me this
for as long as I could remember. We had been running most of my life to
escape past transgressions as she had described it. I hated it, never
staying in the same place too long, suburbia was our sanctuary and the road
our saviour. I had been enrolled in more schools than I could count and had
changed my name and story as much.

We were currently driving north, away from the glorious sunshine and heat I
had been relishing for the past 8 months. Lucia, or Grandma Lucy as her
alias was at the moment, had been agitated most of the trip, something had
scared her in Florida, and now I was paying for it.

Finding Lucia rummaging with suitcases through my room after coming home
from school a week ago was enough to set me off.

"What is it now Lucy? We can't be moving again?" I shouted.

"Mikhail called, this place isn't safe for us anymore. Hurry up and pack
your things Dallas, we're leaving in 2 hours." she replied as she threw
pairs of my shoes into a box. And that was the end of the conversation.
The next few hours were occupied by packing and loading up the car. We
never owned a great deal due to the fact we moved every few months.

A week later and my mood hadn't improved, if anything it had gotten
worse. As we headed north the trees rose out of the ground and the hills
became more pronounced and grey. This wasn't so bad, in fact I found the
environment quite pretty and soothing, the weather on the other had was
another matter. Sleet and rain had started in Oregon and had continued to
fall all the way up into Washington.

"Why north of all places Lucia? The weather in Florida was perfect; we
could have tried New Mexico, or California. At least in California I could
get out in the waves."

"We were in Santa Barbara 3 years ago, plus Mikhail said the southern
states are a red zone, it's not safe anymore child." Lucia replied whilst
focusing on the road.

I sighed and decided to do my hair in the passenger mirror, Lucia had been
rushing me that morning to leave the dive of a motel so that we could get
to our new town and get settled before nightfall. The mirror was small but
I managed to apply wax to my charcoal hair and get it into a style that
looked half decent. Hey I didn't want to make a first impression on a town
with bed head did I? At just 3 weeks shy of 18 I was happy with my physique
and looks. About average height and swimmers physique made me a half decent
swimmer. If only I could stay in a town long enough I might just make a
team. I had been swimming all my life, anything to do with water made me
happy. Plus my ass looked hot in a pair of Speedos. I realised I was gay
when I started puberty, it was never an issue in our household, something
to do with the environment we came from, but I could hardly remember as I
was only 5 when Lucia and I escaped. The only rule Lucia had was to make no
ties, it was too hard to uproot and move on, as we inevitably did.
Sometimes we were in a place over a year, sometimes only a few months,
never long enough to be found and never long enough to plant roots.

			     *****************

The coastal town of Timber Falls was a quaint fishing and logging town,
population 50,000, surrounded by mountains and forest. The house Lucia had
found was on the edge of town and backed onto the woods. My room was on the
top floor and I had my own bathroom, one of the better houses she had
picked.

I was due to start school at the local high school on the Monday, and as it
was Saturday I had a few days to settle in.I spent the next two days
unpacking and setting up the house, we had it down to a near science now.
On the Sunday I had to escape the house, I walked into town and explored
the main street. The town had a neat set up, catering to summer tourists
many shops had the `ye olde times' feel. Very cute I thought. I decided to
go to the local diner for lunch; one can only have so much of Lucia's
experimental food. I took a seat on the red vinyl chair, picking a seat far
in the corner. Lucia had taught me well how to blend into environments,
people rarely noticed me, which suited me fine since I was awfully shy
anyways.

As the waitress sat down my burger and fries a group of people entered the
diner. They appeared to be high school students, but they were the biggest
high school students I had ever seen. Wearing sporting gear with the high
school logo, a big grizzly bear, on the front, the leader of the group
shook off the remnants of rain and mud from his hair. Standing at least 6"5
this guy was built like a linebacker, bulging muscles and hair seemed to be
sprouting out of everywhere. His golden hair was plastered to his face from
sweat and rain. I though the grizzly on the front of his shirt was very
appropriate. With him a wild and mean looking girl with frizzy dirty blond
hair swung into one of the booths followed by two other males, one had dark
hair and appeared to be a runner, the other had mocha skin and was very
tall and lean. I figured these to be the jock in-crowd of the school.
Although great to look at I thought, Lucia's teachings had told me to steer
clear from the spot light and hide in the shadows, and the best way to be
seen in a school is to make yourself known to the jocks, by either becoming
one of them or being taunted by them. Just best to stay clear. I finished
my burger quickly not wanting to draw the attention of the crowd; a new
face in these towns can draw unwanted attention. The jock crowd was very
boisterous and ate what I thought to be enough food for 10 people. Throwing
down a few notes I got up and left quickly.

 I still had a few hours to spare before Lucia would want me for lessons,
so I decided to explore some of the forest around my house. The forest was
surprisingly dark, between the overcast sky and the thick canopy little
sunlight was filtering down to the leaf covered ground. It was eerie
walking and falling over fallen logs and exploring around the greenery,
many of the ferns and rocks making funny shapes and casting bizarre
shadows. I had never been scared about being on my own in strange
environments, living a life on the run will do that to you, plus my special
powers were enough to keep me safe, even if they weren't always that
reliable. After an hour of slowly climbing upwards I could feel the fog
start to creep up around me. I was subconsciously following the pull of
water. I could feel a body of it not far ahead.

I was an elemental, as I had been told. There were next to none of us left,
after the great hunt. My parents had been killed when I was five along with
many others. Lucia had taken me and run. She was not like me, well not
exactly, her specialty was on the spiritual plane. She could read signs;
hear things others couldn't, know things before others did. She also
dabbled in magic, mostly protection spells and enchantments. From what she
had told me there was a commune of about 50 elemental and other special
beings, but on the night of the purge they were all killed, Mikhail, Lucia
and I were the only ones to escape. Mikhail was Lucia's son, grown now, but
like Lucia had a special connection to the spiritual. He was our informer
on the inside, told us when to leave and where to hide. For the past 12
years I had never run into another being like us, although Lucia on
occasion had hinted that there were more, just too dangerous to make
contact.  My powers didn't start manifesting until I was about 15; it was
uncontrollable and terrible for about 6 months. Water behaved weirdly
around me, I could sense it everywhere, in the air, in the pipes even in
people. It went against physics; I could move it freely after a while. It
took great concentration and focus but my skills were getting much better,
I had even started on changing the physical properties of water, changing
it to steam and ice. Lucia was attempting to teach me, but it wasn't her
area of expertise. She did manage to take some of my parents' books with
her when she left. They helped explaining the fundamentals, but their
knowledge could only help me so far. Now I was down to experimentation,
feeling how water reacted, trying new techniques. Some things worked, most
didn't. According to Lucia my mother was an expert water elemental and
healer. Few water elementals progress to the point of healers, being able
to heal others and themselves with a simple touch. Apparently my mother was
one of the best. My father was a fire elemental, and like my mother one of
the best. I guess I took after her with my powers.

As I approached the body of water I could see a clearing up ahead. A Lake I
assumed by the feel of it, and quite a large one. The crystalline lake was
huge, much bigger than I guessed. Very picturesque, with fog rolling over
the top and thick pine forest bordering it, it would make an excellent
place to practice. I made a mental note to tell Lucia about it and bring
her up. She has been great at running me through drills to test my power,
even if I haven't been able to heal any of the cuts and bruises she makes
for me to practise on.  I spent a while at the lakeside, splashing about in
the water. Sending rivulets and spray into the air, watching as the
sunlight refracted off the tiny water beads. It was a great afternoon by my
standards, usually when I was allowed time to practise, it was calculated
drills set up by Lucia which exhausted me quickly. My aim definitely needs
improvement, I'm certainly no jock.

Lucia had cooked up a storm, and by storm I mean storm. Every conceivable
pot and pan, retort and beaker was spewing out smoke and bubbles. She had
decided to get into the spirit of our new coastal town and had cooked up a
unrecognisable seafood dish. I recognised the colourful liquid brewing in a
large cast iron pot over the stove. One of Lucia's protection enchantments,
once it had been boiled she would pour it onto the ground around their
house like she had done every time they had moved somewhere new. I couldn't
decide what smelt worse, the food or the potion.

After dinner Lucia got me to practice changing the form of a cup of water.

"Concentrate and focus Dallas!" she barked.  I managed to get the water to
steam but my mind was elsewhere. Lucia gave up after half an hour, she had
been with me long enough to know when I wasn't in the mood. That was the
good thing about her, she never pushed.

				***********

That night I lay in bed looking out my window at the mood peaking over the
mountains. The sound of wolves howling in the distance sent a shiver up my
spine. I cuddled down into the warm blankets, like a child hiding from a
monster under his bed. I had never been much of a dog person ever since one
bit me when I was 9. I absentmindedly traced the crescent scar on my left
forearm the dog had branded me with before drifting to sleep.

My dreams were plagued with nightmares, running through a labyrinth of
green underbrush and wet sticky ferns. A dark ominous presence was
following, wanting to claim me as its own, all I knew is that I had to
escape. My feet felt like iron weights, constantly getting caught on debris
and snaking roots. Panting and out of breath I burst into a clearing. A
gigantic silver moon filtered through the tree tops illuminating my exposed
naked body. The cold air caused my nipples to harden and goose bumps to
rise up on my skin. It felt as if the shadows hid a crowd of voyeuristic
beings, whispering and watching, waiting for the perfect moment to claim my
life. They were growing out of the bases of the trees, black and twisted.
Two amber coloured jewels glowed from beneath the shadows of a ghostly
pine. It let off a menacing low growl towards me. I knew in my heart that
this was the moment of my death. The lumbering wolf leered out at me as it
stalked into the clearing. Glistening pearly fangs bared with saliva
dripping from its chin, anticipating its meal. The moon glowed off the
beast's inky black coat and I found my heart racing within my chest.

"Please don't!" I screamed, expecting the wolf to understand me.

It continued to stalk, circling slowly towards me.

It lunged, and I awoke.

			       *************

Dallas awoke with a start; it hadn't been a good night.

"Knock -- knock. Child is you up yet?" Madame Lucia came sweeping into my
room, appearing to be dressed head to foot in shawls. I guessed she was
having one of her gypsy days. Lucia was an eccentric at heart, but our
running and hiding forced her to conform to `normality', or `pain in the
ass sacrifices' as I've heard Lucia say on countless occasions.

"Dallas you better get your butt outta bed and get your ass in that
shower. You have school today." Her motherly voice was always put on when
Dallas started a new school. She was always trying to get me enthusiastic
about a fresh start. It never worked.

I let the little rivulets of water run down my body. The warmth felt
fantastic on my naked skin. My cock was still a little stiff from my
morning wood but it was slowly shrinking. I hadn't had a wank in almost a
week and it was definitely effecting my concentration, I just hope I could
get through a day at school without my member pointing north every five
minutes. At 5" soft and 7.5" with a nice purple head and trimmed black
pubes I was quite happy about my dick. Not the most impressive, but
certainly nothing to complain about.  I got dressed in a black t-shirt and
a pair of jeans that accentuated my ass. Hey I wasn't allowed to get
involved with anyone, but I could sure show off. If anything my ass was my
favourite feature on me.

Walking out the door I grabbed a thick jacket. I could feel the moisture in
the air before I even left the house. Wind and sleet swirled all around me
as I walked into town, dampening my hair.  "Great I spent 10 minutes
getting my hair right." I mumbled to myself, full knowing I could easily
bend the water around me to keep myself dry. Not wanting to blow my cover,
as it were, I allowed the sleet to continue buffering my body. How I longed
for Florida again, hey I would have even settled for the middle of the
desert at this point.

Timber Falls High School was a modern building set close to the centre of
town. Boasting a large athletics department, I was secretly impressed and
was looking forward to checking out the aquatics centre. Streams of kids
were making their way into the main building, looking like overstuffed
potatoes in their thick jackets and parkers.  I followed suit and moved
into the warm front office. The plain looking man in the office got me to
fill out a number of forms; apparently my last name was now McKenzie. It
had changed so much over the years I had lost count. My time table was
fairly stock standard, nothing too extreme, Biology, English, Geography,
the usual stuff you find everywhere.

The same niche's are in every school, once you figure out the hierarchy
it's the same everywhere. I had learnt well how to blend; the first rule
when you're on the run is to never stand out.

CRASH!

The wind was taken out of me as something huge collided with me and forced
me against a locker. Stars swam in front of my eyes, dammit this was going
to be a problem.

"Hey faggot!" The gigantic bear from the diner was holding me by the scruff
of the neck and shouting at me.

"Look here guys, Timber Falls has a new little cock sucker." He sneered.

I was surrounded by a pack of mean looking jocks, a few I recognised from
yesterday, that mean looking girl with the scrunched up face was
laughing. I had to admit I was scared, even for someone with my powers this
guy was incredibly intimidating, he could easily wipe the floor with me.

"C'mon give him one Dave."

"Yeah give him one! Punch that little fag in the head!"

The crowd continued to shout their taunts at me but I was too preoccupied
with the monster in front of me. Dave leaned into my ear whilst twisting my
neck in a weird angle.

"This is my school queer and I want you and everyone to know it. If you
even look at me with those faggot eyes I'll fucking kill you!" he said loud
enough for the others to hear.

"Get the hell off me!" I yelled, "I don't know what your problem is."

"HEY! You lot break it up!" A teacher came running up to break up the
crowd. "This school has seen enough fighting in the past week to last a
lifetime. Dave let that kid go and get to your bloody class."

"You better watch yourself fag." Dave the hulking giant said before
releasing my neck.

"Well looks like this is going to be a great couple of months." I mumbled.

"Hey are you alright?" A pretty flamed headed girl asked sincerely. She had
a kind face, and looked to be an academic. There goes my niche placing
skills again.

"You're lucky to be alive you know."

"Yeah I figured. He's a beast!"

The flame girl giggled. "Yeah Dave is a bit of a prick, but he's only sore
after what happened last Thursday."

"What happened last Thursday?"

"Oh, Dave picked a fight with the wrong guy. Got his ass handed to him on a
plate. I guess he targeted you to reclaim his territory or something stupid
like that. I'm Tara by the way."

"Hi Tara, I'm Dallas, the new kid, but I guess half the school already
knows that after that episode."

"Ha ha yeah, that drew quite a crowd. Here I'll show you to your locker."
She said whilst helping me to navigate the halls. "Here let me see your
timetable." She snatched it out of my hand before I had a chance to
reply. "Hmmm, looks like we have Biology and Gym together."

"Gym? And I don't have any clothes to run in, guess I'll have to sit out of
this one." I replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh no, Coach Miller has a heap of spare uniforms. The junior class went
through a stage of `forgetting' their gear last year so Coach brought a
heap of spares. I love getting out and stretching my legs. Plus I think we
are playing dodge-ball today due to the weather which will be fun."

"No offence, you don't seem like the type that would be overly enthusiastic
for Gym class."

"Ha ha none taken. Don't let my geeky appearance fool you, I may wear thick
glasses but I've been a competitive gymnast for as long as I could
remember." Tara giggled. "Well here's your locker. I better get to
class. See you this afternoon Dallas."

Well I may have made a few enemies today but at least I have one friend, I
figured. Tara seemed like a nice girl, one of those people that were always
the optimist. She could be facing a stampede of raging bulls and still
manage to find a joke. I liked her.

			      **************

The remainder of my day went by in a blur. Half way through Geography
class, when the teacher was giving an in depth lecture on South American
mountain ranges I let my mind wander. It was almost second nature for me to
search out water now. I could sense its presence all around me, including
the vast quantities of it flowing through every living being. It was
forbidden to control water flowing through someone due to its dire
consequences, which was one of the first lessons my mother's old books had
taught me. But that didn't stop the fact I could sense it.

Halfway through freezing the pipes in the fire sprinklers criss-crossing
the roof I sensed someone pacing up and down the hallway right out front of
the class room. That wasn't what caught my attention however. This person
must have recently been running a marathon because the blood in his or her
body was racing. I could feel it surging through their arteries at an
alarming pace. As I was focusing on this person the school bell alarmed
signalling lunch, breaking my concentration. Getting up I filed out of the
class room trying to identify this individual that pulled my
attention. Streams of other students were all leaving class at the same
time which made it impossible to pinpoint the stranger.

A bob of red flaming hair weaved it way through the crowd and grabbed my
arm.

"Hey Dallas, how was Geography? Miss Cartilage is a total bitch! She gave
me a B last semester, saying my understanding of China's export strengths
was mediocre! MEDIOCRE! Mediocre my ass."

"Ha ha my day has been fine, apart from the incident this morning."

"Yeah, you better watch your ass, Tammy Ballard in my Lit class said she
overheard Dave earlier saying he's going to bash the shit out of you. Great
first day at a new school huh?"

"I've had worse." Knowing I would probably only be here a few months,
definitely no more than a year.  Lunch was something to be desired for. The
cafeteria was a cramped place, for such a new building you would expect
enough seating to fit the school population. The food wasn't all that bad,
as long as you avoided the specials. I sat listening to Tara fill me in on
the dynamics of the school; Nothing too exciting. As I figured, the
lumbering mountain of a man Dave and his posse, as Tara described it, were
the popular jock crowd, most reining from the football team. Apparently
there was another Jock crowd that was at war with Dave's gang.

"Oh great, I'm going to spend the next few months in a turf war." I thought
enthusiastically to myself.

			  **********************

We got split up into girls and boys groups for gym class. The spare uniform
Coach Miller gave me were itchy and a size to small. I had to make a
conscious effort not to scratch my dick; the short-shorts were drawing
enough attention to my area without the added input of my hand.

Coach had assigned the guys to play a game of dodge ball on the indoor
basketball court due to the crappy weather. He was running a separate
volleyball game for the girls elsewhere.

Red rubber balls were flying everywhere. Water was my specialty, not
running, dodging and diving; the only thing saving me was my smaller
physique.  In all my luck, Dave had been placed on the opposing team and he
had it out for me. Nearly every ball was aimed at my head.

Phwunk!

"Take that you little faggot."

The last thing I saw before my head collided with the wooden floor was Dave
laughing before getting pelted hard by 3 other balls.

Stars, or as far as I could see, 2 amber coloured ones were blinking down
at me.

"Are you ok?" A thick musky voice asked down at me.  A broad, muscled guy
was looking down at me perplexed.

"You were out there for a minute, but I think you're going to be alright."

A brilliant smile spread across his face as he offered me a hand off the
floor.

"Hey I'm Carter, and you're Dallas, the new kid right?"

"Umm yeah, that's me." I replied, shaking off the last of the groggy
feeling in my head.

"Don't worry about Dave, I think the lesson I gave him on Thursday didn't
sink in, might have to give him another."

I was at a loss for words; this guy was hot and talking to ME! Carter was
around 6"4, and was muscles to the nine's. He had woody brown hair and
gleaming white teeth behind a perfect smile and was sprouting a perfect
amount of stubble. His amber coloured looking eyes looked back at me
confused. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. I must have looked
like a braid dead idiot to him, staring at him with puppy eyes.

"Are you sure you're ok Dallas? Do you want me to take you to the nurse?"

"That was you that beat the fuck out of that beast?" Was all I could say.

"Ahhh, well yeah that was me, but he had it coming."

"I bet."

Carter insisted giving me a ride home due to the weather and my possible
concussion. He drove a a silver truck, and I had to admit I was impressed.

"Hey great ride." I commented.

"Thanks," Carter seemed to go red. "My Dad owns the lumber mill on Forsyth
rd, he brought it for me for my 18th."

"Neat." I smiled back at him.

The ride home was uneventful; we filled the time with small talk. I found
out he was captain of the wrestling team and held his own in track. I told
him about my interests in swimming. He seemed a bit over enthusiastic for
me to try out for the school's squad. Apparently they didn't have an overly
amazing team. I also reeled out the spiel Madame Lucia and I had practised
before we arrived, she was my great auntie and had decided to take care of
me after my parents had died in a car crash a few years ago. Carter seemed
genuinely sympathetic offering his condolences. My heart melted a little
inside, I really hated lying to good people.

Pulling up to my house Carter whistled, "Wow, you place certainly has that
Addams Family charm."

I giggled. Lucia certainly had a knack to pick out the most bizarre houses.

"Thanks for the ride Carter."

"No problems little man." He smiled back.

As I went for the car door handle Carter grabbed my shoulder.

"Dallas can I ask you a personal question?"

"Umm, yeah sure, I guess."

"Well I was wondering.... What are you?"

I panicked; I grabbed my bag and ran up to the house. I really wasn't
prepared to answer that one.

END OF CHAPTER 1

Would love some feedback guys, this is my first experiment into creative
writing. So let me know what you think and what you want to see more of in
the future mmjasd@hotmail.com