Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2021 16:03:56 -0400
From: River Acheron <riveracheron101@gmail.com>
Subject: The Fallout of Jack Hamilton Chapter 8

This story is a continuation of Matt Smith's (matterotica@hotmail.co.uk)
fantastic story, 'Jack Hamilton Is Not A Nice Person'. I had often wondered
what transpired directly after Jack storms away in the park. This was
initially going to be a one-off, but while writing, I have decided to
continue the tale that was left untold between Chapter 19, and the '6
Months Later' epilogue we see in Chapter 20. So, for those of you who have
wondered what happened in the 6 months after Jack cut his puppet
strings...here it is!

I would like to thank Matt Smith for creating the characters in the first
place; and for his invaluable advice, input and suggestions which made this
sequel possible. Especially discussing his characters' motivations and
psychology with me. Please read his story first if you haven't already!
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/jack-hamilton/

An additional special thanks goes out to Jasper Cooper
(jax.cooper@yahoo.com) for his input, especially having to do with the
kinkier stuff. You can read his amazing story 'The Downfall of Nate
Ramsey', the inspiration for Jack Hamilton!, here:
https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/downfall-of-nate-ramsey/

Please consider donating to Nifty!


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


"I feel to be a cog in something turning.
Well, maybe it is just the time of year,
Or maybe it's the time of man.
I don't know who I am,
But you know life is for learning." (Joni Mitchell 'Woodstock')


THEN

"Alright, guys. That's the bell! Make sure to have your papers on my desk
by Friday. We're not doing what we did last time, alright? I'm not going to
accept late assignments anymore, because things are just getting out of
control. See you all tomorrow." Mr. McMahon said to his second period World
History Class. "....and Mr. Hamilton," he added. "Nice to see you dressed
like a CIVILIZED member of society again."

Jack rolled his eyes. Mr. McMahon was joking and didn't mean anything bad
about his comment. Surprisingly, most people at Holmepoint High School -
students and teachers alike - hardly noticed Jack's re-transformation back
to his old self. It was a testament to just how little high school even
mattered, Jack realized. You're only as relevant as you are seen THAT DAY,
for better or worse. Because of that, as he sat in class, or walked around
the halls, he realized he had a certain disdain for the entire social
structure. It just....seemed vapid and unimportant now. In any case, it was
only one day since he stormed away from those pieces of shit in the park,
but already his life was slowly getting back to normal....as normal as high
school ever gets anyway. He took solace in that. True, he quit football
this morning, but in actuality Jack found that he didn't miss it or his
asshole teammates one bit. The painful thing that he realized after being
awake all night thinking, was how much football was interfering with his
studies. That's what school is and should be for, after all. For the past
two years he was becoming complacent and used to having things handed to
him as long as he "played the game" like a good little jock. Both literally
and figuratively. Those days were now over, and while it may be difficult
at first, he was prepared to put his nose to the grindstone and graduate
with honors. Coming from an affluent family, he didn't have to worry about
scholarships, or anything like that, so not only did Jack NOT lose anything
by quitting the team, he stood to gain so much more. Both in the here and
now, and for his future. The only stress he had to deal with today was
making sure he didn't run into any of those jerks...especially Elliott. He
talked to the principal when he got into school this morning about
switching around some of his classes (namely, the ones he shared with
Elliott and Danny), and his lunch period. This way, he didn't have to deal
with any of them. His classes were not a problem, but lunch was a
no-go. "You're going to have to stay put", the principal had said. "All the
other periods are at full capacity." Jack was okay with this. Seniors are
afforded the luxury to go home for lunch, and he would do just that. On his
way to World History class, just 45 minutes ago, he DID spot Ben in the
halls, clutching his books to his chest and looking utterly dejected. More
alone and a great deal more depressed than when Jack was bullying him, as a
matter of fact.  'Good', he thought to himself. For a very brief moment, he
considered how sweet it would be if he put his foot out and tripped his
former tormentor...watching the little rapist crash down to the ground. Or
maybe tease and humiliate him in front of all the other students, making it
known what he did to him for ten days. Jack felt bad for even entertaining
such shameful thoughts, but he couldn't escape the fact that a part of him
would derive some kind of satisfaction from it. However, he thought about
the last words he ever said to Ben in the park lastnight, right before he
stormed away:

"Ben, I'm sorry for all the times I hurt you. You didn't deserve it!"

Jack didn't know what was true anymore, though. Did he REALLY deserve that
parting apology after everything that Ben did to him? If the younger boy
could do what he did, regardless of whether he thought it was right or NOT,
then what DID Ben 'deserve' now? Jack didn't know. His anger at what was
done to him was at odds with his guilt for his previous behavior that
caused this entire ball rolling in the first place. Yet...how easy would it
be to teach them all a lesson that they wouldn't soon forget! He thought
about what Davis knew and how he PLEADED with Jack the other night to go to
the police station and file criminal charges against them. "Are you fucking
INSANE!? You GOTTA do it! Look, I'll come with you and back you up on
everything I know! We GOT those bastards, but jeeze Jack, fucking stick up
for yourself!" Davis had said to him. The two ended up in a huge argument
that night, with Jack coming close to hitting him...his own brother! He
thought about the incriminating text messages Elliott would send and taunt
him which he still had screenshots of and would probably never delete 'just
in case', and he thought about what Mr. Wendell said to him yesterday, who
knew everything that went on and WANTED Jack to turn them all in. So....why
didn't he do just that?

'I could turn him in. Or I could own that piece of shit SO easily!' he
thought earlier that morning as he stared at a depressed Ben, clutching his
books like a baby clutching his bottle. 'I could own ALL of them....with a
REAL blackmail threat!' As his anger increased, Jack was five seconds away
from running up to Ben and slamming him into the wall, to lay out his
demands 'or else', but he suddenly stopped himself. Ultimately, what would
it accomplish? The more he stared at Ben, the more he saw utter guilt,
shame and misery painted across the freshman's face. The boy was in far
more pain than Jack could ever mete out against him, and it was obvious
that his life could never be the same again. The same was no doubt true
with all of them. Wasn't that enough? For the first time in his life, he
had power. REAL power that he could wield against all of them if he wanted
to. While it sent a satisfying feeling of vengeance through his
bloodstream, it was enough for Jack to know that he COULD come down hard on
them, and that they all KNEW he could if he had a mind to do so. He took a
few deep breaths and kept walking...his anger fading with each step, being
replaced by something akin to guilt for even considering bullying Ben
again. In fact, he almost wanted to turn back around and HUG Ben now,
apologizing for thinking such things, and telling him that all was
forgiven, (even if that wasn't exactly true.) 'God, what's WRONG with me!?'
Jack thought to himself. He felt that his emotions were being pulled from
both ends, and he had no idea who he even was at this point. Jack was
reminded of the old cliche of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on
the other...both were whispering in his ear. For now, his best course of
action was to ignore both of them and to just...do nothing. Rationally,
Jack didn't feel that bad for Ben's obvious depression...after all, the boy
deserved THAT much and brought it on himself. He was not going to make it
worse, however.

He sighed and finally stood up out of his seat. His (new) third period was
Earth Science and he was going to be late if he sat here in his revieire
all morning. Suddenly, the boy who sat behind him approached him.

"Uh....Jack?" the kid said. He sported a ponytail, always wore all black,
with silver spiked jewelry. Jack always pegged him as kinda odd but never
had a problem with him. He never spoke up in class, and he seemed lost in
his own little dark world. For the life of him, Jack couldn't remember his
name but was pretty sure it started with a 'T'. He also shared his lunch
period with him, but the kid usually sat at a table in the far reaches of
the cafeteria, with several other guys who shared the same macabre fashion
sense.

"Hey, what's up?" Jack responded as he flung his backpack over his
shoulder. "Uh...you're.....um...."

"Theodore Locke." the boy responded to Jack's unasked question. "But
everyone calls me Theo. I was just wondering...I noticed that the past
week, um....not trying to pry, you understand...but lately you seemed a
bit...what I'm trying to say, was there a reason that
you....uh....nevermind." he stammered. "I uh....It's just...would you like
to maybe hang with me and my buddy Devin at the mall in Cliffwood Beach
after school?" he concluded rapidly.

"I mean, I don't have anything planned or anything. But why me?" Jack
asked. 'Devin must be one of those kids he sits with at the Danger Table'
(as some students called it) Jack pondered. This was so random that for a
moment, Jack wondered if this too was some kinda strange set up against
him. Jack casually put his right hand in his pocket and - he practiced this
at home about one hundred times during his ordeal when he considered
return-blackmailing Elliott and the others - slowly swiped his finger,
tapped twice, and then tapped the bottom left....Good. His phone was now
secretly recording audio. 'Just in case' he thought to himself. He was all
set to do this last week several times....he already had Elliott's text
messages (clearly the boy didn't know how to blackmail well at all, and
Jack knew it!), but audio recordings would have REALLY sealed the deal!
Yet....what they did to him strangely excited him and every night he said
to himself in bed, 'Let me see where they take things tomorrow. Just ONE
more day and it's over.' As things stood now, he would NOT allow himself to
be tricked again of course, yet a part of him (and not a small part!) was
pleased that he let things go on with Elliott, Ben, Bryce, Lincoln and
Danny for as long as he did before finally bowing out. Luckly, he
discovered he didn't even NEED to resort to threatening them. He had
learned that Elliott was, and always had been, a coward at heart. All it
took was for Jack to get angry enough and assert his dominance over his
former best friend. 'There must be something wrong with me!' he thought as
he admonished himself for LETTING them use him for as long as he did. He
had multiple ways out, and he didn't use any of them, because his stupid
libido was turned on from it all. To make things worse, as he thought about
it, he was beginning to get hard in front of Theo. 'Fuck!' He slightly
winced and internally talked his developing boner back down. Popping an
erection in front of a guy who was introducing himself isn't exactly a good
first impression!

"I dunno." responded Theo, looking at Jack sorta funny. "You seem like you
could use a friend or two. Again, I'm not trying to pry or anything! And if
you don't want to, that's cool! I mean.....I don't have many either and
thought maybe we could hang out or something. I'm probably being
stupid. You're like the captain of the football team!"

"Not anymore" Jack asked, with no regret in his voice.

"REALLY? What happened!?" Theo asked.

"It's a long story, and I thought you didn't want to pry?"

"Sorry! Yeah. Haha. I was just curious" Theo said clumsily.

Both boys finally walked out into the hall. Jack quickly looked left and
right to see if any of those shits were around. Thankfully, the coast was
clear. "Oh, why not!" Jack finally answered. "Actually I always wondered
about you! You guys are emo, right?" he asked as they walked to the
school's West wing.

"Bite your tongue! Them's fighting words!" Theo said,
laughing. "Gothic. Although, I'm more of a metalhead than anything else."

"That's pretty cool. I don't know much about goth, but it's an awesome
look." Jack had to admit that it was a pretty cool style, regardless of the
fact that he knew absolutely nothing of what goths were into. In his mind,
he envisioned witches' circles, drugs, booze, mosh pits, and devil
worship. Aside from some booze, if anything else about his preconceived
notions were true, he wouldn't be hanging out with these guys a second
time. He didn't see the harm in chilling with them at the mall for a few
hours, though. In fact, it could prove to be a much needed distraction from
his merry-go-round of thoughts.

"Gothic. not GOTH." Theo lectured good naturedly. "I hate that word."

"Haha...sorry!" Jack said, just before he got a text notification on his
phone. "One second, Theo" he added as he checked his phone....turning the
audio recorder off. He was reasonably sure now that it wasn't needed. The
text message was from Bryce. Four of them in fact. Three of them were from
lastnight, but he was asleep at that point, and missed them. He blocked all
of them on Facebook lastnight, but didn't get around to his phone
yet. Sighing, he opened it and read:

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

[SENT 11:14pm] Hey Jack. We only JUST left the park a little while
ago. Elliott got trashed. I just dropped him off at Ben's for the night. We
wanna pay you back for the beer, by the way.

[SENT 11:18pm] Jack, we're very sorry. You had every right to say and do
what you did earlier, and you were absolutely right. Every word. But please
understand that you almost crushed Elliott's windpipe.....

[SENT 11:27pm] Not bringing that up to make you feel bad. You're really
angry and you get destructive when you get like that. We don't want to see
you do anything that gets you in trouble on our account.

[SENT 9:33am] After 3rd period can you meet us in the lobby? We all talked
and we want to apologize and make this right. Elliott's not doing that hot,
Jack. He's really hurting over what we did to you. We all are.

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

Jack shook his head, and blocked Bryce's number. He hurt Elliott pretty bad
lastnight? GOOD, Jack thought. He was actually surprised how little guilt
he felt. Elliott had it coming. "Uh, yeah, listen...I have to get to Earth
Science like NOW. You drive?" Jack asked, turning his attention back to
Theo. We can meet at the mall around 3pm if that's okay?"

"Yep! Here, lemmie give you my number, Jack. We're gonna have a
blast. You'll really like Devin, too. He's a trip and a half!"

After Theo ran down the hall to whatever class he had for third period,
Jack made a quick stop at his locker to grab his Earth Science book. After
opening it up, he noticed that they had tampered with his locker again and
somehow opened it. There was a hundred dollar bill, and two twenty dollar
bills laying on top of his book pile, with a note that said *FOR THE BEER
YOU WERE KIND ENOUGH TO BUY FOR ALL OF US YESTERDAY. YOU ARE A NICE
PERSON. WE LOVE YOU.*

Jack now felt a little bad about attacking Elliott lastnight. Was he being
too hard on them all? After briefly considering giving the cash back to
them, he sighed, finally taking the hundred and forty dollars and putting
it into his wallet. 'They didn't have to do this.' Jack thought. All anger
for them vanished at this point. 'They didn't have to do this' he repeated
in his head.

After all...the beer he bought for them yesterday only came to twenty one
dollars and fifty cents.

---------

NOW

While Bryce - completely naked as a jaybird - was currently exiting the
park, and trying to avoid passing cars on route 35, Jack decided to get out
of bed. No way could he sleep now. It was 3:15am, and while Jack couldn't
remember any details from his dream, the feelings it invoked in him were as
clear as a bell. He went to his closet and got dressed. He sighed as he
chose a baggy pair of pants that were adorned with silver chains cascading
down both legs, and a black t-shirt about three sizes too big which said 'I
Will Wear Black Until Something Darker Is Invented' on the front, in a
spooky green font. After heading to his bathroom, he applied black eyeliner
and lipstick and combed his dyed hair over one eye like his new friends had
taught him. "You know, you'd really look good with white-out contact
lenses!" Drewcifer lectured the other day. Jack was hesitant, but the
fourteen year old gothlet could be really persuasive, and after a bit of
cajoling, Jack acquiesced and ordered a pair online, which should be
arriving any day now.

Jack adored his new friends. The past month with them had been everything
he could have hoped for. It wasn't only because they introduced him to so
many new things that he never experienced before, but also how
non-judgemental they were. They never put Jack down or made him feel
embarrassed over anything, even when Jack got a song or band name wrong
when talking about music, or his less than stellar Dungeons and Dragons
skills. In fact, they would go out of their way to be helpful and
supportive...and ALWAYS with good natured smiles. It was amazing....he had
not been friends with them for even a month yet, and they treated him like
he was one of their own for years. In the past couple weeks, Jack realized
that this wasn't some kind of rare anomaly. Most close friendships are like
this. It's just that he never experienced something like this before.

....And then there was Devin.

As the weeks flew by since they first met, Jack and Devin were getting
closer by the day. The sixteen year old was exoctic and seductive, yet
kinkier than Jack thought possible. Aside from their regular hangout
sessions with their friends, the two of them tried to spend as much
alone-time together as possible. Devin was really into sex in public
places. Jack's car (he had just gotten "road head" from the younger boy
last week), in the school bathroom, and behind the coffee shop in broad
daylight! Sure, Jack had to make excuses why the two of them couldn't go to
the park. Yesterday, Devin suggested that they have a picnic there,
followed by some gaming at the arcade. The arcade was fine, but he was
forced to lie to Devin...telling him that he lost his childhood dog in
Rosewater Park, and the place evoked bad memories for him. Devin of course
understood with zero suspicion. Still, Jack hated having to lie to his new
boyfriend.

As Jack stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, he considered telling
Devin - and quite possibly all of them - everything he was forced to do
back in September. At first, he kept his mouth shut because he didn't want
his new gothic friends to see him as weak. He knew now that they wouldn't
see it that way, and would in fact be there for Jack and support him more
than ever. He didn't want that either though. First, because he didn't
think he deserved it. Second, he didn't want to be treated as a victim
because he didn't see himself as one in the slightest. Also, though...he
just wanted to FORGET what happened, and was doing quite well in that
regard. Now it was just a memory with very little emotions attached to
it. Why open old wounds? Not to mention Drewcifer was a bit impulsive and
emotional. (the "forced" footjob on the day they met still turned Jack on,
in fact!) Even if he swore them all to secrecy, he had a hunch that the
youngest of them would do something stupid, and then there'd be a brawl and
possibly blood in the halls which would bring everything Elliott and the
rest of them did to light. This past month, Drewcifier took quite a liking
to Jack. Not in a romantic way, but in a little brother-big brother sort of
dynamic, and was fiercely protective of him....even telling Devin "you
better NEVER break Jack-O-Lantern's heart or I'll put a curse on you!" If
the boy found out what was done to him....well, Jack shuddered to think
what Drewcifer's wrath would entail, or how evil the revenge would be.

Finally ready, Jack left the bathroom. On his way out the door, he
literally bumped into his brother Davis who was about to walk in at the
same time.

"Fuck! You scared the shit out of me, Jack!" Davis exclaimed, laughing once
he caught his breath. "Just woke up to take a piss. I don't know if I'll
ever get used to that new style of yours! I thought I ran into a vampire!"

"Sorry...I couldn't sleep. Bad dreams. I was just going to go for a drive
for a while before the sun comes up."

"Oh, We wouldn't want that. I hear your kind must be in a coffin filled
with the native soil from your homeland before the first rays of sun strike
your skin, otherwise you burst into flames, right? By the way, how can you
put all that make up on when you people don't cast reflections in mirrors?"
Davis teased.

"Very funny. You....JUST DON'T GET IT!" Jack yelled quietly. A technique
both brothers mastered over the years, to avoid waking up their
parents. Jack stormed away from Davis and headed downstairs to the living
room and slumped on the couch. Davis, being concerned about Jack ever since
this new phase reared it's ugly head, followed.

"Oh calm down! What? You don't think goths existed when I was in high
school!? Shit Jack, there were probably more of them back then then there
are now!"

"So why are you always taking digs at me for this!?" Jack snapped as he
pointed to his clothes. "Mom and dad don't say anything! Why do YOU always
have to be all judgemental?"

"I'm NOT! I'm just really ....look, Jack....after you were rap......after
everything that was done to you.....I'm concerned, that's all." Davis said
as he sat next to Jack on the couch. "You know, It's not even that bad a
look on you! I like rock and metal. It's just the timing of it, ya know?"

"You think THAT'S why I'm doing this?" Jack asked.

"Well...aren't you?"

"NO! I mean....if *that* never happened, I'd still be who I was back then,
sure. But they have nothing to do with THIS! I told you over and over
again....it's not what they DID to me that hurt. It's realizing what a
douche I was. The pain I caused people! Now I just want a small circle of
friends..." This was completely true. He wasn't merely telling Davis what
he wanted to hear. Devin, Theo, Drew, Ethan and Taryn sorta fell into
Jack's life. As it turned out, Jack discovered that he really liked these
guys - especially Devin, who was for all intents and purposes, Jack's
boyfriend. At least on the down-low. He wasn't doing this out of some kinda
depressed PTSD-inspired sense of avoidance. He just wanted to impress his
new friends, and fit in. There was a fear in the back of Jack's mind that
if he didn't look the part, act the part, and play the part, his friends
wouldn't accept them into their circle or invite him over to their houses,
or even have anything to do with him whatsoever. If Jack excelled at
something, it was blending into social situations and becoming what he
thought was expected of him. He did that his entire life. Was he TRULY
gothic at heart, though? He tried to convince himself that he was, in the
same way he used to convince himself that he was a jock. That was
secondary, however. The important thing was to placate his friends and make
them happy....to especially make Devin happy. ".....is that so fucking
wrong!?" Jack added.

"Absolutely not. I just don't want you pressured into....you know...doing
things that you're not comfortable with." Davis said, clearly concerned and
shell shocked over past events. "They don't have you taking drugs or
breaking the law or anything, do they?"

"Of course not! They're not delinquents! If anything they're pretty
geeky. We watch horror movies, play tabletop games and okay...at worst we
drink wine now and then. Is that so evil?"

"Not at all. So you're not depressed, right? I mean, after quitting the
team and everything, and just....you're not cutting yourself or anything,
are you?" Davis couldn't help but glance at Jack's forearms and nodded to
himself. Satisfied that he didn't see any marks.

"Davis, listen to me." Jack said sternly as he leaned forward on the couch
and stared directly into his older brother's eyes. "I am happier than I
have been in a long time. I never HAD a really close circle of friends like
this before. This is NOT about what happened! This is about me trying to
find out who I am. What happened to me opened my eyes, sure. How could it
*not*? But it didn't traumatize me the way YOU think."

"So what are you saying? You're GLAD it happened!?" Davis asked.

That was the million dollar question. Glad? He was raped and
violated. Repeatedly. How could that make him GLAD? Was he REALLY "raped",
though? The more Jack considered it, the more he wondered if he WAS, in the
classic sense. Yes, he was blackmailed into doing stuff "against his
will". He could have used his "escape hatch" any time, though. Jack learned
that people involved in BDSM play have what's called a "safety word". While
he was never given one by his abusers, he HAD the equivalent of a way
out. He never used it. On top of that, after talking with Elliott in the
car on the night he stopped cooperating, it was confirmed what he always
suspected but never one hundred percent sure about...that the blackmail
ITSELF was a bluff. Finally, they didn't see it as any kind of sexual
assault themselves, and tried to make it up to Jack when they realized what
it was, and what Aaron called it. So...taken all together, could it be
called "rape" if it was all a game and one that he could have put an end to
at any time? No doubt, many crimes were commited against him, but was rape
one of them? Did it matter, ultimately? Jack didn't care. The question
Davis just posed to him, he DID care about, though....was he GLAD it
happened? He was certainly glad of the benefits he reaped from it, sure!
What about the others, though? Their lives were wrecked from the guilt they
wrought. Lives ruined. Jack, in fact, made it worse when he taunted them in
the park over it and he could NEVER be glad about that. For a few days
after, his emotions were so turbulent that he even considered turning them
in, or assaulting Ben in the halls. He didn't want to think about how close
he was to doing it the day after and had to talk himself down. While it was
true he could never be friends with any of them again, nor did he want
to....he wanted them to possibly one day forgive themselves and lead some
semblance of happy lives. What they did to him was wrong. There was no
question about that. Was he glad it happened, though? Can ends justify the
means?

"No! I'm not saying that at all." Jack lied. "It's just hard to explain, ya
know?"

Davis shook his head. A veil of seething anger crept over his entire
face. "I still think you should have gone to the cops. Those pieces of
trash should be taking it up the ass in prison right now. You still can! My
friend from Cliffwood Beach and I did some checking, and the statute of
limitations says that you have literally YEARS before it..."

Now it was Jack's turn to get angry. The two brothers had not discussed
this since last month, and he was not about to do so again. "DROP IT!" Jack
snarled as he stood up. "What's done was DONE! We talked about this how
many FUCKING TIMES!? And don't you DARE go talking to your friends about
me...who the Hell do you think you are anyway!? Shit, Davis...you knew some
of what they did to me and let them continue, you hypocrite!"

Davis stood up and calmly walked up to Jack. ".....how dare you" he
whispered as he balled up his fists. "How fucking DARE you! You think I
knew about the sexual abuse!? HELL NO! Yeah, I knew about the initial
blackmail! I thought they were using it to make you dress like a girl and
maybe doing their homework for them or something! I bent over BACKWARDS
explaining this to you and apologizing!"

"Oh, you are SO full of shit! Just like you 'didn't know' you and Tracy
were exclusive when you were screwing around with...what was her name? Judi
with an "i"?" Jack cat-called in a mock female voice. "And let me ask you
something....did either girl know about your extracurricular activities
down at the club?"

Davis pushed Jack hard enough to make him fall back on the couch. "Shut the
fuck up you vindictive little shit!" Davis exclaimed as he held a
frightened and angry Jack down. "I FUCKING LOVED TRACY! You have NO idea
what happened between us, so keep your FUCKING mouth shut...I NEVER want to
hear her name come out of your lips again, understand!?"

"Let me go!" Jack struggled as he tried slapping his older brother's arm
off his chest.

"And You have SOME fucking nerve to stand there and think I was in on the
worst of it!" Davis continued. "After everything I'm doing to try to make
this right for you...."

"What the Hell are you talking about...making it right?" Jack asked. He
couldn't think straight. For the second time in a month, he came close to
hitting his own brother. Stupid, because his brother could kick the shit
out of him. Davis, however, let Jack go and looked nervous for a second.

"Like.......I dunno! Talking you into doing the right thing!" he
stammered. "Oh, FUCKING FORGET YOU! Why do I bother!? Sometimes you can be
such an unappreciative brat. Maybe that's why..." Davis caught himself.

"Maybe that's why WHAT!? That I brought this on myself!?" Tears began to
form in Jack's eyes.

"Jack...I didn't mean....I'm sorry." Davis instantly regretted what he was
about to say. He didn't even believe it himself. He was angry over it all,
and part of him was royally pissed at his brother for not punishing his
rapists. If he finished what he almost said, there would be fighting right
now, which would have woken up their parents. Worse, it would have no doubt
driven a wedge between the two brothers that may never have healed.

"FUCK YOU! IT'S MY GODDAMN LIFE! STAY OUT OF IT!" Jack said. He stormed
away from his brother and marched into the kitchen to snatch his keys off
his hook before violently existing out the front door.

Davis didn't say a word or try to follow them.

Jack was right.


........................


Davis sighed as he went back to his room. He HAD to get more sleep. His
confrontation with Jack took a lot out of him. He wasn't angry at his
brother. Not really. Merely frustrated that he never wanted to listen to
reason. If being gothic and hanging around a bunch of vampire-freaks made
him happy, then by all means...let him enjoy his phase. Still....Jack had
no right to bring up Tracy. He KNEW that almost cost Davis his sanity, if
not his very life two years ago. It sometimes disturbed Davis how, well,
EVIL Jack can get when he's pissed off. His younger brother had a nasty
streak sometimes and while it wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be, there
were still times that, when pushed too far, Jack will say or do something
that he may regret later, but can be utterly vicious in the moment. The dig
about Tracy went above and beyond and was completely uncalled for. 'I only
confided in one person back then.' Remembered Davis. 'It was Jack. Even
though he was only fifteen years old at the time, he dropped everything to
make sure I was okay...to help me move past it all.' In fact, Davis owed
Jack a LOT. Which was why he felt the need to return the favor and help him
now. He had a chance here to truly pay it forward. Why couldn't Jack just
accept someone else's advice!? If he did, then Davis wouldn't have had to
resort to such extreme....well....it was too late for regrets now. Davis
had to see this through. For Jack, and for his own atonement for things
past best left unsaid or unthought of.

Davis pulled out his wallet and took out a little photograph of a girl with
long red hair, and glasses laying in front of green careworn eyes. "I miss
you, Tracy." Davis said to the photograph. "I never got a chance to tell
you how sorry I was. Now I never will be able to." He gently kissed the
photograph and put it back in his wallet, next to a card of Saint
Gertrude. After turning on the radio by nightstand to play some soft music,
Davis slowly drifted off to sleep as the radio crooned in the background.

*****This is WLTB Light FM! Serving Cliffwood Beach, Matawan, Holmepoint
Heights, Quiet Knoll, and Smithsville. Your home for easy listening...all
the time! In local news, the recent string of car jackings keep plaguing
the citizens of Quiet Knoll. Police say they have no suspects, but are
following a few leads. Also, a naked youth with a broken wrist was just
picked up walking along the border of Holmepoint Heights and Cliffwood
Beach by local police. Given the age of the youth, his name has not been
disclosed, but we will follow this story as it develops.....******



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


[Author's Note: I hope everyone is still enjoying where this is going. This
has been, and continues to be, such a joy to write. Keep sending
suggestions and comments, because hearing from you is really what makes
this all worthwhile! Halloween is fast approaching us, both for us in the
real world, and for Jack and his gothic friends. Without spoiling anything,
it'll be a turning point for Jack that will make his question himself even
more than he has been doing already. I hope you guys are not too
disapointed by the lack of sex or kink in this chapter, but sometimes it's
all about STORY, ya know? Things will ramp up again, I can promise you
that! Next chapter in fact!]


If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or opinions, please email
me at riveracheron101@gmail.com