By Wes Leigh
This is a work of fiction (or is it?) intended solely
for the entertainment of my readers; any resemblance to any real people or
places is purely coincidental. Readers
who would like to chat are encouraged to contact me at weston.leigh@protonmail.com.
This story is the property of the author and is
protected by copyright laws. The author
retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent.
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You ask that
question as though you don't believe these creatures exist ... that they are
simply make-believe. I assure you—they
are real. They are out there, but they
don't make themselves known, not like Hollywood producers and horror novelists would
have us believe. No. They're hidden away. In secret places. In small communities, mostly, in rural
regions, waiting, biding their time.
-- Excerpt from Rob
Ransom podcast: `Vampires and
Werewolves: Are They Living Among Us?'
Daniel Anderson
huddled in the back seat of the car, staring at the dry prairies of North
Dakota, hating his life and his parents for bringing him here. What a stupid, messed up, pile of crap his
life had become. Just when he had begun
to settle in and make new friends ... just when he was actually looking forward
to starting high school in Colorado Springs ... just when he had begun to think
he had friends he could trust enough to open up to, his dad had to get a new
job working in the oil fields of Bumfuck, North Dakota. And of course, his mother, the ever-dutiful
wife, supported moving the family 800 fucking miles to the middle of fucking
nowhere. Daniel pulled his coat
tighter. He hated his life.
Daniel's father Mike
glanced in the rear-view mirror and noticed Daniel tugging his coat around
him. "Are you warm enough back there?"
Daniel glared at his
dad, refusing to answer.
Judy, Daniel's
mother, turned in her seat and looked back at Daniel. "Your father asked you a question, son."
Daniel kept his
thoughts to himself, knowing it would land him in a world of hurt to say what
he was feeling at the moment. What he wanted to say was, `Really? You mean my clueless dad decided to finally
check on his only child's well-being?
Great timing, as always. Would
have been nice if someone had asked me how I was doing seven-hundred miles
ago.' Instead of speaking out, Daniel
stared daggers at his mom.
Judy blew out her
breath, exasperated. She turned to Mike
and shook her head. "Teenagers. Were we this moody when we were fourteen?"
Mike shrugged. "I think you were. Me, I was a sterling example of balanced
emotions."
They chuckled, which
only made Daniel more upset. `Laugh it
up, guys. Make fun of your son. Enjoy torturing him and making his life a
living hell.'
Daniel pulled his
backpack into his lap, unzipped the side pocket, and pulled out the stack of
books he'd placed inside that morning.
He didn't feel like reading, not even the novel he'd begun earlier in
the week. It was a dark tale of vampires
battling werewolves for control of a small village in Lithuania. It actually made him feel a little better to
read all the lurid descriptions of mangled bodies and bloody battles,
especially when he pictured his parents as the ones getting their arms torn off,
but he just wasn't in the mood for stupid fantasy at the moment. He had bigger problems to deal with. And there was only one outlet for his current
vexing circumstances: his journal.
He slid the thin
gray book into his lap and turned the dials on the lock to 719, the reverse
order of his birthday, September 17th.
Even his snoopy mom wouldn't be able to figure that one out, he
hoped. The lock unlatched and he opened
the journal, taking out the pen he kept inside, and started a new entry.
August 18
I hate my life. So, what's new about that? I'm headed for Agony, North Dakota. Yes, you heard me right. An actual town named Agony located in the
middle of fucking nowhere, the captive prisoner of my heartless parents, who seem
to think they have the right to drag their son kicking and screaming away from
all his friends (I didn't have that many to begin with) and force him to start
all over again in a frozen damned town in the middle of North Cocksucking Dakota.
Okay.
Maybe I'm cussing too much. I'll
try to stop, but damn it, I'm really pissed.
Get this.
The town really is called Agony, North Dakota. Population 12,400. That's right.
It only takes five digits to tell you how many tortured souls reside in
Agony. I wonder if they'll update it to
12,403, now that we're moving in.
Daniel stopped
writing for a second and looked up at his parents. He mumbled, "I researched our new home, by
the way. Did you know the temperature
runs in the low-20s in January?"
Judy shivered
involuntarily. "Yes, I think I read that
somewhere."
Mike glanced at Daniel
in the mirror. "It's going to be cold in
the winter. Colder than Colorado. Hope you packed your thermal underwear."
Daniel rolled his
eyes. Leave it to his dad to make an
underwear joke. What a dweeb! Daniel continued, "The record low was 43
degrees below zero, recorded on January 3, 1948. It's gonna take
more than thermal underwear to stay warm, dad."
Mike smiled. "We'll buy you a parka, too. That should do the trick."
Daniel shook his
head. "But the funny thing is they don't
get snow there. Not like we did in
Colorado. It will probably only snow a
few times a year."
Judy nodded. "It's very dry. Not a lot of chance for snow, so that will
make the cold temperatures more bearable."
Daniel grunted and turned back to his
journal.
My
parents don't get it. They think this is
some kind of adventure. Or a great business opportunity for my dad,
the brilliant chemical engineer. They're
reopening the oil fields in North Dakota, and he's already rubbing his hands
with glee over the huge paychecks he's gonna bring
home. Mom supports him in whatever he
wants to do. She'll probably find a job
at the hospital as a nurse. They're
always looking for nurses.
Me. I'll be going along for the ride. Being a good little boy.
I
wonder what my parents would say if they knew I'm not a good little boy. Would they freak out if they knew the truth
about me? The dark secret I'm keeping to
myself? Would
they be so happy about all this if they knew their one and only son is a
monster?
I
doubt it would faze them. They don't
even know I exist most days. I guess
I'll keep my fiend status a secret another year, although it might be tough,
now that I'm living in Agony, North Dakota.
How do you keep a secret like mine in a small town? All the kids will keep a close eye on me
until they finally uncover the truth, and then I'll be royally screwed.
Whatever. I'll write more later.
Daniel tucked the pen into the journal and
closed it. Latched and locked it. Spun the combination dial to a random
number. Stuffed it in his backpack and
turned to look out the window at the dry prairie passing by.
Fuck.
͠ ͠
͠
The prairie grasses gradually gave way to
stubby brush and evergreen trees.
Junipers, his mom called them.
The terrain began to change too.
More hills. A few funny rock
formations. Some shaped like enormous
mushrooms or spindly stacks of rocks.
Those were called hoodoos, Daniel remembered reading somewhere. And in the distance
there were enormous buttes. Daniel
chuckled thinking about that word and how it could be mispronounced. A few of the buttes he saw did look like
giant, jagged butts, but even that bit of humor didn't turn his mood
around. He felt alone, like the golden
eagle he saw hovering in the air over a stand of trees.
The road crested a hill and started down into
a valley. Up ahead, Daniel saw a
river. A good-sized river. "What's that?"
Judy looked where he
was pointing and replied, "The Missouri River.
The town is located on a bend in the river. That should be interesting, don't you think?"
Daniel snorted. "Utterly fascinating, mom."
She turned to look
at him, but decided not to comment on his obvious
sarcasm. It wasn't a battle she intended
to fight. Instead, she said, "For a
small town, I think you'll find plenty of new things to try. Outdoor things. Hiking.
Camping. Fishing."
Daniel nodded. "Sure.
Sounds fun." But to himself, he
thought, `Sounds miserable. I better get
a new Xbox out of this.'
The first buildings
they saw were houses, a bit run down.
Small. Wooden, clapboard
siding. Dirt yards. A few trees struggling to survive. A bit of junk in the side yards, here and
there. `I hope our house is nicer than
this,' Daniel thought.
"The motel is on the
other side of town," Mike said, peering through the windshield. "I guess we'll get the grand tour first," he
added with a laugh.
"I can't wait," Daniel
mumbled, staring out the side window. A
new row of houses appeared, nothing fancy, but in slightly better
condition. There were no yards,
though. And no kids outside playing, not
that he could see. It was a nice day in
August. There should be kids playing
somewhere, right?
They stopped at an
intersection when the light turned red. Daniel
noticed a grocery store on his right.
There were a few cars parked in front, one with its trunk open. A woman was loading sacks inside. Helping her was a teenage girl. Both wore dark clothing, appearing as if they'd
just come from a funeral, with dark sunglasses.
It was overcast, so Daniel assumed they wore the sunglasses to hide
their eyes, probably bloodshot from crying.
The two paused and turned together to face Daniel. Both lowered their sunglasses to stare at him
directly. Their eyes weren't bloodshot, but were dark and brooding. Both stared at Daniel with a peculiar mixture
of cold curiosity and ... desire or hunger? ... as though they were trying to
decide if he would be suitable for their bedroom, or their dinner table.
Daniel shook his
head. He had no idea where he got such a
stupid notion from, probably from the novel he'd been reading. He scooted over to the other side of the car
and looked out the left side.
A farm and ranch
supply sat on the opposite corner of the intersection. A pickup was backed up in front, where two
muscular teenagers were loading heavy sacks of feed into the bed. One of them pointed at Daniel's car. The other dropped the sack on top of the
stack in the back of the pickup, then they both watched as the light turned
green and the car started moving again.
They followed the car until it was a block away, never allowing it out
of their sight. For some reason, Daniel
imagined two wolves tracking a deer they were stalking.
Daniel
shuddered. The people of this town were
stranger than the town itself. And he
was definitely going to stop reading that novel about
vampires and werewolves. His imagination
was starting to get the better of him.
"Look, sweetie,"
Judy exclaimed. "A movie theatre!"
Daniel scooted back to
the right side of the car to get a better look.
It was an old-fashioned theatre with a marquee above the door, bragging
about the two—yes, two!—movies currently showing. He'd seen the slasher flick already,
something his mom didn't know and would never find out. The comedy was new, but nothing he had any
real interest in seeing. Hopefully, the
motel would offer a streaming service.
Otherwise, this town was going to be dismally boring.
They passed through
the town square. Yellow brick
courthouse. Red brick bank. Brown brick furniture store. A few glass front clothing stores. Yep. A
bustling center of commerce. Obviously,
a shopping paradise for the entire county.
Mike turned on the
next street, taking them into another residential neighborhood. The houses were nicer. A few had struggling yellow lawns, though
most had opted for gravel landscaping around twisted juniper pines. The houses themselves were nice enough. Mostly brick or cinder block
construction. Mike stopped in front of a
rambling ranch-style house with a real estate sign in the front yard. Pointing, he said, "That's ours."
Daniel sighed. It was a nice house. Bigger than the one they had owned in
Colorado. He wanted to mumble something
unpleasant about the new house, but he couldn't think of anything at the moment, so he asked, "When will the movers bring our
stuff?"
"In two days," Mike
replied. "They should be here first
thing Friday morning."
"We'll be settled in
by the weekend," Judy added, smiling encouragingly.
`Great,' Daniel
thought. `I get to slave away for my
parents all weekend. As if there's
anything else to do in this hick town.'
"You want to go
in? I have the keys," Mike said.
Daniel shook his
head. "Nah. I'm good, Dad. Can we just go to the motel? I really need a shower." There would be plenty of opportunities to
check out the new place in the next couple of days, and at
the moment he was hungry and tired and grumpy. Besides all that, he'd already seen the
inside of the house using the on-line virtual tour the real estate company had
provided. The master bedroom was on the
opposite side of the house from his bedroom.
His room was big with a connected bath, something he'd never had
before. A bit of welcome privacy for a
young teenager.
Mike put the car
back in gear and drove on. Swinging
through the drive-through of a fast food place, they picked up burgers, fries,
and sodas. A few blocks later, they
pulled into the River View Motorlodge. It was perched on a hill above the Missouri
River, so there actually was a pretty decent view of the river from their rooms,
as the motel's name claimed. They had
adjoining rooms. Daniel had his own
room, for which he was especially grateful.
At least his parents didn't expect him to share a room for the next two
nights. That would have been the
absolute worst possible scenario.
His room was neat
and clean. Nothing fancy, but the bed
was comfortable and there was a small (though old) LCD television on the
dresser. He munched on his burger while
flipping through the channels. There was
a decent selection, with some porn available on a pay-per-view basis. He knew better than to order any of
those. Not that it mattered. The hotel had free WIFI, and Daniel had his
cell phone. He connected his phone to
the WIFI while sipping his drink.
Finally, he'd have access to civilization again.
͠
͠ ͠
Daniel sat on the
toilet with the shower running. Just in
case his parents checked on him.
His fingers danced
across the face of his cell phone, entering one of his favorite search
queries: boy loses virginity.
The options were
varied. He slid through the list, trying
to decide whether he wanted to see some old, saggy woman doing a teenager or
two teenagers doing each other. Finally,
he chose one he'd seen before. The boy
looked just a few years older than him, though he knew the kid had to be at
least eighteen. He was slender with
bright blue eyes, like Daniel, but he had wavy black hair. Daniel wished he had black hair; he hated his
pale blonde mop. The boy in the video
had something else Daniel didn't. A long,
thick cock. It was another indication
that he wasn't a young teenager, even if his face did look remarkably youthful.
Even though it was obvious the boy
wasn't a teenager, he still made you think he was young and unsure of
himself. He tried to resist the older
woman as she tugged at his pants and underwear, and when he finally gave in,
his cock was soft, hanging down a few inches.
His balls were tight, pulled up against his crotch, like Daniel's, and
he had only a small patch of pubic hair, also like Daniel, though Daniel's
pubes were a light golden blond, so light in fact that you had to look closely
to see that he did have hair there.
The boy quickly lost his shyness when the woman knelt in
front of him and put his cock in her mouth.
Daniel watched, entranced, as the boy's cock filled up and stretched out
to an impressive seven inches in length.
Daniel wished his dick was that long, but at just over five inches, he
supposed he wasn't all that different from other boys his age. At the moment, his
dick was hard and throbbing, reacting to the images on his cell phone.
The woman in the video stood up and pulled the teen's hands
to her chest, encouraging him to rub her breasts over the negligee she
wore. While he squeezed and rubbed, she
slid the negligee off her shoulders and allowed it to fall to the ground. Her boobs were huge, with wide red
nipples. The teen leaned in and started
sucking on them, obviously enjoying himself.
Daniel fast forwarded the video. The woman's breasts did nothing for him. He stopped the video and restarted it when
the woman turned to face away from the boy, bending over and pushing her ass in
his face.
Her pussy was spread open and the boy was prodding and
smearing her juices all over, spreading her open and sticking his fingers
inside her. Daniel shrugged and fast
forwarded again.
Now the young man was standing up, holding his cock pointed
straight ahead. He moved forward and
rubbed himself against the woman, causing the tip of his cock to glisten with
all the juices coming out of her. Then
he pushed his cock forward, causing it to disappear inside her.
Daniel felt his own cock throb as he watched the boy fucking
the woman. The sound of the teen's hips
slapping her ass cheeks made Daniel groan with excitement. He grabbed his cock and began stroking it,
trying to match the speed of the teen in the video, trying to imagine he was
the one fucking the woman. The tingles
faded a bit, and then Daniel wondered what it would be like to have the teenager
sticking his cock inside Daniel's ass.
The tingles returned, making Daniel bite his lip and close his eyes as
his cock lurched in his hand and launched strands of silvery cum onto the
bathroom floor.
He stared down at his cock.
It was bright red, glowing from its favorite pastime. He squeezed out a few more drops, collecting
the slippery fluid on one finger. He
lifted it to his nose, sniffed it, and wrinkled his nose. Why did something that felt so good have to
smell so ... weird? Not bad, but just
weird.
He unrolled toilet paper and cleaned off his fingers and the
end of his cock. Then he bent over and
wiped up the splotches on the floor.
Closing out the porn video, he set his cell phone on the
counter next to the sink. Then he opened
the shower door and slid underneath the hot spray.
͠ ͠
͠
"Mom."
"Yes, Daniel."
Daniel stood in the doorway between their rooms. Because the rooms were adjacent, there was a
connecting door they could open, allowing them access to each other's
rooms. Daniel had made sure the door was
closed the night before, but now, the next morning, it was convenient to have
it open so he could ask his mom a question.
"Can I catch a movie this afternoon? They have a cheap matinee?"
"At the theatre?" she asked.
"Yeah. I feel cooped
up and wanna get out for a bit."
Judy frowned. "What
movies are they showing?"
Daniel sighed. Of
course, she'd ask that. " `Age Has No
Limits' and `Shredder'."
" `Shredder'? Isn't
that the movie about the mass murderer?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yeah."
She shook her head.
"I don't want you watching that.
You'll have nightmares."
Daniel shrugged. He'd
already seen it, and it hadn't been all that good. He also hadn't had nightmares. He couldn't tell his mom that, because she'd
have a cow knowing he and his friends had snuck in to see it two weeks
ago. "That's fine, Mom. I'd rather see the comedy."
"What's it about?
Maybe I'll go with you."
"Two old guys that decide to do all these stupid things
before they die. I don't think you'd
enjoy it. It's kind of dumb."
Judy glanced at Daniel.
She missed the happy little boy who would have jumped at the chance to
spend an afternoon at the movies with his mom.
He was growing up and growing away from her, and that was an
uncomfortable feeling. But she realized
he no longer needed—or wanted—his mother hanging out with him. She opened her purse and took out a
twenty-dollar bill. "Have fun,
sweetie. Buy yourself some popcorn."
He took the money and thanked her. Thank God she got the hint that he wanted to
go alone. The last thing he needed was
to be seen with his mom at the movies.
He grabbed his jacket off the bed and put it on. The wind was starting to pick up, and the sky
was dark with clouds. For a mid-August
afternoon, it was chilly.
The walk from the motel to the theatre took him half an
hour. He was glad for the jacket when
gusts swirled around him. Arriving at
the theatre, he saw a line forming.
Apparently, the theatre wasn't open yet.
He snorted. Crap like that would
never happen in Colorado Springs.
He walked to the back of the line, standing with his hands
in his pockets behind a group of four other teenagers, two boys and two
girls. They all wore sunglasses and were
dressed in dark clothing, black and dark gray mostly, with odd bits of bright
colors here and there. One girl had a
bright green belt around a black leather one-piece outfit. The other girl wore a black halter top and a
black mini-skirt with yellow, high-top sneakers. One boy wore dark gray jeans, black cowboy
boots, and a checked shirt with a black and bright blue pattern. The other boy wore a short sleeved black
t-shirt, black dress pants, and a blood-red vest. He was actually cute,
in a dark and mysterious way.
Daniel checked them all out, trying not to be too obvious
about what he was doing. The clothing
was not just peculiar; it was also wrong for the weather. The wind swirled around them, causing Daniel
to tug his jacket tighter around his body.
But the four teens didn't seem to mind.
They acted like they didn't notice the wind at all, like it was a
pleasant summer day, perfect for hanging out in mini-skirts and tank tops.
They were chatting about the movie, not shivering, teeth not
chattering. The boy in the blue-checked
shirt said, "Should be a good movie. Not
your typical blood-and-guts slasher-flick."
Leather-dress girl agreed.
"No. It's more about
suspense. Shocking plot twists."
"All the better," blue-checked shirt said.
"You should enjoy it then, X," said yellow-sneakers girl,
sliding up to the boy in the red vest and slipping her arm around his waist.
Red-vest boy reached behind him and pulled the girl's arm
away. "Whatever. And I've asked you before not to do that,
Regina."
Yellow-sneakers girl—Regina?—pouted. "Come on, Xavier. You need someone to make you happy. Why not me?"
The boy in the red vest, the one she'd called X, which was
apparently short for Xavier, glared at her.
"You know why, Regina. Cut it
out."
Regina snickered.
"Buy me some popcorn?" she asked, smiling coyly at Xavier.
Blue-checked boy snorted.
"Popcorn? Why do you want
popcorn?"
"To snack on during the movie, of course," Regina replied.
"Yeah," leather-dress girl added. "And you're buying."
Blue-checked boy smirked.
"I'm not buying either of you popcorn.
You should get plenty to eat while the movie's playing—"
He was interrupted by mini-skirt girl slapping him on the
arm. "Shhhh,"
she hissed, nodding her head slightly in Daniel's direction.
Blue-checked boy frowned.
"What? Why'd you hit me?"
Xavier (red vest boy) shook his head. "You can be such a moron, Gregor."
Gregor (blue-checked boy) shook his head in confusion. "What difference does it make?"
Xavier glared at Gregor.
"Discrete you've never been. At
least try being silent for a change."
The look Xavier gave Gregor was ice cold, making Daniel shiver. He didn't know who this Xavier guy was, but
he was certain of one thing: he never
wanted to get on Xavier's bad side.
Xavier seemed to have hidden power, buried just under the surface, that
he wasn't afraid to use if necessary.
But Gregor was just as hard and intimidating. Gregor glared at Xavier and snarled, "You're
not Executor yet, Xavier. You're no
better than the rest of us."
Regina rolled her eyes.
"You just don't know when to shut up, do you, Gregor?"
The two boys stared at each other for a moment, then Gregor
snorted and looked away. Xavier glanced
back at Daniel, noticing that the short blonde had been listening to their
conversation. Xavier sighed and gave
Daniel a nod. He seemed to be silently apologizing. `Okay,' thought Daniel, `the scary and intimidating
dude is also a pretty decent guy.'
The ticket window finally opened
and the line started moving forward. When
the four teens reached the ticket window, they bought tickets to
`Shredder'. Daniel didn't really want to
see `Age Has No Limits', but after listening to those four, for some reason, he
didn't feel like seeing `Shredder' either.
He bought a ticket for the comedy and went inside the theatre, joining the
line for the snack counter.
Xavier was in line in front of him. The other three were nowhere to be seen. Daniel studied Xavier, trying not to be too
obvious. The boy was taller by several
inches and just as thin. His hair was
jet black, his skin pale. His complexion
was so white it was almost translucent, made all the more
striking by the dark clothing he wore and his dark hair. But Xavier was truly handsome, not simply cute
as Daniel had originally thought, but rather stunningly good looking, with
regal features, a fashionable hair style, and eyes that seemed to draw you in. Now that they were inside the building,
Xavier had removed his sunglasses and Daniel was able to see that Xavier's eyes
were a deep and piercing black.
All this, Daniel was able to observe while standing behind
Xavier. Suddenly, Xavier glanced to the
side, cutting his eyes back to see Daniel.
Daniel glanced quickly away, pretending to study the price list above
the counter. Xavier smiled knowingly and
turned back forward. Daniel blushed,
realizing he'd been caught staring.
When Xavier was called up to the counter, he ordered two
boxes of buttered popcorn.
Daniel was called up at the same time, taking a spot next to
Xavier. He ordered popcorn and a
Mountain Dew. Glancing over at Xavier,
he saw the taller youth looking at him, unashamed. Xavier smiled at him. Daniel smiled back.
The counter attendants quickly filled their orders, and they
walked side by side down the hall to where a pimple-faced teenager took their
tickets, tore them in half, and directed them in two different directions. As Daniel walked down the hall, he looked
back briefly and saw Xavier looking over his shoulder too, watching Daniel. Daniel blushed again and hurried down the
hall to the doorway for the comedy.
Xavier smiled and continued to the slasher flick.
͠ ͠
͠
Halfway through the movie, Daniel began to feel the pressure
of the drink. He wanted to wait until
the movie was over, because it wasn't half bad, but he knew he'd never make it
another hour. He got up and made his way
through the dark room out into the hall.
Walking back towards the lobby, he heard muffled screams
coming from the other end of the theatre.
He wondered what was going on down there. Was it simply a suspenseful place in the slasher
flick, or was something more sinister going on?
Maybe those kids were really vampires, and they were grabbing people
from behind and sinking their fangs into their victims' necks.
He shook his head at his silly imagination and continued on into the theatre lobby. Seeing the signs ahead for the restrooms, he turned
in to the men's room and walked around the corner. Standing at the sinks was Gregor, the youth
in the blue-checked shirt. Gregor
glanced up as Daniel walked in, studying the smaller teen in the mirror. Daniel shyly kept his eyes on the floor and moved
deeper into the restroom, heading for the urinals.
Once there, he unzipped and fished out his cock, then sighed
with relief as his bladder unloaded.
A body moved up beside him at the next urinal over. He glanced sideways and saw the blue-checked
shirt.
"New here?" Gregor asked.
Daniel looked up, meeting Gregor's eyes. They seemed to flicker with a strange inner
light.
"Yeah," Daniel replied.
"Just moved here." Then Daniel
felt his head getting fuzzy and the room going dark. His last conscious thought was, `I wonder if
someone slipped something into my drink?'
The end of SOULBOUND, Chapter One