The Year of the Rat
by Nico Grey
Chapter 7
I didn't have a lot of time to figure out a plan. Dylan, and then Taryn, had offered to help me with my first hunt. But I knew the Grant Park area and the people there well. And I had my rat's cunning.
When I shared my plan, Dylan insisted on coming along as my backup. He was really worried about me.
Taryn also agreed to be in the area. He was concerned that the site I had chosen for my hunt might be a little too public. He said that he was confident I could handle the important part of the evening, but thought he should be around in case anyone noticed what was happening and got suspicious
I knew that men approaching the Grant Park bathrooms for sex usually walked boldly through the main park. But when leaving, most slipped out through the shrubs and bushes. Anything unusual going on in there wasn't likely to attract attention.
My plan was to stay in those bushes, just like I had when learning about Mike's job, and observe the action. I thought I could get close enough to that clump of bushes where most of the work was done, to sense the men's thoughts and maybe even read a little of their history. If I discovered someone worthy, I would manage to be in their path when they departed.
I had a couple of ideas. If their path was sufficiently isolated, I could just jump them. But more likely, I would have to entice them to a private location.
Most guys that I had known from my work were usually sexually satisfied after their time with a worker. But that didn't mean they had completely lost interest. I thought that if they noticed me, and if I looked sufficiently vulnerable, it could be rather easy to lure them into one of several large bushes or copses of trees for a little 'privacy'... and dinner.
I waited with Dylan about a hundred feet away from that clump of bushes where most of the work was done. He and I were about that same distance apart. I figured that if I found a worthy victim, having two of us waiting would make it easier to intercept him. The plan was for Dylan to simply delay a victim who was going in his direction, giving me time to sneak up behind him. If he came my way, I figured I'd improvise the best way to attract his attention.
When we arrived at Grant Park, I staked out the front of the restrooms for a while to make sure that Mike wasn't working. I was anxious about my first feeding. I didn't want to have any other concerns that might distract me.
After a while, I led Dylan back into the trees, then around to the area behind the buildings. Taryn was waiting there for us.
He cocked an eyebrow at me.
"How did you stand this, Rat?"
He must have seen an eyeful while he was waiting for Dylan and me.
I didn't really know what to say. Mike was sick. We needed the money for food and to help him get well. I did what I had to do.
In a way, my work was a lot like this evening. If I didn't feed soon, I'd start to feel awful. If that went on long enough, I'd die. So I was going to do what I had to do.
After a brief exchange, Taryn strolled off toward Buckingham Fountain to take in the sights. He promised to stay close enough to sense if we needed him. After a quick exchange with Dylan, he was gone.
Dylan caught my eye and he tried to bolster my courage with his shy smile. Before he slipped off into the trees to find his own station, he reached into his jacket.
He stepped up to face me. He had a pair of sunglasses in his hands.
"These are for you," he shared that shy smile again. "You might need them tonight. Hunting can make you feel a lot of things. They might make your eyes start to glow. And that could freak out your prey," the word seemed unpleasant to him, "before you have him."
That was actually kind of touching. It was practical, of course. But the way Dylan did it announced that my success — and I — was important to him. I slipped the glasses on my face and resisted the urge to look for a mirror. I was feeling kind of tense as my moment of decision approached, so I just smiled back and offered him a fist bump.
I didn't recognize most of the kids working that night. I guess they were mostly a replacement crew. It crossed my mind to wonder if Mike was even part of the workforce in the Park anymore.
For more than an hour, we watched a variety of sex acts performed in the bushes behind the restrooms, then a parade of satisfied customers leaving the area. There wasn't anything that seemed unusual, at least in my experience.
We saw a number of hand jobs and just as many blow jobs. From my perspective, it was pretty routine stuff. I couldn't tell for sure with Dylan concealed in bushes a hundred feet away, but it felt like he was viewing it all with open-mouthed astonishment.
None of the men seemed like obvious targets to me. Yeah, they were using young kids for their own sexual pleasure. But that's what the kids were there for. The men were paying. And most of them treated the kids decently enough, under the circumstances.
I was starting to wonder if I had wasted the evening; worse, had wasted Dylan's and Taryn's time. I didn't really know what else they did, aside from visiting the Navy Pier frequently, but this couldn't be their idea of a great evening.
The man that followed little Marco around the building didn't strike me as unusual. He was a fairly big guy, young, and dressed kind of preppy — maybe rather lightly dressed for a cool October night. I did notice that he was loud. I also got an unpleasant vibe off the guy. I couldn't explain it. I just felt an instant dislike for him.
When they reached the bushes, Marco held out his hand. He was young, but he was a professional. The guy looked annoyed as he reached for his wallet. He counted out ten crisp bills and gave them to Marco. They didn't look like singles. I wasn't sure, but I thought that Dylan was about to see a lot more than he had bargained for.
I wasn't surprised. Marco started to slip out of his clothes. The guy encouraged him to take his time, stopping to feel up Marco every time something new and interesting was revealed. I guess he believed in getting his money's worth.
Marco was prepared. Once he had removed every stitch of clothing, he upcapped a small bottle, squeezed some of the contents onto his fingers, and reached behind himself.
The guy grabbed Marco's arm and swung him around. He held his hand out for the bottle. Then he spun Marco back around, pushed his head and shoulders down toward the ground, and stuck that bottle into Marco's crack.
The little guy didn't complain, but I could sense apprehension radiating off of him. I wasn't sure I wanted to read the man. His body language indicated that this was familiar territory for him. He was used to getting his way.
The guy used one hand to keep Marco's head pinned to the ground. With his other hand he was fumbling through the pile of Marco's clothing.
Once he had what he wanted, he used his body to control Marco. I couldn't figure out what was going on. This wasn't like anything else I'd seen while I was learning the sex trade.
Marco was more daring than any of the other workers I had seen. But even he seemed to have reached his limits. When he started to complain, the guy reached down between his legs. I wasn't much of a football fan, but it reminded me of a quarterback under center, waiting for the snap. Except I didn't think that was a football in his hands.
He twisted firmly and Marco almost screamed.
"Keep quiet, you little slut, or it's going to get a lot worse," the man warned.
He continued to fumble with Marco's balls. It looked like he was wrapping something around them.
"Now I told you that I like it rough," the guy attempted to justify himself. "I didn't pay two hundred just for a cheap fuck in the bushes."
When he stood up, he had what looked like a shoelace in one hand. He gave it a sharp pull and I could see that the other end was attached to Marco.
This time Marco did scream. The man reached down and cuffed him on the side of the head.
"You don't want to do that again or I'll yank your balls right off!" He gave the shoelace a firm tug as a reminder.
The man reached back into Marco's pile of clothes and fumbled around again. He emerged with another shoelace and a sock.
"Open wide!" he ordered.
When he had the sock firmly in Marco's mouth, he secured it with the other shoelace. Then he got down to business.
What followed was the most brutal act of sexual aggression I had yet to witness. I'm sure many people have experienced worse, but I had never seen anything like it.
He loosened his belt and dropped his pants. Then he lubed Marco's crack thoroughly. All the while he was working, he kept fondling and squeezing Marco's cheeks. His grip looked powerful enough to leave bruises. Apparently he had a bit of a fixation.
He finally thrust himself into Marco and began to give his butt a brutal pounding. His assault on Marco's cheeks continued, with the occasional detour to his chest and between his legs. It didn't look like Marco was getting any pleasure out of it. I could sense his terror from almost a hundred feet away.
An intense feeling was building inside me. I knew I had identified my prey. I wanted to take him before he could terrorize Marco any further.
I started to rise from my concealment. In my head, I could hear Dylan's frantic voice telling me to stay where I was. If I revealed myself then, there would be a witness to me feeding and we might have to do away with Marco, too.
That got my attention. I wasn't sure that Marco would still be alive when this monster was done having his way with him. But I definitely didn't want to risk being responsible for his death.
I think the guy must have known that he didn't have much time. Either somebody would come looking for Marco, or a new boy and his employer would come looking for a place to transact their business.
The man thrust himself powerfully into Marco, once, twice, then a third time. From where I was hidden, I could see him trembling. I could feel the sense of triumph, the exultation, radiating from him as he finished.
After he cleaned himself up and put himself away, the man glanced scornfully at Marco, still lying on the ground. He reached into his pile of discarded clothing and pulled out some folded banknotes.
"I guess I forgot to tell you that I never pay for cheap sex," he sneered. Before he turned away, he gave Marco a few solid kicks around his stomach. I don't think Marco even opened his eyes.
My earlier outrage and fury had transformed to cold, calculating vengeance while I watched this animal savage Marco. But I was also wary. The guy was young and powerful. I knew that my transformed body was a lot stronger than it had been when I was human. I just hadn't the opportunity to really test its limits yet.
I started to plan. I figured that if the man exited the park in Dylan's direction, Dylan would distract him and I would sneak up and jump him from behind. From what I had seen of Dylan's hunt, the prey's strength would fade fairly quickly once fangs started ripping into his neck.
If he exited the park near me, I needed something else to distract him. And I thought that I knew what would work.
When I looked back up, the guy was headed in my direction. Right toward my hiding place!
I slipped back into the bushes. There was a large cluster of arborvitae another fifty feet farther down the path.
I turned away from the path and faced toward the trees. I dropped my pants to my knees and prepared to water the foliage.
I pretended that I wasn't aware of the man when he came along the path and noticed me. I prayed that I had read my mark accurately.
Sure enough. I felt rough hands grasp my cheeks. I jumped, then giggled after I turned and saw him.
"That tickled." I smiled seductively... or at least I hoped it was seductive. I noticed him checking out my front.
It was a struggle to keep the repartee light. I could feel the lust and raw need pulsing from him in waves. He reached for me again and I backed away. I was pretty sure I didn't want him to get his hands on my balls.
"Are you looking for some fun?" I kept my giggle silly and light-hearted.
"There's nothing better than fun," he kept reaching for me.
"In here," I pointed to the cluster of arborvitae and winked. Then I scampered toward an opening in the foliage. I tried to wiggle my butt at him as I entered the trees.
He was only a second or two behind me. I could feel his confusion when he passed through the gap in the foliage and didn't find me waiting for him.
Before he could turn left or right to search for me, I was on him. And young and powerful or not, he didn't stand a chance. Once I latched onto the side of his neck, instinct took over. I wasn't aware of the flesh shredding under my fangs or the taste of blood on my tongue. I didn't smell his fear. I didn't hear his screams. I didn't feel his struggles to get free as they grew weaker. The only thing that I saw was the pulse throbbing in his carotid artery and becoming fainter, then cease. All I felt was a sense of justice.
The large body collapsed beneath me and fell to the ground. I remained attached to his neck, trying to draw any remaining drops of blood from my prey. I probably stayed attached to him for several minutes.
Gradually, I became aware of my surroundings. The sounds of the night seemed sharper, the smells more distinct. The blood was throbbing in my veins. I felt a renewed and more powerful sense of vitality.
I heard a faint giggle behind me. I spun around in panic. Dylan stood there in the gap between the arborvitae.
He glanced down as I turned. Behind his sunglasses, I could sense his eyes grow wide. So I looked down.
It took me a moment to remember why my pants were down around my ankles. I couldn't recall having sex with the guy, but my penis was bigger than I could ever recall seeing it. And it was throbbing.
My body language told Dylan everything. He giggled again.
"Yeah. Sometimes that happens when I feed." He must have sensed my embarrassment. "It looks good."
As I was scrambling to button my pants back up, Taryn burst into the trees. He took in the scene quickly, then turned back to me.
"That went awfully well for your first time," he congratulated me.
I didn't know what to say. I was barely aware of what I had done.
"He pissed me off," I explained.
Then I remembered Marco, still out in the clump of bushes. Before I went to check on him, I tore the wallet from the guy's pocket.
I found Marco's two hundred dollars folded up and stuffed into one compartment of the wallet. Then I found almost eight hundred more dollars in the main compartment. The guy had almost a thousand dollars on him and he still stiffed Marco after beating the shit out of him?!
I turned back to the man's corpse. I was so outraged that I wanted to drain him again!
Taryn guided me gently out to the main path. I had the guy's wallet in my hand and I started walking toward Marco.
Taryn stopped me. He took the wallet, removed that huge wad of bills, and handed them to Dylan. Some silent communication passed between them.
One minute I could see Dylan moving down the path toward Marco. Then he just disappeared! I could sense him nearby, but I couldn't see him anywhere. But when I looked closely, I noticed some disturbance in the grass and twigs along the path, moving steadily toward where Marco was still lying.
Dylan kind of faded back into view as he stooped down over Marco. He must have decided that there were no serious injuries, because he pulled the pants from Marco's pile of clothing and slipped the money into a pocket.
He hesitated over Marco again, started to reach for the string tied around Marco's balls, then for the gag, before thinking better of helping. Instead, he gently rubbed Marco's shoulder and kissed him on the back of his neck.
The gesture brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of something from somewhere in my past. When my eyes cleared, Dylan was gone but I could see movement along the path again, coming toward us.
When Dylan re-appeared, Taryn hustled us away. We stopped in another cluster of trees near the edge of the park.
Taryn was practical. He had assumed that my first kill might get quite messy. He had a handful of paper towels and a small packet of wet wipes to clean the blood off me. He also thought to bring a spare shirt and hoodie for me. My dirty clothes went into a plastic shopping bag.
When we finally emerged from the park onto Columbus Drive, the three of us looked normal enough to avoid any unwanted attention.
As we strolled back toward the heart of the city, Taryn maintained a steady flow of useful information. He assured me that I didn't have any worries about picking up temporary illnesses from my victim. Taryn had scanned the body quickly and hadn't detected any reason for concern.
He did apologize for not better preparing me for the possibility in advance. He promised that he would try to arrange a meeting with one of his friends who could teach me how to detect the blood-borne pathogens that have unpleasant side effects until a vampire fed on a new victim. But it was nothing I should worry about. The guy's body had been completely healthy. His mind was another matter.
Taryn suggested that we go back to my lair first. He wanted to check for any security or safety problems. He trusted my judgment about my home. But he was feeling more responsible for me and just wanted to double-check everything. In a sense, I guess I was starting to become part of his family.
Once Taryn was satisfied, he suggested that I stay in for the rest of the night. He thought it would be good to relax after a stressful night, then sleep to recuperate. That should leave me good to go for the following night. And I shouldn't have to worry about feeding again for another month or so.
As Taryn and Dylan slipped from my lair, Dylan glanced back toward me for a moment. I had a fleeting sense that he and I would be spending more time together in Grant Park. There was a lot of evil about in the world. But it seemed like the park would be a pretty good place to go hunting for it.
In the following weeks, I spent most evenings on the Navy Pier, in Gateway Park, or exploring the waterfront. Sometimes I ran into Taryn or Dylan with members of their crew. I was also starting to become aware that we weren't the only vampires in Chicago.
During one of our conversations, Taryn had warned me that I would run into some of our kind that weren't friendly. He suggested that I confine myself to areas that I knew well, where I would have the advantage of familiarity with the ground if I ever had to escape or hide from those who could harm me. He thought my lair in an old church basement was good as vampires, particularly those of the less principled variety, would avoid churches.
He was also a font of information about many things that I needed to learn about, being newly undead. Keeping a low profile was very important for vampires living among a society that was largely human. It was absolutely necessary for peaceful co-existence.
He explained that there was a network of services in place to help keep us from public attention. The man in Grant Park that had been my first meal wasn't just left there to be discovered. Taryn told me that 'slag hunters' would be aware of what had happened and probably appeared to clean up the scene mere minutes after we left the park.
If my victim had been low profile, someone who wouldn't be missed by many if he disappeared, his body was probably just hauled away for disposition. If he was someone likely to be missed, the circumstances of his death would be concealed and a plausible scenario constructed to explain what had happened without drawing suspicion toward us.
I was surprised to learn that such an effective system existed to keep our secret. Had I been a few years older, already with a better understanding of how the world worked, I would have been amazed. There was apparently a lot of cooperation among the powerful to keep our existence hidden and to prevent social conflict. We just had to play our own part to keep this system of secrecy intact. If any vampire flouted the rules too brazenly, bad things could happen to him.
Taryn also made sure that I got some training to recognize contaminants in blood that could made feeding unpleasant. He wasn't able to bring me back to his lair, he explained. Apparently there was a lot of stress going on in vampire world that made it a poor time to introduce someone new to Taryn's crew. And since their trainer had to use a wheelchair for mobility, and didn't often leave their home, Taryn brought the sample kit to my lair and spent several hours teaching me how to recognize and avoid tainted blood.
I felt unusually pleased by his approval when Taryn told me that he thought I had a good attitude to succeed as a vampire. I hadn't sought out the life. I had been brought over entirely without my consent. But he said that I was adapting well.
I didn't comment, but adapting is something that rats always do well.
He also told me that learning how to hunt was a big obstacle for many new vampires. He admitted that it had taken him a few years, not really to get comfortable with the idea, but to accept that it was necessary for survival.
Something else that rats do well.
He also told me that he thought my ideas about focusing my hunting on those who did real harm to others, and who contributed little to human society, were admirable. He used the word "moral" a lot.
I didn't let it show, but inside I was beaming with pride. I have never received much praise before in my life. Father Thomas and Mike were the only people I could ever recall telling me that I was worthy of their respect. And now Taryn was telling me the same thing. I just ate up his praise.
In time, Taryn warned me, I would begin to feel hunger. When that happened, I would need to hunt again. He advised me that I shouldn't put off hunting when I begin to feel the need. It was better to hunt coldly and rationally, rather than be driven by the need of hunger.
He and Dylan met me on the Pier one evening and asked me to join them in Gateway Park for a quiet conversation.
Dylan was starting to feel hunger pangs. He needed to feed. He wondered if I would help him and he suggested Grant Park as a hunting ground. Some of the men there seemed like the sort that would justify a hunt.
Coincidentally, I had been thinking a lot about Grant Park recently. My interest was financial. I still owed Jeremy money. And there was really only one way that I knew of to get money.
The idea of bringing men out into the bushes and vetting them as prey was somewhat awkward. It was even more weird to think that Dylan would be watching while I, uh, worked for them. But it was something that would meet both our needs reasonably well.
As Taryn listened to us flesh out our plan, he had a suggestion. The sunglasses we wore to keep people from noticing the glow in a vampire's eyes, might look a little odd while I was waiting for custom. He knew someone who could get me contact lenses that would conceal the glow if I began to feel strong emotions, but would still allow me to see at least as well as I could with sunglasses.
"He can get them in any color you want, Rat," Taryn said, "But I think it would look really good if we just match your natural eye color."
Dylan perked up. "That would be perfect, Rad. Dark brown eyes look so cool with your blond hair. And with your face," he blushed and turned away
So that was decided. I wasn't even sure which color I'd prefer. But if my only two friends thought I looked good with my brown eyes, I saw no reason for change.
I asked Taryn what contact lenses would cost. He seemed a bit embarrassed. I think he would have liked to pay for them, but I knew that he and his crew didn't always have much money.
A three hundred dollar price tag was reasonable, I guessed. And Taryn assured me that his friend wouldn't need the money right away. But that, plus the couple hundred I owed Jeremy, would require a lot of work from me.
I wondered if I might be able to do what Marco did. He got two hundred dollars from just one employer. But the idea of Dylan watching while I let somebody do that to me, was way too weird. I'd just have to work harder to earn what I needed.
Dylan accompanied me to Grant Park the following night. Taryn already had my contact lenses ready for me. He was also coming along in case we needed any help.
I scoped out the restroom crew when we arrived, to make sure that Mike wasn't working that night. I was a little worried that one of the workers might mention seeing me the next time Mike worked, but most of them hadn't really known that Mike and I were connected. I think I had only used his name — and mine, for that matter — that first night I worked, almost five months earlier.
Once I was sure that I wouldn't have any uncomfortable encounters with my past, I left Dylan and Taryn out in the foliage where they could observe. I strolled around to the front of the restrooms and took my place in line.
I didn't recognize any of the guys working that night. I just introduced myself as Conrad and waited for customers to arrive.
I was brought around back of the restrooms three times during my first ninety minutes on duty. It felt a little odd knowing that I had an audience while I performed. I made ninety bucks. Two hand jobs and a blow job. Fortunately, I hadn't been on the receiving end yet. I would have been done for the evening if all three guys had done me.
Unfortunately, I didn't find anyone for Dylan. All three guys seemed decent enough. Sure, they were perverts that liked to have sex with boys. But they didn't try to make me do anything I didn't want to do. They paid what I asked. All three were at least somewhat solicitous of me, which was cool. And I didn't read any deep, dark secrets in their minds.
I shook Dylan off each time he inquired about concluding his hunt. I don't know how much of their minds he could read from where he was hiding, but he accepted my decision.
Standing in front of the restrooms, I was starting to get bored. It had actually been a busy night for November in the city, but I had hoped for more from the evening. Knowing that Dylan was waiting out in the bushes, and that he was hungry, was the only reason I didn't just take my ninety dollars and go home.
Twenty minutes later, my wait was rewarded.
Something seemed familiar about the guy approaching us. He was fairly young, perhaps in his late twenties, and well dressed. He wasn't the sort I expected to find looking for sex behind a restroom on a cold autumn night.
I guess he must have been sizing us up as he approached. He didn't stop when he reached us. He just grabbed my hand and started to lead me out back. He didn't even inquire about the menu.
I pulled on his arm a bit once we were behind the building. He saw the question in my eyes.
"I'll do you," he said.
And that's when I finally realized who he was. The voice, the calm arrogance, and a picture of Mike that was still etched in my mind.
I didn't know what I would find in his mind, but I knew that this was Dylan's dinner. I distracted him for a few moments, right there behind the building, while I asked Dylan to be waiting for us in the copse of arborvitae where I had first fed.
"I'm sorry." I played for time. "I'm brand new at this. What are you going to do to me." I aimed for an uncertain and slightly fearful tone.
"Oh, don't worry, little guy," his lips twisted into a faint smirk, "I'll make you feel real good!"
"But how?"
I prolonged our exchange. Dylan had responded, but I wasn't sure how long it would take him to conceal himself in the arborvitae.
The guy seemed rather nonplussed. "Do you even know what a blow job is?"
"Oh!" I brightened. "Yeah. That's fifty bucks."
"You're a real businessman, aren't you?" This time the smirk blossomed fully. "I'll blow you. You'll get fifty... bucks." The expression seemed a little unfamiliar on his lips
I held out my hand. He looked at me in disbelief for a moment, but I stood my ground. He rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet.
"Can we just get to business now?" he asked.
So I led him down the path, past the familiar clump of bushes, and toward the arborvitae.
He seemed surprised when we passed the bushes.
"This place is more private," I told him. I turned on the 'shy' and hoped that he might see the advantage of 'more private'.
And apparently he did.
I led the guy into the copse of arborvitae. There was a modest glade within. I didn't see Dylan anywhere inside, but I could sense him close nearby.
With a sigh, I reached down to open my fly. The guy shoved my hands aside.
"I like to unwrap my own presents," he informed me.
I let my hands drop to my sides and waited for the script to play out.
The guys fumbled with the button at my waist, then pulled down my zipper. And it was déjà vu. He slid his thumbs inside the waistband of my briefs and just pulled my jeans and briefs right to my ankles!
"Hey!" I feigned outrage.
"I just want to appreciate all of you. What's wrong with that? How about I give you an extra twenty to enjoy the view?" The guy kept his hands wrapped around my hips and held me firmly in place.
I pretended to resist.
"Come on, junior. Don't go all Boy Scout on me now. You know this is pay for play. And if I can't play, you won't get paid. Would an extra thirty make it worth your while?" I really couldn't have moved if I had wanted to.
"Fifty!" My brow knit in anger.
"Oh, you do drive a hard bargain," his laugh held wry amusement. "And I like your spunk. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it." Another wry snicker. "But you don't have any leverage in this negotiation."
"I'll scream," I threatened.
"And who's going to hear you?" His expression grew darker. "We're doing this my way. And you're only getting fifty dollars. Capisci?"
For a moment, I felt really intimidated. I wondered if the guy was part of the mob.
I decided to keep playing innocent. I widened my eyes and nodded my head vigorously.
"That's better."
He pulled my hoodie and my shirt over my head in one smooth motion. The hoodie's zipper raked the side of my face.
The guy inspected me for a moment. He spun me around and roughly tore my sneakers and socks from my feet. Then he finished removing my pants, gathered all my clothes, and threw them deeper into the glade.
He spun me back around.
"Now you earn your fee," he informed me.
I wondered if I could take this guy on my own. But he was Dylan's dinner. I wondered even harder where Dylan was.
It took a while for the guy to make me hard. When he had done this to Mike, I guess Mike had been a little excited. Me? I was actually scared.
But eventually the guy's powerful suction and eager groping all over my body had the effect that he desired. And after a while longer, my entire body began to respond.
His hands continued to invade every private place that belonged to me. He rubbed, he prodded, he pinched, he grasped. I felt like I was being run through a meat tenderizer.
After a while, I decided that I might as well find out what sort of dirtbag had purchased me. I wasn't going anywhere until he was done. After he was done, well, he wouldn't be going anywhere either. I was sure of that. But I wanted to make sure he didn't have any redeeming qualities to weigh in the balance in his favor.
He didn't. His sexual adventures with boys weren't horrific. Most were similar to what Mike, and now I, had endured. The guy just used boys for his own selfish pleasure, then moved on without looking back.
In the rest of his life, he was actually someone of substance. He was a trader on the Mercantile Exchange. There he did his best to work within the rules to screw everyone else over. That theme sounded very familiar to me in the moment.
He didn't have anyone close in his life. I realized that he was important enough to be missed. But he wasn't anyone who would still be missed in a week. It seemed like he was a 'safe' meal.
And where was Dylan, I wondered. Why wasn't he finishing the job?
And then I changed my mind. I couldn't help it. I was becoming more aroused. My body was getting closer to eruption.
The guy appeared to sense it. His hands focused on my butt, tenderizing those poor, put-upon cheeks very thoroughly. His mouth, which had been moving up and down my penis, suddenly thrust forward and swallowed my balls, too. I was just long enough to fill his mouth, and his throat was working convulsively on the head of my penis.
With sudden, crystal clear awareness, I realized that this would be a really bad moment for Dylan to bite his neck... or any other part of the guy, for that matter.
I'm sure I did some damage inside Dylan's head as I silently screamed 'Not yet!'
I barely had time to get over that panic when I remembered what I could expect next. It was shameful. It was even more shameful with Dylan watching.
I rose toward climax. The guy could feel me responding. His hands gripped my butt firmly, then separated the cheeks as he thrust his fingers deeper, then inside me. At first, the pain was intense.
Then? Well, I really couldn't help it. It was like he had pushed a button, triggered a firing pin, something... My hips started thrusting toward the guy's face. My balls were thrusting upward. My penis was trying to force itself halfway down his throat. And I let go.
He held me there for a while. He seemed to get some increased enjoyment out of working his fingers in and out of me, adding to my humiliation. The minute he released my penis from his mouth, my mind screamed, "Now!"
And Dylan suddenly just appeared behind the guy.
I saw the shock on the guy's face when Dylan latched onto his neck. I felt the agony rip through his entire body as the fangs sank in. Soon, I smelled the resignation as life gradually slipped from his body.
All the while his struggles grew weaker, his fingers inside me kept trying to grasp onto something. Life, maybe?
In and out. Wrapping around the ring of muscle at my entrance. Pushing firmly against something magic deep inside of me.
As the light dimmed in his eyes, I erupted again. His fingers kept pushing and prodding as I spray-painted his face.
It was really disturbing to realize that his life ended with his fingers deep inside me, pushing on that magic spot. And I had offered him one final gift to send him on the path to wherever it is that perverts go when they die.
I just knew that I'd be months processing that moment through in my mind every night as I prepared for sleep. And then later, in my dreams.
I returned to awareness to find Taryn cleaning me with a wet wipe. Apparently I had been standing in the way and Dylan hadn't been able to contain all of that first gout of blood.
Dylan was already cleaned up. He was just watching Taryn minister to me. He looked a bit shell-shocked.
That expression triggered a memory in me. I struggled to my feet, asked Taryn for another wet wipe, slipped it between my cheeks and scrubbed furiously at my backside.
Taryn had the decency to look away. I think Dylan was still in a state of shock.
Taryn whispered something to Dylan and gave him a gentle shove. He stumbled deeper into the glade. A minute later, he returned with my clothing.
I'm not a thief. I think it was just reflex, motivated by the last time the three of us had been in this copse of arborvitae, but I pulled the wallet from our victim's pocket.
There were still many hundreds of dollars inside. I took another fifty for my... inconvenience, then thrust the rest into Taryn's hands.
"That's for the lenses. Anything left over, you guys use it for yourselves or your crew."
Taryn nodded subtly in agreement. I got dressed. Harry and his happy hands were left for the slag hunters.
We walked back toward the heart of the city in silence, each of us immersed in our private thoughts.
I can't speak for Dylan or Taryn, but I couldn't erase from my mind that a man had died while still connected to me in such an intimate and invasive way.
He had been a predator. He did something to me that I didn't want, that I had resented.
But we had been bound together, it had made my body feel good, and he slipped from his life with the essence of my life pulsing out and covering his face, closing his eyes like the coins that the ancients had used to cover the eyes of their dead and to pay for their passage to the underworld.
There were some dark thoughts oozing around inside my head.
Once we were past the Loop, Taryn reminded me of the need to be unobtrusive. Especially as I was living alone, it was best to attract no attention from those who might be hostile. We slipped casually around the church like we were planning to continue past it, then slid in through a side door once we were out of view of any possible pursuers.
Dylan was entranced by the abandoned church. We slipped quietly up the length of the nave, past the transept, then stopped in the chancel, where the altar had once stood, the outline of the huge crucifix on the wall in front of us. I knelt before the cross and he joined me.
That surprised me. It never occurred to me that a vampire might feel some connection to the divine. I had assumed that I was still feeling some connection to my recently past life, or maybe I was just weird. But when I crossed myself, he followed suit.
I don't know what Dylan prayed for. I prayed for forgiveness for ending a human life, even if I was sure the man himself had been unworthy. I prayed for forgiveness for my depraved acts that evening. I prayed for Dylan and Taryn, my friends. And I prayed for Mike, asleep somewhere in the basement below us.
When I was finished, I pushed myself to my feet. Dylan stood next to me.
I prepared to climb down into the church basement and my lair. Taryn and Dylan prepared to depart into the night.
We didn't speak with words. We really didn't speak with coherent thoughts. But I shared some sense of my feelings with them, and I felt something similar back from them.
As Taryn turned away, Dylan leaned toward me. He murmured an apology, perhaps for what I was feeling. Then he kissed me softly on the cheek. When I turned to look at him, he was barely there.
Taryn had turned back to us. I caught the trace of a smile on his lips and in his eyes. He placed a gentle hand on Dylan's shoulder as they headed for the exit.
In my lair, I tried to sort out my thoughts about the evening. I really wasn't ready to go back to that final moment in the arborvitae. But I replayed most of the night back in my head.
Much of it was little different than the many nights I had spent working at the park, before I was turned. Some of the sensations were different now, more intense. But I wondered how much of that had to do with my new vampire body and how much was due to the fact that I had sexually matured just before crossing over. I wondered how I would have felt if I were still human, but with that new sexual power and energy finally at work inside me.
I was pleased with the evening's financial reward. With almost two hundred dollars, I had enough to repay Jeremy and still keep a few dollars for myself. As I thought about it, I saw no reason not to continue to keep working, at least a few nights a week. Even as a vampire, there were bound to be needs for money. And the more employers I came into contact with, the more worthy candidates I was certain to find to feed Dylan and me.
And that brought me to the end of the night. I was surprised to find in Dylan someone who shared at least some sense of my spiritual questing, however immature it might be in my case.
And that soft kiss on my cheek as he left? Emotionally — maybe even spiritually — I had grown to rely on those moments of tenderness and caring from Mike. In Dylan, it wasn't just the tender human connection. It felt like such an intimate gesture, coming from him, was even more meaningful. The expression on Taryn's face as he witnessed it seemed to confirm my impression.
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