“What, are you already laying down the house rules?” he joked, trying to break the tense mood as he climbed into the car.
Quinn smiled at him, and then reached her hand over to the passenger seat and rubbed his thigh. It excited Zack slightly, and he felt a little guilty. He had been one of the survivors. He had made it out alive, and some of the other students hadn’t.
More than that, as they drove back to Quinn’s house, Zack began to feel a strange responsibility dawn on him. He was one of the few people in the town with an unbiased perspective on what had just happened. He had been there, and watched the shootings be carried out around him. He had fought off the killer.
Zack wasn’t sure, what, if anything, he could do to help in the aftermath. But he knew that he had to do something. His first day in Easthaven had been far from anything he ever could have imagined, and he knew that it was only the beginning.
CHAPTER 7
The morning after the shooting was cold when it came. Zack slowly pulled himself out of bed and began getting dressed. The night before had been quiet. Quinn hadn’t said much on the drive back to her place, and dinner had been a tense, worried affair.
He threw on some jeans, a t-shirt, and a zip up sweatshirt, and then headed downstairs. Quinn was making breakfast, and had turned the TV in the living room up loud enough for her to hear it in the kitchen.
“They still haven’t found them yet,” said Quinn. Zack’s host mom was wearing her usual tight, low cut evening gown. She didn’t have a bra on underneath, either, and Zack could make out the outline of her breasts and nipples.
“What?” asked Zack. The smell of bacon and eggs was flooding into his nostrils, and he began to realize just how hungry he was. Neither of them had eaten very much the previous night.
“The killer,” she said. “They haven’t brought him in, and they don’t have many leads.”
Zack walked over and sat down at the kitchen table. One of the academic administrators had called the previous night to let him know that school would be canceled for the rest of the week. He had no real plan for how to spend the time, and now it seemed like it wouldn’t even be safe on the street.
“I’m sure they will soon enough,” he replied. “Don’t worry Quinn, the police will do their job.”
“I hope your faith in them is well placed,” she said. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be snarky. It’s just that we have a tiny police force. I can’t imagine how they are going to manage to…”
“It’s okay, Quinn,” said Zack. He walked over behind his host mom at the stove and rubbed her shoulders encouragingly. She sighed, and leaned her head back onto his chest.
“Thanks Zack,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Quinn turned away from the food and pulled him into a tight embrace. He responded in like, feeling her soft breasts pushing up against his chest and exciting his lower half. He could feel her hot breath on his neck, and his cock pulsed upwards, growing into a hard rod in between his legs.
“Do you have any plans for today?” whispered Quinn. Neither of them loosened the embrace, and Zack felt one of his host mom’s legs push forward, wrapping around his side and grinding her stomach into his hardness.
“I just figured I’d head around the town,” he replied. “Maybe meet up with the one friend I made yesterday.”
“That sounds okay,” said Quinn. “Just be careful.”
She seemed to be rubbing herself against him, in a way that seemed to contrast the rest of her motherly demeanor. It felt good, and Zack didn’t want to stop her. He wanted to lie down with her, and push his hard cock even further into her, until they had completely crossed over the line.
Finally, Quinn stepped back, and turned towards the food. She was humming something, and Zack stepped back and over to the kitchen table.
“The food will be ready in a second, sweetie,” she said. “Be sure to eat as much as you can, because I made a ton.”
Quinn went off to take a shower, leaving Zack to eat his breakfast alone. After finishing it, he got up and headed outside, ready to get a feel for the town.
It was chilly out, and he found himself being glad for the sweatshirt he had thrown on. Easthaven was rather calm in the morning, and it was only amplified by the fear in the air from the events of the previous day, along with the school being closed.
He made his way towards Main Street. There was a general store, a grocery store, several small specialty retailers, and a couple of gas stations. A few fast food chains had set up franchises, but overall most of the restaurants seemed to be local operations.
He cut across the street and headed towards the park. It had ample space, more than what he was used to in the city. In the middle was a large, marble monument of a man riding a horse, and next to it was a small pond.
Easthaven had the feel of a town that people grew up in, and never left. Quinn had lived there for her entire life, and the same went for many others. It was a dynamic that seemed incredibly foreign to Zack. All of the citizens saw the same people, day in and day out, with very little changing from year to year.
It wasn’t until he cut across the park and headed for the small playground on the other side that he saw her. Alex was leaning against a tree, holding her phone in one hand and pushing hair out of her face with the other. She was wearing a tight sweater, and Zack felt himself checking her out as he walked over.
“Hey Alex!” he said. “What’s up?”
She looked at him and smiled, slipping her phone into her pocket.
“Oh, nothing, just watching a video,” she replied. “I’m still a little out of sorts…you know, from yesterday.”
“I think everyone is,” said Zack. “The fact that we’re the two newest people in the town probably only makes it even harder for us.”
Alex pushed off the tree and walked over to him. She pulled her hand out of her pocket and looped it through Zack’s arm. She felt warm against his side, and he couldn’t help but notice that one of her nicely sized breasts was making contact with his elbow.
“Are you doing anything right now?” she asked.
He shook his head and smiled.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s find somewhere to hang out.”
CHAPTER 8
The two of them walked across the park, headed away from the busier section of it and more towards the secluded, forested back. Neither of them said much, not at first. For Zack, it felt good to be around someone like her. She was someone that managed to feel familiar even though they had only just met, and like him, she was outsider when it came to the events taking place.
“I was surprised that you found me,” said Alex. “In the hall, I mean. I didn’t think anyone was going to notice that I had left, being one of the new kids and all.”
“Well, the gun shots put me into a very…different sort of mindset,” replied Zack. “I’m not usually much of a risk taker. Or more appropriately, there aren’t a lot of real risks that I actually get a chance to take.”
“But you took one for me,” said Alex. “Or at least, that’s what it seemed like…from my perspective.”
Zack gave her a soft smile.
“That’s what it was,” he said. “I was really glad that I found you, in one piece,”
The back of the park led to the wooded outskirts of town, and the two of them followed a foot worn path down into it. Alex pulled closer to him, and for a second, brought her head down onto his shoulder.
“I feel like…things here aren’t going to settle down. At least not right away.” Alex spoke almost as if directing her words into his chest, into his core. Almost as if she were bouncing her thoughts off him, and seeing which of them would come back.
“I don’t think so, either,” said Zack. “I think we arrived at a very strange time in this little island town’s life. But it’s like anything, you know?”
The two of them stopped in front of two large trees whose branches almost seemed to be coupled together. Alex looked at him, listeni
“We might not have the same perspective as the people who live here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help with what comes next. We aren’t going to be quite as wounded by it, not like the rest of them. That leaves us with a responsibility in a way.”
“You have a very interesting mind, Zack,” said Alex, smiling at him.
“Thanks for noticing,” he replied.
Their eyes met for a moment, and almost as if willed by an outside force, he felt himself leaning in and kissing her. Alex closed her eyes, and Zack felt her arms wrap around him as their lips met.
For some reason, his mind flashed back to Quinn, and the kitchen earlier that morning. Her felt his cock begin to harden in his pants. Alex pushed her tongue into his mouth and he responded, but the thoughts persisted.
She began to run her hand down his chest, down his stomach, until it finally came to rest on his cock. He broke from the kiss and pulled back momentarily. Alex had a hungry look in her eyes, but there was something behind it. She wanted him, all of him, and all of what he had to offer. And something about how honest and blatantly she was wearing her desire caused him to boil with lust for her.
Zack pushed her against a tree and began kissing her hungrily. She pulled his sweatshirt off, and then her own, and laid them down on the ground to make a carpet for them. And they dropped down onto it, both pawing at each other’s pants, eager to put their teenage hormones to good use.
Alex undid Zack’s belt and slid his pants down, not completely, but just enough to let his hard cock slip out through the flap of his boxers. From where they were in the trees, there was little chance of anyone catching them, but it still seemed incredibly illicit for a public location.
Zack was kissing Alex’s neck and feeling up her breasts through her sweater. She let out a little squeal as he groped at them, and an almost primal attraction began to boil within him. She was so young, and so perfect. He had to claim her and take her for his own, right there and right then.
He slid down her pants along with her panties, and began pushing his cock against her entrance. She was already wet, but her pussy seemed almost impossibly tight. He leaned in, feeling the head of his cock undergoing a squeeze that was almost painful.
“I…I haven’t done this, many times before,” she whispered to him.
Zack caressed her cheek gently, wondering in his head if she had actually ever done this before.
“It’s alright, I’ll take it slow,” he replied.
That was what he intended to do, at least at first. But as he slowly began to sink his hard rod into Alex’s warm and wet cunt, it was almost as if his hips were moving of their own volition. She felt amazing, and the tightness of her womanhood almost seemed to suck his cock further in with every stroke.
“Oh, oh god!” cried Alex. She was gripping Zack’s shoulders tightly, and had buried her face into his shoulder.
As Zack got going at a good pace, it almost felt as though her cunt was contracting even more around his member. He had to push with more force, and soon felt his hips banging into Alex’s, pushing her against the ground and getting a nice angle for stimulation.
It didn’t take long before she lost herself to the pleasure. She clenched her eyes closed tightly and leaned her head into him, and then almost seemed to melt back as a powerful orgasm overtook her. Zack kept thrusting, his own desire pushing him until he was also on the brink.
“Please,” said Alex. “I, I’m not on the pill…”
It was an aptly timed warning, as Zack’s cock began exploding just a second after she had uttered it. The first stream shot deep inside her, but he had the sense to pull out after that, splashing his seed onto the crumpled fall leaves and dirt.
The two of them spent a minute breathing and recovering. Alex cuddled up, resting her head on Zack’s chest. He massaged her head and hair softly, wondering just what would become of them, and the town.
“Zack,” said Alex, after several minutes lost to their afterglow.
“Yeah?”
“I want you to keep protecting me.” Alex sat up and looked deep into his eyes. “I have a bad feeling about what’s going on here in Easthaven, and what’s going to happen. But I want you…I want you to be there for me. If it’s not too much trouble for you, I mean…”
He smiled.
“It’s not Alex,” he said. “I’m yours.”
CHAPTER 9
Alex’s phone got a text, and after looking at it for a moment, she turned towards Zack and sighed.
“My host family needs me to do some chores,” she said. “Can we meet up later?”
“Sure,” replied Zack.
Alex smiled at him, and then after dusting off her sweater and throwing It on, she said goodbye and left. Zack stayed in the forest for a while, watching leaves fall from the upper levels of the trees and thinking about the situation.
Everything was moving so fast. He had expected things to be different in Easthaven, but not like this. It was almost hard for him to understand where his place was in it, and what he should do next.
He eventually pulled himself up, and put his sweatshirt back on. It was mid-morning, and though the sun was out and shining, there was still a slight chill in the air. As he made his way back towards the park, he heard voices, and laughter.
A group of teenagers, some he recognized from the school, were gathered in the center of the grass. One of them was in the middle of a circle, obviously the target of the harassment of the rest of them.
“Come on, let it go!” said one of the ones on the outside. He was pulling another boy off the one in the middle, trying to break up whatever was going on.
“Fuck off, Logan!” yelled the attacking teenager, who was almost incoherent with rage. “The bastard knows something,”
The angry student threw a hard punch into the boy’s stomach, and he doubled over with pain. Another student pushed him hard, and the boy was flat on the ground.
“He was up and about during the shooting,” cried the attacker. “And the cops didn’t even give him a second look afterwards!”
“Is that my fault?” said the boy, sitting up slightly and spitting blood on to the grass. “Or the incompetent police? Fuck, if I was the killer, I’d be off scot free, now wouldn’t I?”
The student standing over him was wearing a varsity jacket, and roughly grabbed the other boy by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up into the air. He was covered in cuts and bruises, but his face still seemed defiant, and almost gleeful, as though he was enjoying the encounter as much as the instigators.
There was something about the scene that just didn’t sit well with Zack. He walked over from the outskirts of the forest, forcing his feet forward at first, and then becoming more confident as he committed to what he was about to do.
“It doesn’t sound like you guys have any proof,” he said. Zack was about twenty feet away, and the group turned to him in almost disbelief.
“Fuck off, this doesn’t involve you,” said the leader. “In fact, I’ve never fucking seen you before in my life, so why don’t you take off, bud?”
“Let him go,” said Zack. “If you really think he was the shooter, go bring it to the police.”
The tall jock glared at him. He put the boy down, and started to walk over. Zack met his gaze without faltering. Before anything could happen, the other boy, the one who had tried to step in before, grabbed the jock’s shoulder.
“Listen man,” he said, speaking to Zack. “The only thing keeping this fucker from being the prime suspect is the lack of evidence. Even if he didn’t do it, he might have seen something, and instead of being anti-social and not saying anything, he could at least let the police know what he saw.”
Zack thought back to his own experience in the school. He had seen the shooter, hell, he had attacked him. And so far, the police hadn’t come knocking at his door, and he hadn’t said anything, either. He began to feel a certain amount of solidarity for the youth on the ground.
“Look, just leave it be,” said Zack. “Go home to your families and mourn, or something. The town doesn’t need more violence right now.”
The group seemed to hear his words, at least enough to start away towards the other end of the park. The tall jock glared at Zack, as if to say that it wasn’t over, and then spat on the grass next to the downtrodden boy as he went by. Zack watched them go, and then ran over to the kid and helped him up.
“Jeez man,” he said. “How exactly did that encounter get started?”
“Those assholes have always had it out for me,” he replied. “Thanks. My name’s Dave.”
“Zack,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
CHAPTER 10
“I’ve never seen you from around school before,” said Dave. The two of them had moved over to some park benches, and were milling about on them.
“Yesterday was literally my first day,” said Zack.
“Wow, some luck, huh?” joked Dave.
“Yeah, some luck…” he said.
Dave reached down to the ground and picked up a leaf. He sat back against the bench and began twirling it in his fingers.
“I didn’t have anything to do with it,” he said. “I know what those guys were saying, and maybe they have a point. I was in the library when it happened. I always show up to home room first.”
Zack almost felt the hairs on his back begin to prickle up as he listened to Dave’s alibi. There was no way that it was true. He had been in the library and…he had seen the killer there.
“How long were you in the library for?” asked Zack. “I mean, maybe that’s why they are suspicious.”
“Well yeah, I know,” he said. “I got out of there when I heard shots. The nearest hallway door was completely unlocked and open.”
Zack wasn’t entirely sure what to make of his new friend’s story, but he let it drop. He hopped off the park bench and crossed his arms.
“It does seem a little weird that the police haven’t been questioning people,” said Zack. “Do you think they already have a suspect?”
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