by Joe Fowler
“I’m fine, Josh. How is school?” I had been through the same basic routine with each guest with mostly the same dialogue. I was being very careful not to touch them of course.
“Only one more month to graduation, I’m getting happier by the day.” I was saying this as I led her to the rest of the group. Before we could get there the doorbell rang again.
“Go ahead and get the door, Josh, I know the way.” I smiled a thank you and headed back to the door.
“Hi Mrs. Williams, how are you?” Crystal came in after her mom. Crystal was pretty, almost beautiful. She had long black hair and a pretty face but she didn’t wear makeup or do anything to show how nice her body was. We shared a look for a greeting.
“Always so polite. You seem like such a sweet boy.” Mrs. Williams reached up and pinched my cheek. Damn. The vision was of the same bonfire, just from a different angle. Yep, there was the evil dude again. I tried to smile and led her to the dining room.
“That should be everyone. Josh, will you entertain Crystal while we have our meeting?” Mom was standing at the head of the table and she seemed eager to call their meeting to order.
“Yes ma’am.” With a look, Crystal, who was as used to this as I was, followed me to my room.
Before I could say anything, Crystal grabbed my arm and asked, “You want to watch tv or get right to it?” The vision I got from her was her mother telling her to have sex with me, mostly. There was a brief flash of Sarah, Keith’s girlfriend, as well. She was waiting for an answer so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think. The problem was, this vision was raising more questions.
“Maybe some tv for a while, ok.” The way she looked at me she could tell something was wrong.
“Something is bothering you. You know you can talk to me right? We may not be dating but I still care about you.” She said this so sweetly. I really wanted to believe her but wasn’t sure if I could. I put my hand over hers and saw scenes the two of us had created here on this bed. Again Sarah’s image popped up, too. Just as I could feel the evil from the bonfire dude, I could feel her wanting me to trust her.
“I know your mother told you to sleep with me. I would really like to know why.” I said this in a rush before I could lose my nerve. Her eyes were wide and she looked worried.
“I don’t know why.” She hung her head and was wringing her hands together. “She told me years ago that while we were here I should try to have sex with you. She even told me to watch some porn if I didn’t know what to do. When I asked her why, she just said that one day I would understand. She told me not to tell anyone that she told me to do it. How did you find out? I thought only me and my mom knew.”
“I found this out the same way I found out you have feelings for Sarah Foster.” Her eyes got so big I thought they were going to pop.
“How do you know? I’ve never told a soul. I’m not even sure of it myself. Tell me how you know!” She dug her nails in my arm hard enough to draw blood.
“I will tell you, just please stop drilling holes in my arm.” She looked down and saw the blood from her nails and started apologizing.
“I’m so sorry. I just got too excited is all.” I looked around the room and saw the shirt from yesterday which already had blood stains. I grabbed it and used it to wipe the new blood away.
“I’m not sure how much I should tell you. The thing to remember is that everything stays between us. You can’t tell your friends and you absolutely can’t say anything to your mother.” I looked at her as sincerely as I could, trying to drive the point home.
“I swear I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me.” The look, or maybe it was need, in her eyes convinced me that she would hold her tongue.
“I see flashes and visions of things when I touch people.” I didn’t mention it of course, but I was becoming more intrigued by the lack of visions when I touched Keith and the two werewolves. “It is like a glimpse into someone’s mind. The only things I usually see are things they are trying to hide.”
“How are you doing it?”
“I don’t have a clue how. I wish I did, then maybe I could shut it off.”
“When did this start? Is it new or could you always do it?”
“Since yesterday. I am so glad Keith called wanting to skip. If I had went to school and had to face this without being prepared, I would have lost it.” It still amazed me how often Keith did exactly what was needed, even by accident.
“Does Keith know?” Maybe it was my imagination but she seemed to pale a little when she said Keith’s name.
“Yes. I needed help, that much was clear. Who could be better than him?”
“What does he think about what you can do?” She asked.
“Keith is as confused as I am. In the movies you have to be hit over the head or struck by lightning for this to happen. We have been researching on the internet but so much of what you see there is fake or just plain bullshit.” I wasn’t going to tell her about the cult our mothers were part of, or about the demon they summoned. No reason to worry her about that.
“What did you see about Sarah?” She looked down at her hands like she was ashamed of what I might have seen.
“Just glimpses, but each glimpse came with feelings attached. You want to be with her and you are confused by it.” She was nodding in agreement. “Have you had feelings about other girls or just Sarah?”
“Mostly her. Sometimes in the locker room some girl might catch my eye when we are changing, but Sarah is the only one I dream about. I don’t know Sarah at all, I just can’t take my eyes off her.” I let her words hang in the air a moment while I thought of how to phrase my next question.
“A minute ago, you paled when you said Keith’s name. Can you tell me why?”
“I am probably the only girl in school who isn’t in love with him. That doesn’t mean I don’t see how great of a person he is. For my dream of being with Sarah to come true, she would have to leave him. I don’t want to hurt him even if it meant getting what I want.” I startled her by laughing. She tried to pull away thinking I was laughing at her. I pulled her close and kissed her forehead to reassure her.
“I’m only laughing because of how absurdly good Keith is. Everyone’s golden boy who can do no wrong. So good that people would deny their hopes and dreams just to make sure they didn’t cause him pain.” She smiled and nestled in against my shoulder. I had been having sex with Crystal for over two years, but it wasn’t until that moment that I felt like I really knew her.
We spent the rest of that night just being friends. We talked and watched Buffy reruns. It was surprising how much good that did me. Toward the end of the night, I had an idea but wasn’t sure if it was a good one.
“What if we go out on a double date with Keith and Sarah? Keith has been pushing for me to ask someone out so we could double.”
“Really?” Her mouth opened, then shut, then opened again. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“It would give you the chance to get to know Sarah a little better. She acts a little flighty around her friends, but when you get her away from them she is a really sweet girl.”
“Then yes. Just let me know when. I guess since my mom is pushing me to have sex with you, she will be happy to let me go out with you.” She was as happy as I had ever seen her. The mention of her mother’s urging her to sleep with me, dimmed my excitement. Why would she tell her teenage daughter to have sex with me?
Mom’s merry band of demon worshippers finished their meeting and left. I was both exhausted and excited at the same time. I think the excitement was just the chance that I could use these visions for something good. I could be a really weird kind of superhero. Then I was reminded of the visions that I would have to suffer through at school. I spent the rest of the night dreading the next day.
Chapter 5
Keith’s excitement over our plans for a double date on Friday night was the only noteworthy event of Thursday. I was under the same kind of barrage of visions; a student sleeping
with a teacher, a kid killing the neighbor’s cat, etc. Mostly the day was boring and I wanted to go home.
Friday started with a bang, literally. I was jolted awake by a loud bang. I looked around but everything seemed normal. I got dressed and headed down the stairs. Mom was on her knees in the kitchen wiping up some jelly from a jar she had dropped. The jar had shattered when it landed sending glass and jelly all over the floor. I could see where Mom had been cut by the glass.
“Hey, you’ve got a cut. You need to take care of that, I will clean up.” She got up and touched my cheek with her good hand. I really wish she had not done that. This vision was of her and the demon together. No kid wants to think of their parents having sex. Seeing your mother getting it on with a demon is a truly awful sight.
“Such a good boy.” She put more emotions into that than I was used to seeing from her. Amazingly, even after the vision I just had, she stirred that longing every child has to receive their mother’s approval.
I was confused and conflicted as I started to clean. It was then that I remembered, the jar hitting the floor had been the huge bang that woke me up. Looking at it rationally, I should not have been able to hear the jar fall from my bedroom. Luckily, I was getting much better at dealing with weird shit. I immediately thought of every movie or tv show where someone was bitten by a werewolf. The hearing and smell were the first things to get all super powered. I took an experimental sniff. Wow! I smelled everything. It is hard to describe smelling everything. I could tell you everything that had been eaten and every person who had entered the room for the last two days. It was amazing.
I finished cleaning, ate breakfast, and got ready for school fairly quickly. I left early heading for Keith’s house. I resisted the urge to roll down the window and hang my head out. It was tempting though.
“You’re early. Wait just a minute and we can go.” Keith went back inside for a few moments before returning with some doughnuts and cokes. We ate in the car on the way to school.
“The werewolf stuff is starting to kick in. My hearing and sense of smell are through the roof now.”
“Really! Tell me what it’s like.” Keith sounded amused by it for some reason.
“Well, I can hear a cricket fart from fifty yards away. I’d probably smell it too.” It was crude but summed it up so he could understand. There was no way in hell I was telling him my mom had sex with a demon. I wasn’t as smart as Keith but I knew that vision could explain a lot. Keith knowing I had visions and was becoming a werewolf, bad enough. I hoped he never found out that I might be half demon.
“That actually sounds cool. Anything bad about it so far?”
“Nope. Quick healing and heightened senses I can deal with, even enjoy.” I decided to change the subject. “We still planning on dinner and a movie with the girls?”
“That’s the plan. Look, I hate to have to ask this but can you help me with the money. Mom and Dad are really struggling and can’t afford this.” He knew I would help. I probably had enough in my pocket to take care of the four of us now, not to mention the money my mom would give me if I asked.
“No problem. I’ll get money from my mom and give it to you without the girls knowing.” I had tried to give Keith extra money from time to time so he could buy some of the things he wanted, but he turned me down each time. His parents managed his necessities but had nothing left over. Keith lived without an X-Box. Poor bastard.
The school day passed quickly. The visions were unavoidable but becoming easier to handle. At lunch, I was shocked to find Sarah wanting to talk to me more than Keith. She was asking about Crystal. She seemed really glad that I was finally dating someone. I wonder what she would have thought if she knew I was only doing it to give her and Crystal a chance to know each other. The rest of my classes flew by.
“Just be yourself. You are sweet and pretty and fun. They will like you.” I had picked Crystal up for our date. We were going to meet Sarah at Keith’s house and go from there.
“I have never even spoken to either of them, you don’t know they will like me.”
“Well, I know you and I like you. If they don’t, then it’s their loss. Relax Crystal, everything will be fine.” I reached over and took her hand in mine. I could feel her nervousness through the visions of every embarrassing moment she had ever lived through. I really wish I could turn that shit off.
“Hey guys, this is Crystal.” Keith and Sarah were waiting in the driveway for us. I knew all of this was a longshot, but I really wanted this to go well for the girls.
“Hi Crystal, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Keith and this is Sarah.” I looked at Keith for a second and saw that stupid ‘I know something you don’t know’ smile on his face. “We better get going if we want to get a table.”
“How y’all want to do this?” My Dodge was the nicest car we had to choose from, but Challengers only have two doors. I knew how I wanted the seating arrangements to go but wasn’t sure if I should suggest it. Turns out Keith had the same idea.
“Boys in front, girls in back?” He looked at Sarah as he said this and gave her a smile. She didn’t seem to mind that idea, so we piled in.
The ride began in silence, but then Keith turned on the charm and had us laughing in no time. We did get a table without having to go on the waiting list. After we had ordered our food, the girls went to the restroom together. So far so good.
“Here, this should be plenty for y’all’s food and for the movie and popcorn.” I handed him the money I had brought for him.
“Thanks, Josh. I wish there was a way to repay you. You’ve been giving me money for years.” After Keith said this, I hesitated but I needed to see.
“How long have you known Sarah was gay?” I didn’t know if he would tell me the truth or not, but I wanted to see. He looked at me with a steady look as if he were deciding between a lie and the truth.
“A while now. I wanted her to see it for herself. It would be so much better for her in the long run if she admits it to herself and acts upon it without my help. Hey, does that mean that Crystal is gay too? Did you bring her as a setup for Sarah?”
“Well, technically Crystal is more bisexual than gay. But yes, she has a crush on Sarah.” I smiled, glad that he had been honest with me. I saw the girls coming back to the table and told him, “We’ll talk more about this later.”
The movie was boring and predictable. Too bad Joss Whedon couldn’t write and direct every movie. It was what came after the movie that added some excitement to our night.
“It wasn’t that bad. It just wasn’t the action movie you guys wanted to see.” Sarah said this over her shoulder with a smile. She and Crystal were walking a step or two ahead of me and Keith as we walked to the car.
I was opening my mouth to argue that point when I smelled something. A woodsy, musky smell hit me hard. It had the effect of smelling smoke in that it woke my brain up like the threat of fire would. Keith turned when I did, instantly on alert. Two men were walking up to us with a look of trouble on their faces.
“What seems to be the problem?” Keith asked in a voice that usually stopped people in their tracks. These two didn’t stop. When they got right up to us, the one in front of me shot his hand out like he was going to grab me. He only made it half way. Keith had caught his wrist and stopped the man’s hand instantly. The other man tried the same tactic on Keith, and again, Keith caught the wrist halfway. “I will ask you one more time. What is the problem?”
“I can smell wolf, but you ain’t normal.” This was the one who tried to grab me. They both seemed to be struggling against Keith’s grip but they weren’t doing themselves any good.
“Does the name Seth mean anything to you?” I asked this hoping these two were part of his pack.
“Of course, he’s our alpha.” Good.
“Call him and ask about Josh. He bit me a few days ago.” They looked shaken. The girls who had been a few steps ahead of us were just now realizing something was wrong. They came rushing back to where
we were. Keith let go of the men’s wrists but not before giving them a squeeze with a meaningful look at the girls. It looked like they understood not to say anything else about werewolves.
“Stay here for just a minute.” He backed away a few steps and called Seth. The conversation with Seth was brief, but with my new hearing I got every word, even Seth’s. I was pretty sure the girls couldn’t hear. Let’s just say that I was beginning to question what Keith could and could not do.
“What’s going on?” Crystal was scared, her voice was shaking. “Please say there isn’t going to be a fight.”
“There won’t be any fighting. We just needed to clear something up for these two gentlemen.” I put my arm around Crystal to comfort her. We watched him hang up and come back toward us.
“Seth said to let it go, but he also said to remind you to call him in the morning.” He said this with a relieved look toward me and a wary look at Keith.
“I was already planning on it. Believe me, I want to talk to him.” With that said, the men left.
We got back in the car and headed out. We had not decided how we would spend the last couple of hours, yet. Sarah and Keith had curfews to worry about. We ended up playing mini golf. The time flew by with good times had by everyone. The drive back to Keith’s house was a little sad since none of us wanted to go home.
“Call me tomorrow and let me know how it goes with Seth.” Keith said this quietly to me as the girls were saying their goodbyes to each other. There were brief hugs all around and all agreed we needed to do this again soon.
“Well? What did you think of Sarah? Was she like you had hoped?” I was asking Crystal as soon as we were back in my car.
“Even better. She is so sweet. The only problem is now I’m in love instead of just having a crush.” She laughed as she said that. I don’t know if I had ever been as happy for someone as I was for her. All those years of Keith manipulating the selfishness out of me had paid off. I had knowingly set up a girl I was having regular sex with, to meet someone I knew she would fall in love with.
