Urban Decay: Darkly Mine Season One

by Leona Windwalker

  “Yeah, man, thanks,” Henry said, sliding into a seat across the table. “I’m Henry.”

  “And I’m Rusty,” Rusty said, taking the empty seat next to Henry while I sat my tray down in front of the vacant spot next to Shannon.

  “And you already know me,” I quipped. Shannon gave me a weak smile in response, but I noticed his eyes roved round the room nervously.

  “I understand you had the misfortune to meet my asshole cousin,” Henry said.

  “Huh?” Shannon asked, his gaze now flicking towards Henry, a look of incomprehension on his face.

  “My cousin, Roy. I think you’ve met him? Which is something I’d not wish on my worst enemy, I might add,” Henry replied.

  The color drained from Shannon’s face. “He’s your cousin?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. He’s an asshat of the first order. I told my dad he was harassing other students here, making threats of violence. He’s been a problem child his entire life, so my father was sad to hear this, but not surprised. He was pissed off enough to call my uncle, so you and anyone else he’s been bothering shouldn’t have to worry any longer.”

  “You told him!” Shannon turned accusing eyes towards me.

  “I told you I’d take care of the issue, and I meant it.” I cupped his cheek. “Take it easy; none of us are going to let anyone harm you.”

  As his eyes fluttered shut, I realized just what I’d done. I snatched my hand back as if he’d scalded me. This was a line I could not cross again. My next lover needed to be Family, preferably one who was made or would be, and in high social standing within their branch.

  He opened his eyes. “Okay,” he whispered.

  “Good,” I said, turning back to face my food. I picked up my fork and stabbed it into my meatloaf. My stomach was all tied up in knots from the feelings swirling through me. I’m sure the food was delicious, but I couldn’t taste it. I ended up giving Henry my portion of strudel, to his delight.

  “You’re the best, dude!” he gushed, digging in.

  Shannon stood up. “See you tomorrow, around four-thirty?”

  “Four-thirty’s good.”

  ”Great! I’ll see if I can reserve the same study room for that time, then. I’ll stop by and fill in the signup sheet. If we have to get a different room, I’ll let you know.”

  “Hang on, let me give you my number. That way, you can text me.” I pulled my phone out. He looked happy about this, probably happier than he should be. I cursed myself for my slip up earlier. I should never have touched him. He took out his phone, as did Henry and Rusty. We all exchanged numbers.

  “If my cousin bothers you again, text me A.S. A. P. and let me know,” Henry told him.

  “Okay,” Shannon said, but he said it in a way that sounded as if he was just trying to appease us.

  “Seriously, dude, don’t mess about, call or text one of the guys or me if he does,” Henry insisted. “Roy’s bonkers. He used to bully me as a kid. He’s a nasty piece of work.”

  Shannon took a deep breath, then nodded. “Okay, I will,” he said, his voice now firm. “You’re right. I shouldn’t take risks.”

  “No, you shouldn’t,” I agreed.

  “We should text each other and meet for breakfast,” Rusty said.

  “Why would we text and then meet?” I asked.

  “Text to say we’re on our way and for us to decide where we’re going to eat, duh,” Rusty said. “What if we wanted to go to the diner for pancakes?”

  “My meals are included in my bursary,” Shannon said.

  “Oh,” Rusty looked crestfallen, then brightened. “Yeah, but we could treat you.”

  “I could do it to thank you for helping me,” I said.

  “Maybe,” Shannon replied, his lips twitching. “But, I’ll text you to let you know if we got the study room we wanted or not.” He picked up his tray and took it to the collection window.

  “You done eating yet?” Rusty asked Henry, sounding exasperated.

  Henry gazed down at his plate sadly. “Yeah. I just ate the last bite. No more strudel until next week.” He stood up. “Wanna go to the library with me? We could work on our reports for biochem.”

  It was a good idea. The library would have reference materials we could use to flesh out our papers.

  “I’m in,” I said, as Henry’s phone rang.

  Rusty took his tray, balancing it on top of his own after I took the glasses and placed them on mine.

  “Dad?” Henry asked as he walked alongside us to the tray return, a look of concern on his face. His face brightened suddenly as he broke into a wide smile. “That’s great! Well, not for him. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear this. Hm? Oh, I was just having dinner with my friends. Yeah, Rusty and two other guys, River Montgomery, and his math tutor. Yes, that’s right, he’s the heir. No, nothing special. We were just about to go to the library and do some studying. Okay, then, talk to you later, Dad.” He slid his phone back into his pocket.

  “What was all that about?” Rusty asked him, turning away after depositing the trays. I did the same and followed along.

  “My dad was calling to say that my uncle was most alarmed at what was happening. He’s called the dean and withdrawn his financial support. He also asked why he wasn’t informed that my cousin had ties to the people who had the accidents,” Henry said, lowering his voice.”And then called my cousin to inform him he was to pack tonight to return home. A car is coming to collect him to take him to the airport. My Uncle bought him an e-ticket so his boarding pass will be on his phone. The Family is going to question him about the accidents, too. If they come back to him, we want to know so we can be prepared for any repercussions that may crop up down along the line.”

  “But if the Sponsor did feed on them, he might be protected,” Rusty pointed out.

  “Especially if he made a deal.” There, I’d said it aloud, admitted to what I feared most.

  “You mean, to be Made?” Henry asked. “If he were, surely the Old One would have told Father and my dad and uncle and the others would know about it.”

  “Unless the Old One is also up to something,” Rusty said darkly.

  None of us had anything to say further after that. If that were true, it was way above our paygrade, and I, for one, did not want to know unless it meant asshat Roy was free to come after us for our part in his disgrace. We hurried to our rooms and fetched our books, then headed to the library.

  My phone pinged with a message.

  Shannon: Got the same room. See you @4:30

  I texted him a thumbs up in reply. Regardless of what the deal was with Roy, we all had to pass our classes. I worked for two hours, then reluctantly said my goodbyes.

  “I have to go to a meeting,” I said when they expressed their wishes for me to remain.

  “Oh,” Rusty said. “A meeting, yeah?”

  “Exactly. I have t go grab a change of clothes, so I gotta dash.”

  “Be careful,” Henry said. “Don’t forget about breakfast.”

  “I won’t,” I promised, taking my leave “I’ll text you in the morning to let you know I’m up.”

  “Okay. See ya!” Henry answered, quickly going back to the book he was taking notes from.

  “Bye,” Rusty said, “Better you than me.”

  I was a terrible friend. I wished it was one of them and not me.

  10

  Nine p.m. came far too soon that night. As I trudged my reluctant way to the boardwalk, I contemplated how I had gotten here. It all came down to one crappy decision followed by another one. The lure of easy money led me to accept work as a lookout for some very shady people. That, in turn, led me having to run away when the cops showed up en masse for a bust during one of my employer’s transactions. I ended up trying to hide in the wrong place, seeing something I shouldn’t have. That should have been the end of the line, save for Father taking an unexpected shine to me. He asked me if I would do anything, anything at all to live. I was stupid enough to say yes, never on
ce dreaming of what I was agreeing to.

  Now, here I was, walking in blind to another situation, albeit one I already had a fair inkling involved something monstrous in every sense of the word. The boardwalk was empty, the venues all shutting at eight-thirty as students had a nine o’clock curfew. I could see staff inside the places, finishing the closing procedures. Not a single one looked up from what they were doing to look outside the window. Then again, even if they did, they probably knew better than to say a single word about anyone or anything they’d seen. That’s probably how Roy got away with what he did if he was guilty of what we thought he was.

  “Glad you could make it,” came Professor Lambert’s voice.

  “I knew he would, even without you mentioning I would be here.”

  My head came out of the clouds with a loud thump as I came back down to Earth with a sense of hyperawareness. Father was here, my Father, the one who had sent me here.

  “Hello, Father,” I said, bowing my head in respect.

  “See? He’s a good kid. Knows his place,” Father continued. He stepped towards me, and I held back my instinctive flinch at the coldness of his touch as he lifted my chin to gaze into my eyes. He looked at me assessingly. “You’re still afraid of me,” he acknowledged with a sigh. He dropped his hand. “If I frighten you, you will be terrified of who you’re about to meet. Just try not to piss yourself. He really hates that.”

  I swallowed as icy fear raced down my spine. My fears were about to be realized, it seemed. I was about to suffer through an introduction to the Old One who lived here. I only wished I knew quite why I needed to meet him. Whatever the reason was, it had to be important or Father wouldn’t be here.

  “Right, let’s get this show on the road then,” the professor said. “Kline’s waiting for us.”

  Who the hell was Kline? I wondered as I followed them down the steps. I soon had my question answered, as he was standing next to the door of the storage building under the boardwalk when we reached it.

  “So this is the young man chosen to take the Montgomery heir’s place,” the sharp-eyed man said. “When you called to inform me that a replacement River would be attending, I was surprised. I thought we’d have to wait for another child to be born and grow up.”

  It clicked then; this was the dean. I was getting a crash course on the movers and shakers here at Hilliard, by all accounts.

  “He’s more mature than he looks and knows how the Family works from his place down on the ground. He just needs the credentials and contacts as well as a bit of polish,” Father replied, looking irked. I shivered, both from the crisp autumn air blowing in from across the water as well as from fear. I hoped that the dean didn’t piss off Father enough to become his dinner. Or the Old Ones for that matter. The vacuum it would leave here at the school would complicate things even further.

  The dean knocked on the wooden door. A piece of the peeling white paint fell off as he did, falling onto the sand.

  “Should have some students come to repaint the place,” Father said.

  The dean snorted. “They’re scared shitless of the place.” The sounds of someone or something stirring inside could be heard. “Oh good, he’s awake.” He fitted a key into the lock, turning it.

  “It would serve as an excellent punishment,” Professor Lambert said, with an unpleasant smile.

  The dean pushed the door open. I wasn’t surprised to hear the rusty hinges squeaking in protest. So far, this outing hit every cliche possible. Unfortunately, that didn’t make experiencing it any less hair raising, especially when I caught a glimpse of a bulky shape lurking in a dark corner. He reached up, pulling a string that dangled from the ceiling. A bare bulb flared to life, casting harsh white light into the space, revealing the shape of what appeared to be a man sat hunched over in the corner, a blanket around him. He blinked at us slowly, his flat, obsidian eyes so much like Father’s yet somehow colder and more detached. The man cocked his head at us, then stood.

  “This is mine?” he hissed out, his voice sounding rough and unused.

  “This is my progeny,” Father said. “He’s come to ascend.”

  Ascend?

  The man beckoned for me to move closer. I took a reluctant couple of steps closer. I noticed then that his hair wasn’t as short as I’d initially thought. It was wet, the brown darkened to a near black, and slicked back. If he’d worn clothes, it would have skimmed his shoulder blades. As it was, he was nude beneath the blanket.

  “Taaaaaasttte,” he rasped.

  “I’m afraid that for you to join the higher ranks, you’ll have to let him in. He’ll be able to communicate with you no matter where you are that way, as will I and the others in our sphere. To do that, you have to ascend, and for that, he has to taste you.”

  “He’s going to feed from me?” I asked, worried in case he liked me enough to suck me dry.

  “In a manner of speaking. This is more…intimate. A form of...bonding.”

  The man licked his lips while perusing my frame. Oh. I had to have sex with him.

  “You mean he’s going to fuck me.”

  “Among other things, yes.” Father reached his hand out. “Hand me your bag. You can retrieve it in the morning from the bookshop.”

  I handed it over and moved to begin disrobing, eager to get this over with. Father placed his hand on my arm to stop me.

  “Just your shoes and socks. He likes to be the one taking them off.”

  Okay, then, if that’s the way he wanted it. This was basically a business transaction, and he was the one paying me. Because that’s what it boiled down to. He did this, I got that — quid pro quo. I slipped off my shoes and socks and handed them to Father, who slipped them into the bag. The professor gave me a sardonic smile as he turned to leave then. Father didn’t say anything or bother to even look at me. He simply left.

  “The door will be locked and no one will come to your aid should you change your mind and scream. I strongly advise you not to do that as it tends to excite his more primal nature.”

  “Got it. Don’t panic or risk becoming chow.”

  The dean shook his head at that and went out the door. I heard him turn the key in the lock.

  “Coooome,” the man hissed.

  I turned back around to face him once more. He sat on the floor, the blanket now held open. He wanted me to climb into his arms. Well, in for a penny already, so why not? I obliged, settling myself on his lap. He slid his hands up under my shirt, one hand caressing my abs while the other felt my pecs. His skin turned out to be clammy, with a soft yet rubbery feel to it. My nipples pebbled as he teased them, the reaction partly from the pinch and roll he was working my left nipple with and partly from the chill of his flesh. Thankfully, it began to warm up as it leeched heat from my body.

  The hand on my abs moved lower, his fingers fumbling at the button on my jeans. Getting it undone, he lowered my zip and pushed his hand inside. He fondled me for several more moments before suddenly jerking his hands free and shoving me down onto the floor. I threw my hands forward to catch myself, wincing as I scraped my palm on a rough bit of floorboard. I felt something then, something hard like a blade. I looked over my shoulder and wished I hadn’t as I saw his forearms had morphed into clawed appendages, one of which he was using to cut my jeans and underwear free of me. My shirt followed next and I shivered as he ran a clawed tip down my spine, goosebumps popping up along my arms making the fine hairs stand on end. I looked away, deciding to just feel and not see. If it didn’t hurt me, it’d be fine, I decided. And if it did hurt, it wouldn’t unMake me, as that wasn’t the deal. He was adding to my Making, not undoing it. That was the transaction I had just agreed to, after all.

  A scrabbling noise now as the claw withdrew, then something long, thin, and muscular wrapped itself around my waist. I closed my eyes, unwilling to look at the tentacle that had just made itself known. Another probed around my anus and I forced myself to relax as it stroked against my hole, probing. I would have probably ma
naged to keep my eyes shut had I not felt cold water seep against my fingers. I opened them, panic threatening to rise as I saw pools of water were trickling in under the door.

  “It’ssss okayyy,” the Old One breathed into my ear. “You willll not drowwwwwnnn.”

  My eyes flicked up to the walls. I could spot watermarks going at least halfway up, so I wasn’t convinced. The room was empty save for the light, myself and the Old One, and his now discarded blanket. `He laughed as he took note of where I was looking. I turned to look at him annoyance, forgetting why I hadn’t wanted to see. His head was still humanoid, but his torso wasn’t. Forget having only eight arms; he had at least a dozen, some with small suckers, some without. Those without oozed a shiny liquid from large pores. A large penis jutted from his lower center mass. It was massive and I prayed he didn’t tear me apart with it.

  His mouth moved into an approximation of a grin.

  “Isss okayyy. Firssst, play,” he said in that oddly sibilant voice of his., waving one of the oozing limbs. “Thhhhennn ffffuck.” He moved the greasy-looking tentacle to my hole, and I felt the slickness of the fluid.

  Thank fuck for that. He made his own monster lube. I felt the tip slide in and wriggle its way up my passage. I gasped at the strange feeling. Another limb moved to my cock. It was one of the oiled up ones and it curled up its narrow end around my cock. It squeezed and tugged, then slid up and down, teasing me. I saw stars as the one in my ass tapped my happy place. Two more wound around my chest, suckers attaching themselves to nipples. I felt like I’d fallen into one of those Japanese comics Michael had been so fond of. Hentai, my mind supplied. Yes, I was in a tentacle sex piece of real-life hentai, I thought, as my brain tried to rationalize what was happening. More slid around my waist, tightening as they suddenly yanked me backwards against his torso.

  I cried out in shock at the suddenness, clamping my mouth shut as the dean’s earlier warning sprang to mind. It was a good thing, too, as next, he flung us sideways and began to roll us towards the door. Only he didn’t. He stopped a couple of feet in front of it, then changed direction. My panicked gaze saw then that there was a trapdoor set into the floor. He reached yet another tentacle out, using it to push the door open. It opened downwards. My mind recognized that this was most likely where he swam up to, pulling the door open to get inside. More water flooded in, but it didn’t matter. He dropped us down, then began swimming, taking us further out. My lungs burned as I ran out of air. Then he breached the surface again, and I dragged in a lungful of sweet air, quickly clamping my mouth closed and closing my eyes, my arms pinned to my side so I couldn’t pinch my nostrils shut, as he took us back down.