The First Cut: A Dark Psychological Thriller (Gushers Series Book 1)

by Chuck Buda

  Leah opened the front door and smiled at Aiden. She invited him in for a moment while she finished getting ready. He wondered what she needed to do to get ready for a hot tub meeting with bloodsucking and nudity on top of sacred, ancient rituals. Aiden chuckled under his breath when Leah’s mother came down the stairs.

  “Hello, Aiden. Off to the movies with the gang?”

  Aiden thought Leah’s mother was aware of them hanging out across the street at Jordyn’s. But just in case she wasn’t, he decided to play dumb so he wouldn’t be the cause of any problems.

  “Yup. Doing the usual.” He jammed his hands deep in his jean pockets while he rocked on his heels. His eyes implored Leah to come down the stairs and save him from the third degree which he wasn’t really getting.

  “Well, have fun. And keep an eye on my precious daughter so I don’t have to worry about her.” She traipsed off for the kitchen. Aiden saluted her in response. He thought to himself, he would keep both eyes on her all night. Especially if she got naked.

  Mr. Fisher rounded the corner from the den. He stutter-stepped when he saw Aiden standing in the foyer. Aiden smiled and waved hesitantly at Leah’s father. Right behind Mr. Fisher was Tommy, Leah’s younger brother. He was in middle school but he was big for his age. And tough. Aiden remembered Leah telling him how the other kids who played football hated to tackle Tommy because he was so strong. It sounded like he ran right over kids in his way with reckless abandon. There was even one story about him running a kick return all the way back for a touchdown with half the other team hanging off his shoulders. Aiden wondered what Tommy would be like once he hit puberty. He was glad he wouldn’t be around at that point.

  “What’s shaking, Aiden? Leah know you’re here?”

  “Yes, sir. She’s finishing up getting ready.” Aiden made excuses for Leah.

  Mr. Fisher joked how he would be waiting for a while because all the women of the house liked to keep the men waiting. Mrs. Fisher shouted from the kitchen, “I heard that.” Mr. Fisher shrugged and smiled before following the voice into the kitchen.

  Tommy stayed in place. He stared at Aiden without making a sound. Aiden smiled at Tommy. But Tommy didn’t flinch. Aiden started looking around the foyer, searching for anything to grab his attention or give him something to talk about. His mind secretly screamed to Leah, hoping his brain waves cut through the sheet rock and distance to speed Leah up. His eyes darted back to Tommy.

  Tommy was still there. Unmoved and staring at him.

  Aiden was about to say something stupid to break the silence when Leah came bouncing down the stairs. She ruffled Tommy’s hair and opened the front door. Aiden hustled through the door to escape the prison-like feeling of Tommy’s presence. Leah shouted she would be home at the usual time. Her parents shouted back to have fun and be careful. As Leah closed the front door behind her, Aiden saw Tommy give him the two fingers gesture Robert DeNiro used in Meet the Parents. His heart skipped a beat and then the door shut. Aiden was beside himself that the youngster was threatening him. And Aiden was scared by it.

  Leah held Aiden up as he almost ran down the sidewalk. “Hey, what’s the hurry?”

  “Uh, no hurry. Just wanted to get away...nothing.” Aiden almost told Leah he was running away from her little brother.

  Leah whisked a stray red hair which the breeze dragged across her nose. Her eyes surrounded Aiden’s heartbeat. “You sure we can do this tonight?”

  Aiden was at a loss for words. He had told Leah all the lies he could think of during the week on how tonight would be fine and he would protect her and there was no way the group would force them to do sexual acts they weren’t ready for. But now, he just nodded quietly.

  “Thanks for being my true friend. I don’t know how I would get through this if you weren’t there with me every step of the way.”

  Aiden placed his hand on Leah’s shoulder. “We have to remember these people are our friends. Have been since grammar school.” He bobbed his head on his shoulders. “The closest thing we have to friends, anyhow.”

  Leah laughed at his sarcasm.

  “I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you. If it gets too crazy, I will step up and leave. And I will bring you with me.” Aiden suddenly had a vision of himself leaving in protest and turning to take Leah’s hand to lead her away. But he finds her enjoying it and deciding to stay behind with the others. Leaving him alone, an outcast.

  Aiden gulped a lump in his throat. He looked down at Leah’s hand and placed his own in hers. Their fingers laced together and he gave her delicate hand a reassuring squeeze. Leah squeezed back and smiled at him. Aiden wanted to kiss her lips again. At that moment, in front of her house. But he thought better of it. No need to let her parents know there was something between them. Possibly.

  And Aiden felt like Tommy’s eyes were on him from somewhere behind a curtain. He shuddered and yanked Leah forward.

  Aiden didn’t know which side he wanted to run from first.

  Chapter 27

  When they passed into the back yard, Aiden and Leah let go of each other’s hands. Aiden didn’t want the others to know he and Leah were beginning to get closer. He was fairly certain Leah felt the same way. The yard was dark with only a few small red lights and a small circle of candles around the hot tub.

  Zoe and Jordyn sat on the porch, under the table umbrella. Both wore dark robes covering their bodies. Spencer and Todd stood off to the right, engaged in a quiet conversation. Ryan sat on the edge of the hot tub with his feet in the water. His back to the group, Aiden sensed Ryan wasn’t himself tonight. Ordinarily, Ryan would be the most boisterous one, flirting with the women and rough-housing with the guys. Well, at least Todd.

  Aiden glanced at his cell phone display. He thought they would have been some of the first to arrive but somehow everyone had been early. He had been so consumed with holding Leah’s hand as they crossed the street that he hadn’t even noticed whose cars were outside.

  Zoe licked her lips and grinned wickedly as she watched Aiden and Leah approach. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but Aiden thought Zoe’s face was paler than usual. It looked almost like she had painted her face in white, with dark circles around her eyes and lips. Her lips were painted black.

  “Shall we begin?” Zoe stood and sauntered to the hot tub. The group watched her slowly make her way along the brick path. Ryan jumped up and stepped out of the way of the hot tub. Zoe climbed the small steps to the edge of the hot tub. She kept her back to the group, then looked over her right shoulder with a devilish grin.

  The robe slid down her body and crumpled on the steps below. She was nude. Aiden swallowed hard as he stared at Zoe’s perfect ass and long legs. He felt the butterflies in his stomach take flight. The evening was beginning quickly, without any form of playfulness.

  Zoe stepped into the hot tub and turned to face the others. Her breasts stood firmly in the cool night air, her nipples puckered. Aiden glanced at her shaved vagina and then darted his eyes away with guilt. He wanted to check Leah’s expression but he was mesmerized by Zoe’s nudity. She beckoned a slow-moving finger at Spencer.

  Spencer approached the tub. He followed suit, dropping his robe and exposing his muscular buttocks. He wasn’t painted white tonight. But his face had weird symbols painted on it, covering his forehead and cheeks. It appeared to be painted in a blood red color. The symbol on his forehead was a large eye with sunshine or something radiating from it. One cheek showed a pentagram and the other cheek had a symbol Aiden wasn’t familiar with. It looked Egyptian or Sumerian. Spencer took a spot next to Zoe and faced the others. His nudity so different from Zoe’s smooth curves. His body was chiseled and defined.

  Zoe and Spencer both beckoned slow-moving fingers at Jordyn.

  Jordyn walked to the hot tub, a bit too fast, almost awkwardly which Aiden thought seemed uncharacteristic of her. She climbed the steps and dropped her robe just as quickly. Jordyn didn’t pause on the edge of the tub the way Spencer and Z
oe had. She just stepped into the hot tub and took her place next to Zoe. She faced the rest of the group on the porch. Her body was amazing. Aiden felt the saliva in his mouth dry up immediately. His penis swelled as he took in every inch of Jordyn’s body. Her breasts appeared even bigger than usual as they hung free over her shaved vagina. Aiden wondered when had everyone agreed to shave their bodies clean? Jordyn’s hips were as wide as her breasts, revealing a perfectly hour-glassed shape figure. Aiden couldn’t believe one of his friends could have the body of a grown woman. A seductive woman. But he knew she had because he had always checked her out. Even though they were friends, Aiden was still a teenager with a libido.

  The three in the tub beckoned to Ryan. Ryan seemed nervous. But he did as he was expected. He climbed the steps of the hot tub and removed his tank top and bathing shorts. His butt cheeks puckered as he clenched tight before submitting himself to the bubbly water below. Ryan got in the hot tub and stood next to Jordyn. His eyes absorbed every inch of her nudity as he stood naked to her left. His member became aroused the more he stared at Jordyn. Jordyn seemed to enjoy his pleasure. Zoe shot Ryan a serious look, forcing him to face the others outside the tub.

  The four beckoned to Todd. He waited in place for a few moments. Aiden thought Todd looked scared. It was a sight Aiden had never seen before. It shocked him that Todd could be afraid of anything. He was always so self-confident and strong. He never backed down from a fight. Yet, he appeared to shrink in place before the ones who wanted him to join them. Todd shuffled to the edge of the tub. He looked over his shoulder at Aiden and Leah before stepping out of his shorts and tee shirt. The muscles on his back and butt cheeks rippled as he made his way into the water next to Spencer. He faced Aiden and Leah. Aiden almost laughed when he noticed Todd’s penis looked so small and shriveled. He thought a big guy like Todd would be hung like a horse. But he was only average at best. And by the looks of things, not very aroused. Todd looked nervously at the others in the tub. He joined them in beckoning Aiden into the tub.

  Aiden suddenly had to piss. He felt scared and alone even as he stood next to Leah. He wished Leah had been next because he would have felt less inhibited if she were already naked. But his luck wasn’t going to make it easy on him. He walked too quickly to the tub and climbed the steps. He gulped as he looked again at the people just inches from him in the water. He took off his shirt and struggled to lower his shorts over his raging erection. It flopped against his stomach as he bent to pick up his shorts. He almost began to fold them neatly when he realized he was ruining the ceremony. As he stepped into the water, he caught everyone’s gaze on his penis. A few of the looks seemed surprised about his size. Aiden was cursed with an Irish penis. It wasn’t long but it made up in girth for the lack of length. He stood next to Ryan. He watched as everyone in the hot tub turned their attention to Leah.

  They all began calling Leah to the water, Aiden nervously casting glances at the others next to him. He stared at Leah. She hugged herself on the other side of the porch. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but Aiden thought it looked like Leah was crying.

  Chapter 28

  Aiden felt horrible about Leah. He had wanted to tell her she didn’t have to go through with it if she didn’t want to. But she had.

  Leah had been crying as they beckoned her to join in. She had hesitated for several minutes until Zoe lost her temper. Zoe told Leah to get in the tub or she would be banished from The First Cut. In the end, Leah caved to the peer pressure. She chose to strip off her clothes where she stood in the partial shadows. Then she approached the hot tub with her clothes bunched up in her arms, covering her breasts and vagina. When she climbed the steps, she reluctantly tossed her garments aside and entered the water. Aiden stared at Leah’s pale skin. His eyes roved her body, trying to remember every part of her so he could dream about her later. Her nipples were so light pink they almost faded into her pale skin. Her bush was not shaved like the other girls. It was trimmed neatly though, with a pleasing triangular shape which rose only a little above the folds of skin.

  Aiden’s cock felt like it would burst. He found it difficult to breathe because the excitement of all the naked bodies around him and the possibility of sex was too unbearable.

  Zoe indicated everyone should sit down in the water. Relieved, Aiden sunk his bottom into the hot bubbles. He was happy to finally hide his boner from the people he had known since he was little. He stole a glance at Leah. She no longer cried but her expression was blank, like a mall store mannequin. Aiden tried to will her to look his way but to no avail.

  Zoe began the meeting with a serious diatribe about the nature of the ceremony and how everyone needed to take things very seriously. She directed a veiled comment at Ryan about the nudity being part of the ritual, not pornographic content to be talked about at a later time. Ryan had understood it was directed at him. He kept his gaze down on the bubbles, avoiding further condemnation.

  When Zoe finished dictating her expectations, she nodded at Spencer who promptly stood. His member danced back and forth with his movements. Aiden didn’t want to look at it but it was so...out there and right before their faces. He admired Spencer’s manhood. Obviously, Spencer was a “shower,” not a “grower.” Although, Aiden was afraid to find out if Spencer was blessed with both attributes. He decided to focus his attention on Spencer’s abs instead.

  Spencer removed a pewter chalice he had stuffed in a bag next to the tub. He bent to do something with the chalice, exposing his muscled ass in everyone’s face. Aiden again averted his gaze so nobody could accuse him of being gay or anything. Spencer turned to the center of the tub, holding the chalice above his head. He whispered some sort of incantation in a language Aiden couldn’t decipher. It sounded ancient with lots of multiple consonant cluster sounds. To Aiden the words sounded like they ended in “gthtk” or some other strange syllable. He gave up trying to figure it out as he watched Spencer lower the chalice before his own face.

  Spencer tilted his head back and sipped from the chalice. He sat down in the water and passed the chalice to his left. Zoe grasped the container and did as Spencer had. She drank from it and passed it to her left. Ryan, still looking nervous, took the chalice and drank a sip quickly. His face scrunched up like a child who just ate a piece of broccoli. He passed the chalice to Jordyn like it was a hot potato. Jordyn accepted it and drank a sip. She began to make a similar face but caught herself. She licked her upper lip and passed the cup to Aiden.

  Aiden was scared to death by the reaction of Ryan and Jordyn. He thought they must have poured in some grain alcohol or something strong like that. Aiden knew it would taste awful and he hoped the buzz would kill whatever horrible taste it brought with it. He looked into the chalice as he brought it to his mouth. The liquid inside was dark and thick. It didn’t look anything like alcohol. The smell from the cup made him want to gag. It was metallic with a hint of bleach. He held his breath and tipped the chalice back. The warm fluid filled his mouth and it reminded him of when he had his wisdom teeth removed. An overpowering taste of blood. He swallowed it quickly and almost regurgitated it upon the people around him. Luckily, he held it down. Aiden tried to control his facial muscles so he wouldn’t reveal his revulsion. He wasn’t sure if he was successful. Aiden passed the cup to Leah on his left.

  As Leah took the chalice from him, Aiden realized he had drank blood. He worried he might get mad cow disease or some other disease from mishandling of meat products. He ran through the possible animals the blood had come from. Had they squeezed the blood out of a bunch of raw steaks? Or chickens? Or pork? He retched again and tried to keep his face lowered so nobody picked up on his battle with his gorge.

  Leah downed the blood without hesitation. Whatever reservations she had had about nudity weren’t present with the chalice. She passed the cup to Todd. Aiden tried to will Leah to look him in the eyes. Again, she remained stoic, blankly staring straight ahead. A thousand yard stare, he thought. He wondered if Leah was oka
y. He wanted desperately to ask her but wouldn’t dare in the presence of Zoe.

  Todd drank from the chalice and bunched up his face in disgust just as Ryan had. He made no attempt to hide his disdain for the flavor of the contents. Todd handed the chalice to Spencer who downed the remainder of the liquid. He shook the upturned chalice over his face as the last few drops took their sweet time dripping onto his tongue.

  Spencer rested the chalice on the side of the tub where he had originally stowed it. He faced Zoe, who grinned sheepishly back at him.

  Aiden felt something swirling around them in the tub. He couldn’t explain it but it felt as if another presence had joined them. Something unseen and silent. He thought Ryan sensed it too by the expression on his face. Aiden turned to Leah. She kept staring ahead. Aiden used his left hand under the water to tap Leah’s leg. The silky feel of her bare flesh against his fingertip made his loins stir once again.

  Leah turned to look Aiden in the eyes. What he saw surprised him.

  Staring back at Aiden was Leah. But Leah wasn’t the one Aiden saw next to him.

  Chapter 29

  Things got out of control in a hurry.

  Zoe laughed and climbed on top of Spencer. She straddled him and forced his cock inside herself. Zoe writhed up and down, grinding herself into Spencer’s hard abs. While she began fucking Spencer, the others glanced around at each other, half in shock and half in excitement at the prospect of shucking all morals and conventions aside. Jordyn giggled and pulled Ryan’s lap out of the water. She deep-throated his erection slowly at first and then more furiously. Ryan threw his head back in ecstasy as she worked him with her mouth and fist. Aiden and Leah looked at each other with trepidation.

  Jordyn grabbed Aiden’s wrist and pulled him up next to her. She swiveled her ass over so it rubbed against Aiden’s hard dick. He didn’t know what to do. He lost control and shoved his fat cock inside her and began pumping against her ass crack. The temptation had overwhelmed his sense of decency and he felt a burning sensation in his loins. He had to have Jordyn. Right now. He looked over at Leah with an apologetic expression. He had wanted to lose his virginity to Leah and instead he had fucked Jordyn’s incredible body. She was so wet inside and the feeling was unreal. Aiden filled her up with his seed in a matter of minutes. The hot, sticky mess oozed down his shaft and dripped into the tub. He fell over on Jordyn’s back, completely spent. Jordyn giggled with Ryan’s cock in her mouth, pleased she had summoned his cum so quickly.