Billy Austin (A Gathering of Lovers Book 1)

by Glover, Dan

  "Oh, you... you must have had dozens of girlfriends while you were growing up, Billy. You're way too cute not to."

  “Well, I'd like to lie and say yes, I had lots of them. But to tell the truth, I don’t remember having any girlfriends growing up… especially any that looked like you. You're gorgeous, Allison. I wouldn’t worry about being small. I mean, they're perfect for you.”

  He blushed at being so familiar with her and though she didn’t say anything about it he knew that she noticed as a smile crept over her face and she put a hand on his arm. He noticed their glasses were empty. When he started to get up the room began to spin dangerously out of control.

  He saw the chair he had just vacated sitting in front of him like a beacon in the night that was quickly gathering around the periphery of his vision. Thinking it might be a good idea to sit back down he reached for it just as the rest of the lights went out.

  Chapter 18—The Forsaken

  She disgusted him.

  He detested the loathsome way she stared at his tool, the abject fear in her eyes, knowing that it would soon be inside of her in all its hideous glory.

  He thought the girl might well be Allison or at least her twin when he first passed her by. Of course they all reminded him of his sister, beautiful and untouchable, without a blemish. Soon though, he discovered the truth. The girls were merely dabbling around the edges of beauty. They had none of their own. They played with Oscuro's desires in ways that made him both love them and hate them simultaneously.

  "Why are you doing this to me?"

  He never answered them. Their laments were always the same. Why me? What did I do to you? You don't have to do this, you know.

  "You all say the same things."

  He liked it out here in the country where they could scream as loudly as they might, their agony only feeding the intense sense of power that surged like bolts of lightning through his every muscle.

  He had found the abandoned farmhouse on one of his meandering travels, looking for nothing in particular and yet for everything. Once in a while, like today, a pretty blonde jogger might appear way out here, alone, full of trust in the naïve belief in the goodness of her fellow man.

  He passed her by without slowing down so as not to fuel her suspicions. Once out of sigh around a bend he pulled into a field concealing the car behind a stand of mulberry trees that grew thick and lush that time of year.

  He could smell the berries thick and sultry crushing under his shoes as he made his way back out to the road. They made the bottoms of his shoes slick with slime so he took a minute to wipe them in the brown late July grass growing under the trees. It wouldn’t pay to slip and fall.

  "Oh! You scared me!"

  She had been thoroughly startled when Oscuro stepped out onto the road as if she was unsure what to do before a smile formed on her face.

  "Hello. What are you doing way out here?"

  "I'm killing you."

  Oscuro brandished the short wooden club in front of her just long enough so he could enjoy the spasm of realization passing over her face like a shadow running away into infinity. He had bought the miniature bat at a pawn shop in Reno. It had appealed to him when he hefted it in his hand.

  "It's weighted. They drill the center out and pour molten lead inside before sealing up the hole."

  Oscuro wondered momentarily if the man behind the counter sensed why he desired the bat but no one asked too many questions at those little out of the way places. The price was high and he didn’t bother to haggle.

  He swung the club in an arching plane aimed at the side of the jogger's head and connecting with the satisfying feel he once got from a well-hit softball back in the days he used to practice the sport with his sister.

  The blow knocked her off her feet as a whimper issued from her throat, a noise like a deer might make when the wolf was at its throat. Looking left and right to make sure they were quite alone he dragged her lithe frame into the weeds trusting her to stay unconscious long enough that he could retrieve the car. She didn’t betray him.

  She must have had a name, once, but that no longer mattered, if it ever mattered. Oscuro thought how she had lived her whole life in wait for him, for that singular sacrifice, that everything she did and everything she was led her inexorably to this time and place. Her every action had prepared her for this moment. Perhaps the time she lingered ten minutes longer than she should have talking to someone of no consequence, or when she left work an hour early after feigning illness. In the end the compilations of all those squandered opportunities led her into his snare.

  The house stank of mildew; the walls and ceilings were covered in a creeping black that sucked up any light trickling through the boarded windows. The table on which she laid felt damp to his touch when he brushed against it while tying her down, disgusting, covered with crawling insects that he hadn't bothered sweeping away.

  He saw right off that her body was too large, flabby too, nothing like Allison's. She was older than his sister with stretch marks caressing her body. He told himself it didn’t matter but it did. He had taken a chance by kidnapping her in broad daylight and for what? For faded glory and the hopes that a little running beside the road might restore her youth?

  Kirk was right; the methyl blue had turned his erection blue and then black. What's more, it had increased its length and girth rather than reducing it as they had hoped. He had taken to securing it to the side of his thigh with an elastic bandage.

  Now, as he dropped his pants to unwrap and reveal the appendage—a stunted demented third leg—she watched with eyes widening in horror and a scream boiling up out of her full-throated and hideous that sounded much like the cries he often fell asleep to back in the institution. It only served to feed the growing sense of purpose bubbling up from some deeply hidden primordial well of hate he had learned to disguise so well.

  "Please don't kill me."

  She was whimpered now as he moved closer, pressing his swollen monstrosity between her legs.

  "I'll do anything."

  "Yes, I know you will."

  He throttled her as he entered her, pumping her slowly at first and then more quickly as her head lolled and bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets. He felt something in her neck snap just as he orgasmed, calling out his sister's name as he always did: oh Allison! As he dressed he noticed her eyelids slowly flutter open, her eyeballs darting about the room recognizing the horror of her situation.

  "Oh my, we're not finished yet, are we?"

  Oscuro delighted in these little unexpected pleasures.

  Chapter 19—Old Friends and Family Secrets

  "I'm sorry about the other night, Allison."

  When Billy woke the next morning he discovered he was lying on the kitchen floor with a pillow under his head and a blanket over him. For a second he wondered why on earth he had gone to sleep there before the memory of the previous night came rushing back along with the headache.

  "It's okay, Billy. I can't count the times I've passed out like that. We drank a lot. Are you ready for another round?"

  Allison walked into his apartment the next night without bothering to knock. He liked that about her. And it was impossible to refuse her even though he was still hung over. Billy mutely wondered if he was falling in love with this girl so blonde and so beautiful that she took his breath away every time they were together.

  "The last thing I remember was you telling me about flashing your brother's friends at the swimming pool and how I was wishing I was there too."

  “You’re so sweet, Billy! I love that about you… so I ran away and hid in my room like a little girl after I did that. I peeked out the window and they were all giggling about it… I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I knew it was about me. Later that night my brother came to my room… I thought he was going to yell at me for doing what I did. I was drunk. I didn’t want to get in a confrontation with him.

  "I tried to think of a way to get him to leave. I asked him if he w
anted to see my breasts again. He didn’t answer but his eyes went to my chest as I started to unbutton my pajama top. I thought it might shock him into realizing just what he was doing to his own sister but it didn’t. It backfired.

  "Alex took advantage of my innocence. I never thought he would do that. While it was happening I blocked it out, almost like I had drunk too much and lost consciousness like you did last night. When it was over and I woke up he was standing over me with a sneer on his face that was hard for me to look at... it was as if he was thinking that he had conquered me.

  “But then his face turned red and he started crying how sorry he was… that we shouldn’t be doing what we were doing. But thinking back there was no feeling in his voice that he was really sorry. It sounded like he was just mouthing the words and weeping alligator tears. He was a monster even back then and I knew it.

  "I understand now that he was actually manipulating me but at the time I was drunk and young and excited. It was all so new to me. Even then I thought how he took advantage of me, though. We had always been close before that. But after that night he withdrew… he never came into my room again and when we were alone together he wouldn’t look me in the eyes.”

  “How old was he, Allison?”

  “Alex is two years older than me… so he would have been sixteen. Why?”

  “I think you're right. He did take advantage of you. You were his little sister. He should have been looking out for you, not molesting you.”

  “I guess he looked out for me in his own way. For a long time I thought I took advantage of him. When he was arrested for murdering a woman in Mississippi I began to realize what a creep my brother really was."

  Billy waited for her to go on even though he had a thousand questions popping into his mind, especially about how her parents could allow such a thing to happen right under their noses, and if she would mind opening her blouse and showing him those marvelously small breasts. Something told him that she'd do just that if he would but ask but he couldn’t seem to summon the courage.

  "Jesus Christ, Billy. I can't believe I'm telling you this. I've never opened up to anyone like I'm talking to you. I love the way you listen to me without interrupting to tell me how great you are and how much you want me. I think Yelena might be right; we are going to be great friends."

  "I think we are already, Allison; at least I feel closer to you than I have to anyone for a long time."

  He blushed as he thought of their intimate encounter in the kitchen a few nights ago and wondering if something like that might happen again.

  "You know I feel the same way, right, Billy?"

  “Tell me something... does Alex resemble you, Allison? I’m just trying to picture him in my mind…”

  “Oh yes… we look very much alike. People used to say that if I cut my hair off or if he grew his out we could be taken for twins.”

  “It's sort of weird the way Yelena spoke of him. The day she introduced us I brushed up against her and she started talking weird, you know, the way she does sometimes. She said something about him being dangerous… that I should watch out for your safety. Did you talk to her about him?”

  “I don’t think so, Billy, though it's possible. When I'm drinking I tend to prattle on and don’t remember what I said half time. She's right about one thing though. Alex is dangerous… he tried to kill me once… he’s the most dangerous person I’ve ever met. And anyone who is around me is in danger too.”

  Allison got up to make them two more drinks, adding ice but again with very little orange juice. When she sat back down her eyes seemed to have darkened. Billy wondered if she thought now that she had exposed herself by sharing such intimate knowledge with him that he would think less of her… or perhaps she was attempting to push him away. Her next words confirmed his suspicions.

  “So, tell me what you think of me now, Billy Austin… am I still sunshine?”

  “Absolutely… I think you are the warmest, most gorgeous girl I’ve ever met, Allison. There is nothing you can tell me that will change the feelings I have for you. And I think we all do things growing up that we’re not particularly proud of… that’s all part of learning.”

  “I used to do stuff like that all the time… I’d get drunk and go into shops and steal things that I had plenty of money to pay for… it was for the thrill of it, I guess.”

  “Did you ever get caught?”

  “Never… if I had it might have cured me.”

  “Cured you of what?”

  “Of being the way I am… you’ll find out. People always seem to like me at first but when they get to know me, they don’t care for me so much. I suppose that’s why I never had any friends… well, I shouldn’t say that. Alex was my best friend, my only friend. He taught me how to drink… how to steal booze from our parents and fill the bottles part way with water so that they never noticed it missing. He taught me to play softball. I was a star player at my high school… I even earned an athletic scholarship. But then there was a terrible accident…”

  “What happened, Allison?”

  He loved the way this beautiful woman was baring her soul to him and he longed to open his life up to her as well. But now wasn’t the time. Hopefully they’d have many more nights like this. Tonight was Allison’s time.

  “I mean, if it’s too private I understand.”

  “No… it’s just sort of hard to talk about; the pain is too raw yet. But I think it will do me good to tell someone. I’ve never talked about it before now. Thanks for being such a good listener, Billy. I don’t think I ever met anyone like you before. Most guys just try to impress me with how wonderful they are… they never actually listen.

  "Anyway… my brother Alex went off to college out east… to Yale. It was my dad’s alma mater. I know Alex felt pushed into going there. He wanted to go to college somewhere closer to home. He had a lot of problems adjusting to being away from home… half way through his first semester he called home… my parents were gone as usual… so he talked to me telling me about how he'd be coming home for a few weeks to get his head together.

  “He told me he'd call my parents and let them know too, but he never did. I should have suspected something was wrong with him… well… I did suspect something was wrong but I didn’t understand how wrong. He had told me to expect him on a Saturday but he never showed up. Two days later a police detective from Mississippi called the house wanting to speak to my parents. They were gone on business. The only thing the detective would tell me was that Alex had been arrested.

  “I was sure drugs were behind his arrest. His Dean from Yale had written a letter to my parents saying that some of the professors at college suspected Alex of drug abuse. I overheard my parents talking about it late one night when they thought I was asleep. I came downstairs to get something to drink… I heard them in the kitchen so I eavesdropped. I knew that being arrested for possession of drugs would put Alex in a hard spot but I also knew my dad had connections that would help get Alex off, so it made me better thinking he'd been arrested for drug possession.

  “But Alex hadn’t been arrested for drugs… they said he killed a woman he met on a bus on his way home. Somehow they ended up at her apartment. They even claimed he tortured her before strangling her.”

  “Jesus, that had to be horrible.”

  Billy cradled her in his arms as a tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Where is he now? Did he go to prison?”

  “Oh no… my dad used his considerable influence to get him transferred to an asylum for the criminally insane about an hour from our home. It’s called Didi Hearsh. The chief resident there knew my dad and my mom… he used to come to their parties all the time. His name is Harry Myers… he's a pervert. He was always staring at me like I didn’t have any clothes on. I hated the man. He helped get Alex transferred into his care. After two years he said Alex was starting to make so much progress that he should be allowed to go home on a weekend furlough.

  "I had this terrible feeling tha
t if Alex came home with us all hell would break loose. He wasn’t well. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. But the doctor was adamant. He said how furloughs were a critical part of his treatment plan and Alex needed the time with his family to come to grips with what he had done.

  “I went along to visit Alex with my dad that day… my dad made me go with him every time he went… I hated that place… I used to dream of being locked in one of the rooms and waking to find Harry Myers hovering over me peeling off my clothes. When I tried to move I'd discover I was paralyzed… when I tried to scream I could only make a croaking noise. I think that’s when I started sleeping with the lights on… I still hate sleeping at night… I’m afraid of the dark… if I have a nightmare I’d rather wake up to daylight than awaken in the dead of night.

  “After Harry Myers discharged Alex to my dad’s care for the weekend we headed home. Things were okay for the first twenty minutes or so but then Alex had a manic episode in the car. He seemed so jealous of my fiancé; I couldn’t understand why. First he talked about the day I showed off to him and his friends by the pool… Tony my fiancé was at the pool that day too. And then Alex started telling my dad and my fiancé about how he had taken liberties with me later that night. I was mortified. I didn’t know what to say to get him to stop talking about me like that. He kept looking at me with a weird glint in his eyes, as if Alex thought I was enjoying his rant.

  “Before I could figure out what to say to get Alex to stop my dad got really angry and hit him. Alex looked shocked at first and then he reached out and grabbed the steering wheel causing the car to roll over and crash. My dad was killed. So was my fiancé. I was injured badly enough that I could never play softball again… I was lucky though… a passerby saw the accident and broke a window to pull me out of the car just before it exploded. I don’t even know the man’s name… he had dark skin… I always supposed he might have been an illegal immigrant and didn’t want to stick around for the police to show up.”