by K X Douglas
Peter spent the better part of the next half hour scouring the man’s social media, trying to find as much information about him as possible. Luckily, his page was public, so he didn’t have to send a friend request in order to access it.
So, I just need to find this person and kill him. That sounds far easier than it probably is. I’ll have to be secretive about it if I want to avoid being caught.
Suddenly, Peter’s phone rang. He looked at the display and saw that it was a call from the local RCMP.
“Hello? Speaking. Yes, I did. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah, I’ll be around. Great, thank you.”
A few hours later, a tow truck showed up outside his dorm and dropped off his car. It was still damaged from the prison break, but it seemed to work.
Well, I’m glad that worked. Now I need to see if I can get it repaired. I’ll have to take it to a body shop soon.
***
Later that week, Peter arranged a time to meet Eric, Lachlan, and Silas at the local firing range. Since his car still worked reasonably well, he drove there, happy that he didn’t have to rely on taxis anymore. By the time he arrived, the three of them were already there.
“Hey, Peter,” Eric said.
“Hey,” he replied. “Um, Eric, Lachlan, this is Silas. He’s Serena’s brother. Silas, Eric, Lachlan.”
“Hello,” Silas said. “Peter wanted me to come along to give you guys some pointers?”
The range was small, with only enough room for a handful of people to fire at targets at a time. They didn’t bring their own guns, instead opting to rent the same models from the range. Each of them put on a set of earmuffs.
Silas went first in order to demonstrate proper firing technique. He was able to fire an entire magazine worth of bullets and hit the centre of the target with each shot.
“Rule number one; a gun is always loaded, even when it isn’t. Especially when it isn’t. Rule number two; only point the gun at something if you intend to destroy it. Rule number three; keep your finger off of the trigger until you have the target in your sights. Rule number four; always be conscious of your target as well as what is behind it. Peter, you didn’t end up shooting anything during our investigation over the weekend. I’d like to see what you can do.”
“Alright,” Peter replied.
Silas stepped aside and Peter took his place in the booth. He aimed at the target, which was a simple bullseye painted on plastic. His pistol, an exact copy of the one which he kept stowed inside his body, lacked anything beyond a simple iron sight. As a result, he had difficulty gauging where exactly he was aiming. He suppressed the urge to grow an eyestalk on his hand with which to look through the sight, and instead, pulled the trigger.
The bullet did not hit the bullseye, but it did hit the target. He adjusted his aim and fired again; the next bullet was much closer. He shot again and again until the magazine was empty, but he did not manage to hit the centre of the target.
Silas walked up to his side and examined the target.
“That’s not bad for a first-timer, if I’m gonna be honest,” he said. He then leaned in close to Peter’s ear and started whispering. “No cheating. You’re going to learn how to kill people the way we’ve been doing it for centuries.” He then turned to face the other two. “Eric, how ‘bout you go next?”
Peter walked out of the booth and Eric took his place. He watched him aim his gun and fire a couple of shots. Silas observed from a few feet behind; a vantage point that gave him line of sight to the target.
Once Eric emptied his magazine, he stepped aside and Lachlan walked up to the booth. He fired multiple times before Silas walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Dude, you’re too shaky. Try fixing your stance. Here, lemme show you a few pointers.”
Silas grabbed hold of various parts of Lachlan’s body and pushed them to adjust his stance: his shoulders, his arms, his hips. All the while, he looked uncomfortable, as if something was on his mind.
Shit…is he still preoccupied with what happened on the night of the concert? This is bad. If he can’t focus on what’s in front of him, he probably won’t be able to defend himself if shit hits the fan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Peter walked up to the two of them.
“Lachlan, dude, you alright?” he asked.
“I…yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Look, if you aren’t feeling up to it, just say so,” Silas said. “The last thing we want is for you to be spacing out when you have a gun. If there’s something that’s on your mind, it’s okay to take a break.”
Lachlan lowered his gun and took several deep breaths.
“I’m going to be okay,” he said. “I’m going to be okay. You don’t need to worry about me, Silas.”
He aimed at the target and fired a shot. Silas looked on and smiled.
“That’s a massive improvement, Lachlan. See if you can keep at it.”
Lachlan proceeded to fire the last two bullets in the magazine. Peter and Eric looked at the target and saw that all three of the bullets were very close to the bullseye.
“Wow, that’s awesome, dude!” Eric said.
“Yeah, you did better than either of us,” Peter said.
I should probably have another talk with him later.
***
Peter drove back to his dorm and, once he was certain that Eric and Lachlan had made it home, knocked on the door to their dorm.
Lachlan answered.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“We clearly need to talk, man. I could tell at the range that it’s still bothering you.”
Lachlan clenched his teeth and took a slow breath.
“Alright. But not here. Let’s go over to your place.”
They walked over to Peter’s dorm. Once the door was closed, Peter locked it, and they both sat on his bed.
“So, go ahead,” Peter said. “Spill.”
Lachlan hesitated for a moment. His face twisted in thought. It was as if he were struggling to find the right words.
“I’ve made it obvious that I like you. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so brazen about if I wasn’t shitfaced. I don’t know if I would have necessarily just kissed you like that. Shit, I’m really not good at this. I like you, Peter. I’ve liked you for awhile now, and I’ve decided that it doesn’t matter that you’re not human.”
“Lachlan…” Peter said. “You know, I’m technically in an open relationship,” he said. “I’m allowed to be intimate with other people.”
“Do…do you like me?”
“I’m not sure how to answer that question, because I’m still not sure how it’s supposed to feel when I ‘like’ someone. But I want to get to know you better.”
They both twitched, as if they wanted to make a move but each wanted the other to move first. This lasted for almost thirty seconds. Finally, Lachlan grabbed Peter’s face with both hands and pulled him in for a kiss.
It felt different compared to kissing a woman; though Lachlan’s beard was soft, probably due to being well-maintained, it still scratched Peter’s skin slightly. He smelled spicy from a mix of cologne and what was likely beard oil.
The kiss lasted for about five seconds before they broke apart. They stayed close and looked each other in the eyes.
“You have a lot of experience kissing?” Lachlan asked.
“Erm, not until recently?” Peter said. “I’ve been getting a lot lately, it seems. Dunno why.”
“Well, you’re pretty good, all things considered.”
“So…you still don’t remember anything that happened that night? The night of the concert?”
“Nope. Not a thing.”
“You, uh…you kind of broke down after you kissed me, dude. Went on about how you did it wrong because people were watching. I think it was all the vodka you drank.”
“Jesus…I don’t normally get like that when I’m drunk. I must have had a lot that night.”
“It was your first time performing in front of
a crowd, wasn’t it? You must have been stressed.”
“Yeah…so, uh, I know we went to the firing range to learn how to use a gun and everything, but I don’t know if I’m going to be of any help regardless. Shooting a human is a hell of a lot different from shooting a plastic target.”
“Eh, you’ll be fine. I’ll have a look through the books I got from Silas and teach you a spell or two. You can use that if for some reason you aren’t able to shoot. Remember, we just have to kill one person.”
“Have you killed someone before, Peter?”
“No, I haven’t. I’ve been in my fair share of fights, but I’ve always managed to either disable someone without permanently injuring them or just talking them down and removing their will to fight. I had to do the latter with Tadhg when he started killing people at the festival.”
“Well, I think I should head out for a bit. Remember, we’ve got midterms to study for, as well.”
Fuck.
Lachlan got up and left the dorm, leaving Peter alone.
I completely forgot about midterms. I haven’t studied for them at all! All of my tests are in the middle of the month, a couple of weeks before Halloween.
***
After spending most of the night studying for midterms and combing his way through the books that he received from Silas, Peter started searching the internet for local private investigators, hoping that he would be able to hire someone to help him track down Kevin Wilkinson. At the very least, he had what he thought was the person’s real name as well as a picture of him.
He managed to find a private investigator by the name of Brooke Johnston. Looking up her contact information, he started typing an email.
After sending the email, he returned to the grimoires and started placing post-its on relevant sections which contained spells that humans would be able to learn.
Alright, that should be good. I can drop these off at Lachlan and Eric’s place whenever.
Later that afternoon, after his classes for the day were finished and he returned to his dorm, someone knocked on his door. He quickly stuffed the three books under his mattress, taking note of the fact that it was now quite obvious that there was something there. Scrambling to the door, he opened it to see Heidi waiting for him.
“Hey,” she said. “Haven’t heard from you in a while, so I thought I’d come and check up on you. How’ve you been?”
“Um, alright,” Peter replied. “Been kind of busy between studying for midterms and preparing for Halloween.”
“God, that’s still so surreal. What’s your plan for that?”
“Well, I’ve got some new information. I think I know the identity of the person organizing it all. I have to kill him.”
Heidi went pale, and her jaw dropped as far as it could.
“Oh my god!”
“I know.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to do it?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never killed anyone before.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” She paused to sigh. “Is it alright if I come in?”
“Yeah, yeah. Come in.”
They both sat on Peter’s bed. Heidi squirmed, as if she were uncomfortable.
“Are you hiding stuff under your mattress?” she asked.
“Yeah. Is it really obvious? They’re books from Silas, like the one that caused me to have those dreams. I’m not sure where else to hide them. Don’t want to risk the RAs finding them when the time comes for dorm inspections.”
Heidi got off the bed and knelt on the floor. One by one, she pulled the books out from beneath the mattress.
“Hmmm, these are pretty big. I’m not sure where else you could hide them; you can’t exactly put them in a drawer in your desk. The top of the closet, maybe?”
She climbed back onto the bed.
“There that’s much better!”
Heidi leaned close and sniffed Peter’s neck before whispering into his ear.
“Mmm, I think I smell someone else on your clothes. You’ve been fooling around with other girls, haven’t you?”
Peter, meanwhile, could smell nothing besides her perfume.
“With Lachlan, actually.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, I’m jealous. I can’t believe I’m jealous of my boyfriend because he kissed another guy. Think he’d be up for a threesome?”
“Dunno about that. He’s gay.”
“Oh well, I guess you can have him all to yourself.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Leaning forward, she gently pushed him onto his back and landed on top of him.
“Just make sure you save some for me, alright?”
Peter couldn’t help but smile as he ran a hand through her hair. They kissed again, and their tongues collided with each other as Peter did his best to probe the depths of her throat.
“God, Peter, how do you do that?”
“Dunno. I guess I just have an unusually long tongue?”
I’ll have to tell her the truth at some point, but that point is not now.
She kissed him again, almost digging her fingernails into the back of his head.
“C’mon, let’s get you out of that hoodie,” she said as she reached down and started pulling it up his torso.
He pulled it over his head and tossed it onto the floor, leaving him in jeans and a tank top.
“You know, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you without it,” she said before locking lips with him again.
They quickly lost track of time. It wasn’t long before their shirts were flung onto the floor. As they explored each other’s bodies, Peter felt her hands gradually move lower down his body. His instincts told him where his hands should go, and soon he was well acquainted with her body.
A tingling sensation ran down his spine as their tongues continued their waltz. His conscious mind gave way to baser instincts, as if he were blindly following instructions that he had just discovered. The occasional moan escaped their lips.
Heidi reached down and unbuttoned his jeans. Soon, their pants were next to join the pile on the floor, and they were left in their undergarments.
“Say, there aren’t any spells in those books that could make this more interesting, are there?” she whispered.
Peter couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Sadly, no, there aren’t,” he said.
“Oh, well.”
Soon they found themselves biting at each other’s lips between kisses. Droplets of blood began to trickle down their chins.
“Shit, was that too much?” he asked.
“Did I say the safe word?”
He could only smile.
She sat up, unhooked her bra and threw it onto the floor.
“Mmm, do you have a condom?” she asked.
“No, I don’t have any on me.”
“That’s too bad,” she pouted. “I guess I can settle for third base today.”
I guess even if I told her that I’m technically sterile, she wouldn’t believe me.
***
Peter looked over to Heidi, who had fallen asleep in his arms. He had been pretending to sleep for the past several hours. Looking over to the clock on his nightstand, he saw that it was after midnight.
He decided to get out of bed and spend some time browsing the internet to keep himself busy. First, he checked the social media page for The Laughing Union; nothing new was posted since the last time he checked.
However, he had an email from Brooke in his inbox.
Peter’s eyes went wide when he saw what she would charge.
Shit. I can barely afford this. Oh well, I don’t exactly have a choice.
When early morning came, Heidi began to stir. Peter looked over to her, and he began to take in the surreality of the situation.
“Finally awake?”
Heidi sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
“How long have you been up?” she asked.
“Few hours. I’m a really light sleeper.”
“Holy shit, Peter.”
She walked over to the pile of clothes on the floor and began scavenging for hers.
It was then that Peter remembered that he had been naked for well over twelve hours now. He couldn’t help but blush.
Now dressed, Heidi walked over to the desk and watched the screen over Peter’s shoulder.
“You’re hiring a private investigator? Is this about what’s supposed to happen on Halloween?”
“Yeah. I’m trying to track down the person who’s supposedly in charge of the whole thing. If all goes well, I can track him down and kill him before Halloween, and we can avoid the whole thing.”
“How do you know that killing him will solve everything?”
Peter paused for a moment to consider his words.
“Would it make sense if I said that a time-travelling alien told me? It said that I had to kill ‘the leader of The Laughing Union’ to prevent what happens in my vision.”
“First aliens, then magic, now time travel? This shit’s getting ridiculous.”
“I know.”
“Well, I should be going. I have to get ready for classes.” She paused to kiss him on the lips. “Last night was wonderful; next time I’ll be sure to have condoms on me.”
She left the dorm, leaving Peter alone and naked. He sniffed himself and decided that it was best to shower.
