Arcane Dropout 4

by Edmund Hughes

  He let his hands fall from the notebook, running them across her butt instead. He pulled Susie against his erection, which felt like it had always been there, waiting for her. He kissed her cheek, and then her lips, and then her neck, grinding into her with the heated urgency of a man too far gone to be denied.

  It was intense, it was wrong. It was inescapable. He had to have her.

  “Oh…” moaned Susie. She kissed him voraciously, gripping the front of his shirt like a posturing high school bully. “Please. Tell me that you’re still protected. From the consequences.”

  Eldon nodded, groping one of her soft, wonderfully large breasts. He had a condom in his wallet that Bryan had given him after he’d mentioned Laura’s flirting.

  They kissed with frenzied passion, tongues meeting, hands roaming. Susie pressed herself against him, twisting to grind her crotch and then her butt against his hard cock. It was as though they were quickly rehearsing different sexual positions through their clothing.

  The rehearsal did not last long. They shifted onto the exam table, half crawling and half rolling onto it, touching each other with increasing lewdness. There was a brief power struggle as they both vied for positioning and control, both trying to lead the way into hot, sweaty, sexual bliss.

  Eldon compromised, delirious with lust, as Susie set her hands on his chest and pushed him flat onto his back. He ran his hands through her pink hair. She kissed and licked his index finger, rushing to unzip his pants and free his cock.

  He had little to no understanding of how they’d arrived at that point, but he knew where he wanted her mouth to be, and he really wanted to know what it would feel like. He cupped the cheek of the woman who was supposed to be attending to his mental health and pulled her face downward, introducing her to a more urgent concern.

  Susie gave the tip of his cock a kiss. She let out a low moan and then stuck her tongue out like a teasing child briefly before rubbing it along his entire length. It was bliss. It was too much for him, and paradoxically, not nearly enough.

  He wasn’t rough, but he did take control, firmly gripping the back of Susie’s head and urging her mouth downward onto his rod. Her hair was still done up in a bun, and it was easy to thread his fingers into it and use them to direct. She sucked enthusiastically, almost greedily, her lips sliding further down with each bob.

  Eldon pulled her blouse and bra down, freeing her breasts and almost groaning in satisfaction at how perfect they were. Susie took it as a cue and slid forward, engulfing his cock within the cleft of her boobs. She wrapped one arm around them, as though she was trying to shield her nipples from view and just happened to have ensnared his shaft within them along the way.

  “This is… my special treatment,” she said in a wistful voice.

  “I think it’s just what I need.”

  He lifted his hips while pulling her head down again. Susie pleasured the tip of his cock with her lips and tongue while continuing to sandwich his shaft between her glorious mounds. She let out tiny moans, increasing in pitch, bobbing her head faster and faster.

  It was too much. Eldon dug his fingers into the paper of the exam table as he came. The first splash of his seed hit her face, stretching on a lewd diagonal from cheek to chin. The rest was sucked out of him.

  CHAPTER 5

  An awkward tension hung on the air in the following minutes. Eldon made himself decent, as did Dr. Susie, and he returned to his seat on the wooden bench, at a loss for what to say. It took Susie a bit longer to recover, and she used the conveniently located exam room sink to wash her face.

  “That was nice,” she said, smiling. “Though certainly not expected.”

  Eldon chuckled and raised his eyebrows in agreement. “So about those notes you were going to show me…”

  “Ha! Nice try. Those will be staying with me, and I’m afraid you’ll have to see another doctor for your treatment. It’s a bit of a conflict of interest for you to stay with me.”

  She smiled, but it seemed sad and a little forced.

  “Can you just answer my question?” asked Eldon. “Do you know anything about Primhaven University? Am I really crazy? And, ah, why the hell did we just do that?”

  “Well, that’s simple enough,” said Susie. “When a man and a woman are deeply attracted to each other and left alone, occasionally the two of them will—”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Susie sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I really am. Believe me, if I’d known earlier about your… injury, I would have arranged to come see you. To help in any way that I could. I still can, and I still will; I just can’t give you the answers you’re seeking.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Eldon. “Wait, hold on. You knew me before my injury?”

  Susie blushed, which did interesting things to her pale, beautiful face. “I feel so silly right now. Getting caught up over a man your age. Just a boy, really. How ridiculous, especially for… someone like me.”

  “Answer me.” Eldon leaned forward, feeling desperate. He would beg, if he had to, to know the truth. “Please.”

  “Can I see your phone?”

  He furrowed his brow, hesitating for only a moment before handing it to her. She tapped on the screen for a minute before giving it back.

  “You have my number, and I sent myself a text from your phone so I have yours, as well,” said Susie. “I can’t answer your questions, but if you ever want to spend a night in decadent sexual bliss, don’t hesitate to call.”

  Eldon stared at her, totally dumbfounded. Dr. Susie blew him a kiss, opened the exam room door, and left without saying another word. A nurse arrived shortly after to escort him back to the lobby, where he found yet another surprise waiting for him.

  The ghost girl was sitting in the waiting area. She watched him with a smug, self-satisfied smile on her face, hands neatly folded in her lap. Eldon felt a stab of annoyance at that. Not simply at the fact that she’d tracked him down and ambushed him just after his appointment, but at how pleased with herself she seemed.

  “Sir?” asked the receptionist. “Would you like to schedule another appointment?”

  He decided to do his best to ignore the ghost, sensing that it would get under her skin more than anything else.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  The receptionist helped him schedule the date and time, the process taking longer due to the fact that Dr. Susie had transferred his case. With a new appointment card in hand, he made his way down the hall and into the elevator. The ghost girl followed, looking at him expectantly as the doors slid closed.

  “You’re welcome,” she said.

  Eldon remained silent. The elevator stopped at the next floor, but nobody else got on.

  “She’s a succubus,” said the girl. “She would have enthralled you, possibly even killed you, if not for me.”

  Ridiculous. Eldon shook his head slightly, trying to forget the flash of Dr. Susie as a demon that he’d briefly seen. Just another hallucination. Though the way she’d come onto him, so suddenly and intensely, had been a little weird. More than a little weird.

  “I hope you realize how lucky you are,” said the girl in a slightly peevish voice. “You can’t even understand how much danger you would have been in if you’d met with her before I’d found you. A simple ‘thank you’ would be appropriate, even appreciated.”

  Eldon rolled his eyes. It wasn’t a response, per se, but he saw her treat it like one. She flashed a small smile and crossed her arms.

  “You’re so stubborn,” she said. “You’ve always been stubborn, most of the time in a good way. Stubborn about the people you care about and solving problems. It’s why I don’t blame you for reacting the way you did to me yesterday. My approach was totally wrong. To you, it must have seemed like you were encountering an evil specter in the wild.”

  Eldon’s resolve finally cracked. “Isn’t that what you’re trying to convince me that you are?”

  “What? No! I’m a ghost. There�
�s a difference. You’re the one who explained it to me.”

  The elevator reached the ground floor, and he shifted back to ignoring her as he made his way past a variety of patients and doctors. The ghost girl hurried after him, jogging to keep up with her short legs.

  “I won’t force you to listen,” she said. “I know you wouldn’t if I tried to. I’ll wait for you, instead, assuming you want to hear what I have to say. I have the answers you’re looking for, Lee. I really do.”

  Eldon tried to keep far enough ahead of her to hide his expression as he stepped out onto the street. He didn’t slow down, and the ghost girl briefly disappeared from the corner of his vision. He stopped, and she quickly caught up.

  “There’s a fair down by the waterfront,” she said. “I’ll wait for you there tonight. I’ll tell you everything I can if you show up.”

  “Can’t you just tell me now?” he asked. He saw her smile and felt another flash of annoyance. She’d hooked him line and sinker, and she clearly knew it.

  “Meet me there just after sundown,” she said. “It’ll be more fun this way. For now, the one thing you do desperately need to know is that you don’t have a brother.”

  “…What?”

  “The guy you’re sharing an apartment with, Ryan or whoever, is a liar liar, pants on fire. You do have a sister named Zoe, but she’s a bit of a wayward soul. Probably worried sick about you if she’s heard about what’s happened, though.”

  “Never mind, I’m firmly back in the realm of doubting my own sanity.”

  “Just show up tonight and you’ll understand,” she said.

  She leaned forward before he could stop her or move out of the way and planted a kiss on his cheek. It was cold and tingly, like the touch of a popsicle against bare skin. The girl hopped back, grinning at his reaction, and turned to go.

  “Hold on.” He chewed his lip, unsure of why he was stopping her. “What’s your name?”

  It was a simple question, one that affected her far more than he’d expected it to. She blinked several times in quick succession, just a bit too fast. Her hand went to her chest, fingers curling shut, and she gave him a hollow smile that would have cost an actress her job.

  “I think I want you to remember that on your own, if it’s okay,” she said.

  She left, and he let her go this time. He headed back to his apartment, doing his best to convince himself that he wouldn’t show up at the waterfront to meet the ghost girl who didn’t exist.

  CHAPTER 6

  Bryan wasn’t home, which was no surprise to Eldon. It was, in fact, exactly what he’d been hoping for. He made a quick lunch to give himself time to consider the situation, and then he decided to invade his brother’s privacy.

  He’d been in Bryan’s room a couple of times since leaving the hospital. Nothing about it had stood out to him, but now, on closer inspection, that fact seemed like an anomaly of its own. The room’s décor was simple and spartan, a dresser with neatly folded clothes, an unmade bed, and a mostly empty closet.

  There were few actual possessions outside of practical objects. A phone charger, a box of allergy medication, duct tape, that sort of thing was all there. There were no family photos, no evidence that would have disproved the ghost girl’s claim about whether Eldon’s brother was truly his brother.

  It had the look and feel of a hotel room or a seasonal rental. It was suspicious, but at the same time, it fit with how often Bryan was actually home. It wasn’t that unusual, and Eldon could think of several reasonable explanations. Perhaps Bryan wasn’t working all the time, as he claimed to be. It was possible that he had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend, even. Someone who he basically lived with but couldn’t talk about or introduce to Eldon, because…

  Eldon’s phone rang. He felt a flutter of excitement at the brief, fleeting thought that it might be Dr. Susie. It was Tim instead, and he picked up on the third ring.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “You know what’s up,” said Tim. “It’s Friday. We’re doing the whole song and dance around who’s bringing what to the party. Alex and Max are bringing beer, so that’s already covered. Laura is baking some brownies, but we could probably still use more food…”

  “I’m not sure I can make it.”

  “Bullshit. You already said you’d be there. I’m not letting you skip this, Eldon. It’s going to be one to remember.”

  “Something came up. It’s complicated.”

  “Come on,” said Tim. “It can’t be more complicated than the issues that half of the cast are dealing with. Hell, Ben was in the hospital until this morning for his new treatment, and he’s still agreed to be the host. Come on, man.”

  Eldon sighed. “Fine. I can at least stop by.”

  “We all appreciate it,” said Tim. “Especially Laura.”

  “Would you stop with that, already?”

  “She goes on and on about you,” said Tim. “It’s my solemn duty as a friend to you both to lubricate your potential union.”

  “That’s quite the phrasing,” said Eldon. “Look, I’m in the middle of something right now. I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Remember, bring food.”

  He hung up the phone, and the sound of footsteps outside the room slid into his awareness in place of the conversation. The door swung open, and Bryan leaned against the doorway, arching an eyebrow.

  “Looking for something?” he asked.

  Eldon cringed internally, scrambling for an excuse. “Sorry. I lost my phone charger, thought I’d borrow yours.”

  “You’re more than welcome to it.” Bryan grinned and walked over to his bed, pulling it out of the wall. “Plans for tonight? Don’t tell me you’re staying in again.”

  “No, I’m headed to a party, actually,” he said. “For my theater group. Say, you haven’t really done that much decorating in here, have you?”

  “Yeah, I know,” said Bryan. “I should really fill the room out. It’s just tough when I’m traveling so much for work. I have a place in Portland, too. I told you that, didn’t I?”

  “No, I don’t think you did.”

  “I definitely did. But it was probably, you know, before the accident.”

  Bryan looked genuinely upset. It was hard for Eldon to square the expression on his face along with what the ghost had told him, that his brother wasn’t really his brother at all. He was a damn good actor, if that was the case.

  “Have you seen that YouTube video of Louis Dugby doing impressions on that late night show?” asked Bryan.

  Eldon smiled and shook his head no.

  ***

  He spent a few more hours at the apartment before heading out. He felt somewhat conflicted as he left, knowing that the party and the place where the ghost girl had asked him to meet were on opposite sides of town. He could only really commit to one, and though it should have been an easy decision, he struggled with it.

  His legs made up his mind for him. Ben’s house was deep in the suburbs, and Eldon was able to pick out the house from a distance as he walked up, simply from the level of noise being generated by its occupants.

  He knocked on the door and smiled when Laura happened to be the one to open it. She was cute: freckles, red hair, nice body, and she was already tipsy, judging from her posture. She pulled him into a tight hug.

  “Elllldonnn,” she said, giggling. “I am so, so, so glad you could make it! Tim made it sound like you might ghost on us.”

  “Yeah, he worked the guilt trip pretty hard on me,” he said.

  “Come on in.” Laura pulled him down the hallway by the hand. “Let me get you something to drink. Everyone, Eldon is here!”

  Voices churned in reply as she led him into a spacious living room, filled with food, booze, and activity. It wasn’t a huge gathering, just a few dozen people, most of whom Eldon recognized from their theater production.

  Tim and Harold were near the center of the room, engaged in a certifiably epic game of beer pong. The playing field had been lowered to cof
fee-table height, though whether that was to equalize the field for Tim in his wheelchair or just a matter of resources was anyone’s guess.

  “Eldon!” called Alex. “Take a shot with me.”

  Eldon assumed it wouldn’t be Alex’s first, judging from the way he made his way over. Alex was wearing a Nike headband designed for athletes, which reminded him of a superhero in combination with his bald head and pale features.

  “Peppermint schnapps?” he said, looking at the bottle.

  “My forbidden weakness,” said Alex. “They only let me drink in between the cancer trials.”

  He proffered the bottle to Eldon, who accepted it and took a sip. The liquor was sickly sweet until he breathed out, which was when the mint of the peppermint flavor kicked in.

  Tim and Harold’s beer pong game came down to the wire. It was about as entertaining as any competition between a drunk paraplegic and a drunk Tourette’s Syndrome sufferer could be, which was to say nearly the funniest thing Eldon had ever seen. The laughter was good-natured, with Harold grinning the widest at his own outbursts and tics.

  Ben, the play’s director, chased one of the stagehands through the living room, dramatically demanding a kiss. The stagehand was a boy named Manu, who, according to Laura, had made a move on Ben first in the form of a one-night stand during a previous theater party.

  “Eldon.” Laura came up beside him and leaned her arms on his shoulder, speaking into his ear over the noise. “I have to tell you a secret.”

  “I’m listening,” he said.

  “It’s a secret!” she said. “I can’t say it here. Come on!”

  Laura dragged him back into the hallway, up a flight of stairs, and then into an empty bedroom. She quickly shut the door once they were both inside. Eldon had time to get a single glance at the space before her lips were against his, along with most of the rest of her soft, supple body.

  “What was the secret?” he asked, smiling.

  Laura still had his hand, and she pulled him toward the bed, sitting down and patting the spot next to her.