SIX YEARS LATER
GREY
I woke with a start, trying to stand up, but my seat-belt jerked me back against the tan leather seats. Sucking in a deep breath, I searched my surroundings and tried to remember where I was, if there was any sign of danger. If I needed to bolt.
The car swerved.
"Jesus!" Travis, my something of a friend yelped as he jerked the car out of the wrong side of the road. He straightened back up and turned the radio down. "You could've given me a heart attack! Are you kidding me?"
Two patches of blush burned my cheeks. I rubbed my eyes, feeling like someone stuffed my skull full of itchy cotton. The nausea moved in waves, an unstoppable rolling force that wanted to drown me. I grumbled between my fingers, "I'm sorry. I've been having weird dreams."
"What kind of weird do you mean? Like Batman growing tentacles and singing a ballad about Campbell's soup kind of weird? Or weird like you're exchanging spit with your brother?"
"I don't have a brother."
"Yeah, you'd need a mother for that. Gotcha!" He then made a motion like he was dunking on me.
"You're an ass." I sent him a withering look. He seemed amused enough for the both of us. A shiver forced my bones to rattle, so I picked my collar higher up my neck to my chin as I buried myself in my hoodie. The rain that pelted the car an hour ago has lessened, now feathering from the dark sky.
"I'm kidding," Travis nudged me, his green eyes meeting mine.
Travis Fletcher was a burly brunette with a splattering of freckles framing his face. He had thick hair cut short enough to keep his curls away. He was kind of a beast of a man with a barreled chest and thick hairy arms.
"That dream really freaked you out, huh?" He asked, actual concern lacing his tone. I checked the mirror, wondering what face I could possibly be making. My eyes were rimmed with the normal bags, but most emotion was missing from my face. People liked to say I had all my moving parts and working features with the exception of my expressions.
"I don't remember it," I only half-lied.
The dream evaporated from my mind, but just a feeling of dread lingered. The feeling of unbearable heat nipping my face. Just that.
I ran my hand through my hair, grabbing a handful of it. "I guess, I'm just a little stressed out."
"You're stressed? We're literally going on vacation!" Travis laughed and maybe someone else would feel foolish. Not me.
I argued, "That you picked out! I've never heard of Eventide in my life!"
"Come on, Grey it's a beach town."
"That requires a rain jacket."
Travis squinted, his brain working overtime to find a way to be right. It seemed exhausting for him. Finally, he shrugged and looked at me all coy and cute. "It was a really good deal on the hotel."
"That's not a good sign!"
"You just need to relax a little. Get a little frustration out," Travis advised, reaching for my earlobe. My greatest weakness. Just that could make my mind go all fuzzy. Goosebumps littered my skin and I brought myself back fast, slapping his hand away.
With a chuckle, Travis slid his hand over my thigh, sliding it between my legs. I jolted upright, grasping his wrist as his hand caressed the cotton fabric over my dick. The tease was enough to make my skin prickle in delight.
"Quit it!" I half laughed out, a gasp caught in my throat as he over-powered my grip and continued to pet my crotch. His hand was so warm, and I curled forward towards the pressure, pretending to struggle but in truth, I craved being touched. I craved contact with another person.
That was my favorite part about Travis. He wasn't picky about who won his attention. No, we weren't friends. We weren't lovers. We were something messy in-between. I could just call us sex-friends, but that felt too excruciatingly embarrassing to accept.
"You're driving," I insisted, biting my lip to keep a moan from escaping. Despite what my head refused and what my heart advised against; my dick hardened as Travis continued to tease just the surface of my sweatpants. The blood in my veins warmed, pooling into my middle. It was like standing underneath a perfect, skin burning shower.
"I can multi-task," he grinned, not keeping to his word with his eyes off the road in split seconds to gage my reaction.
Before I could snap at him, he changed tactics and slipped his hand down the front of my pants. He tugged my shaft, slicking some of my oozing precum up and down. I shuddered, my body no longer listening to good sense as my back arched. My hips wanted to play nice with Travis's friendly hands. My eyes wanted to shut, wanted to burn away all my worries and the rest of the world.
Grabbing Travis's arm, I pulled myself closer to his ear and said, "Find a place to pull over."
"Seriously?" Travis's green eyes sparkled.
"Yes, or what are we going to do with that?" I nodded down, towards the tint in his own pants. He grinned and slammed on the gas towards the nearest exit.
#
Most people worry about what their mother might think when they find themselves in questionable positions. I've never had that level of accountability. The only master of my guilt trips were me. Times like this, I wondered if I was standing outside the car watching Travis and I go at it on the side of the road surrounded by an unfamiliar wood, would I be disappointed with myself?
Probably.
Does this stop me?
"Come on, Grey..." Travis begged me until I grabbed his neck and pressed a kiss against his big mouth. My tongue danced alongside his, leading this waltz as my other hand stroked my swollen erection against Travis', his so warm it was melting mine like a blazing candle.
"No," I sternly insisted. "I'm not spending the rest of the car ride sore."
Thankfully, he didn't fight me further than that. His rough hand slid up my chest, making my chest bare. Goosebumps bloomed across my skin like a valley. Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the fact cars were driving by, despite the veil of rain hiding us, but I was sensitive. Quivering just from a little touching, a little kissing.
Travis dragged his teeth down my lip and I thrusted my hips up, yearning for a deeper embrace. He chuckled, whispering into my skin. "You really love kissing."
I flinched at the four-letter word, going rigid. In that moment, I couldn't move. Travis must've noticed, taking over for me, harder and faster. It was like slamming into a door over and over, forcing it to be broken down. Equal parts ecstasy of Travis's skilled hand stroking my throbbing dick and equal parts the pain of his teeth nipping at my neck.
"Travis," I gasped, overwhelmed by the pressure mounting to the highest height until it all exploded out of me. Even as it was over, my body still tingled. It fizzled like the top of soda pop, tickling my exhausted body. Travis tugged a few extra times as his hulking form shuddered and he cried out, releasing threads of cum across my stomach.
I kissed the top of his drooping head, dragging my fingers down his hair and his sweat laced neck. He finally said, after catching his breath. "You know, I didn't say I loved you, Grey."
"Travis," I sighed and let my arms drop. As he ran his mouth, I searched for something to clean myself up. I found victory clutching a handful of McDonald's napkins that appeared to be unused. Hopefully.
"You don't have to freak out just because someone says the word."
"I didn't freak out."
"Yes, you did. You always do. I'm not asking you to fucking marry me, Grey. I just want to know where we stand, if this thing is going anywhere."
"It is." I snapped, tossing the napkin on the ground.
"Where? Because you already said you wouldn't be my boyfriend."
I smiled, sheepishly, hoping my dewy face would be charming enough to get by this time. Shrugging a little, I said, "We're going to Eventide."
Travis's face cracked as he couldn't stop himself from grinning. He rolled his eyes at the ceiling and shook his head. I licked my lips and grabbed his face, a squirming anxious feeling replacing everything that felt good and perfect. This was why I liked sex. I didn't have to think. I just had to feel. "You're right though. I really like kissing you."
He huffed, but still surrendered to my topic changing smooch. All the tension started to fade, when a howl rumbled through the misty air outside. Travis cursed, jumping and smacking the back of his head on the ceiling. My chest clenched, my throat thinning to the size of a sewing needle. "That sounded really close, Trav."
"Oh, hell yeah it did."
Once the surprise faded, it was replaced with a childlike wonder. Travis's eyes sparkled as he searched outside the car. His excitement just made me more nervous. Without warning, Travis climbed out of the car and popped the trunk. "Travis!" I hissed, grabbing my sweatshirt and struggling to put it back on as I followed him outside. The rain thickened, falling in fatter heavier droplets, dampening the earth and strengthening the smell of the mud and the woods in the air.
"Just get inside the car, Grey," Travis instructed me. He lorded over the trunk, yanking out a huge gray duffle bag. It took me a second to recognize it. "I'll be back in a sec."
"Travis. You are not—"
Travis unzipped his bag and grabbed his long hunting rifle with a wooden stock and a steel barrel. There were hatch marks carved into the wood, documenting his kill count. I didn't even try to hide my grimace. "I can't believe you brought that."
"There's wolves in Eventide."
"You're an idiot if you think—"
"Just go back to the car," he said, obviously not entertaining this conversation. He kissed me quick and grabbed a smaller bag to throw over his shoulder. I didn't want to know what was inside. Not another word and he was running into the woods like a maniac, like a seven-year-old with too much money and delusions of grandeur.
Sighing, I nursed the bridge of my nose to keep a headache at bay and walked back into the passenger's seat. After a few seconds, boredom kicked in and I fussed around with the radio, finding my favorite radio stations that played static, static and more static. Only the hits.
I muttered, growing more and more aggravated. "If he brings anything dead in here, I'm driving off without him."
Leaning across the front seat, I searched the knobs and the sticks to find the car's headlights. Night was slowly descending around us, only coming closer with the dark rain clouds hanging over head. There was a crack of thunder and I could've sworn there was another howl. As the minutes trickled went by, my stomach twisted tighter and tighter. Travis needed to come back. This was so stupid.
I was just going to have to find him.
Grabbing the handle, I opened the door as something stepped out of the line of trees. I slammed the car shut as a gasp spliced down my throat. My fingers trembled as I flicked the lock on the door. Not that it would've mattered.
The thing that walked out of the woods could've been a wolf. If it weren't so large. If its eyes weren't so gold. They glowed, cutting through the impending darkness to stare through me. It growled, revealing his mouth full of snaggled teeth. Dirt caked his soaked silver fur. If someone told me it sprung directly from the ground, I would be inclined to believe it.
With its large paws, it strode towards the car.
"Fuck." My whisper came out tortured and small. I pressed my back against the leather seats, clinging to the armrests, even after my fingers went numb. This thing was nearly the height of the car, doubling me in body weight. I searched for my phone, thinking there had to be a number for a mutated wild animal service. At the very least 911 could direct my call.
The wolf hunched down at first before springing to action. My whole body tensed as it threw its body against my side of the car. I yelled as my giant metallic coffin rocked. The wolf tried against, shoving the car two feet across the mud.
"Leave..."
Something growled and my eyes sprung open as tears burned the corners. The blood in my veins had run ice cold. "Wh-what?" I whispered, the words scratching up my throat.
Roaring, the wolf turned and jumped onto the roof of the car.
That was when the feeling appeared without warning.
Ever since I was a kid, an overwhelming sense of dread crawled down my arms like thousands of hairy spiders. This was my warning that was something was about to happen. Something out of my control and usually perilous. The feeling trickled down my arms and there was a snap, a long splintering cry that caught this wolf's attention. It jumped off before the top of a tree slammed into the car hood, causing the car to jump and the window to crack. It was the loudest crunch I had ever heard it my life and for a moment, I thought I went deaf. As I screamed, all my insides tried to jump out of my throat.
The whole world shrunk, even smaller inside of this car, but I couldn't leave. Not with that wolf still out there. Not while the adrenaline pumping through my veins made my body tremble like a tree in a thunderstorm. I glanced through my window, meeting the red eyes of that wolf for just a lingering moment, before I could hear Travis's voice.
Then, the wolf disappeared into the darkness.
#
"I'm telling you! It was the size of a bear! A grizzly bear and it had red eyes and a huge mouth. It was strong too. It moved the entire car like five feet without even breaking a sweat! I'm telling you, it was a mutant or something!" I threw my arms out, desperate for the police chief, Chief Moore to believe me. Another officer stood beside him, half his age with his arms crossed.
They both shared the same look.
Like I was crazy.
"Son," Chief Moore spoke up from underneath a curly mustache. "Have you been drinking tonight?"
"No!"
"He doesn't drink, officer," Travis spoke up for me.
"Oh, now you can talk?" I scowled at him.
He raised his hands. "I'm sorry Grey, I just didn't see it."
Soon after the incident in the woods, we towed the car the rest of the way into town, which meant out half our budget was already blown to smithereens. Then, I went directly to the police station to warn them that there was a god damn monster out in there.
The station was a blast from the past with wood paneling and a waiting room that smelled like dust, mold and years of misery. The yellowed tiles were scuffed and chipped. Even the vending machines advertised labels of soda I didn't even recognize and a strange constant buzz was humming from somewhere and didn't show signs of stopping.
"Can I see some identification?" The Chief asked and the way he spoke doubled the number of syllables of every word.
Biting down a curse, I pulled out my wallet and handed it over. The Chief flipped over the leather and with one look, he raised one of his furry salt and pepper brows. "Grey Weathers? No offense son, but that cannot be your real name."
"Well, offense taken," I snatched it back, my face burned by a blush.
"What kind of twenty-one-year-old doesn't drink?"
"The sober kind."
The officer standing by snorted suddenly, but quickly coughed to cover it. His Chief quirked a brow at him and then, slowly turned back. "Listen, y'all seem pretty exhausted. Honestly, Mr. Weathers," he said like he still didn't believe it. "It's amazing you didn't walk away from that wreck a bit more banged up and I'm not gonna ask why you two were parked by the road, if y'all just go home for the night. Get settled in your hotel and try to forget the whole affair."
"Forget it? How am I supposed to sleep knowing there's something out there?"
"Mr. Weathers, I'm sure you did see a wolf. Eventide is famous for their wolves. If you respect nature, it will respect you back."
"Thank you, Chief Moore," Travis said and grabbed my arm. The back of my neck burned and prickled. My anger was hot enough to boil my blood and make the palm of my hands sweat. Before I got arrested for assaulting an officer, Travis dragged me out of the station.
As we left, I could hear Chief Moore say one last thing:
"Enjoy your time in Eventide!"