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Light of the Body continues the adventures of Jacob,
Callum, Suzy, Zane and Mr. Barnaby in the town
of Pembroke Eve.

Jacob and Callum, now living together with

Jacob's parents, are disturbed by a dog barking in
the distance one night while getting intimate.

Jacob finally insists they investigate the reason

for  the  dog  barking  and  a  strange  man  confronts
them  as  they  venture  into  their  backyard.  The
events that follow are completely weird to say the
least, even for Pembroke Eve standards. The man
bites  Callum  in  the  scuffle  that  follows,  and  as
Jacob soon finds out, that bite is a transference.

Callum is now pregnant!
In fact, the whole town has been infected, with

half  acting  like  living  zombies  and  the  other  half
in  the  hospital  in  the  same  condition  as  Callum.
What is causing this outbreak? Only Jacob and his
friends,  Zane  and  Mr.  Barnaby,  seem  to  be
unaffected.  But  they  need  to  find  Suzy.  She's
missing  and  the  townsfolk  that  are  the  living
zombies have been saying Suzy the right one.

What is she the right one for? And what's more,

are these events all connected?

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Light of the Body

ISBN: 978-1-55487-537-5

Cover art by Angela Waters

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Chapter One

‟m Jacob Theison, a guy still haunted by what
happened here in Pembroke Eve two months
ago. So much so I can‟t sleep, or when I have, it‟s

been disturbed and broken. My nightmares are
filled with so many memories of aliens and
machines and of the whole town being farmed on
those tables, it‟s like I‟m haunted.

I can‟t believe we defeated them, gave them a

taste  of  what  it  was  like  to  mess  with  the  folk  of
this town. Everyone had those alien rings attached
to  them,  permanent  souvenirs,  reminders  of  how
close we came to becoming their cattle. I shudder
to  think  about  those  events.  Thankfully  I  had
Callum, Zane, Suzy and Mr. Barnaby to help me.
Thankfully  the  town  had  me,  the  one  guy  not
affected by their mind field. I don‟t mean that in a
smarmy way, either. Far from it. I  love this town
and  would  do  anything  to keep  it  the  way  it  has
always been. That much I know.

I sat in my chair near my bedroom window.

The room filled with the sound of Callum‟s gentle

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breathing  and  of  the  net  curtain  swishing  across
the  carpet.  A  slight  breeze  filled  them.  They
billowed around me. I looked down at my navel.
No,  I  wasn‟t  contemplating  the  origins  of  the
universe or whether or not there was or wasn‟t a
God. I literally stared at my navel. The alien ring
wouldn‟t  come  off  no  matter  how  many  times  I
pulled or twisted it. I tentatively touched it, doing
so always gave me the shivers. It was cold.

I sighed. I caught the scent of rain even though

no  clouds  dotted  the  sky  around  the  full  Moon.
The  view  was  so  clear  I  could  see  right  over  to
Wilson‟s  field.  The  place  where  the  aliens  had
landed. A dog barked in the distance, then a closer
one  replied.  I  was  about  to  get  up,  return  to  bed
and  Callum‟s  warmth,  when  I  smelt  something
else, something I  couldn‟t place. It was sort of—I
dunno, it was like the odour of cupboards hardly
opened  for  years  and  cockroaches  had  reared
generations within it, kind of like how the kitchen
smelt  in  the  cabin  in  the  woods,  but  stronger.
Much stronger. I looked back down at my navel.

“You comin‟ to bed, baby?” Callum asked

sheepishly as he turned in my bed, the bedclothes
half-kicked off him. His navel ring caught the
light. That and the beautiful snail trail he had that
led down to the nice bulge between his legs.

I dismissed all the worry I had in my mind, my

thoughts consumed by him. My stomach turned in

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that  beautiful  way  it  did  when  pangs  of  desire
overtook  me.  I  wanted  him.  My  gaze  wandered
down  beyond  my  navel  ring  to  my  own  cock.  It
had  become  aroused,  too.  My  foreskin  had  slid
back  to  reveal  the  tip  of  my  ripe  head,  ready  for
attention.

I looked at him once more. He had kicked off

the  bed  clothes.  Yep.  He  was  hard,  too.
“Whenever  you  want  me  to,”  I  replied  with  a
boyish smile. I was willing to let him lavish plenty
of  love  all  over  my  body.  That‟s  what  having  a
boyfriend was for, wasn‟t it?

Callum lived with me on my parent‟s

insistence—mine as well, of course. Mum was the
most  enthusiastic.  In  fact,  she  was  beside  herself
when  he  accepted  her  offer.  To  her  it  was  like
finding a super bargain at Mr. Barnaby‟s General
store  and  being  the  only  one  in  town  who  knew
about it, too. She was livid with excitement when
Callum dumped his clothes and other belongings
he had in my room. I think she saw it as gaining a
son  and  having  someone  else  to  look  after,  but  I
think  first  and  foremost,  she  was  happy  I  had
found  someone.  I  was  happy.  I  was  happy  for
Callum, for myself and for my parents. We were a
family.

It had only been a couple of months since the

episode with the aliens and then there was Derek‟s
funeral. Geez, Callum gave an awesome eulogy.

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So  touching.  I  couldn‟t  contain  myself.  I  had  let
the tears flow and my emotions overwhelm me. I
even  hugged  Suzy.  Derek‟s  parents  were  there.  I
realized  where  he  got  his  good  looks  from.  I
missed  Derek.  He  saved  our  lives  and  I  wish  I
could have thanked him for that.

I went over to the bed. Callum smiled and

opened his arms to welcome me. That smile of his
meant he wanted me as I wanted him.

I came over him, my lips close to his. I

whispered, “Do you know how late it is?”

His smile widened. “I don‟t care.”
“You know we have that meeting with Mrs.

Doherty tomorrow, don‟t you?”

He put his arms around me, rubbing his warm,

strong hands across my back. He pulled me even
closer so that our bodies came together, his skin
warm against mine, his erection pressed against
my stomach. “Just kiss me already.”

I pressed my lips against his, immediately his

taste  overwhelmed  me.  Sweetness  and  cinnamon
spice,  and  something  I  haven‟t  been  able  to
describe, consumed me as our mouths parted and
our tongues touched. He teased, letting his tongue
dance  with  mine  for  a  moment,  then  retreating,
making me chase it. I  groaned with pleasure. My
mind  span.  My  body,  immersed  in  his  passion,
became  numb.  We  were  one,  embracing  each

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other tight, our limbs a beautiful tangle with the
bedclothes.

He forced me onto my back, coming over me

and sending in his tongue deeper. I had no choice
but to take it all into my mouth. He didn‟t do it so
that I felt he‟d forced himself into me, but made it
perfectly  clear  he  was  in  control.  He  rolled  his
tongue  around  mine  more  and  more,  then
delightfully, he tickled the frenulum underneath. I
caught  his  taste  even  stronger  than  before.  I  was
now completely and utterly his. I knew his moves,
his familiar dance and I succumb to him.

We parted for an agonising moment. I gasped,

my stomach did somersaults. My cock grew hard,
my balls ached.

“I want you, Jacob,” he said with so much want

in his voice I couldn‟t do anything else other than
nod.

Pangs of ecstasy welled up inside me from my

butterflies. I closed my eyes, waiting for whatever
he would do next. Anticipation built up to the
point I thought I was going to explode right there
and then. He kissed my neck. Warm and tender
was his touch. I gasped again, arching my back so
I could move closer to him.

Another dog‟s barking disturbed me. Involved

with Callum‟s wonderful touch over me, at first I
didn‟t take much notice. His efforts concentrated
on my nipples. The canine‟s clamour was a

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distraction I didn‟t need. I don‟t even know why it
interrupted me in the first place. I mean, geez,
Callum, my beautiful lover, was ravishing his
attention all over me. I wanted him. I was ready. I
was willing.

Then another dog barked, this one much closer

and somehow more desperate than before.

“Did you hear that?” I moaned, coming out of

my moment. A shiver travelled down my spine.
My body grew cold. Something about the barking
riled me on a deep level, even deeper than the
way I felt about my boyfriend.

Callum didn‟t reply.
The dog barked again, this time yelping and, if

there was such a thing, screaming with that bark.
A female‟s voice also pierced the air. The noises
were so close I could have sworn they came from
next door.

Both of us sat up in the bed. I devoted all of my

attention to the commotion going on outside.

“I heard that.” A mix of curiosity and

disappointment wavered in his voice.

“We‟ve gotta see what all the fuss is about,

Callum. That sounded too close for comfort. What
if someone‟s in trouble?”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
I had clambered off the bed, reaching down to

pick up a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. He did the
same. At first putting on clothing proved to be a

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little  more  difficult  than  I  had  anticipated
considering  my  body  was  still  surging  with  my
arousal.  Callum‟s  boxers  billowed  out  in  front  of
him.  He  had  a  raging  erection.  He  adjusted
himself  many  times  before  he  obviously  became
satisfied he had done the best he could to get into
them.

“Ready?” I grabbed his hand and headed for

the window. No point walking through the house,
this way was quicker anyway.  I  always went out
the  window  when  I  was  younger,  avoiding  any
unnecessary arguments with my Mum about why
I  was  out  so  late  or  whatever.  Besides,  I  didn‟t
want  to  wake  them.  I  helped  Callum  out  of  the
window.

“So, if it‟s an axe wielding maniac reeking

bloody havoc all over the neighbourhood, exactly
what  are  we  going to defend  ourselves  with,  our
boners?”  In  interesting  timing,  the  button  of  his
boxers  came  undone.  His  cock  slipped  out  of  the
slit.  He  quickly  adjusted  himself  again  and  I
helped him button up.

“I want to see what the fuss is. If there‟s

anything  to  worry  about  we‟ll  run  back  to  the
house  and  call  the  cops.”  I  had  lost  my  stiffy  the
moment  I  got  outside.  Only  Callum  could
maintain  an  erection  under  duress.  But  he  was
right. What if we were confronted by some sort of
weirdo?  What  if  that  weirdo  had  a  gun?  I  don‟t

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think  we  would  stand  much  of  a  chance.  We
gingerly  walked  toward  the  noise.  Many  horrific
thoughts rushed through my mind, including how
I  was  going  to  explain  to  the  police  why  I  was
outside chasing after someone in my boxers hand
in hand with my boyfriend. The dog continued to
bark,  more  intense  and  more  aggressive  than
before. We crossed the garden. I  had to see what
all the commotion was about. I was compelled.

I had to admit the night air was cool. Perhaps I

should  have  spent  a  couple  of  extra  seconds
putting  something  warmer  on.  Damn  my
curiosity. Too late now, anyway. We were near the
back of the garden and at the side fence where all
the  screams  and  barking  had  come  from.  Callum
clenched  his  hand  tighter  in  mine  and  came
around  so  he  was  behind  me.  I  peered  over  the
fence.

A dog, one I hadn‟t seen before, sniffed and

scratched  at  the  ground  near  the  fence,  stopping
only  to  bark.  I  bet  the  stupid  mutt  had  caught
scent of an echidna or some other animal foraging
around  in  the  undergrowth  beyond  our
neighbour‟s backyard. Typical, I got out of bed—
no,  I  missed  out  on  Callum‟s  loving—for  this?  I
mean,  there  were  always  critters  scurrying  back
and forth, especially animals who had come from
Wilson‟s field, a native animals supermarket with

Light of the Body

all those vegetables and stuff growing there all the
time. I sighed.

“Who‟s there?” Callum asked from behind me.

“Can you see anything?”

“There‟s a dog scratching and barking at

something behind the fence. I don‟t think I‟ve seen
it before.” I tried to get a better view by standing
on my tippy-toes.

The dog didn‟t stop. I‟d say the barking and his

fretting got worse as I tried to get its attention by
whistling at it. Surely, there couldn‟t be anything
worthy of that much commotion behind the fence,
could there?

“C‟mon then, let‟s go. It‟s freezing out here and

I want to get back into bed.”

“Always thinking with your dick, aren‟t—”
The dog stopped dead, looked at me and

snarled, bearing his fangs and looking rather
rabid, if the truth be told. I was taken aback. Was
the dumb animal now sensing me? I stepped back,
feeling my heart pound loud in my chest. I could
have sworn the animal was about to attack me.

“What? What‟s the matter?” Callum‟s voice

trailed off as I looked at him, directly into his eyes.
Concern flashed across his face, reflecting my own
feelings.

The image of the dog, its teeth as white as the

moonlight, haunted me. I tried to gather my
thoughts. Had the dog been bitten by something?

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Why was it interested in me? Surely, the animal
was more concerned with what made it bark in
the first place. Dumb mutt.

“Something‟s not right here.” He pulled me

back, but I went to the fence once more. “Wait.”

I was determined to see what the problem was.

I  knocked  his  hands  away,  peered over  the fence
again.  The  dog  was  below  me,  hackles  up,  ears
back.  It  snarled  once  more,  saliva  dripping  from
its  fangs.  I  whistled  again,  adding  a  here  boy,
before I realised my mistake. The animal jumped,
coming over the fence with one fluid motion. The
whole  thing  played  out  in  slow  motion.  The  dog
came at me.

The crazed animal cleared the fence. I reacted

by  stepping  back.  Too  late.  Its  clawed  paws
thudded  onto  my  chest,  and  my  feet,  caught  on
wet slippery grass, gave way underneath me. Not
even with Callum holding my hand would I have
stood  a  chance.  I  was  flat  on  my  back,  the  dog‟s
snarling  lips  and  white  menacing  fangs  hovered
over my face.

Callum screamed.

Light of the Body

Chapter Two

couldn‟t move

My muscles didn‟t want to cooperate with

what my mind had instructed them to do. Then

again, I reckon that probably had something to do
with the fact my mind didn‟t know exactly what I
needed to do to get out of this mess.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Callum hit

the dog with his bare hands, slapping it on its
rump, to no avail. The dog stayed put.

Then, like a signal had been switched on, the

animal‟s ears pricked up. The dog took his eyes off
me and raised his head toward the fence he had
jumped over only moments ago.

I opened my mouth, wanting to scream out,

more  out  of  sheer  terror  than  anything  else.
Callum was certainly doing a great job of that with
his  yells.  Me,  I  was  frozen.  My  breathing  had
become erratic and all I managed to pass over my
quivering  lips  was  a  stuttered  whining  sound.  I
hiccupped. Yep. I was scared out of my brain.

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The dog jumped off me and Callum rushed to

help me up.

It took me a while to realise I was back on my

feet,  the  warmth  of  Callum‟s  embrace  soothing
me, seeping into my body, reviving me from what
I could only classify as a nightmare. Slowly, as my
thoughts  became  clearer,  I  pulled  myself  away
from Callum to see where the dog had gone. The
animal  had  begun  barking  at  our  back  fence,  but
his bark sounded different like a cross between a
seal‟s bark and a wolf‟s howl. I‟d never heard such
a thing. If I had to describe a panic bark, one filled
with urgency, then that was it. I don‟t know what
was scarier, the dog knocking me over, baring his
teeth  and  looking  as  though  I  was  his  next  meal,
or the desperate noise he made.

That‟s when I saw whatever it was the dog was

barking at. Callum saw it, too, if his gasp was any
indication.

A man was crouched on top of the fence. I

assumed he was a man. I couldn‟t really tell. He
was silhouetted by the Moon and his face and
body were shrouded by a tattered cloak and hood.
How he balanced up there was anyone‟s guess.

I stared at the intruder, still couldn‟t find my

voice  and  my  hiccups  got  worse.  Callum  once
more  gripped  me  tight,  but  his  voice  had  no
problem  escaping  from  his  lips.  He  hadn‟t  been
jumped on by a frantic animal, had he?

Light of the Body

“Who the fuck are you?” he screamed, as

bravely as I had ever heard him even though I
knew he was as scared as I was, even more so.

The man jumped down into my garden. He

came down like he was flying, landing with no
sound as his feet touched the ground. The whole
thing looked surreal.

The dog snarled when the stranger was in my

garden proper, but unlike what the animal did to
me, it went straight in with his teeth onto the
man‟s leg.

Both Callum and I screamed when the dog

attacked the man. In the tussle and confusion that
followed,  the  dog  yelped  in  agony.  There  was  a
brief  moment  of  silence,  before  a  crack  of  bone
pierced  the  still  night  air.  The  dog  slumped  onto
the  grass,  not  moving  anymore.  The  stranger
brushed his hands, but never uttered a word, as if
what  he  had  done  was  something  insignificant
and without effort.

The man looked straight at us both, his eyes

catching  the  moonlight.  I  was  held  to  the  spot.
Callum  gasped.  We  held  each  other,  waiting  for
the  man  to  make  the  next  move.  My  legs  simply
didn‟t want to work. So much for our plan to run
back  into  the  house  and  call  the  cops.  Fat  lot  of
good  we  were  now,  standing  like  frightened
critters in high beams.

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“Suzy is ours,” the man said with a guttural

groan, “and you would do well to stay away from
her. I don‟t want her spoiled. You will all become
her drones as she will become our queen.”

Every emotion rushed through me, but above

all, I was as angry as hell. I didn‟t understand one
iota what the fuck he was talking about. This man,
this  stranger,  had  killed  an  innocent  animal  and
was now sprouting gibberish. What did Suzy have
to do with all this? Why do we have to stay away
from  her?  But  before  I  could  open  my  mouth  to
utter  any  words  of  protest,  Callum  let  go  of  my
hand, stepped in front of me.

“Callum!” I cried out, all too late.
The man lunged at him, screaming, “I warned

you.”  He  bit  him  on  the  neck.  No,  not  like  a
vampire would, you know, like the way they do in
the  movies  or  on  the  TV,  all  deliberate  and
calculated. This was done lightning quick, more of
an  open-mouthed  jab  than  anything  else,  an
offensive attack if you will.

Callum fell, stumbling over his own legs,

landing  on  the  wet  grass  square  on  his  arse.
Again, his reaction had more to do with the man
lunging  at  him  and  causing  him  to  flinch  than
what  he  actually  did.  I  went  to  him,  without
thought or a moment‟s hesitation.

“Callum!” I yelled again as I knelt down beside

him. “Are you all right?”

Light of the Body

He rubbed his neck. The bite had drawn blood,

his  fingers  stained.  I  turned  to  look  back  at  the
man,  give  him  a  piece  of  my  mind,  but  he  was
gone.  The  only  thing  encroaching  in  on  me  as  I
looked  around  my  back  yard,  to  try  and  gather
any clue as to where the man went, was the crisp
cold night air. Callum‟s hands clambered for mine
so he could get up. I got him to his feet.

“You know, I think that dog was trying to

protect us,” he said groggily, using me for
support.

I nodded. “You may just be right.” I assumed

the man had jumped back over the fence and
found someone else to bother. A dog barked in the
distance, the sound coming from the direction of
the Westfell forest. Was that where he came from?
Or was that where he went?

My attention was drawn away by the outside

light being turned on.

“You both okay?” my Dad shouted.
I turned to look at him. He hurried toward us,

silhouetted by the outside light from under the
pergola, a dark heroic figure charging to our aid in
the night.

“We need some help here. Callum‟s

been…hurt.” My voice sounded desperate, which
in a way I suppose it was. My emotions rose up
inside me as Callum began to buckle under his
own weight. I had to use all my strength to keep

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him from falling back down onto the grass. The
bite must have affected his muscle control or
something, because he was like a dead weight.

“I‟m okay. Really.” Callum brought his arm

around  my  shoulder  with  a  thump.  To  my
surprise, he let out a chuckle. “Geez, we must be a
sight,  Jacob.  I  mean,  we‟re  out  here  in  our
underwear  in  the  dark,  grass-stained  knees  and
dripping  with  sweat.  Your  Dad‟ll  think  we‟ve
been rolling around. You know, getting busy with
each other or something.”

“I don‟t think he‟ll think that at all. I think he

saw  enough  to  know  we‟ve  been  attacked.”
Typical  Callum.  Always  thinking  with  his  dick,
even  when  he‟s  been  bitten  by  a  stranger  who
trespasses,  kills  a  dog  and  then  offers  weird
warnings  to  justify  his  actions.  Who  was  that
man? I made a mental note to try and find out at
the  earliest  possible  chance  I  got,  after  making
sure  Callum  was  okay  first,  of  course.  Again  my
curiosity piqued.

My dad came over to us. He was in his

favourite  pair  of  flannel  pyjamas.  He  must  have
been  woken  by  all  the  commotion  going  on
tonight,  too,  because  he  would  have  never  worn
them outside. He would have changed first given
half the chance. Come to think of it, so would have
I.  Wearing  boxers  and  a  T-shirt  outside  in  the

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middle of the night was crazy. What was I
thinking? What were we thinking?

“Your mother is calling Sherriff Tucker and the

ambulance is on its way,” he said with an
authority I had never heard from him before.

I was about to explain what had happened, tell

him about the dog and the man, when he went to
Callum‟s other side and offered his support.
Callum could no longer walk, his legs unable to
lift, let alone support him. Had the bite paralysed
him? We walked him up to the house.

“Are you sure you‟re okay?” My stomach

churned with fear and anxiety when Callum‟s
eyes rolled around in their sockets, like he was
about to pass out or something.

He nodded. “Yeah. I just feel a little woozy, is

all. I‟ll be okay once I lie down for a bit. You‟ll lie
with me, won‟t you, baby?”

“Of course I will. I‟ll go with you anywhere,

you know that.”

He offered me a quivering smile.
We lay Callum down onto my bed, making him

as  comfortable  as  possible.  He  closed  his  eyes
when  his  head  touched  the  pillow,  falling  fast
asleep.  Were  we  supposed  to  let  him  sleep?  Or
was that for a different condition when you had to
keep  a  person  awake?  Oh,  yeah,  that  was  for  a
concussion, right?

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Callum looked terrible. He was grass stained all

over, dirty, sweaty and yes, there was even a dark
patch at the front of his boxers. The poor guy had
been so scared he had pissed himself, yet showed
so much bravery, so much concern for me that he
overcame all his emotions and fears and tried to
protect me. God, I loved him. I kissed him on his
forehead, his warmth permeating my lips. That
was a good sign, wasn‟t it?

My dad patted me on my shoulder. “That mark

on his neck sure looks nasty. Hopefully the
ambulance will be here any second.”

Dad was right. The wound had festered. “It‟s a

bite.”

My dad reacted by taking in a breath. “I‟ve

never seen a bite like that.”

“The strange man did it.”
Before my dad could answer, those seconds had

passed. Two ambulance men entered my bedroom
without a word. One of the men nodded and I
stepped away from the bed, letting them do their
job. I was kind of dumbfounded I had to admit as
they lifted Callum onto the stretcher and began
carrying him away.

One of the ambulance men said, “This is the

tenth incident like this in the last two hours.
We‟ve had over fifty people admitted with bites to
their necks tonight.”

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“Um, can I come to the…can I be with my

boyfriend…I want to—”

The ambulance man lifted his hand

reassuringly. “Of course you can ride in the
ambulance with him, son. From what we‟ve seen
tonight, he‟ll need all the support of his loved ones
he can get when he wakes up.”

“I‟ll join you, too, Jacob,” my dad said.
“Sure, Dad. I‟d like that.”
My mum, phone in hand, came into view as we

went  toward  the  front  door.  The  blue  and  red
flashing of the ambulance lights danced along the
walls and ceiling. “Bob Tucker will meet you all at
the  hospital.  He‟s  already  there.”  She  pecked  me
on  my  cheek  when  I  passed.  “Jacob,  darling,  I‟ll
bring  you  something  warm  to  wear  as  soon  as  I
can,  so  don‟t  worry  about  that.  You  just  go,  look
after Callum.”

“Thanks,” was all I said in reply, not in an

ungrateful way, not at all. I was so overwhelmed,
so numb with all that had happened I didn‟t know
what to think, let alone what to say. I hadn‟t even
considered what I was wearing. I didn‟t care. My
thoughts were only for Callum. Yet, I appreciated
everything my parents were doing right now.
They were fantastic.

When the men loaded Callum into the

ambulance, his eyes opened. “Suzy is the right

Light of the Body

Chapter Three

he hospital‟s emergency ward was filled with
patients with bites on their necks. Most were in
their pyjamas or various stages of undress,

depending on how they  preferred to sleep. There
were nurses putting on hospital gowns on a lot of
them. Amongst the crowd there was Mrs. Foo Hue
cuddling  her  unconscious  husband,  tears
streaming down her face. He had been bitten, too.

Some patients were sleeping or unconscious or

whatever  you  want  to  call  it.  Others  screamed,
white with fear and clawing at the air as if trying
to grasp onto the last remnants of their lives, their
relatives doing their best they could to calm them.
A few lay huddled on their beds, rocking back and
forth,  gently  nodding,  being  consoled  and
encouraged  to  eat  or  drink.  I  was  sick  to  my
stomach. Dad looked the same, as green as I felt to
be honest.

To my horror, I recognised more and more

people, the town only recently recovering from the

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alien ordeal. Now this, whatever it was, was
affecting us all once more. If I didn‟t know any
better, I‟d say the town was cursed.

After dad had filled in all the required forms

and we were all in the care of the hospital staff, a
man in a white coat approached while we were
shepherded into a cubicle. Callum was placed
onto the bed by two burly orderlies.

A doctor entered and flipped through the chart.

“Ah, a stage one case. Good. There‟s time, then.”

I found it hard to believe a doctor would attend

us so quickly. Seemed to me there were a lot more
people in the ward who looked a lot worse than
Callum.

I held Callum‟s hand. “What‟s wrong with him,

doctor?” I blurted, no longer concerned with the
result, only glad someone was here to help my
beloved boyfriend and find a cure.

He looked grim and a flash of what I could only

describe as disgust crossed his face. “Well, to put
it as directly as I can, he has been impregnated.”

“Say what?”
The doctor came over to me, looking down his

nose  as  only  doctor‟s  can,  with  an  aura  of
supremacy that reeked arrogance. Whether or not
that  was  his  intention,  I  couldn‟t  tell.  I  didn‟t  get
an  instant  sense  of  annoyance  from  him  as  I  did
with most medical practitioners. The man radiated
a  warmth  I  was  comfortable  to  be  within.  I  liked

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him. I looked at his badge. Dr. Frederick Woolsey,
Obstetrician.

“Your boyfriend,” he continued. He checked

the  chart  once  more,  his  eyes  narrowed  and  his
lips tightened. He appeared to make  sure he had
got  his  information  correct  as  to  who  I  was  in
relation  to  the  patient.  “Your  boyfriend  is
pregnant.”

My dad swayed and grabbed me by my

shoulder. I felt a bit weird, too, my blood rushing
in my ears as the doctor‟s words swam around in
the numbness of my mind. I opened my mouth.
“How?” I said with a gasp.

Okay, I knew how women got pregnant, that‟s

what  men  were  for.  But  how  did  a  man  get
pregnant?  Were  we  even  capable?  I  mean,  men
don‟t  have  the  equipment  to  carry  a  baby?  Wait,
what was I thinking? I shook my head, dismissing
that stupid line of reasoning right out of my brain.
This was ridiculous. How could a bite from a man,
a  stranger,  make  someone  pregnant,  let  alone
another man?

I stood for a long moment in silence. Slowly but

surely jealousy crept up from the dark place we all
have  within  us.  If  that  man  had  banged  up  my
boyfriend, he‟d beaten me to it. Callum was going
to  father  his  child!  Jealousy  soon  turned  into
anger,  then  denial…then  every  other  emotion  I
could  name  and  plenty  I  couldn‟t.  Oh  God,  how

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stupid was I feeling that way? It was impossible
for a man to get pregnant anyway, so why was I
even thinking as if it were?

“….not what you‟re thinking, young man,” the

doctor said. In the storm of my thoughts and
feelings I had missed everything the man said to
me.

“Whaaaat?” was all I could manage in a slow

drawl. My dad embraced me, supporting me from
collapsing onto the floor. My legs felt weak.

The doctor smiled at me before he turned

serious again. “I can see you‟re a bit
overwhelmed,

it‟s

normal

reaction.

Unfortunately,  what  I  am  about  to  tell  you  isn‟t
normal  at  all,  but  has  been  going  on  for  over  a
week now. We have had some success and a lot of
failure,  so  time  is  of  the  essence.  You
understand?”

I thought I understood—well, no I didn‟t, but I

nodded in affirmation anyway. “Go on. Hit me
with it, Doctor.”

“All you need to know for now is that some

creature…some  sort  of…and  we  think  it‟s  an
insectoid life form from the ultra sounds we have
performed,  has  been  impregnating  the  people  of
this  town.  Why,  we  don‟t  know.  All  we  know  is
that  the  bite  is  the  method  of  delivery.  Those
people  in  stage  one,  as  your  boyfriend  is  right
now,  they  have  been  the  easy  ones  to  cure—for

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want of a better term. Some of the others, those at
a more advanced stage, they have become…Well,
don‟t worry about that now. Let‟s concentrate on
getting Callum back to you as soon as we can,
shall we?”

I smiled, or rather, let a nervous quiver cross

my  lips.  The  thought  of  Callum  giving  birth  to
another  person‟s  baby,  insectoid  or  not,  freaked
me  out  to  say  the  least.  How  would  he  do  that
anyway?  Yeah,  he  had  a  big  cock,  but  passing
anything but urine though it wouldn‟t be possible,
would  it?  Would  he  have  to  have  a  caesarean?  I
hiccupped  again,  nervousness  taking  over  every
other  emotion  that  played  out  inside  me.
Thankfully, we had come to the hospital in time.

“Thanks,” I whispered. Tears welled in my

eyes. Seeing Callum on the bed, helpless, dirty and
knowing

something…something

insect-like

and…and alien was growing inside him,
overwhelmed me. I began to cry.

Through my misty eyes I saw a nurse deliver a

tray onto the bed stand. On it sat a little white,
plastic jar. The nurse plucked the container off the
tray, opened it and took out a large pill.

The doctor said, “Just know that we‟ll be

administering Callum with medication used for
abortion procedures. The chemicals within these
sort of pills get into the bloodstream and cause the
embryo to dissolve. The life form grows quick, we

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only have about two hours to start this procedure
after the initial bite, otherwise the medication
becomes ineffective and surgery is required.”

She opened Callum‟s mouth while placing the

pill  into  kind  of  syringe.  He  stirred,
acknowledging  they  were  helping  him.  “Ready,
Doctor,”  she  said  with  a  voice  so  calm,  cool  and
collected I think I would have screamed at her if I
weren‟t  so  overwhelmed  with  emotion  myself.
People  like  that,  clinical  and  emotionless,  get  to
me, especially in situations like this.

The doctor continued his spiel without missing

a  beat,  “The  surgery  we‟ve  done  on  advanced
patients  hasn‟t  been  so  successful.  The  insectoid
embryo attaches itself to the heart, sending feeders
into  the  stomach,  lungs  and  aorta.  At  a  certain
stage  of  development,  the  body  lights  up,  the
embryo  mature  enough  to—”  The  doctor  cut
himself  off,  helped  the  nurse  administer  the
medicine  into  my  boyfriend.  “Nurse  Goodchild
will give him one of these pills every hour until he
can pass the dissolved foreign material safely. You
will need to be with him when he begins to wake
from the induced coma the embryo imposes on its
host, in about six hours or so. Until then I suggest
you get some rest. He will be in pain and support
from  those  he  loves  helps  greatly.  I‟m  sorry,  but
there‟s  nothing  else  we  can  do.  Any  other
medication  taken  now  can  reverse  the  effects  of

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the abortion pill. It will be a rough night for you
all.”

My dad shook the doctor‟s hand as soon as he

had finished performing his duties on Callum.
“Thanks, Doctor. We‟ll be with Callum as long as
he needs us, won‟t we, Jacob?”

I couldn‟t answer. I fell onto Callum, hugging

him tight. My beautiful boyfriend, so helpless, so
vulnerable, I  couldn‟t contain my composure any
more.  My  body  shuddered  with  my  emotions.  I
cried  and  cried  over  him.  He  was  my  world,
without him I don‟t know what I‟d do.

How long I held him, how long I cried for I

couldn‟t say. All I know is that Sheriff Tucker was
talking to my dad, and that my mum had brought
clothes for all of us.

Nurse Goodchild came back, giving Callum

another  tablet,  her  method  quick  and  precise.  He
was  still  in  his  coma,  breathing  gently,  but  like
before,  receptive  to  what  she  did.  He  looked  so
peaceful  it  broke  my  heart.  All  I  know  is  that  I
missed  his  quiet  voice,  his  warm  touch  and  his
caring nature. I wanted him back to normal.

I take it I‟d been sobbing over him for a least an

hour  considering  he  was  receiving  another
dose…or  was  this  the  third  treatment?  If  it  were
the second administration, then that would mean
the sun would be up soon, about five or six in the
morning  considering it was well past three  when

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this all happened. Dad came over to me, his eyes
sad.

“Here, put some clothes on, Jacob.” He handed

me a pair of jeans and a shirt. Not my best clothes,
but wearing something other than boxers would
be a nice change, and warmer, too. I had only just
realised my scant covering, aware of something
other than Callum‟s welfare for the first time since
we got into the hospital.

Mum came up to the bedside. “Go home and

take a shower, get freshened up and come back in
a couple of hours. From what the doctors and
nurses have told me, Callum won‟t be conscious
until this afternoon at the earliest.”

“But I‟m not leaving him, Mum. He needs me.”
She ruffled my hair and kissed me on my

forehead. “Darling, I‟m telling you this because
when Callum does wake up, he‟ll need you to be
strong for him. We‟ll stay and watch him. Now go.
Get some rest.”

“But…” My protest was weak. She was right.

Callum would need me later.

“Go. That‟s an order, Jacob.”
I got up. She always had a way of telling me

straight what was best for me. I let go of Callum‟s
hand, missing him as soon as I did so. “Okay, I‟ll
go and shower, but I‟ll be back soon.”

She smiled like only a mother could to her son,

one filled with love and warmth. “Good enough

Light of the Body

for me. Keep your phone on you just in case, okay,
darling?”

I hugged her, then dad. They were great.
Clambering into my clothes, I kissed them both

before I left, giving Callum a peck on his lips, his
taste  lingering  on  my  lips  as  I  walked  out  the
ward. My thoughts wandered to my friends. Was
Zane okay? How about Suzy? The man-thing had
mentioned  her  specifically.  What  did  he  have  in
mind  for  her?  What  was  the  purpose  of
impregnating the town anyway? Why was she the
right one? The right one for what? Then I thought
of  Mr.  Barnaby.  If  he  had  been  affected,  I  don‟t
think he‟d last, the poor guy. He was old and not
able to fight off any sort of attack. He could be in a
coma  on  his  shop  floor  right  now,  an  embryo
inside him.

My stomach churned. The thought of alien

things  growing  inside  people  made  me  sick,
especially  seeing  as  all  my  friends  could  be
affected, too. What did the doctor say, the body lit
up  in  advanced  cases?  I  shuddered.  I  now  knew
what to look for.

Then again, I didn‟t see any of my friends at the

hospital.  Was  that  a  good  sign?  Or  had  they
already  been  impregnated  and  it  was  too  late  for
them?  I  swallowed  hard,  all  the  thoughts  going
around  in  my  head  not  helping  me  think

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rationally. I snorted. What was rational about this
anyway?

I picked up my pace. I didn‟t head for home,

decided  to  see  Suzy  instead.  I  don‟t  know  why,
but I had to know if she was all right—well, okay I
did  know.  Whatever  was  going  on,  she  had
something  to  do  with  it.  What  that  was  I  didn‟t
know.  Not  yet.  The  first  place  to  look  would  be
Zane‟s  house.  They  had  spent  a  lot  of  time
together over the last few days.

Light of the Body

Chapter Four

had to walk to Zane‟s. I didn‟t have the keys to
mum‟s car and I didn‟t fancy going back into the
hospital to ask for them. If I went back in,

chances  are  I  wouldn‟t  be  so  easily  convinced  to
leave.  Mum  was  right.  I  needed  a  shower  at  the
very  least.  Perhaps  I  could  grab  one  at  Zane‟s
house.

The walk to his house would do me some good

anyway, give me some time to think, time to mull
over what had happened in the early hours of this
morning.

How wrong was I?
Have you ever had the feeling someone was

watching  you?  Or  worse  yet,  someone  following
you?  That‟s  the  feeling  I  got  when  I  reached  the
top  of  the  hospital  road.  I  clutched  my  arms
around myself. I would have turned back, should
have  turned  back,  but  something  pulled  me  on.
That  awful  odour  invaded  my  nostrils  again,  the

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one that smelt like the musty cockroach cupboard
smell.

A cold wind brushed up and penetrated my

clothing.  I  shivered.  My  cheeks  lost  feeling  and,
when  I  touched  them  with  my  numbed  fingers,
they felt freezing. From the bushes that border the
sides  of  the  roads  in  this  part  of  Pembroke  Eve
there  came  a  rustling  noise.  I  turned.  A  shadow
moved  across  the  bitumen,  but  was  gone  within
an instant.

“Who‟s there?” I yelled. “Stop fooling around

whoever  you  are.  I‟m  not  in  the  mood.”  I  really
didn‟t  feel  like  any  more  hassles.  In  fact,  I  didn‟t
feel  like  any  hassles  for  a  long  time.  I‟d  seen
enough to last me a lifetime.

The bushes no longer moved—well, other than

movement  created  by  the  gentle  breeze  that  now
came  from  the  east.  I  pondered  this.  The  sea
breeze  didn‟t  come  in  this  early.  Not  at  dawn
anyway.

I turned my gaze away. I really, really, really

didn‟t  need  this  right  now.  As  I  walked  on,  my
thoughts were once more filled with the image of
Callum lying on that hospital bed. Of how he was
before we went out into the night to see what that
dog was barking about. His lovely smile, his sexy
blue  eyes  that  reflected  his  gentle  soul  and  his
wonderful  wandering  hands  and  that  dirty  mind
that controlled them.

Light of the Body

I chuckled to myself, thinking of him like that

cheered me up.

A pebble then skipped across my path, as if it

had been kicked toward me. Again, I turned. Still
no one there. Now, I don‟t have to say how this
was beginning to annoy me. I didn‟t have time for
childish games or the patience.

“Show yourself or leave me alone!”
The bushes thrashed again. The sun slipped

behind a cloud and everything darkened, like
curtains had been drawn across the sky. Again a
chill knifed at my skin. I took a step backward. A
figure emerged from the undergrowth.

When the figure turned toward me and I

caught a glimpse of his face, I placed my hands
firmly onto my hips. Not impressed one little bit.

It was Suzy‟s ex-boyfriend. “Fuck, Corey, you

gave me a bloody heart attack with all that
sneaking around.”

Corey didn‟t reply. Instead, he sauntered up to

me and looked directly into my eyes. He was
wearing the clothes I had always seen on him, that
stupid red sports jacket with the numbers 89 on
the back and his best blue jeans.

Somehow he was different, like the shell of him

was Corey, but behind his blue eyes there was no
one there. He seemed empty and the result of that
was a pale and withdrawn look that clung to him
unnaturally. Certainly unlike how he normally

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looked with a smug, I‟m-better-than-you
expression, especially after the time I had given
him that blow job down at the creek all those years
ago. The smarmy bastard. I didn‟t like him one bit,
even more so now since Zane had told me what he
did to him. I‟m glad Suzy broke up with him.

He leaned over, still expressionless. He stopped

when  his  nose  was  only  millimetres  away  from
my  face.  He  hovered,  taking  in  the  air  in  great
volumes.  Through  flared  nostrils,  he  said,  “Keep
away from Suzy. She is our queen.”

I saw red. “Or what?” I questioned, folding my

arms.  But  those  words  he  spoke  sent  ice-cold
shivers down my spine. I had heard them already
today. This was getting freaky, if such a thing was
possible  considering  what  I  had  gone  through
already. Corey‟s body glowed with a light coming
from  inside  his  chest,  visible  even  through his  T-
shirt.  He  might  have  an  embryo  inside  him.  I
stepped  back  a  few  paces.  But  why  wasn‟t  he
unconscious or in the hospital?

This was all creeping me out, but before I could

add any more to the conversation, Corey fled back
into the bushes.

“What does that mean?” I screamed at him over

and over. I ran to where he had disappeared, not
thinking of my safety at all. What if he bit me? The
question had popped into my head once I realised
what I had done. I took a step back.

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Thankfully, I couldn‟t see Corey. In fact, I

couldn‟t see anything at all in the undergrowth—
not a bird or a bug or a critter. Nothing. How
could he have gotten away from me so quick?

I walked back onto the road. The clouds had

moved on and the ground was once more bathed
in sunlight. The cold had left me and for the first
time I was warm. I dismissed what had happened
from my mind. I had more important things to
worry about than an insect embryo-infested Corey
Harrington.

I worried about whether or not Suzy was at

Zane‟s.  What  the  hell  was  I  going  to  tell  Zane
when I got there and everything was normal with
him? He might not even know what‟s going on in
the  town.  He  had  been  holed  up  with  Suzy  the
past week, just as I had been with Callum. I could
hear  his  wisecracks  now.  He‟d  have  a  good  „ol
time  cracking  jokes  until  I  convinced  him
everything that was going on was real. Good thing
Zane‟s house was only a few doors up.

His house was a place that needed a good

measure  of  tender  loving  care,  I  had  to  admit.  I
mean, there were car parts and bits of rusted metal
everywhere. Most of the scrap was submerged in
knee-high  grass.  A  lawnmower  would  no  longer
be  adequate.  You‟d  need  a  flame  thrower  to
control the weeds and a neighbourhood busy-bee
to  clean  up  all  the  crap  scattered  about  his  front

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yard.  It  wasn‟t  Zane‟s  fault,  he  only  lived  there.
His parents were…lets just say, not as fortunate as
some, deciding not to work and only having Zane
as  a  means  to  supplement  their  meagre  income.
They didn‟t like him at all, referring to him many
times as the useless bastard. I felt for Zane. He was a
good  man  and  deserved  so  much  better.  What
kind  of  parents  tell  their  children  that  sort  of
thing? Talk about selfish.

He told me on more than one occasion those

welfare payments for him had ran out last year.
He was now eighteen and a burden as far as they
were concerned. Luckily, he had applied for study
assistance so he could continue in school. Good on
him, I say. Then again, I bet his parents took that
money off him for living expenses or some such.
More like drinking and smoking money, I‟d wager.

Once at the front door, I rang the bell.
Moments later, the door creaked open. Zane

smiled once he saw me. The trouble was, other
than his bright green Garfield boxer shorts, that
was pretty much all he wore.

“Hey, Jakey,” he said lazily as he scratched his

stomach  below  his  alien  navel  ring,  his  skin  so
white  and  his  hair  so  dark  in  contrast.  Kind  of
sexy.  I  could  see  what  Suzy  saw  in  him.  Hey,  I
could see what I saw in him!

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“Are you going to put something decent on?” I

offered, not really wanting him to get dressed, but
deciding my words were appropriate.

“Why? I‟m only answerin‟ the door. It‟s not like

there‟s a special occasion goin‟ on, is there?” He
grinned with a cheeky smile.

“What if I was someone important like the

Prime Minister or something?” I asked, my tongue
firmly in my cheek. I liked this sort of talk with
him and to be honest it took my mind of Callum
and everything else that was going on in the town.

Zane snorted, then said, “But you ain‟t anyone

important. You comin‟ in or what then, buddy?”

I patted him on his shoulder, accepting his

invitation. “Sure, you know I can‟t say no to good
looking men, especially half naked ones.”

Zane led me to his room. The way there was an

interesting  one,  that‟s  for  sure.  If  I  thought  the
front  yard  was  a  mess,  inside  his  house  was  no
better.  There  was,  for  lack  of  a  better  word,  crap
everywhere.  I  mean,  it  wasn‟t  dirty,  not  by  any
stretch of the imagination. It was cluttered full of
odd and sods and so many things, from books to
ornaments  to  furniture,  that  I  couldn‟t  walk  in  a
straight line. Nothing in this house was new, most
coming  from  council  pick-ups,  I‟m  sure.  All  their
money going on smokes and booze—all of Zane‟s
money, too.

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“So what‟s up then?” he asked when he closed

his bedroom door behind me. “I know that look.”

I sighed. “You aren‟t going to believe the freaky

morning  I‟ve  had.  Callum‟s…Callum‟s  in  the
hospital  and  I…I  need  someone  to  talk  to.”  My
throat tightened, my emotions rose up inside me.
“Seeing as you‟re a good mate, I decided to come
here  while  he‟s  still  in  a  coma,  you  know,  to
freshen up, if I can.”

“He‟s in the fuckin‟ what?” Zane glared at me,

composed himself and then added, “Is he all
right?”

“He should be okay…from what I understand.

The doctor suggested I go stretch my legs—well,
Mum and Dad suggested I go get cleaned up and
then come back when I‟m all fresh. Callum‟s going
to need me soon. I want to be there for him when
he wakes up.”

Zane looked rattled, but tried to hide his

emotions by stretching, pretending he was still in
the process of waking up. The sight of him flexing
in  front  of  me  was…how  can  I  say  it?  Attractive.
His  armpits,  with  their  little  tufts  of  black  hair
sprouting out of his white skin were so darn cute.
I  had  always  liked  how  he‟d  pierced  his  nipples.
I‟d never seen a man with pierced nipples before,
not in real life, anyway.

His demeanour changed, his glare intent on me.

He shrugged his shoulders, as if he‟d resolved

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whatever it was he was thinking about. “Sure, you
can do whatever you like to make yourself feel
better. I‟m here for you, buddy. So, is Cal okay?
Really, I mean, he‟s gonna be fine, right?”

I sat down on his unmade bed. He lifted up his

arms  to  stretch  some  more.  I  got  the  distinct
impression  he  was  showing  off  for  me.  I  didn‟t
mind.  He  was  the  coolest  straight  guy  I  knew—
well, I think he‟s straight. “I think he‟ll be fine,” I
repeated.  “The  doctor  reckons  he  got  to  him  in
time—say, you seen Suzy today?” I didn‟t want to
tell him everything yet. I don‟t think I‟d be able to
remain composed if I recounted the story so soon.
Besides, there‟d be plenty of time for that later.

“Nope.” His boxer shorts slid down off his thin

bony hips when he sucked in his stomach. I could
now  see  his  thick,  dark  public  hair  above  the
elastic.  “Normally,  she  ain‟t  over  till  after  ten
o‟clock.  Mainly  „cause  I  don‟t  get  my  arse  outta
bed  till  then  anyway  and  she  don‟t  see  the  point
prodding me into action.”

“I see,” I said, kind of half-heartedly. I didn‟t

mind  his  show,  but  I  was  also  becoming
concerned  with  Suzy‟s  whereabouts.  An  uneasy
feeling  tickled  at  the  nape  of  my  neck.  “You
spoken to her lately?”

“Nope,” he repeated. “I was about to go to her

place, seein‟ as I got woken up and all by the

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Prime Minister bashin‟ on my door this morning.
You wanna join me?” He winked at me.

“Yeah, that‟ll be good.” Having him come with

me  was  a  good  idea.  I  needed  all  the  support  I
could get. Besides, there was no way I was going
to  get  any  rest  now.  My  mind  turned  over  and
over  with  all  the  things  that  had  happened
since…well,  I  tried  not  to  think  about  it.  “After
we‟ve done that, we‟ll all go see Callum, see if he‟s
awake. Doctor says he should have his friends and
loved ones around him when he does.”

“Sounds cool by me. Anything for my buds. But

I  think  you  should  tell  me  everything  that
happened  with  Cals.  Sounds  serious  if  you  ask
me.”  He  wrinkled  up  his  nose.  “Say  I‟ve  gotta
change out of my old boxers first. I slept in these
ones  and  they  stink.  I  kind  of  did  a  bit  of
whacking  off  last  night  dreaming  of…stuff.  You
don‟t mind if I change, do you?” Right there and
then, he pulled down his boxers.

I gasped.

Light of the Body

Chapter Five

ane was…um, well Zane was well endowed,
that‟s for sure. He most certainly wasn‟t shy
about letting me know about it, either. I couldn‟t

take my gaze off him, yet I felt so dirty for doing
so.  I  was  all  for  Callum,  after  all.  He  was  my
boyfriend. Yet, seeing another man naked  and so
close,  too,  was  fascinating  to  say  the  least,
especially a magnificent specimen like Zane. Sure,
I‟d seen him naked before in the spaceship and the
cabin  in  the  woods,  but  not  this  close  and  never
alone.

My cheeks grew warm as I studied him.
The skin of his cock was snow white, like the

rest of him, really. He had a nice blue vein that ran
from the base to the end. Something I hadn‟t seen
the last time I saw him with nothing on. Then
there were his testicles. My gosh, A lot bigger than
Callum‟s and even my own for that matter. What‟s
more, Zane‟s were a soft scarlet colour, like pale
rouge. I also noticed that the head of his penis, the

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bit that wasn‟t covered by his foreskin, was that
same shade of red.

I think I had my mouth open, although, I

couldn‟t be certain about that. My gaze roved over
his  body,  feasting  on  all  he  had  to  offer.  Sure,  I
could look, so long as I didn‟t touch. Callum was
the  only  one  for  me,  but  I  was  a  gay  man  and
seeing  dick  was  seeing  dick.  Men  were  visual
animals and the vision before me pleased me to no
end.

I did love Zane, but on a different level than

how I loved Callum. With Zane it was more a
brotherly kind of love. Still, that didn‟t stop those
little butterflies in my stomach as I studied his
beauty.

The room grew warmer. Or was it me? The

sunlight  that  streamed  in  through  the  window
certainly looked fierce, so I told myself. He moved
away.  His  genitals  swayed  hypnotically  as  he
waltzed  over  to  his  chest  of  drawers  and
rummaged  through  them.  I  couldn‟t  help  but
wonder if Suzy had touched him in the same way
I  touched  Callum.  Had  she  taken  him  into  her
mouth? Had he been with her in the way only two
lovers can be? If she had, she was sure a lucky girl.
Then  again,  she  also  liked  to  play  games,  hard  to
get being her favourite, especially when it came to
Zane.

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“I think we should catch up with Mister B, too.

Make sure the „ol dude‟s okay.”

“You like Mr. Barnaby a lot, don‟t you?”
Zane offered a crooked smile. “He‟s like the

grandfather I never had, so yeah, he‟s a winner in
my book. Better than my dead beat parents
anyhow.”

I believed we had enough time to see Mr.

Barnaby after we had established Suzy was okay.
Yeah,  I  agreed.  It  would  be  nice  to  see  the  old
man.  He  was  a  mate,  after  all.  “You‟re  a  good
bloke, you know that?” I shifted my weight on his
bed.  With  the  effects  of  all  his  attention,  my
stomach slipped into overdrive with those flutters,
my cock going semi. I‟d never had a straight man
exhibit  himself  for  my  sole  benefit  before.  It  felt
kind of special in a funny sort of way. It was also
damn  fucking  alluring  knowing  I  could  never
have him but at the same time have him let me see
everything,  including  that  beautiful  tight  arse  of
his as he opened a bottom drawer and bent over to
get something within it.  “So…um, you and Suzy,
you…you know…you both—”

He stood up, a bundle of clothes in his hands.

“You  mean  are  we  fuckin‟  like  rabbits?  No  way.
She‟ll  keep  her  legs  closed  forever,  I  reckon.  I
don‟t  think  I‟m  good  enough  for  her.  I—I‟m
certainly  not  good  enough  for  most  folk  in  this
godforsaken town.” His stare went beyond me for

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the first time since we had entered the room. His
thoughts were on other things besides showing off
for my entertainment.

“That‟s not true, Zane. You‟re good enough for

me and Callum, and well, you‟re more than that,
you‟re family. I don‟t want to hear such shit.”

He blinked, coming back into the moment. “It‟s

not  like  I  haven‟t  tried,  you  know.  I‟ve  done  my
best to try and get her to want me in the way that
you and Cal want each other.” His voice sounded
sad and I felt for him. Why is it all the nice guys
always  end  up  getting  left  behind?  Suzy  would
rather  have  that  freak  Corey  than  be  with  a
gentleman  like  Zane.  Okay,  so  she  dumped  him,
but only because she had no choice. No one wants
to  be  with  a  paedophile.  Sure,  Zane  was  a  little
different,  but  to  me  that  made  him  all  the  more
special.  He  was  unique  and  if  Suzy  didn‟t  see  it,
then as far as I was concerned it was her loss. I‟d
have him in a  heartbeat—with Callum‟s  blessing,
of course.

“What about…other stuff? Has she even kissed

you?”

“Nope.”
I was about to open my mouth to say

something, let him know that he wasn‟t the one at
fault,  when  he  unexpectedly  turned  his  back  to
me.  Why  did  he  do  that?  He  seemed  to  be  in  a
rush.  A  stark  contrast  to  all  that  slow  stretching

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and posing he had been doing only a few
moments ago.

Moments later, Zane turned to me, his eyes

intense. He blinked, offering a nervous smile.

I understood why there was a sudden change in

his  demeanour.  He  was  obviously  feeling  the
consequences of what we had been talking about.
He  wanted  someone  to  have  him.  He  was  naked
and  he  was  parading  around  like  the  love  drunk
man  he  was.  His  pinky-red  head  revealed  itself
more and more as he got harder. His foreskin slid
back, retracting of its own accord.

Moments later, he had a full on erection. Fuck

he was huge when fully hard. I tried not to look at
him in that state. Sure, while he was flaccid it was
all fun and games, but erection territory meant an
entirely different thing. A red flag warning if you
will. I didn‟t want to ruin our relationship, not in
any way. Geez, it was hot in here, and I wasn‟t
referring to the temperature, either. Suzy was
nuts, fucking nuts if she didn‟t jump his bones at
the first opportunity she got.

He fumbled with a pair of boxers. A wonderful

bright  red  Cars  pair  complete  with  Lightning
McQueen  design  and  the  Boys  in  the  Hood
catchphrase from the movie. I stared at him for the
longest  while  as  he  literally  stuffed  himself  into
them.  He  certainly  did  have  all  the  right
equipment under his hood. He clambered into the

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rest of his clothes. I couldn‟t help myself. I let out a
giggle behind my hand. I saw the funny side of
this even if he didn‟t.

“Easy for you to laugh. You can relieve yourself

all over Cal. I got no such luck. My hand‟s my
only friend, hey?”

“As I‟ve told you before, if you want to try out

the same team, I‟d be all over you like a kid licking
a lollypop. Just don‟t be so eager next time to
show me your cock, otherwise you may not be
able to control yourself.” I winked at him.

Zane smiled, then mumbled, “I think… um,

you  might  be  right  there,  Jakey.  I…I,  I‟m  um…
sorry.  As  soon  as  I  finish  gettin‟  dressed  we  can
get outta here, okay? Suzy‟s usually at the General
Store this time of day. She buys me a Mars bar and
then  comes  over  once  she‟s  done  the  rest  of
whatever it is she does.”

He looked uncomfortable and he seemed to

shudder, like he‟d eaten something sour, wincing
as  he  slipped  on  a  shirt.  “Are  you  all  right?”  I
couldn‟t  help  but  ask.  I  knew  he‟d  hurt  himself,
and I knew that feeling all too well. Putting away
that  much meat  before it was flaccid  would have
hurt  anyone.  I  also  suspected  he  had  blown  his
load,  too,  but  I  wasn‟t  one-hundred  percent  sure
about that.  If he had, he‟d sure be uncomfortable
for a while. Poor guy.

He nodded, but didn‟t offer any other reply.

Light of the Body

I got up off the bed. As soon as he buckled up

his belt, he opened his door and dashed out of his
room. I followed.

By the time I caught up to him, he was well past

the front gate.

“Hang on, will you?” I said.
His pace was fast and he walked with his head

low, as if he were full of determination, full of
purpose. I think he was actually embarrassed he
had performed for me. As I had told him, I didn‟t
mind at all.

“We betta hurry if we‟re gonna catch Suzz at

the Store. She don‟t muck around—well, not with
stuff like that anyway.”

“Hey, what‟s the matter with you?” I grabbed

his  shoulder.  “I  told  you,  I  don‟t  mind  what  you
did.  I  liked  it  to  tell  you  the  truth.  I  like  how
someone  is  so  secure  in  with  their  own  sexuality
that  they  can  do  what  you  did  without  a  second
thought.”

He stopped, looking intently with his beautiful

dark brown eyes. He looked hurt. Then, as he
stared at me, his expression softened. A nervous
smile quivered across his lips. “I‟m sorry, Jakey. I
shouldn‟t of done that.”

I frowned. “You haven‟t done anything to

offend me. And if you did, I most certainly would
have told you. It‟s nothing you wouldn‟t have

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done for Callum, with or without me there, now
was it?”

He slipped his hands into his jeans‟ front

pockets,  looking  more  relaxed,  as  if  what  I  said
lifted  a  weight  of  him.  For  all  his  awkwardness
and clumsy gestures, he sure had a sensitive side. I
liked  that.  Zane  wasn‟t  self-centred,  prudish  or
filled  with  hot  air  like  most  straight  guys  were.
Guys like Corey.

Actually, speaking of Corey, what happened to

him? A cold shiver ran through me when I
thought about those words he said. I had heard
them so many times today already. What did they
mean? My mind wandered back to Suzy. I hoped
she was okay.

We walked on toward the General Store, our

pace blistering. I know he wanted to see Suzy. I
wanted to see her, too. I‟m glad we both had the
same purpose.

As we walked into the main street toward the

shop, Zane said, “Well, I‟m certainly gonna pay
for being all cocky, that‟s for sure. I won‟t be doin‟
that in a hurry again. Not without a visit to the
bathroom straight after, I mean.”

“Oh,” I said with a smile. My suspicions were

confirmed. He had cum in his pants. I slipped my
arm  around  him  so  I  could  be  closer  to  him,
reassure  him  I  didn‟t  really  care.  His  smile
widened.  I  sure  loved  it  how  he  trusted  me.  I

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trusted  him.  In  fact,  Zane  and  Suzy  and  Mr.
Barnaby and Callum and myself had been through
so much—probably go through a lot more, that we
only  had  trust.  Zane  had  proved  that  today
without  a  shadow  of  a  doubt.  “I  love  you,  you
know that, don‟t you?”

He stopped. Looked at me and replied, “Cum

spackle is a bitch to get out of pubes, you know?”
His voice was flat, as if what he was saying was
something ordinary.

I laughed. Not the usual reply to an I love you,

but for Zane, that was as good as it was probably
going to get. We walked on, the General Store in
sight.

Again he stopped. “So you really didn‟t mind,

then?”

I reached up and pecked him on his cheek.

“Not at all, you show off. You can do that any
time. Just know I won‟t let you leave without you
relieving yourself first, mainly because I would
like to see that, too.”

“You‟re the best.” We continued on our path.

“If you were single, I‟d give you one for sure,
make you beg for more until you gagged for it.”

I thought about that. Since when did being with

someone  mean  I  had  to  miss  out  on  a  great  fuck
from  an  adorable  bloke?  I  knew  Callum  would
approve,  especially  if  Zane  were  involved.  If  I
knew  one-hundred  percent  that  Zane  was

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interested, I‟d do my damndest to try and get him
between the sheets, between both of us. “Hey, I
can take anything you give me, you know. My
arse is yours if you want it.”

“Yeah, but that‟s Cal‟s hole, and I wouldn‟t do

nothin‟ to break up our friendship. You mean too
much to me, both of you.” He let out a gasp of air
through  his  nose,  then  chuckled.  The  resulting
smile wrinkled his nose and revealed his eye teeth.
I liked him when he was happy. “Just my luck the
person who wants me is an attached bloke and the
girl  I  want  isn‟t  interested  in  me  on  any  physical
level.  Fucking  geez,  I‟m  sure  a  magnet  for  the
wrong kind, aren‟t I?”

“You‟ll win her over, I‟m sure of it. If not, I‟ll

give her a piece of my mind just for you.”

“Thanks, Jakey.”
The rest of the time was spent telling Zane

everything that had happened that morning with
Callum.

* * * *

It  was  nearly  10:30  am  by  the  time  we  got  to the
General  Store.  I  went straight  to  the  counter.  Mr.
Barnaby  greeted  us  all  in  the  cheerful  way  he
always  did.  I  got  straight  to  the  point  and  the
reason we had come here in the first place. I told
him what had happened to Callum and probably

Light of the Body

the rest of the townsfolk, too. I also asked him if
Suzy had been in yet or not. She hadn‟t.

The thing about Mr. Barnaby is that no matter

what  I  say  to  him  he  always  made  me  feel
important.  Words  like  Oh,  I  see  or  That  sounds
terrible  for  Callum  and  Are  you  all  right,  dear  boy?
were  uttered  by  him  in  between  my  natural
pauses.

He hadn‟t noticed anything weird, then again,

he said he had been stocktaking all this week and
really, what impregnated town member was going
to come in the General Store for supplies? From
what I had seen, those affected were in a coma or
flailing their limbs like people possessed.

Zane paced the floor like an expectant father

next  to  the  massive  display  of  Pine-o-clean—good
price,  too,  at  a  dollar  forty-nine  a  litre,  which  I
would  have  to  tell  mum  about  at  the  soonest
possible moment. I knew he was waiting for Suzy.
He  was  right  to  do  so.  My  concern  for  her  had
reached  a  level  of  sheer  panic.  Where  was  she?
According  to  Zane  she  always  stopped  off  at  the
General Store before going to his place.

When I had finished telling Mr. Barnaby

everything I knew, he said, “Actually, now that
you mention it, I have noticed some strange
happenings going on lately.” He rubbed his white
goatee.

Zane came over to the counter. “You have?”

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“Yes, I have. Last night Aloysius started

playing up just as I was about to settle in for the
night. He was doing exactly the same as what that
dog did to you, Jacob. He was fretting, trying to
keep me away from the windows and doors. Yes,
he was.”

“Um, I didn‟t know you had a dog, Mister B,”

Zane said. “What breed is it? Bet‟cha got one of
those shitty dogs, one that sits on your lap and
all.”

Mr. Barnaby raised an eyebrow. “I think you

mean a shitzu, and no, I don‟t have one. Too much
hair all over the place. Not a good look for a shop.
I don‟t have any dog, never have, never will.”

“So, who‟s Aloysius, then?” I blurted. I placed a

dairy whip bar onto the counter from one of those
impulse displays. Mr. Barnaby waved his hand,
letting me have the chocolate without paying.

“My friend,” was the man‟s short sharp reply.

We all looked at each other. Mr. Barnaby turned
and fiddled with the newspaper stand next to the
counter, straightening them up.

Zane raised his thick black eyebrows when he

looked beyond the counter and into the back room
of the shop. “Who did you say Aloysius was
again? You hidin‟ some bit of fluff to rumple your
foreskin back there, or what?”

“Aloysius is a he, and no, I didn‟t mention who

he was. Did you want a free Mars bar, Zane? I

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know Suzy buys them for you all the time. Your
favourite, I believe.”

“Yeah, sure do,” Zane replied snatching the

confectionary  from  a  shelf  quick  smart  and
wasting  no  time  unwrapping  it  and  gobbing  it
down.  I  think  Mr.  Barnaby  mentioned  the  magic
word. Free.

Watching him eat that chocolate was even more

erotic than seeing him exhibiting his fine body in
front of me, if that was at all possible. Do straight
guys even realise how alluring something so
simple as eating a suggestively shaped object can
be?

Before Zane had finished, the shop bell tinkled.

We  all  turned  to  look  at  the  door.  No  one  was
there. It took me a moment to realise that no one
had  entered  the  shop,  even  though  the  door  had
been  opened.  I  mean,  my  thoughts  were  still
wrapped around the idea that Mr. Barnaby had a
friend we didn‟t know about. Who was Aloysius?
Was  he  a  cat?  No,  he  had  already  said  he  didn‟t
like  hair  in  the  shop.  Or  was  he  something  else
entirely?

The sound of a can or something falling off one

of the shelves came from the back of the shop. The
sight of a tin of Baked Beans rolling toward us
confirmed my initial thought. The can stopped at
my feet.

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“Who‟s there? Hello!” Mr. Barnaby called out.

“I have a great special on Baked Beans if you‟re
interested. Buy forty tins, get ten half price!”

“I‟ll go see who‟s there.” Zane picked up the

can, plonked it onto the counter and dashed down
the aisle to investigate.

As soon as he left me, the atmosphere inside the

shop seemed to darken and get close. In fact, it felt
like a storm was about to blow in and drop heavy
rain or something. The air was almost electric. I
got that smell caught in my nostrils, of rain and
stale insects.

I realised I was holding my breath, feeling the

urge to take in air. I gasped and worry consumed
me. Zane had been gone for a while.

“Zane?” I shouted.
There was no reply. The only sound was the

gentle  purring  of  the  refrigerated  case  that  ran
down the centre of the shop and the whirr of the
heating  fan  above  me.  Even  though  warm  air
flowed  from  that  vent,  a  cold  chill  shot  through
me.  There  was  something  in  the  shop  with  us.  I
had sensed the presence before.

I was about to call out for him again, he

emerged  from  behind  the  end  of  the  week‟s
specials bay—a display of soap powder and pretty
cheap,  too,  a  dollar  ninety-nine  a  case.  He  shook
his  head.  From  that  I  gathered  he  hadn‟t  seen

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anyone back there. But why didn‟t Zane reply
before? Surely, he didn‟t ignore me deliberately.

When he came up to the counter, another can

rolled toward me and from the same aisle, too.
This time a tin of spaghetti.

Mr. Barnaby tutted. “What is going on here?”

He lifted up the counter‟s access board. “If there‟s
someone in my shop, show yourself!”

I turned in time to see Corey Harrington step

over  the  clutter  of  stock  next  to  the  tinned  food
aisle.  He  looked  like  he  did  this  morning,  pale,
gaunt  and  with  a  blank  expression.  He  looked
frightening.

Corey barged past me and went to Zane. He

eyed him up and down and then took in a lungful
of air when he bought his nose close to his skin,
like what he had done to me earlier.

Zane recoiled. “What‟s up with you, man?”
In a voice cold and distant, Corey replied, “If

your  filthy  seed  contaminates  her  sanctity,  your
life won‟t be worth living,  mortal. She is the right
one. She is our queen and not for the likes of you.
You  are  impure.  You  are  nothing.  Don‟t  even
bother  with  your  mateship  ritual.  You  will  come
to nothing if you proceed down that path.”

“What the fuck does that mean, jerkoff?” Zane

spat.

“I can smell it on you. You stink of your own

filthy excitement. I can smell you want her. If you

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so much as touch her, I‟ll kill you in the name of
my Masters and the honour of my Queen.”

Zane opened his mouth, about to reply, when

Corey‟s  eyes  then  rolled  into  the  back  of  their
sockets.  He  shuddered  and  his  arms  jiggled
violently at his sides. We all stepped back, like he
was a bomb about to explode. His body glowed.

A cold wind blew through the shop. Well, not a

wind  as  such,  it  was  more  like  a  tornado  or
something.  I  covered  my  face  as  newspapers,
magazines  and  flyers  filled  the  air,  some  cutting
into my skin.

I yelled. By the time the wind subsided, Corey

had disappeared. Whether he went out the door or
simply vanished was anyone‟s guess. All I know is
that  he  was  gone  as  mysteriously  as  he  had
arrived.  What  had  gotten  into  him?  Was  he
possessed  or  something?  Again  with  the  queen
talk.  At  least  this  time  he  offered  some  more
information, as cryptic as it was.

Mr. Barnaby came over to me. He placed his

hands onto my shoulder. “Are you all right, my
friend?”

“Well, that‟s somethin‟ you don‟t see every

day,” Zane said.

“What did he mean by all that don’t touch her

stuff?” Mr. Barnaby asked.

I looked at Zane, then at Mr. Barnaby.

“Whatever he meant, we can‟t just stand here

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doing nothing. We have to get to the bottom of
this.”

Zane smiled. “Now you‟re talkin‟.”
“So where do we start, then?” Mr. Barnaby

said.

“Corey‟s house,” I added. “We should have

enough time to do some poking around before
Callum wakes up and needs us all.”

“Let me call Mrs. Leary to look after the place.

I‟m coming with you.” Mr. Barnaby let me go and
grabbed  his  phone  that  was  hiding  under  the
disturbed  newspapers.  He  was  dialling  before  I
could  blink.  The  old  man  could  move  when  he
wanted to.

Zane frowned. “I think Suzy may be in a bit of

trouble,  you  know  that?  Seems  to  me  her  ex-
boyfriend  still  has  somethin‟  to  prove.  I  bet  he
knows  why  all  the  town  folk  are  goin‟  all
possessed and shit. I bet he knows for sure.”

I agreed. “Yeah, and the key to all this seems to

be freak boy Corey. I bet if we find out where he‟s
been disappearing to, we‟ll find some clue as to
where she is.”

Mr. Barnaby placed the phone back into its

cradle. “It‟s done. We can all go and do a bit of
good „ol fashioned investigating. Mrs. Leary will
be here soon.”

I seriously think Mr. Barnaby enjoyed all these

mysterious goings on. Then again, I had to admit,

Light of the Body

Chapter Six

hen  Mrs.  Leary  arrived,  Zane  came  over  to
me.  Mr  Barnaby  was  engaged  in  chit-chat
with  the  woman,  handing  over  keys  and

giving her contact numbers in case of emergency.

Zane decided the time was right for whatever it

was he needed to say. I suspected the freakish
encounter with Corey Harrington had something
to do with what was on his mind.

“Am I that obvious I have it bad for Suzz?”
I took his hand. “Sometimes. But there‟s

nothing wrong with that.” Yep. It was about
Corey Harrington. Then again, everything seemed
to be about Corey, lately.

“Aww, shit.” He screwed up his face. “So, you

reckon I should just come right on out and ask her
on a date? How about to the Spring Dance? When
all this stuff is over, I mean. Seems everyone
knows I slap my monkey over her pretty much all
the time, don‟t they?”

Mark Alders

“You do what you think is right.” I hadn‟t

thought of the Spring Dance. That was a couple of
months away now. Should I ask Callum to go with
me? Perhaps we should all go together, as a
group. Perhaps we may get to meet this Aloysius
person if I could convince Mr. Barnaby to come,
too. “But if you asked me out, I‟d be on my knees
before you could finish your sentence. That‟ll give
you some relief.”

Zane laughed. “You‟re such a tease, Jakey.

Gotta love you for that.”

I smiled, there was his return I love you, done in

a way only he could manage, as an off-handed
remark.

Mr. Barnaby had decided to take the General

Store‟s truck to Corey‟s place, because he lived at
the  other  end  of  town.  Besides,  I  don‟t  think  Mr.
Barnaby  wanted  to  walk  that  far.  I  didn‟t  blame
him.  As  I  thought  about  the  events  of  the  day,  I
wished we had the field generator‟s knowledge to
tap  into.  Damn,  I  knew  we  should  have  kept  it.
Perhaps  it  could  have  told  us  how  we  were
supposed  to  deal  with  people  with  insectoid
embryos inside them. How did insects get that big
in  the  first  place?  Were  they  mutants?  The
chemical factory on the far side of the Westfell had
been  abandoned  for  decades.  No  one  ventured
near there. Was that where they had come from?

Light of the Body

My mind continued to turn over ideas while

Zane and I waited out the front of the store for Mr.
Barnaby. When the truck approached, I realised
Zane was staring at me, his eyes glistening. Gosh,
he was sweet.

“Will I ever have a chance with her?” he asked.
“I sure hope so, cause if you haven‟t I think

you‟re going to have to find another outlet to let
off some of that testosterone of yours.”

“Perhaps a threesome with you and Cal, hey?”
“Now who‟s the tease?”
“Who‟s teasin‟?”
I didn‟t know whether or not to ignore that.

Zane was sure hard to figure out. One minute he
was hot, the next as cold as ice. I shrugged,
deciding not to add any more to the conversation.

Saying that the truck was uncomfortable was an

understatement.  It  was  a  cabin  thing  for  a  start,
which  meant  that  there  was  only  a  bench  seat  at
the  front  and  someone  had  to  sit  with  their  legs
either  side  of  the  stick  shift.  I  was  given  that
position. At least I didn‟t have to sit on Zane‟s lap.
I  don‟t  know  how  I  would  have  handled  having
him  so  close,  especially  after  his  performance
earlier on. We were squashed, but we were saved
any embarrassment.

In the end, the drive to Corey‟s wasn‟t too bad,

though Mr. Barnaby drove the truck like the

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apocalypse was upon us. I didn‟t know trucks
could move that fast.

We turned into Corey Harrington‟s street with

a squeal of wheels and me having to hold onto the
seat for fear of squashing Zane into the passenger
door.

“Here we are then,” Mr. Barnaby said as he

pulled into Corey‟s driveway. “And something
tells me we‟re expected.”

Sure enough, Corey was by his mailbox.
There were a dozen or so other people with

him, standing there on his front lawn staring at us.
All of them had that zombie-like appearance.
Their bodies glowed, even through the material of
what they were wearing.

I was about to ask Zane to get out of the truck

so we could confront Corey and ask him where
Suzy was, when everyone on the lawn started to
make their way toward us.

Zane caught my hand when I reached over him

for  the  door  handle.  “Are  you  crazy?”  he
questioned,  his  face  had  gone  from  morose
disinterest  to  astounded  horror  within  a  blink  of
an eye. “Haven‟t you ever seen a zombie flick?”

“Yeah, but this isn‟t a movie. Besides, these

people  are  from  our  town.  Look,  there‟s  Mrs.
Weatherstone, and that‟s Mr. Wilson. Why would
they  hurt  us?”  But  as  I  spoke  those  words  a
terrible  feeling  washed  over  me.  I  knew  these

Light of the Body

people were not themselves. Sure, they had the
appearance of those I knew, but inside them, they
were different. Zane was right.

“Actually, they don‟t look all that friendly at

all,” Mr. Barnaby interjected.

I mouthed something incoherent as the

townsfolk surround the truck. Not only that, they
were beginning to pelt the vehicle with anything
and everything they could find scattered about the
road or around Corey‟s front yard.

A stone struck the windshield with a loud

thwack and a spider crack scratched up the glass. I
screamed.

“Quick, Mister B, get us out of here!” Zane

yelled.

Mr. Barnaby thrust the gear-stick into reverse,

nearly whacking me right in the balls. Thankfully I
shuffled  up  the  seat  in  time.  The  truck  jerked.
Before I could tell whether or not we had moved,
Corey  jumped  up  onto  the  vehicle‟s  windshield.
He  looked  right  at  me,  like  before,  his  eyes  were
intense yet distant.

I must have screamed again, because Zane

cursed  out  loud,  holding  his  ears.  I  was  close  to
him  and  he  uttered  many  obscenities,  but  words
that  more  than  adequately  described  my
experience  as  Corey‟s  bloodshot  eyes  bored  into
my soul from behind the glass.

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Corey punched at the window. After a few

attempts the glass gave way and I was showered
in shards. Blood splattered all over my clothes.
This time I didn‟t scream. I was numb with
disbelief.

Zane came over me, shielding my face with his

arm  as  best  he  could.  His  body  pressed  against
mine. Everything went dark. I can‟t remember the
next  few  seconds,  other  than  having  something
pull at me. My body was  being  yanked  out from
underneath Zane and I screamed. The truck must
have been moving at a great speed and erratically,
too, because as I slid off the seat, unable to control
myself, I fell.

Zane come over me as I fell onto what I could

only imagine was Corey. My landing was softened
by something, but that didn‟t stop me from falling
into unconsciousness.

I opened my eyes and saw nothing.
At first I thought I was dead. Well, not dead as

in buried six feet under, but dead as in how I
imagined it would be because I was surrounded
by darkness. But then again, if this was death and
death is nothing, how would I know?

I then knew I wasn‟t dead. That was a relief.
I heard movement around me, like foot

shuffles.  God,  I  hope  the  zombie  people  of  the
town  weren‟t  here  with  me  in  this  dark  place.
That‟d  be  all  I  need  to  top  off  the  freaky  day  I‟d

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been having so far. I thought of Callum. I wanted
him near me. To hold him. To touch him.
Anything.

My stomach tightened, my fingers tingled and

the adrenalin pumped through my veins. I was
ready to jump up and run away. But something
stopped me.

I thought Zane spoke.
Well, I didn‟t hear him speak as such. It was

more like a groan, and then a whine, which was
followed by more groans. Yep, that was him. I
hoped he was okay and not injured in the fall off
the truck. All I needed to top everything off would
be two people I loved in the hospital.

As I listened, I thought his groans had a

sarcastic undertone to them. Like a gee I knew this
would happen kind of tone. Yes, that was Zane. I
take it he wasn‟t feeling the best.

I bet he was feeling the weight of the fall ring

through his bones. I know I was. Which was
another reason why I didn‟t get up and run. I was
sore all over. I had this revelation when I tried to
move toward the sound of his moans. I think I had
been used as a punching bag. I winced.

“You okay, Jakey?” Zane‟s voice pierced the

darkness even though he was only whispering.
But his voice sounded a little different. As if it was
muffled by something. I thought I smelt that

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musty insect aroma I had been smelling all day.
Was there someone else here with us in the dark?

I dismissed that thought. If there was someone

else, surely I would be able to hear them. I sat up
as  best  I  could,  then  replied,  “No.  Not  really.”
Then  another  thought  struck  me.  “Where  are  we
exactly?”  Where  was  Mr.  Barnaby?  Where  were
the other people of the town? Then again, if they
were  here  I  would  be  able  to  see.  Their  glow
would at least give us some light.

Zane coughed. “We‟re in the storm water

tunnels that go under the Longmuir.”

Ah, that certainly answered the question that

had only just sprung into my mind. He shuffled
closer. Was he injured? I wished I could see. “Are
you okay?”

He didn‟t answer my question, but said, “It was

Mister B‟s idea to come here. And „sides we had
no other choice from what I could tell. The whole
fuckin‟ town are all zombiefied and kind of
wantin‟ our brains or somethin‟. Well, that‟s what
I reckon anyway. The folk of this town seem to be
all concerned with dead starfish boy Corey. I think
he‟s some sort of leader of them or some shit like
that.”

“I got that. What I want to know is the why and

the how.”

“Say, you think Suzz has somethin‟ to do with

all this, too?” Again Zane‟s voice sounded weird,

Light of the Body

even though he was closer to me. His voice had a
gruffness and murkiness to it I hadn‟t noticed
before. Was the darkness heightening my sense of
hearing? To me it didn‟t sound quite like him, like
I was hearing a recording of his voice played back
through the old tape deck my dad keeps in the
garage. I used to record my voice on it when I was
a boy, laughing at how silly I sounded. I wanted to
be a radio DJ back then, until my voice broke and
it lost any originality, that is.

Zane was now next to me. His breath wisped

against my skin and the heat off his body warmed
me. He placed his hand into mine. I didn‟t recoil.
Besides, I wanted his touch and being in complete
darkness made his company even more welcome.

“I‟m kinda scared. Mister B‟s been gone a

while. He took the only flashlight, too.”

“How long have I been unconscious?” But that

wasn‟t  really  the  question  at  the  forefront  of  my
mind.  I  wanted  to  know  where  Corey  and  his
army  of  zombie  town  folk  were.  Surely,  they
would  have  followed  us  into  these  tunnels?  My
mind  span  as  I  tried  to  concentrate.  All  I  could
draw was a hazy nothingness from my conscious. I
simply didn‟t have all the information I needed to
formulate  any  hypothesis  as  to  what  happened
while I was out of it.

“A while,” he said. He pressed against the side

of me. I swore he moaned again.

Mark Alders

“Are you all right?” I found myself repeating. It

was  then  Zane  took  his  hand  away  from  mine.
Whether or not he did it to divert attention away
from  himself  and  my  question  or  not,  I  couldn‟t
tell.  He  placed  his  hand  across  my  stomach.
Strangely, I liked what he did.

In fact, my insides fluttered as he moved his

hand across my shirt. He had a soft touch that was
sensual,  too,  and  I  couldn‟t  help  but  become
caught  up  in  the  moment.  “What  are  you  doing,
Zane?” I pressed my eyelids closed, trying to think
of Callum. But the heat in the storm pipes and the
musty  smell  and  the  closeness  of  Zane  made  my
mind fuzzy and my feelings inside become alight
with desire. I shook my head.

“I can stop if you don‟t like it.” He ran his hand

under  my  shirt  and  up  toward  my  chest,
concentrating  his  touch  around  my  nipples.  I
gasped.  “I  know  you  need  someone  to  look  after
you, Jakey. Cal can‟t do that now, can he? I can. I
can look after you real good.”

“Don‟t,” I snapped, sounding a lot harsher than

I had intended. I hoped I didn‟t dissuade, but I
also hoped I had made it clear I didn‟t want that
sort of affection, not from him and especially not
now. “Please don‟t.” What had gotten into him? I
thought he was straight? I thought he only wanted
Suzy?

Light of the Body

But he persisted. “You want somethin‟ more

then?”

Before I could answer him, he took his hand

away  from  under  my  shirt  and  placed  it  at  the
inside  of  my  leg.  He  rubbed  me  there.  Again  his
movements  were  perfect,  and  as  he  moved  his
fingers over me, his breathing became quicker and
deeper. I gasped when he unbuckled my belt and
unzipped  my  jeans.  My  underwear  was  no
obstacle  as  he  ran  his  fingers  though  my  pubic
hair.

I became warm, even more so than when

Callum  was  intimate  with  me.  I  placed  my  hand
onto  his,  stopping  him  from  exploring  me  any
more.  I  couldn‟t  let  him  do  this.  Yet,  how  he
behaved was different than before. Sure, when he
flashed his cock right in front of my face that was
Zane showing  off. Doing what  he does best. This
was different. It was like I wasn‟t with him at all.
Something didn‟t feel right.

When I thought about what was happening, I

felt dirty. Then again, I wanted to know what he
would do next. Was that wrong? Of course it was.
I should be at Callum‟s side instead of letting a
straight guy feel me up.

Geez, that sounded stupid, even to me. This

wasn‟t Zane at all. As I was about to get up, let
him know this wasn‟t a good thing to be doing, he

Light of the Body

Chapter Seven

ane‟s kiss on my lips then became a whole lot
more and the next words out of his mouth when
he had finished kissing me, most certainly

revealed that. “I want to have you. I want to have
you so bad it hurts. I always have.”

“But…but what about Suzy? I don‟t think—”

But before I could finish my sentence, or even my
train of thought for that matter, he pressed his lips
against mine.

I was gagged by his silky, wet tongue invading

my mouth, trying to dominate the new territory as
quickly as possible. He tasted so different than
Callum, sweet and sickly all at the same time. He
tasted like forbidden fruit, which is what he was.
My cock went so hard it ached. I groaned.

He took that as a signal to continue. That and

the fact I placed my arms around him, pulling him
closer to me, sealed it for him. Why I did that I
couldn‟t even hazard a guess. Damn him. Why
did he have to do everything so right? Bastard.

Mark Alders

I had to admit, his kiss was sensational. Gentle.

Teasing.  Warm.  Deep.  Every  emotion  poured
through  me  as  I  lost  myself  in  his  arms  and  I
became  so  rock  hard  with  my  passion  for  him  I
didn‟t know how long I‟d last.

He broke his kiss. All I could do was gasp for

air  as  I  tried  to  cool  my  thoughts  and  get  myself
out  of  the  erotic  spiral  that  happens  when  I‟m
given  this  much  attention.  He  fumbled  with  my
clothes, trying to remove my jeans and get me out
of my shirt all at the same time.

Even though I couldn‟t see a darn thing, I could

imagine the look on his face. It would be like the
time he paraded around for me in his room. I
could also imagine his beautiful cock as hard as
anything. Fuck! My pre-cum oozed from my own
dick. I was ready for him.

Moments later, the cool of the air stuck to my

skin. Zane had peeled my clothes off me. I‟m glad
there  weren‟t  lights  on,  that‟s  for  sure.  I  bet  I‟d
look  like  some  cheap,  dirty  ho  as  I  lay  on  the
concrete,  legs  spread,  ready  for  what  would
happen  next.  Geez,  I  was  pathetic.  As  I  tried  to
recall in my mind the events that led up to this, he
grabbed my cock in his hands, his grip tight.

He retracted my foreskin and rubbed his

fingertips over my head, letting my pre-cum
lubricate my cock. His tongue, his hot, wet,
sensual, magnificent tongue then licked me, teased

Light of the Body

me, before he plunged all of me into his mouth. I
let  out  a  delighted  whimper,  being  inside  his
mouth  felt  divine  as  he  rolled  his  tongue  around
my head. He worked the length of my shaft like he
had  done  this  sort  of  thing  all  his  life,  pulling
down  at  the  root  of  my  cock  as  he  continued  to
blow  me.  Sometimes  he  stopped  so  he  could
concentrate  his  efforts  on  my  frenulum,  other
times  he  moved  frantically  over  my  length.
Everything  he  did  was  fucking  wonderful.  No
wonder  Corey  took  him  into  the  back  shed  and
got him to suck him off. Zane was an expert.

At first my fingertips tingled. Then my toes.

Then, as he worked himself up to a rhythm and he
increased  the  pressure  of  his  touch,  my  stomach
began  to  tremble.  And  I‟m  not  talking  about  the
gentle  tickle  of  butterflies  either.  My  stomach
shuddered  and  in  time  with  the  movements  of
him over me.

“My…fucking…God,” was all I could say. How

lame was I? I wanted to scream out, both with joy
and with disgust. I hated myself right now. How
could I let this happen? Tears welled in my eyes,
and my bottom lip quivered as Zane continued to
work on me, his free hand now gently cupping my
balls, massaging them.

I placed my hands onto his head, not caring if I

ruffled his hair. He groaned and continued, not
worried I did such a thing. Before I knew it I was

Mark Alders

helping him maintain my desired movement. His
actions were so much better than when I touched
myself, even better than when Callum blew me. I
mean, his tongue had the right kind of hardness
and softness and all at the same time, too. It was
just…fantastic.

I approached the point of no return. My legs

went stiff and numb and my cock ached. I arched
my back, forcing myself deeper into his mouth, so
deep  he  made  gagging  noises.  Or  was  he  teasing
me  again?  Whatever.  I  was  in  heaven.  I  let  out  a
moan.  I  had  to  blow  my  load  inside  his  mouth.
Then I would be happy. He deserved everything I
could give him.

He stopped, letting me go. My cock slapped

onto my stomach.

“No!” I pushed his head down. Again my voice

sounded so harsh, but I didn‟t care. I had to finish
this.

“Shhh,” he said as he pulled my hands off his

head. “I‟ve got somethin‟ more for you.”

My cock tingled and the only sensation below

my waist was a dull throbbing that consumed me
and  seemed  to  be  ingrained  in  every  fibre  of  my
being,  every  muscle,  every  bone.  My  body  could
no  longer  delay.  My  mind  yearned  for  his  touch
and I was in the last throes of resistance before the
inevitable climax. Whatever he was going to do he
had  better  do  it  damn  quick.  I  didn‟t  want  to

Light of the Body

waste all this effort and have to start all over
again. I don‟t think I could live with myself.

My wish came true.
After he spoke, he opened my legs wider,

pulling them up so he could access my arsehole. I
whimpered  again.  His  warm,  wet  tongue  licked
my  balls  before  he  moved  down  to  where  he
seemed  to  want  to  be.  At  first  he  teased,  tickling
the  rim  of  my  anus.  Fuck,  even  Callum  never
licked  me  there.  My  thoughts  became  a  whirl  of
ecstasy  as  he  stopped  his  light  playful  touch  and
licked  me  like  I  were  a  girl,  hard  and  wet  with
long lashes of his tongue across my arse. I was his
pussy  and  it  felt  magnificent,  special  even.
Straight guys were awesome.

Harder and harder he went, sometimes piercing

me with his beautiful wet tongue. A wet slurping
noise filled the darkness around me as he made
me wetter and hotter and hornier. A gentle groan
finished off his licking, but the tingling sensation
remained.

I was ready to accept him. No, I needed him.

My cock throbbed as I  realised what  he intended
to  do  next.  An  intense  pressure  came  over  me,
deep  inside,  both  painful  and  pleasurable  as  his
cock  pierced  my  arsehole  after  all  his  attention.
What  he  gave  me  was  indeed  better  than  his
tongue.  I  had  him.  All  of  him.  And  I  had  given
myself  to  him  willingly,  too,  if  only  to  reach  the

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peak I so needed right now. His lips once again
silenced any protest I may have had. But I
wouldn‟t have protested. I needed this more than
the air I breathed.

His love was welcome.
He kissed me, gently pushing in his tongue to

part my lips. I tasted myself. In that moment my
body convulsed. The build up of pressure, the
long climb up to where I was could no longer be
the reason for holding myself back.

I orgasmed, soaking myself in my own cum.

Warmth washed over me and I welcomed it. Fuck
it was good. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Zane moaned and his body shuddered. He

must  have  cum,  too.  I  wrapped  my  arms  around
him, pressing him close to me, letting him get wet
with  my  fluid  as  he  continued  to  pump  more  of
his own inside me. He collapsed onto me, his heat
and mine stifling the air, but wonderful. I became
intoxicated  by  it.  He  panted  and  grunted  more
and  more  as  he  kept  on  unloading  himself  into
me, music to my ears.

I came down off my high. Voices penetrated the

dark before an intense light flooded the tunnel. I
shielded my eyes.

“Holy fuck!” Zane screamed. But it didn‟t come

from above me. Rather, the voice came from the
light. “Get the fuck off him, you disgustin‟ mother
fucker!”

Light of the Body

In the confusion that followed, Mr. Barnaby

yelled at the one I had just given myself to. He
ordered it to get off me. When the thing I believed
to be Zane pulled out of me, emptiness consumed
me, so much so it was tangible. But I couldn‟t
think of that. What was going on?

“There, Zane!” Mr. Barnaby called.
“Quick! Get the fuckin‟ bastard! I threw the net!

I threw the net!” Zane yelled at the top of his
lungs. “Shoot, Mister B. Shoot!”

My eyes began to focus. At first I could only see

shapes  or  what  I  thought  were  figures,
presumably  the  real  Zane  and  Mr.  Barnaby,
moving  about  in  the  tunnel  with  me  as  I
scrambled to my feet.

A gun fired. My ears rang.
“Got it!” Mr. Barnaby shouted.
My eyes became accustomed to the flashlight

beam  that  roved  erratically  across  the  tunnel
walls. To my sheer and absolute horror, a cloaked
figure was lying in the dirt next to me. He wasn‟t a
man  I  had  ever  seen  before.  His  face  was  insect-
like—no, it was cockroach like, yet also human. A
cross between the two. Its beady, dull eyes stared
up at me. It was dead.

A nauseous feeling overcame me.
I scrambled as quickly as I could away from the

man that had…that I… Oh my God, I couldn‟t
even say it let alone think about it. I dry heaved,

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forcing myself to try and not chuck up my guts. I
had been fucked by an insect man. No wonder I
thought Zane sounded weird at first. It wasn‟t him
at all. I was covered in dirt and cum, but I picked
up my clothes. I didn‟t want Zane or Mr. Barnaby
to see me like this. What had I done?

“Hey, Jakey, you couldn‟t wait to get your gear

off, could you?” the real Zane said, as cheeky as
ever.

I didn‟t answer him. In the gloom I could see

his painfully beautiful face complete with that
wonderful boyish smirk of his stare at me as if
judging what I had done. Guilt pricked at the back
of my neck as I clambered back into my jeans, not
even bothering to clean myself off.

Again I retched, this time at my own smell. I

felt ashamed. How could I have been so stupid?
What had gotten into me?

Mr. Barnaby came up to me. “If it‟s any

consolation, Jacob, this thing isn‟t the only one.
Corey was one of them, too.”

“Yeah, when we pulled you off him after you

fell from the truck, we saw the fuckin‟ bastard for
what he really was. Seems they can disguise
themselves, these things. Real freaky, hey?”

Mr. Barnaby patted me on my shoulder. “You

were fooled just as we all were.”

“Bet you thought you saw Cal giving you what

for, right?” Zane said as he wrapped up the net he

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had used to throw over my insectoid lover,
trapping it so Mr. Barnaby could shoot it. I‟m glad
the thing was dead.

My cheeks grew warm. “Yeah, that‟s it,” I lied.

“I mean, I thought it was weird how Callum was
out  of  the  hospital  so  quick.”  God  that  sounded
weak  even  for  me.  Why  would  Callum  be  out  of
the hospital, and more to the point, how could he
have  found  me  down  these  storm  pipes?  “Say,
how  did  I  get  down  here  anyway?”  I  added,
changing  the  subject.  I  didn‟t  want  anyone  to
know I  gave myself to what  I  thought  was Zane,
even  though  deep  down  I  knew  I  was  being
affected in some way by the insect man.

“We both brought you down here, thinking

you‟d be safe while we called the ambulance and
got  as  many  of  the  infected  townsfolk  into  the
hospital  as  we  could,”  Mr.  Barnaby  began.  “As
soon  as  that  insect  man  disguised  as  Corey  died,
the  folk  around  him  stopped  dead  in their  tracks
and did nothing. I suppose you could say they no
longer  had  any  purpose.  I  guess  from  that  you
could say these things are controlling the infected
people of this town. I mean, the whole east side of
Pembroke  Eve  has  been  taken  over  according  to
the ambulance men. This is spreading fast.”

Zane gave his trademark crooked smile. “To

stop „em we‟re gonna go bust some insect dudes‟
heads in. Mister B reckons they‟re using these

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storm pipes to get around the town unnoticed. We
only figured that part out when we saw you—
sorry, Jakey…but if you could see what we saw…”
he trailed off. I think he knew I felt bad enough
already. I nodded.

“The one on top of you was the fifth one we‟ve

seen  down  here  already.  Thankfully,  I  carry  my
trusty  shotgun  in  my  truck,”  Mr.  Barnaby  said
with  a  beaming  smile,  like  Santa  Claus  at
Christmas  he  was,  but  twice  as  jolly.  Yep.  He
enjoyed  getting  out  of  the  General  Store  and
hanging out with us.

I then felt pains in my stomach—well, the pain

was lower, more like my lower intestines. What
had the insectoid man-thing given to me when he
came? Dizziness struck me. The thought of having
anything inside me made me feel queasy. “What
happened to the real Corey, then?”

They looked at each other. Finally, Mr. Barnaby

said, “According to the ambulance men, he‟s in a
critical condition at the hospital. His whole body is
riddled with—what did they call them, Zane?”

“Neural cells or some shit like that, I think.”
“What?” I asked. I knew it. I was infected with

something, too.

Mr. Barnaby‟s face screwed up, probably from

the  stench  down  in  these  pipes  more  than
anything.  That  insect  smell  was  overpowering.
“From  what  they  told  us—and  this  is  all

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conjecture,  mind  you,  the  host  is  taken  over
somehow  and  their  behavioural  patterns,  voice
and  thoughts  are  transferred  to  these  insectoid
men. That‟s how they can look so real, even to the
folk  who  know  them.  But  that  one  on  you,  he
looked like—”

Zane coughed, cutting Mr. Barnaby off. “Well,

we know how they transfer it now we‟ve seen it
first hand. Seems they give the dude or gal they
want to copy a good fuckin‟.”

I threw up.

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Chapter Eight

fter I had wiped my mouth of my own filth, my
mind span with all sorts of thoughts and
feelings. Eventually, I said, “So let me get this

straight,  I  would  have  been  copied  had  you  not
come  in  and  killed  that  thing?”  But  as  I  thought
about  it,  what  they  had  said  earlier  didn‟t  make
any  sense.  My  insect  impregnator  sounded  and
acted like Zane and he hadn‟t been taken over. Or
had I imagined the thing giving me one was Zane
because I had such strong feelings for him?

From the way Zane shifted his gaze away from

me every time I looked at him, I‟d say he knew
what that insect man looked like. I licked my lips,
more out of nervousness than anything else. Did
they see the fake Zane fucking me senseless?

I was knocked out of my reverie when Mr.

Barnaby said, “That about sums it up, dear boy.”

I looked at Zane and this time he kept his stare

upon me. He smirked. It was then I knew he
knew. Unable to help myself I went to him,

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hugging  him.  “What  happens  to  me  now?  Am  I
going  to  be  taken  over  by…an  insect  brain?”  I
gasped. I couldn‟t even think about it. The thought
of  something  growing  inside  me,  taking  me  over
made me both angry and depressed.

Zane hugged me back, his embrace strong and

welcome, but brief, like a straight boy would have
done it, two slaps on the back and then the let go.
“Dunno, Jakey. But I know what‟s goin‟ on here is
somethin‟ more than what those ambos are sayin‟.
The dude ploughin‟ you looked like me.”

There. He had said it. I looked right into his

eyes and said with all the conviction in my heart,
“I  thought  it  was  you,  Zane.”  My  shame  washed
over  me.  “I‟m  so  sorry.  I  don‟t  know  what  came
over  me.  I…Callum  is  in  the  hospital  and  I  open
my  legs  at  the  first  chance  I  get.  You‟ve  got  to
believe  me,  something  affected  me,  but  I  don‟t
know what. Geez, I‟m pathetic, aren‟t I?”

He laughed, patting me on my back. “You can‟t

help it. I‟m hard to resist, I know. Once you‟ve
seen Zane in all his glory, you can‟t go back, hey?”

Mr. Barnaby rolled his eyes toward the

heavens. “I think we should get on with things.”

A great sense of relief joined in my emotions

and I let out a lungful of air to celebrate that
feeling. Talk about a roller-coaster ride of feelings
lately. “As far as I‟m concerned that thing tricked

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me. I would never do such a thing under normal
circumstances, you know that, don‟t you?”

“I know you wouldn‟t, Jakey. You would have

done  something  in  my  bedroom  when  I  put  on
that  show  for  you  if  you  were  like  that.  You‟re  a
top  bloke  who  got  duped  by  a  dirty  fuckin‟  bug
thing, is all.”

Then it dawned on me. “You put on that show

to prove a point, didn‟t you?”

He looked serious all of a sudden. “You got that

straight.  If  I  have  to  trust  you  with  my  life,  I
wanna make sure I can trust you in the first place.
This  town  freaks  the  shit  out  of  me  as  it  is,  even
more  so  lately.  I  need  friends  I  can  rely  on.  You
and Cals and Mister B and Suzy, you‟re all I got.”

He was right. Trust was the only thing we had

for  each  other,  especially  with  all  the  townsfolk
either  getting  pregnant  or  being  copied  or
whatever  it  was  these  insectoid  life  forms  were
doing to look like us. If he couldn‟t trust me, then I
wasn‟t any good to him. We all had to trust each
other.

Mr. Barnaby had walked ahead, shotgun

tucked  under  his  right  arm  for  easy  access,  the
flashlight‟s  beam  roving  the  walls  as  he  checked
every  nook  and  cranny.  “Come  on,  gentlemen.
This isn‟t a men‟s meeting. We have work to do.”

Light of the Body

“I suppose we need to go kick insect butt as you

say, Zane,” I said as I went up behind Mr.
Barnaby.

Zane clapped his hands. “Now you‟re talkin‟.

The sooner this freak show is over the sooner I can
go home and do stuff all.”

Mr. Barnaby stopped, checked his shotgun and

loaded another bullet into it. “I believe we should
go deeper into the storm pipes. Theses old east
side pipes eventually lead to the chemical factory.
Perhaps that‟s where we need to go.”

My guts ached again and I grabbed myself,

wincing  with  the  pain  that  shot  through  me.
“Whatever  we‟re  going  to  do,  we‟d  better  do  it
fast.  I  think  the  stuff  that  insect  man  gave  me  is
reacting inside me.”

Zane came up beside me, his eyes flashing

concern. “Don‟t you dare turn into some sort of
weirdo that can control the banged up folk of this
town, you hear? I‟m never gonna flash my dick to
you again if you do. I swear to God.”

I couldn‟t help but let out a chuckle. “Then

we‟d better make sure we hurry. Seeing your old
fella is the highlight of my day. Say, next time,
when you want to twirl around with nothing on,
make sure Callum and I can take pictures, okay?”

He let out a guffaw. “Deal. Just don‟t put them

on the net.”

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“Oh? Don‟t you want anyone else to see you in

all  your  glory?  A  specimen  like  you  should  be
shared  around,”  I  said  in  the  cheekiest  voice  I
could  muster,  giving  Zane  a  taste  of  his  own
medicine.

He placed his arm around me. “Naw, it‟s not

that. I gotta keep the mystery goin‟ for all my web
fans. I wanna get paid for my skin vids and pics
and havin‟ stuff on there for free is only supposed
to act as a teaser. Heard some guys make a nice bit
of dough on the side jackin‟ off for people to see.
Say, you wanna help me set that up…when this
stuff‟s all over, of course?”

I wasn‟t surprised to hear that at all. I sighed,

resigning to the fact I would never beat Zane at his
own cheeky game. “Sure. Why the hell not?”

Mr. Barnaby tutted. “I‟ll never understand you

young folk. Why is it about what you‟ve all got in
your pants? When you get older, you‟ll learn there
are some things far more important.”

“Hey, don‟t worry, Mister B. We don‟t

understand you either.”

I laughed. Sure was great to have the real Zane

next to me. I wished Callum was here. I missed
him more than anything.

After walking through dirty tunnels filled with

rats and bugs and God knows what else, we came
to a chamber, a sort of junction where four tunnels
merged into one. The place was huge. The odour

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of stale urine and that ever present cockroach
smell hung thick in the air. I gagged, covering my
mouth and nose with my sleeve.

“What the fuck died down here?” I said, tasting

the pungent air in my mouth.

Zane handed me the net he‟d been lugging for

the last hour or so. “Here, take this for a moment,
will you. I need to take a slash real bad. Besides,
adding some more piss into the mix around here
won‟t spoil the ambiance, that‟s for sure.”

“Sure.” The net wasn‟t heavy, more like one of

those light weight throwing nets fisherman use on
the river Longmuir in the rainbow trout season. I
had  watched  my  dad  in  the  past  try  and  catch
some of those prized fish as they come back from
their spawning grounds. I remember being soaked
to  my  bones  and  as  cold  as  all  hell  while  we
wadded  in  the  river  for  hours,  doing  more
chatting than catching fish. It was great fun.

Zane unzipped. Seconds later, a squelching

noise came from above. Mr. Barnaby flashed the
light in my direction, momentarily blinding me.
“Get the net ready, Jacob. Get the net ready!”

Stars scintillated in my vision as I fumbled with

the net. I blinked madly, trying to restore as much
of my sight as I could. I needed to be able to see if
I was going to throw the net and capture whatever
it was that was behind me. Mr. Barnaby needed
me and I couldn‟t disappoint him. I cursed as the

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net fell onto the floor, slipping from my fingers as
I tried to unravel it. I stumbled as I picked it up,
unable to catch my balance, landing flat on my
face in the stinking dirt of the chamber.

“Fuck!” Zane screamed. But it wasn‟t because

of what I did. An insect man charged for him.

A shot rang out. Then another. Two bullet

shells fell beside me and I knew I had to get up. I
scrambled  up  to  my  feet,  caught  in  the  net,  but
thankfully standing. The insect man was dead on
the  floor.  Zane  stood  above  it,  kicking  its  carcass
furiously  and  shouting  obscenities,  which
included  questioning  its  lineage.  The  front  of  his
jeans were stained dark.

“That was a close call,” Mr. Barnaby said,

dabbing his brow with a handkerchief he pulled
from his top pocket. “I think it came from above
us from what I could tell.”

I swallowed hard, looking up. Above us was a

cathedral-like  ceiling  with  a  hatch  at  the  centre.
The hatch was open and light flooded in from that
hole,  bathed  us  in  a  strange  orange  glow.  I
assumed  that‟s  where  the  insect  man  had  come
from. Why hadn‟t we noticed the light before? To
me it didn‟t look like sunlight. It would seem the
hatch  led  into  a  room  and  a  ladder  along  one  of
the walls led up to the hatch. “Where does that go,
Mr. Barnaby?”

Light of the Body

“I believe we‟re under the chemical factory, if

my bearings are serving me correctly, that is.” He
loaded his shotgun with a haste I hadn‟t seen from
him before, his fat fingers nimbly placing the
bullets into their chambers. I think he must know
we‟ll soon face more insect men, and in greater
numbers than one or two here or there.

Zane came up to me, helping me untangle the

net from my legs. “You all right there, Jakey? That
was quite a fall.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” I let

my stare fall down to his crotch, letting him know
what  he‟d  done.  I  couldn‟t  blame  him  really,  my
priority would have been to get my cock back into
my  jeans  as  quick  as  possible  if  I  knew  one  of
those  insect  men  were  behind  me.  Poor  guy
happened  to  be  pissing  at  the  time  he  shouldn‟t
have been.

He snorted. “Always when you‟ve got your

dick  out  your  pants  does  somethin‟  go  wrong.
Nearly  got  myself  caught  up  in  my  zipper,  too.
Damn  fuckin‟  bug  men.  Now  I‟m  gonna  stink  of
piss until I can change. Just my dumb luck.”

At least he could see the lighter side. I glanced

down at the insect man Mr. Barnaby had smoked
with the shotgun. One of its legs twitched. I sure
hoped the thing was dead.

I looked up again.

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To my horror, more insect men clambered

down  from  the  hatch  with  a  sort  of  agile  scurry
even  though  they  only  had  two  legs.  Some  were
already  on  the  ladder.  I  let  out  a  yelp,  nudging
Zane.

He saw what I had. “Say, how many bullets do

you have left, Mister B?”

“About twenty or so. I brought plenty.” The

sight  of  more  and  more  of  these  insect  men
pouring  out  from  the  hatch  above  filled  me  with
dread. I don‟t think the net would quite cut it any
more.  I  dropped  it.  So  did  Zane.  “Why  do  you
ask?”

“Because, Mr. Barnaby, we‟ve got company.

Look!”

Light of the Body

Chapter Nine

ane and I yelled at Mr. Barnaby to fire the gun.
He did so, letting off two shots in quick
succession before having to clamber with the

gun to get it re-loaded as soon as possible. All too
late. We were surrounded by hundreds of them.

“Jesus fuckin‟ Christ!” Zane yelled as three of

them grabbed him and pulled him away. He said
a lot more, but his voice was muffled by the many
hands that grabbed him.

“Zane!” I cried out before I too felt them claw at

me. I was being taken up the ladder, carried on the
back  of  one  of  the  insect  men,  having  no  choice
but  to  look  down  at  the  chamber  floor  as  I
ascended.  Another  shot  rang  out  before  the  gun
went silent. Mr. Barnaby was swamped by insect
men. “Mr. Barnaby!” I added. But what happened
to him next, I  didn‟t know. I  was pulled through
the  hatch  and  thrown  onto  the  ground  next  to
Zane. The insect men surrounded us like a living
cage.

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We were in a hangar-like building. What made

me realise these insect men had been planning the
town‟s  takeover  for  a  long  time,  well  before  the
aliens  invaded,  was  right  before  my  eyes.
Probably  well  before  the  chemical  factory  even
closed down for good about five or ten years ago.
There  was  a  huge  central  pillar,  a  pulsating
amorphous  being  with  hundreds  of  vein-like
tendrils  radiating  out  of  it.  At  the  end  of  each
tendril a mass, like a clump of living matter hung,
supported by more tendrils. If I  didn‟t know any
better  I‟d  say  I  was  looking  at  a  massive  living
organism.  Was  this  the  mind  of  the  hive  of  the
insect men?

There was even the sound of a heart vibrating

the foundations of the hangar, but to my surprise
many of the townsfolk, the ones with the light in
their bodies, were walking among the insect men,
carrying things and doing what I thought looked
like work. Were they slaves? So many questions.

I nudged Zane. He groaned, but didn‟t speak.

Instead  he  got  to  his  feet,  pulling  me  up  in  the
process. “What‟s up?” I said. But he didn‟t have to
answer.  What  he  pointed  at  filled  me  with  more
dread  than  even  the  sight  of  all  those  insect  men
charging at me earlier.

There was Suzy Gwendolyn Smith.
My mouth opened. Numbness radiated up

from my legs. I couldn‟t move. I couldn‟t think.

Light of the Body

Suzy was inside the central pillar, a part of it, and
all sorts of vein-like things came out of her body,
most from her head.

“What…what‟s happened to…you, Suzz?”

Zane questioned with so much pain and disbelief
in his voice it was tangible.

My throat went tight. I couldn‟t speak. I felt for

him. I felt for her. She was naked, immersed in
some sort of fluid. Was she a slave, too?

“Bring them to me,” her voice boomed, but I

couldn‟t  see  her  lips  move.  Was  she  transmitting
her  thoughts?  Or  was  it  not  her  at  all,  her  mind,
soul  and  body  now  a  part  of  the  hive  and  any
thought  or  free  will  she  may  have  extinguished
like the fragile flame of a candle against the wind.

We were pushed toward her, the insect men

making sure any escape would be met with force,
the force of their numbers that was.

“Suzy?” My voice sounded feeble as I finally

managed to say something, my throat dry, my
muscles still numb.

Standing in front of her made me feel

insignificant.  I  grabbed  Zane‟s  hand,  somewhat
involuntarily.  He  didn‟t  recoil.  I  think  he  was  as
dumbfounded  as  me  to  find  her  here,  especially
like this.

“Silence, Jacob,” she bellowed. “You shouldn‟t

have come here, either of you. You were warned.”
Her voice was loud and powerful, amplified by

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the living thing she was within, but in my mind, at
the  very  back  of  my  conscious  I  heard  a  little
voice.  A  child-like  voice,  one  I  had  to  strain  to
hear.  It  was  saying,  Help  me.  It  was  Suzy‟s  voice.
Suzy‟s  real  voice.  “I‟m  the  Queen  of  the  new
human  insect  race  and  soon  you  and  Zane  will
serve  me  and  our  cause,”  she  continued.
Electricity zapped across the tendrils as she spoke,
making the insect men chatter excitedly.

Zane tightened his grip in my hand, something

Callum would have done when he was scared out
of his mind. He looked like he‟d seen a ghost, his
face drained of blood and his mouth agape. Tears
welled in his eyes. “What…what‟s happened to
you, Suzz?” he repeated, but this time disgust had
seeped into his words.

I wanted to know more, my initial reaction at

seeing her as a part of the machine of the hive no
longer  at  the  forefront  of  my  thoughts.  If  I  was
going  to  help  her,  and  indeed  the  whole  town,  I
had  to  know  more.  “What  have  you  done  to  the
townsfolk? I know you haven‟t been a part of this
for long, we saw you yesterday.”

She smiled. “That was my double, created

purely  to  fool  you.  I  have  been  with  the
insectmans since the aliens left nearly two months
ago  now.  They  have  been  waiting  for  me  to  take
my  place  as  their  Queen,  as  the  one  who  has
calmed  their  thoughts  and  given  them  true

Light of the Body

purpose. Without me they are scattered, aimless. I
bring them order. I clarify their purpose.”

To me it sounded like Suzy was some sort of

central brain for these…what did she call them?
Insectmans? A weird name but accurate, I
supposed.

I hypothesized they had a sort of hive conscious

and  that  conscious  needed  many  controlling
minds to function, with Suzy acting as the central
core. To control people they needed to have agents
out  in  the  field,  like  the  double  of  Corey
Harrington for one. From what Zane had told me,
the infected folk of his street stopped dead when
he  was  killed.  He  was  controlling  that  group,
getting  directions  from  Suzy.  No  wonder  all  the
doubles  said  she  was  the  right  one.  She  was.  She
was organised and—well, Suzy was Suzy, and she
could be a cold hearted bitch when she wanted to
be.  The  insectmans  needed  someone  like  that  to
help them sort out the real issues at hand without
worrying about insignificant details.

I let go of Zane, stepped forward. “What‟s

happened to your double, then?” I asked, trying to
buy some time as I wrestled with my own
thoughts as to how we were going to get out of
this mess.

“She has been reabsorbed into the hive.”
“I see.” That didn‟t help at all. Seems she didn‟t

want to humour me. “So what about the

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townsfolk with the embryos inside them, just like
my Callum? What happens to them?”

Inside my mind I heard that little voice again.

Oh God, I’m so sorry about Callum.

My concentration was broken by Queen Suzy‟s

bellowing  voice  across  the  hangar.  “…we  have
many out there helping transmit our will. We also
have  a  few  out  there  inseminating  humans  to
increase  our  numbers.  We  need  both,  the  control
and the advance, one not able to function without
the  other.  That  is  how  we  procreate.  That  is  how
we survive. We will survive. We must.”

My suspicions were confirmed. First they sent

out insectmans to impregnate people, then they
sent out doubles to control those infected.
“Clever.”

You must help me, her voice said again. There is a

way, but you must hurry before their numbers get too

great and I am overwhelmed by their thoughts in my
head. I don’t know how long I can keep them from

taking me over completely. Help me, Jacob. Help me.

I didn‟t know how to answer the voice. I was

pretty certain I wasn‟t telepathic. “How?” I
blurted, wishing I hadn‟t the moment the word
passed my lips.

There was an agonising moment of silence

before the tendrils erupted in wave after wave of
electrical pulses. “I don‟t understand the

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question,” Queen Suzy said, her voice seeming
angrier than before, impatient even.

I could smell that cockroach smell again and, as

I  took  in  the  odour,  something  struck  me.
Pheromones.  They  were  using  pheromones  to
control  those  they  intended  to  copy.  Of  course.
How  simple.  Such  a  tactic  would  give  them  time
to  do  what  they  needed  to  do.  The  scent  the
insectmans released coaxed me into thinking that I
was  with  Zane  instead  of  an  insectmans  wanting
to infect me or whatever else it had in mind. It was
an  effective  tool,  seeing  as  Zane  was  still  in  the
forefront  of  my  thoughts,  that  arousing  private
show he did earlier saw to that.  My mind would
have envisaged him acting out my desires.

Yeah, that‟s it. I was thinking about him and the

pheromones  highlighted  those  thoughts  to  the
point  of  me  being  able  to  be  controlled.  It  had
nothing to do with Callum or any other feelings I
had.  The  scent  tapped  into  human  desires  on  an
almost primitive level and projected it. I liked cock
and  Zane  sure  had  a  fine  example  of  one.  The
insectmans became Zane—the Zane I desired.

“I…I…um, I was thinking out loud. As a mere

human I don‟t think I understand all that you‟re
telling me, that‟s all I was saying.”

“There is nothing to understand,” the Queen

spat. There was less and less of Suzy in her as our
conversation went on. Her words became more

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intense and harsh.  “Just know that  you will soon
become  a  part  of  us,  your  bodies  used  either  as
incubators or as transmitters for your doubles. We
will  stop  at  nothing,  Jacob,  to  get  what  we  want,
including  fabricating  someone  of  importance  to
the  one  we  desire  to  seduce  and  manipulate  and
bend them to our will.”

I knew she was referring to the incident in the

tunnel where I couldn‟t keep my cock in my pants.
I flushed with embarrassment. They were using
Suzy‟s memories of her friends and her
knowledge to help control people, too.

You must fight fire with fire. Use their scent against

them.  They  communicate  their  orders  from  the
transmitters  using  various  chemicals  amongst  each
other,  that’s  why  they  need  me.  I  can  see  things  they

can’t. I can direct them and help the transmitters guide
them better. But you must hurry. I can’t fight their will

much longer. As they grow in number more of what I
am is lost. They are taking me bit by bit. Help me. Help

me, Jacob. Help me.

How do I use smell against them? What sort of

smell would affect them? I wished I was
telepathic. I didn‟t ask. I didn‟t want the Queen to
get any more suspicious than she might already
be. Her stare bored into my soul. I shuddered.

This time Zane piped up. “Suzz, it‟s me, your

Zane. Talk to me, Suzz. Talk to me…please.” He
was becoming overtaken by his emotions, his

Light of the Body

voice like a broken whisper, rising and falling in
pitch as though he had just hit puberty.

“You will make a perfect transmitter, my Zane.

Hundreds  of  your  copies  will  roam  the  lands  we
conquer,  keeping  my  will  in  my  drones  minds.”
She  spoke  his  name  as  though  it  were  poison,
spitting  it  out.  “I  will  enjoy  watching  you  being
turned into one.”

He looked up at her, his eyes bloodshot.

“You‟re  not  fuckin‟  Suzy!  Suzy  would  never  do
the  things  you‟ve  done.  I‟ve  seen  how  you  make
us your transmitters and I won‟t let you do that to
me. I don‟t take it up the arse…not for that…” his
words  trailed  off,  and  again  his  voice  emotion
soaked.

“You will become a transmitter or die.”
Zane was about to be fucked real good, but not

in a nice way. I know, it‟s what happened to me.
“What are you going to do with me? You‟ve
already tried once and failed, your Majesty.”

Her cold, dark stare studied me and her brow

creased  before  she  said,  “You  are  right,  turning
you  into  a  transmitter  failed,  your  double  killed.
You  will  now  have  to  be  an  incubator,  just  like
your boyfriend, if you are going to serve us.”

“Callum?” I swallowed hard. “I thought the

doctor said he was going to be okay? I thought the
abortion pills were given to him in time?”

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She laughed. “So long as the transmitter is alive

who controls the group of incubators Callum is a
part of the embryo will mature.”

What the fuck did she mean by that? Who was

the transmitter in the hospital? The only people I
saw  were  in  various  stages  of  pregnancy.  There
was  the  doctor  and  a  couple  of  nurses  and  that
was  it.  Oh  God!  It  couldn‟t  be,  could  it?  The
doctor?  I  grabbed  Zane‟s  hand  again,  a  sense  of
urgency  overtaking  my  doubts  and  fears.  What
could I do to stop them from harming anyone else
I  cared  about?  How  could  I  save  Callum  from
giving  birth  to  one  of  them?  A  question  popped
into  my  mind,  one  I  didn‟t  want  to  know  the
answer  to,  but  had  to  ask.  “What  happens  to  an
incubator  once  they  have  delivered  an
insectmans?”

“They become our slaves, their bodies giving

off  our  light,”  she  replied.  The  insectmans
chattered  joyfully  all  around  us.  Many  humans
without the light inside them walked zombie-like
around  the  hive,  tending  to  the  tendrils.  I  take  it
those  were  the  people  who  had  already  given
birth and were now mindless slaves. I recognised
a  couple  of  people,  Mrs  O‟Doherty  one  of  them.
My heart sank.  We were supposed to be meeting
with  her  today.  Who  would  run  the  Food
Emporium now? Two months ago Mr. O‟Doherty

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was murdered by the aliens, now it looked like she
was a vegetable, a puppet of the insectmans.

I tried to swallow in my dry mouth. Anger

boiled  up  within  me,  calming  my  stomach  but
making  me  seethe  with  disgust  for  these  things.
Being gay, I had seen my fair share of hate. But I
now hated these things and I needed to know how I
could  free  our  town  of  them.  I  wondered  what
weapon I could use to wipe them from this place. I
then thought about what the real Suzy had said to
me.

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Chapter Ten

hat  smell  could  I  use  against  these  bastards?  I
thought  as  I  looked  around,  trying
desperately  to  see  if  there  was  anything  in

here I could use against them. Other than lots of
insectmans and living human zombies, there
wasn‟t anything else in my vicinity. Damn it.

Phenol, Suzy said with a pained voice. Was she

able to hear my thoughts?

Phenol? What the hell was phenol supposed to

mean? Was that something I could use against
them? What smell was Phenol? Then again, I
supposed the more important question would be,
what contained Phenol?

I can distract them one last time, to give you a

moment where they will become confused. Don’t worry
about Mr. Barnaby, I will protect him for as long as I

can.  You  must  run,  Jacob.  You  must  run  so  you  can
help  me.  Help  me.  Help  me.  Help  me.  Her  voice
trailed  off,  now  so  distant  I  couldn‟t  hear  the
words  she  spoke  anymore.  I  imagined  she  was

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103

finding it more and more difficult to defy the
living thing she was hooked up to. Again I felt for
her.

Before I could think of the meaning of her

words a shot rang out, echoing throughout the
hangar. All the insectmans around us scattered,
frightened by the weapon‟s sound.

“Hey, Mister B!” Zane said, twisting around,

looking for the old man.

But there wasn‟t any time to worry about

anything other than getting the hell out. Suzy—the
real Suzy—gave us a chance and I was going to do
my best to make sure we utilized it. I pulled on
Zane‟s hand to get him to go with me, yanking his
arm out of its socket. I didn‟t care. I ran for the
nearest door.

Zane began pulling me back.
“Hey, we‟ve got to get out of here, Zane!” I

snapped, more angry with him than I would have
imagined considering he had no idea Suzy had
been talking into my mind.

“But Mister B. He‟s still in there.”
“Listen. If we don‟t get out of here, we‟ll be no

good  to  anyone.  Suzy  has  told  me  how  to  defeat
these  insectmans  and  that‟s  what  we‟re  going  to
do, clear? Now hurry the fuck up!” I could feel my
panic  rise  up—my  blood  pressure  increasing  as  I
glared at him.

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Thankfully he didn‟t argue with me. As soon as

I mentioned Suzy his frown softened, his eyes no
longer  pleading.  He  relaxed  his  grip  and  let  me
lead  him  toward  the  door.  We  ran  with  all  our
might,  dodging  frightened  insectmans  as  I  took
advantage of Suzy‟s distraction.

We got out of there as quick as we could,

coming to the exit door far quicker than I had
thought considering we were quite a way away
from one.

As a few insectmans gathered in our path, no

longer  stunned  by  the  first  shot  being  fired,
another  shot  pierced  the  air.  They  cowered,
scattering before us like cockroaches startled by he
kitchen  light  being  turned  on.  Seemed  Mr.
Barnaby had been able to re-load the weapon. My
thoughts  went  out  to  him.  I  hoped  Suzy  could
protect  him.  I  hated  the  idea  of  leaving  him
behind.

The sight of daylight out those doors spurred

us on and we bolted toward it, not stopping until
we were clear of the chemical factory and well into
the streets of the east side of Pembroke Eve. Sweat
poured off me, my breathing laboured. We made
it.

Zane pulled his hand out of mine. There were

stains under his armpits. He was panting,
grabbing at his side. “Stop…Stop, Jakey…I‟ve got

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105

a stitch!” He doubled over, coughing and gasping
for air at the same time.

I looked around, not familiar with this part of

town. “Okay, we stop. But only for a little while.”
I gasped. Running blindly like that had left me in
the same state as Zane, but also a little bewildered.
The  east  side  of  town  was  sometimes  referred  to
as,  the  golden  mile.  I  could  see  why.  The  views  of
the  ocean  were  at  the  doorsteps  of  huge
Mediterranean-style  houses  with  sweeping
balconies  and  lots  of  glass  windows.  I  knew  a
couple  of  the  folk  who  lived  in  this  part  of  the
town, and to say they were well off would be an
understatement.

The house nearest us wasn‟t a house at all it

was  a  church.  Perhaps  the  rich  felt  guilty  and
needed  to  know  they  could  have  their  sins
forgiven  right  on  their  doorstep.  Funny  place  to
have a church.

Come to think of it, Thomas, the freckle-faced,

funny-toothed straight boy who made me jack off
thinking  of  him  and  the  boy  who  helped  me
realise  I  loved  Pembroke  Eve  and  that  this  town
was worth fighting for, used to live in the golden
mile. I wonder what  happened to him after High
School graduation. Perhaps he met a button-nosed
girl  and  had  freckle  faced,  buck-toothed,  button-
nosed  kids.  Perhaps  he  still  lives  here.  Who
knows?

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I contemplated the past and became amused by

the array of buildings in front of me, an action that
helped me gather not only my bearings but my
breath as well.

Zane called out, knocking me from my reverie.

“Stuff the stoppin‟, we gotta go, Jakey! There‟s one
of them insect dudes comin‟ this way. Look!”

“Fuck!”
The only choice we had was to get inside one of

the  pretty  houses  and  pray  we  hadn‟t  been  seen.
Zane  grabbed  at  my  hand.  His  palm  was  sweaty
and  it  took  us  a  couple  of  times  to  get  our  grip
sure. We both ran to the church.

We approached the sand-coloured rendered

building,  complete  with  modern  stained-glass
windows,  ones  that  soaked  up  the  view,  and  no
visible  roof  other  than  an  oversized  cross  above
the  entrance  door  that  seemed  to reach  up  to  the
heavens.  I  sure  hoped  the  insectmans  weren‟t
religious.

The door was open and the church was

deserted. I sighed relief. Both of us charged right
in and ran up the aisle, past hundreds of pews and
the large alter, toward the door that led to the
living quarters. When inside the priest‟s home, we
locked up everything we could think of behind us
and drew the curtains. I hoped out of sight meant
out of mind for these insectmans. If Zane saw one
as he said he had, then perhaps it wouldn‟t figure

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things out and come searching for us without a
transmitter drone near by. He did say he saw one,
right?

We stumbled into the kitchen. Zane let me go.

He  went  straight  to  the  fridge  and  without
hesitation opened it, rummaging inside searching
for  God  knows  what.  The  light  from  the  fridge
highlighted  the  beautiful  sheen  on  his  skin  from
all  the  exertion  we  had  endured.  His  shirt  was
soaked. The top of his jeans at the back had a dark
patch  of  perspiration,  near  his  belt.  No,  I  wasn‟t
checking out his arse, although I had to say, I was
now. He smelt manly, too. A combination of store
bought deodorant and perspiration and the musty
odour he had.

“You wanna drink, Jakey?” he asked as he

handed me a can of coke, a smile on his face
beaming victorious as he closed the fridge.

“Sure.” I opened the can, the click and fizz

echoed throughout the kitchen. Admitting that a
drink would be a good idea right about now, I
guzzled the contents.

Zane decided to use the can to cool his

forehead, doing so with a relieved sigh. He ran it
along his face, slowly, seductively, rolling it across
his cheek bones, his chin, his jaw line until he
found his neck. He let out a delighted moan as the
can touched his Adam‟s apple and he rested it
there for a moment before continuing to use it to

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cool himself all over his exposed skin. Fuck he was
sexy and he knew it. I stirred. Why is it straight
men are so fucking hot?

If Callum were here, I‟m sure he‟d agree by

ravaging me at the sight of Zane cooling himself. I
needed something like that right now. I needed a
good roll between the sheets. Geez, I missed my
boyfriend.

I smiled, before I said in a voice as cheeky as I

could muster, “Why don‟t you just make love to it,
hey? My God, Zane, you know you work me up
real bad sometimes, mate.”

He had closed his eyes, relishing the cool touch

of  the  metal  over  himself.  Opening  them,  he
pressed the can against his lips before he lent over
and  kissed  me  tenderly,  right  on  my  mouth,  too.
His  touch  cold  and  salty  and  so  sweet,  sending
shivers  down  my  spin,  not  helping  my  growing
erection  and  the  discomfort  I  now  felt  as  my
clothes  restricted  me.  “Would  you  like  to  be  the
can, then? Would you like me to fuck you red raw,
my Jakey boy?”

I opened my mouth, more out of shock than

anything  else.  “Stop  teasing,  you  bastard.  What
was that  for anyway?”  I  finally  managed, a pang
of  annoyance  shooting  up  inside  me  to  quell  any
more  erotic  thoughts  I  may  have  had.  My  cock
softened.

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109

“For getting me outta there, Jakey, what else?”

He winked. Did he want something from me? Or
was  I  reading  too  much  into  it?  Was  he  really
showing  me  his  appreciation  or  something
deeper?  “So,  what‟s  this  all  about?  You  know,
with what Suzz said and all,” he added, stopping
my train of thought.

I touched my lips where he had planted his

affection. My skin was still cold but also wet. I
resisted the urge to lick the remnants of his kiss off
me. Instead I wiped any sign of him off my mouth
with the back of my hand. “She spoke to me into
my mind somehow. I don‟t know how. I just…she
said she knew how to stop the insectmans.”

He came close to me. “Do you know why I

kissed you?”

The question threw me for a moment, and

again for the second time in as many minutes I
was stunned. “Not really. No.”

He let out a chuckle. “You like cock, Jakey, no

doubt about it, and I know I‟ve got one to bait you
with. I can read you like a book, you  know?” He
turned serious, his eyes intense. “If you were lyin‟
to  me,  I‟d  know  it,  you‟d  flinch  away  from
anythin‟  I  did  if  you  were  hidin‟  somethin‟.  You
never flinch away normally.”

I laughed, too, but not a laugh filled with joy.

More curious and cautious than anything. God,
was I that predictable? But he was right. If I had

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used false pretences to get him out of the hanger, I
wouldn‟t be able to face him, not straight away
anyway, not without building up enough bravery
to do so. “Yeah, I didn‟t flinch and you‟re
absolutely right.” You know, if Zane were gay I’d let

him fuck me until I begged him to stop. Then I’d gob
him down until he was so dry he’d beg me to stop. I’d

do that just to show him how much of a slut I could be
for him.

Zane must have known how I felt. I was

obvious,  I  know  it.  “I  know.  Pity  Suzy  don‟t  feel
the  same  way  as  you.  My  cock‟d  look  awesome
with  her  pussy  wrapped  around  it.”  He  winked
again. “So, what did she say?”

“She said that the insectmans don‟t like Phenol.

It interferes with their communications processes
or something like that. I suppose it inhibits
transmitter messages, too. She was quite adamant
I should get some. There‟s only one problem?”

“What‟s that?”
“What the hell is Phenol? And what‟s it in so

that we can use against them?”

Zane came over and patted me on the shoulder.

“It‟s Pine-o-Clean. What else?”

“Disinfectant?”
“Yep. Just like how I used to kill ants when I

was a nipper. They hate the shit. That and a
magnifying glass.” He chuckled and a sparkle

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ignited his eyes. He was relishing past victories
with insectoid life forms.

I cocked an eyebrow. “You know, you may be

right. We‟ve got to get to the General Store. I saw
some on special, tonnes of the stuff, right up at the
front near the first display case. I don‟t think Mr.
Barnaby would mind if we took some.”

“And we gotta get a dispenser, somethin‟ to

spray it over the bug men real good. Soak „em in
it. That‟ll teach „em for messin‟ with us.”

“Great, that‟s settled—” A loud bang stopped

my  words.  It  sounded  like  a  door  was  being
forced  open.  My  heart  skipped  a  beat  when  I
realised  it  was  the  front  door  of  the  priest‟s
quarters we were in.

I froze.

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Chapter Eleven

ane grabbed me, pulled me out of the kitchen. I
dropped the can of coke. “Let‟s git the fuck
outta here,” he said with fear in his voice.

As we came into a lounge, a shadow moved

across the wall. We weren‟t alone anymore.

“Hold it!” I blurted.
“What?”
“We can‟t go in there. There‟s something in the

room, I‟m sure of it.”

Zane pulled me back. “Then we git upstairs.”
“But we‟ll be trapped.”
“Not if I can help it, we won‟t be.”
“But—” Before I could continue my protest, he

had  led  me  halfway  up  the  stairs.  The  sounds  of
heavy  objects  crashing  and  thumping  onto  the
floorboards  and  that  terrifying  chatter  of
insectmans came from behind us. Zane pulled me
harder. My heart thumped loud in my chest, from
both exertion and fear.

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On the second floor landing we dived into the

first room we came to—a large library sort of set-
up, with views of the ocean and wall to ceiling
windows to take advantage of that view. The
priest here sure had it good.

“Who says there‟s no money in religion,” Zane

quipped, but his voice lacked that endearing
cheekiness he usually had.

Another loud bang sounded out from the floor

below  us,  then  another  and  another.  Dishes  or
something  similar  were  being  thrown  against  the
walls.  I  take  it  that  these  insectmans  were
searching the cupboards for us and clearing them
out in the process. I swallowed hard as Zane, now
with  an  added  measure  of  frantic  determination,
was checking the walls along the library. What he
was  searching  for  I  had  no  idea.  Beads  of  sweat
trickled  from  my  brow  and  numbness  crept  up
from my stomach to consume me.

I was about to question him, tell him that

finding anywhere to hide in this room was a
complete and utter waste of time, when there was
click. A section of the wall, filled with bookshelves
and uncountable books, slid open.

“How the hell did you know that would be

here?” I questioned as he shoved me into the room
beyond, a room about the size of a phone booth.

As soon as Zane joined me, he pulled a lever

above his head and the wall slid shut, blanketing

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us  in  darkness.  As  my  eyes  became  adjusted,  a
dusty  beam  of  light  illuminated  us.  Its  source  a
small  spy  hole  in the  wall located between  a gap
in the books. At least we could see out.

I had to say, this was one cramped little room.

Basically,  there  was  enough  room  for  me  and—
well,  me  and  that  was  it.  Having  Zane  with  me
made  for  an  interesting  experience.  There  was  a
small bench on which I sat, my knees pressed up
against  the  sliding  wall,  causing  me  great
discomfort straight away. My lower back ached.

Zane then sat on me. Yep. He sat on my lap.

Although, he didn‟t straddle me. He sat so his legs
come across mine, his arse resting on my right leg.
He  had  no  choice  and  couldn‟t  do  it  any  other
way. You see, the spy hole was at a perfect height,
too  low  for  someone  standing  and  too  high  for
someone  sitting.  When  he  was  on  my  lap,  that‟s
where its perfect placement became useful.

“I know who lives here, is all,” he said.
I was taken aback. Not understanding his

statement until I realised he was answering a
question I posed to him earlier. “Um…who?”

There was a tangible moment of hesitation, as if

what  he  was  about  to  reveal  was  something  he
had never told anyone before in his life.  “I  know
the  man  from…he‟s  a  priest  my  family  knows.
He‟s a…he‟s a corrupt mother fucker, as the size of
this house and its fancy contents will tell you.”

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115

I ran my hand across his back, trying to show

him that I understood if he didn‟t want to tell me
any more. “You don‟t have to go on,” I whispered,
the pain in my voice surprising me. I had heard so
many stories about the priesthood, some from
close friends, about what they did to boys. I
shuddered and that pang of anger returned.

Zane was hot and his shirt damp. In fact, I

could  smell  his  muskiness,  his  manly  odour
mingle and mix with the air around me. I became
so  intoxicated  with  his  scent  I  could  almost  taste
his  tang  when  I  licked  my  lips.  The  temperature
inside  the  room  began  to  rapidly  rise  as  our
breathing  and  the  heat  off  our  bodies  had  no
where to escape to. I became quite giddy. Add that
and  the  weight  of  him  against  me  and  I  could
safely say I was beginning to regret having found
this  hiding  place.  I  tried  to  shrug  off  any  erotic
thoughts  by  concluding  it  was  a  lack  of  oxygen
that was making this whole experience a little too
close for comfort.

“Naw, it‟s okay, Jakey, I can tell you about

him.” Zane shifted his weight, having difficultly
getting comfortable, too. He looked out of the spy
hole in between glances my way.

I began to sweat more, my fringe now dripping.

As I sucked in more air, trying to cool myself, I
caught the scent of stale urine and something else.
I took in another deep gulp. Yeah, that was it. The

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other odour was a hint of cum, from which one of
us I couldn‟t tell. Both of us hadn‟t changed out of
our clothes. I dreaded to think of what he thought
of me. I stank, too.

He added, “He‟s actually a pretty cool dude, for

a man of the cloth, that is.”

“You mean he didn‟t molest you?”
“Fuck no. He was the only guy who gave me

the time of day when I was growin‟ up.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I don‟t understand.”
Zane went stiff for a moment before pressing

his eye up to the hole. I tried not to breathe for fear
of giving us away. Could the insectmans smell us
even though we weren‟t visible to them? For that
matter, could they detect our body heat, even
through walls? If so, then there was no point in
trying to hide, was there?

My mind toyed with the many questions

popping into my thoughts, Zane seemed to relax a
little, his attention back on me. “You‟re one lucky
bastard, you know that?”

He grabbed my hand, the sweat making his

skin slippery. Nevertheless he held me tight. “Is
there something you want to tell me, Zane?”

“You‟ve got folks that care for you. I don‟t.

Never have.”

“What are you talking about? I care for you,

more than you can ever know. You‟re more than a

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friend, you‟re a brother I‟ve never had, so don‟t
talk such crap.”

He froze once more. Again there were

agonising seconds as he studied the outside
world. Again I tried not to breathe, although such
a thing was becoming harder and harder. The
priest hole was like an oven. Sweat poured off me,
getting into my eyes. I had to wipe myself all the
time.

No longer could I smell. Everything

overwhelmed me. Having Zane so close wasn‟t a
good  idea.  I  wanted  to  take  off  all  my  clothes
and—well, I could dream of what I wanted to do
with him if I got him naked in such a small space,
but suffice it to say, such a thing would make this
room  even  hotter.  I  thought  of  Callum  and  how
we  had  been  trapped  on  that  spaceship  in  a
similar  situation.  Callum  was  scared  out  of  his
mind,  and  I  had  to  admit,  having  Zane  with  me
was  sort  of  reassuring.  He  was  definitely  a  take
control kind of guy. I admired that.

After what seemed an eternity, he turned to me

and said, “The dude who lives here, the priest, his
name is Father Young. He kind of took me in and
showed me I wasn‟t a waste of space as my
parents told me pretty much every day. He would
fly kites with me, play cricket, that sort of shit. He
was awesome. I was only a kid when I was with
him…but he was also a rotten fucker, too. He got

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into trouble with the clergy or some shit like that
and had to go away for a while. I hated him for so
long for abandoning me.” He paused, stopping to
wipe away sweat off his brow or tears disguised.
His  fringe  had  become  plastered  to  his  forehead
and he flicked it away from his eyes. “My parents
are fucked up real bad. They only had me „cause I
was  a  welfare  payment,  I  told  you  that  already.
But what  I  haven‟t told you, besides the fact that
Dad‟s  spent  more  time  in  the  dole  queue  or
drinking until he couldn‟t move and Mum‟s a fat
lazy  fuckin‟  bitch,  is  that  I  do  everythin‟  in  that
house. And not once have they ever said that they
loved me. Parents are supposed to love their kids,
aren‟t  they?”  His  voice  broke  when  he  spoke  the
last sentence.

I squeezed my hand in his. “Go on.” I knew he

had to let this out. I knew he also wanted to tell
me more. I was there for him.

“You‟re a champ, Jakey, you really are.” In the

gloom  of  our  sweat  box  he  smiled,  one  full  and
one  that  revealed  his  eye  teeth.  “You  know  I‟m
eighteen now, and well, I‟ve got two weeks to get
the  fuck  outta  my  house.  My  parents  kicked  me
out  onto  the  street,  they  did  it  yesterday.  No
goodbyes,  just  a  git-the-fuck-out-you-freeloading-
bastard  and  that  was  it.  They  don‟t  give  a  flying
fuck where I go, so long as they don‟t have to feed
me or whatever. The government money dried up

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and I‟m no longer any good to „em. I was actually
thinking of comin‟ here, to shack up with Father
Young, but he said I couldn‟t do that.”

“Why not?”
“He‟s under investigation again. He‟s out of

town and in his last email he was—well, he was in
the shit real deep. Won‟t be back this way for a
couple of years, I‟d say.”

“So who‟s looking after his house? Why is there

food in the fridge and stuff?”

Zane shrugged. “I dunno. Perhaps some other

priest dude is lookin‟ after it. The place is exactly
how I remembered. Nothin‟s changed, even the
pictures on the walls are the same. Maybe the
church has taken it over. Whonose.”

“And this…this room, how did you find out

about this hiding spot?” I was full of questions,
but I also wanted to hear him let it all go. Good for
the soul getting rid of secrets.

Zane checked the spy hole before answering.

“He used to hide me in here when my Dad came
around to collect me. This was my safe house and
I  would  spend  months  here  sometimes.  Fuck,  I
would  get  a  whippin‟  for  bein‟  outta  the  house
after dark or when I never came home. Dad didn‟t
care  I  was  gone.  It  was  just  a  fuckin‟  excuse  for
him to take out his frustrations on my arse „cause
he  couldn‟t  git  his  fat  wife  to  suck  him  off  or
whatever. He‟d hit me until I  couldn‟t scream no

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more.  Jakey,  he  beat…me…bad…all  the  time.
Sometimes  with  a  metal  pipe  he  called  the
punisher.  He  punished  me  for  anythin‟.  Even  if  I
spilt  a  drink  or  some  other  thing  like  that.  I  hate
him and I hate her. I know kids aren‟t supposed to
hate their parents, but I do.”

“Oh…God.” Tears welled in my eyes.

Helplessness took me over. I couldn‟t do anything
to change his past, but at the same time I was
thankful he found the strength to tell me, too.

“That‟s how I know…Father Young,” his voice,

too, was weighted with emotion, his shoulders
began to heave, and his sweat could no longer
hide his tears.

“Father Young sounds like a top bloke.”
Zane‟s stare became distant for a moment. “He

sure is. Hey, you know what‟s funny?”

“No? What?”
“The fact that my parents actually had sex once

to produce me. I shudder to think of „em slappin‟
skin and touchin‟ uglies, you know? Dad probably
got so shit-faced one day they forgot to take
precautions. I‟m a fuckin‟ accident. A worthless
piece of shit accident.”

Again I let him know I understood by running

my free hand over his back. “You‟re no such thing,
mate. I‟m glad they had you, because in my book
they produced one fine example of a man. The
only true gentleman I‟ve ever met in my life.”

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“Thanks.” He hugged me. I became engulfed in

everything  that  was  Zane,  his  warmth,  his  smell,
his  caring.  I  closed  my  eyes,  taking  him  all  in,
letting him know I  cared for him on a far deeper
level than anyone else had in his life.

“You can come and stay with me, okay? I insist.

The spare room is yours to move into whenever
you want, you hear?”

Now it was his turn to protest. “But I don‟t

wanna—”

An object falling onto the floor made us both

jump. Zane didn‟t check out the spy hole, instead
he planted his lips onto mine. He kissed me, but
not like he did in the kitchen. This time he sent in
his tongue.

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Chapter Twelve

tasted him on an intimate level. My mind
clouded with confusion. His kiss was perfect, not
too soft, yet commanding enough to know he

was in control. He ran his hands over my face,
brushing away my hair as he continued to
conquer me.

I couldn‟t let out a moan. I didn‟t want to give

our position away. I didn‟t want the insectmans to
discover us. Not now. Not when I had Zane‟s
tongue dancing in my mouth.

He continued his kiss and his heat, his sweat,

his spice, his sweetness all mingled with my own
saliva in my mouth. I was in heaven—no, I was in
hell. Fuck. I didn‟t know what to think. All I know
is my body had suddenly come alive, my nipples
ached, my cock hardened and my vision became
blurry. A good kiss is always accompanied by not
being able to see. And Zane gave one fucking
good kiss.

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I thought of Callum as he continued to explore

me, his tongue chasing mine, going underneath to
tickle, then on top to let me know he didn‟t want
this to end any time soon.

My sweat continued to pour off me, adding to

the taste of our passion. I couldn‟t describe it any
other way. Zane wasn‟t teasing, wasn‟t testing me
in any way, he wasn‟t even doing such a thing out
of expectation. He kissed me because he damn
well wanted to. Plain and simple.

Then it was over.
He let me go and the second he did I missed his

touch. My lips tingled from his attention. I stared
at him, because there was nothing else to do or
say. He checked out the spy hole.

He hugged me once more, tighter this time. He

touched his face onto mine, our stubble rasping,
breaking the silence in our priest hole. I
shuddered with delight.

“They‟re gone…for now,” he whispered into

my ear.

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to form

the words I wanted to say to convey my disbelief
such a thing had happened. All I could manage
was an exasperated, “Urrrmmmm.”

He placed his finger onto my lips. “Shhh. I

know you‟re with Cal, and that‟s all
good…and…and I respect that more than

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anythin‟, but I had to do that, Jakey. I want more,
you understand.”

I was still stunned.
Zane continued, “That wasn‟t just a kiss. I

meant  so  much  more  than  that.  You  mean  so
much more than that. I gotta show you how much
more  you  mean  to  me,  Jakey.  Please.  I  don‟t
wanna  be  untouched  anymore.  I  don‟t  wanna  be
unloved.  I‟m  fucking  sick  and  tired  of  being
unwanted.  I  want…I  need  you  to  touch  me,
Jakey.”

I realised how he felt. He was lonely. Truly

lonely.  No  one  other  than  a  corrupt  priest  ever
took notice of him, and that was only when it was
convenient  for  him.  Zane  wanted  affection,  and
for  him,  for  most  of  us—no,  all  of  us—affection
meant  something  physical.  Being  physical,
hugging,  touching,  or  just  plain  old  sharing  your
deepest  feelings  with  someone  you  loved,  no
matter  the  sex,  had  nothing  to  do  with  sexuality.
My Grandpa used to tell me stories of his mates in
the  war,  soldier  mates  who  would  touch  each
other  to  reaffirm  that  they  all  cared  for  one
another,  right  until  the  end.  I  never  understood
what  he  meant  when  he  sat  me  on  his  knee  and
told me those stories. I did now.

Zane wasn‟t gay, not in the sense he only liked

men. Then again, perhaps I was wrong. Zane
wouldn‟t under any other circumstance be

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interested  in  being  with  another  man.  But  now,
after  he  had  opened  up  his  heart  and  revealed
how he felt, he wanted the experience to come to a
logical  conclusion.  He  wanted  finality  and
affirmation.  The  only  way  we,  as  humans,  could
do  that  was  to  be  with  someone  on  an  intimate
level. He wanted me to be the one who would heal
the wounds of his past.

“Answer me one thing,” I whispered.
“Anythin‟. I‟ll do anythin‟ for you, Jakey, you

know that.”

“This will be our secret. No one is to know.

Whatever  we  do  here  right  now  with  each  other
will stay with us both forever. You are more than
my  brother,  Zane,  but  I  know  you‟ve  been  hurt
many times in your life. I will do anything to heal
you,  you  know  that.  You‟re  not  useless  or
worthless,  you‟re  fantastic.  I  love  you  so  much,
but  no  regrets,  no  guilt  and  above  all,  no  more
sorrow. I‟m here for you for as long as you need
me.  But  after  this,  it‟s  Zane  as  Zane  has  always
been. Clear?”

He came over me, smiling. “Thanks. I just

gotta…do  this.  To  see  what  it‟s  like  to  be  with
someone  I  care  for  so  much.  I  want  for  Suzz  so
bad, you know, but Jesus, it‟s real…lonely. I need
you  to…do  this  for  me.  I…really…do.”  He  was
crying,  his  hot  tears  dripping  onto  my  face.  I
reached  out  and  hugged  him,  feeling  so  close,

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closer than I had ever felt with anyone. I never
wanted this to end.

Unlike before, when the insectmans disguised

as  Zane  wanted  me  back  in  those  tunnels  and  I
rejected his advances at first, I had no such desire
this  time.  As  I  embraced  him  I  couldn‟t  help  but
think  I  was  in  some  sort  of  weird  dream,  but  at
least I  now understood him. I wanted him,  too. I
was going to do my damndest to make sure he got
all  of  my  love,  enough  to  last  him  for  the  rest  of
his  life  so  he  could  get  on  with  being  the
wonderful human being he was.

“I‟m ready for you,” I said.
Nervous butterflies sprang up inside me. I

wanted  to  make  sure  I  got  this  right  for  him.  I
didn‟t  want  to  hurt  him,  not  at  all.  He  stood  up,
taking  off  his  shirt  and  unzipping  his  jeans  as
quickly as he could. I stood up, too, also disrobing.

“You can tell Cal about this if you like. I don‟t

wanna cause any friction between mates. I love
him just as much, too.”

I came up to him, running my hands over his

chest, concentrating my touch over his pierced
nipples. “Callum and I aren‟t exclusive to each
other, you know. If I said I was bringing you into
my bed, he‟d be in there, too.”

He kissed my forehead and embraced me,

roving his hands across my back, using his nails. It
felt good, and contrary to the fake Zane that

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fucked me earlier, the real Zane‟s touch was full of
deliberate  movements,  reflecting  his  feelings  and
his  need  to  be  with  me.  “I‟d  like  to  be  with  you
and  Cal.  When  he‟s  better,  I  can  show  him  how
much I love you both, all at once.”

You know, I wasn‟t surprised to hear this at all.

Zane wanted someone to love him, and by God, I
was going to do that. If he had his way, I‟m sure
he‟d like to make love to all of us, including Suzy.
A foursome. How kinky! “We‟d love to be with
you, too, my Zane.”

Before I could contemplate this new

arrangement,  he  kissed  me  again  and  his  taste
burst in my mouth. His hands had roved down to
the small of my back, massaging me there. He was
like  someone  who  wanted  to  experience
everything  all  in  one  go.  I  couldn‟t  blame  him.  I
wanted all of him, too. He felt my arse, pulling me
closer  to  him.  Our  heated  bodies  touched,
lubricated  by  our  sweat,  the  experience  was
fantastic.  I  tingled  all  over.  My  cock  was  now  as
hard as it was ever going to be. I was ready.

His hands continued to explore me. I pulled

away from his kiss and he moaned with
disapproval. “Don‟t worry, I‟m going to show you
something special.”

His deep brown eyes, innocent, wanting and

staring, as I moved down as best I could onto my

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knees. He placed his hands onto the top of my
head, running his fingers through my wet hair.

I kissed his navel ring, bringing my hands onto

his stomach at the same time. He was quivering, I
could feel it. I looked up at him and smiled, before
I  grabbed  his  cock.  He  was  huge,  bigger  and
thicker than Callum, no question. I pulled back on
his  foreskin  so  I  could  get  to  his  beautiful  head.
Pre-cum  dripped  from  his  piss  slit,  and  I  licked
him  clean,  the  tang  so  strong  in  my  mouth,
stronger than anyone‟s I had ever tasted. At first I
was  taken  aback  by  the  sensation,  but  soon  let  it
wash over me enjoying it.

I slid my mouth over his length. Zane let out a

delighted yelp. I couldn‟t take all of him into me,
his cock that big and hard. But I did my best. I‟d
choke on him first rather than let him down. His
stomach  moved  more  erratically.  His  breathing
became excited and he seemed to begin to swim in
ecstasy. Cupping his balls, those magnificent ripe
red hangers, I found my rhythm over his beautiful
cock.  About  thirty  seconds  into  the  blow  job,  the
taste  of  him  grew  stronger  and  stronger  in  my
mouth with each push on him.

He yelled out, “Fuuuuccck!” Gasping for air, he

added. “Stoooop! Please, I want to have you! I‟m
not gonna last much longer.”

I came off him, a slurping sound filling the

priest hole. My saliva and his pre-cum made his

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magnificent cock shine with our passion, the vein
that fed it bulging, pumping more and more blood
into  it  to  make  him  harder  and  oh,  so  fucking
desirable.  He  looked  awesome.  His  foreskin  was
retracted,  revealing  his  head,  a  big  and  beautiful
sight to behold. I yearned for him to take me. I‟d
love to take all of his cock inside me, the ultimate
way to show his affection.

I turned around and bent over as best I could in

the  confined  space,  ready  to  take  his  pounding,
but  to  my  surprise  he  twisted  me  back  around.
“What‟s  up?”  I  asked,  genuine  concern  in  my
voice.

“First I wanna suck you off, then I‟m gonna

fuck you until you see stars!” He took command
and pushed me against the sliding wall.

“Oh…my…God!” I yelped out. I shuddered

with pleasure. Those wonderful butterflies
consumed me.

A split second later, he was on the bench, his

beautiful  eyes  taking  in  the  sight  of  my  erection.
Before he began, he touched my body everywhere,
exploring  every  inch  of  my  skin  from  under  my
arm  pits  to  the  sensitive  place  between  my  balls
and arse. I let him. I loved it.

Without warning he took me into his mouth.

My cock throbbed as he made his way down my
length. He slurped and sucked and I knew he
relished everything I had. His hands continued to

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explore, but concentrating on my arse, fingering
my hole, getting me ready for his magnificence. I
spread my legs as wide as they would go so he
could do whatever it was he wanted to do. He was
good.

He moved his mouth over me, he used his

tongue,  slipping  it  into  my  foreskin  so  he  could
roll  it  around  my  head,  taking  in  all  of  my  taste.
He also moaned delightfully while he worked. He
did it so right and he did it with so much love it
took  my  breath  away.  He  had  come  out  and  he
was beautiful.

Then he came off me, stood. I smiled, knowing

what he wanted next. Before he moved around so
he could take me, he kissed me again. The taste of
myself  mingled  with  his  own  inside  my  mouth.
My  thoughts  became  consumed  with  him  and
what he did to me. Pangs of ecstasy rose up in fits
and  jolts,  like  electricity  coursing  though  my
veins.

He shuffled so he was behind me. I closed my

eyes, waiting with baited breath and gasps of joy
for  him  to  take  me.  He  did.  His  hot,  wet  cock
pressed against my arse. He forced himself inside
me.  I  gasped.  That  initial  jolt  of  pain  dissolved
once  I  let  myself  be  taken  away.  He  touched  my
prostate  moments  later,  sending  tingles  of
pleasure up through my body.

Fuck!

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He hurt and gave me so much joy all at the

same  time.  He  sank  himself  deeper  and  deeper
into me. I yelped and shuddered all over. I wanted
to  take  all  of  him  and  I  arched  my  back  and
pushed my buttocks against him to let him know
he could give me more. He was against the wall,
having  no  choice  but  to  sink  himself  deeper  into
my warmth. I was more than satisfied.

Zane lent over so he could nibble my ear, kiss

my  neck  and  tickle  my  cheek  with  his  lips.  The
sensation  of  his  breathing  against  my  skin  sent
more  shivers  of  delight  through  me.  He  pushed
his cock in deeper and deeper, so deep I gasped. I
knew  my  arse  wouldn‟t  explode,  but  fuck,  he
filled me up real good. No sooner had I recovered
from  his  penetration,  he  moved  his  hands.  They
came to touch my own erection, jerking me off. I
loved it. He wanked me slowly at first. His fingers
played  with  my  foreskin,  rubbed  my  frenulum,
felt  my  length.  Then  with  movements  more
forceful  and  rhythmic,  reflecting  his  own  actions
as  he  continued  to  make  love  to  me,  he  gained
more  speed  and  desperation.  I  could  tell  he  was
close to climax.

He kept on ravishing kisses all over my neck

and face. Our heat and sweat and passion poured
off us both. Our bodies became one. I moaned
more and he did, too. I gasped for air, the warmth

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intense between us, yet welcome. I could no
longer breathe through my nose.

“You should have done this with me ages ago,”

I  said  between  shudders  of  delight  and
overwhelming  emotion,  unable  to  hold  off  any
more. I came. My whole body shuddered with my
climax,  my  arsehole  tightening  around  his  cock
with  each  wave  of  elation  I  experienced  as  my
cum  splashed  all  over  the  priest  hole‟s  wall.
During  my  ejaculation,  Zane  continued  to  touch
me,  catching  some  of  my  fluid  in  his  fingers,
feeling my silkiness and using it to lubricate me.

“I…was….scared.” He let go of my cock,

pushed himself against me, going inside me with
all of his length and embracing me tight, so tight I
couldn‟t breathe, before his whole body trembled.
He came, too. He convulsed with each pulse of his
ejaculation. More and more he gave me, planting
more heated kisses all over my face as I twisted
my neck to let him.

Zane cried out when he finished his final shot.

But he didn‟t pull out, deciding he would keep
himself within me until he was flaccid. I liked that
touch. It showed me he never wanted to let me go.
I wasn‟t just a fuck tool, a release for him. I was his
love in physical form and he needed me.

I couldn‟t wait for the moment when Callum

and I could share our love with him, too.

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Chapter Thirteen

hen  we  parted,  he  let  me  sit  on  his  lap.  We
stayed  naked.  His  hands,  those  wonderful
wandering  hands  of  his,  kept  on  exploring

my body, like he wanted to keep reaffirming to
himself that this love was real, as if his touch over
me solidified that in his mind. I straddled him, my
now flaccid cock touching his navel ring. It was
cold.

“I sure want to share more of those experiences

with you, Zane, you were awesome. But promise
me you won‟t ever shy away from me or Callum
or any of us ever again. We all love you, you know
that?”  I  kissed  him,  then  added,  “Say,  when  you
paraded around for me and then when you kissed
me back there in the  kitchen, you weren‟t testing
me  at  all,  were  you?  You  were  testing  yourself.
You wanted to see how far you could go.”

He rubbed me tenderly across my chest,

planting more meaningful kisses over my face and
neck. “I‟m so sorry for leadin‟ you along, but I had

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to be sure you‟d accept me. I‟ve been…rejected all
my life and…well, I had to make sure, is all.”

“I wouldn‟t lie to you ever. If I said I wanted

you with all my heart, then that‟s how I really feel.
I‟m  so  glad  you  came  out  to  me  and  we  shared
what we did together.” I kissed him again, chased
his tongue with my own, experiencing his wet and
wonderful  warmth.  After  we  shared  our  passion
once  more  and  his  taste  became  a  part  of  me,  I
parted. Our breathing so deep, but in unison as we
touched each other in all of the places that were no
longer secret.

“Suppose I‟m a fag boy now, hey?” he said, his

eyes sparkling with joy.

“Yep, and I‟m glad.” I giggled.
He laughed, too. “Suppose it‟s time we kicked

some bug dudes heads in, too. That way I can fuck
you some more without worryin‟ about „em no
more.”

“You‟re such a charmer, but you‟re right. We‟ve

got work to do. I tell you what, I‟d kill for a
shower and some fresh clothes right now though.”

“Yeah,” he said with more delighted giggles. “I

hear that.”

We both dressed, helping each other and

continuing to feel each other up in the process.
Zane was getting hard again. “You really do mean
so much to me, Jakey.” He pulled on the lever that
opened the sliding wall.

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Cool air hit me like a slap on the face. Cool,

fresh  air.  God,  I  must  have  looked  a  sight,
dripping  wet,  stinking  to  high  heaven  and  so
lovesick  for  both  Zane  and  Callum  that  I  could
hardly  walk.  I  was  a  mess,  but  in  the  best  way
possible.

“Although, I don‟t fancy being chased all the

way through town by insectmans, you know. The
General Store is too far away for us to walk.”

“Then we drive.”
I looked at him and yep, he had that trademark

cheeky grin, that sexy smile that lit up his face and
revealed the true measure of his soul. He was back
and  better  than  before.  “The  church  has  a  ute.  I
used to drive the utility vehicle around the farms,
doin‟  errands  for  Father  Young.  Then  again,  he
wanted me outta his house so he could gamble or
whatever  the  fuck  he  did  to  end  him  up  in
trouble.”

I wiped my brow. He slipped his hand into

mine and squeezed. A joy oozed out of him I had
never seen before. “I would have let you ravish
me all over the moment I met you,” I said.

“I know. I had to stop myself so many times.

You were the result of many night-time jack offs, I
have to say. Plus, I didn‟t want Suzz to think I
wasn‟t interested in her. I didn‟t want to put her
off and ruin my chances.”

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“I think she‟ll think it‟s marvellous that you‟ve

opened up and showed me how you really feel.
Girls love that stuff.”

“They do?”
“Hell, yeah. You‟ll be in for sure.”
“Thanks, Jakey. I‟m so lucky to have you.”
“I‟m lucky to have you, you mean.” I planted a

kiss on his cheek and in that moment I knew I was
the most loved man on the planet. I smiled, full
and beaming as we left the priest‟s library.

Soon, we found the ute Zane had mentioned

and we were driving out of the streets of the
golden mile. A place I think I‟ll remember for the
rest of my life. I let him drive, he was the man,
after all.

One thing I noticed as we made our way into

town, taking the Westfell road that seemed to tour
the forest in this part of Pembroke, was that there
were no townsfolk about. Even in the town centre
the streets were deserted.

I thought I caught glimpses of movement in the

shadows, but other than that, nothing. Not even a
bird or ground critter stirred.

Zane parked the utility right in front of the

General  Store,  a  feat  in  itself.  Most  times  the
parking  bays  at  the  front  of  the  shop  were  full,
more so when Mr. Barnaby had some bargains on.
Pine-o-clean  at  that  price  a  litre  would  have  the
town in a frenzy, spring was approaching fast and

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so was the traditional cleaning season. Mr
Barnaby sure knew how to capitalise on the
whims of the town. Good on him, I say.

Zane pulled on the handbrake.
“So we all going to the Spring Dance together,

then?”  I  asked.  “When  this  is  all  over,  I  mean?”
Funny  I  should  have  said  that,  the  damn  thing
never interested me before. I hated the dance. Not
now.  I  couldn‟t  wait  to  get  dressed  up,  receive
corsages from the two men I loved and dance and
drink and show the whole  world I  was as happy
as I had ever been in my life.

“You better believe it. I‟m there.”
He came around and opened the door for me. I

blushed, no one had ever been such a gentleman—
well, okay, Callum had been, but it was such a
nice feeling being treated as though I were special
by two beautiful men.

Zane grabbed my hand once more, leading me

into the store.

The echo of the shop bell was our only

welcome. The place was deserted, too. Where was
Mrs. Leary? Why had she left the shop open and
unattended? I looked at Zane.

He must have been thinking the same thing.

The worry in his eyes matched my concern. But
that didn‟t stop him from doing what we came
here for. He started pulling bottles of pine-o-clean

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138

off the display. I joined him. No time to worry
about that now.

“Better grab a sprayer or somethin‟, you know,

the pressure bottle type, ones that can hold a heap,
too.”

I knew the ones he was talking about. Dad used

a pump action bottle to spray the roses of aphids
at  our  place.  I  went  to  the  back  of  the  shop,  the
place  where  all  the  garden  knick-knacks  were
kept.  On  the  bottom  shelf,  there  they  were,  an
assortment of bottles perfect for what we needed.

I lent over to grab two of the biggest bottles. A

sort of shuffling noise came from the storeroom. I
froze, stunned by the realisation that we may not
be alone as I had first thought.

Fuck, I hoped it wasn‟t an insectmans, not yet.

We weren‟t ready. We hadn‟t even poured any of
the disinfectant into the bottles yet. Talk about
being caught with our pants down. Why was
nothing ever easy?

I picked up the bottles and began to step away

from the garden display, trying not to make any
sound.

The floor boards creaked and I cursed myself

for being so clumsy. I froze again, the sound of
blood rushing through my veins filled my ears.
Other than that, silence haunted the store.

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139

Silence until there was that noise again. A

shuffle. A scrape. A long drawn out rasp along a
surface. I swallowed hard.

“Hey, there you are,” Zane said, scaring the

living shit out of me. I held my chest, catching my
breath.

“Shhh.” I glared at him, but not in an uncaring

way, no way. I wanted him to know I was
worried.

He picked up on my message. “Where?”
“The storeroom.”
“Here.” He handed me a couple of bottles of

pine-o-clean, unscrewing the lids as he did so.

I opened one of the pressure pump bottles and

poured in the contents. Once a few bottles of the
disinfectant had been emptied into the container, I
sealed the lid and pumped on the handle to fill the
bottle with pressure.

Seconds later, I couldn‟t push down the handle

any more. The weapon was primed. Zane had also
prepared his own. We were both ready.

“Follow me. We got some nasty bug to squash.”
I loved his attitude. With Callum—well, he

would  have  been  behind  me,  cowering  as  I  took
the lead. Not that there was anything wrong with
that.  Callum was Callum. But Zane, well he was,
as  I  have  said,  a  take  control  kind  of  guy.
Sometimes,  just  sometimes,  that  sort  of  guy  was
perfect to be around. This was one of those times.

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I was scared out of my brain. So much so, I

think  I  would  have  dropped  everything  and  ran.
That was the logical thing to do when confronted
by an insectmans, one who  could impregnate me
with a single bite to my skin. I  could quite easily
turn and run. But I couldn‟t. Zane needed me.

We stepped into the storeroom. Together. Spray

bottles  at  the  ready.  Zane  went  to  the  left  and  I
went to the right. The room was illuminated by a
single  incandescent  bulb,  the  old  fashioned  type.
It‟s wattage low. Perhaps Mr. Barnaby didn‟t want
intense  light  destroying  any  of  his  stock  that  he
stored  back  here.  And  when  I  say  stored,  he
certainly  did.  The  storeroom  was  packed  to  the
ceiling of boxes and bundles of wares.

That shuffling noise rang out again, this time

accompanied  by  a  noise  that  sounded  like  foot
falls  onto  the  floor.  I  had  never  heard  any
insectmans sound like that. They scurried, light on
their  feet,  able  to  climb  up  walls  and  stuff.  This
sounded  like  it  belonged  to  something  heavy.
Something big and heavy.

“Who‟s there?” I called out, being as brave as I

could and putting on my most manly voice.

“Yeah, show yourself,” Zane added.
A large crate in front of me moved. I raised up

the spray bottle, making sure the nozzle was
pointed in the direction I wished to fire it.

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141

Zane came close to me, flanking me. Together

and one step at a time, we moved forward. If we
were going to be attacked, then we would fight
the thing—whatever it is, together.

“Who are you?” I repeated.
A hiss and another sliding, scraping noise

disturbed the silence after my words. Then, a
voice, like nothing I had ever heard before in my
life, pierced the air. It was harsh, yet evened out to
a velvet silkiness, as if each word was passed over
sandpaper, then smoothed out, like wood worn
from years of use. “Is that you, Jacob? Zane?”

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Chapter Fourteen

ane looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. I
was confused, more so than when I found out
he wanted me on an intimate level and that my

fantasy of being with him had come true.

“Yeah, I‟m Jacob. So who the fuck are you,

then?”

Again the hiss and the elongated words, this

time the voice said, “And Zane. You there, too?”

Zane stepped forward. “Sure am. Now you

gonna show yourself, bug man, so I can test out
this spray and see what the fuck it does to your
mother fuckin‟ ugly face?”

A chuckle filled the air and if I didn‟t know any

better, I‟d swear it was getting warm in here.
Funny, I wasn‟t even thinking of Zane or Callum.
“You‟ll find that I‟m no bug, man or otherwise.
I‟m Mr. Barnaby‟s dearest friend, just as you both
are, too. I finally get to meet you face to face. How
wonderful.”

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143

“Aloysius?” I uttered through parched lips, my

heart beat returning to normal. I lowered the
bottle.

“The very same,” the voice hissed.
The crates moved, and to my complete and

utter  surprise,  the  biggest  reptile  I  had  ever  seen
came into the dim light. Its scales were a fiery red,
its  body  so  massive  most  of  it  was  in  darkness.
Wafts  of  smoke  curled  around  its  mouth  and
nostrils.  In  the  haze,  the  dim  light  of  the
storeroom,  its  piercing  reptilian  eyes,  huge  and
bulbous  blinked  impatiently.  I  stared,  mouth
agape.

Zane grabbed my hand. “I thought you were a

dog. You ain‟t no dog.”

“Indeed, I am not. And I am glad you both have

discovered your love for each other. Mr. Barnaby
told me you had an eye for Jacob, Zane.”

“He did?” Zane‟s cheeks flushed.
How could I miss such a thing like that? If Mr.

Barnaby  had  seen  Zane  eyeing  me  off,  then  why
hadn‟t I? I  smiled. I knew why.  Callum. I  was so
involved with him I didn‟t see anything else. Here
was  me  thinking  Zane  was  a  straight  man.  No
wonder  I  was  confused  by  the  way  he  acted.  I
wasn‟t deciphering the signals properly.

“Yes. Now go, do what you must. I can only eat

so many of those bug men as you call them. They
give me bad heart burn. Oooh, I can feel the one

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144

who attacked Mrs. Leary sit right in my craw. The
poor dear‟s in the hospital now. I called the
ambulance. You know, it‟s not a nice feeling at all
having food stuck in your throat, not when it‟s so
close to supper time, anyway. I do really want my
supper. Whole sheep and minestrone tonight.
Yum.”

I didn‟t know how to answer Aloysius. He

seemed  so  unreal  to  me.  Then  again,  these  past
few  months  I  had  seen  aliens,  living  zombies,
insectmans  and  Suzy  wired  up  to  a  hive  mind.
Heck, a dragon was nothing. Geez, even a talking
dragon was somewhat…dare I say it? Normal and
oh,  so  right.  Mr  Barnaby‟s  friend  was  awesome
and I couldn‟t wait to see more of him.

Zane pulled me away, obviously eager to get on

with his bug hunt. As I was led out of the
storeroom, I yelled out, “I‟ll catch up with you
later, Aloysius. Nice meeting you. We‟ll make sure
Mr. Barnaby gets to make you that dinner.”

But I didn‟t get an answer. If I did, I didn‟t hear

it, Zane had pulled me clear out of the shop. “We
get Suzy first. Hit „em where it hurts. Then we get
to the hospital and rescue as many of the folk as
we can. Okay?”

“I agree. Lead on, beautiful.”
“We go by ute. I can‟t wait to spray some

serious shit all over their insect arses. They‟re
gonna pay for what they‟ve done.”

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145

Coming out in front of the shop once more, the

street wasn‟t as deserted as it was when we first
arrived. Corey Harrington was waking toward us,
his chest ablaze with the light of the insectmans.

“Let‟s get out of here if we‟re going to. Look!”
Zane, opening the ute‟s door for me, twisted

around. “I thought that fucker was dead?”

“Nope. They must have created another

doppelganger of him.”

“A what?”
“Never mind. Let‟s just go already.” I

scrambled  into  the  car  and  Zane  soon  joined  me.
The  doors  slamming.  From  the  side  mirror  the
image  of  Corey  running  toward  us  haunted  me.
About  fifteen  or  so  insectmans  in  their  real  form
poured out on the street to come behind him.

Then more came.
Zane fumbled with the ignition keys. After a

couple  of  agonising  seconds,  time  where  my  life
slipped by in my mind and a sudden sorrow at the
possibility of not being with either Zane or Callum
ever  again  struck  me,  the  engine  turned  over.  A
puff  of  black  smoke  remained  where  we  were
parked as Zane floored it.

I was thrown into the back of my seat.

Unfortunately, in the rush, in the desperation that
had consumed me at the sight of Corey and his
creepy posse, I hadn‟t put on my seat belt. I soon

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146

fixed that. I didn‟t feel like experiencing this ride
from a crash test dummies point of view.

Zane clicked in his belt, too, having to take one

of  his  hands  off  the  wheel.  I  wished  he  hadn‟t
chosen  that  particular  moment  to  do  so,  because
right  in  front  of  us  more  and  more  insectmans
came  out  from  alleyways  and  shops  and  every
other nook and cranny along  the street. We were
surrounded.

“Fuuuuccck!” he screamed as he tried in

desperation to do about six things at once.

He did well. Gaining control of the vehicle, but

also  deciding  that  he  needed  to  go  faster,  we
charged right through the first barricade of living
insectmans.  The  ute  took  a  battering  and  I
shielded  my  face  as  a  couple  of  them  found  the
windshield,  the  glass  shattering  but  thankfully
holding solid.

“Go, Zane!” I shouted, more for encouragement

than anything else.

Many insectmans came under the wheels,

sending us airborne before we crashed down into
even more of them. The windshield came away
and we were showered in glass. I could feel many
shards nip at my skin. I could taste my own blood.

Zane kept his foot to the floor, continuing to

curse, but amazingly able to keep the path of the
vehicle as true as he could considering we were
surrounded by kamikaze bug men.

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147

“Use the fuckin‟ spray, Jakey! Use the fuckin‟

spray.”

“Right!”
Without a windshield we were vulnerable. I

tried to reach down and pick up one of the bottles
between  my  feet,  but  the  seat  belt  made  life
difficult  considering  it  had  decided  to  take  the
inopportune  moment  to  lock.  A  couple  of
insectmans landed on the bonnet.

I yelped and watched with horror as they

clambered up toward us. Zane did his best to try
and shake them, unfortunately he had to keep the
vehicle on the road as much as possible. I didn‟t
fancy becoming intimate with a fire hydrant or a
telegraph pole. There was enough to worry about.

The wheels squealed from all the swerving and

a few more insectmans had joined their comrades
on top of the ute. One fell off, but that didn‟t
matter, plenty more were there to replace it as we
continued to charge at breakneck speed through
the winding streets of the town.

I hoped with all my heart we wouldn‟t get a

blowout,  not  with  what  I  had  in  mind.  I  had
decided, probably out of insanity and partly out of
desperation,  that  it  was  a  waste  of  time  trying  to
release  the  seat  belt  from  its  lock,  so  I  undid  it.
Without it I was able to pick up the bottle.

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148

Seconds later, as many insectmans hands

reached into the cab and tried to yank us both out
of our seats, I let the contents of the bottle rip.

I sprayed the stuff around like I was a trainee

fire-fighter on his first day. It was a beautiful sight,
soaking  the  bastards  in  disinfectant.  When  the
chemical hit them, they froze, stunned if you will.
Hopefully, if what Suzy had told me was correct,
their  link  to  the  transmitter—in  this  case,  Corey
Harrington—was  cut  off.  They  had  no  direction
and  no  purpose  and  they  fell  off  the  ute  like
aphids  do  on  the  roses  when  dad  gets  out  the
citrus spray. I had a ball and laughed as they fell
by the wayside.

“Fuck! Git this one, quick!”
My laughter stopped. I turned to look at Zane.

Next  to  him,  clinging  onto  his  door,  was  an
insectmans.  I  had  been  so  caught  up  in  the
moment I  hadn‟t noticed the ones on the drivers‟
side.  The  window  was  smashed  and  the
insectmans  had  one  of  its  hands  on  the  wheel,
trying to steer us off the road.

Zane looked stressed, his eyes wide with fear.

But he never took his eyes off the road or his
hands off the wheel. He was brilliant, keeping the
ute on a straight path, despite the insectmans best
efforts.

“Ready!” I pointed the nozzle at the bug man.

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149

I pumped the handle a couple of times,

building  up  the  pressure  inside  the  bottle  I  had
lost.  I  pressed  the  trigger.  The  spray  struck  the
insectmans  true.  A  magnificent  sight,  for  sure.
Strangely,  the  thing  screamed  when  the  chemical
hit it, perhaps it was disappointed it was unable to
complete its orders from Corey. Whatever. I didn‟t
care.  So  long  as  the  thing  was  off  the  ute,  I  was
happy.

Unfortunately, Zane received some splashback.

Droplets  of  the  disinfectant  must  have  found  its
way  into  his  eyes,  because  he  blinked  furiously
before  deciding  he  needed  to  do  something  a  bit
more  drastic.  At  first  he  tried  to  wipe  off  the
disinfectant  with his arm, while at the  same time
keep his hands on the wheel. The vehicle swerved,
more out of control than before.

The extent of the disinfectant getting over him

didn‟t become apparent until he screamed out, “I
can‟t see!”

Many more insectmans began clambering onto

the ute. I panicked. I didn‟t know what to do first.
That wasn‟t true. I knew what to do. I had to take
the wheel and drive. Zane needed me and he was
in no condition to do anything as he tried to clear
his eyes of the chemicals.

“I‟ll take the wheel.”
But because he couldn‟t see he had no idea

what I was doing. His hands left the wheel for a

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150

split  second,  thinking  I  was  there,  ready  to  drive
straight  away.  He  was  wrong.  I  scrambled  to  try
and get to the wheel, unable to get my hands into
position  in  time.  But  before  my  mind  could  even
register  the  series  of  events  that  happened  next,
and all within a split second, too, the ute‟s wheels
screamed  as  we  veered  off  the  main  road  and
headed  down  an  access  way.  We  struck  a  road
sign, causing us to swerve to the other side of the
road, taking out more insectmans in the process. I
was  thrown  from  my  seat,  landing  over  Zane‟s
lap, my head now jammed between the wheel and
his legs.

We became airborne before striking something

with a loud bang and a splash. Water sprayed all
over me. Fuck, we had crashed straight into the
Longmuir river.

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151

Chapter Fifteen

managed to pull myself up, un-clicking Zane‟s
seat belt as I did so. His eyes were bloodshot.
“You okay?”

He nodded and gave me one those beautiful

smiles. “Yeah, I‟ll be right. Let‟s just git the fuck
outta here. Say, don‟t forget the bottles.”

I grabbed his hand and together we climbed out

the  vehicle  where  the  windscreen  would  have
been, but not before I did as he asked. One of the
bottles,  the  one I  had been  using  to  ward  off  our
attackers was already half empty. We should have
filled up at least another two bottles. I mean, how
many  more  insectmans  were  we  going  to
encounter before we reached the hive?

The ute sunk lower into the river, gurgling and

spluttering  as  water  flooded  into  the  spaces
normally reserved for air. I didn‟t panic, because I
knew  the  Longmuir  was  shallow  here  and  we
could  both  swim.  What  concerned  me—no,  what
scared the living shit out of me—was the fact the

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152

insectmans didn‟t mind the water either. Sure,
they had been flung from the vehicle because of
the impact, but that only delayed the inevitable.

They swam toward us.
Together we jumped into the water, using the

bonnet as a spring board, trying to get as much
distance as we could from the sinking vehicle. The
less distance we had to swim the better, these bug
men seemed to be as fast on the water as they
were on the land.

We hit the water. For a moment I was blinded

by  the  splash.  Zane  tugged  on  me  and  when  I
gained  back  my  sight,  he  was  under  the  water.
Perhaps he lost his footing. I pulled on his  hand,
helping  him  up,  not  wanting  to  let  him  go  as  I
began making my way to the Westfell side of the
Longmuir. The water was up to my neck.

When he came up, he gasped for air. “Thanks,

Jakey.” He squeezed my hand. “At least that
disinfectant‟s outta my eyes now.”

“Good. C‟mon, we‟ve got to get to the Westfell

bank.”

“But we‟ll have no car. We‟ll have to walk to

the factory.”

He was right. But we were also half way across

the river. No turning back now. I stole a glance at
the sinking ute. On the shore, Corey stood there
with his hands on his hips, staring at us as only a
transmitter could, cold and calculating, the light of

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153

his body intense. Two insectmans were right
behind us.

“One problem at a time, Zane. It‟s hard enough

pulling along these bottles as it is let alone trying
to move as quickly as possible through water.”

“Then gimme one. I‟m okay now, I promise.”
He was right, he pushed through the water as

though  he  were  a  man  possessed  after  I  handed
him  a  spray  bottle.  Moments  later,  Zane  was
pulling me. Then again, the water had receded as
we moved closer to the shore. It was now at waist
height,  and  I‟m  sure  if  it  weren‟t  for  our  clothes,
we would have made better time.

I turned again. The insectmans who pursued us

were  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Neither  was  Corey.  I
thought  that  rather  weird.  Seemed  these  guys
were  determined  sons-of-bitches,  so  why  would
they  give  up  so  soon?  I  dismissed  that  thought.
The sight of the shore approaching gave me hope.

The only reminder we had ever crashed into the

water soon faded. The roof of the ute sunk under
the water with a final gurgle. Zane and I fell onto
the shore. I was exhausted, but also thankful we
had made it.

“Well, at least we got cleaned up,” I said.
“I had no problem with gettin‟ dirty with you,

but you‟re right. Pity we‟re saturated to the bone.”

“I think we‟d better take off our jeans. They‟re

only going to burden us, and besides, I don‟t fancy

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154

getting a rash all over from the wet cloth rubbing
me all the way to the chemical factory as we try
and evade more of our bug men friends.”

“If you want me to git me gear off you don‟t

have to be so polite about it,” he said with a
chuckle, unzipping himself. “I‟d git naked for you
in a heart beat, you know that.” He was right
about that. I smiled.

I had already started to peel off my jeans after I

had taken off my shoes, thankful when I was out
of them after a lot of tugging and hopping on the
spot. “I really do like the real Zane, you know?”

“I do, too.” Zane took off his shirt, throwing it

onto  the  ground,  but  not  before  wiping  his  face
with  it.  I  decided  that  was  a  good  idea.  The  less
burden  the  better.  We  had  a  long  way  to  go  on
foot.

Both of us now stood in nothing else but our

boxers. I smiled at him, his bulge just as
impressive even when hidden by silk and he had
been submerged in cold water. Lucky fucking
bastard.

“You ready?” I grabbed his hand, feeling secure

once more as he tightened his grip in mine.

He came over and kissed me on the lips, his

tenderness  clear,  a  hint  of  his  tongue  and  lots  of
saliva  accompanied  it.  I  missed  his  intoxicating
taste.  “Ready  as  I‟m  ever  gonna  be,”  he  replied
once  he  had  finished  his  kiss,  a  kiss  I  never

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155

wanted to end. But I couldn‟t think of that now.
We had work to do, and as my dad always said,
play time is the reward of work. I couldn‟t wait to
play with Zane and Callum. A thought struck me.
I had two boyfriends. I was the lucky bastard.

We ran up the bank until we were underneath

the canopy of the Westfell, bottles in hand, ready
to tackle the whole hive if we had to. We hadn‟t
gone far when Zane stopped.

“What?” I asked with a whisper.
“I saw somethin‟ over there.” He pointed with

the bottle to his right, toward a massive thicket of
undergrowth clinging to the pine trees, dark and
unwelcoming.

“Insectmans?”
“Dunno. Seemed too large to be one of „em to

me.” He took a couple of steps forward with great
care, the leaf litter crunching under his bare feet,
echoing throughout the forest.

I swallowed hard in my dry throat. “What was

it then?”

A crash of a tree, a thunderous snap of wood

being torn from its roots made me jump and Zane
yelp. I was ready to run back to the river, take my
chances with Corey and the insectmans he
controlled, when he moved forward.

After the leaves and dust had settled, Aloysius

sauntered over toward us.

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156

“Fuckin‟ hell,” Zane said. “That‟s no bug man.

It‟s that lizard thingy we saw in Mister B‟s
storeroom.”

Zane‟s description, although lacking in

eloquence,  summed  up  what  we  saw.  A  red
dragon,  scales  as  bright  as  Zane‟s  Cars  design
boxers,  came  over  to  darken  the  already  waning
light underneath the canopy.

“I have such a stomach ache, Jacob and Zane.

You wouldn‟t believe how many of those bug men
I had to eat just to get out of the store. They‟re
everywhere, you know. Say, you both look a little
different since the last time we met. Why are you
all dripping wet and in your underwear? Is that
some sort of human custom I don‟t know about?”

“Um…we kind of had an accident,” I replied,

aware of my state of undress. My cheeks flushed. I
was a bit embarrassed to say the least.

“Those bug men decided that they wanted to

stop us from doin‟ what we‟re supposed to be
doin‟. The bastards. The church ute is trashed.
Gonna be payin‟ for that one, I bet.”

A lick of flame curled around the dragon‟s

mouth. “I‟m sure all will be forgiven when the
folk all know you were only trying to help.” The
beast then belched and a foul smell nearly
knocked me over.

I waved my free hand—the one holding the

bottle—in front of me to try and get some air.

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157

Zane  was  coughing,  too.  Dragon  breath  was
deadly,  especially  when  it  held  no  fire.  “Geez,
you‟re  not  wrong  when  you  said  you  had  a  guts
ache, Aloysius. Your breath stinks to high heaven.
No offense intended, but damn.”

“Oh, none taken. And please excuse me. I‟m so

sorry, but that last one I ate, the one disguised as
young  Corey  Harrington—well,  he  tasted  the
worst.  Most  upsetting.  I  fear  my  sheep  and
minestrone  supper  tonight  is  going  to  have  to  be
cancelled.”

Zane snorted. “Well, that explains why those

bug men disappeared and stopped chasin‟ us.
Their transmitter got eaten.”

“Please explain this transmitter you speak of,”

Aloysius commanded, more flames bellowing
from his lips.

“Sure, but it may take a while and we‟re in a

kind of a rush,” I said.

“Yeah, we don‟t wanna be rude, not to a dude

like yourself. I mean, you saved our lives, I reckon,
but we gotta get to the hive and rescue a damsel in
distress.”

I laughed. Zane was right. We were two knights

charging to the rescue. We even had the dragon.
“You‟re certainly my knight, Zane.”

“And I gotta say your lance is one damn fine

weapon,” he said with a giggle.

“So‟s yours.” I winked.

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158

Aloysius coughed. “Freudian analogies aside,

tell me all you know on the way to where it is
you‟re both going. To make it easier, climb up on
my back. I‟ll give you both a lift.”

“You fly?” Zane questioned. He must have

been curious seeing as the dragon didn‟t have any
visible wings.

“Oh, heavens no. I…well, you‟ll see. Let me just

tell you, you‟re in for the ride of your life.”

I have to say, right here and now, that wearing

boxer shorts, even though a good idea at the time,
made no sense whatsoever when trying to get
comfortable on a dragon‟s back.

Zane must have had the same problem, because

through gritted teeth, he shouted, “Fuckin‟ Jesus,
my ball sack feels as though it‟s burst!”

I couldn‟t get comfortable. To sit back so I

wasn‟t  squashing  my  family  jewels  into  my
stomach  meant  I  couldn‟t  hold  on  to  Aloysius‟
scales. I needed to hold on. When the dragon had
said  this  would  be  one  hell  of  a  ride,  he  wasn‟t
kidding.

Aloysius ran and at breakneck speed, too.

Dodging  tress,  jumping  over  creek  beds,  dashing
through  the  undergrowth.  Zane  clung  onto  me,
embracing me tight as our bodies pounded against
the  dragon‟s  back  as  he  charged  through  the
forest.

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159

A few insectmans came at us, bounding out

from  vantage  points  within  the  forest.  Aloysius
snapped  them  up  in  his  jaws,  all  without  letting
up  his  speed,  unfortunately  or  fortunately.  I
couldn‟t tell, I was in so much pain.

Any relief from my ball pounding would be

welcome. Zane‟s fingernails dug into my stomach,
and I  didn‟t have to look at him to know he was
hurting,  too.  Dragons  may  be  magical  creatures,
the one we were on may be the only one on Earth,
but as far as I was concerned, this was no magical
experience. The thing that helped me the most was
to place the spray bottle as close to my groin as I
could  without  losing  my  balance  and  falling  off.
The  smooth  plastic  a  far  better  option  banging
against me than hard dragons scales.

Zane had done the same, but didn‟t stop

cursing in my ear.

Perhaps I should have taken the chances with

my wet jeans. The thicker cloth may have
provided a better cushion. A rash a more pleasant
experience than having my testicles hammered up
into my throat. Then again, perhaps not.

With water in my eyes and my knuckles white

from the pressure of having to hold on for dear
life, I realised we were slowing. We crossed the
main road that went from the town to the golden
mile, travelling for a few moments more before the

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canopy thinned and the few trees scattered about
meant Aloysius didn‟t have to run so fast.

A clearing soon dominated the view, the light

from the sun more intense against my skin, no
longer filtered by the canopy.

Aloysius stopped. “The chemical factory is just

beyond the trees and bushes that line the clearing.
Go, but for heaven‟s sake, be careful.”

I clambered off the dragon as best I could

considering I could no longer walk and my legs
wanted to go in two directions at once. It took me
a couple of minutes to even stand up straight.
Zane had his arm around me, using me as support
as I used him.

“Aren‟t you coming with us?” My throat felt as

though it contained all of my insides.

Zane coughed and coughed, still doubled over.

I sure hoped he wasn‟t going to puke. “I don‟t
ever wanna do that again,” he said with a gasp.

Aloysius belched again and that foul air swam

around me. I coughed, feeling green all of a
sudden. I hoped I wasn‟t going to puke.

“I can‟t, my friends. I think I‟m going to lose my

lunch. Those bug men just aren‟t sitting right. I
think I‟ve eaten too many.”

Before I could answer, the dragon had bounded

out of view. Seconds later, birds took flight in the
distance with a cacophony of chirping and
squawking, upset they had been disturbed. I

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guessed  that‟s  where  Aloysius  threw  up.  I
shuddered  at  the  thought  of  how  disgusting
dragon  sick  would  look,  especially  bug  man
induced vomit.

Zane picked up his spray bottle. “Let‟s git this

over with.”

We marched toward the chemical factory,

expecting to see a million or so insectmans greet
us. From the outside, the building looked
deserted. I didn‟t like this one bit.

A cold wind kicked up around us and dark

clouds blanketed the sky, making me wish we
were back in the forest. An ambulance was parked
near one of the exit doors.

I nudged Zane. He acknowledged me by

saying, “You know, I wouldn‟t be surprised if it‟s
the ambulance men who are the transmitters, too.
I  mean,  think  about  it.  They  have  access  to
anywhere  and  they  bring  the  people  into  the
hospital.  Who‟s  to  say  the  folk  were  infected
before they were taken to hospital?”

“I think there‟s a lot more than that to this,

Zane.  I  think  the  doctor  is  also  involved.
Remember  that  the  transmitters  need  to  be  close,
otherwise  they  can‟t  control  the  infected  folk  or
keep the embryos viable.”

Zane shuddered. “Maybe they‟re all involved.

Maybe all the hospital staff are transmitters. I
reckon they‟re probably doin‟ weird experiments,

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shipping chemicals to the hospital from here and
usin‟ them on the everyone, to keep „em from
rejecting the embryos or some shit like that. What
if that‟s it?”

Two ambulance men got into the van,

accompanied  by  a  nurse.  What  was  her  name?
Nurse Goodchild, I believe? There was someone in
the  stretcher.  Who,  I  couldn‟t  tell.  Not  from  this
distance,  but  their  body  was  glowing  just  like
Corey‟s and every one else who had been affected
by  the  insectmans.  I  bet  the  person  was  about  to
give  birth.  “I  think  you  may  be  right,  but  we‟d
better get a little closer to make sure. But do it so
we‟re not seen. We‟ve got to make this disinfectant
last.”

“Easy for you to say, bet you‟ll be eatin‟ your

words when we‟re confronted by a zillion bug
men ready to give us one so we can be their
bitches.”

“Well, if we could have carried some more

bottles we would have. We‟ll just have to make
do. Okay?”

I stepped forward, making sure I stayed as low

as  I  could,  using  the  undergrowth  to  keep  me
covered,  hopefully.  Zane  crept  beside  me.  The
ambulance  drove  away.  The  air  was  still.  The
gathering storm above us growing in intensity.

It began to rain.

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163

Great pelts of water trickled down my back.

“C‟mon, let‟s go now that the ambulance is out of
sight.”

We got up and ran toward the chemical factory.

When  we  were  about  to  reach  the  building,  hide
amongst  the  many  barrels  and  crates  scattered
about near the exit doors and find shelter from the
storm,  a  couple  of  insectmans  came  into  view.
From where I had no idea.

“Fire, Jakey!”
I lifted up my bottle, pumped the handle,

aimed,  and  before  the  insectmans  could  react  by
getting  any  closer,  I  doused  them  in  the
disinfectant.  They  froze.  Unable  to  receive
communications  from  either  the  transmitters  or
Queen Suzy, having no direction or purpose, they
became statues. Ugly statues.

It was a beautiful sight to see them in such a

state.  I  smiled,  but  the  smile  was  soon  wiped  off
my  face  when  Zane  charged  over  to  them  and
twisted their heads off their bodies. He pulled and
yanked with all his might, shearing the insectmans
major  arteries.  Yellowy-white  puss-like  fluid
sprayed all over him. The sound of tearing sinew
and breaking cartilage filled the air.

The bodies slumped onto the ground. He was

covered in insectmans filth, and it even dripped
from his eyebrows and fringe. He had a gleam in
his eye I had only ever seen once. When he

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wanted  me.  Seemed  blood  lust  and  sexual  desire
are pretty much the same thing—or at least similar
in  emotional  weight.  I  shuddered.  I‟m  glad  I
aroused  Zane.  I  wouldn‟t  want  to  get  on  his  bad
side.

After he had dispensed with the insectmans,

and he had gone back out into the rain to wash
away the gore of his kills, he came up to me and
pecked me on the cheek. “I was kinda worried the
rain might wash away the disinfectant and they‟d
come to life again. We don‟t want them bastards
creepin‟ up behind us, now do we?”

He was right, and I hadn‟t thought of that. I

embraced him, making sure I got a grope of his
arse in the process. “I told you. You‟re my knight
for sure.”

“Thanks.”
We snuck around the building until we could

find a way of getting inside. I didn‟t want to go
barging in the front door, having to ward off God
knows how many insectmans and all at once, too.
That wasn‟t my idea of bravery. More like
foolishness.

My plan was to get in unnoticed and try and

reach Suzy without too much trouble. I knew it
was a long shot and it would fail miserably, but
we had to try.

Toward the western side of the chemical factory

we found a small window at ground height. The

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165

hinges and handle were rusted shut and wouldn‟t
budge no matter how much we pulled. I‟d say the
window hadn‟t been opened in years. Zane
pushed the nozzle of his spray bottle onto the
pane, cracking it. The glass must have been brittle.
Thank God. We were in.

“Fuck!” said Zane.
“What?” I answered as I began taking away the

broken shards of glass from the frame so we could
crawl in.

“I broke the nozzle. That little directional

thingy has snapped off. I won‟t be able to adjust
the stream now. Shit. Sorry.”

I looked at his bottle. Yep. It was broken. Damn

it. “Here. Replace your nozzle with mine. I don‟t
have much left and what I‟ve got we can use for
reserve.”

He did as I instructed. We now had one full

bottle in working order and one about half empty
and useless for the task ahead. I had a bad feeling
about this.

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Chapter Sixteen

nce inside the building, the room we had found
ourselves in was a laboratory. A huge
laboratory. All sorts of tubes and vials and

containers filled benches and shelves. There were
numerous  charts  everywhere,  most  detailing
human  anatomy.  Some  even  mapped  out
insectmans  physiology.  If  I  understood  what  I
read,  it  looked  to  me  as  though  the  experiments
were combining insect and human DNA to create
a kind of super human, one resistant to radiation,
cold,  heat  and  various  other  extremes.  What  I
think  they  were  trying  to  do  was  breed  people
who  wouldn‟t  drop  dead  within  seconds  if
exposed  to  conditions  most  insects  take  for
granted.  But  what  was  the  purpose  of  breeding
these sorts of people?

Whatever they were doing, it seemed to me

they had succeeded. Although, I wouldn‟t call this
new species super. It scared me to death to be
honest.

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167

Zane whistled. “Whatever‟s goin‟ on here, it‟s

some nasty shit.”

I picked up a file and flicked through the pages.

It was a hospital report. They were administering
drugs to the townsfolk. Zane was right again. The
hospital staff were giving drugs to help the
embryos. My heart skipped a beat when I scanned
down the file to see the name of my boyfriend.

Patient 574
Callum Wilber Burrows, 19, male.

Stage two of insectmans gestation.
No rejection from the patient.

Type four anti rejection drug trial positive.
Birth in 14 days. Caesarean scheduled.

I stared at the page for the longest time, feeling

the  deepest  sorrow  I  had  ever  felt  for  someone.
My  Callum,  my  beautiful,  beautiful  Callum  lay
helpless  with  a  thing  growing  inside  him.  The
words  on  the  chart  confirmed  to  me  that  the
doctors and hospital staff were all in on this. I felt
anger,  so  profound  and  so  poisonous  that  it
stained my soul. No. I hated them. I wanted to kill
every  single  insectmans  and  anyone  who  had
anything to do with them.

Zane nudged me, a concerned look drawn on

his face. He had seen what I had. “Cals‟ll be okay,

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mark my words. He‟ll be right…and…and I‟m
here for you, Jakey, you know that.”

“I‟m glad I got you, too. I really am. I just hope

we can get to him in time.”

“Well, from what I can figure out, if we get rid

of the transmitters and get Suzz outta that
machine thingy, then Cals will have a chance, as
will everyone else in this town.”

I closed the file and proceeded toward the

doors that I assumed led out into the hangar, Zane
at  my  side.  Before  I  got  to  the  far  side  of  the
laboratory,  something  caught  my  eye.  Four  huge
cylinders  filled  with  liquid  and  going  from  the
floor to the ceiling were tucked away in an alcove.
There  was  so  much  machinery  around  the
cylinders, mostly stuff that looked like it belonged
in  a  hospital,  that  it  was  hard  to  see  what  was
inside them.

When we got closer, Zane gasped. I did, too.

There were people inside. They must be on some
sort  of  life  support,  because  they  were  breathing.
Well,  not  breathing  as  such,  seeing  as  they  were
immersed  in  liquid,  but  their  stomachs  rose  and
fell and one of the machines next to each tube had
a  heart  monitor  that  let  out  constant  beeps.  They
were alive. Covering their noses and mouths was
an  oxygen  mask  kind  of  thing,  only  one  that
looked a hell of a lot more complicated. They also
blinked.

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169

I touched the plastic and a moment of disbelief

struck  me.  Inside  the  cylinders  were  the  hospital
staff.  The  real  hospital  staff,  the  originals.  They
were naked, too. The whole alien abduction vision
came  flooding  back  into  my  memory.  I  went
woozy and Zane caught me as I stumbled.

“You all right, Jakey?” Zane asked as he

grabbed me tight around my shoulders, being my
strength at this trying time. “This is some serious
shit, isn‟t it?”

There was Dr. Woolsey. Then I recognised

nurse Goodchild. The two others I didn‟t know,
but one was a man and the other a woman.

“We‟ve got to get them out.”
“Sure. So, how do we do that without killin‟

„em?”

I didn‟t have the first clue how to switch off the

machines,  but  I  went  back  into  the  laboratory
proper  and  opened  the  emergency  fire  cabinet.
Inside,  an  extinguisher,  an  axe  and  a  red  button
behind glass that said, break in event of fire. I take it
the button was a link to the fire station. Only one
thing interested me. The Axe.

I grabbed it.
“Say, now you‟re talkin‟” Zane said in excited

tones. “I could have used that outside when I
wasted those two bug men. I‟ll grab it when
you‟ve finished destroying some shit, okay?”

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“You‟re welcome to it.” I swung at the first

cylinder, the one that contained Doctor Woolsey.

The glass or plastic or whatever you want to

call it smashed and fluid gushed out all over the
floor, drenching both Zane and me in the process.
The doctor fell onto the floor like a dead fish. Not
moving.

Zane went to him, checked his throat after he

took off the mask. “I‟ll see to „em, you free „em.”

I didn‟t need to be told twice. I continued to

smash  the  cylinders.  By  the  time  I  got  to  the  last
tube,  Zane  had  woken  up  Doctor  Woolsey  and
nurse Goodchild. It was good to see them alive. I
had  a  feeling  we‟d  need  the  real  hospital  staff
before the day was over.

Doctor Woolsey spluttered something, unable

to form words. His face a twisted mask of horror.
He held out his hand to me, gesturing something,
sort of pleading. What was he trying to tell me? I
struck the last cylinder and the man inside fell
onto the floor. He began moving straight away.

“Just relax, okay?” Zane said to the woman. He

helped  her  sit  up,  satisfied  everything  was  okay
with  nurse  Goodchild.  “Everythin‟s  gonna  be  all
right.  We‟ve  got  the  disinfectant.”  She  looked  at
him,  a  cross  between  confusion  and  sheer
admiration reflected in her eyes.

“The…what?” Doctor Woolsey croaked.

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171

“That stuff‟s the only thing we know that‟ll stop

these bug men. Makes „em freeze „cause they can‟t
communicate with their transmitter,” Zane
explained. He helped the doctor to his feet.

The doctor was still trying to clear his throat,

but managed, “That‟s brilliant. Phenols, right?”
Zane smiled, a look of pride washing over him.
“But…you‟re making a…terrible…mistake.”

“We are?” I went over to Doctor Woolsey. He

was  young  as  far  as  doctors  go.  I‟d  say  middle
aged.  His  body  was  toned,  even  though  there
were  a  few  grey  hairs  at  his  temples.  The  rest  of
his hair, including those on his body, were a nice
rich brown.

By now, all four were standing up, trying to

cover their nakedness while at the same time
recovering from their experience, still wobbly on
their feet.

“They‟ll be all right,” Zane said.
I tried not to let my gaze wander, seeing

doctors naked seemed to be taboo or something.
They were only ever supposed to see their patients
with nothing on, not the other way around. From
the glimpses I did catch, I‟d say whoever Doctor
Woolsey and the other guy were with, they were
lucky. Both had nice…equipment.

Zane on the other hand had no such worry

looking at any of them. He was smiling with that
cheeky grin of his and I had to wonder what he

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was thinking? No. I didn‟t have to guess. He was
bisexual, I now knew that with certainty, and cock
and pussy appealed to him in equal measure. He
was taking in his fill. I caught myself smiling, too.
But my affection was directed at him.

The doctor cleared his throat again, but before

he could utter a word, Zane yelled out, “Say, that
dude‟s got no navel ring!”

I turned. He was right. I remembered seeing on

a chart near some of the equipment saying that
they had been placed into the cylinders the day
after we defeated the aliens. That meant he wasn‟t
abducted, because the aliens only wanted human
bile and the rings helped them access that. It also
meant he wasn‟t human. So who was he then?

Once again the doctor tried to speak, but in the

seconds  that  followed,  I  found  myself  careening
across the wet laboratory floor, stopped by one of
the  work  benches  scattered  about  the  place.  The
man—the  stranger—had  pounced  on  me,
grabbing  me  by  my  throat  and  constricting  my
neck  so  I  couldn‟t  breath,  couldn‟t  call  out  for
help. I grappled at his arms in panic, trying to pry
his grip away from my throat.

I struggled to get to my feet, my legs thrashing

about,  unable  to  get  any  grip  on  the  wet  floor.  I
was  pushed  back  again  by  the  man‟s  sheer
strength  and the  weight  he  had  against  me.  I  fell
back  against  the  bench,  all  the  instruments  and

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glass vials fell down over us, showering me. Many
cut me and all of those cuts caused pain to shoot
up through my body. But I couldn‟t yell. Instead,
my vision became blurry and my lungs felt as
though they were going to explode.

Nurse Goodchild screamed. Zane charged at

the  man,  trying  to  yank  him  off  me.  Whoever  he
was, whatever he was, he overpowered me and I
wouldn‟t  say  that  I  was  a  weakling.  My  nails
scratched his skin, drawing blood, but his hold on
me  didn‟t  relent.  All  that  confronted  me  was  his
sinister smile.

I grew dizzy from the lack of oxygen and I

found my  body no  longer wanted to support my
weight. I went limp and as the man came over me,
his  knees  buried  into  my  chest,  I  feared  it would
be  my  last  moment  on  this  Earth.  I  gasped,  my
final plea for help, when a thud pierced the air.

I was showered in blood.
The man was thrown off me. I reached up to

grab at my throat, more out of instinct, gasping for
air and thankful I could take in another lungful.
Standing over me was Zane, bloody axe in hand.
“I told you I needed this after you‟d finished with
it, Jakey.”

I clawed my way up to my feet as my strength

returned,  using  anything  I  could  find  to  support
me,  including  the  helpful  hands  of  my  beautiful
Zane.  Doctor  Woolsey  helped  me  up,  too.  I

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hugged them both, making sure I paid special
attention to Zane, planting many, many wet and
wonderful kisses all over his cheeks and lips.

“Easy now, save some for later,” he quipped.

But I knew he loved it, both being the hero and
having all of my attention lavished all over him.

“That‟s what…I was trying…to tell you. The

man in the last cylinder was a plant. Someone who
would make sure any attempt at rescuing us
would be met with failure.”

Zane snorted. “They didn‟t count on me and

my trusty axe, now did they?”

“You certainly did save the moment with your

quick  thinking,  but  I‟m  afraid  it  may  be  all  too
late.  We‟re  riddled  with  neural  transmitters.
Whether  we‟re  conscious  or  not,  we‟re  helping
them. They know you‟re here.”

That much I had already figured out, but my

curiosity rose up again. I had a question. “Say,
Doctor Woolsey, what exactly is going on here?” I
continued to rub my neck, a dull thumping pain
emanating from where the stranger had his hands
around me.

The doctor looked thoughtful for a moment.

“I‟m sure you‟ve figured out the drugs made here
stabilize the embryos within their human host, but
what you don‟t know is that this experiment, all of
this, is about colonization.”

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175

Now I was confused, and it wasn‟t because I

had just been deprived of a minute of oxygen,
either. “I don‟t understand.”

Nurse Goodchild stepped up to us. “Perhaps I

can  explain  it  better.”  She  smiled.  She  sure  was
pretty, for a woman. Long black hair, legs straight
guys  wolf  whistle  over,  and  tits—well,  tits  that
would look at home on the cover of Ralph or FHM.
“They‟re  creating  monsters  that  will  be  able  to
withstand conditions on other planets. Everything
you see here is monitored by the government and
backed financially by them—”

“So what went wrong?” Zane asked.
Doctor Woolsey cleared his throat again. “There

is  another  one  like  the  one  you  just  killed  from
what  I  know.  Two  insect  men  hybrids  were
created. They were the first viable test subjects, the
original  of  the  new  species  if  you  will.  The  ones
who took to the genetic alteration and became the
templates for production.”

I raised my hand. “Wait, let me get this straight.

Everything was going smoothly until one of these
hybrids or whatever you want to call them got out
and began infecting the general population, is that
it? One of them was that man who bit my Callum,
wasn‟t he?”

“Yes, that about sums it up,” the doctor replied.
Nurse Goodchild added, “Once the experiment

got out, as you say, nature took its own course.

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Within  six  months  the  factory  workers,  all  250  of
them,  became  infected.  As  time  went  on,  they
developed,  grew,  and  now…now  they  are
spreading.  Now  they  are  what  is  commonly
known as an infestation. One we may not be able
to control.”

Queasiness consumed me again.
Zane came over and took my hand. I needed

that right now. I needed to feel his strength. “Say,
where‟d that other nurse chick go?”

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Chapter Seventeen

don‟t  know.  I  know  she‟s  a  nurse  at  the
hospital—although,  for  the  life  of  me  I  can‟t
remember  her  name.”  Doctor  Woolsey  said,

scratching his head as he looked around the
laboratory.

“She had a navel ring,” Zane said. “That‟s a

good sign, if you‟d ever believe it.”

I concurred with Zane. The navel ring was a

permanent  feature  on  all  of  those  who  lived  in
Pembroke  Eve  during  the  alien  incident.  I  never
would  have  thought  someone  not  having  one
would  be  like  a  red  flag,  warning  us  something
wasn‟t  right.  No  one  came  into  Pembroke  Eve
unless  they  were  a  tourist,  and  the  season  didn‟t
start until the week of the Spring Dance. It would
be safe to say only townsfolk had them.

“Her name‟s Nurse Smith,” nurse Goodchild

said. “She‟s usually on night shift, the graveyard
roster as we like to call it.”

“I

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Doctor Woolsey separated from us, looking

around the lab for the missing nurse. I was about
to  pick  up  the  spray  bottle,  the  one  that  worked,
when  nurse  Goodchild  began  fussing  over  me,
checking  out  the  numerous  lacerations  I  had
across my chest and stomach.

After she had looked over me, deciding she

needed to find a first aid box, I looked around the
laboratory,  too,  Zane  in  tow.  The  longer  we
couldn‟t find the missing nurse the more concern
crept  up  like  fingers  across  my  skin.  The  nurse
couldn‟t have gone far. I didn‟t see the doors open
and she wasn‟t wearing any clothes. I crossed that
last  thought  from  my  mind.  Being  naked  never
stopped  me  from  doing  anything.  To  be  honest,
I‟d spent more time out of my clothes than in them
over the last few months, and I don‟t mean that I‟d
been having a lot of sex either. Look at me now. I
was in my boxers.

“Here she is!” Doctor Woolsey cried out, his

voice sounding desperate.

We all ran to him. The doctor was on his knees.

On  the  floor  next  to  him,  legs  splayed  and  arms
twisted at terrible angles, lay nurse Smith. She had
blood all over her and her neck looked like it had
been…it  looked  as  though  something  had  ripped
away  all  the  flesh  revealing  her  spine  and  sinew
and…I  turned,  hiding  my  head  in  Zane‟s  chest.

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179

The sight of all that gore made me feel a little
woozy for a second.

Zane hugged me. “I think there‟s somethin‟ else

in here with us.”

As he spoke those words the sound of

smashing glass rang out. I jumped. Zane tightened
his grip for a brief moment, but let me go when
the

doctor

screamed

out

something

incomprehensible.

Zane pushed me away, but I slipped and fell to

the floor, right into the pool of nurse Smith‟s
blood. I screamed, but I knew as soon as I looked
up why Zane had done what he did.

On one of the benches there was a man,

cloaked, darkness across his face. I recognised
him—no, I remembered his presence. He was the
man who came to our backyard. He was the one
who bit Callum.

Zane readied his axe, standing like a warrior

between me and the strange man. “Keep away
from us, you mother fucker or I‟ll slice you in
two.”

Nurse Goodchild rushed to Doctor Woolsey‟s

side while I scrambled to my feet. I picked up the
spray bottle once more, but as I lifted it, ready to
aim, a feeling of complete uselessness
overwhelmed me. This wasn‟t an insectmans—
well, not how they were now. This man, this thing,
was one of the initial experiment that went wrong.

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Would disinfectant work in slowing him down?

Hell  yes.  Zane  couldn‟t  see  when  a  little  bit
splashed  into  his  eyes.  I  came  next  to  Zane  and
pressed  the  trigger  as  the  man  jumped  off  the
bench  and  began  gliding  in  mid-air  toward  us.
Whatever  they  had  done  to  him,  however  they
changed  him,  I  didn‟t  know  of  any  man  who
could sail through the air like that.

“Zane!” I yelled as I kept my aim true.
Disinfectant sprayed all over the man‟s face, but

his  momentum  brought  him  crashing  down  onto
us.  Zane  was  flung  onto  the  floor,  the  axe
careening  over  to  Doctor  Woolsey.  I  was  pulled
down,  too.  In  fact,  the  disinfectant  did  nothing,
and  as  the  cloak  came  off  the  man,  I  knew  why.
He had no face at all—well, when I say no face, I
meant his mouth was a tiny slit, his nose two little
holes  and  his  eyes,  also  tiny,  were  covered  by  a
protective  shell.  He  looked,  for  want  of  a  better
word, alien. Was this the result of the experiment
on  humans  so  they  could  survive  on  other
planets? I shuddered. What a fucking nightmare.

I screamed again, but the man wasn‟t interested

in me. He wanted Zane.

“Git the fuck off me!” Zane yelled, his legs

slapping on the concrete and his arms clawing at
the man‟s back as he struggled with all his might
to get the man off him. Zane was pinned. The man
lowered his head down to take a bite out of his

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181

neck. That tiny mouth slit a gaping huge hole
filled with rows and rows of teeth, like a sharks.

I got up and pulled at the man, desperate to get

him off my Zane. He wouldn‟t budge. He must
have the strength of a hundred men because even
when I scratched his skin and drew blood, he
didn‟t even notice. Didn‟t even flinch.

Zane writhed and cursed and a deep sense of

failure coursed through me as I heaved and
pushed with all my might.

“Help us!” I yelled at Doctor Woolsey.
Sweat poured off me. The man inched his way

toward  Zane‟s  neck,  my  efforts  to  stop  him
proving  fruitless.  Zane  was  only  seconds  away
from  being  bitten.  My  thoughts  became  a  jumble
of fear and panic and despair. I didn‟t want Zane
to  become  impregnated,  or  worse,  end  up  like
nurse Smith. What could I do?

I screamed out again. In an absolute and final

measure of my desperation, I sunk my teeth into
the soft spot on the man‟s shoulder and forced my
mouth closed as hard and as tight as it would go. I
didn‟t know what else to do. Doctor Woolsey and
the nurse were frozen with fear and Zane couldn‟t
move. I had to do something, and inside me,
something deep down and primitive, told me that
biting him was the only option I had left.

The rancid, coppery taste of blood filled my

mouth, but I didn‟t let go. I dug my teeth in

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deeper, clinging onto him as I continued my bite.
The  man  let  out  a  yell,  a  wolf-like  howl.  He
thrashed,  trying  to  buck  me  off  him.  I  didn‟t
budge, wrapping my arms around him, squeezing
tight.  I  sunk  my  teeth  in  even  more,  feeling  his
tendons and sinew snap in my mouth.

I went dizzy when the man‟s blood flowed

down my throat. Unable to take his taste any
more, I let go. The bite looked terrible, but more
importantly, the man was off Zane.

His attention was now on me.
I stepped back. Not bothering to wipe my chin

which dripped with blood. I stumbled, but didn‟t
fall, thankfully. My back found the bench with a
nauseating thud. I had nowhere to go.

The man‟s little mouth became large again as he

came closer and closer to me. It was filled with
sharp teeth. The cold, dark look in his beady little
eyes completed the picture of horror before me,
filling me with dread. This man wasn‟t human by
any stretch of the imagination. He was a monster.
A created monster.

I opened my mouth, too. An action that would

remind him that I could play his game. He
stopped. Studied me, but must have decided that I
posed no real threat whatsoever. He was right. I
didn‟t possess his strength for one.

As he came within a few feet of me, Zane

screamed, but not a call out of fear, oh no. He was

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yelling out a war cry. A split second later, I
understood why.

The axe cleaved the mutant man‟s head clean in

two. I was splattered in more blood and bits of
stuff I could only imagine were the monster‟s
brains.

“I told you to git the fuck off me!” Zane didn‟t

bother retrieving the weapon from the mutant‟s
body. He went to me and embraced me tight.
“You okay, Jakey?”

“Yeah. I‟m okay…my hero.”
“Cool.”
Again Doctor Woolsey yelled something I

didn‟t quite catch. What was the man jabbering on
about now? I know he‟s a doctor and all and saves
lives every day, but as far as someone who‟s
needed in a crisis, he‟s useless.

“Oh, my stars!” Nurse Goodchild screamed.
“I think you‟d better see this.” Zane moved

away from me so I could see what all the
commotion was about.

Through the laboratories main doors there

poured  into  the  room  uncountable  insectmans.
Amongst  them  walked  Suzy.  She  commanded
them  by  gesturing  where  her  minions  should  be
and they fell into place quickly. Moments later we
were  surrounded.  Unfortunately,  Zane  didn‟t
have time to get the axe out of the mutant‟s body.

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185

Chapter Eighteen

ell me, how many times do you both have to
be warned?” Suzy sauntered over to us. There
was nothing behind her eyes and I knew in

that instant she wasn‟t the real Suzy. This was a
copy. The real Suzy must still be hooked up to that
machine.

“Who are you?” I asked, my tone acidic.
“The voice of the insectmans personified.”
“Where‟s the real Suzz?” Zane asked. The pain

was clear on his face.

Many hands grabbed at me. The bottle was

taken and before I could raise my voice in protest,
the  fake  Suzy  said,  “You  have  done  a  lot  of
damage  to  our  cause,  Jacob  and  Zane.  Perhaps  I
underestimated  you  both.  Maybe  we  will  be  able
to  find  a  much  more  useful  role  for  you  to  fulfil
besides becoming transmitters or incubators.” She
looked down at the mutant, now at her feet.

I was pleased to note she said that we had

affected them. What concerned me was what she

“T

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186

planned to do with us. She wasn‟t going to kill us,
that  much  was  clear.  She  would  have  done  it  by
now.  No,  she  wanted  much  more  from  us.  But
what?  “Whatever  you‟re  going  to  do,  get  it  over
and done with,” I blurted.

“You will become carriers. It only seems fitting,

seeing as you have disposed of the previous
carrier.” Again she glanced down at the mutant.

I swallowed hard. Was I going to be turned into

one of those freaks? “There ain‟t no way I‟m going
to be turned into one of them.” My stomach
turned at the sight of the thing on the floor, still
quivering.

“It‟s either that or death.”
I was about to answer, about to make it clear in

no uncertain terms death was a far better option
than going around impregnating innocent people,
when Zane stepped forward. “Can I have one last
request before you turn me into a mutant mother
fucker?”

Her face became blank, that smug smile she

wore  wiped  from  her  features.  There  was  a
moment  of  pause,  like  she  was  not only thinking
but  receiving  orders  from  the  hive  mind  or
something.  Her  eyeballs  did  that  sort  of  rapid
movement thing for a split second before her smile
returned.  “What  is  it  you  request,  Zane?”  Her
voice  had  a  softness  I  hadn‟t  heard  since  the  real
Suzy was with us.

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187

“I wanna fuck you real good. Split that pussy of

yours „till you beg me to stop.” And with that he
dropped his boxers.

I gasped. My initial reaction was more out of

curiosity  rather  than  surprise.  Why  would  he  do
such  a  thing  now?  I  know  for  a  fact  Zane  would
never,  ever,  ever  talk  to  Suzy  like  that.  Sure,  he
made  jibes  with  her  about  getting  into  the  sack,
but not once would he be so blunt and to the point
and  quite  frankly  so  rude  about  it,  too.  But  this
wasn‟t the real Suzy. He was up to something and
I think I knew what it was.

The fake Suzy was taken aback, but her gaze

roved  down  his  body  to  rest  at  his  genitals.  The
front  of  Zane  was  blocked,  my  view  of  his  cute
behind,  but  I  knew  he  would  have  had  a  raging
boner,  one  wet  with  his  own  pre-cum.  Her
expression, that smug smile, turned to one of lust
and that confirmed it for me. Zane had touched a
nerve,  a  weakness  of  the  hive  mind.  He  was  a
genius.

Everything was clear to me now. I smiled. No

matter  how  much  they  think  they  can  control
someone  they  cannot  completely  wipe  out  a
person‟s innate desires, their instincts or their will
for  freedom.  Zane  was  testing  the  theory.  From
the  look  of  it,  the  real  Suzy,  transmitting  her
thoughts  through  the  hive  mind  into  the
transmitter,  could  not  hide  her  feelings  for  him.

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Suzy, even though she never showed it as I did,
had feelings for Zane and he was going to use that
against them.

He came closer, reaching out to embrace her.

She  let  him,  falling  into  his  arms,  exposing  her
neck so he could lay ravishing kisses all over her
skin. What I saw fascinated me at first. Then pangs
of  jealousy  shot  up  to  consume  me.  Emotions
overwhelmed me. I  knew what  he was doing,  he
was  creating  a  distraction,  using  the  real  Suzy‟s
feelings  to  gain  us  some  time.  But  why  did  he
have to be so…so good at what he did? Why did
he  have  to  be  so  beautiful?  He  was  magnificent
naked and I wanted to be that fake Suzy. I wanted
to  be  in  his  arms,  taking  all  of  him  into  me.  I
wouldn‟t cry out like a girl. I‟d growl like a man in
the heat of the moment as he sunk his cock deeper
and deeper into my arse, just as I had done before.
I  knew  he  liked  me  when  I  did  that.  But  this
wasn‟t  about  me.  I  blinked  rapidly,  trying  to
dismiss  those  unproductive  thoughts  from  my
mind. Zane had bought us the time. It was now up
to me to use it to full advantage.

The hands of the insectmans were no longer

around  me,  a  distracted  transmitter  meant  no
orders  were  given.  Fine  with  me.  As  I  moved
away,  trying  not  to  push  my  way  too  hard
through  the  wall  of  insectmans  that  had
surrounded  us,  she  whimpered.  But  worst  of  all,

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189

he  moaned  with  delight.  The  noise  he  made  was
like  a  dagger  to  my  heart.  As  their  cries  became
more  intense,  and  she  began  to  sing  out  with
ecstasy,  I  couldn‟t  help  but  look.  Their  yelps  of
passion begged for my attention.

I turned, twisting my neck, only to see her

naked and Zane‟s hands explore her body with an
eagerness  he  had  shared  with  me  in  that  priest
hole.  He  pressed  himself  tight  against  her  as  he
pushed  her  toward  the  bench  and  lifted  her  up
onto  it.  She  spread  her  legs  for  him  and  in  that
moment  I  closed  my  eyes,  turned  and
concentrated  on  what  I  had  to  do  next.  I  hoped
Zane could last longer than when he was with me.
I  needed  all  the  time  I  could  get  to  free  the  real
Suzy.

Before I left the laboratory I glanced back. It

was  then  I  noticed  Doctor  Woolsey  and  nurse
Goodchild  surrounded  and  being  taken  over  to
the  stasis  tubes.  I  know  they  were  transmitters.
They  knew  it,  too.  Perhaps  the  insectmans  were
going to  hook  them  up  again,  reinsert  them  back
into  the  hive  mind.  I  swallowed  hard.  I  didn‟t
want to think about that right now. I had to get the
real  Suzy  and  Mr.  Barnaby  out  of  here.  I  had  to
break the insectmans hold on the town.

Once I was clear of the insectmans I made my

way to the laboratory doors. Silence welcomed
me. I came into the main hangar. As before, the

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structure  around  me  was  daunting,  not  only  by
the size, but by its complexity, too. I paused for a
moment  to  get  my  bearings.  Thankfully,  there
wasn‟t an insectmans in sight. They must all be in
the laboratory watching Zane give himself to their
physical  voice.  Queasiness  consumed  me  as  I
thought about what he was doing. He was indeed
a  knight  in  shining  armour,  giving  himself,
sacrificing  himself  for  the  greater  good.  My
jealousy  and  concern  and  every  other  emotion  I
could  think  of  and  some  I  couldn‟t,  gave  way  to
pride. Yep. I was proud of Zane.

Suzy came into sight as I walked toward the

central  column  of  the  hive  mind.  I  climbed  up
onto  the  tendrils,  desperate  to  get  to  her.  The
organic structure around her, feeding her, keeping
her  alive  was  a  massive  living  being,  pulsating,
breathing,  planning,  and  worst  of  all,  enslaving
humans  to  procreate.  Doing  all  of  this  with  Suzy
as the control, the needed calm amongst the storm
of  their  plans.  My  determination  grew  as  I
clambered up the structure. I had to get her out.

I arrived, finding myself on a sort of platform in

front  of  the  structure  she  was  encased  in.  Unlike
before  her  eyes  were  closed  and  I  didn‟t
experience her voice in my mind. I  supposed she
was  concentrating  all  her  efforts  on  the  events
transpiring  in  the  laboratory.  A  great  sense  of
satisfaction come over me. I made it.

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191

Her eyes opened. Again, unlike before, her gaze

was distant, as though she weren‟t even in the
hangar with me, which I suppose she wasn‟t in a
way.

I reached out and touched an organic panel,

hoping one of the buttons would release her. A
painful eternity later, just as I was about to give
up, Mr. Barnaby came into view.

“Jacob!” he called out.
His arms were open to greet me. He looked a

little worse for wear, but his spirits were high.
“Mr. Barnaby! You‟re all right, thank God.”

“I most certainly am, dear boy. I‟ve had an

experience,  let  me  tell  you.  I  fought  them  off  as
best I could before I was overwhelmed and placed
into  a  cell.  I  was  left alone  for  ages,  managing  to
get  out  by  sheer  persistence  and  good  old
fashioned determination. “ I embraced him and he
returned  his  warmth  in  kind,  like  a  father would
to his son. It was good to see him.

“How did you get out?” I said with genuine

curiosity.

Mr. Barnaby let out a chuckle. “Thank goodness

they  didn‟t  take  the  bullets  from  me,  probably
thinking  they  wouldn‟t  do  any  damage  without
the  actual  gun.  With  a  bit  of  luck  on  my  part,  I
found a panel that controlled the door mechanism.
I  pried it open and inside I  noticed it was  warm.
You could say it was hot really. I jammed a few of

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the bullets into it and re-sealed it as best I could. I
then waited. How long, I couldn‟t tell you, but it
seemed like forever to me. Anyway, dear boy, the
bullets eventually exploded and the door was
released and here I am.”

“I‟m so glad you got out, and in such a cool

way, too. You‟re amazing, Mr. Barnaby, you really
are.”

Mr. Barnaby blushed, but a smile found his lips.

“I only did what anyone else would have done.”

I turned my attention back to the structure Suzy

was encased within. “We‟ve really got to get Suzy
out of here. I don‟t know how much…longer Zane
can…distract them.”

Mr. Barnaby let me go, a puzzled look on his

face. “What in heaven‟s name is he able to do that
could distract these things? From what have
experienced they are a tenacious lot if nothing
else.”

I opened my mouth, about to explain, when the

laboratory  door  burst  open  and  hundreds  upon
hundreds of insectmans entered the hangar, all of
them coming toward us. “Never mind. I think he‟s
finished.” I hoped with all my heart and soul Zane
was  all  right.  “C‟mon,  Mr.  Barnaby,  give  me  a
hand here. I  don‟t think  we‟ve got much time.” I
pressed  buttons  again.  Many  lights  ignited  and
Suzy‟s  gaze  fixed  on  me.  That  cold,  almost  evil

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193

stare, the one the fake Suzy was so good at, was
reflected in her eyes.

“Wait a minute.” Mr. Barnaby grabbed me by

my shoulder. “I heard them say something about
neural connections or some such thing and how
she‟s now a part of them. I‟m sure you just can‟t
pull her out of the hive mind.”

I looked down. The insectmans had begun

climbing up toward us. A few were only a couple
of metres away now. “Fuck it! We don‟t have that
much time.”

I stopped pressing buttons and did the only

thing I could think of. I charged at the structure
with all my might, smashing my shoulder into it.
Seconds later, I was engulfed with fluid and tubes
and God know what else as the organic perspex
shattered.

The force of everything coming out of the

container, including Suzy, was too much for me to
withstand. I was thrown off the platform.

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Chapter Nineteen

landed on a few insectmans who broke my fall.
But I didn‟t have time to worry about that. There
was shouting. Actually, there were many voices

shouting. In the confusion that followed I tried to
scramble to my feet to see what the hell was going
on, punching and kicking my way past many of
the insectmans.

Hundreds of them ran about everywhere, but

they  weren‟t  doing  anything  with  any  purpose.
They  were  aimless,  now  devoid  of  the  voice  of
reason  that  had  calmed  their  thoughts.  I  looked
up.  Mr.  Barnaby  was  tending  to  Suzy.  She  was
coughing  as  he  tried  to  remove  the  parts  of  the
hive mind that  had invaded her body. Thank  the
Lord  above  she  was  alive.  Although,  I  hoped  we
could  save  her  from  all  of  the  hive‟s  doing,
including what they had done to her mind.

Those voices I had heard earlier rang out again.

They were war cries, and one of them was so clear
now I could now tell it belonged to Zane. I turned

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195

to see  the most beautiful sight I  had ever seen in
my  life.  Zane  was  charging  through  the  hangar,
axe in hand, chopping at anything and everything
in  his  path,  including  the  structure  of  the  hive
mind itself. He was naked, spattered in blood and
gore  and  grinning  like  a  man  possessed.  As  he
destroyed everything in sight, that feeling of pride
welled up once more. As far as I was concerned he
was poetry in motion and quite hypnotic.

Knocking myself out of my reverie, I ran over

to  him.  He  acknowledged  me  by  pausing  for  a
moment, giving me one of his cheeky smiles. “I‟m
gonna  fuck  „em  up  real  good  now!  Here,  Jakey,
grab  somethin‟  to  help  me  smash  this  place  up.
The doctor and the nurse are in the lab destroyin‟
shit, too. You should join us!”

He was right. Glass was being smashed from

within  the  lab.  I  looked  around,  noticing  a  metal
pole near some containers. I grabbed it and joined
Zane in his frenzy. Moments later, I was working
up  a  sweat  with  him,  beating  the  crap  out  of  the
organic  structure  of  the  hive  mind  and  knocking
away any stray insectmans that crossed our path.

The floor was soon stained with blood and I

was soaked in sweat and filth, as was Zane.

An explosion rang out from the laboratory, one

that shook the foundations of the hangar. Zane
caught me from falling, before he returned to his
destruction, not even batting an eyelid as he

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hacked  tendrils  from  their  adjoining  modules.
Thick  black  smoke  billowed  into  the  hangar  and
angry red and blue flames licked at the laboratory
doors.  Two  humans  emerged  from  the  carnage,
shielding their eyes.

I was delighted and somewhat relieved to see

Doctor Woolsey and nurse Goodchild stagger up
to us, both of them supporting each other.

The doctor was the first to speak. “We‟ve got to

get to the heart and destroy it before they can
gather their thoughts and unite again.”

“Why?” I asked. “I thought they were useless

without Suzy controlling them?”

Nurse Goodchild, her body covered in grime

and  blood,  looked  even  more  concerned  than
normal.  “Yes,  that‟s  true,  but  without  the  control
they‟ll  soon  revert  back  to  their  most  basic
instincts.  And  for  insects  that  means  defending
their territory. We‟re in their hive, remember.”

Before I could add anything to the

conversation,  Zane  grabbed  me  by  my  hand  and
pulled me off the tendril we were butchering. The
doctor and the nurse had disappeared from sight
beyond  a  huge  tendril  with  a  massive  nodule  at
the  end  of  it.  We  followed.  Or  rather,  Zane
followed and I was taken along for the ride.

When we came around the ganglion, the scale

of what the hive mind was hit me like a slap in the
face. The whole back half of the hangar was chock

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197

full of organic matter. There were hundreds—no,
thousands of tendrils and modules and ganglions
all joined and all pulsating with life. At the centre,
where a massive module hung, there beat the
heart of this beast. At first glance and at my best
calculation, I would say the heart alone was about
five times the size of me.

“Whoa!” was all I could manage. Again, I don‟t

think an axe was going to quite be the weapon of
choice here. Then again, what choice did we have?

“We‟ve got to cut off the supply veins to the

heart,” nurse Goodchild called. “But we‟ve got to
hurry.” She and the doctor were already
scrambling up to their goal.

“Zane, Jacob, you take the left side where the

veins feed from heart. We‟ll take the right and the
oxygen rich arteries. Do whatever you can, but try
and do as much damage as you can,” the doctor
added.

Unfortunately, I could now see hundreds of

insectmans within the structure of the hive mind.
It looked to me like they had their new purpose, to
get us away. Many had begun clambering down
the structure toward us. “Look out!” I called out,
all too late.

The insectmans had grabbed the doctor, pulling

him in all directions. The man screamed out. I
turned away as they ripped his limbs from their
sockets. Nurse Goodchild became hysterical as all

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the surrounding insectmans charged for the
doctor‟s carcass, like vultures at a feeding frenzy.
All sorts of whooping noises rang out as they tore
the man to pieces. They had reverted. They were
now primitive and that scared the spit out of me.

The nurse screamed out again, but her

commotion drew their attention. She fell to her
knees, soon to be surrounded by them, too. I
couldn‟t bear to watch.

Zane pulled on me. “C‟mon, here‟s our

chance.”

“But…but…the nurse…the doctor…we.”
I was up on the structure of the hive mind

before  I  realised.  Zane  was  not  only  strong  as  all
hell  when  he  wanted  to  be,  he  was  determined,
too.  “They‟re  gone,  yeah,  but  we‟ve  got  to  make
their  sacrifice  matter.  We‟ve  got  to  destroy  that
fuckin‟ heart once and for all.”

I hated to admit it again, but he was right. As

soon  as  we  reached  the  heart,  he  began  slashing
away  at  the  veins  and  arteries,  severing  the
connections with the life of the hive mind as best
we  could  considering  we  were  trying  to  knock
down a house with a toothpick. There was a huge
vein above us. I gained Zane‟s attention by poking
him  in  his  side.  To  shout  at  him  wouldn‟t  have
done any good, he was a man with a mission as he
hacked away with his axe.

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He got the message and concentrated his efforts

on that vein. I helped by pulling it down, letting
him get to it easier. The flesh of it was warm in my
hands, an icky kind of warmth, slimy and sticky.

Moments later, we were showered in the

contents of the vein. I couldn‟t see. I couldn‟t hear.
All  I  knew  was  the  simple  fact  we  were  being
drowned in blood. As I tried to hold my breath, I
felt  Zane  lose  his  footing.  I  yelled  out  as  I
managed  to  keep  him  from  falling.  How?  I  have
no  idea,  but  I  didn‟t  want  him  to  fall  into  the
waiting clutches of the insectmans who had most
certainly  finished  devouring  the  doctor  and  the
nurse  and  were  at  this  moment  climbing  up
toward us. I only knew I held onto him with all of
my might, as he held onto me.

When the blood flow from the wound slowed

to a trickle, I could no longer hear the beat of the
heart. I spat blood from my mouth and wiped my
eyes as best I could. My stomach turned in a sickly
way. I must have swallowed some of it.

Zane‟s smile greeted me. He was plastered with

blood, as was I. “I think we‟ve done it,” I said with
great relief. We hugged, an interesting experience
considering our current state, let me tell you.

An eternity later, Zane whispered, “Hey, look,

there‟s Mister B and Suzz.”

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200

Mr. Barnaby was coming toward us, helping

Suzy walk. “You‟d better get down from there,
boys,” he called out.

The structure of the hive mind was beginning

to disintegrate and the heart had slumped. It was
now well below us—a dead, dark mass of organic
matter and just as useless.

I became aware of our precarious position,

because  when  I  separated  from  Zane  there  was
nowhere to place my foot. We were on a module,
one  that  began  swaying  wildly  as  it  began  to
collapse, no longer fed by the heart. A split second
after  my  realisation,  the  tendrils  that  supported
the structure we were on snapped.

We fell.

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Chapter Twenty

fell on top of Zane and thankfully he landed
onto the dead heart itself. Well, I thought it was
a good thing until we were soon surrounded by

dead flesh as the structure of the thing collapsed
around us from our weight, like a punctured
jumping castle with too many kids on it.

Both of us struggled to get out of it as we were

engulfed. I cried out. Panic struck me as I found it
difficult to not only move considering I was
slippery from all the blood and couldn‟t get a hold
on anything, but because I found it difficult to
breathe, too. I was helpless as we sank deeper and
deeper into the heart.

Soon I couldn‟t even hear Mr. Barnaby scream

at  us  to  get  out—well,  I  thought  that‟s  what  he
was doing. I  had never heard him say the  words
he  shouted  before.  It  sounded  as  though  he  was
calling  out  for  someone,  but  I  didn‟t  hear  our
names,  rather  it  was  like  he  was  speaking  in  a
different  language.  Then,  as  we  sank  deeper  and

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deeper,  all  I  could  feel  was  Zane‟s  laboured
breathing  as  we  became  cocooned  in  flesh.  A
strange  sensation  overcame  me  as  everything
echoed, like listening into a shell at the beach. Our
hearts beat loud, our breathing, our wild thrashes
as  we  tried  with  all  our  might  to  get  out  of  our
predicament, surrounded me. I went numb.

I went hot, too. A heat that overwhelmed me,

made me feel weak, as though it were draining
away my life force. Zane no longer struggled. He
grabbed onto me, holding me tight.

“If I‟m gonna go, I‟m glad it‟s with you, Jakey.”
I couldn‟t answer him. My face was pressed

against  the  dead  flesh.  I  became  dizzy  and  my
mind  conjured  up  images  that  were  dream-like
and  fantastic.  I  imagined  myself  running  naked
through  a  field  of  flowers.  Zane  and  Callum  ran
toward me. Then I came to my house. My parents,
also coming toward me, waved to beckon me on.
Was  my  mind  telling  me  that  this  was  the  end?
My brain‟s way of letting me know that  I  should
be thinking of the people I loved as my life ebbed
away from me.

Zane squeezed me tighter. I welcomed his

embrace. I could no longer hear anything. I shut
my eyes and darkness, a deep and welcome night,
came to me.

* * * *

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I opened my eyes. Above me was Sheriff Tucker,
his  moustache  grin  unmistakable.  “Well  there,
young  Jacob,  seems  you‟ve  not  only  got  yourself
into a predicament, you‟ve saved the town in the
process.  You  gave  me  the  time  and  the  break  I
needed  to  do  what  I  had  to  with  my  friends.
Thanks.”

“What?” I asked, my voice groggy. My head

pounded and all I could do was rub my forehead
to let myself know I was alive and this wasn‟t a
dream.

I was on a stretcher, sheltered under a sort of

huge makeshift tent. Beyond the tent there was the
hangar. All around, many of the Sheriff‟s men and
his  friends,  too,  milled  about.  They  all  had  guns.
On  the  bed  next  to  me  was  Zane.  His  eyes  were
closed  and  I  assumed  he  was  still  unconscious.
Next  to  him  were  townsfolk,  the  ones  we  saw
inside the hangar, the ones who had finished their
duties  as  incubators.  Mrs.  O‟Doherty  was  on  the
far  side  of  the  tent.  She  was  sitting  upright,  her
hands over her face. We were in a triage sort of set
up. A few of the hospital staff tended to the people
on the beds.

“I‟ll let one of your friends explain,” Sheriff

Tucker said, knocking me from my thoughts. “I
just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He
patted me on my shoulder before he made his way

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204

toward the tent‟s exit. I supposed from him that
was as good as a thank you got.

In walked Mr. Barnaby. I smiled. I was sure

glad to see him.

“Well, my boy, good to see you awake. We

were worried there for a moment, you know.”

“Where‟s Suzy?” I said.
“She‟s in the hospital. She‟s going to be fine, but

it‟s going to be a while before she‟ll fully recover
from the effects of the hive mind. Anyway, cheer
up, there‟s someone here who‟s dying to see you.”

From behind Mr. Barnaby, Callum come into

view. Before I could even sit up, he was embracing
me tight, laying kisses all over my face. His
warmth, his touch, his smell and his familiarity all
overwhelmed me to the point where I could no
longer contain my emotions. I began to cry. “I love
you so much, Callum.”

He kissed away my hot tears from my cheeks.

“I love you with all my heart, too, my Jacob.”

We kissed. My salt water and his taste mingled

in my mouth. I wanted him to kiss me and hold
me forever. It was so good to see him.

Mr. Barnaby coughed into his hand, showing

his manners and Callum broke away his kiss. I
missed him the moment we parted. “The sheriff
tells me they‟ve got most of the critters now. He‟s
called in some of his army buddies to help remove
what‟s left of the hive mind. It‟s all hush, hush, but

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thankfully he did. I think the hangar will be
destroyed…that‟s what they‟re talking about out
there anyway.”

“You know, I have so many questions,” I said.

“What happened to you, Callum?”

He sat beside me, taking me by my hand. “As

soon  as  the  hive  mind  died,  all  of  us  in  the
hospital woke up. It was like a miracle. I could see
through my own eyes and hear my own thoughts
again. It was like I had come out of a dark room or
something.”  The  joy  and  relief  in  his  eyes  was
tangible  and  I  could  only  imagine  what  he  went
through as that thing grew inside him, consuming
him.  “After  the  doctors  checked  us  out,  it  was
discovered that our bodies had begun fighting off
the embryo that grew inside us. They reckon we‟ll
absorb  them  or  something  like  that.  I  don‟t
understand exactly, but at least I‟m here with you
now,  Jacob.  I  suppose  I‟m  one  of  the  lucky  ones,
though. A  few folk in the advanced stages didn‟t
make  it.  When  their  embryo  lost  the  link  to  their
transmitter and the hive mind, they took the host,
too…”  His  words  trailed  off  and  a  sadness
overcame him.

I swallowed hard. I wondered how many of the

townsfolk didn‟t make it. That thought made me
shudder and I reached over to hug him.

For the longest time we held each other. Even

Mr. Barnaby joined in.

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“Hey, save some of that for me,” Zane said.
I hadn‟t noticed him wake up, but I‟m glad he

did.  I  needed  the  two  men  I  loved  and  now  was
the perfect time to let them both know how much
I  wanted  them.  “Callum,  Zane  has  something  to
tell  you,”  I  said  with  a  smile  on  my  lips  I  didn‟t
want to remove.

“What is it?” Callum asked, his curiosity

seeming to get the better of him. His eyes got that
flash of interest that made him look damn sexy.

Zane got up off his bed, coming over to us. He

was in a hospital gown and all cleaned up. He
looked as beautiful as ever with those deep
brooding eyes of his and those thick sexy lips. “Let
me just show you instead, Cals.”

With that he knelt down, coming between

Callum‟s  legs  so  he  would  be  in  the  perfect
position to place his lips onto Callum‟s. He kissed
my boyfriend. There were tantalizing glimpses of
their tongues as they both explored each other. At
first  Callum  was  taken  aback,  although  he  didn‟t
recoil,  rather  he  sat  there  frozen.  Seconds  later,
Zane embraced him and deepened his kiss so they
were  both  open  mouthed.  Callum  seemed  to
become swept away. He returned Zane‟s embrace
and  soon  they  were  both  in  the  throes  of  their
passion,  all  roving  hands  and  delicious  noises.
Fuck it was hot watching them kiss. I stirred.

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It was then I noticed I wore a gown, too. How

long  was  I  unconscious?  Why  didn‟t  the  sheriff
and  his  men  arrive  sooner?  Oh,  wait,  I  think  I
knew.  This  was  a  government  experiment,  so
bringing attention to it wasn‟t a good idea. Sheriff
Tucker  organised  this  in  secret  and  I  suppose
when he  saw that  the insectmans were no  longer
controlled  by  the  hive  mind,  running  about
aimless, he acted. Then again, knowing this didn‟t
answer  the  other  question  that  sprang  into  my
thoughts. How did we get out of the heart? Then
another  rose  up.  Would  Suzy  be  okay?  So  many
questions wheeled around in my mind, I forgot for
a  moment  there  were  my  two  beautiful  men
showing  their  affection  for  one  another  right  in
front of me.

Mr. Barnaby coughed again. Beside him was

Mrs. O‟Doherty. She looked haggard and
withdrawn, her usual feisty demeanour gone.
Even her normal regal posture had slumped. She
looked like she was in pain, almost doubled over.

“Jacob, Mrs. O‟Doherty has something to tell

you and I think Callum and Zane should hear it,
too,” the old man said.

Zane broke away from Callum, coming to sit

next  to  me.  The  makeshift  bed  creaked.  “You‟re
next,  Jakey,”  he  said  with  that  adorable  smile  of
his  as  he  looked  down  at  me  with  hungry  eyes.
“And so‟s, Cal.”

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“Please,” she began, “this is important and I

must say it now.”

Callum asked, “So what‟s going on, Mrs.

O‟Doherty? I know you wanted to have a meeting
with us today…but you know…considering
what‟s happened…”

“That‟s all part of the problem, Callum dear. I

love Pembroke Eve, I really do, but considering
everything that‟s gone on of late, I can no longer
stay here. I‟m sorry to say I‟m leaving. For good.”

The first words out of my mouth weren‟t the

obvious. I was concerned about her. I‟d never seen
her like this. “Where will you go?”

“My sister lives in the city. I am going to stay

with her.” Her stare became intense. “Jacob,
Callum…and Zane, I want you three to take over
the running of the Food Emporium. You can live
in the house and do with the place as you see fit.”

To say I was stunned would be an

understatement. “But…”

She leaned over and pecked me on my

forehead.  “Make  me  proud.”  She  placed  the
shop‟s  keys  into  my  hand.  I  held  them  tight.  No
longer  was  I  concerned  with  how  things  had
transpired since I was rescued. I only felt for her.
That  shop  meant  everything.  I  looked  up  at  her.
Tears  had  welled  in  her  weary  eyes,  but  before  I
could add anything, explain that she would be all
right and we were there for her, she turned away

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and left. Mr. Barnaby went with her. All three of
us sat in silence as we watched the world outside
the tent. The Sheriff‟s friends were rounding up
the last of the insectmans, making sure they would
no longer bother the town. Life would soon return
to normal…I hoped.

I opened my hand, staring at the keys for ages.

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Chapter Twenty-one

allum, Zane, will you both help me run the
Food Emporium?” I asked, not really quite
sure how I was going to go about such a task.

Sure, I was the fry cook and the clean up guy, but
not once had I been shown the books. I didn‟t
want to let Mrs. O‟Doherty down.

“Of course we will, Jacob. You know that,”

Callum said, then kissed me, his touch warm and
welcome and so reassuring.

Zane kissed me, too. “I‟m with Cals. „Sides, I

gotta get outta my place anyway. Shacking up
with you both will be perfect. We can all start
fresh. It‟ll be cool.”

I giggled. “You just want to be with us for the

sex, don‟t you, Zane?”

“Fuck yeah.” Zane hugged us both. “But I

wanna check out Suzz. Make sure she‟s okay. You
both comin‟, or what?”

A nurse, drifted over to my bed, a gentle smile

on her lips. “I couldn‟t help but overhear,

“C

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gentlemen. No one‟s going anywhere without
being discharged. Sure, we‟re in a triage tent, but
doctor‟s orders are doctor‟s orders. Clear?”

We all looked at each other.
“So who‟s the doc and when can he come and

check us out to make sure we‟re right?” Zane
questioned.

“I‟m the doctor here,” a man said as he

extended  out  his  hand.  I  shook  it.  “The  name‟s
Charles  Auger,  pleased  to  finally  see  you  awake,
young man.” He was huge, at least seven feet tall.
I  couldn‟t  imagine  any  patient  defying  him.  I
wouldn‟t. There was a military uniform under his
white  coat,  another  one  of  the  sheriff‟s  friends,  I
assumed. “I‟ve examined you both. You‟re fine to
leave  so  long  as  you  take  it  easy.  You‟ve  just
suffered  bumps  and  bruises  and  a  mild  case  of
oxygen  deprivation.  Everything  should  be  okay
now that you‟ve rested a while.”

“How long was I unconscious?” I asked.
“Four hours. Your parents were most

concerned.”

“Mum? Dad?” I had forgotten about them.

They would be worried sick. “Where are they?”

“They‟re waiting for you in the visitor‟s tent.” I

sprang up to my feet. The moment I did so, I
wished I hadn‟t been so enthusiastic. The tent and
everyone in it spun around me. The doctor tutted.
“I told you to take it easy. Now, if you‟re not

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going to listen to me, I‟ll have you stay here
longer.”

“He‟ll be careful, Doctor. We‟ll make sure of it.”

Callum  helped  me  up.  Zane  came  around  to  the
other  side.  I  didn‟t  see  the  reaction  on  the  man‟s
face. My beautiful lovers escorted me out of there
as  fast  as  they  could  without  it  looking  like  they
were doing so. God, I loved them.

When we were out of the tent, Zane smiled and

said.  “I  gotta  go.  I‟ll  meet  you  at  the  Food
Emporium‟s  house  in  two  hours,  that‟ll  give  me
plenty  of  time  to  get  my  shit  together  and  check
out Suzz, okay?”

“I‟ll give you a hand, Zane. I think Jacob needs

some time with his folks.”

“Sure. Just keep your hands to yourself. We‟ve

got all night for some fun,” Zane said.

Callum laughed. “I was going to say the same

thing to you.”

“I got in first. Now, gimme your hand, I‟m

gonna go see the sheriff so we can get some
wheels. I don‟t fancy the walk into town.”

Zane and Callum walked hand in hand toward

a tent surrounded by unimpressed looking army
folk and a few of the sheriff‟s men. I turned. A tent
marked visitors was to my immediate left. I made
my way to it.

Inside there were many people, most relatives

of the folk in the triage tent. By the back wall there

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were mum and dad, a sight for sore eyes. As soon
as they saw me, they ran, arms outstretched. I was
soon covered in their affection. I loved it, and took
them in with everything I had within me. But
something nagged deep down inside me. I had to
tell them I was leaving home. I had to tell them I
was going to make Mrs. O‟Doherty proud. I also
had to tell them about Zane.

I swallowed hard. “Mum, Dad, I‟ve got

something to say.” And with that the words just
flowed. I told them everything. From the moment
I left them at the hospital with Callum to the here
and now. All through it they didn‟t utter a word.
They let me talk.

When I finished, they hugged me tight. Dad

then said, “All you need to know is that we love
you. No matter what, you‟ll always be our son.
Go, do what you must do, our door will always be
open for you.”

I cried tears of relief and joy. Mum‟s face

reflected  a  sadness  I  hadn‟t  seen  in  a  long  time,
more  from  the  thought  of  me  leaving  them  I
supposed. I reassured her I had to do it. I was my
own  man  and  I  had  responsibilities  now.  I  think
she  understood.  It‟s  not  like  I  was  leaving
Pembroke Eve.

Three hours later, suitcase in hand, I met

Callum and Zane at the steps of our new home.

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214

“Hey, I‟m not servin‟ no one. I‟ll do all the back

of house stuff, you know, clean up and cook for us
all. I don‟t like dealin‟ with the public, „specially if
my dead beat parents come into the shop. I think
I‟ll kill „em.”

I patted Zane on the shoulder. “I understand.

You do whatever you want. Callum and I both
love you, you know that.”

There was a moment of silence as we all looked

at each other. “Are we goin‟ in or what? It‟s
fuckin‟ freezin‟ out here.” Yep. That was Zane at
his all time best.

Callum laughed.
Inside, the house was huge if a little old

fashioned for my liking. Mrs. O‟Doherty had left
everything. The furniture, the crockery, even the
pictures on the walls. Everything. She really didn‟t
want to be here in the end. Again, I felt for her.

I turned to see Callum taking off his clothes. I

mean, we hadn‟t even warmed the doorstep yet
and he was thinking of his dick. “Last one into the
bedroom,” he yelled out as he dashed away, a blur
of nakedness down the hall.

Zane looked at me and that cheeky smile crept

over his lips. His eyes reflected that wonderful
hunger of his again. “You first,” he said. I lifted up
my shirt. “Oh, and Jakey?”

“What is it?”

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“Suzy‟s goin‟ to be fine. In fact, she wishes us

all well. I told her about us, you know. She‟s
happy for me and in a way I feel even closer to her
than I have ever done. Thanks, Jakey for being
there for me.”

“Say, did she tell you how we got out of the

heart?”

He nodded, then winked. “Let‟s just say a

certain friend of Mister B‟s decided he liked the
taste of heart more than insect and leave it at that.”

“I thought I heard Mr. Barnaby call out some

strange stuff. I thought I was hearing things. Now
I know he was calling for Aloysius. We owe that
dragon a lot. He helped us so much today.”

“Shhh. He doesn‟t want anyone to know.”
I understood. A dragon would raise too many

questions, especially with the army poking about
town. “You know, I‟m glad you had that chat with
Suzy.” He slapped me on my buttocks. Something
I wasn‟t expecting. I jumped. “Zane!” I added with
a girlish giggle.

He let out a growl. “Now get in that bedroom,

mister. I‟m gonna plough you both red fuckin‟
raw.”

“Promises. Promises.” I took down my pants

and followed Callum, my heart beating fast and
my loins stirring as I ran down the hall, knowing
full well Zane was close behind.

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Chapter Twenty-two

allum  and  I  sat  on  the  big,  beautiful  bed  Mrs.
O‟Doherty had in her—I  mean our—bedroom.
Both  of  us  eager  and  ready  for  Zane.  Seconds

later, he entered the room. I patted the bed,
encouraging him to come and sit between us. I
wanted to show him once more how much I loved
him and I‟m sure Callum did, too.

Zane was wearing that beautiful smile and

those sexy boxers. But not for long. Before he came
closer,  he  pulled  them  down,  revealing  his
magnificent  cock,  erect  and  ready  for  our
undivided  attention.  His  foreskin  had  relented
and  retracted  of  its  own  accord  and  his  head
swelled  so  large  I  couldn‟t  wait  to  have  it  in  my
mouth.

Callum gasped, his cock also as hard as I had

ever seen it. Well, I had to admit, this was going to
be one experience I wasn‟t going to forget in a
hurry. I was hard, too. Pre-cum already dribbling
from my piss slit.

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217

As Zane sat, I began to run my hands over his

body, concentrating my efforts on his chest, as did
Callum.  Zane‟s  nipples  became  hard  in  no  time.
We  then,  the  both  of  us,  kissed  him  at  the  same
time,  both  of  our  tongues  touching  his  as  he
opened  his  mouth  to  take  us  both  in.  The
sensation  was  electric.  Experiencing  two
distinctive  tastes  all  rolled  into  one  and  in
combination  with  their  warm  wetness,  too.
Callum  was  distinctively  cinnamon  in  taste,  but
also  spicy,  and  Zane  was  tangy  and  sweet.  Mix
that  with my own and I  was  in heaven. The heat
between us was already intense, but the feel of my
two  lover‟s  tongues  and  lips  over  mine,  the
sensation  of  having  so  much  pleasure  running
through  me  made  me  feel  giddy.  Zane  had
grabbed  Callum‟s  cock  in  one  hand  and  mine  in
the other. As we continued to kiss him, he jacked
us both off.

My cock dripped with pre-cum, showing my

excitement.

We pushed Zane down onto the bed,

continuing  to  share  our  passionate  kisses,  letting
our  hands  rove  all  around  all  of  our  bodies.  My
stomach  quivered  and  those  beautiful  butterflies
soared  inside  me.  Soon  Zane‟s  face  became  wet
with  all  the  attention  we  lavished  on  him.  But  I
wasn‟t finished with him yet.

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218

Callum was the first to break away our kiss. He

giggled,  and  it  became  clear  Callum  must  have
decided  he  didn‟t  want  to  play  games  anymore.
He went straight down to take Zane‟s cock into his
mouth,  hesitating  momentarily  to  feel  the  weight
of  it  in  his  hand.  Before  I  knew  it,  Callum‟s  lips
were working Zane‟s shaft. I felt a little cheated. I
wanted  to  taste  him  first,  experience  that
wonderful tang of the first droplets of pre-cum as
he writhed with passion on the bed.

“Suck me off, too, Jakey,” Zane whispered. His

eyes deep with an intense look, like the look he
had given me twice today.

His hands were on my head, pushing me down.

I didn‟t need any more encouragement than that. I
knew what Zane liked. It was pretty much what
every guy liked. A good blowjob. No teeth, just
plenty of attention and good tongue action.

Callum, having heard Zane, came off him for a

moment to hold his wet with saliva cock up for me
to  take  him.  His  piss  slit  dribbled  more  pre-cum,
so  much  so  a  great  droplet  of  it  rolled  down  his
head toward his frenulum. I licked him. He tasted
wonderful  and  I  didn‟t  regret  for  one  moment
Callum wanted to get right down to action.

Together we licked and slurped and sucked

Zane‟s beautiful cock. I pulled down on the root of
it, making sure all of his magnificent head was
exposed to our attention and the sensitive inside

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skin of his foreskin was all exposed. I caught more
of that tang as I licked around the rim of him,
Callum‟s tongue touching mine as we worked.

I had begun massaging his balls, gently

cupping them, and he must have liked what I did,
because he was arching his back, moaning and
groaning as he flung his head back. His toes were
even curled.

“Fuck me!” he said with a shuddering whine.

One filled with the cry of a man reaching climax. I
don‟t know whether or not he meant that, but
Callum and I both came off him, letting his cock
slap onto his stomach. We were ready for the next
step in showing Zane that we loved him so much.

I parted his legs, the sight was a wondrous one,

his arsehole framed by beautiful black hair.

Callum smiled at me. “You go first.”
Again, I didn‟t need any encouragement. I came

down and licked his balls, then the space between
his  genitals  and  his  rectum.  A  musty  yet  manly
taste  filled  my  mouth,  spurring  me  on.  I  loved  it
and rolled my tongue forcefully across his skin so
he  knew  I  wanted  to  go  to  the  next  step.  Zane
gasped  as  I  parted  his  legs  wider,  my  goal  now
known  to  him.  I  licked  around  his  rim,  teasing
him,  before  I  went  in  and  lavished  the  whole  of
me all over his arsehole.

He couldn‟t gasp any more. Callum kissed him,

deep in his mouth, muffling any protest or any

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show of delight he may have had. Zane‟s stomach
moved and his cock pulsed with every wave of
ecstasy that washed over him. I continued to lick
him all over, getting him ready for my love.

Callum grabbed Zane‟s cock, jerking him off.

Now  was  the  time.  I  got  up,  took  Zane‟s  knees
firmly into my hands and manoeuvred into place.
My  cock  was  so  hard  and  wet  with  my  own
excitement that when I plunged myself into him I
was  consumed  with  pleasure  and  relief  beyond
words. I knew this was right. I pushed myself into
him.

I moved myself within him. Zane‟s whole body

shuddered and even Callum‟s lips sealed over his
own didn‟t stop him from crying out. At first I did
it slowly,  letting him relax his muscles, then, as I
was  able  to  move  easier,  I  pushed  myself  in
deeper.  Zane  was  not  only  arching  his  back  up
higher  so  he  could  take  more  of  me  in,  he  was
quivering, every muscle of his being shaking with
delight.

Callum broke his kiss once more and said, “You

want to suck me off, now, beautiful?”

“Yeeesss.”
Callum came alongside Zane, inching himself

closer so he could feed Zane his cock. I got a great
view and watching them made me hornier.
Nothing better than seeing a guy getting a
blowjob. I pushed myself in deeper. Zane‟s mouth

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221

took in all of Callum, his nose deep in his pubic
hair. He reached over and began fondling
Callum‟s balls. Callum moaned with pleasure.

I continued to fuck Zane, more than happy to

watch, but Callum had other ideas. He wanted my
attention, too. He leaned over so I could kiss him. I
did. I teased him with my tongue.

The room was filled with the beautiful sounds

of our love. Of my body slapping against Zane‟s
buttocks, of Callum‟s lips locked with mine and of
Zane, taking in all of Callum, moaning as the back
of his throat welcomed his cock.

Ecstasy rose within me. I finished our kiss,

Callum‟s lips moist and sexy after my attention. I
was in heaven and I didn‟t know how much more
I could take.

“Oh, fuck!” I was about to say I could go much

longer when Zane pulled Callum out of his
mouth, holding his cock like it were his prize.

The next words he spoke delighted me. “I

wanna suck you both off. I want to taste you both.
I want you to cum in my mouth, okay? “

We didn‟t answer. We both wanted the same.
With great reluctance I pulled myself out of

Zane.  A  couple  of  moments  were  then  spent
manoeuvring around the bed so Zane could do as
he  wished.  Callum  and  I  both  watched,  standing
on  the  bed  as  Zane,  kneeling  below  us,  took  us
into his mouth, jerking us both off in the process.

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222

He  nibbled  at  our  foreskins  with  care,  retracted
them,  rolled  his  tongue  around  our  heads  and
then,  one  after  the  other,  took  us  into  his  mouth
before starting the process all over again.

If what had happened before was heaven, then

this  was  sheer  paradise.  Zane  was  fucking  good.
He  rolled  his  tongue  around  my  cock  with  such
perfection  that  I  blew  within  minutes,  my  cum
filling his mouth. I cried out and continued to give
him everything I had.

But he didn‟t swallow.
He then gave Callum his full attention, and as

my body cooled and my cock became flaccid—and
Zane continued to play with me—Callum closed
his eyes tight and shot his load into Zane‟s mouth,
too.

Zane smiled, our cum dribbling from the corner

of his mouth as he tried to hold onto all we gave
him. He stood up. I knew what he wanted to do,
so I went down and finished what we had started
earlier. Callum caught on, too.

We both sucked him off again. As his stomach

began to shudder and he scrunched his fingers in
my hair, I knew he was going to ejaculate, too. The
signs so obvious and so fantastic to witness. That
moment before cumming was the best feeling in
the world. Callum let me take him, so I did. I took
Zane‟s cock into my mouth but not too deep. I
didn‟t want him to shoot down my throat.

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223

He trembled, his end swelled so large I thought

I‟d choke, and then, with a delighted yell, he blew,
his  hot  sticky  cum  exploded  into  my  mouth.  He
tasted fucking awesome. It was unlike anything I
had  ever  tasted.  Sharp  and  bitter  and  salty,  yet
subtly  sweet,  too.  He  came  in  a  great  globules.
More than a mouthful and some trickled down the
back of my throat.

I tried with all my might not to swallow either,

keeping Zane‟s cum in my mouth as best I could. I
so wanted to taste all of our love, a fitting finale to
an experience that was all about sharing what we
had for each other. An experience that was all
about showing Zane just how much we both loved
him. Nothing meant more to a guy than taking his
load, the ultimate sign of wanting everything he
had. The ultimate gesture of love.

He helped pull me up once he had finished

unloading.

We lay down on the bed, Zane between us.

Then we kissed. Our cum, all of it, mingled in all
of our mouths. I  was unable to comprehend how
such  a  simple  thing  meant  so  much.  I  never
wanted  this  to  end.  I  wanted  to  taste  Zane  and
Callum and myself forever and ever. I wanted our
love to last as long, too.

Once we had shared the rewards of all our

effort and our kisses moistened our faces with our

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224

own cum and saliva, I swallowed what I had in
my mouth, licking my lips afterwards.

“That was fucking amazing.” Callum wiped his

face with his hand and licked his fingers,
seductively, one by one.

“You guys…thanks so much,” Zane said, and I

swear there was a tear in his eye. A tear of sheer
unadulterated joy.

I kissed him. Then I kissed Callum. “Time for

some sleep. It‟s been a hell of a day.”

We continued to touch each other, tickle and

laugh as we climbed into the bed.

“You‟re in the middle tonight, Jacob,” Callum

said. “Then tomorrow we swap. Oh, and I bags to
have Zane‟s arse next time. I can‟t wait to plough
that.”

Zane smiled, his lips and face still wet with our

love.  He  didn‟t  wipe  it  off,  either.  He  wanted  to
keep  it  on  him,  savour  our  taste  all  through  the
night. “Deal. And I so wanna lick out Jakey‟s man
pussy as well as yours Cal as soon as we wake up,
okay?  But  yeah,  I‟m  beat…been  a  day  all  right
fightin‟ bug men and shit.”

“I can‟t wait for morning then,” I said.
“Yeah, I get a stiffy no one can tame when I

wake up.” Zane reached over and pulled himself
closer to me. I kissed him, more of our wonderful
taste exciting my tongue. I missed everything we
did already.

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225

“I‟ll give it a good go.” Callum hugged me, his

hands wandering all over my body. He then
grasped Zane‟s hand and together they locked
their arms around me. I kissed Callum. “Next time
I‟d love to gag on you, Zane. You, too, Jacob.”

“Deal,” Zane said.
“Goodnight,” I said.
“Nite, Jakey. Sweet dreams,” Zane said. “Nite,

Cals.”

“Goodnight,” Callum chimed in.
The clock read 12:30 AM. Moments later, I fell

asleep in the arms of the two men I loved. Before I
wandered into my dreams, I thought about what
tomorrow would bring to Pembroke Eve.

About the Author

My  name  is  Mark  Alders.  I  live  in  a  house.  This
house  has  a  street  in  front  of  it  which  is  a  good
thing  because  if  it  didn‟t  I  wouldn‟t  be  able  to
drive  down  to  the  shop  and  purchase  the
chocolate  I  need  on  a  daily  basis.  *chuckle*
Seriously,  I  am  a  mild  mannered  post  office
worker  by  day  and  an  erotic  romance  writer
(mainly male/male) at night. Not much else to say
other than, like everyone else, I have bills to pay, a
mortgage  and  family  that  I  love  and  drive  me
crazy all at the same time. Oh, and I  have a dog,
too!  See?  Average  Joe…except  when  I  get  down
and write…then I let my imagination go to places
I  never  knew  existed  and  my  characters  invade
my mind.