Halloween, Last Year

I gasped and threw my head back; the pleasure of the stretch as his eight inches of hardness pushed into me was unexpected. There was no discomfort, just spine-tingling awesomeness. The man knew what he was doing. My hands moved from his slender waist to his broad, hairy chest. He leaned his head down and tickled my ear with his tongue. His lips moved to cover mine, and I pushed my tongue into his mouth. I began to move my pelvis in response to his gentle thrusts, and we developed a synchronous rhythm.

Each thrust gave me a pulse of excitement that translated straight to my stiffness. I could feel my cock push against him. His tight abs held my rod in place while the friction of his movements brought me closer to the edge. He began to pump me faster; his teeth grabbed my lower lip and he pushed hard into me. The pressure inside me increased as the condom filled with his seed. My body spasmed as I spewed forth my load into the small space between our bodies.

He paused his movements while he was still buried inside me. I glanced upward to see a glint of light from the hall pass through his blond hair. He gazed down at me and smiled before pulling himself free from the grasp of my hole. He pulled the latex protection away and stood by the window. His hardness angled slightly down; fluid dripped from the tip onto the floor.

I had never felt this level of post-sex euphoria. “Come back next to me.” I had not intended to sleep with him on the first date, but something told me my search was over. I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I saw him go to the nightstand and swallow the rest of the whisky he’d poured for himself before sitting next to me.

“You’re a special man, Daniel. Really special. I would love to spend the rest of the night with you.”

“I want to. I want you to take me as many times as you want. I want to feel you inside me. I want to feel your skin against mine. I want to feel your seed filling me up.”

“Oh, sweet Daniel. I wish we could. But I only fuck a guy once, and then I kill him.” He punched me hard in the chest, and when his hand moved away, I could see the handle of the hunting knife just like the one my father used to have.

I woke up, paralyzed for a moment before I was able to gasp for air. I looked around, and I was in the hotel room I’d reserved as I drove to my family home in Northern Ohio. This was the first time I’d had this dream, but I’d been having more nightmares lately, and they all involved sexy men that I wanted to sleep with. I’d not had sex with any of them until this last time, and the horror of being murdered right after having had the perfect orgasm with the perfect man was not boding well for where these dreams were going. I remember a TV show with a dream curse, and there was a tiny part of my brain that wondered whether I was under some spell.

I got up to get a drink of water. Two weeks ago, I’d received from my parents’ lawyer that I’d received a ticket for failure to keep up the house. As it turned out, the lawn man I was paying had been in jail for the past six months, so no one had been mowing or trimming the hedges. I had been dutifully sending him checks, and the money kept leaving my account. I began to wonder whether his wife was maintaining the inside of the house. The lawyer was unable to get in contact with her. Although it was the end of October, I knew I needed to get the situation in hand before the cold weather started.

I went back to sleep and woke up the next morning with that not quite-rested enough feeling. I was glad that I was only a few hours away from the house I’d grown up in. Sometimes I wondered why I kept it. There was a beautiful view of Lake Erie from the front, but that also meant it was fucking cold in the winter.

The house had been in the family since before the Civil War, and my grandfather showed me the entrance to a secret passage that had been built to smuggle runaway slaves on their way to Canada. As a very young teenager, he’d used it to smuggle liquor during prohibition. Maybe its rich history was the reason I kept it.

I grabbed breakfast at the hotel. A rather satisfying bit of scrambled eggs, sausage, and a waffle together with some tasty coffee had me pumped for the drive to the small village wherein stood the house. Good spirits accompanied me until I reached the outskirts of town. Jeff Griffin’s house was to my left. I pulled the car over. He was the one regret in my life. My eyes teared up as I remembered back to what the police called ‘the locker room incident.’

We were all juniors, and Steve Harris was the leader of our little click. No one knew I was gay, and I had a small crush on Steve. Jerry Nash and Johnny Powers rounded out our group. Jeff wasn’t a member of our group or any other, and whereas I had a little crush on Steve, I had a considerable lust in my heart for Jeff. No, honestly, it was more than that. I was secretly in love with him. I had been since he gave a report about Egyptology. I remember getting surprisingly hard as he spoke with his soft, authoritative voice. I wanted so much to tell him how I felt, but the fear of being found out kept me silent.

One afternoon in the locker room, Steve accused Jeff of looking at him. Jeff called him a fag and punched him. He knocked Jeff down, grabbed his collar, and slapped him twice. Jeff’s face was bleeding. I could have stopped it; I should have stopped it. I had an obligation to stop it.

Jeff grabbed his shoes and ran out of the room.

“That’ll teach that fag to look at us,” Steve growled the words, but when I looked at him, I saw fear. I got my things and walked home.

Some of Jeff’s things were found on the beach in front of his house the next day, and Jeff was missing. He was never seen or heard from again. How different things would have been if I had stopped Steve from hitting him. If I had only said that I didn’t care if he was queer or not because I was queer.

But I didn’t say anything.

I pulled the car back on the road and drove to the lawyer’s office. Mr. Lawson was told that the ticket had been dismissed because of the circumstances, and I was given until spring to get things taken care of. That was a lot more convenient than I was expecting. As I left the office, Mr. Lawson asked me whether I had heard the news about Steve Harris. I hadn’t.

“He was found brutally murdered last week. Something upwards of eighty stab wounds. The police are saying they have no clues, but a friend of mine on the Toledo police force told me that a high school yearbook that didn’t belong to Steve was found on the scene. The world’s not a safe place,” he added as he closed the door.

I walked out to my car and scanned up and down Main Street. Everything here always looked the same. Driving out to the old house, images of Jeff drowning in the middle of the lake and blood-splattered walls flashed in my head. I was glad to pull into the driveway. What a shit mess! I expected some leaves but not leaves and twigs and trash. The hedges hadn’t been trimmed back, and a large tree limb had cracked the fence in the side yard. Another branch appeared to have rubbed up against the house, wearing a streak in the paint as well as cracking a window.

A pickup pulled into the driveway as I started to check out the backyard. A man in his forties got out and introduced himself as Pete Zellars. “Lawson sent me to help you get things in order.”

“Do have the equipment to trim back that tree?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said as his eyes moved from my crotch to my face. “I’ve got plenty of equipment.” He smiled.

I’m pretty sure my equipment shrank so far inside me that I looked like I had two holes. Pot-belly Pete, as I called him in my head, wanted to take care of more than just my yard. I was in a hurry, so I didn’t have time to get quotes.

“Then I’d like to have the trees trimmed away from the house, the hedges trimmed way back, that tree limb cleared. I’d prefer that they be turned into mulch for the beds around the house. Can you mulch the leaves in the yard as well? And repair the fence?”

“Yeah, I can do that.” His face registered disappointment.

“Then there’s the side yard and the back. I haven’t even looked at those yet.”

“I’ll take care of those, too,” Pete replied.

“I’m going to take a look inside. Did Lawson tell you that the people I paid to take care of the place while I was gone took the money and landed in jail?”

“Yeah, he filled me in on your dilemma. Don’t worry; I always finish any job I start.”

Another sex reference, I wondered. “I’ll check back with you in a bit.” I saw him walk to the side of the house. I went up on the porch and looked back at the water before digging the keep from my pocket and going inside.

The furniture was all in the same place it had been in for my entire childhood. My mother never moved a piece from it. Slightly faded and covered in a thick layer of dust. This would require a vacuum, maybe professional cleaners, but I would attempt it myself. I clicked on a switch, and the hall light came to life. At least the power was still working. The vacuum still stood in its place. I took a deep breath of dusty air and started working.

At some point, I heard the truck return. I hadn’t heard it leave, and soon after, the sound of a wood chipper came to life. I glanced out the window to find that Pete had brought equipment and a young man. I turned to get back to my chores. As hunger began to overtake me, I used my cell phone to check on pizza delivery, and half an hour later I was munching on a meat lover’s thin-crust pie.

At about five in the afternoon, Pete knocked on the door. I stepped outside to see a different world. Except for the fence repair, and the window upstairs, the yard was perfect. “I’ve got a few more things to do in the back, but I should get those finished tomorrow. The fence, too. I’ve got a friend who does windows. He’ll stop by tomorrow and let you know.”

“Thanks,” I nodded.

He looked directly into my eyes. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“Can’t think of anything.” I smiled. “See you tomorrow, then.” I watched him walk back to his truck. I stepped down onto the sidewalk and scanned the yard. I was pleased. Very pleased. But not enough to blow him or let him blow me. I went back inside.

I still had pizza and a sandwich I’d ordered early to eat for supper. I’d already run some clean sheets through the dryer in the basement to freshen them up. I just needed to take them upstairs and make the bed. I planned to use the guest bedroom rather than my childhood room or my parents' room. Those just didn’t feel right. I snagged a piece of pizza and was coming through the living room on my way to the basement when I saw someone looking through the front window. I went to the door and opened it. I stepped out onto the porch, but he must have seen me and run off.

Jerry still lived in town, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try to prank me. “Is that you, Jerry?” I called out, but no one answered. This time, when I closed the door, I made sure it was locked. I went to the basement and checked the back door as I headed down. It was still locked.

I always thought the basement was poorly lit. I needed to update the lighting whether I sold the place or stayed. I pulled the sheets out and quickly folded them so I wouldn’t trip on my way upstairs, and as I did, I swear I heard someone whisper my name.

Freezing in place, I listened. Nothing. “What the fuck was that?” I asked under my breath. I felt a cold chill. “Stinking, drafty basement.” I folded the sheet over my arm and walked toward the stairs. A giggle echoed softly. There was no door to the basement; otherwise, I would have locked it. As I walked by the mirror in the hall, my reflections startled me. I stared at myself. “You fucking pussy. Letting your imagination run away with you. Idiot!” I continued upstairs and made the bed.

Back downstairs, I finished off the sandwich and then searched through my father’s books for something to read. His copy of Jaws was still on the shelf, and even though I’d seen the movie, I’d never read it. I took it with me, and after brushing my teeth, I got under the covers and began to read, hoping to nod off quickly.

I was on the third chapter when I saw his hand move above the mattress at the foot of the bed. He hummed the Jawstheme. I was terror-stricken. How did he get in the house? The lights in the room dimmed as he stood up.

“Hello, Danny.”

I couldn’t believe it. My lips began to quiver. “Jeff?”

He smiled. “You recognize me.”

“Of course I do. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy to see you.” My heart began to beat faster. He’d grown more handsome since high school.

Jeff moved to the side of the bed and sat down. I reached out and touched his arm. “You’re looking well,” he said.

“And you’ve become even better looking than when we were kids,” I told him. “You were sexy then, but now…”

“You thought I was sexy?” Jeff asked.

I sensed my eyes filling with tears. “Yeah. I was in love with you. I was such a fucking fool for not telling you. I was so scared, but I should have trusted you.”

He leaned toward me and pressed his lips to mine. “I was in love with you, too.”

I stretched out my fingers and ran them through his hair. “Were you trying to scare me before, in the cellar?”

Jeff smiled and nodded. “I was. I’ve been angry with you.”

I slipped my hand down between his thighs. “Wow.” His dick had grown up, too. I remembered it from trying to catch glimpses of it while we were in the locker room shower. “Let me make it up to you.” I pulled my shirt over my head and slid my underwear off. “There’s lube in my suitcase.”

“Get it,” he said as he stood up and removed his clothing. “Tell me what you want, Danny.

“I want you to fuck me, Jeff. I want to feel you inside me. Your skin against my skin. I want you to breed me.” I kissed him and handed him the lube before I got onto the bed and pulled my knees up to expose my hole. “This is yours, any time you want it.”

I saw him lubricate his erection. He used his wet fingers to spread the lube on my hole, and when he pushed his fingers inside me, I knew I was his. He pressed the head of his cock against me and pushed into me. “I wanted to do this for years.”

I pulled my head up to his and kissed him as he pummeled me. I couldn’t get enough of him, and when he came inside of me, I thought my belly would explode. He must have emptied more than a pint of cum into me before he stopped. My legs were extended near my shoulders; my ass was pivoted into the air. His ball tickled my taint, and his eyes gazed at me with a look that told me he loved me. My fingers twirled his soft locks.

“Oh, Danny. I love you so much. I’m sorry.” The look on his face changed. The color of his skin darkened. A piece of his scalp came loose in my hand. He turned into a rotting corpse. I was sure that I was having another nightmare.

His hands pushed my legs apart, and I heard my pelvis crack just before both femurs were dislocated. The pain was horrendous.

“I vowed to do this before I knew,” he growled. He released me and moved back. His genitals broke away from his body and remained inside me. “I cannot stop.” He pulled a knife from under my pillow and pushed it into my belly. “I promised to kill you and Steve before I swam out into the lake. I wish I could take it back.” Then he began to hack at me. I wanted to wake up, but nothing I did broke the nightmare. I saw pieces of my body cut away, and until he plunged the knife into my throat, everything was so vivid, I could hardly bare it.

Then everything went black.

The morning sun shone through the curtainless windows, and I awoke well-rested and in one piece. I could hear talking outside, and I put on my robe and went downstairs. A police officer was standing at the doorway to the kitchen and was talking to someone in the kitchen. The front door was open, and I walked out to the porch.

An officer was talking to Mr. Lawson. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’d never seen so much blood, and his body was so cut up, except for his face. Not a mark on his face.” Both of them ignored me. Several police cars were in the driveway and front of the house.

“I just talked to him yesterday,” said Mr. Lawson.

“Tell me what happened,” I said.

Jeff was standing next to him.

“It was a nightmare,” I said. “You made love to me, and I fell asleep.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare,” said Jeff. “After I made love to you, I killed you.”