Twilight

It was a cool autumn evening and James Barton was late leaving school.

Football practice ran late, and he was last out of the showers. He only lived a mile from school so most days he walked, but as he walked home by the light of a clear moon, he felt decidedly paranoid. He could feel eyes boring down on him. He picked up the pace, feeling foolish -- he was a big football player. Who would mess with him?

The crackling of a branch behind him drew his attention, but there was nothing there. But when he turned around, he saw a boy who hadn't been there before. Standing about 5'10' and not possibly over 140, the boy was lean and trim, wearing blue jeans and a pale blue shirt. He stood leaning against a tree and James would have to walk past him. The boy's eyes bored into him creepily, and his smile was unsettling. He stood and blocked the sidewalk, almost menacingly, except for the unflappable smile, and though he couldn't possibly pose a threat to the 6'2', 200 lb. football player, James was unnerved nonetheless.

Sweeping the black hair from his face, the boy asked, 'Where've you been James? I've been waiting for you....'

'Who are you,' he said, stopping maybe ten feet short of the boy.

'Does it matter, cutie?'

'Fuck yes, it matters.... Don't come any closer!' The boy moved almost imperceptibly toward him. 'Look, I don't have any problems with ... you guys, but I'm not into that....'

The boy's eyes penetrated him, looking almost perplexed, but then his smile widened. 'No, of course not, big JV quarterback.... Couldn't possibly fancy a hand-job from your older brother's best friend, or secretly hope that your scoutmaster would make the first move....' James stepped back, feeling violated, his head reeling. Even now, you're terrified, but you can't help but wonder how my flesh would feel in your hands, how your cock would feel inside of me....' As the boy spoke, James'

heart raced and his cock stiffened. 'See,' the boy laughed, pointing to his sweats, 'you're an open book to me....' Suddenly harsh, he commanded, 'COME HERE!' Inside his head, he knew that that was a command he should not accept, but his body began to move, until he was looming over the boy.

Again the boy smiled now cruelly. 'You want to hurt me for doing this to you, but you should be thanking me for saving you from a life of pretending.... But go ahead, take your best shot....'

He felt free again, but looking at the boy's finely sculpted face, with its scarlet lips and porcelain skin, it felt wrong to mar such beauty. But he had felt the danger and wouldn't be fooled. With his full power, he pushed out with both arms to shove the boy down, but when his wrists impacted the slight chest, pain shot up his arms and the boy just laughed.

'Who are you?'

'Wrong question,' the boy answered with a laugh, reaching out with apparent gentleness and touching a spot high on James' chest just below the neck, sending a web of pain through his body and causing him to fall to his knees.

'What are you?'

The boy's smile widened almost inhumanly, obscuring his delicate beauty, winking with an expression that could have frozen salt-water. 'I am your salvation,' he said. Leaning in, he whispered, 'Or the master of your worst nightmare....' His icy lips pressed against the warm skin of James' forehead, and he collapsed to the ground completely, overcome by darkness.

The sun was streaming through his window, and his mom's voice rang from the bottom of the stairs. 'James! Up! School starts in thirty minutes....' James jerked awake in a cold sweat. Had it all been a dream?

But how did he get home last night, if it was a dream? If ... no, it had happened, or he was ... was he losing his mind? Shaking his head, he threw back the sheets and found he was naked, so he threw on a robe and walked across the hall and rinsed off real quick, threw on some clothes and ran downstairs.

'How are you feeling this morning, honey,' Maureen Barton asked, putting a hand on her son's shoulder. 'You were pretty out of it last night....'

'Distracted, I guess.... But I'm fine this morning....' Huh, he thought.... He couldn't remember coming in at all....'

'Morning, son,' Phil Barton said as he came in with the paper, tossing it on the table as he filled his coffee. James read the headline with passing interest: BRIGHTON TEEN STILL MISSING, NO LEADS.

'Morning, Dad.... You gonna make the game this week....'

'Actually, I already told Doris to clear my calendar for the whole afternoon....'

'Thanks, dad,' he said, walking to the door. 'Love you guys....' As he walked out into the light, he squinted uncontrollably. Digging in his bag, he found some sunglasses, which somewhat relieved the pain in his eyes. He arrived at school just before the bell rang and joined a few of his friends on the way to the same class.

'What's up, James,' Peter Lively called, giving him a weird look.

'Pete,' he nodded, knowing the boy didn't like it. 'Chris,' he added, acknowledging the other boy, a freshman. Christopher Price wasn't a football player, and James didn't really get why Peter put up with the boy following him around. Peter always brushed it off, saying the boy had grown up down the street and he'd always been like a little brother. Not that Chris was a dweeb or a nerd, he just wasn't in sports. They walked into class and Peter gave his girlfriend, who was sitting in her usual seat, a quick peck on the cheek before Mrs. Thomason arrived. Class after class droned on, and while James was no more interested than usual, he found it easier to take in the information. At lunch, he did his normal thing, and after school he joined his team for workouts in the weight room.

He found himself sizing the guys up much more openly than before, in some cases actually dwelling on some of they guys' hot bodies for too long.

'Jealous?'

James shook his head, 'Sorry, I zoned out.... What did you say?'

Steve Lewis, a special teams guy not at all built like most of the guys on the team smiled and sat up on the bench press. 'I asked if you were jealous.... You zoned out on my package, dude!'

Shit, he wondered, had he actually been caught scoping out the guys cock? 'Nah, I was just trying to decide whether what they say is true?'

'What's that,' Steve asked, laughing.

'That you've actually got a pussy under your jock. Sparky says its tighter than any of the cheerleaders'....'

Steve just laughed. 'Yeah, well, if you ever want to see what a real man look like, just give me a call....'

When they were all finished, he actually approached Steve, who lived two blocks beyond James. 'Hey! Would you mind dropping me at my house?'

'I would, but I'm walking.... Hold up and we can walk together....

I'll give you that demonstration we talked about....'

'I'll take a pass on that last bit, but yeah,' he answered, actually thinking, as he watched the cut boy pull on his shirt, that he'd REALLY love that demonstration. He couldn't pull his eyes away as the boy bent over to pick up his gear and stuff it in his bag. God, this was getting out of hand.

They chatted about this and that as they walked, and James couldn't help but feel creeped out given his experience, or was it a dream -- he was last sure now. That probably made him chatter on, but Steve was laughing, so.... When they reached his house, he waved and ran inside.

'James,' Maureen called to her son. 'You're late! You've kept your tutor waiting....'

Perplexed, he walked to the kitchen, 'I don't have a....' He fell silent, as, sitting at the table with his mother, was the boy.

'You....'

'Why didn't you tell me you were having trouble in math?'

'He isn't,' the boy said, smiling sweetly. 'But he realized that it was getting harder so he asked me for help before he had trouble....'

'Good boy,' Maureen said. 'Now you boys run upstairs and get some work done.... Dinner will be ready in about an hour.... Can you stay?'

'It would be my pleasure,' he said, smiling flatly at James, before standing and walking toward the stairs. 'You coming,' he asked with arched eyebrows.

James shook his head and followed, now seriously pissed. Where did this kid get off injecting himself into his life?

Upstairs, James pushed past him and led him to his room. The boy walked in easily, smiling as if they were old friends. He looked around as if taking it all in. It was a fairly large room, with a double bed and a desk. A guitar leaned against the window and the walls were covered in posters of musicians and the like. 'Can't you see it? There's nothing of the mindless jock in this room.... A man, yes.... A musician, yes.... A boneheaded ball-jockey, no.... You must be a complete riddle to the others....'

'Others?'

'Everyone else....'

'But not to you?'

'No.... Well, mostly no.... I just don't understand why.... Why you do it.... Why you hide ... who you are, what you love....'

Throwing himself back on the bed, James sighed. 'I could lie....'

'You could try....'

'I do it to make everyone else happy.... My parents, my friends....

They'd all turn on me....'

'For being gay....'

'I'm not....'

The boy sighed disapprovingly. 'Riiiight.... But why hide your love of music? You'd rather be playing or writing, but instead you spend hours and hours a week out on the field....'

'Mostly my dad....'

'Hmm,' he said, picking up a picture of father and son, 'he seems alright.... Have you ever tried to talk to him?'

'I can't ... disappoint him....'

'Maybe you are and you just don't know it because he hides it because he loves you? Maybe his great dream was to have a great musician for a son,' the boy said with a laugh and a smile, genuine this time.

James cracked a smile too, forgetting they weren't friends. 'Who ARE you?'

The boy sat at the foot of his bed, and James did not flinch. 'My name is Sebastian van der Meer,' he said.

'Why are you doing this?'

'What is this?'

'Why are you here, with me? Why pretend to be my tutor? Why do all of this?'

Sebastian smiled again, and put a hand casually on his shin. 'I can read people like books, and your book ... was ever so sweet to me....'

James blushed, jumping involuntarily, and averted his eyes as he asked, 'I'm sorry but ... last night ... you seemed very evil.... But tonight, you seem ... different....'

'I'm sorry about last night,' he said with a laugh, 'but I've gotten used to getting what I want by fear and force....'

'What did you do to me last night?'

'I knocked you out with a bit of ancient martial arts, and brought you home....'

'What are you?'

'I told you....'

'That's no answer....'

'Do you want to know the truth, or would you prefer,' he said, trailing off and running his hand up James' leg to his inner thigh, 'to just go with it?' James gasped and grabbed his hand, so soft and cool, and Sebastian thought he was going to stop him for a split second. But James tugged his arm and helped him up onto the bed, taking the boy's hand and sliding it up under his shirt, over his solid abs. 'So warm,' Sebastian whispered.

He started to remove his shirt, but James stopped him. 'The door's not locked....'

Impatiently, Sebastian waved his hand at the door and James saw the lock turn and engage. He was going to question it, but Sebastian revealed his porcelain smooth torso, which was thin but incredibly ripped, and James fell into silence. Sebastian knelt by him and grabbed the bottom of James'

shirt, lifting it over his head. Then he straddled the jock's waist and lowered himself onto James, so they were chest to chest, cool to hot, white to tan. The feeling of their flesh touching so intimately brought a moan to James' lips, but Sebastian whispered into his ear, 'You cannot imagine the pleasures I could show you....' With that, he sucked on the boy's earlobe and gently nipped at his neck with his teeth. Then he pulled away, smiling playfully. 'Too bad you aren't, you know, gay....'

Running his hand up Sebastian's back, James pulled the boy back down on top of him, and Sebastian let him -- they both knew he couldn't if Sebastian didn't let him -- and whispered, 'You know better,' licking Sebastian's neck and smacking his ass. Flipping over so Sebastian was on his back, James kissed his way over the boy's smooth torso, licking and nibbling at his nipples and tonguing his belly. Sebastian's moans were no show, he was overtaken by sensations which caught him quite by surprise.

Perhaps James was the one he had been searching for....

They explored each other's bodies methodically, then engaged in a heavy makeout and petting session until they were interrupted by James' mother's call to dinner. They quickly dressed and straightened themselves before hurrying downstairs. Over dinner, Sebastian made polite conversation with Maureen and Phil. Maureen was completely taken with the beautiful teen, but Phil seemed suspicious of him, perhaps because of the same qualities.

'So how do you boys know each other again,' he asked.

'We have a couple of classes together,' Sebastian said, slowly sipping from his water glass.

'Where do you live,' he asked, his interrogation taking another tack.

'Mulberry Lane....'

'Hmmm.... Nice neighborhood....'

'We like it,' the boy said, smiling at James. And so it went. They soon asked to be excused and fled back upstairs for a last moment alone.

'I still want to know what you are,' James said as he closed the door behind them.

Sebastian turned and walked up to him, chest to chest. 'Do you really?' James nodded. Sebastian trailed his hand down the boy's chest and across his passage, grasping his balls softly, making James gasp. 'I'm sorry....' He took two steps back and said, 'One last chance....' James shook his head, and Sebastian nodded, looking at the floor and snapping his face back to James, who gasped again. Sebastian's eyes were solid black without any whites, and his mouth as a little distorted. When he spoke again, the reason why became clear. 'Do you know what I am,' he asked, revealing an enormous set of fangs.

James nodded slowly, and trembled a little as the small boy stepped toward him again, penetrating him with the black gaze. 'Are you afraid,'

Sebastian asked, almost with a hiss. His tongue, James could now see, was forked. Frozen in place, James swallowed and nodded stiffly. When Simon again put his hand on his chest, he felt sharp-tipped claws on the delicate hands. 'You should be,' he said, as he took the tip of one of his claws and softly scratched the skin of his chest, just below the collar bone, causing the blood to trickle. Sebastian leaned in and licked the wound, tickling it with his forked tongue. As he lapped softly, James again surprised him, moaning and bringing a hand to the back of his head, pulling him tightly into his chest and running his fingers through Sebastian's hair.

At last, reluctantly, Sebastian pulled away, looking extraordinarily beautiful, more beautiful than before with a little pink in his white cheeks. 'So what now,' Sebastian asked sincerely, almost hopefully.

Wrapping his arm around the boy's slim waist, James lifted him off the ground and kissed him with passion, falling on top of him on the bed.

'What a rush,' James whispered.

'James, I need you to understand,' he said, holding the boy at bay, 'you can't tell anyone about me.... If you did, I'd have to kill them....'

Again, what the fragile-looking boy beneath him was rushed back into his brain, overcoming the hormones for the moment. He stroked Sebastian's face with his fingers and asked, 'How many people have you ... you know?'

Sebastian looked deep into him before responding, somewhat coldly, 'How many chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs has your diet brought to their end?'

'Hundreds?'

'Many thousands.... I've lived ... a very long time....' After a pause, noticing that James never stopped his tender stroking, Sebastian continued, 'Do understand, feeding doesn't require killing.... For instance, what we just did was very satisfying for me.... It wasn't much, but your life essence is so strong and so powerful to me.... And often a human servant or two will serve the purpose for years at a time.... When I was new, I often hunted.... Older vampires prefer to 'feed and release' or to take someone on as a minion....'

'Is that what you want from me? To be a servant, a human buffet?'

Sebastian laughed and put his hand on the big jock's jaw, before kissing his lips softly. 'No! Don't get me wrong, I'd get no end of pleasure from truly feeding from you, but no, that's not what I'm looking for....' Sebastian stood and pulled James to his feet. 'I need to go....'

James held his hands firmly. 'Do you have to?'

'Yes....'

'When will I see you again?'

'Soon....'

James walked him to the door so his parents would see Sebastian leave.

Closing the door behind him, James headed back upstairs, but not before his mom could encourage him to have the boy over again soon. Phil was quick to add, 'But not too soon....'

'Phil,' Maureen chided.