Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Kyle kisses him again, grins. “You’re amazing, building me that big sun porch …”
“Can we still call it the sun porch when its whole purpose is to block the sun?” Elias tries to entice his lover again, plunging his lips into Kyle’s neck, then growling. “I would build a roof over the whole goddamned town for you if I could.”
It isn’t easy to let go of Elias, not after a statement like that, but after pulling away to put one last kiss on his firm, delicious lips, Kyle says, “Love you, babe, so much, but I really gotta go,” then slips out from between his boyfriend and the wall.
Elias frowns. “That was barely half a bite you just had.”
“Half a bite too much, apparently.” Kyle goes to change.
Elias drops onto the couch, sulking. “You do realize you’re leaving me here with blue balls,” he mumbles to himself.
“So jerk off a few times while I’m gone,” Kyle calls back all the way from the bedroom, having heard Elias perfectly thanks to his superior hearing. That has seemed to improve lately, too.
“It isn’t the same.”
Now in uniform, which is really just a black polo shirt and jeans, Kyle slips into the bathroom to do his hair. It’s a messy, brown situation that never goes in the direction he intends. He donates half a minute of time attempting to fix it before giving up entirely. He’s a bit overdue for a haircut, anyway.
Then he just stares at himself. Sullen, plain, mediocre eyes. Average nose, average lips, nothing remarkable.
His skin, which has gone so pale over the years due to the lack of sunlight for more than obvious reasons.
This is the same face he’s looked at for over twenty years. Was it roughly twenty years ago that he stopped aging? He was turned when he was eighteen years old, though he remembers exactly none of the process. He merely took the blond-haired, blue-eyed fiend named Tristan to his bed, in a complete frenzy, like something demonic had taken over.
Then his little brother Kaleb came to the door.
Uttered his name.
That’s the last thing Kyle remembers before waking to find his house turned into a bloodbath, his whole family dead.
“Mom. Dad. Kaleb,” recites Kyle into the mirror.
Then Tristan and his cold hand gripping him, pulling him out of the house, to forever go on the run from something that cannot ever be escaped. Perhaps twenty-seven years have passed since that night, in theory, but so often when Kyle stares at his reflection long enough, he can swear it feels like the nightmare happened yesterday. Is there any escaping that night? Will he ever feel true relief from the guilt of ending the lives of his mother, father, and little brother? Does he deserve it?
“What was that?”
Kyle turns to find Elias at the bathroom door. He dodges the question, puts a deeply charged kiss on Elias’s lips, then says in a light voice: “I just remembered it’s Jer’s birthday. They’re doing a thing at the bar. Why don’t you come with?”
Elias blinks. “Jeremy Rojas? Isn’t he, like, sixteen?”
“Seventeen. Well, eighteen as of tonight.”
“What the hell’s an eighteen-year-old gonna do at a bar?”
“Drink soda, eat cake, and make out with his girlfriend.”
“Shit. Did we need to bring him something?”
“He specifically requested no one does.”
“Thank fuck.” Elias reconsiders. “But … isn’t that just shy-people talk for ‘please bring me something’? Y’know what? Yes, it is, and we’re gonna swing by my place to grab something on the way. Don’t give me that look. I told you they won’t care if you’re just a teeny bit late!”
Kyle throws his arms around Elias’s neck. “What the fuck did I do to deserve you?”
“Everything probably,” grunts Elias, pressing a kiss to his lips.
It’s on the edge of sunset with but a safe sliver of light left in the sky and no sun to be seen that Kyle and Elias make the short drive to the bar—after a quick detour to Elias’s house at the opposite edge of town. Cade, the bar owner, has clearly had her way with the place, because there are all matters of tacky birthday streamers and colorful paper decorations everywhere. After all, it is her daughter Layna that the birthday boy Jeremy is dating, and Cade is known for making a fuss over anything worth celebrating around here. Music blasts from the jukebox, and the air is thick with its usual woodsy musk mixed with the scent of old alcohol and cigarette smoke. Kyle passes several of the regulars on his way to the back, depositing Elias among them, who instantly gets into a discussion with an old man from the hardware store who’s been helping with supplies (and tips) on building the porch. The other bartender Becks, dancing as she wipes down a table, waves at Kyle as he passes by, unusually cheery. Everyone seems to be affected by the party spirit.