Black Fox - 8. The Boy is a Bait

Alex left in the morning and I went straight to Ryan's house. I stopped at the door and after a short hesitation, I rang the doorbell, not exactly sure what to say or what to expect.

Believe me if I tell you that we didn't watch any movies or even play Magic the Gathering when we finally got in my room the previous evening. Fortunately, we didn't meet my parents or siblings because we were pale as ghosts. We just took our shoes off and went straight to my bed. We almost didn't talk. Alex was lying there, clearly in shock and I was trying to comfort him as well as I could. In the end, we just rested, embraced. I felt sorry for the boy. For me at least, it wasn't the first time and while still shocking, I was somewhat prepared to expect the unexpected. It's not how I imagined that evening to turn out. At least I wanted to believe that whatever it was that haunted me was gone for good. It was around 2:00 am when I told Alex to take his clothes off for the night and we undressed, cuddling just in our underwear. Alex cried a little but it made him feel better and finally, we fell asleep.

After we woke up, I told him everything. He was shocked and asked a million questions to make sure I wasn't pulling his leg.

"So does it mean that the fox turned out… good?" he asked after I finished my story.

"They saved us is all I know," I shrugged, "I still can't make sense of it all and I'm not even sure if this good and bad thing applies at all. But I think I have an idea who to ask."

"Just be careful ok? I really want to see you alive this afternoon. Um, I don't want you to think I'm freaking out. I'm okay, more or less. And I definitely don't want to be alone tonight. Maybe you could come over to my house for the night?"

"I'll come," I said and kissed him on his forehead and then on his lips. We cuddled for a little more and then he had to go, leaving me with my thoughts.

***

I was about to ring the doorbell for the second time when Ryan's youngest sister opened the door, looking at me like I was some punk. She was about my age. She had a bandage around her head with a bloodstain where her ear was. I used all my willpower not to stare.

"Hi, is Ryan home?" I asked.

"He's in his room," her voice matched her judging look but she let me in.

Once inside, I turned to her before going to see Ryan. "Thank you for everything. Are you ok?" I asked.

"We've had it worse," she rolled her eyes and joined the other sisters on the couch, watching TV. All three of them had cuts, bruises and bandages in different places but they didn't seem distressed at all. The oldest one (she must have been around 20) was chewing gum, as always.

The door to Ryan's room was open. I knocked to let him know I'm coming. The boy was sitting on his bed, facing away from me and staring at the window.

"Ryan? It's me, can I come in?"

"Yeah," he replied, not looking at me, "close the door."

I did and approached him slowly. He was in his white undies and there were bandages around his chest. Another piece of bandage was wrapped around his forearm and he did have smaller cuts and bruises all over his body. When I got close enough to see his face, I noticed a nasty-looking bruise right next to his left eye. Much like if he had been hit with a baseball bat. I sat next to him.

"I'm sorry Ryan, we didn't know," I started, "and thank you."

"Don't mention it… gay boy," he smirked at me and I saw in his eyes that he was in a good mood. What the hell? "I've had it worse," he continued. "We've been hunting the bastard for weeks now. You've made for a wonderful bait. I should be thanking you."

"A… a bait?" I was expecting everything but that.

"Yes, he fancied you for some unknown reason and he started acting recklessly. We only had to wait for the right moment.”

"It… he… fancied me?"

"Yeah, he seemed to have a thing for young cute boys and you were quite a treat."

"But he wanted to kill me, right?" I was really sweating now.

"Oh no, he definitely wanted you alive. That's why we were hunting for him. He would find cute young boys, often younger than you, and… assault them."

"Assault them?"

"In the ass, you moron! I guess you would like it that way, so maybe I did you no favour after all. But jokes aside, he's been raping boys in the area for months."

"So he would shape-shift into a human form and…"

"Nah. Nope. Nada. No shapeshifting. All in feral form, no lube. Bareback. The victims had to be hospitalised. People were suspecting some big-dick rapist and mass hallucination."

“But what was it? It wasn’t just an animal, right?”

“It’s a long story. Technically, he was an animal, just like you or me.”

Was. I gulped. "So, is he... dead?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I guess he had it coming, hadn't he?”

“Yes, he had.”

“Are there others?"

"Yes."

"Will they come after me?"

"Unlikely."

"That's a relief, I guess,” I scratched my head. “So, was it you who I saw just before the car hit me?"

"Yea, it was me. You should keep your eyes on the road when cycling. And always wear a helmet. Hitting the ground at such speed can severely...”

“Alright, alright, I get it! Thanks for the advice. And if I can ask… you are..."

"Ryan. Ryan Fawkes." His tone suggested he wasn't accepting any follow-up questions.

"Oh. I'm Owen."

"A.k.a. gay boy, I know."

***

Later that day, I was at Alex’s house, greeted by Kate. I went upstairs and entered a dark, empty room. Then, I felt small hands covering my eyes from behind.

"Ms Richmond?"

"It's mister Richmond."

Alex went around me and we kissed. In just a few minutes, we were cuddled in his bed. I briefed him on my conversation with Ryan and it felt good to be able to share it with someone. I still felt like in some sort of weird, psychedelic dream but at least I wasn’t alone inside it. Damn it, maybe it was a dream. I was literally ready to make the strangest choices and take riskiest risks just to see when it would take me. I was beyond the lines of fear; I’d seen enough. But I cared for Alex and I was relieved that one part of the nightmare was over. Or at least Ryan said it was.

“He said it’s unlikely that something else is gonna come after us?” Alex asked, like for the third time.

“His words exactly. But supposedly, there are others. He didn’t clarify much about those others or himself for that matter.”

“And don’t you think that by “it’s unlikely” he meant “it’s possible?””

“I think he would’ve warned me more explicitly, don’t you think?”

“Unless…”

“Unless what?” I asked.

“Unless he hopes to use you as bait again.”

“Shut up! He’d tell me.”

“Yeah, just like he told you this time. After it was over. Only after you came to ask.”

Fuck. He was making sense. But from what Ryan told me, I was just another attractive boy on the predator’s list. There was no reason to think I’d become a target again. Unless there was something he wasn’t telling me. Shit. Fuck. Shit.

I was really bummed and Alex must have thought he was being a little insensitive.

“I’m sorry Owen, we probably should believe him. He risked his own life, didn’t he?”

“Yes, I guess he did. And his sisters did, too. I’m not sure who’s the mastermind and I don’t think I’ll ever know.”

“Are there any… parents?”

“I don’t think so,” I admitted. Somehow I didn’t think of that too much until just now. I just assumed they were at work or somewhere else. But Ryan’s house didn’t look like one run by adults.

“Owen?”

“Yes, babe?”

“What should we do?”

“I’m not sure. But I promise I’ll figure it out and keep you safe, alright?”

Alex just hugged me tighter and I caressed his hair. He purred like a cat and we enjoyed just being together.

A few moments later, we were asleep.

***

When I woke up, it was still dark and Alex was rubbing his hand against my thigh. I let him know that I was awake and we looked at each other with lust.
I wanted to move slowly but I didn’t.

We got rid of our underwear and started making out and grinding our erections. I felt his hard penis for the first time. It wasn’t large but somehow it was larger than life. Our noses touched as we explored each other.

I’m not entirely sure what happened next. We were making love is all I know. I was blinded by the sensations and tried to get inside the boy’s skin. We were touching each other everywhere, making sure every single body part got enough attention - even if certain parts got significantly more attention than others. I loved his dark hair, his brown eyes, his mouth, his neck, his chest and his firm stomach. I loved his perfect dick, his butt, his thighs and his feet. And he loved me back with his tongue and his fingers.

One eternity later, something happened. I saw his face, overwhelmed with pleasure as he reached the climax and the sight was a true gift from above. He did not take his eyes off of me for a second. I joined him a few short breaths later and we mixed our boy fluids. Hearing this nice and polite boy groan in pure sexual ecstasy was magical. I made him happy and that was all that mattered. And he was happy, I knew it without a doubt. After all, he told me he was, just before he drifted back to sleep.

I was happy, too.

*** 

Saturday came and I found myself and the concert venue in London. That was by far our biggest show on the tour with almost a thousand people attending. We sold out the place and the pressure was gigantic right from the start. We were sitting nervously in the backstage, fidgeting and counting down the minutes. Cayden was killing time playing a game on his phone and Josh was warming up playing scales on his guitar as he always did. We gained some touring experience over the past months, but it was still stressful to go out there in front of all the people and the more we cared about the band, the more stressful it seemed to get.

And the fact that I wasn’t coming on stage in 10 minutes with the rest of the gang did not help at all. I was stressing for them and most notably, for Alex. He was sitting on the sofa next to me in silence, holding my hand and shaking his knees. It was the first time I saw him like this and it was figuratively breaking my heart. I tried to calm him down with small talk but he’d respond with single words, his thoughts far away. The outcome was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve and I felt his nervousness pass onto me. I had to keep an act up for as long as he was there by me and held his cold and sweating hand tightly. It was about to be his second live performance in his life and it was for a huge crowd!

The only comforting thing was the boy’s smell that reminded me of last night. It was beyond amazing and I wondered if the bliss I was feeling would last forever. A part of me wanted it all to be over so we could escape from the world and cuddle in bed again. There will be time for that.

When the stage technician said it was time to go, Alex squeezed my hand so hard he almost broke my fingers.

“You’ll do great, I know it,” I said quietly, for his ears only.

He just gulped and stood up. Was he that nervous the previous week as well? I hadn’t been there for him to see and he didn’t tell me.

I considered staying in the room but eventually decided to go to the side where I could have a good view of the stage without being seen by the crowd. They made wild noise as the boys entered the stage. The other guys were handling it well but Alex’s face was pale and still. I could relate. I was usually the most nervous before a gig but the adrenaline would overcome it as soon as we’d hit the first chord. I could only hope Alex was like me in this department.

Luckily, it seemed that he was. The first minutes he was still tense and it showed. He even lost one drumstick near the end of the first song but he just continued playing with one hand while the other hand reached back for a spare one. He missed a few beats but his timing remained unaffected and that was when I knew he had it under control. Alex played amazing and by the time they played the third song, he was in his element, just as I had seen him at the practice.

An hour later, they went off the stage to deafening applause and they were transformed; there was fire in their eyes. I hugged Alex who was looking as happy as ever.

“It’s your turn,” he said.

“I know. You were breathtaking.”

“You are breathtaking,” he gave me a mischievous smile. The little tease. I will have my way with his pretty face later.

We reentered the stage 2 minutes after and the crowd roared as I waved with my healthy hand, looking at their faces and their phone cameras directed at us. Shit, have we become superstars all of the sudden? Never mind that, we played the encore and I won’t bore you with the details, it was one banger after another. When it was over and it was time to bow, I waved at Alex to come with us. We stood there, with our arms locked around each other and bowed.

And Alex, this crazy boy, chose this precise moment to take me by the chin and kiss me on the lips in front of everybody. This sneaky, little devil.

“You’ve been great! Go home and take a shower. We are Black Fox,” Cayden spoke his trademark line.