1550 Loring Lane - 4. Chapter 4 - Thirst

Thirst

“You really did that to him?”

“I told you I would,” his companion smiled.

Both men watched as the paramedics and first responders wheeled a covered figure out of 1550 Loring Lane. They were standing in the park just watching, one older man, kind of flabby with bright silver hair, the other in his mid-twenties and dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt over a fitted tee. The younger man was looking up at the older one in awe. He was shocked, appalled even at what he was seeing. Cort had told him last night that this would be happening and Silas hadn’t believed him, until now.

“So you really almost killed him just by having sex with him?” Silas asked his voice filled with wonder.

“Yes, I told you when I feed, I can get so thirsty I don’t want to stop. Since we didn’t culminate our relationship, I drank from him,” Cort said, a wicked smile gracing his lips.

Silas looked away from both the older man and the gurney that had just been rolled to the back of the ambulance. ‘That could have been me last night,’ Silas thought.

“No, my dear boy. That wouldn’t have happened to you,” Cort said touching the younger man’s shoulder. Catching his eye Cort continued, “I told you last night. I would have turned you.”

Silas shivered under the man’s hand. How did he get himself into this position?

Well, he knew the answer to that question. Silas was a rent-boy, a hustler, an escort and there were perils to his profession. He knew that going into it. Jeb had taught him how to minimize the risks, but it was still very dangerous.

Silas made a point of targeting older men. They usually had more money, were easier to satisfy, and as “clients” or “marks” as Jeb called them, they were less apt to lash out afterwards. Most of Silas’ regular marks were putty in his hands. But, occasionally a guy would get out of hand and then he had to use his feet or mouth to get out of those situations.

Cort had seemed so easy; it was like taking candy from a baby.

Cort called him last week on a Tuesday and asked Silas for his services, as a true escort. He’d seen Silas’ ad on Craigslist and his picture online. Cort had told him he just wanted an engaging dinner companion, just the two of them.

Two hundred bucks and a gourmet meal later, Cort had said goodbye and Silas went on his merry way.

So, when Cort called him last night asking for the same service, Silas had jumped at the offer. He didn’t mind playing around with the older guys, Silas didn’t consider what he did as “sex” per se, but if he didn’t have to, he liked it much better.

Only last night had been so much different. The restaurant was the same. The meeting had gone as planned. But, the conversation had been very different. It had been very different indeed.

“So I have a proposition for you my dear boy,” Cort had said after dinner and before dessert. “How would you like to be young forever?”

“Yeah right,” Silas laughed. Now he could see why the old coot needed to pay for dinner company. He was a giant whack job.

“No, I am quite serious. I see a great deal of potential in you Silas.”

“Yeah, like what?” Silas crossed his arms and smirked.

“Like this,” the old man said and suddenly Silas felt a tingling in his head. Quickly, Silas felt the tingle spread south and tickled his nether regions.

“What the hell are you doing?” Silas said too loudly and the couples around them looked.

“Quietly,” Cort said and his eyes glittered in the sparkling candle light.

“What are you doing to me?” Silas leaned over and demanded.

“You have the potential to be one of us,” Cort whispered. “You have the gift.”

“What gift?” Silas was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He was feeling so fucking horny he couldn’t stand it. Silas loved sex and loved the deep and languishing thirst it quenched, but this was unreal. He wanted to climb over the table and fuck the old dude, right here, right now.

“You have the gift of the thirst,” Cort said smiling broadly, his white teeth gleaming.

“I don’t understand,” Silas said and squirmed in his seat. His ass was on fire and his dick was so hard. He wanted to explode it felt so good.

“I can make you feel this way a lot,” Cort said, still keeping his voice low. “Plus, you will forever have the body you have now, for eternity.

“That’s ridiculous,” Silas said but he was just writhing inside. He wanted to get out of here and find some guy and have some down and dirty sex, right this minute.

“If you have sex with me, I can turn on this gift you have inside you,” Cort said, his voice urgent and compelling. “You can feel this all the time.” Cort waved his hands, almost shooing Silas away and an enormous feeling of release washed over the younger man. He would have cried out but it was so sudden, so unexpected, he didn’t have a chance. This crazy old man had just given him a world rocking orgasm without so much as touching him.

“What was that?” Silas finally managed to ask. His voice was hoarse and cracked.

“That, my dear boy, is the latent power within you and I can unlock that door so you can open it any time you’d like.”

“I don’t believe you,” Silas said. Now that his ecstasy had passed, he was feeling more wary than anything else. He didn’t believe Cort but something had just happened. Silas wasn’t sure what.

“Tell you what. You don’t believe me now but tomorrow morning, I’ll show you what happens when I use my gift on someone. Meet me at Loring Park at ten o’clock and I’ll show you how powerful you can be.”

Silas shook himself back awake; he’d almost been dreaming that memory. Here he was, standing with the old guy watching a man get wheeled out of the apartment building. Shit. What had Cort done to him?

“Tell you what. Come up to my apartment on the fourth floor of the building and I’ll explain a little more,” Cort said, smiling at Silas like he was his pet or something. Cort’s look was almost indulgent and a little arrogant. But, Silas couldn’t say no. He followed the older man across the street and to the shabby front door.

When they got up the stairs, Cort opened a beautiful carved wooden door and ushered Silas inside. The place was gorgeous. There were wall to wall, deep thick rich carpets and big heavy drapes covering the windows. There were expensive looking oil paintings of dancers and flowers and even some more macabre scenes of death. The furniture was old, looked really heavy, and gleamed in the low lighting of some lamps Cort turned on one at a time. Even the couch looked really old with deep red velour that glistened as Cort turned on a Tiffany lamp sitting nearby.

“Please, sit. I have a lot to tell you,” Cort said breezily. “I’ll get you some juice, or would you prefer coffee?”

“Coffee would be great,” Silas said, taking in the extravagance of the room. “Just black, thanks.”

Cort returned moments later with two steaming cups on saucers. “This is yours,” he said handing it to Silas. Silas looked at Cort suspiciously.

“It’s not drugged if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not a poisoner.”

“What did you do to that guy?” Silas asked. He was curious but worried about what this conversation would entail.

“I had sex with him and I drank deeply of his life force,” Cort said and took a sip. “He’s not going to die if that’s what concerns you. He’ll be fine. He’ll just need to rest and recover for a while.”

“Is that what you want to do to me?” Silas asked setting his untouched coffee on the side table. “I’m not into the kinky shit.”

“My dear boy. The man didn’t have the gift like you do. He was just a little aperitif. A little morning pick-me-up if you will,” Cort’s confident smile didn’t make Silas feel any more comfortable.

“You keep saying I have this “gift” thing. What is it I’m supposed to have,” Silas asked watching Cort’s face closely.

“Well, some of us have this ability to tap into other people’s energy and suckle at it. We can just have a little taste and the other person will feel a bit tired or fatigued. We can also really take a good, healthy swallow of their essence and make them quite ill. It feels absolutely fantastic, let me tell you,” Cort said and set his coffee down on the heavy mahogany coffee table.

“Sounds pretty creepy, like stealing or something,” Silas said pondering the old man’s words.

“Nonsense. It doesn’t hurt them unless you really suck out their juices and leave them with nothing. I’m always careful,” Cort said crossing his legs and adjusting the crease in his slacks. “Some with the gift may be drunkards but I’m not and I’m guessing you’re not either.”

“Yeah, so how do you know I have this thing, this gift thing,” Silas asked.

“Because, my dear boy, once the gift is activated you can sense others. I could sense it through your picture even. I’m quite good at this.”

“I think you’re just telling me this to have sex with me,” Silas said crossing his arms again. He felt like this would ward off the old guy or something. It didn’t work.

“Tell me this. When you’re having sex with another man, do you get an extra thrill from drawing out something? Do you feel like you can touch their soul and get them off more quickly?”

Silas shrugged but had to admit to himself, he was a really good hustler. He could get guys off faster than anyone, well except Jeb. Jeb was the master of getting them done and out the door in no time. Silas was pretty good himself though. He’d once made three hundred with only ten minutes of work and his mouth. Oh, and the guy had to have been at least sixty. Usually the older ones took more time.

“I do all right,” Silas finally admitted.

“You can reach inside them and grab a little piece of their essence,” Cort said re-crossing his legs. “You have the gift.”

“I don’t know about this. How can I trust it was you who did that to him?”

“I drank his essence, my dear boy. You drink the life force like its water and you are parched. That’s really more like how it feels.”

Silas looked at the old man and considered it. What Cort was proposing was just plain nuts, but, he had predicted he’d do that to a guy. “How do I know the guy didn’t just have a heart attack or something?”

“You saw him. He was a young man, older than you perhaps but still young. Besides, how could I have predicted such a thing?”

“How’d you get him to have sex with you,” Silas asked. That should trip the old dude up. What was a thirty year old doing with an old gray haired guy?

“I paid him of course,” Cort grinned, maliciously. “He was short on his rent and I paid him five hundred dollars to be with me. I enjoyed the sex but the drinking of his essence was even more exquisite.” Cort hummed and sighed.

“Are you like a vampire or something?”

“Interesting. Some of us think Bram Stoker may have discovered our secrets and made up a story about drinking blood and stuff. I tend to think our marks just know they are our drinking fountains. Regardless, we are older than the ages. You can be part of that.”

Silas tapped his foot nervously. “Let’s say I was interested. How would it work?”

“Well, the best way for you to open up completely letting me unlock your gift is for you to be on the bottom. I can access your power more easily that way,” Cort said, his eyes looked simply wicked and parched. The old man licked his dry lips and Silas trembled.

“I always get paid and I always use protection,” Silas said.

“Oh, you’ll get paid my dear boy. You’ll have the gift to use for eternity. As for protection, I can’t access your gift with a condom in the way. That would impede the process. It has to be all natural, skin on skin,” Cort said looking at Silas with glee. “It will make you forever young and immortal.”

“Sounds like you want me for free,” Silas said. “No way. No way dude. Not gonna happened.”

“Well, that’s your loss then,” Cort said and sat back in the chair, his fingers making an arch. “But, I won’t offer this twice. You will never get this chance again.”

Silas screwed up his mouth. What Cort was offering sounded too good to be true. But, if the feeling he’d had the night before was just a taste of what the old guy was offering, was he giving up eternal youth for a quick roll in the sack? Silas wasn’t good at making these decisions. He needed to talk to Jeb. He needed time.

“How about I think on it?” Silas said looking at Cort’s regal, haughty face.

“I guess that would be acceptable. I’ll give you until midnight tonight,” Cort said. “That’s reasonable, isn’t it?”

“Okay, until midnight,” Silas said. “But, I doubt I’ll do this. Just so you know.”

“It’s up to you, my dear boy. It’s all up to you.”

Silas raced home but Jeb wasn’t there. His mind was racing with the memories of last night and Cort’s words this morning. The guy on the gurney shocked him, like this might be real. Silas was getting older, for a rent-boy that is. His clientele would want younger ones, and he was just too lazy for a real job. Maybe this would make his life easier. Silas couldn’t arrange his thoughts in a coherent order. It was just too crazy to understand.

Around two in the afternoon, Jeb finally let himself into the apartment and Silas just couldn’t contain himself. He jumped his roommate the minute he walked in the door.

Jeb listened as Silas told him the tale about Cort. The jet black haired escort had heard things like this before. It sickened him how predatory people could be. Sure, they were selling pleasure, but they gave something in return.

“Sounds like the old guy is trying to get a free ride,” Jeb finally said as Silas ran out of words. “He’s just an old perv trying to get the milk for free. “

“But, Jeb, this could be the chance of a lifetime,” Silas had paced through the apartment for a couple of hours, stewing on this. He’d convinced himself this was real and he would do it. Now, Jeb was laughing at him.

“Come on, Jeb, is it really that ridiculous? I really felt it when he used his mind tricks on me,” Silas argued.

“This is hilarious. Some old guy tells you some stupid vampire story and you’re ready to give up the goods for free. Silas, remember our code, never give it away and always be safe. You can’t do this. It’s wrong and you could get some disease from the old freak. He’s just lying to you. He probably mesmerized you or something.”

Silas pouted as the impact of Jeb’s words took effect. It was stupid. How could he be so gullible? It was probably just hypnosis, like Jeb said. Jeb had never steered him wrong before. The guy was always looking out for him. Here Silas was, possibly throwing away his life for a silly story an old fart made up.

“You’re right,” Silas said. “You’re always right. I just thought…”

“It’s just some old asshole trying to get you to give him free sex. Forget about him and if he calls, don’t answer,” Jeb said. He grabbed his phone and looked up a number. “Think about how dumb this guy’s story is.”

Jeb went into the bathroom, locked the door, and hit a button on his phone. He listened until he heard a voice. He looked nervously at the closed door as he listened.

“Yeah, we’ve got another one. He just tried to turn my boy Silas. Can you get him outta here? I don’t know if I can hold him back. He’s kinda naïve. “

Jeb listened to the other voice. He nodded along, still looking at the closed door.

“Just a second,” the hustler spoke into his phone. He unlocked and opened the door a crack. “Silas? What’s up dude?” He was greeted by silence.

“Listen, you’ve gotta move fast. My boy disappeared. We know what that means. He won’t be able to handle it.”

Jeb heard the other party hang up. He hoped he’d gotten to them quick enough. Silas was on the run and he knew where the guy was going. Shit.

Silas got to the park and crossed the street to the front steps of the apartment building. He didn’t need to wait until tonight. Silas knew what he wanted. He was willing to gamble for a chance like this. Sure, Jeb was probably right, but there was a chance he’d have eternal youth. It was possible he’d have these amazing powers. He couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. It was too thrilling and he could feel the deep thirst that had been rising all day. Silas needed this. Cort was right.

Silas was going to take the stairs when he saw a really cute ginger haired guy in a gingham shirt, his hand holding a sketch pad, standing by the elevators. Maybe this hot number could be his first mark as a, well whatever he was going to be.

“Waiting for the elevator?” Silas asked, trying to make a connection. He was really horny, just thinking about opening up his “gift.”

“Yeah. I’m going to three,” the guy said to Silas with a shy smile. “Do you need two?”

“No, press four for me,” Silas said grinning back. He was eager to get this over with.

“There is no fourth floor,” the guy said squinting at Silas. Silas looked over and sure enough, there was no button for the fourth floor.

“Are you in the wrong building?” the gingham clad guy asked?

“I don’t think so,” Silas said but got off the elevator. He walked outside and looked at the numbers. Yeah, it was 1550 Loring Lane. Silas walked over to the park, looking up to see the fourth floor.

“Shit,” he said aloud to no one. Silas counted the floors. There were only three levels. Why did he think Cort had said his fourth floor apartment?

Silas looked all over the building and couldn’t find that beautiful carved wooden door or any apartment that looked anything like what Cort had shown him this morning. What happened? Was this all a dream?

Meanwhile, Jeb got a phone call and smiled when he heard the words. “That was close,” Jeb said and hit end on his phone. “That was really fucking close. Thanks dude. I owe you one.”