Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2010 15:09:53 -0500
From: Jason Gordon <jaygordon_1981@hotmail.com>
Subject: A Light in the Darkness 8

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction which will include t/t and
m/m relationships, and probably some sex too.  If it is illegal in your
area to read this, or if you are not old enough to read this (you know who
you are), stop here.  Otherwise, please enjoy.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is a companion story to "Things that Go Bump."
The story lines are related and the characters will occasionally interact.
The stories begin at roughly the same time.  My sincerest thanks go out to
Phoenix Rafael and Tarton who kindly edited this chapter.  And thanks to
everyone for writing such encouraging emails.

I am now posting my stories to a Yahoo!Group,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jaygordon_1981/ as well.  I'm putting them up
there a little in advance so I can make final edits before submitting to
Nifty, so if you are interested, you can check it out.  It's closed
membership to avoid spams and flames, so just let me know!



			A Light in the Darkness, Chapter 8
				"Attraction"



	Lunch really dragged on as Katrina fawned over William and
generally flirted with the boy's at the table.  Beneath her smooth
exterior, she was feeling confusion.  Men jumped at her command, but most
of the guys at this table were ... polite.  Sure, she felt the various
degrees of interest tugging at them, especially in William, but around the
room she could feel the animal attraction the boys felt for her.  And Matt
had never looked away from her since she arrived, much to Amy's chagrin.

	Finally, as she was chatting with William, she put a hand on his
forearm.  She felt a rush surge through him but nothing like what she would
expect from a teenage boy, or even from a geriatric patient for that
matter.  Seeing the looks of surprise and, in some cases, horror around the
table, she realized that she had overstepped some kind of bound.

	"Katrina," William said, withdrawing his arm, "You're new here...
I'm, ah...  Chase and I are together, and ... well I don't want you to get
the wrong idea..."

	Click.  Katrina smiled brightly, shrugging, "All the good ones..."
Laughing it off, the group quickly reaccepted her.  But in her mind, she
was laughing.  `This is going to be interesting,' she thought.  When the
bell rang, she left the little group to an out-of-the way school bathroom.
Waving a hand in front of the door, she engaged the lock the janitor used
to secure the room and walked over to a mirror.

	Pricking her finger, she inscribed an image on a mirror, and
called, "Sammael!"

	When the handsome figure appeared on the mirror, she bowed her head
solemnly.  "Master..."

	"Katrina.  You have infiltrated the school and William's friends?"

	"Easily...  They're very nice," she smirked.  "There is a problem,
however..."

	"Go on!"

	"William and Chase are gay lovers...  Best I can tell, their friend
Edward is gay, and their friend Carl is bi or gay...  Only Matt, the next
door neighbor is fully susceptible to my charms..."

	Sammael shook his head with a laugh.  "You know what to do!"

	"Yes master," she said, lowering her head.  "I just wanted to get
your permission first...  You know how unpredictable he is..."

	"I know," Sammael said, with a sigh, "but there aren't any other
options in this circumstance, are there?"

	"Yes, master..."  With a napkin, she wiped away the blood and
closed the connection.  "Shit," she muttered to herself.  "Shit!"

	Her schedule kept her in close contact with most of William's
circle throughout the day, but as the rest of them left school, she hung
back.  She trolled the hall full of students, feeling the eyes on her.
Near the end of a row of lockers, a tall boy with dark hear wearing a
letterman's jacket.  He was cute, she thought.  More important, he was
straight, and he could feel her call.

	She walked up to him, "Hey, I'm Katrina..."

	"Robert," he said.  "Are you new?  You must be, because I'd have
noticed you before!"

	She smiled coyly and batted her eyes.  "Aren't you sweet!  Today's
my first day..."  She stepped closer, until her breasts were pressing
against his chest and lowered her voice.  "Listen, I don't mean to be
forward, but I'm looking to get out of the house and I'd love it if someone
could show me around town..."

	He smiled like a kid in a candy shop, but lowered his voice.  "I've
got a girlfriend," he said, looking around.

	She whispered, "I won't tell," as she bent her knee and rubbed it
against his inner thigh.  "I'm not looking for a boyfriend, just a nice
time..."  She reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper with an
address and phone number.  "Come on by around seven..."  As she walked
away, she smiled over her shoulder.  He was so going to be there.



	All the way home, Matt talked about Katrina.  Finally, Chase asked,
"What's the big deal?  You've got your dream girlfriend!  What's so great
about this girl?  She sounds like kind of an airhead to me...  Plus, she
was flirting with William!"

	William smiled and wrapped his arm around him, "Take it easy,
tiger...  I set her straight...  But there is something about her..."

	Chase punched him in the arm with a smile.  But with Matt he was
more serious.  "If you don't watch out, you'll piss Amy off and you don't
really want to do that..."

	"Yeah," Matt said, but he had a strange look in his eyes.  William
saw it and shook his head.

	"Get your head on straight, dude," William said, almost barking.
"Chase is right!"

	"Alright, alright!  Thanks, guys," Matt said, as they pulled up at
their houses.  Matt waved as he ran up to his door and inside.

	Chase took William's hand as they walked up the front path.  "I've
got a bad feeling Matt's going to do something stupid..."

	"Me too," William echoed.



	William changed into his training clothes and left Chase in their
room working on his school work.  Down at his workshop, William walked into
the interdimensional space and let James and Avery through.

	It was immediately apparent that both were preoccupied, and William
asked, "What's wrong, guys?"

	James sighed.  "My friend Pete, we were on the football team
together...  He and Sebastian's friend Richard were just starting to get
together before ... all hell broke loose.  Pete was abducted, raped and
turned by the lackey's of one of Sammael's followers.  We brought him back
and protected him, but with all the ... with everything going on, I guess
we let him slip through the cracks."  James summarized the note they had
found and told about the aftermath with all of them, especially Richard.

	"My God!  I'm so sorry," William exclaimed.

	James shook his head and raised a hand, but averted his eyes, which
were full of tears.  William could see instantly what the boy meant to
James and ran up to the house.

	When he burst through the bedroom door, Chase asked, "Is everything
okay?"

       William told Chase what was going on and the boy stood up
immediately and took William's hand.  "Let's go!"

       They hurried down to the workshop and entered the training area.
Immediately, Chase went to James and through himself into the big boy's
arms, giving him a long hug.  After a moment, this brought a smile to
James's face, and he gave Chase a quick kiss on the top of the head,
relaxing in the boy's tight embrace.  Chase whispered to James, "You love
him ... your friend?"

       "He was one of my best friends ... like Matt is to you, almost..."

       Chase squeezed him tighter, "I don't know what I'd do if they went
after Matt..."

       They talked for a few minutes before Chase released James.  Knowing
they needed to do something to get their minds on other things, he
suggested, "We should practice the spell Raziel taught us!"

       They all remembered the lesson, and Chase demonstrated it again,
more quickly this time, and they could all feel the strength of the
throbbing force-field.  With a cheeky smile, he suggested to Avery, "Try
something strong...  I want to see if YOU can break it!"

       Avery looked at William as if for permission, but the boy just
smiled and shrugged.  If he'd paid more attention, he would have thought
more of the fact that both James and William moved behind Chase.

       Avery raised his hand and whispered something, firing an incredibly
powerful stunning spell at the boy.  James and William both flinched and
Avery knew something was wrong.  When his spell hit the field and it
exploded back at him, he had no time to respond as he was hit with a blast
many times stronger than the one he had released.

       James and William both snickered a little as he lay on the ground,
stunned, about twenty feet from his original location.  Both boys went to
help him up, but it took a few minutes for his muscles to relax so he could
control himself.  When he could speak again, he looked at them accusingly,
but hardly restraining his own smile.

       "You knew that was going to happen!"  William and James broke down
laughing, while Chase grinned innocently.  While the other two practiced,
Chase tried to show Avery how the spell worked and explain the instruction
he had gotten from the Gideon.

       They worked until dinner, and James and William were just managing
to conjure a weak shield.  Avery, by this point, was watching, fascinated.
He had tried, but he just couldn't manage it.

       "Practice," Chase said to the world's most powerful wizard with a
cheeky grin.

       Avery walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his neck,
ruffling his blond hair like an older brother.

	Before Avery and James left, Chase pulled James off to the side.
"Tell Sebastian to FIND HIM....  He's got something important, something he
shouldn't have....  He's not going to kill himself...."

	"What is he going to do," James asked.

	"I don't know, it's not clear....  But he's got something we
need....  That's all I know...."

	James looked at him closely and said, "I'll tell him....  Thanks,
Chase...."

	Chase gave him another hug before letting him know, and a quick
peck on the cheek.  "See you tomorrow night," he smiled, letting James go
and waving to him and Avery as they stepped through the door.

	"You like James," William said with a smile, as he put an arm
around his beau.

	"He's like me," Chase said.  "He just sort of had all this fall
into his lap...  But he's sweet, and caring...  Gives you the feeling he's
going to get hurt."

	"And you," William asked.

	"We're all going to get hurt," Chase said, darkly, but quickly
lightened.  "Thank God we've got each other," he added, turning in
William's arms so they were chest-to-chest, and kissed the soft skin of
William's neck, making him shiver.

	William put his hands on the tight globes of Chase's ass and lifted
him up off the ground, as Chase wrapped his legs around William's waist,
grinning, "Mmmm," as William kissed him hungrily.

	"God, I love you," William whispered, throatily.

	Chase giggled, "We've got to go up for dinner, but tonight..."

	William leaned back and grinned, "Yeah?"

	"Let's do something different tonight?"

	"Yeah," William asked, arching his eyebrows.

	"Something we haven't done yet," Chase drew out the words
suggestively.

 	William winked and gave Chase's ass a quick slap before setting him
on his feet.  "Are you sure?"

	"Absolutely!"  Chase's smile spoke volumes.  The boy had been
looking forward to this, holding back only because he knew William was
hesitant about causing the initial pain he'd feel.  But it was time, and
there was no holding Chase back anymore.

	Sarah was just finishing dinner as they arrived at the house, so
the boys helped set the table.  "Where's dad," Chase asked.

	"He's on his way.  He's had Dave out doing some field research...
I think the poor boy bit off more than he expected working for you three,"
she said.

	"Us three," Chase asked, setting out forks.

	"I think she means, working for your dad and taking care of our
money..."  Chase had a confused look on his face.  "The money my family
left us..."

	Chase's face grew conflicted, and he hugged William.  "I don't care
about the money," he whispered.

	"Me either, but it's ours, yours and mine, so he works for us,"
William said with a smile, as Sarah looked away and tried not to listen.
But she smiled to herself.

	"So I have an appointment with the doctor on Friday," she said.
"He's going to do some tests..."

	"I'm so excited, mom," Chase said.  "But we are going to need a
bigger house!"

	"Your dad may not like it, but we'll just turn the office into a
nursery.  He and Dave will need an honest to goodness office, in any case!"

	"Uhm," Chase said, looking impish, "I still think we'll need a
bigger place...  When they get older, they'll need their space!"

	Sarah looked at her son's mischievous smile and shook her head.
"Do I even want to know?"

	Chase shrugged, "Do you?"

	She laughed and shook her head, turning away.  William looked at
him with eyebrows raised, so Chase lifted a hand and held up three fingers.
"Really?" he asked loudly.

	"Come on, boys!  Now I've got to know," the woman said, laughing.

	Chase put on his innocent face, "Are you sure!"

	"Yes, yes!  Just tell me!"

	"Shouldn't we wait for dad," Chase asked.

       Steve walked in and said, "Wait to tell dad what?"

       "That mom's having triplets," Chase said, as if he were discussing
the weather.

       "She's what," Steve asked.

       "Apparently, were going to need a bigger house," Sarah said, with a
shocked look on her face.

       "No shit," Steve said, sitting down.

       William smile, noticing that they didn't question Chase any more
when he made such pronouncements.  They did love their son, so they'd just
gotten over it.

       Chase talked happily to his mother over dinner, while Steve looked
shell-shocked, so after dinner William helped Steve with the dishes.  "Are
you okay, Steve?"

       The man smiled at him out of the corner of his eyes, not turning.
Quietly, he said, "I was a young man when Chase was born....  In my
twenties.  Now I'm forty and I'm about to have three babies!  A son who'll
be graduating before his siblings can walk....  Between you and me, I'm
scared shitless."

       William smiled.  "My dad said almost the same thing when we found
out about the twins...  You're a great dad, and it'll all work out!"

       "If there isn't an apocalypse in the next nine months," Steve spat
bitterly.

       "WE ... won't let that happen," William said with absolute
conviction.

       "And what if something happens to Sarah and me?  My dad's not the
kind to take care of children, even if he was able, and Sarah's parents are
sweet, but they're worse off than dad..."

       William looked at Steve, and whispered, "They'll have Chase and
me...  And Avery and Xavier..."

       Steve smiled at him, wrapping one arm around him and squeezing.
"Thank you...  You boys are something else..."

       William laughed and they finished up.  William winked at him and ran
out of the kitchen, grabbing Chase's hand where he sat talking to his mom
and pulled him to his feet.  Chase shrugged and followed, giggling, as
Sarah shook her head.  Then she got up to find her husband.

       She found Steve wiping down the stove, and walked up behind him,
wrapping her arms around his waist.  "Feeling better," she asked, resting
her head on his strong back.

       Smiling, he breathed in deeply.  "Yeah, I had a talk with William,"
he answered.

       "What kind of adults are we," she asked with a laugh, "leaning on
teenage boys for emotional support?"

       "Well," he laughed, adding teasingly, "gay boys are supposed to be
sensitive..."

       She slapped him on the shoulder and laughed.  "Want to go
celebrate?"

       He turned around and wrapped his arms around her, arching his
eyebrows.  "Yeah?"

       She nodded and led him by the hand toward the bedroom.

       Upstairs, William had already stripped, and sat on the edge of the
bed, watching Chase's lithe, slender figure as he undressed slowly and
methodically.  He sighed as the boy stood before him nude.

       Chase gasped when he felt William's strong hands caress his hips,
guiding him into his lap.  They kissed until Chase grinned.  "I think
you're enjoying this!"

       "How can you tell," William asked playfully, and Chase slid his hand
down the boy's chest and wrapped his silky hand around William's rock hard
member, giving it a couple of quick pumps.

       "Ahhh," William said.  "Not too much of that...  We haven't had much
time alone together the last few days..."

       With another few squeezes, Chase asked, "And you haven't been taking
care of yourself, poor baby?"

       William joke pouted, "You have?"

       "At least twice a day," the little blond said, laughing, wiggling
his cute ass on William's throbbing cock.

       "Well I hope you have the decency to think about me when you do it,"
William laughed.

       "Usually..."

       "Usually," William said, lifting the boy and tossing him onto his
back, crawling on top of him.  "Who else is there?"

       Chase smiled, "Mostly you, but then there's the football team, the
fire department, the theatre club, you know, men..."

       William lowered his weight onto Chase in a very playfully dominant
move and whispered into his ear, "You know it's always me!"

       Chase gasped a little as the breath tickled his ear.  "Mmmm..."  He
ran his hands down William's back, tracing the tight muscles down to his
tight ass.  "Make love to me, William," he whispered into the big boy's
ear.

       William lifted himself off of Chase and positioned the boy on the
bed with a pillow behind his neck.  Then he knelt between his legs and
sucked on the boy's balls, making Chase gasp sharply.  After a few moments,
Chase bent his knees and spread his cheeks, inviting William to lower his
tongue to the tight virgin hole.  Chase started to moan as soon as he did,
and William smiled to himself as he felt the boy's fingers in his hair,
urging him on.

       As he worked, he could feel the boy loosen, opening to receive him.
Chase began to pull at his shoulders, and William rose up over him to kiss
him.  "I'm ready," the boy begged.

       William propped Chase's beautiful legs, bearing the lightest dusting
of fine blond hair, on his shoulders, and knelt, positioning the throbbing
hot head of his penis against the boy's spit-lubed hole.  He looked down
into Chase's face full of fearless desire and contentment, and started to
push.  He felt Chase push back against him and suddenly his head slipped
in.

       Chase's face tensed ever so slightly as he exhaled.  "Give me a
second," he whispered.

       "Are you okay?"

       "Yeah," the boy smiled.  "You did a good job getting me ready, it
barely hurt..."

       William supported Chase, grabbing his slim waist and holding him
gently in place.  When the boy nodded, William began to increase the
pressure again, slipping in a half-inch or inch at a time.  When he
bottomed out, he leaned down and kissed Chase so intensely, he thought he
might erupt instantly.

       Chase's hands roamed William mindlessly as he was taken over by the
feelings beginning to emanate from deep inside.  "William," he whispered,
all longing.  William began to pull out and push in in short, slow strokes.
"God, it feels so ... ungh, God!"

       William whispered in his ear as he lengthened his stroke and picked
up his speed, approaching his orgasm, "I'm yours and you're mine..."

       "Always," Chase answered, as he felt William's whole body tense and
the boy's hot load fill him.  William let his bulk rest on Chase for a few
minutes as he recovered; Chase enjoyed the feeling of being enveloped.
"That was amazing," Chase said, simply.

       "Let's sneak across to the shower," William suggested as he rolled
onto his side.

       Chase smiled.  "It's still early," he said, running his hand down
William's side, smacking his muscular cheek.  William rolled onto his belly
invitingly, and Chase stroked his butt lovingly, easing down and spreading
William's muscular, pleasantly hairy legs.  He used William's own cum as a
lubricant to loosen him up with a couple of fingers and laid down on the
boy, kissing William's firm shoulders.

       Chase arched his back and lined up his cock with William's hole and
pushed inside.  "Oh, yeah," William moaned as the familiar feelings
overtook him.  "Fuck me, baby..."

       There shower, it turned out, was long delayed indeed, but, when it
was over, they laid clean and naked in each other's arms, well spent and
glowing with satisfaction.  "I am my beloved's," Chase whispered, as he
nuzzled William's chest.

       "And my beloved is mine..."



	Across town, Katrina sat in her apartment waiting, for Robert.  The
boy was coming, but had called to say he'd be late.  She waited until a few
minutes before he was to arrive, then got in the shower and washed herself
clean.  She smiled when she heard the bell and wrapped a skimpy towel
around herself, sauntering to the door.

	Opening it wide, she leaned in alluringly.  "Sorry, I was in the
shower when you rang..."

       The boy smiled wide, his eyes raking up and down her long, thin
body, tanned and toned.  "I, uh, well ... I can wait in the car," he said,
unable to look away.

       "Come on in," she said with a smile.  "I'm all alone tonight...  Why
don't we just stay in?  I'm more interested in what's in here, than what's
out there," she purred, putting her hand softly on his built chest.

       He nodded, stepping in and pressing himself against her firmly, so
she could feel his erection against her hip.  Taking his hand, she led him
to the bedroom and playfully shoved his chest so that he sat down on the
bed.  She made a show of drying herself in front of him, then dropped the
towel and stepped up to the edge of the bed, so that her left knee was
between his legs.

       He tentatively reached out a hand and put it on her hip.  Feeling
her shudder, he ran the hand up to caress her breasts.  She took his hand
and sucked his finger sensually, before guiding it between her legs.  He
took the hint.

       A few minutes later she dragged him to his feet and together they
stripped him nude with feverish pace.  When he was completely undressed,
she shoved him again, hard this time and he fell back on the bed laughing.

       "You like it rough?" he asked, as she crawled up on top of him.

       "Oh, yeah," she smiled wickedly.  "Do you?"  She smacked his face
playfully.

       "Whoa," he laughed.  "Normally I'm the one who plays rough...  But
yeah, that's cool!"

       "Well," Katrina smiled again, leaning over and reaching in to the
night stand, "you're gonna love this!"  A gleaming pair of handcuffs
dangled from her finger.  With an expert flick of the wrist, she closed one
end over his wrist and fastened the other to the bedpost.

       Robert's eyes widened in surprise.  "Kinky!  I think I'm in love!"

       She winked at him as she reached in a grabbed a second pair,
securing his other wrist.  "Now I'm in charge..."

       "Why do I get the feeling you were always in charge, baby," he
asked.

       "Smart boy," she said, dragging a finger down his chest and across
his straining abs, wrapping her fingers around Robert's throbbing cock.  It
was quite impressive, she thought to herself as she lowered her mouth to
his eight thick inches to give him a mind-bending blowjob that surpassed
every experience he had ever known.

       Through a tremendous act of will, he managed to keep from cumming
for about a minute, but his orgasmic bliss transported him to a timeless
state that seemed to drag on for an eternity.  Orgasm is sometimes called
the little death and that is what he experienced as the succubus drained a
substantial amount of his life force through his orgasm, the first such
meal this particular entity had enjoyed in a long time.  Like the first
good meal of a starving man, it satisfied her immediate pain but left her
with a longing hunger for more.  And soon.

       "How was it," she asked, as she straddled his waist.

       When he opened his eyes, he looked up at her breathless and shook
his head, unable to express himself.

       "When will you be ready to go again," she asked with a wolfish grin.
"I can't wait to get this monster inside me..."

       Despite the exhaustion he felt, he was a teenage boy, and the most
gorgeous woman he'd ever seen naked was sitting naked on top of him, her
hot, moist womanhood rubbing against his still semi-hard cock, which
hardened again as he watched her rub her nipples.

       Feeling the stirring beneath her, she reached out and tweaked his
nipples.  Surprised, he felt a surge of energy pass through his body
straight to his cock.  As he hardened, he pressed into her.  Feeling the
tight hold squeezing his hardening cock made blood pulse into his member.
Soon he was fully engorged and the gorgeous creature was riding him like a
cowgirl.  He would last much longer this time, and she could hold him at
his peak, draining him of his vital essence in a more sustained way.

       When his second orgasm was finished, he was so weak that he couldn't
resist what came next, even if he wasn't restrained.  His head lolled back
and for in his euphoria.  Katrina allowed her human form to lapse,
partially, so her right hand reverted to claw.  With the sharp claw, she
drew a reversed pentagram on his chest, the pain barely registering with
him.

       "I call upon the powers of hell," she intoned.  "By my Lord Sammael,
by the archangels Beelzebub and Belial, Azazel and Baal, I reach out from
this world to the other and summon that darkest spirit, Daemon, come to me
now and be bound by the power of our master of this world!  Come Daemon,
come!"  And with a horrific thrust, she shoved her claw into the handsome
boy's chest, tearing his heart to pieces.

       From the corner, a silky voice spoke softly, "Katrina!"

       "Daemon," she said, cautiously.

       The voice did not match the grotesque serpent that slithered from
the corner.  "Why have you summoned me?" the creature asked, hissing his s.

       "My Lord Sammael has commanded it!"

       "Very well," he said.  "Back away from the meat!"  Katrina moved
from Robert's corpse and backed away, putting on some clothes without ever
taking her eyes from the serpent, which had begun to lap away at the blood.
"My, wasn't this one a testosterone fueled meat-sack?"

       "Isn't that the way you like them, Daemon?"

       "I like a challenge, Katrina, you slut!"  As the serpent drew power,
he began to absorb the physical substance of the dead boy, reconstituting a
body of his own design.  When he crawled off the bed, Daemon looked as
Katrina had seen him in so many ages before, a boy of about fifteen, but
tall for his age, with a developing athletic body, olive skin, and light
brown curls.  The only hair on his body was a light treasure trail leading
from his belly button to his pubic hair.  He was radiant and gorgeous; of
all the demonic forms she'd ever seen, only Sammael's was more starkly
beautiful.  But, no doubt about it, Daemon's was more alluring.  Sammael's
beauty was almost painful to behold in person.  Daemon's was consuming to
behold, even for her, and she was an immortal demoness.  And unlike most
incubi, Daemon was competition for Katrina, since his specialty was also
teenage boys.  But his real attraction was for boys such as Katrina
couldn't overpower.

       Approaching her confidently, he opened his arms to receive her and
she dared not refuse the embrace of her demonic overlord, master of the
demon's of lust, Prince Daemon, who had dethroned emperor's and kings, and
driven others to maddened bloodshed.  "Little sister," he whispered, as he
embraced her, "it has been a while!"

       "Indeed, brother," she responded.

       Smiling, he stepped back and asked, with a perfectly wicked smile,
"And why does it seem that this does not sadden you as it does me?"

       "Surely not, my lord!"

       "You always enjoyed your work," he said with a grin at the bloody
remains on her bed.  "But then, so do I...  And so tell me, why has our
master granted me this reprieve, after so long?"

       "Sammael is free," she said.

       "What?" Daemon asked, sincerely surprised.

       "You ... did not know?"

       "To my knowledge, none of the Princes know!  This is ... hmm.  What
am I to do?"  Katrina filled him in on what she knew, and why she had
failed.  "So tell me about the boys," he said with a lascivious smile,
anticipating his fun.  The smile widened as she described the boys,
particularly Chase and Edward who were just his type, William and Carl
being close behind.  "So, what is the Master's plan," Daemon asked.

       "I am not nearly high enough to know that," Katrina said.  "But from
what I gather, this is it...  The final battle..."

       "And tell me, Katrina, do you understand what that means?"

       "Hell will rise and ascend to this realm," the succubus answered her
prince.

       Daemon smiled dismissively, almost a sneer.  "Not exactly," he said,
but he did not elaborate.  Robert's clothes were too big for his form, but
they'd serve until he found a better fit.  He wore just the pants,
commando, and the undershirt, and walked out into the cool night, free on
earth for the first time in a hundred years.

       How things change, he thought to himself as he walked the streets of
Richmond, saw the advertisements filled with half-naked men and women, the
public displays of lust.  But they hadn't changed all that much since
Pompeii, had they – these pictures were just better.  He made his way to
an upscale young men's store which was about to close.  He felt the eyes of
both remaining clerks on him.

       "Hi, guys," he said with a seductive smile.

       "What can we do for you," the older one asked.  Stores like these
didn't have really older ones.  This guy, Tom, the manager, might be a
graduate student, perhaps twenty-four, handsome and twinkishly built.  The
younger guy, Clark, a clerk, looked about nineteen.  He was shorter but
muscular, like a gymnast, and displayed their clothing well.  And both of
these guys were calling out to him like beacons.

       With that smooth voice, young and masculine, he said, "I'm looking
for a new wardrobe, but, here's the problem...  I'm a little short on
cash..."

       "We've got credit cards you can apply for," the manager said, but
stopped short as Daemon leaned over the counter and winked.

       "I'm just fifteen," he whispered.  "But I really NEED those
clothes...  I'd do just about anything for a few changes of clothes," he
said, dragging out the anything breathily.

       "Anything," the younger clerk asked, looking at the manager.  When
Daemon nodded, the manager nodded to the clerk, who turned the sign to
closed and locked the door.

       Daemon smiled and followed Tom back to the store room, knowing the
boy, Clark, was close behind.  Tom unzipped his pants as if this was a
common thing and put a hand on Daemon's shoulder to let him know he wanted
the boy on his knees.

       Daemon shook his head.  "I said I'd do anything, and a blowjob in
the stock room is the best you can come up with," Daemon asked, laughing a
little derisively, as he stripped off his shirt and pants and stood naked
and magnificent before the man.  Clark gasped as he came back into the
store room and saw Daemon's ass.  "Now there's a man who can appreciate
some fine illegal booty," Daemon laughed.  Walking up to Clark, Daemon took
the boy's hand and sucked his fingers seductively as Tom watched.

       At last, however, the man walked up behind him and kissed his
shoulder.  "That's more like it," Daemon cooed.  "Why don't you gents get
more comfortable," he suggested.  When both men stood naked before him,
Daemon could see that the well built boy had the smaller cock, so he
decided to let the boy fuck him first, while he sucked Tom off.  Then
they'd switch.  Both men would survive ... probably!

       Indeed, when Daemon left the store an hour later with three sets of
clothes, and a good deal more energy, both men were alive.  They'd both be
fired the next day, first because they'd lost over a thousand dollars in
designer clothes, and second because the general manager found them laying
naked together covered in cum in the store room and the front door
unlocked.

       Funny enough, some good did come of it for Clark and Tom, as they
discovered they had a common interest in each other, and they soon moved in
together, though they found jobs where they didn't work together.

       Daemon walked the streets thinking about this brave new world, a
world on the brink of apocalypse.  He had been amongst the rebel angels
from the beginning, and had always known that this day was coming.  But his
time with the sexy studs at the clothier had reminded him of something that
an unbroken century in hell had dulled, something that troubled him deeply.
But that would have to be dealt with later.

       In a nicer neighborhood, Daemon caught the eye of a man in his
mid-thirties.  True, the man was a little young to be his father, but it
was plausible.  More important, the man was nice looking, well-built,
well-dressed, and more than interested.

       Daemon fell into step next to him and asked, nonchalantly, "Where
does a guy go in this town to find a man?"

       The man looked at him quickly but appraisingly, "How would I know?"

       "I saw how YOU looked at me," Daemon responded with a sexy smile.

       The man smiled briefly.  "If that were true, would it bother you?"

       "Not at all...  In fact, I ... think you're kind of hot!  It's sort
of a fantasy of mine to hang out with a cute older guy..."

       "Hmmm," the man smiled, taking a closer appraisal of the boy.  "You
aren't working for the cops?"

       "Once we're off the street, I can prove that to you..."

       The man smiled and picked up his pace, stopping at a gate in front
of a nice old house.  "This is me!"  Inside the gate, the front garden
afforded some privacy.  "So you were saying?"

       Daemon stepped up and kissed the man firmly, sliding his hand down
beneath the man's waist band and grabbing his cock.  "Would the police let
a fifteen year old do that?"

       "I guess not," the man replied with a smile.  "Fifteen?  Shit!  You
running away, or something?"

       "Or something..."

       "Well, I can't promise you anything more than a bed for tonight,"
the man said with a hopeful grin.

       "Good enough for now," Daemon said, running his hand around the
man's pants to the back, squeezing his lightly hairy ass cheeks.  The man
grabbed his hand and led him inside quickly.

	Inside, Daemon tossed his bags by the couch and followed the man to
the bedroom.  The demonic prince was already well-sated for the evening,
and he had no intentions of feeding off the man in the meantime.  Rather,
he'd weave his intricate web so the man thought of nothing but him and
serving his needs, giving Daemon a foothold in this world and access to the
resources he'd require for his newest milieu: a modern American high
school.



	The next morning, Chase and his little circle of friends sat
waiting for the morning bell to ring when Katrina arrived, with an entirely
different effect.  Every male in the yard was rapt to the pair.  "Hey guys,
I'd like you to meet my brother, Daemon," she said, and the whole group,
save Amy, Susan, and Chase stood slack-jawed.  Indeed, there was a school
full of befuddled, confused males, because Daemon affected every straight
boy just as Katrina affected the gay boys.  The feelings he inspired in the
straight boys were blunted but not absent, so that wherever Daemon would
go, lots of pink cheeked boys with their bags hanging at their waists to
obscure the inexplicable bulges were sure to be left in his wake.

	Edward, however, was the most particularly affected of all the
boys, as he was single, with no sexual outlet, and coming to terms with his
homosexuality.  His gut ached with longing at the sight of the boy, his
mind clouded at his silky words.  "Hi," he responded with false shyness,
his cheeks flushing.  Of course, everything about him was false, but he was
by nature a more gregarious demon.

	William was the first to speak, "Hi, I'm William," he said, softly,
feeling the boy's magnetic draw.  `What is it with these two,' he asked
himself as he held out a hand.  As Daemon's soft skin touched his, a jolt
of energy ran up William's arm through his body.  Funny thing was, even
Daemon shuddered involuntarily, which Katrina took note of: Daemon was not
the type of being to be affected lightly.  "I, uhm, I ... this, my
boyfriend, this ... uhm, Chase?"

	Chase took a deep breath, hearing a note of something unsettling in
William's voice.  It was the tone Matt had taken on the bus the previous
afternoon after his encounter with Katrina.  Chase made no move to shake
hands, just raised his hand in a polite wave and nodded, "Chase!"

	William was left slightly agitated when Daemon removed his hand and
stared briefly at Chase.  The boy was unaffected by him, for the most part
– his most powerful tools were his unearthly beauty, which fell on blind
eyes with Chase, and touch.  But Chase's jealousy robbed him of the
opportunity to influence the boy's feelings directly.  Daemon's enchanting
voice was a distant third, in terms of power, and Chase, he could feel, was
beginning to emanate anger in waves.  He would not, for now, be taken.  `No
matter,' Daemon mused, `I can still turn his world on its head.'

	As the introductions proceeded, the girls were somewhat friendlier
to the beautiful boy than to his sister, but Chase's standoffishness
affected them.  Carl took the Daemon's hand quickly, and felt the pull, but
something else protected him.  Daemon was perhaps most interested in that
fact.  He could feel something in the strong boy resisting him actively, as
if it knew what he was.  Peculiar.

	Matt was friendly as always, though he got embarrassed as he began
to feel ... a straight boy's attraction to another boy, and backed away
quickly, almost stuttering, much to Amy's amusement as she was still pissed
at him.

	Edward was last and almost couldn't bear to look at the boy's face,
but he looked as if he might faint when they touched.  Daemon felt it, like
an ancient hunger, pulling back at him, and placed his second hand on top
of Edward's drawing him near.  "I'm Edward," the boy nearly stuttered
cutely.

	"Hello, Edward," Daemon said softly, still affecting the shyness.
"It's VERY nice to meet you," he added with a cute grin.  The message was
clear to all, and Carl tensed up instantly.  `So, there's a reaction,'
Daemon thought with a smile.  With all these interrelations, relationship
to be toyed with, this was going to be a world of fun.  So much energy to
draw.  Boy, would he and Katrina stir this pot.  But something nagged at
the edge of Daemon's demonic intellect.  How it would all work out was
anyone's guess.



	Later that morning, Carl pulled Edward aside in the hall.  "Hey, I
was thinking...  You wanna go off campus for lunch today.  My treat!  I'm
just feeling antsy, I guess..."

	"I," he began hesitantly, looking around for something, or someone,
Carl suspected, "well, I was planning on eating in the cafeteria, but if
you really want to go..."

	Carl smiled widely, dimples out, and winked, putting a big hand on
the boy's arm.  "Thanks man, I knew I could count on you!"  As Edward
walked off smiling, Carl's smile slipped.

	"You can't have him," the boy whispered in a language no one around
him would understand - Irish.  While Heather was quite willingly his beard,
her girlfriend being away at boarding school, Edward had captured his
imagination, and his heart.

	As a young boy, Carl MacKenna, in Irish, Carollan Mac Cionaoith,
which meant something like "little champion sprung from the fires," had
been raised in a small, rural Gaeltacht community in his grandmother's
home.  While his parents worked, his grandmother taught him the traditional
ways of the Irish, passed down in their family from generations predating
the arrival of the missionaries.  It was only at her death, when he was
ten, that his parents sold the family farm and moved to America, where his
father became a successful developer.

	While his parents had always spoken English at home, Irish was his
first language, the one in which he had been most comfortable when his
family arrived in Virginia.  It was the part of his grandmother he kept
alive in himself, her books and journals spoke to him in the language of
his people.  And it was a gift she had given him, a traditional Irish knot
of pure silver, that burned against his muscular chest whenever the new boy
or girl was around.  And he knew what that meant.  He'd never believed, and
now wished he had listened more to her stories, now that she was gone.
Perhaps her books.  But he couldn't go to his parents, they'd ship him to
mental hospital.

	`Chase,' he thought to himself.  `I should talk to Chase...  He'll
listen, even if he thinks I'm crazy, and he's no fan of them either...'
But he put the thought out of mind.  He dared not endanger the beautiful
boy he'd long had a crush on, who he had given up on when he saw him with
William.  `Let him be happy,' Carl thought, `though if this is what I think
it is, we'll all be unhappy soon...'  But Carl put the thought away for the
moment...

	Before lunch, Carl was careful to catch Edward as he came out of
class and drag him to the lot.  "So, what would you like to eat?"

	Edward smiled at him and his strange behavior.  "You pick."

	Carl looked at him for a long time.  "If someone were taking you
out on a date, where would you want to go?" he asked, unsure, which struck
the small boy to his side as funny.  "What?"

	"It's just, you're being so roundabout...  You'd think you were
worried I might gay-bash you if you asked me out," Edward laughed at the,
well built, 6'5" basketball star.

	Brushing a handful of fiery red hair from his blue eyes, Carl
blushed, making Edward's heart beat fast.  "More worried that you might say
no...  You and Susan..."

	Edward nodded, "Couldn't live the lie any more...  You and
Heather?"

	"It's a cover," he laughed, "for both of us..."  Moments later,
they were both laughing.

       They had a long lunch and, at last, Carl asked, "Want to ditch?"
Edward smiled and nodded.  They drove out into the country and just rode
around talking until school was out, Edward's fog lifting with each moment
he spent with Carl.  Daemon's attraction faded to a dull pull.
Unfortunately, Carl knew it would return instantly when next they met.  But
perhaps...

       When he pulled up to Edward's house, he leaned over and put a hand
on Edward's.  "I, I'd like to kiss you," he whispered, and Edward leaned in
to receive him, softly, tenderly, with real desire.  "Remember that til
next time," Carl smiled and winked.  Edward beamed as he walked shakily to
the front door and let himself inside.

       Carl smiled too.  It wouldn't be enough, but it was something.  He
was in a race against time, when it came to Daemon.  No one, almost no one,
could hold out against him forever.  Maybe Chase...  "Why do you keep
coming to mind, Che?" he asked himself.  For a while in middle school, he
had used the revolutionary's name as a nickname for the boy.  Chase always
liked it, but never really opened up to Carl too much.  `It's just because
you're moving on,' he thought to himself.

       On the bus, the boys were quiet.  William was still out of it a
little, and Chase was pissed, though William wasn't paying enough attention
to notice.  Matt was off in his own world.

       At last, Susan turned around and asked, "What's up with you guys?"

       Chase drew a breath like he was about to speak, but William
interrupted.  "Wrong?  What do you mean?"

	Susan looked at Chase, then at William.  "Chase?"

	"Like I was about to say," the boy began, peeved, "I'm ... confused
by the way everyone is acting around the new kids!"

	"Katrina," Matt asked, though William asked, simultaneously,
"Daemon?"

	"Exactly," Chase declared with a huff.

	Susan smiled.  "I think someone's jealous!"

	Chase crossed his arms and pouted, and William looked at him for
what seemed like the first time all day.  "Really?  I'm sorry, baby!  I
guess they're just new, everyone's trying to make them feel at home...."

	"Or into bed," Chase said grumpily.  "Everyone doesn't have to be
SO nice!  There's something about how ... overboard all you guys are
going...."

	"Not us," Maria added, turning around next to Susan.

	"I chose the word, guys, very carefully," Chase mumbled.

	"That's true," Maria said.  "All the guys at school seem to be
crazy over those two...."

	Matt and William both grumbled lightly, but neither of them said
anything.  When they got off the bus, Chase walked ahead by himself and
slammed the door behind him, running upstairs to his room.  Outside, Matt
said, "Man, I think you're in trouble."

	"You too, buddy!  You too...."  William walked slowly to the door,
and walked inside to be met by Steve.

	"What's that all about," Steve asked, looking upstairs.

	William shook his head and walked past Steve to the kitchen to get
a drink, but the man followed.  After he took a drink of soda, William
sighed.  "There's a couple of new students, a guy and a girl....  A bunch
of us may have been paying too much attention to them....  We're just being
nice...."

	Steve chuckled, but asked, "Is that true?"

	"Well....  The girl is cute and the guy is ... wow!"

	Steve arched his eyebrows.  "Listen to yourself, and ask yourself
how you'd feel if Chase was going on like that....  You're always going to
notice other people, and you're going to have to deal with them, too, but
what matters is how you treat the person who matters....  How much
attention did you show Chase while you were being NICE to these kids?"

	William lowered his head, "Not much, I guess...."

	Steve sighed and patted his shoulder, walking off without further
comment, leaving William to think.  There was no training today, as they
were going to Sebastian's in the evening for dinner with the elders of the
Shadow Council.  Like a man marching off to his doom, William trudged up
the stairs and, coming to Chase's door, knocked.  No answer.  He knocked
again.  No answer.  So he slowly opened the door to find the boy laying on
his belly facing away from him.

	"Chase?"

	"You have to knock now?  It's your room," the boy exclaimed
quietly.  William could hear he was crying.

	"I ... wanted to give you the chance to be alone if that's what you
wanted," William answered.

	Chase was silent, waiting.  "Well?"

	William sighed and sat down on the bed, not quite touching Chase.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.

	"For what," Chase asked, not ready to give him an easy out but
melting rapidly.

	"I wasn't thinking about you, and you mean more to me than
anything, more than everything...."  William choked up a little, and Chase
rolled over, pulling William down on top of him, rubbing the back of his
head as the big boy too began to cry softly.  "I'm sorry...."

	"I love you," Chase said, soothingly.  "Lay down with me...."
William stretched out next to the small-framed blond and laid his head on
the boy's slight chest and listened to his racing heartbeat.  Chase had
been scared, he could tell instantly, by his actions today, and that sent a
shockwave through William that intensified the feelings of love and regret
coursing through him.  But as the boy's heartbeat slowed, it lulled William
into peaceful slumber.

	They napped together for a couple of hours and woke feeling much
better.  But they were short on time, so they had to shower together.  Need
it be said that they didn't mind?  They returned to the room wrapped in
towels, laughing and pink-cheeked, and finished drying off, and picked
clothes.  Chase decided to wear his blue blazer with tan pants and a tie,
so William picked out a pair of tan pants but he wore an open-necked blue
sweater over his shirt and tie, so they matched.

	Hand-in-hand, they walked downstairs, where Sarah greeted them
with, "My don't you look nice!"  Steve just smiled and winked at William.
The boy smiled and shook his head.  "So you're off to Sebastian's then,"
she asked.

	Chase nodded.  "Got to meet some big-wigs," he said with a shrug.

	"Be careful," his mother cautioned, but let them go without further
comment.

	A few minutes later they stepped into the training room and, at the
appointed time, opened the door, which James opened from the other side.
"You guys look nice," James said with a friendly smile.  "Everyone else is
upstairs."  James led them upstairs where the leaders of the Shadow Council
sat having friendly conversation.

	"Ladies and gentlemen," James announced loudly as he entered, "may
I present our friends, William Jennings and Chase Abernathy...."

	Everyone stood and introduced themselves.  Americ looked closely at
William as he shook his hand.  "William Jennings?"

	The boy smiled, "Alexander Jennings was my father...."

	"I am so sorry for your loss," Americ responded, "I considered your
parents good friends...."

	"Many of us did," Musa said, putting a hand on the boy's arm.
"Please, if there is ever anything you need...."  Many of the assembled
wanted to speak with him privately over the course of the evening, and he
learned more than a few interesting things about his parents.

	Chase sat quietly as William had his moment.  James settled into
the seat next to him and put a heavy arm across his shoulder.  "How are you
doing, bud?"

	Chase smiled and leaned into him a little.  "Alright....  We had a
fight today.  There's a new boy at school, and William was acting all gaga
over him...."

	James frowned, "That doesn't sound right....  William is totally
into you...."

	"Yeah well....  He says he's sorry for how he acted, but...."

	"Chase, believe me, William is absolutely devoted to you, I can
feel it flowing off of him like heat from fire....  But I can also tell
that you really are rattled by this...."  Chase nodded silently.  James
squeezed his shoulder and they sat together, quiet, for a while.

	Sebastian appeared at William's elbow and dragged him out of a
conversation, nodding in Chase's direction.  "Thanks," William said, but
inside, he said, 'Shit!  I did it again!'

	He walked over to where the boy sat and knelt at his feet, putting
a hand on his leg, "Sorry, baby, I got caught up hearing these stories
about my parents...."  James smiled and patted William on the shoulder,
getting up and leaving them alone.

	Chase leaned in and whispered with a smile, "Don't worry, this I
get!  I just don't feel like I belong here...."

	"Don't worry," William laughed, "you're at least as weird as anyone
else here, so you'll fit in just fine!"  Chase laughed in return and
William took his hand, leading him over to resume the conversation he'd
been having.

	"So Chase," Christen Wheeler's husband Mark asked, "Are you a
wizard?"

	"No," Chase answered, smiling shyly, "just a boy from Virginia...."
William overheard and snorted, but kept to his own conversation.  "Are
you?"

	Mark nodded, "Christen and I met when we were training for entrance
into the military wing under the Queen....  Christen is the consul over the
West coast as well....  So how did you get pulled into all this," he asked
with a smile.

	Chase smiled and recounted the story of how he and his father found
William, brought him home, about how they had fallen in love.  He was
embarrassed when he took a breather and noticed that all the side
conversations had stopped and all eyes were on him.  "Please, continue,"
Musa said with an encouraging smile.

	So Chase told them about how William had collected the materials to
forge the bond and how they had had the ceremony, leaving out the details
about him and his ... nature.

	Musa took his hand and William's and looked at the rings
side-by-side.  "Remarkable," he said, looking at the boys with supreme
admiration.

	"If you think that's remarkable," Avery said as he lead Sarah into
the room, "you should see James and William casting spells....  It's
amazing how far they've come in a few sessions....  Only so much of it can
be blamed on their having a superb teacher...."

	Musa chuckled and Americ smiled.  "It's good to see you've learned
SOME humility, brother," Pedro said, clapping his brother on the back.
Avery laughed.

	Sebastian took center stage.  "I've asked you all here because I
wanted you to meet three people who give me hope that we can take on
Sammael and be successful.  James, my partner, you've seen but never met.
You know the prophecy.  William has been important enough to Sammael to be
targeted at least twice, and his guardian is a very ... important figure in
the angelic realm."  Sebastian paused and looked at Chase, and took his
hand, "And last, but not least, Chase....  Chase is the most amazing being
I've met in four thousand years....  I honestly never thought I might live
to see another like him...."

	Now all eyes in the room were truly on him, and Chase squirmed.
Musa stepped forward and took Chase's hand again, as he had when he
examined the ring.  But this time he took the other hand.  "I thought it
was the ring," Musa said as he looked to Sebastian in awe.  Sebastian shook
his head.

	"You thought what was the ring," Americ asked.

	"The POWER," Musa said.  "I could feel it, but I thought it had to
do with the bond...."

	As Musa stepped away, Americ said, "May I?"  Chase nodded as the
man took his hand and gasped.  "I've never...."

	"Few have, my friend," Sebastian said, softly.  "Chase is the only
one of his kind I've met since I last saw my kinsman, Abraham, in the sands
of the Near East...."

	Chase's face reddened as he could feel the eyes boring into him,
examining him, taking his measure.  "I'm just a boy," he whispered finally.
He felt William's firm arm around him and straightened up.  "A boy who
lived alone in the dark for a long time....  Why God would throw me into
the middle of this ... hell, I don't know, but I can tell you that it was
what I was made for.  I can honestly tell you that given the option of
turning it all back, even to a world where Sammael wasn't loose, I'd choose
this one every time....  I suppose I should be sorry for that...."

	Americ smiled sadly, "Not at all....  Your love...."

	Musa put a hand on Americ's shoulder and smiled, "It's an
inspiration, even to old dog's like me...."  Chase smiled.  "So what's it
like?"

	Musa smiled, "Talking to God...."

	"I don't know about that....  The voices I hear," he paused with a
smile, "they are sometimes so infuriating, sometimes so comforting.  For
instance, when Americ was taken, all I was told was that Sebastian had to
make a decision, and it was all in his hands....  Not only your fate, but
the fate of all...."  They all looked at Americ, who looked sick at the
thought that Sebastian had doomed them by saving him.  "I've learned to
have more faith in people, Musa....  Sebastian, of course, chose well...."
Americ's shoulders sank in relief and they all smiled at him, as his tense
face began to resume its normal ease.

	As they adjourned for dinner, Sebastian fell in beside him and
wrapped an arm around him, whispering, "Well done, Chase!  Can you spare a
moment before we go inside?"

	Sebastian led Chase to his office and closed the door.  "I've had a
jeweler I know design a pendant amulet in the shape of the sigil Raziel
taught you, for protection....  I got a lot of them," he said with a smile,
"enough for your parents and close friends, as well as ours," he said,
pouring our the platinum pendants with their chains on his desk.  "What I
need is for you to charge them with the power of the spell...."

	"How do I do that," Chase asked softly.  Sebastian smiled and took
his hands and crossed them, placing his palm face down over the pile.

	"What I need you to do is make the sigil in your mind and then feel
its power flowing down from your palms and empowering the platinum sigils
on the desk....  It's more straightforward than it might seem," he began,
but as he stepped back, as steady blue light shined down from his hands and
the platinum began to glow, more and more intensely, until a blue flash
filled the room and Chase was done.

	"Did it work," the boy asked with innocent curiousity.

	"Fantastically," Sebastian said, putting the pendants in their bag
and carrying it up with him to distribute to his guests.  "Let's eat," he
declared and let Chase back to the party.

	The items were passed out during dinner, and the boys were given
extras to take home.  Conversation was lively, but at last William stood.
"I'm sorry to say, we must get going.  It's a school night!"  Chase smiled
and took his hand.  They shook hands and said their goodbyes, and James
escorted them downstairs to the open door.

	"Thanks for coming, guys...  See you soon for a weekend?"

	"That will be great," Chase said, hugging him.

	"And see you tomorrow," he said to William, who shook his hand and
smiled.

	Back at the house, Steve was still awake, but nodded to them and
went immediately to bed.  Upstairs, the boys undressed and crawled sleepily
into bed.