Into the Shadows:
The Coming Dark (c)
Chapter Ten
By Fiction Writer #13
(nosex, paranormal)

Steven hung up the phone for what seemed the fortieth time since 
he'd arrived at the office.  This last call had been his wife reporting on 
what she had discovered while trying to contact the adoption agency.  
Things in his life were steadily spinning out of control.

"Jesus Christ," he sighed as he leaned back in his swivel chair, 
"what's next?"

His recent promotion hadn't moved him up any floors in the sixty-
seven story high rise building owned by his employer, Applied 
Dynamic Systems, but his location on the forty-ninth floor had 
changed.  The new job was basically the same as his old one, sell, 
sell, sell; only now he was selling software to the bigger clientele.  
There was one perk to having his desk moved, at least now he could 
look out of a window as he sat in his cubicle.

ADS had become a software giant around the world, among other 
goods and services, and this building was headquarters.  The bigwigs 
stayed at the top, never mixing with those on the lower floors if they 
could avoid it; they had managers and supervisors for that kind of 
thing.  No, they stayed in their cushy private offices and met in large 
boardrooms while everyone else toiled away in little boxes neatly 
arranged to conserve space and maximize efficiency.

Steven gazed out the thick glass at the gray sky.  A light drizzle had 
begun, peppering the floor to ceiling window with droplets which 
joined with one another before making a dash for the ground in 
vertical streaks.

The ADS building wasn't the tallest in downtown Highland, but it did 
stand out.  From outside, the obsidian building rose up out of a sea of 
gray architecture.  The building tapered at the top, giving the illusion 
from the ground that it was much taller than in reality.

The most striking feature could only be seen at night, though.  As the 
sun sank behind the hills the buildings exterior lighting kicked in, the 
edge of each of the building's corners blazing with a brilliant red light.  
The effect gave the offices a rather menacing appearance, a black 
monolith outlined in red that could be seen for miles.  The darkening 
skies outside had triggered those lights into operating long before the 
scheduled sunset today as the storm moved in.

Steven's mood matched that of the building storm and that of the 
black building that surrounded him.  The last few days had been a 
roller coaster of emotions that left him exhausted and mentally 
drained.  Work was the last thing on his mind, but the ringing phone 
wouldn't let him just blow off the day.  He'd been staring out of the 
window blankly for almost ten minutes when a voice suddenly shook 
him out of his daydream.

"Hey, Steve-oh.  Working hard or hardly working?"

Steve snapped up to see the last person he'd hoped to see peering at 
him from over his gray cubicle partition. "Hey Parker, what can I do 
for you?"

Brice Parker.  If you look up nepotism, his picture had to be there.  
Brice was the worthless nephew of Hollister Broddick, CEO and 
founder of ADS.  Everyone in the building knew how Brice got his job.  
If he hadn't been a relative there would have been no reason for him 
to be here at all.  He couldn't do anything except threaten, bully, steal 
and boss his way through the day.  Basically he was an asshole.

"Just poppin' in to see how the new up-and-comer is doing on this 
miserable day." His fake smile and insincere gaze belied his true 
intentions.  Ever since Steve had been promoted past him, Brice had 
been a constant thorn in Steve's side.

"Doing fine, Brice, and you?" Steve hated even speaking to the little 
fuck.  All of twenty-eight and the prick thought he was better than 
everyone else around him. 'He even looks like a fucking weasel,' 
thought Steve as he smiled back at Brice and his beady little eyes.

"Didn't look that way from where I was standing," Brice forced a 
laugh, "Looked like you were considering jumping out the window."

'Not today you piece of shit,' Steve thought, but instead said, "No, just 
resting my eyes for a bit.  You know how it is when you make top 
sales every week, sometimes you just need to take a break."

The dig about being top seller did the damage Steve hoped it would.  
Brice, in his entire ten years working in sales, had never been the top 
seller.  Steve, on the other hand, had been top on many occasions, 
including this past week.  Brice's sickly complexion took on a shade 
of pink as his anger flushed through him, but it was gone just a quick 
as he tried to hide the fact that he had been bested.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, Steve-o." Brice continually 
called him that despite Steve asking him not to. "You know, when you 
got this promotion, I couldn't figure out why.  I mean, I was next in line 
for it, my numbers were good enough, I got a great yearly review, and 
yet... you got the job."

'Here it comes,' thought Steve as he watched the skinny bastard 
move around so that he was now in his personal space.

"Then it hit me!  Well, actually, I was told by my Uncle why he moved 
you up and not me.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that you, 
Mr. Family Man, Mr. Clean Cut Boy Scout, Mr. I Do My Job The Best 
I Can..."

"Is this going anywhere, Brice?" Steve interrupted, getting very 
annoyed as Brice inched closer and closer.

"You bet it is," Brice hissed. "Imagine my surprise when the big man 
told me that you were a member of the Order."

"What the hell are you talking about, Brice?" Steve pushed his chair 
away from Brice after noticing the smell of alcohol as he spoke.  A 
quick glance at his clock showed it was just after ten in the morning. 
"Have you been drinking?"

"What the fuck if I was, huh?  You gonna rat me out, Family Man?  
You gonna run upstairs and tell my uncle that his nephew had a few?  
Huh?" Brice moved closer to Steve. "He'd probably listen to you now, 
since you're the fucking teacher's pet."

"Brice, I don't know what the fuck is up your ass today," Steve stood 
up to avoid Brice as he attempted to get up in his face, "but if you 
don't get the fuck out of my office..."

"What?" Brice interrupted. "What are you gonna do, huh?"

"I'll call security and have them remove you." Steve was trying to 
keep his cool; he didn't want to knock out the boss's nephew if he 
could avoid it.

"So you are gonna tell on me," Brice snarled. "What a fucking pansy.  
Why in the hell did they choose you over me?  How did you pull it off, 
huh?"

Steve tried to reason with the erratic man. "Brice, I got the job 
because of my sales record, not because of any favoritism."

"Fuck this job!  I don't give a shit about this place." Brice held out his 
bony hand and pointed at Steve's chest, "You.  You took away my 
one shot.  The one thing I've waited for since I was told who I was 
and what my part was supposed to be.  It was supposed to be me!  
My family!  Not yours!  Mine!"

Steve's anger rose up in him. "What the Hell are you talking about?"

"Your new daughter, Steve."

"What?" Confusion ran through Steve's mind. "What does Bethany 
have to do with you?"

Brice smirked. "Have you fucked her yet?  Did you slide your big dick 
into her tight little cunt?  Huh?  I bet it felt better than anything 
you've..."

That's as far as he got before Steve's fist slammed into his face.  The 
shock of the blow sent Brice wheeling backwards into the narrow 
corridor between Steve's cubicle and the next.  He tried to stand but 
Steve was on him again, his fists flying, Brice couldn't even cover 
himself the blows came so fast.

Steve's heart pounded in his ears as he rained blows down on the 
pinned man, each collision ending with either a sharp crack or a wet 
slap.  All time stopped for Steve.  There was nothing in the universe 
except for his fists and the moaning man below him.  He only wanted 
one thing and one thing only; he wanted to punch this piece of shit 
until he couldn't any longer.  Two pairs of strong hands grabbed his 
shoulders and pulled him away, but his fists continued to swing long 
after his quarry had moved out of range.

"STEVE!  STEVE STOP!" the man on his left shouted at him. "WHAT 
THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Steve turned to his left and saw one of his co-workers, James 
Bradford, glaring at him.  To his right was another co-worker, Mike 
Daniels.  Both had been his friends over the years, and he knew he 
could trust them to do what was right.

"You have to let me go.  I've got to kill that sonofabitch!"

"Steve, will you listen to yourself?" James asked. "We're not gonna 
let you kill anyone."

Steve struggled to get free of their grip, but they held on tight.

"Look at him, Steve." Mike shook him to get his attention. "He's not 
worth it, you got him good enough already."

Steve stopped trying to free himself and looked to the floor to see 
Brice sitting on his knees, bent over with his hands covering his face.  
Blood drained from between his fingers and pooled on the Berber 
carpet below.

Some other people had come over to Brice to see if they could help 
him.  Sally Roberts and Dana Cull knelt by his moaning form and tried 
to offer some Kleenex to stem the flow of blood.

Steve looked up to find everyone else he worked with staring at him.  
Their heads rose above the walls of their cubicles like prairie dogs 
keeping a look out for danger.  There were whispers and gasps, 
shocked expressions and a few smiles once they realized whom the 
victim had been.

"What the hell were you thinking, Steve?" Mike asked. "He's the 
boss's nephew, for Christ's sake.  This couldn't have waited until after 
work?"

Steve stared down at the crumpled man with fire in his eyes.  He 
spoke loud enough for those around him to hear. "He asked me if I 
liked fucking my nine year old daughter."

More gasps filled the air, followed quickly by more whispers as those 
who had heard this new tidbit passed it on to those who hadn't.  Sally 
and Dana, with looks of absolute disgust on their faces, abandoned 
their attempts to nurse Brice back to health and left him on the floor 
where he sat.

"That fucking scumbag," James growled, but didn't let go of Steve's 
shoulder. "He deserves worse than that, but not here. You know 
better, Steve.  We all hate the little prick, and what he said was way 
out of line, but you can't beat the shit out of him, or anyone for that 
matter, while on the office floor."

Steve slumped between his two friends.  They were right and he 
knew it.  More than likely, he had just written his own pink slip.  
Perhaps that had been Brice's idea all along.  Bait him into a fight, get 
him fired, and then take the job as his own.  Steve had walked right 
into it.

"Shit," he cursed, more to himself than to anyone around him, "you're 
right guys.  I don't know what got into me."

Mike and James let up on their grips but didn't release him 
completely.  They wanted to be sure that the fight had truly left him 
before letting him free.

"Guys, seriously, I'm done with him." Steve put up his hands in mock 
surrender. "I don't know what came over me before, but it's over 
now."

"The fuck it is!" Brice's slurred voice drew everyone's attention as he 
stood up on wobbly legs.  His face was a mess and soaked with 
blood that still leaked from his now crooked nose. "It's only just 
begun.  I'm going to get you, you mother fucker.  You ruined my life."

"Christ, Brice, all the guy did was get a freakin' promotion," James 
protested. "It's not like he killed anyone."

"Yeah, and what you said about him and his daughter," Mike chimed 
in. "Way out of line.  If I had known that before, I wouldn't have pulled 
him off you.  So, if you know what's best, you should get the fuck out 
of here."

"Fuck you, nigger," Brice snarled, sending red spittle flying in all 
directions. "Your kind have no right to tell someone like me what I can 
and can't say, so fuck off, monkey!"

Now it was Steve's turn to hold back his friend before he did 
something he might regret. "Let it go, Mike, he's not worth it."

"I'll fucking kill you, you little piece of shit!" Mike made a lunge for 
Brice, but Steve and James were ready to stop him. "I should have let 
Steve kill you, you racist prick!"

Brice laughed as he watched Mike struggling to break free. "What's a 
matter, tar-baby?  The family man and the sissy faggot too strong for 
you?"

Steve watched as the color drained from James's face.  James was 
gay, but he'd always kept his personal life personal.  The only two 
people at ADS who knew about his sexual preference were Steve 
and Mike, and the only reason they knew was because James had 
trusted them not to tell anyone else.  Steve could see the look of 
betrayal on his friend's face.

"I didn't!" Steve tried to explain.

"Neither did I." Mike spoke through clenched teeth, his eyes never 
leaving Brice.

"Then how?" James asked, panic flushing his face.  Times had 
changed, homosexuality no longer held the old stigmas it used to, but 
some prejudices still persisted.  James still held on to an old fear, a 
beating he had received as a child for being different, a beating 
administered by his own father.  It had left him in the hospital for two 
weeks.  He had decided during his recovery that he'd never again 
trust people with his personal feelings, he'd never let them know that 
he was different.  That was until he had met James and Steve, who 
had accepted him as a friend and never once made him feel that he 
was wrong for being different. "How did he find out?"

"Oh, relax, you fairy, they didn't betray you." Brice spat blood on the 
floor. "Your nigger and the family man would never do something so 
devious."

"Then how?" James asked, his voice quavering, his grip on Mike 
going slack.

"I know all about you three." Brice looked down his nose at the trio 
standing before him, each about one comment away from ending his 
sorry existence for good. "I know about each and every fucking last 
one of you!" he yelled as he pointed to everyone in the office. "You 
can't hide your secrets, not from me!  Not from Him!"

A chill ran down Steve's spine.  He suddenly knew exactly who Brice 
meant.  Steve turned and looked directly into Brice's eyes which were 
darting around the office wildly.

Suddenly his crazy, darting eyes stopped and his face went slack.  
Steve followed his gaze off to the left and saw a tall man dressed in a 
black suit, standing completely still but watching intently from behind 
dark sunglasses.  A closer look revealed the man had some kind of 
hearing device nestled in his ear.

'Must be security,' he thought. 'Why hasn't he stopped this yet?'

Steve looked back to Brice, his gaze now fixed on the opposite wall.  
Once again Steve followed his line of sight over the maze of cubicle 
walls to find yet another security guard.  Just like the first one, he just 
stood there, not moving an inch. 'What are they waiting for?  This 
could get really ugly if it goes on much longer.'

Brice's head snapped back to look Steve dead in the eye, "This isn't 
over between you and me, family man, not by a long shot." He turned 
and staggered away while muttering under his breath, "I'll get what's 
mine."

The trio watched as Brice moved down the corridor until he reached 
the elevators.  Instead of waiting for one, he kicked open the door 
leading to the emergency stairwell and disappeared from site.  For a 
few seconds the entire office stood in stunned silence, waiting for 
Brice to return and continue his drunken tirade.  When it became 
certain that he wouldn't be coming back they all returned to work, but 
not before some had approached Steve to give him a pat on the back 
or a promise to back him up if he was called up to face the review 
board.

Steve thanked them all, but his mind was elsewhere.  After Brice had 
stepped out Steve looked for the two security guards, but they were 
nowhere in sight.  With no other exits on the floor, he couldn't help 
but wonder where they'd gone.

Mike shook his head and began to move off back to his desk. "Next 
time he's mine.  I call dibs."

"You can have him," Steve called back.

"What do you think he meant by that?" James asked as he walked 
with Steven back to his cubical.

"Meant by what?"

"That he knows all of our secrets.  Do you think that little shit has 
been spying on all of us?"

"I don't know, James, but I wouldn't worry about it." Steve put an arm 
around his friend. "He was drunk, and he knew how to get us riled up.  
I think he wanted us to beat the shit out of him.  That way he could 
get us all fired."

"Yeah, but, he knew about me, I mean, you know how discreet I am.  
I don't even hang out in this town.  How'd he know?"

"Maybe he's gay too, and he saw you out at one of those out of town 
bars you go to."

"Brice Parker?  Gay?" James laughed. "We'd revoke his 
membership."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's that weasel kid."

"What?" Tommy looked up from his untouched lunch to find Justin 
looking down at him with a smile on his face.

"The weasel.  You remember?" Justin took a seat at the otherwise 
empty table with Tommy. "That little shit that was picking on Bethany 
last year?  He's the one spreading the rumor."

"What rumor?"

"Come on, you haven't heard it yet?" Justin asked incredulously. "It's 
all over the school."

Tommy sighed. "No one but you is talking to me.  All they do is look 
at me like I'm some kind of a freak, and then whisper to each other."

"Well, no wonder.  There's a story going around that you're a serial 
killer," Justin laughed.

"What?"

"Yeah.  They're saying that the cops dug up your yard last night and 
found a bunch of dead animals, and that you might be responsible for 
a bunch of people going missing in the area."

"Who's saying this?"

"Everyone," he smiled, "but the weasel kid is the one who started it 
all.  He said that the only reason you're in school today is because 
your dad posted bail."

"That's fucking insane!  And they all believe this?"

"Hey man, its high school.  Did you hear about Wendy and the frozen 
hot dog?"

"Yeah, it broke inside of her while she was fucking herself with it, and 
she had to go to the hospital to get it removed."

"Yeah, well, that's a rumor too, and you believed it." Justin patted 
Tom's back. "Don't worry about it.  We'll just knock the shit out of the 
little weasel and everything will go back to normal, okay?"

Tommy thought back to the last confrontation he had had with the 
weasel.  Actually his name was Marshal Parker, but since he looked 
just like a skinny rodent with his pointy nose and beady eyes, the 
nickname 'weasel' had been assigned.  Marshal was only twelve, but 
he was a prick; a spoiled rotten little rich kid from the Hills.  No one 
could figure out why he didn't attend the private school like the rest of 
them did.

When Bethany first started attending school she had the unfortunate 
luck of going to the same one as Marshal.  The little fucker kept 
teasing her and made some very inappropriate remarks, mostly about 
holding her down and raping her.

Tommy had seen Beth crying and asked her why.  When she told 
him, he knew he had to stand up for her.  After all, that's what big 
brothers are supposed to do, right?  So the very next day Tommy 
walked Bethany to her school, and sure enough Marshal came 
around a corner and started to taunt her, even with Tommy standing 
there.

Tommy had hoped he could intimidate Marshal, scare him into 
leaving his little sister alone, however the kid just didn't know when to 
shut up. It wasn't much of a fight.  A few punches and the younger kid 
went down, his nose bloodied and a black eye.  He'd left Bethany 
alone after that, and now that he was in the same junior high as 
Tommy he had kept himself nearly invisible.

"Do you think this is about what I did to him last year?" Tommy asked 
his only friend.

"Won't know until we have ourselves a little chat with the punk." He 
stood up and pulled Tommy up with him. "What do you say we get 
this done and over with before the school believes you like to fuck 
chickens."

Tommy grinned. "You said you wouldn't tell!  Besides, it was your 
mom who taught me how."

"Oh?  You want to bring moms into this now, do you?" Justin 
laughed. "Well, the next time you see your mom, ask her if she's 
gotten the taste of my cum out of her mouth yet."

Still smiling, Tommy shot back, "Fuck you, Justin!"

"And a big fuck you to you, too!" Justin put an arm around Tom and 
walked him out of the cafeteria. "Now, let's find that weasel and shut 
him up."



Continued in Chapter Eleven....


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The Coming Dark 10