Chapter 15: Something Like A Secret

The Bathroom, The Peterson Residence, 1345 North Grand Street, Fallon Creek, Michigan...

Warm water continued to cascade down Casey Peterson's neck and back as he stood amid the rushing stream from the basic silver shower head of his bathroom in the new house. He had thought it an odd thing to be so basic, not much different than the one that came with the old place. While it was true that he'd been fixated on the most mundane of things, he'd done so only as a last-ditch effort to ignore his creeping desires which only contributed to his heightened arousal amid the water as he once more found his mind traveling back to the brute known as Rick Channon and what he'd done to his body in the brief amount of time he'd been in his home. Casey bit his bottom lip as his hand slipped down to his throbbing cock as more heated water cascaded down his already slick form. While it sickened him that Rick seemed to know better than anyone how to please his body despite their short acquaintance, he couldn't shake the fact that there was something strange about the teenage brute and it only seemed to intensify whenever they were alone together.

He'd been decidedly fast, faster than any boy Casey had ever seen run. Especially, when it came to their match-up during gym class. The other students seemed to expect Rick to beat them in terms of his seemingly unnatural speed and then there was the odd notion of the older boy's strength.

Casey recalled Rick both pinning and lifting him with relative ease be it on the field or back when he'd been in his bedroom. There was most definitely something off about Rick Channon and the people of Fallon Creek had been none the wiser. While Casey had his initial suspicions, he was more than founded in them when he recalled the way Rick acted when he had him pinned to his bed and the none-too-subtle shifting of his eyes when he'd been on top of him. No one else had been remotely capable of something like that and to make matters worse, the brute bastard had been privy to one of his own closely guarded secrets by sheer misfortunate on Casey's part.

Of course, how he found out via his sense of smell was all the more strange to the water-slick lad as no one else had ever managed anything of the sort and he'd been taking school showers for years. Casey shook himself from his thoughts and proceeded to conclude his shower knowing he'd been pressed for time and ventured into his bedroom where he threw on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and a pair of white high-top trainers.

He slicked back his wet brown hair and headed downstairs toward the kitchen with his backpack in tow dreading, even more, the upcoming school day. While his mother was pleased about his apparent "friendship" with Rick Channon, Casey had been weary of what the brute of a teen would do to him after everything that transpired the previous night without his mother's notice.

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Rick's Bedroom, The Clark Residence, Klimt RD, Fallon Creek, Michigan...

Still dripping wet from his recent shower, Rick Channon stepped out of the bathroom forgoing the towel as his body glistened in the early morning air. He slicked back his dark locks to keep them out of his face and turned his attention toward venturing back to his bedroom leaving a series of water slick puddles in place of his footprints along the floor leading back to his room. The cold air had not been a problem for him, as his boiling blood seemed to ward off any form of discomfort as he took in the early sunrise and the implication of what the new day would bring. He set about getting dressed in his usual jeans, black hiking boots, and a dark green t-shirt with a black leather jacket thrown over his rather impressively broad shoulders.

He had still been stewing in the rejection from new arrival Casey Peterson and had every intention of making the newbie pay for the insolence he showed in trying to deny him. Rick resisted the urge to growl as his raging temper was threatening to get the better of him. He took a moment to get the beast that dwelled within in check as he promised to deal with Peterson as soon as possible. His mind turned toward more pleasant things, such as the upcoming shift in season and his venturing into the woods at the instant of the full moon.

Rick had been quite careful with his interactions during the onset of the full moon as his aggression levels had been far more volatile than when the moon had not been looming to force his beastly transformations. He had not trusted his ability to control the beast that lurked deep within him unbeknownst to the people who had taken him in as family and the town he'd spent plenty of summers in.

No one had been the wiser about his accursed affliction aside from the old man at the general store who had found him more often than not post-transformation and confused in the woods during his hunting trips and kept the secret of having done so since their very first encounter. As a means of payment, Rick worked with him in the store and often went hunting with him. It was a welcome change from being showered with pity due to the murder of his family at the hands of a so-called drug kingpin.

Rick steeled himself and took a few calming breaths as he knew the very instant of his mind returning to those awful and bloody days and nights would set off the beast and it had been the last thing he needed as of late especially with Dee being so close to him.

She wasn't his mother, but he loved her as such and did his best to keep the secret of why he'd been so distant with her and the rest of the town out of the limelight as much as possible. He couldn't bare it if he had hurt her, the one person left on the face of the earth that had come from that time and had still cared for him.

{"Ricky time for school, you'll be late again."} called Dee from downstairs.

Taking his backpack into his hands, Rick walked out the door of his bedroom and rushed downstairs and out the front door without many words to his guardian. He had been in too much of a hurry and didn't trust his rage to be quelled in her presence. Her husband had also been home and reading the morning paper so he knew she wouldn't miss him too much.

Rick turned his attention to getting to school on time and possibly a bit of payback from Casey Peterson for getting the attention of the beast in the first place.