Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

CHAPTER 20: NEW ARRIVALS

Previously, at the Phallic Tower:

• Seth, knowing that dodecagons have been capturing guys on their birthday, vows to protect Dai, whose birthday is approaching.

• Jasper resolves to get to know Gary, the shy, least-appearing persona of the three identities who inhabit his mind.

In Aruba:

• As Jordan's life is in danger from Stimulever, Sean transfers him and Miles to the parallel universe Betaworld; he says he will take them to the island. ZTA and the island do not exist in the real world (`Alphaworld') and memory of Flight 12 passengers has been erased there.

Underground:

• Ian, falling in love with Stan, learns that Stan is to be castrated on December 11th. Expressing a desire to return to Cleveland, he notes that Percy can exit to the surface via an `Egress Room' with a passcode.

• Newly-arrived Lucas is reunited with Stefan, his Alphaworld partner in crime (literally), now a Hamish lieutenant; they `tag-team' captives Paul and Leo.

In flashbacks:

• A week before the trip to Aruba, Abe turns down Seth's invitation to a Pearl Jam concert in order to sleep with Sean O'Hara, whom he doesn't realize is the same Sean who played a role in Seth's past. However, he realizes that Seth's relationship with this `Sean' has troubled him greatly, somehow.

• • • • • • • • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 * * * * * * * *

AT THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I had two missions. The first and foremost, as always, was to find Abe and figure out a way off this island.

The second, more immediate mission, was to protect Dai. Tomorrow was his birthday. Paul, Leo, and Lucas had all disappeared on their birthdays; at least two of them had been swallowed into the earth by a dodecagon; I had to prevent this from happening to Dai.

I had the feeling that these two goals were connected. If we could keep the island from swallowing up Dai on his seemingly fore-ordained date, maybe it would break the spell and release Abe from whatever kind of captivity he was in. And maybe it would free us all from this isolated place, not known on any map, and over which no aircraft had flown to spot Abe's HELP sign.

THE DORMITORY – LEO

The three of us looked uncomfortably at each other. There were a dozen beds in the room – which seemed ominous – and Lucas had chosen one next to mine. My plan was, when lights went out, to quietly get up and move to an empty bed far away from him, near Paul. Safety in numbers – relative safety, anyway.

The lights were extinguished. I planned to wait two minutes to make my move. One minute too late. I didn't hear him coming – I just felt a massive weight on top of my body. Lucas grabbed my arms and straddled my hips; he leaned down and forced his mouth onto mine. When he lifted his head, I couldn't see the expression on his face – there was absolutely no light in the room – but I could only imagine it was dominated by an arrogant grin.

• Turn over, Britboy. Missionary style's not my thing.

• Lucas, get off me.

• No way. I have the right to do you, kid, and do you I shall.

He grabbed my waist, twisting my body so that it was on my side. He outweighed me by a good forty pounds, and it wasn't fat. It didn't take long for him to have me completely on my stomach, ready for his rampaging tool.

• Paul! Paul – help me!

• (Lucas) Paul, it's either him or you but I'm going to have my fuck. If you want to take his place, come and help him. I'll knock Leo into dreamland and poke your ass instead.

I heard a thump, a sound of flesh against flesh as Lucas grunted and then I heard him pushing Paul away.

• (Paul) Lucas, leave him alone. This isn't right.

• (Lucas) Haven't you heard the expression, Jockstrap? Might makes right.

• (Paul) . . . I'm sorry, Leo, but I can't stop him. He's bigger than either of us.

• (Lucas) And I've got the biggest cock. Get ready for it, Leo.

A moment later he shoved it through my anus. I yelled. By now, this was not a novel experience, but I still hated it every time. Lucas was a brutal fucker and every thrust was a reminder of both how helpless I was and how humiliating it was to be on the receiving end of an unforgiving cock.

• (Lucas, as he plowed away at my butt) Listen, boys, this is my house, and I can have your asses whenever I want. And that goes when Dai gets here, too.

• (Paul) Dai?

• (Lucas) It's his birthday tomorrow. He'll be here.

• (Paul) Don't you dare touch Dai!

• (Lucas) Or what, Jockstrap? You'll do exactly what?

Paul had no answer for that, of course. But I resolved right then and there: I'm going to get allies. I'm going to form an army. We're going to rebel. I'm not about to lie here and take this. Not indefinitely. Not even for another week.

I'll find a way out of here. Or die trying.

THE DORMITORY – PAUL

Omigod, Dai, please no. I was going through enough mixed feelings – being reunited with Anthony, being the pussy boy of any lieutenant who wanted to do me, even getting hammered twice by Hamish himself. And `play sessions' that left me with visible marks and sore balls, although, strangely, I was always fine the next morning. And now Lucas – a fellow captive!– acting like one of THEM, using the two of us at will.

Not to mention this stupid jockstrap I can't remove.

I could take it. I even kinda like the feeling of the strap whacking my butt. But Dai – what's going on there? I know that I want him, I know I feel a special connection with him and that maybe – MAYBE – he feels something for me, too? But I'm not even a hundred percent sure he's gay.

Please, don't let Dai come here. Don't put him through what Leo and I are going through.

• • • • • • • • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7 * * * * * * * *

THE PHALLIC TOWER – JASPER

I had been dreaming, as I always did, about sex. In my dream I was having sex with a snake. I felt it crawling up my ass, plunging into my hole, and then slipping out and slithering around to my crotch, swallowing my erect cock into its mouth and milking me dry.

I ejaculated. A wet dream, at my age! Embarrassed, I woke up, grabbed my shirt and cleaned myself off. I would volunteer for laundry duty today so that I could wash it; if it was a warm enough day, I could go shirtless, claiming it was more comfortable.

I noticed how light it was in the tower, like the sun had been up for a while. I looked at my watch. It was past 10:00. How did that happen? Before, we'd always awakened at first light. And now it was mid-to-late morning and everyone was still asleep?

Almost everyone. I saw a pair of eyes observing me. At first I thought it was Ray, watching my ejaculation. But from the astonished look on his face, I knew it was Gary. Gary, whom I was determined to get to know better. Shy, timid Gary.

• It's all right, Jasper. I won't tell anyone. I guess – I guess we all have needs. Even I have needs, though Ray – Ray, he sometimes steals them from me.

• Are you gay, Gary?

• . . . Yes. I . . . I am. I'm not like Ray, though. He's so aggressive, I . . . I'm not like that. I . . . I'm like the opposite.

• Are you saying you prefer the passive role?

• . . . Is that bad? Does that make me weak, Jasper?

• No, of course not.

• Is it a bad thing that I want . . . I don't even know how to say this . . . but I'm here with all these guys and sometimes I want one of them to . . . do stuff to me. But then Cody takes over. He doesn't like it when I'm thinking about sex.

• Ray doesn't seem to mind.

• Jasper? . . . I'm not here all the time. Do the guys have sex with each other? It seems like everyone is gay. Except Augie and Ed.

• I think they're gay, too – or at least bisexual, and just haven't sorted it out yet. But, no, guys don't have sex with each other. Although . . .

• Although?

• The island seems to want us to. Gary, I have a hard time resisting having sex. I . . . I love sex. I can't stand not having sex. But I have to abstain, I've got to get over wanting it all the time. Have you ever – you, not Ray – have you ever had sex? The kind of sex you want? Being on the bottom?

• . . . I don't want to talk about that.

• Okay. But you'd like to, right?

• . . . I . . . I was kinda thinking about . . .

He stopped, and suddenly looked across the room.

• What? What is it, Gary?

• I just noticed.

And then I noticed it, too. I'd been so absorbed in the embarrassment of my wet dream and trying to draw Gary out of his shell that I had not taken in my surroundings, or taken inventory of the sleeping bodies.

Dai was gone.

NEAR THE PHALLIC TOWER – DAI (three hours earlier)

December 7th. My birthday WOULD have to be on December 7th. Every year, I get teased about it. "Hey, Dai, you going to bomb us today?" Or, among my gay friends, jokes about harboring a pair of pearls under my dick. And then they'd always have to explain the joke: `Get it? Harboring pearls? Pearl Harbor?"

Yeah, I get it. No American of Japanese descent should be allowed to be born on December 7th – there should be a law. If it happens, make the doctors change the date on the birth certificate.

It's the crack of dawn, and everyone else is sound asleep. I need to piss, and don't want to wake anyone for an escort, even though today is my `danger' day. However, there is no dodecagon where I normally go to relieve myself, so it will be safe. Of course, my balls have gotten full and I need release, so I will take care of that at the same time.

I rose carefully and slipped out of the tower, careful not to disturb anyone, and went around back to Dai's Personal Latrine and Masturbation Spot. I had just dropped my trousers when I saw it. It was orange, which confused me, as Harry had reported seeing the orange dodecagon far from the tower. I'd been to this location many times, and there was no dodecagon here. Yet now there was.

It was stunning. I stood there for a moment in awe of it. I stepped out of my trousers completely and shed my shoes, my only other item of clothing. I knew it wanted me naked, and I wanted to be naked on it. In the corner there was a large orange phallus, taller than me. I stood before it and knew what had to be done – it needed to be anointed, it craved my sperm. I took cock in hand and stroked it firmly, harder and harder, feeling an intensity greater than ever before. The tingling in my penis was so great I could hardly stand it. The pressure was building all up and down my shaft; I knew that when I came, it would be the most voluminous ever. I panted, harder and harder, as the tension became unbearable. I felt like shouting, "I'm going to come!", but there was no one to shout it to except the phallus.

Then, in perhaps the most ecstatic moment of my life, I shot my load. I shot loads of loads. It was a modern day miracle. My jism kept spewing out of my cock – spurt after spurt – five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, fifty, seventy-five times. The ejaculation lasted for nearly two minutes; my milky white discharge was covering the orange phallus. The entire surface was coated with my output, drizzling down the side from the glans to the base on the dodecagon floor. I wanted to hug the phallus, to coat my bare body in my own jizm. I stepped forward to embrace the cum-covered organ and lap it up with my tongue. But before my tongue could touch the magnificent member, my feet sank into the dodecagon floor and spread apart. Something slithered up my legs and penetrated my ass and started to fuck me – at least, that's what it felt like. Briefly, I saw the image of a horse beneath me. Then the floor collapsed and I fell into the void below.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH (three hours later)

• (Harry) He's gone? You're telling me Dai just disappeared?

• (Jasper) That's what I'm telling you.

• (Gary) You think the little nip got drilled by the dodecagon? He should have come to me, I'd have done it for him.

• (Jasper) . . . Ray?

• (Ray) Yeah, what?

• (Jasper, to me) I swear, he was Gary a minute ago. It was Gary who discovered Dai was missing.

• (Ray) Shee-it. Something fun happens and that wuss Gary gets to witness it?

Ray's contributions to the conversation wouldn't be helpful, so we moved outside. Later we concluded that Gary had been freaked out by Jasper's panic over Dai's disappearance and his immediate decision to wake me and Harry. I was surprised that Ray emerged rather than asexual Cody, but perhaps the image of Dai being raped by air turned on his Ray personality. I wish to hell I could figure this guy out.

• So did he wander off of his own volition or . . . did they take him from inside the tower?

• (Harry) How could they take him from inside the tower without coming in?

• They took my clothes – and Paul's – from inside the tower. And I can't believe Dai would go out on his birthday without an escort.

• (Jasper) We all slept hours longer than normal. That doesn't seem like a coincidence.

• You think we were so sound asleep that we didn't hear anyone enter the tower and abduct him?

• (Harry) Maybe Dai felt the call of nature early and felt it was safe to go to a familiar place.

• Or maybe he's doing that now and hasn't come back yet.

• (Harry) I've seen him take off toward the northwest sometimes – but close to the tower, not near any dodecagons.

• Don't forget I saw a dodecagon where there hadn't been one before. The one that got Lucas, apparently.

• (Jasper) You think they can move?

• I don't know what to think. But let's go look for Dai. Stay together.

On our search, we saw nothing. But we heard something - something unexpected, something that was music to my ears: the unmistakable wop-wop of a helicopter flying overhead.

A helicopter! A fucking helicopter! Hallelujah!

We looked up and through the gaps in the trees saw a shape, a shadow passing over us, heading toward the south, toward the tower and beyond. We rushed back to the phallic tower, where the sky was not obscured by the trees, but by the time we got there, the helicopter was no longer in sight. But my spirits were raised: something – some person or persons – had come to the island.

But were they here to rescue us – or to do harm?

THE THRONE ROOM – IAN

• Percy, could I talk to you a moment?

He looked at me suspiciously. Lieutenants didn't usually approach him like that, and he could tell I wanted to ask him for a favor. He gave me a cool gaze, and then nodded: What was the point of saying `no'?

• I heard something about the left-siders. That there's a schedule and they get –

• Castrated? Yes, they do. Otherwise, we're out of balance. There's only a certain number of testicles we can have down here – go over the limit for more than a day or so and it throws off the physics.

• The physics?

• Nothing you would understand. Nothing I understand, frankly. It's the way things work. We have to empty some scrota.

• Okay, but there's some kind of schedule about who goes when?

• What of it?

• Is that . . . negotiable?

At this point, the worst possible thing happened: Hamish entered the room. The last sentence I had uttered piqued his interest.

• (Hamish) Is what negotiable, Ian?

• (Percy) Ian wants to change the castration schedule.

• (Hamish) Ha! Too late. Omi arrived this morning – another of The Twelve. If you're trying to spare Antonopoulos, forget it. He's been shaved, he'll be cut soon.

• I don't care about Antonopoulos. I don't even know him. But Kowalczyk. My cellmate. Barry told me he's slated for the 11th.

• (Hamish) Barry talks too fucking much.

• Can you do someone else instead?

• (Percy) Growing overly fond of him, Ian?

• I don't know about `overly'.

• (Percy) He's going to have to lose them sometime, Ian. You should accept that.

• Maybe . . . maybe the physics is wrong.

• (Hamish) What the fuck do you know about the physics? Nothing. Don't tell us the physics is wrong.

• (Percy) There are guys in Switzerland – they've got this all figured out. The world's smartest brains. His balls will have to go.

• Well, at least postpone it. Move someone else up in his place.

• (Hamish) Well, I suppose there is a way we could spare Kowalczyk's balls. After all, it's just a numbers game. It doesn't really matter whose balls come off, as long as somebody's do.

• Yeah. Right. That's what I mean about the physics. You could –

• (Hamish) Yours, for instance.

• . . . What?

• (Hamish) Your balls would do just fine. That way, we could spare Kowalczyk. We'll slate you for the eleventh, shall we? Let me get my tablet.

• No, Sir, that's not what I meant.

• (Hamish) You have some cheek, coming in here and asking for a favor like that. I'm not a hundred percent certain you're loyal to me, Ian.

• I'm loyal, sir. I swear to you.

• (Hamish) Prove it.

• How?

• (Hamish) That's up to you. Consider this a loyalty test. Do something that impresses me, that demonstrates your loyalty, and I'll spare your balls.

• . . . And Stan's?

• (Hamish) Oh, it's `Stan' now, is it? First name basis. Yes, overly familiar. No, in four days, one of you loses his balls – him or you.

Just then, Barry dashed into the room into a dither.

• (Hamish) Boy! What are you doing entering the room like that? Get down on all fours like a good dog.

• (Barry, after complying) Sir, I –

• (Hamish) `Master.'

• (Barry) Master, Alec sent me here with an important message.

• (Hamish) Well, get on with it, boy.

• (Barry) One of the sensors detected something. On the south end of the island. Vibrations, he said.

• (Percy) Could have been a tree branch falling, shaking the ground.

• (Hamish) Do tree branches fall in this place? More likely, it's something – or someone – being where it's not supposed to be.

THE ISLAND – JORDAN

Sean had promised to take us to the island, where we could reunite with Vic and Augie. While this filled me with considerable anxiety – Augie, after all, thought I was female – I wanted the moment to come as soon as possible. I needed to see him with my own eyes. I needed to be sure Sean wasn't bullshitting us. Miles said he trusted Sean, while seeming less enthusiastic about reuniting with Vic, for reasons unclear to me.

I was still reeling from the concept of being in a parallel universe, but I couldn't deny that once we made the `switch', news of Flight 12's disappearance was suddenly everywhere, from the local papers to the international press to cable networks like CNN. Even Fox covered it, though they were focusing on the scandalous sexual history of the pilot Barry Russell, as if his kinkiness had caused the plane to crash.

Sean himself was vague as to what actually happened to Flight 12; he just said that all the passengers were on an island that existed only in Betaworld, without explaining why or how. He promised us that Augie and Vic were alive and well, and that we would see for ourselves what was going on. He then took us to the airport, where we boarded a helicopter, not a plane.

We must have arrived at the island around eleven in the morning. We flew a circuitous route, approaching the island from the north, and flew southward, eventually following the west coast of the island. Looking out, I saw that someone had made a giant `HELP' sign on the beach – not very reassuring. I saw some flashes of bright color, but couldn't identify them. Sean eventually set the whirlybird down at the island's south end.

He jumped out, taking with him a small shovel I hadn't noticed during the flight, and headed immediately for a spot at the base of a tree. He dug there until he uncovered a device about the size of an alarm clock, and started tinkering with it. All the while, he talked to us, rapidly.

• (Sean) Be careful. There are people here who may be looking for you. And I don't mean Augie and Vic and their fellow passengers.

• What? Who are they? Are they dangerous?

• (Miles) Are they with Stimulever?

• (Sean) They're with Stimulever. They may be dangerous. This device probably detected our arrival. They may send someone to investigate, but I'm disabling it so it will look like it malfunctioned. They're not nearby; by the time they get here, I'll be long gone, and you should be, too.

• What do you mean, you'll be long gone? You're leaving us?

• (Sean) They're expecting me in Switzerland.

• (Miles) You're just dumping us here?

• You're not taking us to Augie?

• (Sean) He's somewhere on this island, they both are. They all are. I don't know exactly where, I can't lead you to them. You can find them just as well without me.

• And then what? Are you coming back to take us off the island?

• (Sean) When it's safe for you back in Alphaworld. Trust me, this will work out. You don't need me here. Besides, you have a better chance of remaining undiscovered if there's no hulking helicopter on the island. I need to fly it out of here.

That last bit, at least, sounded logical. But I still felt betrayed by Sean's impending departure.

• (Sean) Head north via the east side of the island; it's safer. But stick to the woods. Avoid the beach. Avoid open areas.

• Fuck, Sean. You said you were taking us here to be safe. You said Stimulever wanted us dead, and that if we went to Betaworld no one would remember us in Alphaworld, so they wouldn't bother us.

• (Sean) That's not exactly what I said. You're not completely safe in Betaworld, either. You just have to avoid getting caught.

• (Miles) What happens if we're caught?

• (Sean) Nothing good. So if you see people, don't rush out to greet them. Stay out of sight, keep calm, see who they are.

• How would we know who they are?

• (Sean) If you recognize them from the plane, they're okay to approach. But anyone you don't know, stay quiet and hide.

• (Miles) Recognize them from the plane? I wasn't on the plane! I don't know anyone other than Vic.

Aside from Augie, I did remember a few Flight 12 passengers from the airport on Grand Turk. There was a gorgeous hunk who was with a smaller, dark-haired guy who was reading a kindle. They were sitting near a heavyset guy, I think I'd remember his face. And there was an older man who said he was a British knight. The rest. . . well, I wasn't exactly paying close attention to people I never expected to see again.

By now, Sean had finished manipulating the not-an-alarm-clock, and had reburied it.

• Look, I have to get out of here now. They see a helicopter, we're all dead. Start moving, get away as quickly as you can, don't make noise and stay under cover.

And then he hopped into the helicopter and flew directly off the south end of the island. Leaving me feeling nervous and betrayed.

Miles and I moved quickly, but cautiously and silently. For the rest of the day we advanced slowly northwards, pausing after every step to make sure we weren't making noise. By the time nightfall came, we had to hunker down in the woods. And there was no sign of anyone else.

Miles kept telling me to trust Sean, but what if he had lied? What if Augie and Vic were nowhere on this island? Sean said he was supposed to `neutralize' us – what if he was doing just that, leaving us here to die?

AN UNDERGROUND HALLWAY – IAN

Upon hearing that a sensor had detected something on the south end of the island, Hamish ordered Percy to `investigate'. He ordered me to leave.

I saw something of an opportunity. Percy would go to the Egress Room. If I was stealthy enough, maybe I could capture the keycode that gained access to the room. And then I could use that as an escape route myself. And take Stan with me.

I hid behind the door to the Dark Room, currently inhabited by Daisuke Omi, the new arrival. Seeing a burst of light violating the pitch black environment, he called out `Who's there?", then "Help me! I can't move." True, you can't – and there's a dildo up your ass. I empathize, but I'm on a surveillance mission. Sorry.

Percy headed down a corridor that housed the well-equipped playrooms used for disciplining bottoms. I followed him, making no sound, opened the door to a Fuck Room and slipped inside. Fortunately, it was empty; no fellow lieutenant snapped at me for barging in on his sex session. Percy, perhaps hearing the door open. glanced around, but by then I was out of sight, peering through a tiny crack in the ajar door.

There was a keypad next to the door. Percy punched in a series of numbers, then swore, as the door refused to open. He then scolded himself.

• Percy, you idiot, think! It's the 7th, it's the ODD number code: 1-3-8, 5-7-0, 9-1-2, 3-5-4.

I've always been good with numbers. I saw the pattern immediately. Four groups of three, twelve in total, (twelve was everywhere down here). The first two numbers in each group were the odd numbers in succession: 1-3, 5-7, 9-1, and 3-5, dropping the first digit when things got over ten. The last digit in each group was the number that added to twelve: 1+ 3 + 8 = 12, etc. Easily memorized. Plus the last five numbers were just 1-2-3-4-5 with the last two digits switched.

`The odd number code' because today was the seventh – an odd number. Which meant it would be good on the ninth or the eleventh – by which time I needed to make my escape.

The door opened; I caught a glimpse of a pole in a tiny room barely the size of a closet. Percy didn't bother to close the door, it swung itself shut – but slowly enough that I could see Percy grab the pole, push a nearby button and ascend.

What made the moment truly startling was that I was not Percy's only observer. A split-second after Percy had gained access to the Egress Room, a captive emerged from another of the Fuck Rooms, the one operated by Atticus, one of the nastier lieutenants.

I recognized him – it was the red-headed kid, Leo, whose father was Sir Something. Leo looked on in amazement; he must have seen the pole before the door shut completely.

• (Leo, unaware that anyone could hear him) Holy shit. There's a way out of here.

So Leo knew the way out as well as I did. Maybe I could use this to my advantage. And save Stan.

A HALLWAY / SPECIAL ROOM A – LUCAS

• Stef? Hi, what's up?

• Come with me. I've got a special treat for you. Usually, Alec does this, but Hamish is impressed by you and is rewarding you by giving me the honor.

• Can you be a little less mysterious?

• Just follow me.

We entered a room in what I considered the `torture wing' of the underground. I had been brought here daily – and undergone some mild floggings. Alfonso, whose specialty seemed to be enemas, gave me a rather painful one – I wasn't sure what was in it, but it was more than just water. But, in general, my treatment in this corridor was far less rigorous than what was inflicted on Leo or Paul or any of the left-siders.

One of those left-siders was stretched out on a table before us. His name was Yiannis Antonopoulos. He had been seated across from me on Flight 12, a tall man in his early twenties, built like a swimmer. Swimmers, I knew, often shaved their bodies to reduce resistance in the water, and Yiannis was smooth as a sheet of ice, even right down to his exposed genitals. I like seeing a boy with no bush, one of the reasons that in Chicago I always shaved the boys I had sex with, whether they wound up on the barbecue spit or just my overnight guest for a bit of the old in-out.

Ropes, tied around his ankles and wrists, stretched from the table to knobs protruding from the walls, designed expressly for the purpose of spread-eagling the unfortunate inhabitant of this table. Yiannis lay face up, his ass flat against the table – which meant that I couldn't fuck him. Raping his mouth was also out of the question – it was full of a ball-gag.

A second person in the room was tied into a chair in the corner. He was on the plane, too, at the front of the left side – and directly across from Fearless Leader Seth. I was quite certain he was Seth's boyfriend, the one he went traipsing off in the woods to search for.

How I would love a piece of HIS ass. If we untied him . . .

Stefan noticed me savoring the prospect, both by looking at my face and by looking at my cock.

• Not that one, that's Derisian, he's untouchable. Percy's keeping him for himself.

• What's he here for, then?

• To observe. He's a left-sider, yeah? Derisian's here to be reminded of what happens to left-siders.

• What happens to left-siders?

• They lose their balls.

A cry of protest emanated from the throat of the shaved young man stretched out on the table. Stefan snorted, laughing both in sympathy and in contempt.

• Sorry, pal, but it's the rules. Every time one of the right-siders comes down here, one of you left-siders has to get gelded. Makes no sense to me, but one thing I've learned down here is you don't question what Hamish says, you just do it.

Another attempt at dissuading Stefan, inarticulately expressed. I felt certain that more than the ball-gag had been inserted in Yiannis' mouth; when my boys are wearing ball-gags, they can usually still make themselves understood.

• Now, I know you have lots of questions. First of all, you won't bleed to death – we'll cauterize the wound. Second, I know you've been through a lot of bad-ass torture sessions – men do like to have fun – and you always wake up the next morning feeling fine, as if you'd never been touched.

I looked into Yiannis' eyes, and saw hope.

• So you're wondering, when I wake up tomorrow, will my balls be back? And the answer to that is . . . nope! Severed body parts don't self-repair unless they're inside you. We're taking your balls, and they're gone for good. But don't worry – you won't have to live life as a eunuch for very long.

Oh, god, was this hot. I was stiff as a board.

SPECIAL ROOM A – ABE

Percy had told me I was special. Percy had told me I was getting special treatment. I was getting fucked three times a day – twice by Percy and once by Hamish himself. I knew they were also fucking others and didn't understand how they had the stamina to do it. But I also knew that there was a sexual energy about this island that caused normal biology to go out the window. I myself was hard a lot of the time – but not allowed to get my rocks off – or even touch myself.

I was also special, I was told, because I was spared what the others had been subjected to. Barry would give me details – balls crushed in a vice, hot wax dripped over naked skin, bones shattered, teeth knocked out – and the next morning the victims were always fine, uninjured, as if this had never happened. Teeth could even regrow if they were planted inside the body overnight. Thinking about them, and watching this guy Yiannis, my emotions were swirling. First among them, obviously, was empathy, feeling the pain without feeling the actual pain. Second was rage, furious that these men considered the mistreatment of the human body as sport. And third – or maybe even first – was guilt. I was being spared this experience, except vicariously. I was exempted – for what reason I didn't know except that I was `special'.

I knew I was special because of Seth. But I didn't understand what Seth had to do with anything.

I'm not going into detail about what I witnessed in that room. Stefan took a knife and slowly, painstakingly severed that young man's testicles. After the other guy – I heard the name `Lucas' – cauterized the wound, they flipped him over onto his stomach and gleefully sodomized him.

This sequence of events, Percy had told me, would eventually happen to everyone from the plane's left side.

• Including me?

• You'll get the answer to that question after Herrick gets here.

FLASHBACK – ABE (CLEVELAND) – Saturday, November 24, this year (two weeks ago)

I stayed over at Sean's for breakfast, and got home just before Seth called me.

• Hey, babe.

• Good morning. How was Pearl Jam?

• Great. Too bad your taste in music is so misguided that you fail to appreciate their genius.

• I'll have to live with that.

• What did you do last night?

I tried to break up with the guy I've been cheating on you with, and failed. Instead, I let him tie me up with rope and plow the shit out of me.

• Nothing. Watched TCM. Read a little.

• Proust?

• Oh, come on, Seth. I do read for light entertainment. Just finished an Agatha Christie – And Then There Were None. About ten people on an island who, one by one –

• You're not going to tell me the entire plot, are you?

• Uh, no, I guess not.

• Abe? . . . Are we okay?

• What do you mean `okay'?

• Like – are we solid?

Other than the fact that I've been seeing a guy behind your back, you mean?

• Sure, we're solid. Why wouldn't we be?

• I just feel like . . . like . . . I don't know, I just feel like . . . this is going to sound terrible, but I just get this sense that there's something you're not telling me. Like you have a secret.

• No one tells their lover everything, Seth. It keeps the mystery in the relationship.

• Are you serious?

• (smiling) Not really. But . . . well, since you brought it up. I'm not the only one who hasn't disclosed everything about their past.

• I've . . . I've shared my past. I haven't hid my past boyfriends.

• Not the more recent ones, no. The ones since Sean.

• . . . Yeah, okay. Fair enough.

• You never really told me what that was about. Are you still in love with him?

• Well, you know what they say, you never really get over your first love.

• So, yes.

• . . . In a way, Abe. But it's a memory, it's in the past. I'm with you now, and that's all I care about.

• He hurt you.

• He didn't mean to. In fact, he really did nothing wrong. . . . I . . . I'm the one who hurt me.

• . . . Seth, whoa. Are you – are you crying?

• . . .

• Seth? What happened?

• . . .

• Seth? Listen, you can tell me, it's okay.

• It's not okay. I don't think it will ever be okay.

• . . . Do you want to tell me about it?

• No. No, Abe, I'm sorry, I don't. I'm just not . . . ready yet.

• Seth, it seems like it was a while ago. Years, right?

• Yeah, years.

• So when will you be ready to tell me about it?

• . . . I'm not sure that I ever will.

• Okay. At least take one small step. Maybe you need to deal with this incrementally. Just tell me his name. His full name.

• Sean's name?

• Yeah.

• . . . No. I don't ever want to say his name again.

I looked into his eyes and saw how wounded he was. I wasn't going to force it. As long as the guy's name wasn't O'Hara, everything would be fine. And what were the chances of that?

BETWEEN THE ISLAND AND ARUBA – SEAN

I had deliberately left them off at a point far away from the Phallic Tower, where I knew the others would be gathered, including Augie and Vic. I had deactivated the sensor, but before I did, Hamish might have detected the arrival. And he might very well send a delegation up to intercept Jordan and Miles. If he caught them, I could live with it. Their presence on the island, I was confident, would disrupt the physics. It might not blow up The Project, but it would alter the calculations. Jesús and crew would have to recalibrate and make some adjustments – what would be necessary now to trigger the Event? And maybe they'd get it wrong.

But I knew that this, in itself, would not be enough to destroy The Project. And destroying The Project was what I was intent on doing. And, when it was destroyed, I, Sean O'Hara, was going to take Mr. Lee Seth Herrick home with me. And make him my slave for the rest of his life.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – DISRUPTIONS]