Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: TRUST OR CONSEQUENCES

Previously:

• Vic, spurred on by Sean (and Ian), murders Al and buries him; he falsely reports that Al was curious to see a penis garden, thinking it safe because he wore a shirt. Stan finds Al's shirt by a penis garden (where Vic had planted it), and concludes that Al has been re-captured by Hamish.

• The penis gardens were supposedly turned off, but, if one captured Al, they must be on. Seth hopes to use a penis garden to return underground and rescue Abe, but when he investigates, he finds it inactive.

• Sean tells Ian that the remaining left-siders (Theo and Stan) must die; Ian asks to do in (Beta-)Stan himself, to make it less scary for Stan.

• • • • • • • • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19 * * * * * * * *

AT THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I dreamt about Abe. We were fighting over yogurt. He wanted me to have yogurt for breakfast and I wanted no part of it. He was saying, `come on, it's boysenberry', as if boysenberry was my favorite flavor. When I refused, he threw the yogurt at me, and I felt wetness on my neck.

I woke up, aware of the weirdness of that dream – while Abe liked yogurt for breakfast, we'd never argued about it. I was also aware of wetness on my neck.

Sean's tongue.

• Come with me, Seth. It was so good last time, you need to feel me in you, I know you do.

The word need' was a bit strong, but I was more than willing. I felt his hot breath on my neck and in my ear. I thought of an old meme, blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere', from some sixties-era TV show. Abe would know what it was. I did feel like following Sean anywhere. Or at least to the meadow.

He took me in his arms, and kissed me. I kissed back, my cock growing hard at his touch. The old chemistry was back. I lay down on my stomach, and he pillaged my ass. It was ecstasy, and again made me reconsider the abandonment of bottoming that had followed my break-up with Sean.

Spent, I turned over onto my back, reveling in the spectacle of the sky on a moonless night, more star-filled than was ever possible in the light-polluted skies of Cleveland. I didn't want to go back inside.

Neither did Sean.

• Something I wanted to tell you, Seth. I . . . wasn't completely honest with you the other night.

• Continue.

• I . . . I wanted to make you feel better about Abe. I told you he still loved you.

• . . . I don't like where this is going, Sean.

• Neither do I. But that wasn't the truth. The truth is – and I know this is going to be painful – but the truth is he was going to break up with you.

• . . .

• . . .

• That doesn't make sense. He came with me to Aruba. He was happy about coming to Aruba.

• When you told him about the trip, did he say `yes' right away?

• No, he thought about it for a day. We had twenty-four hours to cancel the flight and –

• In those twenty-four hours he called me, asking what he should do. I told him to go. He said he would use it to say good-bye, he didn't want to hurt you, but at the end of the trip, he was going to thank you for a good year and tell you he needed to move on.

Talk about a blow to the solar plexus. I had thought the trip to Indiana two weeks prior had cemented our relationship – until he skipped that Pearl Jam concert. And he HAD taken almost a full day to agree to Aruba. But once in the air, he'd seemed eager for a sexy weekend at the beach. And he was convivial on the plane . . . at times. Then again he was buried in his kindle a lot of the time. And he didn't object to sitting across the aisle to me instead of next to me. Maybe there were signs, signs I didn't pick up.

Or maybe this was a ploy Sean was using to drive a wedge between us.

• He was ready to move on . . . to you, Sean?

• Not necessarily. Abe was – Abe was just a fling. You're the only man I ever really connected with. You were always the one I wanted. Maybe I was with Abe just to get close to you again.

• Vicarious fucking?

• I suppose I deserved that. But, I don't know, maybe it was, in a way. Love is so complex, Seth. I felt so abandoned when you left.

• I left because you kidnapped my sons.

• No. You didn't know that then. You left because of Megan – and because you had to own up to being gay. . . . Dammit, Seth, I loved you, I truly did. I only did what I had to. God, if I could do anything to take back that moment, I would. I thought I could have it both ways. I could keep Stimulever happy, and you would choose me over Megan. Your marriage couldn't last, not for much longer anyway. I thought . . . I thought I could have it all. Instead I lost it all.

• Lost it all? You kept your job.

• I did. And if it had just been a case of losing my job or losing you, I would have chosen losing my job. But – these men are ruthless, Seth. They're killing people to make this project work. I was scared for my life.

• You're sure about this. Abe was going to break up with me.

• Hamish told Switzerland that Abe had found someone downstairs – your pilot, Barry. His exact words: `he's happy to be Barry's whore'. I was there when the message came in.

A memory invaded my skull. Entering the Throne Room, finding Barry fucking an enthusiastic Jordan, who'd been switched with Abe to hide him from me. And what had Barry said? This bitch is almost as good as the last one, and he loves it just as much'. Had Abe loved it just as much' when Barry was putting it to him?

Was he really planning to break up with me on this trip? It was hard to believe, but Sean seemed so sincere.

FLASHBACK: ABE (CLEVELAND) – Wednesday, November 28 (this year)

I had already decided to break it off with Sean – the trip to Indiana with Seth two weeks ago had clarified my thinking – and when he asked me over last Friday, the night of the Pearl Jam concert, I'd decided that that night was when I'd let him know. Instead, he seduced me with his charm and his cock, and I never summoned the nerve to say it. So far as Sean was concerned, we were still a thing – and that was my fault.

And now Seth has asked me to go to Aruba – I know I'll say yes, but can't do it with a clean conscience until I make the break with Sean. Who, it seemed, didn't have a clue what my true feelings were.

• So how about this Friday? Can we find another aging rock band we can send Seth off to?

• I won't be here Friday.

• Why? What do you mean?

• I'm going to Aruba.

• Aruba? That was rather sudden.

• Saturday's my birthday. Seth wants to take me to Aruba to celebrate.

• Oh. . . . Well, happy birthday. I guess.

• Sean, it's - . . . We need to face facts. Sex with you is great, but it's time I got serious. I can't play around my whole life. Time to settle down.

• . . . Settle down?

• With Seth.

• . . . Babe, this hurts. If you want to settle down, there are alternatives to Seth. You're talking to one.

• You're hardly the settling-down type. You're always flying off to Switzerland or Minneapolis or somewhere. You probably have more lovers than Utah has Mormons.

• Abe, do you love Seth?

• Yeah. I think I do. I'm just realizing that. I haven't always been patient with him, but he does love me, Sean. You don't love me – we have fun together, but it's skin deep.

• More like balls deep.

• That's not enough. Seth's a good man, he's troubled, but he's a good man. Indiana proved that. And he loves me. I've got to give it a shot. This weekend is a chance for us to rekindle the relationship, light the spark – a honeymoon without the marriage. Who knows, maybe the marriage will come later, but I've got to give you up so I can focus on him.

• . . . I understand.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SEAN

Seth was shocked. I did that rather well, I thought. The right mix of emotional honesty and blatant falsehoods. All the stuff about my love for Seth was honest. All the stuff about Abe was bollocks. Abe was never going to break up with Seth. Cryptic reference to his trip to Indiana – I knew it had happened, of course, but not what went on there. I suppose Abe would have told me if I'd asked. But I'd needed to distance myself from Abe, so I kept mum on the subject.

Ultimately, if I were ever to get Seth back, I had to convince him of my love. And I had to eliminate the competition. Once Abe was out of the picture – accompanied by my own well-polished crocodile tears – I would be the port in the storm he sailed into.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – STAN

Ian and I slept on adjacent wedges of the dodecagon inside the tower. While there was room for us to be separate, he gravitated toward me; we spent most nights with our bodies touching. It was a nice feeling.

I woke up in the middle of the night, hearing whispering, and aware of movement. A brief infusion of dull light spilled into the room as the door opened and two figures passed through it. By the size of his silhouette, one was either Seth or Vic, and Vic was snoring, so it had to be Seth. I sat up, which woke Ian.

• You okay, Stan?

• Seth just went outside with somebody.

• Probably Sean. I imagine they wanted some privacy. . . . Do you want some privacy?

• What do you mean?

• We haven't had sex since leaving Hamishland. If they can do it, why not us?

The touch of his body had made me `interested', and I rapidly endorsed his proposal. We tiptoed our way around sleeping bodies and slipped outside. I heard Seth and Sean behind the tower, so Ian and I went down the meadow a ways, far enough to not be visible on a night lit only by stars, but staying in a grassy area where we could be comfortable making love.

Underground, getting fucked had been painful at first, particularly with the more impersonal lieutenants, but with Ian – once he developed a fondness for me – it turned into something tender. It was a level of satisfaction I had never experienced in bed with Magda, making me wonder how I had gotten to the ripe old age of twenty-two without knowing that I was not purely heterosexual.

I rose to return to the tower before anyone realized we were gone, but Ian stopped me.

• In the morning, go for a wash with me.

• I need one now; your scent is all over me.

• No, I'm serious. You have to disappear, Stan.

• What are you talking about?

• Sean says you have to die for this Project thing to succeed. You, Al, and Theo. All of you.

• What?

• And he got lucky because Al got captured by a penis garden.

• They'll kill him down there – is that what you're saying?

• I'm afraid so. Nothing we can do to stop that. Sean said he would take care of Theo and he wanted me to do you.

• Ian, no. I mean, I know my Alpha-life is supposed to still continue, but that's like some other person. I'm THIS me, I don't want to die.

• I don't want you to die. I'll lie to Sean. I'll tell everyone that you wandered into a penis garden, and tell Sean that I've really killed you, and the penis garden is my cover story.

• Seth says the penis garden was turned off.

• Exactly. You wanted to investigate it, see if there were more clues about Al's disappearance, and you thought it was safe because Seth said it was turned off. And then – surprise – it got you. As I watched in horror. Seth will be dubious, probably, but there's so much here that's unexplainable, this will just be one more mystery to solve – why did it take Al and you but not him? Meanwhile, you'll be hiding; so far as Stimulever is concerned, you're dead and the Project can proceed.

• You want me to just be out there on my own?

• You know where the grove of papaya and banana trees is, on the west side?

• Yeah.

• Go to the beach near there and then go north a mile or so. No one ever goes that far. You'll be within walking distance of food – there are even some coconut trees nearby.

• I'm within walking distance of a place guys here go for food. Ian, they might find me.

• Go just after dawn or at dusk, when there won't be any food-gathering missions. Stay out of the way. Worst case scenario, if someone spots you, tell them the truth – only keep it from Sean.

• I'll miss you, Ian.

• Maybe I can get away occasionally. It's about an hour's walk from here. I'd have to invent an excuse for being gone that long.

• For a conjugal visit?

• Would you like another one now?

• I would.

We did. It started to rain mid-copulation, but I didn't care. It wasn't about to interrupt either of us, and afterwards the two of us just lay there and let the rain pelt down on our naked bodies. The water pelting my bare skin was glorious, and the two of us drank in the experience, not caring that we'd have to go back to the tower dripping, leaving tell-tale signs of our expedition on the tower floor.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – VIC

Ian and Stan had volunteered to go on a water mission, and Stan had mentioned a desire to return to the penis garden where Al had supposedly disappeared. I don't know what he was expecting to find; he'd already found Al's shirt there – there wouldn't be other clues.

Stan was pretty torn up about Al's disappearance, but he seemed to be finding some kind of solace by being with Ian. I had noticed them sneaking out in the middle of the night. I guess sex was becoming harder and harder to resist on this island. I admired Jasper for having resisted so long, when he was some kind of sex addict even before coming here.

Of course, Jasper had agreed on Monday to be Seth's sex-mate. As Seth had gone back to Tim yesterday for a second time, it appeared he was limiting his choices to the two of them. It was time to step up.

• Seth, I'll be your bottom today.

• Vic, really? You're volunteering?

• I know you don't want to ask Augie or whatever version of Gary wants to come out today. I don't bottom, but – it only seems fair.

• Vic, it's your birthday. You know what that means.

• I'll be with you. We'll stick together. I'll be safe.

He looked dubious, but it was clear he was reluctant to go back to Tim a third time, and something had happened with Jasper on Monday that made me think he didn't want to drink from that well either.

So off we went to the woods. Yes, I would take his enormous cock up my ass, which wouldn't be pleasant. But I had another agenda.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SEAN

Ian and Stan had gone off `on a water mission'. Ian came back alone. Had he done the deed? It was time to find out.

• Show me where you buried him.

• I didn't bury him.

• You left him out in the open to rot?

• Not that either.

• So he's still alive. Good job, Ian. Good fucking job.

• Sean, listen to me. It's all right. Let me explain.

• You better have a good explanation.

• I do. You know how upset Stan was about Al's disappearance.

• Yeah.

• He wanted to go out there. To the penis garden where he found Al's shirt.

• Al was not captured by a penis garden. Vic killed him.

• You and I know that, but Stan doesn't. He wanted to see if there were any more clues to Al's capture. He'd been reluctant to go back because he was afraid of capture. But after Seth came back last night and said it was inactive, he figured it was safe.

• Go on.

• And so he went onto it and touched the phallus.

• And - ?

• It was active. Dildos started springing up while he was over by the phallus and before he could get back to safety it speared him up the ass and took him under.

• Impossible. The penis portals have been turned off. Seth verified it.

• That's what Stan thought. But either Seth made a mistake or was lying – or they're back on again.

• Why would they be back on?

• Maybe in hopes of re-capturing one of the escapees. Maybe they turned it off just for Seth. Do they have a way of knowing that it's him and not someone else?

• No. They can sense a presence but not who it is.

• Then I don't know. All I know is that it was on this morning. I didn't even have the chance to have `the talk' with him.

• You're sure he's underground.

• One hundred percent sure.

I was eighty percent sure that he was lying. But there was a way to find out. All I had to do was ask Hamish if there'd been any new arrivals. Time to dig my phone out from its burial place.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – IAN

I was far from sure he had bought my story. But Sean couldn't contact Stimulever from the surface. He carried no phone with him, and – dressed only in socks and briefs – couldn't exactly conceal one in his clothes.

In short, he couldn't prove I was lying unless he went underground – if that was even possible. He wouldn't take that risk – his departure would severely damage his credibility. Not to mention that he'd be leaving behind unfinished business – Theo. So I couldn't imagine him leaving us to verify Stan's arrival with Hamish.

I had to hope Stan stayed safe in his hiding place.

THE WOODS - VIC

I just lay there. Seth was inside me, and I just lay there. From time to time, he would ask if I was okay. I wasn't responding; I was neither making it easy for him nor resisting. I wasn't even grunting with his thrusts.

He kept asking if he was hurting me too much – knowing he was hurting me some – and I said no, it was fine.

The truth was, I didn't care. I wanted it to hurt. I needed to be punished.

However I thought of myself for the rest of my life – however long or short that might be – I could never look past the fact that I had snuffed the life out of a fellow human being. A human being in an alternate universe that had a life-expectancy of two weeks – but that was irrelevant. The question was – what kind of a man would allow himself to do something like that – in the name of love?

The kind of man who deserved to be sodomized for pain and not for pleasure. And so I knew what I had to do. It was my birthday. The dodecagon was calling me, somewhere. If I let it capture me, maybe there would be a way, once I arrived underground, of saving Miles. If not, then at least I could be with Miles. I could see for myself that what Al had said was a lie, that Miles did still truly love me, and if we had to go out together in a blaze of glory, then at least we'd be together.

And if Al was right and Miles no longer loved me, then I would have the punishment I deserved. Repeatedly raped, something I would never inflict on anyone against their will – and that included me.

Seth pumped away at my ass until he spilled his load into it, then pulled himself off me and apologized for having to do this.

No, no, it's okay, I insisted – and it was. And it wasn't. Nothing was okay.

I had one more unethical thing to do today. When I had recovered sufficiently, as Seth was on his way to clean off in the stream, I picked up a rock and struck him on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious.

He was just unconscious, right? Yes, still breathing. He might have a large lump on his head, but he'd be fine once he woke up. I had no idea how long he would be out, so I had to move quickly.

There was a teal dodecagon out there somewhere with my name on it. I had every confidence that, it being my birthday, I would manage to find it, wherever I went.

And so I went in the direction of my greatest sin – where I had buried Al. I knew it would be there somewhere along the path. And that it would show me the image of an ox – my Chinese year symbol – before swallowing me and taking me underground – and to Miles.

NEAR THE PHALLIC TOWER – SEAN

I dug up my phone and called Hamish.

• Sean? Is everything okay? You were only supposed to contact me in case of something urgent.

• It might be urgent, Hamish. It might affect the physics. Has anyone arrived downstairs?

• No, Torrance hasn't arrived yet.

• I'm not asking about Torrance. I'm asking about Kowalczyk.

• Kowalczyk? The one Ian had the hots for? You're sending him back down? You're supposed to terminate him.

• Yeah, Ian said he would do it – wanted it to come from a friend, it would be easier. But then he said that a penis garden – that's what they call the penis portals up here – had taken him.

• The penis portals are all closed.

• Bottom line – you don't have Kowalczyk.

• No, Kowalczyk isn't here.

• Then Ian was lying.

• Or mistaken.

• Not mistaken. Lying.

This was a problem.

THE WOODS – SETH

I could have seen it coming. Vic had not been himself ever since losing Miles over a week ago. And he seemed to blame himself for letting Al go off by himself – although that story still didn't seem right to me. How could Al have been captured by a penis garden if I – fully nude and staring straight at it – had been able to prance around on it harmlessly, immune to its charms? The only plausible explanation I could find was that they had switched the penis garden off after Al's capture had made them realize it was still on.

Or had Vic been lying? Maybe Al had run off and was hiding somewhere? But why would Vic lie about that? Al and Vic were not exactly buddy-buddy. I could see Stan protecting Al, but Vic? And that wouldn't account for the fact that Vic had looked especially downtrodden over the course of the last twenty-four hours. No, Vic was depressed – would he have been if he had helped Al escape?

Whatever was the case, I knew where Vic had gone – like Harry, in his depressed state, he had welcomed capture by his dodecagon. Maybe he thought it would advance The Project, and spare him from a future year of misery. Maybe he just wanted to be where Miles was.

It had rained last night – the first drops occurring just as Sean and I were heading back to the tower after our coupling – and I saw fresh footprints heading off to the northwest. Large ones, surely Vic's.

It was probably too late to save him, but I had to try. I wasn't moving that fast, my head still spinning a bit – I probably had a concussion – but the trail was easy to follow. I was sure that at some point it would come to a sudden end – and that would be where the dodecagon made itself known.

That was what happened. When the footprints stopped, there was a nearby area which had seemingly been pushed up by the appearance of the dodecagon. There was a large branch, somewhat akilter, but the ground beneath was full of loose dirt, as if someone had been digging there.

I picked up the branch, and poked away at the dirt, then scraped it away with my hands.

And then I saw a foot.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I never missed Harry more than I did on that walk back to the tower. I needed someone to share this information with, someone whose judgment I could trust. Was it Sean? Ian? Jasper? Tim?

The moment I arrived, Sean came trotting up to me and pulled me aside, eager to share HIS news.

• Ian lied to us.

• Lied to us, how?

• He told me Stan had been captured by the penis garden. He wasn't. He didn't arrive underground.

• How do you know? I thought you couldn't contact them.

• Well . . . maybe I can.

• Ah, so Ian is not the only liar in the group.

• Look, my goal is to bring about the best results for everyone. Including you. Especially you, Seth. I didn't trust Ian, and I couldn't tell him one thing and everyone else another thing.

• I think you could have trusted me to keep it confidential. But your little Liars Club has a third member.

• Explain.

• Vic. Al wasn't captured by the penis garden either.

• I told you they were all shut down after you escaped.

• Evidently it was. I found Al.

• Where is he?

• Under a mound of dirt about five minutes from the bathing site.

• Under a mound of –

• He's dead, Sean. Vic must have killed him.

• Why would Vic kill him?

• Why, indeed? Someone must have persuaded him it was in his best interests.

• Did you ask Vic?

• I'm guessing you know why I didn't.

• I don't.

• He followed Harry's lead and gave himself up. I think he's going after Miles.

And I think Sean knew that. And I think Sean was responsible. And I wish I knew who the hell I could trust. Harry, damn it, why did you have to be so foolish? I need you.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SEAN

That didn't go well. Seth had uncovered the truth about Al. The only saving grace was that Vic was no longer here to tell Seth that Ian and I had put him up to it. But I'm good at reading faces, and Seth's face was full of mistrust. Mistrust of me.

My plan to recapture his love had hit a roadblock. I doubted my ability to convince him that Abe no longer loved him, though perhaps when he returned underground, events could play out that supported that contention.

Alternatively, if Seth and Abe returned to Alphaworld, in love with each other, Abe would have to be removed from the scene. That could be arranged. I'd speak to Ari. If Abe were to encounter a mishap, and I swooped in as comforter-in-chief, Seth might just fall into my arms again.

If he didn't, kidnapping was always a possibility. He would resent that, of course, but Stockholm Syndrome would kick in eventually. Given time, he would love me. He would have no choice.

One way or the other, I'm going to have you, Seth Herrick. And you'll fall back in love with me, and the two of us will live happily ever after.

Provided he has no idea of what I'm really planning.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN – MANIPULASEANS]