** RAVEN'S HOLLOW – Part XV **
=== EPILOGUE: THE OBSERVER ===
Chunks of rich forest earth dropped on linen. A breeze made red leaves dance.
Burying oneself was unnerving, to say the least.
Of course they hadn't dropped mirror-Gus' corpse into the hole as is, but even wrapped in cloth, Gus couldn't help but know that his own face was underneath.
Having donned ripped jeans and an already dirty sweater, the CEO of Bennet Timber had done most of the digging himself, going deeper and deeper into the ground between loosely spaced evergreens and thinning broadleaves, sweating despite the chill air.
He'd gotten intermittent help from resort staff and one amazingly huge black guy who had to be swallowing steroids like candy. He'd needed the help because he was digging a hole big enough for two. Apparently Jasper had managed to heal yet another victim.
Gus had just begun returning earth to the hole, when Kamron showed up. Gus rammed the spade into the pile to lean on it.
"Here for another shift?"
The man in khaki shorts shivered. "Sorry, got hotel work to do. I'm just here to ask what you'll have for lunch."
"Whatever Corry's having, make it two."
Kamron nodded and turned.
"Hey," Gus said. "Is it really okay for us to stick around like that? I mean, you know I can pay for the room."
Kamron shrugged. "I think since Jasper's concerned about long term side effects it would make Mordecai feel weird to make you pay for, like, medical examination. Just enjoy the vacation before it's back to your company."
And to planning revenge, Gus thought, even as he flashed a polite smile.
"Just," Kamron continued, already stepping away, "wouldn't be surprised if the side effects' are an excuse and Jasper's going to ask you to try a few concoctions. He can't exactly give his customers a survey if they're not initiated'."
Gus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He'd been thinking about financial, reputational and personal vengeance against Fisher, but maybe Jasper would make for a good accomplice. He'd take his time.
==========+++++==========
Her portrait was restored to its place as the centerpiece of the courtyard. She seemed more radiant, more alive in her rapturous serenading than ever. Were the peonies blooming more than yesterday?
Mordecai was alone in the courtyard now, after a long evening of enjoying the company of his friends and family. But he hadn't felt less alone in years, decades perhaps.
Lined up on a three-drawer were a trumpet, a snare drum, a tattered guitar, a recorder, the long awaited chimes and a harp, now with its missing string back from Alec's wristlet.
And there was nothing special about these instruments anymore.
A terrible eternity too late to save her, Mordecai had nonetheless broken his father's curse, which had torn to pieces Laqueta's voice and with it her will to live.
No longer empty, the vinyl made her echo through the halls of Raven Manor. Powerful arias and sultry jazz performances and blues that made you homesick for who-knows-where. To think it had been long enough for him to forget her sound – her essence.
"A dance?" said a voice behind Mordecai.
How long had he been staring at the portrait?
He turned and raised his hand to take that of the returned Lady in Black.
"With pleasure, my dear Sloane. Let's make the night ours."
She curtseyed lightly. "The night, Master Raven, is always mine."
==========+++++==========
"Just once," Jasper begged.
Alec rolled his eyes. "If we're getting in trouble, it's you burning at the stake, okay?"
Despite his reluctance, the mohawk muscle man, once again in leather pants with a sleeveless shirt to complete the attire, slid over to the bar of the club.
Jasper found the music to be at an obnoxious volume. Was getting heard even necessary for Alec's gift to work?
He watched his cousin say barely three sentences to two guys who had come in separately with their girlfriends. Jasper pulled on the hem of his white polo shirt to hide he was tucking away his boner.
The total stranger's eyes met Alec's, then each other's. The siren said something like `would be cute if you made out' and after fumbling hesitation, the strangers leaned in and kissed sloppily, much to the shock of left-side girlfriend and the joy of right-side-chick and her drunk female companion who whipped out her phone.
Alec returned with an unbearably cocky grin. "Enjoying the show? Don't ask me to turn the place into an orgy."
"It's that easy?" Jasper yelled over stronger thumping beats.
Alec shrugged. "I think I got stronger. Maybe relying on the bangle kept me lacking confidence."
Back at the bar, the two men sheepishly parted, the left one aggressively pulled away by his girlfriend, the right one collecting high fives.
"You? Lacking confidence? Fuck off, hehe."
The slightly bigger of the two hunks looked around. "Where's Sammy?"
Jasper chuckled and vaguely danced in the direction he had last seen their friend. "What now? Is he your personal slave whenever you feel like it?"
Alec's grin got cockier as his shook his hips. "Something like that. Why not? He likes it."
==========+++++==========
Having surrendered much of his power, a calm phantom roamed the corridors of the hotel, watchful but gentle.
Orion was no longer truly alive and there was self-abnegation in that understanding, but he would keep his distant descendants company even in reduced form.
He began his sweep in the grand suite where Alec Reyes was pulling his thick dick out of Sammy's ass, ready to have it swallowed by Shadow's eager throat.
The two mirrored Mondragon boys serviced the siren voluntarily but the thrill of irresistible orders was part of the game they had agreed to play.
Alec pushed Shadow onto his back and sat on the slim young man's face.
"Rim, little bitch," the dark skinned hunk growled and Shadow held onto the ripped thighs as he tongued the hole.
Meanwhile Alec pulled the arching Sammy closer again and slid his dick back into the wet hole. His hands clapped down hard on the bottom's ass cheeks. "Ride it, slut."
"Urgnnn, yes sir, please sir."
Sammy moaned with high pitch as he drove himself down on the shaft. Alec grabbed the boy's neck and pulled him in to make Sammy's head rest on his pecs.
The boy reached underneath his own bouncing boner and rubbed his duplicate's dickhead, making Shadow writhe.
Alec pried Sammy's mouth open with four fingers and spat. "Ugh, I'm gonna... unload in your ass, cockwhore."
"Please sir."
Alec kept still as Sammy's hole rubbed him to orgasm. The Raven-relative's face grew strained, then serene, while his hands stayed on the bottom's neck and nipples.
After a minute of milking Alec, the trio fell apart.
"May we jerk off, sir?"
Alec grinned. "I'll fuck you again later, so no, save it."
Shadow was sent to get the hunk a beer, while Sammy began cuddling up to the top. Soon the trio was snuggling, with Alec's arms behind his head, the `twins' framing him, playing with his pecs.
"Question," Alec said after his last sip. "If Sammy gets a piercing it wouldn't duplicate for Shadow, but he'd still have the puncture to put in it, right?"
"I suppose," Shadow said, "we'd have to try. Why?"
"You could get a nose ring, like mine. Or something else."
"Wasn't planning to," Sammy said.
Alec grinned. "What if I order you to with the Voice?"
"Fuck. I guess that would be... exciting."
==========+++++==========
Orion moved on, slipping through the walls of the suite until he hit the oak room.
The bedsheets were ruffled but the bed was empty. Two small, empty flasks stood on the nightstand. Jasper had labeled them Mettle of Fire' and Dreams of Velvet'.
Two men were on the sofa, sweat-shining and out of breath.
Corry was sitting on Gus who hammered into the smaller man from below.
"Fucking hell, boss," Corry said with a loopy smile. "How long have we been going?"
"No idea," Gus said, repositioning himself to drive up with more tempo. "Starting to think that `potion' was just actual drugs or some shit. Fuck, it's our own fault. He told me to go to the gym once I'm feeling my endurance rise."
Corry chuckled through the groans, his voice unsteady from the pounding. "I was supposed to relax. Well I guess I am. All thanks to you, sir."
Gus gripped onto Corry's thighs. "Nah. It's all your fault for having such a perfect ass."
Corry whimpered, still smiling dumbly. "Wha- what do we tell Jasper. Do we stop and you got to the gym?"
"Why? Do you need a break?"
The bottom flexed his body rhythmically. "Not really. I'm kind of falling apart, but in a good way? I'm definitely feeling the `velvet' effect."
Gus pulled Corry in by the jaw. "You think too much."
Their lips met and Gus' desperate humping turned sensual once again. There was no end in sight.
Orion drifted away and bounced against an impenetrable barrier. He was not welcome in the nocturnal lady's room and though he was curious about her dealings, he was not going to spend his influence to disrespect the wishes of someone Mordecai trusted, however vampiric in nature.
He entered the corridor, turned around the corner, whisked past the currently empty red and blue rooms.
The lobby was unmanned but that `uninitiated' ginger intern was wiping the shelves, ready in case a visitor showed up.
Orion entered the south wing. Cecilia was absent, stuck elsewhere in time and space. Mordecai was now more confident he could find a solution to her condition and Orion suspected his reinvigorated ancestor was correct.
==========+++++==========
The resort's new `finance and estate manager', certified prettyboy Leo Hall, had started to look for a place nearby, but the town of Raven's Hollow had no vacancies and an apartment in Portland wasn't trivial to find.
The white room with its shiny damask seemed bright even in the meager light of the two sconces by the bed.
The British kid was naked, with a semi-hardon cupped between his kneeling legs and his head between Kamron's thighs.
Staff uniform piled on the bed, Kamron leaned back and wrung every drop of enjoyment from Leo's mouth sliding onto his shaft.
"Ughhh yes," Kamron made. "Can't say this is a stressful job but I could stand to finish more shifts like this, haha."
Leo used one hand to jerk Kamron's dick and licked his way to the head before pulling away. "Yeah? We could make it a regular thing."
"Haha, as if we haven't fucked every other day so far. I mean, I was commandeered to help you outfuck the effect of that potion. Everyone already knows what a slut you are, hehe."
"Hey," Leo said with mock outrage. "I wasn't myself."
Kamron grabbed the boy's jaw. "Are you yourself now, slut?"
"F-fuck, yes."
"Get on the bed."
Leo followed crawlingly and kept sucking dick while Kamron, kneeling on the mattress, leaned over him and lubed open the hole between the pale cheeks.
"Damn," Kamron said. "I hope you get a place nearby, cause if you work from home my balls will explode everyday you're not around."
Leo pulled away but kept his lips on the shaft. "Hehe, that's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."
"I'm sure the Ravens'll let you stay till the room is direly needed, so let's use the time."
Leo pulled away and met his top's eyes. "Cou-could we move in together? I mean, a-as, like, roommates or something." He seemed to regret his words. "I mean, you live nearby, I think, so I just figured, but it was a random idea, never mind."
It was Kamron's turn to be shy. "I... live with my parents. I've got a tiny room that hasn't been updated since I was fifteen."
"Oh, is that why you sleep in the staff room sometime?"
"Do we have to talk about this now?"
With renewed confidence, Leo spread his arms. "Take me then, stud."
Kamron shoved Leo's face into the sheets, leaving the ass up high. The top buried his face in the bottom's glutes and licked until Leo whimpered.
"We-" Leo started. "We could look for a place togeth-"
"I said no talking," Kamron growled, pushed Leo's face down again and lined up his dick. "But... maybe. Now shut it."
The top pushed his dickhead in, held still until he got the okay, then followed up. Starting with slow, smooth thrusts, Kamron fucked the boy open.
Leo was jerking himself off underneath and wined into the bed. "Ung, fuuuck. You're so good, Kam. Oh fuck."
"Huh? Getting close already?"
"No," Leo said, took his hand off his dick and twisted to look up. "I can keep going. Go harder."
"Good, cause you promised to top later."
"Wouldn't want to miss it for the world. Put my prostate into overdrive like that for an hour and I'll turn your hole into a cream cannon, hehe."
Kamron shook his head in amazement. "Boy, you've been an endurance test from the get go. But you're so worth it."
Orion did not wait around until they switched roles. If he was quick with his rounds, he'd probably find Kamron a whimpering, pillow-biting bottom during his next sweep.
==========+++++==========
The Cedar Room in the corner of the manor looked the most lived-in, with Lazaro's many, many tomes spread over the piles of Phoenix' clothing, hastily strewn whenever available after they had `moved in together' within the hotel.
The room was empty but the sound of fucking came from an open door.
The athletic historian was getting his ass hammered in the shower by the much bigger African bodybuilder. Water sprayed onto the meeting hips and dispersed across the tiles and shower glass wall.
Lazaro's fingers were on Phoenix' nipples, the bottom's face grimacing under the intensity of the sensation in his guts.
Despite the animalistic absorption, the ancient vagabond noticed the presence. There was no eye to meet, but Lazaro did throw a glance right at where Orion was `standing'.
The African smirked and returned his attention to Phoenix who incoherently begged for more cock with a trembling voice.
It came as a surprise that they didn't have sex in the gym shower after their workouts anymore, retreating to their room out of decency. Maybe other gym-goers had caught them too many times. Orion couldn't imagine one of the Raven's current guests objecting to the sight. One of Jasper's clients maybe.
Speaking of which. Orion dipped down into the annex.
==========+++++==========
"You know," Jasper said with a chuckle, "I should actually massage you properly at some point."
Hunter acknowledged the idea with a grunt and kept humping.
Jasper rested his head on his forearms and looked at the mirror on the side of the studio, where their oil-glistening bodies were reflected. His dark one on the table, Hunter's pale one on top.
The beefy wrestler smacked his hips into the man underneath with thrusts that made use of the whole length of his dick, sending shivers into Jasper that made the masseur flex his body in an involuntary wave. Hunter's own ass crack was still slick with lube, undoubtedly from his own anal experience just earlier.
An alarm rang on the side table.
Jasper reached over to silence his phone. "Fuck, it's been that long? I've got another client showing up in ten minutes. You better finish up, big boy."
"Yes sir, will do."
Hunter stepped off the table but remained inside the ass, pulling Jasper's legs down with him.
"That client," Hunter said. "Someone I know? Teammate?"
"New guy. Not in college," Jasper said. "Why? Jealous, kiddo?"
"Depends," Hunter said. "Are you gonna practice this `relaxation technique' with him, too?"
"Depends," Jasper mocked. "Are you making sure I won't be left wanting more?"
"Oh yes, sir. Absolutely."
Now leaning over the table, the wrestler rammed into Jasper with savage brutality, hands on the bottom's shoulders. They looked right at the mirror and, via that, into each other's faces.
Their muscles flexed from the force it took to fuck this hard.
"Fu-u-u-u-u-u-ck," Jasper yelled with vibration in his voice, "my-y-y a-a-a-ss."
Hunter grabbed his jockstrap of the nearby chair and shoved it into Jasper's mouth. "Wanna see you have other `clients' now, hehe."
Jasper's erection, pointing down as it pressed against the edge of the table, shot strings of cum down the brown, muscular thighs as his eyes rolled back into his head.
Hunter pulled out and left Jasper squirting cum from his hole.
The client clapped his hands once, made `Hwoooo', and stretched his arms like after an athletic feat. He patted the bottom's back with a wide grin. "Good job, teammate. Hit the showers, hehe."
Jasper flashed a middle finger via the mirror and slowly rose, keeping his ass arched out, too sore to fully close his legs.
"Fuck, that was amazing. Date on Saturday?"
Hunter shook his head. "Sorry, can't. I got a match on Monday and I don't cum at least three days before matches."
"On a Monday?"
"Just a friendly thing but I take every match seriously."
Their banter lasted until they were both dressed again. They kissed goodbye, almost shyly, and Jasper poured himself a cup of chamomile tea to wind down before the next guy showed up.
Orion waited alongside his descendant. He had nowhere else to be. The heir would one day learn to sense his presence without having to fall asleep, if he bothered to practice.
The new client was just Jasper's type and it took barely twenty minutes until `VB' dripped into the oil. Jasper had been left wanting more after all.
If Orion had learned one thing in his four centuries of tortured, corrupted dream-wandering, it was simple – the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Again he roamed the halls that rippled and swelled with Laqueta's voice emanating from Mordecai's chamber even after the old man had stopped playing her works.
Orion stretched himself through the corridors and chambers of Raven Manor as the structure rested on its foundations like it hadn't in decades, calm with life and joy and Voice and magic.
The house itself had come home. And he was glad to keep watch over it.
=== THE END ===
Author's Note:
Here's where we say goodbye to Raven's Hollow. I hope you enjoyed the location, characters and events as much I did when I made them up.
In many ways, Raven's Hollow is an homage to an erotic story from a long since deleted website in 2007 that stuck with me all these years until I felt confident in turning the bits and pieces lingering in my memory into something of my own.
But enough about me. I'd like hearing your thoughts. If you made it this far, you've got to have some.
Hit me up at abracadabra923@yahoo.com