Good Monday morning Story Orgy readers! I hope you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep, I know I did! And I don’t know about you, but I will be so damn happy to have this election day behind us, ugh! Those robo-callers have been out IN FORCE this past week.

Only a couple of announcements this week before we check in on Demetrius and Cody. Did you know Havan Fellows, Lee Brazil, and myself all have stories in Breathless Press’s Halloween anthology Freaky Flashes? You get 13 spooky tales for the low price of $1.49! Click HERE to download it today, and keep those Halloween chills coming!

Remember our Road Trip stories from way, way back in August when we were all bitching about how hot it was? Well, we’ve collected the stories together in one anthology and will be releasing it next weekend! And the Prompt Is… Road Trip will be available on Amazon and ARe in a multitude of formats. As always, the first 90 days of profits will be donated to The Point Foundation providing scholarships for LGBT students.

Okay, time to get on back to Parson’s Hollow. Ready to find out what Demetrius thinks about Cody running into his truck? Me too!

This week’s prompt: An unforgettable dream.

Critter Catchers

Parson’s Hollow Series, Book 1

Chapter Fourteen

by Hank Edwards

(c) 2012

Demetrius felt calm, relaxed, and warm as he looked around. He was in a room where the walls were covered with heavy white drapes that puddled on the floor. Somewhere nearby an orchestra played soothing music, some symphony or another. He wore black pants and a white shirt, the collar unbuttoned two buttons.

“Hello, handsome.”

The voice was deep and smooth, and when Demetrius looked over his shoulder, he found Oliver standing there. He wore tan pants and a black shirt, also open two buttons to expose a chest covered with fine, dark blond hair. His sensual smile sent a shiver through Demetrius.

“Oliver,” Demetrius managed. “Hi. Where are we?”

“Together,” Oliver said and stepped to him. He took Demetrius’s left hand in his right and slid his other hand around Demetrius’s waist. “Shall we dance?”

Though he hadn’t slow danced in years, and never with another man, Demetrius found he was able to follow Oliver’s lead and move across the floor with no problem. He felt confident and safe in Oliver’s arms.

“Wake up,” Oliver said, his voice calm and smooth as he whispered into Demetrius’s ear.

Demetrius pulled his head back and looked him in the eye. “What did you say?”

“You have to wake up,” Oliver repeated, only this time he sounded like Cody. But that was crazy, right?

“Wake up!” Cody’s voice intruded on the scene, loud and rugged, like the man himself. The orchestra stopped playing and Oliver let him go and turned away as Demetrius started to shake.

“What, what, what?” Demetrius said and shook himself awake.

“Dude, you scared the shit out of me.” Cody stood beside him, hand on his shoulder to shake him awake.

Demetrius looked around. The air bag of his truck was deflating and a block away he could see the Widow Monroe’s car ambling slowly along, the yellow revolving light on top winking at him.

“Did you hit me?” Demetrius asked, squinting as he became aware of a headache. The dream of Oliver was gone, and though it was an unforgettable dream, he had to realize it was just that and not reality.

“You came to a dead stop right in front of me!” Cody said, then turned to wave toward the back of the truck. “You’re lucky I’ve got bumper guards on my truck, or else both our vehicles would be disabled.”

“Who was following you?” Demetrius asked as he rubbed his head.

Cody narrowed his eyes. “Guess.”

Demetrius sighed. “Lucia.”

“Ding, ding, ding. The man wins a prize.”

“Can the prize be a new truck?”

Cody gave him a sarcastic smirk. “Cute.”

“Who gets the ticket?”

“You both do,” Lucia said as she walked up, her ticket pad out and pen poised. “Do you require medical assistance?”

“No, but we have to get to the intersection of Derringer and Braxton,” Demetrius said. “There could be another murder if we don’t hurry up.”

Lucia narrowed her eyes. “Careful, Demetrius, you’re stepping into dangerous territory. Remember you both were suspects at first.”

He nodded and flinched at a quick spike of pain up the back of his skull. “I think the wolf or whatever it is showed up outside a house near Derringer and Braxton. I got a call about a really big dog in a woman’s yard, staring at her through the patio door.”

“Who called you?” Lucia asked.

Demetrius felt himself blush. “I didn’t get her name, just where she was. She was panicked.”

“She should have called 911,” Lucia said.

“Can we just go check it out, please?” Cody said. “You can write us up once we get there. Okay? Deal?”

Lucia sighed. “Fine. Get this piece of crap off the road first.”

Cody helped Demetrius push his truck to the curb, and then they got in Cody’s truck and he headed toward Braxton.

“You okay over there?” Cody asked, throwing a glance toward Demetrius as he maneuvered through the streets of the neighborhood.

“Yeah, I’m all right. Just saw stars for a minute back there — Look out!” Demetrius braced himself as a large, brown, shaggy animal ran across the road in front of Cody’s truck.

Cody slammed on the brakes and they watched the beast gallop up to a privacy fence and, in one jump, clear the top and vanish from sight.

“What the fucking hell was that?” Lucia demanded. She had stepped out of her cruiser and stood alongside Cody’s truck, gun out as she stared after the creature.

“Welcome to our world,” Cody said. “Care to lead to the other block?”

“I think we should check these houses,” Demetrius suggested. “Someone may be hurt.”

“You wanna stay here and I’ll follow Lucia?”

Demetrius nodded and slipped out of the truck. Before he shut the door, he met Cody’s gaze, startled at the depth of concern on his friend’s face.

“Be careful,” Cody said. “I mean it.”

“You, too.”

“Got your cell?”

Demetrius nodded and patted his front pocket.

“Bullets?”

“Fuck.”

“In your truck?”

Demetrius nodded again, and then shrugged. “No gun for them anyway.”

“Waste of great-grandma’s silverware,” Cody said.

“It was a pain in the ass to keep polished anyway,” Demetrius admitted.

Lucia squealed the tires of her cruiser as she pulled around from behind Cody’s truck. Demetrius pushed the truck’s door shut and stepped back, watching as Cody followed Lucia to the next intersection and turned left. When the truck was out of sight, Demetrius turned to face the houses and took a steadying breath. He really hoped he didn’t find another crime scene like Ian McLeod’s and Lillian Hackett’s; he didn’t think he could take seeing another dismembered body.

He knocked on a few doors, but no one answered. As it was late morning, he figured the residents were at work. Or dead. He peered through a few windows and found just normal looking rooms with furniture arranged around large screen TVs and children’s toys scattered across the floor. No signs of struggles or dismemberment.

At the fourth house off the corner, Demetrius knocked on the door but the only response was the yowling of a cat from inside. Bushes crowded close to the front of the house beneath the windows prevented him from seeing inside. Stepping off the porch, Demetrius circled the house and came to a stop at the back corner, eyes wide and his heart pounding.

Broken glass lay scattered across the back deck of the house. Dark splotches that looked disturbingly like blood stained the cream siding and wood planks of the deck. With his throat suddenly closed tight and his stomach churning with fear, Demetrius walked carefully to the steps and climbed them to stand on the edge of the deck.

“H-Hello?” he called in a quiet, raspy whisper.

He took a few steps closer to the shattered patio door, cleared his throat, and tried again. “H-Hello, it’s Demetrius from Critter Catchers.”

No answer. He drew in a breath, gathered his courage into a group, and stepped toward the door.

A furry missile flew out the door at him, startling him so much he took two steps back and stumbled backwards down the steps. He fell on the lawn on his back, a high-pitched scream tearing from his throat as the animal landed on his chest.

It was a cat, most likely the one he had heard yowling inside the house. It stared at him a moment, its green eyes wide and wild, and then it took off running across the backyard to disappear in a clump of bushes.

“Fucking cat,” Demetrius managed as he caught his breath. He scrambled to his feet and climbed the steps onto the deck. Careful to avoid stepping in the puddles of what he now knew for sure was blood, he leaned through the patio door and looked around the bloody kitchen.

Body parts lay scattered around the room, and he battled back the coffee and toasted bagel that threatened to come back up on him. The smell rolling out of the room was rank and thick, and just as Demetrius turned away, he caught sight of someone running across the backyard behind him.

He was startled to see Oliver Berridge dashing across the lawn from one neighboring yard to the other. Naked.

“Oliver!” Demetrius shouted automatically.

Oliver stopped, pinwheeling his arms to keep from falling forward, and turned to stare in wide-eyed fear at Demetrius.

Demetrius, in turn, couldn’t help ogling Oliver’s body. Tight and trim, the man was pale and covered with dark blond hair. His cock stuck out from a thick patch of the same color hair, and Demetrius had to force his gaze to lift to Oliver’s pale, frightened expression.

“Why are you running?” Demetrius asked. “And why are you naked?”

“It came at me,” Oliver said. “I-I followed it, and it got her in there. I tried to help but I got blood on me and—”

“Freeze!”

Demetrius jumped and turned to find Lucia standing at the back corner of the house, gun drawn and aimed at Oliver. Cody stood behind her, his eyes wide and fists clenched at his sides.

“Don’t move, Oliver,” Lucia said as she slowly approached him. “On the ground with your hands to the side.”

“It wasn’t me!” Oliver said, his voice trembling and tears spilling down his cheeks. “I swear to God it wasn’t me.”

“We’ll get there,” Lucia said. “Just lie down. Don’t give me any trouble.”

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Oliver crumpled to the ground and lay face down on the grass, sobbing as Lucia quickly handcuffed him.

“Did you see him as a…” Demetrius shrugged. “Werewolf?”

Cody shook his head. “It doubled back this way. I thought it was going for you.”

“He came from over there,” Demetrius said, and pointed. “He was naked.”

Cody cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, I see that. Lycanthropes get you all hot and bothered?”

Demetrius rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help sneaking another peek at Oliver’s body as Lucia marched him past on the way to the police car. Oliver looked at Demetrius over his shoulder and said, “It wasn’t me. You know me, Demetrius, tell her! Tell her I didn’t do this!”

Demetrius opened his mouth, glanced at Cody and saw his glare, then clamped his lips tight together. A small, cold ache bloomed in his chest at the disappointment he saw on Oliver’s face before the man moved out of sight.

~~ * ~~

Oh no! Looks like Oliver is the werewolf after all. Or is he? Be sure to stop by next week and see what happens next with Demmy and Cody now that Oliver is in police custody. For now, however, hop on over to the other Story Orgy blogs with me for more hot, smexy reads.

Lee Brazil,     Havan Fellows,     Em Woods

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Lee Brazil: @leebrazil

Hank Edwards: @hanksbooks

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Em Woods: @EmWoodsAuthor