5. Love

The next day

She was all Tommy could think about as he walked off the morning bus. He hadn’t told the others when he came back in and the trouble with the ray case seemed to vanish. Everywhere he turned, he wanted to see her, to kiss her again, to stare into her beautiful amber eyes. Tommy had to confront the reality:

            He was in love.

            Simon tried to talk to him, but he was in a different place. “Tommy? Tommy, are you even listening?” he said.

            “Um, yeah,” Tommy said, scratching his head.

            “Well, it’s another disappearance that we can tie to the ray case,” he said.

            “Wait, what?”

            “Haven’t you been listening, Tommy?” Simon asked. “Kathy, the girl who punched Lexi in the gut last night? She’s gone.”

            “What?”

            “Yeah, they haven’t seen her since she ran outside. Someone on Twitter suggested that she threw herself off the cliff into the ocean, but police aren’t investigating yet because it hasn’t been 24 hours.”

            “Shit…,” Tommy said. He had to get back on the right track. “Who would’ve wanted to kill her?”

            “Well, I’m sure Lexi wasn’t too thrilled about getting punched, but there was something about the way Caterina and her group of friends looked her that makes me think one or more of them is behind this.”

            “Cat’s been on our suspect list for a while,” Tommy pointed out.

            “Yeah, but the new girl, what’s her name…Autumn? She was acting pretty suspicious too.”

            “A-A-Autumn?” he stuttered.

            “Yeah, you know her?”

            “Not particularly.” He scratched the back of his head, thinking about the kiss.

            “I know she’s cute, but don’t get distracted,” said Simon, walking off. “We never know who’s on the menu next.”

            Tommy walked around a corner. And nearly bumped into Autumn.

            “Oh, hey,” he said.

            “Hi, Tommy,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. She was carrying school books in her arms and was wearing a skirt a little too short for school. It was blue.

            “What’s your first class?” he asked.

            “History,” she said. “I’ll meet you in the Art Department building at lunch.”

            She walked off and he did his best not to stare at her ass as she walked off. He thought about what Simon said, then shook his head and went to his first class of the day.

During lunch, he walked into the Art Department building with thought of uncertainty flashing through his mind. He remembered what Bobby had told him about Carl’s story, how the killer had shrunk Lara in this very hallway. He also remembered the kiss last night and convinced himself to move forward.

            What am I doing this for? For love? What if I become her next victim? Am I walking into a trap? He cleared his head. No. I haven’t felt a connection with anyone like this since Alexis in the eighth grade. Then she rejected me, last year I dated Kelsey, who was fine until she became too crazy. And then the whole party thing happened, but this girl is…different.

            He didn’t care about the ray case anymore. He didn’t care about the danger anymore. He walked around a corner as Autumn stepped out of the shadows.

            “Hello Tommy,” she cooed. Her belly rumbled with hunger. She gave it a pat. “Time for lunch.”

            He tensed up. Clearly he had made a mistake. She was the killer all along and she was going to eat –

            She threw herself into his arms and kissed him passionately. Her hands groped his back as his found their way to her rear, which he ran his hands across smoothly. She pulled back and looked at him with those eyes.

            “Delicious…,” she said, and then came in for more.

Tommy forgot about the Rays Club and their case. For the rest of the day, he only thought of Autumn. He didn’t even see Simon, Bobby, or Francine until after the final bell, when he brushed past Bobby briefly in the hallway. He looked as if he had something to say, not that Tommy cared. He and Autumn made out in her car and later went for dinner at a local pizza place.

            Autumn downed four slices and a large soda, which caused her to give a big burp. When they got back to her car, he put his head to her belly and listened to it gurgle with digestion. She dropped him off back at his house later, but he still couldn’t stop thinking about her.

            They made out in the morning and lunch at the next day, Thursday. Tommy didn’t even bother trying to find his friends for their usual discussion, he spent all of his time with Autumn. Thursday went by in a blur, but he remembered at the end of the day she let him touch her breasts underneath her bra. At the same time, she stuck her hand down into his pants.

            Finally, it was Friday. The end of the school week, but Tommy barely paid attention in his classes, daydreaming about Autumn and what she might look like naked. The Mrs. Watson substitute let them do mostly whatever, but Bobby turned to him with a serious look on his face.

            “Where have you been? We’ve been trying to find you!”

            “About what?” Tommy said. “I was busy.”

            “Well, for starters, Carl’s disappeared as well, but that was Tuesday after I left in the bathroom. Strangely, nobody else has gone missing over the past two days. There four over the first two days, but now we haven’t had anything.”

            “They might be an impulse killer instead of a serial killer,” suggested Tommy. “Snacks on the fly, that kinda thing.”

            “Maybe, but Simon’s been working some new angles on the case and told me he’s turning up some pretty interesting stuff. Wants to talk to you about it at the end of the day.”

            “Uh, I’ve got plans.”

            “What plans? Where have you been? We couldn’t even find you at lunch!”

            He had been in the Art Department building, making out with Autumn.

            “I’m busy,” Tommy said. “I’ve got a life. Maybe you should get one too.”

            He turned away. Bobby stared at him for a moment, furrowing his brow. Something’s changed, he thought, then turned around.

Tommy had lied to his parents and said he was hanging with his friends this evening. Instead, Autumn took him into her car and drove towards her neighborhood. “My parents are out for the evening,” she explained with a wild gleam in her eye.

            Tommy suddenly became erect. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

            She turned towards him. “I’ve done it twice before, have you?”

            “No, this’ll be my first.”

            “Always think carefully about your first. I lost mine to a total asshole boyfriend, broke up with me the next day.”

            “I have thought carefully,” he said. “It’s all I’ve been able to think about this week. It’s just all gone by so quickly.”

            “And you’re sure you still want to do this?”

            He thought for a moment. “Yes.”

Autumn took him to her pink themed bedroom as she stripped off her top and kicked off her miniskirt. The sun was setting in the distance and its light steamed through the windows as she slowly pulled off her bra and tossed it at him. He started to take of his shirt as she pulled her pink panties down and stood there completely naked before him.

            He took the sight of her in, from her breasts down to the pubic hair surrounding her vagina. She giggled and collapsed back on to the bed. “Mouth first,” she said.

            Tommy stripped the rest of his clothes off and dove straight for her pussy. He wasn’t really sure of what to do, so he just let his hormones guide him.

            He stuck his tongue into her vagina and she arched her back, her legs locking his head between her legs. He guided it deeper and deeper, trying to think of only the sexual pleasure instead of the incredible weirdness of the act that he would have normally noticed.

            “Yes, yes, yes!” she moaned.

            He continued that way for five minutes, but it felt like an hour. Finally, she pulled him up on top of her. “It’s your first time, so you get the top.”

            “Twist my arm,” he said, and thrust his dick into her.

            They rolled around, kissing, moaning, and running their hands all over each other’s bodies. Tommy kissed her breasts as she planted her lips on his neck and sucked hard. He rode her into the mattress, his heart racing.

            “Come on, Tommy,” Autumn said between breaths. “Harder! You can do it!”

            He tensed and went in as deep as he could go, as hard as he could go, as fast as he could go. Sweat was all over their bodies. He could feel the hairs on her arms, the smoothness of her skin, the creaking of the bed.

            Then came the orgasm.

A few minutes later…

Bobby and Francine pulled up to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. They got out of his SUV and walked out onto the sand. There weren’t too many other people out there, just a few lucky ones who could catch such a breathtaking sight.

            Francine leaned onto his shoulder. “It’s so beautiful…”

            Bobby’s phone rang. It was Simon. He put it on speaker.

            “Hello?” Bobby said. “Simon?”

            “Hey guys, sorry to bother you, but have you seen Tommy?” he asked.

            “No,” said Francine.

            “I talked to him earlier,” said Bobby, “but it’s…like he’s changed.”

            “Yeah, well good for him,” said Simon. “I’ve found out some crucial new evidence in the case.”

            “What is it?” Francine asked. The sun was dipping into the horizon now, the day coming to a close.

            “I know who has the shrink ray.”

TO BE CONTINUED