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Frigid snow came down heavily on the worn-down bus stop, with the only inhabitant being a teenage boy. His clothes were torn and caked in dirt and grime, no one daring to pick him up from the side of the road. For the days he struggled to find shelter and walked several miles, thirty-seven cars had all passed by him without a second thought. Yes, he kept count, what else could he do other than wallow as time passed him by. He’d do anything to prevent the constant nag of inevitable chills penetrating his frail body done to the bone.
His blue-toned flannel blanket laid across his body, barely in one piece anymore, but for his sake, he kept it. It is his only safe haven when he hugged it to himself tightly, it being his last possession that is his alone. As the sun lowered in the grey sky, so did the temperatures in the quiet town. The dull, grey sky had faded into a pitch-black with the snow still flittering down, the stars barely visible.
Cars around this area were noticeably scarce, few and far in between on this street. The street was void of life for what he thought was several hours. His eyes straining to stay focused, to not fall asleep alone at a bus stop. Sometime into the night, lights coming from a small Buick began to show up further down the road. The brightness of the headlights getting stronger as the car came closer and closer to him. It began to slow down near the bus stop and finally came to a slow halt at the shivering teenager.
A foggy window rolled down, inside the small car was another man, who only looked a few years older than twenty. The man stared at the teenager who remained in his curled-up position on the rusting metal bench. He only continued to watch the teen boy, looking him up and down, as if assessing him or checking him out.
The teenager had no idea which it was but with how close the car was, he could feel the radiating feeling of long-forgotten warmth, he could smell the fast food that sat in the passenger seat. He felt his stomach rumble and beg for food as the smell seemed to permeate his nose endlessly. As the seconds passed by slowly, the boy missed the man's twitching stare at him. The car only became more enticing to the teenager; he just really wanted to eat and be warm.
All that he asked for was to get to his destination and stay alive until that happened. The young man in the car seemed to notice the lack of hesitation and fear the boy had in his presence, so he made his first move. He offered the teenager a place of shelter and some food for a small price, and then he’d have his word that he’d drive the teenager to his destination. Yet again, another foolish boy had come into his greedy hands.
Ignoring his uneasy stomach, the teenager had agreed to the man’s proposed deal and entered the car, sitting in the passenger seat. The man offered him the unopened bag of fast food that before sat on the seat. Having some courtesy, the teen had asked the man if he wanted any, but he replied curtly that he didn’t like cheap food. The teen quickly devoured the meal. It didn’t occur to the boy at the time that it seemed weird a man would buy food he did not like and keep it. The sickly smiles directed at the teenager started soon after he finished his meal, the man seemingly paying more attention to the teen than the road ahead. Thirty minutes had passed until the man turned down a driveway into a wooded area.
They soon arrived at the man’s choice of building, whether it was his house or not, the teenager did not know. He would provide his service, sleep, and get on his way, just as they had both agreed to. He made sure to grab his blanket as the car stopped and grasped onto it, hugging it to his hip. As the teenager exited the Buick, he felt the wet snow soak into his worn sneakers, his feet only getting colder as the short walk continued. Following the older man, they both entered through the door into a small, dingy cabin.
The teenager placed his blanket begrudgingly on the rickety wooden table in the dark corner, not wanting it to be dirtied any further by his next actions. Listening to the man’s earlier commands of how we wanted to receive his service, he shook off his articles of clothing and walked over to the queen-sized bed. His body no longer taking on the stiffness that happened prior to this situation during his first few times, his mind desensitized to the soon to be occurring movements. After foregoing this payment many times to other people, the teenager simply shut down and complied willingly. He crawled up onto the chilled beige comforter that covered the bed and laid himself down in the middle. His terrifyingly skinny legs spread, leaving all of himself bare to the predatory stare.
The older man never walked any farther than the entryway, waiting and gazing at the boy instead. As the boy finally got into the submissive position, the one he loved so much, only then did he approach the trembling body. Only then did he discard is his leather jacket crinkled with years of use onto the rickety chair and unbuckle his belt slowly when he reached the bed. Letting the belt slip from the loops as he tugged, his jeans subsequentially hit the floor with it; a sharp metallic thud followed by a low thump and rustle. Placing one knee on the bed to the left of the boy, he began his descent and didn’t come back up until he was pleased and the boy shaking.
A few minutes had passed after he serviced the man. Before he could find the ability to sleep in any comfort, he staggered over to the table and grabbed for his blanket. After he returned to the bed, the teenager had fallen asleep almost immediately after. Unbeknownst to the boy, the deal they had made was void. For the man he made the deal with would have never kept his word. As the teen remained innocently asleep, the man gazed at him, simply still reeling in his newfound body of the night. For his pleasure has only begun and the climax has yet to be reached. The older man rose from the bed soon after the interaction, preferring not to lie in and next to such filth. He moved over to the only chair in the room, residing next to a table with the mess of bottles and cigarettes.
As the hours passed, the man got up from his seat adjacent to the small table and stalked towards the teenager. Reaching down, the blue-toned blanket clutched in the teenager's hands was gripped by the older man’s rough hands. The blanket slowly fell out of its owners’ grip, but it had taken a bit of force to remove it from the tight grasp. The man took the worn fabric and walked over to the dresser that was pushed against a stained off-white wall. Without care, the man tore the blanket into a tiny square, further damaging it. The man opened the top right drawer of the dresser and placed the torn piece inside it neatly, disregarding the rest of the teenager’s final haven into the trash. The remains of the once bright blue and fluffy blanket covered the slimy and dirty substance in the can. The man reached over to the dresser again and grabbed a small cylinder this time.
With a quick flick of the lighter against some old newspaper, he threw it into the trashcan just after the blanket. The fabric quickly went up in a small flame until only ash and smoke remained. He watched as the blanket burned, feeling more excited as the time passed.
He turned back towards his most precious drawer. Inside of it were other mementos of his previous finds, including clothing, toys, and hair. Each prize of his held special meaning to the previous owner or to himself. No matter how many times he looked at his prizes, it made a genuine smile spread on his face and his eyes twinkled in pure joy.
With only a few minutes remaining, he labeled the slot the blue-toned blanket was in with the number eleven and shut the drawer. Shifting his gaze to the drawer parallel to the previous one, he slid it open, skimmed his eyes over the objects, and immediately grabbed his favorite toy to use when it came into his sight. As the teenager slept in a warm bed for the first time in weeks with a full stomach, the man-made his third and final move against him.
In a strong voice, the older man spoke as he strode over to the bed, “Not everyone who gives you their hand wants to save you, boy. Too bad you’ll never have the chance to learn that. Too bad, so sad.” His hand began its ascent and finally reached above his head. With no thought, it soon came down harshly with a sickening crunch. A low gurgle sounded out and finally a beautiful flourish of crimson stained the wall and bed after the object was tugged back.
The man’s pleasure reached its climax as flesh was torn and beaten in, his eyes shining in delight as the warm liquid cascaded down his own face in small drips from the splashback. For the boy hadn’t even had a chance to scream out; his fate was already sealed to a gruesome end the second he entered the battered Buick and bed with the man.
A few weeks later, a few hunters found a mangled mess in the woods being chewed on by some birds. All that remained of the boy and his legacy was the ashes residing in an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods, never to be found again, forced to reside in absolute darkness.