Submerging Inferno

by Brandon Witt

  SOMEHOW Sonia managed to miss seeing me come in and take a seat in her section, allowing me to settle back and enjoy watching her work the room. Rascals was a bright, colorful, loud restaurant and bar combo, most of which opened up to the outside. Combining that with the tiki torches and the décor made it seem like every night was a party at the beach even though the beach was miles away.

  When she finally saw me, her bright smile increased to brilliant as it became genuine. She waved and delivered meals to a couple more tables before she came over. “Hey! I was beginning to think you were gonna bail. It’s almost ten.”

  “Yeah, sorry, Sone. I fell asleep. Just woke up twenty minutes ago.”

  “Well, sweetie, you’ve had a rough day. If I were you, I probably wouldn’t wake up till next week.” Her voice already seemed strained. Between the music and everyone talking, it was loud enough that you had to yell everything in order to be heard.

  “You gonna make it? You’ve still got four more hours to go. Your voice sounds painful.”

  “Five hours, actually.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Remember that new kid, Troy, we hired a couple of weeks back? Well, he came in stoned off his ass tonight. Who do you think they made fire him? And, who do you think has to stay late to clean up?”

  “Aw, I’m sorry. I was thinking we could watch a scary movie when you got off work.”

  She shook her head and gave me a crooked grin. “No, you weren’t. I know that look in your eye. You didn’t come here for a cheeseburger.”

  I dipped my head sheepishly. “You know me well. But while you’re at it, a double cheeseburger sounds great. And a Cherry Coke. Oh, make it a triple, actually, and throw on some cheese fries, ’k?”

  “You make me sick. You know that?”

  “Nah, you love me.”

  “Well, duh!” She waltzed over to a table on the other side of the room, somehow managing to give a smile, friendly word, or flirtatious wink to every person on the way.

  IT WAS getting close to midnight by the time I finished the burger, five Cherry Cokes, and a second large order of cheese fries. Sonia hugged me good-bye, shoving the tip I left her back into my pocket, as she always did.

  “Why still alone? Most of the good ones are gone already. Want me to go pick one out for ya?” She started to point openly to a table by the front door.

  I jerked her arm down. “Cool it, Sone. We don’t all have to be as outwardly inviting as you are.” She threw up her hands in mock offense as I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “Eye contact’s been made. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. You picked the right one, though. Good job.”

  She patted my cheek. “I know what my baby likes. Give me a second to get the check over there before you go. You don’t wanna make it where I don’t get paid, right?”

  “Okay. See ya at home?”

  “Of course.” She gave me one of her trademark winks. “If you make it home tonight, that is.”

  I WAITED until I saw Sonia take the credit card receipt and a pen back to the table, then got up and walked out the door, making sure to keep my gaze straight ahead. I was already starting to regret this, even though my mind was made up. The last thing I needed was a random hookup to worry about in the morning.

  I made a show of staring up at the stars on my way to the car, trying to slow my gait. My car was only a block away, and even with my stargazing, it didn’t take much time before I had put my key into the car door.

  The tap on my shoulder didn’t startle me. I’d heard the footsteps following behind. I managed to make my voice sound casually surprised as I turned around. “Oh, hi.”

  “Hi.” He looked down nervously, his voice wavering with insecurity. “I, uh, thought we had a moment back in the bar.” He glanced up at me, then lowered his gaze again. “Sorry if I misread you.”

  He was rather adorable. I could tell he was a lot younger now that he was away from the noise and lights of Rascals. I had thought he was older than me, but now I guessed he had to be barely twenty-one. He ran a hand over his military-cut dark hair as he turned sheepishly away.

  I reached out to grab his elbow faster than I meant to. More desperately. “No, no. You didn’t misread things. I thought you were cute.”

  He turned back around, daring to meet my eyes this time, a shy smile breaking across his face. “You did?”

  “Yeah.” I let go of his elbow, and he immediately looked doubtful again. “I’m glad you followed me.”

  He raised his hands in front of his chest. “Oh, I wasn’t trying to follow you. I’m not trying to stalk you or anything crazy like that. I was just—”

  I interrupted him. “I know. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Oh.” He smiled again. He really was a beautiful boy. “Sorry. I’m a little nervous. I’m new at this.”

  Great. Apparently my luck at picking guys hadn’t changed in the past five months. I liked to flirt, nearly as much as Sonia, but most of the time, I’d rather let the other guy make the majority of the moves, at least in the beginning. It seemed this time was going to have to be different. “So, were you wanting to get together or something?”

  He might have been shocked at my bluntness, but to his credit, it didn’t scare him off. He just nodded.

  “Cool. You got some place we can go?” I never bring guys back to the house, at least not those I’m only planning on seeing once.

  His gaze fell to the ground again. “I… um, live with my parents.”

  Kiss of death. Maybe it was that he seemed so vulnerable. Maybe it was my five months of celibacy. “Well. We could go swimming.”

  He looked up at me in surprise. “Swimming?”

  I offered my most innocent smile and shrugged. “Yeah. Swimming. The beach is really beautiful this time of night.”

  The boy peered over his shoulder as if expecting to see his parents running down the street toward us. “Won’t the water be cold?”

  “Nah, not with me there.”

  He just nodded.

  I motioned to the passenger side of the car. “Get in.”

  He only hesitated a moment. At first I thought he was going to change his mind, do the smart thing. His gaze roamed over my shoulders and up to my lips before he dashed to the other door.

  He didn’t say anything all the way to the beach. I put my hand on his knee, and that seemed to calm his nerves. Even so, I was fairly certain he was trembling the entire way. By the time I turned off the car and slid my keys under the visor, he had managed to stop sounding like he was going to hyperventilate.

  A warm breeze met us as we got out of the car and started walking toward the beach. It was an unusually clear night, and stars filled the sky. I couldn’t have planned it better if I had been trying.

  We stopped a few yards from the shore. His voice sounded shaky again. “There’s nobody else here.”

  “That’s the idea. That okay?”

  His tongue darted out and licked his lips. It was too dark to see his eyes. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  I tried to make my voice sound soothing. I don’t think I succeeded. “I won’t hurt you. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  He just nodded. I took a few more steps toward the incoming surf, then turned back around when I realized he wasn’t following. “You coming?”

  His hands were shoved deep into his cargo shorts, making him appear even younger. “Where are we going?”

  “Well, we came for a swim. I’m going to the water.”

  “I didn’t bring any trunks.”

  I hated having to do this much work. “Me neither.”

  I turned away from him and started to walk toward the ocean. I kicked off my flip-flops, pulled my shirt over my head, and dropped it to the ground. The moon was behind us, and I knew it was lighting up my back. I couldn’t help but feel pleasure knowing he was watching me. A few feet from the reach of the waves, I let my pants fall. I stepped out of them and kept walking without turning back to
him. As soon as my toes slid beneath the water, I felt all the emotions of the day start to drain out of me. I kept going until the water was just above the tops of my thighs. I turned to face him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

  He was still where I had left him. He waited a few moments before finally taking tentative steps in my direction. He had almost made it to the edge of the water before he stopped to slip off his shoes and shirt.

  “Are you sure it’s safe out there?”

  I thought I heard his voice catch. “Yeah. Trust me.” I let my arms fall to my side and dipped my fingertips into the water.

  He glanced around before finally sliding his shorts over his hips and stepping out of them. I couldn’t see his features with the moon behind him, but his silhouette looked skinnier than I was expecting.

  He gasped and jumped back like a little kid when the waves hit his feet. “It’s freezing!”

  “You can do it. It’s not cold out here.”

  To my surprise, he only hesitated a second or so before he launched himself toward me. He made it a couple of steps before falling and disappearing below the surface.

  I started to move forward, but he came up, sputtering and gasping. He stood there in shock, the gentle waves lapping just above his knees.

  With a sigh, I closed the distance between us and put my hands on his arms. “You okay?”

  I could hear his teeth chatter. I took a step closer, and when he didn’t draw away, I wrapped my arms around his back.

  “Oh, it’s weird.” He sounded more himself. “The water almost feels warm now.”

  “Told ya.” Although he was thin, I was pleased by how firm he was. I let my hands fall across the smooth muscles of his back and gradually came to a stop below his waist, resting on the curve of his ass.

  “Wow.” He traced his right hand reverently across my chest. From the feel of him against me, he wasn’t cold any longer.

  We stood there for several minutes, our hands exploring and breaths quickening.

  When his fingers moved from running across my chest hair to following the path below my belly button, I took his hand and pulled him toward the shore.

  We made it nearly out of the water before I fell on top of him in the sand. The waves caressed our ankles. He pulled me down to him, our stomachs slick against each other. My mouth met his. His lips were warm, and I could faintly taste the beer he’d had at dinner. As I slipped my tongue into his mouth, I let myself get lost in the sensations, the feel of him lightly throbbing against me, his fingers sliding over the curve of my ass, the embrace of the waves as they traveled up to our hips.

  I pushed away the doubt. It didn’t matter if I would regret this later. His back arched, pushing his body closer. My worries about Grandma being alone dissipated as I sank my tongue deeper into his mouth. All I felt was his skin, the water steaming around us, the pressure of my hips on his. The feel of him writhing against me.

  It took several seconds for the sounds to register, for them to break through the trance of the moment. It wasn’t until I felt his teeth clamp around my tongue that I realized something was wrong.

  With a flash of anger, I yanked my head back from the pain. He was pounding his fists on my chest. His face was bluish gray, his eyes bulging, nearly rolling back into his skull. His body convulsed as he gasped, trying desperately to suck in air. I threw myself off of him and rolled him over onto his side toward me. His skin seemed to be on fire. When I lifted my hand from his arm, it left a white indentation, which quickly flushed to a pink, then to a scalding red that matched the skin around it.

  His choking gave way to a flood of seawater rushing out of his mouth. Every convulsion brought with it a new gush of fluid. Again and again his body caved in on itself, a never-ending torrent emptying from him. I watched in stunned terror as his body finally slowed and came to rest. I reached out and touched my fingers to his throat, afraid he was dead. He screamed in agony as I felt for his pulse. He managed to jerk himself backward.

  “Get the fuck away from me!” His raspy voice sounded like his throat had been torn to pieces. “What the hell are you trying to do to me?” As he scurried backward on his elbows, I could see that blisters were starting to form all over his body—even as some of them were ripped open by the sand and began to ooze.

  I reached out toward him and started to move closer but stopped when his frenzy increased, the pitch of his hysteria hurting my ears.

  “Stay the fuck away, you psycho! Trying to drown me! Fuck!” He winced as he raked himself over the sand. He glanced down at his skin, just now taking in the welts forming over him. He looked up at me, the fury in his eyes replaced by fear. “What did you do? What the fuck are you?”

  I leaned closer to him. “I’m sorry. I don’t… I don’t know what happened. Here, let me—”

  “Stay the fuck away!”

  I started to stand so I could go over to him.

  “Get away!” His screaming was unbearable. “Go away!”

  I hesitated, uncertain. Then ran.

  Chapter 3

  “WAKE up, sweetie.”

  I felt something warm on my back, making caressing circles. I tried to shrug it off.

  The soothing motions on my back ceased, instantly replaced by a more forceful shaking of my shoulder. “Brett! Wake up!” The shaking increased. “Or at least put some clothes on.”

  “What?” I sat up straight and barely caught the afghan before it slipped off me and onto the floor. I pulled it closer, secured it to my body, and shot a look around. “What’s going on?”

  Sonia sat down beside me, causing my balance on the cushion to shift. “You tell me. I’ve been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes.”

  Gradually, my brain cleared enough to let the pieces begin to fall together. “Why am I in the living room?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know. I came out here after getting ready, and here you were on the couch”—with a sly grin, she let her eyes glance down my body—“naked as a jaybird. You’re lucky I didn’t take pictures to try to sell at the bar before I covered you up.”

  I ran my hand over my face, trying to block out the light. In a wave, the events on the beach came crashing back on me. With a groan, I sank into the cushions. “Shit.”

  “What?” To her credit, Sonia sounded more worried than curious. “What happened last night? I didn’t get back until after three, and you still weren’t home.” She placed her hand lightly on my chest. “I take it things didn’t work out so well last night?”

  My stomach tightened as the boy’s burned skin flashed behind my eyes. “No. It didn’t go so well.”

  “Well, what happened?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her but then stopped. What was I going to say? I nearly drowned a guy while I was kissing him, then boiled him? “I don’t wanna talk about it. Okay? Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You sure you’re alright?”

  “Sure. Sure.”

  She leaned over and pressed her lips quickly to my forehead. “Well, when you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here for you.” She stood up and looked back down at me before giving me a quick wink. “Actually, I won’t be. I’m going in to work right now. I switched Alice for her early shift. I’m going out with Derek tonight.”

  “Huh?” I was trying to remember the boy’s name. Had I even asked, or had I just taken him to the beach, not caring who he was?

  “I said, I’ve got a date with Derek tonight!”

  “Oh. That’s good.”

  A flicker of annoyance on her face quickly gave way to concern. “Are you sure you’re okay? I say I’ve got a date with Derek tonight, and all you say is ‘that’s good’? I’ve been trying to get him to work up the nerve to ask me on a date for weeks!”

  “I’m sorry, Sone.” I shook my head. “Don’t mind me. That’s wonderful. I hope you have a great time.”

  She cocked her head at me and started to walk toward the kitchen.

  “Hold up! You said you’re going to
work now? What time is it?”

  “Noon. I get off at seven. Don’t wait up for me, though. If things go my way, I won’t be home tonight.” She slipped into the kitchen. “Want some grapefruit juice?”

  “Nah. Thanks.” I gingerly sat up and leaned forward to retrieve my pants. I glanced under the coffee table and felt under the couch. “Hey, Sonia! Where are my clothes?”

  Her voice was muffled behind the sound of running water. “I don’t know. Maybe you took them off in your room before you crashed on the couch.”

  I wrapped the fabric tighter around my waist and stood up. I felt like I could lie back down and sleep for weeks.

  My clothes weren’t in my room. After checking the laundry basket, I slipped into my trunks and went out to my car. I half expected to see a huge dent from sideswiping another car during my blind night drive. Thankfully, the car seemed to be intact, but my clothes weren’t anywhere inside.

  “You okay?”

  I jumped at the sound of her voice.

  “Whoa! Easy boy.” Sonia paused by my side. “Would you like me to cancel on Derek? I can come home after my shift tonight. You seem like you might need some company.”

  “No, no! I’m okay, just lost in thought I guess. You go. Have a great time with your new boy toy.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she studied me more closely. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

  “Yes, Sonia.” I gave her a quick hug and directed her toward her cherry-red Miata. “Now go away. Thanks for not taking any incriminating pictures this morning.”