Tired of Watching

The woman glared at Billy. "You'd better behave. I gave you what you wanted. I gave you the fuck of your life and this is how you show your appreciation?"

"She's right Billy," said Jacob, "she didn't have to do this."

"She may not have had to do this, but she did," snapped Billy. "And... and..." Billy shook his head.

"And what?" asked Chris.

Billy looked up, his mouth moved, but made no sound; instead, he fell to his knees. Jacob and Chris watched in horror as their friend collapsed onto the floor. Before either could truly react, they both felt dizzy, fell to the floor, and passed out. They woke when the sun hit their faces. Billy was in his bed; Chris and Jacob were on the floor back in Billy's room. All three were dressed in their clothes from the night before, their heads pounding.

"What the fuck?" asked Billy.

"Oh man," moaned Chris, "did anyone get the number of that bus that hit me?"

"You mean us," moaned Jacob.

"What was in those drinks?" asked Billy.

Jacob looked around. "Better question, how did we get here?"

All three boys looked around. "We must've walked," said Billy.

"Right... after... we got dressed?" asked Chris as he grabbed his shirt.

"So it wasn't a dream?" asked Jacob.

"Did you dream we gangbanged that hot brunette we've been watching?" asked Chris.

"Yeah," said Jacob.

"Then no, it wasn't a dream," said Billy. "Because that's exactly what we did."

"The last thing I remember was drinking that stuff she gave us," said Chris.

"Yeah, and Billy getting mad, then falling," said Jacob.

"Fuck man," said Billy, "that must be why my head fucking hurts so much. I'm getting some ibuprofen. You guys want some?"

"Yeah," they said together.

Billy stumbled from the bed and left the room. Jacob flopped back onto the floor and said, "She was real, wasn't she?"

"Yeah," said Chris. "I think so anyway."

Jacob smiled. "She had beautiful blue eyes."

"Really," said Chris. "I honestly didn't notice."

Billy stumbled in with a white plastic bottle and three bottles of water. The boys drank the water and took the pills. Then they went out and raided the kitchen for some breakfast. The remainder of their Sunday was spent playing video games. Often they'd look out the window but the blinds were drawn. On Monday, as they met in their English class, Jacob looked a bit pale.

"What's wrong man?" asked Billy.

"I lost my cell phone," he said.

"When did you last see it?" asked Chris.

"Saturday at Billy's."

"Before we went to the lady's apartment?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, just before."

"Think you left it there?" asked Billy.

"Maybe," Jacob said. "It was in my pants."

"I didn't see it in my room," said Billy. "I'll check again when I get home."

After class, Jacob and Chris had another class, while Billy had a break so he ran home. After the class ended, he found the guys and reported the phone was not in his room or anywhere in his house. Jacob sighed, he knew he didn't have the money to buy a new phone and his mom would pitch a fit as he just got the phone a few weeks ago, and it was his first smartphone. He decided after his last class he'd go over and see if maybe she had his phone. Of course, his last class seemed to drag on, as did the bus ride he took to get home. Since the woman's apartment and his mom's house were fairly close, he decided he would walk over after he dropped of his book bag.

The apartment was on the second floor of the building. He walked up the stairs and rehearsed in his head what he would say, though each one sounded more ridiculous than the last. When he finally reached the apartment, he found the door ajar. Jacob looked around nervously, then pushed the door open and called out, "Hello?"

There was no answer so he stepped in. The living room was empty and it seemed that no one had been there for weeks. Jacob checked the door number, then began to look around. The apartment appeared to be empty and unoccupied. Jacob was confused as he was sure he had just been her two nights before.

"Did you have an appointment?" said a woman's voice.

Jacob jumped and turned to see a tall redhead in a wine colored skirt suit. "Um, no."

"I'm Taylor, the site manager," she said extending her hand.

Jacob noticed her hazel eyes as he shook her hand. "Jacob."

"Nice to meet you Jacob. So, you looking for your own place?"

"My own place?"

"Sure, this is a great one-bedroom and perfect for a single guy like yourself. The bedroom is just down the hall."

Taylor led Jacob to the bedroom where he and his friend had enjoyed the wildest sexual experience he could imagine only to discover the room was completely empty. "What the fuck?" he whispered.

"What's wrong?" asked Taylor.

"Where's the bed? The dresser?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Taylor. "This unit has been empty for the last two months."

"Two months?"

"Yeah," she said. "The last tenant got married and his wife wanted a bigger place."

Jacob looked at the carpet but didn't see any indentation where the bed or other furniture had been. He couldn't even smell the incense or the raw sex in the air. There was no evidence that they, or anyone had been there. "I don't understand."

"What?"

"Um... nothing. How much is the rent on this place?"

"Five hundred plus security deposit. Plus, we pay all the utilities including cable. No movie channels like HBO or Showtime, but if you really want those you can pay the extra."

Jacob looked at the woman. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she said. "The reason this one is so cheap is because of the view."

Jacob looked out the window and saw Billy's house, and the window to his friend's room. "As you can see, it sucks. All the other units have amazing views except this one."

"I see," said Jacob.

"Here," said Taylor handing him an application, "if you decide you want to live here, fill this out and drop this off either in the office or apartment 101. That's mine. I hope you decide to do so."

"Thanks," said Jacob as he left the apartment.

Walking home, Jacob was trying to understand how the apartment he was sure he was in with his friends was now empty. As he walked up to his front door, he heard a woman's voice say, "Excuse me."

He turned to see a blonde woman standing a few feet away. "Yes?"

"Is this your phone?"

He walked up and saw she was holding his new cell phone in her hand. "Oh my god! Where did you find this?"

"You were walking by and I was sure I saw you drop this."

Jacob looked back where he'd come from. There was nowhere for this woman to have been to have seen him, and yet she was holding his lost phone. "I thought I lost this Saturday."

The woman smiled and that's when he noticed her blue eyes that reminded him of the woman he and his friends has been with. She smiled up at him, handed him his phone, and said, "Guess it's a good thing I found this then."

"Thank you miss. I'm Jacob," he said and extended his hand.

"Liz," she replied taking his hand.

"Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," she said. "I'd remember a handsome gentleman like you."

Jacob smiled and blushed. "Thank you Liz. Man, you remind me so much of... you know, never mind. Would you like to come in? I don't have much but I'm sure I can get you a drink."

"Thanks but no. I need to get going. I see you're looking to get an apartment," she said pointing to the application in his hand.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I'm the oldest of five and I'd love to have my own room. The rent is really reasonable and with my job at the market down the street I think I can handle it."

"Well then, maybe it's fate."

"I hope I see you again Liz."

"Maybe you will."

With that, Liz turned and walked away. Jacob looked down at his phone, and turned it on. He looked up but Liz had disappeared. There was one new message waiting for him. It was from an unknown number that didn't look like a phone number that said, "Remember rule #1."

Jacob sighed. He had almost told Liz, and so happy he hadn't. He wandered into his mom's house and proceeded to fill out the application for the apartment. For the next few weeks, the three friends didn't see much of each other outside of school. Jacob was approved for the apartment, and even talked his boss into some extra hours on the weekends so he could pay his rent; buy some furniture and later a car. Jacob also started dating Liz, the woman who found his lost cell phone and found she was a nursing student at the same college Jacob was attending. The day Liz found his phone she had been visiting a friend who lived near Jacob's mom. Though he wanted to share that night with Liz, Jacob decided to keep that one night a secret.

Chris was accepted to the university he'd wanted to attend, but needed to improve his grades. Like Jacob, he had a girlfriend he wanted to share the story of the strange sex party with, but feared the mystery woman would find out and follow through with her threat. He moved away at the end of the semester and now only sees Jacob and Billy during the summer break. Billy however, wasn't so careful. He posted several blogs and told anyone who would listen about the wild sex party he and his friends had with the mysterious unnamed woman. Though he didn't name Jacob or Chris, most could infer they were whom he was talking about. This insistence on telling the story added to the rift between the three friends.

One day, the three boys each received a postcard with a website on it. They entered the address and saw a site called "Tired of Watching" with assorted video clips. There was one specific clip that caught all three boys' attention. It only took a moment for them to realize it was footage of the night the three friends met the woman. However, the only face that could be made out was Billy's. The other two men looked nothing like Jacob or Chris. Even the woman's face did not look the way it had the night the three men had met her. It was clear they had been videoed from multiple angles, and Billy was the star. However, it wasn't the sex acts they remembered that surprised them, but the ones they didn't shocked them. They saw Billy sodomized by the two men and he seemed to like it.

Billy's troubles didn't stop there, as a few days later he was in a serious car accident. Even though Billy survived, his spine had been crushed and he was paralyzed from the waist down, meaning he could no longer walk or get an erection. Jacob still visits Billy occasionally, who still lives with his mom during his rehabilitation, but they no longer share sex stories. Next to Billy's computer is the postcard the three boys received with the website that had the video. The only difference is that on Billy's, it had a hand written note that said, "I warned you!"