Gray Shades of Evil

No one followed me back inside. I sat down and thought about what came next. There was the oldest brother, the clan matriarch and patriarch left on the list. They had not been to town in years so I doubted they would come to me. The Sheriff would not dare go out there alone and none of the townspeople would go with him; the phone would be enough for him. It served my purposes but from the look of hope in the people outside staying overnight would serve a completely different purpose.

The townsfolk came inside eventually and sat down uncomfortably around me. The creatures that walked in their night were fearful, but they now thought they understood what the results of my visit would be. Their questions were obvious as they looked at each other.

I sat in the same chair being watched by them for the morning and afternoon. Sally served me a late lunch and waited even longer for dinner. I kept myself busy by cleaning the guns.

Night fell and the doctor came in. He grumbled about putting the bodies in cold storage until the FBI could take possession if I decided they were a part of my investigation. I nodded dismissing him back to the bottle he took his comfort from. Sally served him one and everyone else went back to the day's entertainment of watching me.

I walked upstairs to my room. It would be a good drive to get what I needed and an early start would help.

Karen was sitting naked on my bed. She had her hands on her knees with her head resting on them. Her head came up as I walked in and her hands moved to cover the important parts of her nudity. I closed the door behind me and stared into her blue eyes. She was afraid but more that I would walk out than that I would stay.

"Does your mother know you're here?" I asked her.

"I'm a woman, legally even," she said with a shaky voice.

"So your mother doesn't know you're here," I said smiling.

I took my clothing off and her nervousness ramped up. She was surprised when I walked into the shower. Killing the boy had put gunpowder residue on me. The faint smell of it had made people keep their distance, but Karen needed to be held close.

She was lying down looking at the ceiling when I walked back into the room naked. She looked at me in surprise having been lost in whatever dream she tried to convince herself she was in. I climbed onto the bed and knelt next to her. I was hard at the freshness that her body exuded. She was pale with none of the tan that country girls had. Her mother must have kept her inside as much as possible. She had tight B-cup breasts; her hips had more than a hint of her mother's curves. She looked at me, and her blues cried for me to wrap her in unfamiliar safety.

I smiled at her and pulled her up to her knees. She did not know what to do with herself so I wrapped her arms around my waist. She held on tightly as I opened my mouth and invaded hers with my tongue. She tried to pull away, but I gripped her ass cheeks in my hands and pulled her back to me. My cock rode up her tummy and to the side. She pulled away from it but ended up on her back on the bed. I lay on top of her leaving only enough space that my cock could move on her flesh freely. The kissing got to her, distracting her from what was happening below.

Her hands moved from my waist to around my neck, and she tried to draw me closer to her. I deepened the kiss, and she moaned as sensation swamped her. I moved to lie by her side and placed my leg between hers. It opened her for me, but she was paying attention to the fingers I was trailing on her stomach. I was moving them up and down. She was pushing herself against them trying to make me decide to go north or south as long as I added more fuel to the fire.

I had decided what I wanted from her body so I went south. I touched her pussy lips, and she tried to wriggle away. She hesitated when I split her lips with two fingers and rubbed gently on her clit. She raised her hips as I circled her clit in gentle movements. She moaned as her body found an avenue of release. She opened her mouth, and her tongue extended into mine for the first time. The hunger in her loins was spreading outward, and it was driving her to mindless need. She turned into me and tightened her arms around my neck as pleasure exploded from her clit. She screamed into my mouth, and her tears burned my face with their heat. She gasped her way down from the clouds but did not release her tight grip on my neck.

Trust shined out her eyes as she looked at me, and it was the first step.

I pulled her back up to her knees and stepped off the bed. She held on to me, and we kissed some more. I took her arms from around my neck and put her hands on my hard cock. She studied it with her hands but hid from the knowledge she was gaining in my kisses. I cupped her face in my hands and looked at her. I took a step back and applied gentle pressure to make her drop her head.

She trusted me and wanted to give me anything that resembled what she had felt. She looked unsure but moved downwards until her breath was on my cock.

She looked up at me.

"It's okay," I whispered to her smiling.

She dropped her head so that she was breathing on me again. The first touch of her kiss made my cock surge at her. She giggled because she had to grip tightly to hold my cock still. She kissed me again and looked up. I let her see the pleasure I felt at the sight of her innocence being pushed back by my body. She stared at me and extended her tongue. She tasted me and giggled again at the strangeness. She pushed my cock up and looked at my ball sac. She was curious so she moved to lick me there also. I was sensitive so my cock jerked in her hand. She giggled against my skin as she tried to make me react to her touch. She got the same reaction every time her tongue touched my testicles and she settled down to enjoy the power she had. The long strokes of her tongue forced me to action. I took her head back in my hands and put my cock on her lips. She looked up at me, and I pushed forward taking her mouth. She brought her hands up to the inside of my hips but did not fight me. She had taken me to this point and the small loss of control was a reward.

It took only a couple of slow strokes in and out of her mouth as she learned how to give a man pleasure before I came. It was an appetizing orgasm, not complete as she choked a little in surprise. She did not know how to finish it correctly so it left a lot of the desire unfulfilled.

She looked up at me in disappointment knowing somehow that she could have exercised more power in those moments. I got off the bed and went into the bathroom. I grabbed a glass of water and a towel. Outside, I wiped the cum from where it had hit her body, and she drank the water to clear out the flavor that was left.

She handed me the glass and I put by the night side table. I grabbed her legs and pulled her to the edge of the bed. She gave a small yelp of surprise as she tumbled backwards. She gave another yelp and tried to push me away when I licked her for the first time.

She tasted of a remembered innocence.

I did not bother with preliminaries and brought my tongue to her clit as soon as I recognized the flavor of her inexperience. I used long strokes like she had on my testicles. They affected her like I had been except she tried to pull away. I wrapped my arms around her thighs and kept her in place. She screamed as I concentrated on her clit exclusively. She fought even harder to get away until her body decided it actually wanted more contact. She pushed her pussy at me and tried to sit up at the same time. She let out a scream when her body caved under the pleasure I was flooding her with. She tried to get away again when I did not stop but I tightened my hold on her. She screamed again when I forced another crest of sensation.

I stood up but she was in a maelstrom of physical sensation so did not react. I pushed down on her legs so that her knees were by her breasts exposing her pussy. She reacted to the warmth of my cockhead as I found her opening in my first thrust. She arched her back as I entered to her body resistance. She sat up and looked at our joining but did not react in fear. I pulled back and ripped aside what was left of her maidenhood. I thrust into her without remorse at her scream of surprised pain until I was fully inside her body. Her hands came up, and she clawed at my sides in reaction. I pushed her legs down harder and pulled back. I thrust into her taking the last reserves of depth her body had to give. The pain passed quickly until she felt only the discomfort and the mental side of knowing she was a woman in more than just years.

I relaxed inside her and enjoyed the tight feel of her as she surrounded me. I felt her body fighting me, accepting me, and then caressing me in passionate curiousity. I waited for the experimental movement of her hips before I made her body mine. I pulled back and thrust completely into her again. She reacted with a small amount of trepidation but the discomfort was equal to the pleasure. She had been prepared by the pleasure of foreplay to want more, and she relaxed reaching for what was left for her to experience.

I used long possessive thrusts out and into her. She brought her hands to my hips and stroked my flesh in a desire for more power without knowing what she was asking for. I gave in to her request and sped up my thrusts. She dug her nails into me in thanks and to spur me to harder thrusts. I toned the speed down but added force to my downward thrust into her.

Her first orgasm with a man inside her surprised her in the difference. She thought she knew what it would be like, but her eyes opened wide as the orgasm centered inside of her body instead of her clit. I knew it felt more complete because her pussy squeezed me hard insisting I join her in pleasure. I thrust one more time into her and let the orgasmic pleasure of her body caress me deep inside. It took me from the edge and over as her body cradled me to take my seed. I pulled back and thrust again. Her mind rewarded her by releasing a smaller explosion of pleasure as I gave her more wet warmth to hold inside her.

No one questioned it when I announced that they should try to stay in town the next few days. The Sheriff looked like he was going to protest but his renewed courage only got me eye contact. I let him see again that he would die with everyone else if he got in my way. He waved at Sally for a drink.

The drive was long but it was one of the few storage facilities that had met my needs. The drive back was relaxing, and I arrived at the same location my sister had parked her car when she took pictures of the Merchant house. She had written everything down, as had been her organized way since I could remember. Her notes were all I needed as scouting and to plan for expected reactions.

The rest of the Merchants would be waiting in their den. It had been a deathtrap for anyone that had entered it, and they would feel safe waiting for me there. They knew I was coming; the deaths had been too specific. I knew the Sheriff at least would have given them details to keep himself alive even the littlest bit longer.

I changed into the clothing I had prepared for the night. The parking site was about two hundred meters from the location that my sister had used for her pictures. I used the time getting to the second site to adjust to the light and sounds of the falling night. They were creatures of habit and I did not expect to wait long.

I was only watching the house for an hour before the oldest son came out. He did not have the size of his stalking shadows or the looks of the bait but even from the scope I could tell he was the most dangerous.

The bullet from my rifle went through his left knee. His death would not have required a scope, but that was not my purpose. The bullet was solid ball and the powder was the most I could load in the shell safely. The lead went through bone and cartilage coming out the other side in almost the same shape it had entered. The exit wound would only be a little bigger than the entrance. His knee was not shattered so much as it now had a nearly perfect .308 hole through it.

The night echoed his scream and lights came on in the house. I had one shot at a shadow in a window but I had a life to save. I moved slowly watching the house. The lights went off but a bullet next to a still visible figure made it pull back into the darkness. Another bullet into the house from meters away from the now unconscious body left me secure enough to tie a tourniquet on the leg I had shot. I handcuffed his arms behind his back.

I moved around the back of the house and shot the fleeing woman with the tranquilizer. She did not feel it and kept running. She dropped after about fifty more meters since I had used a gentle drug to make sure there were no accidents. I shot a couple of times into the house to get the old man's head down and handcuffed the woman.

I gave the old man a half-hour to think about his fate before I broke an upstairs window and entered the house through the back door. The old man shot into the room the window had broken in placing his location for me. The house was unfamiliar inside, but his confusion at the empty room gave me time. He was turning out of the room when the dart hit him in the throat. His hands moved to his neck but a couple of shots rushed him backwards into the room. I heard his body collapse a minute later. I had to be careful because he was out of my sight but five minutes later I had him handcuffed also. I checked out the rest of the house. The basement had flanks of their latest victim hanging from hooks but my sister's head count had been correct.

I dragged the old man beside his son and moved the old woman to the same location. I ran to the car and pulled it next to the bodies.

It was a long night setting up the crosses and stands for them. I drove in three cross setups into the ground. The setups were four planks wired together with an opening for the cross when I propped it up. I tranqued the Merchants again before I tied each to their cross. The crosses were as tall as I could make them and still be able to stand them up on my own.

I did the oldest son first. I tied him securely to the cross but not enough so that it prevented blood flow. I stood the cross up on its side and slid it back into the gap between planks. I had run a rope through the cross but it was still a tough pull back to stand it up. I leaned it on the opposite side of the opening and tied the rope off to the car. I hammered long nails into the planks closing the gap. I closed the wire loops so that the planks could hold the cross up on their own.

The old woman and man were easier to do since they did not weigh as much as their son. I went into the house and brought a chair for my sister and I. The funeral home had done a good job with her face. I sat her gently in the chair so that she faced the Merchants.

I placed the cooler of food next to my chair and waited.

Exposure and starvation take a long time compared to how much faster modern technology can bring death. The blood loss made the son the first to leave us. The ravens pecking at his flesh broke the parents. The son had threatened me but was too weak even from the beginning to make it meaningful. The old woman had harangued her words at me while the old man had threatened also. The first peck of the ravens at their live flesh made them plead for their life. The screaming made the ravens fly away for a couple of hours but the braver ones came back. They settled in to make a meal of the son, and it taught the father and mother fear.

They lived in horror for their extra day of wakefulness. Eventually their bodies gave in and unconscious took them. I decided not to wait and set their crosses on fire. The pain was enough to wake them from a near painless death as a fiery one embraced them instead. I set the son on fire only after their crosses collapsed. The house burned like it was made of tinder.

It was early afternoon so I found the burial spot for my sister without a problem. It was hot work digging the hole and lowering her casket into it. I buried the straight razor, garrote, sheriff's shotgun, shotgun pistol, rifle and pieces of the crosses with her.

I walked back into the town and they were waiting for me. The fire was still burning in the horizon but no one asked me any questions. The Sheriff looked angry with me. I kicked him solidly in the groin as I passed him. The kick to the head knocked him out resolving any possible problems.

"Lock him in a cell," I told the sycophants. Their eyes were wide with fear even greater than the one they had felt around Deputy Gus. The townsfolk had taken a step back from me and it cleared the road to the hotel.

Sally put a glass of ice water by my hand before I sat down. Most of the townsfolk stayed outside wanting to make sure I left them alone. Melissa and Karen came inside. They helped Sally make a meal for me. It was the first real meal I had in a few days. They stood around me waiting to see what was next.

I pointed all three of them towards my room. They gave each other surprised looks, but the Merchant home was like a burning bush reminding them what I was.

It was the first time in years I had been with more than one woman.

Sally getting out of the bed woke me up. I went back to sleep when the sensor marked her passage downstairs. I only slept an hour after that. I decided against having either of the two women left when I woke up. They were cuddled naked against each other; Karen was wrapped in her mother's arms, and they slept without fear for the first time in years. The night had given them security of being the pleasure of the only thing they feared now.

Sally put breakfast in front of me when I came downstairs and sat down. I smiled at her and used the throwaway cellphone I had been given. I ate while the hotel filled with people. They were watching me carefully afraid to make too many moves, which might make me decide that I had not fed enough yet.

I walked outside and watched the purposeful cloud of dust that approached the town from the same west that I had entered it. The people put hands above their eyes and watched it with me.

I turned east and started to walk out of town.

"Wait!" Sally said reaching out an arm. I turned towards her.

"You're not Agent Lyndell," she stated. The townsfolk were looking at her, angry that she had forestalled their escape.

I shrugged.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Jason," I said. "Jason Stewart."

Sally nodded to herself as her eyes blanked for a moment.

"Catherine said it would be okay," she told me. "She said the worst that could happen was you would come."

My sister had said something similar to me once. We had been huddled in my room as our father had rampaged through the house looking for us. She had touched my face and turned to be the focus of his disappointments.

I held on to her hand.

"The worst that will happen is you'll kill daddy someday," she whispered to me.

"She would say that," I said before turning and walking out of Conception.

-----

EPILOGUE: ONE MONTH LATER

The Senator was standing next to the tree that the Mexicans had almost crashed into avoiding his youngest daughter. One of the men was now their driver, and the other accompanied his daughter wherever she went. Their legal immigration had been pushed through the system at the Senator's request.

His youngest daughter stood staring at the words carved into the tree.

R.I.S.
Catherine Stewart
Loving Sister

"What does it mean?" she asked her father.

"Rest In Silence," the Senator said the words he had been given.

"He did it for her?" she asked looking at her father with only some of the fear that had lived there for four months.