Invisible Pt. 01 - The Ring

CW: questionable consent; unsafe BDSM; misogyny; rape references

It was pretty difficult, being invisible.

The last few weeks of my first year at University looked like they were going to be spent the same as every other week had been since I got there - alone, in my room, either watching some stupid Netflix show, cooking bad dinners for myself, or, and I wasn't too proud of this, masturbating furiously to the images of my course mates.

We were all, technically business students - but it had come to my attention that for some, a Business Degree was a piece of paper used to validate the position they were already guaranteed at their parent's business, and for everybody else - me included - it was a laughable testament that we hadn't bothered to actually start a business; that instead of pulling ourselves up and spending our time properly, we were cowardly hoping our qualification would get us a job.

So, when I locked the door to my little flat in halls, where I could still hear my flatmates through the cardboard-thin walls, put on enough music to drown myself out, and opened up the instagram accounts of the bikini-clad way-paved girls on my course, and began my near-nightly ritual of fucking myself with a fleshlight I'd gotten as a joke a few years ago by friends who'd cared about me, but I'd moved away from, I had to admit something to myself.

This was a really sad way to spend a Saturday night.

Then, at ten-twenty-three, I opened up the tried-and-true photo album of the woman I had my heart set on - Olivia Homely. Typically, I would go between images of her sunkissed smile, stunning body in a tight bikini from a year ago as she partied her way around Spain, looking desperately girl-next-doorish next to her slutty friends. She was brunette, tight-bodied but with a modest chest. Her arse was, especially in person, by far her greatest feature, and I knew I would give anything for a chance to feel her full, warm cheeks against my cock; to pull them open as the shiny, lubed-up winking hole of her virgin anus waited for me; to slide deep into her, before butt-fucking her like the anal slut she should be. In class, it was distracting. Here, in bed, with lotion being worked into my length and the whole night to kill, it was the closest I got to happiness.

But, tonight was different. Instead of the usual selfies she had at the top of her photo timeline, the ones of her smartly-dressed and smiling in the sort of way that would get her on a corporate catalogue one day, she had been tagged in something.

She was out.

Her top was... revealing - a tight, pale little number that blended into her fair skin, making her look almost topless at a glance. Her skirt, though - that was what caught me. It was tight, and hugged her rump perfectly, whilst also still being a skirt.

I checked the person who had tagged her - Jennifer Aisling. A true slut if ever there was one, she'd been around most of the guys who took the EU Finance and Logistics electives; blonde, busty, and brazen.

But, even though Jennifer was just about falling out of her own dress in some of the photographs she'd posted, it was too much for me to look away from Olivia. When I did, however, it was on the third photo she'd posted - because it wasn't one of them, nor of where they were. It was a photograph of Olivia's phone, which clearly stated the time as 10:19. I checked the upload time - 10:21.

They were being uploaded just about live.

'Fuck,' I muttered to myself, realising that they were out now. Olivia was out, in town, in that skirt, right now.

And, just like that, I was in research mode.

I didn't have Olivia on a lot of social media, but the simple fact was that if Jennifer had posted in one place, she would have I'm a few - and some websites have geotags.

It was easy, then, to figure out that she - at least, Jennifer, but I assumed they were still together - was at, or around, a corner about a quarter mile away.

It wasn't a long walk, and I knew from having walked that way to get the bus into town and back, that there were a smattering of nightclubs, bars and takeaways around there. As I pulled on some jeans, a clean - or, at least cleaner - t-shirt and jacket, I figured I could just go. Just get down there.

There was a funny, if a little date-rapey, quote from Superbad that I was reminded of as I thought about why I was doing what I was doing.

I could be the mistake she makes, I thought. It wasn't about getting a girl drunk, or taking advantage. It was just that... if I wasn't given a fighting chance, there was no way I was ever going to get close enough to try anything.

When I was dressed, with a splash of cologne to boot, I reloaded the photos of Olivia, and saw that they were still in the same place, uploading more photographs of Olivia's skirt stretched over her arse, the slip of inner thigh visible in the lamplight filling me with the sort of vigour that had escaped me for so long.

It was a short trip through the flats, the adjoining doors along the communal corridor all shut, the residents likely out and about as well. All students, all with better lives than me. I could hear them sometimes, through the walls, laughing and drinking and fucking. I didn't even really know their names, and I reckoned they didn't really know mine, either. One of them knew I was a fan of Lord of the Rings, as he'd walked in on me watching a marathon once, going into my room by accident. He recognised what it was, yelled 'Frodo!', laughed and left. Whenever I had to interact with him, he called me Frodo, now.

With the electric fob in my pocket, I let myself out of the block, down through the carpark, and out the metal gate, into the night air. It was cool and dry, and the lack of wind made it easy to pretend it wasn't later than, say, seven.

On a whim, I glanced over my shoulder, that feeling of being watched tickling the hairs on my neck. Behind me, I glanced, and saw a figure - maybe a guy, tall, and wearing one of those flat-caps I'd seen older farmers wearing. I couldn't see his face, because the cap hid him under shadow, but the jacket made me think he was old.

There was nothing... interesting about him, aside from the fact that he seemed totally out of place. Like he'd arrived here from a farm a hundred miles away, and that he had every right to be just as confused as me. Instead, however, he was just... standing.

Watching me.

I nodded, and turned away, putting my mind to the task.

It was a strange feeling - after weeks of basically staying to one side, as out-of-the-way as I possibly could, I was all of a sudden seeking things out. So long of staying in the back of lecture theatres, wringing my skinny hands and hoping no one saw me, I was now... going to people. Seeking them out. Well, one in particular.

And, then, all of a sudden, I was standing outside of a cheap-ass pizza place called Davino's, and there she was. My eyes caught hers for a second, before she looked away, back to Jennifer as they waited for a slice of something that was supposed to resemble pizza. So, I let my eyes drift, too - looking down at her nude-coloured top, the drift of her shape, her curves, and that arse.

Then, as a laugh from inside caught my attention, I looked back up, and saw Jennifer openly pointing at me.

What the fuck, I read on her lips, as she turned away, Olivia doing the same.

And, I saw the confused look of something on her face. It took a moment to register as disgust, but when it did, I stumbled back. Like I'd been punched in the gut.

I had every intention of approaching her, of trying my luck, shooting my shot. The way they told me to online, the way they did in the movies. But it didn't work that way, not for me.

Never for me.

Not really knowing what to do, I turned on my heel and walked across the road, barely registering the fact I was walking into a park, where the shadows shuffled and the trees loomed overhead. As I walked in, past the deep-brown gates, I saw that flat-capped man again, walking up the road in my direction. I cut across his path, and into the park I went, away from the humiliation behind me.

They caught me looking, I thought. And she LAUGHED at me. I was furious. At myself. At Jennifer. Even at Olivia. After all, she had... ensnared me in her gaze, caught me in her gravity. How the hell was I supposed to act?!

A fat drop of rain, or dew, or something hit my head, and I stopped dead, nearly screaming. I was so angry.

'At what?' a voice asked, from behind me, and I span. There, between the shadows, backlit by the light spilling in from the road, was the man in the flat cap, illuminated in such a way as not to show me his face, nor any detail about him that wouldn't be seen through the haze of a dirty window.

Then it hit me - he'd responded to me, being angry. But, the thought of it. Or, had I said it out loud, and just not noticed?

'A girl?' he asked, the gravel in his voice thick and low. I could hear the smile he gave in his words.

I frowned at him, and turned away, half because of my complete lack of social skills throwing up their empty hands in defeat at being confronted with such a strange person; half because I was still furious, and I needed to let it out.

But, when I turned, I bounced off something that was all of a sudden right in front of me. Confused and annoyed, I looked up and saw the flat-cap man, now directly in front of me, the light now on his face, his eyes piercing and trained on mine.

Then, his eyes flitted over my shoulder, and a smile came to his old face, pulling wrinkles into creases.

I turned, and saw the lights of Davino's shifting, only to realise that it was because there were people in front of the takeaway's window. People who were heading towards me.

'Little freak went this way!' I heard, and my stomach dropped. Then, pushing past the flat cap man, I ran into the park - into the deep of the shadow, away from the road.

'There!' I heard somewhere behind me, and I turned left, coming out into a small skate-park that was nestled between the trees; in the center stood the flat cap man, watching me, amused.

'Check your pocket,' he said, his voice quiet, and yet impossible to ignore.

So, as I scrambled over a low fence, and down a ramp towards a tunnel that led towards a different exit, I shoved my hand into my pocket, and found inside something hard. Metallic, maybe.

Round.

I pulled out the ring that impossibly had manifested in my pocket. I wondered if the flat cap man had slipped it in when I had bumped into him;

And how had I bumped into him again?

The thought escaped me, as I realised I'd made a mistake - the tunnel was short, and came out within view of the road I had darted off in the first place - meaning I came out directly to the girls' left. They were bickering amongst themselves, and it seemed like Olivia was trying to get Jennifer to leave - probably because the park was dark, and she had the sort of sense Jennifer didn't seem to show.

I froze, hoping the dark of the trees and the distance would stop them from being able to see me. A moment passed, and all I could do was listen from the dark, peering in on them, no different to how it had been back in my room - me watching, unseen.

Then, as my eye flitted down to the thing that had appeared in my pocket, I felt him. The breath on my back, the presence in the air.

As I looked down at a small silver ring.

'Put it on,' he said. 'Before she sees.'

But, as he spoke, I turned. Stupid and loud, I kicked a rock that knocked another, and Jennifer's head snapped towards me - cutting through the dark like a torch.

And, as I ran up the ridge, she followed - and there was no flat cap man.

'Get here, you freak,' she howled, and I could hear the slur of alcohol in her voice - probably the thing keeping her going into the dark, and the thing that had made Olivia so hesitant to let her go into the park after me.

It was also the thing that made me unsure whether she would stop when she got me.

I turned, following a wall, to find it was a dead end. A bike rack, and a bin, with a wall all the way round. If I turned back, and ran, I might be able to get away from her, but I couldn't run. My chest was heaving, my heart pounding, my mind racing.

So, I did the last thing I could think to do.

I did as I was told, and put on the ring.

Almost on cue, the flat cap ma, walked out from behind me, despite him not being there less than a moment ago - and, just as promptly, Jennifer rounded the corner, her face red and her hair a mess of dewey humidity.

I went to say something - to apologise, explain, something, but the flat cap man's hand clamped over my mouth. His hand, cold and thick, surprised me, but he was stronger than I thought he would be.

I watched, silenced, as Jennifer frowned, looking around. Which was strange. I was... literally less than a meter away. In no more darkness than before, either.

'Where did he...' she muttered, before turning around, and stumbling away, her drunken mind telling her I must have snuck off somewhere.

After a beat, the flat cap man let his hand off me, and I pushed him off.

'What - wh- what the fuck?!' I hissed, having the sense not to shout.

'I know you,' he said. 'A boy who feels invisible, yes? A terrible quality.'

I frowned. 'What the fuck are you talking about?!'

He laughed softly, close enough for me to realise how much taller he was than me. 'I see myself in you. That,' he said, nodding to my hand - or, the ring attached to it, 'will teach you lessons few people learn. And you can make that quality of yours into your strength.'

Then, right before me, he was gone. Just like that.

Vanished.

Then, I heard her voice.

'Jen? JEN?' Olivia called through the dark. It occurred to me that her friend had gone running off into the dark, leaving Olivia afraid and alone, free either to walk away, or to chase her. Apparently, she'd chosen the latter.

I walked, quietly, down the concrete pathway back towards that tunnel; as I peered into it, I saw a figure step out, cautious and slow, peeking into the dark.

It took me a second, because of how she was crouching and the way her hair fell across her face, to realise it was Olivia.

Then, it took me a second to realise that she hadn't seen me.

I frowned - it was dark, but it wasn't that dark - the meter between us shouldn't have don't much more than make it creepy for me to be that close unnoticed. I watched, confused, as she turned, her head on a swivel as she searched for her friend - until her eyes washed over me.

I could tell she couldn't see me. It would be hard to explain how - maybe that her eyes just didn't seem to focus on me, or because her sight line didn't meet my eyes, or something else. But I could just tell she was facing me, not looking at me.

At which point I remembered the flat cap man, and the ring, and the vanishing, and I put it together.

'Can you hear me?' I asked, tentative and quiet, but easily close enough to be heard.

Olivia didn't react. She just... walked away, searching for Jennifer.

And, all of a sudden, I was watching her arse as she watched; the sway of her hips, the way it filled her skirt. Before me was the subject of my fantasies, the thing I had watched, hungered over from a distance - and now she was here, alone, unable to see me.

A dark thought came to me. The kind that made my stomach drop as I realised the position I was in. What power I had here.

Before I knew what I was doing, though, the temptation took over.

I reached out, and filled my hand with her cheek - soft and pliant, warm, wonderful.

Olivia froze, took a moment to think, and span, swinging her arm out. I saw it coming, and ducked, pulling my hand back, and watched as the confusion came over her. Her eyes darted around, before she seemed to decide it wasn't worth the trouble of staying - and ran.

In heels.

She made it half-way up the park path, her steps unsteady and wobbling, before she mis-timed her footing enough for the heel to snap, and she dropped.

I went after her, more to help than anything - the sight of her so scared and in pain was horrid. But, as I found her, rolling on the muddy concrete, her top riding up and a rip in her skirt that split upwards each time she moved, I couldn't help it.

She didn't hear me approach. She didn't hear my heavy breath. She couldn't see the hands which, with tentative dream-come-true apprehension, stroked up her bare stomach, slipping beneath the fabric of her top.

Her eyes, wide and fearful, didn't see me. Her hands, swatting wildly at the air, missed me completely.

And she felt so good. Soft and supple, the way I knew she would have been.

So, I pushed further, as Olivia swatted and hit my arm. Her fingers closed around my arm, and her face changed as she realised she was touching something. Something invisible to her.

'Fuck...' she whispered, not knowing what to do as my fingers found her lack of a bra, sliding easily over the perfect curve of her tits.

I sucked in a breath as I felt her nipple, hard yet soft against my palm. Her face, a muddled look of fear and confusion, just watched her own hand, clamped around my arm as I felt her.

I was touching her.

And it was heaven.

'Liv?!' We both heard Jennifer's voice coming in through the trees, Olivia's head swivelling to the sound of her friend, as reality started to set in. In a moment, I had a decision to make - go further, or pull back.

Then, as she kept pulling and grabbing at me, her hand travelled up my arm, to my shoulder, and I realised something.

I wasn't just touching her. Olivia was touching me.

This was the closest I'd ever gotten to her, and all it took was for her to not know who I was.

Her hand travelled up my shoulder, my neck, and I felt a shiver go through me as she felt my hair in her fingers - unseen to her, but completely real.

I'm real, I found myself thinking.

'What the fuck...' she whispered as I pulled back, my hand leaving her pert tits in a show of restraint I wasn't entirely sure would hold up if she kept going.

But, she did. It seemed like pure curiosity at that point - like she was so enamoured with the impossibility of what was happening, the fact that she was on the ground, in the dirt, her perfect tits smeared with mud from my fingertips - none of that mattered.

I pulled back, sharply, out of her grasp, as Jennifer rounded the corner. The blonde was wild, and as her eyes focused through the darkness on Olivia's stunned-still form in the ground, she shrieked.

I stumbled back, out of reach as Olivia swatted for me - for her invisible molestor. As Jennifer found her, and pulled her up to her feet, I kept back. In the shadows.

Unseen.

The two of them checked they were both okay, and after a moment of exchanging nothings, I noted that Olivia didn't say anything about her mysterious encounter. Instead, she took Jennifer's arm as they found their way back through the dark.

I followed them a little, but as my heart rate hammered in my chest told me it was time to quit while I was ahead, I listened. I turned right, away from Davino's, and towards my block of flats.

Once I was away, and the road was clear, I pulled off the ring, and it was as though I could breathe again. Air found my lungs, my footsteps crunched into the gravel, and my heartbeat was heavy in my ears.