The Storm Demon

Braydon stared at the dusty red truck in his driveway before shaking himself and dug the keys out of jean pockets. He fumbled with them briefly, squinting at the collection of keys looped in the key ring and singled out the right key, then unlocked the truck door.

He scratched at his neck, the collar of the button up shirt rubbed against the skin there. The shirt was also a little tight on him across the shoulders and the fact that he had to keep the sleeves rolled to the elbows drove him crazy. But it wouldn't be right if he didn't wear the shirt in exactly that way. The driver's seat had to be shifted slightly back before he could feel comfortable behind the wheel. The radio blared country music the moment the engine started and Braydon winced, tempted to turn it off. But he didn't. Instead he lowered the volume enough for him to tune it out.

The drive to Minnie's house was distracting enough. He thought having the phone GPS set up inside the truck would be too obvious, so he had tried to memorize the route - he had a hell of a time remembering it, but he eventually got there. Braydon pulled up to her street wondering how he should be driving. Should he be snappy and assertive as he pulled up? Or should he do it slowly and carefully?

He got to Minnie's house and had every intention of just getting out of the truck and acting like nothing was wrong. But he just sat in the driveway wondering why the hell he thought it would work.

Minnie would know. She would know right away.

"What took you so long?"

Braydon snapped his head up and his gaze met with Minnie's dark brown eyes. She seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, but then he spotted the screen door of her front door shut and he realized he must have zoned out and not noticed her come out. She grinned, cute dimples flashing on her cheeks as she leaned against the truck door, draping her arms into the truck.

"Sorry, I slept in," Braydon lied.

"Hmm... you can make it up to me by winning me a stuffed animal." Minnie gave him a mock offended look then walked to the other side of the truck and climbed into the passenger seat.

"'Course, baby."

She gave him an impish smile. "And buy me some cotton candy. And ride the Viking Ship with me three times."

"I would do anything for you," Braydon said. He said it because that was what he should say. He felt his mouth grow dry as Minnie's smile widened.

"I know," she said. She leaned towards him and kissed him softly on the mouth.

She smelled like a mix of shampoo and wildflowers, her mouth tasted sweet and soft. Braydon almost let a groan slip out as he leaned into the kiss, tasting her more deeply. Something warm rested on his knee and he realized it was Minnie's hand. He broke off the kiss and shifted back a little, clearing his throat.

"We should get going," he said.

Minnie gave a little pout but he saw the twinkle in her eye. She retreated back to her side of the truck and they pulled out of her driveway and made their way to the fair.

It would be the last night for the fair before it closed up for the season. As they went down the highway and neared the location, they could see the lights of the rides and various tents at a distance.

"Look, Raymond!" Minnie exclaimed over the sound of air coming through the truck windows. "The lights! It'll be a nice view when it gets darker!"

Braydon only nodded. In his head, he could only think about remembering to respond to his brother's name. He glanced over to Minnie, her shoulder-cropped hair flying from the wind whipping through the open window. Was she really unable to tell the difference? He had taken extra care to wear the right clothes and style his hair the right way, but looking in the mirror Braydon thought he still looked different from his brother.

As it was a Tuesday night and with the weather being so muggy, not a lot of people were there. The parking lot wasn't even half filled. Minnie pointed at a remote corner far away from other cars and told him to park there.

"Are you sure? It's quite a walk," Braydon said. But he pulled into the spot she wanted to anyway.

"I thought we should have some privacy," she said, undoing her seatbelt and sidling close to him again. Braydon flicked his eyes down to her mouth, then down to her chest. Minnie only had a thin tank top on and a neon pink bra underneath, the straps showing. Her jean shorts were way too short and showed off the endless smooth skin of her legs. "Kissing you made me horny."

He swallowed and forced his gaze back up to her dark brown eyes. "I don't think we should," he said hoarsely.

"Why not?" She climbed onto his lap and he found himself unable to stop her - she ended up sitting with both her legs on his right and her bottom snug against his groin. "Remember last year? We fucked like this at the fair last year and you loved it."

"Uh, I didn't bring any condoms, baby," he said.

"That never stopped us." Sweet Jesus.

"I... I just thought we wanted to enjoy the fair," he tried again. "It's the last day and all."

Her hands drifted up to caress his throat and he found it increasingly difficult to string words together. Fingers trailed down to his upper arm covered with the shirt sleeve and Braydon stiffened briefly when her touch passed the spot. If she knew about the secret hidden there, the spell would break. His arms tightened around her.

"But this is how we'll enjoy the fair," she murmured. Her hand raised to cup his face to turn it to her. Slowly, they kissed again.

Braydon knew Raymond was never able to refuse Minnie anything. It turned out he wasn't able to either. He felt himself grow hard against her lush bottom as she suckled on his bottom lip. Her arms looped around his neck and he felt like he was drowning in her. The hot muggy day, the oppressive heat, and the ugly parts of life that lurked outside the doors of the truck seemed to disappear as he lost himself in her scent.

Minnie shifted around and unbuttoned her little jean shorts. She laughed as she awkwardly shoved them down the curve of her ass along with her underwear, then settled back down on his lap while guiding one of his hands to her lower belly. He swallowed, feeling the soft flesh there. A protest died at his lips as they kissed again and his fingers slipped down to feel her trimmed pubic hair, then down to her slick slit.

He put in genuine effort to not look, but all his good intentions went out the window when she shifted her hips so his fingers had better access. The soft slickness invited him in and the scent of her arousal filled the truck. His dick jerked inside his jeans, begging to be let out. He watched his finger sink into her warmth as his brain tried to memorize every detail. The feeling of sparse hair against his hand. The way her clit peeked out under her mound.

When he was able to tear his gaze away from her pussy, he glanced at her face. Minnie was looking at him with half hooded eyes, her face flush with heat and arousal. Holding her gaze, he slipped in his middle finger along with his index and teased out a moan from her.

Her back arched in pleasure and the swell of her breasts hovered close to his face. He wanted to bury his face in them - he wanted to tear the clothes off and take them in his mouth. But this wasn't for him. He fingered her faster and massaged her clit with his thumb, pleased as she tightened around him. He was going to do everything for her, just like his brother did.

"Raymond, I'm gonna cum," she gasped in his ear. He turned his head and kissed her sweet mouth.

"Cum on my fingers, baby," he murmured against her lips.

A hand gripped his shoulder as he massaged her clit more insistently. Minnie gave a little gasp and slickness drenched his fingers as she came. He kept working his fingers in and out slowly as she rode out her orgasm, lazily kissing her. After a few minutes she drew in a long, satisfied sigh.

"Did you want to fuck?" she asked.

A thousand times yes. "We should get going," Braydon forced himself to say.

"You want to go out with this massive hard-on?" Minnie wiggled against him, nudging his erection. He gripped her to stop her. He looked down at her and her half-naked body on his lap rendered him tongue-tied. She must have seen the look on his face because she hugged him and whispered: "I want to fuck."

Braydon begged for forgiveness in his head as he nodded. She grinned at him as she shifted again to sit next to him and undid the front of his jeans. Together, they managed to tug it down enough so his dick jutted out. Minnie kicked off her sneakers and pulled off her shorts and underwear, throwing them on the seat next to her.

"I want to suck it," she said, leaning down to kiss the tip. Braydon swore under his breath.

"If you do, we won't be able to fuck," Braydon groaned.

"I know," she said, still grinning. "That's why I'm not gonna."

Braydon prayed he didn't look as dazed as he felt as Minnie climbed back onto his lap, this time straddling him while facing him. His eyes dipped down to her chest and his hands automatically went to her naked ass. She pulled up her tank top and unhooked her hot pink bra. Two soft mounds slipped from under the bra cups. Entranced, Braydon's hands smoothed over her torso to feel her freed breasts. While he was distracted, Minnie positioned herself so her pussy was hovering over his cock.

Growing up as twins, he and Raymond had their share of inappropriate questions. Girlfriends often asked them if their dicks were also identical - some of them wanted to date both of them to find out the answer themselves. Braydon hated it when people did that, but now he regretted a little for never finding out. Was his dick the same as Raymond's? Was it bigger? Smaller? Identically shaped?

Would it be the thing that gave it away?

A part of him expected her to just push him away in disgust as he showed her the most intimate part of himself. But nothing changed in her expression of desire as her gaze ran over him as if he was all she ever wanted. The need in her eyes never wavered. Something gripped at his heart and he drew her close and kissed her deep; at the same time, she reached between them and fitted him at her entrance. A part of him no longer felt guilty as she sank down on his cock - instead he felt angry at his brother for leaving this behind. Raymond and Minnie had something special. While he pretended to be Raymond, he could feel it.

He moaned as a hot wet tightness slid over his cock. The air pumping in and out of their lungs crashed against each other as they kissed. Her fingers dug into his hair, holding on to dear life as she rode him. The truck shook and it must have been obvious on the outside what was going on but Braydon found himself beyond caring. They were both sweating, the humid breeze sneaking in through the windows barely doing anything to help cool them off.

He palmed a swaying breast, lifting offending clothing in the way so he had space to close his mouth over a nipple. Her hand tightened in his hair. Their joining sounded wetter, louder as her hips rode him faster. She was so wet, so warm, so goddamn slick. Will his clothing be covered with her juices? He didn't care. His hands fell down to her hips and grabbed her to drive his hips upwards and plunged deep into her pussy as he swirled a tongue around a nipple.

"Yes," she panted in his hair. "Fuck yes."

He mumbled something nonsensical into the flesh of her breast as he felt her tighten around him. She cried out as a second orgasm shook through her and she clenched tight around his dick.

"Baby," he groaned, pulling her down on his lap and bottoming out inside her. Her pussy kept pulsing around him and he came rapturously inside her. They held each other, catching their breaths in the muggy compartment of the truck.

"I love you, Raymond," Minnie mumbled into his neck.

Perhaps he should feel guilty doing this with his brother's girlfriend. But while sitting in his truck, wearing his clothes and using the words he would use - it didn't feel wrong at that moment. He held her closer, tighter, and she murmured happily. For the first time in three days, he didn't feel hopeless. There was still something he could do.

"I know, baby," he mumbled back to her.

--

He got used to the Viking Ship ride pretty quickly. The worst part of it was waiting in line every time they wanted to ride it. They did everything she wanted to do and he bought her everything she showed interest in. He let her pop cotton candy into his mouth even when he didn't like sweets. He won her three stuffed toys at the obviously rigged carnival stalls, but he kept at it until he got the ones she wanted.

Minnie kept one (a purple octopus) and gave the other two prizes away - one to a traumatized kid hanging out at the exit of the haunted fun-ride, another to a girl who looked like she was the only one alone in a group of friends full of couples. Braydon couldn't help smiling as Minnie randomly complimented strangers or made friends with people they just met in line.

For a moment he let himself believe in the fantasy: they were a couple and she was his girl. Her hand almost never left his as they wandered the fair, her eyes reflected the lights in the most gorgeous way possible when she peered up at him. They chatted about dumb shit but also enjoyed silence with each other. During those silent moments, he stole kisses just to watch her smile.

It all fell apart when he heard the first roll of thunder.

In hindsight he should have known better. The oppressive heat, the building humidity that made the air thick. But a part of him didn't want to recognize it - he clung to Minnie's dimpled smile and ignored the building gray clouds in the distance rolling towards them. This was how he was going to recover, he told himself. This was how he was going to forget.

But the thunder rolled again and he froze on the spot and he had to fight just to draw in a breath. The air had gotten so thick, he could have been convinced he was breathing in water.

"We should head back soon," he suddenly said to Minnie in what he hoped wasn't a strangled voice.

"But I wanted to go through that fun house and then grab a hot dog," Minnie said, pouting a little. "And the lights - "

"It looks like it's gonna rain soon, we won't be able to do any of that if it starts raining."

She looked up at the sky. "It's probably one of those rainstorms that pours for like five minutes then goes away," she said. "We can just sit it out - "

"I'm leaving," Braydon said, hating himself. "You can stay here if you like. But I'm gonna go."

Thunder rumbled again and he flinched but turned away quickly enough so Minnie couldn't see. She wouldn't understand. When the rainstorm comes, a monster appears and there's no hiding from it. The only thing you could do was run.

He only realized Minnie was following him when he was halfway through the parking lot. At the same time, the rain started. Braydon tried to force his hands to stop shaking as he unlocked the truck and climbed in behind the wheel. He barely looked at Minnie who climbed in onto the passenger seat beside him, sullenly clutching her stuffed octopus as he struggled to put the key into ignition.

"You didn't have to be such a dick," she muttered as he got the truck started. He barely heard her.

The rain had started, fat drops drumming over the body of the truck. He had to pull himself together and get Minnie home. This wasn't a time for weakness. The rain had barely started so they could probably get home on time to avoid the worst of it. That was what he was best at - avoiding the worst. Don't confront, don't argue, don't piss anyone off.

You're the good one.

For most of the drive back, he was able to concentrate on driving. He reverted to focusing on the task at its most basic and technical levels, feeling the vibration through the wheel and the hum of the engine through the seat. But after turning into Minnie's neighborhood, his focus crumbled with an onslaught of pouring rain.

Water crashed against the windshield, the wipers doing nothing to clear it. The sound was deafening, filling the inside of the truck and Braydon's head with static and fuzz. It was that day three days ago all over again, the last time the monster came out.

You're the good one. Raymond was always the shitty one, the monster had told him.

Braydon was now openly trembling, barely able to navigate through the streets to the right house. He could hear Minnie saying something but he couldn't understand it. The sound of the rain...the sound of the rain... He managed to pull into Minnie's driveway in front of her small bungalow with torrents of rain punching the windows around them.

He had not escaped the storm, just like last time he couldn't escape it. The feeling of the rain just thrumming through the car body was going to be the death of him, so he had to leave the truck. But then it would mean having to walk through the rain into Minnie's house. He should really be at home, hiding in a room until it was all over. But he was trapped and Raymond wasn't here to save his ass again.

Minnie said something again and she moved, her hand at the truck door's handle, elbow poised to push it open. Braydon froze in the middle of telling her not to go out. She opened the door and the sound of the rain screamed through. In almost slow motion, he saw Minnie get drenched immediately. Behind her, through the open door, he could see the grass of her neighbor's lawn leading up to the screen door of their front entrance.

Lightning flashed, followed by a clap of thunder. Braydon jerked back when he saw his father standing behind the screen door. Impossible. Wildly, he swung his gaze out to the grass and saw Raymond there, a face that looked too much like his own twisted in fear and agony. The rain pounded down as Braydon watched his father throw open the screen door and kick his brother in the face. This was the wrong house, the wrong lawn, yet the scene played itself into reality.

Everyone says that their father's mood always sours during thunderstorms. It was worse when he'd been drinking. It's the air pressure or the humidity, some people would say as if they knew what the fuck they were talking about. Don't piss him off when he's been drinking. Don't argue with him when a storm is brewing. Raymond never gave a shit about any of that.

"All that air pressure bullshit is just an excuse," Raymond would always say. "And being an alcoholic doesn't mean you're allowed to be an asshole."

Braydon always took the diplomatic approach and always discouraged his brother from poking the bear. Now he wonders if all he's ever done was run from problems. Don't confront, don't argue, don't piss anyone off. Raymond always fought.

He said something while his father was in a drunken haze. It wasn't the first time Raymond got beaten for saying something to their father. A part of Braydon wondered if Raymond got bruised and beaten on purpose so that their father would see evidence of it when he got sober. Maybe that would shake him out of it. Maybe it would force him to be a better father.

He thought he could hear the sound of fist on flesh over the crash of rain. The scene played out right in front of him, on the lawn next to Minnie's house. He wasn't there when his dad started the beating. Braydon had arrived too late and was there when he stopped. But now it seemed like he was filling in the blanks of what happened before and was forced to watch it happen.

Rain soaked through his clothes and he realized he had gotten out of the truck and was wandering to the lawn. Raymond had stopped moving when Braydon got to him that day. He wasn't sure at which point he stopped breathing. Their dad had tried suffocating him in the mud that pooled in the backyard. Braydon wasn't keen on knowing if their dad had succeeded.