The Vanishing

"Fuck baby, that's nice. I like that, don't stop."

She kept going, again and again until she was bobbing up and down on his cock as she gripped his base with her hands. He had both of his hands on her head, guiding her gently, not being rough at all. He started writhing and moaning, panting and she knew he was close. She moved faster and harder, shoving his cock as far back as she could with every thrust.

"Comin' baby, comin'! Ohhhhhh!" he moaned, his face slack as he shot into her mouth. Lydia pulled back in revulsion, but kept pumping with her hands as she tried not to vomit. She spit the cum on his belly with the other shots he was spending and he didn't seem to notice or mind.

When he finished, his body relaxed and he smiled, his eyes closed. "That was perfect Lydia. I knew you'd be good with those lips. Grab me that tshirt and wipe me off. Hah. Look at you, all puffed up and proud. Can't hide it now babe, you liked that. It's one of the many things I love about you. You get so proud over things you do well, no matter what they are. Remember when I showed you how to bait a line and you were so grossed out, but when you finally did it, you were so freaking proud you forgot to be icked out? You were smiling so big. Same when it came time to get the fish off the hook. You lit up. Such a small thing and you hated it, but you were so proud when you did it well. Halt complained the whole time and you never came fishing again, even when I asked you without him."

Lydia sat remembering as she wiped him clean. She did remember that, and Mason trying to convince her the next weekend to come fishing with him while Halt was playing video games. She had wanted to go, but Halt had hated it so much. She had decided she hated it too, even though she had enjoyed it at the time.

She tossed the ripped t-shirt in the laundry basket without thinking about it. She turned back to Mason, her eyes down. "It wasn't bad," she said softly. "I will do it again if... when... you know."

He snorted. "And I will let you. But I am still going to fuck you."

"Mason! I'm not..."

"Shut up," he snapped, but he didn't sound angry. "Keep being so good baby, and I will ease you into it. Ok? I know you've never been with anyone. I won't be rough. If you keep being good."

"You act like you think it's because I am afraid of pain! It's not that Mason!"

"Shhh baby. Come on. Don't ruin this, don't piss me off. Lay down here with me a few minutes. When they guys get back, you'll be busy as fuck getting them all settled in."

"Are you really going to try and stay here?" she asked, her voice filling with fear.

"Live, baby. We are going to live here. Why not? Huge house, lots of room. I can be with my friends, be close to you. You and the other chicks can take care of us. It'll be perfect."

"Take care of you?" she asked incredulously, her temper flaring.

He grinned. "Yeah babe. Cook. Clean. Bring us beers." He laughed out loud as she flared up, ready to tear into him with her bare hands. "Chill. I mean fuck us."

"Not better!" she shrieked.

He laughed again and caught her hands as she went to punch him in the face. He rolled over her, amused. "Calm your tits babe," he said with a smirk. He ran the back of his knuckles over her jaw as he looked down at her. "God you are fucking perfect. Mm. Babe, you will be taking care of us. Like it or not. Probably not you as much as the others, but they will be cooking, cleaning, keeping house, keeping us nice and happy. We are taking what we want. No more of this living in fear of the Vanishing bullshit. We are taking what we want. I will fuck you, I will make you come for me, I will take you fishing and offroading. All the things I know you love but didn't do because of Halt."

Lydia was a little beside herself. Mason. Mason Barstow had been in love with her for... how long? Almost as long as she had been in love with Halt. And Halt had never loved her. She knew that, looking back. They were friends, best friends even, but beyond that, he put up with her fawning and adoring advances because he didn't want to lose their friendship. That part was true.

"Don't cry, Lyd!" Mason said helplessly. Not angrily.

He was still an asshole, even if he had been in love with her. Still, she felt lost now. "Mason?" she whispered helplessly.

"Shhh. It's ok babe. Stop crying?"

"I will try. I will. I shouldn't have blown you off... I didn't know!"

He went still and wary. She wasn't just saying what he wanted to hear, she was talking mostly to herself. He knew her well enough to know that it was eating at her. That he had fallen so hard for her and she had ignored him. Like Halt had ignored her. He said nothing as he got up and let her go. He fastened his pants and went and picked up the shotgun and both ejected shells. He pocketed the shells, then turned back to look at Lydia. She was still staring in wide eyed horror at nothing. Remembering. Putting it all together now.

A loud female scream and male laughter made her jerk out of her reverie as she blinked and looked at the door.

"Put some clothes on, Lydia," Mason said gently. "We'll go downstairs with the others."

Lydia half nodded, still a little out of it as she went to her dresser. He watched her cute ass as she moved, loved the way her dark curls hung down her slender back, almost hiding it completely, but stopping at the dimples on her lower back. She had always been stunning, but so aloof and out of touch. Her world had ended and began with Halt and her family. He had been so ready to just charge in and take her, force himself on her, but now he was having second thoughts.

She turned to him, pulling her hair out of the neck of her t-shirt, still looking lost. "They are going to hurt those girls, aren't they?" she asked, her voice faltering. "And you are going to hurt me too. Once you are back with them."

He looked away, then ignored her question. "When we get down there, you gonna be a problem?"

"Depends I guess. I don't plan on sitting back and letting all of you hurt and rape and do what you want with..."

Mason grabbed her arm and yanked her out the door. "Don't give me a reason and I won't hurt you," he snarled in a harsh whisper. He dragged her down the stairs to the living room and she immediately tried to pull away when they reached the bottom.

Warren was on the floor, pinning down Lydia's only female friend, Erica. Erica was screaming around his hand and crying, struggling weakly. Mickey had Sarah Donovan on his lap, her wrists in one hand while he groped her with the other. She had tears in her eyes and a mouse under her eye where she had been hit. Lydia didn't know the girl Nate had over his lap, her wrists in her back and his other hand on her bare backside.

"Stop it! Let them GO!" she screamed, trying to yank out of Mason's grip.

Mason yanked her back against him and picked her up. He sat in a chair and squeezed her tight against him, letting her squirm and struggle while he smirked at her. "Boys. You found friends. No Sophia?"

"Nah, one of her brothers Vanished. They were all together, close. This one was alone though. Out in her yard crying and yelling. Weren't you babe? She won't tell me her name, she's cute though, isn't she?"

Erica was sobbing brokenly, no longer trying to struggle.

"Ric? Was it your dad?" Lydia called softly.

"Lyd? Lyd, I'm sorry. I tried to call, it was..."

"Shut your mouth!" Warren snapped. "Your fucking name is Ric? What kind of name is that for a girl?"

"She just lost her dad!" Lydia yelled. "Stop being an asshole! Let her up!"

"Mason..." Warren began warningly.

Mason only laughed and toyed with one of Lydia's curls.

Lydia squirmed in his grasp and tried to pull away from his hand. "Let her go! Let them all go! You can't just steal people and make them do whatever you want! Let them go!"

"Mason... your property doesn't seem very... tamed."

"Nope. What fun is that?" Mason asked with a smirk. "One of the reasons I wanted her. Lyd, what's her name?"

"She's my friend! And she just lost her father, he was all she had left! You hurt her and I will kill you!" she seethed at Warren.

Mason laughed out loud. "Easy now little bit. What's her name? Warren, if she doesn't answer, you can borrow my belt to use on the girl."

"Her name is Erica! Ric... don't hurt her!"

"Mason, she is really killing our fun," Nate said, landing a light smack on the bottom of the girl in his lap. She squealed and jumped, even though it hadn't been hard at all.

Lydia glared angrily, knowing that he had been hitting her much harder or she wouldn't have reacted so hard. "I am going to kill all of you!" she hissed.

Mason laughed again and took hold of her face, turning her to look at him. He was grinning in real amusement as he looked down at her furious face. "You are fucking adorable," he said, tapping her nose condescendingly.

With a growl of rage, she snapped at his finger, trying to bite it.

"I think I need some alone time with her, get her in line. Give you all some alone time with yours too. There are half a dozen empty rooms, pick one, but try and spread out. I don't need to listen to you assholes fucking and keeping me up. Remember what I said. Get them in line but don't really hurt them bad. No broken bones, no burning, no cutting. Chain them if you have to."

"Fuckin chain her, man. She is the one saying she is going to kill us," Mickey said with a scowl.

"I will handle mine, you handle yours. Nate, who the fuck even is that? I have never seen her before."

"Her name is Bri, she's here visiting family. Was. Now she is my new fucktoy. Aren't you Bri?"

Bri sobbed louder.

Mason carried Lydia back up the stairs then paused at her doorway. He went past it and opened the next door, then the next, going through all the rooms.

"This one," he announced, looking around her parents old room. "It's the biggest and has its own bathroom. And a walk-in closet."

"This is my parents room!" she said almost fearfully.

"They're dead though, aren't they? Not Vanished. Really dead. So it's our room now. Bed is bigger too, I need a big bed."

Lydia broke down crying. "I don't want to be in here! It still... it still smells like them!"

"It's your imagination, there is no way it smells like them after all this time. All I smell is must. This room need's aired out and the sheets need changed. We can box up their shit, we don't have to burn it, but we can put it all in an empty room. Stop crying Lyd, please? This room makes sense. It's big with a big bed. I'm big, I need a big bed. Look at me. Come on, stop crying!"

"Will... will you be gentle? Not break anything? When we box it up?"

"Yeah. I'll let you do the delicate things and I will do the easy shit like the clothes and heavy stuff. Look at me. It'll be cool, ok? I'll go get my four wheelers and I will get you your own. You know how all kinds of shit starts getting sold off next week or so. I bet I can get a bunch for cheap. We'll have fun. Me and you."

"No. No, Mason, we won't. Maybe if you had come, just you and been nice. Told me how you felt. But no, you had to do the biggest dickhead thing you could think of. I feel like shit that I didn't realize how you felt, but that doesn't excuse what you and your friends are doing!"

"Then I guess I don't have to try and be nice, do I?" he asked angrily. "I can just train you like a dog, make you obey. I was hoping it didn't have to be that way, but you..."

A shrill scream and shouts interrupted them and Mason yanked her out the door behind him, hurrying down the stairs. Bri was on the floor, Mickey trying to hold her and Sarah both down at the same time.

"What the fuck?" Mason demanded.

"Nate!" Warren yelled, still holding Erica down absently. "He Vanished! He was right there fucking her and he was just gone!"

Bri was still screaming shrilly, her eyes wild with terror.

"Holy fuck," Mason breathed. "Girl, shut the fuck up! Or I am shooting you in the head. Nate's gone, there's no reason for you to be here. So shut up or die."

Bri settled into hiccoughing sobs and Lydia looked up at Mason in horror. He would kill a girl just because she was inconvenient now?

"Mickey, help Warren. Lydia, sit your ass down right there. You, Ric? Sit with her and be fucking still and quiet. Either of you move or try anything and I am shooting that bitch in the head," Mason said angrily, after pushing Lydia and Erica to a chair in the corner. "Sarah, sit with them, now. Lydia, keep them in line," he said, jerking Bri up off the floor. She was still hysterical and whimpering, her eyes wide.

"He was fucking her when he Vanished," Mickey said, his voice fearful. "She acted all upset, but he had her into it, you know? She was about to get off, you could tell, then he was just gone. She freaked the fuck out."

"Bri!" Mason snapped loudly, shaking her slightly. "Look at me!"

She looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks and she still looked shell shocked.

"Snap out of it," Mason demanded.

Lydia stood angrily and went to Bri, scowling up at Mason as she pulled the taller girl into a hug. "Come sit with us," she said softly, pulling Bri away from Mason and the other boys to the chair. She wrapped her naked body in a blanket and helped her sit down. She took hold of her hand and Ric took the other while Sarah sat on the floor by her feet. "I was holding Halt's hand," Lydia said softly to the girl. "It was horrible. I can't imagine having it happen while... We are here for you Bri. We don't know you, but we are here for you. All of us."

"Warren," Mason demanded quietly, watching the girls. "Go find rope, or chain, something to secure her with. Enough for all of them just in case. Mickey, search the house, find all the guns and knives. All of them."

"You got all of them?"

"They ain't goin anywhere. Hurry up."

Mason sat back and watched the girls comfort Bri and hug each other while Warren and Mickey did as he asked. Warren came right back with baling twine from the barn and Mason sent him off to help Mickey.

Lydia looked over at Mason and the large roll of baling twine and glared at him. He gave her a smirk as he sat watching her. She stood, pulling Bri up. "Come on. Seems there are a few of us here and we'll all be hungry soon enough. I will teach you all how to make my grammy's three bean chili and I have all the fixins for apple crisp too."

She led the girls to the large kitchen and Mason followed, taking his ease on one of the island stools. He watched her show them how to soak beans, then chop tomatoes and apples, explaining everything as she went. The girls huddled close, watching, seemingly glad to be out of the hands of the boys.

Mason was most amused by the stool Lydia dragged around the kitchen. Every time she needed something, she would drag her stool and climb up on it to get it. Not asking one of the taller girls to do it, always doing it herself. She looked up as she was climbing down at one point and saw him grinning at her and she froze as their eyes locked. Warren and Mickey had joined him at the island, sitting back and watching the girls all working in the kitchen, but they went unnoticed as she stared at him.

The spell was broken when one of the girls asked her if the apples were chopped small enough. Lydia looked over, then back at him, but her eyes immediately dropped.

After another ten minutes, Warren stood up. "Teach the others this shit," he said, taking hold of Erica and pulling her out of the kitchen.

"You take her out of here before dinner and you won't get any dinner!" Lydia snapped.

Warren turned his incredulous glare on Lydia, "Bitch, you will..."

Mason stood up then, towering over Warren. "What the fuck did you just call her?" he asked dangerously. "You fucking heard her. You want to eat, your girl stays and helps. You can fucking wait to have your tiny dick sucked."

Red faced, Warren let Erica go and sat back down.

"And it isn't her fault!" Lydia snapped, waving her spoon at Warren. "You try and take it out on her and I'll see you eating rat poison!"

Warren scowled at Mason who chuckled as he sat back down. Mason just smirked at Warren. "How can you not fucking love her?" he asked jovially.

An hour later, Lydia was setting the table when Mickey let out a whimper and Erica cried out. Lydia turned and Mason stood up, but Sarah was gone. Vanished. The plate of cornbread she was cutting still had a knife sticking out of it.

"Damnit!" Mickey yelled angrily. "How is this fucking fair? What are the fucking odds? It shouldn't be able to take two from the same place, that's fucking ridiculous!"

"It's fine," Mason said, sounding strained. "Bri is hot enough, she seems..."

"No! She's too tall. I hate tall chicks, you know that. You take her and I will take..."

"Dude, don't even go there," Warren said. "You know he has had a thing for Lydia since fifth grade. Just stop. I would offer to trade you but my girl is just as tall. At least your girl has an ass now, look at her. Tits, ass, curves. You love curves. Come on man, it'll be fine. Won't it Bri? You'll take good care of Mickey, won't you?"

Bri was trembling as she looked at short and stocky Mickey who was a couple inches shorter than she was. "Do I have a choice?" she asked numbly. She turned away and went to finish cutting the cornbread.

Dinner was quiet and somber, but Mason offered Lydia a smile. "You're a great cook, babe. This apple crisp is amazing. How did I not know you could cook?"

"Halt knew," she said softly. "That's why he was here so much right before..."

"Yeah? Well he didn't tell us. We were still suffering through mom's cooking, the rest of us."

"You're old enough you could have been cooking for yourself," she countered, giving him a level look.

"It ain't like that anymore babe. Families stay together now."

She gave him a flat look, then looked at Bri and Erica pointedly.

He gave her a sad smile. "Sometimes, when nothing is left, we have to make our own families."

She looked back at her plate, her face red with anger. She stood and started dishes, but he pulled her away. "Let the other two clean up. Warren, Mickey, they clean up before you find a room. Come on Lydia," he said, pulling her up to her room. "Grab your things babe, we are moving to the other room. Your bedding for now, your clothes we can get later. No one will touch this room, I'll tell them it's off limits. Come on," He pulled her out and dragged her down the hall, carrying the bulk of her blankets and pillows to her parents room. She went tense when he shut the door, watching him warily as he threw her things on the bed. "Sit down, let's talk," he said firmly, pointing to the bed.

She sat down, pulling a pillow to her lap and hugging it.

"Lydia..." he began, letting out a breath as he pondered what to say. "I fucking adore you. I always have. I also hate you. Do you get that?"

"Yes, I understand it. I spurned you and ignored you, pined after a guy who didn't care about me."

"My worthless little brother," he said, the words making him angry. "I get that you were his friend, but he really was so worthless! He never helped do anything, he used the crap out of you, he used being the baby and the smallest and the weakest to get out of everything. He never had to work or help at the farm. All he did was lay around and play video games and ignore you unless he needed something. It was fucking galling! And you looked at him like the sun rose and set in his ass and he let you. He knew he didn't like girls and he led you on so you would keep pampering him. So yeah, as much as I adored you, I started hating you too. Wanting to see you punished. Wanting to make you see me."

"I see you Mason."

"Yeah, now."

"I can't change the past."

He growled a sigh and stood up, pacing. After several long minutes, he sat back down, his eyes introspective and sad. He stared down at nothing for more than half an hour, then finally spoke, though she wasn't sure he was talking to her. "Nate and I were friends before school ever started. We met on the dirt bike track while our older brothers were racing and we started playing together. We were each other's first friends. I never thought..." he drifted off, his eyes far away.