The Watchman

Robert Bain lay in his bed unwilling to start another day just yet. Another empty night had passed him by as he morosely tried to tease some life into his stubbornly flaccid cock - but even this small pleasure seemed beyond him. He hit the 'on' button on the remote, stabbing at it with undue force, a measure of his frustration. The small wall-mounted TV glowed sluggishly into life, the VCR within squeaking as the tape wound up to speed.

On the screen, the girl's head fell back, resting softly in gentle sensuous abandon upon the hard mirrored surface. The harsh glare of the cold fluorescent lighting was impotent to disguise or diminish her beauty. Luxuriously long hair had shielded her features, but now they fell away from her face, cascading in soft silken waves over her shoulders, down along the deliciously slender curve of her neck.

The slightly grainy image on the TV screen only seemed to enhance her attractiveness. The CCTV camera that Robert himself had operated when he had made this recording now zoomed into her face. He loved this moment, this precious moment when her face was uncovered, when her innermost feelings were open and clear, freely expressed, seemingly safe that no one could read them – no one could see. No one that is, except for Robert, who had secretly controlled the security camera that had recorded her. It gave him a view of her upturned face, innocent to the fact it was being watched and recorded.

She was young, not more than eighteen. He had tracked her on camera flirting provocatively with her boyfriend, her much older boyfriend, and it was this outrageous performance that had caught his attention. Good looking in that surfer-boy fashion, he was a dream for a teenage girl. He had that sun bleached blonde hair and an athlete's body. She dressed older than her years and certainly acted older.

The boy had led her to this washroom, jamming the door shut to allow them some privacy. But privacy is often an illusion, Robert reminded himself as he watched them from his control room. He had hit the record button on this camera as soon as they had come into the room - he knew what was about to happen. He had watched it happen here a few times and always recorded the resultant fun. But it was this particular tape of these two young people that was his favourite. This tape could usually get him off in no time at all. But this time it was not working for him. He concentrated on the screen once again.

Her face upturned, eyes closed, soft and full lips wet and glistening from her darting tongue. He watched intently as her prehensile like pink tongue coiled itself back inside her mouth after wetting her lips. He watched as she gasped in pleasure, her mouth forming a crimson circle as she moaned over and over again, her head rocking from side to side as her boyfriend worked her most tender place with his own tongue. The camera zoomed back just as the boy left off from his lapping and he stood up, his erection free of his pants, eager to dive into her willing heat.

Perched precariously upon her washbasin, her back against the wall, she now entwined her long legs around the boy's waist as he drove himself quickly inside her. Her mouth opened wide in another silent gasp as the sudden shock of his thickness invaded her.

It was a damned good tape, but still Robert's cock refused to become fully erect in his hand. Nothing was working. His mind wandered away from the image on the TV. Wandered back to that night in the pub last week with the delectable and impossibly young Shelly. He remembered that moment when she had placed her hand upon his knee underneath the table, resting it there for a long secret heartbeat.

That simple touch had sent shock waves through Robert's body, causing him an almost instantaneous erection, just as it did now at the mere memory. Robert fantasised about her hand millimetres away from his obvious desire, the tension within his body unbearable. Slowly, and in his fantasy, she placed her hand over his hardness, feeling him through the material of his straining pants. He imagined her squeezing; feeling for herself how hard his desire for her was, wrapping her cool fingers over the growing heat of his erection. His real erection! Robert gasped and shuddered at his sudden climax.

The pleasure vanished almost as soon as it had arrived, and the depression returned. He hit the 'off' button on the remote. The screen went dead as he lay recovering. The momentary satisfaction of his ejaculation replaced quickly by pathetic reality. If only. He looked around. The small bedroom looked even more grimy and desperate. A fitting reflection of his life to date, he pondered desolately.

Robert hauled himself up to the washbasin and stared at his reflection. His face grimaced as it stared back at him. Dishevelled, thinning dark hair framed a somehow characterless face; a few thin strands of hair fell down over the skin, blotchy and dry from yet another night of heavy drinking, and slightly flushed from his recent horizontal bed exercise.

Thick and blunt fingers brushed strands of hair away with a surprising deftness, patting them back over a balding pate. Underneath a slightly askew nose - the result of a well-aimed punch - dull and slightly stained teeth arranged themselves crookedly. Two were chipped and broken alongside one badly colour-matched crown, evidence of yet other fights.

The deep wrinkles in the skin around the mouth folded into a humourless joke of a smile. Only the deep blue eyes within this morass of human dereliction held any vibrancy, any sign of hope, and an almost imperceptible a twinkle. For the eyes held a secret. They promised an escape.

Robert turned away from the mirror, wondering for the thousandth time what had happened to the young man that had once so recently stared back at him, holding within that youth so much hope and promise. This was his last chance, he knew. And he was determined to take it; after all, what had he to lose, really?

He dressed with renewed enthusiasm, and when he looked once again into the mirror before leaving for work, the face that looked back at him seemed a good deal more positive. Less haggard and defeated. Almost handsome in its ruggedness. Robert looked around the small apartment, the crumpled porn magazines and stolen surveillance tapes that were his only company last night and most nights.

"You deserve better, mate," he told his reflection, "and you have to stop talking to yourself as well," he added ruefully. Robert grabbed his shabby coat and left his apartment as he headed for work.

Not far in mere physical terms from Robert, another man considered his existence within his own self-induced world. The darkness cloaked and protected him like a life long friend, protecting him within in the shadows, keeping secrets from the revealing light. The gloom echoed his dark, opaque thoughts, but Storrington preferred this place where only the brightest objects gleamed, visible only to those that could see, those that had the ability to see. He smiled. He alone could see. He knew that out of this half-light came understanding, even wisdom. The visions he saw, what they said to him, what they told him he must do, were for him alone. And he hugged these precious revelatory scraps of insight to him with an intimate passion, for this was his place. His world, inside himself, was the only world that really mattered.

A broken and grimy pane of glass glinted dully. Storrington stopped and stared at his refection. A completely bland and uninteresting face stared back. Nothing at all about the real him showed on the surface. Except for the eyes. He saw the face smile back at him. Yes, the eyes. Cold and grey, they alone hinted at what lay underneath the bland exterior. That suited him of course. If anyone bothered to look a little closer they might have noticed the scar that trailed down past one eye and along his cheek. The result of one of his chosen ones futile attempt at escape. He touched the slight deformity gently, remembering her screams, and smiled. Apart from that, nothing about his face suggested anything other than boring normality. Good.

Storrington went out of his way to compliment this look. Dressing smartly in suites and always wearing a tie, people just automatically deferred to him. No one suspected. He picked up his mask, rotating the leather garment in his hand. He could not resist the urge to put it on again. He loved the feel of the leather as it stretched tight over his head, enveloping the blandness, transforming him into something else. Now, when he looked at his reflection he saw what he really was. In the dim light of his room, Jeff Storrington's mask shone in its evil blackness. Through their holes his eyes glared his hunger. It was time for another chosen one to come to his special place.

********************

At work, Robert deftly toggled the small rubber control stick just a fraction to the left. He had lost the couple he was tracking just outside the electronics store. It was annoying, that bloody camera fault bugged him. He panned around but could not find them. Then he spotted them on another monitor. They had left the shopping Mall. Outside, the camera dutifully swung around in response to his precisely issued commands, his thick fingers delicate on the controls, then the camera stopped. Satisfied with its position, he then depressed the zoom button. Instantly the couple centred upon the monitor in front of him grew larger until both their faces filled the screen.

"Damn, I wish I had audio on this" Robert muttered under his breath as he studied the man and woman standing together.

They were embracing, and the mans hands were moving inside the woman's coat, fondling her breasts blatantly as she pressed against him. Or were they? He knew they were shoplifters they had been caught before. He had been watching out for them.

.

Almost as if they had overheard him, they turned towards the camera that was silently studying them. Although he was unable to pick up any sound, Robert could easily read the mouthed words of 'Bastard' spoken at the camera. The guy who mouthed the word, then added a few more choice and colourful epithets before he finally spat on the ground, took the woman by the arm, and turned away.

"Yeah, and the same to you, now run away, you runt, I'm watching you!" Robert called after him softly.

"Any problem, Bain?" Asked Robert's supervisor who had suddenly appeared at his shoulder. Mr Jarvis stood just slightly behind him.

"No sir, just keeping an eye on a couple of known offenders"

They both watched as the couple walked sullenly away and disappeared behind some buildings.

"Those two have been trouble for us for some time, but I'm aware of them, Sir!"

Jarvis looked quizzically at Robert, he had seen the close up of the embrace, but had also recognised the couple as repeat shoplifters. He decided to give Robert the benefit of the doubt, he had his suspicions that Bain took a sometimes voyeur delight in his work.

"Yes, they have, good work Bain" Jarvis he told him and walked off.

Outside, as the troublemakers vanished from view, Jarvis walked back to his office without further comment, leaving Robert to continue to monitor the precinct from his control room alone. Robert enjoyed his work. Physically only small, many a larger man had been surprised at his strength. But here in this control room, his physical stature mattered little. Here he had discovered a sense of power mostly denied him elsewhere. Outside he found condescension at best, ridicule at worst. Too small for the police or the services, with no suitable education for a real career, he had taken various bouncing jobs where physical strength mattered and people learned to respect him despite his stature.

He had never married, it seemed his casual jobs and rough nature had precluded that. He had taken to buying his women, but they had not offered him anything more than sex, and he craved that closeness that came with real affection and that, he had finally realised, could not be bought.

Eventually he found his vocation working in security for this shopping mall. Here he was in control. The feeling of power he had was almost an aphrodisiac. But what really turned him on was that he also knew its weaknesses. And now his plan, his escape plan from all his troubles, would exploit that weakness.

He knew the system well, better even than the people who had installed it. He smiled at that thought. Because he had developed another secret, had another power. By carefully studying the 'dead zones' of the cameras, Robert could walk the shopping mall undetected and unseen if he so desired. He could become a ghost.

He had tested his idea only last week, walking the length of the mall during the day, timing his walk to match the area coverage of the cameras, watching them closely. He had checked the tapes the very next day and he was not recorded on any of them. He had done it! He had not been spotted, and that knowledge was power!

That simple knowledge that he could by-pass the system was not nearly enough for him though. It was payback time. His ambitions, at least to him, had been as much thwarted by his physical size as by his abilities. He had been consistently passed over. Younger men were now in position of power above him. Men like Jarvis.

The resentment was a hard knot deep inside him. But he would show them, show them how big a man he was, he promised himself. One day. One day soon. Not that they would ever know of course, unless they caught him, and that was not going to happen. Oh no. He knew the system too well.

That night, he decided to have a small celebration to toast his 'accomplishment'. His local, the 'Kings Head' was not particularly upmarket, but it suited him, being close to where he lived. He felt comfortable here. He could walk home and because he had no need to drive, could enjoy his drink. Sometimes he enjoyed his drink a little too much.

He was well into his fourth beer when the girls came in. He had rather hoped they would. Shelly was with them he noted. Over the last couple of weeks they had become used to him, and had even started to talk to him, rather than just tease him. His persistence was beginning to pay off and tonight he felt even more confident.

"Hi Dawn, Shelly, Joan. How ya doing? Can I buy you a drink?"

"Sure, Rob. You look pleased with yourself? Won the lottery have you?" Shelly giggled as she scanned the room, it seemed she was always on the look out for available men.

Dawn and Joan simply ignored Robert as they somewhat sullenly looked around. They were young and very attractive in a tarty kind of way, but they made it plain they were not interested in Rob - except perhaps for the useful free drinks he bought them.

Shelly though, did seem at least a little interested. Her young and flirtatious manner flattered Rob's ego. Here he was, pushing forty and this fantastic looking young girl, not much older than eighteen, was flirting with him. He went towards the bar to fetch the girls their drinks.

Joan sneered at Shelly as soon as he had left earshot. "What the hell are you doing chatting up that little old guy for?"

"He has something I want" she smiled secretly back. "And besides, I think he is kinda cute, in a rough way... dangerous, you know? "

"Dangerous? Like what? He might beat you up with his walking stick?" Dawn chipped in, laughing. "Or perhaps he is a bigger man in other departments" she added nastily.

Shelly shot her friend a cool look. "I'm not actually interested in HIM, stupid, what do you take me for?" Shelly answered with an exaggerated sniff and tossed her hair.

"No, it's what he can GET me, what he can do for me, that's what I am more interested in" she said mysteriously as she sipped her drink, looking over at Rob standing at the bar.

"Oh yeah?" Joan tartly said. "Well, I think he's an old creep and you had better watch yourself, Shelly"

"Don't sweat it, I can handle him. Don't you worry, as I said, a bit of rough can be fun sometimes" Shelly shot her friends an evil grin and left the two girls looking at each other as she went to join Rob at the bar.

"There ya go, Shelly" Robert handed her the drink as she came up to him.

"Thanks Rob" she told him, standing very close, then followed him as he carried the drinks to her friends. The girls thanked him in a desultory way, turning away to talk with two lads who had met up with them.

"Lets sit down," Shelly said, taking him to a nearby table. Shelly sat close to him. She placed her hand on his knee just like she had done the other week. Rob swallowed and tried to concentrate.

"Rob, do you think...oh, never mind"

"What?" Rob asked.

"Oh, I was just wondering," she said coyly "I was wondering if, well, you know how much I would love to see where you work, all those cameras and things..."

"Oh, yeah, but I can't you know, its security and all that."

"Oh, go on, Robert, I am sure you know a way to sneak me inside, you know I would be ever so grateful" she said teasingly moving her hand slightly up his leg. Her breast pressed provocatively against him. Rob swallowed at the clear sexual invitation. It had been so long since a woman, any woman, had come onto him.

"Well... I might be able to..." He conceded.

"Oh I knew you could!" Shelly exclaimed excitedly, never taking a 'no' for an answer was her motto. "When can you do it?"

Rob sighed. He knew he could lose his job; it was against all the rules. But what he was planning to do was against the rules. He looked at her imploring and excited eyes, but it was the seductive and suggestive reward shining within them, that clinched it.

"I am on a late shift this Friday" the temptation was just too strong. The excitement of the girl on his arm, as well as the chance to show up his employers, and make a better life for himself, was just too much. He might actually get lucky too...with her.

"Come over to gate 4a on Friday after midnight, around 1am, and I will buzz you in. Don't let anyone see you though, ok?"

"Ok, Rob. Oh this is sooo exciting!" Shelly jumped up and down delightedly in front of him, her breasts bouncing. That made him more than smile. The sudden erection inside his pants was almost painful.

Shelly and her breasts stopped bouncing. "But, Rob, I really gotta go now. My friends have something lined up. Thanks for the drink, and I will see you next week, ok?" She kissed him quickly on the cheek, before leaving him standing alone, hard and bemused as she walked quickly away.

Rob stood and watched her leave, wondering what he had let himself in for. Then he smiled, imagining exactly what he might have let himself in for. He wouldn't need that porn magazine or the tape this evening.

Shelly returned to her friends and whispered to Joan and Dawn excitedly. "I got in! Next Friday, he is going to let me into the Mall"

"Oh, big deal!" Dawn sneered.

"Yeah, so what?" Joan added.

"Well, I'll tell you, if you promise not to tell a soul."

Both girls leaned in closer, their demeanour instantly changing from disdain to acute interest, ready for the confidence about to be shared.

"He told me he can do anything he wants in that Mall without being seen"

The two girls looked blankly at her. "Last week, he was kinda drunk, and he told me!"

"Don't you see? With his help, I can get hold of some real cool stuff! He is my ticket to some serious money! And the best part is, he takes all the risks, the fucking idiot!"

Shelly laughed at the wickedness of her plan. All the girls started laughing. "Get a shopping list, girls. Just tell me what ya want!"

The next week passed slowly as Rob anticipated his meeting with Shelly. Then, almost sneaking up on him without him knowing, the long anticipated Friday finally arrived. He swivelled his outside camera and soon picked up Shelly walking towards the gate that he had instructed her to go to. He watched her sway her way towards the gate, and he couldn't help but feel his heart flutter at the sight. Not only his heart, he realised.