Zombie

"How did you-?" She looked confused and weak suddenly. "You are zombie. Zombie can't break from their master by themselves."

"It's time for you to go, Sandra." Claudette said coming to stand beside her. "But before you do..." Claudette lifted her hand a blew powder into Sandra's face.

She spoke to Sandra for a good couple minutes in Creole which I didn't understand but Ben would nod in agreement from time to time. After she was done, Sandra had an odd look on her face. It seemed happy and wistful and more than a little confused.

"Tante Claudette?" She asked.

"Come on, chile. You've had a long day. You're gonna stay with me for a while." Claudette turned back to smile at us. "You two think you can stay out of trouble for now?"

"I think we can manage it." Ben smiled.

"You did good for a white city boy." She said to me.

"I did my best."

Claudette took Sandra away and Ben walked me outside of the cabin. The moon was full and bright over the water and a cool breeze chilled the air.

"Happy Halloween, Ben." I said.

"Is it?" He asked with a smile.

"Yup."

"Well, ain' dat something." He chuckled and stopped by the water to stare at the moon. "I can do anything I want now, Dylan. I'm free. You have no idea what that means."

"I was only a zombie for a few hours. I couldn't imagine what it was like for you."

"It was hell and dis-." He took a deep breath and spread his arms wide. "Dis is heaven."

"So now that you can do anything, what's the first thing you want to do?" I asked. He turned around and smiled at me.

"First, I'd like to thank you proper for being so nice to me and taking care of me. Not many people, 'specially city people would take care of a zombie as good as you did."

"Don't worry about it." I said, feeling myself blush a bit. "I was just doing what any decent person would do in my situation. But I'll be happy to get home and get some rest. I'm exhausted."

"Why don' you do dat. You deserve a rest."

"I was hoping you'd come with me." I had a sinking feeling that it wasn't going to happen.

"Dere's something I gotta do." Ben said and glanced at the porch of the cabin where Margo stood staring out at the moonlit bayou.

"So when we were in your cabin, I saw her picture on your wall. I thought she was your sister." I asked.

"No. Margo's not my sister." He said, flatly. "She's my fiance."

"Oh shit." I answered, just as plainly. In such a short time this zombie had come to mean a great deal to me and now he was leaving. I had to remind myself that through all of this we hadn't had the opportunity to get to know one another or learn of each other's past. And his apparently was more colorful than I had imagined. "Um.. so this just got weird."

"Yeah."

"I mean, weirder."

"Yeah."

"Cause you were a zombie."

"Yeah."

"And we....you know... in bed."

"Yeah."

"And now she's...."

"No, I get it, Dylan." Ben chuckled a bit. "Dis one hell of a mess, fo' so'." He made his cajun accent so thick it damned near dripped off his lips. I chuckled and as I considered the time we had spent together began laughing whole heartedly. His smile was wide until finally his laughter rumbled out.

"You gonna be ok?" He asked.

"Let's see, I've dealt with zombies and voo doo queens and a voo doo queen turning me into a zombie. Yeah, I think I can handle getting out of the bayou by myself." I winked, trying to seem cheery and Ben smiled.

"All right, but if you run into any vampire just tell them you know Claudette. They'll stay away."

I laughed and shook my head at his joke but he just looked confused as to why I was laughing.

"You did good, Dylan." He said, leaning in and kissing me gently. "I can never repay you."

"You don't have to." I said and watched as he walked back to the cabin, his fiance and his life.

The motel room seemed even shittier than it had when I first arrived. I lay on the bed and complained to the empty room about it being uncomfortable. I kicked off the blanket for being cheap and smelly. I cursed the walls for being painted a dull, uninviting color. It was a few hours of this before I realized that it wasn't any cheaper or shittier or more uncomfortable than it had been when I arrived. Just emptier. It was empty without Ben and I knew it wasn't just that room. I was emptier without him. He had grown on me and now he was gone. But at least I still had my work.

The next day dawned bright and colorful with no hallucinogens in my system. I drove to work and sat at my office for less than two minutes before Bud LeDeux barged into my office.

"Just think you can take the day off when you feel like it?" He started. "I called corporate and told them all about you and the little romps you've been taking. They were mighty interested in what I had to tell them."

"Listen Bud, I don't have the time nor the desire to speak with you today. I'll be finishing up here and leaving tomorrow."

"That's Mr. LeDeux to you!" He huffed out, enraged. "I'm a manager here and I deserve some god damn respect!!"

"You're a manager here at the company's whim and after the report I'm filing I wouldn't be surprised if you're fired out right!! You're a stupid, lazy ass who shouldn't be in charge of cleaning the bathrooms much less the operation of this factory!! Now get the fuck out of my office and start planning what the hell you're going to tell my supervisors when they call to ask you just what in the hell is going on down here!"

I stared him down till he left the office without saying a word and got back to my work so I could finish out the day and get the hell out of there. It was well after five when I put the finishing touches on my report and emailed it to my supervisor. I stood up and bid the shitty office and small little factory a less than fond fair well. If I hurried I could get to the airport and hopefully be back in New York sometime tomorrow.

Not having a whole lot of stuff in my room, I packed very quickly and checked out. I called the airport and found a redeye flight to get me into Jersey from which I could make the short trek home. Finding myself with time on my hands I drove out to Bayou St. Cyr hoping to say goodbye to Ben. No lights were on in the cabin and I figured he was still taking care of his business. Since I had completed my own I had no excuse to remain and headed to the airport.

"That was a good job you did down there in Louisiana, Dylan." My supervisor Linda was saying. I held the phone to my ear as I puttered about my apartment. I had been back in Westchester county for over a week now and was still getting used to being home. Luckily, I wasn't being sent anywhere for a while.

"Thanks, Linda. It was the typical bullshit with the workers but I was amazed at how screwed their organization was. Everything was all over the place. I can't believe how they stayed afloat before we bought them."

"Oh fuck that shit!" She said, suddenly. "Tell me about the guy you were shacking up with down there!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on! That pig Bud said you were seen having a, as he put it, large, negro staying at your place. I told him if he ever used the word `negro' again he would be fired without hesitation. So come on, tell me!"

"His name is Ben." I said and realized I didn't know what else to say about him or our time together.

"And....?"

"Linda, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." I said, honestly and she sighed.

"That good, huh?"

"Yeah, it was." I said and sighed myself.

"So what happened?"

"I guess it was just a fling. He had some things to do so we parted ways."

"I'm sorry, kiddo. You're a good person who deserves someone to make you happy. Hey, why don't we go out to one of those prissy piano bars and get drunk?"

"Thanks Linda, but I'm just gonna hang around the house for a bit till my next assignment."

"Yeah, about that... Don't let anyone know I told you already but you're getting promoted. You're not going to have to head out to the shit places anymore."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Bob Martin retired and since you've been doing such a good job, you're taking his place. You'll basically get to write your own ticket and get a nice pay raise to boot."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. You can travel where and when you want or not at all if you don't feel like it. Sort of like my position but with options."

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Come on in over the next few days and we'll talk about it. The official offer hasn't been handed down yet but it will be soon."

"Again, thanks Linda!"

"No problem, sweetie. You take care." She said and hung up the phone.

I felt like sharing my good news and headed over to my friends Darren and Phil's house. As luck would have it their friends, Gabe and Kyle were over and we all spent a nice night drinking and celebrating my new promotion. Gabe and Kyle had to drive me home since I had a bit too much to drink.

"I'm sorry about this guys." I apologized for the fifth time as I pulled myself unsteadily out of the car.

"No problem, Dylan. You got promoted. You're allowed to celebrate." Gabe said.

"I know. I just didn't think I'd have that much." I said and turned toward the entrance to my step and came to a stop when I saw a familiar, large figure standing at my door. .

"Do you know that guy, Dylan?" Kyle asked.

"Um... yeah. I'll see you guys later." With Kyle and Gabe completely out of my mind I walked up to the doorway and Ben who stood and smiled.

"You're not an easy man to find, Dylan Whittaker."

"I didn't know you were trying to find me, Benjamin Jourdin."

I had seen Ben freed from the spell of the zombie but still most of my experience with him was of that trapped soul he had been and to see him acting with reactions and emotions and in full control was a beautiful thing.

"Can I come in?" He asked and I realized with a start we were standing out on the sidewalk in the chilly New York autumn air.

"Yeah." I said and led the way up to my apartment. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. Tied up some loose ends."

"Oh, that's good." I said inanely and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"But there's one more that I have to tie up." He said.

"Oh?" I asked, in lieu of anything more appropriate or even intelligent to say. He took my hand and lead me to sit on the couch. "How were things.... After I left?"

"After you left things were... strange." Ben sat on my couch and looked up at me. "I lived in that bayou for all my life and always felt lucky to be there. But after... waking up from being zombie...." He sighed. "I don't know. It was different."

"I remember when I was a zombie the world looked different." I sat next to him. "The colors were wrong, darker and oily somehow."

"Yeah. Claudette said that would go away. She said I would have to find something in the bayou that made me happy and then the world would seem right again."

"So the whole world still looks like that to you?" I asked, my heart breaking for him.

"Sort of. New York didn't seem oily as you put it but dirty, and gray and kind of hard."

"Oh no, that's how its supposed to look." I laughed. "Welcome to November in the Big Apple."

"Good to know." He chuckled. "But all in all, I still think there's something missing."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, and suddenly got nervous. "Hey, I didn't ask you if you wanted anything to drink. What can I get you?"

I stood and headed into the kitchen and heard his footsteps as he followed me.

"I wouldn't turn down a beer if you got one." He said, leaning in the doorway.

"Sure." I said and grabbed him one. I handed him an open bottle and busied myself with cleaning an already cleaned counter. Ben took a long swallow from the bottle and put it down before taking my hands and pulling me toward him.

"Dylan, why won't you look at me?"

"Honestly, we have so much to say each other and I have no idea where to start. I don't know what's going to come of it and I'm.... I'm kind of scared."

"I hurt you when I let you leave the bayou." He said, frowning.

"No." I said, quickly. "Yes." I recanted, after having thought on it for more than a half second. "I don't fucking know." I sighed.

"We spent so little time together, Ben and for most of that time you were trapped inside yourself. I realized that after... waking you would have things you had to do, things you wanted to do, go where you wanted to, go be with people you wanted to be with.... Be with Margo."

"Der it is." He said, not letting my hands pull away from his. "Margo."

"Well, yeah. I mean, your fiance has to fit into this whole thing somehow, right?" I finally tugged my hands free and walked back into the living room. "You couldn't be with her when you were a zombie and now you're not a zombie so....."

"Margo and I grew up together. Our mamas didn't get along that well but she and I were as thick as thieves from the time we could run around the bayou. People always talked 'bout us getting together but we knew it for what it was. Sometimes other people just have a piece of your soul mixed in with theirs and that's how it was for us. She married some oil rigger from Texas and moved away for a time but she was always with me and I was always with her. After she split from the rigger she came back to the Bayou and I had just split up with whoever the hell it was I was seeing, so we started having some fun. Just seemed logical to get engaged." He laughed and sat back down on the couch.

"We were happy but then there was her mama. Sandra, she always had a shine for me and would feel up my thigh or touch my ass or my chest and say all sorts of things. It was even worse when I started seeing Margo. I told her no and she didn' like dat much but she couldn't do nothin' since I was with Margo. Well, Margo and I started having problems. Started arguing a lot and finally broke up. I always thought Sandra had done it and sure as shit, Sandra was right dere `to console' me. I told her no again."

"I bet she didn't take it well."

"No, she din'. She made me a zombie and I was hers for... a while. Den one day, Margo came to visit and she didn't know what her mother had done. She was fit to be tied and dey argued. Margo got Sandra to let me go and sent me to Claudette. Claudette couldn't undo what Sandra had done but she took care of me as best she could. They both couldn't undo what Sandra had done and they were too afraid of her to stand up against her." He looked at me and reached out for me, pulling me down onto the couch next to him. "Till there was you."

"I didn't do anything, Ben."

"Bullshit." He said, quietly but forcefully. "You freed me, Dylan. More than Margo and Claudette. You took care of me when I couldn't take care of myself. You broke your curse, walked right up to a voo doo queen and told her that you wouldn't let her hurt me anymore, and showed me that I could break mine. You're so strong, Dylan. Much stronger than me."

"No, Ben, I just did what I could do. You survived in that hell for years."

"And when I was set free I let you walk away."

"Well, you had Margo."

"No, Margo and I were done and never meant to be. Besides, I was thinkin' about a little white city boy who loves him some zombie." He smiled and I chuckled. "She has a piece of me in her soul just like I got one of hers in mine. But you got one too, Cher, a special part. You got my heart." He tugged Dylan so he was wrapped up in his arms. "You know that thing I was missing from my life? I think it's you."

Ben bent his head and took my lips with his. I could hear our breath coming fast and furious as the moment turned from sweet reunion to a passionate mating. Using some of the strength he seemed to believe I had, I pulled back from him.

"Wait, Ben. So you're gay now?"

"No, Cher. I'm bi. Always been." He said with a smile. "Margo knew and was fine with it as long as I didn't dally with any men when we were together."

"Oh." I said, simply. Question asked and answered. "So all those things we did together, when you were a zombie-."

"Was nothing that I didn't want to do with you." He said and bit my lower lip. "But Cher, it wasn't everything I want to do to you."

"What-?" My voice cracked with sexual tension. "What do you want to do to me?"

"I want to make you cum so hard you black out." Ben said, his voice full of promise and confidence.

"Um...ok." I said, inanely and he chuckled. The reverb transferred from his chest into my entire body.

"Let's go, Cher. Take me to bed."

I stood and led the way to my bed room where he pulled me back into his arms and kissed me and he stripped the clothes from me. I stood naked in front of him as he looked at me and kissed my body up and down. He paid more attention to certain areas than others, my neck, my nipples, my belly. He knelt in front of me and took my cock in his mouth as I stood, grasping his hair and moaned. Ben undressed while he sucked me before standing and pressing his full naked length to mine.

"You gonna let me thank you proper now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You've thanked me for taking care of you a bunch of times."

"Well, I'm very grateful. But I was planning on thanking you for taking care of me in another way." He said and moved his hips so I could feel his large, hard cock pressed against mine. "I'd really like to let you know just how grateful I am."

He leaned his head down and kissed me, slipping his tongue in to meet mine. I was smaller than him by a good deal, lifted me easily off the floor and laid me on the bed. His scent was still intoxicating and I breathed deeply filling my lungs with it.

Ben kissed me as his mouth and hands roamed my body. I grabbed his head and lifted him back up to meet my mouth. God, the man tasted so good!

I kissed my way down his chin to his neck. Down his muscled chest and his abs nipping at the hair leading me toward my destination. I reached the area just above his fat, long cock and inhaled his own personal smell. He moaned as I licked my way down his long shaft and took his large cock head in my mouth. The tangy taste of precum leaked over my tongue.

"Oh God, Dylan!" Ben exclaimed as his hands tightened in my hair. It took me some time but I finally was able to manage to get most of his thick cock down my throat. As he pulled me off of him, his dick released pre-cum into my mouth. He brought me up to slip him tongue into my mouth and kissed me deeply. As our tongues danced, his fingers slid down my back and passed my ass cheeks. I felt one of his thick fingers slip into my ass hole surprising a moan from me which he caught with his mouth and returned with a deep growl. I was losing control and my body rode his fingers as he added more, stretching my hole open. I was so ready for him by the time he rolled and knelt between my legs.

"I want you so bad, Dylan but only if you want me too."

"Jesus, Ben! You have a doubt?" I cried, exasperated at the delay of what was coming.

"I just don't want to move too quickly. I don't want to ruin this for you."

"I want you, Ben as much as you want me." I reached up to touch his firm chest.

Ben smiled and reached into the pocket of his jeans for a condom.

"I had some in my night stand." I said referring to the prophylactic.

"No offense, baby but I need ones for certain gentlemen that are...." He started and I smiled.

"Blessed with more?" I asked and he chuckled.

"I like how you put it, Cher."

Ben sheathed his long, thick length and began rocking into my ass. I'm not going to lie, it hurt. But as his thick head pushed into my ass, I felt my body begin relaxing and making way for him. Every thrust that pushed him deeper had me accommodating his large cock. He didn't speak until he was pressed entirely into my body.