12. The Storm Arrives

Their post-coital workout was as intense as the pre-workout session had been, both of them developing a sweat and exchanging techniques and movements that neither had been familiar with before. Zack found himself impressed by the depth of Todd's knowledge of lifting and enjoyed the way he lit up when he showed Zack this motion or that style. The mutuality of it was… somehow exactly what Zack hadn't known he wanted, what he'd needed.

Afterward, they had decided to go for a walk in the midday sun, wandering together into the thin, sun-scarred alleyways that stretched out amongst pines. Even this far inland, the storm front was unmistakable. Zack had never seen anything like it. It was a vast and neverending wall of black—as though beyond it, daylight ceased to be.

"Those clouds don't look normal to you, do they?" Zack asked, pointing them out to Todd, who seemed indifferent to their intrusion. His nerves were getting to him again.

"They just look like clouds." Todd replied cagily. He was doing the thing he did when he was nervous: avoiding eye contact—and Zack knew there was something he wasn't telling him but couldn't seem to pry it out of him.

Really? Those don't look weird to you?" Zack pressed.

"Nope." Todd said curtly, walking off toward the cabin without another word.

Zack trotted after him, eying his back suspiciously as he was forced to turn away from the disquieting mass of clouds. He made to speak a few times, but couldn't find the right series of words to coax a truthful answer out of Todd.

"Shit." Todd said, startling him.

"What is it?" Zack asked from behind him on the trail. They'd finally neared the cabin. And then he saw…

"Oh, give me a break!" Zack screamed. "You pig dudes can go fuck yourselves!" he bellowed, feeling his pulse quicken as he observed the damage. Every last window on the cabin had been shattered.

"Look, I'm really sorry about all of this…if I had any money to pay for any of it I would…" Todd began.

But Zack cut him off.

"Save it Todd. Stay close. Keep your eyes peeled."

Zack hurried back to the woodpile, where he grabbed the massive axe and slung it over one of his powerful shoulders.

"Come and get me, you bastard!" he roared. "You're not so tough now, are you?"

He swung the axe through the air, feeling pure rage at the violation of first his home and now his grandparents, too.

"Easy." Todd gentled from nearby. "They're just fucking with us. Don't let it get to you. I'm so sorry. I don't know what to do…"

But it was getting to Zack. Everything was spiraling out of control. And his grip on reality seemed to be slipping away alongside everything else.

"Come on." Todd beckoned. "Let's get inside. I don't like being out here so exposed…"

Zack couldn't agree more. The feeling of being watched had grown stronger and more distinct as the day passed. He hurried after Todd.

The cabin felt unsafe without the surety of windows, but he closed the curtains and did his best to begin cleaning up the shards of glass into a utility bucket, wondering how on earth he would explain any of this to his Pap-Pap.

The thought of leaving crossed his mind, but at this point, he didn't know where to go. He kept the axe close, not knowing whether he'd have the guts to use it if he needed to. He'd always thought of himself as brave, but his fear was threatening to consume him now, and he feared it might turn out that he'd been a coward all along. Maybe Bethany was right about him after all.

Crack…rumble.

Crack-crack-CRACK… rumble-rumble.

The power went out suddenly and without warning, casting them into darkness.

The storm had finally reached them. They'd been sitting side by side for what felt like hours, staring at the curtains as they'd billowed about in the increasing bluster. The windowless opening across from them flashed into focus as the heavens crackled overhead, the curtains flapping this way and that as the wind began to howl.

Zack squinted out into the storm—almost certain he'd seen the outline of someone just beyond the periphery of where he could see.

The next flash of light revealed the now-familiar face of the pig with the blond chin hair, his eyes twinkling with arctic menace. He was peering in through the window and then all at once, he was climbing inside.

Todd screamed.

But something in Zack shifted as he stared into that horrible mask, and he found himself rising from the couch involuntarily, grabbing at the enormous ax before advancing toward the pig/man.

"Nice try." the pig lanced, kicking out and striking Zack square in the chest. The force of the blow caused him to bend over double, and the pig grabbed the axe's handle and slammed it into his face. Zack's nose spattered with blood, and he wiped it messily with the back of his hand as he let out a roar and charged into the invader, sending them both toppling out the window.

Zack crashed into the ground, the axe skittering away from him into the dark. In his momentary daze, he hadn't noticed the pig slip back out into the shadows. He stumbled to his feet, noticing Todd had crept out the front door and was watching him intently.

The rain poured around him, and the clouds were so thick and heavy that he could barely see more than a foot or two in any direction.

"Yo, pig dude! Come and fucking get it!" Zack screamed into the night. Zack scanned the darkness, struggling to discern even the Jeep's vague shape or the pines' tall vertices against the strobing lightning's static and distortion. But he saw nothing.

Another flash of lightning. Another.

And then, almost too late, drowned out by the latest rumbling of thunder, Zack heard the telltale sign of footsteps on gravel.

Shit.

The thought struck him at the same time as his assailant. The muscular man crashed into him and was pounding his fists into his chest and his face as the two tumbled and kicked at one another, tumbling across the driveway. He felt a swift kick at his side, sending him skimming along the driveway once more. More pain: fire and ice erupting all across him.

"Hooooomph."

The sound escaped his mouth as he tried to regain his proprioception. A rain of blows and kicks met him; still, he couldn't orient himself well enough to strike back.

"Found you, fuckfaces!" The frosty, supercilious tone came from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "You have no idea what you're in for—now, where's the key?" The man hissed.

"Buddy, I have no fucking clue what you're talking about." Zack wheezed, spitting blood from his mouth. A fist struck him across the face.

"Liar. I guess I'll have to ask Toddy about it!" Zack braced himself for another blow, enraged at the thought of this creep going anywhere near Todd…

But then, there! For the first time, he could clearly make out the other man in the explosions of light that had just detonated above them. His attacker was holding a bladed weapon. Zack eyed it wearily.

But his window of opportunity was slim, and he charged the man without a second thought. The pig attempted to swipe at him, but Zack sidestepped the blow, grabbed his wrist, and wrenched the weapon from his hands, throwing it off into the night. He stomped on his assailant's ankle, causing him to crumple, before driving him to the ground and driving a knee into his throat. He ripped the mask from his face, eager to see once and for all who he was.

To his great surprise, a handsome blond guy around his age stared cooly back up at him. Just like that ugly mask, the human face possessed a shock of bright blond chin hair, and glacier-blue eyes bored into Zack's.

"Who the absolute fuck are you?" Zack demanded.

But the pig didn't need to answer because Todd had joined Zack and answered for him.

"Danver." Todd moaned. His tone was wilting.

"Toddy." The man greeted. Zack shifted his weight above him, suddenly feeling uncertain.

"Look, I really do feel bad about this, but you have no idea what they can offer you if you'd just give them a chance to explain…" Danver went on.

"Shut the fuck up!" Zack yelled, shaking the man.

He looked at Todd pleadingly.

"You two… know each other?" Zack asked.

"Worse," Todd confirmed. "We used to date."

Zack felt his hands slacken as the words washed over him. The man/pig raced to grab his mask off the ground, kicking Zack off as he scrambled to his feet.

"I'm telling you, you're better off just coming with me. The old man might offer you some deal. I can talk to him for you." Danver urged, backing away into the shadows.

"You think we'd trust you after this?!" Zack yelled. "Get out of here. I'm calling the cops!"

"Good luck with that." Danver sneered, slipping off into the shadows. "We're everywhere. This is so much bigger than you!" Denver hollered. "It's bigger than any of us!" He screamed.

Zack was frantically pulling his iPhone from his pocket, his hand shaking as he dialed 911, blood spattering on his screen from the cuts on his face.

Todd wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and the two were blanketed in rain. In all of Zack's life, a night had never felt as dark as this.