DISCLAIMER: This text contains sexually explicit content and is intended for adult (18+) readers only. In addition, it features themes that may be offensive or distressing to some individuals; please check the tags before proceeding further.

This is a work of fiction. The story within is purely fantasy, and the author strongly condemns all real life instances of hate & violence. All events, places, and characters in this work are fictional; any resemblence to real events, locations, or persons (whether living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

Dustin groaned softly, panting as another droplet of precum oozed from the tip of his rock-hard member. A small puddle of pre had accumulated in front of the young kangaroo, teased out of his cock by the weakly buzzing vibrator taped to it. His body radiated heat in spite of the frigid surroundings, sweat matting his fur as long trails of drool streamed from his gaping maw.

He had no clue as to how long he had been left alone inside his captor's basement. His legs were cramping from being forced to hold a squat for hours on end, and his jaw ached from the ring gag that kept it uncomfortably wide open. Yet the thing which most occupied his mind, Dustin found, was the intense arousal radiating from his crotch. The ceaseless stimulation had left his cock feeling impossibly hard, tiny veins along its length pulsing with bloodflow as his heart raced. He was so close to orgasm, but that little vibe fell just short of pushing him over the edge, leading to an endless cycle of sexual frustration that disracted him from thoughts of escape.

Slowly, Dustin began thrusting against the dildo lodged in his ass. He pushed himself against the thick silicone column in short, needy bursts, feeling every millimeter that dragged across his insides. Desperate for any extra stimulation that might bring him release, he was soon shamelessly rocking his hips as the dildo rubbed against his prostate. The pressure in his balls continued to build, although it still wasn't quite enough to make him cum.

His efforts came to a halt when he heard a door open, followed by footsteps coming down the stairwell. Raymond was back, but he seemed to pay no mind to his captive, walking right past the grey kangaroo while humming a soft tune. Still blindfolded, Dustin could only guess at what the older 'roo was up to from the sounds of metal clinking against wood, occasionally punctuated by the mechanical whir of a power drill. Despite his kidnapper being mere feet away, it wasn't long before he was almost unconciously humping the dildo again, his desire for release surpassing any fear of attracting attention.

Out of the blue, a paw wrapped itself around Dustin's tapered penis. His hips bucked forward into the touch seemingly on their own accord, muscles tensing up as his panting intensified. The unseen paw would set its own speed however, and it proved to be in no hurry to get him off. Teasing digits, slickened with pre, slid down his rod at an agonizingly slow pace, working over every bit of stiff flesh from head to base and back again. Another paw soon joined the fray, alternating between gently thumbing his ballsack and tugging at the clamps which hung from his nipples.

The need to cum was overwhelming now, yet no matter how much he thrashed and whined, there was nothing he could do to relieve it. The cruel paws always released their grip just before he reached climax, leaving him desperately humping the air in their absence. Then, as soon as he had calmed down a bit, they returned to bring him right back up to the edge again.

On the other side of the blindfold, Raymond watched with both amusement and arousal as his relentless edging drove his horny prisoner crazy. Resisting the impulse to just drop trow and facefuck him again right then and there, he instead waited for Dustin's frantic panting to grow fatigued before finally quickening his pace to finish him off. The teen was so pent up with excess lust that Ray only got in four brisk strokes before they came messily into his palm for the second time that day.

The feeling of relief that washed over Dustin wouldn't last long. This time, Ray didn't let up when he stopped cumming, instead continuing to vigorously milk his softening cock while also cranking the still-attached vibrator up to the max setting. The pain of overstimulation swiftly replaced the frustration of denial, and he began squirming again, attempting to pull away from this new source of torment to no avail.

"Where you going, boy? I thought this is what you wanted," his captor taunted, and Dustin felt the slimy warmth of the man's breath cling to his neck as they leaned closer. He could only muster a weak whimper in response, the assault on his hypersensitive member draining energy from his already sore body.

The red kangaroo could have tortured him like this for hours, but fortunately for his poor dick, Ray was on a schedule today. "Right, enough of this. Time to get you prepped for the guests."

The sweat-soaked blindfold was peeled off Dustin's face, making him squint as light flooded his vision after hours of darkness. By the time his eyes adjusted, Ray had already unlocked his handcuffs, grabbed him by the arms, and started pulling upward. The floor-mounted dildo slid out of the western grey's stretched rectum with a wet plop as he was lifted onto his feet - whereupon his cramping quadriceps immediately sent him tumbling back down onto the concrete with a debilitating charley horse.

Staring at the moaning pile of marsupial splayed out before him, Raymond couldn't have been less sympathetic. He extracted his pistol from its holster and crouched down beside Dustin, jabbing the muzzle against the base of his skull.

Grimacing in pain, the young kangaroo nonetheless did as told, rising on unsteady legs as the cold steel pressed against his head. As his kidnapper frogmarched him towards the other end of the room, Dustin glanced upward and spotted what they were working on in the interim: a block & tackle set that had been attached to the exposed ceiling joists. A heavy steel eyebolt mounted to an adjacent wall served as an anchor point for a blue nylon rope which snaked through the pulley system. Lying on the floor below were more coils of rope as well as several climbing carabiners.

On approaching the tackle, the older 'roo commanded Dustin to get down on his knees, then to fold his arms behind his back. Dustin had a faint idea of what was going to happen next, but the looming threat of a nine millimeter FMJ ventilating his skull was enough to quash any thoughts of offering resistance.

Reaching for a coil of rope, Ray started binding his wrists & forearms together first before moving upward, forming tight loops that dug into his biceps. Next, the ends of the rope were threaded under his armpits and wrapped several times around his shoulders, then across his pecs, and lastly merged together in a knot over his sternum. A harness began to take shape as a second length of rope criss-crossed around Dustin's abdomen and pelvis, forming an intricate web of bights and knots that squeezed the contours of his flesh. The trailing ends of these ropes were secured to a carabiner over his back.

Once his upper half was fully immobilized, Ray gave Dustin a shove between the shoulder blades, tipping him face first onto the floor with a thump. He then grabbed the grey 'roo's left ankle and forced it upward until his heel pressed against his rump. Using a third rope he methodically bound his thighs and calves together so as to hold the pose, giving his right leg the same treatment. After a few finishing touches to the prison of nylon he had crafted, Ray lowered the overhead pulleys and hooked them around the carabiner which held it all together.

Dustin heard a grunt of extertion behind him, and the trussed-up kangaroo made a surprised grunt of his own as he was suddenly hoisted off the floor. Gradually the ropes lifted him skyward, a couple inches at a time, the pulleys squeaking with each heave on the line. It stopped once he was about three feet up, leaving him dangling helplessly in midair.

Ray momentarily disappered from view as he retreated upstairs, returning a few minutes later with a water bottle in paw. He set it down on the floor before reaching behind his captive's head. "You better not start screaming," the older male warned as he began to unfasten Dustin's gag. "No one outside will hear you from down here, anyway."

Dustin didn't bother to test this claim, instead taking the opportunity to relax his jaw for the first time in ages. No sooner had he closed his mouth, however, than the spout of a bottle was thrust upon his lips.

"Drink up. You're probably dehydrated, and you'll want your strength for what's coming."

True as this may have been, Dustin refused to let the water enter, instead tilting his head away and giving Raymond the most defiant look he could muster - a difficult feat, given that inertia was slowly rotating him away from the target of his glare. "No fuckin' way. Not falling for that trick again." he snarled.

Ray raised a contemptuous eyebrow at this display. "Oh really, now you decide to be a rebel?" the man scoffed. "Kid, I've got you hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier. You're already at my mercy, I have no need to drug you again."

Dustin said nothing in response, but shook his head and kept his muzzle clamped shut.

"Fine, be that way. You're only making things harder for yourself," Ray said as he screwed the bottle's cap back on. "Believe me, when your throat is glued shut with stale cum a couple hours from now, you'll be begging for this water."

Now it was Dustin's turn to scoff. "So is that your whole plan: whore me out to your sicko buddies? How long's that gonna last?"

"Until it stops being profitable. Or until I get bored of it. Whichever comes first."

"You're not gonna break me. And you're not gonna get away with this forever." Dustin said stubbornly.

"Bold talk from someone who can barely wiggle their toes right now." Ray replied. "Now, I'll be nice and leave the gag off - under two conditions. First, good toys don't talk, so if your mouth isn't full of cock then keep it shut. And second," he said, looking down his nose at Dustin as his gaze turned icy, "if I get word that you've bitten someone, I'll yank out every last one of your teeth with a pair of pliers."

"This isn't my first trip to the rodeo, prettyboy. Think this is bad? You have no idea how nasty I can make life for you."

That last remark was seemingly enough to shut the younger 'roo up, his ears folding back while his eyes fell to the floor. Taking this as a sign of understanding, Ray replaced the blindfold over Dustin's face and, after a final admonishment to behave, left him alone in the basement once again.

The night sky was blanketed by a dense layer of nimbus clouds as Raymond stepped out onto the front porch. Eastriver County was no stranger to April showers, but this storm was heavy even by the usual standards; it started coming down at around two in the afternoon, and the rain showed no sign of letting up six hours later. Standing under an umbrella, Ray watched two poncho-clad figures emerge from their cars across the street and walk over towards his driveway - a slender doberman leading the way, with a stocky Percheron stallion following close behind. He extended a paw outward as the pair drew near, beckoning them to halt.

"Damn, you ain't even gonna let us inside first? Some host you are," the dog groused.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you hoping to get in with nothing but a smile? Hate to break it to you Vinnie, but you're not that cute," said the kangaroo, his voice dripping sarcasm. "Now cough it up or get lost."

Vinnie grumbled some more, but both men extracted a few crumpled bills from their pockets and handed it to Ray. Once the money was counted, he followed them inside, returning to his spot on the couch as they went to hang up their wet jackets.

"I'll take his ass, if that's fine with you," he replied, shaking a bit of water from his mane. "Where is this kid, anyway?"

"Basement. Down the hall, first door on your left." Ray answered. He reached for an open Budweiser can, crumpled it out of irritation after realizing it was empty, then tossed the flattened container into a growing pile on the floor. "Feel free to be rough with him, by the way. That little slut needs to be knocked down a few pegs."

"Uh, there should be some in a box by the stairwell. I'll be right upstairs, so just holler if you need anything else."

With no more questions, the two guests parted ways with their host, descending the narrow staircase to the cellar in single file. On reaching the bottom they were greeted by the sight of a blindfolded western grey suspended from the ceiling. He stirred as Vinnie and Burt drew near, roused by the sound of approaching footsteps, though there was little he could do in reaction to this warning.

Each man took position at their chosen ends of the 'roo and began to inspect his body. The captive teen struggled to fend off this manhandling, but restrained as he was, his efforts amounted to little more than impotent squirming. "Wow, Ray wasn't kidding. What a pretty thing you are," remarked Vinnie as he ran his rough paws along Dustin's neck. "Ain't that right, Burt?"

Burt merely nodded in response, too horny for words. He pushed the kangaroo's heavy tail up to reveal a young, tender pucker underneath, now slightly gaped after half a day spent impaled on a dildo. The stallion's bulge expanded to near-full size in his pants at the sight, fourteen inches of throbbing equine meat straining against fabric. Wordlessly he dropped his trousers, allowing his turgid prick to flop against the 'roo's bruised cheeks while he prepared to lube up his tailhole. Although unable to see it, Dustin could tell from the sheer weight alone that it was massi - he wasn't convinced any amount of lubrication would be enough to keep the damn thing from tearing him in half.

Preoccupied with the monstrous phallus brushing against his backdoor, Dustin barely noticed the one poking impatiently at his snout. A frustrated Vinnie had to pry his jaw open and shove the tip of his cock inside to get his attention. The doberman told him to get sucking; Dustin reluctantly obeyed, bobbing his head up and down on the dog's shaft while he awaited the imminent penetration of his ass.

Burt wouldn't leave him hanging (figuratively speaking, anyway) for long. The horse placed both hands on Dustin's hips, holding them steady as he aligned his member with its target. A few exploratory prods smeared precum over the kangaroo's lube-sodden ring before the first real thrust pressed at it with greater force. It was evident that the dildo had gone some way to loosen him up beforehand; his pliant anus enveloped the flared head of Burt's penis quite readily, and the first five or six inches slid inside with similar ease. He got as far as his medial ring before encountering significant resistance, to which he responded by wrapping an arm around Dustin's midsection while applying continued pressure, gradually stretching their bowels to accommodate his length.

The stallion stopped just short of being balls-deep in the 'roo. Once it was clear that they could accept no more of him, he started to pull back, withdrawing most of his cock before ramming it back inside with a mighty thrust. Dustin made a half-muffled squeal as the equine's knob smashed against his prostate with the force of a jackhammer. His sphincter muscles clenched weakly around the invader, but were powerless to resist as it rubbed against the sensitive walls of his tunnel.

Burt soon began to plow his ass in earnest, settling into a rhythm of powerful strokes. A shaft as thick as Dustin's forearm plunged into his depths over and over again, creating a visible bulge on the surface of his abdomen. Beneath the blindfold his eyes were rolling up into the back of his head as the overwhelming pressure & friction set millions of nerve endings ablaze.

A sharp tug on one of his ears brought him back to reality. "Oi, I don't recall saying you could stop," Vinnie growled. Dustin had indeed been neglecting the doberman again, though in his defense it was hard to focus on the dick in his mouth when the one up his rear seemed to be pulverizing his innards with each savage thrust. Not content with the half-hearted fellatio he was receiving, Vinnie soon decided to take a different tack. He seized hold of both the kangaroo's ears and, using them to provide extra leverage, hilted himself deep into their maw.

Dustin gagged hard on the girthy cock as it was abruptly shoved down his gullet. His nose became partially buried in a patch of coarse pubic fur, while his lips pressed against the inflated knot. Vinnie held this position for a second before loosening his grip slightly so he could throatfuck the 'roo. His speed quickly accelerated, and within minutes a frothy mixture of saliva and pre was dribbling down Dustin's chin as canine nuts batted against his neck.

It was too much. It was all too much. Dustin became lightheaded, his brain unable to keep up with the constant sensory barrage. As if being violently spitroasted wasn't enough already, the arm stretched across his midriff soon descended to grasp his half-erect dick, adding a rough handjob to the mix. He tried to focus on his breathing, but even that simple task proved fraught as the relentless pace of Vinnie's irrumatio made it impossible to sneak a breath in through his mouth. What little air he could inhale nasally was saturated with the intense, musky odor that emanated from the dog's sweaty crotch. Eyes watering, nose running, head spinning - all Dustin could do was pray it would come to an end before he passed out.

His prayers would be answered a few minutes later, in the form of Vinnie cumming down his throat. The doberman placed one paw over the back of his head and wrapped the other around his knot just before shooting his wad into the younger male's mouth. As ropey strands of jizz spattered across his palate, Dustin started to relax at first, imagining the worst to be over...that is, until the familiar taste of semen was suddenly washed away by something else. Something sour and pungent and foul.

A wave of revulsion struck Dustin when he realized the man was pissing inside him. He attempted to wrench his head away, but Vinnie held it firmly in place, intent on turning the kangaroo into his personal urinal. With the canine's prick still lodged in the entrance of his throat, their golden stream had nowhere to go but down, which gave Dustin only two choices: either drink it or drown in it. He took the former option, gulping down a river of steaming hot piss to keep his airway clear even as the urge to puke it all back up consumed him.

The doberman's bladder emptied out after around a minute (though for the recipient of his urine it felt like much longer than that), at which point he withdrew his flaccid member. In doing so, a few yellow droplets trickled down onto Dustin's tongue, leaving the lingering flavor of piss behind as a parting gift. "That's for making me all the hard work" Vinnie said spitefully to the young 'roo while they gasped for air, before turning his attention to his partner. "You getting close, Burt?"

"Al-...almost...," the stallion grunted in reply between ragged breaths. His pace had grown erractic as he neared climax, sweat beading on his brow while he kept pounding Dustin's hole. When he finally passed the point of no return, Burt let out a guttural moan, then slammed his hips as far forward as possible. Dustin felt the equine's rod throb inside him, and moments later heat bloomed deep within his guts as they were pumped full of seed, causing his belly to bloat slightly.

Once the last few spurts had left his cock, Burt sighed in relief, taking a moment to catch his breath while leaning against Dustin's body. He continued to idly jerk the kangaroo off with one hand, moreso out of habit than in a concerted effort to make him cum - not that Dustin had much left to give anyway. Eventually, after some cajoling from Vinnie to hurry up, the horse pulled his shaft back for the last time, leaving a trail of semen dripping down the 'roo's taint.

As the pair left him, Dustin produced a miserable whine, his holes feeling sore and at the same time strangely empty. He could already hear more people coming downstairs, quashing any hopes of getting a respite in between "clients." There wasn't much he could do now except prepare himself mentally for what was going to be a very long night.

The last of Raymond's visitors exited his bungalow at around 11 o'clock. Once they were gone, he spent some time tallying up all the cash he'd gotten: 480 dollars. Or maybe it was 440? Either way, not a bad wage for an evening of drinking beer and watching the door.

The only chore left for him was to lower Dustin from the ceiling and put him away for tonight. First though, Ray wanted to use his slave one more time before the night was over. The kid's asshole was probably stretched wider than a shower drain by now, of course, but that was no worry - he had a few ideas on how to make them tighten up.

Ray rose from the couch, swaying from side to side as he struggled to maintain his balance. He wasn't that drunk, the red kangaroo reassured himself. Just a bit buzzed. After stumbling through the minefield of empty beer cans that littered the living room floor, he eventually managed to reach his bedroom, where he began to rummage through his old footlocker. It took some searching before Ray found what he was looking for: a 7-inch combat knife, gifted to him years ago by an old friend in the service. It had gone unused up to that point, the carbon steel blade still as clean and sharp as the day it left the factory. With his weapon of choice in hand, he returned to the hall and made his way downstairs.

Dustin was hanging limply in his restraints when Raymond entered the basement, too exhausted to acknowledge his captor's presence. His fur stank of piss and sweat, and he was leaking cum from both ends. Ray approached him from behind, lifting up the western grey's tail and propping it against his shoulder before he pushed his erection into their cream-filled rear. As expected, his gaped anus was too loose to provide much pleasure, so the red 'roo put his plan into action: clutching the knife in his dominant paw, he pressed the edge against Dustin's outer thigh and made a shallow downward slash.

Initially, Dustin barely reacted to the cut. It took a moment for the pain to fully register with his brain, and by the time he figured out what had happened, another one was already on its way. When the blade pieced his skin a second time, the grey kangaroo yelped loudly as he felt it tear through his flesh like a plough through soil, leaving a stinging path in its wake. Blood began oozing out from the margins of the wound, seeping down into his coat in warm crimson rivulets.

"N-no, stop!" Dustin cried, his voice trembling out of equal parts exhaustion and fear. "God, it hurts - STOP!"

"Shuddup," was the most coherent response Ray managed to mumble back. Ignoring Dustin's pleas, the big red persisted in carving little bloody canyons into his sides while intermittently fucking his ass. The fruits of his labors were less than satisfying, however; although his captive was indeed tensing up from the pain, this didn't translate to their holes getting any tighter.

When his incisions failed to have the intended effect, Ray's inebriated mind decided the problem was that he simply wasn't cutting enough, and resolved to go even further. He repositioned the knife to a spot just below Dustin's rump, then leaned forward when he made his next slash to bear extra weight down on the handle. The blade went much deeper as a result, slicing through fascia and muscle to create a gaping laceration which in turn elicited the loudest cry yet.

In agony, Dustin panicked. He had been willing to bide his time before, but that was no longer an option, not when he was being carved up like this. A fight-or-flight response kicked in, and Dustin began to struggle against his bonds with newfound vigor, fatigue vanishing from his muscles as his adrenal glands pumped epinephrine & cortisol into his bloodstream. In his frenzied thrashing, the young kangaroo's unrestrained tail suddenly collided with his captor's head, hitting them square in the jaw.

Ray staggered backwards, head ringing from the blow as his cock slipped out of the teen's abused tailhole. The stunned silence that followed lasted only a few moments.

What little self-control the big red might've still had was gone now, swept aside by an avalanche of rage. He was no longer interested in sex - now all he wanted was blood. Ray lunged toward his victim and went straight for the heart first, but his clumsy stabs were deflected by the ribs, inflicting only superficial wounds. His wrath unsatiated, Ray quickly moved on to a more vulnerable target: he grabbed Dustin by the ears, yanked his head back, then in one fluid motion slammed the entire blade through the side of his outstreched neck with enough force to dent its tip. His blindfold came loose in the process, slipping off just in time for him to witness a fountain of high pressure arterial blood spray out from his severed carotids.

Dustin stared downward, transfixed by the sight of a cherry red waterfall gushing down onto the concrete. His mouth hung agape, but despite the intense pain no screams issued from it - in part because his punctured larynx was being flooded with what little blood remained inside his body, and in part because he was too shocked to comprehend that he was watching himself bleed to death. Soon the world around him began to spin, the edges of his eyesight darkening while his skin became cold and clammy. Raymond continued to holler curses at him, but the sound was muffled, as if he were listening from another room.

The grey kangaroo's heart beat faster and faster to compensate for his plummeting blood pressure, but soon it could do no more. Dustin spent his final moments confused, afraid, and alone before blackness finally overcame his vision and he slipped into the void, never to return.

Raymond awoke some time later to a foul taste in his mouth. He was still in the basement, having collapsed and fallen asleep where he stood, and now found himself in the grips of a wicked hangover. A throbbing ache radiated across his head, and his bone-dry tongue was glued to the roof of his maw, giving off a flavor so rancid that it was making him queasy. He had no recollection of the previous evening, nor any sense of how long he had been lying on the floor.

Still groggy and half-asleep, Ray attempted to glimpse the time on his wristwatch, only to quickly slam his eyes shut when the harsh yellow glow of the overhead lights made his migraine ten times worse. Cringing from discomfort, he rolled onto his side and tried again, this time using his other paw to block the glare. The digital display read 3:56 AM, so he had only been out for a couple of hours; not much information to go off of, but he supposed it was better than nothing.

Slowly but surely the kangaroo pushed himself into an upright sitting position, keeping his eyes aimed firmly at his crotch the whole time to avoid the light. From here he could see quite clearly the layer of dried splooge that had encrusted his genitals, staining his flaccid penis an off-white hue streaked with...blood?

Ray blinked, then took a closer look. Yes, it was definitely blood - and not just on his dick either, but over much of his waist and leg fur as well. As the memories of what he'd done began to creep back in, Ray gingerly tilted his head upward to see if his suspicions were correct.

The sight before him, although obscured by a fog of migraine aura, left no room for doubt: Dustin was dead. His chest no longer heaved with breath, and his partially opened eyes had become cloudy & opaque. The murder weapon was still embedded in his neck, jutting out like the mast of a wayward ship. A lake of blood collected beneath his corpse had since coagulated into a viscous maroon sludge that filled the air with the metallic stench of heme.

Faced headfirst with the consequences of his actions, Ray buried his head in his palms and groaned loudly. "Goddammit," he muttered to himself, "not again."

The roads were quiet as Raymond drove northeast into the county's rural outskirts, with only the occasional driver passing him in the opposite direction - a sharp contrast to the busy interstate he'd been on just a short time ago. There was a cloudless sky overhead tonight, though the new moon meant he could see little beyond the narrow strip illuminated by his van's headlights. To his left, the Great Eastern River stretched off into the distance, its waters barely visible through the shroud of darkness. As he navigated the riverside route with one paw on the wheel, Ray tapped his cigarette over the console ashtray and brought it up to his lips for a puff, the acrid smoke helping to mask the antiseptic-tinged odor of death coming from behind him.

Dustin had been deceased for just over a day now. Ray had spent much of his time since then cleaning up the messy aftermath of the murder, beginning with his victim's cadaver. Getting their body down turned out to be easier said than done; rigor mortis was well underway by that point, forcing Ray to cut the rope restraints away from the dead teenager. Next, he wrapped the stiffened corpse in polythene and dragged it upstairs to the bathtub, dousing it with Lysol & methylated spirits to stave off decay before dumping several bags of ice over top for good measure.

Ray's basement had been scrubbed clean of blood by mid-afternoon, and after a change of clothes and a quick sponge bath, the only evidence left was the late Dustin himself. Luckily for Ray, the weather had created a ready-made opportunity to dispose of them for good. He would need the cover of night to execute his plan, so he set his alarm for 12:00 AM and went to bed, awakening during the wee hours to start his journey towards the river.

Eventually, after driving through miles of winding backroads, Raymond's destination came into view. The viaduct that spanned across the river's steep banks was practically silent at this hour, but he still slowed down as he approached, scanning his surroundings to make sure he wasn't being watched. Once the 'roo was satisfied that no one else was around, he drove out onto the bridge and parked near its center under a burned out streetlamp.

The thunderous roar of rushing water echoed through the air as Ray stepped out onto the asphalt and walked to the rear of his van. To his north, the lights of the Eastriver Hydroelectric Power Plant were shining brightly against a darkened horizon. As Ray had anticipated, engineers at the dam had opened spillway gates in response to heavy rainfall yesterday, turning the normally sedate waters downstream into a swollen, churning sea of rapids that swept away everything in their path.

Raymond opened the van's rear doors. There in the cargo bay, hidden under a tarpaulin, was Dustin's body. After checking once more that he was alone, Ray slung the corpse over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and trudged over to the other side of the bridge. He balanced them on the railing feet-first, allowing him to look the grey kangaroo in the eyes one final time.

"Goodbye, Dustin. You were fun while you lasted," he said, then gently pushed them over the side and watched as the river whisked their body away to a place unknown.