The truck swayed gently as it was driven over the small ledge between asphalt and gravel, the noise from the tires transitioning from a smooth hum to a rolling crunch; two bumps for the truck, then two more for the trailer towed behind it. The driveway had been neglected, and the truck's throaty diesel engine increased its effort to maintain speed through the deep ruts and wash-outs left behind by the spring rains. Dappled shade coursed over the windshield, cast by towering mature hardwoods that created a dense canopy overhead. The driver, a rather serious-looking gray wolf in his mid-30s by the name of Eli, clicked his tongue at the state of the driveway. It would be cheap enough to patch with gravel for this season, but he eventually wanted to get his crew over to pour a concrete drive for ease of maintenance. He'd found modest success in his small concrete and masonry business, comfortably keeping the lights on with enough cash left over to provide for his son after the loss of his wife. Of course, any assets not spent on his kid were tied up in his business; even the truck he drove was part of the humble fleet he'd built to move personnel and equipment between work sites. This financial picture made it all the sweeter as the truck broke free from the trees, allowing Eli his first chance to see his new home in-person since he'd signed on the dotted line. It was a historic farmhouse, at least a hundred and fifty years old, complete with a generous wooden porch that sported the ornate pillars and railings distinct to its era of architecture. It was two stories, with plenty of old-fashioned double-pane windows flanked by quaint, navy blue shutters. The exterior had once been painted white, with navy and canary-yellow detailing on the intricate molding, but the paint had long since chipped and faded to a shadow of its formal self. The shingles on the roof were a bit thin a couple places, and the lawn and landscaping had become somewhat overgrown. Nevertheless, despite its age, the house had been deemed fundamentally sound by a certified inspector, so these largely cosmetic issues could be tackled in due time. More importantly, Eli had purchased the house at an estate sale for less than half its estimated market price, provided certain real estate niceties were waived. Besides the inspector's report, Eli purchased the home without any of the customary documents, such as the records related to the deed. This was a small price to pay; a home of this size, with its acres of beautifully wooded lot, would otherwise be nothing more than a pipe-dream for someone on Eli's income. He knew he'd likely be the only blue-collar in the affluent area, but with such large properties, he doubted he'd ever meet his neighbors anyway. Eli smiled to himself as he maneuvered the truck and trailer into place, lining up the rear of the trailer and the front door so they could unload a few of the most essential boxes before the movers arrived the following day. He reached over to gently jostle the shoulder of his son, who'd been napping in the passenger seat for most of the drive despite his professed excitement to see the new house. “Hey, Jakey, wake up. We're here,” he said brightly. Although his workers believed Eli had a somewhat somber nature, the facade melted away when he interacted with his boy, revealing a surprising warmth in the otherwise grizzled wolf. “Really?” Jake mumbled, squinting as he opened his icy blue eyes. He had recently turned 10 years old, but was slight for his age; the bucket seat of the large truck all but swallowed him up. He wriggled in his seat, stiff from the long drive, before removing his seat belt and letting himself out of the truck. Eli stepped out in turn, feeling rather creaky himself, and walked around the front of the truck to meet his son. He rested his hand between Jake's ears, ruffling the fur on top of his head. “Well, what do you think?” he asked as the two of them stared upwards at the grand house, the wind mellow and warm as it blew through the trees. “Wow, and it's just us?” Jake asked, the excitement finally rising in his voice as he finished waking up from his nap. The boy was accustomed to apartments or duplexes, shared spaces; the thumps and bumps of other residents had sometimes been his only company when his dad was working on the weekends. Eli playfully scooped his son in his arms, his body conditioned from years of throwing bags of concrete around. He'd gotten a bit softer in recent years, especially with all the desk-work he wound up doing, but the extra pounds were just a little extra cuddle over a deceptively solid frame. He rested Jake on his hip as they finished taking it all in. “Yep, just us,” he confirmed. “Us and all these trees!” “The yard is ours, too???” Jake asked incredulously. He squirmed out of his father's grasp and took off into the shady expanse to explore. Eli didn't have the heart to call him back for something as tedious as moving boxes, so he figured he'd let Jake tire himself out for a while. “Make sure you can always see the house!” he called out. He hadn't been in the yard much himself, so he wasn't sure if there was a point where one could get turned around among the trees. It would be a bitch to mow all that grass, but Eli had always believed that running around outside was important to a child's development. Turning to the house, he fished in his pocket for the keys and started up the few steps up the porch to approach the front door. He took a breath, sank the key into the lock, and opened it. While the exterior of the home was showing its age, the interior had been very carefully kept over the years. The aged hardwood floors settled gently beneath Eli's feet as he entered, as if remembering what it was like to have life in the house once more. To the right, Eli saw what would eventually be the dining room, with an archway to the rear opening into the kitchen. To the left was the living room, complete with a large flagstone fireplace. It was probably original, nearly a lost art in the modern world of steel fireplaces surrounded by brick or stone facade. Across from the front door, there was a short hall that led to a bathroom towards the rear of the house as well as the staircase to the upper level, which had not only a bedroom for both Eli and his son, but bedrooms to spare for an office and a playroom. Eli's head was already swimming with plans for the empty house, itching to roll up his sleeves and turn it into a true home. He stepped forward and rested his palm on the banister of the stairs, the wood worn smooth as glass from years of use. His reverie was disrupted by a slow, creeping chill that seemed to roll down the stairs like a storm front. The moisture in his nose grew cold, and he felt his hackles rise to bunch uncomfortably against his t-shirt. “I thought you said it was just us in this house.” Eli jumped, gasping as he abruptly realized he'd been holding his breath. He whirled to see Jake standing innocently in the doorway, his eyes scanning the empty shell of a house for the first time. “Jesus, Jakey, you got the drop on me,” Eli said with a faint chuckle. He scratched at his collarbone, resting his palm on his chest to feel his pounding heart. “Sorry. Who's upstairs?” Jake replied flatly. He stood on his tiptoes to gaze up the stairs, as if the extra few inches of height would allow him to better survey the upper level. “I can hear them walking around.” Eli settled his nerves and knelt beside Jake. “Naw, it's just us,” he insisted. He rested a steadfast hand on his son's shoulder. “Old houses are a lot like old people. They get stiff and tired, so sometimes they need to stretch out and settle a little. They make all sorts of sounds, but we'll get used to it.” He gave Jake a reassuring smile before returning to his full height. “Alright, kiddo, what do you say we get the card table and some chairs off the trailer? Then we'll see what kinda pizza they have around here.” Jake brightened visibly at the mention of pizza, and immediately traipsed outside to help unload some lightweight necessities from the trailer. Eli followed, albeit a bit more slowly. His mind lingered on that strange unease he'd felt at the base of the stairs; it wasn't until he was outside opening the trailer that the fur on his upper back settled back into its usual position. He spun himself a comforting story about an unfamiliar draft in an unfamiliar house, and the uncanny feeling that everyone has when inside a totally empty building. He assured himself that once the movers brought in some actual furniture the house wouldn't feel quite so foreboding. Father and son shared a pizza, each seated upon a lawn chair at a folding card table that had been unceremoniously erected in the dining room. After that, they tossed some mattresses on the floors of their chosen bedrooms, got ready for bed using the toiletries they'd packed in separate bags, and settled in for their first night in their new house. * * * The following weeks were a blur as the family of two moved in and got settled. Eli had carefully arranged the move to be after the end of Jake's school year, so the two of them had all summer to get their feet under them. The only rub was that summer was naturally the busy season for concrete projects, so Eli often found himself called away to tend to business matters, leaving Jake to occupy himself. While this was nothing new, it felt different for Eli to leave his son alone out in the boondocks; at least apartment living had offered some sense of security that if something went drastically wrong, someone would likely be within earshot to assist. In an abundance of caution, Eli had paid to have the old landline phone reactivated for the house, and he'd ensured Jake knew how to use it to reach out in case of emergency. As for what to do all day, Jake thankfully had plenty of boxes sitting in his room that needed sorting, and in doing so he was rediscovering all sorts of forgotten toys to keep him busy. Every day Eli felt himself and his son grow more and more settled, gradually ingraining their lives into the gnarled wood of the old house. Every night, however, the middle-aged wolf had found himself struggling to find peace. The woodwork in the walls groaned and creaked just loudly enough to wake him when he managed to doze off, setting him on-edge. When he gave up on proper sleep, he'd stare up at the ceiling, his tired eyes creating distorting patterns in the darkness that made it appear as if countless insects scampered and flowed right beneath the surface of the painted wood. On the nights exhaustion overtook him, Eli slept fitfully, waking often from horrific dreams he could never quite remember. Pizza-night became less of a treat and more of a nightly routine as he grew increasingly deprived of sleep, barely managing to make it through his work day before staggering through the door to try to be a parent. The issue came to a head when Eli got home later than usual, even by his standards. He went through the house and turned off the lights Jake had left on, room by room, grumbling as he did so about the power bill. He packed away the several boxes of cereal that had been his son's dinner, then the carton of milk, which had reached room temp but probably wouldn't kill anybody if he just put it back in the fridge. He then made his way up the stairs, his ear twitching irritably as every step groaned underfoot. He stalked into his son's room to check on him and make sure he'd put himself to bed, the moon outside already high enough to peer through the thick, vintage windows of the house. Despite the silvery light, Eli found himself practically wading through an ankle-deep quagmire of toys that all but covered the floor. He gritted his teeth, reaching deep into himself to try to find his last shred of patience as he made his way across the room towards his son's bed. Jake had been known to be sneaky about his bedtime, playing a handheld videogame or reading by the light of a flashlight under the covers well into the night, so Eli wanted to make sure the lump under those covers was truly getting some rest. He nudged toy after toy aside with the toes of his work-boots, his temper rising as he heard bits of plastic disengaging from each other, or breaking, underfoot. As he neared the bed, Eli made an inevitable misstep, placing his weight on something with wheels; whether it was a roller skate, a fire truck, or a race car, God only knew. He faltered, catching himself with his elbow on a haphazard tower of boxes, most still half-full, crushing the cardboard with his weight before he could right himself. The commotion was enough to rouse Jake, who lifted his head from his pillow to blink blearily into the darkened room. Unfortunately for the tyke, the camel's back had already broken. “God DAMNIT, Jacob!” Eli growled sharply as he stood tall once again after his stumble. He stormed back towards the door to throw the light switch, now kicking toys aside without concern whether they were breaking or not. The lights flashed on, making both of them squint momentarily. “Look at this!” Eli scolded, gesturing broadly at the cluttered floor. “You can't even walk in here! What the hell do you DO all day?” Jake swallowed hard and sat up on his bed, pulling his knees to his chest as his ears flattened against his head. “I'm s-sorry,” he said quietly, his voice wavering. He almost never saw his dad act this way, and to face it after waking from a dead sleep had the cub's heart pounding visibly through the thin fabric of his colorful pajamas. Eli stomped to the heap of boxes that still had to be unpacked, opening the flaps of the topmost box to examine its contents. “All this mess and you're, what, halfway done?!?” He tossed the box back towards the pile, although his ire made him throw it with much more force than he'd intended. “What kid needs this much shit? We should donate it all to kids who'll actually take care of it!” Jake wiped his nose on his shirt, tears welling in his frosty blue eyes. “O-o-ok,” he whimpered, hugging his knees more tightly to his chest as his tail wrapped fearfully around himself. He didn't just seem sad anymore; he seemed scared. This is what Eli needed to come to his senses. He sighed and willed himself to relax, his anger fading away to be replaced by a deep, gnawing guilt. He pressed his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose, collecting himself before taking a seat on the edge of his son's bed. “I'm sorry, kiddo, I shouldn't have flown off the handle like that,” he said gently. “S'okay,” Jake mumbled with a sniffle. He didn't quite untuck himself out of his ball, but he seemed slightly more at-ease. Eli's lip curled into a faint smile. “Thanks, buddy.” He felt his son scoot over to join him on the edge of the bed. “Have you been sleeping alright in this house?” “Mmhm,” Jake said with a nod, his heels bouncing against the frame of his bed as he fidgeted. The elder wolf stared thoughtfully ahead, his brow furrowing. “Huh. I've been having a hard time,” he admitted. He considered all the things he was now in charge of as a homeowner: maintenance, upgrades, taming the yard. “Maybe 'cuz-” “Cuz of Letchy?” Jake interrupted. Eli's train of thought screeched off the tracks. “Because of who?” he asked with a chuckle, turning his head to gaze down at his imaginative cub. “Letchy!” Jake chirped excitedly, as if he was about to introduce his dad to a new favorite TV show. “He's my friend! He came with the house!” “Oh yeah?” Eli replied, a wondrous mirth bubbling in his voice. Kids sure were an adventure. “Well, it's good to know I haven't been leaving you alone all day. What's Leshy look like?” “It's Letch-ee,” Jake firmly corrected, making his father apologize sheepishly for his blunder. “And I don't really know what he looks like. He's just kinda... A voice?” The boy's face screwed slightly as he struggled to describe his new friend. “It's kinda all over, all at once, like there's speakers everywhere. But in my head.” Eli tried to ignore the chill that wriggled up his spine, telling himself that 'in his head' meant 'in his imagination.' He put his arm around his son, pulling him closer into a hug. “Well, can you tell Letchy to lay off a little? I'm super tired.” Jake sucked his teeth, seemingly deliberating very carefully about the request. “I can ask. But he doesn't like grown-ups very much.” The elder wolf feigned deep offense. “Jeeze, what did I ever do to him?” “Not just you. All grown-ups. But he won't say why.” Eli tucked this tidbit away in the back of his mind. Imaginary friends often reflected the state of mind of the child that created them, and he was dimly concerned that this adult-hating aspect of Letchy could be a sign of some sort of developing behavioral issue. “Well, let me know if you ever find out. I'd like to be on this guy's good-side. I need the sleep.” After a moment's pause, he returned to the matter at-hand, sweeping his hand towards the plastic catastrophe that was Jake's room. “Seriously though, why all the mess? You're usually pretty organized for your age.” “The apartment had a bigger closet,” Jake responded, the precocious cub speaking very matter-of-factly. “Wait, really?” Eli said, finally rising from the bed. He carefully crossed the room, even making a few small hops over heaps of toys, and opened the closet. Sure enough, it was stuffed as full as possible with toys, as was the toy-chest that had followed Jake with the move. That parental guilt returned with a vengeance; all that scolding because Eli hadn't provided enough storage for Jake to possibly organize all his goodies. “Guess I owe you a new toybox as well as an apology,” he said as he returned to Jake's bed. He tucked the cub back under the covers, planting his lips on Jake's forehead. “Sorry for losing my temper. Love you, kiddo.” “Love you too, daddy,” Jake said as he snuggled back in, the last trace of the evening's outburst nothing more than a single streak of moist fur down his cheek. Eli once again navigated the room and flicked off the light, plunging the room into darkness. As he closed the door, he heard his son make a final, drowsy remark: “I'll talk to Letchy about letting you sleep.” * * * Strangely enough, Eli slept like the dead that night for the first time since the move. He woke up grateful to be the owner of his business, since he'd slept right through three alarms and hadn't even opened his eyes until close to noon. He knew his crew could manage without him for a morning. He made his way downstairs to find Jake had already started his day, parked squarely in front of the tv with a heaping bowl of several kinds of cereal mixed together. It seemed he hadn't been able to decide between marshmallows, crunch berries, or frooty-flakes, so he'd opted for all three. “Morning, buddy,” Eli croaked, his voice rusty with sleep as he got a pot of coffee started. “Morning!” Jake replied without looking away from the tv or his breakfast/lunch. “Did you sleep ok?” Eli smiled as the kitchen filled with the aroma of brewing coffee. “Yeah, actually, I did! Whatever you said to... Your friend must have done the trick.” He'd already forgotten the name of their invisible house guest; where had Jake come up with such a weird name, anyway? “Yay!” Jake brought his half-full bowl into the kitchen, setting it by the sink. He'd poured so much cereal into the bowl he couldn't eat it fast enough, and the lower half of it had congealed with the milk into a thick, sugary paste, the rainbow of colors melding into an off-putting brown. Eli wrinkled his nose as he scraped it into the garbage. Jake, seemingly oblivious of the mess he'd left, rocked on his feet at his father's side, eventually asking, “Can I borrow some money?” Eli glanced quizzically downwards at his son as he ran water in the sink to rinse out the cereal bowl. “What the heck do you want money for? Got a date tonight or something?” “Noooo,” Jake replied, rolling his eyes. “Letchy said I'd have to pay him back for letting you sleep last night.” “Well, that isn't very nice,” Eli said, giving the bowl a quick go-around with a soapy sponge. “I don't think letting me sleep was much to ask.” He handed the bowl down to Jake, along with a dish towel. The cub absently started wiping at the bowl with the towel. “What do you mean?” Eli poured himself a cup of coffee, sipping it black. “Friends should do favors for each other without asking for something back. Good friends, anyway,” he finished, mentally patting himself on the back for creating such a teachable moment. “Someone who wants payback for every little thing probably isn't much of a friend.” Jake got on his tiptoes to put the bowl in the drying rack, even though it was still visibly dripping. Oh well. “He seemed really mad, too. He didn't yell, but I could tell.” “Was it scary?” Eli ventured, increasingly concerned that this imaginary friend wasn't the healthy sort. “Kinda,” the wolf cub confessed with a slight shrug. “Sounds to me that maybe this Letchy character is a bit of a bully,” Eli said, leaning against the kitchen counter as he clasped his mug. “Have you thought about telling him to move out?” Jake's eyes grew wide. “Don't say that,” he gravely implored, the levity of the conversation suddenly evaporating. “Never ever.” Now the alarm bells were really ringing in Eli's head. He'd never thought of himself as Dad of the Year, not with how much time he left Jake alone, but he did give himself credit for trusting his instincts as a parent. Something was definitely going on in his kid's head, something that felt like it had the potential to spiral well out of hand if it wasn't dealt with early. “Well, it's our house. If we want him to leave, we can just tell him to beat it. Do you want him to leave?” Jake wrung his paws together fretfully. “Y-Yeah, I guess-” he stammered, furtively glancing around the room. “But daddy, don't-” “HEY, LETCHY!” Eli bellowed, his voice ringing through the aged house. “I DON'T THINK YOU'RE VERY NICE, AND IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GO.” He beamed at his son, who had winced at the words as if he'd been struck. He was really shaken up about this Letchy thing. “Go on, you try,” he encouraged. Jake hesitated. “G-Get out of here... Letchy. You're a bully, and you won't let my dad sleep, and we don't want you around.” He gave his father a meek smile, finding strength in his steadfast presence. “So BEAT IT!” “YEAH, BEAT IT!” Eli joined in the rallying cry before the two of them succumbed to matching bouts of laughter at the absurdity of howling into the void of their house. The pair of them spent some time tidying up around the house together before Eli figured he should at least make an afternoon appearance at work. He mentally promised himself to make it a short day; although Jake's mood had lightened with all the silliness, as a father Eli worried that he was missing something major in his cub's development. This was no ordinary imaginary friend, it was more like some sort of simmering nightmare that Jake couldn't seem to shake, even by daylight. Eli obsessed over Jake's well-being all afternoon, even wondering if this was the sort of thing a counselor or therapist should be involved with. He ultimately decided to give their impromptu banishing some time to work, and if things didn't improve, then he'd pursue more professional avenues to deal with it. * * * Despite his best efforts, Eli was rather late getting home once again. Naturally, the first day in recent memory he'd slept in, one of the worksites had run into all sorts of unforeseen complications that needed his attention. Once he'd tended to those, and made proper amends to his faithful workers, he had to catch up on his work at the office, and only after that was finished did he run to the store to find a storage solution for all of Jake's toys. It was already dark by the time he pulled off the well-lit road and into the dense copse of trees that was his property. As he approached home, a flat-packed shelving unit sliding around in the bed of his truck, he was needled by a persistent, yet inexplicable, sense of worry. It was so palpable that, upon stopping the truck in front of the porch, Eli left the shelves where they were and strode inside to see if anything was amiss. He threw the door open and glanced around the house, his hackles rising at an alien sense of dread that filled the air like the static charge before a bolt of lightning. The first floor was dark and still, but far from peaceful; it was the stillness of a crime scene, of an exhumed corpse, of quiet devastation. Eli called his son's name, but the air seemed too thick to transmit it, the sound seeming to die mere feet from the wolf's muzzle. He ran up the stairs, bounding up the steps two at a time, and ran to his son's room. As he approached, he could hear Jake crying like he'd never heard before, in heaving sobs between desperate gasps for air, with an occasional whimpering plea for his daddy. Eli tried to open the door, every parental instinct screaming for him to reach his son as soon as possible. In his panic, his hands slipped on the knob, once, twice, before he ended up dropping a shoulder and breaking the door in. He shoved it open, sweeping a pile of toys along with the damaged door, adrenaline dumping into his bloodstream. The elder wolf shivered as he was struck by a wall of wet, frigid air, his vision obscured by a dense fog that swirled menacingly around his child's room. It was so dense and heavy, it poured through the opened door like a liquid, gradually clearing inside the room enough for him to see what unnatural force had invaded his home. But what he saw was, at first... Nothing. He could just barely gain an impression of some “thing” in the mist, something enormous, but only by the way the fog roiled and churned with its movement. Eli hesitated as his blood ran cold, faced with utter, unknowable terror; the column of disturbed fog stretched from floor to ceiling, but he could see no physical form within it. It was only another desperate plea from his son that he was able to overcome his paralyzing fear, and as the fog cleared, he finally saw what was happening to his Jake. The slender 10-year-old was seemingly trapped on his bed, his chest pressed into the mattress as if an overwhelming weight was upon his upper back. It seemed hard for him to breathe; although tears rolled freely down his face, he could only make a brief, choked sound after a lengthy struggle to draw air. He was reaching outward, each fist clutching a ball of his bedding, a heavy comforter decorated with characters from his favorite cartoon. White stuffing erupted from long slashes in the fabric, showing how the boy had been clawing for freedom before succumbing to the force that bound him. At first glance, Eli had thought his son was on all-fours, but this wasn't the case; his knees weren't touching the bed. Whatever being held him had him by the tail, which was stretched upwards, wrenching the tyke's back into a bend and completely suspending his hips. Eli could see a depression in the fluffy fur of Jake's tail, even parallel ridges that suggested the spaces between massive fingers, but the actual hand was completely invisible. The back of Jake's pajama bottoms had been ripped away, the creamy white fur of the cub's rear catching the moonlight from the window. Eli could see the flesh of his son's asscheeks compressing and rebounding, as if being struck, along with a heavy clapping sound. As the fog thinned to a faint mist, however, Eli saw the final piece of the puzzle. He saw his son's hole, laid bare by the rough hand pulling up his tail, stretching in time with the strikes of flesh on flesh, the tight pucker reddened and used as the tyke's insides stretched to accommodate whatever massive organ invaded them. Jake was being subjected to long, indulgent strokes, his hole nearly closing before being forced open again, stretching slowly, resistantly, until the beast roughly hilted inside him, grinding its hips against its child prey. It took only seconds for Eli to grasp the basics of what was happening, but it felt to him like minutes. He had more emotions than he could process, the righteous fury of a lupine parent muddied by the grief and guilt he felt for witnessing the loss of his boy's innocence. He had no idea what to do about this invisible force, but he knew he had to be there for his son. Eli snarled viciously as he charged forward, willing to shadow-box this unseen enemy to the death if it meant sparing his son more suffering. He crossed the room, stomping yet more toys underfoot, his vision blurring red. He reached the side of the bed, Jake was reaching out to him for help. Just one more second, Jake, he thought to himself, Daddy's almost there, Daddy will save you, just hold on for Daddy... [b]“Kneel.”[/b] The command was overwhelming, echoing through Eli's head from all directions at once, from within and without, as if it had always been there. The thunderous order scattered the wolf's thoughts and replaced them with itself, the corridors of Eli's mind becoming a hall of mirrors that existed only to endlessly reflect and refract the will of the monster. Gradually, the command ebbed, and Eli felt himself coming to, as if awakening from a deep sleep. He was on his knees at his whimpering son's bedside, an eerie stillness in the icy air. Only the fog from Eli and Jake's breaths stirred, like an eerie calm after a storm. “You adults...” Eli heard the words inside his mind, thoughts and feelings not his own trickling into his consciousness like water seeping into a cave. The words were rife with scorn and disdain. Jake yipped in pain as the invisible menace withdrew from his ass and released his tail, letting his back half drop back onto the bed, although his chest somehow remained pinned. “Always trying to deny me my needs.” “Wh-What are you?” Eli stammered, his entire body shuddering. He could still feel the creature's will policing his own, the sensation like walls of black, greasy ice pressing inwards inside his head. “I am Letcherok,” the voice replied. Jake's bed creaked as if a great weight had been lifted from it. In the corner of his eye, Eli could see the floor settling and creaking to his left under seemingly heavy footsteps. He suddenly felt an enormous hand at the back of his neck, gathering a fist of fur and flesh and yanking his head back, forcing his gaze upwards. Although all Eli could see was the ceiling, he felt something staring into his eyes, a primordial fear rising in the wolf's gut. “...Letchy...” he whispered, his voice trembling in the quiet. He could hear his son whimpering in fear and pain, but even that seemed far away; his most ancient instincts were begging the elder wolf to flee and preserve himself, to sire more children with other mates and leave this one for dead. Eli's mind filled with a sardonic mirth. “That is what the children call me,” the voice replied. Then, it hardened. “But not the adults. The adults have different names for me.” The icy walls pressed inward like a vise, making Eli yelp in agony; it felt like the creature was going to split his skull apart from the inside, like an overripe melon. “The adults called me a creep. A monster. A pedophile. They locked me away.” The air in front of Eli's face grew even colder, making the moisture in his nose freeze solid. The force inside his mind increased, but even within that overwhelming pressure he sensed the malevolent specter leaning in so they were almost nose-to-nose. “According to their law they sentenced me to 12 years in prison. But someone like me, in a place like that... A death sentence.” “So you're... A ghost?” Eli ventured, gritting his teeth to force his mind to craft the words. The presence in Eli's mind seemed to bubble and ripple with black humor, as if the wolf had made a joke. “I was. For a time,” the voice waxed on. “Until The Pit took me. Until my impurities were burned away by The Inferno. Until my form was flayed apart and rebuilt by my new kin. Until I earned the right to wander earth once again, a right baptized in blood and agony.” The cold in Eli's face retreated, then reappeared at his cheek. He winced as licks of hot wind danced across his ear, the sensitive flesh burning slightly from the creature's infernal breath. “Now, I do as I please, everything I was denied in life, and Hell follows with me.” The presence pulled away, the hellfire on its breath leaving Eli's ear prickling. The floor sagged as it made its way back towards the bed, the mattress depressing as the demon returned to its place behind Jake. The cub cried out, babbling like a child half his age, anticipating what was to come. “No, please!” his father pleaded from his place on his knees. Tears welled in his eyes as he felt himself drowning in his own helplessness. “Please, no more! Take me instead!” The demon laughed, out loud this time, a chilling, sadistic sound. He addressed the cub trapped on the bed before him. “Your daddy isn't a very good listener,” he said, his voice low, mocking, and cruel. “Why would I want him... When I have...” The demon drew a shuddering, lustful breath. “...You?” Jake yelped as the demon once again yanked his tail upwards, wasting no time in hilting himself in the tight, hot confines beneath it. Letcherok sighed contentedly as he throbbed inside the cub, the boy's passage tightening invitingly as his muscles tensed when he cried. “It isn't often I have an audience,” the demon teased, relishing in the anguish of his victim's father. He rocked his hips, making sure Jake could feel the heft of his balls settling upon his underage taint, making his prey eke out another muffled sob. “I'll be sure to make the most of it.” Eli couldn't look away as his son was rotated on the bed, positioning him facing slightly towards the wall and giving his father a better view of his tiny, abused ass. The cub's tail was pulled harshly to the side while the opposite leg was lifted up at the thigh, spreading the tyke even wider and lengthening the rip in his pajama pants. After a moment's pause, the pants bunched up at one of Jake's hips, and with a loud tearing noise they were ripped completely away. The demon kept the cub's leg lifted, giving his father a full view of his nether region. Letcherok sank himself into the boy and started fucking him in earnest, his invisible form letting Eli witness every detail of his child's deflowering. The demon wasn't gentle, his sharp, self-serving thrusts crashing his hips against Jake's pert ass. Each impact pushed a tiny puff of breath out of the cub's mouth, making him pant to breathe beneath the weight of the dark magic that pressed his chest into the bed. Every few tiny puffs would have a sound with it, a whimper, a sob, a groan, all continuously punctuated by the slap of the demon's manhood. Letcherok let out a low, predatory snarl and the tyke's tail was released, seemingly so the demon could instead grab the tiny wolf's hip. Four pinpricks of blood stained Jake's fur on his hip as the demon sank his fingertips into his flesh, making the cub cry out even louder for a few thrusts before the new pain faded into just another sensation of his painful, confusing rape. Eli watched, mentally struggling against the bonds within his mind that prevented him from moving off his knees or even looking away. Now, without the pajama pants, he could see everything of his son. He watched not only as Jake's ass stretched and gaped around the invisible demon's cock, he also saw a thick, black fluid dribble down the creamy white fur of his son's taint, presumably some sort of emission from Letcherok. He saw his son's tight ballsack, undeveloped and close to his body, jiggling with every thrust as he was violated. The boy's sheath, not much bigger than his father's pinky finger, stretched over his canine cock; he was slightly hard, the red spade at the tip of his cock barely peeking out from the sheath. Eli wondered if this was one of his boy's first erections... Had he started masturbating yet? Was he able to cum already? “You sick fuck,” Eli growled, even as his eyes remained riveted on the rape of his child. “Do you get off on that? Putting those sick thoughts in my head?” The demon stopped using Jake mid-stroke, the cub sniffling and crying in the quiet and stillness that followed. Eli felt the demon's gaze turn to him, the presence in his mind intensifying once again. This time, the oppressive cold sensation felt like probing tendrils or fingers, systematically poking and prodding at his consciousness. After a few moments, the demon let out a sinister chuckle. “I suppose that would be comforting,” he said, “thinking that I gave you those thoughts. Let me finish up in your son, then I'll take care of you.” “Fuck you,” Eli spat, although the words felt small and faltering from his position on his knees. Jake gasped as Letcherok returned his attention, the dull pressure in the cub's belly suddenly a storm of sensations as the demon fucked him. No longer caring for the show he put on for the father, Letcherok simply wrapped his enormous, powerful hands around the child's hips, his size so impressive his fingers and thumbs nearly met as he gripped Jake like a fleshlight. The pressure on Jake's torso was relieved, but it was no relief, as the boy found himself suspended above the bed by the hips, his entire body sliding up and down his former imaginary friend's cock. His hands free, he clutched the lower middle of his belly, crying out as he felt it shift under his fingertips from the sheer size of the tool he was being raped with. His hand drifted further downward to explore another unfamiliar sensation, the stiffening of his tiny, prepubescent cock, not developed enough to escape its sheath. He lightly ran his fingers over the bulbous swell at the bottom, where his sheath felt stretched the most, and looked to his dad in fear and confusion. Before Eli could say anything reassuring, Letcherok unleashed a deep, animalistic roar, his grasp on Jake's hips strengthening as he pressed himself as deep inside the cub as he could manage. The tiny wolf cried out and clutched his belly once more. At first, he felt the demon as he had before, as a thick, throbbing mass of flesh buried in his gut. Then, something different, a series of pulses, a creeping sensation of fullness. “Daddy, what's he doing?” he sobbed, the fullness intensifying into a stretch as his guts filled with thick, viscous fluid. The demon growled a low, guttural growl with every wave of his lengthy orgasm. After what seemed like ages, he finished, and pulled his victim off his cock, dropping him carelessly onto the bed. “Yeah, daddy,” he mocked. “Good luck explaining that.” Jake was sprawled on the bed, flat on his back, his colorful pajama shirt riding up his belly. His rear leaked with a thick fluid, his abused hole glistening with the otherworldly substance. It was thick, only a shade thinner than honey, and gleamed an oily purplish-black in the moonlight. The cub's eyes were blank as he stared at the ceiling, his immature mind struggling to process what he'd just been through. The bed creaked again as the demon rose. “Don't worry, daddy, I didn't forget about you,” he said, the aged hardwood floor sinking as he approached Eli for a second time. “Shut up and leave,” Eli said, his voice quiet but dripping with venom. “You got what you want, you monster.” He remained compelled to watch his son, his eyes locked onto the unholy seed oozing from between the boy's taut cheeks. “I'd be angry too,” Letcherok crooned, his voice honeyed with sarcasm. “If some pervert came and fucked my son... Before I had a chance to.” “SHUT. UP.” Eli practically roared the words, lashing out enough to momentarily push back against the demon's influence in his mind. “You put those thoughts in my head!” Eli felt the room become tense, a seething anger suffusing the air. “You're just like the people that killed me,” the demon said, his playful mockery evaporating along with his patience. “Projecting your frustration with your unmet desires. You pretend to hate me, but you know you envy me.” The elder wolf felt the gaze of the demon boring into him. “You got turned on watching your son get raped. I had nothing to do with it. Yet you have the nerve to project your self-loathing... Onto me. Well...” The flooring directly in front of Eli sagged, the demon taking position. “I'll show you how small a push it takes for someone like us to finally take what we want. What everyone wants, deep down. Open.” “What do you-” [b]“Open.”[/b] By the time Eli came to, he remained on his knees, his jaw hanging slack as a thick, weighty slab of flesh pressed past his lips. The texture felt somewhere between stone and flesh, rough yet pliable, like scales. He got an impression of semi-rigid plates, like scute scales on the belly of a crocodile. Before he could gather his wits to protest, the hard cock suddenly pressed onward, deflecting off the back of his throat to plunge down it. He gagged, unable to breathe around the girth of the demonic member, and felt panic begin to set in. “Don't worry,” the demon taunted, “I'll give you a little taste of my cum. Just enough to strip away some surface-level inhibitions.” Eli's eyes widened in alarm, managing to briefly shake his head before he felt the telltale ripple of orgasm race along the length of Letcherok's cock. He felt a bloom of warmth as a single spurt of thick, infernal cum coated the back of his throat. As the cum oozed down his throat, Eli felt himself... Melt away. His terror, his rage, his disgust, all faded to leave behind a heady sort of inner peace. He relaxed and leaned forward, effortlessly swallowing down the entire length of demon's cock. It seemed to never end, yet soon Eli's nose was pressed into a firm, masculine belly and the cock in his throat twitched halfway down his chest. He closed his eyes in bliss, surprised but not offended by how quickly he took to servicing a man. He didn't feel much of anything, really, his thoughts crowded out by a pleasant fog of idle lust. When he opened his eyes again, he was dimly aware that he could see Letcherok. Through the haze of the demon's influence, he only captured slivers, sensations. Eli felt the demon slide his cock out of his throat; once he could see it, he was amazed it fit inside him at all. Compelled by his lack of shame, lack of fear, he tentatively nosed aside the massive cock to bury himself into the demon's groin, inhaling the smokey, manly scent as he curiously lapped his tongue under Letcherok's heavy balls. The demon said... Something, Eli could barely understand it, but the wolf slowly got to his feet. He gently pulled himself up using the demon's hips, running his tongue up the beast's abdomen as he rose. Huge... Black... Muscular... At his full height Eli only stood at the demon's nipples, which he briefly lavished with oral attention. Letcherok growled. “Daddy's been flying solo for a while,” he observed mockingly. “A little less inhibition and you're on top of anything that moves.” He pushed Eli away with a single finger. “I'm not what you really want, though, am I?” He stepped aside, and Eli's gaze slowly slid straight ahead, where his stunned child still lay on the bed with a load of demonic seed inside him. “Jake... yyy,” Eli said thickly, a dopey smile spreading across his muzzle. The cub lifted his head to blearily look at his father. “Daddy?” he sniffled, wiping at the tear-soaked fur on his cheeks. “Are you ok?” Eli wordlessly climbed onto the bed, his eyes transfixed on his son. The traumatized cub managed to get to his knees, outstretching his arms for a comforting hug. His father obliged, scooping him up and holding him to his chest. “Sh, sh, sh,” he quietly urged as Jake cried quietly into his chest. He rubbed the boy's back in slow circles, slowing his breathing, eventually slipping his hand beneath the fabric of his shirt. They remained in their embrace until Jake settled down, Letcherok looming over them all the while, visible only to Eli. Eli ran his hand up and down his son's back, stroking the soft gray fur as the boy's shirt bunched up around his neck. Slowly and silently, the elder wolf gently grasped the bundle of fabric and lifted. “Huh?” Jake puzzled quietly, lifting up his arms out of habit as his dad peeled off his shirt. He shivered and bashfully crossed his wrists over his groin, wondering why he was completely naked. His father tossed the shirt aside and straightened his back, towering over Jake, and stripped off his grimy t-shirt he'd worn to work that afternoon. “Dad... What are you doing?” the cub asked, fear once again coiling in his belly. He'd seen his dad topless before, getting out of the shower with a towel around his waist or working outside on a hot day; they had the same pattern of fur, creamy white on their fronts from chin to tail, but in that moment Jake only saw how much stronger his dad was than himself. Every part of the elder wolf was thicker, more powerful, even with the dad-gut he was sporting these days. Without a word, Eli suddenly leaned down to press his lips against his son's. Jake recoiled back in surprise, getting off his knees to scoot backwards with his feet. His father pursued, taking advantage of the cub's backwards movement to ensnare him in another mouth-to-mouth kiss and force him onto his back. Jake tried to protest, to turn his head away, but his father lowered his weight onto him and wrapped him up in an inescapable embrace. The back of the cub's head was trapped in the crook of one of his father's arms, while he felt Eli's other arm snake behind his back to press their bare torsos together. Now that Jake couldn't get away, his father darted his tongue into his son's mouth, moaning heavily as he finally got a taste of his offspring. Jake struggled what little he could, pressing his tiny hands against his father's chest, but beyond the round softness of age he found nothing but a wall of hard muscle. There was truly nothing he could do to fight. Eli couldn't believe the freedom he'd achieved with the help of Letcherok. He lustfully explored Jake's mouth with his tongue, unlocking thoughts and desires that had once been buried deeply beneath morality and fear. He felt his son trying to fight him off, but the pressure on his pectorals just made him want to push even further. Jake tried to speak, but that only freed the cub's tongue to be caressed and wrestled by Eli's own. Just that kiss, that forbidden kiss, had Eli's cock twitching and drooling inside his blue jeans. But something told him not to rush, to enjoy the demonic gift he'd been granted. He finally broke the kiss, pulling slowly away to savor the string of drool that stretched between his lips and his son's. For a moment, Jake tried to wriggle away, but Letcherok stepped to the head of the bed and seized his wrists, effortlessly stretching the young wolf's arms above his head and pinning them down. Eli blinked sluggishly and looked up at the abomination, who nodded approvingly for him to proceed. Eli lowered his mouth to his son's nipple and dragged his flat, canine tongue over the perky little mound of pink. He felt the cub shiver at the warm, wet touch. He propped himself up on one elbow at his son's side and took the boy's nipple into his muzzle, suckling it, licking it, and teasingly scraping it with his teeth. Jake tried to turn away, twisting his body despite his bound wrists, which his father punished with a firm nip. Jake whimpered, then remained still, submitting to his father's will. Eli ran the fingertips of his free hand up the cub's body, starting at his navel and wandering upwards. He laid his hand flat on the other side of Jake's slender chest, feeling his racing heartbeat through his palm, then curled his fingers to toy with his son's nipple as he continued to orally tease the other. “Daddy... Stop,” Jake whined breathlessly, “It feels weird.” He sounded like he was holding back tears. Eli's gaze slid downward to his next prize, finally releasing the cub's nipple from his mouth. He scooted himself down on the bed, his supporting elbow now resting on the bed by Jake's hip. He took a deep, shuddering breath as he lowered his muzzle tantalizingly close to his son's manhood, drinking in the moment of acting upon his most taboo impulses. Despite the cub's protests, his tiny cock was still hard within his sheath, stretching the thin skin as it twitched. Its tip barely emerged, although a faint shine of pre-cum was visible. He reached out to gently fondle Jake's balls, rolling them within their firm, fleshy pouch. The attention made the boy's cock twitch, making him wince. “Here... Daddy... Help,” Eli managed, his voice slurring as his head was overcome with lust. Eli took a moment to wet his tongue before pressing it to the visible tip of his son's cock. He flattened it and, after a moment's resistance, slipped it past the tight ring of flesh that was the margin of Jake's sheath. The cub gasped, recoiling slightly at the uncomfortable stretch of the sensitive skin. Eli swirled his tongue, moistening and stretching. Finally, he applied the thumb and forefinger of his free hand to either side of his son's shaft, and gently pulled down his sheath. Jake grimaced as he felt his sheath slide down his length, his breaths coming as husky pants as his father manipulated his cock. He felt his sheath stretching in ways it never had before as his dad withdrew it, making him utter short, pained yips. “Ah... Ah... Ah...” he groaned, his brow furrowing as his tiny cub-dick grew increasingly exposed. He felt his father push his sheath down to the very bottom of his cock, where it felt the tightest, and apply yet more pressure. “Ah... Ah! AH!” Eli smiled dumbly as his son's sheath snapped around his knot, which at his age was little more than a gentle swell at the base of his cock. Nevertheless, the cub was as hard as he could get, so it would be some time before that snug sheath could work its way back up. He took a moment to enjoy the view of his boy's erect penis: the way it lay so tightly against his flat tummy, how the shaft was barely any longer than the hint of his future knot, the way it twitched with arousal even if he cub didn't comprehend what was happening. Unable to resist any longer, Eli encircled his son's balls in the curl of his finger and gently pulled downward, tugging the skin at the base of his cock to lift it off his belly. He slid it into his mouth, easily wrapping his lips around the base of Jake's cub-knot without anything coming even close to the back of his throat. Jake whimpered at first, but as he felt his father's tongue sliding around his virgin cock, he started to moan. “Daddy... What're you... Doing?” he huffed, his back arching slightly off the bed as he sank into the warmth of his father's muzzle. “That feels... Good!” He started to buck his hips, wanting to press deeper and deeper, shivering every time his dad closed his lips around the base of his knot. Eli began to taste a faint sweetness as his son dribbled pre onto his tongue; maybe he was old enough to cum after all? But this was no way to find out. He reluctantly lifted his head, his hot breath making his son's dick bounce needfully. He slid off the bed and stood, staring for a moment at his cub, stretched out on the bed with his wrists crossed above his head, his tiny, red canine cock in the air, posed like a pornographic pinup model. “Why'd you stop? Did I do something wrong?” Jake asked, his eyes widening. In answer, Eli undid the button on his jeans, pulling down the zipper as he ogled his child. He lowered his jeans and stepped out of them, leaving behind his bright blue boxers, which were tented to their limit and soaked with so much pre-cum it almost looked like Eli had wet himself. These came down next, revealing exactly what the elder wolf was packing. “Yesssss,” Letcherok hissed as Eli fully succumbed to his urges. Beneath his rounded dad-gut, the wolf sported an intimidating canine erection, just as girthy as the rest of him. The tip was already freely dribbling pre-cum, and past that the shaft swelled in a barrel-like manner thick enough that his son probably wouldn't be able to close his hand around it. There was a slight taper, then the knot, which even then was visibly thicker than the thickest portion of the shaft. “D-Dad, no,” Jake whined as he tried to free his arms. But his father didn't respond; he merely grabbed Jake by the ankles and pulled, rotating the cub so his rear hung off the edge of the mattress. He started to cry again as he put together where his dad was going to put that enormous cock. “P-Please, no,” he sobbed, although he was all out of tears to cry. But Eli couldn't hear him. The only thing on the elder wolf's mind was achieving the ultimate of his taboo fantasies: to breed his own son. He didn't care if it would hurt him, or even about the gel-like demon seed that still coated the boy's hole. He took both of Jake's ankles in one hand, crossing them in the air; Eli had a brief flashback of lifting the boy's legs like that to change his diapers. With his other hand, he lined himself up, pressing the tip of his cock against his son's slick hole. He met resistance, pressed harder, making Jake cry something out in pain. Eli thought he was off-target, but then, suddenly, he slipped inside his boy's ass for the first time. Eli threw his head back and moaned; that first sink into Jake was so tight it was almost uncomfortable. He felt the thick cum of the demon lubing his entry, the strange fluid perpetually slick and warm. He felt Letcherok in his mind again, the demon's words piercing through the haze of ecstasy. “He's already tightened up, huh? Like his first time all over again.” “Uh-huh,” Eli replied, nodding stupidly, his tongue lolling slightly out of his muzzle. “That's the best part about cubs,” the demon went on. “They're always tight as fuck, no matter how much you use 'em.” “Always?” Eli slurred. “Go ahead and find out for yourself.” The wolf returned his attention downward, where he'd barely pressed the tip of himself inside his boy's ass. He groaned as he pressed onward, Jake's hole slowly yielding to his father's massive cock. Eli was dimly aware that Jake was shaking his head and struggling, but could think of nothing more than the hot, slick pleasure he was gradually sinking into. Once he'd gone in another inch, he no longer needed to guide himself, so he took one of his son's ankles in each hand, spreading his legs as he impaled him on his father's dick. Eli's jaw slackened, and long lines of drool began to drip onto his belly as his pleasure became almost overwhelming. Time went by with Eli trapped in his bliss, forcing more and more of his manhood into his son, inch by inch. It wasn't long before Eli looked down in wonder as the beginning of his knot teased at his boy's hole, his entire shaft enveloped in tight, quivering cub. Experimentally, he pressed on Jake's lower stomach; the cub was so thin, and Eli's dick so big, he could feel himself inside him in perfect detail. Even without the knot, Jake was full, the tip of his daddy's cock ending up somewhere above his belly button. But Eli wanted more. He withdrew about half of his length, then pushed it back in, grinding his knot against his son's ass. He did it again. And again. Faster, harder. All he could think about was tying and breeding his son, and soon he was plowing his cub in a needy, desperate way that Eli had never fucked anyone before. He used his son's ass like a rented fleshlight, his dense, heavy balls slapping against his progeny with every thrust. He wrapped Jake's legs around his waist and grabbed him by the hips, hunching over to fuck himself even more deeply into his son. With every impact of his knot on Jake's hole it loosened ever so slightly, and soon Eli could feel that with enough force he could get the entirety of his manhood inside him. Jake couldn't even cry anymore. Once he was split open, and his father was using him, he could do nothing but endure. He could see the outline of his dad's cock inside him, his flat belly bulging slightly with every thrust, and he could feel that giant knot pushing him even more open. He was terrified of what would happen when it finally wound up inside him, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He could tell by the faraway look in his dad's eyes that whatever he wanted, he was going to get. Much like his previous experience, he was being fucked with such force that he couldn't help grunting and and whimpering with every press of that knot on his hole. And yet, the force of his father inside him was creating something new, a warm sort of pressure that started low in his belly, but felt like it spread up to his cock... Thick strands of drool dribbled onto Jake's tummy as his dad stared forward, completely overtaken by the sensations of fucking his son. Finally, he felt the first third of his knot begin to sink into Jake, and he knew he could finally find release. He pulled out nearly his entire length, then threw his weight forward. He hit a moment's resistance, his son's ass barely ready to take his enormous knot, then pushed through it. Both of them gasped as Jake took the entirety of his father's manhood, his hole clenching around the base of his unit. Eli grunted and growled as he came, grinding himself even deeper into his son as he filled him with seed. Jake arched his back, yelping as he felt the sudden fullness of his dad's knot, his body bending at an angle that allowed them both to see a ripple in his belly as he took his father's load. The cub's tiny cock twitched, then jumped as he was overcome by the fullness inside his ass, moaning loudly as he had his first orgasm. The third time his cock jerked, it even shot a small, watery stream of cum, just enough to create a streak of moisture across his chest. Eli collapsed into the bed, his head abuzz and light from the force of his orgasm. Even as he lay there, he was still cumming, waning pulses and throbs continuing along the length of his cock where it dwelled inside his son. After a few moments, he opened his eyes, his head clear. He looked around the room; the demon was gone. Only then was he struck by the gravity of what he'd done. He looked down, still tied with his own son, and was overcome with guilt and shame. “Oh God. Jakey. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!” He rolled onto his back, carefully taking his cub with him so he could straddle his hips until they were no longer tied. He wrapped his arms around Jake the best he could, letting the tyke rest himself on his stomach. Besides that, all he could was say he was sorry, repeating the phrase like a mantra. On the rare occasion that Jake looked up at him, there was nothing in his eyes but confusion and hurt. Eli wanted to blame the demon, to say he was possessed, that such dark thoughts had been planted in his mind, but he knew it wasn't the case. His thoughts had been his own the whole time, Letcherok had merely stripped away the social niceties they had hidden behind. Eli finally softened enough to separate from Jake. He coached his son to breathe deeply, to relax the best he could, and he carefully extracted himself. Once freed, Jake curled into the fetal position and rolled to face away from his father, his rear dribbling a mixture of black, oily demon seed and a generous load of his father's cum. Eli told himself the sight was repulsive, that he hated himself for doing it, but inside the words rang insincerely. He reached out, briefly considering trying to comfort Jake, but decided against it with a sigh. He'd done enough damage. Eli ran to the shower to clean off and to be alone with his haunting thoughts, turning the water up to be punishingly hot. He stood under the water, his fur sleeking down to hide nothing of his mature shape, thinking about how he could possibly make things up to his son. He even felt guilty for taking a shower, thinking that he'd left Jake soaking in cum without even offering to clean him up. [i]Invite him into the shower. Maybe you can try out that muzzle of his in here.[/i] The thought was intrusive, unwelcome, but his own. He felt sick to his stomach... Would he ever be able to face his son again? The air in the bathroom suddenly grew bitterly cold despite the near-boiling water in the shower. A dark shape loomed just outside the shower, its shadow cast upon the curtain. Eli felt that icy presence in his mind again as Letcherok invaded it. “You've crossed the line, now,” the demon said, its tone full of self-satisfaction. “What do you mean?” Eli asked, his voice wavering over the hiss of the shower. “Once you've had a cub, you can't just stop,” the demon taunted. “You will continue abusing your son. Again and again. No matter how hard you try to stop it.” “N-No. I won't. I swear I won't, never again,” Eli claimed. Even to himself the words felt hollow. He'd barely finished with Jake, and he was already having intrusive thoughts about using him again. “You will. And Jake? He'll grow up. He'll hate you. And he'll be just. Like. Me.” “I won't let that happen.” “Oh, you know what they say, Eli. Hurt people hurt people,” Letcherok said, his tone now chastising and cruel. “Maybe he'll get caught. Maybe he won't. Either way, he'll burn for it eventually. In time, Hell will gain a demon, and he'll skitter back to earth to create more abusers, to create more victims, to create more demons.” The shadow of the demon raised an arm, a single finger extended to the ceiling, and lazily traced a circle in the air. “And around, and around, and around it goes.” “Is that why you did this to us? Some sort of... Recruitment program for Hell?” Eli demanded, his jaw clenching in fury. Letcherok let out a sinister chuckle. “Oh, Eli. [i]I[/i] didn't do anything. [i]You did.”[/i] His chuckle grew into a laugh, which grew into a vicious cackle. Eli snapped open the shower curtain, his fist already reeled back to attack the shadow that haunted him, but the moment he could see the bathroom, it was empty. He was alone, even as the final echoes of the demon's laugh ebbed and vanished.