Welcome back to the story. Hopefully this chapter will answer a few questions, especially the "why is this in the SF/Fantasy section?" Don't forget to donate to Nifty http://donate.nifty.org/ to keep the site running and keep the feedback coming, it's always appreciated. Enjoy the next part!
Chapter 4
I woke up earlier than I wanted on Saturday morning and realised I'd have a couple of hours to kill before meeting Josh. I set about getting showered and presentable, which took longer than usual, and when I looked in the mirror all I could think is `What the hell are you doing?' My hair was perfectly parted and I was wearing my best clothes, I looked like I was going to a wedding not trekking through the woods. I changed into something more comfortable and messed my hair up a bit. Much better.
Down in the kitchen I started to sort my lunch out and made more sandwiches than I probably needed. Ah well, there's some spare if that deer comes back.
"Morning sport. All set for a day of rambling?" My dad asked as he joined me.
"Yep, just sorting some food out." I replied, continuing with my leaning tower of sandwiches.
"For how many people? I thought it was just you and some other boy going." He said looking at my small stack of sandwiches. He was right of course so I wrapped some up for tomorrow and left them in the fridge. "So who is this Josh anyway? Your mum seems to think you like him."
"Oh God." I groaned, "He's just a boy from school I met last week." He didn't seem convinced.
"Uh huh, do we need to have `The Talk?'" He asked.
"No dad, I know all about the birds and the bees, and whatever I don't know I can find out from the magazines under my mattress." I replied with a cheeky smile then headed upstairs before I died of embarrassment. My parents had known I was gay from way before we moved here; it was part of the reason for the bullying where we used to live and they were determined to move to a smaller town so there was less chance of it in school. Yeah I don't get that logic either, I think my mum just liked the place and after meeting the principal she knew she could tear him a new arsehole if things got bad.
They went out before I did, leaving me to pace around for what seemed like an eternity as I checked the time every few seconds. Finally I grabbed my backpack and tried not to run up to Josh's place. When I arrived I didn't know where to go. Should I go to the stables to see if he'd finished whatever he had to do, or the cottage or the main house?
As I pondered this the door to the main house opened and an older, but fairly well built man came out. At first I thought it might be his dad until I remembered Josh saying he had died, so I had to assume this was his grandpa. I could see a slight resemblance to Josh and even though I knew the relationship between them I was still surprised by how young he seemed. He looked to be in his early fifties although that was only due to the greying hair; his face certainly seemed a lot younger. I got a slight cowboy vibe from him but maybe that was just because they had horses here, not because I thought he'd shoot me at high noon if I pissed his grandson off.
"You must be Alex." He said holding out his hand. I shook it and winced slightly as he had a powerful grip. "Sorry, don't know my own strength sometimes."
"No problem, and yes, I'm Alex." I said with my best smile trying to hide the pain in my still throbbing hand. "Is Josh ready to go?"
"I think so. JOSH!!!! ALEX IS HERE!!!!" He bellowed across the courtyard. You know when you go to a concert and at the end you leave with everything kinda muffled and a ringing in your ears? I had that same sensation again standing outside that house. Josh ran out of the stables and into the cottage, giving me a little wave as he went. A minute later he came back out in a different t shirt and with his own backpack. He gave his grandpa a hug and as he did I thought I heard his grandpa say something like `be very careful' before they parted and we made our way to the path.
As we started to talk I decided to get Josh to tell me about his life and hopefully open up a little. I asked him what he'd been doing around the farm and how they ran the place but his answers were a bit vague, just saying mucking out stables and moving stuff around. Then he asked me about my life so I told him about where I used to live and even opened up a bit about how the bullying had got so bad that I was glad to leave. I left out the part about being gay though as, even though I hoped there might be a spark there between us, I didn't want it to just be a friendship that would be killed off if he found out I was gay. Josh asked why I'd never stood up to the bullies and I just laughed and showed him my puny biceps. "I don't think I'd last a minute if I stood up to most bullies." I said with a pained smile.
Then Josh surprised me by saying, "I'd have stood up for you." Then looked away, blushing. I thought it was sweet but also thought he'd probably get the shit kicked out of him as well. Obviously he was a little healthier than me due his physical work on the farm but I still doubted he could take on the low browed mouth breathers I'd had to deal with at my old school. We'd walked for nearly an hour and we were just coming up to the fork in the road where the trees had blocked the path. Josh turned off to the left but I wanted to go right.
"Come on, let's go this way." I said, pointing to the trunks.
"There's nothing up there," Josh protested, "And besides, those logs are in the way. We should go this way so I can show which fields we own and introduce you to some of the horses." I was tempted to take him up on that for a minute but I really wanted to get his thoughts on the strange things I'd seen on the other path.
"Come on," I said while climbing up onto the first trunk, "There's a little gap here we can squeeze through." I tossed my bag through the gap then turned to Josh with a smile and squeezed through backwards, just giving me enough time to see a resigned and slightly worried look on his face. A few seconds later his pack landed at my feet and he dropped down from the lower trunk with little effort, even though I'd had to use the makeshift ladder.
I led Josh down the path as we had to walk in single file and every now and then I'd point out some things I'd found odd, like the missing stones or some cracked trees but Josh didn't seem to think they were strange, or he'd just come up with some feeble explanations like storm damage. When we finally reached the clearing with the giant cliff face I sat on the log/bench and started rummaging for my sandwiches. Josh opened his bag and just pulled out a homemade milkshake but no food.
"Didn't you bring any food? You want a sandwich?" I asked, offering him one of mine and wishing I'd brought the rest with me.
"Nah, I'm ok with this." He replied and sheepishly started drinking. I pointed out the strange holes on the cliff face to him and asked him what he thought of them. He came up with some bizarre theories like woodpeckers or other animals nesting up there that may have hollowed it out. I nearly dismissed his theory but then I thought back to the gamma beavers' dam further up and it didn't seem so strange after all. While we were looking at the cliff I noticed a few little stones fall away but thought nothing of it, Josh however, seemed to get nervous about it. "I think we should head back." He suggested but I wanted to move on to the end of the path. He reluctantly agreed but looked back with a slightly anguished expression a few times as we left the clearing.
We finally made it to the end of the path and I relayed my thoughts about gamma beavers to him. I even pulled out a sketch pad I'd brought with me and started to do a little cartoon of them for him. He laughed as the picture became more absurd and seemed to relax a bit more as he started to add his own ideas about them and what else could have been responsible for the other odd things around. He was partly responsible for the little sketch I did of a buffed up woodpecker smashing the fuck out of the cliff face.
"Ready to head back now?" I asked. He nodded with a smile as we turned around to go back the way we came. "Glad you came this way instead of the other path?"
"Yeah, this place is much better with someone else." He stated which took me by surprise. He seemed to have opened up more than he realised and even let slip that he knew about this route. "Shall we do the other path tomorrow? I still want you to meet the horses." Now it was my turn to be surprised; had he actually asked me to go somewhere with him rather than the other way around?
As we approached the clearing he was still enthusiastically telling me about the sights we'd see on the other path. I was still so thrilled about him asking me out tomorrow that I never noticed the danger until it was too late. There was a sudden loud crack from my left and I looked up just in time to see a huge chunk of the cliff face break free and hurtle towards me. Next thing I knew I was flying across the clearing and skidded to a stop on my stomach near the log/bench. I instantly looked around to see where Josh was, fearing he'd saved me and been crushed under the rock but what I saw left me stunned.
Josh was underneath the rock but not crushed. He was holding it up above his head like he'd just caught it, but this wasn't the Josh I knew. This Josh had huge, ripped muscles peeking through the tears in his clothes. He was at least three times as wide as he had been earlier and maybe a little taller. Every muscle I could see looked harder than the rock he was effortlessly holding above his head. I stared at the scene in front of me, stunned and scared out of my wits for what seemed like an eternity as Josh looked back at me with the most frightened eyes I had ever seen. He easily tossed the rock aside then seemed to shrink down and ran off towards his home faster than I ever thought it possible for someone to run. I never even had a chance to call after him as he was that quick.
I stood up and tried to dust myself off, still attempting to understand what I'd seen. Was I going insane? One minute Josh was the same as normal then he'd turned into a super strong, hulk. What the fuck was going on here? I walked over to the rock that had fallen and tried to lift it but it wouldn't budge an inch, I even tried to push it but still nothing. I noticed Josh's pack on the floor near the rock and grabbed it so I could take it back to him, not that he'd have much use for it as the straps had snapped when he grew. Curiosity got the better of me for the moment and I wondered if Josh's transformation was something to do with that mysterious drink he'd brought with him. I opened his bag and saw the bottle completely empty at the bottom. Opening the bottle I was immediately assaulted by the smell. It was like nothing anyone should have to drink and it knocked me sick so I screwed the lid on tight as quickly as I could, if that was the secret to big muscles I'd happily stay puny. I placed it back in his pack and just before I'd zipped it up I grabbed my sketch pad again. I tore out the picture of the buffed up woodpecker and wrote a little note at the bottom saying "He tried to kill us but you saved me." I added a little smiley face, then placed it in his pack and zipped it up.
Standing in the clearing by myself suddenly left me feeling very isolated and alone; I just wanted to leave as soon as possible. I hiked back along the trail and through the gap in the tree trunks. As I was approaching the end of the forest I was left wondering what to do with Josh's pack. Should I leave it by his front gate, knock on his door or just take it home with me? When I reached his farm that question was answered for me. His grandpa was standing there waiting for me and he looked really mad. I could swear he looked bigger than this morning as his shirt was straining to contain his body. There was no greeting as he approached and I started to fear for my life.
"Listen to me very closely," He growled. "Whatever you think you saw, forget it. You are not to come near Josh again do you hear me?" I nodded as I tried not to turn and run home as fast as I could. "Good. Now run along and don't come up this path again or you'll have me to deal with." I could swear he grew a little more as he said that and I was sure I heard a slight tear. He started to turn away and I suddenly remembered I had Josh's pack.
"Wait!" I called and he turned around still scowling, maybe I should have stayed quiet. "Is he going to be ok? I brought this back for him." I asked meekly. His expression softened slightly and I held out Josh's bag for him to take. He came over and took it from me softly which was a relief as I was expecting him to take my arm with it. Then he looked at my tear streaked face.
"He's fine, just a little shook up." He replied with a softer tone and now his shirt seemed a little looser. I gave a little sigh of relief but I was still terrified.
"Good, I just want him to be ok, and I won't say anything," My voice started to crack a little as more tears came, "Just please...let him know I want him to be ok, I was just getting to know him and I don't want to lose him now." He put his hand on my shoulder to reassure me.
"Let me talk to him tonight. He's scared right now and his world's just come crashing down. Come by tomorrow afternoon and we'll see if we can explain everything ok?" I nodded and he added, "I was serious though Alex, please don't tell anyone what you saw today, he's just a scared kid and right now he needs reassurance and comfort, not people with pitchforks and torches coming to the door."
"I promise, not a word, just as long as he's ok." I gave a weak smile and trudged home with my head still swirling.
When I got home my mum saw that my shirt was scratched up and I had some bruises on my arms. At first she thought I'd got in a fight with Josh but I assured her I was fine and lied to her by saying I'd tripped over a log. I think both my parents could tell something was wrong though as I wasn't gushing about how my day had been over dinner but they left me alone. I went up to my room and thought about phoning Josh but what would I say? "Hey big guy, want to go shopping for some green body paint tomorrow?" I really didn't know what to do; I could only wait to see what the next day would bring.