Page 1 of His Hungry Wolf

His Hungry Wolf

Preface

Claude looked around at the other kids at the party and for the first time in his life, everything looked different. Was he seeing things? Was he dreaming? He didn’t understand what was going on.

Out of nowhere, the other eight year olds went from typical kids to shadows. Was that the right way to describe everyone? No. It was as if their skin was suddenly made of painted glass like a ceramic doll. But inside of them was a bright light that made their outside harder to see.

Claude knew these kids. They were all from his class. He had seen them every day. So, what was happening to them now? What was happening to him?

Seeing their lights was making him feel funny. It was like when his mother made fresh bread. The smell of it would make Claude stare at it through the oven’s glass door. He couldn’t wait to melt butter on it and take his first bite. He would leave the kitchen until he did. And now he was having the same feeling staring at the kids.

There was one in particular who he really couldn’t stop looking at, though. It was the same boy he had caught himself staring at before. Even without seeing his light, Claude had been drawn to him.

Claude’s desire to do things with the boy was unexplainable for Claude. The boy hadn’t been one of the popular kids. Nor was he the smartest. Yet, there was something about him that made it hard for Claude to take his eyes off of him. And now the blueish light that pulsed gently within that boy made resisting him near impossible.

Seeing him ask the birthday girl something, Claude watched as the boy left the backyard for inside. Not wanting to lose sight of him, Claude followed. It looked like the boy was going to the bathroom. The thought of it did something to Claude. Again, he wasn’t sure why. But if he wanted to talk to him… no, to touch him, in the bathroom was where they would be alone.

With the boy closing the door behind him, Claude approached. Putting his hand on the knob, Claude quietly tested it. It was unlocked sending Claude heart pounding. They were about to be alone. It was something that he desperately wanted, even though he wasn’t sure why.

Quickly opening the door and sliding in, the boy turned to him in surprise. In front of the toilet with his hand on his zipper, the boy looked at Claude confused.

“Did you need to go first?” The boy asked Claude who just stared at him.

Claude didn’t respond. Staring back at him as something within him took over, Claude instead lunged forward instinctually reaching for his face. The boy stepped back but not enough. Claude, placing both of his palms on the boy’s cheeks felt a sudden rush.

It was unlike anything he had felt before. The sensation was better than a hundred slices of his mother’s bread. It was better than cake. It was better than anything he had experienced.

Not only did it make something in his head tingle. But it was like he and the boy had become the same person. He could feel the boy’s confusion. He felt the boy’s fear. And during all of it, he experienced a connection with the boy that he could have never imagined.

Claude needed more of it. He drank it like nectar. As he did, he felt the boy’s feelings waver. They were blinking like the boy’s light had been. When the pulse was strong, Claude felt like he was taking a deep breath after swimming up for air. When it was weak, Claude felt the pain of its absence leading him to pull more.

That’s what he was doing, he was pulling. There was something in the boy that he was pulling into himself. And if he focused, he would be able to get it all. He could have everything he liked about the boy and it would be Claude’s forever.

“What are you doing?” A familiar voiced cried as he latched onto the boy’s remaining well.

Claude ignored her. He was busy. If he could just get this last bit, he would have it all. He could feel like he did forever.

“No!” His mother demanded yanking Claude’s small hands off of the boy’s face.

As the connection broke, Claude cried out in pain. Wait, was it him who cried out or the other him. Who was who again? Weren’t both boys him? No, they weren’t. One was him and the other was…

Claude’s vision returned to him. He was in a bathroom. There were brown hands holding his arms. They were his mother’s. He had just been doing something. What was it? That’s right, there had been a boy.

Looking on the ground in front of him, Claude spotted the boy. He was lying on the ground motionless. Why was he on the ground? He had been fine just a second ago. And why was his pants wet.

It was then that Claude put it all together. He had done this to the boy. Claude was the reason the boy laid there lifeless. He looked back at his mother for answers.

“Come,” was the only thing she said.

Why was his mother scared? Claude didn’t understand. And why weren’t they doing something to help the boy?

“You need to pretend that none of this happened,” his mother told him. “I need to get you out of here, but first you need to pretend that you had nothing to do with this.”

“With what?” Claude asked desperately needing to know.

“Just pretend! Do you hear me?” His mother demanded after they were out of the bathroom and had ducked into a bedroom.

“Why? What did I do?”

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