Hunted

Why did the phone only ring when he was in the middle of something important? Okay, maybe getting ready was not that important. Leandor had spent the morning reading the bible - not because he was interested in the religion, but because he wanted to understand a little more about what that religious freak was blabbing about all the time. Unfortunately, as good reading as that was - not - he had work to do for his article. Another interview was scheduled for the evening. This time he was going to see the young and cute Carlos Mancini.

Dressing accordingly was always a must, but when he was going to a club for the interview, the casually conservative clothing that he wore during working hours wouldn't do at all. Vinyl was the only option. Clubs were not his scene so he didn't have a whole lot of outfits available. Being surrouded by big horny men frightened him greatly - he didn't like situations where there was potential for someone getting power over him. For that reason, he preferred the young submissive ones with slim to none personality of their own. Maybe that made them a bit like breathing blow-up dolls, but at least with them he had nothing to be afraid of.

In his closet, he had some fishnet still from his days peddling drugs to the big guns, but it had been years since he wore any of it. Probably wouldn't even remember what part of the body any of it was supposed to go on, so he settled with the uncomfortable black vinyl pants and a sheer red shirt.

But in the middle of applying a leave-in conditioner to his hair, the ringing interrupted him. It would have been so much better if they had called after he had walked out the door. It could have been important though - He'd been worrying about Nele lately. Some kind of new crush, but young love was so deceptive. It would be depressing if infatuation made a victim out of his cute friend. Had always thought that little firecracker was immune.

Leandor walked through the living-room and grabbed the cordless phone as he found a seat on the couch next to a bundle of sleeping kittens. While he used his free hand to stroke the critters, he pressed the button to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Did you have a good day, Leandor Vilmiss?" The voice seemed to be distorted by something to a point where it was somewhat difficult to understand.

There were really three options he could think of. Either it was some old pervert trying to get his rocks off on creeping Lee out, a friend doing a prank call, or an actual enemy. Not that he thought he had any enemies, but it was entirely possible. He had certainly done enough questionable things to piss a lot of people off. With a light chuckle, he glanced toward the clock on the wall. "I've had a wonderful day, thank you for asking. Is there something I can help you with, sir? Despite popular belief, I do have responsibilities to attend to, so I can't talk very long."

"That vinyl suits you."

He paused and looked down at his outfit. It had been a long time since he wore the stuff last and he hadn't told anyone. The pervert was watching him? Okay he was successfully creeped out as he got up and went to a window. No sign of anyone in parked cars and the pedestrians going by all seemed as normally uninterested as can be. "Does it? That's unfortunate, because I hate wearing vinyl. Almost as much as I hate it when my darling peeping toms think they have the right to call me on the phone. I do hope you have something relevant to say."

There was a laugh. The creep was actually laughing at him. When the idiot finally stopped, the response came low and almost secretive. "Don't flatter yourself, dolly; I'm not a peeping tom. I've got a message for you and I suggest you listen well. If you go near Zach again, he'll have you gutted like a fish. He's not interested in desperate fairies chasing him around, got it? If you try it again, you're fucking dead."

Before he could reply to that, there was a click. The creep actually hung up on him? That wasn't fair! When he got threatened, he liked to be the one to hang up. Growling, he threw the phone across the room, and closed the blinds. Couldn't leave those kittens alone after that so he'd have to pay a neighbour to stay with them, but more importantly, he'd have to give Bradley a call and ask for a favour. After the interview with Carlos, Zach was going to be paid a visit...

~~~~

It was that time of week again. Zach was walking casually down the sidewalk in the early evening air, the sun having set a mere hour ago. Destination? A small youth activity center he was paying for. Not that he followed the community closely, but he wanted to be seen as an upstanding citizen by the more prominent persons in the congregation. Surely, they knew what he did for a living, but when he paid for a place like that, such details were easily forgiven and forgotten.

The 'activity center' - as they had decided to call it - consisted of two rooms. One had a row of computers and was clearly the most popular. Free access to internet along with their friends seemed to appeal to a lot of the youngsters, even if most of that time was spent playing games. The woman he paid to run the place didn't like that, but Zach didn't mind. She was more fond of the pool table kids in the other room, and was frequently seen trying to push coffee on them.

As soon as he was there, Mrs. Jennings was soon there with two small white cups. Not many sips in one of those, but you weren't supposed to drink much. You were supposed to listen to all the chattery. This day, she even had brought home-made cookies, which apparently also were very popular amongst the young ones. Zach made sure to compliment her for her efforts; in a way, his weekly visit was a combination of a review and a display of attention and appreciation, so if he noticed her doing anything to increase its popularity, he always pointed that out. Putting up with all the gamers every afternoon probably was quite a pain, thus she deserved some kind words that gave her a feeling of accomplishment.

Then, hell broke loose. The worst of sins were suddenly being displayed on all the computer screens, and some of the youngsters groaned in disgust. Blatant homosexuality? Who could do such a crime, scarring young minds like that? It was unforgivable. It didn't get any better by the fact that a handful of the kids actually seemed to enjoy it; a fact that upset Mrs. Jennings greatly.

A message flickered up in the screen corners, telling them to check the mailbox. Zach quickly walked over and pulled out a little note. Moving over to a corner to keep interested eyes from peeking, he unfolded it and read:

"Dear Zackery. Let this be a warning to you that if you mess with Leander, you get burned!"

What? That perverted blond? He should have known! Resentment filled Zach as he neatly folded it together and put it in his pocket, while his mind imagined tearing it to pieces in rage. No, he'd make sure he had that note in perfect order the next time he saw that blond if he ever dared show himself again. If he did, he'd remember that as a thoroughly Bad idea, capital B.

Now, time to help that poor woman switch the electronics off...

~~~~~

Everything was going well. Even if Jyotis had fucked up his mission of messing with that guy's bike, Ramesh wasn't upset with him. He didn't expect his brother to do everything right. That would be unreasonable. What he was upset with was that the redheaded runt got away with just a black eye. And with the tall one who dared touch his brother, no less! Not just touch, Jyotis had bruises and that was unacceptable. Consequences of some sort were in order, but that would have to wait.

The part that was working the way he wanted was that blond bitch. Leandor. He had sent Rick to watch a window of the bitch's house while he took Jyotis to some religious internet joint to rig the electronics. There were people there, unfortunately, so he had to send Jyotis in all alone to put the disk into one of the drives and fire it up. Luckily the process was very simple and Jyotis could handle using a mouse to click the right button to install the bug and drop the note in the mailbox on his way out. Such a good little errand boy sometimes. He was proud of how far his brother had come from almost being a vegetable. If all went as planned, Leandor would be afraid of Zach, and Zach would hate Leandor. Problem number one solved.

Ramesh sat in the truck outside the internet place, watching people begin to freak out. Oh yes, it was amusing indeed. He smiled happily as he looked over at his brother in the passenger seat. "You did good, Jyotis. I don't know what I would do without you."

The only reply he received was a blank stare and a flick of the lighter.

"I'll let you rest tonight, but we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Before we can get the guy real good, we'll have to cut him off from the Mancini family too... They hurt you, pal. It's their own fault that it got so personal. All I need now is a good idea as to how I can sever his connections to the Mancinis. Any ideas?"

Another flick of the lighter. This time, Jyotis actually said something. "Pigs." His blank stare shifted to look out the windshield at an approaching cop car. He always spotted them. Of all his time being with Ramesh while they watched out for police, it seemed to be stuck in his head.

"Thanks, but it doesn't matter. We're not doing anything illegal right now. Just sitting here chatting." Ramesh smiled as the cops went right by the place where the religious nuts were freaking out. Didn't even slow down. "... Actually that's not a bad idea. Maybe the donut pushers can actually come in handy for once."

Flick. "I can burn them."

Not exactly an uncommon response. Ramesh shook his head and patted his brother's knee. "Not yet. I'll think of something for you to do with that lighter later."

~~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260