Perched

From his perch, he watched the slaughter continue. He now knew that there were more monsters in the world than he had ever imagined.

Ralphie had been looking forward to this weekend. It was the first time he'd been included in any college activities. The first time ever for a boy-girl outing.

He'd been a scholarship kid at an all-boys prep school, much younger than his peers, and while he believed that his classmates thought he was cool (he was the champion at Dungeons and Dragons), he never had any spare funds for extra-curriculars or dating. Not that he had known any girls he could date. He would volunteer to man the punch station at the school dances, but even there never spoke with any of the girls who attended. They treated him like a servant, barely acknowledging his existence. He thought that these rich girls were just used to being waited upon. His friends never introduced him either; they explained that they didn't want to distract him from his duty, making sure the punch wasn't spiked. He appreciated that, as he took his responsibility seriously.

At his ivy league college, once again on scholarship, he sat for the first time in co-ed classrooms, but shyly stayed in the back rows, afraid to call attention to himself. It wasn't until the Professor Hutchins called him into his office that he finally actually spoke to a female.

He had signed up as a tutor, hoping to earn cash to supplement his scholarship. His parents were unable to help; they were barely eking by without the expense of his education or support. Besides, his father didn't understand his need for a college education. Ralphie was on his own.

"Mr. Richards, I'd like you to meet Miss Gloria Grayson. Miss Grayson is having trouble understanding Number Theory, and since you've already tested out on that course," the professor looked over at the co-ed and added an aside, "An impressive feat for a freshman," before concluding, "I believe you could be of assistance to her."

The freshman just stood there, dumbly nodding his head. He was in total awe of the junior co-ed. Blond and beautiful, she oozed sex appeal. Even as she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, obviously questioning the ability of this skinny little nerd to teach her anything, she caused his heart to pound wildly in his chest. He was still nodding as the professor laughingly guided them out of his office.

Ralphie took a deep breath and looked at the ground as he asked, "Uhhnmum, should was go to the..." He began to panic as the word slipped his mind, "... the library?"

"No," the girl drawled, "I think I'm going to need some wine for this." She regarded Ralphie critically. "Can I trust my virtue with you if I take you to my apartment?"

Turning red, he insisted, "Of, of course!"

At her apartment, he declined her offer of some merlot but accepted a glass of water. Once she produced her textbooks, he began questioning her as to her understanding of the properties of natural numbers and integers. To Gloria, it seemed like the nervous, childish nerd had suddenly transformed into a confident adult. He questioned her with the acumen of an experienced police interrogator, following up anytime she hesitated or equivocated.

By the end of an hour, Gloria had drained three glasses of wine and Ralphie had her math skills placement nailed down. His first thought was "How is she in Number Theory?"

Gloria could have told him that easily enough. Sex. Sex with every Teaching Assistant (TA) for every college math class she had ever taken. As a result, she had trouble balancing her checkbook. But Daddy insisted she take these classes. So, she aced them all. It was just that her brain wasn't the organ that got her good grades.

The trouble was, strait-laced old Professor Hutchins graded his own tests. She'd slept with his TA for nothing, and now she was stuck with this nerd, and she knew in the end she was going to flunk the class and disappoint Daddy. That couldn't happen!

She leaned over, like she was trying to follow the figures Ralphie was writing down, gently pressing the softness of her breast against his arm. The tutor turned and looked into the most gorgeous eyes he'd ever seen. He was hooked. She tugged on the line.

"I can't fail this course. My daddy would be sooo disappointed." She stroked the hand that held his pen. "You'll be my hero if you can save me." She licked her lips and gave him her patented puppy dog look.

It would be difficult, but she realized she had to have some understanding of the course, enough to pass. She couldn't get the tutor or anyone else to take the tests for her, and with Hutchins doing the scoring, the answers would have to be correct. Everyone knew that the crafty old professor was sharp eyed when it came to cheaters, so that route was blocked.

Ralphie was her only lifeline. She rubbed her chest against him again.

For the next three months, Ralphie spent every minute that Gloria would spare cramming math into her head. They despaired over the first few tests, which she failed, but were hearted by the "D" she earned on the midterm. In the end, she was able to do well on the final, pulling her grade up to a low "C".

"I PASSED! Ralphie, we did it! I passed!" Gloria was ecstatic when she met him on the Quad. So was Ralphie. Over the last three months, he'd been closer to this woman than he had been with his own mother. He had a girlfriend! Somehow, his tutor payments hadn't been made, but he didn't want to risk their precious relationship with concerns about money. He was happy just being in her presence.

"Well, what do you want to do tomorrow night?" he asked. Now that the class was over, they'd have time for other things. She'd given him kisses on his cheek, again pressing her soft body against his (his hardening body, truth be told, but that embarrassed him when it happened). He was overwhelmed by her sweet perfume.

He knew that now their relationship could move forward.

Gloria was brought up short by his question. As far as she was concerned, their relationship was over. She'd already spent more time with the egghead than was good for her reputation. Granted, her rep was as a party girl, but an A-list party girl.

She needed to handle this very delicately, however. Her father had been sending money to pay for her tutor, but once she'd realized the kid wasn't going to ask for it, she'd happily spent it. Now, if she just dumped him, he might report to the college that she'd stiffed him.

She hedged. "Oh, Ralphie, I so sorry, but I have a sorority thing tomorrow night. You know I've been unable to keep up with my house duties with all the time we've spent together." She actually batted her eyes at the kid. "Maybe we can get together later this week. Let me check and I'll get back to you."

Later, over beers with one of her fuck-buddies from the Alpha Omega frat, she bemoaned the situation she found herself in. He offered a solution. "Invite him to the 'Camping Club' outing next week."

"What? Are you crazy? I'm not fucking that guy." Gloria shivered at the distasteful image.

"No, don't you see? He'll go, thinking he's going to get lucky, because you'll suggest that this is the weekend to move your relationship forward. Glorie, that wonky little virgin will be hard all week, just imagining getting lucky. He'll be the only one who doesn't get laid, but he'll see everyone else hooking up. If he complains when we get back, we'll all swear that he made inappropriate moves and now he'd just making false accusations. Sour grapes, you know." Bart laughed at his own plan.

"But, what about the money? And won't he tell everyone what we do on these trips?" Gloria wondered.

"You'll just say you paid him in cash, every week. How's he going to prove it's any different? Classic He said/She said. And if he spreads 'false' rumors about us, it'll be all of our words against his. He would be putting his scholarship at risk. We'll just have to make him see that. Be sure to tell him that this is a 'primitive weekend', so no electronics are allowed. We don't want any pictures or videos, do we?"

So, when she got home, she called him using her most seductive voice. "Ralphie, unfortunately, I'll be busy all week, but next weekend I want you to join me on the 'Camping Club' weekend. We'll go up to the National Forest, hike in for a few hours, and camp out in the wilderness. We'll pick a site away from the others, and maybe, just maybe, take our relationship to the next level."

She could almost hear him drooling.

The weekend finally came, and Ralphie had never been happier. He sat next to his love in the large van the Club rented for their excursions. The group sang songs, told stories and jokes, and made Ralphie feel included for the first time in his life. When Gloria dozed off and leaned against him as she slept, he'd accidentally looked down at the cleavage exposed by her tube top. He studiously looked away after that, but was horrified when Bart said, "Oh, Ralphie! Quit looking at Glorie's boobs!"

When those still awake all good-naturedly laughed, Ralphie managed to smile, and relax with the warmth that comes from being included and having friends.

When the college club arrived at the campsite, Ralphie was faint with exhaustion. He'd never hiked so far. He'd never really hiked at all. The others all seemed fit, and he had pushed hard to keep up. He didn't want to fail or disappoint Gloria. But he hoped he'd be able to rest before they got "busy". His legs were beginning to cramp.

While Gloria relaxed and talked with her friends, Ralphie scouted the area and found the ideal sight for them. He laid out their ground sheets and sleeping bags in a small clearing surrounded by bushes. He prepared their love nest up under a tree that grew in the center. He thought it was a perfect "love bower" for two, secluded from the other students.

But when he showed Gloria, she scoffed, "In your dreams." Taking her sleeping bag back to the campfire, her comments caused raucous laughter to erupt. Once again, he'd been the butt of a joke. Staying in the bower, he was determined to avoid the others. Tears wet his face as he overheard the jeers and taunts from the whole Camping Club..

He listened as they set up camp and prepared an evening meal. No one offered Ralphie food, but he had water and energy bars in his backpack. He made do with those, wishing he had his iPad and internet access. He had nothing to distract him from the sounds of merriment from the campsite. He'd never felt so alone.

As night fell and the flames of their campfire reflected off the trees, the sounds changed. He peeked out the bushes to see couples making out. As he watched, some pairs move off into the woods, some pulling off clothing as they went. He could see Gloria, Bart and several others still at the fire, chugging beers and laughing.

He'd stopped watching and had curled up on his bag when he heard his name being called by Gloria. "Ralllphhhiee! Oh, Ralllphhhiee! Did you want this?"

Peeking through the bushes, he was surprised to see a nude Gloria bending over and shaking her bare ass in his direction as her naked friends laughed and added taunts aimed at him, their erections bouncing in the firelight.

"Well, you're never going to get it," came out in a sing-songy manner, as she grasped Bart's penis and pulled it towards her mouth. Someone else moved behind her. Ralphie, feeling sick at the sight, but excited nevertheless, watched for a few minutes until the student behind her moved away and another took his place. It was too much for the nerd who had put Gloria on a pedestal.

She wasn't his "girl" as he had thought; she wasn't going to be his wife or lover, as he'd imagined. Gloria was a slut; a gigantic slut. And those other people definitely weren't his friends. They were all monsters.

When he heard her passionate cries and moans, he cursed them, wishing bears or wolves would come and attack all of them.

He cried himself to sleep, with shouts and shrieks of sexual excitement haunting his dreams.

Sometime during the night, the moans and groans of pleasure had died away. In the silence of dark woods, he had finally settled into a sound sleep, only to be awakened by new screams; screams of another type, screams of pain and horror. Both male and female screeching competed with fierce growls and barks. Peering again through the bushes, he froze in terror. Creatures were racing through the screaming campers with supernatural speed. Jackal-like jaws clamped on detached limbs, backlit by campfires.

A mist obscured the firelight for a moment; in the same moment it took Ralphie to recognize it as a mist of blood drops, a copper-like scent assailed his nostrils. Like a dog with a bone, one of the beasts was shaking the detached limb held in its jaws. Lit by the flames, he recognized the tattoo that Brad had sported on his arm. Throwing himself down on the ground, Ralphie lay quivering in fear as he lay hidden behind the bushes.

Had he somehow conjured all this up? He prayed that he hadn't, while covering his ears to block out the horrible sounds.

The screams began dying down, replaced by painful whimpering and manic prayers. The demons didn't seem to be in a hurry to finish off their kills. A solitary shriek would erupt occasionally as another limb was ripped away from a still living body.

Ralphie could hear movement on the other side of his leafy screen. The odors of the forest and of blood were now overpowered by the fetid stench of the creatures. He feared it would only be moments before he was discovered. He had to act. Crouching in the clearing, waiting to be discovered, he would surely die. What could he do?

Fighting was impossible. Beasts strong enough to tear off arms would defeat him easily. And flight? His eyes could hardly follow when they moved; they were that quick. Besides, the shrieks and moans of pain had come from every direction. There was nowhere left to flee.

Almost paralyzed by fear and indecision, he saw the tree. The tree was the only answer. The only way out was up.

Moving as quietly as possible, he moved to the side of the tree away from the fire and stood up behind it, reaching for the nearest branches. Fear and adrenalin allowed him to pull his 105 pounds up into the tree. There he stretched out on a branch, attempting to blend in with the tree. With luck, he would escape the notice of those nightmarish entities.

His perch gave him a clear view of the carnage. The beasts were still tearing at the quivering bodies, howls of triumph issuing from their gaping jowls. Some bodies were still, and those were just sniffed at; the most the animals did was lick at the still warm blood.

With ridiculously small hindquarters and massive upper bodies, these things bounded over the ground. In the firelight, he could now identify them, amazed at how accurately they'd been portrayed on the cover of Issue #1 of "Beast of Boriken".

They were chupacabras.

Chupacabras! They actually existed. How he wished that they didn't.

The campfire continued to flame as dawn broke. Throughout the night, the monsters tore off chucks of flesh, throats struggling to swallow the pieces whole. He clung to the tree, shivering with fright.

At sunrise, the sated chupacabras began coming out of the woods and into the clearing by the campfire. The grotesque vermin joyfully yelped and muzzled each other, then rolled on their backs, like puppies wanting their bellies scratched. With a few yips and growls, they drifted off to sleep.

Ralphie cursed his luck. With them sleeping all around, would he be able to slip away and escape? His chest heaved as he tried to suppress the sound of his muffled sobs of frustration.

The tension of the horrible night and the lack of slumber began wearing on him, as he clutched the branch, afraid of falling not only asleep but off his perch as well. As he fought against the temptation to doze, his head bobbed and his eyes lost focus.

Suddenly, his brain snapped into focus when he realized he was staring into the eyes of a chupacabra. The beast gave a sharp bark before jumping to his feet. Alerted by the bark, the other monsters awakened and immediately sighted Ralphie in the tree. Rising as one, they slowly approached, chittering angrily.

If he thought the tree would be an issue for them, he was disappointed as they began clawing their way towards him.