TSWNC: Ch 5: Vox Dei Sancti High School
Story by sangheilinerd on SoFurry
A Naga goes to a bar in an effort to quench his undying lust. What he finds instead may be more than he bargained for. And most certainly more than he could have ever hoped for.
***
So apparently I like putting these characters through the wringer. This one gets more dark than the last one. Richarde and Kevin's father meet for the first time. Though probably not under the best of circumstances. We get to see a more of Ricky at school. And two of the bullies are given names.
***
rated extreme for gore, death, and the sheer amount of it.
Kevin woke up a few minutes before dawn wrapped in something rough and pebbly. As it shifted around him the texture grated against his skin. It was like rubbing a cheese grater strongly against his skin. There was a dull throb coming from his shoulder and as he shifted, He felt the crumbly mess of dried blood upon his skin. As his coverings shifted again, he felt them brush against his manhood.
Why was he nude? What was he encased in, and why was it so warm? Then the images came back to him like a flood from a hurricane. He’d finally done it. He’d taken the Naga last night. A beautiful feeling. His vent was so tight. And then, in the throes of ecstasy, the Naga had bit him. Through his now-aching shoulder. Yet he was still here. Shouldn’t he have bled out in the Naga’s deadly embrace? And then he remembered talking to one of his detective buddies. He was also a snake. A Gardner. Resting height of barely 5’8” and a tail length of only twenty-five feet. He wasn’t nearly as scary as the male he now slept in the grasp of.
He had spoken about the ability for Naga species with venom glands to actually manipulate them to make any number of chemical substances. It’s why so many were seen in the operating room. Nothing was a more potent sedative than a sleeping-bite from a Naga. That had to have been what happened last night. The Naga hadn’t bitten him with his usual venom. He gave him a dose of some form of mild coagulant. Stopped him from bleeding to death. How thoughtful. “Y…you bit me?!” Kevin cried in anguish.
The Naga startled awake at the exclamation. “mrhuh? Uh…oh yeah…heh. I did, didn’t I? Woops. Sorry. Naga bite when we climax. It’s kind of preprogrammed. An instinctual thing. ‘Cause unlike our feral cousins. Naga mate for life. That bite you have there is a mark which declares you taken to any other Naga who’d try and approach you. The substance I injected into you last night will cause the skin there to scar. And your shoulder blade won’t heal either. It’s going to have those bite marks for as long as you live.”
“And if we broke up?”
“We don’t. If I did get tired of you—or you of me…I’d well…I’d eat you.”
“What the fuck have I gotten myself into, Richarde? Why didn’t you tell me any of this last night?”
“Would you still have mated with me if you’d have known?”
The human stared back. Slightly annoyed at his now-mate.
“I thought so. Look. I know this is a lot to take in. I should have let you know. I mean, do you ever wonder why Naga are practically never called out for being slutty or pervy?”
“…Uh I’d never really put too much thought into it. Really? For life? Are we, like, married now?”
The Naga looked down and picked at his claws for a few seconds. Kevin raised an eyebrow, “Richarde…”
“For all intents and purposes? Yes. We haven’t said any vows, but you are now my mate. And I am yours. Some Naga go further. They transform their human mates into something that more suits their tastes. The process addles the mind, though. They tend to be more sex-slaves than actual mates. To be my mate is to be loved and adored. Not used and abused. I love you, Kevin. I mean I loved my wife. I still do. She gave me Junior. She gave me my son, but I love you. Kevin. I know I kinda sprung this on you, but will you be not just my mate but my husband?”
The human stared at him. He was dumbfounded. They’d just had sex for the first time! He wasn’t even sure if he felt the same way. Sure, he liked Richarde. He liked him a lot. But he wasn’t sure if his like was love or lust just yet. He ruminated on the question leaving an anxious Naga still holding him with his coils.
The other thing that crossed Kevin’s mind was whether or not he really had a choice. If what the Naga was telling the truth about the mating bite, it wouldn’t matter if he said no. He’d still be attached to the Naga and if he ever tried to leave him, he’d be eaten instead.
Then he thought of Junior. Having no mother must be tough on the young Naga. Sure he was seventeen and almost an adult, but that didn’t mean that Kevin couldn’t make an impact on the child’s life. As he ruminated, he thought about his father. The man that, until recently had barely said more than a few words to him after he came out. And he’d asked about the Naga. He’d wondered about Richarde.
“I can’t say yes, Richarde. But I can’t say no, now either. You’ve yet to meet my parents and I’ve yet to meet yours. Can we wait til we’ve talked to our parents?”
The Naga looked downtrodden. He looked utterly defeated. The human struggled to free a hand. When the Naga loosened his coils so the human could extract one of his hands, he placed the freed hand on the Naga’s cheek. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, Rick. I just can’t reciprocate quite yet. And on top of that, I’ve met…your son. You haven’t met any of my family.”
***
Ricky waited outside for the school bus. Caulder City was so big they didn’t even really name their schools. His was an exception. He went to a private school. It was called Vox Dei Sancti High. A Jesuit school. Yet just because it was a Jesuit school didn’t mean he didn’t have to deal with bullies. But he had his friends there too. Today was going to be interesting for sure. He knew that one of his bullies was hiding a severe predisposition toward scaled anthros. Males. With hemipenes, no less. Something that Ricky was planning on taking advantage of. If he could get the brute alone, he may be able to seduce him and maybe even—
“Hey, Hoser! Get dead.” There was the brute in question.
“Hey Jon. You do your math homework?” Junior asked friendlily. When they were alone like this, Ricky didn’t really have to worry about more than just verbal assault. Jon and he had been friends when they were younger. He really hadn’t gotten to be such an ass until he hit puberty.
“You know I didn’t, nitwit. Why you trying to get me to be nice to you today?”
“Cut the shit, Jon. You and I both know that you’re just covering your proverbial tail. You don’t think after all the time we spent together as kids I wouldn’t discover your little predilection. Remember how much time I spent in your head when we were younger?”
The football star sighed, “Ricky. I…I’m sorry. It’s just the guys. If they knew…”
“What? You’d lose your position on the team? You’d lose them as friends? If you want my honest opinion, Jon, you don’t need them. They are a bad influence on you. Remember what I always told you?”
“Hatred will never fill the heart. I know Ricky. It’s just I don’t know how to tell them. We’re at a Christian school for Christ’s sake.”
“’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest Commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ Jesus wasn’t an idiot, Jon. Do you think your behavior toward me and the others that you have treated like me would be considered as loving us as you would love yourself?”
“…No. B..bu..but Leviticus says—“
“’And if a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.’ Yet it also says, ‘…Love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.’”
“Yeah…”
“Jon, we were friends. I may have bit at you the other day. I’m sure that scared you. Let me show you a different kind of bite. One that I’ve been wanting to give you since first grade.”
“Wha?” The Quarterback looked startled. Ricky laughed. He always was able to get under Jon’s skin in a way no one else could. Probably why he was a prime target for the bully.
“You know what I’m talking about, Jon. You and I have had the same health class. You remember the discussion on Naga mating practices, don’t you?”
“Uh….Oh?...Oh! Ohhhhhhh…Wait you want that…with me?”
“Why do you think I get so frustrated with you when you start that shit? I love you Jon. I have and I always will. Nothing. Nothing you do would or could ever change that.”
“R…Rick…” The Naga slithered up to him and kissed the repressed jock right on the lips. He held the kiss for a few seconds before he felt the human’s legs shutter against his trunk.
He wrapped the human in his coils and felt the human relax into his grasp.
“The fuck?! Jon? What the hell is this?” The Asian from the previous day walked up from behind and he felt Jon tense immediately. “You homo?”
The Quarterback’s blush turned his face the same shade of red as his dad’s sports car. It was practically fluorescing it was so bright. He nodded his head with eyes squeezed shut. Tears forming in his eyes.
Ricky massaged him in his coils comfortingly, as he said “You have a—“
The Asian ballsily grabbed the Naga’s jaws and forced them shut. He then got in his face and began, “Listen here, you fuckin’ Hoser! Your kind killed my father! I ain’t ever gon’ like you or your shit kind in any fucking way ever. The fact that my friend here seems to have willingly given you a kiss just makes me think you used your eyes on him. You fucking Hosers and your fucking eyes!”
The left hook shook the bulky human’s face in a somewhat comical fashion, as Ricky felt almost disconnected with his physical body. It was as if he wasn’t in control of his body. He’d just acted. As the human stumbled his hand disconnected from the Naga’s muzzle and the Naga finally came back to himself. Both Mentally and Audibly the Naga replied, “~I’m not the sicko who killed your dad, dumbass. I’m a kid, just like you. Who, like you, just wants to make it through the school day. And you and your fucking pals have to come and harass me and rag on me for being fully confident in who and what I am. So much so that your ring leader here, who I’ve known since Kindergarten, can’t even fucking come out to you guys. He’s so afraid of becoming a target of your bullshit!
“~You and your immature bullshit have been causing one of your best friends mental and emotional anguish, because your macho masculinity bullcrap is threatened by one little faggot! I’ve had it up to here with your shit. If I ever see you tormenting anybody again. Especially another anthro I will use my PSIONIC capabilities on you to completely wipe your fucking brain! Do. You. Understand. Me, You fucking imbecile?~”
Jon looked at his friend in wonder. He was still being held up and massaged by the Naga’s tail as he verbally rebuked one of his teammates. The Naga turned back to Jon and smiled abashedly. “Sorry I’ve been holding that in for a while.”
“I can tell. C’mere. I think I might have just found myself a boyfriend.” The shyness and angst around Jon’s sexuality had just disappeared, “My hero!” He quipped, before bringing Junior into another kiss.
***
Driving back to the station, Kevin was nervous. He wasn’t sure what He’d tell Ray. He honestly was sure that the Killer Whale would kill his mate. Thinking he’d been abusive toward him. Of course, he’d just ignore any protests that the human gave him. He’d just act on his own.
He shook his head at the memory of his last ex-boyfriend. A wolf with a penchant for ‘marking’ and biting. Once Ray had found out about it, he dragged the human to the wolf’s house and beat him to a pulp. The Captain had to suspend him for a whole month.
When he got into the 12th, everything was a whirlwind. It was as if Katrina, the Tri-State tornado, and the Tunguska meteor impact had all occurred within the main lobby of his department. There was dust in the air, papers flung about haphazardly and injured people—officers, felons, and citizens alike—strewn around as if something occurred. And by something he meant a bomb exploding. He immediately went to look for the Captain.
When he left the main lobby, and got to the offices upstairs what he saw could only be described as a tragic scene. Officers were nursing bloody injuries right and left. Many no longer moving and covered in and sitting in a pool of their own blood. Again, it was as if a bomb had exploded in the department. When he found his and the Orca’s desk what he saw almost made him puke. He’d been a homicide detective for over fifteen of his twenty years on the force and what he saw in front of him got to him more than any decapitation, disembowelment, or dismemberment ever had. His partner, the man with whom he’d been partnered with since his assignment to the 12th lay on the desk on his back, crushing his dorsal fin, holding a gash in his stomach that was pooling with blood. He’d seemingly passed out from blood loss and it looked as if the orca was gone from this world.
“Oh my god, Raymond!” the human ran over to his partners side. He found a radio held loosely in his partner’s grasp, the only sign that the orca was still alive. The grip wasn’t very strong, but it wasn’t rigor mortis. He grabbed the radio out of his dying partner’s hand and called over the Radio, “This is Detective Kevin Biel the 12th has been attacked, multiple officers down, I have a 10-33. Repeat 10-33. Requesting assistance and as many busses as the hospital can spare. I have a situation at the 12th precinct.”
“Roger that Biel. Assistance is on the way. What happened, over?”
“It looks like multiple bombs went off in the lobby. And the offices. I have at least thirteen injured and eight body-bags. My partner, Detective Naqut is in major need of Medical assistance I don’t think he’s going to make it. He’s unconscious and bleeding out of a major stomach wound.”
“Unnnnngh…Kev…?” Naqut tried weakly. His voice barely a whisper.
Kevin came up to his side and grasped his hand, “I’m here Ray. What is it?”
The cetacean made a move to get up. Kevin placed his hand gently on his partner’s shoulder, “Save your strength, Ray. You’re gonna make it. You have to make it. You just got to.”
Kevin was fully in tears. The cetacean weakly lifted his large hand and gently cupped his partner’s cheek, “T…unnnnghk….take care of yourself, my friend.”
The hand fell limply to his side and Kevin heard a tiny gasp as his friend let out his last breath. He didn’t hold anything back. He cried vigorously over the death of his partner. “This is Biel. We’ve lost....we’ve lost Naqut.”
Kevin knew he couldn’t stay so he moved to take a look at another wounded officer. It was the same, a large, fatal gash in the stomach. It bled profusely. “Biel….unnnnnngk…Captain’s down. He’s…oh god it was aweful! They…they attacked without warning….rrrrgggk…just out of the blue….Tell…unnngh…tell my wife…I love her.” The officer fell silent and still.
A sinister, mirthful voice sounded behind the human just then, “Ooooh. Look precious…another toy for you. You wanna play, don’t you?”
Kevin slowly checked over his shoulder. It was a woman, late twenties by the look of it, five-nine, black, dirty hair, and completely utterly nude. Though as if that didn’t make the sight a bit disturbing, she was covered, dripping even in blood. So too was the large—almost impossibly so—sword of which she was currently licking the blade in a rather lewd manner, as with her free hand she openly fingered herself.
Kevin took a deep breath and pulled out his service pistol and turned around and said, “Freeze!”
The woman wasn’t there anymore, though. It was then that he felt it. It felt earth shattering. A pain so all-consuming that his vision tunneled. He looked down. The blade of the overly large sword was embedded up to the hilt in his stomach with the woman’s hand still grasping it. “You shouldn’t have done that, hehe. Now Lyra gets to eat your soul, teehee.”
He coughed up blood. Spitting it in his attacker’s face. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Oh…little old me?” She said over affectedly, “I’m no one special, teehee.”
The tunnel grew darker around his vision. And then his whole body went limp. “Night, night.”
***
Kevin woke in the ICU. He heard the sound of the voice of his father. And the sound of Richarde’s voice. It sounded like they were talking about him.
His eyes shot open and he tried to sit up, “Raymond!” He cried. Then it hit him. It felt like he’d been bitten in half. And he literally had no feeling in his lower half. “I…I can’t feel my legs. I can’t feel my legs. Oh my god! I can’t feel my legs!”
Richarde and Kevin’s father rushed over to the side of his bed. Richarde picked up his hand and held it firm as the human looked at him with frantic eyes. “It’ll be alright son. It’ll be alright.” He heard his father say.
Kevin was close to hyperventilating, at this point. Kevin’s father went to the wall and called a nurse. Kevin was in shock. He’d lost a lot in the last hour. To lose his mobility…It was the last straw. He couldn’t take it. He broke down in tears. His face flushed and wet from the physical manifestation of his loss and grief.
“I’m here, my love. I’m here for you.” Richarde whispered as the human tightened his grip on the Naga’s hand so tight if felt as if his bones might snap.
“They’re gone. They’re all gone. Captain Holmes. Sarge…NO! Raymond! No, he can’t be. Oh my god!” The human just broke down into incoherent mindless moaning in his anguish. He let go of Richarde’s hand and hugged himself around his middle.
“You! Naga. I need you to make a strong, fast acting anesthetic. Low dosage. Don’t kill him. I just need him asleep.”
Richarde got up and grumbled to himself, “I have a name, you know.” He took Kevin’s hand and thought of the correct venom for the task. Then carefully he brought the hand up to his open mouth and scratched Kevin’s hand against the tip of his fang. Very quickly Kevin collapsed asleep.
“So what can you tell me, doctor? Is my son going to be okay?” Kevin’s father began.
“Yes, is my mate going to be okay? I don’t want to lose him.”
The doctor pretty much ignored the Naga. Speaking to the city’s police chief. “Yes, Chief. For the most part, Kevin’s going to be okay. His spinal cord, however, is not. It’s completely severed between the L3 and L4 vertebrae. He’s going to be paralyzed from the waist down.”
“As in completely? Isn’t there treatment? Can’t…can’t Richarde make something to help him regain movement?”
“The Naga? You gave him a name? Cute. No. Richarde has the amazing ability to create many chemical’s in his venom glands. But the treatment for Kevin’s case won’t come from a chemical. There is, however, another way. One I don’t typically recommend on account of the fact that it goes against God. Kevin’s saving grace could be at this hospital.” The doctor handed him a piece of paper.
“Thank you doctor.” Kevin’s father said. Taking a look at the paper. It was a crumpled business card for a GeniFur Gene and Cell Therapy clinic. They used gene therapy and stem cells to try and help people most doctors wouldn’t or couldn’t fix.
***
Ricky perched himself as inconspicuously as he could on the bleachers watching the football practice. That night was the big game against VDS’s big rival. Another Jesuit school in Caulder City: Rex Renasci. He had his History textbook out and he held his highlighter but he wasn’t highlighting, nor was he even paying any attention to his book at all. He watched Jon in his element. Watching him lead the offense with efficiency and esteem. He held his head high on the field, forgetting practically everything from the morning, even though Ricky could tell it was still bothering him that he was out to Kenji. The brutish Asian was a linebacker and he was out for blood during practice. It looked like a situation that wouldn’t be avoided.
He saw it happening in slow motion. He knew what was coming before Jon. He was completely blindsided by the kid that not even a day before had been one of his best friends. Kenji was like a freight train and bowled over him. Jon laid out flat on his back looking dazed. Kenji came up and Ricky could tell that he spat in Jon’s face.
“Nakamura. Bench. Now!” The coach ran onto the field alongside of a medical team. Nakamura sat down on the bench.
The Naga got up and slithered to the field as quickly as he could. He was worried. When he got down to the field, the coach looked up at him, “Lawrence? What are…Oh…He’ll be fine kid. Don’t worry. Pretty typical in a game. Though that was low of Nakamura.” He gave the kid a playful wink and a sly smile. Apparently, he’d known for a while about Jon’s predilections.
***
“So, that doctor was a complete douche. ‘You gave him a name? Cute.’ Oh my god that was aweful.” Kevin’s father said.
“I didn’t hear you correcting him?” Richarde pointed out.
“It wouldn’t’a done any good. So, you’re the Naga that’s been seeing my son?”
“Yes sir. Richarde devile Lawrence…Senior.”
“Brennan. Brennan Biel. Please, don’t call me Chief. Or Dad.”
“I don’t think we’re there yet, Mr. Biel.”
“Brennan, please. Mr. Biel? Sounds like a bad physics professor.”
“Brennan, then. You don’t know how much it means to Kevin that you’re down here. I mean I’ve only—“
The Chief held up his hand, quieting the Naga. “I actually do love my son, Mr. Lawrence. Very much so. His predilection for males of other species hasn’t changed that. Don’t think for a second though that I hadn’t noticed the giant, gaping holes in my son’s X-rays. You’ve claimed my son.”
The Naga—a majestic creature, by most accounts—had never looked so meek in his entire life as at that moment. “S…sir?”
“There were two. Giant. Holes. In my son’s scapula. Don’t think for a second I hadn’t noticed that. I also saw the scars. How long have you ‘owned’ my son?”
“Sir I…I don’t” there was a sigh from the Naga before he continued, “I bit him, sir, because in all honesty I love him. When my ex-wife died in a hate crime two and a half years ago, I thought my life was over. And then I met your son. At first, he was going to be just a quick lay. And then he didn’t want any of that. I took him to see a movie instead. We waited a month before he’d worked up enough nerve to actually do anything with me, sir. In that time, I began to fall in love with him. I—“
Again the Naga had paused to the hand of the elder human. “Enough, Richarde. I’m a little angry. But at the same time, I’m glad. I saw how you were in there with my son. I saw the love light up those golden eyes and I can tell you that nothing has warmed my heart more than that. I’m angry because I hadn’t met you before you laid claim on my son. I know exactly what that bite mark means for him.” The human sighed, “I also know what that means for you, Mr. Lawrence, do you know the number of Naga arrested in Caulder city under the age of twenty for predation?”
The Naga looked shocked. “Yes, sir. I do.”
“I know you do. Do you know what I will do if you try and eat my son?”
“No, sir. I have a feeling I don’t want to find out.”
“Ever seen what happens when a president is assassinated?”
“Y…yeah? Gulliver Samson. I was in the crowd when Samson was shot. The police were in a frenzy. It was like an ant hill exploded over the building where the sniper had stood. Not something I’d want to be at the other end of.”
“The Samson shooter…ah yes. July 19, 2045. Sad day.”
“Yes. It was. Though, I’d say this is up there. The entire 12th gone? Every single officer?”
The Chief sighed. It was a tired sigh. A sigh of grief. And a sigh of long days ahead. “I’ve known Holmes since he started. He’s been with the department for thirty, thirty-five years. Sergeant Devereaux had been with the department for twenty-five. He was in line for promotion to lieutenant. I knew many of my son’s coworkers and friends on the force. Most of them were in that department. And for Kevin to be the sole surviving officer? A frigging miracle.”
“Sir, as if I have to tell you…this stinks of a larger plot. Shouldn’t you inform Washington?”
“Not yet. I’ll let them know if need be. I have a feeling my son and that whale discovered something rather large. I don’t know if I can or should ask this of you, but could you look out for him. I’m going to talk to the GeniFur clinic and see what they can tell me.
***
Jon got up on his own. His head spun slightly, but once it was clear, he saw Ricky. To see the face of his dear childhood friend—now regained—look so worried and distraught made him weak in the knees and his heart flutter. He was so happy that Rick had not only welcomed him back with open arms, but also with a big wet kiss.
At that moment, he looked over and saw the principal speaking in a hushed voice with his coach. They both had pained faces and they were motioning toward him. “What’s going on, Ricky?”
“The twelve. The twelfth precinct was attacked. One survivor. I haven’t been told who it is. They were talking about you consistently, though.” His face looked pained, too. It just wasn’t totally about him.
Just then Ricky’s phone rang and he slithered off for some privacy. The principal walked over at that moment. “Jon Devereaux?”
“Come on, Mr. Richardson. You know that’s me.”
“Son can you come with me?”
“Why?”
“Just come with me son.”