Echo

By Michael S. Booker

Book Three of the Shadow Series

After surviving a dangerous, supernatural attack by an unknown enemy, Nathan Grayson awakens to find that many things in his life has changed. His psychic abilities have diminished, his boyfriend Blake Coleman, close friend, Justin Bronson, and even his villainous older brother, Caleb, are nowhere to be found. He is alone in the home that he once shared with his friends—yet at the same time he is not alone. There is a mysterious, ominous force, waiting in the shadows, taunting him, and slowly altering his perception of reality and illusion.

Meanwhile, across the San Francisco Bay, a handsome party boy, named Dominic Blue, also finds himself the target of a paranormal entity that relentless pursues him. Dominic begins to worry that a close friend of his has become victim to the entity’s powerful thrall. In a matter of days, Dominic’s seemingly perfect life takes a severe turn for the worst, as a series of perilous events shatter his world.

Together, Nathan, without the aid of his psychic abilities, must team up with Dominic, to overcome a mutual, malevolent adversary, who will not stop, until both of them are dead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael S. Booker
• Release date: Sep 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9780463623091

Michael S. Booker

Fiction writer, photographer, blogger, living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Check out "Shadow", "Not Safe for Work" and "Freshman". Michael S. Booker can be contacted at [e-mail]

Book preview

E C H O

BOOK

3

OF THE SHADOW SERIES

M I C H A E L

S.

B O O K E R

Copyright © 2012 by Michael S. Booker

E-Book Edition

Cover Design by Michael S. Booker

All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, in any form or by any other means, without the written permission of the author.

O T H E R T I T L E S

B Y M I C H A E L S. B O O K E R

The Shadow Series

Shadow

Anomaly

Echo

Whisper

Lullaby

To everyone who supports my stories.

Thank-you

1

The Stranger

The apartment was bizarrely empty.

As Trent Darrow opened the door, he expected to find his roommate, Dominic Blue, seated on the couch, drinking a cocktail, and watching a reality show on MTV. That was usually how it was on Sunday evenings, when Trent came home from work.

Hey, Dommo, Trent called out, you here?

No answer.

Trent pulled off his leather jacket and threw it on the couch. He kicked off his sneakers and headed to the kitchen to grab a beer. As he opened the refrigerator, his cell phone rang—it was Dominic.

What’s up? Trent said. He grabbed a bottle of Heineken from the refrigerator’s top shelf and opened it with the bottle opener on his keychain. Where you at?

Walkin’ up to the Castro, Dominic replied. The slur in Dominic’s raspy voice told Trent that he had already had a bit of an alcoholic buzz. I waited for you, but you took too long to get home.

Had to work overtime, Trent replied and took a heavy swig from his bottle.

Well, hurry up and get your hairy ass over here. We’re heading over to the Lookout for a little while and then heading over to Badlands.

Who is ‘we’? Trent questioned.

Some dude I met online, a couple of hours ago, Dominic said. We’re meeting at the bar. He looks like Ricky Martin—except straighter. At least that’s how it looked like on his profile picture.

Dommo, you should know better than I do that guys never look as good in person, as they do on their profile pictures. The dude will be ten years older than he claimed, five inches shorter—

When you say, ‘five inches shorter’, do you mean his height or his dick-size? Dominic interjected.

Both, Trent responded.

Well, if he turns out to be all-bad, I’ll need you to come rescue me.

Trent headed back into the living room and plopped on the worn, but comfortable, polyester couch. "Give me about an hour to relax and then I’ll head over…and by the way, my ass is not that hairy."

Dude, you can make a wig out of your butt crack hair alone, Dominic joked. And you don’t need an hour to relax. I’ll give you twenty minutes, and then I’m gonna call you back. You better be on your way.

Alright, man, Trent responded. I’ll catch up with you soon.

Trent hung up the phone and downed more than half of the bottle of beer. He burped loudly, and the sound echoed across the living room. It felt strange to be alone in the apartment. Usually, he had to subject himself to Dominic’s loud Hip-Hop and House music at all hours of the day and night. He also had to live with the string of random guys Dominic brought over to have meaningless sex. If there were an average of thirty days in a calendar month, Dominic would be sure to bring a man home at least twenty of those days. The remaining ten days, Dominic probably spent at the other guys’ homes.

Honestly, Trent did not mind Dominic’s sexual ‘liberalism’, as Dominic liked to call it. Sometimes, Trent even envied it, since Trent was more sexually conservative than his friend and did not draw as much sexual attention, as Dominic. Not that Trent was unattractive in any way, but when it came to their physical attributes, Trent and his roommate were almost complete opposites: Trent was six-foot-two, almost two hundred pounds, with big arms, thick legs, a stomach, though not big, was not as flat as he would have liked it to have been, and a moderate layer of hair that covered his chest, legs, and ass.

Dominic stood slightly shorter than Trent, at five-foot-ten, a hundred-sixty pounds of lean muscle, with toned arms and legs, the proverbial washboard stomach, and other than the carefully groomed, thick black hair on his head, not a single hair follicle on his body. Guys generally considered Trent to be a ‘cute muscle cub’, whereas Dominic was usually blessed with the title of ‘sexy muscle stud’.

As least we got the ‘muscle’ part in common, Trent thought.

Trent considered calling Dominic back and telling him that he might skip going out that night and just rest at home. If Dominic’s ‘date’ went really bad, Dominic could just walk back home. The apartment they shared in San Francisco’s Mission District was only about a mile’s walking distance, from the Castro District. If the date went well, Dominic would probably get so wrapped up and drunk that he would not notice—or care if Trent was there, anyhow.

Finishing his beer, Trent considered getting another one, but thought he would wait a little later. He plopped on the couch and grabbed the laptop computer from the coffee table in front of him and switched it on. Clearly, Dominic had been using it before, because the website, MANSEARCH.com was still logged in under Dominic’s profile name: SFSexyMofo25. If Dominic was not at a bar, or the gym, having sex, or watching Jersey Shore, Dominic spent a lot of his time on that website. It was a site for gay men, to meet each other, typically for sexual purposes, without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Trent had created a profile for himself six months prior, after Dominic relentlessly insisted that it was an easy way to meet guys. Yet Trent had only logged onto the site a few times. The idea of talking to a stranger and either going to the stranger’s place or the stranger coming to his home seemed stupid and dangerous. He did not know how Dominic took the risk.

Well, first off, Dominic once told him, I usually meet the dude in a well-lit, crowded area, so I can see if he’s ugly or weird, or some shit like that. That’s the best way. Other than that, talk to them on the phone and hear what they sound like. That’s how I usually do it.

The whole internet, cyber dating, and social media obsession, never appealed to Trent, but there was really no way to avoid it. People did not really go to clubs anymore to meet and interact with another person. They went to be seen, to be watched from afar but never approached. Dominic was certainly proof of that theory. Sadly, other than the internet, there were not that many avenues for guys to meet each other.

Trent signed out of Dominic’s account and reluctantly signed onto his own…just to see if he had any new messages. His online moniker was significantly more modest than Dominic’s: NiceBayBoy. He had three awaiting messages: One guy, an Asian man in his thirties, with a firm muscular chest, who lived in Daly City wrote:

Nice. Can I c ur dick?

Although Trent did have a few nude pictures on the site—set to private—he chose not to unlock them for this person. He ignored the message and moved on to the next: a younger white guy with striking blue eyes, peroxide-bleached blond hair, and a pale, emaciated body, from the North Beach area of San Francisco. His message read:

Do u like to fuck w/o condoms?

Nobody has the manners to say ‘hi’ first anymore, huh? Trent asked himself. He wrote short reply to the boy, who identified himself online as BBboi4U:

Not with people I don’t know.

Trent moved on to the last message, which had been sent to him, according to the date stamp, fifteen minutes ago. He opened the message and checked out the sender’s profile: the picture depicted a very handsome Latin man, in his mid- twenties, with caramel-colored eyes, creamy smooth skin, and a wide smile that was both sensuous and welcoming at the same time. His profile name was: ShadowMan24.

That’s a cool name, Trent thought.

He read the message ShadowMan24 left for him:

Came across your profile and thought I’d say ‘Hello’. I also stay in the Mission.

A few things already impressed Trent about this guy, other than his outstanding looks: he had not started the conversation with any frank, sexual advances and he had not spoken in annoying, abbreviated internet lingo.

Trent wrote back a reply:

I’m glad you checked it out. You’re really cute by the way.

He wanted to say more, but the words refused to come to his head, so he left it at that. He did not expect ShadowMan24 to respond back right away or at all actually. But as Trent got up, to head to the kitchen for another beer, he heard a ding sound on his computer. As he refreshed his mailbox, Trent saw that ShadowMan24 had already sent him another message.

Damn, that was fast, Trent thought.

Trent opened the message and read it: Any plans for tonight?

Rapidly, Trent typed a response:

Supposed to be meeting up with a friend in the Castro, in a little while, but not sure if I really wanna go out…you?

ShadowMan24’s reply came back almost instantaneously:

Not really. It’d be nice to hang out with you for a little while…if you’re interested. BTW, I unlocked my pics for you.

Trent opened the remaining two pictures on ShadowMan24’s profile that had been unlocked: both photographs displayed the guy naked. Trent’s dick stirred in his slacks, as he looked at ShadowMan24’s thick, uncut dick, the tight, curvy ass, and the overall exquisite shape of his body.

Very nice, Trent typed back. When would you be interested in hanging out? I also unlocked my pics. Trent’s private pictures consisted of a full-frontal view of his naked body, with his seven-inch cock fully erect.

Now would be good, ShadowMan24 wrote. If you have some spare time before meeting up with your friend.

Trent considered it. He had not had sex in over two months, and that had been a complete, drunken waste of time. If this hot guy was genuinely interested in Trent, lived close, and wanted to meet up with him right at that moment, it would be hard for Trent to turn that down.

But what about Dommo? Trent pondered.

Trent could point out numerous times, when Dominic had ditched him, to spend time with another guy. Besides, Dominic did not really care if Trent showed up or not. If Dominic got mad, he would get over it by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

Your place or mine? Trent typed.

Yours.

Okay.

If you don’t mind, give me your number, so I can call you, ShadowMan24 wrote.

Trent felt reluctant about giving away personal information like that over the internet. He thought about it for a few minutes, before eventually conceding and giving ShadowMan24 his cell phone number.

Calling you right now, ShadowMan24 wrote.

Great.

As soon as Trent sent the message, his cell phone chimed. He looked at the caller ID and saw that the number was listed as UNKNOWN. His heart skipped a beat, and he found himself suddenly growing nervous.

This isn’t the first time you’ve ever talked to a man on the phone before, Trent told himself. Don’t act like a fucking nerd.

What’s up? Trent said, trying to sound cool. He realized at that moment that he did not know the caller’s real name, nor did the caller know his. I didn’t get a chance to catch your name, yet.

Andrew, the caller said, but people usually call me Drew. His voice sounded as sexy as his online photographs looked. And your name is…?

Trent.

You have a nice voice, Trent.

So do you, Drew.

Trent felt himself starting to blush. He was thankful Andrew was not there to see it.

Are you cool with meeting up? Andrew asked.

Uh…what exactly are you looking for?

I don’t have any expectations, Andrew replied. Whatever happens, happens.

Okay, Trent replied. Just to let you know, I usually don’t meet up too often, with guys from the internet."

Me either.

Trent checked his watch. It was a little after nine in the evening. The night was still young. Dominic would be too inebriated to even know what time Trent showed up to the bar.

Okay, Trent said. Here’s my address. He proceeded to give Andrew the address to his home.

That’s really close to me, Andrew answered. I can be there in about twenty minutes.

Cool.

See you, soon, Andrew said and hung up.

Did I really just do that? Trent questioned himself as he clicked off his phone. Invite a stranger over to my home?

Dommo does it all the time, he tried to assure himself. The only thing was Trent was not Dominic. While Dominic lived mostly on impulse, Trent liked to live by rationality. He thought about calling Andrew back and canceling their date, but he remembered that Andrew had called from an unknown number that could not be traced. Even if Trent sent him a message on the website, there was no guarantee that Andrew would read it before leaving.

Why am I getting so nervous about this? It’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like he’s gonna be some crazy-psycho-killer or something. He’s too cute to be crazy.

Good or bad, ShadowMan24—Andrew—was on his way over to Trent’s place. He was going to have to take his chances and just hope for