Huey Freeman was a high school freshman. As far as he could tell, he was nowhere near popular. The popular kids were pretty cheerleaders with long hair and muscular boys with perfectly chiseled bodies. Sometimes he wished he was popular. He considered trying out for the football team at the beginning of the year for no other purpose than to get to watch with all the girls in their tight, little skirts, but he decided against it. He knew a guy like himself, one who'd never be able to tolerate those stupid jocks, would never make the team. But damn, those girls were hot.

He had a girlfriend anyway, even if she wasn't a cheerleader. His girlfriend, Jazmine, was somewhat different, with her curly little puffs and enough black make-up on her eyes to cover three girls' faces. Huey loved her regardless. She was funny and sarcastic, sweet and sinister at the same time. Together, the shy girl and the outcast boy made a brilliant pairing.

The Freeman brothers lived in opposite directions from the school, Huey and Riley to the east and J. Edgar Hoover to the west. Because of this, Huey spent a lot of days walking home with only his sixth-grade brother for company. In order to get home every day, the brothers had to pass a park where the two regularly took their dog, Tequila, to get exercise. One Wednesday afternoon, the older Freeman sibling was greeted by an unexpected surprise.

"Huey!" The high-schooler's kid brother called out. Huey stopped in his tracks and turned at the sound of his name. At first he didn't see the source. "Huey!" he called again and waved. Huey made his way toward his younger sibling.

When he was in hearing range, he said, "Hey, Riley. Your teacher told Granddad you weren't weren't in school today. Are you alright? You can't keep skipping, you know, or you'll never make it to high school."

"Well, I was in school. I just skipped Mr. Reneo's class is all. But now I can't find Tequila. Can you help me?"

Seeing as the Freemans had a fenced-in backyard, Tequila rarely escaped. But when she managed to, the boys would always hurry to find her as their neighborhood led to a busy intersection. Huey nodded, understanding. "Yeah, of course. Let me just text Granddad to tell him we'll be a little late coming home."

"Thank you so much," the eleven-year-old said, relief filling his voice.

Huey pulled out his iPhone and sent a text to their grandfather.

"Really," Riley was saying, "this means a lot to me. Especially since Henry just passed. I just love Tequila so much. I hate it when she runs away."

"I do too. I can tell you really care about her," Huey said, putting his phone back in his pocket and wrapping an arm around his little brother. "Don't worry. We'll find her." He looked around briefly. "Let me just find a place to put my bookbag down." Huey decided on a bench under a nearby tree. After he dropped the backpack, he returned to his brother who was running his hand through his braids anxiously. "Where did you last see her?" Huey asked.

"We were near the little kids' playground. I was throwing a tennis ball for her and she kept bringing it back. Then once, after I threw it, a kid fell off the monkey bars and started crying. No mom or dad came running, so I went to help him. When I went back to where I'd been standing before, Tequila was gone."

Huey nodded. "Well, maybe we should start by the playground again. Maybe she went back there looking for you."

"Okay. Sure."

Together, the two of them made their way to the playground. They stood at the edge of the sand pit and scanned the area for a few moments. "Do you see her?" Huey asked.

"No," Riley said. The panic was coming back into his voice.

"Hmm," Huey mused. "I don't either."

"Maybe she went into that area with all the trees over there. Don't you think it would be easy to get lost in there?"

"Yeah, maybe," Huey agreed. "Let's go check."

They walked to where the grass became dirt in front of the trees. "We'll split up," Riley said. "I'll go left and you go right. We'll meet right back here in, let's say... ten minutes, whether we find her or not."

"Alright. Sounds good." Huey began walking through the trees. "Tequila!" he called. "Come here, girl." He whistled a few times. He continued to call out her name until he heard a barking not far from where he was. Huey followed the sound. "Tee Tee!" he said happily when he saw her. Then he paused as he surveyed the scene in front of him. Tequila had a long metal leash attached to her collar and tied around a tree. 'That's strange,' he thought. It looked as though she'd been left there intentionally.

Suddenly there was the noise of a twig snapping behind him. He quickly turned around as Riley smashed a clay-colored brick into his head.

When he woke up, he was on a cement floor. His vision was swimming. He tried to move a hand to where his head was throbbing, but his hands were zip-tied behind him. Huey moved his feet against each other and found that he was barefoot. He moved his head slightly and looked to where it had been resting. There was a small pool of blood. "Hello?" he called out.

"Hi there." It was a small voice he recognized. He turned his head and pain shot through his body. His gaze moved upward and he saw Riley standing above him. "What happened?" he asked. "Where am I?"

"You're in the garage," he answered, ignoring the first question.

Huey drew in a shaky breath and let it out. "Why?"

"Because I wanted you to be."

Huey was angry and confused. He tried to remember how he'd gotten there. "Tequila," he murmured.

"What was that?"

"Tequila," he said a little louder. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, for now. I can't say she will be later. She's served her purpose."

"What purpose?"

"Listen, you son of a bitch," Riley said with aggression in his voice. "Stop asking questions. From now on, I'm in charge. You don't speak unless I tell you to. Got it?" Huey rolled his brown eyes, now annoyed by Riley's antics. He turned to look at the ties behing him, contemplating how he could break the plastic and escape whatever dumb shit Riley had in mind. The movement caused more waves of pain to go surging through his body. "Do you know why you're here?" Huey shook his head with a smug smirk, enraging his brother even further. "It's because you're - you wipe that fucking smirk off your stupid fucking face!" Riley shrieked childishly, face reddening and a vein visibly throbbing beside his eye. "STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" Riley shrieked at his brother who was doubled over in a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Riley, cut it out, man," Huey wheezed with a smile. "I can beat your fucking ass and you know it. Tell me what you're doing."

"WHAT-THE-FUCK-IS-WRONG-WITH-YOU!?" Riley screamed at the absolute top of his young lungs, redder than ever and visibly shaking. "Why are you doing this to me!? Why are you ruining my life!? Why are you torturing me!?" Riley slowly lowered the shaking finger that was pointed accusingly at his alleged tormentor. He took a deep breath, eyes still bugging out, veins still bulging and hands still shaking, and tried to calm his nerves.

"You're doing this on purpose," Riley said quietly.

"Excuse me?"

He spoke up. "You like this. You like torturing me."

He suddenly reached down and slapped Huey across the face. "You like this. You like this game. This game we have. I've already figured it out, you know. I know you implanted devices in my head. I know. They won't stop talking to me. It's your fault. You put them there." Huey's eyes filled with anger, but he kept his mouth shut, discreetly fiddling with the zip-ties behind his back. Riley was in the middle of a panic attack, pacing back and forth in their cluttered garage, covering his ears and pulling his braids while he cried as if would make the voices stop talking. Riley sucked his thumb, his nervous habit, as he thought about what to do and say next. "Are you a virgin?" he asked all of a sudden.

Huey was unsure how to answer. He went with the truth. "No."

"So you've had a man's penis inside you?"

Again, he told the truth. "No."

"Then you are a fucking virgin, you liar."

He shook his head slightly, then stopped, remembering the pain in his neck. "I've had sex with Jazmine."

"That's not sex; that's bullshit." Huey remained quietly plotting. "Do you want me to teach you what sex is?"

"No, Riley. I know what it is. Probably better than you. You're still a kid." This comment earned him another sharp slap to the face.

"Shut up! Get out of my head! You must be too chicken to talk to my face," he said, twitching his neck and covering his ears as he often did when he had an episode. He walked around his body towards his feet. He bent down and began to unbutton Huey's pants.

Huey kicked him in the shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"What are YOU doing?" he asked back angrily. "Lie still."

"No!" he declared with another kick to his shoulder just as the button came undone.

He squirmed around as Riley started to pull his jeans down around his thighs. Even as strong as Huey was, without the use of his hands, stopping Riley was almost impossible. "Good, keep moving," he told Huey. "It's helping me." With the jeans around his knees now, it was difficult to try to kick him, but try Huey did. "Almost there," he said as if he was coaxing a small child. He was finally able to pull them off. Then, he started on his underwear. As he pulled them down a little bit, he noticed an absence of pubic hair. "Oh, how kind," he said. "You shaved for me."

"It wasn't for you, jackass," Huey said as he began squirming again. He kicked him again, this time connecting with his jaw.

"Ow! Fucking dildo!" He moved his lower jaw side to side a few times as he rubbed the spot he'd kicked. With his free hand, he pulled at Huey's underwear and it came off much more easily than the jeans. When his lower half was naked, he stood straight. "Wait here," he said. Then he laughed. "Like you have a choice."

Huey considered standing up and trying to run for the nearby exit door when he left momentarily, but he knew he'd have no chance at opening it with his hands behind his back before he returned.

"Okay," he said, entering from the door that connected the garage to the main house. "Here we go." In his hands, he had another plastic zip-tie. He took the few steps he needed to reach his brother, then bent down by his feet. "Hold still," he told him.

He grabbed one of Huey's feet and tightened the zip-tie around his ankle. With his other foot, he tried to kick him again, but his face was far enough away that he couldn't get a good one in. While still holding Huey's foot in one hand, Riley was able to grab the one in the air with his other hand. He pulled it down next to the other one and zip-tied them together. "Stop it!" Huey demanded firmly.

"Fine," Riley said. He let go. "Now what?"

"Now let me go!"

He shook his head. "I'm not touching you. Go."

Huey just stayed lying on the floor. He knew he couldn't get up. Defeated, he asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Shut up, Huey! Stop talking because all you do is lie! It's YOUR FAULT!" Riley was pacing again, this time more frantically, as he rubbed his temples in an effort to soothe the bulging veins.

"My fault?" Huey asked. "It's my fault that YOU'RE doing this?"

"I know about the chip in my brain, Huey! I know you put it there because the martians told me! And I'm not going to let you plant thoughts in my head anymore!"

"Shut up, Riley. You're not delusional. You know clear as day you don't hear voices, so stop making excuses-"

"YOU ARE NOT STRAIGHT!" Riley suddenly screamed. "You're not! I'll fucking prove it to you!"

Riley moved to Huey's side and began to roll him over onto his stomach. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"The right thing.. finally .." he responded.

Once Huey was on his stomach, he pulled on Huey's hips so that he was resting on his knees and his shoulders with his head turned to the side. Riley moved behind Huey on his own knees and began to unzip his pants. "Don't," he pleaded.

Huey tried to roll onto his side, but Riley held him in position. "Don't worry," he said as he came free from his boxers. "This won't hurt; this is only natural." Huey cried out in pain when his brother first entered him, stretching his virgin hole to cram his small length inside. When he pulled out, blood covered the end of his uncircumcised penis. "See?" he asked. "You are a virgin."

Huey wanted to speak, but as Riley began thrusting inside of him, slowly and passionately, all he could do was grimace in pain. His breathing was quick and shallow. He waited for it to be over, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do. His face was cold and sore from lying on the hard cement floor. He wished he could at least put his arms down to steady himself, but the zip-tie held firm. Huey rocked slightly under the pressure of his brother's light weight coming and going.

As Riley ejaculated, he let out a pleasurable sigh. Then he pulled out of Huey's ass, leaving it gaping with pain and pleasure. "You liked that, right?" he asked.

"No."

"Come on, don't lie, Huey. I could tell by your breathing." Riley pushed Huey over so he was lying on his side. His body felt relieved in this position. "Change your mind about being straight yet?"

"No," he said again.

"No?" he repeated. "I didn't do a good job?" Riley asked, voice cracking.

After a moment of silence, Riley stood shakily and refastened his pants around his waist. Then he entered the house and closed the door behind him. Huey knew he would be back soon, but he tried to relax for a moment. His anal tissue was burning. His shoulders were bruised from being pushed into the cement so hard. His head was still throbbing; he had no idea if it was still bleeding or not. Huey tried to take slow, deep breaths. After only a minute, Riley returned.

He was holding a kitchen knife in one hand and wiping it with a rag held in the other. Huey's eyes opened wide. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Huey?"

"Please don't hurt me anymore."

"I wasn't hurting you before," he said. "I was helping you." He paused as he looked at the knife and threw the rag down on the ground. "Now, I'm going to hurt you."

"Please," Huey begged, tears springing to his eyes. "Don't."

"You can stop this," Riley said. "You can stop this by telling me you made the wrong choice."

"I didn't make a choice," he sobbed. "It wasn't a choice."

Riley shrugged. "Okay." He made his way to his brother and bent down next to him. "This," he whispered in his ear, "will hurt."

With his left hand, he pulled Huey's hair back behind his ear and caressed his face. With his right, he jammed the end of his knife into Huey's testicles. He screamed out in pain, a scream he never knew he was capable of making. As Huey bent his head back, Riley pulled on his hair. That pain was nothing in comparison.

Riley took the blood-covered knife out, rotated it, and pushed it in again. As Huey screamed and screamed, he smiled. "Is this sex?" he asked over the noise. "Is this what you know better than me? Huh? Is it?"

"No!" Huey yelled. "No!"

Riley pulled the knife out and wiped the blood off on his pants. Blood continued to pour from his body onto the floor. He held the tip of the blade up to Huey's throat. "Tell me you make the aliens talk to me," Riley demanded.

"No! I didn't do that to you!" Huey yelled harder than he'd ever yelled before. When the blade sliced through his neck, the noise finally stopped. Huey was motionless on the floor.

Riley Freeman dug a four-and-a-half foot hole in his backyard in the light of the moon. He happily dumped Huey's body into the ground, knowing that he'd made the world a better place that day. He covered him with two and a half feet of dirt, patted it down, and then went into his house.

Tequila had eaten the rat poison that Riley had 'accidentally' left in his wet dog food. He now lay dead on the kitchen floor. Riley walked up to him and picked up his body. It was still warm. "I'm sorry, buddy," he said to him. He carried him out into the backyard and gently placed him into the hole that remained. "You helped me today. May your soul rest happy for that."

After that, he finished filling in the hole and placed a large rock on top to mark the place.

That week, Riley had stalled Granddad from questioning Huey's abscence with various excuses that the dim old man blindly accepted. On Wednesday afternoon, police and a canine unit were on the Freeman front porch. Luckily, Riley answered the door for his sleeping grandfather. "Are you Riley Freeman? Mind if we look around?" one of the officers asked him.

"Yes, that's me. What is this about?"

"Your brother, Huey Freeman. How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"He's been with a friend or something. Is something wrong?"

"He hasn't shown up for school in a week. A text message he sent to your grandfather indicates that he was with you between school and his disappearance."

"Well, I'm telling you officers, I know nothing of what happened to him."

"Do you mind if we look around anyway?"

"Of course," Riley said with a smile. He'd already scrubbed the floors of the garage and washed the dried blood off his kitchen knife. He knew there was no way they'd ever know what had truly occurred.

As two officers entered the house, the third with the German Shepherd went around to the back of the house. The dog began to bark almost immediately. Riley followed the noise. When he came around the corner, he saw the dog lying in the ground facing the rock he'd placed in the middle of his backyard. "Sir?" the officer asked. "Is there something you'd like to tell us about this fresh dirt here?"

The other officers had now joined them in the backyard. "My dog died last night."

The officer who had first addressed him spoke. "Is this the same dog that your brother was helping you find before the time of his disappearance?"

"Yes. We never found him at the park, so I came home. Later, I got a call from somebody who said he'd been run over and was lying on the side of the road. They got my number from his name tag."

The officers all looked skeptical. "Do you mind if we dig here?" asked the officer who hadn't spoken yet.

Riley shook his head. "Not at all."

He stood back and watched as the police dog was pulled back from the scene and the officers began to dig in his backyard. Eventually they reached Tequila's body. One of the officers nodded. "Well, I'm truly sorry for your loss," he said.

"Thank you," Riley replied quietly.

"That'll be all for now," the first officer stated. "We'll be back later if we have any other questions." As they started to leave, the officer flicked the German Shepherd on the nose. "Dumb dog," he muttered. "You weren't supposed to find another dog."

Riley smiled as he watched them all walk away from the premises.

Fin.