"This is it," Jerry Swanson said to himself as he reached out and opened the door of his '92 Escort.
The pharmacy technician was about to meet the love of his life for the first time and his stomach was doing somersaults at the thought. Sure, he'd been communicating with Oliver for a little over four months but talking over instant messenger and meeting in real life were two entirely different things.
The two men had met on an online matchmaking website. Oliver was the one that made first contact with him and their relationship grew from there. They both worked slowly through the rigmarole of filling out the personality test to see if they were compatible, then they moved on to answering preselected questions by the website and finally they moved into the open communication stage. Throughout the whole exchange they never once conversed on the phone or via a video conference. Oliver had said that he already knew what Jerry looked like so he wanted the rest to be a surprise.
But what if Oliver was lying when he said he thought Jerry was attractive? Or what if when he finally saw him in person he changed his mind? What if he ended up being repulsed by Jerry?
The large man felt a moment of panic coil in his gut. He didn't think he could handle being rejected. Especially if the rejection was over something as frivolous as looks. For Jerry had never been that confident in his appearance and having a man that he'd fallen head over heels for rebuff him over it would be a blow against his ego that he wasn't sure he could handle. Especially since it had happened to him before…several times.
The six foot three inches tall man had never been considered a looker by society's standards. He had jet black hair spiked hair, bushy eyebrows that nearly met at the span that bridged his nose, and a full beard that he grew in order to hide his jowls. His thick neck supported his large head and led down to his massive body. Jerry, a fan of fast food and beer, knew that he was considered obese but he didn't care. He would be damned if he left this world deprived of the food that gave his taste buds so much pleasure. So if that meant that the trade-off for enjoying the food he loved gave him a few rolls, then so be it. Besides, his size intimidated people which gave him power over them. No one crossed him and came out undamaged on the other side. But that didn't mean that their stares or looks of disgust didn't bother him. He was human after all and the fact that most people judged him based on his exterior appearance hurt.
Pausing before he set his feet on the ground outside of his car, Jerry decided to give himself a pep talk. "Oliver wouldn't do that to you. Those were just stupid blind dates that you were set up on. You had no connection to them…not like you have with Oliver. He told you that he thought you were handsome and that your weight didn't matter. He said he liked it when his lovers were bigger than him…it gives him a sense of safety. He's a lost young man looking for you to provide him with some stability. You understand him and you'll help him, guide him, and give him rules to live by – not to mention consequences if he breaks those rules. So, just be yourself. Don't let him see that you're nervous. He's going to love you."
With those final words of self-encouragement, the man unloaded his large frame from the compact automobile and started his trek toward the doorway of his online boyfriend's house.
The walkway was pretty standard. It was just large cement blocks that made a path toward the front door. The yard – if you could call it that – was in disarray. There was barely any grass; only weeds and dirt patches encompassed the area. The tiny square that was supposed to be the front porch was crumbling away due to years of unchecked weathering. Jerry, who was hesitant to step up on the disintegrating cement, carefully planted his feet on what looked like a stable section and took a deep breath. Once he allowed the air to flow through his lungs, he raised his shaking fist and knocked on the rickety screen door.
"Dude, he's here!" Trevor Sanders shouted to his friend as he peeked through the blinds of the front window.
"No fucking way!" Leon cried from his easy-chair. "He actually fell for it?"
"Hey, you gotta admit we were pretty convincing!" Trevor replied, walking away from the window with a shit-eating grin.
"Yeah, but who really goes to meet someone at their house that they met online – that they've never even talked to on the phone," Leon said incredulously.
"People get together off the internet all the time," the twenty-something countered. "My sister met her husband on one of those sites."
"True," Leon admitted. "But come on…"Oliver" was way too good to be true for this guy. We played to all his fantasies…it's never that easy in real life. I mean, we told the guy we were looking for a big strong man to run our lives. We wanted him to teach us right from wrong – we wanted him to take control of everything."
Trevor laughed out loud. "God, that was genius! We even got him to jack off to "Oliver." And now he's here, ready to dominate in real life."
"Yeah…," Leon said nervously.
"What? You knew what we were doing when we set up this meeting. Are you chickening out now?"
"No," Leon protested. "I just didn't think he'd show up."
"Come on…we were just playing – having a bit of fun with him. It happens all the time with these online things. It's this guy's own fault for not checking us out further," Trevor explained with a smirk. "Really, he was just asking for it."
"Right. I guess."
"What? Do you feel bad about it now?"
Leon looked down at his sneakers and frowned. "What are you going to tell him when you answer the door?"
"That "Oliver" isn't here," Trevor said simply.
"And?"
"And nothing. It's the truth. There is no Oliver that lives here. He's got the wrong address."
"You think he'll believe it."
Trevor looked over at the doorway when he heard a thump on the screen door. "He doesn't have a choice."
Leon's face seemed to pale as his friend walked over to the door. He didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Look, just make sure you're getting all this on film. I want to post this later on our blog – our followers are gonna eat it up. Hashtag catfishing," the cocky young man said with a hiss before he turned the doorknob.
Jerry held his breath as he watched the door to Oliver's house swing open. Unfortunately, standing in front of him was not the long lithe body of the chestnut brown haired young man he had been talking to online but rather a muscular kid that was no older than the age of twenty. With a furrowed brow he tried to look past the boy when he answered the door and said, "Can I help you?"
"Uh, yeah…I'm here to see Oliver," Jerry said, confused that his beau was not there; rather another young man was standing off to the side in the living room filming him.
Why hadn't Oliver mentioned that he had roommates?
"Oliver?" Trevor parroted.
"Yeah, Oliver Boyle."
The kid's lips quirked into a half smile. "I'm sorry. There is no one here by that name. I think you have the wrong address."
"No. This is the address that he gave me. I'm certain," Jerry refuted with a scowl.
"Well, you must have wrote it down wrong," he laughed before attempting to shut the door.
Angry, Jerry flung forth his meaty hand and pushed the door back open. "I assure you I didn't. Now what is going on?" he roared, pissed at the smug little shit standing in front of him.
The boy's laughter died on his lips. He looked down at the hand splayed out on the door and back at the furious man in front of him. "Hey buddy, I'm sorry to tell you this but it's just me and Leon that live here. There is no Oliver."
"He wouldn't lie to me," the angry man yelled, forcing his way into the house. "Now where is he?"
The kid in the background, Leon, dropped his phone down and shot his friend a worried look. "Ah…Trevor, maybe you should tell him."
"Shut it," the boy named Trevor bellowed.
"Tell me what," Jerry said, turning toward the other kid with fire in his eyes. He could tell that something fishy was going on here, now it was just a matter of finding out what.
"Nothing," Trevor said innocently.
Having enough of the young man's games, Jerry reached out and wrapped his hand around the kid's neck. Trevor started sputtering in surprise; his hands flying up to his collar, desperately trying to pry the large man's fingers from around his throat.
"Let him go!" Leon cried, running forward to try to help his friend.
The obese man knocked the other kid to the floor with his free hand. "Not until you two tell me where Oliver is," Jerry demanded, squeezing the boy's white neck for emphasis.
Leon, scared for his friend, looked around the floor for the phone he had dropped in his fall. When he found it he grabbed it up and started to dial for help.
"Your friend here will be dead before they even arrive," Jerry drawled upon seeing what the boy was doing.
Leon looked up at Trevor's face, saw that his lips were turning blue, and knew that the man was right. "Alright!" he cried, holding up his hands in defeat. "I'll tell you. Just…just let him breath."
Satisfied that he was finally going to get some answers but still wary of any tricks, Jerry lightened his hold slightly but grabbed one of Trevor's arms and brought it up behind his back in a debilitating hold. "Well?"
"T-Trevor told you the truth before. There – there is no Oliver," Leon started.
"Don't Leon – "
Growling, Jerry forced Trevor's arm higher behind his back until the kid squealed in pain. "What do you mean – there is no Oliver?"
"We made him up!" Leon howled, unable to bear seeing his friend in pain.
"What?" Jerry snarled, tightening his grip around Trevor's throat again.
"W-We made a fake profile. We – uh – we stole some guy's photo online and used it as our picture and we made up all his details," Leon admitted, twisting his hands nervously.
It took Jerry a moment to process the information and when he realized he had been played he crushed his fingers around Trevor's wrist and wrenched it, causing it to pop.
"Grahhh!" the kid cried out as pain radiated from the injured joint.
"Y-you made me believe –" he cut himself off when he heard a hint of anguish tinting his voice. He took a deep breath and started again. "You tricked me! Why? Why would you do something like that?"
"We were just trying to have some fun," Trevor uttered pitifully.
"Fun?! You think that hurting someone like this is fun?" he roared in anger.
Thoroughly chagrined, Leon looked at the man they had fooled with fearful eyes. "We were wrong…and stupid. We're so sorry. P-Please…let Trevor go and we promise to take our profile down immediately."
Jerry, who was still seeing red, wasn't placated by the boy's apology. "That's not good enough!" The irate man then kicked Trevor in the knee causing the boy to collapse while he was still holding his arm up behind his back awkwardly. As the kid fell down to the ground a loud crack sounded through the room, signaling that his shoulder was pulled out of its socket. Jerry let go of Trevor's useless limb and listened with joy as the kid cried and moaned in pain as he rocked back and forth on the ground clutching his arm with his good hand. While the boy was down for the count, Jerry swung his leg back and sent it careening into Trevor's gut multiple times. His victim curled into a ball to protect his midsection which left his head vulnerable. Seeing a great opportunity, Jerry aimed his next kick at the boy's temple and knocked him out cold.
Leon watched the assault in a stunned silence. It wasn't until Jerry looked up at him after Trevor's cries were cut off from the kick that the boy found himself able to move. He instantly tried to make his way toward the front door but his shirt was quickly caught up in Jerry's meaty fist. "Where do you think you're going?" the man barked in his ear.
"I-I was –"
"Show me," Jerry demanded.
Gulping a large breath of air, Leon asked shakily, "Sh-Show you what?"
"Show me where you got Oliver's picture."
"A-Alright…just…just please don't hurt me," Leon begged.
"Now," Jerry ordered, ignoring the boy's pleas.
Leon pointed his finger over to the desk perched up against the wall of the living room. "The computer's over there."
Jerry shoved the boy forward and said, "Don't try anything."
"N-No, of c-course not," Leon stuttered. The shuffled over to the laptop and sat down in the chair. He could feel Jerry hovering behind him; the man's foul breath flowing over his shoulder and into his nostrils.
Eager to get the man out of his house and check on his friend, Leon's fingers started flying across the keyboard. He pulled up a search engine and typed in the same parameters that he did last time he was looking for a picture. Soon images that matched his brief description popped up on the screen. The young man scrolled through the pictures until he found the one that they had used for their fake profile. "Here it is."
"Click on it," Jerry demanded as he leaned closer to the screen.
Leon did as he was told and watched as the computer processed his request and sent him to a page on the FBI's official website. It was an article written by Agent Spence Reid that discussed the psychology of murderers called "Angels of Mercy." Unable to focus enough to read, the boy just sat in the chair with his finger on the mouse pad, awaiting further instruction from the wronged man behind him.
"Oliver…," Jerry whispered in awe as he reached out his hand and traced the agent's angular cheekbone.
Leon was momentarily tempted to remind the man that there was no Oliver but decided that it wouldn't be in his best interest. Instead, he asked tentatively, "D-Do you want me to do anything else?"
The boy's voice snapped the maddened man behind him out of his reverie. "No. You've done enough already," Jerry stated ominously. Before a shiver could even shake his spine, Leon was knocked out of his chair and down to the floor beneath the computer.
Jerry looked down at his tormentor and spit on him. "You're lucky I didn't bring my gun," he told the kid. He then grabbed the laptop and slammed it down on the young man's head before snapping it in half and letting the pieces drop to either side of Leon's listless body.
He then turned around and left the house, kicking Trevor one last time on his way out the door.
He had the love of his life to track down and nothing was going to stop him.