*Trigger Warning: This chapter may contain strong language and scenes that some readers may find either offensive and/or uncomfortable. You have been warned.*
[Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 2020]
"Get out! Get the fuck out!" A short woman with glasses and black hair shouted from the porch. "I won't have some damn faggot living in my house, even if you are my son! Don't come back here ever again!"
Those were the last words that Freddy Price's mother ever said to him. It was also the last time he would ever see the woman with his own eyes. And to be honest, it didn't feel as sad as the boy thought it would.
All the boy could do was stand still for a moment as his mother's rage echoed off the rusted mailbox and the dead branches of his family's once luscious hackberry tree at the edge of the yard. The heat clung to his skin, typical for a June evening in the state of Arkansas. However, the heat was nothing compared to the burning feeling that currently filled his chest.
Finally, the screen door to the house slammed shut, and its violent finality cut through the warm dusk like a gunshot. Surprisingly, Freddy didn't flinch. Instead, he just exhaled as he gathered what meager belongings he had left.
His half-zipped backpack was hanging off of his shoulder. He hadn't been able to pack much. His hands had trembled too badly for that while his mother berated him as his brother and sister watched from down the hall. All he had now was a toothbrush, some boxers, a few shirts, his sketchbook, and the hoodie he wore whenever he needed to disappear for a while. The boy hadn't even been able to grab his phone charger before he was thrown out the door.
Freddy's shoes crunched on the gravel as he turned. The road away from the house looked different now, almost like it had been waiting all this time for him to finally take it.
He still hadn't cried, at least not yet. And to be honest, the boy wondered if he was even going to or not.
It wasn't that he didn't love his mother. He had once, back when she used to sing along to some old Dolly Parton songs while folding laundry in the living room. Back when she'd bandaged his knees without so much as a complaint. Back when she used to say things like, "I'll love you until the end of time, sweetie!". Unfortunately, that version of her was long gone; it had been gone ever since his father ditched town with that new wife of his and left the rest of their family to do without him.
After that, his mother had gotten louder. Religion had filled the silence. Then the whiskey. Then the shame.
Freddy was never supposed to tell his mother about what he really was. That was the unspoken deal he struck with himself after learning about his "unholy desires". Hide it. Bury it. Pretend that it didn't exist. That was all he had to do.
However, when the woman found the text messages on his phone from the boy he had befriended, something snapped.
It really wasn't all that big of a deal, at least not to Freddy. After all, it wasn't like he and the boy had sex or anything like that. All they did was kiss and exchange a few sweet words every now and then. Just a few sweet, stupid, and fumbling messages, that was it.
Now, it had cost him everything.
As he walked toward the town, Freddy couldn't help but notice how the sun dipped lower behind the hills, casting rays of golden light across the road and dusting the tops of the local pine trees in an orange hue.
The boy's stomach began to ache, more from anxiety than actual hunger. He just now realized that he hadn't eaten lunch before all the drama started.
The quiet buzz of the summer cicadas followed him down the road like a horde of ghosts. Each step away from his former home became a little bit lighter, but also heavier at the same time. Technically, the boy was now free. Completely untethered, some might say. However, he was also alone. Just him and his small pack of belongings.
The boy then passed by Mrs. Langford's house, which sat at the corner of the road, where the porch light always flickered no matter what time of day it was. The woman pretended not to notice what happened, nor did she come out to try and stop him. None of their usually nosy neighbors shouted his name as he continued to walk. They all definitely heard the commotion, but none of them seemed to care either. And if they did, they didn't have the heart to get involved.
Soon, Freddy reached the edge of downtown Eureka Springs just as the last of the light was giving way to deep purple. The town was strange in the way small tourist towns always were, charming, colorful, and a little sad under the surface. A scant few art shops and antique stores lined the winding streets. Some of them had rainbow flags in the windows, a detail that Freddy hadn't noticed before. Or maybe he had, but never let himself believe they were meant for him. Then again, it didn't really matter now, did it?
When he found an empty bench outside of a closed bookstore, Freddy sat down. His legs were now shaking as the adrenaline finally wore off. The boy simply pulled his hoodie tight around him, even though it was still warm. And he let the silence press in as he thought about everything and nothing at the same time.
Right now, Freddy Price wasn't okay, but he wasn't broken either.
Maybe tomorrow, he'd find someone who could help him. Or at the very least, a place where he could sleep. A shelter, a café, a stranger who cared. Maybe he could, maybe he couldn't. But for tonight, all the boy had were the stars, the sound of a town sleeping around him, and the quietest flicker of something that might one day be peace.
The boy with the slick-back hair leaned back on the cold bench, stared up at the sky, and let the stillness settle.
"At least I'm still me." Freddy then whispered to no one in particular as the tears finally fell from his orange eyes.
-(o)-
[Northern Georgia, Four Months Later]
'Just think about the money, Freddy. Just think about the money....' The young man said to himself as he squeezed the erect member of the man whom he was currently...entertaining, bringing the head to his lips and giving it a sloppy kiss.
At the very least, the man was quite drunk; Freddy had made sure of that. And to his credit, he was working his magic to make him putty in his hands. As it turned out, you didn't need any fancy techniques to dominate a weak-willed man. Alcohol and a bit of flesh were more than sufficient.
These last few months were easily some of the worst that Freddy Price had ever experienced. After being kicked out of his house by his mother, the young man wandered aimlessly around the southeastern part of the country to try and keep his head above water. He can't exactly remember how he ended up in this part of the country, and to be honest, he didn't really care at this point.
Ever since that day, Freddy had done all that he could to keep himself housed and fed. Unfortunately, more often than not, that meant entertaining the whims and desires of whoever had promised to give him a ride to the nearest watering hole. It was far from the safest way to travel, but it was the best he could do with so little to work with.
"Ohhh!" The man, yet another nameless trucker Freddy just so happened to run into, moaned. He was fully lost in the sensation that the young man's slow massage gave him. For whatever reason, the guy was unable to see the deep purple energy that radiated from Freddy's hands as the man applied a bit more pressure. Why that was, Freddy hadn't the slightest clue.
The man then relaxed as Freddy's hand returned to a more gentle ministration, followed by his tongue.
"That feels great, sugar."
"I'm glad." Freddy gave his best attempt at a seductive hum before once again shaking up the trucker's body and whispering in his ear. "I like to make others feel good."
"Y'know, if you're up for it, I can see if my wife wants to- Oh, God, yes...."
"Ah, ah, ah." Freddy suddenly stopped moving, pinching a very specific point on the man's body to keep him from his orgasm. "Good boys don't get to blow their load until I say so."
The man looked at Freddy with those glazed-over eyes of his with a pathetic and jittery expression that was filled with both lust and desperation. It was the kind of look that made Freddy sick to his stomach. How the man could so easily do something like this when he had a wife and kids at home was beyond him. Even so, money was money. So for now, the dark-haired young man bore with it as best he could.
With a desperate cry that sounded just as pathetic as the man's face, the trucker twitched and released his orgasm all over Freddy's face. Exhausted and with half-lidded eyes, he then watched as Freddy worked his magic and slithered around him. The young man made sure to give the creep exactly what he wanted.
What followed was pretty much what one would expect, and after a dreadfully unpleasant hour and a half, Freddy got exactly what he needed. Sure, he had just lost another piece of what was left of his dignity, but that was simply the nature of the beast. At least now he finally had the cash to catch the bus to the next stop on his journey.
"Charlotte, huh?" Freddy said as he washed his mouth out in the bathroom of the rest stop. He was looking at his newly acquired bus ticket with slight interest. It was the first one that he could get on such short notice. "Hopefully, it's better than Montgomery. Hell, I might even be able to get an actual job or something when I get there."
After thoroughly disinfecting his body, Freddy made the short trip over to the bus station before hopping onboard the vehicle with his duffle bag full of stolen clothes and food. For some reason, the young man had a good feeling about the next leg of his journey. Why that was, he didn't know. But something was telling him that he might have a moderately good time from here on out. Or at least, a less shittier time than what he's been dealing with up until now.
-(o)-
[Three Weeks Later]
"And who the hell are you?" Skylar Murphy tilted his head in confusion as he looked down at Freddy from his spot atop a brick wall.
"Who am I? Who the fuck are you?! And what the fuck is that?!" Freddy shouted while pointing at the disintegrating form of a cryptid that the 'earth magic' had just killed a few seconds ago.
"You mean that cryptid?"
"The what?!" Freddy shouted back in confusion.
"The cryptid..." Skylar replied, albeit a bit rhetorically. The man then gave Freddy a sarcastic chuckle. "What, is this your first time seeing one or something?"
"First time? Are you trying to tell me there's more of those monsters?!"
At the moment, the two sorcerers were standing in the middle of a local park. It was only a few minutes after sunrise, and the area was basically empty, aside from the two of them.
In a weird turn of events, Freddy had been attacked by a lizard-type cryptid the size of a great dane shortly after waking up on top of the park bench that he was sleeping on. Everything had happened so quickly that the young man wasn't really able to rationalize it at the moment. One minute, he was experiencing some weird buzzing sensation in the back of his head that he had never felt before. The next, he was tripping over his own two feet while doing his best to avoid the unknown creature.
Fortunately, Skylar appeared just in time to keep Freddy from getting his hand bitten off by the creature. All it took were a few magically charged rocks to kill the thing in one blow.
"Wait...are you a first-gen?" Skylar then asked the man.
Freddy was still in full panic mode, but somehow managed to respond with a slight bit of calm. "A what?"
"A first-gen sorcerer, duh?"
"Okay, lady, I need you to explain to me what the hell is going on and why that thing just tried to attack me. Or better yet, why the hell can you make rocks float around you?"
"Well, shit..." Skylar then said, after finally piecing together what the situation was.
Later that day, Freddy Price took his first steps into Station Nine and began his career as a DPA agent. The young man had no clue what to think about all of this sorcerer and magic stuff. But at the very least, it did explain why the young man had suddenly developed what could only be described as superpowers out of the blue a few months ago. And the fact that there were thousands of people like him all across the country (hell, even the world) made him feel a lot better about his situation.
"Are you sure that you're cool with this?" Deputy Chief Mubele asked Freddy with a slightly concerned look on his face. This was one of the rare times that the 'lightning magic' user was present instead of Chief Chandler. "This isn't exactly an easy job. You don't have to join up with us if you're just looking for a place to sleep. We have the resources to help you get back on your feet without you having to put your life in danger."
Freddy briefly thought about what he should say before responding. "Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, it's not like I have anything else going for me. And you guys do pay pretty well."
"I like this guy!" Skylar joked from his spot in the chair directly to Freddy's right. "Something tells me that he'd fit in just fine."
And just like that, Freddy Price had become an agent of the DPA.
-(o)-
"-eddy.... Freddy.... Dude!"
"Huh, what?" The 'dark magic' user looked at Cyrus after finally breaking free of his thoughts.
"You okay?" The young 'tree magic' user asked. "You seem kinda out of it. Something wrong?"
"Sorry about that. I guess I zoned out for a second."
The two friends were currently hanging out in Cyrus's living room, surrounded by several empty boxes of pizza and half-eaten chicken wings. The duo had just finished binge-watching an anime that they had wanted to check out a few hours after they got off of work.
Freddy would be the first to admit how nice it was to have a friend that he could just hang out with like this. It reminded him of how his life used to be before he was abruptly kicked out of his house.
"Man, I'm so not looking forward to this fundraiser thing." Cyrus then said as he stretched his arms out over his head. "I get that we would've had to be there anyway, but having to follow around the twins all night sounds like a total drag."
"No kidding." Freddy nodded his head in agreement while reaching for another chicken wing. The man knew that he should probably slow down on the junk food, but they were simply too good to ignore. Besides, it wasn't like he was watching his weight or anything like that. Thanks to his enhanced sorcerer metabolism, he could easily scarf down another three boxes of the stuff without so much as an issue.
"I guess it could be worse, though."
"Hey, look on the bright side...at least you'll get to spend some extra time with Elizabeth." Freddy then joked. "You know she was eyeballing you when we were all at the beach, right? I even saw her take some not-so-subtle pictures of you when she thought no one was looking."
Cyrus rolled his eyes at the comment.
"What, is she not to your liking? Personally, I think you two would look good together."
"Sorry, I care about my life too much."
Now that comment certainly had Freddy interested. "Oh? Care to explain?"
Cyrus gave the boy a sarcastic look before continuing. "Come on, man...you'd have to be crazy to try and date someone like that! Her dad's the head of the DPA, and her grandfather might as well be made of money. One wrong move and she could have either of them make you disappear. Shit, I bet you wouldn't even last a whole day after having one argument with her before some assassins from the Alvarez family came crashing through your window."
Cyrus did have a point, at least in Freddy's opinion. The Nine Families did have a bit of a reputation for making people that they didn't like conveniently vanish in a puff of smoke. Everyone knew that crossing any one of them came with the risk of having a price put on your head. So, it made perfect sense as to why Cyrus was opposed to the idea of potentially getting with someone like Elizabeth. The whole thing was way too risky for any sane man to even try.
"Besides..." Cyrus continued while folding his arms across his chest. "How she treated that homeless lady was pretty fucked up. If she's willing to treat a total stranger like that, imagine how she'd treat someone she's with. I'm not trying to talk bad about her or anything, but I couldn't be with someone that bratty. The headache alone would probably kill me."
"I hear ya!"
"You'd probably have better luck trying to get with Evan; he seems way more chill than that. Then again, Valerie might gut you before you get the chance. You saw how she was eyefucking him the whole time we were at the beach?"
Freddy couldn't help but laugh. "Believe me, she wasn't the only one. That man was practically made to eyefuck. If I wasn't certain that he wasn't into guys, I definitely would've made a move on him."
"I'm just glad that you didn't try anything while we were all staying in the same suite. I might've had to sleep outside if you two started doing it right next to my room."
After that, the two friends once again got comfortable before hopping right into the next show that they wanted to watch. Freddy was truly happy that he could joke around like this with someone who was okay with him being who he is. Back home, most of the people he grew up with probably would've avoided him like the plague the moment they found that he was gay. It was a luxury that he certainly appreciated. And one that he planned to cherish for as long as possible.
Sure, the chances of him getting with the 'tree magic' user were effectively zero, but having a genuine friend that he could be himself around was a nice consolation prize. So, it wasn't all bad. Not by a long shot.