After his boyfriend Jonah Wright defeats the alien queen attacking their hometown, Sean Cross thinks everything is solved and things will go back to normal. But normal no longer exists. Jonah and his other friends look and act too good to be true.
Sean's suspicions grow after his search for a boy who stayed in Jonah's house, Ryan Godfrey, turns up nothing. It’s as if Ryan no longer exists. Can Sean save his boyfriend, or will he lose Jonah forever? And perhaps the most important question is -- did the alien queen really die?
Outside it was dark already but Jonah could still spot a car in the shadow of a tree not far from his house. He closed the door quietly, not wanting to disturb his parents. Luckily they were in the house somewhere -- in the bedroom? -- so he didn’t have to explain himself.
Jonah crept toward the car. After some time he realized it was Sean's car. What is it now?
He could make out Sean's shape sitting behind the wheel. The boy literally jumped when Jonah rapped on the window with his knuckles.
"Jonah!" Sean rolled down the car window.
"What're you doing here?" Jonah hissed, heedless of Sean's reaction.
"Jonah, get in the car." The heedlessness was infectious.
"What? No."
"Wilder, don't make me force you."
"What do you want, Sean?" Jonah felt sweat break out on his brow and his hands felt cold. His heart beat so fast he thought he could pass out at any time. He didn’t remember Sean ever being so harsh to him, but he knew the boy was not a bad person. Jonah could easily trust him just as he trusted every single friend at school. What was this all about?
But first of all he needed to save himself from Sean, who in the meantime had got out of the car.
"S-Sean ..." Jonah whimpered. Before he knew it, a hand lashed out and his wrist was trapped in an unyielding clutch. "Let ... go! Let me go!" But it was hopeless trying to shake Sean’s hand off his. He couldn’t release himself. Sean wouldn’t let him go.
A shriek tore out of Jonah's mouth when Sean suddenly whirled him around and squashed his hand to the small of his back. Another hand clamped over Jonah's mouth.
"I just want you to get in the car, Jonah," Sean whispered in Jonah's ear. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Now come."
Sean mustn’t realize that he’d hurt Jonah and frightened him. Shaking violently, Jonah could only submit as he was dragged toward the car. He muttered under Sean’s hand.
"Huh?" Sean said in a low voice, and lowered his hand from Jonah's mouth.
Jonah huffed and turned slightly. "You don't have to do that. I won't make a sound."
Sean released Jonah's wrist as well. He gave a small nudge to Jonah's shoulder. "Sorry, Jonah," he muttered.
Jonah flashed a small smile to say that it was okay, and shifted around to get in the car. Frowning a little, Sean stepped into the car.
"Trust me, Jonah," he said slowly. "I won't hurt you. I just ... "
Jonah stiffened and his eyes bulged as Sean unhurriedly brought his hand toward him.
"Do you want to kill me, Sean?" Jonah quivered, thinking that there was a knife in Sean's hand.
Sean's jaw dropped. "What? No." He showed a spray bottle to Jonah. "Don't you remember? It's pepper spray. Give me your hand."
Jonah complied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
“Jonah, don’t you remember?”
Jonah just stared. He really didn’t get it.
"I’ll just spray a little of it onto your skin, Jonah."
“And?”
“You’ll burn if you’re, well, if you’re ...”
“Burn? If I’m what?” He couldn’t understand Sean. At first he thought no harm would come from the guy, but now he might burn him? What did he actually want from Jonah?
"Sean, I think ... I think you have to go ... mmp!"
All of a sudden Sean clamped a hand over Jonah's mouth, effectively cutting off his words and partly obstructing his breathing. Jonah panicked and began to twist about. But Sean, who was much stronger than him, squashed him to the car seat, and even Jonah's flailing free hands could do little to help him.
Sean seemed to wait for some moments until all Jonah could do was to breathe through his nose. Then he felt something spurted on his skin, and nothing happened. He didn’t know what he’d do or say to Sean, not even to yell at him for having risked burning Jonah’s skin.
Jonah threw a hand over his brow. His head throbbed all of a sudden. "What did you do to me, Sean?" he mumbled. "My head hurts. I ... I can barely see." Jonah scuffled toward the door on the other side, crawling farther away from Sean. "I ... I'm going to be sick."
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