“A Convenient Exorcism”
\nby Aaron Emrys<\/p>\n
The doorbell rang, summoning Ryan out from under his blanket. He peeked through the front window and smiled. He grabbed the smaller of the two baskets sitting on his coffee table before pulling open the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrick or treat!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ryan lowered the basket so a tiny witch and an even tinier dinosaur could grab some candy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly one!\u201d the witch whispered, and the dinosaur pouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have plenty,\u201d Ryan laughed and got them to take a generous handful.<\/p>\n
The kids and their costumes were always enjoyable, but they weren\u2019t what he was waiting for. His real trick-or-treaters came after most of the kids had gone home.<\/p>\n
The first knock came promptly at midnight. Ryan peered out the window again. It was good to be sure. He\u2019d grabbed the wrong basket by mistake one year and ensured that the Smith\u2019s would never trick-or-treat at his house again. He opened the door and smiled at the eerily beautiful woman who towered over him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a vision as always, Maria.\u201d<\/p>\n
She quirked a delicate eyebrow at him and answered in her own tongue, the one that sounded like the rustle of dead leaves. Ryan had spent hours on the internet researching dead languages, but he still hadn\u2019t found it.<\/p>\n
Ryan reached into the basket and pulled out a few packets of ordinary-looking gushers. Maria raised both eyebrows at him this time, but sliced open a packet with her razor fingernails and popped one in her mouth. Her eyes flickered and she smiled at him with perfect white teeth, licking a trail of red from the corner of her lips.<\/p>\n
Ryan\u2019s skin prickled. With a silent bow \u2014 without even a rustle of cloth \u2014 Maria turned and vanished into the night.<\/p>\n
As if her arrival were some sort of signal, Ryan didn\u2019t have time to sit down properly for at least an hour.<\/p>\n
Another one of Ryan\u2019s regulars was next, David, a young man with slicked back hair who smelled like the sea and left damp footprints wherever he went. The nearest body of salt water was a thousand miles away, but Ryan kept his questions to himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou better enjoy these, my house smelled like fish for a week.\u201d Ryan handed the young man a tightly-tied cellophane bag full of white chocolate truffles.<\/p>\n
\u201cYe spoil me,\u201d David said with a wink and a kiss on the cheek.<\/p>\n
Ryan managed to blush slightly less than the year before, for which he was very grateful.<\/p>\n
The next was a mother with five rowdy kids who growled and snapped at each other till he made sure their portions of jerky were exactly equal. Then there were the ones who glistened in the porchlight, who never spoke but held the amber bracelets Ryan strung as if they were made of diamond. There were some newcomers that looked boney and misshapen, as if their skin zipped up at the back and they had only put it on out of respect to his human sensibilities. He wasn\u2019t quite sure what to give them, so he held out the basket and let them each take what looked the most interesting.<\/p>\n
Things quieted down by 1 AM, but Ryan had no intentions of going to bed before his final trick-or-treater arrived. He tucked himself back under the blanket to wait, suppressing a shiver of anticipation.<\/p>\n
A log snapped in the fireplace, and Ryan jerked awake. He glanced at the clock and frowned. Benjamin was late. Benjamin was never<\/em> late. They got to see each other little enough as it was. Ryan ran a hand through his hair, looking at the clock again in the vain hope that it would say something different.<\/p>\n \u201cDamn it.\u201d His voice sounded loud in that empty silence that only happens in the wee hours of the morning. Ryan grabbed his coat from its hook and stepped out onto the porch. He pulled the coat tighter around his shoulders against the chill, his heart sinking. \u201cWhere are you Benji?\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan almost jumped at the heavy sigh from near his feet. He looked down and saw a familiar head of hair fading into view. Benjamin sat on the steps, his translucent shoulders hunched. Ryan smiled and dropped to sit next to him.<\/p>\n \u201cI was worried you weren\u2019t coming.\u201d Ryan tried to pull Benjamin into a kiss, but Benjamin looked away.<\/p>\n \u201cI almost didn\u2019t. Couldn\u2019t help myself I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Ryan managed to get a peek at Benjamin\u2019s face and frowned. \u201cYou look terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks.\u201d Benjamin snorted. He finally met Ryan\u2019s eyes. \u201cI couldn\u2019t decide if saying goodbye would make things easier or harder, but here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGoodbye?\u201d Ryan\u2019s stomach dropped straight through the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cThat realtor\u2019s suddenly extra motivated to sell my place, so he\u2019s having exorcists over tonight. No, don\u2019t look at me like that, I mean real exorcists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t you just haunt somewhere else?\u201d<\/p>\n “It doesn’t work like that!” Benjamin snapped. “There has to be a connection, a strong emotional connection, or else my actual remains have to be present\u2014anyway, stop arguing and tell me goodbye properly before we lose the chance.\u201d He took Ryan\u2019s face in his hands, kissing him gently in spite of his frustration. \u201cIt was going to happen eventually, I just wish we\u2019d had more time.\u201d<\/p>\n Benjamin\u2019s lips were cool and soft, with only the slightest give in them to suggest that he might not be fully corporeal. Ryan didn\u2019t answer, his mind whirling, and then something clicked into place so neatly he was shocked he hadn’t suggested it before.<\/p>\n “Move in with me.” The words were out of his mouth almost before he realized it.<\/p>\n “There’s nothing you can do, so just…what?” Benjamin\u2019s brain caught up with what Ryan said, and he could only stare in complete confusion. Ryan turned beet red, but if he\u2019d already come this far he might as well keep talking. Ryan curled his hand around the back of Benjamin\u2019s neck, resting their foreheads together so he wouldn\u2019t have to look Benjamin in the eye. He gathered his courage.<\/p>\n “Come haunt me. At least until we figure out what to do. Unless you\u2019re ready to pass on? Or…um…” A horrible thought crossed Ryan’s mind. “If there isn’t enough of a connection…” He managed to look at Benjamin, unnerved by the silence.<\/p>\n “Are you serious?” Benjamin\u2019s usually steady voice wavered. Ryan nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019ll work, but I\u2019d like to try,\u201d he added when Benjamin still didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n Benjamin laughed, sudden and joyful. He swung his leg over Ryan\u2019s lap, pushing Ryan back against the steps.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I want to, idiot,\u201d He grinned, and then they were kissing again. Benjamin traced Ryan\u2019s bottom lip with his tongue before sliding it into Ryan\u2019s mouth. Ryan groaned, arching against Benjamin\u2019s body.<\/p>\n \u201cCan we go inside?\u201d Ryan murmured, breaking the kiss.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t want to scandalize the neighbors?\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, the stairs are digging into my back.\u201d<\/p>\n Benjamin grinned and got to his feet, pulling Ryan to his feet and rushing through the door. Ryan managed to yank it shut behind them just as Benjamin turned and crowded him against the wall. Benjamin pressed their lips together again, his fingers fumbling with Ryan\u2019s pants. Ryan smiled into the kiss, sliding his hands under Benjamin\u2019s shirt and tracing his fingers over the skin of Benjamin\u2019s hips and stomach.<\/p>\n Benjamin shivered at the caresses, pulling Ryan\u2019s cock out of his underwear and rubbing his thumb over the head. He lowered his lips to Ryan\u2019s neck. Ryan sighed with pleasure at each little bite and his length twitched in Benjamin\u2019s hand. Benjamin held him tighter, stroking Ryan teasingly from base to tip until Ryan began to squirm.<\/p>\n \u201cBenji, please, just a little harder-\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cFuck,\u201d Benjamin swore. He paused to unzip his own pants, freeing his cock. Benjamin wrapped his fingers around them both, biting his lip and flushing as he pumped their cocks with his fist, hard and fast. Ryan moaned and sagged against the wall. His mouth dropped open, crying out Benjamin\u2019s name as he came.<\/p>\n Benjamin kissed him deeply, letting go of Ryan\u2019s cock and clutching his own. Ryan tilted his head, kissing back with just as much passion as he wrapped his hand around Benjamin\u2019s, both of them stroking Benjamin\u2019s still-hard length.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on, Benji,\u201d Ryan whispered against Benjamin\u2019s mouth. \u201cI want to see you come.\u201d<\/p>\n Benjamin gasped, tightening his grip. He thrust harder into their hands, his release shooting out over Ryan\u2019s stomach.<\/p>\n Their kisses slowed, leaving both of them flushed and panting, until Ryan thought to grab some tissues from the hallway table to clean them up.<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019s that for my first rent payment?\u201d Benjamin whispered and nibbled Ryan\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Ryan laughed. \u201cThe cost of living is pretty high in this neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Too tired to make it upstairs to bed, Ryan tugged Benjamin to the couch.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ll think of something,\u201d Benjamin said, wrapping his arm around Ryan\u2019s waist, and together they fell asleep in front of the crackling fire.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Aaron Emrys lives in the Pacific Northwest where he wrangles computers for friends, family, and non-profits. He has loved writing short stories and poetry since he was young, and has published several poems in independent literary magazines. When he isn\u2019t writing or working, he refuels his creativity with cheesy horror movies, physics articles, and the occasional tarot reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “A Convenient Exorcism” by Aaron Emrys The doorbell rang, summoning Ryan out from under his blanket. He peeked through the front window and smiled. 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