It was a cloudy day at the baseball diamond. The cool rain seemed to drip into every crevice of my body. I was stuck in deep left field, but I was just happy to be there at all. I wasn’t an exceptional player or anything, but I guess there was a war on. Plus, I imagined my father pulled a few strings to get me on the top team in the league, the Everton Undines.

“Hey Henderson!” My coach called out to me. “Get your head out of your ass for fuck’s sake!”

“Right, sorry,” I replied as I got into position. The batter was ready with his telekinetic spell which levitated the bat next to him. The ball hit the bat with a loud crack, and went soaring into my domain. I managed to catch it only to feel my middle finger snap, letting out a sharp yell.

“Oh for the love of the eye!” The coach groaned. “You caught the damn ball, what's the problem?”

“I think my finger’s broken.”

“So just heal up and keep playing.”

“I can’t use a healing spell sir.”

“Just head to the nurse.” I gingerly walked off the field and headed for the nurses tent. She rolled her eyes and casted a minor healing spell. I felt like such a child. Being an elf who couldn’t cast his own spells was always an embarrassing crutch to bear. I walked back onto the field feeling the laughing stares of my teammates.

“I don’t even know why they let a fucking W.O.E onto the team,” Brett Smith chortled as a I retook my position. “Frankly, I don’t know why they’re allowed in public.” I did my best to ignore him, but it never got any easier to pretend it didn’t hurt.

“Ok we are done for the day,” Coach called out. “Time to hit the fucking showers.” I quietly made my way to the locker room. I stripped off my stinky uniform and went to the remotest part of the showers. My friend Eddy joined me. He was a man of few words, but we seemed to get along fairly well. He was fair skinned and blonde, kind of the stereotypical strong man. It didn’t hurt that he was pretty tall so people would leave us alone.

“Sorry about your finger,” He said as he turned on the water.

“It’s fine,” I blushed as I hid my hand.

“You really need to be more careful.”

“I’m fine really.” We continued the rest of the shower in silence. I could feel his worry bleeding through his gruff exterior. I never knew what to make of him.

☀☀☀

After the shower, I packed up my stuff and decided to head to a bar. I asked Eddy if he wanted to join me. He said he needed to help his pregnant sister with something. He always seemed to have an excuse.

I managed to find a seat at the actual bar this time. I ordered a scotch with water, and nursed it for several hours. I spent most of the time staring into the mirror behind the bartender. My red hair reflected back at me mockingly. My dark skin made it look even worse.

“Hey stud,” a woman at least 20 years older than me sat next to me. “Wanna have a good time?”

“No thanks,” I drank the very last sips of my drink.

“Are you sure?” She asked. “Looks like you’re in need of a good time more than me.” I looked her over and thought about it for a second.

Next thing I knew I was in my apartment that my parents paid for. I let her in, and welcomed her to my sitting room. She ungracefully sat down and spread herself out.

“Nice pad you got here,” she lit a cigarette, and put her feet up on the coffee table.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” I said half annoyed.

“Gin if you got it.” Lucky for her I always kept gin on hand in case my mother decided to visit.

“Want any tonic water?”

“No just straight.” I brought her the glass. She took it like a shot. I sat down on the love seat across from her. "So I saw you at the game the other day and thought you were cute."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"You seemed wasted in left field."

"Yeah but I don't mind. I'm just happy to be in the game.".

“I don’t care that you don’t have enlightenment,” She stared into me. “I just want you tonight.” I blushed, I knew this was her end game. This wasn’t the first groupie that wanted to sleep with me. Normally, they went after me after they struck out with everyone else. My guess was that I was just the first ballplayer she happened to find.

“Let’s skip the foreplay,” she said, leaning into my face with her stinking breath. “You’re a man and I’m a woman. We both have needs.” I looked into her eyes. Despite everything else about her they were beautiful, a lovely shade of grey that sparkled even in the darkness of the room. I couldn’t resist her hold on me. There was something intoxicating about her. I couldn’t tell if it was a spell or just her aura that drew me in. I could feel myself pulsating? all over. I wanted her just the same. I leaned into kiss her, despite the taste I found myself wanting more.

We moved towards the bedroom, clothes coming off as we went. By the time we hit the bed, we were both naked. I grabbed her by the back of her head and drew her into me; feeling my lower body thrust into her. The rhythm was intense and each thrust went deeper and deeper. She moaned with delight to the rhythm of the movement. My mind began to wander as we continued. I kept up the movement but was losing interest by the second.

“Hey you gonna cum or what?” She crudely said on top of me. “Because I ain’t getting enough out of this to keep it up much longer.”

“Oh sorry,” I said as I refocused on the task at hand. I tried a few more thrusts and got nothing out of them. I then offered to finish her with my mouth. She seemed to have a decent enough o.

Disappointed, she didn’t spend the night and walked out to collect her clothes without a word. I just laid there on the bed while the door was shut with a near slam. I couldn’t believe that I let myself ruin the first time I’d gotten laid in awhile. I rolled over naked to the side. I could at least enjoy the fact that tomorrow was my day off, and I could figure out what I wanted to do.

☀☀☀

The next morning, I figured it was time to head to the church to repent a little. The church was close to my apartment, and I was hoping the walk would help clear my head. Thankfully, the warm sun seemed to wash away any embarrassment I’d felt last night.

Soon, I found myself standing before the grand building. It nearly took up an entire block and stood dauntingly high, nearly to the sky. The stone in the walls seemed to be as old as the country itself. The centerpiece of this architectural marvel was the large eye window. The eye felt all knowing and all reaching. I made the sign of the eye before entering the building.

I sat in the back and began to pray to the eye. I prayed for some relief from the bullying, and prayed that someday I’d be useful to the war effort somehow besides playing baseball to sell war bonds. I noticed the old lady was there too. She was there almost everyday. She was always crying, no matter what day it was. Sometimes, I was tempted to ask her what was wrong, but I thought the better of it.

As I looked up from my hands, I saw Father Mulchaey walking down the aisle. He was carrying holy water, and blessing the pews. I moved closer to the center to try to catch his attention. It worked, he walked over and sat down next to me.

“What seems to be troubling you, my child?” He asked.

“Well,” I started. “It’s been difficult at work. My teammate Brett keeps giving me grief for W.O.E.”

“And you want my advice on how to deal with him?”

“Yeah.”

“High school never ends does it?” I nodded in agreement.

“No it doesn’t father.”

“Maybe you could try befriending him. The Eye always teaches us patience with others because we don’t know what others are going through.”

“That’s true. Also, I’ve been dealing with the guilt of being a W.O.E.”

“You mustn’t call yourself that. It’s bad for your psyche.”

“Right, being ungifted is making me feel guilty. All my other friends have voluntarily joined the war effort, three of them have passed away, but I’m on the field like a circus monkey.”

“The Eye has many purposes for us. You’re still helping the war effort by selling those war bonds and praying for their lives.”

“Thank you father.” It did help make me feel a little better but only slightly. I turned to him to speak some more, only he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was looking at another priest trying to flag him down. Without saying goodbye to me, he leapt out of the seat and headed for him. They both disappeared into a hallway.

At first, I sat there and waited for him to come back.After a while, I started to get frustrated. I got up from my seat. I headed to the altar to make the sign. From there I wandered into the hallway that led to the priests' offices. I still needed more advice.

The stone floor made a loud tap as I walked l that echoed throughout the church. I felt like I was walking on sacred ground that wasn’t meant to be touched.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

I stopped, I felt self conscious about the echo.

Then.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

I quickly looked back and forth to find the source of the other steps, but didn’t see anything. I wanted to break into a run, but wasn’t sure what direction to go. Before I could react I felt something slam into my back knocking me to the floor.

It took me a second to get over the pain and reassemble myself. I stood up, and looked around to see what hit me. Quickly, I saw a person in my peripheral vision on the floor. It was a woman with white hair that had a bluish tint. I stood looking at her, confused. She was wearing a straight jacket, and was struggling to get back up. What the hell? I reached down to help her up but she resisted me.

“It’s ok,” I said. “I’m not here to hurt you.” She stopped thrashing around and looked to stare at me.

“You’re not one of them?” She asked.

“One of who?”

“Wait!” I said. “Who are you?”

“Faye!” She called out as she continued down the hall. When she disappeared into the distance I felt a sigh of relief. This was short lived as I heard the cock of a gun.

“You have no idea the amount of trouble you're in buddy,” a soldier said as I felt the cold poke of a rifle in my back.