Shadow at college, p.1
Shadow at College, page 1
part #0 of Shadow Series
Shadow at College
Published by Jan Stryvant
Copyright 2020 Jan Stryvant
Copyright 2020
No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form without expressed, written consent from the author. The material in this story features graphic depictions of a sexual or adult nature and is intended for a mature audience only. All characters in this story are fictional and of the legal age of consent for any sexual activities they engage in. Any resemblance between characters in this story and people living or dead is purely coincidental.
License Notes
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Table Of Contents
Leaving Home
Count Me Out
The Jersey Devil
One Last Hunt
Afterword
Leaving Home
Sean looked at the bags on his bed. Other than his clothing, he didn’t really have much. He looked around his room; a poster of a leopard—a spotted female, he noted unconsciously—peered from the wall above his bed. A small desk he’d studied, at and his books. He didn’t have any friends, not a single one. So when he wasn’t at school, out hunting, or letting the cat run, he studied. Coach Hargrove had been right, while his grades had gotten him a partial scholarship to Drexel, being on the track team and having won both cross-country and the four-forty high hurdles at the state championships had gotten him a free ride, with room and board thrown in.
He picked up his two suitcases and headed out of the room. He’d said his goodbyes to his siblings; he got on well with them, truth be told. He’d never hesitate to help his younger brother or sisters with anything they asked of him, and he was quick to thrash anyone who picked on them, and people knew it. They didn’t understand him, but they didn’t care, either. He was their older brother, who had come home after being gone for years. He didn’t say much, but he always listened, and always helped. That was more than enough to make them happy.
“I still think you should just let me take the bus, Father,” Sean said as he went out to the car and put his bags in the trunk.
“Nonsense, it’s only a few hours drive, no reason for you to have to do it with strangers.”
Sean nodded. It really didn’t make much difference to him. He and his parents hadn’t been close since he'd come back home. He could see the hurt in their eyes whenever they talked; they just didn’t understand him anymore. They thought it was because of what had happened to him all those years he’d been held and abused by his captor, but it wasn’t really that. How could he tell his parents he could turn into a big black leopard, or that he had certain ‘abilities’ not unlike some of the superheroes in the big cities? Or that unlike those heroes, he didn’t bring people into the police to face justice; instead, he hunted down child predators like the one who had taken him, and dispensed his own justice?
How could he tell them that?
No, it was better they didn’t know. They had three other children who had turned out to be healthy and normal, without the cloud hanging over them that he had. Didn't have the neighbors gossiping about them. Didn't have the other kids at school talking behind their backs. The sooner he slinked out of their lives, the better, for all concerned. He’d brought enough pain to his family already; he couldn’t see any reason to bring them any more.
“Sean,” his father said a while later as they drove down the highway, “I know things haven’t been easy for you, and I daresay we haven’t made it any easier, but your mother and I want you to know that we love you, and you can always come home to us.”
Sean smiled wanly. “So you figured out I’m not coming back home.” He didn’t make it a question, just a statement.
His father nodded. “Yes. I don’t know why you want to run away; I wish you wouldn’t. Please tell me you’ll stay in touch.”
“I’ll stay in touch, Father.”
“Now please say it without lying.”
Sean’s head snapped to the left, and he stared at his father, who looked over at him, then back at the road. “I’m not stupid, Sean. I’d like you to come home for Christmas every year. But if you can’t do that, at least call once in a while. No matter what happens, we’re still your family, and we’ll always be there for you. We love you, you’re our son, and we don’t care about what happened.”
“Dad,” Sean said, halting a moment. The cat didn’t like being called a liar, but in this case, both he and the cat had lied. “It has nothing to do with you or Mom, and I do love you both. You’ve done more for me then you realize by just letting me have my space. I can’t tell you why.”
“You mean you won’t tell me why,” his father interjected.
“Okay, yes, I won’t tell you why. Trust me, it's better that way. I’ll call. It won’t be regular, but I will call. I’ll try to come and visit, but right now I can’t guarantee I will. I have issues I still need to work out, and it’s best I do it away from you and Mom, and Robby, Heather, and Jill.”
“Is that why you ran away so many times?”
“Sort of. There are times I need to just be away from things, and while it may sound strange, I used to lose track of time a lot back then. That time I was gone for two weeks, I didn’t even realize I’d been gone that long.”
“The doctors used to tell us you were rebelling against us because that man was dead, and you couldn’t rebel against him.”
“The doctors don’t know shit!” Sean yelled, startling his father. “Sorry,” Sean apologized, looking a little embarrassed at the outburst. “It did have something to do with him, yes. But it was never against you or Mom, and don’t ever, ever think that I associated either of you with him. Maybe someday I can tell you what it was all about. But right now, no.”
Sean watched as his father nodded. “Well, that’s a lot more of an explanation than I’ve gotten from anyone these last five years. Just don’t be afraid to ask for help, son.”
“I won’t, Dad.”
College was definitely not high school. No one cared if he showed up for classes; no one really cared what he did. Except the coach for the track team; they were paying for him to perform on the team, and they expected him to show up for every practice, every practice. And there were a lot of them. At first that was easy, but as his studies increased, it got more and more difficult.
“Cafferty, get your butt in here!”
Sean sighed and went into the office. “What, Coach?”
“You’re late! You’ve been late to practice every day this week! You want to stay on this team?”
“I have classes and studying to do, Coach. If I don’t keep my grades up, I won’t be on this team.”
“You let me worry about your grades; you just get your butt here on time!”
Sean bristled. It wasn’t just the cat; he didn’t like this treatment, either. He’d won both of his events at each of the three meets his team had been to this season, he’d even broken the school’s record for cross-country.
“I’m the best cross-country runner you have, sir, and you know it. I’ve won at every meet I’ve been to. My education is the whole reason I’m here; it’s what matters to me the most. I’ll be here as soon as I can be. If you don’t like it, I’m sorry, but it’s not like I’m not practicing, or I’m lazy.”
“Don’t give me any of your lip, son!” Coach Harris said, standing up and scowling at him. Sean was one of the few on the team who wasn’t smaller than the coach, so he couldn’t look down at the boy.
Sean resisted the sudden urge to knock the older man down. He didn’t like being browbeaten, and the cat inside him was starting to growl and want blood.
“I’m sorry, sir, I’ll try to do better,” Sean said through clenched teeth.
“Just see that you do. Now get out of here.”
Sean left the coach’s office in a huff and went out to join the other runners. They all said hello, and he nodded back. He really didn’t socialize with the other guys on the track team; he was so busy with his studies and his midnight hunting activities, he really didn’t have time for anything else.
“Coach Harris sure seems to have pissed you off,” Jimmy, one of the other cross-country runners, said to him as they stretched out.
“So I’m late,” Sean almost growled, “what’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is, he’ll pull your scholarship, and he’s not afraid to hold it over your head.”
“Yeah, well, someone needs to tell him not to use that trick on me. I don’t need it. My academics pay for more than enough, and I have enough cash to cover the rest.”
Jimmy blinked and looked at him. “What, your folks loaded?”
“No. I got a legal settlement when I was fourteen.”
“How much? You a millionaire or something?”
“Not that much, but enough to help cover tuition,” Sean said, hesitant to go into further detail, “but my parents thought I should try to save it.”
“Sounds smart.”
“Yeah, but they don’t have to deal with this guy. I don’t know what his problem is. I go out running nearly every night after I finish studying. I’m winning my events at th
“What’s so bad about being on time?”
“I don’t like it, and if I have to choose between classes or being on time, class is going to win.”
Jimmy noticed Sean wasn’t getting any less angry as they talked. “Let’s run, okay?”
Sean nodded and set off around the track. Hopefully the exercise would cool down his temper before he got much worse. He hadn’t been in any fights yet in the several months he’d been at college. No one bugged him about his past here; no one cared, and no one knew. But he was still battling with his temper almost as often, and this coach wasn’t helping matters.
That night Sean shifted into his cat form and went for a long prowl around the campus and the local environs. By the time dawn started to show, he felt better. He made his way back to his room, slipping in through the open window before anyone saw him, then sacked out.
He woke late, and realized he’d missed all his classes. To make matters worse, he was late for practice, again.
“Hey, rich boy!” the coach said to him. “Care to join the rest of us?”
Sean’s guilt was immediately replaced with anger, and he stormed up to the coach. “What did you call me?”
“Rich boy. Jimmy mentioned that you got some kind of a trust fund and you don’t need no scholarship.”
Sean clenched his fists and looked around at the others. “Sorry, Sean, I thought maybe he’d lay off you if he knew you weren’t doing it for the money.”
“Well, you thought wrong,” Sean said angrily.
“So I was thinking,” the coach continued, “maybe if you don’t need no scholarship, maybe I don’t need you. Maybe you need to prove yourself to me.”
“Oh, I’ll prove myself alright!” Sean said and took a step towards the coach, raising his fists.
“Holy shit!” he heard someone yell behind him, and before he could punch the now startled coach, who was backing away from him, several of the others from the team grabbed him and dragged him away, still struggling.
“You can take your fucking track team and stick it up your ass!” Sean yelled angrily. “And you had damn well better hope you don’t cross my path any time soon, or I’ll rip that ugly smirk off your face!”
Sean turned and pushed his way out of the locker room, storming off across the campus, fuming. That night he went out again, though he didn’t stay as late. As mad as he was, he felt bad for missing class; he was actually enjoying most of his studies. It was interesting, and it was challenging. Far more rewarding than anything he’d had back in high school. When he finally crawled between the sheets, he decided he was better off without the track team. He’d never cared much about the money he had, it was all blood money as far as he was concerned, why not just use it for tuition? It would let him concentrate more on his studies, anyway.
He fell asleep feeling a lot better about the state of things.
The next day he was summoned to the dean’s office and thoroughly dressed down for what had happened between him and the coach the day before.
“Threatening a faculty member is grounds for dismissal, young man!” the woman behind the desk, Dean Riemert, told him.
“I’m sorry, ma'am,” Sean said, looking down at the floor, “but he already said he was going to pull my scholarship because I didn’t need it.”
“Yes, I’ve heard from the other students what happened, but that still doesn’t justify your behavior. Now, I’ve read your record and am familiar with your history…”
Sean looked up at her. Dammit, would he ever get away from it?
“…so I’m prepared to let you off this time. After I spoke with Coach Harris, he even agreed to let you stay on the team. He hadn’t realized what you’d been through, of course.”
“You…you told him?” Sean gasped, shocked.
“Well of course I told him; he has a right to know why you’re prone to outbursts such as this.”
“Do you think I want that man, or anyone on this entire campus, knowing that I was raped for several years by a pedophile when I was a child? For that matter, how did you find out?”
“Really now, Sean, I don’t see what your problem is.”
“Have you ever been raped?” Sean said, leaning forward and putting his hands on her desk as he glared at her. “Have you?”
He had the satisfaction of seeing her blanch.
“I’m going to find a really good lawyer. I’m going to pay him all the money in my trust fund. If Coach Harris, or you, ever mentions this to anyone else again, I will own this college. And the same if this event is not removed from my files. Do you understand that?”
Sean turned and literally ran from the office. He didn’t see anything, couldn’t see anything. All he knew was if he didn’t get out of there, he was going to kill that self-righteous bitch. How dare she do that to him? He had to get out of there; he had to just get away from everything. Maybe college was overrated, after all. Maybe even society. He didn’t need a college degree to hunt down child molesters. He just needed the cat; all he would ever need was the cat. The cat had always taken care of him, and would always take care of him.
Count Me Out
Several days went by; he hadn’t gone back to the campus, much less his room. He was dirty, hungry, and tired. He’d had to run from the police twice at this point; apparently the school had panicked and put some kind of suicide watch on him. He’d have to call a lawyer or something, eventually, but he was embracing the cat right now, and none of that really mattered. He was free, and that was enough. He was in his human form; during the daytime he felt he stood out less that way. Night was coming soon, however, so he was just killing time until he could change once more.
He was sitting, looking at a door, a door to a martial arts studio. Looking at it made him think of the three fights he been in already today in his human form; he hadn’t done too well in any of them, and probably looked it. At least he’d gotten away. Why he was here, he really had no idea. But here was as good as any place, really.
“Why are you sitting there?”
Sean looked up; there was an old Asian man in the doorway now looking at him.
“Go away, go be a bum someplace else,” the man said, making shooing motions with his hands.
Sean got up and walked over to the man. He wasn’t as tall as Sean, and didn’t look as strong, either.
“Make me,” Sean said.
“I think I’ll call the police,” the man said.
Sean grabbed his arm. “No you…” he started to say, and suddenly he was on the ground. It had happened very fast, and he’d been hit twice in the process.
“Leave, while you still can,” the man warned him.
“No!” Sean growled and attacked him. The result was the same, only with more pain.
“I’m warning you!”
A third time he knocked him down like he was nothing, then a fourth.
Sean couldn’t help himself, this was just too much, and when he wanted it the most, the cat wouldn’t come out and help him. It wanted no part of this behavior at all. Crying, he collapsed at the feet of the man.
“Get up! Go!”
“Just kill me and get it over with,” Sean sobbed.
“No one is killing anyone. Go home, sleep it off.”
“I have no where to go.”
“You can’t hang out here in front of my school. Leave now!”
Sean looked up. This man was a teacher; he needed to be taught. Maybe he could teach him the lessons no one else seemed to want to. “Teach me,” he said.
“Why would I want to teach you? You attacked me!”
“Teach me!” he begged again.
“You can’t afford clean clothes; you can’t afford it!”
“Teach me, Master!” Sean begged again and groveled, all pride gone now. This man was better than him, maybe he could help him. Obviously no one else ever would.
The man swore softly. “Get up and go inside!”
Sean nodded and did as he was told.
“There is a shower in the back, go get clean.”
Sean again did as he was told and took a shower, taking care to get himself completely clean when he heard the man tell him not to skimp on the soap. When he came out, there was a gi for him to wear.
