There’s something truly harrowing about crossing the threshold of desecrated grounds. Knowing all too well that mere mortals will only succumb to rot and decay. The life slowly being drained from your flesh vessel. The light being torn from your eyes. The ever lingering feeling that at any moment, your corpse will only serve as fuel for the next poor, unassuming refugee to stumble their way into a fate worse than death. Existing as an extant form of life, no release from the nightmare, no hope, just bound by pure need to survive another day. Until eventually, you’re discarded like a used up cum sock.

“Hi, welcome to Jay’s Electronics! How can we…Oh, hey Lloyd.” One of my coworkers cut his painfully rehearsed greeting short. 

I waved briefly as I hurried to the back, put my bag in my locker, and put my watch on to cover my Triforce tattoo on my wrist. It was cool artwork from my favorite video game series, but even electronics places had a dumb rule about no visible tattoos. I made sure to clock in before saying anything to the pleated khakis given human consciousness standing next to the door. 

“Hi Jeff, I’m here. Where do you need me?” I did my best to sound cheery. But my lack of want to be there mixed with the awkwardness of our phone call made it hard.

He stood there, staring at me. Like he was studying a topographical map of my face before a week long trek into the unknown. He always made me so uncomfortable when he did stuff like this. It wasn’t the first time I had gotten stares from people, but his staring was always the worst. 

He cleared his throat and straightened his back. “Nice of you to finally join us. Follow me.” He said flatly as he led me to the appliance section. 

We were in the middle of our “Happy no more pandemic” sale, so everything was priced up, then marked down, and we had to make sure we were extra stocked. 

“Okay, I need you to stock up these shelves.” He slapped the metal surface that was surrounded by signs and blue tags. “These bad boys can fit so many microwaves on them. Make sure you fill all the gaps, then do a few customer loops before giving Jamie a break.” He scribbled on his clipboard and walked away without even a second glance at me. 

I sighed heavily before begrudgingly making my way to the back and loading up a cart with the recent deliveries of overpriced radiation machines. After filling the small flatbed cart, I wheeled it back to the display area and began hoisting them onto the shelves. 

“Dang Lo, Jeff put you on appliances?” My best work friend Lacy appeared out of seemingly thin air. She always claimed she was unintentionally sneaky, but I think she liked catching people off guard. 

“Yeah.” I grunted while lifting an stupidly heavy box onto the shelf. “We uh--didn’t have a great conversation when he called me to come in.” 

“Oh no. To be fair I don’t think anyone has ever had a “great” conversation with him. What happened?” She assumed her usual, leaning against a surface with one hand on her hip pose that she had absolutely mastered. She was way too cool to be hanging out with me. 

“He interrupted me during my--thing I was doing. And I may have said “All hands on dick” and called him an asshole before hanging up.” 

There was a short pause as I groaned once more, lifting an obnoxiously heavy microwave. 

“That’s the greatest fucking thing I think you’ve ever done. Well, maybe not the greatest fucking thing, but still. Way to go Lo.” She lifted her hand up for a high five.

I reluctantly obliged. I was never a huge high fiver. But it did feel really good to be appreciated by Lacy. She was always talking with me and trying to include me in things. It was nice. She was one of the only things that made the job kind of fun. 

I reached down for another box but started to struggle a bit. We had received some models that also had a pizza oven combo. Which in reality was more like a really thin toaster oven attachment. Either way, they were almost as heavy as the weight of my parents' expectations. Not to mention my legs were still stiff from the morning's activities. 

Lacy let out a slight chuckle. “Lemme help you with that princess.” She smirked as she grabbed the box from my arms and set it on the shelf with relative ease. 

My chest fluttered. Damnit, why did she always have to do that? It was like she knew all the right buttons to push. The redness in my cheeks was going to give me away. 

I turned away and reached down for another box. “I can handle this, you know?”

She sighed. “Yeah, but you’re one of the few people that makes this job bearable. Plus you looked a little wobbly when you came in so I figured I’d help out. And you know, you’re my friend.” 

I stopped for a moment. We were friends? I always thought she just hung out with me because she was bored. “I--that’s really sweet of you. Thank you.” There was no way I could put on my tough act around her. I had tried many times, but she always seemed to just break down every barrier I put up. 

Lacy set the last heavy box on the shelf. “That stays between us, got it? I have a reputation to uphold here. If anyone finds out I’m “nice”, then I wouldn't be able to bully my way through slacking off so much. And I can be very…” She leaned in, dangerously close, causing me to stifle a squeak. “...Intimidating. Understood?”

I nodded. I knew if I would have tried to say something, my vocal cords would have betrayed me with a high pitched sound, remnant of the sounds I had made earlier that morning. 

She smiled, the way a predator would when staring down its prey. Like a hungry wolf, about to sink its teeth into a shivering yet excited bunny. “Good girl.” She uttered underneath her breath. 

My eyes went wide, a rush of adrenaline shot through my chest, my legs began to shake. I had seen the words typed out many times. The comments, the tags, all the feedback from my streams and videos. But hearing it out loud, in person, so close, and from the coolest girl I knew. It hit different. I wanted to melt right then and there. But I couldn't let anyone suspect what I did in my off time. 

“I-I-um. I’m not a g-girl.” I barely managed to stammer out.

Lacy giggled softly. “Oh yeah, right. Sorry, force of habit. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.” 

A pang of regret shot through me. 

“Anyways, I’m having some friends over tonight, you should come. I think you’d enjoy it. I’ll text you the address.” She turned to walk away. “Oh, by the way. Your eyes look great today.”

I stood in confusion as she simply meandered away. Off to make it look like she was doing work somewhere else. I quickly grabbed my phone and turned on the front facing camera. My heart came to an abrupt stop. Like a massive cargo ship running aground, blocking the world's most important shipping canal. I came to the startling realization that I had left my eye liner on. I frantically ran to the bathroom and tried my damnedest to wash it off. 

Face soaked, and eyes burning like a forest after a gender reveal party, I exited the bathroom. My efforts were to no avail. Damn my past self for splurging on waterproof makeup. It was no use. I had to just make my way through my shift and not look at anyone for too long. I could totally do that. I had gotten used to not making eye contact with anyone but the camera. Even myself, at least when I was dressed as a guy. 

Somehow, by the grace of whatever the fuck was watching over me, I finished my shift without further incident and was finally back home. I was on the fence on whether or not to actually go to Lacy’s get together. I hadn't really been to a party since before the pandemic, and even then I struggled a bit to let myself socialize. It’s hard to relax when you feel like you’re out of place.

I stared at my computer, finalizing the edits and watching myself ride a dildo to completion. There really was something about being a girl, dressing up all cute, and just letting go. Not worrying about how I might come off, how I might mess things up, how I might disappoint someone. Just, getting lost in the moment, and being me. But a girl version of me.

I snapped out of my spacing out, exported the video and set it to upload. I normally would have called it a night and spent the next four hours watching YouTube, baking and listening to a Vtuber say the word “poggers” a lot. But maybe it was time to do something different. I had been wanting to go outside of my comfort zone, and interacting with other people that weren’t mostly my coworkers sounded like a good place to start. 

I jumped up with a newfound vigor and flung open my closet door. Skirt, dress, skirt, oh I love that top, hmmm…It was going to be hard to come up with something to wear that I could actually go out in that wasn't my work clothes. 

After several minutes I had my nicest jeans and hoodie. I think somewhere along the line I kind of got rid of stuff I didn't really wear anymore. I was gonna have to get some new guy clothes at some point. Or at least, clothes that could pass as guy clothes. But that was a task for another day. Tonight was about having fun. I grabbed the bottle off of my nightstand and took two more pills before heading out. 

The drive to Lacys was quiet. The sun was setting, traffic was a reminder of how utterly fucking stupid most cities were designed and built. I wish I could have remembered exactly how I got to her apartment, but I was a bit too lost in my own thoughts. Thinking about ideas for scenes, how I would do my makeup, what toys I should use next. Sighorny Weaver, my eight inch pink dildo was definitely on that list. 

During my inner ramblings I had arrived at my destination. I made my way to the door and knocked lightly. That’s when I realized I had completely forgotten to post a link to my new video on Twitter. It was a fairly decent source for gaining new viewership and also letting people who followed me know that there was something new out. I knocked once more, this time a little harder. I hated it when people pounded on doors like they were trying to wake the undead ancestors of the tenant, so I always tried to avoid it. The timing however was serendipitous, because as soon as I finished my post, the front door opened and Lacy stood in the doorway, looming over me. 

At that exact moment, the all too familiar bird chirping notification sounds rang out from her pocket.

She loomed over me with a smirk. “Hey there Lo, glad you could make it. C’mon in.”

I followed her inside and was greeted by the warm scent of cookies, vanilla candles, and fear. The fear was less of a scent, but more of a sudden awareness that upon inspecting the other guests, I was the only boy. Granted, it’s not like I got along super well with other guys. But I wasn’t expecting to be the odd one out. Not to mention the fact that I was also the shortest one in the room. I wasn’t sure I could handle four Lacys teasing me about how small I was. 

“Hey, this is my friend from work I was telling you about. Lo, this is Lily, Chloe, and Tara.” She gestured at the three girls, who were all doing some form of eating or scrolling on their phones. 

“Hi.” I waved meekly. I was never great at introductions. 

I received a couple waves and a “hi” back as Lacy told me to make myself at home. She pulled out her phone and walked into the kitchen. That’s when, like the final climax of a vampire movie, it dawned on me. Her phone had gone off at the exact time I had made a post. 

The graveness of my situation was starting to set in. Everything finally made sense, Her teasing, her calling me princess and refusal to call me by my name. 

She was a Twitter user too! I should have known she was too cool to be a normal person. Everyone has their horrid secrets. How was I going to explain that I knew? No matter the case, I had to play this evening very carefully.

RavenKane

Hihi! Thank you for reading! I hope y'all are enjoying this super dense egg. I have up to chapter 5 on my Patreon and am currently working on the last chapter. I'll be uploading one chapter a week here. My next project is going to be another commission and then working on my Space/Light Horror story. I hope you enjoy!