Free Wanting by Sarah Masters

back up, but he wanted to go home.
    “There’s… I don’t like it in here,” he said, jamming a hand through his hair and tugging to try to take his mind off the eeriness he was experiencing.
    “Fuck me, Adam. It’s just a barn!”
    “Yeah, but it’s someone else’s property. We shouldn’t—”
    “It didn’t bother you last night, did it?” Dane moved to stand in front of him and drew him close. “Look, I understand your nerves, I really do, but this has to stop. We’re safe here, all right? No one will hurt you.”
    “I know, but this isn’t about that. I feel…like we really shouldn’t be here. Like…oh, I don’t fucking know. I can’t explain it. I’m uncomfortable.”
    Dane cupped Adam’s cheek and rubbed his thumb beneath his eye. “Probably because it’s daytime. If it makes you feel better, we’ll check the lean-to as well. Then you can let me fuck you properly.” He dug a hand in his pocket then held it up. “I have lube!”
    Adam smiled, a low chuckle coming out, easing the tension a tiny bit. “All right. But if it feels weird still—”
    “Then we’ll go home and fuck. Easy.”
    Grateful for Dane’s understanding, Adam trailed him to the rear door he supposed led to the lean-to. He swallowed, trying to get rid of the idea that they should turn around and walk straight back out. Told himself that he was only feeling this way because of what he’d seen here last night. That there was nothing to worry about, no one was going to turn up and find them here. No one would ever know they’d been here.
    “Oh, God. Oh, fuck!” Dane said, slapping his hands on his head and dancing from foot to foot.
    “What? What is it?” Adam’s heart raced, and his mind joined in, thoughts of what was inside the lean-to rushing through his head at top speed. Rats?
    “Don’t come in here. Just…fuck, just don’t come in here. Go away. I’ll deal with it.” Dane made to step back, his hand on the door ready to close it.
    Adam ignored him, pushing in to stand beside Dane, the door swinging wide. “Oh, Jesus…”
    The hay bale was adorned with splashes and streaks of black, like thick slashes of spun sugar. The floor had similar decoration, except there were also arcs, as though the blackness had come from a water hose or the end of an implement. A naked, blood-covered man was chained to the wooden pole in the centre, his features obscured by the same dried darkness. Adam gasped, his breath sticking in his throat, lungs seeming to freeze with his fright. He staggered, one arm out to his side, but there was nothing to brace himself on.
    The man’s chest… Adam couldn’t see any skin colour as the chains holding him up resembled a metal boob-tube. And his legs…Jesus Christ, they’d been broken. They dangled at odd angles, cracked and jagged shin bones protruding through the skin, cracked sticks in a forest of mulchy blackness. His head had been positioned so it seemed the man’s last action had been to glance at the rafters, and as Adam lowered his gaze, bile raced up.
    The weight went out of him, all but disappeared, and he fell to his knees. Pain raced into his thigh bones, stopping as it reached his pelvis. He retched, trying to come to terms with what he’d seen and failing. The image remained, growing starker by the second until he didn’t think he’d be able to take it anymore. But if he opened his eyes, he’d see the same damn thing. As he continued to heave and nothing came up, he stood, his legs wobbly, whole body shaking. Fear made his ears buzz, and he placed one hand over his mouth just in case he vomited, then took a step forward. He couldn’t go any farther. It was as though an invisible barrier prevented it. Some force field created from a phenomenon he couldn’t explain nor understand.
    He glanced at Dane, who stared wide-eyed, mouth working but no words emerging. Adam reached out and touched his arm, and Dane wrenched his gaze from the body to look at Adam.
    “I knew