“Mom, you have to go to work,” said Carter curled up on the sofa. “I’ll be okay.”
“This cramping isn’t normal, Carter. Did you poop?”
“Gross,” he frowned. “Yes. I’ve pooped several times. It’s just a stomach ache. Go. I know you need to work.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “Okay. I’ll see if I can’t get off early. Call me or text me if it gets worse.” She kissed his forehead and left the tiny shotgun house they were renting. It wasn’t much but she’d made it home for them.
Carter smiled at his mother, nodding as she left the house. The moment she was gone he curled up in agony from the pain in his gut. It had come on quickly, just a few hours after Butch injected him the day before.
At first, he didn’t say anything to his mother. He damn sure didn’t tell her he was pooping blood. They didn’t have health insurance yet and couldn’t afford a trip to the emergency room.
Butch had instructed him to take a handful of his famous supplements every hour after the injection but he’d ignored it, thinking that he needed to give his body a break. When he called to tell him he couldn’t get to the gym today, he screamed every obscenity at him that he could.
Feeling the need to use the bathroom again, he tried to stand but fell back against the sofa. He didn’t want to soil the old used couch but if he couldn’t get up, it was going to happen. When the knock on the door came, he worried that Butch had come to find him.
“One minute,” he moaned. The pounding happened again and he moaned, doubling over.
“Carter? Carter it’s Rory and Bull.” They heard nothing on the other side of the door and then something they didn’t want to hear. A scream.
“Break it down,” said Bull. Rory reared back, shoving his shoulder into the flimsy wooden door, easily breaking it down. Carter was curled up on the floor, his pants soiled with blood and other bodily fluids.
Rory grabbed a blanket from the back of the sofa, wrapping him in it and carrying him to the car.
“It’s rush hour brother. We need to get him to a hospital,” said Bull.
“Shit,” muttered Rory.
“I know,” said Tahlako. “Juan.”
Carter was pretty sure he was hallucinating. One moment the long-haired native was kneeled beside him, the next he was gone and then just as suddenly returned with a man wearing no clothes.
“Get him to the hospital,” said Rory. “We’ll meet you there.”
“Riley and Suzette are waiting with Kennedy and Layla,” said Juan. Before another word was spoken, he was gone with Carter in his arms.
When Rory and Bull stood with Tahlako, Tony, and Archie, they turned to see the shocked face of Carter’s mother.
“Wh-what are you? What have you done with my son?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Riley, you’re gonna need to explain this to us,” said Eric. “How is it possible that what he’s giving them is changing their genders?”
“We don’t have all the answers right now,” said Riley. “All we know it’s not changing their gender, not really. I mean, it’s screwing with their bodies, making their bodies believe they are a different gender. Hell, I’m not even sure that’s the right answer.”
“We don’t know enough yet,” said Suzette. “What we know, as far as Carter goes, is that Butch kept telling him he was too small to be a top tier male athlete at a Division I school. He told him he was starting the injections early to speed up his process for the tournament the following week.”
“What happened?” asked Luke. “What’s happening to that kids’ body?”
“Luke, we’re still trying to figure it all out. A young man of his age should be racing with testosterone hormone. Instead, he’s full of estrogen. His testicles were literally sucking up into his body.”
“Uh, could you not say that again,” said Cam squirming.
“Get over it, junior!” frowned Riley. “This poor kid is living it. His mother said she only works in the packing part of the manufacturing center. She’s never seen the products themselves but said the factory is an old run-down sugar cane factory. She said it has rodent feces, rust, the whole place is disgusting but they were paying her a good wage to work twelve hours a day.”
“Twelve hours a day so that they could torture her son,” frowned Hex. “Do we have anything back on who this guy really is?”
“Not yet, but according to Carter’s mother, Butch’s sister works at the plant as well. She’s basically the plant manager,” said Suzette.