A fortnight had passed since Jamie had that peculiar lunch break with his childhood friend Hunter. The guy thought his new landlord was kicking people out of their apartments so that his friends could move in. Jamie thought it sounded preposterous at the time, and definitely illegal. But since they parted ways, there had been radio silence. No texts, no tweets, no snaps, no instas, no threads, no nothing. Now Jamie was starting to get concerned. It wasn't like his friend to go AWOL without a heads-up. But what was really weird was it was as if Hunter had never existed at all.
Every single social media account was wiped, the handles claimed by bots or strangers who'd held the handle for years, which didn't make sense. All of their text conversations had gone missing too. Then any photographic evidence of Hunter vanished overnight. Even trying to contact his parents went wrong, claiming he had the wrong number. He felt like he was going mad. How could he have imagined his best friend his entire life? They were literally drinking coffee mere days ago. Whatever had happened, Jamie knew it had to be down to that apartment complex. He'd done his research into the place, but aside from the unusual amount of horny, gay bears living there, there was nothing peculiar at all.
But today was finally the day, Jamie's day off. It had been two weeks since his last proper day off, which was also the last time he'd spoken to Hunter. Now he was stood outside of Ursa Complex, trying to bring up the courage to enter. It could all have been a big misunderstanding. Maybe his friend wanted a digital detox, maybe his phone was faulty, maybe he called the wrong number. But the only way to get down to the truth was to step inside. He took a deep breath, and walked up to the automatic doors.
This was the first time that Jamie had entered the building since the new landlord had taken over, and he was surprised at just how much had changed. The air stank of tobacco and sweat, the haze of cigar smoke filled the lobby, which had taken on the warm hues of a log cabin lined with rustic brick. In the center of the lobby was a stone fountain topped with an elaborate statue of a grizzly bear. A real one, not the gay kind. It towered over him, almost as if it were warning of danger.
Around the fountain sat a number of leather sofas. Jamie almost disregarded them until he walked around the statue. There, on one of the couches, sat a hefty, bearded man smoking a cigar. He was wearing a leather vest and chaps, an accompanying cap rested on his bald head. His vest was left open, allowing his furry gut to spill into his lap. Curled up next to him was a much younger, chubby, not as hairy man. He was wearing a latex puppy mask, and was nuzzling his head into the older man's free hand.
Jamie locked eyes with the man, who squinted at him before huffing a stream of smoke from his mouth and nostrils. "You're not from round these parts," he growled in a rumbling bass.
"Noooo," Jamie squeaked, failing to not sound intimidated by the leather-bound man. "I-I came to check in on a friend I haven't seen in a while."
"That's how they getcha," the daddy bear replied with a knowing nod of the head. The pup beside him glanced up, and lightly growled from losing his master's attention. He jumped off the sofa and bounded towards Jamie, before being cut short by the leash attached to the collar around his neck. "Woah there boy, you know that's no way to greet a stranger. I should whip you for that. You want that, boy?" The young man whined, but from the way he gazed toward his master, it was obvious that was exactly what he wanted.
Jamie watched with unease as the bear stood up, towering half a foot taller than himself, and dragged his pup by the leash towards a vacant corridor. His pup followed on all fours after him, his ass with appropriate tail-shaped butt plug wagging in the air. As they rounded the corner, Jamie gasped for a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Hunter was right about about the tenants in this place, they were a bit too open about their fetishes. In a way, he was a little jealous. He could never be so open about his sexuality as those men. Either way, he didn't really want to bump into them again. He rushed over to the elevators.
Confident that he wouldn't cross paths with another BDSM role-playing couple, Jamie speed-walked down to Hunter's apartment and rapped on the front door. His signature three taps and a thud. A full minute passed before he finally heard someone unlocking the door, then it swung open with force. Jamie's heart skipped, this visit was about to get even weirder...
