Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 03:52:29 -0400 From: Sean Williams Subject: Screwing the President Chapter 9 Screwing the President Chapter 9 "Asa! Wait!" yelled Stan, running after me. As soon as I heard his words: that Todd, a fraternity brother in Delta Iota Kappa and a man that I had grown to know and care for, had died, I immediately darted out of the room. At first, all I wanted was to get as far away as possible, to run away from the truth that I did not want to face, but then I wanted to prove for myself that it wasn't true. It was one of those moments where you think to yourself: "I want to be any place, but here. I need to get out of here" and the next thing I knew, my feet were flying out of the dorm. I was halfway to the Delta Iota Kappa house when Stan caught up with me. He grabbed a hold of my arm, thinking that this action would be enough to stop me, but it wasn't. I broke free and broke into a faster run, but Stan was quicker than I was and he grabbed hold of me again, with both arms this time. "Wait," said Stan. "Slow down. Why did you run?" "I just need my space," I said. We were both panting at this point. "Just give me my space, Stan. Back off and let me handle this. I'm alright." "You don't look alright, Asa," said Stan. The look in his eyes told me that he would not let me get away. It was that look of utter dedication; I had seen it on Stan's face before he leapt into the pool for swim practice. At this moment, that look meant: "If you start running again, I'll catch you. Don't even think about it." "Do you wanna talk?" Stan asked. "I think we should talk. This is a lot for you to process and I think we should talk it out. Why don't we have a seat--" "Fuck off, Stan. I don't need this right now." "I just need to know you're alright," said Stan, shaking his head. "If you want me to go, just say you're fine and I'll back off." I shrugged. "I just can't believe this shit," I said. "I saw Todd this morning, maybe ten hours ago, and he was fine. I mean, he wasn't fine, he was pretty stressed, but he didn't look like..." "I know," said Stan. "I'm sorry," he added, and he put his arm around me. "I just want to be here for you. I know that what you and Todd had was... I don't know. I know you guys were pretty close. You told me that you trusted him. I don't know what you're going through, but I'm here if you need me. That's all." "What actually happened, Stan? What happened to Todd? How did he die?" Stan took a deep breath and then he said: "According to the news I've heard so far, several students saw his Ferrari charge off the dock into the lake. They called the cops and a crew came to pull the car out of the lake. When they opened the car doors..." "Are they sure he's dead?" I asked. "He could be in critical condition. They might have resuscitated him on the way to the hospital." "Asa... he's dead." "Well, are they sure that he died by drowning? Maybe he was..." Stan shook his head. "Are you saying you think maybe someone killed him and then put him in the car? Asa, several people saw his car dive into the lake. Why would you even say that?" "I don't know," I replied. "Stan, I'm fine. Alright? I know you're just trying to help but, right now, I could just use some space." "You sure?" "Yeah, Stan. I'm sure." "I gotcha," said Stan, and he tapped me on the back. The tap was followed by a brotherly rub. "You have my number, right? Just call me if you need anything." And, with that, Stan walked away - I could only presume that he was heading back to the dorm - and I stood where I was for a few minutes, trying to clear my head. Part of me still wanted to head over to the Delta Iota Kappa house and see what the guys there had to say about the news, but another part of me had an entirely different idea. "I have to see the body," I said to myself. I just couldn't believe that after all that had developed between Todd and me that he could be taken away, just like that. After what had passed between us that morning, the way that Todd had opened up to me in a manner that no one else had before, it just couldn't be. There was no way that he was dead. I refused to believe it. I decided right then and there to head to the morgue at County General and see the body for myself. Todd didn't have any family in town and there was no way that his body could already be identified, at least it seemed unlikely that this could have happened so quickly. Maybe it wasn't really him at all. Someone else could have been driving his car. I had to see for myself. If the person in the car, whoever it was, was really dead, the coroner's office would probably perform an autopsy, but they would need consent from the family first so the body would probably be held overnight in the morgue. My mind was made up and nothing would change: I just had to see for myself, and nothing was going to stop me. I turned around and tried to figure out the quickest route to get to the county hospital in town. For whatever reason, I didn't want to walk all the way back to the dorm to my car, but decided that I would just walk to the hospital rather than drive. As I turned around, I thought I saw a tall guy with dark hair looking at me. It was someone that I had never seen before, and he had a mysterious look. It seemed that he looked right at me, as if he knew me, but for the life of me, I could not place him as someone that I knew. It seemed like he was attempting to keep a low profile: he was wearing shades and was dressed all in black. Black leather jacket. Tight-fitting black shirt underneath. Black slacks and black shoes. I blinked and when I looked again, the guy was gone. "You have some explaining to do," I heard someone say as they grabbed my arm. "What?" I felt an arm jerk me around and I saw a familiar face glaring at me. It was Dr. Kline. "You walked out in the middle of my class today," she said. "That's unacceptable, especially considering how poorly you have been performing of late. I put my neck out to help you, Asa, and you walked right out in the middle of one of my most important lectures." "You saw that..." "Yes, I did." "I was sitting all the way in the back," I said. "I didn't think you would see me. I know you have a reason to be angry, and I did promise to do better in class, but... there's just a lot going on right now." "You're referring to Delta Iota Kappa, I presume, Mr. Peterson," said Dr. Kline. "Yes," I said. "I mean, no. This really doesn't have anything to do with the house. Well, maybe a little, but not really." "I don't understand you, Mr. Peterson," said Dr. Kline, "and I believe you already know how I feel about that fraternity house. Actually, my contempt for the Delta Iota Kappas can be extended to all fraternities. To me, they are little more than a distraction. Besides that, they serve as a means of preserving outdated principles of machismo and the good old boy social network, to say nothing of the sexualization of young women." I wondered why she was telling me this. "Dr. Kline..." "That's a bit much, I know," continued Dr. Kline. "I do not want you to think me insensitive, Mr. Peterson. I am well aware of what has occurred on campus today and I know the unfortunate student was a member of Delta Iota Kappa. You don't look good, if I may be forward." Well, pretty much everything you've said so far has been forward, lady, so what's stopping you now? "Do I look that bad?" "Yes, you do," replied Dr. Kline. "It's late, the moon is out. Why don't you go home and get some rest? Campus seems a little restless after the death today, so it might be a good idea for you to turn in and try to get some sleep. I'll see you in class tomorrow." "Alright," I said, shaking the hand that was offered. Crisis averted. I watched as Dr. Kline walked away and I planned my route to County General. It was almost 11PM when I reached the hospital. There was a security guard standing at the main entrance and I knew I would have to explain what business I had at the hospital, so I needed to find another way in. I walked around to the back, were the entrance to the Emergency Department was, and when a couple EMS guys left the hospital and hopped back into their ambulance, I jetted in and made my way to the nearest stairwell. I figured that the morgue had to be in the basement, so it was only a matter of finding it. Unfortunately, there were two basement levels at County General so I went to the lowest level in hopes that I would find the morgue. After covertly following a few guys in scrubs around, I ended up being led to the surgical area, but after that, I got the lead that I needed. I overheard a nurse say that she had to drop off a sample over in pathology, so I decided to follow her and, next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the morgue. I looked in through a window beside the door and I saw what I assumed were pathologists inspecting a body that they had just brought in. I couldn't see the face, but I thought: "Fuck! That could be Todd." I ran into a changing room on the other side of the hall and I quickly changed into a pair of scrubs that I found there. I put on a surgical mask and entered the pathology suite. A couple of the pathologists looked at me strangely as I walked in, but as I was wearing a mask, I figure they weren't confident enough to ask me who I was as I might actually turn out to be someone that they knew. I tried to look busy, fumbling with some instruments on a table against the wall, and I listened in to the talk of two pathologists standing around a gurney. This was the corpse that I had seen from the window in the hall; the one that I imagined might have belonged to Todd. "You said this one just came in?" asked one of the pathologists. "Yeah," replied another pathologist. "It's a shame, too. He's such a young guy. And really handsome." After saying this, the pathologist roughly turned the face to the left and to the right to inspect it. "Oh, it's especially sad because he's handsome?" "You know what I mean," said the pathologist. "I bet this kid was getting tons of pussy. College guy. Big stud on campus. I'm just sayin'." Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as one of the pathologists bit into a sandwich while another took a sip from his slurpee. The pathologist rested his sandwich on the chest of the body in front of him and opened the cadaver's mouth. "Todd," I thought to myself. "You don't deserve this." "It doesn't look like this one drowned," said one of the pathologists. "It looks like he might have died before the car plummeted into the water." "You can't be sure." "No, I can't. Not without an autopsy," replied the pathologist. "Are we doing one?" "Accidental death... we should do one, but we'll have to wait until we get the order. Let's go to the cafeteria." The two pathologists walked out of the lab and soon after that, the nurses and other staff that remained walked out, as well. I was left alone in the pathology suite. I immediately pulled off my surgical mask and ran over to the body that the pathologists had been discussing. It was Todd. There was not a doubt in my mind as I looked at the curve of his lips, the angle of his chin, his square shoulders. I shook my head at the injustice and a tear ran down my face. "Fuck," I said. "I can't believe he's dead. Why him? Fucking hell. He can't be dead." "He's dead," I heard a voice say behind me. "And that's definitely Todd." I turned around instantly, realizing that someone was standing behind me. "Who the fuck are you?" I asked, sizing up the man that I found standing there. "That is the question of the hour, isn't it?" "Wait a minute," I said, getting a better look at him. "I've seen you before." In fact, I was pretty sure that I had seen him not too long ago, around the same time that I had run into Dr. Kline, on my way to the Delta Iota Kappa house. He was the man in the black leather jacket and shades that had been inspecting me as I spoke to Dr. Kline. He was now wearing scrubs, like I was. "Did you follow me here?" The man shrugged and looked away. He had something dark and sinister about him, but he was handsome and confident and I believed that whatever he had to say, it would be the truth. "Yes," he said. "I followed you here. My name is James Montgomerie and I am here to bring down this chapter of the Delta Iota Kappas." "What? You're here to bring down... the chapter?" James approached Todd's body and stood on one side of the gurney, across from me. "I am familiar with all of your friends, Asa," he said. "I know that Connor recruited you and that you accepted his offer to join the fraternity and become his apprentice. I know that you didn't want to accept the offer at first, you wanted to be your own man, but something changed your mind. I know what it was, because I know all about the Delta Iota Kappas. It was lust. You felt a primitive attraction for Connor that you could not explain or pinpoint the origins of, but it hit you like an eighteen wheeler and left you powerless to resist. With one look, Connor brought you to your knees. You fucked him, again and again, and... you fell in love." "Wait a minute..." "Don't be embarrassed, Asa," said James. "You are not the first person that this has happened to but hopefully you will be the last on this campus, at least if I have anything to say about it." James began to pace around the pathology suite. "I know that Todd wanted to defect from the Delta Iota Kappas and I knew that you spent the night with him. Don't look that way. I'm not here to harm you. Not at all. In fact, I really couldn't give two shits about you, Asa. I mean that in the nicest possible way of course. As I said, I am here to take down the Delta Iota Kappas." "You still haven't explained what you mean by that." "It's just what it sounds like, Asa," said James. "I know that the Delta Iota Kappas are not a true fraternity. I know that they serve a dark power that has granted them eternal life. You may not know this, but these boys may be pretty on the outside, but the inside is very different." "How would you know that?" "This isn't the first chapter of the Delta Iota Kappas I have gone after," James replied. "I have already taken down six chapters of the organization all over North America. In fact, I drove over from British Columbia not too long ago after I took down a particularly strong chapter up there. You don't believe that. I don't care if you believe me or not. It's true all the same. If you think about, Asa, you'll realize that I have no reason to lie." I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything at all. I only listened. James continued: "I have dedicated my life to taking down the Delta Iota Kappas. Don't ask me why now, it will all become clear in time." "What do you need me for?" "I don't need you," said James, staring deeply into my green eyes with his baby blues. He was seductive in the manner that the Delta Iota Kappas were - for a moment there, I almost wanted to lean in and plant my lips on his, which was completely unexpected - but I continued to believe what he told me: that he was on the side of "good". "Well, how exactly do you plan on taking down the Kappas?" I asked, sighing. "I mean, Todd wanted to defect and look what happened to him." "Well, the first step is to find out who the prefect is," said James. "Once we figure that out, we leave the Kappas open to attack and I'll have no problem taking them out. The tactic has worked at every other campus that I've been to." "The prefect?" I asked. "You mean the human protector of the house?" "Yes," said James. "I have a few leads. I don't need to tell you that your swim coach, Coach Blood, is on the top of my list." "Get the fuck outta here," I said, shaking my head. "Coach Blood may be crazy but there's no way he's in league with the Kappas. All the guy thinks about is pussy and abusing freshmen. He's a maniac, but he's not in league with a demon. There's no way I could believe that." "So Todd told you about the god they serve, I see. And you believe it?" James raised an eyebrow as he asked this. "I don't know, man," I replied. "I don't know what to believe." I took a seat on a chair beside the gurney. "All I know is Coach Blood is not the prefect for the Delta Iota Kappas. That's ridiculous." James shrugged. "We'll see," he said. "I have some other leads as well. And I better get back to work. I've seen the body for myself and I know that this is indeed Todd Holcomb, or at least his most recent incarnation. There's no need for me to stick around anymore. You'll be seeing more of me, Asa," and he clapped me on the back. And with that, he was gone. I watched as James walked away and all I could think about was how weird things had gotten. I was just a simple kid from South Dakota, but ever since that first day when Connor had appeared in my life, things had taken a turn. It felt like that scene from "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" where a kid is calmly sitting in the back of his big yellow school bus when he suddenly realizes that Freddy Kreuger is behind the wheel. My life had entered the danger zone and I had no idea where the fuck things would end up. Perhaps I would end up dead like Todd. Who's fault was it that things had gotten out of hand? So many things had happened since I had met Connor and I couldn't place who was responsible. Was it all my fault or was it Connor's? With James gone, I placed my head down on Todd's chest and I just unloaded. The tears fell and I said: "Man, I'm so sorry you're gone. I'll miss you, buddy." I began the long walk home from town to my dorm, and the walk seemed even longer than I knew it was. By this time it was after midnight and there was not a soul to be found on campus. All of the kids that had hung around to talk about the death that had taken place had all disappeared. Even the cops from the sheriff's office that had been roaming campus that night had departed. I put the key in the door to my room and entered. The room was pitch black and I suddenly felt very tired. I felt tired of it all. Tired of being away from home. Tired of trying to find myself in a fucked up place like this. Why did I even leave South Dakota in the first place? I knew why. I didn't want the life of my father and my uncles: working on a dairy farm in the middle of nowhere where everyone dresses the same and thinks the same, and looks the same. That wasn't the life that I wanted, at least that's what I thought at the time. But maybe I was wrong. I'm eighteen years old. What the fuck do I know? I walked over to my bed and collapsed into it. Within seconds of hitting the mattress I heard someone say: "Where were you?" "Rich?" I asked. "Dude, where have you been?" "Rich is dead, Asa," said Connor. "I told you that." "Connor," I began, "what the fuck is going on?" The power that Connor had over me was indescribable and even after all that had happened, and all the suspicions that I had, I still wanted to run to him and place my head on his shoulder. "Things are getting out of hand," said Connor, sitting down on the edge of my bed. "I cannot afford to lose you, Asa. You have been sent to me and I have been waiting for you for fifty years. I will do whatever I have to keep you and whoever stands in my way... well, they won't be standing for very long. There's no way for you to really understand how I feel, Asa. I know this all seems dark and ugly to you. I know that Todd told you some things about us... about me. Well, he won't be able to say another thing. Not anymore." "Connor, what are you saying?" Connor stood up again and began removing his shirt. "You're mine," he said. I saw his chiseled pecs after his shirt was off and he began to crawl back into bed. "I think you know what I mean, Asa. You're mine and no one will ever take you from me." [TO BE CONTINUED] [COPYRIGHT 2011]