Dark reckoning

“Reasonably sure? That’s like reasonable doubt. It’s hardly the answer I wanted to hear.” He stood and went to the window, looking out at the backyard of the fraternity house. His attention snapped to the expansive lawn.

“I want to be absolutely sure before I answer you, Steve,” she said, but he wasn’t paying any attention to her. “I don’t want to confuse the chemistry we have with love.” She touched his arm and for the second time that evening, he jumped at her touch.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” His eyes drifted back to the bizarre scene.

Je

The fraternity members wore black robes and stood in a pattern that was unrecognizable unless you were looking down on them like they were.

“It’s a pentacle,” Steve answered. “Pentagram,” he corrected with a slight shake of his head.

Bill stood in the center, surrounded by a circle of candles. He was reading from an old leather-bound book, the members repeating his words. Steve recognized the language—Latin, although he had no clue of what was being said. At the end of the incantation, Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out an egg, cracking it into the challis at his feet.

Even from a distance, Steve and Je

Footsteps of the Beta Theta Pi members filtered into the house.

Steve pushed her down on the bed, yanked the straps of her dress over her shoulders and lay on top of her. He buried one hand in her hair and put the other one at her waist tugging a little on the dress, kissing her. His heart hammered in his chest, praying this would be enough to keep the wolves from attacking.

Je

Seconds later, his door swung open. Bill stared at Steve and Je

They came out of the room a few minutes later. “Sorry about that,” Bill said, awkwardly waving his hand toward Steve’s room.

Je

Just the right amount of embarrassment, Steve thought as their eyes met. He glanced back at Bill. “Yeah, well, we’re going to her place, where the doors have locks.” He gri

Bill’s face fell as he looked between the two of them. The slackness in his features morphed into a hardness Je

“It’s all right Billy,” Je

Steve knew better. Bill wasn’t being overprotective, he was angry, bordering on rage. He caught the way Bill stared at Je

Chapter 18

Bill watched them leave, his eyes sending imaginary daggers into Steve’s back. The sting of jealousy bloomed to something else altogether. He walked to his room and dialed the familiar number. “Hi Trac,” he said when she picked up.

“Hey, hon,” Tracy said. “You all done with your fraternity stuff?”

“Not quite, we still haven’t finished discussing the initiation rite,” he said. “We just took a quick break and I thought I’d give you a call.” He closed his eyes, feeling guilty for the lie. “I saw Steve and Jen a little while ago, looks like they are heading your way.”

“Will you be over later?” she asked.

“Nah, I think we’re go

“Ok, I love you.”

“Love you too,” he returned the usual salutation and hung up the phone. He crossed the hall to Steve’s room, looking around. There was nothing unusual about the room, or his personal belongings. When he flipped open the notebook, Bill chuckled, amused to see Je

Fa

Bring her to me

Bill closed the notebook and then opened it up again. The words were still there. He flipped through the pages and the words leapt from every sheet except the last. Instructions scrawled onto the page while he stared at it. Big, looping script, blood red, described the exact details of the initiation ceremony right down to the rules he was expected to play by. He inhaled sharply as the last two names appeared along with specific commands. This year, his marching orders were very different from the past, and he glanced out the window, thinking of the bloody egg. Goose bumps traveled up his arms as he looked back at the notebook, reading the parameters for this year’s sacrificial rite, shivering.

The penalty for not following through scrolled beneath the instructions and Bill dropped the notebook, stepping back. The air froze in his lungs and his hand flew to his mouth. He stared at the warning, understanding the ramifications if anything went wrong. Snapping his eyes away from the meticulous description of his painful death, he sca

A small smiley face scribed into the bottom of the page and Bill snorted. The bastard’s fucked up sense of humor. Bill tore the page out, folded the paper, and stuffed it in his pocket. He closed the notebook, replacing it on the desk before he walked out of the room.

Chapter 19

Steve glanced at Je

“What were they doing?”

Steve shook his head. “I have no idea, but it looked a little like some sort of witchcraft.”

Je

“Or devil-worship,” he added, putting a sobering spin on everything.

“I can’t believe that,” Je

Steve glanced at her, communicating his skepticism with in his eyes. “If they were standing in any other pattern, I would agree with you, but a pentacle?” He shook his head and looked back at the road.

“Didn’t the Masons use a pentacle as their symbol?”

Steve glanced at her. “Jen, they were performing a ritual in Latin that ended with the cracking of that egg. We both saw the blood come out of that shell. That has nothing to do with Masons.” Bill’s expression when the blood came out of the eggshell, followed by the look on his face when he saw Je