by Drew Hayes
"I never actually met my mom," Alice said softly. "She passed away giving birth to me."
"I'm sorry," Nick said reflexively.
"It's okay. It was a long time ago. Besides, I never met her, so it's hard to miss her," Alice reassured him.
Nick pulled himself to a more upright sitting position on the couch and looked across at Alice. "You're a terrible liar," he said.
"I beg your pardon?" Alice wasn't able to keep the surprise off of her face.
"My parents died in a car accident when I was a few months old. I might have met them, but I have no memory of them at all. I've spent my entire life being raised by Ms. Pips without ever knowing my birth parents. I know too well how easy it is to miss someone you've never met," Nick said.
Alice didn't have a response for that, so instead she fiddled with her phone.
"Going to try your dad again?"
"Doesn't seem like much point to it," Alice replied. "I guess we might as well go back to me nagging and you slacking off."
"Do we have to? I thought we were bonding there for a moment," Nick whined.
"We were, which is why I'm nipping it in the bud," Alice countered. She picked up one of her books and tossed another at Nick. To her credit, she didn't aim too directly for his head, which might have been taken as a sign of fondness.
"Ouch!" Nick yelped.
Then again, maybe not.
* * *
“How did I never realize you two were suitemates?” Vince asked as he plugged in the movie and rejoined Sasha and Jill on their couch.
“I do spend a lot of time downstairs training,” Jill said, handing a bowl of popcorn to Sasha so it was accessible to everyone on the couch.
“Still seems odd. Then again, I still don’t know who shares a room with you, so I guess I can’t be that surprised,” Vince noted.
“My roommate is a girl named Amber. She has an older boyfriend who lives off campus, so she spends most of her free time with him,” Jill answered. “It’s nice, actually, a bit like having a single room.”
“Wait, so the other girl, Amber, is she like us?”
“Of course, Vince; they almost always room Supers together,” Jill giggled. Vince had been surprised by her bubbly nature when they’d actually gotten to talk after her and Sasha’s fight. She’d been so cold and hard when in combat; but then again, the same could be said for Sasha. More than anything he was glad the two girls had been able to shake hands and continue on with their apparent friendship after the bout had been decided. He wondered how many other Supers were able to maintain such amiable relationships after challenges. His suspicion was very few.
“Okay, it’s set up,” Will called from behind the television.
“Sweet,” Sasha said. “And you’re sure this won’t fry our TV, right?”
“93 percent sure,” Will answered as he emerged from the tangled depths of the mythical land known as “Behind the TV.”
“That still seems like a pretty significant margin of error,” Sasha said.
“Relax; if my brother designed it, it won’t blow anything up. Unless it’s supposed to blow something up. Anyway, the point is, even if it doesn’t work, it won’t be destructive. He’s religious about using safeguards,” Jill assured Sasha.
“What do you mean ‘even if it doesn’t work’?” Will asked as he plunked down in a chair next to the couch.
“Nobody bats a thousand, little brother.”
“We’re twins,” Will pointed out.
“Yes, but I’m older by two minutes,” Jill replied, sticking out her tongue.
“Stupid sister rushing out the birth canal,” Will grumbled. “So, what cinematic masterpiece are we using to test my new device?”
“Flesh Reaper 4: Hell’s Reaping,” Vince told him.
There was a beat of silence before Will’s strangled voice managed to eke out one lone word: “Really?”
“Hey, it’s like a week and a half before Halloween, the video store was pretty heavily favoring the horror section. I did the best I could,” Vince defended.
“You understand what I built, right? It’s a three dimensional immersion device. We’re not just talking about pictures standing off the screen, we’re talking about being in the center of the film. We’re talking about seeing the landscape of it in every direction, of sitting on this couch underwater, or in space, or on Mount Fuji. We’re going to be utterly visually submerged in this world, and the world you chose for that is Flesh Reaper 3?” Will asked.
“Flesh Reaper 4,” Vince corrected him. “Besides, it’ll be fun to have something a little scary. All I’m doing for the real Halloween is going to some party that Alice found.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Jill said.
“Maybe not. I don’t know, I’ve never to been to one of these before. Apparently it’s hosted by one of the local frats, but everyone is welcome. You just have to be in costume and pay the five-buck entry charge,” Vince said with a shrug.
“Are you going?” Jill asked Sasha.
“Already working on my costume,” Sasha said with a naughty smirk.
“You two are more than welcome,” Vince said. “Again, I don’t know if it will be worth the five bucks, but if you’ve got nothing else to do it might be fun.”
“We will certainly keep that in mind,” Will said. “At any rate, I think it’s time to put my new invention through a test drive.”
“Woo!” Sasha yelled.
“Do it!” Vince joined in.
“Um, go bro?” Jill said less enthusiastically.
“Ladies and gentleman, I present to you an entirely new way to watch movies, a way that is closer to living them than merely observing the pictures pass before your eyes,” Will said, firing up the remote. “Years from now, when everyone is using these devices, tonight will be a historic night, the night when the first lucky viewers were given the privilege of experiencing a new level of glory in the film... Flesh Reaper.” Will’s steam died off noticeably when he got to the movie title.
“Flesh Reaper 4,” Vince corrected.
42.
A week and change later found the male Melbrook residents, along with a few additions, gathering in the common room for one last wardrobe check before venturing off into the haunted night.
“Okay, pilgrims, y’all about ready to getting on the trail?” The questions came from a cowboy standing toward the center of the room. He wore faded jeans, a white linen shirt, and a brown duster along with a matching cowboy hat. Slung low across his waist was a pair of gun belts with a plastic six-shooter tucked into each side. He had a three-day scruff on his face and casual posture, adding a sense of realism to the costume. The whole thing was marred, though, by the presence of a pair of black sunglasses across his eyes.
“Seriously, Nick?” Vince said, adjusted his chainmail. Vince was dressed as a knight, complete with plastic sword, plastic chainmail, and a plastic helmet, all spray-painted grey to look like metal. The effect was not altogether successful. “If you’re going to all the trouble of using an accent would it be so bad to take off the glasses?”
“Yes,” Nick said quickly. “Plus, they add to the effect. Pardner.”
“It does add a touch of dashing,” Will commented from his seat on the couch. Will was wearing a tailored black tuxedo, complimented with an array of hi-tech gadgets tucked away within its folds and pockets, for his costume of a spy.
“I don’t think anyone will notice,” Roy tossed in, flexing his pecks. Roy was dressed as what one could only assume was either some sort of ancient gladiator or a male escort that catered to a very specific fetish. He wore little more than an expanded loin cloth and sandals, leaving the rest of muscled body intentionally exposed. At present he was oiling up his chest before moving on to the arms.
Vince bit back a remark that wanted to snake out. Roy was still an annoying cock-bag, but he had toned it down tremendously since his fight with Chad. They rarely saw him anymore; he was almost always training when he was in control of the body. W
hen he was around, though, he seemed to make a genuine effort not to verbally abuse those around him directly. Indirectly it still seemed a free-for-all, but progress was progress.
“What’s taking the girls so long?” Alex asked. He was standing near the hallway, wearing a white tunic with black pants underneath a brown robe. A familiar tubular metal device was fashioned to his hip, and anyone who wasn’t utterly ignorant of classic sci-fi cinema was able to recognize his costume in a heartbeat.
“Is that a real question?” Roy asked. “I mean, you have met women at some point in your life, right?”
“I’m sure they just want everything to look perfect,” Vince cut in. “I know Sasha spent a lot of time on her costume, and I’m sure the others did as well.”
“That we did,” Mary said as the door to the girls’ side opened and the women began trickling out from their lounge. Mary was dressed as a gypsy, wearing long flowing garments, a scarf, and rings of coins that jingled when she walked. After her was Alice, who sported a nun’s habit and dress, though it fit her form in ways the sisterhood would surely not have approved of, given that there was a slit up the side and bottom of it was not even near her knees.
“Wow, someone jumped whole hog onto the slutty train,” Nick observed when Alice came into his field of vision.
Alice merely gave a shrug. “It is Halloween, after all.”
“True, why a nun though? Pardner,” Nick asked.
“It’s kind of an inside joke. Think about it for a while,” Alice replied.
“I sincerely hope my sister showed a touch more prudence in selecting her ensemble,” Will commented.
“Not that it’s any of your business, little brother, but I think I walked a nice line,” Jill said as she emerged through the door. Jill was decked out in what appeared to be a torn orange prisoner’s jumpsuit. While select parts of it were shredded or removed to create an aesthetical appeal given Jill’s slender frame, it was definitely more conservative than Alice’s, while not being quite as covering as Mary’s.
Sasha came out last, wearing a jumpsuit as well. Hers was in one piece, and unlike Jill’s it was definitely sewn to fit her figure. In fact, a phrase like “skin-tight” would not have found itself out of place in describing her ensemble. It was decorated with checkered flags and logos of various products. Aside from that her hair was flared out as though the wind had been blowing through it and she sported a pair of aviator sunglasses across her face.
“Hey, the glasses thing is sort of my shtick,” Nick said.
“And when you make them look this good you can have that shtick back,” Sasha rebutted.
“Touché,” Nick said, then hastily added, “Pardner.”
“That’s not getting old,” Vince sighed, then turned his attention to Sasha. “You look fantastic.”
“Thanks. I thought fast girl, racecar driver, there’s something of a connection there,” she said. “Plus, I had it down to two options, and this was the one I could do and be sexy.”
“What was the other?” Vince asked.
“I was going to wear a football helmet and drag along a bunch of broken things and tell everyone I was a Powered,” Sasha said, all but cackling at her own humor. The others joined in, though not quite so enthusiastically, and it should be noted that Alex didn’t laugh at all. As for the Melbrook residents... well, they were working very hard to fit in. Let us say that in their defense and leave it there.
“Yeah, that would have been a good one,” Alice lied. “Anyway, let’s get going. How are we doing cars?”
The group then began the sizeable chore that is transporting many people in limited vehicles to the same location. It was solved in relatively short order, and the freshmen departed to the raucous Halloween party. Their spirits were high, but five of them were a bit lower than they had been. On a day of costumes and pretend, they’d been reminded their outfits were a touch redundant, because they were already lying to everyone about who they really were.
43.
The warehouse that the fraternity had rented was... well, just that. It was a warehouse in the industrial district of Lander that someone had clearly deemed unfit for use, but that someone else (likely someone well-compensated) deemed more than adequate to house hundreds of young bright minds and extensive musical equipment.
Still, none of the partygoers paid much attention to lack of structural integrity. Instead they lined up outside, allowing local police to check their IDs and mark their hands appropriately, then depositing five dollars with the doorman and entering the bass-thumping building already nearly crushed with bodies.
Once inside the aesthetics were slightly better, in the same sense that being chased by a cheetah is slightly better than being chased by a bear because at least you won’t have to run for long from the cheetah. The walls were multi-colored tones of grey and faded white that might as well have been grey, and the concrete floors provided poor acoustical absorption from the massive sound system set up near the rear of the building. Overpriced drink and food carts littered the walls, with a few selling alcoholic beverages to those with unmarked hands, as well as those with marked hands who were willing to pay double under the table. Near these concession areas stood a smattering of tables and chairs, though most of the warehouse was dedicated to room for the young ones to dance and mingle. It was a scene that anyone with culture and sense would dub a new level of hell.
“This place is awesome!” Vince cried out, the others nodding in agreement as they holed up at one of the few open tables and took a moment to collect their bearings. “I can’t believe they can finance this whole party with just five bucks per person. That’s really nice of them.”
“I’d say less nice, more intelligent,” Will corrected.
“How so?” Vince asked.
In response Will pointed to an area of the warehouse where a small section of couches had been set up and roped off. Sitting on these plush seats were a collections of males in costume, as well as a rotating selection of females entering and leaving.
“This is the best place to go for all of us underage students and they know it. So know they’ve got access to hundreds of young girls, away from home for the first time and looking to spread their wings of experimentation. On top of that, they’re in positions of power in this small one-building kingdom, able to expel people at will. It’s a sweet setup when you think about it,” Will explained.
“That seems a bit underhanded when you point it out,” Vince said.
“War is hell, and mating is the greatest war any man will ever fight,” Will shot back.
“Besides, what do you care who gets first crack at the girls with self-esteem and daddy issues? You’ve got your own dysfunctional lady right here,” Sasha jumped in, putting her hand on Vince’s knee and squeezing gently.
“That’s great for you two, but some of us need to work a room to know who we’re taking home tonight,” Roy said, rising from the table and locating the nearest vendor with alcohol. It might have been Vince’s imagination, but he could have sworn Roy shot Mary a questioning look before setting out on his own. Even stranger, though, was that he was almost positive she responded to his gaze with a small affirmative nod. He shook it off as a mere misinterpretation as Roy began weaving his way through the crowd, not unsurprisingly drawing looks of admiration from many of the female attendees.
“I hate to say it, but he has a point,” Alex said. “This seems like a great opportunity to meet some new girls; hell, that’s part of why I came. I just wish Hershel were here, too.”
“Trust me, he wouldn’t be much help in that department,” Nick told him. “Besides, I’ll come wing for you. Chicks totally dig the shades.”
“Thanks,” Alex said sincerely. “I’ve had a little trouble getting into my groove up here. It’s harder to snag a date than it was in high school.”
“You just gotta get confident, buddy,” Nick assured. “That’s all any lady wants.”
“You’re probably right,” Alex agreed,
rising to his feet with Nick following suit. “I guess the biggest difference is I never had to try before. I mean, back then, everyone knew about my... extraordinary talents, so most of the girls were always hitting on me.”
“Being regular sucks,” Nick agreed, throwing an arms around Alex’s shoulders and dragging him off into the crowd. “Let’s try my extraordinary talent. I call it ‘lying’.”
“What about you guys?” Vince asked the remainder of the table once Nick and Alex had departed.
“I have a girlfriend back home,” Will told him. “And my understanding of college courtship says it is traditional for the women to wait for a man to make the first move on them.”
“Shitty, but true,” Jill confirmed. “So you two are just stuck with us.”
“Oh assballs,” Sasha swore.
“Geez, did you want to be alone that bad?” Alice asked.
“Huh? Oh, no, no. Not that. Sorry,” Sasha said. “I just realized I forgot my chapstick in Alice’s car.”
“I’ll go get it,” Vince volunteered. “Alice, you want to come with or just have me use the keys?”
In response Alice pulled out her keys and slid them across the table with a light jingling sound. “I understand the need for protected lips, but my ass is settled and getting up in this outfit is an ordeal just to keep myself covered.”
“Thanks, Alice,” Sasha said, snagging the keys and handing them to Vince. “And thank you, my big strong knight.”
Vince accepted the keys and her praise with a sheepish grin, then got up and began fighting his way against the current to exit the building. It took some doing, but he finally reached the other side of the entrance, confirmed with the doorman he would just be exiting to retrieve something from the car, and made his way into the parking lot.
The October air was surprisingly refreshing after the small amount of time he’d spent sweltering inside the warehouse. He made his way down the street, savoring the sweet crispness and realizing how much he missed being outdoors on nights like these. He’d adapted so quickly to living in one place and sleeping indoors all the time, yet as his feet slapped against the pavement, a small wave of nostalgia crashed against him. Maybe he would see what sort of camping options Lander had nearby. He was sure at least of a few of his friends would be interested in spending a night among the trees.
