Chapter 13

  The problem people have with committing violence is hesitation.
  I had made a decision and there was no pause as I climbed onto
the addition to the frat house. The president of the frat
probably thought an egress with barely a story drop to safety
made his room cherry. Our early flirtation with summer had him
keeping his window wide open. I dove cleanly into the room,
rolled quietly coming up crouched in the closest spot that was
untouched by the light from the window.
  A couple of seconds were a worthwhile risk to let my senses
adjust.
  I did not smell a woman, which made the situation easier to
manage. There was no reason for him to be brave. I opened my eyes
and looked at his bed using my peripheral vision. It was the
darkest part of the room and looking at it directly would have
been a mistake.
  I would have slept lighter with an open window that a man could
jump through in my room. The president of the frat struck me as
the type not to have discovered his mortality yet.
  I moved towards the bed.
  Professor Ryan acquired everything I needed but I only brought
a couple of the pieces with me. I pulled the metal glasses case
from my sleeve and opened it. The rag inside was almost moist; it
was folded to perfectly cup his mouth and nose. I placed my hand
carefully above his head and moved the rag towards him slowly. He
tried to move his face away as his nostrils picked up the scent.
I let him get used to it and he relaxed.
  I moved it closer. His breathing changed as his body recognized
the replacement of oxygen with something else. I pressed the rag
against his nose and mouth. He reached up to grab my hand and
tried to sit up. My other hand was ready to grab his hair and
push his face into the rag from behind. His reaction was to
breathe deeply, preparing to fight. It was the worst thing he
could have done. I felt his hands weaken on my wrist. He fell
into unconsciousness easily after that.
  I placed the rag back in its case. I walked to the window and
let the light reflect off the case. A minute later, Michael and
Professor Ryan entered the room through the window moving nearly
as quietly as I had.
  Michael carried the bindings. He moved efficiently to the bed
and proceeded to expertly gag, and tie our victim's arms to the
bed frame. He moved to the bottom of the bed and spread-eagled
the president by tying his feet to the bedposts.
  Michael walked to me with his hand extended. I pulled the knife
out and handed it over. He returned to the bed and cut off the
president's sleeping clothes. Michael returned to hand me the
knife and then stood post at the foot of the bed. He had his
instructions and was willing. Professor Ryan handed me the
ketchup squeeze bottles and walked to stand on the opposite side
of the bed.  He was only an interested observer, or so he said.
  I looked at the president and sighed. I closed my eyes and
whispered my brother's name. There was no blood between us but
before the Brotherhood there was Jason.
  I pulled the tiny vial out of my pocket and opened it. I sat
down on the bed and studied president's sleeping face. I placed
the open vial underneath the his nose. He snapped his head away
from it. I followed him and he moved as far as the bonds let him.
  He gained consciousness and tried to move. Michael was good
with bindings so the frat's president only had a range of
movement that allowed a good view of everything that was going to
happen to him.
  Professor Ryan turned on the bedside lamp at his side. I closed
my eyes as light penetrated the room. I opened them a minute
later and let them adjust while staring at Gerald. He was
unfocused but trying to make out who I was. His eyes flashed with
recognition of the situation he was in. He struggled to escape
Michael's bonds and looked at me angrily.
  I waited for it to pass. He seemed hardheaded in his struggle;
it was a waste of energy from my perspective. A couple of seconds
should have told him it would take a concerted effort to escape;
not something he could do with his captor sitting on the same
bed.
  I sighed patiently.
  His eyes focused on the important aspect of his immediate
future. He recognized me and tried to smirk around the gag.
  "You're not afraid yet," I said with a nod. "It makes this a
lot easier, as long as you're not stupidly brave, Gerald."
  His brow furrowed at his name. I shook my head; he knew who I
was but did not think I would know him.
  "Three of your brothers have placed you in a dangerous
predicament, Gerald."
  He smirked around the gag again.
  "I could go after them but they strike me as the dumbest of
your brothers," I said. "Not to mention that it would still leave
the rest of you to deal with. I find my time is spent more
productively if I skip cleaning up the bottom layer of filth. I
think you have some influence over your frat brothers. Convincing
you that your continued well-being is directly tied to how little
I have to think about any of you is more efficient."


  He tried to speak around the gag but I was fairly certain he
was only cursing me.
  "So as not to have a misunderstanding, you do know what three
of your brothers did to my..."
  I thought about how to best phrase it for Gerald.
  "Toy, Doris Alex."
  He smirked again.
  I shook my head slowly; it would probably have been a better
idea to take him outside his frat house.
  "You're not taking me seriously, Gerald," I said standing up
from the bed. "I knew you wouldn't, but I hoped you were at least
somewhat willing to listen."
  I turned the top of one of the ketchup bottles. I picked up the
smell immediately. I remembered it from my high school chemistry
class and the time Jason used it to convince a high school bully
I was off-limits.
  I pointed the bottle at Gerald's torso and squeezed. The clear
liquid sprayed onto him. I coated his upper body lightly. I
thought about not doing his face but Jason taught me halfway was
a dangerous luxury.
  "Close your eyes, darling," I whispered. "I'm not sure what
will happen if this gets in your eyes."
  Jason spoke those exact words to my tormentor years before. I
could not quite say it with the scary concern that he had.
  Gerald looked nervous. The smell of the liquid assaulted his
senses, especially as it evaporated. I put the bottle down on the
bedside stand and reached into my pocket.
  A Zippo has a more impressive look and feel in these type of
situations.
  I snapped it open and a second snap lit it. I looked at Gerald
seriously before nodding to Professor Ryan. He turned off the
lamp and the Zippo's flame seemed brighter in the darkness.
  "Gerald, I want you to know that I am not sorry."
  I moved the fire to his waist. I had started the coating there.
My hand approached the highest point that the liquid turned gas
reached and blue flame sparked.
  It was slow burning so instead of an explosion the fire flowed
like water from the point of origin. It spread left and right to
either side of his body, moved up his body like blue lava.
  I stepped back and watched with the azure lighting my curious
face.
  Gerald screamed but someone would have had to be right outside
his door to hear. He struggled mightily and the flame spotlighted
the desperate fear on his face as he looked at the spreading
fire. His mind did not bother with the nicety of noticing there
was no searing heat or that the fire danced at least a half-inch
above his skin.
  He screamed again as the blue wave licked up his chest to his
neck. The fear would not let him close his eyes as the flame
passed onto his face. He shook his head hard trying to pacify the
fire above his eyes.
  Like in my chemistry class, the fire burned a lot longer than
would have seemed possible without a visible fuel source. It took
almost a minute for all of the blue flame to dissipate.
  Professor Ryan turned the lamp on.
  Gerald was gasping and tried to cringe away from me as I sat on
the bed. His body had a fine sheen of sweat on it. I waited for
him to catch his breath and for his heartbeat to get down to a
pace more normal to the amount of danger he was in.
  He looked at me with fear but the lack of pain registered. He
had only felt some of the heat from his baptism.
  "I find it disturbing that I always have to convince someone of
the gravity of their situation," I said conversationally. "I
would think that waking up groggy, tied naked to your bed,
without remembering how you got there would be cause for concern.
To get you in that position proves that I'm competent enough to
be dangerous and yet I always have to set people on fire."
  The fear was joined by the wariness of a cornered animal.
  I nodded at him. I was right; Gerald had more brains than his
brothers, or at least a larger survival instinct.
  "You're probably wondering why you're not hurting right now," I
said.
  He was not but I needed to focus his mental process down the
path I wanted it to go.
  "I only needed to get your undivided attention, Gerald," I told
him. "The hurting part is still minutes away."
  His eyes widened.
  "Now that I have you," I said. "Let's get back to where this
all started. You know Doris Alex?"
  He nodded slowly, reluctant to admit anything. I smiled in
amusement; it was to be expected.
  "I'm not going to ask why your brothers did that to her. You
would say something stupid like she deserved it and I'd have to
kill you," I told him in a monotone voice. "It's too late to undo
it anyway, but Gerald, I need to believe; truly... faithfully
believe that you understand the consequences of my thinking it
might happen again."
  He shook his head in automatic denial; it was to be expected
also.
  "Gerald, you don't even want a pout on Doris Alex's wonderful
mouth to be caused by someone you know in the future."
  He nodded vigorously.
  "For me to be convinced you understand, YOU have to believe I
am willing to hurt you. Not only that I am willing to hurt you,
but that I have accepted any price I have to pay for doing it."
  His brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to get the
convincing part started so that I would leave.
  "I hate to lecture at this time," I said pedantically. "But the
problem you and the boys have is that none of you thought hurting
her would have consequences. I'm sure those three thought that
maybe I would get in their face and they'd get to kick my ass. Of
course, no one bothered to find out if my ass was kickable."
  Gerald looked worried.
  "In Cancun, I gutted a woman in the middle of a nightclub," I
said it slowly, accentuating each word. "Left to right, then
down; her hipbone is what stopped the knife. I left it inside
her. I regret that now, it was my favorite knife. There were one
hundred and fifty to two hundred people around us when I did it,
some of them danced in her blood."
  I looked into his eyes and let him see the truth if he could
recognize it.
  "That's not something you would have been able to find out, but
even a little investigation would have told you how bad I hurt
those boys on the bus last semester over a girl I didn't even
know."
  I sat up straight and looked around the room.
  "Do you read science fiction, Gerald?" I asked him curiously.
  He shook his head carefully.
  "Too bad, you won't really understand," I said with some
disappointment slipping into my voice.
  "I'm going to give you a choice Gerald: pain or death," I said.
"Not over what happens between your fraternity and my toys in the
future. You won't have a choice there. I won't have a choice if
something like this happens again."
  I pulled one of the 9mm Berettas holstered at the small of my
back with my right hand. My left drew the knife Michael had used
to cut Gerald's clothing off. I showed the instruments to Gerald
and he pulled his bindings tight, trying to move away from me. I
sat on the bed and turned the gun in my hand to bring his
attention to it.
  "This is what I'm going to use on any brother between me and
the front door should you choose death. You shouldn't think about
them though. They're not the ones who have to suffer the
choosing."
  I turned the knife.
  "This is the sword by which you'll make your choice."
  I put the knife a couple of inches above his left eye. He tried
to move away from it until I tapped his temple with the barrel of
the gun.
  "Here's what's going to happen, Gerald," I said in a near
whisper.  "You're going to hurt. Your instinct will be to sit up,
if you do that, the knife takes your eye. If that happens,
there's no point in not killing you. If the knife sinks deep
enough, the attempt to sit up will probably kill you anyway. My
fingerprints are all over this place now, so if you die I should
just kill those three dickheads too and like I said, any brother
between the front door and me has to go too. What're thirty
life-sentences versus one when I only have one life?"
  I leaned closer to him.
  "Now, if I'm going to get a life sentence, why not get the
dying part over with now, right? Cops are like soldiers on a
battlefield, extremely pragmatic. I'm sure I'll only have to put
a bullet in one of them before they do me the favor of foregoing
the sitting in jail until I die part."
  I took a deep breath and placed the end of the 9mm at his
temple.
  "People sometimes think I'll pull the knife away before they
kill themselves. That's why I close my eyes," I whispered. "I
won't be able to tell that you sat up until your eye hits the
knife."
  I tapped his head with the 9mm again.
  "I would keep your head against the gun. It will help your
focus by reminding you of the stakes. Plus I might think you're
trying to get out from under the knife and pull the trigger
anyway."
  Gerald shook his head frantically until I tapped him again.
  He froze with his eyes widening painfully.
  I smiled at him and nodded my head.
  Michael climbed onto the bed and moved upwards until he was by
Gerald's hips.
  "Steel yourself, Gerald," I said. "Pain is not death."
  I closed my eyes.
  I felt the impact as Michael punched Gerald in the groin.
Michael was pissed at the brothers for what happened to Doris
Alex. I knew he would not be able to hold back even if it would
save my life.
  "The knife, Gerald" I whispered. "Remember the knife."
  Gerald whined as the pain washed over him. He sobbed and I felt
him move. I tapped him hard with the 9mm.
  "I WILL kill you, Gerald," I whispered. "If you touch the
knife, I'll feel it and pull the trigger. The knife, Gerald, the
knife is the end of your future. Look at it. I want to take your
eye. I want to punish you for Doris Alex. The knife, Gerald.
Think about the knife. The knife is your death. Sit up and die."
  He cried around the gag as he wrestled for survival against the
pain.
  "Don't fail your brothers, Gerald," I said loudly. "Live, you
stupid bastard. I know you want to live."
  I felt him pass the point of control. I opened my eyes. Tears
were flowing freely out of his eyes and his facial muscles were
tight, almost in the rigor of death. I nodded at him and waited
for the pain to fade. I kept the knife and gun where they were
just in case he lost it even though he was past the hard part.
  I backed away and put the tools away when the look of
desperation fled his face. He probably ached but most of the pain
had passed.
  "I expected to kill you, Gerald," I said to him crossing my
arms in my lap and leaning towards him. "I'm almost
disappointed."
  I gave him more time to recover.
  "Do you know why I did this, Gerald?" I asked him.
  He shook his head slowly. His eyes were slightly reddened from
his ordeal.
  "This isn't my style. It's overdramatic, drawn out," I said. "I
would prefer to burn your frat's fucking house down and roast
marshmallows on the fire for Doris Alex."
  I stared into his eyes and deep inside I saw that he believed
me.
  "The reason you and your brothers are not a cooking fire is
that those three fuckheads managed to change Doris Alex
slightly," I told him. "I asked her to take her robe off and she
hesitated. It was only about one point five seconds but..."
  I looked away from him.
  "It was like having my favorite red train not go choo-choo as
it went around the track."
  I turned back to him.
  "I'm not a toy fixer so I don't quite know how to make my train
go choo-choo again. I have an idea though. I think if Doris Alex
gets a heartfelt, sincere apology from you and maybe just heard
the words from those three brothers, when I say 'Take your' her
clothing will start flying in case the rest of the sentence is
'clothes off'."
  I turned the top of the second ketchup squeeze bottle. He shook
his head frantically.
  "But if you can't control your baser instincts then it's not
worth it. I had proved to myself that I could trust you if I let
you live."
  I turned and upended the bottle over his groin. I squeezed and
soaked his dick, balls, and inside of his hips. The liquid hit
him in a stream instead of the spray I had used earlier. He shook
his head violently, pleading with his eyes. I patted his forehead
and waited a minute. The light went out as Professor Ryan turned
the lamp off again. I snapped the Zippo open in front of Gerald's
face and lit it.
  He begged around the gag.
  I stood up and waved the fire over his groin. It was a slow
burn from the top of the gas cloud towards his groin. He screamed
even knowing the fire had not hurt before. I tilted my head to
the side and watched as he pissed in fear through the flame. He
fought the bindings hard and shook his hips left and right trying
to dampen the flames.
  I knew it would happen.
  The fire turned yellow as his pubic hair began to burn. He
screamed and even the gag could not contain the power of it. His
movements became wilder in a massive attempt to save his
genitalia. The fire spread; he was not hairy but there was enough
fuel to brighten the room. His dick flopped around as he
inadvertently used it to beat at the flames.
  The blue fire petered out as the yellow flames burned down to
the roots of the hair they had a grasp on. The smell of the room
changed from the burning gas to a mixture of urine, feces, and
burnt hair.
  Professor Ryan turned on the lamp when darkness fell over us
again. I studied the reddened skin at Gerald's groin with
satisfaction.
  "He shit himself," Michael said with obvious disgust. I reached
to the floor and picked up a blanket where Michael had thrown it
from the bed. I covered Gerald from his knees to the middle of
his stomach. It helped contain the smell.
  I sat down on the bed and looked into his eyes.
  Gerald was deathly afraid of me.
  I put my hand on his throat. He tried to shrink into the bed to
avoid my touch. I squeezed, not enough to cut off air but enough
for him to feel the pressure.
  "Gerald, I am the reason there are laws," I said. "I do not
think life is precious; not mine, and certainly not yours. I need
reasons not to kill you. If your brothers continue to fuck with
my life, I will take pleasure in ending yours."
  I squeezed, making breathing a struggle for him.
  "You will apologize to Doris Alex. The three brothers who
touched her will also apologize. If they don't, I will fucking
blowtorch your balls off. After those apologies, if one of you
fucks with someone I know, I will hold you personally and
painfully responsible."
  I let go of his throat and looked at Professor Ryan and
Michael.
  "I am not alone, Gerald," I said without looking at him. "MY
Brothers will get to you if I cannot."
  I turned my face back to him.
  "You have until Wednesday night to get it done."
  He nodded with his eyes almost popping out of his head.
  I nodded at Michael and my Brother. They picked the ketchup
bottles up and slipped out of the window. I took the gag off of
Gerald. I pulled the knife out and cut his bonds.
  I stood at the side of the bed and put the knife away. He
backed away and fell out of the bed trying to get as far away
from me as he could.
  "Scream, Gerald," I said loudly pulling out both 9mm guns from
my back. I cocked them and stood so that my right hand could
point at the door and my left at Gerald.
  "Scream, I promise we will die together."
  He shook his head violently.
  I walked over to him and crouched down so that our eyes were at
the same level.
  "You're fucking crazy," he whispered in a terrified voice.
  I smiled at him.
  "No, Gerald, I'm perfectly sane," I told him. "That's your
problem."
  I stared at him but he could not hold the eye contact and
looked away.
  "Do you understand the difference between us?" I asked him.
  He shook his head slightly.
  "You are not willing to die, even if it would mean my death
too."
  He turned to look at me.
  "Scream, Gerald."
  He shook his head as if his life depended on it. I sighed and
got up. I walked to the window and slipped out.
  Professor Ryan was talking on his cell phone when I slid into
the backseat of my car. Michael pulled away as soon as I closed
the door. I stared out the window during the drive to the house.
  We walked in and I sat down at one end of the sofa. I could
feel Professor Ryan and Michael watching me. I turned to look at
them. Professor Ryan turned to look at Michael and then back to
me.
  "I am the reason there are laws?" he said questioningly.
  "Too much?" I asked seriously.
  "I'm not one to criticize," he said, "but it did seem
bombastic."
  I nodded thoughtfully.
  Michael was the first one to break. He broke out with a small
laugh. I looked at him and a smile cracked my face. None of us
could control our laughter for a few minutes after that.
  "I don't think that Gerald noticed it was overdone though,"
Michael said when we regained control, causing us to lose it
again.
  I sat up and took a deep breath.
  "Jason taught you how to do that?" Michael asked.
  I nodded slowly. I did not like to talk about Jason.
  "How bad was he?" Michael persisted with.
  I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.
  "How would you describe our relationship if you were one of
those frat brothers?" I asked him.
  Michael turned to Professor Ryan. Of the Siblings, he was the
most laid-back around me, but at times the most unsure. He
shrugged before answering.
  "I'd say we had the same circle of friends but weren't tight."
  I nodded and closed my eyes leaning my head back.
  "If I were Jason, the brothers would have been crossing the
street if YOU were coming their way for the last two years."
  I sat there for a half-hour letting the high fade. I knew if
Gerald had failed to control himself I would have died. It took
time to recover from putting my life in someone else's hands. I
sighed and opened my eyes finally. I straightened to see Michael
and Professor Ryan talking to each other. I got up, stretched and
shook my head to get rid of the grogginess.
  I walked towards the door.
  "David," Michael said standing up.
  I turned to look at him.
  "The woman in Cancun?" he asked. He looked unsure of himself
again.
  I hesitated before answering.
  "I held her responsible for Jason's death," I said. "Other
people shared that responsibility. Most of them are dead."
  "You can't just kill people like that," Michael said, looking
at Professor Ryan.
  I shook my head.
  "I traded a father, his and his son's life for a hunting
license. You can't kill people like that Michael. It makes you a
better person than I am."
  "Do you want to die, David?" Professor Ryan asked.
  I smiled at the wall before answering.
  "Every heartbeat is a step closer to death, but before we're
born that sound is our life."
  I walked out of the house and got in my car. I drove slowly
back to the frat house. I parked a couple of hundred feet away
where I could watch Gerald's window.
  Minutes later, a car pulled up behind me. Its lights turned off
and the doors opened. I got out of my car and turned towards the
two men that stepped out of it. I recognized Roderigo.
  He would drive a Jaguar.
  I did not recognize the other man, except as a type like
Roderigo, Professor Ryan and myself. I watched as they walked
towards me. I looked at the other man closely. The way he
occupied the space he stood in fingered him as a cop.
  "Melisa's daddy," I said.
  He nodded and studied me.
  "I expected a pep rally bonfire from you. This is almost
subtle," Roderigo said motioning towards Gerald's window.
  I shrugged.
  "I had to think of more than myself," I said.
  "Oh?" he said questioningly.
  "Doris Alex is an exceptionally well-behaved Sibling," I said.
"I did not want her ruined by those three idiots."
  "This isn't the end of it," Roderigo said looking at me. "Those
three are not going to swallow apologizing easily."
  None of us doubted that Gerald would try very hard to do what I
wanted. I smiled happily for the first time that night.
  "No, they're going to have to get hurt to learn," I replied.
  Roderigo nodded.
  "I'm sorry we lost Jason," he said. "He would have made an
exceptional Sibling."
  Melisa's dad nodded in agreement. I really thought about Jason
for the first time since his death.
  "Yes, he would have," I said finally.
  "Doris and him could have made beautiful babies," Roderigo said
almost to himself.
  "Siblings are bred?" I asked curiously.
  "No, but 'exceptionally well-behaved Siblings' have a way of
doing what they think a Brother needs or wants, regardless of
what we might think. Some extend that to the Brotherhood as a
whole," Melisa's dad said shaking his head in amusement.
  I raised an eyebrow.
  "You must have thought at some point the attack on Doris was
goaded by the Siblings," Roderigo said studying me.
  "To what purpose though, Melisa would have nothing to gain," I
said. "She probably didn't actually notice they were talking
about her. She might have wanted to slap them with the fact that
she is not an ice dyke but... To be honest, I don't think she
cares about anything except us."
  "Why do you think Melisa ranks enough to lead this?" her dad
asked me.
  "Ranks?" I asked looking at him.
  "Siblings have... politics. I guess that's the best word for
it," Roderigo said with amusement lacing his voice.
  "Melisa struck me as the one in charge," I said.
  "Melisa is only your First, David," her dad said. "It gives her
a lot of rank with you living here, but there are Sibling rules
she would never violate. She especially cannot interfere if
another Sibling wants to be with you. I don't know all the
intricacies of how Siblings decide who is in charge among them
but a Brother's favor is the most important factor."
  "Doris is the only Sibling in their enclave who has a sexual
relationship with Dr. Ryan and you. Even with Melisa and Sheryl
having more personal relationships with either of you, she should
rank, at least until you move into the house. Things might get
confusing then, with one Sibling being in charge in the house,
and another outside," he finished with.
  I looked at him like I was considering his sanity.
  He shrugged his shoulders as if I would have to experience it
to understand.
  "Siblings attempting to achieve higher rank make things more
interesting for Brothers."
  I turned and leaned back against the car.
  "Why would Doris Alex put herself through that? She got hurt."
  "Getting hurt wouldn't matter to her. Like you said, she's an
exceptionally well-behaved Sibling," Roderigo said.
  "There's nothing for me to gain from this," I pointed out.
  "It wasn't just you she was serving," Roderigo said softly.
  Roderigo and Melisa's dad looked at each other. They turned to
stare at Gerald's window.
  "Go home, Brother," Roderigo said. "We'll watch Gerald for
you."
  "Don't worry about him, David," Melisa's dad said. "I'll show
up in a couple of places he can see me. He'll know that you are
not alone."
  I nodded and opened my car door.
  I did not look back as I drove away. It was the first time
since my initial interview that I did not feel anyone watching
me.