II
Amelia Sanghera
“Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong religious feelings, and you have a practical guarantee of dark morbidities expressed in crime, perversion, and insanity.”H.P. Lovecraft
Fall 2015- San Domingo University, restricted private campus
of everything in front of me, only pinpricks of light from the dormitory windows and the rare spattering of street lamps. There really ought to be more, but apparently, San Domingo favored traditional scenery over safety.
I had a small switchblade in the pocket of my jacket, but it’s not like it would do much if I were actually put in a position to use it. The edges of my books pressed into my ribs as I squeezed them against me, and I hurried my steps. My room wasn’t far, but no matter how often I made this walk, I still hated it.
You’d think the protection of my name would give me a sense of security, but I knew better than that. My parents weren’t here, and you didn’t attend the university unless you were just as monied as I was. Private college plus douchey rich parents with copious a helping of unmonitored frat boys did not a wholesome experience make.
Chapman Hall, named for another American royalty family with most likely questionable morals, was just a few more minutes down the path. Checking the sidewalk behind me, I didn’t see any masked killers lurking. I tried to remind myself that this was a restricted campus with security, but it did nothing to assuage my concerns that Jason or Michael Myers might be just beyond the trees.
It turned out that I should have been looking forward because I ran face-first into a wall of muscle as someone stepped out onto the path just in front of me. I bounced off the tall body, landing on my ass.
“Fucking hell.” Shaking my head, I looked up at the looming figure. “Sorry, I—“
Sergius Romano smirked as his gaze raked over my crumpled form. Jasher Winslow, his partner in very real crime, stood next to him, his arm draped over Sergius’ shoulder as he chewed gum.
Jasher’s disgusting habit of loudly enjoying his fucking Double Bubble had always driven me insane, and it was particularly horrible when he and his buddy were blocking my way to the dormitory, forcing me to stare at the large bubble hanging from his lips.
“You’re in a hurry. Expecting a call from Daddy?” Sergius crossed his arms over his chest while neither of them made any effort to help me up.
“Yeah. I need to go tell him to stop wasting money on this school. Its attendees have gone way downhill.”
With a jerk of his head, Sergius gestured at me as I stood up, pulling my pleated skirt back into place and subtly checking for the knife in my suit pocket.
“You hear what Miss Stuck-Up said about you, Jasher?”
Thankfully, I hadn’t lost the blade when I tumbled to my ass, but I was going to hear about the tear in my skirt. Damn Sisters and their obsession with the cleanliness of these fucking school uniforms. What college requires a uniform?!
As discreetly as I could, I slipped my hand into the pocket, holding my thumb on the release mechanism.
“Stuck up? Really? Like everyone here isn’t some heiress or son of a tech giant. Look,” I stepped backward to walk around them, “I just want to go to sleep. I’m exhausted from studying. Maybe you should go give that a try.”
Jasher quickly pushed off Sergius and jabbed his head forward at me like a snake.
“You saying we’re dumb?”
His breath was close enough to smell the sickly sweet stench of gum, and I flinched back.
“No, actually. But now that you mention it.”
I didn’t finish the thought, I’d already gone too far, considering I was alone and on a dimly lit path with two of the biggest assholes on campus. Putting on my fakest, most “retail-worthy” smile, I held my books against my chest and made myself smaller.
“Please. Just let me get past, please.”
Neither of them moved, and for a second, I thought they might actually back off, but that hope was quickly dashed as Sergius whispered in my ear as I passed by.
“Is it true your Daddy has someone check if you’re still a virgin?”
My steps faltered as I gawked at his words. My pulse hammered, and I thought very strongly of puking right there on the walkway.
“Look at her face!” Jasher shouted before slinking up to my other side. “It is true. Good to know.”
I ran. At least, I tried to.
But Sergius’ hands were too quick, and he grabbed my ponytail, yanking me back and tossing me to the grass. Pain bloomed in my head as it hit the earth, and my books went flying. The darkness seemed to thicken, and then Jasher was dragging me by my ankle further into its obstructive depths.
I kicked with everything I had, and I made good contact with Jasher’s hand and arms, but it didn’t slow him down. As I tried to sit up, Sergius punched me in the jaw, and my head snapped back. Landing back on the ground with a hard thump, I groped for the switchblade in my pocket.
I moved quick, whipping my arm free and flicking open the knife. I slashed the air around me until I finally made contact with Sergius’ face.
“Fucking bitch!”
He kicked my hand, tearing the flesh with the treads of his shoe, and the blade was wrenched from my grip. I tried to sit up again, but Jasher pulled hard on my leg until he could climb on top of me. Between the two of them, the assholes bound my arms with duct tape in a matter of moments and then tore open my shirt, using the very knife I carried to split the fabric and expose my breasts.
I’d never had much of a chest, so I usually went braless, and Sergius’ eyes stole a glance down before shoving Jasher off me.
“Quite the slut, aren’t you.” I tried to stand, but he caught me by my hair again. “You’re probably aching for a cock in that virgin pussy of yours. But I ain’t getting caught.”
His other hand went to my jaw, and I tried to bite him, but Sergius’ hand came down across my face in a hard slap.
“Bring it over! This fucking cunt likes to bite!”
Jasher pulled something from his back pocket, but before I could make out what it was, Sergius gripped my jaw again, his fingers digging painfully into the hollow of my cheeks.
I reflexively opened, and Jasher stuffed something between my teeth. With Sergius helping to secure it, they fitted my mouth with a gag that kept me from closing my mouth. A metal bar pushed my tongue down, and I immediately began to drool.
It was some fucking BDSM device, but these assholes were clearly not listening to the Consensual part of the credo.
And then it hit me.
They knew. They knew about my fucking dad’s checks, about the most likely consequences, and that it would take physically restraining me to get what they wanted.
They knew, and they came prepared.
Betraying tears slid down my cheeks, mixing with the spit on my chin.
Sergius grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him.
“Get one thing straight, bitch. Scream all you want. No one’s coming. We get to do whatever we want, and you’re going to take it like the dumb cunt you are.”
The sound of Jasher’s pants being unzipped dragged my eyes to the left.
“Get fucked, Winslow. I’m not getting sloppy seconds.” Sergius yanked my face back to him, his hands going to his pants.
I’d never understood what true dissociation was until that moment. The world around me melted away even as I was completely aware of each and every sensation that tormented my body. They blended into a waking nightmare, making me feel as though I’d been drugged.
Strangely focusing on the burn of Sergius’ nails on my scalp, he finished, stepping back to allow Jasher his chance, and I vomited.
My throat was raw, my gag reflex so overstimulated that I was completely empty at this point.
“Gross! Now, move. It’s my turn.”
Jasher gripped my head, but he didn’t last as long as Sergius. Even still, I heaved nothing as he pulled back and shoved me to my side in the grass.
“Fuck yeah!”
They ran off, and I stopped listening to their words.
My vomit lay in a puddle a few inches from my face, and tears from the straining choke stained my cheeks. The duct tape on my wrists was moist with sweat, and after trying for a few minutes, I was finally able to slip free.
I pulled the gag off, shoving it into my bag as evidence. But then I just sat there. I couldn’t bring myself to stand.
A twig snapped off to the side.
“Hello?!”
Stepping from behind a bush was another student. As she got closer, I realized it was Harper Ellison, resident Queen Bitch of San Domingo.
“Please, I—“
“Don’t even bother, Amelia. This is University rules. The ones that don’t get published. Don’t fuck with your betters.”
Rage and betrayal fought for control in my brain, leaving me a stuttering mess.
“You’re-You’re really going to stand there like-like nothing happened?” I could hardly speak above a whisper, thanks to the pain in my throat. “I didn’t… I didn’t do anything!”
“It doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do. Sanghera’s daughter was bound to get fucked once she arrived. We’ve all heard about your parents from ours. Just be glad the fucking wasn’t completely literal.”
Harper walked off, leaving me beaten and bloody on the grass.