Chapter 5
He tried to laugh it off.
“I tripped and hit my mouth on a rock,” he tried to explain. While they were playing a twisted version of hide and seek, he went on. His fraternity brothers were somewhere around, but eerily, no one else was in sight.
As he drank from a bottle of scotch he’d brought along, he held out his arm, showing me a scar that weirdly mirrored the one I had. His story of how he got it poured out of him, a tale of an unprovoked attack by hooded men that sent chills down my spine. It was far too similar to my own experience, too strange to be a coincidence.
“They raped me,” he admitted, sucking on the scotch like it was a pacifier.
That word rang in my ears. Wobbling, I shut my eyes. While my head was spinning, he mentioned initiation, a word that hung between us like a dark cloud.
Suddenly, a horn sounded in the distance. Anubis’ expression changed, torn between fear and joy. He took my hand, and we were running like our lives depended on it, zooming through the trees. His grip was firm, almost desperate, and I struggled to keep up with his pace.
My heart felt like it would explode from the potent mix of fear and adrenaline streaming through me. We were running like deer, not sure what we were running from, only that we must run. But then, bam, we couldn’t go any further. A group of hooded men surrounded us. Just like the men from my nightmares, the black robes seemed to make their faces disappear.
They handed us shovels with a chilling command. “Dig your grave.”
I dropped the shovel in shock, only for one of them to pick it up and thrust it back into my sweaty hands. Anubis remained silent, his expression unreadable. He started digging.
When he finally spoke, his voice was steady. “Dig. You won’t survive if you don’t.”
My heavy panting echoed in the still night as the icy breeze pricked my skin. The sound of our shovels scraping against the earth was unnervingly rhythmic, each scoop of dirt a step closer to the unknown. Anubis’ face was stoic, his movements mechanical. The moonlight cast eerie shadows over his features, reminding me he was the bad guy.
We barely scratched the surface before uncovering a piece of plywood. Anubis lifted it, exposing a deep grave beneath. Without hesitation, he jumped down, and before I could process what was happening, I was pushed in after him. I landed awkwardly on top of him, the wind knocked out of me. We were in a heap, six feet under. They replaced the plywood slab above us, plunging us into complete darkness.
Trapped in that grave atop Anubis, the certainty of our situation sank in. This wasn’t some nightmare. Panic took over.
But then Anubis’ voice broke through the darkness. “It’s part of the initiation. Trust me.”
“Initiation?” I parroted him.
“I have to,” he insisted, his voice full of resignation. “I have to take your virginity down here.”
“The hell you will,” I challenged automatically, my voice echoing oddly in the confined space.
“It’s the Skull Society,” he whispered, as if the very name could summon them, even down here. “I don’t have a choice. I’ve inherited it but know little about it. You saw that party the other night. Isn’t that the life you want to have?”
His question caught me off guard. The luxury, the recklessness had an allure, undeniably. But at what cost?
“No,” I decided.
“Then why are you here at Edenvane?”
“So, I can get a degree and make a difference in the world,” I shot back, my resolve hardening.
“There’s power to be had as well. More than you can imagine.”
“But why me? Why here?” I pressed, unable to hide the tremor in my voice.
“They’ll check.”
Having my coochie examined by the members of this secret society filled me with dread.
“Listen, I tried to get rid of you,” he said, his tone shifting to one of cold practicality.
“It was you, the hair and the party? My two strikes?”
“Yes. It wasn’t until you mentioned the Skull Society that it was too late.”
“Too late for what?”
“For you to be expelled. Exempt from this.”
Breathing hard, I could barely take it all in. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“Do you really think I want to be tied to you? You’re a nobody.” His words stung, slicing through the darkness with surgical precision.
Anubis was a bad guy.
“Yes, I’m nobody,” I whispered, my heart sinking. The realization of my place in this twisted hierarchy was a bitter pill to swallow. “So, tell me, why me?”
“The higher you are, the lower your mate,” he continued, his words a reflection of the warped values that governed this secret society. The implication was clear. In their eyes, I was the lowest of the low, suitable only for this humiliating ordeal.
I sucked in a breath, trying not to cry.
“The lower my casket. That’s what you are called.” He laughed. “For you, it makes sense, a basket case even.”
My throat got too tight. Tears fell from my eyes.
“My casket, where I bury my bone. The only place after tonight. I’ll be damned if I get a cold one even if she is poorer than dirt. Inelegant. Uneducated.”
“I get better grades than you,” I choked out through my sobs.
“Grades mean nothing in the real world. Everything they taught you in school was to keep you dumb. And all those books you read, everything you do, keeps you complacent. You’ve been uneducated your whole life. All you could ever aspire to is to work for the rest of your days. Make a baby to grow up to be another worker. Get a degree and change the world? You won’t amount to anything, just like the rest of them. By design. Hell, the student loans on this place will cripple you financially.”
“I won the lottery.”
“But you still have them, right? Loans to live and eat. Cause mommy is gone with Redd Rocket,” he said, a mocking tone.
This was the bad guy I remembered. “How do you know about him?”
“What don’t I know, Suede. What kind of fucking name is that?”
“Don’t you know? You seem to know everything.”
“Yeah, your mom is a new age junkie. From now on, when you are with me, you’ll be called Nubia.”
“Some Egyptian shit like you?”
“All of us skulls have a code name. You’re my casket. I get to name you. My name just so happens to be my government name. See, Nubia. I can’t escape this. I can’t leave this school or my path in life. Unless I go float in the river, like your friend. And you are on that path with me now.”
“Why me?” I asked again.
“I didn’t choose you. But I did mark you, in case. In case you stayed pure.”
“My arm? It was you who did that to me?”
“Yes, Nubia.”
My tears were red hot now. I couldn’t believe it. It was a bridge too far. “Don’t call me that.”
“It’s your name now, Nubia.”
“What does it even mean?”
“It means gold, and you’re my golden pussy. My fucking ticket to the top. Fucking you, a virgin, down here in this cold grave. I’m in. It’s supposed to be a challenge.”
“I’m a challenge?”
“No. You’re not. I could lie, tell you I am in love, and steal your sweet cherry by snapping my fingers. I would rather it be that way, but this is supposed to be hard for you. Just like God punished women in the Garden of Eden. This is supposed to hurt you, physically and emotionally. Toughen you up for the road ahead. And me, I can’t have someone who wants me. I have to take. Taking is my job, taking anything I want. Rule the goddamn world. It starts here, taking someone who would never have me. Someone not even worthy. Someone who hates me. That’s why it was me who roughed you up and assaulted you in that alley. I cut your arm. I’m the man from your nightmares.”
“Man, you had to have been only just seventeen.”
“You forget, I was a shoo-in for Edenvane. Preparations were made early. My initiation started early.”
“You did that to me?”
“I had to, but I plan to do it again. This time I want to.”
Only enough room for one body, he rolled over, until he was on top of me, pulling off my clothes in the dark. Pushing my knees apart with his. His hands were rough and everywhere, his weight immense and unyielding.
I slapped him, punched, put up a fight. Spitting, I tried everything.
He caught my hands, easily stopping me.
“This time you have nowhere to run, and I won’t be using my fingers. I’ll be fucking you with my big cock you’ve admired so much. Don’t tell me you don’t want me to stroke your pussy walls again. What if I give you a kiss? You’ll be putty in my hands and spread your pussy wide for me, then.”
His hand traveled down my body, and his thumb pressed against my clit, causing a jolt of electricity to run through me. He pushed his cock against my opening, going in for the kill.
Driving his hips, he forged ahead, a little. I screamed, and he covered my mouth.
“You so don’t get it. You’re supposed to fight. It has to be this way. Just like before when I finger fucked you in that alley. I was supposed to scare you off of men. And it worked. You’ve not wanted anyone but me.”
“I hate you,” I managed before his hand got tighter.
“Do you really, though?”
Swallowing, I thought. His cock brushed my clit, making me almost melt into a puddle of goo. When I should’ve been scared, I was strangely dying for him to fuck me. With pursed lips, I wouldn't admit it.
“Tell me, no, Nubia. If you want me to stop.”
Exhaling, I didn’t utter a sound.
“If you don’t hate me after tonight, you will in the weeks ahead.”
Anubis didn’t take his time, and he wasn’t gentle as he rammed his cock inside me.
“Once it’s over, you can’t leave Edenvane. Not with your life. You’ll be my casket. We will be initiated together. We are either both in or both out. Do you understand? So, don’t fuck this up for me, Suede.”
Just like before, I floated away from the pain and the fear momentarily, coming back only when it was safe. When the pain became indistinguishable from pure bliss. When I was back, the bad guy was pounding me, searching for his release. I was almost there, too. I panted into his hand.
“You must obey me, Nubia,” he repeated as he slid his dick in and out of me, deliberately slow. His mouth was at my ear, his heavy breath tickling me there as he did things to my insides. “You’re mine now to do with as I please.”
About to come, I didn’t think that sounded bad at all.
“If you’re good, I’ll keep you at the next burial instead of trading you to one of my brothers.”
That changed things. Traded? Listening intently slowed my orgasm to a crawl.
“We start in the grave, and we will end in the grave. You do as I tell you and you’ll end up back here in this grave with me. I won’t choose a new mate. Don’t you want to be with the head of the Skulls? That’s who I’ll be once we make it through all the hardships we’re going to endure together.”
He uncovered my mouth. “Do you agree to do this?” he asked as he was frozen inside me.
“You said I didn’t have a choice.”
“You do. This journey with me or the river.”
“I don’t want to die,” I started.
“Do you want to come?” he asked, his voice turning to silk.
“Oh, yes,” I purred.
Anubis skillfully moved, coaxing an orgasm out of me. Once I finished, he pulled out quickly. He then came up my body and stuck his dick between my teeth, coming into my mouth. Half swallowing and half gagging, I protested.
“I have to fill every hole tonight. I came a bit inside you, too. Only a little. You’re not ovulating.”
Anubis knew entirely too much.
Out of breath, I asked, “What’s next, my ears?”
“No,” he almost growled, turning me over to my knees. “Luckily for you, it’s just the fun ones.”
I thought the worst was over. But Anubis knocked at my back door, the head of his dick pressing against it urgently. It was still hard. He was insatiable.
“Please, please, be gentle,” I begged him, my face in the cold dirt, my ass in the air.
I felt him bend down. His breath hit my pussy before he licked my ass crack. Wiggling his tongue, he made my pussy drip again. When he’d slobbered all over my puckered hole, he came back up and stuck a finger inside.
Holy shit. It felt too good.
“I thought this was supposed to hurt me?”
“My pinky,” he explained.
His pinky felt ginormous.
“Don’t worry, it’s going to hurt like hell. I’m just enjoying myself,” he breathed.
Bracing myself, I had to let him in. And he wasn’t kidding. Once he started, it hurt like hell. But this time, I was involved, feeling everything. No running away. Anubis awarded me by reaching around and petting my clit. Not being able to take anymore, I cried out, clutching the dirt as I came again.
Finally, lying on top of him, I snuggled against his hard body, exhausted. His breath came heavy, and I realized he was asleep. In the pitch black, six feet under, I really had nowhere to run. I laid awake thinking of everything. Everything that happened. Everything, Anubis said. At some point, sleep took me. And then sunlight streaming into the grave woke me. Just as he said, robed men lowered a contraption to help us out of the hole. They handed me a robe but then made me open it as they inspected me. After one look, they were satisfied. Glancing down, I discovered why. Blood streaked my legs.
Anubis took me back to the Boat House to get cleaned up. Even though I felt like I had been beaten, I showered and put on the clothes he offered. I laid down on his bed while he showered. I must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, it was dark outside. The bad guy lay next to me, looking so sweet. For a moment, I imagined he was. But that was a lie. I had to leave. Not just the Boat House, but Edenvane all together. As if my thought summoned him from sleep, Anubis grabbed my wrist.
“You can’t leave, Nubia.”
“I can’t stay either,” I said, feeling it deep down. I could disappear. Fuck this college.
“Go back to your dorm. Don’t even think about leaving Edenvane. They’ll float you. They’ll float me, too.”
While nodding, I accepted my fate. After everything, the good, bad, and ugly, I didn’t want him to die.
“Meet me after class tomorrow.”
“Okay, what’s up? More holes to fill?” I felt like a hoe. Not like his… casket? That was fuckin absurd. Weird to the fucking max.
“We’re being initiated. We have to prove ourselves.”
“To whom? Won’t you be king of this shit?” I asked, throwing my hands in the air.
“To Mrs. Mence’s Daughter, Sophie. She’s initiating this year. She wants to be my queen at the end of all this.”
Remembering how she looked at him, I bet she did.
“She wants you to fail me.”
“I thought your mate in this has to be a nobody because you’re such a big somebody.” Asshole more like it.
“Yeah, but I can trade you in after we make it through this alive, like a used car. So, she won’t make it easy on us. She’ll want to humiliate you and use me to do it. You have to be strong, Nubia.”
Bowing my head, I took a deep breath.
Anubis was in front of me, raising my chin. “We can do this,” he said, his voice strained with too many emotions. “Us, you and me. All that shit I said about you being nothing was bullshit. You wouldn’t have me when I was sweet to you.”
I punched his chest.
He grabbed me by the arms. “See, I’m sweet and you get all violent.”
Spinning me, he flung me onto his bed. Falling on me, he found my mouth with his, melting my heart for a second.
“I’m not falling for that,” I huffed. “You already said it was lies.”
“But is it a lie, Nubia? Can’t trust anything a liar says? Like I love you.” He gave me a sly smile before planting another kiss on my lips, whispering, “Or perhaps I can revoke it. Make you feel like shit again. Take you by force. Which is it, Nubia? What will it take for you to help me succeed?”
I didn’t know, but I stayed and let Anubis fuck me again. Our initiation into the Skull Society was going to be more than rough. It was life or death, but I planned to enjoy it all I could.