“
No, don’t. Please!” she begged, almost franticly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who lived in fear of Levi’s wrath.
“
I didn’t think so,” I replied calmly. The group broke out in raucous laughter as Camille and I left the clearing.
Camille whispered, “Damn Chelsea, I like this feisty side of you.”
I had questioned just minutes earlier the twisted logic in covering the girls in baby oil, however as we made our way to the second house its purpose became crystal clear. We walked in silence for a couple of moments when all of a sudden I heard a high pitched scream. My head spun in the direction of the sound, just in time to see a thin figure in a black ski mask grab one of the greasy girls. He had a difficult time getting a good grip on her as his hands slid from her body. On her face was an expression of sheer terror as the figure lunged at her a second time, again unable to hold her still.
“Oh my god,” I gasped.
“
It’s all part of the game, my dear,” Camille reminded me, “The new boys are the hunters, and the new girls are the hunted. The symbolism is so transparent. Frankly, it’s embarrassing.”
I continued to watch the girl who was now on the ground attempting to pull her body forward as the masked boy clung to her ankles. All at once her tear filled eyes met mine. I mouthed the words,
it’s okay
, just as a second, slightly larger masked figure sprung out of the trees. She screamed again as he hoisted her torso off the ground and with the help of the first boy they carried her twisting body in the direction of the house. A sickening sensation bubbled up in my stomach as the possibilities of what was awaiting that scared looking girl at the house began to enter my mind.
We soon emerged from the trees at the side of the second house. It was dark and looming; the only light came from one room on the bottom floor.
I grabbed Camille’s wrist, stopping her from moving forward, “What’s going to happen now?” I asked. I could hear the panic in my voice.
She took a deep breath, “You’re not going to like it,” she said, keeping her eyes fixed on the house, “There is a reason that only the two of us have been included in this part of the night. They don’t think it is necessary to remind the others.”
“
What’s going to happen?” I repeated with more force.
“
Let’s just say that they are going to impart the importance of unyielding loyalty to the Delancey Society. Give these babies a reason to stay in line,” she took a couple slow steps forward, and then added quietly, “Try not to look.”
The second house was a mirror image of Camille’s. We entered through the same enormous door, but the hallway that greeted us was completely dark and nearly silent. I followed closely behind Camille, and as we stepped into the living room I felt my blood immediately begin to pump rapidly to my heart. The room was enormous and bare of furniture. All along the perimeter of the massive space were men in black masks. Most of them were the bodies of high school boys. I could easily pick out the figures of James, Noah, and Calvin. I had seen them enough times to recognize them with or without ski masks. Some of the figures, however, were much larger, adults. My mind flashed to the men that dragged Toby away. I was certain some of them were in this room. The realization caused my heart to pick up its already speedy pace. I could feel it thudding away in my chest.
The only light came from a raging fire in the vast fireplace against the back wall. In a huddled mass at the base of the fireplace were eleven shivering girls. All their joyous giggling had disappeared and in its place was horror. Just as I was beginning to wonder what happened to the twelfth girl a side door open and the girl I’d just seen in the forest was shoved forcefully into the room. She stumbled forward to join the others, her eyes looking tortured as she took in the room around her.
Moments later, Levi entered the room. Despite his masked face I knew it was him immediately. First, because I could see his razor blue eyes even from where I stood, clear across the room, and second, because everyone seemed to react to his arrival with just the slightest hint of fear. He glanced over at Camille and me and nodded his head. Camille handed me a roll of duct tape as she grabbed a handful of zip ties.
“
Tape their mouths,” she whispered.
There it was, my opportunity to try to stop this mayhem, but I didn’t even hesitate. I walked right up to the first girl, ripped off a piece of tape and spread it across her lips, still gleaming pink with gloss. My hand trembled as the eyes of fifty or so men in black masks bore into my back. When I placed a thick piece of gray tape over the mouth of the girl I’d just encountered in the forest, our eyes met for just a fraction of a second. She looked at me pleadingly, as if begging for a sign of reassurance. In truth, I had no idea what was coming next, but I looked back at her with calm eyes that I hoped she’d read as heartening.
Once I had finished covering their mouths and Camille had bound their hands behind their backs, I followed her to the side of the room. I wished I could melt into the wall.
“
Line up on your knees,” Levi commanded in a strong voice. The girls obeyed immediately, shakily finding their balance without the use of their hands. He then nodded to James, who exited the room, only to return moments later followed by a line of boys, joined together at the wrists by zip ties. They were dressed in nothing but their underwear, their boyish chests making it all the more obvious how young they were. Once in the middle of the room, the first and last boys were tied together so that the whole group was made into a circle, facing out at the room of silent and anonymous observers.
Noah, or whom I assumed to be Noah, pulled a pair of scissors from his pocket and handed them ceremoniously to Levi. Levi walked slowly over to the first girl in the line. He held the blade of the scissors up to the center of her bra, and without applying nearly any pressure it was cut into two pieces and fell to the floor. I watched as the shivering girl closed her eyes, and Levi proceeded to snip off her underwear with two simple cuts. The room was eerily silent as every eye in the room followed Levi’s movements; snipping away at the dignity of each girl.
Snip, snip.
Levi commanded the girls to lie on their stomachs, which they did gladly, relieved to be able to regain even a fraction of their modesty. Levi came to stand next to me as one of the men from the perimeter stepped forward. It was hard to tell his age exactly, but by the way he moved he seemed to be much older than the rest of the on-lookers. He was also set apart because, unlike the uniform black ski mask worn by everyone else, his mask was adorned with red stitching. As he reached the middle of the room everyone got down on their knees, and in unison bowed their heads. I felt Levi pull at my wrist and I followed him to my knees.
The man, whom I now understood to be the leader, began speaking in a language that I couldn’t identify. He seemed to be reciting some sort of memorized verse and when he finished everyone stood. Levi moved to the fireplace to pull out a long metal bar from the depths of the hot coals. He handed it to the leader who held it out for all to see. There at the end of the bar, illuminated in white heat, was the symbol I recognized from Levi’s tattoo: an infinity symbol with a double cross. The medieval sign of the devil.
“
Tonight you take a sacred vow of obedience to the Delancey Society,” the Leader spoke loudly, his voice like that of an evangelical preacher, “No more will you be controlled by your own free will, for now it is the Delancey Society that will lead you forward. You must never question the authority that has given you this gift.” The leader then pressed the searing hot symbol on the small of the first girl’s back, the girl I’d seen in the forest. She writhed in pain as the hissing sound of her flesh burning under the hot metal shuttered through the silent room. Just then a scream was emitted from the circle of boys.
“
Stop it!” yelled this dark haired, fragile looking boy, his voice frantic, “Leave her alone!” I glanced at Camille who stared unmoving at her hands. Levi moved quickly so that he was standing less than a foot from the boy. I knew I should close my eyes then, just as Camille had suggested, but I couldn’t keep myself from watching as Levi swung his fist fiercely at the boys face. I could hear the crunch of bone as his fist made contact. The boy’s head was thrown backwards violently, so much so, that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see it fall right off and roll along the floor. His body went limp as he fell, dragging the boys on either side of him down. They struggled to stand, holding up the wilted body between them.
I could hear the girl, who had just been branded like a steer, whimpering on the floor. The leader leaned down next to her, grabbed her by the hair and rolled her head forcefully to the side. He then spit directly on her face. The group of observers exploded in a fit of hysteric laughter.
I swallowed hard, praying that the bile that had begun creeping up my throat wouldn’t explode out of my mouth. Camille kept her eyes fixed on her hands, motionless. I realized my legs were quivering in my jeans.
Once the crowd had quieted down, the branding continued until each girl had been ornamented with a gleaming red mark on her lower back. Levi instructed the newly anointed Delancey Girls to stand once more and follow Camille from the room. I released a breath, sensing my part in all this was almost over. I began to follow the last girl out of the room. As I passed in front of the leader, I felt his cold clammy hand grab me tightly around the wrist. My heart jumped as I looked up into his face. His eyes were murky, the color of mud. He smiled at me and I could feel a shiver run down my spine, his was the smile of pure evil. Levi was suddenly at my side, staring intensely at the leader. He let out a small laugh as he released my wrist. Levi pushed me gently from the room.
Levi followed me to the entry way where he watched as the line of girls stumbled up the stairs, and disappeared through a door. He quickly pulled off his mask and looked at me seriously, “Help Camille get the girls cleaned up. Then take my car and drive yourself home,” he instructed handing me his keys. He stroked the side of my face lightly, “Good job tonight, Punky” he said as if I’d just finished an oral presentation on Jane Eyre rather than partaken in a seemingly satanic ritual. He then kissed me quickly before disappearing back into the room.
I found Camille in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The mood in the room had been completely transformed. Everyone seemed to be filled with the great sense of well being that often follows a horrendous event. Camille passed out black velour track suits with the words Delancey Girls stitched on the butt in pink. They all looked overjoyed to once again be clothed. I helped cut zip ties and apply burn cream to the fresh flesh wounds. Camille pulled down her pants so the girls could see that the brand would eventually fade to a flesh colored patch of raised skin, the symbol, I noticed was still clearly visible. The room was filled with a frenzy of laughter and excited chatter. The worst was over. They could now celebrate their new and improved social status.
The one person not sharing in the jubilation was the girl from the forest who had been spit on just minutes ago. She was sitting slumped in the corner, barely moving. I grabbed at box of tissue and sat down next to her, carefully wiping traces of saliva from her face. She looked at me with a vacant expression.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked quietly.
“What are they going to do to him?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, “Is he your boyfriend?”
She nodded. Her beauty was striking. She had deep dark brown eyes and full lips. Her black hair was thick and wavy. Her tanned complexion was smooth, without a single freckle or pimple to disrupt it.
“
I’m Chelsea, by the way,” I said smiling at her.
“
I’m Zoe,” she replied, an infinitesimal smile reaching her lips, “Can I ask you something?”
I nodded.
“
How can you be with him?” she whispered, “How can you stand to be with someone so… so evil?”
I thought about her question for a couple of moments and then shrugged, “It’s complicated, I guess. Life is complicated.”
Which just about sums it up, wouldn’t you agree?
29
As I drove home from Camille’s house, the clock on Levi’s car stereo read 11:53 PM. I found it hard to fathom that it could still be the same day. How was it possible that all of it could have happened within the span of a couple hours? First there was the letter from Conner, and then of course the cultish ritual in which I had participated. My mind was reeling as I tried to comprehend what I had just experienced. I was comforted to know that all twelve of those naked, shivering girls were comfortably drinking spiked hot chocolate in Camille’s living room. Nobody’s rape or murder would be on my conscious, at least not that night, anyway.
The fact that Levi seemed to be high up in some bizarre high school fraternity explained a lot. For starters, that was probably why everyone seemed to show complete deference to him. The frat also shed light on how Levi had access to a pack of minions willing to give up their summer to follow me around like fleas chasing a house cat. I was beginning to understand that Levi’s life was teeming with dysfunction. The more I learned about Levi, the more I felt like he and the life that surround him were from another dimension; one where the rules that guided a civil society were inapplicable. What scared me was that I was being absorbed into Levi’s world. I wondered if I’d ever escape.