《The Serpent Boys》


 Chaper One

    I awoke to the sound of my wretched alarm. The loud blaring unsettled me as I reached over to turn it off. I couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat tired as I finally sat up on my bed. I was out late last night. The police chief had called me yesterday afternoon to help with the investigation of yet another death but I hadn¡¯t expected to be out as late as I was, talking with the forensics team, trying to find a motive and thus find the perpetrator.


    I glanced over at the empty bed beside mine which stored a lot of my random belongings I hadn¡¯t put away yet. I hadn¡¯t been assigned a roommate just yet but then again, I¡¯d only been in this dorm for all of two days, I¡¯d been made to move dorms after they¡¯d closed my last building for renovations. They were still in the process of getting people moved and I¡¯d been lucky enough to be one of the first people placed.


    Sliding my hands into my pants, I shimmied my pajama pants down my legs before stepping out of them, determined to find an outfit for the day before I had to go to class. I quickly began rummaging through my drawers before settling on an old Nirvana t-shirt, slipping it over my naked torso. I didn¡¯t bother to wear a shirt when I went to bed because no roommate meant I could do whatever I wanted within the confines of my room. I reached into my pants drawer before settling on a pair of black distressed jeans.


    After getting dressed, I slipped out of my dorm, heading out of the building with my class stuff to head out to the food hall before class. I was determined to get my blueberry muffin before they sold out. I could see a tall figure standing near the doorway I had needed to get into. Rolling my eyes, I debated whether or not my blueberry muffin was worth it seeing him again. This tall figure in question was Brody Madden, a known playboy at my university who consistently had a chip on his shoulder. He would constantly make it known that he didn¡¯t like me much after I chewed him out for assuming that just because he was hot that I would sleep with him. Now, I won¡¯t be the first to admit that that fluffy haired, green eyed, tall ass motherfucker was hot as fuck. But he was a downright fucking asshole and I couldn¡¯t stand it. The first day I met him, he almost hit me on his rather brisk walk across campus and then had the balls to act like it was my fault for ¡°being in his way¡±.


    I could see his eyes as they looked up from his phone, glancing at me for a moment before turning back to his phone. It made me wonder if he was going to choose to make another one of his ¡°pleasant¡± comments about how much I was a bitch. I briskly walked up and tried to slip past him in the case that he did choose to make one of these comments, but not before he was able to slip in one.


    ¡°See you¡¯re in a rush? What¡¯re you running from Jade? Your bitchiness?¡±


    I rolled my eyes and shot him a glare, not daring to answer his snide ass comment before slipping into the door that led to the cafeteria.


    I quickly bought my blueberry muffin and slipped out the other door to leave, so that I could make it to class in time to try and get a nice spot by the windows. Criminal justice was one of my favorite subjects but I often found myself daydreaming while staring out the windows. Especially because Brody was also in that class. I didn¡¯t know why, because he, unlike me, often just sat there laughing with his friend Billy over random shit on their phones instead of at least trying to pay attention to Professor Thorn. Billy was a whole other issue together. His full name is William Frost, but he was an even bigger jackass than Brody. See, Brody was an asshole and he prides himself on it. Billy was a bit more like a snake in tall grass, he acts nice to your face while the entire time, he¡¯s making your life a living hell behind your back.


    I slipped into the law and criminal justice building, quickly trying to make my way to class before someone could steal one of the precious window seats. Thankfully, I did get there before anyone had managed to steal one from me. I popped a piece of my blueberry muffin into my mouth as I set up my laptop to at least try and take notes but usually I ended up rewatching the lecture recordings that I made later and taking notes then. Within a few moments, I watched as Brody sauntered into the classroom with Billy in tow.


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    As usual, they came up and sat in the two seats close to mine, shooting me glances with smirks on their faces.


    ¡°Bitch, you coming to the party the Serpents are throwing this weekend?¡± He asks me with a mischievous look.


    I scoff and roll my eyes, ¡°No, Brody¡­ When have you ever known me to go to any of the orgy parties your frat throws?¡± I shoot back at him.


    For a second I catch a look of disappointment on Brody¡¯s face. Was he looking forward to the possibility of me saying yes? He turns back around and I can see him chewing on his lip ring as he for once pays attention to what Professor Thorn was saying.


    The Serpents, or the Serpent and Sword Society was a fraternity known for its extravagant parties. Brody and Billy were the two presidents of the frat and often loved to orchestrate these parties to be orgies practically for the student body to get in on. I had once heard a girl got spit roasted by the two until she passed out at one of these. Either way, I wasn¡¯t into a party where everyone took ecstasy and fucked.


    I turned back away from the boys and stared out the window, watching as students rushed to and from their classes as well as the squirrels did their thing in the trees. As I stared out the window, I couldn¡¯t help but feel someone staring at me, turning slowly, I could see Brody and Billy both watching me as I was watching out the window. They quickly averted their gazes as soon as they noticed that I had seen them.


    I side-eyed them a bit before turning back to my daydreaming out the window. Why the hell were they more interested in me now than they had been in the last fucking 2 months of this semester?


    I sighed in relief when the class finally ended, gathering my belongings, I headed back to my dorm since my next class wasn¡¯t for another two hours and I wanted to get some notes and homework done before then. As I¡¯m walking I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, flipping it out, I see my best friend, Ivy had texted me.


    Ivy: GIRL! Did you hear about the Halloween party the Serpents are throwing this weekend????


    Me: Yes. Brody himself came and asked me to come.


    Ivy: You should. I¡¯m gonna go


    Me: No. I¡¯m not going to any party those horny fuckers throw.


    Ivy: Jade, you never go anywhere. You legit sit in your dorm all day and study. You never leave any time for anything fun


    Me: I leave plenty of time for fun. Just not with those boys. They¡¯re trouble, I¡¯m telling you Ivy. No.


    Ivy: You¡¯re going. This is the only party I¡¯m going to make you go to and if you don¡¯t like it, you won¡¯t have to go to another one. Now come onnnn. Loosen up.


    Me: Fine. But don¡¯t tell me I didn¡¯t warn you, I won¡¯t like it.


    I slid my phone back into my pocket and continued the rest of my hurried walk back to my dorm. Upon reaching my dorm, I slid my ID card into the card reader and settled myself on my bed, propping my computer up as I rewatched my lecture and took my notes. During the lecture however, I noticed Brody and Billy in the corner of my camera, often sneaking glances over at me, some of the time staring intently at me. It couldn¡¯t help but leave me wondering again about why the hell they were taking such an interest in me when they hadn¡¯t before.


    I continued to wonder this even into my next class and as I went to bed for the night. The thought lurking in the back of my mind every moment it could. Why were such dark and mysterious boys who hated my guts taking an interest in a girl like me? Or better yet, me?

 Chapter Two

    I woke up suddenly to the sound of my phone buzzing on my nightstand. ¡°Fuck.. What time is it?¡± I muttered to myself as I picked up the call, putting the phone up to my ear, I heard my boss''s frantic voice over the line and that was when I knew the killer had struck again. Fuck.


    I found myself arriving at the scene of the crime shortly after my boss had called, also after realizing it was not only the middle of the night but it was 3 in the goddamn morning. I could see the other detectives and the coroners doing their things by taking the body as well as marking where it was and everything. I slowly felt myself approaching my boss.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I ask, knowing full on well that it was a dumb question the minute I had said it.


    ¡°Well we had a 52 year old male, disemboweled and hanging by his intestines from his chandelier.¡± My boss, David, stated, ignoring how stupid my question was.


    ¡°Jesus,¡± I replied, shaking my head, ¡°same MO?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, man¡¯s name is Patrick Camden, his wife, Linda, found him after hearing noises coming from downstairs and not seeing her husband in bed with her,¡± David recalled, watching as the coroners and the forensic examiners haul the body off into the ambulance with the EMTs.


    I nodded slowly and stepped away from David, moving towards the house and into the scene of the crime. Immediately, I was struck with a smell that was the mixture of something more putrid than I¡¯d ever smelled before as well as a metallic smell. I tried to hold back my body¡¯s instinct of vomiting as I continued smelling the putrid and acrid smell as I stared at the blood splattered walls and blood stained carpet. It was obvious he had not only been killed but also displayed here. I looked around the scene for any remnants the killer could have left behind, pulling my gloves out of my pocket and sliding them on as to prevent any tampering of the evidence.


    I could hear the sobs of Mr. Camden¡¯s wife outside as I felt myself trying to use any of my senses to figure out where the killer could have left anything. Crouching down to my knees, I saw a bloodstained piece of paper on the ground. I unfolded it gently, not wanting to damage the likely important evidence I had just found. ¡°Uh, David, you might want to see this,¡± I called out as I stared down at the piece of paper.


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    This old bastard knew what he had coming. He knew I was going to come for him. Like I came for his buddies, but I still won. I got to him. I still murdered him like the little mouse he was, he¡¯s lucky I didn¡¯t feed his own intestines back to him. I gave him an easier death. A death he didn¡¯t deserve, he deserved to burn in HELL.


    I felt David¡¯s presence behind me but still jumped when I felt his hand touch my shoulder. ¡°Fuck!¡± I screamed unintentionally, watching as the other investigators on the crime scene all glanced over when they heard me yell.


    ¡°You¡¯re jumpy today,¡± David comments, a bit of amusement in his voice.


    ¡°Given the current scene we¡¯re investigating, this note I just found, and the fact that it¡¯s 3 am. I have a right to be jumpy,¡± I replied quickly before handing David the note I had found.


    He opened it slowly before glancing over it just as I had. I watched as I saw a slight look of horror come across his face before he folded it back up and slid it into a plastic evidence baggy. ¡°We¡¯ll definitely need to be investigating this for any kind of DNA or clues we can use against this psychopathic motherfucker.¡± David spoke lowly.


    I spent the next several hours with David investigating this scene and helping to gather as much information and data from the scene before leaving and heading back to my dorm to make it back to my morning class despite the fact that I was running on 3 hours of sleep.


    Sliding into my chair at my Forensics class lecture hall, I could barely keep my eyes open.  At this point, I wasn¡¯t even worried about getting a window seat, I was more worried about keeping my eyes open for the duration of this 2 and a half hour lecture. Which clearly was going to prove to be a bigger task that I had previously imagined. There were plenty of moments where I felt myself nodding off before snapping back awake moments later and I¡¯m sure my professor wasn¡¯t all too pleased about that.


    As I was finally leaving the lecture, I headed towards the cafeteria to pick up some form of energy and at this point, I didn¡¯t care what it was, if it had caffeine, I needed it. On the way though I stumbled into none other than Brody.


    ¡°Woah there Bitch.. Not able to pay attention to where you¡¯re going are you?¡± He asked before tilting my chin up to face him.Once he noticed the bags under my eyes and the fact that I was too tired to fight him off, his face softened.


    ¡°Late night huh, Jade?¡± He asked softly, I could feel his thumb brushing against my cheek, wanting both to fight him off as well as to sink into his touch which the latter side was winning. I felt myself sink into him a bit, before I went out cold from the lack of sleep as well as the stress I was under to help David and maintain my full-time classes.

 Chapter Three

    I felt myself waking up not long later, not knowing where the fuck I was and how I got there. I stared around at the foreign environment before remembering that I had passed out not long after seeing Brody. I quickly looked down at myself to make sure I was completely still dressed and everything which thankfully I was, not a single article of clothing was out of place.


    I got up from the bed and glanced around for any sign of Brody but there was none. Wherever he was, he wasn¡¯t in this room or in the en suite bathroom. Quickly, I decided that I no longer wanted to be in a fuckboy (who I just so happened to have a crush on)¡¯s room. I opened the door and found myself in a decently long hallway, looking around, I decided my safest option was to find the stairs. Upon finding the stairs, I find myself going down slowly, not wanting to make any super loud noises due to the fact that I was in a strange frat house where one of the only men I knew here, wasn¡¯t here and wasn¡¯t exactly someone I trusted.


    As I approached the stairs, I could faintly smell bacon, as I crept down the stairs and closer to the bottom, the smell grew stronger and stronger. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, I could hear someone rummaging around in the not-so distant kitchen. I approached the sound, peeking around the corner to try and see into the kitchen before making my presence known. I could see Brody, proceeding to make breakfast, shirtless. I could see the snake tattoo he had spiraling down his left wrist as well as his memento mori tattoo on his rib cage. Surprisingly, Billy was nowhere to be found. Though I was definitely somewhat enjoying my view of the tall, shirtless and somewhat muscular man in front of me. I hated how much I enjoyed his body, his lean muscles, long legs and torso. The way his 6¡¯5 figure towered over my 5¡¯3 one.


    Deciding to make my presence known due to my desire for answers on why I was here, I moved within his field of view.


    ¡°Mornin¡¯ sunshine,¡± Brody teased, which strangely weirded me out as he wasn¡¯t calling me bitch like I was so used to.


    He must¡¯ve noticed the strange look on my face as I watched his smile turn into a smirk. ¡°Oh? Do you prefer me calling you a bitch?¡±


    I shook my head slowly, letting myself take the small win that he was treating me like a person for once. I watched as he motioned for me to sit at the island while he continued to cook.


    ¡°Why am I here?¡± I blurted, no longer able to hold in the question I¡¯d been sitting with for a good bit too long.


    ¡°You uh.. passed out in my arms and I didn¡¯t want to fish through your clothes for your keys to try and get you back to your dorm, which I don¡¯t know where that is either. So I brought you here, had you sleep in my bed while I slept on the floor because I¡¯m actually not a creep believe it or not.¡± He explained, his eyes scanning my face for any sign of anger or disapproval of what he had done.


    ¡°O-oh,¡± I said softly, chewing my lip as I tried to come up with something to say in response.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t do that,¡± Brody scolded softly, referring to me chewing on my lip.


    ¡°Oh? And why shouldn¡¯t I? I¡¯m a grown woman.¡± I glared playfully back at him, continuing to chew on my lip.


    ¡°Fine then, do as you want, but don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you to stop,¡± Brody shot back, narrowing his eyes and moving so that he was more against the counter as he finished up breakfast.


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    I studied Brody for a moment, unsure of why he had moved himself so quickly away from me after I had teased him about wanting to bite my lip. But he seemed to be staring off at the food, almost in a daze rather than noticing my staring at him.


    Quickly, he set the food down on the kitchen island as he finished and glanced at me expectantly. Causing me to immediately settle down and begin putting food on my plate as I didn¡¯t want to keep him waiting and part of me wanted to get out of here sooner rather than later. Brody only loaded foot on his plate after I had picked out my portions, wolfing down his food rather quickly.


    ¡°Why do you eat so fast?¡± I asked him, a bit confused because I didn¡¯t plan on stealing his food and yet he was eating so fast it would seem as if I was going to.


    ¡°I grew up with a lot of siblings, you learn to eat quick if you want seconds,¡± He shrugged before helping himself to more food.


    I nodded slowly in understanding, ¡°How many siblings do you have?¡±


    ¡°Four,¡± He replied, briefly looking up at me from his plate as he continued to shovel his food into his mouth.


    Choking a bit on my food, I looked at him with surprise, ¡°Four?!¡± I raised my eyebrow, ¡°I can¡¯t imagine growing up with any siblings, let alone four,¡±


    ¡°I take it you¡¯re an only child?¡± Brody responded, his eyebrow cocked, finally looking away from his food completely.


    ¡°Yeah, my parents didn¡¯t want any more children, I begged and begged growing up but they didn¡¯t budge so it was just me and then Ivy rolled around and she¡¯s like my sister from another mother,¡±


    Brody nodded slowly, ¡°I couldn¡¯t imagine life without my siblings if I¡¯m honest,¡±


    I scanned his mostly stoic face for any glimpse of emotion. I glance back down as I see a smirk begin to grow on his face.


    ¡°You seem to enjoy looking at me don¡¯t you.¡± He teases.


    ¡°What¡¯re you talking about? I most definitely do not enjoy looking at you,¡± I shake my head, turning my face more towards my food as I quickly finish it. Determined to get away from him as soon as possible. As I finish my food, I get up from my spot at the island, rinsing my plate off and placing it into the dishwasher. As I advance towards the door, I feel Brody¡¯s presence behind me.


    ¡°Leaving so soon?¡± He asks, sounding almost sad in a way that I was already trying to leave.


    ¡°Aw don¡¯t you sound sad,¡± I tease, turning to face him, ¡°were you really hoping I stay? I have homework to do and I also have to return to work because unlike you, I actually have responsibilities.¡±


    Brody scoffed as he scanned my face. ¡°I do have responsibilities, thank you,¡± He growled.


    I rolled my eyes and walked out the door. I didn¡¯t want to argue with him as that would likely make me later than I already am and I knew my boss was going to ask me why I was a whopping 30 minutes late when I am almost never late.


    Once I finally arrived at work, I opened the door and hurried over to my desk. ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late,¡± I say to my boss as he looks up at me from his computer screen.


    ¡°What happened? You¡¯re usually my never late, picture perfect employee,¡± He says, with mock disappointment.


    ¡°My alarm didn¡¯t go off,¡± I lie, not wanting to tell him that I had been so sleep deprived I passed out in one of my biggest rivals¡¯ arms.


    ¡°Oh? Did you forget to set it?¡± He asks, his eyebrows raising as he scans my face.


    I feel my face heat up with embarrassment as I contemplate backing down from the lie. ¡°Yeah, I must¡¯ve been so tired last night that I forgot to set it,¡± I say while sitting down at my desk. I was still wearing my clothes from last night and I honestly hoped he didn¡¯t notice.


    I booted my computer up and logged in to work on the paperwork processing as always. I typed up the remainder of the report from last night that I had noticed David had left for me. Even though I was often included in the crime scenes and had to report with them for the calls, most of my job was paperwork and processing what David wrote or didn¡¯t want to finish. I had just gotten started on the paperwork when I heard David¡¯s phone ring. I quietly listened in, knowing it may not be good. I heard David¡¯s voice as he responded to the caller before I watched him pick his coat back up and throw it over his shoulder, getting ready to leave.


    ¡°We need to go Jade.¡±