Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 22:39:39 -0500
From: X X <thewriter_x@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Brotherhood #6 {X} {MM College} [6!?]

The following story contains sexually explicit acts between
men.  If such things bothers you, annoys you, disturbs you,
frightens you, then why the hell are you here?  Do yourself
a favor and leave before you read something you like and
discover that you're actually gay; you might not be able to
deal with the revelation.


***Note to Reader***

Hey all.it's my again.  Your favorite absentee writer is
back.  Again, I want to thank everyone for being so patient
with me.  If you've been wondering where the hell I've been
I've just been trying to get things in order here in
Minnesota.  Yeah, you're probably thinking `why the hell did
you move to MN of all places?'  But hey, I had to do what I
had to do.  So far I'm liking it here and have no
regrets.for now anyways, lol.

I started a yahoo group for TBH a while back.  It's place
where you can get the latest chapters and talk about the
story wit other readers if you like.  As a thanks to those
who are signed up, I'll be keeping the group one chapter
ahead of Nifty.  So while both Nifty and my group are up to
date with chapter 6, next time around when chapter 7 is up
here the group will have chapter 8.  So if you want to keep
up just sign up here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theinnercircletbh/

As always, thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your
thoughts, good or bad, on the latest chapter so feel free to
write me at:  thewriterxx@aol.com



                       The Brotherhood
                         Chapter VI


     "What the fuck is going on?"  I thought I said that out
loud at first, but later I realized it was nothing more than
an echo in my mind.

     At the time I had no idea what happened to Arsen.  The
only thing I was aware of were the strong grips on my arms
forcing me out of the room.  Unlike myself, some of the
other pledges weren't as quiet.  I heard Nick yelling, "What
the fuck do you think you're doing?"  Someone else, I think
it was Mike, was threatening them with crap like, "You have
no idea who you're fucking with.  When the Brothers find out
about this you're in for some serious shit."  Some of the
other pledges were saying the same thing and I couldn't help
but think how dumb it all sounded.  Who in the hell did they
think was fucking with us?  Sure, the Brothers have their
fair share of rivals, but I didn't think anyone had the
balls to break into their house to kidnap the pledges.  If
you put all the guys in this college together they still
wouldn't have enough balls to do it.

     Our abductors remained completely silent; not a word to
us or each other.  With all the twists and turns we were
forced to make, I could tell we were being rushed thru a
maze of hallways and ramps.  Funny thing was, at the time, I
had no idea if we truly still were a `we'.  After the
initial outcries, the pledges had calmed until the entire
group matched the silence of our abductors.  Now with only
the sound of muffled footsteps going in all directions, they
could easily be splitting us up.   Hell, I didn't even know
what happened to Arsen.  It's strange really, you'd think I
would be happy to be free from Arsen, but without him there
I felt a strange vulnerability. Under the circumstances, I
would have felt better knowing he was there by my side,
ready to have my back if needed.

     The night air washed over me like a bucket of warm
water.  The smell of pine floated in a soft breeze; teasing
and subtle, as thou it were the fragrance of a woman's
perfume.

      It wasn't something I got to enjoy for long.  Beside
me, an engine suddenly revved alive.  Before I knew it, I
was shoved onto some sort of bus, led toward the back and
forced to sit down on another pledge's lap.  Fucking great!
Oh, and did I mention that thru all this shit my cock
remained just as hard as before?  Whatever was in that
freaking pill was extremely potent.  Fortunately, my current
situation made it was easy to keep my mind off of
it.Possibly the only plus to this predicament.

     So I'm sitting on another pledges lap, in nothing but
my jockstrap -  anyone care to guess what was pushing
against the crack of my ass?  Needless to say, whoever was
under me was still just has horned up as I was and I had the
privilege of feeling every inch.  God I hoped it was Arsen!
Don't get me wrong, if given a choice, I wouldn't be sitting
on a fucking guy to begin with, but if it was Arsen, my cuff-
mate, the guy I was forced to share a tiny bed with, it
would have been okay or at least better.  I trusted him.

     Someone else was seated next to us and I could tell
another pledge was seated on him as well.  For a moment,
everything inside the bus was still and then the bus jolted
forward shoving the `mystery cock' just a bit deeper in the
crack of my ass.  I wanted to squirm, "rearrange" a bit, but
under the circumstances I thought it best to stay put.

     The bus rumbled forward, bouncing gently, then took a
sharp left.  Where the fuck we were headed was anyone's
guess.

     "Who else is in here?" CJ's surfer accent was
unmistakable.  It sounded like he was sitting on the seat
behind mine.  I think everyone was too afraid to say
anything for fear of what our captors might do.  "Man, I
know I'm not the only one in here since someone is sitting
on my fucking lap.  So who's all here?"

     Since none of the Brothers spoke up to shut him up, I
think everyone was feeling a bit more relaxed, generally
assuming the Brother's weren't riding with us.  They
would've have shut CJ up for sure, right?

     "Me," someone finally answered softly, the fear of
getting caught clear in his voice.

     "Dude, who's `me'?"

     I knew it was Kevin.  I could tell from the southern
drawl even before he confirmed it by responding to CJ.  One
by one, a majority of the pledges sounded off in a generally
disorganized roll call.  From what I could tell, we really
were still a `we' after all.  I was sitting on Mike with
Nick and Sam riding beside us.  I had yet to hear Arsen and
they had yet to hear me.

     "What about Jacob?" Anthony inquired.  "Is he with us?
And Arsen?"

     I didn't want to say anything because I thought it was
stupid to be talking with blindfolds on.  Just because we
didn't hear the Brothers on the bus didn't mean we were
alone.  I wished the guys would smarten up a little.

     "Jacob, you in here dude?"  I tried to ignore CJ.
"Jacob!"

     "Man, shut up already!  I'm here!" I barked thru
clenched teeth.  I shook my head as if they could see the
disappointment on my face and the way my eyes rolled up into
my head as if I wanted to sneak a peak at my brain.  "You're
going to get us busted. You know that, right?"

     "How the fuck do you figure that?" he demanded.  "It's
only us in here."

     I laughed at the obvious display of ignorance.  "Just
because you say so CJ doesn't make it so."

     "Well, I think CJ is right," Justin stated matter-of-
factly.  "Don't you think they would've said something by
now?"

     "This from our resident locksmith," I laughed.  "Oh my
freaking god!  You guys can't be this dumb.  Seriously.
What the fuck makes you think they're not in here listening
to us right now?  What bird whispered this little fact into
your ear?"

     "He's right, you know," Arsen finally made his presence
known.

     "Finally," I mumbled under my breath, "a voice of
reason."

     "You guys are taking a big chance on an assumption," he
continued.  "I, for one, agree with Jacob.  We should just
sit back and wait for this ride to be over so we can see
what the Brothers have in stored for us."

     "That's an assumption right there," Troy countered.
"We don't know for sure it was the Brothers who put us in
this bus.  For all we know some other fraternity could be
behind this.  Maybe we're being kidnapped by another frat
and instead of just sitting here and talking about it, we
should be doing something."

     "Okay, now that's just dumb Troy," I couldn't help but
laugh.

     "Oh really?" Even though I couldn't see him I could
tell he was a little bit annoyed with me.  "And why is
that?"

     "It's not possible," I shrugged as if he could see me.

     "Really?  And what little bird told you that?"

     Some of the others got a kick out of Troy mocking me
and laughed.  I didn't mind it in the least because I knew I
was right.

     "I agree with Jacob," Ant spoke up.  I wasn't
surprised; we think a lot alike.  "I can't imagine another
frat out there would dare do this."

     "How do you know?" Troy demanded, sounding a bit too
snotty for my taste.

     Ant fired back equally as snotty.  "Because, Troy, if
there was a frat out there with the balls to do this, you
would've signed up with them and not The Brotherhood."

     That shut him up fast.

     I loved it.

     Everyone settled down for a bit and I welcomed the
calm.  My mind was a different story though, for my thoughts
went back to my room and to Arsen.  What the fuck was I
doing?  Who the hell was that guy with Arsen?  It sure as
hell wasn't me!  Just thinking about me made me queasy.  I
couldn't believe it went that far.  I couldn't believe I let
it go there!  What was I thinking?  It was that fucking pill
I took.  It had to be.   If it hadn't horned me up to the
tenth power, bumping and grinding with my roommate wouldn't
have made my list of things to do that night.  The only
thing that made it okay, and I mean a tiny bit okay, was
knowing Arsen was under the same influence.  Clearly it
didn't mean anything to either of us.  I just wanted to
forget the whole thing, put it out of my mind like it never
happened.  Unless Arsen brings it up, for whatever reason, I
wouldn't talk to him about it.ever.

     "Where do you think they're taking us?"

     "CJ, if the Brother's don't kick your ass, I sure as
hell will," I said.

     "Dude, seriously.relax!"

     "He'll relax when you mothafucka's shut the fuck up!"
Arsen threw in his two cents.  "Damn!"

     I laughed despite myself.  It was weird hearing him all
pissed off.

     "I don't remember the Brothers leaving either of you in
charge," Mike argued from behind me.  "So don't be telling
us to `shut up'.  You're not a Brother."

     "Oh, here we go," I mumbled.  "You guys really don't
get it do you?"

     "I get what Mike's saying," Jason stated firmly.
"There's no reason for us to listen to you so stop acting
like you're the pledge leader or some shit.  Us talking has
nothing to do with any of you.  If you don't want any part
of it then don't listen and keep your mouth shut."

     "No, dumb shit!" Nick fired back.  "If you fucks get in
trouble then we all get in trouble."

     "Don't be calling him a dumb shit, you ass," Jason's
cuff-mate Justin defended him.

     Oh.my.god!

     I could not believe this was happening.  A full-blown
argument ensued on the bus.  It was Mike, Xavier, Troy, Sam,
Kevin, Jason, and Justin against my crew, Arsen, Nick, Ant,
Paul, Steve and me.  And the funniest shit was when the
fighting started, CJ took his place with us, with his crew;
which was cool and all because it shows the kind of guy he
was and where his loyalties were, even when he was the one
who started this whole shit.

     This went on for a good ten minutes or so; just a whole
lot of arguing and yelling.  The whole time I'm thinking we
as a group weren't going to make it thru..  The proof was
right there on that bus.  I was determined to make it to the
end no matter what I had to do to get there.  That's for
sure.  But if I didn't make it because of the assholes
around me, I think I'd blow up to the point of being
homicidal.

     I was grabbed and pulled to my feet.  For a second I
struggled against the sudden assault, but stopped when I
realized I wasn't the only one moving.  Judging from the
general chaos of bodies around me, it seemed everyone was
being hoisted up and reshuffled.  I bumped into a few
shoulders with the other pledges and banged my swollen cock
against what I assumed to be a Brother's thigh before
ultimately being pushed into a new seat.  Fortunately, I got
to sit on the actual seat this time, but before I could get
comfortable someone was thrown on my lap.  Whoever it was
lucked out that my cock was being held against my stomach by
the waistband of my jock.  If it hadn't, he would have been
impaled on my dick for sure, I was still so fucking hard.

     Well, if nothing else, that whole musical chairs bit
settled the big question - we were not alone.

     No one said a fucking word after that.  Not a whisper,
cough, or sigh echoed forth.  I think our breaths even
became shallower.just in case.

     I wanted to yell out I TOLD YOU SO!  But unlike the
rest of these fools (my crew excluded, of course) I knew
better.  Actually, I was surprised the Brothers let us
ramble on for as long as they did.  And even now, after they
moved us around, they remained silent.

     So now the roles were reversed and I had someone on my
lap, vibrating gently to the movement of the bus.
Interesting.  Of course I was wondering who the fuck I was
sitting on my jock but the whole blindfold bit wasn't
helping any.  It started to get really warm in the bus and I
could feel a sudden rush hot air around my feet.  Within a
few minutes I was sweating.  So was the guy on my lap.  I
caught a whiff of him and was compelled to lean forward and
take in his scent again.  No, I wasn't turned on by it.
Something completely different was driving me to smell this
dude.  I felt him shifting on my lap, probably wondering
what the fuck I was doing behind him.  I took in his musky
aroma one last time just to be sure.  It was Arsen.  You
don't sleep inches from a guy every night in a boiling hot
room without getting used to his scent.  Don't get me wrong.
Arsen doesn't stink, he actually smells kind of good when
he's all hot and bothered, which is why I could pick him out
from the pack.

     I wanted let him know it was me under him but it seemed
impossible without saying something. And talking was no
longer an option.  Besides, for all I knew there was a
brother nearby watching every little movement.   A few
minutes later Arsen did the weirdest thing.  He was playing
with my stomach, running his finger over it gently.  It took
me a minute or two to figure out what he was doing.  He was
slowly tracing each letter of his name on my stomach. He
traced "Arsen" a few times and then traced "Jacob" as well.
The only thing I could do was rub my foot against his to let
him know he was right.  So with our little code system we
were able to `find each' other, so to speak.  It was
bizarre, but it worked.

     I felt each muscle in Arsen's body relax slightly as he
leaned back just closed enough to my chest to place his head
against my shoulder  I didn't mind one bit and I couldn't
blame him either.  Sitting on some dude's crotch is bad
enough but leaning forward just so you don't make contact
with the guy is a killer on your back.  At one point I
adjusted my neck, turning every so slightly to the right to
work out a kink.   Arsen must've thought the same thing,
although he chose to turn to his left.  My lips brush his
noise in what could only have looked like a misplaced kiss.
We both flinched at the touch, but  I could feel his body
shake as he fought to hold back the laugher.  We didn't try
that again, so he just sat there resting against me, face
forward.

     Having him so close to me, his scent invading my
senses, brought me back to our room again.  I could feel him
on top of me again, grinding his hard dick into me, trying
to get us both to cum in hopes the pill would lose it's grip
over us.  I felt his rod against mine as if it were
happening all over again; the sweat, the heat; the precum
was all real in my mind.  With the heat on full blast and
the effects of the pill still coursing thru my system, I
gave in to my desires and lost myself in my memories.  It
was like someone else took over my body and slowly ground my
jock into Arsen.  Either my slight motion went undetected or
he just didn't care because he never stirred.

     But that didn't last long because musical chairs
started up again and we were shuffled around the bus like a
deck of cards.  This went on several more times.  Every ten
minutes or so we were moved from one seat to the next;
sometimes I'd be sitting on someone or they'd be sitting on
me.  Regardless of all the constant movement going on no
one, not even the Brothers, said a word.

     The second to last time we were moved I was push down
on one of the pledges and all was normal at first.  I was
just sitting there leaning forward trying to give us both
enough space when suddenly I feel his hips grinding into me.
At first his movements were slow, and I even doubted I was
actually feeling it. But then this fucker went to town on my
ass, working his exposed cock between my cheeks like it. no
*I* .was the thing to do.  I couldn't believe this was
happening.  I even tried to discourage him by elbowing him
in the chest but it had no effect.

     "Holy shit," I thought as this fucker thrusted so hard
my feet left the ground.  I was dying to get up and move,
preferably right after I punched this bastard in throat but
I didn't dare for fear of getting in trouble.  I was
freaking out, my mind screaming for him to stop, while my
body sat frozen as if a willing participant.  Within minutes
my ass was coated in his precum; I could actually hear his
dick sliding between my ass cheeks.  This fuck was dead if I
ever found out who it was.  I knew it wasn't Arsen.  One, he
wouldn't be so obscene about it and two, this guy's had a
smaller cock.  I knew having experienced both guys
intimately in such a short period of time.  Now there's a
sentence I never dreamed of I'd be saying.it's was
disturbing to say the least.

     Shit, this idiot was going to cum right here on the
bus!  I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  If he sprayed
my ass with his cum , I didn't think I'd be able control my
anger, and by the feel of things we were going to find out
damn soon.  The worse part was knowing  we were putting on
quite a show for any unmasked eyes.  Who knew how many
Brothers were watching us.watching me.

     Just when I thought this fool was going to blow, I was
pulled off of him.  Lucky for him, let me clue you.  I was
ushered to what felt like the very back of the bus.  Sitting
down, sliding slightly as the cum worked as a lubricant
between my ass and the vinyl seat.  I braced myself for the
pledge that would be pushed down on my lap, but it never
happened.  The spot next to me was left empty for a while.
I wondered if I was the only one allowed to sit alone or if
everyone was seated separately now and why?

     The bus swerved suddenly, first right then left, and I
felt myself sliding slightly, the cum working as a lubricant
between my ass and the vinyl bus seat.   I locked my toes,
hoping they would hold me in one place, and cursed the
blindfold that held me prisoner inside my own head.  Where
the fuck we were going anyway?  It seemed we were driving
forever.  Not knowing our destination or what we would be
doing made me nervous; I freely admit that.  Who wouldn't?

     As if on it's own, the cushion next to me, sank.  I
never sensed a presence approach, never felt anyone beside
me, but I knew it must be a Brother.  A pledge would have
been forcefully thrust into the seat.   I stayed still.  I
saw nothing.  But I could feel the scrutiny of his stare.

     A second later, his leg brushed up against my own.
Whomever was sitting next to me was wearing something soft
and flowing like silk; a robe maybe?  Whatever it was, it
sent shivers down my spine.  I felt uncomfortable knowing a
Brother was sitting this close to me.watching.   My breath
seemed abnormally loud suddenly and beat of my heart
strangely out of rhythm.   As I fought to bring them both
under control, I had only one thought. I am in serous
trouble.

     My concerns were justified.  Two minutes later, a very
warm hand was massaging my knee.  I tensed up instantly.

     "What the fuck are you doing?" I wanted to say out loud
but I bit my tongue careful not to say anything I'd regret.

     "Remember me?"  That voice.

     That fucking voice!

     "You didn't think I was gone did you?" The Brother
whispered into my ear; it wasn't his lips I felt but rather
a supple nylon fabric.  That's when I realized he was
wearing a mask.  The voice was clearly distorted but I knew
who it was.  It was the guy from the janitor's closet.  I
was sure of it!  You simply don't forget a voice like that;
especially one I believed was being distorted in someway.
My mind went back to the moment he caught me in the closet,
just seconds after Alex left. The moment he pushed me to
wall and forced himself against me.

     With two little words, my doubts were erased.  He was
indeed a Brother, and he made it perfectly clear he held my
future in The Brotherhood in the palm of his hand.  What
pissed me off was that he was hundred percent right.  I
couldn't argue the fact.  All this guy had to do was hint to
the Brothers that he'd caught me with Alex and it was over;
me and my future.   Why the fuck did I have to screw around
with her?  Now there's some asshole out there with dirt on
me he could use anytime he's feeling bored.  And the worse
part was I had no one to blame but myself.  I knew better
and still went against my better judgment.  That's what I
get for thinking with my dick instead of my brain

     Slowly, his hand crept up the inside of my thigh.

     I gasped.

     "Hey pretty boy," he said, his voice as hushed as
before, "our time in the closet was just the beginning."  He
squeezed my balls thru my jock, kneading them gently.  I
locked up; Shock stealing my ability to move.  "I have big
plans in mind for you, pretty boy."

     The way he said `pretty boy' had a sinister ring to it,
as if it was the devil himself tormenting me.  Hearing those
two words from his lips was like hearing nails on a
chalkboard; it chilled me to the core.  I got the feeling
this guy wasn't here to be my best friend.  And I had to
wonder where were the other Brothers when this was going on.
Regardless of what this one Brother was doing, I honestly
didn't believe the other Brothers were in on it, for he was
very quiet when he spoke to me as if trying not to draw
attention to himself.

     The Brother, my assailant, pulled away from me and just
when I thought the encounter was over he grabbed my hard
cock.  I gasped thru clenched teeth, not realizing how
sensitive my dick was.  Pulling my jockstrap under my sack,
he slowly stroked my meat.  My heart was pounding; not out
of excitement but out of fear of being seen.  Who the fuck
wants to be seen in such a compromising situation?  His grip
was like a vice on my cock and every stroke was long and
slow; I could feel the precum being milked out of me.  There
was nothing I could do but sit there and take it.

     His stroking was methodical.  He brought me to brink of
exploding, but stopped seconds before I could cum to rub his
thumb over my very sensitive head.  My precum was flowing
like a river; and he seemed to enjoy smearing it all over my
dickhead.  With every swirl of his thumb, I shuddered -
tormented and enthralled all at once.  Admittedly, the
feeling was incredible and under different circumstances I
probably would have begged for it to continue.  But this was
a guy. stroking my meat. in a bus. surrounded by nearly
naked guys.  Not exactly a fantasy come true.

     I wanted it to stop.  I wanted him to go away.

     But he continued his assault on my cock as thou this
was the last sensation, the only sensation I would ever
feel.  Over and over he teased it to the brink of orgasm,
then backed off, torturing my swollen nerve endings in a
flutter of soft touches.   I did my damnedest to try and
fight the pleasure but it was too much, overwhelming my
senses to point of total shutdown.  My breath quicken with
every stroke, the sweat dripped from my body in a heavy down
pour.  I couldn't help but squirm in my seat.   I was going
to cum.  I was going to cum so fucking hard I would blow the
roof off the fucking bus.  I was so close, so fucking close!
And I wanted to cum so bad.  If nothing else I deserved that
much for having to put up with this shit.  I don't remember
when it happened, hell at that point I could barely remember
my name, but at some point my mind it went from wanting him
to stop to wanting him to making me cum; to make me cum
HARD.   I was practically screaming it in my head.

     Suddenly, his assault quickened to an alarming rate;
alarming because with all the precum oozing from my cock I
could actually hear each stroke of my meat.  He pulled the
waistband away from my balls and with one last, hard stroke
he stopped and snapped the band against my dick, pinning it
to my stomach.  I was so fucking close!

     "See ya around, pretty boy."  The bus came to a stop,
and I felt him rise, leaving me with a cock covered in
precum and aching for release.  I was breathing hard, but at
least it was over.

     We were pulled from our seats and formed a line in the
aisle.  I was pushed against a pledge and one was pushed
against me.  A few minutes later we were walking toward the
front of  the bus.  The line moved slow; two steps forward
then a pause, then two steps forward and another pause.  It
wasn't until my foot hit the final step that I realized what
was going on.   Instead of touching the ground, my feet got
tangled up in a pair of sneakers.  I struggled with them for
a minute, clumsily trying to force my feet inside without
the aid of a Brother or my cuffed hands.   They fit
perfectly.   I was pushed forward and to the side for
several feet before a hand on my chest forced me to stop.
With a click of a button our cuffs fell to the ground.  A
Brother came up behind me to lift my arms over my head and
then I was sprayed with something cold.  From the very tips
of my fingers down to my ankles, I was covered with this
shit.  They even sprayed my face telling me to close my
mouth and noise so I wouldn't inhale it.  Being that I'm
very big on camping, I recognized the smell almost
instantly.  We were being doused with bug spray as they lead
us off , one by one into the woods.

     We marched on what felt like a fairly clear path
plagued with countless twist and turns.   I couldn't escape
the feeling they were taking us out to the middle of nowhere
so no one would find our bodies.  A century later the line
finally stopped and I anxiously hoped the blindfolds would
finally come off.  They didn't.
     In front of me, something was happening, but my senses,
sight not included, couldn't put it together.  The pledges
ahead of me seemed to be moving off one at a time.  I got a
bit nervous when the pledge in front of me moved off.  I
felt alone, completely exposed.

     A firm hand pushed me forward from behind and guided me
for several feet.  My last step was met with thin air.  I
would have fallen forward if the Brother walking with me
hadn't grabbed my arm.  It was as if the world just stopped
and with one more step I would've fallen off the edge of the
planet.  I barely had time to form a thought before the
Brother placed my hand on something metal and pushed down on
my shoulder firmly.  After feeling around for a bit I
realized it was ladder.  I didn't need a light bulb to go
off in my head to know what to do.  Carefully feeling around
to get a good hold on the ladder, I descended down into what
I thought was probably the Pit of Hell.  Every downward step
found me questioning my judgment.  Should I really allow
myself to be led blindfolded into a dirt pit?  Was this
wise?

     The second I stepped off the ladder I bumped into
another pledge and a few minutes later the pledge coming off
the ladder bumped into me.  This went on for a while, us
bumping into each other like a twisted game of pinball,
until the last pledge descend into our midst.  Then  I heard
the ladder being pulled up.  Great.

     "Remove the blindfolds," someone ordered and we obeyed.

     My eyes adjusted slowly to my new surroundings only to
confirm my fears.  We were in a fucking hole eleven or
twelve feet deep and about 14 feet wide.  My first thought
was "mass grave; somebody fucked up huge and we were all
going to pay the price."    It's it funny how the most
fucked up thought is always the first.

     Our captures were looking down at us from above.  There
were a shit load of them too.   The torches placed on each
corner illuminated the Brothers eerily.  Their long, black
robes covered them completely and faces where hidden behind
the strangest masks.  The masks appeared to be made from
onyx; hard like shiny black porcelain with long curved horns
coming out from either side.  It was like staring at the
devil himself.  I'll freely admit the whole situation was a
bit unnerving, and the sudden sound of drums playing softly
didn't make me feel any better.it made me feel sacrificial.
Four Brothers stepped to the edge of the hole; their masks
were silver with two horns on either side instead of one.
They stood in silence until another Brother appeared amid
the four.  This one had three horns on either side of the
mask.  As if perfectly rehearsed, everyone around him
dropped to one knee at once and bowed their heads to him.
The number of horns seemed to signify a certain ranking.  My
guess?  The five in silver were the Inner Circle and the one
with the six horns had to be Q.  Maybe I was wrong but it
seemed obvious.  The way everyone bowed to show him the same
respect I've seen before when the Brothers dealt with Q.

     A fierce chant arose from the brothers and the torches
reacted as if gasoline was poured on them.  The louder they
chanted the higher and brighter the flames became.  But just
as quickly as it all started, the silence crept in again;
the flames became a mere flicker in the wind.

     "Greetings pledges," the leader spoke; his voice was
distorted to hide his identity, but his words were clear.
"This trial has a very simple objective.  Get yourselves
back to the TBH house in the time allotted.  How much time
you actually have you'll never know, which should make for
an interesting challenge.  Go one second over the time limit
and you'll all fail; no exceptions, no excuses."

     We looked at each other, the fear evident in each
pledge's eyes, and I'm sure we all were thinking the same
thing.  Could we really do this?  I had my doubts.  You know
what I was thinking?  It didn't matter how much time we had
to get back; they had already decided the outcome.  Who's to
say there really was a time limit? It was their game, their
rules and their decision was final.  We were just playing
along.

     "This will show us how well you pledges work together
to achieve the same objective; and you will work together.
In order to successfully complete this trial all the pledges
must arrive at the house at the same time.  Hear this
clearly, at no time may any of you separate from the group.
It is up to all of you to figure a way out of this hole and
navigate your way thru the dense woods.  Remember, time is
not on your side tonight."

     I remember swallowing hard, as if trying to gulp down a
bowling ball.  Not knowing where we were and looking up at
the Brothers from that hole made the task before us seem
impossible.  Not to mention you had a bunch of guys standing
around in a hole still sporting raging hard-ons.  Oh yes,
from the view before me, we were all still feeling the full
affect of the black pills.

     "The task ahead of you may seem daunting," the leader
continued, "but if you work together and pay close
attention, you'll all come out ahead.  It's time for you to
look at each other for support if you want to get out of
this on top.  There may be times when you'll disagree, some
might even flat out resist, but when you get to the point
where you can't go any further because of your differences,
put it all aside and simply follow the path of least
resistance, it's the path that will lead you home. At times
it may feel like you're not making the right choice, but if
you listen to your gut instincts and most importantly, to
each other, the right choice is all you'll have.  But don't
for a second get too cocky, for the clearest path isn't
always the correct one."

     The whole time I'm thinking who the hell talks like
this?  And really, what was the point of the disguises?  As
if we didn't know who was under those robes and masks.
Looking around at the other guys, I could see they were just
as confused as I was.

     The Brother's stepped aside in perfect unison to clear
a path.  I was like `whoa, what in the hell is going on.'  I
think I could speak for everyone when I say our hearts
stopped.  Imagine being in the presence of your favorite
superstar; I think that best describes what we all felt.  A
brother walked up the path clad in a crimson robe and six
horned, gold mask.

     Kyrios.  It had to be.

     "Let it begin," he said, throwing open his robe and
flooding us with a light that could rival the brightest
star.

     We were blinded; a few fell back.  I couldn't begin to
tell you how the hell they pulled off that little light
trick.

     By the time we recovered our sight, they were gone.

     "Dude," CJ mumbled, rubbing his eyes and trying hard to
keep his balance, "what the fuck was that?"

     Aside from a few mumbles and groans no one really had
an answer.  It was a pretty funny sight, looking round all
you saw was a bunch of hard cocks straining against
jockstraps.  Under different circumstances we would've been
extremely embarrassed, but since we were all in the same
boat no one really said anything.

     "So.," Steve began than paused for a moment to look
around, "how the fuck are we supposed to get out of here?"

     "Watch, watch out." Xavier gestured for us to clear a
path for him as he stepped back against the wall.  Digging
the balls of his feet into the ground to launch himself
forward, Xavier took off like a bat out of hell and tried to
scale the opposite wall.  The boy didn't even come close to
the top.  Instead he fell back and would have busted his ass
if it wasn't for Nick catching him.  "Fuck!  Give me a
second and I'll try again."

     "Don't bother," I told him, patting him on the back.
"It was a good try but there's no way any of us are going to
jump out of here."

     "Well, do you have any ideas?" he asked in a non-
condescending tone.

     I shrugged.  "I got nothing."  I looked up again,
squinting to see the edge.  "But if they put us in here for
the purposes of getting out, guess what? It must be
possible."

     "Thanks for clearing that up, Jay." Arsen joked.

     For several minutes we stood around bouncing ideas off
each other with no luck.  They were pretty lame ideas to
boot.  Take Troy for instances; he thought it would be a
good idea to make a rope with all of our jockstraps.  We all
just looked at him.  My mind went back to what Q or at least
the figure I assumed was Q, had said.  Then it hit me, "Hey
listen, he told us `It's time for you to look at each other
for support if you want to get out of this on top.'"

     "Dude, I got it!" CJ yelled out.

     "This ought to be good," Sam snickered.

     "Shut the fuck up," CJ fired back.  "I got this.  Nick
come here, stand against the wall quick."

     Nick tossed Arsen and I an unsure glance; all we could
do was shrug.

     "Dude, just stand here please."  Reluctantly, Nick
stood against the wall and just then I realized CJ was
thinking the same thing I was.  "Okay, now bend down just a
little."

     "Ohh,' Nick nodded, "I see where you're going with this
now.  God are we fucking stupid or what?"

     Slowly and carefully as not to hurt Nick, CJ climbed up
until he was standing on his shoulders.  "Shit," he yelled
thru clenched teeth, the ledge remained a few inches out of
his reach.

     "That's okay CJ, we got this," I told him.  "Turn
around so your back is against the wall and bend your knees
like Nick.  We can do this.  This will probably suck for you
Nick, but you're the biggest and probably strongest of the
bunch so that makes you the man."

     "It's cool.  I'm good," he assured me.

     And with that I began my ascent up the human ladder.
Climbing on top of Nick was the easy part, but getting from
him to CJ's shoulders was a bitch and half.  I fell back a
few times which sucked because every time I had to go back
up I had to pass just whiskers away from CJ's hard cock.
Who the fuck wants to go thru that over and over again?  By
the fifth time, I got a handle on the situation and I was up
and out of the pit.  No sooner was I on my back panting for
breath, than Arsen pull himself out of the pit.  He got it
on his first try.  "You're such a show off," I laughed with
a cough.

     He crawled over to me laughing and collapsed; his head
resting on the side of my stomach.  "When you got it, you
got it," he snickered.

     One by one the guys followed suit, releasing themselves
from the pit; some having more trouble than others.  Finally
we pulled CJ up and Kevin volunteered to hang over the side
so Nick could cling to him, while the rest of us them both
up with ease.  It was nice to see the crew come together for
a common goal.

     "Guys look." Paul gestured behind us, noticing the
single flashlight in the distance.

     "What now?" someone mumbled behind me.

     There was a flashlight, a piece of paper inside a
plastic bag, and seven pairs of handcuffs.  With a heavy
sigh, I picked up a pair and cuffed my wrist.

     "What are you doing?" Justin asked dumbfounded by my
actions.

     "What does look like I'm doing?"  Arsen came up beside
me, grabbing the other end of the handcuffs and cuffed
himself.  "We're putting them on."

     "What makes you think we have to put them on?" he
asked.

     My face must have just screamed `you can't be this
fucking stupid' when I turned to him again, for he backed up
slightly.  "Do you think they just left them here for the
wildlife?"

     Arsen laughed.  "I hear bondage is the new thing in the
animal kingdom."  Shaking his head, he tossed Justin a pair.
"Just put them on!"

     "It's a map," Kevin said examining the piece of paper,
his southern accent coming thru as natural as the night
breeze.  He shook his head and passed it off to Mike.  "Take
this.  I couldn't read a map to save my life."

     Snatching the flashlight from Sam, he turned it on and
off several times.  "Now this I can work with."

     "It's pretty simple really," Mike said matter-of-factly
and pointed to a spot on the map.  "According to this we're
here.  All we have to do is follow this trail and we should
be golden."

     "What makes you think we can trust this map?"

     "Good point, Jason," Mike acknowledged with a nod, "but
since this is all we have to work with I don't think we have
any other choice but to see where the map takes us.
Agreed?"

     Jason shrugged.  "Whatever man."

     "Come on guys we need to get going," Mike insisted,
rolling up the map.   "We need to stop wasting time and
start moving.  Who knows how much time we have."

     "Or how much time we've wasted so far," Xavier
interjected.

     "Exactly," Mike agreed.  "So lets get going."  He took
off towards the woods and we were all just about to follow
behind him when CJ practically demanded us to stop.

     "Dude, I really think we should take of our little.um.
problem before we go on."  He looked down, "Well, in my
case, it's a not-so-little problem but still.you get the
idea."

     "No, we don't," Mike said.  "What are you talking
about?"

     With laugh, CJ pointed at Mike's crotch.  "Dude, look
around for a second.  Everyone is walking around with
fucking hard-ons that could chisel away at ice sculptures.
I don't know about you guys," he grabbed his dick thru his
jockstrap and waved it around for all to see, "but I'd
rather take care of this now so I don't have to walk all
night with my dick leading the way."

     Anthony, cuffed besides him, just laughed.

     "And what?  You agree with him Ant?" Mike asked almost
accusingly.

     "Look," Anthony started, barely able to contain the
laughter welling up inside him, "I don't like it any more
than you guys do.  Getting off around a bunch of boned up
guys isn't exactly my cup up of tea, but if it means we can
all concentrate better on the task at hand, I'm willing to
make the sacrifice."

     Everyone seemed to take his words seriously.  Let's
face it,  this was Ant saying this shit now not CJ.  I think
if you were to ask any of us who was the most grounded,
mature pledge, we'd all volunteer Anthony without
hesitation. And here he was agreeing with what CJ had
suggested.  For a moment everything was quiet.  I'm sure
everyone was thinking the same thing.  How are we going to
this?  Who's going to go first?  Is this really going to
happen?

     "So is this really going to happen?"  Paul asked.

     "My fucking god!" CJ exclaimed.  "You'd think none of
you fuckers very beat your meat before.  Dude, it's not that
fucking difficult."  He turned to face Ant and between them
a knowing nod was shared.  Bolder than anyone of us, CJ
reached right into Ant's jockstrap and took hold of his
throbbing cock.  Ant did the same to him.

     "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Justin yelled out.  "What the fuck
are you guys doing?"

     With a hand full of CJ's cock, Ant looked over at him.
"You didn't think we would be able to take care of ourselves
now did you?  You think the Brothers would let us take such
an easy way out?"

     "Yeah, but the Brothers aren't here to see anything,"
Jason countered.

     "Says you," Ant said.  "You can do what you want but I
didn't come this far to fuck things up now over whether I'm
allowed to stroke my own dick or not."  The only other thing
to come out of his mouth was a low, almost an inaudible
"fuck" moan as CJ stroked his cock.

     For a moment we all stood there watching these two
studs stroking the shit out of each other's cock.  I
personally have to admit that I was completely transfixed.
Never before had I seen two guys stroking each other like
they were.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll admit
to finding the whole scene extremely sensual.  To see the
heads of their dicks disappear into each other's fist as
they stroked made my dick strain even harder against my
jock. To see their precum covered rods glisten under the
pale moonlight was intoxicating to say the least.  Never in
a hundred years would should such thought cross my mind but
that night it was all I could think about.  My dick, hard
and sensitive as hell, poked out the top of my jock.  I damn
near fell to my knees as Arsen swiped the palm of his hand
over the head of my cock.  Clearing the haze from my mind, I
turned to him only to see a small grin play across his lips
as he reached into my jock and pulled my dick out
completely.  With the first stroke, I lost myself in the
moment and without even thinking about it, my hand went for
his cock as well.

     We fell into each other's gaze; Arsen's dick pulsed in
my fist.  My god!  To feel another man's meat in your hand
is simply incredible.  I mean I've always been used to my
own; how it feels, how it twitches to the slightest touch,
how it oozes precum when one reaches that certain state of
excitement.  But to feel those things coming from another
man is was just.well, the words escape me right now.

     For a moment I was hesitant to even look down between
us, but it made no difference.  I was all about the
experience and I wasn't planning on missing a beat.  Slowly,
our eyes parted and my gaze gradually fell on the dick
gliding in my fist.  It was intense.  Arsen's cock gleamed
in my hand under the pale moonlight as if a handful of
crystals were poured over the length of his dick.  I
squeezed it gently, running my thumb over the head several
times.

     "Oh fuck" he whispered, falling into me so his forehead
was pressed against mine.  He bit his bottom lip after the
first stroke and I felt him shiver as if an ice cube was
dancing down the length of his spine.  Four strokes later a
jet of precum poured from his tender head covering my fist
in his moist heat..  He moaned and returned the favor by
squeezing my cock and stroking the length of the shaft.  We
were in prefect rhythm. He bathed my face and neck with his
steamy breath, quicken his pace on my cock and I was all too
happy to match him stroke for stroke.  Our hands were
covered with precum giving us instant lube.  I'd always
prided myself on being a precum machine, but my boy Arsen
was giving me a run for my money.

     I took my eyes off our dicks for a moment to look at
him and I doubt he even noticed.   Arsen looked amazing
under the light.  Every bead of sweat captured a spec of
light from above as if the moon was there simply to make him
enticing.  His raven hair was damp and clung to the side of
his face in a way I never thought I'd find so sexy.

     His cock swelled in my hand, spewing another stream of
precum.  For a moment I actually thought he shot his load.
But he hadn't and I was relieved.  I didn't want the moment
to end just yet.  He looked at me then, the same devilish
grin dancing on his lips as before, and I had to wonder what
was going thru his mind as he gazed at me.  Was he as into
this as I was?  Did he want it to last until the last
possible moment?

     "Shit." I managed to mumble, feeling his thumb tease
the head of my cock.

     "You enjoy that?" he asked in his hushed voice.

     "Fuck yeah," was all I could say.

     Gently, Arsen pulled me closer to him placing our dicks
side by side   He set his hand over the top while I held our
cocks by the bottom and then we did our best to lock our
hands together.  We jerked both cocks as if they were one;
our moans alone made it clear how pleasurable it was.  It
was getting to be too much.  I was bent at the knee slightly
as he was and I could've sworn we were about to fall over.
Had we gone another two minutes we probably would have
fallen on our asses.  But Arsen fired the first load onto my
abs before it came to that.  He grunted and hissed as his
squeezed our dicks together   I was able to look down just
in time to see the second load explode from his head and
splatter over my stomach.

     "Fuck!" I hissed thru clinched teeth.  Seeing that
threw me over the edge. My cum shot out like a voracious
animal after its cage was opened, coating his tight stomach
as though it were my canvas and I was on the verge of
creating my greatest masterpiece.  I shot a second wave as
Arsen released his fourth.  I can't tell you how long this
went on.  We were two cumming fools!  But hey, what do you
expect from guys in our situation?

     After about a minute or so, he slowly stepped back and
looked down.  Between us glistened a web of cum, formed as
if its sole purpose was to bind our cocks together.  Before
he let go he grasped my shaft by the base and gave it one
last, hard stroke tease out the last bit of cum I had to
offer.  I was so sensitive by then my face must have
contorted twenty different ways.  And Arsen actually thought
he was going to get away that easy.  As he turned away from,
thinking it was done and over with, I reached for this still
stiff dick and did the same to him.  I managed to squeeze
out one last jet of cum.

     Fuck what a mess!  I guess standing directly in front
of each other wasn't the smartest idea.  The worst part came
after it was over; the moment of doubt and panic.  Did I
really do this?  Do we really do this?  Amazing!  A minute
earlier we were squeezing out the last drop of cum and now
we couldn't even look at each other.  I mean seriously, in a
blink of an eye things got weird.  And it wasn't just us, it
was everyone.  We were so caught up in the pleasure of each
other that we didn't notice the other guys going at it.  But
I took one good look around and I all I saw were stomachs
and thighs basted in cum, and not their own.

     The next five minutes were silent as we found creative
ways to clean ourselves.  I did a pretty good job but I
still felt Arsen's sticky jizz on my stomach and that wasn't
going to change until I hit the shower.

     "What the fuck is wrong with you dudes?"  Leave it to
CJ to get the ball rolling again and be annoying at the same
time.  "You guys are acting like you just found out you have
twenty-four hours to live.  We jacked off.it's not that big
of a deal.  It's not like we haven't done other."

     "We should get moving," Mike interjected.  "We don't
know how much time we have and I'm sure we've wasted plenty
of it.  Come on, it's time to move."

     "Whatever dude," CJ said with a roll of his eyes.

     Mike headed off into the woods with the map in one hand
and his cuff-mate Xavier in the other.  Everyone fell in
line behind them in complete silence. Arsen and I brought up
the rear.  A herd of pale white asses as stretched before us
far as the eye could see.  How did this suddenly become my
life?

     We walked for a while, following Mike blindly, all the
time hoping he really did know what he was doing.  I had my
doubts.  No one really said anything expect for a few words
of wisdom coming from CJ which I really could make out, and
felt smarter for it.   I looked at Arsen and for a moment,
in my mind, we were standing before each other jacking off
again.  An intense heat washed over me suddenly as if my
body were consumed by flame.  Tightness overcame my nuts and
I felt my soft cock twitch.  `Okay, enough of that' I
thought and dropped my eyes to the ground just in time to
see this big, winged shadow pass over us.

     "Whoa!" I said, instinctively throwing my hand against
Arsen's stomach to stop him. Did you just see that?"
Realizing where my hand was, I quickly pulled it away and
apologized.

     "It's ok," he assured me with a smile.  "Did I see
what?"

     "You didn't just see that thing fly over us?"  He
merely shook his head.

     "How could you miss it?"

     "What did it look like?"

     "I have no idea. I just saw the shadow on the ground."

     "Okay.what did the shadow look like?"

     The best I could offer was a shrug.  "I don't know.  It
had wings I think."

     With a laugh, Arsen gestured out towards the woods as
if pointing out the obvious.  "Well Jay, we are in a fucking
forest.  There are bound to be owls and shit around."

     "I know what fucking owl looks like and let me tell
you, that wasn't it."  This conversion wasn't getting us
anywhere so I just dropped it.  "Forget about it man, let's
just catch up to the others."

     He shrugged.  "Okay, but if it makes you feel any
better I'll keep an eye for...for flying owls or something."

     I couldn't help but laugh but not before punching him
in the arm.  Ahead of us, the guys had stopped alongside a
stream.  As expected, they were arguing.

     "I'm telling you Mike, you took a wrong turn
somewhere," Paul said matter-of-factly.

     "I did not!" Mike insisted, slapping the map with the
back of his hand.  "I know how to read a fucking map."

     Arsen stepped up between them, dragging me with him
thanks to the metal cuffs.  "What's going on guys?"

     "Mike is lost," Paul said flatly.

     "Fuck off!  I am not.  The map just ends here."  He
looked up from the map, confused.  "It stops right at this
stream."

     "Impossible!"  Paul snatched the map and looked it
over.  "I say we retrace our steps to here and try it again
with a new `map leader'.  It makes no fucking sense that
this would lead us here.  There's no reason for it.  So what
do you guys say?"

     Most of the guys didn't know which side of the fence to
stand on, but after a little debating by the group and a lot
of protesting from Mike, we decided to retrace out steps to
see if we truly went off path somewhere.  Paul and Mike
argued the entire way and when it was all said and done, and
Paul followed the map "precisely", to use his own words, we
ended up at same stream.standing in the same spot.

     How could we not laugh?  But even thru the laughter the
arguing intensified, accusations were thrown both ways and
"clueless dumbass" came up several times.  I couldn't be
bothered with them and so I took a seat on a boulder next to
the waters edge. I really didn't see how in the hell this
group was going to make it to the end of the challenge when
all we could really accomplish was a great argument. The
concepts of teamwork and unity were clearly lost on some of
the guys.  And knowing that my hope of joining The
Brotherhood lay not only in my performance, but on theirs as
well; it was not a comforting realization at all.

     My eyes wondered; first from the clear sky above to the
trees surrounding us, only briefly did I glance at the guys
standing just a few feet away before the rushing stream
caught my gaze.  It offered little comfort watching the
water break against earth and rock.  Its only goal was to
reach the end of its watery path, much like our pledge group
had a single goal, but like the water, we too faced much
resistance.

     That's when I saw it.  The light shimmering off the
stream's surface as it forked in another direction deeper
into the woods.  The new watery vein was calmer and flowed
without restriction.  Could it be that simple, I thought?
Could it really be that easy?  The answer hidden within the
masked brother's words?

     "Guys, I think I figured it out," I said, but everyone
was to busy arguing to notice.  Not even Arsen, who was
chained to my hand, heard me.  "Guys!"  Not even a glance.
"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled.  "Thank you."

     "Sup Jay," Arsen asked, stunned at my sudden outburst.

     "I think I figured what we're supposed to do next."

     "Oh?" Sarcasm oozed from Mike, surely if he couldn't
figure it out, no one could.

     " `Oh' this fucker!" I grabbed my jock and made sure he
got a real good look at my bulge.  Now I was just annoyed as
hell.  "Don't come at me with all that fucking attitude
buddy.  You're not doing anything to help the situation.
All you're fucking arguing is getting us nowhere."

     "Alright," Arsen said with a soft laugh as he patted my
chest, "calm down killer.  What did you figure out?"

     "Do you remember what the masked brother said to us
back in the pit?"  All I got was a collective dumbfounded
stare.  I  rolled my eyes.  " `When you get to the point
where you can't go any further because of your differences,
put it all aside and simply follow the path of least
resistance.' Sound familiar?  Now look over there.  See how
the stream breaks off into the woods with nothing in its
way?"

     "So?"

     I swear I would've knocked Mike the fuck out if it
wasn't for fear of the repercussions.  "Try to follow me
here.I think that's where we need to go next.  He said to
follow the path of least resistance, well there it is."

     "Are you fucking for real?" Xavier exclaimed.  "That's
all you got?"

     "Yeah, because you fuckers are just oozing with ideas,
right?" Paul was quick to come to my defense.  "It may be a
long shoot, but hell, it's better than standing around here
all night with our thumbs up our asses.  So unless anyone
here has a better idea, I say we follow Jacob's lead on this
one."

     "This coming from the guy who was so damn sure I read
the map wrong."

     "Dude, seriously, shut the fuck up about that already,"
CJ looked as annoyed as I felt.  "Paul is right.  This plan
is all we've got, so let's just do it.  From what I can
tell, the easiest way to is to cross those rocks over
there."

     And that was that.  CJ didn't wait to see who agreed or
not, he just took off pulling Anthony behind him.  The
others hesitated briefly, but finally gave in.  The rocks
were more slippery than they looked and a couple of guys
almost fell in.  But in the end, we made it across without
much difficulty.

     Again we entered the woods allowing Kevin to lead the
way with his trusty flashlight.  No one said anything
really, but one could easily feel the uncertainty in the
area.  Hell, I'll even admit I had my doubts but it was too
late.  This was the path we had chosen.  We needed to stay
committed or we would never find our way out.  I could only
hope I made the right decision.

     The smaller stream led to a pond and what appeared at
first to be another dead end.  There were no new clues in
sight, and we hesitated, unsure of where to go next. figure
out what we should do next.  But Kevin, with his trusty
flashlight in hand, spotted a forked path across the field
in front of us. .

     "Great," Mike said.  "Left or right?"

     Half the guys said left and the other said right.
Could we get anymore predictable?  Instead of arguing this
time, all eyes turned to me as if I had the answer hidden
away in my jockstrap or something.

     "Why are ya'll looking at me like that?"

     "Well, you did get us this far didn't you?" Jason
replied.

     "Yeah, but."

     "I say we split up," Sam offered, pointing to either
path.  "One group goes that way and the other this way and
if one groups finds something they come back for the other."

     "Now that's just dumb," Arsen laughed, reading my mind
perfectly.  "Not only will that waste an incredible amount
of time but we can't split up, remember?"

     With a shrug of his shoulder, Sam basically challenged
Arsen to come up with something better.

     "Right.we go right," I said finally, my outstretched
arm pointing to the right path.

     "And what makes you so sure?" Mike challenged.

     "Because I remember what the brother said, that's why.
He said the right choice won't always be easy and if we
follow our instinct we will make the right one or something
like that.  I don't remember the line exactly, but I know it
said `right.'"

     "Sounds good enough to me," CJ proclaimed and was about
to head off again before Mike stopped him.

     "Are you serious?"

     "Dude, get your fucking hands off me."  CJ was quick to
free his arm from Mike's grasp and got right in his face.
"Don't you ever put your hands on me like that again or
I'll."

     "You'll what, you fuc."

     I got right in-between them.  "Oh, hell fucking no!  We
are not going to go there, my friends.  Do you hear me?  No
going there!"  My god, we were falling apart at the seams.
"Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to do a damn thing
but get us kicked the fuck out of The Brotherhood.  So
unless that's what ya'll wan, I suggest you two back the
fuck up and calm yourselves down.  Seriously."  I looked at
CJ and he gave me an acknowledging nod and backed off.  My
attention was now on Mike.

      "You've been nothing but negative energy since this
whole thing started.  I don't know what the fuck your
problem is but it stops here."  He as about to say something
but I was quick to cut him off.  "It stops here!"  I looked
at the rest of the guys to see if anyone else wanted to
start in with me.  They didn't.  "Now, we're taking the
right path and I don't care if you like it or not, it's all
we got right now.  So stop complaining, stop your bitching
and lets roll."

     This time I walked off with Arsen in tow.  I swallowed
hard and I could easily hear my heart  beating in my ears.
I sounded so sure of myself but I remember thinking, `what
the fuck was I doing?  What if I was wrong?  What if I was
leading the guys to failure?'

      "Hey," Arsen whispered, "it's going to be okay.
You're doing great."

     I guess he must have sensed the fear inside me.  My
doubt.

     I shrugged and looked around to make sure no one was
close enough to hear us.  "Arsen.honestly, I don't know what
the fuck I'm doing," I said, my voice as hushed as his.
"What if I'm dead wrong?"  A bit paranoid, I looked around
again. "If we fail this trial it's going to be all my fault,
you realize this, don't you?"

     He gave a shrug of his own.  "If we fail we fail.
Yeah, it wills suck, but the way I see it, you're the only
one coming up with ideas and they don't sound all that crazy
to me.  So don't worry about it.  Remember what the brother
said, follow your instinct.  As long as you do that, I'm
sure you'll get us home.  Win or lose I'm behind you all the
way."

     I have no idea how long we walked.  It seemed like
hours had gone by and with every passing minute the guys got
more restless.  Just when the complaining and bitching was
beginning to start up again, we hit a clearing and a dirt
road.

     "Finally," Mike sighed in relief, and I had to admit,
he spoke for all of us.  Me so, maybe more than the others.

     Further down the road we could see some streetlights
off to the right and what appeared to be some sort of
mailbox or newspaper dispenser.  The left side of the road
was pitch black and there was nothing but more than a thick
nestle of trees.

     "What are you guys waiting for, lets go!" Mike
exclaimed started to lead the charge down the lit path.

     "Wait a fucking second!" It was now CJ who stopped
Mike.  "Last time I checked we weren't following you, we
were following Jacob."  He turned to me with a nod.  "What
do you think?"

     "Honestly." I paused.  It was funny to see them all
hanging on my every word, like hungry dogs waiting for their
owner to drop food in their bowl.  "I think we need to go
this way," I pointed toward the not so cheerful path.

     "What?" Justin asked, confused as all hell.  "Last time
I looked, the University was in a nice, well lit area, not a
dark void at the end of a road.  If we go towards the light
we're bound to find it."

     "But that's it, Justin, we're not looking for the
school are we?" I countered.  "And remember, the clearest
path is always."

     "The correct one," Arsen finished my sentence.  "I
remember him saying that too.  Guys, I think Jay's right.
Going that way is just too easy and not to mention obvious."
He pointed to the dark end of the road, "That's where we
want to go."

     Everyone looked unsure.

     "Look, we've gotten this far, haven't we?  Let's not
fall part now."

     "Yeah we got his far," Troy said, "but who's to say
this is where we want to be?  We could be so far of course
it's not even funny.  And we're supposed to believe the
brother was giving us all the clues in his little speech
back there?"

     "We're wasting a lot of time doing nothing," Paul
interjected loudly.  "We need to get moving and I don't know
about the rest of you, but I'm with Jacob and Arsen."

     Paul and Steve stood besides us; CJ and Ant were quick
to follow and Nick forced Troy to do the same.  The debate
was over.  It was time to go.  Instead of walking down the
dark road we decided to jog to save time.

     I was exhausted, both physically and mentally.  I
reeked of bug spray and sweat and was just plain dirty as
hell.  You don't understand how badly I wanted that night to
be over.

     Spent as we were, we barely had enough energy to make
it up a hill, but when we did, it was like new life was
breathed into our bodies.  There, in the middle of a long
field, we saw the house. Like a beacon of hope, we ran
towards the house as if the being chased by death its self.
It was our light at the end of the tunnel.  The closer we
got the faster we ran.  Finally,  came around the corner to
the front of the house and simply collapsed in front of the
mains doors.

     Sweating like pigs and panting like dogs, we all
started to laugh.  The guys then start to jump on me,
messing my hair and patting any part of my body they could
reach.

     "Dude, you fucking did it!" CJ exclaimed joyfully.

     Arsen turned to look at me thru the pile of bodies. "I
knew you would," he smiled.

     Someone started to clap behind us and I think we were
all shocked to see Shaun, Seth and a few other brothers
standing on the steps.  We were so caught up in the moment
we didn't even notice them.  As tired as we were, everyone
was quick to get on their feet and line up straight for
them.

     Shaun laughed.  "Relax," he said with one final clap.
"In fact, congratulations are in order."

     "Indeed," Seth agreed with a raised brow, his long hair
blowing gently in the wind.  "The allotted time for this
trail was five hours and you managed to complete it in two
hours and fifty seven minutes.setting a new record for the
house.  I must say.I'm impressed.  This is the one trial
most pledges fail because they never figure out the clues
laid out for them.  So, congratulations."

     There was another round of applause from the brothers
even louder now because some more brothers appeared behind
us.

     Seth pulled out the remote to the cuffs and unlocked us
all.  He gestured towards the door behind him.  "Go hit the
showers.  You guys earned it.  And the only person you have
to worry about cleaning tonight is yourselves.  We'll talk
again soon."

     Thank god!  After the circle jerk in the woods and
weirdness that followed, the last thing I wanted to do was
have to soap Arsen up.  I must say, feeling that cool water
splash against my body was the best feeling in the world
that night.  After I lathered myself up and washed away all
the dirt and sweat, I just stood under that nozzle and let
the water cascade across my skin.  I could've stayed there
forever I think.  Thru the hair and water rushing over my
face, I could see Arsen doing the same thing.

     Just looking at him reminded me of what we did in the
woods.  Feelings of regret overtook me.  Yeah, it felt good
at the time, I'll admit that, but it's one of those things
I'd gladly take back if I could.  I didn't want things
between us to get weird.  Arsen was becoming the rock I
leaned on for support and I think he was feeling the same
way.  And more importantly, I trusted him.  A circle jerk
isn't worth all that.

     I must've zoned out because I was stunned to see Arsen
staring back at me.  How long did he notice me watching him?
Fuck, I hoped he didn't think I was checking him or
something.  See this is the weirdness I was talking about?
The over analyzing of every move, thought and word.

     "Hi," was I all I could say.  How stupid was that?  I
ground my teeth together, pissed at coming off like a total
dumbass.  But I didn't want to just look away suddenly
either because it just makes it more obvious.  "Look," I
sighed. "I wasn't checking you out or anything I was just
thinking and just so happened that I was looking your
direction and I don't want you to think."

     "Shut up," he laughed and gave my shoulder a gentle
squeeze.  "Don't start getting all crazy and weird on me
just because of our little scene in the woods.  We did what
we had to do...it's cool.  I think no differently about you
than I did yesterday.  Trust me, you don't have to explain
yourself.   Nothing changes between us.okay?"

     I gave the biggest sigh of relief of my life.  "Okay."

     We smiled.

     We were probably in the showers for good forty-five
minutes when the nozzle shut off.  I swear I could've stayed
for hours more, but unfortunately the brothers had something
else in mind.  We dried off, slipped on our black boxer
briefs and were told to go to the living room.

     Shaun was waiting for us there, smiling, with what
looked like cards in his hands.  "Please, have seat anywhere
you like."  He gestured to the couches and chairs around the
room and waited for everyone to find a seat.  "I know it's
late and you're all tired, but I'm afraid the night isn't
over just yet.  First of all, I want you all to give it up
to yourselves for setting a new record.  Great job.'

     "What was the old record?" Anthony inquired, speaking
completely out of turn.  For a second I was worried for him,
but Shaun didn't seem to mind.

     "Three hours and three minutes, so you guys just made
it," he laughed softly and paused to regain this thoughts.
"Oh, before I continue, just an FYI for you guys.  I know
classes were supposed to start this Monday, but there was
some kind of accident in one of the chemistry labs.  To make
a long story short, big explosion, deadly gases, so school
won't be starting until the following Monday.  They want to
make it's safe because the gases did spread to some of the
other buildings.  So that's that."  He stepped closer to us,
looking around to make sure he had everyone's attention.
"I'm going to make this brief so you guys can move ahead to
your next task.  Tonight each of you will have your one- on
one with a Brother.  The fourteen of you will have a sit
down with a Brother to talk about a lot of different things
that I'm obviously not going to get into here."

     The first thing that ran thru my head, and I'm sure I
wasn't the only one, was that I did not want to get stuck
with Steel.  I'd be cool with anyone else but not that
fucker.

     "One of you will be meeting with me," he smiled.  "Now,
it's very important that whatever question you're asked, you
answer with 100% complete honesty.  The Brotherhood will not
tolerate dishonesty toward a Brother.  So follow the rules
and  you'll be fine.  And just incase you think you might
get away with a little white lie,  remember this.you have no
idea the resources we have at our disposal.  You don't know
what we do and do not already know about you.  I think you'd
be very surprised.  So do we understand each other Peanut?"

     Nick damn near fell out of his chair.  Later he told us
"Peanut" was the name his grandmother called him when he was
younger because he used to love to eating peanuts.  She was
the only one called him that and she's been dead for eleven
years.

     Shaun laughed.  "Now, I'm going to give you each a card
but do not open them until I leave the room.  They will tell
you who you will be meeting."

     The cards where folded and all I could so was stare at
mine.  I had the worst feeling that Steel's name would be on
my card.

     "Alright then.good lucks guys."

     Even when Shaun left the room, no one was eager to open
up their card.  We all just looked at each other, hoping
someone else would go first.

     "On three?" Arsen suggested and counted us off.

     On three I held my breath and open my card.  Fuck!
There wasn't a name on the card, just some directions we had
to follow to get to our interviewer.  That was even worse!
At least if we had a name we could prepare ourselves.

     "Well, let's get to it," Ant said and walked off.

     My directions lead me by the indoor pool.  That thing
was huge, by the way, and connected to the outside pool.
The coolest thing about the house had to be the poolroom.  I
looked up and saw nothing but clear skies and shimmer stars.
The roof over the pool was made of glass and retractable and
that night it was wide opened.  It was an amazing sight.
The room I had to go to was on the third floor.  I stood
before those doors scared shitless.  I stepped back and
leaned against the railing.  The night air rushing from
above was soothing, seeing the water below ripple because of
it also helped calm me.

     "Nice fucking view," I whispered to myself and took a
deep brief.  The card said to come in when I reached the
room so I did just that.  There was a soft light in the
room; actually it was someone's bedroom.  If you could call
it a bedroom.  I felt like I walked into a whole fucking
house, it was so big.  I was expecting to see someone
standing right there before me but again I was disappointed.
I did hear the shower going so I figured my assigned Brother
was in there.

     The room was very stylish and decked out.  The carpet
was like feathers on my feet.  The bed was off to the left
up against a wall of glass.  It was fucking huge!  That's
right the whole wall opposite me was glass with doors
leading to the balcony.  Plus there was an amazing fireplace
right in front of the bed.  The desk before me was made of
marble and glass with a large LCD monitor on the right and a
laptop on the left.  I wanted the guy who designed the house
to do the same for me.

     I tried to look around for some hint that would give me
a clue as to who lived there,  but I found nothing.  There
were some pictures on the mantel over the fireplace but I
was too chicken shit to even think about moving.  Ten
minutes must have gone by when the shower was finally turned
off.  I was so fucking nervous I kept ringing my hands
behind my back and swallowing hared.

     The door to my right opened and out rolled a veil of
steam and that's when I saw him.  Clad only a pair of black,
2xist trunk underwear and droplets of shimmering water,
stood the most puzzling letter of the alphabet.  Never once
did it cross my mind that I might actually get him but there
he was, piercing thru me with those silvery, haunting eyes
of his.

     I think that's when it happened.  I think that's when
my world was thrown into a tale spin and the line between
reality and the impossible utterly vanished.  If I had to
pick the moment when all I believed to be true and real was
put into question.it was then.


__________

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theinnercircletbh/

So there you have it.  The sixth chapter of The Brotherhood,
I hope you liked it.  I will definitely continue the story,
no problem, but it really depends on you guys.  If you
enjoyed what you read so far and would like to read more
please drop me an email at thewriterxx@aol.com

Take care,
X