James sat in his dorm room watching the TV. He kept flipping between four or five different news channels and checking his phone. Alice had been gone for almost two weeks and no one had seen any sign of her.
James liked Alice, and she had been one of his best friends, but one day she didn’t show up to any of her classes. People had started asking around and her roommate had said that she hadn’t come back that night either.
After she had been gone for the second day in a row, campus security contacted the police. The police contacted her parents, who were as surprised as everyone by the news of her disappearance. They said that as far as they knew she had been in college and they weren’t aware that
She had any plans of going home or visiting family or friends. Her parents were distraught by the news and James could only imagine how hard it must have been to hear. After they had talked with Alice’s parents, the police started questioning everyone who
Was remotely close to her, but no one seemed to know a thing. James knew something was wrong because if she had had any plans of leaving, she would have told at least one of her friends, but no one knew anything.
They had questioned her roommate and other close friends, but the only person who knew anything was her friend Kate who vaguely remembered her talking about going to a party. The police asked if she knew which party in particular, but that was all Kate knew.
It ended up being a moot point because there hadn’t been any party in the last few weeks, at least not one that anyone knew of. The police had been searching for thirteen days and kept turning up dead ends, and it looked like Alice was gone for good. James could hardly believe it himself.
He felt like he was in a weird dream and that he would wake up at any moment. He just couldn’t process the fact that Alice was missing, and he kept watching the news almost mechanically, looking for any clue or trace of his friend.
Despite his best efforts, even he was starting to realize that she was gone and that if anyone ever found her, it would probably be at the bottom of a lake or deep in the woods somewhere. It made him angry at whoever was responsible, but worse than that, it made him feel powerless.
There was nothing he could do but sit and wait and hope that she returned, but that did nothing to actually find her. He was a mess of emotions because of her disappearance. He had all but forgotten about eating, he could barely pay attention in class, and he
Had hardly left his dorm room for anything over the last couple of weeks. All he could do was watch the news and wait. He watched some reporter go on about something a politician had said and what some party or another was trying to do, but he just couldn’t bring himself to focus.
He almost fell asleep watching it when he heard a knock at the door. He was more than a little surprised, but he got up and walked over to the door. When he opened the door, he was half tempted to slam it closed.
Standing in the doorway was a tall, lean kid with slick black hair and a crooked nose. James didn’t like Rob. He was friendly enough, but he had marked him from day one as competition. He and Rob both liked Alice and the only one who was oblivious was the girl herself.
James had been more of an introverted character and it was hard for him to compete with a good-looking, confident, outgoing guy like Rob. James was funny and smart, but he didn’t think it helped him all that much.
He and Rob had only talked to each other when they were both around Alice, and even then it was only thinly veiled venom. Now that Alice was gone though, he had no idea what Rob could possibly want with him. “Jeez Jim, you look like crap!”
Rob said with an expression that seemed like genuine concern. James looked down at himself. He was wearing stained clothes that he hadn’t changed in four days, he hadn’t shaved since Alice had gone missing, and he didn’t have to see his face to know that he had bags under his eyes.
He hated to admit it, but Rob was right. James looked back up at him. “What do you want Rob?” he asked with an edge in his voice. Rob held up his hands defensively. “Look, I know we’ve had our differences, but since Alice is dead–” “She’s not dead!” Jim said angrily.
Rob nodded his head apologetically. “Since she’s gone missing,” he corrected himself, “I was hoping the two of us could turn over a new leaf. I figure if we hadn’t been fighting over her, we might have actually been good friends. I want to let bygones be bygones and put our differences behind us.”
Rob held out a hand to him. James looked him up and down skeptically. He felt in his gut that Rob was being insincere, but he looked genuine and James wondered if he just didn’t trust him because the two of them didn’t like each other.
James was still suspicious, but he reached out and shook his hand. “Alright,” James said, “let’s let bygones be bygones.” “Great!” Rob said excitedly, “Now that we friends–” “I never said that.” Jim said shortly. “Ah but why not?” Rob asked in a good-natured tone.
“We’ve mended fences, let me throw in a few figs with that olive branch! My fraternity is having a dinner on Friday. You should come! I can introduce you to everyone there, and there are tons of people who would love to meet you!”
“Look Robert,” James said, “don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d rather stick my hand in a pot of molten lead than go to dinner with you.” He nodded sadly, “Well Jim, if you change your mind, the dinner is at eight.”
He started to walk away and then paused before adding, “Oh, and if you do come, you should maybe clean yourself up a bit. It’s something of a formal dinner.” James slammed the door behind Rob. “It’s something of a formal dinner!” he said in a mocking tone. “Go jump in a lake Rob!”
Rob collapsed on his bed and went back to watching the news. At some point he fell asleep. He didn’t know how long he had been there when the door opened. His roommate Allen walked into the room.
With a sigh, he turned off the TV and opened the window to let the room air out. He sat on his bed and started scrolling through his phone. James heard the noise and raised his head from the pillow.
He felt groggy and disoriented, and it took him a moment to register what was happening. He turned and addressed Allen. “How long was I out?” he asked. “Do you really care?” Allen asked. “Ever since that girl disappeared, all you’ve done is mope in front of the news.” James glared at him. “Screw you!
She’s one of my best friends you jerk!” Allen shook his head. “It’s a tragedy that she’s gone, but you have got to get back to normal, otherwise you’re gonna flunk out of school and waste away into nothing.” “I don’t need a sermon!” James snapped. Allen raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?
Tell me, when was the last time you took a shower?” James looked down at the floor angrily. “That’s what I thought!” Allen said. “Time for some bad medicine Jim, get up, get showered, and go to class. Watching the news isn’t helping Alice, it’s only hurting yourself.” James threw a shoe at Allen.
“Go screw yourself! She means everything to me! How would you feel if your best friend went missing?” “I don’t know,” Allen admitted, taking the shoe and holding onto it, “I just know what it’s like to see one of your best friends die slowly in his dorm room.
If you want to feel better, go outside and get back to normal life, and by the way,” he said, pointing the shoe at James, “you can have this back when you apologize.” James flipped him off and covered his head with his blanket. Allen just shrugged and scrolled on his phone.
James slept for a long time until he saw sun shining through the window. He pulled out his phone to look at the time, and caught a glimpse of his own reflection. He could hardly recognize himself. He looked scruffy and gross.
He had a scraggly beard and he looked like he had dressed in clothes he found at the dump. He sat up slowly and flipped on the TV, for once, the reporters weren’t talking about politicians or climate change or stupid events happening in town.
Instead, they showed Alice’s picture and were talking about her disappearance. They didn’t have anything new to say about her and James knew that they didn’t, instead he just sat there and stared at her picture. He felt a tear roll down his face and he didn’t bother to wipe it away.
He just turned off the TV and buried his head in his hands. After a long moment, he took a deep breath and stood up. He saw Allen sleeping in his bed peacefully. For a moment, he envied him for being unconscious. Then he sighed, got out some clean clothes and left for the showers.
After an hour, James came back, clean and clean-shaven, with a fresh set of clothes. He had taken his dirty clothes and started a load of laundry, and he had even cleaned up his room a bit. He still couldn’t get Alice off his mind, but for the first time in two weeks he felt
Better. While he was busy cleaning his room, Allen woke up. This time it was his turn to be groggy and confused. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Am I awake?” James nodded sadly. “You were right,” he said with a sigh.
“I’ve let things get out of control and I been a bit of a jerk too.” “Sure,” Allen said, “let’s go with a bit.” James rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m trying to say I’m sorry, okay?” Allen smiled. “Apology accepted,” he said. “Here, you’ve earned it.”
He tossed something at James and James caught his shoe. He smiled at Allen and put his shoe back on his foot. “Thanks,” he said. “So what are you going to do now?” Allen asked. “I mean just picture how much spare time you’ll have now that you’re not glued to the news.”
“Well,” James said, looking down at his shoes, “I have some homework to catch up on, and I guess I should go to class.” “All good things,” Allen said, propping his head up with his hand. “And Rob invited me to a dinner at Tau Alpha Nu.” “Rob?” Allen asked, sounding surprised.
“Don’t you guys hate each other?” “I don’t like the guy,” he admitted, “but we mainly disliked each other because we both liked Alice, and well, now that she’s missing, he wants to turn over a new leaf.” Allen snorted. “I’ll believe that when I see it! Are you going?”
“I think I should,” James said, “I mean I don’t like him, but he was being polite and I feel like I should apologize for being rude to him.” Allen chuckled, “I guess I never really pegged you for a frat boy.” “Neither did I,” James said with a shrug, “but it’s just one night.”
“When is it?” Allen asked. “Tonight at eight,” James said, “I expect it to go no longer than midnight at the latest, and honestly I’ll probably head back early. I can’t really see myself getting all cozy chatting with Rob’s friends.” “Fair enough,” Allen said, “just try not to make a scene.”
“No promises,” James said with a weak smile. James left to go finish his laundry and then got started on homework. He had two classes on Fridays, but one wasn’t until three O’ clock and the other wasn’t until five.
He was behind though, and despite having several hours until his classes started, he knew he would be spending all of them doing homework. By the time it was all said and done, he only had five minutes after he had finished his homework before he had to be in class.
Still, he had caught up on his work, an in spite of everything he actually felt a little better. By the end of his second class, he almost had a bounce in his steps and for the first time he had stopped thinking about Alice.
Then he remembered the dinner, and he felt a pit in his stomach. He knew it would be awkward and he didn’t want to go, but he felt like he was obligated. He rushed back to his dorm room and changed into some nicer clothes before heading over to the Tau Alpha Nu fraternity house.
He arrived at the front door with fifteen minutes to spare, and he cautiously knocked on the door. A tall, muscular man with blond hair and broad shoulders opened the door. He looked down skeptically at James, and James nervously explained himself to the tall man.
As soon as he had finished explaining himself, the blond man laughed and clapped him on the back, welcoming him inside. He left James waiting just inside the door and he left to go find Rob. In a few minutes, Rob popped his head around the corner to see James standing in the entryway.
His face burst into a wide grin. He grabbed James’ arm and clapped him on the back. “You came!” he said excitedly, “and you dressed up! I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show!” James was still nervous, but he felt a little more relaxed.
“I’m here because I owe you an apology,” he said, staring down at the floor, “I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I realized that what you said the other day was right. We might have been good friends if it hadn’t been for Alice.
In some ways I’ve been using her as an excuse to be a jerk. So I guess coming here is my way of apologizing.” Rob grinned even more. “Water under the bridge!” he said, “C’mon! I’ll show you around the house.” Rob took James through the house so quickly that it all blurred together.
He was so excited and energetic that he didn’t really slow down until near the end when he brought James up into the fraternity’s study room. The whole house was nice, and the study was no exception. It had maroon walls and mahogany desks and shelves, the lights had brass fixtures and
The window had a sort of diamond pattern to it. The room felt warm and relaxing and it almost made James want to lie down on one of the couches. Around the room there were also statues. There were busts of each of the most famous members in the fraternity, along with a strange
Looking one near the end of the room. It caught James’ eye and Rob perked up when he saw that James noticed it. “Ah, I see you’ve noticed Tantalus!” he said excitedly. “You know the myth, right?” A vague memory stirred in James’ mind, but he couldn’t recall it. “It’s been a while,” he said.
“Ah, well Tantalus was a king who was punished by the gods,” Rob explained. “He was forced to be eternally hungry and thirsty while food and drink were just out of his reach.” “Why is he here in the study?” James asked.
“I don’t know,” Rob said with a shrug, “but I always felt like I understood him. I think I know what it’s like to hunger after something, to want it so badly only for it to be just out of reach.” Rob looked genuinely sad for a moment, and James felt sorry for him.
He put a hand on Rob’s shoulder. “That’s how you felt about her, wasn’t it?” James asked. Rob gave him a weak smile, “Well, let’s just hope I don’t have an eternal hunger,” he said dryly. “Speaking of hunger, I’m starving! Let’s get some dinner!”
James and Rob went downstairs to the dining room and they took their place at the table. Rob sat at the front of the table, and James sat on his right. They passed around wine and appetizers, while they waited on the main course.
James didn’t touch any of it because his mind was still on Alice, but he did his best to make idle conversation with the people near him. Before long, the main course was ready and four fraternity members brought out four platters of food. They were covered, but James could smell them.
They smelled good, but they seemed strange to James and he couldn’t place his finger on what the food was. The four fraternity members sat down and Rob stood up, tapping his fork against his glass. Everyone grew silent as Rob began to speak. “Good evening everyone and welcome!
I just want to say that dinner smells delightful! But before we get into the main course, I’d like to say a few words. First off, I’d like to welcome my friend James. I don’t know whether he’s planning on joining our fraternity or not, but I certainly
Hope he’ll stay with us, but secondly, I’d like to talk about brotherhood. Many of you know I liked a certain girl for a long time, and that the night before poor Alice went missing, I asked her out on a date.
When she rejected me, I thought everything was hopeless, but you were all here for me, like brothers, when I was at my worst, all of you stepped up for me and made me remember just how special our bonds are.” Rob kept talking, but James had stopped listening to him.
He hadn’t realized that Rob had asked Alice out on a date, or that she had rejected him. For a moment he wondered if that meant she liked him instead of Rob, and he would have kept thinking about that question, but something else struck him as odd.
Rob had been with her the night before she disappeared. She had been going to a party that night, or at least that was what James had heard. Could she have been with Rob? Had Rob known where she had gone and not said anything?
Even James found it hard to believe, but then something else came to him: the bust of Tantalus. All the other busts had been important to the fraternity, why should Tantalus be the odd one out? But why would a myth about a man who was eternally hungry matter to the fraternity?
It had to be some other reason, but what? Then it clicked. The rest of the myth came to James and he remembered why Tantalus had been punished. And then it all fell into place. Rob asked Alice out on a date, and Alice had been with Rob when she went to the party.
Only, it wasn’t just a party, it was a dinner party. Alice must have rejected Rob and gone from being the guest to being the dinner! James’ stomach churned as he realized what the smell was, and he almost threw up. Rob was trying to feed him Alice!
And maybe worse too, maybe James was going to be the next week’s menu. James began to think desperately about what to do. He couldn’t leave, not while everyone was watching. He had no idea how many people were in on it, and there was no way he could get past the big blond guy.
James did his best to discretely pull his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled quickly through the list until he found Allen in his conversations. He texted frantically: “911 im dinner no jk hlp.” It was the most he could type before Rob finished his speech. “…and with that, let’s eat!”
Rob said and everyone clapped. James hastily tried to clap and blend in, but Rob looked down at his phone and narrowed his eyes. “You know Jim, it’s rude to text during dinner.” James started to sweat. “Oh, sorry! I’ll just put it away.”
It wasn’t good enough for Rob, and he stared at James intimidatingly. “Who were you texting, Jim?” “Oh, uh, no one!” he said nervously. “Umm, can you excuse me? I don’t feel very well. Maybe I should go.”
James got up to leave but as he did, one of the fraternity members struck him hard against the side of his head. He saw stars and he was about to pass out, but as he did he saw them raise the lid of one of the platters.
In horror, James saw Alice’s head staring back at him and the fraternity members started carving off pieces of flesh and eating it. James thought he might throw up, but all he could do was watch as he slowly faded into unconsciousness. Allen walked into the hospital room.
It had been hard to convince the police, but they managed to get to the fraternity house in time. When they got there, they found the remains of the missing girl carved up on a platter and they found James trapped in the freezer.
He had a concussion and hypothermia, but beyond that he was unharmed. He had been in the hospital for three days before he was well enough to take visitors. James saw Allen walk in and he gave him a weak smile. “I told you not to make a scene!” Allen said.
“I guess I owe you another apology, don’t I?” James said wanly. Allen shrugged. “I’ll settle for I owe yous,” he said. “I heard what happened, how are you feeling?” “Terrible,” James said, “but a little better now that I know what happened to Alice.”
Allen pat him on the shoulder, “Hey, at least they’re being brought to justice.” James looked grimly out of the hospital window. “Thanks Allen, but I think only the gods can give them the justice they deserve.”
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