Devil's Soul

Chapter 15 (please don't judge me)

The better plan involved going to a party at Omega Chi. Now, before you judge my ability to form solid plans, hear me out. When people go to parties, they tend to get drunk, and when people are drunk, they tend to make bad decisions all on their own, without my help. All I had to do was hang out at a party and wait for people to commit sins. I did feel a little guilty for planning to let people shed their souls like dandruff, but I figured that drunken people couldn't really be reasoned with, anyway. Trying to stop them from doing something stupid would probably just get them angry.

So that's why I found myself lounging at the bottom of the steps in Omega Chi, along with Chung, a few of his frat brothers, and Abhinav. Actually, this was a place that I had found myself on a number of occasions. I've never been much of a hard core partier, but Chung and Abhinav often managed to convince me to tag along to the Omega Chi and East Campus parties. I tried to avoid the East Campus parties, though. They could get weird. Really weird.

The reason why I often ended up parked at the bottom of Omega Chi's stairs is that the frat always needed someone to guard them, and with me not being a hard core partier, I was always the first to volunteer. Six people guarding the stairs might seem like overkill, but you would be surprised by how many drunken idiots still tried to get past us.

The thing is that the party was supposed to primarily take place in the basement. That's where the music and open bar were located. People who didn't want to have their eardrums blasted out would hang out on the main floor to socialize in a non-grinding manner. People who weren't satisfied with either situation would try to explore the Great Upstairs, but, sadly for them, the Great Upstairs was off limits. The frat brothers did not appreciate strangers exploring their bedrooms, especially when those strangers were looking for a quiet place to engage in certain unholy activities.

Presently, there was a guy with a girl hanging on his arm, probably looking to do just that. He was wearing a backward Yankees cap (he was either brave or stupid), with tufts of sweaty hair sticking out. The girl looked a little disheveled too, but not as sweaty as the guy. They'd probably been grinding before they found their way to the gated entrance of the Great Upstairs.

"Come ooooon guys," Yankees Cap slurred. "Enrique said it would be cool if I could give my girrrrl the tour."

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing, and when I looked at my companions on the stairs, I could tell they were having the same internal struggle. Except for Chung, who was staring into the distance, pretending to not notice the strangers. If he was a robot, he would have had the command "Do not engage" issuing on a continuous loop in his hardware.

One of the frat brothers, who we called Pippin because of his out of control curly hair, spoke up. "Do you even know Enrique?"

Yankees Cap scoffed. "Of course. Enrique and I are like best amigos." At least his lies were giving me the soul fragments I desperately needed. This type of lie was actually more common at the entrance to the frat parties. People would somehow learn the names of frat brothers and then pretend to be friends with them to get into the party. Most of the time, these lies were unnecessary because Omega Chi didn't mind admitting strangers. However, if the party became unusually populated, the frat brothers would become a little more selective about who they let in.

We were all snickering at this point, and Enrique finally spoke up. "Dude, I'm Enrique." He glared at Yankees Cap.

Yankees Cap looked shaken for a second, but he quickly recovered. "I meant the other Enrique," he said proudly. More soul fragments for me!

"There is no other Enrique!" The One and Only Enrique seemed frustrated and unamused. "Now get lost, before we kick you out of the party."

The girl on Yankees Cap's arm yawned and snuggled into him like he was a pillow. "Come on, baby. Let's find some other place to have fun," he said and began to lead her away, casting us a nasty look.