Page 19 of Massacre Monday
Evie groans loudly, calling all the attention to herself. “Oh, god.” Everyone in the back row laughs at some inside joke while Elina’s jaw clenches tight.
The president ignores her. “If one of the men catches you and carries you across the finish line,theyearn the points, and youlosethem for our house. But if you climb the wall and escape,Sigmawins double!”
“What about the sex slave thing?” a fellow second year, Alison Rowe, calls out.
“We raise our hands here in these meetings if you wish to be called upon. But I’ll go ahead and answer that. If you’re caught and carried over the wall by one of the guys, yeah. You belong to him for the entire month.” With a slight shake of her head, as if she’s annoyed, she adds, “Some fraternity rule the brothers made up along the way.”
Alison butts in without raising her hand, and I shirk back at Elina’s irritation. “But I’ve already been appointed,” she says, glancing around with a big smirk on her face, like she’s better than us. Maybe she got someone good. “If I have my assignment, how can I be anyone else’s?”
Elina takes a moment to compose herself, her throat tightening as she swallows. Her pale face becomes icy when she speaks again. “You can still perform if you choose. No one is forcing you to. Yes, the brothers have been known to do as they please with women on the forest floor during the event. I would discuss this with your future Viscount and see if he grants permission for you to participate.” As if it’s painful for her to say, she grits out, “Until your Culling, you can technically still be with other people.”
“Even after…” Evie yells, and sisters laugh loudly, knowing the rumors that most wives are shared among the society, despite their wedding ceremonies.
“Out of our fifty sophomores, we have forty-three participating unless anyone declines after tonight. You’ll have one more opportunity to back out at the starting line, but after that, you’re fair game.” The sinister implications beneath those words make me sweat.
Her eyes swivel to where I’m sitting, and every head in the room turns to look at me until I feel my cheeks flame. “Pippi Freidenberg, we’re all counting onyouto get us those doublepoints. You’re our best chance. I know your father has trained you in martial arts or whatever?—”
“Mixed martial arts,” I correct her.
“Yeah. So you better be fast on your feet and quick like a fox.”
“Victory through Vigilance!” Everyone roars at the mention of our house animal.
Elina waits until the chatter dies down, lowering her chin to give me a final warning. “Sly and vigilant. We’re depending on you.”
The room goes still. All eyes stare at me, as if waiting for my response. I straighten my shoulders and say proudly, “I won’t get caught.”
seven
With my handson my hips, I pace the grounds of Northview woods, just southwest of the golf course encircling NU President Harvey’s gated brick mansion. The area takes up about a five-mile radius surrounded by the wall, and I have trained specifically to run through these trees and scale the plaster fence in record time.
Before entering, each of us was given a pat down and was reminded of the STD tests. We handed over our phones and anything else in our pockets. Brothers received condoms, which most made balloon animals out of, then popped them, startling us all with shrieks of terror at the sound. Us sisters are on edge already.
For Massacre Monday, everyone is dressed in black: black jeans, black shirts, black hoodies. Skull face paint is the custom, worn in unique styles. It’s supposed to represent the bones for some ritual, I think, but I haven’t paid much attention to the history portion of our weekly lessons. My perpetuity exam takes place next year, and I’ve got too many other classes to worry about.
No one knows when the Greek Games started, but this event has been happening for almost twenty years. Before that, there was a twenty-year break for some reason, but The Seven Moons events originated with the school’s foundation. That’s one thing Idoremember.
As I glance around under the pitch-black shroud of an overcast summer evening, I narrow my eyes, trying to recognize anyone I know, other than Gwen clinging to my hand. I halt my steps and stand among the crowd. It’s impossible to tell who’sOmega, Sigma,orIota,and none of the men are distinguishable, either.
Gwen trembles next to me, and I wonder if she’s cold, but she leans over and whispers, “This isn’t what I thought it would be like.” There’s such fear in her voice, I feel bad for her.
“Greeks! Pay attention!” A clang resounds through the silent night as someone leans a ladder against a tree. A skull-faced man climbs to the top and perches his hip on a few of the rungs while a brother beneath lights a flashlight and points it toward him. He raises a red megaphone that squawks so loudly, we all cover our ears.
The leafy branches blowing in the breeze behind him give him the look of a specter, adding to the ominous nature of the event. Some of the small valleys up ahead dance with a haze of fog crashing over them in waves, and the tension in my neck relaxes. It’s a perfect blanket for hiding.
“Sisters! Your role is, well, tosurvive. Make it over the wall, you earn your house double points. If you’re carried over by a brother, you lose points for your house.”
Despite the crowd of maybe eight hundred people, men outnumbering women by four to one, no one else makes a sound, everyone frozen in place and trying to memorize every word the announcer speaks.
“Brothers! Your duty is to capture a sister and bring her across the wallalive. If she’s missing an arm or something, it’s frowned upon. Incapacitation is perfectly okay. Death has happened before. It’s not ideal, but no worries.”
Gwen glances at me, and even in the dim light, her white face paint stretches so her eyes appear wider. She shakes in my hold, and I squeeze her hand back.I won’t get caught.
“Alumni and senior judges will be watching on camera and patrolling on foot, wearing glow sticks on their jackets the color of their house. Any purposeful intent to kill or maim a sister or brother will be noted, and you’ll be dealt with by the senate on Sin Sunday in the Cathedral of Seven Moons.”
From the crowd, a man shouts something, and my heart rate accelerates because I couldn’t catch his words. Was it important?
“Oh, yeah. No weapons of any kind! And blah blah consent. Listen, sisters… You know if you’re here, you’re about to get fucked in every hole and probably multiple times. So pucker up, pussycats. If you feel like you can’t handle us, let the judges in the center knownowbefore the starting gun.”
