Page 5 of Born into Madness

“I doubt anyone wants to die, Drew, but we can’t live forever, and your time is about up.” With the blade pointed at his chest, I say, “But before you leave this world, you’re going to give me the name of your dealer.”

When the only thing out of his mouth is more crying, I set the blade against his lower ribs and press in hard enough to break skin.

“Fine,” he screams before the cut can get deep. I wonder if I should let him know that he’s caving faster than most. No one can withstand it for long, but just about everyone lasts longer than this dipshit.

“The name,” I say, keeping my knife positioned between his fifth and sixth ribs.

“Cupid,” he gasps when I apply more pressure and cut him. “That’s all I know.”

“What does he look like?”

“I don’t know. I swear. I never saw him.” He whimpers when I press in a little bit more. “He sells on campus. Everything is untraceable.”

“How’d you pay?”

“I used crypto.”

I step back, hearing the relieved sigh Drew gives and not bothering to tell him this reprieve won’t last long.

“How did a preppy little fuck like you get the number for a drug dealer who’s smart enough to keep his identity hidden?”

For a split second, Drew forgets about the pain he’s in and looks offended, like I’ve insulted his manhood by not believing that he runs with the tough, drug-dealing crowd.

“I overheard someone bragging outside of class one day. He was talking about how he’d slipped a pill into some girl’s drink and then had her for the night.”

“You mean raped her for the night?” I clarify. “Call it what it is.”

“Fine, he raped her for the night, and he never got caught because the girl couldn’t remember anything the next day. He just dumped her off at her dorm before she could regain consciousness and got away with it.”

“And you thought that sounded like an easy good time with no repercussions?” I ask.

He nods. “I went up to the guy and asked him where I could get some of the pills. He sent me a link to an invite-only channel.” Drew pauses to catch his breath, and I remind myself to be patient and resist the desire to stab him again while I wait.“I sent a message that I was interested, paid in crypto with a burner wallet, and then a bot sent me the location for the drop.”

“Where was the drop?” I ask, fisting his hair to lift his face back up when his head starts to drop.

“The university’s gym, locker number twenty-three. They sent me the code to open it, said I had thirty minutes to get it, and then the whole fucking thread just disappeared.”

“When did all this happen?”

“Yesterday,” he says, and I shake my head at him in mock disappointment.

“Just couldn’t wait to get out there and start raping, could you, Drew?”

“It’s not like that,” he insists.

“Right.” I point my knife at his flaccid dick, smiling when his skin turns a sickly shade that closely resembles the corpse he’s about to become. “You’re a romantic,” I tell him, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. “You bought date-rape drugs because you wanted to woo her, this unattainable woman who wants fuck-all to do with you. You figured you could show her one hell of a time, even though she’ll be passed out and won’t remember a second of it, and then she’d fall madly in love with you the next time you see her on campus? That about right?”

“No,” he says, and I’ve never wanted to cut someone’s tongue out so badly in my life. “I just wanted her, okay? She wouldn’t give me the time of day, and I wanted her.”

“Now we’re getting to the truth of it.” I nudge his dick with the blunt edge of my knife, and his body jerks in fear. “I hate to break it to you, Drew, but this tiny dick of yours was never going to convince her to give you the time of day.”

He looks like he wants to yell at me, to defend his tiny cock and his skills as a lover, but whatever he sees in my eyes has the words dying before they can pass his lips.

“Tell me the name of the guy who got you the invite,” I say.

“His name’s Tom Sullivan. He’s a member of Alpha Psi Rho. That’s all I know about him.”

“And Alpha Psi Rho is?” I ask, because I know fuck-all about Greek Life at some fancy university.