FOUR

Cole arrived at the chancellors residence precisely at 7:00 that night. It was just as he remembered it from this college days. A very large, very old, very elaborate house. It sat on a small rise that overlooked the rest of the university. As a student he had never had the occasion to visit here. But it was exactly as he imagined it.

Chasington met him at the door. As he also expected, she was dressed casually but not too casually. She came from "old money" and presenting the right appearance was everything to her, even when entertaining the grandson of an old friend.

"Right on time," said Chasington. "As I recall, your grandfather was very much the same way."

"Yes, I suppose he was. It's a lovely home."

"It was built when the university was first built. My ancestors have lived here ever since."

"And I assume one of your children will live here when they become chancellor."

"Oh, I never had any children," said Chasington, just a slight note of bitterness in her voice. "My husband – Theodore Hollingsworth – and I never had any children unfortunately."

"Sorry to hear that. Where is you husband?"

"He died of a stroke some years ago. I never remarried. The university takes up all of my time. But it's a rewarding life."

"I'm sure," said Cole. "This is big house for one person."

"I make do. I thought we might have a drink before dinner. Do you like cognac?"

"Very much. Whatever you're preparing smells great."

"A very . . . old family recipe. Passed down from generation to generation. I'm sure you'll enjoy it a great deal."

"I'm sure I will," said Cole, as she led him into the library.

As they entered the library, Cole saw a man standing near the window. The man was the same custodian that had been watching him earlier. He turned to look at Cole as the two entered the room.

"I told you," said the man. "He looks exactly like his grandfather."

"I didn't realize anyone else would be here," said Cole.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that," said Chasington. "This is Gayland Carrington. He was also an old classmate of you grandfather."

"Yes, I remember," Cole started. "That is, I remember my grandfather mentioning him. They pledged the same fraternity as I recall."

"Indeed we did," said Carrington, handing Cole a glass of cognac. "When I saw you on campus earlier today I immediately told Eugenia you were here. I knew she would be very interested in seeing you."

"This is very good," said Cole, sipping his cognac.

"It's very old," said Chasington. "I only save it for special occasions. Gayland and I have dinner together a couple of nights a week. He's our head custodian and he's been here since 1949."

"I thought you said you and my grandfather attended the university together?" questioned Cole.

"Oh, we did," said Gayland. "Unfortunately I was forced to drop out. Once our fraternity had its charter revoked all of the officers of the fraternity were expelled. I was one of the officers. With the expulsion on my record I couldn't get into another college. Thankfully, Eugenia's father was kind enough to give me a job as a custodian here. I suppose he felt somewhat responsible for what happened."

"Why should he feel responsible?" questioned Cole. "As I remember, that is, as my grandfather told me he had nothing to do with it."

"No, but my brother was the president of the fraternity," said Eugenia. "My father felt responsible for what happened. It was the first time a Chasington had ever disgraced themselves."

"I'm sorry," said Cole. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"Ancient history," said Chasington. "But you did say that your grandfather never talked about his fraternity days. Perhaps you'd like to hear some stories about it."

"Well, it's not like he never spoke about it," lied Cole. "He did mention some things. Not in much detail. Just that an initiation went wrong and someone was injured."

"Actually," said Gayland, "someone died. One of our initiates. We were having what would be called today a hazing. Oh, in those days it was perfectly accepted. Something like that could never happen today. But as I said, in those days it was common practice."

"There was an old house on campus," said Chasington. "It had been here since the turn of the 18th century. Only this one was old and run down. It had been condemned for a few years and there were always plans to tear it down. While it was standing it was used as an initiation ritual for the pledges to the fraternities."

"Yes," said Gayland. "Oh, it wasn't supposed to be dangerous. We just used it to test the courage of initiates. We had set it up to scare the initiates and see how long they would stay inside before they ran screaming from house. It was rumored to be haunted and we played up to that."

"I remember reading about things like that," said Cole. "And you're right. Something like that couldn't happen today. But they were routine in those days."

"Yes, they were," said Chasington. "But as we said, this time something went wrong. One of the initiates was on the top floor when the floor gave way under his weight. He fell to his death. Just after the police had arrived from receiving a tip that something was going on in the house. You see, no one was supposed to be there because it was condemned. But someone called the police and turned the fraternity in to them. It took me a while but I finally discovered that your grandfather was the one who made that call."

Cole just stared at Chasington. She was right, of course. He had made that call. He had deliberately set out to destroy the fraternity and he had succeeded in that endeavor as efficiently as he had any of the jobs he had been hired to do. Although in this case it was personal and nothing he had been hired to do.

"I'm sure you're mistake," lied Cole.

"No, she isn't," said Gayland. "Your grandfather turned us into the police. And in doing that ruined both of our lives and caused the death of her brother. He betrayed the fraternity and his brothers."

Suddenly Cole remembered both Eugenia and Gayland. And he did remember the event they were talking about. An event he had precipitated out of spite and revenge in true demon fashion. A mission that was worthy of the upper level demon Belthazor.