Author's Note: It's been a little while since the last chapter. Life gets in the way from time to time, ah well. Besides one reader's brush with death I think we all got through it okay.

This chapter comes with a big honking content warning: sexual content and graphic violence.

Chapter XLI

One Thing Leads To Another

The club was hot and the women, Adam happily noted, were hotter. The beer, though, was awful. It was, according to his brother, an acquired taste. If all beer tasted like day old horse piss he wasn't sure if he even wanted to acquire it. There had to be a better way to pledge a Frat. He drank the beer anyway, though, because there was no way he was going to look like a loser in front of everyone and his brother.

They had been at Vibe for around an hour and he was batting about five hundred with the ladies, five-fifty if he was really generous. Unwanted beer in hand, he navigated through the nearly shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of club goers. He was no expert with bars, but this size crowd had to have broken some fire code or something. Then again, since like half of the people were babes, he shouldn't be complaining. They had staked out a table earlier, not that any of them were spending too much time there. He angled through the crowed, and hoped he could get there without stepping on too many feet. Adam's head bobbed in time with Soulja Boy's newest hit, Crank That, while he tried to look cool and simultaneously not spill watered-down alcohol all over himself.

His efforts, while valiant, were ultimately futile. Room-temperature Coors Lite splashed all over his shirt when a woman in a red dress all but knocked him on his ass. He fumbled the glass like he would a bouncing grounder, and it didn't fall. The woman turned on her insanely high heel and looked at him wide eyed. "Oh God, I am so sorry!" She had dark hair that was jaggedly cut, full pouty lips and her stoplight red dress was a tiny fraction of an inch away from being indecent.

"Don't worry about it, it's not every day a beautiful woman all but throws herself at me." He put on his best smile and hoped like hell he didn't sound like a dork.

It might have been the dimple that popped and the way his eyes twinkled when he smiled, or the line might have actually worked--he wasn't sure, but it didn't matter because she smiled back at him. "Let me buy you a drink to make up for your shirt." Even though they were standing less then a foot apart, she had to shout to make herself heard.

Adam tugged his collar and tilted his head. "A lady should never have to buy her own drinks, what are you having?"

The woman crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them even closer to popping out of the top of her dress. "I'll have a screaming orgasm." She toyed with one of her hoop earrings and ran her tongue across her top lip when she was done speaking.

Adam felt most of his blood rush south. "I guarantee it."

He had a hell of a time working his way back to the bar, and the trip to the table where the pretty lady was waiting for her drink was even worse. He just focused on not spilling his--or her--drink again. When he finally caught sight of the table, he felt something inside him droop. The girl that he had finally lucked out with was all but on Dozer's lap. "Damn," he swore but the sound of his curse was lost in the club's chaotic mix of music and conversation. He dodged his way past the outskirts of the crowds and put the two frosty glasses on the table. He shot Dozer a dirty look and looked at the dark haired woman. It was then he realized that he hadn't even gotten her name. His first reaction was to hit himself in the head, but he had to play this cool. "Damn, man, I haven't even gotten this gorgeous lady's name yet and you're trying to steal her away."

Amazingly enough, the woman extricated herself from Dozer's grasp and slid onto the stool closest to him. "He's not stealing me away, and you can call me Alex."

Adam grinned again and pulled the third and last of the table's stools over closer to her. "I'm Adam."

"And I," Dozer said, rolling his eyes, "am out of here." Before the football player had even unhooked his feet from the stool's rungs, Josh and Luis ambled over.

Luis's dark eyes were bright from alcohol and excitement. "Dude," he said, punching Dozer's arm. "We just got an invite to a party over at UNLV."

Dozer opened his mouth to protest, but Josh beat him to the punch. "Kappa Deltas, man, we can't say no."

Adam stood and looked at Alex, who was toying with her drink. "Give me just a second." He turned away from her and looked at his brother who was huddled up with his buddies.

Josh winked at him. "Bro, if you stay here you have to hook up your own transport home."

Adam glanced over his shoulder and saw the luscious and obviously horny Alex running her index finger around the rim of his beer glass. "No problem."

They had made the decision and while Luis went to get specifics, Adam and Dozer watched Alex drag Adam back to the dance floor. Dozer looked down at the table and snorted. "That pipsqueak finished my beer."

Josh looked out at his brother on the dance floor. "Deal with it." He picked up Adam's full beer glass. "You know the rule, get to your feet, lose your drink." He gulped down half of the watered-down Coors and rolled his shoulders.

Dozer nodded but he scowled as he did so. "You're supposed to be the designated driver." Josh took another long drink and looked for his brother in the crowd. He caught sight of him, briefly, being lead by the hand towards the exit. He drained the last of the beer and sighed; it was a sad night when your sixteen year old baby brother got laid and you didn't.

"Don't be such a pussy, one beer won't kill me." Josh stretched and banged the glass down on the table. "All right, lets go and see if we can't get some sorority lovin'."

Her mouth was hot, her hands were clever and his head was swimming. He had mumbled off his address to the cabbie and then realized, belatedly, that he had meant to get a motel, not take Alex home. He couldn't exactly take her up to his room, the door of which was directly across from his parents. He would, he decided between steaming hot kisses, take her to Josh's apartment over the garage. He also decided, when he peeked at the cabbie's running meter, that he would have to use the emergencies only credit card his dad had given him to pay the fare. They reached their destination, his parents' two story in Suburbia half way to Boulder City, in record time. Then again, he checked his watch as he handed over the card, he had been very distracted. Alex, leaned against him, her breathe hot against his already overheated skin, "This is your place?"

He led her by the hand to the far side of the attached garage. "My brother's place, I crash here from time to time when I'm in town." The lie was slightly extravagant, but he liked it. He eased around the Corvette, his brother's baby, and ran his hand along the garage's narrow staircase. "Let me take you upstairs."

She pushed a hand through her dark hair. "How very Fonzie of you." Adam cocked his head momentarily unsure of who or what Fonzie was, but chuckled when he remembered the very old, sort of faggy, tv show that occasionally ran on TV Land.

"Something like that." He opened the door for her and cocked his head ninety degrees to catch a glance of her tight ass as she walked inside. He followed her, closing the door behind them and grinned when he saw that one of her sky high heels had already come off.

He flicked the switch to turn on the outside light by the garage's second story entrance. The light was more of an aesthetic choice than a necessary one and his brother had long ago switched from a normal bulb to one that was Wolfpack blue. When the blue light was on, Josh was busy and not to be disturbed. Adam only hoped his big brother paid him the same courtesy. The apartment's layout was simple and it was decorated in bachelor style--his mother hadn't been allowed to play Martha Stewart here. No, it was all Lakers, Colts, Cardinals and of course WLVU. Josh had a pretty sweet entertainment center set up too. He'd gotten a plasma screen tv for his birthday and an X Box 360 for Hanukkah. None of that, though, mattered. It was the queen-sized bed in the next room and the woman who was disrobing that had his attention. He bounded towards the bedroom and started to unbutton his shirt. Alex was down to her lace panties and demi-cup bra, both the same scarlet red as her dress. She was already sitting on the bed, her second shoe dangling from her finger ready to drop. "You are over dressed." She let the shoe drop to the floor and Adam felt every ounce of his blood flow south. He literally ripped at his shirt until the four remaining buttons popped and he shed the garment without a second thought. Obviously not satisfied with his speed, Alex's hand shot out and tugged him by the belt. The woman made short work of his belt buckle and fly and he stepped out of his pants a second later. Alex wasn't a hooker, he hoped, but neither was she a virgin. He fumbled for a condom--Josh had a box of them--as she pushed him down on the bed.

The heavy necklace she wore, some complicated pendent he couldn't see clearly in the near dark, dangled down, hitting him in the chin. He tugged at it playfully. "Hey, Babe, you want me to take this off, I wouldn't want it to get tangled anyone's hair."

She jerked up into a sitting position, her hips holding her only a few centimeters over him. "The necklace stays." Alex's voice had changed from the sex kitten purr to a hard brusque tone: it was non-negotiable.

More than ready to end the talking, he grinned, "Okay, I get it, what is it a big St. Christopher's medal or something? It's all good."

Above him, Alex threw her head back and laughed out loud. "Oh no. No, no, no. I'm not Catholic, these are my little forget-me-nots from other conquests." She leaned down again, letting her breasts brush against his chest. "I noticed you didn't take that ring off either, stud."

Adam looked at his right hand, the one that was running up and down her side. "Oh, that's my Great Grandad's ring, it's a family heirloom and my good luck charm."

Alex glanced at it briefly. "It will go great in my collection."

Adam laughed. "Okay, yeah sure, nice game there, Alex." The brunette he had been hoping to fuck until her brains leaked out of her ears leaned over him, catching his wrists in her hands.

"Who said it was a game?" Then her hips slid down, taking his raging hard on into her.

She watched his face for the realization. It didn't take long: his eyes widened and he pushed her hands away. He gasped for breath and his eyes started to water. "What the hell?" She slid down further, twisting her hips so the device locked down. He was strangely attentive for a drugged man, but he had been stumbling and out of it enough; he wouldn't put up too much of a fight.

He tried to buck her off, his voice hoarse with pain. "What the hell?! What the hell?!" He was thrashing under her, trying to escape his punishment. He was really only making it worse on himself. She felt the blood flow between their legs and pressed down on him harder.

"Don't act like this isn't exactly what you des-" He flipped their positions. She was shocked to find her back flat against the mattress. Now Adam was above her.

"What the fuck, lady?! Stop it! Oh God, stop it!"

Panic crawled up her throat. The drugs hadn't worked. The drugs hadn't worked! Fuck! She twisted around beneath him and he gritted his teeth against the pain. She could see the cords in his neck bulging as he tried and failed to pull out of her. His left hand went down between them, hoping to disengage the hold she had on him. It was a foolish mistake. She swung her unrestrained left hand at him, clawing at his chest. Her nails left four red claw marks across his pectoral and she smiled even as he reacted. His right hand captured both of her wrists and forced them above her head. His left was still between them, in the slick, bloody meeting of their genitals. She bounced herself up and down, and he finally screamed. He was getting desperate now. Desperate and stupid. He grabbed both of her shoulders and pulled her face up closer to his. He was screaming despite the distance. Flecks of his saliva hit her in the face. "GET IT OFF, LET ME GO! STOP IT!" She would have laughed, but at the moment, the situation was a little grave on her part. This must have been what had happened to Erica. She wouldn't, couldn't, end up like Erica. Her right hand reached out, searching for something, anything, to hit him with. They were, fortunately, on the right side of the bed, close enough to the bedside table for her to get her hands on exactly what she needed.

The lamp was some kind of bachelor special. The base of it was black, decorative wrought iron that swirled around itself and there was only a bare bulb. The shade had been lost or tossed a while ago. That didn't matter because once she got her fingers wrapped around a slender coil of metal, she swung it. She felt some resistance as the lamp's plug was jerked from the wall socket, but she still had enough momentum to hit him in the face, hard. Blood spurted from his nose and a cut on his forehead and he railed up and away from her. She saw her opportunity and took it. Adam was bigger than her, but nevertheless, she had the upper hand. She gyrated her hips and Adam cried in pain again, then she rolled her entire body.

They both fell off of the bed with a crack of flesh hitting floor. She landed on top and reached down between them. Her fingers were quickly covered in his blood and she twisted the base of the device and it unlocked. She pulled herself up and stood above him, looking around the room for something, anything, to finish the job.

She didn't expect him to move. He didn't just move, he lunged at her, tackling her to the floor once more. They were no longer connected at the groin, and that was the problem. He was heavier than her; she had lost her advantage. She squirmed beneath him, galvanized by thoughts of rape, and tried to kick him in his already damaged cock and balls. He didn't let her. He punched her in the side and pain shot through her entire body. The air rushed out of her and she wheezed in pain.

"You don't like that, do you, bitch?" His words slurred a little and a drop of blood fell from his mouth as he spoke. She tried to claw at him again, but her hand went wide and sliced the air. He grabbed at her hair and caught a chunk of it along with the large hoop earrings she wore and gave her a shake. "What the fuck, Alex?!"

She jerked her head back hard and felt the sickeningly sweet pain of her ear lobes tearing around the jewelry. He was left with earrings and a few strands of hair in each hand. The momentum had sent him backwards a bit and she was able to scoot out from under him. There were three doors in the bedroom, and she worked towards the one they came though, the one that would lead her out. She used the door frame for support and pulled herself to her feet again. Her side radiated pain where he'd hit her and her ears stung, but he was in much worse shape. "You bastard, didn't your mother ever treat you never to hit a lady?"

Adam used the bed and stood up again on shaky legs. "I am going to call the police, you crazy bitch. Your ass is grass."

Her eyebrows shot up and her hand went to the outside wall by the couch. She would have run, but her fingers found a better answer. She brought her new plan through the door and into the bedroom and saw him mouth the word No over and over again. It was heavy, almost clumsy in her hand. The wood grain and grip tape seemed unusually rough and sticky in her slender hands. It had been several years since she'd last played softball, but one never really forgot how to swing a bat.

Adam got half of a curse out of his mouth as he turned, trying to run. She swung the bat hard, like she was going for a home run, and he caught the swing across the small of his bare back. The wood hit his skin with an almost musical thwak. He bent over double, but didn't fall. His hands held his back and as he came back up, arching backwards in pain, and she swung the bat again. This time the crack was louder and he did go down, falling the wrong way on the knee she had just hit. He was in the fetal position, hands grasping his knee. She hit it again and his scream was a high pitched girl screech that put horror movies to shame.

He was crying now, begging God, or maybe her, to stop. He rolled over and she could see that his face had screwed up in agony. It wasn't a good look for him. She raised the bat over her head and brought it down on his chin and mouth. The sound of breaking bone and shattering teeth made her smile and she leaned over him. She put the base of the bat on the floor beside him and leaned down, propping her hands on the head

"Whose ass is grass now, huh? Also, honestly, who the lives over a garage when they're twenty-one? Move the fuck out."

The only answer she got was a gurgle as blood filled the man's mouth. She straightened up and rested the blood stained bat on her shoulder. "Whose ass is grass now?" Then she hit him again, over the chest and ribs. Moaning weakly he rolled over, trying to protect himself. She pulled the bat over her head and brought it down with all of her strength on the back of his skull. There was no splatter of blood this time, but he lay still. She dropped the bat and hopped over his limp body, slightly disgusted at the foul smell that came along with death. She headed towards the open bathroom door and only paused to look down at the ring on his right hand. She stepped on his flat hand and pulled the ring off with a couple of tugs. It wasn't great, but it would do. She held it up to her hand and compared it. Her face morphed into a scowl. "Son of a bitch. I broke a nail."

She shook her head and slid into the small bathroom--the carpet beneath her feet was so full of blood that it oozed out when her weight shifted. She frowned at that and skipped into the bathroom, trying to avoid the worst of the blood, the same way she would have a mud puddle.

She looked in the bathroom mirror and smiled widely at what she saw. Her naked body was, once again, covered in blood. There were little drops and big spots. Her hands, when she looked at them in the mirror, had streaks of crimson blood on them and her lap was absolutely covered. The blood dripped down her thighs, flowed over and around her knees, down her shins and puddled on the cool tile floor. She shoved one bloody hand through her blood speckled dark hair and frowned at her ears. That was going to be a bitch to heal up. Of course she should really be thankful he hadn't ripped out her navel piercing. She turned to look at the shower, she had to clean up before she left, but stopped cold when she felt a hand grab her ankle.

It was like a scene from a bad zombie movie. His face was covered in still dripping blood, the entire left side was just a mess of red. His mouth had been split open and there was a tooth sticking through the flesh of his torn bottom lip. He was groaning and more blood bubbled up as he tried to speak. She jumped back and broke his weak grip easily. He pulled back his arm and tried to push himself up. All he could do was flop down, head in the doorway, useless and flaccid.

Alarmed at his apparent resurrection, she kicked at him. "Christ! I thought you were dead already!"

Panic once again washed through her, erasing the adrenaline and endorphin high. She looked around for a weapon frantically. At her wits end, she grabbed the edge of the bathroom's door and slammed it as hard as she could. The door had been painted utilitarian white at some point, but it was solid oak. It hit his head with a sickening thunk and forced it against the door frame before it bounced back. She took the round brass knob and started slamming the door on his head, over and over. More blood, hot and scarlet, spurted up gruesomely and Adam's body started convulsing like an epileptic. Then, after the all the drama and bloodshed, he lay still again and from the look of his crushed skull, he wasn't going to get up.

Author's Note Part II: Told you so.