Once I sign my metaphorical soul over to Ovid and agree to join him in whatever the Poets had planned, we return to where John and Virgil were supposed to be and instead find them talking to yet two people at the end of the hallway.
This time it's a girl—a woman, upon closer inspection wearing a boxy plaid blazer and sporting a haircut like one of the boys. But she was so small, standing next to John and Virgil that she made them look like goliaths in a mythological textbook compared to her. Beside her was a taller man with the same shade of blonde hair and the same features, so I assumed they must have been twins, or at least closely related.
"Oh, John," The woman sighs, jamming her hands into her pockets. "Another one?"
"The last one was fun until he ran from us, pissing himself," Her twin voices.
"He's different than the others, Bea!" John tells her excitedly, "As soon as I saw him standing in the hallway of our dorm, I knew I had to introduce him to you all. He just radiates this unbelievable exuberance that I can't quite understand and he's very pretty! It's going to be good for the club--we need something different lately to inspire us all, don't we?"
"Well, you're right, in a way, as much as it kills me to admit," Virgil adds, "there's only so much of Ovid's sexual jingles a man can take before it makes him want to smack his head with a nail and hammer."
Ovid gasps a sharp, offended gasp from beside me, though he'd been just as guilty of roasting Virgil's choices in poetry earlier when he called them complete and total dog shit. I didn't understand how friends could insult one another that way, but then again, I'd never had friends who were as close as the Poets seemed to be with one another.
Virgil looks over when he hears us approaching and immediately straightens at the sight of me. The crowd breaks, and suddenly I'm the subject of all the Poet's attention, including the two newcomers who eye me skeptically.
"Dante!" Virgil greets me cheerfully, "What did you think of the place? Was it everything you hoped and dreamed of?"
"There's asbestos on every inch of this place and enough dust to make the eruption of Mount Vesuvius look like a child's sandbox, but it's fascinating," I reply, not wanting to miss out on taking a jab at him. The building clearly meant a lot to Virgil, and I wanted to poke him to see what was hiding behind that arrogant haircut and kind eyes.
"I told him that we planned on tying him up naked in the basement," Ovid tosses in.
"You what?" Virgil barks, the sound echoing down the dark hallway, "Ovid!"
"Oh. Was I not supposed to tell him that?" Ovid replies innocently and presses one finger to his lips, "I figured we needed a change since the last one ran off when you brought out the rope."
"Is that him? He's incredible!" Bea pushes her way forward and immediately takes my hands in her tiny ones. "I've never met anyone with such stunning green eyes. They practically glow against that gorgeous midnight-black hair. Is it natural, or do you dye it?"
"I was--er--born this way? With my eyeballs in my skull."
"Do you know Wordsworth?" Her twin pushes his way into view and says, "I love Wordsworth."
It was almost too much for me to handle. They all seemed so excited and animated, especially for being poets who crawled around in a dusty old building, drinking and sleeping with one another.
"Can everyone just shut up for a minute?" Virgil finally shouts and shoves his way into view, "Dante just got here this morning! He's probably feeling a little overwhelmed right now, and perhaps he's even a little frightened. We're about to tie him up in the basement, for God's sake!"
"I'm fine," I start to insist, flustered. "It's nothing, really."
"Don't worry, Dante. You're in good hands." Virgil slings his arm around my shoulders and yanks me towards him, his coat smelling sweet like mint and a little like burnt coffee. "Lucan's wonderful at tying knots at just the right strength."
Lucan, Bea's twin, snaps out a thick black rope as if on cue and smiles a sharp smile.
___
I hadn't even suspected that the building had a basement or a working elevator, but the Poets excitedly escorted me into the old push-button lift with a metal gate that opened and closed, and we go downstairs in batches.
I ride with Lucan and Virgil as the metal elevator squeaks and groans along. There was a chance that tonight would be my last night alive or on campus. If security decided to do a sweep and found me dangling in the basement alone, I'd probably be escorted out and told never to come back. Which wasn't a bad thing since I wanted freedom anyway, but it was inconvenient.
The elevator groaning to a stop pulls me out of my thoughts, and all at once I'm back in the belly of the building and watching Virgil step out, then Lucan.
"Take off your clothes. You can leave your underwear on," Virgil tells me, and I feel an unfamiliar shiver run down my spine. "We'll give them back in the morning so they don't get all damp and musty down here."
"Ah," Lucan sighs as he unties his rope from its bundle. "The mold down here is brutal. You don't want that clinging to your clothes."
I hesitantly take off my coat and dark turtle neck and hand them to Virgil, who has the decency to look away while I strip down in front of him. Lucan, on the other hand, takes his fill when my trousers come off and crumple around my ankles, one pale blonde eyebrow lifting in question.
"Remember, you're going to be alone down here," Virgil murmurs, and he takes my pants and shoes when I pass them over. "Someone might be around to check on you, but probably not. It's late, and we all have school in the morning."
"That is very comforting," I say, ignoring the fact that I am standing in my underwear in front of an extremely attractive man. "Should I be worried about anything else?"
Virgil takes a look around the basement, cluttered with metal machines once used for pumping heat, water, and sewer through the school. There were old desks everywhere and boxes of rotting Christmas ornaments. "No," He finally replies, and then smiles at me. "The only dangerous thing down here is going to be your mind."
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