The Descent

A young grad student takes a photography job for a mysterious club and quickly finds himself trapped in the gray areas between love, lust, fantasy, and reality.

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"From timber so crooked as that from which man is carved, nothing entirely straight can be made."

Immanuel Kant

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1

The newspaper strewn out in front of me, I sat down with a bowl of cereal and a cup of orange juice. For the last few months, I sat down every Sunday and read through the classifieds in the town's paper to try and find a job I'd enjoy to supplement my teaching at the university. Of course, there's not much work for Philosophy Grad students in the town paper, so I usually search for something involving my hobby, photography.

Every week, there were the same four or five ads in the photography section, and I've tried them all. One wanted full time, one wanted a fine arts degree, one wanted me to photograph kids at a mall kiosk, and I'm pretty sure that one of them was an old lady trying to start a porn site. Either way, none of them were going to work for me, and because there's not that much work to go around in a college town, other options were rare.

I looked down the list. The usual suspects were all there, although the old lady had upped the offered pay, inspiring a brief shudder as I imagined photographing her nude, bony figure. Then, I did a double-take. At the bottom of the photography section there was a new ad: "Hiring Photographer: No Drugs/STD's, Open mind a must. 13th and Aurora, 12pm, Tuesday."

With no name or number, the ad definitely stood out. "13th and Aurora", I thought, walking the city in my head. "That's just a bunch of offices, some industrial places and a Coffee shop. It's probably a prank."

I started to turn the page, then stopped myself.

'A job's a job', I mused, 'and it's the first chance I've had in a little while. Maybe I'll check it out.'

I tore off corner with the ad, put it in my wallet, tossed the newspaper in the recycling bin and moved over to my desk for a long day of grading.

2

A few days later, I showed the small classified ad to the middle-aged man in the light brown suit, sitting in front of the coffee shop at 13th and Aurora at noon. His crew-cut brown hair stood on end, squared off in true army style, looking every bit a relic from my grandfather's era. He stood to shake my hand, flashing a smile and exposing a single gold tooth, matching the gold chain around his neck wonderfully.

"You're right on time," he began in a low texas drawl. "Tell me about yourself."

"Well," I began, hesitantly, "my name is Caleb Br..."

"Stop right there." He interjected tersely. "Your name is Rick, understand me?"

"Wait, what?"

"Look, I don't wanna know your real name, and you sure as shit don't need to know mine. That's how things are gonna go with this job, if I hire you. That gonna be trouble?"

I stared at him, confused and a bit concerned.

"We're not the mob, don't worry. There's nothing illegal here, but it's just the nature of what we do. It's best that names just don't get out, else it could be a bit embarrassing for everybody involved. Call me Herb."

"Hi Herb. Wait, what exactly do you do?", I asked.

"We'll get there. Now why should we pick you for this nicely paid little job?"

"I'm a good photographer," I replied, swallowing my confusion and trying to put on an air of confidence. "I'm also clean. No drugs, and I can keep a secret. Frankly, I doubt you'll be able to shock me, I'm a Philosophy grad student, I've done my share of strange studies."

Herb laughed. "Bet you've spent some long nights on the internet too getting unshocked, eh?" He awkwardly elbowed my side, forcing a tenuous and somewhat embarrassed chuckle out of me.

After a second too many of silence, he sighed, then mercifully piped up. "Got some samples of your photography?"

I handed him a photo album, and he leafed through it, nodding in approval from time to time.

"Very impressive," he said. "Can you shoot candid shots too? Like, of people at events?"

"Party photography? Sure, I worked with a Wedding photographer for a little while back when I was an undergrad."

"Spectacular. You got another job?"

"Well, I teach a few intro classes for my department on campus. That's just during the day, though."

"No problem. You in a fraternity?"

I laughed. "Nope, that was never my scene."

He looked me over for a second, as if gauging my response, but after a second, nodded and went back to his normal, friendly demeanor.

"How old are you?"

"24"

"You single?"

I stared at him for a second, shocked at the somewhat unusual question.

"Are you single?" He repeated tersely, "Simple question."

"Well, yeah. At the moment."

"Good. You gay?"

I laughed awkwardly at the bizarre turn the interview had taken. I thought of objecting for a second, then decided it'd just be easier to answer him than try and eke an explanation out of him, given his usual attitude. "I'm straight," I replied curtly.

"No STD's, you're sure?"

That this interview just kept getting stranger, I thought, but at that point, my curiosity outweighed any caution. "Like I said, I'm clean. Even got tested a month ago."

"Good. You religious?"

"Not really."

Herb got more serious at my response. "Not really, or no?"

"Agnostic, I guess. Nothing organized."

"Oh, OK" Herb said, smiling. "Just making sure. We've had problems. You a virgin?"

I sat back, abruptly. "What does it matter to you?"

"Look, this job's gonna pay $150 dollars an hour to start. These questions may be a bit strange, but I need to make sure you're the right guy for the job. So, you a virgin?"

I laughed excitedly. "For $150 an hour, I'll tell you her name and how she liked it."

Herb laughed. "I think I'm alright without the details. Now, this here's the most important part. Are you willing to keep this secret? It's just best that word of my group's events don't get out. You might see some things that shock you, but I need your word that you're not going to say anything that we don't authorize you to. Like I said, nothing illegal, just a bit unusual."

I looked at his expressionless face, his calm demeanor giving me the impression he'd done this many times before. Intrigued, confident, and a bit desperate, thinking about how much I've wanted a job doing what I actually enjoy doing, I shrugged and nodded my head.

Herb stood up and patted me on the back. "Wonderful! I like you, and I'd like to offer you this job. Just gotta do a few quick tests. Let's take a walk."

3

I followed Herb deeper into the industrial park behind the coffee shop as we made small talk. Soon, we came to a small entrance on the side of the vast, gray office building, hidden away behind some trees and marked only with a small sign, "O.N.U Medical Testing".

"Oh, Hi Herb," said the blonde nurse behind the desk, "How's it going? Here for a screening?"

"Howdy Michelle," Herb replied, "I want you to meet Rick here. He's looking to be our new photographer."

"Hi there, I'm Michelle", the nurse replied smiling, standing up and coming around to shake my hand. Her long blonde hair flowed over her generic blue scrub top, flowing around her petite-yet-perky breasts hidden just under the fabric.

Caught off guard by her beauty, I smiled dumbly and extended my hand. "I'm Caleb..."

Herb jabbed me in the side, coughing loudly and glaring.

"I mean, I'm Rick. It's... uhh... Nice to meet you."

She smiled, turning around to grab a clipboard, giving me a wonderful view of her toned body. She was thin, but not too thin, and had wonderfully proportioned legs. In a word, she was gorgeous.

As she was still turned around, Herb nudged me out of my reverie, flashing a toothy grin and looking Michelle over himself. Finally, he piped up.

"Alright Michelle, why don't you give Rick here the full O-Nu admission screening?"

Michelle smiled and nodded, grabbing some papers behind the desk.

Herb patted me on the shoulder. "Go with Michelle here. She's just gonna do some quick tests for drugs, STD's, and other complicating health issues. Don't worry, she'll take real good care of you."

Then, Herb reached into his suit pocket and handed me a cell phone and small charger. "I'll call you tomorrow to let you know the results and talk more about the job. Also, you'd be smart to cross off Friday nights from 8pm to around 2am from your calendar for a while, assuming everything goes well here."

I smiled, some questions still unanswered, but glad that I'd finally found a job. "Thanks Herb. I look forward to working with you."

"The pleasure's all mine, and hopefully I'll be calling you tomorrow."

I watched Herb walk out the door, then turned back towards the blonde. Michelle locked the front door, turned to grab my chart, and motioned me down the hallway.

4

"How many... more tests... do we have to... do?" I asked, running briskly on the treadmill nearly an hour later as Michelle watched a monitor connected to my wire vest.

"Don't worry," she said, "the next one is the last. And actually..." She paused, staring at the screen for a moment, "you can stop now, we've got enough data."

I did my best to disguise how out of breath I was. "Wow," I said. "That was intense...".

Michelle laughed as she was putting her hair back in a pony tail. "We just needed to make sure your heart is OK. Liability's a bitch."

Even though I'd been poked and prodded for the better part of an hour by her, I was still captivated by her beauty, and took the opportunity to enjoy a nice long look at her once more. I looked up and realized she was watching me stare at her. My cheeks flushed red, and I looked over at the cabinet in the corner.

"Alright Rick," Michelle began, suppressing a giggle, "Come on over here and take off your pants. Then, have a seat on the exam table".

"My pants?", I asked, a bit bashfully.

"Yes. I need to do a visual inspection for STD's and I'll need a semen sample."

Face red, I complied slowly, sliding my khaki pants and boxers down onto the floor. I sat up on the table, looking awkwardly at the ceiling.

"Don't worry," Michelle said, slowly manipulating and examining my member with her gloved hands, teasing him slowly to hardness.

"Sorry," I admitted bashfully. "It's.. uh.. been a while since he's gotten much attention."

Michelle laughed a little. "It's OK. I do this all the time, and lots of guys get hard, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Smiling awkwardly, still trying to will away my erection, I watched Michelle continue her examination, gently cupping and stroking me as she worked.

Finally, she looked up and smiled at me. "Well, based on the blood tests earlier and the visual inspections, looks like you're clean. I'd like to get a sperm sample, though, per regulation." She walked over to the cabinet on the other side of the room for a small cup, then came back over to me, and sat down next to the exam table.

"Uh.." I began, "Aren't you going to leave so I can get you the sample?"

She took my hardness into her hand again. "Just relax, OK?" I nodded silently.

Michelle stroked me gently, then winked at me and suddenly brought her lips down to my hardness and took me into her mouth.

I gasped, surprised, but did nothing to stop her. Massaging me with her tongue, she worked my hardness expertly, sucking and stroking me. I moaned. It'd been a long time since I'd gotten any, and I was relishing every moment of the beautiful nurse's sucking. She sped up slowly, bringing me ever closer to an explosive orgasm, and I just laid back, shaking at the strength of her stimulation, feeling my come start to boil up.

She just looked up at me, a naughty look in her eyes. Finally, I couldn't hold on any longer and started to tense up. Michelle brought the cup up to the tip of my member and stroked me though my orgasm, as I filled the cup with my seed, groaning at the strength of my orgasm.

As I lay back on the table gasping, Michelle put a lid on the cup, labeled it, and took her hair back down. I slid off the table, still shocked and exhausted, and put my pants back on.

She escorted me back to the waiting room. "Alright," she said, still smiling, "that's all the testing we need to do. Herb will call you tomorrow with the results."

"Uh, Thanks. For.. everything." I replied, still a bit bashful and a lot confused..

She shook my hand. "It's no problem. Oh, and by the way, welcome to Omicron Nu. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again."

She winked and smiled at me. Even despite my confusion, I managed to smile back, as she sat down behind the desk again. I sighed, and headed back out into the spring air.

5

The next evening, I sat in my chair, staring at a book on Kantian ethics, but just couldn't focus. It was almost 11pm, and I still hadn't heard anything back. Not to mention that whenever I started to read, memories of Michelle's wonderful (and unexpected) services kept flashing through my mind, alongside her cryptic comment about "Omicron Nu", whatever that was. I'd done some internet searches the night before to try and figure it out, but only found a few cryptic references on a California university's message board. Based on Michelle's rather scandalous welcome, I couldn't even imagine what it was I was about to become a part of.

And boy, what a welcome it was. My ex, as passionate as she was, had never sucked me like that. I mean, she would give head from time to time, but she was always a bit reluctant, a bit disgusted by the whole idea. Michelle, on the other hand, well, she seemed like she really enjoyed sucking me... like she even wanted it. Still, I can't imagine how a nurse could get away with that without getting fired...

Suddenly, a phone rang, breaking me out of my reverie. I grabbed for my cell phone at first, but then realized that the three-toned ring wasn't mine. Remembering the phone Herb gave me, I ran across the room, frantically pushing aside books on my desk to find it. Finally, I picked up and brought it to my ear.

"Congratulations, Mr. Photographer."

I recognized Herb's voice on the other end of the line. "Oh, I got the job? Great!"

"And I trust that Michelle treated you nicely?"

I smiled. "Her bedside manner was very good. Very nice girl.", I said, diplomatically.

Herb laughed. "Heh. Bedside manner? That's an interesting term for a blow job, but then again, I don't get you kids some days."

"Wait, you knew about it?"

Herb laughed. "Well, I can tell her not to do it again next time...? I mean, they don't actually need a sample or physical inspection..."

"No no!", I exclaimed, catching my enthusiasm a moment to late. "It just caught me off guard, that's all. Why did she...? And what's Omicron Nu?"

"Look, Rick," Herb began earnestly, "you've passed all the screenings we need. I need your assurances, at this point, that you're going to keep this very, very quiet. I like you, and I want to hire you, but you'll need to give me your word, above all else, that you're gonna keep your trap shut about everything from here on out. Then, I'll give you information."

I sighed. "And you're sure this is all legal?"

Herb laughed. "Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again. We're secretive to keep our people from some major embarrassment, not to keep our people hidden from the cops. Hell, I think one of our alums is in the Sheriff's department of this city right now. This here town is pretty small, so we've got to keep it on the sly to keep people out of hot water."

"So," I asked, appeasing my inner doubts one last time, "it's legit?"

Herb chuckled. "Well, don't mind if we pay cash, but it ain't the mafia."

I took a deep breath. "Alright. Mum's the word, count me in"

Herb's tone changed, his excitement coloring his slow drawl.

"Wonderful! You busy?"

I looked at the huge tome splayed open on the chair and laughed.

"Nothing I don't want to get out of doing anyways."

"Good," Herb replied, "I'm in the Government stacks at the library on campus. Meet me here as soon as you can."

Then, the line went silent. I grabbed my keys, and set off for the library.

6

A few minutes later, I walked into the deserted Government Stacks, on the fifth floor of the library. Strolling between the dusty, neglected reports and files, I chuckled to myself. "If these people didn't pay so well," I thought, "there's no way I'd put up with this cloak-and-dagger shit."

I turned a corner and found Herb standing there, this time in Khakis and a polo shirt, idly leafing through some obscure government tome.

"Howdy Rick," he began, putting the book back on the shelf, "that was awful quick."

"I walked quickly. So, uh, why here?"

"You see anybody else?" He replied, still friendly.

I looked around. "Uh, no."

"Well, there you go." He started walking through the stacks idly. Herb took a deep breath, and started to explain.

"Rick, your new employer is Omicron Nu. We're not really a fraternity in the normal sense, but rather a group that puts on, well, we call them "social gatherings", for our members. We've got chapters nationwide, but you'll just be working here at this school. Our members are all students here, undergraduate and graduate, and lots of them are involved in other fraternities and sororities too."

I nodded, following him through the narrow bookcases.

"Many of our members are from prominent, wealthy or politically connected families, or are socially well known. Because of that, we ask for your discretion. If, in the outside world, you happen across an O-Nu member that you know from our gatherings, you don't recognize them. You never ask for real names or for other information while you're at the gatherings. Unless you're both in private and both comfortable discussing things, neither of you know what O-Nu is. Understood?"

I nodded, starting to get the picture. "So, basically, it's a secret society?"

Herb laughed. "Well, not in the conspiracy theory sense of the word. We don't do politics, or power, or nothing like that. Don't worry, you won't have to off anybody."

I smiled, uneasy. "So, what's so embarrassing about it?"

"What we provide, and what our members pay for, is the opportunity to fulfill fantasies and get sexual release"

I cocked an eyebrow. "An escort service?"

Herb turned and looked at me firmly. "We do not employ prostitutes. Ever. That's what makes us so unique."

I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. "... Sorry."

"It's OK, lots of people jump off down that road. It's just very wrong. Here's how it works: New people come to us, mostly men and usually after an invitation from another member. They get the same exam you just got, and they pay their membership dues. After the check clears and the test comes out fine, they're in."

"Wait," I interjected, "Membership dues?"

"Yeah, all our regular members have to pay, generally ten to fifteen thousand dollars per year, depending on the circumstances and their ability to pay"

I coughed loudly, shocked by the figure, and Herb laughed.

"Just think, we're paying you to attend. Good deal, huh?"

"I guess so," I replied, still in disbelief. "Who all pays to get in?"

"Basically, anybody who wants to take advantage of our female members at our parties. Mostly guys, but there are one or two lesbian girls who find our services... useful."

"So, how do you get girls to come to these and... well, fuck?"

Herb laughed. "Well, our people find attractive girls, often from sororities and the campus community, all amateur, and we talk to them, under any variety of guises. We let them know that we want them to become members and then make them an offer. There's almost always some money exchanged, for tuition or whatever else, but sometimes, we offer other sorts of assistance. We've got a lot of alumni willing to make these girls' lives a little easier with whatever connections they got, and for a lot of girls, that makes all the difference. Generally, there's a certain point of compensation where any of these girls will not only do it, but will do it willingly and even enjoy it." Herb laughed loudly, nudging me again with his elbow. "Hell, I think some of them would do it for free, if we asked them nicely. I think they like us using them as much as we do."