Part One - The Party
The music was already pumping in Beta Theta Fi despite the early hour, and the chapter house was bustling with party prep as the members hyped themselves up for the biggest mixer of the semester.
Hopeful pledges swept, mopped, and polished under the diligent watch of their senior brothers until everything gleamed with a mirror sheen. Kegs were rolled in through the garage, and a seemingly endless supply of red solo cups were unpacked on a ping-pong table set up in the dining room.
Jay had to admit that Greek life was good at Madison University as he answered a knock at the door. If tonight went to plan, he and his bros would all be swimming in sweet college girl poon before the clock struck midnight.
"Hey, Bruh. The party doesn't start until five." He told the scrawny youth standing on the front patio of their colonial-style frat house. "And the invite included a dress code. Can I see yours?"
Jay doubted this guy made the guest list. Dressed in a too-large gray hoodie, blue jeans that looked more faded with time than any aesthetic design, and scuffed off-white sketchers. He was short with mud-brown hair, downy cheeks, and weary gray eyes that belonged to someone several years his elder.
"I'm not here for the party. The name's Fin. I'm Dale's hookup." The stranger held up a phone that was three generations behind the latest release with a WhatsApp chat on the screen. Dale's username 'BigDaleEnergy' was prominently displayed. "He told me to be here at four to deliver the goods."
"Well shit, dude. Why didn't you just say so?" Jay grinned, extending a fist to bump. "Come on in--Dale's in the kitchen out back. I'll take you to him."
Fin reciprocated the bro handshake, if a tad awkwardly, before following him into the expansive home and letting out a low whistle of appreciation.
"Nice digs. You boys are really living it up here on Fraternity Row, huh?"
"It's all about brotherhood." The muscular frat boy waved away the well-appointed surroundings as though walnut wainscoting and high crown mold ceilings were commonplace decorations. "Living with over thirty other dudes doesn't work without it. Too many swinging dicks under one roof, you get me?"
"Sure. Sounds like a real penance compared to dorm living." Fin said, noting the expensive leather wraparound couches and a seventy-inch flatscreen with three different consoles attached in the living room. "Did I read somewhere this house was recently heritage-listed?"
"Totally. A couple of state senators who were Beta Theta Fi members back in the day wanted to preserve the legacy." Jay nodded with pride, leading him through a swinging service door. "And here's the man of the hour. Hey, Dale! Do you know this delinquent?"
The kitchen was large, featuring gleaming marble countertops, modern stainless steel appliances, two huge double-door fridges, and plenty of natural light streaming through tall arched windows.
An objectively handsome, well-built senior with neat sandy blonde hair rocking an ocean blue polo shirt tucked into pressed chino slacks looked up from a hushed conversation with a dark-haired beauty and her attached-at-the-hip boyfriend if the possessive arm around her waist was any indication.
"Oh shit. You're Fin?" Dale asked after introductions were made. "The guy with the extra special gear, right?"
Fin decided to get ahead of the inevitable questions, unzipping his jacket to reveal the fanny pack slung diagonally across his narrow chest.
"Yeah, that's me. You contacted me for some very specific product." He replied, opening the pouch and fishing out two small baggies of fine golden powder. "This is the primo grade. One hundred percent pure, unadulterated Do-Me Dust to spice up your party tonight."
The three seniors looked uncertain, but the brunette's eyes widened in recognition. She cupped a hand around her partner's ear to whisper urgently, flushing with excitement.
"Really? From the Sigma Chi party last week? The one campus security had to break up with fire hoses?" He asked, looking startled. "I thought those rumors were a joke."
The young woman shook her head vehemently, her gaze glued to the glittering baggies. Jay just shrugged with a goofy expression while Dale's brows lifted in speculation.
"I've heard the same rumors. It's not dangerous, is it? No toxic chemicals or funky magical fallout? Some of the girls coming tonight are...
disinclined
to trust anything fae-touched or unnatural."
That was putting it lightly. Ever since the Celestial Conjunction had realigned the Fae realm and mortal plane of existence, there had been a lot of pushback against the reintroduction of magic and the Fae Folk themselves staining the fabric of modern society, especially from the privileged and elite who had the most to lose from the radical changes they inevitably wrought.
No amount of fairy tales and bedtime stories could entirely encapsulate the otherworldliness of the mythical beings, nor the arcane power they brought with them. Magic could defy almost every scientific principle humanity comprehended, and the Fae themselves were fascinating and uncanny in the truest sense of the word.
But their greatest sin--at least as far as the majority of Earth's population born without a Y chromosome viewed it--was that the vast majority of The Folk were devastatingly feminine, aggressively gorgeous, and desperately horny to boot.
Because the Fae Realm had been slowly dying as the number of male births dwindled over the millennia of separation. But now the fairies, pixies, nymphs, forest spirits, elves, and all manner of other creatures of legend had finally returned...
And each and every one of them was bat-shit baby-crazy.
"It's ethically sourced and completely organic, with zero chemical additives," Fin assured the preppy chapter president. "Like pot, except it makes everyone mad horny, and girl's panties fly off. My word on it. That's a money-back guarantee."
The pretty brunette was still whispering rapidly in her boyfriend's ear, and it was his turn to grow red in the cheeks. Fin didn't need to hear the scuttlebutt surrounding the 'Sigma Chi incident,' as the school paper was calling it. He knew firsthand the arousing effects of his special golden dust.
Dale caught the direction the wind was blowing like a seasoned socialite and dug out his billfold. It was fat and green with a silver clip shaped like a dollar sign.
Fin had never felt poorer. He only owned a wallet.
"We'll take everything you've got. How much?"
In a fit of economically-equalizing peak, Fin named an outrageous figure. He had a dozen more little ziplock bags in his fanny pack, and these future fat cats could afford a good fleecing.
Student debt was a harsh reality, after all.
"Jay, take a collection from every member," Dale ordered, handing over the stack of cash, fancy money clip included, without hesitation. "Sigma Chi can eat our asses. After tonight Beta Theta Fi will be cock of the walk at Madison U."
"Sure thing, Bruh. You going to put the moves on Heather at last? I saw her name on the guest list."
Fin was too busy counting Benjamins to witness the predatory smile splitting the sandy-haired senior's face.
"I guess we'll see where the night takes us."
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