Hi!
Thank you for reading my story. A couple of points to know:
I don't like writing wank porn. I want to write full-fleshed stories with plot, character, drama and tension. Events in this chapter pick up the morning after the events at the end of chapter 8.
Thank you for taking the time, and please be sure to vote and offer any feedback you can. If you like what I do, offering feedback is the best thing you can do to help, there is nothing which aids a writer more than seeing the story through someone else's eyes.
Note on edit: I have fixed tiny issues with spelling, grammar, and usage. Minor continuity error fixed, otherwise, Plot remains exactly the same.
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Chapter 9
Scott woke up the next morning, and looked to his left in bed. He saw Pepper sleeping soundly under the covers, and he felt a warm glow in his heart as he recalled how wonderful the evening before had been. Scott rose from bed, and checked the clock on her desk: 5:15 AM. He had to hurry, or he would be late for work for the first time since he had taken this life-changing job. He kissed Pepper goodbye, gathered his clothes in his hands, and dashed out of her room, careful to close the door behind him. Scott darted down the hallway of Maybe Dick Hall's second floor stark naked, with his clothing and shoes carried in a bundle under his arms. He managed to return to his own room unobserved, and from there, to open the door, shower, shave, brush his teeth, and make off for work was, with him, the work of about 20 minutes.
He arrived at the lab in Water Buffalo Hall at 3 minutes to 6 AM, just barely on time. Dr. Karlov was seated, and breakfast was already on the table. Dr. Karlov motioned Scott to sit and eat first, and that explanations and conversation could wait until Scott had refreshed himself.
"So, how did last night go for you?" Dr. Karlov asked, as soon as Scott had gotten some tea and buttered toast in his stomach, and felt up to a bit of conversation.
"Great," Scott said, and he told Dr. Karlov everything. About racing home, about finding Pepper alone in her room, and how they had hooked up.
"That's wonderful," Dr. Karlov said, with a wide smile. "I'm happy it worked out for you. You're a good man, my friend, who deserves a woman like her."
"Thanks, only, I," Scott said, pausing. The vision with the cheerleaders on his way to the LLA yesterday flashed back through his mind. If one vision had been accurate, what about the other one? "There's something I want to ask you about. You have to promise not to tell, because it's kind of weird."
"Alright, I promise," Dr. Karlov said.
Scott told Dr. Karlov about the vision he had of the cheerleaders, in as much detail as he could remember. Once he had told his tale, Dr. Karlov paused for a moment, scratching his chin, and lost in thought.
"Do you want to put your second vision to the test?" Dr. Karlov asked.
"Well, the first vision, of Pepper, had an obvious test," Scott said. "How would we test the second vision with the cheerleaders?"
"Easy," Dr. Karlov said, as he pulled out his mobile phone and went on the internet. "We go to the website of the University Cheerleading team. Let's see here now, ah, here it is."
Dr. Karlov showed Scott the website on his phone. He had gone to the page with pictures, names, and short bios for the entire team.
"Now then," Dr. Karlov said. "The Latina cheerleader you saw in your vision, stop me when I get to her profile."
"That one," Scott said, stopping Dr. Karlov on the image of a very lovely Latina girl. "That's her."
"Beatrix Morena, pretty name," Dr. Karlov said. "Now, let's go to the website of the Cheerleader's annual swimsuit calendar. The link is always prominently displayed on the Cheerleader's home page. Ah, here it is."
Dr. Karlov clicked the link, and scrolled through the pictures and order information provided on the website. He eventually found a directory of outtake photos from the cheerleader's calendar photo shoot. There were several photos of Beatrix in what Scott thought was a very pretty swimsuit.
"What are we looking for?" Scott asked.
"We're looking for this," Dr. Karlov said, as he stopped on a large image of Beatrix, and he magnified the portion of the image containing her right foot. "Specifically we're looking for the tattoo of the horseshoe you remember seeing on her right foot."
Scott gasped as he saw the enlarged image of Beatrix's right foot on Dr. Karlov's phone: she did have a tattoo of a horseshoe, exactly where Scott's vision indicated it should be.
"Okay, this just got really creepy," Scott said.
"Think, carefully," Dr. Karlov said. "Is there any way you could have known that she had this tattoo before-hand? The annual cheerleader calendar is very popular with the gentlemen on campus, and many dorm rooms have one. Did you see the tattoo she had on her foot from an image in the calendar somewhere?"
"No," Scott said. "If the vision I had is true, what were all those girls doing in that room naked?"
"No idea," Dr. Karlov said. "You mustn't come to conclusions before you have all the facts. There might be a very good reason they were all there. I think your suggestion that it was a hazing ritual, of some kind, fits the facts. However, there are many other perfectly legitimate possibilities. Many older gentlemen in the campus community donate to the cheerleading team, and help them with fundraisers, and things of that nature. A special performance, to show these elder gentlemen that their financial support is appreciated, would not be unusual. I have never heard of such a thing happening, but that does not mean it does not happen. Don't panic, it might just be a run-of-the-mill old man's fantasy."
"I never thought I would be hoping for simple lecherousness," Scott said. "That is a more comforting explanation than the dark ritual with human sacrifices that my imagination had come up with."
"You'd be surprised," Dr. Karlov said, with a chuckle. "Who even said it was the gentlemen's idea? Never underestimate women, and their willingness to use their sexuality to get what they want. If I had to bet, I would bet this little show and tell was the cheerleader's own idea."
"How do you figure that?" Scott asked.
"Budget dollars often run tight," Dr. Karlov said. "A little nudity, a little, shall we say, above and beyond attention, can ensure the team's top fundraisers always remain attentive to the team's financial position. It's an equitable relationship, as far as it goes. These older men you saw in your vision, they are probably high dollar donors or key fundraisers. This means they are probably prominent gentlemen in the campus community. I think some of them being professors or senior administrators is a good bet. They would not insist on a private show with naked cheerleaders if it was up to them, the risk to their reputation if it was known they coerced such a thing would be too great. Rather, it is more likely the cheerleaders proposed it themselves, as a thank you for all their help, and the older gentlemen, who absolutely want to see these girls in their birthday suits, nodded their heads and went along with the idea."
