Secrets: The Truth is Slowly Revealed

As soon as we woke up on Saturday, we headed over to the dining hall for breakfast.  Before we returned to our room, we knocked on Barry’s door to see if he’d heard anything more since we last spoke.  When he opened the door, he was wearing an old pair of sweats, his hair was messed up, and he seemed to only be half awake. 

“Damn, I hope we didn’t wake you.  I’m sorry if we did,” I apologized. 

“It’s Saturday and I was planning on sleeping in a little later, but I can do that tomorrow instead.  What’s up?”

“We just wanted to see if you’d heard any more about our problem.” 

My comment seemed to cause him to become fully wake and he quickly looked up and down the hallway before he pulled us into his room.

“Don’t worry, because no one else knows what our problem is,” I assured him.  “Besides, even if they heard us, they would think it was something to do with the two of us and was concerning a problem in the residence hall, not a rapist.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right about that.  It’s just that we don’t want this to get out.” 

“We know, so have you heard anything more about it?”

“No, the RAs and the guys they’ve recruited have been going out and keeping their eyes open, but no one has seen anything yet.  I have a feeling this is going to take a while.”

“We hope not too long, because we want to catch the bastard before the end of the semester.  We don’t want this carrying over to next year.”

“Or continuing into the summer session either,” Barry stated.  “Even though you two might not be here, there will be plenty of co-eds still on campus taking summer classes, and there will be some high school kids here as well.  Most will be here for various sports camps, but some will be trying to get an early start on the fall.”

“Are they able to do that?”

“Yes, with special permission, and we certainly don’t want a high school girl getting raped on campus.  All hell will probably break loose if that happens.” 

“Yes, I’m sure it would,” Devin concurred.  “We’ll continue looking for the guy, but I hope someone catches him soon.  Otherwise, it’s liable to mess with our final grades, since we’re giving up some of our study time to look for him.”

“Yes, and we don’t want that to happen,” I added. 

Now that we’d finished chatting with Barry about this, we headed up to our room.  We studied until lunchtime, and then after we finished eating at the dining hall, Devin returned with me to our room so he could change.  This time he put on the gray sweat pants and hoodie before going out again. 

“If he doesn’t commit the rapes until after dark, then why are you going out now?” I wondered.

“He might be more careless during the day if he’s looking for his next victim in advance.  I’m convinced he didn’t just get lucky that his last victim had a single room.  He apparently knew it in advance, because things could have gotten quite messy if she had a roommate who was there when he forced her into the room.  That’s why I think he selects his victims in advance and then watches them as he waits for an opportunity.”

“Yes, you might be right about that.  So, do you think he knows the girls before he rapes them?”

“Possibly, but it’s far more likely that he merely lusts for them.  It’s possible they are girls who wouldn’t have anything to do with him if they met in person, for one reason or another.  And since he can’t have them any other way, this is how he gets what he wants, if only just once and without their consent or knowledge about whom he is.”

“Damn, you’re smarter than you look,” I teased, and then he playfully gave me the finger before heading out the door. 

Devin returned to the room and changed into his normal cloths later so we could go to the dining hall together for supper.  Along the way, we chatted, but we also scanned the area around us for any guy who might be wearing a Colorado Rockies cap and sweatshirt or behaving suspiciously.  Finding no one who fit that description, we entered the dining hall and got our food.

After we finished eating, we returned to the residence hall and Devin changed into the blue sweats and hoodie so he could go out and prowl the dark recesses of the campus as he looked for the rapist.  I didn’t get as worried this time when he stayed out quite late, although I wondered if he had any success.  When he returned to the room, I eagerly questioned him about it. 

“Where did you look for the guy tonight and did you notice anything suspicious?”

“There was a women’s home basketball game, so I went to see if he was hanging around there.  I didn’t see anything unusual, and once the game ended I’ve been keeping an eye on the residence halls.  Unfortunately, I didn’t spot him around there either.”  

“I’m sorry to hear that, because I don’t like it when you’re gone so much.”

“I know, but things will go back to normal as soon as we catch this asshole.”

“You mean IF we catch him.”

“Yes, but there are a lot of people looking for this guy and somebody is bound to spot him sooner or later.  I just hope it’s me.” 

“You like being the hero, don’t you?”

“What do you mean by that?” he snapped while looking upset.

“I don’t mean anything bad by it, except that you seem to enjoy it when you’re protecting or helping other people.  Face it, you saved me from the mountain lion, and then you saved the girl from that aggressive son-of-a-bitch at the diner.  You also used your ability to deal with our noisy neighbor and stopped him from bothering others while they were studying, including us.  You even came up with a way we could get presents to give to the kids at the hospital, and now you’re intent on catching the rapist so he can’t hurt other girls.”

“Ok, but that’s not a bad thing, is it?”

“No, not at all and I actually admire you for being that way.  It’s nice to know that my boyfriend is kind of a superhero.”

“Wait, I’m no superhero!”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not!”

“You may not want to admit it, but you are.  You have an ability that others don’t possess and you use it for good, not for evil or just to benefit yourself.  You don’t mind using it for that reason on a limited basis, though, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else.”

“That’s because my grandfathers drilled it into my head.  Grandpa Isaac told me it was the reason he was given this gift by the shaman in the first place, as a reward for doing good and saving the shaman and other members of his tribe.  Grandpa Isaac also said he wasn’t sure what might happen if any of us tried to use our ability in a way that would actually harm others, especially if we did it on a regular basis.  Who knows, maybe a lightning bolt would shoot down from the sky and strike us dead if we did that, or we might just turn into one of the evil skinwalkers that are ugly and deformed.”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t be good, but you don’t have to worry about it.  I know you’d never do anything that would cause something like that to happen.”

“I hope you’re right, but it’s been tempting at times.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like when I pretended to be a guy from housing so we could be roommates.  That only benefited you and me.”

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t think about it that way, but it didn’t harm anyone else.  Every other time you’ve used your ability it’s been to help others.  Even when you roughed up Mr. Rude during orientation, it wasn’t just because he’d been rude and obnoxious to us.  It was to teach him a lesson so he wouldn’t act that way with others.”

“Ok, if you say so.”

Now that I’d made my point and we’d finished discussing this, I decided to distract him from thinking about it more, so I offered to let him make love to me again. 

“That’s your reward for being such a great guy,” I told Devin after we finished. 

“Then I think I’m going to be good all of the time,” he responded with a smile

The next morning, on our way back from the dining hall after having breakfast, we ran into Barry again.  We couldn’t resist the temptation of asking him a question. 

“Is there any news about the problem?” Devin asked.

Barry quickly looked around to see if anyone else was nearby before he answered.  “No, he hasn’t been active and no one has spotted him.”

“It’s a large campus, so what are the odds of actually catching him?” I followed. 

“I’ll admit that the odds aren’t good, but we can’t give up,” Barry replied.  “If we do and he strikes again, then we’ll all be facing severe restrictions.”

“Yeah, we know, but I’m not planning on giving up,” Devin responded.  “However, I am willing to admit that this may be more difficult than finding Waldo.”

“Do you mean that book series where you’re asked to find the weird looking boy wearing glasses, a cap, and a white striped sweater?” Barry asked.

“Yeah, that’s what this weird kid is referring to.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, but let’s just hope one of us gets lucky and we put an end to that fucker’s extracurricular activities.” 

“Yes, and I take it you mean that quite literally,” I pointed out.

“Without realizing it, I guess I did,” Barry agreed, and then we said goodbye and went our separate ways.

When Devin and I got to our room, I asked Devin what he had on his agenda for today. 

“Pretty much I’ll just be doing the same things as yesterday.  I’ll go out after lunch to see if I can spot the guy, then after it gets dark I’ll lurk in the shadows while hoping that I’ll see something suspicious or hear some screams or cries for help.”

“I wish there was more I could do to assist you.”

“I know you do, but from the reports we’ve heard about him, he’s obviously bigger than either of us and I’d be worried that you might get hurt if you tried to catch him by yourself.” 

“Yeah, I know, but that wouldn’t be a problem if I was a skinwalker too, because then I could transition into someone larger as well.”

“Yeah, I know, but don’t worry about it.  You can make suggestions about what you think I should do when I go out, because that would help.  But I know one thing for sure, and that is I’ll make sure that bastard sees what I can do if I spot him, because then I’ll call on Mr. Hyde or one of the other bigger guys to help me.”

“Yeah, they’ll be able to take care of that son-of-a-bitch.”

Now that we’d talked about this, we both hit the books for a while, and then after lunch I kissed him goodbye and he spent the rest of the time until lunch roaming around the campus or lurking in the shadows.  He did that after we had supper together too, although he didn’t have any success, but he wasn’t discouraged.  He thought for sure the guy would try something over the weekend, but that didn’t happen.  Apparently the rapist was either able to control his impulses or he found another outlet for his sexual desires, because nothing was reported. 

After talking it over, we felt it was possible that he still might have raped another girl and we just hadn’t heard about it yet because she was too embarrassed or to scared to report it, but we hoped that wasn’t the case.  Devin will keep going out looking for a guy who’s wearing a Colorado Rockies’ cap and Colorado Rockies sweatshirt.  We just hope he hasn’t changed his uniform or put those things in the laundry.   

A few days later, we chatted with Barry again and he told us nothing new had been reported during the previous week, so the search for the rapist continued.  Since Devin was spending so much time trying to catch this guy and was gone during the afternoons and evenings, I was beginning to worry that he might be ignoring his studies, at least to some extent.  For that reason, I finally decided to mention it to him. 

“Devin, you can’t continue spending all of your free time looking for the rapist.  I know you’ve been attending all of your classes, but have you also been keeping up with the rest of your workload, because that’s the reason why you’re here.”

“I know and I’m not skipping classes or slacking off, if that’s what you’re worried about.  I’m only going out if I can afford the time, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“I certainly hope not, but I will continue to remind you from time to time, just to make sure you don’t forget.”

“Ok, I can live with that.” 

We also checked in with Barry every couple of days to see if he had any new information about the rapist, but he hadn’t heard anything either.  It almost seemed as if the guy had disappeared.

“I guess it’s a good sign, because it means he hasn’t raped anyone else,” I stated. 

“At least not that we know of,” Devin added.

“That was my feeling too,” Barry concurred.  “I wondered if the rapes just hadn’t been reported yet, but another RA suggested that the guy might have just changed locations and was doing the same thing at another campus instead.”

“I suppose it’s possible,” I half-heartedly agreed, “but I think he’s doing it here because he’s familiar with the campus.  Maybe he got picked up for doing something else and is sitting in jail?  If not, he could have just had an accident, possibly in his car or at work, or maybe he just fell down the stairs at home and injured himself.  He might be in the hospital or laid up at home, and that would put him out of action for a while as well.”

“Yes, it would, if we’re that lucky,” Barry agreed.

“I don’t think he went anywhere else,” Devin chimed in, “because I agree with Mac.  I have a feeling there’s something holding him here, and it might be that he’s familiar with the campus and knows the best places to hang out in order to do this or know all the routes he can use to escape.  It’s also possible that he picked this campus because he lives in the area or has family here, or possibly he just works nearby.  There’s also a chance he might even be a student here.”

“I doubt that,” Barry responded.  “Campus Security also thought about that possibility, so they’ve had some of their staff comparing the composite sketch with the photos on our campus IDs.”

“You mean they have a copy of our ID photos as well?”

“Yes, of course they do.  They keep a copy of them in a computer file so they can refer to them, if necessary.”

“But what if someone’s appearance changes slightly from year to year?” Devin followed.

“It doesn’t matter, because you’ve obviously forgotten about the fact that every year all students have to get a new ID with an updated photo and the academic year listed on it.  That’s to prevent students from using their old ID cards if they drop out or flunk out.”

“I didn’t forget about it, because as a freshman I wasn’t aware that we’d get a new ID every year or that campus security kept copies of them,” Devin muttered.  “I mean, I know we all got an ID as freshmen, but I didn’t know everyone got a new photo ID every year.”

“Ah, well now you do, so he’s probably not an active student,” Barry countered.

“I would agree that he’s probably not a current student,” I added, “but it doesn’t rule out that he isn’t a former student.  How else would he know so much about the campus?”

“You’re right.  Not being a current student doesn’t stop those who dropped out or flunked out from returning to campus, at least not officially,” Barry agreed.  “It merely prevents them from using their old IDs to get into places where they aren’t allowed.”

“Yes, and he seems to know how to avoid the security patrols without being spotted,” Devin pointed out, “and it might also be how he knew the last girl had a single room.” 

“That’s very true,” Barry concurred, “but all we know for certain is that he’s committed rapes on this campus without being caught.”

“So, how long do you think campus security and everyone else will continue searching for him?” I asked.

“Hopefully until he gets caught,” Barry replied.  “Even if he isn’t caught right away, I doubt campus security will stop looking for him until the semester comes to an end, even if there aren’t any other rapes reported in the meantime.  They may also look for him over the summer semester, since there will still be students here.”

“Yes, I suppose they will, because it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Unfortunately, this meant that Devin would most likely be continuing his daily and nightly outings looking for the serial rapist.  I almost said looking for Jack the Ripper, because the guy uses a knife like the Ripper did, but then I realized the name wasn’t actually appropriate, since the rapist hadn’t killed anyone or cut any of his victims – at least not yet.

Since this was apparently going to drag on for a while, I started to become even more worried that Devin wasn’t spending enough time on his studies.  That’s because he only seemed to be working on his coursework from the time he woke up until we went for lunch, and some of that time was spent going to class.  He was going on his rounds every afternoon when he wasn’t in class and then again throughout the night as he looked for the rapist.  The same thing was basically true on the weekends as well, although he didn’t have any classes to go to then, so I finally decided to mention this to him again. 

“Are you sure you’re spending enough time and paying sufficient attention to your studies?” I asked one night after he returned to our room. 

“Yes, it hasn’t been easy, but I’m keeping up with everything.  Even when I’m out looking for the guy, I’m also rehashing some of the information, such as the material I’d read earlier or what I’d learned in class that day.”

“So, your grades aren’t suffering?”

“No, I should make the Dean’s List again, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“What I’m worried about is that you aren’t going to do as well as you did last semester and it might affect your chance of getting the job you want.”

“Like I said, I feel that I’m going to make the Dean’s List again and I’m still on track to get the job of my dreams.”

“Ok, I just hope you’re right.  It’s not me that I’m worried about – it’s your future.  You’ve told me many times that you want to get a job working on spaceships that will be used to travel to other planets, and I want you to be able to get one of those jobs.”

“I know, and I appreciate that you’re looking out for me.”

After this discussion, I let the subject drop for the time being, but it didn’t mean I         wasn’t concerned about Devin. 

We had just entered March and there were four weeks until spring break.  For that reason, I decided to ask Devin if he wanted to do something special during that time. 

“Yeah, sleep,” he quipped. 

“You’ll be able to do that too, but there must be something else you want to do or someplace you want to go over spring break as well.”

“I guess we could go somewhere, seeing nearly everyone will be gone from campus during that time. What if I just make it up to you for the limited amount of time that we’ve had to spend with each other?  It’s something we could do together and I’m sure you’d enjoy it.”

“Yes, I would, but isn’t there something else you’d like to do during that time, like someplace you want to visit?”

“Not really.  In addition to making it up to you, I can also catch up on my sleep and hit the books some more.  I haven’t fallen behind, but I want to start working on the projects and papers that will be coming due before the semester ends.  I don’t feel we need to go anyplace, unless you want to.”

“No, I’m good with what you just said.”

Devin continued to maintain the same schedule of hitting the books, attending class, and going out looking for the rapist, and when he headed out after lunch I would go out and patrol for a while on my own.  I did this to see if I could spot anything suspicious, since I needed to feel involved as well.  Devin would also go out again every night after we ate supper, but I didn’t go out at night.   Devin felt it would be too dangerous for me to do that, so I stayed in our room and hit the books.

This same routine continued until one evening when it seemed as if all hell was breaking loose outside.  I was alone in the room at the time and I heard sirens blaring out in front of the residence hall next to ours.  This wasn’t altogether unusual, because a lone siren could often be heard if something was happening in the area or in one of the residence halls.  However, this time it sounded as if there were multiple sirens going off simultaneously, so I assumed this was a major event.  I just didn’t know for certain what it was.

I rushed over to the window to see if I could tell what was happening.  I was also hoping I’d see Devin so I’d be certain that nothing had happened to him, and as I was still looking out the window, I heard someone sliding a key into the lock to our room. 

I turned around quickly to make certain it was Devin, and I saw him enter.  I was a little confused, though, because he was breathing heavily, yet he had a huge grin plastered across his face. 

“I did it!  I nailed the son-of-a-bitch!” he shouted.