The Altar by James Arthur Anderson Page B

killing himself in the process. Not that Jeff was likely to fall. And not that he was likely to even try to catch him if he did.
    He snuck a glance over to the girls’ side of the gym and saw Jennifer, blonde, blue-eyed, the head cheerleader and every high school boy’s wet dream, which meant that she was completely out of Seth’s league. For that matter, all the girls in his school were out of his league, even the ugly ones. This, of course, had done nothing to stop him from falling hopelessly in love with Jennifer, lusting after her every waking hour and through much of his sleeping ones as well.
    He had watched her from the corner of his eye as she took her turn on the balance beam. The firm muscles of her long, smooth legs tightened as she began her routine. He watched in growing excitement as she did a forward roll on the bar, exposing one of the cheeks of her deliciously firm ass for one short but incredible moment, a moment that Seth would remember forever....
    Then he heard his name being called. He blinked and saw Mr. Russo, the gym teacher, glaring at him.
    “Come on Seth, you still awake? You’re next. Up on the bars.”
    Seth gave him one of those “what, who me?” grins and the other kids began to giggle, already anticipating the train wreck that was about to occur.
    “Come on, Seth. Get up there,” the teacher said, and before Seth even realized it, Jeff had come around behind him and hoisted him up and over the bars, one of which was now on either side of him.
    He reached out and grabbed one with each hand, while Jeff lifted him up until his arms locked at the elbows.
    “Just keep your arms stiff,” Mr. Russo said. “Then, when Jeff lets go, swing your legs up over the bars.”
    Seth sensed the eyes of the entire gym class on him now, even those of Jennifer, watching with the other girls from across the gym.
    “Ok, Seth. Are you ready?” Jeff said, his voice filled with contempt.
    Seth wanted to scream out, to demand to be let down before he killed himself up here on this horrible torture machine, but everyone was watching, probably hoping that he would scream out in terror so they could use that as ammunition to torment him further, as if he didn’t already have enough misery in his life.
    No. He wouldn’t cry out like a wimp. Not this time. He would do this. He could do this.
    He nodded. Jeff let go.
    For a split second he held himself up between the bars, looking out at the gym class and thinking that, yes, this wasn’t so bad after all. Then his muscles betrayed him and his arms let go.
    He felt it and he knew it was happening, but he couldn’t stop it. Gravity pulled his body straight down, but his arms, locked at the elbows, flew out to the sides and the space between the bars wasn’t large enough to accommodate the impossible angle of his elbows....
    He heard the cracking of his bones before he actually felt the pain. But what he saw hurt much worse than the pain he felt, even though each of his arms were being broken in two places, literally ripped apart at the elbow joints. As he fell he saw Jennifer watching him. But not just watching. Laughing. All of them were laughing. But in his own mind, he knew that Jennifer was laughing the hardest.
    Later that night, he’d receive a nasty beating from his father, just icing on the cake, so to speak, for being a “wuss” and not a “real man” like Daddy was.
    Seth felt the tears running down his cheeks and suddenly realized that the daydream had passed. It wasn’t the gym teacher calling his name after all, but someone else—make that some thing else.
    He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the cobwebs from his brain. He wasn’t Seth anymore. He was Seti, and he was the main man here. And his new God was summoning him.
    “Don’t you want to make them pay?” the voice chimed in his head. “Don’t you, Seti?”
    “Yes. Make them pay. I’ll make them pay.”
    “Excellent.” The voice filled his brain now, inhabiting every cell,