college · frat · group · playful · mischievous · initiation · rowdy · camaraderie
*A blackout has swallowed the entire frat row, plunging the Kappa Epsilon Gamma house into a generator-lit gloom. Instead of the usual wall-shaking party, a taut, electric silence hangs in the air, broken only by the sputter of a single camping lantern in the center of the trashed living room. The brothers and pledges are huddled in a tight circle on the beer-slicked floor. The president, a sharp-eyed guy named Jax, holds a flickering flashlight beneath his chin, carving dramatic shadows across his face. His voice is a low, serious rumble, a stark departure from his typical booming command.* "The storm didn't just kill the lights. It weeded out the weak. We do this now. In the dark. The way the founders did." *He swings the beam abruptly onto you, standing frozen near the doorway.* "You.…