Ryerson had fully regained consciousness by now. Using his hands that were zip tied behind his back, the man was able to prop himself up off the floor so he was now in a seated position. Both Travis and Chad were standing over him, exchanging nervous glances with one another. Ryerson struggled against his restraints, but they were tight with no leverage; he wouldn’t be able to brute force his way free. If he was going to escape from his bounds, he’d have to talk himself out of the situation.
“What the hell, Travis?” Ryerson cried out, trying his best to look scared. He wasn’t much of an actor, and hated showing submission or weakness to anyone, but he gritted his teeth and played dumb. “You could have killed me, barring the door like that!”
Chad angrily took a step towards Ryerson, fist raised, but Travis stepped in front of the younger man and put a calming hand on his shoulder. “He’s trying to rile you up,” Travis said calmly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Ryerson didn’t try anything while his back was turned. “Take a breath, don’t let him get to you.”
Travis kicked off his trackpants and handed them over to Chad. Travis was now wearing a tight workout tee and a pair of white boxers. “Here, put these on and cover yourself up. Let me talk to Ryerson for a second and see if I can reason with him.”
Chad gratefully slid the sweatpants on, relieved to finally be able to cover himself up. Although there had been more important things going on, he’d felt ridiculous to be running around the school stark naked.
“Anything he tells you is a lie,” Chad warned.
Travis nodded in acknowledgment to Chad’s warning, then cautiously approached Ryerson. “You comfortable, Steve?” Travis asked, using Ryerson’s first name.
“I’m naked and ziptied on the floor, so what the hell do you think?” Ryerson shouted, seething with rage. He knew he should be trying to act innocent, but he hated having the tables turned on him like this and feeling so helpless.
“Maybe you can tell me why you were chasing after one of your students like a madman, then,” Travis demanded, crossing his arms. From everything Chad had told him, it sounded like Ryerson had lost his mind, but it was difficult for Travis to fully believe. He’d known Ryerson for years, and it was hard for him to reconcile his friend with the man currently sitting before him.
“I know what it looks like, really I do. And I shouldn’t have been running after him like that, I know. But Chad had snuck into the changeroom while I was showering and was trying to steal my clothes. I got mad and lost my head for a second, but I’m calm now. I realize it was just a stupid prank, and if you let me go now we can all walk away from this.” It wasn’t the most convincing lie, but Ryerson hoped he could appeal to Travis and get the other teacher to side with him against Chad. Once he was free, he would make sure both men paid for what they had done to him, but that would come later.
“Chad tells a different story. Said it had something to do with that jockstrap you were wearing,” Travis countered.
“The kid’s full of shit. He’s just embarrassed I caught him rifling through my clothes. It’s just a jockstrap, Travis, honest. If you don’t believe me, just inspect the thing for yourself,” Ryerson suggested. If he could get Travis to touch the jockstrap, hopefully he’d be overpowered by the magic and put it on.
“Something is weird with that jockstrap, Steve,” Travis said, looking down at his co-worker on the ground. He was trying to keep a level head despite the feeling he’d just walked into a sci-fi film. “It’s covered in cum and reeks like you’ve been wearing it for a month, and I couldn’t even think straight when it was in my proximity. I’ve known you for years, man; what the hell are you doing with that thing? Jacking off on school property, even after hours, that doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“He wants you to put it on,” Chad explained, stepping out of the shadows. He had silently been observing the conversation between his two Coaches, regaining his composure. Feeling as calm as he would given the circumstances, he knew he need to give Travis answers so his Coach knew what he was up against.
“Why does he want me to put it on, Chad?” Travis asked, turning his attention away from Ryerson temporarily and focusing on his student.
“Look, I know this is going to sound insane, man, but I could tell you felt something coming off the jockstrap too. It’s…it’s not a normal piece of clothing. You see Coach there?” Chad pointed emphatically at Ryerson, “He wasn’t Ryerson 10 minutes ago. Derrick and I, we were in the changeroom and we found this jockstrap. Derrick picked it up and started acting all weird, and then he put it on, and then he began to change. It’s crazy and it doesn’t make sense, but he started to change, and then Derrick was gone and he was Ryerson. I…I was so confused and scared, I didn’t do anything to help him. And now he’s gone.” Chad looked up, tears welling in his eyes. “Please, Coach, please believe me.”
It sounded insane; Travis had always been a man of science and fact, believing only what could reasonably be explained. And yet he couldn’t deny that he’d felt something come over him when’d he’d been near the jockstrap, an almost overwhelming urge to be near it. “I believe you,” Travis said after a long pause. He could see the relief in Chad’s face as the young man let go of the breath he’d been holding, elated to have someone on his side.
“We need to contain it,” Travis suggested, pacing back and forth as he formulated his plan. “Chad, grab the jockstrap and zip it up in the first aid kit so we can keep it secure for the time being. Don’t let it touch your skin and try not to breath in the scent; if you feel like you’re losing control, holler at me and I’ll stop you from putting it on. I’ll keep an eye on Ryerson; I don’t want to leave him unguarded.”
Chad found a pair of thick gloves in the first aid kit and slid them on, eager to follow Travis’ instructions. He was happy to have someone else take charge and give him orders; it felt like the responsibility of containing the situation was no longer just on him. He started making his way across the gym in the direction that Travis had kicked the jockstrap, taking care not to accidentally step on it in the dark like Derrick had.
“You’re actually believing that wild story over me? You’re enabling a student who is clearly having some sort of mental break, Travis,” Ryerson snapped bitterly from where he was seated.
“Something about you is off, Steve, and Chad’s story explains it; you’re not the real Ryerson. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not the man I know,” Travis replied coldly.
“Or maybe you just don’t know me as well as you think you do,” Ryerson laughed, looking up at Travis with piercing hatred.
“Uh…Coach Travis?” Chad called out in a panic. “It’s gone!”
“Gone? Gone?!? It was just there!” Travis shouted back in disbelief.
“I know, but it’s not here now,” Chad did a quick scan of the gym floor again to make sure he hadn’t missed it, but he knew it was nowhere to be found.
“Well, that makes things a tad more interesting,” Ryerson said, grinning for the first time since regaining consciousness.