1. Chapter 1 #2
Feeling the rubber band inside me drawn too tight, I gripped his throat with my free hand and squeezed as the blade dug deeper into his flesh. All I could see in my mind was his death. His blood.
“I will not be placated and manipulated! You have never called me ‘ son !’
His eyes hardened, and he suddenly fisted my hair to yank me away. “No one threatens me, even you, Easton.”
Before he could throw me off, I shoved my knife deep into his throat. His eyes grew wide, and his hand went instantly to the wound as if he could stop the spilling of his blood, now seeping between his fingertips.
“Die, you bastard! You should’ve saved me. Now no one will save you.”
He tried to shove me off again, but I stabbed him over and over, coating my favorite suit in his blood. As he died, I stabbed his eyes out last, so I never had to look at my eyes looking back at me again.
I climbed off; the rage ebbing as I straightened out my tie and climbed off him.
“Now what do I do?” I mumbled as I looked down at my father. I felt nothing for him at all. No guilt. No remorse. Not even joy. I would’ve taken anything at that point.
There was some sudden movement on the other side of the door that put me on high alert. I pulled out Father’s gun from his drawer, made sure it was loaded, and put a bullet into the chamber. If his men wanted me dead, they would have to fight for it. I had nothing left to lose.
There was more commotion, then things went silent before I heard a knock on the door.
“I’m coming in. Don’t shoot, kid,” said the deep voice.
I aimed the gun at the door as the handle turned and the door slowly pushed open. Once the man was inside, I fired, but he ducked out of the way just in time. If I had been more experienced with guns, I wouldn’t have missed.
“Whoa!” he chuckled, looking in and seeing Father’s bloody body… and mine. “You nearly got me there.”
“That’s the point.”
He held out his gun in his hand, his finger off the trigger. “So, I don’t shoot kids. This is me surrendering, see? I’m not here for you. Just your father, but I clearly see you’ve done the job for me. Can’t say I’m happy about that since I lost a nice chunk of change.”
“Who are you?”
“Can I come in, or are you going to shoot at me again?”
“That depends on you.”
He chuckled again. “Fair. Fair.”
He stepped all the way inside, holding his hands up with his gun still in his hand.
His hair was a light brown, almost blond color, which was cropped short, and his blue eyes were…
kind, but I wasn’t sure. I had to relearn people after being surrounded by manipulators and liars.
It was difficult to distinguish what was real from what wasn’t.
“I’m Sid Virgil. I was hired by a third party to take out Milton Cooper, your father, Easton. He’s pissed off a lot of people, and… yo u, too, apparently,” he said, his eyes gazing at the mess. “I sure did pick an odd day to do this job.”
“My father was complicit.”
His eyes scanned me, scrutinizing but giving nothing away. “For a kid who’s just killed his father, you’re awfully… calm about it.”
“They are dead. The rage is gone.”
“I… see. What did he do to you, exactly?”
“He did nothing, allowing my mother to molest and abuse me for seven years. I killed her first, then the staff, who ignored all the signs, and now Father, who didn’t know what she did, only that she hurt me. He, too, never saved me. So, I had to save myself and destroy all those involved.”
His eyes shot to his hairline. “I’ve gotta admit, I’m impressed, kid. A little sloppy, but effective.”
“Of course, it was sloppy. I needed to see their blood.”
“Fair enough. I killed my uncle like that. He also molested me. He would drug and rape me.”
I suddenly found myself relaxing and relating to this man, and dropping my weapon, but my finger was still on the trigger. He could’ve been lying and manipulating me, too. I had no way to process it. “Then you understand the rage.”
“Indeed.”
I looked at all the blood and my father, then down at myself. “I’ve ruined my suit. It was my favorite.”
“I’m… sorry.”
With a heavy sigh, I put the gun on the desk and picked up my dagger, my weapon of choice, that had fallen to the ground, twirling it in my fingers. It was soothing, and I was still armed. “I don’t know what to do now. My rage is gone. My revenge is done. I feel nothing. I don’t care what you do.”
Sid holstered his gun and walked toward me, but I took a step back and held out my knife. He paused and raised his hands again.
“I’m going to leave here, and I don’t want you following me,” I said. Then I looked around Father’s office. “I don’t want his business. It can burn to the ground with everyone in it for all I care.”
Sid took another step closer, and I growled at him. “Back!” He was clearly a killer and more experienced than I, but I wasn’t going to let him get the upper hand.
He stopped again and relaxed his body, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
His head tilted, and he smiled while scanning my face.
“You know, if you’re looking for a place to settle down, I’ve created an organization of assassins with another man.
Generally, we take in those who are queer and already trained, but I’m sure we can make an exception for you. ”
“Why? You don’t even know or care about me.”
“True, but I’d rather take you in and train you instead of kill you.
You may think you have the upper hand here, but you don’t.
You can learn to kill more cleanly. I can help you improve your knife work and stealth.
Hell, we can train you to do whatever you want.
We have infiltrators, a swordsman who uses stealth, a marksman, and there’s even a psychopath who loves a bit of gore and mayhem. ”
“Why?” I asked again.
“Why take you in?”
I nodded .
He grinned and spread his hands. “Why the hell not? You definitely have potential. I also don’t like killing kids, even murderous ones.
What else are you going to do, anyway? You have nowhere to go.
If you don’t come with me, either the police will find you or people within your father’s organization will.
There will be vultures looking to snatch up his business, and you’ll be collateral damage from that. You’ll be safer with us.”
I looked at him dubiously. “Just like that?”
“Just like that. There are rules, make no mistake, but I think you can find a home and place where you fit.” He looked around the office again and nodded. “Yep, I’m not sure you’ll fit in elsewhere.”
I thought about his offer for a moment. He was right. I had nowhere else to go, and I didn’t want to die at the hands of those who wanted Father’s business. I didn’t kill all those people just to die, anyway. I killed them to escape. “Can I get a new suit?”
He threw back his head and laughed. I didn’t understand what was so funny? “Sure, kid. You can have as many suits as you want.”