Chaos
Bianca’s mention of AnnMarie’s problem reminded me of it. We’d gone to work to solve her work and living issues with her dad. She deserved a life, and not one as a club bunny or an unpaid caregiver.
It started with a visit to her brothers.
It was easy to get them together. After talking to AnnMarie, without telling her much, we had Shadow check into what he could find.
It happened that her brothers, Austyn and Ayden, got together every Friday night at one of their places. They would drink and do whatever.
We timed it so that we arrived before they were too shitfaced.
We wanted them to remember the visit. Chains, Storm, Nomad, Truett, and I went.
We all rode in the van driven by Truett.
No cuts or other identifying marks, not even our faces, were uncovered.
We kept those masked. Chains, our lock-picking expert, got us inside without alerting them.
Laughter and loud television noise were coming from the room, dimly lit down a short hallway.
We crept in to find AnnMarie’s brothers on the couch, with their backs to us, beer bottles all over the coffee table in front of them.
They were watching some show. I didn’t pay attention to which one it was.
We were on them before they knew we were there.
Storm and I slapped our hands over their mouths, while Nomad and Chains got the duct tape ready to cover them.
Truett stayed out in the van with the engine running, and the headlights off.
Once they were properly silenced, we swiftly hog-tied their asses and carried them out of there.
We were in luck. It was Austyn’s place, and he lived alone in a small house.
His sister couldn’t afford even a room, and this bastard had an entire house, and so did his brother.
Outside, we tossed them roughly into the back of the awaiting van and got in after them.
Truett drove to our meeting spot. He obeyed all traffic laws to ensure the police wouldn’t pull us over.
As we rode there, AnnMarie’s brothers wiggled and made sounds, trying to talk despite the tape, but we ignored them.
We let the silence stretch to unnerve them.
We took them to a defunct hotel. It was one that the developers had run out of money to finish years ago. While helping out the Dublin Falls Archangel’s Warriors VP, Savage, to rescue his old lady, Vanessa, we’d come across it.
After her rescue, we ended up buying the place.
We’d thought about finishing it and either renting it out or selling it.
But life got away from us, and it sat there for years.
However, it wasn’t totally without value.
Sometimes, we used it when we had a lesson to give or wanted a different place to conduct our hidden work. And the land it sat on was worth money.
AnnMarie’s brothers weren’t treated gently as we dragged them inside.
We took them to the open area in the middle of what was supposed to be the lobby.
There was dust and debris everywhere. And two rickety wooden chairs sat in the middle.
We shoved them down on them. Their gazes bounced all over the place, looking panicked.
Dimly lit emergency lanterns were strategically placed so they shed enough light for us to see what we were doing, but not much else.
Our voices were disguised using a voice-changer device Shadow had found for us. It was portable and small, easy to carry in a pocket. We switched them on and kept our faces covered. Storm was the one who removed the tape from their mouths. Both guys flinched.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Austyn, the older brother, asked. I heard the fear in his voice, though he tried to cover it.
“Who we are is a delegation from a much larger group. We’re here to issue a warning to both of you. If you listen and make the changes necessary, you’ll never see or hear from us again,” Storm told him.
“However, if you fail to do as you’re told, next time, our entire group, which is considerable, will bring its full weight down on you,” I added.
“And when that happens, you won’t just leave with some bruises and painful memories,” Nomad said.
“You’ll be lucky if you don’t need a full-body cast and months in a hospital,” Chains finished.
We hadn’t rehearsed exactly what we intended to say, but it sure sounded as if we had. They paled, but I knew they weren’t ready to agree to anything. They had their pride and false bravado.
“I don’t know who you think you are. Or who you think we are, but we won’t be threatened by faceless thugs. Tell us who put you up to this,” Austyn snapped.
“It’s your broken bones if you don’t listen and heed what we’re about to tell you. As for who put us up to this, no one. We decided all of this on our own. We won’t let injustice, no matter what kind, stand,” Storm told them.
“What injustice? You’re not making any sense,” Ayden half-shouted.
“We’re talking about AnnMarie, your sister. Did you think no one knew what she’s doing and why?” I asked coldly.
The mention of their sister’s name made them both go rigid. They exchanged puzzled looks, then looked back at us. They scowled.
“What the hell does our sister have to do with this? With you? We don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever she’s told you, it’s a lie,” Austyn snapped.
“I beg to differ. We know that you refuse to help with your dad’s care.
You pay nothing toward a caregiver or to help with his meds, other care needs, or the bills.
That all falls on her shoulders. She cares for him five days a week.
She uses his pension, and then she works too.
On the two days she’s away, she can’t even stay there because her bed goes to the caregiver.
She has no home on her days off. And the money she makes pays for the caregiver and the extras that are needed,” I growled.
“You next to never visit and rarely call. You told her that, as a woman, it’s her job to take care of him. Yet, when he dies, you think you should inherit the house. That the ‘free housing,’ as you call it, that she’s gotten the past couple of years, is her portion of the estate,” Chains stated.
“Everything you say is utter bullshit. It’s not AnnMarie’s job just because she’s a woman. She deserves the whole goddamn estate in our opinion. And she deserves not to carry everything on her shoulders,” Nomad snapped.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ayden shouted.
“Our sister lied to you. We help. We give them money, and we see our dad,” Austyn lied.
“We knew you’d say that. So, we had someone look into your financial situation and contributions.
In the past year, you’ve both visited three times, together.
You stayed less than half an hour. You gave zero money.
In fact, you asked for it. And as for calls, we have your call logs.
The number of phone calls is a handful each.
You’re fucking pathetic pieces of shit, but today is your lucky day,” I told them.
“Lucky? What does that mean?” Ayden asked.
“It means that we’re gonna give you an attitude adjustment.
When we’re through, you’ll go home and take over providing your dad with enough money that a caregiver can be hired to care for him seven days a week.
You’ll help offset the cost of his meds and any other medical expenses.
It’s the least you can do. AnnMarie will be free to oversee his care and get a place of her own.
She’ll work a regular job and have a life, the way you do,” Storm told them.
“We can’t afford to do that! How will we live?” Austyn ranted.
“You both have jobs that pay you six figures a year. You’re not hurting.
Rework your budgets. Move in together. Downsize to one-bedroom apartments rather than houses.
Hell, work a second job. Do it the way millions of others do when faced with this situation.
What you won’t do is abuse your sister’s kindness and love any longer,” Nomad added.
We let them think over what we said. I knew it wouldn’t be just a talk, and they’d care and do it. Even if they agreed without punishment, it would be a lie. It was a couple of minutes before either spoke.
“Say that we agree to this. Will you take us home and leave us alone?” Ayden asked.
“Yes, we’ll take you home and leave you alone as long as you comply with all our orders,” I said.
“Okay, we’ll do it. Untie us and then take us back home,” Austyn demanded.
He held his zip-tied hands up in the air. A dark, menacing chuckle came first from our VP, then Chains. Nomad snorted. I snickered. AnnMarie’s brothers’ brows furrowed.
“What’s so funny?” Ayden asked.
“You. And how the two of you think for a second that we’ll take your word for anything and just let you go. We need to drive the demands home. You have to be given a lesson,” Chains told them.
“W-what kind of lesson?” Austyn’s voice was weak and quivering.
“The kind where you hurt for days. Every time you look in the mirror for weeks, you see what you did wrong. And the kind where, when you heal, you’ll know never to do what you’ve been doing again,” Nomad growled.
“Because if you do, we’ll come for you, and you know what’ll happen,” Storm finished.
They were both deathly pale. Sweat had broken out on their faces.
“No! No, please, don’t hurt us. We’ll do it!” Austyn pleaded.
“Don’t touch me,” Ayden sobbed.
What came next lasted almost an hour. All of us took turns meting out the ass beatings to the two of them.
By the time we were through, they were bruised, bloody, and in a few areas, broken messes, moaning in pain and terror.
We carried them out to the van, roughly tossed them inside, and made the return trip.