Vengeance of a Monster

1. Astor

ONE

ASTOR

“I’d say welcome, but you’re not.”

Masked figures emerge from the darkness surrounding me.

I have no fucking business standing in the woods in the middle of the night in a foreign country, trying to pass a test I know nothing about.

I’ve made a mistake. And now I’m reconsidering all my life choices.

Dense fog hugs the space between trees, creating an almost claustrophobic intimacy in the wilderness. More cloaked figures appear, as if they manufactured the weather conditions just to put all of us on edge.

I stand with a bunch of strangers all here to try and pass a test we know nothing about. They all carry lanterns with their hoods up, casting deep shadows over their haunting masks, and they continue to close around us, leaving no room for escape.

“This is your last chance to leave.” One of the masked men breaks rank and steps forward. His mask resembles Anubis. It’s trimmed with gold, angular and sharp. It looks to be wrought of metal with large ears pointing straight up. “Stay at your own risk.”

What am I doing here?

It all sounded like a good idea when my father proposed it. How else could I be what my brother needed me to be? I’d sworn a blood oath to protect him. But this can’t be the way. I should have told him no. Told him it wouldn’t work.

And all for what?

Maybe to protect him?

I’ll be lucky to get out of this alive.

But there’s no turning back.

They’ve seen me.

I get a better view as they get closer. Most wear a version of a skull mask in different metals, with varying levels of intricacy and design sculpted into the mask.

But a select few wear much more ornate masks modeled after different deities or figures from various mythologies. They all look to be born of nightmares.

No one leaves.

I suspect we all have good reason to be here because while The Legacy of Power pretends to be a secret society at the Ivy League we attend, Exitier, it’s far from ritual bonding of frat boys. Joining Legacy is the first step into their empire of the criminal underworld.

This is a test where both passing and failing lead to dire consequences.

“Are you sure?” Anubis asks, taunting us.

I swallow hard, pushing down the nails clawing at my insides, while everything in my body tells me to leave. I’m not scared of failing. I’m scared of succeeding and what parts of myself I’ll have to destroy to do it.

I’ve already sacrificed so many.

“More of you this year than I expected.” Anubis laughs, but not with humor. “Maybe this is getting too easy.”

There’s about thirty of us, and some of them exchange looks. But I don’t want to be grouped in with them. I need to stand out.

“Should we deny them all and reevaluate this year?” Anubis looks around at the other members.

“How you love to toy with your food, brother,” says the guy in the Fenrir mask.

I dig my nails into my hand. If they don’t let anyone in I’m fucked. There aren’t any second chances. My name would be scratched off the list forever.

This is so far outside of my carefully curated life. I can’t believe I let my father talk me into it. I should have just found another way to get the training and contacts.

But I know I can’t. It’s how he convinced me.

Admittance into Legacy is the gateway to membership at the exclusive Velleity.

A notorious chain of hotels acting as neutral ground for the depraved.

It serves as a safe haven for the criminal underground’s negotiations.

A marketplace of the amoral, where every problem, no matter how big, has a solution.

And I need solutions.

This is one of the only ways to get into the Velleity without being born into membership. It’s access I desperately need.

But Legacy is so much more than just a chance at admittance.

It’s the training ground for the children of the members of the Velleity.

It’s a connection I couldn’t dream to find anywhere else.

Most members of this secret society are the world’s mafia heirs, future fixers, assassins, spies, and a myriad of other specialists.

Tucked away in New Hampshire, Exitier feels secluded in the vast forest with no civilization for at least a hundred miles. I wonder if the Velleity picked this place for their children because it’s so isolated, or if it was pure happenstance.

Maybe it’s safer for those that would inherit the keys to the criminal underworld to hide them way out here away from the mafia wars.

Although I doubt any of them need protection.

Nor are any of these people easy to find, but from what I’ve researched, all of them are terrifying in their own right.

They’d been raised by the most dangerous people in the world.

And maybe I’m not scared enough to be among them, even after I’ve trained my entire life to be at their level, I still feel woefully unprepared.

I’m an imposter, and I’m sure they can smell it on me.

But there is no one else to do this, so no matter how bad every bone in my body screams at me to leave, I swallow back the fear coating my throat and lift my chin, prepared to fail.

“What do you think? Scrap them all?” Anubis asks again. “Or let them play?”

“You want to go a whole year without any fresh meat?” A taller figure replies.

His mask is wrought from metal in layers, with designs etched over parts of it, but it extends with large horns protruding from his forehead and antlers from the sides.

It almost looks like he wears a crown of horns built into the mask.

“How will we have any fun without pledges to torture?”

I openly stare at the speaker. He’s massive, filling out his cloak, with thick shoulders, and standing at least a couple inches taller than my own six-foot stance.

He commands attention in a way few can be taught. Between his deep voice and his chosen mask, he’s not someone I want to mess with.

The guy in the Anubis mask tilts his head, contemplating the other’s words.

“True. It would be a lot less fun. I guess we should continue.” He turns back towards us.

“Welcome to your first test. I expect all of you are in the right place and not just some curious passersby. If you are, here is your last warning to leave. We won’t be kind to those who choose to stay. ”

A few exchange looks, but no expressions can be read under the masks we were all instructed to wear. That confirms to me we are all in the right place.

“Brave and admirable. I look forward to making you regret it.”

Getting into Legacy was a pipe dream born out of desperation. I never thought I’d have any chance of figuring out the puzzle to find Legacy’s first test, let alone prove myself worthy of the trials for admission.

Anubis looks at each of us in turn, sending a shiver down my spine, and again I doubt my presence here, but he quickly looks at the next prospect.

I should be at St. Andrews in familiar safety. Instead, I’m in a foreign country surrounded by the children of the world’s most dark and depraved and powerful. Every one of them born and trained to be killers, following in their parents’ footsteps.

For all I know, if I fail they’ll bury me right here in the woods and then what good am I to Rainier?

What good am I at all? Surely at least a little better alive than dead, if I can manage to walk out of here.

I’m in so far over my head, I’m drowning without even realizing it.

The back of my neck prickles and I look up to find the man in the antler mask staring at me. He doesn’t blink or look away when I catch his gaze. In fact, his eyes light up, like he’s smiling under the mask. A shiver runs down my spine. He’s the last person whose attention I want.

I quickly break the eye contact, not wanting to be singled out by any of them let alone him.

But he continues to stare, the heat of it boring into my cheek.

It infuriates me for some reason. Like he recognizes me.

Which would be disastrous. I can only imagine I’m the last person they’d want to admit.

I can’t exactly fly under the radar like most of them.

If he knows, they’ll throw me out on my ass. I’m sure of it.

This stupid fucking delusion. I shouldn’t have come.

“Now, the rules are simple,” Anubis drip-feeds us.

“Tonight, there will be trials. If we are entertained, maybe you will be allowed to stay for the next trial. Beat all of them, and perhaps there will be another opportunity to perform for us. Failing one or walking away will be your end.” He pauses, letting the words settle around us. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”