Page 2 of The Masks She Wore

?Malachi walked over to his desk and took a seat, papers stacked everywhere, large binders lining the bookshelves. All a secret. Something we wouldn’t get to know until we were fully initiated, and even then, I had my doubts we would ever know everything.

?“I’m sure you three are wondering why I called you here on your day off.”

?“Yes sir,” I nodded, folding my hands behind my back.

?Malachi leaned back in his seat, taking us in, our posture, the way we looked upon him with respect and strength. Everything was a test here. All of it. From the way we ate to the way we shit, it was all a test, and if we failed, we were terminated. One quick bullet between the eyes to protect the sanctity of whatever it was he was trying to build here.

?“Greyson is excelling in his training,” he told us evenly. “You three are doing well. I see a good future for the four of you in my organization.”

?I could justhearthe pride dripping in his voice.

?I held in my own eyeroll.

?“This program has been well thought out, well-built. I’ve worked a long time to get it to where it is. To get it to the point where I can start testing it on people and have the high success rate I want. With that being said, I have a task for all three of you regarding what I have built.”

?Tasks. That’s what he called our assignments. I wasn’t sure if it was because he thought the word was less intimidating or what, but I hated that he didn’t just say what it was. An assignment. A hit, a robbery, a business meeting. Those weren’t tasks, not to me. Not to them.

?“I’ve been considering opening this program up to my people. As you know, I put several men through it before I redesigned it to what it is today. They failed, tragically, but you three seem to be thriving. So, if I’m to consider this, opening it up again, then I’ll need notes, essay’s, about how this training program seems to help you. What you think could be better, what you believe is too harsh for a grown man.”

?“If it’s good enough for us, it’s good enough for the adults,” Everett pointed out.

?Malachi offered a small smile. “You three and Greyson are special. There are no other men in the world like you. I’m renaming it the Shadow Initiation Program for our future endeavors. Here are your notebooks,” he went on, pulling out three black compositionnotebooks. “Find the time to write everything down. Everything. Is that clear?”

?I stepped forward, picking up the three notebooks for my brothers, my brows furrowing. “What about Greyson?”

?“He’s still training with Beck. He doesn’t need a notebook.”

?Special through and through.

?“I’d like to commend you for treating him as one of you, despite the difference in training. Some boys just need something different.”

?I searched his bright blue eyes. “Why is he so much different than us?”

?“Everybody has their part, Jack. Now go or I will put you to work today.”

?I frowned and turned back to my brothers, handing them each a notebook. We nodded towards Malachi and turned for the door.

?He wanted notes to see if his little worker bees could handle this? Fine. I’d give him notes, but I had my doubts that anyone would make it through the training. It wasn’t for the weak of heart. After all, there was a reason Malachi had brought in the four of us. Four boys with tragic backstories and rage in their hearts, willing to give their very last breath to someone like him? Why go outside of his organization if he had what he needed here? Nobody could get through this, not unless they had something inside of them that was as fractured as what grew inside of us.

1

Jack

September 15th, 2019

He tossed the manilla envelope onto the desk and I stared at it in annoyance before my eyes lifted back to his. “What the fuck is that?”

?Malachi eyed it as well, his expression unreadable. “They dropped it on our doorstep yesterday by way of courier. Money has been wired. That’s your next assignment.”

?I searched his blue eyes carefully before reaching for the envelope. “Bullshit,” I muttered. We didn’t get anything by courier. We weren’t a paid service, we did our own thing for whatever selfish reasons Malachi or one of us decided was good enough thatday, so the fact that someone managed to not only get onto this property without getting themselves killed, but also managed to drop off an envelopeandwire money to us without being noticed was as impressive as it was annoying.

?I made a mental note to check the security I had placed on all of our computers, phones, bank accounts, and I made another mental note to talk to the men who were supposed to be keeping an eye on this place. How could someone slip past every ounce of our security without getting caught? It didn’t sit right with me.

?“You kids and your electronics,” he commented to himself, glancing towards the window.

?Wekids. Wiring just seemed less messy than going to a bank, pulling out whatever funds we needed, putting it all in a bag or suitcase, and dropping it off on the front stoop. Malachi was being dramatic.

?Not only that, but he knew that I had specialized in computers. Most of the jobs I ran, my place in this company, was all thanks to those electronics. Without those ‘electronics’ we would have lost dozens if not hundreds of targets.

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