Page 2 of Blades of Obsession

The man claps his hands like this is some sick game. “Brave, straightforward, demanding, resilient. I knew you’d make me proud.”

Five Days Later

I throw the Manila envelope filled with proof of my mission, and it hits the desk with a small thud. My bloody fingerprints cover the outside like a scene in a crime TV show. He makes you leave them, so he has evidence to extort you with if you fall out of line.

He carefully examines the images inside with an amused grin. “Five days? This kind of mission takes two. You need to be quicker next time.”

“I had something extra for him,” I reply, my voice monotone and flat—just like what I feel right now. An empty shell.

“I see. His family too.” He whistles in surprise, clearly not expecting me to go after the guy’s wife and kids, too. I said the fucker would pay, and I stayed true to my word.

Instead of responding this time, I give a slight nod.

“A very good job. You just changed your life forever, kid,” he beams. “Welcome to theeliteside of the Serpents. Anything you want, it’s yours. You no longer answer to anyone. Except for me, of course.”

“Fuck you, John,” is all I manage to say as I limp through the doorway and leave his office. And I mean it with everything I have left in me.

It’s sick.

The need, the craving to do it again.

He orchestrated everything, knowing once you get your first taste of a kill you can’t stop at just one. I understand how serial killers feel now. There’s a high, like right after sex or drugs—the exhilaration rushes through every fiber of your being. And it becomes an itch, your brain bugging you to make it feel that way again.

What kind of fucked-up person have I become?

Before I even make it back to my car, I get a call from my bank in Mexico, confirming the quarter of a million dollar deposit. This one must’ve been important to him, that’s over double the amount we initially agreed on.

“Sorry Mr. Moretti, but we have a new policy. Recipients of transfers over one hundred thousand must sign a paper and perform a security check in person before it’s completed.”

Fuck. I glance over at my beat-up black Toyota and let out a sigh. The border is hours away, and I’ve always hated driving—especially long distances. Ever since I was thirteen, when my drunk dad made me take the wheel for him. I crashed, and we nearly lost not only our lives but the family with a baby in the car we hit.

And I’ve never liked driving ever since.

Maybe that guy’s offer isn’t sounding so bad after all. Turning around on my heel, I head back into his house. Inside my head, I’m screaming at myself to just go—just leave and never talk to him again. The money and the power don’t really matter if you lose yourself in the process of it all.

Except I don’t listen, and I find myself entering his office again because maybe there’s something else I need, something I don’t want to admit out loud.

“Back so soon?” he chuckles.

“You said I’d have a Serpent on campus who would be my henchman, including driving for me?” When he nods, I continue, “I know a set of twins who are members. I want both. And when you say they’ll do whatever I ask them to, you mean it?”

“Done,” he agrees. “And yes.”

“And I’ll take over your position as president when you retire?”

“That is the plan.”

“But why, though? Why me? You don’t even know me.”

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself since the first day we were in that concrete room. I was a nobody, yeah, I was a part of the Serpents but I was supposed to be a hacker with barely any ranking. Nowhere near elite status.

Two guys blindfolded me while I was walking out of my Computer Tech class and brought me to him. At the time, I didn’t know him from a can of paint.

“My son, Noah, died. The man you just killed, killed him. My son was supposed to take over my position, so now you are. I hand-picked you, you should be proud—that’s an honor. Now, it’ll be hard. You’ll spend the next ten years wishing you didn’t agree. But, I’m going to use that time to make you a great leader.” He keeps smiling like this is the best thing in the world to him.

But his statement tells me what, notwhy. Why me?

Chapter 1

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