Page 20 of In the Midst of Chaos

Eighteen YearsOld

Every organization had a way to deal with problems and how to solve them. For DD Enterprises, we followed the law. There were procedures before you could terminate someone. With the Disciples, we took care of things a different way.

My father was in the middle of the clearing. Next to him was Leon, his right-hand man, and then Gunner. Behind them were me and Nate. We grinned cockily at each other. Tonight was the night that I was finally in—I became part of the organization officially.

For Nate, he had to prospect for the club, basically be their bitch, and then he also had to take a vow like me.

I couldn’t help but look at the spot next to my father; that’s where Micah, Finley’s dad, should be. Three years ago, he passed away.

“Bring him out,” my father said, and a few of the Disciples who were with us nodded.

A few seconds later, two men dragged another man between them. He was already beaten badly. I wasn’t stupid, and I knew there was more than I was being told about the things that happened in our town. I hoped that once I took the vow, my family would trust me with sensitive information.

What I did know was that someone had killed Micah, and we were out for blood.

Fuck us over, and we would fuck you back stronger.

I was doing this for my family, but I was also doing this for Finley.

Fuck. I still felt sick to my stomach, just thinking about how she’d looked at her father’s funeral. She just sat there at the front of the row, looking past her dad’s coffin and into the wall. Whenever a tear managed to spring free, she would wipe it away. Huxley kept trying to soothe her. He would try to rest her head on his shoulder. Finley wasn’t having it.

Eventually, my brother gave up and left her. Without thinking, I walked to where my brother had been sitting. I didn’t say anything, but I took hold of her hand. I crossed my fingers with her much smaller ones and silently told her I was there for her.

I knew that if Micah were alive, he would have made Finley come here today. And the sick part was that I liked that idea.

“Nashton, son, come here,” my father commanded.

I took a deep breath and did as my father said. As soon as I stepped next to him, my father handed me a sleek black gun.

I took it, and even though I’d been shooting all my life, somehow now, it felt heavier. I knew how to shoot a target and hit the bull’s-eye, but at the moment, I wondered if I was a good shot.

“He doesn’t want to speak anymore, that’s fine. He’s useless to us now.” My father turned around and walked away, leaving me alone with Leon, Gunner, and Nate.

“Do it now!” Leon shouted at me, and the man who was on the floor spat blood and glared at him. I wanted answers, but I knew I wasn’t going to get them. The man started to crawl and tried to lift his hand. It was the time between life and death where a man would do anything for himself to not meet his fate.

I raised my gun and aimed it.

My hand shook, and my finger dragged as I put it to the trigger.

“Just do it!” Leon yelled.

I turned to him and glared.

“Shut the fuck up,” Nate growled at him. “He outranks you, bitch.”

Leon didn’t like that comment, but it was the truth.

I turned back around to the man, who was trying to talk. Well, the time for talking was over.

“We live in the shadows,” I said low enough for him to hear me. “We are your nightmares. You fuck with one of us, we’ll fuck you back stronger. There’s no easy way out once you’re a Death Disciple.”

And with that, I pulled the trigger. My body staggered back for a second, and I closed my eyes as soon as the bullet went flying. My chest rose and fell.

I had just taken a life.

“You did it, man,” Nate said in my ear. He then put on his gloves and took the gun away from me.

I guess our vow was a lot like being made. Your life of allegiance in exchange for a life. It was always the life of someone who had betrayed us, never someone innocent. The gun was unregistered, my prints all over it. The body of the man who had been killed would get dumped somewhere it would one day be found. It would be a cold case. The Disciples kept the guns as insurance because if one day we betrayed them and managed to disappear, they would bring hell down on you, which involved having the one piece of evidence missing in a long-ago-forgotten puzzle. Since my family was a high profile family, they not only would end us but had the gun as evidence to destroy our legacy in the public eye.

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