Page 26 of Total Carnage
They exchanged glances, a silent conversation passing between them before Moab leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "This is about that 'bigger shit', Vin. It's about what we're up against... and what we are."
"Speak plain, man." I wasn't in the mood for riddles.
"Everything's about to change, brother. For all of us," Moab said, his voice low and steady like the rumble of a distant storm.
"Change how?" I pressed, feeling that cold dread again, coiling in my gut like a snake ready to strike.
They looked at each other once more, and I knew. Whatever they were about to drop on me was going to be one hell of a revelation. And suddenly, Ma's warning didn't seem so crazy after all.
Moab cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing in the quiet like a warning shot. I could see it in his eyes—whatever secret he'd been sitting on was big... otherworldly big.
"Okay, Vin," Moab started, and damn if his voice didn't sound like rocks being churned under a tire. "You know we're all about loyalty, living by the code, riding 'til we can't no more.But there's something in our blood, something ancient and powerful."
I leaned forward, feeling the room shrink as the gravity of his words pulled us all closer.
"It ain't just tattoos and leather that bind us," he continued, glancing at Shivs and Canon with something fierce and proud in his eyes. "We've got a connection to the old ways, to the spirits and shit you only hear about in stories. Jameson knew, and so did Mama Celeste. Hell, she's practically the gatekeeper of this supernatural freak show."
Shivs shifted uncomfortably, his usual smirk replaced by a tight-lipped line. Canon simply stared, his eyes blazing with an intensity that made me think of wolves under a full moon.
"Go on," I urged, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted out.
"Each of us discovered it in our own way," Moab said, nodding to Shivs to take over.
"I walked away from an ambush that should've killed me?" Shivs spoke up, a shudder rolling through him. "Wasn't just luck. It's like I could feel the bullets before it happened. They left me for dead, and I did die."
"What the fuck are you saying?" I frowned, trying to wrap my head around it.
“That, like you, I died and woke up later…alive.” Shivs sat back, giving me time to process. I glanced at Canon as he was about to speak.
Canon unfolded his arms, and I braced for whatever brand of crazy he was about to unleash. "I can hear things," he said, voice low and steady as if confessing to a murder. "Whispers on the wind. They guide me, warn me."
"Christ," I breathed out. “What does that mean?”
"Let's just say he can convince anyone of anything," Moab cut in. "And not by talking them into it."
"Mind control?" My voice was a whisper now, disbelief wrestling with the raw truth in their faces.
"More like... persuasion," Canon corrected. “Doesn’t work every time, so I’m still trying to hone the skill.”
We sat in silence, a brotherhood united by chrome and now, apparently, some hoodoo voodoo crap. Trust wasn't the issue, but accepting that we were part of some mystical gangland tale? That was a leap even Evel Knievel wouldn't dare.
"Alright," I rasped, feeling like the world had just tilted on its axis. "So we're a bunch of supernatural freaks. What now? We join the X-Men or something?"
"Nothing changes, Vin," Moab said firmly. "We ride together, we fight together. This... it just gives us an edge, is all."
"An edge," I repeated, letting the word roll around my tongue like a new flavor of whiskey—strange but somehow fitting.
"An edge," they echoed, each man wearing his power like a second skin, strength and vulnerability wrapped up in one badass package.
"Then let's use it," I said finally, meeting their gazes one by one. "Let's use it and tear Stansfield apart."
A silent promise passed between us, heavy as the humid air outside. We were the Royal Bastards, rulers of the road, now touched by shadows and light in ways we never imagined.
I leaned back against the cold concrete wall, letting their voices wash over me. One by one, they laid bare secrets that'd make a preacher clutch his Bible tight. Moab's tale of visions that came true, Shivs seeing through lies like he had X-ray vision for bullshit, Canon's uncanny knack for controlling people and things.
"Like some twisted superpowers, huh?" My voice was dry as desert bones. I wasn't buying into the comic book crap, but deep down, something nagged at me, something real and terrifying.
"Yeah, man," Moab nodded, his eyes serious as a heart attack. "We've been dealt a hand most wouldn't believe. But it's ours to play."
