by V. F. Mason
Santiago
Walking out of the church several feet away, I flip the lighter through my fingers as I put a cigarette in my mouth and light it up, inhaling smoke into my lungs, instant pleasure prickling my skin when the nicotine hitting my tongue gives me a momentary reprieve.
I’m not particularly religious or give a fuck about all the semantics that go with it, but the church has always been an important part of my parents’ life, so certain things were drilled into me from early childhood.
Like not cursing or smoking in church, although by the hefty donations the Cortez family gives this particular one, I should be able to do whatever the fuck I want.
Florian steals the lighter from my hands and lights his own cigarette while Octavius and Remi stand with us, creating a familiar circle buzzing with tension and anticipation.
Exhaling smoke around us, I sweep my gaze over them. “What’s going on?” And then address Florian, “Why aren’t you inside with Howard?” Although they wrapped him tightly with ropes and he barely can breathe in them, I don’t like my victims being unattended.
Our absence always gives them the impression of hope and help coming soon, and I despise that. None of those fuckers deserve even a minute of reassurance.
They should drown in a pool of their despair and agony.
“He’s confessing his sins to Father Paul.”
I choke on the smoke and join the collective laughter echoing in the night, the birds flying up in the sky and rustling leaves at the sound, not happy about our intrusion.
“The fucker really thinks it will clean his soul and God will stop us from killing him, granting him atonement.” Remi muses, “Stupidity sadly is one disease no medication can cure.”
Father Paul is a dear friend of my parents, one of the reasons they sponsored this church where he had a shelter for a lot of abused kids who didn’t want to go back into the system. He gave them a safe home, and in exchange they worked around the land, studied in school, and stuff.
Not legal by any means, but it worked as long as no one started trouble. Dad sends monthly checks to those families who were supposed to foster the kids, so Father Paul continues his actions.
“This marriage,” Octavius says, snapping me out of my thoughts as I raise my gaze to him. “How should we perceive it?”
“Good question.” Florian taps on his cigarette, the ash falling on the ground. “Is she the bride or the bait?”
“Difference being…?” Remi trails off, waiting for Florian to clarify, and he does.
“How should we act toward her?”
“So it’s like an equation. The constant changes depend on the variable.” Remi points at Florian. “Good one.”
“Or a medical verdict,” Octavius pitches in. “You can get an entirely different diagnosis with one little change.”
“Like jewels.” Florian grins. “You change the stone and the price of it either goes up or down.”
Counting mentally to ten so I won’t stab my friends who intentionally drive me insane with their talk gauging my reaction, I drop the butt on the ground, twisting it with the tip of my shoe. “She’s both.”
My bride because…
Briseis has quickly become my obsession, the desire to possess her and fill her soul with nothing but me almost unbearable as it shakes the foundation of my ironclad control that took decades to build. I need my marks of ownership drawn on her skin, my ring on her finger, so every male within close proximity of her knows he’ll have to deal with me if anyone as much as breathes wrong in her direction.
Madness that’s her consumes me so much it’s not fucking normal, and I hate every part of this deep need almost commanding me to take her and never let go, wrap her in my darkness so much she’ll never find a way out of it. Instead, it will dirty her enough to stay with me in my hell forever, no longer fitting in with the saints of this world.
I’ve had sex with so many women over the years I’ve lost count. Faceless, nameless, and emotionless encounters bringing me relief and control, temporarily wiping away voices whispering into my ear about the horrendous past.
Never bedded anyone more than once.
With Briseis?
I fucking crave tying her to my bed and learning everything that makes her tick, so she’ll become so addicted to my touch she won’t be able to live without it.
Hate and lust are a powerful combination that can attach a person to you, because you become the only one who can give them the satisfaction they seek.
But she’s my bait, because…
Marrying her assures Andreas will come out of hiding, so I can end him when he tries to steal her from under my nose.
Rage erupts inside me like a volcano at the idea of him getting his greedy hands on her, putting her in danger even with my constant presence by her side. The knowledge I can’t do anything to stop it drives me even more insane.
I want to rip myself in two from all these conflicting emotions rapidly growing, because none of them have a place in my revenge.
Lust is a sin.
So is madness.
Once upon a time, I vowed to never, ever love anyone.
Because my love brings only destruction.
Ironically, this marriage puts an end to my dilemma, allowing me to think with a clear head without madness and lust clouding my every decision.
Briseis will belong to me now, legally and emotionally.
And if she doesn’t like it, I don’t give a fuck.
I’ve never felt like this before, and until this fucking need is out of my system, she will stay by my side, willing or not.
Silence greets my statement before Florian clacks his tongue, puffing out smoke. “No, amigo. You either have a rare diamond or a regular stone anyone could find on the streets.”
Ignoring him, I fire my own question. “What’s this really about?”
“The Four Dark Horsemen rules, number ten,” Octavius says.
Well of course.
How could I have forgotten about that fucking rule we wrote because Remi insisted. The fucker was the only one who planned to marry someday, claiming love is a gift we should welcome.
Among us four, he’s romantic as fuck, although it never transferred to all the women he fucked.
With a loud scratch, Octavius finishes writing on the parchment we ordered, dipping his feather in ink one last time before putting a dot on it. “So nine rules in total, and we have to seal it with our blood.”
Florian picks up the knife, ready to slice his palm, when Remi’s voice stops us. “What about the women?”
“What about them? You can fuck whoever you want. Just keep it covered, because we don’t need little horsemen in our lives,” I say, shuddering a little at the idea of bringing a child into this world and subjecting it to all the cruelty it has to offer.
“Ha ha. Fuck you, Santiago,” he barks before elaborating, “If anyone of us claims a woman as his own, what happens?”
“Ehh, it’s up to you?” Florian supplies, as fucking confused with this bizarre conversation as the rest of us. Besides, who the fuck thinks about any of this at the age of eighteen?
“Except when a man takes a woman, he shares with her. She becomes part of you. It contradicts rule number five where we do not reveal the true deeds of the brotherhood.”
I groan inwardly at his poetic crap. He reads too many medieval ballads about true love. Florian runs his hand over his face, clearly not in the mood to deal with it either.
Octavius, always the peacemaker, finds his voice first. “Look, Remi—”
“No,” he replies firmly, not even letting him finish. “I won’t leave this to chance. We’ll agree on it right fucking now or this brotherhood will run without me.” He throws an ultimatum, and I get up, facing off with him, anger traveling through my system and filling my blood with adrenaline, my fists itching for a fight.
A constant emotion ever since I came back home.
“Who are you, Remi, to give me ultimatums?”
<
br /> “Who are you to tell me I cannot protect my woman?” he throws back, and I’ve had enough of this shit.
“She doesn’t even exist. It’s a mythical concept you think you might want to have someday.” I hit him on the chest, and he sways a little before finding his balance quickly and delivering his own blow, sending me flying to the wall, my back hitting the stone hard.
“Fucking apologize!” he shouts, moving toward me swiftly, so I pull my arm back and punch him right in the face.
He stumbles back, pushing at the various desks in this study while the rest of the guys jump up. “Lo siento, Remi. Is this enough of an apology for you?” I grit through my teeth, each word laced with anger and sarcasm while a wide grin spreads across my mouth when I notice traces of blood on his face.
My satisfaction is short-lived though when he launches toward me, delivering his blow to my face as we fall back, but I regroup quickly, hitting him in the stomach, and he bends in two.
“Enough, both of you.” Neither of us listens to Octavius, and we continue to hit each other, the cracking sounds reverberating through the space while intense pain travels through my entire system, bringing up the familiar desire to destroy my opponent with words, because it was the only weapon I had at my disposal for nine long years.
“What is it, Remi? Want a woman of your own so she can compensate for your childhood?” I’m a fucking dick to even mention it, but when we talk about the burden that is love, I rarely stay rational.
Hit, hit, hit, and this time his knuckles graze my chin, snapping my mouth shut. “Shut up!”
I push him harder, and he falls on one of the desks where we continue to deliver blows, only for him to kick me hard, and as a result, we both tumble on the floor.
One second, Remi is on me, and the next, his weight leaves me while someone lifts me from behind.
“Enough, Santiago, enough!” Florian screams in my ears, wrapping his arm around me and keeping me away from Remi while Octavius does the same to him, both of us standing opposite each other and breathing heavily. Blood drips from his forehead to his lips, bruises already forming under his eye and nose.
I imagine I don’t look much better, yet it still doesn’t feed the monster in me who wants more flesh to feast on, to rip him apart for bringing up the concept of eternal love.
Life deprived me of it the minute those fuckers….
“Let me go.” I order, but Florian doesn’t listen to me.
“Not until both of you calm down.”
Remi twists in Octavius’s arms, but then exhales heavily, resignation crossing his face before he quietly asks, “Please, let me go. I’m fine. I’m not going to do anything.” Octavius waits for a second as if contemplating his words and nods, stepping back, and Remi adjusts his shirt, wiping away the blood, and points a finger at me. “You’ve got issues.”
Florian finally lets go, and I step closer to Remi, smirking. “Yeah, so do you.” We watch one another for a second before we hug, slapping each other on the back, and he whispers, “It’s important to me.”
“Yeah, I know.”
If soul mates of friendship exist in this world, then mine is Remi. Although we’re a tight group of four, he’s my best friend, the second half of my soul. He’s the calm to my storm, a hopeless romantic when I’m a cynical asshole and a barbarian to my sophisticated charms. We couldn’t have been more different if we tried, yet in this whole world, I don’t trust anyone more.
“Write the law,” I say as we lean back, and he hangs his arm over my shoulder, instructing Octavius who is back on his chair, the feather in hand dripping ink onto the parchment.
“If one of the Four Dark Horsemen claims a woman as his bride, she becomes one of us.” The feather scratches against the paper while Remi continues. “She has our loyalty and protection.”
Florian pours himself whiskey, dropping ice cubes in the glass and rattling it loudly to bring our attention to him. “Hold it. What if she ends up being a two-timing bitch undeserving of the trust?”
Ah, Florian, my favorite pessimist.
“Considering who stands on the other side…” Octavius trails off and stops writing. “We end her.”
“Not without a vote,” Remi warns, already in protective mood.
With our nods, we wait till Octavius finishes and slice our palms one by one, sealing our oaths with blood.
Remi asks me again, “So who is she, Santiago? A bride we accept and protect… or bait?”
The black car pulling up by the church interrupts us, the headlights trying to fucking blind us, and when it stops, Jimena hops out, her heels clicking on the concrete as she runs toward me, hugging me and raising on her tiptoes to give me a soft kiss on the cheek. “Hola, hermano.”
“Hola.”
She hooks her arm into mine and grins at me, once again reminding me how much she looks like our mother. The girl owned my dark soul the minute I met her, her blue eyes gazing at me with wonder and curiosity, and right then, I know one thing.
I might never be able to truly love her, for she came into my life after my hell, but I’d protect her till my last breath, surrounding her with luxuries and whatever she wishes.
Her innocence and trust in the world… I want no one and nothing to ever shake that, because Jimena is my saving grace.
My little hermana became a ray of sunshine for my parents when they needed it the most. The glue holding up our family that could have been destroyed by grief that shook it unexpectedly.
If anyone so much as hurts her… I’ll end them.
“Dónde esta mi novia?” Although informing Jimena about my upcoming marriage wasn’t exactly part of the plan, I needed our love story to be believable for my parents, and only Dad’s fucking ring would do the trick.
I don’t doubt Briseis spilled the whole truth to her.
Jimena points at the car door opening from the other side. I hear soft heels on the ground and the ruffling of the dress before Briseis walks around, and the light showcases the gorgeousness that’s her in full view.
For the first time in my fucked-up life, I’m speechless, drinking in the beautiful vision in white, a seductive siren who has the power to lure all the men nearby. They’d follow her blindly, not even understanding they were going to their death.
No, not because my Briseis would do something to them or suddenly turn into a beast who seeks the flesh of her victims.
My bride is incapable of such emotions.
I’ll be the one to put an end to their infatuation, snapping their necks one by one until no one willing to take her away from me is left.
As I’ve discovered after meeting her, I’m a possessive monster who doesn’t like anyone seeing, let alone touching, what belongs to me.
“Ahí, está ella,” my sister whispers gently, stepping away toward Remi, who hugs her closer, giving her a soft kiss on the top of her head.
Since he lost his family, mine became his, and I know there will never be anything between them.
Because if there ever was… it would put an end to our friendship.
“My bride,” I announce to the guys, and the air swirls with different energy, tensions prickling it tight as they realize they’ll have to accept her tonight into their circle with no going back.
Briseis’s cheeks flush as she pushes the veil back, her magnificent eyes colored with confusion and… hope, to my astonishment. She steps closer to me and takes a deep breath before asking, “Can I talk to you?”
“We’re gonna wait inside. I’ll tell Father Paul to prepare,” Florian says, and everyone moves to the church, allowing us privacy, and I stay silent, wanting her to spill whatever the fuck made her hope.
“Jimena told me that if you say you didn’t kill my family, it means you didn’t.”
My brows rise at this, not how I imagined this conversation going, and a smile tips the corner of my mouth. “You shouldn’t trust everything strangers tell you.” She blinks in surprise and shivers a little when the harsh wind swoosh
es over us, blowing her hair forward. “If that’s all….”
“Please don’t make me marry you.” She licks her plump lips; the poor flesh has been bitten on a few times, judging by the marks, and it displeases me. She shouldn’t abuse what belongs to me. Only my teeth can sink into her skin. “If you didn’t kill my family, it means you wouldn’t kill my father either. Please, Santiago. I promise not to go to the police. Dad won’t either. He did something to upset you, and I’m even inclined to believe you had your reasons to—”
Not interested in whatever other bullshit she has to say, I pull her toward me and wrap my hands around her waist, her raspy breath rocking between us, and tip her chin so I have her undivided attention. “I didn’t kill your family.”
She exhales in relief, her knees wobbling as she fists the lapels of my suit, hope shining fucking brightly on her face now.
Ah, too bad I have to crush it.
“Tonight, I wanted to kidnap you and kill your father.” She freezes, her eyes widening, and she tries to push out of my arms, but I don’t let her. “However, with the massacre waiting for me, I found the opportunity to leverage it in my favor.”
“You’re...”
“A despicable human, I know. But you forgot about that after just one reassurance from Jimena.” I lean closer, pressing us even closer so she has no illusions left. “I’m a monster with no redeeming qualities. I’ve killed a lot of people and will kill even more. Nothing but darkness resides in my soul, so never forget that once you enter my kingdom. I’m not a prince charming.”
She trembles in my arms, such deep despair crossing her features that for the first time, I want to put her above my plan, not hurt this innocent creature who has some naivety left.
Never really been exposed to the harsh reality this world possesses, the kind you never forget.
My angel in the darkness who came to the devil, and he ended up clipping her wings.
She dreams about going back to heaven, yet I’ll never be able to free her from my darkness.
“I always keep my word, darling. You’re free to go if you don’t want to marry me.” My words hang in the air before she snatches her arm, and I let her, moving backward as her shaking hands pick up her skirt. She walks past me to the church, her head held high, and inwardly I applaud her.
