he says reassuringly. I nod my head and pass him the joint just as I hear gunshots ringing through the night. Psycho and I share a look before moving. We both turn, grabbing our guns as we rush in the back door and down the hall. Guys are yelling, shots are being fired. What the hell is going on here? As soon as we round the corner into the main room, I take a quick look around. A few guys are down, but even more are firing toward the door. I move, dropping behind a flipped table for a little shelter.
“Preacher?” I call out, trying to gauge the situation.
“I’m good! Watch your ass!” We all continue to fire, seeing a few of the enemies go down. I don’t understand what’s happening right now. This is our clubhouse! Granted, it’s a shithole that needs to be torn down, but it’s still ours. This is the one place that I grew up. I didn’t have a home like most kids, I had this.
“Freak!” I hear Preacher calling for one of our brothers.
“I’m good!” I take a deep breath before standing and glancing around. It feels like everything moves in slow motion. The bullets fly, but I can’t hear a damn thing. One bullet rips through my side as I spin around to fire at whoever it was that shot me. Our eyes lock and just as I’m about to pull the trigger, he fires first. Each bullet hits me, knocking the air from my lungs. Pain radiates through my body as I slowly fall to the floor. The last person I see… is him.
Chapter Two
I blink rapidly and glance around at my surroundings. I’m in a fucking hospital. Dropping my head back onto the pillow, I sigh. I can’t believe this shit is happening.
“You’re awake.” I look up when a nurse walks in smiling.
“Unfortunately. What the hell happened?”
“You were shot five times. Had surgery to repair some minor issues. Overall, you are lucky to be alive. You actually weren’t alive for a bit, but the doctor got you back,” she says, checking some kind of bag hanging above me.
“What is that?”
“Antibiotics, pain medicine and fluids. We don’t want you to become dehydrated,” she adds. I look up at her as she does her job. She’s cute. Not the kind of girl I’d typically fuck with but she’s not bad to look at.
“When can I get outta here?”
“You’re going to be here at least a few days. It’s going to take a while for these to heal. The doctor patched up the ones that went through and got the one out that didn’t. Just relax and let the medicine work.”
“Has anyone been here?” I need to know if that bastard came by here to see if I was dead or not.
“No. We tried to find some contact information, but we didn’t find your wallet. We still have you down as John Doe so now that you’re awake, we can get the paperwork all filled out and contact your family.” My family. Fuck my family. They are nothing to me now. Nothing! I can’t believe it. When I saw him standing there, the look on his face, the hatred in his eyes, I felt betrayed. Like he knew what I was planning, and he wanted to end it before I started it, but who would have told him? None of my brothers that were closest to me would do it. I trust them with my life. So why aren’t they here?
“Sir?” I must have been lost in my own little world for a second.
“Sorry. What did you say?” Confusion is a bitch.
“I said what’s your name?” She smiles sweetly.
“James. James Hawthorne.” Lies. I wouldn’t tell these motherfuckers my real name if my goddamn life depended on it.
“Well, Mr. Hawthorne, if you have family I can contact for you, just jot down the number.” She smiles, passing me a pen and a small pad of paper. I shake my head but take it as I let my head fall back onto the pillow. “That’s the pain medicine. Try to rest.” She leaves the room as I replay what happened in my head. Those guys weren’t any of us. They weren’t Royal Devils, yet he was. My fucking dad, our president! That son of a bitch is going to pay for this. He’s going to pay for what he’s done. Even as the medicine slowly tries to pull me under, I fight to stay awake. I