I Remember Love

Several hours later as the initiates dwindled down to the remaining 4 people Hunter stood, his eyes gazing down upon the mass of bodies devoid of emotion. Raising his hand in the air he called out, drawing the attention of all the initiates back to front of the room.

"Look around! What you see before you are the finest killing machines in all of Arcadia. Do not mourn the death of the weak. The weak will always fall prey to those whom are stronger. This is the natural order of things. All of you remaining are my arms and legs. Tonight, you have sealed your oath to me, with the blood of your enemies."

With the last word of Hunters speech a load roar went up from the room for initiates and members alike, Luke excitedly clapped a hand onto Charlies shoulder beaming at him as he boasted. "Ha!! And you were worried. Pfft" With that he started laughing. Charlie could only stand and watch him silently, his dark eyes brooding.

"Luke." He spoke, pausing a moment to reflect on his words. "About tonight. Was it..I mean did you have to?" The question seemed to lodge itself in his throat as Luke looked back at him solemnly. His eyes turning cold as he glanced at his friend.

"Charlie. You are my brother. You know me better than most.Did I have to? Probably not. But let me ask this. If I had gone easy on that guy what do you suppose would happen to me, with all these men present?"

Charlie looked at his friend a moment for pausing. "Luke you should know too, I would not ever let anyone hurt you. You're the only real family I have.."

His voice trailed off. Sure his biological family was all there present and in the flesh. Luke was different though. There was an air about him, a cool aloofness that Charlie suspected hid something much more fragile. It made him protective beyond extreme though he could never admit that to his friend. His family were just that. Blood relatives who shared genetics. There were no real bonds between them and they did not elicit this kind of emotion from him either.

Luke merely shook his head listening to his comrade as he reached a hand to scratch behind his neck. "You know as well as I do, you can't be everywhere Charlie." He muttered, but in his heart, in the part which his away his real identity a part of him was touched. Luke stifled that tender side of his nature cruelly and shut those thoughts away.

The crowd around them seemed to be celebrating and while Luke was yet too young to drink, Charlie helped himself to a beer. His only fear was there wasn't enough of it to erase the image he held in his mind of his friend, cruelly and mercilessly killing a defenseless man.

As the party continued around them filling the room with boisterous noise and laughter, Charlie became silent. In all their years together he had never seen Luke this way. There were so many things he didn't understand about his friend. So many questions that just began to pile atop his tongue but rather coming out, remained lodged in the back of his throat.

In the meantime as Luke watched his friend become more and more pensive his eyes were instantly drawn to the lone figure that was approaching the table. The man was around 6 feet in height and slender in build yet there was a hard edge to appearance that instantly caused those around him to become silent.

He wore a leather jacket, ripped jeans and steal toe boots. His face was marked with scars and his eyes were cold as death itself. The only adornment he had as a singular red bandana wrapped around his right arm.

This was Hunter's second in command. His right hand man and his most lethal assassin.

Charlie, who had followed Luke's eyes, turned white. His mouth instantly going dry in terror as his pupils dilated. Had they somehow pissed off the boss? Was here to kill Luke for disregarding his amendment to the rules? Or was it because Luke had mocked him in his attempt to mock the guy he had been paired with. He was just about to slide his chair back, prepared to defend his kid brother when the man spoke.

"You two. Follow me."

Oh sh*t! Oh sh*t! Oh sh*t!!!This was much worse than he had anticipated!! It wasn't just that they were going to be dead. They had aggravated the boss so much he was going to kill them himself.

Luke and Charlie looked to one another. Charlie was ready to flee or fight at a moments notice. Luke in the meantime looked the man and then ahead to Hunter, who stood far off shadowed in a corner. He wasn't one to flee. Whether he was signing a warrant for his own death or not, Luke was determined to fight. Rising from the table he gestured to Charlie to follow. No matter the outcome, his path could not end here.