Page 46 of Corruption
“Are we handing him over to her family, then?”
“No, we’ll take care of the problem ourselves,” Vince explained.
“But you didn’t ask me to kill him.”
“That’s because I wanted to see how well you could handle it on your own. You’ve proven yourself tonight, Jared. But the first time you take a life, something changes within you. I needed to ensure you wouldn’t hesitate,” Vince clarified.
“So, next time, I will?”
“You sound eager, my boy. I like it,” he praised, flashing a smile before finishing his drink. He placed the glass on the table and gave me a playful nudge, eliciting a groan from me. “Wow, he got you good.”
Vince reached out, gently turning my head to inspect my swollen eye that had now closed shut.
“We should probably check to make sure you aren’t bleeding internally,” he mused aloud.
“That might be a good idea.”
“But first, we need to clean this up, and then we can have you checked out. It would be a shame if you died at 20 years old, right?” Vince teased before rising from his seat.
“You told me to jump into the water when I was 18, but I can’t die at 20?” I questioned, earning a light chuckle from Vince as he gestured for me to follow him. However, I wasn’t quick to rise. Every part of me throbbed with pain, and I had to steady myself using the couch I had been sitting on. Setting the ice pack down, I finally rose and trailed after Vince. We didn’t venture far before he opened a door that led to a long, dimly lit staircase. I knew what lay beneath, but I had never been there before. I followed Vince down the stairs until we reached a stone hallway, with a few dim lamps casting their light overhead. We walked to the end of the corridor before he pushed open an iron door, revealing the man I had caught earlier. He was tied to a chair, a bag covering his head, with two guards flanking him, alert and watchful. The man seemed to mumble and groan as he strained against his restraints, clearly gagged, rendering his pleas unintelligible.
Vince and I drew closer, and he extended his hands to one of the guards, who withdrew a gun from his jacket, cocked it, and handed the weapon to Vince. Vince then held out the gun to me. I was taken aback by the gesture, but Vince motioned for me to accept it. With one hand clutching my side to alleviate the pain in my ribs, I reached for the gun with the other. Vince snapped his fingers, and the bag was removed from the man’s head. I was startled when I was met with a look of terror and pleading. I had thought this task would be straightforward, that I could simply raise the gun and end his life. I was aware of the man’s actions, what he had done to countless women. He lured them in with false promises of love, only to sell them to others. He wasn’t a good person. However, as tears streamed down his cheeks and his eyes met mine, begging me not to kill him, I felt a wave of uncertainty wash over me.
“Something wrong?” Vince inquired, his smile clearly conveying that he was testing me once again. He wanted to ensure that I could carry out this act, and so I slowly raised the gun, taking aim at the man before me. I had believed I was capable of this. I thought I could become just like Vince. Yet, as my finger rested on the trigger, an inner voice screamed at me not to pull it. For once that trigger was squeezed, there would be no turning back. While I had assisted Vince with smaller tasks while living with him, overseeing cargo and transportation, this was an entirely different matter. This was a step down a one-way path.
“Well, son?” Vince prodded.
I couldn’t recall when he began to call me “son”, but now that he had, his approval meant more to me than anything. I applied slight pressure to the trigger but was still hesitating.
“If you can’t do it—”
“I can do it,” I insisted, focusing on the man who was now pleading fervently, the muffled words attempting to convey the extent of his desire to live.
I can do this, I told myself. I just needed to pull the trigger.
And then who will you become?a voice asked.
I contemplated the voice’s question, standing there torn between the choice to step onto this dark path. Images of people who had wronged me flashed through my mind, and a single figure remained as I began applying more pressure to the trigger.
A person, I replied to the voice before finally squeezing the trigger. The gunshot hit him squarely in the heart. It was surreal to watch a person die. I knew that witnessing someone slowly and peacefully drifting into eternal slumber from old age was challenging enough, but this was an entirely different experience. The man slowly slumped forward, his head hanging low as blood stained the front of his shirt. An eerie silence filled the room, with no one uttering a word. An odd, chilling feeling settled in the air. Yet, as I glanced around, I wondered if I was the only one who felt it. Vince approached, taking the gun from me, and I met his satisfied gaze.
“Well done,” he praised. “Now I know you’re ready.”
He clapped me on the shoulder, causing me to groan slightly due to the pain, and the guards began to clean up while Vince walked away. However, I remained rooted to the spot until the lifeless body was removed, gazing at the trail of blood left behind on the floor.
“No going back now,” I murmured to myself as I slowly turned away. But I didn’t want to go back. There was only one thing I was working toward now: the sweet promise of revenge.
Chapter 21
-Jared-
“You keep staring at me, son,” Vince remarked, breaking my trance. His eyes locked with mine, a subtle smile gracing his lips. The rhythmic tapping of his fingers against the laptop ceased, and I reciprocated the smile.
“Sorry, a lot on my mind,” I admitted.
“The meeting will go fine,” he assured me. “Everything is almost settled.”
“Then hopefully I won’t have to stay in the dark anymore.”
