Page 7 of Bane's Beginning

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Haven Hills was a shithole. I wasn’t sure what my brother was doing in this small town, but I was sure I was going to find out.

My brother was a Navy SEAL, which meant he spent more time overseas than in the country. Of course, that also meant he thought he could get away with only seeing me once or twice a year.

I didn’t even know where my brother lived anymore. I drove 16 hours away hoping that this would be the right address. A few months ago, I got curious and had Marcus hack into the school’s records to see the billing address tied to my tuition. He was studying IT operations after picking up hacking and programming in high school.

The address led me to Haven Hills, and I memorized it just in case I ever needed it. Well, I needed it. The thing was, I had already spoken to my brother. I hadn’t told him the exact detailsof my last few weeks in Cali, but I told him that I needed to get away and wanted to transfer to a school closer to him to finish my last year after the summer. The asshole wouldn’t even hear me out. He kept telling me that I was at one of the best schools in the country and that I shouldn’t throw away my chance at a successful career over a whim. A fucking whim.

That asshole. What he didn't know was that I was kicked out of my house, all my money was gone, and after beating Bridgette’s face into the ground, I didn’t trust her not to tell anyone about what happened during our semester abroad, which meant my safety could be on the line. Not that I didn’t think Bridgette was scared of him, too, but the thing about Bridgette is she makes stupid mistakes for the sake of love. She would put it all on the line if it meant me getting out of the way of her being with Marcus.

But me? Fuck love.

I was more of a self-preservation type of girl, which is why I was on the way to force my dickhead of a brother to hear me out.

Once I told him what happened in Italy and the real threat I was facing, we could take it on together.

Just the two of us.

I pulled up a dirt road that led to a big barbed wire fence. It was a little unnerving to say the least.

Was my brother staying at some super secret military base out in the middle of nowhere?

As my car approached the gates, a man around the same age as me stepped around. He stood around six feet tall and was bulky as fuck. He looked barely old enough to drink and was sporting a gun in his pants. I quickly noticed that he was wearing aleather vest that read Martyrs in Mayhem New Mexico Chapter and then the word “Prospect.” I thought the name of the club sounded familiar, but Bridgette and I had spent so much time partying at seedy bars that I just figured I had seen it in passing one night.

“Yo, you here for the party?” He shouted at me.

Party? What the fuck. This didn’t seem like the type of place anyone would want to party at. We were dead center in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees and a scary-ass fence.

“Uh. Yeah, a friend of the host.”

He gave me an unsure look and then nodded his head, gesturing me to drive through the gates. My heartbeat started to pick up as I thought about what could happen if I was in the wrong place. I mean, what if I was headed smack-dab into the middle of danger and had no idea?

Luckily, Chase and I talked every day, and if I didn’t answer, he’d get worried and check my location.

I pulled up to the massive house with buildings spread about. There were motorcycles and cars everywhere. The buildings had a rustic feel to them but in a modern way, like the owners wanted them to look old, not actually be old. This was clearly not a military base and I started to think I made a mistake by coming. It was too late to turn around, though. I had to find my brother.

I stepped out of my car and started making my way toward the door. The entrance looked like an opening to a bar, not a house. Two big wooden doors were facing me. I wasn’t sure if I should knock or just walk in. Hell, I was already trespassing so why would I need to knock? I twisted the handle and stepped inside.

My thoughts were right, it was a bar. I looked around and saw tables and chairs everywhere and a wooden bar top sat in the middle. There were people all around of all ages. The men were wearing the same vests as the man outside, and the women were dressed more casually than you'd expect at a biker bar. Thank god I swapped my red dress for a more formal outfit. I was wearing a light blue sundress and barely any makeup on my face. Another thing that caught my eye about this place, there were kids running around, giving me the impression that this was a private bar and a private party that I was, in fact, crashing.

Fuck, Thea. What were you thinking?

At least I was carrying. I may have dressed like a spoiled rich girl and hung around them, but I wasn’t stupid. I saw real horrors and lived them long enough to know that the devil can be charming. Not like I expected to get into a shootout with bikers at some kind of kid's party.

I made my way to the bar acknowledging the people behind it. There were two men who obviously belonged to the club, their patches read Bullet and Ace, and then a beautiful woman. She couldn’t have been more than 4’10” and looked about 7 months pregnant. Her black braids hung low to her hips and she didn’t have any makeup on, yet her skin still glowed as if she bathed in bronzer.

“Can I help you? Are you lost?” Bullet, one of the men behind the bar, said.

“I’m looking for someone,” I replied.

Their eyebrows shot up.

“Who are you looking for, baby?”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Remember, I’m a self-preservation type of girl.

“His name is Davien Blake,” I said, trying to gesture to him to look at a picture of my brother on my phone. He was about a decade younger, but he still looked about the same, just a little more rugged.