Igor Gustave frowned as he twisted in his seat at the head of the table. He’d been called in to the clubhouse by his second in command, Rudolph Nigor. Rudolph had called him earlier and told him he had some very important news. He told him the only place he could share this news was in front of everyone in the clubhouse.

Igor picked up his drink and downed the liquor inside. Then he turned to glare at Rudolph. “What the hell is so damn important, you had to call everyone in tonight?” he growled.

Rudolph fidgeted nervously in his seat and looked around the room. His men were scattered all around and he gave him a nod when they caught his glance. Rudolph grabbed his own glass and swallowed the vodka almost choking on it. Then he pushed himself to his feet and banged the empty glass on the table. “Quiet, quiet, everyone.”

The noise level dropped in the room.

Rudolph swallowed hard and then spoke, “I asked you all here tonight to alert you to a threat.”

Igor growled. “What kind of threat and from whom?” he snarled as he rose to his feet. He’d had more than enough to drink before he got here and the few drinks he’d taken since then made his blood run like fire through his veins.

“Word on the streets is that we’re attracting the attention of the Bratva.” Rudolph told everyone. He listened as murmurs of discontent ran through the room.

“Bah…” Igor made a motion with his hand sweeping out over the men. “Who cares what the Bratva thinks? Net! They are becoming worse than old women anyway. This whole country is losing its grip. It’s becoming a fight of the fittest just to stay alive anymore.” He paused then glared at the men standing beside him. “That is why we are ty sil'nyy, stronger than the Bratva at the moment. If we see something we want, we just take it. That’s how you get the power.” He growled and lifted his fist in the air. “We want something we take it.” He raised his glass with the salute, “Zazdarovje!”

The crowd cheered his statement. They raise their vodka and proclaimed, “Nasdarovje!” More drinks were poured and the men cheered again and again.

Igor sat down and grinned. He felt the strength of his men bolstering his power. Tonight he was invincible. Then he turned to Rudolph and noted the sweat rolling down the side of his face. His second was worried about something. Igor leaned toward the other man and sneered, “What the fuck is wrong with you tonight? You should be celebrating.”

Rudolph shook his head. “Net. You are a fool old man. The Bratva will not let this insult alone. You talk big behind closed doors but the Bratva have heard you talking.”

“Bah!” Igor exclaimed as he sat back in his chair. “If you are afraid of old men, you can leave here and try to make it on your own. We are stronger if we stand together.” He looked around the room at all the manpower he had at his disposal. “My men do not run from danger, they will stand and fight.”

Rudolph shook his head. “You also have earned the wrath of five very strong men when you killed the old man at the gym.”

Igor reached for his glass again. “Bah, what can five stupid kids do to us? Tomorrow, we will torch the gym and see how many of them we can take out. By the end of the week, we will have taken them all out. You worry too much old fool.”

Just then, the building they were in rocked as something nearby exploded. Everyone rushed to the window to see what happened. The darkness outside vanished as the flames from the explosion engulfed the yard and crept closer to the old building.

“Požar!” someone yelled.

“Fire?” Igor paused.

People began rushing toward the doors but they wouldn’t open. Another explosion rocked the clubhouse and suddenly, the fire was there with them. It rained down from the roof.

“What the fuck is happening?” Igor shouted. “Get those fucking doors open and get us out of here!”

“The doors won’t open,” someone shouted back. “We can’t get them open.”

Smoke and flames began creeping in from the fire on the roof. Men began coughing and scrambling to open windows and doors but nothing would open large enough to let anyone out. Men began to scream for help. “Pomogite!” many of them shouted for help, as the flames got bigger. Fire dropped inside the clubhouse and they all tried to beat out the flames but couldn’t stop more from falling.

Someone picked up a chair and tried to break out a window for escape but even as the glass broke, shots rang out from outside and men ducked to avoid the bullets coming in.

It was then, when Igor knew he was trapped. No one would be getting out of the warehouse, alive at any rate.

He looked over at Rudolph and asked the other man, “Is this what you feared so?”

Rudolph nodded. “Your ambition has killed us all, you dammed fool. You made the decisions and now we are all paying for it. Smert'! We die now.”

Igor shrugged and drew his weapon. Pointing it at Rudolph, he never flinched as he pulled the trigger.

Rudolph flew back as his blood sprayed everywhere.

The men closest to Igor ducked and turned to stare at the dead man on the floor.

Igor turned to the men closest to him. “You can either die by fire or eat your own bullet. The choice is your own but I for one, will not burn. I may be a bastard but I will chose my own Smert' death. Chet! I will not give the Bratva their pound of gold for my flesh. Xorošego dnja! Have a nice day, fuckers!” He laughed manically.

The men around him looked at each other then turned to watch as their leader raised his weapon to his own head and pulled the trigger. With murmurs of, “Xristos voskres.” They made the sign of the cross then reached for their own weapons.

Gunshots rang out all over the warehouse and soon the screams of the men died down.

It grew so quiet that the shadows outside came closer. Faces appeared in the windows and glanced around the smoky room. Flames were still present but that’s not what they saw. They saw the bodies piled up on the floor. They all had gunshot wounds to their heads. There was no one standing anymore, yet the flames grew.

Yuri stared at Igor’s body and shook his head. He turned to his brothers and Nikoli. “That man was just plain crazy.”

Nikoli looked disgusted as he scoffed. “Da, nemnogo. Just a little, right? No he was a loser from the word go. He took the easy way out.”

“He committed a mortal sin.” Roman shook his head. “By taking his own life he sinned against God and the church.”

“I didn’t know you believed so strongly.” Nikoli gazed at the young man.

Roman shrugged. “I don’t know that I do believe in the church but everyone else I know does and they tell me what he just did is something that will damn you to hell.”

“Why would he do that?” Sazon asked.

“Because he never thought it could happen to him.” Barshan snorted. “The man thought he was invincible and we just showed him he wasn’t. That he could be taken down. He just couldn’t live with that knowledge.”

They moved back from the fire but didn’t leave as they watched the building burn to the ground. The sun was almost up before the smoldering bits of embers were finally doused by the fire department.

Yuri, Roman, Mikial, Sazon, Barshan and Nikoli moved back into the shadows and watched the goings on. Finally, even they left the scene.

Nikoli’s driver took them back to the gym in his big car.

Yuri opened the door to let them all out, then turned to Nikoli and asked, “If we were to join the Bratva could we stay together? We are brothers now and always will be.”

Nikoli grinned. “Of course, you will stay together. You will grow and become strong as real brothers do. I will train you and watch over you all. Wherever I go, you will go with me and when you are ready, you will become your own force to be reckoned with.”

Yuri stared at him for a moment then nodded. “You will let us be on our own?” He looked as if he didn’t believe this statement.

Nikoli nodded. “Da. It was a promise I got from Sergi, himself. I know that someday, you will be ready.”

Yuri studied his face as if calculating the truth of the man’s words. “Let us talk about this and we’ll let you know.” With that, he got out of the vehicle and went inside the gym. His four brothers followed his lead.

The car pulled away.

Yuri and Roman watched it drive down the street and turn the corner.

Yuri turned to face the others. “Well, what do you say? It has to be unanimous between us. Do we stay here or do we go and work for the Bratva?”