,
Then…
Travis Montgomery
THE SMELL OF charred flesh invades my nostrils. I had just got done taking care of Edward Davey. I flayed his body like a pig for dinner. His body was wrapped around a pole; a bat had been rammed up his ass.
I played with this one awhile. He was a sick bastard. Not that I am any different. But this specific job was more than a paycheck. He was a pedophile. A disgusting hillbilly ingrate who preyed on children. I may torture people, but I’m a killer with morals. Children, are off limits.
I wipe my hands on my black leather apron. I pull out my cell phone and call the cleaners, then walk out the door. Looking at my artwork one last time, relishing in his contorted last expression. His throat was cut at the end, no last words. I hang my apron on the hook in my workroom and walk out into the sunshine.
I jump on the back of my bike and head back to the compound. It a short ride since my working area is on our property. I pull up to the gate, and notice a black Bentley sitting outside. The hairs on my arms stand up in attention. Something is off. I walk up to the front door and place my helmet on the table.
“THEO”!! I yell, waiting for him to answer. Today is not the day to have unknown guests. Not when I’m doing a job.
I run into the kitchen hoping to find him, with a good explanation. When the sound of footsteps approaching behind me causes me to halt. Theo doesn’t walk. He is wheel chair bound. That wasn’t him.
“Hello son”. That voice. No one calls me son. Except for him. My eyes widen when they connect with Marco Montgomery. My father.
My blood boils with rage and it take everything in me to not put a hole in his head. Theo.
“Where is Theo”? I demand.
“Oh, you mean that crippled piece of shit”, he mocks him foolishly,” he is taking a nap downstairs. Don’t worry, he will be right as rain soon” he concludes, while picking the imaginary dirt under his pristine nails.
He sees me tense and raises his hand. I’m gonna kill him.
“Just listen” he sighs, “I didn’t hurt him. I need you on our side, it wouldn’t do me any favors to harm the only person you do like”.
This gets my attention. Marco Montgomery doesn’t let people live. He is pure evil. If he let Theo live, then he must truly need my help. This is my chance. My chance for retribution.
“Well isn’t this nice, how can I be of service, father?”
“I need you to be the son I wanted. The strong one. I need you to help me take her down”
“Who”?
“Your sister, your mother, everyone who hurt you””.
He sounds so sincere, which pisses me off more. I don’t trust his act, I don’t trust anyone who is a Montgomery. First, I will help him hurt them, then I will fucking kill him.
✽ ✽ ✽
Then….
There you go, play dot to dot little sister.
When Marco came to me about his plan, I was sure I want in. I was the son they decided wasn’t worth keeping. I remember the night they sent me away. I was sent to live in the foster homes at age five, shortly after Jesse was conceived. I guess three was a crowd. I was always bitter, unlike a lot of these kids I remembered what it was like to have parents. Shitty ones, but they were my parents. I was sent to multiple fosters homes and each one was worse than the other.
It started out with neglect, then physical abuse, then eventually I was sent to the worst and last one. He was a member of the South Riders, a local gang. I was abused and used until Theo found me. He took me in when I was fifteen. He found me fighting my foster brother. I was beating him senseless, seeing nothing but red, when a tall lanky man with a grey beard pulls me off him. He must of saw something in me because after that, he always came around. Wanted to get to know me, and understand me. One-night things got bad at my foster parents. My foster father decided it was time for me to get a job. In other words, sell drugs. I’m not a druggie, fuck that shit, I’m high enough on my own. I don’t need fucking help. I refused. My foster father beat me to an inch of my life. Said I thought I was better than them. I was.
Theo saw me the next day, and decided enough was enough. He barged into their house and confronted him. Bad timing, because four lead members of the gang were there. But he still stood strong, showed no fear. He grabbed me by the collar and told him we were leaving. They didn’t stop us. But two days later there was a drive by at his house. He never walked again. I knew it wasn’t coincidence. He was shot because of me. I guess I should have been grateful he wasn’t dead. For that I was forever indebted to him.
Turns out Theo was a member of elite group, The Guardians, that specialized in making the worst of the worst disappear. With his new condition, he no longer could exact his own revenge, he got in touch with the organization and started my training immediately. It was tough work and even though he was in a chair it didn’t stop him from drilling me till I could barely stand. He was a resilient trainer. Me, I turned into an even more dangerous, deadlier man. My first kill, my old foster family and the South Riders.
The Montgomery’s were next on my list. The whole family is vile. I wanted to make Jesse suffer. She was the little princess of the Montgomery Empire. Me, I was disposable. I wanted to watch as the light escaped her eyes. The last breath that leaves her mouth is mine to take. I am a sadist after all, inflicting pain helps ease the monster inside me and nobody is safe. Except for Theo. Partly I blame Marco and Irina for Theo’s misfortune. Had they never given me up he would still be walking today. He deserves better, even if that meant never meeting me.
Danny was easy to get rid of. He set it all up for us from the beginning. When Marco found out about Danny’s plan to fake his death, and run away with Jesse and Bane, he found his opportunity to end his fake existence. That’s where Jay came in.
Marco gave Jay an offer he couldn’t refuse. See, Jay had secrets. He liked to cheat on his wife with unwilling women and snorting the white powder. How his family didn’t know he was a psychopath is beyond me. The plan was if Jay switched the drug, we wouldn’t show his wife the pictures, and most importantly, his daughter would stay safe from sexual depravity. With that simple threat, Danny ceased to be, leaving me the only twin left, the only one who Marco could hand his business over too. That’s his plan. My plan, I’m taking it anyway, then I am going to burn it to the ground, with every Montgomery corpse underneath the ashes.
One of my many talents, and some may call it a curse. I feel no pain, no emotions, no nothing. I am a bleeding robot.
I am chameleon, a master manipulator. I can be anyone I want if it benefits my needs or wants. I’m a selfish son of bitch that is for sure. Which make my second talent much easier. I’m well versed in making people disappear and making it look like an accident.
It all worked perfectly. There will be nobody alive or not paid off to testify to Danny’s death. I will take his place. Jesse will look like she overdosed. Irina will have killed herself over her daughter’s death and father and I would rule the empire without distractions, he thinks. Once all that is done, I will have gained his trust. I will get him to sign me as a board member and then dear old’ father will die of a heart attack shortly after. “Danny” will be devastated, but resilient and move the club to better ventures under my rule. Nobody will know the difference.
“What do you want” she stutters, obviously terrified.
“Your blood” Marco offers with a laugh.