The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

“Can someone answer me? What is going on?” she asked, completely confused by the new turn of events.

“It’s simple. You meet us at Axel’s place tonight. We’ll be waiting, and your training will begin,” Draven said, pulling into the school parking lot.

No one was around.

She turned toward the school, and sure enough, people were watching her. Jett held her backpack on his shoulder.

“You better know now, they’re all watching you. They all want to know what it is you’ve got that none of them have,” Buck said.

Axel put his hands across her shoulders. “School is about to get so much more interesting.”

****

Later that day, Draven waited with Buck and Jett for Axel and Harper to arrive. He stretched out his muscles, tilting his head from side to side, and swinging his arms.

“You think she just made the biggest mistake ever?” Jett asked, taking a long draw on his joint.

Draven stared at Jett, and he breathed out a mouthful of smoke and chuckled.

“Where’s your knife?”

He held it up. “Always got it on me. It’s my security blanket.”

“Dude, you are fucked up,” Buck said.

“It’s some good shit.”

“Seriously, you’re going to take a hit today of all days,” Draven asked.

“We have been working nonstop all summer. Harper is a magnet for trouble, and we’ve just declared to the entire school she’s ours. I think I can take a hit. Especially as all I’ve done is kiss her,” Jett said.

“With that kind of attitude, that’s all you’re going to do. I’m not a magnet for trouble,” Harper said, entering the small condo at the bottom of Axel’s property.

It was originally slept in by the gardener, but from what Draven remembered, the gardener liked to take what didn’t belong to him.

Harper had a bag on her shoulder, and she looked a little flushed. Axel looked pissed.

“Did something go down?” Draven asked.

“Her dad wasn’t there. Hannah was,” Axel said, taking the pot from Jett.

“Now that I’ve declared myself as one of you guys, tell me the truth. Who is she?” Harper dropped her bag on the floor, arms folded, looking mightily sexy.

Draven’s dick twitched at the sight.

“Hannah works for my dad,” Draven said.

“Works, as in, still does?”

“Your dad did some good work for us, and seeing as my father likes to reward in the most weird of places, he used Hannah. She’s a whore. Plain and simple. If my dad told her to, she’d fuck the entire town and, still with cum dripping down her thighs, would go and suck her husband off. She’s there to keep Ian in place and to warn my dad if something happens.”

“Wow. My dad left my mom for that.”

“He only knew recently what she was.”

“It doesn’t make it okay.”

“Never said it did. It is how the world works.”

“The world is a shitty fucking place.”

“That I agree with you,” Draven said.

She pushed her hands into her pockets. “So, how is this training going to go?”

Draven smiled and shoved her hard.

With her hands in her pockets, she fell to the floor. This time, he put his hands in his pockets as she glared at him.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

Her gaze went to Axel, Jett, and Buck.

“They’re not going to help you. In fact, they’re going to help you train.”

“This is training?”

“You got to learn to take a hit. It’s what we need from you,” Draven said. He didn’t offer to help her up.

She got to her feet, and he went for her again, only she spun around.

Axel was waiting. One by one, they circled her.

“To have our backs, we need to know that you can fight back. So, fight us, Harper. Don’t be afraid, and don’t hold back. We can take whatever you’ve got.”

Two hours later, exhausted and sweating, he didn’t back down, but Harper was a strong fighter. She took everything he shot her way.

They taunted her, showed her how to defend herself, and played with her, pushing her, shoving her. They forced her to fight to be free of them.

When pizza arrived, they took a break. Harper sat on the floor, legs folded as she ate a slice of pizza. Her hair was piled on her head, and she looked so alive. Her eyes sparkled with life.

“So, you guys, you do bad things, right?”

“Yes.”

“Have you all killed someone?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“So, what do I have to do then?”

“You need to prove yourself to us. We’ll show you each step of the way. You’ll be tested. One of us will have to be with you at all times,” Axel said. “It’ll be fun. I know right now it sounds like the last thing from fun, but it will be. Sometimes our dads enter us in fights, or we have to help them out. Being part of the team, you’ll have to be there.”

“Wait, actual fights?”

“Yes. The real deal, you can’t back down. Losing is not acceptable,” Draven said.