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Chapter 3: A Taste Of Death

The doors to City Hall opened up and out came three men; two in the standard Black Dragon attire of black suits and a red tie while the third was in just a button up shirt and slacks. The man in the middle, in regular business attire, appeared exhausted and defeated. Reina tugged at my shirt for us to get a little closer and see what was going on.  I looked around and saw that we weren't the only "civilians" trying to get a feel of what was going on. The city became quiet, a type of eerie silence where only the sound of breathing filled the air.

We finally got close enough to see who these figures were and I recognized Darius standing by the podium. He gripped the arm of the man who seemed to not be with them. I squinted trying to get a better look of that man, he looked too familiar. "Chris Holmes!" Reina blurted out then quickly covered her mouth hoping no one heard her. Chris Holmes is the newly appointed mayor of New Haven, a task that many would never take. He is only 30 years old but his once blonde hair began to turn into silver after only serving a year as a mayor. The stress made the once youthful man age faster than normal. No one reacted to Reina but instead kept their gaze at the podium.

"On this day, I pass on the title of mayor to V, Vincent Rodgers, the president of Black Dragon." Chris' voice began to shake as he gripped the podium tighter. "May our days be peaceful and prosperous!" He rose his fist into the air and quickly dropped his head.

Silence still rung in the air. Soon the syndicate began to let out a loud roar of celebration for their new regime. Chris walked back into City Hall while another man walked to the podium. The civilians in the audience started to get ahold of themselves with their mouths still open in shock. Whispers and outcries began to grow louder breaking the silence that once took place.

"This is a load of shit.... I knew this was going to happen but no one wanted to put an end to that gang" 

"Is this legal?! How can they do this?!"

The whispers and outcries turned into violence and fear. "FUCK YOU, V!" A man bellowed throwing whatever he could find to the podium, hitting V and whoever else he could. Everyone turned to the man who looked to be about 60 in age and held his head high not concerned about what he had just done. Two members of the Black Dragon walked toward the man with anger in their eyes.

"What's your name, old man?" One of the men asked with a grin on his face. The other man stayed behind him quietly.

"Richard Mendler." He stared both of the men down not giving up his stance.

"Do you know what you did?" The audience stayed quiet, all clenching their fists.

"I do... and do you know I honestly don't give a shit?!" Richard yelled, spitting on both of the men. The one man who was speaking to him laughed, filling the room with his heinous cackle. His laughter came to a sudden halt as he signaled for his partner to come closer as he walked back to the podium.

His partner shoved Richard to the ground and gave him a malicious smirk. "May you serve as an example for those who wish to oppose us." He pulled out his gun and aimed it right toward Richard's head.

"NOOOOOOO!" We all yelled in unison. 

BANG!

Richard's body fell to the ground. More men of the syndicate came to area to keep the order. Reina stared at Richard's body with tears in her eyes. I looked around at the rest of the people in the crowd as they all had tearful eyes and mouths that wanted to cry out but instead were left with quivering lips. We both inched closer to Richard and said simple well wishes and good byes to him.

"STEP BACK!" We both were shoved back to the crowd as more and more people started to push through the Black Dragon to be closer to Richard. 

Gun shots fired into the air as everyone retreated back to a calm state. There was nothing left for us to do. "I hope that today will come as a lesson to all." V's voice was stern but calm. "I promise to bring New Haven to a new era! A new triumph for all of you who walk beside us!"